#not hunter being resigned to the fact everyone will hate him eventually | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

besidemethewholedamntime · 5 years

Text

and i will always love you - chapter four

Fic Summary:

“He feels sorry for her. It’s hard not to. Except it doesn’t change the fact that she’s still the child of an eminent politician, using her wealth and status to arm herself in ways that others in her situation couldn’t. Fitz has protected all kinds of people who’ve done the same thing, and every last one has been a complete and utter wanker.”

When an accidental discovery causes nationwide outrage at Dr. Jemma Simmons, Protection Officer Leopold Fitz is the one called upon to be her bodyguard. It starts off as one thing and ends quite another. A bodyguard au.

Chapter Summary:

A long dark night that ends with a beautiful sunrise.

Fitz struggles with his ever-growing feelings, a little bit more of the past is revealed, and unplanned co-habitation goes a step further.

{Read Chapter 4 Here}

{Read from the beginning here}

or read ch 4 below!

With HQ satisfied that the immediate threat is gone now that Jemma’s moved into a hotel, a suggestion is made that Fitz should take his days off. A suggestion that comes in the form of narrowed eyes, angry eyebrows, and the introduction of Officer Davis.

With no choice otherwise, and secure in the knowledge that his superior wouldn’t let anything bad happen to Jemma while he wasn’t there, Fitz makes a feeble effort to go back to his life pre-Jemma Simmons. It includes waking up in the afternoon, having leftover pizza for breakfast and playing video games with Hunter until he either leaves for work or for Bobbi, and then Fitz goes back to sleep.

Or that’s the way it used to be, back when life was much simpler. Now there are all these things in his head, things that one might call feelings. Feelings that are most definitely about Jemma.

The war between his ever -growing feelings for Jemma and for the desire to protect her and do his job as well as he can rages in his already suffering head. It consumes him. He can’t sleep at night for thinking of all the ‘what ifs’ and the ‘maybes’. The days off aren’t enjoyable anymore, they’re just monotonous. There’s nothing to distract him. Even Hunter’s not here; he’s made up with Bobbi and they’ve been playing catch up for those two days they weren’t talking ever since.

It’s a shame, really, because his best-friend being so in love makes Fitz want that, too, except he only wants it with somebody he cannot have. Nobody else he’s ever met has ever made him feel this way before. And he enjoys the daydreams and follows them as far as he dares, but it’s such a hard crash-land back into the real world when it’s all over.

Just over three years ago Fitz was in a car accident. A terrible, terrible car accident that robbed oxygen from his brain which, in turn, robbed him of the ability to do a lot of things he used to be quite good at. For months he could only speak in fragments of sentences, couldn’t draw a straight line and barely left his flat. He lost his job, his self esteem and really the only person he would speak to was Hunter.

He used to be an engineer and he used to draw schematics on napkins and post-it notes going spare. Now he’s a protection officer, a job that he got and kept because of Hunter. He used to stay up until the wee hours in the morning designing by desk lamp light. Now he gets headaches so badly he sees stars.

The point is that it’s been a long time since he’s had something worth actually living his life for. Or someone. And Jemma Simmons seems like someone worth living for. The problem is that there’s nothing that can be done about it, because he’s her protection officer and because she’s also someone worth dying for.

This isn’t as elegant as they make it out to be in all the books and all the movies. Love isn’t fulfilling and sustaining and joyous. Love, it seems, just sucks.

-x-

His jumbled-up thoughts do not leave him, and his brain feels like scrambled egg when he’s eventually allowed back to work. Nothing seems to help him and the constant headache behind his eyes makes him snap at everyone he comes across. He even snaps at Jemma, and while she says nothing, her reproachful look makes him wade further into his deep pit of misery to wallow.

It only gets worse at the end of the day. They pack up their things in silence, only communicating with a nod when they’re ready to leave. He feels Jemma’s questioning gaze on him on the drive back to the hotel, the searing heat of it burning his face. He manages to resist any compulsion to talk, and by the time they’re settled in their room they’ve barely spoken ten words to each other all day.

The room has a single bed and a double, and Jemma perches on the end of the double, a concerned look on her face as she follows his admittedly erratic movements about the room.

“Fitz,” she sighs eventually. “What is wrong with you?”

He ignores her, unable to answer, unwilling to. “We’ve only got the one room tonight, right?”

“Yes. We had to give up the other room. The hotel is fully booked for a conference for the next few days. This is the last room available.” She gives him a weak smile. “Lucky us.”

The hotel is a cheap one that people pay for because they need someplace to sleep or somewhere to hide scientists that are receiving death threats. It wouldn’t be his first choice for anything really, but his first flat with Hunter was worse so he summons his inner twenty-year old and resists screwing up his face in distaste. If he’s feeling like this, he can’t imagine how Jemma must be feeling.

Then he realisation hits him that he’s now facing a problem that Davis most certainly didn’t. He and Jemma are sleeping in the same room, in beds so close that someone could reach out and touch the other if they so desired. The cosmos must be well and truly against him.

“What bed are you wanting?” He asks, before realising that there are toiletries on the bedside table and a pair of pyjamas folded neatly on the pillow of the double bed.

“Oh, well I’ve been sleeping in this one,” Jemma looks down to where she’s perched, “but we can switch if you like? I don’t mind.”

“No, no, it’s fine.” He waves away her offer. “You’ve already been sleeping there; it would be a bit cruel of me to make you change.”

“Yes, how perfectly awful of you,” she tries, but it sounds forced and neither of them really have the energy to pretend otherwise.

She’s sitting at the edge of the bed and he’s standing by the window and they have not a thing to day to each other. It’s as if the past few days he’s been away has turned them into perfect strangers. Even when she detested his presence they still had more to talk about. Fitz knows it’s his fault, knows that he’s driving this wedge between them. He hates it, he honestly does, but maybe this is the way it must be.

“I’m going to go get us some dinner,” he announces, needing to be free of this room, even if it’s just walking downstairs. “Is there anything you really fancy?”

Jemma shakes her head. “You know what I like.”

He nods and turns around but it’s too late - he’s already caught sight of her face and the wounded confusion in her eyes.

-x-

The situation doesn’t improve after dinner and they spend the hours before bed sitting on their respective beds doing their respective thing with the crappy hotel TV playing a Channel 5 horror movie in the background. It’s remarkably similar to the first night Fitz spent at Jemma’s house, and the parallel does not escape him. Last time they were brought closer together, but he has a feeling that this night might drive them irrevocably apart.

It reaches the hour where it’s acceptable to sleep and Fitz, who has been waiting for the oblivion all day, snuggles deeply underneath the thin duvet and waits for the pull of his eyelids. He waits and waits but the oblivion never comes. His irregular breathing echoes loudly throughout the dark room and keeps him awake, or at least that’s what he tells himself. It’s probably more something to do with the confusion in his head, all of the questions that keep flying about, the inability to tame his mind and thoughts into something manageable.

He listens for Jemma’s breathing, hoping that the regular inhales and exhales will soothe his jumbled brain and lull him to sleep. It’s a few seconds until he realises that hers isn’t regular at all. It’s out of place, like his; quickening and then slowing in the dark. He frowns.

“Jemma?” He whispers, just in case he’s wrong. “Are you awake?”

There’s a few seconds where his only reply is breathing and he wonders if he got it wrong, until she whispers back, “Yes. I can’t sleep. Why are you still awake?”

It’s not as if he can give her the real reason and no longer whispering but in a hushed voice he says, “Yeah, I can’t sleep either.”

“You’ve not been right all day, Fitz,” she tells him, and he feels the guilt swallow him head to toe. When he says nothing she gently sighs. “I want you to know that you can talk to me, you know. I want to help you with whatever is bothering you if I can.”

Oh if only she knew… Fitz is glad the room is pitch black so that his rapidly reddening face isn’t visible to give him away.

“It’s just… it’s nothing important. Not really, anyway. I just need to sort it out myself.”

“Okay,” she sounds unsure but resigned to the fact that she won’t be getting the full answer from him tonight. “But if you ever need to talk, I am here.”

“I know,” he says, “and thanks.” It’s a funny thing but he really does know, and it feels like he could tell her more than he could tell anyone else. But he has to be careful. This dark room feels so safe, invincible. This moment they’re living in a microcosm, a taste of what it could be but can’t ever be. It will kill him, afterwards, and yet he doesn’t want it to pass.

“So,” she says lightly. He deliberately keeps his eyes on the ceiling and doesn’t look across to his left, but he imagines her eyes shining brightly. “Since we’re both awake, what should we do?”

“Pft, I don’t know. Lie awake and watch the sunrise?”

“I think that might be a while away yet.”

It’s so dark that he can’t see his own hand in front of his face. Not even a streetlight shines outside the window and he concedes that the sunrise is, probably, some time off.

It’s quiet after that, the only sound their synchronised breathing echoing throughout the room. Fitz is wide awake now, unable and almost unwilling to attempt sleeping. There’s an electricity in the air, like the way it is before a storm. Something is coming, he’s just not quite sure what it might be.

“I’m sorry you’re spending the night here with me,” Jemma says at last. “In a questionably clean bed in a questionable hotel. All this time you’re spending with me, I hate to think I’m keeping you from somebody more important.”

And it’s on the tip of his tongue to say there’s nobody more important than you but of course he doesn’t. He doesn’t even know where the desire came from. Instead he manages to stutter out, “No,” he says quietly, feeling surprisingly at ease with the question. “There’s nobody at home except Hunter, who likes to think of himself as more important than he is.”

“That’s exactly who I meant,” Jemma laughs. “Hunter must not be happy that I’m always stealing your time.”

Hunter has surprisingly warmed up about the idea of Jemma, especially since she stayed with them and he discovered Fitz’s feelings about her. He even has a badly handwritten ‘plan’ of how to make it work between them. Perhaps a bit misguided at times, but he’s the best friend that Fitz could ever have. He owes him a lot.

“He’s fine, trust me. He’s got Bobbi.”

“It sounds like a fascinating love story.”

Fitz scoffs even though he doesn’t mean to. “Fascinating is definitely the word for it. This job was how he met Bobbi.”

“Really?”

“Yup. He used to do this and she used to be Secret Service. They met, there was some kind of shotgun wedding, she came to live here, they got divorced, she went back to America, then she came back and they decided to try again. Hunter quit this job, Bobbi quit hers and this is the way it’s been for the past year and a bit.”

“Oh wow,” Jemma breathes. He thinks he can hear her smile. “Quite the story. Do you think they’ll last?”

“Yeah,” Fitz hears himself saying, even though he would always say he thought the opposite. “I think they will. At the end of the day, they’re never gonna love anybody else the way they love each other.”

“Aw, Fitz!” Jemma gushes, and he feels himself rolling his eyes. He might have known she would like their story. “How sweet of you. I wouldn’t have thought you capable.”

“Ha ha,” he deadpans. “Hilarious.” Then, being brave: “What about you? Anybody important at home?”

“You probably already know the answer,” she says pointedly. “But no, there isn’t.”

The bravado hasn’t deserted him this time. “How come?”

She sighs wearily and he knows it’s not from the late hour. “I don’t know, really. I could blame it on work, but truly I think there’s just nobody I’ve ever clicked with.”

And he must be feeling supremely brave because he asks, “Nobody at all?”

“Well there was Milton, but he suffered from a brussel-sprout-shaped head and the inability to have a single original thought.”

Fitz has read all about Milton and had thought his head had resembled more of a cabbage but each to their own. He hadn’t seemed like someone Jemma would have dated anyway. A nice guy from all accounts, but dull. He has a job in insurance now. Fitz decides not to divulge this information.

“I love my job,” Jemma admits quietly, as though it’s something shameful. “And I’ve always had trouble making it my second priority. At the end of the day people always let you down but science never has.”

“And you still believe that?” He asks. “Even now?”

“Even now.” He imagines her chin sticking out obstinately. In all this time they still haven’t looked at each other. “It’s not the fault of science that people can’t see its potential. Science just is. Facts are facts. It’s the way people misinterpret them and misuse them that are causing this whole bloody mess.”

In this job he has learned that people are disappointingly just people. They aren’t good and they aren’t bad, they just are, and it can sometimes be too much to expect them to have a higher thought process. It’s frustrating to learn, and maddening to find out that there’s nothing that can be done about it.

“People just judge you,” she continues. “They just take one look at who you are and what you do and listen to absolutely nothing that comes out your mouth.”

He feels his cheeks begin to burn, for in the beginning he did exactly that. In this moment where they are both baring their souls it seems like the perfect opportunity to atone for it.

“I judged you,” he admits quietly. “And I’m sorry. I mean you don’t know that I did that, but I did and I shouldn’t have and I’m sorry about it.”

He awaits the harsh tone but it never comes. Instead he hears her smile, and with it imagines the sparkle in her eyes. “I kind of thought you might have, but it’s alright, Fitz. You had every right. My father did abuse his position to get you as my protection officer.”

“I’m sure he was just worried about you,” he offers. “I can’t say I wouldn’t do the same thing in his position for my kid.”

She laughs but it’s not the harsh laugh he was expecting. It sounds decidedly sad. “He’s embarrassed by me. My whole life he has warned us, the whole family, not to draw any attention to ourselves, to stay in the shadows, and now with the leak and the news I’ve just done exactly the opposite.”

“Jemma…” he breathes, unable to bear the sound of unshed tears in her voice. “Shadows aren’t meant for everybody. He must get that.”

“You don’t know him like I do, Fitz. He hates things like this. His name, our name, being dragged through the mud. He’s ashamed of me; he wants to hush this all up and make it go away.”

“This isn’t your fault,” he reiterates, needing her to know this, to understand. “You made a good discovery that wasn’t ready to be made public. The weight of that doesn’t fall on your shoulders.”

“It does,” she whispers, and he thinks that this part might not be for him.

It goes quiet again, and he wants to claw back that former closeness, that moment that’s just slipped away. Risking it all, he turns on his side to face her, only able to make out her silhouette in the dark.

“You deserve to be happy, Jemma, and this job isn’t the only thing that’s out there. Today it might be your whole life, but tomorrow is always coming and there’s always something else. Trust me,” he says sincerely, “I would know.”

He sees her turn to face him, feels her hand stretching across the chasm between the beds. His finds hers immediately.

“I feel bad that you’re always making me feel better about things. But thank you, Fitz. Truly.”

“It’s what I’m here for,” he says, squeezing her hand once before letting go.

They still can’t sleep and pass the remaining hours talking about everything that they haven’t before. Fitz confessed about his own father: a man he often wished would just go away but when he eventually did there was a hole deep down that never really got filled. He tells her about moving to London for university, about how he felt so out of place in that big, boisterous city that made Glasgow feel cosy and also very far away.

“And- and I was in an accident… a car accident. It, um, it changed things.”

His tongue sticks as it always does when he talks about it, but he feels her listening, her expectant gaze on his face, and it becomes a little easier to do so. So he tells her everything. About the headaches and the tremors in his hand and the way it took away what he loved. He tells her how Hunter was there for him through all of it, got him this job as a protection officer only to leave himself six months later because he’d fallen madly in love with Bobbi.

Jemma, in return, tells him all about her own parents. How she’s been provided for all of her life but her father was barely home and her mother expects so much from her only child that it’s exhausting in all ways. She admits how lonely she was when she was younger; she has no siblings and all of the other children in her classes were older and intimidated by her brain. She tells him that what she wants the most is for this to be over, to be able to go back to her normal life before all of this change.

“But, even when this is all over, I’d still like it if we could be friends?”

And Fitz, completely leaping over the lines, agrees that he would like it, too.

They talk and talk until the sun comes up and Fitz doesn’t even realise he hasn’t slept. He feels more alive than ever.

#aosficnet2 #fitzsimmons #aos #fitzsimmons fic #aos fic #fanfic by moi #and i will always love you #i hope you like it!#they're getting there folks!

23 notes · View notes

phantomphangphucker · 5 years

Text

Vacations Provide Second Chances - PhannieMay - Day 28 Vacation

Summary; Vlad was always going break, eventually. Because somethings are just inevitable.

Warning: discussions of death, mentions of Dan, suicidal behaviour

As soon as Danny opens the door his smile drops to a harsh frown, “what do you want, Vlad?”. Danny’s not sure what to make of Vlad’s smile actually seeming soft and genuine, though he does find it a bit sad that friendliness looks out of place on the villainous halfa’s face.

“Relax, Daniel. I don’t exist to sour your mood”, Vlad sighs as Danny rolls his eyes exaggeratedly, “I’m here to invite you on a trip. With me. A mutual vacation if you will”.

Danny glares incredulously at Vlad, the fact that Vlad doesn’t gloat over that and hasn’t insulted him yet, tells Danny Vlad’s serious here. “What’s your plot this time, old man. And what? Not inviting my mom?”, Danny crosses his arms and glares a bit harder, but gets thrown off guard when Vlad sighs and looks almost...sad?

Vlad shakes his head slightly, “no, just us and no schemes. Just the two halfa’s taking a needed break from everything. Fights, schemes, lying, being the hero, being the villain”. Vlad knows stagnation doesn’t do anyone any good, and he’s been stagnant for a long time, and young Daniel has fallen into it himself. Contemplating the routine of it all and the future had brought him to this idea. Thinking back to a place he used to haunt, “I know you have no reason to believe me, Daniel. But this is no farce, there’s a place I used to go, that I’d like to again”.

Danny can practically read the words, “just not alone”, on Vlad’s face; that’s more than enough to remind him of future Vlad. Studying Vlad’s face, and finding that it really is genuine. That’s one thing about Vlad, the guy’s actually fairly easy to read. Tilting his head down and sighing before muttering to himself, “second chances, Fenton. Second chances”. Tilting his head up to the older halfa, “this doesn’t make us family, but alright, you weird frootloop”.

Vlad gives him a strong nod, he knows his pleasure is palpable to the boy. Even if he did want Daniel as a son, it was more than obvious that was never going to happen now. And Vlad’s starting to think that just might be best, they didn’t run in the same circles at all. Heck, their circles didn’t even overlap except when they inserted themselves into each other’s lives. All that bound them was species, a lonely species of two; and Vlad was done being lonely.

Tilting his head backwards and nodding his head in the direction of Amity Park’s mall, “when you’re ready, I’ll be waiting. I’m sure you can figure out what car is mine”.

Danny shakes his head, a little weirded out, as Vlad takes his leave. Closing the door softly and muttering at it, “something’s up with him, but for once, I don’t think it’s bad”. Turning back around and heading to his room, knowing full well that Vlad knew no one else was home right now.

He didn’t exactly know what to pack, so he went with the general stereotypical shit. Groaning a bit, as he realises it was probably pretty dumb to agree to go to some unknown place with his arch enemy. Heck, it was kind of dumb to do that with his own family. So, of course, he makes sure to pack anti-ghost crap, who knows what might happen.

Zipping the bag closed, before walking over and resting his arms on his windowsill, “it really would be nice to be gone and not worry about this place for a bit. Well, ok, I’m still gonna worry”, sighing, “I’ll have to find Red. Should at least give that stupidly determined hunter a heads up”. Plus, Danny knew she’d actually would be worried if Phantom just up and disappeared; even if she wouldn’t admit it to his face.

Transforming and flying out the window, eventually coming to perch himself on her opened windowsill. Chuckling as she spins around, ghost scanner going off, “relax, it’s just me. Your friendly neighbourhood dead man”. Valerie shakes her head but smiles at the sight of him, he’s glad they’re on good terms now; especially with his friends and Jazz all being off at university. Though he’s got a suspicion she’s being more than just friendly to him nowadays.

“What’s up Phantom?”

“Oh just making your life more hectic”, Danny shrugs good-naturedly, “gonna be out of town for a bit. So the ghosties are all yours for a while”. Valerie looks torn between liking that and being annoyed, “for how long and when you leaving?”. Danny shrugs again, “no clue actually, and I’m leaving pretty well immediately”.

“Of course you’d have no clue, you really are quite a mess, you know that?”, both of them snicker, because really, they’re both messes. “Always, Red, always”, both them smile as Valerie walks up and pats him on the arm. “You better come back, you floating bastard”, Danny only smirks as he pushes himself off the windowsill. Two finger saluting her with a soft smile, before zipping off.

Placing his feet back into his room and transforming before heading downstairs. Sticking his head into the kitchen and smiling at his mom. Obviously, he can’t exactly tell her the truth, his dad really was the only Fenton who wasn’t fully aware that Vlad wasn’t exactly a good person.

“So turns out Tuck is a bit of an idiot sometimes. Sam’s already over there but he pretty well blew up his dorm room. Overloaded the speakers, don’t ask me how exactly, I’m not sure I even want to know”, both them laugh as she motions for Danny to sit down. Danny takes and eats a couple of eggs before continuing, “so now he needs the place fixed up before the dorm officials find out”. Maddie sighs, “well, I guess it would be good for you to go visit. Maybe check out the campus while you’re at it”. Danny forces down a wince at her not so subtle hint. He knows they’re disappointed with his poor schooling, especially when they all know he is damn smart. Rubbing his neck and looking away from her a little, “can’t say how long I’ll be gone. No clue just how much damage he did”.

Danny finishes the rest of his food and does indeed notice that his mom’s smile is a bit forced. He’d like to think that was because of him not being at home for a while, but he knows it’s more likely because he avoided the topic of him going back to school. It did make it kind of obvious that he didn’t intend to, and how could he? He didn’t have the time. Maybe if there was a university in Amity he could, and sure there was online programs. But he knew himself well enough to know he’d put it off unless forced otherwise. Smiling apologetically at his mom before heading up to his room.

He’s not surprised his dad’s up from the lab, as Danny comes down the stairs with his bag in tow. Talking as he hugs them, “don’t worry about a ride, got one already”. Danny both likes and hates how they don’t push him for more information. Knowing full well they once would have, as he heads out the door.

Danny shakes his head at the dark purple Bugatti Chiron, which a few other people are also either staring or glancing at. Muttering, “I don’t think that man even knows what subtle is”. Before approaching the side of the car, with the door popping open before he even gets there.

Sticking his head inside, “is this even road trip worthy?”. Vlad rolls his eyes, “the best one for it”, sticking his thumb towards the back of the car, “just climb in and phase your stuff into the trunk. Blackout tint is very useful”. Danny shakes his head but does just that. That was one thing he missed about there being no one in Amity who knew about him, getting to use his powers liberally around other people.

Daniel can’t help but glance around the fancy car which Vlad smiles pridefully about as he drives off, if Daniel was a more shallow person Vlad might have been able to obtain him with his wealth alone. Vlad still found it odd that his wealth didn’t even slightly coax the boy, especially when he was younger; children tend to be more narcissistic.

It doesn’t take long for the two to settle into silence, but both of them are surprised to find that it’s a rather comfortable kind of quite. Danny smiles a bit sadly as he looks out the window, spotting a couple making out while taking selfies. Sure, he’d had his romantic stints but dating a hero wasn’t really the safest thing for anyone to do, without even throwing in the whole secret double life thing; secrets and romance didn’t really coexist well. Though he wouldn’t say no if asked, he’d just never be the one to do the asking.

Vlad side-eyes him, easily catching the expression and what brought it about. “Love isn’t something that’s come easy to either of us, has it”, Vlad’s never really had more than the odd one-nighter or single date. He still wanted Maddie of course, he’d just sort of...given up. It’s not that he’d moved on though, just stopped trying. That was almost worse sometimes, but he’d set his mind on that being the past now.

Normally, Danny would make some joke about the guy wanting to get with his mother again, but the slight resigned sadness in Vlad’s voice didn’t really call for that. Plus, Vlad wasn’t exactly wrong, “hiding yourself doesn’t beget affections”. Vlad blinks a bit, caught slightly off guard, “I forget you’re not a little child sometimes”. Danny snorts at that, “what? You think only kids want to play the hero?”, waving his hand at Vlad, “besides, I’ve been more grown-up than most adults for years”.

“Yeah, that’ll happen when you insist on fighting every battle and willingly yank every single responsibility on yourself”, Vlad shakes his head, Daniel instantly taking up the mantle for town protector really did shine a light on how utterly special he was. Nearly everyone, especially kids, would use power for personal gain; Daniel did the exact opposite. It was something Vlad himself had never even considered doing, maybe if he had he’d be in a different place. But he does also understand why Daniel did what he did, “power gives people the ability to act. The access to all the options. In a way, I don’t think it’s possible to not grow up some when becoming able to do what others can not even fathom”. Vlad knew he had grown up some too, sure he’d already been an adult but to say he had been mature would be bullshit. He’d just grown cold and weathered, rather than protective and boisterous.

Danny shakes his head, “and you had the option to be good, to help. Yet you didn’t”. Danny’s a bit thrown that Vlad nods and doesn’t even argue about that. Danny’s almost worried that means that Vlad has accepted the role of villain, which while the man’s actions were definitely villainous, he didn’t expect or even want him to actually fall into the role in genuine. He was the bad guy for sure, and Danny did see him as his enemy and villain, but he was just a man abusing his powers and with a broken moral compass. Frowning more as Vlad responds, “I never once considered it”.

“Well, you could. You did once, you could again”, Danny’s got a suspicion that his actions towards the older halfa have been pushing him further into the role of villain. After all, future Vlad was free of good guy Danny. He was left alone, sure he also lost his powers and the chance at his mom; but maybe all he needed was a friendly, not combative, push in the right direction. Maybe this little trip was a backhanded way off asking for exactly that. He had pretty well asked to not be enemies for a while, a vacation from being foes. And it’s not like Danny couldn’t do that, sure Vlad has done way worse than his other foes, but he literally was their friend at least one day a year.

Vlad is flat out confused by that response, having never know himself to ever play a helpful role to anyone other than himself; especially not up to Daniel standards. Sure he’d fought beside Daniel before, but that had been part of a scheme, and he knew Daniel knew that now. Giving Daniel a quizzical glance, “when was this “once”? I know you would not make that up simply to make an honest man of me. There may be a lot between us, but lies aren’t one of them”. Vlad knows full well Daniel lies, and lies a lot, to pretty well everyone around him. But one thing all the tv shows get right, is that arch enemies know each other intimately well.

Danny knows Vlad’s right on that, there’s a good chance Vlad knows him better than his friends actually do; partly because of spying though. But this, this is something Danny never talks about; does a lot of thinking on it though. Chuckling at the man’s confusion, “it was after my family and friends died, and you lost your powers. I still remember your words, “ten years without ghost powers, gave me the chance to see what a fool I had been”, though I still wouldn’t have called you a “good guy”. Just willing to do the right thing, even when presented with the, far easier to do, bad option”.

Vlad coughs and does have a hard time not jerking the steering wheel, he has no knowledge of this but he knows Daniel wouldn’t make something like anyone dying up. “I think an explanation might be in order for that”, glancing at Daniel as he chuckles with a bit of a frown. He shakes his head, “I’m not sure it really can be. Time travel and literally cheating the timestream makes things complicated. Simply put, they were supposed to die when I was fourteen. You would have adopted me but in a misguided attempt to make me happy, you tore out my humanity. As you told me, “no more human emotions to drag you down””.

Danny pauses as Vlad just pulls over on the side of the road, “Daniel, that seems like an extreme plan even for me. While I’m not about to claim to possess having limits I won’t cross, that is a bit much”. Danny shrugs, “you were the one who told me what you did, it’s completely possible you lied or omitted stuff. One thing I know you omitted was how exactly my human half died. You separated my human from my ghost basically. And I the same to you. You then told me our ghost halfs fused into one but that was a lie, found out later that my ghost half had actually basically absorbed or consumed yours. Taking all your power and destroying Plasmius. And this is were I mention my ghost half went pretty well insane”. Vlad doesn’t even attempt to cover up his shock as Danny shakes his head and chuckles hollowly, “turns out removing someone humanity, which even ghosts have, effectively obliterates their morals and renders them callous”.

Vlad blinks a bit realising Daniel’s basically saying he became evil, that Vlad had actually successfully corrupted the young halfa once. At one point in time, he might have felt pride over that, but now he likes Daniel the way he is. He actually doesn’t really want to know what actually gave him the idea or even desire to tear out anyone’s humanity. “Callous is never something I’ve wanted you to be. Use your powers for personal gain and status, sure; but I never looked to make you cold or uncaring”, Vlad feels almost bad at Daniel seeming slightly surprised at that.

Danny turns to Vlad, “sometimes I wonder. But I can read honesty on you pretty damn easily. Can’t say I’m too surprised though, you may not be good but you’re not evil. Dan made that so clear”, shaking his head and closing his eyes, “meeting real evil makes it easy to tell when someone isn’t evil”.

Vlad’s genuinely startled that Daniel doesn’t actually view him as evil, “so you do not believe me a monster?”. Daniel shakes his head almost aggressively, “no, just morally corrupt and selfish”.

Danny’s torn between pride and guilt at the small smile he catches on the old man’s face. It’s officially obvious to Danny that he’s sort of pushed Vlad into the role of a villain. That the way Vlad thought he was viewed likely made him view himself that way, thus accepting more and more bad behaviour. Thinking that was what was expected of him, so why bother changing? Vlad turns back to him, “then what must this “Dan”, whom I’ve never heard of, have done for you to call him evil. When, with all I’ve done, you won’t deem me such?”.

Vlad still has the car parked, as he’s sure this man must have done something truly bad. Maybe crossed a line that even Vlad wouldn’t, and Vlad can only think of a handful he wouldn’t cross. “Dan is short for Danny or Daniel. Dan Phantom. He’s what became of that callous full ghost me. I met him ten years after the whole humanity torn out thing, by time travelling into the future. See the Observants wanted me destroyed before my family and whatnot died, so that me getting my humanity torn out would never happen. Had to flee into the future to avoid that”. Now Vlad is both impressed and shocked, though he hides it well, “they only get involved in rather extreme things. They’ve never even meddled with my affairs”.

Danny nods, “indeed and Dan earned it. Their description of him, as I was told, was “the most evil and powerful ghost to ever exist”. And he lived up to that, by killing off nearly all of humanity and ghosts, destroying every city and lair, and then going back in time to make sure my family and friends died so I would become him. Eventually, he would have killed and destroyed everything”.

Vlad stares at him, he knew full well Daniel was more than just powerful but for him to cross that line, one that Vlad himself wouldn’t even consider getting close to, was one part baffling and one part horrifying. Add in mortifying, since Vlad was, in a sense, responsible. He more than just corrupted Daniel, he made a literal monster.

Vlad opts to just drive, focusing on the road rather than his brain trying to picture Daniel actually killing someone. But then blinking with genuine worry at realising Daniel probably did witness himself killing, “to know you could be capable of that and actually witnessing it, must have been more than just unpleasant”. Daniel nods, “to say traumatising would be putting it mildly. But the warning and message was damn clear, plus I made an amazing friend out of ClockWork due to it”. Vlad can’t help but smirk at that, he did wonder exactly how Daniel had met the enigmatic time ghost. Vlad’s rather glad life hasn’t tried to teach him “lessons” in such a manner, but judging by how he’s ended up, he probably could have used them. Shaking his head a bit sadly, “well, at least that unpleasant “message” is behind you. You being good to a fault, unbearably so at times, makes much more sense”.

Danny sighs, honestly wishing it actually was behind him, “Dan exists outside of time and could very well escape his prison and show up, in the here and now. I couldn’t beat him last time and he couldn’t kill me then. Now he could, and would”. Vlad jerks the wheel a bit, making his displeasure and worry very palpable to Danny before he even responds, “if you didn’t defeat him, then how? And I don’t want the world destroyed, arch enemies or not, I would help you fight him”. Danny already knows that but he also knows Vlad is the weaker halfa, “ClockWork cheated and it’s my fight to fight”.

“You are a self-sacrificial idiot”

“We’ve all got our downfalls. Mine gets me hurt a lot, yours get others hurt. I think I prefer mine”, Danny doesn’t care what Vlad thinks, what he does hurts people; including people Vlad doesn’t want to get hurt.

The two settle back into silence, not quite as comfortable but more in each other's bubbles. Until Vlad turns the car intangible and invisible, careening off into some trees. Danny raises an eyebrow, “so this is a sneaky place is it? Guess I shouldn’t be surprised. Weird trees though”. Vlad thought the same when he first spotted the faintly glowing trees, it’s why he checked this place out. And asking around the nearby town afterwards had revealed that no one else could see the glow; it seemed to be a ghost thing. Vlad nods, “closer to restricted than sneaky. Restricted in a ghosts only kind of way, half ghosts included”.

“Well, that explains why you invited me”, Danny gives a goofy grin to show he’s making a bit of a joke. He knew full well that Vlad didn’t hate him, or even dislike him. If it wasn’t for the enemies thing, and Vlad’s general behaviour, they’d probably be friends. Danny can’t even say he hates Vlad, though dislike is a bit of an understatement. Well, at least it was. Vlad could very well have invited any ghost, but it’s pretty obvious to Danny that Vlad views them beneath him or as lackies. Plus, Vlad wasn’t exactly well-liked by any ghost; even the ones that worked for him. His lack of getting invited to any Christmas truce parties made that extremely obvious. No friends in the ghost zone and no friends in the human realm, Danny can’t help but find that a lonely thing.

“I never do anything with such simple reason, Daniel. As you know”, Vlad can tell by Daniels smirk that he does indeed know. Vlad Parks the car far enough away to not disturb the place, he doesn’t even have to tell Daniel to get out; as both of them phase out the doors, neither bothering with actually opening them. That’s one thing he has noticed as he’d watched Daniel, he’s incredibly liberal and comfortable with his powers. They really are part of him as a person, not just tools like they are for Vlad. If Vlad’s honest, Daniel is much more of a ghost that he is. And seeing that made him think, think about how he viewed himself as a halfa. Realising he didn’t really see himself as half ghost, rather a human with ghost powers at his disposal.

Vlad walks through the barrier and pushes aside some of the tall grass, thoroughly amused at Daniel’s awareness of the barrier and then his barely hidden wonder.

Danny speaks as he takes in the black rock hot springs, neon green water that fizzes with the steam coming off a pale green and purple. Watching the colours swirl together, “wow Vlad, you aren’t capable of basic are you?”. Even if he’s bugging the guy, the place is pretty and smells nice. However, swimming trunks was not something he packed; and you can’t really do hot springs without actually getting in. Vlad apparently knew he wouldn’t though, as a pair identical to the ones he already owns smacks him in the face. Turning his head to Vlad and not even bothering to remove the offending garment, “see this, this is why you get called a creep”.

Danny’s at first very concerned that Vlad doesn’t even appear to be holding his own swimwear, but then shakes his head, “there’s no way swim trunks are comfortable under dress pants”. Vlad shrugs as he tosses his clothing over a tree branch. Danny shakes his head before invisibly slipping behind a tree to change. Sticking his head back around, he can’t help but smirk and raise an eyebrow at Vlad; who’s sitting in the water with his head and arms laying on the edge, eyes closed and blatantly relaxed. Danny tries to think of any time he’s actually seen the prideful man not stiff or without proper posture. At one time Danny would have thought it was just part of the rich act or his pride, but he knew now that it was part of Vlad’s self-worth.

Dipping his fingers in and promptly realising why Vlad, or any ghost, would want to come here. It has an intensely relaxing and soothing feel, the thickness was like that of liquified comfy blankets, combined with the smell of lavender and eucalyptus. Slipping in as he decides it’s definitely safe to do so, quickly feeling any stiffness or sore bruising pretty well disappearing, “healing springs? That’s a hell of a find Vladdie”. It was like aromatherapy combined with fine bath oils, all contained in a stone hot tub.

Vlad nods, he pretty well lounged around here like a cat for well over a month when he first found it. Why wouldn’t he? He didn’t exactly have anywhere to go or anyone to see. Even after that he rarely stayed away long, until the pull of wealth and seeing Maddie’s name in a paper. “This place was basically my haunt back in the day, you can see why. No one else really comes here though and while ghosts are quite content with their solitary lairs, I’m more of a human”.

Danny definitely gets why, though it’s clear this place wasn’t ever anyone’s lair. Which he does find kind of odd with how nice it is, “what does no ghost know of this? And never would have taken you for speeding you time or days lounging. Now fencing I could see”. Vlad laughs lightly, “to ghosts it’s just like a regular hot tub, like the ones in the ghost zone. This effect is a halfa thing and what do you take me for? Lex Luther?”. Danny makes a mock shocked expression, “did you just make a genuine joke? And you’re hardly different. Filthy rich philanthropist, owning massive corporations, intelligent, scheming, overly well dressed, engineering gadgets. And that’s not even mentioning being the arch enemy of an overpowered golden boy who lives the double life of an average jo; who’s two forms look borderline identical. Seriously, people are blind”.

Vlad chuckles, Daniel’s got a point there, “I’m not powerless though. And world domination is not in any of my playbooks. Though yeah, it’s rather absurd none have figured you out. But even I didn’t consider Phantom being a halfa when we first met, and I am one. Even with the near identical look and showing up at the same time”. Daniel nods but scrunches up his eyebrows, as he submerges everything but his neck and head, which he leans back against the stone, “like I said, you’re not really evil and I guess. You said you were more of a human earlier, do you not really view yourself half and half?”.

“Never did. My powers were, and are, just tools at my disposal. Like owning a gun, just better”, Danny’s a little thrown by that, a gun was something separate for your own body. It didn’t change your genetics and didn’t give you a new body. To Danny, seeing himself as equally both was just obvious. “Well, that’s something else we differ on. Half and half is what I am. My powers are simply me, not tools. Phantoms me, not some anonymous mask I can wear. Though I guess my lifestyle does favour my more ghostly activities”.

Now it’s Vlad’s turn to be a bit surprised, “could be because you’ve basically grown up this way. I already had life figured out and was grown, this threw a wrench in everything. But I can say leaning more ghost makes very little sense to me, you were still human first”. Vlad’s not sure what to make of Daniel’s loose shrug, “I viewed my self equal parts from the beginning really. Though my life didn’t start being more ghostly until I plopped myself into the role of Amity’s protector/ghost fighter. What I do is simply what I’m meant to do, just so happens to be a more ghost thing to do”, shrugging again, “you got a wrench, I got gift wrapped purpose”.

“I guess you were meant to be a halfa, I just stumbled on it”, Danny gets why Vlad’s frowning a bit, Danny viewing himself as both is pretty well proof of how comfortable and ok with what he is, that he is. Vlad’s lack of that shows he’s really not, he’s used to it rather than content with it. And Danny’s seen how Vlad would really be better off without it, Danny knows that he personally wouldn’t be. But he does chuckle a little, “I’m the one who stumbled on it, literally. You face planted”. Vlad shoves Danny’s head into the water, “can you ever resist a death joke?”.

Danny just goes with it and lays down under the water, “nope. It’s my hero trope”, chuckling at the confusion on Vlad’s face, “what? You can’t breathe underwater? Or have you just never tried”. Flat out laughing at Vlad scrunching up his eyebrows, making it very clear that he didn’t even know this was possible. Laughing even more as Vlad just ducks under and goes to sit on the bottom of one of the deeper sections.

Vlad’s not sure if he’s more impressed or annoyed that Daniel knew something about being a halfa that he did not, Vlad was supposed to be the experienced teacher here, well if Daniel had ever let him teach anyway. Rolling his eyes at Daniel, “why would I ever intentionally try something like this? We have lungs, this shouldn’t work”. Vlad’s not sure what about that is so funny to Daniel, “we’re literal schrodingers boys! Dead and alive! Impossible by our very nature!”. Vlad blinks, have never really thought of it that way at all, “well then”.

Danny underwater stargazes while Vlad contemplates just what other weirdness they could be capable of, and just how many Daniel had discovered. Both eventually falling asleep.

Danny’s not exactly surprised he’s the first to wake up, getting out of the water and stretching. Looking down at his chest to promptly realise that the water didn’t just have a healing feeling, as all the bruising on his chest is gone way quicker than it should have. “Huh, well this could come in very handy next time I get mauled by Zone knows what... or who”, chuckling before zipping back to Vlad’s car and phasing out some of his snacks.

And munching on cheezies is how Vlad finds him, when he pokes his head back out of the water. “Well, your tastes sure haven’t grown up. I’d offer up some octopops but I doubt you’d appreciate them”. Judging by Daniel’s confusion Vlad’s guess is quite right. Though Vlad does relent and eat some of the offered fake cheese food, much to Daniel’s amusement.

The two spend most of the day in the hot spring again, Danny fully gets how someone, or some halfa really, could just stay here. It’s lazy, comfortable and all around pleasant; it’s clear that affect it both physical and mental. And it’s not hard to admit that Danny really did and does need a break from the near constant action of his daily life. Even if he knows full well he’d eventually get antsy and paranoid if he stayed too long, he’s a protector by nature and nothing about this protected anyone.

Tilting his head back and snuggling into the grove of one of the rocks, “that still doesn’t beat flying a spaceship”. Vlad shakes his head, “you’re practically insulting yourself but not just going to university already”. Danny simply shrugs, higher education was a bit of a status symbol so Danny won’t claim to be surprised that Vlad holds value in it, “eh, I’ve got more important things to do than get some degree or human job. Phantom comes first, and jobs don’t really care for someone who runs off constantly or is bandaged up eighty percent of the time”.

At one point Vlad would have chalked Daniel’s disregard for education up to being a child, but he wasn’t anymore and he was mature beyond his years. Vlad also knows this disregard doesn’t actually help him in life, he’s seen how unhappy and unpleasant the Fenton parents are over it; and he knows Daniel’s aware of it too. “Your family mourns over that, you know”, Daniel’s slow nod only further shows he's aware of it.

The two sat silent for a while, Danny kicking lazily at the water finding it hard to really feel sad about much of anything here. The effect was soothing but people are meant to feel bad emotions sometimes, officially making him decide that he wouldn’t want to just stay here prolongedly. Flicking his eyes back over the Vlad as he talks, “my bridge to her, to Maddie, is pretty well butchered, isn’t it?”. Danny’s a bit shocked, wondering if Vlad’s really even considering letting go of her. “Oh yeah, though mine might be too. Too many lies and one too many let downs”, Vlad’s frown makes it clear he hasn’t really let go.

“That’s something I’d rather not have in common. Suffering from similar strife. But I guess that’s the past”, Vlad can tell that Daniel has little to no intention of telling his family. Resting his elbows on his knees, “you’re alone in Amity now, aren’t you?”. Daniel simply shrugs, “pretty well yeah, they’ll be back of course”.

“Don’t let yourself be alone, you won’t like where you end up”, Danny looks at Vlad curiously, with a hint of sadness. All his comments about Vlad being a lonely man were supposed to just be jokes, clearly, they were a little too true. “Being close to a hero is a dangerous thing, ain’t fair to drag other people into my life. So I’ll content myself with those who know”.

Vlad points at him, “eventually they’ll be gone. I know you’re aware of halfa life spans”. Vlad’s also pretty sure it’s far more dangerous to be close to the stories “villain”, regardless of how evil or not the “hero” thought them to be. “You mean half-life spans? Yes. But there’s no way other people aren’t going to find out accidentally over the years”, sure probability is on Daniel’s side here but Vlad’s far more aware of the ineptitude of people, especially normal people. “If you’re not around anyone then no one likely will”, that’s one thing Vlad will give Daniel, the boy is terrifyingly good at keeping his secrets.

Danny hates that he’s kind of got a point on that, the only person who’s found out without actually witnessing his accident is Jazz; and she only knows because she wouldn’t stop hounding him. No reason for someone who’s not already close to him to do that. Though Danny scrunches his eyebrows, “I’m not sure why you care. It’s not like they just recently left”.

“I do care about you Daniel, I just had no reason to voice it before. You figure out things on your own well enough but this time I can’t be assured you will. Mentoring you was something I was going to do, whether we wound up friend or foe”, Danny’s not quite sure what to make of that. Vlad trying to give him “advice” wasn’t out of the norm, heck it was commonplace. But for it to not be rather bad or “villainous” advice, was a bit strange. Everyone has their moments he guesses, but what really gets him is Vlad sounding like he needs to say this now, “why now then? You very well could have shown up on my doorstep two years ago”. Danny kind of wishes he had, because this, this screams making amends now and turning over a new leaf maybe. Sure, it’s entirely possible Vlad might just go back to his ways after they get back, but he doesn’t think Vlad could possibly be that cold. Cold enough to disregard friendly bonding, especially with the reinforcement of being the only members of an entire species. Even if there’s also Dani, but she was a fair bit different from them. Never fully human, no traditional family, and pretty well free. And genetically she wasn’t a full person, none the less a full halfa; she was her own unique thing. Like Danny, she could be content being a one and only, Vlad clearly couldn’t.

Danny gets jolted out of his thoughts by Vlad, “I’m dying, Daniel. Messed up in the lab, messed up my bodies ectoplasm production. Permanently corrupted it, like I’ve sort of corrupted everything else”. Danny’s not sure what to say for a couple of seconds, Vlad must have more than just messed up to make something immortal no longer so. Vlad confirms that as he continues speaking, “us halfas, our ectoplasm and blood’s pretty unique. Can’t be truly replicated and doesn’t occur naturally”. Danny, speaking quietly, “I’d guess that’s why you wanted to come here, but the “permanent” tells me you knew this wouldn’t fix you”. Vlad’s nod is all the confirmation he needs, and that makes Danny realise this wasn’t him making amends, but rather him making peace to the only person who would actually hear it. Danny’s no fool, his mom wouldn’t have even considered talking like they’ve been and really, what would he have to say to her? He’d have to reveal himself for her to really understand, making that the focus of discussion and risking Danny’s secret too. Even if they were archenemies, there was an inherent respect for secret identities and Danny knows Vlad wouldn’t risk his happiness or safety in such a manner.

Like usual Daniel knows Vlad’s ways well, though Vlad doesn't really plan to admit that he didn’t look very hard to fix himself. After he’d give up or lost so much, death was a rather easy escape to accept. There was a sort of freedom to death after all, “I guess I didn’t exactly have any intention of leaving here. Couldn’t think of a more comfortable way to go”. No fights, no schemes, no business ventures, no mansion walls or fancy suits telling the tale of his, probably bad, life choices. Instead just healing waters to ease his mind and aged body, and soothing scents to ease his bruised and battered heart.

“So...you wanted a death buddy. That’s beyond depressing, Vladdie. And yet, oddly comical”, of course, Danny will stick around however long at this point, for Vlad’s final and permanent vacation. Though he’s by no means pleased or happy about this, but this place makes the sadness and loss of it so much less pungent. And the irony of two half-dead guys chilling in a neon green hot spring while one slowly becomes more dead, adds an air of humour; especially to a guy who’s a perpetual walking dead joke.

But then an idea strikes him as he looks curiously at his own veins, flicking his eyes up to the peaceful man with his eyes closed and the hint of a smile. He’s clearly accepted this, so Danny’s not sure if voicing his idea is a good thing. But Danny will be damned if he doesn’t at least attempt to save pretty well everyone, and that right there is one of his faults, “you could, just get exchange transfusions from me. I am a universal donor after all, if you exclude having ectoplasm, but that’s half the point here. Sure, it’d have to be a constant thing if your brutalisation of your body is so permanent”.

“That, that would probably work actually, and you really would do that, wouldn’t you? But I’m going to have to decline. I’ve put too many complications into your life already”, Vlad probably would have stumbled onto this idea himself, if he had bothered. But he was just done, done with all the wanting and taking from everyone. It just hurt him more, and them too; though he didn’t care about that nearly as much. Vlad can easily read the disappointment and determination, overshadowed by understanding, on Daniel’s face. If anyone could understand not wanting to burden someone else, it was the too-heroic-for-his-own-damn-good halfa. “Why’d you have to wait till now to follow me in being a self-sacrificial idiot”, Vlad’s not really being self-sacrificial, and he’s sure Daniel knows that. This, like everything else he’s ever done, is selfish. But he knows Daniel will somehow find a way to blame himself if he doesn’t make that clear, “it’s more that I’ve just given up. On all of it”.

“Well, I don’t do giving up”, and the Vlad Danny meet years ago didn’t give up either. But Danny knows how time can change you or beat you down, better than most do. He’s seen himself break after all, and Vlad tried to help him in his twisted and rather villainous way. Vlad didn’t exactly tend to come up with plans that actually helped people. But doing exactly that was a large part of Danny’s life, so he’ll save this damn frootloop. Though Danny doesn’t expect this will make Vlad any better of a person, maybe less actively a villain, but still morally corrupt.

No one says anything for a bit until Daniel pokes Vlad in the arm, “how about you do it anyway, come to stay in Amity, see if I can show you something new”. Vlad’s not sure whether to curse or appreciate Daniel’s determination and hero-complex. Vlad’s pretty sure he’ll wind up abusing this, or maybe he won’t; he doesn’t know. Though this does give Daniel something to lord over his head, even if he knows Daniel hasn’t and wouldn’t even consider that. He’ll literally need Daniel to survive, the ways that could be abused is utterly insane. And Vlad’s not really sure he even wants the surviving part.

The two stare at each other for a while, Danny’s got determination in spades and will damn well take on every extra “complication”, and if he has to bore mental holes through Vlad’s head to prove it, he damn well will. Vlad sighs, “alright Daniel. You always know the right things to say nowadays don’t you?”. Danny only smiles loosely at the burnt out man heading to a not so burnt out future. Second chances, it would seem, were a key component to life; or half-life in this case.

End.

#danny phantom #phandom #phanniemay #phanniemay19 #vlad plasmius #vlad master #danny fenton #suicidal #mentions of dan #mentions of death #terminal illness #sad #phantomphangphucker #have a fic suck my dick #fan fic #phan phic #phan phicc #vlad fucked himself up #vacation

52 notes · View notes

shianhygge-imagines · 6 years

Text

{The Difference} Chapter 6: Geralt Has Stepped Out [A Witcher Story]

|Masterlist Link|

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

Jazz, finally finished her stew. And everyone in the guest room seemed to be glad for it. The girl in their opinion, bar Uma’s since he was incapable of having one yet, was a monster in her own right. After calming down from her happy high… and hugging away any and all future hugging discomforts from Avallac’h… Jazz had taken a glance at her bowl of stew and frowned before taking a peek at the other two bowls in the room… and forced Todd and Gav to trade her the vegetables in their bowls for the meat in hers. Granted, Jazz liked meat, and she definitely wasn’t allergic to it, but she did prefer more vegetables… So she harassed Gav and Todd to give her theirs. And only once she was satisfied, was when everyone was allowed to eat.

A recap of the entire time that Jazz was trying to trade her meat for vegetables consisted of this:

“No. You’re not getting any of my vegetables!” Todd denied with a firm shake of his head, arms crossed and green eyes set in a firm stare at Jazz’s pout. “Normally people don’t want to eat their vegetables! Why the bloody hell do you want so many vegetables?” The question came out as a growl, going along with the image of a macho man that he presented, much to Jazz’s displeasure.

By her side, Uma groaned, and Jazz turned to the cursed Aen Elle immediately, “Right, Uma? You agree. I should get some more vegetables!”

“You got enough from Gav!” Todd insisted, pointed at the taller male, who was sitting in the corner and stuffing his face with the, now, mostly meat filled stew.

Gav looked up, a dribble of stew slowly dripping down the corner of his mouth, “Wot? ‘Ah hate veg’tables!” Todd only sighed, slamming a hand to his forehead for the near fifth time that day.

“Come on, Todd! Just a few pieces!” Jazz beamed a wide smile, teeth and all at the green eyed man.

With a roll of his eyes, Todd finally gave in and held out his bowl. “Fine.”

“YES!”

Surprisingly, Jazz took to feeding Uma some of her food and water, gently spooning small scoops of vegetables for Uma to eat. Even more surprising was that Uma willingly eat the food being offered, that spark of sentience within his eyes returning. But Jazz didn’t notice, too intent on the food, and not dropping anything on Uma.

And it was while Jazz was cleaning the delicious remains from the bottom of the bowl that the Baron’s men barged into the guest room and demanded that she see the Baron immediately. Grumbling, Jazz stood from her seat, careful not to knock Uma down, before slipping on the leather boots and greaves that Gav bought for her. The two guards, however, also noticed that Uma was in the room, and proceeded to stomp into the room and drag the cursed man kicking and screaming from his seat.

“UMAAAA! UMA! UMAAAMAMAMAMA!!!!” the cursed elf screamed, struggling against the soldiers.

“LET HIM GO!” Jazz yelled, dropping her wooden bowl on the floor to tackle one of the soldiers away from Uma and attempt to beat the armored man with her metal spoon.

“BLOODY HELLS, GIRL! LET GO!” The soldier attempted to pry Jazz off of his waist forcefully. “LET GO OR YOU’LL BE SORRY!”

Uma, meanwhile, had managed to escape the soldier’s hold, and ran out the door. Jazz, still furiously trying to jab a spoon at the man’s armor, yelled after her new friend, “RUN, UMA!”

Also meanwhile, Todd and Gav were attempting to pry the smaller woman off of their fellow soldier….

[twenty minutes later…]

Jazz stood in the middle of the Baron’s office, rocking back and forth on her feet sporting a satisfied smirk at the mess behind her. The Baron, however, glowered at his men, firmly disappointed at their capabilities. “How the hell did you four get so ploughing banged up?”

The men only groaned in pain from their spots in the back of the room. Jazz had resisted heavily, not liking being manhandled, but also not liking that they treated Uma so unfairly. The advantage that she had over the men was that she dressed lightly. With no heavy armor to weigh her down, Jazz had full mobility, maneuvering around the men, and aiming punches in the cracks of their armor. It took several good minutes before Jazz was able to subdue the men, being careful with Todd and Gav, but giving the other two men rougher treatment, going so far as to slam her forearms over the sides of the head to discombobulate them. It was why those two men, in particular, were on the floor, unable to stand up.

“S-she’s a tricky one, sir....” Todd answered, an uncharacteristic stutter slipping through at the Baron’s unimpressed expression.

Philip Strenger snorted, and waved his arm, dismissing the defeated soldiers from the room, “Away with you lot.” The Baron didn’t speak further, waiting for the men to clear the room first, “So, girl. What business do you have searching for Geralt?” He asked this as he leaned back to sit on the edge of his desk, arms crossed and meaning business.

“I’m looking for a way home.” Jazz admitted, her brown eyes decidedly honest, though there were moments where she blew upward to get a stray strand of hair out of her face.

“That taciturn approach won’t work with me, Jazz.” The Baron shook his head at Jazz’s use of the same approach with Todd and Gav. “I need more information if I’m going to tell you where Geralt is. So you better start explaining.”

The woman frowned the slightest bit, not wanting to divulge too much information. With a sigh, Jazz closed her eyes and pressed her lips together. When brown eyes opened once more, Jazz spoke in a resigned tone. “I’m from a place further than past the Blue Mountains. Where I live, I can’t get to simply by horse or walking… not even a boat could help.” Her eyes met the Baron’s, “You understand, right? I need a wielder of magic in order to help me. Even then, I’m not sure if a normal sorceress is strong enough to send me home. That’s why I need to find Geralt, so that he can lead me to someone who can.”

“Your home… if it’s so far away, then how did you get here in the first place? And how in blazes name, did you know to look for Geralt of Rivia? Out of all the witchers you could look for, why Geralt.” The Baron was much smarter than he was given credit, which meant that Jazz had to dance around the questions again.

“I was taken, kidnapped, if you want to call it that, from my home.” Jazz started, trying to play up the sympathetic damsel card. “I was living away from home at the time. At the university dormitory, when I was taken.” From the softening of the Baron’s eyes, Jazz could tell that her ploy had worked. “I woke up in some abandoned barn a ways from White Orchard. That’s where I heard about The White Wolf.” A sheepish smile, “I uh, may have ran into some trouble there when I was mistaken for a fellow Rivian. I had asked how much a room in the inn was and was, well… tossed out on my ass.”

“Now, lass, you’re to tell me why you have a Witcher’s medallion around your neck.” The Baron stared at the face of the griffin intently. “From the look in your eyes, you’re not a witcher.” Jazz stayed silent, not denying that she wasn’t in fact, a witcher. “Then how did you get it?”

Jazz made a sour face, not really wanting to tell the Baron. If things went bad here, then it would be very easy to get into contact with any traveling militia of witch hunters. “I stole it from a group of individuals who had hunted down a Witcher of the Griffin School. The medallion is another reason I need to find this, Geralt of Rivia. I felt that at witcher should be in possession of the medallion.” Not some 21 year old gamer girl that’s from another world.

“Well you’re out of luck. Geralt left the day the guards found you.” Strenger informed me, heaving a sigh and shrugging a shoulder.

The much smaller girl gaped at the rotund man. “I-I’m sorry.. What?” The Baron gave a look that clearly stated, you heard me, girl.And Jazz threw her hands up to hold her head in horror. Holy shit! He left already? THOSE SIX EXTRA DAYS, DAMMIT! Jazz wanted to curse the leshen, but as much as she wanted to, she knew she couldn’t. Had the leshen not appeared when it did, then a worse fate might have befallen Jazz. If I had to choose between two evils, I’d rather not choose at all… huh?

By this point, Jazz had started to pace vigorously in front of the Baron, muttering under her breath and making wild hand gestures. The Baron, only sat back and watched, letting the young woman vent her frustrations. Still, however, the scene was rather amusing to look at. And after a short while of pacing, Jazz abruptly stopped, turning her head so fast that it nearly gave the Baron whiplash. “Do you know if and when he’s returning?”

The Baron shrugged, a shake of his head, “He wouldn’t say. Said that he had to go to Oxenfurt and Novigrad for some business. But knowing him…” The Baron paused with a sympathetic expression. “Could take a week, maybe even a month before he’s back.”

Jazz slumped over, disappoint evident on her face, lips pulled taut, brows scrunched, and eyes narrowed. But she wasn’t surprised. No. She’d played as Geralt enough times to know that nothing would ever be done in a timely manner. Each person that he does to for help would ask him for a favor. That favor could easily turn into two favors, and so on and so forth. And she didn’t particularly want to travel to anywhere on the Continent without a companion. No choice but to ask to stay in Crow’s Perch. Geralt has to come back for Uma eventually. Biting her lip, Jazz lay on the apprehension especially thick. “Would it be too much to ask if you have need for a worker?” At the raised brow the Baron sent her, Jazz clarified, “I don’t have anywhere to go. I could work for you, and pay for my stay by doing work as a cleaner, a chef, or maid.”

Strenger raised a hand to silence the rambling girl, a glint of amusement in his eyes. “What do you know about monsters, Jazz?”

Both brows raised high up. “I know more than the average man, Lord Strenger.” Which was true. She had the entire Witcher 3 bestiary memorized with some knowledge from the books. “Why?”

The Bloody Baron smirked and leaned forward, “I’ve in need of an advisor to help my men deal with those creatures. Geralt isn’t available, so I’d like to hire you.”

The 21 year old looked incredulous, “Me?” It felt like a terrible dream, “You want me to help your men fight against creatures?” Jazz glanced down at herself before looking the Baron directly in his eyes, all facades dropping as she pointed at herself, “I can barely hold a sword! What good am I?”

The older man only shrugged, “We could teach ya how to use a sword. And you’d be more of an alarm for my men. Warn them if anything evil is lurking when you’re on the road.”

I’m just a glorified radar. Jazz thought with alarm, but she still found herself nodding her head in agreement. “You have yourself a deal.” I just need to pay attention to the medallion… and learn how to brew decoctions or oils. Goddamn it, I NEED TO BREW OILS! Once outside of the Baron’s office, Jazz’s eyes went wide in alarm. I NEED TO BREW OILS AND DECOCTIONS! I ALMOST FAILED CHEMISTRY!

Jazz Amarante… amateur Witcher… This didn’t sound like a disaster at all...

#the witcher 3 #the witcher #the witcher imagines #geralt of rivia #shianhygge #shian imagines

10 notes · View notes

shirtlesssammy · 7 years

Text

Abandon All Hope...: 5x10 Recap

Then:

Jo and Ellen! Whaaaa.

Now:

We open to Generic City, USA, where a fancy man in a fancy suit exits a fancy car under a highway, and buries a small box in the gravel. “Mr. Pendleton, I presume.” Ah, the first words uttered by our previously only mentioned friend, Crowley. The man is surprised Crowley isn’t a woman, since this deal will be sealed with a kiss. Get over your homophobia dude. (Ha, Boris is typing this up as she watches and loves that Crowley calls him out on this as well. Oh Crowley, how we’ll miss you.) Crowley starts counting and the dude agrees, and our favorite King of the Cross Roads swoops in to seal the deal. (Boris is just going to pause right here and admit she doesn’t rewatch this episode. It’s too painful, so I didn't remember how long this kiss lasted. I know this isn’t romantic and my thoughts are way off topic, blah, blah, blah, but uh, yeah, I’m not going to settle for anything less than a kiss when Destiel does eventually exist.) Anyway, the crossroads deal is witnessed by our favorite flying badass in a trenchcoat. Castiel has tracked down Crowley.

Cas is on the phone with Dean, filling him in with the deal. Ah! This is the episode where Dean calls Cas Huggy Bear (ok, my half of the recap will just be be reminiscing on quotes, etc. that I didn’t realize happened in this episode.#sorrynotsorry) Crowley tells the man to enjoy his new wealth and that he’ll see him in 10 years. (crying noise, crying noise) Crowley takes off, with Cas in hot pursuit. Cas tracks him to a place that’s warded with Enochian magic, which means Cas can’t enter. Sam and Dean are on the case!

Later that night we’re introduced to Crowley’s domicile, and one of my very favorite musical quasi-introductions of a character ever on this show. Crowley’s making cocktails, watching Hitler videos, listening to the Main Ingredient’s “Everybody Plays the Fool”. (Fun fact: Cuba Gooding Sr. is the lead singer of this band.)

A woman buzzes the main gate. In distress, she asks for help with her car that’s broken down. The woman turns to the camera, and it’s Jo! The demon guards are condescending and gross, but Jo’s a professional hunter and plays with them long enough for Sam to stick a demon blade in each of them. Along with Dean, the trio head inside to find Crowley.

Once inside, Sam and Dean confront Crowley. They’re smart, but he’s Crowley, so their hidden devil’s trap idea doesn’t work. Instead, they’re captured by Crowley’s minions. He knows exactly why they’re visiting him: The Colt. He promptly shoots both his demons with the gun. Plot Twist!

Crowley leads the brothers deeper into his inner sanctum, informing them that without his rumors about the Colt, they wouldn’t have had the gun at all. He had it well hidden. Sam wonders why he would share it with them at all. “I want you to take this thing to Lucifer, and empty it into his face.” Crowley’s loathing for that particular fallen angel dates way back. Crowley understands that if Lucifer succeeds in destroying humankind, demons are next. “So what do you say if I give you this thing, and you go kill the devil?” IT’S A PLAN! What can possibly go wrong?! NOTHING. WE WIN. YAY! Crowley even tells them that Lucifer’s got an appointment in Carthage, MO.

Omg, Sam gets the Colt and then tries to shoot Crowley with it? Lol. Barely batting an eye, Crowley gets them some more ammunition. And tells them that they better not fuck this up, MORONS!

*Classic Drinking Alert*

Back at Bobby’s, Ellen and Jo are trying to upstage Cas with their drinking prowess. And fail.

After 5 shots, Cas admits, “I think I’m starting to feel something.”

Sam and Dean discuss the probability that this is all a trap. It is a trap, but the devil is in Missouri. Dean tells Sam that he can’t come --there’s no way they’re just going to hand his vessel over to the devil. Sam insists they’re doing this as a team. Dean relents.

Dean, resigned to his probable death in the morning, decides to give Jo his best “last night on Earth” line (you know, the one he gave Anna --AND CAS), but is shut down. Dude, you shouldn’t have sister-zoned her in season 2. Bobby calls everybody over for a group photo. (crying noise, crying noise)

The group enters Carthage, and Sam’s internal wi-fi is faulty.

I also really enjoy the set design’s juxtapositions sometimes:

The boys head off to check out a different part of town, while Jo, Ellen, and Cas (Boris asks: Why was he with them? Answer revealed two seconds later.) scope out the downtown. It looks empty, but Cas reveals that it’s full of reapers.

Cas informs them that reapers only gather like this in times of great catastrophe (and then mentions the Chicago fire. *Puts on Wisconsin Nerd Glasses* The Peshtigo fire, which happened on the same exact night, was actually a far more devastating fire.) Cas wanders off to find out why the reapers are there (man, I miss these creepy ass reapers. I mean, if April was anything like these weirdos, human!Cas would have avoided her at all costs, love of PB&J or not.)

Cas follows one reaper into a building, and is trapped by Lucifer (ok, fine, maybe he wouldn’t have avoided April).

Dean, Sam, Jo, and Ellen meet back up. Cas is missing.

Cas is currently trapped in a fire ring of holy oil. Ok, guys, things are about to get heavy, so take a quick breather:

Lucifer questions Cas’s loyalty to the Winchesters, and marvels at what a peculiar thing he is. You idiot, he’s just like you, only he rebelled against Heaven because he loves humanity too much. Cas notices Lucifer's vessel is failing. He tells Lucifer that he will not take Sam Winchester as his vessel; Cas won’t let him. Lucifer then points out how similar they are, but Cas will not serve Lucifer. He’ll die first. (crying noise, crying noise)

Meanwhile, back with Team Anti-Lucifer, Dean’s missing the angel. As they walk down the street, they’re greeted by Meg, and her faithful hell hounds. We still hate Meg at this point. Dean is particularly stressed about the invisible hell hounds. He shoots one, and they all take off running. Dean goes down and Jo goes back to protect him, but is attacked herself. SON OF A BITCH. This does not get easier on a rewatch. Dean scoops her up and they all run into a store. Sam and Dean secure the perimeter, while Ellen assesses her daughter’s wounds. GODDAMMIT, WHERE'S THE ANGEL!?! It’s bad, folks, and they all know it.

“It's gonna be alright,” Ellen murmurs over her mortally wounded daughter. Sam approaches Dean in despair but Dean bolsters him as he toils over an old radio. Meg has confirmed that Lucifer is in town. They can't give up now.

Back at Bobby's, his CB radio turns on. It's Dean. “Is everyone alright?” Bobby asks.

“No,” Dean tells him, shaking. “It's Jo. It's pretty bad.”

*Wraps Dean in a blanket*

Bobby can tell that Dean is breaking apart and he calmly prompts him for the next step. Dean tries to reign in his despair to refocus on the mission. “Tell me what you got,” Bobby asks.

They tell Bobby that Cas saw over a dozen reapers at least before he went missing.

Bobby: I don't like the sound of that.

Dean: Nobody likes the sound of that, Bobby. But what does that sound like?

Bobby thinks that Lucifer is in town to raise a new horseman. He's going to raise Death, the “pale horseman in the flesh.” (Me: takes some time out of HARD CORE MOURNING to chuckle at the use of “in the flesh” to describe an oft-skeletal being.) The last time Death walked the world was the great floods of Noah's time. While the team has been out on their mission, Bobby's been researching the town. He discovered an old battle ground on a farm dubbed the “Devil's Hell Hole” where hundreds of soldiers died. Hmm, sounds haunty.

Meanwhile, Lucifer's still smirking at Cas when Meg arrives with a report. The Winchesters are pinned down by their hell hound guards. Lucifer tells her to leave them for now and counsels her to have patience when she wishes for bloodier orders. Lucifer offers Cas the gift of time in his little fire circle. He can sit in his corner and think about Lucifer's offer to join his side.

Back at the shop, the boys go over their to-do list. They've got to sneak past several hell hounds, take Jo and Ellen to safety, and then make it out to the farm before Lucifer raises Death. Noooo problem. Sam heads off to find a stretcher for Jo when she stops them and begs them to be realistic. She can't move her legs, her guts are an ace bandage away from spilling to the floor... She's toast. Ellen begs her not to give up but Jo rattles off her own to-do list. They've got everything in the store they need to build a bomb. “Those are hell hounds out there. They've got all of our scents. Those bitches will never stop coming after you.” She tells them to head to the roof and she'll take them out when they storm the store.

Ellen begs her not to do this, not to give up. But Jo doesn't see it as giving up. She's a fighter and, “This might literally be your last chance to treat me like an adult. Might wanna take it?” Fucking KNIFE twist, Jo.

Ellen wrestles her tears under control. “You heard her,” she tells the boys. “Get to work.”

Enter a bomb making montage:

Dean lays the final wires and brings the trigger to Jo. “See you on the other side,” he says. “Probably sooner than later.”

“Make it later,” Jo smiles at him.

Dean presses one final kiss to Jo's forehead, then to her lips. It holds all the weight of what might have been, all the weight of her young life cut short. Ellen crouches as though to deliver her final goodbye. The two women exchange looks, their expressions alone writing volumes, and realization comes over Jo. Ellen doesn't plan on leaving her daughter. “Somebody's gotta let them in.” Ellen tells the boys to get moving. “Dean, kick it in the ass. Don't miss.”

FUCK.

The boys head out and Jo and Ellen listen to the hell hounds snarling outside. Ellen wipes the salt from the door, removes the chains, and turns the gas on in the bomb. She cradles Jo in her arms. “I will always love you,” she tells Jo.

Okay, listen. I often joke about needing to take a break from recapping for a bout of crying but I seriously needed to take a crying break. This scene gets me every damn time. The delicate way their relationship is portrayed in this episode, the beautiful potential they both held, followed by their horrific loss hurts so badly. This episode is so well written but fucking OUCH.

As the hell hounds approach the door, Jo dies in Ellen's arms. Tears fall and she just manages to reign in her sobs because there's work to do. The hell hounds burst in and stalk through the store. Ellen waits until one exhales into her face. “You can go straight back to Hell, you ugly bitch!”

The store blows and Dean and Sam run.

We cut to the farm where the townspeople have gathered. “Last words?” Sam asks.

“I think I'm good,” Dean says. Time to go out in a blaze of glory, just like Ellen and Jo.

Sam shouts at the Devil, interrupting his digging. Lucifer smirks at Sam. It's just the distraction they need because in the next moment, Dean has the Colt up against Lucifer's temple. He fires it and sends a bullet straight through his head.

Hooray! They did it! Hoor-- Oh wait, nope. Lucifer's eyes pop open. “Ow,” he seethes before jumping up again. He knocks Dean clear across the field and into the woods and turns to confront Sam, now alone. “There's only five things in all of creation that that gun can't kill, and I just happen to be one of them.”

Lucifer swiftly finishes his work, checks in to see if Sam's ready to say 'yes' yet, and tells him it'll happen in Detroit.

“I'm gonna rip your heart out,” Sam shouts.

“All that pent up rage?” Lucifer grins. “I'm gonna need it.”

Sam asks what Lucifer is up to. Well, you know. It's the basic plan. He ordered demons to possess every man in town, who then killed every woman and child. Lucifer tries to bond with Sam. “I was a son. A brother, like you, a younger brother, and I had an older brother who I loved. Idolized, in fact. And one day I went to him and I begged him to stand with me, and Michael—Michael turned on me. Called me a freak. A monster. And then he beat me down. All because I was different. Because I had a mind of my own. Tell me something, Sam. Any of this sound familiar?” Sam responds with the eyebrows of despair.

Lucifer performs the spell and as he does so the demon possessed townspeople fall dead. Dean and Sam look appalled. “What? They're just demons.”

Back in the fire circle, Castiel scowls at Meg. She's awfully happy and it's disconcerting. She thinks all the demons are headed to Heaven under the shelter of Lucifer's wing. Cas smiles at her. “Strange, because I heard a different theory from a demon named Crowley.” Cas uses the classic trick of exposition to distract Meg while he unscrews a girder telekinetically. The girder smacks into Meg and tosses her through the flaming circle and into Castiel's arms. He tries to smite her but she chuckles at him. Without Heaven's support he doesn't have enough mojo. Cas, being the out of the box thinker that he is, chucks her to the ground and uses her back as a bridge to cross the fire. Cas...you fucking BADASS.

Back at the farm, the ground shakes as Lucifer raises Death. Cas rescues Dean and Sam, flapping them to safety. “Well, hello Death,” Lucifer says with a smile.

In the wreckage of Bobby's kitchen which is still littered with empty shot glasses, Bobby watches the grim news coming out of Carthage. Dean and Sam look on as Bobby burns the photo they'd taken together.

Boris: I realize the symbolism and all, but why would you burn that photo!? Garrrr.

Tl:dr: I wasn’t around when this first aired, but I’m so curious what people thought of this episode. Like, in hindsight, it sucks that Jo and Ellen died. The show was supposed to end at the end of this season, but it didn’t. Their deaths were noble and heart wrenching, and would have meant so much more if there wasn’t 8+ more years of show to watch. Will we see AU Ellen and Jo in season 13?!

Quotes:

So, the Hardy Boys finally found me.

Rumors, innuendo, sent out on the grapevine.

I'm in sales, damn it!

Sam Winchester, having trust issues with a demon. Well, better late than never.

Tomorrow we hunt the devil. This is our last night on earth.

What a peculiar thing you are.

Hasn't Death been tromping all over the place? Hell, I've died several times myself.

Even as we speak, it’s….going….down.

You’re functioning..morons.

#spn recap #spn rewatch #spn 5x10 #abandon all hope #dean winchester #sam winchester #Ellen Harvell #Jo Harvell #bobby singer #castiel #cas #lucifer #meg masters #crowley

11 notes · View notes

comicteaparty · 5 years

Text

May 6th-May 12th, 2019 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party week long chat that occurred from May 6th, 2019 to May 12th, 2019. The chat focused on Chirault by Ally Rom Colthoff (Varethane).

Featured Comment:

Chat:

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- WEEK LONG BOOK CLUB START!

Hello and welcome everyone to Comic Tea Party’s Week Long Book Club~! This week we’ll be focusing on Chirault by Ally Rom Colthoff (Varethane)~! (http://chirault.sevensmith.net/)

You are free to read and comment about the comic all week at your own pace, so stop on by whenever it suits your schedule! Remember, though, that while we allow constructive criticism, our focus is to have fun and appreciate the comic. Below you will find four questions to get you started on the discussion. However, a new question will be posted and pinned everyday (between 12:01AM and 6AM PDT), so keep checking back for more! You have until May 12th to tell us all your wonderful thoughts! With that established, let’s get going on the reading and the chatting!

QUESTION 1. What has been your favorite scene in the comic so far? What specifically did you like about it?

QUESTION 2. What moment of discrimination featured in the story really caught your eye in its portrayal? How do you feel about the Mage Guild’s reason about disallowing Kyrion like Teeko and Trillia from using magic in the face of these themes of discrimination?

Kabocha

Aaaah, it's been a bit since I read Chirault, but... Basically any scene where Teeko's being awesome... Bonus points if she's using magic, like on this page! http://chirault.sevensmith.net/?comic_id=642 As far as discrimination... Hm. I think the fact that Ridriel was willing to go through so much to become a mage was pretty striking. While the mage's guild really doesn't like Kyrion using magic... Hmmm. That attitude doesn't seem to be a completely firm rule, especially as they learn more...~ http://chirault.sevensmith.net/?comic_id=1095 I need to re-read my copies of the books when I get back home, though.

Delphina

Yeah, I'm re-reading mine now too!

I had forgotten about the page where Astrid steals the car but I love it: http://chirault.sevensmith.net/?comic_id=780

Kabocha

Ahaha, Astrid's honestly one of my favorites in the mage guild. "I see no problems here!"

Delphina

Astrid is so great. Just like "yeah, I'm just gonna do what I want kthxbai"

RebelVampire

i mean tbf hes not wrong

about the car one at least

Kabocha

I'm also partial to Ridriel -- she worked so hard to fit in and become a mage.

Delphina

I'd say the most blatant scene of demon discrimination was early on where Jim used the spice that made Teeko go rabid so he could justify killing Kiran (http://chirault.sevensmith.net/?comic_id=142) and then later when Kiran deduces he killed her parents this way. (http://chirault.sevensmith.net/?comic_id=152) Everything else stays on the "I'm sorry, we can't actually welcome you into this part of society" brand of discrimination, but it showed that some people were definitely willing to get violent over demons and humans mixing in society.

RebelVampire

ridriel is such an interesting character because of that. i think largely because she doesnt seem to regret it all that much and accepts the sacrifices she had to make to achieve her dreams. and that just goes so against the grain of what youd expect to see

Delphina

Another classic Astrid page: http://chirault.sevensmith.net/?comic_id=813

varethane

I enjoy every Astrid-troll scene XD (there's a picture floating around out there of Astrid and Kiran facing down, with the troll-face shopped over Astrid's)

also: hi!!!

Kabocha

Hiii! I almost wonder if there's a list of all the time Astrid trolled people in the comic-- But I feel like, not counting the mini comic (and the last couple chapters), that'd be nearly every page Astrid shows up in.

RebelVampire

no no

theres those pages at the end where astrid is passed out for a bit(edited)

you cant be a troll when youre passed out probably

its very sad

varethane

I'm sure if there were a way, he would find it

duskglass

(1) i can't choose a single favourite scene but the part where teeko falls through bethan is really cool visually, and i love the eventual sibling bond between kiran & teeko (and also every scene with kiran & vivian)

duskglass

(2) a lot of the early scenes with kiran also come to mind, how he's clearly resigned to not being trusted by average villagers, and constantly has to verify his identity & prove he's not a threat. and the contrast between ridriel and trillia shows how limited their options were as kyrion who wanted to also be mages (ridriel giving up her kyrion nature vs trillia going rogue)

Desnik

ohh already digging the cool character design, I'm only one page in too

varethane

Woo!

duskglass

(also i found that trollface pic!!)

RebelVampire

QUESTION 3. At the moment, who is your favorite character? What about that character earns them this favor?

QUESTION 4. What moment of magic use in the story did you like the most? What about how it was used or illustrated did you like specifically?

€heshire777

Astrid, for being Astrid

Delphina

I do love Astrid, but all said and done, I think Bethan edges him out a little in the end. I love the fact that she was just a guard in a backwoods town, compared to almost every other big super-magical character who was trained by the Hunters or Mages Guild, but she's still like "well I can hold a spear now 60% of the time so heck yeah I wanna mess stuff up with y'all!"

Teeko's got a bit of that too and of course she's ADORABLE, but since her perspective is more childlike, she literally doesn't have context to know what she's walking into when she's like "YEAH LEMME SET IT ON FIRE" and it's more about not wanting to leave her found family than going toe to toe with corrupt mages.

varethane

fun story, both Bethan and Astrid are Ascended Extras (I'm pretty sure that's the name of the trope)

I needed faces to fill a space in the plot, and then decided I liked them too much to just leave them behind-- and, oh, look at that, coincidentally there's a new-character-shaped hole in the upcoming plot....

RebelVampire

gotta love those convenient and totally coincidental character shaped holes

RebelVampire

1) my fave scene is the one towards the end where Ridriel and Trillia are fighting John has to come and break their asses up. http://chirault.sevensmith.net/?comic_id=1230 i always remember just feeling such utter tension from this scene because of their relationship. like the stake of the world is at hand and yet a sibling rivalry is what stands between the world being fine and the world exploding into a thousands bits. and i frankly wasnt sure if trillia could convince ridriel that nah she was there to help. and i love that even after they agree to work together, ridriel and trillia are still basically like "i hate you" to each other. and then john is there to be stuck in the middle like the poor sap. 2) i have to go back to what i already mentioned with ridriel. she is a fascinating character because she didnt let discrimination stand in the way of her dreams. and while you could argue the path she takes is horrible, the nuance to her feelings regarding it really gets the mind thinking about the nature of sacrifice and what elements of ourselves we choose to define ourselves by. As for the Mage Guild's reasons, I mean...I get where they're coming from. But I think Rune sums it up correctly at the end when he says "my dudes its magic magic in general is dangerous"

3) Heryan. Heryan is the character I wish I could be because she is calm, collected, and knows how to play political games like a master. And she's also legitimately working towards a better future and kind of putting her money where he mouth is. She is also a badass mage. And these are all things i can get behind and I would read an entire spinoff about Heryan. A close second is Astrid our resident troll mage because he's just a nice dude and I like his broship with Kiran. He adds an element of silly yet mage skill that the main party needed in their life. Plus, I just really love Astrid's design. 4) I really liked that moment when Teeko was going to cast the fire spell but then had her mouth covered to stop her. Cause it really showed that in her childishness she doesn't always think her magic through and, like a child, will ignore the wise sentiments of her elders. And I just think overall it's use, or non-use in this case, really hammered in just how much of a child Teeko still is because her comprehension for the situations around her are not necessarily the highest.

Delphina

Yessss I would also read an entire spinoff about Heryan, she's so excellent

Delphina

And yeah, Bethan does have the feel of an Ascended Extra, and I think what appeals to me about that kind of protagonist in a high-stakes story is they have much more freedom and agency. Kiran had Specific Things He Had To Do, Teeko had nowhere else to go, so they have to advance the plot by default. But when characters aren't so directly involved and get to CHOOSE to advance the plot, they get to have personal reasons for doing so and can embody all those cool "what if"s that are closed off to the core cast.

In a situation where you have an easy out, why do you choose to do the hard thing? That kind of character is so interesting to me!

varethane

That's a neat way to look at it! I enjoyed writing Bethan a lot, though if there were one thing I could change, it'd be to explore her anger a bit more in the lategame parts of the story (because boy has she got some haha)

(also, Heryan has always been my favourite character to draw XD THAT HAIR)

Delphina

Having just finished rereading my print volumes, I think my favorite magic is when Rupa helps Teeko cast the silence spell on Trillia and Ridriel to get them to stop fighting. http://chirault.sevensmith.net/?comic_id=1358

varethane

the first truly useful spell.

RebelVampire

QUESTION 5. What has been your favorite illustration in the comic so far? What specifically about it do you like?

QUESTION 6. What was a moment where a character was confused about themselves or life situation that you enjoyed? What about it was relatable, and what are your thoughts on how the character overcame that obstacle?

RebelVampire

5) http://chirault.sevensmith.net/?comic_id=1118 probably this page cause thats not only some beautiful magic, but i love the shot choices. i also love how jagged the magic kind of is and the amount of ill call them tendrils. cause it really makes the process look horribly painful and its an illustration that really made me go "oh shit" cause rather than kiran's shoes, i could put myself in teeko's shoes and understand exactly the horrifying crap shes seeing right now. 6) This one I have to give to Kiran for the whole Viraigo debacle. I actually am not sure I'd call it relatable, because ppl dont generally find out the truth as Kiran did. Yet, its the fact that its not that relatable that I enjoy. Because that just makes it horrible and it also puts you in Kiran's shoes. Cause like Kiran, you're asking who is he, how responsible is he for this mess, etc. And so even if you can't imagine it happening ot you, it's still a complicated and really thought provoking situation to be in. As for how he overcame the obstacle, I really loved the subtlety and kind of nonchalant way he handled it, for lack of a better word. Like theres no definitive him declaring "yeah I'm not Viraigo or this other person I am Kiran." It's just him kind of wordlessly accepting who he is/choosing who he is. Cause it kind of also gives the impression hes still gonna have things to work out over the years to come. But that's very true to life cause rarely do people just snap their fingers and come to a full grasp of who they are.

varethane

Re: Kiran/Viraigo, I'm really glad that impression came through! I wanted to avoid giving a definitive answer to the question of WHO he truly is, because.... identity doesn't really work that way, in real life you don't get an easy one-and-done answer. So I didn't want to wrap up that particular issue with a neat little bow-- the important thing isn't the answer itself, but his acceptance of himself.

RebelVampire

QUESTION 7. Which characters do you enjoy seeing interact the most? What about their dynamic interests you?

QUESTION 8. Who do you feel went too far and why: the Mage Guild for creating their destructive items or Viraigo’s group for trying to restore the natural order? What do you think the story says about the balance between progression and the natural order?

Delphina

I really can't put much blame on anyone except the Mage Guild here (and Jenneth in particular for murderfying people and setting fire to the library when he couldn't get his way). It really seems like if Viraigo's group got what they asked for from the beginning, they would have been happy to just release the big ol' katamari of spirits and end the spell on Arya that was keeping her a creepy crumbly living corpse. Now releasing the spirits didn't WORK and that was pretty ugly, but they realized it right away and wanted to fix it.

Tree Lady/Ria was unnecessarily extra, though.

varethane

spirit katamari!!!!

RebelVampire

“murderfying”

i approve of this word usage

RebelVampire

7) too many. too many Ridriel and Trillia because they have i think the most interesting and contentious relationship in the comic. That you want them to overcome their past issues and get along cause both have good points on where theyre coming from. Heryan and Rune because theyre like a dynamic duo to me and really compliment each others personalities nicely. Rupa and Teeko cause Rupa is the nice older brother type who just wants everybody to be happy and is willing to show Teeko how to make ppl stfu. Astrid and Kiran cause its troll vs. grump man which makes for hilarious shenanigans and interesting dynamics since they have to work together but also approach life very differently. Yet, they can come together when it matters. Bethan and Vivian cause I like how Vivian is like "Bethan probably should wear a mask" and Bethan is like "meh" and its like this weird pseudo mom daughter relationship that i can get behind and find truly endearing.

8) Uh, the answer imo is both. They both went too far. This story is literally a series of ppl saying, "What's the worst that could happen?" and then through their lack for foresight the worst was really end the world bad shit. In regards to progression and natural order, I think the story has a lot to say just in general that extremisim is bad. You go too far in anyone direction and you wind up hurting something that's going to be missed. Thus why neither side really won, because they both tried too hard for the thing they wanted. Additionally, i think the story says a lot about how our ideas of what's best for the world may actually not be the best. Thus why we need rules, regulations, codes of ethics, and so forth. Because there's a point we just go too far and blow up the world.

varethane

(Vivian will be everyone's mom if they let her.)

re: 8, it's funny because I didn't set out to make that a major theme of the story, but it is something I definitely believe in-- the importance of checks and balances. So I find it really cool that it comes through!

RebelVampire

QUESTION 9. What sorts of art or story details have you noticed in the way the comic is crafted that you think deserves attention?

QUESTION 10. Do you feel the others were right to forgive Kiran for Viraigo’s actions? Do you think Ridriel and Trillia will forgive each other? Will Trillia forgive the Mage Guild? Overall, what insight can you gleam about the theme of forgiveness from the comic?

RebelVampire

9) All them landscape shots. Have you seen them? They are amazing and like...nature looks like nature. And nature stuff is hard to do and yet i always felt very immersed within each space. Plus, there were so many just like...far back shots where you get to take in the scenery, and i feel like so many moments do these really just set a tone and the atmosphere for stuff thats about to go down. 10) Yes I think the others were fine to forgive Kiran. Cause at the end of the day what's the point of punishing something they don't even remember doing? Especially when said person did their best to help and make the world a better place. Plus Kiran feels more like...not Viraigo anyway. Like imo Viraigo is dead and all thats left are aspects of himself. And these aspects, while part of Viraigo, just arent him. I think Ridriel and Trillia will forgive each other, but i think itd be a while before Trillia would forgive the mage guild. And even if Trillia did I'm not sure she'd ever consider joining just given the long history of animosity. In general, the insight I gleam is that forgiveness is difficult and that even if you forgive, this doesn't always fix everything.

Delphina

Yeah, I think sometimes grudging acceptance and moving on with your life with what you got is about all they can do. I really want to see how Teeko's presence affects Trillia and Ridriel moving forward, because I think them having her future to focus on gives them the chance that they never had to affect demons' place in the world. I'm just envisioning both taking on Mentor Aunt roles and trying to show Teeko cooler spells than the other in escalating hilarity.

varethane

Those would be some fun little shorts! If I get some time maybe I'll look into putting something like that together

Mentor aunts hehe

RebelVampire

QUESTION 11. What do you think are this particular comic’s strengths? What do you think makes this comic unique? Please elaborate.

QUESTION 12. Which character’s growth/progression in the story is your favorite? How would you describe how they changed as a person, and what do you like about how they changed? What do you think we can learn from it for our own lives?

Delphina

I like how Bethan grew from a cool quiet fighter in a village to a cool slightly louder fighter who can fly and dissolve through walls. I too would like to be able to fly and dissolve through walls.

AshAngelV

Responding to 11, It's one of the few stories I've read that has a male and female mc that don't end up in a romantic relationship. I love their brother sister bond.

varethane

I three wish I could fly and dissolve through walls

And yeah, friendship stories that arent romancea are very important to me

duskglass

teeko is a child so one would really hope not xD;;;

tho the same could be said about all of the main cast! (we also have rune & heryan, kiran or astrid & bethan, etc) i really appreciated the lack of forced romance sideplots in chirault; it's really refreshing to see stories that focus on platonic relationships

RebelVampire

QUESTION 13. What are you most looking forward to in the comic? Also, do you have any final thoughts to share overall?

QUESTION 14. Overall, how hopeful are you for the world at the end? Do you believe the changes regarding non-humans using magic will affect the world positively? Will relations with the tree spirits be mended? How do you believe the characters’ lives wound up being?

Delphina

On a macro-societal level, I think the world's gonna be okay. With Heryan at the helm, I think the Mages' Council is definitely going to be trying harder to be more inclusive and less awful toward non-humans and the planet; she definitely seems to have hit it off with the tree spirits diplomatically so I see a lot of potential for progress there. The issues I see in the non-humans' future is that they didn't seem to have much societal organization or structure that we saw (though it was established that Kyrion lived and worked in the cities, so maybe some ambitious leaders would rise to the surface that way and advocate for more rights).

I'm really curious what Rupa would want to do now, because he wasn't a demon, right? The problem they had with him was that he was a multi-caster and could tap The Big Magic that others couldn't. How many other multi-casters existed, and how would their role change in society if Rupa decided to advocate for them? Maybe the tree spirits could teach them how to use magic more responsibly?

RebelVampire

11) i think the comic's strengths are its endearing characters who have just a lot of gray to them. nobody is just evil or good. ppl had their reasons for doing everything in the comic, and that makes for more dynamic and realistic portrayals. i think another strength is the character designs themselves as well. its just so easy to tell everyone apart, and a lot of everyone's personalities is within their design. 12) I have to go with Bethan on this one. She went from silly small town girl to victim to bitter and angry about her friend to forgiving to wanting to do more for the world. It was an emotionally rollercoaster watching her goes through all these things. Plus, its an interesting mix of choice and no choice. Cause while Bethan did make a lot of choices in regard to her path, the whole becoming incorporeal was more accident. She just learned to make the most of it. And I think that is something we can learn from it. That sometimes life says "I hate you," and is really mean. And sometimes the only way to get through it is to roll with the punches.

13) I still vote for Heryan side story. Or another epilogue montage just showing how everyone is getting along. Especially Astrid cause I support the Astrid, Heryan, Rune family unit. 14) I think the world will be fine for at least a time. Heryan seems to be reasonable and regretful of all the mages' past actions. And I think shell usher in a new era of peace with the tree spirits. that being said, everything is finite so it wont last forever. Especially if Heryan cant find a suitable replacement to her. But overally, all the changes will probably be positive, even if the amount of progress achieved in a single lifetime isnt as great as everyone would want. I'm just gonna pretend all the characters lived happily ever after for my sanity. Teeko probably became a great mage. Although I am kind of on the same page with Delphina where I'm really curious what became of Rupa. Rupa was always an interesting chara to me since he was always kind of mellow and was way less intense than Trillia. So Rupa especially should live happily ever after

varethane

The note about Kyrion society is something that I do wish I'd gone into more depth about in the story! I had a lot of ideas about it but could only show it in tiny peeks and hints because the plot was taking place outside of the cities

I hope the ending leaves people on a positive note, I wanted to show that people are working towards a better future (even if theres a lot of work to be done)

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- WEEK LONG BOOK CLUB END!

Thank you everyone so much for reading and chatting about Chirault this week! Please also give a special thank you to Ally Rom Colthoff (Varethane) for volunteering the comic and creating it! If you liked Chirault, make sure to continue to support it via some of the links below!

Read and Comment: http://chirault.sevensmith.net/

Ally’s Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/varethane

Ally’s Store: http://chirault.sevensmith.net/store.php

Ally’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/varethane

Ally’s New Comic Wychwood: http://wychwood.sevensmith.net/

#ctparchive #comics #webcomics #indie comics #comic chat #comic discussion #book club #bookclub #webcomic book club #webcomic bookclub #comic tea party #ctp #chirault #varethane #ally rom colthoff

0 notes

hale-of-stiles-heart · 7 years

Note

sterek + “I just kissed your forehead, chill.”?

AHHHHH CHARLIE!!!! I LOVE FILLING PROMPTS FOR YOU OH MY GOSH! I HOPE YOU LIKE IT! (ALSO ON AO3!)

“I just kissed your forehead, chill,” Stiles said, rolling his eyes as he plopped down in the comfy armchair by the other end of the couch, folding his legs to set his ankle on his knee. He picked his biochemistry book up from where he had set it on the floor, resting it on his thigh as he cracked it open, flipping through the pages until he found his desired page.

But Derek could not chill. Not by any stretch of the imagination. Because Stiles had just kissed him.

Yeah, sure, Stiles had a point, he had just kissed him on the forehead, but still! It was still a kiss! Regardless of where exactly it was!

The important part was that Stiles had just kissed him! How could he be expected to chill after that? It just wasn’t feasible.

He had been ass over elbows for the hyperactive, unbelievably intelligent, too-curious-for-his-own-good teen since the first time he had met him. At least, he had been unconsciously. It had taken him a little while to realize it and once he had, he immediately launched into a vigorous campaign of self-loathing and self-denial, reminding himself at every turn why his feelings were stupid and wrong and irrefutably unrequited.

For quite some time, a few years, in fact, Derek had downright hated himself for his attraction to Stiles, having sworn off love and romance and attraction years ago, once after Paige’s untimely death and again after the fire that had claimed the lives of almost his entire family. But then Stiles had waltzed into his life, trespassing in more than one way, and tossed all of his plans to live the rest of his miserable life alone right out the window

Over years of working together, even before they were officially pack members or even friends, and regularly saving each other’s lives, the initial spark of Derek’s interest had been stoked into a slow, constantly burning fire that resided somewhere deep in his heart. Now, every time he so much as saw Stiles — or heard his voice, or received a text from even, or even just remembered something about him ― a warmth radiated through his body that felt like a ray of sunshine coursing through every fiber of his being, rushing through every vein and capillary in his body.

Derek was pretty sure he was in love with him.

He loved the way Stiles never held back with anything he did in life, thrusting himself into whatever he chose to do, whether it be researching the most recent supernatural threat, or ferreting out as much information as he could about reports of hunters, to diving headfirst into his college courses or learning how to make all sorts of healthy foods to keep his dad’s heart healthy. He loved Stiles’ razor sharp wit, never at a loss for a snappy rejoinder or sarcastic remark, in spite of whether or not it was appropriate to be making such sardonic comments, or perhaps because of it.

He loved Stiles’ selflessness, at time disturbingly willing to lay down his life for those he cared about, leaping into harm’s way more times than Derek could, or at least more than he cared to, count. He loved the way that Stiles wasn’t afraid one bit to be himself, never paying any mind to those who sought to discourage him or put him down, growing more and more confident with each and every passing day.

Hell, it was useless to list everything he loved about Stiles because he loved everything about him.

Every nuance of his facial expressions ― the way he furrowed his brows when he was concentrating, the way his lips twisted up at the corner when he smirked, the way his temple twitched when he was angry. Every behavioral quirk ― the way he dotted his i’s, the way he chewed on the drawstrings of his hoodies and the sleeves of his obnoxious flannels, the way he hummed under his breath when he did the dishes or folded his laundry.

The only problem was that he didn’t love Derek.

Derek had, quite foolishly, convinced himself that he might actually have a chance with him when Stiles had officially made the announcement that he was bisexual, but the newly out teenager had never made any indication whatsoever that he had interest in him. That had been over a year and Derek had since given up all hope that Stiles might ever harbor any romantic feelings for him, resigning himself to a life of unrequited pining, sure that Stiles would never show him any ounce of affection that wasn’t purely platonic.

And then he went and kissed Derek like it was no big deal. Granted, it was only on the forehead and he had a valid, non-romantic, strictly platonic reason to do it.

With the moon tucked away in the shadow of the earth during a late autumn lunar eclipse, Derek was just about as human as Stiles was, leaving him vulnerable to all sorts of things like regular bullets without the wolfsbane and other types of weapons. Apparently, it also meant that he was able to contract human illnesses. Like the common cold.

The entire day he had felt like complete shit. His head felt ten times bigger than usual complete with an incessantly throbbing headache that hurt so bad his whole face ached, sinus pressure squeezing down on his brain. His nose was behaving erratically, one moment insufferably runny and the next unbearably stuffy, its mercurial nature shifting so often that he eventually just gave up and started carrying a box of tissues around wherever he went in the loft, even if it was just to the bathroom.

When the curious, unexplained symptoms had not abated within a few hours, he had given Stiles a call, figuring it was best to consult one of the only two humans in the pack when dealing with an acutely human condition. Besides, Stiles was the master of research, another point in his favor when Derek was trying to decide who to call, winning out over everyone else in the two seconds it took for the alpha to pick up his phone and dial Stiles’ number from memory.

It had nothing to do with the fact that Derek wanted to hear Stiles’ voice. Nothing at all.

Barely two seconds after Derek had listed off all of his symptoms, Stiles had diagnosed him with the common cold, humming thoughtfully as he told Derek to get comfy on the couch and wait for him, volunteering to come over with some stuff. After thanking Stiles and hanging up, Derek took a seat on the couch in the main room of the loft, trying to watch some television to occupy himself until Stiles got there, but midway through a rerun of Dr. Phil his headache got much worse, making it damn near impossible to focus on anything, lying down and curling up a bit with his face buried in a couch cushion.

That was how Stiles found him when he let himself into the loft fifteen minutes later laden with heavy bags bearing the local pharmacy’s logo, a large aluminum thermos, and his bookbag, closing the heavy steel door with a wince when it slammed shut loudly. Derek whined at the sound, his head pulsating painfully as the metallic thud echoed throughout the loft, nuzzling his face deeper into the couch cushion as Stiles murmured an apology and tiptoed over to the coffee table where he set his bags down.

Laying a gentle hand on Derek’s shoulder, Stiles had very quietly asked if he could roll over onto his back, the usually stoic alpha letting out a petulant groan as he reluctantly turned over. He glared up blearily at Stiles with a childish pout on his lips, tempted to let out a growl despite his current human status, his sore throat the only thing that truly deterred him.

“How you feeling, big guy?” Stiles had asked softly, resting the back of his hand on Derek’s forehead, trying to see if he was warm or not, greeting Derek with a soft smile as he took a seat on the edge of the coffee table.

“Like shit,” Derek managed to croak out, his voice rough and gravelly as he spoke, a whine bleeding into it as he squeezed his eyes shut. He didn’t really see the point in mincing words, not when he was aching all over and half wishing for the sweet embrace of death, always a little less inhibited around Stiles anyhow.

“Yeah, well, that’s what being human feels like,” Stiles quipped, twisting to fish around in one of the bags from the pharmacy, rooting around until he grabbed a hold of something, tugging his hand out to brandish a bottle of blue Gatorade and a bottle of over the counter cold medicine. He popped the lid off the bottle of medicine, plucking a couple of pills out before closing the bottle, setting the pills aside as he twisted open the bottle of Gatorade. Standing back up, he leaned over Derek and inquired, “Think you can sit up a bit?”

Derek had begrudgingly complied, gratefully sipping the sports drink Stiles lifted up to his mouth, the Gatorade moistening his chapped lips and soothing the raw feeling in his throat as Stiles supported his head with a gentle hand on the back of his neck. After drinking a good portion of the Gatorade, he obediently swallowed the pills Stiles pressed to his bottom lip, only half listening as Stiles explained the importance of staying hydrated and taking the right medication, absently running his fingers through Derek’s slightly sweaty hair.

The medicine seemed to do the trick as his headache subsided enough for him to drift into a light sleep as Stiles did some homework in the armchair, occasionally making little sounds of triumphant low in his throat when he figured out a particularly tough equation. When Derek woke up a few hours later he found that Stiles had tucked a few pillows under his head and had tossed a blanket over him, keeping him warm in the cool loft while he slept.

Derek had opened his mouth to thank him when his stomach had let out a thunderous growl, his own body cutting him off in a plea of hungry, Stiles’ head snapping up when he heard the loud grumble from the couch. With a smirk, Stiles had needlessly asked if Derek was hungry, already pushing himself to his feet to make the short walk to the kitchen, calling over his shoulder, “I’ll put some soup on.”

Derek nodded to himself, willing to eat almost anything Stiles offered him, sinking back against the fluffy pillows Stiles had grabbed from off the bed by the wall of windows, along with the blanket. It was a nice heavy wool throw that Melissa had gotten him for his birthday back in September, nice and cozy and absolutely perfect for rainy days spent reading in bed while sipping a steaming cup of tea or a glass of red wine.

He smiled at the thought, realizing that he had never truly appreciated being virtually impervious to all known diseases and illnesses before, resolving to be more appreciative of his invulnerability in the future and more sensitive to humans’ woes. Before now he had never really understood why people became so miserable when they had colds or flus, never fully comprehending the magnitude of the symptoms until he experienced them himself.

Fifteen or so minutes later, Stiles returned to the living room with a tray of hot chicken noodle soup with whole grain rice instead of pasta noodles and a sleeve of low sodium saltine crackers, a chilled water bottle in his hand. He perched on the arm of the couch by Derek’s head, so close that Derek could tilt his head to the side a few scant centimeters and touch Stiles’ hip, and set the tray up in Derek’s lap.

He twisted open the bottle of water and set it down next to Derek’s hand, waiting for him to curl his fingers around it before standing back up, socked feet thumping against the polished concrete floor as he straightened up. Stiles turned to fuss with Derek’s covers, tugging the wool blanket higher up on him until it nearly covered his chin, leaning over to peck him on the forehead, shocking Derek into freezing stock still.

“Hmm…” Stiles hummed thoughtfully, adorable upturned nose scrunching up as he scratched the back of his head, his other hand on his cocked hip. With a firm nod and a glance at Derek’s face, he surmised, “Yeah, still pretty warm―” he flicked his eyes over to the bowl of soup in front of Derek “―C’mon, dude, eat up. It’s gonna get cold.”

Derek barely heard anything he said, too busy gaping at Stiles who was already immersed in solving a problem to calculate the dopamine error signal, scribbling away in his notebook as he chewed on his bottom lip while thinking about how best to solve the equation. All Derek could think about was the fact that Stiles had just kissed him.

Stiles must have noticed his not so subtle gawking because he raised his head to look at Derek, cocking his head to the side and muttering, “Dude, what? It didn’t mean anything. I was just checking your temperature, the pharmacy was out of thermometers.”

Derek was no longer hungry. He struggled to push himself up straighter, lifting the tray off his lap and unceremoniously plopping it on the coffee table, a bit of broth from the soup sloshing over the side of the ceramic bowl to trip onto the wood table. Sluggishly, still feeling sick, Derek crossed his arms over his chest and rolled over onto his side, hiding his face from Stiles as he grumbled under his breath, “Meant something to me.”

He squeezed his eyes shut the second the words were out of his mouth, immediately regretting ever uttering them because now the cat was officially out of the bag, now Stiles knew. Eyes tightly closed, Derek pressed his face into the couch cushions, internally berating himself for being so stupid, revealing a years-long secret in one second of rash indignation.

He had to force himself not to whine aloud when he heard the creak of the recliner as Stiles stood, followed by the tattoo of his feet on the concrete floor as he walked, Derek was sure of it, to the door. Stiles was going to walk right out of the loft, and out of Derek’s life for good, because the one time Derek decided to express his emotions instead of burying them deep down inside, he ruined everything.

It hurt. Much worse than all the times he had been slashed with claws or shot full of lead or impaled with metal pipes and poles and scores of other things. Because this wasn’t just some skin and muscle deep wound. No, it was as though someone had plucked up his already bruised, undeniably fragile heart and decided to throw it onto the ground and stomp on it.

The footsteps steadily grew closer, Derek’s heart shattering more and more with every step he heard, the echo reverberating through the loft, the loft that would be forever too-empty when Stiles inevitably left. The same way it was always too-empty when Stiles wasn’t there to make it feel a little bit more like home, when Stiles wasn’t there to brighten it with his laughter and his smile, when Stiles wasn’t there to make him feel less alone.

Derek couldn’t help but flinch when Stiles took a seat on the edge of the couch by his hip, feeling the dip in the cushions as Stiles hesitantly laid a warm hand on his shoulder, goosebumps breaking out across Derek’s chilled skin. In a voice so soft it could barely be considered a whisper, Stiles tentatively murmured, “Derek? Can you turn over?―” a second of silence passed before he faintly tacked on “―Please?”

Derek didn’t want to. He didn’t want to look at him. He didn’t want to see the pity in his eyes. Didn’t want to see a forced smile on his lips. Didn’t want to hear Stiles let him down easy and explain that he didn’t feel the same way but hopefully they could still be friends. He didn’t want any of it.

But he rolled over all the same. He had never been all that good at denying Stiles anything.

Derek shifted onto his back but he kept his eyes cast down, no longer caring if he looked like a sullen child or not, pretty sure he was about to get his heart irrevocably broken. It was bad enough that he would have to feel it, he didn’t want to have to watch it too.

“Y’know, Der, it’s kinda hard to kiss you at that angle. Mind sitting up a bit?” Stiles asked, a smile in his voice. Derek’s eyes snapped up to meet Stiles in shock and disbelief because there was no way that Stiles had just said that― Cocking his head to the side, Stiles reiterated his question, this time much more blunt as he inquired, “Can I kiss you, big guy?”

Derek couldn’t speak, all his attempts at formulating words resulting in him gaping up at Stiles like a fish flopping around on a riverbank, instead resorting to nodding furiously as he pushed himself up straighter, spine more vertical than a flagpole. He was fascinated by the deep red flush that had stolen to Stiles’ cheeks, so unlike the usually brash and headstrong teenager to blush, finding himself unable to look away from his endearingly blotchy face.

Derek watched, enraptured, as Stiles carefully leaned in towards him, moving a hand to the back of the couch to brace himself up as he inched closer, licking his lips as he did. Derek was riveted to the sight, fixated on the way Stiles’ plump bottom lip was suddenly glossy with a tantalizing bit of spit, which he realized didn’t sound all that tantalizing, but to him, it was more enticing that any promised land ever hailed as paradise.

When Stiles was a mere precious few inches away, his breath warm on Derek’s face and his shiny lips so close that Derek could practically taste them, something suddenly occurred to Derek, his hand shooting up to cover his mouth. Stiles, his eyes already gently closed in preparation for their long-awaited kiss, didn’t notice until his lips encountered something that clearly wasn’t a pair of lips, jerking his head back in surprise to look down at Derek questioningly.

“I’m sick,” Derek said simply, as though it was something horrible and disgusting, his eyes wide as he mumbled from behind his hand, words muffled slightly. Stiles tilted his head to the side as he explained, swallowing before pointing out, “And probably contagious.”

“Don’t worry,” Stiles instructed with a smile, leaning back in to kiss Derek. His lips gently rasped against Derek’s as he assured him, “You’re definitely worth getting sick over.”

Friends or more? Sentence Starters

#CHARLIE #I LOVE FILLING PROMPTS FOR YOU #IT VALIDATES MY WHOLE EXISTENCE #ANYWAYS #sterek #sterek fic #lunar eclipse #temporarily human derek #sick derek #pining derek #getting together #first kiss #canon divergent #hoechlbutt

476 notes · View notes

rparchiveblogxoxo · 7 years

Text

You're now chatting with a random stranger. Say hi!

You both like seblaine, huntbastian, and kurtbastian.

Stranger: "So, you're not going to talk to me now? Because I said no?" Sebastian questioned his boyfriend as they entered their apartment. The two had just experienced a rather awkward and silent cab drive home from his 25th birthday party where the other man had gotten down on one knee and proposed in front of all of their friends and family, "Come on, babe. We've never even spoken about marriage..."

You: Hunter let out a long breath, running his fingers through his hair as he looked over at Sebastian. "I've made it no secret the entire time that we've been dating that I want to get married," he said, shaking his head. "So no, we never talked about it, but you shouldn't have been so surprised."

Stranger: Sebastian pressed his lips together, glancing down at his feet and shaking his head, "I didn't expect it, you can't blame me for that," He told him, meeting his eyes again, "Like I said earlier, I'm not ready for this kind of thing... I'm not even sure that I want it."

You: Hunter let out a long breath, shaking his head slightly. "Right. I just.... fuck, Sebastian," he mumbled, rubbing his hand over his face. "So... That's it, huh? This is just what our relationship is going to be like, this is as far as we go?"

Stranger: Sebastian's mouth opened, though he was unsure what to say for a moment, his eyes welling over, "Is that such a bad thing? We're happy and I love you, more than anything. I just... I guess I don't think marriage is that important," He tried to explain, taking a few steps forward and attempting to take his hand, "That doesn't change how I feel about you."

You: Hunter nodded slowly, looking down at their hands as Sebastian took his, letting out a long sigh. He'd never been able to turn away shows of affection from Sebastian. "If marriage isn't important to you, then why not just do it?" he asked. "I know it's ultimately a piece of paper and, like, tax breaks, but... c'mon."

Stranger: Sebastian searched Hunter face, hating that he was doing this to him, "Hunter... It's not as easy as that and you know it," He reminded him, giving his hand a gentle squeeze in hopes that it would be comforting, "It's very official. Very set in stone. I deal with clients nearly every week who are going through awful divorces, my parents are divorced and I can't lie, that plays in the back of my mind a lot..."

You: Hunter shook his head slightly, pulling his hand away from Sebastian's, looking away from him for a moment to take a deep breath. "That's... That's a really cynical way of looking at it," he said. "Fuck, Sebastian. It's like you're counting on us falling apart."

Stranger: Sebastian sighed heavily, looking down at his empty hand for a second before balling it into a fist, starting to get a little frustrated, "You know how much it took for me to even be comfortable with a relationship. I'm trying, okay? I didn't say that I would never be ready, just that I wasn't sure if that day would come... I don't want to get your hopes up," He argued.

You: Hunter shook his head slightly, looking back over at Sebastian for a moment with a frown. "I just... I don't understand how you can look at it that way. Separate yourself from your work, and realize that we're not like them. That's not just me being idealistic. I /know/ that I'll want to be with you forever."

Stranger: "And I want to be with you forever, too," Sebastian told him, "But I don't get why marriage is such a big deal. We don't need it, we're happy the way we are, we're great in fact. What kind of significant difference does it make?"

You: Hunter shook his head slightly, a sigh escaping him. "I..." he started and then stopped. Sebastian had grown up differently than he had, had had a different background where marriage wasn't the all-important thing that it always had been to him. "Just, nevermind."

Stranger: Sebastian blinked at him, crossing his arms over his chest, "I don't want you to resent me, Hunter," He mumbled, his eyes searching the other man's face, "Please tell me this isn't going to change anything between us?"

You: "It's fine, it's whatever," Hunter said, shaking his head. "No. It's not going to change anything, everything will be fine." He knew that it would take time, but he could be alright with resigning himself to not marrying Sebastian.

Stranger: "I'm sorry," Sebastian let out, his voice quiet, "I'm sorry I can't give you what you want. Everything you did tonight was so perfect, planning the whole party for me, getting everyone there. I wish I could be half as good for you as you are for me..."

You: Hunter looked back at Sebastian, sighing as he moved over to him and wrapped his arms around him. "It's... it's alright, babe. I'll get over it," he said, shaking his head. "You're perfect, baby, you are. C'mon, let's sit. Let's watch a movie or something, forget all about it."

Stranger: Sebastian was relieved when he felt Hunter's arms around him, having been panicked that the other might leave him or stay and live completely unsatisfied. He leaned his head on his shoulder, "I love you, I really do," He told him, sliding his hands down his chest when they eventually moved back, both heading to the couch so they could relax.

You: Hunter let out a long breath, going over to the couch with him and sitting down, keeping his arms wrapped around him. "I know, babe," he said with a small nod, rubbing his hand over Sebastian's back. "I know that you do."

Stranger: Sebastian happily cuddled into him, "Good, good I'm glad," He whispered, his head resting on his shoulder again, playing with the hem of his boyfriend's shirt, "If it makes it up to you at all, I'll watch one of those crappy action movies you love so much."

You: Hunter sighed softly and ran his fingers through Sebastian's hair gently. "Nah, you don't have to do that. It's your birthday, we ought to watch whatever you want to," he said.

Stranger: Sebastian hummed, kicking off his shoes so he could put his feet up, "You and I both know I'll fall asleep anyway," He murmured, thinking about how the two of them might have spent their night if he'd accepted or if Hunter hadn't proposed at all. Probably stumbling in at some ridiculous hour with their hands all over one another.

You: Hunter chuckled softly and nodded. "Well, true. But still, it's your birthday and I kinda fucked up the mood, so you really deserve to pick what movie it is you fall asleep to," he said, shaking his head and giving him a small smile.

Stranger: Sebastian looked up at him, offering him a small smile back, leaning up and pressing a quick kiss to his lips, "Fucking up the mood is just as much my fault as it is yours. Though you were being romantic..." He pointed out.

You: "I should have known that I shouldn't have proposed like that anyways," Hunter said, shaking his head slightly. "But anyways, we're supposed to be forgetting I ever did that. So just, you know, pick a movie."

Stranger: Sebastian glanced Hunter over, still unconvinced that Hunter was okay with this, not that he had to be, "You know, I'll forgive you if you want to be mad at me for a while," He told him.

You: Hunter shook his head slightly. "Being mad at you is actually pretty damn hard," he said with a soft chuckle. "I mean... I can't act like everything is totally normal and it isn't affecting me at all what happened, but. There isn't a point in getting stuck on it."

Stranger: Sebastian huffed out a quiet laugh, cupping Hunter's cheek gently, rubbing his thumb against his cheek, "I don't know what I did to deserve you," He said, his words honest. He stood himself up slowly, "It's my birthday wish that you pick a movie. I'll go get us some wine, okay? Otherwise I'm wasting a day off work tomorrow that could be used for a wicked hangover."

You: Hunter smiled softly at him and shook his head. "I'm pretty lucky to have you, too," he said. He looked up at him, chuckling and nodding. "Okay, okay. I'm going to go put on something more comfortable," he said, getting up. "Then we'll figure out a movie."

Stranger: Sebastian hummed, giving his arm a gentle squeeze, "Good idea. Could you look out a pair of sweats and one of your hoodies for me? I'll be through in a second, okay?" He asked before slipping away to the kitchen, grabbing a bottle from their stash of alcohol and two glasses, laying them out on the coffee table.

You: Hunter nodded slightly. "Yeah, no problem," he said with a small nod, heading into the bedroom. He pulled out the clothes for them to change into, then paused for a moment before undressing, pulling the ring out of his pocket where he'd stowed it away when Sebastian turned him down and looking at it for a moment before shaking his head at himself and putting it away, focusing on getting changed.

Stranger: Sebastian was stood in the doorway just in time to see Hunter's action, biting down on his bottom lip, hesitating before entering the room, tracing his fingers over his boyfriend's bare back and pressing a kiss to his shoulder, "Hey, gorgeous..." He murmured.

You: Hunter looked up when Sebastian touched him, not aware that he had seen him. "Hey, handsome," he said with a smile, turning around and giving him a quick kiss before putting his shirt on.

Stranger: Sebastian smiled at him, "Wines on the coffee-table, okay?" He told him, going to start getting changed himself, glancing down at where Hunter had hidden the ring away. He'd never gotten the chance to even look at it before he'd pulled Hunter back off of his knee.

You: "Alright, perfect," Hunter said with a small nod, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek before going back out to sit in the living room. He poured himself a glass of wine, sitting back as he turned the TV on.

Stranger: When Hunter left the room, temptation got the better of him, sitting on the edge of the bed and taking the ring from the bedside cabinet where the other had stored it away. He opened the box and let out a sigh. Of course it was perfect. Everything Hunter did was. Carefully he took it out of the box, placing it on his finger and holding his hand out, eyebrows furrowed and head tilted as he stared at his hand.

You: Hunter sipped from his wine as he brought up Netflix and started looking through it, finding a movie. He glanced back over in the direction of the bedroom, calling out teasingly, "What's taking you so long? Did you get lost?"

Stranger: Sebastian jumped when he heard Hunter's voice, he'd been in a total dream, finally able to think the entire thing through without the pressure of friends and family around, without the shock. He slowly made his way back through to the living-room, playing with the ring on his finger, "You could say that..." He let out.

You: Hunter looked over towards the bedroom as he waited for Sebastian to come out. "What does that mean?" he asked with a soft chuckle. He stopped when he saw that Sebastian was wearing the ring, his face falling slightly.

Stranger: "I was stupid... I was being stupid," Sebastian started to explain, stepping closer to him, "Being engaged. It doesn't mean that we have to rush into this, right? I mean, I should be proud of this, I should be proud to call you my fiance. I want that, I want to show you how much I love you, even if I do worry every day that you might realise that I'm not good enough. So, if you will still have me. Can I change my answer?"

You: Hunter stared at Sebastian for a moment, not quite sure what to make of this, part of him feeling like he had just made this up in his head and it wasn't really happening. "I... Yeah, you, yeah... You can change your answer. Of course we don't have to rush into it," he said. "Don't... you don't have to feel like you need to do this, it's seriously fine if you don't want to..."

Stranger: Sebastian shook his head gently, sitting himself next to Hunter and holding onto his hands, "I want to," He told him, his eyes searching the other's, "You're perfect, in every single way. I was an idiot to say no in the first place. I-I have ruined our engagement story..." He huffed out a laugh.

You: Hunter pulled Sebastian in closer to him and wrapped his arms around him in a tight hug, feeling tears stinging at his eyes. "It wouldn't be us if it wasn't a little bit fucked up," he mumbled.

Stranger: Sebastian laughed at that, wrapping his arms around him and breathing out a sigh, "God, it's awful how true that is," He joked back, tipping his head back so he could look Hunter in the eyes, "I'm sorry it took me a while."

You: Hunter blinked, trying to keep the tears out of his eyes. "It really is. We're kinda terrible, babe," he said with a soft laugh. Shaking his head, he gave him a smile. "Better late than never."

Stranger: Sebastian grinned at him, glad to see him happy, feeling happy himself, "I love you, Hunter," He told him, cupping his face in his hands.

You: "I love you too, Bas," Hunter said with a smile, pulling him in so that he could kiss him.

Stranger: (i've got to go! This was sweet :) Goodnight <3)

Stranger has disconnected.

2 notes · View notes

demonologist-in-denim · 3 years

Text

About “At The Crossroads”

I didn’t want to post a whole long author’s note on AO3 for this fic, and I didn’t want to muddle the fic by posting a second chapter. So instead, here are just some random ramblings I wrote up as I was working on At The Crossroads.

Another Long-Ass Author’s Note (That You Should Not Feel Obliged To Read)

How The Hell Did We Get Here?

I don’t actually know where this fic diverged from the canon, what events transpired that Crowley opens a pub, of all things. It feels like whatever happened, happened in late-season 10, and this fic picks up in season 13-14? Here’s what I do know for sure: Something very bad happened.

While he’s grateful for it after the fact, Crowley likely didn’t consent to the cure the second time any more than he did to the first. I’m not sure what circumstances would arise that the Winchesters forced the cure on Crowley a second time, and then unkindly prodded him along in his humanity. “You bloody well beat it into me, didn’t you?” Likely Crowley wasn’t very far along in his new life, still struggling with the crushing weight of his actions, but beginning to find purchase in a friendship with Dean, when they lost Dean to whatever happened. Dean somehow became a demon, and abandoned the others to wreak havoc in the world. He’s been gone for some time, and their failing to save Dean did some serious damage to the others. Dark days all around, is all I can imagine. And that’s all I have for you.

The Besotted Wandered & The Resigned Enabler

It was unintentional, but Cas’ and Crowley’s relationship became the heart of this fic.

I originally just kind of wrote Cas in as slumped across the end of the bar, occasionally visiting, being this emotionally distant connection Crowley has to his past with the Winchesters and demonhood. But in the initial draft, I typed out that the cure would take some time, and the only thing Gus needed was to keep everyone else – the pub regulars, hunters, the extended Winchester network – from complicating things by learning he’s captured the demonic Dean. And then the next sentence just had Cas stumbling into the pub. So there they were, the two of them, and suddenly a fic that had been about Crowley getting to be some other version of himself became about Crowley making due as some other version of himself, and all of them leaning on one another, stumbling their way towards their shared humanity.

And as I wrote it, I loved the new dynamic between Cas and Crowley. “…their previous roles as divine retribution and smarmy toad” when they were an angel and a demon, their more recent roles, not so much reversed as juxtaposed, as “besotted wandered and resigned enabler.” Just that image of Crowley as the resigned enabler defined everything about his relationships and his identity in this fic.

And ultimately, Crowley would not really have succeeded alone. He would have cured Dean, eventually, but I’m not sure Crowley alone could really pull Dean out of the darkness that would have lingered even after his humanity had been fully restored. I don’t think Cas could have done it on his own either, too forgiving, too loving to deal out the necessary “tough love” that comes from Crowley’s own experience. In this fic, Crowley is the one who does not need saving – it’s Cas and Dean that need to be saved, but they had to do it together.

And Don’t Call Me “Gus”

At the Crossroads is one of those fics that germinates from a small concept into something much larger. I was thinking about whether or not Crowley, after completing the cure and joining the Winchesters, would need to go by a maligned alias when around the demon-hunting portion of the supernatural community.

We know from canon that Crowley hates the name Fergus, and Rowena’s mocking use of the name certainly didn’t help endear it to him again three hundred years later. But the matter remains that had Crowley closed the Gates of Hell, completed the cure, or in any other way joined the Winchesters, being known by the name “Crowley” could have put him in a bit of hot water in the supernatural community. There might have been hunters or witches or whoever who heard the name and recognized it from when he was doing dark, demonic deeds. For his own safety, as well as to earn the trust of others, he might have needed to go by a different name.

Do I want him to go by another name? Absolutely not. Do I think he would have actually chosen to go by Gus? Absolutely not. I imagine he started going by Fergus MacLeod again – when around other hunters and working in the supernatural community – and being Americans, they shortened it to Gus, and it stuck. To his annoyance, and eventual resignation.

But that is just for this fic. I honestly think that if Crowley had become one of the boys, he would have kept on using his chosen name, and dealt with the consequences. Because that’s one of the many things spn is (supposed to be) all about, isn’t it? Self-determination and consequences? Crowley chose that name for himself, it’s who he is now, not Fergus. And yes, he is still responsible for all the “horrible, evil, messy things” he did. And when encountering someone who recognizes that name as belonging to the King of Hell or a demon they had dealings with, Crowley would have needed to deal with the emotional and relationship consequences of that.

For this fic, I just enjoyed the thought experiment of him going by a nickname, having grown into it over the years. With the Winchesters gone from his life, and Cas only an occasional visitor, it would have allowed him to explore who he is now entirely removed from his past. (I also wrote a little ficlet here about how he comes by that nickname through Eileen in my other works, and hates it, but puts up with it for her sake. He doesn’t so much grow fond of it as sees it the same way as Dean and Sam eventually accept “Moose” and “Squirrel” as terms of endearment.)

Why Didn’t The Cure Just Work?

For this fic to really work, the cure needed to take time. And because I really enjoyed the idea that neither Crowley nor Castiel’s blood is human enough or “pure” enough to cure a demon. In the show, it’s never made clear how the process of repentance “purifies” someone enough to make their blood suitable for the cure. The show writers just cobbled it together from more obscure Judeo-Christian conceptions about prayer and forgiveness and omnipotent moral judgement. How much penance is enough? What if the “greatest sin” you confess isn’t what that obscure, divine moral judge (ugh) believes or knows to be your greatest sin? So forth and so on in the questions and uncertainties.

So I really like the idea that Crowley, even being human, with everything he’s done can never quite be pure enough to just perform the cure in one 8-hour session. He’s got to keep delving back into the black pit of his own atrocities that he had thought he’d left behind him, face what he’s done, bear the weight of that, repent it, and then is clean enough to administer another dose. Really dragging out the whole process for both him and demon!Dean. And Cas? I just really liked the idea that whoever he is now, whatever he’s become after losing Dean and becoming human, it hasn’t been good. He’s got a lot to make up for as well. None of them are clean, none of them are innocent, and all of them – even the two that are currently human – are all on this road towards humanity together.

Chekhov’s Gun Never Went Off

I broke a cardinal rule of storytelling in this fic, and I’ll be honest, it’s not sitting well with me. The principle of Chekhov’s Gun, if you’re not familiar with it, is that if there is a gun present in the first act of a play, it must go off by the third act. In essence, a good storyteller does not make false promises. In At The Crossroads, I present and never fire the gun that is the British Men of Letters and their unwelcome dominion over American hunters. Making as many references to that situation as I did, the reader would be right to expect that the British Men of Letters would play at least some part in the later events of the story. And the fact that they do not is something of a narrative let down.

I intended to write the British Men of Letters into the story, I really did. They became relevant through a smaller story arc of one of three pub regulars, each one a fully developed character who served to demonstrate to the reader the ways Gus was involved in the supernatural community, and how his and Cas’ broadening partnership in the later half of the fic changed the atmosphere of the pub. But those smaller arcs cluttered up the story, so I sadly felt like it was necessary to cut them out. (Maybe I can write a separate little fic based off this one, where we get to meet them? After all, they’re not actually OCs.) The references to the British Men of Letters stayed, because they are very much a part of the background of the world in which Gus was living and in which this story takes place. So while it doesn’t sit well with me that this particular Chekhov’s gun never went off, I hope it’s understandable why that happened.

Where Are The Chips/Steak Fries To Go With This Pint?

Recently, I’ve written a lot of fics about Crowley making food in some form or another. And since The Crossroads is a pub, and pubs (unlike most bars) typically serve some food, why didn’t I write Crowley making and serving food in this fic?

Because the Crowley in At The Crossroads is not a happy Crowley. He is making the best of a bad situation. The people he cares for are either lost to him, or are in a mad spiral of self-destruction and do not want to be saved from it. As much as The Crossroads is a communal space for the supernatural community, it is not communal for Crowley in the way that the bunker is in my other fics. In this fic, he’s found other, less personally demanding ways to care for people. He’s emotionally drained, and doesn’t have it in him. And that’s why there is very little mention of “cooking with Crowley” in this fic, other than towards the end as things begin to improve.

#crowley #my fic #author's note #crowley big bang

2 notes · View notes

furlesspoop-blog · 7 years

Text

DESTIEL/COCKLES FICS

Destiel/Cockles longer fics rec list (happy endings for all!)

(This is only a short list…only posting fics I’ve actually read so I know how much angst/whump/sex/fluff is contained, should be enough to tide you over for a while though, so enjoy >_<)

(Oh, my rec lists pretty much only ever contain fic NC-17 or above so if you don’t like the sex, the swearing and the violence then this is the wrong place for you my friend)

DESTIEL

300 Things - 76,500 WORDS. Dean’s life at twenty-four makes him feel like he’s forty–he works two jobs to help pay bills for his house and put his genius little brother through private school, and has spent six years (on and off, let’s be honest) working on his mechanical engineering degree at KU. With so much of his life devoted to his family, Dean has little time in his schedule for class and no time for social interaction. Then, while getting his classes together for the fall, he finds himself in a do-or-die situation: He must take his last literature class now, his spring already filled with those left for his major…except that none of the English classes will fit his schedule. A college AU. I generally assume every Destiel fan has read this, but just in case, here it is. It has love and angst and sex and a wonderfully happy ending. Go now. Read.

Tainted Love - 20 CHAPTERS. Castiel finds Dean in a strip club. Dean is surprised to discover he’s more interested in the angel then the strippers. Cash/Dean slash & eventual Balthazar/Sam slash, sexually graphic. This and the fic below are written by the same author, they writes Dean/Cas wonderfully, and the sex is…HOT, and the romance and love is so goddamn fucking perfect, but don’t worry there is plenty of angsting too. You just have to ignore that they think Sam has brown eyes and go with it.

Answering the Prayer - 12 CHAPTERS Cas answers Dean’s prayer. Sam finds Balthazar too tempting to ignore any longer. Slash, sexually graphic. Dean/Cas & Sam/Balthazar. IDGAF I fucking love Sam/Balthazar as a pairing, trust me, read it, you will too. Answering the prayer is one of my favs cause it has a tiny bit of Prayer loving in it and it’s a fav kink of mine.

Hummingbirds - 23,700 WORDS Castiel is rendered mute after being taught a painful lesson, but that enables Dean to learn a few lessons of his own while holding onto something important for him.Hurt/comfort; Castiel!whump; Dean!whump; porn. It’s very gory in places, so please be warned. And it’s also very, very soppy in others, so be warned for that, too. This is a wonderful fic, frustrated Cas is perfect. The whump is quite intense though, but that’s how this author writes, and it’s worth it.

The Melting Verse - 110,000 WORDS. The epic love story of Dean and Castiel told in 110,000 words. Stuffed to the brim with angel!porn, whump, angst, action, wing!porn and occasional soppiness, and Sam doesn’t get neglected either. (Although he doesn’t partake in the angel!porn, I should probably add.) Some of it’s really, really dark (with non-con), so be prepared for that if you’re just looking for a little schmoop. This fic is VERY dark in some places, but in others it is just…perfect, there are all kinds of love and porn involved and it is honestly my favourite, there were lots of tears (happy and sad) and the ending is fucking wonderful. The plot is so full on you’ll feel as though it’s canon.

Kissing it Bitter - 33,700 WORDS. Ever get the feeling the universe is trying to tell you something? This was originally a one-off in which I wanted Dean to save Castiel. And then Castiel ended up reciprocating, and then Lilith got involved, and, well, this happened. Contains much sexin’ and some violence… but, yeah, mainly sexin’. This is essentially an elongated fuck or die with a twist. It is spectacular though, in all the right ways. The past three fics are all by the same author, and there is A LOT more fics on their master listto read (some are just too angst for me…but do check them out, the one shots are fantastic too)

In Out of The Dark - 20 CHAPTERS A brother rotting in Hell, an angel hiding in Heaven, and a hunter consumed by the hunt…Dean tried to have a ‘normal’ life for Sam’s sake, but he couldn’t fight the hunt. It was as much who he was as taking care of Sammy. He’d failed at one; he couldn’t let himself fail at the other.It would take losing himself in the darkness and being dragged back into the light, before he accepted what he already knew …and maybe his angel would accept it, too. Plenty of angst, awesome Gabriel.

The Tripping Verse - 45,000 WORDS. What do you do when the Universe itself seems to have decided you belong with your very stoic, very angelic, very MALE hunting companion? Dean’s about to find out. This one’s wonderful. While the kissing happens pretty early on there is a lot of story before Dean and Cas properly get together, lovely build up. Oh, and the sex in chapter 10…UNF.

The Voice of the Turtledove - 60,645 WORDS Castiel was eleven years old when he first felt there was something wrong with him. He’s twenty-nine, a Roman Catholic priest in a small New England village, before Dean Winchester shows him that there isn’t. Ok, if you’re REALLY religious, and don’t approve of a 32 yo having sex with a 17 yo or priests misbehaving…do not read this fic. I hesitated at first, but honestly it’s a beautifully written (obstinatrix is fucking amazing) story and delicately handles all the issues in such a way that you really don’t feel even slightly irked. It’s only available as a PDF.

How to Destroy Angels - 5 LONGISH CHAPTERS. Castiel is lost and hunted down. There’s a high priced on his head and of course … Everyone has to pay, right ? Except that his brothers want to kill him, and there are no places to hide. Really ? Dean finds broken and hurt, and none of them is ready : Castiel is not ready to fall and Dean is not ready to love. I honestly only started reading this because of the title (and my love for all things Reznor) but it is a great fic, a lot of Cas angst, but still sweet with a happy ending.

The Day the Whole World Went Away - 59, 658 WORDS. After being reunited with Sam and leaving Lisa, Dean is finding that adjusting back into the hunting lifestyle is harder than he thought it would be. When a particular hunt goes badly, he gets knocked out, only to awaken five years in the future. Things are definitely different; Castiel is a hunter, Sam is married and things between Dean and Castiel have gone somewhere Dean really hadn’t expected. And somewhere in all of this there is a lesson to be learned. Ok, never previously one for time travel fic, this completely blew me away. The Sam and Cas in this are to fucking die for. Also can I say how happy I am that Destiel writers love Trent Reznor as much as I do! fucking win.

Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell - 31,600 WORDS. Sergeant Dean Winchester expects to hate whatever journalist they assigned to his team. Castiel Adams expects to hate the three weeks spent around nothing but military people. It goes nothing like they thought it would, and they find themselves growing closer by the minute. But will misunderstandings and fear break them apart? AU fic, a lot of Dean being a dick though, one of those ‘true love’ fics where it’s love at first sight…then life happens.

Peanut Butter-Pumpkin Wedding Cake - 31,000 WORDS. The good ones are sometimes assholes and always taken.Dean is a waiter in a strip club to put his kid brother through school. Castiel is dragged to the club as a part of his sister Anna’s bachelorette party. Dean and Cas hit it off, but Dean thinks Cas is the one marrying Anna. A romcom style fic with your classic romcom plot. It is quite wonderful in the end >_<

Face to Face With the Skies - 40,000 WORDS. (Set right after 4.22) Castiel was not killed by Raphael on the night of Lucifer’s release. Instead, he’s sent to the year 1996 and encounters the Winchesters. Unable to return to the present, Castiel resigns himself to traveling with them on their hunts across the state. Meanwhile in the year 2008, Dean has barely gotten used to being back in the land of the living when he gets the biggest shock of his life; the man he fell in love with when he was eighteen has seemingly come back from the grave as well, claiming to be an angel of the Lord. The thing is, he doesn’t have a clue who Dean is. Read this yesterday and fucking loved it. Young Dean and Sam are fucking awesome. Time travel fic done perfectly right.

Burning the Days - 25,000 words. When Dean and Cas show up in time to prevent Lilith’s death, Team Free Will are all set to settle back into a life of saving people and hunting things - but nothing’s perfect. Dean’s a jerk who can’t keep it in his pants; Cas feels there’s plenty of room in his for the both of them. Sam’s sure you can’t be fuckbuddies with an angel and he’s going to prove it - just as soon as he finishes scouring his eyeballs with soap.But when Cas becomes Heaven’s Most Wanted and the cops figure out the boys aren’t as dead as they should be, Dean and Cas may prove to be both more and less obtuse than expected. Basically this is one of those fics that’s main plot point is Dean being an emotionally retarded idiot and taking his sweet ass time to admit he loves Cas. It is great though, has awesome Sam, humor, and some sex too >_<

COCKLES

Worse Than Being Blind - 22,162 WORDS. To cope with the directing on the set of Stonehenge Apocalypse, Misha and his new best friend Hill, spend their nights drinking and trying to forget the fact that they’re on a ridiculous scifi B-Movie. It helps when the director yells that they should all have more intensity in the morning. And then, one night, Torri invites herself to their nightly drinking and Misha does not know that this has bad life plan written all over it because Torri can drink everyone under the table. Now Misha has to deal with an earnest and freaked out Jensen who flies to the set because he wants to talk about “the message” (complete with air quotes) that Misha left on his cell phone. Add a new cast that has made it their mission to make Misha as embarrassed as possible and Jared, who never met an innuendo that he didn’t like, and Misha wonders how his life ever got here. Oh, and they do still have a movie to film. Oh I do love this fic. Misha is so fucking clueless!

Orizuru - 47,000 WORDS. No matter how insignificant the question, Jensen has always craved answers. The origami birds scattered in his path are no exception - each accompanying message more obscure and more pointed than the last. As he slowly becomes the proud owner of a growing paper menagerie, Jensen has to decide whether to follow the clues or follow his heart. This one has a nice looooong ass build up to them getting together, plenty of UST, and to be honest…misha being a dick at times. I enjoy it because it’s from Jensens POV.

A Sort of Fairytale - 14 CHAPTER. Misha loves Jensen. Jensen is … getting there. The Misha in this is fantastic, and Jensen though he takes his sweet ass time is wonderful too >_<

Reconciling Hollywood - 32,000 WORDS, Misha has always prided himself on his mastery of the first impression - both giving and receiving. After all, people are easy enough to read if examined through the appropriate lens. For the last two years he’s stuck to his guns and his assumption that Jensen is just a good guy who made a dick mistake back when he thought Misha was disposable. Pushed him up against a trailer door and took because he could. But now, with Jared overseas with his new bride, Jensen around more than ever, and a decision weighing heavy on his conscience, Misha realizes that truly knowing Jensen might be nearly as impossible as knowing himself. In my opinion the best Cockles fic that currently exists. The characters are so lovable and the romance build is genuine. Must read.

And the North Wind Blows - 32,000 WORDS. Jensen is a ranger in the US Forest Service, on loan to the Canadians with the dual mandate of protecting the Boreal forest and a US logging outfit. He likes his solitary life collecting data and spending time in the luscious green forest that looms around his little cabin, until the day he gets a phone call: an eco-terrorist is protecting a tree the logging company wants to cut down. The terrorist in question, a young activist named Misha who climbs and swings through the trees like Tarzan, is not what he expects. Charged with getting him down and locking him up, Jensen has his work cut out for him, especially when it appears something more sinister is going on. What follows is a whirlwind of forbidden romance, lust and danger that turns Jensen’s once-quiet life upside down. And the most worrying part is he doesn’t think he minds. Fucking spectacular AU. Ranger!Jensen is all kinds of yes!

Usefull Illusions - 6 CHAPTERS. They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Wherein Jared innocently seeks to share his love of Blue Velvet and interesting things happen. Ok. This fic shifts from Jared, Jensen and Misha’s POV. The sex is hot, Jensen is a bit of a dick tbh, and there’s a Jared subplot that gets completely swept under the rug at the end (I feel the verse was abandoned unfinished?) BUT I’d still read it…for the sex haha.

Scotch Verse - 5 LONG CHAPTERS . Jensen loves scotch, but every time he drinks it things happen. Misha encourages these particular things. As he’s wont to do. OK. basically this fic involves a lot of getting drunk on scotch and fucking. There is also a lot of relationship angst and FUCKLOADS of Jensen trust/intimacy issues. I still recommend a read though.

AND. That will do for now.

Here’s a link to the 2010 Dean/Cas bigbang masterlist with plenty of long ass fics there to read (I’m making my way through it one night duty at a time)

And my God am I gagging for the 2011 fics!

0 notes