#obligatory soulmate au

[metalhoops]

‘Of course, I remember you.’ 

As far as first words go, Eddie’s were a hell of a head-scratcher. 

To catch up the uninitiated, everyone in the world has a soulmate. It’s been debated and speculated if a person can have more than one, but the mechanics behind soulmates was a pseudo-science at best and downright magic at worst. The first words a person’s soulmate spoke to them were inscribed somewhere on that person’s body, typically in their soulmate’s handwriting. 

Doesn’t handwriting change over time? The uninitiated might ask, to which Eddie would repeat, it’s pseudo-science or magic. Either that or something like quantum mechanics, where people are pretty sure, one day we’ll understand how it works, but right now there are a lot of theories and only a little bit of evidence, most of which contradicts itself.

Most of the time, the words are boring and wholly unhelpful. He could count on two hands the number of people that simply had some variation of ‘hello’, tattooed somewhere on their body. From Eddie’s point of view, he got lucky. 

He had a sentence of scratchy scrawl written on his inner arm stating, ‘of course, I remember you’. And really, what the hell was Eddie meant to make of that? 

Typically, your tattoo lets you know you’d found your soulmate upon first meeting, but his words implied he’d meet his soulmate before they first speak and that it would be memorable. Wasn’t that goddamn frustrating? 

His soulmate’s first words were right up there with ‘hello’ in Eddie’s list of ‘top five worse soulmate marks,’ because how the hell were those poor bastards meant to know if they’d just met the love of their life or if it was just their weird neighbour Tom? With his number one spot reserved for Gareth’s truly horrific, ‘I’d thought you’d be taller’. His soulmate was original. He’d give him that. 

There was no surefire way to know your soulmate’s gender, same as there was no surefire way for a mother to ‘just know’ a baby’s gender before it was born. Yet if Eddie was being sacrilegious, as he so often was, he’d say he ‘just knew’ his soulmate was a guy. 

There was nothing in the handwriting that gave it away. Nothing particularly ‘feminine’ or ‘masculine’ about the lettering. But ever since Eddie was a kid whenever he thought about his soulmate, he’d always think of them as ‘him’. 

He would like this or that. He wouldn’t be an asshole, like the meathead jocks at Hawkins. He would be different. He’d be kind, caring, and of course, a total badass. Eddie just had to wait to meet him. 

Steve’s soulmate mark drove him crazy. 

‘You might not remember me’. 

What the hell was Steve meant to do with that? Soulmate tattoos were meant to let you know when you’d met your soulmate, not that you’d already met them. In the days before Steve received the shake-up of his life in the form of Nancy Wheeler and the Upside Down, he had a reputation for sleeping around. He knew back then he’d been a little hopeless, but surely he’d said more than a couple of words to a girl before he slept with them. 

It horrified Steve that he could meet his soulmate, in some respect, know them, and yet had never talked to them. Could he really be that much of a jerk?

He’d never thought Nancy was his soulmate. He knew their words didn’t match up. That didn’t mean he loved her any less. Statistically, the odds of meeting your soulmate were somewhere between getting crushed by a vending machine and winning the lottery. Steve’s parents weren’t soulmates and boy did that show, but a guy could dream. Call him a hopeless romantic, but Steve was holding out hope for them. 

He’d almost thought his soulmate was Robin. It fit, right? They went to the same school, but they’d never really talked. He’d been so busy with his first day at a real job, he’d missed Robin’s first words to him. It wasn’t until later he’d started to expect it might be her. That was, until the pair were huddled beside each other on the floor of a bathroom stall. Robin was a lesbian and her first words, although interesting, definitely proved they weren’t soulmates. 

When Steve was a kid, he’d spend hours daydreaming about what his soulmate would be like. She’d be outspoken. She’d be bold. She’d be able to make him laugh. When he’d gotten older, something changed. He didn’t know how to put it into words, at least not ones he was ready to say out loud. ‘She’ didn’t fit his soulmate quite right. So after high school, he started wondering what ‘they’ would be like. ‘They’ felt not quite right, but closer. 

Their handwriting was distinct. It was all sharp-edges and odd-angles. It looked like it was trying to replicate something Steve couldn’t quite place until he walked into the record store at Starcourt and caught a glimpse of an Iron Maiden album cover. That gave Steve his first real clue as to what his soulmate might be like. 

It would be another year before the same handwriting would stop him in his tracks. Dustin had marched into the Family Video store as they were shutting up shop, brandishing a notepad and talking about needing a ride to go play his fantasy game. Steve was always going to drive Dustin, but he’d been dragging his feet, to show the kid he wouldn’t always drop everything to take him places. A familiar sharp edged, odd angled handwriting stopped Steve cold. 

“What are those?” Steve asked, trying to fain disinterest as his heart pounded in his ears. 

“They’re notes from the last session. You know, so we can keep track of what’s happened so far in the campaign. Who’s doing what quests, how many hit points everyone’s got. Mike is currently—.” Steve couldn’t give a crap about Mike. 

“Who’s writing is it?” Steve tried not to sound as desperate as he felt. 

Robin must have known something was up because she moved to Steve’s side. With one glance at the notepad, she understood why Steve was acting so strangely. She’d seen his tattoo, she knew it was his soulmate’s handwriting. 

“Our D.M.’s” Dustin replied. He might as well have been speaking in freaking code. 

“Alright, I’ll drive you,” Steve gave in, hoping he could catch a glance of his soulmate. Maybe his tattoo was wrong, maybe he’d know his soulmate when he saw them. 

They pulled up outside of the high school. He saw a group of people loitering outside the auditorium. Dustin had brought a lot of loose sheets of paper, so it only made sense Steve helped him carry his notebooks in. Most of the people there were familiar faces, the kids he’d babysat with a few exceptions. 

“Well, if it isn’t our favourite bard. I’m glad you decided to grace us with your presence,” an oh-too-familiar voice crooned. A boy broke away from the crowd to meet Dustin. 

He was Steve’s age. They’d gone to school together. The dude used to do all these weird soap-box sessions on their lunch table. They had gym together, and history. Steve didn’t think the two had ever actually spoken.  

“I would’ve been here quicker if I hadn’t had to play twenty questions with Steve. Steve, you know Eddie, our D.M.? Weren’t you two in the same year?” 

Eddie was practically shooting daggers at Dustin’s side profile, shaking his head discreetly as though hoping Steve didn’t remember who he was. He supposed Eddie always had a reputation. 

“You might not remember me,” Eddie spoke before Steve could answer. 

Holy shit.

“Of course, I remember you,” Steve argued and watched as Eddie’s eyes swelled to the size of dinner plates. 

Both boys stood, slack-jawed and stiff-shouldered, peering at one another. Steve’s brain short-circuited, because holy shit, Eddie Munson was his soulmate. Holy shit he’d found them, him. 

Steve dropped Dustin’s notes and swarmed forward without thinking, throwing his arms around Eddie. Much to his surprise, instead of freaking out, like any normal person, Eddie was waiting to catch him, leaving both of them to tumble ass backwards onto the parking lot asphalt.

They held each other in a bone-crushing hug. Steve buried his face in Eddie’s neck, surprised at how naturally the action came. He’d never hugged a man like this, hell he’d hugged no one like this. He was clinging so desperately to the man that he’d never thought he’d really find. Eddie pulled back slightly, trying to get a better look at Steve’s face. The guy’s eyes were alight with wonder and mischief. 

“That was quite an entrance, Harrington. All for little old me?” 

“I’ve been looking for you forever,” Steve admitted. 

“Well, clearly you’ve been doing a shit job of it,” Eddie argued which earned a snort from Steve. His soulmate would be able to make him laugh. 

“You’re not disappointed, you know? That your soulmate is the town Freak?” 

Steve had given up on caring about labels, on caring about what other people thought. Since high school, he had changed. He was different.  He didn’t want to be just another, shallow, meathead jock. He wanted to be different. 

“No. Absolutely not. Why would I care?” 

Dustin shattered the moment, clearing his throat and proclaiming,

“Alright, anyone care to tell me what the hell just happened?” 

[serapheseraphim]

I finished Last Life!! I honestly preferred Third Life but it was also good, I like the more lighthearted vibe to it. Nice :)

[alwaysakin]

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Fanfic Rec

Guys I have so much useless fanfic knowledge -- one of my friends asked me for a list of Buffy fics and this happened.

Non-Buffy Centric, One-Shot Fics

Potential Friend by srmcd1 - a cute little ficlet that looks at what might have happened if Jesse lived.

Age Difference by Amina - for all the Oz fans out there! A time-travelling Oz gives Buffy a new perspective on life and relationships. Slightly Angel-bashing.

All that I wanted was just to be haunted by you by chasingfictions - After the events of "The Body," Jenny's ghost bullies Giles into moving in with the Summers girls. This one made me BAWL.

Appropriate conduct by The_Eclectic_Bookworm - an increasingly angry series of memos between Principal Synder & Jenny, Giles, and the other teachers of Sunnydale High. Absolutely hilarious.

i belong to time, you belong to me by chasingfictions - Dru knows when she meets Spike, that he will fall in love with a slayer. She forgets, until she doesn't. Beautiful, poetic, and very Dru.

One Girl in All the World by zedpm - a trans!Buffy AU, where she was born in a boy's body and is still the slayer. A beautifully done AU, with Oz and (surprisingly! Riley) as particular standouts. Minor Spike/Buffy.

The Holy Grail of Buffy Fics: Long, With a Focus on an Ensemble Cast. Absolute Masterpieces.

hit rewind by untiljanuary - Hands down, the best Buffy fic I've ever read. Buffy (from some time in season 6, but unclear when), is sent back in time to season 3. What makes it so interesting is that it's from everyone else's perspective! The author writes Cordelia, Willow, Faith, Angel and Spike in particular so well. Lots of interesting character work, though the plot hasn't deviated too much from canon so far.

Ships: Buffy/Spike, Angel/Cordelia, Willow/Tara, Anya/Xander. The Buffy/Angel ends on mutual terms.

two roads diverged (and that has made all the difference) by RoseyPoseyPie - a Buffy season 5/Angel season 2 crossover. Hoping to escape Glory, the Scoobies end up in Pylea with the Fang Gang. This fic is absolutely hilarious (the scene where everyone gets high and drunk together is a notable standout). The author writes Anya, Lorne and Cordelia in particular super well. Dawn and Angel's dynamic is also amazing.

Ships: Buffy/Spike, Angel/Cordelia, Anya/Xander, Willow/Tara.

don't know how to stick around, but I wanna by chasingfictions - a series in an alternate universe where Faith, instead of going to prison, joins Angel Investigations. Very Fang Gang centric, but really builds up their family bond. Darla, Faith, and Wesley were stand outs to me in this.

Ships: eventual Faith/Buffy, and minor canon pairings. Faith briefly pursues other girls, including Darla.

Best Spuffy Centric Fic

wouldn't it be nice? by SummerFrost - an alternative universe, where the will-be-done spell in season 4 goes a little differently, and Spike and Buffy start a slow crawl towards friendship that becomes... something. So soft and sweet. Has two sequels, and the season 6 one in particular is WONDERFUL.

Every Letter That You Write Me by othellia - the obligatory fandom soulmate AU. Young Buffy is absolutely adorable in this one, and Spike and Buffy's relationship is bittersweet, raw, and believable.

Choices by lafillesauvage - An AU. After Season 5 of Angel, Spike becomes human. Angel does not. Buffy still chooses Angel, and these are the consequences. Slightly excessive Angel bashing, but the characterization of Buffy and Spike, and little notes like Buffy's relationship with Giles being slowly fixed and Willow getting a non-Kennedy girlfriend are great! Buffy/Angel with a happy Spike/Buffy ending.

The Darkling by OffYourBird - the iconic time travel Spuffy fic. Buffy goes back in time and meets Spike... in the 1970s. His slow path to redemption starts differently, with tons of interesting changes in the timeline. Be warned, this one is LONG and smutty. Shout out for making me believe Giles/Anya could work as a couple!

Inside Man by HollyDB - An Angel season 5 fic. Spike calls Buffy. This shows all the things that change when Buffy has a spy on the inside of the Fang Gang. Follows canon up until the last episode, but provides fun context.

Short, Cute Cangel Fics

give them all that they can drink by eagle_eyes. The one where Cordelia is ace. Amazingly written, and the Cangel relationship is so soft and believable.

Another Chance by NikitaDreams - After the events of Angel: the Series, Cordelia travels back in time. Focus on Cangel and Connor. Lots of cute family dynamics.

Halloween Happily Ever After by GeckoGirl89 - cute, mutual pining between Angel and Cordelia in season 3. Angst with a happy ending. Really highlights how oblivious Cangel were to each other's feelings.

[suzukiblu]

for writer-motivating reasons, please choose one of the following in a reply:

Kara gets to Earth on time and the Kents get a 2-for-1 special on free kids

obligatory sugar daddy Tim/sugar baby Kon AU

kidnapping your soulmate for fun and profit

Cassie makes a claybaby

gnc4gnc!Cassie/Kon

. . . literally just tell me what your fave porny WIP I have is lol

[the-fangirl-from-hell]

Succubus Blues

summary: When the new succubus at the school starts sleeping around with the Nightshades one by one, Xavier gets impatient for his turn. Except it seems like his turn may never come.

pairing: Xavier Thorpe x succubus!reader

minor pairings: Ajax x reader, Davina x reader, Rowan x reader (obligatory au where he’s alive) Wednesday x Enid

mentions of: Yoko x Reader, Bianca x Reader, Wednesday x reader

warnings: smut (i’m marking the beginning and end so you can skip ~) reader has a demon form, she’s insecure about it, small mentions of death, reader gets around

tags: bisexual reader, jealousy, insecurity, angst with happy ending, hurt comfort, fluff, soulmates, forced proximity, love confession, monster loving, smut (this includes: femdom, marking, begging, praise, hair pulling, finger sucking, oral fem receiving, PIV, pounding, enthusiastic consent)

this was very long so let me know if I missed any

word count: 6.9k (i swear this wasn’t intentional) yes, the title is a book reference

Xavier knew that falling for a succubus was a bad idea. 

There were a lot of supernatural creatures in the outcast world that didn’t make for very good partners for various reasons; shadow creatures with no actual body, vampires and any kind of creatures that feed on blood, out of control lycanthropes, golems known for spreading diseases. The list could go on forever. But one of the worst creatures you could catch feelings for was the succubus. They were actual demons who fed on human souls, using their own lust against them. Some of them could feed on dreams and some needed physical contact. 

So when this girl walked into the Nightshades library and Xavier’s heart skipped a beat he knew he was fucked.

Or at least he wished he would be. [Y/F/N] was the most charming, magnetic, electric, and attractive person he knew. She exhaled self-confidence and fierceness, was a smooth talker, and had the body of a goddess. You couldn’t blame a guy for hoping.

It was perfectly normal to be attracted to a succubus; everything about them from their smile to their scent was made to lure you in. But the more Xavier got to know her, the deeper his feelings for the girl got until he couldn’t blame her nature anymore. It wasn’t just the way his body reacted to her touch. No. It was the way he couldn’t suppress his smile when she walked in the room, the way she made his day better with just a few kind words, the way she laughed at his jokes under her breath like she was trying to hold it in.

This is why it sucked that she did not return his feelings. And why it hurt so much seeing her with other people. And she got around. Succubi need to feed and [Y/N] was insatiable.

She first got her claws in Ajax. When she joined the Nightshades they threw a little party to welcome her in, make her feel part of the group. It was Yoko’s idea. Not even two whole glasses of mimosa in she was flirting with the gorgon boy, batting her eyelashes at him, not-so-subtly touching his forearm. 

Xavier was furious. He hated that he had to watch the whole thing unfold from a distance as he was having a conversation with Bianca about Thornhill’s class. He wished he could hear what they were laughing about. He knew she was faking it for him. The little lines that formed at the corners of her eyes every time he made a joke were missing. She wasn’t laughing with her whole body like she was with him, just a dainty little giggle. A strategy to stroke Ajax’s ego.

After not even half an hour they excused themselves from the party and got lost in the school’s hallway. 

Then there was Davina. Xavier had the displeasure of witnessing that one up close and personal. As he and [Y/N] were having lunch the siren joined them and the vibes changed so suddenly that it gave Xavier whiplash. Her posture shifted, her back arched, her lips pursed into a sensual smile. It reminded the boy of a cat ready to pounce. Even her voice didn’t sound like her own; it was lower, more seductive. The girl acted like he wasn’t even there. 

They must have snuck away into a janitorial closet or something because, by the next period, the succubus was glowing with magical energy and vitality.

By the time he caught her with Yoko, he figured out she was picking the Nightshades one by one, which gave him hope. Maybe at some point she’d get around to him. It was pitiful, the way he was holding his breath for a crumb of affection from this girl. He wanted her all to himself, truly, but he’d settle for anything she gave him. If that meant sharing her with a whole secret society he could be content with that.

He wasn’t next on her list, it was Rowan. Unfortunately, he had to walk in on them in his own dorm room. When the door creaked open, the two’s heads whipped around at the same time to see who came in. Rowan’s hair was a mess, his lips were red and swollen as if they’d been making out for a while already and on his lap [Y/N] was sitting trying to cover her bare chest with a t-shirt she picked off the ground. 

“Lock the door next time,” he addressed Rowan as if that didn’t just make the situation even more awkward.

But there probably wouldn’t be a next time. He noticed already that the succubus didn’t eat at the same table twice. Either she was trying everyone to see who she liked or she just didn’t like to settle down. In his fantasies, Xavier was so good that she never went to another partner ever again. 

He was all she ever needed, she just didn’t know it yet.

He also noticed that she had a pattern of feeding, around the start of every month. So, only a few days away from the beginning of the next month, when they were both dancing at the Rave’N, Xavier started to get his hopes up. 

She looked gorgeous in her dancing attire, it took everything in him to not compliment her every second. He only asked her as a friend because he didn’t want to push her out of her comfort zone. For as much as he wanted to pull her to the side and confess his feelings and make love to her all night long, she seemed to be a fan of casual stuff.

“Xav, I’ve been meaning to ask you this question. Let me know if this makes you uncomfortable,” the girl started.

This was it. The moment he’s been waiting for. She was going to take him. 

“Go ahead,” he encouraged her, trying to suppress a smile.

“This might be kinda awkward so if I’m asking for too much, just say the words and I’ll pretend this conversation never happened. I don’t want our friendship to suffer.” She stopped and took a deep breath. “There goes nothing: Is it ok if I take Bianca out? I know she’s your ex and I don’t want to hurt you.”

The girl gave him a wink when she talked about taking Bianca out. Xavier knew what that meant; feed on her. She was asking for permission to fuck his ex. Not him. Bianca.

“I mean, do you even know if she’s into girls?”

It occurred to him that the succubus was still talking, but he couldn’t listen to any word coming out of her oh-so-kissable lips. She didn’t seem to notice the war that going on inside Xavier’s mind.

“I initially meant to skip her just to be safe, but she looks so good in that dress and I’m starving,” a low growl escaped the girl’s mouth at the end of the sentence and Xavier could swear her eyes turned red for just a flicker of a second.

Must be a trick of the lights.

They couldn’t finish their conversation as red paint started to fall from the ceiling on both of them splattering their white clothes, their faces, and their hair. Xavier spent a lot of time making his hair look good. Not that it mattered anymore since the girl he did all of that for was busy checking out his ex-girlfriend instead.

Out of chivalry he took off his jacket and put it over [Y/N] head in order to protect her from the paint raining on them as they run towards the exit and almost slipped and fell in the red liquid. Xavier’s hand instinctively wrapped around the girl’s midriff and helped steady her. She pushed his hands away as if they burned her.

That hurt him in ways he couldn’t articulate in words.

“Sorry,” he murmured, embarrassed.

“You didn’t answer my question,” the girl tried to change the conversation and get rid of the awkward air permeating the conversation.

“I don’t mind.”

A lie.

“What the hell, you can even use my shed if you need privacy. Just lock the door or put a sock on it or something. I don’t need another Rowan situation.”

The girl looked down in embarrassment. Xavier didn’t know succubi even got embarrassed about this sort of stuff. From his research (yes, he’s been doing research) they were very open about their adventures and even almost exhibitionistic. He thought the only reason [Y/N] was particularly secretive was because according to Nevermore’s rules, she couldn’t feed on school grounds so she had to keep it on the down low. That was probably the reason she targeted the Nightshades, they were good at keeping secrets.

But she had no reason to hide from him. He knew what she was up to, half the school knew. On more than one occasion he had to intimidate people or threaten them when they commented nasty things about her behind her back. Only to get accused of sleeping with her himself – he wished.

“You’d seriously do that for me?” the girl asks with a hopeful smile. “Thank you!”

It looked like she was going in for a hug but then changed her mind. She’d been awfully distant that night.

Another two months pass by and by Xavier’s math, he was the only Nightshade left. He was a bit upset that she kept him dead last, almost like she had no other choice. But beggars can’t be choosers; and by god was he ready to beg for this girl. 

Besides, maybe she just likes to keep the best for last. He still had hope. Which was swiftly crushed after he saw Wednesday in Thornhill’s class with a very specific mark on her neck. 

He has seen this mark numerous times on [Y/N]'s ex-partners right after they spent the night together. It was dark red and it looked like a bunch of triangles all connected in a circle, almost like a stylized sun. It usually went away after a couple days and the kids always tried to hide it in the meantime. Xavier told himself that when his turn came, he’d wear the symbol proudly – show it off even. He wanted everyone to know that she chose him, she was with him.

But that day never came and now, more than ever, Xavier was worried that it might never come.

Wednesday wasn’t even a Nightshade, she was offered a position in the secret society but she declined. Why was [Y/N] sleeping with her? 

He even tried to ask the raven haired girl about it, but she snapped at him.

“What I do in my spare time is my business,” she said coldly.

He couldn’t even count Wednesday as an exception because after her he heard rumors of other non-Nightshades being with the girl of his dreams.

That was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Xavier couldn’t take it anymore. He had to face the painful truth which was that he will never be with her the way he wants. The reality of it all stung like a hundred sharp icicles through his heart. Cold and merciless like the woman he fell for.

His fantasies of her were always a bit unrealistic. That she’ll fall in love with him after just one night, that he’d be so good she’d never need anyone else but him, that she was avoiding him because he was special somehow for her. It was all lies he told himself to cope. But the reality was even worse than his worst nightmares. He wasn’t at the bottom of her list; he actually wasn’t even an option.

He tried to blink away the hot tears threatening to spill down his cheeks, but the battle was already lost. Good thing he managed to get in his dorm room and Rowan was away – probably with [Y/N]. Maybe she was starting again from the bottom only to be able to avoid him again. Not like he mattered to her.

This was all his fault. He allowed himself to drown in delusions and convince himself to see things that weren’t really there. Like the way the succubus would cozy up to him in the library when they were doing homework until the late hours of the day. She’d sometimes fall asleep on his shoulder or rest against his chest and Xavier could swear the intimacy of it all meant something. Or the way she was always checking on him. Was he sleeping enough? Did he still have nightmares? 

She was just being a good friend and he allowed his imagination to run wild. It was never going to happen. It was time he’d accept that.

The ringing of his phone pulled Xavier out of his miserable pity party.

“Yes?” he answered softly, trying to hide the fact that he’s been crying.

“Xavier!” the excitement in the girl’s voice made his stomach do a backflip. “Listen: I have this crazy plan and I need my partner in crime to make this work. Are you in?”

He was happy being her friend. He valued her friendship. He loved being her partner in crime. Then why did it all hurt so much still?

“What is the plan?” he asked cautiously.

“I’ve been spending more time with Wednesday and it seems she’s absolutely smitten with Enid, her roommate. You know Enid, our resident Gossip Girl.”

Xavier couldn’t really hear the succubus’ words for a while as blood rushed to his head in anger at the thought of her and Wednesday and how they’d been spending more time together. He could hear his own heartbeat in his ears. He had no right to be this jealous. She was never his and never will be. It was time to let her go.

“Cut to the case, [Y/N]”

“Since they’re both clearly in love with each other but too stupid to do anything about it, I thought we could step in and help. You said something about your shed a while ago and it got me thinking. Maybe we could tell them we’re throwing an 'End of the Year' party there and ask them to come, set up a nice romantic dinner and lock them there,” she let out an excited giggle. Xavier’s heart gave a flutter. “I know it’s a little unorthodox, but I think it’ll work. What do you say? Tomorrow night?”

Xavier mulled over her words a little bit. He was mad at this girl. Furious almost. His heart was broken and lying on the floor because of her. But she was still his good friend and he couldn’t disappoint her. He didn’t want to stop being her friend. And she didn’t deserve to be punished just because he was delusional.

“Sure. I’ll prepare the shed, you get the girls.”

“I knew we were on the same wavelength. We’re like our own kooky version of soulmates.”

Soulmates. Xavier let out a humorless laugh. The phone hung up before he could say another word, which was good because he was probably going to regret was he was going to say anyway.

  Xavier was making the last adjustments to the tiny dinner table he manages to squeeze into his shed. He was pretty proud of himself for putting it all together so the plan better work. He’d hate to have put all this effort in for nothing. The shed has been cleaned up, and most of his art supplies had been put aside in a corner and covered under a dark blue bed sheet (he had to improvise a little). There was a small round table in the middle of the room and two mismatched chairs. Xavier liked to think it was a metaphor for the two girls he was trying to set up, as they were also an odd pair. But in reality, he just couldn’t find two matched chairs on such short notice and he wasn’t going to buy new ones just for this.

The door creaked open and Xavier jumped until he saw it was just [Y/N].

“I thought you were bringing in Wednesday.”

The plan was that Xavier texted Enid to come and the succubus brought over Wednesday. This way they could make sure the girls arrived at the same time and couldn’t catch onto their plan before it could unfold. They even got the rest of the Nightshades to corroborate their fake party story to seem more believable.

“Can’t find her anywhere.”

“I’m right here,” the monotone voice couldn’t belong to anyone else but Wednesday.

The two turned around at the same time only to see the gloomy girl closing the shed door in their face. They heard the unmistakable sound of the key being turned in the lock.

“I must admire your bravery,” Wednesday said.

They could barely hear her through the closed window she was behind.

“Or maybe foolishness. Thinking you could one-up me? You two should know better by now. The gorgon boy spilled everything after I pressed him just a little. You should be more careful when you choose who you entrust with your secrets.”

On a closer inspection, Xavier noticed Enid peeking behind Wednesday's shoulder.

“They played us. She figured it out and they turned it around us.”

He grabbed his phone and started texting all of his friends in hopes that one of them would answer and come rescue them. He didn’t know if there was much they could do considering Wednesday had the key and there was no way to get it out of her. But maybe someone from the outside could use something to break the door down.

“One night trapped in here should be enough to teach you not to meddle in my private life.”

And with that, the two girls both left hand in hand.

“Wednesday, you can’t do this! I have a date tonight and I’m famished!” [Y/N] was banging on the door furiously, trying to catch the attention of their keykeeper. “I can’t be here all night! WEDNESDAY!” 

The girl grabbed the doorknob and rattled it vigorously to no avail. The door shook on its hinges but it wouldn’t open – which really meant something considering the succubus had supernatural strength. If anyone could open the door using sheer force, it should be her.

“It’s no use,” Xavier let out a defeated sigh.

He let himself fall on one of the chairs next to the table and rested his head on his palms, covering up his face in the process. His mind was going at 1000 miles per hour. He was trapped in his studio with his crush. She was starving. And furious. There was no escape for the next eight hours… maybe more? How was he going to survive this without doing or saying anything stupid? He wasn’t.

“Maybe they’re just kidding. They’re gonna leave us here for like an hour and come back,” Xavier could hear the desperation in the girl’s voice. “They wouldn’t let us here all night.”

A familiar growl left the girl’s lips. The boy would recognize that sound in a thousand- it was the sound she made when she was hungry. And he didn’t want to admit it but it did things to him. 

“Will you stop abusing my door? They’re not coming back for us.” Xavier fought the impulse to throw his phone at the wall so he set it on the table instead. “They’re all in on it. Wednesday was always a step ahead of us and she got everyone involved. None of them are answering their phones. There’s no way they’re all busy at the same time. They know exactly where we are and they’re leaving us here.”

[Y/N] kicked the door and it gave Xavier the impression she wasn’t doing it to open it anymore, just to let off some steam.

“That’s what I get for trying to play cupid. What was I thinking?”

Dejected, the girl threw herself on the other available chair visibly fuming. He’s never seen her this angry and was embarrassed at how much it turned him on. He couldn’t think about stuff like that, especially not at the moment. Not when he had no way to squeeze out of there and take care of himself.

“You had good intentions. No one can hold it against you that you wanted to help your friends.”

“No, Wednesday is right. I shouldn’t meddle in her personal affairs. Did you hear that, When?” the girl raised her voice at no one in particular. “I’ve learned my lesson! I’ll never try to help you again!”

Xavier gave her a look that said ‘are you done yet?’ and she scowled at him. 

���Is that steam coming out of your ears?” he teased.

She cracked a smile, in spite of everything going wrong. If you were a starving demon and had to be trapped in a shed overnight, at least being with your best friend made it better. Silver linings and all that.

But the girl’s smile was short-lived, being replaced with a grimace as a jolt of pain coursed through her body.

“Are you okay?” Xavier asked worriedly.

“Peachy,” the girl inhaled a sharp breath through gritted teeth. “Just a little peckish.”

Xavier never considered the possibility that not feeding could hurt her. He knew succubi couldn’t die and not feeding meant they lost their powers but it made sense that it could not be that easy. There had to be a bigger price to pay. Being an outcast always came with a price.

“So what hot date did you miss tonight?” he tried to help take her mind away from the pain.

“Just this normie girl, I bought her a coffee a week ago and we’ve been texting since then. Her parents are away for the night and she invited me over.”

The boy tried desperately to hide his jealousy but it was only getting worse.

“I could help,” he proposed with a shaky voice. 

It took a while for the girl to say anything. When she got up from the table and lay on the mattress in the corner Xavier started worrying that he was too quiet in his request, maybe she didn't hear him.

“It’s fine, I can suck it up for the night. I’ll download fucking Tinder tomorrow and find someone quickly. Don’t worry about me.”

How could he not worry when she was basically on the floor, hugging her knees and writhing in pain?

“You’re unbelievable!” Xavier ran a hand through his hair in frustration. “You’d rather sit like this through the night than touch me. Am I that disgusting to you?”

He didn’t mean to be that loud but the rejection was burning in his chest like an angry sun and the words kept pouring out of his mouth with recklessness.

It was the first time she turned him down explicitly. Until this point, he’s only ever begged her with his eyes to take him to her bed. And he never got back an answer. So he pretended she just didn’t understand what he meant, that she was just that clueless. It’s not that she didn’t want him, he just needed to be a little bolder. 

There was no hiding behind delusion now.

The girl finally looked up from the floor. As soon as they made eye contact Xavier almost fell to his knees, feeling the need to apologize for his outburst. She looked crushed. As if something in Xavier’s words or tone fundamentally shatter something inside her.

“You really think that?” she asked and she sounded like she was on the verge of tears.

“Why else would you keep so far away from me?” he asked, but he wasn’t so confident in his accusations anymore. “I’ve sat patiently and waited for you to notice me and you never did, how do you think that makes me feel?” he fought back a sob. “And then I had to sit back and watch you choose someone else over and over again – everyone but me! And even when I’m the only choice left, you still don’t want me.”

The girl looked at him baffled like she had no idea he felt this way. Xavier was quite shocked, too; he didn’t expect to let it all out at once. Now hot tears threatened to spill down his face and he made no effort to hold them back. There was nothing he could hide from her anymore.

“Truth is I’m yours, wholeheartedly and it breaks me to know you’ll never want what I can offer.”

“There is no one in this world that I want more than you, Xavier Thorpe,” the girl whispered, her shattered expression seemingly mirroring his. “I just can’t allow myself to even entertain the idea because I’ll end up heartbroken and you’ll end up dead.”

Xavier seemed confused.

“I know you’d never hurt me–”

“I wouldn’t be able to control myself once I get a taste. I can’t feed on one person alone, it could kill you. That’s why I never have the same person twice in a row, and I give them plenty of time to heal.”

“Well then, you can feed on other people, too. Promise I won’t be jealous anymore… if you promise you’ll come back to me every now and then.”

He gingerly reached for her hand and placed it on his cheek, craving some form of comfort and affection. He half expected the girl to pull back, instead she cupped his face and wiped away a tear with her thumb. 

“I could never do this to you, Xav. It’ll ruin you. Look what seeing me with other people had done to you already. I thought by keeping you at arm’s length I was protecting you,” she scoffed.

Xavier closed his eyes and leaned into her touch even more. He was almost ecstatic to hear she returned his feelings. She truly did want him back, but there was a demon-shaped obstacle in the way.

As she leaned in, their foreheads touched. They sat there for a few moments, resting against each other, simply enjoying the other’s presence. The intimacy of the situation almost made Xavier weep tears of joy. It’s all he’s ever wanted.

“I give you permission to ruin me, you know,” he whispered and they finally parted.

The succubus' eyes turned red once more, her pupils dilating. Xavier wondered if this is what she looked like when she fed. More monstrous. He’d never had the guts to ask any of the Nightshades about the private time they spent with her but he’d always wanted to know.

“What about just a kiss? Would that ease your pain?”

[Y/N] who’s been fighting diligently her demonic urges finally caved in. She grabbed Xavier by the back of his head and pulled him close to her, their lips crashing against one another like clouds in a stormy sky, creating pure electricity. She wanted to be gentle with him, pamper him then slowly unravel him in her arms but every inch of her body ached with longing. She kept him waiting for long enough.

Her kiss felt like fire against Xavier’s lips, painful but purifying. He let out the most sinful moan but then the succubus finally regained control of herself and pulled away. He shamelessly almost toppled over her trying to chase her kiss. He knew he said one kiss, but he hoped it would last longer.

For eternity, perhaps.

“Thanks, that’s better,” she whispered wiping her mouth.

She got up, knowing full well that if she didn’t get away from him soon she was going to break him. He whimpered and looked up at her, still on his knees. The sight alone almost made the girl change her mind.

“Are you sure?” Xavier asked with hopeful eyes.

“It doesn’t hurt anymore.”

~

Xavier couldn’t accept that that was all of it. Not when he got so close to being hers. He mustered up whatever courage was left in his body and grabbed her hand once again and placed it against his cheek. She didn’t seem to mind until he placed her thumb on his bottom lip and opened his mouth. He wasn’t going to force her to do anything, but he wasn’t above begging. 

His pride could rot for all he cared.

The red in the girl’s eyes became a thin circle around her dilated, pitch-black pupil. She reminded Xavier of a cat, which made him wonder if he could make her purr.

“Tell me to stop,” he breathed out.

She didn’t. He took her silence as a go-ahead and shoved her finger in his mouth, sucking on it, making sure not to break eye contact. There was something so hot about her inhuman appearance and the way she was looking down on him like she wanted to eat him. And he would let her.

Xavier couldn’t contain himself any longer. His trembling hand made its way into his pants, grabbing his hard member. Whimpers started slipping through his lips as he was stroking himself. He stuck out his tongue and the girl got the message. Her finger slipped out of his mouth and into his hair, grabbing a fistful.

Now his forehead was resting on the demon’s hip as he was fucking his own hand. Being so close to her crotch, he could smell her arousal. The absurdity and sheer depravity of the whole situation were slowly downing on him, making his face flush even redder. But there was something so delightfully exciting about it that it made Xavier throb in his own hand.

“Can I come, please?” he asked breathlessly.

When he looked back up at the girl to see her nod, her head was adorned with two small black horns pointing up. Her grasp tightened around his hair and he could feel what he could only assume were claws scraping at his scalp. All of those sensations combined were all he needed to send him over the edge.

He was still self-aware enough to raise his shirt up as he came all over his own stomach to prevent getting it all dirty. After he was finished he took off his shirt, just as a precaution.

“You look really pretty like this. I could get used to this view,” [Y/N] flashed a smile and Xavier noticed her pointy canine for the first time.

He wanted her to bite his neck so hard he almost wept. That’s what she uses to mark people. And by the end of the night, she was gonna do that to him. She had to.

He didn’t care how embarrassed he would be with all his friends knowing what they did in here and how it was kind of their fault since they locked them in. He just wanted to be hers.

“You took the words out of my mouth,” he finally managed to say. “I didn’t think you could get any more beautiful.”

The words seemed to wake the demon up from a trance as she looked at her clawed hands, then inspected her hair and found the two horns sitting on top of her head. Her expression looked horrified.

“Fuck!” she exclaimed. “I’m so sorry.”

She turned around and only in a few seconds she went back to her human form, the one Xavier was familiar with. She let out a sigh and propped herself against the round table in the middle of the room.

“Why are you apologizing?”

“I didn’t mean to scare you…” the girl’s voice was barely a whisper.

This came as a shock to Xavier who didn’t think someone like her would ever get self-conscious. Not when she looked like that.

“It’s just that I was drained and hungry and I couldn’t control myself. I didn’t realize I reverted back to my natural form.”

“You don’t always look like that when you feed?”

She shook her head.

“No one’s seen me like that – ever. That’s why I’m always starving, ‘cause I use all my power to cast this stupid glamour. It’s exhausting.”

Xavier finally sat up, although his knees were still wobbly and his legs were shaky. He came closer to the demon and gave her a peck on the lips.

“Show yourself to me again, please.”

He gave her his best puppy dog eyes and the girl caved. She shifted back to her demonic form, the one she was born in. Xavier stared at her in all her dark and monstrous glory. Her horns, her eyes, her fangs; no one could compare to her otherworldly beauty.

Xavier gave her another kiss, longer this time, with intent behind it. He was assuring her that he’d never be scared of her in any form she’d take. That he would always love her and she’d always be gorgeous to him. The kiss was slow and sensual, full of heart.

“We should stop before I drain you,” the girl managed to say between kisses.

Xavier let out a whimper in protest and rested his head against the demon’s neck. He planted a small kiss there.

“But I didn’t even get to be inside of you,” he complained. “Or taste you.”

“You must have a death wish, Xavier Thorpe.”

But despite the front of annoyance she was putting on, she was biting down on a smile. She wished she could cast this moment in amber and keep it forever.

“Please,” he begged. “If this is the only night I get with you, at least let me make it good for you. I want you to remember this.”

He brought her hands to his mouth once again and started kissing the tip of her fingers, her wrist, then going higher up her arm until he reached her shoulder. He gave it a gentle nib, not enough to leave a mark, just to get a little gasp out of her.

Then his hands started to make their way up her leg, under her dress, and quickly grabbed her underwear. He gave her a questioning look, just to make sure she was comfortable. She looked… needy. Hungry.

“Did you put this on for your date?” Xavier raised an eyebrow.

She nodded.

“Well, I feel bad for the poor bastard but her loss is just my luck. Maybe I should thank Wednesday for all of this. I don’t know if I could handle you being with all of Jericho before I even got a taste of you.”

His nimble hands got rid of her underwear as he started lowering himself to his knees. She liked seeing him like this. Xavier held up her underwear and inspected it, it was visibly soaked.

“All of this for me?”

“You’re getting cocky, Thorpe.”

The girl let out a giggle and jokingly pushed his head lower, earning a laugh from him. He liked how even in the situation they were in at the moment they were still good friends, able to push each other's buttons and tease each other for fun. He let out a content sigh before starting to kiss the inner thighs of the demon in front of him. 

His hands gripped the bottom of her dress and raised it all the way up to her hips, holding it in place so it was out of the way. He was really trying to take his time and savor the moment, but her smell was intoxicating, enticing him to have a taste. She seemed to be even more eager than him, bucking her hips forward in order to get him closer to where she wanted him most.

“Impatient,” he teased right before giving her pussy one prolonged slow lick. 

The moan that came out of her should be illegal. It made Xavier’s dick hard once again, although it really wasn’t long ago he came undone at her feet. 

It took all of his self-control not to start eating her like a starving man, all lips and tongue and teeth everywhere. He wanted the moment to last so he gave her a few more probing licks before he started circling her clit.

The girl’s hands grabbed his hair once again, this time more forceful.

“Stop teasing me or I’ll start fucking your face.”

There it goes again, that growl that made the hair on his arms stand up. Xavier complied, although part of him was wondering how it would be if he kept edging her until she lost her temper. He was sure she was hot as fuck when she was angry.

But he wanted to be her good boy for the night so he complied. Trying his best to read her cues, verbal and otherwise, Xavier started eating [Y/N]'s pussy voraciously, like it was his last meal.

At one point he couldn’t hear her moans anymore, as her legs wrapped around his head like a snake around its prey and covered his ears. As he was getting sloppier and the girl’s body started to shake she grabbed him by the hair and forcefully pulled him off her.

“Why did you do that?” he whined in protest.

But as she lined his cock with her entrance and bucked her hips once again, he understood. Xavier wasted no time and pushed himself inside the succubus, feeling a shiver run down his spine as she gripped him tight and started pulsating around him. With how wet she was he slid right in, there was no need to be patient and gentle.

“You feel so good, baby.”

He kept rutting in and out of her as fast as he could, causing the table she was sitting on to shake rhythmically. Their lips found each other one more time in a sloppy, needy kiss. His hips were hitting against hers in a way that would surely hurt tomorrow, but neither of them could care less in that moment. Even as the demon’s walls started relaxing around him, Xavier didn’t stop– now set on chasing his own high.

He was so close, he just needed a little push.

“Mark me, please,” he gulped. “I’m all yours.”

She didn’t wait for another word and pressed her fangs at the base of Xavier’s neck, low enough that it would be easy to hide under a collared shirt. Her teeth sank in and the boy let out a slutty pathetic mewl as he reached his second orgasm of the night.

~

“I love you, I love you, I love you,” he kept repeating like a prayer over and over again in her ear.

He almost fell over, his legs feeling like jelly, but the girl had both her arms and legs wrapped around him, holding him close to her body. He shivered and finally managed to look the girl in the eye. Her hand caressed the side of his face gently.

“I’ll find a way we can be together. Promise.”

With one more kiss, she sealed the oath.

“How do you feel?” she asked trying to mask just how worried she really was.

“Amazing,” Xavier laughed. “Like I could move a mountain. Fuck, you were so worth the wait.”

“You’re not tired? Like… absolutely spent?” the girl inquired shocked.

Xavier shook his head, letting out another laugh. He was positively giddy. It made [Y/N] heart flutter with something new and unfamiliar. She truly loved this boy.

“I know that look on your face, you’re cooking something up. What is it?”

“Alright, don’t get ahead of yourself but I think we might be in luck here. There’s this legend in the succubus world about people who are immune to our charms. We can’t get with them using our powers, we have to actually win their heart but if the rumors are to be believed, these people could feed us indefinitely and not die. Instead of being weakened by us, they get stronger. Each succubus has one, they’re like…”

The girl stopped talking to check for something on Xavier’s face, a sign that what she was about to say would be received well.

“They’re like a soulmate.”

Something gleamed in the boy’s eyes. Hope.

“You’re telling me I could be your soulmate and we can be together,” he kissed the girl’s shoulder, the same spot he’s previously bitten while they were having sex. “And you’ll never have to feed on anyone else ever again. And. And.” He pointed each ‘and’ with a kiss on her body, earning a peal of genuine laughter from her.

“I said don’t get ahead of yourself. Soulmates are insanely rare, most of us think they’re just stories. But there is one way to know for sure.”

A long claw softly touched the mark on Xavier’s neck, causing him to let out a low hiss. 

“Sorry,” she whispered. “If this sticks around after a few days, it means your body has accepted the bond.”

I wanna apologize to everyone who’s been waiting for part 3 of ‘the real reason..’ I already wrote it, it’s just that I’m not satisfied with it. So I decided to write this as a pallet cleanser instead. Been working on it for 3 days.

I also wanna thank all of you for liking, reblogging, commenting and following me for the past few weeks. You helped me get back into writing after years of being stuck and thinking I’ve lost my touch completely. You’ve been making my days lately. Thank you!

Also, what do you guys think of a Rowan x reader? I have this idea floating in my mind for a while and maybe I’ll just put it on paper...

As always, let me know if you wanna get tagged in my next fics.

[theamityelf]

Which Soulmate AU is the Best One For These Makoto Ships?

(in my all-too-flexible opinion)

In no particular order, and this isn't a complete list.

Kamuegi: Soulmate marks, in which people are born with a mark that symbolically indicates who their soulmate is. I want this for them because I want Hajime's mark to have been surgically removed during the Kamukura Project. If Izuru got a new soul mark (which has larger implications about their identities as discrete humans; I'm amenable to both arguments, so I'm cool with Izuru not manifesting his own mark, but if he's inherently a separate person then he does get a new mark as soon as he's "born"), then that was probably also removed surgically, and he never got to see it. He's made to figure out that Makoto is his soulmate without help from a mark, and maybe retroactively he finds out what his and Hajime's soulmate marks were by looking through his own records and he sees that they both pointed to Makoto. But that's not until after they're already together. And in my mind, Makoto has a soulmate mark but has no clue what it means, but the moment Izuru sees it, he fully understands that it means him. (Of course, he doesn't see Makoto's mark until they've already had either a platonic or romantic relationship for a while. Either seeing Makoto's mark is what makes Izuru understand the romantic nature of feelings he's been having, or they're already dating and it's just a comforting confirmation. Maybe he's even been consciously jealous of the idea that Makoto has a soulmate out there who Izuru doesn't believe will appreciate him as much as he does. Maybe he's thinking, "If his soulmate comes to claim him, I simply won't let them." Or maybe he's dreading the day the person who will make Makoto the happiest comes and steals him away.

Naegami: Color sight, where you only start to see in color after you meet your soulmate. Almost opposite of what I want for Izuru; this AU shows Byakuya an objective means of learning that Makoto is his soulmate, so that any denial or tsun behavior he exhibits toward him is predicated on the objective fact that they are soulmates. Maybe, for fun, make it a gradual thing, where when you first see them you get one color and then more colors get added in over time as you spend more time with them. This means that he could feasibly be in denial at first; he gets the first color at orientation, and it could be any of his classmates; the fact that he keeps getting new colors after talking with Makoto could be a coincidence or a misread of the cause and effect. (Okay, Byakuya, then who in your class would you rather it be? Um...) It also means that Byakuya could be purely self-serving about spending time with Makoto at first. "I'm only talking to you to get more colors. I have no interest in being your soulmate." But they're talking and forming a connection the whole time. This only applies to their school days; in the killing game, they just wake up already having color sight and have to contend with why that is.

Naegiri: Dream sharing or dreaming each other's dreams. I think Kyoko would really enjoy having that kind of insight into her soulmate's life, fears, and character, and Makoto would, too. They would know they're each other's soulmates either as soon as or shortly after meeting each other. They've been having each other's dreams their entire life. Obligatory drama potential- in the killing game, Kyoko's returning memories are in Makoto's dreams instead of hers, and vice versa. So he's able to give her information about herself that she doesn't have, which really aggravates her disinclination to trust others. Meanwhile, when she learns something about him through his dreams, she might keep it to herself for the sake of putting together the puzzle.

Komaegi: I think the countdown clock until you meet your soulmate variety. I think it would be really poignant if, while in mortal peril, Nagito can see the countdown telling him that he'll meet his soulmate in five years, or ten years. He's thinking, "I probably won't even survive to meet them," or he's thinking, "Does this mean I survive to meet them?" etc. He gets the letter from Hope's Peak, and the math says that he meets his soulmate while attending Hope's Peak- but not in his first year. Part of him hopes it'll be an Ultimate, but he meets Makoto at the end of the timer and he's like "Oh, that makes sense. That's the most I deserve," and goes a near Mr. Darcy route of backhanded love confession. He's not trying to be mean, but there will be some stuff he says that he has to walk back later in order for their friendship to progress. And then when the killing game happens, his soulmate is named the Ultimate Hope! The reaction this could unlock in him!

Naenami: I'm saying soulmate mark again, because it would be cute if Makoto was born with, like, Yoshi on his arm or something. Chiaki would be excited in just the "guy wearing a t-shirt of the thing you like" sense, not even taking it as a soulmate mark for her specifically. Maybe she's like, "You're so lucky! My soulmate mark is a banana peel." And Makoto laughs, like, "What could that mean?"

Naezono: Also soulmate mark, because I want Sayaka's to be a crane. Means that when she saw Makoto do the crane thing in middle school, she knew then that he was her soulmate, but she still didn't approach him. I'm going to say Makoto's mark is more vague, so he doesn't know she's his soulmate until well into their friendship at Hope's Peak.

Naekusaba: Okay, I'm not specific on the mechanics of this one, but some variation of feeling one's soulmate's pain or anything that scars them scars you instead. Something to kind of play with her not having been marked at all by her time with Fenrir. Maybe it's just that she feels his pain, so he trips a bunch and she's just like "What on earth is going on with my soulmate?" while she tears up a battlefield without a scratch, or maybe any injury that should mark him marks her and vice versa, so that people think "Oh man, the soulmate to the best Fenrir fighter ever must be super scarred," and he's completely fine, whereas she's got various scrapes and marks from Makoto's years of bad luck. Idk, there's something there. This would mean the logistics of the Fenrir tattoo need further thought. The ink is still given to her, so she's still the one with the tattoo, but any temporary scarring or inflammation goes to him? Idk, this one isn't well thought out, lol.

Naejunko: Oh, either dream sharing or seeing through each other's eyes. Some psychic link thing where they get the POV of being each other. Are you kidding?! The drama! Makoto zones out in class and sees his soulmate straight up torturing someone, and he's horrified and scared. Junko dozes off on a plane or starts daydreaming during a photo shoot and sees her soulmate having a nice time with his cute family and just gets so excited about the idea of ruining everything in his life. Maybe they can feel each other watching! Maybe they're children and Makoto realizes, in the middle of doing his homework, that his soulmate is watching, and he writes Please don't be mean to your sister anymore in the margins and then erases it (This part is dark, but maybe in response Junko writes his name on Mukuro's skin with a knife or something.), or maybe Junko realizes, in the middle of doing something horrible, that Makoto is watching, and she kicks it up several notches to perform for him.

[officialparknerawards]

This Year’s Nominations

Fic Nominations

Best in Fluff

“Potato Gun Mechanics” by hisfirstnamesagent

“confessions (just for you)” by blxrryfxcxd

“(A Picture Can Say) A Thousand Words” by shipskicksandgiggles

“You’re Breathtaking” by Tea_For_One_Please

“Pete, I’m Fake Drunk and Wanna Go Home” by Sarah_Sandwich

Best in Hurt/comfort

“a rainbow doesn’t always have a pot of gold” by Scarlettpin

“She’s My Sister” by Weirdness_36

“For the First Time, Eye to Eye” by Sarah_Sandwich

Best in Angst

“Tools to Fix You” by shipskicksandgiggles

“we were all just humans” by MayWilder

“i wish that i was homeward bound” by thompsborn

“rise and fall of the tides” by enzhe, MayWilder

Best in Fieldtrip

“Obligatory Field Trip Fic” by Dredfulhapiness

Will be open for last minute nominations during voting, provide link in other option

Best in Social Media AU

“A Spider on the Web” by bee bark (nachtwaechterin)

“Potato Gun Mechanics” by hisfirstnamesagent

“creeper, aw man” by impravidus

“twitter beef so salty and scalding hot that it’s a well done steak” by impravidus

Best in Post-No Way Home

“We’re Happy To Serve You” by ExcaliburLibrary

“After You” by WaywardKeener

“i wish that i was homeward bound” by thompsborn

Best in Non-canon Compliant

“Space in Your Bed” by PeachyKeener

“we were all just humans” by MayWilder

“i wish that i was homeward bound” by thompsborn

“Tennessee Whiskey” by Superstitious

“Lemon Boy” by Sarah_Sandwich

Best in College/University

“Too busy being yours” by everythingisconnected

“Or Whatever” by shipskicksandgiggles

“The Hottie Across the Hall” by coconutknightshade

“i wish that i was homeward bound” by thompsborn

Best in Superhero Harley Keener

“it’s always who is spider-man, never how is spider-man” by i_regret_thatpersonalityquiz

“saving peter” by thompsborn

“Parkner Meets Miraculous Ladybug Tropes” by impravidus

Best in Identity Reveal

“Spider At Home (ah-ah)” by the_oncoming_stormageddon

“Simply the Best” by impravidus

“As You Wish” by Superstitious

“Tennessee Whiskey” by Superstitious

Best in Future Fics

“Head in the Stars” by shipskicksandgiggles

“not done yet” by thompsborn

“no one else was in the room where it happened” by LilacsAndLilies

Best in Proposal/Marriage

“The Proposal” by impravidus

“Stuck in the Middle” by impravidus

Will be open for last minute nominations during voting, provide link in other option

Best in Tony Stark Involved

“The Hottie Across the Hall” by coconutknightshade

“Potato Gun Mechanics” by hisfirstnamesagent

“Devils in the Details (but you got a friend in me)” by PeachyKeener

“Well, this is awkward” by Saturning

Best in Soulmates

“Lobsters are mermaids to scorpions” by sammiespider

“Garden Growing” by saladbabie

“promises, promises, promises” by MayWilder

“Skin-Deep” by m4xw3ll

Art Nominations

Best in Digital Art

Harley Keener Introduced At CEO of SI by TEDDY

"Laddie & Spidey !!" by cqlementine

Unnamed by Darka

Best in Physical Art

Aka Peter and Harley won’t stop flirting by Mauvera

Will be open for last minute nominations during voting, provide link in other option

Best in Collage Art

For October Parkner Week by EmmaElsa0000

Will be open for last minute nominations during voting, provide link in other option

Creator Nominations

Best in New Writers

Weirdness_36

DiAngelosBae

Will be open for last minute nominations during voting, provide link in other option

Best in OG Writers

@official-impravidus

@thompsborn

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Best in Artist

@peanuttoffee

@cqlementine

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[velvetwyrme]

So Flipping Fate is my favorite Underfell Papyrus fic but what is your favorite UF! Papyrus fic?

AH 🥺❣️❣️ First off, thank you so much!! I'm glad you're enjoying Flipping Fate! :D!!!

Secondly, there's no need to apologize- my fav/s are definitely in the list you mentioned, but I'm more than happy to answer again here :]!! My favorite UF!Papyrus fic has GOTTA BE Thunderstruck. Absoluuuutely killer characterisation and development, delicious interactions and writing... I love it dearly 💖

Other notable fics (probably also in the list lololol) include; A Smile from the East and Roadside Attraction. ASftE made me fall in love with UF!Pap back in the old days of fandom, and Roadside Attraction made me adore him once again when I returned.

And since you asked so nicely, here are some more (sfw) UF!Pap/Reader recs that. also may or may not be in the list idk I didn't actually go back and check lol

Becoming Edge is a fic all about finding yourself and your identity through fashion and was instrumental in me doing the same. Really sweet!!! Pastel goth Edge... my beloved.

And speaking of pastel goth- My Soulmate is a Pastel Goth (And Other Concerns) is a enemies-to-friends-to-lovers fic with the added elements of Soulmates ✨! Love me some tempestuous soulmate fic. (Note: this fic also features Fem!Frisk as Sans' soulmate in the bg, so if you're not a fan, that's something to note ^^! Fr//ans isn't quite my thing, but tbh I'm really interested in seeing how things turn out for them here!)

Between a Rope and a Wrench, or; this skeleton is buying a lot of really weird, suspicious stuff but you will help him get it because it's your job and later because you're his friend. (Also, you choose his friendship over the possibility that you may become an accomplice in murder.)

Sound of Blooming... MAFIAFELL 💥💥!!!! It's been a bit since I read it but it's in ny bookmarks so... :3c!

A Home for Mending Souls is actually a UF!Bros/Reader, but it still counts. It's really good!! Healing from trauma! Soft moments! Slowly opening up to one another!

Till it Brews Over is a coffee shop AU where you purposefully misspell the name of your asshole regular, who just happens to be one edgy skeleton.

Also for additional fics that star UF!Pap that I enjoy/have enjoyed:

While I was looking for one of these fics it led me to realise that I STILL haven't read Fight Me! (by MsMk- not be confused with Fight Me! by Little_old_lady, which uses the same premise and is also really good, but it features FS!Sans instead of UF!Pap) Anyway, this is truly a travesty because they're a fantastic writer and I can only assume it got lost in my various open tabs >>"!! [Addition while drafting: I LOVE IT he's so sulky... I'm staring warily at the chapter count though. So much time for things to Go Wrong]

I actually really like UF!Pap in Bitty Hunt- his characterization is very much... reminiscent of that era of fic, but all the scenes with him in it are ones that have been seared into my brain !!

Another new-ish fic that I'm enjoying UF!Pap in is Honey Lemon Tea, which the summary succinctly describes it as "Papyrus finds his Grillby's... in the form of a very plain coffee shop.", and which I will less-succinctly describe it as "Anti-harem with a delightfully mysterious barista, with the obligatory awful gf"

Edit: I cannot figure out why for the life of me but the formatting looks REALLY weird on my end, but in the editor it's fine?? So if it looks weird/out of order to you please excuse this post, it seems to be some Tumblr Fuckery

[cartoonrival]

HEY YOU Hit me with some Julie Su propoganda cuz I'm mostly lukewarm on her character and don't know all that much about her.

OK OK ... well baseline info she's the daughter of dark legion general luger, and half sister of lien-da and kragok, who are twins and both high ranking legion soldiers. when their mother (merin-da) died and luger remarried, ld and kragok hated his new wife (julie-su's mother) (mari-su) so bad they orchestrated her death, info which was they kept on the DL for a long time until js eventually found out about it. memory situation, js is raised by other folks who actually love her and doesn't learn who her blood family is until later. she joins knuckles because she feels inexplicably drawn to him (soul touch) (echidna soulmates) so she defects from the legion to join the chaotix. the soul touch thing sucks and i hate it but this is how it goes. ill talk about my au version of her at the end lol bc things ive built on top of canon are part of the reason why shes one of my fave charas in the series lul

ANYWHO i honestly find it pretty frustrating when people talk about js as just being pink knuckles, shoehorned into the story to give knuckles an obligatory girlfriend, because it really demonstrates that they like. weren't paying a lick of attention to anything because she genuinely has a LOT of personality but since people just go in anticipating anything penders touched to suck they don't even bother to think about her for longer than half a second.

js fills a niche that, imo, could always use filling, especially with regards to girl characters, which is to say shes a well meaning asshole. shes incredibly blunt, she's pessimistic (immediately assumes knuckles must be dead when enerjak returns and they cant find him, tells knuckles not to search a fallen ship that his mother was on because shes probably dead and she doesnt think he'd want to see that). shes terrible at handling interpersonal conflict (knuckles confesses to her that he feels guilty and stressed over all the pressure put on him as guardian and she scolds him and says "this isn't just about you", which results in a minor shouting match when she really had zero intention of starting an argument), she's almost constantly beefing with vector (tbf its because hes sexist he refuses to see past her history as a member of the dark legion). these might suond like cons but i love characters like this LOL and they fit especially well in archie where people love to get mad at each other and make dumb mistakes and it just feels very genuine and interesting and endearing to me. shes rough and difficult but she's also DEEPLY loyal. she'd die for knuckles and the chaotix and the way she interacts with them always makes me soooo ........ im just gonna give some examples i can find.

(knuckles is on the phone with her)

^ this was the genuine conclusion of an argument they had and im obsessed with it because both of them suck with emotions so they both give the worlds strangest apology and know that the other means it and they move on. plus putting her arm in front of SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG while theyre confronting eggman even after watching him CHAOS BLAST, primarily because she feels like this is more her fight than his (its about knuckles).

theres def more and i could find them if i was more on top of archie but unfortunately im #narutopilled rn. BUT ANYWAYS. shes just a very fun character with a messy personality and fun interactions and she loves her buddies sm even tho she bickers with them. shes just very special. she fits well with knuckles in a way that makes their relationship actually feel plausible instead of just forcing him to have a girlfriend (tho ofc the writing is fumbled sometimes like. ITS ARCHIE. bffr. but thats the case with literally everything ever in archie so you take what you can and its amazing). also see below. BASED AS FUCKKKKKKK

and ill discuss my au briefly bc u r asking me my opinion on js and that does play a large role in how i feel abt her, but rly im just expanding on elements of her story that werent discussed as fully as i wouldve liked. her relationship with lien-da is obviously BAD in canon, but theres not a lot of time spent lingering on precisely how lien-da and kragok feel about julie-su as the product of their fathers second marriage to a woman they KILLED because they hated her so much. ive also given her much more internal strife over turning away from the legion, originally joining the chaotix planning to betray them from the inside then being slowly convinced to join them for real after realizing how much she'd been brainwashed by the legion and what its like to have people who truly love and care about you. her story as someone who is trying to find herself outside of her history as a child soldier is something that TOTALLY deserves to be expanded on and its a bit sad that it wasnt explored. but i mean really im not changing her actual PERSONALITY at all because as i discussed shes oozing with it.... im honestly never going to make the full comic i wanted to so at some point im just going to compile all the lore and concept art and stuff into one big post to share. but thats like a spoiler free taste.

she also has a gun. which is fucking awesome because not enough sonic characters have guns. people make shadow the guy with a gun but he hasnt been seen with one since shth. hello....

[queengiuliettafirstlady]

🧡 𝗗𝗜𝗙𝗙𝗘𝗥𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗨𝗡𝗜𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗘, 𝗦𝗔𝗠𝗘 𝗟𝗢𝗩𝗘 2 - AN ALTERNATIVE UNIVERSE (AU)-THEMED OTOME CONTENT CREATION CHALLENGE

For the second time, @xxsycamore and I are bringing to you a week-long exploration of the trope Alternative Universe! (link to last year’s challenge here)

→ GENERAL RULES

Works of all forms are welcome! Fanarts, fanfics, headcanons, etc.

Limited to otome fandoms - mobile otome games such as: IkeSeries (Ikemen Vampire, Ikemen Prince, Ikemen Villains, Ikemen Sengoku, Ikemen Revolution, Ikemen Genjiden); Tears of Themis; Obey me!; Mr Love: Queen’s Choice; Light and Night; Voltage games; Mystic Messenger and others, as well as console otomes.

This challenge takes place between June 19th and June 25th, 2023. The deadline for posting your works is July 15th (until midnight, UTC+2).

Instead of making the masterlist after the deadline, @xxsycamore who is in charge of it will try to create the post in advance and update it regularly during the challenge. Don’t hesitate to contact us if your work was done within the deadline but wasn’t featured in the masterlist. Or, if you prefer not to be featured on the masterlist instead!

When posting your works, use the tag #different universe same love ccc - you can as well tag @xxsycamore and @queengiuliettafirstlady in your posts! It will help us find your work easier!

Posting to other sites is allowed - as long as you mention the challenge and its creators.

Reblogs are appreciated!

→ CONTENT RULES

This challenge features a list of 14 AU prompts, two for each day, plus 7 dialogue prompts which you can match to your liking, if you want to. You’re free to create a work based on whichever AU you like more for that day. You can also create works for both AU prompts, and you can also mix the two prompts into one work! Whatever suits your preferences :) You can create more than one work for the same prompt, too!

You can find the lists of prompts on the banner above, as well at the bottom of this post.

Under the cut, you will also find a short explanation of each AU prompt, just in case there is anything unclear about them.

Any additional rules are up to the content creators. You are free to choose the rating(make sure to mark your NSFW works accordingly, and if you’re minor, make sure not to interact with such!), and also the genre (the challenge’s main focus is romantic love, but it is not obligatory for your work to be of such genre), all characters and ships included are up to you (OCs, character x MC, character x character, etc.)

You’re free to take requests from your audience using these prompt lists, again please make sure to mention the challenge and its creators.

You’re absolutely free to post your works for this challenge after its deadline, July 15th - but please note that they won’t be featured in the masterlist!

The final and most important rule is to have fun and not pressure yourself about full completion of the challenge. Do only as many works as you wish! :)

Here is a free-to-use banner/header for the challenge!:

If you have any additional questions, we’ll be happy to help. There is no such thing as a stupid question, so don’t hesitate to get in contact with us! We wish you happy creating!

→ THE LISTS

Day 1 - June 19th- Bodyguard AU | Mafia AU

Day 2 - June 20th- Angels and Demons AU | Pirate/Mermaid AU

Day 3 - June 21st- Social Media AU |Coffee/Flower shop AU

Day 4 - June 22nd- Celebrity AU | Bookstore AU

Day 5 - June 23rd - Forbidden love AU | Soulmates AU

Day 6 - June 24th- Office AU | Circus/Magic AU

Day 7 - June 25th- FREE DAY (an AU of your choice!)

Dialogue prompts:

“Him? Are you kidding me? He’s not even my type!”

“We didn’t even exchange numbers! I’m such a fool.”

“We should have never met.”

“Ah, it’s you again! Do you come here often?”

“I’ll be waiting at our spot. Make sure no one sees you.”

“Promise me we will always have each other.”

“Maybe we’ll meet again someday.”

Under the cut you’ll find a short explanation of each AU:

Bodyguard AU - character A is appointed to protect character B

Mafia AU - an extension of Mobster AU, with a mafia setting - typically involves rivalry and enemies-to-lovers tropes

Angels and Demons AU - typically depicts the forbidden love between character A who is an angel and character B who is a demon. You can also write about Fallen angels/Ascended demons.

Pirate/Mermaid AU - an AU that features merfolk characters or pirates - or both!

Social Media AU - an AU where the characters meet on social media and begin their friendship/relationship online.

Coffee/Flower shop AU - typically resolves around a small business that character A either owns or works at, and their loyal customer, character B; but they can also be both customers, or coworkers.

Celebrity AU - placing your character(s) in a setting where they’re famous. Other characters could be their fans; working with them, meeting them by chance…

Bookstore AU - similar to Coffee/Flower shop AU.

Forbidden love AU - a setting where the characters are forbidden from being together for whatever reason.

Soulmates AU - a setting where everyone has One True Love and the ways of finding it varies depending on the creator. An example of a popular Soulmate AU is “Your soulmate’s name is written on you”.

Office AU - a setting where the characters work together in an office.

Circus/Magic AU - a setting where the characters either work in the circus or are magic users - the latter involves anything fantasy-related, basically.

FREE DAY - The last day of this challenge is for you to choose your own prompt! It can perfectly well overlap with an already existing prompt. Maybe your favorite Alternative Universe wasn’t in the list above? This is your chance to include your idea in the list :)

ONCE AGAIN, HAPPY CREATING! WE CAN’T WAIT TO SEE YOUR CREATIONS 🧡

[metalhoops]

The Five Times Eddie Wondered Who His Soulmate Was  and the One Time He Didn’t Have To

1. 

The worst thing about knowing your soulmate was in trouble was understanding there was nothing you could do about it. 

As a whole, Eddie thought the concept of soulmates was bullshit. He thought all that fate and destiny crap was a scam to sell the idea of monogamy or co-dependence. If people were too busy fretting over when they’d meet ‘their person’, they’d forget that actual shit was going on in the world. Who had the time to care about systemic oppression when they were busy trying to work out if the cute girl across the corridor was their one true love? 

That being said, sometimes Eddie got curious about who they were. Not many people found their soulmates. It wasn’t as obvious as you’d think. When they were in pain, you would feel it. Two people could live across the world from one another, feeling each scraped knee and broken wrist but never meet. Hell, you could live across the street from someone and unless you were there to watch them get hurt and feel the same old pang of shared pain, you’d never know. 

It wasn’t like Eddie had never felt his soulmate before that day. They’d twisted an ankle when Eddie was twelve and sprained a wrist when he was fourteen, but he’d felt no pain from them so strong as when he was sitting in detention during his junior year. 

He was counting down the minutes left until he could get out of the high school, hell hole when a sharp and sudden pain flooded his jaw. He gritted his teeth and cradled it with his palm, feeling as though the wind was knocked out of his body. Eddie knew what being punched in the face felt like, and that was it. Just when the ache started to fade, another thud of pain to his cheek made his vision swim. From there, Eddie held his breath, waiting for the pain to end. He rested his head on his desk and felt his heart in his throat as the blows kept coming. 

He missed Mrs Click telling him to go home, too busy gripping the desk for dear life, his fingernails digging into the poorly carved desk graffiti, slicing a line through ‘RB 4 TT.’ He was elated when the pain finally stopped. 

Eddie kept his head down the whole walk home, trying to tell himself soulmates were bullshit, and that he didn’t care about his, but his thoughts kept returning to visions of them. He hoped they were okay. 

Eddie never wanted to know who his soulmate was until that moment. They’d had a hell of a day and Eddie wanted to be there with them, tell them he knew what it was like. He wanted to hold their head in his lap and tell them everything was going to be okay, that if it were up to him, no one would hurt them like that again, but he couldn’t. For all he knew, they could be a hundred miles away. 

2.

The next time it happened, Eddie was at home alone in the trailer. Uncle Wayne was working a night shift, and he was watching a horror movie marathon on the T.V. It was shaping up to be a good night, with him curled up on the couch watching a schlocky creature feature when he felt all the air knocked out of his lungs. 

For a moment, he was worried something horrible was happening to him. When Jeff had appendicitis, he’d reported the same kind of pain. Eddie rolled up the hem of his shirt, watching a black-blue bruise bloom and fade in the span of a second. Sometimes, if the pain was great enough, you’d get what they called an ‘echo’ of the injury. It only lasted a moment, invisible ink fading on pale paper. 

The pain had been so strong that Eddie hadn’t been able to tell if it was theirs or his. From there, it got worse. He felt a sharp pang crash over his head, then another series of blows to the face. It was always the goddamn face.

When it was over, Eddie was left feeling lightheaded. The sensation faded quickly, but he knew his other half would be stuck with the ache for the rest of the night, if not longer. 

There was a lot of conjecture when it came to soulmates. It was hard to conduct scientific studies on something based entirely on sensation, and any research that had been done was less than ethical. All the same, for the rest of the night, Eddie curled his arms around himself, holding his body in the hopes his person could feel it, that he could give them some comfort. 

“I hope you’re okay,” he whispered, burrowing his face into the crook of his elbow. 

Back at school, Eddie floated through the halls feeling less than himself as thoughts of his person swirled. The school was abuzz with rumours of a fight between Billy Hargrove and the former king of Hawkins High, Steve Harrington. Eddie couldn’t care less about some pissing contest for the highest rung on the social ladder, as he still felt the echoed ache of his soulmate’s pain throughout the day. 

He ditched gym, opting to hide beneath the bleachers and smoke. To his surprise, he wasn’t the only one with the idea. When he arrived, he found the overthrown king sitting cross-legged, cradling his still-bruised jaw. Eddie wasn’t a fan of the jocks, but they were the biggest contributor to his wallet, so he tried to play civil with them. Plus, Eddie wasn’t one to kick someone when they were down, and boy was Steve down. He sat beside the man, examined his face, and thought for a fleeting second. Maybe he was the one, but that was crazy talk. The Freak and the King. In what world? 

“You look like you’ve had better days,” Eddie noted. 

“I’ve had worse,” Steve replied. Eddie had a pit in his stomach. 

The two lapsed into silence, hiding out until the bell sounded for the end of gym. Eddie gave the boy a half-hearted salute as he stood.

“Hey, Steve?” Eddie spoke before he left.

“You okay?”

Steve gave Eddie the ghost of a smile, all charm drowned out by Steve’s two black eyes. 

“I will be.” 

3.

Eddie had been worried about his soulmate before, but he’d never thought he’d lose them until the summer vacation after his failed attempt at senior year. He and the rest of Corroded Coffin had just finished their set at The Hideout. Eddie and the boys were carrying their instruments back to the van when the feeling hit. 

He fell to the asphalt. The whole scene sounded all the more dramatic as the hi-hat he’d been holding fell with him. He really wished his soulmate would learn to keep their head down and stay out of trouble because this was getting ridiculous. He got ready to hunker down and wait it out, having gotten morbidly used to their annual beatings. Only this time the pain didn’t stop. 

He was hit with wave after wave of agony. This time, it wasn’t just the face. He felt blows to his jaw, his stomach, and his side. He also felt a sharp spike of pain in his hand, as though someone was trying to peel his nails from his skin.

He could hear his friends around him, desperately trying to get something coherent out of Eddie, trying to work out if it was soulmate bullshit or if the guy was having an aneurysm. By the way he was acting, either seemed possible. When the pain subsided, Eddie felt foggy, like he was going through the worst goddamn high of his life. The neon signs of The Hideout and the street lamps danced before his eyes. Hundreds of little halos clouded his vision. He couldn’t think straight. 

He managed to prop himself up against the wheel of the van and pulled his knees to his chest. He knotted his hands in his long hair and tugged, trying to remind himself what his own pain felt like, though stopped when he realised he’d also be hurting them. That was the last thing they needed. 

“You okay?” He heard Gareth ask when the world came swimming back into focus. Eddie shook his head. Far from it.  

“Are they okay? Are they... alive?” Eddie hadn’t let himself entertain that idea until it was brought up. 

He felt the last flush of colour drain from his face. He could still feel them, but there was something wrong with the connection. Maybe he was dying. Eddie couldn’t help but think of his soulmate as ‘he’. He just knew. 

Eddie kept trying to tell himself he didn’t care about them, but the fact that he could die without Eddie ever having met him made his heart ache. People thought the reason you felt your person’s pain was to protect them, to know when something was wrong. Eddie had done a bang-up job at that. 

“For now, but it’s weird. I don’t... I don’t know how much longer-,” Eddie didn’t let himself finish. 

The rest of the band suddenly took on a sombre mood. Jeff and Grant finished packing up the van while Gareth offered to drive. The boys stayed at Eddie’s trailer for the rest of the night, holding their breaths and waiting for the other shoe to drop. 

Eventually, Eddie dropped off to sleep and when he awoke hours later, he was relieved to realise he hurt all over. He was still alive, still waiting for Eddie to find him and god did Eddie want to. 

His uncle came home at the crack of dawn and let out an elongated sigh of relief at seeing Eddie and his band of merry men curled up together on the living room carpet. Wayne greeted Eddie with a tight hug that still hurt like hell.

“I was worried something happened to you,” His uncle stated in his gravelled tone.

“Why would something have happened to me?” Eddie asked, perplexed. 

“The mall burnt down last night. I was worried you were close by.” 

Eddie shook his head and let his uncle hold him as his mind ticked away. He wondered if it was possible his soulmate was in Hawkins. Eddie wasn’t sure he believed in coincidence.   

4.

Eddie started seeing spots during his lunchtime speech. By the end of his rant, the room had started to tilt. He felt unsure on his feet as he clambered from the top of the jock table to scamper back to the hellfire group. He must look worse for wear because he noticed one of his new recruits watching him.

“Eddie, you good?” Dustin questioned, sounding further away than he should. The lights in the cafeteria were too bright and his head was killing him. 

He felt close to throwing up and wondered where the pain had come from before realising the familiar distance from the sensation. It wasn’t his pain. Eddie didn’t want Henderson to butt into his love life any more than he already did, so he gave the kid a tight-lipped smile that more closely resembled a grimace. This wasn’t the first time he’d felt this sensation from his soulmate, but they were growing more frequent.  

Again, sweetheart? Eddie thought, knowing it was the second migraine that week. 

“Migraine,” Eddie hissed through gritted teeth. He could feel his band members' eyes on him. They knew exactly who the ache belonged to. 

To Eddie’s surprise, Dustin passed him a cool glass of water and barked orders at Mike, getting the kid to remove the ugly Hawaiian over shirt, before throwing it over Eddie’s head, blocking out the light. It wasn’t Eddie’s pain, so it didn’t help but he could appreciate the sentiment. 

“Did they teach you first aid at science camp, Henderson?” Eddie guessed offhandedly. 

“Nah. Steve gets migraines all the time. Helps to know how to deal with them.”

Eddie would never understand how a kid like Dustin came to know Steve Harrington, let alone worship the ground the guy walked on. Usually, Dustin had such good taste.  

“Eddie’s soulmate gets them too,” Gareth spoke unhelpfully. 

Even without looking, Eddie knew he was shooting him a shit-eating grin, knowing the rest of the afternoon Henderson would ask him about his soulmate. Just because the kid found Suzie, he thought the whole world deserved to find their one true love. Instead, Dustin came out with the most bullshit statement Eddie had ever heard. 

“Maybe Steve’s your soulmate.” 

Yeah, right. On what planet would that happen? 

5.

With everything that had happened to Eddie in the past few days, he hadn’t had time to think about his soulmate. He’d watched Chrissy die before his eyes, learnt the existence of another dimension and was walking through said dimension after witnessing Steve Harrington take a bite out of a demon bat’s tail. It’d been a weird ass day.  

He wished he’d been like Robin and Nancy, able to jump in and rescue Steve on a whim, but as Steve disappeared beneath the black water of Lover’s Lake, he’d felt his throat close and his lungs ache for air. It wasn’t a good time for a panic attack. Nevertheless, he’d managed to get his ass in gear and follow the rest of the group down into Watergate. 

He’d dropped back to walk with Steve and found himself complimenting the man. Steve was nothing like he imagined. He was not only kind, but as Dustin had put it, a total badass. 

Once the adrenaline faded, Eddie found himself lifting the hem of his shirt, examining his side. He felt a dull throb of pain. It’d be his luck to bleed out without noticing, but he found there was nothing there. 

“You good?” Steve asked.

Eddie couldn’t help but let his gaze settle on Steve’s bleeding side. He held his breath. He thought about pushing his hand against Steve’s wound, hurting him more just to check, but Eddie couldn’t hurt Steve. Not now. Especially if he was who Eddie thought he might be. 

“Yeah, I’m fine. You okay?” Eddie asked, gesturing to Steve’s side. The boy nodded.

“I’m fine, just a scratch. Can hardly feel a thing.” 

If Steve was his soulmate, he was full of shit. If Steve was his soulmate when everything blew over, they had a few things to talk about.

+1

Something was very wrong. Vecna was going down in a blaze of flame when Steve’s body started to ache. He felt the familiar sting of interdimensional bat fangs digging into dermis flesh. Robin and Nancy were cheering, wrapping their arms around Steve, whooping, hollering and panting while Steve was busy feeling like he was being torn apart. 

He was pulling away from the girls and turning on his heels before he had the chance to explain, running from the Creel House to the trailer park as fast as his feet could carry him. There was only one person this pain could belong to. 

Steve had spent his whole life searching for his soulmate, desperate to know who they were, and he’d been under his nose the whole time. The fact that Steve’s soulmate was a boy hadn’t surprised him as much as it should. That’d been a crisis bubbling away in the background of his brain since he’d gone to his first swim meet. He’d seen a boy in tight swim trunks, with tan skin and felt the familiar heart-pounding, crush he’d experienced on pretty girls he’d passed in the school hallways. 

By the time he got to Eddie, he’d hardly been able to fight through the pain surging through their connection. Dustin was wailing, holding Eddie in the wake of a bat graveyard. He looked up in alarm at Steve’s figure, noticing his pale skin and sweat-slicked brow. 

“Harrington?” Eddie’s weak voice came from Dustin’s lap. 

Steve was busy removing his clothes, trying to stop the bleeding. Dustin didn’t need to show him where the man was hurt, he could feel it. 

“I really must have got some brownie points in the end,” Eddie murmured. 

Both boys hissed as Steve shoved his shirt into a wound at Eddie’s side. That was when Dustin appeared to catch on, his eyes swelling wide as they darted between the two boys. 

“What’re you talking about, Munson?” Steve asked, trying to keep the guy talking. 

“Must’ve got into heaven after all,” He hummed, his deep brown eyes gazing beyond Steve at the distant red sky. 

“Hey. No. None of that. You aren’t in heaven because you’re not dying,” Steve hissed, using what little strength he had left to lift Eddie’s body. 

“Gotta be in heaven, if you’re here,” Eddie spoke, giving Steve a lopsided grin. Steve felt Eddie’s pain beginning to fade and panicked, not ready to let things end before they’d even had the chance to begin. 

He hoisted Eddie up through the portal and waited to do the same with Dustin. It wasn’t long before the distant sound of sirens once more surrounded the Munson trailer and Steve found himself passing out from the pain as red-blue lights swallowed the world whole. 

Eddie woke in pain, his whole body humming with a familiar dull ache that was unarguably his. It took time for him to make sense of the scene. He was in the hospital. Steve was slumped over at the far edge of the room, sleeping in an uncomfortable plastic chair, his head thrown back and his mouth agape. Eddie’s eyes trailed to his bedside, where he met Dustin’s. 

“Holy shit, you’re awake,” the boy gasped, pulling him into a bone-crushing hug. 

Eddie cringed as he felt a rush of pain swarm through his body. He must have gasped, because Steve sprung to life, waking with a start as his eyes trailed from Dustin to Eddie. Steve’s eyes were a storm of quiet conflict, punctuated by deep purple bruises. 

“Eddie,” Steve breathed, standing to hover beside the bed, unsure of what to do next. 

He was surprised Steve was there at all. He wouldn’t say the two were close. Though Steve had probably found some way of twisting Eddie getting hurt into some fault of his, ever the damn hero. 

“Thought I was a goner for a second there,” Eddie admitted, trying to shake some of the strange tension from the room.

“If Steve hadn’t gotten there in time, you would’ve been,” Dustin spoke. Eddie watched as the boy’s hands trembled. He leaned over, fighting through the pain to ruffle the kid’s hair. Steve’s shoulders hunched over, doubling into himself. 

“I’ll get the nurse. Your uncle left for his nightshift, but he should be back in a few,” Dustin muttered as he made a beeline for the exit. It seemed strange the boy was extracting himself from the scene.

Henderson called over his shoulder. “I told you so.” 

And just like that, Eddie knew. 

He looked up at Steve with wide-eyed alarm, only to find his look mirrored.

“How’d you know we were in trouble?” Eddie asked, though thought he knew the answer. 

“After we killed Vecna, I felt... I could feel you. I knew you were hurt,” Steve explained. 

“How’d you know it was me?” Eddie pushed.

“Thought it was too much of a coincidence that it felt like my soulmate was getting eaten alive by giant bats. I’d call it an educated guess.” 

Eddie gritted his teeth and nodded. Surely, as far as soulmates went, he hadn’t been what Steve imagined. 

“I’m sorry,” Steve said, surprising Eddie. 

“For what?”

“Not being the person you wanted me to be, I guess,” Steve spoke so candidly, it made pain and panic swell in his throat. How could Steve think Eddie was disappointed that he was his soulmate?

“I’m not disappointed, Stevie. Why would I be disappointed?” 

“You had to have known,” Steve reasoned. 

Eddie didn’t know how long he’d been unconscious, but it sounded like Steve had been overthinking every second of it. 

“You give me more credit than I deserve. I didn’t know it was you, sweetheart. Cross my heart,” Eddie admitted, surprised at how quickly the term of endearment he’d used for his soulmate slipped off his tongue when talking to Steve. 

He hadn’t worked out shit. He’d had hunches, as though his heart knew, but the logical part of his brain kept overriding it. In what world were he and Steve perfect for each other?

Eddie threw caution to the wind as he saw the genuine look of affection and excitement painting its way across Steve’s face. He looked hopeful. Eddie cringed, sitting up and trying to lean closer to Steve.

“Come here before I hurt the both of us,” Eddie grumbled.

Steve shuffled closer to Eddie’s bed, crouching down, so the two were at eye level. Eddie wanted to kiss the boy so damn bad, and Steve was sending him all the signs that he should, but there was something he had to do first. He took Steve’s face between his hands, running a thumb over the purple bruises beneath his eyes.

“No more playing hero, okay?” 

Steve nudged his face into the palm of Eddie’s hand and nodded, letting out a weak chuckle. 

“I think I can agree to that.” 

Eddie crushed their lips together and despite the pain, it felt like everything was right in the world. 

[topgun-ace-week]

Are you a fanwork creator? Are you interested in Top Gun (1986) or Top Gun: Maverick (2022)? Are you A-spec, A-spec ally, or simply interested in making A-spec-related fanwork?

Then this event is for you!

Along with this year's Ace Awareness Week (22-29 October 2023), we're hoping to bring anything related to asexuality and Top Gun to one place and time. There'll be eight days, seven with its own themes and one free space day to quench the thirst for anything that didn't fit in said themes. The event is open for fics, art, edits, podfics, and anything else that can be posted either on Tumblr or AO3 in the Top Gun Ace Week Collection.

Any ships/characters are welcome as long as they're Top Gun-related! All works are to be related to asexuality - and the chosen day's theme — with additional prompts available.

Check out Rules for more.

Each day will have a general theme and secondary non-obligatory prompts. Take a look below for proposed options and tell us what you think in the interest form before we revise the event!

You might also take a peek at the event's Google Doc here.

(Day - Compulsory Theme - additional, non-obligatory prompts)

Day 1 - Micro Labels - Not A Naval Aviator AU - humor

Day 2 - Flirting - Coffee Shop AU - angst

Day 3 - Sex-Indifferent - Sports AU - hurt/comfort

Day 4 - Aromantic Ace - Different First Meeting AU - smut

Day 5 - Coming Out - Crossover/Different Settings AU - fluff

Day 6 - Sex-Repulsed - Soulmates AU - fluff

Day 7 - Queerplatonic - College AU - romance

Day 8 - Free Ace Week Day - Anything you want related to asexuality goes here!

More in our Prompts tab!

Tagging you here as promised @pollyna!

[froznwater]

i think im literally just going to make a lil series called obligatory where I write alenoah fics with common troupes THAT THE FANDOM IS MISSING OUT ON!! twitter au rivals to lovers au 7 minutes in heaven soulmate aus etc

[earlgreyinpajamas]

merthur fic recs: soulmate au pt 10

1. colors stained upon your skin by stellaisnotamermaid

in a world where soulmates are real, everybody has a unique color that splashes upon others' skin when they touch. everybody except for sorcerers, that is—theirs was golden, shining like the sun.

in a world where soulmates are real, royalty and a few select others tend to hide their colors by wearing iron. in a world where soulmates are real, your soulmate's colors stain your skin, and stay there forever.

~~~

:((( i love them

2. Take me to Svalbard by TyalanganD (@tyalangand)

An AU in which some people can't live without their soulmate. Literally.

And Merlin is one of them.

~~~

the mirroring of their situations is on point!

3. by flame & claw by TheCourtSorcerer (@thecourtsorcerer)

Born with a small, golden, dragon tattoo wrapped around his left ankle, there wasn’t much else for him to think. For what else could the dragon represent, if not himself?

So, Arthur decided he didn’t have a soulmate.

~~~

your obligatory feel good fic

[mythgirlimagines]

It's so interesting to me the amount of fics I've either started or outlined before leaving them behind because of the length, including but not limited to:

Lillie going on a journey in Kanto following the end of the Sun and Moon story

Full-length Danganronpa PJO au

Pokespe Beauty and the Beast au

Pokespe putting on Heathers

Team Rocket gaining a new (temp) member in Alola who infiltrates the Pokemon school

Secondary/"forgotten" protags vs primary protags (ex. Leaf vs Red)

Kinda messed-up fic where Junko tries to figure out what Kyoko's hiding under her gloves that I'm definitely never finishing bc wtf was I thinking back in 2018

Obligatory shoutout to the Pokespe high school au my friend and I never finished

Tokomaru/Syomaru family au with Shuichi as their kid (nondespair, they also adopted the Warriors)

Yellow in the anime world

"Evil" Yellow

Danganronpa Miraculous au

Project Sekai Danganronpa au

Naegiri and Tokomaru soulmate au where soulmates feel each others' physical pain