#people who know what is going to happen: you ain't seen nothing yet

[natalchartnurtures]

PAC: Mitski, what about me is eternal like the.. moon?

I had so much fun doing this

~~~~~~~~~~~

Pile 1:

'Cause my love is mine, all mine I love mine, mine, mine Nothing in the world belongs to me But my love is mine, all mine, all mine

I'm sitting right in front of your cards in utter awe. I got goosebumps when I laid eyes on your cards, pile 1. Let me begin by saying this: you've seen some DARK and truly terrible times, haven't ya? Even as I say this, it feels like an understatement. There have been times when you were stripped down to bare bones, and you had to "grow back the rest of you." I apologize for the gruesome metaphor (but hey, I'm just the messenger; this ain't really coming from me :p). Maybe you've had to encounter times when you felt painfully lonely, stuck in your head and in your general life too, like your spirit was beaten down. Or maybe it felt as if the universe snatched away something you thought was incredibly precious? But I hear that it wasn't what you thought it was; that's why it had to go. You probably didn't see it that way at all, and THAT'S ALRIGHT because we don't have Spirit's perspective, now do we? I see that you really struggled to put yourself together after that somewhat 'impossible-seeming' loss. It seemed like it came outta left field.

BUT GUESS THE FUCK WHAT. You, my friend, took this PAIN and these fucked up times and turned it into a damn palace of gold. You read that right. What's eternal about you? Your alchemy. Your fire. Your willpower. Your ability to take life by the balls. Your refusal to let it beat you to dust. Your refusal to be small. Literal goosebumps, you feeling it yet? It's your connection to God/Source/Universe. Your faith. Your mastery of your mind, babe. Yeah. You've somehow mastered your mind in this process of putting yourself back together. Acknowledge that ish! 'Cause you really did do that.

Nothing can ever get you to stop dreaming, and much less trying to stop you from achieving them, love. You're a powerhouse of energy, and God bless anybody who ever underestimates that (you included side-eyeing you right now). Not you getting low key called out, haha.

Don't get me wrong, though; being a powerhouse of energy doesn't necessarily mean being in everybody's face trying to assert your dominance, y'know? It can look like silent crying in the middle of the night and waking up the next day determined to overcome the thing that made you cry the day before.

Your light is what's eternal about you. It never goes off. Like ever. Your dedication to learning and growing through whatever, and I mean WHATEVER, life throws your way is what will never die, sweetie. It's like a part of your essence at this point. I hope you're proud of that and know that it's what will bring you to your success in life, whatever that looks like for each one of you beautiful ass people reading this :)

Haha, that's so cute; I just heard Spirit go "you're going places, sweetheart" ><

And with that, let's end your FABULOUS, goosebumps-inducing (btw, I don't say that about just ANYTHING), and awe-inspiring reading here.

Thank you, pile 1, for sharing your energy with me today. I love you guys so, so much and… not gonna lie, I'm low key honored to have been in your presence today. Haha, see ya!

~~~~~~~~~~~

Pile 2:

My baby, here on earth Showed me what my heart was worth So, when it comes to be my turn Could you shine it down here for her?

My god, why is there so much happening as I tap into your energy, pile 2? And I mean it in a nice way, though. I heard T Swift's song "The Last Great American Dynasty" as I was shuffling for you, and I heard Spirit go, "she's sweet and salty," lol. We'll see how all that plays into the reading eventually.

The first thing I noticed was your incredible balance within your mind and heart. It's shocking. Maybe you've been working on getting these aspects of yours to agree with one another and balance each other out, or it's simply your personality, but… pile 2, this beautiful mind-heart balance is what's eternal about you, love. Your peace. Your calm. The childlike innocence of your heart blending seamlessly with your mind's unending curiosity for life. Your emotional intelligence. The way you flow… like water, I heard. Wow! I find that so amazing, ugh, like can we be friends, pile 2? T-T, 'cause I definitely need some of that in my life right now, not gonna lie, haha.

There's that AND then there's a whole other dimension to you where you give 'life of the party' vibes as well. OH, so maybe that's why I heard Spirit say "sweet and salty," like two very different things but produce a wonderful taste together. Complex. Addicting. You make people want to come back for more, pile 2. Mmmmmm! Love that!

You have this laid-back vibe to you as well that a lot of people in your life appreciate. I see that your ability to lighten anybody's day is what's eternal about you awwww. I heard "she's the sunshine of my life." UGH, this is too wholesome for my heart; please save me. You seem to really perk up people's day/week or just life in general. You give, like, Saggi vibes, bro. It doesn't matter if you have that in your chart, but it's just your soul. The eternal aspect of you feels bright, expansive, loving, and so vibrant in energy, my god. You've also got strong feminine energy too… you must be really good at attracting 'cause you're strong in your feminine energy AND you're chill and detached from it at the same time. Effortless manifester, master manifester are some words that come to mind as I describe this.

Your divinity is what's eternal about you. Your 'witchy vibes.' Your embodiment of your highest truth. Your commitment to maintaining this divine connection in your day-to-day. Bro, what's eternal about you is that you can turn any old mundane task/thing into something fun and magical and full of meaning and symbolism. You live life deep, and even though there aren't a whole lotta people who can join you there, you wouldn't have it any other way. It's your raw authenticity, babe. Circling back to "The Last Great American Dynasty" song, maybe you're like Rebekah that T Swift sings about, "the most shameless woman this town has ever seen." People tend to call raw, authentic women shameless, but you couldn't care less. You will forever do what you like 'cause you're a free-spirited divine mystic in the body of a teeny lil human. Love it.

That's all I have for you, pile 2. Thank you for spending time with me! I love you so much <3

~~~~~~~~~~~

Pile 3:

Moon, tell me if I could Send up my heart to you? So, when I die, which I must do Could it shine down here with you?

Ah, my divine activators. What's eternal about you? Your intensity. BS detection might as well be your middle name. Sherlock Holmes who? 'Cause you're the new detective in town, baby, sniffing out illusions, falsities, fake people, LIES, victim mentality. None of that runs free with you around, I'll tell you that. It's your capacity to hold divine truth, lovingly, which is INCREDIBLY hard, btw. You can't stand half-assed people and people who seem to not have their "heads screwed on straight." Lmao, what kinda people are you surrounded by, pile 3? Ooh, I heard that you're divinely planted where you are so you can activate a lot of people into awakening to their true selves, but it looks like nobody wants to actually awaken. Lmao.

-Side note: My heart goes out to you if you've been surrounded by really difficult and chaotic energies that bring you down a lot. That SUCKS so hard, bro. Been there myself too lately, and it's not a fun merry-go-round to co-exist with. Just keep being your amazing cool-ass self, ok? Things will work out eventually. You already intuitively feel that things will get better, so trust that feeling!-

If I could describe your energy, I would use the Phoenix rising from the ashes symbolism to do so. Ohhhhh, as I told you that, I saw a vision of T Swift's music video of "Look What You Made Me Do," where she comes out of the grave and sings, "Honey, I rose up from the dead, I do it all the time." I'm a fan, pile 3. Omg. That's some badass ballsy energy, and I'm so here for it right now. You're the epitome of what psychological death and rebirth looks like. You're the textbook definition. And THAT'S what's eternal about you. No matter where you are or what you end up doing in life, you'll always be able to "rise up from the dead" and do it iconically too. Haha, I literally heard that. Lmao. This ability of yours is an extension of the greater aspect of you - your higher self. Whoa… I just heard you've had this ability for lifetimes and you will take it strongly with you to the next ones as well. Powerful. It's etched in your soul, pile 3. You know what you want and how to get it, even if not immediately; you always do eventually. It's the security you possess within yourself that's eternal, love. Nothing can really shake you at this point. Lmao. You've got a strong-ass foundation.

-Side note: I'm really seeing a healed and fully realized root chakra for you. If you haven't gotten there yet, you're well on your way! Good job! Root chakra work is the most brutal, btw, so… you really have my respect. Haha, moving on-

You have warrior energy present quietly in your personality as well. You give spiritual warrior vibes. You don't prefer to live in it 24/7; it's simply something you tap into when a situation calls for it. Otherwise, I see you being quite heart-centered, full of love, looking at the world with rose-colored glasses. Your inner child is what's eternal about you. Your divine sensitivity and your capacity to hold your emotions without judgment and live big from a place of heart. You embody the energy of water in my eyes, tbh. Life-giving but also destructive if need be, and there's absolutely nothing weak about water. Phew. You are eternal as the oceans are.

Ahhh, pile 3, that was sooo much fun! Thanks for stopping by, and I love you soooo much!

~~~~~~~~~~~

[hellfirenacht]

C'mon, It's Just One Night (Part 1)

Summary: After getting a fake love note in your locker, you ask Eddie to help you mess up some bullies plans. 

Tags: Eddie Munson x Reader, smut later, fem reader, reader wears a dress at one point, mentions of bullying, actual bullying, three-shot

Master List

Work Count: 3.7k Words

You ain't seen nothing yet....

The thing that always confused you about jocks and popular kids was that they always assumed that everyone else was dumber than them. Girls would come up to you and give you a compliment that was clearly not sincere and when you thanked them just to get them to leave you alone they would giggle and think that you believed them. Guys would ask you on dates as a joke and you’d roll your eyes and try to ignore them, even as they tried desperately for your attention for their own amusement. 

Thankfully, there were certain perks that came with being in the Hellfire Club. Being associated with Eddie “the Freak” Munson meant that as long as you were standing near your friend, you’d mostly be left alone. You’d sit with him at lunch, try and walk with him to class in the hallways, and in general just tried to avoid any jock that looked particularly bored. 

However it had been quiet over the past few weeks, too quiet for your liking. Honestly, you were almost missing some of the backhanded compliments because it at least gave you a chance to blow off some steam outside of Hellfire. Well, something out there heard your wish and that’s how you found yourself watching from the other end of the hallway as two boys shoved a note in your locker, snickering to themselves. 

Well, this should be entertaining at least. 

They didn’t even try and look around to see if anyone was watching them, too caught up in their own scheme to realize the person who’s locker they were messing with was watching them from just a few yards away. 

“-’s gonna be so funny.” laughed one. You didn’t even know their names. There were so many people at this school that how were you expected to keep up with everyone when you didn’t even speak to them?

“Yeah, she’s gonna be embarrassed and we’ll get a free show out of it.” laughed the other one. 

You were right there. How was it that you could be on their radar for this shit and yet still remain completely invisible? 

The two turned around and you pretended to be throwing something away in a nearby trash can quickly, so that they wouldn’t realize that you had been staring at them. 

“There she is, we gotta go!” you heard one say in a voice that you assumed was his idea of whispering as the two scampered off while trying to hold off their laughter. 

You gave them a generous thirty seconds to get away before making your way to your locker and opening it up, grabbing the note and reading it over. It took everything you had not to burst out laughing right there, and you were just going to throw it away when you had an idea. 

Tucking it into your pocket, you smiled and made your way to the drama room for Hellfire as you started making your own plans for what you’d just read. 

“And with the Dwarf’s golden pick rightfully returned to him, I think this is a good stopping point.” Eddie said, finally sitting back in his chair. He’d been really revved up today, jumping around the table and getting in everyone’s faces as he described what was happening. He’d nearly rammed his head into yours at one point and you had barely managed to lean back enough so he didn’t. 

Eddie was always revved up, always ready to put on a show. He wasn’t afraid to be loud or call out the bullshit of what was expected. Eddie would jump on tables, get in people's faces, declare himself King Freak. 

He was perfect. 

...For your plan. Nothing more. You knew he’d be on board when you explained what you wanted to do. He was perfect for... that. 

As the rest of the club filed out, you stayed behind to help clean up the leftover soda cans and break down the board. You were also stalling because you didn’t want any of the other members to witness what you were about to ask of Eddie. 

“Your Scottish accent is getting better and worse at the same time.” you said, handing him one of the minis. “Sometimes you nail it, and sometimes I don’t think you’re even trying to say anything legible.” 

“It’s better than your character's accent! Is your tiefling from New Jersey or trans-atlantic?” Eddie laughed, shoving his notes unceremoniously in a folder. 

“Why do Dwarves need to be Scottish anyway?” you ignored his question, fully aware that your accents were no better. “I think you should mix it up. Make Canadian dwarves or something.”

This is how Hellfire usually ended, with the two of you joking around and talking about the session and making fun of each other while you tried to get hints about what was to come. He never gave anything away. 

You blew out a few candles and Eddie went to readjust the lights. You reached into your pocket and pulled out the note. 

“So, Eddie.” you started, turning to him. “Remember how last month I helped you study for Mrs. O’Donnel’s midterm and you got a solid B?”

Eddie’s brow furrowed and he stopped what he was doing to look at you. Under the multicolored spotlights he looked... you never had the words to describe it. He just looked like Eddie. The Eddie that should be playing guitar on stage or the Eddie that kept your attention so easily and rapturously when he was running his games. You weren’t ready to say that to his face yet, despite the contradiction of what you were about to do. 

“I remember.” he said, walking over to you and crossing his arms. “I take it you aren’t just bringing up a fond memory of us to reminisce about?”

“Not a chance.” you looked into his brown doe eyes. “It’s time for you to pay up.” And with that you handed over the note. 

Eddie took it with a slight tilt of his head and unfolded it, scanning the contents. 

My Dearest, 

I’ve been watching you for weeks now, enraptored by your beauty. I’ve been too shy to talk to you, but now I want the chance to confess to you. I’m in love with you, and have been all year. I don’t care if everyone thinks you’re some weird Satanist freak because I’m into that. Please be my date for homecoming and meet me at the school at 7:30 pm.

-Your secret admirer  

“It’s not really a secret if you’re handing this directly to my face.” Eddie said, looking up from the note. “And you spelled ‘enraptured’ wrong.” 

“I found this in my locker.” you said, ignoring his comments. “Some jocks think they’re being funny and are clearly trying to pull some sort of prank to humiliate me.” 

“Think it’s a Carrie situation?” Eddie asked, looking over the note again before handing it back to you. 

“They don’t have the guts to get any pig's blood.” you shook your head. 

“So what does this have to do with me? You know that Hellfire doesn’t do school dances.” He said. “I thought we were just gonna blow it off, and Corroded Coffin is gonna do a secret show at the Quarry.”

“Eddie, all your shows are secret.”

“Not true, we have recently gained another groupie. There are now a grand total of six drunks that regularly listen to us play.” Eddie pouted. “Six and a half if you count the cat that’s been hanging around the Hideout.” 

“Yeah, okay, remember me when you’re famous.” You said. “Listen, I need your help. I’m coming to you wanting to cash in my favor. I need the Freak to help me out here, Eddie.”

“For what, exactly?” His eyes narrowed, but you stood your ground. 

“If I show up to homecoming, something's gonna happen. The best case scenario is that I show up and they ignore me and laugh while I wait for this fake person to show up. The worst case scenario ends with pigs blood and me learning I have telekinetic powers.” You explained. 

“So why even bother going? I thought we all agreed that Hellfire doesn’t do school events.” 

That was a good point, and you were making a gamble on this. Eddie didn’t do school events, and tried to make it a rule for his club as well. That didn’t go over well when Mike insisted that he was going to take his girlfriend Jane to homecoming, and everyone finally came clean that Lucas was playing both sides of the field and playing basketball AND doing Hellfire. 

You had to admit, Eddie’s face of disappointment and disapproval was pretty funny. You felt bad for the guy though, he avoided anything school related like the plague outside of this club. Eddie had boasted that he’d never gone to prom or homecoming, and had been skipping any pep rally since his second senior year. 

“You agreed that you didn’t go to events. I never agreed to anything.” you said firmly. “I only agreed to show up every Friday and wear the Hellfire shirt.”

“And again I ask, what does this have to do with me?” Eddie pushed. 

“Be my date for homecoming.” you said. “My fake date. I want you to get to me before they have the chance to.”

Eddie froze for a second, a thousand emotions flashing through his eyes at once. You’d seen this look countless times when one of his players had thrown him a curve-ball and he had to scramble to figure out how to make it work for the game. 

“Your fake date.” he said slowly. “So you want me to- what exactly?” 

“I want you to show up and pretend to be the person who wrote this note.” you explained. “I’ll pretend to be thrilled, you get to be seen with a cute girl at a dance, the gossip train gets something to talk about, and the jocks get their plans foiled. Everybody wins.” 

Eddie rolled his eyes at your plan. “Or you could just not show up at all and just come help us set up for the show.” He said. 

“But that’s not fun.” You pointed out. “Besides, if they think we’re together even just for the night then they’ll leave me alone. Probably”

Eddie looked skeptical. 

“Please?” you leaned closer, making your eyes wide as possible. “Eddie, these dicks have been on my ass all semester. I can’t go two weeks without getting asked out as a joke or having some meat head yell about how his “friend thinks I’m cute”. It’s fucking annoying, and ignoring them has done jack and shit.” 

You saw the stone look in his eyes falter and his shoulders ease up. “You’re really serious about this?” he asked. 

“I am.” you confirmed. “You do this for me, and you can have full creative control. Show up in your Hellfire shirt, hell you could show up in your pjs and I’ll pretend to be thrilled that you’re my secret admirer. We’ll make sure that we’re seen, then we can go to the quarry. We don’t even have to stay for fifteen minutes. Just show up for me, Eddie. Please.” 

Eddie took a deep breath and rubbed his face with his hands. “Fifteen minutes. All I have to do is show up and pretend that I’m your secret admirer and then we leave. Right?”

“Right.” You promised. “That’s all I need.”

Eddie sighed deeply and grabbed his jacket and threw it on. “I am never asking for your help studying again. You drive a hard bargain.” Despite his words he had a grin on his face. 

“I’m going easy on you, if you had gotten an A I’d be demanding that you show up in a full tux with roses.” you teased. “I’m talking about the full cheesy school dance treatment. Corsage, first dance, all of it.”

“Don’t even start, you’d have to get me to completely ace her whole class to get that kind of treatment.” Eddie grabbed your shoulder and started pushing you up the stairs. “I wouldn’t even know where to get a tux.” 

“I think you’re supposed to rent one.” you laughed as the two of you made your way out of the drama room and closed the door. “I, however, will need to actually buy my dress.”

“You’re really gonna get a dress for this? We’re only going for fifteen minutes.” Eddie pointed out. 

“Oh, would you rather me show up looking terrible?” you asked, raising an eyebrow. “You really wanna show up and fake-confess to me looking plain and like I don’t care?”

“You really want to sell this, huh?” Eddie laughed. 

“It’s the only way I can think of for them to stop.” You said. 

The two of you made your way to the parking lot. Eddie walking you to your car. 

“Remember Eddie, you have full creative control over how you want to do this.” you said, getting in the driver's seat. “I don’t care how you show up, just go loud.”

“Eddie ‘the Freak’ Munson would never disappoint.” he said, closing the door for you with a flourish.

You were going to get a dress for this. 

No, you weren’t, you were only going to be there for fifteen minutes at most. 

But your mom would want to take pictures and be thrilled you were even going. After all, you’d avoided it during your first four years of high school. 

And you wanted to. 

That was the real kick in the pants for all this. You wanted to go to homecoming. You wanted to have a night to dress up and look nice and have fun with your friends. Unfortunately, only the freshmen were going to the dance, and as much as you loved Mike, Lucas, and Dustin, you didn’t really think you’d have a lot of fun with some kids a good five years younger than you. Hell, Mike and Lucas had actual dates and Dustin had a long distance girlfriend! 

You’d be the single person in the group and that didn’t exactly put points in your favor for sticking around for the dance. The rest of Hellfire didn’t bother going to these kinds of things, as this town made it clear that school events were for normal people who enjoyed normal things, whatever the fuck that meant. 

As much as you denied ever wanting to go to homecoming or prom, you knew that you wanted to, and you knew who you wanted to go with. 

On the bright side, at least you’d get your secret wish now, even if it was for fifteen minutes. 

Eddie had made it clear since the first time the words “school dance” were uttered in his presence a few years ago that he wasn’t going to even entertain the idea of showing up. Those nights were dedicated to one shots or longer sessions for Hellfire. So for the past few years you had skipped out on any dances in favor of at least telling your beat up journal that you had technically spent prom or homecoming with Eddie Munson. 

You walked into the department store that you knew had a sizable selection of dresses, took one look at the price tags, and walked right back out. It was insane to spend that money on one night of dancing, let alone fifteen minutes. 

Besides, where else would you even wear a dress like that? You laughed at the idea of showing up to Hellfire, with your shirt on over whatever you would have picked. That’d be stupid. 

....

But it’d also be funny. 

You walked back into the department store and ignored the front and center mannequins to hit up the clearance rack instead. Even as you browsed, you were still trying to convince yourself that you didn’t need to buy something for this. Eddie was probably just going to show up in his old faded DIO shirt and some old jeans (maybe the ones that had that hole in the butt that showed his boxers when you stood behind him, if you were lucky). He probably wouldn’t even brush his hair. 

You had a choice to make. How much of an effort did you want to put into your appearance for this? Should you follow Eddie’s approach and just show up as normal, or should you allow yourself an indulgence in the Cinderella fantasy? What did you want, and what did this revenge situation call for?

You wanted to look nice. You wanted to tell your journal that you had a date with Eddie and that you looked good and that those asshole jocks didn’t even recognize you. Wouldn’t it be better that way anyway? No matter what Eddie looked like when he showed up, the point would be made clear; you were off the market (as far as anyone would be able to tell) and Eddie Munson had gotten the girl. No, not the girl; a girl. Being the girl implied that you were someone that Eddie had an interest in. 

Dresses of different lengths and cuts and colors started to blend together as you indulged in the fantasy of matching your dress to whatever Eddie was going to wear. You flipped through the dress rack while you mentally flipped through all the shirts you had seen Eddie wear in the last few weeks. He favored darker colors most times, the main exception being the white Hellfire Club shirt. 

“Dark clothes don’t stain as easily.” he’d explained before. 

You kept flipping through the racks of last seasons’ fashion, trying to find something that you could wear. Halfway through you considered giving up and just showing up in what you would have worn to the quarry if you hadn’t planned this whole thing. 

You need to commit to the bit. You reminded yourself. These jocks are expecting you to look pretty and then try to embarrass you. Don’t half ass it.

Sucking it up, you made your way over to the normal racks. Your mom had given you some cash to buy yourself a nice dress, but you had been hoping to just buy something cheaper and save the rest to buy off of Eddie later. 

You walked out of the store, bag in hand, with a receipt showing a number that made you feel sick. You reminded yourself over and over it was for you, Eddie, and your mom. 

“Are you sure you have the charisma for this?” Gareth asked. “You always roll shit with any charisma roll.”

“Gareth, I don’t know if you know this, but rolling a die and saying that I’m trying to do something is different than actually doing it outside of the game.” you said as the two of you made your way into the Library. You had it on good authority that this was the jocks study hall period, and you wanted to really sell your plan. 

“I still don’t get why I have to be part of this. I’m not even going to homecoming either.” He grumbled. “This whole thing is stupid. You should just come to the show instead.” 

“I can do both.” you waved him off. “All I need you to do is let me talk at you-”

“You do that anyway.”

“Yes, but this time I need you to pretend to be invested.” You explained. “You let me talk about how excited I am for homecoming and to meet my secret admirer and I use my powers of being able to leave school during lunch to bring you McDonald’s tomorrow.” 

Gareth couldn’t argue with that, no teenage boy could resist the sweet temptation of greasy fast food in the middle of the school day. It was more than a fair trade, even if Gareth didn’t see the point in this. You just really wanted to sell your plan. 

“Remember, all you need to do is ask me who I’m going to Homecoming with.” you reminded him. 

The two of you walked over to where the group of basketball players were goofing off and not really studying, and the two who had slid the note into your locker started nudging each other and snickering to themselves. 

“So who are you going to homecoming with?” Gareth asked, his line delivery stiff and unnatural and disinterested. You had to fight with yourself to not roll your eyes at the lackluster performance. 

“I don’t know!” your voice was a little higher pitched at the response, trying to emulate the cheerleaders you’d seen giggling in their groups as they gossiped. You pulled the note that you had been keeping in your pocket. “I got this note asking me to meet them at the dance, so I have no idea!”

You continued to gush to the disinterested Gareth how excited you were to be asked to go, and speculating on who it could be. The entire time, your friend looked like he’d rather be smashing his head against the table than listen to you talk about this, which was honestly more fun for you than the jocks reactions. 

From the table behind you, the normally loud group of boys were attempting to be quiet as they snickered and nudged each other. You wished that Gareth would try and talk a little more so that you could stop talking to eavesdrop on them. 

When the jocks started getting louder again, that’s when you dropped the conversation. They weren’t interested in hearing anymore and so you weren’t either. 

“So what was the point of that?” Gareth muttered, making his way to the exit of the library. 

“I don’t want them to forget about me. If I’m gonna be completely honest, I really just expected them to totally forget they left something in my locker about this.” you adjusted your backpack, following him out. “I’m committed to the bit.”

“Sounds like you’re just asking for trouble.” He shook his head. 

“Maybe a little.” you sighed. “Eddie and I are graduating this year and I don’t want to look back at my time here and think that I just took the bullshit that was given to me. I just want them to get off my ass for the rest of the year.” 

“Do you really think it’ll work?” 

“Only one way to find out.” 

Part 2 It's Gonna Be A Night We'll Never Forget (Coming Soon)

Dividers By: @strangergraphics

Tag List: @somethingvicked @ladysilence @leelei1980 @seexyyprincess @rosebudsgarden @ghcstpyre @crocwork-clockodile

[sabrina-kpop]

HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII, can I request a the poly hashira x fem gyaru reader who gets made fun of by the other demon slayers? (Angst but a very fluffy ending) :3

ׅ𝑆𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑒𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑜𝑢𝑡! ˏˋ°•*⁀➷

my very first request yay!! and it's of my life style!? Double yay!! In this oneshot I made the reader off of my sub style which is manba!! And sorry if this is bad which it probably is.. AND YOU ARE NOT IN A RELATIONSHIP WITH MUICHIRO YOU ARE SEEN AS A MOTHER FIGURE

WARNINGS: swearing (Sanemi ofc) slut shaming (I'm based this on my experience with being gyaru) bullying ect.

Being a gal while also being a demon hunter has is pros and cons, pros being hanging out with Tengen and Mitsuri for new clothes and cons being your makeup sweating off and hair getting messed up while on a mission.

Today is a day where the hashira (specifically Tengen) invited you and the rest to a summer festival, of course you where excited you haven't gone to a festival since you were a little girl.

You have finished doing your hair and makeup looking beautifully crazy along with your outfit, you hear a knock on your door and before you could answer Shinobu walked in "Ara ara, well aren't you looking beautiful my butterfly" she said complimenting you, you utter out a small thanks,still not being used to compliments.

you walked out with Shinobu and met up with the rest, Gyomei and Giyuu grabbed your hands and the rest began to go to the city.

What you didn't know is that Rengoku, Shinobu and Giyuu brought some of their tsugoku's and slayers with them and they don't really get along with you. They saw you as a weirdo because of your fashion sense and looks although you try your best to ignore them sometimes it can hit you a little hard......

"What is she wearing" strike one.

Ouch that hurt. You are so confident for your rebel style and yet now you're feeling like it's getting pulled away you try to ignore it but it remains in the back of your mind.

"Y/n...are you feeling okay..?" Said Muichiro you reassure him that your fine and continued your way to the city with the rest.

It was evening and you have a ride to the city it was crowded and it was bright seeing people talk, dance, laugh and show of their Japanese pride.

"Ah! It's so crowded! " Mitsuri said in a high pitched voice. Obanai suggested that you all go to a restaurant to rest and eat but you said that you wanted to see the jewelry booths and clothing booths set up outside.

Giyuu sent two of his kakushi just in case something happened.

You immediately wandered off into one of the booths that were selling jewelry. You mean started buying a bunch of them some for partners and some for you.

"Jesus Christ doesn't she have enough... She going to die from blood stopping with all those tight bands around her wrist... "

Strike two.

You really put some back listening to what they said it hurt you like if someone stabbed you in the heart you tried to ignore them again but how could you all they do is talk about you and your features you feel like nothing you feel like a clown.

"I'm back!" You said with a bag in your hands "I bought all of you some new cute clothes!" You said happily as you hand them their gifts. They happily thanked you and began to order food.

The food was delicious. The meat had a juicy flavor and the rice was perfect.

"Fuck, I'm full" utter out Sanemi

"Really? I could go for more!" Said Mitsuri. Both Obanai and Sanemi look at her in a "what the fuck?" face as Shinobu and you giggled from the side.

You got up to go to the restroom but you ain't mean it shivered due to your clothes being slightly revealing. Although you knew that this will be the consequences from deciding that your outfit looked better without a jacket and quickly shrugged it of as "beauty is pain"

As you went to the restroom and finished doing your business, you were washing your hands so you heard this.

" you can clearly tell that she's cold she was shivering so hard that when she gets for being a slut with those revealing clothes. "

Strike three, your out.

You immediately began to tear up why were they saying these things to you what did you ever do to them this has been going on for years now and it hasn't stopped. why couldn't they just accept you for who you are? Why couldn't the see that you were happy being yourself? Why couldn't they see that you are human too?

Suddenly you heard a knock on the restroom door.

"Y/n you've been their for a while are you okay?.." It was Giyuu.

"Y-yeah I'm okay..." You said trying to cover up the sound of your crying.

"Are you sure..? It's sounds like you aren't.."

You went quite and started sobbing as Giyuu opened the door and went in while the rest followed..

Mitsuri went up to you and tried to calm you down the best she can, keyword "tried"...

"Y/n just tell us what happened..!" Said Mitsuri panicking not really knowing what to do..

"Am I w-wierd?" You utter out as the rest looked at you with worry

"The fuck is that supposed to mean" said Sanemi.

"I-it's just that people when they see me the way I am they think of me as some kind of slut.."

Who the hell told you that I swear I'm going to beat them into next wee-" Sanemi said as Shinobu cut him off.

" Oh my little butterfly....you're nothing like that you're not even close you're beautiful and you're special.

Shinobu said.

" yeah you have the courage to be flamboyant while the others are just idiot with no sense of style "

Said Uzui.

"Y/n your beauty is like a flame bright and beautiful! "

Said Rengoku

"You're so beautiful doing your nails everyday is so much fun especially trying out new patterns!"

Said Mitsuri.

" Seriously tell me who made you think like that, I will show them no mercy.. "

Said Sanemi.

"You remind me of that one flowers...what was it called...? Hibiscus..? "

Said Muichiro.

"You remind me of water.... Useful and when at sea.... Sparkling.."

Said Giyuu.

"Your personality is bright and energetic...I will always pray for it to stay that way.. "

Said Gyomei.

But your personality is also soft and kind... It's one if the reasons why Kaburamaru loves you so much...

Said Obanai.

You can't believe them each and every one of their words fix your heart piece by piece you made them all get into one group hug even if Sanemi and Giyuu can't stand them..

"Wait! Hurry the fireworks are about to start" squealed Mitsuri dragging you and the rest outside. You guys found the perfect spot to watch the fireworks. as you all sat down you couldn't help but think of grateful you are to have such partner's "Thank you.. " you said as they look at you and smiled. You rest you head on giyuu's shoulder while you all watched the fireworks...

[sourbinnie]

☆ silent ☆

♡ genre ¿? ♡ -> angst ; hurt/comfort ♡ pair ¿? ♡ -> hyung line!ateez x gn!reader ♡ plot ¿? ♡ -> malicious comments weren't gonna go unnoticed by your boyfriend even if he couldn't do anything about it. ♡ warnings ¿? ♡ -> swearing ♡ request ¿? ♡ -> yes!

-> the request | maknae line

a/n: i hope i understood this request correctly ajkshf hope you enjoy it and maknae line will be out whenever i'm free since you asked for ot8.

-> the scenario

you didn't wanna attend at first but something about seeing your old friends made you give in. being there with your boyfriend also brought comfort to you and eased your nerves. anxiety couldn't help but kick in when you thought about seeing some of your old classmates and how they were doing right now. you've seen pictures all over instagram of them living their best lives and you were stuck in your job and trying your best to handle money wisely. your boyfriend didn't mind and your family was happy that you were where you were, so why did you have to doubt yourself?

well it was easy when you were surrounded with rich folks who didn't know anything but money and luxury. even after experiencing some of the stuff your boyfriend was used to, you couldn't get used to it but right now? yeah it was definitely too much and too show off for your liking. speaking of your boyfriend, he was there surrounded by people wanting to take photos with him, asking for autographs and wondering why he was here but nobody would kick him out because idols were sacred to them. you were thankful he would be supporting and cheering you on from a distance. 

well if you knew what was coming, you would've never brought him along.

"didn't know this was a reunion for the lowest of low." one of your old classmates said laughing and looked at you up & down. he was scanning you with his stare and it made you feel so small but you tried to think nothing of it yet you knew exactly what was happening.

"yeah same man, i thought this was gonna be an exclusive thing. good to see you though (y/n)!" another one exclaimed as she laughed. what did they expect from a high school reunion? to invite only the privileged old students? well maybe it would've been a better idea. 

"yeah good to see you." you said in a small voice, wanting nothing more than to leave with how you were being perceived. there was no doubt that your boyfriend was looking at you right at this moment. you wanted to leave, you were going to leave at any moment.

"hope you get a better job soon sweetie. since that dress/suit ain't looking too good." one added and you excused yourself as you left the scene. the tears threatening to spill at any moment as you tried to make sense of a direction to go to, far away from them.

seonghwa ✉

as he watched the scene unfold, seonghwa felt helpless. he wanted nothing more than to shut these assholes up with a comment but he had to keep his image as professional and civilized as possible. for a moment he just wanted to be your boyfriend, a regular attendee that participated in this event and was able to defend his significant other. 

but right now he was an idol who, as discreetly as possible, looked for you everywhere. he couldn't find a single trace of you so he decided to head out for a second, hoping no one would notice him and to take a breath. looks like you were doing the same as you tried covering yourself up with your coat so no one could see what you were wearing. broke his heart to a million pieces with that simple action.

"don't do that." he simply said and you sighed. he didn't know what he was gonna say to make things better but he knew that you knew he was gonna try his hardest. "please don't listen to them. it's not a competition to see who has the best job."

"well even if it was, i would be the loser. it's fine hwa i just need some time and you know we can't be seen together." you said but he just shook his head as he looked at you. he wasn't a good boyfriend for just standing there but he would damn prove your worth.

"we can leave if you want to. it's so unfair that this happened when you were excited to see your friends but i hope you can see them another time." you nodded at his words and took his hand. leaving the place to never look back and hoping you never cross paths with these people again. "they're such idiots for saying that to you but you're better than they will ever be." he muttered and his grip on your hand tightened 'cause he truly did mean it.

hongjoong ✉

he was frozen as he heard the words being said. he sighed to himself as he wanted to see you and be there for you so much but he knew as the leader, he had to keep an image and it hurt him. in another world he would be telling these idiots to back off and to look at themselves before they judge someone else. especially if that someone was the most respectful and attentive person he's ever met because oh god, you did not deserve that at all.

he found you when the whole event ended and took you home. the silence was deafening as you tried your best to act like you were okay but the mask was falling off when you arrived to your shared apartment. he knew he couldn't leave you alone tonight.

"(y/n) talk to me babe. i know i should've said something and i'm regretting everything right now." he said as he looked at you with pleading eyes. you could never lie to hongjoong even if you tried to and right now you felt like breaking down completely so you let go.

"i just wish i was enough sometimes. not only my job but my appearance and just how i am, why couldn't i just defend myself?" you asked and hongjoong couldn't help but feel the worst he's ever felt. just the way you were putting yourself down because of them, it's enough to drive him insanely mad.

"no. you are enough, more than enough and i'm sorry i didn't say anything. if i could go back and change what happened, i would do it in a heartbeat." he said as he hugged you and held you in his arms. "no matter what job you have or what you wear, you'll always be the person with the biggest heart that i know and that's what matters." he muttered and that was enough to bring tears from your eyes.

yunho ✉

he would feel so bad, like it would shatter him to see you fighting back the tears and the humiliation you went through. he would want to stand up for you, not even as a boyfriend but as a human being. yet his feet remained glued to the ground because he couldn't risk putting the boys into trouble and as much as he loved his brothers, he felt so weird putting his significant other last.

a few minutes later, he got out of the shock and walked away from the reunion. he needed to find you and he didn't care about anything else, even if it caused him to be a little careless about it. when he did indeed set your eyes on you as you were outside, he looked around but then decided to stop being a coward and approached you.

"love, are you okay?" he whispered and he almost facepalmed himself for still trying to be undercover. like he was your boyfriend, he hated himself for caring so much about his image and not enough about you. "i'm sorry. i just fucked up didn't i?"

"yunho no, you didn't do anything. i understand that you couldn't really say anything but then again there was nothing to be said." you shrugged as you tried to enter again but he grabbed your wrist before you could walk away.

"i won't fail you again. please don't listen to them okay? none of it is true." he said and you nodded as much as you wanna believe him, it was hard. it just hit you really hard that you were judged that way but you knew your boyfriend was there and that brought some relief. "by the way, you look gorgeous tonight." 

yeosang ✉

oh boy he would be so mad. he encouraged you to go but at the same time he was scared because he knew what kind of people your classmates were and looked at what happened. the fact that they felt above you because they wore designer clothes or got to travel the world made him sick. as he stood there, now looking at the people who surrounded him in another way, he tried to look for you. 

it pained him that he had to pretend like he didn't know you at all but he put on the image for a little bit longer until you sent him a text. his eyes softened when you said you wanted to leave and he was glad but so fucking disappointed in himself at the same time. 

"darling. let's go home yeah?" he said when he saw you and you nodded as you both went separate ways but ended up in the same car later on. "i hope you know that i would've done something if i could." 

"i know but it's okay sangie, they weren't exactly wrong." you said and he instantly grabbed your hand as he looked at you. 

"they were so wrong and i'll prove it to you. i wasn't the best boyfriend you deserve tonight." he said and you nodded as you got closer to him and he kissed your cheek. sighing to yourself as he drove home, one hand on the wheel and the other holding yours. "i'll prove to you that you're much more than they will ever be." he said and you smiled.

[redclercs]

DELICATE✰ CHARLES LECLERC.

vi. do i really have to tell you how he brought me back to life?

— the one where he ain't reading what they call you lately.

warnings: anxiety tics and symptoms, i–unironically–listened to the lakes a lot while writing this. 3k words.

masterlist ✢ next

By Marie Nichols

The first news we got about actress y/n y/ln's new romance came at the start of this month, when she was seen at the Miami Grand Prix with Ferrari's sponsor Elix. What appeared to be only rumors, since y/n and Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc were single at the same time, have been confirmed little by little.

Although it is not like y/n to soft-launch a relationship, she's been hinting at it for several weeks now. From staring lovingly at her new boyfriend as he receives the winner's trophy in Monaco's Grand Prix to instagram posts saying she 'feels like a princess', the last confirmation we needed came yesterday when Twitter went crazy over user @/formulacharles' picture of the new couple, on a romantic date around Monaco.

Opinions are divided on this couple as both #y/nIsOverParty and #YNCHARLES trended at the same time. Most of the negative views on this flourishing romance come from Aidan Kim's fans, who claim it has been happening since before Kim and y/ln broke up around March after dating for three years.

We have gathered some of the best tweets from both sides, to help us make up our minds about the whole situation.

❝@/aidankimluv: I can't believe y/n is rubbing her new relationship in everyone's faces like this! she can't be single and it shows❞

❝@/gr4ndekim: the timing still rubs me off the wrong way, this has been happening for way longer than she wants us to know❞

❝@/ynselixcan I need y'all to touch grass for a second and realize men and women can be friends, and if they are dating it's none of your business anyway❞

❝@/leclercsdiary: they are cute together but tbh without knowing much about y/n... i don't want her to mess with charles' head❞

We are still hoping for an official confirmation, although pictures speak for themselves. Will y/n ever be brave enough to admit she dumped Aidan Kim for a Formula 1 pilot? We'll keep you updated!

FROM F1GOSSIPXO ON TIKTOK: "FANS CAUGHT Y/N AND CHARLES ON A DATE IN MONACO"

[text to speech assistant voice]: ❝(...) someone on twitter took this picture of them at a famous rose garden in Monaco and the second clip is charles dropping y/n off back at her hotel. i guess all the rumors are true and we have a new grid couple... a frankly problematic couple at that.❞

May 30th, Montecarlo, Monaco.

It was, in all honesty, a little dumb to believe that you could keep it lowkey if you were going to hang out with Charles.

First, Victoria who normally remembers close to nothing about the nights she gets drunk, remembered perfectly the 'moment' you shared with Charles when he offered to show you around. The whole rebound conversation happened again, much to your dismay.

Then, there was the car. Charles' custom Pista Spider is quite literally, the opposite of lowkey and apparently the only option he was willing to offer for you two to move around Monaco.

Which makes perfect sense, no matter how much you hate it.

There was also the timing. Which was really, really bad, and you blame your ignoring this on the fact that you had a lot to drink the night you said yes to his offer. On a normal basis Charles is the most sought after person in Monaco, him being the Grand Prix winner from two days before, multiplied the attention by a million.

Yet when he called you on Monday night to make sure you were still up for the next day, you couldn’t find it in yourself to say no. He was being nice and friendly, and you had no reason to deny him other than the anxiety you felt in the back of your neck every time you thought about what people would say if they found out.

And people would find out, sooner or later.

But you are not committing a crime, you tell yourself in front of the mirror. Charles is becoming your friend, which is something you really, really need at this point in your life. Granted, befriending the guy that you’re tangled up in rumors with isn’t the best idea, it’s neither your fault nor his.

So you take a deep breath and fix your hair for the last time before leaving your hotel room. Charles called you a few minutes before to let you know he is waiting in the lobby, and you can feel your palms sweating already.

Charles is nodding attentively to a child with a Ferrari cap who is telling him all about his Monaco GP experience when you step out of the lift.

He waves at you, and his eyes register your appearance in seconds before they return to the child.

“This is my friend y/n,” he tells the little boy as you approach. “She’s a huge Ferrari fan, too.”

The boy smiles brightly and his focus shifts to you, asking what your favorite part of the Grand Prix was and whether you think they can win in Spain. You give him the best answer you can come up with, that the best part was seeing Charles win (to which both Charles and the boy smile) and that yes, you believe it’s Carlos’ turn to win his home race.

Once Charles finishes signing his merch and he makes sure the kid has returned to his parents safely, his whole attention is devoted to you.

“You are really pretty,” he smiles, his accent coming out in the way he pronounces “pretty”.

Lowkey is the word of the day, and that’s also what you had in mind when picking your outfit. A sage green sundress with matching short-heeled shoes. Nothing too garish, but that still makes you feel confident.

“Thank you, you look good yourself.”

It’s a half-assed compliment that comes out of your mouth out of sheer anxiety. He looks incredibly handsome in a light blue shirt that brings out the blue in his eyes and a decent pair of jeans instead of the horrible ones he wore on Sunday.

Charles smiles wider, "Thank you, y/n."

You bite the inside of your cheek in embarrassment, and Charles' eyes go small in amusement.

"Are you ready?" he asks, ending your torment as you feel heat creep up your neck. Charles hesitates in offering his arm to you, and instead puts his palm out for you to walk in front of him.

You nod, starting the walk towards the exit. His car is right outside the door to the hotel, and there are people surrounding it, taking pictures and craning their necks to look inside. It's your turn to hesitate as you stop in your tracks, Charles' chest millimeters away from your body as he comes to an abrupt stop and avoids crashing into you.

"Let me," he says, his semblance more serious as he moves you aside gently. The doorman nods at him and opens the door.

Your anxiety rises as Charles leads you out of the hotel, apologizing in both French and Italian about not taking pictures as he opens the car door for you.

He continues smiling and saying 'thank you' and 'i'm sorry' as he walks around the car, to the driver's seat and climbs inside. The car offers little protection from the outside, but you're grateful for whatever refuge. It's not like you to act like this, but wherever your name appears on the internet lately is full of vile stuff. The mere thought of it makes your hands shake, you're afraid of what they're going to say this time.

"Are you okay?" he asks softly, watching you put your hands on your lap, palms down so the skirt of the dress wipes your sweat.

"Yeah, I'm fine," you reassure, more to yourself than to him. "Where are we going?"

"You'll see," Charles smiles again, shoulders relaxing as he steers the car away from the crowd.

You look at him, feigning insecurity and he frowns for a moment before you chuckle. "Don't worry, I love surprises."

"What do you think of Monaco so far?" he asks, squeezing the wheel a couple times. If you didn't know better, you'd think he is nervous too.

"Are you kidding? It's beautiful. The Grand Prix was something else, and everywhere I look there's luxury." You gesture around, but the prime example is the car you're riding right now, and the driver who's wearing a $2 million watch.

Charles laughs and nods, "It never stops being beautiful, no matter how much time you spend here. I miss it every time I'm away."

You understand. Because you miss New York so much, it doesn't matter how overrated people say it is. It's become your home and you hate being away from it, especially considering the circumstances that exiled you.

The very good thing about Monaco is that car rides are short. So when you get to your destination, you've barely had time to make things awkward with small talk.

You wait patiently for him to walk to your door and open it once you’ve parked. Charles has put on a pair of sunglasses and you think it’s a shame you can’t see his blue eyes anymore. You discard this thought immediately though, you’re not going to think like this about someone you’re befriending.

“So?” You ask taking his hand as he helps you out of the car. “What place were you so keen on showing me?”

Charles holds on to your hand for a moment too long, and you stare down at them. He lets go, repeating the gesture from earlier to let you walk in front.

“It’s a rose garden,” he begins explaining, leaning a bit forward so he doesn’t raise his voice. “The Princess’ Rose Garden, I saw your picture saying you felt like a princess. I thought you would like it.”

You turn around to face him and this time he isn’t quick enough to avoid crashing in to you. So much for an F1 Pilot’s reflexes.

“You’re not allergic to flowers are you?” He questions, the panicked undertone makes you smile. “y/n?”

“No!” You throw your head back laughing, “I just think it’s adorable how you related the ideas.”

There is a newly installed shade of pink in Charles’ cheeks and he runs a hand through his hair, sheepish. “Well, I’m glad I got it right.”

Your cheeks hurt from smiling and you are genuinely so excited so clap your hands a little. “The Princess’ Rose Garden! Let’s go!”

Charles still lets you lead, following wherever you go and translating whatever signs aren’t in English already. He too, is genuinely happy to see you so bubbly and excited as you marvel at the colors of the flowers and the arches, and the statues. He’s proud of himself for picking the right place.

“Let me take a picture of you,” he says, as you walk through a white arch speaking excitedly about how this reminds you of Alice in Wonderland. “y/n?”

You look at him over your shoulder with a smile and he snaps the picture before you can react properly or pose.

“Oh no Charles, delete that!” You whine, walking back to him to look at his phone.

“No, you look perfect,” he replies, showing you his screen. “See?” He does not regret a word that has come out of his mouth and it makes you pause, face warming up at the statement.

“Let me take a picture of you, then,” you say, pointing him towards the arch. He’s quick to comply, walking towards the arch and smiling at you, without looking at the camera.

You show him the screen of your phone and he seems satisfied with the picture, as he doesn’t ask you to retake it.

“Should we go down to the lake?” He asks signaling down the path.

You nod, putting your phone back in your purse and resisting the temptation to look at the notifications that crowd your lock screen.

Charles takes your hand once again as you arrive at the lake.

"You might slip in the grass," he explains, clearing his throat.

"Right," you chuckle, but he's right, the little hill you have to pass to get to the edge of the lake looks like a worthy rival to your heels. You know who'd be losing. "Thanks."

You sit down so close your shoulders are touching, but neither moves or speaks for a few minutes. Taking in the way the golden hour falls in the garden, the sun reflects off the surface of the lake and colors your face amber.

You're glad Charles has removed his sunglasses, because you can see his eyes again. The green is more visible now thanks to the golden in the environment.

"Thanks for bringing me here," you finally break the silence, "I really like it."

"I'm glad, y/n," he says, both dimples showing as he smiles. "I'm sorry I couldn't show you more places, though."

All Monday and a big part of today he was busy with interviews and photoshoots, all to celebrate his breaking the Monaco curse. You don't mind, he deserves to be celebrated.

"Maybe another time," you add.

"Whenever you want," his smile widens, and you have to look away from him. Your brain is swarmed in thoughts of how pretty he is, and you wish you could just leave it blank for a minute or two. "Thank you for agreeing to come."

The impulse of saying something that will ruin the mood is greater than your self-control, and curiosity keeps eating you from the inside since last Thursday.

"Can I ask you a question?"

Charles nods calmly, resting his chin on his hand as he faces you. "Anything."

"Do you really not care about... well, what everyone is saying?"

Charles tilts his head slowly, and frowns. "About what?"

"Me. You. Us." you whisper the last word, embarrassed. It feels a lot like 'Us' means something completely different than just being thrown together in a hurriance of wild rumors and lies.

"I don't," Charles doesn't even hesitate, "I don't read all of that. Carlos keeps me up to date, which is ridiculous."

You pinch your thigh lightly, ashamed that even his teammate knows everything that's been said about you.

It's the first time all evening that Charles wishes he could take his words back. "What I mean," he continues quickly, "Is that I don't let people on the internet form my opinion on someone, you, especially."

You return your gaze to him, "I'm sorry people have dragged you into this."

"You don't have to apologize for things that aren't your fault, y/n."

"Well, it does feel like it's my fault." You admit, and you hate the way your eyes sting, you don't want to cry in front of Charles. You really are ruining the whole mood.

"Is there anything you'd like me to do?" Charles is more serious now, trying to catch your avoidant eyes as you blink the tears away. "Something you want me to say? Because I will."

You shake your head no. You don't want him to actively participate in this mess, it's a PR nightmare and Ferrari and him have enough on their plates already.

"Unless you want to say something, Charles."

"There is a lot I want to say," he mutters through gritted teeth, and you're not quite sure what he means.

"I'm sorry."

"Stop apologizing," he repeats, more lighthearted this time. "And stop whatever it is that you're reading about yourself, too."

"I'm not—"

Charles shuts you down with a look, there is no point in lying to him when, like Mati, he's weirdly capable of seeing right through you.

"You're sweet and talented, and hard-working, and many other positive things I'm hoping to continue witnessing first-hand." He speaks so fast his accent slips in several words.

"Thank you." you say sincerely, and you reach for his hand for the first time ever, giving it a squeeze before letting it go, something he accepts albeit reluctantly.

You sit together for a while longer, the awkwardness from your previous moments together alone is a distant idea, as you don't need to fill the silence anymore. Charles doesn't make your hands sweat in the way that feels wrong, your fingers don't prickle or go numb, your heartbeat—although fast—doesn't make your chest feel tight.

It's okay, you remind yourself, Charles likes you enough.

"Hello?" you're taking your shoes off, holding the phone between your ear and your shoulder.

"y/n!" Vic yells, making you wince, your phone clatters to the floor and you're glad the rug breaks the fall. "Are you back from your date?"

"It was not a date, Vic," you opt to put her on speakerphone, "And yes, I'm back."

"How was it? I saw on Twitter that you were in a garden? Was it cute?"

You sigh, of course this is on Twitter already. "Vic, I'm so serious right now, stop with the Twitter stuff."

"Sorry y/n," she sighs, her tone like a regretful child apologizing to their mom. "But my timeline is just full of them, honestly, I wish I could just reply to people and tell them to back off."

"Just ignore them, please, Vic,"

"I promise. But how was it, your not date?"

"It was great," you immediately regret the sigh that escapes your lips. "Charles is very nice, and the place was super pretty. We went to dinner after which was pretty cool too."

"That is a date, y/n," Vic giggles, "That's amazing! I'm glad you had a good time."

"Thank you," you let yourself fall back on the bed. It was not a date. The anxiety that Charles had helped soothe is back now, it feels like cold water running down your back. "What about you, what did you do today?"

It's 10 pm in Monaco, which means it's around 1 pm in Los Angeles.

Vic starts going off about her day, how she hates the smell of the new face cream she was supposed to release to the public two weeks ago, her trip to the gym with Holly and that other girl whose name you finally learn again—Deanna.

"When are you coming back to LA?" she asks.

You're picking up your stuff from around the room, you have to take a flight tomorrow and you'd rather sleep in, than wake up early to finish your packing.

"Soon I hope," you yawn. It makes no difference to you, spending time in hotel rooms and Vic's house, neither are home. So you're not rushing to go back to her.

"y/n, you promised you'd be here for the opening of the store," Vic is serious now. "You promised."

Closing your eyes, you battle that uncomfortable feeling on your hands. You're sure that you won't get any proper sleep if it doesn't go away.

The opening of Vic's first Presley Beauty store is on Friday, the same Friday you're going to be in Spain.

"I know Vic, I'm sorry. But I have to be with Elix, violating a contract at this point is not a good idea."

"Babe, you said you'd be the ambassador for the first store. People will come if you're there!"

You're not too sure of that right now. Maybe people would show up to throw tomatoes at you, if anything.

"I really am sorry, Vic."

She falls silent on the other side for a few minutes, and you continue packing, waiting for her to gather her feelings. You know you're in the wrong here, breaking a promise to your best friend, but you'd rather not mess up the only job you have right now. Plus, you are certain the publicity her very first store would get from you wouldn't be a good one right now.

"Okay, apology accepted," Vic exhales so hard it makes the microphone crackle. "But you do have to come to the store later, PROMISE ME."

"I promise. I'll be back in LA next Monday and I'll go straight to your store and steal everything."

Vic laughs and you're glad her anger has vanished.

"I'll call you tomorrow, okay? After I land in Spain."

"Sure babes," Vic is her cheerful self again, "Have fun and also, say hello to Charles for me."

You roll you eyes. "Bye Vic, love you."

"I love you too, babe."

For the first time in days, you turn your phone off before getting ready for bed. You are not going to scroll endlessly through hashtags with your name. You're not going to read what they're calling you lately, because your friends—at least some of them— aren't.

─── team principal radio: ❝hello hello, thank you for reading! i hope you've enjoyed this chapter. The slow burn is slow burning friends. I would love to know your thoughts.♡❞

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[jamiedc-they-them]

Good People Part IV: Safety in Numbers (Platonic)

Summary: A new friend joins you on your travel for this infamous head. A vault gives you a moment of safety. But, like always, the world comes crashing down around you. But this time, it's not just you that it collapses for.

Episodes 5/6/7.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

"Should we wake them up?" Maximus, the Knight you had saved - and the one who had saved Lucy - asks as he sees you slumped against a pillar, eyes shut. It hasn't been too long since he had gotten out and saved your friend, and yet you found yourself drifting off.

Lucy looks back to you, You look peaceful. For once, you don't look at war with yourself.

There's a feeling she has inside. For a moment, it reminds her of how she is with her brother - loving, protective; but most of all, accepting.

"I think a few more minutes won't hurt them. I think they need it. Haven't really seen them rest yet."

Maximus nods. He knows he needs the head and all, but he can also understand Lucy's reasoning. This place isn't kind to anyone, and having your guard down isn't the greatest thing. But, you do seem to need it at this moment. That, and you did save him, so.

Lucy gets him to agree to have you both accompany him to find the head. 'Safety in numbers' she says. He can't exactly argue with that; after all, without you two, he'd still be in the suit - or dead.

Maximus packs up his things. Lucy gets up and approaches you, crouching down in front of you. She lightly taps you on the arm.

"Y/N. Y/N, wake up," she says, keeping her voice soft. She keeps her taps quick, respecting the boundary with touch.

You jolt, then seem to calm down as you open your eyes. The first thing you do, she clocks, is check the area around you both.

She smiles, "made good on my promise," she teases, "no urination for you, my friend."

Friend. It feels nice to say it now and know it goes both ways. You're friends. Maybe Maximus can be one, too. Still, one step at the time.

You snort, eyes softening as you look to her, "that you did," you say, standing up - she mirrors you - as you then stretch a bit, "thank you."

"I should really be the one thanking you," she says, "it's you who got me the help."

You shrug off the thanks - still not there with that, it seems; ok, she can work with that - and roll your shoulders, "was all the Knight. I just got him out of the suit."

She wants to argue in your honour, but doesn't. Like said before, she can work with this. Baby steps.

"We're gonna be travelling with him," she says to you, "he needs the head too. So, I figured, someone else looking out for us can't hurt, right?"

You don't seem too sure at first, then nod.

You all go on your way, Lucy asking about what had happened in the last 200 years, as if either of you can summarise that.

"People in charge did what they always do," you say, "they chose power over lives."

"Sounds a bit like a red to me," Maximus says.

You shrug once again, "maybe. Still, ain't exactly patriots out here to shoot me for it."

Lucy looks at you concerned, Maximus shakes his head. You're an odd one, but you're honest. So, he respects that.

You come to a bridge, with two people on the other side. Lucy tries to calm the situation down. You and Maximus, seemingly reading each other, get ready. You stand in front, no weapons, but you'll go down first and give him time to draw.

It works, and part of you believes that it just might work, too. But, the inevitable happens; the fiends see the pipboy on Lucy's arm, and they draw. Your instinct was correct; Maximus draws Lucy's weapon, and gets a shot off. A shot hits his arm, you move Lucy back, just to be safe - it all happens quick, but you still manage too - and he then fires the second round off.

"I hate it up here," Lucy laments.

"Don't we all," you say, looking to Maximus, "your arm ok?"

"It's nothing."

"It's not nothing," Lucy protests, "you've been shot!"

"I'll be fine," he says, "let's just keep going."

Lucy looks to you. You sigh, nodding at your friend, before looking to the Knight:

"Look," you say, "we'll keep going," you put a finger up to stop Lucy before she says anything and continue, "but, we'll also keep a look out for a stimpack, or something for that wound, ok?"

Maximus nods, going with the diplomatic solution.

"See?" you say, "not so bad for a red, huh?" Maximus snorts at your tease. He shakes his head. Sure, he'd probably disagree with a lot of your views on things, but you're good as a person - hell, you gave him the space he needed for that interaction. He decides then and there to trust you.

The three of you continue. You reach Shady Sands, and Maximus tells you about how he was from here. He was a survivor, and how the Brotherhood gave him a purpose.

You might fully like the Brotherhood - at least in what you've seen; a company like that with brutality will always go wrong in your eyes - but Maximus is a good man, even if tortured.

You look from the massive hole, to Lucy. To your friend who gave you a purpose - at least for a little bit. You gulp.

You were bad luck. Hell, you even hit your head when Lucy first said 'hello' to you. You're a magnet for trouble. Yet, she stuck with you. Fought for you in your honour. She stuck by you when others would've left.

You find what you think is a hospital. Lucy enters, you follow, then Maximus does.

You split up, trying to find what you can.

You find some caps. Maybe your luck really is turning.

You hear a scream. Lucy's scream. You run out, back into the lobby area, and barge through a door...only to find that apparent adjoining one is fake.

You feel the floor give out from under you...

You wake up in a startle. For once, no dreams haunting you.

"Good, you're up," you hear a voice say. You turn, alert. It's a woman. She holds up her hands, "look, I understand the concern," she says, "but, we're not a threat. We're not a threat. We have your other friends. They asked about you."

So, they're alive, you know that at least.

"You're Y/N, right?" the woman asks. You nod, now noticing the blue jumpsuit...there's no way, "I'm Birdie," she says to you.

You approach the window, and look out at everything. It's all so clean and...nice. Everyone smiles.

You look back to Birdie, who seems to be waiting for you to ask, "are we -- I mean...is - is this a -"

"A Vault?" she asks, smile on her face - seems your instinct was right, "it is," she confirms, nodding as well.

You nod, taking it all in.

"Now," Birdie says, we kept you in there to make sure you weren't radiated or anything. But, all seems clear. You're free to see your friends. We'll get some food in you, then show you to your room."

"My room?"

She nods again, "welcome to Vault 4."

You are let out, and look over the railing at the place. It's like a community all onto itself.

Lucy spots you, and instantly beams, calling out your name and giving a wave. You wave back, before making your way down to join them.

Lucy gets up, and gives you a hug. You stumble a bit, but soon find yourself being ok with it.

"I'm glad you're ok," Lucy says.

You tap her on the back, and she pulls away - seemingly understanding your code language for 'too much'. She nods, "come eat."

You sit down, Maximus and you sharing a nod. Birdie, and then Ben - the overseer, come over and introduce themselves. You cant help, though, but notice Ben's one massive eye. No one else seems to bat on eye. And, hell, you've seen your fair share of mutations out in the Wasteland - as Maximus says, it happens. But, Lucy seems more disturbed.

You, however, let yourself feel a positive emotion for once - it doesn't feel natural to you - and it's a feeling of safety.

"Lucy," you say, "we're in a vault, that's gotta be something, right?"

"I - I want it to be," Lucy says, "but...Y/N, my Vault fell. I don't want - I don't want it to happen anywhere else."

"That's fair," you say, voice soft and distant; you both have your trauma's, and both have similar reactions with it - wanting to do all you can for it to not occur again.

Yours was isolation, her's seems to be more vigilance.

Still, she softens as you look around in awe at the place. Maximus clears his plate, before looking to you.

"Hey," he calls out. You look to him, "after we finish, did you wanna go see our rooms? I think they should be near each other?"

You look to your plate - at the actual full meal in front of you that you've barely touched. It feels wrong, eating this amount of food, but you've been given it. They have given it to you. And it would be rude to not take them up on this.

You look to Maximus, your new friend, and nod. He smiles, bright. You do too.

Lucy looks between you both. She's still unsure, something in the back of her mind telling her that something isn't right; but, she then sees you both and your eagerness for this place. To her, it felt like a homecoming; to you, it was a new world with a whole new set of rules to understand - and, god, the eager look you both had; the conversations you both have as you finish your own food. She doesn't interrupt you, she just lets you both talk, and that, that is what makes her feel that humanity may just make it through this to the other side; connections. Friendship.

She turns down the offer to go up with you both, saying that she'll catch up, but wishes you both the best. Her smile is honest, but you don't see the way it struggles to stay up right. She wants to best for you, she does really, but that voice in the back of her head won't leave you alone. It seems that, here anyway, it's not there for you - but instead now for her - and so she'll follow it.

You're her friends. She has to look out for you both.

Maximus is right, your rooms are next to each other. Everyone is so nice here. They smile and wave. They say 'hello' and pass you by and leave you be. No one tries to take things from you. No one has an ulterior motive. Everyone is just kind.

That, and no one pisses on you, so that's a win in your book.

Maximus give you a nod and a 'see you later' before entering his own room. Your door opens. You flinch at the hiss it makes, but Ben just assures you that it's ok.

You enter, and it shuts behind you. Ben explains how to reopen the door. He even demonstrates it for you, before leaving you to get acquainted with it.

It's bright. Colourful and expressive. There's no dirt on anything. There are clothes left out for you. Even a kind of gown. You take off your clothes, and enter the bathroom. You see a shower, you turn it on. It works. There is a heat that hits you. It's comforting. You put yourself fully under it, letting it wash over you fully, before you start using some soap to clean yourself. It smells nice. You could get used to this.

You get out of the shower, getting changed into your new clothes. You feel something on your cheek. You put a hand to it and wipe. Puling away, you see a tear.

More come after that. A mix of happy and sad emotions all hitting you at once. You've never let yourself feel. You've never been able to. But, here you are, letting yourself have a moment. To process fully all that you've been through. All you've lost, and what you've gained in such a short amount of time.

You hear a knock on your door. You open it, it's Lucy. She looks concerned, out of breathe. Just a mix of things.

She enters, shutting the door behind you.

"Y/N, I - I think..." she pauses whatever she was about to say, seeing your state, "what happened?" she asks.

"I, uh," you say, "I don't know," you wipe some stray tears, "just - just something dumb. Nevermind -"

"It's not dumb," she assures. She has so much suspicion for this place, and yet her first concern is you.

There's a beat of silence. She waits. Despite the anxious thoughts on her findings. She waits.

"It's just..." you look to the floor for a second, before back up to her, "it's a lot," you confess, "all of this. I smell good, Luce. I don't -" you shut your eyes, seeing the memories you are used to seeing, "this is a good thing. A nice place. Nice people."

She nods, wanting for you to go on, "and I don't - I don't know how to feel about it."

She turns her head to the side, watching as you struggle with your words - so, she says a few of her own, "you deserve good things, Y/N."

You scoff, looking back up at her with your arms folded and back hunched, "maybe," you say, not fully believing it, "but...least I'll have you, right?" your walls are down fully. Emotions on your sleeve. Assurance, that's all you want.

"Always," and she gives it. It's instant, too, tone serious. Your lip wobbles.

"Even after we find your dad?"

She nods, eyes firm, "I'll do whatever I need to, to get you guys a spot in my vault. You'll be safe there. I promise."

A few more tears slip, and you nod. You let yourself have this. Something good. Something to hope for.

Then --

"'Your vault'?"

She nods, hating to have to crush your hope a bit, "there's something wrong here, Y/N. They're - They're talking about Shady Sands. They celebrate Moldaver!" she says to you in a whisper yell.

Your eyes widen.

"Look," she says, putting hands on your arms, "I will fix this. I won't leave you behind. But, you deserve something good, Y/N, and I mean that. Even for a little bit longer."

You look at her, eyes shinning with new tears - one of worry for her.

"I will be fine," she promises, "I know Vaults. I did engineering there. That, and I can take care of myself."

You never doubted that, but still, "but, safety in numbers."

She nods, "I know. But, like I said, I know vaults. I know where to go and how to get there. Before this all comes crashing down, you deserve some piece of mind. Just, keep an eye on Maximus, ok?"

You nod. You can do that.

"Be safe," is all you ask her.

She nods, giving your arms a squeeze, "always am."

"One hundo percento?"

She smiles. There she is, "one hundo percento."

"Okey Dokey."

Her smiles softens, "Okey dokey."

With that, she's gone. Determined now more than ever.

She knew her feelings for Maximus, the word for them. An attraction. But you, it was a deep platonic love. A similar one to Norm.

If this was before everything she'd seen, she'd name it gladly. Fami-

But, she wasn't that person. She was still Lucy Maclean to her core, but something had shifted in her. Something broke. She'd always help if needed, but there was an edge now. A voice in the back of her head that told her that all was not well. It did with her father and Moldaver. She hated it, the doubts it plagued her with. She kept walking, though.

So, when it came to your friendship, she refused to use the familial term. Just in case.

It does go wrong. But, not entirely as she expected it to. These people were victims, who killed their oppressors.

She'd read stories of people like this. She idolised them. And yet, now, she was the one doing the oppressing. The one doing the judging.

She knew her sin. She understood it, clear as day. Still, you both had done nothing wrong. Nothing at all. You'd both just lived above ground with shit luck to life.

So, despite having like no leverage, all she asks is simple.

"Can my friends stay?"

And, to her surprise - once the initial shock of them not killing her, and even giving her supplies for above - they say yes.

She's glad. She's done that right at least --

BOOM! BOOM! BANG! The sounds of Maximus in the armour reverberate off the walls, before a gunshot goes off from a rifle. You're both here. 'Saving' her.

"No, no, no, no, no!" She calls out to you both. But you're too caught up. Too caught up in trying to save your friend, that you don't even notice said friend trying to stop you.

You don't get far, but there is still some damage done. You may have smashed a window to get to the weapon. And Maximus may of stolen the fusion core for the armour.

"Guys!" Lucy calls out. It works on getting your attentions, "I'm ok!" she assures you, "look! look!" she gestures to herself, "no injuries! They were even giving me stuff. Look!" she says, grabbing an item that was inside the crate they have, "they aren't the bad guys. They're the victims!"

It really takes the winds out of your sails. You and Maximus both look to each other, before you both in sync say a single thing:

"Sorry."

With no arguments from any of you, you are banned from the Vault. Lucy looks to you and Maximus; him with the core, yourself with the weapon. Finally a -

"We need to give them back," Lucy says. You both look at her like she's mental.

"I mean it," she says, "we're not bad people. We don't just steal. Especially not after something like that."

"We tried our best," you say, folding your arms like a child being reprimanded.

Lucy rolls her eyes, "I know, and I thank you for your courage in your actions," she says, "but, the circumstances did not require them. They're good people. They need all the help they can get. Plus," she says, bringing out her pistol, "I have this."

You whine, leaning back and shutting your eyes, "but I want a weapon!!"

Lucy rolls her eyes again, "You can still fight, Y/N. You don't need a gun for that. We have each other, and our wits. And," she says, looking between you both, "once we're done, you won't need a weapon again. We'll be safe in the Vault. Trust me."

You and Maximus look to each other. You both sigh, then nod. He takes out the core; you open the door for him and you both deposit your items. You hear a 'thank you!' from below.

"There," she says, "how'd you feel?"

"Vulnerable," you say, gaining a third eye-roll.

"That's not a bad thing," she says.

"I don't mean the emotional kind."

She shrugs, "I know. But, we'll be ok. We have each other, and soon we will have the head. Then we'll be free."

Maximus looks to you. You just gesture for him to go ahead of you. He does, after giving you a pat on the shoulder.

You sigh, taking your own leave. Lucy watches you both leave. She nods, taking a steady breath.

"Okey Dokey," she says, before following after you.

You've done a good thing, she's happy that it's gone well. That, for once, an interaction out here has gone well and ended happily for everyone.

She just hates that voice in the back of her head. That doubt. That fear. That hesitation.

You're her friend. Her best friend, she'd wager. Someone she'd burn down a vault for - hell, she almost did - but there was also that voice in the back of her head. One that said to watch out. To not get fully attached.

There was a dark cloud in her mind. One she didn't quite know how to get rid of.

But, she knew one thing.

You had her, and she had you.

All the way, no matter what.

Part V

[bubbles-for-all-of-us]

Butterfly III

a/n Thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone who reads and who interacts. Means so much! Let this be a little birthday gift from me to you!!

summary: When Joel thinks that his life is over his little butterfly sends him a new reason to stay alive. The only problem is that he doesn't know how to love but when you are the meaning of love itself how can he not fall.

Chapter I and II can be found on my blog. Tumblr ain't letting me add links to posts.

warnings: mention of vomiting, past trauma, pats accidents, forceful substance use.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

"Do I add this as well?", Ellie asked, picking up yet another can and showing it to you. You turned slightly towards her, but your eyes didn't even seem to meet the thing she was holding as you hummed. "Good, although I thought you would chase me for this one around the kitchen as well," Ellie chirped, teasing, but nothing happened. When you had just stepped into the house from the garage, the smile you had on your face seemed to hide the hurt almost completely, yet the more time passed, the more your face grew darker.

Ellie shifted awkwardly, not sure if she was supposed to comfort you now or if it was better to just let it be. She had seen you upset with Joel only once before, and even that didn't compare to this. The first time you brought her to your apartment in QZ, you had talked Joel's head off. Talked, not shouted. And your eyes didn't look so lifeless. Ellie wondered if you even knew that you were still holding onto canned ravioli and a tiny knife as you stared ahead.

The girl shivered slightly, stepping closer to you and reaching for the knife, muttering something about a sticky surface. "Ah, yes, sorry," you said as you turned to hand her the blade, your gaze falling to the floor. Ellie wanted to speak up again, maybe with a joke even, but you quickly ran your hands through your hair. "Would you be good on your own for a bit? I'll… go to the bathroom, and then I'll finish this," you muttered after taking a deep breath in. Ellie nodded quickly, stepping out of your way, but as you moved to walk past her, she caught your hand. "Everything is okay, right?", the girl asked quietly, and you once again bit the inside of your cheek but managed to pull a cold smile on your face as you cupped her cheek gently, making her smile at you in return.

Locking the door behind you, you slowly slid down the door. Cold tiles hitting your palms. The voice inside your head kept screaming at you to keep going. To not let this hurt you, but how could it not? You loved that old fucker. You loved him so much, and because of that, you chose to give him space and not tell him anything. No emotional attachments - Joel had warned you the first time you two crossed the line from being two broken people sharing an apartment to something way more.

In the beginning, you told yourself that the attraction that suddenly blossomed in your chest was simply the aftermath of being touch-starved for so long. That it was nothing but an orgasmic illusion. A pink fluffy cloud, that would eventually dissolve into grey nothingness. But there was something more. In those moments when Joel would slip up. Where the comfort you brought him would be enough to make him forget that he was supposed to not care for a minute.

"What are you doing, woman?", the apartment was dark, only the street lights casting yellow shadows across the place. You curved your hips, moving your hands to the side as you twirled like a snake. A bottle of hard liquor in your hand. "Dancing," you mumbled, brushing your hands over your body as Joel continued to watch you from the bed. "There's no music," he said coldly. "Use your imagination. Oh right, it's rusted; gears don't turn anymore," you chittered back, taking a sip from the bottle in your hands. You both had a successful day. A huge pile of ration cards lay on the kitchen table. That was a big victory nowadays. Meaning that starvation won't be knocking on your doors any time soon.

"At least put something on; it's cold here," Joel said bitterly, yet a gleam of concern was there. You could sense it. "Look at you giving a fuck, Joel," you cooed at him, stepping closer to that bed as he motioned for you to hand him the glass bottle. "I don't, but you'll get sick, and then good luck getting better," you just roll your eyes at his words. You watched Joel take a sip, his arm muscles flexing as he brought the bottle closer to his lips. You were so caught up in him that you didn't even notice when Joel caught you by the hand and dragged you on top of him. With a shriek, you let him carefully flop you onto the bed before he towered over you, wrapping a blanket that covered his body over your body instead.

You let out a playful giggle. Even in the dim light, you could see Joel's sidelong grin. "You're way too beautiful for your own good," he muttered quietly, studying your face, fingers carefully tracing the side of your jaw. "Did Mr. I have no feelings, just call me beautiful?", you said teasingly after letting out a gasp. Joel only gave you a side eye, but the smile was there. Evidently there. No one could convince you otherwise. "Sorry, meant unbearable," you moved to hit his chest, but Joel grabbed your wrist and kissed you along the pattern of the butterflies.

A hand came up to quickly cover your mouth as a sob slipped past your lips. You knew that the sensible thing to do was turn on the faucet and let the water absorb the sounds of your cries, but you couldn't. Couldn't find the strength to get up. Couldn't find the strength to care. You were fragile. Always have been. Just having someone like Joel by your side made you childishly believe that you could concur the world. Now your only hope was that the bathroom was far away and that the sound would not reach the ears of anyone who might be inside.

But it was not, and the moment the pained cries echoed through the house, Ellie's head snapped towards the bathroom. A cold shiver ran down her back. She didn't know what to do. She didn't know how to react. Ellie never had a family. Parents. She had never seen one in action. It was truly stupid, but there were moments where she found herself imagining that you two were her parents. It was a weird family, honestly, but Ellie had heard other kids say that their fathers were always the cold ones. She knew clinging to either of you was dangerous. People leave. They leave all the time. They especially abandon her. Another cry echoed, and Ellie quickly took off.

Joel hasn't moved. Standing in the middle of the garage and murdering the only victim he had—the wall that towered in front of him. Did he regret it? Yes. Was he going to apologize? No. There were many moments in your ten years together where he knew he should have said those words. Where he should have said sorry. But you had clicked back together as if nothing had happened. If you let it slide, he did as well. Joel's main excuse was that this was not a normal world. There were no longer the same rules that applied. But he knew deep down that before all of this nonsense happened. Before Sarah died. He would have never allowed himself to treat a woman like that. That was not how he was raised. Not how he would have allowed Sarah to be treated.

Joel stepped outside. The sun warmed his skin, but his heart was nothing but an ice block. He stopped by the door, fidgeting with the handle like a kid who had gotten in trouble and was afraid to own up to what he had done. Now more than ever, Joel wished he had stayed in the garage. The exact moment his eyes fell on Ellie, who was sitting under the table with her hands covering her ears, pressing so hard that her skin was practically turning white. Bottom lip quivering. Joel instantly moved closer to her, but not even a step later halted when he heard the weeping.

A shiver ran down Joel's back. That kind of shiver made the ends of your fingers tingle. That kind of shiver made your skin feel wet and clammy. He had disappointed you before. Made you snarl at him. But never cry. Joel expected tears from you often, especially at the beginning of your days together. But even if a slight gleam of tears would hurt your eyes, you would never, ever have had a single tear roll down your cheek. His heart twisted at the sound.

Stepping closer to the table, Joel reached for Ellie. The girl jumped at the sudden touch, not expecting it since her eyes had been closed and her ears were covered. Joel was glad he had pressed his other palm to the top of her head, expecting her to threat and jump up in the process. His actions shielded her from banging her head on the table. "Go upstairs, close the door," Joel said firmly after he drew Ellie from under the table. Once Ellie was on her feet, Joel paid her no mind as he strode towards the bathroom door. He fidgeted and brushed his fingers against one another as he contemplated his next move. This was a breaking point neither of you had reached before. Joel knew you needed him. You needed him to shoot anyone who might attack you. He needed you to protect him as well. Needed your calculated brain. Needed your medical knowledge.

You felt like you couldn't breathe. The tightness in your chest seemed to only grow. Your initial hope that letting out the frustration in tears would help was not enough. Not enough now that Joel has ripped open all the wounds that you have been carefully patching up for years. "Open the door", a sob broke down in your throat at the sound of a sharp voice. Followed by a harsh banging on the door. Your cries were silent. Gulping air as you tried to ease your breathing. "I won't repeat myself," "Get fucked, Joel!", you yelled back, standing up carefully and leaning onto the sink.

You were afraid to open your eyes and see how pudgy they were. But you did. And here it was: a scared, lonely, abandoned woman. One who always needed protection. At least, that's what every man you met told you. A no one. "Fucking, Y/N, open up, or I'll break the doors," Joel's voice echoed again, but you paid it no mind. You didn't need him. You didn't need anyone. You had survived on your own. Blinking your eyes, you looked up again. But now, instead of you, it was Ellie's reflection that you saw. Instead of you, it was her. Her being torn piece by piece. No, you couldn't allow that to happen. You backed away quickly, forgetting the shelves behind as your body collided with them, sending different products, bottles, and random trinkets falling to the floor.

Joel's mind went numb at the sound of that. "Y/N, Y/N," he yelled frantically, as he pushed his body against the door. Slamming his shoulder onto the wooden surface. He had been in a position like this before, and it was more than enough to awaken the same fears. You knew each other's history. Well, at least the biggest chunks of it. Nobody ever truly puts themselves on display. It required too much.

Joel will never forget the evening he arrived home earlier than he was supposed to, and may all powers above be praised for it. The doors were broken, and Joel pulled his gun out in an instant. The apartment was a mess. Drops of blood covered the floor. Bootprints were all around the place, but the room now seemed quiet. Joel rounded the corner, noticing the light coming from the bathroom. He would have shouted your name, but in case someone was still there, it was better to approach them in silence.

Yet no one was there; it was only you. You were lying on the ground. There were shredded pieces of broken glass everywhere, and there was way too much blood. "Y/n ", Joel let go of the gun as he kneeled to you, turning your body so you would be on your back. Your forehead had a big cut, and there were tiny bits of glass glistening up there as well. But it was the pale, almost blueish color of your skin that worried Joel the most. You were somewhat conscious, yet it was easy to see that something other than the beating had happened here. You muttered something under your breath. But Joel shook his head as he leaned closer to you, "A what? What is it?", he questioned again, hoping you had enough strength to guide him. "P-p-pi-ll-s", you breathe out, hands messily knocking the empty bottle on your side. Terror rushed through Joel. Someone must have forced-fed you those. A whole bottom, if not more. As he moved towards the toilet, Joel picked you up, pulling your body against his. "Open up," he said frantically, not waiting for you to respond or follow through with his orders as Joel shoved his fingers down your throat. You let out a loud gag before all of your stomach content came up.

Joel held onto your the whole time. One hand pushes back your hair, the other loosely wrapped around your jaw. Yet even minutes after you vomited, he wasn't satisfied with the amount of content that left your body, "Come on, you need to get it out of your system, love." You tried to fight his fingers, which once again inched towards your lips, but you simply did not have enough strength.

That night, Joel finalized the thought that you couldn't love him. And if you did, he wouldn't allow it. Because the second-most important person in his life was on the verge of dying. He was almost too late. Joel couldn't afford to lose you. Couldn't be the reason you were in danger. He couldn't be the reason someone might point a gun your way. No, even if he wanted nothing more than to allow himself to be yours, he couldn't. The price was too high.

The door cracked in two, and Joel showed his hand through the hole, fidgeting with the lock from inside. He practically fell into the bathroom, frantically looking for you. Memories were still swirling around. Still imposing that same old threat. You just stood there holding onto the wall, watching the broken pieces beneath you. Jole stepped through it all, even if you reached out your hand to stop him. Not wanting him to injure himself while striding on all of the sharp objects. But Joel didn't care. Catching your face between his hands while watching you. Breathing heavily and watching you. You were here. You were alive. Joel's hands moved to examine your body, but you pushed his hands away.

His pleading eyes met yours. You knew he needed this. That's how he chased his demons away. But who was going to chase yours? Your hands came in contact with his chest. A light shove. Then another one. Then your hands formed into fists as you hit his chest. Joel did nothing. He just stood there, letting you do what you wanted. What you needed to do. "Fight back your shit," you spat at him, hitting him again but he was doing nothing. Angry tears fell from your eyes. Slipping down your flushed cheeks. "Fucking, Joel," you cried out, taking his shirt between your fingers and tugging, but he just watched you. You let out yet another cry, legs bucking as the last ounce of frustration seeped from your body.

Joel's arms were right there immediately. Holding you up and closer to him. Even if you tried to push away, Joel only held you tighter. Pressing your head closer to his chest as you shook. His eyes looked up at the ceiling in the hope of keeping his own tears from falling. "It's unfair", you crocked out, "I know, I know, love, and it's all on me", Joel said calmly. God knew he didn't want to let go of you. Ever. "I care about you," he whispered slowly, even though he knew this wasn't the time. This would only make it worse. You snorted, slowly pushing away from him, "Do you, now, do you?". Joel nodded almost shyly as if he wasn't believing himself. "Really? Cause it looks to me that you care only when it's fitting for you", crossing your hands over your chest, you stepped away from him, Joel let out a frustrated sigh.

"You don't know half the stuff", he followed you out of the bathroom, "Yes, the usual. You don't know. You don't understand. You haven't lived. Anything else?" You twirled your hand in the air, heading towards the stairs. That's when you noticed Ellie. Big, glistening eyes staring at you. She was trembling. Your face fell, especially when you heard Joel grumbling right behind you. When he came into view, you raised your hand firmly, "We won't be doing this in front of Ellie; she heard enough." Joel's cold features returned as he gaped at the girl. "She's irrelevant", "She's a child. Would you do this in front of Sarah?" The words slipped out of your mouth, and you knew straight away that this was not the way to go about this. Poking and stabbing each other in the most painful places was a low behavior at most.

"You selfish bitch", Joel stepped closer to you as you move away, back hitting the wall. "You're walking on a really thin ice", his finger was angrily pointing at you, but once he got in a couple of steps distance from you, Ellie slipped right in front of you. The knife she was fidgeting with earlier on was now pointed right at Joel.

It was easy to see she found Joel's behavior threatening, but… Your fingers slipped up Ellie's hand, gently holding onto her wrist, making her lower the blade. "He would never harm any of us, bug," you said softly, your eyes moving back to Joel, who just stood there frozen. "El, sweetheart, Joel would never lift a hand", you pulled her closer to your chest, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "You…", she muttered", "You stay away because I don't care about you just as much you don't care about me", Ellie's words were trembly, but her now angry eyes pierced right through Joel. He said nothing. Watching Ellie for a moment before turning around and leaving with a harsh slam on the door.

Joel returned way past midnight. In the dark, quickly opened the first can he found. Not bothering to warm it up as he forced it down. The fact that Joel knew that Sarah would be shaking her head at him now only made the tension worse. Joel ran a hand over his face, putting pressure on the throbbing temples. You would hate your old guy, wouldn't you? - he thought to himself, looking at the broken watch on his wrist.

Joel wasn't surprised when he didn't find you in your shared bed. That for him, however, meant cold sheets, a restless night, and more thoughts that only you seemed to keep at bay. He crept towards Ellie's room. Pushing the handle as quietly as possible as he opened the door. The nightlight he had made last night was giving him a clear vision of the room. You had both of your arms wrapped around the girl. Spooning Ellie as she clung to your arms as if the whole world depended on you. Both of you looked peaceful. Joel draped another blanket over both of your legs. Kissing the three of his middle fingers before pressing them to your forehead. Not daring to lean in to kiss you.

He didn't allow himself to watch you even for a moment. Instantly turning to check the window before stepping into the hallway. Joel didn't close the door fully. He needed to be able to hear in case something happened. Sinking on the edge of the bed, he found himself wondering if he should just sit outside the room you two were in instead. Most importantly, he blamed himself for giving in to the desire to touch the butterfly. He should have admired you from afar. Now even if all was fair in love and war, Joel had lost them both, and now there was nowhere he could hide. Now he'll have to pay the price, and it was going to be a big one.

[houseofperfecttaste]

Together Again (2)

warnings: fingering

"Alright I'm going to go drop him off and I'll pick you up at 1," Rafe said before leaving the apartment and I nodded holding the door open. "What should I wear?" "Something fancy." He winked at me before being called away by Rhett who was excited to go see his grandparents. I closed the door behind the boys and took a shower washing my hair and shaving everything(you never know what could happen.)

I decided to wear my gold sequined bell-sleeved dress that I wore for my 21st and did gold makeup to match it. I matched the dress with white sparkly heels and straightened my hair. The more that I looked at myself, the more I started to think I went overboard but I shook off those thoughts knowing that I looked good. I looked at the time on my phone it reading 12:54 and I touched up a few things finishing right as I heard a knock on the door.

I opened the door to reveal Rafe in a white button-down with black dress pants, a gold chain hanging around his neck, and gold rings on his finger. Holy shit did he look good. He looked rich and expensive and his cologne smelt like it cost more than my rent. Rafe's eyes widened his mouth dropping slightly boosting my ego slightly as he was speechless. "You look breathtaking, wow." He complimented and I giggled doing a 360 for him. I watched as he swallowed the lump in his throat and moved his hands down to cover his crotch.

"You look very handsome and hot Rafe." I winked grabbing my purse and locking the door behind me as he led me to his car opening the door for me. Excitement was coursing through me at the thought of where Rafe was taking me. "I'm so excited!" I cheered clapping my hands together as he laughed and looked over at me. "I'm happy you're excited for our date, would be a bad thing if you weren't." I rolled my eyes playfully asking him questions about where he was taking me but he wouldn't tell me a thing. "You're going to love it." He promised as he parked the car and helped me out.

"Oh my god Rafe!" I squealed looking at where we were. We were wine tasting and this specific winery had butterflies everywhere and a beautiful view of the ocean. "Your dream date right?" He had a cocky smile on his face as I was in awe. "Yes thank you so much, Rafe! I love it!" I wrapped my arms around his waist since he was taller than me and he held me tightly and grabbed my hand. "Shall we?" He smirked intertwining our fingers. "We shall." As we walked up I realized that the only people here were the workers, Rafe, and me. "Welcome, Mr. Cameron. Are you ready for your private wine-tasting tour?" My eyes widened in shock as he had a proud smile on his face as he placed his hand on the small of my back motioning me forward. This must've cost a fortune.

I know how much it annoys him when people can't accept gifts or gestures from others so instead of saying that he didn't have to do this I hooked my arm around his thanking him. "This is absolutely beautiful and incredible. Thank you so much, Rafe." "You ain't seen nothing yet." He whispered in my ear as we followed the guide. He started to describe the history of wine and showed us the wine cellar before taking us outside the beautiful ocean being exposed to us. I gasped at the sight, the sun was gleaming on the water, waves beautifully crashing onto the shore and butterflies were surrounding us and landing on our shoulders. "You look beautiful." He complimented me as two butterflies landed in my hair.

The guide described each wine as two servers stood by him handing Rafes and I glasses. The last glass to be served was Screaming Eagle Cabernet which cost at least $500,000. My mouth dropped and I know confusion was shown all over my face. I nearly moaned at the taste, it was easily the most delicious drink in the world and I tried to savor all of it knowing I'd never have an opportunity like this again. After the tour and tasting were done Rafe took me down to the beach holding my heels as we walked along the water. "Rafe, words can't even describe how perfect this date was." I grabbed his hand swinging our arms back and forth as he planted a kiss on my temple pulling me into his side.

"It's not done yet, pretty girl." His tone was playful and I was lost for words. This man had already outdone himself and there was more? "Do you trust me?" He asked stopping us and placing my heels on the sand. "Of course I trust you." I softly spoke as he pulled a blindfold out of his pocket. "Kinky." I joked giggling as he playfully rolled his eyes and walked behind me. "It's for the surprise." He tied the blindfold leaning down to my ear, his hot breath fanning my neck causing goosebumps. "I can use it for something kinky if you would like." He whispered huskily teasing me making me shiver and press my thighs together.

We walked for about two minutes before he stopped me and slowly untied my blindfold and holy shit this man had every fucking trick up his sleeve. Tears started swelling in my eyes as my hands were shaking, Rafe was the only person to ever treat me like a princess like I was his only priority. The surprise was an enchanting, angelic dinner on the beach with lanterns and rose petals lighting up the walkway. A beautiful dinner was stationed at the end with low pink lights glowing from the bottom of the table. "After you m'lady."

He pulled my chair out for me and my eyes scanned the table landing on the $500,000 bottle of wine placed in the center with two glasses. "I know what you're thinking, it's written all over your face. Nothing is too much when it comes to you." He grabbed my hand from across the table caressing the back of it with his thumb. "Have I told you how gorgeous you are?" "I think you've mentioned it once or twice." He chuckled the corners of his mouth lifting. "Make it three. You're so gorgeous." He admired me his eyes glistening with love and god I wanted to kiss him so badly. "You're so handsome. Buzzcuts really working for you.." "Oh yeah?" His eyebrow raised as he grabbed my chair sliding me closer to him, the gesture turning me on a bit.

I blushed as he stared at my lips and leaned in closer to me stopping inches from my face. "Can I kiss you?" "Please." He pressed his lips to mine and butterflies erupted in my stomach as he cradled my face. Rafe pulled away for a second to get a breath before kissing me again, with more passion this time. "I'm still so in love with you Y/N." He confessed resting his forehead against mine and I froze not being able to comprehend his confession. "I-I'm sorry it's too early for that." He tried to backtrack but I grabbed his face smashing my lips on his. "I'm still in love with you Rafe."

"Will you be my girlfriend?" Even though we both just confessed our love for each other he was still nervous to ask. "Of course, Rafe." We kissed again before the food was brought out and we just talked about nonsense before his phone started ringing. "My dad wants to know if Rhett can sleep over?" He put his phone on his shoulder and I nodded knowing this meant Rafe and I could have a night alone. I obviously said yes and we talked to Rhett for a bit before he hung up the phone and we returned to our dinner.

"How was everything, Mr. Cameron?" The owner asked as Rafe grabbed my hand a big smile on his face. "Everything was perfect thank you." Rafe slid him $200 before pulling my chair out and led me to his car. "Have a good evening Mr. Cameron." Another worker said as we left. Rafe opened the car door for me and I wrapped my arms around his neck leaning up to kiss him. "Thank you for the perfect night, Mr. Cameron." I mocked running my hands down his chest but his jaw clenched at the name and his grip tightened on my waist. "Get in the car baby I'm taking you to mine." He kissed my hand before closing the passenger door.

As we arrived at his house my mouth dropped, Tannyhill was nothing compared to this house. "Holy shit Rafe." I stared in awe as he chuckled unlocking his door causing my mouth to drop even more as I took in the sight of the interior. He gave me a tour of his house showing me Rhett's room making a dopey smile appear on my face. He opened the door to his room and it was huge which didn't surprise me, what surprised me was the pictures of us on his nightstand. "You kept these?" He walked over to me wrapping his arms around me from behind and placing his chin on my shoulder. "Of course, I sort of always hoped that we would find each other again." He whispered kissing my neck as I mentally cursed myself for leaving him, believing that he would leave me.

"God, Rafe I'm so-" He turned me around to face him and kissed me before I could finish my sentence. "Don't say it. You don't have to be sorry baby, please never be sorry. I love you." He whispered but my mind was still running with thoughts about what could've been if I stayed and he was able to be with me during my pregnancy, labor, and be there to raise our child. "Y/N baby I love you, I forgive you, I'm not mad. We're going to have an amazing life all three of us okay baby?" I nodded trying not to cry. "How about I run you a shower then we cuddle in my bed and watch a movie?" "You mean run us a shower?" I suggested as I started to unbutton his shirt seductively as he drew his bottom lip between his teeth. "You know how to drive me crazy baby." He kissed me before heading into his bathroom turning the shower on and grabbing us towels as I unzipped my dress. "Hey that's my job." He pouted cutely making me giggle at his complaint and I let the dress fall to the ground making him shut up.

I slid my panties down my legs watching Rafe as he watched my every move. I opened the glass door testing the water before getting in, Rafe following me. He stood behind me his large hands outlining my curves as the water cascaded down my body our bodies. "I'm so fucking in love with you." He mumbled against my shoulder as his hands slid to my breasts squeezing them. "I'm so more in love with you Rafe." I whispered back letting my head fall back on his chest as he started rolling my nipples between his fingers. "Feels so good." I breathed out closing my eyes. "Good baby wanna make you feel so good." His hands slid down my body to my v-line.

"May I?"

"You may." I reached behind me to grab his hair as his hand slid between my legs and he started rubbing my clit slowly. "Rafe." I moaned and he started rubbing faster his other arm wrapping around my front holding my body close to him. He gently slid a finger into me a whimper leaving his mouth as he felt how tight I was. After minutes of his fingers I could feel my orgasm approaching and Rafe knew it too by how I squeezed his fingers. Even though it's been years he still knew my body like we never broke up. "Yeah cmon baby cum on my fingers, cum for me." He whispered seductively in my ear as I let go all over his fingers watching him bring his fingers to his mouth sucking them clean. "Hm missed how you taste, never forgot how hot you look when you cum though." He smirked licking his lips winking at me.

I went to get on my knees to return my favor but he stopped me shaking his head. "Tonight is all for you my girl." We finished our shower washing each others body before he handed me a t-shirt and I washed my face being able to get my makeup off thankfully. "We can go shopping tomorrow and I'll buy you everything you need to be prepared to sleep over." He said as he put his basketball shorts on and got into the bed. "Rafe you don't need to do that." I shook my head turning off his bathroom light and getting into bed next to him as he clicked through movies. "I don't need to, I want to. My girl needs her items for her nightime routine." He poked my nose before pecking my lips and pulling me into his side. "You're so sweet." I kissed his cheek before laying my head on his chest pulling the blanket up around me passing out about ten minutes later.

Note: I'm so so so so sorry that it took so long I got my ass kicked by school and work. I also apologize if this sucks love you all

Taglist: @baby19sthings @quinnstarkeylove @drewstarkeysbae

[newkatzkafe2023]

@lara-legomonkiekid

Can I have part 2 Y/N pregnant?

Reminder this is the genderbend version😯

(Lmk Wukong) This was a very eventful pregnancy. It seems like her antics Amplify Since the Two of you found out about your cub. First of all, there is a wire. Her belly was so big was because there's not one not two But three of them in there. And it seems like They are already active just like their mama. And not only that they make the monkey queen wanna eat everything. Her food your food mk's food You name it I mean you can't really Blame her because she's literally eating for other people but it's still quite Out of control. Happiest day of your life was when the triplets Your are two sons and daughter were finally born and they We're noisy cherpee and they get Into everything. Overall, they were healthy, very little beans. Who you love very much and you secretly glad for the monkey. Queen's flirty clingy ass and you love her as well.

(NR Wukong) Holy sh*t if you think she was clingy before you ain't seen nothing yet. Since the beginning Of her pregnancy, she demanded With you at all times whether it be. to the corner store to the men's bathroom which got you kicked out of the mall once. She's was on you like white on rice. And if you try to go somewhere without her. She'll throw a big ass tantrum and i'm gonna shoot look like Are jerk especially when it happens in public. So you kept her inside with you for the remainder of the pregnancy. I say and that's when her water broke. When the cob was born, it was a cute little girl, but she chirped a lot. Neither of you would understand why. Wukong Has tried multiple methods But she just won't let up that's when you decided to give It'll try and the little girl was suddenly silent. You guys's daughter stop chirping and crying immediately the second she was in your arms. Now that explains why the monkey Queen had craved you so much. Because now you have to deal with another clingy girl in your life. At least this one is cute.

(HIB Wukong) The pregnancy was fairly okay to be honest. It's just that she threw up a lot. And I mean a lot there was barely anything. She would be able to keep down. It seems like the Cub was already a picky eater. It seems to only accept pomegranates, peaches and Sesame balls you Yourself would eat. Interesting enough the cub came out a week early a cute little boy. He was fairly small but it seemed like it didn't stop them from trying to do big kid things. You both have to keep an eye on him a lot. But he was the greatest gift you've both received and you hope maybe you can convince her to give another one.

(Mk Reborn Wukong) This woman is a pain in your ass. Hers mood swings were out of control and that is really saying something. She always blames you for her condition. But she clings on to your arm. So hard blood is getting caught off from there. And where's the vault? Yeah, I'm worst of all. She won't eat food unless it's yours it's like she's making you mad on purpose. But it seems like this is making her a little more emotional because she vents and cries to you about all of the issues. In her life and her insecurities about her relationship with you. With shocks you to the max but you know better than to say anything. Finally, it was time for the cup to be born and that was like the worst 12 hours of your life. She was screaming playing menu for doing this to her. But she's the one who wanted to fight you. She's the one who wants to know what position you fire in. And she wouldn't give up stop by one broken hand later You too had a little girl. She was just as feisty and war driven as her mama. And it seems like she got some of her possessive traits too. One time Your daughter climbed on to your shoulder and hissed at her mother for Sitting way too close to you. And of course, her mom took that as a challenge and hissed the right back. Great now you have two hissing girls back to square one for you. But deep down you wouldn't have it any other way

(Netflix Wukong) You guys are so freaking excited about your future family. You always make sure She was happy comfortable and safe. You mostly took up her job as protecting the villages from stray demons and you make quick work of them. So you can get back to your monkey queen especially when she's hungry. This pregnancy helps her open up to a lot more because she voices her worries about being a capable mama. But you always dispel those dark thoughts by telling her know that she would be amazing and she's got you to help her too. This always Makes her feel better and it was about time too. The club was ready to both were granted too little boys. They were rowdy loud and all over the place. But you both love them very much. But it's up to you to keep the queen from spoiling her two princes

Feel Free to Reblog

[sourbinnie]

☆ silent ☆

♡ genre ¿? ♡ -> angsty angst ♡ pair ¿? ♡ -> maknae line!ateez x gn!reader ♡ plot ¿? ♡ -> malicious comments weren't gonna go unnoticed by your boyfriend even if he couldn't do anything about it. ♡ warnings ¿? ♡ -> swearing ♡ request ¿? ♡ -> yes!

a/n: second part of silent, hope you enjoy :] don't forget that i'm going on a trip so i'll see you all on sunday again !!!

-> the request | hyung line

-> the scenario

you didn't wanna attend at first but something about seeing your old friends made you give in. being there with your boyfriend also brought comfort to you and eased your nerves. anxiety couldn't help but kick in when you thought about seeing some of your old classmates and how they were doing right now. you've seen pictures all over instagram of them living their best lives and you were stuck in your job and trying your best to handle money wisely. your boyfriend didn't mind and your family was happy that you were where you were, so why did you have to doubt yourself?

well it was easy when you were surrounded with rich folks who didn't know anything but money and luxury. even after experiencing some of the stuff your boyfriend was used to, you couldn't get used to it but right now? yeah it was definitely too much and too show off for your liking. speaking of your boyfriend, he was there surrounded by people wanting to take photos with him, asking for autographs and wondering why he was here but nobody would kick him out because idols were sacred to them. you were thankful he would be supporting and cheering you on from a distance. 

well if you knew what was coming, you would've never brought him along.

"didn't know this was a reunion for the lowest of low." one of your old classmates said laughing and looked at you up & down. he was scanning you with his stare and it made you feel so small but you tried to think nothing of it yet you knew exactly what was happening.

"yeah same man, i thought this was gonna be an exclusive thing. good to see you though (y/n)!" another one exclaimed as she laughed. what did they expect from a high school reunion? to invite only the privileged old students? well maybe it would've been a better idea. 

"yeah good to see you." you said in a small voice, wanting nothing more than to leave with how you were being perceived. there was no doubt that your boyfriend was looking at you right at this moment. you wanted to leave, you were going to leave at any moment.

"hope you get a better job soon sweetie. since that dress/suit ain't looking too good." one added and you excused yourself as you left the scene. the tears threatening to spill at any moment as you tried to make sense of a direction to go to, far away from them.

san ✉

if yeosang was mad then san is the maddest of them all. he could not stand what just happened, it took everything in him not to run up to the guys who were messing with you. he stood there, like a statue as he watched you walk away and then he excused himself to find you. if someone found out about it, he didn't care, he needed to see you and comfort you right then and there. he would deal with the consequences when they showed up.

he found you, your face buried in your hands and a soft sob could be heard. he turned you around and hugged you, burying you in his arms and chest but you quickly broke off remembering someone could see you two.

"don't worry about that now love." he said but you shook your head as he sighed. he didn't want you to care about his idol image when you were feeling so down. then again he should be the one caring about that but he could not give a damn at that moment. "they're fucking stupid if they think like that and i'm sorry you had to go through that."

"sannie am i just different? am i just less than them?" you asked and it was his turn to shake his head. he couldn't believe that you were feeling this way and that you had believed their words in the end. it hurt him deeply that he was the cause of it somehow too because he should've been there defending you.

"you're so much more. if anything they're the ones missing out the amazing person that you are." he said looking at you then looking around one last time before kissing you. leaning in on a sweet kiss as he felt your lips moving against his and breaking away too soon. "god i wish i could go and show them you're the best person i've ever met." and even if you couldn't do that right now, you believed san word for word. 

mingi ✉

did he hear that correctly? did someone just diss you like that? he was not having it. bumping into one of them on purpose as he walked to find you and not even saying "excuse me" because they did not deserve it (this is mingi's way of seeing fuck you). he didn't get mad often but this sparked something in him, it was probably because it had to do with you and someone making you feel bad. he pretended a bit more until he actually got tired and worried trying to find you but you were nowhere in sight.

he found you in the car when the event was over and wiping your tears away. if he didn't feel like he won the worst boyfriend contest before, he sure did now. who the hell lets their significant other cry all alone?

"baby i'm here now, it's okay." he said as he hugged you and made you sit on his lap. wrapping his arms around protectively and kissing your cheek to make you feel a bit better at least. "god i'm sorry, i feel like such an idiot for letting that happen."

"it's not your fault mingi, don't blame yourself. especially when we both knew this was gonna happen." you said as you laid your head on his shoulder and hoped that the pain would go away with his embrace. 

"even if we did, it shouldn't have happened in the first place. listen babe, i hope you can see your friends again and have a good time because this was just out of hand and uncalled for." he said as he looked at you, the sight breaking him but at least he got to hold you now. he wasn't really good with words but his actions spoke louder than anyone did tonight and that brought the comfort you needed.

wooyoung ✉

he lived for teasing you but he knew when he was out of line. this was one of those moments where he knew that these were not your friends and they were the assholes you were afraid of encountering again. his gaze was on you the entire time even if it was kind of obvious, he wanted to make sure you were okay but when the situation was brought into the scene, he lost you in the crowd. 

he was so mad about losing you that he left mid conversation, not caring about the other person talking. he felt terrible knowing he insisted you to come to this place and now knowing you went through this all alone. he just wanted to make sure that you were okay first.

"god finally i found you." he said when he did indeed find you after searching the whole place. you were shivering from the cold but like the gentleman he is (sometimes), he put his jacket around your shoulders. "baby you look incredible in every way, don't let these idiots tell you otherwise."

"i know i'm stupid for believing them but it's hard. i feel so humiliated." you said and it bruised him how you were speaking in such a low tone with those teary eyes. 

"it wasn't okay and you know how i suck at comforting you when you're like this darling but i'm sorry. i'm sorry that you're feeling like this and that your stupid boyfriend couldn't do anything about it and i'm sorry you had to be the center of attention like that." he said as he put his arm around you, pulling you closer to him. you didn't say anything in return as you sighed and let yourself go with wooyoung, whispering sweet comfort words in your ear.

jongho ✉

he hated making a scene but he knew exactly where this was gonna go when your ex classmates approached you. he would kindly tell them to fuck off if he could but he remained in his spot as he watched you leave and watched them laugh. how old were they that they thought this high school shit was okay? he excused himself and in the crowd looked for you everywhere. 

he was so frustrated and tired from the socializing that wouldn't stop even when he went looking for you. but eventually he found you at the entrance, luckily no one was around but he still felt so bad. his heart was heavy as he saw you, pretending that you were on your phone but wiping away the tears every now and again.

"lovely please don't believe them." he said which startled you but you knew that voice all too well as you turned around and saw him there. "you know they do that because they're unhappy with the life they have right?"

"well it doesn't show. how could they be unhappy when they have everything? i can barely afford my rent." you said as you bit your lip, not wanting to let the tears flow anymore but it was almost inevitable as you felt so stupid.

"they're never gonna know true happiness if they act like that." he said as he held your hand in his and looked at you. he had never seen you so defeated and sad, it crushed him. "but i know i found my true happiness with you and i hope you're able to forgive me for how i didn't act tonight." he muttered and you buried yourself in his embrace as he held and kissed your forehead.

[dawnthefox24]

Yay! I've got more fanon interactions for The shimada brothers mother Rumiko! Anyways here's part one if your interested. Also @wildissylupus love the idea of Cass calling Kiriko a kit. Thus none the less enjoy the fanon interactions >w<

(Also I want information on my wife Rumiko shimada guys...You have no idea how much I love her TvT)

~~~~

Ana: Are you boys alright, you seem to be distance...This isn't about your father now is it? Hanzo: No, someone else actually... Genji: Mainly you remind us of our mother... Ana:*sighs softly* Well you shouldn't be looking at me like her, If anything I'm more like your father....

Genji: Ana I have a question for you... Ana: Ask away Genji. Genji: How do you feel about meeting Fareeha again after all these years.. After what has happened with you... Ana:*sighs sadly*...Remorse and Regret....What brought this on? Genji: Something I hope my mother would feel....

~~~~

Doomfist: You know Shimada- Hanzo: Why can't you leave me alone, I have no desire to join Talon. Doomfist: But that's where your wrong, after all you do desire something...Or in fact someone, a certain mother that you oh so desire.

Doomfist: You know Genji you can join Talon with your brother. Genji: Me and my brother have no desire in joining you of all people should know that and stop... Doomfist: Yet your desire to find your own mother is something you both need, Talon has the resource for it. Genji: My brother and I would rather die then you use OUR own mother against us!

Doomfist: All this useless hope a mother whom abandon you,Someone who has never returned to see your or your brother. Hanzo: YOU WILL NOT SPEAK OF HER LIKE THAT!

~~~~

Zenyatta: What is wrong my student? Genji: Master...I...If you have hope that someone you know who is alive but they left for a long time to never be seen again...How does one live with themselves? Zenyatta: That is up to you on how would you feel Genji, for we don't know whether or not if the person you seek doesn't have the fathom on whether or not YOUR alive. Genji:...I see

Zenyatta: You think loudly Genji, is something on your mind? Genji:...I've told you about my mother right master? Zenyatta: You have my student, what brought this on? Genji: If my mother...How would I tell her...I...when she left the clan did she know about what happened? If so how do I explain to her that I allowed the clan to fall allowing the Hashimoto to power... Zenyatta: You tell the truth, it may scare you but in the end, she might also tell you her truth on why she left. Genji: Master, how do you handle something that you aren't prepared for a moment you have no idea when it'll come. Zenyatta: being patient my student, patience is they key. It may or may never come all you have is time. Genji:*sighs* Alright thank you master.

~~~~

Cassidy: You know kit, you seem to be doing a lot of digging for someone you have no idea they might be alive. Kiriko: W-what are you talking about? Cassidy: Look I ain't gonna sugar coat things, but it has something to do with both brothers and all I'm going to say is this. Kiriko: And what would that be? Cassidy: Their mother may not want you to find her.

Genji: Cole have you ever been nervous before? Cassidy: Most of the time, yeah anything interesting happened? Genji: You know nothing ever gets past you...So you've heard about Hanzo and I mother right? Cassidy: Yes and Genji just a fair warning she may not want you to find her...

Cassidy: Heard you've lost your touch Sombra! Sombra: I haven't lost my touch vaquero(cowboy) Cassidy: Well I've heard through the grape vines that your struggling finding one civilian mainly a mother. Sombra: Of course the fox would say something like that! I should charge her double the amount of wasting my time and efforts!

~~~~

Brigitte: How come you don't talk about your mother Hanzo? Hanzo: My mother was very important in my life...then she just disappeared... Brigitte:..I'm sorry, if you want I can ask my mom to invite you over for dinner! would you like that? Hanzo: I wouldn't be opposed to it, thank you Brigitte.

~~~~

[bcomic-blog]

Tonight in El Goonish Shive

HOLY

SHIT

Okay, I'm not sure how people generally come across this post. I'm assuming MOST have already read the update first. But I don't doubt that for a few tumblrites seeing this in their dash is their reminder, "oh hey, I should check out the new page"

Just in case, I ain't saying fuck all about this page and especially not SHOWING anything from this page without a cut...

(Maybe I should always do this? But especially tonight.)

If you are not caught up with EGS up to the Wed 12/6 update proceed no further, this is your warning lol

WOW!

I wanna call this a HUGE update, where so much happens. But technically we learned almost nothing new lol. Most everything that is confirmed about Mist in this update we already knew, basically...

Quick review of all of the plot points that Mist is part of:

Alternate universes aren't all equally "alternate"

The universe that the Griifins come from is inherently connected to the Universe the main cast live in. For simplicity, we'll call them Moperville and Avalon:

Like Moperville. Avalon has Uryuom and Seyonulu people. In Moperville they live in secret, disguised as humans. In Avalon, they live openly, but as a distrusted and opressed minority. Evidently it is believed that they originally arrived with intent to conquer, and they are legally prohibited from touching tech out of distrust that they aren't STILL plotting something

(Fuckin Dwight, man...)

So, on the Moperville side magic is a secret on the verge of coming out, but on the Avalon side, magic has been open for a long time. On the Moperville side humans believe they are the only sapients on Earth, and they aren't far off. Secretly, there are also some Uryuom and the Immortals, but that's mostly it. On the Avalon side, humans are one of a variety of sapient species, including Griffins, unicorns, and we haven't yet seen who all else. But the humans are a minority with a monopoly on political power, which is concentrated in those who have what is called a "royal aura"

So, the ENTIRE point of everything that happens in the "Balance" chapter is that Liam (the owl griffin) is sympathetic to the plight of the oppressed Uryuom, so he arranges the entire rigamarole of himself getting mind-controlled to attack royalty all as a distraction to pull one of the guards (Dwight) away from the portal from Avalon to Moperville, allowing three insurgents to sneak through to our side.

Their plan is to use the fact the Uryuom can use magic on the Moperville side again meaning that over here they can use magic items, specifically:

this thing, to allow them to STEAL the Royal Aura from someone over here, then go back with the aura that has always meant you are considered one of the powerful few on the Avalon side, and use that power to end the oppression of Uryuom and Seyunolu people.

There are three members of our cast that it's confirmed have a royal aura:

So in this page, Mist is looking for a way to supercharge the dream search, which is what happens in the NP chapter "Parable" which had been in a state of "canon, but it hasn't happened yet" but with tonight's upfate i assume it's going to finally happen!

Evidently, though, Seyunolu, unlike griffins. can't just see a royal aura. So that's Mist's part of the job: he can sense a being's auras and stuff, but only by entering their dreams, a process that wasn't finding their candidates very quickly. (Not too surprising,as they would have focused on the wealthy and powerful based on the mistaken assumption that if the Royal Aura people didn't rule openly here, they must be ruling from the shadows...)

So-- as I said at the beginning-- we don't actually learn a lot that's totally new about Mist... except we now know for sure that he is a Tulougol Seyunolu with a combination of human, Uryuom, and Unicorn... but that always seemed the likely bet. And we learned what he looks like without his disguise (which is one hell of a cool character design!)

I mean, wow!

Before this, it seemed likely this character would look like some sort of Unicorn/Human, but we couldn't be sure if that would look cool

It does!

So, at first when I read this I thought this was a confirmation of the character's NAME, but no, that had been confirmed a while ago, i just missed it!

For a long time this character was known by a placeholder name: "Mystucorn":

BUT, in passing, the leader called him "Mist" a while ago, as easy as this was to miss!

Another cool thing this page does is give Mist's pronouns. This is helpful because he has a very feminine appearance, even more so than the androgynous Noah, and it would be easy to accidentally misgender him. BUT that one also isn't actually new info: Mist's gender was established WAY back in his first appearance:

But there is one other COMPLETELY new thing established in this page: the NAMES of the other two Seyonulu involved in the plot to steal a royal aura, as well as their roles!

Saou is the leader who the plan is to make into Seyonulu royalty, and Potestas is essentially the bodyguard.

At this point I think it is safe to say which is which in their various forms and disguises going back to their earliest appearances!

Mist:

(note the uryuom antennae!)

(the scene with different shaped speech balloons to distinguish different speakers)

And finally:

Now...

Saou:

And

Potestas:

So, anyhow, this is all super exciting, I can't wait to find out what happens next... I mean, evidently "Parable" happens next, but now that that's no longer "sometime later this year", we'll finally find out more what happens AFTER "Parable"!

[artzychic27]

Omigod, the Carrie Prom scene but it's Marinette and Kim pulling a prank on Marc after the Akuma Class (sans Nathaniel) organizes a rigged vote for Anciel as Prom King. Marc loses it and happens to get akumatized and uses his psychic powers for revenge.

Marinette: Look at how he's smiling now, that stupid little cow.

Well the real fun has not started yet!

Kim: I've had up to here with all your demands!

You’ve left us all with blood on our hands!

Now, I realize you’ve got a bone to pick!

This was never a joke, this trick is pretty damn sick!

Marinette: I've got one last little beat

And then my plan's complete

For a night that he'll never forget

Givin’ it. Givin’ it.

*Lila is walking through the ballroom when she notices Nino looking guilty while swapping the ballots*

Lila: Nino, what are you doing?

Nino: Uh, Lila! Hi! I didn't expect to see you here tonight!… Nice dress.

Lila: What are you up to?

Nino: Nothing!

Lila: What's going on?!

*Before Nino can say anything, Alya is already dragging him onto the dance floor*

Alya: Stick around, Lila. It's gonna be the best prom night ever.

Givin’ it. Givin’ it

Oooh

So we're closer, closer, slower, closer!

Nino: Mme. Bustier, I've collected all the ballets! Here you go! *Hands her the ballots*

Mme. Bustier: Why, thank you, Nino! This is all so exciting, isn’t it?!

*Lila continues to glare daggers at Nino before moving to see where her classmates are. She approaches Max, who’s texting, and snatches his phone*

Max: Hey!

Lila: ‘Is everything set?’ I do hope you’re not planning anything awful, Max. Oh, and with a cryptic group chat that has… Twelve people.

Max: I-it’s nothing! *Snatches his phone back*

Lila: … If Marinette’s planning something, and you’re all in on it, so fucking help me-

Ooh, feel the heat

You and me and me and you!

It looks as if we're gonna make it!

Marinette: I believe in getting even

That's what I believe (You know how to terrify me with the way that you think)

Marc: Finally, (You ain't seen nothin' yet, you ain't seen nothin' yet)

Finally, (You ain't seen nothin' yet, you ain't seen nothin' yet)

This is great

We're getting there but not quite

We're not quite there

A night we'll never forget

This is great

So grab your date and hold tight, hold tight (Hold tight!)

This is great

The night's about to take flight, take flight

A night we'll never!

No, never!

We'll never forget!

*M. Monlataing and Mme. Mendeleiev are up on stage with a mic*

M. Monlataing: Attention students! We give you this year's king and queen of the Prom...

*Everyone's attention turns to them except for Marc and Nathaniel who are too distracted by each other to even care. M. Monlataing opens the envelope*

M. Monlataing/Mme. Mendeleiev: Reshma Leghari and Marc Anciel!

Reshma: OH, GODS! I WON! *Grabs Lacey and kisses her before running up on stage*

Lacey: … Oh, my God. I’m totally Bi.

*Marc, upon hearing his name, turns to the stage, shocked then looks back at Nathaniel, who encourages him up onto the stage. He runs up and joins Reshma*

Students: Hail Alma Mater

Oh, mother we salute you!

*Mme. Mendeleiev hands Reshma her flowers and she smiles at Marc, who smiles back*

We proclaim our devotion!

And we set our dreams into motions!

Ooh...

*Lila smiles proudly at her friend, but then her attention is caught by a movement overhead. She looks up to see a rope leading to a bucket placed precariously on a beam right over Marc*

Lila: Oh my God! *Desperate for help, she finds Mme. Mendeleiev and pulls her away from the coronation ceremony* Mme. Mendeleiev!

Mme. Mendeleiev: Lila? What’s wrong?

Lila: Please, listen! Something terrible’s about to happen!

Mme. Mendeleiev: Lila, if you’re trying to ruin this for Marc-

Lila: No! I swear! You’ve got it all wrong! It’s not me-

*Nathaniel walks over to them*

Nathaniel: Lila, what’s going on?

Mme. Mendeleiev: I knew better than to trust any of them- I warned you two! Get out! *She pushes them out the door...*

Lila: NO! *She pounds on the door but to no avail, helpless to stop Marc’s oncoming humiliation* OPEN THIS DOOR!!

Nathaniel: Lila! What the hell?!

Lila: Nath, I saw Nino swapping the ballots, I-I think Max was texting the class, and there’s a bucket over Marc!

Nathaniel: What?!

Lila: Marinette is behind this! I know it!

All our heart's beat true

Alma Mater!

Marinette: Kim, pull the damn cord! PULL IT!

*Kim hesitates, so Marinette yanks the rope for him, and the pail tilts, pouring the red paint down all over Marc, some splatters on Reshma*

Everyone: …

Aurore: Oh. My. God.

Jean: IS THAT BLOOD?!

*Some students begin screaming, while the rest of them are laughing Marc, meanwhile, is shocked into stillness*

Reshma: *She faces the audience, pissed*WHAT THE HELL?!

*With all of the commotion, no one notices the Akuma fusing with Marc’s sash*

Marc: *He brings his hands to his face, and sees the paint on them. His expression becomes terrified* Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God! *He grips his paint-soaked hair as Shadow Moth speaks to him. His expression changes from horrified, to furious*

I will not cry

I’m okay

I tried so hard

To play their way

Stop it. They’re all lies!

Since she was born, my life has been a living hell!

(A living hell!)

His name is Nathaniel Kurtzberg, mom.

He’ll have me home by midnight!

An eagle’s just another bird!

Until he can spread his wings!

Open your heart!

Let the power in!

Marc: They’ll make fun of you!

They will break your heart!

Then they’ll laugh at you (Malice)

Watching you fall apart! (Anciel)

*Marc covers his ears as he hallucinates the students and teachers all pointing and laughing at him*

Marc: DOESN’T ANYBODY EVER GET IT RIGHT?!

DOESN’T ANYBODY THINK THAT I HEAR?!

*Marc’s face turns blank, yet there’s still an enraged look in his eyes. As the black and purple mist encase him, every exit door slams shut, and the lights flicker on and off until the bulbs blow out. Glass from the bulbs rain down, injuring a few students. Everyone rushes to the main entrance to try and open the doors, but they suddenly stop, turn back to face Marc in his Akuma form, and drop to their knees*

Malice: PAYBACK FOR YOUR SINNING’S!

*He points to every one of them with his scythe*

JUST BEGINNING!

BEG FOR YOUR SALVATION

FROM DAMNATION!

BEG OR

*His powers take control of the speakers, and he belts out a scream that deafens half of the room*

HE WILL BURN YOU!

HE WILL BURN YOU!

*Malice strikes the floor with the end of the scythe, electricity spreads around the gym, causing the lights to short-circuit and catch on fire next to some decorations. The fire quickly spreads around the room. Students scream and scramble around trying to escape. Alya, Nino and a few other kids start running for the doors, but Malice notices this attempt. He reaches out his hand and squeezes his fist and many of the students are thrown forward against the walls, hard enough to leave cracks. Louis grabs a chair and tries to take Malice out but he grabs the chair with his powers and bashes it against his head, cracking his skull open. Rose and Juleka try to run, but fall to floor and die in mere seconds as students trample over them. Malice looks up at the sprinkler system and dents the pipes until they break, making water rain down on the floor, then he pulls wires from the stage. Only a few people realizes his plan and get on top of tables before Malice throws the wires onto the wet floor, electrocuting Adrien, Ivan and many others. He turns to see Kim and Marinette attempting to escape*

Marinette: TIKKI! SPOTS-!

*Malice keeps them frozen in place, looks them dead in the eyes, raises his scythe, and slashes Marinette right across the chest. For Kim, he has some wires wrap around his neck, tighter and tighter until he fall to the floor the same time as Marinette. The fire spreads around him as students wail and eventually die. Malice stretches out his arms, and the door flings open. He slowly walks out, walking through the electrified water and not being harmed. He slowly walks out as if in a trance, not even paying any mind to the looks of horror across Nathaniel and Lila’s faces. Once he’s a few feet away, the entire building explodes into flames, and he walks away*

[arcplaysgames]

P3P and P4G done, lets play P5R

Alright, lets at least get started.

Just in case you're new, hello. My name is Archie, and I have now played Persona 3 Portable and Persona 4 Golden. My liveblog continues.

My liveblogs are mostly fast recaps of the story with a lot of conjecture and guesses and long diatribes about the veracity of Persona's cartomancy choices. For all the games but P5R specifically, I know pretty much blithering fuckall about the plot and characters, so I enjoy trying to guess what's going to happen and pick up on foreshadowing (and sometimes whine about lack of foreshadowing, looking at you ending to P4G).

In P3P I romanced Akihiko but my life partner was Junpei. In P4G, I played a raging homogay so I didn't get to kiss anybody but harbored one HELL of a crush on Kanji.

Now, we start P5R. /rubs hands together

SO UH GAME IS A BIT ODD FROM WORD GO HUH. Hitting new games starts one of those "this story is a work of fiction disclaimers" but it's narrated very purposefully, refers to "[our] world" and demands I sign my agreement as a contract.

Could be nothing, just a bit of flavor, but this is the first of the games I have played to tap on the fourth wall in this way. Also, the text being blue brings to mind the dude who like set up the Velvet Room who you don't really see in the modern Persona games, which is... Philapome? Or something.

Starting in medias res with what I would say is an overload of information.

Casino heist! With shadows and persona hanging around! And... the weird thing is that it seems to be in the real world??? But our protagonist guy has the power of persona in the real world. Which we haven't seen yet in 3 and 4. Persona abilities was relegated to the TV World and the Dark Hour.

Also, WEIRDLY, this guy is a thief? Like Sly Cooper running along the lights and fixtures, using a grappling hook, the whole shebang.

It sure ain't Tartarus, that's for sure. And we have a bunch of shadowy characters talking over the comms.

GONNA BE REAL this whole intro sequence is a lot? We fight some persona (in the real world??????).

Get a helping hand from some lady with a sword?????

Jump out of a stained glass window with some Cowboy Bebop vibes goin' on.

Aaaaand get fuckin got by a LOT of cops. Oh my god that's so many cops. And we were set up.

A cop beats the shit out of our protag and repeats that immortal recurring line. Well, taking responsibility for their actions killed Reverie 3 while Reverie 4 survived, so we'll see how this one goes.

There was only one option. Reverie Vantas returns.

And we're in a framing device! Sup, Cassandra I mean Sae Nijima. But yeah, this has some Dragon Age vibes to be certain. Sae apparently knows Reverie, but was not expecting to see him, and seems sympathetic but Cop-y about wanting some answers.

I am still concerned about the use of Persona in the real world, that has me very concerned, given how P3 and P4 ended.

Are they bringing back the meaningful butterfly of Palermo or whatever?

Okay Reverie's backstory is laid out:

Dude tried to help some lady who was getting roughed up, but the rougher got injured in the process so Reverie has been expelled and now is facing a criminal record. Which, in Japan? OOF. Not great. Not good. Also, can you have a criminal record as an adolescent in Japan? That's really rough.

So Reverie is sent to I Think It's Literally Tokyo, like this game is not in a fictional location, it's Tokyo, I heard Shibuya get mentioned, what the hell.

boy howdy we got a lot of anime cutscenes

AND WE HAVE PROGRESSED BEYOND YOSUKE'S SHITTY FLIP PHONE ONTO SMART PHONES. Reverie sees a weird app thing on his phone and when he presses it, the world stops and I think he sees his shadow????? I think there's some awakening to Persona happening here.

Fuckin' Izanami is back in Inaba like "aw shit, people got PHONES that DO SHIT now? I can just send the power of persona to people as a fucking .apk file now, I don't need to lurk around a gas station like a fucking weirdo, I'm literally a god, I should be making more than minimum wage, wait'll I tell Nyx"

Anyway. That's actually kind of a fun throwback to....... the original MegaTen, right? Didn't the first major entry in the series revolve about a demonic internet site that let you contact the spirit world and then it took over the real world? Basically.

Reverie is off to find his.... like... probation officer but not, and ooh

wow that's a good voice, hello sir, wait no I thought Dojima had a good voice from the start and I was super wrong about him. I trust no good voices in this game.

I AM NOT 30 SECONDS IN AND ALREADY?????

fuck you and your nice voice I GUESS?

I have no idea what the legal standing here is or if its a handwavey don't-worry-about-it thing but:

Reverie, did a good deed and got expelled over it. His family apparently actively wanted to get rid of him, so they sent him off to Tokyo to live with this cafe owner dude, Sojirio Sakura. He is on a one-strike policy and could lose this lovely and inviting attic space for any reason at all. And this is his probation.

what the fuck, wow, and I was sad when P4G didn't really give me any good friends in the first two hours, now THIS?!

Reverie The Fifth, I have known you for like 20 minutes and I'm sorry? What the fuck.

Anyway, Sojirio is a glorified landlord, is not here to play rehabilitationist, leaves as soon as he can, and Reverie goes to sleep.

And wakes up in the Velvet Room.

And oh boy howdy. Wow. Okay. We're gonna have to talk about the Velvet Room in this game.

Out of images. Next post. /fingerguns

[zeawesomebirdie]

hi !!!! did NOT consider you might like to have the ask again to answer it. if you do:

seeing you post about your old west au is motivating me to at least draft my stuff out for my fic, too!!! so, firstly: good god thank you. secondly, what kind of drafting process do you normally go through? you don't have to answer this but everyone i know is pretty particular about how they write so i'm always curious!!!

Gosh okay I'm still so embarrassed about accidentally posting this before it was ready!! Lesson learned: only work on long posts on desktop (very affectionate). I'm going to copy paste what I had originally said, but there will be added stuff because it wasn't anywhere near ready to go (if you thought it was long before, honey you ain't seen nothing yet!)

Also I still am so proud of you for working on your fic, we are writing buddies now hand in lovable hand I love you thank you for enabling my rambling <33

Buckle in, here we go!

SO! My drafting process is always a moving target. I do what works best for the work in question, and things change depending on my energy and fatigue levels plus my motivation and interest levels

So that said, right now my process usually looks like:

ramble at someone in DMs, copy and paste rambles into a google doc for safekeeping and marinating

zero draft, aka word vomit until a plot forms, block out actions and the occasional dialog, determine chapter and story arcs

first draft, aka Where The Real Writing Happens

optional second draft, but only if the fic is under 10k

line edits

post :)

find a bunch of typos that I somehow missed during line editing, fix those before anyone notices

I will be showing examples because this is a bit hard to explain and Extremely Intense to a lot of people, and yeah that's because it is! I approach writing fanfic the same way I approach writing original fiction, and I find it works best for me as a plotter

If you are metaphorically inclined and familiar with oil painting: I write the way an oil painter paints. First I block in the big shapes, the gestures, and the colours. Then I come back in subsequent drafts and increase the detail until I'm done!

Further information and actual examples of my drafts will be below the cut, because this is gonna be super long and I love talking shop ^.^

And general content warning for non-graphic violence and graphic smut (and shitty early drafts); the examples are from Bruce Wayne/Dick Grayson fics

So before we get into the zero draft, I want to point out two things: first, I do full rewrites. This is why writing takes me one million years. I retype each and every word in each and every draft. Second, I'm actually trying something new with the Old West!AU, for reasons I will explain in a moment!

I started doing full rewrites in 2019 after a college writing course, in which we read Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott; she encourages the reader to embrace the shitty first draft. I ended up really benefiting from a zero draft too, something I first learned about in 2020 from someone on authortube who I no longer remember the name of. The zero draft is essentially a pre-draft, in which one gets the gist of the story out of their system before the prose clogs up the spigot

For me, zero drafts are something that need to be finished as fast as possible in order to get done at all, so due to the sheer length of the Old West!AU, I'm trying out writing little bullet points instead of my full zero drafting. Right now this fic is at 27 chapters, and this is part 1 of 3 total. I will be going back and filling in the actual blocking once I have all the scenes roughly accounted for

Context for the Old West!AU: Bruce is the Bat, a vigilante gunman who only kills when he needs to but still has the fastest draw on this side of the Mississippi. Now that he's taken care of the man who killed his parents, he's returned home to his Uncle Alfred and gone straight, meaning that he's hung up his guns and gone back to homesteading the family land. He adopts Dick and then a year later Jason as well, when small burglaries start happening in town, so he takes the Bat out of retirement and goes to investigate.

My bullet points started out like this:

Open on comparison between Bruce's first gun and the Bat's guns. Introduce Joe Chill, general drunkard. The Bat calls out Chill, shootout, Chill is killed. Chill drew first. Moment of reflection between Bruce's first gunfight at 15 to this one, at 21. Bruce goes home.

And that's the whole entire first chapter!

However, now they look more like:

The Sheriff runs up and shoots at him. The Bat has him disarmed with his own gun barrel to his throat in an instant. It doesn't take the Bat much time to get info out of him either. The burglar is only going after small change, not enough to be noticeable. That rules out the gambler, easily. The Sheriff can't do shit about it, because no one is willing to start an investigation for such small change. The Bat shoves the Sheriff to his knees and is gone before he notices. Alfred is waiting for him when he gets home, and asks. Bruce tries to deny it, but the clothes are in his hands and he can't. So he sighs and says he may have made a promise, but… there might be more to this than there seems, okay? He just… has a bad feeling about it. Alfred can't accept this, what about his sons? Bruce can't take this, and tells him he doesn't have to. Their yelling wakes up Dick and Jason, who stand in the doorway to their bedroom and look on with the door mostly closed.

Eventually both Alfred and Bruce yell each other out, and they sit down for coffee as dawn breaks. Bruce breaks the silence first, saying Alfred is right. Alfred tells him he understands. Bruce decides to let the Bat go for real now.

This is about half of the chapter, and closer to the blocking I normally do in zero drafts

So far this pre-zero draft seems to be working, given I've already finished part 1, but I also can't wait to come back and do the blocking in because that's when the fic really starts to take shape!

Usually though, I just start with a zero draft. I'm going to show you two different fics for the zero draft examples, because they were done differently, and like I said at the beginning, I try to adjust my process based on what is called for by what I'm writing

This first is from the fic I'm writing for @ful-crum. It's a 5+1, in which it is five times Dick fucks Bruce to distract him from discussing his emotions plus one time they actually discuss their emotions and then fuck about it.

Tim and Jason turn up an hour later, and they're incredibly concerned. Dick waves them off. Tim takes him at his word and heads to bed (he has a meeting with Wayne Tech at 8am tomorrow, ugh), but Jason sits down next to the bed and asks Dick what he thinks Bruce is going to say. Dick tells him he's not sure, I mean, it's B, y'know? Jason just nods, and they lapse into silence. Then Steph and Cass come in, and Bruce is most noticeably not present. Cass signs something about bed, and Steph tells Dick that she's worried about Bruce, to which Jason snorts and says they all are, but she insists that Dick talk to him. Dick doesn't even need to take more than a moment to decide that won't be happening. But Steph goes to bed, and it's nearly 04:00 when Jason heads up too, saying he'd love to help Dick lecture Bruce about staying out late but he's got stuff to do tomorrow. Dick asks if he wants to know what stuff, and Jason gives him a smirk and says ask him no questions and he'll tell him no lies. Dick can live with that.

As you can see, this is just general staging directions and vibes

This second example was supposed to be for BruDick Week 2024, but I accidentally got carried away and ended up deciding to write a longfic for it instead. The prompt was "brudick meet their AU!selves," so I did 66!brudick meets the Gotham Rogues Polycule, an AU in which Bruce, Dick, and Clark are in a very elaborate polycule with half of Gotham's villains.

Batman and Robin were on a normal mission in the middle of the day, on the trail of Catwoman, who's been stealing from the Gotham Museum of Art again. One moment they were walking into the museum, the next they were in a weird swirl of energy. Robin clings to Batman and asks what's going on, and Batman tells him steady Robin, we just have to stay calm and see what happens. The energy clears as someone calls out “incoming! Clear the floor!” and they find themselves in what is clearly the Cave, except it's even more high tech than anything they've ever seen. There's three people in suits like theirs standing in front of a massive screen, and Robin identifies the Riddler immediately, even if he doesn't recognise the other two. Before Batman can stop him, he charges the Riddler, who jumps behind the man in black and blue with a laugh. Batman does call out for him to stop, but he ignores him. The man in black and blue meets his every move, almost like he's fighting himself, and he calls out to the man in red and blue “a little help here, Supes?”

The biggest difference here is how drastically these fics changed from their zero draft to the first draft rendition, and that is entirely because of how fleshed out they ended up being (or not being, lol)

When I zero drafted the 5+1, it was with the intention of that specific part simply being a chapter, whereas my original zero draft of the 66! meeting the polycule! fic was actually intended to be a two shot at most. I unfortunately lost control of the plot during the first draft of that one, and it spiraled into a longfic, which will become more clear in a bit!

Basically though, the goal of the zero draft is to know who's where and why at all times! With longfics, there is often a restructuring that happens after the zero draft is written, where I move scenes and sometimes whole chapters to their best locations. This is where I make the most use out of a beta! Pacing is a big struggle for me and it is easier to fix at this stage, before I have all the prose and have become attached to what I've written

Next up is the first draft, and this is a whole new document. This is where I write The Actual Words. This is more or less the final version of the fic, for longfics, give or take a few paragraphs and a shit ton of line edits. Having said that though, I write in fits and bursts, because y'know disabled and stuff. So I write a paragraph or two at a time, and I am constantly adding and subtracting words and lines and sometimes whole paragraphs while I am actively working on a chapter

I'm going to show the first draft versions of both of the above fics, and due to the length these will be extremely excerpted but they should serve as examples regardless. Generally speaking, my zero drafts are about 1/3 of the length of my finished fics, however the 5+1 is currently proving to be an exception so that number may not be super accurate

First, the 5+1:

“You did take care of them, right?” Dick asked, groaning when Jason’s mouth thinned as he looked away. “Is Steph at least still with him?” “Last I heard, they were—” Jason started, cutting himself off when the Cave’s alarm signaled the arrival of newcomers. A moment later, two muddy bikes roared into the garage, leaving dark tracks behind them as they parked haphazardly together on the far side of the garage. With the return of Black Bat and Spoiler, the only empty place on the garage floor now belonged to Batman himself. Dick tried to catch Jason’s eyes as they waited in the med bay for Cass and Steph to strip off their suits and join them, but Jason turned away from him, though he didn’t rise from the bed. Something must have gone down after he’d fallen unconscious, Dick was sure of it. Why else would Bruce have sent everyone else home early on a patrol night? He could already see it in his mind’s eye, Batman doing God-knew-what out in Gotham alone, Bruce coming home with a busted lip that Dick would have to personally clean up before they went to bed, how that lip would scab over and feel under his tongue when he kissed Bruce the next morning after waking up in their bed—Bruce’s bed—on accident. How that scab would stretch when the ghost of a smile caught Bruce by surprise after one of Dick’s terrible puns. “You okay?” Steph called across the Cave as she and Cass walked toward the med bay. “Never been better,” Dick replied, trying not to be put out at Jason’s eye roll. He put up a hand for Cass to inspect when she came up to his bedside, and after she had nodded her satisfaction of his health he smiled. “I’ll be right as rain in no time.”

And the 66! meets polycule! fic:

“You!” Robin shouted, not waiting for Batman to back him up as he charged toward the Riddler. Riddler didn't move—in fact, none of the three moved—then Robin was on him, punching his face hard enough to hear a distinct crack. That startled all three into action, Riddler swearing up a storm before throwing himself behind the blue masked man, who blocked Robin's next hits without hesitation. “Robin!” Batman called from somewhere behind him, but Robin ignored him, focusing his energy on striking past the masked man's defenses to get at Riddler. “I know you're behind this, you– you scum!” Robin snarled in Riddler's direction, placing a perfectly timed jab toward the masked man's left cheek and then feinting to the right. But the man met him easily, as though they were merely sparring. “I'm not who you think I am!” Riddler exclaimed, his hands cupping his face but doing little to staunch the blood streaming from his nose. “Let's slow down for a minute, okay?” the masked man said, his voice maddeningly level as if Robin wasn't trying every trick he knew to get past him. “We can explain.” “Yeah kid, there's a good explanation here, we promise,” Riddler added. Robin growled and spun around the  masked man's reach only to find him once again directly blocking him from Riddler. How in the dickens did he know exactly where Robin was going to strike before Robin himself knew? And why on earth was he protecting the Riddler? “Supes, we could use a hand here,” the masked man said, still obnoxiously calm, once again blocking Robin's fist and this time circling his hand around Robin's wrist to twist his arm behind his back. In a blink, Robin was lifted into the air by his collar, the blue and red suited man holding him at arm's length. Robin continued to struggle for a moment, but finally Batman came into view, frowning up at him. Seeing Batman's disapproval took every bit of wind from Robin's sails, and he deflated instantly. If Batman didn't think he needed to fight, then he probably didn't need to.

So as you can see, I just kinda fill in the details with each draft!

Which is where we come to the optional second draft. I try, I really do try, to do a full second draft of everything I write. I always am glad to have done one, once it's done. The problem is, I really do have very limited energy, and anything longer than a chapter or two just doesn't get finished if I try to give it a full second draft. I've instead been doing really vigorous line edits, which I don't have an examples of because those are done in the same document as the first draft!

Now, you're probably wondering why on earth I gave a smut content warning at the beginning of this post. WELL.

I am calling myself out as a newbie when it comes to the art of smut writing. My 5+1 fic, the one where literally every single part has extremely explicit smut, has the following in the zero draft:

Yes, that is not one, not two, but three "cue smuts." Clearly I was new at this (affectionate)

Shout out to past!me for this in the last part though, because at least it actually has some semblance of blocking even if it is still extremely lacking:

The kissing escalates (as it often does) to smut over the desk (though Dick does try to move the documents out of the way, even if Bruce is growling at him to leave it alone; he doesn't want to be the reason Tim has another caffeine-induced breakdown).

I didn't figure this out until I was actually writing this fic, but it turns out I not only need to block in regular action scenes, I also need to block in the smut, because otherwise I will be sitting there having no fucking clue what to write (very affectionate)

So I now present what a zero draft of smut looks like! This is from a 5+1 in which there are five times Bruce and Dick fuck because of Poison Ivy's sex pollen and it "doesn't mean anything," plus one time they fuck because they actually want to:

Dick asks if they can take off their suits, it's too hot he's too hot, and Bruce says okay, that's a good idea, and internally he's panicking because oh no. Oh no. But the moment the words are out he sees the relief in Dick's face, and realises Dick needs to be told what to do right now, so he tells him clearly to strip, it'll help. Once Dick is fully naked in the other seat, he turns to Bruce and asks if he needs help with his armor. His hand is tentatively, almost shyly stroking his cock, and Bruce is really struggling to not watch. He tells him no, he doesn't, and takes off the chest plate and arm armor, but leaves what's left of his leg armor on. He decides he can safely put his hand under his boxers, but Dick makes a little noise, and when he looks over he can clearly see Dick watching him stroke himself. Oh fuck. He's cumming before he even realises it, his boxers getting wet and sticky and his cock still so maddeningly hard and he strokes himself through it, unable to stop himself from moaning even as he tries to keep himself in a clinical mindset. Dick asks to see him, and Bruce, despite knowing what a bad, horrible idea this is, pulls down his boxers to reveal his cock. Dick shifts his hand on his own cock to mimic what Bruce is doing, and Bruce has the horrible realisation that he doesn't even really know how to jerk himself off. Dear God, hopefully Alfred stays the fuck out of the Cave tonight.

So it's really just more of the same general blocking directions and vibes!

Another thing of note for zero drafts, I try to use as few words as possible to get what I need across. These are only ever intended to be seen by myself and a beta, assuming anyone else besides me even sees them at all, so I use slang and shorthand and leave notes for myself in the text itself

This can be a bit weird for when I show it to betas (or anyone else, for that matter!) because there are some fics where the tone or the vocabulary in the zero is incredibly modern despite the fic being in a historical or pre-modern setting!

And I have yet to actually write the first draft of that one, so I'm going to give you the first draft of the "Cue more smut (but this time against the batmobile 😌)" scene so that you can see the difference between the blocking and an Actual Scene:

Bruce had turned his back to him, bracing himself against the batmobile, and Dick took hold of Bruce's hip to hold him steady when he slid a finger into his hole. A soft moan was all he got in verbal response, but Bruce pushed against Dick's finger despite Dick's best efforts to do this slowly. Chuckling under his breath, Dick slid in a second finger, relishing in the clench of Bruce's muscle as he began working him open. “Easy, B,” he said softly, leaning over him enough to move his hand from Bruce's hip to his cock. Bruce growled and arched into his touch, taking in Dick's fingers completely. “Someone's in a rush tonight, huh?” He didn't get a verbal response, not that he ever did. Bruce rarely spoke while full, relying instead on nonverbal communication to indicate his needs. It hadn't taken long for Dick to become acquainted with his movements back when they started this; after all, fucking was no different from fighting, not for them, not when they had flown side by side across Gotham for more than half of Dick's life. And Dick knew Bruce would always try to get him to rush just a little, knew he'd give in like he always did, wanting to have his cock inside Bruce as soon as physically possible just as much as Bruce did. He wasted no more time, sliding his fingers out and releasing Bruce's cock just long enough to slick up his own. The small whine from Bruce at the loss of contact ought to be ignored, ought not be acknowledged, and Dick knew that, but he couldn't resist leaning over to kiss the small of Bruce's back. Bruce huffed at him, glaring over his shoulder. Dick met his eyes with a grin. Then Dick gripped Bruce's hip again, holding him steady while Bruce leaned back to meet him, and slipped into his tight heat. There was a soft moan from Bruce the moment he bottomed out; Dick leaned forward again to kiss up his spine, keeping his cock buried deep even while Bruce began to rock back into him.

I do think the fic for @ful-crum would be easier if I had proper blocking for the smut, but also I do love a good challenge and you live and you learn, so I'm not super invested in going back and blocking in the smut at this point in time!

And honestly, once the line edits are done that's pretty much it!

I keep a little "posting info" doc for each and every fic I write, to which I add tags as I come to them in writing, so that I don't have to think about what needs to be tagged at the end after I've already forgotten what I've written. That has saved my butt so many times ngl, especially for longfics!

But really what keeps me from posting more often, despite how much I write, is that I fully finish fics before I post them, even if I'm posting them on a weekly or whatever basis. This is mostly because I can't guarantee when I'll need to randomly take several months off of writing, and I don't want to leave anything unfinished, but also because I don't want to actually end up leaving something unfinished for a few years until I cycle back into the fandom

And that's it!! Thanks for tuning in to this little master class :) If I can clarify anything please let me know; I tried to explain everything that I thought needed it but I can never tell what others will need more clarification on!!

And also, thanks again for asking this!! I don't know many people who do full drafts, or even many people who don't completely pants everything they write, and so I'm always excited to discuss my process!! I also am a firm believer in "take what helps and leave the rest," so if you find something in my process that sounds like something you'd like to do, give it a whirl!! I think it's super important to share the different kinds of processes there can be for writing, because everyone really writes so differently, you know?

Anyway, thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed my shitty early drafts (very affectionate)!!

[obsidiancreates]

Icewild (Part 1)

The morning comes slowly, the sun creeping up over the horizon and peeking through the ring of stormclouds. The hollow of the storm looms, bright and deceptively cheerful as it shines on the ruins o a once bustling city.

None of that matters, because the peace of the morning is broken by Daisy shaking Jornir awake with a look of panic.

Jornir jolts awake quickly, rubbing both eyes with one hand and getting to his feet. "What is the matter?"

"We found people," Daisy signs. "We don't know- they're strange, like all of you."

"Like us?"

"Not exactly like you. But they aren't human and aren't ogre."

"The others know?"

"They're watching them. They haven't woken up yet."

Jornir follows quickly, Daisy leading him through the former House of Knowledge to the garden Jornir had met that first strangely intelligent bird in. Barnabos is dragging a large red body over to a pile of other bodies of varying sizes as Skrimm and Taishen stand, ready for anything, and Queenie fusses over a large creature curled up by a small green body.

"-ain't never seen one in real life before, Taishy! Look at it, it's just a baby!"

"This is a baby?" Taishen's eyes go wide as he stares at the large creature. "How large do these owlbears get?"

"Oh, they get real big, bigger than them polar bears I think."

"And this one is just laying next to us?!" Skrimm scrambles up Barnabos's shoulders.

"What is happening?" Jornir joins them, looking down at the pile. His eyes trail over to one body in particular, and his expression tightens. "What is that?"

"Fucked up is what it is," Skrimm says, keeping the Brutal Blade pointed at the bugbear with th tubes and machinery embedded into it. "Eugh, it reeks, and that's comin' from me!"

"I didn't wanna say nothing Skrimm but, yeah you could use a bath."

"You all could use a bath," Daisy signs. "But later. Do we think these creatures are dangerous?"

"That thing?" Jornir says, gesturing to the bugbear. "Yes. The things in it's flesh are... unnatural. I have never seen anything like it before. The others..."

A bit of green scale catches his eye, and he rolls the purple-suited body over. "Oh, no."

Barnabos's eyes widen. "Aye, it's an alligator folk! The lad'll be freezin' half to death already, even without the snow! Mr. Fireblossom, warm 'im up!"

Taishen startles a bit, but does as he's told. "Alligator folk?"

"Aye, good sailors along the waterways inland, but I've never worked wi' one outside of the most temperate of seas. They're cold-blooded, Mr. Fireblossom. Too hot or too cold and the lad could die faster than any o' us." Barnabos chews his pipe. "How'd someone li' 'im end up here?"

"They just appeared overnight." Daisy eyes the unconscious group warily. "No-one knows how they got here, except that there was a flash of that color." She gestures at the glowing canisters in the bugbear's back.

"W-well..." Skrimm looks around. "Are any of us gonna wake them up and ask what's going on, or are we just waiting for them to do it?"

"Aye, I've got this, Mr. Stabbaskotch." Barnabos picks up the unconscious goblin and shakes him. "RISE AND SHINE, LAD!"

The goblin shrieks as he's woken up, and the rest of the figures bolt upright as well! The alligator-folk smacks his face right into Taishen's hands, burning his snout! Taishen reels back as the alligator shouts and curses and flings out with a cane and another creature, a small woman with wings, screams and throws a small pig at Taishen!

"ENOUGH!" Jornir hits his walking stick against the ground, and everything freezes. The big red guy has his fists raised, chains hanging down from them as he glares between Taishen and Barnabos. The alligator has his cane raised, looking oddly unsurprised and very tired. The small fairy woman climbs up the back of the bugbear even as the bugbear shrinks back, confused and frightened, and she glares at anyone who looks their way. A tabaxi stares at Barnabos as the goblin dangles from his hands, the owlbear standing and ready to swipe at the Triton.

"Who are you?" Jornir asks, voice sinking back to it's usual volume. "Where did you come from?"

"Is this a fuckin' dream?" the alligator says, eyeing the world around him.

"Nah, feels too cold, man. Hey, uh, big blue guy, can you put Gricko down before he fuckin' dies?"

The goblin in question, Gricko, is not looking well after his awakening by shaking. "Ooooh, little girallons... hello..."

"Gricko! Do ya smell burnin' feathers?!"

Gricko sniffs deeply. "Um... no! No. But I do smell..." he sniffs again and wrinkles his nose. "Kremy, didn't we hire an ogre once?"

"To climb the Harris Wheel before Tobek, yeah."

"I smell that."

"There's fuckin' ogres here?!" Kremy grabs at his top hat and looks around wildly. "Oh gods!"

The bugbear at the edge of the group makes a sort of groan/whine noise. "Ooooooh, Torbek doesn't like this, this is worse than the hag!"

"Hag?!" Skrimm looks around now with an equal paranoia to Kremy. "What the fuck do you mean, hag?!"

"I think perhaps-!" Taishen calls out, "-perhaps we could all use a moment to calm down over some tea!"

"That would be... appreciated." The tabaxi eyes Barnabos. "As soon as he sets Gricko down."

"Oh, aye. Sorry abou' that, lad, forgot I was holdin' ya." Barnabos sets Gricko down, and the owlbear immediately bounds over and begins nuzzling the goblin.

"Oh, daddy's alright Hootsie! You're such a good girl, not going in to gut them! Yes, who's such a good girl?" Gricko kisses Hootsie's forehead and scratches under her beak.

"You've got a tame owlbear?" Queenie watches Gricko and Hootsie with wide eyes as Taishen begins setting up for tea. "How the hells did you manage that?"

"Oh, well, she's my daughter!" Gricko grins at Queenie. "Hootsie! Show them one of your lovely stylish jigs!"

And, to the amazement of all but the newcomers, Hootsie stands on her hind legs and does a little dance.

"... We've got some fuckin' weirdos here, Jornir," Skirmm says, looking up.

Jornir nods just as Taishen announces that the tea is ready.

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

"So you were actually in the Feywild?" Queenie looks almost dreamily at the newcomers. "I've been plannin' to retire there my whole life."

"Well, maybe pick somewhere other than Prismeer, if ya can," Kremy advises, wincing. "It's kinda a shitshow."

"Yeah," Gideon says, downing his tea in one go. "I mean, not like you're in paradise right now, but, least there's no fuckin' hags here."

"Just horrible brains and cannibal spirits, oh yeah, much better," Skrimm mutters. He peers at Gricko. "You're not from the moors, are you?"

"Oh, no," Gricko says with a smack of his mouth. "No, no. I'm from a swamp, like Kremy!"

"Well, not exactly like me," Kremy says, brushing off his lapel.

"What? They're very similar, but mine had a college and rock bands and yours had gambling and voodoo men."

"And gumbo," Frost points out as he sips tea.

"Oh!" Gricko slumps a little, looking thoughtful. "Yeah, we didn't have gumbo. Gosh, I wish we had."

"What is gumbo?" Jornir asks. Had been keeping mostly quiet as introductions and explaining had gone on, and now he mostly watches the newcomers as they interact with the others.

Kremy leans over a bit, shocked. "Y'all never had gumbo before?!"

"I've heard o' it," Barnabos says, "Never 'ad it though."

"Well, then, in the spirit of uh, good relations and y'all not killin' us or tossin' us into that snowstorm to die, how about I cook up some gumbo for everyone?"

"Sounds great!"

"Alright." Kremy stands and pulls out a small bag, reaches far deeper into it than should be possible, and pulls out a bundle of clothes.

"Oooh! Can I be your sous chef again, Kremy?" Twig bounces to her feet from the end of the table where she'd been showing Torbek how to hold his pinkie out while drinking tea.

"I appreciate the offer, Twig, but I wanna make sure everythin's cooked this time. No offense."

"I did what you told me to!"

"You did! From a certain point of view, you did. But uh, I'll just do it myself I think."

"Well now, I'm this here groups cook," Barnabos says, getting up. "I'll not be havin' a stranger cookin' us anything without my watching, if you don't mind."

"Oh, uh... well, I don't see why not. Hey, Gid?"

"Yeah?"

"Mind comin' and startin' the fires for me?"

"Alright man." Gideon stands up and walks over, and the three head somewhere to get cooking.

There's some silence at the table.

Torbek looks at Frost and appears to strain in some way. Frost sighs, and turns to Jornir. "Excuse me, but, you've been looking at Torbek strangely since we arrived and it's making him uncomfortable."

"You understood that from a look?" Queenie looks at Torbek. "I thought the poor fella just had to use the shitter."

"Oh, no, Torbek will just go to the rubble if he needs to do that."

"There's bathrooms here."

"Ooooh! Even better!"

Frost sighs again. "Thank goodness. Anyway, it would be appreciated if you didn't look at Torbek that way. We would like to avoid stressing him too much if we can, he has... issues."

"He has an unnatural affliction, implanted in his being." Jornir looks down at Frost. "Are those his issues?"

Frost glances at the canisters. "They're... related, yes."

"We have just fought creatures of unnatural origin. A terrible creature, that intended to... warp, and... corrupt, all of us. All of this land."

"Well, Torbek has no intent to do that. None of us do, we're uh, we're stuck here by chance! We went to sleep after a cooking competition and woke up here, it's all very strange."

Jornir and Frost stare at each other for a few moments, trying to figure the other out. Finally, Jornir nods.

"Alright. But I will keeping an eye on you all."

"I understand. ... Keep an eye on Gricko the most, just in case the strange magics of the Feywild have followed us here. He-he tends to be um..."

"To go cookoo-bananas?" Torbek says slowly, leaning as close to Frost as he can (which is disturbing should-be-possible-if-his-body-wasn't-warped amounts of close).

"I wasn't going to phrase it that way, but yes. If he begins talking about frozen peas or uh- suddenly turns into a clown, just tie him up I think. That usually goes poorly."

"I'm going to go warn the other vassals about these people," Daisy signs to Jornir.

Jornir nods, watching Torbek break his teacup, Twig pull a frog out of her apron and lick it, Gricko pull a dead rat out of his pack and toss it to Hootsie, and Frost use an invisible force of magic to snag some honey from the dish Queenie has set out. "I think that would be wise."

Clearly, these people are going to have to be watched for however long they're here for.