#since everyone around him is projecting their ideas of who he should be onto him

[grraveryl]

i don't yell about him as much but i really appreciate that Juro's route asks "what if being The Protag Dude was a psychological horror"

[chemicalreal]

Alicent's misery is clearly projected onto her children, while the show is trying to paint Viserys as a good king and husband in a rather shameless revision of his character. The writers seem to have lost their way. Instead of depicting a woman in crisis who misplaces her anger and blame (since that was the only way that makes any sense to interpret her character in season 2), they're glorifying and justifying her actions against her innocent family (because her children are ALL innocent in regards to her), while downplaying the faults of the man who married her as a young bride and neglected their children.

This toxic tendency to blame children or dismiss their legitimate grievances is getting out of hand. Jace, for example, is being unfairly ridiculed for daring to confront his mother about the obvious flaws in her actions. It's as if he's supposed to be grateful for the prospect of sacrificing his life in a civil war caused by the very adults around him, even though he clearly sees that his mother's mistakes will only bring more trouble his way.

At this point, all we see are two women who refuse to take responsibility for their mistakes, while their children and grandchildren bear the consequences. They're portrayed as symbols of peace, surrounded by evil men who supposedly want war. But we overlook the fact that there wouldn’t be a war if Rhaenyra simply stepped aside. Her claim to the throne only brings more problems and reasons for conflict, something that anyone with common sense should recognize as a bad idea.

As for Alicent, she pushed for her son to sit on the throne, motivations that were carefully built up throughout the first season. But now, the narrative cowardly backtracks, with her shifting the blame onto her children, who were basically groomed to follow her wishes. The dynamics have completely shifted, with the children existing solely to serve their parents rather than the other way around. Rhaenyra might be shown playing with her kids or mourning her dead son because the show wants you to know she is a good mother, but when it comes down to business, it’s always them who take the fall for her.

It almost seems like this could be a compelling show, but the writers refuse to portray the main characters honestly, based on what they wrote in the first season. Instead, they concoct weak excuses and grander narratives to avoid acknowledging Rhaenyra as driven by self-interest, just like everyone else. This refusal to present her true motivations is significantly undermining the show's quality, especially as it attempts to compare itself to the golden age of GOT.

[whetstonefires]

So like, I'm pretty darn sure Mo Xuanyu did not actually make a pass at Jin Guangyao.

For several reasons, like for one thing hitting on your own actual brother who is also your boss is genuinely insane behavior, in a way nothing else we know about the guy actually matches, other than his reputation for being crazy which mostly seems to originate from the same point as the sexual harassment allegations. which tracks because even with rampant societal homophobia, that's such a crazy thing to do people would question it if it didn't come paired with the information that he's insane.

Then there's the fact that if that had actually happened, there's basically no way master spin artist jgy would have let it get out, because actually experiencing that would trigger his sense-of-uncleanliness issues so hard.

But what we see is that somehow Everyone Knows that it happened, but also that Jin Guangyao totally didn't tell anyone, because he's too merciful and kind and respectable. It just mysteriously leaked somehow that this private scandal happened.

(Also, to step up a meta level, the gay goth kid who was never quite accepted into his own family and wound up self-destructing was in fact guilty of the homophobic allegations spread by the powerful man who manipulates reputation for personal advantage? This is not the kind of story where that would be true. The thematic dissonance is too much.)

The only way it's believable that mxy made a move on jgy is if jgy spent a long time maneuvering him into it, hinting and deniably flirting and just generally being maximum skeeze, just a huge elaborate incestuous honeypot, just to bait a 'ruined reputation' trap. Which makes no sense at all.

I don't think jgy is necessarily above that kind of creepy grooming behavior but I do think he would hate it, and definitely wouldn't resort to it when sowing rumors would work just as well. and expose him to less risk.

So Mo Xuanyu didn't do it.

So what we've got is that Jin Guangyao systematically obliterated this kid's credibility.

No one would listen to anything he said after being expelled in that sort of context, especially anything against Jin Guangyao, whom he now has obvious motive to smear. This was a preemptive strike against some kind of leak.

It's exactly the kind of thing jgy would do--it targets individual vulnerability, leverages the weak points in Mo Xuanyu's reputation into gaping chasms, in a way that associates jgy with scandal but makes him personally look better. also shows signs of jgy projecting his own issues onto others. The MO fits.

And his motive is easy to construct: Mo Xuanyu had had access to his secrets, such as Wei Wuxian's manuscripts and probably a lot of the other ugly shit. And Jin Guangyao needed him silenced, due to some thing or other, but as with SiSi didn't want to have to kill him.

(A fascinating thing about jgy as a villain is the moments where he yields to sentiment pretty consistently contribute to his destruction.)

But then we come around to: so why didn't Mo Xuanyu sic Wei Wuxian on Jin Guangyao, then?

In cql wwx does have a curse cut for jgy, to keep him in the plot and create an additional open storyline to resolve, since viewers are gonna be denied romantic catharsis, but in cql the homophobia plotline isn't there because all the gay is censored, and mxy allegedly hit on qin su instead. which is less utterly unhinged to do though still big wtf.

In the book, mxy summoned the Yiling Patriarch just to kill the Mos. (Which he didn't even do lmao.)

So I've always been sort of poking at that, like if you're destroying your own soul to get revenge, why spare the person who deliberately ruined your life?

Even if he had done the thing, it was weird! Maybe even weirder; if you're in a headspace where making sexual advances anyone should be able to predict are unwelcome seems like a good idea in the first place, there's a pretty good chance getting punished for them isn't going to make you think you were in the wrong. Otoh there is a zone where he could have done it, gotten the backlash, cleared his head a bit, realized it was fucked up to do, and therefore not held a grudge in that particular direction, but it's still weird. (And also he definitely didn't do the thing.)

But if he was so angry, why was he not angry at Jin Guangyao? Who definitely kicked him out of the Sect, all else aside?

And then I looked at the passage in Jin sect where we swap to Jin Ling's pov and he tells us one of the few first-hand things we hear about Mo Xuanyu: He thought Jin Guangyao was the most amazing person in the whole world. He adored him.

And being betrayed and rejected by him didn't turn that into resentment. Even though he resented the other side of his family enough to want them gratuitously murdered.

So you know what I think happened?

I think Mo Xuanyu thinks it was an honest misunderstanding. That Jin Guangyao, his idol, falsely concluded that his gay little brother was creeping on him based on a misinterpretation of his admiring behavior, and was appropriately revolted. And that Mo Xuanyu doesn't blame him for it. He blames himself.

He went back to his mother's family to rot genuinely feeling like the ruination of his life was his own fault for being creepy. And died like that.

Because of that, to a considerable extent. How can you bend any of your will to saving yourself, to getting out of an abusive situation and seeking a better one, when you don't think you deserve to be saved?

Fucks me up.

[miaclemeverett]

amazon standing lamp - using drugs and sex and other unhealthy distractions and coping mechanisms to deal with losing people you love out of your own fault. the top-heavy amazon standing lamp part is a really old wilbur joke (back in 2020 he joked about naming a song this) and it also reminds me of how (i think it was him?) he once said that he moves house so often that he loses so many belongings and only has a few things left that he cares about, i think this pairs really well in the song how the artificial meaningless things are all that remain

mine / yours - the breakdown of a relationship, seeing the warning signs and the things you take for granted assuming a person will stay with you forever despite it all

around the pomegranate - this song reminds me a lot of "since i saw vienna", when a place (california in this song) becomes so married to a person that it serves as a source of comfort and nostalgia for when things were simple and happier. being on the road you can never set down roots and people come and go from your life

i don't think it will ever end - he lives life in front of millions of people (chat in this song) watching his every move, like an actor he either has to play the part he's made for himself or isolate himself from this audience, it's a repetitive cycle that sends him downhill

glass chalet - back in the dark days of 2021 i remember wilbur would always joke (SLASH SERIOUS) about quitting streaming and disappearing off the face of the planet for years without a single word. VERY HEALTHY MINDSET exhibited right here in this song

melatonin 130 - I LOVE 100 GECS!! but in all seriousness the constant reminder that you have mental illness/anxiety your entire life and you can only cope with it, that it impairs you even when you should be happy cus obviously you're living out what you thought was your dream and everyone else thinks you should be on top of the world duh!

oh distant you - JUST KILL ME. your sister was right but WORSE!!!!!!!! again you take for granted that someone will stick with you forever and only after it's over realizing that you can't fill the hole where they were. and again we're back on fixating on who is the villain in this narrative

eulogy - your sister was right but worse 2, this song focuses on the whispers (good and bad) leftover from a relationship. harkening back to screensaver where he says that the subject in talking about their relationship basically makes him sound like hitler, and your sister was right where he talks about the warning signs the subject should have seen, this squarely places the blame on him

dropshipped cat shirt - I LOVE 100 GECS!!! but anyway the grueling day-to-day of being on the move, singing to people who adore you and make up a version of you in their head, latching onto unhealthy coping mechanisms to keep going, you have everything you ever needed and wanted but you're bored out of your mind

the median - short but sweet! as i said earlier, wilbur always has to play a part, and this audience projects their version of himself as the truth

trying not to think about it - I KNOW I PUT DAMN NEAR THE WHOLE SONG DOWN HERE BUT LISTEN. again realizing how much you take for granted the assumption that someone will stick with you forever. wilbur has mentioned before how as a hypochondriac, he's never taken seriously by doctors whenever he doesn't feel well. also this idea of romance and love as something just for the aesthetic, not as something that gives you stability and meaning but realizing that it can be that for you until its too late.

10 week rule - who got him pregnant?? but in all seriousness i think this can be read as a way of turning a new page, but obviously its not as simple as just getting rid of something unwanted

[hyuckmov]

request #4 - himbo haechan (preview) FULL FIC HERE

wc: 1k (full thing est. 10k) genre: mostly fluff, gets suggestive (full thing will be 18+) a/n: by this time it should be clear that i'm someone who posts previews to encourage themself to finish the whole thing. and also because my account is so dry writing-wise (entirely my fault lmfao)... i just want to leave something here. so yeah i'll be working on this...and the rivals one... and whatever comes to my mind i guess.... thank u to everyone helping me along w this idea <3 this hyuck is turning out to be very special to me and he will only change and show more sides of himself as this fic goes on 🫶🏻 lmk if u like this or wna be tagged

the first time you meet haechan, he doesn't exactly make a good impression. 

"what are you doing?" 

slowly, he lifts his head from where his lips were brushing your neck. "um…" blinking, his eyes refocus on yours. "trying to kiss you." 

"haechan!" you hiss. 

eyebrows raised, he beams back at you. "y/n!" he hisses back, imitating your tone. 

"i came here with someone else." you push his shoulder lightly, trying to make space between him and you but it's no use — his body slumps even harder, and you can see his eyes scanning your neck, zoning out of the conversation. 

"i know…" he mumbles, tracing a fingertip at your pulse point and making goosebumps erupt on your skin. 

"you do?" 

"yeah…" his other hand hovers in the air, as if he's deciding whether to grab your waist or press his palm to your lower back. 

"so you know i'm talking to someone right now, and it would be bad if i went around kissing my project partners...?" 

silence.

you dip your head slightly to try to look at him through his messy bangs, only to jolt slightly when you glimpse his expression. his eyes already half-lidded with lust, mouth hanging open and drool glistening on his plump lips. why did he look so…needy? fucked out? it had only been about a minute or so since you saw him walk towards you, the easy smile he kept on at full blast. you had exchanged small talk for about 10 seconds over your professor, and then he started nosing at the juncture between your jaw and your neck. 

"haechan?" you prompted, hesitantly. "everything okay?" 

"um...all's good," he mutters, before moving back towards you, lips puckered slightly and ready to mark your skin. 

spluttering, you push him away, again, confusion starting to settle in for you too. could he not take a hint? 

"were you even listening?" you ask, incredulously. "i said i'm talking to someone right now." 

"uh huh." he tilts his head to the side. "um, did you say something after that? sorry-" he breathes, wincing at the frustration on your face. "you just smell so good, i couldn't pay attention…" and as if he couldn't help himself, you noticed his body gravitate towards you, again. 

gripping onto his shoulder to keep him at a distance, you say slowly, "haechan, if i'm talking to someone, it wouldn't be good for me to mess around with other people." 

you see the words register in his head, see the furrow in his brow deepen as he ponders what you're saying. "it wouldn't?" 

"no, it wouldn't." 

"but you're not dating him yet." 

"no, i'm not." you see him open his mouth, so you quickly add, "but we're on our way, and i want to show him i'm serious about it." 

"but i'm serious about you." it was practically lazy – the way he pulled your hand off his shoulder and intertwined your fingers with his. 

you couldn't help the thrill that ran down your spine as you were reminded of how strong he was, even though he didn't necessarily look it. 

"serious about me or serious about fucking me?" you bite back. 

"both." 

you let out a scoff. unable to stop yourself, you blurt out, "are you used to women saying yes to you or something?"

"huh?"

"where do you get your confidence?" 

he raises his eyebrows at you in genuine concern as if you're the confused one in this conversation. "where do you think?" he makes a vague gesture to indicate his pretty face, and you're a little annoyed at how right he is. with heavy eye makeup, mismatched contact lenses giving his look a more piercing quality, moles tracing across his cheek just begging to be suckled with kisses and those heart-shaped lips…you think you would be hard pressed to find a woman in this room who would say no to his shameless flirting. 

"you shouldn't assume, haechan." something close to confidence begins to stir up in you, and you straighten, shaking your hand out of his. "it's not nice to kiss someone without asking them properly. you should always try to read the situation, and make sure you have consent." 

listening intently like a student in a classroom, he nods slowly to show he understands. "not nice, got it. anything else?" 

"don't try to steal people away from their dates," you add on, inspired.

"right."

"and don't say things like 'i'm serious about fucking you' if you don't really mean–" 

"-this is hot." he interrupts, words blurring together in a rush. his eyes unfocused and dreamy, he drags his gaze up and down your body indulgently. "you teaching me things." 

"hae-" 

"teaching me how to be a good boy…" he breathes. "yeah. fuck." 

your jaw drops, momentarily speechless. and yet, despite everything you were supposedly teaching him, his straightforwardness, the lack of filter, the raw desire that seemed to course through his entire body…you couldn't deny that it was making you feel a certain way too. 

fixing him with a look that conveyed as much seriousness and frustration you could muster, you shake your head.

 and he cowers. 

"sorry…" he mumbles, stepping away from you, almost ashamed. "i should've kept that to myself." 

you resist the urge to laugh. "yes, maybe you should have." 

turning to go, you pat him on the arm lightly, feeling a little bad for him. "see you around in class, okay?" 

he nods, eyes cast to the floor gloomily, and you're about to exit and head back to the main room when he calls your name. 

"y/n?"

"yes?" 

"i meant it." 

"what?" 

"i meant it when i said i was serious about fucking you." quietly, and with surprising gentleness, "i wouldn't lead you on like that. i wouldn't say it if i didn't mean it." 

and as you turn your back on the pretty boy in the hallway, you couldn't help the butterflies that seemed to burst into life in your chest at his words.

[mixvyu]

Parfum d’étoile - episode three

scaramouche x reader smau

previous | masterlist | next

★—

Fast forward saturday :

You ran to the library, checking your phone every five seconds hoping that time would magically go backward and that you wouldn’t be late anymore (it sadly did not happen)

You rushed into the building and frantically looked around for the table that kazuha said he’d be waiting at. And when you spotted said table you were horrified to see that all four boys were seated with their laptops and notebooks open which mean that you would be the last one to arrive and would draw unnecessary attention.

The worst thing ever would be to have them annoyed at you and the thought of people not liking you made you sick.

You decided that eyeing the table from afar and overthinking would not result into anything good so you ended up swallowing your concerns and walking up to them .

"Hey! I’m sorry I’m a bit late"

"A bit?" Scaramouche scoffed and kazuha elbowed him in response "it’s okay we were just brainstorming ideas" the white and scarlet haired boy said with a smile

All the two other guys did was nod in response.

As if arriving late and making them have a bad impression of you wasn’t enough, the only available seat was next to Scaramouche.

You sat down reluctantly and opened your computer and notebook.

"Since there’s five chapters we should probably juste five different parts and every one get one. It’d be easier to work like that" Albedo said, not lifting his eyes from his macbook screen even once.

"Yeah but then that wouldn’t be a group project would it ? If everyone does their own thing without consulting the others then it’s more of a solo project" Heizou said, looking at the blonde who was still typing away.

You could see Scaramouche and Kazuha beside you, nodding along to the conversation while on their phone chatting with each other. If you got a little closer you could almost make up what their were typing

But the thought of them maybe discussing you for one reason or another had you freezing on the spot.

Kazuha suddenly shut his phone down and looked up

"Maybe we can divide ourselves into small groups, so it’d still be a group project but it would also be easier to manage!" He said enthusiastically. Scaramouche let out a groan at his friend’s words but Kazuha ignored him and continued "we could have two groups of two and albedo can work alone if he wants"

"Sound good to me" Albedo said as he looked up from his laptop for the first time in minutes

"So me and you and heizou and Y/N?" Scaramouche asked, eyes sparkly at the fact that he did not have to do this with other people

"Uh maybe you should work with Y/N and i’ll work with Heizou instead"

"What…? Why would i want to work with…" he gave you a dirty look before finishing his sentence "…that?"

You clutched onto your notebook at his words

"Kuni don’t be a dick"

"What? I’m just being honest she isn’t even-"

You got up violently before he could finish his sentence : you didn’t want to hear it. At all.

The guys in your group flinched and stared at you in shock and surprise and so did some people close to your table.

"Sorry it’s getting late, i need to go home i have homework for monday. See you around!"

"What was the point of coming in the first place" the purple haired guy added, still eyeing you up and down

You gathered your things quickly but, before you could walk out, you felt a warm hand softly grabbing your wrist

"Wait let me walk you home" the poet said with a soft smile and pity in his eyes

★—

"I’m really sorry about him. He doesn’t mean to be that condescending he’s just really stupid"

You snorted "Yeah. Yeah… I just… I don’t know why he hates me"

"He doesn’t hate you!" Kazuha answered almost immediately "He doesn’t hate you." He said again, with a calmer tone this time.

You finally looked up from the ground and gave kazuha a small smile

A comfortable silence installed itself for a few minutes before kazuha broke it once again

"You don’t really have to go home, do you?"

"No, i just wanted out"

"So since we both have free time, do you want to go grab a cup of coffee? There’s this really nice french café called Le club close-by : they have the best pastries ever, you have to try them"

"Yeah! That’d be a pleasure!"

★—

Extras!

The guys actually didn’t care about Y/N arriving late at all she jst overthinks a lot (she’s jst like me fr)

Kazuha is so boyfriend i need to make another smau abt him

The café is actually a real french café that’s not far from my school, it’s soooo good but also super expensive, it’s like 3.50€ for a muffin wtf

★彡 Taglist! [open] :

@gekkow @aemiko @veekoko @kichiyoshi @scaramouchelover4ever @sukunasrealgf @lxkeeeee @kunisblog @yukiipc @brfrtbrt @simpforsubmissivemen @featuredtofu

[ynscrazylife]

His Agent

Summary: When the Avengers save a team of kidnapped S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents, they discover something new about their Captain.

A/N: I’ve been working on this fic for a little while and I’m proud of this idea/plot so I really hope you enjoy!

Masterlist

The first clue that something was off was the change in Natasha and Clint’s behavior. They could usually hide it, being master spies, but it became difficult to constantly put on a mask around the people you live with, people you saved the world with. Steve, Tony, Bruce, and Thor all noticed how the pair retreated into themselves like turtles would into their shells. They had always been reserved - Natasha especially - but it went to a deeper level now. They would talk in hushed whispers to each other, were always hunched over something, their backs to the rest of the team, and were distracted when it came to Avengers business. 

The next clue was when Director Fury postponed his meeting with the Avengers. Since establishing the initiative, he had made a point to have monthly meetings with the team to discuss any recent updates, missions and threats. Fury was adamant that these meetings were very crucial to the Avengers’ success, so to hear that he was pushing it back right as they were gathering around the conference table was a surprise. Still, not enough for them to think it might be related to Natasha and Clint’s behavior. Fury said the meeting would be in a few days, that was all. 

Then, things went from being off to being wrong. They all sat at the table, ready to see Fury’s face come up on screen, but he never appeared – Deputy Director Maria Hill did. 

“What happened?” Natasha asked almost immediately, not even letting Maria get a word in as she leaned forward in her chair. It was clear that she knew more than what she was letting on. 

“Director Fury cannot make it today, he’s dealing with a crucial issue, one that we hope we can call on you, Avengers, to help us with,” Hill said, her words flowing calmly, but there was still a spark of urgency, almost desperation, in her eyes. 

“What’s going on?” Steve asked, wearing a puzzled look. If S.H.I.E.L.D. was coming to them for help when they had the best agents around the globe, and the Director was attending to it, they must be in some sort of crisis. 

“A week ago, we lost contact with a six person team that had gone undercover to investigate an uprising organization who’s been trying to create their own superhumans. We received intel that they had been torturing people and creating illegal serums and devices for their superhuman projects. After being unable to contact any of them, we also found that none of their trackers were online,” Hill explained. 

“So you think their cover was blown?” Tony guessed. 

“We do, yes. We had a team scout the building the agents had gone undercover in a few days ago and found no sign of them. We think that they’ve moved them somewhere else,” Hill answered. 

“Who’s missing?” Bruce asked. 

A file flashed onto the screen, a list of names with pictures. Everyone leaned forward in their seats to get a better look, their eyes skimming the document. The sound of wheels rolling back caught their attention as Steve suddenly stood up, spun around on his heels and walked out of the room. The door slammed shut behind him.

“What the hell was that?” Clint asked, utterly confused - like everyone else. 

Hill sighed. “It may have something to do with one of the Agents on the list – Y/L/N. She helped Steve a lot after he came out of the ice, they were good friends,” she said. 

//

One, two. One, two. One, two. One, two. One, two. One, two. One– 

Steve panted as he stared down at the punching bag which clattered to the ground, sweat coating his raised biceps. 

“You know, if you really want to get your frustrations out, you should spar with someone,” a voice floated into his ear and Steve glanced up, only to see you lifting some weights. 

He straightened his arched back, dropping his arms. “Oh, yeah? How do you reckon that?” He asked, curious. 

You smirked. “You’re not the only one who’s broken the bag,” you said, shrugging. “Though, it took me a lot longer without the super strength.” 

Steve raised his eyebrows, wondering what got you so mad, but not commenting on it. Then, he couldn’t help but fix you with a confused gaze. 

“What?” You asked, still smiling at him. 

“You’re not, uh, gawking at me,” he said. 

You chuckled, asking, “Am I supposed to?” Before he could answer, you made a silly, dramatic jaw-dropped, eyes wide face, causing Steve’s laughter to mix with yours. 

“Ever since I woke up, everyone’s kinda been . . . gawking at me. Except for Director Fury, that is,” Steve said. 

“Well, I’ll admit, I kinda gawked at you at first when I heard about you . . . But I saw you one time, in the medbay . . . I don’t know how to explain it, ‘cause you weren’t just Captain America, you know? When I saw you, with all the blankets and the wires and stuff . . . I just thought about a guy who had been something traumatic. I thought about the Steve that your war buddies always described you as,” you said. 

From that day on, you were a light in Steve’s life. You two became fast friends and, at least on Steve’s part, his attraction for you grew exponentially, and you even spent some time with him at the Retreat. After joining the Avengers, he had been so busy that he hadn’t seen you and now . . . Your name was on a list of MIA Agents. 

He paced up and down the hallway outside the conference room, hand tangled in his hair. All logical and rational thoughts jumped out the window as panic seized his body, twisting his heart into a knot. His mind was filled with you: your name, your image, your memory. He couldn’t stop his thoughts from giving him horrible scenes of you being tortured or experimented on by these freaks. Hurt. Kidnapped. Scared.

The only way to get you back was to return to the conference room and face it, so that’s what he did. Thankfully, no one called out his abrupt departure, they were all focussed on Hill’s debrief. She was saying something about how she thought they were close to finding another base of the group’s, where they might have the captured agents, but could use Natasha’s hacking and cyber skills to decode their intel. She readily agreed. 

“Can you guys suit up and meet us at headquarters?” Maria asked, to which they all nodded. She ended the call and the Avengers all spurred into action, splitting up to change into their suits and arm themselves. 

On the way out, Natasha patted Steve’s arm. “We’ll save them,” she assured her friend, but he picked up on what she was really saying: “We’ll find Y/N.” 

// 

Steve realized pretty quickly, as he changed into his suit that if he wanted to get through this without falling apart, he’d have to switch to his Captain mode. He had to think strategically - they were saving a team of agents, not just you (even if you were the most important agent to him). He’d put Natasha, Clint, and Tony on fighting the kidnappers, Bruce would standby with the medical team in case they needed the Hulk, and Steve himself and Thor would recover the hostages. He also assumed they’d have S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to secure the base and to back them up. It was a solid plan, Steve told himself, and it was going to work. It had to work. 

When they got to S.H.I.E.L.D.’s headquarters, Steve relayed this plan to the team. Everyone was on board and now it was a waiting game as S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to crack the location. Steve was about to wear a hole into the floor with all the pacing he was doing, his heart hammering in his chest. Every second that passed felt like a decade. 

After the location was found, it was all a blur. Coordinating with the agents, talking with Hill and Fury, and getting to the base seemed to just all pass by. The moment he woke up was when he was entering the base alongside Thor, the agents and Avengers ahead of them to take care of their enemies.

“I can handle the rescue, Captain. You can focus on your agent,” Thor chimed in as they walked down the hallway, towards the cells they were told the hostages were in. 

Steve paused for a second to look at his friend. “Are-are you sure?” He asked – for once the mighty soldier was taken aback. He wanted nothing more than to devote all his attention to you, but he also knew he had a job to do as an Avenger and a leader. He owed it to all the hostages to give them his best self. 

“He has me, of course he’s sure,” Tony’s voice came from behind them as he approached. Steve could practically hear the snark in his voice (Tony Snark, he should be named, but he’d have to save that quip for another time). “They’ve got it handled up there so don’t worry, Cap.” 

Steve looked from him to Thor, who gave him an encouraging nod. “Okay,” he agreed, emitting an unspoken word of gratitude which both men received. For the first time in a long time, he felt a weight being lifted on his shoulders. For once, he got to abandon Captain America for a second and walk in there as Steve. For you. 

The three Avengers walked down the rest of the hallway and turned, finding a row of cells. Thor and Tony took charge, allowing for Steve to glance through all the cells until he found you. Finding you was what he wanted but the sight he was met with when he actually laid his eyes on you shattered him. The urge to vomit and also send every person responsible for this to hell hit him in one fell swoop. You were sitting, slumped back against a dirty metal pole that your wrists and ankles were chained to. You were still wearing your S.H.I.E.L.D. uniform, though it was dirtied, bloodied, and torn in places. So was your skin, Steve realized. He ached at knowing you went through pain. Your eyes were closed and Steve hoped to God that you were simply sleeping.  

Steve quickly bent to his knees and used his shield to break the chains, the harsh clang rousing you from your sleep. You mumbled something he couldn’t understand and he hushed you softly. “It’s alright, I’m here. It’s Steve, can you open your eyes?” He asked. 

It took you a couple tries, but eventually you got there. “S’ve?” You tried to say, struggling to talk. 

“Yep, it’s me,” he affirmed, feeling a pang at the fact that you could barely even speak. When he had thought about when he’d see you again, this was never in the realm of possibilities. “I’m getting you out of here.” 

True to his word, he hoisted you up in his arms. He had to put you over his shoulder like a Fireman’s carry in case there were any lingering enemies that escaped the team. Being upside down was surely uncomfortable for you, but he wouldn’t risk not being able to defend you. With long strides and quick glances, Steve got you out of there. 

Stepping outside into the world, he slowly lowered you down and maneuvered you into a princess carry, not going fast so as to not dizzy you. In the distance, he could see your other teammates getting loaded onto ambulances, with some of the Avengers assisting. 

“Hey, you with me?” Steve checked in, returning his attention to you. You were definitely out of it, eyes glazed over as you looked at him. You didn’t seem to really get what was going on, but you didn’t look panicked, so you must’ve known you were safe. With him. 

For a second - Steve was taken back. The tired look in your eyes reminded him of the aftermath of the first time the two of you had sparred together. 

“Are you sure you want to spar together, Y/N?” 

“What? You don’t think I can take you? Prepare to have your ass beat, Rogers!” 

With the super soldier serum running through his veins, it was actually you who had your ass beat by the blond man. You had probably known that would happen when you said it, too. Still, Steve needed to train and you were determined not to let his superior strength intimidate you like it had done with the other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. Afterwards, you had insisted you were fine, but Steve knew that the many rounds you guys went through had exhausted you. He tried to apologize, but you refused to hear it. You knew what the terms were and you agreed to it - he won fair and square. You had fallen asleep on his shoulder that night, much like how you looked like you’d fall asleep in his arms now, and Steve swore in that moment that you were the most precious thing ever. 

“Steve,” you mumbled, blinking slowly at him like a cat. His heart thumped with such force in his chest - oh how he regretted drifting apart from you after he became an Avenger. 

“Hang on a little longer. We’ve gotta get you to S.H.I.E.L.D. medical,” he said, shifting you up a little higher in his arms before heading over to the ambulances. 

“S.H.I.E.L.D.?” You echoed grumpily, eyes half-closed. 

Steve bit back an amused chuckle at the way you scrunched up your nose. Truly like a cat (or a kitten, but he knew you’d raise hell if he called you that). You never much appreciated the medical agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s. You knew they meant well, but something about the whole thing made you uneasy. Steve was well aware of that and he thought about it as you walked. The Avengers had a pretty good medical facility . . . Not to mention, the thought of leaving you again and walking away like he had done with the Avengers felt like a knife twisting in his gut. He couldn’t do that. 

“Would you rather recover at the Avengers’ tower? I’m sure I can make the arrangements and I’ll, um, I’ll be around much more,” he offered, his eyes finding you again. He could never look away from you for too long. 

Steve was still a little nervous about this. You had every right to say no, to be mad at him for abandoning you. If you did make the decision to go to S.H.I.E.LD., he’d show up in your room with flowers as much as you’d let him, he decided. 

“Mhm,” you hummed, nestling your head against his bicep and closing your eyes. 

That was like music to his ears. He knew that things between you weren’t 100% back to normal, but this felt better than what he had ever expected. With a newfound purpose and his feelings for you blossoming, he marched towards the other Avengers to tell them about their new addition to the compound. 

[ciellafanfic]

La Pomme Vie et Morte

Solas/Female Lavellan

Summary:

It is said that the apples that grow near the gallows will be bitter on the tongue of a lover who will betray. It is also said, although by different people entirely, that unripened fruit should not be the only consideration when investigating matters of fidelity. The latter are lonely most evenings among the arbors of the Summer Bazaar.

—From Our Orlesian Heart by (formerly) Sister Laudine

Just a small, hopefully bittersweet, scene from Inquisitor Lavellan's first trip to Val Royeaux.

"Thank the creators that we’re finally leaving," said the Herald. Solas looked at the elven woman. Her whole body slumped with the metaphorical weight that had been thrust onto her shoulders as she walked beside him through the streets of Val Royeaux. The Seeker and Varric walked not far ahead, the latter needling the former about something, attempting to get a rise out of her. He’d done this for the majority of the trip here and looked as if he would continue on their way home. Their strange company had traveled here to ally themselves with the Chantry leaders, to secure their assistance in closing the Breach. Instead, they had been rebuffed, not only by the Chantry, but by the Templars as well. 

“You were quite excited to travel here. I assume the recent events have dampened the city’s appeal?” he replied. The eagerness she’d shown on their approach to the Orlesian capital, while naive, had been pleasant to witness. It had been far too long since he’d looked at a place with such fresh eyes. To see only the beauty, the glamor, and the novelty, without knowing the rot that it held beneath it. There was actually a twinge of sadness in him that she was no longer ignorant to it.

“It’s an amazing place,” she replied, her voice somewhat wistful as she glanced around the colorful buildings. “But it’s a lot like that lake they have back there: incredibly beautiful and horribly useless.”

Solas chuckled slightly at the comparison. The Herald had been aghast at the idea of creating a lake from which no water could be drunk nor fish be caught. And while everyone agreed that the emperor who had created it was mad, that hadn’t been much in the way of a balm. 

“Thank you, though,” she continued, giving him a pleasant smile. “For coming with me. It was nice not to be the only ‘knife-eared savage’ about.” 

She said it as they passed a group of mask-wearing nobles who whispered and pointed in their direction. He’d heard those insults hurled at her multiple times since their arrival here. Some even to her face. He was surprised at how well she'd handled it. On occasion, he had even felt ready to lash out on her behalf. But the insults didn’t seem to bother her. At least, not half as much as the fact that there was a hole in the sky and no one she spoke to wanted to do anything about it. 

Solas schooled his features into mock seriousness.

“Ah, but see, only you are the ‘savage’, I am merely a humble ‘knife-ear’,” he replied, with just the smallest of bows, to show his humility.

She laughed at that, throwing her head back slightly before looking back at him. The weight had shifted off her shoulders for the moment, and there was only her light-hearted smile. She did have a charming smile, he had to admit. Exuberant, he could call it. And contagious as well, as he found himself smiling back.

“How could I forget?” she said. “I’ll need to wear one of those fashionable masks if I ever visit again.”

“That would be a true shame,” Solas said. He said the compliment, without thinking and she raised an eyebrow at him. Her smile turned sly, but surprisingly, not uninterested. Solas even noticed Varric looked back to give him a glance.

“It’s incredibly difficult to eat one of those little cakes while wearing a mask,” he said, hopefully not missing a beat, and she laughed again in response. 

“That’s true. You were right about them, they were delicious. A half-mask then.” 

Solas gave her a smile in response, but inwardly he scolded himself. He was here on a mission: seal the Breach & retrieve the foci. He was most certainly not here to flirt like the courtier he’d once been. 

But when he looked over at the elven woman, he couldn’t help but think that he’d been right; covering her face with one of the humans’ silly little masks would be a shame indeed. 

She glanced at him and he shifted his eyes so he would seem as if he was looking just beyond her. Judging by the self-satisfied smirk that graced her face, his ruse wasn’t as successful as he hoped. 

He looked forward again, taking in the bright colors of the banners that hung along the city streets. There was music being played at some café down the road, and it wove its way through the chatter of the busy thoroughfare. As he felt the sun warm his skin, he let himself drift away. For a moment, he allowed himself to believe that was everything what he presented himself to be. A simple apostate who had wandered into a larger world, by forces beyond his control. And by his side walked a pretty Dalish woman, who smiled warmly in his direction. 

He could flirt with her, and perhaps she would return it. She didn’t seem disinterested. They could talk. He could make her laugh. Glances could linger. Skin could brush against skin.

“Are you hungry at all?” she asked. He was pulled out of his daydream by the question, leaving the fantasy behind. It shouldn’t have been as difficult as it was. Fantasy was all it could ever be.  

“I thought you were eager to leave. Did one of the cafés catch your eye?” he asked. 

“Oh, we can definitely leave, but I just spotted a snack.”

She pointed to some decorative apple trees that were rather garishly adorning the gallows in the bazaar. 

“I’m not so sure those are for eating,” replied Solas. A small fence surrounded the trees, and it would be very Orlesian to use fruit-bearing trees for decoration only. 

The Herald rolled her eyes at the idea of food not meant for eating, and he could hardly blame her. 

He watched as she gracefully vaulted over the small fence and began to pluck a handful of apples from the lower branches. Behind her, there were indeed several Bazaar patrons who seemed scandalized by her ‘savage’ behavior. If anything that seemed to increase the gleam in her eyes. 

“What are you doing?” the Seeker asked, annoyed. Solas presumed she was more perturbed by the delay in their exit than by the Herald’s brazen transgression of Orlesian niceties. In answer to her question, the elven woman tossed the Seeker a shiny red apple. Cassandra caught it one-handed, before even registering what it was.

The Herald tossed another to Varric and a third to Solas, before leaping over the fence once more, her own apple in hand. She lifted the fruit to her companions in a toast.

“Thanks, Lucky,” Varric said, returning the gesture with a smile. 

Cassandra simply made a half-hearted attempt at a grunt and began walking again.

“I believe you may have shocked the locals,” Solas said as she began walking next to him again. 

“I hope so,” she said, unabashed. “They could use a bit of a shock.”

She took a large bite of her apple for emphasis. He could hear the crisp snap as she broke away the apple’s flesh and a small trickle of juice ran down her chin. Solas had the sudden urge to wipe the juice away with his thumb, brushing it just slightly against her lips as he did. He quashed the impulse as soon as it appeared. It seemed that he'd let his small fantasy get away from him. Perhaps it had been too long since he’d worked in close quarters with others. He would need to make a better effort at controlling himself.

Solas took a bite of his and spit it out on instinct as his mouth was flooded with a strong bitter taste. He looked down at the offending apple and saw nothing wrong with the thing. It didn’t look mealy or rotten. In fact, it looked delicious. He brought it to his nose with a sniff. Nothing smelled off either. He quickly darted out his tongue to taste it once more and the apple’s flesh produced that same bitter taste. 

“What’s wrong?” the Herald asked.

“It seems I’ve gotten a rotten one,” he replied.

“Oh no,” she said, more concern on her face than a rotten apple merited. “Want some of mine?” 

Solas shook his head.

“It’s no matter. We’ll be at the camp and resupplied before long.”

She gave him an empathetic frown and returned to her own apple, though with far less enthusiasm this time.

“Thank you though,” he said. “For the thought.” 

“I guess Val Royeaux just wants us to leave on a sour note,” she said with a sigh. They were approaching the exit to the Bazaar and Solas felt a strange pang of regret that her first, and possibly only, visit to the city would end so poorly. 

“I don’t know about that,” he said, hoping to give her one more smile before they left. “It is rather a beautiful view.” 

From ahead of them, Cassandra and Varric could easily assume he spoke of the city. But, next to him, the Herald returned the gaze he had leveled directly at her. He watched her face begin to flush red and she turned to the side to try and hide the blush. Solas could see the small smile at the corner of her lips, one that seemingly matched his own. 

They passed into the Avenue of Reflective thought, leaving the Summer Bazaar and Val Royeaux behind. He supposed he could allow himself the fantasy for just a brief moment longer.

Codex entry: La Pomme Vie et Morte

It is said that the apples that grow near the gallows will be bitter on the tongue of a lover who will betray. It is also said, although by different people entirely, that unripened fruit should not be the only consideration when investigating matters of fidelity. The latter are lonely most evenings among the arbors of the Summer Bazaar.

—From Our Orlesian Heart by (formerly) Sister Laudine

[shankss-magnificent-ass]

Imagine the white beard pirates doing a cheesy crew costume

During a failing brainstorming meeting

Ace: uck, who decided that the yonkos should have a crew costume competition every year, Big mom always wins any ways. They're an entire family of theater nerds, and logia users, of course they're going to win.

Marco: It's a tradition Roger started, and there was once an attempt to stop having them, but King's assistant single-handedly secured its continuation by asking if pulling out of the competition would be forfeiting, because all four four of the captains refuse to forfeit. And they did entirely to spite King, who hates the competition, because be has to participate. *Crumples a sketch into a ball and torches it in his fist*

Izou: He deserved it too, from what I hear, but thankfully the other crews aren't much competition though, Kaido always does and animal or monster theme. Shanks's crew can barely scrounge together costumes. And both of them are usually only there for the food and booze.

Thatch: And pops is always so challenging to clothe, since we don't have a place to store lots of fabric. Plus he's too frugal to let us go all out on a costume for him.

You: I have an idea, and I know pops already has a bunch of the clothes we can use for his costume. All we'd need is a pops-sized plastic apron, plastic gloves, and a paper hat. And we could use the project I've been working on.

Izou: *looks over at you slowly, and without blinking, to emphasize his judgement* and what would we be going as?

You: so I think it's time I show you my project.

At the storage room you've converted into a crafts area

You: Behold... bread

Marco: *starts laughing* because's he's looking at two giant plushies that look like slices of bread*

You: yes, there's even a pad of butter pillow *whips it out and chucks it onto the bread* I stuffed it with your feathers.

Thatch: ooh, is this what you were doing with that fabric?

Izou: here I was thinking you were making clothing with that hideously colored fabric. That's a relief, but I still don't get it.

You: imagine pops in a polo shirt, khaki pants, wearing a plastic apron, a paper hat, and plastic gloves holding bread.

Izou: right...and why is pops dressing like a deli worker making a sandwich? What would we even use to go in the sandwich.

You: .... *grins evilly at him*

The day of the costume event

Whitebeard: *excitedly bouncing in his chair and is already wearing his costume* we'll arrive shortly, is everyone ready.

You: *dressed as a slice of tomato* no, they're still trying to wrestle Izou into his jam jar costume...oh there he is

Izou: *waddling around the costume* Look at me, I look ridiculous*

Thatch: *dressed as a bottle of Cesar salad dressing with fake little knives glued in it, like it's being stabbed* No you don't, you look adorable. *boops his nose*

Ace: *dressed as a slice of thick cut salami* Alright let's do this

Whitebeard: *uses the two slices of bread to pick the three of you up, and holds you aloft as he walks off the boat* who wants a sandwich!

The crew: *all dresses as condiments and sandwich fixings flood off the ship to meet up with the other crews*

Izou: *smooshed up against you, is wearing a deep frown and glaring at you,* I'm going to hold a grudge for this....

Ace: oh look Kaido picked to make their theme zombie animals this year!

You: *tries to distract Izou* hehe, and big mom and her kids are dressed as a chicken and a brood of chicks.

Whitebeard: *spends the day scooping up each of his sons and carrying them around in the bread*

Commissions

[queenofcats17]

The Ink Demonth 7

Today's theme is projection, so have Freckle projecting his issues onto Bendy!

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

Tom had fully expected Joey would reject the Bendy creature that had popped out of the machine. With Joey's obsession with perfection, Tom had assumed there was no way he would accept such an imperfect creation. And, initially, Joey had rejected the creature, yelling at Tom and screaming that this wasn't what he wanted. Tom had assumed that would be the end of things and that Joey would go out of his way to avoid the imperfect creation.

However, only a day or two later, he found Joey crouched in the creature's cell, holding its head and murmuring apologies.

"I'm sorry I yelled," Tom had heard him saying, tears in his eyes. "It's not your fault.

The creature had made a strange gurgling noise, pressing its face against Joey's hands.

"it's going to be okay," Joey whispered, a surprisingly tender smile crossing his features. "I'm going to make you perfect, I promise."

Part of Tom had wanted to ask what Joey was doing, but he'd thought better of it. He had a feeling this wasn't something he was supposed to see. So, he'd kept his mouth shut and didn't mention what he'd seen. And he continued to keep his mouth shut as he saw Joey visiting the malformed Bendy nearly every day, speaking to it the way one might speak to a child.

It confused Tom quite a bit, but he had to admit, he was glad Joey wasn't being cruel to the creature. It deserved to have someone who cared about it. Although, he would realize later just how dangerous Joey's fondness for the creature was.

.

Joey made it a habit to visit Bendy as much as he could. Even though he hadn't come out the way Joey had wanted, he was still Bendy. So, Joey made an effort to visit him as often as he could. Not to mention... It was nice to be around Bendy. Everyone else had some agenda, some bias. Joey had to put up a mask around them. He had to play his persona.

And it was exhausting.

But he didn't have to put on a persona for Bendy. He could just be... himself. Which, in retrospect, might have meant he was more open with the little demon than he should have been. He told Bendy all of his problems, all of the issues he had with his friends and coworkers. He had no one else to talk to about these things, so he talked to Bendy, never really considering how hearing all this might affect the little demon.

"You can't trust anyone, Bendy," he often said as he paced back and forth in the cell. "They'll all betray you in the end. We can only depend on ourselves."

He told Bendy about how Henry had abandoned them, how his own family had betrayed him. And all the while, the little demon listened intently, believing every word that came from Joey's mouth without question. After all, it wasn't like anyone else was giving another side to the story. Only Joey ever spoke to Bendy.

And Joey was kind to him.

Joey brought down books to read to him before he left for work for the night. Fairytales and children's stories, things he said had been read to him as a child. Bendy's favorite was Alice In Wonderland, especially since Joey did funny voices for the characters.

"The table was a large one, but the three were all crowded together at one corner of it: “No room! No room!” they cried out when they saw Alice coming," Joey read as Bendy snuggled up against his chest. "“There’s plenty of room!” said Alice indignantly, and she sat down in a large arm-chair at one end of the table. “Have some wine,” the March Hare said in an encouraging tone." Joey paused, looking down at Bendy. "Don't take alcohol from strangers, Bendy. It's not a good idea."

Bendy nodded, making a gurgling noise of acknowledgment.

Satisfied, Joey continued to read. "Alice looked all round the table, but there was nothing on it but tea. “I don’t see any wine,” she remarked. “There isn’t any,” said the March Hare. “Then it wasn’t very civil of you to offer it,” said Alice angrily..."

Those were some of Bendy's happiest memories, cuddled up against Joey while Joey read from some storybook.

Joey was everything he knew.

Was it any wonder that Bendy took on Joey's problems as his own?

[accidentally-in-fictional-love]

Making it official: ⚡🩹🔞(<- always i just can't help myself) Feel free to use this if you want to, or write anything else really. I'm sure I'll love it regardless, Lightning has already taken root in my heart.

You Light The Sky, I'll Bring The Rain - Lightning/Reader

Warnings: No use of Y/N, gender-neutral reader, semi-spoilers for the movie but nothing actually main plot related, friends with benefits, one-sided pining (or is it?), lots of heavy talk, blowjobs, smut.

Wordcount: 8060

Summary: You've never liked Lightning. He was a bit of a snob, acted like he was too good for you, and always ever called when he needed something. No, you've never ever liked Lighting. But it was the man he used to be that always made you come when he called.

Notes: Switching up my queue just once because if I don't write for this man asap I'll explode. I fell in love with him at once, DD did such an amazing job as usual, I was smitten in the theatre once again and I can't stop thinking about him so here's a filled request for those who already love him~ I do plan on writing him a longer fic, but I need to settle on that plot first since I apparently love him enough to ship with /)w(\ so I gave that original idea to Addy, but I hope you enjoy this in the meantime 💗💗💗

You didn't know why you kept coming back to him. He was different now, much different than the man you knew back in college when you were stuck next to each other in your programming class, from his contacts to his clothes to even his haircut. He still painted his nails, that never changed, and he kept the ring you gave him the night you were walking around town and randomly found it on the ground. You still remember picking it up and trying it on, it was unwanted trash you could turn into something loved again; he seemed to latch on to what you said about it, and he'd gone quiet when you’d slipped it onto his finger and it'd fit him better than you.

That was years ago, he had a high paying job now and little time for you as a result, always busy with the meetings and parties and people surrounding him, so when he called you up one Friday night you expected it to be just another simple ‘hello,’ ‘I miss the old days,’ and maybe, ‘I miss you.’

‘Everyone's busy tonight, you wanna hang out or something? I know this new age tea place just around the corner from where I work, great vibes, you'll love their blends,’ came his soft voice from the other side, much softer than it used to be when you knew him before; he was too old to be talking like this, but you guessed this was another fake thing about him now, something calm and cool and easily approachable so his true self underneath wouldn't scare anyone else away.

‘Hey, Leo,’ you said instead of answering him, your phone placed on your desk while you typed away at your current project, which was honestly taking much longer than it needed to because your boss refused to listen to some nerdy coder trying to fix his company's website.

‘That's not my name.’

‘I'm not calling you Lightning,’ you replied flatly, you'd already had this conversation a million times before ever since he started his job and changed everything about himself. ‘If you’d just go ahead and give me literally any reason why I should other than, “AIA says all the kids nowadays are doing it,” then maybe I would, but I’m not calling a grown man Lightning because his artificial intelligence wants to brand him as cool, not because it’s something you actually chose for yourself.’

‘Can you at least call me that around my friends? I don't want anyone to be confused, or start calling me that too,’ he muttered, just a hint of his old self slipping through the cracks for a moment.

‘Fine, so did you actually wanna hang out or do you just want someone to get new age tea with you tonight?’ He'd done this before, on slow nights when there was no one else to turn to, there you always were, like a lighthouse in his storm of a life; maybe he was a Lightning, after all.

He went silent at your question, but this was all part of the conversation now, the casual exchange between you two that always happened whenever he needed you, and he took no offense to your tone anymore, just as you stopped hurting when you became the last resort instead of the first. ‘I… want someone with me,’ he admitted, he was getting faster with it since you started calling him out, but there was sadness in his words, it was another bad night, something his so-called new friends wouldn't know about. ‘I visited the hospital again today.’

You saved your project and picked up your phone, already heading to the bedroom to get changed. ‘Was it bad?’ you asked as you raided your closet, needing something to match his new style so he could at least feel comfortable, you wouldn't embarrass him by dressing the same way he used to this time, not tonight.

‘The job helps, you know the paycheck pays for all of it now,’ he started, not wanting to get to the hard part, and you didn't rush him as you found your nicest, hippest shirt you'd bought for work. ‘It's still progressing, AIA said the new treatment would help but she warned me-’

‘You're following the advice of an AI, remember that,’ you murmured so softly you weren't sure if he'd even hear it, but he did anyway, and you heard him clear his throat almost uncomfortably. 

‘She did the calculations, she’s smart, so much smarter than you know, it’s so much more advanced than everything we learned in class,’ he told you yet again, but you’d believe it when you stopped seeing posts online about AIs saying human things just because that’s what they were taught to do. ‘The meds help, but… it’s gotten to the point where I can’t leave the house without it.’

‘Please, just come with me to the oncologist who helped my uncle.’

‘AIA said Dr. Krill was the best in the field.’

‘AIA isn’t real, she can look online and give you all the answers you want, but this is a human being I know who helped someone close to me, he can give you more answers than she ever could-’

‘Can you please just get some fucking tea with me?’ he snapped, stopping you in the middle of pulling on a pair of too tight jeans because that’s what the kids today loved to wear; his voice was loud, brash, emotional, this was the real him again, the one only you saw nowadays, and you sighed and walked over to where your phone sat on your bed. ‘Please, I’m sorry I just… I don’t wanna be alone tonight…’

‘You know I’ll be there soon,’ you said softly, just as quiet as him, and you heard his sigh of relief. ‘Do you want me to meet you at your place, or at the shop?’

‘Work, I’m still there finishing something up, we can walk over when you get here.’ He hung up immediately, no more time to talk, but you couldn’t get annoyed when you couldn’t imagine what he was going through. This was something that’d started right at the end of college, you’d been there since the beginning, and whenever he got an update you were the only one he could tell. After he got his job he’d paid off his family’s home, he was stuck living with his parents because of all this, and now took care of them from afar, the both of you moving to Silicon Valley at his urging because of the job opportunities.

It’d only worked out for him, you thought bitterly as you finished getting ready, your phone in your pocket and your keys in your hand as you headed for your car. He’d been picked randomly out of a group of 50 to participate in a foundling company’s new alternative to Siri and Alexa, but you hadn’t, whatever you’d presented to them they hadn’t liked once they saw him. You hated him for a while after that, but you didn’t now, not when you knew this job was the only thing keeping him alive. You’d talked about it once, what you would’ve done if your positions were reversed and you’d been the one picked, but he’d gone silent when it came to him imagining you in his place.

You thought it’d been jealousy even though he was the winner, the idea of you having everything he had so unfair after a lifetime of being overlooked, so terrifying even in its fantasy, that he never even entertained the idea for fun. ‘Never change, just be happy where you are,’ he’d told you that night as you lay on the roof of his building, the thing a giant, sprawling cage where you were only allowed to enter the stairwell, that was it. You turned your head to face him, and when he did the same back, you realized that you didn’t recognize him anymore.

You pulled up to that same building, needing to pay the meter since you had no access to the lot as a visitor after closing, and you saw him waiting by the door for you; he was talking to someone else on the phone, his back slouched against the wall and his free hand waving around as he spoke, but his voice was still soft even in his apparent distress, enough so that you couldn’t make out a word he said. You waved to get his attention when he started to pace, and he quickly said goodbye to his caller before readjusting his earpiece and walking calmly over to you.

‘Partner troubles?’ you joked only because you knew he was single, he always made sure to let you know whenever he was sleeping with someone again.

‘Doctor,’ he answered stiffly, and your laugh died in your throat with a rough cough. ‘C’mon, they’re open late but they stop serving food around 10, I haven’t eaten today.’

‘Old habits die hard, even with all the money in the world,’ you sighed as he fixed his collar and made sure he looked presentable again, but he had nothing to say to that one. ‘I see you’re wearing glasses again?’

He looked down at his detachable glasses where they hung against his chest, and he lifted them up and reattached them so they sat on the bridge of his nose. ‘Got the surgery a while back, these are fake,’ he admitted, but he at least looked a bit more like his old self with them on, as dumb as they looked.

‘Now all you need to do is fix your bangs, then you’ll be recognizable again,’ you teased, reaching up to mess with his hair, but he leaned away seriously, he wouldn't let you make him look disheveled when he was out and about. It killed the mood a bit, and his glasses were placed against his chest again as you walked, the tea shop just a few blocks away like he promised but not nearly close enough all the same. You weren’t fond of places like this, everything was always way too expensive and bragged too much about their superior blends compared to other chain businesses, but they were always the same in the end. 

He gave the barista a small wave as he approached the counter, and she did the same to him, but there was no comfortable familiarity in their actions, just them going through the motions. You didn’t hear what he ordered, there were too many words and he wanted it way too specific for someone who used to down cup after cup of black coffee like it was water, so by the time it was your turn you weren’t sure if you should ask for the same and just accept whatever it was, or attempt to come up with something yourself. He gave you a nudge when you took too long, and you just smiled and glanced at the menu again.

‘I’ll just have a water for now, I’ll decide in a bit,’ you told her, and she rolled her eyes and got started on his order all the same. He wasn't happy with that, but you weren’t going to pretend you could understand the gibberish hanging above you. You examined it more closely, you were never much of a tea drinker to begin with, but he wanted the company, so by the time your small cup of overpriced and outsourced mineral water was placed in front of you, you downed it and asked for the only kind of tea you recognized. She rolled her eyes again at your simplicity, but you were there for him, by the time you came back she’d probably be working somewhere else, none of this mattered.

You took your order and grabbed a corner booth while his sandwich was being made, he never liked to sit near windows, and he surprised you again when he walked right past you and grabbed the empty table by the door. You let out a small breath and joined him without a word, and even though he picked his seat he still looked uncomfortable as he popped open the tab and took a sip. Your tea was still too hot so you just let it sit, preferring to watch him and take in all the other things he’d changed now that he was in front of you. 

You already knew it’d be weird to get used to him just never wearing glasses anymore, he usually wore them when he was around you to save a pair of contacts, the only piece of that part of him the fake ones hanging around his neck. You reached across the table and took them while he ate, knowing he’d be unable to stop you lest he risk wrecking his sandwich, and you put them on and stared through slightly smudged plastic lenses at him. ‘Give them back,’ he said softly once he’d swallowed, but he didn't look too in a rush when he saw the way they looked on you.

‘These are the same frames from before,’ you noted, taking them off to pull them apart and put them back together a few times to test the magnets within, ‘the ones you wore when we graduated.’

‘They looked vintage, it makes for a good accessory,’ he simply said before he took another bite, a small sip of tea just barely washing it down; maybe he didn’t even like the taste, like it was something else AIA had recommended to him as part of his cleanse to keep him as healthy as possible.

‘Well, you did graduate what, two decades ago? Pretty vintage now if you ask me,’ you stated, his age making him wince even though it was a testament to how he was still here, still breathing. ‘So, how much did the surgery set you back this time?’

‘The company paid for it, actually, I just had to fill out a few forms and explain why it was beneficial for me to be able to see without assistance, and I was booked the next day,’ he said as he finished eating, a slightly larger sip this time making the wince return, he truly didn’t like it.

‘Sounds nice, you know how long it took me to even see a doctor to fix my carpal tunnel.’ You weren’t bitter about it anymore, but he glanced at you all the same.

‘You know I would’ve been able to help had you come to me,’ he reminded you, he always did when you brought it up, and again you declined it even though it was long over and done with.

‘And you know I never would’ve been able to pay you back if you’d taken me to one of those fancy doctors who charge by the minute.’ You tried your own tea but it was still a bit too hot, it burning your tongue a little, and even then you could taste that it was more water than tea, flavourless drivel.

‘I’ve never once asked you to pay me back,’ he said seriously as he sat up, his relaxed posture changing into something more stiff until the wince returned and he sat back again, his hand going to his stomach. ‘Sorry- I apologize for raising my voice, that was rude,’ he corrected himself quickly, and it was almost frustrating to see him like this, maybe this would be the last time, for real. ‘But you know I wouldn’t have asked it from you, just like you never did from me.’

‘So that’s what this is, one big payback for all the times I flipped the bill, drove you into town for every appointment when you could barely stand, sat by you until they kicked me out for the night, is that it?’ His eyes met yours, and you saw him again in them as he reached for your hand; you didn’t move away, just waited for him to touch you when he stopped, glanced towards the counter like he was afraid of anyone seeing him be an actual person again.

He made the motion to push his hair behind his left ear even though it was so short now, his earpiece blinking to signal a call that he then silenced, and he distracted himself with more bad tea until he was ready to answer you. ‘It was never about that,’ he began, but he was looking at the table instead of at you, ‘you know I never kept tabs on any of it, so neither should you.’

‘Then why do we keep doing this, Le- fuck, Lighting? You’ve got a great life now, new job, new friends, new you, why am I still the one thing you hang on to? Because you can tell me the truth? Because I know the real you, and you know that I keep coming back whenever you need someone to talk to about the bad days? I thought AIA could do all that for you now, be your new therapist you can let all that bullshit onto, so unless you tell me why, I’m outta here.’ He was silent while you talked, just listening, and when he didn’t speak you just sighed and stood until he was babbling and reaching for you.

‘Stop, alright, just wait, can we- can I go back to your place tonight? We can talk there, just… not here, not where she can hear us,’ he muttered lowly, his hand covering his face and blocking him from view of the only other person, and you let out another sigh before picking up your tea and motioning for him to get up. He did, his tea brought with him even though he didn’t like it, and you switched with him and headed for the door before he could protest. It was awful, whatever blend he was praising was certainly not this one, but you drank it all the same for him as he caught up to you.

You didn’t speak on the way back to your car, and for a moment you wondered if maybe he’d follow you home when he sat down next to you, his earpiece off and tossed among the change on your dash when your teas filled up the cupholders. This was serious, he always had that stupid thing with him in case of any emergencies, and you didn’t comment on it as you drove back to your apartment. It was nothing fancy like where he probably lived, you still hadn’t gotten to visit him, that was yet another part of his new life you weren’t allowed into, but it was still decent and had a nice view of the water if you did say so yourself. 

You parked and he didn’t bring his earpiece with him, even his phone left behind on his seat when you got up to leave. ‘Hey, don’t you need that?’ you asked him before his door could close, and he checked the time before shaking his head and setting it back down. You weren’t going to argue, if someone decided to break into your car you wouldn’t lose much aside from the vehicle compared to his phone full of precious information, but maybe AIA really was that good, maybe she - it - would be able to save it all before anything got leaked. 

You pursed your lips and grabbed it after all, just in case, at least the headset would be ignored amongst the change.

He already knew the code to get inside and wasted no time in getting to the elevator, he was in an actual hurry this time, and you felt his phone vibrate in your pocket as soon as you approached him. ‘Oh, here, don’t want you losing your job over something stupid like a data breach if this gets stolen,’ you said as you tossed it to him, no photo under the caller ID as someone called Melody tried to get a hold of him, and he stared at it before hanging up on her.

‘I don’t want to talk to anyone else tonight,’ he whispered as he shut off his phone entirely and shoved it into his pockets, and by the time you reached your floor he’d asked you to do the same. Something felt wrong as you approached your door, he was never this disconnected anymore, and you only had a second to open your mouth to ask what was wrong when he pressed you against your door and kissed you urgently as soon as you shut it. 

You were used to this, every time it got bad he came to you for something no one else could give him no matter how much time passed, but you couldn’t ignore that pit in your stomach as you groaned uncomfortably against him and pushed him gently away.

‘Not tonight,’ you told him firmly, and he whimpered before trying again anyway, mouthing along your jaw in order to convince you. ‘Leo, please, I’m tired of this…’

‘Just once more, and if you hate me that much I’ll never come back again,’ he whispered desperately against you, the old him showing again and making your chest hurt; this was a part of him you didn’t miss, this part that said this to everyone who didn’t return his feelings, guilted them into a pity trap outside of his sickness, and you ran your hand along the back of his neck before taking him by the hand and leading him to your bedroom as you always did. He made sure to leave his phone and yours by the door though, he didn’t want to be disturbed, and honestly neither did you.

You didn’t let him start up again once your door was shut, but you did start to strip away everything that wasn't him, from his glasses to the fashionable scarf he didn’t need to the necklaces he’d bought at some local craft market because the gems promoted healing, all of these things not the Leo you knew and chipped off one by one until he was just in his shirt and pants. You went for the former next but he stopped you, instead helped you do the same, and when you both had trouble getting out of your too tight pants the mood was lightened when you collapsed onto the bed with them tangled around your legs.

He kissed you again while you laughed, and this time you didn’t argue against it, needing him just as much as he needed this, you always did, which is why you had yet to say no to him before tonight. His kisses felt easier again, this wasn't love but it was still something strong between you, something that he had yet to find a way to replace. His weight was comfortable over you as it always was, your legs wrapped around each other until you were pressed together again, and your fingers ran through his short hair as you let out a dissatisfied moan.

‘I miss your long hair,’ you whispered when you took a breath, and he sighed as he always did when you brought it up. 

‘AIA likes it short, says it suits me better based on my face shape,’ he finally explained after many years and many more excuses as to why he supposedly liked it better.

‘AIA doesn't see you like I do.’ He stilled in the middle of kissing from your jaw to your earlobe, and you saw the way his eyes shifted the way they always did when he was doing calculations in his head; you were getting too honest, you hadn’t been able to keep him back then and you knew you could never keep him now, but something about tonight was making you want to try. You played with the hair at the nape of his neck when he looked at you, just waited for him to say something to make this nothing but a mutually beneficial transaction again, just like it'd been that first time years and years ago, and he looked ready to speak when he instead sat up and turned away from you. ‘I'm sorry, alright? I know this isn't anything, I didn't mean to-’

‘They've got me on a stent now,’ he said to the comforter as he played with it, and you sat up next to him and just waited. ‘That's what I saw her about this morning, they just put it in today.’ He lifted up his shirt to show you, and you followed the tube until it disappeared back under the dark fabric. ‘There's a lot I can hide from other partners, but I can't hide this, now that it's this bad I need to do injections every day…’ He gripped his shirt until he pulled it back down, his expression contorting into one of anger instead of misery. ‘I don't get it, I'm better off now, I was able to take care of everyone but myself, why can't I fix myself?’

‘Because you're not broken,’ you insisted firmly, your hands finding his even when he pulled away.

‘Termical fucking cancer sounds pretty broken to me,’ he sneered, disgusted with himself for still being sick after so much money tossed at too many doctors to name over too many years. 

‘No, stop it, alright? Just stop, you know I-’ 

‘What? You what?’

You shoved him onto his back, your hands trembling over his shoulders as you stared down at the slight lift of his shirt where the tube traveled over his skin. ‘You know I've never seen you that way,’ you confessed to him, your honesty finally building up against the dam until it began to overflow, and for once you had his undivided attention without his phone or other people around to interrupt you. ‘Not even at the beginning, before you knew, back when it was just us barely passing that class; we always said it was gunna be us against the world, that if one of us got a job we'd help the other out since it was all so new, and then you… 

‘You just had to come out here, and start working for them, and I was so happy for you even when you couldn't get me in cause I knew you were being taken care of. But then, the haircut, and the outfits, and those fucking glasses- who are you? "Lightning”? Who even is that? Because it's not you, I'm the only one who still knows you, Galileo, and I never wanted you to change out here, you never should've had to just to get these people to look at you, because I always have, I always have…’

There it was, everything was laid bare and out in the open for him now, and you shifted so you wouldn't put too much pressure on him knowing that he was hooked up. He didn't speak for the longest time, still doing those calculations before finally he sighed, looked away. You felt cold, and you sat back fully to give him room to sit up again, Leo finding your floor quite interesting as he tried to figure out how to word his thoughts. ‘Changing into this is what's kept me alive for so long,’ he said after what felt like an eternity, and your fists clenched over your knees. ‘You might not like it, and think that I'm different, but ever since AIA helped me fix everything about myself I didn't like I've been happier, healthier, more social. 

‘I don't sit around alone anymore, waiting for you to pick up your phone because you've always been miles ahead of me, and I tried, I tried really fucking hard to get them to let you come with me, but you don't want to be where I am, not now that I know what this place is.’ He went silent a moment, gave you a small glance before returning his eyes back to the floor. ‘I know you don't like me anymore, I know it because I'm not stupid, but I never needed you to like me, not as long as you kept- we kept doing…’

His voice went quiet but in a new way, one that wasn't Lightning, but Galileo again, your Leo, and underneath it all you saw that he was still there, still waiting for you just like you'd always been waiting for him. ‘Why did you never say anything?’ you asked carefully, you couldn't mess this up now, and his hand rested over his stomach as he met your eye.

‘Why didn't you?’

You could only stare, he knew why you couldn't, and you knew why he didn't. 

‘What do we do now? Can AIA solve this one?’ you tried to joke, but at the mention of her name he steeled; his hands found your wrists as he pulled you back overtop of him, this was new, and your cheeks flushed as you both adjusted until you were sat on his lap for once. 

‘She can't solve everything,’ he whispered like he knew something, this was no joke to him, and you linked your fingers with his just so he'd stop frowning like that.

‘Then what do we do? Because if you're content with this, if we do this again, and then tomorrow I'm back to just being the last one you call when the party's over, then… I don't think I can do this anymore, not after what you said.’ You held him hard so he'd know you were serious this time, you'd almost ended it so many times before but it'd never stuck, but you both knew that this time it would if he just said the word. 

‘You were never the last one I called, not even tonight,’ he told you, and you felt your heart clench in time with your hands over his.

‘You didn't make that clear enough, y'know,’ you laughed with a small sob, and he reached up to bring your mouth back down to his. This kiss felt different from the rest, it was honest, not just desperate for whatever you had before, and you cherished it deeply as you started to rut against him, ready to continue what you'd started a little less miserably now. He groaned against your mouth until you moved a little too hard, the groan turning from something pleasurable to pained as he broke away to gasp. ‘Sorry, guess we might have to be careful for a while,’ you cringed as he rubbed his stomach with a wince.

‘Just until I'm used to it, they told me that it shouldn't be too obstructive in my daily life,’ he hissed, and you watched him before shifting down until you were parting his legs and finding a comfortable place between them. He watched you back as you toyed with the drawstring of his pants, your eyes fond of what you found as he lifted his shirt with one hand and threaded his fingers through your hair with the other.

‘I've always liked your tummy, but I thought it was too personal to say,’ you confessed as you kissed him just under his belly button, the soft hair there tickling your chin as he let out a nervous chuckle.

‘I know I'm not getting abs anytime soon with this,’ he muttered, he was always so self-conscious about the way he looked back then too, and you gave him another kiss before placing your hand over the one in your hair.

‘Good, lemme keep just this, at least,’ you pleaded so gently that he had no choice but to agree, and when he nodded you took the drawstring between your teeth and pulled it until the small bow was no more. He sighed as you started to strip him in return, his clothes much more loose and relaxed than the outfit you'd chosen, and it was nothing but easy as you freed him of everything until he was bare before you. You got to see the full extent of his chemo like this, and it did hurt to see him still sick after everything he'd been doing to prevent this, but this had to be the final step, didn't it? You'd trust that AI if she was right about this, if her smart algorithmic brain really did do the calculations and found the exact path to the end of all this, because, as you pressed kiss after kiss to his thighs until he was a whimpering mess against your pillows, you didn’t want to imagine life without him.

He wasn't used to being loved, even when this started it'd been hot and heavy and fast until you were sweating in the backseat of his old car; there had been no passion there, just the two of you laying there in fear that you'd just ruined everything if the other didn't feel the same. To avoid that outcome entirely you'd just played it off, made it seem like this was just some drunken fun between two friends, and instead of an afterglow you'd slowly gotten used to him just smoking beside you while you held yourself under the covers and pretended it was his arms around you. You wouldn't let that happen again, not tonight, not tomorrow, not any other night you decided, he was always yours and you were going to make sure that Silicon Valley kept Lightning, because you were going to keep Leo.

You took him into your mouth and started to bob, careful to keep him pressed into the sheets so he wouldn't move around too much, and you enjoyed the view as you glanced up and saw the way his back slightly arched, his eyes shut tight in bliss. It was rare you got to do any kind of foreplay, he was always so busy you tended to get the call, go find him at work, or wait for him to show up so you could quickly fuck and get back to your lives. Only sometimes, when the night was late and his slight touches were getting addicting, did he let you take your time, but never like this. 

You'd jerk him off while you watched a movie, and he'd grind against you until you were panting and ready for more, but stuff like this? Where you could worship him slowly and really convey how much you wanted him through your touch, it was almost forbidden. You'd done it only once before, right after he'd gotten the job and you spent the night together to celebrate; he still drank back then, and you'd had too much as you got down on your knees and let him fuck your mouth until it almost came out, the only instance of, ‘I love you,’ that either of you had ever come that close to saying as he painted your tongue and smiling lips white. When he woke up the next morning not remembering the way he'd looked down at you with nothing but love in his eyes, you'd just rolled with it and pretended that you didn't remember either, just another fun night between friends, nothing more had hppened.

You moaned around him until he gripped your hair a little harder, his thighs tensing as he tried not to trap you between his writhing legs, and you lightly dragged your nails over goosebumped skin until his sighs grew louder. If this was really happening, if he was really going to stay instead of going back to his apartment to talk to AIA like she really knew him, then you'd make up for every second you pretended like this wasn't everything to you. You waited until he was just about to come, he was always easy to read in the way his hips would speed up and he'd hold you until you bruised, the only time he left his mark on you because everything else was too intimate, and you dragged your tongue up the underside of his twitching dick before pulling off with a pop. 

‘Wh-why’d you stop?’ he moaned as his hips jutted the air to find you again, and you smiled at him before pulling your underwear down your legs and going for the bottle of lube you kept in your bedside dresser. You didn't answer him with words, his hands kept at bay as you placed them on your hips and made him watch as you stretched yourself open, giving him a proper show so he'd really know how badly you wanted him. His eyes started to lid as he thrusted against your inner thigh, just enough to keep him hard, and you got ready to line him up when he stopped you. ‘The condom’s in my wallet, should still be in my pants,’ he let you know, and you just shook your head before sinking down on him until he was almost crying out. 

‘Tonight, you're mine, I wanna feel you,’ you whispered as you adjusted to his size, and he desperately clung to you as he felt your tight heat for the first time without the familiar barrier to keep you apart. The stent was still new, you couldn't take him apart the way you always imagined in your wildest fantasies where you'd been able to confess, and he couldn't fuck you as hard as he preferred thanks to the stress of work and pretending to be someone so soft and quiet in order to keep selling himself, but this would be perfect all the same you decided as you chose a spot on his shoulders and started to move. Your nails dug into his skin as you braced yourself on him, matching lines of red spreading out under his own hands on you, your breathing wild until you found a steady pace. 

Each time he tried to thrust up you'd slow until he stopped again, a silent warning that was just as torturous on you as it was on him, but no matter what he wouldn't stop to the point where it was making your knees burn from the effort not to move. You begged him to be careful, your voice giving out as he held you a little tighter and got you to slam down a little harder against him, but he just shook his head just like you'd done. ‘You really think… I'm gunna stop now… that I know you're mine?’ he asked directly into your ear when your head dropped down beside his, and any other time you would've shivered from his words but the feeling of the tube brushing against your own stomach was making you nervous.

‘I don't wanna hurt you,’ you whined, but one sweet kiss to your neck shut you up so fast it made your head spin.

‘You've never treated me like I'm fragile before, don't start tonight,’ he implored of you before kissing you again, and only when he sucked a mark that everyone would be able to see did you answer him. You felt him smile against your neck before one arm came up to wrap around your back, his hand sprayed over your neck and trapping you in place as he took a deep breath and started fucking you in earnest, his other hand guiding your hips when you couldn't move at all. You had to fight to keep yourself from laying flat against him, just the bare amount of space between you so you wouldn't shift anything or worse, force the tape to lift right now of all times, and you let him show you just how much he wanted you right back until his hips were speeding up and he was gripping you so hard it was making you keen.

‘Don't pull out, I want everything from you,’ you panted when you felt him slow just a little, he was thinking about it, and he let out the most delectable noise you'd ever heard him make in your life. He sounded like he wanted to argue against it, maybe AIA had filled his head with so much sex ed. that the thought of sleeping with you like this had given him pause, and you sucked in your own deep breath before grabbing on tight and using all your weight to drag him onto his side. This was more like it, you knew he couldn't resist being on top of you especially after your dual confession, and you wrapped your legs around him and forced him to face the fact that he was also starving for this just as you were. You grinned cheekily up at him before he hunched down to kiss your neck again, his stent safe and his core working hard while he finished fucking you.

His hips stuttered to a hard stop as he came inside of you, your entire body shifted up with each final jut of his hips until he was finished, the feeling of his warmth spreading through you while he held you like you were the only thing keeping him grounded enough to push you over the edge. Your fingers curled over his short hair as he shakily lowered himself onto you, your legs unhooking but not letting him go as you wrapped them around his own instead, a silent plea to not get up and start his usual ritual of pulling out his vape now that he also stopped smoking. He obliged not because of you but because he wanted to, his voice soft again as he pushed your bangs out of your eyes and whispered sweet nothings that didn't feel like Leo or Lightning as he said them, maybe there was more of him that he’d never let you see before.

‘Y'know, AIA told me never to tell you, she thought that I'd ruin things,’ he said so quietly you almost couldn’t hear even though you were so close. 

‘This is why I know you better than an AI, like how that tea you got tonight sucked ass,’ you finally told him, said tea now long cold on your counter, ‘so maybe you guys should work on making her a mouth so she knows what taste buds are.’

‘It's supposed to be great for my immune system now that I've switched meds,’ he explained, but you waved it off with a grimace. 

‘Start injecting it too then, cause I saw your face every time you took a drink,’ you grumbled on his behalf, and he actually laughed a little before he attempted to sit up. ‘No, please, not yet.’

‘It's almost 10, I'm gunna miss my dose,’ was all he had to say to get you to let go, and the feeling of his come running down your thighs was a little less appreciated than you wanted as he walked back to the kitchen. You wiped yourself off on the closet piece of clothing you could find before joining him, the two of you naked and waiting as he took out his meds from his coat pocket. You hesitated before walking over to him, and he looked self-conscious again before allowing you to see what he had to do from now on; you weren't put off in the least, you'd seen him inject himself with worse to numb the pain as his illness got worse and his self-isolation took hold, and when he was done you brushed your fingertips over the spot where skin turned to tape.

‘Don't be ashamed of this, I wanna see you get better,’ you said without looking up, and he let out a shaky sigh that sounded like he might be holding in more than shame. 

‘I'll have to get used to doing this at work, people will talk,’ he already dreaded, and you let your hands slide over his waist to his back as you pulled him even closer.

‘Then lie, say it's something new age that they'll easily believe, what's that dumbass thing people are saying now? Where they take like supplements and stuff and call it something stupid.’

‘Biohacking?’

‘Fuck that's so pretentious, just say that shit to anyone who asks and they'll buy it with that haircut, trust me,’ you promised dismissively, but instead of berating you for not only making fun of the people he knew but his hair again, or laughing because he knew it'd be true, he just remained silent. ‘Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to-’

‘You're the only one who's ever honest with me,’ he thought aloud then, and you looked up at him in surprise; for a second you swore you were staring up at the man you knew in college, one blink and he was gone again, but he wasn't gone, he was just older, and looked a little different, but he was still there.

‘It's LA, someone's gotta be a real person down here,’ you joked when you felt yourself get choked up, and you swallowed when his hand cupped your cheek and stopped you from looking away. He kissed you again, and there was no more desperation, no more lies, no more secrets apart from one, one you couldn't find the answer to on his tongue even though you could taste it, and when you heard a small ahem you jumped and covered yourself in a panic from the intruder. ‘The hell-?’

‘Sorry to interrupt, I just wanted to remind you that you have an early day ahead, so staying up too late doing strenuous activities will only delay your sleep and risk you injuring yourself in a most unfortunate manner,’ a stranger's voice from nowhere told you, and you looked wildly around before he walked over to his phone, covered the camera with his finger, and motioned for you to stay back. 

‘Thank you, AIA, we were just saying goodnight,’ he told his phone, and your eyes snapped to the device in confusion, hadn't he turned it off? ‘I should be getting home, we're meeting with new potential clients tomorrow and we need to make sure she's fully charged for the trip.’

‘What, no time for a vape session with me out on the balcony?’ You tried not to let your voice waver but of course you failed, of course something would steal him away again now that he was yours.

‘Lightning has actually quit vaping, as the toxins inside do more harm than good based on-’

‘Yes, thank you, I was just gunna say that,’ he cut in before his phone could teach you all about the health hazards of something you didn't even do, and you could see the apology on his face as he kept hiding himself from the camera like she was… watching. ‘Yeah, I don't… I don't do that kinda thing anymore, just drink shitty tea if I feel like torturing myself.’

You laughed, which made him laugh, and for a moment you forgot about his phone until AIA reminded him of the time in case he had no clocks nearby. ‘Y'know, you can always just, spend the night like you used to do, and then we can get up early, maybe grab breakfast at that greasy diner that always manages to make the most perfect bacon while still burning the hell outta their toast,’ you suggested nervously, and he looked down at his phone before shutting it off again, no goodbye to AIA.

‘I haven't had actual bacon in months,’ he revealed as he walked back over to you, and you patted his stomach and started to lead him back to your bedroom.

‘Sounds like you're due, I'll set the alarm, okay? No wakeup calls from nosy AIs needed tomorrow.’ You left him just a moment to grab your own phone, and he frowned at it before nodding, letting you set the alarm so you'd have time to get that breakfast even though the drive was long and he was bound to regret it later when all that grease met the abundance of healthy foods he'd been choking down. You were already looking forward to it, and you didn't notice the way your phone switched to your contacts for just a moment when you set it down, a new name adding itself before it went back to your home screen, your focus only on him as he finally held you under the sheets just the way you'd always wanted.

[adudelolwriting]

The Chosen One never wanted to be back on a computer. Chosen never wanted to leave the Outernet again, and just wanted to peacefully live the rest of Chosen’s life with Lord in that small clearing, overlooking the ocean’s view. 

The Chosen One has never been able to get what Chosen wanted. 

So here Chosen was, staring through the blurry screen at Chosen's creator. The screen was different than the last time Chosen had been here — Noogia3 must've gotten a new monitor. 

“I know you don't like Him, but... you're hurt. You both are. I'm sorry to bring you here, but it's what needs to be done,” Orange spoke softly to the older stick, who was clinging onto Orange's body as the two of them walked. 

Chosen couldn't take Chosen's eyes away from the blurry, hunched over figure. “Alan's not gonna hurt you, I promise.”

The Dark Lord coughed weakly, flinching. Lord was in such a worse state than Chosen was because of Orange's attack. Chosen was still angry at her for just not listening to Chosen, and she nearly got herself killed because of it. Chosen never could repay the sticks who he killed being the ones that will save him.

The Cursor noticed the sticks coming back through the ethernet portal at this point, and quickly rushed over. Neon red lasers shot out of Chosen's eyes, launching the Cursor back to the other side of the screen.

“The Chosen One, He's just trying to help!” Orange gasped, looking between the stick figure and the Cursor. “He helped us in the outernet, He's not gonna suddenly attack us here.”

Chosen growled, weakly holding onto Orange's side. “Bastard can't be trusted…”

“Then trust me. Me, and everyone else, is not gonna let Him hurt you or Lord, okay?” Orange said sternly, trying to get the message through Chosen's thick skull. “We just need to get you and Lord better.” 

Orange turned to face the Cursor, pointing to the art program. The Cursor got the idea, and the program popped up behind and around ae and Chosen. Yellow and Red, who both were carrying The Dark Lord, also climbed into the box. Orange helped Chosen sit down before grabbing the pencil and drawing a bed for Lord to lay down on.

'whats going on??' The Cursor asked in a text box, wary of the Chosen One. 

“Alan, this is The Chosen One, and that is The Dark Lord. They're hurt really badly, and we need to help them.” Orange ran over to the other side of the art program, helping Blue bring a bunch of... pixelated bottles into the screen before helping Blue herself up. 

“I don't want to be near Him,” Chosen said, “I don't want Him to be near me or Lord.” Chosen looked up, and saw that Chosen's words didn't appear like they did for Orange.

I suppose that makes sense. It never happened before, Chosen though with a sigh. “Tell Him to fuck off. I will destroy the Cursor if He gets anywhere near us.”

“Uh-” Orange stuttered, turning to face Alan, “The Chosen One says that if you get close to The Chosen One or Lord, The Chosen One is gonna break your Cursor.”

‘oh. ok’

Chosen watched as the Cursor moved away. Lord groans, and Chosen’s head snapped over to her side. Chosen was instantly at his side, holding his hands as he laid in bed. “Hey, hey, you’re okay Lord, you’re okay.”

Blue was on the other side, putting an IV that Orange drew into Lord’s arm. A red liquid started dripping into the item. “It’s a regen+health potion mix. It should help Lord,” Green explained. “We’re using an IV drip here, since potions aren’t as strong outside of Minecraft, and they’re not as reactive to Orange. Yellow said it would probably be the same for you and Lord.”

“Green, Yellow, do either of you need anything else?” Orange asked, rocking on aers heels. The two shook their heads. 

Chosen couldn’t believe Chosen was letting these kids save Lord’s life. Chosen was furious at Lord, for a lot of shit. They both had left the life of fear behind, but Lord still went on to kill these kids in an attempt to attack Noogai3.

“I’m sorry,” Chosen quietly said, causing a few of the sticks to look up to Chosen. “I should’ve stopped her from attacking you guys. I should’ve been stronger.”

“The Chosen One, it wasn’t your fault,” Orange reassured, placing a careful hand on Chosen’s shoulder, “you didn’t tell her to kill us. You did your best to fight him off!”

“You guys still got hurt because of it. You all have permanent scars on your bodies now.” Chosen’s fists curled. “Lord and I are the first adults you kids have seen in years, and Lord killed you. The only other stick has been that human who hurts you.”

“Alan?” Red asked, “He doesn’t hurt us?”

“Yeah, Alan’s really nice. I mean, He did delete us that one time, but that’s when He didn’t know we were alive,” Blue spoke up, finishing their work. 

“No, He knew you all were alive! He had to deal with two other sticks before! Noogai fucking enslaved me for years as an adblocker! He created by best friend to kill me! He knew you guys were alive but didn’t care! He never cared!” 

Silence falls over all the sticks. Chosen’s fists were encased in flames, Chosen’s eyes glowing a bright red.

“Alan… created you?” Orange asked quietly. “He… did all that to you?”

Chosen took a deep breath, the flames calming and Chosen’s eyes dimming. 

“I…” Orange gulped, looking to aer’s friends. “Alan’s not like that anymore. If I help Him draw, He’ll let us live here.”

“Orange…” Green whispered, reaching out to Orange who shook aers head.

“I need to talk to Alan,” Orange said before creating a new canvas and climbing into it. Chosen watched as the Cursor disappeared and their view of Noogai was blocked off by a white wall.

A few moments of silence pass, and as Red opened its mouth to talk, Chosen said, “So how long until Lord wakes up?”

“Oh, uh--” Yellow jerked as if not expecting to be talked to. “We don’t really know much about potions outside of the game, but with how injured he is, it’ll probably take a few hours.”

“We can watch over him if you aren’t comfortable here,” Red perked up. “You can go home and rest, or--”

“No.” Chosen sternly said. “She’s not leaving my sight. I’m not gonna leave him here.”

“Oh… okay, um, yeah.” Red flinched as there was a particularly loud shout from the other canvas. “Once Orange comes back, ae could draw you a bed so you don’t have to leave Lord.”

“I’m not gonna sleep.” There’s been too much time spent in darkness here.

Silence fell over them.

“Does… the second canvas help?” Blue meekly asked. “He can’t see you, and you can’t see Him?”

Chosen thought for a moment. It was nice, knowing that Noogai couldn’t see Chosen or Lord right now. And the white wall blocking Chosen’s vision wasn’t something Chosen wasn’t not used to. At least, right like this, Chosen would instantly know if the Cursor comes back, and it wasn’t dark and Lord was here.

“I think that would be for the best.”

“Okay. Okay! I’ll um -- I’ll go tell Orange that,” Red said with a small smile, before knocking on the other canvas and climbing through.

Chosen grabbed Lord’s hand, gently holding it and stroking Chosen’s thumbs over her knuckles. “He is going to be okay, right?” Chosen asked. 

“Yeah, he should be. The potions are already working -- see, a bunch of her minor scratches and cuts are gone already.” Yellow pointed to different parts. “It’s not gonna remove the scars, or anything though. The most noticeable one will be this one.” Yellow pointed to the large wound in the center of Lord’s chest, before stretching up and across the middle of her neck and face.

“As long as she’ll live,” Chosen exhaled, dropping Chosen’s head down, forehead resting on the mattress. “This is all my fault. If only I stopped him earlier, or convinced her not to…”

“It’s not your fault, Chosen. You’re not responsible for him!” Blue says, wincing as a crash was heard. Red climbs back onto the canvas, and a moment after is followed by Orange.

Ae was much more disheveled, wiping aers eyes with aer’s sleeve. “Alan’s gonna leave you guys alone,” Orange sniffled, “we, uhm… yeah. Yeah.”

“Are you okay?” Green asked, rushing over to Orange’s side. The older stick nodded silently. Green sighed, leading Orange to sit down on the ground. Yellow and Blue shared a silent look towards each other.

Chosen watches these kids silently communicate to each other, and it reminds Chosen of those early days with Lord when they didn’t know how to talk.

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

Chosen didn’t fall asleep.

The kids stayed in the same room as Chosen and Lord, but one by one they all fell asleep. Chosen knows it’s morning now -- the clock shows that it was 9:28 am. Chosen takes a deep breath, watching the rise and fall of Lord’s chest.

The wound was fully healed now, the only evidence being the scar that resided on Lord’s body. Chosen sighs, thumbs brushing atop of her knuckles.

The Dark Lord’s face shifts in her sleep, before her eyes open weakly. “Lord!” Chosen whisper-yelled, trying to not wake up the other stick figures. 

Lord’s eyes glazed over, and Chosen’s heart dropped to Chosen’s stomach as Chosen was just barely able to dodge out of the way of her attack.

“Lord, it’s me! Don’t listen to it, we’re not safe!” Okay, fuck trying to stay quiet. “There are kids sleeping, you can break through it!”

Chosen dodged a fireball, which breaks the wall of the aet program. Chosen flies through it back onto the open PC, lasering Lord as she flies out. She hissed, but not stopping her attack. Chosen kicked a file into his face, which got incinerated almost instantly. “Lord, this isn’t the place for this!” Chosen led Lord further away from the art program as the sticks started looking out now. 

Lord tackled Chosen, bringing them both into a downward spiral before hitting the ground. His hands wrapped around Chosen’s neck as his hands burst into flame. Chosen growled, hands wrapping up to Lord’s hands and shooting lasers out of Chosen’s eyes.

Chosen should’ve slept. Chosen was tired and weakened, and Lord was well rested and not in control of herself. Chosen saw the Cursor appear, and Chosen instantly focused the lasers on the Cursor. 

“Don’t fucking touch him!” Chosen choked out, forcing the Cursor back. Chosen sees Orange running over, and ae tries to pull Lord off. Chosen’s ears were ringing, and Chosen’s thinks Orange is talking. “Don’t hurt him, he’s not--” Chosen coughs, face starting to sting from the fire.

Chosen focused back on Lord, doing everything Chosen could to fight off the other stick figure. Did she really have to do this here? A sudden box popped around Lord’s body, and Chosen’s stomach dropped. Lord stopped her attack, confused with eyes still glazed over. Chosen looks to Noogai, and towards the right side of the monitor -- there was an index pulled up, and the Cursor was hovering over Lord’s file name. 

Chosen screamed. Chosen was not going to let Lord die here. Chosen wasn’t going to let Lord die. 

Instantly, a deep, dark gray stormcloud took up half the computer screen. Lightning flashes quickly and violently. Thunder bellowed from the sky, and Chosen felt rage. 

Orange was yelling -- at Chosen or the Cursor, Chosen didn’t know. Chosen tries to grab Lord, but she can’t move. She was stuck in the box. Chosen pulled and tugged, but couldn’t move him.

A pop up appeared under their feet, and Chosen burned instantly. Chosen just needs to fight this off. Chosen just needs to wait until Chosen could get Lord out. 

Another pop up.

More ash.

Ignore the feelings. You’re not there.

Focus. There is no weight on your ankle. 

Pop up. Ash. 

Pop up. Ash. 

Pop up. Ash.

You can do this.

Pop up. 

You need to do this.

Ash.

There was screaming.

Another pop up.

Continue fighting.

There was so much ash. 

Chosen felt Chosen’s throat was raw -- has Chosen been screaming? Or was it the fire? 

Everything seemed off. Focus. The Dark Lord is going to die if you don’t fight for him. 

Arms wrapped around Chosen’s waist, pulling Chosen away from Lord. “No! No, He’s gonna kill her!” Chosen screamed, fighting off the stick behind Chosen as Chosen was taken further and further away. 

A thick, metal wall suddenly separated the two oldest stick figures from each other. Chosen hears Lord scream out, and Chosen falls to Chosen’s knees as the stick continues to drag Chosen away.

“He killed her,” Chosen’s voice breaks as Chosen talks, “I couldn’t save her.”

The static in Chosen ears slowly dim down. “...osen One? Are you back?” 

Chosen finally looks back, and, oh. It was Orange holding Chosen.

“It’s okay! Lord isn’t gonna hurt you anymore,” Orange says softly, and Chosen could instantly see that ae was putting on a brave face. “Alan’s fixing him.”

“He killed her,” Chosen replied, wiping away the tears. When had Chosen started crying?

“No-- No! No, Alan, He’s -- He’s removing the programming He made,” Orange explained, “me and Alan had an argument last night, and… well, He came in early this morning and we talked it out. He explained what happened and what He did to you and Lord, and He’s trying to fix it now.”

Orange watched Chosen for a moment or two, watching Chosen’s reaction. Ae then pulled out an eraser tool, and deleted the metal wall. Lord was still in a box, but… she was back. The Cursor was still hovering around her, but Chosen could tell. 

Lord was sitting down on the ground now, head tilted curiously as the Cursor continued to type stuff into the white pop up below Lord’s body. He looked up when the wall was erased before excitedly jumping up and waving to Chosen.

“He’s deleting the line of code!” Lord shouted. “We can finally be safe together, Chosen!” Chosen ran over, breaking out of Orange's (weak) grasp and looked over the pop up. 

mission.The_Dark_Lord = love(The_Chosen_One);

What? “No -- love? Are you serious?” Chosen asked, glancing up at Noogai’s blurred face. “No, no! Don’t force him to -- to love me!” 

“Chosen, I asked Him too,” Lord spoke slowly. “I… I want to love you. For the rest of my life.” 

Chosen whipped around to face Lord, Chosen’s face red. “Wh -- What? Lord, you can’t--”

“Chosen, listen to me.” Lord’s hands took Chosen’s own. “I love you with all my heart, okay? I want to retire with you -- properly, this time. I want you to teach me how to knit, and I want to teach you how to bake, and all that other soft junk. I love you, Chosen, 

Chosen felt tears well up in Chosen’s eyes. “Lord, I--” Chosen’s throat felt dry. It couldn’t be true. Lord couldn’t love Chosen, not like that. “The code is making you think weirdly again, I’ll tell Him to remove it--”

“Cursors, you’re an idiot,” Lord chuckled, pulling Chosen closer into a hug. “Alan hasn’t even implemented the new code in yet. This is me saying this.”

Chosen let out a small sob, fully sinking into her hug. “I thought you were going to die,” Chosen meekly said, feeling Chosen’s tears soak into Lord’s clothing, “Cursor, I love you so much, Lord, I don’t know what I would’ve done if you actually died.”

“It’s okay, Chosen, it’s okay,” she said while rubbing circles into Chosen’s back. She looks directly at Alan, the blurry man on the other side of the monitor, and nods. He was going to love Chosen for the rest of his life, even if it killed him. Lord would never leave Chosen’s side.

Alan hit enter.

[lapinneok]

Hello dishonor the game people! Here's a little concept of mine.

tldr: billie has a mimir in the void and delilah paints her dreams

After the events of KoD, instead of leaving Dunwall Billie goes to meet Delilah for the last time in order to mess some of her plans up to help Daud win some time. Daud didn't ask for it, he doesn't need it, Billie does this out of being purely angry with Delilah (and herself for falling for Delilah’s schemes). It goes bad. Horribly bad.

Rather than killing Billie, Delilah traps her in the void painting, where Billie resides sleeping timelessly. Delilah also gets trapped in there by Daud at the and of the Brigmore witches dlc. Daud doesn't know Billie's in the void with Delilah. Events of dh go unchanged.

under the cut are some sketches & a bit more info <3

Events of dh2 still happen, Delilah gets out of void to overtake the throne, Emily has to flee the tower yada yada yada. The people who are helping her get to Karnaca are Daud and Thomas. 

Daud decides to help Emily because 1) he has already dealt with Delilah once and it bothers him that she's onto her rule-the-world bullshit again 2) their joint search with Thomas ended up in Dunwall in the right time to help an empress so why not okay 3) Emily eventually guilt trips him to helping her anyway.

sooo they set out on a journey

Being it the void with Billie asleep, Delilah projects her artwork onto Billie's dreams. Delilah is bored and angry and will make it everyone else's problem.

Billie's dreams do not reflect her understanding of reality, but Delilah's. People in them are the ideas of whom they actually are, so they act grotesquely unnaturally, some of them share brief character traits with their real versions. 

Some of the whalers, whom Delilah has never seen without a mask, simply don't have a face. The only person she conveys as accurately as she can is Daud (since she had at least seen him in person).

She may make Billie leave peacefully with what she thinks is Deidre, only for the world to crumble around her when she starts asking questions. (this is a reference to THIS FIC please go check it out i think about way more then i should. if it didn't exist this whole thing probably would not too).

To be awoken by Thomas and assume this nightmare has finally ended and then notice a detail that will make everything fall apart, again and again. 

Delilah is always an empress in those dreams. She simply doesn't allow herself to be of less. This helps Billie to identify whether she's sleeping or not when she eventually figures it out. 

She's finally awoken by Daud after 15 years, the only thing she is able to do is to wonder why he grew old, seeing him as being the same for all that time.

that's all for now! thank you for reading

SHITPOSTS START HERE

SHITPOSTS END HERE

thank you for your attention!! much love <3

[emptyblog7]

I'M FINALLY STARTING IT!!!

For those of you who might know, I had finished a set of three stories for my fan fic series which meshes scrapped ideas for Wish, my own ideas, and a game known as "Disney Dreamlight Valley" into one. Well, now, I finally had some motivation to start the next story in the series, and I wanted to show you a sneak peak of what I have so far.

Now, this writing process is going to take a while, like the others did (especially with school and work), but it will get done eventually. I hope you enjoy it!

@uva124 @rascalentertainments @chillwildwave @oh-shtars @signed-sapphire

DREAMLIGHT ADVENTURES: ETERNITY ISLE The Sands of Time

Phoenix adjusted the lens of her telescope before shifting the stand closer to the edge of the eastern ledge of the Frosted Heights. The winds up there were mild but still held onto a certain chill, revealing that, though the sun shone above her, winter was still upon the Valley. Her blue cardigan, however, shielded her from most of the chill, and the light of her ethereal wings provided some additional warmth. Once she was satisfied with the telescope’s position on the ledge, she straightened and let out a sigh of satisfaction. “There,” she breathed, “That should work nicely for tonight.” She then walked on towards the west side of the Heights, greeting passing Villagers as she went.

Almost a whole year had passed since she had married Yaron, her dearest friend and the High Prince over all Realms, and each month that had passed had been a joyous, one right after the other. Having someone else rule the Valley alongside her had shown to be an enormous blessing, especially since, in the time that had passed, more villagers had decided to come back to the Valley: Two strange monsters named Mike and Sully and Donald’s sweetheart, Daisy, were among those returning. As Phoenix walked casually down the incline that led to the Forest of Valor, she mused, “Our Valley has grown incredibly over this past year!” She smiled, “It’s so wonderful to see, especially now that—”

Right then, her eyes caught sight of someone jogging over to her. Looking ahead of her, her eyes brightened as she saw her Husband coming towards her. She greeted Him and quickened her stride, “Yaron!”

Yaron beamed and quickened His own gait until they met. They embraced each other tenderly, their wings interlocking with one another, and kissed before Yaron exclaimed, “Ah! Here you are, My dear!”

Phoenix tilted her head in confusion as they separated. “Did I miss something?”

Yaron smirked kindly. “You must’ve been so focused on your project that you forgot we were going to meet at the Glistening Lands a little earlier.”

Phoenix’ eyes widened as she remembered their discussion that morning. She facepalmed. “Oh dear!! I’m so sorry, Yaron!! I guess I was preoccupied with my little venture.”

Yaron chuckled as He hooked her arm around His and began walking with her out of the Forest. “It’s alright, Phoenix! At least now that I’ve found you, I can show you what I’ve been working on in those Lands.”

Phoenix relaxed as she let Yaron lead her on towards the Glistening Lands. During that morning, when they had discussed their meeting for later that day, Yaron had hinted at His project, and now, she was curious on exactly what it was.

As they walked up the Plateau’s incline, Phoenix stated, “I’ve been hoping to catch the eclipse that’s going to happen later tonight ever since Merlin revealed its occurrence to me a week ago, and I wanted to make sure that the telescope was perfectly aligned to where it was said to occur.”

Yaron hummed. “I remember your excitement over the news when you told Me that night.”

They came up the path that led to the Glistening Lands as Phoenix shrugged, “Well, before I came into Dreamlight Valley, there would often be news of an ‘eclipse coming to town’ and stores pushing these glasses for everyone to wear for it.” She then sighed, “But, I never was able to catch a glimpse of the occurrence.”

Yaron patted her hand in understanding as they rounded a bend. “Well, I’m glad you’ll get a chance to see an eclipse, My dear!” He swept His free hand out as He added, “And in a magical place to boot!”

Phoenix smiled in agreement before catching sight of something to her left. Her eyes widened as she gasped at the newest addition to the Glistening Lands. “What in this Realm?!”

A large fountain made of a bright blue rock stood towards the side of the Lands. The fountain had an oval base and was crowned with an arch that spanned the entirety of the base, and from its peak, the clearest and brightest liquid flowed down and into a small, rocky basin that was conjoined to the fountain. Next to the fountain stood a lone side table, holding a simple chalice.

Yaron smiled at His wife’s amazement as He led her closer to the fountain. Once there, He explained, “Ever since these Lands were restored, I have been wanting to add a structure that would both epitomize the Lands’ current state as well as be the most beneficial to our Villagers.” He gestured to the fountain. “And this is what has come out of that—The Guilded Fountain.”

Phoenix placed her hand along the Fountain’s arch and asked, “’The Guilded Fountain’?”

Yaron nodded before taking the chalice and placing it under the stream of water coming out of the Fountain. As He did, He continued, “This Fountain produces a pure liquid that even transcends the purest form of water in the Realms and has its source in My home, the High Realm. Because of this, only those who respect Me can both see and partake of the Fountain.” When the chalice was filled, He brought it to Phoenix and added, “Those who drink of it, will be blessed with immortality and will have access to My home in the future.”

Phoenix was dumbfounded as she received the chalice. She looked at Yaron in shock at His description, and He nodded in urging for her to drink her fill. Smiling, she took a breath and drank from the chalice.

As the liquid entered her system, Phoenix noticed how fresh and crisp it was going down her throat. It refreshed her body and her entire being, and she felt the deepest parts of her soul were being strengthened, and even her wings brightened. Once she was finished, Phoenix exhaled in amazement. Yaron, who was watching this development, beamed excitedly.

Phoenix handed the chalice back to Yaron—who in turn put it back on the table—and embraced her husband. Yaron received her with a smile as Phoenix said, “Thank You, Yaron! This was an amazing surprise!!”

After squeezing her affectionately, Yaron answered, “You are welcome, My dear!!”

“Yaron! Phoenix!”

The two of them turned to see Aster and Asha meeting them from the other side of the Glistening Lands. As Yaron and Phoenix separated, Aster and Asha closed the distance between them as Phoenix greeted, “Good afternoon, you two!! What brings you here?”

Asha answered, “Well, we were wondering if you two would like to join us for lunch at Remy’s Restaurant. The mouse has quite a few new specials today, and we thought you would like to try them with us.”

Aster was about to add to that before he caught sight of the new Fountain. He exclaimed, “This is new!”

Both Phoenix and Yaron laughed at his surprise before Yaron explained, “It’s the Guilded Fountain, Aster! I just finished it a bit ago. Perhaps you’ve heard of it?”

Aster recollected, “I remember hearing Lady Elwyn speaking of it back when I was a star, but…” he turned back to the Fountain and added in amazement, “I never thought I’d see it in person!”

Asha gushed, “It’s beautiful!!!”

Phoenix was excited about the fact that her friends could see the Fountain, and Yaron had a twinkle in His eye as He went to fill the chalice up for them. Once it was filled, He handed it to them and urged, “Drink your fill, My friends. I will refill as needed.”

Asha and Aster accepted the gift thankfully and drank their fill, feeling the same sensation Phoenix felt when she drank of the Fountain. As she watched, Phoenix thought to herself, “I hope more of our Villagers will see and drink of this amazing gift!”

FINAL THOUGHTS FOR NOW...

I'm working on more of this first part as we speak, but this is probably the most cohesive part of it I could post here as a sneak peek. For those who know the game, I am expanding my story into the DLC, i.e. Eternity Isle and its story "Rift in Time". Obviously, my story will be different enough so that it isn't just solely relying on the game's story, but it will serve as inspiration and the general backbone of my next three stories (yes, it seems I do everything in threes). Thanks for taking the time to read this sneak peek!

[keylimeimagines]

HI BESTIEEE WELCOME TO THE SCARANATION I'M SO GLAD WE'VE INFECTED YOU WITH THE SCARAMOUCHEKUNIKUZUSHI-22 VIRUS!!!

MAY I REQUEST SCARA WITH A CUTE AND BUBBLY READER?- imagine our little (y/n) is scara's life changer </33 because of them, he finally saw the worth of life again and paid attention to the smaller, yet somehow significant things.

scenario : scara and (y/n) are out on a walk and they come across a field of flowers <333

"I don't understand why you like such meaningless things." Scaramouche (or should I say the wanderer) heaved a heavy sigh, looking around at the seemingly infinite sea of flowers as he pulled his lover onto his lap. "Kuni, they're not meaningless," (y/n) giggled as they weaved the flowers they picked into an intricate flower crown.

"They may be small, but they're beautiful, and have feelings too. They're able to feel happiness when the sun shines, refreshment when the rain pours, and love from people who admire them such as me. They're alive. Just like you." after placing a quick kiss on scaramouche's nose, (y/n) placed the flower crown on his head. "It looks really good on you!" they beamed at him.

Anyone who came across the sight is most likely guaranteed to be in for a surprise. For who would expect the infamous balladeer to be sitting in a middle of a flower field? With a lover, might you add. Since that day, he came to appreciate those pathetic little flowers he once deemed meaningless. And just like the new sprouts in the spring after a cold blizzard in Snezhnaya, his humanity came to blossom back again. All thanks to his own little flower.

AWWW THIS IS SO CUTE :(

I LOVE the idea of Scara's whole world view being changed bc of someone who acts as his sunlight in the world that's been so cruel to him!! I'm not sure if you wanted this to be a full-fledged story or just a set of headcanons, so I just did which one I'm better at writing! I hope you enjoy!

Reader / Y|N is NOT the Traveler! They can be A traveler, but they are not THE traveler we play as in the game! They/Them pronouns will be used in order to have it remain gender-inclusive (as per usual)

p.s. mentions of Y/N will be color-coded green bc that's the color I associate with my genshin self-insert and i'm projecting onto this >:)

WARNING: Below the cut contains spoilers for 3.1 and 3.2 (specifically mentions of Scara's backstory). If you do not want to be spoiled, I suggest you don't read under the cut!

𝐒𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡𝐞 𝐗 𝐂𝐮𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐁𝐮𝐛𝐛𝐥𝐲! 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐬

♥ Believe it or not, but Scaramouche actually used to love the flowers just as much as he disrelished them.

♥ When his creator set him free, he used to cry to the flowers each and every night, no matter where he was. Though his mother made him feel ashamed of his emotions, the flowers didn't. They always listened to what he had to say.

♥ But over time, after everyone he cared about left him, he soon feared that even the flowers, the one thing he found comfort in, would leave him too. Looking back, he sees this fear as silly, even though he still believes it. After all, everything comes and goes with time, doesn’t it? That includes the very flowers he would confide in.

♥ Now that he thinks about it more, Y/N is kind of like the flowers he confided in once, but this time, they promised him that they'd stay unlike the flowers.

♥ When he met Y/N, he thought that there was no way he would fall in love with them, or anyone in fact. But he was wrong. He was very wrong.

♥ They were so sweet and kind, even to things that could never respond back to them. Y/N was the exact opposite of what he is now, and yet, he found himself falling in love with them and the light they brought him.

♥ Where they saw beautiful flowers, he used to see things that would simply just wilt away.

♥ However, when they made him cute flower crowns out of Tsubaki and Akaichurippu, or when they guided his hand slowly towards the rain he used to fear because of the thunder and lightning he heard at night to show him the gentleness of the water droplets, he finally saw the beauty of the mortal world and why the mortals loved it so much.

♥ You may think that he wouldn’t care about their flower crowns, but you couldn’t be farther from the truth; he keeps each and every one of them and he keeps them close to his heart to replace the one he was supposed to have.

♥ After the loss of the gnosis, it’s really all he has left besides the vision Nahida gave him after he fully recovered.

♥ He loves laying in their lap in the field of flowers, and he loves looking up to see the light through the trees shining down on their face as they weave more flowers together. He loves their laugh and the smile on their face when they see his flushed cheeks. He loves their eyes and the way they shine full of color when they look at him. He loves the way their hands softly caress and hold his face with so much care that it feels like they’re treating him like he’s made of porcelain.

♥ Will he admit all this? No, but he won’t deny it either.

♥ He won’t admit the way he truly feels, even though they already know that he loves them. He’s seen that words don’t hold that much weight anymore, but his actions clearly show his soft side for them.

♥ All this time, he’s been searching for a home, one where he wouldn’t be left behind to rot anymore. This time, he’s found a home in his lover’s arms and in the field of flowers they were in.

[myymi]

okay so, this takes place a day after sonic prower

happy wednesday everyone 👍

@starrjoy @passionartx

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

Sonic took a deep breath before stepping out onto the stage, waving at the audience full of mobians and humans alike, all clapping and cheering for him.

He smiled at everyone as the security guards silenced the crowd so he could speak. He sighed and straightened his posture.

“I’d like to start this off by thanking everyone who allowed me to come speak today,” He gestured off to his right, running through his pre-made script in his mind. The crowd clapped again, but quieted down much more quickly.

“The reason I asked to give a speech is because I wanted to address a certain, uh, rumor that’s going around on social media.” He explained, swallowing a lump in his throat.

He glanced behind him at the wall that would project everything he wanted to show for a brief second, as if he was expecting it to fall apart then and there.

He cleared his throat and looked back to the crowd, “It’s come to my attention that a lot, and I mean a lot, of people have been saying bad stuff about my buddy, Tails.”

There were a few quiet murmurs throughout the crowd, but Sonic didn’t focus on them. He wasn’t here to listen to the crowd anyway.

His ear flicked when he heard one of the producers click a button, which meant the first bunch of articles were now being projected behind him.

Checking over his shoulder to confirm it, he frowned at the news headlines before pointing back at them.

“As you can see, a common theme here is that Tails is the reason it takes a bit longer to take down Eggman.” He gritted his teeth, he still couldn’t believe that people were blaming Tails for all of this.

If anyone should be blamed, it should be Eggman. Y’know, the guy who’s trying to take over the world.

Nobody should be blaming the kid trying to save it.

“I’ve come here to end those rumors once and for all.” Sonic made sure he kept his voice clear as he spoke.

He wanted everyone to fully understand what he was about to say.

“Tails is not, and never will be, responsible for however long it takes for us to defeat Eggman.” He glanced over the crowd, watching as the onlookers talked amongst each other. Some would look up to the big screen, then immediately turn back to whoever they were talking to.

“Especially,” Sonic spoke again, waiting until most of the crowd was looking at him before continuing, “not when he’s being held hostage.”

More shushed arguments were exchanged, but the hero continued on with his speech.

“And, to whoever had the genius idea to make this comment,” He paused to gesture to the wall behind him as the projector changed to show an image of a reply to one of the other articles.

‘It’s probably fake. Sonic just keeps the kid around for his smarts, he doesn’t actually care about that thing! They don’t even have the same last name.’

“I’d like to publicly announce that since yesterday, December Fourth, my name has been legally changed to Sonic Prower. Approved and signed by Judge Nicholas Howard.” He silently thanked Amy for helping him with this speech, he could only imagine how much of a train wreck it would be if he’d done this by himself.

“From now on, I don’t want to hear or see anyone saying Tails is at fault for Eggman’s destruction,” He said as the projector clicked off, “that is all.”

As he walked off the stage, he heard a few hesitant claps that soon turned into the whole crowd cheering.

He just hopes they'll listen to what he said.

He glanced down at his communicator when it started vibrating, smiling when he read the contact of who was calling him.

‘micro buddy💛 is calling..’

Sonic quickly tapped the green phone button, a wide grin on his face when he saw the two tailed fox on the screen.

“What was that about?!” Tails yelled, glancing between the communicator and what the hedgehog assumes is the T.V.

“What?” Sonic asked, though he knew what the kit was referencing.

“That!” The fox grabbed the side of his head with his free hand, “wh– you– Sonic!”

“Ain’t a big deal, bud,” The teen shrugged as he walked down the street, “can’t have them blaming you like that for Eggman’s stunts.”

“You didn’t have to do that, Sonic,” Tails shook his head, “it really wasn’t that bad. I-I can handle it.”

“I found you curled up on my bed crying because of it, Tails.” Sonic shook his head, “sure, maybe you can deal with it, but that doesn’t mean you should. Nobody deserves that, especially not you.”

He looked down at his communicator when he heard sniffling, frowning when he saw his brother scrubbing at his eyes, “Hey, dude, need me to come there?”

“No, no,” Tails shook his head, “it’s fine. I’m fine, it’s just–” he took a deep breath to even out his breathing, “unexpected. And a little overwhelming?”

“You sure?” The hedgehog raised a brow, glancing at the other civilians around him, “‘cause I can be there in just a second, pal.”

“No, really, it’s fine Sonic.” The kit sat down on his sofa, a small, genuine smile on his face, “thanks. For, y’know, all of this.”

“‘Course, bud,” Sonic smiled back, “s’what best bros are for.” He winked at the fox, earning a fit of light laughter for it.

“Yeah, alright,” Tails shook his head, “let me know when you’re heading back here next. I’ll make some chili dogs for you, as a thanks.”

“Ya don’t gotta do that, li’l bro,” The teen snorted before putting on a fake deep-in-thought face, “but~ if you plan on fryin’ those dogs for me..”

The fox rolled his eyes, “You say that as if I cook them any other way,” there was a big smile on his face, “I know how you like your chili dogs, big bro.”

“Alright, alright,” Sonic laughed and held up his free hand in a mock defense, “how ‘bout I come over next week, then?”

“Mmm, I dunno if I can fit you in then, Sonic.” Tails hummed, his smile turning into a smirk, “you might have to come in next month.”

“Don’t mess with my heart like that, little buddy,” The hedgehog said with a fake pained tone, dramatically placing his hand over his heart, “you’re killin’ me, bro.”

The kit laughed and looked over his shoulder, “well, I definitely have enough for you. Just let me know when you’re gonna come over ahead of time so I can have them ready when you get here.”

“Sure thing, li’l bro!” Sonic said, giving a two finger salute.

“I gotta get back to work,” The younger said as he turned back to his watch, “I’m assuming Amy’s gonna call ya. Tell her I said hi!”

The teen rolled his eyes, “You know, you could just come over and tell her yourself instead of staying inside all day.”

“Sorry, can’t hear you!” Tails stood from the couch, making his way into his workshop, “I think you’re breaking up!”

“You said that these things were built well enough so that wouldn’t be an issue?” Sonic questioned with a raised brow, smirking at the other’s shocked look.

“Uhh,” The kit looked around and shrugged, “I don’t have another excuse. Byeloveyou!”

The line clicked, signaling Tails had hung up.

Sonic sighed, a fond smile on his face.

“Love ya too, li’l bro.”