#sitting here waiting for another version of this since I like things in threes

[linipikk]

Aziraphale shielding Crowley from water

and Crowley shielding Aziraphale from fire

[sysig]

Decided to unlock a few pages since I’ve basically already showed them off over here, feel free to check out the like five extra doodles lol

[atruththatyoudeny]

Happy 28th! Here are the fics I read and loved this month. As always all my love goes out to the fantastic authors, not only in this fic rec but all over the fandom. Without you my days would look much  bleaker ♥

I've Got Demons, You've Got Scars - WIP | mission2feelike | [94k] Harry’s life has been ruined twice. Once, the first time his alpha raised his fist four years ago, and then again today when his job discovered that he is an omega in a world where omegas, especially bonded omegas, have no rights. Now, he’s stuck trying to figure out how he’s going to take care of his four-year-old daughter, Mia. Just when it’s looking completely hopeless, a possible job arises. Someone is looking for an omega to help an alpha in need. The only problem is that the alpha has been diagnosed with Alpha Rage, a crippling disease that causes an alpha to become feral, making them succumb to their most instinctual, primal versions of themselves. A story of an omega that’s been broken, an alpha that can’t trust himself, and their unlikely relationship. Lovingly known as 'The Feral Louis Fic'.

everything to lose | stylinsoncity | [92k] harry is a global popstar who's convinced the world he has it all -- a happy marriage to a devoted alpha, two beautiful children, two grammy awards, three platinum albums, and a budding film career. but some aspects of his image aren't as true as they seem. like the fact he's been separated for over a year, uses meaningless flings to cope and occasionally forgets responsibilities or commitments to his family. he and louis once commanded stages together. they tackled any challenges to their future. and no matter how hard things got, they always returned to one another. harry would always return to louis. until one day, he finds he can't.

The Pros and Cons of Breathing | HelloLovers13 | [82k] Omega Harry has always known he'd be married off someday, so when he's betrothed to Prince Louis, he's anxious about having to leave his life behind, but hopeful for a happy marriage. The hope doesn't last long, with his husband avoiding him at all costs and Harry being left to fend for himself. Can he find happiness even in a broken marriage?

Some Records Turnin’ | crimsontheory | [49k] “Harry, dear,” Niall said cheerily, his arms ladened down with more boxes they’d received from their shipment earlier that day. “I promise this isn’t a prank, but Louis Tomlinson is sitting in our office.” “I know,” Harry replied, using his hip to close the drawer of the cash register. “I let him back there.” “Wait,” Niall said as he sat the boxes in his arms down on the counter and then held up his hands with his palms facing out towards Harry. “You mean to tell me that this man who you have a massive crush on is in our store right now and you’re just letting him sit back there by himself and not trying to shoot your shot?” Or, Harry is a soft alpha who owns a record store and Louis is a closeted singer omega masquerading as an alpha who randomly stumbles into Harry’s store.

taken by lust’s strange inhumanity | CuckooTrooke | [20k] One of the reasons Harry said 'yes' in the first place was because he believed Louis Tomlinson, the campus’ most notorious “bad boy”, would be here. And much to Harry's triumph and dismay, Louis is here but the last time Harry got a glimpse of him, he had a pretty omega wrapped around him, clinging onto the flaps of his leather jacket while nosing his scent glands. Maybe that’s just the story of Harry's life; always infatuated with the wrong people. OR The one with all the jealous snarling, awkward first kisses and one unforgettable night.

Bitter Ends Turn Sweet | allwaswell16 | [30k] It had been four years since Harry first heard the song his ex wrote about him and far longer since they broke up. He forgave Louis long ago, and now his life was focused on his career, his family, and especially his son, Max. But Louis was back in Chicago, after all this time, and he’s not an easy man to ignore. Or a songfic inspired by the song Chicago

show me your love (grow up and see) | abaddxns | [22k] At only thirty two years of age, Louis Tomlinson has made quite the life for himself—he has his dream job, a place all his own, a nice car, and all the people closest to him are seeing success of their own. The only big thing he's missing now is having the right partner and starting a family with them, although he figures he has plenty of time for that yet. That is, until his best mate, Harry, comes to him with a proposition. Or: what happens when you agree to become your best friend's baby daddy.

Chicago | likelarry | [15k] Harry Styles is one of the fashion industry's best models and Louis Tomlinson is a world renowned rockstar. In the midst of Louis' world tour, Harry finds out he's pregnant.

Tupelo Honey | superglass | [54k] “What,” Louis starts, always hating how silence like this drives him crazy, “what exactly are you gaining from all this? All this, following a mediocre band around. Why do you do that?” Harry giggles around her cigarette, looking out at the alley. When she smiles, her teeth peek out behind her red lips, giving him the chills— right down to his core. He doesn’t think he’s ever seen a smile so pretty. So enthralling he can’t take his eyes off of it. “I’ve got nothing better to do, Louis.” or Louis is a roadie for a rock band, and Harry is their groupie. 1970s au.

Yours To Lose | loulicate | [25k] “I think I know the person that matches your descriptions of your dream alpha.” “Who? And oh not my dream alpha, god you’re making me sound like a teenage school girl. I’m a mum, H.” They laugh as they watch kids gather in front of the verandah, getting ready to go back to the orphanage. “Well, you’re gonna have to find out.” Harry winks before standing up to start cleaning their spot. - Or Louis always gets distracted with his mummy duty and he eventually catches Harry's attention.

and when it rains, you're shining down for me | martisgotaproblem | [37k] “This is Harry, he’ll be your patient,” Liam gestured politely. Harry froze when Louis’ eyes met his own once more. He felt himself getting lost in those eyes, so much so that he didn’t notice Niall and Liam leaving the room quietly but the sound of the door shutting behind them brought him out of the trance. “Hello, I’m Louis,” the omega said, extending his hand for Harry to shake. The alpha could still sense some nervousness in his stance but decided to ignore it. “‘’m Harry.” Or the one where Harry is a grumpy boxer who gets injured and Louis is the lovely physiotherapist hired to help him, but getting pregnant wasn’t exactly in his recovery plan.

In the middle of the night when the wolves come out | Marchessa | [30k] I. It's always darkest before the dawn The full moon was hiding behind dark clouds on that night, filling the air with something sinister. Harry lived that evening like an out of body experience, as if it hadn't happened to him. Because something horrifying like that can happen only to fictional characters and people from old-wives tales, not to actual breathing people. Or so he thought. Everything that happened after nightfall seemed surreal, and he couldn't put his finger on where it went off the track. Probably sometime during the train ride back to Holmes Chapel after a long, exhausting week of university classes. Or the one where Louis saves Harry's life by biting him, but the younger man has to pay the price for it. II. On such breathless nights as these “Do you wish to become my mate, the pack omega?” “I do.” Louis kneeled down in front of him, and took the omega’s hands in his own, holding them over his chest. “Then I will take you as my omega today,” Louis said with a firm voice. “I will keep you as my omega, my fated mate. From now on, you are mine to love. Mine to care for. Mine to pleasure,” he promised, leaning closer to the omega. Harry’s whole body flushed after hearing his alpha’s vow, and tears gathered in his eyes. As a newly presented omega, Harry has a hard time adjusting to his new life. Luckily he has the best alpha anyone could ask for on his side. The Moon had guided him to the most perfect mate in the world, and soon they will bond in the pale moonlight. He just has to survive the long road leading to the mating ritual.

Pray To God This Won't Be A Mess | xogucciblue | [28k] “You know,” Niall muses, voice too loud for the quiet of the afternoon, “this would all be much easier if you had a boyfriend.” Louis blinks one eye open lazily and turns to squint it at Niall. “I mean,” he continues as Louis let his eyes drift closed again, “all any of those twats seem interested in is who you’re screwing this week. Reckon if you had one steady bloke to point to they’d eventually have no choice but to go back to asking you about the music.” It’s not a bad point. Even as fucked up as he is, Louis is able to recognize that Niall is probably right – at the moment, the most interesting thing about Louis is his unattached status and resultant potential for scandal. If he were tied to only one person there’d be no room or reason for questions about his boy of the week or if the rumors that he was sleeping with his stylist’s nephew's older brother’s friend were true. --- When Louis is outed just weeks before his hotly anticipated second album is set to drop, Harry agrees to hold his hand in a few pictures to cool down the media hype. That's all it was supposed to be.

Until the Pearls Get Lost | LadyLondonderry | [25k] London, 1933. Harry Styles, alpha, elusive bachelor and happy third wheel to his coupled friends, receives a visit from one Liam Payne, begging for his help. Liam’s childhood friend Louis is about to become the talk of the city; left at the altar because the mating bond was rejected, Louis will spend the rest of his life in an institution unless Liam can find someone to take him in and care for him as he recovers. Most omegas with failed bonds are never the same again. With rumours swirling around about the reason for the rejected bond, Harry gives in to Liam’s pleas. He hasn’t the slightest idea how that decision will shape the rest of his life.

Where Life Changed Us | ExiledQueenCatalog | [22k] Omega Harry has a rare genetic disorder where he has no sense of smell. This has lots of odd effects such as him not being able to smell his own scent but most brutally, not being able to scent the way his inner omega desires. It also leaves him as a sort of odd-ball to the community, leaving him becoming touch starved as no one wants the omega who can’t scent. Until finally, he meets the right alpha.

[fizzing-imagines]

Hellfire After Hours | Billy Hargrove x Plus Size! Alt! Reader

Notes: I've tried uploading this 20 times now until I realized that tumblr won't let me post until I delete the entire smut scene. So here y'all have the censored version (u can dm me for the smut scene lol). Please note that reader is female in this and don't be hard on me, this is my first time writing smut. Big thank you to @billyssillywilly for helping me out. Enjoy!

Bad End: Here

Good End: Here

Warnings: Bullying, Swearing and sexual innuendos

Word Count: 2.5k-ish

Billy wasn't supposed to look twice when you passed by him. You hung out with the freaks, blasted Black Sabbath when pulling into the parking lot, wore dark makeup and ripped clothes. In addition, you had a few extra pounds to you. There was nothing he should be attracted to, but yet he was. He couldn't stop imagining your blood red lips wrapped around his dick, and grabbing your plushy hips while slamming into you. He wanted nothing more than to rip your clothes even further while making you tell him what you do with your freak-friend Gareth Emerson every other day after school. And he hated you for it. He despised you more than anyone else in the school for something that was entirely his fault. And he has tried everything to get you down. Billy has called you a cow, fatso, lard-ass, you name it, he said it to you. But last time, when he called you a quarter pounder, all you said was "At least I get pounded." and it made his dick twitch. And he hated Gareth for getting what he wanted so desperately, but what he hated more was that Gareth not only didn't care what he had to say but also that you protected him. That freak wasn't even your boyfriend, for fuck sake.

Billy Hargrove hated you like nothing else in Hawkins High.

"He's starring again.", Gareth mumbled to you at lunch. The two of you were seated at your table, waiting for your other friends to join. "Who?", you asked with a half-full mouth of mac and cheese. "Hargrove.", your friend-with-benefits replied. All you did was shrug your shoulders and put another fork full of your food in your mouth. "Let him. What is he gonna do, tell me to eat less food?" The last three words were spoken in a mocking tone. Gareth chuckled at your words and looked back at his food, but not before sneaking a glance at your boobs that were practically squeezing out of your Coroded Coffin tube top. You didn't comment since you couldn't blame him. One thing you were confident in is your looks - and you knew that Billy has been thirsting after you. Did you hate him? Yes, absolutely, but knowing that he secretly wanted to bang you was hilarious and such a treat. Speaking of the devil:

"Hey fattie.", Billy called over before standing next to you. "You ain't gonna loose weight if you keep eating junk like a pig." All you did was giggle at his words before replying: "Are you sure you want me to loose weight? My tits would be so much smaller, and I know how much you love starring at them." Billy was flabbergasted for a good second before scoffing and turning heel to walk away, but not before calling you a cow. "You know, I think you'll eventually regret talking to him like that.", Gareth said before eating a fork full of salad. "Oh really? What is the big manbaby gonna do?" You laughed and continued eating.

Just like your friends, you were in the Hellfire Club. Eddie had another campaign, a really good one, but your sorcerer died in a kamikaze attack to save Gareth the Great just an hour into the game. It frustrated you that you had to sit there for two more hours without doing anything, even though you loved listening to how Eddie led his campaign. The party and the campaign were finished after three hours total, leaving you as the next dungeon master for the following two sessions. As always, you volunteered to clean up after everyone so you left last. What you didn't expect was the basketball team to finish at the same time today. They were always done long before Hellfire finished up, so you saw them loading their cars as you walked out of the school. You threw your D&D books in your trunk while hearing the remaining cars driving away. Just as you thought you were alone while slamming your trunk shut, someone stood next to you. "What do you want?", you asked in a condescending tone while putting your school bag into the passenger seat. "You got a real big mouth, you know that?" He fumbled a cigarette out while talking - and he looked pissed. "You know, for someone who will always be a single imbecile. You should be nice, at least if you have to be fat." You scoffed at his words while leaning against your car. Any other day than today you would've made a passing comment, get behind the wheel and drive away. But now, after having your character be killed at the beginning of the campaign, being yelled at by your gym teacher and now Billy saying this you've had it. "You know, you're gonna be one of those husbands who yells at his wife to make him a sandwich and get divorced three times." He glared at you, even though he provoked you. "And your kids won't talk to you. They'll let you rot away in a nursing home while you wonder why nobody loves you." He got closer and looked down on you, probably hoping to intimidate you. It didn't work. "You'll never get the pleasure of a wife who will make you lunch for work and homemade cookies for desert. There is nothing but sadness, Billy." He blew the smoke from his cigarette in your face and pit it out on the roof of your car. "What are you gonna do, huh? Punch me? Do it. Fucking do it, you pussy." You didn't care anymore, the words were spit from your mouth, right at his face. You were fed up with him and his bullshit. But Billy, who cares too much, grabbed you by your jaw and pushed your back against your own car. Admittedly, you were a bit scared now but in some sick way...it made you horny. He looked beyond pissed, a storm was brewing in his eyes, his jaw clenched and nostrils widened. And you couldn't think of anything more attractive. "I hate you, so much.", he hissed out. "How can you not be miserable, looking the way you do." It wasn't a question towards you. More so, he asked himself how you can be happy while he had to suffer by himself. Billy felt how a lump formed in his throat, but he knew he couldn't cry. Not in public, and especially not in front of you.

What you didn't know was that Neil shoved Billy into his bookshelf this morning. He shoved him so hard that the bookshelf almost fell on top of him and his back was bruised. But he couldn't cry - he had to get Max and him to school. All day, it kept building up. His team lost in gym class, he failed math and had to explain that to Neil now, he got detention and now you read him like a book. Everything build up, and it became too much. He needed a way to let it out. That way was you.

"Dude, it's okay to cry.", you told him with a raised eyebrow. "Just do that shit in your car. I'm not your therapist." Billy let you push him off of you easily, giving you the chance to get in your car and drive off.

After that incident, Billy left you alone for two weeks. Even when his friends wanted to tease you, he just told them that you're not worth it and walked away. Gareth, knowing you enough, noticed it at the beginning of week two. "What's with Hargrove?", he asked you while giving you his desert cookie. With a grin, you took it from him while saying: "What's supposed to be with him?" Gareth looked past your head to see Billy eating at the popular kids table without starting a conversation. Only a short glance at you sometimes. "Keeps looking at you, but hasn't said anything in, what, a week?" You smirked at Gareth, winked at him and asked: "Jealous?", which was followed by your other friends at the table, aka Corroded Coffin, making gagging noises. "No seriously, what is it with him?", Gareth kept pushing. You haven't told any of them what had happened with Billy, you didn't want to tell nor have them know. But now that Gareth noticed, they won't stop asking until you told them what had happened. So you told them, whispered everything you could remember to them just quietly enough for nobody to overhear, conveniently leaving out the part where his anger turned you on. Jeff sat open-mouthed without saying a word, Gareth and his best friend started talking about how much of an asshole he is while Eddie sat and watched the other react. "It's not a big deal, seriously.", you reassured them while unpacking your cookie. "His ego is bruised, so what? Big deal." The four guys shared a look while you took a bite of your cookie. What were they on about now? "What?", you asked with a mouth full of food. "Nothing, jeez.", Gareth said before starting to eat his own food again. Eddie changed the topic to D&D after a while, saying he was excited to finish your own campaign later today.

The rest of the day went by fast, but not only for you. Billy couldn't get you out of his mind ever since he pinned you against your car. He was angry at first, not wanting to admit his attraction to you and still asking himself, why you? Then his anger directed itself at your friend, fucking Gareth Emerson, who got anything he wanted from you. At the same time fear got the best of him, because what if Gareth got to you first? What if he took what he thought was his, even though you didn't even pay attention to him when he didn't try to provoke you. And he was convinced that he only wanted to fuck you, but when he thought of you being with Gareth, kissing him, holding his hand or going to some stupid prom with him it made him furious. He didn't want that to happen. So then he got sad, because any chance he might have had with you was out of the window. Who would date someone that called them fat on a regular basis? And since when did he want to date anybody? Nothing made sense to him anymore, so he decided to get to his senses after your D&D session. He patiently waited in front of the theatre room, where your club held it's sessions and listened to you leading the campaign through the door. Your voice was filled with nothing but happiness and excitement as you spoke, and your laugh sounded heavenly to him. His heart started beating faster as he heard the party celebrate their victory and pack up their things. Once again, you volunteered to clean up their leftover cans, snacks and put the figurines away. All four other party members let out a disapproving scoff as they saw Billy leaning against the wall next to the door but he just ignored them and glared at Gareth before going in.

Your back was turned as you sorted the little figurines to each member of Hellfire. You made all of them put their initials on the bottom of each figure that belonged to them after switching figurines up regularly. Eddie started calling you mom after that in a joking manner, even though you were a year younger than him. Not even the door shutting concerned you since you thought it were the boys leaving. Only when you heard a familiar voice say "Quite the view." you turned around to see Billy standing in the room. "What do you want?", you asked him in an annoyed tone. Hellfire Club was the only place where he left you alone, and you wanted to keep it that way. "Look, I'm not here to fight, okay? Just wanna talk." He came closer to you and placed a hand on each side of the table next to you, cornering you once more. "You can do that while respecting my personal space.", you said to him while pressing your back into the table. "You'd run off if I did.", he said. "Listen, (Y/N), I have something to tell you." You can't remember a scenario where he called you by your first name. "The times I was mean to you-" You interrupted him. "You bullied me. Or tried to." Billy just nodded once before continuing "Yeah, bullied you, I guess." What a good start, he thought. "I was...trying to get you to hate me-" You interrupted him once more. "I kind of do, actually." He sighted at your interruption. "Let me finish, please.", he said while trying to hold back his annoyed tone. You simply nodded and let him continue. "I was trying to get you to hate me, because I didn't want to admit to the fact that I like you." He waited for you reaction, but all you did was grin and giggle. "Oh, I know you like me Billy.", you said. "You made it very obvious." There was silence between you two before you spoke again. "I'll let you get in my pants if you promise to be a good boy afterwards." Billy grinned at you, lifted you up the table and started kissing you.

The next hour was a blur. All you could remember was how good you felt, that you moaned his name over and over again and begged him for more. "You okay?", Billy asked you while picking up his and your clothes. "Can't feel my legs..", you mumbled in a tired tone. He chuckled, helped you to sit up on the table and got you dressed. "Let me drive you home.", he said while pulling your shirt over your head. "Are your parents home or anyone I need to make an excuse for?" He lifted your legs up to get your thong back on you. "No, they're in Austin for some business conference. Big sister moved to Tampa years ago, just me and my pet frog." Billy helped you get up from the table, you stood on shaky legs as you looked around the room. "Need to sort the figurines again.", you mumbled as you walked over to the table like a baby deer. "Let me help you, sweetheart." Billy picked up the figurines and dice that were scattered on the ground. "There's the boys initials on the bottom, just put them in piles." You were too distracted with not collapsing due to your legs giving out that you didn't noticed how Billy snagged one of Gareths figurines.

After cleaning up, Billy drove you home. He got you into your room, helped you remove your makeup and get changed into your pyjamas. "Didn't you say that you liked me?", you asked as he tucked you in. "I did, yeah.", he replied with a smile. "Wanna stay the night?" Billy looked down on you. He saw you without your dark makeup for the first time, and you were still so beautiful to him. "If I can take you out after school.", he said while taking off his clothes. You thought about it for a bit before agreeing and he slipped into bed next to you. "Sleep well, sweetheart.", Billy whispered. He turned off your nightlight, gave you a kiss on your forehead and wrapped his arms around your body before both of you drifted off to sleep.

It's been a month since that incident. Billy held his promise and started taking you out every other day, didn't make comments in school anymore and told everyone who tried to to fuck off. First, you stopped having sex with Gareth after week one, then Eddie eventually caught you and Billy making out after school so you had to tell them that you have been seeing him behind their back. And it took them a while to cope with it, especially because this was Billy Hargrove dating a freak, but they accepted it when they saw that you were even happier than before. Billy officially asked you to be his girlfriend a few days ago, much to your friends dismay. "(Y/N), look at this.", Gareth said while looking at something in his locker next to you. His D&D figurine, the one of his character, was laying in his locker. "Told you it would turn up again.", you said to him with a grin. You never told any of the boys what happened that night on the table, and you assumed Billy stole the figure for whatever reason. "Maybe one of the theatre kids found it.", you added while going back to your locker. "Yeah, but it's been, what, three weeks? A month?", your friend continued. "Just be happy it's back." You picked out the books for your next class and put them in your bag, then fished out a plastic bag filled with cookies you and your father made last night. Billy has walked past your locker between every 4th and 5th period since he asked you to be his girlfriend, so you just waited for him to pass by. "See you later.", Gareth said to you while shutting his locker and walking off to his next class. "See ya.", you said while fixing your hair in the mirror you had in your locker. "Hey, sweetheart.", a familiar voice behind you said. The reflection of Billy was in your mirror, to what you turned around with a smile. "Hey there.", you said with a smile. The two of you shared a kiss before you handed him the bag. "I made this for you.", you proudly told him, still smiling. Billy took the ziplock bag from your hands, looked at the content inside it and smiled. "Thought I'd never have the pleasure of homemade cookies.", he said in a teasing tone.

"Well, you earned that pleasure."

[thebestofoneshots]

WHEN I TELL YOU I SCREAMED WHEN YOU SAID I WAS A SLY FOX!?!??? GOD I LOVE THIS STORY AND THAT JUST PROVES SO MUCH THAT I WAS THINKING ABOUT!!!! IM LITERALLY SCREAMING!!!! I LOVE IT SO MUCH!!! AND THE COVER FOR THE BOOK?!?!? ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS!!! ITS SO PRETTY!!! BUT ALSO I DIVED DEEPER LIKE YOU SAID I NOTICED SOME HIDDEN CLUES!!!

ok so first of all right off the bat i noticed the little fox on the bottom! but also above that is “A labyrinth of lost souls” (now i know this might be reaching but idk!) so i looked up “a labyrinth of lost souls” and immediately got a bunch of links talking about assassins creed! and i quickly read over one of the links and saw that there’s a ring involved?!?!? and i immediately thought of the ring that y/n got from her mother! but i also saw there’s another game called wizardry: labyrinth of lost souls! so that could also be what you’re talking about!!! idk if either of those are relevant but for now this is just a quick rundown of what i can gather right now!

ok next are the the little moons in the top corners with the woman sitting in them! idk what meaning you have behind them rn but what i got from them is the fact that they are not full moons and she’s sitting inside of them while it kids looks like the moon is curving into her in a way? like trying to reach to her? idk again just the vibe i’m getting! ALSO THERES STARS IN THE MOON!!! WOLFSTAR!!! not only are there stars in the moon but there’s a single star outside of the moon but also in it? with the woman! it almost looks like the woman is sitting inside the moon admiring the star!!! idk!

MOVING ON BECAUSE THIS ISNT A DEEP DIVE JUST WHAT I CAN GATHER NOW!! I WILL DO A DEEP DIVE LATER!!! OK THE CONSTELLATIONS!!! I NOTICE THREE OF THEM AND I IMMEDIATELY LOOKED UP SIRIUS’ CONSTELLATION!!! AND WHAT DID I FIND?!?!??? THATS RIGHT CANIS MAJOR!!! THAT LOOKS LIKE A DOG!!! WHICH HAS SIRIUS’ CONSTELLATION IN IT!!! and where do i see a dog like constellation?!?!? ON THE LEFT OF THE COVER!!!

i believe the constellation in the middle is cassiopeia but i could be wrong. i don’t know for sure i looked up the story and don’t see how it fits in right now but maybe later in the story? hmmm

i can’t figure out what the one on the right is but hopefully i will find out soon!!! like i said this is just be briefly looking at the cover because i got so excited and couldn’t wait!!!

OK FOR NOW THATS ALL IM GONNA TALK ABOUT I WILL FIND MORE THINGS LATER!!! BUT OMG THIS IS SO MUCH FUN!!! TO LIKE LOOK FOR LITTLE DETAILS!!! ALSO THE WHOLE PRIZE THING?!?!??? I SCREAMED OMG!!! I WOULD ACTUALLY KILL TO BE A CHARACTER IN YOUR STORY!!! ITS LITERALLY AMAZING!!!! AND I HAVE SO MUCH MORE TO SAY BUT I NEED TO GET TO BED BUT JUST KNOW IM IN LOVE WITH YOUR WRITING AND EVERYTHING YOU DO ITS AMAZING!!!!

OK LOVE YA BYE!!!!

Tinny little fun fact so you don’t rack your brain over this one: Labyrinth of Souls was actually my second top option for naming Gilded Constellations, I wanted it to have a very David Bowie-esque vibe which is why Labyrinth (literally from the movie The Labyrinth, was just perfect, but I felt it was too corny (especially when the first iteration was Labyrinth of Hearts) that I went for Gilded Constellations instead.

Gilded being inspired by Golden Years from Bowie, and constellations because our babies are our moon and stars. In Spanish we have a word that’s “Astros” which roughly translates to “all the things in the sky” but there is no cool version of it in English so constellations it was in the end.

Aaaalso, theories are so freaking fun, I thought I’d let you guys run with them, so I’m helping you recruit some of my other readers, especially the ones that always approach me with theories since I feel like you could have lots of fun together theorizing over the cover: @moonyunebi @starchaser-lily @blacksgarden @loving-and-dreaming @imdoingbetternow (no pressure btw)

Lovelies, this is a follow up to this post, and I’m also adding the cover here again for your convenience ♡

But in short, I was telling Comet that I had designed this cover and that is just as filled with easter eggs, foreshadowing and secrets, as the story itself… So you may or may not find clues for the story here ☆

Also taking this chance to invite everyone who has not sent questions for the future Q&A, to send as many as you want ૮꒰ ˶• ༝ •˶꒱ა ♡

Lastly, there will be a mini contest later on, so Comet will not be the only one receiving a price, stay tuned, and send in all your theories…

Ps, That’s not Cassiopeia, perhaps you should look closer to where the swans swim…

Ps2, thanks for the rose and love kit, you’re lovely ꒰ᐢ. .ᐢ꒱₊˚⊹

[metfell]

okay here's a tumblr version of the fic i just posted to ao3. it's wilbur being revived:

13 years. 

It had been 13 years of sitting in that fucking station. If it had just been something temporary, maybe a few days, that would have been one thing. It was just a train station afterall, albeit with a bit of a weird color palette. People come and go from train stations all the time, it wasn’t like it was some evil promethean torture, having his liver torn out only for it to heal; a constant graphic agony.

But with nowhere else to go, nothing to do, and not another sign of life for years, Wilbur Soot was losing his mind. 

He probably already had lost it by the end of the first week. He thought this was just the waiting point for the first couple days. Then he began begging into the smoke for someone to save him for the first two years. Entered a rage at year three that lasted another four years. Curled up in a ball of resignation at year ten. 

And it was year 13.

Wilbur stood up. He hadn’t done that in… probably a week? He was barely keeping track at that point. But he stood up, on shaky legs still wearing the same shoes he had worn the day he died. Sometimes he would get bored, take off his shoes, and throw them across to the other side of the station. He would wake up the next “day” with them back on his feet. After a bit he started doing that with the rest of his clothes. It didn’t matter. He would sit there and pick at the fibers of his shirt until he tore a hole in it, only for it to close up again next he woke up.

Less promethean and more sisyphean, the fact that nothing was ever changing was the problem.

He thought a lot about what he would’ve worn the day he died, if he had planned it better. Maybe something that didn’t have black fucking skinny jeans. Or sneakers. Or a long coat- though he liked the coat. There wasn’t any temperature in the station, but the coat provided a heavy weight that he would sometimes pretend was another person. 

But he stood up. He stood up because there was a noise. 

Wilbur wasn’t used to noises in the station. He only had white noise, or maybe his voice. He gave up on talking though by year five. Once in year 8 he had tried to talk again, and it took him a day just to say “hello.” He didn’t like how the hello sounded, though. It didn’t sound like him. It was too quiet. So a noise was different; it was new.

He stumbled towards the tracks, and peeked down into the depths of the tunnel. It was inky black, train tracks disappearing back into void. Wilbur had tried running down them once, back in the first month. He had stood up, hopped down onto the tracks, and started running. He appeared back at the other end of the station. 

So he wasn’t expecting anything to be at the end of it. 

But there was a light.

There was a light. Wilbur’s eyes widened for the first time since year one.

He crumpled down onto the tracks when a low rumbling shook the floor, his legs too weak from sitting for so long to be able to support him. 

The light and rumbling grew closer, and down there on the tracks, Wilbur realized he was scared. He felt scared. Feeling anything was strange to him, and it was scary, and the fact that it was scary was euphoric.

But there was still a train barreling towards him. And Wilbur didn’t want to know what happened to people who died a second time in Limbo.

He scrambled to get to his feet, gripping the edge of the platform, and heaving himself up onto it. Wilbur laid there, feeling the ground underneath him tremble, and he smiled.

The train pulled in, steam mixing with the smoke of the station and curling up into clouds like a thunderstorm overhead. The red lights of its interior beaming out onto the tile floors and walls, almost like some sort of creature staring him down. That’s what it felt like. Something strange, a UFO arriving to abduct him. 

He turned behind him to look at the station wall, watched the red lights move slowly and steadily in row and then stop like soldiers marching, and saw his shadow. It broke up the even line of red streaks, his form strange and frustrating to him but so interesting as it disturbed the uniformity of the lights. It moved with him when he raised his arms and legs, and he held up a hand and made a little shadow puppet in it. He hadn’t seen a shadow in 13 years. 

The train’s doors slid open. 

Wilbur had no idea what to expect, but he clambered onto the train as fast as he could despite it all. He didn’t fucking care. The air was different in the train, it was less stagnant. It felt like he was actually breathing. Maybe he was. 

His breath was sucked out from him though when he locked eyes with the ghost of himself standing next to him in the train car. He wasn’t saying anything, just crying; his tears thick and ultramarine blue as they fell onto the metal floor. Wilbur just stared at him, and the ghost stared back. After what felt like eternity- or maybe only a second, the ghost stepped out of the train, and onto the platform, its tears dripping after it. A realization came to him at that moment. If his ghost was entering the station…. then surely that meant he would be taking his place… in the world of the living. He was going home.

He continued to stare out the doors at his ghost, and it gave a little wave and a very small smile. Wilbur found himself waving back despite himself. He wanted to talk- had so many things to say, so much to ask- but still his voice wouldn’t find him. And as the train whistle blew, and the doors slid shut, Wilbur watched as the ghost’s legs gave out beneath it, and it slipped down to the tile floor, where he had been for 13 years. He almost felt bad. Almost. But he was going back- he was going back.

He was going back.

Feeling the train begin to move, he stumbled into a seat, and watched out the windows into the pitch black void. Wilbur fully expected to be sent back into the station, a quick roundabout trip much like when he ran down the tracks. 

But he didn’t end up back at the station.

Instead, he braced himself as the train picked up speed. He felt his heart start to hammer in his chest- or was that a normal heartbeat? He gripped the pole in front of him and stared at his hands. They glowed red in the light of the train, like he was covered in blood. Maybe he was bleeding. He couldn’t bleed in Limbo, he figured that out within the first week.

And as the train continued, the colors shifted away from the searing red into a light cool gray. Like morning, he thought to himself. His whole body started to hurt. 

Hurt. His body hurt. He was feeling something.

But his body hurt a lot, he realized, and he looked down at his hands again. The left one was still red, but the lights had changed. It wasn’t red in the cabin. He realized again that it was blood. He was bleeding. He was bleeding on his left arm. He turned, craning his neck to see the blood seeping through his brown coat, and he sat there mesmerized by it. 

The train whistle blew again, and the car began to rattle like airplane turbulence. He gripped the pole tighter, the blood from his arm drying and making his hand stick to the metal. He felt everything get faster and faster, and just when he was about to fall out of his seat, when it became too much for him-

Wilbur sat up.

Looking down, he saw his hands pressed into the gravel of a destroyed stone room. He dug his fingers into it, feeling the stones poke and jab at his hands, the blood from his arm pooling down and mixing into the rocks. He spent a good minute just feeling the ground before finally pushing himself up. Standing, he stared perplexed at the shrine next to him. Peering down at it, he saw a chest labeled “For Wilbur”, and a L’manberg flag hung in the center. Was it a grave… for him?

It was his grave. He was standing next to his own grave. A strange, inhuman sound petered up through his body, and though he knew it was a surprised laugh, it sounded like a sickly child’s wheeze.

But despite the blissful levels of joy at breathing in air into his lungs, and feeling the ground beneath him shift- he wasn’t used to uneven ground, not with the perfectly flat tile of the station- he was confused, terrifyingly so. 

Why was he back? Why was he brought back? It had been so long- why now? Who decided he was worthy of coming back- after everything he had done? Who deemed him worthy?

He heard blocks being mined, and after a moment Tommy met his eyes. Tommy stood there, white in his hair, thick cardigan buttoned snugly around him, pale, cold looking hands tightly gripping the lead of a blue sheep, eyes wide with what looked like pure terror, and he gasped. 

Wilbur fought for his voice to work. He had been the entire train ride- trying to get something, anything out- but he had no luck. So he forced himself, vocal chords unused and scratchy, voice quiet, and he said,

“Hello again.”

[idontplaytrack]

MY CHARMED ONE [2]

Capri Donahue x Harper Sibling!fem reader

Warnings: implied smut, coarse language

Second part in the My Charmed One series. Capri finds out why she stayed instead of moving on to the other side.

"Did you see the news?" Asked Darby.

"I heard it on the radio on my way here." Alex said back while you were walking down the stairs with Capri right on your tail. He sees the two of you already, "Okay, y'all need to fill me in because we've only been able to see deados. Not people who are in comas."

"Are you telling me I might die? Again?" Capri asked, her arms crossed.

"Hey, I'm not telling you anything." Alex stops her, "I'm just stating the facts we have right now. So far, I know y/n feels whatever you feel, and that she can see you. What else happened while I was on my way here?"

Darby snorted a laugh, earning a pissed off glare from Capri. "A lot. But uh, to sum it up. The two of them seem to have feelings for each other, do you think that's why y/n can see her and feel whatever she feels?"

"That could be why. y/n, you could be her 'unfinished business', or in this case, what she needs to work out before she can regain her consciousness. Or die."

"What?" You ask.

"Just a guess, but your reaction to her confession could determine if she lives or die. And-"

"Oh, that's super reassuring, donut guy." Capri scoffs.

"Okay, do you know Charmed?"

"The TV show? What the hell does that have to do with this?"

"Actually, quite possibly almost everything. That show may be fiction, but it gave me the idea that something like this was possible."

"I swear if you're just trying to call me a witch-"

Darby cuts her off, "Yeah, Alex, she's a bitch not a witch."

Capri rolled her eyes, and so did you.

"You're staying because you need to know what she feels about you. That's the 'unfinished business'- your biggest question mark." Alex began, "You're in between worlds now because your body isn't awake, but your mind is. I don't know exactly why y/n's feeling your emotions and all, but again- another guess, this whole situation has connected the two of you with some sort of bond. It's forcing either of you to speak up and resolve the question. Darby says you have powers?"

"Yeah." Capri nodded, flicking a box of tissues off of the coffee table.

"Okay- that- we'll have to wait and see if you still have it after you wake up." Alex shrugs, "There's no way of knowing right now but since the confession went well- I'm assuming- you should be waking up."

"It did." You answered quicker than you could think. But until then, with you feeling the same things Capri did, it made you exactly like her, but you had moments where your own shy personality still snuck through.

————

Alex drove you and Darby to the hospital. And once you found out where they'd situated Capri, that's where you rushed towards. She was in the high-dependency ward, so you couldn't just walk in there. Alex, Darby and Capri stood behind you as you watched Capri laying lifelessly on the hospital bed. Seeing her in front of you and in the reflection was honestly such a mind fuck. "Well, what do I have to do?" Capri asked. "Go in, get inside your body." Alex instructed. "Are you sure it'll work?"

"We won't know a thing till you try." Darby whispers. You tilted your head towards the room, "Go on."

Capri finally moves from her spot right behind you, floating right through the door. She was inside the room within seconds, watching herself for a moment. Then, she turned her head to look at you before reaching out to touch her body. The three of you saw a soft, pink glow when she did. "It's working." You mouthed, feeling the excitement build up within yourself. Capri sit down onto the bed- actually on, and then right through her body...the pink glow vanishes as she does. The well-dressed version of her that's been following you around, not the sickly looking one. Once she'd disappeared from your sight, you got lightheaded and felt overheated, as your vision became distorted. Within seconds, you'd passed out but felt a pair of arms catch you.

When you woke up, you were seated on a plastic chair outside Capri's ward. Remembering the events leading up to you fainting, you asked Darby in a hurry if Capri's woken up. "Yes, she's awake. The doctor's are checking her out now to make sure everything's fine."

"Oh, thank god." You heaved a sigh of relief, "Why the hell did I pass out?"

"Probably just a thing that happened because it worked- the peculiar bond between you and Capri has broken." Darby guesses. "What do you feel now?"

"Nothing." You said firmly.

"It worked- you're okay. And so is she." Darby hugs you.

Once the doctor exits the room, he tells you that Capri's asking for you. So, you went in there- alone. And instantly, the strong smell of antiseptic attacks your nostrils making you cringe. She smiled, "Looks like we're going on a date."

"Oh, God, I'm so happy you're awake." You cautiously caressed her cheek, not knowing where she was affected by the electrocution.

"And I'm so happy to see you." She admits- this was the first time she was actually vulnerable with you. First time she actually talked to you, and not just her in-between-worlds self. "You helped me. You helped me figure out what the hell I was doing as a spirit or whatever I was. But most of all, I'm glad that major question's finally answered."

You gave Capri an agreeing nod, "Though it wasn't an ideal situation."

"I know. I freaking lost my balance and got nearly shocked to death." She jokes. You narrowed your eyes at her.

"Too soon? Oops."

"Did they tell you when you could go home?"

"My right palm has some scarring, but I basically came out of it unscathed. My vitals are perfect, scans didn't show anything wrong internally so, they said after tonight, I'm good to go home." She explains.

"You wanna see my hand, don't you?"

You said yes but looked at her, confused, "Oh, my God- please don't tell me I can still feel whatever you feel."

"No, but your face gave your curiousity away." Capri chuckles, flipping her hand over so you could see her palm.

It didn't look too gnarly. "Does it hurt?"

"I can no longer feel a thing in those areas of my palm that has scars." She tells you, "It's not bandaged up right now but they need to redo the dressing in a minute."

"Okay." You replied, "Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah."

"Did you give me the dream?"

"Yup." She answers knowingly.

"So you knew I was going to say yes?"

"No." She replies in her usual fashion, "I was hoping you would, but if you didn't I would've moved on so you didn't need to keep getting reminded of me. Okay, enough of that depressing shit. You wanna see something cool?"

"Okay..." You eyed her suspisciously.

"Watch the box of gloves on the wall." Capri said, pointing to it and looking at the blinds to make sure they were closed. She had her index and middle fingers raised and flicked them to the right, a latex glove flies out from the box and onto the floor.

"Okay, respectfully, what the fuck." Your mouth hung agape as you tried to process this- the fact that she still had her powers.

Capri giggles, "I think it's great."

"It's freaking cool, but what-" You reply, she cuts you off.

She shrugs, "Guess Alex can call me witch for real now."

"Why is this so funny to you?"

"Cause it kinda is. Maybe he manifested it." Capri snorts, "Relax or I'll make you."

"No fucking way I'll be letting you do that here." You told her decisively.

"Wow, I must've really rubbed off on you, babe." She raised her brows, a smirk plastered on her face. You rolled your eyes at her, letting a laugh slip.

"Admit it- I have. God, you were so bold in bed. Didn't know you were like that, y/n. You're the quiet, good kid with good grades, so innocent looking...i never would've thought."

[xaharadesert]

Kidnapped MC Turned Bandit Leader - Headcanon Pt 1

Julian Devorak x MC

TW: like 1 swear

A/N: this is another year old, pretty specific anon request that I’m only now getting to. The essential premise that was requested was for MC to be kidnapped, only to show up a few months later totally fine and leading a group of bandits— the initial request asked for Julian, Portia, and Asra, but since there’s a lot of content to cover, I’ll be splitting this into 3 parts :) also, special shout out to the two anons who both sent me some version of “hydrate or die” within moments of each other— also also everyone say thank you to the anon who said they bet I couldn’t finish this draft even though I’ve been staring at it for ten minutes, you’re the real MVP here

❤️Julian❤️

When you initially went missing, this man obviously went into no-sleep panic mode

He immediately swore to search every corner of the Earth until you were found

Nadia convinced him to stay put for at least a few days, since it was unlikely that you could be taken far in a short period of time, and her guards were more likely to find you than he was alone

Shockingly, this was one of the exceedingly rare instances in which Nadia was wrong

Her guards did not find you, and this only increased Julian’s ungodly level of panic

He hadn’t slept since you were taken, save for the 16 hours he was passed out after smacking his head into a low doorway while pacing

Honestly, he wasn’t even borderline delirious, this man had passed clearly into hysteria territory

So needless to say, he began his travels to find you

However, with no clear direction, and no clues to go off of, the nonexistent trail quickly grew cold

The countless letters from his friends in Vesuvia were what brought him back, and even then, it was mostly Nadia’s point that if you were to ever escape of your own accord, you would likely make your way home

When he returned, his mental health only continued to decline

He felt useless— he couldn’t do anything to help you; all he did was sit and wait, and it was driving him insane

The only times he could be dragged out of his home were when Portia or Mazelinka made him

For a usually sociable man with a tendency to hide his self hatred behind humour and charisma, this was a terrifying change

He made absolutely no attempt to move on with his life, and insisted that everyone should leave him to wallow

Of course, they did not

It was on one of the rare occasions that Portia managed to pull him out to the Rowdy Raven that you finally returned

Honestly, he thought he was hallucinating until Portia confirmed his hopes by asking “Holy shit, is that them?!”

You looked completely fine; in fact, you looked like you were having fun

Julian still couldn’t quite believe his eyes, and stared, open-mouthed, as he tried to process that, yes, this was really you

(Portia gave him a little shove to get him started)

When your eyes locked with his, he felt all the excitement and anxiety of new love all over again. It was like all the emotions that he had felt over the months that you were gone came crashing back into him all at once

So needless to say, it was a tearful reunion, especially on his part

You didn’t stay at the tavern much longer than that; Julian really wasn’t in the right headspace for drinking or chatting with friends

The two of you went him, with him clinging to you like a koala

Obviously you were in for a long night of explaining yourself

He listened to every detail, never interrupting

Once your story was finished, he felt his heart settle in a way that it hadn’t since you left

And of course, with that sense of calm came all the exhaustion of having the world’s worst sleep schedule

He wanted to pass out immediately, preferably in bed beside you, but first, he had a few choice things to say to you

One, how dare you have such an amazing adventure without him?

Two, how dare you risk your life with bandits for months?

Three, how dare you do all of the above without contacting him?

And finally four, he loves you so so so much, please never scare him like that again, and obviously he doesn’t blame you for being kidnapped because that’s not your fault so please don’t blame yourself, but also please come home faster and don’t get involved with bandits, because believe him, he’s been down that road and it can get really messy really quick, and while he knows you can take care of yourself he really doesn’t want you to get hurt without him even knowing

He got a bit ramble-y at the end, but he was so tired that he really couldn’t process his own grammar

He asked you to come to bed, which the promise that you would talk more thoroughly in the morning when he could think properly again

And by morning, he meant like 24 hours later, because this man was practically in a coma

Later on, he would ask to meet the members of your bandit crew

He phrased it as wanting to “meet your friends”, but really he was heavily judging them to decide whether or not you were safe with them

Julian isn’t really known for being on the right side of the law, so he wouldn’t dare lecture you for your legal choices, but he does need to know that you’re being relatively safe

If this is the life you want to lead, then obviously he’s coming with you

Seeing you happy, and being with you, was more than enough for him

[hypnotisedfireflies]

I was just wondering if you had any more delegated scenes from The Legend of Charro?

I am rabid from some Western AU!

Oh! I was going to share more of these and clean forgot. Thank you for reminding me. Yes, I do have some more cutting room floor bits. (And thank you for wanting to read more!!!)

I honestly don't know now where this one originally fit, but it was likely a middle chapter since the relationship is established. I actually have three cut versions of this scene but this is the better one. I wanted to include how they got engaged, but I couldn't make it work. I think I wrote they were engaged for around 18 months?? (because he was away, and her mother passed, etc) so they're about 17-odd here, and it's around?? a 18 months?? before the trouble started. (I think??) Anyway, it stops abruptly when I realised it wasn't working.

I also wanted to hint at the postmaster and Isobel colluding early by reading their mail, but it didn't seem that important to include when the rest came together.

Anyway, here's another outtake from The Legend of Charro, my Tessjoel Western AU:

Tess stepped up on the long wooden walkway connecting the general store, the doctor’s clinic and the post office.  She pulled her shawl a little closer and tried to keep her steps even and slow, but it was hard when she knew there might be another letter waiting for her.  She had a little stack of them in her pocket, tied together with string.  Joel was writing whenever he could.  He was somewhere west now with Sheriff Hocking, getting all that good experience for when it was his turn to keep the law of the land.  She was so proud.

She turned into the building and went right up to the counter.  The postmaster sure took his time getting up from his desk, but he smiled behind his half-moon glasses.

“Good afternoon, Miss Carradine.”

“Good morning,” she answered, wanting to leap over the counter herself and check the pigeon holes.  She knew which one was theirs, and she could see a letter sitting there.  “My ma sent me, she’s hopin’ for a letter from her sister in Boston?”

“Just this one,” he answered, plucking the envelope from it place.  It looked pretty beat-up, but had been pressed flat for her.  “Don’t think it’s from Boston, and it’s for you,” he looked like he knew exactly what she’d come for.

“Thank you, sir,” she answered, and tried not to snatch the letter from his fingers.  “Give my best to Isobel,” she added.

Tess hurried out, opening the letter as she went.  The seal gave easily beneath her trembling fingers and she tugged out the page inside.  She sat down on the side of the walkway to read, heedless of being in anyone’s way, uncaring of being found.  Everyone knew they were writing.  Why, her mother was even reading the letters, just to make sure there was nothing untoward. 

She smiled as she read through his brief descriptions of where he was and what he was learning, the things he saw and wished he could show her.  He always wrote that – some version of carrying her with him so that, in a way, she really could see what he saw.  The idea that he could be out there amongst so much and still thinking of her dazzled Tess.  And then she came to the last line and –

“Tess.”

“In a minute, Nathaniel.  I’m readin’.”

She leaned closer to the letter.  Had she really read that last bit right?

“Tess!”

“Can you give me a goddamn minute, I am tryin’ to read!”  She looked up in a fury, pulling her letter close in case he tried to take it away from her.

Nathaniel scoffed and held out his hand.  “Come on.”

“It’s for me!”

“He’s back, Tess.  He’s over at the jailhouse right now.”

“He’s back?  But I just got a letter.”

“Well, he beat it home.”  He shook his hand in the air.  “Come on.”

Tess took her brother’s hand with a slow grin and dexterously folded up the letter with her free hand.  She was still holding it when he escorted her into the sheriff's office, where the sheriff himself was sitting on the edge of his desk and chatting to his oldest son, standing before him with hands on hips.

What polite conversation took place for Nathaniel and Sheriff Miller to leave them alone was utterly lost on Tess.  She and Joel beamed at one another as the dust danced in the sunlight between them, too charged to settle on the boards. 

“When’d you get back?”

“This mornin’.  You look nice.”

Tess shook her head quickly and looked down, still smiling away.  “No, I’m all dirty.  I rode in with Nathaniel and – and we only just got in.”

“I’m all dirty, too,” he explained, passing through the sunlight to reach her.  “Only just come on back.”

He stopped when they were toe-to-toe.  Tess felt a little thrill loop around her stomach.  He glanced past her to the closed door.  Soft voices out there, hoof beats on a dusty street.  He was going to kiss her and that excitement, that moment right before they did it, never waned.  She especially liked the way he kissed her after he’d been gone a little while.  Tess curled her fingers around his necktie and he tugged her to him by the waist.  They kissed as long and deeply as they dared when the door could open any minute.

“You all right?”  Joel asked, short of breath and a little dazed when they broke for air.  “You been good while I was gone?”

She shook her head.  “No.  I’ve been bored and lonely.”

“You poor little thing,”  he grinned and kissed her some more.  “I missed you.”

The way his hands swept her back and skirt was nothing short of indecent.  Tess made the mistake of moaning and he broke the kiss, lifting his hands from her body to her hair instead.  He rested his head against hers and watched it pool and overflow in his fingers. 

“I’ll ride out to you tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?!”

He chuckled and lifted her to sit on the edge of his desk.  “Can’t you wait?”

“Can’t you?  Or you been callin’ on all those pretty girls out there?”

“No.” He shook his head slightly.  “Don’t talk like that.  Had all them others laughin’ at me while I stayed back to write you while they did all their whorin’.”

“… kept all your letters.”  Tess held up the one still crumpled in her hand.

“What you got there?” 

“That’s one of yours.”

“It only just come?”

“Mm hm.”

Joel leaned in to look at it.  She saw his confidence careen sideways when he realised which one it was.  His eyes flitted between hers and the ink.

“So … so what do you think?”

“I think … I think maybe I’d like that.”

“You’d like that?”  He broke out into a grin, shy and relieved, like he couldn’t quite believe it either.  Then he straightened up, all business.  “You know it can’t be right away.”

“That’s all right.  I can wait,” she eagerly replied.

“I have to ride away again.  Even as soon as next week. Don't look at me like that."

[redfurrycat]

🐓👨‍👧‍👦🐣Big Brother Bradley Bradshaw Fic Recs🐣👨‍👧‍👦🐓

Check the Top Gun Masterlist post for the latest updated version. 💕

Ao3 Authors: AnadoraBlack, Bahjrc, Brenda, Capt_scarwidow, ForVendetta, Ginnydear, LadyLanera, Likethenight, Nightfuryy, SaintClaire.

> Kid Fic - Single Dad & Parents {🤠🐓}

I used to hate you by AnadoraBlack {M}

When Bradley Bradshaw and Jake Seresin first meet at Top Gun, they immediately decide that they hate each other.

Shape Up by likethenight {G}

Bradley and Amelia get to know each other. They're pretty much siblings at this point, after all, aren't they?

Ante Up by Brenda {T}

Wild Card

"So?" he repeated, at a loss. She rolled her eyes, and made a production of looking around the hangar. "So, is there anything fun to do in this sad museum of stunted masculinity and 80s-dad nostalgia, or are we just supposed to sit quietly like wax figures until Mom and Mav are done communing or canoodling or whatever?" Shit, Mav and Penny left him alone with Amelia. Who Bradley hadn't even laid eyes on since she was...nine or ten, maybe, at some picnic or another Aunt Sarah and Uncle Ice had thrown. She'd had braided pigtails that day, he recalled. And was a good foot shorter. Or: While waiting for Maverick and Penny to finish their sunset plane ride, Rooster and Amelia play poker and get to know each other again. (Set immediately post-credits)

Winning Hand

Bradley could practically see the radar pinging in Nat's brain. "Poker? You play poker?" "Sometimes," Amelia replied. "Sometimes, she says." Bradley shuddered, exaggerated for Phoenix's benefit. "Don't let her con you, she can kick my ass." "She can kick anyone's ass," Mav agreed, raising his beer. He sounded every inch the proud parent. Phoenix turned to Bradley, those big brown eyes feverishly bright. "Can she kick Seresin's ass?"  Or: A "friendly" game of poker is played, and more than a few long-hidden truths are revealed

Full House

Bradley tilted his head at Amelia. "Didn't realize Lindy was joining us." Mav's grin was very wide and very pleased with itself. "It's my party, and I want her here." "At your bachelor party?" Bradley emphasized, just to be sure everyone was on the same page. Or: Mav hosts a poker game for his bachelor party, and Amelia may have finally met her match. (Takes place a year after Winning Hand)

Flock Together by LadyLanera {T}

They made it home. Settled into becoming a family with Amelia and Penny. Rooster finally had that chance of his happily ever after he dreamed of. Only he was pretty certain that Jake "Hangman" Seresin wasn't into him regardless of what everyone claimed otherwise. No one was that big of a dick to someone they liked...right? > Author Rec: LadyLanera writes lots of Amelia Benjamin & Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw in her stories, with the most amazing brotherly & sisterly feels.

I'll Watch Your Life In Pictures (like I used to watch you sleep) by capt_scarwidow {G}

Amelia and Rooster hang out while Penny and Maverick fly, and Rooster discovers that he may have missed out on things when he was gone - AKA Dad!Mav and Rooster being awful with kids

big brother duties by ginnydear {G}

“But what I’m trying to say,” Bradley says after a moment, handing Jake a clip and touching Amelia’s shoulder, “is that… well, you have me now.” “Ew, are you offering to be my brother?” five times jake helps bradley with amelia and the one time amelia helps bradley with jake.

Amelia's Big Brothers by nightfuryy {_}

Amelia's first period happens when she's staying with Jake and Bradley. Cue the best big brothers.

i’ll fly like an eagle to where i belong by forVendetta {G}

Maverick and Amelia throughout the years.

The Colour Of An Avocado by SaintClaire {M}

Four times Jake got jealous and one time Bradley did. --- The thing about Tim is that he’s probably a decent guy. Jake would know this if he was willing to spend more than twenty seconds talking to him, but alas, he’s not. He’s Bradley’s ex, and that’s three strikes out and a fourth for good measure, as far as Jake’s concerned.

as it was by bahjrc {G}

In this world, it's just us. From that mission day on, things would never be the same as before. But Rooster doesn't think that is a bad thing, he doesn't know if Hangman thinks the same. He just might find out.

Angel Eyes by LadyLanera {T}

When Mav is suddenly transferred back Stateside out of the blue and taken to Rady's Children's Hospital of San Diego, he fears the worst. However, he quickly learns it's nothing like he imagined. There's a sweet little girl with familiar green eyes in one of those hospital beds instead, and her mother is strangely nowhere to be found. Join Maverick and his family as they navigate this nightmare of a mess this time.

[captainlunaxmen]

The Lady and the Lord

Chapter 7

Eddie munsom x fem!reader

This is a repost since the old blog doesn't work anymore. 🥰

Chapter summary: pur young adults are stuck in the Upside Down and they do need to get back. But this experience might not be all bad.

Chapter warnings: spoiler season 4, blood, injuries.

If someone told me this morning I'd find myself fighting demonic creatures in the UpsideDown... again... I would've scoffed... loudly.

But yet... that's exactly what I'm doing now: fighting demonic bats in the Upside Down with... oars.

We got rid of some bats that were biting on Steve's sides, but they keep coming and coming.

"Nancy!" I scream as she's attacked by a bat on her back "Stay still"

I strike with all the force I got, the bat whimpers and flies away.

Eddie and Robin got here too, luckily I might add because there are way too many bats for only three people, one of them being held down too.

As they fight off some of those creature I turn to check on Steve who managed to free himself from the bat's hold around his neck and grabs its tail.

"Come here"

"Shit shit shit"

We're all busy using everything possible to hit and kill these things. As I'm about to hit another bat away, another one attached itself to my left arm, biting down.

"Fuck!" I instinctively yell, shaking my arm to get rid of it, but no use.

"I got it, I got it" Eddie runs towards me hitting the bat to the ground and I immediately impale the thing.

"Thanks" I breathlessly say and he nods.

We turn around hearing Steve grunting, seeing him smashing the same bat, that held him down, on the ground and at the end ripping the creature in two.

Quite the hot scene.. if you ask me.. but anyway, the most important thing is that he's.. alive, not sure if he's okay, but he's alive.

I run to him, along with Nancy.

"Steve.."

"Jesus H. Christ!" I hear Eddie yell out of frustration.

"Oh shit... how you feel?" I say looking at Steve's wounds.

"Well, they took about a pound of flesh" he tells us "but other than that, yeah, never better"

"Uh, do you guys think these bats have, like, rabies?" Robin asks suddenly, as she looks at one of the dead bat on the ground.

"What?" Steve asks, very confused.

"It's just that rabies are, like, my number one greatest fear. And I think we should probably get you to a doctor, like, really soon, because once symptoms set in, it's too late. You're already, like, dead." She rambles.

"Robin, I'm sure-" I start, wanting to reassure her, but I get cut off by the sound of creature chittering.

We look towards the noise and see those bats again, flying towards us, but not quite... they gather around the gate.

"All right. There's not that many" Steve tries "we can take 'em. Right?"

More chittering... and more bats coming.

"You were saying?" Robin says.

"Shit"

"The woods. Come on" Nancy starts to run towards the woods and we all follow her carefully not stepping on the vines.

We ran until we arrive to the Upside Down version of Skull Rock and hide under the stone waiting for the bats to fly beyond that place. All ears to see when the right time to come out arrives.

"Oh.. okay. That was close" Robin comments as we get up.

"Yeah, too close" Eddie replies in a small voice.

"Oh sh.. shit" Steve whispers as he lean on the rock for support.

"Steve.. jesus" Nancy's immediately by his side.

"I'm fine. I'm fine" he replies.

"You're clearly not, Stevie. You're losing too much blood" I tell him getting closer too.

"Yeah exactly" Nancy agrees as together we look closely at those bites.

"C'mon, c'mon sit" she tells him.

Steve with a painful grunt sits.

"Oh" Robin comes closer too.

"That's... a big bite" I comment "does anyone have something to use as.. a bandage or something?" I ask.

Nancy immediately rips her shirt.

"Okay" Robin kneels down with us "so the good news is I'm pretry sure wooziness is not a symptom of rabies. But if you start having hallucinations or muscles spasms, or you start feeling aggressive, like you wanna punch me, let me know."

"Robin" Steve stops her.

"Yeah?"

"I kinda wanna punch you" he says, making me giggle with some relief.

"Sense of humor's still intact. That's a good sign" she laughs nervously and turn to look at me, I nod to help her calm down.

Nancy is ready with the "bandage".

"Here" I help Steve standing straight off the rock, just enough to let Nancy cover his wounds.

While Nancy finishes knotting the ripped shirt on Steve I get up and walk close to Robin as Eddie climb up a big stone to get a better look at the surrounding, I think.

"So, uh, this place is like Hawkins, but with monsters and nasty shit?" He asks turning to us.

"Basically, yeah" I answer.

He just nods and goes to climb back down, but Nancy warns him.

"Watch out for the vines. It's all a hive mind."

"It's all a what?" Eddie says confused.

"All the creepy crawling around here, dude. They're, like, one or something" Steve tell him "step on a vine, you're stepping on a bat, you're stepping on Vecna"

"But everything from our world is still here, right? Except people, obviously?" Robin asks.

"As far as I understand it, yeah" Nancy replies.

"So, theoretically, we could go to the police station and steal guns and grenades and whatever we need to blow up those bat things that are guarding the gate" Robin suggests, in her ramble.

"I highly doubt the Hawkins PD has grenades, Robin. But guns, yeah, sure" Steve tell her.

"We don't have to go all the way downtown for guns" Nancy starts "I have guns in my bedroom."

"You, Nancy Wheeler, have guns, plural, in your bedroom?" Eddie asks, completely surprised.

"Full of surprises, isn't she?" Robin chimes in.

"A Russian Makarov and a Revolver" she specifies.

"Yeah, you almost shot me with that one" Steve remembers.

"You almost deserved that" Nancy replies with a smirk.

Nancy and Steve shares a long stare, luckily, interrupted by Eddie throwing his denim vest.

"For your modesty, dude" he tells him.

"Wait... Nancy" I say, turning to look at her "does that mean you still have my shotgun?"

"I think.. the one Hopper gave you at Starcourt?" She asks and I nod "yeah.. I think I still got it"

"And you have a shotgun.. I shouldn't be surprised anymore.. but shit" Eddie comments.

Before I could answer him another earthquake interrupts us, and makes us fall to the ground.

Nancy against Steve, who holds her as best as he can, me against Eddie next to Robin.

I instinctively grab his hand, more to hold onto something than anything else at this moment, and I feel his other hand holding me close.

Once the earthquake stops Eddie speaks up.

"So guns seem like a pretty good idea to me"

"Definitely" I agree and I get up, helping Robin too.

"So, what are we waiting for?" Steve says, walking in the direction of Nancy's house, torch in hand. "Let's go"

"Yes, mommy" I mutter.

"I heard you" he says back.

I flip him off and, with the others, I follow him.

I walk along side Eddie noticing his nervous demeanour.

"Hey" I softly calls.

"H-hi" he replies.

"All good here?" I ask.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah" he quickly says.

"You know" I start, wanting to make him feel a little bit better "the first time we faced these kind of things, uh, I was scared shitless.. I didn't know what those things were, I didn't know where they were coming from, I didn't know why they were here."

"Must've been terrifying" he comments.

"Yeah, a lot, but now, if I think about our first experience... well, that looks like an easy D&D campaign. The easiest you could think of" I say with a small chuckle, noticing his small smile I continue "You're dealing with the worst of them all and you're behaving so so much better than me back then"

"Now you're just saying that" he says, sending me a sceptical look.

"You don't believe me, my lord?" I ask faking offence, putting my hand on my heart.

"I think, m'lady, that you're being simply too kind" he replies.

"I'm just being honest" I tell him "if it wasn't for those kids I would be dead by now. Not because of those creature, but because of fear" I let out a small laugh.

"You're saying we shouldn't worry then?" He asks.

"I'm afraid we should be worried... this thing is.. far worse than anything we've faced before. I'm not one to sugar-coat something. But.. the thing is that each time seems worse than the previous one, yet we managed to survive each time, so... I'm hopeful" I turn to smile at him.

"Shit.. we do need you at Hellfire. Smart, pretty, great sense of humor and... very cool rings too... perfect" he smiles, and I could simply melt in this exact moment. I look away quickly, trying to hiding my embarrassment.

"Not as cool as yours" I say looking everywhere but him.

"Oh these?" He ask, waving his hands in my face playfully and I laugh, trying not to stare at his hands too much... his hands are just.. too distracting.

We stay silent for a while before I remember something.

"Oh, uh.. I made you something" I tell him, checking my pockets, hoping I didn't lose it somewhere.

"You.. you made me something?" He seems surprised.

"Yeah" I still checking until I find it. "Here... helps with the fidgeting"

I hand him a small black beads ring.

"Wow" he simply says.

"Hope it doesn't ruin your metalhead look" I joke.

"You kidding? This would only make it better" he says. "Thank you. That's very sweet of you, m'lady"

He winks.

"Shut up" I smile again, feeling my cheeks warming more and more as he just looks at me with that sweet smile.

"Why do you know how to use a shotgun?" He suddenly asks.

"Hopper taught me" I answer with a sad smile.

"Oh... cool of him." He comments.

"Yeah. He had so much patience" I chuckle at the memory, looking down with a sad smile.

"Hey.. I'm sorry" Eddie sweetly whispers.

"Don't be. You didn't do anything." I smile at him.

I see him reaching out to my hand but Steve's voice stops him.

"Hey" Steve slows down to catch up with us, and I see Eddie rolling his eyes.

"How's your arm, honey?" Steve asks me.

"What? Oh" I look down to my left arm "Oh, uh.. not that bad, I think"

"I think it needs a bandage or something" Steve says, ready to run up to Nancy and Robin and ask them.

"I got it" Eddie chimes in, he seems almost annoyed though.

Eddie grabs his bandana from his back pocket and goes to wrap my arm in it.

"I'm gonna ruin it" I protest moving away.

"As if I care more about a bandana than you" he instantly says. Surprising not only me and Steve, but also himself I think, considering he widened his eyes slightly.

"Stop complaining, honey" Steve says.

Eddie glare at him just for a second before wrapping the bandana around my injured arm and I hiss at the pain.

"Sorry" he softly says.

"Nah, it's fine" I groan.

He finishes rather quickly. "Here, m'lady"

"Thank you" I say rubbing my arm, just slightly.

"Hey hey don't rub it" Steve stops my movement.

I scoff. "I'm gonna see if Robin and Nancy too will treat me like a child"

I walk faster towards Nancy and Robin.

"Hey, oh! Oh shit, uh, your arm! Are you okay? Do you feel any-"

"I'm fine, Robin. Don't worry. I actually didn't even notice until Steve pointed it out" I chuckle.

"Good.. Good.. but, uh, tell me if you don't feel good okay?" She asks and I nod.

"Promise?" Nancy asks.

"Promise" I say.

I walk a little slower to stay a bit with my thoughts.

I can hear Steve and Eddie talking, but I don't pay too much attention to them at the moment. Focusing instead on the shotgun and when Hopper taught me how to use it.

"Why do I have to learn how to use this?" I asked Hopper, annoyed, as he hand me a shotgun.

"Because, since you refuse to accept any sort of help from me, I'm gonna at least teach how to defend yourself" he answered, exasperated.

"I just refused to live with you" I clarified.

"Exactly" he said "you live alone, it's dangerous. Now again."

I aimed at the empty bottles in front of me.

I shot.

Missed.

"Fuck" I muttered.

"Language." He warned "you're getting closer though. Practice makes perfect. That's how I became... me" he adds proudly.

" Oh. So you're saying you're perfect now?" I challenged with a scoff.

"How come you're so quiet with everyone, but with me you're this noisy?" He spat.

"I..." I stuttered. It was true, he was one of the few people I was comfortable enough to be... a bit louder.

I looked down, ashamed, and heard him sighing.

"Come here" he said patting a spot beside him on the fence.

"I'm sorry" I quietly said with a sigh.

"Nah.. don't apologise. Actually.. it's good you're noisy with me" he assured me.

"Why?" I asked, not understanding what he meant.

"Because it means you trust me enough to speak your mind" he explained. "I see you with those kids, that Wheeler girl, and Joyce's son and that... one with the cool hair"

"Steve" I reminded him.

"Yeah yeah that guy. I see the difference between you talking with them and you talking with anyone else."

"Really?" I asked, once again.

"Yeah! You see, when you talk to your friends you're visibly calm, open and you actually talk, joke and get angry too. But when it's someone you don't know talking to you, you wrap your arms around you, shielding yourself, you talk very little or not at all, you play with your rings to have some sort of excuse not to look at the people you're with." He explained.

I never thought he actually cared this much about me.

"And you noticed all that?" I asked, more to not show that I was happy about it.

"Of course." He nodded "That's why, even though you're getting on my nerves with your comebacks.. I'm also very proud."

I laughed and he did too.

I miss him. Fuck... I really do.

When I hear Nancy's name I snap out of my mind.

"... what happened between you two" I hear Eddie saying. "But if I were you, I would get her back. 'Cause that was as unambiguous a sign of true love as these cynical eyes have ever seen."

Obviously, Steve still has a thing for Nancy.

I hope they sort this out... I don't want him to suffer again.

"What about you, uh?" Steve asks back.

"What about me, Harrington?" Eddie teases.

"Oh I think you know" Steve laughs.

"What? Want me to admit my feelings for Y/n? Saying that she's the only thing I've been thinking about since they paired us up for that stupid project? Or that she's so beautiful that all I want to do is just look at her.. maybe that's why I've been failing O'Donnels' class this whole time."He lets out a small laugh "everytime Henderson or Wheeler mentions her, for whatever reason, I can't help but feel jealous they get to spend so much time with her while I was too much of a coward to talk to her...Fuck.. I'm screwed, man" Eddie rambles, I'm speechless, I never thought he feel this way about... me.

I need all my strength not to turn around and ask him to tell me more.

"Why would you be screwed?" Steve's confused.

"Because... she deserves so much more. I can't do that to her" Eddie replies defeated.

"Let her decide that, uh?" Steve pats him on the shoulder.

Good answer, Steve.

I hear silence for a moment before Eddie's answer.. or more, question.

"There's nothing between you and Y/n, right?" He sounds insecure, almost.

"Man, you just made a whole speech about why I should get Nancy back, not even a few minutes ago, and now you ask if there's something between me and Y/n?" Steve asks in disbelief.

"Uh.. yeah" Eddie simply answers. "You call her 'honey' a lot"

"No, man, there's nothing. She's my best friend since..." He puffs, thinking "ever."

"And, uh, there has never been anything? Like at all?" Eddie checks.

"Well... I did have a crush on her.. for a while, but then we grew apart and... yeah it changed. Then Nancy happened..." Steve explains and I hear Eddie letting out a sigh of relief, but then Steve adds casually "We were each other's first though"

"Uh? What-"

Another earthquake interrupts him.

"Oh shit"

"Okay, second on my list of lists favourite things, earthquakes. Seriously, I'm unsteady enough as it is" Robin says.

I'm holding onto a tree and I see Nancy running and Robin calling for her.

I turn around to check on the boys and nid my head towards the direction Nancy went to and we quickly follow her.

When we spot her, thankfully, the earthquake ceases.

"C'mon" she tells us, walking towards her house.. or this alternate version of it.

"Thank god we were close" Robin breathes out.

"Yeah" I say out of breath.

The house... matches with the rest of the Upside Down, obviously.

Here the cute, clean rooms are dirty and there is this dark dust all over, and the vines are crawling over the walls and the furniture.

"Might be time to get a maid, Wheeler" Robin says, trying to enlighten the mood I think.

"C'mon. I don't want to stay here longer than we have to." Nancy walks upstairs.

"Agree. Definitely don't wanna add 'creepy dimension' to the weird places I had a panic attack in" I blurt out following her.

The others close behind us.

Once we get to her room, Nancy immediately goes to her wardrobe and takes a shoes box.

When she opens it, though, there are no guns... only a pair of shoes.

"Those aren't guns" Eddie sarcastically points out.

"These heels are pointy, but I was hoping for something on the line of a deadly projectile" Robin adds.

"I don't understand" Nancy comments, looking at me.

"You sure you left them here?" I ask.

"Yeah, maybe you left them somewhere else" Eddie tries, getting agitated.

"There's a six-year-old in the house. I know where I keep my guns" Nancy almost snaps at him "and also, I threw these away years ago"

I look down on her desk, thinking, but I notice some notes. Chemistry notes, I helped her writing them so we could practice at home... three years ago.

"Nance.." I say, handing her the notes.

"I get that grades are important to you two, but perhaps studying can wait till we get out of here?" Robin suggests.

"These are from sophomore chemistry." I explain, Nancy looks at me, catching up on what might be happening here.

"Yeah.. and this... this wallpaper, this is old wallpaper" Nancy informes moving around her room to look at the rest "and this mirror, this went to a yard sale. And you" she grabs a stuffed animal "You're not supposed to be here. No, I gave you to cousin Joanna two years ago"

Nancy then moves to grab a diary.

"What is it?" Eddie asks.

"Nancy? You're freaking me out" Robin urges her.

"This doesn't look good" I comment shaking my head waiting for Nancy to confirm my suspicions.

"I think the reason that my guns aren't here is because they don't exist yet" she answers.

"They don't... exist?" Eddie repeats, tensing up more and more each second.

"This diary should be filled of entries. It's not. The last entry is November 6, 1983. The day-"

"Will went missing" I cut her off, earning a nod from her. "The day the gate opened and everything started... we're in the past.. how?"

"I don't know" Nancy shakes her head, defeated.

Suddenly we hear Steve's voice yelling "Dustin! Dustin!" And we immediately hurry downstairs.

Steve's moving awkwardly in the dining room, looking at the ceiling calling Dustin's name.

"Maybe he really does have rabies" Robin suggests.

"Steve!" I call "What the hell are you doing?"

Steve points his torch to us, blinding us for a second.

"He's here. Henderson. That little shit, he's here. He's like...he's in the walls or something. Just listen" he explains breathlessly, pointing his finger up to make us pay attention to... whatever he heard.

As we listen closely, Steve keeps calling for Dustin, but we do manage to hear...his voice!

Oh shit.

"That brings us to the question you first raised" he seems to be saying.

"Oh shit! That's him" I exclaim.

Everyone starts to call for him, yelling his name, hoping he'll hear us.

"Guys! I don't think he can hear us." I grab their attention.

"Yeah, either he can't or he's being a total douchebag." Steve replies.

"Will found a way" I say.

"What?" Steve's turns to me.

"Will. He found a way to speak to Joyce through the lights" Nancy goes to turn some lights on, with no use, nothing turns on.

Steve points his torch to the chandelier. "Guys? You seeing this?"

It's like there is some almost tangible energy surrounding the chandelier and we all gather beneath it.

I reach out to touch it.

"Shit.." I breath.

It's a weird feeling, warm and ticklish.

As we touch the energy around it, it enlightens.

"It.. tickles" Steve comments.

"It's weird, but... pleasant" I agree.

"Yeah" Eddie turns to look at me with a breathed chuckle.

"Does anyone know Morse code?" Nancy suddenly asks.

We all shake our head no.

"Wait, does SOS count?" Eddie asks, earning a light scoff from Robin "is that.. is that good?"

"Yeah, definitely" I tell him.

Immediately Eddie starts to touch the energy in Morse code.

"Yeah, that's working"

We managed to hear Dustin telling us to go to Nancy's room, where they're bringing Nancy's sister's toy. It's supposed to help us communicate more.. effectively.

Hopefully.

We wait kneeling at Nancy's bed, the tension devouring us.

"C'mon, c'mon" Steve keeps mumbling.

I keep fidgeting with my hands and rings, my breath getting heavier and heavier, but suddenly I feel a hand holding mine. I look up seeing Eddie, sending me a reassuring look even if he was just as tense, but it helps my breathing getting even again. He doesn't let go of my hand, though, not that I complain about it.

Dustin's faintly voice snaps us out of our moment.

"You.. seeing this?"

A small mass of energy appears in front of us, just like the one around the chandelier.

When we hear Dustin's laugh we know it's working.

I look at Steve who's already looking towards me, with his "We're okay" look. The one he always gives me when he sees me nervous.

"We're not moving it, but we're gonna unplug it. Stand by" Dustin says.

The energy seems to disappear, but Dustin urges to try again.

"Try it now"

Nancy, unsure, start to "draw" something on the line of "Hi" in the air, basically.

Eddie holds my hand a bit tighter.

They all answer.

"Hi"

"Hey! Hi. That worked!" Dustin exclaims.

"Yes!"

We all let out a sigh of relief and cheer. Robin lets out some relieved giggles.

"Okay. Um.." Nancy starts to draw again.

S T U C K.

"St... stuck!"

"That's what we are" Robin mutters.

"Mhm Mhm" Eddie vigorously nods.

"You can't get back through Watergate?" He asks.

"What the hell's water gate?" Steve asks.

" 'Cause it's in the water and it's a gate" Robin simply explains.

"Oh"

"That's cute" Eddie comments.

"Yeah" I agree.

"Righ, uh... no it's..."

G U A R D E D.

"Guarded. Uh the watergate is guarded" Dustin catches on.

Oh smart boy.

"Perfect, yes yes yes" Steve exclaims.

"We think we have a theory that can help with that" Dustin tells us.

"Genius child." Robin comments, feeling more relaxed now.

"We think watergate isn't the only gate. That there's a gate at every murder site."

"Does anybody understand what he's talking about?" Nancy asks us.

"Nope."

"No"

"No idea"

So she draw a question mark.

"Seriously? How many times do I have to be right on the money before you guys just trust me?" Dustin's voice sound pretty worked up.

"Jesus christ. This kid's gotta get his ego in check" Steve comments, slightly exasperated.

"It's his tone, right?" Eddie chimes in.

"I know" Steve agrees.

"Hey, it's your kid" I tease them.

"Okay so.. how far is your trailer?" Nancy asks Eddie.

"Seven miles?" He replies.

"Nancy?" Robin speaks "uh, I know your house here is, like, weirdly, creepily frozen in time and shit, but haven't you always had bikes?"

"She's right"

"Yeah.. yeah we have" Nancy answers.

We then tell the others to go meet us at Eddie's trailer and we go find the bikes, quickly riding them to Forest Hills Trailer Park.

Hopefully, Dustin's theory is correct once again. Being permanently stuck in the Upside Down is not in my plan, definitely.

Eddie leads the way and we all follow him on our bikes. We don't take much to get there, luckily.

"That's gotta be a Guinness World Record. Most miles travled interdimensionally." Robin jokes as we get off the bikes and head to the trailer.

"And the prize is getting out of here in one piece" I reply.

"Just inhaled a bunch of that crap. It's stuck in my throat." Steve complains couching.

Entering the trailer our attention is immediately on the ceiling. The gate.

"This is where Chrissy died" Eddie explains. "Like, right where she died"

"I think there something in there" Robin warns.

Something from the other side, probably, is trying to pierce through the thin veil of the gate.

"What the hell is that?" Eddie asks as we slowly get closer to inspect it better.

Suddenly the veil is broken and we step back, watching as some mysterious slimy material fall from the crack.

Steve get closer, carefully and we follow close behind.

As soon as we can see on the other side of the gate we all let out a sigh of relief.

There they stand, upside down, Dustin, Max, Lucas and Erica.

"No way" Steve half exclaims.

Dustin laughs as soon as he sees us.

God.. never thought I'd miss that laugh.

"Hi!" He greets.

We a say hi back, shocked... shockingly relieved though.

"Holy shit, this is trippy" Robin comments.

"Yeah.. that's the word" I say with a chuckle.

"Bada-bada boom!" Dustin exclaims ecstatic.

"Okay what's the plan?" Steve asks "how do we.. get back there?"

We all look at each other, uncertain on what to do.

"We got an idea" Dustin tells us.

"We're gonna use, uh, a rope or something and, like, drag you back here" Max explains.

"Yeah, we gonna need something you can fall onto" Dustin says "can we use your mattress?" He asks Eddie.

"Uh, sure, man. Sure" he replies, still out of breath.

"Oh, and the sheets for the rope" he adds.

"Whatever you need."

"Hurry please" Robin asks.

The kids get to work, Dustin and Erica making the rope and Max and Lucas bringing in the mattress. They put it right under the gate, or.. from our perspective, over the gate.

"Those stains are, uh..." Eddie starts explaining, noticing the particularly visible stains on his mattress. "I dunno what those stains are." He finally say, visibly embarrassed.

I try to hold back an amused smile, never thought he'd be the type to get embarrassed over something like this.

The rope is ready and Dustin is about to throw it to us.

"Not quite sure how these physic's gonna work. But, uh...here goes nothing" he finally launch the rope that extends itself like normal gravity permits.

"There we go, and if my theory is correct" Dustin is holding the other end and then lets it go.

The rope stays put... unbelievable.

"That's crazy" I let out a surprised chuckle.

"All right, pull on it! See of it holds" he instructs.

Robin immediately goes to pull on it. It does hold.

"Holy shit"

"Guess I'm the guinea pig" Robin says ready to climb up.

She climbs the rope, grunting and as soon as she get to the top, through the gate, she falls.. she actually falls on the mattress.

"Oh thank god" she exhales "that was fun"

I smile, relieved.

I look at the others seeing if anyone wants to go after her.

"My turn, I guess" I say, not seeing anyone else stepping up.

I pull, experimentally, at the rope and jump holding me up.

I slowly climb up, shit.. never been the athletic type.

Once on the edge of the gate, I feel like being sucked and instantly fall on the mattress, back in our world.

"Shit!" I say as I land, with a grunt. "Fun, yes, but to never do again" I say with a laugh.

Dustin helps me get up so the others can come back too. Max immediately come to hug me and I do too.

"You're okay?" I ask her.

"Yeah, you? What happened to your arm?" Dustin asks worried.

"Nothing unusual" I joke and they smiles.

I see Eddie climbing and then falling.

"That was fun. Shit" He then grabs Dustin hand and get up, getting beside to me and nudging my shoulder playfully.

"All good here?" He whisper to me.

"Yeah" I smile at him.

Now It's supposed to be Nancy's or Steve's turn, but something's wrong.

Steve's screaming Nancy's name, she just stands still.

"Wake up! Wake up! Nancy!" He keeps screaming.

"Oh no no no" I mutter.

"Vecna" Max speaks.

Shit.

[smaptain-smerica]

Female Reader x Rooster

Time: Post-Top gun: Maverick

Y/n Blackwood - L/n, daughter of Charlotte "Charlie" Blackwood. Y/n took a strong interest in planes from a young age. Knowing her father was an esteemed pilot drew her even further into the navy. Quickly, she became one of the best solo pilots and graduating at the top of her class at Top Gun.

Her next mission? Return to Top Gun, Face certain death, romantic interests, and finally, her thought-to-be-dead, father.

This book contains strong language and sexual content that may be sensitive readers under the age of 18

This story was originally posted on Wattpad, follow me on there for faster updates. I have published a non-binary version of this story published there for those who do not identify as female or use she/her pronouns. It will follow the exact same story line. Link to Wattpad Account Link to the Non-Binary version

Master list

Secrets Don't Make Friends

The sun had gone down and it was roughly 10:30 pm when I opened the door back to the pilots sleeping areas. I made sure to stay silent on my way to my room, opening the door and shutting it behind me. I leaned on the doorway for a moment, reveling in the memories of tonight. Something in my heart felt lighter, happier.

I pushed off the door, coming around the corner from the door nook and noticing a large figure sitting in the chair of my desk. I nearly jumped out of my skin, gasping in surprise.

"Jeez Jake you scared the shit out of me." I let out a large breath of relief as I flipped the lights on. I noticed he had a stuffed animal in his hands. He lifted it up and looked at me through his brow.

"This is adorable."

"Give me that!" I demanded, snatching the stuffed wolf from his hands and bringing it closer to my body protectively.

"Don't touch him." I grumbled, gently tossing the animal onto my bed.

Hangman chuckled and shook his head at me. "I didn't take you for the stuffed animal type."

"My mom gave it to me, so forgive me for wanting to keep it." I snapped back at him. That shut him up quick, clearing his throat and swiveling back and forth awkwardly in the chair.

I sat down on my bed facing Hangman, crossing my arms over my chest. "Did you come in here to rummage through my things or is there another reason you're being a total creep." I asked sassily, tilting my head to the side to wait for him to answer.

"Rooster."

I rolled my eyes, flopping back on my bed dramatically. "Really, this?"

"Yes this, I'm worried."

"What is there to be worried about? Bradley wouldn't hurt a fly."

"There's a reason he doesn't have a girlfriend y/n. Or that he isn't engaged or married by now and he's almost 40."

I furrowed my eyebrows together in confusion, sitting back up in my bed and looking at him. I leaned my elbows on my knees. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Hangman grunted as he shifted his sitting position to the same as me, looking at me. I saw something in his eyes; Genuine concern. This made my heart beat faster, worry starting to cascade over me. "Bradley's last relationship ended very poorly. He had dated this girl for three years. Proposed to her and everything. They were engaged for a little over 6 months. And then the night before the wedding, he vanished. Blocked her number, her family, anyone who had any contact with her and he left. I don't know where he went but I'm assuming that's how he ended up here."

My heart dropped hearing this story. It was almost unbelievable, it didn't sound like Bradley at all. It didn't, seem to me at least, that he was that kind of person. "How do you know this?"

"Believe it or not I was invited. I got a call 4 hours before that the wedding was called off. A mutual friend of ours was a groomsman and he told me the rest of the information."

I stared at hangman, processing the information I was hearing very carefully. "How do I know you're not lying to me."

"Have I ever lied to you?"

"You've always had it out for me since Top Gun."

"Yeah I've pushed your buttons but have I ever lied to you?"

I sat in shocked silence. I didn't want him to be right, but he was. I can't think of a time where he has lied to me about something. My emotions were conflicted, I felt my heart torn between what to believe. Before I could say anything else, Hangman slapped his hands on his knees and pushed off to stand up.

"Listen, I just want you to know what you're signing up for." Hangman walked towards the door and opened it. He paused, turning his head over his shoulder to take one last look at me.

"I'd hate for anything bad to happen to you Wolf. Really, it would kill me."

The door closed gently. I blinked slowly, astonished by the interaction that I just had. I huffed, completely over the situation already. I would worry about it tomorrow, for now, I would sleep.

•••

The next day for our lesson we went over yesterdays flying records. 3D models on the computer appeared of each of the different scrimmages that we did with each other.

I chose to sit in the very back, as far away from other people as possible. I didn't feel like dealing with emotions right now. Not other peoples anyway, just my own. I flipped my pen around my fingers, taking down any notes that might be useful for the future.

Honestly, I had been completely zoned out. It felt like lectures back in school. Maverick had been talking for almost an hour now and we were hardly through the first half of the exercises.

I stared at the paper aimlessly, watching the lines blur and un-blur as I messed with my vision.

"Wolf." Mavericks voice brought me back to reality. I raised my eyebrows in surprise and stared at Maverick. I looked down at the rest of the aviators, who were looking at me.

"You've been quiet. Tell me your input." I licked my lips, looking down at my paper. I clicked my pen closed while holding it up by my head.

"Coyote needs better awareness of his surroundings, flys better with a wingman. Bob is too timid and sometimes makes Phoenix second guess herself. Rooster needs more confidence, Hangman needs less confidence. And Fanboy and Payback should take time to practice new maneuvers, they're too predictable."

The silence in the room laid over everyone like a weighted blanket. I clicked my pen one more time, bringing my hand down towards the paper more. Maverick crossed his arms over his chest, shifting his weight to one leg.

"What about you?"

I bounced my leg up and down, thinking of what to say. Nobody is a worse critic than yourself. I opened my mouth to speak but another voice sounded from the crowd.

"She's good. So good that she's dangerous. The maneuvers and the way she flys a plane is reckless and stupid and should get her killed." Roosters voice rang out with a pang of venom laced in it. "In Fact I'd say her flying is similar to yours."

I could feel my heart tense up, my eyebrows widening at Roosters words. He was seconds away from revealing Maverick and I. I exchanged glanced with my father and he looked just as nervous as I was. He looked back at rooster, then cleared his throat.

"Interesting observation Bradshaw."

The lesson moved on after that, Maverick seeing more monotoned throughout his observations now. I was annoyed, angered, frustrated, all my emotions building up inside me until they were able to reach their final release.

We were dismissed from the screening room. I was the first one to leave, standing outside of the door and watching as the other pilots left, excited to go and eat lunch. I spotted rooster and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt.

Despite his protests I dragged him around the corner into an empty hallway. "That was way too close!" I whisper yelled at him, shoving my hands into his chest.

Rooster narrowed his eyes at me, standing up straighter to tower over me. "Don't shove me."

"I trust you this this extremely important piece of information about my life. I told you what would happen if it gets out."

"I didn't say anything about Mav being-"

I quickly snapped snapped my hand over his mouth. "Shut up would you!" I hissed at him in a whisper.

"Don't make me regret my decision."

Rooster took my hand off his mouth. He gripped onto my wrist tightly and stared into my eyes. I flipped my gaze back and forth between his two green eyes, my eyebrow hardened.

"Okay. I'm sorry."

I felt confusion in the calmness of his voice. His demeanor changed, his body wasn't tense. He shifted his hand from my wrist to my palm, taking my left hand in both of his.

"Thank you." I mumbled, allowing myself to relax a little bit into the touch of his hand. A small smile was brought up to his lips as he kept looking at me.

"You're a very angry woman."

I rolled my eyes, pulling my hand away from him and turning to walk down the hallway. He chuckled and jogged to keep in pace with me. "Hey it's okay, I like 'em Feisty. Someone's gotta keep me on my toes."

"Bradley?"

"Yeah?"

"Stop talking." I looked up at him with a smile, which he reciprocated back down to me eagerly.

Next Chapter

[unnecessary-sobbing]

all i wanted - r.w.

content: slight wakanda forever spoilers, swearing, arguments, angst, no happy ending

pairing(s): riri williams x reader

summary: you never really asked for much, you just wanted her, and now you don’t have her at all

note: inspired by ‘all i wanted’ by paramore snd ‘remember (acoustic)’ by becky hill. yes, specifically the acoustic version. also, requests are still open!

~~~

you turn over on your bed with a groan, the sun peaking through your curtain and resting in your eyes. the lack of a body next to you is what woke you up fully, missing the feeling of arms wrapped around your waist. sitting up on your bed you grab your phone, expecting a text from riri. you’re confused when there’s nothing. no ‘hey boo, in the garage’

you go to you messaging app to text her, only to find her name nowhere.

oh, right. she’s not your girlfriend anymore.

it’s been two months since you and riri broke things off. it’s also been a month since you’ve done much of anything. riri meant everything to you and, as unhealthy as it sounds, without her you feel like you have nothing. needless to say, you weren’t taking this well. two, almost three, years, down the drain.

looking back, you both could’ve handled it differently, but what’s done is done.

the first few weeks, you spent days in your room, crying until your head pounded and your throat burned. now, you’ve just been going through the motions. staying in your dorm, doing the work your friends would bring to you until you passed out on the couch. every once in a while your friends would check on you, but you’d just brush them off.

you decided to get out of bed, placing your phone face down on your nightstand. you walk into the common area between you and your roommate and see her in the mini fridge.

“good morning.”

“afternoon, actually, but hey.”

you playfully roll you eyes at her as she hands you a can of soda. she walks past you and sits at her desk.

“oh, before i forget, here,” she pulls a necklace out of her shorts pocket and dangles it in your face.

“riri came over earlier, saying that this is the last of your stuff.”

you immediately feel the lump in your throat and stinging in your eyes as you see the necklace. you gently take it out of her hand, your own shaking slightly.

she fixed it.

“thank you,” you say before going right back to your room to avoid crying in front of your roommate.

tears stream down your face as you sat on your bed, examining the necklace. she wielded it herself and gave it to you for your guys’ one year anniversary. it was a silver chain with an iron pendant of the first letter of your name. you had broke it when you guys broke up, giving it to her during your argument. seeing that she fixed it hurt even more. the memory still felt like a fresh wound on your heart.

you were happy for riri, truly. the opportunity she was given was one of the best things that could’ve happened to her. her genius was being recognized by wakanda, the most powerful nation in the world. anyone would be proud.

but recently, it has been putting a strain on your relationship.

you were seeing her less and less, and you were starting to miss her. you guys were both busy, but she more than you, so it was so much harder for you guys to spend time together. her frequent trips to wakanda, plus your guys’ classes made it almost impossible. before she left on another one of her trips, you found the time to stop by her dorm and talk.

you entered her dorm, her back facing you as she put some stuff in a suitcase.

“riri, babe, can we talk?”

“can it wait, mamas? i’m still packing.”

you took a deep breath, trying not to let the frustration get to you and actually out your foot down.

“actually, no. we really need to talk.”

she turned around and looked at you with a raised eyebrow. she made a gesture with her arms to say that you have her attention and to keep talking. you suddenly became shy under her stare, avoiding eye contact.

“um, well. you know i’m really proud of you?”

“mhm, thank you baby. and?”

“okay, well, i just feel like we don’t have enough time together anymore.”

you briefly look at her face after speaking,only for her face to make your anxiety worse. her jaw is clenched with a slight frown on her face.

“babe, i thought you said you were fine with it.”

“i did, really i was. i just didn’t expect it to be like this.”

you exasperatedly gestured at her suitcase. she briefly looks back at where you were gesturing before sighing and looking back at you.

“look, i understand, i miss you too. so much, but this is important.”

“i know, riri, but is it really more important than us?! when was the last time we’ve spent more than five minutes together?”

at that, riri stayed quiet as if she’s actually having a hard time remembering.

“around two months, riri. i don’t wanna seem clingy, but that’s a long time for me. i don’t wanna feel second place to some stupid suit!”

you didn’t mean to raise your voice or insult her work, but your frustration was overwhelming. you immediately regretted it when you saw hurt flash across her face before her frown deepened.

“well if it’s so stupid to you-“

“i didn’t mean it like that and you know it.”

“then what do you want from me (y/n)?!”

now she’s raising her voice. you know you should deescalate this, but you wanted to get your point across.

“you riri! that’s all i’m asking for! all i want is you and you’re taking this whole conversation the wrong way!”

“no, i’m not, i understand! but what i’m trying to get you to understand is that i can’t just stop and drop everything for you!”

“well you used to,” you can feel tears rolling down your cheeks and you curse yourself mentally for not being able to hold it in. riri walks closer to you and gently grabs your arms, rubbing them up and down.

“baby, don’t cry. can we just talk about this when i get back?”

“no, this is an important conversation, and i can’t wait. but since you’re so worried about everything else,” you pause and rip your necklace off, the chain making a loud snapping sound. you push the broken jewelry in her chest before backing away from her.

“don’t worry about me then.”

you turn away and head towards the door. you’re silently hoping, praying that she does something.

‘please, say something. fight for me damnit.’

but she doesn’t. you look back and see her back to you once again, putting more things in her suitcase. with a shaky breath, you kept walking, slamming her door on the way out.

you let out a choked sob once the memory finished playing in your mind. you pulled the drawer of your nightstand open, throwing the necklace inside before slamming it shut. you curl up into bed and begin to just let out all your tears. you’ve just accepted that today was just going to be one of those days.

the days where no matter how much you try to forget, you always remember how much you miss riri.

~~~

[bitletsanddrabbles]

WIP Wednesday: Alex Support Version

Since @alex51324 has been dealing with Obnoxious Crap (TM), I've tried to turn my attention back toward the Island for a bit. I got a bit further on the piece I wanted to work on...then this ambushed me.

It's ironic. When I started "An Armada to Sail On" the last person I thought would have a chapter was...

...okay, Syl, who still doesn't have a chapter. But he was pretty much tied with Gordon. Now, not only does Gordon have a chapter, but of all the chapters my brain has decided to occasionally go 'Hey, you know, we could expand on that' with, it's that one. Go figure.

And so we have the first Island Sandbox bitlet that officially ties in with another piece. It's also the first thing I hand wrote, then typed up. Roughly three days, four and a half pages handwritten, 832 words typed. I'm still counting it as a rough draft because I'm not certain about the ending. I'd planned on making it longer, but this seemed a punchier place to stop...if it's clear what happens immediately after the last line. If not, I can spell it out a bit more. And of course, I've not language checked the characters against the original yet.

Anyway, here is a Thing! Hopefully it gets a chuckle.

-

“Speaking of ‘stepping out’,” Eddy said, his eyes sliding Thomas’s direction. It was Saturday night and the RAMC boys had been gossiping about Theo and one of the newer blokes. “You’ve been spending an awful lot of your free time with Gordon lately. If you aren’t careful, he’ll scare off all of your suitors and you really will die an old maid!”

“Old bachelor, you mean,” Dave scoffed from Eddy’s other side. On the far side of Dave, Rouse rather pointedly focused his attention on his beer. “Or have you decided you don’t care ‘cause no one here’s good enough for our ice prince?”

Peter, sitting on Thomas’s left, frowned. “That was uncalled for.”

“And rather pointless,” Thomas agreed before calmly taking a drink. “After all, I’m already taken.”

Surprise erupted like machine gun fire from the entire group, except for Rouse. “By whom?” Eddy demanded.

Thomas looked at him as if he’d just asked where his own shoes were. “Gordon, who else?”

“What, really?” The other man frowned and squinted at him, clearly trying to figure out if he was taking the piss or not.

“Of course, really,” Thomas scoffed. “You just said you’d noticed.”

“I’d noticed you were spending time together, yeah, but not that you were…you know…” Eddy continued to squint at him a moment, then turned to Rouse. “Oi, Frank! Did you know about this?”

“Of course he did,” Thomas replied, saving the doctor the effort of reminding them all about patient confidentiality. “Gordon and I talked to him about it first thing.”

“Willingly,” Rouse confirmed. “I still can’t believe that part.”

Thomas shrugged and took a drink. “We wanted you to know what was going on, in case rumors started flying around.”

“Fair enough, I suppose.”

“But why him?” Dave demanded, the picture of indignation. His name was on the list of suitors Thomas hadn’t realized he’d had until after the fact. “What does he have that the rest of us don’t, besides a fucking mouth?”

“Yeah, that’s one thing you definitely don’t have, Dave,” Rouse muttered, just loud enough for the whole bar to hear. It earned him a couple of chuckles.

Thomas thought a moment, then shrugged. “None of your business?”

“Not saying a fucking thing against the lad,” Tully chimed in, topping off Thomas’s glass and giving him a carefully measured look, “but it does seem a curious choice.”

Well, if Tully was going to nose in, he supposed he’d better answer, at least if he wanted to keep getting free drinks on Saturday. “If you must know, he figured out the one thing I’d been waiting for someone to do and did it.” Thomas paused for a reaction and to take a drink.

“Namely?” Tully asked once he’d put his glass down.

“He asked,” Thomas informed him in the driest tone he could muster. “In plain English.”

“That’s it?” Eddy gawped at him as if he’d just claimed he was going to fly to the moon.

“But,” Peter protested, gently as always, genuinely perplexed, “other people did that too.”

“To right they did!” Dave scowled. “I know I did!”

“No you didn’t,” Thomas snorted, giving him a dismissive look. “You asked me to the pub and to watch the dart’s tournament. Next thing I knew, it was all over the island that I’d thrown you over for Nigel because I went to the concert with him.” Of course, Thomas hadn’t taken his rumored relationship with Nigel seriously until he’d suddenly cocked that one up too.

“Of course it was!” Dave blustered. “Why wouldn’t you have gone to the concert with me?”

“You don’t even fucking like the concerts, Dave,” Tully reminded him. The looks he was giving Thomas had gone from stern to speculative. “You never go.”

Thomas cheerfully picked up the thread. “And plenty of men who aren’t stepping out have gone to the pub together. Really, if father Tim asks me to come to the pub and I say yes, are you going to accuse our vicar of infidelity?”

“It’s not the same.” Dave insisted.

Thomas rolled his eyes. “If you were that interested, the least you could have done was offered to walk me home from church instead of expecting me to read your mind and know that ‘let’s go to the pub’ meant something more than ‘let’s get a bite’!”

“Richard did that,” Peter pointed out, almost apologetically.

“Yeah, my first week here when nothing felt real yet!”

Peter gave a little grimace and shrug, conceding the point.

Dave harumphed. “Yeah, well, you’ve been here years now. Would’ve thought you’d’ve caught on to how these things are done by now.”

Thomas gave the other man his nastiest smile. “Well, I haven’t.”

Eddy, who was looking between Thomas on his left and Dave on his right like he was watching a tennis match, apparently decided it was in his best interest to play peace keeper. “So, what? Gordon just asked ‘Oi, Thomas, do you want to step out’?”

Thomas watched Dave lift his glass to his lips, waiting for him to take a healthy swig before replying. “Actually, he asked me to marry him.”

[bluedemiknight]

Amy showing up in an alternate universe where everyone’s genders switched and is just baking muffins in the kitchen of the resistance base in the middle of the night.

She explains very clearly she left her universe for personal reasons and can’t go home. She is willing to wait for either her friends finding her or she gets over whatever unspecified issue she is dealing with.

She’s smiling and chipper, but her eyes are always filled with unushered tears. She has been baking every day since she came and has not left the kitchen at all.

Out of genuine concern, they decide to give her an intervention. Just before they reach the kitchen, they hear a loud bang.

They rush to kitchen to see that she dropped a tray of muffins and is on her knees sobbing. A blue hedgehog hugs her and asks what’s wrong and why she came to their universe.

“Oh… y-you’ll think it’s silly…..”, she cried.

They encourage her to tell them and that if it’s hurting this badly that it’s not silly.

“…okay… I came here…because I…. I-I-I…. He cheated on me….”, she whispered.

“What?”, asked the hedgehog gently.

“My boyfriend cheated on me!”, she started crying hard.

“That’s awful! You don’t deserve to be treated like that.”, she said.

“Three years! And - a-and I see him kissing another girl! I - I didn’t know what to do! I couldn’t say anything! I couldn’t expose him in public like that! I couldn’t! I couldn’t! I was so hurt… I… saw a portal open up in the lake and… I just wanted the pain to stop….I ran a way… I-I’m I’m a coward! I couldn’t-“, she was interrupted.

“Shhh, you are not a coward. I understand. It’s okay.”, she smiled at her.

Amy sniffed and looked at her with watery eyes, she gave a small smile.

“I never fully introduced myself….I’m Amy… Amy Rose.”, Amy said softly.

“Rose?”, a pink hedgehog said from the group.

Amy looked at him and smiled.

“Yep! From what I understand, I’m the girl version of you? Or you are a boy me. Something like that!”, Amy stood up.

“Well, I finally cried. I think it’s time I move on.”, Amy beamed.

“Well, Amy. It won’t be easy, but I think we can help.”, the blue hedgehog said.

“I think so too, Sonya.”, Amy said.

After that, Amy finally entered the guest bedroom and drop on the bed asleep. The next day, they kicked her out of the kitchen and forbad her from entering even if her muffins were amazing.

Amy was very helpful a round the base, she was a great training partner. She was very close to some of the members of the group.

——-

One day, she sighed as she looked over the coast. A red echidna and a yellow fox sat with her.

“What’s wrong?”, said the Echidna.

“Do you miss your universe?”, asked the fox.

“Kind of, but I really miss this one friend of mine the most. More than my big brother.”, admitted Amy.

“You have a brother??”, said the shocked Echidna.

“Well, not really but I liked thinking he was my brother. He’s the boy version of you.”, said Amy.

“Does that mean I’m a sister now???”, cheered the echidna.

She had a big goofy smile and hugged Amy. Amy laughed and patted her head.

“Yeah, I guess so.”, she said.

“Who was it that you missed though?”, the fox asked.

“Well, I’m still not entirely sure what your feelings are for your version of this person as there are a lot of different things and events in this world that didn’t happen or was slightly different in my world.”, confessed Amy as she scratched her cheek.

“Good a head, I promise to be as objective as I can.”, promised the fox.

“If you like them, then they’re okay with me!”, said Amy’s new sister.

“Well… it’s Shadow. The ‘Ultimate Life form’ in my world. We are close friends and if I had stayed… I’m sure he would stay with me like you are and listen to me talk.”, she said.

“I’m pretty sure he’d go defend your honor if he’s anything like our ‘ultimate life form’. She is very serious about the people she’s close to.”, said the fox.

“Oh I don’t doubt it, but most of the time when I get sad he would always chose to sit with me over fighting other people.”, she said.

Amy’s sister briefly thought that Shadow might have a crush on her but ignored it and assumed he’s just a really good friend.

“I often think about my relationship and talk about it with him. He’d offer some help or criticize S- my ex- for me feeling the way I did.”, she said.

“To be fair, while your feelings are your own- it was his job to make sure you weren’t sad.”, said the fox.

“True… I honestly always thought we would be a great couple, even when he ran a way from me. He was really shy and I was always straight forward.”, said Amy.

They stop talking and enjoyed the view together.

————-

Eventually Amy’s friends came for her. She was making a cake when a portal opened somewhere in the woods.

Sonya and her friends met some of their counterparts. They brought them back, not knowing who Amy had dated.

“Amy!”, said Sonic.

“Sonic?”, said Amy.

Sonic had ran up to her and tried to hug her, but Shadow beat him to her. He picked her up and set her down on a different spot.

“Rose, are you alright?”, questioned Shadow harshly as he looked for injuries.

“Yes, I’m completely fine. I’m even baking a cake! Want to try some?”, asked Amy as she held her hand out.

He shook her hand briefly before letting go. She respects that he doesn’t feel comfortable with touch, even though she is one of the only ones aloud to touch him.

“Amy!”,she gets scooped up by her brother.

“Knuckles!”, she smiled and laughed as he spun around with her.

Knuckles had tears in his eyes as he looked at his little sister glowing with joy.

“Hey!”, Sonic zipped up to Amy and stood between her and Knuckles to get her attention.

“I missed you the most!”, said Sonic as he tried to hug her again.

Once more, Shadow took her out of reach. Amy got the feeling that he knew something the others didn’t. She was so glad to have him as a friend.

“Shadow! I know she’s your friend and all, but she’s my-“, Sonic gets interrupted.

“Ex-girlfriend.”, said Shadow as he stood in front of Amy to block her from Sonic.

“What?”, the others gasped.

Sonya groaned and looked at her boyfriend.

“I promise I’m not like him!”, she said.

“What are you talking about?”, said Tangle.

“Amy… we’ll she can tell you herself.”, he said as he stepped to the side.

Amy walked beside him and held his arm. Shadows arms with crossed so he could subtly place his hand on hers in a form of comfort.

“I saw you kissing another girl, Sonic.”, she said with a firm voice.

“I-“, Knuckles placed a hand on Sonic’s shoulder.

Sonic slumped his head and muttered for a few seconds.

“It wasn’t me. It was Metal Sonic! He was part of a ploy with a new minion of Eggman. The guys can vouch for me!”, said Sonic when he left his head.

“It’s true, Shadow was there.”, said Tangle.

“So? All I know is that Rose was heart broken and it’s been months since she went missing.”, said Shadow.

“Don’t start a fight with him, Sonic. He’s just showing everyone that he’s on my side.”, said Amy.

She pointed at Sonic as Knuckles also moved to her side as her big brother.

“That may have been a trick from Dr. Eggman, but that doesn’t change the fact that I’ve moved on. I’m sorry Sonic, but I’ve already broken up with you months ago. You may not have moved on, but I did.”, said Amy as her expression turned gentle.

“Just because it was a misunderstanding doesn’t mean we can start over. Im sorry, but his plan was successful in breaking us up. That also doesn’t change that we are friends. I’ll always care about you, Sonic. Im just not going to be in love you or looking to get into a relationship either.”, Amy closed and Sonic looked at her.

It was quiet as he thought. She had her hand out for him to take. It was not fair, but he couldn’t deny what she said. It took them far too long to find her and she changed during that time. He sighed.

Sonic smiled and took her hand.

“Alright, that’s fine with me.”, they shook hands.

There was a pause before Knuckles spoke.

“Can we have cake now?”, he said and everyone laughed.

“Sure thing! Let me just finish decorating it and it will be good!”, she said.

“Uh, I hate to break it to you guys, but we don’t have much time. We have to get going soon, Tails says we have trouble on their side and that we need to get back.”, said Tangle as they held up a communicator.

It replayed his message to them with panic in his voice.

They all looked at each other before Knuckles fought everyone for the cake as they began to run off with Amy in Sonic’s arms.

“Protect the cake!”, said Sonic as he ran.

“The cake is ours!”, said Sonya.

Shadow blocked the yellow fox from grabbing the cake and held Amy’s sister back. Knuckles carried the cake outside and to the boarder of the resistance camp.

“They have the last cake Amy will ever bake for us! Stop them!”, Sonya ordered.

The members that heard were on them.

—————

Bye!!

[sasha-on-the-side]

Tag Meme

Thank you for the tag, @banachtarskiparadox! I don't do these memes often bc a lot of them make me go "and why do you want to know this about me?" but I'm always up for screaming about some of my favourite pieces of media!

A scent you love:

Grapefruit. My current signature is Zara Vetiver Pamplemousse layered with Kerosene Summer of '84.

Something you're looking forward to this week:

Been watching Arcane with some of my besties who haven't seen it, and we need to go through the last three episodes.

A book you are currently reading:

I've been AWFUL at reading books as an adult ;_; I've had This Is How You Lose the Time War, Gideon the Ninth, and TAZ graphic novel (The 11th Hour, my favourite arc) sitting on my bedside table since summer and I've barely made a dent in the former. I need to get to them sometime soon.

A game you're currently playing:

I've been on a bit of a gaming tear lately and got through some really good indie titles!

Outer Wilds - the game I beat and then made everyone I know play it too because I needed someone to talk to about it. This is one of those games that everyone reccs as "don't look up anything about it just play it blind trust me" and I find it to be a bit unfair to people who are not into certain types of gameplay, so I'm gonna recommend it to you in a way that's equally honest and non-spoilery:

It's a space exploration game in which you are a budding astronaut setting off on your first journey in your small solar system. It's entirely non-linear and you are welcome to craft your own path in visiting several distinct planets and other celestial bodies, while trying to uncover the mysteries of a civilisation that inhabited the system before you, through collecting pieces of written lore. You have to fly a ship to get to places, and while it takes some getting used to, it is very intuitive. And, if you like time loops, this game has one. If any of what I said sounds attractive to you, I implore you to play it, it is quite genuinely life- and/or game-changing.

American Arcadia - it's The Truman Show meets Severance meets Defunctland: the game. A 2.5D runner/puzzle game with a neat 70s aesthetic and a story that takes a pleasantly unique direction.

Chants of Sennaar - a game about being an interpreter in what is essentially the tower of Babel. It's a really novel but well-executed concept that doesn't get old during the course of the game and makes up for a (imo) rather basic storyline. It's the kind of game that has you take notes as you go, except the note-taking mechanic is already build into it.

Cocoon - a very neat puzzle game with a lovely art style and inception-like mechanics that may leave you stumped for a minute or to but then make you feel like a genius when you finally solve the puzzle.

Night in the Woods - a story-heavy game about coming of age with light puzzle, platformer, and rhythm game elements, fantastic dialogue and the most charming art style and animation.

All of the above titles also have great soundtracks, OW and NitW especially.

The most recent movie you watched:

Oh man, I don't watch that many movies. It has to be The Killer, which was remarkable in its mediocrity. It's fun as you get through it, and then it ends and makes you go "wait that's it?"

A show you've been watching or listening to:

Now here I can recc you some good ones! I got really into Taskmaster this past year and have been watching the New Zealand version, after being a bit reluctant to get into it. Fortunately it's just as funny as the UK version, it its own "man, they get wild on kiwi tv" way.

Another show I really liked lately was Culprits! Heist is my favourite genre of media, and this show delivered on the "someone in the crew is a traitor" storyline and then some. It also has a diverse cast, with a queer black lead, and a lovely wrap to the fist season that won't leave you without answers should it suffer...you know, that thing that happens to all shows these days.

I will also take an opportunity to plug Dungeons and Daddies*, a rowdy, horny, violent podcast for grown-ups, and my favourite audio show for the fourth year and counting. It's a real play podcast that's light on the rules and heavy on "yes and", and in its first season tackles issues of toxic masculinity, generational trauma, and what it means to be a father. If you liked TAZ Balance, give it a try.

*Not a BDSM podcast. Occasionally a BDSM podcast.

Your favourite season:

Early summer. The night air in my hometown has a scent I wish I could bottle up and put as the first answer instead.

Something you've learned recently:

Whatever it is I did, I have forgotten it by now.

Have you had any water recently?

Just now, to wash down my meds (this is your reminder to take yours.)

Tagging @canonicallyshort @orangeykay @joybones and YOU!