#something about how Twilight can't go home again

[summertimemusician]

Linktober Shadow Day 3

Twilight

Definitely self indulgent, just a small thing I managed to throw together after a sleep deprivation filled day.

My Twilight Princess lover side definitely comes out on this one, as well as some vague headcanons in a short drabble, as always can be read as platonic or romantic.

There was something special, you think, about the way autumn came in a howling moonson of glory into the Era of Twilight, heralding the coming of the temperate strokes over the woods in flowering tones of russet, bronze, maple and amethyst in gilding gold over the evergreen of Hyrule’s eternity in warmth even as the weather turned ever colder, the late afternoon sunset fleeting in it’s mercurial transition into the hour of twilight, only matched in honor to the abandoned forests of the Era of Sky, the enduring wealds of the Era of time and the untamed thickets of the Era of Wilds. Oh so contrasting to it’s hero but no less lovely for it was a perfect balance, when you first met Twilight (or well, got properly acquainted, really, but that’s a story for another day), it was clear he was no less captivating than his homeland, as steady as the oaks and pines stretching towards the heavens and with the kindness of it’s people, was it any wonder then, that you found it easy to love the man with the loyalty and eyes of wolf to match the divine beast in his soul?

So it was why through a long, long period of trying to make the true extent of your feelings as unseen as a dream after waking hours and trying to hide just how enamored you had slowly become, that you became well acquainted with the tells that showed something weighted on his mind as you left Ordon’s Spring after washing Epona for the long road ahead tomorrow. The way his head hang just a little, ears lowering to match the way Wolfie’s would when he gently nudged one of the members of the Chain into holding him after a nightmare as his walls attempt to come back up, as solemn as a wolf in mourning.

Ever so responsible, ever steady. Trying to take the world onto his shoulders as any hero would.

He should have know it wouldn’t work on you, not after all you’ve been through.

“Rupee for your thoughts?” Your tone gently broke through the stillness of the stream as you fed Epona an apple, Twilight’s ears twitch as he turns towards you, softening as he notes the way the twilit enchanted sunlight lingered upon your visage in a most ephemeral way, shadows holding affectionately and brightening the stars of your eyes and the liminal nature of this moment and how Epona neighs, gently nudging the side of your hand for more rubs or maybe apples he knew you loved sneaking to her when he wasn’t looking, making your airy, fae like laughter free to be taken by the breeze.

“Reminiscing, is all.” He answer you, tone a low rumbling of the fall winds and like handling mirror shards into something new and beautiful as he privately holds onto the memory of your smile, holding it with claws and teeth for he can never quite be sure for how long he’ll have it, “It feels like a lifetime ago since...”

Since the start of his journey, since the beginning of his new one in the throes of attempting to settle in Ordon to lick his wounds after the lingering shaded reality of another realm settled into the crevices of his soul and marrow after grabbing the neck of the beast inside his being and biting down onto the hackles had left the injury open to bleed again.

Since losing Midna shattered his heart and killed him all at once, leaving him to live a life of haunting his own existence until you looked at him, all of him, and guided him back to life. Picking the shards of his heart and slowly putting them back together with the care of someone he’d seen mourn for an unfortunate nightingale on the road even as you cut yourself when he attempted to push you away.

You nod, gently resting your head on his shoulder, your gaze flicking to the Shadow Crystal, you don’t press about Midna and Twilight feels so, so warm, breathing out, you were both working on it, slowly but surely. Midna may not be dead, but he knew her absence left you haunted too, “Does it still hurt?” The twisting of reality upon his form, drawing from a well of ambition from long gone spirits who’d attempted to grab at the Goddesses throat, and the way the darkness so fiercely claimed any part of his he could touch. Making both of your shadows darker as the veil between worlds thinned, refusing to allow anything else to attempt a claim.

He shakes his head, gently putting his chin atop yours, “No, not anymore.”

You hum, gently nudging his chin in a sweet, adoring nuzzle, “I’m glad, then.”

You both remain on the spring until night falls, basking into one another’s presence and soaking into the timeless moment of learning to love one another as you can.

Twilight silently wishes that, just this once, he’s allowed to keep this the same way the Twilight Realm still keeps the old him.

[hsllfirescoopsreblogs]

✦.˳·˖✶ ⋆.✧̣̇˚.✦.˳·˖✶ ⋆.✧̣̇˚.✦.˳·˖✶ ⋆.✧̣̇˚. ✦.˳·˖✶.⋆. ✧̣̇⋆

「 ✦ bucky barnes 2 ✦ 」

╰┈➤ 18+ none of these stories belong to me! this is a masterlist of all bucky barnes stories i’ve read and reblogged! just thought it would be nice to have them all in one spot! (if your fic is on here and you wish not to be, please let me know!) some will have summaries if provided <3

╭┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈╮

★ part one bucky recs

★ @kinanabinks

☼ jealousy and flirtation

☁︎There's nothing you want more than Bucky Barnes - but you and his best friend, Juniper, seem to have that in common.

☼ sesame and the sweetheart

☁︎ You've been on a few dates with Bucky now, and the sexual tension is at an all-time high. After another cute date, you realize you can't keep your hands off him for very much longer.

★ @bucksangel

☼ beneath the milky twilight

☁︎ Being Mr. Barnes’ personal assistant has been tough, balancing a full time job while taking care of your younger brothers has you running yourself thin. Then, things take a sharp turn after a dinner with your boss when you disclose your financial situation.

☼ give me a minute

☼ the spark

☁︎James Barnes, the bane of your existence, the man you swore to stay away from. Though his naturally good looks and charming smile may fool many of the women around you, you refuse to fall into his trap. It gets harder to do with every interaction you have with him, and when Bucky gets taken by Hydra, you're forced to face your feelings or risk losing him forever.

☼ until we meet again

☁︎ The Blip changed everything and everyone. With Bucky now gone, and a toddler to raise, you find yourself leaning on Steve for support, as he does with you. What happens when, five years later, Bucky returns to find his best friend and best girl raising a kid? His kid.

★ @adrinktostopyourthirst

☼ sniper

☁︎ Reluctantly, you get thrown into an assignment with Bucky and Yelena, but Bucky doesn't trust you as far as he can throw you. When he's proven to be correct, it turns out you're still a hell of a good team.

☼ pride and privacy

☁︎Bucky works on himself as he gets used to a roommate. Turns out, she has a much better room than him and he crossed the line.

★ @lives-in-midgard

☼ don’t tell bucky

☁︎ After a night out with Natasha and Wanda reader gets drunk and tells someone about her secret crush on Bucky.

★ @thestarkinternship

☼ mine

☁︎When you went out for drinks with the team one Friday, you had no idea that this was how the night would end: with your back pressed flush against your bedroom door, a shaking thigh hitched over your boyfriend's shoulder and his pretty mouth daring you to completely let go for everyone to hear.

★ @winterarmyy

☼ welcome home…soldat? pt2 pt3 pt4

☁︎ Y/N had make a habit of greeting Bucky a warm 'welcome home' everytime he came back from his missions, but there was one particular day when she unknowingly greeted someone else.

★ @amathslutsguidetofandom

☼ guess i’m just good with them

☼ big, strong man

★ @scoonsalicious

☼ unwanted

☁︎ When your FWB relationship with your best friend Bucky Barnes turns into something more, you couldn't be happier. That is, however, until a new Avenger sets her sights on your super soldier and he inadvertently breaks your heart. You take on a mission you might not be prepared for to put some distance between the two of you and open yourself up to past traumas. Too bad the only one who can help you heal is the one person you can no longer trust.

★ @lanadelreyscokewhor3

☼ sleepwalking

☁︎when your boyfriend bucky wakes up with the winter soldier mindest, you do the only thing you know how to do- comfort him. he does the only thing he knows how to thank you- possessive sex. 

★ @wkemeup

☼ masterlist

☁︎ all their works <3

★ @seventven

☼ masterlist

☁︎ all bucky works

★ @allyouneedisbuck

☼ i’m begging for you (take my hand)

☁︎ bucky doesn’t do love, you love bucky. being friends with benefits makes sense, right?

★ @jurassicbarnes

☼ please thy neighbor

☼ what a night

☁︎ Bucky Barnes is out in the new world, navigating through everyday life and its trials and tribulations. His therapist insists he tries new things. He has collected a few new hobbies. But when it comes to making new acquaintances, what’s a better way to meet new people than a little dating site called Tinder.

★ @watchmegetobsessed

☼ paper thin walls

★ @onceuponastory

☼ upstairs

☁︎Bucky Barnes is constantly annoyed by his cat Alpine going to visit his upstairs neighbour for treats. That is however, until Bucky meets his new upstairs neighbour Y/N. Who Bucky definitely isn’t in love with. Not at all.

Turns out that a 106 year old man might know more about love than he first thought. And that cats can make excellent wingmen.

★ @dreamwritesimagines

☼ burn the witch

☁︎ There’s a thin line between mission and love, and spies aren’t allowed to cross that line.

★ @bccky

☼ unrequited

☁︎ you realise that you are in love with your best friend, only for him to confess that he loves someone else.

★ @buckysboobs

☼ raw

☁︎ she just wants bucky to fucking destroy her insides and rearrange her guts, but bucky's scared so he rejects her before another one of their love making sessions. she gets mad so making him jealous is the only way left to get him to fulfill her fantasies.

★ @bucksfucks

☼ after hours

☁︎ it’s hard to focus on your PhD when your supervisor is none other than Professor Barnes.

★ @bucky-bucket-barnes

☼ the two of us

☁︎ You and Bucky go to investigate the phenomenon happening in Westview, New Jersey. While attempting to understand the issue, you yourselves are sucked into Wanda's world of pretend. Now, you believe yourselves to be the happily married Mr. and Mrs. Barnes; in real life, you are most definitely not a happy pair. It is up to you and Bucky to piece together what's happening while dealing with one another inside the hex.

★ @honeybunchesofbucky

☼ crawling back to you

☁︎ After your breakup with Steve Rogers left you heartbroken and lonely, a night in with a bottle of wine gets interrupted by a familiar face; Bucky Barnes, who’s on a mission to show you what you’ve been missing out on.

★ @samingtonwilson

☼ little boy blue pt2 pt3 pt4

★ @inkedbybarnes

☼ his baby

☁︎ bucky won't call you by your name.

★ @lanabuckybarnes

☼ damn bear

☁︎ Sgt Barnes wins you a bear at a carnival. What he doesn’t expect nor like is when you give it more attention, Bucky shows you that he’s better than the bear.

★ @imyourbratzdoll

☼ angst request

☁︎ bucky flirts with sarah to make you jealous, forgetting that you aren't as secure as you come off.

★ @buckys-wintersoldier

☼ home is where you are

☁︎ when you hear someone talking about Bucky you offer them your help to find him.

★ @duuhrayliegh

☼ fondue

☁︎ bucky and steve’s daughter have been dating secretly for over half a year, this is how steve finds out.

★ @veltana

☼ unleashed

☁︎ During a mission, Bucky is exposed to something that removes his inhibitions and all he wants is you.

★ @thevillainswhore

☼ a forbidden invitation

☁︎You think a one night stand from the summer, the best fuck of your life, is a done deal — a single, heated encounter that now lives vividly in your memories. But you learn that your actions have consequences when you befriend a new student, starting in the new term, and she invites you over to meet her Dad.

•MASTERLIST

•MARVEL MASTERLIST

hopefully all links work, let me know if not <3

last updated april 16, 2024

[tipsyleaf]

Young parents but it's re2 leon or re4 leon... he has a cute and sweet girlfriend but he ended up getting her pregnant by accident (ahem) and now he needs to learn how to take care of his pregnant girlfriend.... (He watched Twilight and was worried about the possibility of she breaking like a stick like Bella.) 👛anon.

(RE4 Leon is 27, you think 27 is young?? I'm 27 bless you 👛anon 🥺)

This would probably fit better with RE2 Leon. A rookie cop who accidentally knocked his girlfriend up. Obviously he's happy regardless, you two love each other and he knows he'd want a family someday. It just so happens to be sooner than he thought.

I'd picture him going bat shit insane. Talking about how you'll snap like a twig and you're just staring at him like 🤨 babe... We're not have a vampire baby.

Yeah, but like WHAT IF SOMETHING HAPPENS!?

Would definitely buy every parenting book he sees. He wants to be prepared. Extra precautions after you move into his shoe box of an apartment cause he wants you close by. Definitely walking around putting up those corner covers they have for counters and tables so kids don't cut their heads. Even though you're a grown ass woman... He's just scared you'll bump your belly and hurt you or the baby.

The moment you start getting cravings he's on it any time of day.

You want cookies at 3am? Insomnia cookies here he comes.

You text him that you want noodles while he's sitting at his desk at work. He's an hour late coming home from work because he stopped at two different markets to get any flavor of instant noodles he could find so you'll be able to enjoy your meal.

You want grilled steak in the middle of fucking winter?! BABE GET YOUR COAT, WE'RE GOING TO OUTBACK!

Definitely overwhelmed with all the responsibilities he puts on himself because he refuses to let you do cleaning or anything to requires lifting. And yes, even if it is light!

Leon put most of the nursery together (cute little alcove in the living room until y'all can find a bigger apartment or rent a house). Quite literally only let you supervise, which irritated the hell out of you but he loves you and you know he's just paranoid.

Once the baby comes though, he's awake for days... You're recovering and he's taken on the role of father very seriously. So sleep deprived he's probably stared at the baby thinking he can't see their chest move. But they wiggle their little arm and his stomach nearly falls out of his ass he was clenching so hard.

At one point he'd be rocking the baby to sleep during your recovery and close his eyes for 2 seconds and suddenly it's morning. The babies not in his arms and he starts freaking out. So freaked out he looks under the damn couch for his kid. But you come out of the kitchen carrying a bottle and the baby in one of the swaddling scarves and he can breathe again.

But all in all Leon would be a fantastic father!

[pandagyaru]

"Jasper, don't you think this is a little risky? And high?" You ask, clutching onto his shirt. Your finger nails catching onto the fibers. He grabs your hand, taking it off his shirt and into his own.

"Would I ever put you in a situation where you get hurt?" He asks, nuzzling into you. You look below you, at the ground covered in sparkling layers of snow. From up there in the trees it looks quite pretty, you stare at it for a short while; contemplating what you're going to say. (Completely not getting blinded by it)

"No, but I don't see how jumping from tree to tree is supposed to be fun for me" You deadpan, looking up at him and falsely glaring; a puff of air coming out of your mouth. His gold eyes watching as it disappears.

"You'll see pumpkin" He declares, grabbing your waist with one arm and jumping to the next set of trees with the other.

"You do realize if you DROP me. I won't just get up and walk it off like you would, right?" You whimper to him, grabbing him tighter as not to perish in the snow below.

"Well good news, we're where I wanted to go" He brushes branches out of the way to reveal a beautifully reserved clearing, which you assumed would have flowers covering it fully if it weren't for the snow. Jasper turns to tell you something but he stops at the sight of you staring in awe at a deer. It slowly walks into view, sniffing the ground as it looks for a place to just lay down and relax.

"Jasper! Look at it! Isnt it cute!?" You whisper to him, watching to make sure the deer doesn't hear you. He's still looking at you, a smile appearing on his face.

"Yeah it is" He whispers back. You turn to look at him and sees he's staring right back at you. Your face burns from the contrast of the cold air and your now warm face.

"The deer! Not me!!" You hit him on the arm. He chuckles and tightens his grip on you so he can jump down from the tree. The sound of his feet hitting the snow scares away the deer, causing you to pout. He sets you down.

"You scared it away!" You yell at him, walking into the clearing and just plop yourself down in the snow. The crunching of newly laid snow fills the silence. (You ever see people write "a pregnant pause" motherfucker what?!) You lay back and put your hands out above you, the sky is a cloudy grey color compared to the white on the ground and trees.

"Looks like it's about to snow again sugar" Jasper states, coming to lay next to you. You turn your head to make eye contact with him. (I hate eye contact 😭😭)

"Hey wait. Since your body temp is cold, do you not get cold from the snow?" You ask, starting to flail your arms about in a snow angel formation.

"Not really. Doesn't mean I won't bundle up in blankets tho" He tells you, turning on his side and propping his head up with his arm. You stop making snow angels and just stare at him. The beauty of his sparkly skin with the sparkling white snow, you wish you had brought your phone. (Wait, I know like non twilight vampires can't show up in pictures, is it the same for twilight vampires?? If it is the same, shhhhh)

"Should we be heading back? You're shivering" He asks, wrapping his arms around you and pulling you into him.

"Maybe, I can already not feel my fingers" You muttered, blowing hot air onto your hands. He chuckles.

"Let's go home then beloved"

At home

"Ahhhhh" you sighed out as Jasper wrapped another blanket around you. He stands up and looks over you.

"You warm?"

"Like a damn burrito" You joke, sticking your hand out of the blanket and reaching for him.

"Are you sure you need me up against you?"

"I always need you up against me" You tease, grabbing him. He rolls his eyes but then he smiles.

"You're dirty"

"Yeah but you like it"

It's kinda short but I have no idea how to write for this man. LOVE YA

[aspoetssay]

Hi! Could I request some general comfort (gn reader) with König, ghost and graves? Feel free to add more

If you decide to do this, thank you sm! <3

COMFORT HEADCANNONS OF COD CHARACTERS X GN!READER ghost, könig, graves, valeria

I'm a huge sucker for comforting writing, so thank you so much for the request. I hope you'll like it!

SIMON "GHOST" RILEY

Simon is not the best at comforting. He's not very big on words, so don't expect him to give you a whole monologue, praising you and giving the who hurt you speech. At first, he might give you some space and read your body language - there are some times when you are irritated to the point that you get mad at him for even touching you.

He's an observer, so if you will come home with your head hanging low, shoulders slumped forward, he would know you are in a desperate need of a hug. Not that kind of simple, greeting hug, but a hug where he slightly squishes you. That kind of hug where you grasp his shirt in your fists, burying your head in his chest and letting your feelings flow away.

If you start crying - his heart breaks. The man doesn't understand how others can be cruel to such a good soul. Once again, your crying can slightly make him freeze for a few seconds, but he'll start rubbing your back, pulling you closer.

Once you'd pull away, cheeks puffy and eyes glistering with tears, he'd slightly lean down, evening out with your height and wipe your flowing tears away. "Tea?" he'd ask. And you'd be a fool to refuse this request because the tea he made was the best you ever tasted and he made it rarely.

You'd be beside him when he makes the tea. You love to observe him do something so simple and domestic. And soon, there are two cups of steaming tea in mugs and he sets them on the table, making you sit down on the kitchen chair.

He'll push another chair right beside yours and sit like that so he could face you. His legs will have a hard time fitting as he doesn't want to waste any space between you two. But you two will end up close, his hand resting on your thigh, gently rubbing circles.

"Wanna talk about it?" He'll ask. But most of the time you will just shake your head and mumble a small 'later'. He'll press a kiss to your temple and his lips will linger for a second longer, feeling the softness of your skin before pulling away.

"Come on, love, you can choose what to watch," he'll offer and your eyes will light with delight. There was nothing more you enjoyed doing than watching corny romcoms with Simon, just to see that man struggle to go through all of those cheesy conversations and your ability to recite them.

"I know how much you suffer. Can't do that to you." You'll try to reason, but you could do that to him and he knew that.

He'll chuckle, a small breath that indicated—yeah right. Tapping your thigh, he'll rise from his seat: "Don't play hard to get. Let's go watch the bloody vampire circus."

"It's Twilight, Simon. And it's the national treasure of this century."

KÖNIG

He can read you very well. Sometimes it might seem that his mind can be occupied with too many things at the same time - the post-adrenaline shake or just some sort of nasty embarrassing shit that has happened while doing grocery shopping, even with all of that he reads you like an open book.

It scares him when you are not feeling well. If you are crying - he is shattered. Imagine him catching you in the bedroom you two share, wiping angry tears off your face as you tried to control your breathing. The man is already on his knees in front of you before you could register his presence.

There have been a few times when you have dealt with his panic attacks - they were nasty and quite scary at some times, so he already felt like he owed you. The small mumbles, the 'nothing' would make him desperate - he wanted to make you feel better.

That's why he'd gently grab your face in his hands, making you look at him even if you kept trying to turn away so he wouldn't see your tears. He'd caress your face so gently as if a feather was stroking your face. His full of love, worried eyes would meet yours as he'd gently beg:

"I'm here for you, mein engel. Please don't hide from me. I'm here."

His words would undoubtedly make you sob, but you'd move away from the bed, slipping forwards right into his arms and there you two were - in a warm embrace on the carpet of your bedroom. He'd gently coo in your ear, stroking your hair, gently rocking you.

It would feel so heavenly to be held by his strong, but loving arms. The way you knew that he'd get rid of any harm coming your way. He'd kiss the ground you walk on if you just asked. Even if it may be hard to show your vulnerable side, you knew that you two were bare in front of each other. Seeing each other's souls on display. Offering vulnerability.

You were the one kissing his pain away when he was having a hard time breathing, his hands desperately pulling you closer as if you were the oxygen he needed to survive. Now he was the one holding you and you were wondering - what would you do without him?

You'd calm down eventually and your slightly trembling body would collapse in his. It was as if you could be in his arms forever and never whine about anything again; the feeling of safety was so sweet, the taste lingering on your tongue as you allowed yourself to be coddled by him.

You'll hear his heartbeat - rhythmical and strong. You'll hear the way a single touch of yours would cause his heart to spike, making you gently smile to yourself. And in no time, you'll pull away from his alluring warmth and offer him a soft smile, taking in his worrying features.

"Alles gut?" He'd ask.

"Mit dir - alles gut."

PHILLIP GRAVES

That man can be demanding and giving out orders quickly - sometimes he'd forget it's just the two of you and the demanding tone would make your eyebrows furrow just a little bit. But if you're feeling down - God forbid he'd ever use that tone on you.

He'd be quite talkative to make sure you're okay. Keeping that eye contact with him, no matter if you are crying, is very important to him. "Come on, baby, look at me," he'd coo. "Tell me what’s going on.”

It’s important for him to hear what has happened or how you are feeling. You have to talk with him—he appreciates it when you tell him how you are feeling without the ‘nothing’ bullshit. It shows him that you trust him enough to display your feelings, even the ones that make you cry.

If it’s some shit going on at your work, he’d definitely be the kind of partner to silently fix the issue without you knowing. Someone’s being rude to you? Commander Graves is already at his service. Most of your friends and acquaintances know that your partner is in the military and there is gossip going on around him if he is a soldier or a mercenary. But that didn’t matter to him or you—no one wanted to fuck with him.

He’d kiss the side of your forehead a lot while you’re pouring your feelings out. He’d try to soothe you with the idea of getting a delivery and just spending the evening together. Hell—if you are completely on the edge, he’ll promise you that he will clean his schedule a bit and get a few days off. And he’ll keep to his word.

If, let’s say, you barricade yourself from him - lock yourself in the bathroom to pour your feelings out - he’ll sit outside the door. At first, he will try to convince you that you should let him inside, but when you don’t move an inch, he will just stay there until you are ready to face him.

And when the door would open, he’d raise from the ground so fast and bring you into his arms immediately. He does that not because he doesn’t understand what personal space is, but because he just needs to be there for you when you are having a hard time.

And yes, even if he isn’t a wardrobe sharer—you better believe that the next morning you wake up, there will be a sweater of his folded right beside you to wear.

VALERIA GARZA

If someone makes you break down, you best be sure that Valeria will have that look on her face of ‘taking care of that person’. She can easily take care of nasty business without you knowing. Your safety and well-being are her first priority.

Definitely that kind of woman to ask ‘who did this to you?’ almost instantly, but if you are crying that sentence will have to be pushed a bit away. Despite her bossy demeanour, she knows how to soothe someone. Let’s be honest, she has been through horrible experiences in the Army which made her toughen up, but that doesn’t mean she is an evil person.

As I said, your well-being is her first priority. She may not be home a lot, but she tries to make it up to so. So if she comes back and you are feeling down - she may think it’s her fault at first. And most of the time it is and trust me, she’d like to be with you more often, but it’s not easy. Especially with the business, she is brewing.

She’ll get you anything you want at that moment. From a box of chocolates to a nice homemade stew. Because in moments like these, she always remembers how human you both are. Relationships need work to be maintained and ups and downs are common. Even if expressing emotions is normal and awaited, she never wants to see you cry again - it's too painful.

"Just come close," you'd ask, your voice hoarse from crying. The woman in front of you would quickly shut up with her questions and sit next to you.

"I'll take a few days off and-"

"Don't make promises you can't keep, Valeria. I am fine with your work schedule."

She knew you weren't fine, but she was beyond thankful that you were still here with her. "I always go around yelling about who did this to you when most of the time it's my fault, no?" She dryly joked, chuckling.

You just needed her home. "I know how much your work means to you."

"But do you know how much you mean to me?"

(my bad, how did manage to turn this into hurt—)

[janeaustenbrandysmuggler]

The Hitchhiker (you can run...)

Apologies if someone has already pointed this out. I'm new to tumblr, and I'm still digging through all the amazing Good Omens metas!

Shax-in-disguise appearing and reappearing on the side of the road at the very beginning of The Hitchhiker felt really familiar to me, and I finally figured out why. I think we can add a Twilight Zone episode that's (conveniently) called "The Hitch-Hiker"* to the list of film and tv references we get in the season.

*I felt especially dumb when Google told me this episode literally has the same title as s2 ep4. In my defense, I don't know the names of any of the other Twilight Zone episodes I've seen, either.

Not sure you really need a spoiler alert for a 60+ year old tv episode, but I'll put a break in anyway. Go watch it if you can - it's properly creepy.

A brief summary: Nan Adams is on a road trip from Manhattan to Los Angeles. She's gotten as far as Pennsylvania, when her tire blows out and she runs off the road. The mechanic who comes out to put on her spare tire comments on how lucky she is to still be in one piece. (More on that in a minute.) As she follows the mechanic into town for a replacement tire, she sees a man in a hat hitchhiking on the side of the road and passes him by. She sees the man again at the service station after getting a new tire and mentions him to the mechanic, but the mechanic doesn't see him. Once she resumes her trip, she sees the hitchhiker on the side of the road again. And again. And again. And again. The farther she drives, the more she sees him, and the more frightened and paranoid she gets. At the height of her fear, she's convinced the hitchhiker is trying to kill her, and she attempts to run him over in order to make it all stop. She finally decides to pull over to a phone booth in Arizona and call her mother to try and ground herself back in reality, and we get one final big twist to end the story.

When I realized that hitchhiker!Shax appearing and reappearing in front of the Bentley reminded me of this episode, I decided to watch it again because I hadn't seen it in years. What do we hear almost right out of the gate?

So lucky! You could even say she dodged a bullet there. Oh wait...

(I think he says "Chalk up a win to the side of the Angel" here, but close enough.) Interestingly, "the side of the angels" really just means "the good guys" these days. In both these scenes, setting aside the fact that Aziraphale is actually an angel, it's used in the context of "you survived something that could have killed you."

One other thing I didn't know before is that the Twilight Zone episode is based on a radio play, also called "The Hitch-Hiker," written by Lucille Fletcher and first presented on The Orson Welles Show in... 1941. Probably just a fun coincidence, but really, why does it feel like all roads lead back to 1941?

As for the final creepy twist in Nan's story? Her mother isn't home when she calls. The woman who answers the phone tells Nan that her mother is in the hospital. She had a nervous breakdown when she found out her daughter had been killed in a car accident in Pennsylvania - caused when her tire blew out and she ran off the road. Nan goes numb and walks back to her car. She pulls down the visor to look at herself in the mirror, and she sees the hitchhiker sitting in the back seat. He says, "I believe you're going... my way?"

So there we go - a wink and a nod to a tv episode with the moral that you can't outrun your fate/Death, in a season that sure seems to have a lot of references to death in it. By the time Nan sees the hitchhiker for the first time, she's already dead, she just doesn't know it yet. She tries running, but it all catches up to her anyway. By the time Aziraphale sees the hitchhiker, Shax is just about ready to trigger the events that lead to where we are at the end of the season. The precious, peaceful, fragile existence of the last few years is already dead, and no matter how much Aziraphale tries to outrun that idea by acting like There's Nothing Wrong...

...it all catches up anyway.

I have a more nebulous set of thoughts about the "side of the angels" line being seen in the 1941 flashback, and if I can get them in any type of coherent order, I'll link to another post or put them here. Something about that line referencing a lucky escape that isn't so lucky after all for Nan Adams, and how 1941 so far looks like a series of narrowly averted catastrophes for Aziraphale and Crowley...and how it really feels like we haven't seen all of the 1941 story yet.

[cafecourage]

That lack of requests is criminal. Don't mind me while I churn out a couple more. (this is actually helping with my brain-deadness so I'm gonna alternate between studying and dropping stuff in your inbox lol)

Hyrule with an s/o who is also good at magic (but can't heal worth a damn) and is able to give themselves fairy wings while maintaining full height. Like they can just become a hylian-sized fairy.

And maybe he finds out because he fell off a cliff and they saved him?

- Glitter ✨

Is is gonna be similar to another ask I got. But first some random Hc’s that I don’t think go together with the story I wrote but still is fun to think about.

- Hylians could gain the abilities to have magic through other means. Hyrule, himself, being an example of that. While I am all up for half fae Hyrule, but Changeling Hyrule, and Battle Mage Hyrule is also up there. Either way how ever you look at it, Reader and Hyrule are 100% covering each other’s backs.

- If Reader is bad with healing, I am going to assume they can do more specialized magic like defense up, shielding, etc. Not actually healing but it’s still something. I imagine that Reader and Hyrule are like a sword and shield combo, though who is who is ether or as you can shield the both of you and he can heal.

- Imagine if Hyrule was the one that taught you the fairy spell? You are just more adventurous with messing with it to change your height so it can stay the same. You guys just teach each other since you’re the only two that know how to even do magic in the first place. These are just some idea’s though. If Reader was half-fae they would probably already be able to do it and can teach him too.

When your mother, Great Fairy Mija, offered your help to the Champion on his latest adventure. You didn’t expect much to come from it, nor for Link to say yes in the first place but that was beside the point. Honestly it didn’t phase you to much that there was more Link’s in the group. If anything you had heard it before from other Great Fairies that a bunch of heroes have gotten together before. And you can assume it wont be the last time this was going to happen.

What you didn’t expect was how fast they clicked and adopted each other. Though living in a Fairy Fountain you were kinda used to quick adoptions, so it wasn’t a big deal just surprising.

You were a lot slower to integrate into the group as you weren’t a hero for courage so less predictable compared to all the Link’s. Which was fine as you knew the champion, now known as Wild, had the same issue with trusting people too.

So having eight more insane semi impulsive guys to befriend wasn’t too difficult. Especially when you did openly used magic to help them in battle though you made sure to get consent before hand. You heard the stories you heard what happened to some of them it is only fair. The Hero of Twilight and Legends you were especially careful around. Rather be safe than yelled at.

You quickly noticed that the traveler who was given the title of Hero of Hyrule, was similar to Wild. It felt easier to befriend him than anyone else. Which was fun. You, him and Wild typically tended to stay together as giving your home Era’s wandering was commonplace. Hyrule did tell you about his magic when healing was needed, “You’re half fae though.” The Vet pointed out as Hyrule took over bandaging the Captain. “Wouldn’t that be natural?”

The answer was actually longer than it needed to be but that wasn’t a story for now, “well. Yes, but no.” It was also convoluted to explain and honestly with the fight everyone just went through, again it was a story for another day. “The short of the answer is that I don’t have the ability to do it safely to others… or myself.” That only earned them a quizzical look but before the conversation could be continued it was side tracked. Which was good for you.

You would of explained once everyone was better and relatively settled as it was a weird and long explanation of Magic not really being something Hylians could do in the first place with out items. Of course there were acceptions, Princesses, Gifts from the Goddess, etc. You at least wanted to tell Hyrule what you knew as he seemed to get his magical abilities in an unnatural manner. There wasn’t a doubt in your mind that it was on purpose for him to find these things but, the guy literally held on to the triforce for years before secretly giving back to the princesses to hide it away.

Monsters are still after him for his blood after all.

The horror you felt when you heard him whisper that can be still felt to this day. “Why?” You asked.

“Because, thats where it was.” He whispers softly as you two walked through the path around the canyon heading into hebra mountain. The idea was to find Zelda who was near the stables waiting. Honestly there was a voice in the back of your mind that was telling you to go see your Aunt who was by Rito Village but that was probably a week trek out on foot.

“Still that magic isn’t really information that would typically be spread.” You commented offhandedly as thats not how blood magic worked. You think. It’s not like you tried. Forbidden magic is forbidden for a reason. “But Monsters are Monsters I guess.” You shrugged looking to the side into the snow. The path to hebra wasn’t the safest as it was the hardest reason.

“Well it just did…” You looked back at Hyrule there is slight movement in the snow. Unfortunately you couldn't get out the words "Lizalfos!" Before everything was in disarray.

It was quick to lose yourself in battle, but you tried to keep your calm as you fight back. Making sure that those who need it get their buff. Typically stronger people get defensive buffs, those who work better with speed gets a tad boost for that. You look to your left where Hyrule was.

Only to see him get pushed back loosing his footing. That alone made you dash forward as you feared the worse. The worse being what happened.

Hyrule fell into the Tanagar Canyon.

Just to spite that monster you sent a lighting spell his way before diving off the Canyon after the Hero. You reached out to grab him as you focused on your own magic again. Transforming your form slightly to a more natural state for you. Wing's sprouting behind you as you slowly pull him in your arms. You didn't know if you were strong enough to fly the both of you up. However you aimed for a better landing as you turn up and a slow descent.

It wasn't a soft landing but nether of you were hurt. "Are you ok?" you asked setting Hyrule down as you had to hold him a bit strangely.

"Yeah... Just surprised." He said calming his heart, he looks up at you "thank you." His gaze shifts up to the Canyon wall. "How do you think we can get up?"

"Uhhh..... Magic?" You suggest as you look at him. "You have that fae spell right?"

Hyrule made a face like he really didnt want the other to know about it "yeah... I guess."

"I can carry you in that form! Don't worry."

"That's... some how worse."

[raayllum]

Do you have any headcanons of callum being protective/considerate/thoughtful with rayla? I'm so in love with how gentle he was with her this season.

Callum planting flowers from the Silvergrove in the castle gardens as a surprise and then convincing her to take a 'moonlit' stroll with him one night once they're ready so he can show them off

It's non traditional but he knows the main reason she hates the water is because she always feels unsteady on her feet so he gets her a grip mat for the tub so she can feel more centered

Redoing her braid for her whenever it comes undone and stitching up little tears and frayed edges in her clothing/cloaks because he knows how to sew

On that note: getting her a new cloak because her old one is tattered and doing up the clasp for her / tugging her in close by the hood for nose and mouth kisses if he's not smiling too much

Him and Ezran collecting a whole bunch of things during the timeskip to save up to give to her so that the castle can feel like home

So many forehead kisses and just gentle hand squeezes. Three squeezes means "I love you" and he'll trace the words onto her back or side sometimes when they're just laying together

He definitely talked privately to Opeli (and probably the guards) after the 5x01 throne room debacle and gave them a piece of his mind / new protocol to follow when it comes to them being concerned about Rayla's actions (ficlet here)

For that matter: absolute death glares to anyone who gives her a hard time at the castle / any diplomatic function (and probably almost causes a political incident or two over it)

Him murmuring the sappy love poetry he's read in her ear even when she rolls he eyes and can't quite hide her smile, working up his nerve to write personal poems of his own for her

Little things he did this season like being the one to handle the reigns of their mount the bulk of the time as soon as they started sharing because he knows she's not a morning person and is a light sleeper, so she holds onto his middle and he lets her doze for most of the day whenever he can

Requesting mints at inns they stay in that don't have any already / using magic to carve the soap into little shapes if they aren't that way to begin with and leaving them, once again, as little surprises for her to discover

If/when Rayla wants or needs time away from Stella (sparring perhaps) the cuddlemonkey is almost always with Callum and he makes sure she's cared for too. She's fussy about getting brushed and hard to pin down thanks to the six hands, so he'll usually help get her sitting still while Rayla does the actual grooming

Him using cooling spells for her when it's hot on summer nights (like in 4x07) and heating his hands to lay on her tummy when she gets period cramps

Normally he'd never throw his weight around as a prince, but he absolutely will on her behalf, whether it's getting something she wants from a servant tea/food wise or making sure they are treated well / have a nice place to stay while travelling

"It's none of your concern--" "It very much is her concern, and watch your tone."

Giving her his scarf whenever it's cold, of course

Making sure she's not overworking her bad wrist and giving little massages to that and her ankles when she's been doing a lot of jumps/movements that day, especially as they get older

His sketchbook is equally hers (even if she uses it far less often of course) and there's a few pages near the back designated for her to leave notes or doodles or whatever she wants when she's bored and/or he's not using it (he's very proud of how her drawing has improved)

Getting heavy duty enchanted blinds from Lux Aurea for her room so it can keep the sun out so she can sleep in / can give her room more of a twilight light quality so it can remind her of the Silvergrove (if she wants)

There are some meetings he can't get out of as crown prince but they're long and boring so he does his best to convince Rayla to go and spend her afternoon doing something she wants. (She usually stays for at least the first half anyway to support him and Ez)

Drawing memories and stories she tells him about her family and then giving her the pages so she can hold onto / remember them

Rayla still having a hard time articulating how she's feeling sometimes and getting upset/angry/embarrassed when it comes out wrong, so he takes her hand and gets her to take a steadying breath and start over with a gentle "Try again. What are you meaning to say?" if she says something obtuse/that comes out wrong

Ofc taking care of her when she's sick no matter how disgruntled or snotty she gets and reading to her quietly/stroking her hair until she falls asleep

Taking her to his favourite places in the castle/kingdom/Pentarchy for dates and private times to hang out alone, insisting on carrying their picnic basket because he's a Prince, Rayla, and chivalry isn't dead

Callum working very hard to learn traditional Moonshadow elf (no matter how much she teases him for his pronunciation) so he can use it to propose to her

[lady-charinette]

Twiyor Eden Academy AU where Loid unintentionally assigns himself as Yor's protector from day one and learns awkwardly how she's more than capable in handling herself....mostly.

Like she comes across as a bit ditzy and clueless, she lost her way a few times trying to find her class. Loid steers her in the right direction and realizes her timetable is very similar to his own, they have a lot classes together. Yor accidentally runs into a classmate and apologizes profusely, Loid just shakes his head in the distance.

The next time he sees Yor walking, her face is buried in a book, trying to memorize its contents for a test. She's about to run into a group of boys, who have no intention of moving, so Loid swoops in out of nowhere and wraps his arm around Yor's shoulder to gently steer her away, using his own body to shield her from the boys.

They're their juniors, so they should respect them, but they give Yor less than appropriate stares and Loid has his Twilight gaze on and glares back at them. 'Oi, quit staring at her like that! Can't you see she's uncomfortable?!'

Yor blushes and looks up at Loid:"L-Loid-san."

Until one of the juniors grows too cocky and sneers at Loid:"Hey, broom-head, if you dare run into us again, you'll soon be limping home from school if you mess with us!"

The juniors laugh until they feel a murderous, suffocating aura and it's Yor who's glaring at them and threatening murder. She takes the leader by his necktie and lifts him off his feet with terrifying ease. "Insulting Loid-san like that... May I have the honor of taking your lives?!"

The boys run away in fright, Yor apologizes profusely bc Loid is staring at her in complete awe and shock and she thinks he thinks she's weird.

Who knew timid Yor Briar could have such a frightening aura? And lift a boy up her height effortlessly with one arm?

Anyway, Loid is always nearby, Yor learned he doesn't think she's weird, but she is strong and Yor never heard that word in a positive light before. She always got to hear how girls weren't allowed to be strong, that she would never find a husband later.

Loid was the first boy to tell her that her strength was something she could be proud of.

Whenever Loid thinks he has to protect her, Yor proves she can take care of herself.

But there are still moments where Yor can depend on him.

It's when she's carrying too many books and loses her balance, not because of their weight, but because they're stacked higher than her head and she can't see where she's going. A rock embedded in the ground makes her stumble and Loid rushes in to steady her, he's taller than the books she stacked in her arms, they dig uncomfortablly into his body as Loid holds Yor up with one hand on her back to steady her.

He can just peek over the books to see Yor's surprised face, a brilliant assortments of shades of red coloring her cheeks. He blushes at the look on her face and the smile stretching her lips. "Loid-san! Thank you for always helping me!"

Loid feels his ears burn in shyness. "I-It's fine, Yor-san. Um, let me take some of the books for you. You're going to your dorm, right?"

He takes a few books off her stack so she could see and Yor smiles brighter than the setting sun partly hiding behind Eden's walls. "Yes, if you don't mind carrying them."

Loid catches himself smiling all too softly. "No, I don't mind at all."

Briar and Forger are often seen together, and soon, rumors start to circulate in Eden Academy of their endearing and funny moments whenever they collide.

[bokettochild]

For suffering in silence in the Febuwhump list... maybe something with Sky? He's very quiet about things that actually are bothering him, I think. It'll be a good writing challenge for you since you struggle with him lol!

Well, after far, FAR too long, I finally have it done. I don't love it, but here we go!

Wordcount: 2,244

Rating: Mature - for references to Cia

Summary: Sky's always struggled with visions, but now he's facing a whole new flavor of them, and he can't do anything about it.

-

It starts with one night.  

They’ve only just started to get to know each other, he and these other Links. He knows that Twilight is a kindly farmer and Time is a stern old man. He knows that Legend is rough around the edges and Warriors is as polished and clean cut as the fancy stones some women on Skyloft wear. Four is a closed book, but full of knowledge, but unwilling to share. Wind is a light breeze that plays and dances and laughs like his namesake. Hyrule is like a sunbeam, impossible to catch or study, fleeting but warm. 

And then there’s Wild, and of course there’s no easy way to describe Wild, but he’s a good kid. 

They’re all interesting people, although all guarded on the true nature of their lives, something he can neither blame them for nor claim not to be himself. They’ve seen things, and when he wakes up one night, shuddering and panting, he begins to understand just what those things are. 

A dark room. A hidden corner. He hadn’t been quite sure what he was seeing, but he’d realized quickly that it was another dream, or more accurately, another nightmare. There was a little boy curled up on the floor, hands pressed fast over his mouth to cover panicking sobs. He’d found he couldn’t turn or look around, his vision trapped on the child, but he’d known, through ways he’s given up trying to name, that there was a presence in the room other than the small child. There were several powerful, dangerous presences, and the boy was hiding from them. 

He’d wanted to move to the kid’s side, to throw an arm around trembling shoulders and hold his sword tight in his hand, offering protection, but it was a dream- a nightmare, and he was helpless to do anything as the little one had started, some noise or action from something out of Sky’s vision alerting the kid of something. 

He’d caught a flash of violet eyes, wide and bruised with lack of sleep. 

One small hand had fumbled at the ground, and it felt like the floor plunged out from beneath him as he saw the Master Sword gathered up by the tiny figure, the blade as big as his whole body. He’d watched, transfixed, as the kid scrambled to his feet, sword held out in front of him towards a threat Sky still couldn’t see. 

Distantly, there was a whisper, Fi’s familiar voice sounding, although the words were lost to him as a magic blast flew towards the child, casting a light pink hair and freckled features.  

He starts awake just as the blow struck home, a cry on frozen lips as he comes aware on his bedroll, sweat soaking his shirt as he forcibly rolls himself over. The stars shine clearly overhead, and when he tries to shift himself, move his hands, his arms, he finds that he can once more. He can grasp the sword lying next to him, and while she doesn’t answer as he whispers a soft “what was that, Fi?” she does pulse softly, faintly, with a weak light. 

He pulls himself up, ruffling the back of his hair where it’s become matted with sweat, and turns his eyes over their camp. Warriors is on watch, leant against a tree and whistling softly, but the man either hasn’t noticed his stirring or else has disregarded it. He appreciates that, because if it was Groose or Zelda here right now, they’d be asking what woke him up, and he’s not sure how to describe what he’d seen. How does he put into words the sheer terror in those twilight eyes? The desperation at the kid had pulled himself up and drawn a sword bigger than he was? 

He doesn’t know what to do with it, and sleeping again is impossible, but he lies down again all the same, hoping to at least allow his body to relax as much as it can between now and the morning’s work. 

- 

A gathering of children greets his eyes the next time he falls into slumber. Five or so young boys all creeping through an open chamber and towards a great sword set in its center. Again, he has no context, but there’s something deep inside of him that sees the blade and knows within an instant that it is charged with dark magic, is dangerous, ought not be touched. Yet, the boys all tease and laugh at each other, daring their friends to try and pull the blade. 

One tries, and fails, before turning to another, a boy with eyes as dark blue as the midnight sky, and daring him. 

There’s no markings, and dark hair is well kept and trimmed, but there’s a set to that jaw, a look in that eyes that’s familiar. 

The boy steps forwards, hands closing on the hilt of the sword and pulling. 

Dark magic explodes from the blade as it comes free, like a sealing magic that has been broken, releasing some great evil that shoots out over the room drowning his vision for a moment as the boy holding the sword screams in terror to his friends, names sounding that he doesn’t catch. Sky tries to dart over, to catch hold of the child, to shout and tell him to drop the dark blade, but again, he’s frozen, left to watch as another figure emerges out of the darkness and catches hold of the boy. 

A skeleton clad in armor, one that draws a terrorized shriek from young lungs as the kid flails away, midnight eyes wide as he seeks to escape, only to be dragged and pulled through the storm of dark magic that sends sand flying up and leaves Sky blind to what happened to the other children. 

When at last the cloud clears, there is nothing. There are no buildings, no sword, no children and no skeleton warrior, just the boy standing out in the desolate sands, tears in his eyes as he drops to his knees and wails a deep sorrow out to twilight skies. The piercing cry reminds him of the few times he’s heard Wolfie bay to the sky or into the woods, usually to call to their younger ones and summon them back to camp, but sometimes for what seems to be no reason at all. Legend says that when wolves bay, that they do it as a call to family. No one answers this little one’s cry though, and again, he can only stand and watch as a bleeding heart is poured out into the empty sands. 

When he wakes, there are tears on his own face. He can only wipe them away and turn over, confusion at the foreign sadness leaving him unable to return to slumber. 

- 

By the third time, he’s got the idea that moving or trying to call out to the child who wanders through strange, twisting passages isn’t someone he can help. He can only watch as a little wooden sword is used against a great, terrifying spider of a creature. Can only stand and watch the blond-haired child, older than the one from his first vision but much younger than the little wolf from his second, fight his way past monsters and danger before exiting out into a grassy, peaceful looking place. He hopes, even despite his heart crying that it won’t be true, that the warm, peaceful aura of the place he now sees is a sign that all will be well for the child now; that peace is found. 

As feared though, he is wrong. The child turns to face a great tree, one that shudders and creaks despite the lack of even the slightest of breezes. The great tree speaks, in a voice that rumbles with all the might of the earth, yet is as warm as a down blanket, bidding farewell to the child, telling them of danger, of horrors, of responsibility. 

He watches as it gives a final shudder before falling still, and sees the boy’s face crumble, tears sparking in eyes as blue as the little fairy that hovers at his side. 

This time, when he comes awake again, he can only lie still and stare out into the world. 

It’s confusing, stressful, frustrating in ways he can’t put words too. He knows these children, yet he can’t name how. The boy with twilight eyes and the little wolf crying alone on the dunes, the fairy child and all the others that follow. One night it’s a dark haired lad who slinks through a ruined land with the same wariness he sees from Hyrule, another it’s a long-haired child training with a sword that’s too big for him against men who hold nothing back. 

They’re all so young, yet every vision shows him dark sufferings, missions, grief. The loss of an uncle, or a friend, of a home. Attacks, torture, enemies that make him start awake before he can even see the result of the battle, much less the beginning. And he can’t tell his brothers about these things, because how would he describe them? He's seen a child who looks like Legend but a decade younger, who carries the Master Sword like it’s a part of himself, despite it being bigger than him. Who faces monsters and threats that chase and corner and harm, and who watches perceived friends turn against him to seek his life. Can he tell them that he’s watched a boy with features too much like Twilight’s lose his whole world and wander into darkness, time and again, guided only by a twisting shadow and a long dead warrior? That there is a little boy with a fairy that trekked across Hyrule just too... to die, to fight, to win and yet lose in the same breath? The fate of that child is so unclear! 

There are so many things he sees, things that make his own ventures seem tame in comparison, if only for the fact that he’d been a man when he’d faced them, unlike the children he sees thrust into horrors. 

A night within an old abandoned and ruined tower teaches him the truth though. 

Hands, dark and seeking, taking despite cries against. Blood red lips and eve bloodier eyes, full of lust. Cries that go unheard, begging and pleading. He wakes with a retch and heaves as the remains of that night’s dinner spill onto the ground beside him, shivers trailing over his whole body. He was spared feeling the touches, but the sight of it all has left him shaken and choking for breath, and when Warriors crouches beside him, blue eyes full of so much worry where a moment ago he’d seen them filled with fear, all he can do is sob. 

With the other visions, he can doubt, but this one leaves no room for that. It was Warriors he saw and watched and cried for. And if this time is Warriors, then it means that the figures from before may very well be the brothers who they resemble.  

Was Legend so small when he first drew the blade? Was Twilight so broken when he wandered to Ordon? Is Hyrule’s detest for blood drawn from his fear of the sacrifice he’s almost become? And the child in the woods, who does he become? He knows, by the fairy and those blue eyes, that he’s seen the boy older, almost by a decade, and he's watched him win and lose and die and live, but he doesn't know him. The fairy-boy has Twilight’s jaw but Legend’s stance, has Wind’s confidence and yet is foreign despite all. 

Not knowing though, doesn’t change what he’s seen. 

He's seen his brothers’ lives, by forces he cannot control. Witnessed in his slumber their greatest hurts and defeats, and while he can guess there has been some joy or at least peace in their lives by the fact they, unlike he, have not been driven to madness by what they witness, they still have faced so much. So many of them started so young. 

And the words of the demon lurk in his head as he watches. As he sees Legend, so much younger and brighter, be chipped away to become the rough thing they know. Watches Four, so confident and sure, be destroyed and remade until he clutches his pieces tightly, closing in and shutting out the prying eyes that seek to read his gravest secrets. He watches the captain be tossed and thrown, broken and rolled by the waves of life until he is the polished thing that walks before them, glittering and strong, but only through the greatest of hurts. 

He watches, and he’s forced to only stand, to stare, to wake with a cry or a wretch or, on the worst nights, unable to so much as think, only recall. 

He avoids sleep as best he can, but going without leads to nothing but trouble. Embracing it only backfires with eth worst of visions though. 

He’s not sure if it’s some curse of the goddess, or some attempt to aid him in knowing those who’ve gathered around him to join together in a fight against evil. Whatever it is, it leaves him aching for peace, for one night without watching the brothers he’s coming to love face hell made for them personally by heaven. 

He is not granted so peaceful a night. 

[neverchecking]

E

How about Yandere! Wild and Twilight X Lynel Reader?

I'm not sure if you wanted poly or not? So I went separately.

I also wasn't sure what you meant by Lynel reader? I think you meant a hyrbid, which is sort of what I went with. I hope you like!

・❥・You were such a rarity. Something he never would've thought possible if it weren't for the fact that you were right here with him.

・❥・You had the horns, the claws, the teeth, and even fur around your wrists and neck. But the rest of you seemed so...Hylian.

・❥・It threw him for a loop at first.

・❥・But when he got over it and realized you were in fact more scared of him than he was of you?

・❥・Oh, you were so cute.

・❥・He lures you in with meat skewers, gently building a bridge of fragile trust between the two of you. It strengthens over time as you reveal that you aren't as dangerous as he originally thought.

・❥・Your more of an oversized cat if anything.

・❥・You'll chase the reflected spot of his shield on the grass, pouncing on it and peering into your hands as if something would be there, tail flickering wildly behind you.

・❥・You'd scrunch your nose and swat at things that displeased you, even going as far as skittering away if he insisted with a goofy grin.

・❥・You purred when you rested you head on his thigh and he scratched that one particular spot behind your hear, burrowing further into him.

・❥・Everything about you was so gloriously you.

・❥・And he couldn't let that be taken. He knew that people would take one look at you and deem you a threat. Baring their weapons at you and demanding you leave.

・❥・Which just wouldn't stand. No, he had to make sure you remained by his side no matter what.

・❥・Since his house is on the outskirts of town, it's rare people come close enough to spot you, but on the rare occasion someone does he's hunting them down and swearing them to secrecy.

・❥・If that fails to work and they blab, he can rest easily for a few reasons. 1) He's still the hero. People won't ever believe that piece of scum. Because Link is the good guy. Why would he be hiding any spawn of a Lynel in his home?

・❥・2) He now has a reason to prove his point. He's dragging the person to a remote place, maybe literally with the help of rope and the back of the Master Cycle Zero, maybe not, and making sure they would never talk again.

・❥・Because he can't lose you. He can't. He's lost so much and he just can't lose you.

・❥・He's gotten too used to your warmth and your weight when you sleep beside him

・❥・The way you just curl around him to keep him safe, even when he feels the worlds against him.

・❥・The way you know just what to do and can not only keep up with him on adventures, but surpass him in some things (You are one hell of an archer) , and he can count on one hand how many people can do that.

・❥・(It's one. It's you.)

・❥・He can't lose that. So he won't.

・❥・Twilight doesn't even know what A lynel is man, (I don't remember any ever being in TP) so when you come up to him, sniffing at his wolf form, he's taken aback.

・❥・...What in Hylia's name are you?

・❥・Your friendly in the very least, even if you lope like an animal on all fours. Your claws gleam with fur thick enough to rival his own. He would almost thing you a shifter like him. If not for your very Hylian, very attractive, face.

・❥・ He regarding you like a wild animal, keeping low with his ears back.

・❥・In response, you flop onto your back, tail covering your fragile tummy, but otherwise making no move to roll over when he approaches once more.

・❥・It kind of rattles him, with the trust you show him right off the back, but it does it moreso when your hand gestures to the center of your collarbone than back to him.

・❥・ He tilts his head, an ear flopping with it, before your rolling over and- did you just roll your eyes?

・❥・ You keep to all fours, looking down at your hands than back to him before standing and gesturing to your full stance and then back to him.

・❥・...What-

・❥・Lynels are probably pretty good at getting reads on body language and magic since most (In botw and totk) don't get agro unless you draw your weapon or run past them), so Reader can probably pick up Twilight's dark magic relatively quickly.

・❥・When he shifts in front of you, your not even shocked.

・❥・He is, staring at you like some unknown entity.

・❥・But you grow on him, especially when you refuse to leave his side.

・❥・You help a lot in Ordon. Your amplified strength help Rusl and Mayor Bo with the farming and such.

・❥・Your able to better communicate with the goats so Fado loves you.

・❥・Hell, even the kids love climbing all over you, snuggling into your hair and fur and tugging on your horns. All of which you take with all the grace of a lazy cat that cannot be bothered.

・❥・You do give a low groan when fingers start toying with your lips and pointing at your sharp teeth, in which Twilight steps in to shoo them off.

・❥・Any time an outsider tries anything with you, Twilight doesn't even have to do anything because the Ordonians do it for him, telling them off and forcing them out of the village.

・❥・You don't even have to hear about it because Twilight is leading you back to your shared home for a well earned bath.

・❥・That if nothing else. Karma will come back to bite them.

・❥・Afterall, the woods are dangerous at night. Especially with the uptick in wolf attacks.

・❥・Nothing stops him from tracking them down when your well and asleep and tearing them to shreds.

[mmpookie]

ARCANA TWILIGHT FLOOR 13 REACTION SPOILERS ‼️

I. AM. NOT OKAY.😭😭 BRO I AM ON MY. KNEES. PLEASEEE GIVE US A SEASON TWO STORY TACO OML 😭🙏🙏

OKAY NOW FOR DISCUSSION:

FIRST SHOUT OUT TO CONFRONTATIONAL ARKY GOTTA BE ONE OF MY FAVORITE GENDERS 😩🙏

OK

THE THE. THE FRICKEN POLLUX IS CASTOR PLOTTWIST⁉️

I SAT OVER HERE DRAWING THE POLLUX BDAY ART .JUST. COMPLETELY ABSENTED MINDED OF THE FACT THAT POLLUX AND CASTOR LITERALLY PULLED A TWIN SWAP CLICHE ON US THAT IS SO FUNNY TO ME.

HE'S SO TRAGIC ☹️

BTW I ALMOST FELL OUT OF MY CHAIR READING THIS I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS WAS THE CASE THE ENTIRE TIME OH MY GOD

I MEAN THINKING ABOUT IT I SHOULD'VE EXPECTED IT BUT STILL (EVEN SIRIUS WAS STUNNED)

Also teehee the dots are connecting with mythology again UGH it's so smart with what they pulled off I loved this closing arc for pollux

or I mean castor???

I'm not stretching right???

Also did they ever clarify what castor's fate of misfortune was? Unless I missed it, it's gotta be referring to his death right? Deffo gonna reread the story for when my arcana twilight withdrawals kick in to reanalyze EVERYTHING bc that will be fun

MORE MYTHOLOGY‼️

I've would also love to shout out how much of Arky's role of guiding us out of the Boundry can be paralleled to the greek god Hermes and what he symbolizes BUT BRO

CAN YOU HEAR MY UTTER ANGUISH?????? MY UTTER DESPAIR?????? I AM UNCONSOLABLE

I DUNNO IF I'LL EVER RECOVER FROM THIS LINE 😭 SORRY IT'S JUST ME PARALLELING SUMMONER AND VEGA TO ORPHEUS AND EURYDICE AGAIN. AND. AND. HOW RELEVENT IT IS TO THEIR BACKSTORY AND VEGAS TRAUMA OF BEING ABANDONED BUT

THIS IS SUCH A PERFECT LINE. THE BOW ON TOP OF HIS CHARACTER ARC. I COULD NOT BE HAPPIER

THIS MAY OR MAY NOT BE BECAUSE OF HOW MUCH A HADESTOWN FAN I AM SO IGNORE ME

Ok so at the end I was like NERVOUS bc there was the chance they could have MAYBE pulled off two different endings depending on whether summoner personally wanted to stay or go back to Mid Earthium- which would have been a cool opportunity that Storytaco could have pulled,, but I guesss instead they did the thing where the choices triggered the same response, but this time in the sense that the rest is left to your imagination:

*you turn around = you stay back at the Boundry with the boys (this is because if you turn around the portal magic thingy won't work)

*or you listen to arcturus = keep walking until you arrive back home (earth)

Personally I chose to turn around bc ,one, the story never really gave me TOO much reason to want to go back home- however it was back there- and two I WAS YELLING THROUGH THE SCREEN NOO I DONT TO LEAVEEE 😭😭 THE WHOLE TIME

Also the voice we hear at the end says

"Can you hear? I have a story I desperately want to tell."

And I?? Can't exactly tell what it means?..OTHER THAN A TEASER FOR MORE CONTENT?? MAYBE PONTENTIALLY?? But if it's actually obviously something else I missed please tell me 😭

Anyways end of lecture:

Pollux and vega ending arc top tier.

Arcturus hmm I wish they didn't gloss over the void arc so quickly 🤔

If they could have fitted it in there I would have loved if they had just a BIT more of a satisfying conclusion for spica and alpheratz yknow? :( just me??

And finally. I can be slow,,, so if there's anyone out there that can explain Sirius's whole spiel with polaris and everything with the time travel.,,,,,,, I really would appreciate it bc I'm still trying to understand 😭

(Story taco if you're reading this please make more story I love these characters too much ☹️)

[caitlynscat]

Scary Movie Night (again)

Yoko: Okay so should we go slasher, torture porn, or paranormal?

Bianca: Obviously we go with paranormal. I'm not into that torture porn shit.

Enid: I don't know, paranormal ones are scary!

Yoko: That's the whole point, wolf. It's a scary movie night after all.

Enid: I was thinking of slasher movies. Or just anything that's not gonna give me nightmares.

Wednesday: Do you believe in ghosts, Mon Coeur?

Enid: NO! No..... maybe.

Wednesday: *hugs Enid* There's nothing to be scared about, Enid. Ghosts are just spirits who can't find their way home and just stay in one place to haunt others for the rest of their boring, and miserable lives.

Enid: *leaning her head into Wednesday's shoulder* Thanks, Willa that totally makes me feel better.

Yoko: Okay Addams, what about you? What's your pick?

Bianca: And please pick something that's actually gonna scare the shit out of us.

Enid: Hey!

Bianca: Enid, you have the scariest girlfriend on the planet, I think you'll be fine.

Wednesday: That's sweet, Bianca. Thank you for that compliment. As far as movies go...

Wednesday gets up and takes the remote to search.

Wednesday: Turn around.

Bianca: Really? Oh god.

The three of them close their eyes as Wednesday stream surfs to find a specific movie. As soon as she finds it she plays it. She sits back down next to Enid and the rest of the girls open their eyes.

Yoko: What is this?

Female narrator: "I'd never given much thought to how I would die."

Yoko: Oh FUCK no.

Enid: Goddamn it, Willa.

Bianca: What, what is it?

A few minutes pass by until the title card is revealed:

twilight

Wednesday: I have yet to see this and Divina said it's a must-watch.

Bianca: I haven't either. Fuck it, let's watch it.

Yoko and Enid look at each other and groaned.

Yoko: I'm gonna kill Divina after this.

[emilystheories]

Bryce Quinlan's true home: A compilation of all the evidence.

[ACOTAR, CC and slight TOG spoilers!]

It seems that the consensus among fans is that Bryce will return back to Midgard at the end of CC3, and that most of the story will be wrapped up. On the contrary, I think it's just getting started, and instead believe that:

Bryce Quinlan's true home is Prythian. She will be the Starborn Queen, and ruler of the Dusk Court.

And not just Bryce. I think Hunt, Ruhn and everyone else will be joining her too... because (to put it bluntly).. Midgard is fucked.

Allow me to go through the evidence.

Bryce is repeatedly connected to dusk.

One of the first thing Hunt notices about Bryce is that her scent is of the "first stars at nightfall." Nightfall is another word for dusk. SJM often uses scent to foreshadow a character's home (ie. Rowan of TOG smelling like Terrasen, and Rhys smelling like Velaris).

Bryce has been obsessed with Pegasus dolls since book 1. It's then no coincidence that the Pegasus's in Prythian came from the Prison Island... where the Dusk Court (most likely) used to be. (And... think about that Pegasus doll that SJM included in the CC3 reveal video...)

Bryce often has her nails painted in "twilight" colours (another word for dusk), and even her damn nipples are described as "dusk pink" (lmfao).

"Dusk's Truth" seems to be of great importance, and I'm willing to bet that everything Danika did - from giving Bryce the Horn, to even her own death - was so that Bryce could escape Midgard and reach Prythian and the Dusk Court. Recall Baxian's words; that Danika was searching for a way into a new world - one without the Asteri.

The home of the Starborn fae isn't Midgard, it's Prythian - the Dusk Court. Bryce Quinlan is heir to the Starborn fae. She is Queen Theia's descendant.

Bryce is also connected to Prythian.

The star on Bryce's chest is a "beacon" for Prythian, and glows for people who also originate from the ACOTAR world (I don't think people understand how big a deal this is...). If Bryce returns to Midgard permanently, then she'll forever wear a star on her chest that glows for another world.

Bryce is the Horn. If you subscribe to the theory that the Horn is the 4th Dread Trove item, with the other 3 being in Prythian, then she is obviously needed there - especially when ACOSF hinted that all 4 items joined together allows for something big to happen...

The prophecy about the knife and the sword suggests that the ACOTAR and CC fae are going to be reunited. Bryce owns this prophetic sword - she has a big part to play (one that surely can't be fulfilled if Bryce just pops into Prythian for a quick visit, and then leaves again... and really, what would be the point of that?)

Foreshadowing that Bryce will be a queen.

It is repeatedly stated that Bryce bears the exact light of the Starborn Queen.

Bryce's name in Hunt's phone is 'Bryce Is a Queen.'

Hunt himself often remarks on Bryce's queenly demeanour:

And in CC2, Hunt again thinks to himself that the 'princess' title isn't enough for Bryce... that she is something more...

Then in the final CC2 chapters, we see Ruhn pleading with Bryce to become Queen:

To which Cormac agrees, and then says that the future of their people moving forward, all depends upon Bryce...

And most importantly, Ruhn's last words to Bryce: "Long live the Queen."

And now that I'm thinking about it, it is repeatedly stated that Hel's armies strike at Bryce's command. The entirety of Hel... await Bryce's orders. As if she too is their Queen. (It won't surprise me if the Dusk Court is strongly intertwined with Hel, there's SO much evidence... but that's for another post).

Other characters and their connection to Prythian.

Bryce isn't the only one with ties to Prythian. We also have:

Ruhn and Rhys looking identical.

The Asteri originating from Prythian, and making clear that their true goal is to go back there to get revenge (so the plot is likely to follow in this direction...)

The Princes of Hel are connected to Prythian: the Illyrian's and Hel's armies have the same wings, we have a "Lord Thanatos" in the Hewn City, the 7 layers of the library, that "cat presence" watching...

When Bryce is taken to the town house in Prythian, she remarks that the interior decorating is the same as Jesiba's and the Autumn King's - they are both likely from Prythian.

The Bone Carver drew three interlocking circles in the sand, which is the exact symbol of Parthos (and the symbol of Bryce's Archesian amulet). The Bone Carver's brother is Koschei (the upcoming ACOTAR antagonist) - he is also likely connected to Parthos.

The Under-King is described exactly like The Suriel (they're likely the same species). Bryce's star even glows for the Under-King, which tells us he is from Prythian.

Bryce's star also glows for Cormac and the Avallen fae; they're likely from Prythian also (and the Dusk Court). In fact, one of the first thing Bryce notices when she lands in Prythian, is that everyone is wearing the same clothes as the Avallen fae.

The Thunderbirds (and likely Hunt) were connected to "Dusk's Truth." (So, Bryce ending up in Prythian isn't just about the Bryce x Azriel theory...).

And this leads me to my most controversial opinion of all: although unbeknownst to readers, Crescent City is an ACOTAR spin-off series. That's not to say it can't stand on it's own, or that is has lesser value - but rather that almost all characters have ties back to the ACOTAR world - and this is surely not a coincidence.

I truly believe that SJM is planning a full multiverse crossover series between all 3 of her worlds, and CC was the series needed to bridge ACOTAR and TOG together. But, more on this later...

We don't want the characters staying in Midgard. They need to get out.

Midgard is entirely different to the ACOTAR and TOG worlds. The Asteri entered Midgard, absolutely obliterated everyone and everything, and then built their own world from the ground up. Every building, road, every inch of this world - was created and orchestrated by the Asteri. Their power and influence is absolute. Bryce realises this too:

We see the death camps in Kavalla... but I would argue that the whole of Midgard is one giant death camp. Any sense of freedom... is an illusion.

And because the Asteri control everything, they see everything, and know everything. I can't see how any of the CC characters will overthrow the Asteri in Midgard (I mean, they get close to Rigelus at the end of CC2, and Bryce has to world jump to escape, and Hunt and Ruhn are facing slavery, or worse. And yet we're to believe that SIX Asteri will be defeated in one book...?)

However, if this is all part of a larger scheme, where a multiverse book series in the works, and ACOTAR, TOG, and CC characters will rally together to defeat the Asteri (TOG Spoilers - as well as Orcus and Mantyx... they're still out there, don't forget), then maybe there's a chance.

And, let's not also forget that Bryce bargained away her resting place to the Under-King. If Bryce dies in Midgard... she's screwed. She has no chance of reincarnation, or eternal peace, or... whatever happens after death. But, if she dies in Prythian, it's a different story...

Midgard is doomed.

Following the final chapters of CC2, it is clear that Midgard is heading towards imminent destruction.

We know that Bryce has been thrown into another world. Ruhn is in the Asteri dungeons, his future uncertain. Cormac was killed. Do we really think the two fae kings; the Autumn King, and The Avallen King, are just going to sit back and accept this? Let the Asteri murder and torture their children?

We also know that the leader of the human rebels, Pippa Spetsos, was killed. I can't think of anything that would enrage the rebels more (and their mech suits, the synth - everything they've been brewing, feels like it's reaching its climax...)

Then we have Apollion mentioning that the 'Northern Rift' is groaning, and that he senses war approaching. (And for what it's worth, I'm not sure I trust Apollion...)

Lastly, we are still yet to see the consequences of Tharion's actions, and the River Queen's wrath. It is stated multiple times that the River Queen has the power to flood Lunathion if she wished, and I can't help but feel that is relevant.

The flooding of Midgard.

When reading CC1 and CC2, did you happen to notice the sheer amount of times it is raining?

SJM even makes a point to tell readers that there is record rainfall... (and thank you to @/highladyfeyre on TT for her theory on this!)

Then, in Throne of Glass, Aelin falls through the worlds, and sees the ACOTAR world and the Crescent City world. However, she also sees a world entirely covered in water.

Linking to this, in ACOSF, Merrill explains that all of the worlds are stacked on top of each other, even sharing the same space - but what separates them is TIME. Again going back to TOG where Aelin falls through the worlds, it says this; "She was falling. Falling and being thrown. The Wyrdgate sealed behind her, and yet she was not home. As it closed, ALL WORLDS OVERLAPPED. And she now fell through them."

If the worlds are separated by time, then it can be argued that Aelin wasn't looking at separate planets - she was looking at the same world, throughout differing time periods (more evidence for this here). Meaning, the world covered in water... is still yet to happen.

And following CC3, what is the final Crescent City book to be called...?

House of Many Waters.

The Multiverse series.

You might be thinking - what the hell is the point of Midgard flooding?

Well, the 'flooding of Midgard' is a key event in Norse Mythology, and signals the arrival of Ragnarok (a huge war across all of the worlds, that resulted in the end of life as they know it).

Another term for Ragnarok, is "Twilight of the Gods."

The same name as Sarah's WIP book series... one that she appeared to draft at the same time as Crescent City...

Twilight is another word for DUSK. It all just fits too perfectly to be a coincidence.

Thus, I wholeheartedly believe that CC3 and CC4, as well as the final ACOTAR books, are the precursors to SJM's endgame series - Twilight of the Gods. Where the ACOTAR, CC and TOG characters will unite for a universal war, in order to stop the end of the world.

"But SJM said ACOTAR and CC will be standalone!"

Firstly, with all due respect to SJM, her word in interviews is not always gospel. She is known to deceive fans in interviews; for example, in 2020, SJM said a multiverse crossover would never happen, and in her most recent interview, she revealed that she has actually been planning the crossover for years. I'm not suggesting SJM has malicious intent, if anything, it's the opposite - she does not want to spoil the books for us.

Secondly, SJM never confirmed that ACOTAR and CC are both entirely standalone reads (if they were, she'd never go forth with the crossover). Instead, she said that you don't need to read ACOTAR to understand CC3. That makes sense, and to me just means that she is going to include extra contextual information to help out those fans who are indeed standalone readers (which won't be hard, because Bryce will be learning everything about Prythian for the first time too).

But the most important point is this - the multiverse crossover changes everything, and 100% changes the ACOTAR world as well.

As proof of this, consider Rhys. He has been studying the universe intently for years now. He even built his own orrery - his own map of the universe. As of CC2, he has just met a girl from another world. This girl will almost certainly be telling him about the Asteri, and that their true goal is to go back to Prythian - Rhys's home - and exact revenge.

So, do you really think that Rhys will learn about the existence of other worlds, the existence of the Asteri (who actively want to hurt his loved ones), and then just.. forget about it in future books? Send Bryce back to Midgard alone, simply wishing her well, and then going back to his ordinary life? No.

Elain's book.

As even further proof of this, consider that Elain's story will be the centre of the next ACOTAR book.

In ACOSF, we are told that there are three prominent mountains in Prythian, known as the "three sister peaks." The mountain where 'Under the Mountain' took place (and where Amarantha held people captive), Ramiel, and the mountain of the Prison Island.

Feyre conquered the first mountain; when she defeated Amarantha.

Nesta conquered Ramiel.

Which leaves the third mountain, the Prison Island mountain, to the third sister... Elain.

And what is the Prison Island most likely to be....? The Dusk Court.

I'm willing to bet that Elain's story intertwines heavily with Crescent City also.

That all of this... is so much bigger than we can imagine.

[esper-union-lounge]

Puppet Strings...

Not beta read

Yamato (Izanagi) x Reader

Summary:

You always feel his presences, and hear his voice, yet he never felt real. Until the Twilight came, you were bounded by the Order's puppet strings.

Tags: TW: Implied Stalking, Dark ending, Yamato is evil, ft Luo Yan, mind control.

"You can't hide from me~"

You felt his voice was spinning around you in total darkness. In a heart beat, you looked around trying to locate where his voice was coming from.

Yet, your futile efforts have earned a chuckle that escaped from his lips.

"... I see you~..."

You heard him say.

A faint sound of music began to play gradually getting louder. The tune felt eerie, so eerie, you couldn't help but to feel a goosebumps running along your spine.

You instinctively step backwards even though you know there is no horizon for you to escape in this space. Standing at nothing but a void of emptiness.

The music got even louder, the pitch and rhythm of the music box felt intrusive. Forcing it's way into your head, you covered your ears as your mind swirled. Aching at how the force was vibrating against your skull.

As you stumble back, in agony of the discomfort, you felt something, or someone, wrapped their arms around you. A hand snaking its way up to your thoart. Hitching your breath, you felt fear erupting from your core all the way to your chest. Freezing on the spot, just like an animal would when met with headlights.

A familar voice chuckled against your ear, "Found you~"

The grip on your thoart suddenly held tight.

Immediately you jolted.

Eyes snapped open, you got up from the sofa. Your breath still heaving from the fright of your dream.

You were having the same dream sequence again, only this time the stranger seems to be coming closer.

Your head turned left and right, looking to see where your were. You mind felt ease at the familar sight of the Esper Union Lounge. Currently empty, with the television still turned on.

"You're awake," a deep voice spoke.

Swallowing, you cleared your dry throat and looked up to see Luo Yan, a chief of the Scavengers, looking down at you.

"... Yes, sir," you answered. Your voice shook a little.

Readjusting your position, you stood up and went for the television remote. You can tell, it's getting late by how empty the headquarters were. Everyone would have clocked out by now. All, except for Luo Yan.

"Breaking News, another murder case has been report in Gyrate, amassing at total of..."

You turned off the television before the news anchor could finish her sentence.

"You should head back, it's getting late, and..." Luo Yan said with a rather stern voice, " I would hate for the incident last week repeat itself again."

You can tell the Chief was on edge lately. You couldn't help but to find the the incident just a blur. Your memories a week pior felt muddled and blank, and sometimes your head feels heavy. Yet, you think the Union members were acting a little too serious about it.

Admist the muddling in your memory, all that was remembered were you chasing after someone. Supposedly, stumbling upon a scene, you witnessed something you weren't supposed to. There was a flash of the colour red before having to wake up from the hospital bed.

What exactly happened, seeing how you lost that portion of the memory, the others spared you the details.

"Setting a curfew for me?" you questioned, simply out of curiousity.

However, Luo Yan wasn't in the mood for a light banter. "Go home",he said, "I am staying here for a while, I will wrap this place up."

Without another word, Luo Yan with his usual scowl on his face. He walked away and began to turn off the lights. While you stood on your spot, thinking to yourself. Maybe, you shouldn't have tried to joke around. Maybe that incident is serious.

"Goodbye, sir," you bid your farewell and headed out of the Esper Union Headquarters.

Walking your way through the busy streets, the late afternoon glow basked Gyrate with warmth. Yet, a sudden a chill ran down your spine. The air around you felt cold, there was a sense of uneasiness as you walked along the streets.

You weren't sure if there were a pair of eyes watching you from afar, or a million pairs of eyes watching you up close. This feeling was all too familar, and it stuck with you as you returned home.

The same fear from your dream began to resurface. The musicbox tune replays in your mind.

Tossing and turning, you lay awake in bed. Looking up at the ceiling, your gaze landed at clock on the bedside table. It was hours into the night, and you couldn't fall asleep.

The throbing sensation was vibrating against your skull. The faint sound of tingling made it worse. Sitting up, the tingling sound became apparent.

The tune of its metalic strumming lure your out of bed. You weren't sure if it was your imagination but it felt so real.

Reaching for the door of your room, you turned the knob and went into the living room, only to came face to face with a stranger...

Or more so...

Someone familiar...

He stood in front of your door and smiled at you, "... Found you.~"

It seems something has refreshen your memory. It all came flooding back.

It was like a nightmare replaying itself.

The man in red, whom, you met a week pior. He continued to look at you, anticipating you for a reply. Yet, your face was drained of colour. His sudden appearance amplified your fear, rendered you speechless. Instead of answering him, like he expected you to, you opened your mouth to scream.

The stranger's smile quickly disappeared and immediately grabbed onto you, covering your mouth before you could make a sound.

The box like object in his hand continued to play the music from your dream. Intruding into your head, the agony grew while the tune filled your mind. You tried to wiggle out of the strangers grasp, however, his grip only became tighter, and he looked at you with a sharp gaze.

"Don't fight it," he spoke, his voice sounded so sinister, "You know this by now. The pain will only get worse."

You weren't sure what he's taking about. Everything felt confusing, and you began to grow weak as the second went by, it wasn't long when your protest ceased.

Your mind went blank, eyes void of character. You stood still, like a puppet.

A chuckled escaped Yamato's lips. His sinster voice echo through the room, for he couldn't contain his exictment.

"Finally," he spoke, "The plan can finally set into motion..." He said to himself.

His hand went into his pocket, rummaging for a small trinklet before Yamato grabbed your hand gently. Opening up your fist to place a golden coin, minted in a familar symbol, you saw before; inside the files of Luo Yan's office.

"Let's see if you are a good puppet for me," Yamato said, "A new order is about to take seed in Gyrate~"

His words felt like a breeze. You paid no mind of what he said. The music from the box was still swirling in your head, as you waited for his command.

He closed your palm gently, incasing the minted coin in your hand.

"If that Scavanger haven't been so hot on my trail, I would have left you alone~" Yamato chimed, "you are just the puppet I need, to go through this task~"

He grabbed your chin, pulling your face closed to his. Examining your face, before his grip choked a respond from you, "... Yes, sir.

The grip on your face hurts, you squinted your eyes in pain, despite so, your mind was still in a thick haze, ready to take in his next request.

"That Scavanger Chief would still be in the Union headquarters at this hour. Why not go give him a "warm welcome" from the Twilight Order." Yamato grinned and let go of your hand.

"Kill him," Yamato's voice chanted in your mind.

Like a puppet, his orders were like strings attached to your limbs. Involuntarily moving, as you headed out seeking to do the puppeteer's bidding.

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

Author's note:

Holy Yamato...

(C) Esper-Union-Lounge

[meownotgood]

the end, the end, the end. / hayakawa aki x gn!reader, spoilers, angst, hurt no comfort, mild sexual content, minors dni. word count: 3.1k

Aki spent his entire trip to Hokkaido thinking about you. When his thoughts begin to wander like this, he isn't given much of a choice; you occupy every space in his mind. Each stream of consciousness always seems to lead right back where he left it — You. 

Hokkaido is cold, empty, and manages to suck the life out of everything it touches. The sky is a certain shade of melancholy blue and twilight. It's the kind of atmosphere that causes him to slip into his usual routine of drowning in old, tired memories and his own reflections. His heart and his brain don't spare him much pity these days. 

Frost creeps at the edges of the windows. A veil of snow falls incessantly and swirls with the wind, obscuring any semblance of a view, leaving him only able to see what lingers in the back of his mind: graves made of polished stone, loaded guns, failed attempts to quit smoking, forgetting how to say a prayer because it's been too long. Getting cold feet, and trying to live an honest life, even though you know it's far too late for that. 

The expedition to kill the Gun Devil is coming soon, creeping closer, and Aki's got one arm, half a heart, and way, way too many regrets. This is the moment he worked so hard to get to, this is the big crescendo his entire life has been building towards, and now look at what's become of him. All he can do is reach up, brush his fingers over the stub where his arm used to be and wonder how the hell things got this far, this bad. Did the world do this to him, or did he do this to himself? 

So weak, so soft-hearted — He can't fight like this. He'll end up making more contracts with devils just to stand a chance. Sacrificing more of himself, even though there isn't much left of him to give. 

He's not prepared; honestly, when was he ever prepared? From the moment he became a devil hunter, putting himself on this path, he always imagined he was settling for an unreachable goal. But now, he's come face to face with the end, with everything he thought he wanted and… God, he just can't do this. 

Life is so damn fragile. Aki has been walking this thin line between life and death, living on the borrowed time he takes for granted. With all of his shitty decisions and past mistakes, he should be lucky he got this far. But if he goes through with this, when he goes on this mission, he's really going to die, isn't he? 

There's a letter sitting on his coffee table back home. One he meant to send before he left, but never did. A letter he mulled over again and again and again, read hundreds of times, rewritten even more so. 

Handwritten in pen with shaky letters, sentences constantly interrupted by scribbles over mistakes. The paper is see-through where tears have fallen and bloomed out over the page, stained with the dark ashes flicked from one too many cigarettes. It's sealed with a stamp, tucked neatly into an envelope. Addressed to you. 

Hey.  I'm leaving. I won't be coming back. Don't try to look for me.  I'm sorry for everything. You don't have to forgive me.  Take care of yourself.  I love you. Goodbye. 

I love you. Those words are particularly messy. Nearly unreadable, but still tangibly there. Aki isn't sure if they simply aren't true or if he just wants them to not be true. 

Did Aki ever love you? No, he wrote those words out of mere obligation, that's all. Because I love you is what you say to someone when you're speaking to them for the last time, when you're never going to see them again, and you want to leave them with something good. 

Because I love you is what you tell someone after you've spent nights lip-locked, kissing each other 'til sunrise (No, he was drunk, you were drunk, it doesn't count). I love you is what you whisper to someone when you're about to drift off, holding them in your arms close to yourself, like they'll disappear once you let go (He was exhausted, he didn't mean to say it, the words just slipped out — It doesn't matter, you were asleep, anyway).

Aki felt his heart twist into unknown shapes when he wrote those words. Crushed, chewed up, spat out, his teeth stained red with blood. I love you consumes him from the inside out, all the way down to the core. The thought of it alone is enough to hurt, to make his chest ache. 

Aki didn't love you, but he could have. Aki didn't truly love you, because he has only one arm to hold you, half a heart to love you, and dwindling time to spend beside you. Aki didn't love you because he thought it'd be easier not to, but now he thinks he might have only made things harder. 

How do you stop loving someone when you never said you did? Everything was supposed to be fake, you were supposed to be momentary. Now, you're forever imprinted into his timeline. Your soul is felt in his veins, in his lungs as he breathes, deep in between the structure of his ribs. 

Aki finds himself wishing that one day, you'd wake up and realize you hate him. You'll despise his existence and look at him like you want to destroy him. It's alright, who can blame you? This is how things are supposed to be. Go on and say it. 

You'd do what he's been terrified to: you'd tell him to leave, beg him to go far away from here and forget about you. In the end, it will be what's best, so you never have to see him again. So you don't have to live with the weight that he's going to die and it won't be peaceful. Instead, it will be worthless, hollow. 

Maybe then, maybe if you hated him, all of this would be so much easier. If you stopped staring at him like he's irreplaceable, like he is everything to you. If you didn't cry on his shoulder and hold him tightly when he comes home from a mission half-dead. 

If you never lived and blossomed in what remains of him, flowers to fill his throat, soft petals in his dying heart — Perhaps then, he'd find it easier to run from you. 

How do you manage to swallow down the things you never said, when you know that if you do, they'll go unspoken forever? Those words — I love you — will die pitifully alongside you, buried beneath the soil with your body. It doesn't matter; he never had the right to say them in the first place. The memories of lingering touches and quiet moments will be the only traces. 

Aki could have loved you, and that's the problem. That's the worst part of it all. Aki could have loved you, and you could have been his, but he could have never been yours. 

Aki is a hopeless tragedy. He is crimson blood that never stops spilling, deep purple bruises that never fully heal. And he belongs to no-one but this horrible system, to hunting devils until his body is spent and they've taken every last thing from him. The one thing he refuses to let them have is you. 

He promised to himself this: to keep you as far away from devil hunting as possible, by any means necessary. Even if he has to lose you in the process. You can't experience the same horrors as him, you won't. At least then, if he loses you this way, he will have finally lost someone of his own accord. At least he finally has a choice. 

You can't save him. No-one can, not even himself. Not even whatever God he decides to send his prayers to, in hopes there's someone out there to take pity on him. It's far too late to try and pick up the pieces. Aki belongs to this life for as long as it'll allow, until it decides to swallow him whole. Until hell decides it's ready to take him. 

You can't keep him forever, but you can have him on fleeting nights, during brief moments of solace. He comes home from work exhausted and weary, but willing to give you what's left of him. You chain smoke cigarettes on the balcony together, late into the night. Standing shoulder to shoulder, although it never feels close enough. Aki smokes each one down to ash, the nicotine soothing the ache, finally shutting up his brain. 

When you met, you were just two people looking for a vice, trying to find something, someone who's anything like those cigarettes. You wanted someone who would make you forget about the emptiness, Aki wanted someone who would make him feel whole. 

He kisses your lips 'til he can't breathe, so that his tongue no longer aches with the weight of all those words left unsaid. He makes love to you until sunlight is creeping through the blinds, everything hazy, tender, impossibly close, so he can feel something besides nothing at all. 

He savors these moments, drowns in every press of your warm hands on his cold skin. Your fingertips trail down his back, along his spine. Between his shoulder blades, then over his chest, tracing every scar he's ever tried to hide, and his body shivers at the touch. His hands tremble when he holds you; they weren't made for this. His breath comes in ragged gasps. Aki shouldn't do this — His touch is utter decay, enough to stain you with his existence — and he knows it, but he can't stop. 

The addiction courses through his veins, settling in the cavity of his chest every time he looks at you. His head is fuzzy, with fluffy cotton clouding his thoughts. He feels it bleed over whenever he gazes down at you under him, skin soft like silk, limbs sprawled out like a fallen angel. A sin worth sacrificing everything for. 

It's selfish. It isn't like him to do this, to act in this way. How could this happen, what has he done? His story was never supposed to go like this. It's hopeless, and he has left you doomed to suffer. But even so, he adores you, as much as a man who's going to die in a few years, months, weeks, possibly can. 

Over and over again, he falls for you, stumbling into the same temptation. A moth drawn to a flame, and when he catches alight, it burns, but it's beautiful. As he turns to ash, with his last breath, he will whisper to the world, It was worth it. 

He can't help himself, because the way his name falls from your lips sounds more divine than the way anyone else has ever said it. Aki seems to have the most meaning when you're the one to utter the syllables. Hayakawa doesn't sound like just another horrible, heavy weight he has to bear when it's spoken from your mouth. His very existence is more precious to you than it is to the world. 

Aki didn't love you, and you weren't together, but you were something, weren't you? Your circumstance wasn't just a hookup or a mere distraction anymore. You meant something. You meant more to him than his own stupid life ever did. Something, whatever that might mean to this fucked up situation, but something. 

When he loops back to the beginning, Aki knows there's a thousand excuses as to why he never sent that damn letter. He was scared, he thought it sounded stupid, he couldn't figure out what he'd say when he handed it to you. And most of all, he wasn't ready to say goodbye. He'll be ready eventually, he told himself. There will come a day when he's strong enough to let you go. Turns out, Aki is a whole lot weaker than he thought he was. 

So he delayed it, delayed it, delayed it. Pushed it back further and further. Once again, selfish. Just one more night with you, then he'll send it. Give him one more day, one more rising sun. One more kiss, one more chance to hold you close. Then, then, he'll be ready. 

Every postponement is just another letter he has to crumple and re-write. Aki has to find a sense of closure somewhere. If he slips the letter in your mailbox, runs as far as his legs will take him, will he be able to stop himself from turning back? If he knocks on your door, places the tear-stained envelope in your open hands, and presses his lips to yours one last time, will he even be able to pull away? 

When he gets back from this trip, he'll see you again, and he knows it's going to hurt. In another universe, things didn't unfold like this. He was going to leave you, he was going to disappear. Now, it's nothing but knowledge he has to live with. You'll cup his face in your hands and wipe the tears from his eyelashes. You will never know. 

There's only a matter of time before Aki is called for his last mission. Then, he's going to be forced to say goodbye, and it doesn't matter if he's ready or not. He doesn't want to die. Of course he doesn't want to die, he's utterly terrified. What will it be like, what's going to happen to him? Will his life be snuffed out, like his cigarette pressed into the ashtray, or will it linger like a curse, his ghost to haunt you? 

Hopefully not. Aki always longed for a death that was quick and painless, one that he wouldn't know was coming. The kind of ending everyone longs for, he supposes. For a brief moment, he wonders: would a death beside you feel better, or worse? Wishful thinking. As if he'd ever have a choice in the matter. As if, in this pathetic life he's led, he'd ever be lucky enough to die that way. 

Aki can't choose how he departs. He'll never be able to, but whether or not he leaves you of his own choice, like he intended, is up to him. 

So, he'll write the letter. He's going to let himself have one more night with you, and then, that will be enough. You'll wake up to an empty bed, to him gone, and an envelope on your nightstand. He'll have his last chance to say everything he wants to say. 

I'm leaving on the expedition to defeat the Gun Devil. I am certain I won't be coming back. This is goodbye, for me and you.  I'm grateful I got to meet you. I don't deserve you, I don't think I ever deserved you. I wish there's some reality out there where I did.  Remember to throw out all of my belongings. Move away from this place, if you have to. The money from my will should be enough to live on. I want there to be nothing left to remind you of me.  Smoke one last cig, for my sake. Then quit. Wash the sheets until they no longer smell like me. Don't read the newspaper the morning after. I don't want you to see my name in the obituaries. Forget about me, in every way you can, in every sense of the word. For your own good.  I love you. I've always loved you.  Hey, I know it's going to hurt. I'm sorry. But take care of yourself, for me. Please.  In the life after this one, I'll come and find you, okay? 

Hokkaido is cold, so cold. Aki has come to deeply know the way the cold numbs everything, from the knuckles of your bony fingers down to the end of your toes. The way winter envelops you, the way it takes you. But it doesn't numb what you feel inside: the aching love-sickness, nor the burning home-sickness. His body is freezing, a chill twists up his spine, but his heart won't settle, his brain won't quit. 

Thankfully, he is nearly done here. He'll head home tomorrow morning. You'll be waiting for him at the station, when he gets off his train. You'll hug him, your hands grabbing fistfuls of his shirt, his arm around your back, and he'll wish you'd never let go. There's both pain and comfort to be found in that. 

Aki will forget about everything for a moment all too short. Then, he'll leave behind the letter. He'll fight the Gun Devil, he'll get blown to bits. And when his flesh and blood is smeared across the sand, he knows the last thing he'll be thinking about is if you're okay. 

Are you watching the news right now? I hope you aren't. Are you safe? Don't worry, by the time you return to the beach, the waves will have washed away the last of me. 

Aki can imagine, if you were watching, you'd end up running to him. Always running after him, while he's trying to run away from you. You'd hold his body, lace his weak fingers with your own. His grip is cold and loose. Through his eyes slowly growing dim, you'll see your own reflection, and even though it hurts, Aki will smile at you. Your arms are a bed of roses, perfect to die in. Blood welling at his tongue, he'll kiss you, for one last time. You'll taste it on his lips. 

He should get some sleep. Without you, it won't be a proper sense of rest. But his thoughts will stay silent, at least, for a little while. 

I will love you, even in ruin. You'll live, you'll heal, you'll do the things we always wanted to do but never could, and then, for once, I'll be happy.  The memories of me, the way my voice sounds, the way my touch feels — They'll all fade, slowly, eventually.  If I had more time, I would have spent it all beside you. Your hand in mine, until I'm nothing but bone. 

Aki shuts the curtains and crawls into his make-shift bed. The sheets feel chilly. Shadows dance on the wall, his eyes burn, his breath is sharp. Sleep comes in restless intervals, accompanied by scattered dreams. Some are more like nightmares, but some are dreams of something better, something warmer. A reverie made of dripping honey and soft snow, of a clear sky filled with stars and a heart cleansed from all its regrets. Dreams of where this loop always leads back to — Dreams of you.