#the dream was actually based off the death of an old oc

[lebbys-world]

Reality Check

Todoroki x gn!reader; pro-hero!au, some slightly graphic description of injury/death, angst to comfort, facing the realities of putting yourself in danger everyday

notes: i know this is a comfort blog, but i am a such a sucker for angst + esp in regards to how corrupt the superhuman society of mha is. so no relationship angst here !! just some good 'ol facing reality head-on with the love of your life !!

Your throat was searing with a burning pain, lungs overwhelmed as the cool metal of a knife passed across the skin covering your trachea.

The shock hits you instantly, yet the world feels as if it’s suddenly in slow motion.

One second, you were being held up by a villain, beaten and bruised, convincing yourself you’d make it out of there just fine.

The next moment, there was that burning sensation, and the villain holding you up lets go, forcing your weak body to fall helplessly onto the ground.

It hits you the moment your body slammed against the ground.

You realize what happened in that moment, but somehow your brain can't string together the thought fully.

You can barely move.

You can barely speak.

You’re desperate to talk, to say something, but the only thing that comes out of your mouth is choked noises and blood.

Tears start streaming down your face, the overwhelming emotions only continuing to cut off your scarce breaths.

Your vision starts to become blurry, and you can feel your senses starting to numb.

The once booming screams and explosions now sounded so far away that you could barely register them.

You feel someone run over to you, lifting you slightly off the ground, trying to ask you something that you can't quite make out.

A cold hand is placed on your face.

Why is the hand wet?

Oh.

That’s right.

That’s the same hand that must have picked you up.

That hand must be covered in your own blood.

You’re dying, after all.

You wish you could clearly see the face of the person holding you so dearly, or hear the pleading words of reassurance coming out of their mouth. 

But everything was such a haze.

Your senses nulled.

All you hoped was that Shoto was still okay.

. . .

You jolted upwards, your breaths staggered, sweat dripping off your brow.

Your eyes took a moment to adjust to the dark room, as the adrenaline continued rushing through your veins.

The visions that had just flooded your head suddenly disappeared, but you could still feel the agony of them weighing down on your chest.

From your sudden movement, you had woken up your husband next to you.

“Hey love, take a deep breath. Everything’s alright.”

He slowly sat up next to you, putting his arm comfortingly on your back as he continued to calm you down.

“Nightmare, hm?”

“...Yeah.” You answered, leaning into his touch.

“You wanna talk about it?”

“Mmm… not yet.”

“That’s okay.” He pulls you into his embrace, “we can talk about it later.”

You were used to nightmares stemming from work, but you'd never had one that felt quite this realistic.

Even though you were awake, safe in your home, in your own bed, your husband next to you, you just couldn't shake the sinking feeling the dream had left you with.

As Pro-Heroes, this sort of fate could be your reality someday.

That was something you had to face when you took on the job, but only on nights like these did the severity of it ever really hit you.

That fate could befall you someday.

You could die out there someday.

Or even worse, Shoto could.

At that thought, you held him tighter.

“Can we just stay like this for a little longer?” You asked into his chest.

“For however long you need.”

all fictional works are for entertainment purposes only. all rights to characters, media, references, and other third party materials belong to their respective owners. do not repurpose, modify, copy, or repost my work to other sites without permission. © @lebbys-world 2024.

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[otaku553]

The blessed (and their shadow)

Galacta Knight and my hero of yore oc, Nebula :) I have many thoughts about them if you want to read!

OK SO some of you might remember two of my old headcanons (which are very relevant for the characterization of nebula)

The four matters are kind of like the alchemical Aristotelian elements where they exist in a square or diamond with 2 attributes for each. The Aristotelian elements are fire, air, water, earth, (very familiar I'm sure) and fire and air are considered hot, while water and earth are cold. Fire and earth are dry, while water and air are wet (if i remember correctly). So on the scales of moisture and temperature, each of the elements lead into each other but are distinct and separate. Now, with heart, dream, soul, and dark matter, I have a similar idea but with different scales. Heart and dream correspond to positivity (in emotions) and dark and soul correspond to negativity. Then, heart and soul correspond to activeness, while dark and dream correspond to passiveness. I believe this is slightly different from my old headcanon where each of the matters corresponded to a different attribute, though this is less of a change and more of a rotation of 45 degrees. This is very relevant to Galacta and Nebula in particular, since they are in my au/headcanons the heroes of yore corresponding to heart matter and dream matter respectively.

The masks that Astrals wear act as a barrier or separation between the Astral and their duties as a warrior. Astrals tend to look younger than they actually are, and are often perceived as pure souls of light and positivity due to the nature of their origin. Therefore, when they become a Knight or a warrior, they also gain a mask to separate themselves (or their purity and sanctity) from the violence and brutality of war.

Now, even though the four heroes of yore theoretically have saved the universe at least once by sealing Void, I'm guessing that saving the universe wasn't the only thing their powers were used for. Oftentimes great power comes with the danger of use for political goals, which leads to war and such, and I wouldn't be surprised if the heroes were also participants in war, but as overwhelming forces of power and strength that demoralized the enemy. In any case, this creates an interesting dichotomy between the way the heroes are perceived by those they protect as paragons of light and goodness, as opposed to whatever atrocities they might commit on the battlefield.

Between the four heroes, there is also likely an imbalance in the public perception based on their matter correspondences. Negativity and positivity are often assigned arbitrary moral values that say that being positive is good, and so Galacta Knight and Nebula Knight are in a unique position of being heroes among heroes due to their positive alignment. However, whereas Galacta Knight acts as a true role model and paragon, Nebula Knight sees themselves as a shadow of sorts and thinks they lack the qualification to call themself a "good person."

Whereas Galacta Knight values all life, as an astral that feeds off of active positivity, Nebula Knight values rest and relaxation. Galacta Knight feels the weight of every life they take on the battlefield, and feels immense guilt for taking life, which they see as beautiful. Nebula, on the other hand, thinks that on the battlefield, there is probably no greater rest than death.

They do have somewhat of a moral compass, however, since they do realize quickly that this is wrong of them, seeing as death only begets greater sorrow and no one should have to die in the first place. But this also makes them realize that they are not qualified to be a good person since they don't quite care all that much about the lives they're taking.

Added to Galacta's status already as a hero above heroes, this makes Nebula raise Galacta to a high moral standard, and a sort of pedestal above themself. They do not feel like they are on equal footing with Galacta, who is genuinely good, whereas Galacta sees no difference between the two of them and in fact considers Nebula as a truer equal than the other heroes because of the societal expectation for both of them to be paragons.

This leads to Nebula taking off their mask when going into battle because if the mask only exists as a way to separate the pure and good astral from the ruthless and violent warrior, then Nebula believes that for them, this distinction does not exist. Eventually, Galacta and the other heroes get worried enough that Nebula puts the mask back on to appease them, but the scars from that time still remain.

Nebula is sort of my character for exploring the morality of the heroes :) Though Nebula considers themself to not be a good person, ironically, by taking off their mask, they are the only hero that truly confronts and acknowledges what they do without any barrier to absolve their guilt. Taking on responsibility for their own actions without averting their eyes from it is something only they can do for a while. Though they may not feel the full weight of remorse for their actions, they are definitely feeling it in the way that their self worth is damaged by closer evaluation of their own morals.

[boyincel]

DATE WITH DEATH

hi :3 I wanted to finally publicly share somewhere a little passion project of mine!

date with death is a fictional slasher franchise invented by me! I’ve never really considered it to be an oc universe, more like movies that existed in an alternate universe, so it is meant to be as period accurate/realistic as possible. it has a tiny fandom of my friends but is always open to more members :) under the cut I’ll talk more about it and my plans. I will be talking about it like it exists so mild warning for unreality if that kind of thing bothers you

If you have any questions PLEASE ask away

date with death has three films, date with death (1995), date with death 2: summer break (1997), date with death 3: school reunion (2005).

the films revolve around a masked killer with no name, but sometimes referred to as john doe or nicknamed masky, as he wears a prom suit and a white bird/plague masquerade mask. in the films, masky stalks and picks off various popular teenagers in cliques in a twisted display of love

date with death: in the days leading up to prom in a small town, teenagers in a popular clique are getting mysteriously picked off, their bodies displayed in strange and grotesque ways. as the teens fight amongst themselves, revealing petty rivalries and secrets, can they come to their senses in time to make it to prom, or will the killer find his perfect prom date?

date with death: summer break: gracie returns to her old town to take care of her ill mother over summer break, and with the killer dead there should be no threat, right? when more murders begin, gracie tries to leave, but finds herself stranded. will she be able to face her past at the biggest party the teens of the town have to offer, or will her killer return to take her as his prom queen?

date with death: school reunion: past memories bring gracie back to her highschool for the ten year school reunion. despite living a peaceful life now, her old friends missing at the event stir up former fears, and that night she goes to dig up the killer’s grave just to make sure. to her horror, it’s empty. the killer is back, and he’s picking off all the popular, bitchy, self absorbed no-longer-teens he missed the first time around. will gracie finally escape the killer from her past, or will it be til death that they part?

some other stuff!!!

the DWD franchise also has a graphic novel based around april fools and one based around valentines day. i have various trivia about the behind the scenes of the films and also about the fandom surrounding the movies. I have details about all the characters in the first movie and the actors that play them, and some details about the songs in the film (more notably, I think we’re alone now by Tiffany plays in an iconic scene in the first film)

future plans!

I really want to write up actual full film scripts off the films and potentially novel adaptations since the full plots exist only in my brain right now! I wanna draw thumbnails of shots I have in my brain and I have a film nerd boyfriend who wants to help me with some photography and short segments of filming! I doubt I’ll ever create it fully in the way that it is in my head but it’s an ongoing dream of mine :)

I’ll elaborate more on this if asked!! I may post random stuff on this blog like it exists so uhhh yeah! feel free to join the date with death fandom!!!!!

[feuillmort]

Hello! I am aware that you are not drawing COTL for the moment, but do you still answer asks about it? If you do, I'd like to ask, if it isn't too spoilery: What gave you the idea to make a reincarnation AU that you are writing right now? Does being the god of cycle also include death and rebirth in that domain? How do you plan on showing Lamb's suspicious familiarity with the Red Crown? How did Narinder became a follower of the previous Red Crown bearer? Would your Red Crown have its own personality or some form of sentience, and would it recognise its former bearer's soul if so?

What is your favourite weapon, fleece, and curse to use in the game? Any OC followers?

Have an enjoyable month, eat regularly.

EEEK HIIII OH GOD I CAN'T BELIEVE I ALMOST MISSED THIS ASK!!!! HIIII ❤️❤️ (speaking of which, all other asks pertaining to art reqs will be answered eventually!!! don't worry, i've seen em)

longpost and mentions of irl religion under the cut

What gave you the idea to make a reincarnation AU?

- There wasn't really any big "aha" moment when it came to the early stages of trying to find an au that i could write, but I'd been seeing fairly similar role reversal concept art on my dash for quite a while. Eventually, after I'd come up with some logical reasoning for how everything worked, I decided to write it for real :)

Does being the god of cycles also include death and rebirth in that domain?

- Yes! It's also part of the reason the lamb ever made it back to the land of the living in the first place, aside from being a genuine abstract concept.

How do you plan on showing the lamb's suspicious familiarity with the crown?

- Through dreams, primarily. The dreams don't start up until the lamb starts wearing the crown, and after that they're mostly vague bits and pieces that they oftentimes can't remember well enough to understand. On Narinder's end, it's even less certain. He can't recognize them--their soul, while it's the same, has taken up residence in an entirely new body. The possibility of them being his old god doesn't even cross his mind; why would it? He can't remember anything from his mortal life, not after spending however many years trapped in abject agony. However, he does notice how easily they seem to take to the crown in comparison to its previous bearers (ie Ratau). They bounce back almost immediately after being resurrected, and their power is amplified. He can't fathom why that might be.

How did Narinder become a follower of the previous Red Crown bearer?

- I based the worship of the Great Ones off of the worship of the actual Greek and Roman pantheons. While many people were not devoted to a specific god, it was common to leave offerings and pray to one for safe passage/victory in war/fertile soil/etc. For example, if one wanted to guarantee the safe passage of a loved one through the afterlife, they would pray to They of Cycles (although the god would do their best to safeguard deceased souls, regardless).

In contrast, Narinder grew up in a family of devouts residing in a temple to the previous bearer. From the moment he became old enough, he was an acolyte, assisting celebrants in processions and the like. As I've mentioned before, They of Cycles took on the form of a worshiper to observe their followers often. They had a tentative relationship with many in their temple, but they'd made fast friends with Narinder, too.

Would your Red Crown have its own personality or some form of sentience, and would it recognize its previous bearer if so?

- Technically, no. The crowns do not have their own personalities, and they are sentient in only the barest form.

I grew up doing witchcraft with my grandmother, and she had her own beliefs around how wands "actually worked." (And obviously I'm not trying to give commentary on anyone else's beliefs, btw! This is just how I grew up. I haven't interacted with other witches outside of my grandmother's older circle in several years.) A practician is perfectly capable of doing magic on their own, but using a wand is helpful for directing their energy during spellwork.

In the same vein, the gods are extremely powerful regardless of whether or not they posess their crowns, but the crowns are a great help when they want to focus their power toward more demanding tasks.

Where they differ, however, is the vitality of the god's conduit; gods can only last so long without their crowns. When their crown is not in their posession, a god's source of devotion is cut off completely, and they will begin to deteriorate over an extremely long period of time. This is why, by the time Narinder is free, the lamb is able to defeat him. They've had his crown for so long that he's weakened enough to be defeated in combat. Narinder recognized this risk every time he gave away his crown, but there was no other hope for escape, and as long as his vessel remained obedient and returned the crown to its "rightful owner," he would leave his prison more powerful than he entered it regardless.

Anyway, since I'm getting a teeny bit off track. No, the crown is not its own character and functions more like a wand, but it is sentient enough to recognize its true owner and begin funneling what's left of their power and memories back into their soul. Or something like that.

Favorite weapon?

- Dagger.

Favorite fleece?

- Glass cannon.

Favorite curse?

- I don't use curses. </3

Any follower OCS?

- None at the moment, but I have ideas for some that'll probably feature later in the fic!

Thank you for your well wishes! Your asks are always a joy to see in my inbox <3 I hope you have a wonderful month, as well, and make sure to get some sleep!

[s1llydr3amscape]

Here some ye olde Vanessa designs i managed to find sifting through my sketchbooks (pre sb!!!!) There's more but Its really deep in the trenches.

rip their 4head broo they have no brain 😔

I miss doing stylised stuff tbh but ppl bullied me for it so now whenever I do it I go 😭

very old art vs my current art style and oc's below + rambles :

this was right After the freaking posters released and oughhhh 😭😭😭😭 gurlll

top name cut off that Blaine guy are other human ocs I had for years!! They were in a comic with Vanessa and others heheheh I used to do comics 24/7!!! Ft my old fnaf ocs rival to fazbears who was better at keeping the safety aspect off their robots. I wanna ramble abt them too one day after a heavy rehaul. Vanessa actually switched jobs from my oc location to the Pizzaplex in it!!!! Because I hope Vanny and Vanessa were seperate!!!

Vanessa and Vanny were seperate people in my Rabbit City AU but idk if I still want them to be different or the same now. Also one of Glitchtraps workers who managed to break free from his control and he didn't like that and sent every piece of her crimes online on the Internet as this crazed murder. So now she's in a new city under hiding or face criminal charges she didn't commit willingly. She managed to dye her fur and change enough and became a roadie for this band that's not very good. (Ffps rockstars I love yall funky vibe I'm sorry yall died too soon). She wants to help people and protect them she knows there's others under Glitchtrap’s control and wants to put a stop to him. Sadly some off them don't seem like they want any help... She was a beagle dog because when I saw her I was like beagle!!!!

My longest one is my oc story that's bad and outdated which included 3 rap battles (i love rap sue me) and an orange cat with green eyes with wings mc who's name try and guess

Its Winger.... (yeah because he was based off Scootaloo having small wings so young me thought ohhh Winged but like Winger because unlike scootaloo he can fly and is a winner!!! 💀💀💀 he also had beef with nyan cat oc over a girl and could transform into different elements!!! Like nature fire ice and rainbow... the main main main mc tho is a brown green eyed cat who was half robot after an accident... God looking back what was I on (I got into mlp and had unrestricted Internet access)

then we had this off my old sona... I didn't know how to draw fat could you tell... dark times oughhhh I wasn't blind tho then win 💀 alot of my older older art is traditional so you may not see it unless I sift through 17 layers off hell. Wish I backed up more of my 2019-2020 digital art tho but those were the darkest times for me also wait eewwww no eyebrows

ive gotten better and fr be the change you wanna see in this world draw fat bitches!!!! going down the rabbit hole

that one barbie trend I didn't finish look at the hands boy ouggh insane sauce I drew that

I miss drawing like this lowkey but my hand hurty and god ibis crashes every 25 minutes u was gonna gonna feral bro

self love is drawing urself accurately irl after years of drawing a caricatures of yourself (My first human sona ever was a skinny white woman with long neon yellow hair and a purple streak </3)

Gremlin from earlier I learned color theory aswell but only for purple, green and brown oops <333

I figured I could give it an oval nose because I didn't know how to draw my nose at all. Big ass nose death off me real!!! I love :3 face so much and big ass ears!!!! I will make them have big ass ears they are fun!!!!

These are my sonas I have like 4 rn and a million in thr vault (progress is progressing)

old oc his name is Jamie now and he's from a dream I had. Literally an incel too like he's studying magic got so fed up no one in his own world wanted him. Used magic to find his soul mate who existed in another universe. Made a portal to get there and take her back to his world because he wouldn't comply in a non magic world. When he arrived to her world almost died turning white and green. And like still managed to get the girl back to his world (Akuma's a goober who wanted to be isekaid) and yeah. Like huh my guy chill out 😭😭😭😭 no wonder you ain't getting any. He also killed me in the dream and is so dumb for being a prodigy??? Like he made a business selling illegal potions with the company name just vile.... his own initials... like bro how are you not caught. I can't with him. I pray opun his downfall and can't wait to see what other shit he pulls outta his ass. I feel bad for the Akuma she just wanted to escape not knowing this guy a freak.

heres him now!! He's much more dream accurate with the current events so far!!!!! If he appears next time I hope he croaks fr from the magic sickness like bro u a freak freak /neg

But yeah improvement is real!!! my art process is slower now (carpal tunnel) but I love to draw so much it is so fun if my bitchass ibis won't crash that is hehehehe (it crashed a million times trying to first time make a comic digitally I'm 💥💥💥)

[strangesmallbard]

have u ever shared the lore of torlynn's guardian/dream visitor? :O

i haven't yet! at least not directly—i have posted about the oc she looks like: torlynn's previous girlfriend, a human storm sorcerer/oath of the ancients paladin named thalia adrian, who died in terrible circumstances about a century ago. specifically, she's the version of thalia that torlynn first met. when she died, she was about 40 human years old.

those terrible circumstances happen to be extremely plot relevant! anyway, like many people, i always headcanon the guardian as someone significant in tav's life, either someone who previously guided them and/or haunts them. and thalia—and those terrible, plot-relevant circumstances of her death—haunt torlynn so so so much! especially awhen the party enters the shadowlands at the beginning of act 2 . eyes emoji.

something else important: in addition to all the cool things above, thalia is also a bhaalspawn. if you know bg1/bg2 lore and raised your eyebrows at thalia's last name, you are very correct: she's actually gorion's ward, the protagonist of the first two games. (i haven't gotten a chance to play them yet, so all my info is from various wikis. i definitely plan to, though!)

the full torlynn/thalia story has expanded into many rooms in my mind palace, so i'll put the rest under a read more for anyone interested haha.

HISTORY:

a century and a half before the events of bg3, torlynn was a high harper based in the sword coast. before that, she served the harpers since her early 100's, participating in multiple campaigns/adventure parties across faerûn for the next three centuries. a century and a half before the events of bg3, torlynn was a harper before she was anything or anyone else, wholly dedicated to the cause. she also took her leadership role very seriously and gave up most personal relationships as a result, even amongst fellow harpers. she also became more careful than the unreserved, reckless, hotheaded person she'd been in youth.

more important context: torlynn's mom was a powerful necromancer and well-known in her academic circles. back in the day, she'd do all sorts of necromantic experiments in the baldur's gate sewers, as so much weird shit happens there. including bhaalist cults every few centuries or so. when torlynn was still in school, her mom went missing down there and absolutely everyone stonewalled her when she tried to find out why, including her dad (shareholder at sorcerous sundries) and the flaming fist (who she briefly joinde after graduating wizard school). she eventually determines that bhaalists were involved, but never found any trace of her mom.

SO when sarevok causes problems on purpose in baldur's gate, torlynn is right in the thick of it for both harper reasons and personal reasons, pulled to the home that hadn't been home in a very, very long time. (frankly unsure if this counters bg1 canon but this is also my mind palace <3). and then she meets thalia: bright, kind, reckless, very chaotically good, and a bhaalspawn. and a sorcerer, which simply doesn't help matters regardless of how torlynn is a wizard who cannot stand the company of other wizards. (parents made her go to wizard school).

RELATIONSHIP:

they ummmm do not hit off right away. although torlynn very much believes in the harper tenets of Free Will and Liberty Over Systems, she's also a big fan of rules and organization and systems that facilitate free will. and, of course, breaking rules and systems that are stupid and don't make sense. (this all very wizard of her, but don't tell her that) (thalia tells her that, repeatedly). she also doesn't trust thalia's dark urge for very valid reasons. this all manifests in clashes that annoy everyone in the general vicinity. but this is a classic enemies-to-lovers, babey! they experience trials and tribulations, defeat thalia's loser brother, and fall very hard for each other.

their relationship is always a bit tumultous, as they don't stop clashing about the fundamentals. bhaal is also determined to make thalia succomb to her urge, meaning her bhaalspawn dreams get a lot worse around torlynn. but these bitches love each other! they're mutually obsessed! lesbian devotion > your shitty dad, every time. their differences are ultimately complements; torlynn grounds thalia, helping her perceive things like fantasy spreadsheets and consequences for your actions, while thalia helps torlynn find that balance between her Great Harper Responsibilities and like, having fun lmao. experiencing life to its fullest extent after spending her own protecting others. [insert a 50k relationship development fic here].

LET'S JUMP 20 YEARS:

in that time, thalia has also joined the harpers, albeit in a less formal capacity. she and torlynn spend half those years together and half apart as thalia 1) avoids murdering her, and 2) searches for other bhaalspawn across the realm, determined to save them from their urge. (she rarely succeeds. according to the wiki page for gorion's ward, something that sets gorion's ward apart from other bhaalspawn was their supportive upbringing, which very few have). at some point, they hear about a weird situation brewing beyond the mountain pass. some guy named ketheric is causing problems on purpose and shar is involved. can't be good.

and man, you know most of what happens next. the harpers join forces with the druids from the grove and together they defeat ketheric and his dark justiciars. in this version of the story, however, they almost lose. their forces have dwindled into nothing and help isn't on the way and torlynn's best ranger flew off the fucking handle and started torturing enemy scouts. one night, huddled under a tent, shar's darkness already clinging to every corner, thalia brings up a strategy they haven't considered. dire to be sure, but don't these people deserve every dire strategy we have left to give? aren't you always saying that to win, we must sometimes be willing to lose? torlynn says Under No Circumstances Are You Allowed to Do That. i will make sure you never have to do that.

thalia bristles; she hates when torlynn pulls rank. (when anyone pulls any type of rank). she doesn't say anything else because she doesn't want to get mean. torlynn is too terrified to say anything and too ashamed of her fear to talk about that either. so they don't talk again, not until that final battle when another fucking shadow squadron crests over the field and thalia Does Just That.

that being: assume her slayer form, succombing to the very urge she dedicated her entire life to fighting. and because the slayer's only motivation is Kill Everyone, there's only one way to stop her from turning on the harpers and the druids after the dark justiciars are all dead and gone. and torlynn makes sure she's the one to stop her. she owes that end to her. she wants to hold her one more time, even if what she's holding is a very scary creature with lots of pointy limbs.

AFTERMATH:

when the war is officially over, torlynn is not well. like fundamentally just had her belief in anything shaken and stirred and then exploded and also exploded again. she's dedicated her life to this cause and now the lands are cursed and thalia is dead, turned into the monster she hated. perhaps her mother was right about everything turning to rot, so you may as well use that rot to your own ends. except torlynn is bad at rotting, so she goes to bother her mother's god about getting her girlfriend back. but, well, thalia isn't with myrkul. she's with bhaal. and he's noooot letting her go so easily.

that's when torlynn loses that last grip on her previous life. she deserts the harpers, throws herself into necromantic research, and decides she's going to rescue thalia from bhaal if it's the last thing she does. she spends about 75 years doing this. and then something too complicated for this already too-long post happens that causes her to abandon this mission. winds up teaching 10-year-olds how to conjure ice at her old school in waterdeep, still adrift and bitter and mostly unwell. that's roughly her status quo until the nautiloid scoops her up from the road between waterdeep and baldur's gate.

CONCLUSION:

anyway! the emperor sees this big ball of noxious grief in torlynn's mind and is like Oh fuck yes a little bowl of seeds for me (perfect circumstances to manipulate the scary, highly-competent elf lady). he would have succeeded but torlynn has the power of friendship and gay sex with karlach on her side.

HEY, THEY KIND OF LOOK LIKE TALDER?

you got me there! torlynn kind of started out as an alder uber; i wanted to make an older lady oc who was both a magic user and some kind of military commander. besides their penchant for repression and the way grief is a huge part of their stories, torlynn wound up pretty different overall! thalia shares some physical traits with tally, but she's also taken a life of her own since that initial Haha Wouldn't It Be Funny If brainstorm. if anyone's interested i'm very happy to elaborate, but this is already too long LMAO. p.s. if you read the whole thing i love you

[rabiesram]

Milky way, sparkling heart, and droplet for the OC ask meme!

what was the inspiration behind your oc? what was the first thing you decided about them?: His general inspiration, as well as the realm he comes from and the family that resides there, is based off of Norse mythology. Ullr was the god of...well... a lot of things. He's strongly connected with skis, snow/winter, hunting, mountains, archery and the like. He's second to Odin and the stepson of Thor in actual mythology. The first thing I decided about him was the fact he was gonna be a semi-crotchety old man LMAO. He was originally going to be a wolf but thought 'why not I shake things up a bit'. That's how he ended up being a lynx. are they a subtle or a showy lover?: Incredibly subtle. He'll hold Ratoo's hand in public n such but it usually doesn't go beyond that. At home, its a different story.

random angst headcanon: He has a lot of dreams about his younger sister. Usually its replayed memories of what they would both do before her death; playing in the snow or helping their mom cook. Sometimes it's something...less enjoyable. questions

[acacius-asks]

Basic oc info!!!!

im still working on character references so have Acacius's backstory but summarized + some facts/headcanons :3

So y'know how the gaurdians of positivity and negativity (nightmare and dream) were created bc some dudes decided to steal apples from the tree?? so basically those apples ended up in Acacius's au somehow, and an evil scientist got their hands on it (cue shocked cat emoji) they start doing silly experiments, MEANWHILE!!!!! 14 yr old Acacius gets into an accident and goes comatose with near-guaranteed death, his mother (Anastasia) freaks tf out and somehow ends up meeting the scientist, the scientist is like "yo if u let me experiment on ur child I'll figure out how to keep them alive" Anastasia is desperate to keep her child alive so she agrees and boom!!1 the acacius we know is born (they do not remember anything lol) Anastasia being their literal mother basically automatically as she has her first interaction with her child realizes this and once again, freaks out. she ends up (along with the other scientists who are helping with the project) lying to acacius (+ other test subjects) and being like "aahahaha! no these experiments are good because they'll help humanity!" (they will not)

obivously, eventually acacius figures out it's a lie (funnily enough, he figures it out by stealing the key to Anastasias journals that date the experiments, along with one journal being a long ongoing diary), and their world literally breaks. Acacius freaks out, and in a frenzy, ends up getting their hands on a box cutter that they end up using to kill the scientists (including Anastasia) obviously, this interaction has spurred A LOT of negativity, so Nightmare goes to investigate so y'know. ppl won't be massacred by the JR. he finds a child covered in blood with a knife and some books in whats basically a hospital gown and is like. "bro wtf happened here" and acacius just like. hands him the books as an explanation bro reads thru them and is like !?!?!?? nightmare doesn't really know what to do so he just like brings acacius to him and his roommates house

Nightmare ends up keeping Acacius around because he assumes the murders were accidental and due to the reaction of heavy emotions and conflicting positive and negative energies (that's what the experiments were based around) and nightmare doesn't really want something like that happening again. But also...none of them rly know how to take care of a kid so Randy ends up helping a lot LOL

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

fun fact time!!!!!

Acacius already knows basic math + how to read (they were taught how in the lab). he knows literally nothing else though

She has a lot of trouble with morally grey things due to limited exposure to the outside world, so she views the JR as evil

Acacius is technically 27, but she's still mentally 13/14 due to her losing all her memories

Acacius uses any pronouns!

due to trauma, despite being conscious during quite a few experiments Acacius doesn't remember them. He also hardly remembers the actual incident where Nightmare found him

they're very quiet most of the time and never really ask for anything

Error taught them how to sew and knit! they made their own clothes, keeping to a "princely" theme (Japanese ouji fashion, for reference! specifically the gothic subtype)

Cross buys Acacius books. he struggled a lot at the beginning because they showed no interest in anything, so there weren't any interests to reference off of. He eventually figured out that they like overly convoluted fantasy books and warrior cats.

Nightmare fully believes that the murders Acacius committed were fully an accident due to their subdued, gentle and kind nature (they were on purpose, they believed it was for the better of humanity, however it was definitely a decision made under the influence of conflicting energies)

Acacius often spends a lot of time with Randy (especially at the beginning, due to the meme trios very limited experience with kids)

They're fairly strong and have a high pain tolerance due to the experiments conducted on them

Originally, due to positive and negative energies heavily conflicting, Acacius had a lot of mood swings, but after Nightmare gifted her a pendant that keeps the energies more at bay, the mood swings mostly died down

(just a note, if it isn't clear, the scientist who conducted the experiments was experimenting on Acacius with positive and negative energies, aka; the apples the scientist got their hands on)

anyways thanks for reading if you have!!! I know this is cringe and cliche but this entire thing is super self indulgent soo :3

[marleybone-dreaming]

So I finally remembered to share these!! Sorry about all the smudges and dark spots, I don't like to do digital art very much, especially not for something that's not a main special interest atm (current super hyperfixation is on speech synthesis characters like Microsoft Samverse and Chipspeech)

These are the design pages for two of my characters - Genevieve Ironforge, my wizard (I have a death wiz named Marissa Nightshade whom I'll also eventually do a page for), and Genevieve's fiancé Bentley W.P. Kensington. (Probably no relation to whomever Kensington Park was named for.)

Genevieve actually has two versions- the version I use for original stories and the version tied to the Wizard101 universe. They're quite similar except that the original stories Genevieve has ties to my other OCs rather than to the Wizard101 characters, and her backstory in my universe isn't quite as hectic and exciting. Plus Bentley is only a Wizard101 OC so he's not in the picture in my original stories.

Genevieve

Her first outfit is a slight variation of what I've got her wearing in the game. The second outfit is one I made up based off of an outfit I own IRL.

She's 25 years old and originally from the US, but was born to Irish parents so she has an Irish accent.

She's always been a tinkerer and loved making inventions ever since she was in her early teens. When she was 17, she accidentally got sent from Earth to the Spiral by one of these inventions malfunctioning and causing basically a glitch in space-time.

She started working odd jobs around the Spiral trying to get money so she could rebuild the machine and attempt to recreate what she did that sent her there in the first place to get back home, including a city guard, assistant to Mr. Lincoln, a seamstress in Mooshu, a brief stint as a mercenary- she quickly realized this wasn't for her, as her physical combat skills just weren't that good- and finally a post worker in Marleybone. Living in Marleybone was a dream come true to Genevieve, who'd spent much of her teen years poring over Sherlock Holmes books and Jules Verne novels and longing to, just for a little while, experience what it was like to walk the cobblestone streets under the gas lamps' hazy glow alongside beautiful ladies in long dresses and dapper men in top hats.

Most of the Marleybonians seemed fascinated by this human girl- she wasn't there with Ravenwood, furthering her magical studies, and she was considerably older than most of the human teens who'd come from there. Likewise, Genevieve had been amazed by meeting these anthro animals upon first landing in the Spiral in Wizard City, but they were everywhere in Marleybone. She felt a bit like a fish out of water, being one of the only "people" who had skin instead of fur, but she still liked being there all the same.

It was at this job that she met Arthur Wethersfield, who had come back to Marleybone briefly to visit family. They talked for a long time and he told her about magic, which she found very interesting. She asked if even she could learn it, to which he said she absolutely could but that he wasn't totally sure if Ravenwood would accept her due to her age. He asked about her upon his return to Wizard City, where Headmaster Ambrose said that unfortunately she was out of the age range for enrollment, but that according to what he'd told him she seemed like Storm magic would be a great fit for her and that Halston Balestrom might be willing to tutor her privately. When Professor Wethersfield asked, Professor Balestrom said he'd be happy to teach Genevieve Divination, and that it's better to start late than never.

The next thing Genevieve knew, she was staying in an apartment on Triton Avenue in Wizard City, and every weekend she'd go up to the Storm school to receive her private lessons with Professor Balestrom. When she wasn't doing her Storm lessons, she was working at the Storm Mill, doing maintenance on the machines.

Genevieve, as it turned out, was a natural at Divination. She worked hard to master her spells and even asked Professor Balestrom for advice with rebuilding the machine that sent her to the Spiral in the first place once she'd been taking lessons from him for a while.

She still chatted with Professor Wethersfield, though he wasn't tutoring her, and sometimes they'd meet up at his house for tea. During one of their conversations, he mentioned that he knew someone back in Marleybone who was looking for a Storm wizard to help him out with golem designing and building and offered to mention her name to him. She said she'd love to do it.

The friend in Marleybone agreed to bring her in and see what she was capable of, and before long she was back in Marleybone, helping build and design robots.

She then had an epiphany: Here in Marleybone, she was living her dream out. She was studying science, building robots, and fully living in the 19th century- things that would have been obscenely difficult and, in the case of the latter, even impossible back home in present day America. So even though she missed her family a lot, she dropped the quest to go back to Earth- and instead put it on the back burner, to maybe figure out how to visit later on.

And her dream got even sweeter when she was told to pick up a few scientific journals from a bookstore in Regent's Square and met the most dashing gentleman. It was strange, feeling... attracted to one of these anthro dogs. She knew what furries were back on Earth, but hadn't fancied herself as one until she lay eyes on Bentley. Soon enough the two were courting and practically inseparable. After they'd dated for a few years he proposed to her- to which she, of course, said yes. Now she especially wants to visit Earth again, so she can introduce her fiancé to her parents! She and Bentley are both worried about what her parents would think about her marrying a man of a race/species that doesn't even exist on Earth, but there's only one way to find out what they'd say.

Bentley

First I'll transcribe what his page says in case you can't read my bad handwriting.

Name: Bentley W.P. Kensington. Age: 28. Species + breed: (Anthro) dog, poodle. Build: Tall and curvy. Resides in: Apartment in Chelsea Court. Occupation: Bookstore owner and violin player (at balls and for theater performances). Positive attributes: Generous, patient, observant, tolerant, kind, meticulous, neat. Negative attributes: Self-doubting, high-maintenance, jumpy and paranoid, extremely conflict averse, nitpicky.

For the most part, Bentley had a very average life. Being the only pup his parents had, his fairly well-to-do paternal grandparents absolutely spoiled him, none more so than his grandfather. The man made sure he never went without, and helped his parents send him to grade school. Though he couldn't afford to put him through university, he did get Bentley the music classes he'd longed to take. With a lot of hard work, he became adept at the violin. Though now at 18 he didn't really know what he was going to do now that he'd gone to school and knew music.

He spent a year just living in his grandfather's house, making money by having rich people hire him to play music at their parties. But one day his grandfather unexpectedly became ill and passed away. His father had already died in an industrial accident the year before, and having lost both of them took a heavy toll on the young man. But Bentley's grandfather had left him, in his will, the bookstore that had made the family so much money.

After a period of mourning, he got to work managing his grandfather's bookstore- and it turned out, he actually loved it! He didn't like all the record keeping very much, but he certainly liked stocking the books and finding as many interesting titles to sell as he could, and restoring old ones that people brought in to sell. Things went on like this for a few years- and when Kensington Books became the sole seller in Marleybone for a long-awaited series from a best-selling author, business exploded. For a year there would be lines outside his store almost daily!

With all this money, he bought fancy clothes and poured lots into keeping the bookstore looking absolutely beautiful. From planting flowering ivy to grow up the bricks, to importing expensive Wysterian furniture for patrons to sit and read in, and even adding a cafe that sold tea, coffee and pastries- he wanted to make his store look unlike any other in Marleybone! He'd always taken pride in his appearance and surroundings, but now he could take it to another level. The inheritance from his grandfather had helped tremendously in beautifying the bookstore as well, of course.

He didn't stop playing the violin now that he had a steady job, however- it was still his passion, and he would still play at rich people's parties. But now these rich people recommended him to theatre directors and the organizers of the annual Policemen's Ball, so they soon approached him and asked him to play for them! Bentley was ecstatic, and agreed to do it.

Balancing his passion for music with running the bookstore was difficult, but he managed to do it.

His life would be turned upside down, though, when a white-haired human lady came in and asked for a few copies of scientific journals.

It was love at first sight, and both of them knew the other one felt the same from the look in their eyes.

They began discussing literature, comparing Earth literature to Spiral literature, and soon made plans to meet up for tea.

These meetings happened more and more, until Bentley had Genevieve at his house every day. It was finally time, they decided, to officially start courting and become a couple.

Though they seemed quite an unlikely couple- not just because of Bentley being an anthro dog and Genevieve being a human, but because of him being so artistic and shy, and her being so logical and fearless... but they were practically made for each other. Their strengths and weaknesses complemented so well, and it was absolutely no surprise to any of their friends when Bentley proposed to her after they'd been in a relationship for about 3 years.

Most other Marleybonians were shocked by the knowledge that a dog would be in a relationship with a human. They faced some prejudice, but for the most part everyone was fairly accepting of their relationship. A couple of humans had settled down in Marleybone, and so it seemed just a matter of time until one of them fell in love with a Marleybonian. It was mostly others being confused by how he could have been attracted to a human- though the Marleybonians were very polite to Genevieve (with exceptions, as sadly everywhere has bullies, even Marleybone) they didn't really consider humans in general to be an attractive species, lacking fur, tails or snouts and having weird wrinkly ears on the sides of their heads instead of smooth ears at the top.

Phew that was a lot of typing, it's really late now and I need to go to bed but hopefully that's everything

[thekingofwinterblog]

You know... Seeing GRRM essentially tell every single fan of Tolkien's books off as cunts if they don't like the Rings of Power previews, if they have already given up on after it's made it clear that the series will, in no particular order:

"Ignore the very detailed time-line that Tolkien spent decades and decades perfecting, compress hundreds of years into just a few decades, have Hobbits living in the shire that should not exist for millennia, insert a whole host of OC characters into a work that already had plenty of characters they could use to explore this time period, rewrite Galadriel, a woman who was meant to be the personification of a powerfull, regul queen as an angry, pissed off, emo teen despite the fact she's thousands of years old by this point, ignore the ACTUAL POC peoples of Tolkien's middle earth, their culture, their story, their humanity, and show us why their enslavement under Sauron was such a tragedy in favor of rewriting the ethnicities of people based on the people of the british isles and pretending that the Haradrim, variags and others don't exists, and all around looking horribly cheap despite the ridiculous budget."

-Has made me realize what a an enormous, unsufferable sellout he is.

Like... This is a guy who saw his magnus Opus be BUTCHERED on national television. The most spectacular fall from grace in television history...

And instead of trying to redeem it by focusing on winds of winter, and a dream for spring, he instead bitches at us for having the nerve to point out that he's well over a decade late on writing his book, when he's made countless comments over the years to the effect of "Just give me time and i'll get it out", promises it's his top priority, that it's all he's working on, and he instead takes time off writing history books about stuff that we don't need to know, and he actually promised he wouldn't waste his time on until the main series was done, and eventually just came out and declared, despite all his promises that he was working on winds of winter above everything else, he's now devoting most of his to other shit instead.

This guy has for all intends and purposes given up on his book fans. The men and women who were there for him from the start, and more importantly, are STILL there for him, even after AGOT burned out like junkie at the end and became forever remembered as trash.

And you know what? That would be fine. It's true, he doesn't owe us anything... But we don't owe him jack shit either. I have no interest in House of the dragon, or any of the other tv-shows Martin is sacrificing WOW for. But if he wants to make them, then by all means, go ahead and do that.

But don't fucking come here and critique others for standing up for a man who spent his entire life doing what YOU aren't doing.

Tolkien spent his entire life on his legendarium, he worked on it until the day he died. He finished it, he refined it, he released his appendices and their stories after he was done with the main story, and he spent over 50 years working on a small, not that important backstory prequel book about a character mentioned once or twice in the lord of the rings set, never releasing it before his death because he was just that dedicated to the quality of his writing and the world he made.

And he didn't do it for the cash, the fame, or the fact it made him legendary. He did it because he truly, genuinely loved his work, and you can tell that with every single bit of extra detail he put into fleshing out his entire world.

Tolkien was approached several times in his lifetime to adapt his work. And do you know what he said each time when it was made clear they wouldn't respect his source material? He told them to piss off, because he genuinely loved his work, and refused to see it be mishandled like "A Game of Thrones" was.

Tolkien would NEVER have stood for a single one of the changes I mentioned above, and fans know he wouldn't, because Tolkien made it very, very clear what his world was, and he refused to compromise on that world.

A mythology for his homeland of England, with a defined, clear, coherent timeline of one end of the setting to the end, with very clear backstories for his world and all the people in it, who refused to let anyone adapt it unless he felt they could do it justice.

Who the hell is Martin, an old man who sacrificed his own book fans for TV series that cannot salvage AGOT no matter how good they are, to tell fans who remember Tolkien, his dedication to every meticulous detail of the world he made, what he stood for, and refuses to acknowledge this garbled fanfiction as an addition to the world Tolkien made, when he made it abundantly clear what he thought of inaccurate adaptions, that they aren't real fans of Tolkien?

Tolkien is dead Martin. His legacy stands, because he made it, and unlike Star Wars, no one can come and claim that they're just "Continuing the story" with varying degrees of success regarding quality, because Lord of the Rings, and by extension Tolkien's entire legendarium is done.

We know damn well what Tolkien's story was about. We read it, We know it by heart. We know how it begins, and we know how it ends, unlike a song of ice and fire, which will never be finished. And that means we don't have to speculate "will this be faithful to Tolkien's world?" Because we can tell by a single glance whether or not it will be.

And rings of Power, even if it was the best story ever told(And it's not going to be), is not the story Tolkien tried to tell. Not by any stretch of the imagination. It doesn't even try to be.

[gritsandbrits]

So I ended up bored and with some free time the other day and I decided to try and help you out with one of OC universes since I’m really fond of all of them (especially since they tend to be even better than the official canon) by making a character reference for the Joraverse version of Alien Force, specifically one of a potential debut look for Kevin! I had a lot of fun making this, since it was actually really interesting speculating what he might look like in this alternate take where his original personality carried over into the time skip. 

Have a few design notes, fun facts, and general headcanons I have regarding this version of him:

He’s still got some muscle to him, but he’s also kinda malnourished due to having to survive mainly on energy absorption for the past five years (the Null Void doesn’t normally house human prisoners, so they probably don’t have much in the way of normal human food), so his stamina is unfortunately quite lacking compared to his strength. He can still pack one hell of a punch though.

The wristband on his arm is an emotional regulator given to more “uncooperative” prisoners that changes colors depending on his emotions; green signals that he’s in a neutral, possibly even positive state (well, as positive as you can get when you’re Kevin), yellow signals that he’s frustrated, annoyed, or agitated, and red signals that he’s pissed off and about to go feral. If it changes to red, the wristband will give Kevin a controlled shock so he won’t attack anyone, much to his chagrin. Unfortunately, it’ll also shock anyone who tries to take it off, himself included, so he still has yet to find a way to remove it.

The bandages are for his numerous injuries from various scuffles with other inmates as well training sessions. He got dumped there when he was eleven and has been there for five years, you think he wouldn’t get a little roughed up during his stay there?

His mask was based a bit on Slade’s from Teen Titans, and he’s wearing it so that he won’t be recognized. Kevin’s smarter than he looks, he knows full well that the second the wrong person recognizes him it’s a one-way ticket back to the Void.

Has a habit of occasionally assuming more animalistic positions like getting down and/or moving on all fours as well as yell and scream; even though he’s not a mutated alien monstrosity anymore and back to his normal form, old habits tend to die hard.

Filled to the brim with so much anger he makes Kevin 11,000 look calm and rational.

Hates Vilgax almost as much as Ben now for betraying him and leaving him behind when he escaped; the second he sees him, it’s on sight.

Viewed Kwarrel as a father figure even though he would never and was actually starting to calm down a bit with him around; however, after witnessing his death sacrificing himself so that he could escape, he ended up gaining a greater hatred for the world than ever before due to taking the one person he could ever say he truly cared about.

Has bad insomnia due to constant night terrors and bad dreams brought about by trauma; insists that it’s fine and he didn’t care much for sleeping anyway.

He views his relationship with Argit as more of a business relationship than anything; he does consider him somewhat of a friend but isn’t exactly the best at maintaining healthy relationships.

Still has his necklace and is wearing it under the straightjacket. He doesn’t know why, but for some reason he feels calmer (well, calm for Kevin standards, anyway) when he has it on. He doesn’t even remember who gave it to him, with the only hint he has being a small “Pro. P.D.” initial engraved into the bottom. (Oh worm, potential lore???)

He and Argit ended up escaping the Null Void via a dimension-hopping device Argit stole for the Plumbers; Argit tried to get him to stay with him and travel the galaxy swindling various species out of their money, but Kevin “convinced” (otherwise known as threatened) him to drop him off on Earth to “settle some unfinished business” (otherwise known as beating the crap out of Ben Tennyson)

Ends up making a deal with Team Tennyson that if he plays nice and helps them find Max, they won’t rat him out and turn him back into Plumber custody.

Still thinks that the idea of redemption is stupid, but perhaps he’ll change his mind on the subject in due time, possibly thanks to the weird alien lady he can’t help but feel strangely familiar with…

  I know this probably looks really bad, but I put a lot of hard work into it and hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed making it!

  My Thoughts: Anon i love this post sm!! In love with Kevin's new backstory and personality! It makes him so much more interesting than what we got!

[olivemac]

heartbeat | chapter two | b.b.

Summary | When Steve Rogers asks Kate Stark to find the Winter Soldier, she gets too involved.

Notes | Captain America: Civil War re-write, essentially. Starts just after the events of CA: Winter Soldier.

Pairing | Bucky Barnes x fem!oc, Bucky Barnes x Stark!oc

Genre | romance

Rating | explicit

Story Warnings | angst, fluff, romance tropes, so many romance tropes, coarse language, alcohol use, canon-typical violence , smut (m/f), oral sex (f&m receiving), 18+ ONLY

Chapter Warnings | coarse language

master list | AO3 link

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prev chapter

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Kate is on the next commercial flight to Bucharest. She's worried Bucky will move on before she can get to him, but she knows Tony would never approve of the use of one of his jets to chase down an ex-assassin in hiding. The less he knows, the better. Which is why she told him she was escaping to Europe for a long respite after feeling oh so overwhelmed with her work at Stark Industries.

Tony barely bats an eye when she told him. There were some advantages to being Tony Starks' baby sister. The first being he feels guilty about his ineptness at raising her after their parents' death and would literally let her get away with murder. The second is an almost unlimited bank account left to her by her father and supplemented by Tony's previously mentioned guilt.

Kate Stark was her mother’s mid-life crisis. Maria, three decades younger than her husband, had – at forty-two years old – decided she wanted another baby. Tony, who was eighteen at the time, had balked at the idea. But Howard relented and called in the best team of fertility doctors money could buy, and Kate was born.

She doesn't remember her parents, not really. She was only three when they died, and she doesn't remember that event either. Though she was there, in the car, when it crashed on Long Island.

Tony's only ever spoken to her about it once, after she accused him of hating her for surviving when their parents died. Really, he hated that he survived.

When rescue workers arrived at the scene of the wreck, they found her parents dead in the front seat and her tucked safely into her car seat in the back, bundled up against the December cold. She was an orphan, and Tony, at twenty-one, was suddenly responsible for a toddler.

So, he did the only thing he could think of. He hired a series of nannies to raise her, then sent her off to boarding school as soon as she was old enough, all the while playing genius, billionaire playboy.

He wasn’t surprised when it turned out she was just as smart as him or their father. And it surprised him less when she followed in his footsteps and attended MIT. What did surprise him was when she started hacking government databases for fun. She only agreed to work for him at Stark Industries in exchange for him not sticking Rhodey on her after she released documents regarding the US Air Force‘s involvement in some less that savory overseas dealings.

On the plane, she starts an email to Steve telling him where she was headed and what she had found. Then she deletes it and starts over. Then deletes that. She chews her thumbnail and thinks. If she tells Steve where Bucky is, he'll come blazing in, shield at the ready, and Bucky will.... She doesn’t know what Bucky will do, but she has a feeling the encounter would end with a fight and Bucky running. Which will kill Steve. Again. So, she decides she doesn't need to tell Steve – not right away. She'll see if she can figure out what Bucky remembers – if anything – before telling Steve where he is.

_____

A little over forty-eight hours after her software found Bucky, Kate is assembling IKEA furniture in her new studio apartment in Romania. Getting the landlord to lease her the empty flat next to Bucky's was easy enough when Kate offered him double what he was asking in rent. He was discreet enough to not ask any questions. Most of the people in the building were hiding from something so a young American woman who paid cash upfront wasn't the most unusual thing he'd dealt with.

She makes her bed, unpacks her suitcase, and re-reads the Winter Soldier file. That night she dreams of her parents and the wreck that killed them. In the dream there's always a man outside of the car, but she can never see his face. Her father begs for help: "Help my wife, my daughter. Please. Help."

She wakes up sweating, a scream caught in her throat.

_____

The apartment next to his is no longer empty. Bucky can hear music and soft footsteps through the paper-thin walls. If he focuses his hearing, he can hear a heartbeat other than his own, but he's working to turn off the super soldier reflexes, so he tries to ignore it. He's enjoyed the silence that the empty apartment afforded him, and he hopes the new tenant isn’t as nosy as his neighbor in Kiev who had asked so many questions. He hadn't stayed long after that meeting.

Around two in the morning, he wakes to the sound of a strangled cry from his new neighbor. Bucky sits up straight, suddenly on alert. He listens closely, focusing for the sounds of a struggle, but he only hears the unfamiliar heartbeat. His neighbor was having a nightmare, he imagines. He had plenty of those himself.

Sometimes he was staring down the barrel of a gun, his only intent to kill. Other nightmares took him back to the HYDRA base and their machine that scrambled his thoughts over and over again. And others found him falling from a train, the blonde man from the Triskelion reaching out toward him. He always wakes up just before he hits the icy river he knows awaits him.

Bucky knows now that the blonde man is Steve Rogers. Without HYDRA's influence, he's started to remember more: flashes of Steve and a group called the Howling Commandos during the war, but also flashes of Steve before the war, smaller, shorter. And flashes of a family – his family – a father, a mother, a sister. Rebecca. The name comes to him one afternoon while he's browsing the used bookstore near his flat.

He's started eating plums and jogging to improve his memory. He isn't sure if it's helping, but the memories are becoming longer and more frequent. He sees himself with Steve at Coney Island, riding the Cyclone until Steve lost his lunch and Bucky laughed so hard tears were streaming down his face, and he sees himself flirting with an auburn-haired combat nurse in Italy, following her back to her tent and undressing her slowly.

He wakes the next morning feeling restless. He had slept in fits and starts, listening for any more disturbances from next door. None came.

He dresses and goes for a run, and when he returns, he catches his first glimpse of his new neighbor. She's coming out of her apartment, her face turned downward toward her phone. When he reaches the top of the stairs, she lifts her head and smiles. Bucky is struck by how pretty she is, a thought he hasn't let himself have since leaving HYDRA. He turns away quickly and slams the door to his own apartment. He doesn't need pink lips and dark curls reminding him of what he can never have again. He's too broken for her, or anyone else for that matter.

_____

Bucky has seen his new neighbor more times in five days than he's seen anyone else in the building over the past two months. They always seem to be coming or going at the same time.

The first time he actually speaks to her, she's dropping groceries up the stairs from a rip in her canvas bag.

"Fuck," she mutters as an apple rolls beneath the railing and falls to the landing below.

Bucky has a brief vision of her uttering that same word while his head is buried between her legs, but he shakes if off quickly.

"Let me," he says in English, scooping up some rogue potatoes and taking the bag from her.

"Thanks," she says before unlocking her door and holding it open for him.

Her apartment is the same layout as his – one room, with a tiny bathroom at the front and a small kitchen along the back wall. He sets the bag of groceries on the kitchen counter and steps back.

"I should—"

"Thank you—"

They both speak at the same time. Bucky bows his head and motions for her to continue.

"Thank you for your help." She pauses. "And it's nice to speak English for a change. My Romanian is atrocious," she laughs. "How’d you guess?"

"All the music you listen to is in English," he replies brusquely.

She cringes. "Sorry. I'll turn it down."

"No," he says, "It's fine. Really."

There's an awkward pause as they both stare at each other.

Bucky breaks the silence first. "I should go."

"Right." She leads him to the door. "Thanks."

Bucky nods.

When his own apartment door closes behind him, he sighs and scrubs his right hand over his face. He needs to avoid her. He doesn't need anything to distract him from regaining his memories, and he certainly doesn't need to get close to someone he'll inevitably hurt. He doesn’t even begin let himself entertain the thought that she could be a HYDRA agent waiting to turn him in.

_____

Later that evening, he's startled by a knock at his door. When he peers into the hallway, there's a plate of food on the floor, covered with a cloth and a note. He picks it up.

Thanks for saving my groceries.

- Kate

Bucky considers the possibilities that she is a HYDRA agent and the food is poisoned, but he decides it's unlikely HYDRA would take that approach. If anything, they would want their soldier back, and if they didn't, they wouldn't kill him quickly. Also, he can't remember the last time he had a home-cooked meal – definitely before the war – and he’s starving. Protein bars aren’t really cutting it anymore.

He studies the note as he eats. He runs his fingers over the name written in curling handwriting: Kate, and debates what his next move should be. He needs to ignore her – for her own safety – but his mother raised a gentleman so he should at least thank her for dinner, right?

_____

Kate nearly steps on the plate when she leaves her flat the next morning for a run. It’s sitting right at her doorway, clean, the dish towel she had with it folded with a note peeking out.

Kate,

You’re welcome. Thank you for dinner.

- Bucky

If she knew how long Bucky had agonized over whether to write back, she probably would have cried. Kate definitely would have cried if she knew he had debated whether or not to sign the note “Bucky” or “James.” He’s been using James at any off-the-books odd jobs he can get, but with his memories returning, he’s been feeling more like the Bucky Steve referred to in DC.

_____

Kate makes a potato soup that night and leaves it outside his door sans note. She brings him dinner for a week straight before she asks him to dine with her.

"Come over,” she says the next time they pass in the hall.

"What?" Bucky freezes.

"Come over tonight,” Kate repeats, “for dinner.”

"Why?" He sounds rude. He should really work on that, but she’s caught him in one of his broodier moods after another sleepless night.

"Why not?” she shrugs. “I have wine."

He’s staring at her. He realizes he needs to stop staring at her and answer.

“Okay.”

“Seven thirty?” she suggests.

"Okay," he replies.

"Okay," she laughs.

For a second, Bucky wonders if she's laughing at him, but there's a softness in her eyes that makes him think not. Talking to women used to be easy, he thinks. It took him hours to come up with the simplest response to her note the other night, and now he can't even form a sentence in front of her. He spends the rest of the day worrying he's made a huge mistake in accepting her invitation.

He's not the only one. Kate has half a mind to call it all off, phone Steve, and get on the next plane back to New York. What if he doesn't remember anything? What if he's still the Winter Soldier? She has a brief vision of Bucky snapping and wrapping that metal hand he's been hiding around her throat – and not in a fun way. But when he knocks on her door at seven thirty, she thinks she might actually die from how sweet he looks.

"Hi," she says.

"Hi," he responds, running his tongue over his lips nervously.

They're caught in another awkward moment of just staring at each other when she finally invites him.

The old Bucky would have bought flowers and then made some quip about how the flowers aren't nearly as beautiful as she is, but this Bucky – post-HYDRA Bucky – feels like he's forgotten how to interact with women at all and his tongue has suddenly turned to lead.

Kate's debated how much to reveal about herself. Finally, she decides she'll tell him everything. Well, mostly everything. He doesn't need to know that she's a Stark or friends with Steve Rogers or here on some crazy rescue mission to save the Winter Soldier because maybe, just maybe, she read his file one too many times and got caught up in the look in Steve's eyes when he talked about Bucky. No, he doesn't need to know that.

Kate's also considered how much to ask him about himself. She wants to know what – if anything – he remembers, but she also doesn't want to give herself away by revealing she knows who he really is. And she doubts he’ll tell her outright. The fact that he signed the note Bucky seems like a good indication that his memories are returning, though.

"How long have you been in Bucharest, Bucky?" she asks, plating their dinner.

"Almost two months," he says.

"Here for work?" she asks casually.

"Uh...it's complicated," he says, scratching at the back of his neck. "You?"

She looks up at him. "It's complicated."

They're staring at each other again, and Bucky has to force himself to look away.

"Family?" she asks.

"Also complicated," he says. God, he thinks, he sounds like a jackass. But it's not like he can tell her he's a ninety-eight-year-old ex-assassin in hiding so his family is probably long dead.

She motions for him to sit at her small kitchen table and sets a plate in front of him.

"You're not hiding a wedding ring under those gloves, are you?" she asks, a smirk on her lips. She knows about his arm; she just wants to see what he’ll give away.

He blushes and looks at his hands. Then he realizes he's taking too long to answer, and she probably thinks he's an idiot. "No... uh...no. No," he finally says without elaborating.

Kate can sense he's nervous so she does what Tony would do in a situation like this and just keeps talking. She tells him about Tony – minus the Stark detail. She talks about MIT and New York and the last book she read. He listens closely, laughing softly when she makes jokes and asking questions where appropriate. He likes the way her lips look when they form his name and the way her eyes light up at her own humor.

When they finish eating, Bucky helps her wash dishes. She considers asking him to stay, watch a movie or something, but then she thinks maybe she should take this slowly, not overwhelm him, so she bids him goodnight and closes the door behind him.

Bucky thinks Kate might be the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen. Then he thinks that might be because she’s the first woman he’s interacted with in so long. Either way, he tries not to think of her that night when his body remembers what it's like to be a man.

He decides that staying away from her would be too hard.

On the other side of the wall, she’s thinking of him, too. She hadn't expected his eyes to be so impossibly blue. She had stared at the black and white military photo for hours, but seeing him in person, she was caught in the Arctic waters that made up his eyes.

_____

next chapter

[dream-a-little-bigger-x]

Chapter 1 -- Perfect Harmony | Charlie Gillespie

Summary: Emily Fox is a talented 17-year-old with a passion for all things music. Her dream is to become a successful singer-songwriter one day. But to achieve that dream, she needs to get into one of the most prestigious music schools in her district – it’s all been part of her plan since she was six. Sadly enough, those schools cost a ton of money that her parents don’t want to invest. They don’t even want her to pursue her dream. So, now Emily’s hustling, working at the music store to save up to get into college. That’s until she meets Charlie, an annoying seventeen-year-old boy with the same dream as her. The only difference is, he’s just doing it. He doesn’t need a fancy college to pursue his dream to become famous with his band. He just writes his songs and books small gigs here, there and everywhere. Will meeting Charlie defer her from her dream college, or will he actually help her achieve the dream? 

Pairing: Charlie Gillespie x OC (Emily Fox) 

Warnings: mentions of death, the characters of Charlie, Owen, Jeremy and Madison are based on the characters they play on the show and i do not own their names, only OC are mine. The songs aren’t mine either, they’re all from the show except for one. 

Chapter One

~|Emily Fox| ~

As a seventeen-year-old, you should not be left to your devices. Unless you have no other choice. When you have a dream your parents have called unrealistic without ever listening to what you were actually capable of, you have no other choice but to move out and fend for yourself. Thankfully, I can stay with Uncle Mitch for a while until I’m off to college.  Since leaving my parents’ house at fourteen, my life has consisted of high school, working at the music store, write songs – if I have the time –, help Uncle Mitch around the house, sleep, repeat. It’s been a chore. But I just about manage. 

“Please, don’t touch the guitars without a supervisor, ma’am!” I say loudly from across the shop as I catch her hands rising up to pick up one of the acoustic guitars hanging on the wall for display. I rush over to her, dodging clients testing out guitars and pianos I’ve helped before. While the forty-something woman stares at me with an intense glare, I pick up the Gibson guitar for her and hand it over, offering her my fakest smile. “This one’s a nice one!” I tell her as she handles the guitar very clumsily, nearly dropping it. “What do you know about guitars?” she snarls at me. “Well, for starters, I work here, so I’m supposed to have some knowledge about guitars. Secondly, this is a bass guitar. Never just call a bass a guitar.” The woman rolls her eyes and when she casts her gaze on the strings, I roll mine. I’ve had my share of forty-something old women coming in here to buy something for their spoiled little sons, pretending they know more about guitars of any kind, pianos and drums while I have been brought up listening to Uncle Robert talking non-stop about all of his instruments. He taught me how to play each and every one of the instruments and brought me into the world of rock. If he were still here, I wouldn’t be working in a music store, trying to pay for my own apartment or my college tuition. He believed in me from the second he heard me sing and play piano. He still believes in me, I can feel it. Staying with Uncle Mitch – Uncle Robert’s husband, now widower, has been a lot more healing than it would’ve been if I still lived at my parents’. “I know that,” she grumbles, then looks back up at me. “If you know so much about everything, you little know-it-all, why don’t you tell me something more about this one?” I refrain myself from rolling my eyes again, and instead ball up my fists to put all of my anger there. “This is the Les Paul Junior Tribute DC bass. It’s actually a tribute to the historic Gibson EB-0 bass from the late 50's, but with modern features. The short scale length is actually chosen by many for its strong fundamental tone and sits perfectly in a track when recording. The mahogany double cutaway body and maple neck with rosewood fingerboard balances perfectly when playing either sitting or strapped on. It's equipped with a single expanded range LP BassBucker pickup with single volume and tone controls for simplicity. The volume pot has a push-pull feature to coil tap the pickup scooping the mids for further tone shaping possibilities.” I’ve explained this many a times, so it almost sounds as if I’ve learned it by heart. “Oh! And it comes in four different finishes; Worn Ebony, Worn Cherry, Blue Stain and Worn Brown.” The woman looks at me, clearly impressed at my knowledge of the bass in her hands. I’m pretty sure I could’ve told her anything and she would’ve believed me. “I want to speak to the manager,” she then says and pushes the bass guitar back in my hands as if handling a cardboard box. If my reflexes weren’t what they are now, we would’ve had a broken bass and I would be the one that had to pay for it. “What for?” I ask, my anger slipping through into a vicious snarl. “Just because you learn everything by heart, doesn’t mean you’re a good salesperson.” I open my mouth to say something, but I know I can’t win against a Karen. So, instead, I plaster on my best fake smile and say “Of course, give me a second.” I turn on my heel and make my way back to the cash register to get Ash, my manager who’s been nothing but an absolute gem to me. She wasn’t looking for any employees, but still hired me when she saw how desperate I was and how good I was with the instruments. She even lets me write songs after hours. “Karen alert?” Ash asks when she sees my annoyed face, at the brim of exploding. “Yep, at the bass guitars,” I tell her and take her spot to handle a paying costumer. Ash hops over the counter and makes her way to the Karen at the bass guitars. Only for her to leave the store in an angered rush without any bass guitar for her precious son. “That’s 44 dollars and 97 cents, please,” I tell the guy who’d come in for guitar strings, picks and some polish. He looks about my age. Dark hair gelled back, green almond-shaped eyes and rosy cheeks. He hands me the cash with a cute, nervous smile. “Thank you! And here’s the three cents change,” I hold out my hand for him to take the three cents, but he shakes his head. “Keep it,” he winks at me before grabbing his purchases and leaving the store. Leaving me all flustered and blushing. I hate when cute boys come to the shop and have the audacity to do this stuff to me. UGH. “Got rid of our Karen,” Ash tells me, “You can get back out there. I think the little girl over there at the piano could use some of your expertise.” She points to a fourteen-year-old gliding her fingers along the big wing of the white piano in the middle of our store. “Hi,” I say as I approach her, making her jump slightly. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you. I’m Emily. Can I help you?” She scans my face for a moment, as if assessing whether or not I’m trustworthy. I guess she decides she does when she opens her mouth and four simple words flow out of it. “Do you play piano?” I’m a bit taken aback by the question. None of the costumers have ever asked me that question. “Yes, I do, actually,” I reply honestly. “I want to learn how to play the piano, but my mother doesn’t allow me. Says it’s too expensive. The piano, that is. And lessons are expensive too, she says.” She stops talking for a moment as if thinking about what to say next. “Will you teach me?” “Oh,” I manage to bring out, “I—we don’t really offer any piano lessons in the store. We just sell them.” Her eyes water and she visibly swallows a lump in her throat. “Okay…” she whimpers, making my heart break just that bit more. “Will you play me a song though? I love hearing people play.” I take a deep breath as I think about how to turn this girl down. But then I remember my parents turning me and my dreams down. “Sure, I can play you a song. Any requests?” I ask as I sit down on the stool in front of us, patting beside me to invite her too. “Surprise me,” she says, shaking her head with a big smile on her face. I carefully touch the keys as I think of a song to sing. Once I’ve figured that out, I begin to play the right melody and then chime in with the lyrics I’d written with Uncle Robert when he was still alive. The song I cherish the most and wouldn’t share with anyone. But this girl reminds me too much of myself, and I think she might take something from the message. “Here's the one thing I want you to know You got someplace to go Life's a test, yes But you go toe to toe You don't give up, no, you grow.” The girl looks up at me with big Bambi eyes, urging me to continue. “And you use your pain Cause it makes you you Though I wish I could hold you through it I know it's not the same You got living to do And I just want you to do it So get up, get out, relight that spark You know the rest by heart” As I begin the chorus, I hear drums backing me up from somewhere inside the store, and when I look around, I find Ash behind a drum set with a smile on her face as she helps me out a little. “Wake up, wake up, if it's all you do Look out, look inside of you It's not what you lost, it's what you'll gain Raising your voice to the rain Wake up your dream and make it true Look out, look inside of you It's not what you lost Relight that spark Time to come out of the dark Wake up, wake up” By now, Ash and I have gained an audience. Most of the costumers in line don’t even mind having to wait to pay until we’re done with this outburst of ours. “Better wake those demons, just look them in the eye No reason not to try Life can be a mess, I won't let it cloud my mind I'll let my fingers fly” The girl next to me still has the same expression on her face. Eyes pooled with admiration and inspiration. Exactly the reason why I make music and why it’s been a dream of mine to make a career out of it. “And I use the pain 'cause it's part of me And I'm ready to power through it Gonna find the strength, find the melody 'Cause you showed me how to do it Get up, get out, relight that spark You know the rest by heart” I go for the chorus again, and then pop in with the bridge. The one I added to uncle’s song. The costumers in the store stare at Ash and me with smiles on their faces whilst swaying along to the song. “So wake that spirit, spirit I wanna hear it, hear it No need to fear it, you're not alone You're gonna find your way home” I close my eyes as I hit that high note, then stop playing for a second whilst starting the chorus for the last time. Even Ash backs me up with some backing vocals after having heard the chorus a couple of times already. “Wake up, wake up, if it's all you do” The both of us pick up the melody again, putting more power behind the rest of the song. “Look out, look inside of you It's not what you lost, it's what you'll gain Raising your voice to the rain Wake up your dream and make it true Look out, look inside of you When you're feeling lost Relight that spark Time to come out of the dark Wake up, wake up” I hit the last couple of notes on the piano before a roar of applause and cheers fills up the entire store. The fourteen-year-old beside me is clapping the loudest of them all. Her eyes still wide and admiring and full of life. “What’s your name?” I ask the girl, causing her to stop clapping. “Kayla,” she replies. “Listen to me, Kayla. Even if your parents don’t agree with your big dreams, please, never give up on your dream! If this is really what you want to do, go for it. You’ll find a way, I promise you.” A tear rolls down her pink cheek as her bottom lip trembles slightly. “Don’t give up, okay?” She nods her head vigorously. “Thank you, Emily!” she wraps her arms around me into a tight hug before hopping off the stool and rushing out the store. As I watch her run out, my eyes land on a guy. Somewhat my age, I think. I can’t really function for a second as his hazel eyes stare at me and with his mouth curled up on one side. When I finally manage to move again, my eyes scan him entirely. His brown hair sticks out from underneath an orange beanie, his nose fine and cheekbones defined. He’s wearing a flannel shirt over a grey muscle tank and ripped black jeans. I give him an awkward smile before heading back to the cash register. “Can you do register for a moment? I need to check something in stock,” Ash asks me, and I simply nod before helping the next costumer. After the fifth costumer, the boy who’d been staring at me before shows up in front of me. “How can I help?” I ask with my best customer service-smile. “By giving your number,” he replies coyly. I was going to give him the cute boy card until those words came out of his mouth. “Sorry, my number ain’t for sale,” I reply and look behind him, “Next!” “Oh, no, sorry! Uhm, I don’t mean it like that, I—” Before he can mutter another word, I interrupt him. “Are you going to purchase something, bro?” He opens his mouth, then closes it again, looking like a goldfish. “Uhm… No… I just—” I interrupt him again. “Next customer, please,” I stare at him intensely, hoping that’d chase him away. He knocks on the counter before moving away, clearly defeated by the rejection. I can’t believe douchebags like him still exists in this generation. People need to learn manners. “Hi, how can I help you?” I ask the next customer, bringing back my best smile. Just got to move on, just as I moved on from dealing with a Karen again today. Best way to do that, is focus on all the other customers. For the rest of my shift, I have not been able to shake the cute-but-rude guy from before. There’s something about him that haunts me still and I can’t seem to figure out what it is. Not even when I’m focusing on cleaning up the store. As I’m dusting the piano, I hear the bell above the door ring. “Sorry, we’re closed!” I yell without looking up from the piano. “Are you going to play again?” The voice sends shivers down my spine as it takes me right back to that one douchey line it uttered just a mere hour before. “Again, we are closed, sorry.” This time it comes out more like a snarl and with a bit of poison. The boy in front of me chuckles and holds his hands up in defeat. “Listen, I’m sorry about before, but—” he steps closer to me, but I hold up my finger to make him stop, and it seems to help as he simply freezes in place. “But the store is closed. Goodbye now.” I go back to dusting off the piano and wait for the bell to ring again, but it doesn’t. Instead, the sound of guitar strums reaches my ears. “You can’t touch any of the guitars without supervision,” I tell him sternly, but when I meet his eyes and they’re looking at me intently as if urging me to do something. “You’re supervising me, aren’t you?” he asks cockily, still stroking the strings, creating a beautiful melody that fills up my head. “What do you want?” I ask bitterly, looking at him again, and hoping it would make him leave faster. “For you to sing.” “Sing what?” He shrugs, leaving me to wonder what he means by that. “I have a lot of work to do, dude. Please, leave,” I sound pathetic, nearly begging him to leave. I’m only a step away from begging on my knees. The sound of the guitar abruptly stops when I go back to cleaning the piano. “Listen, I just wanted to tell you that what you did earlier today was amazing. You know, not a lot of people have the power you have. Did you see what you did to all those people in here? Imagine doing that for thousands of people! Have you ever thought of that?” I turn to look at him, suddenly having the urge to tell him everything. Then I remember what a douchebag he really is. “I don’t have time for this. Please. Leave!” I shout at him before heading towards the cash register to start counting the money. It’s silent for a while until the bell over the door breaks it. I let out a breath I didn’t even know I was holding. This boy did something to me without me even realizing it. Nope. Can’t trust boys. They don’t do anything but break hearts and be douchebags. But this one somehow seemed different. No other boy has ever left such an impression as he did. And I didn’t even have a proper conversation with him. I just hope I don’t have to see him. Like ever again.  

[talesofphantombandits]

Zero to Six ~ An Unexpected Visitor - Edited version. Part 2.

Characters: Four X Zero (OC)  Summary: Zero was the first person to be ‘saved’ by One, she was his first honorary Ghost. Her knowledge in tech meant she got the role of ‘Hacker’ she recruited new team members, looked for missions and locations and made sure every security measure was looked at. You know normal hacker spy stuff. But her tough up bringing meant that if needs be she could fight, she was maybe even better than some people on the team knew. But due to One’s protectiveness over her she had to stay hidden, she was more of an actual ghost than the rest of the team was. This didn’t mean she couldn’t have her fun though, over the months of being with the full team she had formed quite a passionate love/ hate relationship with the handsome Four. Who knows what sparks would fly if they were ever to meet.  Warnings: Slight swearing, some suggestive flirting in later chapters.

Tagg list: (I know this is a edit of my original story but if anyone wants to be tagged let me know.) @raylan-c​​

Zero to Six ~ Part 1. Edited Version Zero to Six ~ Part 3. Edited Version. Masterlist.  

“Hey, anyone there?” 

To say Zero was a mess would have been a big understatement. After she had shut off the coms she must have sobbed for a good thirty minutes before she picked herself up from the floor and decided that a glass of rum would help calm her nerves.  She knew that One would take his sweet time reaching out to her again, and wouldn’t let the others contact her either. So she waited, he mind was reeling but she knew technically Six’s death wasn’t her fault. She still felt to a degree that if she hadn’t of picked him he would still be breathing somewhere, maybe with the love of his life on a nice sandy beach.  But then again if she hadn’t of picked him she would have had to pick someone else, and that someone else would have been in that car dead instead of Six. 

So when Fours voice travelled through her speakers she immediately shot up from the floor, leaving her half filled glass where it sat and tripped her way over to the laptop.  Picking up her headset she tried not to sound so distraught. “Four, never thought i’d be so happy to hear your whinny little voice.” She tried to sound lighthearted but failed miserably. 

She could tell that he was also trying to mask how much he was hurting. “How are you Zero?” She was shocked, out of all the team Four and Six seemed to have bonded the most, probably due to their similar ages and interests. 

“How- how am I? Four, how are you doing? Out of us all you were the closest to Six.” She wanted to do nothing more than hug this man right now. 

“One just threw him into the sea, like he meant nothing. I really don’t want to talk about it right now Zero or I might just go out there and strangle One. But I wanted to at least make sure that you were okay.” Her heart started to beat so fast she thought it would beat right out of chest. He was worried about her in a time when he should have been worrying about himself. 

“I’m sure that’s not how it was, One cares about us deeply. But I’ll respect your wishes and we won’t speak about it, but I’ll be here when you’re ready to so. As for me, I’m fine. Shaken up but fine, You don’t have to worry about me Four.” 

“I know sometimes it doesn’t seem like it, but I do really care for you Zero. So do the rest of the team, but you tell any of them I said that and I’ll find out where One keeps you and murder you in your sleep.” 

She chuckled at the empty threat. “Yeah, good luck with that one. One would never give up my location willing or not. Plus what makes you think I’d succumb so easily with out a fight.” 

She heard the deep chuckle and knew some smart ass comment would follow it. “Believe me darling, from the moment I step through your door you’d be falling at my feet.” 

“OKAY as much as I’m glad to have the old cocky Four back, I’m cutting you off now. Get some sleep you idiot.” 

“Okay mummy.” He said in a mocking tone. 

She couldn’t help it and decided she would have the last laugh. “Is that one of your kinks Four?” 

“Wouldn’t you like to know? Maybe we can carry on this conversation when we meet.” She knew he was smirking. “Night Zero, dream of me. I know I’ll be dreaming of you.” 

She couldn’t say another word so she just shut down coms and slammed her laptop shut. “Stupid little shit,” Why did he make her feel like this, especially when he wasn’t here to do anything about it. 

She leaned back on her chair, stretching out her arms over her head her back clicked in several places which made it feel so much better. She needed to put a reminder on her fridge to do a work out tomorrow, she was starting to become so stiff sat at her computer all the time.  There were parts of her that really yearned to be out in the field with the rest of the team, even if it was only a one time experience, who knows she might hate it and want to come back to her stuffy flat life. Who was she kidding, she wanted adventure and a little bit of risk here and there and she wanted her family.  She would however have to have a little conversation with One about the safety of the team and about treating them better. Her heart had broken hearing how fragile Four could be. They might have been ghosts but underneath they were still human beings with feelings, and if One was going to crush that then she had a problem with it.  

Maybe that was why she was so interested in Four? 2 years with only One as her only physical human contact and it was starting to take a toll on her, Four challenged her every time they spoke. And she loved a good challenge. She sat at her desk for two more hours, despite scolding herself for sitting too long that her bones began to ache. But she had research to do which consisted of finding a new team member and the faster she got it done the faster she could send it off to One and she could stop beating herself up about potentially bringing in a new person just for them to die like Six did. After a while she decided that she couldn’t keep her eyes open any longer. She sent the research to One, saved all the documents then shut her laptop down and proceeded to walk to the bathroom to take a nice long hot shower. 

The warm water calmed her immensely, when she stepped out and put on her silk pyjamas she felt even more sleepy then she did when she was in front of the laptop. As soon as her head hit the pillow she drifted off to sleep. 

.........

She shot up in bed, heart racing.

The loud banging coming from the front door was real, she hadn’t just dreamt it. She suddenly thought of Four’s threat from earlier but quickly shook it from her head. Don’t be stupid, It can’t be Four. Her eyes snapped to her bedside table to see 3am blaring on the digital clock. “What the actual hell, who decides to go bang on someone’s door at stupid o’clock in the morning?!” 

She grabbed her gun from under her pillow, pointing it out in front of her, she was in full on attack mode. She exited her room and headed down the hall and towards the front door, all the while sticking to the walls.  She waited a while, gun pointing towards the centre of the door maybe whoever had knocked got the wrong flat and moved on. But then just as she started to lower the gun the door rattled and the knocking began again, only louder this time.

“Zero! open up its One.” 

Zero cocked her head to the side, was he actually serious?  She carefully walked towards the door, gun still raised. Peeking through the peephole she confirmed that it was in fact One at her door. She sighed rubbing her tired eyes but opened the door just wide enough so he could slip in. 

“Hey!” He made himself at home straightaway, walking past her to go sit on her couch.

She shut the door making sure it was locked, she then made her way to stand in front of him but not before setting down the gun on the coffee table. “Don’t ‘Hey!’ me you dumb ass, what the hell are you doing here?!” 

“Nice gun! is that new?” He leaned forward and inspected the weapon. 

Was he being serious right now? “ONE!” He’d woke her up just to come and annoy her? “I asked you a question.” 

“I came to give you your plane ticket.” He stood up slightly and pulled a ticket out of his back pocket, he extended his arm out to Zero. 

She took it off of him and examined it, it was a ticket back home. Home was also where their base camp was.  “You never come to give me my plane ticket in person, what’s really going on? Is this about Six?” 

He just rubbed his face in frustration, the first real emotion she’d seen from him since he’d entered her living space. “Can you at least get me a drink before we discuss this?” 

She just sighed and looked towards her kitchen. “I only have rum.” 

“Then we shall have rum!” She just rolled her eyes but continued through to the little kitchen. If she was going to stay awake through this she might as well poor herself a small glass as well. 

She handed him the glass and then settled herself in the seat across from him. “So, talk.” 

She took a sip of her drink but very nearly spit it out when he spoke. “I want you in the field for the next mission.” 

A thousand thoughts crashed through her mind all at once, that she found it hard to focus on One as he continued to speak. She was going to get her adventure, she was going to get to show the whole team that she wasn’t just some computer nerd, she was going to be able to breath the same air as Four, she was going to be meeting her family. 

“Zero! Did you hear me?” She looked to One who had leaned forward in his chair. 

“What?” 

“God I hope you weren’t dreaming up the perfect scenario of finally meeting Four.” 

She was still in shock but managed to ask. “Did you just say that I’m finally going out in the field?” 

“Just the once, with Six gone we need all the help we can get in the next mission and you are my best eyes and ears.” He looked so calm just sat there sipping from his glass when she was sat opposite him freaking out. “You will keep your identity a secret though, none of the team is to know that you’re there.” 

Just like that One had given her, her deepest wish and then crushed it right in front of her. “How will that work? They will know the sound of my voice anywhere.” 

“Not if you put on a accent.” This was cruel, even by One’s standards. “Listen it’s for the best that you don’t interact with any of them. You’re lucky that you have full anonymity.” 

“What if I don’t want that? What if I actually want to meet the only family I’ve ever had? I don’t get why you lock me away from them.”  

“It’s for your own safety, you’ll thank me one day. Look at what happened to Six, do you want to end up like that?” 

She was seething now. “You really hurt them today you know, Four got in touch with me. He wanted to see if I was okay after what happened to Six.” She had to pause to stop herself before her voice broke.

“I know you want us all to work as a team but some how distance ourselves from one another. We all maybe faked our deaths but were still human One, it’s human nature to care deeply for those that are closest to us.” The tears were welling up in her eyes now. “You just tossed him off the side of that boat like he was nothing. Is that what you’re going to do to the rest of us?” 

He just stared at her for a long second then necked his drink and slammed the glass down on the table next to where the gun still laid. She didn’t even flinch, instead she stared him down. 

“I think it’s time for me to go.” She just scoffed and looked down at her hands that were placed in her lap, she couldn’t look him in the eyes anymore. “I looked through your research before I came here.” 

He got up from the couch but didn’t make any move to the door. “I think Blaine is the perfect fit for number Seven. As soon as I land on home turf I’m going to recruit him and introduce him to the team. In a months time I’ll contact you with a meeting place to discuss your field work.” 

“Great, another person I picked for you that you’re going to rip from their family and make their life hell.” He didn’t say another word and she didn’t look up from her lap. 

All she heard was his footsteps walking towards the door, it swinging open and then slamming shut again. Once she was completely certain he had gone her head fell in her hands.  She rubbed her face and felt a sweeping wave of sleepiness draw over her, she stood up and picked up the gun that was still on the coffee table. She made her way to the door to lock it properly, she then made her way back to bed and placed the gun back under her pillow. She hoped that just as before the tiredness would over take her and she would fall into an effortless slumber, but as she laid her head gently on the pillow and closed her eyes all she could see was Six’s lifeless body and all she could think about was how she’d put him there. 

No way was she getting back to sleep.  

[ana0072]

My favorite Seventeen ship fics on Ao3; Part 1.

Be warned I read a LOT of smut so if that makes you uncomfortable and isn't your cup of tea, just skip the scenes. STILL SUPPORT THE AUTHORS THEY WORKED HARD ON THE FANFICS.

(See here for the most common tropes in these ships)

Also a disclaimer, I as a reader, does not take any of these to heart nor do I apply them to real life and judge the boys whether or not they do anything done in these stories. It is merely fanfiction.

Soonhoon

1. Adventures of Cat and Kitten by SunAndMoon (LadyMorgaine)

Hybrid AU, A/B/O

Top Soonyoung/Bottom Jihoon

Side Verkwan, Jihancheol, Junhao, other ships to be added.

Alpha Tiger Hoshi, Omega Cat Jihoon

Series

There are two books, the first one mainly focuses on Soonhoon but the other one explores the other ships more

Jihoon is a sassy bottom but very needy

Soonyoung is a dominating top but also complies to Jihoons wishes of course

Soonyoung calls him kitten Yasss

They are literally a power couple

Very kinky

The first book is geared a lot towards the sexy times

The second book has been 70% dialogue and storyline

Fluff, smut, romance, angst

Overall very tasty 9/10

2. Vampires Before Christmas by SunAndMoon (LadyMorgaine)

Vampire AU

Top Soonyoung/Bottom Jihoon

Side Verkwan, Jeongcheol, Meanie, Junhao, Seoksoo

Series

There are 4 books  ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Soonyoung is a hottie

He covers all Wattpad book bad boy love interest bases

Mysterious? Check. Jihoon met him in the rain, no idea what he does for work or where he goes when he's gone.

Rich? Check. Comes from old money he says. Owns at leasts two countries probably.

Caring? Check. Nursed Jihoon back to health when he was sick and continued doing so even when he wasn't.

Hottie? Check. The most attractive man out there, Jihoon the lucky bastard.

An otherwordly being? UM HE IS LITERALLY A FREAKING VAMPIRE??? HELLO???

Soonyoung was the embodiment of your wildest dreams like even though Jihoon was actually on the brink of death, like my man fucking touched god, he was still horny when he got close to Soonyoung and kept smelling him like he was ambrosia or something. Then he had a wet dream about him. Understandable.

VERY cute story. Soonyoung got like the biggest dick out there too.

Smut, Romance, Fluff, Angst

19/10 read it time and time again.

3. All eyes on you by aquariusblues

Dance school AU

Top Jihoon/Bottom Soonyoung

Slowwwwww burnnnn

It was maddening how in denial Jihoon was

His perseverance is something to be admired

Soonyoung is the new kid thats friends with everyone

They both keep burning themselves out like please take a fucking break

Wow is that miscommunication I hear? Oh it definitely is, and there is so much of it

This book makes you wanna pull your hair and not in a kinky way

I actually cried when they finally got together

There isn't much smut in here

EVERYONE IS YELLING AT JIHOON TO ADMIT HIS FEELINGS

The rest of the members are barely there

Mostly monologues

Lots of self deprecation and self acceptance

Its beautiful in a sense

But I wanted to throw my phone

This story haunts me at night

Angst, Fluff?, brief smut

7/10 Reccomend this to a friend–so you both can revel in your frustrations

4. No strings attached by aquariusblues

After College AU????

They have their own jobs and everyone is doing their own things?? What do I put here

Switch SoonHoon

Minor Verkwan, Meanie

Soonyoung is Seungkwans cousin

Jihoon is Seungkwans boss/friend

So thats how they got together

Awkward? Seungkwan offered okay its fine

They wanted a friends with benefits thing

But they've been sleeping exclusively with each other

So thats a problem

Or so they think

Soonhoon never want to admit their feelings

They just can't feelings with each other

THIS AUTHOR JUST CAN'T FEELINGS WITH SOONHOON

Emotions are hard

ALSO VERKWAN IS GETTING MARRIED

It was a brief scene but good for Vernon being able to put a ring on it

SEE SOONHOON COMMUNICATION IS KEY GUYS

THATS RELATIONSHIP 101

But their dynamic was adorable

Romance, smut, fluff

8/10 spaced out and remembered it again

5. Code Red by just_a_pinwheel

Police AU, A/B/O

Top Soonyoung/Bottom Jihoon

Alpha Soonyoung, Omega Jihoon

Side Jeongcheol, Meanie, Verkwan, Junhao

Jihoon hates Soonyoung

Then Soonyoung becomes his boss

AND HIS NEIGHBOUR HAHAHAH

Oopsiesss

They both loveee work

Like proper workaholics

Lots of pushing and pulling

They broke up in the middle of it

I wanted to scream

Heats and mating

Of course its ABO

I have never wanted to slap Jihoon so much

Lots of crying and denial of feelings

"Its for the best" NO ITS NOT DON'T BREAK UP

Sorry I'm bitter

They are literally surrounded by the healthiest couples they just can't deal

Soonyoung is just tired

Romance, smut, fluff, angst, violence, gore???

Its a police au so theres gonna be blood

8/10 when will their torture end???

6. Mask Kingdom by just_a_pinwheel

Mob AU

Top Soonyoung/Bottom Jihoon

Side Jeongcheol, Meanie

Both of them are crime bosses its actually really hot

Soonyoung is a BIG flirt

The first time they formally met, Jihoon gave him a blowjob LOL

Soonyoung calls him princess yes please

Jihoon still can't feelings

Im sensing a pattern here

But he comes around pretty fast don't worry uwu

There was one chapter where Soonyoung got REAL jealous and they had some rough sex lol

He BRIEFLY called him oppa during it

Its chapter 21 I gotchu fam

Jeonghan was a bitch for a while BUT THERES A REASON OKAY THATS NOT JUST HIS PERSONALITY

Jihoon is a little twat but I can say that about every fanfiction of him so go figure

SMUT, ANGST, barely there fluff, romance

6/10? Its kinda bland

7. What we were promised by Mistehri

Mafia AU, A/B/O

Top Soonyoung/Bottom Jihoon

Alpha Soonyoung, Omega Jihoon

Side Jihancheol, Meanie, Junhao, Verkwan

Heats and Mating

BTS and Ateez are there too

Yoongi and Jimin are together, I don't know why i felt the need to say that

Yoongi is Jihoons cousin

He's kinda an ass to Soonyoung

Cause he broke up with Jihoon

THERES A REASON OKAY DON'T WORRY

And they both pretended to hate each other after that

Before they got back together theres little snippets of their relationship

Its really heart breaking idk how I could stand reading it

BUT ITS REAL SWEET WHEN THEY GOT BACK TOGETHER

Also there was one scene in chapter 28 when Namjoon mentioned mates where he glanced at Seokjin

Idk maybe I'm gonna attract more armys if I mention them

If you're there for Ateez, they are literally so brief

I think they mentioned Monsta X too at some point maybe

Like I wanted to scream at the both of them

WHY ARE THEY BOTH SO IN DENIAL

FRUSTRATION WITH MANY FEELINGS

But also

YOU CAN'T DIE YOU'RE THE MAIN CHARACTER

Not to say I'm okay with the others dying as well

JUST KILL OFF AN OC OR SOMETHING I MAY NOT STAN BTS THAT DOESN'T MEAN I'M OKAY IF YOU KILL THEM OFF

Graphic depictions of violence

But they're kinda brief

Angst, smut, fluff, romance

12/10 I would very much reccomend

JUST FEELINGS JIHOON YOU CAN DO IT ITS NOT THAT HARD

Also I love bottom Jihoon. Something about someone who carries so much power and authority, just to be a completely helpless submissive at the hands of Soonyoung of all people is just something to be desired.

[simping-on-the-daily]

I have to yet to fully develop them but boom boom bitches did you think I would stop making Dream SMP OCs? Hell nah

They both be a combination of Tales of the Dream SMP characters and actual Dream SMP characters

They're all canon and they will eventually have their own bios, but this is just a place to hold my notes basically

Toastie

Slime hybrid

They/she

Full name is Toastie Rickroll (based off the last names generally being memes)

I listened to Hamilton while making her so that helps

Fought for L'Manburg during the Independence Arc

Eventually joined Schlatt's cabinet for Manburg, but later resigned and helped join Pogtopia

Also became part of the Butcher Army

Currently apart of no faction

Respects tradition very well

Their family has fought and died for their respective countries for years

And Toastie carried on the tradition

Without something or someone to fight for Toastie kinda feels useless

They're so used to fighting that peace is basically a foreign concept to her

It doesn't help with all the wars

Toastie does what they do best: protect

And with L'Manburg gone, they now have someone (or a few someone's to care for)

Very fond of their old cabinet and her Butcher Army friends

Despises Techno and Dream for destroying L'Manburg on numerous occasions

Phil is very close to also getting on their negative list

Their most precious item is their enchanted Netherite axe, the Mindbreaker

Toastie confirms it's a family heirloom you get when you learn how to hold scissors correctly

It basically has the blood of people who fought against the country Toastie's family decided to fight for and were either killed or tortured with it

Toastie wants to try and guide it and herself on a more peaceful path, but they always end up going to violence

It's kinda engraved in her

Since she trusts Quackity due to experience, they give him their axe daily as long as he brings it back

They're unaware that Quackity's using it to torture Dream

Very protective and dedicated to fighting for those they care about

Tends to learn towards fighting as her first option and runs her mouth a lot

ThEy'Re BoUncY-

They can jump really high

Really likes swamps

If they ever get injured, the injured part can turn into miniature versions of themselves similar to tiny slimes and they'll attack their opponent

Absolutely despies Magma Cubes and will attack them whenever she can get the chance

Whisp

Wolf hybrid

But they're also a ghost!

Their real name is Whisper, and their full name is Quiet Whispers

She/Her

Large grey ears on their head

Long tail that can fade sometimes due to ya know, death

Really fun to chew on bones despite the fact that she doesn't need to eat them and she can't even digest them

She can bond with other people and she can track the people she's bonded with

Can bite really hard, has enhanced speed and strength, and they also have a pretty pogchamp smell and eyesight

Despite the fact that's she pretty powerful, Whisp is a strict pacifist who only hung around L'Manburg due to having numerous friends there

Somehow the only ghost to have a decent fucking memory of her life

Remembers good and bad, though she sometimes wishes she doesn't

Red sweaters boiiisssss

Very forgiving and kind

But a really giant people pleaser and self-sacrificial

Her self worth is based on what people think of her

Tries her best to get on everyone's good side

It breaks her if someone dislikes her

Grew up in a really shitty household where Whisp was basically ignored

So she grew up trying to gain the affection that her family never gave her

Really fucking touch-starved

Just pretty bad self esteem, even when she's dead

Please just tell her that she means something outside of other people's opinions and that she's an amazing human being

Absolutely adores animals!

Has numerous pet cafes

Like, so many gosh dang cafes

There's one for cats, one for dogs, and then there's a giant miscellaneous one

They're all part of the same building and that's also another part of it which is basically her house

BFFs with Ghostbur

Please protect her and tell her that she's amazing she really needs it

Sunny

Full name is Sunny Wholesun

Last name is a pun off 'wholesome' and 'sun'

Very proud of it

She's an angel boissss

She/her

Very simliar to Bad in terms of personality

They're both very sweet and will help anyone

Isn't a part of any countries

She just pops in when she wants to,,,,,

Conflict freaks her out

Optimsitc pal that just chooses to look on the bright side of things,,,,

However-

She wants to desperately try and be her own person outside of 'Bad but angelic' but she keeps getting compared to him

She feels like she keeps being in people's shadows despite being a literal creature of purity and light

Feels like a side character honestly

Good friends with Phil, but disapproves of his title, most notably due to it having death in it

Said to know Dream XD and the other gods of the server

Absolutely understand very dirty stuff, but chooses to ignore it

Also can understand war and sadness

Sunny just kinds chooses to keep holding her head up high

In her own words "If you always keep thinking of sad things, you'll always be sad"

And now the TOTDS ones

Lady Venus

From the Masquerade timeline

Ghast hybrid royalty

Berothed to Sir Billiam the III since birth

Very much married and in love

She's pretty kind for a royal

Or at the very least more nicer

Treats her servants well and gives them pay as well as vacation days

However, she lacks empathy and is somewhat insensitive

Doesn't understand that some people don't have the same social privilege's as her

So she can piss some people off

Her main butler was Ryan and he was basically her best friend outside of Billiam and Ranbutler

However, Ryan got angry and ended up assassinating her

Spear in the chest

Felt incredibly betrayed since Ryan was one of her few friends and died feeling fear and shock

Billiam ended up executing Ryan

With the death of his lover, Billiam aligned with the Egg due it promising to bring Venus back if he swore alliance to it

She remains a ghost, but neither Ranbutler, Billiam or anyone else can't see her

Venus absolutely despises the Egg for corrupting her family, but at the same time, truly believes it can bring her back to life, so she needs it

Her spear ridden body is in the same room as the Egg, therefore corrupting her body, and therefore her ghost, which is connected to it

Whenever Billiam or Ranbutler go down there, it ended up motivating the two further in order to bring Venus back

She clings to the hope that when the Egg brings her back to life, she can reunite with her husband and adoptive son once more and forget the Egg

She know it won't happen but hope is kinda the only thing she has

At the Masquerade, she was only able to be seen and talk to Karl due to him being from another time

Truly felt bad about his death, but didn't stop it since she wanted to live again

Without her being able to produce a heir, the Ghast royal family basically went in shambles and they all eventually died, making the Ghasts a free place with no government or hierarchy

I really love Venus as she's a very fun character to do and also very sad

Supports Ranbutler rights

Meanings

From the Village That Went Mad

Morals' ancestor

My friend compared her to that Chris girl from Carrie and I love it

She's a complete and utter asshole

Like, a full on fucking dick

Horrible person to be around

She's a villager, but absolutely everyone wanted her dead due to being a full on bitch

Jimmy theorizes that this is because of her mother also being the Enderdragon and either feeling like she's on top of everyone because of it, or that she feels inferior because Meanings isn't her mum so she acts like a dick to cover it up

It's either one of those two options

Just a full on fucking dick

I also love playing her because she's a really fun character

Horrible person, yes

But absolutely hilarious to play as

Maggie/Michael

From the Lost City of Mizu

I don't consider Mizu to be the official future, but rather an alternate reality, so bear with me in mind for that

I feel really smart with her name

It means Pearl, and you know

Mizu being an underwater city and all that?

Michael means 'who is like God', which refers to her best friend's......love for a past figure

They're genderfluid! Mostly goes by she/her, though on some days, they go with he/him

Her relationship with Ranbob is very similar to the one between Morals' and Dream

Since I don't see the story as a possible canon future but instead another alternate reality, she's not a descendant of anyone

And you know what? You wanna know what?

She's a cow hybrid now

Why? Because I said so

Remove Ranbob's very yandere personality and their friendship is friendship goals

Heck, even with it, it's still friendship goals

I will defo have more but those are the only Tales of the Dream SMP episodes I've watched, so-