#there still not perfectly aligned but they're close enough

[espinosaurusrexex]

Acid Fog

Wolds Collide Collection

BuckyBarnes x Female!Reader apocalypse au

summary: You take the chance to bond with a new friend when the acid fog rolls in, inevitably trapping you with Bucky for several hours. Bucky has to learn the hard way, that he won't get rid of you that easily.

a/n: I'm not dead. I just have so much to do. But you best believe, once I finally finished my papers, I will work on all the stories that are already outlined in my drafts 💚 please bear with me until then...

not prooread - will do so soon

word count: 2.6k

warnings: grumpy/sunshine, mentions of death, dystopia, deadly fog, reader is lonely, Bucky is lonely - they're gonna be lonely together, worried CatDad!Bucky, strangers to friends (for now)

collection playlist | main masterlist | collection masterlist

May 13th 2039

Hey, Book.

I’ve decided that Bucky needs a friend, so I’m going to visit him today.

Finding the handsome not-so-anymore stranger was a challenge. But you loved challenges. It mixed up the day, made things less boring, and was a nice way to spend your time.

You had planned things perfectly. You had enough time until the next acid fog would roll through, grabbed one of the canned soups that were rarely found anymore - but you’d gladly sacrifice them for a new friend, and you had a backpack ready with some essentials in case you wouldn’t make it home in time. 

You first headed in the direction Bucky took off to the other day after falling into your trap. There wasn’t much to “detour around” where you lived and chances of him being fairly close - considering being too far from shelter was a certain death sentence - gave you confidence with that approach. 

You walked for about two hours until the tree line faded into blotchy scatters of green. There was a house - or rather ruins of one - sitting by the edge of the forest. You frowned. Bucky wasn’t stupid. At least he didn’t seem that way. He would never hide above ground. Every decent survivor that had lived up to this point knew ‘low was the go’. The chances of being killed were cut to 20% when you lived secluded and underground - the beach was good too apparently, but you were too far to see for yourself. 

Your eyes swayed to the ground. You had a feeling Bucky was here, you just needed to find out where exactly. So you approached the ruins and stepped through what was left of the doorway. Dust and dirt covered the surfaces, ripped cushioned sofas, and scratched hardwood floors. There wasn’t much left to use here. The place was looted and brittle with holes in the ceilings and missing steps. You wondered how you ever recognized it as a house in the first place - because, really, this was anything but. The bones barely held up the remains and made it seem like an oversized version of a carport. 

It wasn’t long until you had scouted the place and reached the other end of it. Now you were standing on the porch and looking out onto a wild yard that reached into the forest again. You walked down and towards it, searching the area and still feeling as though Bucky was close. He couldn’t have lived any further - it would have been crazy. 

The leaves rustled beneath your feet as you skipped vines and roots peaking from beneath. Your eyes swept the area until they landed on an odd-looking lot of ground. As if the branches were forcefully pulled to cover up a buried something, the vines stretched over a green-grayish ledge. 

Immediately you headed for it. This has got to be it, you thought until you reached an opening into the ground that revealed a heavy-looking bunker door. 

Heck yeah. You knew he wasn’t that stupid - even though he did fall into your trap...

As soon as you opened it and entered, it felt as though you had stepped several decades back. The whole interior seemed to be dipped in sepia. Old furniture crammed into odd places and neatly kept surfaces without dust made it look like an old photograph. 

You walked further, let your hand wander over the spines of the books aligned atop a lonely shelf on the wall. They were Cyril, you guessed, as you watched the golden letters shine when you passed them. Beneath the books and next to a booger green armchair was a record player, aligned with old records of people with excessively gelled hairstyles and tailored suits - ancient. 

But Bucky was nowhere to be found. 

A heavy sigh escaped you as your backpack landed on the ground and you went about scouting the bunker some more. The space wasn’t too big, and Bucky seemed to have accumulated a bunch of treasures there for some time now, so you had plenty of things to discover. Eventually, though, you just fell back into the ugly armchair and tried to start up the record player. 

Bucky’s music wasn’t particularly your go-to, but you wouldn’t complain in a world where music was as rare as a working outlet. After a while, you could even understand why Bucky resided here. It was kind of comforting - homey. Something not many people could call their own in this world.

“What the hell are you doing here?” You shot up, knocking over a couple books and earning a dark glare from the man in the doorway - Bucky. 

You hadn’t even heard him come in. “I... I just wanted to see you,” you explained with an excited smile on your face. "I brought soup!" Your hands pointed towards your backpack.

“You- you broke in!” His boots stomped over to you just as you turned to pick up the pile of paperbacks. 

“Well, it’s not so much breaking in when we’re friends.”

“We’re not friends.” Bucky reached forward and snatched the items from your grasp. He was slightly sweaty, grime covering his forehead, and settled in the harsh frown lines you could only see because he was so close. 

“Yes, we are! You fall into my trap, you are my friend.” You ticked off the points with your fingers just as Bucky threw his hands in the air. 

“You can’t just make up these ridiculous rules.” 

“Or can I?”

“No. We can’t be friends. I don’t even know your name.”

He did have a point there. For a moment you watched as he neatly stacked the Russian books back in their place and then told him your name. 

“What?” He grumbled. 

And you just reiterated the words that you hadn’t said in forever. 

He turned back to you with a poker face. “I don’t like it,” Bucky said so monotonely, it almost seemed like he wanted to tease you. 

“Excuse me?” You weren’t offended, it was hard to make friends nowadays - there was nothing unusual about a person being hesitant at first. 

“It doesn’t fit you. You should be called trouble.“ He still had that dead look on his face and you were starting to think he just didn't know anything else. You wouldn't blame him - seriously.

“See! We are friends you know me!” You chuckled but Bucky just shook his head. 

“I don’t know you,” he whispered with slumped shoulders as he lowered his bag close to yours. Then he took off his hat and ran a hand through his shoulder-long hair. 

Man, he was kind of cute. But that was probably just the loneliness talking, so you shook out of it. 

You opened your arms and sunk back into the chair. “Well lucky for you we have a bunch of time to get to know each other now.”

And Bucky’s eyes widened. “What why?”

“The acid fog is rolling in early this evening.” You looked past him and out the entrance, where a deep gray sky covered most of the view. “I thought you knew... and that’s why you’re so, well, tense.”

“What, no I was just outside it’s-” The brunette turned and you could see his shoulders stiffen when he realized you were right. “Shit.” It was a low mumble that was followed by another nervous swipe through his hair. 

For a man who seemed to be cool, calm, and collected so far, his feet were doing an awful lot of pacing right now. 

“Are you okay?” You were careful to ask. Something was wrong and you didn’t want to risk him exploding. You didn’t know how he would react and a small sadness washed over your chest when you realized that maybe you weren’t as good of friends as you wanted to be. 

“Shut up.” Yup, definitely not the talking type then. 

“Can I help you or is ther-“ You were interrupted by a soft meow sounding over the rumbling of the clouds. 

“Fuck, finally.” Bucky exhaled and knelt down, just to reveal a white fluffy cat tangling in his touch. 

“Uh...There's a cat in your bunker,” you pointed out and Bucky picked his stiffness back up ever so slightly. 

“Her name is Alpine. Touch her and you’re dead.” 

So this was what had this big, broody man’s panties in a twist. He was worried for his pet. That was super adorable, you had to admit. And it charmed you just that much more when you saw the way he cuddled her into his chest before setting her back on the ground. 

“I- Oh.”

As soon as he’d said it, Alpine had sauntered her way to you and rubbed her fluffy white face on your shin. You were just frozen in place - unsure what to do. You wanted to pet her so badly, but who knew what Bucky would do if you so much as moved now. 

“The cat has chosen. Don’t blame me.” You threw your hands in the air when Alpine started to purr and jumped only our lab. Now that she was so close to your face, you noticed that one of her eyes was missing, a darker patch of fur replacing the spot where it should have been, but it just made her that much more charming. 

Bucky glared at you for a good second and then moved to close the bunker in order to keep the deadly air out. And you took the opportunity to finally pet his cat. 

It had only been 20 minutes and Bucky was already regretting his decision not to send you out into the fog. 

First, you had broken into his home. Then you had declared you as friends, to which - for the record - he never agreed to. And then you had stolen Alpine’s attention. That was just the cherry on top of your pile of audacity. 

And though he had been told that he wasn’t a pleasant contemporary, he wouldn’t send people straight to their deaths like that. He was a grump, but he wasn’t cruel. So he settled on quietly sitting in a corner and hoping that you’d eventually grow tired of snooping through his belongings. 

But he still held a grudge. Because he hadn’t planned to spend so much time with anyone, really - except for Alpine, of course - and now he was stuck with you for at least three hours. You had basically forced yourself into his life with that agitating sunshine demeanor of yours and the annoying optimism in every single thing you did. 

You had to be broken, somehow. Nobody could be this happy at the end of the world. Because that’s what this was. The end. The time you had to wait out until you escaped the hell this world had become just to spend an eternity in the actual one. 

Yeah, Bucky believed in heaven and hell. Somebody had to be responsible for idiots like Hydra and he was sure there was an extra special lava pit reserved just for the god complex fogged imbeciles that were responsible for it all going to shit once and for all. 

Bucky huffed at your occasional ‘woahs’ and ‘oohs’ and shrugged off his jacket while you went through more of his things. There was nothing he could do anyway. Tying you up and gagging you until it was over would be incredibly awkward for both of you. So, as long as you didn’t break anything or talk to him, he deemed you safe. 

“Woahhh, that is so cool! Where’d you get that?” You suddenly said, and when he turned, Bucky saw you pointing at his metal arm. 

He looked down, turned it in the yellow gleam of the bunker lamp, and then focused on your face again. People had seen a lot these days, though none of them ever asked him about it. They either stayed silent or avoided him altogether - the latter of which he preferred. He didn't like talking about it. It wasn’t anything he was proud of for that matter.

“Nonya,” he grumbled and sat back in the chair he chose to reside in for the rest of the day. 

“What’s Nonya?” Your head cocked to the side and Bucky couldn’t help but crack a small smirk.

“Non ya business.”

And finally, you shut up. He exhaled, closed his eyes, and smiled complacently. However the silence didn’t last long. 

“Okay that was a good one but really, where did you get that arm - it’s amazing.”

“It’s not amazing and I don’t want to talk about it, okay? Now do me a favor and shut up before I set you outside”

“You wouldn’t dare. After all, I was the one that helped you out of that trap.”

Buck had already established that he wouldn’t. But the thought seemed ever so intriguing right this second. 

“That you built,” he deadpanned. “I’m done talking to you. Just be quiet for the next hour, so we both have a chance at surviving this thing.” Before I murder you or myself.  That last part only echoed in his mind before he grabbed a book and hoped deeply that you’d comply. 

You huffed and slumped in the chair next to him. Bucky only dared to glance at you once. Then he began reading, enjoying the silence you finally granted him. 

You watched Bucky read his book. Fascinated by the shapes on the page that didn't look like letters to you, you leaned over to him. Bucky was skimming the pages swiftly, turning pages before you could even look at all the lines and then starting all over again. 

When you leaned in a little too closely, he scooted back and hid the page from you with a glare. So, you stood up and sauntered over to the shelf again, tracing the printed covers with your finger. 

“They’re all in Russian,” you pointed out after you had grazed the last spine. Most of the books were bound in brown, grey, or red. 

“So?” He just shrugged, not even bothering to look at you.

“Do you know Russian?”

“The guy that lived here first was Russian.” He shut the book finally, tracing the cover with his own fingers. “So, I taught myself.”

“You know, I can get you some normal books. I can’t imagine there’s anything interesting in there.” You stared at the Russian flag on most of the books. They looked like government-issued prints. Nothing like a fun novel or romance book.

“I don’t mind them, really...” Bucky set the book down and stood next to you. Then he scratched his stubble with his flesh hand. “Though, they all have a communistic touch.”

“See!” You pointed at him. “What do you like to read? I’ve got it all. Romance, fantasy, sci-fi.”

“No sci-fi please.” Bucky rolled his eyes and you could only imagine why. You’d had enough of it in the real world, so the sci-fi book you had once acquired during one of your town walks hat sat in the corner of your little home untouched.

“So, you’re not opposed to romance?” Your eyebrows raised suggestively only for Bucky to glare at you again.

Bucky huffed and sat back down. “Forget it. I'll read my Russian books.”

You chuckled and threw your hands up in defense. “Okay, okay. Fantasy it is.” And then you settled in next to him staring at the ceiling with a small smile and a giddy feeling in your chest. 

“See..,” you whispered, “I knew we would get along eventually.”

**Bonus

“Buckstar… Starbucks… Buck-”

“What are you doing?”

“I think it's only fair that if you give me a nickname, I can have one for you, too. How does Bucky-Buck sound?”

“No”

“Buckaroo.”

“Do I need to throw you out? Cause I will.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“Try me.”

“I thought I already had.”

"Good point… get out.”

“I can’t, the Fogg’s about to come!”

“Well, then I suggest you hurry your ass up, so it can’t kill you before I do.”

„I know you might not try to be, but you are very funny.“

*huffs in frustration*

Hey, Book,

Bucky's not that lonely anymore.

more…

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[carionto]

Another "oopsie"

The *sigh*... Death Kebab, did a test fire today.

A single tungsten-alloy round, twenty centimeters in diameter, three meters long, just over two thousand kilos, and accelerated by a 610 kilometer long rail cannon, powered by hundreds of their ridiculous true fusion reactor mini stars.

It is, by a factor of stupid, the most powerful gun, if you can even call it that, ever built. Actually, the most powerful single anything ever built. So far.

Upon ejection, the rod was traveling at 0.842103C at what everyone thought was empty space for billions of light years. Except, the middle moon of this... thing... wasn't aligned perfectly, thus changing the inclination of the midsection by less than 0.002 degrees, which altered the exit trajectory by three one billionths of a degree.

In space, this Human attitude of "eh, close enough" they have for most of their things does not cut it when dealing with literal world ending devices. Which this miscalculation will in just over two hundred years.

Typical redirection and space hazard elimination methods simply can't handle this. It's projected that the projectile will potentially shoot through the planet or eject enough mass out the other side at still impressive velocities, triggering a sort of shotgun scatter effect in countless directions. Or just blow up the planet, we don't know. Simulations, no matter how advanced, can only tell us so much about something that has never happened before.

As members of the Coalition, Humanity has been officially tasked to prevent this senseless destruction under penalty of... we'll figure something out. Again, nobody ever thought someone could accidentally literally blow up a planet, we don't have protocols for this!

It doesn't help the Humans are not showing enough worry about this either. The first thing they did was hyper jump a junked freighter they loaded up with high density alloys and plating and explosives in front of the round. Fuck all that did except a giant explosion. Maybe slowed it down by a few hundred km/s, and potentially changed its course?

It is quite hard to track a thing going so fast when it's not within a star system. Nobody has managed to establish a monitoring network throughout all of empty space, some of our ancient civilizations tried - astronomical waste of time and resources, a logistical nightmare, bare cosmic radiation meant constant maintenance, zero use. Except now, for a thing Humans did.

Oh, their next plan is to shoot a smaller round AT the first one and obliterate them both. Sure? We guess it can't get wor-

They're gonna accidentally figure out a way to make this worse, aren't they?

[smytherines]

I love One Step Ahead for all the obvious reasons (gay angst), but also because it is so packed with little storytelling moments. Also it just seems exhausting. So much happens in that song:

1. Motorcycle chase (with office chairs)

2. Boat chase

3. Staff fight

4. Sword fight

5. Vigorous musket loading

6. Run up the staircase

7. Hang glider chase

8. Fistfight

9. Run halfway down the stairs again

And the entire time they are doing all of this, they're belting out a vocally demanding song. I mean, no wonder Curt Mega had to take a breath during that final note. That's a feat of endurance. I simply would've passed out and died.

One Step Ahead is one of my favorite setpieces of all time. In anything. Ever. It is so impressive, and it is even more impressive when you realize this was done by a tiny little independent company with the theatre budget equivalent of $1.50. Unreal. It should not be possible.

And the thing is, One Step Ahead is the perfect narrative counterweight to A1P1 (Spies Are Forever). The amount of thought they put into this is just stunning. Because here's the thing: A1P1 is also incredibly physical. For most of the song Curt and Owen are on the move, they're going up the ladder, they're fighting goons, they're going down the staircase, they're running.

But more importantly, Curt and Owen are touching a lot in A1P1. And yeah, that's fun in a swoony curtwen vibes way, but its also incredibly important to the narrative. They are touching a lot, and when they aren't touching they are standing just a little bit too close together. Its subtle enough that you initially dismiss it as a stylistic choice, but once you have the full context it is remarkably intimate.

Those are important details- like the way Owen has his arm around Curt and is literally holding his hand when they're talking to Cynthia. Its meant to tell us that they are together. In the romantic way, yes, but also they're just aligned, working together, on the same page. They are partners here. They literally have each other's backs.

And that's down to Curt Mega and Joey Richter selling the absolute shit out of these roles, and genius choreography by Lauren Lopez, and Corey Lubowich being the director of all time.

The digital download BTS has a part with Joey and Curt rehearsing the bit where they do the hug, and right after that they're trying to figure out what cool action poses to move into and Corey says that he wants to see something with them "connected," which is just... yeah, that's the perfect word to describe what is going on in A1P1. These two are connected.

So then we get to One Step Ahead. At the very beginning, Curt does the arm clasp with Tatiana. The first time they did this, Curt had a flashback of Owen. Owen was still his partner in his heart. But this time that bond is severed. Curt thinks of Tatiana as his partner now.

We get into the action of the song, and Curt and Owen do not touch. Even when they are very physically close together, there are weapons between them. In A1P1 they had lots of moments with their backs turned to each other, trusting each other, working perfectly in sync. In One Step Ahead they are facing each other head on. They are literally and figuratively fighting. They are breaking up.

The only moment during this sequence where they are actually touching each other is when Owen slaps Curt, Curt punches Owen twice, and they do that lock up move. They're only touching to hurt each other now.

And its so subtle and well executed that you don't really think about the parallels between these two scenes the first time you watch them. But you feel it on an emotional level. They had about ten minutes to establish the relationship between these two, and they used that ten minutes so effectively that the staircase scene ends up hitting like a ton of bricks.

Just. I love this show. I love how much TCB and Curt Mega and the rest of the cast care about this show. I'm so grateful they keep coming back to it. I cannot wait to see what they do with these scenes for Spy Another Day.

[let-them-read-fics]

Away With You

Pairing: Rosé x Fem!Reader

Synopsis: When a snowstorm of record-breaking proportion rolls into town and causes a city wide shut-in, you and Rosé take it easy and enjoy your time together.

Warnings / Misc. -- Fluff

Word Count: ~ 1,136

Disclaimer: This writing is a work of fiction, and no disrespect is meant for those mentioned herein.

A/N: Hi everyone! I found this in my drafts a while ago and thought I’d share it with you all. Hope you enjoy it :) Stay safe and take care of yourselves!

💖 Happy Reading 🌹

◂ ❚ ⊱ꕥ⊰ ❚ ▸◂ ❚ ⊱ꕥ⊰ ❚ ▸◂ ❚ ⊱ꕥ⊰ ❚ ▸◂ ❚ ⊱ꕥ⊰ ❚

◂ ❚ ⊱ꕥ⊰ ❚ ▸◂ ❚ ⊱ꕥ⊰ ❚ ▸◂ ❚ ⊱ꕥ⊰ ❚ ▸◂ ❚ ⊱ꕥ⊰ ❚

The wind, frigid and biting, howls as it whips through the sprawling branches of the neighborhood trees. They sway, sometimes eerily, in their perfect alignments next to the sidewalk. 

More particles of snow and sleet surge down to Earth, accompanying every haunting gust and only further worsening the conditions that the blizzard is causing.

Strangely enough, it's at times like this that you find yourself wondering if hot cocoa producers will ever run out of product. 

Surely, you think to yourself, as you stand in front of the counter and stir in the contents of yet another batch. It's the fourth one you've made today, and it's not even past 2 PM yet.

Your gaze falls down to the mixture, watching intently as the rich, velvety powder swirls with the milk you added before. It lends more of its color with every whirl, and soon it's smooth mocha, warm and tempting. Steam billows from the mug, and you sigh as the chocolatey scent makes its way to your nose. 

In the living room, Rosé has the television set to your local news station as she strums out the notes of a potential chorus to her latest creation. Her fingertips dance across the strings, trying out different combinations and slides as she pleases. 

Beneath her, the piano bench supports her movements, making only a faint creak when she sets the guitar in her lap and focuses her attention on the piano keys instead. She's been like this for a while now: switching between the two instruments that she loves so much as she tries to finally put her finger on the elusive tune she's been seeking.

The weather has given her an excuse to stay home and reconnect with what she's been missing most: making music, and you. She can't think of anyone else she'd rather be squirreled away with.

"... multiple inches are expected to accumulate throughout the day, and by nightfall some areas could have up to three feet of snow in total." 

She lifts her head at the mention of the forecast, listening closely to the weatherman. 

"We strongly advise that you stay home and only go out when it's absolutely necessary. Multiple roadways are already covered, and they're expected to get even more dangerous as the day progresses. Power outages are likely as well, so get prepared, folks, and stay safe. Bundle up, grab something warm, and settle in."

Outside, snowflakes fall in heavy droves, turning the atmosphere into a whiteout. They whip past the bay windows of the living room -- which Rosé is now using as a portal to peek into the frigid world out there -- unrelenting as more and more of them make their way to the ground. They've already coated everything in sight with at least six inches, and they don't seem to show any signs of slowing down. 

The Sun is quickly being clouded over; only a few glimmers of its warm rays remain now, and they kiss the land goodbye while they still can. 

In fact, one delicate embrace between the two is strong enough to catch Rosé's eye; a rather small snowflake rides the swirling air current just outside the window, arching up into the air as it perfectly catches a golden shimmer of the Sun. It dances and skates for a few more seconds before ultimately fluttering against the pane and coming to rest in the corner of the sill. 

Rosie's lips briefly tug up in the corners at that, and she pauses to think. Maybe she can use that for a song...

Your slipper-clad feet shuffle forward as you finally make your way out of the kitchen and towards the living room, slowly but surely. Your tongue is slightly stuck out as you concentrate on keeping all the contents of the mugs inside of them, and you simultaneously ask yourself why the hell you filled them up so high. 

A quick glance at Rosie earns you the knowledge that she's scribbling away in her notebook again, and you smile warmly at the mere thought of it. For months, she's been dying to have some time to really unwind and recharge like this; writing always comes the easiest for her when she's relaxed and able to experiment without fear of judgement. She's always said that you're the only person she trusts enough to hear her rough drafts, and you cherish that. She really is something special. 

"Hi, baby," you greet, feeling the tension leave your body as you bring the mugs to the coffee table and set them on a pair of matching coasters. Rosie got them on tour back in Australia, and they've been her favorite to use ever since. 

"There's my girl," she beams, happiness radiating from her. A growing smile is evident in her voice as she quickly finishes in her notebook and sets her guitar in its case. 

The material of her sweater looks especially soft from where you are; you can practically see the fluffiness interwoven into each of the threads. 

"I was starting to miss you, you know," she plays, standing up to meet you by the sofa. Her eyes travel across your face, silently admiring you. 

"I could tell," you tilt your head to the side, "...your playing turned sad." 

"What can I say?" Her shoulders rise and fall in a soft shrug. "My muse wasn't around. I got lonely." 

Her muse, huh? Hearing that never gets old.

You run your fingers through her hair, feeling the loose curls tickle your palm as they slide by. They're silky, and the movement releases the smell of her vanilla shampoo into the air.

She melts into your touch, visibly relaxing. Her eyes close as you move to stroke her cheek, reveling in the feeling of your warmth against her. She'd be content with staying here, just like this, forever. 

"Rosie, baby, I don't understand you," you whisper, disbelief evident in your tone. You take a step closer, draping your free arm over her shoulder. 

"You get even more beautiful by the day. I don't see how that's physically possible." 

She smiles, her eyes still closed. She's amused. 

"You've already won my heart, Y/N," she quips, peeking at you, "You don't have to make me fall in love again." 

You shake your head, still smiling. "I mean it, babe. You're so beautiful." 

Her eyes open now, and her hands slip beneath the hem of your shirt, splaying across your back. She pulls you closer with a short tug, giving you no time to prepare before her lips are on yours. 

They whisper words of affection against your own in between sweet kisses, reminding you of how much she adores you. 

As you kiss her back and touch her in all the ways she loves most, she wonders how she got so lucky. 

[eskawrites]

What about 18 “You look like hell.” “I feel like it.” Would there be anyway to tie that into the Russian Robin spy bits you’ve been doing because I love them sm

how did you know this perfectly aligns with what i was thinking for the Russian Robin au?

russian robin drabble part one | part two

-

Nancy isn't surprised that Hopper is furious with her. She's not surprised when Murray goes on a two hour rant about how reckless she is, and how they're all certainly going to die now that she's let Robin run back to her handlers. She's not surprised by the sad, torn look Joyce gives her, or the way Steve shuts himself in his house and stops talking to all of them.

She is, however, completely taken aback when Dustin shows up at the Wheeler house in the middle of the night, banging on the door and demanding to talk to her and only her.

"What's going on? What's wrong?" she asks, trying to pull him inside so he doesn't wake the neighbors as well as everyone in her house. But Dustin tugs his arm from her grasp and stays stubbornly on the front step.

"You need to come with me. This is top secret--you're the only one we can trust."

"We?"

"Just come on, Nancy!"

She barely has enough time to grab her backpack that's sitting by the front door before he's grabbing her and pulling her along. She's in pajama pants and a sweatshirt that once belonged to Robin, running barefoot against the pavement, and then the grass, and then through the woods.

Dustin leads her further and further away from the center of town, deeper into the trees. They're heading vaguely toward the Byers' old house, she realizes.

Mirkwood, she thinks, her heart sinking.

"Dustin," she says, "what's going on?"

He slows to a walk, but there's still something frantic to his movement as he pulls her along.

"Don't get mad, okay?" he says. "You're the one who helped her escape."

"What are you--"

"Finally!" says another voice from the trees--young, impatient, and unexpected enough to completely confuse Nancy. Erica steps into view with her arms crossed. "You've been gone for ages!"

"I went as fast as I could," Dustin protests. "Have you seen anything?"

"Nothing. You told me to stay put, remember?"

"Yeah, I'm surprised you listened for once."

"What's going on?" Nancy says again, cutting off Erica's protest. "What the hell are you two doing out here?"

Erica gives Dustin a look. "You didn't tell her?"

"I was working on it!" He turns toward Nancy. "We found her, okay? But we need your help."

Nancy stares. "You--what are you talking about?"

"What do you think I'm talking about? Robin!"

"She left a week ago, she can't be--"

"Look, I've been monitoring Cerebro listening for Russian transmissions, just in case I pick up something. I figure..." He shifts his weight. "If she went back to them, I thought we should know about it."

"Bullshit, Dustin," Erica says. He throws his hands up.

"Fine! I was worried about her. Just like you, Erica. And you, Nance, 'cause you're the one who let her go. So I wanted to keep an ear out just in case she needed us. And it's a good thing I did, because we overheard them talking about her earlier tonight."

Nancy closes her eyes. The world is spinning. She kind of thinks she might be sick. She shakes her head a little.

"Cut to the chase, Dustin," she says, eyes still closed. "What did you hear, and why do you need me?"

"They found her." His voice is tight. Nancy clenches her jaw. "But apparently they underestimated her, because they reported casualties and said she got away."

"And now?"

"As far as I can tell, they have no idea where she went. But based on where they saw her last--and, okay, this is fully just an educated guess, I admit, but--"

"She's close by," Erica says impatiently. "And we need to find her. We need to help her."

Nancy opens her eyes again, glancing around. "You know, the last time you picked up confidential Russian messages, it didn't end well for anyone."

"Robin is our friend," Dustin says, his voice surprisingly sharp. "She's a lot of other things, too, but that part hasn't changed. If she needs us, I'm going to be there for her. So are you going to help us or not?"

She bites back a sigh. "How long ago were they talking about Robin?"

"It's been a couple hours."

"She could be long gone by now."

"She could've been long gone days ago, but she wasn't," he argues. "So?"

"Fine." She slides her backpack off her shoulder and digs through it until she finds the revolver. She pulls it out, checks it over, and pulls the backpack back on. "But you both do as I say, when I say it. Got it?"

They both nod. Nancy moves in front of both of them and starts walking deeper into the forest.

For a long time, they don't see anything. Nancy bites her tongue to keep from pointing out that Robin is a trained soldier, and the odds of them finding her in the middle of the woods, in the dark, with no real trail to follow are low, even if she is injured. But she thinks about the fact that Robin is very likely injured--if not freezing or starving or any other manner of nearly dead--and she keeps her mouth shut and keeps walking.

She's just about to suggest Dustin and Erica head home--her nerves are getting the better of her in the dark, in the woods, with the thought of Russians and demogorgons and whatever else might be lurking in the shadows--when she sees a tree with a patch of bark scraped cleanly off.

"There," she says, nodding toward it. "She's close."

"Because of the tree?" Erica asks.

"Look at the marks. It's too clean to be an animal. She must have done it with a knife, to make kindling probably."

Robin had taught her how to make a fire last summer, pointing out which twigs and branches were dry and which were too green still, showing her how she could figure it out for herself. But if it's rained recently, Robin had said, you might need to dig a little to get dry wood. Shaving pieces from your firewood works, but you can scrape into a standing tree too if you need to.

Nancy had asked how Robin knew all this. I went camping a lot as a kid had been her answer.

She shakes her head. "She's close," she says again.

The click of a gun cocking sounds nearby. Really close, maybe. Still, Nancy raises the revolver and reaches back to push Erica and Dustin behind her. She looks through the trees, trying to spot any sign of Robin or whoever else might be out here.

She doesn't see her, but she does hear her--a faint, disbelieving voice calling out softly, "Nancy?"

"Robin!" Dustin cries, too loud. He runs ahead of Nancy before she can grab him.

"Dustin!" She follows, heart in her throat, but he doesn't go far. He skids to a halt about twenty feet ahead, staring at--

Robin, slumped against an old, rotten stump, arm wrapped tightly around her own waist, a weak, wry smile filling her face as she sees them.

She's covered in mud, clothes torn and filthy, hair messy around her face. The hand holding her gun drops suddenly, as if giving out. She winces a little as she tries to sit up.

"You're barefoot," she says, looking at Nancy.

Nancy stares back. She's sitting awkwardly against the stump, painfully. There are bloodstains on her shirt where she's holding herself. There's a split in her lip and a bruise blooming around her eye, too. She is, though, wearing shoes. Her tattered Converse she'd been wearing when Hopper came back into town with the news that she was a traitor.

"You look like hell."

Robin gives a dry laugh. "I feel like it."

Something breaks in Nancy, tension withering away in the air between them. She stumbles forward and falls to her knees beside Robin.

"I told you to stay safe," she says, reaching out carefully to peel Robin's arm away from her waist.

"If I remember right, you told me not to fail. And I didn't. Bastards'll be running home with their tails between their legs now."

Nancy manages to move her enough to get a clear look at the wound, but the only thing she can really tell is that it's bad. Robin's skin is freezing to the touch.

"What did you do, Robs?" she whispers.

"What I said I would." Robin tries to sit up again, voice and body straining. "I--I want to protect you, Nance. I need to protect you. All of you. I--"

Nancy reaches out and stills her. Robin is breathing hard, beads of sweat gathering at her hairline, but she relaxes slightly under Nancy's touch.

"We need to get her out of here," Dustin says. Robin's eyes flick toward him.

"You shouldn't be here. Either of you," she adds, looking at Erica, too.

Erica crosses her arms over her chest. "Try and stop us."

"You--"

"Dustin's right," Nancy says before an argument can break out. "You need help, Robin."

"M'fine." Her arm falls against her waist again, trying and failing to cover the blood soaking her shirt.

Nancy leans closer and lowers her voice. "You're hurt. Badly. You didn't even try to bandage it?"

"I--" Robin stares at her, eyes wide and searching. "I don't have anything--"

"Then let us help you."

"No. There's nothing you can do, anyway."

"We can make sure you don't bleed to death," Erica snaps.

"By what? Taking the Russian spy to the hospital?" Robin laughs again, weak and hollow, and Nancy feels it scrape through her own chest. "Unless one of you is a field surgeon, there's nothing to be done. You should just go before someone finds you here."

"No way," says Dustin. Beside him, Erica crosses her arms over her chest and nods in agreement.

Robin scowls at them, then turns to Nancy, her gaze suddenly pleading.

Nancy sets her jaw. "You're coming with us, Robs."

"Nancy. Don't."

"Shut up. Dustin, come help me get her on her feet."

He does as he's told, and Robin can't do much but let them take her by the arms and help her up. Nancy lets Dustin support Robin's weight for a moment while she quickly sheds her sweatshirt and wads it up. Then she takes her place back under Robin's arm and presses the sweatshirt to her waist. Robin bites her lip, but she doesn't make a sound as Nancy applies pressure.

"Is there anyone around?" Nancy asks her quietly. Robin shakes her head.

"No one followed me. We should be fine."

"Good. Now come on. Erica keep an eye out."

"Got it."

"Nance," Robin breathes.

Nancy looks up at her and sees tears in her eyes. But whatever Robin was going to say doesn't make it out. She just shakes her head and closes her eyes, letting Dustin and Nancy help her back through the trees.

[sherlolly-siya]

steve was not ooc in season 4, stancy build up was not 'for nothing'. I'm sorry but I simply cannot accept a opinion that's formed 30 seconds after binge watching x seasons of a show. the whole beauty of story telling and character progression relies on audience giving themselves the time to absorb what happened in each episode, each season. Personally I find steve and Nancy perfectly in character throughout their journey.

Steve's moto in life had been "Conceal don't feel" his entire life until the point he met Nancy. He went as far as to tell Dustin that the trick is to pretend as if you don't care

But what did we see? Steve cared and he showed, I'm a firm believer that character progression does not limit to finding a love interest. But the right one? They make you be a better person. Nancy was that for Steve.

Season 1: Steve's initial reaction to barb's death was poor (I won't defend it, there's no excuse for that) but he came back, even when he got in trouble with his parents. Because Nancy was distraught, because he cared about Nancy. He came back for Nancy every single time. He didn't know how to respond in the situation, his solution to watch a movie was bad, but he tried. He cared enough to drag his friends who didn't give two shits about Nancy with him to check up on her. His reaction to Jonathan taking unsolicited pictures of his girlfriend was justified, his reaction to pick a fight with him after seeing nancy allowing Jonathan into her home was justified for a hurt teenager. But the moment he had the time to think over it, the moment he saw the consequences of his actions he went back to apologize to Jonathan. Where he happened to find Nancy, but he hadn't come for her. He had come because he was feeling shitty about himself, you might close your eyes at this point because he's not your favourite but steve was growing as an individual, apart from Nancy.

He went as far as to buy Jonathan a new camera and have nancy give it to him. Because he knew nancy had forgiven Jonathan, there was more important life threatening stuff going on (although, I believe Jonathan deserved to have absolutely no access to any form of technology since that day). Nancy defending him to Jonathan in the woods was not in vain, steve really was a good guy under the 'king steve' persona.

Season 2: this is the key, anyone that has watched this season would not have questioned the scene in S4 where apparently steve forced Nancy to birth his kids. Steve always had a dream about his future, that dream didn't involve a solid career plan for himself, but that dream always involved Nancy.

He despises his father, but he was willing to take the job because it had benefits, (now which highschooler thinks about health insurance and benefits if they're not having a long term plan in their head?) and because he could stay around Nancy for a little while longer.

But It was one step forward three steps back with Steve at this point, the way he said in season 4, he was crawling slowly. His reaction to a guilt ridden nancy was poor. Once again the time wasn't in their favour. Although they still loved each other, nancy was finding it difficult to express that because she kept associating her happy memories with steve to barbs death.

So she ran, that's Nancy's character trait, she ran to Jonathan because he was the one at the time willing to find answers (coincidentally it aligned with his need to save his brother will). Once again, steve realised it a little late, he was at her doorstep with an apology already forming. But when steve saw the two of them working together, that is where he got his proper thump. And he let go, he didn't force nancy to confront anything, he knew she's not good at it. So he let go of his question, he assumed she didn't love him anymore. Mind you, Nancy never said she didn't love him, just like she never said she loved Jonathan.

Season 3: We see Robin asking steve if he's still in love with Nancy, and he says he's not because he's found someone that suits him. The problem here is that he still believes he needs to have a girl by his side. So he's trying to aimlessly flirt with every girl that comes to scoops ahoy. He tries to move on and is met with disappointment. But there's this another girl he's just met, that he works with, spends most of his day with and she challenges him. The same way Nancy did. She doesn't fall for his charm and he thinks she's the one. But she's not. Robin is not nancy, she's not falling for it because steve is not where her interest lies. Throughout the season we see steve and nancy maintaining the distance, for being in the same town, for running in the same circles, not once did they cross paths. (Once again, they're growing as individuals apart from the other.) Except for the very end, where Nancy and others are in danger and steve leaps in without a second thought, he's still looking out for Nancy, but he's also looking out for the kids because he promised someone he would.

Meanwhile nancy is learning the tough lesson: shared trauma doesn't last forever. Life happens beyond it, and as it turns out, her and Jonathan are not compatible for that. They're arguing over a silly story that Nancy thinks could lead to upside down and the monster. While Jonathan got his resolution, he got his will back, nancy didn't get barb. Nancy might not address it but it's there still at the back of her mind. She wants to chase the lead, she's facing sexism at work but jonathan tells her to deal with it, to drop it because he's worried about his job and his family (sadly he doesn't consider her a part of his family, even though Joyce knows they're dating, he's still hiding Nancy). So Nancy goes alone, she's learning she doesn't need someone to rely on to solve her problems, she's learning to face them alone.

Season 4: Steve is still trying to move on, after being rejected by another girl who he thought could be Nancy, he's doing the same thing, he's dating aimlessly.

Robin is wrong though, steve knows what he wants. He wants a relationship that means something. He's been in love before, he knows what that feels like, and he wants to feel it again. He's grown as a person, as a friend as a mentor, from the boy who told Dustin that the key is not care even if you do, he's telling Robin to stop pretending to be someone else.

So when he meets Nancy again, and she's off chasing the leads on the latest villain (did anyone notice how nancy said it was a shot in the dark and she didn't want to waste their time? She thought just like jonathan once did, steve would discourage her too). But he doesn't stop her, he tells her she shouldn't go alone and volunteers to go with her. But he keeps Robin with the kids, he's not leaving them helpless either.

In the beginning of S4 Nancy is still dreaming about the whirlwind romance she had with Jonathan. She expects him to visit her over the spring break, but her own ambitions are important enough to her that she doesn't want to leave her job at the school newspaper even for a little while (or its just an excuse to avoid the inevitable). Jonathan on the other hand, is lying to her, he has not applied to the college of her choice, because that's not his dream. He wants to stay with his family, which is fine on its own, but he doesn't consider the fact that Nancy would understand, he assumes (making her decision for her) that if she found out, she would sacrifice her dreams. He assumes they would end up in a loveless marriage filled with resentment. Here we see the cracks in their understanding of the other. Nancy is expecting the same Jonathan from S1 and S2 that showed up for her to show up now, Jonathan is assuming she'll run with him just like she did in S1 and S2. They're glossing over the events of S3 where they both wanted different things from life, their routes only collided when Nancy's lead connected to Jonathan's brother will.

Many fans have noted the similarities between Fred and Barbara, so when he died, nancy was surprised to find the last person she expected to stand by her side. Last she knew, they had said their goodbyes.

But this time around, steve was there with her all along, supporting her in every action she wanted to take. She was seeing the boy she left become a man who she can rely on if she ever grew tired. She was seeing him in the new light. She was seeing him being a brother/babysitter to those kids. She was seeing him jumping into the water because he was the only one who could do it. (Steve wasn't doing any of this to impress her like he did in S1, he was simply doing it because he could). When steve got dragged down, she jumped in after him. As Natalia said in a recent interview she could have jumped in for anyone, because that Nancy, she has always cared about other people. But the plot narrative was to show her jumping in after steve. Because the feelings never went away, and now something was hurting the one she loved. It's complicated with Nancy, while steve let go of her, found a way to accept that she cannot be with him and tried to move on, it wasn't the same for her. She was with Jonathan physically but her heart lied with steve, she was jealous of the next girl in his life (Robin) the moment she saw her in S3 , we see her jealous in S4 as well.

So it's not out of character for two people still in love to drift closer when people around them are telling them how they can see they're still in love, re: Robin and Eddie.

Steve is extremely cautious this time around, he's gotten his heart broken once and he's not prepared for that again. When he's telling nancy about the dream he once had, he's telling her a story from the past, there are no expectations, there's no pressure (contrary to popular belief, I've watched the scene multiple times but I did not find steve demanding nancy birth the kids right there). He's telling her, she's always been a part of his future, his family (something that Jonathan is grappling to come to terms with). Steve also tells her it was his fault they didn't work out the first time, may be they can now if they were meeting for the first as the people that they're today. May be he could have held on and made it work. But nowhere is he asking her of faulting her for their failed relationship. This is in stark contrast to how Jonathan views their future together, steve has a optimistic approach, he's willing to make it work, he's willing to put the effort. and she's seeing all of this.

She's seeing how far steve's come, she's admitted to Fred already that she can feel Jonathan pulling away. (Jonathan won't even contact her from another state when hopper contacted Joyce from another continent. Difference being, hopper considers Joyce his family.)

Nancy is still Nancy in a way, she saw barb in her vecna trance, but avoided talking about it. She chose the easy way out again and fell into Jonathan's arms. But they're both sensing the cracks. Jonathan or his family's life wasn't threatened at the time nancy asked him if his acceptance letter had come. But he chose to lie still. She's defending steve to jonathan again when he makes a snide comment about him, she's telling him she was glad he wasn't around, subtly proving him wrong that she might not leave her ambitions at the moments notice if they chose different paths, she can handle things on her own.

Throughout the 4 seasons (except last 10 mins), Steve and Nancy were written beautifully. It's a slow burn that's served at its usual pace. I'm sorry the writers room doesn't seem enthusiastic about Jonathan when it comes to something that's not related to will, I'm sorry they've made him the side character in his own relationship but that doesn't mean steve or nancy were in the wrong. Their stories are written how they're supposed to be.

Season 4 was open ended, there was a huge plot whole named "two days later" no one knows what happened there, how they got out, or what happened to Eddie or if stancy ever talked about the whole "you've always been there." thing. But we do know that Nancy is not opposed to it or bothered by it. She has still chosen to hang out with steve and robin. Before the Cali crew approached, she was set to go to HHS and fold baby clothes with steve :) so hold on to ur butts brochachos, we've still got S5, we've still got nancy finding out the truth.

[jihyocentric]

that nahyo was 🔥 ,,,,, so could you write this pls

- gp! nayeon made drunkhyo in bikini sit and cockwarm her on her lap while they’re partying with twice around the pool , no one noticed that cause they were drunk too and nayeon started trust in her slowly made jihyo whined and moaned softly after that she squirted on nayeon as nayeon picked her up and began shower sex

cw: consensual drunk sex (dubcon in reality bc they're both drunk so..)

-

nayeon was never one to behave that way, but with how lightheaded and incredibly horny she was, slipping a hand under the water, pushing jihyo's bikini aside and aligning her cock with jihyo's entrance was practically inevitable.

nayeon was sure she was the most sober in that party. maybe not, because jeongyeon could drink a lot and not get too drunk, besides she hadn't started throwing bad jokes yet, but even nayeon could tell the least of jeongyeon's worries was looking at her and jihyo.

"unnie," jihyo stirred, eyes barely open. not only was jihyo drunk, but she was also sleepy. the pleasure coming from her core, though, made her awaken a little bit, moaning at the delicious stretch. "yes, unnie!"

"shh." nayeon whispered next to jihyo's ear. she took a look around. the girls were far away from them, dancing and drinking, the pool was long forgotten. still, they had to be careful. "be a good girl for unnie, okay? keep quiet."

jihyo nodded, her body falling like jelly against nayeon's. jihyo closed her eyes, relaxing and letting nayeon do all of the work, gasping with the pressure of her girlfriend's cock reaching so deep, making jihyo press her thighs together, the consciousness coming back to her little by little with each thrust of nayeon's hips.

"i've wanted to be inside you since i saw you in this bikini." nayeon told jihyo, moving her hands up to squeeze jihyo's breasts.

at this rate, she didn't really care if someone were to look at their direction. if they didn't like it, they could always look away. and if they did, they could only see. not touch, because jihyo was all hers, and so was her body. nayeon moved the upper part of jihyo's bikini to the side, exposing her breasts. her hands were big enough for jihyo's tits to fit perfectly in there, and the way she pinched jihyo's nipples made the younger clamp around her slickened shaft.

"you're so hot, hyo." nayeon kissed her nape, driving her cock in and out faster than before, desperate to come inside jihyo.

jihyo seemed to wake up from her drunk state as soon as she felt her body being exposed. "u-unnie, what if someone sees us..."

"they won't." nayeon assured.

jihyo nodded, trusting her. the chances were really small, and nayeon was nearing her peak, so she fastened her pace, with difficulty because of the water's pressure. jihyo's cheeks were flushed, both from the alcohol and for the pleasure. nayeon cursed under her breath, bringing jihyo's hips all the way down before coming inside her, making the younger feel every warm jet dangerously close to her womb.

jihyo didn't expect for it, but soon enough she was coming, gushing all over nayeon's length. if they weren't in a pool, she would've made a mess of nayeon's lap.

nayeon fixed jihyo's bikini, pulling out and hugging jihyo's body.

"let's get out of here." the older said, pressing a kiss over jihyo's shoulder.

"second round in the shower?" jihyo asked, feeling embarrassed for what they had just done but still aroused.

"aren't you a naughty girl?" nayeon laughed. "let's go."

[bravewolfvesperia]

/ I'm trying to consider a possible manipulated arc for Yuri in his Crest.oria verse... I have his good guy arc mostly sorted out, but I've also always considered Ast.eria and how Claw is aligned with Van but is effectively brainwashed. Well, I'm thinking about it again.

This is gonna get a little long winded again, bear with me lol.

So I keep thinking, what if Yuri was manipulated somehow to destroying the trees? If he actually was the one who did it? I guess if Yuri was lied to hard enough he might fall for it (whatever "it" is in this case) and believe it. That said, I still think in this verse it would relate back to Van, because I'm still keeping in mind what Tear discussed with Flynn... and if we assume she's referring to Van (which seems the most likely to me?) and he's the one doing these apparent bad things, if Yuri is wrapped up in it, I don't see how they wouldn't have that connection (i.e. if they're both involved in the same thing, they've probably met... and I can't figure out what else would be so horrible that Tear broke the law to chase Van down other than him plotting to wipe out those trees if I consider what Milla said, and Yuri showed up at a destroyed tree, presumably having destroyed it if that was in fact not a misunderstanding). Between the way the story plays out in that regard, and given that we've had the Van and manipulated-Yuri-to-Claw pipeline already, it's reasonable.

I'm just mainly having trouble figuring out why he would be in the Inner World in the first place, if he was just there because... whatever? and got wrapped up in it somehow? But it doesn't explain to me why he was perfectly normal (albeit unusually quiet) in the event he was in. I think it would make sense for Flynn and Tear to meet if I consider that she would warn Flynn and they would eventually find Yuri who is working for Van but under the guise of something Van told him, only to find out it was a lie. It would have to do with the trees and maybe something about them being a danger and so they need to destroy them.

I think it's possible Yuri was working with Van to destroy the trees and Van was working for Kasque (or god forbid Kasque is manipulated by Van too or some shit LMAO. Now that I think about it, Milla did offer us that suggestion in the form of "unknown presence" or something). Van's motivation always comes back to a false peace in like... all of his various appearances*, and wiping out the existing humanity or whatever for abusing the Vision Orbs would fit right into Van's usual story. Also, as I recall, Van was an unused asset in the datamines, indicating he was probably close in the story, which further makes me believe Tear was referring to him when she met Flynn.

Would he necessarily want to wipe out humanity if there's then nothing left? I dunno... but given his canon story, yeah, probably. Especially if you consider in Crest.oria they can just, like, make artificial humans apparently in that lab or put monster souls into humans and... yeah. Just wipe out humanity and replace it. Sounds like Van. ...Maybe Van is in charge of that lab thing too for all we know at this point.

*In Ast.eria, it's altering everyone's memory (basically the characters are crystallized and have their memories altered and are then released) and convincing them they're living in this peaceful era (it's like an illusionary peace kinda, except it's all really happening but everyone's memories are messed up except the few who slowly start to get them back), and Claw is part of the knights who are upholding that peace, and Van is the Prime Minister. Technically Claw works for Lazaris, but since Van is her PM, he's still allied with Van (who is the mastermind, though Lazaris doesn't trust him).

Also, that leaves me with the gaping hole of how Yuri even got condemned, and at what point in the timeline he would have allied with Van (and if that was before or after).

Thinking about Ast.eria, I think it seems most likely that they were probably more heading in the direction of Yuri being manipulated/brainwashed/whatever by Van and/or Kasque and that he's not evil, but the wrong people got to him and he thinks he's doing something that needs to be done. I think in that way too, it would make sense for Tear and Flynn to meet and eventually come across Van and Yuri, and Yuri ending up finding out that Van lied to him or something.

My other problem (aside from the condemnation itself) with making this a verse is that I'm not sure where I'd go from there, but I'd probably just revert back to my other verse and they'd inevitably kind of blend into the same general area: Yuri getting a Blood Sin and siding with Kanata's group, and then my headcanon aspect of the verse of him destroying Vision Centrals.

Also, we have no explanation on why the Outer World is supposedly habitable when Milla's story says it's not (Flynn and Tear came from there, and Flynn imply-friend-dropped Yuri which implies he's from there too), so I can only guess maybe Van in this verse cooked up some lie about the mana from the Inner World. Maybe like, the Outer World is habitable but the mana is still tainted and Yuri was convinced destroying the trees would make their land safe again by releasing the barrier?

So this version of the verse would be that Yuri is in the Inner World for ??? some reason, was maybe in the event observing people (or worse, observing Sophie since she was the artificial creation from the lab, and if Van wants to replace humanity with newly created humans like Sophie because of the abuse of Vision Orbs... ...yeah, see, that's a whole rabbithole in itself now), ended up at some point convinced by Van that the trees needed to be yeeted, Yuri yeets a tree, Yuri is found by Flynn and Tear and told the truth and probably has an existential crisis because he destroyed a whole ass fuckin' tree and the twins already got to the other one so uh OOPS, and from there Yuri switches sides and for some reason presumably has to part with Flynn and Tear (Flynn being in the knights and Yuri being a transgressor, so similar situation in this verse) and at some point meets Vicious and gets a Blood Sin. From there it'd be like the other verse (and he'd eventually evolve his Blood Sin), but with a whole lot more guilt.

What brought these thoughts back on? Well, the Rays management team made a tweet about some old Eter.nia development stuff... and some (JP) fans are hoping we'll get behind the scenes information on unreleased content in Crest.oria.

I'd been thinking of a split verse for Yuri for a while, but I've been stuck on details like this... and I have more clear details in the other verse than here, but I think it's worth at least poking at this one too. I wanna try this one out too... owo...

[starlightiing]

I want to know about the inception au! Who is more like Arthur, who is more like Eames, what is their history, what are they doing that requires them to be dressed up... spill anything you want!

Oooh very good questions! I literally just put my brain together for the Inception AU last night so maybe we can all help me develop this one! I had a plot for the Inception AU with other drivers, but not for these two specifically.

Arthur and Eames have their own sort of complicated personalities. I think Esteban is more Eames - not afraid to be silly, wicked smart but hides it behind the silly and the aloof.

Comparing Pierre to Arthur is a little more difficult, because Arthur is VERY rigid, he's very proper, he's very posh, he's very...a lot of things Pierre really isn't. But Pierre is also not really like Eames at all - so I think his personality aligns more with Arthur's. He's particular, he wants things certain ways, he likes to be in control, ect ect.

This gets so long, my apologies.

If we stick with that comparison, that would of course make Pierre the Point-Man (idk how into Inception you are, but I've done extensive deep dives and used to write one of the characters for fun (Eames actually) so I did a ton of research on it and probably know more than even Christopher Nolan himself) but the point-man is the info guy. He does all the research, makes sure not a hair is out of place. Makes sure the team knows what to expect and how to expect it. He's kind of the biggest part in terms of set up and execution.

So that would leave Esteban as the forger which, in my opinion, oddly fits. The forger of course is the 'shapeshifter' who can manifest themselves to look like anyone they so choose inside of a dream. But it goes deeper than that, of course. If they are to play an important role (like someone close to the mark, the person they are invading) it isn't enough to look the part, you have to act the part. It comes down to studying the person you're going to forge, making sure you get the finest details, the smallest mannerisms, speak like them, ect. So basically he would be an actor!!! Who can change what he looks like in dreams to manipulate marks.

Why are they dressed up? Well, that's just because everyone in the movie is always dressed to the nines LOL They're running around with guns in suits and fancy outfits. I guess that wouldn't mean EVERYONE in the business does that, but its more fun that way, don't you think? Especially if they're doing really high-risk jobs for a shit ton of money.

Coming up with their history is going to be much more interesting. Arthur and Eames in the film NEVER go over what exactly happened between them. It's just snide comments. Cobb says, "I'm going after Eames" and Arthur is just like "what? no? he's in Mombasa." and Cobb goes there any picks him up anyway. Then in a conversation with Eames..

EAMES: It's perfectly possible. Just bloody difficult. COBB: That's what I keep saying to Arthur. EAMES: Arthur? You're still working with that stick-in-the-mud? COBB: He's a good point man. EAMES: The best. But he has no imagination. If you're going to perform inception, you need imagination.

Of course, then, there's the scene where they're all in their little team meeting coming up with the idea to plant in Robert's head...

Cobb : That might work. Arthur : Might? We're gonna need to do a little better than 'might'. Eames : Oh, thank you for your contribution, Arthur. Arthur : Forgive me for wanting a little specificity, Eames. Eames: Chuckling but also looking at him like ???? Arthur : Specificity?

And this gem:

Arthur : Eames, I am impressed. Eames : Your condescension, as always, is much appreciated, Arthur, thank you.

And two parts later that are much more minor - Arthur pulling out a gun to shoot against some heavily armed security, Eames pushing him aside with this huge ass bazooka, "You mustn't be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling." - the line that sailed the ship in the dwindling inception fandom ahaha.

And then later when Arthur puts them all to sleep in the hotel room so they can go down to the snow level. Eames says, "Security is going to run you down hard." and Arthur replies with, "And I will lead them on a merry chase." Eames: Be sure to be here in time for the kick. Arthur, aggravated: Go to sleep, Mr. Eames.

So that's really all the crumbs we get in terms of those two, with only the simple implication that they've PROBABLY worked together a time or two before (Probably more than that - because why does Arthur IMMEDIATELY know where Eames is when Cobb asks if they don't like each other? And why is Eames so readily able to admit that Arthur is the best at what he does, he just has no imagination?) They work VERY well together, their personalities just clash and they have some sort of disdain for each other. Though more than anything, Eames finds it very funny and Arthur kind of takes it a lot more personal/serious.

With all THAT said - we can assume, safely, that Pierre and Esteban probably used to run small jobs together back when they were younger. Dream sharing IS illegal, just in case anyone forgot, and not exactly the easiest thing to access. They probably got in around the same time, or Esteban pulled Pierre in after he'd been in it a year or two, and went from there. I'd say they probably had a few jobs go sour, sometimes because of Pierre and sometimes because of Esteban, sometimes because of someone else on the team - whatever. And these are high stakes jobs.

If you don't fulfill yours and your client's contract, they do come after you. Usually to kill. Hence why Arthur and Cobb were on the run after that first failed mission right away in the movie.

I would imagine it makes tensions build and eventually they just work together so much and get so sick of each other that it starts to cause fights, arguments, ect. I feel like something pretty major must have happened - maybe one of their team mates was killed, maybe a dream went horribly wrong and they were stuck in limbo together to the point of wanting to rip each other's throats out - I'm not really sure. Ideas and suggestions always welcome.

But whatever it may be - they CAN, at least, work together they would just rather not. So then being paired together on one of the biggest jobs of their lives, with the most at stake, the highest risk, also simultaneously the hardest thing they've ever done (because no one has achieved inception before aside from one person) - it causes a lot of tension. Some of it coming out in more...sexual and emotional ways.

Thoughts? Prayers? Let me know what you think! I feel like I've given you a fucking novel at this point, but this is LEGIT the process my brain goes through when I start formulating ideas - especially AUs based on movies and such. I have more to add I'm sure, I just have to stew on it a bit, toss some ideas around, figure out what exactly happened between the two...and then I can put it all together.

Thanks for reading (and for the ask!)

[fortifice]

     What are you doing, Sampo ?  You're not supposed to be here.

     In fact, he's not supposed to be on Jarilo-VI at all, an outsider that believes that the Preservation is dull, a stick in the mud. The Eternal Freeze had plunged the planet into icy isolation which aligned perfectly with Qlipoth's desires. How sick fate can be, but with the tides of change stirring up yet again its no surprise that Aha had required one of their Emanators to be present. Too late to shake firm beliefs, but enough to help pull the strings of those with the Trailblaze in tow. It all converged rather satisfactory, Sampo had a great deal of fun. Yet, despite being finished with his task he still remained. 

     Just as he had started his journey here with getting to know a Landau, he is ending it with getting to know another in an intimate fashion. The amount he gets to indulge in thanks to the other is quite absurd, unexpected. But it's quite sad when he catches those azure hues lingering on him even after their act has come to a close. He can tell that he's in love. Sampo would love him back if he was allowed. 

     Set up for the next stage has already, Aha making their desires for chaos abundantly clear with the incessant ring of laughter that flows in Sampo's consciousness. Gepard is both an obstacle  &&  something of this world that does not deserve to suffer any longer, the Fool takes pity on him. Truly, he does.

     In the Restricted Zone, he's purposely chosen an area that sees less traffic. There's space to leave supplies  &&  the like around, but no need for a heavy guard presence.  &&  like a meeting written in the stars, Gepard's footfalls grace the quiet stone walls before his voice comes out like a groan. Emeralds drift from a box he'd been feigning interest in to rest upon those cute blues. How would they look with their light extinguished ?  

          ❝ I was looking for you, Gepard. Is that a crime ?  ❞  Tinged upon the crescendo is danger, a lower register alluding to warning that might sound a lot like his voice when they're more of a tangled mess. Thus, to hinge upon familiarity, Sampo is quick in pressing hands against hips, walking Gepard back into the nearest wall. A little rougher than he needs to be, but he wants to devour him while he still has his chance. Zero hesitation in crushing their mouths together, his tongue lapping in without welcome as he continues to press as much weight as he can into the other. Suffocation of affection, a bittersweet way to go, is it not ?  

     Assuming that the dagger he summons will hit close enough to his target. He's familiar with the anatomy of a human body enough that he should be able to fell even someone like Gepard without an issue, but it's not his skills that are of concern. Mask of the Emanator had done so well in concealing true feelings even from himself, hesitation weighing in for but a brief second. He's still kissing Gepard, one hand reaching up to hold his face  &&  keep him drawn in. Armed with knife in the opposite, Sampo forces himself to adjust his lower body  &&  apply a quick penetrating force, adjusting for the curve to the portion of abdomen that's exposed  &&  unobstructed by armor  &&  gilded adornments.

It would only be fitting for his end to be such a ludicrous act of betrayal. Gepard was forged beneath the preservation’s mantle, as unfaltering as the aeon, yet, he was a renegade to his oath, duplicitous in the way he had invited the elation into his life, his bed. He was deserving, perhaps, of the punitive act of slaughter, finally shedding enough blood as to satiate the omnipotent presences laughing at his expense. He did not know it as he walked those quiet stone paths, that he would die, that it would be something so ostentatious as to be imprinted on the minds of those unfortunate enough to find him long after his body had grown cold. It felt normal, long ago had he forgotten how mundanity had felt, it irrevocably changed with the thief as its portent. His eyes fall upon the other, his shadow burgeoned from where he stood, undulating like something half - starved, sinister, almost as much so as the predacious glint of emerald in his eyes. He had often thought it ravaging the way he looked upon him, like he was something to be coveted, he’s naive, so injudicious as he encroaches upon the elation’s dominion as if this would be yet another foolish, amatory encounter. “ You shouldn’t be here.” Sampo doesn’t look particularly bothered by Gepard’s admonishing, he knew where he should and should not be, most likely took pleasure in occupying spaces incongruous to him. Gepard had been so astute, a diligent soldier, a dependable man, love does strange things to people, rewriting them into a narrative they were never intended for. It’s why he doesn’t recoil from Sampo’s hands, from his mouth, being edged back into the wall isn’t unfamiliar, they have unraveled like this before. Sampo kisses him hungrily, tongue pushing past his lips unbidden, he cannot breathe, it felt as if the other was trying to devour him. His fingers curl into the sheer fabric of Sampo’s shirt, towing it down, desperate to find purchase somewhere, to catch his breath. He’s not entirely compliant, the other’s lip bitten in a way that evoked lust in its wake. The other should also know that Gepard wasn’t always inclined to depart with his authority so immediately, make him work for it - it wasn’t unusual. They part, the captain left to desperately try to catch his breath before he’s claimed again, hungry mouth, ravening hands, he’s being pulled apart, it’s not so different than any other time but there’s desperation there, like it might be their last. “ Sampo.. Wait.” he tries to interject but it’s to no avail, the other is having none of it, pushing past his boundaries until he was braced against the Captain’s eternally waning restraint and then he thrusts the blade beneath the fabric, Gepard teetering between agony and the gentle hand that cradled his cheek, like he loved him, like he wanted to. His eyes widen, shock withering his pupils to pinpricks, excruciating pain blooming from the wound, blood, so very warm, saturating the white livery, it's pushed in deeper and he gasps, ragged breath caught between his teeth. Sampo had betrayed him. It was such a crushing thing, like all the air was being expelled from his lungs at once, like the pain was spotting at his vision in shuddering bursts. He couldn’t move, he was effectively trapped between the wall and the other’s body, his hands push at the other but he can’t muster his strength. It's wrong, it’s so very wrong. He meets Sampo’s gaze and he finds those eyes, the ones he had lost himself in so many times, entirely unfamiliar, like they too were laughing at him. There was a moment, long and sinister, when realization came down upon him, a blunt impact, he never had known him, had he.  “ what are you doing..” he seethes between their shared breath, he twists the blade and the pained noise Gepard makes is like keening, wrung from his lungs until he hadn’t the strength to make any other. “ you lied to me.” 

[debtsunpaid]

i'm still going apeshit over my new guy while i write their backstory but i'm being a perfectionist about it, so in the meantime here's a few lil things about klavier:

formerly an astrophysicist working for the ESA (and one-time astronaut, but that wasn't always the plan). their colleagues remember him best for their mental math prowess, his ferocity in advocating for their team & their project, the six separate times he almost knocked himself out on the wing of their own spaceplane, and the very, very formal weekly dinners they hosted that no one ever expected to be that formal bc he brought them up like inviting friends over to watch the game on sunday.

re: the dinners: they love to cook for people. love it. very picky about the process and doesn't often like other people helping them (he takes hosting and courtesy towards houseguests very seriously), but doesn't mind people watching or taste-testing. he doesn't do it as much these days, because all the joy was really in the social aspect & he considers themself too dangerous to get close enough to people to invite them over, but they'll still pull out absolutely flawless cutting technique when applicable.

met their fiancée (magdalena) in university bc he was arguing with a professor in the law library where she worked. she came over to tell them to shut the fuck up, and he jumped so badly that she felt guilty later & went back over to apologize, to which he Also apologized & suggested that hitting him with one of the heavier books would have been equally effective. they started talking about each other's work & majors, were going to part ways when the library closed, then awkwardly ended up walking the same way home. to the same apartment complex. for a while after that, whenever klavier went to the library while magdalena was working, she'd catch his eye and pretend to line up a shot with the heaviest book she had on hand, which always made them laugh.

currently a drifting adjunct professor & substitute teacher, as well as an occasional german, spanish, & math tutor. he tends to focus more on teaching/talking about mathematics these days rather than astrophysics, though they've done a few physics lectures here and there; if asked why, they'd say it's because he's still hiding from the german government + MI-6 and it's smarter to avoid being found within his field of expertise. but really it's because the last time they knew what was real & what wasn't was in 1990, the world's ideas about the cosmos have changed drastically since then, and he no longer feels like an expert in anything, or like he even knows the world they're standing on, let alone any worlds elsewhere.

CLIFF NOTES ON THE GOD PROBLEM: klavier was psychically bonded with jallakuntilliokan during his first (and only) spaceflight on the spaceplane hermes because their orbit put them Directly over the geotroniks facility where the magi caecus were firing the fear machine, at the exact moment when john constantine, zed, and marj were completing their ritual to summon its anima (other godly half) and negate its intended damaging influence on the world. but while the beings themselves balanced out, the summoning rituals did not (pagan nation involved 3 people, geotroniks involved 2), and they could not co-exist unevenly in the world, so jallakuntilliokan had to draw on more psychic energy in order to even things out.

luckily for jalla, there was a spaceplane with 3 powerful potential psychics perfectly aligned with the ley lines that it drew its power from, courtesy of string-pulling and secret testing led by the UK magi caecus and klavier's own mother for over a year prior. it was a flimsy backup plan based on the (so they thought) astronomically slim chance the summoning would fail, with the intention that the spaceplane would be intentionally crashed into the facility and some poor suckers would be sacrificed for enough psychic potential + public shock & alarm to rev the fear engine all the way up to its purpose. they just didn't count on jallakuntilliokan sniffing out the supply first.

the other two astronauts were fried, but klavi survived; the burst severely damaged the hermes and it crashed back to earth, veering off course and hitting the baltic sea. all klavier remembers is the burst, seeing his colleagues burn out, the agonizing sensation of something segmenting their brain like an orange, and then being dragged out of the ocean later. he was then secretly held by the german government for three years in the hopes of determining what the fuck had happened & what was now wrong with him, until jallakuntilliokan shoved their consciousness into the Dreaming long enough to take hold of the body and bust out. he's been on the run ever since, all but convinced there's an alien living in his skull, unaware that he's playing host to a god.

[crystalelemental]

Sync Pair Retrospective - Kalos Neo Champions

This was such a mixed event for me. On the one hand, this is the best outfit Serena has. I love her hair, I love the blue, it's perfect. On this same hand, this is some of the best writing DeNA ever produced. The focus on Calem's rivalry with Serena leaving him feeling like he doesn't measure up, and wanting to push himself to do better so he can stand on equal footing with her, actually held weight. I generally don't like the confirmation of which protagonist is "canon," but one of the only times they do, and they nailed the emotional significance of the other side having literally never won. And when he does get his win, the whole event feels like this big accomplishment, like everyone involved has finally made it.

On the other hand, Greninja. God I hate this frog. Also, no other NC event has lived up to this one. Not even close. Galar NCs were fine but I'm still pissed about Opal, while Kanto NC event couldn't stop sucking Red's dick long enough to remember how Blue's character worked. I'm kinda sour on Neo Champions, despite how much I love the concept.

Neo Champion Serena Serena remains top Water. "But SS Lys-" no really, I need you to trust me on this one. Serena is obscenely good. Low gauge cost, fast self-setup with little to be desired, powerful Water and Dark-type sync that ranks well above the competition, rebuff application for both types, hilarious levels of debuffing on Water, flinch and accuracy debuffing on Dark, etc etc etc. Serena wanted for very little.

Truth be told, I have little to say as well. Nothing has seriously competed with Serena in what she set out to do. She's insane. And in a few days, datamine very well may show us they handed her the Strike Role, and now I legitimately don't think there's any stopping her. If anything, she just got better when SS Lysandre entered the picture, because now she had someone she aligned perfectly with. His Buddy move evaporates sides, her sync deletes center, and both are powered up further by Kalos Pride. What possible limitation is there to be found with her? Even outside of the Water situation, Serena has Dark at her disposal as well. Despite that type being loaded with powerhouses, Serena keeps up perfectly, and if she receives that Strike role, NC Marnie is frankly out of a job. That's how disgusting NC Serena is. This is going to get a buff soon. Not Anni Lillie though, apparently. The meta is unfair.

In spite of that though, I barely use Serena. I legitimately think there's some kind of brain block that prevents me from using pairs that I think are actually too good at what they do. It's like how I never really use SS Lyra or NC Marnie, I just can't bring myself to do it. It's no fun.

Neo Champion Calem Calem, by comparison, kinda sucks. Oh, don't give me that, you know exactly what I'm talking about.

Calem had tremendous value as a role compression support. Not just Rain, but Dark Zone, could be called. Considering only SS Cyrus had this ability before, and SS Cyrus has never rerun, Calem had tremendous value. There's just one teensy tiny problem. The conditional was 10 hits on opponents. Which meant, unless he was running with NC Serena, that condition isn't going up until it's time to sync. Which is completely unhelpful. This is the crux of what makes Calem so frustrating: he has these two tools, but they're inaccessible until the fight drags out a little. His buddy move is a nice injection of stats, but with Team Sharp Entry at 3/5 he can't cap crit, and neither offensive stat moves to cap either. He also messed up, going for Special Moves on Rain and Physical on Dark, when the inverse at the time was the better call. Even now, Special on Rain was a mistake; he does not at all compete with SS Kris for rain dominance. He's far more frail, and lacks her healing potential. And to make his life worse, one of his big benefits was that he buffed both offenses and crit pretty quickly. That was something! Well, it was, until NC Bede dropped, and copied most of his stat boosts on a 2MP move that also gave both kinds of Moves Up Next per use and refreshed every sync and also rotated Free Moves Next and could do SEUN on all allies. Bede put a lot of people out of work...

Thankfully, all he had to do was wait a week and his fortunes were reverse, thanks to SC Zinnia. SC Zinnia has X Atk All, and thus between the two of them, they cap the entire team's physical offensive needs in one turn, while also setting Rebuff. Zinnia's Buddy move hits AoE and flinches, which is fantastic for stealing an extra turn for Calem to ensure his Buddy move goes up with first sync. Pretty much any physical Dark type could fill in and the team would still work. This was a surprisingly powerful answer to NC Marnie's dominance, literally one month later. I switched to Zinnia and never looked back; this was so much more fun. And with Akari, we've now entered a situation where Dark Zone can be called at any time for this team, and Calem supplements later on. They're stronger than they've ever been, and are a huge part of what makes Dark so dominant. It's hard to beat 70% flinch rates, stealing all buffs then preventing them, perpetual Dark Zone, massive DPS on Akari, massive sync on Zinnia, and Calem throwing in Team Endure and evasion boosts. Yes, I know people will run Marnie as the third and Akari as the tank, and it works in CS. I like the bullshit of evasion. But I do see the appeal.

The point is, Calem came around to be really good, and it was kind of exciting. Which is why it's so disappointing his EX Role is Tech. This dude was perfect for either Field or Sprint, and they went with Tech. Hysterically disappointing. Guess we can't expect much good for Supports from these EX roles.

Final Thoughts Kalos NCs were huge, and remain huge. While I dunked on Calem all day on his release, he did have some good traits, and has since been elevated to a position on one of my favorite team compositions. That said, I do think that teams succeeds almost in spite of him, with SC Zinnia doing most of the heavy lifting there. I think the two are fairly lopsided in that regard. Serena's exceptional on both fronts, and has a ton of traits beyond just damage that will keep her relevant long into the figure. Calem is good but feels like he's just waiting to get outclassed. The Rain/Zone combo will keep him relevant, but that Buddy conditional really does him no favors.

[ratasum]

also 1-5 for the music asks for Qirri

🎼OC Music Prompts🎼

1. … THEIR BACKSTORY?

When I grow up When I grow up When I grow up I will be strong enough to carry all The heavy things you have to haul around with you When you're a grown up And when I grow up When I grow up When I grow up I will be brave enough to fight the creatures That you have to fight beneath the bed Each night to be a grown up

2. … THEIR PERSONALITY?

Have you ever been so far below You could only see light usin' a telescope? Point it up to the sky and wonder why does hope Feel so far, but look so close Will you wander with me to the edge? Take a breath, tell the world that we're not finished yet Cast a net to the stars and see if we can get Closer to the light at the end

3. … THEIR ANGST?

Why can't they remember What I'll never forget? How these dreams come undone When you're young You give what you give 'cause they make you Trapped inside a place that won't take you They want you to be what they make you It's already over and done When you're young

4. … THEIR COMFORT?

Mother cannot guide you. Now you're on you're own. Only me beside you. Still, you're not alone. No one is alone, truly. No one is alone. Sometimes people leave you halfway through the wood. Others may deceive you. You decide what's good. You decide alone. But no one is alone.

5. … THEIR LOVE LIFE?

I am thinking it's a sign That the freckles in our eyes Are mirror images And when we kiss they're perfectly aligned And I have to speculate That God Himself did make Us into corresponding shapes Like puzzle pieces from the clay

[icharchivist]

Name!Anon here and no,you did perfectly. I specifically asked because I wanted to hear your thoughts and I'm honoured you gave me a rant in return❤️ I also really loved the original Lucifaces naming post,very enlightening (pun intended) :D It shows how much thought was put into something as simple as their names. Perhaps Belial's name ending in -al as opposed to -el is to symbolize either Lucilius complete disinterest in him or how corrupted his obsession with his creator became? Just a thought

aaah i'm so glad 💕 i got worried for a bit ahah, i can get scattered when it hits just close enough from something i have Many Thoughts about

i'm glad you enjoyed the rambling! :D There's honestlys o much thought put into it it's truly fantastic.

And yeah right??? I did think so too.

Honestly Belial is a name with so many use for the thematic they decided to go through with this character. From Belial and Beelzebub both being character in Paradise Lost by John Milton that are associated with Lucifer's (as in, "Faa" there) rebellion against Heaven, and the meaning of "Belial" being "worthless", it already sets Belial up in this weird light we know him into, both by Faa's side, while considered lesser by his creator, especially compared to the "Luci-of-God" we have next to him.

But indeed, with the spelling that ends up taking a tongue and cheek meaning with Feru's spelling, it therefore sets Belial further apart from his creator. His suffix is still "-aru", so, he keeps the "-ru" mark that all the others have, but the "-a-" instead of "-e-" sound all the other have make it look slightly corrupted. Like, "of god, but a little to the left". And with this spelling the Japanese can get a little supplemental treat of still having Belial aligning with Faa's creation, but somehow still standing out, as if he's not exactly like the rest of them in some way.

and then (ofc as i mentioned in the post) we have the two angels who are the most disconnected from Faa himself, who are allies of Feru first, who are those ending in -on, Metatron and Sandalphon, completely dropping any pretense of belonging to Faa.

So we have the primarches who are all specifically "of God", and here, as Faa is trying to reach Godhood, basically appropriate himself all of them. We have Belial, who's still linked to this pattern, but just changed enough that he looks like an outsider, which fits with the thematic of his name, and the way Faasan has seen him. And Metatron and Sandalphon who are actual outsiders because they're not linked to the plans of Faa (or at least, not anymore) and are therefore their own beings.

I honestly can't tell how far they thought all of it through and how much is a pleasant coincidence, especially when it comes to Belial, but in the end it really fits the thematics so well it's just *chief kiss*

i love the naming convention of the gbf angels it's so cool.

I'm so glad you enjoyed the read at least <333 take care!

[beelsnack]

Lost and Found - How My Mc Kieran Found Their Cat Jiji

I realized earlier that I have a few pieces written about my MC Kieran that I haven't shared (because I didn't think people would be too interested lol) So, have some mc content.

A bit of Kieran lore: They're an empath, which I write as a mix of synthesia and sensitivity to people's emotions. It wasn't that big of a deal in the Human Realm, but the raw magic of the Devildom dials their sensitivity up to 11, and can result in migraines. The longer they spend in the Devildom, the more they adjust to it, but their first few days in the exchange program are spent holed up in their room feeling like their skull was going to explode.

-----

All they had wanted to do was go for a walk.

Nothing could be simple, however. Seeing as the Devildom was populated mainly by demons, and they were a mere, fleshy human, Kieran was usually accompanied by one of the brothers if they even stepped over the garden wall. They understood, of course - even if they were Diavolo’s precious little socio-economic experiment, there were some demons who wouldn’t hesitate to take a chunk out of them if the opportunity arose. And for the most part, they appreciated having someone there to keep them company. 

But holy shit, they were loud.

Not just on a physical level, although they had that going for them, too. The screaming matches at the House of Lamentation were legendary. But each of the brothers’ emotions had a distinct vibe to them that all mixed together and molded into a battering ram that was constantly smacking against Kieran’s empath abilities.

Mammon’s greed tasted like metal. Asmo’s lust smelled like strawberry lip gloss. Satan’s wrath felt like standing too close to a bonfire. They were getting better at it, but if Kieran didn’t make a conscious effort not to be too keyed into the other residents’ mental states, it could result in a serious migraine.

Some days weren’t so bad. The stars would align perfectly and none of the brothers would be too worked up over something. But, more often than not, someone was pissed off, someone made a mountain out of a molehill, or Lucifer didn’t have time to drink his morning coffee and everything dissolved into chaos.

This would normally be the time that Kieran would seek out whichever demon was the least emotionally explosive and ask them to go on a walk with them. Usually it was either Beel or Mammon, with Levi coming in at a close second if they could coax him out of his inner sanctum. But, for whatever reason, every one of them was either busy or annoyed, which was just honestly making everything worse. 

Plan B was going over to Purgatory Hall. Simeon and Luke were typically easier on their brain - something something celestial energy something, Simeon had explained it but Kieran hadn’t really been paying a whole lot of attention - and Solomon was working on a potion that would dull their Empath senses. If no one was there to let them in, then they would be perfectly content to sit in their garden until someone came home. 

At least, they had been. That was before the sky opened up.

Storms in the Devildom were no joke. The farther one got away from the Demon Lord’s Castle, the more intense the weather got. There were some regions where the rain was corrosive enough that buildings had to be made out of special material that could withstand acid, and there was a city farther south where the lightning purposefully always struck the same spot twice. Because fuck you, apparently.

In the heart of the Devildom, it was a bit milder, but that still meant that the rain was almost horizontal and the wind could knock Kieran over. Turns out, it was hard to tell when it was about to start storming when you were stuck in eternal darkness.

Their black hoodie had done absolutely nothing against the downpour, and the rainwater pooling in the dips of the cobblestone street they were walking down had already seeped through their purple knock-off Converse and into their socks. Which may or may not be their own fault for actively jumping in puddles. 

Whatever, carpe diem or some shit.

They knew traipsing about in the rain probably wasn’t their best idea, but something about it was refreshing. Hopping onto the sidewalk with a squelch from their soaked shoes, Kieran closed their eyes, tipped their head back, and just listened. The steady beating of the rain against stone, the rumble of thunder, wind blowing through the trees…

…Meowing?

They shook themself out of their dramatic reverie. That was definitely a meow they heard. Close by, too. 

If Kieran hadn’t stopped by that exact alleyway, they wouldn’t have heard it at all. Poor thing was crying, it sounded terrified. Kieran didn’t think twice about turning around and heading down the alleyway. They barely thought once, actually.

It wasn’t a very long alley. The only thing in there was a dumpster shoved against the right wall and a couple of stomped-out cigarettes in a pile next to the door that led into the restaurant on the left. Considering that there wasn’t a kitten rolling around in the pile of smokes, Kieran took an educated guess and headed for the dumpster.

The mewling stopped for a moment as Kieran got close. They could hear some scrambling around, but it wasn’t metallic, so that meant that the poor thing was probably hiding under the dumpster in an attempt to take shelter from the rain.

What the hell, they were already soaked. Flipping their hood back so that they could see better, Kieran dropped to their hands and knees, peering under the dumpster.

The cat had remained quiet, and Kieran couldn’t see anything. They were beginning to wonder if it was just a mischievous ghost playing a prank on them and began to push themself up. However, their change in position caused the orange glow from the streetlight to hit at just the right angle, and Kieran saw the flash of the cat's eyes, tucked against the wall.

“There you are,” Kieran grinned. “You picked a hell of a place to camp out, friend.”

They reached into the pouch on their hoodie, pulling out their phone and turning the flashlight on. The cat jumped at the sudden light, mewling weakly.

“Hey, it’s okay,” Kiera dropped their voice to a little bit above a whisper. “I just wanna see you a bit better. I know you’re scared, it’s okay.”

The cat - kitten, there was no way a thing that tiny was more than a few months old - pressed itself as flat against the wall as it could, hissing. It was all black, head to toe. Kieran couldn’t even tell what color its eyes were, since the pupils were blown wide out of sheer terror.

Slowly, Kieran scanned their light up and down the kitten’s body. It was a few feet away, and hard to see because of its black fur, but they still wanted to check and see if there were any glaring injuries. Turns out they picked up something from Branna after all.

Nothing looked broken, and there didn’t seem to be any blood. It seemed to be completely okay until Kieran’s light caught a little bald spot as it shifted.

“Oh, no, don’t tell me…”

Yup, there was a pentagram carved into the kitten’s tiny chest, right over the heart.

Kieran wanted to throw up. Satan had told them before that a lot of stupid humans sacrificed cats in his name, especially around Halloween. He said he always wanted to get his hands on them and beat the reason why out of them, because all it did was send the poor cats to the Devildom to live on the streets. If they were lucky, they got found and taken to a shelter, but if they weren’t…

Satan hadn’t actually been able to tell them the next part, because it made him so angry that Kieran felt like their arm was burning.

“Poor thing, they hurt you,” Kieran murmured. “No wonder you’re terrified.”

Taking a deep breath - and trying to ignore the scent of wet garbage - they reached their hand beneath the dumpster, palm flat against the ground and fingers splayed out. It wouldn’t be the first time that Kieran used their magic to get an animal to like them.

They closed their eyes, imagining a spiderweb of light emerging from their fingertips. Not approaching the kitten, they kept it within a foot or so, but enough to allow the kitten to investigate.

It took a moment. Kieran watched, wiggling their fingers to make their imaginary spiderweb dance enticingly. Slowly, unsure, the kitten leaned its nose forward and took a few careful sniffs. When nothing attacked, it gingerly put one paw out, keeping low to the ground.

It stalked forward like it was afraid something was going to hurt it, and it made Kieran want to lunge forward and scoop it up. But they waited. They were already laying face down in the mud in front of a dumpster, they didn’t want all of their effort to go to waste because a cute kitty made them lose their shit.

They lost track of how much time it took for the kitten to finally make its way to the edge of the dumpster to sniff at Kieran’s hand. It must have been a friendly thing in the Human Realm, because after a few curious sniffs, it nuzzled its little face against the back of Kieran’s knuckles.

“There you are, friend,” they spoke softly. “Thanks for coming out. I’m going to pick you up now, okay?”

Slowly, Kieran brought themself into a crouch and slipped their hand beneath the kitten’s belly. It was still so young that they only needed one hand to scoop it up. They could feel it’s tiny little shade-heart beating erratically against their palm as they brought it up against their torso.

“I know I’m probably not much better than the ground,” Kieran laughed, shaking their rain-soaked auburn hair out of their face. “But we’ll get you all warm and safe, promise.”

They were just about to start walking when their phone started ringing. If it hadn’t, they likely would have just forgotten it on the ground where they had left it. Internally wincing at their forgetfulness, they bent down to pick it up. 

“Satan, you have great timing.”

—--

Satan met them at the garden gate. As soon as Kieran had mentioned cat and disobeying Lucifer, he had been game for whatever shenanigans they were about to engage in. 

The brothers had all begun to get panicky when they realized that Kieran had slipped out without an escort. Which was sweet, they supposed, but also very annoying. Fortunately, Kieran was an expert of taking advantage of chaos, and they had all of the secret tunnels and hidey-holes of the House of Lamentation memorized.

They couldn’t remember to do their homework, but causing mischief? Perfect recollection.

There were a couple of loose bricks around the side of the House that, if you knocked on them counterclockwise five times from the six o’clock position, would dissolve away to reveal a path that led straight to the observatory. 

The kitten had settled down into Kieran’s arms, but was still looking around at everything and flinching whenever something moved. Although it seemed very entertained by the torches that lined the corridor.

Satan pushed the door open, holding it for Kieran while he extinguished the torches with a wave of his hand. “There. Perfect execution.”

“Are you doing shenanigans without me?”

Satan and Kieran both jumped, causing the kitten to let out a distressed “mrreow!” and dig its claws into the sleeve of Kieran’s hoodie.

“Damn it, Belphie, don’t do that,” Satan spat, shutting the door.

“You’re the ones who waltzed in here. You scared me half to death,” Belphegor drawled, lying stretched out on one of the couches and looking very much not scared half to death. “What do you have there?”

“I rescued a kitty,” Kieran said, moving the kitten a bit further out to Belphie could see it. “Some numbnuts sacrificed her to Satan and I found her hiding under a dumpster when I was out for a walk.”

Belphie blinked owlishly at them before beginning to count on his fingers. “Bringing an animal into the House. Leaving without a guardian. Using the secret passageways for non-emergency reasons. Tracking in dirt. That’s four of Lucifer’s rules you broke in one go,” he grinned. “Nice going.”

“I do what I can.”

“Have you decided on a name yet?” Satan asked, leaning over Kieran’s shoulder to watch the kitten. She had calmed down from her little fright and was instead sniffing the air curiously.

“Jiji.” Kieran said decisively.

“Jiji?” Belphie tilted his head. “Like from the movie?”

“You watch Ghibli movies?”

“Levi went through a phase and took me with him.”

Satan scowled. “Do I want to know?”

“Actually, you would probably like the movie I got the name from,” Kieran shrugged, adjusting their arms until they could hold Jiji up to their face. “What do you think, friend? Do you like the name Jiji?”

Jiji stared at Kieran, pupils finally narrowed enough for them to see that her eyes were green. Everyone was quiet, watching the human and kitten stare at each other. 

After a long moment, Jiji reached out a paw and booped Kieran’s nose.

“She likes it!”

[n7viper]

🎶 + Mihren, Mihri & Rylen, Lia & Garrus AND Lia & Tarquin oOoOOo I know you have multiple songs for everyone so I am choosing all of them

Send me a 🎶 + an OTP of mine and I’ll give you a song that reminds me of them.

Ohohoho so I actually didn't have any Mihri/Rylen ones (so why did I put their names there??), and I didn't have any for Lia and Tarquin either. But I have done some extensive research and have come up with some. I've got lyrics with these, so I've put everything under the cut to save everyone's dashes.

Mihren (Mihri & Cullen):

I mentioned this song the other day in another ask (not as an actual answer), but I'm gonna go ahead and use it anyway. As a note, I think the perspectives could change a bit for this song to fit them. Mihri wants to absolutely destroy him, not necessarily the other way around.

It's only just a crush, it'll go away It's just like all the others, it'll go away Or maybe this is danger, and he just don't know You pray it all away, but it continues to grow

I want to hold you close, skin pressed against me tight Lie still, close your eyes, girl, so lovely, it feels so right I want to hold you close, soft breath, beating heart As I whisper in your ear, "I want to fucking tear you apart"

Her hand brushed up against his, she left it there Told him how she felt and then they locked in a stare They took a step back, thought about it, what should they do? Cause there's always repercussions when you're dating in school But their lips met, and reservations started to pass Whether this was just an evening or a thing that would last

Either way, he wanted her, and this was bad Wanted to do things to her, it was making him crazy Now a little crush turned into a like And now he wants to grab her by the hair and tell her

Mihri & Rylen

Not much to say about this one. She has, frankly, bewitched him. One of my favourite horny songs.

Her lipstick stains like acid rain Dissolving away my sense of restraint … Concealing the violence, I've been stung by the wasp So come to me No sense of restraint So come for me

Come with me and disappear without a trace Criminal, in how I crave the way she tastes I'm the rapture in her head when she attempts to sleep It's haunting, she kills me

No time or place to take it slow And my head aches but I refuse to go Her face as soft as snow She looks so lost but she feels like home

I will wait endlessly I will break you carefully So take me harmfully You fit so perfectly I will wait

Lia & Garrus

We've waited so damn long, we're sick and tired I won't leave any doubt or stone unturned I've got a collar full of chemistry from your company So maybe tonight, I'll be the libertine

Oh, show me your love, your love Give me more but it's not enough Show me your love, your love Before the world catches up 'Cause there's always time for second guesses I don't want to know If you're gonna be the death of me That's how I want to go

You've got it all worked out with so little time Memories that I'd black out if you were mine You've got a pocket full of reasons why you're here tonight So, baby, tonight just be the death of me

Lia & Tarquin

I have seen this used as an actual love song before, but I get missed opportunity/pining vibes from this. Lia and Tarquin are the FWB that catch feelings, but unfortunately they're both just too stupid to ever realize that they're both in love. And guess what? It doesn't matter because I don't do a Tarquin Lives AU :) Missed opportunities ahoy!

I'm a ghost in your eyes A shadow you can't seem to recognize I have a thought of you for every star in the sky But I'm scared, I'll never cross your mind Yeah, I'm scared

Will our stars ever align? Will two hearts beat in time? These words you should always remember To you, my heart I surrender Chasing love that can never be mine Maybe one day you'll realize These words you should always remember To you, my heart I surrender My heart I surrender

And I can't count the times I stayed awake pretending you were mine Now I'm left here with this emptiness inside Why can't I make you mine?