#western au go BRRRR

[purgetrooperfox]

28 for the babygirls of your choice <3 -Lo

softer world prompt list

I miss doing nothing with you (I miss not having to pretend to like your family)

+ Nocte & Saleese (@babygirl-leon-kennedy) || Western AU

Cradled between Nocte’s hands, a mug of stale coffee goes cool despite the heat hanging heavy and oppressive in the air. Every summer, he hopes the ungodly temperatures of years past won’t return, and every summer, his hopes are dashed. The only mercy is that the sun has long since set and the cover of darkness promises a brief reprieve.

More oppressive than even the heat is the silence.

He volunteered for the night watch so he and Saleese could talk without her crew lingering uncomfortably close, but it’s proving difficult. Their split was on bad terms, all flaring tempers and hurt feelings. They both said things they didn’t mean, lashing out, and then life just carried on. The longer they went without talking or writing, the harder it got to break the quiet.

It’s more than a need to mend bridges, now. For Saleese to swallow her pride and contact him, not to catch up or reconnect but to ask for help… her situation would have to be bad. Life-threatening bad.

From his limited exposure to the gang she’s saddled herself with, he can’t say he’s surprised. Greed has a fire lit under them for the time being, but that won’t last, and when it dies, they’ll turn inward. Nocte would bet his life’s savings on it. Meager as those may be.

The pressure doesn’t make it any easier to say what’s needed. He needs to apologize. He needs to explain why he couldn’t, back then. He needs to offer and ask for forgiveness. He needs to make it clear that he’ll burn this entire camp to the ground if they hurt her.

But it all dies in his throat and turns to ash in his mouth.

Saleese’s focus is presumably on the block of wood she’s slowly whittling into a stake, likely more for the comfort of repetitive motion than any real need. She isn’t quite ignoring him, but she isn’t paying him any mind, either. It’s all a hair’s breadth from familiar.

“D’you remember when we were kids,” Nocte starts before he can think himself out of it, “and Old Man Abernathy’s hound got loose?”

Across the fire, Saleese snorts something that lands between a surprised exclamation and a laugh. “Which time?”

“The time he sent us looking for him and we got lost overnight."

"Oh, hell, and we spent an hour trying to start a fire with wet tinder?"

A smile pulls at Nocte's lips, despite everything. "You were convinced we'd never find our way back. I don't think I ever got all the sand and dirt washed out of my clothes."

They slept huddled together on the ground, tucked in behind a cropping of rocks and bushes. It wasn't late enough in the year for the night to be too cold, but they slept hungry and woke in foul moods. His brother used to spout nonsense phrases about being hungry enough to eat a horse and chase the jockey – Nocte found out what that meant, that morning.

All they had the energy to do was walk and bicker.

It's a small wonder they managed to make it back to town at all. Needless to say, their families were worried sick. He can't speak for Saleese, but once Nocte's brothers got over the shock, they firmly vowed never to let him live it down. They also taught him how to start a proper fire before letting him do so much as shower.

The cherry on top of the whole shit sundae was that it turned out, the damn dog was waiting at Abernathy's front door for breakfast first thing in the morning.

It was beyond ridiculous, start to finish. Abernathy was a mean old man with no fondness for children, probably looking more to get the pair of them out of the streets than to find his dog.

It was uncomfortable and disconcerting at best, to feel so lost in the dark.

And it was a bonding experience. He and Saleese don't talk about the fear or the way they clung to each other in their sleep, but it brought them closer. They were friends before, but there was trust afterward, and they only got closer over the years.

Until it fell apart.

Shaking his head, Nocte finally looks back up and sees the same wistful nostalgia he's feeling reflected on Saleese's face. The grief tangled in it doesn't make sense. So he doesn't dwell on it.

"I'm glad you got ahold of me," comes out before he can think twice. Honesty at its most raw bleeds into his voice, and he hears it, and he does nothing to cover it. "Not to say it outright, but I've, ah– well. I missed you."

To call Saleese soft in any capacity would firstly, piss her off, and secondly, be a gross misrepresentation. She's a great many things – and really, Nocte loves her like no other for it – but soft is not one of them. So, she doesn't soften for him, but she warms. It's in the smile that crinkles more around her eyes than her mouth and the way her posture relaxes.

A reception to vulnerability, maybe. More likely, a recognition of herself. It’s something they never really talk about – their history and those similarities. She's Nocte's closest friend, closer than family sometimes, and they don't talk about that either.

"I missed you, too," she says, despite it all. "It used to be so easy to just do nothing."

Nocte narrowly suppresses a scoff. "Back when our families played nice and we could just run wild."

"They were different times." The reflection of flame bounces off the depths of Saleese's eyes.

"They don’t have to be all that different," Nocte tries. Gods does he try, through the weight of decades past, conflicts deep, and old promises of forever. "I'll stay as long as you need me."

She hesitates, but Nocte can hardly blame her. He'd do the same. They're opposite sides of the same coin, after all.

"Alright," Saleese concedes, faster than she would for anyone else. "Stay, until you need to go."

Stay, because I need someone in my corner.

Stay, because I don't trust my inner circle.

Stay, because I miss you too and I know you'll do right by me.

Those words go unspoken, but Nocte hears them all the same.

This new gang of Saleese’s is a powder keg of ulterior motives and lies and deceit, liable to blow at any shadow of a spark. It looks on the surface like she’s wilfully overstaying her welcome when she should just cut and run – but then, few things as simple as that. He’ll stay until she’s safe, and they both know it.

That’s the promise they made as kids and it’s the one they’ll die before breaking.

[spurious]

M C S H E P for the ask bc i can lol

Fandom asks!

Lmao yessssss lets go

M - Name a character that you’d like to have for a friend.

Tomoyo from CCS. The OUTFITS!!!!!!!

S - Show us an example of your personal headcanon (prompts optional but encouraged)

i don't know what that parenthetical means BUT. i think a lot of my personal HCs are shared by a large portion of fandom at the moment. John is gay. Rodney has a big dick.

H - What is your favorite source text for fandom stuff (e.g., TV shows, movies, books, anime, Western animation, etc.)?

I answered this but also didn't actually answer because. I don't know? Whatever has the things that make my brain go brrrr

E - Have you added anything cracky/hilarious to your fandom? If so, what?

I wrote the cannibalism fic 🙂

P - Invent a random AU for any fandom (we always need more ideas).

Xfiles au where Scully is a tattoo artist and Skinner runs a flower shop!

[daincrediblegg]

oc question: not really a question (sorry) but oh holy fuck your lady terror oc is so pretty in those sims photos 🥺 for sure see how francis falls for her! have you heard the song ‘star of the county down’ ? she so reminds me of the girl described in that song

au question: which au is your favourite to write/have a soft spot for? or do they all hold the same special place in your heart?

AAAAAAAAAA THANK YOU MY FRIEND!!! oh man I haven't shared nearly half the screenshots of her (and francis. hehe.) that I have on here... but I'm starting to think I should lmao 😂 AND NO I HADN'T HEARD THAT BUT!!!! HOLY SHIT YOU'RE RIGHT IT'S SO GOOD!!! Looked into the history too. funny coincidence that it's meant to take place in BANBRIDGE OF ALL PLACES so yes... yes much to think about... going into some playlists I tell ya... OHHHHHHH I mean. God there's so much (and for reference I put out an AU LIST- which has admittedly grown a BUNCH since last discussed- and of course co-created with @trantors) but the western one has been sticking with me a lot these days. Not for any particular reason- it's just vibes at this point going off of stuff like Deadwood and Ravenous (and perhaps westworld now in the mix? idk re-watched some of that recently with @prismatica-the-strange and it got me into a mood about season 1 and 2 again) but idk. something about that. But also the Vampire AU makes my brain go brrrr just because of how much unique world-build work cherry and I put into it and I still think about it (and saying this now- currently watching iwtv, it makes me want to dip back into this scene for a vampiric wedding ritual that I was writing for Lady Terror and Francis so so so fucking bad because it's cool as fuck- also lmao I have sims of them too I do fuckin love making sims for these bitches it has to be said- building them a gothic castle too) but yeah safe to say... that's what's been on the brain lately (but also full credit to the Baffin Bay Museum au for being such a dope slice of life idea I also can't forget that either bc of how much I loved dipping into alcoholism recovery for francis with that... good stuff all around lmao)