#when i get angry i can work up into a blinding rage that takes a while to cool down from

[heavenbarnes]

okay hear me out— softness and gentle topics aside, how would older bf!simon go about discussing his mom & Tommy? would it ever occur? Would it be a vulnerable and gentle discussion with sins laid on the table or would it be like pulling teeth— panic attack arises and the words are spewing.

at first I’d have headcanoned it that maybe we innocently question the clinginess but I’m not so sure anymore; feels like that would just be second nature for the two.

i’ve never ventured into this topic because it’s literally so devastating that i almost considered writing it out of canon for him- but it’s time 🫶🏼 (massive tw for family loss)

the day older bf!simon tells you about his family, it’s at breakfast.

he’d made the food and you’d made the coffee, both expertly passing each other in your kitchen until you’d settled at the table.

when he told you, you had toast hanging out your mouth.

“pardon?”

“i had a family”

you weren’t really talking about anything in particular, so you made quick mental work of skimming over your conversation until you found where this was coming from.

sunny outside, nice day, should go to the farmers market, get groceries, it’ll be crowded, family day-

i had a family

had.

oh.

your heart had start to speed up in your chest and part of you was scared simon’s military precision hearing would be able to tell.

judging by the look on his face, distant, quiet- he couldn’t hear the thrumming against your sternum.

you were thankful, it meant he kept speaking.

“my mum and my brother, tommy- he had a missus too and a kid”

had.

oh god.

he wouldn’t look at you, his gaze drifted out the window and onto the birds that were floating over the fruit tree in the backyard.

you couldn’t say there was much of you to look at, a hardline of your mouth and eyes that were willing themselves not to water.

“they weren’t in a good way- but i helped them get better”

the corners of your lips quirked reflexively but it fell away just as quickly, unable to escape the voice in the back of your head that kept saying the same thing.

had.

why is every thing in the past tense?

probably for the same reason this is the first time you’re hearing this story. when is the right time to get to this part?

the moment he cuts the rope, lets you down from where he’s had you hanging- you wish you could react in any other way.

instead, your mouth hangs open while your hand does its best to cover it.

the toast goes cold, so does the coffee.

the tears break through of their own accord.

and he still won’t look at you.

“oh, simon”

your mind races in a way you’ve never felt before, thoughts you’d never had before rising to the surface.

first, you want to hurt someone, anyone- whoever you can blame for doing this to simon.

(you quickly realise he’s probably already done that)

second, you want to take him by the shoulders and tell him that this was never his fault.

that there was nothing he did or could’ve done to deserve this.

and you’re sure that there’s layers to his job and things he’s done and seen that’d make him think that cannot be true.

but you don’t care- there is no human alive that could ever deserve what you’ve just been told.

you don’t care.

you love him.

third, you start to make sense of some of simon’s behaviours.

the way he calls your name when you’re at the other end of the house, just to know where you are.

the way you can turn around at any given moment and find him closer than your shadow.

the way he calls you on deployment only to hear you tell him you love him and you’re still home waiting.

the way he cannot exist without a hand on you, without knowing where you are, without knowing you’re still his.

and there you go again, wanting to hurt whoever put him in this position.

grateful to be able to love him how he needs but angry- blind rage in knowing what he went through to get to this point.

it’s why you’re out of your seat and wrapping your arms around his shoulders the minute you hear even a sniff.

you let him ruin your shirt with tears as strong arms wrap around your waist, pulling you so close into him you wouldn’t be at all surprised if the particles shifted just enough for you to become one.

as if you weren’t already.

you’d never, never ever, questioned simon’s ever present need to be close. you’d come to accept it, enjoy it, miss it when he was gone.

it was never overbearing, never out of line, always right when you needed it.

reminding you that he was there.

that he loved you.

that he needed you.

just as much as you needed him.

and god, did he need to be needed.

did he need you to pass him the pickle jar (even when you could open it just fine)

did he need you to make him take the rubbish out (when you could do it yourself)

did he need you to call him when the car was making a funny sound (when you knew it was the fan belt)

did you need him to pull you into his lap at the end of a long day and rest his lips against the crown of your head as he rubbed slow circles into your back.

like you were doing for him now.

“simon, i just need you to know- i’m not going anywhere”

you made it to the farmer’s market, eventually. it was crowded, meaning simon’s arm never let your waist.

not that you mind.

not that you ever mind.

[somewhereincairparavel]

The fandom's bias and tendency to wanting to agressively associate EVERYTHING with Percy and getting upset when a character isn't associated with him really taints their view on actually significant relationships, and it ruins Percy's canon character tbh.

I came across a video edit appreciating Jason and Nico's friendship, and the comments were just filled with people raging on how Percy should've been included instead of Jason because he was "much closer friends" to Nico than Jason was. It's appalling how much ppl can turn to a blind eye when it comes to Jason.

People hate Jason SO much in this fandom that they literally refuse to admit that Nico canonically considered Jason as his first ever friend, not Percy (this is literally said in Tower of Nero, by the way)

You guys are seriously so hell bent on wanting to take away every little thing jason had that makes his character meaningful, simple to give it to percy when it isn't even necessary. Doesn't percy have enough good characterization already? Why deprive Nico of a genuinely good friendship? Jason spent time and effort to make Nico comfortable and succeeded in earning nicos trust. He taught nico to never push people away and not to be ashamed of being himself, Isn't that beautiful? Why do people get salty abt that so much? Because of course, it's about appreciating Jason for once, and not Percy, isn't that it?

My perspective on Percy and Nico is that, they were never really "close" to begin with and never ended up being close either, and that's okay. Percy tried his very best to be a brother to Nico, but they somehow always had tension with eachother because of Nico's internal turmoil of idolizing and crushing on Percy whilst simultaneously associating him with Bianca.

Sure, they talked it out a little in the end, but I'd like to think that some tension would always be there, because they started off at the wrong foot, and there was too much bitterness and resentment to come in their dynamic. And them never actually being close "brothers" makes their dynamic very significant and authentic. In the end, Nico acknowledged that Percy was a good person, and I like to think that's the farthest they've ever gone in their dynamic. They both are on amicable terms but the awkwardness still being there is very realistic, the weight of Bianca's death would always be associated with Percy to Nico, and it's neither of their faults. That adds SO much to their angsty dynamic, why get so upset about it when it's such an integral, and meaningful part of the story? Nico and Percy not being close friends shows how complex character relationships can be.

Percy doesn't have to be close with everyone just because he's the main character, it really deprives him of actually meaningful connections. The fandom forcing him to be buddy buddy with everyone simply because they HAVE to associate Percy with anyone and everyone, and getting angry that Jason is closer to Nico than Percy is, is just really weird.

Why do people feel SO threatened about Jason all the time that they have to get all defensive and suppress his connections by dragging Percy into videos that doesn't even have to do anything with him? I swear y'all are creating this whole Jason/Percy rivalry thing because you cannot bear to see someone rival Percy, and you want Percy to be the only powerful/good person in the books.

Let other characters befriend eachother without trying to insert Percy in there all the time.

Percy and Nico would never be like Reyna and Nico, or Jason and Nico, and that's completely fine. I like them better that way. You can't be best friends with everyone. That's just how life works.

[latenightdaydreams]

I'm thinking how Konig would react when his wife call him with full him in an argument (about culture bc I'm Asian ehe), like it's a sign of seriousness.

It's the same in my culture! I love thinking about giant König just freezing knowing he went too far😶

Laundry Day (fem)

Master List

>cw: fem/afab, argument, fluff

.

.

König has recently retired so that means that he is home constantly now. It means that you both get to spend a lot of time together and you love it, but sometimes he talks to you as Colonel König instead of just your Kö. Today was one of those days.

König comes into the laundry room wearing a towel around his waist as he has just gotten out of the shower. He is holding black workout shorts in his hand with an annoyed look on his face.

“Y/n, you didn’t wash my gym clothes?”

“No, today I only washed bed sheets and towels so far, I’ll get to them.”

“Nien, I told you to wash them last night.” He snaps back quickly.

At this point König is becoming very demanding and his voice has become stern, as if you’re his subordinate. You continue to fold towels and place them into the laundry basket. Trying to remain calm to not make König explode further. After a lifetime in the military, he has remaining traumas and it causes him to act out. You try to not take it so personally, but it’s hard.

“I know, but I wasn’t aware you needed them for today.”

“Of course I would, I work out every day!” He raises his voice slightly.

You take a deep breath, placing the towel down and turning to him. “Yes, but I wasn’t aware that you had no more clean-”

“Why would I ask you if I had clean clothes!” He cuts you off and yells this time.

You tighten your jaw and glare at him. You might be smaller than him, but you aren’t going to just let him walk all over you.

“Maybe next time you should inform me of your schedule and I-”

“Ich bin dein Ehemann! You do what I say, when I ask!” König’s pale face turns bright red as he yells at you, holding up his shorts in a bit of blind rage directed at you.

You’ve had enough, he knows better than to speak to you this way. You toss the basket of clean towels on the floor and turn towards him. The look in your eyes puts fear in the giant man’s heart.

“Alexander Jan König! You DO NOT speak to me that way!” Your voice is loud and stern.

König looks at you with wide eyes and a slack jaw. He is stunned, he isn’t used to people speaking to him like that; especially not his sweet wife. He doesn’t say anything. His face softens and his shoulders drop. His pale blue eyes glued to you, he’s still too scared to move or say anything.

“Do you understand?!”

“Ja-y-yes.” He stumbles over his words as he stands up straight.

“Good!” you walk past him out of the laundry room and he just watches you go before looking back down at the towels on the floor. He listens to you stomp away and slam the bedroom door. He is terrified, but also slightly aroused. 

He quickly bends down and begins to clean up the towels on the floor. He begins to start the washer to clean them again for you, he also plans on drying and folding. He goes back to the bathroom and grabs his own gym clothes and gets them ready to be washed next. 

Going into the kitchen, he saw dishes in the sink and began to wash them for you. He looks at the clock once he is done and only twenty minutes have passed, but he is still in his towel from the shower so he tries to go up into the bedroom to see if you’re okay.

As you sit on the bed with your arms crossed, still angry, you hear a light knock at the bedroom door.

“Liebling?” König’s voice is gentle as if he’s talking to a child.

“What?”

König opens the door slightly and pokes his head in. His eyes meet yours and he smiles at you timidly.

“Hallo mein Herz, can I come in?”

“Sure.”

König walks in like a dog with his tail between his legs. Your eyes travel over his attractive body as he makes his way to the bed and sits at the edge.

“I-I’m sorry…” the words struggle to leave his lips. Not because he doesn’t feel bad, but because his ego is so fucking big. “I’m sorry I snapped.”

You continue to just sit there and look at him as his head is dropped and his gaze is to the floor, “And what else?”

He turns his head to the side to look at you but quickly looks back away when he sees how mad you still are.

“And I’ll never do it again.”

“And?”

“I’ll take you out tonight for dinner, I can buy you whatever you want.”

You just look at him, up and down. A small smile comes up across your lips. You love to see this behemoth war criminal melt at your feet like this.

“Good. I also want a massage.”

“Absolutely.” König nods while he looks at you. “I’m very sorry. You didn’t deserve that.”

König looks at you with a genuine sympathetic look in his eyes. You're the one person in this world that understands him, he never meant to hurt or lash out at you.

“Thank you for apologizing Kö.”

He reaches his hand out for yours with a small smile on his lips. You reach out and intertwin your fingers with his. König can feel himself begin to relax as he squeezes your hand.

[lovelyyandereaddictionpoint]

How the TWST boys would react to their S/o going blind (having her/they're eyes gouged) out

(Preferably Fem!)

Preference for characters : M. Draconia ; R. Rosehearts ; L. Kingscholar ; V. Schoenheit ; L. Vanrouge ; I. Shroud

- M. 🥀🦋

Forcefully Blind Reader | Yandere Twisted Wonderland

Not by them. They love you dearly and even when you fight them they’d rather blindfold you than brutalize your precious eyes. Now whoever had this done or made this happen will suffer the same fate plus a world of suffering in some cases eternally. But even with your precious orbs no longer there, they love you all the same and will be more than supportive of this new change:

Malleus Draconia  

“If you cannot see then who deserves to!?”

Is livid

Raging indiscriminately until he finds a solution usually of the magical variety

Or by exacting his revenge with you encouraging him

If neither of those choices works he is practically glued to yourside

Kissing at your hand as he hovers over your bedside

You’ll have to convince him to let him be your eyes

In which he will create a description with poetry and flowery language

“Let me be your eyes, your sword, your everything!”

Riddle Rosehearts 

“OFF WITH ALL THEIR HEADS!!!!!”

He’s going on a spree 

With you safely tucked away he goes on a beheading and magic sealing spree

Returning to you with a hanged head and bloody clothes

He apologizes 

He swore to protect you and this is what happened

But now you must let him take control for who else is so encouraged to detail your recovery and established routes in the home

“These unfortunate circumstance, my rose will be what gives us order. Please don’t resist me!”

Leona Kingscholar 

“Grrrrarrr!”

Has more of silenced anger

He’s guarding you and having only his most trusted compatriots watch over you

Specifically while he gouges out your attacker’s eyes

When he returns to your side he’s heavily privy to the way it effects you

And thus he will nuzzle into your side 

“You’ve got the other senses don’t you? We just have to make them stronger.”

Vil Schoenheit 

“There…now you’ll have to trust that we both look immaculate today. You especially.”

He’s already ordered a hit on the aggressor 

Because he has no time for potato dredge outside of taking care of you

He will admit he appreciates how much more you rely on him

How he can always have you just out of sight of the camera so he can keep an eye out for you

But ultimately he focuses on keeping your spirits up

“Lets avoid the negativity and explore the positives.”

Lilia Vanrouge 

“Don’t worry love, nothing will change! Now we can play mystery finger more often!”

He is going to make your attacker suffer

He’s not going to kill them…on purpose

Because sometimes he gets a little carried away

He doesn’t change his inclination to tease 

And he finds how much more sensitive you are to be so cute

And believe he’ll sooth you as you mourn your loss of sight

“There there my bat, we’ll make this work.”

Idia Shroud 

“I-I can’t share the same games we used to…but on my life I’ll make this an experience we can share.”

He’s determined and resoundingly angry

Determined to find games and making inventions that will stimulate your other senses instead

Angry because this neet stole your eyesight from you

And it kills him to see you struggle around his room

So he puts more effort into cleaning or making robots that clean

But it does make a good case for keeping you in his room

“I’ll be here to help, and this way you can memorize where everything is! You’ll always be my player 2!”

[chaoticbardlady99]

I Wondered If I Could Come Home? (Astarion x F! pregnant reader) Part 4

Synopsis: The Hag learns not to underestimate an angry mother and Eowyn decides to make an early appearance.

CW: Mentions of gore, mentions of torture, labor, breast feeding

Author note: thank you for your patience! I’ve had a lot of big life changes lately and have been struggling with my mental health. I have a couple other fics I’m working on that I’m super excited about!

This will also have more parts in the future! I have lots more ideas!

Pic is mine!

You know you need to stay in bed, but you will be damned if you are going to let Astarion face that terrible Hag alone. You knew he’d never agree to let you go with him considering your current condition, but you had always fought side by side together and not being there to protect him feels wrong to you.

They have been gone far longer than they should have been and there is a sick pit in your gut that tells you something is wrong. You don’t know what, when, why, or how, but you have a feeling Astarion’s life is in danger.

Jaheira had caught you sneaking out right away and even though Shadowheart was skeptical about the safety of the situation, she also agreed that something felt off and that they probably should have been back a few hours ago.

So you squeezed yourself into something that you can move in- settling on an oversized Wizard’s robe you had accidentally bought right before you found out you were pregnant. It’s like the retailers knew before you did.

Shadowheart and Jaheira are right behind you as you follow Scratch to Astarion’s location. The hag must not be very social considering the trail has led to a remote part of the beach. You feel even more uneasy the further you go and then you hear it.

Minsc is screaming at someone to stop and then there is a scream of pain from Astarion. Your entire body feels on fire and your rage is bigger than your own body. You can feel Eowyn’s fury too- no one is allowed to hurt her dad.

You storm in and you blast an ice shard straight through Hag's chest and send her away from Astarion. Based on the cuts along his chest- she was slowly, painfully torturing him with some type of weapon. Minsc, Halsin, and Gale are in equally bad shape and are hanging up shackled to the wall.

Astarion is blinded by some kind of spell because when you race over to him- he flinches away from you. His skin is torn up in nonsensical designs and your chest hurts looking at him. Tears are pooling in your eyes, but you have to contain yourself- he needs you to be strong right now.

“It’s just me, Star,” you say softly, “I’m getting you out of here.”

The fear and horror in his eyes intensifies, “you need to leave now!”

“Oh I’m afraid that ship has sailed little spawn,” the Hag cackles, “I didn’t even have to do any of the work- you came straight to me!”

You put yourself between the Hag and Astarion. You stare daggers into the Hag and she looks taken aback. She was a fool to believe you are just a blubbering pregnant woman who enjoys an apple cupcake.

“The only thing I will be giving you is a very painful death,” you snarl.

Shadowheart and Jaheira attack her first and you silence the Hag- preventing her from using any spells. In between Shadowheart and Jaheira’s melee attacks, you throw cantrip and spell hand over hand at the monster.

When the Hag finally goes down, you feel absolutely victorious! You untie Astarion and Shadowheart casts restoration and healing before moving onto the others. Astarion immediately pulls you into him and places lots of kisses on your face while chastising you for taking such a massive risk, but you can also see the shining pride in his eyes.

Then your water decides to break.

“Oh are you fucking serious!?” You shout in alarm.

“What’s-“ Astarion looks at you in confusion and then stops when he sees the puddles on the ground.

“Shit!” Shadowheart is racing over to check on you and puts her hand on the lower part of your stomach, “she’s ready to come at any minute- we need to get you h-“

She doesn’t even finish her sentence before Astarion picks you up and begins rushing back to the house. Everyone is hot on your trail, but you are too afraid to even be worried about that right now.

“My love, it’s going to be okay,” Astarion whispers, “you’ll be okay. Eowyn will be okay.”

“But she’s early,” you sob, “and Isobel and Dame Aylin aren’t here and what if I di-“

“No- don’t even begin to think that,” Astarion scolds you, his pace picking up, “you are going to live through this and we are going to be a family. There is no other outcome.”

You don’t argue with him because you don’t want to scare him. You’ve read a lot about Dhampir babies and their birth. Your understanding is that it’s up to the child whether you live or not- they can either make the labor excruciatingly easy or they can claw their way out of you until you bleed out. You hope that Eowyn loves you and wants you in her life. You really don’t want to die.

Everything moves in slow motion as everyone frantically moves around you. Your contractions came on much faster than Shadowheart anticipated and thank the Gods that Halsin was there because he’s delivered several children before. He was equally as surprised- this is a process that could take hours, days even, but it’s been mere minutes. Astarion asks if that’s a good thing, but neither Halsin or Shadowheart know.

Jaheira and Shadowheart push your legs as you fight through the pain and push as hard as you can. The pain is searing, but you don’t feel like you are being ripped apart more than necessary so that’s a good thing.

“You’re doing such a good job, my Love,” Astarion whispers as he wipes the sweat from your forehead, “you are so so strong.”

Yes, you are. You just fought a hag and then immediately went into labor, but that doesn’t settle the fear in your heart when you are told to push again. The pain just continues to increase but nothing feels scary, if anything, the more the pain increases, the more relief you feel. Not your own, but Eowyn’s and for some reason, you feel like she’s excited to meet you.

So you push a few more times over the next two hours until a high pitched cry echoes through the room. Halsin asks Astarion if he wants to cut the cord and he agrees, but looks like he’s going to throw up the whole time. Halsin is laughing as he shows Astarion how to bathe Eowyn- your poor partner looks like he’s about to have a conniption.

“Congratulations,” Halsin says while handing Eowyn over to you, “you are the proud parents of a very healthy little girl.”

Eowyn stops crying the minute she’s in your arms and she opens her eyes- she has topaz, sun elf eyes with red flecks and you smile widely- she has your eye color!

“Well hello my sweet girl,” you coo, “thank you for not killing me.”

Eowyn is the most precious baby in the world as she squeals happily at you. You giggle and hold her tighter. Your heart feels so so full when you look at her. It was just the two of you for so long and you are so happy to be here to know her.

Wispy, blonde silver curls adorn her head and her ears are adorably pointed. Her skin is the same color as Astarion’s but with more life in her cheeks. Her lips are in a happy little pout and she is inquisitive while taking in your features. Oh and her rolls! She is a chunky little gal!

You understand now what all those parenting books were saying. You would destroy the world for Eowyn.

“And!” Shadowheart pops up from in between your legs, “you’re totally okay! Besides the expected, that is.”

A relieved laugh leaves your lips and Eowyn happily squeals again in unison. Eowyn’s eyes then seem to wander around the room, her head turning ever so slightly. You read that Dhampirs are stronger than normal infants, but you are still weary of her moving without your support.

She doesn’t stop looking around until she meets Astarion’s eyes. You follow her gaze and you smile softly at Astarion who looks so happy, scared, and relieved at the same time. Eowyn offers a chubby hand to him and you watch as Astarion walks towards both of you as if hypnotized. He hesitantly lets her take his finger and Eowyn smiles before closing her eyes and relaxing against you.

“She’s beautiful,” Astarion says in awe, “but she’s also too smart for her own good.”

“I told you so,” you say with a huff, “but noooo no one listens to mom.”

Astarion smiles brightly at you and kisses your chapped lips slowly and lovingly. He sits next to the two of you, his finger never leaving Eowyn’s hand.

****************************

The Hag had overtaken them. Astarion still isn’t quite sure how- he just remembers a big flash and something in the room taking him down to his knees. When he woke up being tortured- he felt as helpless and pathetic as he had under Cazador.

Astarion was certain he would die there or just be there for eternity. The hag blinded him and carved into his skin as much as she pleased.

Hearing your voice had felt like a balm for his shattered spirit, but that feeling was quickly overtaken with fear for you and Eowyn. You were not supposed to be here trying to protect him. He’s supposed to be protecting you.

Today was humbling. You killed the hag and saved him. You then proceeded to give birth not even three hours later and you still had asked him if it would be okay for you to take a nap.

In spite of today’s lack of success, Astarion can’t help but feel nothing but pride towards you as you snore softly next to him in the bed. Your arm is absentmindedly thrown over his torso and Eowyn is napping in his arms. You are truly a miracle walking and it’s in these moments that he still can’t believe you took him back. You’re incredible and you could easily have done this on your own.

Astarion is extremely nervous. He knows he has absolutely no paternal instinct, but he does know he loves Eowyn and you. At the end of the day that’s the important part, right? He can figure out the rest as he goes- he’s smart and quick enough on his feet.

Eowyn begins crying and suddenly that process of thought is completely gone. You stir and begin to sit up with a yawn.

“She’s-“ another yawn cuts you off, “probably hungry.”

Astarion passes Eowyn to you- once again feeling entirely unhelpful. Sure enough, she immediately begins to suckle and her crying ceases. You smile at her and then look to Astarion- your features quickly changing to a look of concern. You use your other hand to wipe his tears.

“Star, what’s wrong?”

He struggles to fight the lump in his throat and to stop the tears in his eyes. You continue to look at him lovingly, providing him with comfort and assurance. Astarion can tell you what he’s feeling- maybe you can even help him get a new perspective.

“I feel so useless and well, worthless,” he chokes out, “I didn’t kill the hag, I couldn’t do anything but watch you be in pain, and I can’t even feed Eowyn.”

Your hand pauses on his cheek for a second before you shake your head.

“Astarion, you saved me from that horrid creature earlier this morning. If you hadn’t been there, I would be chopped up somewhere and Eowyn would be turned into a hag,” you say tearfully, “and I could not have gone into labor without you here. That was one of my biggest fears before you arrived at my door- I just wanted you here with us.

“And you are certainly welcome to try and feed Eowyn,” you tease, “but last time I checked you aren’t producing milk and besides, it’s not your fault. She’s mere hours old and I haven’t even begun to try to fill up a bottle or two for you to use. Just please don't beat yourself up, my Star. You mean the whole world to me and I couldn’t have done any of this without you. Not to mention- Eowyn adores you so you have to stick around.”

Astarion’s heart glows and cracks at the same time. He would never leave you- he may raise Eowyn with questionable morals, but he has no intentions of not being a part of her life until both of you are long gone and his own time comes.

Everything else you said though? It did help to throw the worst of his negative feelings out.

“I never intended on leaving,” he says quickly, not thinking about how his feelings may have sounded, “but thank you, my Love. I needed to hear that.”

“Of course, anytime.”

The two of you talk and obsess over how adorable she is, what features she seems to have from who, etc. You eventually fall asleep leaning against Astarion while feeding Eowyn.

When she’s done, Astarion gently takes her from your arms and burps her like every parenting book says to do. It’s not a ridiculously hard process, but the spit up on his shirt is definitely not his favorite.

“Really? This is my nice shirt!” He whispers at Eowyn who just smiles at him, “okay fine, you can spit up on my shirts.”

Eowyn yawns and goes back to sleep- it takes everything in Astarion not to melt into a puddle. He didn’t think a yawn could be so adorable in his whole life.

You begin to snore softly again and Eowyn is right behind you. Astarion chuckles to himself and places a soft kiss on Eowyn’s forehead.

He’s excited to introduce her to everyone- Dal has been sending letters non-stop asking when she can visit. Astarion has been procrastinating because he knows she’ll bring Petras too and if you hadn’t made it… well it would not have been a happy union.

Dal is already referring to herself as Eowyn’s aunt which made Astarion slightly uncomfortable at first because he and his siblings had never truly been close, but then she visited with Petras, Aurelia, and even Violet during your 7th month of pregnancy and you all had hit it off very well and, without Cazador, Astarion found he actually enjoys his siblings’ company. They are actually decent people now that they aren’t all being horribly abused. Well, Violet may be the exception, she’s still a shit who loves to play pranks, but at least they aren’t painful or out of vengeance.

Then there are his traveling companions- his chosen family as you refer to them as. Every single one of them is going to want to meet Eowyn and smother her in love. He’s most excited to see Lae’zel’s reaction- she’s going to be horrified by how squishy human children are, but Eowyn will win her over.

Astarion decides to talk to you about having them visit once you are awake and if you seem to be feeling much stronger. He knows one thing for sure though- Eowyn is going to have the biggest and most loving family anyone could ever have.

[cakerybakery]

!!

Can you imagine if Eve was so devastated after Cain and Abel that despite knowing they were supposed to usher in humanity, Eve couldn’t bear the idea of being pregnant again.

That Adam makes the first deal with the devil because heaven is just like, tell her to suck it up and get on with it, but he loves Eve and can’t hurt her by forcing himself on her.

So he asked Lucifer to give him a way to switch roles with Eve. He’ll bear her children.

Lucifer understands their grief. Lilith recently suffered their first miscarriage. He can’t undo heaven curse upon her, this child wasn’t even planned, but she had been excited. They hadn’t realized when heaven cursed her to never have children it would curse her to miscarry if she became pregnant.

So he makes the deal, Adam will bear all of Eve’s children… plus one.

He tells Adam of the curse that perhaps one day Lilith would want a child and should she, Adam will bear it for her with Lucifer as the sire.

Adam agrees. Heaven is upset at this turn of events but turns a blind eye, they don’t know what exactly Adam’s deal was but he ends up in heaven so it must not be so bad.

It’s been so long, he’s died and even started the exterminations, but one day Lucifer reaches out.

A deal overrides even death. He puts in for some vacation and goes down to hell. Things are tense and it takes a couple months of trying, but it works. He’s away for nearly a year before Charlie is born.

He doesn’t really think about Charlie as being his blood. Adam feels more like a surrogate. Especially since Lilith takes to her so quickly, is so grateful for Adam’s help.

Things go south for him and Eve though. Eve feels betrayed. She hadn’t known about his end of the deal until then.

Things get worse after Lilith and Lucifer split. She confides in Adam and Adam is pissed off on her behalf. Lucifer didn’t take to Charlie the same way Lilith did. He loved her but spent more and more time in a depressive state and wasn’t able to spend much time with her. Lilith couldn’t handle it anymore as she was also being pushed away.

If Lucifer was depressed from seeing the evils of humanity, maybe seeing more sinners killed would cheer him up? They up the exterminations.

This really inspires Charlie to put a stop to the killings.

Vaggie doubts their cause, especially since they’re no longer targeting the worst of humanity but everyone and falls. The hotel is formed. An angel is killed and now Adam is angry and scared for heaven if they can be killed what’ll stop hell from turning on them?

They fight, Adam tries to actually kill Charlie because her birth is where everything went wrong. Maybe if he gets rid of her, things will go back to the way they were.

Lucifer isn’t teasing Adam about fucking Eve, he’s teasing Adam about the deal, that Eve liked fucking Adam more than she’d liked being fucked by Adam.

That he put on weight after the pregnancies. Just generally being an asshole about their deal.

Lucifer blames Adam for the failure of his marriage. Lucifer felt like he was cheating. That Charlie was an affair child. It sent him spiralling and he never told Lilith how he felt.

Adam revives as a sinner and things are difficult. There’s just arguments and hostility until one day Adam, pissed off that Charlie is acting so calm and trying to see the best in everything while he’s raging and Lucifer and him are at each other’s throats again goes, “I can’t believe I gave birth to you! You don’t know anything that’s going on! You can’t fix everything with hope and happiness, puppies and rainbows. Back off!”

And he doesn’t even realize what he’s said until he sees her shocked face. Hears the silence. His brain catches up to his mouth and now Lucifer is really mad.

But Charlie wants to know what Adam meant. Lucifer tries to lie but Adam can’t look into eyes so much like Lucifer’s on that day thousands of years ago. How they looked with tears as Lucifer told him about the miscarriage. How they both cried over the lost children.

He breaks. He tells Charlie everything.

Even the stuff Lilith told him. Charlie confronts Lucifer and he has to admit why he was distant.

Only with everything out in the open at last do things start getting better.

Adam and Lucifer can actually talk about what happened instead of dancing around it and blame each other for feelings the other didn’t know about.

The sex was good but they both felt awful about having it. And guilty for enjoying it.

Charlie wants to know why she was so easy for both of them to give up. Adam assured her that it was because he was doing for Lilith and that Lilith loved her, he didn’t try to get attached because he was doing it for someone else. For Lucifer it was the guilt and he felt horrible for feeling guilty and for not being able to be around as much as he wanted. He’s sorry for not being there for her, for taking his feeling out on her. She does eventually forgive them and enjoys getting to know more about them when they’re not trying to hide the truth from her.

Things aren’t still right with Eve or Lilith but there’s not much they can do. Eve doesn’t want to forgive yet, nor see Adam to let him try. Eve has her own journey to have to come to terms about everything.

Lilith isn’t going back to Lucifer, she’s still hurt he pushed her away as well, but now that things are out in the open though she’s finally able talk to Charlie like how she always wanted, openly without fear of revealing the truth. Their relationship gets better.

There’s a shift now. Adam and Lucifer are enjoying each other’s company. Then one day they’re sharing stories and laughing but Lucifer is looking at Adam differently, sweetly, the mood is shifting. Adam’s close enough they could kiss, he leans in a little closer, Lucifer does too. Now sex is just good without the guilt. Eternity is a long time, spending it with each other sounds like a fine way to enjoy it.

[johaerys-writes]

can you bless my soul with a Snippet Sunday of baby born blue?

*pleading puppy eyes*

Also i love your work so much and it has became a slightly unhealthy obsession 👀

Hello!! I'm so glad you like my work that's so wonderful to hear 🥰 Here’s a little snippet from the next chapter of baby born blue where Achilles is being a menace as usual:

Patroclus jolts just a little when Achilles leans over him, his arms coming around his shoulders from behind.

“Why don’t you come and take a shower with me, hm?” he whispers, lips caressing his ear. “Continue where we left off.”

A flash of rage blinds Patroclus momentarily. He shrugs Achilles off, staring resolutely at his laptop screen.

“Get away from me,” he growls warningly. “I’m busy.”

“Well, you don’t have to be,” Achilles tells him, a little miffed. “We won’t be going back to Greece for another week, at least.”

“A week?” Patroclus turns around to pin him with a glare. “We’re leaving, Achilles. Tomorrow.”

Achilles purses his lips in a pout. “Five days.”

“Tomorrow.”

“Fine, four days. And three quarters.”

“I’m not bargaining with you. We’re leaving tomorrow and that’s final. I’m booking the tickets right now.”

“No, you’re not.”

“Watch me,” Patroclus says, turning back to his laptop and pulling up a flight booking page.

Achilles’ hand shoots over his shoulder, but Patroclus catches his wrist on reflex; there’s a brief struggle where they both try to get their hands on Patroclus’ laptop, and Patroclus seems to be winning until Achilles basically climbs over his lap and onto the desk, slapping the laptop screen shut and sitting half-way on top of it.

“Get off, you’ll ruin it!” Patroclus shouts in a panic, trying to catch Achilles’ legs and pull him away, while Achilles kicks at him and clings onto the desk for dear life. It is all so comical and ridiculous that Patroclus is glad no one is around to see them. He throws his hands up with an angry huff.

“Achilles, you fucking asshole—” He takes a step back and glares at him, sweating beneath his suit. He tries not to worry about Achilles’ weight that’s currently probably crushing his poor laptop as he says, “You’re like a child. You know that? A stubborn, arrogant, spoiled brat. Things always have to go your way, otherwise you’ll throw a fit and make it everyone's problem. I’m done with you, you hear me? I’m done with your bullshit. Done.”

“You weren’t done with me when you were doing me this morning,” Achilles retorts haughtily, tilting his chin up in defiance, and Patroclus has to use every ounce of his willpower not to walk over to the desk and strangle him.

[pandoa]

when you're gone

~where the prefect has died, and he is left to pick up the pieces they shattered~ ~how they cope with your death~

~headcanons~ ~twisted wonderland x gender neutral reader~

warnings: angst, death

if you think i'm going to sugarcoat anything you're dead wrong i am here for tears :>

on the outside, nothing about him seems to have changed. in the mornings, he still wakes up and goes to class. in the afternoon, he still playfully attends club meetings and meets up with his other friends at nrc. in the nighttime, he doesn’t even spare the lifeless walls of ramshackle a glance as he walks back to his dorm. he seems… normal. however, everyone around him can sense that something is wrong. through his fake laughter and sugarcoated lies, everyone around him can see that he incredibly misses you. you left a hole in his heart that he covered up well in thick, scarlet paint. his lies to his friends bring him a toxic kind of comfort. but his lies to himself bring him more pain as each smile suffocates him with every day that passes.

CATER DIAMOND, lilia vanrouge, KALIM AL-ASIM, ace trappola, rook hunt

he works. he works, and works, and works until every fiber of his body begs him to stop. he just wants to forget about you. why can’t he let you go? he misses you every minute of his day and every second of his night. you infected his mind like a haunting curse sent to bring him down, and so he chose to work. to take his mind off of everything you. to ignore the fact that your absence affected his grieving heart the way that it did. you were his greatest distraction, after all. but why deal with grief when there was a perfectly long list of to-do’s to complete right before him instead?

RIDDLE ROSEHEARTS, azul ashengrotto, jamil viper, VIL SCHOENHEIT, ruggie bucchi

he sits at your resting place a little longer than he should. most of the time, he is simply just sitting next to your grave, quiet and lost in his thoughts. when no other person is around, he talks to you. he speaks about his days, the latest shenanigans your friends have been stirring, the new shops that have opened since your passing, the inexplainable emptiness he feels whenever he turns around and remembers you won’t be there by his side like usual. he watches as the flowers around the cemetery bloom and wither with the inevitable work of time. on his days off from class, he stays by your engraved stone as the sun rises and sets, sitting beside you to keep you company. he dearly yearns for your warmth; however, he supposes the cold touch of your gravestone against the caresses of his fingertips was good enough. 

jack howl, cater diamond, EPEL FELMIER, ruggie bucchi, jade leech, LILIA VANROUGE, idia shroud, malleus draconia

he’s irrational. angry. rage seems to be the only thing on his mind. if you think he made livid choices before, then you clearly did not see him the day your death was announced. when crowley had confirmed that you were, in fact, dead, he couldn’t believe it. wait—no. he wouldn’t believe it. someone as strong as you couldn’t die so easily. he knew you all too well. and from that day on, he made it his mission to be the most difficult and obnoxious person to have ever set foot in twisted wonderland, regardless of the chaos he caused because of it. he doesn’t care if others are appalled by his actions. he doesn’t care if his actions caused by anger affect the people around him. fine! let them suffer! their agony cannot compare to the ache he feels, though. he may be blinded by his emotions, but what does it matter anyway? his heart was bleeding and it wasn’t fair. 

LEONA KINGSCHOLAR, floyd leech

he dreams of you every night. whether those dreams are joyful ones or replays of terrible memories, he dreams of it all. you cloud his mind like a never-ending mist, and he can’t seem to get rid of you. you were his star in the darkest shadows of the night. however all stars must burn out eventually, and it seems that you decided to burn out sooner than he thought. each new dream of his unlocks an unwanted image of you. images of you and him laughing along the sunlit pathways of his dorm. images of your precious face, rosy from something he just said. images of you and him together—the way it should have been. it’s to the point that he wishes he could sleep forever just so he can see the image of your face and the sweetness of your voice, even if only in his imagination. the moment he closes his eyes, he does not wish to wake up. he only wants to dream of you again and again until even he is sucked into the depths of death as well. 

riddle rosehearts, SILVER, azul ashengrotto, idia shroud, trey clover, rook hunt, malleus draconia

he doesn’t believe it. you couldn’t have died, you just couldn’t! what would happen to all the memories you made? the future the two of you would make together? the future you both had dreamed about? it was impossible. you can’t be dead. conflicted emotions boil within him as he convinces himself that you are still alive. that you are simply taking a short break from nrc and would return home to him soon. everyone around him is pained to see him being in such shambles—the innocence in denial was just too sweet of a spell. even as he watched your coffin descend six feet to the ground on that mournful day, he remained chained to the shackles of disbelief as tears began to stain his crestfallen face. 

deuce spade, epel felmier, kalim al-asim, sebek zigvolt

a/n: there was one point where i got so into imagining these hcs that i literally could not see what i was writing bc tears were streaming down my face 💀

[soapyghostie]

Hi there 👀

Can I have Thomas Hewitt, Lester Sinclair and Jason Voorhees with Male S/O who gets tense/irritated and angry easily? For example, someone is talking too much and male s/o gets so tense, his body is hard as a rock and he starts breathing heavily.

Hey! Hope you like it!

Thomas Hewitt

Honestly, for once, Hoyt is actually scared of someone. He doesn’t even try to bother messing with Thomas anymore ever since you showed up. Hoyt likes to push people’s buttons all the time, however when he did it to you, he got sucker punched in the jaw and was out like a light. Yeah! That’s what you get for calling Tommy a worthless piece of shit! 

Whenever Thomas sees you starting to get angry, he’ll take you somewhere secluded away from the family and make you take deep, calming breaths. He doesn’t want you to get so blinded by rage that you hurt any other of his family members. 

He’ll make you help him with his chores. You can’t get angry if your mind is busy with something else, right? Thomas has a short temper too and keeping busy helps him stay calm. You don’t have time to worry about stuff that bothers you when there are things to be done. 

Well, apparently chores didn’t work. Yeesh! Thomas thought his temper was bad, but yours is definitely worse. You seriously get angry over the smallest things. It irritates him how easily angered you get. Yes, he’ll be your personal punching bag all you want, but you also become dangerous to the rest of his family. 

He sits you down and you guys identify your triggers. He even suggests you go seek a professional to help you manage your anger. Thomas even gets Hoyt to agree to letting you see a counselor in the next town over. He just doesn’t want to get uppercutted to outer space again. 

Lester Sinclair

Bo doesn’t mess with you or make fun of Lester anymore. When he first got introduced to you as Lester’s boyfriend, he shamed Lester for being gay right in front of your face. You got so angry and Bo could tell too; he could see how tense your muscles were and how tightly you balled up your fists. He was about to tease you when…. WHACK! You gave Bo the blackest black eye no one has ever seen before. Let’s just say that black eye took weeks to heal. 

When Lester starts seeing you get angry, he tells you to hop in his truck and takes you for a joy ride! Yay! Fun! 😃 You guys like to drive to a lake not far from Ambrose. Nature is pretty calming so Lester hopes you’ll find a sense of mind while fishing the lake. 

Your anger gets the best of you around tourists, especially when they make a rude comment to or about Lester. Lester is pretty used to rude comments: it normally doesn’t bother him. However, this one time you and him were taking some tourists to Ambrose when one of them made an awful comment that actually upset Lester. You didn’t hesitate. You threw yourself into the backseat and strangled him: you ended up killing him.

Bo and Vincent had to confront Lester about your temper because it was ruining their scheme. You killing tourists before they even stepped foot in Ambrose would put them on the map for the police to start investigating and they didn’t want that. Bo told Lester if he didn’t get you under control that Vincent would turn you into a wax figure. 

That sent Lester in a panic. He sat with you and talked about your temper. You agreed to go see a counselor to learn to control your anger. Lester takes you every week to the next town over for your counseling sessions and you guys even get ice cream afterwards. 🙂

Jason Voorhees

When Jason first came across your short temper, you guys weren’t even dating yet. In fact, you guys didn’t even know each other at all. You and your friends were all sitting around a campfire on the Crystal Lake property, Jason stalking you guys from in the woods afar. One of your friends decided to tell the tragic story of the Voorhees. During the story, one of your other friends made a nasty comment on Jason’s face and you exploded in their face. 

Flash forward, Jason is pretty aware of your temper and knows every single thing that triggers it. He does everything he can to avoid your temper. All he wants is to not be yelled at. It makes him sad so please don’t yell at him. He’s a sweet boy. 🥺 

Your anger drives you to kill. Everytime you overhear someone talk bad about Jason, you tense up. You're just so blinded by rage that someone would say such awful things about your Jason. He didn’t even do anything wrong to them… yet. Hey! Is that an ax in the tree stump? Dead. After that, you continuously stomp on their head. Jason has to pull you away from the corpse and make you do your breathing exercises.

When he sees you getting angry, he’ll take your hand and out to the lake. He’ll have you sit on the grass looking out towards the lake and you guys will just stay in nature for hours, taking in the fresh air and nature’s sounds.

He makes sure you keep busy. Jason found out that crafts keep you calm: it’s almost like a therapy session! He thinks anyways. 🤔 He does love to do them with you though. His favorite is flower crowns. You guys will make matching flower crowns and you both look cute with them on too. 🙂

[isa-belle1367]

So this is gonna be my AU where all of desmonds ancestors follow desmond around in spirit form (also including other assassins who aren't his ancestors), but this little story is taking place during ac3 when William hit desmond so...ya (this is probably gonna be really bad lmao) also plz do not ship desmond with anyone most of them are related, that's weird

Btw Kass isn't here bc she is still alive, so alexios is here instead

I woke up from the animus, still shocked about what I had heard. Haythem was a Templar.

I always got weird vibes from haythem, but I never thought he would be a Templar.

Over to my left, Altair was sitting on the floor next to Malik, I knew Rebecca and Shaun couldn't see them, not unless they allowed themselves to be seen. Which worked in my favor, I wouldn't even know where to begin to explain this

I wasn't even fully sure what they were or why they were here. At first, I thought it had something to do with them being my ancestors, but with Malik here, I knew that couldn't be the case. Bayek and Aya had also confirmed this.

Altair glanced at me and smiled before going back to his conversation with Malik, which was fine by me because I had more pressing matters to worry about.

"You all saw that, right?" I asked while sitting up.

"Wow," Rebecca looked shocked

"Wow indeed," shaun said, nodding

I glanced to the side, Connor was sitting with his head down. Connor had just started showing up recently, but I already liked him, so it hurt me to see him sad, especially over his father being a Templar.

"The key must be the amulet haythem took from London." I said

Bayek came up behind me. "Your father is behind you."

I nodded, I knew most of my ancestors didn't really like my dad, so they always took it upon themselves to warn me when he was near.

I heard my dad speak up. "We might know what it looks like, but we are no closer to finding it. Desmond, you need to keep going."

I stood, turning to my dad. Next to him, Altair and Malik were now up, glaring daggers at him. Well, everyone was except for Rebecca and Shaun, but Altair and Malik looked ready to gut him.

I could feel their rage, everyone's rage. I guess it comes with having ghosts tied to your soul. You get to feel their emotions.

"Hey, he's your ancestor too. Why don't you hop in the animus?" Normally, I wouldn't have said anything, but it was really hard not too when I felt the anger of 9 people flowing through me.

"Really? That's your response? It's like dealing with a 6-year-old." He stated rolling his eyes

If I thought Altair looked angry before now, he looked furious, but Altair wasn't who I was focused on. It was Connor. Out of everyone, his rage was the strongest. I glanced over and saw Edward next to Connor. At least Edward is there to keep him somewhat calm.

"What is wrong with you, desmond?" William asked, walking around the animus to get closer to me.

I walked over to him, and I could feel my emotions boiling over.

"You wanna know what's wrong? I'm sick of being treated like I'm not even here! Desmond, do this. Desmond do that. Desmond, you better figure things out, or the sun will kill us all.

And I know I was really nice to you, but I'm actually just another Templar plot twist. And yes, I would very much like for you to be controlled by a magic space wizard so that you can murder me. So there's your answer. I'm sick of being your pawn. I thought you might be different, but it turns out you're no better then the fucking Templars."

But before I could even really register what I said and apologize, pain shot through my face. I stumbled back, shocked, and then I was blinded by a bright flash.

I blinked, realizing what I had just said. I knew that those weren't my words coming from my mouth. Well, maybe a few words were mine.

Once the light dimmed, I looked over to see my dad flying to a wall, with Altair and ezio already running towards him with murder in their eyes.

I cursed, sprinting after them

"Altair, Ezio! Stop!" I called out

Luckily, my dad wasn't too far, and I was able to get to him quickly, but the bad news was that Altair and ezio were quicker and already had their weapons drawn. Along with bayek, Jacob, and evie.

"Altair, don't hurt him, you too, Ezio. Bayek, if you shoot my dad, I'm confiscating your bow and Jacob if you throw that bomb. I swear." I called out, just trying to get these fully trained assassins to take a breath and NOT kill my dad.

Altair and ezio frowned at me, clearly disappointed, bayek lowered his bow, and Jacob whispered something to evie.

"Jacob, if you're planning something, stop it."

I sighed, I loved these guys, but they can really be a handful sometimes.

"What they hell was that?" My dad questioned while rubbing his head.

Oh, right, I forgot that to him. He just randomly got blasted across the room, then saw me yelling at seemingly nothing.

I was about to say something, but Alexios was standing behind my dad holding a sword, looking like he was about to spear my dad

I groaned and held my hand out. Alexios rolled his eyes before handing me the sword. It materialized in my hand, I set it over to the side where he couldn't get it before turning back to my dad.

I rubbed my eyes. How the hell was I going to explain this.

Before I could figure out what I was going to say, Malik appeared next to me, but now he didn't appear as transparent. He was still transparent, but you could only tell if you looked long enough. I knew my dad could see him now, too.

He grabbed my face, examining it. "Your nose is bleeding, though it doesn't appear to be broken."

I glanced at my dad, the poor man looked horrified.

I turned to him, pulling away from Malik. I offered a hand to him.

"Why don't you go have Shaun and Rebecca make sure you're not hurt, I'll explain everything in a second."

Malik grabbed my arm, raising an eyebrow. He gave me a look that said, "Are you sure about this."

I nodded, and he let go of my arm. "You're too kind for your own good." He stated in Arabic

After helping my dad up and making sure he could still walk, I turned to Altair and ezio.

"Really? he punched me, and you threw him into a stone wall!" I said exasperated.

Malik handed me a tissue, "Your nose is still bleeding."

"Not the point." I said while I dabbed at my nose with the tissue

I noticed Shaun, Rebecca, and William starting at me. "You know there is no point in keeping yourselves hidden now." I announced to my ancestors.

Jacob grinned, making himself visible along with evie. Bayek and Aya followed, then connor and Edward, and soon everyone was visible.

I glanced back over at shaun and Rebecca, and now they looked scared but also extremely confused. I sighed, I should probably explain everything to them before scolding Altair for throwing my dad.

I began to walk over to them, but bayek appeared next beside me, grabbing my shoulder

"Are you sure you don't want us to....handle your father." Bayek asked in Egyptian.

"No, you are not going to harm my dad mentally, emotionally, or physically." I responded in Egyptian. I didn't think my dad needed to hear that a bunch of skilled assassins wanted him dead.

I walked over to William and the others, ezio and Connor, following closely. I smiled. ezio had been kinda protective over me since he first came here, and while I hadn't gone through connors memories yet, I had a pretty good idea why he was weary of my dad.

"So I guess I should explain."

sorry if this is bad. This is very rushed, but I have had this idea in my head for about a week

Btw in case I didn't name everyone, the assassins following desmond are Altair, Malik, ezio, Aya, bayek, evie, Jacob, Connor, and Edward, (haythem shows up sometimes with shay)

[callmearcturus]

just some things i love about the XMAU triumvirate

RAVEN

she is literally The Reason the timeline is different and she is the fulcrum of the changes and is the most important person, i'm not remotely kidding

I really really hate the trope of "smart, level-headed female character who is too good for these dumb men" but Raven's arc from the first movie to the fourth actually justifies it. she starts off lost and stuck in Charles' shadow in XMFC, is emotional and confused and angry and alone in DOFP, is a free agent and a very very reluctant hero in XMA, and by the time she reached DP she's so fucking wise and mature, it's actually CHARACTER PROGRESSION

she did need a push at the start, and when someone helps her grow emotionally, she actually repays that by returning the favor. Erik gave her a way to live without Charles and helped her learn pride in herself, and in return she's the one to be Erik's better angel in XMA after Charles royally screws that shit up. even just the invocation of her is the thing that wakes Erik up from his rage spiral in DP.

likewise, she is the one who over and over and over again voices the Charles You Fuck-Up chorus against Charles. in XMA she calls him tf out for his rose-colored glasses because she's out in the thick of it, she's the boots on the ground where he is not. in DP, she drags his ass for his respectability politics and ego-stroking, and she's fucking right.

taking a character who literally had to hide their identity for most of her life and then making her a literal hero-- all of the younger mutants look up to her, her appearance on TV changed everyone's lives, Ororo literally brings her up the second anyone glances at her painting of Raven. and the clear discomfort Raven feels about that, having tripped into being... kind of what she herself needed growing up, and her complicated feelings about it.

SHE IS LITERALLY THE PERSON CHARLES THINKS HE IS. she is a symbol of the worth of mutants, she is the foot soldier who rescues people in danger and brings them to safety, and when someone is off the deep end and NEEDS to hear the right thing, Charles fucks it up EVERY TIME but Raven doesn't.

she's vulnerable she's a bitch she's a diplomat she's a smuggler she's serving cunt she's got a bigger dick than you she's the ultimate girldad

her makeup and prosthetics in DP are genuinely beautiful, they finally figured out a solution for JLaw's apparently allergy to most techniques and she looks so cool

Ranking Amongst Jean Grey's Dads: Best Dad. Tough love, turns a blind eye when you're doing shots and having a party, probably drives a motorcycle, turned Ororo queer. Will show up to bail you out of jail if you get a trouble but will only ground you for a week.

ERIK

might be the greatest character of all time? he's really high up there, y'all.

lets just lay it out: he's a Jewish holocaust survivor who speaks at least four languages and works as a nazi hunter and is the reason the bullet curved (he was trying to save Kennedy actually). his Magical Girl Power-Up Sequence is tearing Auschwitz apart with his powers, he can control the magnetic fields on the entire planet, he floats in a Sad Snowglobe Of Magnetic Angst. he also becomes a foundry worker with ginger scruff and flannel shirts who sings polish lullabies to his daughter. he also is called in to talk to invading American soldiers and basically tell them Come Back With A Warrant and is savvy enough to avoid letting said soldiers get hurt on his land bc he knows the political ramifications. all of that is FACTUAL.

The first time we hear him speak English, his voice drops into that chasm-deep baritone and I literally went "oh no"

This Bitch Rehabilitated Himself. We joke about how Magneto Was Right but the reality is more complicated. He is certainly more right than Charles, but the gap in his ideology is intersectionality, which is wild given his origin story is Gddamn Nazi Hunter and when he decides to quit The Revolution, he becomes a laborer. All of the elements of his past, warrior to lab rat to revolutionary to dad to laborer, they all synthesize into what he finally becomes. He's a leader who is just as comfortable citing legal precedent and playing spymaster as he is constructing houses.

Punct: "Arc, do you just have a thing for public servants?" Me: "Shut the fuck up. Yes. Shut up."

The sheer physicality of how he uses his powers, how when he is tearing the planet apart, he is serene and calm and when he's in one-on-one combat he's physical and full of motion and feels like he's been doing this for his entire life.

Look: the fight on the train in DP is hot as hell. also it works as an encapsulation of his morals. when threatened, he is ruthless and efficient and brutal. when he's the last man standing between Jean and the villain, he seals the way behind him and prepares to die with a smile and a quip. Erik decides what needs to be done and does it, and if its a thankless, inglorious death, he's ready for it.

The entire dynamic of Raven and Erik. The respect, the love, the fact they definitely fucked and that's behind them but it was important to them both. In DOFP, Erik tries to kill Raven to save the timeline, and the moment her death isn't needed, he goes to her like "Yep, I did that because I thought it was right. Now its not. Here's a bunch of information you need to know." AND IT'S THAT FUCKING SIMPLE. The way Raven views Erik as almost a known quantity, someone reliable and predictable, the trust and understanding they have, SLAYS ME.

HE IS THE ONE WHO HAS TO REHABILITATE CHARLES XAVIER. In the end, it's Charles who has fucked up his life so thoroughly that he needs love and guidance to find his way again, and it's Erik who shows up and is determined he will take Charles home and accepts the responsibility of that decision.

Ranking Amongst Jean Grey's Dads: Second Best Dad, and that's including the time he lowkey tried to murder her. He's STILL second best dad. He's like the dad who didn't get custody in the divorce but when something Bad happens, the kids go to him because they trust him to help them. He can and will help you bury the bodies. He's also easier to be emotional with bc if you get angry, he's ready for it, unlike your Other Dad. And if you need to cry, he'll let you cry on him without asking you over and over "are you alright darling, do need anything, you know if you wanted to speak to a therapist i know seventeen of them" like your Other Dad, no Erik's just like "okay?" and doesn't make it a federal fucking issue. also raven probably has a motorcycle but erik definitely has a motorcycle.

Charles Fucking Xavier

the fakest bitch in the world, the self-loathing king, the addict who can't stop hurting himself, the martyr of martyrs. MCAVOY DID NOT NEED TO BRING THIS MUCH GAME TO THIS ROLE AND YET HE DID.

what makes the XMAU timeline so good is that they somewhere decided "actually, Charles is a liar" and he's not kind of a liar, he's THE liar, and it all pays off in Dark Phoenix when his carefully constructed world comes crashing down around his head.

He never understood how much he loved and needed Raven until she was gone. When she's gone and he finally recognizes who she is, sees her as more than his ward, it's the moment he most needed her. Charles is, at his core, even more than the blunt force metaphor of DOFP, an addict. He needs people to temper him and to tell him no. Left with Hank (basically living which his drug dealer and enabler), he becomes a bitter, fucked up mess who has lost all the joy in his life. He goes from the guy who is SO EXCITED TO SEE NEW MUTATIONS to calling Peter "a pain in the arse," he's just SO cold and lost and bitter and it colors everything about him.

Erik and Raven had this thing he wants, this certainty and understanding of who they each are. When he finally becomes The Professor in XMA, it feels like a pure performance. He can't drink and drug himself to death in the new world Raven has created, so he is going to be the Professor and he has all these little habits and bits of patter that feel constructed to create this shell for him to fill out and become.

AND THIS PRETTY MUCH IS CONFIRMED IN DP because Charles can't do it Erik's way and can't do it Raven's way, so he needs to win in his way, this perfect PR performance of Professor Charles Xavier who can fill your mind with "Help is on the way" at any moment. He will make the world love them because he doesn't know how to handle any alternative. But its the same knife's edge he's been balanced on since the beach in Cuba, the same edge he's been balancing on since Raven was on TV pointing a gun at Trask, the same edge he falls off in DP when he loses Raven, loses Jean, and just like that, the entire world decides to put him and the people he loves into camps. It was ALWAYS right under his feet, and his tightrope walk was always doomed to fail because to keep it going, he would have to sacrifice anyone and everyone who couldn't keep up the same facade he does.

Because Charles is angry. My gd, he is angry. YOU WANT WHAT I HAVE? YOU WANT TO FEEL WHAT I FEEL?!

He lost Raven and blows up at Erik to try to blame him only to get told tf off for abandoning everyone he was meant to care for. He lost Erik because Erik would not become the right kind of charismatic leader and he left Erik in prison for a fucking decade. He lost Raven again for ignoring the realities outside of Westchester, ignoring vicious violent injustices. He lost Erik again because his secondary mutation is the ability to say the wrong thing at the right time. He lost Erik again when he became such a fake-bitch that Erik moved to a remote island just to get away from TV news and magazines lmao. And he lost Jean because he's a liar, even if he's a liar for love. ALL OF HIS CAREFUL PLANS AND NARRATIVES FAIL IN THE END. THEY RENAMED THE SCHOOL AND SENT HIM OUT ON A LONG SABBATICAL TO FIGURE HIS SHIT OUT.

but i love him. he's a complete fuck-up who needs to have people around him to stop him, but I love him because he's wanted to be a dad when he was 12 years old, he finally learns how to say he was wrong, he sits at Jean's bedside and comforts her when she's scared, he non-consensually overwrote jean's memory. he did it to cut out the fact her father hated her and blamed her for her mother's death. he believes in Jean and trusts her in a way only Raven and Scott do in the end. Jean puts him through one of the most grotesque, de-humanizing things imaginable and he still immediately offers himself up to her to look into his heart and trusts her, still trusts her when he should not

he's a fuck-up and loses everything for what is without a doubt his mistakes. and he lives through it. so he has to keep going. and Erik's going to help him.

he once (falsely) accused Erik of taking Raven and abandoning him. in the end, Erik shows up and refuses to leave him. because Charles is a fuckup but the love is there and will always be there. Because I think Charles is only able to hurt people so much because he loves them so much. Anger is just love left out and gone to vinegar.

Ranking Amongst Jean Grey's Dads: Third Best, Second Worst Dad. Gd, he sucks so much. He got Raven killed, he lucked out of not getting Jean killed, he gets kicked out of his own fucking school, even Hank the guy who was his live-in drug dealer for years calls him to the mat. Still better than John Grey, who decided his eight year old child was a murderer and handed him off to a rich stranger and never looked back. Fuck that guy.

anyway you reached the end so i'm here to tell you that the best XMAU movie is DOFP. then Dark Phoenix. then XMFC. then Apocalypse. yes, I'm serious.

[somethingvicked]

True love of mine part 12

warnings: female reader, angry fans, harrassment, angst, fluff, Eddie being a sweetheart

Chapter 11.

Now

Y/N

The next day was a work day for you, but you had stayed with Eddie for the night. It felt like you couldn’t be without him more than necessary after being apart for so many years.

He had held you close, seemingly not wanting to let you go this morning and you knew exactly how he felt. “I… I can come pick you up after work,” he suggested. “I’ll take a car, be more subtle.”

You frowned. “Why? Are you… you bothered by being seen with me?”

Eddie gave you a look. “You should know me better than that, Y/N. No, I just don’t want it to get out just yet… you don’t know… being famous like I am has its downsides too. Among them that my privacy is invaded constantly. As soon as I’m seen with a woman, regardless if it’s someone I work with or my hairdresser, the gossip tabloids wonder whether I’m screwing her or dating her, or both. While my fans… well, while they love me they hate anyone that might get too close to me and ruin the dream they have that they will some day be that person.”

You nodded, seeing the point he tried to make.

“Alright, I suppose that makes sense. But… we won’t have to hide this forever, do we?”

Eddie shook his head. “No, of course not. I don’t want us to hide it at all. Just that we are a bit discreet in the beginning. I lost you for so many years, I’m not ready to share you with the whole world yet.”

You laughed. “I feel like I already am sharing you with the world. But yes. This – us… we’ll stay at it just being ‘us’ for a little while longer, enjoy it.”

You took your coat and then frowned. “By the way, Eddie… what are we now?”

Eddie raised an eyebrow at you. “Nothing has changed for me, kitten. I think ‘dating’ isn’t enough of a word for what we are. But let’s just say we’re in a relationship for now. Until...”

Eddie quieted then and your heart skipped a beat. But you didn’t want to force it out of him.

“That’s good. For now,” you said and saw his head snap up, kind of like your reaction earlier, his eyes lightning up.

“For now,” he repeated and then hugged you again before you stepped outside.

You had barely stepped outside though when there was a message from one of your co-workers, telling you to check out the latest article among the gossip pages.

You gasped as you did. There were photos of you and Eddie outside the club he had played at the other night, and you getting on his motorcycle. The headline read “Munson’s mystery ‘true love’?”

Somehow they had dug up all the information about you, where you worked, where you lived, even your Instagram account – although that was private so they hadn’t been able to tag you.

It didn’t stop there, though. There were more than a hundred comments, most of them from other women or young girls:

“Who’s she?”

“She’s ugly.”

“What?! How dare she take my man!”

“Eddie deserves so much better!”

“She’s old! Why would he want her when he can have someone young and hot?!”

“He’s so out of her league. She should crawl back into her hole and let him go.”

“Go kill yourself, whore.”

“I bet she’s a gold digger.”

“Bitch. I hope she dies.”

And so on and on.

You felt sick. In that same moment Eddie called you and you answered, your voice trembling.

“By your tone I assume you’ve seen? Greg just told me. I’m so sorry, kitten.”

“I…” you started but you didn’t know what to say. You didn’t want to care about what they say and some of the comments didn’t bother you – that they called you ugly and old, that was expected when some of his fans were barely eighteen. It was the blind rage and hatred that had affected you.

Who the hell wished that someone they didn’t even know would kill themselves? It was horrible!

“Kitten?” Eddie said and you took a deep breath.

“Yes?”

“Look, I don’t think you should go to work today. They clearly know where you work, there’s a good chance that the paparazzis try to crowd you there. Or, that some crazy fans stalk your there. Come back up and I’ll call Greg over to see how we should handle this.”

“Alright,” you said, walking back to the building you had just left.

“Jesus, what are we going to do?” you mumbled, clutching a cup of tea in your hands.

“I don’t know, kitten,” Eddie said. “The thing is, it’s out now. But there’s a possibility it will die down if we ignore it. They say there’s no smoke without fire but if we turn that around and there’s no more fire, then they will eventually move on to the next scandal.”

You raised an eyebrow. “This is a scandal?”

Eddie shook his head. “No, of course not, but you know what I mean.”

“Well… how are we going to prove there’s no fire then?” you wondered, “there is a fire, we are together after all! And we’ve been together before – if someone goes digging enough, they will easily find proof of that.”

“Yes, I know that,” Eddie said, running a hand through his hair. “But there’s a possibility it will all die down if we aren’t seen together for a while. Then they will just assume it was a one time thing and…”

You jerked, looking at him with wide eyes. “What?! You want to… are you suggesting we break up again?!”

Eddie looked both horrified and offended at the same time. “What? No, of course not! I just meant that we shouldn’t be seen together publicly, so that it will…”

“Well, that’s the same thing, by omission,” you all but yelled. “You say you will never let me go after all that’s happened, but what is this? One little ‘scandal’ as you so eloquently put it, and you’re ready to bail?!”

Eddie’s face paled even more. “Y/N, I’m trying to protect you! Did you see what they wrote about you this morning?! You really think that will go away? Because I can tell you right now, it won’t. I’m so glad of what I have accomplished and I’m grateful to all of my fans, but… at the same time, it’s as much a curse as a blessing. I’ve had women and men following me to hotels, crowd me outside restaurants, getting up on stage to try and touch me and refusing to let go until security forced them away! I’m used to it by now. But you’re not. And they will go after you even worse, because I haven’t showed interest in anyone for so long, and suddenly, here you are.”

You realized what he was trying to say and wiped the tears away. “I don’t care,” you said with a small voice. “You left me once. I understand why you did it but I won’t go through that again, Eddie, regardless of whether it’s fake or not. Don’t you understand how humiliating this is? Not because of your fans but because I have to be your dirty little secret. Well, I won’t.”

You walked toward the door and looked back, seeing Eddie actually panicking.

“Kitten, please don’t go!”

“I have to,” you said, turning to look at him. You loved him. You loved him more than anything else in the world, but because you did, he had the power to hurt you more than anyone else, even if he didn’t mean to.

“Eddie, look. Maybe we jumped into this too quickly. You’re clearly used to do everything alone, making every decision on your own. But you did that fifteen years ago and it broke us. And now you want to do it again, regardless of what I want. I won’t be your dirty little secret, or your mistress, coming and going through secrets passages or in different disguises every time. I don’t know much about how it is living in the spotlight with fans that could turn around and wish you dead within the span of two seconds. But I would be willing to, if you were there with me. Yet you didn’t even consider that, did you? I think you need to think long and hard on what you actually want from me and what you are willing to do. Until then I guess I’ll do just what you wanted me to. Pretend like this was just a one time thing.”

You were angry. You knew you would regret those harsh words sooner rather than later but right now you couldn’t find it in you to care.

The old story about how Eddie had decided to leave without even trying to talk to you or anyone of his friends, or Wayne before – and after that, shut you out when he finally reached out to Wayne again – still stung inside you even though you understood why he had done it. But the fact that he once again did it… it was just too much. It couldn’t go on if you were to be together again.

You opened the door and then turned around and raised your hand. “Don’t follow me. I want to be alone.”

A few hours later you were sitting on your couch with a coffee cup and reading a book. You didn’t want to use your phone or watch TV, fearing to be reminded of the new mess you’d found yourself in.

You missed Eddie already, but you were still upset with him.

Or were you the one in the wrong? You couldn’t exactly expect that Eddie would be the same as when you were teenagers, right?

But that wasn’t what you wanted. Of course you missed those days, when things were so easy and uncomplicated. It wasn’t what you expected now though – you just wanted to be with Edde.

But you wanted to actually be with him. Not in secret or some fake pretend.

You weren’t worried any more about him wanting someone else, a younger fan or some model that would throw themselves at him. If he had been more celibate than you during these years because he missed you, that said something.

And at the same time, if he ignored this, pretending like it was nothing, didn’t that send a message too? That it was nothing. You were nothing.

You sighed and wiped your eyes, refusing to cry over this when there was a knock on the door.

You got up from the couch and went into the hallway to open the door.

Outside stood Eddie. He looked upset.

“What’s wrong?” you wondered, and Eddie stepped inside, holding his phone up to you. It was a picture of the outside of your building. The gate to the building was locked, you needed a code to enter and right now you were deeply grateful for that because Eddie’s pictures showed the front wall of your building, and the word ‘whore’ sprayed in angry red letters. You gasped.

“This is what I meant, kitten,” Eddie sighed, running his hands through his hair. “You’re the one they will be coming after. But I also realized you were right. You’re more than some mistress and I refuse to let this happen to you without doing something. So… I did. I hope you won’t get angry with me for not asking you – again – but… well, you can see for yourself.”

He gave you his phone. It was all over social media and the gossip pages. Eddie had made a statement about the pictures taken, confirmed that you were his girlfriend, that he had known you from before he became famous and that the song he had written was indeed about you and you two reconnecting. He had also said that he asked his fans to be kind to you, because he loved you and needed you in his life and if they supported him, they should support you, because you made him happy.

There were still some angry comments, some claiming that the timing of you coming back into his life when he’s at the height of his career seemed rather suspicious.

You didn’t care about that, though, because they didn’t know the whole story. Let them draw their wrongful conclusions.

Eddie was watching you, waiting for a reaction. You smiled at him and wrapped your arms around his neck.

“Thank you,” you whispered. “That’s all I wanted. You to acknowledge me as someone you love.”

“You’re more than that, kitten,” Eddie said. “You’re my forever and a day, remember? My first and last. Always.”

Then,

Hawkins, 1984

Eddie

Eddie hadn’t given the meeting with Deborah Wallace any more thought until Y/N came to him one afternoon, very distraught even though she tried to appear calm.

It was after gym class and apparently Deboarah had humiliated Y/N in front of the whole locker room, saying that Eddie had practically begged her to fuck him, and he would give away the weed to her for free, that she, Deborah had asked if he didn’t have a girlfriend and that Eddie had replied that Y/N was boring as hell in bed, that he might as well do it himself – at least then it would be done thoroughly, unlike when Y/N did it.

Deborah had finished with how she had jerked Eddie off and that Eddie had said that just her hand was better than Y/N’s pussy.

Eddie had never gotten so angry in his entire life. For the first time ever he seriously thought about harming another person, regardless of whether she was a girl or not. He wanted to slam Deborah’s stupid face into the lockers, making nosebleed spurt from that pretty nose that she had to stick everywhere.

But he would never do that and he had more pressing matters to take care of.

“Oh, kitten,” he cooed, wrapping his arms around Y/N. “She’s lying. I promise you, it’s all lies. She came on to me last time when she bought from me, saying that perhaps we could make a deal. I told her no, that I had a girlfriend and I loved you, and she said you wouldn’t have to know. I told her I was done dealing with her, because she disrespected you. I promise you, kitten. I would never do  that to you. I love you. Only you.” He looked into Y/N’s eyes, begging her to believe him.

It seemed she was struggling, like she wanted to believe him but something else bugged her.

 “Why didn’t you tell me she did that, then?” Y/N asked, wiping her eyes. “It feels like you tried to hide it from me.”

“I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want to upset you,” Eddie said, realizing that that had come back to bite him in the ass, “and since I told her to find another dealer, that it would be the end of it. I clearly underestimated her level of bitchiness.”

Y/N snorted. “You don’t… you don’t want to be with her, Eddie? She’s like… the hottest girl in school. All the guys wants to either hook up with her or be in a relationship with her, even if they have girlfriends.”

Eddie rolled his eyes. “No, I don’t want to be with her. I’ve never have, kitten. She’s rotten to the core, she’s talking shit about everyone, even her closest friends. How could anyone want to be with someone like that? And why would I, when I have the best girl ever by my side already?”

Y/N finally smiled and let him hug her. “Really? So… even if they offer you wouldn’t pick a cheerleader over me?”

“Not even if Miss Universe herself showed up and told me to pick,” Eddie promised her, kissing her forehead. “You’re the best thing that has ever happened to me. I’d be more than stupid to fuck that up. I’ve neve claimed to be particularly bright, but I’m not that dumb.”

“You’re not dumb at all,” Y/N said, rubbing her cheek against his shoulder.

That being said, Eddie wouldn’t let Deborah Wallace get away with trying to split him and Y/N up or humiliate Y/N like that. The next day the principal called Deborah to his office through the school speakers. An anonymous tip had come in that Deborah hid a large amount of weed and alcohol in her locker – enough for the school to suspend her for a month and call chief Hopper to take her to jail until her parents came to bail her out.

A woman scorned is a dangerous thing, but love conquers all.

taglist: @ali-r3n @ficsbypix @mewchiili @melodymunson @ches-86 @jenniquinn @eddiemunsonfuxks @stolen-in-moonlight @alastorssimp @pandemoniusstuff

(let me know if you want to be on the taglist!)

please, like, comment and reblog!

Your likes are wonderful but reblogs expand my reading circle.

[heartsofminds]

and the songbirds are singing like they know the score - sneak peek

"Because doing what’s best for her is hard, and he realizes that when he can feel his friend wanting to put him through a wall over the phone." or Jake calls the landline at 11 PM on a Thursday because his goddaughter is wasted and Bradley is less than thrilled.

A/N: in light of me finishing my second to last semester of undergrad and my undying love for Bradley's precocious daughter from the halloween fic, i thought i would post a little preview of what i'm working on for them! love these characters more than life and def so excited for y'all to get to know them better soon.

No one ever calls the landline. Very few people even have the phone number for the landline outside of Maverick and a few close family friends. Besides, anyone who would need to reach you had your cell phone numbers anyway. 

So who the actual fuck is calling your landline at 11 PM on a Thursday night? 

You hear Bradley yank the phone from its place on the wall and exhale with a huff. After sixteen years of being together, you know that huff is his tell of being annoyed. 

“Hello?” he gruffly answers. His irritation makes the questions sound more like a monotonous statement. 

“Bradshaw –” 

Jake Seresin is on the other end of the line. You can recognize his voice from the other room with his cadence even though you’re not the one on the phone with him. Having “mom ears” does that to a person, you suppose. 

“Why the fuck are you calling my house at 11 PM?” Bradley snaps. 

You’re wondering the same thing, but you’ll have to talk to him about being so rude and huffy. Jake may actually need something, after all. 

“Well you weren’t answering your fucking cell and neither was your wife so I had to do something.” 

Bradley rolls his eyes and looks back into the darkened living room. He’s been more on edge about you lately. 

“You can’t miss me that fucking much to be spamming my phone with calls,” he sighs and leans his back up agaisnt the wall. He notices the open blinds on the back door and starts to walk to close them before he’s yanked back by the phone cord. 

“Don’t cream your pants. I don’t like you that much.” 

Bradley lets out a soft snort in amusement before he remembers that he’s supposed to be annoyed. He opens his mouth to ask Jake what exactly it is that’s so damn important and can’t wait until tomorrow morning when he’s beaten to it. 

“I have Quincy here in the passenger seat and she’s beyond unwell.” 

The statement sends Bradley into panic mode instantly. His voice catches in his throat and he can’t recall a moment he’s had where he’s felt like he’s had to force the breath out of himself like this. 

He lets out something between a huff, a cough, and a wheeze before remembering he can’t make a huge show of himself right now because it’ll also throw you into panic mode. 

“What the fuck do you mean she’s not well? Jake, where the fuck are you?” he whispers into the phone, trying to cover his mouth as much as possible so you can’t even read his lips if you tried. “Is she okay? What’s –” 

It doesn’t take a genius to know that Bradley is panicking. Even Bradley’s beyond intoxicated and passed out seventeen-year-old daughter sitting in the passenger seat of Jake’s truck could piece together that her father is nothing but a raging ball of anxiety at the moment, and Jake is positive that his friend is growing another patch of gray hair as the seconds pass. 

“Oh. . . fuck, I guess I should’ve phrased that better,” Jake admits. His truck comes to a halt at a spotlight and he glances over at his goddaughter. “She’s fine. She’s definitely drunk as shit right now, but I’m on the way to drop her at yours.”

Bradley can feel the obnoxious orange ball of anxiety inside of him shift to a tumultuous rage induced scarlett. His hand tightens around the cord of the phone and he has to stop himself before he yanks it out of the wall. He’s gotten angry like this before, but it never was angled toward his daughter. 

Never toward his sweet, precious girl. Never toward his amazing Quincy. 

But she knows the rules (and she chose to break them) and she knows what was told to her (and she snuck out anyway) and she knows that it’s dangerous to be that drunk (but yet she’s passed out in Jake’s truck). 

And if that isn’t both nerve-wracking and frustrating, Bradley doesn’t know what is. 

“Put her on the phone,” he speaks lowly. 

Jake gulps, knowing that he’s in one of those moods. Bradley doesn’t express anger as often as he expresses annoyance, but an angry Bradley is never someone he wants to be around. And from the way that Quincy made it sound when she called him to come get her from some random party in the middle of nowhere thirty five minutes away from her house at 11 PM on a school night, he knows her ass is being had tomorrow morning by both you and Bradley. 

There’s absolutely no way his goddaughter is coming out of this unscathed. 

“Dude, she’s obliterated right now and I think you talking to her is just gonna make it worse.” 

“And I don’t give a fuck. I said, put her on the fucking phone now.” 

Jake shakes his head and rolls his eyes as Quincy begins to stir next to him in her seat. He’s always been the person she’s called whenever she was in trouble. He always got the first hug whenever she was brought around. He’s always been her source of comfort outside of her parents and he’s never minded it because being around her is easy. 

It was easy to carry her around whenever she asked when she was little. It was easy to give in and let her sit in the cockpit of his grounded aircraft with him and let her play with the buttons when her dad and Papa Mav refused. It was easy to pick her up from school mid-day and take her to lunch. It was easy to bring her back gifts from whenever he was deployed and even easier picking them out because she’s a sucker for meaningless trinkets. 

It was easy to be her godfather and she’s a smart and relatively easy kid, but Jake has never been prepared for this part. 

Because doing what’s best for her is hard, and he realizes that when he can feel his friend wanting to put him through a wall over the phone. 

“No,” he speaks and he can hear Bradley let out a small gasp at the denial of his request, “She fucked up bad, Bradley. I’m sure she knows and you can have it out with her tomorrow morning, but right now, she’s not in any place to be screamed at and made to feel worse. You’re her dad and m’not tryin’ to take that away from you –” 

Bradley scoffs, “What exactly do you fuckin’ know about raising kids, Jake? Huh?” 

Jake grimaces and decides to take the brute of Bradley’s anger. Better him than Quincy, he figures. Besides, he knows Bradley doesn’t mean any of it. . . At least he hopes he doesn’t. 

“You obviously can’t be a dad because you just wanna have fun and dick around all the fucking time. Buying them fuckin’ candy and letting them off scott-free doesn’t do shit. You don’t have what it takes to raise a fucking person.” 

Jake doesn’t know why, but part of him starts to get that prickly feeling in his chest. Usually, every insult rolls off his shoulders into oblivion and he gets off on making people angry and being able to put on the facade that he really couldn’t give a damn if he tried.

But this one hurts because he knows that Bradley is right in some regard. 

He’s a runner and he lets people down. He’s nearing fifty (and God, he never thought he ever would) and has never even bothered to settle down. And he’s made the peace with himself a long time ago that he doesn’t deserve a wife or a family or kids because he would never be able to love them more than he loves himself; more than he loves his career. 

To hear one of your closest friends admit that to you openly, to know that someone outside of you sees it too, makes his heart stop momentarily and forces him to feel the ache of the words meant to stab him in the chest. 

“I understand,” he swallows. He knows arguing with Bradley isn’t the right thing to do at the moment and never will be. “I’m still not putting her on the phone. We will be at your house shortly.” 

The line goes dead and Bradley is overcome with a wave of anger that drowns him like a tsunami. He knows what he said was shitty and that he has no right to do that to someone who he considers a close friend, but he just can’t help himself. 

He knows no allies when it comes to his daughter. 

[cameleonvermillon]

I was/am replaying Koujaku's route from the very beginning of the game, and I forgot how involved he is in the common route. It's genuinely an entirely different experience.

At first, I was a little confused by how much effort was put into developing him compared to say, Clear or Noize — but considering his actual route, it makes sense why he's so prominent compared to everyone else. Koujaku and Aoba's interaction in Platinum Jail reads like a couple on the brink of breaking up, and without all the hard work put into the setup that dynamic would completely fall flat.

Idk if I could put it into words but I love how it feeds into the bad end especially.

Koujaku's past comes back to haunt him and it causes a divide in their relationship that grows wider and wider as time goes on. Koujaku's secretive, sneaking off, snapping at Aoba, and almost assaults him in his growing rage. A lack of communication and mutual trust sends them spiraling so fast in such a short amount of time it's jarring and gives you emotional whiplash.

The way it's KOUJAKU'S ROMANCE route and the second you step into Platinum Jail he ditches Aoba. The two spend more time fighting than getting along and while there are sweet moments, they are scarce and fleeting.

Aoba goes through so much in that route (not discounting Koujaku's own suffering obviously) but despite everything, he still wants to make things work with Koujaku. Despite everything he does Aoba chooses Koujaku over and over. He has to fight for their relationship, and it's only when he does the heavy lifting that they make any progress and recover from the major setbacks. Even then, Koujaku still hasn't fully opened up. He still has things he's hiding.

Koujaku's bad end is the natural progression of their relationship if Koujaku doesn't at least try to get better.

The message of Koujaku's entire arc is how your own trauma can affect the people around you and hurt the ones you love — if you let it. Koujaku is angry and in pain, obsessed with this idea of revenge that he knows won't make him better, but he still chases anyway. Koujaku HAS to start the healing process or he will destroy himself.

Remaining closed off will leave him willingly consumed by his own agony. He will be a miserable, angry, violent beast, stewing in his own guilt and shame. Haunted by his past and lashing out at the person who loves him most. Because that kind of spiral isn't just self-destructive, it will pull Aoba down with him. Aoba has chosen him over and over, and he will continue to fight for him even if it's a losing battle.

If Koujaku is lost in his own despair, Aoba loses himself trying to *fix* Koujaku. He gives and gives and gives and gives until there is nothing of him left. Until he is a former shell of who he was, his entire identity built upon what he can do for Koujaku. How he can save Koujaku.

It destroys him because Koujaku *can't* be fixed. Aoba can be there for support and help along the way, but it's up to Koujaku to accept that help and move on from his past. It's not something that happens at the snap of your fingers or magically overnight.

If he doesn't, they become Shiroba and Beastjaku, a relationship consisting of nothing but sex and violence. Koujaku has lost all but his anger and takes it out on Aoba. And Aoba, still blinded by love, willingly accepts it. Koujaku's trauma has swallowed him whole, possessed his body, and begun eating Aoba alive. Shiroba and Beastjaku are the very definition of an abusive relationship. Two people who shouldn't be together but remain in a relationship that continues to destroy them both.

Because despite everything, there's still love there. It's just the worst form their love could take.

And I find the stark contrast between their good and bad ends absolutely breathtaking.

[kawaiikenna]

Angry Dragons are Never Good

AO3 link for anyone that’s interested. ^w^ Here’s the original prompt and posting if y’all want.

Danny could tell that he was destroying things and hurting people. His core aches at every person he can hear scream and building crashing down. He was clinging onto the barest sliver of sentience through the painfully blinding rage that burned in his chest and tore at his soul. His mind’s eye was hazy and he could only catch snippets of what was happening and what he was doing. Initially Danny had been in Amity but within the last…hour? He thinks it’s been an hour. But within that time he fled from his hometown and was now in the outskirts of a much larger city.

There were also people. At first they all ran away from him screaming. Good, that way he couldn’t accidentally hurt more than he had already. But soon after that a new group of people came. They threw weapons and shot guns at Danny’s gleaming white hide. No mortal weapon could harm him in this form. If anything, it just annoyed and aggravated him further, making him rampage more violently. More people came and tried to hurt Danny. Some of it worked, but most did not.

Danny struggled to keep conscious but once they started throwing magic at him it was a lost battle. The magic was hurting him and binding his wings. So he switched forms. Though still a dragon, his bright white scales became black as pitch and he felt gravity take a hold of him again. The attacking people didn’t stop. Instead they tried harder to hurt him. They bound his wings further, making it impossible to move them. They tethered him down to the earth. Muzzled him when he had tried to snap at a few of the people that approached. Now everything hurt and he just wanted it to stop. Just stop! Please, it hurts! It hurts! Stop, stop, stopstop STOP !

And suddenly it did.

The blazing rage receded and the cool balm of his core started working on healing his injuries. Danny felt himself start to shrink and become smaller, closer to his original size. The magic binding him tried to adapt to his sudden size change but instead of tightly holding and wrapping around him, it instead looped loosely around his much smaller body. And now that the rage and anger had completely vanished, anxiety and panic flooded through him. He had hurt people. Even if it wasn’t intentional he had hurt people. That went against every instinct that he had had from the moment his accident had happened.

Danny falls to the ground in a crumpled heap. He somewhat succeeds in sitting up. His first thought is that he’s back in Phantom form. His second thought immediately after that was to get the amulet off as soon as he possibly could. So he reaches towards his neck and pulls at the golden chain. The serpentine eye glinting in the low light of the polluted city. Almost as if it was maliciously mocking him.

It doesn’t budge. It’s not moving. Why isn’t it moving?

His panicked breathing hitches and picks up. His hands start to shake uncontrollably. He pulls again, this time trying to put as much strength into the gesture as possible. The cold metal chain only bites further into his skin.

No! Nononono, no! He has to get it off! He has to keep everyone safe and he isn’t safe with this thing clasped around his neck. He has to get it off. He has to get it off. He hAS TO GET-

An unfamiliar set of hands try to help him. Danny jerks out of their grasp. “NO!” Danny yells, his Wail tinged the word. It knocks back whoever was in front of him a few steps and rattles whatever debris around him. Tears are freely flowing down his face to drip to the ground or onto himself. When had he started crying?

The set of hands approach again and hover in front of the teen. Danny looks past the hands to see a bedraggled blond haired man in a rumpled trench coat with tired eyes. He’s saying something but Danny can’t hear him over the ringing in his ears. More tears well in the panicking teen’s eyes as he lets out a broken sob.

“I didn’t mean to hurt everyone! I don’t want to hurt anyone!” Danny harshly pulls at the golden chain around his throat. “I just want it off. I just want it off! But it won’t come off! Why won’t it come off?” Another sob wracked his body as Danny stops pulling at the amulet and just grasps it limply instead.

The man in the trench coat offers a hand and says something again. Danny still can’t understand what he’s saying, but the emotions he’s detecting are calm and reassuring. So he eyes the hand but doesn’t do anything other than sob brokenly and pull at the chain with less and less strength. And before he knows it the amulet drops from around his neck and lays uselessly in Danny’s hands and across his lap.

Utter relief floods through him. Then absolute terror before he throws the now broken amulet in a random direction and tries to get further away. Danny stumbles two steps before he runs face first into someone, therefore losing what balance he had. The person he ran into holds him up, gently supporting Danny to stand.

The teen’s blurred vision makes out a leather jacket and the color red. But there’s something soothing about this person. Something that sings safe to Danny’s distressed core. So the extremely exhausted teen winds his arms around a strong torso, grips fistfuls of leather, and fully collapses into this safe person. Not even a moment passes before Danny has slipped into the blissful realm of sleep and unconsciousness.

[normal-thoughts-official]

Hopping off that last post slightly to say that I also think a good part of the reason Joe can afford to still feel everything so intensely is because of Nicky. Not just because of the obvious part where they are both sickeningly in love and have been for thousands of years without ever feeling it any less, but also because I think Nicky built a dynamic with him that allows Joe to stay so passionate

(There's more than just that, obviously, such as the fact that the group NEEDS someone like Joe, who isn't jaded or cool headed, but I already talked about that on the other post)

Nicky is the ice. That's a fact. He's not cold as in unfeeling but he is extremely cool headed. The greatest example of that, in my opinion, is the way he treats Booker after his betrayal: while Joe rages and screams at him, Nicky just tells him to leave it. You'd think that he isn't mad, but in the end, Nicky is the only one who doesn't say goodbye to Booker. Nile talks to him at the bar. Andy tells him about his punishment and hugs him. Even Joe looks back and gives him a nod, despite his anger. Nicky doesn't acknowledge him. I don't think he looks at him or talks to him once after they learn about the betrayal. He isn't telling Joe to leave it because he isn't pissed; he is saying it because now is not the time and they need to focus on getting out of the lab. Rationality first, feelings later. The goal always comes first to Nicky. He's a sniper, he's calculating, he's steady. It's the main mark of his character, in my opinion

So, he provides the steadiness that Joe needs, which allows Joe to not become quite as steady himself

I see that in pretty objective, practical ways - their dynamic in battle being the most obvious example. I am once again bringing up the battle outfits; Joe is more focused on his damn baseball cap than on packing his weapons. He puts his scimitar on his back (completely impractical) and then also tries to carry a bag slung over one shoulder (that keeps bumping into the scimitar and going back and he needs to keep readjusting it in a never ending battle with his own setup). He has like one gun on him. Meanwhile Nicky is Weapons Georg-ing his way through the desert like nobody's business. And then we see that half of these weapons are meant for Joe. Nicky is so attuned that he knows instinctively when Joe has ran out of bullets and he passes him guns without either of them even needing to look at each other, much less say anything; it's completely obvious that this is something they have been doing for centuries, that it comes naturally to them. If Nicky weren't there to give Joe weapons, Joe would have to have an ounce of practicality and keep his love for the vibes at bay long enough to pack efficiently. But Nicky IS there, and so Joe can afford to be the dorky, somewhat carefree man that Nicky adores, and bring some levity as they are heading to their mission (his cocky, teasing little smile as they are in the helicopter, for example)

If Nicky weren't there to stay between Joe and the door, if Nicky didn't sleep with a gun in his hand, then Joe would have to. But he does, so Joe doesn't, which allows him to dream peacefully and without worrying too much about whatever nonsense might be heading their way. I could keep going, but you get the picture: Joe would have had to keep more of a lid on his feelings if Nicky weren't there to take care of the practical problems that demand a cooler head

(And just to be extra clear, by that I don't mean that Joe is a Hotheaded Angry Brown Man and Nicky is The Voice Of Reason. I mean that Joe is a romantic and an artist, someone who's very in touch with his feelings and open about feeling them, which makes him uniquely vulnerable in their line of work. And that Nicky, knowing that, covers his blind spots)

And Joe, in turn, covers Nicky's blind spots as well, of course. He's the one (quite literally) holding Nicky together, making sure he doesn't let that overly rational head of his get the better of him and bury his feelings too far. Where Nicky hands Joe weapons, Joe finishes off Nicky's kills; most of the time, when they're fighting together, it's Nicky incapacitating people and then throwing them over his shoulder so Joe can kill them. That always stood out to me, because we know that none of them like killing; I think this is Joe's way of shouldering that weight for Nicky, making sure he has less to worry about and feel bad for, too

I used to think that Joe was the emotional protector and Nicky was the physical protector because of that (like, obviously both do both, but this was the role they took most prevalently). But the more I think about it, the more I realize that Nicky is also protecting Joe's feelings; because Joe doesn't have to grow more jaded and cool and rational if Nicky can do that for him. So he can continue to be who he is - light, passionate, loving, intense, open, vulnerable - because Nicky's got his back. It's my personal headcanon that Nicky has vowed to himself that he'd do everything in his power to keep Joe from losing that spark in him, and he's making good on that promise

It's a very interestingly equal relationship, where they not only balance each other out, but in doing so, allow the other to remain who they are, because that stark difference is part of what they love about each other