#when i said long forms i said LOOOOOOONG forms

[frenchgremlim1808]

guys help my midori essay is currently 20000 words long

[theewritingroomm]

A Friendly Favor - Part 6.1

Summary: Taking Robin's advice, you go to prom with Steve. Pairing: Eddie Munson x Fem Reader (unrequited), Steve Harrington x Fem Reader WC: 3,086 Warnings: mentions of unrequited love, angst, swearing, kissing (like 1), Steve is down baaaaad A/N: *Surprise* it's long awaited and looooooong overdue but the final instalment(s) of A Friendly Favor is here. I decided to make two differnt endings because it was a hard decision on who reader would end up with. Sooooo with that being said Eddie's ending will be coming soon after edits and stuff.

18+ only — by choosing to ‘keep reading’, you are agreeing that you are eighteen years old and over. MDNI

I do NOT consent to my work being translated or published onto third party sites - including AO3 and Wattpad. 

PREVIOUSLY ON ...

It took little convincing to get Steve to go to prom with you. Much to your surprise. Which is how you found yourself putting the finishing touches on your makeup as you waited for Steve to pick you up. You had told him that was not necessary, that you could meet him at the school. He had laughed at the suggestion, telling you that if he was going to be your date you were going to do it right. It had caused a small fluttering in your stomach to hear him refer to this arrangement as a date. It had shocked you at first but you quickly welcomed the feeling. Not remembering the last time that feeling had caused you to smile. In the recent month the fluttering in your stomach felt more like angry wasps than butterflies. 

When the doorbell rang that fluttering feeling reappeared and intensified as you exited your bedroom and walked towards the living room where you could see Steve standing with your parents. 

The soft clicking of heels alerted Steve to your presence. He abandoned the conversation he was engaged in with your father to turn and watch you walk down the stairs. The sight that graced him rocked Steve to his core. You were beautiful even on a bad day, but right now Steve was sure he had never seen anyone more gorgeous. You were dressed in a black gown that sparkled under the lights and made your skin glow. Your hair had been expertly pinned back with a few strands framing your features, the jeweled pins caught the light and Steve smiled to himself when he saw they were spiders. As you reached the bottom of the stairs, your eyes locked to Steve’s own wide brown eyes. 

Steve couldn’t remember a time when your eyes shined as bright as they did now. 

“You are gorgeous.” Steve said breathlessly, the way his eyes were raking over your form had a deep blush heating your cheeks. 

“Thank you Steve.” 

Before either of you could say anything else, your mother was ushering you into taking various photos with Steve. Who, try as he might, could not keep his eyes off of you. 

Music was already streaming out of the gym when you and Steve arrived. The beat that vibrated through the floor seemed to echo the nerves that drummed in your veins. Nearly rocketing your beating heart out of your chest. You wanted to turn around and run back to Steve’s car, wanted to tell him that you couldn’t do this. Though seeming to sense your spirling thoughts, Steve slipped his hand into yours and gave it a reassuring squeeze. 

Steve’s hand was warm in yours. His thumb rubbing soothing circles across the back of your hand. Calming you, grounding you to the moment, to him. 

You looked from where your hands were connected to Steve’s face. Finding him already looking down at you with a soft smile and softer eyes. 

“You ready to have a blast?” the corners of his mouth ticked up with his question. 

Steve watched you square your shoulders and hold your head up high. 

“Let’s fucking do this.” you replied, a wide smile directed at the man beside you. 

He didn’t let you change your mind as he opened the door for you and followed you in. 

As you and Steve entered the gymnasium a few people looked your way and a few hurried whispers followed their gaze through the crowd. Steve tuned into the whispers that followed you through the crowd and it made him angry. To hear them speak of you in that manner, to hear the pity and sympathy directed towards him for being your date. Unbeknownst to any one, yourself included, Steve would cut off his left arm if it meant he didn’t have to leave your side; tonight … or any night for the foreseeable future.  

You could hear the whispers and feel their eyes on you. Of course you could, they were the same whispering glances that would follow you and Eddie down the halls. However, with Steve’s hand as a comforting weight in your own, the whispers did not seem sting the same way they had months ago. 

“Thank fuck,” Robin’s voice cutting through the music and slicing through the whispers following behind you like a shadow. “Thought you strangled him on the way and as much as I love ya Y/n, hiding a body would be hard in this dress.” 

Robin sent a friendly elbow into Steve’s side. Steve rolled his eyes at your mutual friend. He watched you do the same, as a wide smile stretching across your lips. 

“Came close,” you teased, giving Steve’s hand a gentle squeeze. “But he’s not so bad.” 

Robin waved it off in faux annoyance, “yeah, yeah, Steve’s amazing. Let’s get you on the fucking dance floor!” 

Before you could protest Robin was grabbing your free hand and pulled you away from Steve. The man watched you follow your friend through the crowd until you and Robin settled into the crowd, getting lost in the music and the company of a good friend.

Steve watched you from the edge of the dancefloor, trying to convince himself it was for your benefit. That he wanted to make sure you were okay and had a quick out if you wanted it. However, the longer he watched; watched you smile at Robin, watched you get lost in the music, watched you become more carefree. The longer Steve watched you, the more his heart wished to join you, the more his fingers itched to touch you, the more he wanted to see if your lips were as soft as they looked. 

Eddie, like the rest of the gymnasium, had watched as you and Steve walked through the door. He noticed the way your hands were intertwined together, he noticed the matching cheesy grins plastered on your faces. He noticed how Steve’s eyes drank you in when you were not looking. He noticed when you did it back. That, watching you and Steve, caused something angry and hot to burrow into his stomach. 

When the emotions washed over Eddie, he did what he did best and pushed it down. He shoved and pushed those emotions down until he could shove them in a box and push them away to the deepest corners of his soul. Where he had shoved the remnants of his friendship with you.  

As the night went on Eddie could feel the chips and cracks breaking away at his defenses.

 “I’ve gotta get some air,” you informed your friends over the music. “Gonna step outside.” 

“Want me to go with you?” Steve asked, you shook your head and smiled at him. 

“Just gonna be gone a second.” 

Steve nodded in return. Watching you walk away and out the door. Only looking away when the door fell closed behind you. 

Outside the gymnasium the night air was crisp and cold. The moon cast a silvery hue over the parking lot causing long shadows to dance over the concrete. The wind carried the smell of stale cigarettes and weed through the night air. You practically fell into the metal bench a few feet from the door, allowing the chilly night air to cool your heated skin. You began to get lost in the silence of the night, thinking about the events of your life from the last few months. Though the silence was interrupted with the groan of the heavy gymnasium door opening and the echoing click of it closing. 

You remained looking out towards the parking lot as footsteps echoed on the concrete. As the person drew closer you dropped her head, looking at the long crack that stretched across the ground. A pair of beat up Reeboks stopping in your field of view as the night was plunged into silence once again. 

“Can I join you?” Trepidation wavered in Eddie’s voice, though you noticed a hard edge there as well. 

Glancing up at the man in front of you, you motioned for the empty space next to you. Eddie plopped himself down into the space but said nothing. The silence stretched between you, eating away at your resolve. Soon hundreds of thoughts were swirling around in your head, each fighting for the chance at the forefront. Though one persistent thought won out above that rest. 

“What do you want, Eddie?” voicing the one thought into the night air you finally turned your full attention to the man beside you. 

Eddie was staring back at you. His own head swirling with unsaid thoughts and unanswered questions. Eddie opened his mouth to begin to say something but quickly closed his mouth when he couldn’t get his thoughts to make sense. 

“Why Steve?” was what decided to tumble out of Eddie’s mouth. 

“What does it matter Eddie?” You rebutted. 

Because what did it matter to Eddie who took you to prom? He had his own girlfriend, one who was likely inside waiting for him. So why did he care so much about you showing up with Steve? Eddie kept telling himself that it was because you hadn’t known Steve as long. He kept telling himself that Steve was still King Steve and would inevitably hurt you. He kept telling himself he was worried about you and your feelings. Though the more Eddie tried to convince himself, he only knew he was lying to himself. 

“I just don’t want to see you get hurt.” Is what Eddie settled on telling you. 

At the sound of your dry laugh, Eddie knew it was the wrong thing to say. 

“That’s fucking rich Munson.” You bit out, standing from the bench. The sudden urge to be as far away from Eddie Munson taking over. Though you did not get far. As you began to take a few steps back towards the gym door, long fingers wrapped around your wrist. Stopping you abruptly in your tracks. 

You cut your gaze to Eddie, putting as much fire behind your eyes as you could. You ripped your arm from his grasp, a tight “don’t touch me” hissed from behind clenched teeth. In an attempt to not rip the boy's head off you closed your eyes and sucked in a lungful of air through your nose. It was a futile attempt as months of repressed emotions bubbled to the surface like a boiling kettle. 

“I just want to look out for my best friend. I miss her.” 

Anger. White hot, blinding anger filled you. Settling deep in your stomach and spreading like wildfire in your veins. 

“Your best friend,” you laughed harshly, nearly spitting the words back into his face. “It’s been weeks, Eddie. I laid it all out on the line, bore my heart to you and you ignored it. You ignored me. For weeks. A-and, fuck, Eddie! It really fucking hurt.” 

The fire in you died as you finally let the sadness and hurt seep into your bones. The man in front of you was silent, letting your words wash over him but also wanting to give you a chance to continue. Knowing that once you started it was hard to get your brain to stop moving a hundred miles an hour. 

“A-and I had almost gotten used to it. Almost come to terms with the fact that you weren’t in my life anymore. But n-now you’re standing here saying you miss me. And it’s pulling me in a million different directions and it’s breaking me Eddie. I loved you for so long, not just romantically, and to just lose that in a blink sucked.” 

A soft sob escaped your lips at the end of your confession. It broke Eddie’s heart to hear, but there was only one word that worked at his heart like a sledgehammer. Loved. Past tense. 

“Loved,” Eddie whispered, “past tense?” 

You stared wide eyed at him. Tears begin to pool at your lashes. “That’s the only fucking thing you heard? Un-fucking-believeable.” 

Eddie struggled to find the words. Sure he resembled a gasping fish as he tried to find the words. When he floundered Eddie dropped his gaze to the ground. Finally a whispered “I think I love you” fell past his pink lips. 

Weeks ago you would have killed to hear those words. Now. They turned the air around you acidic and heavy. They turned your blood hot.

“You are a piece of fucking work Munson.” Your hand came up to poke Eddie in the chest, hard. Not dissimilar to how you used to when he was stuck in that head of his. Except now, it didn’t hold the same caring weight it used to. Now it felt like a stab to the chest, digging deep into his heart and bleeding him dry. He’d gladly take on another hoard of demobats, certain it would be less painful. 

“I’m sor-” he began to apologize. 

“No, I need you to listen,” you interrupted him as the first few hot tears rolled down your cheeks. “You don’t get to do that Eddie. You don’t get to ignore me and my feelings for weeks, you don’t get to break me down and worry about how I choose to put myself back together. You don’t get to ride off into the sunset with your fucking girlfriend, leave me in the dirt and come back when I don’t follow blindly. I wanted so badly to be your first choice but I’m not going to wait around to be your second choice if you and Chrissy don’t work out.”

You wiped at the hot tears tracking down your cheeks. There was so much more you had to say. But the groaning of the gym door stopped you. Grabbing both yours and Eddie’s attention as a mop of chocolate brown hair appeared in the crack of the door. 

“Y/N, I just came to che-,” the words died on Steve’s tongue when he saw the tears streaking your face. In two long strides Steve had placed himself in between you and Eddie, big hands coming up to frame your face. Gentle fingers wiping away your tears as Steve spoke again. “What happened? Are you okay?”

“Can you take me home? I’m tired.” The words whispered into the night were all it took for Steve to link his hand in yours and pull you out into the parking lot towards his car. 

The drive back to your house was silent except for the low hum of the radio and the occasional shuddering breath from you as your tears began to slow. Steve’s hand was still intertwined with yours as Steve drove through the quiet streets of Hawkins. As his car rolled to a stop at the red light on Main Street Steve raised your hand that was laced in his and placed a tender kiss to your knuckles. 

“If you want to talk about what happened I’ll listen, if you want to ignore it then we’ll do that for now. But I'm not going to let you get trapped in you head over it.” Steve said gently, when you stayed quiet Steve turned his head to look at you. 

You had your head leaned against the window, eyes trained out the window to watch the small town pass by. The only indication that you had heard him was the small squeeze you gave his hand. 

In the six months after prom there was a distinct shift in your friendship with Steve, though you were both hesitant to label it what it was. A relationship. 

For months when you would go to clock in for your shift at Family Video there would be flowers and post-it notes from Steve with sweet words scribed on the page waiting in your locker. In return you would leave various baked goods stacked in his locker with his lunch, a heart always decorating the wrapping. During your shifts there would be lingering glances passed between the two of you from across the store and soft brushes of fingertips against flesh when he walked past. Steve had become your personal chauffeur simply so he could have an excuse to lace his hand in yours across the car and listen to you sing along to the radio. Friday and Saturday nights were now spent on Steve’s couch with a stack of movies from Family Video and a pile of junk food. 

Which is where you currently sat, in Steve’s living room curled up on his couch with The Evil Dead playing on the screen. Though you were not were not paying much attention to the movie. Rather you were staring at the man who sat on the other end of the couch. Staring at his features; the way his nose crinkles when something gory happens on screen, the way the light reflects off his eyes drawing you into their whiskey gaze, the way he bites at his bottom lip during the jump scares. It had your mind reeling with the thought of what it would feel like to have those lips pressed against yours and what sounds he would make if you bit at that bottom lip of his yourself. 

“I can hear the high pitch whine of you thinking from here,” Steve’s voice broke you out of your thoughts. He turned that whiskey gaze towards you and you could see the emotions swirling around behind them and immediately wanted to hide from them. 

“What’s going on in that head of yours?” Steve reached out to gently brush a strand of hair from your face. Waiting with bated breath for you to answer him. 

Hesitantly you scooted closer to Steve, your knee bumping against his as you settled. Your eyes were downcast, hiding from Steve’s graze because you knew he would be able to read you in a second. It was only when gentle fingers found their way under your chin that you looked back into his amber eyes. And you went for it. 

Softly, you slotted your lips against his tasting the cherry cola that stained his lips. Gently, you worked your mouth against Steve’s, savoring the way he was gently cradling your face in his hands. The kiss only lasted a few seconds before you were pulling away. 

“I’m sorry, I um… I sh-” you stumbled over your words. 

Steve silenced your stuttering with another quick kiss to your lips and his own whispered confession. “I’ve been waiting to kiss you for years, just needed to let you catch up first sweetheart.”

Tags: @wolfstarsimpxx, @jaceblack, @gloryekaterina, @intoanothermind, @vxmpfreak, @girlsvvish, @ogoc-19, @sunflowerabyss, @athenxt, @aurumbelis, @whisperingsarah, @tlclick73, @k-1-ll-em-alll, @lokiofasgard616, @rach5ive, @sidthedollface2, @its-quinns-breadd, @tayhar811, @captainonaboat, @ajkamins, @goldstars-to-all, @harrys-tittie, @phantomxoxo, @adaydreamaway08, @angelina16torres-blog, @coryisagee, @foreveranexpatsposts, @skulzombiw, @sadbitchfangirl, @lelenikki, @mmvnsons, @sinczir, @cherrytree69, @parmawiolets, @disrespectfully-ira,

[aufi-creative-mind]

I hc that the Bargainer Statues are early depictions of the Fierce Deity (who's true form therefore has 4 eyes), who is referred to as a Kishin in Japanese, which according to folklore, are wrathful, powerful, even scary-looking beings & vicious fighters, but are also deeply compassionate, benevolent, & protectors at there core. They're said to enact just & righteous vengeance for those who've been wronged.

Anyway, my thoughts are that he is the 3rd in the Hylian/Demise triad, being where the Hero's Spirit originates from. I also hc that he created the Sheikah much like how Hylia created the Hylians. (So, if the naming conventions follow, his true name could start with "Shei" or "Sheik.")

Anyway, he's a god of war, the moon, heroism, & death. Which is why Link is always able to see spirits. He gathered spirits & fought or soothed Poes (the enemies) either by fighting them or playing the Song of Healing.

The Dark Clumps being pieces of the pseudo-flesh that spirits form to create Poes & the Depths Set being made from this pseudo-flesh.

Also, I hc that the symbols are actually ancient Sheikah script, which the Fierce Deity taught the Sheikah. And before losing or giving up his immortality, he tasked the Sheikah with taking his place, which is who delivered the spirits to the Bargainer Statues before Link.

This is part of the reason why the Sheikah are so heavily associated with death & graveyards.

As for who the Bargainers are, they are this thing called a bushin in Japanese culture, which there deities have the ability to split pieces off of themselves & create lesser copies that rule over certain areas, but are lead by the source deity. The same is said for the Goddess Statues. Basically, Hylia & Fierce gave up their immortality, but the statues are still being run by their bushin.

Stop me, I will literally talk you ear off if you don't.

Anyway, what are your thoughts??

.................................................... OP. My guy, my gal, my non-binary pal. Why did you drop this on my inbox? This needs to be its own proper post! This is a very fascinating take on the Bargainer and the other known deities in the Zelda world.

-

Ngl, I haven't thought much about the Bargainer and their role is since there's so little in their lore. Other than "guiding lost souls into the afterlife without prejudice" and exchanging materials, weapons and outfit sets in return of Poes... (Kinda like how the Goddess Statue exchanges Blessings for Hearts, Stamina and Sage's Wills).

And seeing so many Poes in the Depths in a state of purgatory, makes me think that they are akin to the Grim Reaper of sorts. On top of the Yiga notes about how those "strange statues" would rip the souls out of fellow members if they come too close to it in the Depths.

I also imagine that the name "Bargainer" is a recent title when they were (re)discovered by present-day Hyruleans. And their true name had already been lost to the looooooong passage of time. And for all we know, the "Bargainer" was the god(dess) of the long extinct Zonai people.

That's about as far as I have for the Bargainer.

As for other deities like Hylia, Demise and the Fierce Deity, I don't have much beyond what is present in the games and the popular headcanons shared within the Zelda fandom.

I do have headcanons on how each race and clans interpret these deities and their own faith systems. For example, the Sheikah view Hylia as a "two faced" deity with "light and shadow" themes in their faith. Which is in contrast to their Hylian counterparts who have more clear-cut views on Hylia as the benevolent protector-goddess of their people (And why the Horned Statue exists and is shunned and hidden away).

(Though this is all part of my BotW-TotK Family and Legacy story.)

TL;DR I don't have a lot of ideas / headcanons on who or what these deities are. BUT I do have headcanons on how they are interpreted by different peoples/races.

-

But seriously though OP, if you're reading this, you need to create dedicated posts and elaborate more on these headcanon ideas. They have POTENTIAL to become some very delicious reads.

[anotherworldash]

I think Kaname really did love yuki romantically and moreover unconditionally but yuki didn't love him that much romantically , she loved him but didn't desire him , she desired his happiness but not him anymore in VKM , cause of the way she never even glanced towards Kaname in her wedding with zero , some lingering attachment with Kaname like the one Kaname had with hooded woman but no longer romantical love just general love . Yume became yume in Vkm.

i have two opinions on this

in VK, i strongly disagree, yuki did desire him and loved him romantically so much.

2. but, as the time goes on in VKM? yeahh i somehow agree. her 'romantic love' wasn't reduced, instead it has taken another form. although i prefer to call it 'everlasting love', instead of 'general love' which sounds more platonic. because this affection is based on romantic love that evolved into something more powerful because of yuki's resolve to kill her selfish desire. (i actually haven't found a more fitting name for this kind of love, but you get what i mean lah )

i appreciate that yuki accepted his death and moved on before resuming her relationship with zero eventhough it's hard and she took a looooooong time. moving on from kaname's 'death' is very realistic and NECESSARY decision. if she were to desire kaname's presence for herself, she'll be blocking her own plan to give kaname true happiness. when viewing her relationship with kaname, yuki realized she's already dead. there's not a slighest chance they can be together again because yuki knows that both her and kaname can't co-exist in the same time. she knows she had to die when bringing kaname back to life. reviving kaname wouldn't be enough, because then he'll live again as vampire. she had to sacrifice her life to turn him human. just like kaname let go of his own desire and trust her in zero's care, yuki has let go of her own desire long ago and gave her blessings if kaname find someone new to love.

that's why in the end of VK yuki said

'You who existed with that thirst'

'I want to give to you whom i loved, the world that i saw when i was a human '

'May your thirst be quenched'

(excuse me while i sob)

[nalyra-dreaming]

💫 🌈 💞 💌 for the ask game)))

Thank you for asking dear! 💕💕

💫 what is your favorite kind of comment/feedback?

Ahhhhh.... any. I ADORE the long elaborate ones, that make me think, and answer in kind. But I also laugh out loud at the ones that break my inbox or phone display of the mail because it's just a looooooong scream :))

I do tend to go over the detailed ones again at times though, because I marvel at what people draw out from my fics. It often makes me blush^^^^^^

But honestly? All the feedback, all the interaction is just... precious.

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🌈 is there a fic that you worked *really fucking hard on* that no one would ever know? maybe a scene/theme you struggled with?

I did a prompt as a gift for a friend once, and they wanted a HEU Hannibal / Valhalla rising ABO ... THAT really pushed my boundaries, which is not bad(!) but it was definitely not something I would have not written without it :)) Rather special combination *laughs*

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💞 what's the most important part of a story for you? the plot, the characters, the worldbuilding, the technical stuff (grammar etc), the figurative language

It's the "voice" of them. I need to "hear" them. I just said it in the other ask, it may sound... manic, ahem, but... when I write dialogue, for example, I hear their voices. And those NEED to fit for me.

And the logic of the world in and by itself needs to work for me.

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💌 share something with us about an up-and-coming work (WIP) that has you excited!

The current WIP I'm on (apart form "Laden...") is one dealing with Louis' state of mind after leaving NOLA with Claudia. And I just love the angst/pain in it - and the turn it took (that turn was why I got stuck - but I returned to the prompt for guidance, and... I think it works :)) - and that is immensely exciting for me, because... while it is obviously a story... it feels canon. And I wonder if people will feel it like that as well^^. So that is exciting^^

[samicakes-exe]

👉👈 hey so I saw the one with the ghost boys and the squirting and I gotta say. Brilliant work.

If you do write for house if wax... Could I get an s/o that flusters easily and squirts easily with Bo? If not, I'll take the same with ol Mikey?

𝙰𝚑𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚔 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚘 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝!!! 𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚒𝚖  such 𝚊 𝚋𝚒𝚐 𝚘𝚕 𝚜𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚘𝚛  a lil 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚖, 𝚠𝚑𝚢 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝙸 𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚢𝚊 a lil of 𝚋𝚘𝚝𝚑? I think 𝚢𝚘𝚞'll 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚛 <𝟹 

 𝚙𝚕𝚜 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚢 𝚊𝚜𝚔𝚋𝚘𝚡 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗 <𝟹 <3 

 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 b𝚘: roughly like 3k words                                                    𝚊𝚢𝚘 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎, 𝚒 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚒 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚋𝚘, 𝚊𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝?? 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚏𝚞𝚗 :)

beep beep warning beep beep: smut smut n more smut, forced orgasms, degradation, humiliation, roughness, dumbification a lil, teasing, knife!!, being held down, being spat on, size kink, cunnilingus, creampies, fingering, unprotected sex, threats, marking, grinding, public-ish place?? ,over-stimulation, intense eye contact while fucking,  Afab reader, more feminine pet names, Bo being a cocky bitch, ya know it is!

𝚀𝚞𝚒𝚌𝚔 𝚕𝚒𝚕 𝚋𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚝 𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝 <𝟹:

Bo Sinclair:

Congrats, you only fueled his ego more!

He loves it when you get all red in the face especially in front of the male tourists.

You playfully slap his thigh, thinking that'll make him cool off a bit lol it won't but nice try.

He'll make sure to whisper something absolutely filthy in your ear when you're talking to one, only to see you stammer and chew on words in front of them, your lil head full of dirty lil thoughts.

It gives him such a damn rush to see how easily he could make you like this.

As for squirting, oh boy you're in for a long looooooong night!

First time you did it- he was hooked

It filled him with such a desire/drive to see you do it again

and again

and again

Soon enough, your both soaked, you're seeing stars and bo is chuckling.

but he isn't done for the night-

Honestly, he might even bring it up as a bragging point only to fluster you more, rip

good luck hon. you're gonna need it.

𝙽𝚘𝚠 𝙾𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚂𝚖𝚞𝚝, 𝙼𝚢 𝙳𝚎𝚊𝚛 <3:

You found yourself in the kitchen with your cheeks all red, maybe it was from the Louisiana summer or was it from Bo? All those little things he said in front the visitors, pressed up against you. His growing erection right against your ass, the even littler things he whispered in your ear, his breath was just as hot as your cheeks are now. It stuck with ya, running around in your head but showed itself on your face.

Soon you buried your face in your hands, resting up against the counter with your foot tapping on the tile. You breathed out a soft. “fuck,” cursing your brain for dwelling on each and every word. 

heavens forbid Bo walks in on ya. 

“Darlin’  I’m home!” Speak of the devil, Bo’s voice echoed through the house, followed by the sound of the screen-door. The muscles in your face twitched and scrunched up a bit in response, curse these thin fucking walls.

Bo’s brows furrowed when he didn’t get a response from you. “Baby-doll, Ya good?” 

You picked your face up from your hands, gathering all of the nerves you had left just to shout back, “Welcome back babe! I’m all good! “ Your voice was shaky which made a deep pit form in his stomach, twisting and knotting itself up. Soon, you heard his heavy footsteps on their way to the kitchen, making the floorboards creak and groan. 

He was at the doorway in record time, gripping tightly onto the frame, his knuckles white. The worry he once had melted away immediately, seeing the blushing mess that you were now, no wonder you were shaky. A small smirk pulled at the corners of his mouth. He let his body relax a bit while one of his hands loosened his belt. The jangle of the metal make your pussy twitch. He chuckled. 

He read you like a book just based on your actions but he played dumb, “Darlin’ dont tell me that ya uh.. still hung up on what I said, right?” His voice was teasing, he laid his accent on thick. he knew how your body, well mostly your pussy reacted to it.

he made his way over to you, the smirk stretched itself wider on his lips. 

fuck, he knew, Of course he knew. Your breath hitched itself up into your throat, your hands going to cover the now worsening blush but Bo grabbed each of them, pinning them down at your sides. “Don’t hide that pretty little face from me, baby” He seemingly purred, placing his knee in-between your thighs. 

you were pinned there, you and him knew that you weren’t gonna fight back. so you stayed, sitting pretty.

Bo watched the blush on your face spread all the way up to the tips of your ears and how you averted your eyes every time he tried to make eye contact with you. He let go of your right hand but leaned more into you instead, his body weight kept you pinned, not like you were gonna move anyways. The kitchen counter making an indent into the skin of your back as it pressed against it, hard.

He reached, grabbing your face with his hand, forcing you to look at him finally. He had the biggest grin and a fire lit in his eyes. He looked like a man, possessed. It terrified you to no end but it also lit the same fire, it showing on your cheeks once more. 

“Now Now.. dont make a hardworking man beg sugar~” His voice was like butter but it made only you melt, right in front of his eyes too. “Did my little teasing effect you this bad baby~ I bet you’re reeeal wet right now, huh?”

a needy look flashed on your face before the slight embarrassment hooked its teeth in. Your eyes went to look anywhere but your darling Bo, the peeling wallpaper, the fridge, the open door...Oh fuck, his brothers could walk in. “I-I” You were about to mention it but His knee pushed against your clothed pussy and your brain rattled, shaking every single thought out of it besides him, god, you wanted him so bad you could taste it in-between your teeth.

“Tell me little punk.i wont ask ya again” 

His tone plus the knee pressed on your clit, you and him both knew it was a threat along the lines of ‘You better answer or you’re in for a long night.’

You couldnt speak or even think for that matter and his deep rumbling chuckles didn’t help you in the slightest, it only added logs to the fire that you felt on your cheeks. a broken up breath in was all you needed to think clearly as your eyes found their way back to Bo’s intense gaze, his eyes burning with a deep desire.

“y...ye...yes. I’m all flustered.” You stuttered the words out, each one oafishly falling off of your tongue. your answer was met with Bo grinding his knee slowly into your cunt.

slow. it was so fucking slow. 

“Who got you all flustered, sweet thang? was it those tourists?” Bo asked. He let your face go but the grip marks from his hand stayed. your unpinned hand held onto his thigh, squeezing it terribly hard. 

He knew he made you like this. He knew how much your pussy craves him but he wanted to hear you admit to it right here in the kitchen.

A surprised sharp moan left your mouth, it sounded more of a squeak than a moan, “You! You! Darlin’ only you!”  you answered quickly in hopes he would speed up. 

he was amused, now speeding up his knee, it pressed itself into your clit which made a familiar knot in your stomach tightened. Bo smirked, seeing your reaction, A long whine ripped itself out from your lungs when he slowed down once more but thankfully he started them up again this time, pressing harder into your throbbing clit.

God, it felt like heaven. 

“Good girl~”

With his praises maybe it was heaven. 

This went on for about 2 minutes, with Bo bent down, his body surrounding you, drowning you but honestly you did not care. His soft praises were like a nice tall glass of beer, intoxicating, you just sat there pressed into the kitchen counter, enjoying grinding yourself back onto his knee. His praises rang throughout your head, until they were cut off with a soft,  

“Ohh darling.” Bo pulled away himself and his knee, much to your displeasure. he grabbed hold of your chin, making you look towards the knee you enjoyed so much, there was a pool of juices. right on his work jeans. “Why dont you look at that? He fought off a smug giggle. 

Thoughts finally settled like dust and the thought of you leaving that big spot sank it, eyes widened in up embarrassment and before you could stutter up an apology. Bo had hoisted you up onto the counter, finally giving your back a lil break. 

Bo’s lips turned from a smirk to a genuine smile but he had to feign annoyance,  “Dammit baby how am I gonna explain this to the tourists?” He teased while he leaned into you once more, and your legs squeezed his hips, that was all you could do, your tongue tied and brain jumbled but your body knew well.

Bo tsked underneath his breath, bringing your body closer into his own. He hummed against your neck, his mouth finding itself in the crook of it, he placed sloppy kisses that felt more like bites.

meanwhile you felt your face heat up once more, your brain scrambling to put a sentence together, the best it could do for you was  “I.. I... dunno”  your voice was your biggest give-away of you being flustered, sounding like a deer in headlights and it turned on Bo even more.

“I... I?” He mocked you in-between spreading marks on your neck. “Should I just tell them that my girlfriend did this?”

The way you tensed up underneath him almost made him groan into your neck, almost. He stopped his rough kisses.

“My sexy girlfriend rubbed herself against my knee? god, she almost came~” His teases and tone made your brain overheat, you really couldn’t think now and he knew it by the look in your eyes. “Just because of me just doing thiss~”

This time he pressed his thigh into your needy cunt, not moving it. The muscles in your legs tensed up around him. He watched your face twisted into a pleading look and a choked out moan came out while another puddle worked itself into his work jeans.

The smiled turned into a proud grin, proud of what he could make you into. He slowly so very slowly pulled his leg back and your hands grabbed onto his shoulders for support, your own thighs now twitching. nails digging through his work shirt and into his skin.

A loud groan erupted from his throat and the weak little moan that uttered from you knocked him over the edge, his eyes boring into yours. watching you closely as he hastily pulled your skirt down, your panties coming off with it. 

“Bo please fuck me.. I.. I need you. I needed you all day.” You confessed quickly, your body craving him so bad, another touch of his and you might cum.

“That’s all i wanted baby, ya see?” 

You gave him an enthusiastic nod which made him bite his lower lip, compliance was the way to go for him always. 

He leaned his head onto your bruised and bitten neck as his hands went to undo his pants. He was the one who couldn’t think now, he wanted to fuck his aching cock into you so damn bad. wanted to feel your hot little pussy around his cock, twitching while you cu-

“Fuck” he growled to himself while he begrudging pulled away. it drew a pathetic little please from you. 

Bo dropped to his knees on the hard tile resembling a sinner in church. his eyes at the same level as your already dripping cunt, the sight made his mouth water. 

Those strong hands of his, brought your pussy to his waiting mouth where he ate like a man starved, feasting on your cunt. His tongue reached deep into you, the walls of your pussy twitching on his tongue, sucking it in and then pushing it out. instinctively, your hips bucking, trying to ride his mouth but his hands that gripped onto your thighs made you stay put. 

All you could do was sit there and moan, somewhat cheering him on with the noises you made as he fucked you with his tongue. “Good god! fuck bo!” You didn’t realized that you were speaking, urging him on.

The knot only tightened when his tongue and sucking lips found that throbbing clit of yours. His groans filled your cunt while your pathetic little sounds found filled his ears. 

“Bo..bo..bo! I might cumm, god, I might cum!” The tone of your voice was pathetic, how you tried to fuck yourself back onto him was pathetic and how your pussy throbbed just by moaning his name was pathetic. 

he fucking loved it  

he fucking craved it 

Another long moan passed your lips, sounding almost guttural as he stuffed two fingers into your drooling cunt. He lifted his head up to see just how much of a mess you were right now, how close you were to falling off of the edge. He pushed into that spongy spot and watched how your body reacted it with a wide grin. 

you almost came right then but somehow you found the strength not to, much to his dismay.

“Come on darlin’~ fucking cum you know you want to.” His voice was rough and so was his fingers, punishing your poor g-spot with cruel presses into it. “Look at me baby, I wanna see your face while I make you cum, got it?”

following orders, you lifted your head to look at right at him, drool dripping off of your bottom look. you were so so close to cumming and he could tell.

Bo sped up his fingers, reaching deeper into you, stretching you with his two fingers, when his thumb started pushing, grinding itself onto your clit that was when the knot snapped.

You squealed, shaking the entire kitchen with it. You saw white and continued to do so for a bit coming off of your high, slumped against the cabinet, completely out of it until you heard a familiar chuckle, a rather smug chuckle. 

Bo was licking his fingers and thumb clean, “Goddamn~ love.” His whispered mostly to himself but he saw you looking at him. His face was drenched with your squirt. 

immediately your face turned a bright red over the flushed look your body already had. 

Bo tsked as he stood up once ore, finally undoing his belt, you heard the metal on it clang against the tile. “You’re gonna do that on my cock, ya hear?” all you could do was nod.

He pressed the head of his cock right against your needy opening. His eyes looking into yours before he thrust deep, stretching your little pussy on his cock in one go. 

Both of you moaned together, your bodies falling onto each other. Bo’s face back into your bruised neck and your nails finding themselves into those indents from earlier.  It took a second for both of y’all to recuperate, 

Bo finally rocked his hips, pumping into your sweet little pussy while his mouth suck and bite onto the already marked skin. Weak little noises crawled out of your throat, you fucked yourself back onto him and this time he didn’t hold you still

You two wanted to cum so bad, fucking each other. Bo thrusts were getting rough, his cock jamming itself into your g-spot and soon that knot came back sooner than you expected. 

Bo was murmuring utter nonsense into your neck, his accent the thickest you ever heard it before. he fucked into you hard, stuffing you full of cock. The need to see you squirt was the only thing keeping him from pumping you full of cum right now especially how your pussy was milking him. 

“B...bo fuck fuck fuck!” You saw white again, it felt like your body was taking a screenshot while bo grunted, flooding your pussy with two loads worth of cum. seeing you squirt was enough to send him over the edge. 

“Good girl.. good girl..” he grunted into your neck, still thrusting his cum into you. 

“I love you bo. “ you whispered to him when you came off of your high for the second time, 

“i love you too.” bo placed a sweet kiss onto your lips, you kissed him back just as sweet. A little moan enter the kiss when you felt him thrust into you once more. 

He wanted to see you squirt just one more time.

<𝟹 𝚋𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚝 𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝 <𝟹:

Micheal Meyers:

He wasn’t entirely aware of his effect on you, he was mostly confused.

Why were you gripping on him tighter

Why were you burying your face in his arm when he looked at you in a certain way

When you mustered enough courage to tell him, he did it more often

on purpose now-

He would bring you up to him, comparing how small you were compared to his like 6′0 to 6′9 frame (Look there is a lot of different answers to how tall he is, just pick a height you like lol)

He would look down at you with his intense eyes, seemingly fucking you with them while you two stood in line for food. 

speaking of that day, you couldn’t even speak to order food. Mikey had to sign for you both. 

Squirting, well pee-paw mike was surprised at first, thinking that it was a weird. 

until you did it more and more. 

If hes fucking you and you squirted- golly gee, hes fucking into you harder

possibly making you cum/squirt even more now.

thanks micheal

[canary3d-obsessed]

Restless Rewatch: The Untamed, Episode 25, part one

(Masterpost) (Other Canary Stuff)

Warning: Spoilers for All 50 Episodes!

Holy crap, Episode 25! We’re halfway through! *Cue Bon Jovi*

Hunt Invitation

After taking a nice long break to watch Word of Honor pick lotus pods, Wei Wuxian and Jiang Yanli return to stressing over the shitshow that is the post-Sunshot cultivation world. Jin Zixuan has come to invite them to the Phoenix Mountain Hunt, with a special invitation from his mother to Jiang Yanli. Jiang Cheng reacts to this in a mature and reasonable manner, while Wei Wuxian...doesn't.

On the surface, Jiang Cheng has matured in recent months; much more than Wei Wuxian, with his secret burdens, has. But it's only on the surface, as we'll see later in the episode, when Jiang Cheng's insecurity will take the reins.

Jin Zixuan is adorably pleased by Jiang Yanli's acceptance of the invitation. Wei Wuxian is less pleased, but sort of tries to suck it up. 

Jin Zixuan kind of undercuts the romance of his errand by asking Wei Wuxian for the Yin tiger amulet as soon as Jiang Yanli is out of earshot. 

As always, Jin Zixuan makes an impression by being the best Jin currently in existence, but the Jins are terrible. JZX is working to advance his dad's ambitions, and as such he is currently Wei Wuxian's enemy.  

(more after the cut)

Opening Ceremonies

There's a bunch of cultivators arranged for the opening ceremony. Later someone will say that this is more than 5 thousand people. Ok, sure.

As I've said before, it's best to think of it like a theatre production and assume the other 4,900 people are offstage or, you know, painted on the backdrop.  

The young lead cultivators from the four main clans are standing together. Nie Huaisang is trying out some new body armor.

The clan leaders are seated up on the stage, along with Jin Furen and Jiang Yanli. Unfortunately Jin Furen doesn't seem to have a personal name that I can discover. Her title Fūrén ( 夫人)  means she's the primary wife of the head of the family, according to this excellent meta. 

So “Madame Jin” is a decent translation...if you're French?  I feel like instead of English subtitles including borrowed words from French (”Marquis” in NIH), Greek (”Water of Lethe” in WOH), and other European languages, we could try borrowing Chinese words instead. Jin Zixuan's mom is titled, not named, Jin Furen. Since we don’t know her actual name, I'll call her that and abbreviate it JFR.

Wei Wuxian's childishness continues at the opening of the hunt, as does Jiang Yanli's encouragement of his childishness. I know she's had a rough couple of years, and it's understandable to want to baby her little brother out of a sense of nostalgia. But it's not good for him, and she shouldn't do it; she should encourage him to be more mature, just as she does with Jiang Cheng.

War Crimes Contest

Jin Guangyao says they're going to have an archery competition, and they're going to liven it up by endangering some prisoners. These prisoners are Wens in Wen cultivator uniforms, meaning they're not the noncombatants that were being hunted down earlier. But they’re still helpless people in chains. 

There are three different reactions when the Wen prisoners are brought out.  All the Jins are pleased, or neutral. All of the Jiangs, including Wei Wuxian, are upset.

The Nies and the Lans, what we see of them, are a little shocked, but not obviously upset. Based on those reactions, it seems like this is a maneuver that in-world is considered shocking and cruel, but not necessarily unethical or immoral.  Shocking, cruel displays of power are pretty normal in this world; remember when Wen Chao lit a Lan cultivator on fire just to say hello, and nobody complained? 

This whole scenario, of course, has been designed to provoke Wei Wuxian. One major goal of this event, and the whole reason for wanting Wei Wuxian to come,  is to get the Yin Tiger amulet.  Making him lose his shit in front of 100 5000 cultivators is a good step toward compelling him to hand the amulet over.  

We see Jiang Cheng and Jiang Yanli both signaling Wei Wuxian to keep it together, and he takes a step back and tries to chill.  

Meanwhile, Jin Zixuan seems annoyed by all this, and goes to take a shot at it, making it clear from his demeanor that this is easy and JGY is making a show of nothing. 

He hovers in the air and makes a perfect shot, pleasing most of the crowd and impressing Jiang Yanli. 

Then his cousin Jin Zixun taunts the crowd, challenging anyone to do better.  This presents a bit of a problem for Wei Wuxian. For the sake of the Wen prisoners, Wei Wuxian should just take this taunting and let the contest end, if no-one else is willing to take a shot. But for the sake of the Jiang Clan’s status, and his continued control of the Yin Tiger amulet, he needs to put the Jins in their place.  

Every Day is Blindfold Day

This moral dilemma is resolved with an abrupt tonal shift, where the humanitarian concerns of all parties seem to vanish. Wei Wuxian flirts embarrassingly with Lan Wangji and then goes as far over the top in besting Jin Zixuan as it's possible to go.

The flirting hits differently, incidentally, when you edit Jiang Cheng's annoyed reaction out of it: 

Lan Wangji doesn't seem embarrassed by Wei Wuxian's request, despite it happening in front of 100 5000 of their fellow cultivators. He looks Wei Wuxian straight in the eye for longer than necessary before turning away; it’s not exactly stern disapproval. We’ll get very used to this look, in Wei Wuxian’s second life. 

Fortunately, Wei Wuxian carries a blindfold with him wherever he goes, (gifset here), and he is such a good cultivator he can hit 5 parallel targets simultaneously without even holding his bow straight or tightening the string.

(OP fixed the angle of the bow for this gif, which is why everyone is standing on a hill in the background).

Everyone is pleased by this shot except Jins Guangyao and Zixun; even the Jin cultivators are clapping, and Madame Jin is presumably this happy any time Jin Guangyao’s plans go wrong.

With that they start the hunt. Jin Zixun challenges Wei Wuxian to do the whole hunt blindfolded. Wei Wuxian agrees, but the censorship committee said no, apparently, so we don’t get to see that.

Flute Hunting

We do get to see Wei Wuxian luring monsters into his nets by being too sexy for his robe, too sexy for his robe, and playing the flute.  

We also get to see Jiang cultivators looking puzzled while random monster roars happen in the woods around them. We do not get to see any monsters, which is probably just as well.

Jiang Cheng is annoyed and concerned, muttering "I told you not to overdo it" which means he didn't, you know, tell Wei Wuxian NOT to do this, just not to do it quite so well. Jiang Cheng knows what Wei Wuxian’s abilities are and he is making use of him, as he should, but he doesn’t have the courage of his convictions. 

Tree Confession

Wei Wuxian sees Lan Wangji and starts to say hi, but then he has a desaturated flashback to Lan Xichen telling him to back off, so he stops himself.  But then Lan Wangji comes over to talk to him.

Lan Wangji starts off talking to him about his latest anti-resentment musical discoveries, and Wei Wuxian pushes back, even calling him Lan Wangji, but gently.  Wei Wuxian asks "who am I to you?" and Lan Wangji turns the question right back at him, then waits a looooooong time, eyes downcast, while Wei Wuxian thinks of a serious answer.

Wei Wuxian says "I used to treat you as my zhījǐ" --which, as we’ve discussed before, is variously translated soulmate, confidant, intimate friend--with a strong meaning of "the person who truly knows me." Lan Wangji says "I still am." Coming from Lan Wangji, who NEVER says how he feels about Wei Wuxian or about anything, really, this sounds a lot like a confession of love. 

It definitely takes the form, visually, of a love confession, as Lan Wangji speaks, then gazes at Wei Wuxian while he waits for a reply.  Wei Wuxian's reply is this:

I don't think Wei Wuxian is oblivious (I'm speaking strictly of CQL, not MZDS, as always with these posts; they are different works). I think he loves Lan Wangji back, and knows it. But Chenqing and everything it represents are between them.

Lan Wangji is quite literally NOT his zhījǐ any more, because he doesn't truly know Wei Wuxian right now. He loves him desperately, but he doesn't know about his core, and hasn't accepted his cultivation method.  So Wei Wuxian answers his confession by showing him Chenqing, effectively declining to accept his still-conditional love.

Snake Measuring

Next we get terrible hetero courtship in the form of Jin Zixuan finding snake discharge on the ground and talking to Jiang Yanli about comparative snake measuring. Seriously: that is the actual conversation that they are having.

Jin Zixuan boasts for a bit, and then awkwardly tries to ask Jiang Yanli on a date. When she turns him down he gets mad, because he's a typical heterosexual dude even though he's secretly a delightful person...very, very secretly. Jiang Yanli, for her part, can't string a fucking sentence together to save her life whenever he's around, so she's not helping their mutual understanding. 

Lan Wangji attempts to hold Wei Wuxian back from beating Jin Zixuan’s ass yet again, but eventually JYL wants to leave, JZX tells her to wait, and WWX intervenes. Why doesn't Jiang Yanli have a maid or Jiang cultivator with her while she's on a date, incidentally? These kids are confused about whether they're doing feudal patriarchy or whether they're doing modern social life.

Jin vs. Jiang

Wei Wuxian jumps in between Jiang Yanli and Jin Zixuan, which JZX objects to. Jin Zixuan has no fucking business objecting and Wei Wuxian is 100% right, at this point. As soon as WWX shows up JZX should hand her off to her Shidi, bow, and leave her the fuck alone. Instead, he draws his sword on Wei Wuxian, and kind of on Jiang Yanli since she's right behind Wei Wuxian.  Fortunately, Lan Wangji blocks him. 

This instantly blows up into a Jiang-Jin Clan conflict, with Jiang Cheng unfortunately absent since he let his unmarried sister go off in the woods alone with the son of the Cultivaton world's most famous lecher. It looks like it’s a personal conflict, but since Jin Zixuan already told Wei Wuxian directly that Jin Guangshan wants his amulet, any arguments between them are part of a larger power struggle. 

Cousin Jin Zixun comes running up to start shit. Wei Wuxian pretends--I am SURE he's pretending--not to know who he is. The dude hassles Wei Wuxian every time he sees him; Wei Wuxian is a troll, and right now CJXZ is butting in to something that doesn't concern him. Rather than argue, Wei Wuxian insults him by telling him he’s not memorable.

Jin Furen shows up with several maids and cultivator dudes in tow, which is the proper way for a highborn woman to wander around in the woods. She also brings Clan Leader Yao, because if it's Wei Wuxian Blaming Hours, Yao is going to be there.  

I initially found the deep friendship between superhot Yi Zuyuan and dumpy Jin Furen implausible, but then I remembered that my lifelong bestie is a smokin' hot redhead with impeccable fashion sense, while I am a roly-poly nerd.  Friends don’t always match. Also, Jin Furen's actress, Hu Xiaoting, looks like this: 

...so she is actually hot in real life. Not as hot as Zhang Jingtong (who plays Yu Ziyuan) but literally nobody is as hot as Zhang Jingtong. Don't @ me, you know I'm right.

This is a heck of a long scene, so we’ll pick it up in part two! 

Soundtrack: Livin’ on a Prayer by Bon Jovi

Writing prompt: Newly-divorced, cold-hearted CEO Yu Ziyuan buys an apartment next door to newly-divorced, warm-hearted pastry chef ...uhh let's call her Jin Dàngāo (蛋糕), sure. She can name her business after herself. 

They discover their daughter & son are in the same college class, and so they meet up over coffee....several times...trying to matchmake their hopeless, hapless kids, while bonding over their own terrible (former) taste in husbands. Who will Cupid strike first, the kids or the moms?

[lovethisletters]

Poly MC! hc for the: Demon Brothers!

This is my first time writing anything about poly relationships! So I'm a bit nervous! I took the time to do a bit of research about the subject...however I still have a lot to learn; if you find anything that might be offensive please let me know! Just know I didn't do it with any ill intentions and I'll make sure to correct my mistakes!

Also I didn't knew if you refered to a poly MC who is in a relationship with all of the brothers or how each individual brother would react to MC coming out as poly to them and later starting a poly relationship and how they behave in said relationship...so I did the latter bc I found it to be a bit more easy to write and the first option would have been way too long and I was worried it might come off as boring because of it :c (but maybe I'll try to edit it and then upload it...some day...idk)

so...here it is!

Keys: MC = your main character name

Summary: MC comes out as poly to the Demon Brothers and how they behave in a poly relationship!

Additional notes: MC is gender neutral!

TW: small mentions or implications of jealous/possessive behavior (they're very minimal, but still...just in case)

▪️▫️▪️▫️▪️▫️

Lucifer

Lucifer is probably the one you're the most nervous to talk to.

But when you finally find the courage to do so it goes...to put it mildly, a bit... weird.

He stares blankly at you like you just said to him that water is a liquid or something, he's not very...responsive.

His reaction might come off as rude, considering you spend all this time trying to figure out the "best" way to come out and talk about the possibility of starting a poly relationship.

But the reason why he's not talking much is because he's trying to avoid saying anything he might regret later, you see... he's trying to process his own feelings towards the matter.

Lucifer is someone who has lived for a long, looooooong time, so it's more likely than not that he's already experienced being in a poly relationship.

thing is...such relationship was more experimentation rather than something serious.

And now he has you...someone for who he'll be willing to die for...

He won't say it but deep down he feels like his pride has been bruised.

He just doesn't want to "share" you, you're his and his alone!

But when he looks up at you, and see just how nervous you are, waiting patiently for any kind of reaction from him.

He realizes he's thinking of you as an object and not a person and mentally kicks himself in the face for it.

Lucifer reaches for your hand and offers you a small smile.

After a long conversation where you two express your own desires and worries, you two agree and decide to give it a try.

At first... I'm not gonna lie...it would be quite... difficult...

The man is possessive and struggles to see you giving any kind of affection to any of his brothers.

However I think he genuinely wants this to work, he wants to see you happy and knows that just because you also love his brothers doesn't mean you love him any less.

So he'll sit down and talk to you whenever he feels jealous, he knows communication is key and it honestly makes him feel a bit better.

With time Lucifer comes to accept it; He loves you and he loves his brothers and it makes him happy that they all can share such bond with you.

Mammon

I think he's the one who'll have a harder time adapting to a poly relationship.

I'll even go as far to say Lucifer's jealousy pales in comparison to Mammon's and I think this is due to his low self-esteem.

He won't accept it but he's jealous af when he sees you "getting cozy" with any of his brothers.

He'll even interrupt the moment by placing himself in the middle of whoever you were getting close to or think about some lame excuse to take you away.

This makes things more difficult and tense for everyone, so if Mammon continues his shenanigans expect a LOT more arguing from the brothers...(yes...more than normal...)

You'll have to sit him down and talk to him about his insecurities.

The first times he won't be very open with you, I think he might even get a bit angry if you even imply he's jealous and act all offended and walk out of the room.

Surprisingly the one who makes him understand how toxic he's being and how much this affects you is Asmo!

He'll have a serious talk with him, and just the fact of seeing his often bubbly and cheerful young bro being all serious is enough for Mammon to realize that what he's been doing and how he's been acting hurts you and his brothers.

He'll apologize...the Mammon way...

But ultimately he now makes an effort to respect whenever you're close to one of his brothers.

Just like Lucifer. Mammon will come to accept you love him and his brothers all the same.

He'll sometimes even suggest places you all can go together for a date.

Please, be patient with the avatar of greed with time he will come to accept that love exist in more than one way or form.

Leviathan

Surprisingly, unlike his older brothers, your favorite shut-in-otaku has an easier time adapting to a poly relationship.

Easier, however does not mean problems are inexistent...

He has a low self-esteem and sometimes might get the feeling that you're ""picking favorites""

However he won't tell you anything about it, and he'll just try to pretend like nothing is wrong.

Fortunately for you, Levi is quite easy to read so you immediately notice whenever he's feeling sad.

But all you have to do is have a little gaming session with him, and as the two of you "game" the night away he'll eventually open up to you about whatever is bothering him.

All it takes is a little reassurance and saying "I love you" to the avatar of envy from time to time and he'll be all good with you showing affection to the rest of his brothers.

Satan

Uhhhh...this is a tricky one...

You see...Satan is probably the second brother you came out to and perhaps you didn't even realized that you did because it just happened so natural.

The two of you were talking and it just slipped out of your mouth and he was like "hahaha, right?" And continued the conversation as normal.

He genuinely doesn't care, (don't get me wrong I don't mean that in a bad way) but all he knows is that he loves you and he wants you to be happy, and if expanding the love that the two of you have to his brothers makes you happy, then so be it!

However... remember I said this was tricky?

Satan has no issue with you being affectionate with his brothers...all of them except for Lucifer...

When he sees you getting close to Lucifer he won't say anything, he won't make a scene or a passive-agressive remark, he'll just excuse himself and exit the room. (Neither he will confront you about it later when the two of you are alone)He won't say anything at all; he'll just stay silent and pretend like nothing is wrong.

However you'll be able to notice Satan's true feelings whenever Lucifer has a small present or gesture with you.

Oh? Lucifer gifted you a $300,000 coat? Well, Satan will give you another coat but this one is $600,000.

Lucifer treated you to dinner at ristorante six? Well, darling... guess what? Satan will reserve the entire building just for you!

At some point he will notice how bad this makes you feel, since he's turning a relationship into a competition and that's no good...

He'll eventually take a step back and realize how childish he's being, how his behavior hurts your feelings and might have even made you feel guilty or responsible for his beef with his older brother.

Before you even decide to talk to him about it, he already knows what you're trying to say, so he'll be the one to sit you down and apologize for his wrongdoings.

You're someone who he values dearly and all that he wants is for you to be happy, so he'll be willing to make the effort to get along or at least be a little more tolerant of Lucifer.

There might be times where they still fight and stop talking to each other for long periods of time, but the two of them will take the time to let you know that this has nothing to do with you and that there's no reason for you tu feel guilty.

Because if there's something in wich both, the avatar of pride and wrath agree in... Is in how much they love you.

Asmodeus

Asmodeus (definitely) was the first one to know about you being polyamorous.

He probably knew before you even said anything, let's be honest here...

He's probably the one who you're more comfortable talking about it.

The brothers accept you, yes...but Asmo understands you!

He knows that the world can be quite cruel to people who love differently to what our society stablish as "normal".

Whenever he expressed his liking for more than one person he was shamed or labeled as someone promiscuous who'll never be deserving of "true" love.

It happened in the celestial realm, in the human realm, and even sometimes here in the devildom.

Angels where expected to only focus in the lord and nothing else, some humans are close minded and shame whoever is different from them, and demon's often confuse love with obsession and get easily tangled up in possessive behavior, often viewing their partners as objects rather than individuals with their own goals and desires. (his brothers are the perfect example of that)

So he just knows how difficult it might have been for you to find acceptance.

So he gives it to you; acceptance, reassurance, however many times you need to.

He'll be the one to encourage you to talk with his brothers, he'll be there to support you if you ever feel nervous, and he'll be the one to call his brothers out on their bs whenever they start to show any signs of toxic behavior.

He knows in all relationships communication and trust in your partners is key to a successful relationship, so he reminds this to everyone and even goes as far as to make plans where everyone feels included.

Overall the avatar of lust is the voice of reason in this relationship, because he knows better than anyone else that love is something that can't and should never be limited by what others believe or expect "true love" should look like.

Beelzebub

You weren't sure how Beel would react once you told him.

But still you were pleasantly surprised by Beel's reaction!

He was so accepting from the beginning and even thanked you for trusting him enough to share this with him.

He's happy that you want him to form part of this relationship.

He knows his brothers love you as much as he does and that you love them back, so he sees this as the perfect option for everyone.

He even thinks this relationship has brought everyone closer together.

Over all the avatar of gluttony is more than happy to be with you and share your affection with people he holds equally as dearly.

Belphegor

Belphie, much like Lucifer struggles to understand why would you want such a thing?

Is his love not enough for you?

It takes little more time for him to understand you, and learn that love doesn't just limits to one person.

He can be a bit insensitive some times, so he might accidentally say something hurtful to you about it.

And that's when Asmo has to intervene...

He'll have a talk with his younger brother and make him realize that there's more than one form of love and how his words might have hurt you.

He'll apologize...(much like Mammon) in his own way...

After thinking about it for a while, he realizes he's happy whenever you show affection to Beel, and wonders if it would be the same with the rest of his brothers.

Slowly but surely, Belphie it's more open to this new relationship.

There'll be times where he might try to monopolize your love, but he'll stop once you, Beel or Asmo call him out on it.

His favorite thing of this new relationship is whenever you spend time with him and Beel.

Please be patient with the avatar of sloth.

▪️▫️▪️▫️▪️▫️

If you find any grammatical errors let me know! I'm trying to improve my english and that would help me so so much!

I will forever thank you if you go check out my other profile: @aileysmirnov  where I post things about my OC: edits, one-shots, imagines, art, etc. If you like Greek mythology and the bat family maybe you would get to be as fond of her as much as I am!

Anyway, thank you for reading!

[actress4him]

Whumptober 2020 - Day 31

This is it! The very last post of Whumptober, and the long-awaited sequel to Day 8! If you're brand new to this whump party and haven't read it yet, you'll want to go back and do so before diving into this monstrosity. And when I say monstrosity I mean, it's looooooong. I wanted to do it justice and give you guys the ending you deserve, which...I'm hoping I pulled off. I'm not used to posting stuff so soon after writing it, without re-reading and editing over a period of time! Anyway, it wasn't one that I could easily just say, oh and they rescued him and put him in a pod and they lived happily ever after, because there was a whole bunch of emotional stuff everyone had to deal with, too. Thus the length, and the postponing of this post so I could actually finish it. 

That said, this is actually more angst than it is whump, but hopefully there's enough whump to satisfy and hopefully it's a satisfying way to end the month. Enjoy!

Read on AO3

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Day 31 (No. 29 and Alt. 7)  - Reluctant Bedrest/Found Family

Fandom: Voltron: Legendary Defender

Warnings: fantastic racism, self-hatred, death mention, blood, referenced animal attack, fever, infection, hallucinations, needles, panic attacks, suicide ideation

It had been nearly a week since they abandoned Keith. Discarded him, like garbage. Dropped him off on some deserted planet like some people back on Earth used to drop off animals that they didn’t want to have to take care of. 

Shiro had always hated those people. Now he was one of them.

Except worse, because this wasn’t a puppy they had dumped on the side of the road, this was a hu-...okay, well only partly a human being, but a person, nonetheless. The person that he had seen as the little brother he never had for the past several years that he had known him. The person that he had sworn, even if only internally, to look after, always.

And sure, it wasn’t like it was his idea, but he had still let it happen. Yeah, if he had tried to fight it, Allura probably would have locked him in his room and done it without him. But he should have fought anyway. He should have let them drag him away like they had Keith that day they found out he was part Galra. Maybe they would have thrown him in a cell, too. Maybe then he’d actually be able to look at himself in the mirror now.

They wouldn’t have, though. He was human. He was trustworthy.

So trustworthy that he had turned his back on his brother, all for the sake of Voltron and the universe. 

That was the lie he had been telling himself, the one thing that had kept him from jumping in his Lion and going after Keith for days. The universe needed Voltron. Therefore, the universe needed him. He was the leader of Voltron, he couldn’t just abandon the rest of the team and disobey the Princess’ orders for the sake of one man. Being a defender of the universe meant having to make sacrifices and hard choices.

And maybe all of that was actually true, but it was only half the story. Keith needed him. As the leader of Voltron, he should be setting an example for the rest of the team to follow, and should be able to make decisions for the good of every team member without being threatened and overruled by the Princess. Being a decent person who could live with his own choices meant not going against his own promises and ideals.

He knew all of that. But both sides seemed true, and which side seemed more important changed by the second. 

To top it all off, the team had practically fallen apart since leaving Borulmyte. Not only were they down a Paladin, unable to form Voltron, but hardly anyone was speaking to each other unless forced. Allura was sulking because her father’s Lion wouldn’t accept her. Hunk, who had never seemed all that happy with the idea of kicking Keith out, seemed depressed. Pidge had pretty much locked herself in her room, he assumed furiously searching for any sign of her family. Lance was, as always, hard to get a read on, but he was noticeably quiet and stoic whenever he happened to appear. Coran had barely spoken a word the whole week.

And Shiro? He couldn’t stand to be around any of them. They were the ones who had done this to Keith. Sure, a couple had made weak arguments on his behalf at the beginning, but in the end they had all caved to Allura’s wishes and turned on him. He blamed them just as much as he blamed himself for sitting here in the comfort of the Castle while Keith...who even knew? At the very least he was alone and probably scared, even though he’d never admit that. At the worst, he could be struggling to survive, dying at that very moment, and none of them would ever know.

Whichever it was, he didn’t deserve it.

Coran had called a meeting on the bridge for something he said was urgent. It was probably another distress call, though the last one - the only mission they had attempted that week - had gone so terribly that Shiro wasn’t sure if they should even bother trying again. Running a smooth, successful mission is awfully difficult when no one wants to speak to each other, much less work in sync.

Usually he was the first one to arrive for meetings like this. Well, except for maybe Keith, but that wasn’t a thought he wanted to dwell on right then. This time, when he finally dragged himself to the bridge, the others were all already there, though none of them looked happy about it. Unlike in the past, when he always tried to keep up everyone’s morale by being focused and enthusiastic himself, no matter how he actually felt, now he didn’t bother. Crossing his arms, he let his face rest in exactly the scowl he was feeling.

“What is this about, Coran?”

“Yes, I would like to know as well.” Allura’s brow was furrowed, clearly not happy at being left out of the loop. 

The orange-haired adviser wrung his hands, staring down at the floor. “Well, it’s...this is difficult to say. But…” Drawing in a deep breath that puffed out his chest, he finally looked up, catching each of their gazes. “I’ve been keeping something from you. It’s about Number F-...Keith. It’s about Keith.”

Keith’s name had practically become forbidden, so of course it automatically caught everyone’s attention. Shiro unfolded his arms and stepped forward. “What about Keith?” he demanded.

Coran’s eyes darted back to the floor. “He gave us messages to pass on to each of you. Before we left Borulmyte.”

“Coran!” Allura hissed.

“No, Princess.” The response took everyone in the room by surprise, including Allura if the expression on her face was any indication. None of them had ever heard Coran speak that way to her, especially not to tell her no. He took another breath and seemed to steel himself. “You know that I have always served the royal family willingly, and that I see you like a daughter. I would follow you anywhere. However...you are still young. A great burden has been placed on your shoulders, and you have done extraordinarily well with it. But sometimes you make mistakes, and this, my dear...this has been a grave mistake.”

She narrowed her eyes. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying that we never should have left the boy behind. Galra or not, he has never proven himself anything but the most loyal of paladins, and yet we have punished him for a crime he did not commit.”

Shiro was torn between feeling relief that someone besides him was saying it, and anger that it hadn’t been said sooner. “Why didn’t you speak up when I was trying to convince them all of this same thing days ago?”

Coran flashed him a guilty expression. “Because I was too much of a coward. I didn’t want to speak against my Princess, even though I knew what she was doing was wrong.” Squaring his shoulders, he looked around at the other paladins again. “But regardless of what anyone else thinks or decides, I can do this. I can fulfill the boys’ last request before he was left behind.”

Something in Shiro’s gut twisted at that statement, and he could see some shuffling of feet and shifting of positions around him that pointed to the others feeling the same way. No one liked to be reminded of what they had done.

“Fine,” Allura finally spat. “Do what you must to clear your conscience.” She crossed her arms and leaned back against the console with a huff.

“First to Number Two...Hunk.” Coran gave the Yellow Paladin a gentle smile. “He wanted you to know that he would miss your cooking, especially the brownies you made for him.”

That was all it took for Hunk to start crying, though he said nothing in reply.

“Lance, he said to tell you that he never hated you, that you annoyed him sometimes but were a good friend, too.”

If Shiro hadn’t been intently watching, he might have missed the way Lance’s eyes widened before he ducked his head and scuffed his sneaker into the floor.

“Pidge, your message was that he really, really hopes you find your family. And that he kept meaning to tell you he thinks you’re doing great with your bayard.”

Her eyebrows pulled in tight at the first part, but at the second she blinked as if surprised and looked away.

“And besides his message to the Red Lion that he would miss her, and to us, thanking us for the opportunity to fly her…” He turned to stare at Allura for that, and she couldn’t hold his gaze, either… “That leaves you, Shiro.”

The other messages had already left him ripped open, so he wasn’t really sure how he was supposed to handle one meant just for him.

Coran lips pursed into a sad smile. “‘Just tell him I love him.’”

He felt as if all the walls came crashing down on him all at once. He loved him. Of course he did, he knew he did, they had always treated each other like brothers. But he had never said it. And now he had, and it was after Shiro had allowed him to be kicked out of the place they had all come to see as a home.

Spinning on his heel, he marched toward the door without a word.

“Shiro, wait, where are you going?”

If it had been any of the others, he might have just ignored them. But it was Hunk, so he at least threw the answer over his shoulder. “I’m going to get Keith.”

“Shiro -!”

“No!” This time he whirled around, sending all of his fury in a glare toward Allura. “I’m done letting you tell me how I should treat my little brother! I am going to get Keith, not the Galra, but our friend, the Red Paladin, the strongest and bravest and most loyal person I know, and no one is going to stop me! If you don’t want us back here, fine. I don’t care. Find yourself new Red and Black Paladins. But I won’t leave him down there a second longer.”

It was unclear whether Allura even knew what to say to that, but before she had the chance Hunk piped up again. “I’m coming with you! Erm, if...that’s okay.”

Shiro spared him a small smile. “Of course it is.”

No one said anything as they left the room. Hunk jogged a little to catch up to Shiro’s long, quick strides before matching his pace. 

“I was a coward, too, like Coran said. Which, you know, isn’t really anything new, just...me being a coward isn’t usually at the expense of one of my friends. I was scared, to start with. Of him being, you know. Galra. But that’s stupid, really. Galra Keith is still Keith.”

“Yeah. He is.” He just hoped he was still Keith, still whole and well and not irrevocably changed, when they got to him. “I was just as much of a coward as anyone else, or more. I let the duty I felt to Voltron and the universe get in the way of the way I actually wanted to act. I should have gone after him right away.”

Hunk hummed in understanding. “Well, at least you actually stood up for him.”

They stopped off in their rooms to change into armor, then headed for Black and Yellow’s hangars. The long way, since they didn’t want to risk going back to the bridge and running into everyone else. Shiro had debated whether or not he should take Black, or just a pod, but decided that even if Allura wouldn’t let them stay, returning Black would give everyone a good chance to see Keith again and really make sure they wouldn’t change their minds.

“Since we don’t have a wormhole, it’s gonna take us a while to get there,” he told Hunk over the comms once they were situated in their Lions and starting to take off.

“I don’t mind. Just...how are we gonna find him once we’re there? I mean, he could have traveled a ways from where we...you know, left him.”

“I can track his quintessence.” The new voice took him by surprise, but not nearly as much as spinning around to find Green and Blue hovering over the Castle. “But I’ll have to be pretty close to him first. So we’ll still have to fly around for a while to try to catch a signal, then we’ll be able to narrow it down to a smaller area.”

Shiro was too shocked by their appearance to come up with a reasonable response, so he just ended up echoing, “We?”

Lance’s solemn face popped up on a video screen in front of him, followed by another with Pidge’s. “Yeah, we,” he said, mouth set in a firm line. “We’ve been stupid, and we wanna fix it. If...if we can.”

Clenching his jaw, Shiro sighed. “That’ll be up to Keith, I suppose. What kind of shape he’s in, and...whether he’ll forgive us.”

“We don’t really deserve it,” Pidge mumbled.

“No, we don’t. But let’s go ask for it anyway.”

They talked a little as they flew. It was quiet, and a bit awkward, but it was more than they had talked all week. Lance admitted that he had been having doubts ever since they left, memories of time spent with Keith haunting his thoughts. The message had just sealed the deal.

Pidge shrugged when asked about her change of heart, and quietly conceded that she didn’t think she had ever really believed he was a bad guy. She was just hurting, and he had been the perfect target to take it out on. Her desperation to find her family had blinded her.

They were several hours into a trip that Hunk calculated would take a few days when a wormhole appeared in front of them, seemingly out of nowhere. Every Lion pulled up short, exclamations of surprise echoing across the comms. 

Shiro jerked his Lion around to find the Castle looming behind them. His immediate thought was that Coran had somehow taken over and caught up with them, but Coran couldn’t make wormholes.

“...Allura?”

Her voice over the comms was more tentative than he thought he had ever heard it. “I have not yet decided to trust him. But I...I have seen how passionate all of you are about this, and I am...willing to reconsider my original stance.”

It wasn’t what he wanted to hear, but it was more than he had expected. He’d take it. 

“Alright guys. Let’s go bring our boy home.”

The sight of the planet Borulmyte made Shiro’s stomach turn a flip. This was it. This was the place where Keith had been living for the past week. He couldn’t even imagine what it had been like for him. Allura and Pidge had done extensive research on multiple planets before deciding that this was the best one, and they had had plenty of “reassuring” things to say about it. He had always wondered, though, what they weren’t saying. Or what their research hadn’t turned up. There was no way that they could have known everything there was to know about a planet just from reading about it. “Livable conditions” didn’t mean enjoyable conditions.

“Coran and I will stay here with the Castle. Keep us updated.”

Shiro gave a nod. “Pidge, how close do you need to be to pick up Keith’s quintessence?”

“Within a few miles.”

“Alright. We’ll start at the drop off point. I’m gonna guess he would have headed east, into the forest, to find shelter.” That was the one reassurance he had about the whole situation, knowing that Keith was trained in survival skills. “We’ll head there first, and take it mile by mile.”

It took them the rest of the day. Only a fraction of that time had passed when Shiro started to run every possible horrible scenario through his mind of why they weren’t finding it, even though he knew that they probably just hadn’t hit the right spot yet. 

“There!” Pidge shouted. “I’ve got it!”

Relief flooded Shiro down to his toes. “Alright. Mark this location. We’ll have to go land in the desert and fly back in the Green Lion. She’s the only one small enough to fit in that little clearing over there. 

The little clearing, as it turned out, was around a creek that seemed to be clear and safe. His relief grew just a little more. If Keith had managed to end up this close to a water source, then maybe he was doing okay.

“Okay, Pidge. Lead the way.”

Hiking through the woods took almost another full day. A day in which the sun never actually rose. He hadn’t paid attention to start with, when they were still flying, because constant darkness outside had become the new norm, but now that they were on solid ground it was painfully obvious that they had yet to see light this entire time. And the temperature gauge on his helmet display was much lower than he wanted it to be. Livable? Yes. Comfortable without armor? No. He wanted to interrogate Allura and Pidge on whether they knew about this when they had chosen to send Keith to this planet, but it wasn’t the time. He had to focus on finding Keith, nothing else.

After hours and hours of walking by only the flashlights built into their helmets, during which time no one, not even Lance, dared to complain, there was finally a spike on Pidge’s quintessence tracker. 

“Over here!” she shouted, taking off at a sprint through the underbrush. 

The others followed, swatting branches and bushes out of their way. Any second, Shiro expected to run into Keith. Maybe sitting in whatever hideout he had found, or out hunting for food in the never-ending darkness, his eyebrows flying up in surprise when he saw them all rushing in.

Instead, when he stumbled to a halt beside Pidge, she was staring at the ground, and there was no Keith in sight. 

“Pidge? What is it?”

Lifting a shaky finger, she pointed. Even before he looked, Shiro could feel his chest tightening with anxiety. And for good reason, too. The stain that was illuminated on the dirt and leaves was dried, at least a couple of days old, but it was undeniably blood. It was also concerningly large, and with the quintessence tracker crackling louder than they had heard it so far, there was no getting around the fact that it belonged to Keith.

Hunk immediately began babbling his worries, but Shiro’s heart was pounding too loudly in his ears for him to comprehend what he was actually saying. For a long moment he just stared at the bloodstain. It wasn’t until Lance stepped in closer to speak that he was broken out of his trance.

“Shiro? Do you think he’s…”

“No.” Yes. He didn’t know. It was a lot of blood. But he wouldn’t allow himself to believe that Keith was anything but okay until he saw him with his own eyes. “Pidge, is there a trail?”

She tore her eyes away to look at the screen, pacing back and forth a bit before nodding wordlessly and taking off through the bush. If her steps were a bit quicker now, no one blamed her. They just picked up their pace, too, solemn and silent other than Lance quietly updating Allura and Coran on what they had found. 

Every once in a while, a small patch of dark red on a leaf or tree trunk would catch Shiro’s eye. He tried to take it as a good sign. If Keith had been able to pick himself up from whatever had happened and trek through the woods, then maybe he wasn’t too bad off. At the time. Two or more days later? It was impossible to say.

The walk from there only took a few minutes, but it felt like an eternity. Finally, finally, he spotted a small cave over the top of Pidge’s head, just as the tracker grew in volume and Pidge broke into a run. 

“Keith? Keith!”

He was right on her heels, barreling through the opening, terrified of what he would find. And what he did see was almost exactly what he had feared - Keith, his skin far too pale under their flashlights, lying completely still on the ground next to the cold, charred remains of a campfire. There were rough slashes in his t-shirt, through which bloody scabs could be seen, and his right leg was almost entirely wrapped in large blue leaves tied off with what looked like dried grass. It didn’t take much guesswork to figure out that the sporadic dark stains on the leaves were blood.

“Keith.” Shiro was by his side without really knowing how he got there, sliding down onto his knees next to the unmoving figure. “No, no, no, no, Keith, come on, don’t do this to me.” He carded his hand through the messy black hair. “Keith, please.”

Pale lips parted, and a groan spilled out. Shiro nearly fell over with relief. Somewhere behind him, Lance was exclaiming his own relief in Spanish, while Hunk hovered just over his shoulder. Keith’s forehead, which he now noticed was coated in a sheen of sweat, furrowed, and he turned his head slightly to face Shiro before squinting his eyes open.

“Go ‘way,” he rasped, taking all of them by surprise. “‘re not real.”

“Yeah, yeah we are, buddy.” He stroked his hair again, then yanked off his glove so he could lay his flesh hand against his cheek, trying not to wince at the heat that met his touch. A fever. Whatever that wound was on his leg, it had probably gotten infected. No wonder he didn’t think they were real. “Doesn’t this feel real?”

Keith seemed to consider this, his brain probably having to work twice as hard as usual to process anything. Finally there was what seemed to be acceptance in those glazed eyes, but instead of seeming happy or confused or surprised or any of the emotions that they might have expected, he simply let his head roll back to the side and closed his eyes. “Come to...finish me off?”

“What? Keith, no, why would you think that?” Hunk exclaimed, dropping down right next to Shiro. “We came to take you home.”

“We’ve, uh...we were really terrible to you. It was really, really wrong,” Lance joined in.

Pidge shuffled her feet awkwardly. “Yeah. We, um. We want you to come back.”

“Even Allura is willing to reconsider, but whatever she decides, we're getting you out of here.” Shiro took one of Keith’s hands in his own and squeezed. “I never should have let her dictate how you were treated to start with.”

Silence fell for a moment. Keith cut his eyes up toward Shiro, not moving his head. “Knew you weren’t real.”

Pidge gave an exasperated grunt. “Keith -”

“Don’t worry about it right now.” Sliding his glove back on, Shiro straightened and got ready to pick Keith up bridal style. “He’s burning up with an infection. We’ll have to talk to him later, once he can actually comprehend what’s going on. For now let’s just get him back to the Castle and into a pod.”

Shiro scooped Keith up gently into his arms, causing him to cry out when his leg was jostled. “I’m sorry, bud,” he whispered. “You’re gonna be okay.” He didn’t at all like how light he felt, nor how gaunt his face looked. It had only been a week, but it didn’t seem like he had eaten much in that time.

Now that they knew where they were going, the walk back to the Green Lion went by quickly. Pidge flew them back to their own Lions, with Hunk and Lance towing Black to the Castle so that Shiro could stay in Green’s cargo hold with Keith. He didn’t want to let him go, couldn’t even keep his eyes off of him. He was too afraid that if he looked away, he would be gone, would succumb to his infection or perhaps just vanish into thin air. In the better lighting of the Lion, Keith looked all the more pale and feverish, his breaths coming shallow as he mumbled unintelligible words and occasionally whimpered with pain.

“What kind of injuries are we dealing with here, Number One?”

Shiro barely remembered arriving at the Castle and exiting the Green Lion, but there he was, standing next to Coran and a stretcher. Tenderly, he settled Keith down onto the padded surface. “Not sure. Maybe an animal attack of some kind? I haven’t been able to get a look at his wounds yet. He’s got a fever for sure, though, so they’re probably infected.”

Coran’s face turned grim. “That’s unfortunate. We won’t be able to put him into cryosleep until his temperature is back to normal.”

Gritting his teeth, Shiro found Keith’s hand and held it as they walked toward the infirmary. Poor kid just couldn’t catch a break. He didn’t deserve any of this. And now it sounded like when he was back to himself, they were going to have to go back through a whole three years’ worth of self-esteem boosting...maybe even more. He let out a long sigh. It seemed like he had just finally convinced Keith that he was worth loving, that he was important, that not everyone in his life was going to abandon him. 

Then he sat back and let everyone in his life abandon him.

Coran sucked in a loud breath through his teeth as he peeled back the crude leaf bandages. “Yes, this is most certainly infected. And I would say that your animal attack hypothesis is correct. These look mostly like tooth marks. Quite deep.”

It looked mostly like a mangled, bloody mess to Shiro. His stomach turned, not just from the smell of the infection, and he was glad that Hunk wasn’t there at the moment. “What do we need to do?”

“Well, I’ll need to clean these. You might want to hold him down for that part.”

Keith bucked and writhed under Shiro’s hands as Coran poured antiseptic over his leg, screaming in agony. Shiro was pretty sure his heart was permanently residing in his throat now. He whispered reassurances, hardly knowing what he was saying, well aware that Keith probably couldn’t hear or comprehend any of it. 

After a thorough cleaning, Coran wrapped the leg in clean bandages and pulled a thin sheet up over his waist. Shiro sank into the bedside chair, relieved beyond words that the worst part was over. They spoke very little as they went about the rest of the work that needed to be done, Coran handing Shiro the antiseptic and a clean cloth so that he could work on the claw marks across Keith’s chest, then focusing himself on preparing an IV bag of antibiotics and nutrients. Shiro gently smoothed adhesive bandages over the cuts when he was done. When he looked up, Coran was sliding the IV into place in the back of Keith’s hand.

“That should do it for now. I’m going to get a cool, wet cloth to help bring his fever down, but he should recover just fine.”

It was only then that Shiro finally allowed himself to dissolve into tears, like he had been wanting to ever since finding Keith in that cave. Burying his face in his hands, he let the tears soak his cheeks and the sobs wrack his body, uncaring for once that someone was there to see him fall apart.

A sturdy hand landed on his back, rubbing soothing circles. “There, there, lad. I know it’s been a rough few quintants, but it’ll be alright.”

“Will it?” Shiro scrubbed at his face with his flesh hand. “You should have seen him, Coran. I don’t know if he’ll ever be able to trust any of us again.”

The adviser heaved a sigh. “I don’t know, either. I’m not sure if I would be able to trust us, if the roles were reversed. But perhaps, with time, we’ll be able to prove to him that we do, indeed, care for him.”

Once Shiro had cried himself out, Coran convinced him to go change out of his armor and possibly get something to eat. He was surprised to find all three of the other paladins sprawled out on the floor just outside the infirmary, remnants of snacks scattered around them and expectant looks on their faces.

“Well? Is he...okay?” Pidge asked tentatively.

Shiro sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “Physically, it seems so. He’s stable for now, at least, and Coran thinks he’ll be fine. We just have to make sure his fever doesn’t get too high.”

They all nodded slowly, seeming lost in thought. He imagined they were all thinking about the “other than physically” part that he had failed to comment on.

Hunk cleared his throat. “Is he awake?”

He shook his head. “He’s been in and out, but he’s resting pretty peacefully for now.”

“We didn’t want to, you know, be in the way,” Lance supplied. “But you can let us know when it’s okay for us to see him. Or we can take turns watching out for him.”

“Alright. I’ll let you know.” Right now he couldn’t imagine leaving his side, not for longer than he was doing right now. As he started down the hall again toward his quarters, he met another unexpected presence - Allura, lurking just around the corner from where the paladins sat, looking abnormally anxious. He stopped abruptly, not sure he was ready to see her again yet.

“I heard your update,” she stated after a moment of awkward silence. When Shiro said nothing in return, she pursed her lips. “I suppose we have some more discussions ahead of us now.”

“No. We don’t.” Allura’s eyebrows flew up in surprise, but he didn’t give her time to respond. “There’s nothing to discuss. Either you accept Keith back as the Red Paladin...and treat him just as well as the other paladins, or he and I leave. Whether or not the others stay is up to them.” 

Allura’s brow furrowed, and she dropped her gaze to the floor with nothing else to say. Pushing past her, Shiro continued to his room, hurrying through changing so he could be back with Keith.

.o.0.O.0.o.

They would tell Keith later that he had been out of it for around two days before the fever broke. All he knew was that he woke up in the infirmary of the Castle with no memory of how he had gotten there, and assumed he must have been hallucinating again. He was actually a bit surprised that the wounds from that death beast hadn’t killed him yet...or maybe they had. Maybe this was some sort of purgatory or something, though the infirmary seemed like a strange choice.

It made a bit more sense when he turned his head to the right and saw Coran sitting there studying him. Seemed maybe he was going to have to face people he had failed in life before he could move on to whatever came next.

“Are you with us this time, my boy?”

Wrinkling his eyebrows at the strange question, Keith licked his dry lips with an equally dry tongue and tried to come up with something to say, but all that came out was a raspy, “What?”

Immediately Coran went into action, producing a hydration pack from somewhere nearby and holding the straw up to Keith’s lips. The cool liquid hit his throat like a slice of heaven, and he gulped greedily.

“Not too fast, now. Don’t want you making yourself sick.”

Keith nearly whined when the straw was pulled away, but he could already feel the liquid sloshing around inside of him, so it was probably for the best. Clearing his throat, he decided he could try talking again. “What am I doing here?”

“You were in pretty bad shape when the others found you. Something had torn your leg all up, and it had gotten infected. We couldn’t put you in a cryopod until your fever went down, which it seems it now has.”

His eyes darted around the cavernous white room. “So...this is real?”

The corner of Coran’s mouth tilted up. “Yes. It’s real.”

He had kinda suspected after the water. But that left one major question…“Why?”

Before Coran could respond, the door slid open, and Keith turned his head to see Shiro enter the room. The sight of his surrogate brother had him torn between happiness and a strange sense of dread, leaving him to clench the sheets in his fists and wait for some kind of reaction to come. Half of him expected it to be disgust, or anger, or maybe just an apathetic announcement of what his new punishment for existing was to be. 

Instead, Shiro’s face lit up with a happy, almost hopeful expression. “Keith?”

“Wait, is Keith awake?” another voice called from the hallway behind him. Lance’s head poked through the doorway, making Keith’s stomach clench, before he turned and yelled back down the hall. “Hey guys, Keith’s awake!”

All at once the infirmary was filled with almost all the people who hated him, all crowding around his bed and staring down at him with faces he couldn’t read. They were going to hurt him. He knew they would, why else would they have brought him back here? Obviously they had changed their minds and decided they had been too lenient. What were they going to do to him? How much pain would he be in now?

He couldn’t breathe. Suddenly it felt like that beast was sitting on top of him again, crushing his chest, and he struggled to draw in air through an open mouth while tears stung his eyes. His hands shook where they were still gripping the sheets. People were talking, but it sounded as if his ears were stuffed full of cotton and he couldn’t make out any of the words.

He almost didn’t notice when the crowd above him dispersed, but it did help his breaths start to come a little easier. Only there was still Shiro, and he still didn’t know where Shiro stood on any of this. The Black Paladin sat down next to the bed and tried to grasp his hand. Keith yanked it away.

“Don’t...don’t.”

“Okay. I won’t touch you. Do you know where you are?”

Of course he knew, that was the whole problem. “Yes.”

“Okay. You’re safe now, Keith.”

Safe. Yeah, right. There was no such thing as safe, not anymore. He had thought the Castle was safe, that these people were safe, but he had been wrong. “Why?”

Shiro looked at him in mild confusion before choosing what to say. “We made a mistake, leaving you there. We -”

Keith rolled away, tucking his hands up next to his chest, cringing at the pain that still radiated through his leg. He didn’t want to hear it explained, how they wanted to punish him further. Yet at the same time, he needed to know what was coming. 

“Keith…”

“Now?”

It had been a long time since Shiro had needed to interpret his one word sentences, but luckily it seemed he was still good at it. “Now you keep resting and getting better until we can put you in a pod for your leg.”

“Why?”

That one seemed to give him pause. “So...you’ll be well.”

Were they really going to prolong the torture like this? Make him get well before they did away with him? He curled up tighter. “Just...kill. Now.”

“Kill? Keith -”

“Please.”

The chair scraped across the floor, and Keith flinched. Footsteps came around the bed. He tensed, waiting for the blow. The air in front of his face stirred, and Shiro’s voice came from very close.

“Keith, can you look at me, please?” When he didn’t comply, Shiro put a hand on his fists and pulled them down so that they were face to face. “No one is going to kill you. No one is going to hurt you. You’re back on the Castle because we were wrong. They were wrong about you being untrustworthy, and I was wrong about my duty to Voltron being more important than my duty to you. I’m so, so sorry that I let them kick you out, and that I didn’t come after you sooner. You will always be more important to me than the rest of the universe. You’re my brother. I love you.”

Tears welled up in Keith’s eyes despite his reluctance to believe any of it. Tugging his hands out from under Shiro’s, he covered his face again, unable to respond.

Shiro let out a long, quiet sigh. “The others want to apologize, too, at some point. But for now you should try to get some more rest. You’re still recovering from the infection.”

He didn’t want to sleep. He didn’t trust that he wouldn’t be messed with while he was asleep. But his body decided for him that it was ready, drifting off without his permission.

.o.0.O.0.o.

Keith hadn’t really improved by the next couple of days. He slept some, he ate some, and his color and temperature seemed to be returning to normal. But he regarded everyone who came into the room with the wary stare of a cornered wild animal, and he still wasn’t speaking more than one or two words at a time, if that. Just as Shiro had feared, he had reverted back to the year that they had met, except worse. 

He tried to spend as much time in the infirmary with him as he could, hoping that the company would eventually coax him into relaxing. The other paladins still hadn’t gotten their chance to talk to him. Everyone, including Shiro, was afraid their presence would trigger another panic attack. He had already nearly gone into one when Hunk had delivered his breakfast that morning, and had been extra jumpy around Coran, too.

Shiro was eating his own breakfast, trying not to focus too much on the fact that Keith’s was just sitting there untouched, when he heard a telltale sniffle. Keith was sitting up, propped on some pillows against the wall, but his head was turned away from Shiro, as was pretty common. Even so, he could see the shimmer of a tear as it streaked down his face. Setting aside his bowl, he rounded the bed and settled down on the edge, expecting the flinch that followed but still hating it.

“Talk to me, Keith.”

He didn’t expect a response at all, and especially not a long one. But Keith angrily dashed the tears away, forever hating himself for ever crying, and spoke in a hoarse whisper. “Why didn’t you just leave me there?”

Shiro’s eyes widened. “What? Why?”

“I was almost dead. It would have all been over. You should have just left me there.”

Heart aching, he scooted in closer, though Keith leaned even further back away from him. “Keith, no. We don’t want you dead. We want you here, alive and well, with us. If you died, I...I thought you were dead, when I first saw you. And it was like...it was like my heart was being ripped out of my chest. I don’t know if I could survive it.”

Keith’s face, passive up until then, creased with a look of emotional pain that Shiro could hardly stand. “But why should I live? I’m...I’m Galra, Shiro. I’m one of them. But not even really Galra, just some cross-breed freak of nature. I never should have existed. Maybe that’s why my mother walked out on me, she knew I was a freak and she couldn’t stand to -”

“Stop it. Keith, stop.” He grabbed his shoulder and shook it, not caring at the moment whether it startled him. “Don’t talk about yourself like that. You are not defined by who your parents or grandparents or anyone else were. You are you. You are Keith Kogane, Red Paladin of Voltron, best pilot at the Galaxy Garrison. You’re a survivor. You’re a fighter. Not because you have Galra blood, but because the universe has thrown every hard thing that it could think of at you and you’re still standing strong.”

“I’m not standing strong, don’t you see me?” Keith met his eyes finally, a tiny bit of his old spark of anger visible. “I’m pathetic. Maybe I was the Red Paladin, maybe I was a survivor and a fighter, but right now I don’t think I can be any of those things. I don’t want to fight anymore, Shiro. I’m tired of surviving. I just want…” He broke down into tears again, covering his face with his hands.

Moving over closer, Shiro wrapped his arms around his brother and pulled him in tight. “You want what?”

Keith’s shoulders shuddered beneath him. “I don’t want to be here. I don’t trust any of them. I can’t trust any of them.”

“I know.” 

For a long time, they sat together like that, Keith’s face buried in Shiro’s chest while he cried out all his tears. Shiro ran his fingers through his hair, trying desperately to come with anything he could say to comfort him. 

“Do you think you could listen to them, if they come and talk to you? Just one at a time, not everyone at once. I know they’re really anxious to speak to you, and I think it might do you some good, too.” Or at least he hoped.

It took him a minute to answer. “I don’t know.”

“Okay. Well, it doesn’t have to be now. But I’d like you to consider it.”

Keith just nodded.

.o.0.O.0.o.

He had been in bed for days. The infection was all but gone, there was no longer any danger in putting him in a pod, and doing so had been brought up a couple of times. But Shiro and Coran must have noticed how he shrank into himself every time it was mentioned, because they dropped the subject and just continued to let him stay there. 

He didn’t want to go in a pod. Being forced unconscious for who knew how many hours or days was just too vulnerable, and he already felt that way far too much, anyway. After all, he was stuck in bed in the middle of a ship full of people who hated him. He was pretty confident that Shiro would try his best to protect him, and Coran might, too. The Altean had taken the time to sit down and apologize to him for his role in the whole mess, and based on the way he had been treating him Keith was fairly sure he could be trusted. 

But that left four others, all who had weapons, one of whom had some kind of weird magic and was literally connected to the Castle. He didn’t feel safe, and he hated it. There hadn’t been many places in his life that he had been able to truly let down his guard and feel safe. A foster home or two, though later on he had become so jaded that even the good ones didn’t feel like they would last. The Garrison to some extent, at least as long as Shiro was there.

And the Castle. Yeah, there was always the chance of an attack, and there had been the couple of times that someone had snuck on board without them knowing. But in all of those situations he had known that there were people around who had his back, people that he could count on. It was the most at home he had felt since Shiro had left for Kerberos.

Now it was those very same people that he was afraid of, as stupid and weak as that made him. The thought was almost laughable. Him? Afraid of Lance, Hunk, and Pidge? But he couldn’t get the hatred he had seen in some of their eyes out of his head. Couldn’t forget the venom in their voices. Couldn’t erase all the times he had watched them, hallucinations or not, show up in that cave with insults on their lips and weapons in their hands, ready to make him pay for the crime of being part Galra.

He didn’t want to talk to them. But he knew that Shiro really wanted him to, and that meant he would have to do it sooner or later. Maybe if he went ahead and got it over with, they’d leave him alone more, and then when his leg was healed enough that he could actually walk it’d be easier to leave. He hadn’t figured out where he was going - definitely not back to Borulmyte - or how he’d get there, but leaving was the best option for everybody.

“Will you...stay? If I let them…”

Once again, Shiro knew exactly what he was talking about, despite the question being out of the blue. “Of course. I’ll be right here with you the whole time.”

Sinking back into the pillows, Keith hugged himself. “Okay.”

Shiro smiled softly. “Okay. I’ll send them a message and let them know you’re ready.”

Hunk was the first to come in. He burst into tears pretty much as soon as he walked through the door and saw Keith, and cried so much the whole time that his many, many apologies could barely be understood. It made Keith uncomfortable, if he was honest. He had never known how to deal with tears, his own or anyone else’s. But Hunk was so obviously genuine and straightforward, and he had always had a hard time believing that there was any part of such a loving person that could have held such malice. 

“I get it.” It took everything in him to force multiple words out, but he knew he had to this time. “It’s hard to...stand up. When...everyone else...disagrees. It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not okay, it’s so not okay!” Hunk blubbered. “I don’t know if it would have done any good for me to say anything or not, but I still should have done it.”

Keith nodded. “Okay. You’re right. It wasn’t okay. But…” He took a deep breath. “I forgive you.”

The way Hunk’s face lit up was totally worth the difficulty of saying the words. “Really, man? Thank you. Like, really, thank you, you don’t know how happy that makes me. I know we’ve never been, like, the best of friends, but I’ve always really wanted to get to know you better, I mean if you’d be okay with that, it’s totally up to you, but maybe sometime when you’re feeling better we can like, hang out? Also I know you haven’t been eating much right now but I am definitely making you brownies when you feel up to eating them. Like, a ton of brownies. All the brownies I can possibly make. Hey, maybe you could help me make the brownies! Cooking is such a good way to bond, I can’t believe I haven’t thought of it before! What do you think, does that sound okay? Or I mean, if you really don’t want to hang out with me at all, I totally understand that, too, I just -”

“Hunk.” Keith’s lips twitched upward slightly as the breathless Yellow Paladin finally screeched to a halt. “Yeah. Sounds good.”

Hunk beamed. “Great! Okay, I’m gonna like, go, and let somebody else come in here, ‘cause, yeah. Feel better, Keith!”

When the room was empty again, Shiro leaned over and squeezed his hand. “How do you feel?”

“Good.” He was surprised to find it was actually pretty true. A small burden had been lifted from his chest.

“Good. You ready for Lance or Pidge?”

Keith’s heart started beating double time again. “Lance.” Even though he had been more active in the process of his condemnation, Pidge’s response had hurt the worst.

The boy that came into the infirmary wasn’t the Lance that Keith knew. He couldn’t seem to keep his eyes off the floor, or his hands, or anything but Keith and Shiro, and when he spoke his voice was so soft it was barely audible. 

“I don’t know why I did it.” He picked at a loose thread on his jeans. “I just get...so emotional, so caught up in the moment sometimes...I’m really just as much of a hothead as you are.”

If his demeanor and apology hadn’t caught Keith’s attention, that statement did. Lance, admitting he was as bad as Keith at something? “Thought that was because...I’m Galra.”

Lance’s face pinched. “Yeah. I said some pretty stupid things. I mean…” He shrugged. “Who knows, maybe it is because you’re Galra. But still, it’s...you’re just you. And that’s okay. Maybe we don’t always get along, but I don’t really think you’re evil. I mean, I guess I kinda thought you could be. It was stupid, though. I’m an idiot, that’s what I’m getting at. There’s no real explanation, just...I’m sorry, like I said.”

Part of Keith wanted to accept that. Part of him didn’t think he could. “I...thanks. For apologizing. I think...maybe I can forgive you...soon? Maybe not yet. But, yeah. Soon.”

Lance nodded. “That’s fair. I didn’t really expect you to, like, at all, so…” He finally flicked his eyes up to meet Keith’s. “I think you and I could use to work on some things, anyway. Like, you know, not acting like we hate each other. Because I don’t. Hate you, that is. And I’m...pretty sure based on what Coran said that you don’t hate me, either.”

“No. I don’t. And yeah, that...that sounds good.”

“Okay. Good.” A brief smile flashed over his face, then he nodded again and excused himself.

“You still doing okay?”

Keith pressed his lips together. “Think so. I’m nervous, though. About Pidge.”

Shiro smiled sympathetically. “I know. Just give her a chance, ‘kay?”

Pidge shuffled into the room in a very similar fashion to Lance, eyes on the floor. She perched on the very edge of the chair that each paladin had occupied, kicking her feet back and forth since they didn’t quite touch the floor. In a low voice, she said her apology and explained that she had let her hurt over her family get the best of her, but insisted that it didn’t excuse her blaming him. 

It took a moment longer than the others for him to find his words. “I remember what it was like...missing somebody. Believing that they were still out there, but not knowing for sure. I mean, it wasn’t my actual family...unless you count my mom, which...at least I knew she chose to leave. So, she’s...probably fine.” Just didn’t want him. “But Shiro is the closest thing I’ve had to family since...since my Pops. And it’s hard. I mean, I kinda went ballistic, broke into a commanding officer’s office, punched a bunch of other officers, and got kicked out of the Garrison.”

“You what?” Shiro broke in, sitting forward, then realized his interruption and sat back, waving a hand. “Never mind. Sorry. We’ll talk later.”

Pidge snickered a little, and Keith took that as encouragement to continue. “But, yeah. I know how hard it is, and I would never, never wish that on someone else.”

Her head popped up, eyes wide and wet behind her glasses. “I know you wouldn’t. I know...I know you didn’t have anything to do with it, I never should have said something like that. You...you’re right, you understand probably more than anyone else, and I…” She trailed off, ducking her head as tears spilled down her cheeks.

Once again, there was someone crying in front of him, and he didn’t know what to do. But he was pretty sure what any of the other paladins would have offered in this situation, so… “Do you, um...need a...hug?”

The next thing he knew he had an armful of Pidge, curled up on the bed next to him and leaving tears and snot all over his shirt. He patted her back awkwardly. “You’ll find them. I know you will.”

“Why are you comforting me? I’m supposed to be in here helping you to feel better, this is not how this is supposed to work!”

Keith frowned. “Um...sorry?”

Pidge glared at him, not at all intimidating with her sopping wet face. “No, don’t apologize, that’s my job, too!” 

“Sorry!”

She punched him in the ribs. “You’re a good hugger. Why are you such a good hugger.”

Keith was just getting more confused the longer this conversation went on. “I...don’t know? It certainly isn’t from practice.”

Tilting her head back, she narrowed her eyes at him as if she could see into his mind. “Do you not like hugs?”

“No, I...do.”

“Then I’m gonna hug you. Every day. From now on.”

“Aw, can I get Keith hugs every day, too?” 

Keith startled a little bit when he realized that Hunk and Lance had returned to the room, but forced himself to relax. This was okay. They weren’t going to hurt him. They had all been very open with him, and even though it was going to take some time, he thought he could learn to trust them again.

“I...guess?”

“Yay!” Hunk settled onto the end of the bed, and Lance took the now empty chair, folding his long legs up into it. Shiro scooted forward again to be in Keith’s line of vision.

“How are you feeling now? Think maybe you can keep surviving a little longer?”

He felt Pidge tense in his arms, and Hunk’s face froze while Lance’s went carefully blank. Keith swallowed. “Yeah. I think...maybe I’m ready for that pod now. So I can finally get out of this bed and...I don’t know, kinda figure this out all over again.”

Shiro ruffled his hair fondly. “I’m glad. We’ll all be there with you for every step, okay?”

There was one more question, though. “What about Allura?”

Shiro’s face darkened slightly. “I’ve already told her she can either treat you the same as everyone else, or we’re leaving.”

“Nah, we won’t leave,” Pidge piped up. “There’s more of us than there are of her now. We’ll just stage a mutiny.”

Keith laughed awkwardly. “Somehow I don’t think that’ll be necessary.”

“I don’t think so, either, because I think she’ll come around,” Lance said. “But the point is, Mullet...we’re gonna support you.”

“You’re part of the Space Family now, dude!” Hunk cheered.

“Exactly,” Shiro smiled. “And Space Family has to stick together.”

The others kept chattering quietly, someone throwing in something about “ohana” in a weird voice, which triggered a whole conversation about some movie that he didn’t care about keeping up with. Closing his eyes, Keith let his body truly relax for the first time since before going to the Blade. 

And he felt safe.

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

Thanks so much to everyone who joined me this month!!! This was my first ever Tumblr writing challenge, and it was a blast. You guys are what made it so much fun, with all the comments and likes and reblogs! Thank you!

If you want more Keith whump from me sometime in the future, you  can follow me on here, on FFN, or follow the series "In which I whump Keith" on AO3...and if you haven't read Abyss yet (my first Keith whump fic!), you should check it out!

Happy Halloween and Happy Whumping!

[i-dream-of-twilight-sparkle]

Chapter 30: A Pear-fect Reunion

After the deeply bittersweet, but ultimately happy reunion between Starlight and her mother, as well as Sunburst’s father returning to Sire’s Hollow for good. The Elements of Harmony and the Cutie Mark Crusaders go back to Sweet Apple Acres to see how Big Mac, Sugar Belle, and Granny Smith are doing with with Pear Butter & Bright Mac. Twilight actually gives Celestia her own pack of gum so perhaps she can get back to Saddle Arabia herself as she still plans on attending the wedding. Trixie went back to her wagon to rest for a while.

Some of the group heading back to the farm is still reeling from the emotional scenes of the family reunion in Sire’s Hollow.

Rarity: *sniff* That reunion Starlight and Sunburst had was so beautiful, yet so sad, but also satisfying, and yet also so heartbreaking…

Twilight: That was certainly a mix of emotions wasn’t it? But I think ultimately we can be very happy for Starlight to have gotten to see her mother again.

Applejack: Yeah, Starlight’s past regarding her mother is more tragic than fo’ mah own parents. But now at least we both get t’ see them every now and then thanks t’ Spike’s Dragon Tear. This thing is certainly going t’ be ah life changer fo’ ah lot o’ ponies

Apple Bloom: Sure is! But let’s go see how Granny’s doin’!

Once they all get to the house they actually see Sugar Belle, Big Mac, Granny Smith are outside with Pear Butter and Bright Mac’s spirit while the Cake family seems to have probably returned home since then. Sugar Belle is the first to notice the return of the Elements and the CMC.

Sugar Belle: Welcome back! How did things turn out with Starlight and her mother?

Twilight: It’d be a looooooong story trying to explain everything that went on… we can get to that soon. But how have all of you been?

Granny Smith: Oooooooh! One o’ the best days o’ mah long life fo’ certain! Why didn’t ya’ll wake me up t’ see Pear Butter and Bright Mac come down in the first place?

Twilight: I guess it slipped my mind, sorry Granny Smith.

Granny: Heh, it’s ok. Admittedly, when ah was first woken up the first thing ah saw was Pear Butter and Bright Mac’s ghosts. Ah initially freaked, cause ah thought ah had kicked the bucket myself in mah sleep! Ah’m at that age after all!

Big Mac: Heh heh, it did take ah little while fo’ us t’ convince Granny that she wasn’t dead nor was this ah dream!

Granny: But once ah calmed down, it was sooooo good t’ see mah big son and his lovely wife again!

Sugar Belle: Me and Pear Butter talked a good while being the non-Apples that married into the family.

Pear Butter: Being a pear farmer as opposed to a pastry-baker is a bit different. But we nonetheless both fell in love with two large apple farming stallions. That alone is enough to make a nice bond with my new daughter-in-law. But she’s also as sweet personality-wise as the sugar in the pastries she must make. It’s just too bad we spirits can’t eat, mostly because we don’t need to any more. But at least we’re in a state where we always feel contently full, otherwise it’d be kind of unbearable.

Pinkie: Spirits no longer get to eat?! That sounds awful!

Pear Butter: It is odd at first to no longer need food, and indeed kinda a trade-off that we’ll never get to taste food again. But it takes some time to get used to, on the bright side though… We no longer need emergency bathroom breaks, ahahaha.

Granny: So… Ah heard all o’ ya went t’ help Starlight find her mother?

Applejack: Yeah, hope ya’ll not too upset ah chose t’ go see her instead o’ being there, when ya’ll was reunited with Ma and Pa.

Granny: Nah, ah gotcha. Sugar Belle told me ya mentioned having felt an obligation t’ help her out after ah conversation ya’ll had with her at the ball. Helping Starlight find ah mother she never got t’ know sounds pretty noble o’ ya’ll

Apple Bloom: It certainly was, Granny! We did kind o’ find Starlight’s mother!

Granny: Well, ain’t that nice! Where was she?

Apple Bloom: Well… maybe us finding her isn’t the exact word… ya see… just like our parents… Starlight’s mother was dead. So we got Spike t’ summon her t’ us.

Granny: Oh mah… that must o’ been one bittersweet reunion. A mother she didn’t know... that’s been dead the whole time…

Applejack: Believe it or not, Granny… that ain’t even the saddest part o’ Starlight’s story...

Applejack and the others take some time to recap everything that happened and/or they learned about Starlight’s Mother. Granny Smith going through just about the same mix of emotions they went through hearing everything. Big Mac and Sugar Belle with some shocked reactions themselves too.

Granny: Dang… what ah mare Sunset must o’ been… Ah do feel like ah heard the name Sunset Shimmer around 30 or so years ago, but she was likely still mainly in Canterlot. So wasn’t often mentioned too often in our humble little town. There’s no way ah could o’ known she’d be Starlight’s mother. Still, it’s ah good feeling Starlight got to meet her and Sunburst has his father back home too now!

Pear Butter: I think I’ve seen Sunset before up in the soul shield, though I never talked to her. It definitely makes me want to meet her now though!

Twilight: Well, you can… if you’re willing to go to a wedding between two of my friends in Saddle Arabia in just two days. We actually asked Sunset if she’d like to be summoned back down for it. And she agreed, you won’t know who the couple are. But it’d certainly be a good opportunity for you to either reunite with some more ponies or meet for the first time!

Bright Mac: That sounds like a good time!

Applejack: Say Twi, what if we got both mah mother and Sunset t’ meet that club o’ mothers we saw at the ball!

Twilight: Oh yeah, that would be kind of neat.

Pear Butter: What’s this about a club of mothers?

Twilight: You see Pear Butter, each of the mothers of the Elements of Harmony formed a club together. They also brought in Sunburst’s mother as well as Mrs. Cake AKA your friend Chiffon Swirl. I also kind of joined myself since Spike’s my adopted son!

Pear Butter: That sounds lovely! I’d love to meet all the other moms. I guess I’m the only one of the Element of Harmony’s mothers that have been missing from that club for... obvious reasons...

Granny: Ah can’t wait until the next annual Apple Family Reunion! Ought to be the best one yet when we can get Bright Mac and Pear Butter back!

Applejack: True t’ that! Heck, why stop there? There’s plenty of other deceased Apple family members we can see again. Like your own parents for example, Granny!

Granny: That’s true too! Haha! Though one o’ these days soon, ah myself am going t’ need t’ be summoned!

Apple Bloom: Awwww Granny, don’t just say that so casually…

Granny: Ah wouldn’t usually, buuuut this spirit summoning thing kinda makes death only an inconvenience fo’ us old folk now. Not any less sad, but it’s just naturally not as upsetting when ah know ah’ll still be able t’ nag at ya’ll even from beyond the grave! Ehehehehe! Of course that could also just somewhat be an opinion on this as somepony who’s lived long enough. I understand it’s probably still tragic for Bright Mac and his wife since they died way too early...

Bright Mac: Yeah… We had so much we wanted t’ do still when we passed, some o’ which we still can’t do as Spirits. But, we’d gladly trade in some o’ those just fo’ the chance t’ see our family every now and then. So fo’ us, this thing is still ultimately a plus.

Pear Butter: One downside to being a spirit is I won’t be able to use my guitar anymore. I can only somewhat touch the ground as well as family members and/or close friends.

Sweetie Belle: But you can still sing! Applejack’s always told me you had a beautiful singing voice

Applejack: Oh yeah! Ya’ll can sing fo’ us again sometime! And don’t worry about ya guitar, ah can play the instrumentals!

Pear Butter: Ok, then yeah. That can work certainly!

Applejack: Oh and ah didn’t meet her until sometime after ya passed. But ya’ll have t’ see ah friend o’ mine in Manehattan. She’s known as Coloratura, but ah call her Rara. She’s ah famous musician. Ya’ll would make fo’ an excellent duet, ah’d be willing t’ bet!

Pear Butter: It’d be great to meet all the friends you’ve met since I passed, AJ.

Scootaloo: Heh, you know what’s funny about spirit summoning? We could potentially have famous singers who have passed away brought back to make new records!

Apple Bloom: If their fans won’t mind the slight echo that spirits have in their voice

Sweetie Belle: Eh, if autotune spells can be relatively popular. I doubt a spirit’s echo would ruin it for most too bad. Heck, you know how I’m into metal? There’s plenty of songs in that genre that include an echo that gives you the best chills of the song!

The family and friends keep on talking for a little more while when suddenly a knock is heard from the other side of the house.

Applejack: Oh looks like we have ah visitor! Ah’ll go see who it is!

((Story continues after the break))

Applejack heads back inside the house and opens the door for the visitor. It just so happens to be Grand Pear.

Grand Pear: Hey there, AJ

Applejack: Oh mah stars! Grand Pear, so nice t’ see ya’ll!

Grand Pear: Nice to see you, too. I’ve been hearing quite a ruckus even from my house, I think my hearing’s weakening, but I almost swear there’s been quite some noise coming from the Apple farm today. Was kinda curious what exactly is happening, and if everypony’s ok.

Applejack: Oh we’re more then ok, Grand Pear. In fact, ya’ll should absolutely join us. Trust me, ya’ll don’t want t’ miss it.

Grand Pear: Do tell…

Applejack: Just follow me, ya’ll quickly see it soon enough.

As Grand Pear and Applejack head back out the other side, Apple Bloom is the first to greet them at the back door

Apple Bloom: Grand Pear! Ya’ll must come out here quick t’ see who’s here! Ya’ll gonna love it!

Grand Pear: Your sister said something similar, though I have no idea what you could possibly mean.

Grand Pear is now back outside as he looks around the group noticing all the Elements of Harmony and Apple Bloom’s friends.

Grand Pear: Don’t you see these ponies all the time? I don’t know why they’d be so great for me to see them, It’s not like you got Pear Bu-

Grand Pear finally notices two ponies with a white glow and somewhat transparent look. Grand Pear just stands there mouth agape but silent before he just becomes a stuttering mess.

Grand Pear:  P-p-p-p-pe-pe-pe-pea-Pear… b-b-b-b-bu-bu-bu-bu-butter?

Grand Pear wipes his eyes in case this was some sudden hallucination he was having. But even given a through wiping, Pear Butter and Bright Mac’s glowing spirits are still there. He walks just a bit closer, but quite slowly. Making sure it wasn’t a cruel mirage either. Pear Butter and Bright Mac themselves look towards Grand Pear. 

At first they look at eachother, though both don’t exactly have happy faces seeing him. Bright Mac giving him a rather mean stare, whilst Pear Butter angles her eyes similarly, but also makes an extra step at turning her back to her father. This distraughts Apple Bloom a bit who doesn’t understand why this isn’t an instant happy reunion.

Apple Bloom: Wh-wh-what’s goin’ on? Why aren’t our parents happy t’ see Grand Pear?

It’s Big Mac who answers his littlest sister

Big Mac: Grand Pear never apologized t’ either Ma or Pa before they passed. All o’ his apologies came t’ their graves, where it looks like the spirits don’t hear us. He was still in Vanhoover at the time.

Apple Bloom frowns

Apple Bloom: Oh no...

The whole group remains quiet as the tension between the spirits and Grand Pear who never managed to get a real contact for reconcilation for how Grand Pear treated them before their wedding.

Grand Pear: I… don’t know how you two are here… but… looks like all my apologies I said to your graves never reached you… did they.

Pear Butter’s ears perk up and she turns back around to look at her father, though she still looks at him with a displeased face. Although it disappoints Grand Pear that everything he’s ever said at Pear Butter’s grave was never heard. It at least assures him that this is actually them, and not some kind of dream.

Grand Pear: Well then… *sigh* I guess this is a good time to finally get to apologize to both of you for real… Pear Butter… Bright Mac… I am so so so so sorry for leaving you the way I did, before I went to Vanhoover… The feud I had with the apple family was the stupidest thing ever and I cringe whenever I’m reminded of those days…

I should have never let a petty competition between me and Granny Smith get so out of hoof that I’d refuse to let my daughter to see somepony she loved just because they happen to be in the apple family.... I’ve… met all your children. They’re all great ponies. Big Macintosh is such a gentle giant, Applejack knows how to keep things honest and is one heck of a hard worker, and lil’ Apple Bloom is just a bundle of joy and youthful optimism that I can’t help but cherish. 

Apple Bloom in particular reminds me a lot of what you were like when you were a filly, Pear Butter…

Grand Pear starts tearing up heavily. Voice occasionally cracking into a weepy tone.

Grand Pear: You were my little girl, I loved you very much. I’ll never forgive myself for prioritizing the pear business over my daughter’s happiness. I never should’ve left! *sniff*

The day I learned of your passing just a little over a decade ago… it was the most heartbreaking day of my life. You died way too soon… and even at the time, I was considering returning to apologize to you… 

But… I was just too late… and that’s what made that day worse… just when I was close to taking a chance at reconnecting with you and finally show I have accepted your love for Bright Mac… and reconciling with the apple family as a whole… fate was cruel… and I had thought I’d never get… *sniff* the opportunity to say sorry for all I’ve done while you were dating Bright Mac…

It hurt me so much it delayed me further from returning to Ponyville, I didn’t even attend your funeral in Ponyville because I thought that was only going to get me cursed out by the entire Apple Family if I attended… but I held my own sigil back in Vanhoover for you… and then I think I cried that whole night… my pillow and the top of my bed was soaked with my tears the next morning… *sniff*

Both Pear Butter and Bright Mac’s expressions have changed. They’re still staring him down, but instead of angry ones, their eyes are tilted in the opposite directions with sad looks on their faces as Grand Pear continues his apology.

Grand Pear: I frankly have no idea how you’re here right now, but I can tell that you are actually here… but the how doesn’t matter as long as I get this chance to apologize to you. You don’t have to accept my apology, I’m sure me being far away when you died probably only made yourself more bitter towards me wherever you spirits go… and I understand that I didn’t treat your love for Bright Mac with the respect that it deserved.

I was a bad father and terrible pony all those years ago, I’ll admit that. But I’m a repentant, changed old pony now… I’ll understand if you still want nothing to do with me after what I did. But I still at least want you to know… that I love you Pear Butter… and as for Bright Mac… I would be more then happy to accept you as a son-in-law now. Pear Butter loved you, and that’s what should of mattered more then anything else… I will forever be sorry… we’re all ponies… we’re all farmers… Pears and Apples are both fruit, and quite frankly both delicious… and your love was valid… but my stupid younger self chose to ignore all of those for some foolish sense of pride…

That’s most of all I’ve wanted to say… I can start heading back home... if I’m still not quite welcome…

Everyone there just stands quiet for a long while as the weight of Grand Pear’s apology falls on the emotions. Pear Butter lowering her head, turning away from her father, for a little bit. Grand Pear frowning, seeing that as a sign that she’s still not ready to accept apologies yet. Just lowers his head as he starts walking back to the Pear farm. He gets about to the other side of the house before… Pear Butter starts calling for him.

Pear Butter: Father… wait…

Grand Pear: Huh?

Pear Butter slowly walks up to her old father and starts to speak to him for the first time since he had rudely made her choose between remaining a Pear, or being an Apple family member at her privately held marriage.

Pear Butter: You were still a stubborn father when we last talked… and my resentment only got deeper when you refused to even so much as reply to our letters when I was raising a family with Bright Mac. The years of raising Big Mac and Applejack when they were little were some of the best years of my life, but if there was one thing that disappointed me was the lack of support I had from you... It’s going to take more then one conversation to fully forgive you for the years of giving me and my husband the cold shoulder…

But… I can still get a sense of the sincerity in your apology. And while I’m not sure I’m quite ready to say that I accept your apology…

Pear Butter sits down and outstretches her hooves.

Pear Butter: Come here, father. I’d be at least willing to hug you for the first time in a while.

Grand Pear gasps, though at first he questions if he even can

Grand Pear: But… aren’t you a…

Pear Butter: Do you want a hug from me or not?!

Grand Pear stands silent for a short moment, nothing would make him happier than getting to hug his daughter again. And if she’s offering, then somehow it must mean it’s possible despite her being a ghost of some sort. He approaches closer, and then Pear Butter wraps her forehooves behind her father’s back. Grand Pear wrapping his own hooves around his daughter as well. He’s surprised at just how warm Pear Butter felt, if he was blind he would of thought Pear Butter had actually never been dead at all.

Grand Pear: This… this is amazing… I thought I’d only just go through you… Don’t suppose I should also give your husband a hug?

Pear Butter: Sorry Father, you likely won’t be able to. We can only touch those who are alive if they’re blood related, or had been friends with us spirits while we were alive.

Grand Pear: Oh… ok then… I guess I have a lot of newfound lore to catch up on then, but that’s good to know… though still a darn shame.

After they release each other from the embrace. They rejoin the group, as Twilight and Applejack recap everything they’ve learned to Grand Pear about spirit summoning, where Pear Butter and Bright Mac went when they died, and what exactly they do up there.

Grand Pear: So… Dragons if they have some special sort of gemstone they can cry out can summon down spirits of the deceased? I guess I have to thank this little feller for allowing me to see my daughter again. I don’t think I’ve actually met you for very long, what’s your name?

Spike: My name is Spike, I’m Princess Twilight’s adopted dragon son.

Grand Pear: Princess Twilight’s son, ay? Well ain’t that adorable. Thank you so much for summoning Pear Butter and Bright Mac down so I could say my apologies. This… isn’t a one time thing, is it?

Spike: No, as long as somepony related to and/or were friends with either Bright Mac and/or Pear Butter goes to see me... I can summon them back down anywhere at any time after they’ve returned to the soul shield.

Grand Pear eyes shine as he hears that

Grand Pear: Why… that’s the best thing ever… so many ponies could see dead friends and family they miss so much again…. It’s incredible. And even when I eventually pass, the Apple siblings can bring me back down on occasion.

But on another note, so my daughter has been circling the planet as one of among trillions of protectors huh. I guess that’s a pretty comforting thought. Most who have ever died in all of history has been keeping us safe the whole time from all the unknowns of space. Makes death all the more less scary too, if we’re greeted by many of our closest relatives and friends before ultimately joining in the noble mission to protect the planet. I just hope I can in time get my apology fully accepted before I’m up there with Pear Butter.

Granny Smith: Until then, you can join in on some bingo with me and the other ol’ gals!

Grand Pear: Ahehheh, perhaps I should.

Apple Bloom approaches her mother

Apple Bloom: So uh.. how ‘bout singing ah song now?

Pear Butter: Oh! Yeah, certainly. I think AJ just needs to get out the guitar and then I can sing.

Applejack: Ah’ll be right back with that, Ma!

Applejack heads back inside the house and brings out her mother’s guitar from it’s case. Heading back outside to sit next to her mother as she gets ready to sing.

Grand Pear: Now this will be good, what song are you going to sing?

Pear Butter: Well… it’s a song that you wouldn’t have approved of in the old days. But I guess thankfully you’ll appreciate it now. It’s a little… love song I had for Bright Mac while we were still dating. It’s called “You’re In My Head Like A Catchy Song”

Grand Pear just smiles

Grand Pear: Let’s hear it.

Meanwhile, Sugar Belle and Big Mac whisper to eachother a little before Pear Butter starts singing. Applejack strums the opening notes

((You’re In My Head LIke A Catchy Song))

Pear Butter: We’re far apart in every way

But you’re the best part, of my day

And sure as I, breathe the air

I know we are the perfect pair!

(Bright Mac starts singing along with his wife)

Pear Butter & Bright Mac: On a prickly path, that goooees on for miiiiiiiillleeeeeeeees

But it’s worth it juuuuussst to see you smiiiiiiiiiiilllleeeeeeee

And I cannot, be pulled apart

From the hold you have, on my heart

And even if, the world tells us it’s wrong

You’re in my head like a catchy song!

(Sugar Belle and Big Macintosh join in to sing for the rest of the song)

Pear Butter, Bright Mac, Sugar Belle, Big Mac: The seasons change, and leaves may fall

But I’lll be with you, through them all

And rain or shine, you’ll always be miiiiiiiinnnneeeeeee

On a prickly path, that goooees on for miiiiiiiillleeeeeeeees

You’re the only one, who makes it all worth whillllllleeeeeeeeeee

And you should not, blame me too

If I can’t help, fallin’ in love with you…

Once the song ends. Both Pear Butter & Bright Mac, as well as Sugar Belle & Big Mac give a good long kiss. The rest of the group at the farm clap, cheer, and/or wipe joyful tears at the beautiful sight of two generations of Apple family couples singing together.

Sweetie: You were right Apple Bloom… your mother has a beautiful singing voice!

Pear Butter: I see that my oldest recalls my lyrics? I guess I did share it to you and AJ back in the day.

Big Mac: Eyyyyyuuuppppp

Sugar Belle: It’s a beautiful song. Big Mac shared the song when we were dating and we practiced singing it ourselves. We thought it’d be nice to sing along.

Pear Butter: I appreciate that, quite a bit.

Grand Pear: Absolutely heartwarming song, Pear Butter. I admit I probably would of tried to rip apart the lyric sheet had I found it was for Bright Mac long ago. But that’s not me anymore. It’s wonderful to get to hear you sing again.

Pear Butter: Thank you, Father.

Twilight: Wonderful singing from both couples! Though if I may, I thought it’d be important to mention something we took an educated guess about with Sunset. We don’t have to send you back ourselves, when Pear Butter and/or Bright Mac fall asleep thy will return to a comet-like form themselves and go back to the soul shield. So they’re free to stay the rest of the day, and then maybe we’ll summon them back down in time for the wedding in two days.

For now, we can hang out some more time here at the farm. But once it gets late at night, we’ll have to get back to sleep whether we’re sleeping back at home or going back to our rooms in Saddle Arabia. Once again, I’ll have the castle protected just like last night.

Bright Mac: Yeah, I think we’ll stay for the night and go back up ourselves once everypony’s asleep.

Pear Butter nods her agreement. As for much of the rest of the day, Pear Butter & Bright Mac spend quality time with family & friends until nighttime. Where most of the Elements and CMC use the portal gum to head back to their rooms in the Saddle Arabian palace. While Twilight and Spike once again put up their protective measures from last night over at the castle.

Meanwhile, in Sire’s Hollow it is also nighttime. Sunburst, Stellar Flare, and for the first time in a long while Sunspot are all in their beds in their own home. Starlight is sleeping in her old room, and Sunset’s spirit is laying (Though perhaps, more like just floating on the bed) next to Firelight. He tries to get some blankets over Sunset but they only go through. Though the try at it certainly makes Sunset giggle.

Firelight: Oops… I guess with the fact I’ve been able to hug and kiss you again briefly made me forget that you weren’t... alive… heh…

Sunset: *giggle* Yeah, you get the blankets all to yourself now. Don’t worry about me, we spirits feel like we’re at normal room temperature at all times. We’ll never be too hot, or too cold.

Firelight: Are you sure? Because with your fiery colors, you’ve always been plenty hot~

Sunset: Hehe, I’m glad you still haven’t outgrown your cheesy flirtations. Always found it rather charming. I guess maybe your much cooler colors may also have brought us to a comfortable level~

The reunited couple hug each other in bed before also kissing.

Firelight: Look.. I know you’ll be gone by the morning, but if you can… hold on tight to me, it’d be nice… to have some more body… or rather spirit warmth as I go to sleep.

Sunset: No problem, Fi-Fi. One perk of being a spirit is I can’t exactly get tired. As long as I don’t close my eyes for too long and/or start drifting off and/or focus.on heading back up. I’ll be here with you. I’ll wait till’ you’re sound asleep and I’ll have my hooves around you the whole time before I leave. I still remember your distinctive snoring, so I’ll know when you’re deep asleep.

Firelight just smiles, and kisses Sunset again.

Firelight: It’s good to have you back, even if repeat visits aren’t going to be quite easy without an easy ride to Ponyville or Canterlot within a year.

Sunset: I’m glad I’ll be able to come back occasionally too, best day of my li- or I guess I should say… afterlife… to see you again, and see the kind of pony my daughter has become. I’m glad I’ll still be able to watch her future unfold from time-to-time.

Firelight: I guess I’ll see you at the wedding in Saddle Arabia next, huh?

Sunset: Yep, should be fun.

Firelight: Goodnight, Shimmy

Sunset: Good night, my darling Fi-Fi.

Sunset and Firelight proceed to hold onto each other for the night. Hours later when Firelight has been snoring for a good while. Sunset closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, before focusing on heading back up. Her comet form leaving the house, back up to the soul shield. Until the next time she gets summoned again.

UP NEXT: Chapter 31: The Sands Of Time & Family

[kmomof4]

Of Darkness, Vampires, and Soulmates

IT’S HERE Y’ALL!!!! I can’t tell you how excited I am to share my second true MC with you all! I hope you enjoy and let me know what you think!

A/N This fic has been a looooooong time coming. It started as an idea last fall of Vampire Killian rising from the bed where he had just turned Emma, and saying to her “Arise, my love. Join me, forever.” That idea turned into Vampire smut written for @thisonesatellite​’s birthday last October, which you can find here if you’d like to read it. But the more I thought about it, more of a story started to come to me, until I finally decided that since we were going to have one more go round of the @cssns​, I should probably write for it, for once. So Arise, My Love was the jumping off place that birthed this entire fic. Not everything from that has made it into this one, which is why I’ve kept AML up on ao3 as a stand alone fic instead of deleting it. 

I owe a TREMENDOUS THANK YOU to @profdanglaisstuff​ for her stellar beta services, hand holding, and sharing her wealth of knowledge about the French Revolution, and to @hollyethecurious​ for being my sounding board and brainstorming partner over the many months I worked on this. I would also be remiss if I did not thank the ladies of the CSSNS and CSMovieMarathon discord for their encouragement and their help with selecting a title. And finally to @spartanguard​ for her INCREDIBLE and GORGEOUS artwork!

For the purposes of this fic, much established vampiric lore has been thrown out. My vampires eat, drink, sleep, and have sexual relations just like people do, and they can also go out in the day. The fic is complete and after I post Ch 1 this Sunday, I’ll be updating every Wednesday. Ao3 link

Tagging my peeps: @hollyethecurious​ @winterbaby89​ @snowbellewells​ @stahlop​ @resident-of-storybrooke​ @jennjenn615​ @kingofmyheart14​ @profdanglaisstuff​ @branlovestowrite​ @thisonesatellite​ @ultraluckycatnd​ @flslp87​ @whimsicallyenchantedrose​ @let-it-raines​ @shireness-says​ @kymbersmith-90​ @darkcolinodonorgasm​ @bethacaciakay​ @searchingwardrobes​ @ilovemesomekillianjones​ @teamhook​ @aprilqueen84​ @qualitycoffeethings​ @superchocovian​ @artistic-writer​ @donteattheappleshook​ @doodlelolly0910​ @seriouslyhooked​ @tiganasummertree​ @lfh1226-linda​

Please let me know if you’d like to be added or removed. Under the cut unless Tumblr ate it.

Prologue The Battle Begins

Approximately 1000AD

Once Upon a Time…

There was an only son of a Lord. A Lord of wealth and lands. A Lord who was honorable, kind, and true. The son had been taught these same virtues and was expected to follow in his father’s footsteps. However, this son was fascinated by all things dark, magic included. Once he came of age and his parents were gone, he began a careful and diligent study into magic in general and dark magic in particular. The Dark Magic, a nebulous, formless entity that had existed since the dawn of time, became aware of his dedicated explorations and after about a decade of watching from afar, finally approached.

The Darkness had been waiting untold millennia to find a suitable host for itself. Reading with ease the desires of the man’s heart, desires of wealth, power, and long life, and a willingness to do anything to get them, it coalesced, revealing itself to this amateur. It chuckled to itself as it held out everything the naive, novice practitioner of magic ever wanted. All the Darkness wanted in exchange was a host. A host that could physically do all the things that the Darkness longed to do. Blinded by his greed and ambition, Rumplestiltskin easily agreed to what it offered.

When The Reul Ghorm discovered that the Darkness had finally found a host, she took action. Forming a dagger of twisted and dark beauty, she intended to tie the Darkness to the dagger. Once the binding was complete, she planned to kill the host with the implement, destroying the Darkness forever.

She flew into Rumplestiltskin’s chamber, manifesting in her full-size form as the moonlight poured into the room. She approached the bed where he lay and raised the dagger over him. As she recited the incantation over his sleeping form, the Darkness fought back. A veritable tornado blew up in the room, whipping the draperies and anything else not weighted down into a frenzy. Rumplestiltskin’s eyes flew open, the pupils red as the dawn. His mouth opened in a scream that was heard for miles, fangs on prominent display. A thin tendril of darkness emerged from his open mouth and hovered around the blade. The fairy was frightened for the first time in her long existence, but knowing exactly what was at stake, she strengthened her resolve and maintained her grip on the magical instrument. She watched as the tendril was absorbed into the dagger, completing the spell.

The Darkness was tied to the dagger. Rumplestiltskin’s name emblazoned on the shaft confirmed it. Unfortunately, the brief moments that she stared at her handiwork would prove costly.

Before the Blue Fairy could follow through with her intent, Rumplestiltskin leapt from his bed. Waving his hand as the Darkness surged in him, the dagger appeared in his fist and his enemy was thrown across the room. His cackle rang through the chamber as the stunned fairy shook her head, trying to get her bearings about her. He advanced on her holding the dagger aloft, malicious intent in his red eyes.

Blue shook away her disorientation and realized he was speaking to her. Her eyes widened as she comprehended what he said.

“I’d get out of here while you still can, dearie.” She knew the high pitched voice was that of the Darkness. The blood red pupils and exposed fangs set in an almost reptilian hide shimmered in the low light. The horrifying visage sent her heartbeat into even more of a gallop then it was already. “This is mine now, and if you stay, I’m going to carve out your heart with it and feast on your blood.” He waved his hand again, this time at the dark device. Dark magic fell from his hand and enveloped the blade. “And now, no one with magic will be able to even touch it.” His lips drew back into a cruel grin as he continued to stalk toward her.

Finally getting herself together, The Reul Ghorm disappeared with a cascade of light magic just as the demon lunged at her. Releasing a cry of frustrated victory, Rumplestiltskin gloated as he returned to his bed. Knowing exactly where to hide the deadly, and powerful instrument, he waved his hand over it again, sending it to the vault hidden below his castle. Satisfied with himself and the outcome of the confrontation, he lay himself back on his bed and fell into dark dreams.

The battle was far from over, however.

~*~*~

Thank you for reading. Chapter 1 will be posted on Sunday.

[bnhabadass]

Could I request Bakusquad HCs of y'all getting high. Like individual hcs? Thank ya you KWEEN!

YES PLEASE!

Warnings: Marijuana use

He doesn’t necessarily condone smoking.

In fact he doesn’t understand why someone would want to smoke in the first place.

When he found out that the person he’s DATING is a stoner he was pretty disappointed.

You managed to get him to smoke once.

That was the best night of your life.

It took quite a few hits before he really felt it and he was out of this fucking world.

“Why can’t I unclench my butt cheeks? (Y/n) what the fuck did you do to me!?!?”

Super munchies.

He ate three servings of katsudon.

And he woke up with a stomach ache the next morning.

He smoked once before and didn’t really enjoy it.

When when he was with you well BOY OH BOY DID HE HAVE THE TIME OF HIS LIFE!

He kept reaching for the bong even when he was already out of his mind, so you had to cut him off after a while.

He’s an incredibly silly high.

He thinks that everything is so funny.

“Why do my toes look like little mice?”

“Kiri they don’t.”

“But they do!”

He uses his quirk because hardening feels so weird when he’s high.

He just activates it rapidly until he gets a muscle spasm and has to stop.

Sero and Mina walked in on you guys smoking and tried to cop some off of you, but you guys said no and locked the door after kicking them out.

This boy only has 1.5 braincells to begin with.

His quirk killed the rest.

So you were wary to let him smoke with you.

He got his parents to sign a consent form for you saying that they allowed their child to smoke pot with his s/o.

A FUCKING consent form.

He’s a wild one to get high with.

He’ll be extra stupid and try to do “extreme sports” while under the influence.

Bakugo had to take you guys to the hospital.

Well it was more like Kirishima made him drive while all of Bakusquad got in the car.

Half of you were stoned (because Sero is always stoned) and Bakugo was PISSED. But he’s actually a sweetheart and would never leave a friend behind.

This boy is never not high.

He tried getting you to smoke with him for so long before you finally agreed.

He’s a super chill stoner.

He even has an emergency kit in one of his desk drawers which has eye drops, breath mints, and any other product a stoner would need if they were caught.

He hasn’t needed to use it yet because Aizawa really doesn’t care if he catches you guys as long as it isn’t hard drugs or alcohol.

He was once a teenager too so he understands.

Sero knows how to act like a normal human when he’s stoned, so he was the one who took care of you when you were pretty much out of it.

“Everything feels like it’s in space.”

“Ah classic indica.”

He’s actually pretty responsible and made sure you were hydrating through out the night.

Good boyfriend material

She and Sero get high all the time together.

Master joint roller.

But she actually prefers using a dab pen.

This girl takes LOOOOOOONG inhales.

She rapidly knocked on your door one night and when you opened up she held out a bad with two gummy bears in them.

“Wanna have some fun tonight?”

Edibles were a whole new experience.

You could feel your internal organs moving around every time you shifted your position.

It’s hard to tell if Mina is high or not because her eyes can’t get bloodshot.

Kirishima walked in on you guys passed out and cuddling later that night.

He saw the empty bag and immediately knew what was up.

[kinetic-elaboration]

October 25: 1x20 Court Martial

Now that Chopped is done I am free to watch TOS again. Today’s ep: Court Martial, a wonderful combination of two of my favorite things: Captain Kirk and Legal Stuff.

Look at that backdrop. I forgot how many Very 50′s backgrounds they had in this show.

The Intrepid is here for repairs! Such a lost opportunity to show more Vulcans in Starfleet.

I don’t entirely get why the Commodore has his own special transport pad. I guess it must allow him to beam himself places without the use of a ship but like... to where is he beaming?

Lol that absolutely terrible sailor suit outfit on the little girl. I can only assume it’s a school uniform as it’s the only thing she ever wears.

Can you believe how this whole episode is based, essentially, around allegedly broken regulations? I mean I know it’s more than that and they do a good job explaining why it’s bad to eject the pod early (”when there is no emergency”) but like, essentially, the underlying conditions of emergency are not in Kirk’s control. It’s possible to just skip officially calling the emergency while nevertheless acting in a way that is appropriate for an emergency, and so it comes down to “did he first declare the emergency officially and then act in accordance with the declared emergency or did he just skip the first step?” rather than “did he act too quickly?” since HE was the one who determined if the conditions warranted an emergency.

Having said all that I still don’t get what an ion pod is or where it was or why it had to be ejected at all. Or how Finney got out of the pod if it was ejected.

Vulcanian expedition?!?

Kirk’s default voice is just flirty; I’m sorry but it is. Even talking to his old school classmates, who are VERY quick to judge him harshly and hate on him, implying they were probably never friends, he’s All Charm by default. And he doesn’t drop the charm even when he starts politely fighting with them.

Bones using Jim to flirt--with Jim’s ex-girlfriend! “Did you see that guy over there, he’s pretty famous, and we’re friends!”

I love Areel Shaw and I’m just gonna say I think she’s my favorite Kirk girlfriend.

Charged with culpable negligence. As opposed to...not culpable negligence?

When he was a midshipman...

What’s with all these professor & student friendships??

I cannot believe part of the Finney & Kirk backstory is that he literally named his daughter after Kirk. Like that’s so intense! I feel like it kind of changes everything but I can’t entirely untangle how.

This “I can’t believe you filed a report about my error” backstory is literally the beginning of STID except Kirk is the Spock of this scenario.

Star Trek: Law and Order. Bum bum.

This whole idea of pitting Kirk against a computer is clever in that people to this day are like “but computers are infallible?” but also dumb because Kirk >>> Computer obviously.

Having drinks with the ex and he turns the charm up to 11.

All of this is wildly unethical, from her telling him about the prosecution’s case, to her BEING the prosecution.

I actually read an article recently about this isn’t, or shouldn’t be, her job as prosecutor, to drum him out of the service in disgrace. Her job should be to find the truth in a more neutral way.

Wtf are all these totally useless federal reporters doing here?

I’m a pro-book person but this is a HILARIOUS anti-computer speech. Like--the law is in the computer dude! It is! It’s the same law as in the books. Intergalactic Westlaw is available to you. And then he goes off on this weird rant about Moses, like--dude, Moses isn’t in the reporters OR Westlaw OR whatever Starfleet code is actually at issue here.

Kirk likes him though.

Shaw in the dress uniform with the long skirt hot damn.

Not even the computer can pronounce Spock’s full name. And he’s been demoted again.

Vulcanian Scientific Legion of Honor.

Spock isn’t having any of this. “I don’t dispute it. I just... actually I do dispute it because it’s nonsense.”

His entire testimony is the equivalent of “You don’t have all the facts.” / “Which are?” / “I love him.”

The defense doesn’t need to question him because he’s already testified for the defense.

This is such a hilarious use of McCoy. For the first time ever we’re told he’s actually a psychologist on top of being a surgeon and GP and then his whole testimony isn’t even really medical? It’s just like wild speculation, which being a doctor and an “expert in psychology” somehow qualifies him to provide?

I love how Kirk’s service record just goes on and on and on. Areel doesn’t do herself any favors objecting to it; that just draws attention to it. As the defense lawyer knows by insisting it continuing and then cutting it off for being comically long.

Kirk: “I can be level-headed in an emergency. This wasn’t my first rodeo.”

This chair design is SO BAD. I know it needs to be like this for the plot but omg putting the pod release button on the chair at all (like does the captain have to jettison pods a lot?) and then especially directly under the red alert button, and then putting both of them just out there without any kind of cover or anything--that’s just waiting for someone to lean on his chair arm and make a deadly mistake.

Also nothing else is even labeled lmao.

This is a very impressive deep fake.

This whole ion storm does not really seem like a scary emergency situation lol. It seems like Kirk and everyone else are basically keeping their heads.

“You may be able to beat your next Captain at chess” Kirk as chess master confirmed.

“I didn’t realize how close you and my father were even though I was literally named after you.”

Obligatory Bones accuses Spock of not caring about Jim scene.

“Why thank you, Doctor, my blood is very cold.”

I can’t believe Spock programmed the computer to play chess with him. Probably so he could practice for Jim.

The lawyer’s outfit is hilarious: little pocket for a pen in front. Is he... a civilian lawyer? Is that even allowed?

Here is talking about the Bible again. And the Magna Carta. First, it’s always funny when a bunch of real things are followed by some fake science fiction things. And second, he’s pretty obviously just talking about the Constitution, and like maybe a very tiny bit about the Magna Carta. There’s no right to counsel in the Bible.

Really glad to know the Martians care about the right to an attorney though. And that the Alpha 3 Colonies protect the right of confrontation.

I bet Spock is unimpressed with this Drama.

Why did they change out of their dress uniforms?

How convenient that Finney was one of only three people who could change the computer. I mean I guess this is a permissions thing--but why would the records officer have that? Not that I know what a records officer is.

“White noise device” you can’t fool me, that’s a microphone.

Also another hilarious use of McCoy. Do they really NEED the ship’s surgeon to put a microphone against people’s chests? “Don’t mind me, just stealing your heartbeats.”

Like the general concept of this is nifty story telling but some of the details are....uh.... funny.

Captain’s log: “We brought a young girl onto the ship even when it’s in a dangerous position so we could use her against her father.”

Finney really was playing the looooooong game of revenge lol. And yet it still doesn’t seem well thought out. What was the next part of his plan? Somehow get back OFF the ship once Kirk’s career is ruined, and then live the rest of his life under an assumed name? Never seeing his daughter again? No Starfleet career even though it’s allegedly so important to him? Seems a little bit like everyone loses.

Lol not letting Spock leave the bridge because the court martial’s not ever. “Sorry, we all might die, but court IS still in session.” Even though they ALREADY KNOW the alleged victim is still alive!

I love that Uhura is essential personnel. They didn’t keep the navigator on board, even though they apparently need one, but they did keep Uhura.

Oh no, Kirk’s flimsy shirt, falling apart again!

“Beaten and sobbing, Finney told me how to fix the ship.” Bitter much?

Kirk, being a badass, fixing the ship all by himself.

Honestly I just really love a narrative in which an upright man plays by the rules, does the right thing, and behaves in good faith and is ultimately vindicated and rewarded.

Now everyone agrees there’s no crime and thus no point to continuing the court-martial.

He’s defending Ben Finney! Good luck with that.

I love how Kirk’s face goes from full-on-romance to slightly-embarrassed-serious-Captain as soon as he remembers, hey, I really AM on the bridge!

“She’s a very good lawyer.” / “Obviously.”

This was such a good Kirk episode, both for showing off all his good qualities, and for getting some interesting insight into his character. He strikes me as the kind of person who, because he’s so by-the-book, and because he’s smart and successful, inspires jealousy in other people, and thus has a lot of strained acquaintanceships--like with the other men at the bar. But he also has these really, really strong friendships and relationships: Areel Shaw, Spock and McCoy, and even Finney. I feel like he’s probably rather awkward with most people, but then when the relationship is established, he’s ride or die. And, he doesn’t hold grudges. I don’t think he really knew how upset Finney was about what happened literally 10+ years ago--especially if he had any say at all about Finney serving on his ship, and I suspect he could have at least vetoed him. And even after Finney tried to disgrace him and then actually kill him, he still didn’t seem to upset about it, or about his lawyer turning around and defending Finney.

I think Kirk likes the military in part because it gives him this very strict set of rules about interacting with other people, so he doesn’t have to make up his own. I bet the intensity of the service also allows him to form these stronger relationships, which do seem to suit him better. And when he doesn’t have anything else to fall back on, he INVARIABLY pulls out the charm: he does it with old classmates, random 21st century pilots, immortal teenage girls, and actual love interests. It’s his default mode. I think that makes sense for someone who’s very ambitious, very precise, very nerdy, very rules-oriented, and whose default mode as a young man, by his own admission, was “grim.”

Wow it is so much later than anticipated... I need to get to sleep!

Next ep is Return of the Archons, which I’ve only seen once and don’t remember super well. I think it’s a ‘society ruled by computers’ thing, which is fine. Maybe not as much of a classic as some other S1 eps, but it should be fun anyway.

[changeling-rin]

Random DL Thoughts

Physical Appearance Headcanons, here we go!  LOOOOOOONG post ahead.

For the record, Anon, I blame you for getting me started.  ;)

Gen - I am of the opinion that Skyloft is actually between the cloud layers, as opposed to above the clouds entirely.  This is because cirrus clouds (the highest ones) happen at 20,000 feet up, where it is consistently -12*F and that just seems ridiculous for a society in cotton shirts.  My headcanon is that there’s actually quite a lot of cloud cover, so Skyloft doesn’t get nearly as much sun as people might think.   That said, Gen’s a bit paler than most Links, and he also tends to move a bit slower.  High altitudes means varied air pressure, and when he goes down to the Surface there’s always a bit of an adjustment period where he has to get used to breathing air that’s suddenly twice as thick as what he’s used to.  This also contributes to his stature: higher altitude means lesser gravity, which means Gen is easily the tallest Link in the group since there was less gravity pulling on him during growth spurts.  He’s kinda lanky, actually, at least as far as Links go.  We all know they’re kinda short.  Sandy blond hair, and kinda dark blue eyes, almost approaching navy in the right light.  

Speck - He’s the shortest one, and he’s always going to be.  Poor boy’s in his formative growth stage and he spends it shrinking down to be smaller.  Magic accumulates, and he’ll top out at a flat 5 feet... on his tiptoes.  That said, he’s actually pretty strong and stocky for his size.  Regularly having to shove acorns out of the way during the annual Picori Village Fall Cleaning will do that, and of course from hiking up to people’s ears all the time.  He’s also on the paler spectrum; when you’re small, there’s a lot more stuff that can block the sunshine.  He’s a bottle-blond, or at least he would be if that weren’t his natural hair color, and he’s got the bluest eyes of the whole group.  If they glowed, they’d be neon.

The Four - When I say they could be quadruplets, I mean it.  They’re completely and utterly identical in every way possible, except for their clothing.  If for whatever reason they decided to swap colors with each other, absolutely nobody would be able to tell the difference.  Not really a problem since ‘individuality’ isn’t necessarily a concept that the Four ascribe to, but still slightly unnerving when you first see it, which is why the Four don’t always like to advertise their hive-mind qualities.  Bright blond, blue eyes, but a couple steps below Speck in both categories.  I’d say they get an average amount of sun, so they’re probably a little bit tan - but they’re on the paler end of the scale.

Ocarina - He shares his hair and eye color with Mask, this being a golden blond and water-blue eyes, but he has a completely different complexion.  Remember that whole ‘seven years in the Sacred Realm’ thing?  Yeah, that screwed up his skin big time.  The sun hates him, and he's happy to return the favor, because he burns within ten minutes.  This is why he happily adopted the habit of wearing sleeves and leggings, because the less skin he has to burn the better.  He’s also way too pale for his own good, especially the first few weeks after the time jump.  He’s doing better now, having accumulated a little color in between sunburns, but he’s still the whitest Link in the group.  (For now.  Once we get BotW Link in here... whoo gosh.  A hundred years without sunshine, that poor pasty boy.)

Mask - Conveniently having gone back in time to before the Sacred Realm screwed with his skin, he has none of the sunburn problems that Ocarina does and is very glad to have that issue over and done with.  He does, however, have an cumulative and semi-permanent mild tan from the Temina three day loop.  It was sunny for all three of those days, after all, and Mask was running around in the fields a lot.  He’s also got a few acquired traits from the soul masks that he uses, because there’s no such thing as a consequence-free soul merging.  Nothing noticeable, especially not to outside people, but he frequently finds a leaf or two growing in his hair from Creak that he has to pluck out, there’s a small patch of rocky skin on his left ankle from Darmani, and underneath his right elbow there’s the faint blue sheen of barely-there scales from Mikau.  If he keeps hosting for Oni it’s pretty likely that he might develop a white shock or some partial face markings, but as of now that particular relationship hasn’t gone that far yet.

Dusk - He’s pretty tanned, since being a goatherd means being outside all day, every day.  Dark wheatish blond and bright blue eyes, which are striking enough compared to the rest of his coloring that people comment on it all.  the.  time.  At this point, he’s trained himself to respond to ‘blue-eyed [insert noun here]’ because of how frequently it happens.  He’s also got quite a lot of carryovers from his wolf side, because again there’s no such thing as a consequence-free soul merge.  His hair’s a bit thicker and rougher than most people’s, he’s got a few pointed canines even when hylian, and his ears have a tendency to redirect towards sounds regardless of which form he’s in.  Some of the wolf’s markings are beginning to carry over too, as almost birthmark-looking things, but they’re so faint that nobody’s noticed.  (Not even Dusk, yet.) He’s also acquired the ability to growl as a hylian, which was one of the few things that managed to unnerve him the first time it happened before he shrugged and got used to it.  He’s also pretty stocky and muscular, because anyone who can take a charging goat, a charging Goron, and throw around a ball-and-chain the way he does in-game is at least a little bit built.  

Blue, Green, Vio, and Red - They’ve all got the same complexion (relatively pale) and hair color, (sunny blond) but their eyes are individually colored in direct correspondence to their names and clothes.  They also took individual traits from the original Link, so Blue took most of the muscle mass while Vio has most of the intellect - the book smarts, that is, and is overall almost wiry compared to the other three.  Red is the smallest one, muscle-wise, and also tends to be slimmer all the way around, but he’s got most of the magic; and Green is built more like a runner than anything else, and coincidentally is also the most agile.  He’s also got most of the tactics and common-sense-leader stuff.  They look more like ‘normal’ identical quadruplets than the Four do, in that, while they still look a whole lot alike, there’s tiny little differences here and there that make them distinctive from one another... at least, once you memorize them.

Lore - I refuse to believe his hair is pink.  I absolutely refuse.  He is violently red-headed in my headcanons and I like it that way.  He’s the only ‘true ginger’ of the group.  He’s also pretty brown, in a tannish sort of way, because he’s been to enough places that it’s impossible for him to not have gotten some sun exposure.  Also, Holodrum/Subrosia are very, very warm places.  He’s definitely accumulated some color.  Dark blue eyes, not navy, but more like deep water.  He’s got an accent of indeterminate origin because of all the foreign countries he’s been to, and he’s also kinda wiry in a traveller sort of way.  He’s got the kind of muscle that accumulates through constant use; not stocky or bulky or any of that, but more lean and corded.  He’s also got a lot of small battle scars, mostly on his hands, because he’s really bad at using his bow correctly and keeps stinging himself with the bowstring.  This is also, coincidentally, one of the reason why his long-range aim is so bad.  (The other is that he just genuinely sucks at aiming.)

Sketch - He’s sort of ginger, but it’s really more of a strawberry-blond/auburn color than anything else.  He’s got eyes that are more teal than blue, probably the closest to being green without actually being green.  There is, once again, no such thing as a consequence-free soul merge, and as a result the whole ‘painting’ thing has some odd carryovers.  For one, he doesn’t tan.  At all.  Instead, the sun makes him get lighter, almost exactly like paint getting bleached.  He's not the palest Link, but he’s also not the darkest; I’d place him in the happy middle.  

Realm - His legs are the envy of track runners everywhere.  There is no excess fat anywhere on his body, at all.  He's not a heavily built Link; he’s definitely over in the ‘wiry’ corner, but he is literally all muscle.  Thin muscle, but muscle nonetheless.  He's the only Link who can claim to be truly brunet, and he’s also one of the few who doesn’t have blue eyes (his are also brown.  More of a cream-in-coffee brown though.).  He’s more on the pale end of the complexion scale, seeing as he does spend a lot of time in caves, but he will tan if put in the sun long enough.

Wind - He’s dark.  This boy lives on a tropical island, there’s no way he isn’t.  I don’t care what the game graphics tell me.  Wind has the kind of skin color that could be from an accumulated tan, but also might just be his natural tone.  It makes his very bright blond hair stand out in comparison, because his hair decided to go the sun-bleached route instead of following his skin.  He’s also one of the few who doesn’t have blue eyes - his are actually gray.  They tend to look silver in the sunshine and black in shadow, which means he gets a neat aesthetic, but they never look blue.  He can never get his hair to behave, due to a lifetime of salt and sea breeze, and he’s stronger than he looks.  Wrestling the rigging of a sailboat into submission to cross an ocean is one of those things that requires a lot of upper body strength.

Steam - Probably the least physically inclined of all the Links, because he spends most of his time steering a Train.  He’s bright-yellow-blond, and is the last of the Links to not have blue eyes - like Wind, his are gray.  His gray is a lot darker than Wind’s though, and is much more likely to come off as black unless the light hits it exactly right.  He also doesn’t get a lot of sun, because he tends to stay in his Train or in a workshop, building things for his Train, so he’s definitely on the paler end of the scale.  And he’s got workman hands - calloused in every spot possible and all but immune to getting caught in something.  

Shadow - He’s gray.  Actually gray.  The ashy stuff that a fire leaves behind?  That’s his skin color.  His hair is black, and his eyes are red, but that might change if he feels like it.  He patterned himself to be one of the tallest Links, because of course he did, and he also took a fair bit of muscle mass.  He’s a good candidate for the Dorito Ratio meme.  He is a free shapeshifter though, and this means that literally all of these features are subject to change, especially in accordance with his mood.  If he gets upset enough, he’ll lose focus on his physical form and just sort of dissolve into a hazy mass of black.  He’s also not above shifting his facial features to be more intimidating, such as temporary fangs or opening up six extra eyes.  

Oni - Somehow, he’s managed to be six-foot-three and nobody knows how he did it.  If he were competing, he’d beat Ocarina for being the palest Link, but it’s not because he doesn’t get sun.  He’s actually albino.  He doesn’t have visible irises, or pupils, due to some sort of magic effect that he doesn’t feel like sharing, and the warpaint isn’t actually paint - at least, not anymore.  Again, magic accumulates, and at some point it just became part of his skin.  Also, he might be a god - there’s nothing that says deities have to look normal.  He has a lot of scar tissue, which shows up kinda shiny and silver since his skin is already so pale, and of course he’s ridiculously strong.  Body fat?  He’s never heard of it.  

I have clearly never heard of a ‘reasonable post length’.  And to think, I didn't even get into BotW, Triforce Heroes, Cadence of Hyrule, Hyrule Warriors, OR any of the CDI games-which-shall-not-be-named.  

...I have way too many headcanons.

[sleepless-in-starbucks]

Well since you wanna talk about your boi (or enby) Remy, this is a polite request for you to rant and rave about him! ~💙

AN EXCUSE TO YELL ABOUT MY BOI YOU SAY

Let’s begin simply: 

I LOVE REMY

*Coughs*

It’s good to get that off my chest

Gonna put this under a cut because honestly? I need an excuse to rant long and hard about Remy

And when I say long I mean looooooong

I’m starting with your point boi (or enby)

Because I know I’ve said it before

But I adore!!!!! Remy!!!!! As all the gender orientations!!!!

He’s a good boi! A good gurl!! A great they!!! An outstanding neopronoun user!!! The BEST genderfluid person!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(What? Me self-projecting??? Unheard of)

Anyways sorry sorry canon Remy

He is!!!! A sassy boi!!!!!!

He has attitude!!!

He has style!!!!!

He will tell God to take a nap while running on two minutes of sleep over one week of not and a coffee with ten-shots of espresso!!!

He does!!! Whatever he wants!!!! My boi!!!!

Have you SEEN him he’s such a GOOD LOOKER

Remember that one video where Thomas wanted to know why he couldn’t sleep and it did the flashback to when young Thomas neglected Remy

And Remy gave Thomas That Look

Y’know

The titled down glasses

The Look

Oh my goodness

What a boi

I don’t know if he ever does anything objectively gay in the videos but he has Strong Gay Vibes and that’s not just because his host is gay

He is a Sass Ass

Remember when he was in the tik tok

Good-bad boy

He is a good-bad boy

But is he a good-bad boy that knows I loVE HIM

Also do you remember the fall video he was in

He was so aesthetic for that

I’m sorry have I said he’s pretty enough yet????

He’s so pretty

His sunglasses

His jacket

His general look

It all works so well

HIs use of little petnames!!!!

You know ‘babes’ and ‘hun’

It’s great

It’s amazing

I love it

I love him

Slyly slips out of canon lovin’

Do y’all know about our lord and savoir star-loving!Remy?

It is important that you do because he

is

P E R F E C T

The moment!!! Where he takes off his sunglasses!!! To look up!!! Where the stars are reflected in his eyes!!! Sparkling shimmering shining!!! Aweful!!!

And maybe he knows a lot and maybe he knows nothing but he thinks he could stay there forever!!! Watching the stars!!! Quietly, darkly, no sun, no light but those!!!!

And my favorite hc Remy aside,,,,,,, have you met all of him????

Have you met flirty!Remy who trades smooth words paired with winks and smirks and petnames that sound like honey when he lets them drop off as if he doesn’t know exactly what they mean

Have you met easily-flustered!Remy, who dresses cool and tries to be slick but falls apart at a sweet word, who melts under a soft touch, who’s got shades to try and hide part of his face even though he can never fully cover that blush

Have you met soft!Remy, who says sweetheart and sugar with adoration in his tone, who can offer hugs and run fingers through hair with the best of them, who’s warm and smells like a bitter-sharp sense of home

Have you met best-friend!Remy, a snarky fucker who offers great dvice that’s hidden under sass while he braids hair or eats all the chips in the house

Have you met awful-good-student!Remy who never studies but passes every class with flying colours, or have you met nerd!Remy who wears shades to hide the shadows under his eyes from three consecutive nights of cram studying just to learn a bit more about his favorite topics

Have you met rebel!Remy who spray paints buildings and yells viva la revolution for kicks

Have you met a pastel!Remy in pinks (a colour y’all know I love to see him in) and blues and purples with golden stars stitched into his jacket and his sunglasses in the shapes of hearts

Have you met dumbass!Remy who is, let’s be honest, just Remy

Have you met ace-and/or-aro!Remy, who is still flirty and snarky and excellent

Have you met Remy, in all his forms, happy and sad and canon and AU and dancing and smiling and laughing and loving and p-e-r-f-e-c-t

Have you realized that I am a little obsessed with him

[fictional-scenarios]

kind of a long request so bare with me here but could I get something with Aizawa with a reader who doesn't drink much but one night she goes out but overdoes it. She has to call Aizawa to come to pick her up and there's like a drunken love confession on her end? Please kill me with as much fluff as possible

all's fair in drunken love

pairing: aizawa shouta // reader

a/n: i love this trope fdsnkjfdjfsd

warnings: none!

It’s about 3 am when the first call split the silent night, an obnoxious ringtone shattering whatever dream Aizawa found himself enwrapped in. His eyes crack open in irritation, a groan bubbling from his scratchy throat. He’s got half a mind to ignore the call- it’s probably just Hizashi trying to tell him about something absolutely hilarious that happened on his radio station. That, or it’s a prank call. Wouldn’t be the first time.

Friday nights were always obnoxious.

The longer the ringing echoes through his dark bedroom,the  more annoyed he gets. When he finally feels like he can bear the tune no more, it hushes, and he feels his entire body relax in relief. In his comfy bed he resettles, yawns, and let’s himself start to doze off once more.

Ring ring. Ring ring.

Aizawa’s eyes snap open and he stares blankly at the wall facing him. Aggravation flares through his every vein like fire. Before he knows it he’s cursing under his breath as he tries to untangle himself from his blankets and bedsheets, only to find himself even more pissed off when he nearly trips trying to make his way to his desk. As he finally makes it, grabs his phone in his hands and squints at the light, he finds himself baffled at the contact before him.

“What the hell?” He grunts to himself as he re-reads it just to make sure he’s not seeing things. Now that he’s aware just who’s calling him, he answers and brings the speaker to his ear. Your voice sounds before he can even say ‘hello’.

“Shouta!” You’re so loud in his ear that he nearly has to pull it back a few inches. “OhmygodI’msogladyouansweredI’mstrandedand-“

“Slow down!” He cuts you off with a bark. “I can barely understand you.”

“Oh my god I’m so sorry- Shouta, I need you- I need you to listen to me, okay? It’s so, so, so important I need you to tell me you’re listening.”

“I’m listening.” His brows knit in both confusion as well as concern. Despite your slurring you sound frantic, afraid almost.

“I’m so fucking stranded right now.”

“You-“ He pinches the bridge of his nose. “You’re what?”

“The stupid bartender guy said I can’t take my caaaaaaar- And- And I have no way hooooooome.”

“Where are your friends?”

“They went home Shouta, you’re my last hope, pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease-“

“Relax, would you? I can barely think above your incoherent rambling.”

“No thinking, Shouta, just doing!”

“Right.” He huffs. “Alright. Alright. Where are you?”

After a string of thank you’s and other words he couldn’t make out, you finally let yourself breathe long enough to spit out the address of the bar you were trapped at. Though you had told him you were going out drinking with some friends earlier that day, he didn’t you would have gotten this trashed. You, of all people, someone who barely even drinks wine on occasion. If he wasn’t as fond of you as he was, he likely would have told you call someone else and left you to fend for yourself.

As he throws his coat on, he sighs. That’s a lie, and he knows it. He’s had to pick Hizashi up from a bar more times than he could count, and even Midnight once or twice. Before he throws the door open he reaches down and pets his cat rubbing against his leg.

“Tell me about it.” He grumbles as she chirps up at him.

The drive to the bar was surprisingly easy despite Friday night’s usually being jampacked with party-goers. Save for a few cars and even a limousine, the roads remain fairly empty. It took him less than 20 minutes to arrive at the bar, and less than 1 minute for him to spot you slouched over the curb with your head in your hands. He pulls up and parks, steps out into the cool nights air and shoves his hands into his pockets.

You don’t even have to look up to know he’s here, speaking as his shoes barely come into your vision.

“This is why I don’t drink.” You manage, and he can’t help but shake his head.

“You seem calmer.”

“I threw up twice.”

“I see.”

Crouching, he reaches down and lifts your from your forehead, presses his palm to your skin. Instantly you wave him away with a disgruntled expression.

“I’m not sick, Shouta.”

Despite barely being able to understand that you’re saying, he still shrugs. “You look like it.”

“Can we just…. Go?”

Aizawa takes your hand and lifts you, brings your arm over his shoulder and hobbles you to his car. He can hear voices from two men who pass commenting on the state of you, and as he throws the door open he feels the urge to bark at them to mind their own business. But, for your sake, he doesn’t. He just clips you in, makes sure your hands and feet are out of the way for him to shut the car door. The moment you’re tucked inside he takes a deep breath and slumps his shoulders. When he climbs into the driver's seat, you’re staring at him with this look of awe.

“What?” He asks, putting the car into drive and pulling out of his spot.

You shrug and bury your face in your hands. “Ijus…. Th… You…”

“I can’t hear a word you’re saying right now.”

Tossing your hands on your lap, you whine. “I just-… Thank you so much Shouta. You’re my hero.”

“Oh, please.” He grunts, and you shake your head.

“No Shouta I mean it, you’re like, my favorit-est ever!”

“Favoritest, huh?”

“Ever!”

“You’re so trashed.”

“It doesn’t maaaaatter, Shouta!” Suddenly he feels your warm hand cover his own at the steering wheel, and you’re looking at him like you’re desperate to reach him with your words. “You’re the best guy I know, and-or- The best guy I’ve ever known!”

Though he knows you’re half out of your mind, his face still dusts a light pink when you squeeze his hand.

“I really, really wish that you knew how I feel about you all the time, because it’s, like, driving me insane at this point-“ You’re talking so fast he can barely even keep up. “You’re always right there when I need you, and- and I just don’t think you know how much that means to me- always- and you’re just so cool and handsome, god Shouta, you’re so fucking beautiful to look at even when you’re all scruffy and tired-“

Your rambles have his eyes widening with every word.

“-I just love to spend time with you all the time-“ The warmth of your hand leaves him and soon enough you're covering your face again. “Ilov… Alot… Don’t… -Outa.”

Aizawa nearly misses the road leading back to his house as he’s trying to process everything that you’re saying.

“Do you understand me?” You ask, looking at him with an expression he can only read as frantic. “You know what I’m saying, don’t you?”

“I-“

“Shouta, please,” Again you touch his hand on your own as he comes closer to his home. His heart rate picks up the more in depth you get. “Please, you have to understand-“

“I do-“

“-How I feel-“

“You’re so dru-“

“-That I’ve been in love with you for years-“

He slams the breaks. You tumble forward, caught only by your seatbelt. With a white knuckled grasp on the steering wheel, Aizawa just stares forward, his home in sight but his mind unable to urge him to finish the final hurdle. It takes him a long, long moment to collect himself from that. He’s still watching forward, and if you listened closely you’d hear him breath just a little heavier. He isn’t sure what to say, or do for the matter. He’s had his suspicions about your feelings, he always had in some known about how you felt. He had his own feelings for you, warmth that he only shares for you and you alone. However nothing ever came between the two of you, internally caught in a relationship that was always a little more than friendly and a little less than romantic.

It was the only thing that ever stopped him from pursuing you, and evidently, it was what was stopping you as well.

Up until now, that is.

“Ouch, seatbelt burn.” Touching at your neck, you whine. “That hurt, Shouta!”

The sound of your voice retoned brings him back to his senses. He shakes himself out of his trance, let’s out a shaky breath and glances at you in the corner of his eyes. You’re touching at a red mark forming on your neck, the seatbelt striping you with a light friction-induced burn.

He swallows hard. “Sorry.”

“This is gonna sting for a week, now.” Your words reach him as you pout, and finally, he presses the gas again and slowly creeps the rest of the way to his home in relative silence.

It’s a not trance that he’s lost in, but there’s definitely something keeping him at an arm's length from you. Even as he turns the car off, forces himself out and once more takes your arm over his shoulder, he’s somewhere else. His mind never left the drivers seat, hearing your words over and over again. He’s heard them in dreams, in passing fantasies he’d live when he was just dozing off.

Hearing them was something else entirely. He hadn’t expected himself to react like that, so suddenly, so silently explosive. Luckily you seemed unaffected by your confessio, your mind entirely taken up by the light marking ranging from your neck a little ways below your collarbone.

His cat greeted him at the door after he worked to open it, meowing up at him earnestly.

“I’m back.” He mumbles in response, and you hum in his grip.

“Aw, Mallow, I havn’t seen you in so looooooong.”

She meows again and purrs, rubs against Aizawa’s legs just and nearly trips him as he tries to hobble into the room with you in tow. He pushes open the door to his bedroom and makes quick work of laying you down, follows the shape of your body down to your legs just so he can take your shoes off and let them fall to the floor. You lay there atop the mattress with your hands on your chest, your head fallen back with shut eyes.

“Hey,” He calls, and you crack your eyes open. “Think you’re gonna make the night?”

From behind you, you grab an unused pillow and toss it at him. “Maybe.”

A sigh leaves him as he stands, tosses the pillow back down on the mattress beside your head. When he can see your head's at an uncomfortable angle, he can’t help but take it upon himself to lean down over you and resettle you. Once you’re nice and comfortable, literally smiling lazily up at him, he pulls back, but the snaking of your arms around his neck stops him. You tug him down, and he has to press a hand on either side of your head to stop himself from falling on top of you.

“Hey- Woah-“

“Shouta,” You sing, eyes shut. “You’re so good to me.”

Relief washes over him at your giddiness. For a moment he was terrified you were going to try and initiate something else entirely. Shifting his weight to one of his hands, he uses the other and gently grasps at your forearm.

“You need rest.” Aizawa said dully, but he can hear his own softness. Affection. “You can have the bed, I’ll take the couch.”

“No,” Suddenly your eyes are on his, and he feels his cheeks heat up when you shove him down against you. This time he does lose his grip, and he finds himself planted pressed against you, your arms continuing to wrap around him to hold him in place. He tries to prop himself up on his elbows but you just crush him to yourself all over again.

“Hey-“

“Stay here,” You whine. “With me.”

Aizawa’s stronger than you, he knows that. Though you fight him, it’s not long until he’s free from your grasp. He looks down at you with almost sorry eyes. “You have no idea what you’re even doing right now.”

“I know that I want you to lay with me,” You say, and for a moment, he swears your lucid. You reach up and touch the scruffiness of his cheeks, eyes pooling with warmth. “I want you to stay with me.”

With a shake of his head, he says with your name with what he can only realize is him giving in. You take that sign and run with it.

“Come on Shouta,” Fingers leaving his face, you scoot over and allow a space for him. “Just lay down.”

Although he knows he shouldn’t do it, he’s never been good at saying no to you. For a moment he’s at war with himself. On one hand he knows he should say no, let you pass out after whining while he takes to the couch. It would save the chaos the morning would bring, would bring him peace and you sheepishly thanking him when you wander out from his room to greet him. But… On the other hand…

The space next to your warm body looks so comfortable. Much warmer, cozier than the couch. His eyes flicker from the indent of where you lay seconds ago, and then to you, your expression looking like your heart was made of glass. His resolve crumbles when your lips downturn following his silence. Your eyes downcast, you look away.

“Alright.” He breaks.

“Yes!” Back to life, you beam up at him and scoot even further to accommodate his size as he mumbles to himself about being weak-willed.

“You’re gonna regret this tomorrow morning,” He grumbles, leaving all his clothes on as he lays down beside you. It’s more comfortable when he’s shirtless under his covers, but the idea of you waking up with no memory of the previous night next to a sleeping, shirtless Aizawa doesn’t sound very fun. The last thing he needs is you freaking out, believing even for a moment that you and him fooled around in your intoxicated state.

“Mmm, I doubt it,” You giggle, and he can feel the warmth from your body against him as he pulls the covers up. “You’re so comfy, Shouta.”

“Comfy?” He asks with a yawn, rolling over on his side to face you.

His mind runs blank when you’re wrapped around him in the blink of an eye, face tucked in his chest, arms binding him. He floods with red, feels his hands hovering over your body without touching. He says your name but you don’t answer, only snuggling against him even more. So, so badly does he want to act like it’s a huge pain in his ass, but he can’t. You’re so warm, squished against him so perfectly, as if you were built for this very moment.

“You don’t know what you’re doing.” He breathes, hands still inches from you.

“Yes I do,” You chirp. “I’m sleeping.”

Your name leaves his lips again as a begrudged groan, but finally he decides fuck it. It’s too late to keep arguing, and he can’t decide now to sleep on the couch after he’s already told you yes. Odds are you’d detach from him at some point in the night, wake up on the other end of the bed with only a few questions.

“Fine,” Aizawa gives in, rests his palms against your skin and let’s you smile against the fabric of his shirt. “But you better not freak out tomorrow.”

“Mhhmmm…. Whatever you say.”

Though he wants to shake his head, he doesn’t. He’s far too comfortable to even roll his eyes, and he’d be lying if he said he hadn’t imagined this once or twice.

Or, maybe a few dozen times.

As your breathing evens out against him, he lets his own follow suit. Finally he was getting back to bed, letting sleep take him once more. Only once does he stir again before the morning light, your voice reaching him as his name whispered quietly. It only reminds him of where he is, how sweetly you tuck against him. In his own haze, he tugs you closer against him, and forgets his concerns for the coming morning.