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reasonsmandy · 1 year

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The tension between us

Eddie Roundtree x Fem!Reader

✧.* requested by @sarnbarnes — one where the reader is Billy’s wife except they actually leave his ass

✧.* summary — Your marriage was not being the best of things, the truth is that you fell into comfort and that love was slipping away. But at the same time that you felt rejected by your husband, a new love was born.

✧.* warnings — mention of cheating, reader and eddie having an affair.

✧.* word count — 2.4k

✧.* 🎸 — Eddie's masterlist

✧.* mandy's notes — This is definitely one of my favorites, And I loved having the chance to be able to give a decent ending to my favorite friend duo (Eddie and Warren). I didn't have time to proofread this one so there may be some grammatical errors.

When you met Billy Dunne your eyes would not look to another, not even your heart had another owner and as soon as you started dating you were sure you wanted to be his wife to be by his side forever. Well, but that's what passion does to people, you were blind with love and he had no flaws for you.

But over time Billy drifted away, he only thought about his songs and that was okay, the fact that he made music had never been something to hurt you, until it got too extreme. You barely saw your husband, and spent the day alone at home since the rest of the band was with him. You felt even more lonely each day passed, and the fact that you weren't in your hometown, and you didn't know many people around LA made things even worse.

And whether you wanted it or not, you also felt unwanted, you were more and more sidelined by Billy. He didn't hug you anymore, he didn't kiss you, your self-esteem began to be affected and with that your daily life became depressing. And the worst part is Billy hadn't noticed a thing.

But Eddie did notice, he noticed everything to do with you, he always had. You were the most amazing person to him, he felt his heart skip beats every time he heard your voice in the morning, butterflies rose in his stomach when he saw you smile, and to see that it didn't happen so often anymore broke his heart.

He knew Billy could be an asshole, and he didn't understand how he had the courage to leave you aside, how he had the courage to have you close every day and not give you love and affection, he got frustrated just thinking he didn't treat you well.

Soon Daisy Jones and the six would be performing at Chicago Stadium, this was going to be a huge milestone for the band and everyone was excited, well... That's what it looked like to the audience. You felt that something was wrong, and you knew very well how your husband felt about Daisy, you didn't understand exactly how you felt about all this, how were your thoughts on the fact that your husband was in love with another, but deep down you didn't blame Billy because you felt something for someone else too.

You and Eddie had something unspoken between you, a feeling that was there but neither of you had the courage to name it, a sexual tension that you both urgently wanted to end but with every second you spent together, with every exchange of glances, with every smile at each other, it grew and became insatiable.

"What's a beauty like you doing alone here, uh?" Eddie says getting inside your room, wrapping his arms around your waist, because of the scare you stiff but soon your body relaxes with his touch.

"Eddie, you know we can't…" you sigh, feeling his hands on your body, feeling cherished after so long.

"Hey, don't worry about anything." The blonde says, brushing your hair off your neck, kissing it. "You know when it's you and me, the world doesn't matter."

You turn to look into his eyes, without saying anything you kiss him intensely, he soon reciprocates, holding you close to him as if he wanted to undo all the time you spent apart, as if he was rewarding every second he saw you and couldn't have you.

You kissed trying to get rid of that tension between you, even though you knew that no matter how hard you tried it wouldn't go away until you stopped hiding what you felt from everyone. Eddie made you feel loved, cared and wanted, he had ignited something in you that you had never felt before, not even with Billy.

"I don't know how to stay away from you." He whispers after the kiss, taking other kisses to your neck, he feels a shiver down his spine hearing you sigh at the contact.

"So don't, please." You ask, in your voice not just a request but a revelation of your desires, you wanted him.

You knew that your affair with Roundtree wasn't what made you unfaithful to Billy, you knew you'd been unfaithful to each other for so long, that your affair with the bassist wasn't the beginning of chaos in your relationship. The hard thing was that Billy pretended, he convinced himself that nothing was going on, that everything would be fine if he didn't admit things to you and to himself. You both knew it was over, well at least you were sure of it.

"I have something to tell you." He says holding you tighter, kissing your naked shoulder as you cuddle under the sheets.

"I'm listening." You say closing your eyes, feeling his lips on your skin.

"I'm quitting the band." He says, making your body freeze you break the hug looking at him worried.

"What?" You question.

Noticing the look of the man on your breasts you arch your eyebrows covering it with the covers.

"My eyes are up here!" You laugh, rolling your eyes.

"My bad." He laughs, tucking a strand of your hair behind your ear. "After what he did in Pittsburgh, I just can't do it anymore pretty girl."

"I understand you, I really do but…" You say, worried about him. "What about Warren? Graham, Karen and even Daisy? I know Billy sucks, trust me I really do! But… don't let him ruin this for you."

"He's already ruined it for me" Eddie sits up in bed, you can see his set face and your chest tightens at the thought of having him gone.

"So you're leaving…" Your voice barely came out, you would miss him so much.

"Come with me." He says after a few minutes have passed in silence, you feel a chill run down your spine and bring your eyes to his in disbelief.

"Eddie…" You start to say but he cuts you off, holding your hands.

"I'm being serious! He doesn't deserve you, my love. Can't you understand that?" He looked frustrated. "I don't want to be away from you and I know you don't either! Don't lie to yourself, you feel what I feel too, I know you do."

You laughed, feeling some tears fall from your eyes, you knew he was right and the thought of having him away was something you couldn't accept, maybe this was finally the time you were going to do something for yourself, maybe that was the time you'd leave Billy to be honest with your feelings.

"You don't need to give me an answer right now" Roundtree comforts you, holding your hands."Tomorrow I'm not going with the band to the next destination, today is my last show. If you want to go with me, if you want to give me a chance... Meet me tomorrow before the bus leaves, at my bedroom door."

He gets up from the bed, pulling on his clothes. Then he approaches you, placing a kiss on your lips, before leaving he stops at the door.

"No matter what you choose, nothing will change how I feel about you." He says making the butterflies in your stomach dance. "See you tonight."

…

Billy looked stunned when he walked into the two of you's room, it had been a few hours since Eddie left so you were alone reading a book waiting for him to come. You close the book taking your gaze to him, not knowing if it would be a good idea to talk to him.

The older Dunne walks over to you, kissing your cheek as a way of saying hi, it was the first time you've seen each other today.

"How were rehearsals?" You ask, he just shakes his head and sighs. "What's bothering you Billy?"

"Don't worry Y/N, it's nothing." He avoided looking at you, like he was dealing with a thousand things on his mind.

"I do worry, you don't have to hide things from me…" Although things between you were not the same, seeing a person dear to you badly was not a pleasant thing.

Billy sighs frustrated, he takes his hands to his long hair, as if he brushes the strands in front of his eyes his thoughts become clearer. He looked at you with teary eyes, his feelings were very intense and you could tell it was consuming him.

"You must know that things between the two of us are not the same Billy…" You say catching Dunne's attention. "But we used to always listen to each other, I'm still here for you."

"She drives me crazy, she brings out something in me that I didn't even know existed." He says, referring to Daisy. "I'm sorry for collapsing to you, I know I should be a better husband that I'm failing you but"

"Don't say anything, it's fine." He looks at you confused after hearing your words. "I'm serious, I know things like this we can't control, we can't choose who happens to and how we feel about people… And if that didn't happen to us, I won't stop you from being happy."

"I loved you, really... You know that right?" He looked at you, he looked sincere and you believed his words.

"I loved you too, a lot." You chuckled, a little emotional over that conversation. "And that's why I want to see you well, and if she makes you feel that warmth in your chest, that passion... Don't hold back, baby."

"Thanks for that, I don't deserve someone like you" He hugs you, and you finally feel that this cycle has ended.

…

The show had been intense, that was the only word you had to describe it. Warren always looked like he was having the best day of his life and it broke your heart to think what his reaction would be to Eddie leaving, Karen and Graham didn't look at each other often which made you pensive, he looked upset as if his thoughts were elsewhere and Karen was off… you could just tell. Daisy and Billy were in perfect sync as always, it was wonderful to experience them both on stage.

Despite the crowded crowd, Roundtree's eyes were only focused on you, that last show was the end of a big cycle but the beginning of something that enchanted the blonde, he was afraid that you wouldn't accept his invitation but while Daisy sang Two against three and he played exchanging glances with you,he was sure. No matter what his choice was, no matter what his fate was tomorrow, everything he lived through was worth it because he met you.

It was about time to pack things to go, Eddie was holding his bass and a suitcase packed, he sat on his bed staring at the door, he couldn't lie his heart was almost out of his chest as he waited for you to arrive, he tapped his foot on the floor unable to stop thinking about you. His eyes darted between the door and the clock on the wall.

You had woken up early, hitting the right side of the bed you didn't find your husband there, you thought maybe he could have woken up earlier. Anyway your heart raced, it was time to tell him you wanted to break up, after so much time together thinking about it was almost unreal. You sit on the bed, listening to the door open as instantly, Billy walks into the room with a smile on his face.

"Good morning smiling boy." You say making him laugh, he approaches the bed and sits next to you.

"Good morning doll." He says holding your hands.

"Wow, It's been a long time since you called me that huh?" He nods laughing with you, you hug him. "We need to talk."

"I'm listening." Billy says, breaking free from the embrace.

"I think it's time we end this." You finally say, as if a weight has lifted from you. "I want you to know that I am very grateful for everything we've lived together, for the life I had with you. Thank you, baby."

"Thank you for so much, you made my life something extremely special" He thanked you.

You get up picking up the bags you had sorted out last night, he arches his brow curiously.

"We're only out of here in an hour..." He says, watching you. You smile.

"I'm not going with you, it's time to end the cycle." A few tears escaped your eyes, emotion filled your heart. "I already said goodbye to everyone, I just needed to talk to you."

"I see…" He stands up, hugging you tightly. "Take care, and if you need anything… count on me."

"Always."

…

Roundtree was still staring at the door, as the second hand ticked by, his heart clenched at the thought that maybe you wouldn't make it. The doorknob turned, he got up running to the door anxiously.

"Warren?" Eddie says when he sees the drummer on the other side of the door.

"You were leaving without saying goodbye?" He looked sad, something that messed with the blonde.

"I was going to talk to you outside..." Eddie starts to say but the drummer cuts him off.

"Don't need to lie hermano." Rojas takes his gaze to the ground. "I guess I was wrong to think this would be forever."

"Maybe the band won't last forever, but our friendship will." Eddie hugs his friend tightly and he reciprocates.

"Always count on me bro!" He says patting his back, disentangling himself from the hug, he turns to face you holding your bags.

"Hi." You smile a little shyly, the drummer takes his eyes to your bags, then opens a smile.

"I knew it! You are made for each other." Warren smiles, moving closer to you and kissing your head as a way of saying goodbye. "Keep in touch alright? You two!" He says waking away, leaving you two alone.

When Warren is no longer in your sight, Eddie hugs you tightly and you hold him like a treasure.

"You came..." He whispers next to your ear.

"Of course I came, I don't want to live without you." You say, kissing the blonde's lips for a long time.

"And you won't have to." He places several kisses on your face making you giggle. "Now it's you and me forever, pretty girl, and no Billy fucking Dunne to ruin things"

"Eddie!" You say slapping him on the arm and he laughs.

"What? is the truth!" He says, shrugging.

"Just shut up and kiss me." You say, and soon he closes the space between you with a passionate kiss.

...

Hi, I hope you enjoyed it... If you wanted to ask for something my requests are open, and if you want to ask and don't have any ideas check out my prompt list :) xoxo

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#djats #daisy jones and the six #djats x reader #eddie roundtree x reader #eddie x y/n #eddie loving #eddie roundtree #the dunne brothers #daisy jones & the six #the six #daisy jones and the six fanfic #djatsedit #djats fanfic #josh whitehouse

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jinxed-sinner · 16 days

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Sometimes I completely forget that TikTok is where most Stella defenders congregate so imagine my absolute shock and horror when a post came across my FYP comparing Stella to Moxxie and Angel Dust of all characters

Actually, you know what, I'm gonna just say it here: Stella's written to be a villain because she's supposed to be a villain, not because Viv can't write women. Women can be villains and women can be perpetrators of abuse. Acting like Stella's badly written just because she's abusive takes away the reality that women like that actually exist. My mom was (allegedly) like that. Additionally, Stella takes out her anger about her and Stolas's situation out on Stolas. That's inexcusable and since it's one of her defining traits and something that's continuously shown throughout the entire show (and it's indicated that she's been like that her entire life by the way), it makes her incredibly hateable.

Let's also discuss a few of the characters that this person was comparing Stella to.

Valentino - Val is meant to be at least somewhat likeable, because it's realistic for people like him. I absolutely hate him, but I still find myself drawn to him because I love his design and he was very purposely characterized to be charismatic, which is why he has fans.

Alastor - Alastor has morals. If he didn't, Husk wouldn't be in the show. He'd be wherever souls go after Alastor tears them apart. I firmly believe there can be nuance to murder (for example, self-defense), and I genuinely think that there's more nuance to Alastor's killings than just "he killed just because" because Alastor doesn't even attack people without reason. Additionally, even if he was outright abusive (which he's not, fight me), he's incredibly charismatic and likable. Alastor is far from the worst person in the Hellaverse.

Angel Dust - Angel’s an addict who was born into a mafia family and is a victim of trafficking and uses drugs and sex to cope with his situation, and he's prone to lashing out because of it. There's an entire episode breaking this down. If you genuinely think Angel’s a piece of shit please go rewatch Masquerade, I'm begging you

Moxxie - Moxxie was also born into a mafia family. He got into trouble, ended up in jail, and met Blitz, and they started IMP. It's worth noting that it's implied that IMP started as a freelance assassin business that did business exclusively in Hell; Blitz mentions that they don't do jobs in Hell anymore, only in the human world. These jobs are entirely vengeance based (sinner gets to Hell and hires IMP to take care of whoever killed them).

Adam and Lute - Adam and Lute are just a fun duo to watch, and Adam's funny to watch on his own. I absolutely adore their dynamic. That doesn't mean I don't acknowledge their role in a literal genocide; I can like them without condoning their actions.

Something Vivziepop does incredibly well is create characters that make you feel incredibly torn (and I know for me personally, both Val and Vox are good examples of this; I absolutely despise them both, but they're an absolute joy to watch. As a result I'm constantly flipping between "God I hate them" and "god I love them" because I hate them as people but love them as villains). That's the whole point of pretty much every character brought into the "Stella's so universally hated but there are these characters in both Helluva AND Hazbin who are so much worse!" argument.

Stella is written to be a hateable character. She has no redeeming qualities. Val at least has charisma and a funny dynamic with Vox and Velvette. Stella just makes you hate it when she shows up on screen. It doesn't make her any worse-written of a villain and it doesn't mean Viv can't write women. It shows, if anything, that Viv has a lot of range in how she writes villains.

This isn't to say people don't make fair points about Stella. She's a victim of an unfair system who was put into an unfair situation, but so was Stolas. Stella has absolutely no fucking reason to be taking her anger about her situation out on Stolas to the point of hiring an assassin to kill him.

Stella isn't defendable. Comparing her to characters like Val isn't fair because Val is written to be likeable, Stella isn't. Stop excusing Stella's abuse of Stolas (and some of that is implied to be sexual by the way) with "Viv can't write women" lol

#hazbin hotel #helluva boss #helluva boss stella #i literally hate this so much #people need to stop defending stella #if you wanna criticize how viv writes women do it using anyone but stella ffs #tw abuse #tw assault #tw sex abuse

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marina-the-witch · 1 month

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My Souls Hot Takes

Decided to write up a couple of my less popular opinions for souls games. Please don't get upset over any of these, if you disagree that's totally valid

Dark Souls 1:

Bell Gargoyles is my favorite base game boss

I don't like Ornstein and Smough that much

Gwyn's theme is nowhere near as sad or dramatic as its made out to be in my opinion

Painted World isnt fun to me at all

Tomb of the Giants isnt that bad

I miss the whimiscal 80s fantasy aesthetic the series lost in the following entries even if i understand it narratively

Dark Souls 2:

I'm not just a hater or fail to appreciate an underrated gem, I simply dont enjoy this game

I think Darklurker is mid and the runback gimmick is stupid

The world and lore arent that much better to me than any other souls games and dont save the game

Life Gems are actually pretty okay

Old Dragonslayer is really not that big of a deal

Royal Rat Vanguard is the single worst boss in souls to me

Fume Knight is just kinda alright to me, I enjoy Sir Alonne much more

The health cap loss fucking sucks i hate it

Its perfectly fine to both love and hate this game please calm tf down

Dark Souls 3:

Soul of Cinder isnt that exciting, I might just be biased though bc i started the DS games with 3

Jailers arent that bad, Thralls are way worse

Ancient Wyvern kinda funny tbh

I really really dislike Sister Friede

The random wolf guy in ariandel is the wost boss in 3

Corvian Knights are the coolest enemy in the trilogy

The game isnt actually as ugly and monotone as people say

Pontiff Sulyvahn is sooooo mid to me I could not care less for his parry bait jojo stand ass goofy fight

Yhorm is such a nothing boss without the siegward narrative to me

Demon Prince solos literally any other duo boss and its not even close

R1 and O spam is a dark souls staple to me, not DS3 exclusive at all

Dragonslayer Armor and Oceiros are insanely underrated

Sekiro:

Demon of Hatred actually slaps

Corrupted Monk actually slaps

Great Shinobi Owl is really mid to me, too gimmicky

Guardian Ape has the same issues as DoH just to a lesser extend

The 2 giant beast (serpent and carp) area hazards are so good

Souls should give underwater another shot imo

Most of the minibosses are kinda bad to me

Bloodborne:

Laurence is actually peak

Not really a fan of Maria's fight, gonna replay the game soon to see if it'll finally click

Winter Lanters are pretty cool

Micolash fans are weird why are there so many

Yharnam Sunrise is the most boring ending of any souls game

As much as i would love it, I cant feasibly see a logical contuination of the Bloodborne universe

Saw Spear mid idc

Chalice Dungeons are both infinitely better and worse than people say I really dont know how to feel about them

Simon's Bowblade is one of the coolest weapons in fiction

Elden Ring:

Morgott is underrated

Dragons are underrated

Placidusax's theme is kinda eh to me

Radahn and Malenia are equal, both fandoms can stfu, it said fought to a standstill for a reason

Rykard is genuinely a good fight even with the gimmick in mind

I don't care for vyke, frenzy, shabriri or any other madness hoobla

I hate using great spears so much

Summons are VALID. If they were cheating they wouldnt be in the game. Get over yourself

Idc how much you can counter it I dont like malenia's waterfowl dance and health regain

Godskin Duo isn't that bad, the REAL enemy is valiant gargoyles

Royal Revenants, Birds and Runebears at least have the decency to be rare... Imps and Lobsters though

Volcano Manor is underrated as fuck, such a unique level for a souls game with so much cool lore and visual flare

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villainessprefect · 1 year

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~Tell It to My Heart~

title: Heedless Hearts

Dialogue #5: “I love you, you idiot!”

Ace x gn!reader

Read on AO3

You're a smart person, really, you are. Ace has seen you solve problems, school related or not, with ease. You're practically a nerd compared to the Heartslabyul duo. Whatever comes your way, you will always find an answer. No matter the cost.

This leads him to wonder if that's what causes you to be reckless all the time. The drive to find a solution, to help someone else who needs it, even at the cost of your own soul. Maybe you weren't all that smart as he thought.

Ace sighs as he looks at your arm. An icicle made a clean cut on your sleeve, slicing it open and brushing against your flesh. Red dared to leak out, but not at an alarming rate.

"Ah," you hiss as your eyes fall on the fresh wound. "I guess I didn't notice this earlier." You wince as you move your arm and opt to let it hang at your side for the time being. "Oh well, it's not the worst that's happened to me."

It's how you say it so nonchalantly that it...bothers him. And he doesn't like the feeling.

"You didn't have to take the hit, ya know? Honestly, it's like you have a death wish or something." Ace shakes his head and grips your arm. He's surprisingly careful, gentle even, as he lifts it up to get a better look. Yeah, it definitely isn't as bad as taking an eel's tail to the gut, but that didn't mean this didn't hurt. "You knew that was meant for me- why did you take it?"

"You were preoccupied." Ace is quick on his feet, and he's got good reflexes, but he isn't invincible. You weren't a target in most magical fights and after watching so many, you think you could pick up on a few tactics these boys resort to. "It would have knocked the wind out of you. Or worse. I got lucky with just a scratch."

You chuckle as if unaware of how your casual tone affects him. Brushing off some light wound that could have been worse right in front of him stings. Maybe you were right about the damage that could have been done, but that doesn't give you the right to sacrifice yourself.

"And if it would have gotten to you instead?" A tinge of anger slips out and he clicks his tongue. He's never been one to hide how he feels, but he dislikes getting angry with you. It makes him feel like shit afterward. Unfortunately, that doesn't stop him from voicing his thoughts. "You said it yourself, you got lucky. What if it was worse?"

You don't respond and your gaze drifts elsewhere. His tone is harsh, almost scolding. But he makes a valid point, as always.

"I'm sorry," you breathe out. "I just wanted to..."

"Help?" He finishes. "I know you want to, but instead of helping others maybe you should, I dunno, help yourself for once? Instead of getting involved and trying to have some savior complex, be selfish for once. Doing all this isn't going to help you in the long run. Besides, do you know how badly it sucks to see you in the infirmary?"

Ace lets out a breath after letting that out. He hates how you seem to curl into yourself, making it look like he is the bad guy here. Is he wrong to point this out? To worry over you? He frees your hand to run a hand through his hair. Guilt is already eating at him as he sees that downcast expression.

He knows you mean well. You're doing your best in a world that isn't your own. But things aren't the same here as in your world. Even he knows that.

"Look," he starts, internally praying that he can save himself. "I get really worried about you, okay? You're like..." Ace shifts, a little uncomfortable. A friend? Yeah. But you're also more than that. "Special."

"Special?" You look up, eyes filled with confusion upon hearing something sweeter after that brutal truth.

"Yes, you're special. In a good way. Even if you do make the cool look uncool. And if you don't believe it, then I'll prove it to you. Cuz I love you, you idiot."

A pause.

Your cheeks turn red.

His mirror yours.

"See? You made me do a totally uncool and unplanned confession."

"...You mean it?"

Ace is almost in disbelief until he remembers his track record. Okay, so maybe a couple of fibs here and there would come back to bite him in the ass, but...seriously?! Maybe he shouldn't have done this, but he needed to make a point and get it through that thick skull of yours somehow.

"Yeah, I mean it. Don't make me repeat it..." Ace clicks his tongue. Now he's feeling shy? Lame. It's nothing he can't shake off though. "So, what? Are you going to believe me now? Maybe take care of yourself a little more cuz you have someone like me in your life. Or are you going to break my heart?" Cue the overly dramatic sad pouting.

"Hey!" You huff. If your arm wasn't injured, you would have playfully hit his. "I...I'll take care of your heart with all of mine."

Ace's act disappears in an instant. "Oh? Are you sure? That's very bold of you to say so~!" He hums. "You can gush about how much you'll take care of me while we bandage up your silly little mistake. And I'm not taking no for an answer!"

#twisted wonderland #ace trappola #twisted wonderland x reader #ace trappola x reader #gn reader #twst x reader #twst #ace trappola x you #heartslabyul #request #tell it to my heart event

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vagabond-umlaut · 9 months

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STARS.

GLOWING BALLS OF BURNING GASES, LIGHTING THE DARK OF THE NIGHT SKY. PEOPLE OF TALENT, FAMOUS AND MUCH LOVED BY THE GENERAL POPULACE. FORCES OF FATE, INFLUENCING & DETERMINING THE LIVES OF US, MORTALS.

ONE SMALL WORD YET SO COMPLICATED IN ITS MEANINGS, IS IT NOT?

YES, INDEED IT IS— THOUGH, CERTAINLY NOT AS MUCH AS THE STORY OF ONE KING OF CURSES & HIS WIFE— WHAT DO YOU THINK, MR. SUKUNA & MS. KORE?

*The camera focuses on one of the most well-known and beloved couples from the renowned TV show Jujutsu Kaisen. Despite being six years younger in age and over ten years younger in acting experience, the woman seems every gram the seasoned acting professional the man beside her is; although, a lot more cheerful and friendly than the latter. [The almost-absence of space between them doesn't go past the eye of anyone— nevertheless, the interviewer chooses not to comment on the same. For now, that is.] Kore greets the camera with a happy smile and a wave whilst Sukuna acknowledges the same with a minor twitch of his lips— the two of them then returning their focus to the interviewer.*

KORE: *chuckles* AH, NO, I DON'T THINK THEIR STORY IS AS COMPLICATED AS IT IS BEING MADE TO BE. IT IS A RATHER SIMPLE, SWEET AND SUCCINCT TALE OF LOVE, SET IN ANOTHER ERA. SUKUNA: *nodding* I AGREE. KORE'S & MY CHARACTERS SURE DO HAVE QUITE OPPOSING PERSONALITIES IN THE SHOW— ONE, WORSE THAN A DEMON AND THE OTHER, BETTER THAN AN ANGEL– BUT THAT DOESN'T REALLY MAKE THE STORY COMPLEX OR DIFFICULT. THEY FALL IN LOVE LIKE NORMAL PEOPLE DO AND WISH TO STAY TOGETHER FOREVER LIKE NORMAL PEOPLE DO– PERHAPS IN AN EVEN BETTER WAY BECAUSE OF THEIR OPPOSITE NATURES ATTRACTING EACH OTHER.

WOW, THAT MUST HAVE BEEN THE FIRST TIME MR. SUKUNA'S SPOKEN FOR SO LONG IN AN INTERVIEW, RIGHT? YOUR FANS, ME INCLUDED, ARE SHOCKED TO SAY THE LEAST. WOW...

KORE: *giggling at Sukuna, the latter looking away and coughing* SUKUNA TENDS TO BE VOCAL ABOUT THE THINGS HE IS PASSIONATE ABOUT— THIS CONCEPT OF OPPOSITES ATTRACTING IS JUST ONE SUCH THING.

OHH. I SEE. AND DID THAT SAME THEORY OF OPPOSITES ATTRACTING PLAY A ROLE IN DECIDING YOUR OUTFITS TONIGHT?

KORE: *stays silent for a while before answering* YOU CAN SAY THAT... BUT TO BE HONEST, IT'S MUCH DEEPER THAN THAT. *shares a small, almost secretive smile with Sukuna*

OOH! NOW, I'M INTRIGUED— EXACTLY HOW DEEP DID THOSE REASONS BEHIND TONIGHT'S OUTFITS RUN, MS. KORE?

KORE: *huffs a chuckle* NOT VERY DEEP, I PROMISE!— BUT I ASSUME YOU KNOW TONIGHT'S THEME IS STAR-CROSSED LOVERS, DON'T YOU? AS DECIDED BY THE STUNNING HOST OF THE GALA, AND MY DARLING FRIEND, MARA [@margumis]?

YES, OF COURSE!!

KORE: *smiles widely* TONIGHT'S OUTFITS WERE INFLUENCED BOTH BY THAT AND BY WHAT YOU MENTIONED EARLIER. IN MY GREEN DRESS AND GOLDEN ACCESSORIES, YOU COULD SAY I'M THE PRINCESS FROM OUR SHOW– ROYAL, ELEGANT & A SYMBOL OF JOYFUL ENERGY, AS THE COLOUR GREEN DEPICTS. SUKUNA: AND MY RED & BLACK TUX REFERS TO THE EVIL KING OF CURSES— THE POLAR OPPOSITE TO THIS SWEET LADY. *sends a very conspicuous wink to Kore*

THE VISION'S GETTING MUCH CLEARER NOW... BUT WHERE IS THE THEME OF THE STAR-CROSSED– YOU DID NOT JUST CALL THEM STAR-CROSSED LOVERS 'CAUSE OF THE MANY PROBLEMS THEY'RE FACING CURRENTLY, DID YOU? ARE THEY NOT GOING TO HAVE A HAPPY ENDING? OH MY GOSH... IS THIS YOU BOTH POSSIBLY GIVING THE WORLD A SPOILER RIGHT NOW?

SUKUNA: *glancing at Kore with a smirk* AT THIS MOMENT, WE DO SEEM TO BE A BIT STAR-CROSSED, DON'T WE, MY QUEEN? *Kore nods, muffling her laughter with a palm*

WELP, DEAR VIEWERS— SEEMS LIKE THIS IS THE MOST WE CAN KNOW FROM OUR BELOVED ROYAL COUPLE— NOW, RETURNING TO THE IRL DUO– WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE ASPECT OF THE OTHER'S OUTFIT?

KORE: NOTHING— EXCEPT THE FACT HE LOOKS A LEGIT FIVE-COURSE MEAL IN THAT SUIT, MAYBE? SUKUNA: *sighing deeply* I WISH GETO WAS YOUR MENTOR IN PLACE OF THAT GOJO– HE IS A TALENTED ACTOR BUT A PATHETIC TEACHER. MORESO IN THE FIELD OF ROMANCE. YOU CHOSE THE WORST PERSON EVER TO ASK FOR TIPS. KORE: *coos, moving to pinch Sukuna's cheeks* BUT THEY'RE WORKING ON YOU, AREN'T THEY? SEE, HOW PINK HIS CHEEKS HAVE TURNED! ALMOST AS MUCH AS HIS HAIR— HAHAHA–

IT PAINS ME TO INTERRUPT THIS CUTE MOMENT BETWEEN YOU TWO— BUT, SADLY I'VE HIGHER AUTHORITIES TO ANSWER IF I DON'T ASK YOU ALL THESE QUESTIONS ON THE SCRIPT—

KORE: *moves a bit away with a sheepish smile* UM, SORRY!! PLEASE ASK. SUKUNA: *rights his clothes, then smiles politely* YES, PLEASE CONTINUE.

THANK YOU!! SO, MS. KORE, CONSIDERING THIS IS YOUR DEBUT GALA, WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THIS?

KORE: I'M TOTALLY IN LOVE WITH THE ENTIRE CONCEPT OF THE BLR GALA '23!! INCREDIBLY NOVEL. INCREDIBLY BEAUTIFUL. MARA, MY SWEETEST ANGEL, I'M SIMPLY IN AWE OF YOUR MARVELLOUS BRAIN, GIRL! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR PLANNING THIS!!! AND I LOVE YOU!!!

WHAT ABOUT YOU, MR. SUKUNA? THIS IS YOUR FIRST TIME ATTENDING THESE EVENTS WITH SOMEONE BESIDE YOU, ISN'T IT? WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS?

SUKUNA: *shares a brief yet visibly soft look with Kore, before looking ahead* I'M VERY HAPPY, HAVING KORE BY MY SIDE. BESIDES BEING A WONDERFUL CO-STAR, SHE IS ALSO AN AMA—

*A loud yell of Sukuna's name interrupts him. The camera moves from them, to Gojo Satoru and Geto Suguru in the distance, the white-haired man jumping up and down with an exuberant beam while his black-haired companion waves his hand. Kore and Sukuna look at each other once, the former with a bright grin & the latter with a sigh, before looking at the interviewer.*

SUKUNA: *smiling apologetically* I'M SORRY BUT IF THEY'RE HERE, THE REST OF THE GANG TOO WILL BE HERE PRETTY SOON— KORE: WE'RE SORRY BUT I THINK WE OUGHT TO CUT THE INTERVIEW A LITTLE SHORT NOW. *offers a contrite smile*

OH, PLEASE DON'T BE SORRY!! I GET IT. WE ALL GET IT. THANK YOU SO MUCH, MR. SUKUNA & MS. KORE, FOR ATTENDING THIS INTERVIEW. I, ON BEHALF OF EVERYONE ELSE, WISH YOU AND YOUR SHOW A STELLAR FUTURE AHEAD! WE ARE CERTAIN JUJUTSU KAISEN WILL BE AN IMMENSE SUCCESS!!! THANK YOU ONCE AGAIN!!

KORE: *bows* THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR SWEET WISHES! WE'LL BE SURE TO NEVER DISAPPOINT YOU ALL. SUKUNA: *bows* THANK YOU ALL.

*With a happy goodbye and another whispered apology from Kore, and a small smile from Sukuna, both of them walk in the direction of their co-stars and friends– where, sure enough, many more well-known faces can be viewed. The camera returns to the inerviewer after a moment.*

WISH WE HAD MORE TIME TO ASK THEM MORE QUESTIONS, DEAR VIEWERS— BUT ONE THING REMAINS UNQUESTIONED. MR. SUKUNA & MS. KORE HAVE AN IMMENSE POTENTIAL TO BE ONE OF THE LOVELIEST COUPLES IN THE– HUH??

*The camera shifts from the astonished face of the interviewer, to where Sukuna and Kore are walking. Hand-in-hand. The camera lingers there for a moment before going back to the interviewer. The latter blinks at the camera– with a mildly disbelieving yet an excited smile, nonetheless.*

THE SHIP IS VERY CLOSE TO SAILING— OR HAS IT ALREADY SAILED, FOLKS?

#BLR Gala '23 #sukuna 💞 kit #<The Countless Chronicles Of Kore>#kit interacts 👋#kit saves stuff ✅

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visionsofmagic · 1 year

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impossible to reach • heimdall, chapter one.

previous • [masterlist] • next

― pairing: heimdall x greek goddess!reader

― summary: being both daughter of zeus and sister of kratos bring unbelievable events with them, but even them wasn't as astonishing as falling for heimdall, the son of odin who saw you as his second wife. ragnarok is at the door, odin is ready to manipulate you, kratos is there to fight for you and atreus is being a normal teenager who gets trouble. and you – you just see only him, god of foresight. what could be worse? – for the chapter: heimdall is annoying but you enjoy it.

― wc: 2.7k

― warnings & tags [for the chapter]: fluff, no mind reading, classic heimdall actions and manners, y/n being self-confident, flashbacks (little), monologue, touching, & more in the chap! enjoy. [also, so sorry for the wait but I really had to create a way about how I will use events in the story in right way and time, so, I hope this chap will make you forgive me about the days I didn’t publish this. ^^ *kisses every one of you*]

traveling around the asgard made you realize one thing at highest point than others; aesir people were living the most comfortable life they could get thanks to all-father who they have worshipped with all their living beings. contrary to them, all people outside this realm were having difficult times that too hard to survive fully. it made you sad and angrier than before because coming from a world under the judgment of zeus, your father, who looked a lot like odin in terms of being the worst dad of all times; they could make a disaster duo if they would come across to each other. both zeus and odin only were fighting for their own advantages by doing all dirty things such as using their own sons to conquer like they hadn’t their own choices.

looking at heimdall who was currently having an annoying time thanks to your dumb questions selected by you in pure purpose – it was fun to tease him since you two nearly were similar at age and mind, you realized how he was control of his father but you didn’t know whether it was a choice of his own or odin’s manipulation – maybe both because you knew how someone who needed love could give all of their royalty to the person who gave them a little affection only to use them. the path heimdall was walking on once belonged to you.

zeus, cruel and egoistic god who was your and kratos’ father, did same to you; giving you a fake love in order to make you believe he was – home, he was all you got as a family. he even tried to make you see kratos as your biggest enemy. the power you hold referred to a great weapon for zeus and seeing heimdall from this close, you could say how tables turned same for him. even if he was cocky and annoying, you pitied him, in a good way, having sympathy towards him which you could not show not to him, not to anyone. you only had one job; bring chaos to the asgard before the ragnarok begin to help your brother and nephew who were new targets of odin after kratos killed baldur; his best tracker.

however, whether you would kill all of the gods who cross your path was unanswered in your mind since you have seen them closely. some of them looked like they didn’t want war either but still, they had connections with odin and respect his choices of ruling realms. they needed to see the truth; odin only was a god who wanted power, peace and wisdom for him, not anyone else. others meant only weapons and tools which he could sacrifice without thinking twice.

turning to a statue of odin, you asked to heimdall who put a certain distance between you and him but not turning any other side than your posture. “do you love him that much?” sudden question took heimdall surprised and confused at the same time.

“what do you mean?” he asked, crossing arms together, “he is all-father. of course I love him that much.”

“so, the love you have for him is making your foresight go blind, hm.” it was rather a statement than a question. you knew it was all early to make him see his father’s doings but somehow, maybe feeling such emotions about his life that was similar to yours, you wanted to at least try. in the end, he could understand everything like mimir did.

when confused and angry expressions stayed on his face, like he was so concentrated about something, you shrugged, walking to the an area in which some aesir people were training along with valkyries who were watching them. when some of eyes turned to you and heimdall, the lord of the asgard and the enemy of it walking side by side, you felt awkwardness, so, you turned to heimdall who was looking at his surroundings now.

“you can’t read my mind, right?” you asked once again and now, he was angrier than before, especially when you left a chuckle.

“what’s funny?” he asked in pure annoyed tone, studying your body language from head to toe and making you a little nervous because it was long ago since a man was this close to you. you couldn’t count odin since it was all a play.

“you.” you said, honest. you weren’t trying to be rude or savage, no, you just liked to his company even if you had to keep this as a secret. he was the first god from asgard that gave you some joy. “because you shouldn’t be angry, heimdall.” when his name came out of your mouth so gently, he stopped for a second with confused face, making you stop in your trail too. now, you were standing in the middle of an open area, probably for fighting and training. people of aesir and valkyries stayed on your behind, not so visible from this distance but you knew how some of them kept looking at you, wondering what business you had with odin and his precious son, heimdall.

mimir said they didn’t like heimdall that much in the asgard because of his arrogant and egoistic behavior and you should give credit to them because knowing someone there to read your mind, see your intentions maybe more than you do is a hard to endure. from the perspective of heimdall, it was worse than ever. you couldn’t imagine how it was terrifying to hear all of that voices from others just for odin. knowing that odin never helped his son in this situation rather than using it for his own benefit, you smiled friendly and that made heimdall furrow his eyebrows.

“you shouldn’t be angry because now, you have a distraction.”

“a distraction? what made you think that you have such influence on me? no one can distract me, sunshine.”

you rolled your eyes. little time you spent with him but you already acknowledged his defensive mechanism; trying to see himself at the top of everything, greater than others, to actually feel powerful and known among others. he needed to know that the first person who should see him as an individual with emotions and thoughts rather than odin’s loyal son was all him, not anyone else. he should see himself, understand himself and love himself.

“I didn’t tell it was me, did I? but oh,” you intentionally bowed a little to his chest and pat his shoulder with yours like you were the best friend for a long time, “I forgot you could not read my mind. sorry.”

he looked so annoyed but for some reason, he didn’t move from your touch which was close regarding you two met just 3 hours ago. “oh, how funny.” then, he faked a laugh and you chuckled, feeling so natural around him even though you only knew him so little.

“if you found it funny I can make one of my famous jokes!”

he looked irritated by your high pitched sound, rolling his eyes, he said, “I am glad I do not see that brain of yours. I guess it is all the same in there like outside; all dummy and empty.”

you pat his shoulder, making him flinch for a moment before acting like it didn’t mean anything for him, “what you wanna believe pretty boy.”

you started to walk but when he didn’t move one bit, you turned to him, seeing an unreadable expression on his face as he kept looking at you with shinier moving eyes of his. indeed, it was a curse to be able to read minds all the time but now, you realized how you wanted to have this gift of his only to have a slight knowledge about what he was thinking in the moment because for the first time, he looked – unreadable. that was surprising and yet, impressive because in the end, he really had an individual unlike he choose to show to outside like a mask he put on his face to hide his identity – the real one, not the one odin put in him with his manipulation.

“what?” you asked, sounding curios and concern.

“don’t call me that.” he said, venom coming within his voice tone – sharp and mad. “never again.”

“what? pretty b –“

he was fast. he was really good at speed and you realized it when he suddenly appeared in front of you, close – so close, and holding your arms with a strong grip, making you look up to see his face. he was taller and from this closeness, there was only a centimeter between your nose and his lips. it was dangerously close and you could feel raising venom inside you from head to toe because the way he didn’t fear you like any other did and took a very close stance towards your body after such a long time were enough to make your stomach crumble with both anger and excitement.

“are you really that brave to not obey something I ordered?” he said, sounding calmer than before but still holding heavy breaths which were hitting your face and giving your core chill without your control.

he was – he was looking good. with that eyes of his, golden hair that braided beautifully, and –

he furrowed his eyes, and you realized that you should give him an answer right away before he tries too hard to enter your head which he could at any moment but he shouldn’t know that there was a spell on you to keep his mind away from yours – not ‘till you accomplish your main focus on here.

“and are you really dumb to hold me like this?” you shook your arms and by the force of it, his hands loosened his power on the grip, leaving you free. you took a step forward, dangerously and determined. he took a step backward, confused and lost. “don’t think that I am a goddess who will take orders from anyone. do that again and you will face consequences.” you smirked, holding him from his chin, gently.

his purple eyes turned to your fingers on his body and then, to your face again. “and I call you whatever I like, pretty boy.”

with a mischievous wink which was a way to show him that you were the one who held superiority, you turned to other side, leaving him standing there for a while before he rejoined you, a dead silence between you.

“don’t worry.” you said, “we will not see each other that much from now on.”

both you and him knew it was impossible since you were with odin now but neither you nor him questioned him because there was a fact that you wanted to see him again – and he did too even though you didn’t know.

•

“oh, looks who are here!” odin said, happiness all over his voice. he was in his own personal room in which he was working on some papers that were placed on the table he was standing behind along side a god who had a massive body – even bigger than kratos, red hair and beard, blue eyes reflections of the sky, and a hammer on his belt. his body was covered with tattoos. from the way he looked and the weapon he was carrying on, you guessed he was thor – the god of thunder who liked to kill people – a lot. “y/n,” odin took your attention back to him when you stood still, watching heimdall took the furthest place in the room from you. “good to see you once again. I hope my boy didn’t create any trouble out there. right, heimdall?”

you nodded, “the trip was fun. asgard is more beatiful than they said.” you were being honest. Not wanting to make him mad at heimdall for anything, you added, “heimdall was a good company.” it wasn’t a lie either but heimdall looked like he couldn’t tell if it was the truth or not.

smiling more, odin nodded, pointing thor whose eyes were on you, looking uninterested about your presence but endure it for the sake of odin who probably had him in here ‘till you two arrived.

“my other son, thor.” odin introduced him to you and you nodded, giving thor a hand for him to greet you.

“y/n,” you said, “the sister of kratos.” in your previous life in the greek world, you always had introduced yourself as the daughter of zeus, like heimdall was doing now. you felt such power and proud manner while saying it because you were not the clever self you were now; blind to crimes zeus were committing while using his sons and daughters including you – mostly you even. however, it all changed when kratos came into your life and from that day, you began to introduce yourself as his sister and while saying that, it came out of your mouth so naturally and as it's supposed to be.

but when you saw the way thor’s expression changed from uninterested to angry one in a second, you remembered one thing you had not to forget in the first place; magni and modi. you cursed yourself – how could you forget about them!

thor’s hand found yours in instant but with the most hostile way ever. his grip were stronger than heimdall’s and he sure wanted to kill you in the moment.

not showing any fearless – just an empathy about his boys, you added, “glad to meet you.”

“yeah?” he asked, in a deep voice, sounding alarming. his hold on your smaller hand ended when odin faked a cough, making him obey his dad. thor nodded, saying, “yeah, yeah, all the same.” lowly.

odin left his table, coming to your side and holding you from where heimdall held you; hands on the arms. the gesture gave you realization that how heimdall’s touch didn’t bothered you or gave you any annoyed manner but when odin touched you, you only felt – disgusted. was it because the difference of the meaning of their holds or was it the owners of touches? it was odd and you had no answer.

“they can get a little weird when they meet strangers. but, oh,” odin smiled, “you are no stranger anymore, are you?”

you tried to look nice, so, you gave him a smile, “they even don’t know me in here, odin. the aesir people, valkyries and even your sons –“

“honey, don’t worry about it.” odin said, caressing your arms before leaving you alone. the nickname he started to give you were making your stomach ache on its own. you wondered how you would continue to endure this whole thing when it turned out to something you don’t want. odin pointed to outside, “there is a preparation now for your arrival – a feast. sif is already at work to complete it and after some hours, it will begin. everyone in here will get to know you.”

a feast? well, that was unexpected and since you didn’t like being the main focus of lots of people, you began to feel anxious about it. how could you face a bunch of people who would give you looks that would make your blood boil, wanting to finish all of them in there. but you remembered how you promised to kratos – your own brother. so, you kept calm, looking at odin who was pointing to heimdall now.

“heimdall.” he said, turning to you, “he will be your companion in the feast since I have a certain job to do after the introducing part. would you mind that, dear?”

heimdall crossed his arms and was ready to say ‘but’ to his father but you smiled happily, “of course not. heimdall would be happy to join me, right?”

odin turned to heimdall with a look in his face that alerting him to say the right words; the words you wanted to hear.

heimdall took the defeat, nodding to his father and giving you a look like he was trying to say he was going the night worse than you could imagine. however, it wasn’t bad because rather than thinking how odin would introduce you to the asgardian people, you began to dream how you would have fun with heimdall’s company, giving him all annoyance he deserved.

also, for some reasons which you couldn’t tell yet, you liked the idea being beside him in a room which both you and he would hate.

odin smiled proudly, “then, go and get changed, dear. this is your day after all, right?”

oh, it exactly going to be your day.

to be continued.

taglist: @iinterdimensionals , @Konigdi1ks0ck , @onlydeas , @hayleethefrog , @tartagliasrighthand , @whywouldiknowsstuff , @lillanirobertson , @itsnat , @Armanibxtch , @dott-up , @chiyausu , @lokigirlszendaya , @potentplant , @milf-to-be-anny , @elizabeth-hatake , @kuinnoa , @lmorg149 , @zoleea-exultant ^^

♡

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daintyduck99 · 9 months

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Moment prompt

Friends pointing it out, peterpatterlina (yes I'm sending the same prompt multiple times but you don't have to do them all lol)

"So…what's up with you and the couple from 3B?"

Luke tears his eyes away from the skyline, hoping his flush isn't visible in the dying light or the lamps that dot the rooftop.

Willie's smile ticks slightly, which means that it probably is, but Luke just shrugs.

"They're musicians. They're really good."

Willie hums. He rests his arms on the ledge Luke's been leaning on since—

Since he all but ran from them, honestly.

Luke chances a look over his shoulder, where most of their neighbors are still milling about, cups in hand, speaking in a low murmur, though sometimes a laugh will ring out, bright in the almost-night.

The most melodic laughs are missing, along with some of the brightest eyes Luke has ever seen, and he's not sure if that's better or worse. He suppresses a sigh.

A gentle bump makes him turn back around, and Willie's still smiling at him knowingly, but. Willie is Willie. He's cool.

The problem's putting any of this into words, words that don't have a painfully earnest lilt to them, words that aren't meant to tumble from cracked, pleading lips, accompanied by strumming fingers.

And Luke can't do that. He can't unleash that song into the world. Not when he wants them more than they want him.

He isn't strong enough to survive another evening in their room, a temporary fixture that's been blinded by a false sense of security, by their banter, by sweet, lush kisses and by kind, reverent hands. By the way his name fits in their mouths like a favorite lyric, by the music, literal and not.

There's enough euphoria there to pretend it's something like love, but it's not. It's more like a drug, and he's being used, but the sad thing is he's dying to be, to get under their skin and hope they keep craving him, that they need him somehow.

Fuck, he's only known them for a few months and he's already in way too deep.

"Luke? Earth to Luke…"

He groans, burying his face in Willie's shoulder so his voice comes out muffled.

"Sorry, man. I'm just really in my head."

"Because of the musicians in 3B?"

Luke just groans again, and Willie laughs, warm and wild, carefree in a way Luke wishes he could be about this whole thing.

"Okay, okay," Willie soothes, "I don't get why you're moping, though. They seemed pretty keen on bailing with you before you disappeared, I mean. It wasn't subtle."

Luke lifts his head. "That's the thing, Wills. That's all they want from me, and I—"

"Have a tendency to fall hard and fast for pretty, talented musicians?"

"Damn." Luke huffs a laugh. "Alright, yeah. I should've said that they're a country duo, that would've thrown you. The worst thing is that it's not even a lie. They're just so—"

He sighs at the stars he can barely see.

"I don't know, Wills. They shine. And it's getting unbearable, just—being so close without actually being a part of it."

"Are you sure they don't want you to be?"

He swallows. "What makes you say that?"

"The way they look at you…" Willie shrugs. "That shine, it's not so different from how they look at each other. They're definitely fond of you, dude, and not in a…"

"I get it," Luke says hastily, interrupting before Willie can say something even vaguely convoluted or embarrassing within earshot of their neighbors. Particularly Alex, who'd never let Luke live it down.

He flushes as the full weight of Willie's words really hits him, though. He pauses.

"Willie—do you really think so?"

Willie pokes Luke in the side, which is exposed thanks to the DIY cutoff sleeves.

"I think you should just talk to them, because it's become increasingly clear that you haven't. I swear, if you're just sitting on a pile of pining songs…"

Luke splutters. "I—it's only one song!"

Willie's laughter is contagious, though.

"Seriously, man," he says, squeezing Luke's shoulder, "you should go for it."

Luke lets out a deep breath. "Thanks."

And he does what he did an hour ago, but he's following the stars, not fighting them.

Luke runs.

#what are we prompts #luke & willie #peterpatterlina #rukebox #ficlets with ash #julie and the phantoms

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crowlhoard · 7 months

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Undead Unluck Manga Chapter 183 Spoilers!!!

I know the main wave of discussions for this chapter has already concluded and the new anime episode is already out, but I tend to ruminate for a long time and I'm even slower on properly writing those thoughts out. But now that my thoughts are finally organized, I can put that dead horse to the ground.

Last chapter seemingly seems as an end to Rip's and Latla's character development, quite a disappointing one too (even besides the sister thing, that is just *sign*, Japan...), but I have some reasons to hope it isn't, and here's why:

In the first loop we are introduced to a variety of negators, which can generally be separated into two teams: Union and Under. Under being the antagonists of the story. As the story unfolds, we learn that Under and Union may actually work for the same goal, even if the former is doing it in a pretty twisted way. But there's two exceptions to that rule: Feng and Rip/Latla team.

Feng is pretty straightforward in his desire for strength and his willingness to sacrifice all and everything for it. Loop 101 already addressed his behavior and showed us a hint of change:

Rip and Latla, however, while being a team, aren't on an equal ground. While Latla obviously wants to save her sister too, we constantly see that it's Rip, who is consciously refusing to move on from the loss of Layla and fueling his obsession over his goal. A goal, as we learn in the unfolding of the last loop, that is quite selfish and short-sighted. Not only his current actions utterly betray his dead lover's last wish

But it also doesn't actually gain him anything but a few extra years at most with Layla before a horrifying death of the whole world and all three of them

While in the beginning such motivation could be explained by Rip being introduced to the world of negators through Under and coming to conclusion that all the people with power act purely in their own interest, that delusion repeatedly gets shuttered by his run-ins with the protagonist duo. Yet, despite every such encounter showing us a bit of humanity in Rip, every following encounter, he seems to push towards his selfish wish.

A potential for him to finally make a right choice this loop seems to appear after the culmination of Season's Arc, where it's laid plain to see that Fuuko is the one with the power to reach God and that she is absolutely the kind of person to try and save everyone, and loop is being inevitable by this point with Earth's careening towards Sun. This shows us a hopeful turn for the Rip and Latla duo - with Latla choosing to help Union search for Fuuko and, most importantly, finally separate from Rip

Yet, despite this hopeful turn, Rip once again returns to the original plan - speed the oncoming end of this loop and doom the next one, all for the desire to be Layla's personal hero for a single moment. This culminates in one of the most heartbreaking scenes in the story

Which is made progressively worse, once we learn Latla's negation next loop - Untrust. So for that plan to work, Latla either had to fully believe that Rip can't hit a moving target like Andy (which is doubtful, since she is the most aware of the extent of Rip's skill) or to truly believe that he won't be able to genuinely target her. And despite last chapter claiming that Rip loved both sisters equally, he is clearly capable of sacrificing Latla for Layla.

As heartbreaking as that moment is, it also shines light on the true nature of Rip and Latla's relationship in the loop 100 - they are enablers of the worst traits in each other: self-destructive loyalty, multiplied by infatuation in Latla and the short-sighted selfish goal pursuit in Rip.

Moving onto the next loop, we are introduced to them both once again before the tragedy of Layla's death. Latla doesn't seem to differ from her past loop counterpart. Her life is still built around helping her sister and supporting her relationship with Rip.

Rip is quite a different person, though. With quite the heroic claims

Which would be quite touching to see after this arc's end to show his growth, but here, before Layla is saved, we know those claims are pretty hollow. Unlike the rest of the cast, who sticks to their core values after losing a loved one, we know from the last loop that Rip drops this claim pretty quickly after Layla's death.

Latla does get her drop of a character development, finally standing up to Rip and demanding half the Bladerunner to stop Rip from trying to play a solo hero, in contrast to her quietly following Rip's path of self-destruction last loop

A few words about Layla - despite being alive this loop, she still doesn't have a character. Effectively, she could be replaced with a mannequin in a dress in 99% of her scenes and nothing would change.

So this arc culminates in chapter 183, where we get a brief recap of the events and Rip checking out his "happy end" box with marrying Layla. We also get slapped with a sudden question "Who will Rip chose?" after the narrative up to this point practically beating us with the demonstrations of Rip's first priority over everything (even Latla's life) always being Layla, from the start.

We are given one page in the ENTIRE manga to imply the single case of Rip picking Latla over Layla

And this chapter culminates in the weird kind of progress, or rather, regress: Rip now forcefully dragging Latla into his decisions, disregarding her own choices. Which is supposed to be taken as a positive development now? And in the end, Rip doesn't get any development to show that he is a better person than the last loop and not simply nicer because he didn't have to face hardship this loop.

A mini side rant, unrelated to the analysis - I hate this panel with. every. fiber. of. my. being. Romantizatio of first love as an only true love is one of the worst things to come out of romantic genre. Side rant over

UU isn't nuanced enough story to deal with the complex relationships and getting over infatuations, so I don't expect any developments in that direction. But Rip is supposed to be one of the author's favorites, and seeing such lackluster characterization in UU is really jarring, so I do hope this isn't an actual end to this three's characters development. I propose that at least 2 out of the following 3 options happening could somewhat salvage this mess:

1) Obligatory - Layla finally gets some characterization. Even a single page of her being the one to suggest including Latla into the ceremony, would've considerably improved last chapter.

2) Latla getting to actively disagreeing and opposing Rip, to showcase that she is capable of making her own choices, instead of being dragged around by Rip.

3) Rip facing his faults, which made him of the few true villains of last loop, perhaps through Remember, perhaps through other means.

#undead unluck #undead unluck manga spoilers #uumanga #Rip Unrepair Tristan #Latla Mirah #Layla Mirah

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weakherodiaries · 11 months

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Weak Hero Musings 1: The Tragedy of Donald Na

"They say 'Boy, you know it's time to go. It's time to give it up...'" - MISSIO, "Animal"

SPOILERS ALERT

The saddest thing about Donald Na (Na Baekjin)'s life isn't his miserable past, or his visual disability. Rather, it's the fact that he leads such a poisonous, alienating life. A life that once it touches other people in his circle, turns them into the worst versions of themselves.

Jake Ji (Ji Hakho), who originally joined the Yeongdeongpo Union to avenge his brother, gets his satisfaction from a life of endless fights.

Jimmy Bae (Bae Jihoon), who at first joined the Union to save Jack Kang (Kang Jeongyeon)'s life, turned into a monstrous bully.

Wolf Geum (Geum Songjae) has nothing and noone to stop him once he joined the Union, and his sadistic side is enhanced by his activities within the organization.

The MokHa duo relish more and more in unleashing violence on other people, instead of realizing what's probably better than that, and is worth more than gold: their genuine friendship.

Kingsley Kwon (Kwon Seokhyeon), who in his private moments worry for Donald and seems to have the potential of becoming a real friend, turns into nothing less than a cult worshipper, with Donald as its high priest and god. To him, Donald is The Omniscient and Omnipotent, and the burden of ensuring the sanctity of this point of view falls upon both Kingsley himself and Donald.

Forrest Lee (Lee Sehan) and Myles Joo (Joo Seungjin) were shaped by their ambition and at the end of the day Myles even resorted to murder attempt.

Worse still, these Union executives, every single one of them, is tainted by dirty money. The taint seeps into their daily interactions, marked by their dubious privileges and naïve pride in fashion brands. It's molded by the way Donald lives, the way he runs the Union, the way he fights, maims and destroys.

Such a life. It alienates Donald from himself and from everyone else. And no brainpower in his world can save him from it, no, not even his own.

#SoundCloud #weak hero spoilers #weak hero #weak hero webtoon #donald na #na baekjin #weak hero manhwa #please save these kids #i was so sad as i wrote this

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voxiiferous · 4 months

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Vox's Definitive Ranking on Dress Shoes!

This is going under a read-more because there's So Many of them.

Note, I am not making a distinction between Oxfords, Brogues, and Derby shoes, they're slight variants on what is otherwise the same theme.

Classic Lace-Up Oxfords

Whole cut Oxfords: 2/10

They're not the worst. He needs that to be said, they're a perfectly... serviceable shoe. They're just hideous. The lack of tongue, the lack of decorations. Unforgiveable.

Plain toe Oxfords: 4/10

Immediately worlds better. Still not perfect, but he would get those over the whole cut any day.

Cap-toe Oxfords: 5.5/10

They're better than the others... unfortunately he doesn't like the cap toe. They're just a straight line, no. It looks like you ran out of shoe and had to make due.

Wing-tip Oxfords (one colour): 9/10

A pinnacle of shoe design. No notes, the perforations, the shape in the embellishments, he's got multiple in his closet, they're his go to shoe design.

Wing-tip Oxfords (duo/two-tone): 10/10.

there's a ton of slight variants in where the colour can go, and he loves them all. They're what he wore the most of in life, though they've gone out of style since. While he doesn't wear the two-tone ones as much anymore, he still has several pairs in his closet.

Slip On Loafers

Penny loafers: 6/10

They're fine? Depending on the look they work. He likes the slight decoration on them.

Bit loafers: 7/10

Better than the penny loafers. He's seen ones with more variant in material choices, that makes them more interestingly duo-tone and those would score higher, closer to a 7.5 or an 8.

Tassle loafer: 3/10

No, just no. Get them away from him, cut them off.

Kiltie loafers: 2/10

They're even worse than the previous. Even the two tone variants cannot save these. They're like an old man made his slippers into his day wear. Burn them with fire.

Black Tie

Opera pump: 3.5/10

They're there? There's not enough to be offended by, but it sure comes close some days. Has no notes only because he can't think of how to fix it.

Ribbon opera pumps: 2/10

You'd think this is better than the other variants but NOPE!!! You will never catch him in these. He doesn't care that they seem more feminine, he just hates them. He doesn't care its supposedly a staple.

He's not reranking the Oxfords. If he needs a black tie shoe its those.

Boots

Chelsea: 1/10

He's opposed to their classification as a dress shoe at all. Which honestly is his problem with most of this category. He wants to go to a business meeting not on a hiking trip, or hipster cafe.

Chukka boots: 4/10

They're on thin ice. They almost get to count. Some of them are better than others, but he can't see why you'd ever go for these and not any of the much better options.

Cap-toe boots: 5/10

A pass! These are clearly formal wear... he still think you should just get a normal shoe, and he still doesn't like the cap toe style but they're acceptable. He doesn't own any, but he might not mock you if you do.

Wing-tip boots: 6/10

The closest a boot is getting to winning him over. They're good for shorter pants, for longer ones. He probably owns a pair, they're good for dealing with Alastor. But even his beloved wingtips aren't enough to fully get him on board.

Monk boots: 1/10

He's a business man not a caricature of a witch. Oh you want him to get on a broom and cackle? No, fuck you, and fuck these shoes too.

Monk Straps

Single: 5/10

He's seen jazzed up versions that tend towards duo-tone and more jazzed up wingtips and those are better.

Double: 3/10

Usually he's all for adding more decoration to shoes but these do it badly. The gap between the buckles, the shape, no. It takes an already ish shoe and makes it bad.

Tripple strap: 5/10

Fixes his problem with the two-strap variant, but not enough to net it more than a pass. Just go for a laced version, we're all adults here, you don't need the patent leather version of a velcro shoe.

#he has other thoughts regarding materials #but those could go in another post!#the takeaway if wingtips and multicolour are both good #if out of style #when and if they come back he's going to rock them once again #the one colours do go with more outfits though #*personnel file (hc)#Vox os at his most catty bitchy gay in terms of sartorial choices

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forthedancingandthethriving · 1 year

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(Decided to write the ending of Western Spaghetti for the AU!)

SMG4 crosses his arms with a smile as he watches the rest of the gang join Mario, Meggy, and Tari in their little game. Well, everyone except SMG3.

"You're not going to join them?" 4 asks, walking over and grabbing his partner's hand.

"I've had enough action for a good while." SMG3 chuckles and shakes his head before squeezing the other's hand. He then smiles. "But I guess that doesn't really mean anything when we've been going through."

4 chuckles as well. "That's true, yeah."

The duo fall into a comfortable silence, watching as their friends have their fun. 4 moves closer and rests his head on 3's shoulder.

"I'm glad we made it back in one piece." 4 remarks, voice soft.

3 snorts. "We've been through worse than that." His face then softens. "But I get what you mean. I was worried we weren't ever going to get out."

4 nods before letting out a hum. "We've all grown a lot these past few months, huh? All starting from the Reset.."

The two fall quiet, and SMG4 hesitates before continuing. "And.. it's been making me think. If you had the chance to go back and stop the Reset from ever happening.. would you?"

SMG3 pauses and he looks out at their friends. SMG4 follows his gaze, watching as Lily and Lil Coding both run past, followed close behind by JubJub and Cody.

3 is quiet for a few seconds more before he shakes his head. "No, I wouldn't. Because then we wouldn't have met everyone else. We wouldn't have met our dads, Emulator, Lil Coding, or any of our other friends." The purple and black Guardian looks at the blue and white Guardian. "If going back and stopping the Reset meant that we wouldn't meet any of them.. then I wouldn't."

4 smiles sweetly and kisses 3's cheek before nodding agreement. "Same. But I just wanted to ask."

3 rolls his eyes, but he can't hide the smirk on his lips. He let's go of 4's hand, only to wrap his arm around his partner, and the other leans into him while still smiling.

And both look back just in time to see Mario fly by and crash into one of the walls, making a giant hole.

Everyone starts to laugh as 4 sighs softly, but he isn't annoyed or exasperated. He then calls over. "I'll call the repairmen! You guys take it to the back though."

"Fine daaaaaaaaaaad." Mario groans playfully as he climbs out of the hole.

4 snorts and narrows his eyes. "Fuck that shit, I'm never being your dad. Lil Coding and Lily are handfuls already."

At the shouts of indignation from his kids make everyone laugh harder, including SMG3. SMG4 only grins.

Yeah, he agreed with 3. Even if he was given the chance.. he wouldn't go back and stop the Reset. Even if it had been one of the worst things to happen to him.. he had his family now, and he wouldn't trade them for the world.

#smg4 #smg3 #smg34 #smg43 #smg4 au #western spaghetti #smg4 mario #!posts!#fanfiction: my writing!

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lillotte17 · 4 months

Note

Gimme a breakdown of how Nivan feels about every companion and why, if you're so inclined

Oh how I missed getting OC asks from you!! 🥺💕

I am ALWAYS inclined to talk about my characters, so here we go with Nivan's Opinions of the Troupe:

Lae’zel: Mean Wet Cat. Nivan trusts her in a fight, but will not be taking her advice on dealing with people, unless they also happen to be Githyanki. Honestly feels kind of sorry for her, because nothing about being a Githyanki warrior seems like a good time to him, but he would not say that anywhere near her for fear of being stabbed. Person he is least likely to tease because she would not get the joke, and might also kill him.

Shadowheart: They get along pretty easily because neither of them want to talk about their past, and despite her best efforts, she thinks it’s funny when he’s being a bit of a shit. He knew she wasn’t as dark and broody as she plays it as soon as Scratch got to the camp. Little sister vibes.

Gale: Easy Mark #1. Obviously well-off, handsome, and extremely lonely. Under normal circumstances, he would be a prime candidate for a patron. Easy to fluster. Easy to tease. Perfectly charm-able. Alas, they need to save the world at the moment, and this wizard comes with a high probability of exploding. They’ve both studied, so they enjoy discussing books and magic, but Gale also has terminal Stuck Up Rich Kid vibes, so that’s always going to be a bit of a barrier for street kid Nivan in terms of actually getting close.

Astarion: Mean Wet Cat #2- Fancy Variety. They are too similar. Nivan had to headbutt him when they first met, and they did not trust each other in the least, but they just smiled and flirted as they circled each other warily those first few days/weeks. Unfortunately, he is extremely attractive. Even worse, he is aware of this fact. And even worse than both of those things, he has the same brand of gremlin humor that Nivan does. Extremely annoying, and extremely fun to annoy. Neither of them have expressed a sincere emotion for years. Neither of them will shut up. The worst dynamic duo you ever saw. They are in love despite their best efforts and it’s going to be everyone else’s problem.

Wyll: Easy Mark #2. More Rich Kid Vibes, but slightly more tolerable than Gale’s. He’s so painfully earnest it makes Nivan want to wince sometimes. Being honest is always hardest with people who are painfully honest. Gullible with a capital G. Can’t decide if he thinks the fact that Wyll has a hero name and a pose to go with it is delightful or ridiculous. He’s going to write him a theme song though.

Karlach: Best girl. Best friends. Lower class kids kicking ass and taking names. Loves her fire. Loves her fury. Loves her laughing at his dumbass jokes. She’s the first one to get up and dance to whatever music he might be playing in camp. Would let her hug him for a million years.

Halsin: He finds him generally calming to be around, and sort of gravitates towards him if he’s had a rough day. Low key dad vibes that are extremely confusing because he is also attractive. Would happily listen to him talk about trees for hours. Person he’s most likely to go to for advice.

Jaheira: Somehow she’s his mom now? He acts grumpy about it, but he secretly doesn’t mind. Enjoys riling her up. Enjoys it even more when he riles her up and somehow she blames it on Astarion being a bad influence.

Minsc: Honestly a bit baffled by him. Glad to have him on the team, but does not understand half the things that come out of his mouth. Privately devastated that he is incapable of understanding Boo.

#bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #replies #Nivan #Thank you for sending me an ask #it's been 5 million yeeeears

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halorocks1214 · 2 years

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an uphill climb (i'm feeling sorry)

Fandom: Double Life SMP, set in Hermitcraft

Pairing: Grian and Scar can be seen as either Desert Duo or Scarian

AO3 Link in a self-reblog

Word Count: 4528

“What? What else did I do?” Grian seemed genuinely panicked.

Oi, Scar was starting to see what dealing with himself must be like. Seeing someone disregard their personal safety like an oblivious buffoon was hard to watch, “Dude, you seriously don’t see anything wrong with you using your wings like a disposable shield? How would you feel if Jimmy did something like that, or if Pearl used her moth wings in the same way?”

As per every death game they've been in, bad habits have been formed out of temporary necessity for suvival. It'll be a little tougher to break them when the animosity levels are the highest they've ever been, but at the end of the day, it was the two of them. That had always been more than enough.

Breathing in the air of the Hermitcraft server, Scar felt at home.

He knew there was going to be a lot of work with readjusting from the death game, but after you had already been in two of them, learning the flow recovery gets easier. He had heard Xisuma was in contact with another distant player—Scar thought he heard the name Pixels or something?—alongside Doc to see if they could figure out what kept dragging their poor servermates away from them. No shade to their incredible skills, but it was obvious that they hadn’t found any solution yet.

In due time, though, in due time. Hopefully, “third time’s the charm” would come into play and they wouldn’t awaken in the middle of a random field scared out of their wits again. Man, the bonds of the souls and the Warden guarding the enchantment table… Scar shuddered to think about it. He wasn’t sure if those factors made this go-around better or worse.

But! He was back on a safe server, so for right now, he could chill. He should probably check up on Mumbo. The poor guy had to be freaking out, especially after he personally got to see what the games were like the second time around. Gem had already been chirping up a storm in chat about Impulse and Pearl being back, and he was pretty sure that it was Zed that zoomed through the air above him on his way to Tango’s place a few minutes ago.

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps crunching in the grass and zombies being slaughtered was heard in the distance. It sounded like it was coming from Grian’s place even. After a brief moment of his anxiety levels shooting up, Scar had the idea to go say hi to his friend. Sure, they weren’t on the best of terms this time (if they ever were, really), but it wasn’t as bad as the second go around!

It was starting to dawn on Scar that the second game might just hold the title for “Worst Experience One Could Ever Go Through” for a long time.

Walking over to the edge of the hill, Scar opened his mouth to call out to Grian but paused at the sight of something—not horrific exactly, but heartstopping nonetheless.

Grian’s wings were around his body completely and were being clawed at by the zombies. The zombies would get a few swipes in, sometimes even hit Grian, and then Grian would retaliate by opening them up slightly to swipe at the mobs to kill them. Oh jeez, there was even a skeleton in the vicinity! Scar let out a wince as an arrow barely grazed Grian’s fragile limbs.

Pulling out his own bow and rushing over, Scar was at a loss for words. What in the world was Grian doing?! His wings were delicate, even the most minor of injuries could wreck them! The two of them might not be buddy-buddy right now, but Scar knew when to be an upstanding person and do the right thing! Especially when the cause of said thing was being monumentally stupid!

Nailing the skeleton before he stopped running, Scar managed to get right in front of Grian right as the rest of the zombies died. When the noise of violence withered away, Grian brought his wings down and blinked at Scar, “Oh, hey. Didn’t realize you were over here.”

… Really?

Grian was blatantly putting his wings in harm’s way, and that was all he would say about it?

Wait, Scar needed to pause. Grian was a sneaky fellow; if Scar got angry and up in his face, he would definitely and effortlessly find a way to get Scar to drop the subject. Despite what people may say (Grian included), Scar was not one person that owned a silver tongue in their partnership. Scar needed to be careful about how he approached this. Maybe he didn’t even need to raise the alarm bells.

“J-Just dropping by to make sure you’re okay,” Scar semi-bluffed. “It’s always a rough trip getting back, you know? Had to see you were in one piece.”

Grian nodded, depositing his weapon into his inventory, “Fair enough. I’m a little nauseous, but otherwise unharmed. Don’t think any portal complications will arise.”

Ah, so Grian was in a daze of sorts. Not particularly responsible, but not a crime. He probably would be back in tip-top shape after getting a good day’s rest. Scar would write this day off as a fluke, “That’s good to hear! Be sure to be careful, though, would hate for random mobs to get the drop on ya’.”

Grian paused at that like he could smell the suspicion from a mile away, before rolling his eyes and heading back to his base, “Gonna be hard not to be after what just happened.”

Not untrue, Scar thought to himself, “Of course.”

Then he was left alone once more, left to ponder the events he just witnessed. Okay, recap everything in order. They just got back from their latest death game romp, Scar was on his way over to check up on Mumbo, saw Grian out of the corner of his eye in the middle of combat, watched his friend’s wings get injured, and then he helped Grian fight the rest of the mobs and had their little conversation. Grian mentioned being a little tired, which most likely explained the lack of care he normally had around his wings.

Pretty straightforward, Scar surmised. He couldn’t be too mad about their interaction when he originally expected it to be lowkey hostile for other reasons. Worse, he honestly expected to be shunned and disregarded by Grian like he was in the game. With all that out of the way, Scar figured he could let it go and relax a little.

---

Except it happened again.

Scar was out at his farm gathering crops to make into more sustainable food when he saw Grian flying in over ahead. With a hand on his brow, blocking out the rays of the sun, Scar squinted at his buddy as Grian landed outside the giant rock-thing, stretching his wings after what seemed like a long flight. Scar opened his mouth to yell hello but quickly changed his tune at the sight of a skeleton hiding away in an unlit side of the rock. “GRIAN! WATCH OUT!”

Grian jumped at the sudden and panicked voice, the sound of a bowstring being pulled registering in his ears. As he turned, he also noticed the skeleton but knew he would not be fast enough to properly dodge the arrow heading his way. This time, Grian would not be able to get out of there with just a graze.

Scar gasped as Grian brought his wing up again, the limb tanking the projectile without a care in the world. Then, leaping into action, Grian slashed the skeleton, killing the mob in two hits. Scar took this time to run over, and by the time he was next to Grian, Grian was already hastily trying to pull the arrow out.

“Grian, calm down,” Scar soothed, holding his hands up like he was placating a frightened animal. “You know as well as I do that could just make it worse.”

Grumbling, Grian remembered to take a deep breath and to break the arrow into two pieces. Now he was able to slide the stick out without resistance, though, the way he was aggressively biting his lip probably didn’t help his pain levels. Scar couldn’t help but tense in sympathy.

Grian was breathing heavily, one half of the now-broken arrow clenched in his fist as the other half lay on the ground at their feet, “Thank you for your help. I can handle the rest from here.”

“What?” Scar had to be losing his mind. “Don’t you want a little help? Your wing is injured, and you’ve mentioned how it’s a little more difficult to reach hard-to-reach places when you’re by yourself.”

Grian finally dropped the other half, kicking the pieces of the broken projectile away, “Thanks, but no thanks. I’ve done it plenty of times by myself, both a long time ago and quite recently.”

There was the hostility Scar was worried about last time, “Grian, you just had an arrow sticking out of one of your wings. Maybe we aren’t on the best terms, but I’m right here and have helped before-”

In disagreement with that, Grian actually attempted flying away, to which he only got about a foot off the ground before remembering that he had a giant injury on one of his wings making him cry out in pain. He managed to land on his feet but tripped just enough to almost fall over. Thankfully, Scar was right there to prevent his stumble from becoming that. He then, for some reason, fluttered his wings, wincing at the pain that was still there, somehow perplexed at the fact that his injury didn’t stop hurting just because he wanted it to.

“Grian,” Scar chastised. This was past the point of playing nice; Grian was being actively dangerous about this and Scar would not stand for it. “Can the basic fact that you need to keep your wings intact outweigh your annoyance with our relationship right now for five godsdamn minutes before you ruin the limbs like you did that other thing?”

A brief flash of hurt placed itself on Grian’s face, making Scar pause and let go of his friend in shock at his own words. Before he could rectify what he said, Grian was already skedaddling away into his base to work on his injury the way he wanted to: by himself. Which was the exact opposite of what Scar wanted to achieve.

Well, shit, that went spectacularly. Scar would probably need to apologize at some point, if only to get rid of his guilt, but right now, Scar wanted to do something else first. Namely, put together the last few minutes to figure out what in the world is happening.

Why did Grian react so aggressively to Scar’s presence this time? He had already known Scar was aware of this “habit” of his, he saw Scar after doing it that one day! Unless…

Unless he didn’t actually.

It hit Scar that maybe because Grian’s wings were up and covering his line of sight, Grian couldn’t have seen Scar. That, coupled with the genuine feeling of exhaustion he was having, he could have easily bought Scar’s lie and not thought twice about it. Now that he has concrete proof of Scar’s awareness, he can’t fiddle his way into a convincing excuse.

Oh yes, something was definitely up. But that just brought back Scar’s worry about why he was doing this in the first place. What could convince Grian to casually hurt his wings in such a way? He was still aware that just one meticulously placed injury could ruin his chances of flying forever, correct?

A meow came from his feet, and Scar slightly relaxed at the feeling of fur brushing against his right leg. Bending over, he picked up his beloved cat who must have found her way over here to say hi into his arms, and petted the back of her ears, “Oh man, we’re really in it now, Jellie.”

---

Scar ended up apologizing in a very unconventional way.

Also not intentionally, but hey, two birds and a stone or whatever.

Not that Grian was one of the birds! Quite the opposite, actually. Scar was ironically one of the birds this time.

Scar had been letting a creeper trail after him as part of a prank on Doc when Grian’s voice sounded in the air, making Scar lose focus on the mob so he could physically watch Grian swoop in. Could you blame him? He was thinking he was hallucinating at first.

However, Grian landed close enough so that when the creeper started hissing, both men’s eyes widened at the realization of their combined mistakes. Scar noticed that Grian was lifting his wings to shield like it was second nature to him, and Scar responded by doing something that was very much not second nature to himself: proactively dodging something trying to cause him harm.

Tackling Grian to the ground, the creeper was loud as it exploded against his back, singing his hair and clothing. Thankfully, Scar managed to get enough distance to make it only a light burn of sorts, but that didn’t change the fact that it hurt. Or that it must have looked spooky enough to get Grian into his Mother Hen phase once more.

“Scar!” Grian’s voice was barely heard over the ringing in his ears. “Scar, say something for the love of gods. This isn’t funny, you can’t- I can’t handle doing this to you again, so please-”

Well, some of Scar’s questions were being answered, but not all of them.

Sitting up, Scar firmly but gently shoved a hand over Grian’s mouth, leaving him enough room to breathe through his nose, “Gri, breathe in for four seconds.”

Grian didn’t blink, he was too frazzled for that, but he did freeze before following through on Scar’s demand. Once that step was done, Scar let his face go to let him breathe out through his mouth. Then he was calm enough to finish the breathing practice himself, and once that was done, Grian stood up and offered Scar a hand to use as help. Honestly, Scar only took it because he was so out of the loop of everything that just happened and how quickly it felt like it occurred.

It could also be because the ringing in his ears still had yet to fully go away, but Scar digressed.

Once he was standing up, both Scar and Grian nervously fidgeted in silence, unsure of what to say. It wasn’t too long before they spoke at the same time, perfectly in tandem. Scar was slightly first, “I’m sorry.”

“I’m sor- wait, what?” Grian’s brain record scratched in real-time. “Okay, hang on, I think we need to back up a few steps. What are you apologizing for?”

Scar let out a huff, “For what I said that one day about ‘ruining our relationship.’ That was uncalled for. Even if we need to discuss some of our, er, current and previous actions, I don’t need to do it during a distressing moment that was already making you feel bad.”

Grian blinked a few times before shaking his head, “No, you-” Grian took a deep breath to collect his thoughts. “Apology accepted, I guess, but just because your timing was poor doesn’t mean it wasn’t true. I haven’t been the best toward you, this past week and during those death games. I’m just sorry it took me throwing a tantrum to realize it.”

Scar felt a small, sad smile spread on his face, “For what it’s worth, apology accepted too.” A pause for dramatic effect, “But only if you explain exactly what it is you’re apologizing for as well.”

Grian flinched a little, “No, that’s fair. Scar, I’m sorry for leaving you in the dust and brushing you off so much recently. You’ve just been trying to be a good friend and I’ve taken advantage of that, which isn’t fair.”

Er, not what Scar was going for, “Okay, I appreciate you acknowledging that, but that wasn’t what I was necessarily thinking about.”

“What? What else did I do?” Grian seemed genuinely panicked.

Grian became purely offended by the mere notion of that, “That would be terrible! Pearl especially, if those caught on fire or exploded they might disintegrate complete-”

Scar grabbed his hands to shut him up, “Then what makes you different?”

Grian’s mouth was slightly open in disbelief, his uvula flexing as he struggled to come up with what to say. Eventually, he swallowed the spit in his mouth and downturned his head to stare at their feet, “... I don’t think I’m different. I know it’s not good for me.”

Scar scoffed, “No offense, but it’s hard to think that when you were just about to use them to tank a creeper blast with them.”

“I didn’t have any other choice during the game!” Grian blurted out before yanking his hands back and covering his mouth.

It was too late, though. Scar heard what he said and the emotions it created were not pretty, “What? Grian, did someone force you to injure your wings for something? Who was it? Don’t tell me it was another Hermit, I thought we were all better than that-”

Grian grabbed Scar’s shoulders, making him turn back to give Grian eye contact as Grian explained, “Scar, answer this question: you don’t have wings, right?”

… “I’m pretty sure I don’t?”

“Yes, you don’t, but I do,” Grian continued, squeezing his shoulders for emphasis. “In the last game, we shared our pain. All of our injuries, big and small, transferred to the player we were bonded to.”

Scar still wasn’t sure where this was going, but he nodded instead of verbally responding.

Grian mirrored his nods, “Then think about it this way: what do you think might happen if a limb I had you didn’t have got hurt or injured? Do you think the pain would find a way to transfer itself or would the bond just glitch out and you wouldn’t feel anything? And if the latter were true, then when we were separated a lot, you wouldn’t have to worry about feeling my scrapes all the time, yeah?”

It hit Scar like he flew straight into a brick wall with his elytra.

“Oh gods. Oh gods,” he leaned forward to grip Grian’s shoulders himself, albeit way more tightly. He felt like throwing up. What did he do? Be petty and hurt Grian by standing in snow because he felt neglected while Grian was actively putting one of his most prized possessions in harm's way for Scar’s sake? Seriously, what was Grian achieving for himself by getting his wings scratched and torn? Nothing, and that made Scar the absolute worst-

“-ar, Scar breathe,” Grian’s voice broke through Scar’s haze of panic. A shaky exhale escaped Scar’s lips as he reluctantly found it in himself to come back down to reality. Oh, Grian was still speaking, “Scar, everything I did in that world was by my own choice. You don’t need to feel bad, you shouldn’t feel bad. Like I said, I knew it was bad for them, but I did it anyway, and now I’m reaping the consequences.” Grian brought his hands back to himself to mess with the end of his jumper, “I mentioned that it’s sometimes hard to think we’re really back in our safer servers, so I guess I still feel the need to ‘protect’ y- us the same way I did in the other server.”

Scar caught that stutter, but inferred that he should not say anything about it, “That doesn’t make me feel better. What if something irreversible happened to them? That would have happened because you were doing something for me. We were upset with each other so much that we didn’t want to be near one another and yet you still protected me in your own way.”

Grian grimaced, unsure of how he can make this better before a lightbulb moment hit him, “Well, I haven’t preened them in a long time. And you’re conveniently right next to me.”

Scar took that a little too literally, “I don’t think cleaning them next to a creeper hole is a good idea.”

“No, we’d go to one of our bases first,” Grian laughed, happy to see Scar still being Scar.

Ah, that made way more sense, “Riiight. I’m guessing it’s off to your place?”

Grian hummed, “Actually, I think yours would work better.”

Scar was surprised at that but quickly got over it as the two of them flew to that destination. Grian tended to get his wings preened by just about any of the Hermits, but after their first journey into the death games, he found himself gravitating toward Scar more. He wasn’t sure if it was because of muscle memory or because no one else felt right anymore.

Getting inside Scar’s base, Grian found the nearest rug and flopped onto his knees, moving to sit cross-cross afterward. Scar jumped at the large noise the initial impact made, “Jeez, Gri, calm down a little. We’ve had enough unnecessary injuries on your body recently.”

Scar tossed a pillow at him, nailing him in the back of the head. Grian rubbed the static from his hair, bringing the cushion to hug at his chest, “Well, hurry up, and then we don’t need to worry about it anymore.”

Scar didn’t need to be told twice. Sitting behind Grian, he got to work brushing through the limbs and bringing them back to their clean glory. He flinched a little every time at the sight of a new scar in between all the feathers (he wasn’t there to help he wasn’t there-), but when it got to be too much, he noticed one of Grian’s hands over Grian’s shoulders, waiting for it to be grabbed. Without thinking, Scar did so, bringing back a familiar memory in the process. He let it wash over him when he went back to using both hands to preen Grian.

“Scar, I know you’re in here,” Grian called from the doorway. Scar made sure to stay absolutely still. He was already so big; any movement would probably give away his location.

Which didn’t matter when Grian left the door open as he walked in, offending Scar so much that he just had to shoot up from his hiding spot and yell at him for it, “Grian! What did I say about leaving the doors open? It’ll let all the hot desert… air in…”

Grian’s smug face said he knew exactly that was what would happen. Now he turned back to shut the door, leaving Scar flabbergasted in the middle of the room, “With that out of the way, how’s about we get back to what we were doing?”

Scar gained enough of his bearings to shake his head, “Scott should probably be the one to do it now. Jimmy and I can’t, we’re too…” Dangerous was such an easy word to say, and yet Scar found it hard to do so for some reason.

They were in the middle of Grian’s weekly preening session. Scar was in charge of helping him out due to their partnership. (It would be rather difficult for Grian to work for Scar when his wings were in disarray after all.) However, that one time, Scar was having an off day—Dogwarts sent a message to him requesting to meet, and he wasn’t sure if it was a trap or a genuine attempt to connect—not focusing all too well. Before he could help it, his (gray and so very large) hands accidentally yanked a few feathers out instead of just readjusting them.

Nothing permanently damaging, but enough to make Grian wince so loud it was almost a cry, sending a pang of regret and guilt through Scar’s chest. He quickly excused himself, ignoring Grian telling him to stop, and went to hide out in their main building. He assumed Grian would just go to someone else to finish the job. He honestly even hoped, Grian keeping his wings clean was important. Clearly, he was wrong about that.

“Scar, do you think you’re the only one that has ever gone a little too hard in cleaning my wings? I’ve almost forced Mumbo to wear oven mitts sometimes, you know,” Grian teased, making Scar turn bashfully away. “Besides, we’ve been putting off preening them this week, so the sooner we get it done the better. Wasting time making it over to Scott would be kind of dumb.”

Darn, he made a fair point. Scar sighed, watching Grian sit on the edge of one of the beds, “Alright, I suppose that’s fair.”

For the rest of the preening session, any time Scar’s hands shook in uncertainty, Grian reached behind him from over his shoulder to let Scar grip that until the shakes went away.

“Scar?” Grian’s voice broke through his memories. “Are you okay?”

Blinking, Scar was abruptly aware of the wetness on his cheeks. Shit, when did he start doing that? He was getting it all over Grian’s feathers too. “I think I got everything.” At least he finished the job before completely losing it. He tried turning away, aggressively wiping his face to get rid of any evidence, but it was futile. Grian was already moving around to be able to drape a wing across his shoulders in silent comfort, Grian’s own eyes misting slightly as well.

Scar sniffled, “How did we let it get so bad between us?”

“I don’t know,” Grian let out a quiet, wet laugh. “I’m pretty sure someone could make an entire theater play based around our relationship, though.”

Scar giggled, his tears finally slowing down, “I’m sure Wels would love to tap into that.” Leaning his head over, Scar rested it against Grian’s shoulder, “Isn’t he into that sort of Greek tragedy-esque-type stuff?”

Grian made no move to push Scar off. In fact, he just wrapped his wing tighter around Scar, taking the opportunity to place his cheek on the top of Scar’s head, “You say that like Joe isn’t right there.”

Scar managed to face palm despite the position he was in making it hard to do so, “Oh man, what am I saying? Thank gods you’re there to keep me on track.”

Grian let a grin tug at his lips, “Thank gods indeed.”

Then it was just them, sitting in the quiet like they did so often on Monopoly Mountain. There was no need to fill the air with mindless talking. They didn’t need to prove anything to each other more than they already had. The only thing that would break it was one of them coming up with an idea, just like Scar had and was going to say right now.

“Hey, Gri?”

A beat of silence, “Yeah?”

“I don’t know about you, but I’m kinda pooped. Wanna make a bed and put it next to mine for old time’s sake?”

Another beat of silence, one that was slightly more optimistic, “Yeah, I think I would love that actually. How else can I annoyingly kick you for taking up too much space?”

“Hey, watch it. I can force you to sleep in the cacti again if you’re not careful.”

Scar never actually made Grian follow through with that the first time he threatened it. This time was just as empty. It was obvious that it would stay that way for a long, long time.

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