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strangersteddierthings · 10 months

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The Response

Part Two of The Interview [Part One] [Ao3]

With no exact time given by Robin, Eddie's left to kill time. He drags himself from the YouTube spiral to try and track down Steve on social media. After two hours, he concludes that either Steve has his (and official Corroded Coffin's) socials blocked, or Steve just doesn't have any. He's a bit baffled that people can even find Steve to send hate mail to him.

He shoots a text to Gareth. Can you find Steve on any socials?

He gets an instant reply.

DO NOT CONTACT!!!

WAIT FOR RESPONSE

DONOT MAKE THISS WORSE MUNSON

Eddie frowns down at his phone but doesn't argue. He probably would make it worse. He sends back 'k' and looks back to the laptop. Watches it auto-refresh but Robin's feed hasn't changed.

God, what will Steve have to say?

It's mostly true, that Eddie hasn't thought about Steve in years. That's been deliberate. Eddie was so furious back then. Robin wasn't wrong about him venting his feelings into a song, but how was he supposed to know Hey Steve would be the song the catch the ear of the people? And yeah, the lyrics are very unflattering.

A lot of their first songs were filled with rage. The whole first album is just their collective high school experiences. Songs about growing up in Hawkins and how shit that was for them, a song about Eddie's complicated feelings towards his dad, songs about dungeons and dragons disguised as fantasy ballads, things like that. And, of course, Hey Steve.

He can admit that years ago he reevaluated the lyrics and found it to be more harsh than was warranted. But he figured there was no point worrying about that. People exaggerate in songs all the time. The song is out, people still plead for it to be played during encore performances. Eddie hadn't thought it was hurting anyone to play it.

Hey Steve had taken Eddie less than two days to write. He did almost nothing for those two days except write. Fuck. He was still just a dumb kid when he wrote it, barely graduated high school. And the reason for writing it...

Eddie had know Steve wasn't out to his parents when he'd asked Steve to essentially runaway with him. Steve had worried about things like money, and living situations, and getting food. It had all sounded like excuses to Eddie back then. Like Steve was picking the safety of Hawkins and his parents' house over going out into the world to be with Eddie freely.

They'd fought about it. The worst fight they'd ever had. Yet, here Eddie is, a decade later and unable to recall anything that was actually said. Just a summary of that conversation exists in his mind, now. Steve wanting to wait. To save more money now that his hours at the grocery store would be changing from part time to full with him no longer being in school and able to work the morning shifts. Wait to get his car fully transferred to his name from his parents.

All things that adult Eddie can now see as reasonable. Jesus Fucking Christ. He remembers he'd given Steve some sort of ultimatum. He was leaving on the last Grey Hound from Hawkins to Indy. Steve could meet him at the bus stop or stay, but Eddie was going, with or without him.

Steve had shouted back. He knows they just got louder and nastier until Steve finally told him that he would be going without him, then, because they were over. Even as angry as Eddie had been, he'd held out hope. But that last bus left Hawkins with Eddie on it and no sign of Steve in sight.

So Eddie did what he did best. Channeled that hurt into anger and wrote a song. Never in a million years did he think that, in the very first bar they played at in Indy, they'd meet a man who wanted to take a chance with them and get them a demo. All they needed to do was get from Indy to LA. Eddie had a van and the motivation. The next year of his life was too busy for him to even think, much less worry about Steve and his breakup.

Well, that was a lie. He thought about it constantly and shoved the thoughts aside as quickly as they came. Easier to do when he had no way to check up on Steve. He left Hawkins with no laptop and a pay-per-text flip phone he'd bought at a gas station. Wayne tried his best to provide for Eddie, and that meant they'd had one cell phone between the two, and Eddie had insisted that Wayne keep it.

By the time he got a laptop and internet, Steve had blocked him on Facebook and Twitter. That was the conclusion Eddie had come to when he finally worked up the nerve to swallow his pride and apologize and couldn't find Steve on either platform. Another thing that had filled Eddie with anger and hurt. Steve had broken up with him and then made sure Eddie couldn't reach back out.

Now he wonders, did Steve block him, or did Steve delete his socials to stop the hate mail?

Eddie feels nauseous.

Fuck!

What's worse is that, before the fight, Eddie had been so sure he was in love with Steve. But how can he say that with how quickly he dropped him? With how he's acted ever since? He could justify it to himself when he was still freshly broken up with and hurting but that faded away as fame took over.

Hard to be sad about not having a boyfriend when there were plenty of people lining up to be with him.

He pulls himself from his head to look at the laptop. A new tweet shows on Robin's screen and he scrambled to turn off the auto-refresher.

It's a short tweet, and Eddie sees she's changed her name as well.

Clicking the link takes him to a YouTube video.

It starts with the camera slightly jiggling, presumably from someone hitting record. It's been set up in a recording studio. A stool in front of a mic that's suspended from the ceiling is the only thing in the frame.

"Alright, dingus, last chance to change your mind about this," Robin's voice is picked up from off screen.

"You can't talk me out of this," says a male voice, and without any thought about it, Eddie's hand flings out and slaps the space bar, pausing the video. His heart is pounding, and he has to take a few deep breaths. That was Steve's voice. Of course, it was Steve's voice, it's his statement video, but hearing it again. Hearing it spoken softly but determined.

Swallowing feels difficult. Eddie's last memory of Steve's voice was screaming. This is... this is the Steve he never thought he'd hear again, and hasn't realized how much he desperately wanted to. With shaking hands, he presses play again.

Steve steps into frame, takes a seat on the stool. He looks in the direction of the camera, and Eddie has to pause again, to take him in. His hair is longer than it was in high school, the ends of it touching his shoulders. He's got it pulled up in a half updo, keeping the hair out of his face. His face is familiar and yet so different. He certainly looks older but not in a bad way. The biggest difference is his nose; it's not as straight as it once was, like it's been broken and healed wrong. His strong, square face is as handsome as it ever was, perhaps more so now. Eddie's eyes are drawn to the two moles on his cheek; his eyes have always been drawn there. It was his favorite place to kiss Steve.

He's wearing light wash jeans and a deep blue Henley. And fuck if it doesn't make him look good.

Eddie unpauses again, and waits to hear the retribution he deserves.

"This good, Robin?"

"Yeah, you're perfectly in frame."

"Good. Uhh, hi. I'm Steve. Robin told me that there was a lot of fuss regarding a certain Corroded Coffin song, and that people wanted to hear from me. Which is wild 'cause like, I'm just some guy and I don't really have much to say-" Steve is saying, with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Steve!" Robin interrupts him, "I just had to help you move because someone threw a brick through your window! What do-"

"Okay! I get it! But that's not Corroded Coffin's fault. They do that whole anti-bullying thing! It's not like they don't address harassment and bullying. I-" Steve cuts off, seeming to remember he's on camera. His face turns pink. "We can argue this later. Uhh, anyway. There is something I want to say to Eddie Munson, so I hope he's watching."

He makes a 'give it to me' gesture and Robin enters frame, handing him an acoustic guitar. "I thought I'd answer using the one thing Eddie understands best. Music. So, uh, I wrote this song with Robin's help. Lyrics are mine but the melody is Robin. The song doesn't have a title but, uh, okay. Here it goes."

And then, Steve starts to sing, looking down at the guitar for correct finger placement more than singing into the mic but it picks him up well regardless.

"Do you think I'd give up? That this might've shook the love from me? Or that I was on the brink? How could you think, darling, I'd scare so easily? Now that it's done There's not one thing that I would change My life was a storm, since I was born. How could I fear any hurricane? If someone asked me at the end I'll tell them put me back in it-" Eddie is sitting down, and still he feels the floor fall out from under him.

"-Darling, I would do it again, ah, ah If I could hold you for a minute Darling, I'd go through it again, ah, ah."

Eddie doesn't hear the rest of the song because of the blood pounding in his ears. This can't be- it doesn't mean- after all this time? After everything that's happened, everything Eddie let happen, unintentionally or not.

His phone buzzes against his leg. He ignores it in favor of restarting the video and listening to the video from the start. He listens to the whole song and it ends without anything else. Once Steve's strummed the last chord, he just stands up, walks to the camera and the video ends.

He restarts the video again, and again, and again. Hears Steve sing How could you think I'd scare so easily and I would do it again if I could hold you for a minute and though I know my heart would break I'd tell them put me back in it.

It's through the tenth, or eleventh, playback that his phone buzzes again and he fumbles to answer blindly, unable to pull his eyes away from Steve on the screen of his laptop.

"Gare- It's not- what did I do Gare? Everything I thought Steve would have to say never came close to what he just sang. I can't- I don't know what to do," Eddie sobs into the phone.

There's a pause of silence before what is very much not Gareth's voice says, "Well, dammit Munson. I was calling to rip you a new one but you're already crying."

It takes Eddie a moment to place the voice, "Robin?"

"Unfortunately, yes," Robin says. "I think Steve's let you off easily, but I also know I kick a hornet's nest with my interview so I think we should work on getting this cleared up, both publicly and privately."

"How did you get my num-"

"Gareth. Keep up, Munson. I'd like us to be able to call off each other's fans. Your PR team and whoever you employee to do that anti-bullying campaign have done a pretty good job so far in telling people to back off, politely. Helps that Jeff has been on top of this from the beginning. Honestly, I think the best decision you've ever made in your life was making Jeff the front man of your band and not yourself. He's much more pleasant to talk to, and so good with people."

"Robin!" Eddie has to shout because Robin keeps saying words and they don't make sense. "What?"

He hears a sign from the other end of the phone. "You are annoying. You know that, Munson? I'll work with Gareth to get this done. I think we should be seen together, publicly. Maybe getting a coffee. So everyone knows we've made up, or whatever it is Gareth and I decide is happening. We should also meet up privately. There's a lot to talk about."

"I'm so confused."

"Nothing new. Now, when are you free to get on a plane to Pendleton, Oregon?"

"Pendleton?"

"Munson!" Robin snaps, "we just established that you live in a perpetual state of confusion. Instead of questioning me, how about you answer my questions. Now, when are you free?"

"Anytime."

"Smart answer. Get your ass to Pendleton by the morning of the twenty-third. I'll work with Gareth for all the other concerns. He's easier to deal with."

"Can I ask one follow up question at least!?"

"You just did but I'll allow one more before I hang up."

"Why Pendleton?"

"It's the nearest airport to our destination. I am not having a private conversation with you in California. I don't want to be caught speaking to you until Gareth and I have a chance to work out the details."

And then Robin hangs up.

Eddie leans forward and restarts the video on his laptop before looking up plane tickets. Fixing things with Robin might be the first step in ever getting try and, he doesn't know, apologize to Steve? Maybe even have a conversation one day.

He doesn't deserve that chance, he thinks, but he's a bad enough person to want it anyway.

#steddie #my fic #the interview #the song steve sings is Francesca by Hozier #i dont do taglists so i linked to ao3 where u can subscribe and get updates #i feel like eddies an unreliable narrator so im adding that tag on ao3 #the boy has got NO CLUE what is happening at any point in time ever #hes just a ball of guilt and regret #also i didn't clarify in the fic because i couldn't find a good way to fit it in #but gareth is not an active CC member‚ he's the PR manager #he used to be in the band but quit to finish college and be a family man #Jeff is the front man so he does the interviews/public appearances/etc #Eddie used to but like rockstar life hit him hard and he had to let someone else take that role

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livrere-green · 3 days

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ATLA x Omegaverse AU

Part 1 | Part 2

I've been thinking about an omegaverse atla au a lot recently, so I'm gonna vent about it cuz it's getting tiring just to have it spiralling in my head ngl

So, the only thing that I need to mention now it's that the standard age at which someone presents is around 13 to 14 years old. Knowing that, lets talk about the main characters.

Aang (12) would be unpresented by the time of the show. Also, I don't believe that being the avatar makes him an alpha perse. I mean, there's a possibility he presents as one (but he could also be a beta), and it wouldn't have anything to do with his avatar status (historically there could be a higher rate of avatars being alphas/betas, but there are some important exceptions... iykwim). Well, I think he'd present at age 13 almost 14.

Katara (14) is one of the characters that confuses me the most in this aspect, but just to add fuel to her fury and her personality, I'll make her an omega, not the kind that rejects her nature but the kind that embraces it and doesn't see it as something that makes her inferior or helpless. Katara would fight against the life society wants to impose on her in the same way she does in canon, maybe even more. She would resent the people who doesn't respect her because of her gender (just make it double), and at some point, she'd get frustrated about it, but she would think that hating herself would mean letting them win. About her presentation, there's two option: 1. She presented some months before they found Aang, 2. She presented during the first months they were traveling to the NWT (in this case, I think the ideal place would've been Kyoshi Island, because there's people able to take care of her there).

Sokka (15) would be an alpha, he probably presented after Hakoda left (14), he fits the type and the stereotypical personality at the beginning of the show. But I think he would get over it sooner rather than later and he would learnt to respect and don't underestimate betas and omegas just based on their nature. Also, I think that Sokka would scent the Gaang to protect them and particularly to cover Katara's scent as they travel or run away from trouble.

Toph (12) would be unpresented by the time of the show. She'd present as an alpha some time after the end of the war (13). There's not a lot to explain here (talking about her at that age, except for the fact that even during her time with the Gaang, she probably hated Sokka's essence, just as an early hint about her gender). I consider that there's a lot to discuss about her as an adult and how she managed her relationships, but that's a discussion for another time.

Zuko (16) would be an omega, and also a late bloomer, probably presented a couple of years after his banishment (15).. Zuko would be determined to hide his true nature under any circumstances, letting only his Uncle know about it. Ozai would've been informed that his son is a beta, which was already a disappointment for the Royal Family (historically alphas), but it wasn't nearly as negative as being reduced to be treated as an omega. Zuko would end up causing himself a lot of damage in order to disguise as a beta, either by using too many suppressants or other medications, or even hurting himself physically and mentally. He would stop hiding he's an omega after joining the Gaang but It'll be complicated, since he'd be distressed all the time and even Aang and Toph would be able to notice (their senses are not totally develop, so it'll be kinda alarming).

Suki (15) would be a beta, presented at 14. In her case, the characteristics of its gender would be especially helpful to mediate conflict or get out of it. The scent of a beta has calming effects in both alphas and omegas, so she would use it with her friends, or even in battle, to make her opponents lose focus, particularly if their driven by rage. The fans are particularly helpful for that.

Azula (14) would present early as an alpha (12/13). At that age, one of the traits she would manifest the most is assuming the position of head of the pact with her friends, she'd probably scent them with the intention of establishing superiority and control over them. In this context, Mai would be a beta and Ty Lee an omega or a beta as well.

That's all for now, I still have some things in mind for this, but I'll share that later, and if you have questions, I'll be happy to answer!

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ilongfor-the-arts · 2 years

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Can I request a Carmen Berzatto x fem! Reader smut? A friends to lovers trope please. They work together in the restaurant and secretly love each other but don’t want to admit it. Eventually Carmy just bites the bullet and tries to confess and then they fuck in his office?

“Bad” at This

Pairing: Carmen Berzatto x fem! Reader

Warnings: sweet then sexy, Carmen is hesitant at first, mild fingering, oral (m! Receiving), unprotected sex, language, mild hand kink

Summary: *in req*

Word Count: 5k

I have been waiting for someone to request him! I had a lot of fun writing this. Enjoy!

When the restaurant was busy, most people despised being at work. They despised the frenetic activity. They despised the feeling of being overwhelmed by the din of screams. In contrast, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I've always worked well under pressure, and rush hour meant I wouldn't have to be alone with my thoughts.

I was chopping my ten thousandth onion of the night, mindlessly. I wasn't thinking. I was solely relying on muscle memory.

Chop.

Swipe it to the side.

Start over.

I had done this process a thousand, no, a million times before. It felt familiar. It felt comfortable. The din of patrons was pushed to the outskirts of my mind. My world was quiet, unbothered.

Shit.

I could feel him.

He was near.

When he walked into the room, he had an unmistakable, strong, and conspicuous presence.

My hands began to tremble.

I was thrown out of my element.

Everything felt strange, new, and foreign.

He didn't make me feel uneasy. No, we were perfectly at ease with each other. He was one of my closest friends.

I was just madly, completely, utterly in love with my boss.

Every time he was close, the desire to impress him clouded my judgment. The feeling was so overwhelming that I frequently slipped.

He was staring over my shoulder. Not in a creepy, tyrannical overload sense. No, just in a boss-like manner, casually checking in on his employees. Despite the lack of sexuality in his demeanor, the hot breath that grazed my throat gave me subtle goosebumps

My cuts became sloppy, and each section of onion became less uniform than the previous one.

“Your knife’s dull, Y/N. Get a fresh one.”

I knew he was behind me. I was aware that he was scrutinizing every move I made. Even so, when he broke the tension, it made my heart skip a beat. I nodded forcefully and reached for the magnetic strip that conveniently displayed the gleaming rack of knives.

“Hey, look at me.”

He positioned himself to my right and tilted his head to attract my attention. I came to a halt when I met his vibrant blue eyes.

“Are you alright? You seem a little flustered. Your face is really red.”

He always spoke to me softly. I'm not sure if it was naive to believe that the feelings of attraction were mutual based on this trivial fact. I brought my hands to my face, and my cool hands proved to be a stark contrast to my burning skin.

“I’m fine. It’s just really hot in here.”

It was a lie. The temperature in the room was no higher than usual.

“I agree.”

Did he concur? Or was he just saying that to try and make me feel better.

“I’ll work on that.”

“Carmy! I need help over here! Where the fuck are ya’?”

Carmen rolled his eyes as he walked away from my station to assist Richie. I couldn’t help but giggle under my breath. I knew he'd complain about him later tonight as we cleaned, as is our custom.

When he left and the familiar aura faded, the room became noticeably cooler.

“I mean, I can’t fuckin’ believe that guy! I swear half the shit he asks me to do is shit he coulda’ easily done himself!”

This grease was truly burned on. I scrubbed harder, the brown splotches gradually disappearing until the gleaming counter was spotless. I was listening, but there was no need for me to respond. Carmen was aware that I was paying attention to his mindless babbling. I was familiar with the procedure. This was his one opportunity to vent after accumulating rage throughout the day.

I couldn’t help but cast a glance to my right. Carmen was sweeping, his strong biceps gripping the broom handle. His large hands dwarfed the skinny plastic. Sweat drops dripped down his large nose, emphasizing his ethereal side profile. I couldn’t help but imagine how his fingers would feel between my legs.

I averted my gaze and concentrated on scrubbing, even though I had already made the counter sparkle.

“I swear he’s doin’ it on purpose. No way in fuckin’ hell he accidentally pushes all my buttons.”

I chuckled.

“You’ve been saying the same thing since I met you.”

Carmen scoffed.

“Well, it’s true.”

I enjoyed the time we spent together after the sun had set on the small restaurant. It was comforting. I didn't feel the need to impress him, and the stakes of the conversation were very low.

His eyes were on me.

I could feel them.

The subtle scuffing of his broom against the floor had vanished.

“Take a picture, it'll last longer.”

Carmen remained silent. But I could see him, looking away, a slight flush on his cheeks. I often felt his eyes burning into the back of my skull. If I was lucky, I caught him staring. But he stared at everyone. It was his job to keep a close eye on everyone. It was difficult to tell whether that was a display of genuine attraction or a job requirement. Besides, I was used to zoning out. I often switch off without realizing that I'm staring at someone, and when I’m discovered, it's embarrassing. And since Carmen and I were kindred spirits, I figured it was a feeling that we could both sympathize with.

“You did good work today. Sorry for makin’ ya come in on your day off.”

“It’s no problem.”

I met his eyes. Sure enough, there was a hint of a flush on his high cheekbones.

“I like being here. It’s fun.”

I sigh deeply.

“Alright, the counters are done. Anything else you need from me?”

Carmen shook his head, his gaze fixed on the floor. At his feet was a small pile of food scraps and stray dust. A few stray curls clung to his sweaty brow.

“Nah, you can head out. Thanks for everything Y/N.”

Hm.

“Are you alright?”

Carmen came to a complete halt. As he gripped the broom for dear life, the veins on his forearms bulged.

“Yeah… Well, no.”

I approached him, smugly leaning against the counter.

“Alright, tell me, what’s up?”

He exhaled slowly. My attention was drawn to the uneasy rise and fall of his chest beneath his dirty white shirt.

Jesus, he was fine a second ago.

What the hell happened?

He fixed his gaze on me. His blue eyes were filled with something I didn't like, something I'd never seen before.

Nerves, unease, and desperation were all present.

“Can I ask you a crazy question?”

He laughed, but the laughter was hollow.

I shrugged casually, hoping to calm his nerves by appearing relaxed.

He had nothing to be concerned about.

Why was he worried?

“Of course! You can ask me anything.”

Carmen clenched his teeth, the muscles on the sides of his jaw bulging from the effort.

“Do you…”

He chuckled. The noise gave me chills. It was an empty, hollow sound.

“God, this is gonna sound so fuckin’ stupid.”

His head fell forward, and he shook it, a few more stray curls falling.

“I promise to give it a serious answer.”

“Promise?”

He inquired. I gave him a mock scout's honor by raising three fingers.

“I promise.”

I smiled, hoping to somewhat alleviate his nerves. Carmen's gaze was fixed on his tattooed hands, which mindlessly caressed the broom handle.

“Do you-”

He gulped, Adam's apple bobbing.

He shifted his weight.

“Do you-”

Jesus, was he trying to kill me?

This suspense was far too much for me.

My palms began to sweat, and my grip on the counter nearly slipped due to the newfound dampness.

“Do you think I’m…”

He shrugged casually, as if he wasn't creating palpable suspense.

I wanted to scream at him to spit it out already.

But, with the intent of being a good listener, I bit it back.

“I don’t know… attractive?”

The silence grew deafening.

What?

Of all the things that could have come from his gorgeous lips, this was not what I was expecting.

“You’re asking if I think you’re attractive?”

Carmen furrowed his brow and vigorously shook his head.

“I’m sorry, I’m so fuckin’ sorry. That’s a stupid ass question.”

He pinched the bridge of his nose.

“I don’t know what came over me. God! I wish I never said that!”

I raised my hand to silence him.

“Hey, hey, hey, calm down. I promised I’d give you a serious answer, didn’t I?”

He gnawed on his bottom lip.

“Oh Y/N, you don’t have to do that.”

“No, no, no, I gave you my word.”

I clenched my jaw.

If I said no, this conversation would almost certainly never come up again. It would be pushed to the earth's depths, never to resurface. I could rest easy knowing that I hadn't confessed my undying love to my boss.

If I said yes.

God.

What would happen if I said yes?

Normally, I can predict Carmen's every move, but I'm at a loss.

Carmen clung to every beat of silence. His eyes were fixed on me, waiting for an answer, afraid I'd say no.

“I-”

Jesus, what do I say?

Do I take the risk?

“I think-”

Now I was the one creating meaningless suspense.

Come on! Just say yes or no!

“Yes.”

I blurted out.

That wasn't the only thing I wanted to say. I wanted to tell him that whenever he came close to me, I couldn't tear my gaze away from him. I wanted to tell him that he was the most attractive and intriguing man I'd ever met in my life. I wanted to pull him into me and run my hands along his bare torso as I pressed my lips to his. But I kept it simple with a mere "yes." I couldn't bring myself to say anything more.

Camen raised his brows, then quickly dropped them to maintain his stoicism.

“Um- cool.”

The slight flush on his cheeks intensified tenfold. His gaze shifted away from mine and landed on the slender broom handle. I pursed my lips into a straight line.

“Is that all you wanted to ask me?”

I inquired.

“Yes.”

I could tell he had another question for me. His tone was not convincing in the least. But I decided not to push. I simply nodded reassuringly.

“Alright. Have a good night. I’ll see ya’ tomorrow.”

“See ya’ tomorrow Y/N. Have a good night.”

I brushed up against him. Carmen's familiar scent stood out without being overpowered by the aromas of food. He smelled of cigarettes, sweat, and grease. I shouldn't be so taken with that scent. However, he was able to make the aura of a hardworking man extremely appealing.

I walked past him, my strides slowing, wanting to extend the moment as long as possible in case he had something to say. I began to lose hope with each step, as I increased the distance between us.

“Actually-”

There it was. I turned on my heels and shoved my hands into my pockets to appear confident and at ease. My ears were filled with the audible thrumming of my heartbeat. If this was going in the direction I thought it was going, I wanted to embrace it.

“Yes?”

The tension was palpable. It thickened the air to the point where we were swimming in molasses.

“Y/N, I’m gonna be totally honest with you.”

I gently wiped my hands on my jeans, trying to remove the thick layer of sweat from my palms.

“I’m not good at this...”

His whispering tone gradually faded away into the dense atmosphere.

“What do you mean “this?’”

“I mean- fuck.”

He muttered as he ran a hand through his greasy hair. He scratched his head, and I couldn't help but watch the tendons in his hands and forearms flex. Carmen allowed his strong arm to carelessly fall as he sighed deeply. He met my eyes, running his wet tongue along his bottom lip.

I swallowed.

“I’ve never been a social butterfly and I definitely have never been a romantic.”

So, everything was going as I had hoped.

“I don’t know the right things to say and I don’t know when to say them. I don’t know how to be anyone but myself. Which is both a blessing and a curse, I suppose.”

Holy shit.

“So, I’m just gonna say this in my normal, stoic way… because that’s the only way I know how to say it.”

I didn't believe he would actually say it. I anticipated that he would abruptly change the subject. To be honest, I didn't believe this was possible.

“I am in love with you.”

My jaw instinctively dropped.

The confession lacked any genuine emotion. It only encompassed mere traces of the feelings he was hoping to convey.

It was stoic.

However, I discovered that I was completely and utterly shaken. He couldn't have said it more beautifully.

“Well,” I said with a laugh, “for someone who isn’t a social butterfly, that sure as hell wasn’t bad.”

Carmen chuckled.

“Would it kill the mood if I told you that it wasn’t spontaneous at all and I’ve been planning what to say for literal months?”

I shrugged.

“No.”

Carmen smiled. My heart warmed. Despite being his closest friend, seeing him smile was rare.

“Ok, good. Cause if I tried to be spontaneous, it’d be a total shit show.”

He sighed, relieved to have finished the challenging task.

“Can I ask you another stupid question?”

“Of course.”

His gaze trailed down to my lips, a soft blush on his cheekbones.

“Can I kiss you?”

My stomach flipped and blood rushed to my cheeks. My face grew hot. God, we were so juvenile. I smiled tightly.

“Yeah. I’d love that.”

He moved forward, closing the distance between us. His breath gently cascaded across my face. My chest tightened.

“I’m not very good at this either.”

He said with a rigid laugh. I pressed my open palms against his chest. Carmen's throat tightened. His pecs rippled under my foreign touch. Despite this, he kept a steady gaze, his blue eyes fixed on me.

“I do not give a shit.”

I said, imitating his laugh. I hurriedly closed the gap between us when I realized Carmen wouldn't be the instigator.

He was really, really tight. His arms hung at his sides, fists clenched in uncertainty. I pressed my chest flush against his, wrapping my arms around his broad shoulders. His muscles were stiff and unyielding.

“Relax Carmy… and lose the broom.”

I whispered reassuringly. Carmen relaxed somewhat.

“Right, sorry.”

He dropped the broom. The plastic hit the ground with a loud smack. I tangled my hands in his greasy hair, urging him to come closer. He obliged, craning his head forward to meet me halfway.

Carmen's lips were surprisingly soft. He was clearly hesitant at first, not wanting to move too quickly. Finally, he found solace in the feel of my kiss and allowed his mouth to mesh against mine in a relaxed manner. I grasped his wrist, bringing it to the swell of my hips. He let it sit, not wanting to alter anything I had done.

“You can touch me if you want. I’m not gonna break.”

Carmen wrapped his other hand around my hip and gently drew me forward, connecting our pelvises.

“Is this alright?”

He murmured under his breath.

“That’s perfect.”

His bulge began to grow against my thigh.

Shit. This was gonna be fun.

“You’re really hard right now, Carmy.”

I said with a chuckle. Carmen broke away, his face bright red. He looked down, confirming that he really was, in fact, hard.

“Ah-shit. I’m sor-“

I hastily cupped his face, reconnecting our searing kiss.

“Don’t you dare apologize.”

I reached between our bodies, cupping him through his jeans. Carmen groaned, my mouth swallowing his noises.

“Shit.”

He murmured, instinctively grinding his hand against my open palm.

“Jesus, you’re touch starved aren’t ya?”

Carmen shuddered, squeezing his eyes shut as struggled to maintain his composure.

“That feels really fucking good.”

His tone was completely erotic. It was low, breathy, and his thick accent added to the sensuality. Carmen’s pleasured expression sent a wave of heat to my core.

God, I wanted his cock in my mouth.

“Can we go into my office? It’s more private there, and, to be honest I think these counters are a little too tall for me to fuck you on.”

I had been in his office many times before. It was a place of comfort where I could briefly escape the hustle and bustle of restaurant life. At least, that’s what I told Carmen. Typically I’d need time to gawk at him and wonder what it would be like to have his face between my legs. I’d grow wet at the mere thought of his nose bumping my clit as his tongue delved between my folds.

I wonder if he ever fantasized about me. I wonder if he ever found his fingers involuntarily dipping below the waistband of his boxers. If so, I wonder what fantasies his complex mind was able to conjure.

I hope to learn them one day.

I shoved him backwards. His knees collided with the chair and he fell back with a loud huff. I dropped to my knees, lodging myself between his spread thighs. Carmen’s eyes widened.

“Oh, fuck me.”

If he was becoming aroused solely from the sensation of my hand against his clothed erection, I couldn’t wait to relish in his expressions when I took his cock into my mouth.

I brought my hands to his fly, slowly unbuttoning it and dragging the zipper down to expose a small section of my boxers. Carmen shifted his hips as I dragged his jeans down his thighs. I palmed him through the thin fabric, a small patch of precum appearing on his boxers.

Carmen hissed through his teeth, jerking his head back to fully expose his thick neck.

“Shit, shit, shit.”

He dug his dull nails into the arm rests, veins bulging along his forearms from the effort. I hooked a finger in the waistband of his boxers, dragging them down his thighs just enough to expose his thick cock.

My mouth began to water. The feeling of his erection through his boxers was deceiving. He was really fucking big.

“Jesus Carmy, you’re big.”

I wrapped a hand around his veiny length, gently pumping. Carmen whined.

“Your hand feels really good.”

I dragged my hand to the base before bringing it upwards. I spread his precum around his pink tip, lubricating his cock to prepare it for my mouth.

I grasped his dominant hand, bringing it to my scalp.

“Move me however you want.”

Carmen’s head flopped forward, his cock twitching as he met my gaze. He tangled his hand in my hair, gently tugging on the roots.

Without further ado, I slipped his tip between my lips. Carmen exhaled shakily, his chest heaving with each labored breath.

“That feels really fucking good.”

He chuckled. I swirled my tongue around his tip, slowly taking more of him into my mouth. Carmen maintained eye contact, growing impossibly harder as he watched me take all of him into my mouth.

I groaned, trying my best not to gag as his cock grazed the back of my throat. Carmen furrowed his brow, gently thrusting his hips into my mouth.

My nose brushed against his happy trail. He spread his legs, utilizing the grip on my hair to push me further onto him. I groaned, the vibrations causing Carmen to shudder.

“You-you look really pretty.”

I admired the effort.

I hollow my cheeks, increasing the suction. Carmen groaned and threw his head back, unable to conceal his desires.

“Jesus darlin’.”

Darling?

I rubbed my thighs together, hoping to relieve some of the ache building between my legs.

God. The lamp's soft glow washed over his perfectly sculpted features. His erotic noises were amplified by the blanket of silence. This is exactly how I imagined it when I had my hand between my legs, hoping to recreate a feeling I had never even experienced.

I wanted him to fuck me.

I wanted to hear him moan and I wanted for him to make me cry with pleasure.

It was almost unbelievable that the man who made a living yelling and making sure everything was in order was now gazing at me with half-lidded eyes.

I shifted my hips, resisting the urge to touch myself. I wanted to save all feelings of pleasure for when his cock slipped into me. I wanted to ache for him just a little longer.

“I’m gonna cum real soon.”

Sure enough, his cock began to twitch against my tongue. I bobbed my head faster, expediting the process. Carmen dropped his jaw, releasing one final groan as he came into my mouth. My throat became coated with his hot cum. I bobbed my head a few more times, helping him come down from his high.

When I was satisfied with my work, I released his cock with a loud pop. Carmen looked spent. His body was numb, his eyes were closed.

I crawled onto his lap, gently cupping his face. Slowly, his eyes fluttered open, exposing his vibrant irises.

“Are you alright?”

He grinned.

“I’m fuckin’ awesome.”

I pulled him in, pressing my wet lips to his plush mouth. I slipped my tongue past his teeth, deepening the kiss. Carmen groaned. I clung to him, his strong torso pressing against my soft breasts.

He wasn’t close enough.

I needed him to be closer.

I needed him inside of me.

“Can I fuck you now?”

He murmured against my mouth.

Damn, he read my mind.

“You can fuck me anytime you want baby.”

He brought his calloused hands to my thighs, tenderly caressing the supple skin. I glanced down, watching as his dark ink danced along my skin.

“You have pretty hands.”

Carmen chuckled.

“Thanks.”

He hooked his hands under my thighs. Effortlessly, he raised me up, shoving all the papers to the side as he set me down on his desk. Carmen immediately rekindled our passionate make out session, slipping his tongue past my teeth. His hands moved upwards, fingers slipping past the hem of my shirt to touch my bare sides.

I yanked him forward by the collar, positioning his body between my legs.

“Take my clothes off please.”

Carmen scoffed.

“Yes ma’am.”

He tugged on the hem of my t-shirt, lifting it over my head and discarding it haphazardly onto the floor. My shorts soon followed.

I was now only in my undergarments, making quick work of Carmen’s dirty shirt. I ran my soft hands along his bare torso, feeling his muscles ripple under my gentle touch.

Carmen’s hands slowly dragged along my hot skin, hastily undoing my bra strap and allowing the fabric to fall to the floor. His palms hovered over my breasts.

“Is that okay?”

I nodded.

“Yes, of course.”

He began to slowly knead the soft flesh, the heel of his palms brushing against my hardened nipples. I whimpered against his mouth, my nerves on fire from his hot touch. I ran my hands through his hair, indulging in the soft moans that came with the occasional tug of his roots.

Carmen’s hand brushed against my abdomen. He lightly grazed my clothed mound, gently cupping me through my underwear. I groaned, breaking the kiss to lean my head against his strong shoulder.

“Can I?”

I nodded.

“Please. Just-just don’t make me cum yet. I wanna cum on your cock.”

Carmen pushed my panties to the side, hesitantly delving a finger between my wet folds. I arched my back into his chest, raking my nails against his scalp, which elicited a low groan from the back of Carmen’s throat.

He began to tenderly thrust his calloused fingertips against my spongy walls, softly humming in delight whenever I instinctively clenched around his digits.

“Does that feel good?”

He dropped his voice to a whisper. His hot breath brushed against my ear and sent cold shivers down my spine. I glanced between our bodies, nearly cumming as I took in the sight of my walls swallowing two of Carmen’s fingers. The veins of his forearms flexed with every thrust.

God, if only he knew how much I fantasized about his rough fingers pleasuring me.

“Yeah… yeah Carmen that feels really fucking good.”

My body was now red hot with desire, every sense had increased tenfold. The feeling of his fingertips delving into my cunt made me antsy with want for his cock.

“Okay, that’s enough for now, please fuck me Carmen.”

I knew I’d get the chance to cum around his thick digits eventually. There was no way in hell tonight was the last night I’d see Carmen naked.

“Um- will you do it for me?”

I smiled.

“Sure.”

I grasped Carmen’s semi hard cock in my hand, giving it a few pumps. His eyes fluttered shut.

My heart grew. Whatever the circumstances, he was gorgeous. However, something about his vulnerability, his desire to be mine lit a fire deep within me.

I pressed his tip to my entrance, and we both sighed in unison.

“Move your-“

Carmen rolled his hips, pushing his cock past my entrance and deep within my walls. His large hands slammed onto the table, bracing himself so he wouldn’t collapse at the sudden onset of pleasurable sensations.

“Fuck.”

I mumbled, his thick cock stretching me to the brim.

“Feel good?”

I nodded vigorously.

“Fuck yes.”

I said, possibly a little too enthusiastically. Our noses bumped as I hastily reignited the spark between our lips. Carmen wasn’t holding back anymore. He hungrily moved his mouth against mine, shoving his tongue past my lips.

I threw my arms around his shoulder as he began a steady pace. His cock was so perfect it made me dizzy. I feared I would fall if I didn’t hold Carmen close.

“If I knew you felt this perfect I would’ve told ya’ I loved ya’ a long time ago.”

I chuckled.

“Not so shy anymore?”

Carmen slowly increased his pace. The veins along his length bulged. They pressed into my stretched walls and heightened the sensuality of his glorious thrusts.

“Next time I’ll be confident from the start. I’ll give ya’ whatever the fuck you want for being such a doll this time around.”

I jolted, a soft scream spilling from my lips as his tip grazed my g spot.

“Keep makin’ noises like that, I wanna hear ya.’”

I maintained eye contact, allowing any expression roll over my features in the hopes of fulfilling his erotic desires. He was now hitting my g spot with every thrust. I saw in his eyes that he was meticulously crafting his pace in order to best suit my needs.

The tips of our noses brushed against each other everytime Carmen snapped his pelvis forward. I ran one hand down his body, raking my nails through his happy trail before coming back up to fiddle with his greasy hair. I was overcome with the need to feel every part of him. My hands wouldn’t stay in one place. I was finally able to touch him without limits, and I wasn’t about to waste that opportunity.

When Carmen established a groove, his palms cupped the sides of my hips. He brought me forward to the edge of the desk to acquire a more suitable angle to ram himself into me.

The dim light was now illuminating one side of his face, leaving the other in darkness. I grasped his face, running the pads of my thumbs along his defined cheekbones.

The coil was mindlessly tightening within my lower abdomen. Carmen furrowed his brow in frustration.

God, I wish he always looked like this.

Sure, I’d seen him concentrate before. But concentrating on chopping onions and concentrating on finding the perfect angle to fuck were two vastly different forms of concentration.

I hooked my legs around his thin waist. All the combined efforts created the perfect angle. I threw my head back, a loud moan ripping through my as I came increasingly closer to cumming.

“Are you close?”

Yeah.”

I murmured, voice barely above a whisper.

“Oh fuck I can’t wait for you to cum all over me.”

“Are you close?”

I inquired.

“Darlin’, I’ve been close for the past thirty minutes.”

I was close, so incredibly close. The beginnings of an earth shattering orgasm were seeping into the corners of my brain, clouding my thoughts.

“Lean into me. I want you to be close.”

I tossed my head forward, nestling my face in the crook of his sweaty neck.

This was so much better than I could’ve imagined.

I could smell the cigarettes on his skin. I could feel him pumping inside of me as I caressed his hot skin. I could hear the sensual sounds of sex filling the small office, bouncing around the walls. I could see him, staring at me, relishing in my expressions as he fucked me senseless.

“Oh God Carmy, I’m so fucking close it’s unreal.”

Carmen found my clit, gently grazing his calloused finger against my tight bundle of nerves. I came loudly, my walls squeezing his cock as I reached my high.

Carmen twitched inside of my overstimulated walls, cumming shortly after me. His hot load painted my walls. I watched. I watched his expression gloriously contort in pleasure as he came inside of me, his beautiful face glimmering with perspiration in the soft glow.

He gave a few lazy thrusts, wanting to prolong the sensation for as long as possible.

“Jesus Carmen, for someone who “isn’t very good at this,” you sure act like you know what’s goin’ on.”

Carmen smirked, wiping his brow with the back of his hand.

“What can I say, I’m a fast learner.”

He leaned in, pressing a quick kiss to my lips.

“I promise I’ll make you really scream next time.”

His sultry tone made my heart flutter.

“Promise?”

I asked.

He held up three fingers.

“I fuckin’ promise.”

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marshmallowprotection · 5 months

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I wanna take Saeyoung to a rage room and watch him go ham. Buddy’s been bottling up his emotions for far too long

I wonder if that would help him vent out his emotions? I know, in his heart of hearts, what he wants more than anything to make sure all the people who have hurt his brother over the years pay for it. If you are a Saeyoung MC, he's never going to get the catharsis of talking to Jihyun, and in many ways, if you follow the canon vein, he won't get one with Rika, either.

He can't face his damn mother, and as much as he'd like to destroy his father, he's trying to avoid him to make sure that all of the people he holds dear don't get hurt by him. That leaves him with a lot of truly bitter anger that nothing can erase... he hides it well, letting it burn in his chest where it belongs... always simmering... never leaving. He's a very angry, paranoid person... you'd just never know it unless you saw him breakdown. He tries not to hide it from his partner, but you know how old habits die hard.

You could take him to a rage room. It might take him some time to think about if that's the best thing for him, though. You'd be surprised at how much he would go through if you left him alone long enough.

Even with all of the protective gear in the world, he tends to be brutal when he's alone, and if you really want him to get out everything he needs to get out, that man needs a private room, and about 45 minutes to do what he needs to do. Who knows, he might come out feeling lighter than ever, but at least it got out some of the emotion. I hope you weren't determined to stay in the room with him, because as much as he would appreciate this experience, he is afraid of you seeing him when he is that angry. Letting the mask off isn't easy, especially the mask of anger.

#mod kait #ask #mystic messenger #anon #mysme #mysticmessenger #mm #saeyoung choi #choi saeyoung

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fishsticksloser · 1 year

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A one shot of Donnie x female reader

Reader is getting annoyed by this one classmate who keep asking her out and whenever she refuses he says " you're in love you just don't realize it ", until one day he take a sensitive picture of her and blackmail her to come with him in his apartment, that where Donnie explode and decide to take things into his hands.

The reason Donnie hadn't step in was because reader thought this 'classmate' wasn't worth the trouble until it escalated to this.

Purple Vengeance

Donnie x fem!reader

Warnings: aged up characters, stalker, inappropriate photos, blackmail, vengeance, happy ending

A/N: Donnie is probably the best person to go to in this situation. Bad guy's name is Ransom just cause. Please note that there are disturbing themes, please be careful!

You went to the lair, in search of your purple branded boyfriend. Partially because you had homework you didn't understand and he was always able to make it make sense... And because you needed to vent about some guy who kept hitting on you, not taking 'no' as an answer. It had been going on for a few months, you tried to just ignore him, but today he said something that made you feel sick.

"You're in love with me, you just don't realize it." Ransom's words echoed in your head. There was something malicious about it. Creepy, unsettling, dispiteous. You had to tell Donnie, hopefully he'd know if some way to keep Random away from you.

"Hey, Donnie?" You knock on the door of his lab, peeking in.

"You got out of class early!" Donnie smiles, spinning in his chair to face you. His smile turns into a frown, eyebrows drawn down. "Is everything okay?"

"No..." You almost burst into tears, you were scared. You walked over to him.

"Darling, tell me everything." He grabs your hands, pulling you into his lap.

You told him. He nodded, he knew about Ransom and his antics. Donnie made a plan, he would put something on your phone so you could tell him if you were being followed. It'd ping your location and he could come help you.

It worked... For a while, a few weeks past. Ransom kept bothering you, but he made no attempt to follow you back to your dorm. Or so you thought.

You got a text from a random number with pictures from the street, you were naked. You knew it was Ransom. It had to be, no one else paid you much attention. He threatened to share the photos if you didn't go out with him, but he was generous enough to give you till morning to decide.

"He had pictures of me." You cried into your phone. "He said he'd share them..."

"Let me handle this... Okay?" Donnie spits, you could hear the absolute rage in his voice. "I'll be over in a little, promise."

30 minutes later, Donnie stood in front of your door with his purple hoodie and some black pants. He squeezed past you. He looked around your dorm and then pulled you into a tight hug.

He stayed the night.

In the morning, you were called to the Dean's office. You walk in seeing Ransom, 2 police officers, 2 people you could only assume were Ransom's parents, and a few other girls. The Dean invited you to sit with the other women and he told you how he received information that Ransom had been blackmailing multiple girls on campus by taking inappropriate pictures of them without their knowledge.

Donnie was worried about leaving you alone, especially since Ransom's dorm was just across the courtyard. You cried... A lot, He wasn't sure what to do or say, but he held you.

⋆｡ﾟ｡☁︎👾｡ﾟ｡⋆

You all showed the texts you received, with the phone number and threats still attached. Ransom's photo album was investigated and found to have the same photos, but taken earlier than any of you had received them. Meaning this was all premeditated. On top of the fact that the phone number you received the threats was infact his own.

He was expelled. His parents disowned him. And... He went to prison.

You and the other girls were excused from classes for the day.

You went back to your dorm, you needed to talk to Donnie. Thankfully he was sitting on your bed still.

"Is everything okay?" He asks.

"You..." You tried to find words to tell him how relieved you were. "You... Did this?"

"After he's put away, I set it up to make sure all the photos - even the other girls' - will be permanently deleted." He shrugged. "There will be nothing to scavenge for."

"Thank you." You kiss his snout.

"You're not upset?" Donnie questions.

"Why would I be mad? He's gone. He can't hurt me anymore."

What Donnie didn't tell you is that he went a little rage crazy. Ransom's boss, coworkers, friends, all of his family, and whole hometown know what he's done. Plus, everytime a future employer tries to look up Ransom, they'll not only see his criminal record, but a list of all the things he did (since he's just going to jail for blackmail).

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fedoraspooky · 10 months

Text

HERE, FINALLY GOT THE REF DONE FOR HIS CHARA PAGE ON ART FIGHT. @H@;;

If you wanna know more about him I typed up a whole thing for Art Fight that I'mma put under this read more:

Kind of an AU, 'what-if' scenario thing where Charlie's infected by the silver plague.

For those unfamiliar, the silver plague is basically an intergalactic lycanthropy-esque condition spread by bite, though it has largely been been hunted out of existence save for a few remaining surviving carriers. Originally invented on a far-off planet as a means of defense against invading forces, the infection allowed carriers to transform into a powerful beast form under certain conditions such as a certain level of adrenaline in the blood or emotional triggers. However, spreading via bite had not been anticipated, and keeping control of oneself when transformed was difficult... because of this, it quickly spread out of control, and became a problem across the galaxy, becoming known as the "silver plague". Since there is no known cure, this led to the morally questionable practice of carriers being hunted in an attempt to eradicate the plague.

The silver plague's beast forms are always different for each person infected, save for 1) the presence of a tough, silver-like substance on the body, and 2) a means with which to deliver a bite to other organisms and spread itself, even if the beast form is a creature that doesn't normally have teeth.

With that explained, back to this what-if sitch:

Charlie's silver plague beast form would be a flightless dragon. Due to his biology already being altered quite a bit in the lab he'd escaped from, this led to his beast form being massively huge and powerful, but also just as massively dangerous. Since his emotional trigger to transform is anger, the beast form's temper is near unmanageable and is difficult to calm down until it can destroy something first. He's also incredibly hungry like this, since the transformation requires a lot of energy and he's got a massive appetite to begin with due to having a furnace stomach. So yes, basically- hangry. Very very hangry.

When transformed, he's roughly the size of a two-story house. He can switch between being bipedal or quadrupedal, finding the latter more comfortable in this form AND faster to run in. The gill-like vents in his neck serve to help pump in air when he's breathing fire for a continuous blast. Long jets of flame, sort of wing-like in shape, can shoot out of the circular patches in his back as well, though they don't function like wings. At best, when timed right they can sort of function as a boost when he's midair, essentially allowing him to double-jump or otherwise launch himself a short distance.

He cannot speak in this form, more out of physical incapability (jaws no longer being shaped for it, etc) than mental. He's still himself in there, just fighting off an onslaught of rage and panic and other fun instinctual bullshit until he can calm down!

He cannot change back at will, the transformation reverting primarily due to exhaustion. Basically, boi needs to burn himself out first.

#dragon #weredragon #kaiju oc #werecreature #monster oc #myOCs #Charlie #Cosmic Fiasco #Dragon Charlie #art stuff

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cult-of-the-eye · 4 months

Text

WAIT GUYS IT'S LIKE 1 AM AND I NEED TO SLEEP BUT OH MY GOD TMA COMMUNITY AU

Jon is abed nadir

Brown

Autistic

How much different is film making and an entrenched need to See and Know everything really?

Vaguely off putting

Gets bitches when he wants to

Listen abed is just college Jon, back when he was less traumatised

Evil abed would be Jon in like S4/5 I guess

Does that make Martin Troy Barnes????

It doesn't quite work cause Martin is neither athletic, nor a himbo and Troy wouldn't know how to use a kettle

I don't know

ELIAS IS DEAN PELTON. FUCK YEAH

GAY

(well pan technically but comes off as A Gay Man)

Tell me that when the jig is up and he's like ah caught them might as well enjoy tormenting them while I can, he wouldn't be a fucking nightmare boss dressing up in costumes

He'd be like how's my favourite archival team?????????

Low key evil and high key manipulative

But super pathetic in the end

Oh my god guys I'm so right

Sasha I think would be Britta

I know Britta was made fun of a lot for her feminist views and stuff but obviously nowadays those views are more accepted

She's got the same level of fierce determination and love for everyone around her, even if she doesn't go about it right

She would totally hack into somewhere if she could

Yeah it makes sense...sort of

Wait would Peter Lukas be pierce???

Old racist white man

Homophobic gay

Has a dynasty

Yeah

Tim could be Jeff I could maybe see that

THE RAGE

THE SUAVE

THE DADDY ISSUES

That one time where Jeff just

WAIT FUCK NO. JEFF ATTACKS A TABLE WITH AN AXE. HES JON.

Wait wait wait this makes a bit more sense

Cause Jeff cons his way into becoming a lawyer

He has huge imposter syndrome, he's faking it all

Just like Jon is

Except he's doing a better job

So imagine Jon if he had major daddy issues and a bit more charisma

They have the same level of not chill but desperately trying to cover it up

Like that one episode where pierce tries to find his dad

And he freaks the fuck out

That's such a Jon coded freaking out

He literally tears a magazine in half and then shrieks into mid air

YESSSSSSSSSSS ugh I'm such a genius

Also Jon and Elias relationship mirrors the deans and jeffs

Like the homoerotic favouritism guys

How the dean blackmails Jeff into doing karaoke with him OH MY GOD.

He only difference is the faked confidence and charisma, Jeff does it better

Oh my god wait is daisy fucking CHANG????

Insane

Murderous

Chang once chased a monkey through a vent

The hunt vibes

Or maybe chang is michael

They're both completely and utterly nonsensical

Just sort of appears and everyone is worse for it

Makes everyone's head hurt

I'm 10000% certain Chang has stabbed someone before and would do it again

Yeah that man is the most avatar of the spiral I've ever seen

Basira could be the sane security guard

Georgie is that one girl in season 6, the one who used to be a IT person

Melanie would be Annie I think, she's definitely murderous enough

This has GRIPPED me and will not let go.

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lookbluesoup · 10 months

Text

The Shoebill, the Phoenix, & Emet-Selch

Before Endwalker's release, I was in hardcore denial that Emet Selch was going to stay dead and a lot of that hinged on this unhinged research binge I went on about shoebills and their relationship to the phoenix.

I'm sure none of this is original speculation but I'm in a rambly mood and kinda want it saved on my blog just to have it bc I'd had a lot of fun digging into stuff back then and I'm feeling nostalgic today.

This isn't exactly current speculation or a deep dive into lore, just some collected sources that I've enjoyed pulling bits and pieces from for symbolic reasons, and hope to maybe one day create a more coherent well-rounded essay out of. Or maybe someone else will read them and write an essay!

Click the cut to read more!

Exhibit A: Through His Eyes - the Phoenix symbolism

"There was an accident," Hythlodaeus began. "During the concept's examination, a drifting soul merged with it─a soul burdened with regret, judging by the being's behavior. It rages against the pull of the Underworld." As he listened, Hades kept his gaze fixed on the creature, which flew about in a frenzy. No sooner would it dash itself against the wall in an explosion of broken feathers than it would heal itself and repeat the grisly feat. This self-destructive dance unfolded again and again, with the creature occasionally giving vent to its overflowing magical reserves─or fury, as it seemed to him─as fiery breath. Witnessing the excruciating display, his thoughts poured forth unbidden from his lips. "Consumed by the fear of death, it thrashes blindly about. It will know only pain and suffering and inflict the same upon others. A pitiful existence." "Such moving empathy. It's as if you wore the feathers yourself."

I always took this to sort of represent Emet-Selch/Hades's inability to cope with the mortal world (and his determination to 'return' from that 'death') There was an element of projection in his mind, he saw the sundered souls as lost thrashing broken things being reborn over and over just to suffer but... he was all of those, too, or even moreso. He lived life after life among men, except he knew what he'd lost and he wanted it back, desperately. He was stuck in this awful cycle he couldn't escape because he was so burdened by regret.

But that's anecdotal the whole point was the phoenix metaphor.

Exhibit B: Shoebill

The shoebill that keeps showing up in Shadowbringers is kind of a gag, of course, but it definitely felt intentional at times - it shows up when you're looking for the Exarch after he wanders off in Kholousia, effectively pointing you towards him. It could feasibly have flown anywhere over Norvrandt where it cameos, but it then shows up in The Tempest, which it should have absolutely no way of reaching. Unless it's tied to Emet-Selch in some way, perhaps as a familiar. (And of course, we see it once in Elpis, too, in Endwalker, which kinda confirms its related to Emet in some way)

In taxonomy, Shoebills are in a family all their own, though they were once classified as storks.

I honestly don't know how accurate all of THIS was, I know it takes some liberties and is pretty New-Agey, but it was something I'd found back then which fueled my theories so its worth including:

The stork was shown as the vehicle of the god Hermes in art and was often portrayed as killing snakes – the snake in this case is the symbol of kundalini energy and the ‘killing’ is not so much killing the experience as ensuring the energy became balanced. In the Orient, the stork is an enduring symbol of the immortality of the Higher spirit as opposed to the soul and the Taoists use this bird to represent both the Higher spirit and immortality. In ancient Egypt the stork symbolized the ba, which was the Higher spirit. (the ba was often shown in pictures as a bird because during out of body experiences it was the Higher spirit that left the body to roam about the spirit world. It was the objective of all Egyptians on the spiritual path to merge the ka [soul] with the ba – producing as a result the concept of akh – a living god, a person allied to the symbolic Sun.) Source X

(Liberties or not I'd honestly argue Endwalker lore kind of affirmed all of this LOL)

It's worth noting that in Greek mythology, Hermes was also a god of the Underworld - the psychopomp who guided souls to the afterlife. So there's... some really really fun stuff to dig into with Hermes and Hades being at odds in FFXIV over the fate of souls on Eitherys.

Especially when you add in the confounding element of Azem/the sun. Which brings me to...

Exhibit C: Bennu

According to Egyptian mythology, Bennu was a self-created being said to have played a role in the creation of the world. He was said to be the ba of Ra [the sun god] and to have enabled the creative actions of Atum [the primordial god in Egyptian mythology from whom all else arose.] The Greek historian Herodotus, writing about Egyptian customs and traditions in the fifth century BC, wrote that the people at Heliopolis described the "phoenix" to him. They said it lived for 500 years before dying, resuscitating, building a funerary egg with myrrh for the paternal corpse, and carrying it to the temple of the Sun at Heliopolis. The name "phoenix" could be derived from "Bennu", and its rebirth and connections with the sun resemble the beliefs about Bennu Source X

And what was Bennu?

That's right. A stork.

Ok but what should Egyptian mythology REALLY have to do with all this?

The ancient Egyptians believed that a soul (ka/ba) was made up of many parts. According to ancient Egyptian creation myths, the god Atum created the world out of chaos, utilizing his own magic. Because the earth was created with magic, Egyptians believed that the world was imbued with magic and so was every living thing upon it. When humans were created, that magic took the form of the soul, an eternal force which resided in and with every human. Source X

I mean c'mon it's not even a stretch we've been to Elpis we talked to the Ancients we fought Zodiark the literal god of Chaos and Will of the Star.

#ffxiv #ff14 #final fantasy xiv #emet selch #shoebill #endwalker spoilers #shadowbringers spoilers #shower thoughts #text #long post

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lunatic-pudge · 1 year

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Snake and Ace Relationship Headcanons

Snake:

• The poor thing has never really had a relationship so for him to finally be in one is such a new and kinda scary expirence for him. He'd probably think he's the luckiest man alive to be with such an amzing and beautiful person.

• You'll need to have patience with him, he's still learning the ropes. He's gonna be attached to your hip, wanting to spend every waking second with you and not wanting to be away from you. He'd probaby want to do EVERYTHING for you so you're gonna need to have a sit down with him and tell him that he doesn't need to be doing everything for you and constantly by you and that he's allowed to do his own thing (and vice versa) and to just calm down.

• Poor thing has bad relationship anxiety. He's worried about not being good enough. He worries that if he makes one mistake, it's over. So you'll have to give him lots of reassurance that you love him and you're not gonna leave him cause of some dumb mistake.

• My boy is a VERY affectionate baby. He loves having someone to hold and cuddle with. He would like for you to also be a very affectionate person as well. If you're not, please let him know, he doesn't want to make you uncomfortable or anything. He just wants love and to have someone to love on is such a foreign concept to him, he loves and yearns for it. And the cuddling is a plus for him cause of his cold-blooded nature, poor baby is cold all the time.

• I can see him as the domestic, house husband type. Due to his criminal background, he would struggle to get a job so he makes up for it by taking care of the house. Everyday whe you come home from work, the house will be clean and there will be warm food on the table for the both of you. He'd be trying all sorts of new recipes and would want to know your honest opinion on it. I also feel while he is the one who cleans, he'd also be the type to mess the house up, probably from constantly partying and gaming.

• Speaking of gaming, he wants you to be his gaming buddy. Both of your gaming set ups would be right by each other. He'd probably beg you to play games with him. His favorite type of games would be first person shooters, he lives for them but can rage hard when losing. If you're both playing together and you get a kill, he'll praise you to the high heavens. Any kills or wins from you he's celebrating and getting rowdy over. He just loves you so much he loves seeing you do so well.

• The best to talk to when it comes to mental health issues. He struggles with it and will talk to you about it. And if you ever need to vent to him, he'll drop everything and come to your need, even if it's just to have a shoulder to cry on. He understands what it's like to struggle and would never want you to face that battle alone.

• Would get promise rings with you. He loves them and would show them off, just like how he's shown you off over thousands of times. He just has so much love to give you, you're his everything and he would kill for you. <3

Ace:

• If you think Snake is clingy, Ace is WAAAY worse, especially after the Sedusa incident. His realtionship anxieties are so much worse cause he's so scared of being used and abandoned again. Please hold him and tell him everything is going to be okay.

• You'll be with him for every Gangreen Gang meeting. He'll being doing all sorts of things to impress you and showing off how great of a leader he is. If you need something, he'll order the gang to get it for you. He'll be braging/ showing you off to everyone who's around (including the Gorillaz, he still keeps in contact with them)

• Will take you on night rides. It ranges from jamming out to varying songs to venting about life's bs. You'll both be driving around at 2 something in the morning just having the time of your lives. He'll suggest trying to get lost or even leaving the state right then and there, tell him no to the latter option. He'd probably drive you both to the other side of the country. Halp.

• While he is loaded with cash, he tries to not buy such nice, fancy stuff. Man is frugle with his money but he would try to buy you some nice things, especially for anniversaries or birthdays. Imagine him, hair slicked back and wearing a hot pink suite, spoiling you for (insert occasion here). Man would spoil the fuck out of you.

• Would want to have lazy days with you were you guys just lay in bed, watching movies, eating snacks, and doing absolutely nothing. If you try getting out of bed, expect him to cling to you and whine about you leaving. He'd be making it out like you were gonna leave for the milk and never come back.

• I just can't stress enough how clingy the poor baby is. He doesn't like when you have to go do stuff and gets so sad to see you go. Poor thing ends up having seperation anxiety with you. He'd be giving puppy dog eyes, doing everything he can to get you to stay and spend time with him. Please reassure him that you'll be back and you'll give him lots of lovins with him when you get back.

• Will take you to go exploring creepy abandond places. He'd want to do it at night but would be so scared. Poor baby. He'd so try to act like a tough guy to try to impress you again, but it's so obvious he's faking it.

#ppg #gangreen gang #ppg snake #sanford d ingleberry #ace copular

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201xs · 1 year

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ranking wander over yonder characters by how likely they arw to age regress

wander- 10/10 this guy is over a thousand years old and he loves playing games and being silly + curious and hopeful and its implied he had a rough childhood. you already know

sylvia- 1/10 she is very calloused and tough and grew up like that. she rolls her eyes at anything too sappy (which is a core component of age regression tbh) and vents her frustrations thru punching bad guys and getting road rage. shed probably not be ready to explore age regression herself due to how inherently vulnerable it is but she could make a rly good CG if she let herself be open minded to it

lord hater- 6/10 kind of already is in a roundabout sort of way? he is very immature and reverts to this sort of whiny tantrum mode when he becomes overloaded with emotions (which is a lot). he indulges in childish joys like hot tubs and ice cream, water beds, elaborate vehicles that clearly parallel toys, and any flashy new weapons he thinks are cool (in a remarkably childish way). but at the same time he hates being seen as weak in any context and babifying himself would definitely count in his mind. i think mentally he has the right emotional cocktail to be agere but his complexes prevent him from developing upon or realizing it LOL

lord dominator- 0/10 the only thing that brings her joy is killing people. the only way she can be fixed is lesbian love.

commander peepers- 7/10 i feel like this is something he'd love to participate in in secret. we already know he likes playing with dolls (or "strategic figures"). he's always under a lot of stress, constantly working, fussing over everything, so he would need a way to relax and put his mind at ease... at a certain point i think itd just come naturally. hes also easily excitable, becomes childishly giddy when hes having fun, and has the same obsession with cool toy-like weapons as lord hater. he also does a ton of potentially embarrassing things when he's alone (measuring himself every day, listening to positive affirmation tapes, etc). also i know it in my heart to be true

brad starlight- 1/10 i think hes somewhat in the same boat as lord hater, where a lot of his villainy (or just awful behavior) stems from immaturity. but hes too full of himself and he already has way too many complexes to even be in the ballpark of age regression

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titanicfreija · 6 months

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Sunny's Grumpy

"You're back early," Thomas observed. "Something happen?"

The blank expression with which Freija looked at Thomas demonstrated the accuracy of his guess. Sunny appeared drifting forward, eerily still for herself. "We had to hang out in a Dark Zone," she explained. "And we survived."

Thomas frowned. "Was it really that bad?"

"Only because of how wrong it went," Freija explained breathlessly. "I'm gonna stay home for a day or two, that was a lot."

She trudged to the shower, leaving Sunny in the den with Thomas.

"So what happened?"

"She let herself get beaten up in exchange for her survival," Sunny said. "Which honestly wasn't so bad to me."

Thomas heard her keeping a secret and didn't know what to make of it. "Are you okay?"

Sunny bounced violently and the emitted a sound of electronic rage. "I'm fine!" she roared.

"I take it you worried?" Thomas figured he'd let Sunny vent and take a break, so he swiveled in his seat and sat back.

"Why is she like this?!" Sunny howled shaking up and down with every word, before she flew in a steady lap around the den at a likely higher-than-intended speed. "Don't answer that, I know the answer!" She changed shells at her shelf specifically to start flinging her flaps, wheeling wildly and spinning in place. "That complete-- dumbass-- helped the enemy! She got overcome with a sense of nobility and helped the enemy!"

Thomas wasn't even really surprised, at her age and with her nature. But, "She lived? How'd you guys pull that one off?"

Sunny's flaps flew outward with such force that Thomas thought she'd throw them, but then she pulled them back in and wheeled like normal. "They spared her, sort of, for helping them," she said. The tone got lost somewhere, and Thomas couldn't tell if she was angry or sorry or what. "So, really, she made the right moves. But... They still killed her, just not immediately, and they scared me so badly, it would have been nothing for them to just finish her off, and it took so long. And we couldn't even get back, this happened almost two days ago, now, around fifteen hundred the day before yesterday. It's taken us this long to get back. We finally got within comm reach of the Tower yesterday afternoon but we still couldn't get a ship to us."

Thomas nodded slowly. "Crash?"

Sunny rolled back and dropped three feet with a groan. "We were stupid and thought it would be safe to leave our for an hour or two. We were wrong. House of Eliksni dropped in, raided and razed, as she says. Complete mess. So we had to go find parts and fix it, and we did. She just suffered fatal injuries in the process."

"Yeah?"

"Brain bleed. Collapsed lung. Not quite full on injuries, and if it wasn't Freija, I wouldn't even say it was a guaranteed kill. But it wouldn't have taken much more prodding to set off, and our beloved Titan is herself."

Thomas gave Sunny another nod, but his face pinched. "So what'd- how did they not kill her? Cabal'll kill us dead with a standing shoulder check sometimes."

Sunny spun where she was and hovered in a lowering spiral. "Honestly, it was just some... Considering that information, "gentle" body slams. Picked her up and slammed her into pavement a lot. I hope there's still a sample in her armor, actually, they should probably study that for replication, tough stuff to last this long. Unless that part of the world was in a time loop or something."

The warlock chuckled and folded his hand behind his head. "So, I take it she lived long enough to get back to the Light."

"Yep. I got pictures," she said, shining their agreed upon favorite angle/lighting overhead. Her right shoulder to left hip had a great streak of the spider legs arc damage, shining purple over the dark and deep purple.

"Nice photo, too," he said. "Ow," he added. "Yeah, that should have killed the shit out of her."

"I know, right?" Freija asked as she returned. "Fucking hurt."

Thomas looked to Sunny and smirked. "So she does feel the pain, but she hasn't figured out that it's there for a reason? Being--"

The irate Titan flung herself to the couch and put her towel on her head. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, shut up. By the time I was hurt, it was way too late to avoid shit," Freija grumped at him while Sunny giggled. "Anyway, I'm fine. She's so mad at me, she forgot to tell you I'm fluent in French."

"Didn't that language die before the Golden Age?" Thomas asked incredulously.

Freija shrugged with a glance to Sunny. "No, but the collapse wasn't kind to its speakers. The current theory is that my-- Sarah's mother was one of the original Awoken and she spoke it and read it. Which might have been why I was out of practice with English. Swapping my readouts and datapads over--Sunny had to do that-- turns out I read fine."

Thomas nodded thoughtfully. "I knew some, but it was old, even in the Golden Age. That's nice, though, I know it frustrated you for a little while."

"I've decided that I hate that alphabet, though. It's not enough and too much at the same time," she grumped.

Thomas laughed. "So what do you have to say about your experience?"

Freija got still and quiet on the couch with a momentary temperature spike, but then she rolled to face the back of the couch and curled up. "It was stupid," she mumbled weakly. "I fucked up."

Thomas glanced at Sunny, who bounced aggressively out of her view. "It was stupid, but you didn't screw up," Sunny growled. "You got lucky and played your hand right. But you really should have focused on escape."

"I know. Shut up," Freija groaned. "I heard you all ten thousand times."

Thomas turned back to his writing before he ended up involved. "I'm glad you're home safe," he told them, hoping they'd understand that he was excusing himself.

"Us, too," they agreed together, falling silent.

@annieruok94

#destiny 2 #d2 #ocs #writing #freija #scribble #sunny #Thomas #lost in the dark #I'll find something new soon i swear

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grapesodatozier · 1 year

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"hey boss sorry I’m late I was zoned out in the shower thinking about what dnd 5e class each of the losers would be" -me this morning

lol anyway here’s what I came up with!! would love to hear others’ thoughts on this!! my personal character interpretations are very book heavy with cherry-picked movie influences and a respectable scoop of fanon interpretations I like lol so I think there’s a lot of options here and I think it would be so fun to hear other people’s interpretations of this!!

bill: oath of vengeance paladin whose god is maturin. his favorite spell is compelled duel. no further elaboration needed.

mike: farm boy mike made me consider druid or ranger, but I think his motivations are very strong around maintaining derry’s history, and he’s incredibly dedicated to that, so I think knowledge domain cleric makes most sense to me (his god is also maturin, bike maturin acolyte boyfriends so real <3 )

ben: book ben is soooo fighter. that man threw back an insane amount of alcohol, went back to derry no question, stomped on some alien eggs, and took decades to confess to a cute, corny little 3 line love poem, then respectfully swept his childhood love off her feet. that’s just so fighter to me. like there is nothing more Fighter than starting your story alone in a tavern venting vaguely about your past heroic exploits to the bartender. fighter for sure with some significant levels in artificer for his architecture career

stan: wizardddddd he literally escapes pennywise with the powers of his bird watching guidebook!!!! literally got magic powers from a book in canon!!!!! also he's very happy being an accountant and i feel like math and desk jobs feel very wizard to me lol. also it would be so interesting to explore his feelings about being able to shape reality when he's so attached to maintaining reality. but. he literally changed reality with his book like!!!! so much to think about here.

bev: i kinda want bev to be a rogue, but i think that's just what she initially tries to be. she wants to fly under the radar so bad but she never can. honestly i think she's a barbarian!! it's what she deserves!!! 2017 babygirl kills her dad by bashing him over the head with a toilet cover!!! that's some barbarian shit she has so much anger and rage that she deserves to let out!!!!! also her premonitions about It coming back? danger sense. decades in advance danger sense lmao

eddie: listen. i considered rogue. killing your childhood bully with a broken perrier bottle is some rogue shit. i also considered monk, bc our boy loves to go fast!! but i think the most fitting class for him is ranger. his "super power" is always knowing where to go and where he is. he uses it in the sewers, he uses it to drive around new york city better than anyone else. knowing your terrain that effortlessly is some ranger shit. also he's happiest just chilling on a grassy hill or hanging out in the barrens!! nature baby boy!! also rangers can be a dex class so it still works for him wanting to run and run and run

richie: okay i spent way too much time thinking about richie's bc he's my favorite <3 lol so this is gonna be long. listen we all have biases okay. anyways he's obviously a bard like hello he can change his voice and convince people he's someone else. basically literally casts silvery barbs in book canon. constantly performing. described as having "exhausting charm." support class 100%, while everyone leans on bill he's the one bill leans on. favorite spell is disguise self bc he wants so badly to be someone else. but i don't think he's just a bard. i think he pretends to be just a bard, but such a big part of richie's character is being afraid of things inside himself that he'd like to ignore but can't control. It shows him a werewolf with his name on it which yeah I'm very pro bisexual interpretation of that but more generally is just about feeling like he's got smth uncontrollable and scary that he doesn't understand within him. all of which screams wild magic sorcerer!! so i think he's a wild magic sorcerer who learns bard stuff so he can pretend he's only a bard bc he's scared of his natural magic

okay ty for reading please feel free to share your thoughts if you have them <3

#this may or may not be reddie week prep #the losers club #it stephen king

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swaps55 · 1 year

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Hi, it’s the anon about post-Alchera Sam again. Thank you so much for answering! I thought your response that Sam would be hurting and would want everyone else to be hurting as well to be so sad and thought-provoking. To be honest, it made me think a little bit about Anakin/Vader, and I wonder how Sam’s mindset would affect his choices during the Collector attacks (especially since the Collectors basically killed Kaidan!) and the Reaper War. If Kaidan didn’t come back, would anyone or anything be able to pull Sam out of it? Would he take a long time to heal or would he just spiral in a terrible manner like Anakin?

I have no doubt that Sam would vent a lot of his anger and pain on the collectors. But it also wouldn't satisfy him, because they're just husks. There's no satisfaction to be had. They don't fear his rage, they don't buckle when he inflicts pain. His wrath means nothing to them, and that would be a slow burn to devastation.

He'd do his damnedest to drive off any of the people who care about him, so how long they keep trying to reach him would depend on how much they're willing to take from him. At some point, any reasonable person is going to stop trying to help someone who refuses to be helped.

The only one who would never leave his side is Muriel Aslany, and that's because when her first attempts to pull him out of it didn't work, she'd shrug her shoulders and ask, "where do I aim?" Because if he's not coming back from the brink, she won't let him go over it alone. She is not afraid of the dark.

The two people best positioned to help him, Anderson and Liara, have the misfortune of serving a duel role in his life - they care about the person, but they need the soldier. At some point they have to choose between helping Sam and just triaging what has to be triaged to keep Commander Shepard on the front lines where they need him. It's the story he's faced all of his life: people need to use him, and if forced to choose between the person and the weapon, they almost always choose the weapon. Given what's at stake...it's hard to blame them.

It would be hard for Sam to heal because he wouldn't give himself the chance. Kaidan understands the only way out is through, whereas Sam would probably say 'fuck that,' and veer around it. Anesthetize himself, and use the collectors and the reapers as his anesthetic. There is a problem he has to solve, and the only thing that matters is the solution.

And he'd do it. Whatever the cost. There's no life after the reapers that he's hoping or wishing for. There is no happy ending waiting for him. So he'd sacrifice whatever it takes, be as ruthless as he needs to be, and commit whatever sins he has to in order to ensure the reapers are destroyed.

And if he lives through it, you have a wreck of a human being left. They don't need the soldier, now. With nothing left to fight, he'd now have to find his way through his own grief, while carrying the baggage of a war on his back. It wouldn't be easy.

I wonder, in the end, if Aslany is the one who ultimately has the power to save him from himself. I like to think that if there is some point where he is about to take a step you can't come back from, realizing he'd be taking down someone he cares about deeply might shake him out of it.

I'm glad I don't have to write that story.

#swaps replies #Anonymous #'shoot it again sam' shepard

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annepsilvaauthor · 1 year

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Fighter Weapons — Chapter 5

Pairing(s): Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw x OC (Claire Mitchell) / Jake "Hangman" Seresin x Natasha "Phoenix" Trace

Summary: An untold story. A series that shows what happened during the Top Gun of our beloved pilots of Top Gun: Maverick.

Warnings: Subtle sexual innuendos, brief language, alcohol consumption, angst, smut, fluffy.

Word Count: 3.511

Author note: I'm back my loves with another chapter for you! I tried to make the dogfighting as convincing as possible. Let me know if you like it when there's more aviation involved or the aviator drama, or both.

The darlings who don't want to miss any updates ↪️ @missathlete31 @togetherisawonderfulplacetobe @switch3rr @na0my @aprilwithapricots @goldenloverschild

Prologue | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4

ғɪɢʜᴛᴇʀᴛᴏᴡɴ, ᴜsᴀ

At twenty-eight thousand feet, the two planes were circling each other, going in opposite directions. As they jockeyed for position, they passed each other like whiplashes. The earth turned, the horizon appeared and disappeared. At each difficult turn, some grunts from Hangman and Rooster could be heard to keep the blood in their brains in order not to pass out.

The fight was hard, physical and exhausting. The extreme G-forces – 6.5 – flattened them against their seats, making their heads weigh over a hundred pounds. Hangman struggled to turn his head and track the other jet as it passed at Mach One.

“I lost him. Where is he?” Rooster asked.

They had been chosen as a tag team in that first training against Blade. Obviously, they weren't happy with the choice.

“You're my wingman. It's your job to know where he is.” Hangman sneered in his cabin.

“We didn't decide like that.”

“Well, now it's clear. You're the wingman and I'm the pilot.” Hangman waved at him from his fighter a few feet away.

Rooster didn't have much time to vent his indignation, as his radar started beeping loudly.

“Six o'clock…coming fast. Four hundred, losing speed! He's at six and fast! Left! LEFT!”

Rooster shouted into his communication radio with Hangman, but he didn't answer. Hangman took the opposite direction, in which Rooster had to be quick to dodge his own duo.

"The mission is to attack Blade, not me!" he complained breathlessly in the cabin. “Why didn't you do what I said?”

"At that speed, he'd easily intercept you and then me. He knew I was going to the left...it was too obvious.” he explained in a haughty tone.

“Yes! The obvious works most of the time!”

“Not here.”

Rooster, driven by rage, pushed the stick to the left and the F-18 made a surprising turn. He can hear Blade's frustrated grunt over the radio.

“Not bad!” Hangman praised from the other side.

"He almost got us. Let's get out of here. We reached a draw.”

“No way! Going vertical.”

Hangman's F-18 exploded into speed, hurtling into space. Blade was left in direct sunlight, and its canopy was sprayed with a blinding glow.

"He's blind, Rooster! Pick him!” he ordered in euphoria.

“I’m arriving!”

"Rooster, hurry!" He won't stay like this all day."

Hangman maintained his speed towards the sunlight, gaining more and more altitude and feeling the enormous pressure on his lungs. He had trained a lot for that, he had been on dangerous missions, but he was aware that he wouldn't last long in a straight line, just as Blade wouldn't either.

"What the...fuck, Rooster! What are you doing?” He struggled to speak with the heat of the sun hitting him and the gravity.

"It's in the crosshairs! In sight!”

The heat intensified more and more. Beads of sweat formed and ran down Hangman's face. He shook his head to get her out of his eyes. He waited for the beeping sound at his point, indicating that Blade had been hit, but it never came.

Then, Rooster watched as Hangman's F-18 dove downward. He raced out to sea, picking up speed. Over the roar of the jets, the scream of the wind, Rooster reached out to Hangman, but the sound was muffled, like a distant voice in a typhoon.

Blade darted towards Hangman, trying to take aim at the plane, but he was too fast and in uncoordinated movements. It was almost as if he had let go of the steering wheel.

Rooster followed them downstairs and watched the numbers go down on his visor, listening for the alarm in the cabin.

"Hangman, man! You are going to the hard deck!”

“I know what I'm doing.”

Rooster watched the numbers. 20000, 18000, 15000, 10000, 8000 and going down faster and faster. Gravity slammed into him, making his throat itch and his stomach heave.

“Hangman! We are at 6000!”

“If you get to 5000 feet, you're out of Top Gun. It's the law.” Blade reported over the radio.

The alarm grew louder and louder, blaring even inside the cabin. Rooster recoiled in his speed and hovered in the air. If Hangman was going to break the rules and they went out it was no worse than him suffering even more from the pressure on his body in pursuit of a point.

Suddenly, Rooster witnessed a maneuver he had seen only once before, when facing a German fighter. The F-18's engines shut down and Hangman gained negative speed, overtaking Blade's fighter on top. There was no way for the instructor to anticipate or act in time. Hangman used gravity to his advantage. Then the beep sound.

“You're done! Blade dead.” Hangman cheered and whistled in the cabin. "Hey, Rooster?"

“What?” he asked grimly.

“That's how you get to the top of the world.”

Rooster watched his smug smile under his mask and shook his head. He turned the wheel and the F-18 went right, diving back through the clouds towards the base.

When they landed on the flight line, Rooster got out of the fighter and removed his helmet, then walked straight away from his insufferable duo.

Storm was getting off the fighter and Phoenix was taking off her helmet, running a hand over her sweaty face. Strands of black hair fell out of her bun. When she put her feet on the ground, Storm pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and dragged Phoenix for a photo, even though she knew she didn't like it very much.

"Storm..." her friend complained.

"Say 'victory'!"

Despite Phoenix's protests, they both smiled with their fingers up. It was a beautiful celebration photo. But she noticed an intruder on the screen and looked back.

She spotted Hangman getting out of the F-18, sweaty, hair slightly tousled, but with that cocky grin on his face.

"You really are a cowboy!" She got his attention. She had heard the control tower almost go crazy on the radio.

Hangman looked back at her, widening his smile and squinting a little due to the strong sunlight, casting a shadow of him. From that angle, he was passable, she thought.

“Fuck the hard deck! I beat that bastard.”

“You two won.” Storm corrected, walking beside them.

“I did it all myself. Rooster sat there perched like a bird in a nest.” He explained loud enough for the pilot to hear from the front.

Fungus and Pork approached them. Phoenix winked and gave a thumbs-up sign with a smile. She watched as the other riders behind her reacted with handshakes, high fives and victory punches.

“You win?” Pork asked the girls.

"Everyone, huh?"

Phoenix heard a few "ooohs" and giggles behind her and exchanged confused glances with Storm.

"No… He kicked our asses." Fungus replied frustrated.

“Thirty seconds. We were like that, he was like that.” Pork demonstrated with his hands. "And I said to Fungus: Where did he go? Fungus said: Who went where?”

“And he was laughing. Right there on the radio, he was laughing at us!” Fungus complained with a grimace.

The other pilots passed in front of them and watched Hangman. He paused dramatically and gave a thumbs-up with a smug smile. The students cheered Hangman's victory, and he handled the attention with the composure of someone used to winning. Rooster walked ahead, ignoring him.

Hangman went on to explain how he had won, all the maneuvers and ambushes, not forgetting to emphasize Rooster's inertia.

“It wasn't like I saw it.” Rooster could not bear to remain silent with the provocation.

“Of course you didn't, you were too busy looking for the target in the viewfinder. Hangman glanced at an invisible watch on his arm. “Rumor has it that you're still up there, looking for the perfect moment.

"You nearly threw us out! We were almost on the hard deck!”

“Keyword: almost. I knew what I was doing. Obviously I wasn't going to miss the great opportunity to be the best in Top Gun on the first day.” He took a long look at Rooster. "You must understand that since you love the obvious, right, Rooster?"

"What's your problem, Hangman?" everyone could see a vein pulsing in Rooster's forehead. “You don't communicate with your wingman and you don't take orders. What kind of pilot are you?”

“I'm not the type that let the whole team die by waiting too long. That's for sure, I'm not.”

"You are rash and showy!"

"And you're afraid!" Hangman kept calm and the smile on his face, unlike Rooster, who huffed with anger. “I'm a lone wolf, but I know my way around. How about you? How long are you going to wait to take action?”

With that statement, Hangman ended the discussion and walked back towards the hangar, being accompanied by Coyote and other pilots. Phoenix approached Rooster and looked at him with compassion. He was panting, frowning and head down. His fists were clenched.

“He beat you on that one, you know? Not because he's better than you, but because you got carried away by him.”

“He's an asshole. You should be there to see how he flew. He seemed to have no love for his life. Or the team.”

“Maybe that's why they call him the Hangman.” She lightly patted his shoulder. “Don't let him get you down. You are good. You wouldn't be here if you weren't.”

“I know.” He looked up and flashed a smile. “Thanks.”

“Thank me tonight. I want a whole song dedicated to me.” She teased and saw him relax his shoulders.

“Just choose.”

They headed for the hangar as well, following the others. Phoenix headed towards the women's locker room with Storm and they took off their flight uniform to get rid of that sweat that was already part of them.

Phoenix chose a stall at the end of the locker room and turned on the shower, soon feeling the cold water wash away all the tension in her shoulders. They won, they did great teamwork as a wingman. But she couldn't forget the times she came close to losing, getting hit.

Those trainings weren't just activities for her, they represented reality. She imagined herself on the battlefield, in a real dogfight. And whenever she got this close to being hit, she thought of Storm. She wasn't alone on the plane. There was a person with dreams, wishes and family in the back seat. And that always terrified her.

If she had been alone in that F-18, she might have been more daring to risk maneuvers that the book didn't teach or that played with danger. But she couldn't. Not with a life on the line. She couldn't risk losing a pilot, not only because she was a great coworker, but because she was her best friend.

So she understood all of Rooster's hesitation in the sky. He was careful, cautious. He wasn't going to risk losing his buddy for the chance of taking down an enemy. He valued the safety of his colleagues. And maybe that led him to Top Gun.

But...a part of her, reaching deep down inside, also agreed with Hangman. She clenched her fists upon realizing this. Phoenix knew the importance of being fast, agile and skillful up there, otherwise she could lose her team too. Boldness was part of her flying style. She knew the predictable could get them killed. She needed the boldness to protect Storm.

She realized that there was a fine line between confidence and daring, and perhaps she was the only one there who understood that.

They left the locker room with just the ivory uniform pants, boots and white blouse, as they wouldn't have any more classes for the rest of the day.

"What's on today's schedule?" Storm asked when they passed through the corridor that gave access to the dorms.

“I hear Hollywood Garden is reproducing some classics.”

"Is that what I'm thinking?" she asked excitedly. Phoenix nodded, slowly returning to her mood. Storm had that power.

"First rule of Fight Club…”

"...don't talk about Fight Club."

They walked towards the girls' dorm as empty as the locker room. It was a good thing they were the only women there, at least they had a lot of privacy.

At night, they left the Fightertown facility in euphoria, eager for some fun that didn't involve risking their lives. Phoenix wore pale ankle boots, dark tight pants, a beige knit sweater, and a leather jacket with a fur collar. It was a cold night in San Diego.

They took an Uber and headed towards the suburbs, where there was a great outdoor cinema. They had a plan. Make friends with random guys until they get a car to watch the movie. Would it be easier to go to a regular movie theater? Yes. But what fun would that be?

The lawn was crowded with cars of all kinds, most with people sitting on the hood or outside, always accompanied. The opening of the film was already playing on the huge screen and they were still looking for someone who looked friendly.

“Are you lost?” The annoyingly familiar voice rang out.

Phoenix looked over to the side and saw Hangman sitting in the front seat of a blue Porsche. His blond hair was impeccable, not a single strand out of place. He wore a white shirt with a dark denim jacket over it looking expensive. And on his face, obviously, that smug smile. Eyes fixed on her.

“No, we are expecting our company.” She lied with her chin high.

“It's pretty rude to keep a lady waiting.Good thing you're not ladies.”

Storm laughed exaggeratedly, feigning humor. Phoenix watched the confusion in Coyote's eyes behind the wheel, but Hangman continued to stare at her like a hunter.

“You are so funny, Hangman. Uff... you should get into a career as a comedian.”

“No, I'm well served as a fighter pilot. But you could just as easily work as waitresses at a country restaurant.” He pointed at their plain clothes. “Although my people are still far more elegant than that.”

“I don't know, Hangman. Someone might slip in your hair.” Phoenix returned.

He stopped smiling, presumably with a bruised ego, and Phoenix felt victorious. Wiping that smug smile off his lips had almost become her life's mission.

"How did you know we'd be here?" Storm asked Coyote.

“So you assume we follow you. What if it was the other way around?”

“Of course, because our life revolves around your navel.”

“Let it go, Storm. They are not worth it.” Phoenix took her friend's hand and was already leading her away.

"I hope your companions don't come! No one deserves to look at that there!” Hangman shot back with arrogance.

Phoenix responded with a finger in mid-air, already with her back to them. His presence was already giving her a headache. How did she manage to have fun with him at some point? She must have been really, really drunk.

“We need a car.” Storm announced after paying for a beer. “We should have asked Uber to stay.”

“No, he had more runs to do.’ Phoenix ordered a beer. "Fuck...did they really have to come here?"

"I bet they heard our conversation in the hall." She looked around at the cars. "Let's do it this way: let's split up. We have a better chance of finding a car.”

Phoenix wasn't too keen on the idea, but she went along with it since she didn't have a better one. Storm headed toward the first few rows of cars and Phoenix remained at the kiosk considering where to start. She found two guys in a truck further back and worked up the courage to go there.

The men were about her age and greeted her with a smile. She invented that she had taken a cake along with her friend and they felt sorry, soon calling her to watch with them. She smiled victoriously and pulled back a little to send Storm a message. Suddenly, a huge body stopped in front of her. She looked up and immediately rolled her eyes.

“That was ridiculous." he commented after a sip of his beer.

"Hangman... your existence gives me a headache. Please go live further away from me." She snorted and went back to writing to Storm.

"Are you really going to be in the car with two strangers?"

"What, are you going to tell me you care about me?"

“No, I worry about them. You are not a saint."

Phoenix decided to ignore his presence there, maybe then he would go away and leave her alone. It worked. He pulled away and she was able to breathe normally again. But to her misfortune, when she looked up, she saw Hangman talking to the two boys. She approached them and noticed the startled way they were looking at her. What was that asshole saying?

"Ahm...you know, we're expecting some people." one of them said avoiding her gaze.

“But you said you were alone."

“As it happens, we're expecting company now. I'm sorry." the other replied embarrassed.

Phoenix smirked and walked away from them, stomping her boots on the ground in pure rage.

"You should at least thank me." She heard the annoying voice again. Was he still after her?

"What the fuck...?"

She suddenly parked on the lawn and turned around, but the unexpected movement caused Hangman to collide with her, pushing her backwards. Phoenix landed on the spiked grass, bruising her bottom. She watched him from below. He was as big as a Greek statue with the movie lights reflected on his face, now without the smirk. She panted in a mixture of embarrassment and anger. Arrg! If he just made a joke about that, he would definitely get a slap on that perfect face.

But to her surprise, he offered her a hand. Phoenix considered some possibilities regarding that gesture. Could it mean empathy, no. Not that. It could be that, by accepting his help, she would owe him in some way. It could also mean that she needed him for something, which she didn't. So Phoenix denied his help and got up on her own, which drew a muffled chuckle from him.

“You are so predictable."

"And you are insufferable!" She wiped her pants and glared at him. “Seriously, how do the women at the bar put up with you? Oh, I know, it's because they don't spend a whole day with you. I'm sure they would die of heartbreak."

'You didn't seem to dislike it one bit that day in Lemoore."

"I was drunk. If a scarecrow appeared in front of me and played with me, I would like it!"

“You know, if you could stop yelling at me for a second, I would show you a much more fun and productive way to use that mouth of yours."

She had to swallow her anger at that sentence. And she also needed to gather her strength not to weaken her legs with the firmness and intensity with which he said those words. Hangman was looking at her the same way he had that day at the bar, fixed and intense. She could see that glow of tenderness dancing there in the green, moonlit orbs. Fuck! He was maddeningly sexy.

Hangman took a step forward, standing less than a foot away from her. There, so close and sober, she realized how big he was, massive and hard as a rock, as she felt when she bumped into him. He averted those damn eyes from her eyes to her mouth so many times, Phoenix was getting dizzy. It was too dark here, too close, too dangerous. She needed to get away. But why couldn't she? His eyes held her in place like an anchor.

He reached out a hand to touch her waist, but a shout woke her up:

"I am here! I arrived!" Storm approached them. "Where are the guys?"

Phoenix immediately remembered what he'd done and the comments that night and her expression changed. She was pure rage now.

“No, Bagman here has done us a favor by spoiling our cinema."

“If you weren't so proud, you could watch with us." he commented, returning to the Hangman state.

"And who said we would accept the invitation?"

“Like I said, proud."

Phoenix clenched her fists and counted to five not to play his game and attack him right there, tooth and nail and even boots. Then, she took Storm's hand and started to walk away from him without saying a word.

"What is that? Will you ignore me?" He insulted, but they didn't answer anything.

“Okay, you can try ignoring me. But you're going to miss me in five minutes!"

Phoenix once again offered him the middle finger. What was worse was that she was even more furious with herself for allowing him to destabilize her this way, both ways. But that wouldn't happen again, ever!

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