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writeforfandoms · 10 months

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State of My Head 3

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Here we are folks! The final chapter! There will be a bonus scene soonish, so keep an eye out for that. But this is the last actual chapter, with the promised happy ending.

Warnings: Canon typical violence, blood, injury, death of a minor character, swearing, shifter behavior, cat behavior, Gaz finally realizes he was an idiot.

Word count: 4.7k

You still hated the helicopter rides. Even though they were necessary. But you still huddled into your seat, holding tight to the grips. At least Gaz and Soap had stopped teasing you, most of the time.

This op was a little less straightforward. They didn’t have as much intel on this location, which was why Price was sending you in first. There were supposed to be weapons, but there was no clear intel on how many weapons or exactly which kind.

That was part of your job. To find the weapons and report back.

The heli landed and you hopped out, taking a moment to look around. You’d been dropped off away from the objective - there was a bit of a hike to the buildings. Apparently this was normal for them.

You were just looking forward to shifting so you could run ahead.

Price motioned for you to follow him, which you did. By now, this was routine. You weren’t combat trained, so you stayed in the middle of the group. This time, Gaz covered your back.

Price halted in a good cover spot, and you immediately shifted.

“Straight back here,” Price reminded you as you crawled out of your clothes, though he didn’t need to and you both knew it. By now, it was just habit.

You meowed softly at him and lifted one paw, tapping his boot twice. And then you trotted off towards your destination.

The set of three warehouses were a bit removed from the road, big parking lots nearly empty. They had that dilapidated look about them, run down and tagged with spraypaint. They were set outside of town, far enough away that you doubted anyone would be able to hear things going on here. Good for the people of the town, at least. The route from Price’s chosen spot to the parking lots was covered in vegetation, trees growing tall and wild, bushes providing plenty of cover spots. A series of hills rose behind the warehouse, providing further cover.

It wasn’t a bad location for a secret weapons cache, really. Unremarkable. Isolated enough to operate without suspicion, but still with easy access to a major road. Not bad at all.

The chain link fencing around the area was new. Still easy enough to squeeze under. Sometimes you were glad you weren’t any bigger.

The lack of outside lights worked in your favor, allowing you to get close. You paused outside to listen.

Definite movement inside. Footsteps. Murmuring. The click of a lighter. A side door opened several feet from your hiding spot, letting out a guard, and you held very still.

“Think they’re gonna show?” The guard had an accent, sounded Russian to your ears.

“Boss thinks they will.” A second guard stepped out of the building, lighting a cigarette. This one sounded American.

“What makes him so sure?” The Russian didn’t sound disbelieving, just bored.

“Eh, who knows?” The American blew out smoke, rolling his shoulders. “Not like I’m the boss’s right hand man.”

The two both laughed at that, and you tensed. There was something wrong here, very wrong. Who were they expecting?

A radio crackled on the Russian’s hip. “Got movement from the northwest,” someone reported in, muffled but audible. Also American. Northwest. You froze, not quite sure which direction you’d come from.

“Guess the boss is right.” The American grinned, teeth very white in the darkness. “We better finish up if we wanna get in on the fun.”

“Assuming the snipers don’t get the bastards first,” the Russian agreed. “But who knows? They are supposed to be very good.”

“It’s the same assholes that blew up the cache two weeks ago. They’re good.” The American sounded almost eager, thirsty for bloodshed in a way that made all your fur stand on end. He put out his cigarette on the bottom of his shoe, free hand reaching over to smack his companion in the shoulder. “C’mon, man, hurry up.”

You’d heard enough. You remembered the cache two weeks ago - Soap had come back exhilarated and smelling of smoke.

They were expecting your guys. Somehow, they knew.

This was a trap.

You bolted, running as fast as you could, no longer quite so worried about stealth.

But you did pause outside the fence, because they’d mentioned snipers. Okay. Think like Ghost. Where would you set up if you were a sniper?

A quick look found at least four spots you could check. After you warned the team.

It took a lot less time to get back to them, since you were less concerned about stealth and more concerned about speed. Consequently, when you arrived in front of Price, you were panting. Shifting took only a moment, leaving you crouched in front of them.

“They know,” you gasped, not giving them time to ask you questions. “Expecting you. Snipers, guards.” You waved back at the building.

Price’s eyes narrowed. “You sure?”

You nodded rapidly. “Heard two of them talking.” You swallowed against your dry throat, ignoring the chill of the night air against your skin.

Price blew out a slow breath, gaze flitting between you and the buildings in the distance. The other three all stood still and silent, waiting on his orders.

“Right. No use walkin’ in to a trap. Get back to exfil.”

There was a ripple through the group, the tension of a thwarted op paired with the knowledge that they’d been given bad intel. You, at least, couldn’t think for a moment of anything other than the fact that if you hadn’t gone first, they’d have walked blindly into that trap.

You swallowed, glancing between them. Gaz was already reaching for your clothes, Soap and Ghost on alert. Price was not going to like what you did next.

So you just wouldn’t give him a chance to yell at you.

“Meet you back there,” you said, and shifted. You were gone again before any of them could try to grab you, and you knew they couldn’t risk shouting after you.

You ran ahead of them and veered off course. It was dark, but your eyesight was better in the dark than any human’s, especially shifted. So you saw the movement of a sniper, likely scanning for your guys.

You launched yourself at the sniper, yowling. You were no bigger than the average housecat, but you had surprise on your side, and claws. He yelped as your claws dug into his shoulders and arms around his tac vest. A gunshot briefly deafened you, but rather than run off, you lunged for his hand, biting down as hard as you could. He dropped the rifle, swearing, trying to shake you off.

You let go of him and ran again. You doubted he’d go after you, and you were too small a target to shoot at with any accuracy. Especially as you zigzagged away.

So you went on, following the sounds of a radio and check in calls. Your ears flickered, pinpointing the source of the noise, before you crept up.

This one was a woman, tense and alert, scanning for enemies. Your tail flicked back and forth as you debated your approach. You could get to her hands first, incapacitate her. But you’d have to move fast, both to catch up with your guys and to not get shot.

Her radio crackled again and she turned towards the sniper you’d already attacked.

You leapt at her hands, scratching and biting. You thought it would work.

It sort of did.

She yelled and swore and swung away from you. But she didn’t drop the gun.

Instead she swung it at the same time you jumped for her.

Pain burst in your side, sharp and sudden. You tumbled out of the air, landing on your feet and howling. For a moment you wondered if you’d be able to move, if you’d even be able to make it back to exfil–

“Fucking animal,” the woman spat, and aimed the rifle at you. You scrambled for cover, the shot so loud it hurt your ears. Warmth slid down into your left ear, muffling your hearing. Another shot and your back right leg buckled under a line of searing heat.

A third shot. For a moment you expected to feel pain, to keel over.

Instead the sniper went down, blood and brain matter sprayed across the ground behind her.

One of your guys must have shot her. Which meant they were still here.

Running was immediately out of the question. Your ribs shifted, and that crunching feeling should probably be very concerning. Your injured leg didn’t want to hold your weight.

Leaving you to limp along on three legs, woozy, struggling a bit to breathe. There was no way this was going to end well for you.

A soft call of your name had you jerk, swaying a little on your feet, before you looked up at Gaz. He hissed out a soft curse, scooping you into his arms. You did your best to not make pained sounds, and failed.

“What the hell were you thinking?” he demanded, holding you securely even as he ran back to join the others. “You could have been killed!”

“You’re explaining that later,” Price growled, ushering Gaz into the heli before him. “Damned foolish.”

You managed a weak meow, shaking your head, trying to unblock your ear. Blood spattered across Gaz’s front and the seat, but you could hear better at least.

“Fuck,” Gaz breathed, buckling in quickly. “Cap, should we–?”

“I don’t know.” Price sat next to him, also buckled in. A moment later the heli was lifting up, the faint lighting inside allowing you to see the captain’s jaw clench tight. “Not a damn vet.”

The motors were so much louder as a cat, and you pinned your ears back, still sensitive from the gunshots. And then meowed pitifully at the sharp pain from your left ear.

Price called your name, and you jerked your gaze to him. Your jaws had parted so you could pant, trying to get more air.

“Shift back,” Price demanded, firm tone mostly masking his concern. “We can’t help you like this.”

You thought about that for a moment. Shifting was going to suck. Your ribs were almost definitely broken, and would not magically be fixed. Not to mention the sheer strain of shifting that much - coupled with the blood you’d already lost, there was a good chance you wouldn’t be able to stay conscious.

Then again, if you didn’t shift, there was no vet on staff. And it was a lot easier to bleed out as a cat than as a human.

So you shifted, immediately gasping in pain at the jostling on your ribs, tears springing to your eyes.

“Easy, love,” Gaz soothed, shifting his grip on you to keep you securely against his chest. “What hurts?”

“Ribs,” you gritted out, shutting your eyes. “Ear. Thigh.” Your heartbeat pounded in your head and at your throat, far too fast. It was getting hard to focus.

“Thigh is still bleeding,” Soap pointed out from across the way, frowning.

“Yeah, spotted that,” Gaz gritted out. One big hand pressed a cloth down onto the seeping wound on your thigh, hard. You whined, hands scrambling for something to help anchor you. The heli jolted, not a lot, but enough to make you bite your tongue to hold back a shriek.

It was too much - the burning in your ribs, the ache in your thigh, the pounding of your pulse. Your eyelids fluttered - you knew you should stay conscious.

But it hurt, and it was hard, and you were less inclined to fight as the adrenaline left you. Shivering hurt, but you couldn’t stop yourself.

“Hey, hey, don’t you dare fall asleep on me.” Gaz sounded more panicked than angry. Someone wrapped a blanket around you, and you blinked slowly.

Price nodded once to you, though he didn’t speak, since he was on the phone with someone else. Of course he was on your left - you couldn’t hear him quite right, things still muffled on that side.

Trying to focus was way too much effort anyway. You just wanted to sleep.

Vaguely, you could hear Gaz behind you, chanting, “No no no–” But it was too much to keep your eyes open, to ask him what was wrong.

Your eyes closed as everything faded.

Soft, rhythmic beeping drew you out of sleep. Opening your eyes was a monumental task, one you accomplished in increments until you could see the boring white ceiling above you.

Didn’t look like your room, though.

Huh.

You felt like you should be freaked out about that, but you felt too weighted down to get freaked out about anything. You blinked slowly, trying to remember what happened.

The soft breathing in the room finally registered, and you blinked again and lifted your head.

Gaz was asleep next to you, head pillowed on his arms at the edge of your bed. That looked uncomfortable. No way he should sleep like that.

But parting your lips to try to call to him just made you cough, your throat dry and scratchy as sandpaper. Coughing jostled your ribs, pain flaring bright and sudden, clearing the last of the cobwebs from your brain. With the side effect of tears leaking from your eyes as you tried to calm down.

Big, warm hands cupped your cheeks, thumbs smoothing over your skin. “Easy, love, easy does it,” Gaz murmured, gaze flitting over you, as if he could do anything to help. “Best thing to do is to breathe normally, yeah?”

You stuttered through the first few breaths, slowly calming down until you were relaxed again, Gaz still leaning over you. You blinked slowly up at him, lifting one shaky hand to cover his.

“What happened?” You barely got the words out as a whisper, but you managed.

“Water first.” Gaz released you with one hand, slowly, as if he was reluctant, and pushed a button to lever the bed more upright. He held the water for you, making it easy for you to just drink through the straw.

You slow-blinked at him again when he set the water aside. That was better. Not great, but better. You tapped the back of his hand gently.

“Right.” Gaz blew out a slow breath, gaze darting from you to the side table to the machines next to you. “You’re in a hospital, Price is wrangling the doctor. You remember getting shot, yeah?”

“Thigh,” you agreed.

“And the tip of your ear.” His fingers strayed, brushing against the left side of your head, which did feel thick and muffled. Huh.

“Damn.” You huffed. “Gonna look like I got caught in a spay and release program.”

His snort was surprised and a tiny bit wet. “That’s what you’re worried about?”

“Still got my pride,” you mumbled, tipping your head a little to nuzzle into his palm.

“Yeah, well.” Gaz cleared his throat. “You… almost didn’t make it, love.”

You blinked at him, feeling incredibly slow. “How?”

“Not sure.” Gaz scrubbed his free hand over his face. “Guess you lost more blood than we thought, or something. But you were struggling by the time we got you here.” He swallowed hard, looking haunted.

“Too many shifts,” you muttered, trying to grab him with your free hand, and then glowering at the tug and pinch of the IV there. “Must’ve drained me more than I thought.”

“Have you been hurting yourself to help us?” Gaz sounded a little appalled, his gaze somehow more frantic as he looked you over.

You shook your head a little. “Doesn’t hurt,” you reassured him. “Normally not a problem. Just… takes energy.” You hummed softly, nestling your cheek further into the warmth of his hand, nose near his wrist. He smelled much better than the hospital room.

Gaz huffed softly, shoulders relaxing again. “You’ve got stitches in your leg,” he murmured. “And a few broken ribs.”

“Called that one.” You fought to keep your eyes open. You didn’t want to go back to sleep, didn’t want to lose the warmth of his gaze, the feel of his skin on yours. Didn’t want to go back to the distance he held you at.

“It’s okay if you wanna sleep more,” he murmured, leaning in closer. “You need to heal.”

“Don’t wanna sleep.” You nuzzled into his palm again even as your eyes closed against your will.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Gaz murmured, low and solemn, like a promise. “Just rest, love.”

As stubborn as you wanted to be, you obeyed, his scent soothing you back to sleep.

He was still there when you woke next, as was Price. This time, you felt less groggy, but definitely still not normal.

“We will have a conversation about that stunt,” Price said as soon as your gaze focused on him. “When you’re not stuck in bed.”

“Joy,” you drawled, though you relaxed a little at the knowledge that you weren’t about to be reamed. Not yet, anyway.

“Another few days here and you should be fine to come back to base.” Price tipped his head, watching you carefully.

“‘Kay.” You grimaced as you tried to breathe deeper, the ache in your ribs reminding you why that was not a good idea.

“That’ll take a while,” Gaz murmured sympathetically. “Ribs are the worst.”

“Be easier as a cat.” But you just made a face, displeased with the prospect of months of recovery.

“After the stitches come out,” Price interrupted, giving you a stern look. “Not before.”

“I know.” You couldn’t help but pout a little.

Price snorted. “Get some rest,” he ordered, taking a single step forward to pat the top of your feet. He shot a look at Gaz that you couldn’t decipher before he turned and left.

Leaving you with Gaz again.

“How’re you doing?” Gaz shifted closer to you, his knees knocking into the side of the bed.

“Okay,” you said slowly, watching him. Now that you were less out of it, the sudden closeness and concern were… odd. You knew it was him, you knew his scent anywhere. Even in your sleep. Had he hit his head at some point? No, Price wouldn’t let him get away with not getting that treated.

“What?” Gaz blinked at you, gently curling his hand over your free hand.

“You’re… different.” You stopped yourself from saying more. Kinder. Softer. More like you remembered from the beginning, when you’d decided he was your person.

He swallowed hard, Adam’s apple bobbing, and looked down at your linked hands. “Yeah,” he agreed softly. “I, uh. I’m sorry. Been a real ass.” He rubbed the back of his neck, managing to look up at you from under his lashes.

You slow-blinked at him again, resisting the urge to headbutt him. For multiple reasons. Not least of which because it would hurt to move. “Coulda been worse.”

“You’re not supposed to excuse my shitty behavior.” Gaz frowned disapprovingly.

You shrugged and then hissed as your ribs reminded you that yes they were still broken. “It didn’t change anything.”

Gaz looked at you like you were a little crazy. “What do you mean?”

“Well.” You licked your lips and swallowed. Your turn to be nervous. “I wouldn’t have… I mean, I still… Hm.” You pursed your lips. Damn humans for being so insistent on words. Any cat would have known by now!

“You still… what?” Gaz leaned closer, eyes focused on you.

Soap saved you from having to explain, waltzing into your room with water and pudding. “Price mentioned ye were finally up! How ye feel, hen?”

“Alive,” you grumbled, tilting your head to look at him. “You brought food?”

“Just some pudding.” He offered it up and even opened it for you. Because he was a good friend.

“When are these bandages coming off?” you asked in a grumble, already annoyed at the reduced hearing in your left ear.

Soap shrugged. “Couple more days. Leg will take longer.” He tipped his head. “Why?”

“Wanna see how bad it looks.” You grimaced. You were a cat, after all. You had some vanity.

“Badass, more like.” Soap reached over to touch you, paused, and redirected his hand to very gently pat the top of your head instead.

“Not made of glass.” You looked down at your lap, scowling a little.

“Hen. Broken ribs suck. Ah ken.” Soap crouched so he could catch your gaze. “Ye’ll hurt for months. No need to go lookin’ for more hurt.”

You blew out a breath and then winced. Okay. Right. “Good point,” you admitted.

Soap grinned. “Has this dafty even tried t’ keep ye entertained?”

You blinked at Soap. “Uh. Define entertained.”

“Means no.” Soap reached over you to swat Gaz’s shoulder. You half-expected them to devolve into tussling - you’d seen it happen before. But they didn’t, this time. Instead Soap snagged another chair, pulling it up to your bedside with a flourish. “Right! Have I told ye ‘bout my sisters?”

The days passed slowly, but they passed. The hospital was boring. But you did rest, because you were forced to. Gaz was there every time you woke up, even in the middle of the night. Trying to get him to go had earned you the most pathetic puppy eyes you’d ever seen, and you were a bit ashamed of how quickly you caved to him.

Which was part of the whole problem, really. He was still your person, even if you weren’t his.

Gaz was the one who helped you from the bed to a wheelchair to make it out of the hospital. Gaz was the one who sat in the backseat with you, helping brace you and talking you through the pain of every bump in the road. Gaz was the one who brought you back to your room, who sat with you and insisted you boss him around telling him what you needed.

Honestly, it was baffling. Completely baffling. It still felt a bit like he’d been replaced with a pod person, or something. (Except your nose would’ve picked that up.)

The bandages around your head finally came off, and you examined the rough half-circle taken out of the top of your ear, completely silent, while Gaz hovered over your shoulder.

“It’s not bad,” you grumbled at last. “Still looks like I got caught by a spay and release program.”

“Have you ever?” Gaz held your gaze in the mirror.

“No one ever caught me,” you said with a haughty sniff, lifting your chin. “Until you. All. You all.”

Gaz drew in a deep breath, his hands settling very carefully on your shoulders. “We never finished our conversation.”

“Which one?” You didn’t quite have to feign ignorance - you’d fallen asleep talking to him more than once, recently.

“About what a shit I was.” He paused. “And why you’re so eager to sweep it under the rug.”

“Oh. That.” You swallowed, gaze skittering away from him.

“Yeah, that.” He shifted closer to you.

You hummed a soft note, not quite sure how to get out of this conversation, not sure if you should. Then you sighed softly. “For the record. You are an idiot.” You clenched your jaw and then released it. “If you were anyone else, I’d hold that against you for a long time.”

“What about Price and Ghost?”

“Trust me, I’ll be reminding them that they hated me and use it to my advantage.” You smirked. “Cats have long memories when we want.”

“So why aren’t you holding it against me?”

And therein lay the problem. You fidgeted, making a face. “Alright. So. There is one major way we differ from, say, house cats.”

“Okay…?” Gaz looked bewildered but rolled with the apparent change of topic.

“We choose one mate for life. Usually the female chooses. ‘S why Mama’s the matriarch.”

Gaz blinked and then his eyes blew wide as he breathed out your name.

“I made my choice three days into my stay here.” You forced yourself to hold still, to hold his gaze.

“You… But… Even when I…?” He looked… a little devastated, a little hopeful. Pained, definitely.

“Yes.” You shrugged carefully. “The whole damn time.”

Somehow, you weren’t quite sure how, Gaz managed to move around you, getting to your front and kissing you, soft and sweet. His fingers trembled against your cheeks.

“I’m so sorry,” he breathed, moving back just enough so he could speak. “I’m such a damn fool. You nearly died and I–” His breathing hitched.

“Easy,” you murmured, lifting one hand to cover his. “I’m okay.” You paused. “Well. I will be okay.”

“Made me realize what an idiot I’d been,” he continued, pressing his forehead to yours. “Made me realize I love you.”

Your breath caught, your eyes going wide. “You… do?”

“I do.” He huffed, breath warm against your lips. “Fuck, I’m so sorry.”

“Already forgiven.” You smiled slowly, carefully nuzzling his cheek. “Told you. Can’t hold a grudge against my person.”

Gaz smiled. "Feel like I should scold you for being so forgiving about this, but it works to my advantage."

You chuckled and then winced. Right. Ribs. "I'll be happy when those stitches come out," you grumbled, glowering down at your leg.

"Just a few more days," Gaz soothed. "Are they bothering you? Itching?"

"No. I just want to shift." You made a face.

"You don't like being stuck, do you?"

You swallowed hard, because that was… a little too accurate. "Right."

Gaz kissed you again soft and slow and sweet. "I'm sorry."

"Stop apologizing, you'll give me a complex." But you smiled, leaning in very carefully to nuzzle his cheek. "Just don't do it again. My forgiveness has its limits."

"Promise I won't." He kissed you again, apparently unable to help himself.

Not that you were complaining.

Your only real complaint was that anything more was out of the question. For the moment.

Gaz held your hand as the stitches were removed. The on-base medic gave you some advice (that you didn't actually pay attention to) before leaving.

You waited until the door was shut to shift. It hurt. It hurt more than you expected, left you panting softly.

But you were once again on four paws. Much better.

"You alright?" Gaz crouched down to be on your level, concern clear in his eyes.

You chirped and licked the tip of his nose, smug. This felt much better.

He chuckled quietly. "Can I pick you up?"

You chirped again, walking carefully closer to him. Walking hurt, but not as badly as when you were human.

It took a little figuring out, but Gaz picked you up and cradled you against his chest, one arm securely under your paws. You started purring immediately, rubbing your cheek against his chest.

The only times he put you down the rest of the day were when he absolutely had to.

Best of all? He went back to hand feeding you, grinning through the teasing from Soap.

You purred the entire meal.

Finally, he headed back towards your room for the night. "You ready for bed?" He asked softly.

You mrrped at him and tapped his hand. He blinked down at you. You looked very carefully down the hall, towards his room.

"You… want to stay with me?"

You chirped an affirmative.

"Well… alright. Just for tonight." He continued down to his room, setting you gently on the bed.

You gave him privacy to change for bed, padding up to his pillow to lay down next to it. Curling up was a no-go, so you laid carefully on your uninjured side.

Gaz settled down with you, kissing the top of your head. "Sleep well, love."

You closed your eyes, purring gently. There was no way you were just staying in here tonight. If you had your way, you'd never go back to your room.

You could be very persuasive when you wanted.

#state of my head #shifter au #gaz x reader #kyle gaz garrick x reader #f!reader

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penvisions · 20 days

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working on the final chapter for {by the grit of sandpaper} today

also have three more drabbles from the celebration emoji asks to post soonish, sorry it’s taking me so long

#but idk when it’ll be ready #just having fun with these two #dev talks #fic: by the grit of sandpaper #joel miller #joel miller x you #joel miller x reader

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next-autopsy · 7 months

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Made of Glass

Prologue

Chapter one: Home, sweet home

Chapter two: An Enigma and a Nepo Baby

Chapter three: Cigarette smoke

Chapter four: STDs at Breakfast

Chapter five: Don’t Diss the Help

Chapter six: Oh, the Guilt Gossip Brings

Chapter seven: Smooth

Chapter eight: Unrequitable Generosity

Chapter nine: Eight Chaperones

Chapter ten: Nickname Basis

Chapter eleven: James, Tommy and Jr

Chapter twelve: Is this Comfort?

Chapter thirteen: Baby Birdie

Chapter fourteen: Lipstick Stain

Chapter fifteen: Scorpion

Chapter sixteen: A Hangover and a Confession

Chapter seventeen: Another Promotion

Chapter eighteen: A Night to Remember

Chapter nineteen: An Itchy, Army Issued Blanket

Chapter twenty: Call Her Bluff

Chapter twenty and a half

Chapter twenty one: Chock-a-Block

Chapter twenty two: Just maybe

Chapter twenty three: May I Have This Dance?

Chapter twenty four: Perfect Timing

Chapter twenty five: A Sleepover

Chapter twenty six: Half an explanation

Chapter twenty seven: untitled (coming soonish)

Art and extras

My main oc: Bernadette - 2 - 3

Secondary ocs: Blythe, Constance, Lucille, Harriet, Francesca, Charlotte, Barbara, Elizabeth

A-I company women

More to come…

#band of brothers #hbo war #easy company #made of glass #next autopsy #first fic #band of brothers fanfic #band of brothers masterlist #made of glass masterlist #fem oc #oc #oc art #my oc

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steppingstonesuniverseguide · 5 months

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Deleted Scene from One Step At a Time Ch 36: The Curator

I'm going to be posting a One Step At a Time entry soonish and I'm deleting a bunch of things because it got very *silly* and kind of interfered with the whole *vibe* of the chapter. That being said, I do love the silly, so enjoy an exclusive Ch 36.0 from One Step At a Time.

(Also Techno does say a thing that's might come off as way too rude, but, like, Wilbur doesn't mind. He watched his dad mourn him for years. He knows he's wanted and both he and Techno are 100% aware of this.)

“We are we going?” Tommy asked for the 5th time in as many minutes. This trip was always too long even without a Tommy in the car.

"We already told you,” Wilbur said, sounding grumpy. (Probably because he’d been demoted to backseat. Usually, they’d make Phil sit in the back during civilian outings in revenge for all of the years they had to allow him to drive, but Tubbo was also sitting in the back seat and putting Phil back there seemed like a poor decision.) “We’re going to the library.”

“We are not going to the library,” Tommy said. “All three of you brought your costumes and you brought us masks.” He reached forward to poke Phil. “Phil where are we going.”

"We’re going to the library, mate,” Phil said with more patience than the child deserved today. “It’s just a special library.”

“Is it a crime library?”

“It’s a…” Phil said.

“Yes. It’s a crime library,” Wilbur cut in.

“Technically, it does house books considered illegal in current society,” Phil said.

“Like Animal Farm and The Lorax,” Techno contributed.

“What is a Lorax?” Tommy asked.

“We’ll check it out for you,” Techno said.

“Will you read it to me?”

“I promise you can read The Lorax yourself well enough at this point, but I will read Animal Farm to you if you’d like.”

“Anti-government bedtime story with Techno hour is starting up again.”

“Eventually we’ll get to The Communist Manifesto and What is Property?”

“God please, I don’t want to hear any more about 1800s relationship drama between Marx and Proudhon. This is all your fault.” Techno didn’t see it since he was driving but considering that Tommy make a squeaking sound and having sat in the backseat with Wilbur himself plenty times, he assumed Tommy had just been elbowed in the ribs.

He then heard various slapping sounds.

“Boys, please stop fighting,” Phil said.

“He started it,” Wilbur claimed which was not exactly true, but also Tommy had been being annoying for the entire car trip.

“I didn’t start shit. I just asked a normal fucking question about where we were going.”

“You-”

“Tubbo is sitting in the front on the way back,” Techno said just to Phil. “There is no other option at this point. We have to have an adult sit between them.”

“I’m older than you!” Wilbur declared, too close to Techno’s ear. Luckily, they were at a stoplight and Techno could reach back blindly to shove his head back into the backseat where it belonged.

“Phil,” Techno said. “explain to me again why you made him.”

“Tech-”

“Oh, that’s right,” Techno said, glancing into the backseat. “You were an accident.”

“Unlike you,” Wilbur said, “who he consciously decided to adopt as his itty bitty baby child.”

“Fuck you.”

“Fuck you!”

“Boys do I need to turn this car around?”

“How?” Techno and Wilbur said as one.

“This is why we don’t go on road trips anymore,” Phil sighed.

“Yes,” Techno said.

“Exactly,” Wilbur agreed.

“Also, he almost drove us off the Grand Canyon.”

“That too.”

Phil just rolled his eyes and turned to look out of the window.

“Okay, but are we almost there yet,” Tommy asked.

Wilbur groaned. “You’re such a child.”

“I’ve never been on a car ride this long,” Tommy complained. Which… now that Techno thought about it was a good point. They probably should have thought of that before putting him in the car.

“Tubbo’s fine.”

“Tubbo’s been asleep for an hour.”

“We’re almost there,” Techno said. “10 minutes.” Well, it was about 10 minutes to the entrance of the library, but he thought Tommy would probably be entranced by that.

#deleted scenes

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beewolfwrites · 1 year

Text

The Oar in the Sand - Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Cost of Freedom

Just as a forewarning, sorry not sorry!

A lot of you might hate me for this chapter - that, or you’ll hate Niragi even more than usual, which is saying something.

This fic will be coming to an end soonish, but rest assured, things will look up after this chapter XD

AO3 Link

___________________________________________________

It was a bad dream. A skewed nightmare that I would eventually awake from. Chishiya wasn’t actually lying on the ground. He wasn’t clutching his side, the sticky blood coating his fingers.

Except he was. And this wasn’t a dream.

This isn’t real. It can’t be real. It can’t be.

At the sound of the gunshot, Arisu spun on his heel. When he finally saw us standing there, his eyes widened and he shakily raised his rifle.

‘Niragi.’

‘Yo.’ Niragi trudged closer to them. ‘It makes me pretty damn happy to see you here too, Arisu.’

Their words were nothing. A blur of blood and death, happening somewhere far away. My arms and legs were numb, and I couldn’t seem to move. All I could do was stare at Chishiya’s form on the ground. It was a scene, acted out by hand puppets in a diorama - a performance of reality. But no matter how many times I blinked, the scene before me didn’t change.

Until it did.

Chishiya sat up, assessing his wound with faint amusement. ‘If that shot was supposed to kill me, you failed miserably.’

You’re really alive.

I released a sharp breath and Chishiya’s eyes shifted from Niragi to me. The smugness disappeared and his face became unreadable, a guarded wall with a trace of conflict. It would have worked on anyone else, but not me. I knew him too well. I could see the thoughts racing through his mind — he didn’t expect me to be here, he didn’t expect me to be alive.

Without a word, I moved towards him, only for Niragi’s forearm to wrap itself around my throat, snaring me in a bruising headlock.

I can’t… I can’t breathe!

I twisted back and forth in an attempt to loosen Niragi’s grip. His arm tightened in response and the pressure was crushing my throat. It was too much, too tight. If this kept up, I was going to die here, drowning without air. Fearing the worst, I went limp, focusing all of my energy on trying to inhale as best I could. In the midst of this delirium, I felt the barrel of his gun against my head.

‘Let her go,’ Chishiya hissed, slowly pulling himself to his feet, one hand pressed against his wound.

‘Niragi, that’s enough!’ Arisu exclaimed.

‘You know, I wasn’t going to end this with a surprise attack,’ Niragi said. ‘But now that we’re all back here together, let’s do this. A game of shootout - a Battle Royale! It seems pretty suitable, don’t you think?’

‘A game between players?’ Arisu asked.

All at once, a cold wind blew through the streets. The light turned grey as the sun disappeared behind thick grey clouds. I felt the first drops of rain hit my cheek, cold and full of life.

The cyclone… it never went away.

It was as if the storm knew what was happening. Everything had been building up to this moment, the cat and mouse chase with Niragi, the unresolved tensions from the Beach. I wasn’t the only one who could sense it. Arisu and Chishiya looked up at the clouds, their faces darker. Meanwhile, Niragi let out a pleased hum, as if he was impressed by the change in weather.

‘The three of us are very similar,’ he explained. ‘We’re freaks who can’t fit in with society. We’re scum. But we still feel the need to stay alive, probably more than most people.’

‘You might be right about us,’ Arisu said, ‘but leave her out of it. She doesn’t need—’

Niragi cut him off with a wet cough. He shifted, and I heard the sound of something splattering to the ground. From the corner of my eye I could see blood and saliva mixing with streams of rain.

He’s coughing up blood? No wonder I smelled it on him earlier…

‘I don’t have much time left,’ he muttered. ‘So let’s get on with this. As kindred spirits, let’s play one last game.’

I felt the handgun pull away from my head as he pointed it at Chishiya and Arisu. Chishiya reached one hand into the waistband of his sweatpants and took out the familiar pistol. My heart suddenly filled with dread.

No, you can’t be falling for it!

That pistol couldn’t possibly have many bullets left. I wanted to scream at him to run away, to hide like he always did. But of course, he didn’t move. Chishiya had never feared death.

‘I like it.’ His mouth curled into a smile, but his catlike eyes were cold and hard. ‘You should join us, Arisu.’

The rain drummed against the roofs of cars, the noise almost drowning out all sense. I shivered in the icy wind. It disgusted me to be so close to someone as monstrous as Niragi, but I had no choice but to cling to his arm around my throat, ready to rip it off the moment I had the chance.

Arisu was wide-eyed, caught between the others. ‘Chishiya? You too?’

‘I’m sure you despise me as well,’ Chishiya replied. ‘Now’s your chance to take revenge for everything I did to you at the Beach. Let’s play, just the three of us.’ He looked at me pointedly, then at Niragi.

Don’t, I wanted to tell him. Don’t try to help. Just run away.

Although I couldn’t see his face, I could hear Niragi’s grin as he spoke. ‘Since I’m half-dead already, she’ll be my shield. Got to even out the playing field, you know.’

Arisu frowned deeply. ‘Are you insane?’

‘Come on!’ Niragi insisted. ‘You’ve got a gun too, take aim.’

Arisu was incredulous, looking between the other two for any sign of rationality. ‘Please! Do we really have to do this?’

My eardrums exploded with a sharp pain as Niragi fired several times at Arisu. He ducked and hid behind the nearest car. In the distraction, I felt Niragi’s grip become ever so slightly lax.

It’s now or never.

Twisting my neck as far down as I could, I clamped my teeth on Niragi’s forearm. He let out a guttural howl and finally released me, coughing and spluttering as I fell to my knees. But there was no time.

‘Chishiya, now,’ I croaked.

Bullets flew past me, hitting car doors and wet gravel as Niragi swerved, staggering on the ground. Even though Chishiya didn’t have the best aim, the plan worked. I was finally free. It was a small victory, but the moment was short-lived.

Niragi retaliated, firing two rounds at Chishiya who leapt behind a rusty car. With Niragi so focused on firing at Chishiya and Arisu, this was my chance. I had to run, fast. One hand braced against my aching throat, I tried to stand.

I think I can—

A crushing blow slammed into my stomach. And then another. The pain was blinding in its ferocity, and I curled into myself, wrapping my arms around my head even as my body was thrown back and forth. I was vaguely aware of a woman screaming, but I could barely hear her as Niragi kicked me again and again. Just when I thought it was all going to end, I heard a snicker, and an incredible weight stamped on my shin. Something cracked deep inside and a white hot pain flared throughout my body. Only then did I realise that the person screaming was me.

Gunshots sounded once again from Chishiya’s direction. However they must have missed as Niragi ducked a little, but didn’t move away. Another kick landed on my stomach. But this time, his foot caught my ribs, knocking the air straight out of me. I wheezed, winded by the force of the blow.

‘Stop this Niragi!’ Arisu shrieked. His voice sounded so far away. ‘She doesn’t have anything to do with this!’

Niragi only laughed. ‘She has everything to do with this. Why else would I bring her here?’

Another shot was fired. There was a tearing of fabric and suddenly, the assault ceased. Every inch of my body was on fire, and I could tell already that my leg was fractured. Even the tiniest movements were torturous, but I knew I had to somehow get away from here.

I couldn’t die after coming this far. I couldn’t let myself.

Opening my eyes a little, I was relieved to discover that Niragi had backed away. He was now standing on the roof of a car, his shirt sleeve ripped from that last bullet.

‘Isn’t this great weather?!’ His voice was nearly drowned out by the wind and rain. ‘A typhoon like this doesn’t happen often!’

‘You’re surprisingly still pretty lively,’ Chishiya said. ‘I think we need to fix that.’

‘A bullet between the eyes would do the trick,’ I groaned under my breath, trying to find the strength to move even a little bit.

‘Cut it out!’ Arisu pleaded from his hiding place. ‘Nothing good can come from something like this. Stop involving others in your own self-abandonment!’

There was a pause, and then Niragi chuckled lowly. ‘Self-abandonment? That’s not it at all. I’m simply doing what I want, the way I want. You guys are the same. It’s always “me” with you two. It’s always about what you want!’

With my good leg, I tried to push myself forward, even if I was just inching along the wet ground. The wet stones and gravel were sharp against my skin, and shooting pains ran along my fractured leg. But I pushed it aside, gritting my teeth and fighting away tears as I dragged my body across the wet tarmac and grass.

I was halfway to the nearest car, halfway to safety. There was just a little more to go.

A little more.

From his ledge on the car roof, Niragi was simmering with tightly controlled mania. It was impossible to tell whether he was laughing or outraged.

‘You aren’t experts on life just because you saw a bunch of people die,’ he raved. ‘“Living for Others” - that’s just bullshit! The only people we care about are ourselves. We’re still pieces of trash who’ll never grow up. The only thing people like us need is our own worthless ego!’

My ego?

‘We can never change. So the only thing we can do is embrace it!’

There was a silence as Niragi’s words sank in. His methods were grotesque, but he was telling the truth. We were all flawed in some way or another, from throwing others under the bus to ignoring others’ feelings. In some ways, it was human nature.

But to embrace that selfishness?

I had always chosen to stay hidden away in the cage of my father’s control, never thinking independently or following my own path. I hated my my past self for being so naive and unwilling to change. Clinging onto romantic fairy-tales spun from jewellery… refusing to come out of my hotel room just because of a stupid bikini… running away to get drunk at the bar just because I had been faced with a few hard truths. It didn’t matter how well I performed in games back then, because I had never really understood the reason why I was fighting for my life.

‘I’ll try and make my own freedom from now on.’

Those were the same words I’d sworn to Chishiya on the hotel rooftop. But what did freedom really mean? How could I fight for something I didn’t understand? But now, at this very moment, crawling towards Chishiya… towards my older brother… towards my future, I finally knew my reason for fighting.

I wanted to live without constant fear.

And like hell I’m going to quit now.

Looking in Chishiya’s direction, I found him watching me over the car bonnet. But then, his eyes moved to something behind me, mouth parting ever so slightly. He raised the pistol.

‘Unlike you guys, I’m embracing it fully,’ Niragi muttered. ‘Starting right here.’

The last thing I heard was a familiar click, followed by a gunshot ricochetting over the wind. Everything — the aching cold, the pain spreading throughout my body, the bullets. It was all washed away by the rain.

#alice in borderland #aib #chishiya #chishiya shuntaro #Imawa no Kuni no Arisu #Chishiya x reader #chishiya x oc

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spicywhenspeaking · 7 months

Text

If I’m There : Chapter Four

one two three

fluff/language

minors DNI

Okay! If this is your first time seeing this we’re working on a friends to lover to strangers to friends to ??? Developing the budding relationship between Noah and my OFC Natalie - ah young love - but of course to be young and in love is usually to be kinda stupid. This story will soonish take us 10 years into the future and our two love birds with meet again but secrets have been kept and feelings buried away..will true love prevail?? (yeah probably but it’s gonna hurt like Hell first)

————————————

Noah and I spend the weekend listening to music and watching movies. He convinces me to watch a few episodes of Narato, which I won't say I hated, maybe I'll give it another chance if it means that much to him.

Saturday afternoon my mom called and told me she took Kyle to the psychiatrist and they're going to consider medication after a few more meetings and he's promised he will go to weekly therapy. I told my mom I was glad she took him to get checked out but that I was nervous about being alone with him in the house. She assured me that wouldn't happen, she took herself off the night shift rotation and will now only work while we're in school until the dust settles. I told her I would think about it more and call her back later.

I told Noah about the conversation with my mom and he invited me to stay until at least Monday so I had some time away from Kyle. I text my mom that I'll be back Monday after school because I still need more time.

Later when we're watching some random YouTube video Noah turned on while cuddling on the couch, Noah's arm is draped across my shoulder. My hands are wrapped around his waist and my head is resting against his chest. One thing leads to another and then our lips are drifting towards another. What starts as soft pecks changes as I feel his tongue seeking entrance into my mouth, time slows and I allow him to take as much control. Moving his hands up to tangle into my hair as the kiss intensified, I gasped as he kissed down my cheek and onto my neck. He’s pressing soft, delicate kisses over the bruised skin. It feels so good I don’t even know how to stop myself from quietly moaning his name “Noah”

He moves quickly grabbing my waist and twisting us so my back is on the couch with my legs on either side of his hips. Noah is moving back in with feverish kisses and I feel his hips move to push against my own and I’m trying to keep up, my mind is running and my body is heating up rapidly. “Wait” I gasp out in between breaths “Hold on, Noah stop” and with that, he freezes and stops immediately. “Are you okay? Is your neck hurting?” His voice is full of concern.

“My neck is okay, I’m just a little overwhelmed. This is moving a little faster than I - I’m just- Noah. I’m a virgin”

And in my head, all I can think is that this is when it all ends, he’s not going to want to deal with my melodramatic virgin bullshit. I mean dealing with my asshole brother is one thing, but a crybaby virgin. No way.

“I get it. I totally understand” he’s sitting back so I can push myself back, sitting up against the back of the couch with my knees to my chest, feeling embarrassed and so fucking lame.

“We don’t have to do anything you’re not ready for Natty, I’m sorry if I was too forward. I just kind of lose my mind around you” Noah moves to place his hand on my knee. “Natty, look at me baby” I raise my eyes to meet his and they look genuine “We can move at whatever pace you’re comfortable with, sex isn’t what I'm after here” My cheeks must be cherry fucking red.

“Really? It doesn’t bother you?” I ask.

“Bother me? Why would it bother me?” He looks at me confused.

“I just figure most guys don’t want to deal with the emotions and stuff with all that, ya know losing the v card and all” He laughs at that. “I really like you Noah, and I’d like to, eventually, but I’m just not ready”

He rubs his hand over my head moving the hair that fell in front of my face and kisses my forehead. “I really like you too, and I don’t mind waiting until you’re ready. I don’t. I just want to be around you, however you’ll have me”

My heart will likely burst out of my chest.

“I want to be around you too and I don’t mind the kissing, I definitely enjoy that” With that he moves to softly kiss my lips “Okay, kissing? Check.” We smile and laugh softly.

“Do you want to watch another movie? What about Howls Moving Castle? It’s-“ I interrupt him before he finishes his thought.

“Studio Ghibli, of course I know! I love that movie, let’s watch”

We watch the movies cuddling on the couch for the rest of the day, Noah orders a pizza for dinner and we fall asleep on the couch. It must be the middle of the night. I feel myself moving but I’m not sure how, I open my eyes and see a sleepy Noah cradling me in his arms and walking toward his room. “Fell asleep on the couch” he grumbles out sleepily “It’ll totally fuck up by back sleeping there all night”

He places me in his bed and climbs in behind me, covering us with the blanket, and wraps me tight against his chest. A few seconds later he’s back out like a light, I smile to myself and follow to sleep soon after.

Sunday is a blur of homework and Noah writing songs. Nick comes over for a few hours and they work on some stuff together while I finish up my history paper. My hair is in a messy bun and I have my glasses in since my contacts dried out and I forgot to bring my solution. Noah said he would buy some to keep here if I wanted to stay over again another time. He is perfection. I’m working on finishing touches of my paper when I hear a shutter and look up to see Noah taking a picture of me from the other side of the room “Oh my god Noah nooo” I hold my hand in front of my face like a celebrity hiding from the paparazzi “no pictures please” he laughs and moves to crouch next to me and squish our faces together and flipping the camera to take a selfie “okay, say cheese natty”

“Cheese!” I say and he snaps a few in quick succession.

“I’ll send you these right now. Screensaver material for sure,” he says.

He sends me the photos and I chose one to make as my screensaver.

Ending the night in bed, wrapped in Noah’s arms I fall asleep thinking despite the reason I ended up here, this has been one of the best weekends of my life.

Monday comes and as Noah is walking me to my first period AP history class he stops abruptly, I shift my eyes to see what he’s staring at and it’s Kyle. He’s standing in front of my class. Noah’s breathing quickens and he stalks towards my brother with a palpable anger “you shouldn’t be here right now Kyle” he seethes and places himself in between the two of us. “Walk away” Noah warns.

“I’m only here to try and apologize to my sister, this really isn’t any of your business Sebastian” Kyle retorted back with a snide tone.

“If it has to do with my girlfriend, it’s my business asshole” Noah steps closer to Kyle, his height towering over my brother's 5”10’ frame.

“Really sis? This guy? You’re actually together? After everything I told you”

Before Noah can respond I pipe up “Yes Kyle, really. Noah’s my boyfriend. Like it or not, I don’t give a shit. You have no right to question the choices I make, you have no right to come to me after everything YOUVE done and act like you can tell me what to do. Right now, you need to walk away and leave me alone for the rest of the day. We can talk with mom, after school” I worked to keep my voice down but I know we got a few stares during our exchange. Kyle stares daggers between Noah and I “I don’t like it” he grumbles

“I don’t care” I tell him again. “Hate it all you want, it’s not changing the fact we’re together, so get over it or ignore it Kyle. Now please just let me got to class and leave me alone”

“Fine” Kyle stalks away, stomping dramatically down the hallway and I roll my eyes at his stupid antics.

“I cannot wait until I am done with school and farrr away from him” I say to Noah who’s breathing has evened now that Kyle has left.

“Yes, the sooner we can get you out of that house, the better.” I smile at his unconscious declaration. “We huh? I like the sound of that”

His cheeks are a soft pink “Yeah. We.” He gives me a quick kiss and hug before leaving him to head into my class. “I’ll see you at lunch all right? And text me if Kyle shows up again okay?”

I mock salute “will do. See you later”

The rest of the day goes by smoothly, Kyle took my words seriously and stayed away from me for the rest of the day. When I get home I enter through the front door and hear quiet chatter in the living room as I approach. I hear a voice I haven’t heard in years.

My eyes are wide and my jaw opens when I round the corner and see my father sitting next to my mom on the couch with Kyle across on the recliner.

He turns to me and a smile breaks across his face “Hey Jelly Bean, I missed you baby”

~~~~~~~~~~~

Next chapter here!

Lemme say that in the lore I’m creating Noah is already 18 (imma have to go back and fix an earlier part..did I mention this is my first fanfic…)because he was held back in a younger grade and Natalie is 17 almost 18. I’m not writing any smut until their both 18 because it feels weird plus she’s waiting for it to be special ❤️

Taglist: @lma1986 @notingridslurkaccount

#noah sebastian #noahsebastian #noah sebastian fic #noah sebastian fanfiction #bad omens #bad omens fanfiction #bad omens fic #noah sebastian fluff #If I’m There Noah

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atsadi-shenanigans · 11 days

Text

Feeding Alligators 56 - This Bitch

Because I am incapable of cross-posting during the middle of the week, here's Wednesday's chapter! Ch. 57 coming out tomorrow: Let the Bodies Hit the Floor.

You meet the Absolute.

On AO3.

As Wyll says, the rain ends just about as fast as it started. Y’all head out again, up the hill, when y’all run into another troupe of goblins with a short, purple dude tied up to a spinning windmill. Little dude hollers all the way up, and all the way down.

You’re still drained, so when you catch Karlach clucking her tongue at the little dude’s predicament, you nudge her into talking to the goblins. She basically threatens to crush their skulls between her hands—she leans in all close and heat pours off her and huh, that does something for you.

The goblins leave the little dude—Wullbren—who’s looking for his friend. He lets y’all have his pack in thanks for the rescue. Still no jewelry (you been avoiding looking at Astarion since the shed; it’s horrifying how easy it is to fall back into a friendly pattern with him).

It’s quiet up to the last bridge. Some kinda building rises in a crag through the hill beyond. The brush is burnt and charred, little pockets of embers still gather at the bases of blackened trees. Shitty, shoddy ramparts have been thrown up in that crag gap, and goblins move atop them. They ain’t alone.”

“Are those wargs?” you say. Fuckers look like some kinda hyena-bear mix (what would a half Man-Wolf, half ogre even look like).

Gale shoots you a look. “How do you know what a warg is?”

Same way you know about elves, magic, goblins, and fucking ogres.

“We got stories,” you say. “Made up stories, for us. But here…”

The last part said with a gesture to the ramparts.

Gale’s fingers twitch again. Since he can’t whip out an inkpot and a scroll right here, he inhales, clasps his hands, and says, “I rather strongly request another information session when we have the chance.”

Man wants stories.

“If we ain’t all dead, sure,” you say.

This whole thing might be over by tonight. Or soonish, if Mr. Healer ain’t dead. And after that…

After that, you’re stuck here.

The thought twists your stomach. You look at the group again. All of them with their own lives. Two of them want nothing to do with you (you try not to acknowledge the white fluff outta the corner of your eye). Shadowheart seems nice enough eventually, but she still has her own secret shit going on. Karlach is fresh outta the hells, so your best bet is still likely Wyll or Gale. And you can be of more use to Gale, you think. Wyll seems friendly and heroic, and you doubt he’d leave your ass in a ditch. But Gale is hungry for knowledge (you recognize that look) and you can leverage that.

…maybe he needs a housekeeper? You could do that.

Later. This is all later. Flailing around about it now ain’t gonna help a damned thing.

For now, y’all gotta get past the guard post of goblins.

“Hey Karlach, you wanna go scare our way in again?”

She grins all mean and smacks her fist into her palm. “Aces.”

***

She does, in fact, scare y’all in. Leaves one of the goblins wearing a smear of warg shit all over his face—he started it, so you don’t feel that bad. The trail is muddy, everything smells like acrid piss, and then a fucking voice shoots down outta the sky to thunderclap inside your skull.

It knocks you to your knees. Overwhelming pressure shoves you down. Squeezes your skull. You try to push up (Lae’zel got you to three push ups before she gave up on you), but a new wave comes crashing down and tries to shove your face into the dirt.

Someone curses behind you. The crew is down, too. What—

A voice. Loud. Consuming. A woman? She’s saying something, but you’re seeing flashes of something, of people?

The Absolute, you realize. You know it, like you know your own name or you know you got ten toes. This is the Absolute calling to you, pulling you, forcing you.

She bursts open your head like stepping on a grape. Bursts the others, and you can feel them, too. Stranger thoughts, alien ones.

Mostly panic. This is it. It’s got you. A ghaik enslavement. A foreign goddess. No, no gods not again not again you got away from him—

Your mother standing over you, you all half-naked and crouched on the cement floor with everybody watching, everybody knowing and you grovel outright, the shame clogging your throat, blinding your eyes—

The rage snaps like a trigger. Like an eruption. Hot fury blasts up, shattering fear and panic in a raw, churning plume blowing up the surrounding mental landscape.

No.

Fuck that bitch and fuck them all, you’ll kill them, every last one of them and they ain’t gonna get you, not ever again, you will burn the farmstead to fucking ashes and then burn those ashes to fucking powder—

“Stop!”

A red light blasts through the crushing torment. Cuts through your rage—a flash in the periphery, startled, wary—and the new voice barrels into the Absolute. The pressure clears, the voice whispering before it cuts off completely.

You’re on the ground again. Arms shaking, knees knocking. You take some unsteady breaths and sit up as something flies outta Shadowheart’s bag to plop into your hand.

The fuck?

“Uh,” you say.

But when you turn, you’re getting weird looks. Lae’zel wears pure suspicion, laser-focused on Shadowheart. Who seems torn about something, though she keeps glancing to the spiky ball now in your hands. But the others…

Gale swallows. Blinks something down. “I believe we’ve just met this new goddess, then.”

Fucking bitch pig. Fucking asshole bitch pig.

“And we were saved by a relic of my people,” Lae’zel says, staring daggers at the back of Shadowheart’s skull.

The cleric stiffens.

But Gale cuts between them, as he’s low-key been doing the whole time. “Whatever it is, it just saved us from a psychic bombardment. We must be getting close to this Absolute, and its power will only grow stronger as we do. I have a grave suspicion that without that artifact, we’d be helpless as babes. Best put aside our difference before we sprout full ceremorphosis tentacles, yes?”

Both women stand there a moment. Only once something moves at Shadowheart’s side do you notice she’d grabbed the handle of her mace.

“Agreed,” she says. Gives a mean girl head tilt to Lae’zel. “Or are the gith so proud and blinded as to throw themselves unarmed at their enemy?”

If Lae’zel glared at you like that, your skin’d peel right off. She hisses (good god, your primate brain don’t like that at all) and nods. Once.

“Good. Now,” Gale says. “There’s a goblin camp and perhaps our salvation just ahead. Shall we?”

You let them all settle and set off again. You try to give the spiky ball back to Shadowheart, but she catches Lae’zel watching her like a dingo on a human baby, and shakes her head.

“It came to you,” she says. “You keep it.”

An uninvolved third party. Cause that’s what you wanna be right now.

You pull out your pack to shove the thing in there—the fuck is it? A toy? A music box? A puzzle to summon skin-flaying BDSM demons?

Wyll sidles up as you’re cinching the pack shut again. He’s got something soft in his face when he looks at you.

It immediately lifts your hackles.

“Was that your mother?” he says.

Your mind blanks. Everything goes flat and still, because this? This ain’t happening.

(Your brains were connected.)

Those memories are your own, private shit show and you don’t share.

(They saw.)

You ain’t never told Sasha all of it.

(They saw.)

You ain’t never told any therapist all of it.

(NO.)

“Who was what?” you say.

Karlach stares, too. Her eyebrows crunch together.

“That vision. Or memory,” Wyll says. “I…I’m sorry. I don’t mean to pry.”

Oh, you seen this before. Especially in them early days, when you’d be telling some story and kinda laughing about it, but then you’d look over and catch that face, right there. The veiled horror. The goddamn sympathy. The look of somebody who found a mangy, broken stray on the side of the road, only this dog’s too mean and it keeps trying to bite.

The fuck they’re gonna look at you like that.

You keep your expression loose, your own brow slightly wrinkled—totally in puzzlement and not at all in panic and terror.

“What vision?” you say. “I saw them three people that voice was all attached to? Them fucking…disciples or whatever?”

How much did they see? You felt Lae’zel’s queasy dread, the utter failure that swallowed her when that seemed the end.

Wyll pauses. He’s gonna say something. You know it. But then he just folds whatever it was back underneath a rueful smile. “It must have been part of the attack, then. Think nothing of it.”

And you almost believe him. The way he relaxes. The softness of his eyes. It’s all Wyll, dashing and kind.

But you didn’t get out by believing, and part of you whispers: he knows, they all do, fuck, fuck.

You can’t show that, though. You’re gonna brazen it out come hell or high water.

“Druid rescue, huh?” you say.

And that gets Karlach going again, too. They shuffle off after the others, and you sling your pack up over your shoulders.

You know he’s still standing there. Hasn’t moved or said nothing. But you can feel him watching, so you summon your best bored face (which you been told by a lot of people it looks extra bitchy) and turn.

You don’t say nothing, either. Just watch him watching you. Raise one eyebrow.

Astarion looks…strange. Maybe that’s just his version of thoughtful. It ain’t Bitch or Gripe or Flirt. You ain’t even sure he knows he’s doing it. There’s something different in it, different than all the other times he’s ever looked at you.

He still don’t say a goddamn word. Finally, you lift your arm in an “after you” gesture, and his face buttons back up. He sets off after the others.

And that is entirely too much being perceived for you. Makes your damn skin crawl.

#feeding alligators fic #these two shitheads #astarion #astarion x tav #tavstarion #slow burn #demisexual tav #plus size tav #it's an isekai #the disclosure arc

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frosticenow · 11 months

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Masterlist l Frosticenow

This is the Masterlist of all my fics. I will try and keep it updated as much as possible. All the the fics are posted on AO3.

Modern Girl in Middle Earth

Young Man's Fancy was Turned into the Spring

Relationships: Fíli (Tolkien)/Original Female Character(s) Rating: Mature

Fíli son of Víli and Dís, brother to Kíli and sister-son and heir to Thorin Oakenshield has gone missing without a trace. While his family in the Blue Mountains mourn him, the young prince finds himself in a world different from the one he has always known.

Ongoing

Bagginshield

Diamond in the Garden

Relationships: Bilbo Baggins/ Thorin Oakenshield, Fíli/Original Female Character(s) Rating: Mature (also note this had mpreg in it)

It has been just over three years since the Battle of the Five Armies, and Bilbo had created a life for himself back in the Shire. Most of his friends and family wont speak to him and he lives with a shadow of fear the the dwarrow of Erebor will come back for him and find out about his secret. Unexpected visitors appear on his doorstep on day throwing what he thought he knew into chaos.

Ongoing

Flower that Never Die

Relationships: Bilbo Baggins/ Thorin Oakenshield Rating: Teen

Thorin is trying to support his family by leaving the safety of the mountain. Traveling to the Shire seems like the best way.

Finished Note: I am planning on reworking this and increasing the length soonish. I also did this for @thorinsspringforge 2023 with @consultingpacha who’s companion piece you can see here.

Thorin/Original Female Character

The Thread of Life

Thorin Oakenshield/Original Female Character (s) Rating: Explicit specifically for chapters 4 and 6

Thorin Oakenshield begins his question with a small token. The handmade handkerchief was a small memento from the dwarrowdam he had loved in secret.

This was written for the Tolkien Reverse Summer Bang 2022. It is a collaboration with @lathalea, who created the beautiful piece of embroidery and prompt.

Finished

A Funny Thing happened in Gondor

Thorin Oakenshield/Original Female Character (s) Rating: Explicit

Thorin is travelling to the Mannish kingdoms to make trade agreements and strengthen Erebor. The first stop is Minas Tirith, where the Steward of Gondor uses politics as a game. Thorin finds an unlikely ally.

Finished Note: I did this for @thorinsspringforge 2023 with @legolasbadass who’s companion piece you can see here.

Gen

Three Bracelets and a Loaf of Bread

Rating: General

Dis works hard with and for her people. Even if little dwarflings are being spoiled by their adad (father).

This is for The Hobbit and Unexpected Collaboration 2022.

For the Prompt: Everything about Dis

This was written for THUC2022 with @ragsweas Finished

Frerin/Original Female Character

Oh Brother Where Art Thou

Rating: Teen and Up

In which an injured Prince Frerin finds himself in an unlikely position with his memories gone and surrounded by peculiar creatures with large feet and a fondness for being kind.

For the prompt: 25 - Injured and on his last leg, Frerin didn't know where to go after he was left on the battlefield of Khazad-dum. Part of The Hobbit an Unexpected Collaboration 2022 event.

This was written for THUC2022 with @biblophilefox82 Finished

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jamiesfootball · 10 months

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Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love 💗

So I wasn't going to do this because I don't even have five fics posted yet, but then I decided you know what? Fucking goals, man. So here's the two I've got and the (top) three that I'm working on that should see the light of day this year:

The Man From U.N.C.L.E. fic - Did you like the 2015 Man From UNCLE movie? Did you walk out of that theater going 'what a wild romp? I sure hope it gets a sequel.'

Well we're never getting a sequel, but here's a lovely OT3 fic that I was lucky enough to co-write with the very talented @thischapstickaddict (the bestie with the best outlines). She brings the romance, I bring the punchy action scenes, and together we crafted enough dramatic backstory to hopefully satisfy the 100 other people online who were obsessed with this movie in 2015.

The Garrison Reserve (aka the BBC's Musketeers Cooking AU fic) - Speaking of older fandoms. Are you hungry? Would you like to be hungry? Come be hungry what started as a crack idea but slowly became a thinly veiled excuse for me to talk about food for 64k words and make my case for why D'Artagnan is a manic pixie Florida man (until depression and life circumstances dragged me to a crushing halt at chapter 4/5 with half of chapter 5 written and never posted) (ngl I miss this fic and now that i've got brain waves again it's back on the menu) (as soon as i relearn every side character's name again it's back on the menu) (we also did, in fact, write a real menu for this. those are real recipes)

NOW ONTO THE NEW STUFF BABY!!!!!!!

[Redacted Title] Post Season Three Fic - MY TRIUMPHANT RETURN. It's gonna have all the hits for me: food! crying! backstories for people who didn't get backstories! food as a love language! shameless nerd culture quotes that no one but me will notice! shenanigans! fun group scenes with multiple people talking and being friends! friends who are your family now! If you, a blessed Ted Lasso fan reading this post have somehow stuck it out this far here's your reward - I'm feeling really good about the progress, and I maybe might don't want to jinx it but I might be able to start posting. Soon. Soonish. Like within the month. Previously aforementioned bestie has been getting snippets and I am tentatively excited that it will be up to snuff. This is good news that only you, the patient one who's read this far, now know. Yay for you!

Pavlov's Dog (the Jamie falling asleep 5+1 I've mentioned) - it is going to be a race to see if this one beats [Redacted Title] to the light of day. This one takes an episode coda / deleted scene approach and its fueled by punk and sadness and rage (so mainly The Wonder Years songs with the occasional Mountain Goats lyric thrown in). I was actually making really really good progress on it and then Mom City happened and [Redacted Title] was born.

Now I've got a handful more Ted Lasso fics half-started in the rafters, but the other fic that's likely to get posted this year, the one that I've been just dying to get out there, that one that i'm like a redbull and an ADHD fit away from posting even though no one but me has ever wanted it:

MY BATFAM / THE CONJURING AU - THAT'S RIGHT. ARE YOU A FAN OF BATMAN AND SPECIFICALLY HIS ADOPTED FAMILY? DID YOU LIKE THE MOVIE THE CONJURING? ARE YOU SCARED? WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE SCARED? IT'S SCARY. I WROTE A THING AND IT'S SCARY.

This is my mid-year resolution! These things I have written - people will see them!

#ya'll i am so sorry but I think it's time for you to know i am in fact like this. all the time #I'm not even gonna tag this with any fandoms #it feels too spammy #ask box #ask box is always open #if anyone has any questions about any of these #i will not give spoilers but i love to be elusive and meta and talk about the thinky thoughts that are going on #mild fic update - [redacted title] now at 54k which is not a lot of progress but is at the same time #as i begin to replace the notes that were part of the outline with actual writing - the notes eventually must disappear #I will update this post when I post I will update this post when I post I will update this post when I post

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danpuff-ao3 · 10 months

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Tag people you'd like to get to know better!

Thanks for the tag @snapesnailtape! 🤗

Three Ships: Harry/Snape, Draco/Sirius, Hermione/Fleur

First Ship: SNARRYYYYYY. 20 years & counting 🫶

Last Song: "Love Comes Home" by Les Friction from a certain upcoming fic's playlist 👀

Last Movie: Generally I don't know the answer to this question but ACTUALLY I fairly recently for no reason whatsoever 👀 rewatched Titanic. 10/10 film but also my thalassaphobia is REAFFIRMED. (That movie is the reason I have said phobia so y'know...🤷‍♀️)

Currently Reading: The Body Keeps the Score....slowly but surely working my way through that one. And various shortfics that catch my eye!

Currently Watching: random true crime videos 😂 Mostly working through Rotten Mango's backlog

Last Thing I Wrote: well the last work I finished was my fic for Snarry Bang!! The fest starts posting on the 31st and I'm SUPER excited for it. It's been driving me batty so I'm glad the wait will end soonish! I'm so so stoked to share this story with people, I can't even explain!! 😁

Currently Writing: Wasted for Love. Chapter 2 is edited, though I may hold off posting until life calms down and I can work on writing more. Now I've split chapter 3 into 2 so I need to adjust my outline and clean up what I have before I continue on. Which, again, I need the chaos in my life to settle down a bit before I can get there! It really feels like just my luck that when I'm so determined to get this fic going that life throws me a gazillion curveballs!

Tagging (but no pressure of course!): @ciacconne, @flymetosnarryland, @lumosatnight, @broomsticks, @indigo-scarf

#tag game #snarry snarry snarry

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winter-spark · 4 days

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Hiya friends, I'm having a writing predicament.

See I think just maybe my arranged royal marriage au might be too long. And mayhaps I need to break the chapters into their own stories and make the story a series.

Which is wild because the chapters were me trying to find the best places to split up the one shot that was getting too long. Plus that means that it might feel a little cheap to stop before the actual wedding.

But like let me explain why it might be too long. My first draft which was this 🤏🏾 close to being complete was a one-shot turned 3 shot, turned technically 4 because chapter 2 was split (chapters are named by "Acts" so chapters 2 and 3 are both Act II but Act II part 1 & part 2), then turned 5, then 6. It has about 35,988 words and again was incomplete(finished in my head.) But to put the chapter sizes in perspective, in my second draft, chapter one is currently 8,183 words. I'm still writing chapter two but I'm a third - halfway through it at 3,226 words. For comparison, the first two chapters of my tangled hs au are 3,926 and 4,601 words, chapter two being the longest of all the chapters I've written for it, chapter 9 the shortest at 2,899. Chapter 9 is not the end. With the way the story is going, there's still 4 (give or take one or so) chapters left.

Now that was a lot of words what am I saying? Well before I fully clarify, I love both stories. And I like reading both, and I have ideas still cultivating for both for my edits and conclusions. But it's easier to get in gear for the tangled hs one(I need less misleading nicknames for these). And I'm starting to think it's the way they're broken up. I think it's easier to get through thus easier to work on. See when I did draft two, draft one was a bunch of loosely connected scenes here and there (the beginning was solidly connected but as it went on the rest was just "oh I have an idea for a scene" several times some more attached together than others) so when doing draft two the hard part was making a calendar for the story and deciding when each event happened. Then I could just write the chapters like "this is day three so this thing needs to happen", and it's all heading to a conclusion and the chapters are complete chapters but they're largely built around small scenes I'd written, some things becoming a thing because "oh something needs to solidly get them to that point of their dynamic."

With the arranged marriage one, I started out solidly writing a story, each part in full, each part following the next, to the point that it visibly got too long to be a one-shot. With the tangled one, I was like oh to tie all this together this is gonna be too long to be a one shot, but with the arranged marriage fic I heard my sister in the back of my mind saying "some one shots are so long it's like okay you really could've cut that into chapters" or something along those lines as she told me before that she does feel like with some large one-shot there are clear good spots to cut it into chapters at and that it should be cut into chapters. So I thought, dang, this is probably one of those one-shots. I wasn't even done writing it I was on what became chapter three maybe now chapter four, thinking I'd be able to end it soonish but knowing it was long and needed that chapter split. So the division started up as large portions of the story. Then I went through to solidify them as solid chapters and fixing the pacing by adding more scenes to more clearly elaborate on the amount of time passing and what the characters were noticing. Which of course made the chapters longer.

Thus in editing and getting to the scene that's stuck in my head, it takes a minute while with the tangled hs au, revisiting rereading rewriting takes less time. I don't even think the arranged royal marriage one is a drag or anything but it's lengthy. In several aspects. So maybe leaning towards the bite-sized would make it easier.

However, I do have hesitance in doing that. See the thing is, it's a complete story. From chapter one to chapter 6. If I make them separate stories I have to work out if they standalone alright. Honestly, I think the first chapter would but Idk where to split it into chapters. And again how would I end the series? Like literally the last chapter is mostly wrap-up and fluff like idk if it can be its own standalone or if it would be a solid enough end to series rather than a single story. Like if I do this I'd have to probably expand it and I've already expanded it so much, it's so long.

On the other hand, if I do expand, like maybe I can throw in another perspective here or there as I do have thoughts on scenes that happened off-screen. I dunno though. But who knows how long it'll take if I do that. And I might have to give the others actual storylines. I mean like I could bring back the Izumi maybe having a crush on someone plotline that I scrapped because I was too indecisive but like that's a story rework lowkey? And another thing. I can't post a story until I'm done writing it but if it's a series would I be able to share the story as I go, as I finish individual works? Because finishing a whole series before posting any of it sounds like it'd take forever. But then I won't be able to go back and edit freely to make it flow better.

Oof. I don't know what to do.

#long post #idk #personal thoughts #Arranged marriage AU fic #I was gonna add a poll but the post got long-ish I don't expect many people to read all the way thru and answer a poll #but if you have thoughts or would like to discuss this in more/clearer details let me know I will gladly explain more or take advice #i'm at a loss right now #it's interrupting my flow #but also like it's already interrupted because I rewrote some of the end chapter in my head but I'm only on chapter two T^T

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