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candycandy00 · 3 months

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The Doll House - A Sukuna x Reader Fanfic Part 4 (Final)

Covered in scars and left totally numb by your abusive previous owner, you’re considered an “unsellable doll”. That is, until the Doll House takes you in and Sukuna becomes your trainer.

Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four

Read Geto’s Part Here!

Read Toji’s Part Here!

Read Nanami’s Part Here!

Read Gojo’s Part Here!

Read Choso’s Part Here!

Note: Please remember that these stories don’t take place at the same time, or even one after the other! Consider each one its own timeline. So if you see Geto and Toji with other dolls, don’t be alarmed lol. I had to do it this way because if I don’t, by the time I get to the last trainer, there won’t be any other trainers left to interact with!

AU! Each trainer will get their own story! This is Sukuna’s. If you’d like to be tagged in future parts, let me know! You must be an adult to be tagged! Any feedback whatsoever is adored! I’m not keeping the same tag list as before, since this part deals with darker themes. I will resume the tag list after Sukuna’s part is finished! So if you want to be tagged in this one, please specify!

Smut. 18+. Fem Reader. BDSM. Erotic Torture. Bondage. Extremely rough/violent/painful sex. Needles. Piercings. Rope. Reader is covered in scars. Everything that happens between Sukuna and Reader is consensual but there is mention of abuse by a previous owner. Divider by @benkeibear!

Everything hurts, or at least Sukuna hopes it does. He’s put a lot of work and thought into making this session as intense as possible, and if his doll’s whimpers and trembling body are any indication, he succeeded.

She’s naked of course, her body glistening under the bright light on the ceiling that he has pointing right at her. Her hands are tied tightly, uncomfortably, behind her back with rough rope that’s definitely going to leave burns. Each of her nipples has been pierced through with two long needles, making X shapes. The way they catch the light when she quivers and shakes makes Sukuna’s cock throb.

The doll is standing on her tip toes. She really has no choice, because Sukuna is gripping a thin but very rough rope that’s going between her legs, between the slick folds of her pussy, scraping and burning her clit. She’s trying to take pressure off it by standing on her toes, but her legs are getting weak.

She whines out something, tears steaming down her face, but she’s unable to form words. Her tongue is extended, with one long shiny needle shoved through it from the side, effectively trapping her tongue outside her mouth.

Sukuna jerks on the rope, and gets a garbled scream in response. “Too much? Want me to stop?”

She shakes her head “no”. There’s an agreed upon motion she can make with her head to let him know she needs to stop, but she’s never used it. She’s never used any safe word or gesture yet, and some part of him feels a need to make her do so at least once before she leaves.

He moves closer, close enough to feel the cool metal of the needles against his chest. He uses his free hand to stroke her scarred face, his thumb wiping at the tears. “Is there even a limit to how much you can take?”

She doesn’t respond, only stares at him. She’s unsteady, trying to balance on her toes, her soft body rubbing against his in the process. He suddenly releases the rope, and the sudden loss of pressure from the rope causes her to fall to her knees. She’s breathing hard, drool dripping out of her forcibly opened mouth.

Sukuna opens his pants, pulling his erection free and holding it above her face. “Make me cum,” he says, and she looks at him as if she’s confused. She’s probably wondering how she’s supposed to pleasure him with her hands behind her back and her mouth unusable. But she doesn’t hesitate for long. She leans forward and runs her extended tongue over his cock, drooling all over it, licking the tip in swirling motions. Sukuna grins. It must be excruciating, using her tongue this way while it has a needle ran through it.

He watches her, delighted, as she works to get him off. She’s looking up at him, making such cute little cries of pain. He could cum right now, but he’s holding back, wanting to draw this out as long as possible. He lasts several more minutes, enjoying her suffering, before he grabs her hair and holds her head still, then cums all over her face. Most of it lands on her tongue.

Without giving her time to rest, he pulls her back up to her feet by her hair, holding her steady as he leans down and licks one nipple, running his tongue over the needles. She whimpers again, and he moves his free hand down to her sore pussy. He gently rubs her clit, pleased by how drenched she is. It only takes a few minutes for her approach release, her legs trembling and weak. He watches her face as she cums, crying and moaning. She’s beautiful to him when she’s like this, her face covered in his cum, her eyes wet with tears as both pleasure and agony dance through them.

He wants to hurt her more, to push her further to the edge, to make her cum over and over again. He grabs the rope and yanks it upwards, lifting her off the floor with the force of it, causing her to scream. He makes a game of giving the rope a tiny bit of slack and then pulling it up again, watching the way she jerks and twists, her body instinctively trying to avoid the pain of the rope. It makes him hard again.

When he releases the rope and lets her drop to the floor this time, he shoves her onto her back and pushes her knees up to her chest. “Can this sore little pussy handle my cock right now?”

She nods emphatically.

“You want it, don’t you? No matter how sore you are, you want me inside you.”

She nods again. He reaches up and pulls the needle out of her tongue. She gasps at the pain, slowly pulling the sore muscle back into her mouth.

“Say it,” he demands.

“I.. I want…” the words come out strange. Her tongue must hurt too bad to speak normally.

“What’s that? What do you want?”

She looks him in the eyes. “Please… inside me… please…”

He obliges her, burying himself in her wet cunt as she lets out a sob. He fucks her hard on the floor, drinking in the sight of her tits bouncing with each thrust, the needles glinting. He knows exactly how to hit the spots that make her cry out, and soon she’s cumming again, her body convulsing against him. A few more minutes of pounding into her, and he cums too, filling her womb.

When finished, he stands up and looks down at her. There’s something alluring about how fragile and helpless she looks, her hands still tied behind her back, her body trembling as she rolls slowly to her side to take pressure off her sore arms. She looks back at him as she pants, her eyes wide and shiny. He’s going to miss this.

She’s met with the buyer two more times this week, the fifth week of her training. Sukuna still doesn’t like the man, and his doll still has little to say about the matter. Her silence on this topic frustrates him, but he would never say so.

After cleaning her up and helping her to bed, Sukuna goes to the kitchen for a drink. On his way back, the owner asks him to step into her office for a moment.

“What is it? Did the buyer back out?” he asks, a grin tugging at his lips. He doesn’t realize he was hoping for this to be the case until the owner shakes her head.

“No, this isn’t about him. It’s about your next doll.”

Sukuna’s eyebrows raise. It’s not often that he has a new doll lined up before he finishes training one, though it has happened before.

The owner slides a folder across the desk to him. “She came in today, and enjoys bondage. I figured she would be a good match for you, so I told her to come back week after next. You can be looking over her file if you want. She’s quite pretty.”

Sukuna opens the folder to find a photo of the woman in question. Yes, she is indeed “quite pretty”, but she also looks quite boring. Compared to his current doll, the woman in the photo looks painfully ordinary. He tries to picture the woman tied up naked in his room, but the only image that comes to his mind is a trembling scarred body on his floor and teary eyes looking up at him.

“I’ll look it over,” he says, taking the file with him. For perhaps the first time, he feels no excitement whatsoever about this new doll. His mind is still full of all the things he wants to try with woman in his bed.

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

When you wake up the next morning, Sukuna is already up and sitting in a chair. There’s a cup of coffee on the small table beside him, and he’s got a paper folder open in his lap, a loose page in his hand.

“What’s that?” you ask, climbing out of bed.

He glances up at you, and seems to be thinking about his answer for a moment before he says, “The file on my next doll.”

The words feel like a punch to the stomach. You’re not used to feeling these things. You try to keep your face blank as you reply with a simple, “Oh.”

Sukuna studies your face for a moment, then grins. “Jealous?”

“No, I don’t think jealous is the right word,” you answer honestly.

“Then what is the right word?” he asks, the folder closed and his full attention on you now.

You hesitate. Should you be honest? You don’t think you could pull off a convincing lie. You look away from him. “Sad.”

He stands up and walks over to you. “Should I just keep you?”

You look up suddenly. “What?”

His face is unreadable as he looks at you. “Trainers who work here are allowed to choose one doll to keep throughout the ten year contract. Just one during our careers.”

“Oh,” you say again, lowering your eyes. “Just one. Of course you wouldn’t choose someone like me…”

His hand lifts your chin, making you face him. “I’m not going to choose you. I’m not going to choose anyone. I don’t intend to ever keep a doll, because I can’t imagine spending ten years with one woman. But… if I were to ever choose one…”

His voice trails off as he stares at you.

“If you were…?” you prompt, desperate to hear the rest of that sentence.

He leans down and kisses your lips. It’s the softest kiss he’s ever given you. “If I were to ever choose a doll to keep, it would be you.”

You feel your eyes getting wet. You try to blink away the tears. Just hearing that is enough. He won’t ever keep a doll, but you’re his favorite. You’ll keep those words locked in a special place in your heart, forever.

The days pass in a whirlwind. Sukuna’s training sessions become more and more intense, as if he wants to wring every tear and every orgasm possible from your body. In the meantime, you continue to meet with the buyer.

He seems like a decent man, one who won’t abuse you at least. He’s clean and relatively handsome, and the pictures you’ve seen of his house look very comfortable. You don’t think ten years with him will be too bad. But your heart aches when you think of leaving Sukuna, of never seeing him again, never feeling his touch.

Finally, the day arrives for you to leave. You’ve already packed up the clothes and other items Sukuna bought for you, and the two of you are standing in the welcome room when the receptionist steps in to tell you the buyer has arrived to pick you up.

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

Sukuna tells himself he feels nothing when the doll picks up her suitcase and starts toward the door. He tells himself that he’ll miss fucking her and hearing her screams and nothing more. He almost believes it.

But when she suddenly drops her suitcase and rushes back to him, wrapping her arms around him in a sweet hug, he feels the first pangs of doubt.

She pulls back and looks up at him, her eyes overflowing with tears. “Thank you for everything, Sukuna. You healed me. I’ll never forget you!”

Sukuna stares at her wordlessly, his heart suddenly racing. What the fuck is wrong with him? That sincerity in her voice, that emotion, made him feel something. Something he’s never felt before. And all at once he realizes he’ll miss more than her body.

She turns to walk away again, wiping her eyes, and without even thinking about what he’s doing, his hand shoots out to grab her arm. His body just moved on its own.

She looks back, eyes wide.

“Wait,” he says, the word sounding strange even to him. What is he doing? All he knows is, he doesn’t want her to walk out that door.

“Don’t go.”

She looks confused. “But, the buyer is waiting-“

“Fuck him. You’re not leaving,” he says, his voice firm.

“I… I don’t understand.”

He pulls her back to him, back into his arms, and says, “I’m keeping you.”

He feels her body begin to shiver. Her wet face is buried in his chest, making his expensive shirt damp. Sukuna calls the receptionist back in and says, “Tell the buyer the deal is off. She’s taken.”

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

You still can’t believe you’re in this situation. You’re in Sukuna’s large, luxury apartment, in the bedroom you now share with him, hanging from a rope by your hands.

Your strength isn’t going to last much longer. You’re holding up your own body weight, have been for a while now, and your arms are in agonizing pain as you struggle to keep your grip. Your legs are strapped up to your torso, spread wide apart with your knees bent toward your shoulders. The jeweled piercings Sukuna gave you in your nipples and clit are shimmering under the light.

Beneath you, Sukuna is sitting comfortably in a chair that seems designed for these sorts of activities. His shirt is off, displaying the tattoos that make you weak, and his pants are open. His enormous cock is standing up straight, already leaking, and sporting two studded cock rings, one at the base and one just below the tip. It already hurts to take his cock normally, but with the rings, it’s going to be unbearable. They look like they could tear you apart.

You can feel his tip teasing your entrance. When your grip finally gives out, you’re going to fall straight on it and be impaled. You’ve already slid as far down on the rope as you can, so you can’t ease yourself down on it.

Sukuna grins as his fingers play with your clit ring. It was only done two days ago, so it’s still extremely tender and sensitive. You tremble and shake, trying to pull yourself up even an inch, but it’s no use. Your strength is failing you. He rubs your clit, pinching it and pulling on the ring.

“P-please!” you beg, tears in your eyes.

He doesn’t stop. “Please what? Weren’t you just begging for my cock earlier?”

“I can’t… hold on…”

He laughs as his fingers slide around, feeling how drenched you are. “Then let go. You’re so wet, these rings might not wreck this little pussy too bad.”

You can’t take it anymore, the pleasure of his fingers on your clit. You cry out as you cum, your whole body shaking, and the intensity of the orgasm causes you to lose your grip. You fall directly onto his cock, and it completely sheaths all the way inside you, studded rings and all.

The scream that leaves your mouth sounds inhuman. You gasp for breath as your sore, rope-burned hands fall to Sukuna’s shoulders, gripping them tightly. You can feel his cock twitch inside you, letting you know how much this turns him on. He smiles at you as he wraps his arms around you, kissing your mouth gently.

“The cock you wanted so badly is inside you,” he whispers into your ear. “Aren’t you happy?”

It takes you a minute to form words, as your body is still shaking from the shock. “I’m happy,” you say, and you mean it. You belong to the man you love, and every day he finds new ways to make you cum.

“Does it hurt?” he asks sweetly, running his tongue over your quivering lips, his hands softly rubbing your back.

“Yes,” you say, locking eyes with him.

“Want to stop?”

You wrap your arms around his neck, pressing your body to his. “Never,” you answer.

He grips your hair and pulls your head back to look at your face again. “Then get to riding. Make me cum or I’ll hang you up again.”

You nod, then take a deep breath before you begin moving up and down his length, the studs on the rings scraping your delicate flesh.

The pain is intense, but so is the pleasure, and so is the love you feel for this man. He’s never told you he loves you. Maybe he doesn’t. But he chose you. He kept you, and decided to stop training new dolls, “for now” he said. He told you he always gets tired of dolls before the six weeks are up, but you’ve been with him for nearly four months now, and he’s shown no signs of getting bored with you yet.

After he cums inside you, he eases you up off him and holds you. His touch is so gentle in these moments, his hands rubbing over your scars as he stands up, holding you bridal style. When not having sex, he doesn’t treat you like a doll, like a piece of property he owns. The two of you talk and watch movies together and even cook together. You never imagined you would ever be this happy.

As he carries you out of the room, you hear him mutter something softly under his breath. It sounds suspiciously like, “Ten years of this might not be so bad.”

Tag List:

@akaotv @khaleesihavilliard @issracollen @maflorex @dabislittlemouse @siriusdumblittlepuppy @collectionofdolls @butterskyy @missthatgirl

#sukuna x reader #sukuna #ryomen sukuna #sukuna smut #jjk x reader #jjk smut #x reader #ryomen sukuna x reader #sukuna x you

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vixendoesstuff · 3 months

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So, continuing the Techno!Branch AU from my last post

I sort of got the timeline figured out, like what happens in World Tour and Band Together (might have to watch the TV Shows for further context on stuff), but not completely? Still need to get some stuff figured out

But before I do that, I've gone ahead and made a sort of concept art for Branch in this AU. Keep in mind that this is not the complete design and it's bound to change in the future, I just need to get the ideas out there and see what I'll keep and change and stuff

Here's da boi

Now that I'm writing this, I realized I should've made his skin darker to match the Techno Troll aesthetic, but eh, mistakes happen, I'll revision it later. But anyway, here's what I got of him so far

I made him wear arm warmers to cover his arm lights, simply because of trauma. Y'all wanna see what's beneath it?

Man do I love torturing myself with angst material :)

But anyway, hope you enjoy this, I'll be back with more juicy lore once I get things figured out. Suggestions are very much appreciated!

#once again #slaps branch #this bad boy can fit so much trauma #also #i hate colour theory #it makes my brain go boom #how do yall do it #techno!branch au #techno trolls #trolls world tour #branch trolls #trolls

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chiriwritesstuff · 24 days

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The Girl in IT- 8. The Panic! in the Breakroom (Christine's Version)

A Boss! Joel Miller x IT Specialist F! Reader AU

The LIST │ Series Masterlist

Chapter Rating: M

Chapter Summary: Joel and Sugar spend some time apart and have serious conversations about their relationship's future. Everything is about to change...

Chapter Warnings and Tags: No outbreak AU, Boss x Employee Relationship, Sugar Daddy Lite, Reckless Driving, Talks about Periods and Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) and all of the shitty things that could happen with it including blood loss, miscarriage, and painful pregnancies, Someone gets punched (it's Joel, he gets socked in the face), Sugar takes a backseat as chaos ensues, Badass Ellie Miller, Ellie is going through it, Joel is going through it, Sugar's going through it!, Badass Survivalist Bill to the rescue, There is no smut in this chapter (like at all), no beta we die like men!

Word Count: 8.2 K

A/N: Here it is, the first chapter of my big rework, as I mentioned in this post. If you've read the original posting of this chapter, you know it ended with a surprise pregnancy and a proposal. As much as I know many of you enjoyed that outcome, it was also a departure from my true intentions for Sugar and Joel's relationship timeline, which set off a chain reaction for this story. I was afraid of alienating my readers- I thought by avoiding a darker or more heartbreaking storyline, I wouldn't upset anyone and felt like giving a happy ending to this chapter was the right move. Upon reflection, I started to regret it. Trying to censor myself out of fear of losing readers and not staying true to myself is not the way to go, and I've learned from this lesson.

There is a massive plot change in this chapter. Most of the story is the same, but I have included several pivotal moments with Joel and Sugar that will change the tone of the rest of the series. I do promise that we will be getting our happy ending, just at a different pace. This chapter does have some triggering moments, so please read the tags before reading. I also want to note that chapters 9 and 10 will be completely rewritten. I have set those chapters to private as I continue to rework them, and I hope to get those chapters out promptly before we dive into 'My Wife in IT'. Thank you so much for reading and for sticking around. I really do appreciate it.

"The conference should only be a few days, baby," Joel reassures you, planting a soft kiss on your forehead before disappearing into the walk-in closet to grab a flannel.

As he starts getting dressed, he catches your lingering gaze and teases, "See something you like, baby?" A mischievous smirk plays on his lips as he zips up his jeans.

Unable to resist, you slide out of bed and join him. Wrapping your arms around him from behind, you pout and playfully protest, "Do you really need to go, though?" You reach around him to button up his shirt, meeting his gaze in the mirror. "The bed will feel so empty without you... and it's kind of weird being here alone."

"Well, with Ellie being in the house I bet you'll hardly feel alone, hell, I can just see her attached to your hip the whole time," Joel replies, spinning around and pulling you into the warmth of his broad chest, kissing the top of your head. "You won't even notice I'm gone when she's around, she'll keep you on your toes plenty."

"Have you spent time with Ellie lately? You know anything could happen when she's around."

Joel smirks, "You've got a point there. I still need to fix the oven from her latest kitchen mishap. But hey, don't stress. If you bring Sir Bubbles along, she'll be entertained for days. It's like she's more attached to him than she is to both of us combined."

"But do you have to go, Joel?" you protest once more, "I'm sure Tommy can handle things; he's a big boy."

Joel raises an intrigued eyebrow. "Bigger than me, Mami?" he murmurs, giving you a little pout.

"No one is bigger than you, Papi," you tease, giving him a wink. Gazing up at the ceiling, a sudden wave of unease twists your expression. You find yourself clutching at your middle, groaning slightly in pain.

"Baby? Are you okay?" Joel is suddenly at your side, his face etched with concern. He pushes your hair out of your face, giving you a small smile.

"I don't want to call it, but I think my period is coming," you reply sadly.

"You would think with all of the times we've tried to get pregnant, surely it would take," you sigh, frowning as you stare at the ceiling, not wanting to face Joel and his disappointment. "I'm sorry, Papi."

"Why are you apologizing to me, Sugar? We have all the time in the world! Besides, I'm loving all of the attempts," he wiggles his eyebrows, pressing a kiss on your forehead. I'm more concerned about your health than anything else, okay?"

"Okay. I'm just worried because we're not getting any younger, and I don't think your knees can handle chasing a toddler," You tease, pulling him into a slow and languid kiss.

"I'll have you know, all of this sex we've been having has given me a new lease on life, I haven't worked out so much in my damn life! I'm in my prime, baby." Joel runs a hand through his hair as he walks over to the bedroom door, scanning the hallway for Ellie. He turns back to look at you on the bed. "Promise me you'll see a doctor if you get any worse?"

"I can't make any promises-"

"Sugar, I'm serious. If you start to get worse, you call Ellie and have her take you to the doctor. I mean it, baby. Please. Just put my mind at ease, okay?"

"Okay."

"Ellie!" Joel's voice echoes down the hallway. "Come here for a second!"

"Yeah?" Ellie pops her head out of her bedroom door. "Are you heading out now?" She strolls out, securing her hair into a ponytail as she settles beside you on Joel's bed. "Hey, why don't we swing by your place after the old man leaves to pick up my buddy? I can't wait for Sir Bubbles to see his new cat jungle!"

You flinch slightly, adjusting into a seated position next to Ellie. "Sure thing. We can grab some lunch on the way, too."

Joel clears his throat, retrieving something from his dresser and handing it to you with a smile. "I've been meaning to give this to you sooner, but since I'm leaving for a few days-"

You open the envelope he hands you, eyes widening at the realization that he's giving you an American Express card that matches his, your name etched onto the metal surface. "Woah, Joel, I don't think this is necessary-"

"If you're going to be spending time under this roof while I'm gone, I don't want you using your own money for things like groceries and necessities, especially if it's for you and Ellie. Use this card while I'm away; go to the mall and go wild," he glances at Ellie, who grins conspiratorially. "But no more guitars, Ellie. Not after the last time."

"How was I supposed to know the guitar was $10,000? The one in your office is twice the amount, I swear!" Ellie groans, knocking her shoulder against yours. "I'm sure Sugar will keep me in check, you have nothing to worry about, old man!"

"Hey, are you ready yet, asshole?" Tommy's voice suddenly booms from the front door. "We needed to head to Waco ten minutes ago!" he exclaims.

Joel sticks his head out of his bedroom door. "Yeah, just give me a damn second!" Grabbing his weekender duffle, he presses a kiss on your cheek. "Okay baby, I need to go. I'll see you in two days, okay?"

"Okay," you reply with a smile, pulling him into a kiss. "... and don't worry, nothing bad is going to happen to me, okay? Promise."

"Reservation for Miller," Joel tells the hotel receptionist, retrieving his wallet from his back pocket to produce his Amex. "It should be under Joel Miller."

"Welcome back Mr. Miller!" The receptionist beams, tapping away at her computer. "Let me just pull up your reservation. Give me a moment... Ah, yes, reservation for Joel Miller, one room, two keys."

"Wait, hold on," Tommy interjects, nudging Joel aside. "What do you mean one room?"

"The reservation for Miller only indicates one room," the receptionist replies with a sweet smile, her head cocked to one side.

"Well, there must be some mistake, miss." Joel's brows furrow with concern.

The receptionist glances at the screen, her brow furrowing slightly. "I apologize for any confusion, but that's how it's listed in our system. One room, two keys for Mr. Joel Miller."

Tommy exchanges a perplexed look with Joel, a touch of frustration evident. "Look, we need two separate rooms. Must've been a mix-up. Can you check again or maybe offer us an additional room?"

The receptionist hesitates for a moment before typing away on her keyboard. "I'm sorry for the inconvenience. Let me see if there's anything available." After a brief pause, she looks up. "I'm afraid we're fully booked tonight, with the conference and all, and the reservation is for a single room. Is there anything else I can assist you with?"

"Please tell me there's at least a cot or a pull-out couch in the room," Tommy groans, shaking his head.

The Receptionist hesitates, giggling awkwardly. "Well, there's a king-size bed? I guess it's pretty spacious?"

Joel and Tommy exchange glances, silently communicating their dissatisfaction with the situation. "Alright, fine," Joel concedes with a sigh. "We'll make do with what we have. But this better not become a habit."

The receptionist offers an apologetic smile. "I assure you, Mr. Miller, we'll do our best to make your stay enjoyable. If you need anything else, please don't hesitate to ask."

Joel and Tommy head towards the elevator, resigned to share a room for the night. As they walk away, Joel mutters to Tommy, "We'll sort this out tomorrow. Let's just get some rest for now."

"I guess it'll be like old times, brother, sharing a room and all," Tommy grunts. "I swear, if you snuggle up with me or fart in the sheets, I'll punch you right in the balls."

"If my memory serves me right, weren't you the one sneaking into my bed when things got a bit dicey in the night?" Joel retorts, arching an eyebrow while casually checking his emails on his iPhone. "Oh, Joel, I'm so scared of the boogeyman, can I sleep with you tonight?!" he imitates in an attempt at a childish voice, smirking.

"It's really gonna be like that, huh? You're gonna play that card? What about that time after we watched 'A Nightmare on Elm Street'? Weren't you begging Mama to let you sleep in her bed, thinking Freddy's gonna suck you up from your bed like Johnny Depp? Am I gonna wake up to you screaming?"

"Oh, go fuck yourself, Tommy, you ass-" The elevator dings to their floor, a family staring back at them. Tommy clears his throat, navigating around the family, shooting Joel a look as he heads to the room. "Evenin'," Joel murmurs, tipping his head to the family. "Excuse me."

Tommy is already in the room by the time Joel casually strolls in, rummaging through the welcome basket the conference organizers had prepared for Joel. "Well, it's nice of you to grace us with your presence, 'Mr. Austin's Entrepreneur of the Year 2023,'" he teases, extracting a bottle of Johnny Walker. "At least they give you the decent shit." Taking a swig straight from the bottle, he hands it over to Joel.

"Nah, I'm not drinking tonight," Joel murmurs, dropping his weekender unceremoniously on the floor as he plops onto the bed, pinching the space between his eyebrows. "I want to stay sober just in case Sugar calls me."

Tommy takes another swig, settling on the couch beside the window with a view of the city of Waco. "I noticed that she was looking a bit pale. Something going on?"

"She told me that she's about to start her period, I'm assuming that they can be quite an ordeal," Joel muses, glancing at his phone screen displaying a photo of you and him at your birthday dinner. A smile creeps across his face as he observes the image, capturing the moment when you kissed his cheek while he smiled at the camera. "I just have a really weird feeling like something's wrong," he groans, stretching his back onto the mattress.

"Well, Sugar's a big girl; I'm sure she'll be okay. Hell, I know how periods go, with Maria and all. Maybe I'll have her check in just in case." Tommy looks out of the window. "This is nice, you know. The two of us. Feels like it's been ages since we've done something like this."

"That's because the last time we were like this, it was your bachelor weekend in Vegas, and you ditched me and fucked off on some strip club crawl with your friends," Joel chides. "Then you had the fucking audacity to crawl into my bed, only to throw up on me in the middle of the night."

"I told you I was sorry! Shit, you could have come out with us, but you were still hung up on Sugar, even then. I don't know if that girl knows just how much you've loved her all these years."

"All that matters is she knows how much I love her now. Besides, I think it's only a matter of time before I ask her to marry me," Joel muses, revealing a ring from his jeans pocket.

Tommy's eyes widen at the sight of the diamond ring, whistling. "Shit, Joel, you're serious. How many carats is that puppy?"

"Just about 2 carats. Do you think she'll like it?" Joel asks nervously.

"I think she would say yes even without that rock; the girl's been crazy about you."

"I'm scared shitless, to be honest," Joel murmurs. "Never would have thought I would be put in this situation again, getting married and all... wondering if it's the right thing to do since my first marriage crashed and burned."

"Well, it's not like you married for love the first time around," Tommy muses, taking another swig.

"Now I have a second lease on life, time to get married for real. For love, this time."

"So, you get the girl, you ask her to marry you. But what about after that?" Tommy asks, taking another swig of Jimmy Bean. "... are you guys planning on having any kids? Do you want any more kids? You're not getting any younger, brother. Surely you don't want to be chasing some toddler when you're pushing 60-"

"I mean, we talked about the prospect of having kids, Sugar's only 36. I'm not gonna deny her of something she may want because I'm older than her." Joel responds with a heavy sigh. "Truthfully, I would give her anything she wanted, no questions asked... but sometimes I think to myself, what about our kids? I don't want to die before they become adults, you know?"

"... but is kids something that she wants? Sugar's a beautiful woman, surely if she wanted a family, she would have already gotten one, you know?" Tommy muses, chuckling to himself. "Maybe she would have gotten her head out of her ass sooner and sought you out beforehand."

"What are you trying to say, Tommy?"

"I'm saying, maybe before you ask her to marry you, you both have all of your cards on the table, brother."

"What if she wants kids, though? What if she wants a family, and I'm too old to give it to her? I don't want to lose her, I can't lose her. Not when I've just gotten her. I didn't work hard for these last ten years only for me to lose the girl because I can't give her what she wants."

"I have a feeling you don't have to worry about losing her, Joel. I do think that you should talk to her, at least."

Joel nods, a knot forming in his stomach as he contemplates Tommy's words. "Yeah, you're right. I need to have an honest conversation with Sugar about this. I owe her that much."

Tommy claps Joel on the shoulder, offering a reassuring smile. "She loves you, man. Just be open and honest with her, and I'm sure you two will figure it out together."

"Yeah, I hope so," Joel murmurs, a mixture of determination and anxiety swirling within him.

"So, what's the plan for dinner tonight?" Ellie asks, idly toying with Sir Bubbles by the towering cat tree in the family room. "I was thinking of whipping up some homemade Hot Pockets. I saw Sam snacking on them the other day, and they smelled divine!"

"You know, Ellie, you could just buy them at Randalls for $2 instead of going through the trouble of making them."

"Yeah, but where's the fun in that?" She grabs her phone, tapping away at Safari. "I found a great recipe that seems easy enough! Why don't we head to Randalls and grab the ingredients I need?"

"The whole beauty of Hot Pockets is the convenience," you groan, shifting on the sofa while flipping through channels. You wince as you manage to sit up. "You're not one to do things half-assed, are you?"

"I'm a Miller; we don't do things halfway. We must embrace chaos in all its glory, you know?" She glances at you from the corner of her eye, frowning at your pained form. "Are you sure you're okay? You look really uncomfortable sitting there."

You offer her a small smile through the discomfort. "Yeah, I'm just fine. It's that time of the month for me, always a bit uncomfortable."

Ellie nods in agreement. "Yeah, I hate it when I have my period. The cramps, especially! How do you deal with it? Midol?"

"Well, I have a condition that makes periods hell for me," you admit.

"PCOS is a beast I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. It's like period symptoms on steroids, honestly. Bad cramps, nausea, heavy period flow, the whole nine yards and then some."

Ellie frowns at that. "How long have you had PCOS?"

"Since my mid-twenties?" you muse, scrolling through your phone. "It's been a while, that's for sure."

"Bullshit! That's like a decade! How can you deal with such painful periods like that every month? I would be yelling at the doctors to rip my uterus out!" Ellie pets Sir Bubbles, her face deep in thought. "I heard that women who have PCOS have a hard time conceiving. Is that why you haven't had any kids yet?"

You snort. "Yeah, well, I haven't been trying to have kids, either."

"But I bet it's different now that you're with Joel, huh? I bet he's been wanting to knock you up since you agreed to be with him," she smirks. "I mean, for someone who built his own house, you'd think he would insulate the walls a little more, make it more soundproof-"

"Ellie-" you grit through your teeth, cheeks burning with embarrassment.

"What? I know it's just human nature to want to be intimate with your partner-"

"Ellie, deciding to have kids is a big step in any relationship. It's something that changes your life forever."

"...and is that something you want, Sugar? To have kids?"

"I don't know what I want, really," you respond truthfully, shrugging. "I never really allowed myself to think about the future like this before, and now that I'm with Joel... it's making me question whether or not I would be a good mother. I... I didn't grow up in the most nurturing home when I was a kid, but I do remember promising myself that if I were to have any kids, I wouldn't raise them the way my parents did."

"That's understandable," Ellie quips thoughtfully, settling herself into the couch as she faces you. "I don't think I would ever want kids. It seems so freaking scary and overwhelming; I can't fathom the kind of pressure you're feeling about it. Have you talked to Joel about this?"

"We've talked about it," you admit, the weight of uncertainty evident in your voice. "I don't know if he wants kids, but I'm just not sure if I'm ready. I don't know if I'll ever be ready, you know? I'm scared of disappointing him. What if he sees it as a deal-breaker?"

Ellie nods sympathetically, her demeanor softening. "I get it, Sugar. It's a tough spot to be in. But Joel loves you for you, not for whether you want kids or not. And if he's the right guy, he'll understand your concerns and respect your feelings. Joel's a lot, but I know that this man would do anything for you. I don't think you have anything to worry about. Trust me, I live with the guy."

You exhale slowly, feeling a bit lighter with Ellie's reassurance. "Thanks, Ellie. I guess I need to talk to Joel and figure things out."

"Exactly," Ellie responds with a hopeful smile. "Communication is key. Just be honest with him, and who knows? Maybe you two can find a way through this together."

"You know, you're pretty wise for a little shit, but I do appreciate the words of wisdom, Ellie Bellie. Maybe you're not so bad after all," you tease, a chuckle escaping your lips. "Thanks for the armchair therapy. Should we get a move on to buy the ingredients for these hot pockets of yours?"

"Yeah, yeah," Ellie sighs. "We might as well head to Target, so we can get some Midol too. Grab your key; I'm driving! Can't have you navigating these streets in your condition. Plus, I've been meaning to take the Tessie out on a joyride!"

The next morning, you wake up to find blood on the sheets. Panic grips you as a sharp, stabbing pain surges through your lower body, causing you to double over in agony. You suppress tears as you carefully slip out of Joel's bed, realizing that your flow was so heavy it soaked through to the mattress. Gathering the sheets, you remove your stained pajamas and underwear, wrapping yourself in a towel to avoid waking Ellie down the hall.

On tiptoes, you make your way to the laundry room, groaning with each step. After depositing the soiled linens and clothes into the wash, you hobble back to Joel's bedroom. Sighing, you enter the bathroom and draw a hot bath. Glancing at your phone, it's 5:34 am. You meet your reflection in the mirror, eyes widening at the sight—your skin is pale and clammy. Quickly splashing water on your face, you try to shake off the discomfort.

You recall your recent FaceTime with Joel. You remember the sadness and concern in his eyes as he saw your pain. It's not like any period you've experienced before.

"Baby, I really think you should go to the ER," he pleads. "Wake Ellie up, have her take you-"

"It's just my period, Joel," you assure him, smiling through the pain to ease his worry. "Sometimes they get really bad, maybe this time is one of those times."

"I just wish you wouldn't be so stubborn, Mami. This is really concerning, maybe I should drive back-"

"I just think I should sleep it off. If it's not any better, I'll go to the hospital, okay? Sleep makes everything better," you promise, knowing your stubbornness may hold true. It's not new to you, but how is Joel to know?

"I wish I could keep you on FaceTime all night, just to make sure you're okay, but I don't want to keep you up with all of Tommy's snoring-"

"I'll be fine, baby, don't worry. You have a big day tomorrow, Austin's Entrepreneur of the Year," you tease, hoping to divert the conversation. "I love you so much, Papi. I wish you were here with me."

"I wish I was too, baby," Joel smiles. "Call me tomorrow? And please, if it doesn't get any better-"

"... I'll go straight to the doctor. I promise."

"Hey, Sugar, you don't look too hot."

"I'm fine, Ellie. Just a little headache," you assure her, managing a weak smile while holding up your Owala water bottle. "Probably just dehydrated, nothing a little water can't fix. I also got my period last night, and it always gives me problems. It's just a bit heavier than usual."

Ellie eyes you with concern. "Maybe it's time we get it checked out. Joel did say-"

"I know, Ellie, but I'm already behind on my reports, and Tess will flip if I don't finish them by the end of the day. I'll tough it out. If it gets worse, I promise I'll get myself checked out. I'll even let you drive me there, okay? Let's just keep this between us for now. I wouldn't want to bother Joel by being a baby about period cramps."

"Well, could you at least try to eat something? I swear the last time I saw you eat was yesterday. Joel's gonna kill me if something happens to you, and I really don't need that kind of stress right now. Not before the apprentice exam," Ellie urges, sliding her glass container into the microwave. "Besides, you can try out the Hot Pockets we made last night!"

"Isn't this supposed to be the other way around? I'm the adult in this equation; I should be looking over you, not the other way around," you chuckle. "What would Joel say if he saw us right now?"

"He would give us his best frowny face and bridal carry you out of here, taking you to the doctor," she replies, taking the seat across from you. "I'm not lying when I tell you that you look sick as hell. You should be at home, resting! I'm really worried about you, Sugar. For real this time. You need to at least eat something so you don't pass out!"

She places one of her creations on a plate, presenting it in front of you with a flourish as she begins to devour her own, inhaling it in a few bites. "Damn, that was good," she exclaims to herself, leaning back in her chair, taking a sip of her Baja Blast. "Come on, Sugar," she pleads, "Eat!"

You take a deep breath as you eye the hot pocket, your stomach churning at the overwhelming smell. With a hesitant smile, you lift it off your plate, taking a small, careful bite to avoid offending Ellie. "Mmm," you say softly, placing it back onto your plate. "You really outdid yourself this time, Ellie!" you commend, pushing the plate away. However, the effort to conceal your discomfort becomes futile as your head starts to spin when you attempt to stand.

Ellie's eyes widen as she quickly rises from her seat. "Sugar-"

"Ellie, I'll be right-"

Before you can reach the door, everything turns black.

"Sugar!" Ellie screams, dropping to her knees as she attempts to lift you, panic evident in her voice. "Somebody, help!"

Bill bursts through the door in an instant, his eyes wild as he assesses the situation. "What the hell happened?"

"I don't know!" Ellie exclaims, cradling your head in her lap as tears stream down her face. "She wasn't looking too good, so I gave her a hot pocket, and she took one bite and fainted! What am I going to do? Joel's going to freak!"

"Bill?" Frank calls out as he enters the breakroom. "What the hell is going on?!"

"Frank," he says calmly, "Call 911. Tell them that someone passed out." He turns his attention back to Ellie, his eyes focused. "Ellie, do you know if she hit her head?" Ellie is frozen in place, her breathing erratic, the weight of the situation settling in.

"Ellie!" Bill shouts, trying to maintain control. "Focus! Did she hit her head or not?"

"I don't know!" she says shakily, her hands trembling. "Everything happened so fast!"

"Bill," Frank says uneasily, "She's bleeding," he points to your lower body, his eyes widening in fear. "It's a lot of blood, fuck, is she... what if-"

"Fuck this!" Bill mutters, urgency in his voice as he picks up your limp body. "Frank, get the van, we need to go to the hospital, NOW." He looks over at Ellie, who is crying uncontrollably. "Ellie, call Joel."

"But Sugar begged me not to call Joel-"

"Joel won't forgive you if you keep him in the dark. Get him on the phone, NOW," he commands, darting towards the door behind Frank. "... and pick up the pace! You're coming with us!"

Ellie grabs her phone from her back pocket, her hands shaking as she scrambles to call Joel. She curses as it goes straight to voicemail. "He's not answering! It's going straight to voicemail-"

"THEN CALL TOMMY, ELLIE!" he shouts as Frank parks near the entrance, engine still running. He hurries out of the driver's seat, opening the back door. "Ellie, sit here! I need you to elevate her head!"

Ellie jumps into the car, phone in hand. Bill gently places you in the van, positioning your head across Ellie's lap. "Keep it elevated, okay?" Ellie nods, looking at you with concern. "Do you think she's going to be okay?" she whispers, placing a hand on your cheek. "This is all my fault-"

"Ellie," Bill says, heading toward the driver's seat. "This is not the time for that," he steps on the gas, swerving to avoid an oncoming vehicle. "Put Tommy on the phone, now!"

Ellie fumbles with her phone, quickly dialing Tommy's number. As the line rings, Bill navigates the van through the chaotic streets, tension thick in the air.

"Come on, Tommy, pick up," Ellie mutters anxiously, glancing at you still cradled in her lap. After a few tense moments, Tommy's voice crackles through the phone.

"Ellie? What's happening?"

"It's Sugar. We're on our way to the hospital. Something's wrong," Ellie replies, her voice shaky. "I tried to call Joel but it's going straight to voicemail! Could you put him on the line? Please!"

"Shit, Ellie-" Tommy stammers, "He's about to go on stage-"

"What's going on?" Joel notices Tommy's unease. "Who is it?"

Tommy hesitates as he puts the phone on speaker. "It's Ellie, something's happened at the office-"

"Joel? Dad?" Ellie cries, her voice quivering.

"Ellie? Baby girl, what's wrong?" Joel asks worriedly, peering out to the stage as the emcee begins. "Baby, what's going on?!"

"It's Sugar, something happened at lunch-" she sobs, looking down at your pale form.

Tommy's eyes widen as he witnesses Joel's demeanor change rapidly. "Ellie, what happened to Sugar?" he soothes, trying to get her to calm down through her sobs. "Come on baby, breathe-"

"She passed out at work! I know, she shouldn't have gone in, but she swore that she was fine! I tried to get her to eat something and she looked sick all of a sudden... and then she was on the ground, bleeding! It all happened so fast, I swear! I'm so sorry, Dad! It's all my fault!" she cries.

"Joel," Bill cuts in, honking as he narrowly misses a car he overtakes. "I'm heading over to Austin General, ETA 2 minutes. She's lost a lot of blood." He runs a red light, a barrage of horns erupting from the maneuver. "I don't know what's going on, but I'm going to get her there."

"You're driving her there? Why didn't you call 911?" Joel demands.

"They would have taken too long, Joel. Minutes we do not have. Trust me, I'll get her there faster than they could," Bill hesitates. "Joel, I think she's-" The line cuts off as Ellie's phone dies.

"BILL? ELLIE??!" Joel screams into the phone frantically as he runs his hand through his hair. He tries to call Ellie back, only to be met with voicemail. "Fuck!" he shouts, trying to call Bill. "Why aren't they answering?"

"Joel, you're gonna have to tell me what the fuck is going on-"

"Sugar collapsed at work. They're on their way to Austin General now. Grab your shit, we're leaving."

[and it's with my great pleasure to introduce you to our keynote speaker and Austin's Entrepreneur of the Year, Joel Miller!]

"Okay Mr. Miller," the assistant interrupts, hand on his earpiece. "You're up!"

"I have a family emergency, I need to leave," Joel replies, attempting to make a quick exit.

"No can do, Mr. Miller; it's your turn!" The assistant insists, pushing Joel towards the door.

"Are you deaf?!" Joel shouts, forcefully removing the assistant's hands from him. "I already told you, my wife is being taken to the hospital right now-"

"Just get on stage, say your piece for five minutes, and then you can go straight to the hospital," the assistant insists, shoving Joel towards the door, unfazed.

Joel's frustration boils over, and he shoves the assistant back, his anger reaching its peak. "Listen, I don't give a damn about your schedule! My wife needs me, and I'm not wasting another second here!"

The assistant, angered by Joel's defiance, clenches his fists. "You're not going anywhere until you fulfill your obligations. This is important!"

"Joel, we don't have time for this!" Tommy grits, glaring at the assistant. "If we leave now, we can miss the rush on 1-35."

The assistant grabs Joel's forearm, pulling him as he makes his way towards the door that leads to the stage. "You're getting on that stage, give your fucking speech, and then you can fuck off and get to your little wife-"

Joel pulls himself out of his grasp. "Are you fucking kidding me? Don't put your hands on me!"

The man glares at Joel. "Look asshole, we fucking paid for you to come here, and you're not going to make some half-assed excuse about your sick wife-"

Joel's patience snaps, and he throws a punch, hitting the guy square in the face. "Don't talk about my wife like that!"

"Fuck! You broke my fucking nose!" he shouts, tackling Joel to the ground. He manages to land one good punch before Tommy intervenes, pulling the man off of him and shoving him to the ground. "What the fuck is your problem, man?" he yells as he tries to get up.

"Joel, are you okay? Come on, let's get the fuck out of here before they call someone!" Tommy hoists Joel onto his feet, his lip split and a bruise forming on his cheek. They run towards the parking garage, Tommy throwing his keys at Joel as they jump in, peeling out of the parking stall. At the corner of Joel's eyes, he sees security guards running along the lot, searching for them.

"Stop!" one of the guards yells, trying to block the truck at the exit. Joel swerves around, narrowly avoiding the guard as they pass the parking attendant booth. He hits the gas, driving through the parking arms, pieces flying over the dashboard as they merge onto the main road. "Joel, think they'll chase us?" Tommy asks, the tension thick as they speed away. "I don't think Maria will appreciate watching us on a high-speed chase on the evening news-"

"Shut the fuck up, Tommy!" Joel cuts him off, navigating towards the freeway out of Waco, heading to Austin. "Just let me fucking concentrate on the road!"

"Slow down, Joel! Dying on the way there won't help anyone!" Tommy yells as Joel narrowly avoids a car while speeding down the freeway. Fortunately, no police cars are chasing them as they make their way towards Austin. "I can't believe that guy wanted to fight you, and you just started throwing punches!"

"Tommy, not now," Joel grits his teeth, gripping the wheel tightly. "I knew I should've stayed home. If I were there, then-"

Tommy's phone rings, displaying Sarah's face on the screen. He answers the Facetime call, and Sarah's concerned face fills the screen. "Where are you guys?" she asks nervously. "Ellie's phone died, but the hospital just called asking for information. You're her emergency contact, Dad."

"Do you know what's going on?" Joel inquires as he navigates down the freeway. "I don't have my phone, but we're on I-35 right now, should be there in about 30 minutes."

"They can't release any information because we're not family," she says hesitantly. "I'm legally supposed to call her parents, but-"

"You can't call them, Baby. She wouldn't want them there. Tell them she's my wife, and I'm on my way," Joel insists.

"Dad, I don't think we should lie about that-" Sarah expresses her concern.

"I'm all she has, baby. I can't be kept in the dark. Were you there when it happened?"

"No, but Dad, she was bleeding. There was a lot of blood-"

"Damn it!" Joel slams his hands on the steering wheel, his eyes wide as he overtakes a few cars, stepping on the gas. "I should've followed my gut and stayed home. She was already in pain when I left yesterday!"

"Well, speeding down the freeway isn't helping, Dad!" Sarah shouts through the phone. "We're all concerned for Sugar, not just you. I sent Tess to the hospital to bring chargers and Bill and Frank's phones. I need you to relax; it's not going to help her if you two get into an accident!"

"I can't help it, baby girl. I love her, and it's hard to think straight. All I'm thinking about is how scared I am. I can't lose her. I've already known how it feels losing her all these years; I don't think I can survive a second time."

"I know, Dad," Sarah replies. "Just get to her in one piece, okay? I'll let you know if I hear anything back."

"What do you mean I can't go in with her?" Ellie groans, attempting to keep pace with the gurney as they rush you down the hallway towards a room, with Bill and Frank following behind.

The doctor raises an eyebrow at her. "Are you her family?"

"She's my sister!" Ellie asserts. "I was adopted by her family!"

"Doctor," the nurse interjects urgently. "She's lost a lot of blood; she's going to need a transfusion... she might be in the middle of a hemorrhage-"

"If you know she needs a transfusion, then what are you waiting for?"

"The patient has O Negative, and we don't have any on hand-"

"I have O Negative!" Ellie tells the nurse, showing her wrist. "I found out my blood type after an accident as a kid. Take it from me, please!"

The doctor eyes Ellie warily. "... and you're sure she's your sister?"

"Not by blood, but by heart. Please, doctor. She's important to me, and I know she would do the same for me in a heartbeat," Ellie pleads.

The doctor sighs, nodding his head in agreement. "Fine, if you say that she's your sister, then I'll just take your word for it. Nurse, prep her for a blood draw. She's a match."

"Hey! You can't park here!" The hospital security guard shouts as Joel and Tommy hastily exit the car, leaving it right outside the ER. Joel sprints through the hospital, Tommy trailing behind him. He reaches the receptionist's stand, his chest heaving. "Where is she? Where is my wife?!" he demands, attempting to jump over the partition, with Tommy trying to hold him back.

"Sir, I'm going to need you to calm down," the receptionist replies, glaring at both of them. "I'm going to need a name."

Joel hesitates but states your first name, adding 'Miller' as your last. Tommy shoots him a look, signaling the obvious lie, but Joel gives him a warning glare. The receptionist's eyes narrow at Joel. "She was just brought in 20 minutes ago. She's currently under observation but will be put in a room soon. Should be room 203. You can wait for her if you'd like."

Joel breathes a sigh of relief. "Do you have any idea what's going on?"

"I don't, but the attending Doctor should be with her. He could answer any of your questions," she hands him a clipboard. "I'm going to need you to fill this out for me with her information, and then you can head down the hall and take a left. Her room should be a few doors down that corridor." She assesses his disheveled state. "Sir, are you needing assistance as well?"

"I'm fine," Joel dismisses her as he fills out the form. He takes out his Amex and hands it to the receptionist. "I don't have her insurance card, but please put all charges on this card."

The receptionist's eyes widen at the color of his Amex. "Certainly, sir."

Joel strides down the hallway towards room 203, catching a glimpse of Ellie in the room adjacent to yours, a nurse tending to her bandaged wrist. His heart lurches at the sight, but he pushes the worry aside for the moment. As he approaches your room, he sees Bill and Frank sitting on a nearby bench, their expressions heavy with concern. Frank rests his head on Bill's shoulder, a distant sadness clouding his eyes.

"Bill!" Joel's voice echoes in the hallway. "Thank you for bringing her here!" He notices their somber demeanor and furrows his brow. "What happened-"

Bill hesitates, his gaze flickering with reluctance. "Joel, I think it's best if you go inside and talk to the doctor," he suggests softly, his voice strained with emotion. "He'll be able to explain everything to you." He offers a weak smile, though it fails to mask the worry etched on his face. "Frank and I are gonna head back to the office, alright?"

"Yeah," Joel stammers, nodding. "Thanks again, Bill... for everything."

"Anytime, Joel," Bill responds, his eyes watery. "Take care of her, okay? She's gonna need you."

Joel's stomach churns with apprehension, but he nods in understanding. With a final glance at Bill and Frank, he takes a deep breath and steps into your room, steeling himself for whatever news awaits him. He nods as he walks into your hospital room, audibly gasping at the sight of you, unconscious. A doctor is tending to you, engaged in conversation with a nurse. He turns around at the sound of the gasp.

"Mr. Miller, I presume?"

"What's going on with her, Doc?" Joel asks, his face reflecting a mix of worry and tears.

The doctor eyes Joel silently, a heavy sigh escaping from his chest.

"Why are you not telling me anything? She's my wife-"

The doctor, catching on to Joel's distress, gives a serious look. "Mr. Miller, let's maintain a level of seriousness here."

"But she's practically my wife! I'd give my life for her, you understand? Please, man to man, wouldn't you do the same for someone you love?" he pleads, Tommy, looking away from his brother to keep himself from breaking down.

The doctor, unyielding, emphasizes, "We have legal protocols to safeguard those who can't speak for themselves. I can't divulge information to just anyone; there are procedures that must be followed for the well-being of the patient."

"Well, what can you tell me, then?" Joel's voice wavers as he pleads with the doctor. "I'm in the dark here, doctor. Please," Joel begs. "Just give me something. Tell me she's going to be okay."

The doctor takes a deep breath before delivering the news, "She was pregnant, Mr. Miller. She has Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome and is anemic. Due to significant blood loss, we had to perform a blood transfusion. Luckily, someone who accompanied her was a match."

Joel's heart sinks as the words hit him like a ton of bricks. "Was? So, Sugar and the baby... Are they okay?"

The doctor's demeanor shifts, his eyes reflecting a mix of empathy and gravity. "Mr. Miller," he begins cautiously, "Sugar lost a lot of blood during the procedure. She was suffering from a hemorrhage and was going into shock. I did everything in my power to save them both, but... I'm sorry, Mr. Miller. The baby didn't make it. Sugar almost didn't make it out herself. Without that blood transfusion-" He trails off, the weight of the situation hanging heavy in the air.

"Ellie..." Joel whispers, realization dawning on him as he connects the dots. "That's why she's bandaged up?"

The doctor leans in, a glimmer of understanding in his eyes. "Yes," he confirms, his tone somber. "What we did was highly unethical and illegal. I don't appreciate being lied to, but your daughter's quick thinking saved Sugar's life. Despite the miscarriage, Ellie's actions kept Sugar alive. It was incredibly brave of her. I'm willing to keep this between us if any issues arise. Sugar is still with us because of her. That girl has nerves of steel," he chuckles softly, his gaze distant with memories. "Reminds me of my daughter. Us fathers need to stick together, right?"

Joel nods, his gaze unwaveringly fixed on you lying on the hospital bed. "I knew something was wrong... I should have stayed back. I can't imagine the pain she must have been in-"

"Unfortunately, this is highly common for women with her condition," the doctor interjects, his tone gentle yet matter-of-fact. "As much as we can dwell on the what-ifs, most times the baby won't make it past the first trimester. It does give us a little hope that she was able to conceive to begin with. Have you two been trying long?"

Joel's shoulders sag slightly at the doctor's words, a mixture of grief and understanding washing over him. "We've spoken about it, but only decided to try recently," he admits, his voice tinged with sadness. "But we never imagined it would end like this."

The doctor offers a sympathetic nod, his expression reflecting empathy. "I'm sorry for your loss, Joel. Losing a child is never easy, but please know that you're not alone in this. If either of you need support or someone to talk to, we have resources available. I want to have Sugar spend a day or two here, just to make sure her blood count gets back to normal. You're welcome to stay as long as you need to, okay? I'll make sure of it."

Joel manages a faint smile, grateful for the doctor's compassion. "Thank you," he murmurs, his gaze drifting back to you, his heart heavy with sorrow yet filled with love and determination.

The doctor nods, glancing at Joel's disheveled appearance and the split lip. "I can get someone to fix that for you if you'd like. Waking up to see you like this might frighten Sugar. You must have been through hell to get here."

"Pretty much," Tommy says sadly, his eyes filled with tears. "Thank you for saving Sugar, doc. We really owe you one."

The doctor nods. "Yeah, well, thank your little girl; she's the real hero today." He gestures behind Tommy and Joel. Ellie stands at the doorway, nervously fiddling with the bandage on her wrist. Giving Joel one last nod, the doctor makes his way to the door, giving Ellie a comforting pat on her shoulder as he walks away. Joel turns his attention back to Ellie, a sad look on his face as he tries not to lose his shit in front of his brother and his daughter.

"Ellie-" he starts, his voice shaky. "Baby-"

"Oh, it was nothing, you know, just another day at the office," she casually says, downplaying herself. "Besides, she's family, and we do anything for family."

"You're damn right we do," Tommy boasts, pulling Ellie into a side hug. "You saved the day, Girlie."

"You sure did," Joel cries, pulling her into a tight hug, his tears soaking into her hair. "You did so good, baby girl. Thank you, thank you, baby."

Ellie hugs Joel back, sobbing into his chest and clinging to his shirt. "I was so scared, Joel. It made me think about what happened with Marlene, and I just froze! If Bill didn't step in, I don't know what would have happened—"

"Ellie—"

"... and I told her that she should tell you. She looked so sick, so I told her that she needed to eat something, and I gave her a hot pocket—"

"A hot pocket?"

"Yeah, we made it last night, and even then, I knew something was up. She was always wincing and flinching in pain, told me that she was on her period—"

"Ellie. She was bleeding out, then. It—" Joel takes her face in his hands, his expression serious. "She was pregnant, baby girl. She has a condition that makes her bleed heavily. Fuck, she must have been in so much pain—"

"Wait," Ellie says, her eyes reflecting shock. "What do you mean, she was pregnant? Does this mean that she lost the baby?" she says solemnly, turning her attention to you. "Joel, I'm so sorry, maybe if I had been more stubborn and firm with her, maybe-"

"Ellie, trust me when I say that none of this was your fault, baby girl," Joel pulls her into his chest as she sobs, his hand soothing her back. "These things happen all the time with women that have the same condition as her. Honestly, I'm just happy that she had you to watch over her, you did everything perfectly, alright? No more tears, baby. Sugar's still here with us, and that's all that matters, okay?"

"Okay," Ellie murmurs into his chest. "Joel, what's going to happen now? are you going to tell her? We need to tell her, right?"

"Why don't you head back to the office with Tommy and let me worry about that, alright?" Joel responds, sighing as he sits at the edge of your bed. "I think you've had too much excitement for one day, I can talk to her when she wakes up, okay? Don't worry."

Tommy places a comforting hand on Joel's shoulder, pulling him into a side hug. "I'm really sorry, brother. If there's anything you both need, just let me know, okay?"

Joel nods. "Thanks, Tommy."

"Ready to go, Ellie?" Tommy asks, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "We better get moving before they tow my truck out front." Ellie nods as they both give you and Joel one last glance, making their way out of your hospital room.

"Let me know if you need me to bring you anything from home, alright?" Ellie tells Joel, giving him one last smile. "Take care of yourself. I love you."

"I love you too, baby. Get some rest, okay?"

Joel looks back at them helplessly as a sob escapes his mouth. He buries his face in his hands, finally allowing himself to fall completely apart. As heartbreaking as the miscarriage is, the thought of losing you at the same time is unbearable. How could he have turned a blind eye to the pain you were going through? How could he have almost lost you, just like that? The guilt and anguish weigh heavily on his shoulders as he grapples with the harsh reality of the situation.

"I'm so sorry, baby," he cries, reaching for your hand. Joel presses a soft kiss on your forehead, his tears falling upon your face. He wipes them away as he settles himself on the seat next to your bed, his eyes never leaving your face as he waits for you to wake up. Every fiber of his being yearns for you to open your eyes, to assure him that you're still here, still fighting alongside him.

Taglist: @sarcasm-theotherwhitemeat@gwendibleywrites@brittmb115@joeldjarin@drewharrisonwriter@littlebunnybigheartfics

@missladym1981 @auteurdelabre @quicax3 @casa-boiardi @amyispxnk

@untamedheart81@paleidiot@laurrrra@la-vie-est-une-fleur29@bbiophiliaa

@thewiigers@survivingandenduring (I apologize if I missed anyone, but if you are looking for any of my fic updates, please feel free to follow my updates blog @chiriwritesstuffnotifs!)

#pedro pascal #the girl in it #joel miller fanfiction #joel miller x reader #joel miller x you #joel miller #pedro pascal fanfiction #joel miller x female reader #joel tlou #joel the last of us #joel miller fanfic #joel miller the last of us #joel miller tlou #pedro pascal character fanfic #pedro pascal characters #pedro pascal fandom #joel miller fic #joel miller x Sugar

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drpepperbloodlinewrites · 20 days

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: A Drop of Blood .

This was based on various Creepypasta AU's I saw, more specifically @crushedsweets and @necroromantics, and I decided "yo, that's fucking AWESOME- what if I made my own AU??"

BUT BEFORE READING MY INTERP, READ THEIRS BECAUSE BOTH OF THEM ARE FUCKING AWESOME WORKS OF ART !!

So, erm... anyway!

Hopefully, you guys end up fucking with it and I don't end up getting jumped in the comments or something lmao. That'd be a real woe-is-me situation, amirite??

Synopsis: A disease that never leaves once it gets ahold of you, a being so cold it makes you want to cry around it. An entity unforgiving with so much influence and so many pawns, where do they all lie in between it?

General Content Warning: darker versions of characters (whoopsie daisy), implied manipulation/gore/cannibalism- darker topics all around concerning characters. Depression/ Suicide heavily went into detail in Anneliese’s (OC) section.

Notes: I just wanted to generally post my interpretation/ The AU I made/ follow, it’s still a WIP, but I sincerely do hope you guys enjoy what I have so far. When I say relationships I don’t necessarily mean romantic, it can be platonic, etc. Besides, NOBODY ends up getting together in my AU simply because I do not want them to, lol. (Outside of Jane and her wife, Mary, ofc.)

And YES, we're posting this in chapters because this is already up to 15 pages long on Google Docs and I don't want to scare you guys away with my yap sessions. 😭😭

And YES, I added OC's- WHO'S STOPPING ME?! I CAN BE SHAMELESS IF I WANT TO ON MY BLOG! (Don't worry- if you aren't too keen on OC's, all their information is at the /very/ end, and you don't need to read it if you don't want to for the general gist of my AU/Interp.)

All of the Creepypastas/Proxies in this blog belong to their original creator, I am just adding my own take on the character/ HC's onto them and am NOT trying to endorse these characters as my own. This is all an AU I made with my spin-off of these characters who've been plaguing my mind since 2014ish. The only characters that belong to me are my own OC's.

If any Creepypasta creator pm's me and wants me to get rid of my interp of their character I will gladly do so, as the creator's wants/ boundaries outweigh my silly little AU.

Date Posted: O4.1O.24

Date Updated: OO.OO.OO, (bound to change)

Chapters;

O1. The Operator

O2. The “Hosts”/ Proxies

O3. The “Influenced”/ Creepypastas

O4. Zalgo/ The Zalgoids (WIP, aka not touched on at all because I don't know where they fit into the plot/timeline yet.)

O5. Relationships

O6. OC's and their link-ins into the story

O7. Headcanons (sue me)

O1. The Operator

The Operator is a being like a disease located all around the inner depths of the woods- he doesn’t have a form (more on that later) and can infect people to work like mindless zombies underneath him due to him slowly gnawing/ eating at their brain like a parasite. He doesn’t /ever/ step outside of the inner woods, so therefore he relies on “hosts” (proxies in my interpretation) to wander outside the inner woods/ outside in general.

He chews away and eats at their brains until they don't know what life was like until they started working for him, memories disappearing day by day as you're only forced to move on and go forward and try not to focus on how you can barely remember to do simple tasks outside of killing.

He doesn't have a form since he's a disease, a parasite that causes you to slowly have avid hallucinations of him- but it's not actually him, just something your mind came up with to explain what's happening to you.

And just like any disease, there are stages to the “Operator Sickness.” (There's no name for the disease he gives you, so that's what Brian and Tim came up with and everyone stuck by considering they were the first of the group to be "influenced", nonetheless "hosts".)

You cannot contract the sickness out of nowhere/ just because you’re in the woods. The Operator doesn’t go for just run-of-the-mill people, who usually target those who are already emotionally vulnerable and already feeling homicidal. He does not target anyone else because he deems them as useless for his cause.

1- static begins to form around electronics in your house, occasionally you might see some shadows move in the corners of your vision and feel a slight loss of appetite over time, but nothing too extreme.

2- you start to not want to eat at all, paranoia slowly begins to seep into your being as you /swear/ your electronics are whispering something to you among the static. It’s bad, but not terrible to the point you’ve completely snapped, although your sanity is slowly deteriorating day by day. You begin to have nosebleeds occasionally, but not too frequent to the point it’s concerning.

3- you’re more snappy, you begin to hear voices in your head urging you to kill- paranoia has taken complete control over your life and you begin to see hints of /HIM/ forming among the static in your electronics. You begin to form hallucinations and swear to see/HIM/ despite there being nothing there. Nosebleeds and vomiting up blood are occasional, but not frequent in this stage. You also begin to have avid nightmares about The Operator, which are so vivid they can’t help but feel real.

4- nosebleeds and vomiting up blood nearly happen every single day, you see /HIM/ everywhere you go, in every corner of a room you’re in. The voices are speaking to you nearly every second of the day, you don’t want to eat but when you finally do you vomit it all up again. You hear /HIM/ speaking to you, motioning you to the woods, and urging you to “give in to your desires” of harming the people you love. There’s no going back once you reach this point, and if you don’t harm yourself or others- you’re going to be quick to go. He doesn’t mind killing those who are useless to him or provide him no gain, after all.

He is not kind, he is not a parental unit or a father figure to his “hosts” or “influenced”, he just sees them as people he can use for his benefit. He does not care about them or share empathy/ sympathy with them- he is a looming threat to anyone who dares to enter his woods, and more specifically his “hosts” since he influences them/ has more influence over them. At will he can psychologically target them/ torture them, breaking their mind into shreds as he forces them to /remember/ their past, only to make them forget, only for them to remember- a grueling process that can make anyone go mad. And the worst thing is, he can do it whenever and how long he pleases- never backing off until he feels that they’re sufficiently tortured, to make it a “lesson” out of all things if his “hosts” or anyone under his influence dare to go against him.

He talks in whispers, in a calm collected tone throughout your mind- but with cool intentions, a looming threat in every word he speaks which subconsciously influences you to hold fear to him, to feel the need to comply unless you wish to end up with a fate worse than death.

In my interpretation, my “hosts” have either completely forgotten about their past, (Toby and Kate), or remember it- but not by much other than big events that happened. (Eyeless Jack, Tim/Masky, and Brian/Hoodie.) He’s a parasite that eats away at your brain and takes your memories with him in the process of doing so, he slowly deteriorates his “host’s” and “influenced” brains over time until they’re nothing but a shell of the person they once were.

As I briefly mentioned earlier, he does not have a physical form due to being a parasite. He is more a hallucination caused by the psychological damage he does to those he affects, he does exist- but just not on a physical plane of thought and more so a psychological parasite that harms those it gets into contact with. Because of that + your deteriorating sanity, it's easy for him to make you hallucinate what he is + what he looks like even if he doesn't exist.

i.e. The Operator will be a good distance between Toby and him, and to the public eye, he doesn’t exist. But Toby will be talking to what he thinks to be The Operator in a psychologically tormented state causing him to have avid hallucinations, but nobody will be there.

The Operator does exist, but kind of hides away and doesn't go out to check on those he's tormenting unless he direly /needs/ to. (i.e. if Masky and Toby keep on messing up a very dire mission The Operator placed them under, then he goes out of his way to see them.)

Because of this, he doesn't really have a form or stick to one- usually busy on the move to try and infect as many people as possible.

Subpoint A: The Background

The Operator has been rumored to exist for hundreds of thousands of centuries, no one really knowing the origin for such an entity who can break those it comes into contact with- and those who were able to come into contact with it merely lost their memories of the interaction or didn't live to tell the tale.

Rumor has it that The Operator began in Latin America in Brazil, in 1897- found luring small children from their parents into the woods for them to never be seen again. But then it got more morbid, twisted, even as children came back from the woods never looking the same- not remembering anything at all about them and their parents, or the topics they were taught in school. They wouldn't smile about their favorite toy like they used to, instead they'd stare with a nonchalant face and would shrug their shoulders before going back to aimlessly staring at the woods.

Parents obviously got concerned and began to take their children to the doctor, where the only guess to do at the time was a lobotomy in a feeble attempt to "fix" the child.

Nothing would change and their child would only be /slightly/ altered, causing parents to grow steadily enraged and paranoid- all this was taken to a point where REDACTED and REDACTED led a rally to march into the woods and take down whatever had been harming their children.

REDACTED left with 12 men, all of them being fathers and marched into the woods- never to be seen again, one of the fathers being the only one to come out from the voyage nearing a whole month later.

He looked /terrified/, and paranoid and was seen to be acting erratic- covered in blood and insisting on things that weren't there, scaring away anybody who got too close. He ended up being thrown into the mental ward, and REDACTED took it upon themself to find the remaining men.

REDACTED left in the early morning and wouldn't come back until noon, bloodied and holding on by a thread- grabbing their notebook and drawing a simple stick figure with no face before dying shortly after.

And that's when the rumor began- that anyone who dared to get too close or too in-depth into the woods was like walking into death, and anybody who dared to do so would die.

Subpoint B: The Location

Rosswood Park is where The Operator is usually located, nobody knows why or how- but assumption is because the people of Brazil became so aware of him he couldn't infect anymore people, he had to go somewhere else to find new victims who hadn't even heard of him.

So what better then in North America in Alabama, in a park nobody would suspects an old parasite to be residing.

In a park where nobody from a movie-in-the-making could even assume something was wrong.

(OH YEAH, DIRECT LINK IN INTO MARBLE HORNETS BABY- WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPINESS?! 🗣️🗣️‼️‼️)

He's a parasite that could roam between woods at will, especially the inner depths- but he just generally prefers RossWood Park because there's always a bunch of prey there waiting to be infected, and also because he generally has the most amount of "influence" there with all of his "hosts"/ "influenced" there.

If he's not seen in Alabama, he's usually seen in Maine for their looming forests that stretch out miles long.

"A drop of blood .

A twinge of thyme .

A charcoal feather .

A circle with an X .

And a sin to confess ,

All these lead us to an eternal abyss .

No eyes, always watching .

Can't run, can't hide, and can't scream,

Or else It'll take you . "

LAST WORDS OF REDACTED, DIED ON DECEMBER 15TH, 1897.

#creepypasta #slenderverse #creepypasta fandom #slenderman #Vladi-WritesStuff #marble hornets

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yourlocaldisneyvillain · 7 months

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i would like to be in and foster an online environment in which discussions abt controversial topics can be handled civilly without ppl ganging up and sending an influx of anon hate. i think internet in general is a space where ppl love to be outraged and i want to challenge that. that's partially why i wrote this fic. i am tired of purity culture and of fandom/online hivemind. in a fandom where a lot of ppl clearly enjoy age gap ships, i say, what makes one better and more "morally correct" than another? what makes a sugar mommy au better than a college student x teacher fic? so many fics featuring dark themes are popular in this fandom (don't wanna name any names bc i don't wanna get anyone involved), but THIS is the one ppl are upset about?

i wanna ask a question -- is it possible to write a fic where ppl are NOT morally pure but still somehow manage to live and find happiness? why is it forbidden to explore those themes in fiction? when you look at ppl in real life and how weirdly their lives shape up, and how ppl are flawed and make mistakes and live unconventionally or sometimes immorally or unhealthily, doesn't that interest you? in a sense that you would like to read about it? explore what goes on in the minds of these ppl/characters?

ppl forget exploring a theme in fiction doesn't equate to condoning it in real life. each individual has to use their own best judgement when consuming a piece of fiction. i assume everyone reading my fic is an adult (as i write fics intended for adult audiences) and can form their own opinion.

i would like it if people could use their reading comprehension and critical thinking skills when reading my fiction, without me having to put up exact and specific 1826372929392 word disclaimers, so ppl's fragile feelings wouldn't get hurt. would it really be okay if i wrote in all caps before the story WEDNESDAY IS 22? you could have read the first paragraph and figured that out. i tagged it as teacher-student bc it's playing with the concept, even if they are not a student/teacher in the timeline of the story. i use implied underage sex as a tag bc in the 2nd chapter, and repeatedly throughout the story i reference larissa and morticia's relationship, that has occurred when they were underage. i mention that they engaged in sex. it is only mentioned, and not explicitly described. do you need me to write all of that out under the title in order not to send anon hate and clutch your pearls in disgust? or can you just read the story and decide if it's for you or not?

i implore you to read all of my works as a story, without attaching a moral judgement to characters' actions. if and when you do attach a moral judgement and form an opinion, pls remember those are fictional characters, and i am an author exploring certain themes bc i can and it interests me to do so. i want to write unconventional stories, controversial stories, romantic stories, funny stories, horror stories, i want to explore everything. everybody who reads is invited to look at them as a piece of fiction they can enjoy or not enjoy, and nothing more. i hope to take you on a journey that leaves you with something to remember, good or bad, but impactful.

from now on, i will probably write longer works and venture into darker themes (next thing i'm planning is murder mystery/thriller). there will still be fluffy pieces, but i just want to push myself out of my comfort zone. i would like to associate with fandom ppl who are open-minded and can read a piece of fiction without going ballistic. if you look at things black and white, you likely won't like my fiction -- and that's okay.

however, if for any reason you want to send me hate, you will absolutely be blocked. i am a person, and i do not deserve insults and rudeness in my inbox. it's easy to feel empowered and feel like you're fighting for A Cause (TM) and attach the Bad Guy etiquette to a single person. that can feel like you're solving something. esp when ppl accuse me of promoting actual p3dophilia -- that's a cause everyone can get behind. banish the evil p3do apologist!

i am a victim of child sexual abuse, that went on all throughout my formative years, and into my adult age, simply because i thought that's how it must be. that experience has scarred me beyond belief. i don't want to share the details. it's not smth i'm sharing for pity points, nor do i need anyone's sympathy. however, it is an experience that has shaped who i am, and perhaps for that reason, combined with other things, is why i'm drawn to certain themes in fiction. i don't owe anybody an explanation as to why i choose certain topics, but since there have been idiots in my inbox who have accused me of harming victims of minor sexual abuse, i feel compelled to say something. fuck you for using a group of suffering ppl to support your own flimsy arguments born out of puritanism and inability to cope with heavy themes in fiction.

you are absolutely welcome to CIVILLY discuss your opinions about the fic with me -- off anon, exclusively. but i know nobody will, bc this isn't about the actual contents of my fic, this is about the delicious morally righteous thrill of a witch hunt.

enjoy the fic. i will post next wednesday.

#personal #i will produce my own garbage and also consume it

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biscuitboxer · 7 months

Text

Rejoice

Naruto redesigns be upon ye

The main point of divergence from the canon timeline is Naruto meets Kurama a few years early (and also Zabuza and Haku live bc i love them <33). This happens because he decided to go foraging for more food and ate a poisonous plant (think deadly nightshade), causing his Kurama's chakra to kick in and heal the effects of the poison and send Naruto to the sealscape. Kurama decides to be nice(r) to Naruto because he's not dumb enough to blame a literal child for something that happened to him as an infant, though he's not exactly friendly until Naruto thinks to ask Kurama's name about a year down the line, on Naruto's 10th birthday.

I've been super into my Naruto au recently. The current name for the AU is Punk Tactics because Naruto's (and eventually all of his friends) a full-on punk who actually wants to change things for the better rather than slather the status quo in orange paint.

—

Because Naruto's got a millenium old genius monster giving him life advice and bullying him into self-sufficiency for a best friend, he's not really the dead last in class, but he's absolutely awful at tests so he still has the worst academic grades.

—

A lot of Naruto redesigns take away the orange completely for stealth, but I decided to keep it because orange is such an integral part of his character (bright orange is happy, warm, demands attention, and is very distracting, all stuff Naruto needs in his day-to-day life), and also the kid who stole the scroll of seals and almost got away with it doesn't need advice on being stealthy lol. He also wears dark coloured clothing under the highlighter jumpsuits in case he *does* need to be ultra stealthy, as well as for extra protection.

For younger Naruto, I used bright but more pastel-y colours because he's more innocent and hasn't really become Naruto yet, but after meeting Kurama and growing up a bit he's embraced the obnoxious side of himself and has begun wearing it like armour against the world. He's also a thief in this au, and his pranks are both a way to get revenge on the village for mistreating him and taking attention away from the real mischief he get into (this also provides the experience he needs to eventually steal the scroll of seals). As he grows older, he wears both brighter and darker colours to signify embracing himself more as well his growing maturity, while also being an homage to his jinchuriki transformations.

Also, he makes the highlighter jumpsuits directly after the Wave Mission, where his eyes were opened to injustice that didn't affect him personally, and he goes from wanting to be Hokage so people aren't mean to him to wanting to be Hokage to change the world for the better for everyone, so the black also represents how much more seriously he takes things now and the orange represents his bright hopes for the future. The black is also, one some level, a way to mourn his loss of innocence after everything he's gone through and the childhood he never really got to have. (Can you tell I love nuance, layers and symbolism in stories)

—

For the jinchuriki transformations I went hard into the eldritch cryptid type aesthetic while adding some symbolism. Hinata thinks of Naruto as the sun and herself as a sunflower always facing towards him and trying to emulate him (her name is written in hiragana but kanji readings of Hinata generally translate to something sun related), and Naruto's base appearance while using mass amounts of bijuu chakra looks like various cosmic events related to stars like an eclipse or a black hole. The eyes are inspired directly from Naruto's canon four tails transformation and Alternates from The Mandela Catelogue. It's also kind of representing Naruto's status as the black sheep of Konoha as he's entirely black aside from the eyes, and the oxymoronic nature of his existence - a glowing shadow, a genius village idiot, Konoha's greatest asset and pariah, a little kid with more life experience than most adults. Also it looks cool

The Highlighter Jumpsuits he wears after Wave are handmade and specially designed to take on Kurama's chakra without degrading like normal clothes would - this allows his clothes to become part of the shadowy body when he transforms.

I decided to make Naruto use a bo staff as one of his main weapons for a few reasons: sticks are the easiest weapon to find for a guy who spends most of his time in a forest, the idea of professionally bonking people with a stick is funny, and I love the stick and rope metaphor from Death Stranding. He can also just tie a kunai to it if he needs a spear

As for why Naruto doesnt have a utility belt or any kunai pouches: he adds a bunch of extra pockets and straps to hold things to any clothing he can and uses storage seals to hold everything. Some pockets are just hidden storage seals to hold things that would be awkward to fit into a pocket.

#Naruto #Uzumaki Naruto #Naruto redesigns #Naruto AU #naruto uzumaki

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hatredmadeofgold · 8 days

Note

I'm a terrible person with words, but here I go. (using a translator, my English is a little shit when it comes to writing and a little bit when it comes to pronunciation, ha!)

I would like to say with ALL my heart that I love your work and the writing in "Sing to Me", my heartbeat even accelerates when I remember the existence of this work of art and how wonderful the sensation was, the euphoric feeling of read each chapter and see all the care and dedication put into it. I have immense affection for Raiden, Sam (and Monsoon :)). Seeing how complex they are in the story brings me immense satisfaction, and I just wish all the positive recognition for you, it's impeccable.

(There's a lot I'd like to express, like my hyperfocus- but hey, I'm a terrible person at showing appreciation and affection, I hope you got the message anyway :))

hugs and kisses from a Brazilian! 🇧🇷❤

Oi, não se preocupa! Não sou falante nativo, mas entendi muito bem. Da próxima vez, você pode me escrever em pt-br (´▽`ʃ♡ƪ)

Thank you so much!! I am really happy to know that you enjoy my work 💕 Honestly, every time someone tells me that they enjoy Sing to Me so much, I am getting really happy. This fic means a lot to me and gives me lots of strength and stability, although on the outside it might look that I am not doing much for it for the past year (I do, it's just background work that I can't show T_T massive spoilers and so on). But I mean, I kept saying that each time somebody came to my inbox about it for the last months.

And I am so glad to know that you're feeling like this for each chapter you've read so far! This fic in itself is really complex and long, I could give you a rough estimate of around ~100 Chapters for the main story (Those would be just arc 1-3, the series, however, has 6 arcs in total excluding the 2 AUs). Sooo... let me say, you've got a lot to look forward to, I suppose :3

Also I hope that you'll be curious about the revisions too. Chapter 5 and 6 will have a darker tone than their current version that is on AO3 at the moment, but also will be much better in quality. Chapter 6 will have major changes I think, especially the second halve of it. I am all giddy and excited myself whenever I think about all the plans I have for this story. The drama, the comedy, the (bitter-) sweetness, but also the chaos, the pain and the darker parts of this fic. I wish I could go on a ramble but it's so many spoilers lmao And I don't want to take that away from my readers. If anything, I might drop a few essays about Raiden and Sam that I've got on my to-do list at some point, that in some cases will directly tie to Sing to Me as well.

The series also goes in great detail about Sam's past and who he is as a person because I was a bit dissatisfied with how most fics for this pairing at least that I've read didn't come up with much for his past (but I still liked all of them regardless), hence I went a little bit insane about him. To the point that Sam is technically my OC now (according to my beta reader) lmao

Jsyk, this is my current graph view of my Obsidian vault for Sing to Me and all the dots that connect to him:

My vault is an absolute mess still tbh because the program is a bit overwhelming when you don't know where to start, so this is far from how complex this fic actually even is.

What I can tell you pretty much spoiler free is that the series is complex because timeline wise, it starts in the year of 2001 and ends (technically) in the year of 2026. I say technically because ARC3.5: The War in Heaven goes a bit crazy with science fiction elements and time is... let's say, "relative". The main fic spans from 2019 until 2023 btw.

The prequel (ARC0: I Come with Knives) is entirely about Sam's past, from his POV entirely, and a collaboration with @thatthereneverwas since he originally requested me to write it. Basically adding more Sam lore that we definitely need :3

Please don't hesitate to come to my inbox or DMs if you want to chat about Sing to Me, samuraiden or just Sam or Raiden with me! I don't bite :] Monsoon is also my favourite from the Winds of Destruction aside from Sam, so I get you! I've been thinking of maybe including him in the fic as well, but it's uncertain how so yet, and if it will just be a flashback of some sort 🤔 But I take notes as I go, we'll see :3

Beijos pra você também 💞

#polastrieve #ask #samuraiden #Jetstream Sam #Raiden #MGR #my writing #Sing to Me

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sarilolla · 3 months

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*looks at my three main Trolls aus (and the other not posted ones)*

Damn this creatures going through the horrors

Anyway, I’m bored and made the mistake of listening to SCP readings before bed (again), so feel free to send me asks about my aus! Different Beat, Experiment Pop, and Hanahaki Branch plus the ones I haven’t posted about or have only mentioned, I'm hopeful for questions about any of them :)

Other asks and headcanon asks are open too! Don’t need to be about an au, I just have a need to ramble rn

Just a warning, some of these are dark and slightly (or very) gruesome and few or none are completely happy (I'm so sorry Trolls, I love you)

I’m sorry, these creatures have infected my brain and the only way to get them out is angst, misery and pain

Small descriptions of each au:

Different Beat: Featuring my main oc Juniper, Poppy’s older cousin, this is an au where the Pop Trolls distance themselves from Troll Kingdom after escaping the tree. King Peppy is dead, Viva is gone, so Poppy is queen at age 5 as Juniper is String Keeper (the position is separate to ensure survival of their tribe and their music under the Bergens). Current point in timeline: 10 years after the escape, the royal cousins plus Branch, Cooper, and a new friend Jackie (oc) is on their way to Vibe City

Experiment Pop (Warning: Will become darker after a while): Tired of the flavors of the Trolls, the Bergens experimented on them. The Pop Trolls became twisted and odd, gaining new powers in the process. Being grey makes Branch’s powers go haywire, and Poppy is keeping a secret about hers. Current point in timeline: Just after the failed 20th anniversary of freedom party, Chef captured no Trolls (ORIGINAL STORY IDEA THAT HAS BEEN POSTED NO LONGER FULLY APPLIES! Big changes have been made to add more angst and also incorporate some new headcanons and the Trolls 3 characters)

Hanahaki Branch (Warning: Will involve death and other semi-dark topics, as explored in my ficlets): Despite being left behind by his brothers, Branch still loves them. They were his everything in the beginning, and that love manifested in flowers blossoming inside his lungs. He gets a support system in Poppy, the Snack Pack and Kismet, but will he survive when his brothers are nowhere to be found? Current point in timeline: Start of the first movie, Poppy and Branch agreeing to go together to Bergen Town

Then there’s the little mentioned or not posted ones

Viva has the Pop String: Escaping Bergen Town came with a huge loss, not just with the Trolls left behind, but the potential of their entire genre disappearing. Peppy still has to build up a village and raise his daughter, but the loss of the oldest and their music (arguably their most powerful weapon), weighs heavy on him. When the World Tour rock-and-rolls around, how will things work out? Potential WIP, might be worked on after one or more fics have been finished

Product Pop (Warning: Dark stuff. Trolls are seen as livestock/slaves. This au is NOT kind to them, and I don’t see a happy ending for it. (Made after the second movie came out)): The Pop Trolls escape but they’re few, and things aren’t stable for a long time. Branch and Cooper leave after 10 years, longing for a place where they will fit in better (Cooper in Funk, and Branch in Rock (his mother is a Rock Troll in most of my aus)). King Peppy is sick, and dies, leaving Poppy to rule at just age twelve. Not a year later and they’re found by a species called Elves, specifically by a woman named Lilith Silvertongue. Just as awful as the Bergens but greedier, she takes the entire village and finds a way to extract their essence without killing them, turning them into livestock for her candy she sells to other giant species. She keeps Poppy as a pet and the mascot of her brand, her little songbird, and takes the Pop String too. When she discovers there’s more Trolls out there with potentially different flavors, well, she will find them, even if she has to force Poppy to become a traitor to her species. Technically a WIP, but it needs polish before I will post anything “official”

Pop World Tour: (After the second movie, other genres taking over became a popular trope, so I’m piggybacking on that but with Trolls 3 characters too) The first movie didn’t end on a happy note, and around half of Pop Village was lost. Poppy has the Pop String, and searches old records about its history. That’s also when she finds out she has a sister and potentially more people out there. Obviously, she needs to reunite them. She needs to reunite them all! With her fiance Branch there’s nothing they can’t do! Viva is skeptical of her baby sister’s plan, instead wanting to offer sanctuary to the surviving Pop Trolls. Poppy is not happy about that, and uses the Pop String to hypnotize the Putt Putt Trolls to help them take over. Clay escapes after a tense confrontation with his baby brother, and has to find the rest of his brothers to see if the Perfect Family Harmony can snap his people out of their current state. With Pop and Putt Putt Village combined, Poppy sets off with her love and her sister to reunite all of Trollkind in a place out of range of any and all giant species who might harm them (having heard rumors of Mount Rageous). Will Poppy succeed in her plan? Will Cooper accept finding his biological family (Poppy promised him they wouldn’t be hurt)? Will Branch come to his senses and help his brothers? Will Brozone manage to unite, perhaps with new friends, against their own tribe? Potential WIP

#dreamworks trolls #trolls world tour #trolls band together #trolls au #my brain is completely infested with these tiny creatures I swear they’re parasites #anyway- asks open #please distract me from my bad choice of SCP readings and my period pains <3 #might answer some in the morning tho I am eepy

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x-authorship-x · 1 year

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Aaaa. Could you do 6 or 8 for Shisui and Inoichi? Preferably HOPE AU. I just...love them so much and live for your updates about Inoichi and his Uchiha child.

#8- “I’m never letting you go.”

As the one of the closest professionals that Konoha had to a trained psychiatrist, Inoichi knew this was a potentially monumental misstep.

They were killers, indoctrinated from birth to a carefully cultivated and rationed loyalty. As the Head of T&I, Inoichi knew that he should encourage devotion to Konoha herself over any individual, devotion to their ideology and way of life, to their leadership, to the village. Not people, people who were so fragile and flighty and susceptible. A good Shinobi was a tool; Konoha might have had greater emphasis on teamwork but functioning as clogs of a machine was a metaphor to similar effect. It was still a dehumanising, to be a thing with a function, to be used and managed and discarded.

"Sensei."

The word was soft, helpless, formed from a mouth stained with blood and rounded by exhaustion.

The Uchiha were more dangerous than most. Not only for their skill, for their passion and talent and strength, but because the inevitable ramifications of their Dojutsu.

Shisui stared down at Inoichi, his Mangekyou gleaming brighter than anything in nature. He was pale, beneath the flush of sweat and adrenaline, and his thin limbs trembled faintly.

He would remember this moment for the rest of his life, no matter how long or short, no matter how his vision failed and darkened to eventual blindness.

And Inoichi, despite everything that he knew and despite his own skewed loyalties, gathered one of Shisui's hands in his own. It was small, the knuckles still round with childishness, and cold, all small bones and surprisingly hard callouses.

"I mean it, Shisui-kun. Never suggest that I leave you behind or that I sacrifice you to make a clean kill."

There was a light in those wicked, spinning eyes. Shisui was sweet and warm and bright but, like any light, carried such deep shadows with him. He was a vicious little thing, sharp blades in small hands and gleaming wire woven with small fingers. A dichotomy that, rightly, disturbed both civilians and Shinobi alike.

"But-"

Inoichi, who had immersed himself in the darkest depths of humanity long ago, only smiled.

"You and me are for life."

A short, wounded inhale.

"Do you promise?"

Another taboo. Another line crossed. When the Sandaime had ordered Inoichi to evaluate an Uchiha with the specific intent to manipulate, this had not been the plan.

Inoichi was supposed to MindWalk him, assess if he was a flight risk, and ensure that the youngest ever wielder of the Mangekyou Sharingan could be put to Konoha's use before he inevitably self-destructed. The Uchiha were single-minded in their obsession, should the trigger catch; it was what made them such keen hunters, such creative and terrifying enemies, and fed into their introverted Clan culture. To turn an Uchiha so completely to the use of the village instead...

(Inoichi wasn't supposed to take him under his wing, to teach him and nurture him, to care for him.)

But Inoichi hadn't done that. He hadn't lured Shisui from his people, hadn't severed those ties and cauterized the wounds with the intent to foster an even greater love for the inner village, for an unmatched obedience to Kage and Elders.

(Inoichi wasn't supposed to compromise his own training, loyalties, initiative.)

The manipulator had, instead, manipulated everything else, the two of them caught like the eye of the storm.

(He'd broken orders.)

Now, bloodied from an ambush but the both of them alive, gasping in the undergrowth with Shisui shivering from adrenaline and Inoichi kneeling to peer into the young boy's face, something fragile and hopeful hung between them.

“I’m never letting you go.”

"Do you promise?''

Nothing was promised in this world. To do so was naive, cruel, a self fulfilling prophecy. A lie.

(Inoichi wasn't supposed to love him, a father and his son.)

Inoichi lied to everyone. It was his job, to snare and manipulate and dig. And yet-

"I promise."

He would die before the world made a liar of him to Shisui as well.

#this got dark and its 100% because Im reading Hannibal fanfic #torship #torship talks #ask #anon #drabble #drabble quote prompts #ask game #shisui #inoichi #hope au #an au of that au probably #darker timeline of Hope Au #which would reaaaaaaally be something #shisui son and inoichi dad #Yamanaka Shisui #enjoy anon! 🥰

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justtrash202 · 12 days

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Welcome to the chaotic world of Shattered Dimensions, a Sonic the Hedgehog AU where realities collide!

Plot Summary:

Infinite, fueled by his warped desire for control, unleashed the Phantom Ruby's power, shattering reality. Once vibrant locations from games, shows, comics, and even fan creations merged into a nightmarish void. Sonic the Hedgehog, beloved hero of the IDW comics, succumbed to the corruption, transforming into a monstrous Dark Sonic. In a desperate act of love and self-sacrifice, Shadow the Hedgehog unleashed a powerful emotional blast, weakening himself and sending him plummeting into the void. Dark Sonic, consumed by darkness, unleashed a cataclysmic blast that birthed this fractured multiverse.

Main Goal

- Find Sonic and restore their shattered world.

- Protect Multi Silver from the Time Guardians.

- Navigate the dangers of the fractured districts, including the deadly Exe District and Shadow's potential transformation.

- Unravel the secrets of the shattered dimensions and find a way to heal them.

Key Characters

Multi Shadow: The battle-hardened IDW Shadow, forever haunted by the loss of his Sonic. He searches for a way to restore his world and reunite with him.

Multi Silver: A paradox born from the disrupted timeline, a Silver the Hedgehog who shouldn't exist. He grapples with his purpose and the Time Guardians who relentlessly pursue him.

Multi Knuckles: A corrupted Knuckles from Sonic Adventure 2, seeking redemption and a way to return to normalcy.

The Council of Silvers

A mysterious group of Silver the Hedgehogs from various timelines who appear in Multi Silver's dreams, offering cryptic advice and warnings.

The Time Guardians

Enigmatic beings who strive to maintain the integrity of timelines. They view Multi Silver as a threat and relentlessly pursue his erasure.

World Building

Multi’s clothes/appearances will change when they enter certain district to fit the world they are currently in/ all districts will have the songs that they have in their proper game

Advance wrist watch communicators: the multi will be equipped with these, as they act alot like the fallout four pit-boys. They will have the map to all the world and each district (in form of game map), will be able to locate any other Time Anomalies that are in the area, and other chaos energies, give multiples information of the world they are in, and can be used to talk to each other

The Districts

Sonic Adventure District: Blends elements of Station Square, Mystic Ruins, and Prison Island.

Sonic Unleashed District: Divided into a vibrant Daytime area and a twisted Nighttime Werehog zone.

Sonic Colors District: A colorful world reflecting Tropical Resort or Planet Wisp, where Wisp powers are prominent.

Sonic Forces District: A war-torn world overrun by Dr. Eggman.

Sonic 06 District: A fractured and distorted version of Soleanna, constantly glitching between timelines.

Classic District: The combined worlds of classic Sonic games, with a unique corruption.

Exe District: The most dangerous zone, inhabited by monstrous "exe" versions of Sonic characters.

Sonic Riders District: A world focused on Extreme Gear racing, with a darker undercurrent.

Will they succeed? Can love and hope mend the fractured dimensions? Explore the world of Shattered Dimensions and find out!

[Ci]Stay tuned for character bios, district details, and more!

#sonic the hedgehog #sonic au #shadow the hedgehog #knuckles the echidna #silver the hedgehog #work in progress

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random-mailbox · 1 year

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Random-Mailbox's Favorite Sailor Moon Fics - Week 36 - Sex Pollen

Sex Pollen as a trope is also not as big in this fandom as one would imagine. @lilliebellfanfics has suggested I try to put something together because "it’s spring and pollen season", which seems like an amazing idea until I realized how many of the Sex Pollen trope stories went into the Potions post around Halloween. Thankfully, I have more for you to explore!

As always, my apologies in advance for spoiling some of these for you (Fic Titles are linked to either FFN or AO3 entries).

The Armour That We Wear - @sailoreuterpe

In this one-shot Usagi and Mamoru start to deal with implications of their anime-inspired break-up after a sex-bubble causes their inhibitions to fall.

La Douleur Exquise - @floraone

This story ties into "4 authors 1 prompt series", parts of which are in the Potions post linked above. In this two-shot, Usagi and Mamoru are working through co-existing within their civilian and superhero lives, while trying to stop people from getting hurt. I loved that this take causes changes in the timeline and forces Black Moon clan and Chibiusa to become anomalies.

All's Fun with Love and Orbs - @irritablevowel

This is another addition to the "4 authors 1 prompt series" with a focus on Dead Moon Circus arc. In a non-traditional take, meddling from Amazones Quartet causes everyone to argue instead of being unable to keep their hands off each other.

Happy Hump Day!: Chapter 1: Lunar on a Hot Tin Roof - @shnuggletea

With Tokyo experiencing a crazy heatwave, Usagi cannot seem to be able to cool down. Mamoru is the only person who can bring down her fever, even if it might not be in the most conventional way. This is the first chapter of a collection of unrelated lemons if you want to keep exploring.

One story that became part of the Reveals series but might make more sense here is Impulse by @areptiledysfunction1107 , where mysterious fog from a youma is to blame for Tuxedo Mask's inability to see straight when it comes to a certain blonde.

---

That's it for this week. Next week are Psychometry stories! Some have definitely made their way into other posts but I hope I will introduce you all to a few more!

Here are the links to the previous Tumblr posts in these series to explore more amazing works based on different themes - make sure to check them out if you haven't had a chance! (Click on title name to go to the post) - I will keep updating the list every week as new posts come up:

Week 1 - Groundhog Day

Week 2 - Established Relationships

Week 3 - Sex Positivity

Week 4 - Unfinished Stories

Week 5 - Darker Stories

Week 6 - Potions 🧪

Week 7 - Reveals

Week 8 - 👻Halloween🎃

Week 9 - Wrong Perceptions

Week 10 - Non-Senshi AU

Week 11 - In-Progress Fics

Week 12 - Mutual Pining

Week 13 - Enemies to Lovers

Week 14 - Slow Burn

Week 15 - Christmas Part 1 - Ugly Christmas Sweaters and Santa!

Week 16 - Christmas Part 2

Week 17 - New Years

Week 18 - High School AU

Week 19 - Slice of Life

Week 20 - Coffee shop AU

Week 21 - Huddle for Warmth

Week 22 - Friends to Lovers

Week 23 - ❤️Valentines Day❤️

Week 24 - Do a Grouch a Favour Day (or Cheer Up Fics)

Week 25 - Soulmate AU

Week 26 - Amnesia Fics (and resources)

Week 27 - 🍀St Patrick's Day🍀

Week 28 - Fix it Fics

Week 29 - Prompt: Mug

Week 30 - Flowers

Week 31 - Traditions

Week 32 - Dreams

Week 33 - Friends

Week 34 - Body-Swap

Week 35 - Medical Assistance

#fic rec #fic list #usagi x mamoru #sailor moon #sex pollen #sailor moon fanfiction

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azulas-lightning-bolt · 1 month

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guys. guys. guys.

100yr war mako. guys.

okay so I know I’m already going insane about the dadamon au but. but hear me out. and this one is completely of my own design and I don’t think I’ve actually seen anything else on this (if you have pls pls pls pls send links) but there’s so much I could do with mako in the atla timeline because he’s a mixed kid.

now, I also need to account for how mako looks in my head (completely oc-ified). he’s way more ek the way I imagine him (he and bolin are closer in features, in short, but this post has me being stupid more comprehensively), darker skin, central heterochromatic green/gold eyes, curved nose, etc. for context the ek look in my head is kind of blasian? it’s not exactly but for the sake of succinct imagery, yk.

okay so moving on to au info (under the cut)!

fire nation soldier:

—this mako is an amputee. I haven’t decided which limb(s) but he is missing at least one is.

—he joined the army for the money, but given his appearance could only join closer to the eclipse and is treated like shit

—hates his firebending and the atrocities he has to commit with it to afford to eat

—mother was a fn deserter who left for ek father, hid in ba sing se for a few years where mako n bolin were born and raised, before oppressive class system and denial of war became too much and they moved out to ek town bordering fn territory (mako-5, bolin-3). they lived alright for a few more years, before naoki was recognized and she n san were killed. orphanism.

—mako joined the army at 13, the enlistment age being 16. passed himself off as a really scrawny 16yo. enlistments knew but disliked ‘half-breeds’ and hoped the front lines would just take care of him for them.

—he has to get a tattoo to signify he is not of pure fn blood,,, ohhh the angst potential,,,

—canon starts when he’s almost 13, as it has to get close enough to eclipse for him to join at 13. he only worked about a year in the army by the time canon ends and zuko becomes firelord. as a concession of losing, fn’s army is reduced greatly. zuko’s first choice is to remove child soldiers, esp the kids pretending to be 16. he has a program, but mako ofc slips through the cracks.

—traumatized 13/14yo amputee war veteran struggles to regain normal human behavior with worried brother: the saga, basically.

—maybe throw in a little found family/adoption, as a treat

Im so madly in love w this au btw.

joins the gaang (good start):

—there are two versions of 100yr war mako joining the gaang I have, and this is the happier one. almost no one dies! besides like. his parents. it’s for character development mako, sorry. so basically the plot is that the gaang is in the fire nation for the eclipse, but instead of mako joining the army then, they find scraggly street orphan and decide to drag him and happy brother along.

—to make this better, they originally think he and bolin are fully ek, hiding in the fire nation, and that mako is a nonbender (he still hates his fire) but then they’re like BAM we’re actually the children of a deserter and her ek boyfriend! they’re both dead.

—womp womp, teach me firebending mako!!

—and to literally no one’s surprise, his answer is an enthusiastic shove that stupid idea right back up your

—eclipse fails, but mako and azula freak each other out by being reallllyy similar.

—zuko joins; mako is also on toph’s side and bolin is content to follow his brother (reminder he is 11 at this point, mako is 13) because mako knows (as most fn citizens do) about the story of his scar and would die from guilt if he were to fight and scar the prince with fire again. (he has lightning scars and stuff too from early on after being orphaned, being without control of his fire)

—also mako still knows how to lightningbend, in all the 100yr war verses. Ik it’s supposed to be a royal family exclusive in atla, but either mako encountered iroh on the road and picked it up quickly or he had another version of zolt to teach him/give him the push to figure it out himself. GASP mako learning lightning from the dragons/sun warriors after going to the ruins for a safe place w bolin,,,

—so zuko joins. remember how I said mako/azula were still mirror images here? yeah zuko kinda gets freaked out by the 13yo who’s realllyy similar to his sister.

—mako is super awkward around him, still kind of treating him like he’s a prince (running away). zuko misinterprets this as mako hating him. after mr prince loses his bending, what does this mean? mako gets to tag along on dragon field trip!!

—in line w mako learning lightning from dragons previously, he’s able to navigate super easily into the city, but leaves aang and zuko behind by accident in the process. they do the little dragon dance and mako is the one to find them (with sun warrior supervision, because they don’t want the baby dragon to die encountering someone he didn’t expect) and they are accepted significantly more easily.

—mako watches them meet the masters with stifled amusement. he’s not worried; he knows they’re pure of heart.

—speedrunning everything up to the comet with fluffy gaang relationships, mako tries to blow the guy up back (it does not work)

—day of the comet, mako stays glued to bolin. he’s offered the chance to sit out the attack, they can pull through in units of two (+aang) and he almost accepts. but he’s thirteen, a year older than the inventor of metalbending and the avatar. bolin is a year younger, and takes importance, but-but he needs to do something. he’s been by their side a quarter of what katara and sokka have been, and he doesn’t want to have been dead weight. he joins aang, able to be present after the battle if medical help or a quick escape are needed, and enhanced as a firebender so he’s good enough to fight a bit.

—aang’s energy is being swallowed and mako doesn’t understand what’s happening but he knows it’s not good. he goes running up to aang, bolin at his side, ready to pull the avatar away and save them both. aang wins in the end, and ozai’s bending is gone.

—the rest of the gaang lands, the weakened ozai is still restrained, but the looks of disgust aimed at him from not only his traitor spawn but two peasant half-breeds gives him enough rage to spit threats at them all, a promise that all of them, starting with the little green-eyed brat (bo) will be picked off and tortured to extermination by his sympathizers.

—mako, standing on business as usual, doesn’t hesitate. he relishes in the split second of terror in ozai’s eyes as he realizes his special, hoarded technique, lightning, is being used against him, and he is powerless to stop it, before he’s struck. toph’s earth bounds shatter at the bolstered impact, but it doesn’t matter as the former phoenix king falls lifelessly to the ground. mako’s eyes are hard and cold. he’s thirteen. he is not a stranger to doing what needs to be done, and bolin comes first. who will sympathize with a dead man?

—the end :3

this one is probably one of my favorite 100yr war versions

joins the gaang (bad start):

—this one is probably marginally more tragic. mako’s start towards the gaang is bolin’s death. he died in a night robbery from older firebenders; mako was powerless to stop them, and they didn’t care enough to stop themselves. mako didn’t bother saving up for another travel pack or enough food and clothes to fill it again. he regrets ever having been so foolish as to think that was something he could keep.

—he ends up at the factory that’s polluting the village’s river in the painted lady ep. he works at the factory but lives in the village, just as desolate as the rest (though, again, decidedly more ek-looking).

—based off their harshness upon finding out their savior was katara, the village people don’t take too well to mako either, considering he’s both mixed and works at the factory. when katara is outed (and mako is packing up, because they just lost him his job), he gets pushed to the front with her and met with the same scornful glares.

—sokka defends his sister (common sokka w) and strange, scrawny child. the village distinctly apologizes more to katara as mako gives them all a stink eye.

—he helps the gaang clean out the river as thanks by burning the muck and disposing of the smoke.

—he goes to leave at the same time as them, aang notices, and offers a ride (to sokka’s slight chagrin-he could kiss his schedule goodbye officially now.) mako agrees, thinking he’ll fall off the bison if he gets lucky (yk, and other regular very normal 12yo thoughts)

—a ride turns into ‘oh just stop here with us! we don’t mind sharing dinner, there’s extra!’ and that turns into ‘it’s way too rainy to go on your own, we can just camp together another night!’ which becomes ‘where are you going? if you don’t know, you can just hit a few more stops with us.’ and eventually they just stop making excuses because, if mako is honest with himself, he’s totally gotten attached. they all know he’s not leaving. he’s smiled, laughed, felt joy for the first time in two years, the two years since bolin was killed.

—gaang shenanigans ensue. mako and toph get along like a house on fire, because they’re both grimy, angry, shithead 12yos absolutely out for blood. mako and aang develop telepathic communication within two weeks because mako can’t communicate normally and aang tries so hard to understand that he actually does. they’re bsfs.

—mako is decidedly reckless with his life and katara gets to practice her healing even more regularly than in canon. she’s not too pleased. sokka thinks mako is the best ever (grumpy mini-me) and wants to wrap him in furs and tuck him away from the dangers of the war (he calls mako cute one time(!) and gets set on fire for it)

—zuko and mako bond over scars (lightning+fire to the face) and zuko sibling-izes mako cuz azula parallels

—sozin’s comet goes about the same, but katara insists mako comes with her and zuko so she can keep an eye on him, which actually saves zuko from the lightning scar bcs zuko taught mako how 2 redirect‼️‼️

—I don’t have too much on this au because my brain is being consumed by the next one and thinking too hard abt this one upsets me greatly. also so much of mako’s personality in canon is centered around bolin (oh look that’s an upcoming post too) that it’s difficult to imagine him as more than a shell of a person without him.

dead:

—okay so this one is technically atla and tlok. will elaborate later.

—mako dies with his mother and father (naoki is still a deserter here) but bolin survives on his own. he mourns his brother, but a nice earth kingdom family adopts him, mistaking him for a full ek earthbender, which he doesn’t correct. bolin eventually moves on with his life, scraping by in the tail end of the war. these events take place ~ten years before atla canon, so bolin is 16 by b1 and 17 when the gaang reaches the earth kingdom. mako is eight and dead. for the record.

—so how does a dead kid become part of canon? well, I’ll be making a post about how I think afterlife and ghostly spirits work in the avatarverse, but for the sake of conciseness, the dead who have ‘unfinished business’ become spirits that can interact with the human world at will, because they never quite “crossed over.” mako, not knowing if bolin will survive on his own, has ‘unfinished business’. however, this causes permanent spirithood, which is part of why it’s so rare. a soul has to be really upset to eternally subject themselves to that.

—so spirit-mako isn’t really mako anymore, he’s a guardian spirit of, let’s say, children fending for themselves. you know a group of children fending for themselves that’s pretty relevant in atla. yeah. so he ends up unable to find bolin, because bolin is being taken care of. he’s instead drawn to the southern water tribe, where dozens of kids’ parents traveled off to war.

—he doesn’t reveal himself at all, just preventing little accidents for the most part. the swt nicknames him veiti, deigning him their guardian spirit. he lost most of himself as mako, all that’s really left is a bit of snark left for other spirits and fondness for his brother.

—he follows katara and sokka as they find aang, drawn to the weight of another lonely boy. aang feels something off, lingering in the air around the water siblings, from the start, but doesn’t mention it. veiti doesn’t stop the flare from firing because he knows someone needs to follow it, needs to come.

—zuko arrives. veiti is confused by him, but the scar on his face bears so much weight. they feel familiar to veiti, so much so that the tundra fills with the weeping of a spirit. this actually scares off zuko’s ship before an escalated confrontation (aang going w zuko) happens, so it works out well in the end.

—when katara and sokka follow aang away from the swt, veiti decides he wants (he hasn’t wanted in a while now) to follow them. but he can’t just abandon the tribe that’s come to rely on his protection, even going as far as to offer the occasional fish, so he decides to temporarily possess a vessel. other spirits have told him he should be able to take a human form, but he hasn’t figured that out yet. he possesses a little otter penguin, and tells a mildly disturbed kanna that he is veiti, and will be joining the siblings and avatar to protect them there. he tries to give a spirit blessing on his way, but he’s not sure if it works.

—the wails of a spirit’s grief fill the echoing halls of the deserted air temple along with aang’s rage, and he hopes the avatar can feel the comforting weight of a fellow mourner draped over him when katara talks him down. veiti feels decidedly uneasy (seen) with the statues of past avatars, and is relieved when momo is found and they all leave.

—he clings to aang as he rides the unagi, bats away too-sharp too-close fans when the kyoshi warriors get too aggressive. he nearly smacks sokka upside the head, physical form or not, when he starts blabbering about the male warriors that don’t exist. that one behavior of his had always ticked veiti off, but he tried to be understanding with sokka’s lack of a… well, mother.

—as the gaang experiences the mundanity of kyoshi island, veiti finds himself regaining some sense of… something he lost. he remembers, seeing the face of a boy on the island, that the brother he longed to see again was named bolin. he remembered that he was eight, in human years. he couldn’t gather any more than that, hard as he tried.

—omashu was hell for veiti, the spirit confused as to if he should be defending despite the lack of aggression from the king, and what he should do if he needs to step in. aang recognizes his friend, however, and veiti allows himself a break from them as they travel to an ek mining town. he hovers over zuko in this time, observing him and his interactions with his uncle (what is an uncle, veiti isn’t quite sure. they didn’t have those in the swt)

—zuko finding katara’s necklace on the brig makes veiti rush back to the gaang, relieved to find them all in tact in a different town. however, this town is dealing with spirit meddling, which veiti approaches with some annoyance. he tries to get sokka back, asking the other spirits, but he’s told hei bai isn’t too hospitable. aang enters the spirit world, and catches a glance of a mangled boy around eight who looks a mix of fn and ek. he’s conversing with the spirits casually, which is aang’s clue he wasn’t taken from the village as well. he wants to call the boy over, but has more pressing matters to deal with. hei bai is pacified, and everyone is returned.

—veiti travels with them to the fn, despite everything in him yelling to run the other way. the sages are dangerous, the evil named zhao is far too powerful there, and the children aren’t safe, tied up, beyond his protection. he finds the fire bows to him, and that is another thing veiti recalls; he is a firebender. no harm comes to zuko or katara or sokka when roku’s fury is released through aang, despite veiti’s primal terror when roku’s gaze locks on him. buried deep inside, aang wonders if he is seeing the same boy from hei bai’s forest.

—the scroll is stolen. veiti is, again, halfway to a heart attack (can spirits have heart attacks?) working himself into a panic when katara is captured by the pirates. zuko becomes something else for him to worry about, katara’s necklace in hand. however, apart from numerous last minute saves from slicing blades, veiti barely has to do anything as the situation works itself out.

—veiti is again torn as the gaang meets jet. there’s distant wailing in the forest all the days they stay with jet (and aang recognizes it, the same as in the temple and the tundra because it was from that mangled little boy he keeps seeing. maybe sokka is right, something is off about jet. don’t you hear that, katara?). jet is a lost child, but jet is malicious as well. veiti can’t understand if jet is to protect or harm or defend and it’s making him crazy.

—veiti feels himself grow absent for a while, he resurfaces when aang is captured, choosing to dance through the arrows of the yuyan as they miraculously miss the blue spirit (zuko was to protect, veiti had a feeling) and his ‘captive’, the avatar. the divide between katara, sokka, and aang is one they must fix themselves. the scars on katara’s hands from the terrible lessons of the deserter (he had known a deserter. a mother, his mother. if only he could recall her name.)

—another temple echoes with a spirit’s tears as they visit the northern temple with its gadgets and gears. teo is a bright boy, veiti knows he will fly far with his strange inventions. the nwt is a destination veiti abhors. he finds pakku agitating, and far too reminiscent of sokka previous kyoshi island. the siege by the evil called zhao (veiti wants him gone. veiti can make him gone.) is terrible. he burns tui, and mako runs to her side in childish worry, asking la if he can in some way help. he warms her with licking flames that don’t burn (because he is a firebender, he knows now) and infuses what little of himself he can give. it hurts, almost, and la’s weeping joins his in the oasis.

—it is by design that zhao does not take zuko’s hand.

—yue will give herself to tui, la tells him. but what if yue? he asks. he knows there cannot be a life handed over and a life kept. his fire has warmed tui, but it will not fix her. they will share the burden, la tells him. yue will lend tui the strength tui lent her, just as veiti did, and tui will recover in time. yue will be weakened, but she too will recover. as aang is returned, mako allows himself to jump up and cling to his frame. he is shocked to feel the ghost of a hug reciprocated. aang’s eyes search around veiti, as though aware of his presence but unsure where his eyes should land. veiti allows himself to beam.

—the earth kingdom general seeks to take advantage of aang in a way that greatly discomforts them both. he doesn’t revere the spirits the way he should. veiti makes sure his head gets stuck very firmly in a ditch once the children are safely away, and leaves them to their devices for a bit to make sure the general does not try such foolish exploitation again. he leaves them unattended for a while, not feeling a tug towards them as he normally would in danger. he drifts back around the time aang is being attacked for being the avatar, and it greatly unnerves him. why should he be scorned for being their savior? kyoshi makes an appearance much like roku did. and just as he did with roku, veiti pretends her all seeing eyes do not, for the briefest moment, settle on him. something of being perceived is far too disquieting for him in his state.

—veiti is greatly pleased when the blind bandit joins them. she has the burden of an unguided child, despite having parents. he doesn’t imagine them to be good ones.

—the girl with eyes like his (that’s another thing he remembers. his eyes—his human form has those—are gold, flecked with green. was deserter-mother gold-green, too?) hurtshurtshurts in her soul and in her fire. veiti cries at the too familiar violence, echoes of something that had terrified him once. he isn’t quite sure what, but his sniffles fill the air all the same. veiti cried sparsely in the south, sparing his tears for death and severe injury, but so many things in the rest of the world make him ache in a way he can through no other method express.

—veiti dislikes the heavy presence of the spirit in the library. he fuels toph’s veins with his own fire when her grip slips and somehow, he is enough to let her split her attention; the foul benders who reek of thieves are held up until aang can return, incensed at the muzzle on his bison.

—ba sing se is hell. veiti needs to find someone. he’s so close, he knows, but he doesn’t understand who he needs to find. his senses are torn between protecting the avatar and searching for someone he isn’t sure of.

—he parts ways with the gaang, and he looks. he searches all of ba sing se and the surrounding towns until he finds a small family of five. two parents, though the mother is scarred by fire, and three children. the oldest is a young adult, a boy named yuyi. the youngest is a girl named meiying. and the other boy has green eyes flecked with gold (gold-green, green-gold) and his name is bolin. veiti knows this is who he has been searching for. the world’s tug suddenly applies to him, and he feels his feet touch the wooden floor as he looks up instead of down at the family’s dinner. the creaks alert them to his sudden presence, and bolin’s (brother!) eyes widen, filling with tears. veiti’s voice is high pitched (he is eight in human years, he remembers) and warbles when he asks for confirmation that bolin is his brother. his body stings like bad fire when he is wrapped in a careful embrace, but a tentative smile curls his lips all the same. he asks bolin his name. apparently, veiti’s name is mako. veiti tells bolin that he is called veiti, and asks which name is better. bolin thinks they’re both nice, so mako decides he will use both.

—something tugs desperately for his help (aang needs help) so veiti tells bolin he needs to go, he needs to help. he promises he’ll always look after bolin and his family, and thanks his brother for reminding him of his name. he’ll miss his brother and his new family lots, he says, but they’ll be okay with his spirit blessing. he’s gotten better at those, he promises. with a smile and a wave, the little boy is in veiti’s form once more.

—aang is-was dead. mako wishes so terribly he has been there. he can do lightning, too, another spirit showed him how while he was searching. he could’ve helped. but katara is healing aang with the special water from the oasis. veiti wonders how she’s doing. he thinks about tui being hurt so badly and yue being weakened and aang being dead and mako misses his brother already and sobs fill the clear night air. the sadness weighs too heavily for his spirit form to handle, so he drops into appa’s saddle in the form of a little boy warped by fire.

—aang’s friends are wary at first, but it’s hard to deny he’s a spirit given his arrival. mako finds he like talking to them rather than just watching over them, and katara and sokka’s faces when he tells them he is actually veiti are really funny. the only thing he doesn’t like is how they seem so careful around him. at first, he thinks it’s because they don’t want to be so close to a real spirit rather than a half-spirit like the avatar, but he realizes it’s about how small he is when katara looks at him sad after he proudly announces he is eight human years old.

—aang wakes up and veiti is one of the first to greet, him, bouncing around in a mix of excitement and nervousness at the chance to meet him for real and have an actual conversation. he thinks aang has probably seen or heard him before, being the avatar, but they’ve never actually talked. aang tries to muster the energy to feel the same, but the feeling of failure drowns it out. mako retreats to his spirit form, upset, but understands he still needs to watch out for aang. he drags him to shore when the storm knocks him out, worriedly hovering until katara makes it on the scene.

—mako, as badly as he wants to, doesn’t go into a physical form with aang at the fire nation school. he thinks it would be a perfect chance for them to talk normally, as he’s been staying in his spiritual form since aang first woke. it’s not until they reach the village of the painted lady that he takes his human body again. the mood of the place is somber, but veiti cheerfully (foolishly) offers to try and talk to the painted lady for them. katara is all on board for this, and aang offers to tag along, but sokka is insistent that their schedule cannot take that dent.

—veiti goes to talk to the painted lady anyway. she’s very friendly, but she calls mako silly! she tells him he is to learn an important lesson from this; human affairs, like this, sort themselves out more often than not, and it is a spirit’s duty to meddle only when absolutely necessary. the gaang is there for a reason, and he should let them deal as necessary.

—the rest of b3 goes without much influence from mako. he tries to heed the painted lady’s advice and step back, even on the day of the black sun. human affairs, as they often do, sorted themselves out. however, he does tag along when zuko (who veiti is so happy to have. he was right!) and aang go to meet the firebending masters, because he is a firebender too! zuko doesn’t technically know about him, because katara is the one who introduced him to everyone else at the western air temple but she doesn’t like zuko, so he doesn’t show himself at all until aang and zuko go. he tells aang in secret that he’s going to stay behind to try and talk to ran and shaw, and not to worry when he doesn’t feel mako in the air. he’ll be back in no time!

—it’s on the boiling rock that mako shows himself to zuko, and it’s totally on accident! sokka was really stressing out, and veiti swears up and down that zuko was asleep, so he lets the world’s tug pull him down as human feet touch the ground. he tries to help sokka feel better, but it doesn’t really work because sokka got scared that he showed up out of nowhere and then zuko freaked out about the ‘little kid in a high security prison’. mako tried not to be offended, but eight human years isn’t a little kid! he’s basically an adult already! he’s as helpful as he can be with their escape plans, keeping zuko warm with his fire (and after he talked to ran and shaw, they taught him how to make it colorful!) in the cooler (what a terrible invention) and helping tug zuko back up into the cart when they get mr sokka and katara’s dad and suki with them and zuko battles gold-eyes sister. mr hakoda is kind of freaked out my veiti too, and he tries not to be upset, but sokka sees his eyes water and makes a whole huge deal out of it. and veiti is absolutely not pouting when he doesn’t talk to them the rest of the way back to the temple! he’s just recovering his strength cause zuko’s heavy.

—aang and katara are happy to see him in his body form again, and toph punches him which he’s pretty sure means she’s happy too. katara goes on a field trip with zuko this time, and he’s convinced to stay at the temple after zuko is told he tagged along with the last two. katara comes back not mad at zuko but neither of them are bloodstained so mako decides not to worry. then they go to ember island and see the terrible performance of their adventures by the theatre troupe there. veiti’s a little upset they know about the cabbage guy but not him, but he doesn’t mind too much.

—sozin’s comet comes, and mako knows that human affairs are to be dealt with by humans now. he’s still eight human years, but the time spent with aang has made him feel a LOT older. he tells them good luck, but he has to protect bolin and his family during the comet and he’ll see them later. and-he hesitates to make promises he might not be able to keep, but he tells them that if they really need it, they can call veiti and he will come. he stresses that it has to be the most important EVER because he has to make sure bolin’s okay.

—the cut off call from toph stirs a worry in his gut, but he is physically unable to part from his brother without a firm tug. but the comet passes, as do the fire nation forces, and mako returns to his friends (can he call them that?) to find them all mostly okay!

—the world continues on. veiti learns that eight human years is not, in fact, almost an adult, but he doesn’t grow farther than that despite how many years he lives, so he decides it’s adult enough. he, annoyingly, doesn’t ‘mature’ the same way the rest of his friends or his brother do, so he’s essentially an 8yo for the next 80 years.

—he spends a lot of that time watching the gaang and their kids growing up. he spends a lot of time w aang and katara’s kids on air temple island, especially kya. after he makes republic city his more regular haunt, he particularly fond of lin (who is an adult, at this point). none of the gaang kids see veiti much, but they all know about him from their parents. lin is the most often privy to his presence, kya second. he calls them ‘ms kya’ and ‘ms lin’ but everyone else is just their first name lmao 😭

—and then guess what happens (can you tell I’m getting tired. I’ve been writing this post for five hours straight and I literally had the atla episodes pulled up on my computer) aang dies aww :( and the new avatar is born!!!! she actually has parents and figures of guidance, so mako leaves her alone. but guess who he does chill with!? his grandnephew, bolin ii! family line goes like this: bolin marries an ek girl, they have kids. one of the kids’ names is san, after bolin’s late father. san finds himself a pretty fn girl named naoki, and wow, what a coincidence, huh? not that san ii is aware of it. they have one son, who is named bolin ii, after his grandfather. bolin ii is orphaned when he is 14, but toza is ushered by a mysterious force (dead mako) to find and take in earthbending child after a month or two at the orphanage cause no one wants older kids. or mixed kids.

—this post is actually so fucking long and it’s like ten o’clock at night rn (I’m gonna schedule this to post sometime tmr) so I’m just gonna summarize by saying mako tags along for tlok and freaks everyone out cause that’s what he is. a little freak. I am not rewriting an outline for four fucking season idc. spirit mako vs amon could be really interesting but I’ll just. make a separate post for that.

can you tell I hyperfixated so fucking hard on this au btw. ts has been in the fucking works in my brain for months now. I hate this stupid fucking orphan I need him to die immediately.

#mako lok #legend of korra #lok #tlok #atla #katara #avatar the last airbender #zuko #toph #aang #bolin lok #korra #sokka #slug’s stuff

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