#i remember i was gonna post this first chapter later when i had finished another fic up | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

dreamofbetterthings · 11 days

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No Regrets Noah Sebastian x Reader

Prompt: "The problem is, if I kissed you, I don't think I'd be able to stop."

VIP: Noah Sebastian

Band: Ban Omens

Summary: There's no such thing as a "calm" Halloween night, especially when hidden feelings are involved.

Warnings: It's gonna be a little spicy, but not full-on smut. Still, this is 18+ due to descriptive language and some curse words scattered about, so minors, please DNI.

A/N

Hello everybody! I'm sorry that I dropped off the face of the Earth. I have an abundance of things going on in my personal life and I am trying my hardest to get through it all. I know in the last post I said chapter 3 of It's Been A Long, Long Time was coming soon. That wasn't a lie. It is still in the process of being edited. I'm working on a new uploading schedule for you guys, and a page redesign as well so if everything pans out the way I'm hoping, it will be put into effect starting next week. In the meantime, I have a couple of stories I'm planning on getting out before Chapter 3 gets released. This turned out a lot longer than I thought it was going to be, but I had an idea and ran with it. I've never written for Bad Omens before, so let me know what you think. Enjoy!

This is a fictional story about real-life people. Nothing that is mentioned in the story below represents who said individuals are, or how they act in real life.

Halloween night was always your favorite time to be around certain people, specifically the friends you called Motionless in White and Bad Omens. There was always something up their sleeve to turn the normal night into one that you weren't sure you wanted to remember in the morning. Luckily, tonight was the annual hangout at Chris' house this year, and you couldn't be more excited. Every year you all would get together at someone's house and pass out candy to the kids, then watch a couple of movies after the last stragglers came through. After that, came your favorite part of the night, Hide and Seek. It might seem childish, but watching a bunch of tipsy/drunk people try to stay quiet in a hiding spot was always hilarious.

You were making another batch of popcorn when Chris walked into the kitchen. "Hey, we just put on The Lost Boys, just thought I'd let you know." You smile. "I'm not surprised. That's almost everybody's favorite." He laughs and grabs another bowl from the cabinet. "I know, that's why we put it on first, so nobody can complain about it later." The timer on the microwave went off signaling that the popcorn was finished, and you carefully took the bag out. You gave Chris the cooling-down bag and picked back up the one you set on the counter before he walked in. After emptying them and grabbing extra napkins, Chris brought the popcorn out to your friends who were talking through muffled and hushed whispers. Before you walked back into the room, he pulled you back for a second to whisper something in your ear. "I pulled the seeker for tonight. Unfortunately, it wasn't you. Maybe next year." You pout and then smile "Fuck, I'm never going to get picked." He laughs as you glanced around at everybody scattered in the room.

Ryan sat with Justin on the loveseat. Folio was a drama queen and insisted he get his own seat. Nicholas, Vinny, and a few other of your friends, Florence, Nicole, Victoria, and Robert who were invited sat around the coffee table on the floor. Ricky, Jolly, and Noah were on the couch. Then, you and Chris got the two giant bean bags in the corner. The lights were changed to red and the TV just started the opening credits to The Lost Boys. You and Chris give the popcorn to Ricky and Nicholas respectively, everybody else having their own mostly full bowls, and grab your drinks before plopping back down on the bean bags. Folio rubs his hands together and smiles. "Now that our final two goofballs are here, who's ready to watch one of the best horror movies ever made?" Everybody gives some form of yes or a holler, and he immediately turns the volume up. As the movie plays, there is a small conversation here and there, and occasionally someone has to get up for a new drink, but you are relaxed and having fun.

At about the halfway point of the movie, Noah gets up to get another drink from the fridge. On his way back, Jolly scares him, causing his wine to spill all over the floor and your sweatpants. "Jesus man!" The movie is paused and everyone's attention is on you guys. Jolly laughs and puts his hands up in defense. "Sorry dude, I had to scare you at least once today." He turns to look at you. "Didn't mean to ruin your sweatpants though, my bad." You wave him off. "It's no big deal, these were old anyway. You guys can keep the movie playing. I'm just gonna change into different pants real quick." You take a sip of your drink and get up from your spot to go upstairs.

After finding your weekend bag, you huff as the extra sweatpants are nowhere to be found. Instead, you pull out a pair of spandex volleyball shorts and go to the bathroom. Noah hears the sink running upstairs as he's cleaning up the accidental mess he made by your spot. He throws the paper towels away and before he gets to the stairs, Chris quietly asks "You good?" He nods, telling the other singer he's going to make sure you're okay, and heads to your bathroom. He knocks a few times and after a couple of seconds, the sink cuts off and you open the door. You were expecting one of your girlfriends to be standing there, but instead, it's Noah. "I just wanted to make sure you were alright. I'm sorry about spilling on your sweats. I hope I didn't ruin them." Holding up the pants, you show him where the stain had previously been. "If these sweats can make it through one of your tours, they can certainly handle a little bit of wine. I just didn't want them to stain, since you drink the darker stuff." He chuckles and follows you back into the bedroom.

You grab your shorts and get ready to put them on, but Noah points to your leg. "I didn't know you had a thigh tattoo." You glance at it and glance at him confused. "Really? I got it a while ago. I could've sworn I showed you when I got it done. Then again, I'm always in longer shorts, so it's not exactly easy to see." Setting them down, you turn to the side and pull part of your underwear band up, showing the last covered part of the tattoo. Looking up at Noah, you can see he's staring, but there's something else behind his eyes. Just not sure what it is though. You don't flinch when he reaches his hand out, but your skin gets goosebumps as his fingers ever so lightly trace over the ink on your leg. Everybody that came over tonight had seen each other in their undergarments or even completely nude before, whether by accident or on purpose. Hell, you've walked in on him changing plenty of times.

So why did the room suddenly feel hot?

It could be that you've had a crush on the man since you were kids. There wasn't anything not to like. His personality just made you want to be around him all the time. He's sweet and kind, and has a terrible sense of humor that only you two get. You could go on and on. He was just an all-around amazing person. You were so caught up in your thoughts, that you missed the hand that was snapping in front of your face. "Hello? Are you there?" Coming back to reality, you saw Noah looking down at you with curiosity. You quickly apologized and asked him to repeat what he said. "I said it looks amazing on you. The placement is perfect and it works great with the curves of your leg." You thank him and can't help but notice just how close he's standing to you. There's a tense silence for a couple of moments, and neither of you moves from your spot. You glanced at his eyes, then his lips, but immediately looked away.

It felt like you were a school girl again, talking to the guy you've had a crush on for ages. You heard him mumble a "Fuck it" before he leaned in and pressed his lips against yours. They were soft and tasted like wine, courtesy of the drink that led you here in the first place. You felt his hand move to rest against your cheek. His lips were gentle, almost as if he was savoring the moment, afraid it would never happen again. When the two of you finally pulled away for air, your eyes remained closed for a moment, before slowly opening them and meeting Noah's. The two of you looked at each other in pure awe before you let out a small "Woah" He laughed, and you looked down, feeling your cheeks become hot.

The thought of you being so flustered made him blush too. How was it possible for someone to be this cute? Your heart was pounding out of your chest, and you almost couldn't comprehend what just happened. "You know, for someone that always complained he was a terrible kisser, that was uh, really impressive." He could feel you now completely relaxed against him and he laughed a little, slightly embarrassed. "I'd say that I've had practice, but you already know my teddy bear in fifth grade doesn't count." The two of you laugh. Remembering his hand resting on your cheek, you look away and take a small step back. "I think we should get back to the movie. It's gotta be almost over by now, and I don't want them to yell at us for taking too long." He let out an uncomfortable laugh and muttered a "Yeah."

You never noticed but Noah frowned slightly when you pulled away from him. He felt so comfortable being that close to you. As you turned to the door he realized something. He really liked you and didn't want this to be just a one-time thing, especially if it was going to make things weird between you afterward. He picks himself out of his thoughts just as you open the door. He walks across the room, taking your hand and silently closing the door. Standing there surprised, you ask him, "Are you okay?" It was now or never he told himself. "I'm sorry, I just..." He takes a breath before continuing. "I really want to kiss you again." You stand there just as surprised but decide to see just how far this could possibly go. "What's the problem then?" He lets go of your hand and brings his own up to hold your face. Pressing his forehead against yours, he whispers.

"The problem is, if I kissed you, I don't think I'd be able to stop."

He obviously likes you, right? But this is your best friend. You've known each other for years. If he did like you this much, he would've told you by now, right? You two have been affectionate towards each other before, but there's a line neither of you dared to cross. If you crossed it now, you would rather do it with no regrets. It was better than wondering what could have been. "What if I don't want you to stop?" Noah tilts your head so you're looking him in the eyes.

"Then I won't."

He pushes his lips against you again, this time with newfound hunger. His hands fall and grab at your waist while yours go around his neck. Your feet follow his backward and you hit the edge of the bed. He pulls you down to sit on his lap, completely forgetting your lack of pants while he pushes himself further back on the bed. His tongue runs across your bottom lip and you open your mouth allowing him in. Your hands gently tug at the now-cut-short hair on the back of his neck and he grabs at your hip hard enough to leave bruises before pulling you even closer to him. Shifting your weight a little, your lower half sits directly on his hardening cock and he groans into your mouth. He pulls his lips away only for them to move down your neck. You tug at his hair a little harder and he sucks at the tender skin that connects your neck and shoulder. A moan leaves your lips and you mindlessly grind down against him. There was nothing that could prepare you for how right this felt. Like you were seeing a whole different side of him, hidden from the outside world, and for your eyes only.

Noah moved to whisper in your ear. "Quiet baby, wouldn't want everybody to hear us, hmm?" You shake your head no, but it doesn't matter as he kisses you again. "Hey, are you guys-OH MY GOD!" The bedroom door opens to see a shocked Chris looking at the two of you. Noah pulls away from your mouth, and the two of you look like deer in headlights. "I'm going to go... quickly." Chris walks away, before coming back and closing the door. You and Noah make eye contact for a split second, before the two of you look away, slightly embarrassed that you were caught. "Maybe we should go back before someone comes in again." He clears his throat and nods. "Yeah, that's a good idea." Carefully getting off of him, you stand up and let him off the bed. You both straighten out your respective clothes, and you finally put on those shorts.

"Are you alright?" He nods and you get ready to walk toward the door. Noah runs his fingers through his hair. "Um, Before we go, I just wanted to ask...You don't regret any of what just happened, right?" You immediately shake your head no, slightly frowning. Maybe this was all a big mistake. "Not at all. Why? Do you?" He smiles and also shakes his head no before taking your hand in his. "Nope. No regrets." A smile replaces the frown on your face. You ask "Are you ready for them to never let us live this down?" He laughs and glances at the door. "That doesn't sound like such a bad thing to me." Giving him a nod, he opens the door and the two of you walk back into the living room where the rest of your friend group is talking amongst themselves. When they hear you guys walk in, it gets silent. Noah lets go of your hand so you can sit down first, and then goes to his spot on the couch.

Nobody said anything for the first couple of moments before Chris broke the silence. "You guys fucked in my spare bedroom..." Instantly you and Noah sat up and shook your heads. Your voice and his overlapped and both of you tried to tell your friends that technically nothing happened. Once the two of you were finished explaining, the room was silent for another couple of moments before anyone spoke. The silence was starting to make you uncomfortable, but before you could say or do anything, Ryan threw his hands up and yelled. "Fucking finally!" This breaks the tension in the room and everybody starts laughing and giving you and Noah happy looks. You even saw a couple of people passing money around. Those fuckers bet on you and Noah getting together. When the commotion has died down, another movie has started, and everybody turns their attention to the TV. As you focus your attention on the screen, your phone buzzes, and you pick it up.

Noah

"I was thinking later we could finish what we started in the spare bedroom?"

You smile at your phone and quickly respond before setting it down.

"Well, we're still playing Hide and Seek after the movie. I'm once again not the seeker, lol. If it happens to be you, don't go easy on me. Depending on how the rest of the night plays out, you might get your wish ;)"

Out of the corner of your eye, you can see Noah readjust himself in his seat. He sends back a text almost instantly, and goosebumps litter your skin again as you read his last text.

Noah

"Oh, I won't. I like the hunt."

Nope, no regrets.

#noah sebastian #noah sebastian x reader #bad omens #bad omens band #jolly karlsson #nicholas ruffilo #nick folio #bad omens x reader

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amyispxnk · 6 months

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It Hurts to be Something, Chapter 1 - Watch the Carnage Unfold.

Joel Miller x f!reader

Series summary: You and Joel were separated the night Cordyceps overtook the world. 20 years later, you finally find eachother - but things won't be the same as they were before.

Chapter Summary: A day that was supposed to be filled with fun and surprises ended up to be the beginning of the end for the world as you knew it.

A/N: WOOOO IM DOING A SERIES HERE’S THE FIRST CHAPTER IM SO SCARED TO POST

Word count: 1.9k

Warnings: fluff, pet names, kissing, blood, mention of guns, infection, death

Series Masterlist || Next Chapter

DO NOT COPY THIS WORK IN ANY WAY PLS AND TY.

7:15AM the red numbers on the clock blinked as it beeped at a painfully loud level of noise.

“Alarm!” Sarah shouted as she banged on Joel’s bedroom door as he blinked himself awake. “Yeah, thanks honey!” He called back as he gently shook you to wake you up too.

“Hey.” He smiled at you, brushing a strand of hair out of your eyes as you blearily looked up at him. “Gotta get up. ‘S almost 7:30.” He told you.

“Oh, shit. Okay, thanks.” You mumbled as you tried forcing yourself up and out of the bed, but it was so warm.. You just wanted to stay there forever. You couldn’t bring yourself to get up.

“C’mon sweetheart, we gotta go.” He said with a chuckle at your sleepy state.

“Fine.” You groaned as you got up, stumbling over to the bathroom and getting yourself ready, washing your face and brushing your teeth as Joel came behind you and wrapped his arms around you, pressing soft kisses to your neck which made you giggle slightly.

“What?” He grinned.

“Your beard’s all tickly.” You smirked as he let out a laugh before trailing more kisses on your body, making you laugh as you playfully pushed him off. He leaned back against the wall of the bathroom and watched you get ready, admiring you. Even without makeup and all that other shit you felt like you had to put on he thought you were the most gorgeous woman in the world.

“You gonna keep starin’ or you plan on getting ready too?” You teased as you started brushing your hair.

“Why can’t I admire my pretty lady?” He countered as you tilted your head at him, giving him a look.

“Because Sarah needs to go to school and I need to get to work and - So. Do. You.” You poked him in the chest with each word to add emphasis before ushering him to go shower and get ready too.

After about 20 minutes, you both came down the stairs. As soon as Sarah saw you she immediately commented on how slow you two were, and what the hell were you doing that took so long?! The language she used in the latter sentence earned her a stern glare from Joel as you laughed at her and prepared breakfast. There was no pancake mix, much to your dismay, and Sarah thought it was a great idea to make eggs whilst waiting for the two of you. You were scooping the eggs out of the pan when you saw not one, not two, but almost a dozen pieces of eggshell in there.

“Sarah, honey, how on earth did you manage to get all these shells in here?” You asked with raised eyebrows as you dug out another piece of shell. “What!” She laughed. “It’s extra calcium, for your old bones.” She teased as she walked up to you and grabbed herself a plate, barely sitting down before digging in and scoffing the food.

“Woah, woah there - calm down, don’t need you chokin’ this early in the mornin’.” Joel said as he sipped from his mug of coffee, kissing you on the cheek as you gave him his food and then sat with them at the table to eat.

After some of chatter about school, friends, how the contracting is going, Joel’s birthday - the topic making you and Sarah give each other a cheeky glance as you remembered what you had planned for him and making Joel look at you both confusedly - and so on, you all finished breakfast and you put the dishes away, doing some final checks on the house like checking the windows were locked and making sure the pink camellias Joel had gotten you were watered properly, before you all got into Joel’s pickup truck; you swore it was going to fall apart one of these days, paint peeling and engine sputtering for a good 20 seconds as Joel tried starting the damn thing up.

Eventually, it started to work and you all drove to Sarah’s school. You helped her out and offered to walk her up there - an offer which she swiftly denied, telling you that it was embarrassing and no one else did that, causing you to raise your hands in defence as you laughed at how worked up she got over it.

“Alright, alright. I’ll see ya later, okay?” She nodded and gave you a small smile, but you couldn’t help yourself and leaned down to give her a kiss on the forehead before walking away. She tried looking annoyed but she secretly loved when you did things like that with her, it was sweet.

You waved her goodbye and Joel started the truck up again, driving to your workplace.

“I told you you don’t have to drive me to work everytime y’know.” You said as you neared the hospital.

“Uh-huh, and I want to anyway. Not lettin’ you take the damn bus to work every mornin’, saves money that way and it means I get t’ spend more time with ya.” He grinned.

“That’s true.” You agreed as the car came to a stop in the parking lot.

“Okay, I’m gonna go then. You don’t needa pick me up today, gotta get your birthday party ready early and we all know you’re gonna take ages.” You smirked as you wiggled your eyebrows at him.

He tipped his head back against the headrest with a small groan. “Y’ still so adamant about that, huh?” He said as he looked to you sideways.

“Hey, it’s not just me! Sarah’s been wantin’ to do it for so long too, got some special stuff planned for ya.” You grinned, before getting out of the car.

“Fine. I’ll see ya later then.” He said, getting out of the car and kissing you one final time before getting back in the car and driving to his worksite.

10:39PM the analog clock on the wall of the reception at the hospital ticked as you looked up at it. Less than an hour left. Of course they needed you to work extra today, and of course you had to say yes because money is money and you want to look good in your department anyway, and this would show you could work hard. It’s fine though, you’ll still probably be home before Joel anyway.

People were filing into the hospital just as your shift was about to end a few hours prior, and they told you they needed you to stay. Something about people twitching like crazy, groaning and gurgling, with no clear reason as to why - so they needed you and as many people as they could to try figure out what the hell was going on and sort these people out.

No more than 5 minutes later, there was a crash and a shriek from one of the examining rooms and you rushed over with a few other doctors. One of them, Sam, opened the door and let out a yell similar to the one you’d heard before. When you went to see what was going on, the patient lurched onto him and pushed him to the ground, sinking its teeth into his neck before you could even process the sight before you in the room.

The doctor who was performing the examination in there was bleeding out onto the floor, flesh torn and teeth marks visible on her neck. Her eyes were wide and frozen, cold without any emotion in them anymore as her lifeless body lay there. You were positively horrified, and although you wished you were braver in that moment, you weren’t. You left Sam to die, figuring there was no way to save him and not wanting to take a chance if there was.

You didn’t even grab your bag, you didn’t even get out of your PPE or anything as you rushed out of the hospital, leaving the utter carnage that had erupted inside behind you as you took off down the street. You had to get home, you had to find Joel and Sarah and make sure they were okay. You’d hole up inside or something, surely he had a gun there, you’d be safe together, they just had to be okay.

You turned down the street and barely managed to shield yourself from an explosion of flames coming from a car which had crashed into a building, completely blocking your path. Shit, shit, shit. You didn’t have another way to get home which was fast enough - you couldn’t get to them in time without completely risking your life, and what would be the point if you got attacked and bitten?

Turning down a street corner, you found a store which had the shutters down but a side door which was cracked open the slightest bit, and you darted for it, not even thinking if any of those things were inside.

You rushed in and slammed the door behind you, panting heavily as you looked around. Noone was there. You searched for any stairs that might lead to a second floor which could have people on it, but there were none. You were safe for now, but you needed to get back onto the street, you needed to get home. Maybe there was a gun here, or something that would be useful. You needed protection if you were to get back.

You searched behind the counter and let out a sigh of relief when you found a handgun and some boxes with ammo inside the drawer with it, quickly pocketing them and peeking outside the shutters of the store. Still a total mess out there, you had to formulate some sort of plan before just running out if you didn’t want to get killed.

Your eyes darted around the scene before you until you saw an alleyway which had a sign with your neighbourhood name on it. Of course, how did you not think of that? There were a multitude of small streets that could help you get home.

You checked your gun one last time before bolting out of the store and running to the alley, pushing past screaming people on your way. You shoved a gate open at the end of the alley and you were about to turn onto the next street when you saw one of them, its back turned to you before it let out a growl and began to turn around. You hastily pressed yourself back against the wall, just behind the corner, concealing yourself as best you could and thanking God when it ran past you down the other way.

After what seemed like hours, you finally made it home. You pushed the door open and screamed for anyone - Joel, Sarah, even fucking Tommy, to no avail. You searched every room, praying for no bodies and you guessed your prayers had been answered when no one was there. That was good, but now you were alone. You looked around and noticed Joel’s coat was back on the hanger, meaning he’d gotten home already. That means the two of them were at least together, and probably safe too since Joel knew his way around a gun.

You paced around for a minute or two as you tried to gather your thoughts and figure out what to do.

You decided that you had to try to find them, even if you thought they were safe, you had to know.

Searching the house didn’t bring you many resources and you walked back out onto the street, if you could get out of the city.. Find somewhere with less people around, less of these sick people that could get you infected too, you’d be safe. That’s probably what Joel was thinking when he left, at least you hoped it was as you made your way out of the neighbourhood and as far away as you could get from Austin.

Thank you sm for reading, I hope you enjoyed! This is the beginning of my first series ever and God I hope it’s good. Likes, comments, and reblogs are always appreciated and requests are open. 💞

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asexualzoro · 5 months

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it's december 9th, meaning today is my 23rd birthday (which is my favorite number!), which means it's time for...

Lew Writes Wrapped 2023!!!

im including anything that happened after my last bday, so we have some works from december as well. this one's a bit of a weird one for the total word count, you'll see why

it's all treebark from my sideblog / alt ao3. i cannot change. i will not change. for these im just gonna specify the relationship that's the main focus bc thats easier than fandom bc all but like one are third life

dandelion wishing

(Dec, 2.4k, treebark, oneshot) (link)

op movie 6 au for dogwarts in which Martyn is the baron and Ren doesn't know he's dead

id actually plotted out a whole third life au for this movie like months prior and really wanted to write it, so i took it for treebark week and focused it just on these two. it's my fave movie of all time and i obvs had to give it to my fave completely dead team <3

i will admit tho. it did make me back search martyns twitter to see if hes ever posted abt watching this movie. bc i know he likes One Piece and i realized this would bring me into the danger zone (he hasnt ever posted abt it if hes seen it)

A Romance Route for the Doomed Villain?!?

(Dec, 5k, treebark, oneshot) (link)

treebark dating sim isekai parody that spiraled out of my control made in a day-long possession

im still baffled by this one. why was the response to this one so insane?? there was smth in the water the day i posted this bro. a 1:2 kudos to hits ratio for the entire first day is literally fucking unbelievable. 70 comments?? what hold did this fic have on you people. i got fic written about this one?? my friends goncharov'd me in front of my face

really fucking fun to write and the insane response was smth im always gonna remember. i appreciate you guys so much

treesekai also turns a year old in a few days!

Until the Angels Realize You're Not One of Them

(Feb, 7.2k, emerald duo, oneshot) (link)

a traitor phil au which was mostly just me talking about all the reasons i love technoblade

this one... wasnt actually written this year for the most part? i didnt want to not acknowledge it, since it's on my ao3 in this year, but i wont be able to count it toward the total

still. traitor phil au my beloved. hearing him say on his stream he and techno wanted to do a betrayal arc made me feel insane bc i already had this written at the time

missing or obstructed

(2022-present, 12.9k, Grian & Ren, ongoing) (link)

post 3L fic about Ren and Grian seeking out closure with a lot of funny little sleep metaphors

same deal as the last fic, i, uh dont think i actually wrote anything new for missing or obstructed this year either? just uploaded chapters i wrote last year,,, i didnt wanna now acknowledge it, but i wont count this in my total later

i miss her. one day ill actually sit down and write more missing or obstructed. in my doc im JUST at introducing Martyn and i havent written it yet

to reach my mangled debut

(Sept, 4.2k, treebark week, ongoing) (link)

it wouldnt be me if i didnt have an execution somewhere in here. another op au!

THIS. I LOVE HER. when rev and i were plotting out the whole storyline for smop renchanting i was begging please give me this scene i need it and i had so much fun writing it. i rlly need to finish soon but i haven’t had time but please. please check out smop. she’s top of my priority list to update

Three-Dog Night

(Sept, 6.7k, treebark week, oneshot) (link)

BIG DOG. beauty and the beast au!

god im so fond of this au. there’s some rlly good scenes written for this and unposted bc i just need to link them together. honestly i think if i took a month and focused it on this fic alone i could fucking finish it but i don’t have the time ;-;

that said i’m so enamored w this au genuinely. o dunno what else to say i just think. puppy

Cover Me In Roses

(Sept, 3.3k, treebark week, oneshot) (link)

lamplight roleswap! put Martyn in a flower pot

i don’t feel as motivated to work on this one when i have lamplight unfinished so it’s lower on my priorities but know i have like an entire arc of this written and unposted. we just have a few paths for this one and i have to decide which one to use

it’s so wild to me lamplight has like. aus. like this isn’t even the only one? a roleswap. that’s insane? it’s wild that you all like lamplight enough i can even get away with this

First Sign of a House Fire

(Sept, 2k, treebark week, oneshot) (link)

i love superhero stories for two reasons: plots about secrets and adapting the characters to give them powers. this had smth fun for both of them

yellow rose isn’t super high on my list of priorities to update (i think the oneshot is interesting on its own) but one day,,,, it’s part of the many aus cherri and i have but it’s the longest for sure. the doc for just this au is like 100k words long on its own. at the time i draft this cherri and i are actively writing smth else for it in another tab. theres like 4 offshoots and im obsessed w all of them. we had to make ocs about this one. i’m excited to eventually add more to this series

actually that’s one of the scenes i’m most excited for and most dreading adding. we made a backstory oc and im SO attached to him and im excited to post a thing out there w him but. ough. whatever cringe is dead i’ll get there eventually and brute force my way into attaching you to our funky little robot guy

also love that this fic forced me to be decided on a docv characterization that i have to stick to. he may be a canon guy to martyn’s vtuber lore but he’s my oc now too

Blindsided

(Sept, 2k, treebark week, ongoing) (link)

pirate au and royal au based on a big secret and also stuffing a guy in a box and it's all stupid dramatic literally what else do you want or need in life

this is my wife. my favorite. my most beloved. blindsided gives me new illnesses and diseases. i have just one scene to write before i can update it and then i can continue unleashing her. god i love this fic the drama of it is SO fun.

the funny thing abt blindsided is i know all the plot chronologically but now how to Present it which is part of why i haven’t continued too much. eventually i will but until then know that one of the scenes im sitting on which has been fully written is one i think about constantly. hopefully when i post it cherri’ll let free the comic she did for it

i actually have the ending of this fic written i just need to get there lmfao. second on my priority list after smop i think

Cradle of the Leviathan

(Sept, 1.5k, treebark week, oneshot) (link)

i just love mer aus man. whats the point of it all if you cant have mer aus. just get a big ol fish

i have the ending of this au written as well and literally so little of the lead up. but this is pretty low on my priorities. i think this one stands just fine on its own. mer aus are nice like that

we actually have a few mer aus but for now i’ll be focusing on this one. i do have a few sweet post story things written for this one. maybe one day i’ll write enough to post em lmao

Lamplight AU

(2022-present, 47k, treebark, ongoing) (link)

renchanting dnd/fantasy au, martyn's a paladin and ren's a lamp

so i started this au last year. my wrapped last year said my total was 20k, so that means this year's total is.... 27k!

and… it was just lamplight’s birthday and i did all my appreciation for the fic and its readers then, but god. i love this fic so much and i love you all who have read it and been so kind about it. the amount of popularity it has makes it a bit nerve wracking to work on, but i still really want to see it finished. i hope to see the bulk of it done by this time next year!

Six Sentence Sunday

six sentence sunday is a challenge where i try to post six sentences i wrote that week every sunday, to keep me writing every week of the year! i do it over on my writing blog, @driflew

i did not keep up on my six sentences,,, i had a lot of sunday fencing tournaments. i did for ~33 weeks this year! thats a pretty good amount! i’ll have to be more on top of it next year tho

unpublished work

the last few years i havent included unpublished work, but with the extreme bulk of it, i wanted to note it down. cherri @/cherrifire and i have been writing a lot back and forth at each other in discord dms this year, and i wanted to include those in my count! bc holy fucking shit is there a lot of them

i didn’t include collab pieces, just pieces i wrote alone. i also only included the renchanting aus i share w cherri and scarian aus i share w flowey, nothing else—no unfinished lamplight or other independent pieces or oneshots, no original fiction for class, nothing. i also missed a few u haven’t moved to docs yet. so i’m lowballing by a few. thousands. of words

the total for those is...... 135k words! there is,,, something wrong with me

total and end notes

our total this year is...

187512 words!

that might be my highest word count yet! because i caught treebark disease. wild.

something really fun about this year to me is i really loved everything i wrote.

if you want to get me a gift or support me on my birthday… maybe try reading my work and reblogging it or leaving a comment! you can find my writing at driflew or skelew on ao3, follow my writing blog at @driflew, or even consider tipping my kofi!

thank you for sticking with me and supporting me this year! i really appreciate it! hopefully i can break 100k next year too!

#lew writes wrapped #lew writes

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amostexcellentblog · 10 months

Text

Since we're at the end of Pride I thought I'd post an angsty queer history-themed IceMav concept that I've been toying with.

Basically, I remembered reading somewhere that during the early days of the AIDS pandemic, the military personnel with HIV were prosecuted for sodomy, discharged without medical coverage, and in at least one instance made to live in a special barracks wing. And this got me imagining the fallout if someone at Top Gun was discovered to have it.

I see it as a few months after the first movie, Ice and Mav are instructors, they've been hooking up since shortly after Mav ended things with Charlie, but it's strictly a friends with benefits thing. The key points are:

Someone at Top Gun is discovered to have AIDS, the Navy panics, closes off the base, no leave, no visitors, but because of the logistics and politics of it all (the White House and Pentagon really want to keep it quiet that the gay plague was discovered at such an elite symbol of US military strength) it's hard for the Navy to decide what to do next.

When the patient's name and photo come out, both Ice and Mav panic because he might've been an old hookup but neither is sure, neither ever bothered asking for names, they never felt the need for another night until each other (neither is ready to think too hard about that)

They were aware of the disease, but both have internalized homophobia where they think of AIDS as something that affects the freaks, weirdos and other non-conformist queers, not more masculine presenting ones like them.

With leadership paralyzed by red tape, everyone starts to get paranoid. They start second guessing how exactly it's transmitted. Asking for a test is taboo because it's seen as admitting you did something (had sex with another man) that would make you worried you have it.

Ice and Mav cut off all contact cold turkey.

After a week Mav shows up at Ice's because he can't take the loneliness and the isolation, and he realized that with Goose gone, Ice is his closest friend. Ice hesitates but lets him in.

Instead of their usual hookup, they just talk. They both admit they're worried they have it, and how afraid they are of losing everything. That leads to a discussion of their backgrounds, their daddy issues, childhoods, etc. They start to understand each other better.

They eventually undress the other, ostensibly to check for Kaposi sarcoma, but really to share some physical intimacy that isn't sexual. After they finish exploring the other's body they fall asleep.

Slider finds them the next morning when he bursts in, ready to tell Ice off for cutting him out for the last week.

"Oh for Christs sake Tom, I knew you were a homo. I don't care, long as you keep your personal life to yourself and don't start dessin' up like Judy Garland we'll be fine. But Damnit Tom, HIM!?!"

(This is enough to qualify Ron as a decent ally by 1980s military man standards)

"Yeah, him. Look Ron, I didn't expect it to happen, but he's stuck around and he's probably, no, he's definitely gonna be here for a while... At least if he wants to."

"I do" (this is the first time they acknowledge they feel more than physical attraction to the other, and the first time either has done that to another man.)

That is how their relationship develops past just sex

They still have a lot of work to do, a lot of internal homophobia to unlearn, and a lot of external obstacles (including more homophobia, fun!) to face, but this is where it really started.

Years later they'll acknowledge the cruel irony of finding something so beautiful in such a terrible situation and admit they weren't really the heroes in this particular chapter of history. But they'll never apologize for finding each other, in whatever way fate had planned for them.

Obviously, neither of them tests positive. The Navy finally mandates it for everyone on base after a couple weeks.

#icemav #pete maverick mitchell #tom iceman kazansky

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jasntodds · 1 year

Text

Caving In [5]

Pairing: Gar Logan x Fem!Powered!Reader, Jason Todd x Fem!Powered!Reader

Words: 10,370

Chapter Warnings: Swearing, mention of torture, mentions of previous homelessness, fluff, hurt/comfort, mentions of bruises, a mention of a previous broken bone (Jason), mentions of abuse (nothing is in detail)

Summary: ❝Tell me Atlas: What is heavier, The world or its people’s hearts?❞ You never expected your life to end up this way, turned upside down by an infamous Gotham villain. It’s been a living hell, every single day, until Dick Grayson brings you to Titans tower where you meet Gar Logan and Jason Todd.

A/N: I know this a week late but I couldn’t edit this last week so here we are!! I am easily motivated to post more often when I get feedback 😂 The first few chapters take place between season 2 episode 1 and season 2 episode 2. You can add yourself the tag list below, ask me to be tagged, or you can follow my library blog @jasntoddslibrary and turn on notifications if you prefer that!!

series masterlist | masterlist | tag list

The rest of the night passed in a blur. You hung out with Gar until eleven. You just watched two of his favorite movies and he gushed about them the whole time. You were pretty excited to start training with Jason but watching movies Gar helped the time pass by a lot quicker. It didn’t even really feel like you watched two movies. And you even felt bad about bailing on a third movie when it got later but you knew you’d be late if the two of you started another one. You promised you’d continue the marathon tomorrow though and that seemed to please him. So, you went to your room and waited out the extra hour.

Apparently, everyone is normally in bed around midnight if there isn’t something going on. Rachel went to bed two hours ago and you haven’t seen Dick since he checked on you and Gar around 10:30. Gar’s door is shut and there isn’t a light coming from under the door when you exit your room. You’ve always been more of a night owl, it’s always been the one time when you could be completely alone. Even in Gotham, the streets were quieter at night. It almost felt peaceful even but as you walk down the hallways and into the living room, you spot Gar sitting on his laptop on the couch.

“H-hey?” You ask as you get closer. “What’re you doing up?”

Gar looks at you with raised brows. “Couldn’t sleep, you?” He vividly remembers you saying you were going to bed and you don’t look panicked as if you had a nightmare again.

“Same.” You lie with a nod. “Walking sometimes helps.” You don’t like lying, but sometimes it has to be done. You want to trust him to not say anything, but you’re not really sure if you can. For all you know, he’ll run right to Dick and tell on you and Jason before training even starts.

“Do you want me to walk with you?” Gar’s hand goes to the top of the laptop as if to be ready to shut it.

You almost say yes because you like his company but this is a secret between you and Jason. Gar doesn’t seem like the type to disobey authority. You don’t want to drag him into a mess you and Jason are potentially causing for the next week or so. What he doesn’t know, can’t hurt him.

“I’m okay.” You say. “Thank you though, I’m just gonna….walk a bit but I’ll come get you if I change my mind.” Gar nods, understandingly, looking a little sad but confused by it. You didn’t decline after last night’s nightmare but you are now. He isn’t sure why, he feels like there’s something going on but it’s also none of his business so he doesn’t say anything.

You finish your walk to the training room, putting your guilt about lying to Gar in the back of your head. When you enter the room, Jason is right there, waiting. A part of you thought maybe he’d still be mad and stand you up. It’s a pleasant surprise that he’s actually here.

“Midnight.” You wiggle your phone, the screen lights up at Jason.

“Cutting it close.” Jason taunts with a mocking grin.

“Shut up.” You shake your head, walking up to him. “Where do we start?”

A chuckle leaves Jason’s throat, amused by your eagerness. Finally, someone else who gets it. “Have you ever punched someone?”

“A few times.” You shrug. “It wasn’t really my thing.” You scrunch your nose.

“How wasn’t it your thing?” Jason questions, his brows furrowed.

“What do you mean?” Your eyes go left and then right, trying to figure out what he’s so confused about. Some people don’t like to punch other people in the face.

“Seems like you'd be into hitting people.” Jason chortles.

Your survival instincts is actually why he thinks that. The whole dealing with torture for a year thing, living on the streets of Gotham, your overall detached sarcastic attitude, it all makes him think you wouldn't be afraid to throw the first punch.

“Rude. No,” You shake your head with a laugh. “Like I said, people didn’t hate me and I wasn’t one to throw a punch. I talk a lot of shit for someone who’s only been in a handful of fistfights.” You shift your weight. “And….close hand-to-hand combat is a bit sketchy. Shit starts going south, you’re fucked. I threw knives.” You state nonchalantly, watching Jason's face contort in surprise. "People fear knives, everyone thinks they stand a chance in a fistfight."

Jason's brows knit together, trying to piece all of this together. “Knives???? And how did you manage that?” He didn't see that coming.

You shrug. “Guy at one of the shelters, he taught street kids how to defend themselves. Self defense and he had a thing for knives.”

Jason lets out this booming laugh, his head tilting back. “Yeah, uh, Knife Guy? Like, that’s what he was called, right? Shelter by the library?”

“Yeah,” You let out a shy laugh. “Yeah, white hair, scar across his left eye?”

There’s this feeling in the pit of your stomach you can’t identify knowing that Jason knows who you’re talking about. The guy had been around for years according to his stories and rumors. So, of course Jason would know who he is. But, it’s still weird because had any of yours and Jason’s circumstances changed within a year of each other, you likely would have run into each other. You wonder if you would have hated him or been too infatuated with him to focus on anything else if that had been the case. You settle on the feeling being bitterness.

“Yeah, that’s the guy.” Jason gives you this understanding smile. “Okay, so he taught you knives and how to punch?”

Jason didn't care much for the guy. He didn't really know what he was doing, even before Jason's training he knew that. But, it was better than nothing. Time and time again, Jason witnessed other kids who got picked up by dealers, by other kids, by scarier adults. A lot of kids knew to just start screaming bloody murder and it'd scare off the person because it draws too much attention, usually. But, other times, some sort of defense was needed and no one else was helping. Something is better than nothing, that's what Jason thinks anyway. But, the knives, the guy had a thing for that and he rarely ever missed.

“Kind of.” You shrug. "It was mostly knife work I learned from him. Let's be honest, him and the library are the only reason anyone actually goes to that shelter willingly." You grimaces. The staff kind of sucks there. They aren't very nice and the food is somehow worse at that shelter. But, beggars can't be choosers.

Jason walks over to the table containing throwing knives. He picks one up and flips the blade towards him, offering you the handle. “Let’s see what you got then.”

You smirk at him and it’s been a while. You’re not very confident in your ability to hit a target but you won’t let Jason know that.

“I am rusty, so remember that.” You chuckle, taking the knife from him and walking in front of the target. You aim as you were taught, realizing your vision is still a bit compromised but you take the throw anyway. It sticks at the very bottom of the target. “Well, fuck.” You groan.

“Not a sharpshooter that’s for sure.” Jason chuckles.

“Give me another!” You spin, glaring at him. Jason does as told and you spin around, arming again and this time, it’s closer but still far off from the bullseye.

“Least you get it on the target, I guess.” Jason teases you. “Maybe you should get some hand-to-hand in, might do you better.”

“Fuck off!” You grow annoyed and you were never a sharpshooter but this is ridiculous. You should be closer, at least. It’s why you chose the knives. You’re better at it but this is not it. You won’t let Jerry take this away from you either. “Give me another one.” Jason hands another one over, crossing his arms. He is a little impressed with you making it on the target. He can tell by how you move your arm, it hurts. It’s shaky when you pull back and you step into it with a shaky leg. That’s why you’re missing but Jason lets you throw again before saying anything. This one is worse than the first one. “Oh, for fuck’s sake.” You groan, throwing your head back.

“Did you want some advice now? I mean, we can do this all night. It’s pretty funny but I could help.”

You stare straight ahead, rolling your eyes before turning to face him. "Enlighten me."

"You're in pain and you gotta fight through it." Jason picks up a knife, spinning it in his hands as if to show off. "Go faster. Stop thinking so hard about it. You always think that much? Cause, if you're in a fight, you don't get that."

"No!" You yells to defend yourself. "Of course, not but I haven't done it in a while and yeah, it’s kind of painful." Usually, when you were to throw a knife, there wasn’t a lot of thought, not after a while. Your eyes and arms just worked together. Again, it’s not that you were a sharpshooter or anything, but your movements were fluid and you usually hit whatever you were trying to, even if it wasn’t a perfect target. But, this is different. It feels like you’re starting over in a way because hitting this stationary target that isn’t even that far away should have been easier.

"So?" Jason challenges you. "It should be like getting on a bike." His eyes widen as he stands toe to toe with you, dangling the knife. "Just throw it." His grin is taunting and you keep your eyes narrowed at him.

You take the knife from him and does what he says. You don't think about it and just spin around, throwing the knife just as it comes into view. The knife sticks just a few inches from the bullseye and you get this smile on your face that’s drenched in pride and relief while Jason's is proud.

He can’t help the way his heart skips a beat with the smile on your face or with the way you spin back around, confidence oozing from you. Your eyes are bright and this is the first time you look genuinely happy. Jason’s stomach flips as you eye him with pride and in the moment, a subconscious part of him swears he never wants to see you anything but happy and proud.

"See? Stop thinking so fucking much." Jason chortles, brushing off the bubbles in his stomach.

"That how you function?" You quip, crossing your arms over your chest.

Jason shrugs. "Working pretty well." He spreads his arms out. "Robin."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." You let out a sigh.

He has a point. But, you hope that maybe he'll be really good at this training. But, you both can stick it to Dick and maybe it'll be a way, in a roundabout kind of way, for Jason to show Dick what he can do. Maybe that'll be enough for Bruce. You can train carefully but successfully. You think it should be enough because while you have so far been enjoying his company, the way he just beams like the morning sun when he mentions Robin, you want him to be able to get back to that. You don’t have to know him in depth or for very long to know he deserves it.

"No bad though." Jason nods his head at you.

"Was that a compliment?" You wiggle your brows at him.

"Yeah, fuck off." Jason chuckles softly as he looks to the floor and back to you. "Alright, you wanna do that or you wanna fight?"

"Fight." You answer, the smile falling from your face as you nod at him once. You'll get back into knife throwing when you can train with everyone else. You were always better at it.

Jason walks to the center of the floor, you following him but keeping your distance. "Do you do know how to punch someone?"

"Assume so." You shrug. "Knife Guy did teach me that."

Jason rolls his eyes. "Show me."

You hesitate but walk towards him anyway and make a fist and punch him lightly in the arm. Jason bursts out laughing and you can't be serious.

"That's a joke, right?"

"I don't want to actually p--"

"I can't train you if I don't know if you can even punch someone. Aren't you still mad at me from earlier?" Jason questions. He was sure you’d be okay with a friendly sparring session. He didn’t think you were actually someone who didn’t like to punch people.

You shrug a shoulder. "I don't have many grudges."

"Start, it'll help." Jason quips, there’s a roughness to his voice and you wonder what grudges he’s hiding. "Just fucking hit me, it's not like it's gonna be worse than anything I've had before."

You roll your eyes but do as he says, actually putting some force into it and Jason just blinks at you. He can't tell if you just don't know what you’re doing or if you’re weak as a person or if being malnourished has made you weak and that's why you suck at this. You’re going to be a part of the team and he's gotta get you to be stronger than this if your powers aren't going to be fool proof like Dick likes to think.

"That's pathetic." Jason nods.

"Thank you. I used to pride myself in not being very violent." You scoff.

"You're a Titan." Jason almost pleads.

"That's why I'm here so you can teach me to be more violent and actually kick ass. I'm not who I was before. I said used to." You only acted in self defense, life or death, scared situations. But, you want to be ready for anything. Act first, think later kind of mentality from now on.

For a second, Jason wonders if this is a good idea. He wasn't a super violent person before Robin either. He's had his share of fistfights, of course, nothing on this planet will get Jason to shut the fuck up and people don't normally find it charming. He had no choice. It's always kill or be killed. But being Robin gave him a free pass to kick ass. Sure, the criminals all deserved it and it was mostly under the watchful eye of Bruce, but it was a free pass and maybe some of that went to his head like when he beat up a bunch of cops when he was helping Dick. Does he want to put someone else through that? Is that what Dick meant with all that talk about not being Robin? Jason can't imagine another life, sure he fights more but it's also the most himself he's ever felt and there's a sense of feeling complete being Robin. Maybe that's just one of the consequences of finding yourself, losing a part of yourself.

"I'm also injured." You continue. "I could punch harder if it didn't hurt."

"Okay. I'm gonna teach you how to throw a punch and a proper kick then we're gonna spar." Jason explains, earning raised brows from you. "So, I can see what you can do and what you can't right now. It'll be easier for me to figure shit out, not gonna push you too far."

"Alright." You agree. "Show me, then."

Jason walks you over to the punching bag and takes your hand in his and you can't help but notice the difference between how his hand feels compared to Gar's. It's cold, more calloused. It's rough like all he does is beat his fists into things which by the looks of the fading bruises on his knuckles, that is all he does.

He makes a fist with your hand and then stands behind you, using his feet to move yours in a proper position. His hands are on your hips and there's a second where his heart stutters. He convinces himself it’s because he just doesn’t want to get caught and you’re just starting. It’s not because his hands are on your hips and you look over your shoulder at him with nothing but endearment.

Your stomach flips under his touch and you don't know what the flipping in your stomach is. You can't even tell if you like it. It's different than the flipping with Gar because this feels....like adrenaline. It's a rush like running through the streets at night, the sky cloudy and the air muggy but something feels so good about it. Refreshing even. But Gar is a calming and comforting flip, butterflies even. He's the safety of a house after being out late at night, where the bed is the most welcoming place on earth. Jason makes you want to go skydiving, something you'd never do in a million years and Gar makes you want to curl up by a fire with hot chocolate and a pet dog.

"You're gonna wanna move your hips when you punch, gives you more momentum, stronger punch." Jason explains as he walks in front of you.

"Like this?" You throw a punch and the bag moves.

"Yeah, like that." Jason gives you a soft and proud smile, something you never thought you'd see coming from him. "Keep going but try putting more force into, as much as you can."

You do as you’re told and Jason gives a few pointers here and there on your form. But overall, you aren't doing too bad given your lack of experience and it makes Jason feel important. It's the first time since leaving Bruce that he feels important. Someone needs him. It's for fighting, but needs him nonetheless and he's doing a good job helping you. It feels really good. And after a few minutes of you hitting the bag, he feels it's time to show you how to kick properly without breaking a toe.

Jason does a few examples and you always thought the kicks of any type of fighting look so ridiculous when there isn't a person at the receiving end. Jason makes them look a little less ridiculous though and you follow his lead. You try to do what he does and he tells you what you’re doing wrong and what you’re doing right. He's surprisingly good at constructive criticism. Dick might not like what Bruce turned him and Jason into but as far as you’re concerned, they were taught well otherwise Jason wouldn't have any idea what constructive criticism even is and would just be badgering you about what you’re doing wrong.

"So," Jason starts as you grab a drink of water after a few rounds of kicks and punching bag hits. "How's this gonna work with your whole...combat thing you do?" Jason asks. "Because part of this is teaching you how to block but if you can dodge everything already?"

You shrug. "I can try to ignore it?" You offer.

"Is that something you can actually fucking do?" Jason quips with a chuckle.

"I don't fucking know." You laugh. "Probably, I did for a while with Jerry."

It’s not something easy to ignore. It’s kind of like trying to ignore a raging migraine. It doesn’t hurt but it’s throbbing and it’s annoying. But, you’ve done it before in a far worse situation. Jason, you know he’s not gonna hurt you. This is just training, some (Jason) might even say this is just fun. So, you think ignoring it might be helpful for right now but you swear you can’t make a habit of it.

The acid is one thing, it’s not something you like very much but the combat clairvoyance is nice. It’s useful and no one would ever know that’s what it is. But a part of you worries that if you ignore it enough, it won’t be as effective. The last thing you want is to be stuck with powers and then the one you like to not even work properly because you spent too much time ignoring it.

Jason nods. "Right. Alright, well, I won't actually try to hit you hard." Jason huffs but there's still a smile pulling at his lips. "Not a fair fight."

"Ha-ha." You mock. "No, that's fair." You laughs softly.

"You just have to block me, that's it." Jason shrugs as if it’s the easiest sentence he’s ever said. Something tells you blocking Jason isn’t going to be that easy even with him not trying very hard.

"Okay." You rest your water bottle down and follow Jason to the center of the room.

Jason takes position and you mimic what he's doing, not really understanding the purpose but roll with it anyway. It gains you a smirk and a head shake from Jason before he asks if you’re ready. You nod and Jason moves towards you, the sparring starting.

You feel the throbbing of the back of your head with Jason coming at you. It's throbbing and aching, a constant state of feeling like someone waking you up banging pots and pans right against your ears but you push through it. Ignoring the signals from the back of your head, you use your arms to block him to the best of your ability. It's not much actually but you saw him spar with Gar and Rachel earlier, he's holding back a lot. He's slower and there's almost no strength in his punches or his kicks. He's being careful not to hurt you and there's something really nice and reassuring about it. He just wants to help. But then you miss one of the blocks as Jason's leg comes up, connecting with your right flank.

You let out a scream and drop to the floor, holding your side. Jason stands in shock, questioning how it hurt that bad because he swears he didn't kick you hard, it was more of just a tap.

"Fuck, are you okay?" Jason moves to his knees in front of you, you hunching over, fighting back tears as the stinging intensifies.

Your eyes are slammed shut with your forehead pressed against the floor but you give him a thumbs up. "Fine, I...I'm...I'm fine."

"I-I'm sorry." Jason mumbles. "I didn't--" His hand is hovering over your shoulder, not sure what to do or how he can help.

"Not your fault." You cut him off, your words sharp and short, not mad. "Fuck." You look up to him, your eyes a little red.

"Let me see--"

"No." You shake your head. "It's fine...I just...need....a minute." Your words are breathy as the pain makes your heart race.

"Y/n, I'm really sorry." Jason apologizes with sad eyes wreaking of guilt.

"It's a bruise, not your fault, didn't tell you how bad." You mumble, as you try regain your breath, the pain fading just a bit.

"How fucking bad is that bruise? It should be getting better by now." Jason's voice raises with touches of anger and worry.

He's pissed you didn't tell him how bad the bruise still was. He still would have helped you but he would have minded his kicks and punches a lot more. He would have avoided that side. You were going easy enough that it would have been simple for him. He'd never hurt you on purpose. And he can only assume it's the boot print. It's the one bruise you specifically mentioned and bruises in the shape of boot are usually pretty bad and linger but he thought you'd tell him if it were that bad.

You suck in a breath as the stinging fades a bit more. "Pretty bad, I guess." You mutter. "Didn't think it'd be a big deal."

"That worked out real fucking well." Jason groans. You dodge his eyes and Jason feels guilty. It's not really his fault but you just wanted to train. If anyone would understand that, it's him.

You go quiet for a second and you feel bad but you’re just desperate. Being hurt makes your feel weaker and you hate feeling weak. You know that it's okay not feel completely okay and take time to heal an injury but you just don't think you have that kind of time. It's terrifying knowing Jerry is still out there, even if he stands no chance against the Titans. It doesn't matter because he's out there probably living his best life and you just want to live yours.

"I-I'm sorry." You mutter out, still dodging Jason's eyes. "I-I...I, uh, I don't like feeling weak and, ya know?" Your brows furrow. "Um..." Your jaw clenches. "Telling you how bad it is, it's just admitting it to myself and I don't...I don't want to do that." Your eyes finally lock on Jason's and his heart sinks.

He lets out a sigh and rests his forearm on his knee. "You're not weak, alright? Some dickwad did that to you, alright?" He shakes his head and something about you make it really easy to open up. It's easy for him to open to Gar because Gar doesn't judge. He just lets him talk and that's kind of what you do but you offer this sense of genuine understanding, even with stealing the hubcaps off the Batmobile. You're plenty different but on the surface you're so similar Jason finds it easy to talk to you. "I got hurt once, as Robin." Jason states.

"What happened?" You ask.

Jason's jaw clenches. "I didn't listen to Bruce, it got me a little hung out." Jason explains. "I broke my collarbone. It sucked because had I listened to Bruce it wouldn't have happened and then he benched me until it was healed, obviously." Jason scoffs as if to still be mad about it and you have a hunch he's madder about not being able to be Robin than he is about the broken bone. "I tried to train with it broken though." Jason lets out a laugh. "Bruce caught me and it got fucking ugly, he was pissed." There's a simple smile on Jason's face. "So, I get it, alright? But, if you don't tell me, I can't help you. I know how fucking keen you are to tell people shit, but this would help."

"Thanks, Jay." You say and Jason's heart flutters, no one's ever called him that before. He likes it when you say it. You let out a sigh and decide to show him the bruise. "Promise not to tell anyone?"

"Do promises mean something to you?" Jason asks, his voice slightly snarky.

"Yeah, of course. All we have is our word. They don't mean anything to you?"

Too many people have promised Jason things over the years and none of those promises ever worked. His dad promised he'd be there for him, always, because his mom was down and out. Then he was an idiot working with Two-Face and got himself killed. His uncle promised to take care of him and then drank himself to death. Cops promised he'd be okay but he hasn't felt okay a day in his life, not until he put on the Robin suit but that was because of Bruce and because Jason took his life into his own hands. And now it's been tugged away from him. Social workers promised they'd find a really good home for him. They didn't. Teachers promised they would help but they gave up on him. No one's ever been up to the task of really and truly helping him but they all promised they would. They all promised he wouldn't be alone. So, no, Jason Todd doesn't believe in promises.

"No." He scoffs, keeping it short. "People say they promise just to get shit from you."

Your eyes are sad and your heart breaks for him. You don't really know him all that well but you know everyone else is wrong about him. You can tell. No one gives him a chance to be good but you will. You don't trust anyone either, not after everything. It's so easy to break trust and nearly impossible to get it back but you want to trust people again and you want Jason to trust people, trust you. You trust him.

"I won't make a promise to you I can't keep or make a promise just to get something from you." Your voice is small, filled with candor but you keep your eyes locked on Jason's and suddenly it all feels a little too real for him. He feels like you’ve put him under a microscope and is looking for signs of a deadly disease.

"That a promise?" Jason quips back, a bite in his voice but you don't take the bait.

"Promise." You nod your head just once. "I keep my promises. I've never broken a single one."

You’re this puzzle he can't figure out, something of a Rubix cube. He doesn't understand why you even care. You don't even know him but you treat him better than people who've known him his entire life. A part of him even thinks it's some sort of prank, he's waiting for the cameras to come out and say he's being Punk'd. But, your eyes are sincere and warm and welcoming. He drown into you if you'd let him.

"Alright," Jason sucks in a breath. "I promise I won't tell anyone."

You shift carefully so your flank is facing Jason. You lift up your shirt just enough to show him the bruise. Jason's jaw nearly drops as his brows furrow and pain shoots through his entire body. The bruise is, in fact, a boot. He can see the tread and he thinks about old episodes of CSI and how they'd use shoe prints to pin the killer. He swears they could do that with this shoot print because it's so vivid and he wants to know how you didn't have any internal bleeding over it. The whole bruise is dark. It looks agonizing and maybe Dick was right about you not training.

"Shit." Jason lets out a breath as you pull your shirt down and face him.

"Yeah...it kind of hurts."

"No, shit." Jason huffs. "That's..." Jason pauses he swears that he would hunt down Jerry himself right now if it weren't for you sitting in front of him. "I hope you get to hunt him the fuck down one day." His jaw is clenched and it makes you smile.

"Yeah, you and me both." You let out a half-laugh half-scoff.

Jason lets out this dry laugh, his blood boiling. It's just not fair and Jason knows life isn't fair but it should be for you. "I'm serious, I'll hunt him down if you don't want to."

You give him a large smile. "I appreciate it but he's my battle. It's why I don't why you tell Dick. I'll find him one day."

"You'll have the best training in the world." Jason holds his head up high giving you a cocky grin. "I'll make sure the fuck doesn't stand a chance against you."

You almost forgot what it's like to have someone so protective of you. The only person who was ever like that was your mom but it never resorted to something like this. It was just that one time with your dad showing up and the usual things like defending you against nosy soccer moms or putting her arm across you when she had to slam on the brakes in the car too quickly. This is different because Jason doesn't know you but he'd protect you anyway.

"As I said, you're not so bad, Jason Todd." You grin at him.

"Told ya, I'm the best." Jason boasts.

"Yeah, I'll give it to you...this one time." You laugh softly.

"It won't be the last, babe." Jason quips and you roll your eyes. If it were anyone else, the arrogance that radiates off him like bad cologne would be annoying. But, it’s cute on him.

"Mhm, whatever you say, BaBe." You mock him, widening your eyes.

Jason lets out a laugh and you think he's cute when he laughs. You wish he did it more. "Alright, come on." Jason moves to your left side and pulls your arm, putting it around his neck. "We're gonna some ice on it before it gets worse."

You look up at him. "You're not mad, are you?" He doesn't seem mad anymore but you just want to make sure.

"No." Jason shakes his head. "But can you fucking tell me next time?"

"You got it, boss." You give him a thumbs up, standing up with him and wincing with the movement of getting to your feet.

the two of you start your walk, opting to remain quiet this time. You feel safe with him. His grip is tight around you, but not too tight. He’s holding you close to him and you swear he’s probably the safest person in the world. Jason, though, he just feels understood. He thinks if he offered to help Rachel, he wouldn’t but if did, she’d cringe or make some nasty comment about it. But, you, it’s like you just get it and of course, Gar gets it, too. The two of you understand him better than anyone ever has. In this moment, Jason swears to himself that if it comes down to it, the people he’d save over anything and everyone, including himself, are you and Gar.

With every step, you wince and you’re starting to understand why Dick wanted you to wait. You'll never admit that he was right because you’re too prideful for that but you get it now because this pain is horrendous. You knew it would hurt if you got hit but you highly underestimated just how much. And because that wasn't bad enough, Gar is still planted on the couch when the two of you enter the living room. Jason and you freeze for a second as Gar makes eye contact with you.

Busted.

"What are you...what...what happened?" Gar gets up from his seat as concern coats his words, you and Jason just standing there, at a loss for words. "Are you okay?" Gar asks you before looking to Jason and then back to you.

"I'm fine, Gar." You pull your arm away from Jason's neck and make your way to the couch, favoring your right side. Gar follows you while Jason goes to the freezer for an icepack.

Gar sits on the coffee table in front of you. "He didn't....?" Gar asks, knowing full well that Jason would never but needed some type of reassurance.

You sigh knowing you can't hide everything from him, he already knows too much and if he goes to Dick about it, this whole thing will blow up more. You do not want to get anyone in trouble.

"You can't tell Dick, okay?" You ask and Gar nods while Jason comes back, handing the ice pack to you as he takes a seat on the coffee table in front of you. "Jason is helping me train since Dick won't let me yet."

"That's stupid." Gar states, mostly referring to the both of you teaming up to do this. Dick just has your best interests at heart and Jason should know that better than anyone.

"That's what I said." Jason adds in.

You narrow your eyes at him. "You agreed to it." You mutter. "I neglected to tell him about a bruise and he tapped it."

"Tapped?" Gar questions.

"Swear, I barely touched her."

"Yeah," You shrug. "It's just, uh, it's pretty bad, I guess." You look down before looking at Jason as if begging him not to tell Gar further details about it. You want to spare him the sight of it. "It's a shoe print so." You clear your throat.

"Holy shit." Gar mumbles, shaking his head.

"Yeah," You suck in a breath. "I thought it'd be fine but it is not. The others are healing fine, a little faster than I expected actually but this one is just taking a little longer, I guess." You shrug your shoulders. "So, it was just an accident."

Gar sits for a second, obviously, he knew it was bad. He looks at your face every day. But a vivid shoe print on your side seems to have crossed a line he didn't know he even had. He's pissed and Gar isn't someone that gets pissed often. How can someone do this to you? You’ve got a smartass mouth but that's not a reason to do that to someone. It doesn't matter what you did or didn't do, no one deserves that and there's a part of him that almost wants to hunt the guy down.

Jason, on the hand, kind of wants you to show Gar. As he said, whatever Gar imagines is going to be worse than what it actually is. And Jason knows from first had experience that Gar isn't going to make it weird or anything. He'll just be understanding and maybe even he'll want to find the guy. But, Gar would actually understand more why you want to train. However, Jason isn't going to say anything. He promised.

"Okay," You nod your head finding the silence and wide eyes from Gar a bit uncomforting. "You're making it a little weird."

"Sorry." Gar apologizes, shaking his head. "It's just pretty messed up."

"It's fucked." Jason locks a knowing stare with you, matching the conversation you had the night before. "Piece of shit doesn't deserve to walk around free."

"We're not going after him, Dick will kill us." Gar protests though, if Jason or you went after him, he can't blame either of you. Even before knowing about this bruise, he wouldn't have blamed you.

"No one is going after him." You state. "If anyone were going to, it would be me. I said I don't hold many grudges. This isn't a grudge, it's vengeance, karma. Eye for an eye. My eye for an eye, no one else's. But the plan is not to seek him out, just be prepared if he seeks me out."

"Is that why you're training?" Gar asks.

"Gotta be prepared." You dodge his stare and Gar gets you wanting to search the tower a little more now. You’re fully convinced he'll come looking for you if he finds out you’re alive. If you’re alive and you start telling people what happened and who did it, he'll be fucked.

"The guy still deserves the same shit he did to you and then some." Jason remarks.

"Yeah, well, he's also not my fucking problem." It’s harsh but it’s also true. It’s very fresh and maybe in a few months, you’ll feel differently about it. But, for right now, he is not your problem. He isn’t your problem unless he comes looking for you.

Gar's attention snaps back to you with the comment. "What if he does it to someone else?" Gar asks, almost feeling like siding with Jason.

You shake your head. "I'm not seeking him out. I spent a year trying to escape and I won't risk it again." You’re being candid with the two of them and you don't feel too bad about it, actually. The both of them together make it easier. Gar has the calmness and level-headedness you need whereas Jason is the hot-headed one that you prefer in conversations like this, probably because you like the idea of killing Jerry. "I'm not...trying to be a bitch but.....did you do anything about that doctor?"

Gar shakes his head. "But he didn't do that," He gestures toward you. "To any of us. This is different."

"I guess." You shrug, readjusting the ice pack. "Look, I don't want anyone to know how bad it was, okay? I tell you two because I happen to really like the both of you and talking to you. I don't want anyone else to know how bad shit got, alright? Any of it, okay?" You plead with them and Jason nods along, he doesn't like people knowing the deep and dirty secrets his heart carries either.

"Why not?" Gar asks. "If Dick knows, he can help catch him."

Of course, to some extent, he can understand it. It's something that's hard to talk about. Talking about trauma is never easy. He remembers Jason finally breaking down and telling him stuff, he did in a very matter-of-fact way which just made Gar worry about him. But, after a little bit, Jason had a real conversation about it and why he doesn't like to talk about. It makes it real, people look at him differently. You and Jason are so much alike it seems that Gar wonders if that's how you feel about it, too. If so, he wishes you didn't because talking and letting people in, does help. Gar would know.

You admire Gar's endless optimism but you’re a glass-half-empty kind of person. "You know how people say trauma makes you strong?" Gar nods. "It doesn't, it just desensitizes you. Not feeling anything is not a strength, it's a weakness. Being terrified of sleeping and letting your guard down for more than a minute, that's not strength. I will not look weak to anyone, ever again so fucking help me." Your stare is harsh and your mouth is pressed into a straight line.

Listening to someone say they don't feel anything besides a sense of fear and paranoia, it's not something Gar has heard before even if that is how someone has felt. He can't imagine the kind of pain must put someone through. He didn't really get it until now and maybe now he understands why it was easy for you to talk to Jason. Jason seems like he doesn't feel much, Gar seems like he feels too much. He gets why you don't want anyone to know, as much as it pains him, he'll swear he won't tell anyone.

"Okay." Gar nods.

"Thanks, guys." You suck in a breath. "I'll be fine, like, really. It'll fade and one day I'll be okay but I'm not close to that yet." You show some slight optimism.

You aren't sure you believe the words you said or not but looking at the concerned faces of both boys, you felt like you needed to say something. You don't want them thinking you’re about to jump off a building or something because that's not it either. You do feel safe here and while you aren't sure if you'll recover from everything, you do know there's a chance if you’re here with these two because they make life after the trauma look appealing and fun again. They make it look like you can move past it, either in a heroic, aggressive way or in a happy-go-lucky way. They make it seem possible and that's all you really need.

"If I ever see him though," Jason starts, not thrilled with the idea of letting this piece of shit just be free. Maybe that's the issue with being a Titan for him, he wants the fight and Dick won't let him. At least Bruce let him fight. "I'll kill him."

"How do you even know what he looks like?" You ask, narrowing your eyes and you catch Gar stiffen in front to you as Jason’s eyes glance to Gar. "Oh my gosh, did you like, Google me or whatever?"

"No, we didn't fucking Google you." Jason quips, his eyes slightly narrowed. They did not Google you.

"Research me? Using some type of Wayne tech?" You retort. "You know what I mean."

"Well..." Jason gains this sly smirk and he's not all that apologetic about it. There's not a doubt in his mind if the roles were reversed, you would have done it, too.

"We just wanted to make sure you weren't here to kill us." Gar says apologetically.

"Wait, so, you guys knew this whole time and didn't say anything?"

"We're sorry." Gar apologizes for the both of them while Jason just shrugs. Gar gives him a dirty look.

"Sorry we ran your blood through the computer." Jason's tone is almost mocking, he isn't all that sorry about it. He feels a little bad about the invasion of privacy, especially since you did actually tell him what happened. But, it was for the safety of the Titans, or so he tells himself.

Your face contorts and you can't really tell if you want to be mad about it or not. On the one hand, that's an invasion of privacy. Did Dick also do that? Is that why he's so trusting? But, on the other hand, you would have done the same thing and getting mad would just make you a hypocrite. Though you have questions about why they were so confident to use your blood. But, that’s an entirely different thing to unpack that, in all honesty, you didn't even wanna know.

"I...okay." You shake your head, choosing to move on from it. "So...why didn't you guys just say you knew?"

It's Gar who shrugs and speaks up before Jason can have some sarcastic quip. "We didn't want you to know and make you uncomfortable and we weren't really sure what happened. That's not actually in the file."

"We figured." Jason says, looking away from you.

"Ahh." You say. "Anyone else with you two?"

Gar shakes his head. "Just us." Gar clears his throat. "Rachel, knew though. We didn't tell her anything though."

"Hmm." Your eyes narrow for just a quick second. Rachel knew the boys were going to look up who you are and didn't tell you? Alright then. But, you don't say anything about it. Gar is at least her friend so maybe she didn't want to throw him under the bus for someone she doesn't even know. "Well, since you already took it upon yourselves to look into me," You suck in a breath. "Anything you actually want to know that I haven't said already?"

Gar looks at Jason and they're both almost certain this is some sort of trap. They're not entirely sure how but it has to be. You can't possibly be open to just discussing whatever questions they have about anything prior to coming here. You haven't been that open about anything. But Jason takes it as a challenge, if it's a trap, he'll walk right into it.

"How'd you end up in the system?" Jason asks, jerking his head up slightly. He kind of assumes it's the whole breaking into cars thing but he's curious.

"Busted breaking into a car because no one told me that hubcaps were the smarter option." You give Jason a joking glare, your voice holding tints of sarcasm. "I fucking tripped, can you believe that? Pavement was slick and I slipped." You let out a laugh.

When it happened, it was definitely not funny. It was disappointing and you felt like a failure. But, tonight, there's a part of it that you find funny. You ran those streets a million times in the pouring rain and never had any issues but that one night, you slipped. It's so dumb.

"Fell from a fence." Jason laughs.

"You guys tried to escape from the system?" Gar looks between the two of you. Of course, seeing what you’ve been through so far, he gets it but the entire system can't possibly be like that.

"Fuck yes." You and Jason say simultaneously.

"Clearly," You continue. "I had the right idea."

"Yeah, foster care is a fucking joke even if it's not as bad as what's his face." Jason shakes his head. He's had his fair share of time spent in foster homes and most of them weren't that bad. But, it wasn't the best time of his life either.

"Assuming you never got the lovely experience?" You ask Gar.

Gar shakes his head. "I went with Dr. Cauldon when I got better after he fixed me."

You offer him a sweet smile. "You're lucky." You clear your throat. "Uh, I mean, there are a lot of foster homes and stuff that aren't bad, of course, right? I mean, I met someone who ended up in a really good home. It's just..." You scrunch your face, trying to figure out how to phrase it.

"Do you want to take the risk in ending up in a bad one?" Jason asks the rhetorical question, finishing your thought.

"Yeah, exactly."

"Yeah, I knew a few people who ended up fine in their foster homes. So, it's not horrible but when it treats you like shit..." Jason turns his head at Gar.

"You turn a little bitter towards the system as a whole because the system should be in place to protect us. But, I was better off on the streets." You set the ice pack on the couch beside you. "So, I mean, you're lucky you didn't have to navigate it."

"I'm seeing that." Gar lets out a breath.

Lucky was never a word Gar would have used to describe himself. His parents die of a mysterious disease, he also gets the mysterious disease and the only way to survive was through a weird doctor. Then, he gets better and he's not even allowed to leave the manor. Of course, he did anyway but he wasn't supposed to. It's not like it was horrible at Doom Manor or anything because it wasn't but it also wasn't freedom or very fun. It was just existing to Gar and he never considered that to be lucky, not until meeting the Titans anyway. They've all had pretty horrible lives, actually, the more Gar thinks about it.

“So, any other questions?" You ask, mostly looking at Gar.

He has one but he's not sure if it's really appropriate. He mostly just wants to know what happened before Dick found you. Did Jerry really just leave you there alive and if so, why? Did he actually think you were dead? He's just curious how it all happened, he's glad it did but he wonders. On the other hand though, he doesn't want this to get uncomfortable or weird, although you seem to be comfortable with Jason asking questions.

"Did, uh, he really just leave you in that alley?" Gar asks.

"Uh..." You stutter, brows furrowed. You don't have much memory of it, actually. "It's kind of hard to remember." You suck in a breath and suddenly you’re nervous. Something about Gar asking makes you nervous, maybe it's because even when Jason is serious, you have a hard time taking him seriously where Gar, despite the quirkiness and softness and smiles, when he asks, he always seems serious. "I tried to come up with a plan for awhile to escape but I was always chained up and I didn't get to develop super strength or anything. Um....so...." You shake your head, wishing you had a hoodie on suddenly, feeling too exposed. "I figured it was do or die at some point." Your head hangs and you remember the day you made your decision.

It was a regular day for you, chained in the basement and injected with something new. Jerry got mad and that led to the same old situation. This time though, it broke you. There wasn’t anything different about it but it broke you. The exhaustion had finally set in and you were tired. You knew you’d give up soon, you could feel it in your blood so you hatched a half-assed plan.

"Let me preface this by saying that I didn't want to die, not really. I was just exhausted from it all and I needed to get out of there because he was gonna kill me at some point." You state looking between the boys and you feel the mental fatigue deep in your brain like a permanent virus just waiting to be activated again. "I-I decided I'd piss him off real bad one day." You say through gritted teeth, Gar and Jason hung onto every word.

The energy has shifted. It always felt light-hearted despite the seriousness of the discussion. You were joking and so was Jason, Gar giving you looks of disbelief but this is not that. Sometimes what the mind can do to someone is worse than anything someone else can physically cause.

"I knew he'd get really mad and one of two things would happen. One: either he would kill me and I'd be out of my fucking misery."

Gar winces at the thought, that's what you thought about? Having him kill you? And Jason can't fathom it. No amount shit he's been through has pushed him that far. He knew, of course, because you told him but it was very casual. This story while the same as the singular sentence you said about it, feels drastically different and far more upsetting than it did before.

"Or two: he'd beat me so bad he'd think I was dead and dump me somewhere." You tilt your head to the right. "It was risky and not calculated but to be honest, I did not give a flying fuck what would happen. Guess, he thought I was dead and now I'm here." You shrug. "I got good at staying calm so I didn't fight back. In a way, I supposed I faked my death." You scoff as you roll your eyes.

The room falls silent as you finish and you feel like you said way too much. You didn't mean to go that in-depth about it but you kept looking at Gar and his sad eyes and you just couldn't help it. He wanted honesty and you couldn't not give it to him, not with the look on his face. But, now you regret it because the look of sorrow on his face feels like it's going to be permanent when he looks at you and that's the last thing you wanted. And even Jason is just silent. The kid is literally never silent. He just said what you did was badass last night but apparently giving context, changes the attitude about it.

"As I said, I didn't want to die. It just...ya know?" You furrow your brows, dodging your eyes from the boys as you think of how to form your words. "You hit this breaking point at some point where you just can't take it anymore and that's the do or die moment and sometimes that's literal. It was for me. Do or die because I just could not do it anymore. I wanted to escape if that.... clarifies anything. I...I just wasn't....given more options."

"Why didn't you use your powers? You said it's because you were afraid he was going to kill you but if that was the plan anyway..." Gar's voice is raised a little like he's upset by what you did which, is fair. But, he's known you for three days and he doesn't have a right to be upset by it.

"I wanted to escape." You state, sympathizing with him being upset by it. "If I used my powers and he happened to have some, too, he'd definitely have killed me. That was the only way I could see to have a shot to live outside of that fucking basement."

"That's so fucked." Jason shakes his head and it's the same reaction he's had all night but is there anything else to say about it? It's all fucked.

"You've said that." You nod.

"It is. Still think it's badass you just took it though." Jason shrugs, not quite sure how to process any of it and Gar is taking it very seriously. Based on what you've told Jason, he thinks maybe you’ll shut down if something quick-witted or sarcastic or snarky isn’t said.

Gar gives Jason a disapproving look. It's not badass, not to Gar. It's sad. No one should be out there just shrugging off their possible death to escape a bad situation. Jason was at least right about it being fucked. But it's more than that. There is a deep, almost unbearable ache in Gar's chest looking at you and realizing that most of the bruises he can see, including the ones you normally have covered up, are all new. Most of them seem to be turning into shades indictive of healing though, which is good. It's hitting him how fresh of all that still is to you and maybe you’re right that trauma doesn't make people strong but to Gar, you are. To deal with that and come out the other end, willing to trust him and Jason now, after three days is incredible.

You don't seem desensitized talking to them. It's trust and while he wants to do everything in his power to protect you, he also admires you because he knows he could never have made that life-or-death decision. He would have fought to get out or just taken whatever was given to him.

"Please, don't apologize." You say, looking at Gar. You know he's going to, he has the whole time and you don't want or need it. It doesn't make any of it better. "It's not something--" You’re cut off as Gar just pulls you into a hug and your eyes widen.

The hug is gentle like he's afraid if he gives you a proper hug maybe you'll shatter into a million pieces like fragile porcelain. But it's how he knows to communicate best and it's better than apologizing again or just echoing Jason. This is something distantly Gar. And you have a sad smile as you hug him back and you do like his hugs. They're comforting and he's so warm. You wonder if that's just a Gar thing or if it's the mutant part of him that makes him so warm. But you like how it quiets the roaring in your head like a tunnel muffling the sounds of rain. You like that you can feel the warmth through your bones, the constant ache of just existing eases and you don't really want him to let go. But then he does because hugs don't last forever.

"Thanks." Your smile is shy as you look at him while he pulls away and Gar's cheeks burn.

Jason has one furrowed brow, Gar glancing over to him. "Don't fucking hug me." You burst out laughing as Jason looks a little too serious. Sometimes Gar gets into a mushy mood and Jason will never admit it, but he does kind of like when Gar gets like that. But, he’s trying very hard to break the tension in the room.

"Why would I hug you?" Gar scoffs through a laugh. Jason looks like he would murder anyone that showed any type of physical affection toward him right now. Gar isn't stupid.

"Way to ruin a moment, Jason." Your laugh starts to subside.

"You're welcome." Jason huffs, a smirk on his lips.

He didn't really ruin a moment exactly, he did however, break the tension. Shattered, actually. The sadness in the air disappeared with his single comment. Though, you wish you could have known where it would have went with Gar after the hug, just what he would have had to say if anything. But you won't complain for a good laugh.

"So, back at it tomorrow night?" Jason asks, cornered smirk at you.

"Fuck yeah." You agree and Gar lets out a defeated sigh. He can tell you two are going to cause trouble together.

"Can I come? Since I know about it now." Gar asks. Maybe he wants to be the look out or help. Or maybe he wants to be there in case Jason gets carried away, not that he thinks he will, but just in case, of course. Or maybe it's just as simple as Gar wanting to hang around you some more.

"I'm cool, you?" You ask Jason.

"Yeah, of course, man." Jason nods at Gar and they do say they're best friends but this is the first you’re actually getting see it. You think it's cute.

"Awesome, I'm gonna go to bed then, you guys?" You ask.

"Yeah," Gar nods with wide eyes as he stands up.

You give Jason a cornered look and Jason would normally stay up, just a little longer. There's no such thing as too much training. But, you did have an eventful night and maybe he could go for a little more rest tonight.

"Yeah, alright." Jason gets up from his spot and the three of you walk to your rooms.

Jason gives you both a quick "night" before heading into his room and shutting the door, leaving Gar and you. Jason can take a hint. Now, it's just Gar and you, standing outside your room and neither of you are sure why. You're going to bed but you opening up makes Gar feel closer to you. He'll never understand what you went through but he can try. He can be there if you need him to even if it's just to scream or sit in silence. It doesn't bother him either way. And you like how calm he makes you. No one's ever been very good at that. You’ve always had a fire about you and he calms it, not dampens it, just calms it. You like the way your stomach flips when he smiles at you and how much he listens. The only thing, you wish he would stop with the sad eyes but maybe he will now that he knows everything. Maybe, hopefully.

"Okay, I'm gonna go to bed. Goodnight, Gar." Your smile splits your face as you open your door, waving at him softly.

"Goodnight, Y/n." Gar says as he starts to walk off but before you close your door, he turns around. "If you, uh, can't sleep or have a nightmare...." Gar pauses not really knowing how to phrase it without it sounding presumptuous.

"Gotcha." You finish, holding a honey-like smile. "Thank you. Goodnight."

"Goodnight." Gar sucks in a breath and this time, you both go to your rooms, doors closing behind you.

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divinemissem13 · 1 month

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20 questions for fic writers

thanks for the tag @ussjellyfish!

1. How many works do you have on Ao3? 76

2. What’s your total Ao3 word count? 216,156

3. What fandoms do you write for? Various Star Treks (mostly Voyager, but also Prodigy, TNG, Picard, SNW) The Closer/ Major Crimes Doctor Who

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

Gotta Start Somewhere (Trektober 2022) - first thing I ever posted, Trektober prompts for J/C

Rotund - another early one, one shot where pregnant Kathryn messes with Tom and Harry in order to get their table in the mess hall

Kitchen Confidential - one shot where Kathryn is secretly an excellent cook

Aftermath - J/C one shot set immediately post Resolutions (ANGST/ comfort)

Postlude to a Kiss - Part of my 'How Chakotay Met Kathryn' series, set during and after the Vis a Vis body swap incident

5. Do you respond to comments? I try! Often just a ❤️ or a 'Thank you'

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Honey, maybe?

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Send in the Clowns is not necessarily happier than any of my other endings, but because it's the end of a long and angsty series, I think the payoff is the best.

8. Do you get hate on fics? Not really

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? I will write flirting and a little foreplay, but ultimately, I love a good fade to black.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? So many. Mostly Voyager & TNG/Picard for Beverly/Kathryn fics

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not that I know of

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Not that I know of

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? A short one with @magdalenejaneway from a flash fic prompt. It was fun. I'd do it again.

14. What’s your all time favorite ship? I've never written for it, but I'm actually gonna say Adama/Roslin because I've shipped them the longest.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? I have a few abandoned WIP one shots that I'll probably never return to... but I also have three multi-chapter WIPs that I still have very high hopes of finishing. I wrote a chapter on one today!

16. What are your writing strengths? Finding character's voices

17. What are your writing weaknesses? I'm trying to get better at describing things (I have aphantasia and so picturing stuff is really hard but if I can find a good image to base things off of, it goes ok.)

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? Phrases here and there, but I don't know any other language well enough to write a real conversation.

19. First fandom you wrote for? When I was in elementary school, I hand wrote a Muppet Babies and Tiny Toons fic. I did not know what fanfic was at the time and I do not remember anything else about it. I only realized it was technically fanfic many many years later when I started intentionally writing fic (for Voyager, which is probably my actual first fandom)

20. Favorite fic you’ve written? All Things Bright and Beautiful. Beverly/ Kathryn set after Picard S3. Writing it was super easy and it still makes me smile to go back and read it.

tagging @curator-on-ao3, @elephant-in-the-pride-parade, @coffee-in-that-nebula, @madamairlock, @caitylove, @holy-ships-x-red-lips, and anyone else who wants to give it a whirl!

#fanfic #20 questions #writer asks

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i-can-even-burn-salad · 10 months

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WIP Wednesday

I was tagged by @winterandwords to uh... talk about a WIP I guess? :D

I'll pass on this tag toooo... @starlit-hopes-and-dreams (as always <3) but I'm not sure who else, so if you feel like talking about a WIP, consider this an open tag.

Oh boy, which to pick. There are currently only 2 projects where the P in WIP actually stands for "progress" (for the others it stands for "procrastination".)

I think I'm gonna pick Till Death. It is the one I am currently obsessed with, and the only one I am writing, not editing.

Here's the blurb:

Finnian is a wandering healer down on his luck. When one of his patients dies, the village turns against him, beating him half to death and leaving him for thirst and scavengers to finish what they started.

Eilis lives deep in the forest, hiding from the world. When she finds him, impaled on a tree and barely alive, she can‘t leave him to his fate, even if it means upending the peaceful life she has built for herself.

As Finnian slowly recovers, days filled with quiet companionship make the prospect of him staying less daunting than either of them had expected. But he carries too many scars, and Eilis too many secrets, threatening to destroy their fragile relationship as the shadows of the past draw closer. When everything falls apart, will they save each other, or will the price be too high?

You see, in April I finished the last chapter of all my ongoing stories, which left me in a very weird mood. For 1,5 years I always had something to work on, and suddenly, there was nothing started. Sure, I had a few outlines, but nothing really called to me, with the added problem that for those, I have to figure out bullshit like politics. I needed something new. New chars I didn't know yet, a fresh story - and 🌟violence🌟 :)

I've been talking about wanting more gore with happy end, but sadly, existing OCs are so fragile, I can't even break all their bones without them dying 🙄 So it was time to fuck up another healer.

For a few weeks, I threw concepts against a wall like cooked spaghetti, grabbed whatever stuck, and then I just started. It's the first time in a year that I actually write a story without posting as I go. I can leave a little note "this sounds weird, fix later" or remember "shit, I forgot this injury" or change a name halfway in. I know. That's how a draft is supposed to work 😅

I'm at over 60k words, and it's looking good. There's a few 'first times' for me, a lot of things I love and a lot of things I am excited about. I have a rough outline of events still to happen that leaves me enough freedom to go wild. And wild I go; half of the scenes are gratuitous pain and suffering, and there will be more - but it's also a story of love and finding a place to belong. Which brings me to the next point:

I'm tired. Tired of feeling like I don't belong anywhere. Of having no genre and being "just whump" because it fits nowhere else. Of being "not enough whump" while still finding myself on every squick list.

So this one's written for a target audience of some very close friends - a target audience for which I don't have to write CWs at the top of each chapter, a target audience who doesn't grow bored at the first calm moment, a target audience who will call me a bitch while asking for more pain.

I love you, pocket friends 💜

Here's the start of the book (unedited, rip):

Finnian hated dealing with sick people.

Considering the fact that he earned his money with healing, that was rather unfortunate. If he didn’t want to starve to death, he had to grit his teeth and ignore the stench of sweat and blood while taking care of coughs and aches and fever.

Sometimes, he wished he had learned something else after it had become clear that this wasn’t the right profession for him. Then he wouldn’t be sitting here, explaining to a grown ass woman that when he had told her to keep the wound clean, that included keeping the bandages away from dirty water. And that yes, it fucking hurt, because now it was infected, and if she didn’t plan on losing a finger or two, she’d better keep her hand dry and clean this time. And that perhaps, just perhaps, that was a bit more important than cleaning the windows.

Unfortunately, he had not learned anything else, so he left the house half an hour later with barely enough coins in his pocket to make up for the supplies he had used. Most roots and herbs he could gather himself, but bandages and tinctures didn’t grow on trees.

#salad-tag #WIP Wednesday #wip: till death #not in the best place lately can you tell #it's too warm i am ~stressed~#and between staff changes and uh general focus on this site #it's all just very discouraging

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spectralharvest · 21 days

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20 Questions for Fic Authors

Thanks for tagging me @sunhatllama although I only have 2 posted fics so this is gonna be kind of sad

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

2, although I used to have a lot more that I orphaned because I wrote them when I was 12 and was ashamed of myself lmao

2. What is your AO3 wordcount?

2,242

3. What fandoms do you write for?

I've posted things for Spy x Family and The Longing, although I've been sporadically working on something for South Park

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

I only have two but I'll put them here anyway

1.) Happy Endings - My Spy x Family fic about Twilight's mom that I based off of a fan animation. Ironically, a couple months after I posted this, Chapter 62 came out which basically dealt with the same thing lmao

2.) Counting the Seconds - My fic for The Longing, an idle game that I really really love. It's not very popular fic wise though, so it makes sense why it has less kudos.

5. Do you respond to comments?

I keep meaning to, but I get nervous and then forget and by the time I remember, it's way too late to respond. Or at least it feels like it's not socially acceptable anymore.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

None of mine so far have had angsty endings, but I'd probably go with Happy Endings just because there's some canonical character death.

7. What is the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Counting the Seconds? It's just me going through my favorite ending of the game and what The Shade might have been thinking.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

No, I don't post enough to get that kind of engagement lol.

9. Do you write smut? If so, which kind?

Nope, I just haven't seen a reason to.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest crossover you’ve ever written?

I have not written crossovers, I like to keep my fandoms separate.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Nah, like I said, I haven't done anything notable enough to get my things stolen.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

^^^

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No, but it does sound kind of appealing. I would worry about dragging down someone else's work though since my work ethic is so goddamn terrible.

14. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

Creek!! I actually wasn't all that into them the first time I watched South Park, but when I came back to it years later the Post Covid special had come out and the fact that they were still together 40 years later really cemented them in my heart. I <3 old man yaoi.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I have a Creek-focused South Park 60's au that I've been trying to write since June, but I went to work one day with a bunch of ideas and then I left my shift feeling so drained and I haven't been able to get that spark back. I also have a Damianya-focused Spy x Family royalty au based on that one line from chapter 88 but I got too carried away with the planning instead of actually writing.

16. What are your writing strengths?

My roommate (@sunhatllama) says that I conveyed emotions pretty well so I guess I can do that

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

My work ethic :(

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I've certainly tried it before with some of the fics I orphaned, and I feel like it can be fine. Nowadays, I'd just rather have it be like "character said something in a different language". idk i don't feel strongly either way

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Gravity Falls! My ff.net account is still up with them but they're BAD. I wrote them when I was like 10 and I don't remember the account info so I can't go and delete them.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

Probably Happy Endings, just because I wasn't expecting a lot of engagement but the creator of the fan animation that I based it off of actually found it and left a comment about it! It made me so happy and I was so goddamn happy when I went to high school the next day lmao.

I'm tagging no one because I have no friends heehee

#spectre talks sometimes #fic game #writing game

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encrucijada · 1 year

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PÍA RAMBLES #6

nanowrimo is technically over and i barely made a dent on what was supposed to be my main wip during november. but one thought led to another and i made some changes that contradict the powerpoint i posted at the start of the month... so let me tell you about evergreen lung!

if you're new to my writing updates: because of how inconsistent i am with my progress i just label everything as a writing update and then theme them accordingly.

disclaimer: this is my original work, plagiarism of any kind won’t be tolerated.

[ all images ids in alt text! ]

i was having a lot of trouble making the relationships between characters work, which is a problem considering character relationships would make or break this book in particular. i've only written one and a half chapters which, i know is too soon to know if the dynamics were really as bleh as they seemed in my head (especially considering i've only barely introduced the character of raquel)... but things just weren't clicking in an appealing way.

so what did i do? i opened my phone's notes app and started typing naturally lmao. i laid out all my troubles and i think i've found it now! the version of evergreen lung i like.

these are the changes

august is now a completely different character! originally she was supposed to be ezra's "friendship interest" (like love interest but for friend) but i was having this problem about their relationship being too similar to that of ezra's mums xiomara and katalina. something that was bothering no one but if i didn't do something about it it was gonna bother me for all intended 70k words of this. i've aged august up and now she is running the radio station mentioned in the powerpoint (there's also something new and magical about her but [spoilers]).

it also allowed me to implement a dynamic i would have otherwise discarded with the changes i did to ezra's family, which makes me happy as i really liked it. see, since her inception august has been the someone new by hozier sorta character where she falls in love with pretty strangers on the bus. in the earlier versions of evergreen lung, ezra was supposed to live with her aunt who couldn't really hold down a partner and that was going to contrast with ezra who didn't want a partner. now that dynamic is the one shared between ezra and august! they have more of a "queer neurodivergent student who imprints on their cool teacher" vibe

juan diego figueroa! you may remember him as santiago figueroa from the powerpoint, i changed his name. the obligatory adam parrish-esque character because this is a book about a sentient forest. he's ezra's new platonic soulmate. a story about two aspec kids with lots of nature imagery surrounding them and whose relationship people are being extremely amatonormative about. after all, they're a boy and a girl so they should be falling in love

not only are they extremely cute, but their dynamic immediately puts me at ease with being Different(tm) from xiomara/katalina/caleb, which is what was bothering me if i had made a little trio out of ezra/august/santiago. as said in the powerpoint, his family runs the greenhouse where xiomara buys all her plant babies and it gives juan diego and ezra a fun thing going on. where they know each other but will grow to be each other's best friends much to their surprise

okay! let's talk chapters

i have named a few scattered chapters. these are the first five (at least for now some titles could be moved around later). as of rn i have only written chapters one and i'm working on finishing chapter two. yes, in my head that is more than enough to talk

I: CREATION ACT

so for the uninitiated: evergreen lung is about this girl named ezra who died and then undied. what felt like passing out overnight in the forest for her turned out to be a year of her being missing.

i'd written the opening scene of the book many moons ago, around the time when i first had the idea for this story. it remains one of my favourite openers. here's an excerpt!

I woke up again because I couldn’t breathe. It turned into crying. Blood smeared on my cheeks, my nose, my mouth. I think… I might have been having nightmares, but I couldn’t remember. The sun made nightmares go away.

Checked my phone again, mechanical. The dead screen spiderwebbed and mosaicked with the honeycomb light through the canopy of branches. I did that three more times, forgetting each time, until I sprung panicked because the weight of my own body made my arm fall asleep and I thought the fox was back and had taken it along this time. I pressed the power button on the phone like that might will it to work.

I also got bitten on the leg, the tender tissue on the back of my knee, and I kicked. A fox with shamrocks as way of ear tufts whined and sprang away. That made me sit up and I cried, whimpering apologies. Whimpering please forgive me’s to an animal that wasn’t there anymore.

i'm now gonna shout out @rxinbowbright and @chaoticdecember because it's thanks to them that i even conceived making any progress with this book at all. and it's all thanks to the characters of ezra's parents who are actually our ocs for a personal project we share. with katalina being teddy's and caleb being fluffy's, xio is mine. it makes sense for a story about the importance of queerplatonic relationships for our main character to be born into one imo.

a while back (a long while back) i decided to start using chapter titles. they add so much personality and i think they need to do a comeback in books. i'm especially fond of the two words structure which is what i'm gonna be doing with evergreen lung. it creates such vivid imagery with something as simple as creation act, especially considering the subject matter. ezra coming back home and all.

II: PRESSED FLOWERS

aka ezra takes a walk around town and reunites with raquel, they go to a concert. alternatively: sometimes the main conflict is the fact your best friend has a boyfriend.

the plot truly begins here: ezra realises there's a disconnect between her and the person who's her best friend, she missed graduation and we all know how much things change in not even a year of being done with high school. the people you saw 5 days a week aren't part of your routine anymore, friend groups don't survive, everyone's got their own goals and no one's worried about the same homework as you.

other stories might turn raquel into the villain but there are no villains here (except for amatonormativity). i love raquel, and i love the relationship with her boyfriend like i love any other ship in my wips. they've got this fun garage band aesthetic going on and damian is friends with ezra... sadly while she was gone they planned and agreed to move out of town together. and now instead of having time to process this, ezra's arriving a month (or so) before it happens.

the title of pressed flowers is supposed to be a metaphor about preserving things.

Raquel’s mum was a redhead like her two daughters. She was wearing an apron and a dress, hands clad with rubber gloves, she looked as if she’d stepped out of 50s USA nuclear family propaganda. Wendy was forced to stay outside and I stood in their kitchen on the verge of tears for an agonising ten minutes.

I kept asking them: Raquel? Raquel? Raquel?

And they put a glass of pink lemonade in my hands and hugged me until I spilled it on the floor anyways. You went missing, they said, as if I was a third-party stranger who hadn’t heard of the local tragedy. Instead of being the very subject of it. Yeah, I know, I said, objective, like speaking of the weather. Your parents— Raquel's mum started to say. They know, I said.

“She’s going to be so happy.” Marianela was holding the baby to her chest.

“Where’s Raquel?” I asked again.

“Not here,” her mum said. “She got this crazy idea in her head when she turned eighteen. Moved right out, said she was ready to be independent.”

“Where’s Raquel?” I asked again.

“She didn’t even have a job!” her mum said. “Now I think she’s working as a cashier.”

“Where’s Raquel?” I asked Marianela directly.

“The shopping centre downtown,” she said, patting the baby’s back as she became fuzzy. Warning of a wail. “They have these empty rooms serving no purpose at all.”

okay! i think that's gonna be it for now. i mainly wanted to talk about the changes i made (which also helps me it's the rubber duck method). and also hopefully this gave you a better idea of what the book's about, where it's headed.

the other chapters will tackle the following:

dead heading: the real weight of being gone

organic bodies: trying to reconnect

blink twice: ezra goes to a party with her old classmates

the sentient forest is coming, i promise.

cheers, pía

#pia rambles #pia.docx #( wip ) evergreen lung

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claire-starsword · 10 months

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Shining Force Unused/Removed Content

“But Claire didn’t you have a world book to translate?” Yeah! And then I had to check a tiny detail on another book, and saw something weird, and TCRF wasn’t helpful, so I went down a 140+ page long forum thread and downloaded a ROM editor. It happens. And now you’re gonna hear about it.

So, usually i gloss over the gameplay data on these guide books because I assume people have this information elsewhere already due to hacking and FAQ and the like. That might have been a mistake though, look at this peculiar entry on the encyclopedia’s monster data:

Mephisto

Movement: 6

Weapon: none

Uses Demon Breath. As a boss monster, regenerates HP every turn.

If you don’t know/remember, Mephisto is the JP name of the Shining in the Darkness final boss, later revealed to be Darksol and Mishaela’s kid. Looks like he skipped on helping his dad here.

The encyclopedia notes the HP regen of every other boss, but none use this specific phrasing of “as a boss monster”. This makes me think he was gonna be a boss on some battle, and then a regular enemy later on.

The cut feels understandable to me though, he and Darksol are pretty much identical, no point in having both in a game. And if there was any idea already of establishing a lore/connection between the characters as well, putting him as a regular enemy would ruin that. Given that there’s no artwork to go on, it’s also possible that this was actually a generic demon enemy, and the name was just a coincidence and would be confusing. I kinda doubt this possibility though since there’s plenty of other connections between this game and SitD, at least when it comes to design. Hard to believe they’d forgot or ignore the big bad.

Sadly that’s all the info we have to go on for this guy. I’ve looked over with the editor and found no trace of him. Most I can say is that there are a couple Yogurt placeholders among the enemy map sprites, and a couple unused data entries for Dark Mages. But that could be anything. Unless there’s some oversight with the editor, Mephisto was either fully removed, or never implemented to begin with, and the guide book just published out-of-date info by mistake.

The next monster is the opposite, though

Green Golem

Movement: 4

Weapon: none

Can move on water, and has high attack.

I’m legit afraid that this is an enemy from the game that i just forgot and am embarrassing myself here, because the beast is complete. Graphics, data, you name it.

By graphics I mean it is just a color swap of the regular Golem, as its name implies. Stats wise, it has -3 attack and -2 HP compared to the Golem, meaning it’s an weaker enemy. Makes sense since it’s likely made for the naval battles in chapter 5, while regular Golem debut in chapter 6. Still, with how hard Golems are to hit in the regular game, i’m very glad they did not put a thing with the same defense in the previous chapter.

Well, not that glad. On the other hand, according to the editor...

Its localized name is Weed.

And I kinda need to see this in an actual screenshot right NOW.

I do need to finish this post first. Here’s the last, smaller oddity in the encyclopedia’s monster data:

Storm Rover

Movement: 6

Weapon: Swords

Be careful as it can attack with lightning.

Storm Rover is the JP name for the Shellfish enemy of the naval battle. In the final game they can poison, not attack with lightning. It seems the naval battle went through a lot of changes at some point.

Saying they equip swords is also weird but there’s a lot more mistakes about weapons in this guide, like saying the dragonewts use swords and the conches uses spears, so these might be just mistakes. Anyway still shows that this list is goofed and was probably printed by mistake.

That’s it for enemies, but there’s a few more unused NPC sprites, i think.

I don’t remember any of these in game, but do let me know if i’m wrong, it’s hard to remember all NPCs. I will be kinda mad if the cat is in and i just forgot, given that it’s cute as heck, and cats were my first act of hacking in a Shining game. Why was the SF2 cat not like that to begin with.

Now, on to text data. The thing about text data is that it is a list of 2000+ strings. And even though the event data is beautifully organized in diagrams in this editor, I cannot emphasize enough that it is a very elaborate editor, it’s still tough to sit and comprehend all that, especially in a single day. So I can’t say I have fully checked everything out for now, but you know me by now, i definitely did try. Here’s what I’ve noticed.

Lines 41 and 42 here from Simone’s introduction seem to go unused. To be fair, they don’t add anything.

Alef has a line set up for the boat HQ, even though she isn’t available until after the boat battles. The other late game characters (Torasu, Lyle, Bleu, Musashi, Hanzou, and Adam) all have empty strings for this instead. [Update: I have since investigated and this is an issue in the english version only. Shoutout to whoever in the localization loved Alef very much.]

Khris seems to have a surprised line set up for if you manage to enter Alterone’s castle before the merchant puts in a good word for you, which should not be possible in regular gameplay. [Update: I have since investigated this one too and it can be seen with walk through walls cheats, showing Khris is also in a different position of the map as well. The JP version is even more scandalous.]

Anri also seems to have an extra line to continue to reject Max when they meet for the first time, but from what i recall, Nova immediately comes up to convince her he’s telling the truth. Perhaps you were meant to do something to convince her instead.

Otrant also seems to have a line reacting to Max being turned into chicken, however from what i recall, his room is inaccessible when that happens.

Plenty of other inaccessible NPCs seem to have lines set up for this as well, however they are just reusing lines from the NPCs you do talk to. Those generic lines like “what’s a hen doing here?” and such.

Update: I’m sorry for Spreading Misinformation Online, you can explore all of Manarina as a chicken in this game so these lines are not unused, you can even heal yourself off the chickening by leaving Manarina or entering the next battle. The GBA version fixes this oversight by locking you out of a good chunk of the map so i got confused.

But enough of these minor details. We’re here for deleted content. We’re here for plot lines being dumped in the trash. Bring in the kings.

That’s right baby, it’s Adam and Cain losing plot lines again, it’s not just the localization that did it to them. Ever noticed how Adam do not get the usual “character has joined the force” message, and kinda just appears in your team during the Chaos battle? Yeah, that might have been a hasty fix. There are traces of a bigger scene here with Adam, Darksol and Cain, upon which Adam would join the force with the proper message.

Only a single line of these events has survived, in which Adam urges Max to take the Chaos Breaker. This might mean you would have the sword before fighting Chaos, as the pre-battle dialogue with Chaos is right after this in the data. The remaining lines have been wiped, though the code referring to them remains there along with the code for loading character portraits, which is how we get the handy diagram above.

Unfortunately I don’t know enough of this editor to check if there’s leftover animation data on this cutscene. Sprite data relating to it does seem to be present in the map though, check it out:

does this remind you of something?

put this one in the pile of “the GBA version is just what the devs intended all along” with the others. Granted, “intended” might not be the correct word since they did cut it. Why? Who knows. One possibility I see is that they might have felt a flashback would be confusing, the game doesn’t do any kind of perspective change, unlike the GBA version which does hop between Max, Narsha and Ramladu’s POVs every chapter. While Adam loredumping in the og version might be a more boring way of conveying the plot, it is also more in line with the game’s presentation. A flashback might have also posed technical difficulties, like adding a sepia tone to the screen when no other scene requires it, etc. Though SF2 does have a sepia scene, so if that was the case they figured it out eventually.

Another reason might be that avoiding this scene helps hiding how messy it is. Cain and Chaos get beaten up and corrupted, which makes sense. Max on the other hand also gets beaten up enough to get amnesia, and yet does not get captured or killed, but instead, blown across the ocean??? Somehow???? The GBA version adds the concept that Cain’s armor can warp space and teleport, though seemingly putting a heavy strain on the user’s body. While it’s not explicitly said, we can assume Max’s armor is the same, and that he used it to escape, making his injuries and amnesia not just from Darksol. I’m still connecting a lot of dots on my own here, but it’s something of an explanation, while the classic game had no foreshadowing for this. Even if the deleted dialogue here explained, it would feel more coming out of nowhere.

That’s all speculation though. There might be more clues on unused lines of the japanese version, but i don’t have an editor for that. I have heard tales of a debug mode though, so i’ll look into that. For now i leave you with this monster of a post

#shining force #shining series #ressurection of the dark dragon #sf adam #sf max #sf cain #sf darksol #sitd mephisto #sf chaos #oh boy 1 am. where did the time go haha

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wolfboy88 · 1 year

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Year In Review

tagged by @thiamsxbitch and @theoceanismyinkwell

RULES:

post the top 5 works you’re most proud of that you released in 2022 (not necessarily your most popular)

The One That I Want: Stiles decides to make it the packs new mission to find Liam a girlfriend so Liam will stop hanging out with Theo but their unaware that Liam and Theo are in a relationship.

The second fic that I ever wrote, the first one for 2022 and one that kinda got me started in wanting to continue writing fan fics. I remember I had the general idea for this fic while I was at work and ended up writing the majority of it while on break over numerous docket sheets then pretty much typed the first draft when I got home that day. It was one of those ones where the story is so vivid in your head and you know if you don’t get it out now you know it’s not gonna be there later. It’s also the reason why I pack a notebook in my backpack now!

Heart of Stone, my Warrior Guardian: Liam inherits an old bungalow from his grandfather that has a life-sized stone statue of a gargoyle perched above the fireplace. But why does the gargoyle keep appearing in his dreams? Are they even dreams or is he losing his mind? And what does the gardener know about it?

My gargoyle au and one of my Halloween/Writober challenge pieces. I was intrigued by the gargoyle prompt and didn’t know if I was actually gonna be able to fill the prompt. I fell the down the rabbit hole of researching gargoyle mythology/architecture and fell in love with legends. I’m really proud of what I accomplished here and of the end result.

Coming Home: It's been almost two weeks since everything went down at the hospital and an injured Theo turns up at Liam's house.

This was basically my first time writing from Theo’s POV as I always tend to favour Liam. I am proud of the balance of restraint I had in this (as sometimes I get to wordy or descriptive) and the blend of emotion and fluff.

The Alpha’s Authority: Scott's wolf is upset with his beta mating Theo and breaking primeval traditions. After seeking advice from Derek and under the influence of his wolf, returns to Beacon Hills to satiate his rampant alpha urges that only his beta can please on the full moon.

The fourth entry in the Dominance & Submission series. This was just basically a little bit of plot and a hell of a lot of smut but it was thanks to a lovely guy commenting and mentioning Dom Scott and it rolled around in my brain until a plot formed and then I spat out 20k’s of smut which is literally the longest thing I’ve ever written.

The Way You Shake & Shiver: Theo is helpless to a pleading beta wolf and ends up at Lydia's Halloween pack party wearing Liam's jersey.

This piece was part of my Halloween challenge I set myself and this was one of those that was just fun to write. Snarky Theo is just a treat, and I don’t know why I haven’t written more from his POV.

your top 4 current WIPs that you’re excited to release in the new year:

A Little Less Lonely: my piece for the Liam Dunbar Appreciation Week 2023. I am finding this one a little bit trickier/challenging to finish as it dives into Liam’s IED/mental health. I had wanted to do more pieces for the Liam event but I don’t think I’ll get there and I’m just gonna focus on finishing this one.

The Wolf & His Chimera (working title): dark thiam retelling of S6B although it will basically pick up from the defeat of the Ghost Riders. Currently it’s plotted to be a 6-chapter fic and I have most of it plotted out.

Gargoyle Prequel: to Heart of Stone, my Warrior Guardian, focusing on how Jordan broke the curse on Derek.

After Practice II: another instalment in the Thiam’s Smutty Adventures series and Nolan joins the fun.

your top 3 biggest improvements in your writing (or art) over the past year:

1. Planning – I always like to try an outline or a rough idea of where the story is going although sometimes the story goes in a totally different direction anyway, but I find it helps with getting me started at least.

2. Knowing when I need to delete/cut something because it’s not working or is not relevant to the overall story anymore.

3. Being able to know when I’m being too descriptive and I need to par it back

your top 2 resolutions (ways you wish to improve your writing/blog) for the new year:

1. I tend to overuse descriptive words when someone is speaking and I’d like to be able to just you ‘says/said’ more or infuse the speaking into the action maybe.

2. I’d like to branch out and write other ships which is why i’m looking forward to working on the gargoyle prequal but I’d also like to maybe write Mason/Corey or Scott/Isaac

and your number 1 favorite line you’ve written this year!

Um, I just gonna go with this one from Coming Home because I feel it sums up Thiam perfectly:

And for the second time tonight, the beta’s managed to throw him off centre and knock the wind from his lungs. Theo shakily places the beta’s hands onto his hips, and they gaze at each other knowingly. They don’t need to speak or use words, just communicate with their eyes. It works for them and it’s just easier that way, emotions and feelings are overrated anyway.

Tagging @blue-runt @maplefire18 @sterekshipper-writer

and anyone else who wants to participate.

But no pressure only if you wanna!

#tag games #year in review #fanfiction #my writing #thiam

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whenthechickencry · 8 months

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Umineko Ch1. Replay 7

Switched to the Switch version, so that's why everything looks different.

This is the first time Battler steps in to argue and it's funny how he pushes the direction in a wronger direction.

Though yeah he's entirely right at this point, considering you know, she can't explain that because she was in fact aiding the murderer.

And this unwillingness is what's going to lead to 4 episodes of Battler struggling to understand anything until it's too late

Guess she can't keep pushing without drawing suspicion to herself, even if she wants to.

Eva felt a little bit too safe just because she's an accomplice and it definitely bit her in the ass later, Rosa's a bit more careful about this next chapter.

I imagine red flags blaring on her head as soon as Eva heard that

To be fair that is indeed mostly correct! Even if you are really grasping at straws here

Getting second thoughts about becoming an accomplice and your motives behind that decision, Eva?

You are definitely a big enabler of the worst of Eva's impulses, Hideyoshi, though you can definitely see how much Eva appreciated her family despite her faults and how that grief will end up destroying her post-1986

A bit of foreshadowing at how much Maria is ignored by her mom

You already did that Battler!

I remember this mystery seeming so impossible for me when I first played... but the answer really was as easy as the door was never locked at all. Of course, I didn't get the hint that the narrative lied to me at the time, so, it felt a lot harder than it was!

Interesting how the only 2 people to see the butterflies in this episode were Shannon and Kanon - and how this one happened right after the scene where Kanon discovers a "locked room" - I think you are supposed to look at how this scene couldn't possibly have happened in reality and look at previous scenes with Kanon

This monologue being given by Kanon is very interesting, Kanon defeating Beatrice seems to represent a 'defeat' in Yasu's mind of what Kanon is saying, that they ARE furniture and the death of the last bit of resistance they had in carrying out the plan.

Yeah I bet she's laughing her ass off at how she's gonna prank everyone

He definitely tries to, at least!

Aw, wouldn't have minded seeing these 2 bond a bit more

Jessica tagging along was probably a bit annoying for Yasu!

Seems Natsuhi is a little bit relieved they will be able to pin Kinzo's death on something else, though also alarm bells should be ringing in her head about how the culprit is probably a servant here...

Yes! Follow that line of thought Battler, whose corpse wasn't seen very well?

It's more like dying is what she's looking for Battler...

Also, this scene plays a new song for the Saku version of the game now and it's really good!

If Yasu is hearing this, they are probably very split between both the love and hate Jessica is showing them, huh? Though they might just see it as further proof they can't be loved for who they are as a whole - only parts of them can be.

Maria's probably right, though, even if at this point Maria told George who Beatrice is, they won't believe her.

Maria....

Huh, the gang locking themselves up in Kinzo's room was part of Yasu's plan... I guess Yasu was hopeful doing the risky play would force Battler to finally figure out what's going on

This is gonna be a recurring theme Battler, for a loooong while.

Battler actually gets the right idea a surprising amount of times in this chapter, it's just that he's unable to commit to any theory.

Seems Nanjo Genji and Kumasawa are all feeling guilty and remember their role in enabling Kinzo with regards to Beatrice 2

We are pretty close to the end now so I'll probably finish this up tomorrow or so, though the tea party might take me another day even if I don't remember it being very long.

#umiepisode1 #umineko

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gayestgayao3 · 1 year

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Hey my nonexistent tumblr veiwers! Heres chapter 2 of my fanfic! Also posted on Ao3

Little Xiuying in Caiyi Town

Summary:

One day after he'd finished his month-long punishment in the Cloud Recesses, Wei Wuxian finds himself looking for something interesting in Caiyi Town to rid himself of his boredom. He stumbles across an odd sight. A little girl hidden in the bushes of some obscure path in the woods fiddling with a defective spiritual device.

Or in which Wei Wuxian finds the meimei he'd never known he'd always wished for in Gusu Lan.

Chapter 2

Cai Xiuying wasn't like other girls -or even like other children- in the sense that she had been reincarnated. Her older sister -Cai Daiyu- told her she was her sibling in her past life too. She doesn't remember much from that time. At most she remembers stuff from when she was four to ten. Going to school mostly and the blurry faces of the surrounding children. She's eleven now and recalls all of her new life starting from when she was a one year old baby. So for all intents and purposes she was effectively eleven years old.

Her a-niang - Cai Bo-furen - said that when she was little she suffered from an attack of some sort. She said a monster ate a piece of her and that piece contained a large chunk of her spiritual cognition. Luckily, due to the memories of her past life she wasn't left as an empty meat shell. That last bit was more implied than anything. Her niang was too elegant to ever say anything so crass as that, especially to her children. Perhaps if she asked again she would get a more detailed response, instead of the child appropriate explanation she had gotten.

That was a thought for another day. Two days later when they had heard of her run in with Wei-gongzi they were fondly exasperated at first. It was just like her to immediately trust a boy she'd just met on the side of the road, they had said. When she'd told them of the fact that she had loaned away Baba's spiritual device to said boy they had been more chastising.

"Why? What will you do if he runs off with it?" Her sister had asked, befuddled by her choice.

"Now, now, A-Yu I'm sure your sister has her reasons. Let's not jump to judgment straight away." A-niang had gently scolded her older sister. "But, yes, I am also going to need you to clarify why you would do such a thing? I know that you know we are quite wealthy but even money has its limitations when it comes to normal folks getting cultivation devices and your father worked very hard to get that thing with what little money he had before he married your mother and I."

Her a-niang was not actually her birth mother. Her birth mother was baba's er-furen and her a-niang's lover. Her a-niang and mother were in love and though they were from rich families they had no power to marry two women together. Her mothers' made a plan to pick a man with ambition and smarts to marry so they could be together. In exchange they would give him money, an heir and the power to accomplish his goals. That was her baba.

"I'm sure he'll come back. He looked like a good boy."

"A-Ying, you can't just rely on your intuition forever. One day you'll overestimate yourself or underestimate someone else." Her sister bluntly stated her worries.

"Who says I was relying just on my intuition? I know exactly who he is, Wei Wuxian and he's a cultivator who's studying in the Cloud Recesses. I'm gonna send him an invitation to tea just so he can't just run away with my stuff."

"You could've just said that in the first place. Now you've embarrassed me in front of a-niang." She blushed, a half joking mou on her lips.

"Ah, girls you both know there's nothing you can't say or do in front of me. I changed your diapers, you know!" She crowed with a grin.

"Ugh, a-niang!" They echoed.

"Though, that name does sound familiar…" Daiyu made a face of concentration, the pout falling from her face as she tried to remember.

"He's the fourth young master on the list of eligibility." A-niang mentioned Idly, sipping a bit of her tea.

"What?! Yunmeng Jiang's head disciple! Wei Ying, that one?!"

"Daiyu, you're being weird… I know you haven't been able to go out in some time but I'm pretty sure you know it's rude to call someone by their birth name without permission." Daiyu had been sickly since birth and in recent years she'd been devoting herself to some light cultivation training in order to combat it. Perhaps she'd been pushing herself a bit too much.

"No! I mean yes but not that! I remember him! From… from…oh my-" She cut herself off, groaning into her hands, her face beet red from the roots of her hair to where her robes exposed her neck. Suddenly, she lifted her red face from her hands and declared, "Niang, I have a serious request. Please, please know that although I was a bit of a degenerate in my past life, I have retired from that… so you can't punish me for it now."

With that her sister explained that in her past life she had consumed various forms of media surrounding a main character, murder, mysteries, and a cutsleeve romance! With a hefty serving of longing and the angst of a lost lover. Xiuying being only eleven of course got the heavily censored version of that tale through her a-niangs mouth after Daiyu had whispered the entire thing to her. She assumed it was quite romantic as her a-niang's face had gone quite red. She supposed Daiyu got to know the uncensored version before she'd died at eighteen in her past life. Xiuying thought it was a lovely tale even if she had no clue as to what it had to do with Wuxian-ge.

"At times I envy you girls, those stories in your past lives are so… as you say 'cool'." She sighed with longing. "These days only the cultivation sects have the good cutsleeve romance stories. Other than that it's all spring books."

"That's nice, but what does this have to do with Wei-gongzi?"

"Oh, yes I almost forgot. The main character of those stories is Wei Wuxian." Her older sister added as an afterthought.

"Oh, that's… so sad!" She almost wanted to cry. How could that nice boy already have suffered so much!? Not to mention what he will go through in the future! She had a feeling he was a good boy when she had met him so she felt no unease in handing over baba's spiritual device but this was too much! If there were such a thing as being too good Wuxian-ge would be the epitome. "Do you think we should try to change his fate?" She asked, uncertain. She knew what it was like to die and wake in an entirely different world. She could only imagine what it would be like to die so horrifically and then be resurrected against one's wishes only to suffer emotionally to what amounts to the whole time until the resolution.

"If you'd like to try I'd support you." Her sister said.

"Don't forget about me. I will always support my girls in whatever endeavors you choose to pursue."

With that all three of them began to scheme. Obviously Xiuying would use the gathering of evidence for the breaking of her betrothal to grow closer with Wuxian-ge that in and of itself would hopefully change something. Her sister and a-niang were meticulously noting all details that could be reasonably compiled from memory and would later give her an edited version. One that would be age appropriate while still giving important details.

The hours they had set aside for spending their time together had flown by and soon their didi -a-niang's biological son- interrupted for his time with her. Cai Chyou inclined his head in greeting to both Xiuying and Daiyu. They greeted their didi back just as informally with a wave and off a-niang went.

After her mothers' marriage to her baba as promised they attempted to give him an heir. As her mother was more comfortable with men in general she decided it was her turn first despite being er-furen. After her sister was born her mother fell ill for months but recovered slowly. Since her older sister was also sickly and a girl she was quickly cast aside as the heir. A-niang was reluctant to have baba but as she felt it was her duty she would have persisted if not for the fact that mother was pregnant again just a short year after giving birth. Angry that her lover had gone behind her back in what she thought was an effort to destabilize her position, -despite already having agreed to share power equally no matter what- she got pregnant eight months into her own mother's pregnancy.

Of course what she didn't know was that her lover was simply attempting to save her from the terrible labor that was childbirth. By the time it was mother's time to give birth it was all for naught. She endured an extremely difficult labor and was deathly ill; she only lived long enough to ask a-niang for her forgiveness for the misunderstandings and heart ache she had caused. She was especially saddened by leaving her lover early, when they had promised to live a long prosperous life together.

That was what she had gleaned from mothers journal.

Then A-niang had their long awaited heir.

That was also why the title of baba was simply an artifice on her behalf to keep his favor in place of her sister and a-niang, as their resentment of him kept them cordial at best. Without him as the key player in perpetuating the political strife between lovers, her mother never would have died.

With her spirit cognition eaten and most of her memories of her mother gone with it, doing this wasn't exactly difficult. Though there were times when her distaste nearly won out, she didn't much mind it. With his affection thoroughly wound on her little finger she could ask him for almost anything and he would try a reasonable amount to do it. With this matter of her betrothal it was less of a lack of wanting to break it but more of a wariness of losing face.

It was like this, he was the first generation of his company though he was well liked and known to be trustworthy but that could change at any moment. The word of a much older family name would certainly be enough to ruin him regardless of any evidence to the contrary. If word got around that he was essentially spoiling his daughter and canceled an engagement on no grounds other than her dislike of the suitor, he would be mocked. If he were a man that actually loved his daughter to such a degree he surely wouldn't have minded. Alas, the male ego was a fragile one. Also there was the issue of her reputation as well, if his business partner got it in his head to slander her as a persnickety and fickle little girl there would be nothing to stop others from believing it. Then she'd be left without a marriage prospect in sight, save for the very desperate. She truly didn't mind if she ever gained a reputation for being a difficult betrothed, she would simply spend more time with her family. Her baba cared though.

And so she was stuck trying to collect irrefutable evidence. Just the insults Bai Bingwen throws around should be enough but she would try and get evidence of him hanging around with his girl friends. That was the only thing about him she didn't find annoying. She didn't understand why having friends of the opposite gender was such a big deal but if it helped her who was she to question it? Usually a-niang didn't care who she was friends with but then again maybe it was a weird double standard?

At least Wuxian-ge was willing to help her out.

Maybe she'd also be able to help him in exchange.

Lan Wangji was not unreasonable.

It was Wei Ying that was as such.

Wei Ying's grace was unreasonable. Swallowing down liquor in a manner so undignified that the majority of it was wasted was not supposed to be graceful. And yet Wei Ying made it so. From the angle of his tipped head to the way the liquid gleamed in moonlight as it traveled down the line of his throat. How he was reminiscent of a flower petal dancing in the wind while jumping and leaping from roof to roof.

He was unreasonable in his beauty with eyes as luminous as the silver moon, framed by lashes that were far too long, his full lips and teasing smile with his adorable bunny teeth. The beauty mark just beneath his lip was just as teasing.

His way of being was most unreasonable of all. He was charming, mischievous, free spirited, and shameless and… and somehow he could not hate him.

He was unreasonable, not Lan Wangji.

Wangji was short with him, berated him and disciplined him. So why was it that after a month of punishment -teasing and pestering Lan Wangji everyday- he would not behave? Every other guest disciple was terrified of him but not him? Why?

Wei Ying said he was boring and yet did not leave him alone.

What had changed?

What had happened so that Wei Ying no longer pestered him? Why had he stopped being so mischievous?

He should be glad. Glad that he was now left alone as he had always preferred, glad that he was now behaving as he should have from the beginning, glad that Wei Ying had ceased being unreasonable.

But it seemed like his sudden good behavior caused more distraction than his previous. Especially to Lan Wangji.

He couldn't understand why it felt like Lan Wangji was now the unreasonable one. It felt like he wanted Wei Ying to misbehave, break the rules and to continue to tease and pester. He was certain that it could not be that he missed him as xiongzhang had suggested when he had seen him observing this new phenomenon.

He had attempted to ask Jiang Wanyin if Wei Ying was well but he had assumed Lan Wangji was there to assign punishment where none was due.

His words were, "Look, Lan er-gongzi i know Wei Wuxian has not been particularly well behaved in his time here but he has actually been behaving himself for the past few days. So any mischief that has occurred has nothing to do with him as of now. I would thank you to keep your distance from him as he has done nothing wrong at this time. Thank you." Then as he was walking away he muttered. "Your presence might set him off again. I don't know what it is about you but it makes him twice as annoying. "

He was stunned momentarily at the words. If not for that he may have assigned some sort of punishment for being unkind and speaking behind his shixiong's back.

Then he thought, what if he was the unreasonable one? Jiang Wanyin had said Wei Ying was twice as annoying when around Lan Wangji, was that because Wei Ying was restless in his home or was that because of Wangji? If he had let him go that first night would he have not felt compelled to create mischief wherever he went?

He assumed he was just as wild in Lotus Pier as he was in Cloud Recesses but that couldn't be right. He had heard Yu-furen was a very strict teacher and while Jiang-zhongzu was known to be soft he was also known to be just, so if Wei Ying were just as misbehaved at home he definitely would have heard of it. And while most rumors about him did mention that he was rather spirited, most were about his competence or friendliness, at least the rumors he had heard on by chance were.

As he was doing his first round of patrol, half an hour before curfew, he had the sensation of eyes on him. He turned sharply and then had the unpleasant experience of Nie Huaisang shrieking in his face.

"Aah, Lan er-gongzi." He sighed in relief, as if he had not known it was Lan Wangji when he'd been staring at him just moments before.

He stared back at him skeptically.

"Ahem, uh. I couldn't help but notice that you're concerned about Wei-xiong!"

He blinked at him and confirmed, "Mn."

He only did as such because Nie Huaisang was Wei Ying's friend. Had anyone else said something like that -preceded by suspicious behavior- he would have suspected malicious intent. However, Wei Ying knew people better than Lan Wangji and if he chose Huaisang as his friend then he would trust his judgment in character.

"Good! I mean it's not good that you're worried but… I mean-I'll just tell you what's going on." His shoulders slumped in disappointment and he began again. "On our last day off Wei-xiong went to Caiyi Town and was approached by an unfortunate meimei! She was looking for evidence to break her engagement and Wei-xiong had come across her. He was concerned and stopped and was given a device to fix to help her. He's probably behaving himself these days so that he doesn't disappoint her! So don't be con-" he cut himself off, wide eyed and pale. "A-anyway that's… that's it! So I'm just… I'll just go now! Ahaha, I wouldn't want to be out after curfew!" He backed away and then walked very quickly out of his sight.

His face must have been as thunderous as he felt. Somehow, he couldn't bring himself to care.

Wei Ying was behaving because of a girl.

He was helping her break her engagement.

#mo dao zu shi fanfic #mo dao zu shi #untamed fanfiction #the untamed #lan wangji #lan zhan #wei wuxian #wei ying #oc insert #oc #fix it of sorts #fix it fic #Little Xiuying in Caiyi Town #chapter 2

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