#we need some low stakes alright

[wintersoldiersoul]

Reader comes back from a mission with Natasha really sick. Bucky steps up and takes care of the reader. They don’t want to get Bucky sick, but he’s literally not worried about it because, ya know, super soldier. So he’s able to take care of them and stay with them and cuddle.

Bucky was sat on the couch with a book, trying to pass the time until you got home. You had been gone for 4 days on a mission with Natasha and while it was pretty low stakes, he was still holding his breath until you got home. He missed you terribly, especially since he didn’t have any missions or any real work to do while you were gone. He just tried to fill each day as best as he could until his doll returned home safe and sound. 

He smiled when he heard his phone ring, expecting it to be you for your daily phone call that you made whenever you got a minute. But it wasn’t you. It was Natasha. 

“Nat?” He asked, answering. “Is everything okay?” 

He heard the redhead sigh on the other end. “Yeah, we’re okay. We’re gonna be home in an hour or so, but just wanted to give you a heads up, Y/N is pretty sick.” He went on alert. Whenever you were sick, even if it was just a small cold, Bucky went into full nurse mode, waiting on you hand and foot. He hated seeing you in any sort of pain or discomfort even if it was just an inevitable part of being a human. “Is she okay?”

“Um,” she hesitated. In the background, Bucky could hear you groaning. “She will be. I may need some help when we get here, though.”

“Okay. I’ll be ready.”

Bucky spent the next hour preparing things for you. He made a big pot of soup, put on the tea kettle, changed the sheets on the bed so that they were fresh and clean for you. He laid out clothes and gathered every type of medicine he could find. When he heard the roar of the jet, he headed up to the roof ready to do whatever he had to help you.

Natasha stepped off the jet, greeting him with a smile. “She’s still in there,” she explained. “I don’t know if she can walk on her own.” 

Bucky nodded and headed into the jet. You were curled up with your eyes closed. Your face was flushed and you were shivering. Bucky approached you like you were a small, scared animal. “Baby?” he whispered, sitting down next to you and stroking your hair.

“Hmmm,” you mumbled. He could tell you had a fever and you were definitely out of it.

“Can I take you inside? Get you to bed?”

You opened your eyes. “N-no,” you said through chattering teeth. “D-don’t wanna get you s-sick.” 

Bucky smiled gently. “Honey, I can’t get sick, remember?” Usually whenever you were sick, you didn’t worry about passing it on to Bucky. You knew his supersoldier immune system prevented him from catching anything you had. The fact that you didn’t remember that right now told Bucky just how out of it you were.

“Oh.”

“Come here, baby,” Bucky said, scooping you into his arms as gently as possible. You were like dead weight, barely able to keep your head up. “Thanks, Nat,” he said once he’d gotten you off the jet. “I got it from here.”

He set you down on the bed, trying to keep you from falling asleep. He knew you needed to rest but you were still in your uniform, covered in dirt and grime from the mission. “What hurts, darlin’?”

You groaned, letting your head fall on his shoulder. “Everything. Head, throat, stomach. My whole body aches. Feel dizzy.”

“Can I run a bath for you? You’ll feel a little better if you’re clean.” Your only response was another groan and Bucky laughed. “Alright, stay here. I’m gonna run you a bath, okay? I’ll be right back.” 

You fell asleep in the span of time between Bucky running the bath and coming to get you. He hated to wake you up but he had to get you clean of the mission that was clinging to your skin. He shook your shoulder gently, once again scooping you up and carrying you to the bathroom. He sat you down on the toilet and helped you get undressed before doing so himself. He had to remember to thank Stark for the giant bathtub. 

He got you into the bath and wrapped his arms around you so that your back was leaning against his chest. Lovingly, he ran his hands up and down your arms. “Baby how long have you been feeling sick for?”

“I dunno,” you mumbled. “Couple days?” 

His eyes widened. “What? Why didn’t you come home? You know any of us could have stepped in on this one and taken your place.”

“Didn’t wanna be a disappointment,” you murmured. Bucky’s heart broke for you. You were such an overachiever, such a people pleaser. You constantly put the needs and wants of everyone else in front of your own. You never wanted to let anyone down, even if it was at the cost of your own health. “M sorry,” you continued.

“Shhh, it's okay. I just worry about you. You’re gonna kill yourself one day trying to keep everyone happy.”

“Can’t help it,” you said with your eyes closed.

“We’ll talk about it later, okay? Let’s just get you clean and into bed right now.” He spent the next 20 minutes washing your body and hair, taking his time to massage your scalp the way you loved. He spread the conditioner over your ends, letting it sit for a few minutes the way you taught him. By the time he was done, you had fallen asleep. 

Bucky picked you up and got you dressed in one of his sweatshirts and your favorite pair of sweatpants. Your eyes fluttered open as he set you down in the bed. “Bucky, no. You’re gonna get sick!” You repeated your concern from earlier, worrying him by just how out of it you truly were.

“No, I’m not, honey,” he said, moving your hair out of your face. “Can you open your mouth for me, sweetie? I’m just gonna take your temperature.” 

He looked at the thermometer with concern after it beeped. “You’ve definitely got a bad fever, babe. Your temp is 103.7.” He put his metal hand on the back of your neck, knowing the cold would feel good on your burning skin. 

You hummed at the feeling, the vibranium sending waves of relief over your skin. “Wanna sleep.”

Bucky smiled at you. “You can sleep, baby. Can I hold you?”

“No, you’ll get sick!” You repeated for the third time. 

“Baby, I won’t get sick. That I can guarantee, okay? Can you do me a favor and remember that I won’t get sick?”

You nodded and curled up against him, resting your head on his chest. His strong arms wrapped around you, stroking your shoulder gently. “I love you, Princess. Get some rest, okay?” 

“Love you,” you said into his neck before drifting off into a deep sleep.

#sebastian stan #bucky barnes #bucky barnes fluff #bucky barnes imagine #bucky x reader #bucky x y/n #marvel imagine #bucky barnes fanfiction #james bucky barnes #marvel #bucky #bucky barnes x reader #bucky fluff #bucky fanfic #bucky x you #james bucky buchanan barnes #winter soldier #james buchanan barnes #the winter soldier #catws #bucky barnes x sick reader #sick fic #fluff #bucky x sick reader #sebastian stan x you #sebastian stan fanfiction

[targaryenluvs]

-WHATEVER IT TAKES

PART 1 PART 2

pairing - prowler!miles morales x reader, miles morales x reader

summary - you and miles make it back to your own universe and dodge the other members of the spider society as you make your way to miles’s home. little did you know someone managed to slip through the cracks, and was here to try to take you back, whatever it takes. does he?

warnings - possessive!prowler miles, he’s like low key delulu, swearing, violence, stalking, bad spanish/glish, not proofread

word count - 3.1k

notes - uhm hahahah i thought i’d leave it at part two and i go in and out of povs :) lack of consistency with names , this lowkey might not make sense at times since it was nighttime i wanted a cutesy easy ending so the solution might be super easy idc i wanted to make a part three :)

TAGLIST: @pifuyue @afternoon-evening @myspacewhore1comz @ashleebooksblog @sophiaj650 @colossaltitannnn @the-rogue-robin @zaddyskye69 @loonalockley (some not working)

you thought you’d collide with the ground straight away.

rain was pelting down as you slowly got up from being splayed across miles on the concrete roof. “i’m sorry for landing on you.” miles groaned as he rose, “nah your good babe.” you slowly stood on your feet and looked around, now this was your earth.

“c’mon we have to get you home. maybe you should change? we could borrow some clothes from somewhere and maybe find a pay phone? call your dad ask him to pick you up then we can explain everything. miguel is probably staking out your home, there’s probably a bunch of spider people here.” you rambled as miles got up too, “i don’t care if they see, we need to get home y/n.” he tried to straighten up, but you could see the pain in his face and his ripped suit.

“you need to take it easy miles. we can’t afford fighting more people, that other miles is nothing compared to miguel.” as you voiced your concerns you could see miles thinking, “alright, let’s just get home, i need to see my dad, we’re so close, we can save him. I’m not stopping now.”

the wind was cold as it nipped at your bare arms, the rain had died down but splattered across your body as well.

you invited it in.

nothing felt better than being home. to ground yourself (and to make sure you were in the right universe) your eyes scanned across your environment, your favourite restaurant tucked into the side of a gigantic, glass mcdonald’s, your favourite sandwiches at delmars, yours and miles’ favourite arcade, graffiti work à la mode miles. you were so grateful to be home, but you were terrified at the thought of not reaching mr morales in time.

the two of you landed on a roof nearby miles’ apartment as you surveyed the two of your surroundings, you both pointing out miguel and his counterparts. “will he still see us if we’re invisible?” you asked as miles nodded, “pretty sure he can see me, heightened senses and vision, probably. i just don’t wanna put us at risk.” you sighed, “how about a diversion? car alarms going off, maybe scare the living shit out of someone and the second he looks away we swoop in?” miles looked up at you as he sighed, “i can’t think, why can’t i think?”

you wrapped your hands around his wrists as he stared at you, as if you held all the answers. as he looked at you, he couldn’t help all the voices in his head.

“in every universe, y/n l/n falls for spider-man. and, in every universe it doesn’t end well.”

as miles looked at gwen he couldn’t help but smile, “i’m not like every other spider-man, i’m better.” he joked as she laughed. “and, in every universe i guess spider-man falls for her. i did. and it’s cause i love her that i won’t let it happen. i won’t let anything happen to the people i love.”

and as he looked at her, he felt, exposed.

but looking into her eyes had the gears turning in his head again, she gave him his spark. and he’d be damned if any other spider-man tried to take her from him. tried to take the ones he loved.

“i’ve got a plan.”

as miguel neared the edge of the roof looking over the scenes below his eyebrows furrowed together as he wondered (or aggressively pondered) where on earth miles was.

thank god y/n remembered the password to the service door of the building.

as the two ran up the stairs, their hearts were oh so close to bursting. miles was praying to every god that his dad was home. his patrol car was outside, so he had to be home, right?

as they burst through the door, they came face to face with mr and mrs morales and- gwen?

“there you two are! i was so close to calling your mother and telling her you’d ran away!” she screamed as she engulfed the two of you in a hug, mr morales following closely behind.

“i unground you and allow you and y/n/n to go after your friend and the two of you disappeared, no text, call nothing! do you know how irresponsible that is?” as she was about to continue her rant, jeff slightly elbowed her, alerting her to your guys’ huffing selves.

“i’m glad you’re okay. you can go talk to your little friend in your room but keep the door open! don’t need you three sneaking off, okay?” rio explained as you nodded profusely but not before miles launched himself at his parents, “i love you guys, so much.” the two parents smiled and returned the favour, “te quiero papa.”

as the three of you got into miles’ room you crawled along the ceiling till miles reached the curtains and drew them.

“you guys are okay thank god.” gwen spoke as she sat down on miles’ bed. “i realised you went to the wrong-”

“wrong universe.” you and miles finished her sentence in union. “it was crazy we got there and another version of miles was there, the one his spider was meant for. gwen, the entire world there, we’ll at least new york, it’s dangerous. they don’t have a spider-man and it’s ruined the city. they have no one to protect them and miles- he lost his father and his- me. and when he saw me he was crazy, he thought i was her, we barely got away.”

“he- i cant stop thinking about him. and if- if i never got bit, would i be him? would i have turned into him, i would have lost my dad and you.” he stuttered, the last part spoken toward you.

“hey, we’re home. i’m here, your dads right outside. we got here in time. spot is probably gonna be here soon, we can convince your parents to leave the city for a bit, make-up some fake excuse and get your dad to push back the captain thing. we defeat spot and then there’s no threat to your dad. we can grab peter, hobie- anyone that can help us beat him. then hopefully miguel will back off, we can try and fix the canon-”

“and how exactly are you going to defeat spot?” all three of you whipped around to the window as miguel crawled in. “what the fuck?” you shouted as rio and jeff ran in, “what the hell are you doing in here? what on earth are you? you are not spider-man and you need to get the hell out of here!” rio shouted as jeff grabbed his holster and pulled out his gun.

miguel raised his hands and tried to calm them down, “there’s no need for the gun-”

“no need!? you’re a six foot, leotard wearing spider-man copy in my sons room, if you know what’s good for you i suggest you leave buddy!” jeff shouted as miles rose to his feet, “dad! don’t-”

a loud crash from the living room caught everyone’s attention, allowing miguel to swiftly take the gun from jeff’s grip. “did you just disarm a police officer?” miguel scoffed, “and you threatened spider-man we’ve all done shocking things.” as he tried to move forwards you all shouted in scattered warnings.

“woah there!”

“you stay right there.”

“not another step from you!”

“don’t come any closer”

“stop moving!”

“is the suit not enough? the web i used to disarm you? i’m a spider-man either way so it’s a waste of time to try and corner me when there’s someone else in your living room.”

you all slowly shuffled out of there, everyone keeping track of miguel, but all of a sudden, he wasn’t the biggest threat.

a gaping dark mass in the middle of the room took the cake.

“he’s here.” miguel said as he began to inspect the whole. “whaddya think would happen if we just pushed him in?” gwen whispered, “don’t even think about it gwen.” miguel answered, shutting down all revenge fantasies.

“will someone please explain what on earth is going’ on here?” rio asked exasperated. “mom, dad. i have something to tell you.” (i’ve decided to spare you the agony of my shitty spanish translations - imagine it’s said in spanish 😘)

“no lo hagas.” miguel warned as he turned towards miles.

do not do it.

miles pulled down the zipper of his jacket and proceeded to pull both sides apart, exposing the red and black suit of the one and only spider-man.

“ay dios mìo.” rio uttered as her hands covered her mouth. jeff just stared. the awkward, apbrupt nature of the reveal made you want to die. you stood next to miles and covered the suit again. out of your peripheral you could see miguel with his head in his hands.

“i know it’s a lot but, miles is a good kid. you know that, and this is a huge secret, he knows. but all he wants is to keep the city safe and he does it! along with the noble police of course but at the end of the day, he comes home to you. he’s always safe and is never reckless and balances it all with school, family, friends, me. so don’t be mad that he lied, just be grateful he’s alive! not that he’s not responsible out in the field- he- miles is super careful i promise- i would know! he always takes me on swings and the amount of control he has- no actually he does not swing me since that would be-”

“càlmate querida.” rio spoke as she again hugged the two. “i knew you were hiding something but i thought it was- ni siquiera lo sè. pero estoy contenta es nada mal. pero siendo spider-man es- peligrosa. por favor tener cuidado mi ninito.”

“si mamà.”

“alright, if you’d wrap up there then maybe we can try and sort out your mess later? spot is here, and we need to contain before anything else ha-”

the whirring in the corner took you all by surprise. you were excited, maybe it was peter, or maybe hobie? pavitr? noir? pen-

you swear your heart stopped the second you saw other miles step through, and you clutched onto miles that much harder. as the portal closed miguel snapped his head towards miles, “now what the hell is this? did you do this? did you bring him out-”

“no, i did not bring him out! y/n/n and i barely got away from him! why would he wanna see him? send him back!” miles shouted as his parents’ jaws hung low.

other miles’ gaze lingered on his dad, which caused unease throughout miles’ body. what was he doing here? how did he get here? what was he for? revenge? does he think miles got bit on purpose? did he want y/n?

y/n.

her hand clutching his grounded him to the moment as he looked back at her, glossy eyes, chewed on lips and heavy breathing. she looked up at him and his heart plummeted. the idea of her getting hurt flashed through and all of a sudden, he was lunging at this other miles.

“this how you say hi up in here?” other miles joked as he allowed miles to tackle him and all of a sudden, the entire room was in motion. gwen running to miles’ aid, miguel readying his watch, more of spot spreading outside and miles’ parents trying to help their son as-well.

y/n stood still, what the hell was going on? miguel leapt outside as jessica’s bike could be heard starting up miles and miles got pulled apart from one another with miles in one corner, smug, and miles being pulled away by his parents and friend, furious.

miles was eventually subdued by gwen and miles whilst miguel hopped out the window to jessica. rio and jeff were confused by everything going on, “we let this boy out for one day and look what happens.” rio scoffed as jeff ushered her out of the messy apartment, “why won’t you leave!” gwen shouted at the other miles, frustrated, as he laughed in her face. “I just want one thing, but ain’t no one giving it to me.” you couldn’t believe what you were hearing, this guy was seriously delusional huh?

the growing concern was the enormous black holes appearing outside and if you were to save your world all of you needed to help outside rather than deal with other miles. looking around the room you found nothing of use, so you ran back inside miles’ room, searching through the drawers you were looking for one thing only.

webslingers!

you ran back to the living room to see gwen getting right back up, ready to charge at the other miles as you slipped it on and aimed.

sticky substances confined miles to the wall as he struggled to get out, he may be the prowler, but he doesn’t exactly have super strength. as he stayed strung up miles had the idea of finding the watch he used, the commotion outside was distracting yet you all tore the room apart for said watch only to find a mangled piece of wires and glass.

“looks like i’m staying a lil’ longer.” miles smirked your way as miles’ fists closed, connecting with his face, “miles!” you shouted out. “are you okay?” miles laughed, “yeah I’m good, but we gotta get out there and we need more help.”

and as if God was answering all of your prayers and words, portals began to open as the three of you sighed in relief. hobie, peter and may by association and pavitr hopped through. “hope we aren’t too late to the party.” hobie laughed as you ran over and hugged him, “could’ve used your help a little earlier but it doesn’t matter now, spot’s here and we need to stop him before he causes any further damage here. thank you, guys, for showing up.” you rambled on as the others smiled. “now i’ve gotten pretty use to the portal but maybe i am still experiencing some side-effects because i think i am seeing double.” pavitr exclaimed as miles and gwen walked over, “nope just another version, the usual.” gwen explained ever so nonchalant. “will you all stop standing around and get the hell out here?” miguel screamed as you all prepared for whatever was going to happen out there.

(Im too lazy to figure out how they defeat spot so come up with a fantasy or som since this is such a random explanation with no planning)

it was quite odd to be at HQ without a million spider people chasing you and your boyfriend, but you obviously weren’t complaining. as you walked through the halls miles’ grip on your hand was tighter than over, indicating he was feeling on edge, and you were glad you weren’t the only one.

spot may have been downright diabolical and delusional but god did he learn quickly. he must’ve devoured a million ‘how to villain’ books as he jumped around universes and aced any tests cause he somehow beat the shit out of all of you, repeatedly. but again, he was overly cocky and underestimated miguel’s willpower and it was obvious he was an amateur in the ‘angry miguel’ department since he had no clue what that man would do to keep the order.

with lyla and margo’s help and organisation you were able to come up with a way to lure spot into a trap, with his over-whelming need to beat your boyfriend came the blindness and he did whatever he thought would help him win. other spideys came along to aid your group of course and a certain spidey named petyr had the ability of illusions, being able to manipulate any mind into seeing what he wished. and whilst it was hard to catch spot his holes were an extension of himself in a way so touching one/being in one allowed petyr to connect with spot’s head. by creating that link he was able to create false versions of not only miles, but his parents and you.

once spot believed everyone else to be busy fighting off the destruction around them and saving people, he cornered miles and was monologuing his ass off, “no one’s here to save you, you realize that right? just like no one came to save me. no one is going to care about you being gone, your family being gone. you ruined my life and now I’ve ruined yours, maybe your parents manage to escape, your girlfriend too, but they will never be able to come back here. im going to destroy this world of yours, like you destroyed mine. and no one will ever overlook me again. im more powerful than any of your little spider society.”

and as he continued the real miles slung down and tapped him on the shoulder, “are you so lonely you’re talking to walls?” he joked as he sent about a bajillion volts of energy throughout his body, then quickly transporting everyone back to HQ and trapping spot.

lyla with the help of some scientist spideys managed to figure out a way to take away all the dark matter from johnathon’s body, returning him to his normal self. as he stared in awe of his normal body being returned to him you could see the sadness on his face. yes, he was normal again, but what was he supposed to do now? his family turned away from him, his job probably wouldn’t take him back, did everyone know who he turned into? god all the things he’d done, how was someone supposed to turn back to normal after being a literal universe-travelling, world-destroying villain?

and the other miles, miguel had him in the amber case as he waited to be taken back to his world. the watch he’d used was gone so he couldn’t exactly use that and he was surrounded by literal heroes. he couldn’t exactly fight them all off, take you and run. he knew his time with you was slipping away and he hated that he couldn’t do a single thing.

so he sat and watched you as miles brushed away stray hairs, assessed the damage on you as you comforted each other. his eyes drifted to rio and jeff, the two of them in awe of their surroundings whilst throwing questions every second at the two of you whilst you tried your best to answer them all. there was so much going on around you but all you cared about was your family, which didn’t include him, and never would.

miles was absolutely exhausted.

and as the two of you sat down together you wondered what would happen in the future, what miguel was going to do about your canon event, how you’d save his dad.

and while you didn’t know what would happen in the future you knew whatever happened,

you have eachother.

#prowler miles morales x reader #earth 42 miles x reader #miles molares #miles morales x reader #earth 42 miles morales x reader #dude is lowkey crazy and i don’t like it #crazy #miguel #miguel o’hara x reader #hobie brown x reader

[rodolfoparras]

Soap Alphabet; G= Goofy, K=Kinks, L=Locations, 18+, MINORS DNI, | insp by this.

Pairing: John Soap Mactavish x male reader

content tags: handjobs, exhibitionism, glove fetishism (I think that's the word idk Soap likes getting u off with his gloves on)

Stand alone/ part of a series

A/N: I've been seeing this a-z alphabet thing going around here and on tiktok and wanted to give it a shot, this is meant to be a blurb of some sort, I just dont know how to shut up thats why its a wee bit long.

“You want head ?” Soap asks as he nudges you with his shoulder.

You turn your head to the side to look at him, and despite the mask that you’re wearing he knows you’re raising a brow at him. “We’re literally at a stake out”

“So ?” He asks with a shrug, not really seeing any issue with having his mouth on your cock while on the clock “You’ll keep watch while I do all the work. Well technically we both will be doing the work” he says, chuckling at his own joke.

You turn your head straight forward, gaze falling upon the soldier stationed a bit further away from the two of you “What about him?

Soap turns his head to the soldier as well (what’s his name again? Marvin something?) only to see him being as oblivious as ever to the pairs of eyes burning into the back of his neck. “What about him?” Soap asks as if nothing could deter him from this side quest, not even the presence of someone else.

“He’ll see” you try to explain, as if he’s somehow forgotten about the potential consequences while forming this great plan.

“That’s what we got this bad boy for” he says and gestures to the rock laying in front of you. It’s rather large in size and manages to hide two grown soldiers pretty easily. The only thing is that it has a large opening in the middle of it but as long as one lays low (which the two of you have been doing) onlookers are only able to see your heads and shoulders. Technically he’d be able to suck-

You can't believe that you’re actually considering this.

But once you realize there’s really not much to do here anyway other than lay around in the dirt (something you’ve been doing for a good hour or so), you agree to his suggestion.

“Hell yeah “ he cheers once you agree to do it. You roll your eyes but can’t help but smile at his enthusiasm as you roll over to lay on your back, while the other man stays laying on his stomach. Once you’re laying on your back and your head’s propped up on the heavy stone, he scoots down to be eye level with your lower half. His hands are quick to find their way to the waistband of your pants, wrestling with the belt and fumbling with the buttons.

“Fucking gear- can’t take it off- why are these things so heavy- oh thank fuck “ he says once he manages to take them off and before you know it you’re stripped down to your underwear, cold air caressing your exposing skin and sending goosebumps through your entire body.

“Oh you’re really into this idea” he says, taking note of the way your half hard cock presses against the fabric of your underwear.

“Can I tell you something?” He says as he starts trailing kisses up the expanses of your thigh “been thinking about this for a long time now” he explains as he runs his hands down the sides of your body“ you know getting to suck you off on a mission, I’d make sure we’re safe off course but you get the gist of it no?” he continues to say , and fucking nuzzles up against your dick.

“Wait” he almost shouts ”can I use gloves for this?” he asks and it almost looks like he’s fucking giving you puppy eyes.

“Yes yes, just get on with it Mactavish “ you say, annoyance clearly showing on your face as you tug at his hair in warning.

“Oh-oh-alright geez just thought I’d ask for consent, it’s important you know “ he says, clearly still teasing and clearly enjoying himself.

“And I really appreciate it babe but I really need your mouth on my co-“

All of sudden gloved hands pry at the waistband of your underwear, tugging your boxers down to your knees, and freeing your dick.

The cold air is rather unkind to your sensitive skin, raising goosebumps all over your body every time the wind caresses it.

“Will get u all warm real soon give me a minute yeah?” He says, noticing the goosebumps that rises on your skin as he spits onto your dick and on the glove he’s wearing. “What? Need lots of it” he says and shrugs innocently once he takes notice of the look you give him.

At last he wraps a gloved hand around your dick, warmth emanating from his palm as he starts stroking root to tip.

Your head hits the rock with a soft thud, eyes squeezing shut, heavy breaths escaping your lips, as you allow yourself to relax in his grip.

His pace is slow and gentle at first, as to not hurt you with the rough material of the glove. The spit does aid in making the movements much more fluid but you can still feel the fabric tugging and taunting sensitive skin, leaving you hissing every time it grazes your sensitive tip. Apologetic fingers are quick to soothe the sting, slicked with spit and thumbing at the tip. But despite the slight pain that comes with each and every stroke, you find yourself welcoming it, hips bucking into the palm of his hand.

“Oh fuck yes, you look so hot right now, Can’t believe you’re letting me do this, dear god” his hand settles on a slow and gentle pace, but it quickly turns careless and eager once your cock’s fully hard and weeping. A curious thumb goes to collect the precum dribbling from the tip, smearing it all around the head before he continues stroking your dick.

You’re twitching in his grasp, hips bucking into the palm of his hand and boots digging into the muddy ground “please, please, please ”

He ignores your pleas, solely focused on the sight in front him. “I have been thinking about this so much, you don’t even know, wanted to see my gloved hand wrapped around your cock, can’t believe you let me do it, love you so much”

He soon settles for a steady pace, occasionally he’ll twist his hand close to the tip, making you furiously buck up against him.

“Fuck fuck fuck” you moan as you continually thrust up into the palm of his hand. You’re sure by this point the soldier must’ve heard something, but you’re far gone to care, heels digging further into the floor as he speeds up the pace of his hand.

“Shh he’ll hear” he says with a chuckle as he presses his lips against yours in an attempt to suppress your moans.

“Fuck him” you whine out against his lips, hands burying in his hair to keep him close to you.

“Actually I was hoping you’d fuck me” he says with a wolfish grin on his face as he quickens his pace.

Another moan, much louder than the previous one escapes your lips.

“As much as I like hearing the pretty noises you make, we need to be quiet for the next part or else we’ll blow our cover” he says, once again reminding you of the soldier who’s still very much present.

He goes to take off the glove on his other hand, successfully pulling it off by just using his mouth before he palms the thing and gestures for you to take it.

“This isn’t part of your fantasy is it?” You pant, eyeing him suspiciously.

“Maybe” he shrugs innocently but there’s no missing his devious grin. “But you’ll still need this “

“Then get to it” is all you say , as you bite down on the glove, tasting leather on your tongue.

“With pleasure” he says before he goes to bury his head between your legs.

[Once it’s all over and done you hear the Scotsman say to himself “Saving this as a souvenir “ before he pockets the two gloves he’d been using.

“You’re one strange man, Mactavish, you know?”]

#John soap mactavish #john soap mactavish x reader #john soap mactavish x male reader #soap x reader #soap x male reader #call of duty #Alec writes #this a repost

[munsonsmixtapes]

Teach Me

Part One Part Three

Part Two: Lesson One

Steve x bi!fem!reader

word count: 6,091

CW: mention of reader and Steve’s rough home lives

summary: you and Steve go on your “first date” and you both definitely don’t want it to be real

You stood in your closet, looking for something to wear on your date with Steve. Eddie had insisted on helping you which actually meant lying on your bed, reading one of your fashion magazines. He occasionally gave his input, barely even giving you a second glance, favoring the magazine over your outfit crisis.

You were nervous even though you didn’t want to admit it. Thinking about going on a date with Steve made you feel ill. Even though he had told you that it was low stakes, you still felt like there was a lot of riding on it. It was your first date and it had to be perfect.

“Do you think I’m a summer or an autumn?” Eddie asked as he flipped through the pages of the magazine. You turned around to face him, still in your underwear, putting your hands on your hips.

“Neither, you’re a winter,” you replied. “Now either you help me or go home.”

“Jesus, l/n, it’s just Harrington.” Eddie rose from the bed, throwing the magazine to the side. He went to stand in front of you, resting his hands on your shoulders. “You really need to relax.”

“We both know that I’m unable to do that.”

“Let’s take some deep breaths, alright?” He took a deep breath in and you mimicked him.

“Now let it out.” You breathed out slowly and Eddie smiled, satisfied with the results. You did feel a bit better, but not much.

“Okay,” he clapped his hands together then turned to your closet. “Let me see what we’ve got going on.” He went through the rack that your clothes were on, shaking his head at each item. He got close to the end and pulled out a dark blue dress that you had completely forgotten that you had. Leave it to Eddie to find the exact right outfit for you. He always seemed to have the magic touch.

“Where the fuck did that come from?” You gasped, taking the thing from him.

“I think Robin got it for you for your birthday or something.”

“That’s right,” you nodded at the memory, suddenly remembering pulling it out of the pink gift bag it had been in only to throw it in your closet, deciding that you had nowhere to wear it.

You threw the dress on and stepped back so Eddie could see you. He gave a nod of approval as you pulled the bottom down so it would cover more of your legs.

You had never done this before. You hadn’t hung out with anyone outside of a sexual encounter. It wasn’t like you didn’t want to, but more like no one had invited you to do so when you were a child. So when people actually expressed interest in you emotionally, you didn’t think it was genuine.

You weren’t popular as a kid. An outcast because your parents didn’t have much money. So while the other girls in your grade were over at Cindy Gardener’s house, you were home by yourself while your parents were at work. You had seen the invitations go out and were excited to actually go somewhere besides your home, only to find that you were the only girl in the class who hadn’t received an envelope.

They all thought you were too poor because you lived in the trailer park. They all laughed at you for bringing your lunch in a paper bag as opposed to the metal lunch boxes that displayed the cartoon characters of the shows you all watched.

They laughed at your cheap clothes and how unbrushed your hair was. Your parents were never around so you were forced to do your own hair and get yourself dressed in the only clothes they could afford.

Perhaps that was why you were so afraid to get close to people. Because you were always the butt of everyone’s joke so you thought that anyone trying to get close to you was just their way of making fun of you. Eddie was the only one you could trust since he had actually shown you how much he had cared for you.

“Damn,” Eddie let out a whistle as his eyes trailed down your body. “I hope Harrington knows how to fight.” You let out a laugh at that.

“Oh, shut up.” You smacked him on the shoulder and he just laughed.

“Seriously, sweetheart. You look fucking amazing.” It wasn’t unusual for Eddie to compliment you, but the way he was looking at you made you think that he wanted to take the dress off and have his way with you.

“Stop,” you whined and he just smiled. Even after all these years, you were still unsure of how to take a compliment.

“Don’t believe me? See for yourself, babe,” he rested his hands on your shoulders and pushed you over to your full length mirror. You looked at your reflection and had to admit that you did look hot. The dress clung to your body in all the right places and it showed just the right amount of cleavage. You were going to have to thank Robin the next time you saw her.

“I look-“ you cut yourself off, trying to find the right words.

“Hot,” Eddie finished. “Fucking hot.”

“Thanks, Eds.”

“You deserve this, y/n.” His hands moved down to your forearms, giving them a gentle, reassuring squeeze.

“I know,” you nodded.

“You deserve someone who’s nice to you,” he gave your shoulders a shake so the words would actually sink in this time.

“I know, Eddie.” He had said those exact words to you so many times but you somehow believed it that time.

“Good,” he nodded. “And if he hurts you, you just let me know and I’ll kick his ass.” You laughed again, imagining Eddie kicking anyone’s ass.

“Noted.”

“Alright, now get out of here. I’ve got Callie, okay? Let me know if I need to stay the night,” he winked and you pretended to throw up.

He had insisted on watching her for the night, assuring you that she would get fed dinner and go to bed a decent hour. You both knew that the promise of a normal bedtime was a load of shit. Callie had Eddie wrapped around her little finger and he would have let her stay up all night if she had asked.

“This isn’t a real date.”

“But it could be.”

“Thanks, Eddie,” you pulled him into a hug before pressing a kiss to his cheek.

“Of course. Now go get him,” he handed you your purse then gave your ass a light tap. You threw on your shoes and headed out the door to your car.

You pulled up to the address that Steve had given to you over the phone and could see why he had suggested that you have your date there. It was one of the nicest houses you had ever seen and you wondered what Steve’s parents had done for a living.

You reluctantly got out of the car and headed to the door. You knocked a few times and it took no time for it to swing open, Steve on the other side. His mouth dropped open, but his lips quickly turned up into a wide smile.

“Wow, you-“ he cut himself off, clearing his throat. “You look amazing.” You eyed his outfit which consisted of a red button up shirt that was tucked into a pair of black slacks.

“Thanks,” you smiled. “You don’t look too bad yourself, Harrington.”

He let you inside and you looked around and wondered what it would have been like to live in a place that big. You could have fit your entire trailer inside it.

The house was quiet as opposed to yours. It was nice to be somewhere you could actually think. Somewhere you didn’t have to tiptoe around just to get from place to place because you were afraid of being pulled into an argument to take sides.

Steve couldn’t believe it. The hottest girl in Hawkins was going to spend her Saturday night with him when she could have been doing literally anything else. He was going to take that as a compliment, the whole thing giving his ego a much needed boost.

You had wanted to leave as soon as Steve let you in, but you felt bad thinking about disappointing him. He had spent so much time making you dinner so you weren’t going to ruin his night by going home. Besides, Eddie was your babysitter for the night and who were you to not take advantage of that?

“Can I get you a drink? I’ve got soda and some beer in the fridge.” You almost asked for a beer so help settle your nerves but decided against it. You don’t know Steve well enough to drink around him, afraid that you’d reveal your secrets after too many drinks. You didn’t need to embarrass yourself around him.

“Sure, I’ll take a soda.” Steve led you into the kitchen and pulled open the refrigerator that didn’t seem to be as stocked as you thought it would have been. All that had been in there was a pizza, some vegetables in the crisper, a six pack of beer and two six packs of grape and orange sodas.

“Orange or grape?” Neither flavor sounded appealing to you but you felt rude for suddenly deciding you didn’t want a drink.

“Grape.” He pulled one of the sodas from the plastic holding them together and held it out to you. You took it, your fingers brushing as you did so. Just from the short touch, you could tell that his hands were soft and warm.

You opened the can and took a sip while Steve led you to the kitchen table. It was set with two glass plates with a cloth napkin aside each one with the silverware on each side of the plate.

There was also a candle in the middle of the table that was lit. It was a simple setup, but you liked that Steve had done it all for you. Even though everything was fake, you still appreciated the effort he had put in for you.

“So, I’ve split the whole thing up into multiple parts and tonight, we’re focusing on conversation.”

He held out your chair for you and took a seat while he moved to the counter to grab two bowls. One was filled with spaghetti and the other was filled with a salad. He set them on the table then sat down across from you.

“Conversation?” You tilted your head to the side and Steve thought it was adorable.

He handed over a pair of tongs and you served yourself. You hadn’t had a home cooked meal ever. All of your meals consisted of either toast or tv dinners since you didn’t really have the extra money or time to make them from scratch.

“Yep,” he nodded. “Just talking. That’s arguably the most important part.”

“Right,” you nodded. You supposed he was right. The conversation did seem to be a big part of every date you’d seen at the diner or on TV. But you sucked a small talk. Hated it, even. Most of it just ended up being people having a conversation that seemed forced that nobody participating actually gave a fuck about what was being said.

You took a bite of the spaghetti and couldn’t help but think that it was the best thing you had ever eaten. Not that you had much to compare it to. You held back a moan how good it was, trying your best to eat in silence.

You could see that Steve was looking at you and you turned to him, giving him a smile which he returned. You liked that someone was being nice to you just because they wanted to and not for anything in return.

You turned away, not wanting him to see the pink tint on your cheeks. You couldn’t let him know what you were thinking about. You had to keep your cool and seem nonchalant.

“This is really good.”

“Thank you. It’s uh, it’s my mom’s recipe.” Steve couldn’t remember the last time he had spaghetti since his mother didn’t seem to want to cook for him anymore. Now his meals consisted of pizza or food from the diner.

“That’s nice. You’ll have to thank her for me.” He’d thank her…if she was ever around. She was usually out doing god knows what. It wasn’t like Steve cared anyway. As long as she wasn’t home, he was happy. That way he wouldn’t have to listen to her or his father tell him that he was wasting his life away working at Family Video when he could be working with them. That was the thing. Steve didn’t want to work with them. He was perfectly fine where he was in his life and he wasn’t going to let anyone, not even his parents, take that away from him.

“Thanks,” you nodded. “So, uh, how do we do this?” What-oh right, this wasn’t a real date. He was just helping you and had completely forgotten until you had brought it up.

“Well,” he cleared his throat, shuffling in his seat. “I know it sounds like common sense, but just be yourself. Don’t overcomplicate it.”

“Right,” you nodded, taking a sip from your soda. “What do I do if it sucks?” That was the main question that had been on your mind the entire night.

“Well, first of all, I should let you know that most of them are going to suck.” That was not what you had wanted to hear. That was actually a deterrent to wanting to date anyone. “But you just roll with it,” he shrugged. “It’s just one night and you’ll get through it.”

“Most of them are going to suck?” Your eyebrows furrowed and Steve could see the gears turning in your head. This was the one night where he didn’t want you to worry.

“Yep,” he took a sip from his can. “But only like half of the time.”

“Oh,” you nodded, becoming even more confused as to why Steve had gone on so many dates if they were as bad as he was letting on.

“And now you’re scared, aren’t you?” He let out a chuckle and went to reach for your hand, but pulled it away once he realized what he was doing. Little did he know that you had actually wanted him to touch you. You were itching to hold his hand seeing it resting on the table.

“What?” You scoffed. “No.” Yes, yes you were. Terrified, actually.

“You don’t have to be. Sometimes dates are just bad. It’s how it is.”

“But you’ve been on what, a thousand dates? It always seems so easy for you, bad or not.” It wasn’t easy now. He was sweating bullets because he was so nervous. He decided that if you asked, he would lie and say he was just warm. He’d have been so embarrassed if you found out that you were making him nervous.

“Not always,” he leaned closer to you, lowering his voice to barely above a whisper. “Can I tell you a secret?”

“Sure.”

“I’m always nervous.” You didn’t think that “Steve” and “nervous” belonged in the same sentence. He was always so cool and confident. Except when he was around you, of course.

“You’re just trying to make me feel better.” You pushed your food around your plate before taking another bite.

“I’m being honest, I swear,” he put his hands up in defense.

“Fine,” you grumbled. “I guess I believe you.”

He chuckled at that and the both of you went back to eating in silence, the only thing that could be heard was the sound of your forks clinking against your plates.

You looked up at him as you ate and gave him a warm smile when his eyes locked on yours. He smiled back, the light from the kitchen making his eyes look like honey. You had always thought they were pretty, but seeing them in the light really solidified it for you. They were even prettier than Eddie’s, which you didn’t think was possible.

Your eyes roamed over his features and stopped once they got to his moles. Those were probably your favorite features of his. You always liked those kinds of things on people, liking that it made them unique. Your cheeks got hot as you found yourself wanting to press a kiss to each one, telling him how pretty you thought they were.

You had never thought about Steve in that manner. He had been deemed off limits, but seeing him sitting there, looking so fucking pretty, your mind was wondering what exactly it would have been like to sleep with him. If he would’ve been gentle or if he would have fucked you so roughly that you wouldn’t have been able to walk afterwards.

“Do you want to do a practice run?” He asked, wiping his face with his napkin. You desperately needed a distraction from your thoughts.

“Uh, sure,” you nodded, unsure of what he could have possibly wanted to know about you. You thought you were pretty boring in comparison to his other dates.

“I’m just gonna ask you some basic questions. Pretend like I know nothing about you, alright?”

“So, do you have any siblings?” That question seemed easy enough. Maybe it wouldn’t have been as difficult as you thought.

“I have a little sister named Callie.”

“That’s cool,” he nodded “How old is she?”

“Seven. What about you? Any siblings.” You already knew that Steve didn’t have any, but you just wanted to commit to your role.

“Nope,” he shook his head. “Only child, unfortunately.”

“Do you ever get lonely?” You knew the question seemed invasive, but it was falling from your lips before you could stop it.

“Sometimes, yeah,” he admitted. “But I have friends to help with that.” You knew he mostly meant Robin. The two of them seemed to be very close. Like platonic soulmates.

“Right,” you nodded. “What are your parents like?”

“Oh, um.” Well, that wasn’t the right question. You had barely even had a conversation and you had already fucked it up.

“Sorry,” you winced. “Was that too personal?”

“No, no,” he assured you. “I just-they’re never around.”

“Well, that’s something we have in common. Mine are never around either.”

You and Steve seemed to have more in common than you had originally thought. Being from opposite sides of town and his family having more money than you’d ever see in your life, you didn’t think that you’d have anything to bond over. His family always seemed so perfect when you had heard people talk about them, but clearly that had all been an act.

Steve appreciated that you felt like you could be honest with him, especially about something so personal. He didn’t think he’d ever find out anything about you since you seemed to be so private. Clearly you had a lot of trauma so he didn’t blame you at all for keeping your life a secret.

Steve however, had been an open book. You could have asked him anything and he would have told you. That is, except his crush on you. That he kept a secret to prevent himself from being humiliated. As far as he was concerned, he would take that shit to the grave.

“Are you and Callie close?” He wanted to avoid talking any more about your parents and settled for a safe topic.

“Very,” you nodded and Steve just smiled. He liked seeing your face light up when you talked about your sister.

“I can tell you really love her.” You loved Callie more than anyone in the world and you didn’t think that would ever change.

“I really do. She’s my best friend.” And you were hers. She has told you so every night in a sleepy whisper. It warmed your heart every time to hear the words coming from her little voice.

“Is she anything like you?” Callie was just like you as far as personality went. You had raised her to take no shit from anyone and that the only opinion about her that mattered was her own.

“What’s that supposed to mean, Harrington?” You quirked an eyebrow.

“I mean, is she as feisty as you?” She definitely was. Maybe even more so.

“Once you get to know her, but at first, she’s usually super shy.” Her shyness typically seemed like a test to see if she could trust people and then when she decided that they were good enough, she’d show her true self.

“Well, I’d love to meet her.” You knew that the two of them would get along very well.

“And she’d love to meet you.” Steve would have probably ended up more wrapped around her finger than Eddie was. You could see him coloring with her on the floor of the trailer, showing him her different techniques. You could see them watching her favorite movie together on the couch, him laughing when she would quote the lines word for word. You could even see getting close to him effortlessly, whispering stuff into his ear that would be their little secret.

Steve liked hearing those words. That your sister would have liked him. He liked kids, loved them even. Especially since most of the people he usually hung out with had once been kids that he was just trying to take care of. To protect.

“So you’re saying I’m worthy of meeting your family?” He winked and you let out a nervous laugh. As long as you had anything to say about it, Steve would have never met your parents. They were just two fucked up people who refused to make any changes in their life just because they had cost a little more than they were willing to spend. You knew that they had some money hiding somewhere. Money that they had claimed had been for your college tuition that you had seen a single dime of. Money you had tried to claim to actually use for college but they suddenly acted like they had no idea what you were talking about.

“Just my sister,” you responded. “My parents don’t exactly make a good impression.” You could still remember when they met Eddie. How judgemental they had been. How they claimed that he wasn’t good enough to hang out with you. What did they know? It wasn’t like they actually knew you well enough to make that decision.

“Mine don’t either,” he shook his head. “For once, my parents came home while I had a date over and my mother was recommending places where she could get the gap in her front teeth fixed.”

“No,” you gasped.

“Yes,” Steve nodded vigorously. “I thought it was really cute and had even told her as much but she left before I could reassure her.”

“Steve, I’m so sorry.”

“It’s alright. So sometimes, it might not even be your fault if the date is bad,” he let out a chuckle, but you could see in his face that he didn’t actually think it was funny.

You felt bad for the guy. You knew he was just looking for “the one” but it never seemed to work out. You wondered if he thought he was destined to be lonely just like you were. If he ever blamed himself for things when they went wrong even when they weren’t his fault.

You wondered how he was still able to put himself out there despite all of his failed dates. Where he got his confidence from and how he didn’t just cancel all the time because he was afraid of things going south. That was what you would have done. And maybe that was the real difference between you and Steve. He did things despite being afraid while you stood by and watched because you’d rather keep your dignity intact than ever risk embarrassing yourself.

“That doesn’t make me feel better.”

“Hey, relax. You’re doing really well,” he assured you and you hoped that he was telling the truth and not just trying to spare your feelings.

“I am?” Steve had never seen you so unsure before. You usually took things for what they were, not even sparing a second to ask questions. He was beginning to think that maybe that was all just an act and that the woman sitting in front of him was the “real” you. Not the version of yourself you had to put on everyday just to seem normal.

“Yeah,” he replied, taking another bite of his spaghetti. “You’re a natural.”

“So are you.”

“Well I should be with how much practice I’ve had.” You both laughed at that and continued to eat and make small talk until your plates were empty. You knew the night was drawing to a close and you didn’t want it to end. It was as if you were Cinderella and as soon as the clock struck twelve, you’d no longer be in the little fantasy Steve had made up for you. You’d have to remove your dress and go back to your real life where there seemed to be no happily afters.

The night hadn’t even been over yet and Steve was already looking forward to the next lesson. He wanted to see more of you like this, you’re true self. He liked that you didn’t seem to have your guard up. You seemed less tense and the tension between your eyebrows seemed to disappear. Your shoulders hadn’t been up to your ears, in fact, they had been pushed back as you sat across from him.

You were so fucking beautiful and seeing you sitting there in your gorgeous dress was damn near torture. The blue looked so nice against your skin and it was killing him that he couldn’t see how you felt against his hands. That he couldn’t press his lips to yours, the pretty red color smearing against his own and across his cheeks in how messy the kiss got. He wanted to see lipstick stains all along his body, but he couldn’t get himself to make a move. This was all fake, after all. As if you’d actually go on a real date with Steve Harrington.

Steve led you to the front door and it felt disorienting for him to not take you up to his room. You knew that his other dates ended that way, but this was different. He was just helping you out. It wasn’t supposed to mean anything.

So why did you want him to take you by the hand and lead you to his bedroom? Why did you want to feel his soft hands against your thighs, sliding up your dress? Why did you want to know exactly what his lips felt like? If they were as soft as they looked. If he was as good of a kisser the girls in town said he was.

You felt yourself getting wet just thinking about it and for once, you weren’t going to do anything about it. At least not with Steve. You couldn’t risk ruining your friendship because you couldn’t keep your hormones in check. You’d never forgive yourself if you pushed him away because you couldn’t control yourself.

“This was really nice,” you told him as you both stood at the door, neither of you making a move to open it.

“See, I told you there was nothing to worry about,” he nudged your shoulder.

“I know. I was just worrying for nothing.” Steve watched you rifle through your purse, clearly looking for something.

You pulled out a small black tube and moved over to the mirror that was by the door. You opened the thing and Steve could see a little bit of red peeking out from the top, realizing that it was lipstick. He stood behind you, watching you twist it up so you had more access to the product. You opened your mouth slightly and applied the color to your lips slowly. Steve watched you in amazement. It was as if you had hypnotized the man. He was standing there, unmoving, his mouth slightly agape.

You weren’t even doing it on purpose. This was a move you had perfected to get people into bed and it had a hundred percent success rate. This time, you just wanted to touch up the color since most of it had rubbed off while you were eating. Why you were doing it when you were about to leave, you didn’t know. Maybe you were trying to give Steve one last chance to make a move.

His hand rested on your shoulder and you had to look down so he couldn’t see your triumphant smile in the reflection. You guessed Steve wasn’t as strong as he looked. You looked at him as his other hand moved to your face. His thumb rubbed at the corner of your bottom lip where the color had bled onto your skin only for it to smudge.

“Whoops,” he chuckled, looking down at his now stained thumb. “I didn’t mean to smudge it.”

“It’s okay.” I wanted you to smudge it, was what you wanted to say. But you didn’t. “It doesn’t take much to do that.”

“Right,” he chuckled again. You didn’t miss how his gaze hadn’t left your lips. He had wanted it as much as you did. So the trick worked. Steve wasn’t immune like you thought he had been.

And just when you had him right where you wanted him, he opened the door for you. Despite your confusion, you stepped through it, Steve closing it behind him so the two of you were standing on the front step. There was so little space that you were practically chest to chest.

He slowly leaned towards you, trying to gauge your reaction for any signs that you didn’t want him to continue. You wanted it. You wanted it so bad, but you couldn’t let him do it. You just knew that if you kissed him, you wouldn’t want to stop. And you couldn’t have that. You were in control. You called the shots. And you weren’t going to get Steve fucking Harrington have that effect on you.

Just as his lips were about to meet yours, you turned your face so they landed on your cheek instead. He quickly pulled away and you slowly turned your head to look at him. His eyes widened and his lips parted, like he couldn’t believe what he had done. He looked like he was about to speak and you just couldn’t listen to what he had to say.

“Goodnight, Steve. Thanks again for tonight.”

You rushed down the steps as he called your name and almost tripped on the concrete of his driveway because of how fast your were moving. You pulled your keys out of your purse and couldn’t seem to unlock your car quick enough. You opened the door and made the mistake of looking at Steve one last time. He was still standing there, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he watched you get into the car.

You slammed the door shut and practically floored it all the back to your trailer. You were never going to be able to look Steve in the eye again. You were going to have to quit Family Video. You were going to have to stop hanging out with Robin.

You had wanted to kiss Steve so you had no idea why you had turned your head at the last second. And now you had hurt him just because you had been afraid of what it could have led to if you had given in. You had gotten scared because you hadn’t been in control of your feelings for once.

You pulled up to your trailer and raced inside, closing the door, leaning against it. Eddie was on the couch alone which led you to believe that he had actually made her go to bed at a decent time, which was rare. He turned to you and his eyebrows furrowed at your distressed state.

“What happened?” He clicked off the TV and gave you his full attention, hoping that he wasn’t actually going to have to kick Steve’s ass. If that man has laid a non-consensual finger on you, he’d be fucking dead.

“He tried to kiss me, Eddie.”

“I’ll kill him,” he stood up from the couch, cracking his knuckles.

“No,” you moved towards him. “I wanted him too.”

“Oh,” he scoffed, sitting back down on the couch. “Then what’s the big deal?”

“This big deal is that he tried to kiss me, Eddie.” You sat down next to him, burying your face into your hands.

“Damn, one date and you’re already falling for him?” He laughed. “He’s good.”

“This is serious.”

“Is it, though?” He stood up from the couch and headed over to the fridge and pulled out the box of wine. He figured you were going to need some.

“Yes.” You turned to look at him as he rifled through the cabinets for two wine glasses.

“Because it kind of seems like you just don’t want to fall for him.” You hated that he was always able to read you like a book. He was the one person who could see right through you.

“I don’t,” you crossed your arms over your chest and he whipped around to look at you. You had finally admitted it after months of denying feelings for Steve.

“Ah-ha!” He pointed at you. “So you admit it.”

“I admit nothing.” You wouldn’t have been caught dead admitting that you liked anyone in a romantic sense. That was for losers and you were most definitely not a loser.

“That’s because you’re a coward.” He handed you a glass of wine and you took a few sips before setting it down on the coffee table.

Maybe you were a coward, but you were going to wear that label proudly if it meant you didn’t have to admit that you were crushing on Steve. There was no way you’d ever tell anyone that. Not even yourself. To you, love was still bullshit. You’d seen your parents, you’d seen your grandparents. Apparently happily ever after just didn’t exist in your family and that was just how it was.

Eddie had seen every single one of your hookups fail except for him. He wondered what would have happened if he had feelings for you. If you would have kicked him to the curb if he had told how he felt. If that was the only reason you kept him around.

“Well, if the shoe fits,” you leaned back against the couch, propping your feet up onto the coffee table.

“You made a deal with him, y/n. You can’t just avoid him because you’re afraid.”

“Of course I can.” You took another sip of your wine, not liking how little effect it was having on you. You were usually buzzed by that point.

“Then that means you’re no better than me,” he tsked, shaking his head.

“Yeah, right,” you scoffed. “You’re the biggest coward of them all, Eddie.” If you looked up the definition in the dictionary, his name would be right there.

“Sure, but I’d never deny my feelings because I was afraid of being vulnerable. Oh, that’s right, you don’t have feelings.”

“Damn straight.”

“That’s not something to be proud of, babe,” he gave your knee a pat. “Well, you have fun being in denial, I’m gonna go to bed.”

“So we’re not hooking up tonight?” You asked as you watched him stand from the couch and made his way over to the door.

“As if I’d fuck a taken woman,” he gasped, putting his hand up to his chest. “Even I’m better than that, y/n.”

“Eddie,” you groaned, trying to get to him but he closed the door before you could catch him.

You leaned against it, running your hands through your hair. Your life had somehow gotten worse after letting Steve in. You went on a really nice date with him and ended up hurting his feelings because you wouldn’t kiss him. Now you couldn’t stand to look at him again and your best friend was laughing at you while you were in pain. There was no way it could have possibly have gotten any fucking worse.

#steve harrington x y/n #steve harrington x you #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington smut #steve harrington fluff #eddie munson #stranger things #eddie munson x reader #eddie x y/n #eddie munson x you #eddie munson smut

[marymary-diva17]

Where I belong

female spider and ash Navi

There was a saying on earth and among the humans " The sins of the father" well that become something that myla had become use to over the years. She knew she was not welcome among the human or the navi all because of who her parents were, their actions and crimes had been passed down onto her. No matter what she had done she was seen as bad child or demon girl. All she ever wishes for in life was to have everyone around here see her as one of them, and not some demon child but those wishes seem to be child's play or dreams.

myla " do you think they made their final vote"

kiro " don't worry myla everything will be okay there no way dad will have, them kick you out we have come to your defense"

myla " thanks everyone"

tsireya " everything will be alright myla my father will make sure of it as well"

neteyam " hey here comes someone"

warrior " the sky child come now with me they wish to tell you the vote"

lo'ak " we are coming as well" everyone had left the area and followed the warrior it seems like everyone had gather to hear the decision, about what will happen to myla.

tonowari " myła is had been decided fully among us about you staying here after the awful events that had unfolded"

myla " yes sir"

tonowari " we have all decided no on you staying here it not safe for anyone if you are here" there had been some whispers heard among the navi as they watched and listened.

kiro " that mean she can't live here but she can live with norm and max right, along with the other humans"

max " I'm sorry myla but you can't stay with us either there to much at stake"

lo'ak " that sounds like a lie"

neytiri "lo'ak"

lo'ak " no mom myla our friend she can't kick her out like that she still a kid"

ronal " that demon no kid she pure evil like that father of her, she has caused to much damage"

myla " Jake please please I don't know where to go"

Jake " you will be sent to base away from her it will be good for you"

myla " alone or will be someone be coming with me"

Jake " alone I fear everyone else has their own families and responsibilities, and you are old enough to be alone we will check in with you here and there"

myla " please I don't want to be alone"

Jake " myla stop this right now you will accept this vote it good and you will learn to live with it, and maybe there will be chance you can come back here"

kiro " then we will go with her as well"

lo'ak " yes if she outcast then we will go as well"

neytiri " no you will not be going with the demon you, she not one of us she will never be one of us"

kiro " mom you are being rude all of you"

myla " it okay kiro I will pack my stuff and get ready to leave" myla felt like crying but she was not going to show them, she was broken she had packed her stuff with the help of her friends and mo'at.

mo'at " here some stuff from the forest it will help you"

myla " thank you"

kiro " I'm so sorry but I will come see you ever chance I get, and mom can't stop me"

myla " thank you"

lo'ak " we will call as well to see how you are doing"

myla " thank you"

tuk " we are going to miss you myla"

myla " i will miss you all as well old friends and new ones"

norm " hey kid we have to get going"

myla " coming" myla had hugged everyone one last time she walked off with norm, she had passed by the couple she had saved form the rda. they looked like they wish to say something but didn't as myla kept on walking.

Jake " myla i hope one day you will understand where I'm coming from I need to protect my family and the clan"

myla " yes sir good bye sir" myla had gotten onto the helicopter as she was taken far far away. After some flying they soon landed to where she will be staying it was so far away, that seem to be the goal.

max " well kid you have everything here and if you get low tell us"

myla " okay"

norm " we will see you soon okay and hey maybe you can decorate up this place"

myla " sure I can do that and hey if I see any trouble I will call"

norm " sure myla we are sorry we wanted to ...."

myla " I know I understand" myla was soon all alone she spent up to a two weeks or longer of being alone she had lost count or she thought she was completely alone here. One day myla had been out gather some supplies for herself as getting in contact with everyone seem to be failing. It seems like myla was getting use to be alone and not feeling like she really belonged.

myla " yes these will be good I can make something out of them" myla was gathering when she finally got enough that she needed, she soon started walking.

myla " wow I finally get to see more of this place" the groud soon started shaking many myla panic, as the ground gave out from under her as she soon fall. She had landed on the ground and soon felt so much pain in her body.

myla " I need to call for help" myla had gotten out her ear piece and started making the call for help.

myla " norm I need help something happened over here and I'm ..." myla had only heard Static on the other line she was not getting a call, she soon got herself up and started walking a bit.

myla " i can't get back up there maybe I can find other way and make a better call or fix myself up" myla was walking to her best ability but that pain was so much. She soon found a cave and decided to take shelter in there, she was doing her best to rest and make a call once again.

myla " ahhh"

????? " she had gone in there"

myla " ....." myla had thought maybe norm had gotten her call maybe it went through and they had tracked her.

myla " N..." she was about to call our norm or jake name when she was a strange navi coming out from the shadows, with a few others as well.

myla " please .... I don't ...mean any harm .... I ...."

????? " mawey maw young one it okay"

???? " she looks like to have a fever along with being hurt as well"

myla " i ...."

???? " hush it will be okay we are taking her send someone ahead" before myla could say anything else she had soon passed out, she had been caught by one of the strangers. They had looked at each other and soon at her, as they all soon ager her things and soon left the cave.

some time later

myla " umm" myla had soon opened her eyes and saw she was healer hut maybe she was back with the village or another village, she didn't know until she heard a gasped. She had looked around to see some young warriors looking at her or they seem to be warriors to her.

myla " hello"

???? " go get them tell them the girl has woken up now go get them, but tell the tshaik and healer first" the other warriors had left while one stood there holing the door open, as myla should see everything and it looked beautiful for what she can see.

???? " the child is awake"

???? " yes she awake and seem to be enjoying the view" soon a women had stepped into the hut.

myla " hello"

????? " hello young one I'm tshaik Oing"

myla " hello Oing i see you"

Oing " hello myla I see you as well and you are beautiful girl"

myla " how do you know my name I ...."

????? " let me see my daughter I need to know if she okay" soon a face myla thought she wouldn't see in long time, had soon stepped into the home.

myla " hey"

quairtch " hey there sweetie you are wake"

????? " hey quaritch how the kid ... hey myla"

myla " hey everyone" myla soon saw the rest of her father team by the entrance soon one them stepped into the room carrying a medical kit.

prager " hey myla I'm going to check to see how you are doing"

Oing " your daughter injuries will heal quritch she is lucky, the great mother was on her side"

quaritch " thank you"

prayer " well she good but she going to need to take it easy"

oing " i second that as well"

????? " move please give my sister and them space to work you are all crowded" soon a women had stepped into the room, and it was easy to tell she was the one in changer of the clan.

myla " hello"

quaritch " varang this is my daughter I have told you about"

Varrang " yes ma quaritch wow she is very beautiful and strong as well, even braver to stay alone for this long amount to time"

myla " olo'eythe varrang thank you for help me"

Varrang " you are welcome child my warrior had stopped your come and have been following you, they brought you hear last night but you were unconscious and hurt"

varrang " my sister and the healer from your father group had been able to help you, along with others as well"

myla " thank you all"

quaritch " may I have some time with my daughter"

varrang " yes we shall leave the father and daughter to talk everyone" everyone soon left the room leave the daughter and father alone.

Quaritch " we had been watching to see if anyone else will come and they didn't"

myla " i want to say they are busy but that a lie they were just keeping me away"

quaritch " even after all you had done they still see you evil and that because of me"

myla " they had always thought that there was probably low chances of being fully welcome by any of them"

quaritch " the youth seem to like you"

myla " yeah most of them but I had been blamed for fights between families and marriages ... heck I might ended some marriages"

quairtch " then that on them not you look I know we don't have the best relationship, but I wish for you to stay here"

myla " will the clan let me stay"

quaritch " yes Varrang has spoken about it with her sister and higher up and it look like you are staying here, as your old base is gone we brought back some stuff but not all of it"

myla " thank you"

quaritch " your welcome and once you are heal enough you can started getting use to the new home"

myla " thank you"

quaritch " your welcome kiddo" quaritch had hugged her daughter he really wanted to fight Jake sully, but the only one who was stopping him and his team from doing that is myla. Even after everything she was still being nice to them. She had spent that night caught up with her father and everyone else, along with getting to know Varrang and Oing. She will later find out there is relationship between quaritch and varrag, she had nothing against it as they seem perfect together.

myla " ........" one night myla had not woken up it was like she was deeper slumber, and nothing anyone did will wake her up worry everyone.

prager " I have tried everything I know we don't have the proper tools and what got some the place will not help official"

Varrag " there most be a way"

Z dog " yes prager you are best medic we have"

Prager " i will try what I can do"

lopez " we can't lose the kid"

quaritch " we will not my daughter and fighter"

Oing " there one way we can help her bring here to tree of souls right now" Quaritch had picked his daughter up and they all went straight to the tree with clan. They had placed her in small hole and laid her down there.

Lopez " what next"

Oing " we will burry here and let the roots and vines cover her and pray"

quaritch " whatever can help my daughter" everyone had one what was need and soon the prays had began as everyone waited, they all saw myla being covered by dirt/vines. and roots as everything started glowing and soon it ended.

lyle " someone tell me it worked please" soon myla had moved out from the nature wrapped from her, but she didn't come back as human she now had navi body.

myla " what is going on why is everyone looking at me like that ... oh look I'm blue that cool ahh I'm blue"

oing " breath it okay it seems like the great mother has finally given you a dreamwalker body"

myla " wow that cool" everyone had become happy to see myla was okay, they soon had went home myla was give some new clothes as her old ones had become dirty.

Varrang " here is myla" myla soon stepped out of the hut showing everyone her new look.

z dog " wow kid love the new look"

myla " thank you"

quaritch " now you are always something you always had been navi"

myla " thank you"

????? " hey myla come play hangout with us"

myla " sure can I go"

quaritch " sure go have some fun" myla ahd ran off with some teens laughing and talking, she had felt like she didn't belong but maybe after all she did know where she belonged. IT had taken her a while but she soon seem to see that she did being after after, it might of take her a long time and she had been through some trails but now she was navi and belonged to pandora and is one of her children.

#avatar 2 #atwow #avatar #miles spider socorro #spider socorro #avatar 2009 #avatar james cameron #avatar 2022 #james cameron avatar #atwow fanfiction #avatar twow #avatar way of water #atwow neteyam #atwow loak #avatar fanfiction #avatar fandom #avatar recoms #atwow recoms #miles quaritch #recom miles quaritch #avatar the way of water #avatar2009

[hellsite-hall-of-fame]

listen... listen. i'd love just as much as anybody to get to make a fool of myself in person with all my fellow fools, as opposed to making a collective fool of ourselves online. I just don't know if we have the brainpower to organize it. The first dashcon, as far as i know, was a logistical disaster. I know there's a spreadsheet side of tumblr, and... *shudder* a business side (I checked) but are they willing to help? are we willing to accept their help?

More issues to consider: With the cost of living and travel and the very decentralized tumblr userbase, on what continent would dashcon 2.0 be held? would there need to be online signups? payments? a website? who would create and oversee those things?

What if we tried to have a number of smaller cons for different regions? Only around 600 folks have answered 100% YES on your poll - How many users need to show up before we have folks from enough major communities to feel like a true tumblr party? How do we guarantee those numbers? What about major blogs? do we just hope they show up or pay them to sign autographs? is it a multi-day affair, like dashcon tried to be, or do we aim low?

There is so much that goes into an event like this- transit, trucking, storage, space, sign-ups, accounting, licensing, begging, scheduling, convincing, emailing, hiring, firing, decorating, ordering, packing... I haven't even gotten to the tip of the iceberg meme.

Do we hire planners and event companies, or are we too embarrassed to ask? How does everyone work around their day jobs and careers? Who is organizing dashcon 2.0, and what is their stake in it? How do we not repeat the mistakes of those who came before us?

Anyway, if you're gonna do it, I want to help. let's talk.

hmm alright I have thoughts

because I agree, I don’t know if we have the brainpower or money to organize it. my sincere hope with posting about a hypothetical dashcon has been that some super determined millionaire would be like “hey here- have this money and here’s a bunch of connections I have to people to help you organize this”…..so basically lots and lots of wishful thinking lmao.

while the business side of tumblr does seem terrifying, we might have to accept their help if they’re willing.

all of the logistics you mentioned are very very true things that I imagine the original dashcon creators didn’t fully take into account (or i’d assume as much based on the chaos that ensued lol)

as for location, yeahhh that’s the definite hard part. in my head, I keep seeing this as like a vidcon (which is terrible because it wouldn’t be as big but idk) which is held in California. but idk how feasible that is for the average Tumblr base. and that does definitely cut down the amount of people that would be able or willing to come so idk.

and I also imagine having like panels and possibly meet and greets or something with major blog owners, but idk if we’d just beg them to come or find a way to pay them.

As for the whole last paragraph- aaaaah I have absolutely no idea.

i’m definitely not going to spearhead organizing such an event (mostly because I don’t want my real name associated with it in case it goes to shit again lmaoo) but if someone else had more resources to do so, I would absolutely be willing to help.

and if anyone sees this and has conference-planning experience and wants to help make a bunch of wishful Tumblr users dreams come true…. please let me know and i’d love to help!

#this is such a well thought out ask though anon #sorry I don’t have more experience or confidence to create such an event #my dad might…. but i’m definitely NOT asking him lmao #so we must suffer I guess #hellsite hall of fame #ask #the hellsite answers #anonymous #dashcon #dashcon 2 #dashcon 2.0 #hellsite hall of fame curator’s bullshit

[sylvyspritii]

RWBY ramble

(EDIT: I originally wanted to make a very small post about RWBY but i accidentally kept typing because i have feelings okay) Okay listen i only have ONE really strong RWBY opinion okay? Ironwood in volume 7 was a totally different character than Ironwood in volume 8, the writers completely ruined his character, and his turn in volume 8 was totally out of character and unbelieveable They ruined the most interesting morally grey character in the series to get a clear black and white conflict, and in my opinion, it was a waste of potential, especially for the long-term story To be honest i could go on and on about how volume 8 ruined RWBY for me (EDIT: i did) I was one of those fans that came in RWBY really late, i remember it really well, it was around 2019/2020-ish, i watched the first 2 volumes as a joke because i heard how "cringe" it was, and i legitemately found the first 2 volumes to be pretty bad, aside from the fight scene animations, but i kept watching for some reason Then when i got to volume 3, well, holy fucking shit??? Like, it went from "i'm watching this ironically to see how bad it is" to "WAIT THIS IS ACTUALLY KINDA GOOD THO?!?!?!" VERY quickly, like wow, volume 3 actually really impressed me Volume 4 was a bit slower paced, but i think it's really great that they took more time to develop the lore and backstory of the world beyond Beacon Volume 5 and 6 were "alright" to me, but it's volume 7 where things REALLY started to click for me, the stakes were higher than ever, we got awesome returning characters, familiar faces in the direst of times, combined with more spotlight for characters that needed more fleshing out, and pretty decent new characters, combined with the REALLY GOOD rising tension of the looming threat, i fucking loved volume 7, and Ironwood was a HUGE part of what made volume 7 so memorable, having that kind of morally gray "i'll do what's right at all costs" kind of character with trust issues was exactly what the happy go lucky gang of the main cast of RWBY needed to balance things out, but its his genuine trust and willingness to believe the main cast that makes his downfall all the more sad, Ironwood sacrifices so much in order to help everyone, including the main cast, even promoting them to huntresses, which has been a huge goal for them since the start of the series, and yet, in volume 8, it feels like the Ironwood from volume 7 becomes a different person in the span of the gap between the two seasons, it's ridicolous, all the nuance was removed Yes, i am still disappointed about this years later, not particularly because of Ironwood specifically (altough i do admit i liked him a lot because he was such a good balance for the main cast to make things more mature and nuanced instead of black and white), but because of the downfall of my expectations when it came to the quality of the writing since volume 3 took my heart by storm (positive), it felt like my journey with RWBY was such a rollercoaster, it was like, "this is cringe let's keep going as a joke" to "I GENUINLY CARE ABOUT EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU AND THIS WORLD AND IT KEEPS GETTING BETTER HOLY SHIT" to "...they ruined everything", i have yet to watch volume 9, but my expectations are very low because of volume 8

#rwby #volume 7 #volume 8 #rwby volume 7 #rwby volume 8 #rwby 7 #rwby 8 #ironwood #opinion #opinions #rwbycritics #rwby critical #rwby criticism

[randomfoggytiger]

How the Ghosts Stole Christmas In-Depth (Part I): Mulder's Gothic Romance Stories

Per request of @welsharcher (here ya go~!)

Christmas Eve

Somewhere in Maryland

(Well, here we go, boys. We already know this is going to be a comedic doozy.) 

It's 10:13. The Christmas cheer of Bing Crosby's "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" wafts from Mulder's radio-- which is a little something the episode (and series) plays with, his various media reflecting his immediate mood and relationship with Scully (thanks to @welsharcher for pointing this out~)-- while he chews on his sunflowers seeds and waits for Scully to pull up. 

Without a look exchanged or a word spoken, Scully rolls her eyes up and her window down, syncing it up with Mulder rolling his down also (because they have that unspoken.) 

“I almost gave up on you!” Mulder yells, delighted. 

Scully’s first line of the episode is characteristically Starbuckian: “Sorry.” It’s followed up with an explanation of where she was, rattling off her reasons for the Captain’s Log and ending it with a frazzled “if I heard "Silent Night" one more time, I was going to start taking hostages.”

“Hm,” Mulder chuckles appreciatively. 

Scully begins again “What are we doing here-” before Mulder jumps in with “Stakeout!” Off her incredulous “On Christmas Eve?”, he insists “It’s an important date.” 

“No kidding.” 

Mulder begins to wheedle. “Important to why we’re here. Why don’t you turn off your car and I’ll fill you in on the details?” 

“Mulder, I’ve got wrapping to do--”

Mulder peeks over, and, sure enough, all of Scully’s presents are already wrapped in the backseat. Which means she was either late getting herself completely prepared for a late-night Mulder mission-- and hoping it wouldn’t come to that-- OR she was making up perfectly transparent fibs because she wants to wheedle Mulder away from his stakeout to spend Christmas Eve with her without having to wrestle with gift wrapping as well.

“Oh.” Mulder responds, purposefully lingering on her Christmas bounty. 

Scully knows she’s been caught, staring out her windshield as she weighs her options. The one that allows her to escape with some dignity still intact is temporary compromise; so, she rolls up her window and joins her partner in his car.  

She is crisp, practically noir crack whip: “Alright, let’s hear it. Give me the details.” 

But Mulder is a slow-and-steady, set-the-mood kind of guy; and he gently prods with a little “Look, if you’ve got Christmas stuff to do I don’t wanna--” knowing full well Scully doesn’t, likely doesn’t care to, and is here because she is trying to escape the egg on her face. 

And he knows she finds him charming: he’s relaxed, joyful, jovial, and ready to spin a despairing tale-- Mulder-mancing (the only way to romance) with honeyed words and ghostly goose bumps. 

Scully knows he’s teasing her, tries to put him off with more bluster disguised as solid reasoning: “Mulder, I drove  all the way out here, I might as well know why, right?” She is enjoying herself though, little slivers of smiles peeking through despite her efforts to the contrary. 

“I just thought you’d be more…” Mulder looks away to collect a word, turning back to a Scully skeptical eyebrow, “curious.” He doesn't need to include a cute little head wobble and tilt to punctuate his point; but he does it, anyway, because Scully’s a details woman.  

“Who lives in the house?”

“No one.” 

“...Then who are we staking out?”

“The former occupants.” 

“They’ve come back?”

“That’s the story.” 

And he wants to tell it badly; but patience is a virtue, and Mulder loves the buildup-- his vague clues and slideshow projector and purposed missing details come to mind-- just as much as Scully loves a challenging argument. 

“I see,” Scully says, nodding, keeping a joke close to her chest. “The dark gothic manor; the, uh, omnipresent low fog hugging the thicket of overgrowth… wait!” she pivots, fully taunting in jest now, “is that a hound I hear baying out in the moors?”

“No, actually, that was a left cheek sneak,” Mulder rejoinders, actually moving his body to lift his left rear cheek and angling his arm towards it; which means (off screen) he pointed at the general area to prove his non-existent point. He’s so proud of this, in fact, that his smile (not unlike a possible smell) lingers. 

When Scully pleas for Mulder to not have called her out for a ghostbusting gig (side-stepping the gas joke after a reproving “Okay… Mulder”), her partner begins his technicalities speech: “Technically speaking they’re called apparitions.” 

Her mood has shifted. No, no she does not want to do ghostbusting on Christmas Eve. 

“Mulder call it what you want-- I’ve got… I’ve got holiday cheer to spread, I’ve-I’ve got a family roll call under the tree at 6 AM.” 

Right as she reaches for the door, Mulder pops in the locks. She’s not escaping that easily. 

Scully is not amused; and Mulder knows his window of nonsense is on a timer and closing down fast: “Scully, I’ll make it fast I’ll just give you the details,” he blurts as one sentence. 

Seeing how important this is to her partner, she sighs in heavy defeat and raises an eyebrow in preparation for debunkable ridiculousness. “...Okay…”

“Christmas 1917--” Mulder plows on, “--was a time of dark, dark despair.” 

Let’s talk some meta for a minute: this episode takes place sometime after Dreamland I and II, wherein Mulder comes home from a busted Area 51 visit with Scully to find a completely refurnished apartment (including but not limited to a waterbed and new mirror for his mirror bed frame, discussed here) and probably awkward tensions with Kersh’s secretary coupled with an odd feeling of something having happened... but maybe not.

This episode Mulder is desperate for Scully to spend Christmas with him: “tricking” her into the car, locking the door so she has to hear his story, and stealing her keys so she can’t leave. Despite being a good sport about it all-- to a point, Scully spends the episode trying to lay firm boundaries about taking time for herself and her “normal life” activities, an important and recurring theme of S6 up to The Unnatural. And this isn’t lost on her partner, who is overjoyed she showed up at all and resorts to unfair stratagems to keep her longer. 

Mulder beings his story with appropriate dramatic weight

as he reels Scully out of her skepticism (including an epically unimpressed face) and into his little soap opera. 

Of course, she makes a correction, pointing out his overuse of “a time of dark, dark despair”; and though a bit miffed at her interruption, Mulder takes this in stride as he winds up for and Maurice’s and Lyda’s part in all this old history. 

Picking his hand up from the pile of eaten sunflower seed shells he’d dumped… somewhere, he points to the mansion, “But here at 1501 Larkspur Lane for a pair of star-crossed lovers, tragedy came not from”-- slipping in some old-timey language construction for storytelling heft-- “war or pestilence, not by the bootheel or the bombardier, but by their own… innocent hand.”  

Scully is impressed by his out-of-left-field "bootheel" description, then schools her expression (not wanting to give her partner material to gloat over.) Mulder sees how impressed she is and gives a subtle pause before passing from bootheel to bombardier, reveling in her visual praise. She's is trying her best not to enjoy this… but the Mulder charm cannot be denied. “Go on.” 

The tiniest of smiles plays across his face at her encouragement. 

“His name was Maurice. He was a…” Mulder pauses significantly, head nodding at the mansion-- but more particularly at himself, “brooding but heroic young man.” Another significant pause. “Beloved of Lyda-- a sublime beauty with a light that seemed to follow her wherever she went.” He shrugs at this, unable or unwilling to disclaim these suppositions; but more importantly, he shoots his partner a third, significant look while a wistful, enraptured smile settles briefly on his face. 

While he may be retelling these events, Mulder very particularly picked this story and these words. This is what he wants for them: to explore a house-- and inadvertently themselves-- on a foggy Christmas Eve, seeing the beauty in each other reflected in spooky mirrors and cracked windows while creaking doors sing serenades to the rhythm of their steps. This is a normal life to Mulder, an answer to Scully’s question in Dreamland I (which what he does remembers from their trip): “Don’t you want to settle down? …Have something approaching a normal life?” Yet again they’re in the car; but Mulder has a story about lovers and pacts with sunflower seeds in his hands, a gun at his hip, and his girl at his side. What’s more to life than this?

Much more, if Scully’s disbelieving face is much to go by. 

Mulder wisely moves on from this point: “They were likened to two angels descended from Heaven whom the gods could not protect from the horrors being visited upon this cold, gray earth.” 

Scully, having a list of obligations to do (if Mulder isn’t going to leave his stupid stakeout) and knowing her partner's being a tad (read: very) hyperbolic, steps in to keep him on track (despite being wooed by his endless sincerity.) “And what happened here?” 

“Driven by a tragic fear of separation--” he continues, a serious undertone creeping into his sincere retelling, “--they forged a lover’s pact so that they might spend eternity together. And not spend one precious Christmas apart.” 

Two important things here: 

#1. Either Maurice and Lyda preserved a huge ego in the story of their legacy-- not unlikely... but-- or he’s using a lot of mumbo jumbo to talk up his and Scully’s work. Mulder is painting their epic quest as supernatural in and of itself, as cosmic and eternal-- worth its weight in heavy costs and beyond every conceivable price. It’s why this story gives him goosebumps: this is about him and Scully, sacrificing their lives for the Truth and for each other, perishing together if necessary by their own hands rather than by a random plague or tragedy-- or worse, being torn apart by war and desolation.

#2. This is all proven by Mulder’s carefully chosen descriptions: “from the horrors being visited upon this cold, gray earth.” As well all know, the earth is not, in fact, gray; but aliens with their calculating, gray reaches and cold plans for earth are. And his “Driven by a tragic fear of being separated…”, is an accurate description of his experience during the hallway scene in Fight the Future. The clincher to all of this is his flippant Christmas line: “...they forged a lover’s pact, so that they might spend eternity together. And not spend one precious Christmas apart.” That’s a Mulder love confession if I’ve ever heard one. 

And a third point, why not?

#3. Mulder and religion-- may not be the most explored subplot in canon is still given ample consideration, nonetheless. It’s curious that his disdain and disbelief for religion changes over the series as Scully’s scientific rigidity relaxes. In my opinion, he leans more agnostic than atheistic (a natural inclination, considering the weird reality he lives in and explores) but spits venomously at organized religion for their practices, injustices, and God that they preach as loving and all-powerful. In the face of his sister’s abduction, the lies his parents told and participated in, and the world cracking apart behind the gauzy curtain of regulations and Syndicate plans, a god that exists to counterbalance and yet (seemingly) won’t is a pill that Mulder can’t seem to swallow. And while this idea is not deftly handled-- shoving a foot in the door suddenly in S7 and jamming it in S8-- it’s at least an aspect of the character that merits a post of its own to be weighed fairly in future (so, look forward to that someday soon-ish, I suppose.)  

Scully misses all of this, instead focusing on his literal words. “They killed themselves?” Death, even in a possibly yellow-journalistic retelling, is always something she takes seriously. 

Mulder gives a “bingo” nod. “And their ghosts--”

Scully chuffs a laugh at this ridiculous follow up and at herself. She'd forgotten Mulder's premise after getting sucked into his story, in spite of the skeptical little barriers she’d erected from the start. 

Mulder, touched by his double narrative and her reaction, states “I just gave myself chills.” His victory is complete, he believes; and he’d gotten a special bonding moment with one Dana Scully to boot. 

Or so he thinks. 

“It’s a good story, Mulder. And very well-told; but I don’t believe it.” 

The magical music twirling around them is immediately gone. 

“You don’t believe in ghosts??” Mulder asks, incredulous, almost offended at her discredit. She believes in a Holy Ghost-- why not a ghost-ghost?  

Scully is incredulous herself: “That surprises you?” 

“Well…” He lapses. Blunt honesty wins. “Yeah.”  A little shrug. “I thought everybody believed in ghosts.” 

His partner closes her eyes, an unspoken “of course you did” blazing across her face. “Mulder, if it were any other night I might let you talk me into it--” admittance, thy name is Dana Scully “--but the halls are decked… and I gotta go.” 

Scully spills from the car; and Mulder stares after her in crestfallen confusion. 

Looking at the house, he screws up his mouth and forms a resolution. Being the Oxford graduate, VCU golden boy opportunist that he is, Mulder already swiped Scully’s car keys while she was in the throws of his tragic tale; and he now uses it as bait to lure his partner into the house (without overtly giving away his leverage. Deny, deny, deny.) 

When he gets out of the car hot on her heels, Scully looks over, confused herself. 

“My best to the family,” he says quietly, moving swiftly away in her eyeline while he has her attention. 

An interesting note: Mulder refers to the Scullys as “the family” rather than “your family.” Likely it’s a Chris Carter style choice (swapping more personal adjectives for a more generalized “a/an/the”); but if you want to overthink it, see it as Mulder’s tacit acknowledgement of his close ties to Scully’s mother at least (perhaps even younger brother.)

“What are you doing?” Scully asks with creeping dread. 

Mulder doesn’t say a word at first-- making sure he’s in the light so she can clearly see him put the keys in his pocket and put two-and-two together later-- until her stressed “Mulder, don’t you have somewhere to be??” rings through the night.

“Just gonna take a look,” he replies, punctuating his statement with a point. 

Scully’s confliction is apparent. She thought Mulder had Christmas plans of some sort (why? does he usually spend it with TLG? did he make up with his mom off screen?) but he seems bound and determined to get himself into trouble instead. Her face wavers between frustration, fear, and incredulous consternation; and when he gets further and further away, she starts to stress out.   

Scully recalls her plans, turning away. “I’m not gonna do it. My New Year’s resolution,” she speaks, attempting to make it true by voicing her promise aloud.

Mulder’s Law is a universal invariant, however, and cannot be so easily dismissed. 

Mid-pep talk,  Scully realizes her keys are no longer in either of her pockets, and gathers the facts quickly: her sticky-fingered partner Swiper-no-swiping-ed them and took off for the house before she could catch on and halt his shenanigans--

the same "brooding but heroic" partner who is opening the front doors with a loud, majestic creak and quickly popping on his burglar light to start prowling in the dark. The same partner who knows for an unspoken fact-- yes, that unspoken-- that his partner is coming in fast on her huffy heels, little legs indignantly shuffling after his trail. 

His “sublime beauty with a light that seemed to follow her wherever she went” does, indeed, arrive: foreboded by “the gods” -- as Mulder called it earlier-- with a thunder and lightning combo of greater majesty. 

“Change your mind?” her partner asks, hiding his jolt of fear behind a faux innocent question (and making up his mind to scare her back later-- even if it wasn’t her fault, Mulder.)

“Did you take my car keys?” his partner cuts in, fed up with this charade. 

“No,” Mulder lies. 

At this point, eternal life bound together by a lovers’ pact seems like the raw end of the deal. 

Not even Scully’s God can keep these two from the "horrors being visited upon this cold, gray earth" as they scamper right into the clutches of two malevolent, embittered old spirits. 

Thank you for reading~ 

Enjoy!

#txf #How the Ghosts Stole Christmas #In-Depth #Part I #Mulder's Gothic Romance Stories #mine #xf meta #S6 #meta #x-files #xfiles #the x files #analysis #HTGSC #TGTSC #Mulder #Scully #Maurice #Lyda

[phoenix-pheces]

Part two of Bleeding Hearts! Full credit to @turquoisespace35 for this AU. Please see the following list of trigger warnings for this update. I am happy to provide anyone with specifics if you’d like to message me before reading.

Trigger Warnings: Blood, Graphic Violence, Death, Use of Weaponry, Body Horror

—————————————

Bleeding Hearts - 2/3

Though Amity had tried her best, she was no match for twelve trained soldiers: especially with an injured Willow by her side. The two of them had been swiftly escorted to the dungeon below the palace. They thankfully had been permitted to share a small cell. Willow wasn’t sure she could bear to be alone at the moment. Amity had let Willow lean against her side and cry until her voice was hoarse. She knew they needed to be working on a plan of escape, but her fear and guilt had overtaken her. Amity was nothing but understanding and sympathetic, content to stay there as long as a friend needed her.

“Don’t move,” Amity whispered as she silently rose to her feet.

“What’s happening?”

“Torchlight. It’s faint, but I’m pretty sure it’s headed our way.”

Soon, Willow could see the glow as well. She couldn’t make out who was approaching, only that there were two of them. Amity suddenly jumped up and squealed.

“Ed! Em! How did you find us?”

“You’re the only prisoners here,” Amity’s sister said with a laugh. Willow approached the bars to greet them.

“Can you two get us out of here?”

“Way ahead of you.” Amity’s brother held up a small bronze key with a smirk. “They honestly make it too easy. Maybe we’ll break into the armory next.”

“Ed,” Amity interrupted. “Important mission here.”

Together, the twins opened the door to the cell and embraced Amity. They led the two back through the palace, including through the armory. Edric insisted they may need some weapons, and definitely had no personal stake in seeing the elite craftsmanship. Willow took a small dagger for herself, while Emira and Amity took matching spears.

“Alright, let’s go save Hunter.”

The king and his soldiers had been conducting searches of every house in the kingdom. They had lost too much time. He would find Hunter hidden away in Gus’s home soon enough. Willow wanted to run straight to him, but Amity had stopped her.

“Willow, I know you want to go protect him, but we would just be confirming his presence there. The best thing we can do is lay low and hope that Gus was able to move him in time. Maybe to my house, knowing it would be empty for a while?”

Willow reluctantly agreed, but felt little hope. They had ruled out everyone else’s home before deciding on Gus’s. Everyone else had plenty of family coming in and out of the home who could accidentally see Hunter. Gus was the only one who lived in a two person household, and his dad would hopefully be understanding if he were to arrive home and find Gus with an unexpected guest.

The search party arrived at Gus’s home. Amity had insisted on staying far from the home to remain hidden, and described the scene for Willow. Gus answered the door, with the bravest expression he could muster. Neither of them could hear what was being said, nor could they spot Luz or Hunter. The guards pushed past Gus, who began to yell in protest. Amity pulled Willow to her feet, and the two ran for the house.

“Please, I can’t have the house a mess, my dad will be beside himself!” As soon as Gus saw them, his face froze. Making sure he couldn’t be seen, he gave them a frantic nod.

Hunter was still inside.

Willow’s heart dropped. She grabbed Amity’s shoulder.

“We have to go in after them.”

“Willow we can’t,” Amity said, her voice breaking.

“I’m going.” She let go of Amity and made her way into the house.

The guards mostly ignored her, currently tearing through Gus’s home and belongings. Chairs shoved to the floor, blankets thrown about, even the bowls in the kitchen weren’t left undisturbed. Willow pushed her way through the guards just in time to hear the king shouting to the guards.

“Avert your eyes! Don’t let it look at you!”

“No!” Willow screamed.

“Willow!” Hunter’s shout was soon muffled by the sound of a sheet.

“Good work commander, bring it outside. And someone, grab that girl!”

Willow was forcefully grabbed by the wrists. Hunter was brought out beside her, two guards restraining his hands while another held a sheet around his neck, effectively blinding him and protecting everyone else around them. Willow and Hunter both fought to free themselves, but the guards only held their arms tighter. The two were pushed, struggling as they were, out of the house and into the street. The king approached them and addressed the gathering crowd.

“Citizens! Behold! These traitors in our midst smuggled this horrendous monster into our kingdom. It could have turned all of us to stone!” The crowd gasped.

“He’s innocent!” Willow thrashed against the guards. “He can’t control it but he never wanted to hurt anyone! Amity and I are living proof! Please-“

“Silence her!” A guard behind her slapped their hand over Willow’s mouth. She fought against them, but they held their ground. The king spoke again.

“For the crimes of treason and attempted murder, I sentence this girl and her monster to death.”

“The only monster here is you!” Everyone fell silent as Hunter yelled. “You killed my parents, and you sent countless subjects to die knowing I can’t control this power. Admit it!”

Doubt spread as the crowd began to murmur amongst themselves. Amity, Gus, Ed, Em, and now Luz pushed their way through.

“They speak the truth,” Amity called out. “I was chosen too, both Willow and Hunter ensured I wouldn’t be harmed. I would be dead if he was intent on hurting me.”

“I kept him in my home! He was nothing but careful and polite!” Gus added.

“Silence!” The king’s voice echoed through the street. “I will tolerate no more of this deceitful insurrection. Citizens, while it is true these two survived, how many of our bravest warriors have died at the hands of this beast? How many of you have lost parents, siblings, or children?”

The crowd was silent. The king let out a long sigh.

“I wish this monster was capable of living peacefully, I truly do. But at any moment, it could turn on us and turn everyone in the village to stone. Surely, good citizens, you understand?”

“I believe them.” Camila, Luz’s mother, spoke up. Luz beamed at her.

“I believe them.” Willow’s fathers stepped forward together.

Slowly, the crowd agreed and stepped up to join them.

“He looks like just a kid!”

“He didn’t hurt the last two chosen ones.”

“What would they gain by lying and bringing him here?”

Finally, Amity approached the king and dropped her spear to the ground.

“Your Majesty,” she said with determination, “we all know he is no monster. Release him.”

“And if I refuse?”

“We’ll take matters into our own hands.” Edric and Emira joined Amity, each giving her a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder. The king chuckled, but the chuckle turned slowly into full blown laughter.

“Oh, now this is tragic. You all truly believe this thing is worth saving. You trust it more than your own apparently cruel king.” He smirked. “Well if you think I’m a monster now-“

The king grabbed the spear Amity had dropped and plunged it into Hunter’s neck.

“Hunter!” The guards let go of Willow and she ran to him. He collapsed into her arms. She pulled the spear out and shouted to the crowd. “Everyone, look away!”

Willow pulled the sheet off of Hunter. Blood was bubbling up from his neck, and his snakes had gone completely still. Willow’s gaze met his: terror and pain collided in his eyes. Hunter grabbed her arm. He tried to speak, but only dark blood flew from his lips. His grip on Willow began to weaken.

“No, no Hunter please! Please stay with me!”

Behind her, the king began screaming in pain. His back arched sharply and his hands flew to his eyes. The crowd ran, screaming. Willow’s friends tried frantically to reach them. They finally made it to her sobbing and clutching Hunter’s head to her chest.

“He’s not moving.”

The king screamed again as emerald scales began to push their way from beneath his skin. Blood followed, and spilled all over the new surface. His hair fell out in droves as reptilian strands instead made their way to the surface, rippling beneath the skin of his scalp.

He was turning into a gorgon.

#huntlow #huntlow au #willow toh #hunter toh #toh fic #the owl house #toh #toh au #huntlow fic #angst #character death

[nevada-wrytes]

A little something I wrote long ago but decided to revisit and edit today. There will be a second part but I don't think I will continue to write story any time soon (little busy with Jamie and Luke's novel :P)

Previously, a runaway science experiment offers her services to a gang in the city in order to be smuggled out of the country. Little do her allies know she is being hunted by the best army on the continent (The Hits). They use her powers to pull off a daring heist, but that places a target on their backs, so now they, too, are on the run, currently taking shelter on a deserted, supposedly haunted island off the coast of their city.

James 

"Boss, boss, boss!" 

James looked up from the multitude of papers covering the desk he’d commandeered as his own. Lenny had barged into his make-shift office looking paler than a ghost. Maybe he had seen a ghost- again. If that was the case, James had no time to entertain such fairy tales, not when their lives were at stake.

He grumbled, "What now Lenny?" 

Lenny was breathless. "It's Luna— they've taken her! The Hits have got her."

“What.” James stood so fast a teacup that had been perched precariously on a stack of files fell to the floor with a crash. He payed it no attention. “Explain,” he said, gritting his teeth, “Right. Now.”

Lenny still struggled to catch his breath, and now he raked a shaky hand through his hair, a tell of his nerves. “W-well, we were on watch— me and Rai— i-in the trees next to their camp. And- and she was doing her rounds, too, when they came out of nowhere— I wanted to go help her, I swear, but then the Hits would’ve known we've been spying on 'em, you know? And- so me and Rai watched them take her to the docks-" 

James had heard enough. "I can't believe this.”

He stormed out of the room. Lenny called after him, “James! James, wait!”

James did not stop. Not even when Lenny caught up with him and grabbed his arm, pulling him back. James simply shook him off, “Get Ezra, get Cap, and get me a boat so I can get off this fucking island!”

Lenny’s voice was pleading, “James, you can't go marching into their camp like- like this!”

James turned to him, the well he kept his anger in threatening to overflow. “Then what do you want me to do? Leave Luna there to die?”

He didn’t mean to shout, but Lenny flinched anyways. His voice was low. “Look James, I don't want her to stay there either, but we need a plan. Isn't that what you are always telling me? That a good plan is the key to success?”

James looked down at his second in command, his first second in command, right into those big blue eyes that had tricked him into believing in their false innocence long ago. Lenny was right, unfortunately, and it annoyed him to have his own words reflected back onto him.

He sighed, raking a hand through his hair. “Alright. I need a plan.”

“We need a plan.”

James waved a hand, “Yes, yes.” He merely agreed for the sake of it, he had no intention of asking any of the others for help. He could do it on his own. James ignored the worried look in Lenny’s eyes and walked off, already weighing the toll of the heist he would have to pull off to get his girl back.

...

After sacrificing the last of his luck to the Goddess of Fate, James is successfully able to infiltrate the camp and get Luna back, not without first learning the values of cooperation and teamwork (he could not, in fact, do this on his own). However, there’s a problem. The Hits had given Luna some sort of experimental drug that knocked her into a coma, and it seemed she was not waking up any time soon. Ezra, the gang’s resident poison specialist and sorry excuse for a medial professional examines the girl and the toll the drug has done on her body. They were too late. Luna had, at best, three days to live.

...

James

The whole world was falling apart. Shapes that should have been in focus now blurred around him as his vision swam. The ocean was too far away, but James could swear he heard the crash of waves in his head as his heart beat a furious crescendo in his body. He should have felt sad, heartbroken, even, but all he saw was red.

Anger had been a familiar taste on his tongue ever since he was an invisible boy in a seaside town where those that did stop to hear his words usually only laughed. He’d gotten good, over the years, of keeping it in check, of building that well inside him brick by brick just to keep his anger from spilling out.

But now that well had cracked and crumbled, been bombed away by a horror worse than supernatural— something man-made. Naked anger had crawled out of that deep well he’s made just to laugh at his measly attempt to keep his true nature at bay.

Without walls, there was nothing stopping it now. And there was only one person responsible.

“You.” James’s glare singled out a singular body in the crowd. The small little seedling he had allowed to take root in his gang now threatened to overshadow them all. It didn’t take long for all conversations to die around him, and it took Cee much less to realize what he was about to say.

He watched her shrink away from him, as if he was the predator and she was prey. He did not relish in the fear in her eyes. It made him feel worse. The more innocent she acted, the more the hatred in his gut pointed at himself, and that made him angry. Angry enough to move mountains, angry enough to command the tide.

“That's it. You’re done.”

“W-what?” Her voice was so small. James hated her for making him feel bad. She was the weapon of mass destruction. She was the they were on the run from the Hits. It’s her fault Luna is— Luna is—

“Dead. You’re dead to me,” he pointed a finger at her chest with each word, “Get. Out.”

“James-” Sarj warned, crossing the room just to get in between them.

“No.” James turned to him. “I’m the leader here. I say who stays and who goes. She’s been enough of a problem as it is, and now I want nothing to do with her.”

Ezra spoke up, “James, she’s just a girl. Are you really throwing a child into the streets?”

James was sent fuming at her tone. “Just a girl! Are you kidding me? She is a super weapon ready to explode! All of our misfortunes have been her fault!”

Silence rang through the crowd. But in the silence, a small voice chirped, “I’m staying.”

James turned back in disbelief to see Cee standing with her chest puffed out in defiance. “You need me with Luna-”

“Don’t say her name!” It took three men to hold him back from lunging at the child. James didn’t even realize he’d moved. He was more so surprised at the snarl in his voice. He felt like a monster. But he couldn’t stop.

“You are the reason she got in this mess in the first place! If you hadn’t brought the strange soldiers to us, we would never be in this situation! We wouldn’t have to be squatting in a ditch on the run for harboring you! I am sick and tired of other people telling me how to run my gang because of you! You are the reason Luna is going to-”

He couldn’t finish the sentence, his shouts about to turn into tears. He refocused on that raging fury, anything, to stop thinking about the girl dying in the other room.

James looked right into Cee’s eyes and continued. “I want you out. Out of my sight, out of my gang, out of my life! And if you ever think of showing your face in my city again, I will turn you in myself.” He spit out the last words as if they were poison. He stood there for a moment, transfixed in the way he was reflected in Cee’s blank, glassy eyes. He was red in the face and yelling with wide eyes, sheer insanity burning in them.

At last, he turned and faced the rest of his gang. “As for the rest of you,” he huffed, “back to work! The Hits won’t stop looking for their lost lab reject and I’m not going back to that camp to save any of your sorry asses if you get captured.”

No one moved. No one spoke, either, until Ezra faced him, pleading, “James, you’re being unreasonable. You can’t just throw a girl out onto the streets when her life is in danger. Please- what would Luna think?”

James ignored the sting of her words. “If you,” he made a show of turning around to face every other person in the group, “or anyone else disagrees with me, then I think it’s time you found another gang willing to take in your sorry reject of a soul.”

With that, and his jaw set in determination, James walked out of the manor, right into the pouring rain.

…

The storm raged on around him with the intense passion of a desperate lover. It reminded him, bitter sweetly, of his home, and the storms they used to get coming down from the North. That rain was always cold, threatening to freeze your bones in place if you so much step outside to get to the outhouse, and all through the night the only sound was the churning ocean below as it tore apart docks and boats and anything else in it’s way.

This was not that type of storm, but Jamie felt like it was, regardless.

Thunder rumbled somewhere close by as he found his way down to the beach, past steep cliffs and scraggly bushes that would sooner shred him to bits than offer a cushion to land on. Only when he reached the pebbly bottom, though, did he feel his resolve crumble.

The beach was just like the one back home.

James screamed. His voice was the thunder, every crashing wave, every lightning strike. He did not find peace letting his voice go hoarse, instead he felt all his emotions rise up in a catastrophic wave, threatening to drown him.

His situation was bad. Although he’d done what was best for the future of the gang, he knew it was wrong. A few members on the fringe would leave after his harsh words. Sarj, his only muscle, would go. He’d grown too close to Cee over the past few months to let her go alone. Jaque and Rai had enough money to buy themselves out, if they so chose to. Lenny was too far in debt to run, now, so he had no choice to stay. Neither did Ezra, since she wouldn’t leave Luna for the world.

Luna. What would Luna think of what he’s done? It was her idea to help Cee, would she be angry with him for not seeing it through? Cee had done her part of the bargain in getting them through the heist, and now he wasn’t keeping his. By letting her go, he was shunning their contract in the first place. A betrayal like that demanded divine punishment, but James ignored the warning signs.

His mind ached for Luna. He craved her calming presence, her graceful air, he craved her. Luna, as gentle and beautiful as moonlight itself.

“Jamie?” He stirred from his thoughts. That was Luna’s voice, no one called him Jamie— no one dared— besides her. It was his Luna— had Ezra managed to heal her? Had she woken up, stirred by his panicking thoughts?

“Luna?” He turned, frantically looking around at the cliff side, but she was not there. Instead, she was already on the beach, ankle deep in the incoming tide.

She looked like she did before, skin smooth and gleaming as if shining from underneath, and hair a soft silvery cloud being whipped around by the wind.

She looked at him like she always did, as if he was a red-hot steel bar that she just couldn’t let go.

“Luna!” Once he realized she was not an illusion created by his own mind, he ran to her. He picked her up in his arms and spun her around. She was much lighter than he remembered, and surprisingly cold, and wet. She had been outside in this storm too long, he needed to get her back inside before she caught a cold.

“Jamie,” she breathed, still in his arms.

“I missed you so much” he said, choking on tears. Sadness threatened to spill out of him almost as eagerly as his anger had before. He held it back, if only for Luna’s sake.

“H-how are you back? Did Ezra heal you?”

“Jamie.” Luna looked at him with sulky eyes. The tide was up to his knees now, it was really coming in fast.

“Luna?” He said only her name, but it was phrased as a question. “Are you alright? You’re creeping me out.”

Her motionless stare, her body, too shimmery to be real, and her scent. Salt and brine. The ocean, something one couldn’t smell like unless they spent all their hours close to fishing docks and seaweed filled water. Something was wrong, and it was not just the fact that the water was now up to his thighs, climbing to his waist, and threatening to pull him under. Just like the creature in front of him.

No sooner had what he thought was Luna’s strong support turned into the deadly vise of something not human, that he knew it was too late— all he could do was catch a breath before he was pulled under.

…

Calloused, worn hands rocked him back and forth. Somewhere outside the safety of these warm arms breathed the ocean, a gentle rumble in the background, nothing more.

Still, the dark clouds on the horizon filled the house with tension, and Jamie wished he could ease his grandmother’s worries.

Neither of them talked as they sat on the rocking chair, the older woman boring a hole into the window and the younger boy burying his face in the clean scent of her clothes.

Finally, James had the guts to ask, “Why are you scared?”

It took his grandmother a moment to answer.

“When I was a girl, I wanted to go swimming on the eve of a storm.”

The sun began it’s descent as she continued, “It was around midday, but the docks were deserted. I remember setting down my towel, a blue one with stripes, and sitting down on the old boards, just plunging my feet in, feeling the seaweed drift around my ankles, and then feeling something else.

Hair. Underwater. It felt soft, but thick, similar to the seaweed, but the darkest blue I’ve ever seen. So close to black, that I thought it was one of my own kin coming to spook me, but no, it was something different.”

A little girl, not much older than me, peeked her head out of the water. Her skin was the blue of a breathless baby, and she smelled like death. But she smiled when she saw me, a smile full of pointy teeth.”

“Were you scared?” James interrupted. He knew about the sea-folk. Everyone in town did. He’d heard the warnings, he understood when not to go near the water, and he knew to turn around when he heard his name called by the ocean, no matter what lovely voice sang it.

Don’t trust the sea-folk, they said. They’d sooner drain you dry then love ya, that’s for sure.

His grandmother stopped rocking. “I wasn’t as scared as I should have been. I was foolish— and curious. I didn’t believe the stories, but there one was right in front of me. I guess I was luckily, because she was young, too. She didn’t try to grab me, only smiled, as if it, too, was her first time seeing someone different from her. Finally, she asked if I still wanted to go for a swim with her. I managed to shake my head and, with a disappointed shrug, she sank back under. Poor me sat frozen on those docks until the first droplets of rain began pouring, in which I quickly picked up my things and ran back home.”

“Don’t fill his head with garbage.” His uncle walked into the room, cradling a bottle. “The sea-folk don’t ask for permission ‘fore they drag you under. It’s just bam! And then you’re good as gone.”

His grandmother shot the man an irritated look. “Don’t interrupt me, I wasn’t finished. You see James, although I was sparred by the Goddess of Luck that day, others did not share the same fate. After the storm, we found three bodies, pale and shrunken, washed up by the tide. Three claw marks around their heart told their fate— and one of the marks were smaller than the rest, as if made by tiny hands. I reckon it was my sea-girl’s first kill. You never know when you’re luck is going to run out, James.” She lowered her voice, “So, remember, it is best to never bargain with the myryads in the first place.”

…

The water was dark, filled with debris and swirling bubbles. The thing that held James in its claws and would not let go had dissipated it’s illusion. No longer did it pretend to be Luna, instead what emerged from the bubbles was a gangly monster, vaguely feminine with drippy hair like dark seaweed and saggy skin covered in shiny scales. This creature, he knew, was a story. A fairy tale, nothing more than Lenny’s ghost. But it was right here in front of him, and it was begging him to say it’s name: a myryad.

Although the salt water stung his eyes, he refused to let them close, favoring to face death head on. Even as he furiously struggled, the sea-girl’s grip did not falter. When she had pulled him far enough under, it turned it’s head to him. Her eyes were huge, dark pits in its milky-blue face. When it opened it’s mouth, it was not Luna’s lovely voice that came out, but a high-pitched scream, a cry, a siren call to it’s friends. More were on their way.

He felt frozen, paralyzed, both by the stories he grew up with and the very real, very dangerous, fairy tale creature in front of him. Her claws ran over his skin, stopping at his mouth. He shut it tighter, clenching his teeth, as she tried to wedge it open.

James did not waste time assessing the situation. He’d been in worse situations before, but he still panicked, struggling harder than before. Claws tore into clothes, then skin, as if it was paper. Although he couldn’t see very well, he knew the water filled with his blood, getting just the coppery taste on his lips. The myryad sniffed and looked him in the eyes. Hungry.

James knew he was running dangerously low on air, and he frantically tried to remember any stories of sailors escaping capture from the sea-folk, but his mind turned up blank. The only thing he could do was fight, the revolver in his belt useless, but the small dagger in his sleeve still plenty useful in creating a gap between him and the sea-girl.

However, quicker than the lightning above, she was back on him with a cry, even as he slashed at her scales, scoring through flesh. She squeezed his wrist, and a bolt of pain shot through him, enough to make him drop the knife, foolishly. Defenseless, she gained the opportunity to strike, sinking two sharp teeth into his neck.

James cried out instinctively, before he remembered that he was underwater, and managed to swallow a mouthful of ocean. His head swam and the sea-girl began sucking him dry. It was so painful, James felt his body go numb. In a last ditch attempt to get himself free, he lashed out and managed to poke the creature in it’s big, glassy eyes.

It caused her to go reeling back, shrieking. James took that opportunity to start paddling to the surface, but he was too slow. The myryad recovered fast, and latched onto his leg. James kicked wildly, and, somehow, her grip slipped. Her claws tried to latch on, but they ripped through his legs like butter. James grit his teeth at the pain, and put all his remaining energy into kicking to the surface. The sea-girl was shrieking, and somewhere close by other shrieks responded.

Panic raced through James’s gut, but it was overwhelmed by the need for air. His head pounded, his heart beat faster than it ever had, and black spots swam in his vision, enough that he thought he was a lost cause, that this was it, he would sink to the bottom and die, feasted on by the myryads, but, miraculously, he breached the surface.

Gasp. He took a greedy breath of air before resuming his frantic paddle to the shore. When he finally pulled himself onto the sand, he definitely cried. Relief, pain, frustration, it overwhelmed him. He was so thankful to be back on solid land he didn’t even mind the pouring rain above.

James laid on the beach for what seemed like eternity, just breathing like he had never breathed fresh air before. He had really thought he wouldn’t make it. He had never even said his goodbyes. Fortunately, his luck had not run out yet. Before the adrenaline ran out, he staggered up and started for the manor. There was a pool of blood, slowly sinking into the sand, where he used to lay. His injuries stung in the rain, and he knew he needed immediate medical attention, lest he wanted them to get infected. He remembered his grandmother’s warning, his luck could run out at any time, so he hurried as fast as he could as far away from that beach as possible.

#nevada writes #oc writing #no story tag for this yet?? i don't think it will be a series #again will post part two sometime soon #although I won't actively work on this I will talk about it so ask any questions!! i need to ramble about motifs and symbolism AHHHH #fantasy #writing

[bluiex]

Dancing bat anon here with part 4, which includes some sad and moody Grian and some stuff of Scar catching an intruder. Enjoy!

(The end may have went a tad darker than what I thought it would, so warning in advance)

~~~~

"Look at you, all sprawled out and pretty for me...A sight like this might just bring some color to my face."

Grian breathes very slowly as Scar moves a hand up his leg, carefully moving over a large bit of bandages covering his skin. He can only imagine how awkward it is with his many injuries. It's not as if they could just ignore them, the bandages almost cover his entire body...

He was really stupid this time, wasn't he?

"You okay Grian?" Scar asks, taking a much softer tone. "You're making a rather grumpy face."

"The bandages kinda kill the mood, don't they," He mumbles rather bitterly.

"Grian...It's alright. It doesn't bother me."

"Oh please, you can't possibly think this incomplete mummy costume I have is attractive."

He holds his hands up to his face, watching the sleeves of the shirt he's wearing fall and expose the bandages wrapped around his wrists. He doesn't like how many there are. He doesn't like how almost everywhere he looks there's a bandage covering up a wound.

And he really doesn't like how dumb he feels...

"Okay, I think someone's going through a bit of a low." Scar gently grabs his hands, carefully wrapping theirs around his. "Tell me what's bothering you, my angel. I promise I'll listen."

"...I'm not an angel. An angel wouldn't get hurt so much like I do."

"And how do you know? Angels could get hurt just as much as anyone else."

"I don't think so. An angel wouldn't have been as stupid as I've been..."

"You're not stupid," Scar says, leaning down close to his face. "How could you have known that was going to happen? It's just a bad thing that happened to someone who did deserve it."

They let go of his hands to cup his face, gently pressing a kiss to his forehead.

"I knew some of them, you know."

"...What?"

"I was trained under the same mentor as two of those five people. It still feels like yesterday when I was being taught what protections I needed and having my scrapes patched up by my sister..."

Scar hums, mouth forming a firm line.

"Those days were so much simpler. Get up, be trained by your mentor, talk and have lunch with you fellow students, maybe if you were lucky you get to tag along on a hunt with a more trained hunter...Everything was just easier."

"And how do you feel about things now?"

He lets out a dry laugh. "Now? Now I've supposedly been around long enough and done so many successful hunts I could mentor some students if I wanted. Now I'm no longer considered a student but a full-fledged hunter. Now I'm hunting things day in and day out, risking my life almost daily so people don't find out about the supernatural things living in their backyards."

"Do you not enjoy it?"

"It's not something you can really enjoy, it's something more of 'I have to do this or innocent people will get hurt' kind of thing. It's something that feels like more of a necessity the more and more missions you're given."

Scar hums again, brushing a thumb along one of his cheeks. "And have you ever thought of retiring? Putting the wooden stakes down and trying to have a normal life?"

"You can't just retire from being a hunter," He says quietly. "You can't just unlearn or unsee what all being a hunter shows you. You can try to rationalize it as some bad dream, something from the deepest depths of your mind, but you can't forget."

"Well that just sounds bad, doesn't it?'

"I always told myself 'Just wait until Pearl gets back, then we can go somewhere else. We can go somewhere safer' like we could leave this behind..."

He yawns, feeling tired all of a sudden. He's just talking, why is he so tired?

"Can you tell me about Pearl?" Scar asks, seemingly ignoring his yawn. "I don't think you ever brought her up."

"Pearl was...Pearl is great. She's smart, funny, quick on her feet, a little annoying sometimes, and she doesn't take anything lying down. She was always our mentor's favorite with how quickly she seemed to take to all the techniques they showed us. Which was probably why she was chosen to go on a really big mission."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah...She's been gone for 2 years now, and I...I've stopped getting letters from her maybe 5 months ago."

"Oh Grian..."

"I'm trying to stay optimistic about it. I'm trying to think maybe her group is just somewhere where it's really difficult for any form of communication to get in or out. But it's been really difficult the longer it goes on..."

"I'm sure she's okay, and I'm sure she's trying her best to let you know she's okay."

"Yeah..." He yawns again. "You're probably right."

"Why don't you try to get some rest? Tomorrow we can do something you want, okay?"

"Can I have some water first? My mouth feels really dry from all that talking..."

"Of course." Scar kisses his forehead again before moving to the edge of the bed. "You just get all cozy while I go get you a glass."

"Okay."

~~~~

Scar stands by the door, watching Grian pull a blanket up and lie back on the pillows before he closes the door. As he walks to the kitchen, he quietly mulls over what Grian said...No, not mull.

Seethe is the better word.

Two of the five people were someone that Grian knew. Someone they were possibly close to at some point. Someone they had seen succeed, fail, joked with, laughed with even...And those people still did that to them. Still torn into Grian like a pack of angry wolves.

Heh, and they say hunters know who the monsters are.

As he's about to come to the corner of the hallway, he hears a ruckus coming from the living room. Like a hushed voice...And a cat yowling.

He peers from behind the wall, and frowns when he sees the back of someone he definitely did not invite into his home taking an aggressive stance with his cat Jellie.

"Shut up, you stupid cat," The stranger says in a hushed angry tone. "You're going to give me away."

Jellie yowls again, slowly arching her back up as she starts to hiss. He quietly walks up behind the person, keeping his steps light and quiet to not give away his position.

"Don't you have some mice to catch? Run along now and quit bothering me."

"Oh, Jellie doesn't catch mice, but she does a good job at catching people where they don't belong."

The stranger quickly turns their head, which Jellie takes as her opening to bite the person's leg. And as they're reeling from the pain, he pushes them, sending them tumbling over a chair.

"So, let's list your crimes now, shall we?" He says, walking around the chair. "Breaking and entering, which leads to property damage because I assume you broke the lock on my door and gate, trespassing because obviously you aren't suppose to-"

He gets cut off by something sharp flying past his face, cutting his cheek in the process.

"...Ow. Let's add assault to that list. Now, I'm going to give you one chance to tell me-"

"Filthy demon!"

The stranger attempts to slash him with a wooden stake, which he quickly kicks out of their hand before kicking them back. He pins them to the floor by pressing his foot into their chest.

"Let's try this one last time," He says, annoyance already leaking into his voice. "Tell me why you're here-"

"You will pay for your crimes against humanity!" The stranger shouts, once again interrupting him.

"Look, there are other people than me here, so do you mind keeping-"

"The traitor who dared to call himself one of us already paid for his crime! And you shall follow him to the depths of he-"

They get cut off when they start struggling for breath. Hmm, him moving his foot to their windpipe shouldn't be the cause of their new difficult breathing situation now, would it? Maybe now he can actually speak with out getting interrupted.

"Let me put this as simply as possible for you." He presses his foot down even more. "I do not like your attitude."

The stranger, or the hunter as he should call him, starts clawing at his leg.

"You break into my home, you threaten my cat, you attack me, you interrupt me each and every single time I speak, and to top it all off...You were one of the people who attacked my dear angel."

The hunter punches at his leg. A vain attempt at survival really.

"Any chance of you leaving, no longer exists now that I know who you are. Your chance of mercy..."

He watches as the hunter's face starts to turn blue.

"...Is as much mercy as you gave the one you should have never touched."

FUCK YEAH FUCK EM UP SCAR WOOOO!!! GOD lovely bat anon SO fucking good. asdkojfdsh

#bluie gets an ask poggers #long post #scarian #scarian vampire hunter au

[vigsilantes]

blush (adrian chase x reader)

Pairing: Adrian Chase / Vigilante x GN Reader Summary: On a late-night mission at a carnival helping out Chris's friend, you and Adrian have a fun little impromptu date. Word Count: 2.1k A/N: this is part one of the carnival, i will be making a second part to this soon!! :) Tags: Established Relationship, Reader-Insert, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Idiots in Love, Mission Fic, Comfort, Fluff, Post-Canon, Carnival, Banter Warnings: swearing, drugs, killing

~masterlist~ | >>>(read on ao3)<<<

Of all the strange places missions have taken you to, tonight might take the cake – it’s at carnival. Usually, you only visit the carnival when it’s in town in the summertime for you and Adrian’s yearly date there. You’ve never gone to the carnival dressed in your vigilante suit for a mission and you never thought you would be, but here you are. It could be worse though, at least these drugs you were going after were human, and no aliens are involved. In the van before getting briefed for the mission, you, Adrian, and the rest of the team were chattering about the odd location of the job.

“Listen up,” Emilia started as she realized you were discussing the mission, “as I started saying earlier, tonight’s mission is kinda weird, we’r-”

“Hey it’s not weird.” Chris interrupted.

“God, okay so sneaking into a carnival and busting a low-stakes drug deal isn’t at all weird?” Harcourt plainly questioned, all eyes flew to Chris, who shook his head in disagreement.

“Alright, that’s beside the point, but this is a favor for me, okay?” Chris looked around at everyone, Adrian shook his head in understanding.

“So, just to be clear, are the rides at the carnival going to be on or off? Just asking, for a… friend,” Adrian willfully questioned, you looked around, wondering the same thing. Harcourt slowly nodded her head indicating that the rides will be off, “Damn,” Adrian whispered to himself, you also felt a bit sad knowing you won’t be able to go on any rides. Chris chuckled from seeing your shared reactions.

“Sooo,” Adebayo started, trying to get back on topic.

“Yeah, so anyway, my buddy is the owner an-”

“Wait what friend?” Adrian inquisitively asked Chris, marveling at the fact that he has other friends.

“Dude it doesn’t matter, he runs the carnival that’s in town right now and he says a few of his employees have been dealing drugs, and that they have a whole little drug ring hidden in the carnival but he’s too much of a pussy to confront them, so he asked me, and I owe him, so I asked Harcourt.”

“So, we’re just breaking into this locked up circus to stop drug dealers?” you ask, wanting to confirm the obscurity of the mission.

“And killing? Is that on or off of the table?” Adrian added, which was a very good question to ask.

“On, he wants them gone,” Harcourt replied, you and Adrian nodded, “there shouldn’t be many of them either, so it’s a fairly simple deal.”

“Oh, and we aren’t breaking in,” Chris looked at you then reached for his pocket, “he gave me the keys,” he took the keys and waved them, they jingled in his hand.

“Almost there,” John announced, the carnival is set in the middle of the town, so it wasn’t a long drive at all, and with it being so late at night no one was out, you could’ve walked there if you wanted to.

“Do those keys… unlock some rides, perhaps?” you ask, Adrian’s eyes darted to Chris waiting for an answer. Chris slyly smiled at the two of you.

“Maybe,” he teased, Adrian huffed in annoyance, you and Leota rolled your eyes simultaneously.

“Yes or no, man?” Adrian whined, which made Chris burst out in laughter.

“Let’s see how the mission goes,” Emilia said, you scrunched your eyebrows at the hint of Em wanting to go on some rides, Chris nodded his head.

“You want to go on a ride?” Adrian asked Emilia, you two always think the same things.

“Yeah, what, I’m not a monster,” she rebutted, everyone laughed, and the van came to a stop. “Alright, let’s get this over with,” she said plainly.

“No need to be a Debbie downer,” Chris said to Emilia, who was snickering. You and Adrian threw on your masks, everyone hopped out of the van, except John, and Chris was rattling the keys around in his hand as he grabbed his gun. You then made your way to the fence, and Chris easily unlocked the lock, everyone entered the eerily dark carnival.

“Woah super creepy in here with no lights on,” you say, looking around at the empty, silent park.

“Totally,” Adrian voiced, “doesn’t look this fuckin’ weird when we come here on our dates,” he looked over at you, and you nodded, thinking about the times you’ve been here on dates with him. You two always have a blast on your carnival dates, and you couldn't wait for your date this year. 

“So, what part of this place are the drug dealers in?” Leota asked Chris, who was taking the lead.

“Behind some of the games,” Chris stated, and you headed towards the game section, you and Adrian slinked to the back of the group to quietly chat while the others bickered. You two always made a habit of walking behind together so you could have a bit of time with each other.

“If we don’t get to go on a single ride here afterwards, I’ll be fucking pissed,” Adrian whispered to you.

“Same here, Vig,” you added, "but if not, we still have our date," you remind him, he looked over to you through his visor.

"So true, and I totally can't wait babe, but how awesome would it be to be the only ones on a ride here?" he asked and you nodded in reply, he was right, it would be dope. After a couple moments you approached a few game booths. As you caught up with the group, you looked around and the booths were empty besides all the games. The setup of the games were present, but there were no toys in sight.

“Where the hell are the prizes?” Leota queried as she looked at the empty booths, Adrian gasped, and everyone turned to look at him.

“What if the toys are alive like in Toy Story?” Adrian suspiciously questioned, Chris broke out in a laugh that almost blew your cover, Em hit him on the arm to shut him up.

“They could be…” you quickly came to Adrian’s defense, “hell, we’ve fought aliens before, toys coming to life wouldn’t be the most shocking thing we've ever seen,” Adrian hummed in agreement.

“They’re right, I mean, considering the shit we’ve done?” Leota peered, Chris and Emilia scoffed, "what, you never know?" Leota wearily stated. Chris then led everyone to the door of the game and you went into the back storage part of the booth and lo and behold, there were all kinds of drugs; coke, meth, pot, you name it and it would be here. The booths were all connected and so were the back storage rooms, it was like a long hallway of some sorts, and by the looks of it, there were about five or six booths with drugs stored everywhere. Chris guffawed at the assortment of drugs, and suddenly you heard a door at the end of the long hallway open. Everyone’s weapons raised, and you all silently waited for the drug dealers to enter. The door crept open, and four men entered, knives in hand. With just a few lousy pulls of his trigger, Chris took out all of the men, and they all instantly dropped to the ground.

“Hmm, that was easy,” Chris stated, you stared at him.

“It was only four men?” you question, and Leota furrowed her brows.

“Yeah, all done,” Chris confirmed, Emilia tilted her head.

“Why are we all here then?” Leota asked, a smile spread across Chris’s face.

“For the fun,” he wiggled his eyebrows and shook the keys again, Adrian gasped, and you began feeling giddy. “Knew this would be easy, just thought we could use some fun for a fuckin' change,” he said, you chuckled. “I know how to turn on a bunch of the rides,” Chris bragged, and Adrian pumped his fist.

“Oh, hell yeah!” Adrian exclaimed, he ripped his mask off, and a wide grin was painted across his face. He reached for his safety pouch and put his glasses on.

“Let me get John,” Emilia smiled as she left the booth. Before leaving, Adrian picked up a teddy bear because it looked strange. He ripped the head off of it, exposing a bag of coke in the bear’s stomach.

“Oh, so the toys are not alive, they were for the drugs,” Adrian confirmed, and tossed the coke bear aside, you giggled.

“You wanna ride the Ferris wheel or what?” Chris asked you, Adrian, and Leota. Adrian was practically vibrating from excitement.

“Duh,” he plainly told Chris. You four then left the drug booth and walked over to meet John and Emilia. Chris led everyone to the Ferris wheel, and Adrian scooped up your hand in his. You then took off your mask to look at him and met him with a smile. “This is different than our normal carnival date,” Adrian stated.

“It is, it’s badass,” you told him, and he shook his head. "It's a fun mini carnival date," he looked pleased.

“Hell yeah it is!” he agreed, and you eventually reached the big Ferris wheel. Chris unlocked the barricade gate, walked over to the control booth, and dropped his gun. The rest of you followed and made a pile of your weapons. Chris then used a different key to turn it on, and the lights immediately flashed on and illuminated the gloomy park. Everyone’s eyes widened, and Chris eagerly laughed.

“It’s on a self-timer so we can all go on it, and if anything goes wrong, well, we can figure that out after,” Chris admitted, you and Adrian didn’t really care, as you’ve done more dangerous things than go on a Ferris wheel.

“Ehhh,” John started, actually being sensible about the risks, Leota also looked a bit unsettled. Chris patted his back.

“Don’t be a pussy, let’s just have some fun!” Chris exclaimed, John grumbled at first, but you could see the contemplation leave his face.

“Fine,” he said, "if this goes south you’re jumping off and stopping it," he decided, and Adrian clapped.

“Deal," Chris replied, then looked around, "alright, who’s first?” Adrian instantly shot up his hand and grabbed yours, pushing you both to the front of the group.

“Figured,” Chris said, and motioned for you both to sit in the car. Adrian entered first, then you slid in next to him. Emilia shut the gate and locked it, hitting it twice, signaling Chris to move the ride. Chris hit a few buttons and your car lifted, then stopped so the rest of the team can get on. Leota and John shared a car, and once they were in the ride moved again, then promptly stopped. Emilia sat down first leaving the door ajar, Chris then hit the button and the ride slowly lifted, he sprinted to the entrance and jumped into the seat with her, almost missing his chance to join the ride but he somehow didn't. This time, the ride didn’t stop, and you began to go higher in the air. It was a fairly large Ferris wheel, and the view over Evergreen was beautiful. Adrian inched closer to you and threw his arm around you, you nestled your head into his chest.

“This is so fucking rad,” Adrian said as the both of you looked at the dark town.

“Right,” you added, and the breeze from the ride felt a bit chilly, even in your suit, so you scooched closer to Adrian.

“We still have to come back here for our date though, I am not skipping out on that tradition,” he said, you nodded your head, your yearly carnival dates have become a fun part of your relationship, you didn't want to miss it either.

“Oh of course, wouldn’t wanna miss that,” you confirmed, and Adrian blissfully sighed, and your car reached the height of the Ferris wheel. The town looked serene, there were barely any lights on as everyone was most likely asleep, and it put you at ease. Adrian pecked the top of your head, and you couldn’t help but crack a smile, you inched away from his chest to look up at him. He met your gaze and swiftly pressed his lips to yours, and in this moment, you felt beyond content. He pulled away from you and gently smiled, with his cheeks sporting a perfect shade of pink as he looked down at you. You adored how often he blushes, it makes your heart flutter. “I lovveeeee how easily you blush, it’s adorable,” you admitted, his cheeks somehow grew even pinker.

“Whattt – please,” he waved his free hand, bashfully dismissing your compliment. “Ahhh you know I love ya, right? Like so much. Soooo so so sooo much, babe,” he pecked your cheek.

“Love you too, Ade,” you beamed, and returned your head to that all too familiar position in his chest. As the ride continued, the slight movement of your seat was relaxing, and you felt incredibly serene while embraced in Adrian’s warm arms.

#adrian chase #adrian chase x reader #vigilante #vigilante x reader #freddie stroma #peacemaker #adrian chase x you #peacemaker hbo #adrian chase fluff #adrian chase fic #chris smith #emilia harcourt #leota adebayo #john economos #gn reader #reader insert #adrian chase vigilante

[scribble-dribble-writes]

Face paint

---

Pairing: Obi wan x reader

Contents: a Halloween party, chaotic fun and Obi wan costume illustrations

Warnings: none

Word count: 2000

@heyhawtdawgs as you suggested, Obi wan dresses up as Anakin 😌

---

He dreaded this time of the year. Anakin as always was up to some mischief so given that today was the blue moon festival, he had to keep an eye out. It had gotten to a point that he postponed all his meetings and he would stay at home, away from any trap Anakin would have laid out for him. He was on his way back to his suite, dodging corners and not looking at anyone when he turned the corner and bumped into someone. He could not lose the bet for the consequences were dire. If Anakin managed to catch him before he got home, he would have to attend that horrible event.

But the sight of dark hair coiling around his chest and a pair of brown eyes looking at him made him realize what had taken placed. It was you. He struggled with getting the crush he had for you under control that any effort was futile. Right now, he had forgotten everything, words weren’t forming in his mouth so instead all he could was look at you and steady you back to your feet. “Sorry, Obi wan.”, he heard you say and shook his head as though he would never let you take the blame. It was his fault. But he saw the smile that played on your lips and only then it hit him. As he turned around, Anakin was right there. He had lost, this was the first year he had lost.

“Obi wan, looks like you will have to attend the festival.”, Anakin crossed his arms and he felt defeated. It was low, even for Anakin, to involve you after everything he knew.

“Fine. What are the conditions?”, He asked feeling quite annoyed. “Oh, the council will decide that.”, Anakin motioned to follow him and so he did.

“What are you up to?”, he narrowed his eyes. “Oh you’ll know shortly.”, Anakin responded with that everything turned black.

The air was stuffy and whispers swirled around him. “He’s awake.”, said a voice as he slowly opened his eyes, that were beginning to adjust to the low light. “Alright, alright, final votes now.”, he heard and knew it was his Padawan’s. He looked at the figures who were dressed in costumes of different kinds. He wanted to chide the person responsible for this so when he tried to move his hand, he noticed he had been tied down to the chair. “Anakin.”, he voiced echoed in the dark. “This is unnecessary.”, the anger bubbled in the back of his throat. “I’m sorry master but the stakes are high this year.”, Anakin responded but he heard a laugh and the sound of metal. “Kenobi, you look comfortable.”, his blood began to surge. “What is he doing here?”, he questioned. “I’m here to see you suffer.”, he heard Maul respond while he flicked at his nails.

“Now everyone settle in, we need to choose the top three winners.”, he noticed Anakin held a glass bowl with torn bits of paper in it. “Why do I have to be a part of this?”, his questions were being overlooked. “You’re afraid you might actually enjoy it.”, he heard someone finally respond. “I will not.”, he bit back as he turned to see only to have the wind knocked out of him. You strode into the room in an emerald gown dressed as the daughter, your hair dusted with glitter and your face ever so elegant. His eyes lost focus and the room blurred, his heart began to speed up such that he could feel the pulse in his throat. “Right on time. Let’s get started, our makeup artist is here.”, Anakin announced while he had no clue what was even about to begin. He could sense you were walking closer towards him and he willed himself to look at anything else to calm down.

“The first look is…”, Anakin fished around for a piece of paper and finally stopped when he got one. “Yoda as a baby.”, he read to the room only to hear Maul break the silence with his laugh. Ahsoka covered her mouth while Anakin snickered. He dug his nails into the arm rest. This was what he dreaded, the silliness of it all. But when he felt your finger tilt his chin to have him look at you, he wanted to rethink about this moment. He’d let you do anything, so he was alright with a bit of face paint.

You were close enough to see the faint freckles on his cheek. His eyes very often would focus on you and when you catch him, he’d look away. He sat patiently as you quickly worked the rouge on his cheeks. You fixed the Yoda ears over his head and stepped away. Maul took one look and had to leave the room, Ahsoka squeeled and Anakin was coughing after laughing too hard. “Obi wan you’re so cute!!”, Ahsoka smiled and Rex, who was standing next to her, nodded in response. “I’m not cute.”, he rolled his eyes. But he was and with out any thought you blurted it out which he heard. His brows relaxed, the frustration faded away and his eyes glimmered. “Am I?”, he asked softly as he turned to you. Your cheeks felt warm as your finger fidgeted with the brush. “You are.”, you said quickly and moved away before you could read into his expressions again.

He wanted to wear a costume and attend that stupid festival cause the adrenaline of hearing you admit wanted him to scream from the top of the Senate building. The baby Yoda costume was turned down purely on the fact that no one wanted to antagonize master Yoda. So the second look was fished from the bowl. Anakin mimicked a drumroll and held the paper out to Ahsoka who looked over at Maul and in that moment he knew. He knew Maul was getting his revenge. “Maul”, she read out. “Kenobi out in public with my face painted on his? A befitting payback for having metal legs.”, Maul folded his arm with a snicker. Anakin was pulling out his Holo pad to take pictures and all he could do was heave a sigh. “Lets get it done with.”, he closed his eyes and felt the cold application of the paint on his skin.

There was something about it. The black kohl that lined his eyes, the red paint contrasting his eyes and his gentle voice. He wore the scowl well, his hair disheveled from having the Yoda ears removed. “I’m impressed with your self obsession.”, you heard him comment to Maul. “Well for a more authentic portrayal, I suggest a bald head.”, Maul bit back with a maniacal smile. “No one touches my hair.”, you could feel the frustration with which he spoke. You wanted to divert him and ease the tension. You signed up for this in the hopes of spending more time with him and that he might finally enjoy himself. You reach out to push back a lock of hair that fell over his forehead and tuck it behind his ear. His eyes snapped to yours as he leaned in ever so slightly into your touch. “I second that, it adds to the look.”, you peeled away from his gaze to look around but if it had been only you and him, you knew you would have leaned in as well.

The second look was a close fan favorite and it was to the theme of being scary but Obi wan felt a bit out of his element. Maul had gotten the fun out of it so it was now down to the final selection. Anakin shook the bowl and selected an entry but it was unusual that he didn’t burst out laughing. He held the paper in his hand and had a dreadful look. Ahsoka peeked over his arm and became ecstatic. “This is the winner.”, she proclaimed to which Maul wanted to know. As she whispered it to him, his eyes began to shine yellow with mischief. “It has my vote too.”, he seconded the idea. Now it was getting to you, the need to know. “Now it’s up to you.”, Anakin turned to you and pulled you away to show you the final option. The moment you read it you agreed and with a smile gave away your final vote. Obi wan looked around, his face etched with confusion as they finally turned to you in the hopes of an explanation. “I will remember this, all of your betrayal. It won’t even be that funny.”, Anakin was throwing up a tantrum. “We’ll win this year.”, Ahsoka sounded confidant.

The others left the room, now it was only him and you. “So what’s the final verdict?”, he asked in an attempt to not dwell on the matter that he now had your undivided attention. “You’re guilty.”, you untie his hands and he relaxes into the seat as he massaged his wrists. “Oh and what is the consequence?”, he played.

Anything. Ask me anything.

“Well a dance. That is only because the situation isn’t dire.”, you disappeared behind him which only made him feel more confident. “And what if it was?”, he asked. He saw you walk into his view and place the costume on the stand nearby. “You need to change into those.”, you evaded his question but the closer he got to attending the events, the more confidant he got too.

The costume was nothing but his Padawan’s clothes and suddenly all of this became even more exciting. He could go about as Anakin and behave as reckless as he wanted to. But the costume only consisted of a pair of leather pants and a black robe, this was going to be interesting. He looked at himself in the mirror before he exited pushing past the white curtain.

You had always only seen him in white but watching him walk out in a black ensemble without a shirt beneath made you fumble with the products in your hand as you quickly looked away but it was no use, he was walking towards you any how. It was uncanny how easily he got into character. He flopped down onto the chair, his Maul make up needed to be removed. “I’m assuming someone’s lent me my Padawan’s night wear. It’s clear he doesn’t sleep with a shirt on.”, he turned to face you. “All that beauty hidden away beneath robes, a little unfair don’t you think?”, you ask knowing well it was to tease him, his reaction was not what you expected.

He leaned in, instead of staying away, so maybe you were reading the signs right. You pull him closer as you rub the makeup remover over his face, the paint almost gone but his eyes stay on yours. “Tell me the consequences for my dire actions.”, he whispers and you feel your stomach plummet. “Only true love’s kiss can redeem the irredeemable.”, you half jest. You trace your thumb over his top lip to remove the final smidge of paint but as you move away he took a hold of your wrist and kissed the back of your hand.

“What’s this?”, you ask feigning innocence. “Insurance for the dance.”, he replies and you hum. He pulled on his gloves and you match his eye level to fix the wig. “Now Anakin, I need you to pass on a message to your master.”, you tell him to which he smirks. Furrowing his eyebrows, “You can tell him yourself.”, he responds. You tip your mouth in a smile as you grab a hold of the sides of his robe and pull him closer till your lips met his. He freezes but then let’s go. “Oh well, he’ll never know that I planned this so I can get him alone.”, you chuckle as he kisses you back. “Oh he knows. That is why he played along.”, he responds and you laugh.

The moment he walks around, people whistle and cheer except for Anakin. “Again, this isn’t funny.”, he folded his arms. “It will be when we walk over a sand pit.”, Obi wan joked and mimicked his walk. “Oh no.”, he stops patting down the sides of his robe. “I've lost my lightsaber, again.”, he laughs and Anakin rolls his eyes. His hand finds yours as everyone boards the shuttle to event while Anakin bickered in the background. Tightly packed amidst the crowd he holds you close and places a secret kiss on your forehead. This was going to be a night to remember.

#obi wan kenobi #ewan mcgregor #obi wan my beloved #general kenobi #master kenobi #kenobi series #kenobi tv #obi wan imagine #obi wan x reader #obiwan x fluff #obi wan fanfiction #obiwan kenobi #star wars kenobi #star wars fic #star wars

[ram-de]

[read] all of our demise thoughts vomit

The last post is getting far too long so I'm making a new one. I'll be treating this like this is my private Twitter account whatever💀

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No way they're becoming a local teenage celeb, I guess it's not far too removed from reality that a murderer (no matter how justified) would gain some large number admirers😭

Sure the Grieves had it bad but man Gavin... HE'S GONNA WIN THIS GAME. (and by win I mean snatching Lowe and lived happily ever after somewhere in a place that does not send kids to murder games). The story too, surely he's not going to die at the end right... R-RIGHT....

When the characters written that they cried or teared up rather easily I felt like it's a nice reminder that beneath all that curses and fights they did they're still like 16 years old kid being put in a murder game which most of them participate by the nature of tradition...

Someone save my girlie Isobel from the harassment💀 AND THAT INCLUDES HER SLIMY FATHER... Wait. His father steals from small shop... That shouldn't surprise me since this family vultures on dead people's magick...

My girl Isobel is also quickly flippant and impulsive, now that's a good traits for a champion. She's so self-important and annoying hsgshsjsh

"Maybe it's because of the curse breaking," UGH SHUT UP FINLEY... MAKE UP A BETTER REASON... /something that's deviate from the rules happens/ "oh maybe it's" OKAY SHUT UP... I GET IT THE FIRST TIME AROUND... if they want to remind me of how everything can be explained with "curse breaking" then at least try to make it sound interesting wtf....

Hm.. They're pairing Isobel and Reid. I frankly did not care enough for both of them. It's eh I guess. Talk about Reid, I also think for how much they hyped Reid and made him so important in the first book, the way he's dragged to the tournament because Isobel maced him to the head when he sleeps is vastly underwhelming. What do you mean in this age and era they would set some kind of protection shield when they sleep with danger around.

Why do I feel like there's isn't gonna be any more champion death after this? Leave it to Darrow and Payne because they're not the main cast in the first book. The main four isn't gonna die for sure. Maybe Gavin. Okay, wait. HENDRY. He's gonna die (again), so that Alistair can properly grief, move on and stuff. Reid may die by the end since he tampered a lot, though a glimpse of his motivation, using high magick for the better of the living condition of the people, highly naive makes me think there's gonna be a background story and he's gonna live.

So who's dying?

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Alistair is gonna be fold again hsgshsjsh my man...

NOT AGAIN STOP WITH THIS PAIRING I DID NOT LIKE THEM ONE BIT STOP INTERTWINING FINGERS YOU HERETICS

Why did the "Heroes" faction kept thinking of themselves as victim, all of those three have doubted another champions, some betrayed (and Reid is just slimy). When you corner the other two to their limits, of course they're gonna retaliate. You guys attacked them for goodness sake don't act surprised when they hit back💀

Isobel's "Who did this to you?!" to Briony when just few hours ago she planned to murder her and Finley in their sleep. She's so, uh, I'm sorry but, fake😒

Finley as a character seems so flat hsgshsh he's like the golden boy. Perfect, charming and is Briony's boyfriend. He sticks to his values and that's it. WE NEED HIM AT THE STAKE... NEXT VICTIM.

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Another day another session of procrastination. IM SO EXCITED.

ALRIGHT. Briony is kinda real for her decision. They can break the curse /the wrong way/ although that'd means all champions will die. She's still a /hero/ through and through. When the hero complex paying off👍 The kiss in the rain is very dramatic lmao

"Don't die, I'm the one who gets to kill you, okay?" PEAK ROMANCE‼️‼️‼️

For such grave injuries, a single spell surely saved the day just like that. That was very, anticlimactic idk😭

Isobel/raid pairing chapter... Snooze... Briony/Finley however, is starting to grow on me.

How many times are they gonna kept reusing the same Isobel's betrayal plot again SIGH ITS GETTING TIRING NOW MAKE UP YOUR DAMNED MIND GIRL URGH the only one who actually cares ending the damn game is Briony and she's carrying a lot here💀

Briony is such a girlboss she's so cool

Reid is such a loser I NEED HIM GONE😭 HE KEPT STOPP LOWER I NEED HIM BURIED SIX FEET UNDER... SCREW U REID. Even I wouldnt pair this slimy ghoul with Isobel gosh poor her😭 I know he's probably gonna have another one of these "my childhood so tragic uwu" but I'd he's a slime

Hsgshsjsh the satisfaction I felt. The build up to that hammer slam is SO GOOD. there's so a fluff moment I'm cryinf😭 (they were about to torture a slime) oh goodness I should be sick but then again they're torturing a slime so I don't feel as bad

After a while I just realized Reid is written as a classic villain cartoon character, he's just like Spandam from OP hsgshshs

Another Isobel/Reid chapter and slime flirtation PACK IT UP I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THJS wait briony/finley is a power duo

"You're welcome," OH SHUT UP YOU SLIME ughj knowing he has a romance plot line soon makes me repulsed SHOVE IT AWAY KEEP IT HIDDEN GET IT OUTTA HERE

briony girlboss but also innes deathflag😭

STOP IT WITH ANOTHER SLIME GERMINATION URGHH WE NEVER REALLY NEED A REID MACTAVISH IN THE SECOND BOOK I HATE SLIMES URGHH ugh it's been like 2 pages but it felt so long IS THIS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU READ A BOOK THROUGH A CHARACTER YOU HATE

one good thing about this chapter is them picking up the pace. get over it whatever I'm tired of reading you slime ass flirting and calling eachother darlings GO MERGE SOMEWHERE ELSE

Huh at least the slime had some self-awareness. Good enough, I guess. Still a slime though. OH SHUT UP YOU DON'T GET TO WABBLE ABOUT DOING GOOD AND JUSTICE AND ALL SHUT UPPPP

Ugh when will this chapter end I miss my clumsy son Alistair

Okay finally isobel FINALLY SHE MADE UP HER MIND though she ended up confiding with a slime ykw good for her whatever PACK IT UP I WANNA SEE ALISTAIR

Now why is Gavin's chapter a measly 8 pages while Isobel got like 14?! I'm so close to doing a kpop stan ramble about song line distribution hsgzhsjsjhs but also only 4 chapters of Isobel left (which means less slime appearance and mention) I CHEERED

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O-oh... Gavin's family is TRASH. GARBAGE. UTTER STANKY PILE NON-RECYCABLE WASTE. I need them gone. I need Gavin to pull an Alistair....

Fergus you're in THIN ICE right now.

I teared up just a bit shgshsjsahah Gavin you deserve all the world and a half😭

I just realized Alistair (Cottage, Crown) have mismatched Relic and Landmark with Gavin (Castle, Shoes) THAT'S... THAT'S CUTE

Hendry's life wishes broke me too HELP ILVERNATH IS ABUSING CHILDREN SEND THEM ALL TO THERAPY (except maybe the slime he should've went to therapy FAR AWAY from the OG cast)

GAVIN IS CURED THSI IS THE BEST DAY EVER

____-------_

"The slime has changed" LMAOO just like all the other two pairs of course everyone changed once they meet their partner Isobel and the slime, Briony and Finley, heck even Gavin and alistair too (on progress) but WELL WHO CARES once a slime forever a slime, PLEASE PERISH IN THE NEAR FUTURE

I'm cryinf Alistair is such a dramatic guy😭 you've been in dungeon for like 14 hours my man hsgshshhs

HWNDRY😭 THE FAREWELL MADE ME WEPT it happened so fast shgshah I don't know what happened but ;-; PLEASE HAVE A GOOD LIFE YOU TWO 😭

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Each time the slime said the word 'darling' my will to read depletes by 1% SHUT UPPP

Briony's redemption arc is done so beautifully, she let go of the burden and her own expectation of being a /hero/😭

I really can't take anymore of the slime/sobel flirting scene... WRAP IT UP.... CRAFT THE DSMN CROWN‼️

I'll give them props for not putting the slime in a rosy tinted glasses through Isobel's perspective. YOU STILL MANIPULATED A LOT OF DESPERATE KIDS THAT'S ABOUT TO DIE YOU SLIME... like yucky murky mud slime.

I never want to read about slime mating ritual😭 please don't put that in the story ever again...

AAAAAAAAAAAAAH the fakeout death... I don't know if it's fake but I'm sure he's gonna heal one way or another. Alistair needs to LIVE...

ALISTAIR ON HIS TIPTOES... HES ADORABLE AND CUTIEFUL (he has a kill count of four people)

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Another day another aood reading sesh

IM SO WEAK WITH FAMILY REUNION AAHH it's fine Isobel hsgshsj now who invited her slimy dad to this party

Of course the slime will slither into the most slimy role at the end of the story. He's a slime guys... Don't trust slime... I THIS HOUSE WE DETEST morally ambiguous (not really but like u get it) character like REID MACTAVISH

Though if he actually commits to his slimy role and be the villain he ALWAYS IS I'll actually like him a bit better. Like, he's not halfassing things. If that's the case then he's cool. NO SILLY PLOTLINES LIKE isobel's convincing him out of love or like friendship power bullshit (that's only reserved for characters I like so that I can look past some plot conveniences like Alistair and Gavin hsgshsjsh love u two) alright give me the slime show reid I'm prepared

AUGH whatever he's not that interesting😒 he's not even deserving the title of slime anymore whatever

BRIONY SACRIFICE??? HWGATSGWHHWGSYSY THIS IS NASTY THAT was so grotesque😭 GIRLIE I'M SORRY AAAHH her whole story of being set up as a hero but when she ended up having a dream and wishes past hero complex, they killed her off like😭 I guess it's like thematic in how she's ended up as the hero, something she always strived and chased to be, who also sacrificed her life but come on😭 she's been the one who's actually working her ass off trying to end the tournament and like she deserves better, at least like SURVIVING

Omg fuck im not even attached that attached to her character😔

The funeral is is a nice closure😭

Ugh the slime is crying, fine, he's okay. That makes him a bit human. I'd pat his head once or twice. I'll probably still think of him as a slime the next time I reread but for now he's just a guy.

J-jawdrop... Am I not getting my Alistair/Gavin happy ending😭 O-oh a long distance is good enough I guess

THE ENDING😭 AHHHHHHHH MY HEART IS FULL THAT WAS A RIDE. I NEEDED A LONGER EPILOGUE because what was that shgshsjshhsh everyone sort of get their closure except maybe Finley because he's not the main cast. Grieve's parents not mentioned anywhere (as they should but also I need them gone), Marianne Jr. Sort of handled to Calista (whol also is a Grieve and she's been so shitty to Gavin this is like the least she could do to help him like seriously screw her and her parents SHE NEVER APOLOGIZED TOO I think or if she did it doesn't leave an impact coz I didn't remember). Then again Alistair does really need a thorough therapy away from Ilvernath (everybody needs to actually) and I doubt he can take care of a kid that reminds him of murder house sjgzhzjs

AHSGUSGSGSH ALRIGHT ALRIGHT I REALLY ENJOYED THE READ THAT WAS ALL OF US VILLAINS (I think the slime Reid is the only one deemed to be villain but he also switched lädt minute, the others aren't really villainy except when they kill. Alistair is a clumsy short king, Briony is literally a hero, Gavin brought up to be the sacrificial sheep, Isobel may or may not have a teensy bit of villainy a.k.a but also that's her being a survivor, Finley sticks to his moral code and even after abandoning it he's still a hero by Briony's side, Elionor is unhinged and a girlboss and Carbry I forgot about who are you son)

#readingrams #aouv #all of our demise #Reid mactavish slander #As I should #He's a slime #Proud slime hater

[captainsupernoodle]

*looks at my bookmarks and to read list* *looks away* I'm gonna need to do themed rec posts huh. So here's what I've been reading recently - these are wips that are currently updating, altho at varying speeds! Most of these are steddie 😂

wouldn't it be nice (if we could wake up) by kissesforcas, 70k - they finished destroying my heart with soft fluffy low stakes nerdy loveliness in the shire is NOT on fire and decided to come for me from the other direction with some Delicious angst with their take on immediate post-Vecna fallout. Ymmv if you're squicked by imprisonment and/or medical experimentation but it's clearly tagged and there are chapter content warnings! (Light spoiler but) I wanna give a big hand for Steve getting to join in on the monster shenanigans and an absolutely stunning take on the upside down. Almost complete!

I'll Hear You Scream by whileawaythehours, 50k - AUGH. Vampire!Eddie but it's mostly aftermath, and WHAT an aftermath, ooh boy. Definitely a heavy angst start, but proceeded to lovely softness at this point. Features Steve with a big-ass sword, unfortunately overshadowed by circumstance, but a cool image nonetheless.

Lacking Substance Not Fear by ItCanBePalped, 10k - Steve does music! It's Steve & Robin centric so far (possibly my favorite relationship in the show, and excellently done here) with the adventures of keeping Steve's head in one piece. Tackling IRL consequences of things like head injuries can get heavy fast, but so far this is mostly fluff! Steve Is Okay. Robin, I love you.

(something happens and I'm) head over heels by GibbousLunation, 30k - I did two vamp Eddie fics so here are two "Steve gets hit in the head a lot" fics. Steve is uuuuh less okay in this one but at the current chapter they DID find him from where he wandered off and he's gonna be alright.

keds and tube socks by littlelansky, 15k - they watch Nausicaa!!! No upside down drama, all fun group dynamics, some of that we-saved-the-world-together-but-we-dont-really-KNOW-eachother developing friendship/pre-relationship stuff with Steddie. Excellent.

to be cut adrift by cydonic, 18k - some of those fun old PTSD coping mechanisms! Midnight drives and Eddie trying his best to help out the chronic helper. Steve cooks!

Let us Dwell in Fair Ithilien and There Make a Garden by materialism and sparklyslug, 60k - this is a series rather than a singular fic but it is updating with one shots and things. Some similarities with "the most remarkable thing" by greatunironic in that it's a "five/ten/many years later" of how everybody's lives go after the upside down is done for good, Extensive Steddie Pining, and they both made me tear up with MANY feelings.

hellfire (save my soul) by philomendron, 30k - so far it's a pre-season 4 alternative mundane first meeting of Steve recruiting Eddie to help him put on a surprise party for Robin, which I would read the heck out of all on its own, but it's tagged "alternate universe - demons" and "Steve has powers" so I'm Extremely 👀👀👀👀👀

Punishers, Pretenders by beetlesandstars, 4k - a brand spanking new adventure by the writer of Feed On You and To Be Loved For No Reason At All. Only one chapter so far, but the tags imply it's gonna be a doozy (possibly with cuddles 👀) and I always love seeing the songs and band names people come up with for Eddie's rockstar career. Hang in there, Steve!

Descent into the Depths of the Earth (Or at Least Milwaukee) by disastardly, 40k - LAST CHAPTER COMING UP!!! Steve takes the nerds to gen con and has just now registered his own crush and I am LIVING for the gentleness.

standing up the dead by heartofwinterfell, 30k - just an epilogue coming up!! Max pov of Max and Eddie hopping realities together, I Love Them and I love the creativity around the premise, and the execution is A++++

Oh Boy, You’re the Devil! by prettydizzeed, 11k - I really can't describe it better than the summary: "A campy, satirical take on the Satanic Panic, featuring undercover missions to the local church service, falling for the antichrist, and engineering an Easter miracle." Incredible. to unsettle the foundation by the same author has me SO excited, Eddie and Kali is a combination bound to explode.

#weekend reading #fanfiction #fic recs #fic rec #stranger things #stranger things fanfiction #stranger things fic recs #there is SO MUCH good stuff out there i am being fed SO WELL

[garden-with-squid]

4/29/23

Lots of updates. Todays high is 79, lows in the 50s, rain/clouds expected this week. Experimented with a shade cloth but probably won’t need it when it’s cloudy.

We got germination for all the tomato seeds so they’ve been moved to the kitchen windowsill that hopefully has enough light. For comparison, there is one SM seedling in bed 4 that’s older. Lots of little mushrooms which hopefully won’t be an issue.

The BRC tomato has some discoloration but setting fruit so??? The two BRC cuttings look healthy. The one in water had some feeder roots so it looked like it was ready to be potted.

By the way, the green cups are peach tree cuttings! Our neighbors have a peach tree in the front yard and a big branch broke off, so we introduced ourselves and collected some fruit and cuttings. I didn’t have rooting hormone so I’ll see if they survive. I’m planning to make peach jam.

The Black Cherry has five major stems so I’m trying to save and stake all of them. The Supersweet 100 is top-heavy because of its giant beefy stem. Lots of suckers to prune off on both. They’re both flowering and I took some cuttings of both - these are BC cuttings except for the thick one on the right which is the SS100.

Overall, bed 4 looks alright. The herbs are all doing very well. There’s about an inch of new soft growth all over the rosemary, the lavenders are bushier and making lots of the flowers, and the oregano is going to flower soon. I’m drying some oregano in the kitchen but it doesn’t smell much, maybe because it was budding up already. In the back, you can see the potato, sunflowers, and marigolds growing fast. It’s amazing how much things can grow in a few weeks.

The poblano and bell in bed 3 are dropping leaves and might not make it, but the Cali Wonder, Thai chili, eggplant, alyssum, and cucumber are doing well.

Bed 1 has just been doing it’s own thing, and I’m probably just gonna pull everything except the onions and put in all the tomato transplants when they’re ready.

I also sowed marigold and cosmo seeds in trays.

#garden logbook #gardening #tomato #pepper #flowers #herbs #eggplant #cucumber