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moonstruckme · 2 months

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hello! i saw u were hoping for more eddie requests (or less marauders requests, was what you were getting at i think) n i was wondering if u had any thoughts on summer with eds? maybe night swimming…making out on a towel in the back of his van…lots to consider…

p.s. — ive yet to request anything from you, so this is my first chance to say how much i love your work! 🩷

Okay okay, you guys are wearing me down about writing summer blurbs. Twist my arm! Thanks for requesting love ;)

cw: pg-13 smut, mention of not eating

Eddie Munson x fem!reader ♡ 858 words

Eddie’s hair has dried frizzy, which doesn’t give you a lot of hope for yours. His skin is still sun-warm, and you shiver for reasons that are multiplying by the minute, pressing close as he mouths over the dip where your neck meets your shoulder. You’re not sure exactly how you’d ended up in Eddie’s lap. You’d climbed in the back of his van to get a towel, and somehow that towel had ended up spread beneath the both of you, scratching lightly at your bare shins as the sun slips below the horizon and your boyfriend brutalizes your neck. He bites down just this side of too hard, making you gasp.

“Eddie,” you plead, fingers winding in his hair. “We can’t do this here.”

He releases the skin of your neck with a lewd suctioning sound, moving to that place under your ear that gets you melty like a popsicle in July. His hands grip your ass, squeezing indulgently as you squirm in his lap. “Says who?”

“Says—” He kisses that favored spot and your head falls to the side to accommodate him, an embarrassingly needy sound escaping you. “—says, I don’t know—the cops.”

Eddie’s laugh is so raucous he has to pull away. You’re not sure whether to be relieved or disappointed. His hands slide to your hips, grounding you as he looks at you with eyes wide and incredulous. “The cops?” he asks.

You swallow, nodding. You have this horrible vision of Jim Hopper himself getting a call about the suspicious van parked by the lake, coming over and shining a flashlight into the open back doors to find you both naked and in the middle of things.

Eddie laughs some more, shoulders shaking with it, and you can’t help but snicker a little too just because he is. “Baby, the cops don’t give a shit about what we’re up to. I’m sure they have better things to do.”

You shoot him a look, because you both know damn well that when Hawkins isn’t being threatened by monsters from a parallel universe, it’s completely dead around here.

“Let’s go back to your place,” you urge. “This towel’s all wet anyway, and I wanna shower.”

Eddie makes himself at home in the juncture of your neck again, kissing lazily. “S’not enough room in my shower for both of us,” he complains.

“We can pick this back up after, I know—shit, Eds—” Without warning, his hand slips up to palm your tit, pushing aside the scant covering of your swimsuit. You try to sound reasonable. “I know I taste like lake water.”

“Mhm. It’s hot.”

“It’s gross.”

“You’re gross.” He pauses, lips lifting momentarily from your shoulder. “Okay, wrong comeback. I’m distracted. It’s not gross, baby.” His grip tightens on you a second before he licks up the side of your neck, holding you in place when you squeal and try to get away. “Mm, yummy lake water.”

“You’re disgusting,” you laugh, leaning back and setting your hands on his shoulders so he can’t try it again.

“Aw, come on.” A thick finger slips under the elastic of your bikini bottoms, tracing a line around your hip as his other hand squeezes your boob lightly. Eddie grins at your tiny inhale. “Have a little fun.”

“Eddie,” you say warningly.

“Yes?” Another finger joins the first, your swimsuit stretching to accommodate them.

“I want to go home.” You imbue your voice with as much firmness as you can. When Eddie pouts, you go for the kill. “I’m getting really hungry.”

Immediately, the wickedness leaves his expression, replaced by a sweet concern. “Yeah?” The elastic of your swimsuit snaps back into place, and you jolt. Eddie flattens his palm over the spot, rubbing apologetically. “I forgot, you barely had anything for lunch. You wanna drive through somewhere?”

“No, I can make it until we get home,” you say softly, backpedaling a bit in the face of his caring. “I’m not dying, just a little hungry.”

Eddie’s mouth pulls to one side. “You sure, sweet thing? It’s a bit of a drive back. We could grab McDonalds.” Your eyes widen, and his grin makes a return, this time crooked and dorky. “Yeah?”

“That sounds amazing,” you admit. “Do you think they’ll give me a hashbrown even though it’s not breakfast yet?”

“I’ll make sure they do.” He eases you off his lap, reaching over to close the back doors. You start looking around for your flip-flops. “I think they’re serving breakfast all day now anyways.”

“Ugh, awesome.” You imagine the greasy taste, and your mouth floods with saliva. Shit, you actually are pretty hungry. Eddie climbs into the front seat, reaching for your elbow to help you over the console behind him. The material of the seatbelt feels warm and rough against your skin. “Just to be clear,” you say, “I didn’t mean that I wasn’t having a good time. We still should have a re-do later, after food and showers.”

Eddie huffs a laugh, turning the keys in the ignition so the van rumbles to life underneath you. “No need for a re-do, baby. We’re just having an intermission.”

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licorice-tea · 3 months

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Could I Be Loved By You?

Pairing: Vinsmoke Sanji x reader, Roronoa Zoro x reader, Trafalgar Law x reader (separate)

Content: pure fluff<3

Word Count: 0.7k (total)

A/N: short head cannons are something i haven’t really written before, so i hope these are still good! im in class rn but i got bored so i just finished writing sanji’s lmao- please enjoy! :)

Part 2

What happens when you ask them; “Do you think we’re together in every universe?”

Vinsmoke Sanji - 0.2k

“Sanji, sweetheart-“

“Yes, love?”

You smile softly at him before continuing. “Do you think we’d be together in every universe?”

Sanji doesn't even take a moment to consider his answer- he simply blurts out; “Yes. Always.”

A giggle escapes your lips, which come to press a kiss to his cheek. “I don’t know what other answer I could have expected from you.”

“I have more to say, if you'd like to hear it of course.”

“Mhm.” You nod.

Sanji clears his throat with a flourish, as if he's about to present some grandeur speech. “You are the love of my life- and of all my lives. Without getting to love you and be loved by you, I don’t think I’d be able to go on. So, naturally, we would be together in every universe. If not; it must be a world where I don’t exist.” Then, he takes your hands in his. “My love, I’d be yours in any universe you’d have me in.”

Your gentle smile grows into a full blown grin and, naturally, your lips are drawn to his.

Roronoa Zoro - 0.2k

“Do you think we’re together in every universe, Zoro?”

He shrugs, and starts fiddling with his swords. They lean against the same wall that the two of you are sitting on, his legs crossed around the spot where they hit the floor and yours pressed up against your chest.

“Doesn’t really matter, does it? We’re together here.”

You simply hum in response. It was unreasonable to except something poetic from him in the first place.

“But I hope we are.”

At this, your ears perk up. You turn to face him with wide eyes.

“I just mean… I hope I’ve done enough to deserve you in other lifetimes.”

The corners of your lips quirk up in a smile, and your arms encircle his much larger and more solid one. “You do more than enough in this one. Don’t worry about that.”

Zoro smiles too- not only at your words, but the tickle of your breath against his neck when you speak.

He really doesn’t care to imagine other universes- not when a mere moment with you is enough to take up all the space in his mind for hours on end- but Zoro will still always indulge your whims.

Trafalgar Law - 0.3k

“Law.”

He looks up from his book at your urgent tone. “Yes?”

“Do you think we’re together in every universe?”

He scoffs. “Yeah, of course.”

You tilt your head, silently urging him to continue. He doesn’t though- and he won’t indulge your curiosity without verbal reassurance. So, you give in.

“Why? I was expecting a full thesis with supporting evidence from you, smartass.”

Law shuts his book. “Ahem; Then, I believe that we would be together in every universe because… well, we’re together now. It’s the natural order of things, so why would that change in a supposed parallel universe?”

He’s such a nerd. You want to kiss him.

But instead, you just shrug. “Things happen.”

“Then I’d like to think that our relationship is still a constant.” He finishes off the topic with that. What reason could you have for wondering if you would still love each other in other universes, anyway? The answer is so glaringly obvious- to him, at least. He continues, this time teasing you. “Now, did you have a genuine question, or are we just proposing hypotheticals tonight?” Law smirks at you, but his cheeks are growing pinker by the second. It’s a futile attempt to cover how endearing he finds the thought.

With a satisfied shake of your head, you turn on your heel. “Nope! That was all.” And when you reach the hall outside his office, you poke your head back in. “Love you!”

Law pulls his hat down further, props his book up higher, and sinks into his chair. His voice is a quiet mumble as he returns the sentiment. “Love you too.” Which, he really does; he’s just a little shy.

#fanfic #one piece x reader #one piece #one piece x you #x reader #law x reader #law x y/n #zoro x reader #zoro x y/n #sanji x you #sanji x reader #vinsmoke sanji #trafalgar law #roronoa zoro

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robinwinged · 4 months

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escapism in "the boy and the heron"

Interrupting my regularly scheduled programming of Good Omens brainrot for this attempt to process the wonderful, fantastical, and distinctly discombobulating experience of watching Hayao Miyazaki’s “The Boy and the Heron.”

Miyazaki’s films, at least to me, have never been straightforward to follow. Spirited Away, for example, is a beautiful masterpiece whose meaning is difficult to decipher on a first watch, and is only fully unveiled when you dive headfirst into research of Japan’s context and the movie’s many symbolic themes. The Boy and the Heron takes this typical Miyazaki complexity and ineffability and turns it up to eleven. There are so many elements that seem random, so many narrative arcs and characters all warring for attention (what is the tower? why are the parakeets so goddamn bloodthirsty? why is the blue heron such a creepy old man?), that combine to create a whimsical but overall also very strange landscape.

I know that art in general does not have to have “meaning” or “a message” to be deserving of our love and attention. Art can be touching, affecting, disturbing, provoking - any number of things that would give it credit - and damn it if The Boy and the Heron isn’t all of these combined. But.

But.

This is also a Miyazaki movie, and he has proven once and time again why he is the master of hidden meaning, and so here, in no particular order, are my half-formed rambles on what I have personally think each movie detail that I struggled to puzzle out initially is about.

(spoilers below, so proceed with caution!)

The tower, time, and escapism

The tower is the central mystery point of the movie - a literal mystical rock that crashed down from the heavens and later lured Mahito’s grand-grand uncle (let’s call him the Tower Master for convenience’s sake) into its depths. Within the tower is a mirage world filled with magic but no real living beings, controlled by the whims of the Tower Master and nothing else that remotely resembles logic or reality. The tower also contains a series of doors that seem to lead to different points in time, if the ending is to go by and how the 13 blocks are meant to be pieces of worlds the Tower Master has visited. So what is this strange and fantastic realm, and what role does it play in the overarching narrative?

My hypothesis is that the Tower is a pocket free from the influence of time (think like the TVA in Loki) - a separate island running parallel to the fabric of the universe that contains portals to different points of past, present, and future. By itself, the pocket has no life or substance; it must be filled by the imagination - pure imagination, untethered to reality - of its main (human) inhabitant. This is why most of the ships are illusions rather than real objects, why the parakeets are so ridiculously odd and behave nothing like real

birds, why the fish is the size of Kiriko’s damn ship. Anything that is real, has to be brought in from the real world (see: the pelicans, Himi, and Kiriko). This is also why the parakeet king immediately topples the tower: yes, he is not the Tower Master’s descendant, but he is also not inherently a real sentient being, and an imaginary object cannot in itself sustain a further imagination.

So why does the Tower Master choose to sequester himself in this alternate space, where he can only exist alone with his own mysterious creations? I think the Tower Master represents those of us who wish to escape from reality, to inhabit worlds which we can control, where pain doesn’t have to touch us if we don’t wish for it (whether I’m projecting reallyyyyy hard at this point does not matter ok). He is an insanely avid reader, with books literally piled in small mountains throughout his living quarters, and don’t we readers (i.e me, again) always wish for escapism? The Tower Master, then, is an example of those who would rather become entrapped in our own minds rather than deal with the world beyond us - maybe, even in a way, a little like Miyazaki himself, whose imagination is so powerful but is also extremely singular and all-consuming, anchoring him to his creative work without reprieve of retirement until his reserves run dry (not to imply that the man is a hermit or that I want him to retire, quite the opposite in fact, but parallels, no matter how shaky, can still be drawn).

This, too, explains why the Tower Master needs Mahito to control the world for him. It is not because he’s grown old, since he cannot be affected by time in the Tower, but it is because his imagination is stagnating - he is no longer capable of finding new ways to balance the tower, he cannot sustain the fantasy any longer. In itself, this can already serve as a message from Miyazaki - we cannot hope to live only within the confines of our minds if we do not interact at all with the real world, because then at some point we will run out of material, of lived experiences to build on top of, and threaten to crumble the fragile imaginary world we have created.

Himi and her fire powers

Himi is a strange hiccup in the system - a rare occurrence of a living person in this fantasy playland that wasn’t brought into it during Mahito’s own entrance, like Kiriko. This theory is a little bit out there, I can totally appreciate that myself, but remember that one year in which Mahiko disappeared from the real world and then came back completely unchanged? I think she chose to stay there for much longer than a year, knowing that time didn’t work the same in this pocket world and she always had the chance to return to her original timeline through the handy door-portals. I think Himi has stayed there essentially until she met Mahito - so long that she actually grew into a part of the fantasy, developing impossible pyrokinetic powers and becoming a set part of the landscape in exchange for extended youth. But this stay didn’t come without consequences. In the real world, Mahiko passes away in a fire, at a younger age than would be expected. Perhaps this, in itself, is a punishment for cheating time - the universe reclaiming the years that Himi spent in the Tower. It’s also definitely not a coincidence that Himi can control fire in the Tower, and dies by fire in the real world; a form of lethal poetic justice, if you will. Seeing Mahito was the trigger for Himi to leave, to embrace her own destiny, because she could now see and be proud of the outcomes of her life and not have regrets about missing out on the life passing her by. (This interpretation would then necessarily imply a deterministic version of life and time, so it’s probably not everyone’s cup of tea, but I think it makes sense in this version because you see doors way farther down than the present which Mahito steps into.)

The starving pelicans

The pelicans are another anomaly because they, too, are not figments of the Tower Master’s imagination, but instead have been brought into this fantasy world, for one reason or another, likely against their will. And this is where the Tower Master’s escape from reality cracks and burns at the foundation - he creates harm rather than good when he brings in the pelicans, because he does not account for the fact that they cannot exist without a source of food, and they then are forced to eat the Warawara to survive. The movie states that the Warawara are like baby souls, who ascend to become new lives, but I think it’s a little more metaphorical than literal rebirth. For me the Warawara are metaphorical ideas or seedlings of inspiration, the only parts of the Tower Master’s creations which aren’t fully formed, but allowed to grow by themselves and escape into the world - like passing the spark of creation to others outside the Tower. And the pelicans, involuntary prisoners of the Tower Master’s fantasy world, must prey on the Warawara before they have the chance to become real. This can be seen (if you squint real hard and do some violent spins so your vision is hella blurry) as the beginning of the end of the Tower Master’s reign - the forceful inclusion of other sentient beings inside his imagination doesn’t help him enrich his internal realm, but rather snuffs out the genuine inspiration that he could be passing onto others, creating pain where the Tower Master hoped to be spared from it.

Mahito’s rejection of the Tower

So with this central “Tower as escapism” theory, what does Mahito’s rejection to take over for the Tower Master mean? There is a moment that was so subtly powerful in that final exchange between the two, when Mahito stops denying the truth by telling everyone that he got his scar from falling, and instead admits that self-harm was the actual cause. At the beginning of the movie, I viewed that moment of very painful self-harm as Mahito’s wish to withdraw from the challenges of life - to live in isolation away from the grief over losing his mother, the challenges of being the rich new kid in town, the overwhelming discomfort of seeing his father shack up with his aunt. His reality is agonizing for him, and the fantasy land is so beautiful in its strange way that it could become a safe haven away from his trauma. But when Mahito says “no”, he is choosing reality; he is choosing to do the hard work, to face all the hardships life can throw at him, because he feels finally strong enough to not need to use imagination as an escapist crutch. In those final moments, Mahito is choosing to live in a world that he cannot control, because no matter how tough things get, he doesn’t have to do it alone - and that’s what I think Miyazaki is telling us too.

Of course, the movie also deals with themes of class conflict and war profiteering; grief and acceptance; continuing your ancestors’ legacies versus paving your own path, which many have already discussed and I don’t particularly have anything new to add to. Regardless, these themes are masterfully woven into the plot, as per usual, and serve to elevate the movie’s emotional impact into something heart-twisting and truly unforgettable.

Alright, ramble over - back to fandom lurking!

#the boy and the heron #studio ghibli #hayao miyazaki #the boy and the heron spoilers #robin rambles #the kind of movie that makes you think #or perhaps overthink??#the boy and the heron meta

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probablyhuntersmom · 1 year

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The scenes towards the end of the finale were like an intersection of multiple characters experiencing the loss of father figures, in different shades:

Luz's relationship to her late father took on a different form, after King's own father passed on and his glyph magic was gone for good. Manny gifting her the Azura books before his death, and Papa Titan offering her glyph magic before he too passed on, helped Luz find her place in the world and defeat Belos.

Apparently this scene is what made Sarah Nicole-Robles bawl in the recording studio, right after she recorded the lines.

When these changes happen - when we experience the loss of a person, when our ties with them are wrangled into a new form, against our will - it can be devastatingly painful. Change and transformation make for fancy, dramatic scenes in fiction, and they always incur loss in some form, painful or not. It also made me so emotional when seeing how much 18-year-old Luz resembles Manny, and how her enrolment in the university is linked to both her biological father and Papa Titan.

King's experience of seeing the majesty of his father, however brief, left him in awe and exhilaration. He can rest in the beautiful knowledge that Papa Titan was watching over him the whole time too. The message that his dad left him, relayed by Luz, is something he'll hold dear forever.

Hunter will never be truly harmed by Belos ever again. But he can't discard the memories of Belos granting him attachment: even if the attachment ended up not being real in a sense. However, like what can be applied in real-life therapy, he can get guidance on how to rescript those memories.

Belos's lies about having good intentions don't change how it felt real to Hunter all those years ago. Hunter was a young child when receiving this 'love', and in a twisted way...the mission given to him by Belos kept him alive up till he could escape the Coven, because the mission gave his life meaning despite the circumstances being awfully terrible. A child cannot survive without attachment, and needs attachment even if the experience of attachment has been horrendous and scarring. And holy Titan don't get me started on how at age 16 (before the timeskip), he had yet to learn more grisly details about his predecessors - whom he might view as older brothers and fathers whom he never met - and the generational trauma in his Golden Guard family tree:

which would have definitely been explored before he could experience that amazing hard-won serenity and peace at age 20.

Even Philip's arc is inextricably tied to his manner of coping with how he murdered Caleb, who was the closest thing he had to a father, given how these two brothers were orphans. In the end, Philip meets his end while Luz gazes upon him the same way Caleb's ghost did. Philip won't be haunted by Caleb's ghost again, and he joins the person who was essentially his father figure in death. Till the very end, he was projecting onto another person because he didn't want to recognize the same traits in himself. He was the one responsible for his father figure's death.

But grief doesn't mean the relationships in question have ended altogether. It's kind of like what this post about the finale (link) says, and it even extends to the relationship between us fans and the show itself.

The cliché "5 Stages of Grief" is the most commonly mentioned grief model, but I follow the development and advocacy of a newer perspective on grief that challenges it. In fact, the 5 Stages was originally just intended for terminally ill patients, but it was taken out of proportion. I began a serious investigation into the newer models after I went through something that parallels Hunter losing Flapjack...eerily, it happened to me two weeks before TTT's release date. No wonder I feel so close to Hunter as a blorbo, I guess.

Unlike what the 5 Stages of Grief says, grief and linear time don't mix well. Without "stages" to follow, there isn't an expectation of some deadline or permanent end of a tunnel in the newer models. Such pressure wouldn't be honoring the sacredness of connections between us. Instead, less famous grief perspectives like the dual-process model and continuing bonds model, are a better fit to honor relationships that mattered, since they aren't given an expiry date.

I wonder how Luz would be feeling on the day she graduates from the Wild Magic University, and how King feels each time he unlocks his own new glyphs since he is the new Titan to supply the Isles with magic. And I wonder how Hunter felt when his coven sigil was replaced with the Flapjack tattoo, and how he feels when he sees the Gravesfield town seal and Wittebane statues.

There are ways in which they can get creative to integrate their grief (notice I didn't say "get rid of", "remove", "erase" or even "manage"...the pain is what is to be managed, not the grief itself) the best they can. In canon, we have examples such as the Hexsquad agreeing to get their Flapjack tattoos together. Luz letting go of the light glyph sheet here:

is also a fantastic representation of rituals like sending off a message in a bottle at a beach, tying a message to a balloon and letting it fly away (this happened in Reaching Out, didn't it?), or burning a message in a campfire to let it float up towards the sky in the form of embers.

It is a common recommendation to have exercises like letter-writing where the griever writes to the lost loved one. What many may not know is you can also do the reverse: you writing as your lost loved one, to yourself. Because the griever takes a piece of the lost loved one with them, that the griever has shaped within themselves. This is especially good if you need to extend forgiveness to yourself. An example from a book called Bearing the Unbearable:

The author felt responsible for the stillbirth of her child, but had a "happy accident" where she intuitively asked for forgiveness and then received it, by invoking the love that her child would have shown to her in a world where said child had remained alive.

I think Hunter in particular could benefit from something like this, writing to himself as the uncle whom he saw as genuine and nurturing, and gaining ownership of that part of him even though Belos was a liar and is now gone for good. It can help him move forward especially since he won't be spared from nightmares in which his loss is re-enacted. With this kind of rescripting, historical accuracy doesn't actually need to matter. After all, our own minds lie to us at times and mess with historical accuracy anyway, like Luz's thoughts telling her she was as bad as Belos, and how true that felt.

A physical loved one is lost to death, and it can feel just as painful - only in a different way - if people become estranged or separated without a literal death having occurred. But the connection to them isn't lost, it is only adapted. The bond continues. For better or worse.

I believe the pain in grieving is connected to each moment when we remember all over again that the one we loved isn't coming back.

It's like the needle of a gramophone getting stuck in the loop of an unpleasant-sounding record scratch noise. It's a bit like what C.S. Lewis says in his book A Grief Observed: "In each of my friends there is something that only some other friend can fully bring out." I can't find the other part but he later said something like, therefore if a friendship is lost, the part of you that only that friend could bring out, is also lost. Something in you is locked away forever, though new things can also be unlocked after the loss.

It wasn't shown onscreen but I wouldn't be surprised if it's regular for Luz to come across a meme and be freshly reminded of her dad's absence, because she can't show him that meme. King would be wishing that a new funny cat video he discovers is something his dad could also laugh at along with him. Hunter would be hoping that Flapjack, the previous Golden Guards and Caleb are watching as he brings back palismen.

Bereavement, and any grief that is significant enough to alter our personhood forever, are the forms of love that can never really grasp how time flows in a linear way. They can't be reasoned with, only experienced.

"...the howling at the center of grief is raw and real. It is love in its most wild form" - Megan Devine.

#I'm applying some of this to how I'm grieving the end of the show. our relationship with it has just changed..not ended #toh analysis #the owl house #luz noceda #king clawthorne #toh hunter #philip wittebane #caleb wittebane #manny noceda #papa titan #grief in The Owl House #loz writes a meta #death mention

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daresplaining · 2 months

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"You're crazy, all of you. I'm real, you hear me? As real as anyone." Daredevil vol. 5 #607 by Charles Soule, Phil Noto, and Clayton Cowles

"I don't even know how to say this...I'm not real." Devil's Reign #5 by Chip Zdarsky, Marco Checchetto, Marcio Menyz, and Clayton Cowles

I touched on this topic in this post, but the thought has been gnawing on my brain since Devil's Reign #5 dropped (in March 2022? Mike has been dead for two years already?! God...) so I'm giving it its own post.

Modern Mike's existence is divided into two clearly delineated states of being: "fragment" (Reader's umbrella term for his creations) and "Real Boy" (Mike's term for himself from the 2020 Annual, though shout-out to the fans who had already been calling him that since 2018). It's a literal transformation, from one form of life to another, but it also spans Mike's character arc and psychological journey: from desperately declaring his realness in Daredevil volume 5 to begrudgingly accepting the nature of his existence at the end of his introductory arc, to taking action and making himself real in Daredevil volume 6. For me, the above scene from #607 was the gut-punch moment that first got me intensely intensely invested in modern Mike, when the depth of his fear and the horror of his situation became clear-- and the emotional resonance of that moment, for me, carried over into the bombshell scene in Devil's Reign #5 when he answered the questions that had been left dangling after he rewrote reality in the 2020 Annual: Did he still remember the previous version of the world? Did he remember what he had done to change it? Did he remember being a "fragment"?

His nervous declaration to Butch-- "I'm not real"-- hits like a truck not just because it is such a risky admission, but also because of how it contextualizes Mike's new reality and what his cosmic rewrite actually changed for him. Which, it would seem, was probably not enough.

Yes, after his trick with the Norn Stone, the gaps in his memories have been filled in. Yes, he now has a birth certificate and a social security number (presumably) and actual friends and family who share actual history with him, and I'm sure that's a tremendous relief. But how much of a solace can it really be, when he still knows that the only reason he has all of those things is because he forced the universe to give them to him? His twin might think they were born together now, but Mike still knows the truth about how he was created, and now he is the only person in the world who does. He has gone from having unique memories of a past that doesn't exist for anyone else to...having unique memories of a past that doesn't exist for anyone else.

Is this new reality that much better than the old one for Mike? If he still knows that he hasn't always been real, does he feel any less like a ghost?

It is very easy to find parallels between Mike being the only person who remembers his time as a "fragment" and Matt, following the Purple Children's mind wipe, being the only person who still knew that he was Daredevil. Matt was stuck with knowledge of a world that once was-- a world in which his identity was public-- and he couldn't handle the sudden total isolation of no one at all sharing his secret, and so decided to tell someone (but just one person; Foggy). Mike's situation was nearly the same. The fear and isolation and vulnerability he'd felt as a fragment was something he had literally bent the universe to escape, but he was still left haunted by the memory of it. We didn't get much of a sense of what was going on in Mike's head in his appearances following the Annual, but I can only imagine that, mixed in with everything else he was feeling in that scene in Devil's Reign #5, he felt some amount of relief sharing the weight of that secret with his best friend. I have to wonder if, had he lived long enough, he would have told anyone else.

#He REMEMBERED! I just...AUGH!#I miss Mike so much.#Daredevil #Mike Murdock #Mike Murdockalypse #Commentary #ID in alt text

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abybweisse · 2 months

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Ch210, Spoiler page and thoughts

The title page has been leaked already; I've seen it elsewhere here as well as on Discord. It's almost everything I was hoping for this chapter, represented in one image.

There are some things to point out, and I was hoping to post some thoughts before I'd even seen this spoiler, because my thoughts were already pondering a possible situation like this: that the chapter focuses on Finny going berserk... perhaps in ways we've never witnessed before.

I was also hoping we'd get the new reaper confronting Doll, but I really don't know if he will.

But back to Finny. In the cover art, you will see that there's a lot of blood on him and his clothes, but I don't think it's his own blood. His eyes suggest he's in berserker mode. I suspect we might finally get a better glimpse of what it was like the day he escaped from the drug facility. Previously, I'd wondered whether Sebastian had killed the staff and just skipped over the one remaining test subject -- either he lives or he doesn't. But since we now have a situation where Finny has to force his way out of another locked down facility -- and this time he's also trying to save friends and other children, something he couldn't do last time -- we might get scenes that look like a reenactment of that drug facility escape.

In ch209, we see Finny running off, away from Snake but also towards the approaching staff. We know he will have to fight them, and it might be mostly empty-handed. This is no problem for him, especially when he's in a frenzy. He might grab and throw whatever he can, but this time it might be more about crushing people with his hands, as he might have done at the drug facility. This fighting style could look more like Sebastian crushing the heads/bodies of bizarre dolls on the ship... but with less-graceful movements.

Scenario: He gets through the staff that have entered the underground lair, then anyone in the way upstairs, in the barn. Then he's back outside. Is he going to head to the main building to attempt to save the other kids, or will he only be able to focus on himself and the four top students? Either way, at some point he's going past a brick wall when lights shine on him, and that's what we see in the cover art. It might be a flashlight/torch, but it could also be a spotlight from a sniper tower. The top students did warn him before that the fences were reinforced, and that guards were stationed at lookout posts to shoot down attempting escapees.

When he was at the drug facility, he was being kept in a cellar of some kind, and it looks like it was designed so the kids couldn't easily climb out, but he somehow did, perhaps by jumping and grabbing hold of the rim of the hatch. Or maybe he somehow climbed up whatever grips he could reach. It seems he killed the man sent to shoot him and dumped his body down into the cellar. Here, Finny might actually climb up one of those lookout towers, kill the guards, and toss them down to the ground. Or he kills them -- maybe one -- merely by tossing them down.

This sort of action could allow Yana-san to give us glimpses of the previous escape in parallel to the escape scene now. Panels next to each other or even split panels, showing then and now, as it all unfolds. A bit like when he envisioned old scenes of the drug facility exam rooms and surgical equipment as he and the others looked around and found Ginny's body and the dissection table. But this time it might be like an onslaught of comparison images, representing the jumble of memories and current moments in Finny's head, as this all happens.

And we might even see him literally tear down the fencing. 🤔

Thoughts?

Oh, and FYI. Today is the Ides of March... and Snake's birthday (though in-universe it's Dec 9th)....

#black butler #kuroshitsuji #ch210 #black butler spoilers #kuro spoilers #kuroshitsuji spoilers #spoilers #finny #finnian #fol orphanage #orphanage #title art #title page #observation #thoughts #mar 15 2024 #ides of march

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llamagoddessofficial · 1 year

Text

We all love Baggs. We all simp for Baggs. One might even say... he has us all in enthralled~?

Thank you @megalommi for this delightful commission of Baggs meeting his Soulmate~

---

He knew as soon as his magic touched your Soul.

... He’d often pondered the nature of Soulmates. It was only natural- he was a man of science, after all, someone who found themselves interacting with Souls as frequently as he did would ask similar questions. Something as statistically rare yet culturally universal and ingrained as Soulmates had fascinated him whenever he was unoccupied enough for it to cross his mind.

One of the many questions he’d asked himself, was how do soulmates know each other for certain? How can two incredibly complex beings, with different lives and experiences, do little more than touch hands and immediately gain a sense of higher connection? Was there some kind of hormonal or chemical release, some kind of magical frequency resonation, or something else yet unbeknownst to science? He had done his own research, obviously, and had asked those lucky enough to find their intended. Some described it as like waking up. Others, like seeing colour for the first time, or hearing a loved one’s voice calling their name across a crowded room of strangers. Many drew parallels between literary works, but most simply replied that they ‘just knew’.

...

Baggs was hyper-aware of the physical symptoms, as he stared with wide sockets at the human knelt before him. It was like lightning was streaking through his magic system, buzzing in his bones and flaring his eyelights. His Soul was thudding against his ribs like a heartbeat. He couldn’t feel his hands, or tongue, there had been a fleeting sensation of warmth across his whole body akin to standing by a fire- he suspected that was the ‘good feeling’ he was supposed to have, that everyone talked so much about. He suspected that feeling was supposed to carry him away.

... It hadn’t. It had certainly washed away the brief smugness he’d felt, at so easily drawing another poor, lost human under his hypnotic thrall once again. He’d been proud of himself, his magic subjugating you instantly despite your obvious discomfort in his presence.

He had been allowed that split second of first-sight love. But now, all he felt was cold dread.

... this is my soulmate. He became more and more certain, the longer he looked into your glazed eyes, his own magic shimmering in them softly. His confidence was melting. my soulmate is a human. of course it’s a human. the universe is playing a cruel trick on me.

No wonder ensnaring you had been so easy. No wonder your Soul had all but fallen into his magic. His mind was racing; your Soul recognised him, just like he’d recognised you. Despite your physical discomfort, instinctively, you trusted the monster destined to be your partner. Wasn't there something tragic about that?

did you feel it too? did you feel the pull? His teeth parted, a breath escaping him. You stared back, blank and hapless. would you know, the way a monster would know? would you know him? would you... would you want...?

...

Baggs closed his sockets, and his mouth.

no- that was enough of that. He hated being unable to control his thoughts and feelings, and he despised being slave to them; right now he was both. The distaste brought him reeling back to earth. Now was not the time to be floundering, standing out in the open like an amateur, with his metaphorical heart bleeding at the mere sight of a Soulmate. He felt flickers of anger, at being shaken so deeply... you’re a scientist, fool. control yourself. this is just another hurdle to surmount- another problem to solve.

He was anything if not a master of himself. Baggs drew his thoughts inward... he took a breath. He stilled his mind.

...

When his sockets opened, his Soul no longer pounded his ribs. His smile was back, he let his shoulders ease. His confidence returned.

much better.

“There we go.” He purred, putting his hands behind his back. “Good girl. My apologies for that little... wobble. Forget what I said- there’s been a change of plan. Why don’t you come with me? We have so much to discuss.”

There was something he found rather amusing about asking questions to a human under his control. As if they had any say in the matter. You made a sound in the back of your throat, it barely resembled one of affirmation- but he appreciated how cute the effort was. He let himself truly grin again.

... Intent on retaining his control over himself, he refused to think too deeply about how comfortable your Soul felt surrounded by his magic. Like it was always meant to be his.

"On your feet, human. I have an idea."

///---///

You woke up dazed, looking up at a white ceiling. You... definitely weren’t in your own bed.

Stuffy head, heavy limbs, you felt tired. Unusually so. You blinked a few times, trying to shake off the tiredness- usually, waking up in a new place would shortly be followed by the necessary memories to make sense of your current location. Were you on holiday? At a friend’s place? Stopping off somewhere, did you fall asleep on the couch? But you couldn’t remember how you got here. No matter how long you waited, staring at the ceiling, no memories came.

You sat up, slowly, and worked on gathering yourself out of your tiredness as you looked around the room. It resembled a lab room, with spotless white tile floors, a chair pulled up by your bed, and some kind of complex-looking machine set against the wall. Your bed was actually pretty nice- a big mattress, white pillows that were large and fluffed, a heavy blanket that sported a sweet pink colour decorated with blue pinstripes. You were in a comfortable, light cotton gown... the room had a blue potted plant on a shelf, and was a pleasant temperature.

...

You were still confused. Still no memories. Where were you?

Magenta

you’re in hospital.

... You didn’t ‘flinch’, but you did twinge, eyes slightly narrowing. You put a hand to your head. Yes, of course, you were in hospital... of course. You knew that.

But... why did you know? It was like someone had just... planted that information inside your memory. Like a pretty seed, happy in its home, but surrounded by disturbed earth.

you’re safe here. you like it here.

...

You pulled back the covers, despite how warm the bed was, stepping out. Your feet were bare. Huh, the floor was warm too- underfloor heating?

You didn’t stop to look at the room for long. You’d already noticed that the complicated machine in the corner was covered in a thin film of dust; no one had used it in a long time. Instead, you moved over to the door. It opened automatically, almost making you jump, sliding sideways out of your way instantly and disappearing into the wall.

Underfloor heating? Automatic doors? This is one hell of a hospital.

... You poked your head out of your room, curiously. The hallway was small, with similar featureless automatic doors on either end, empty and quiet. It looked just like your room, but a little brighter, cute medical posters on the walls and more delicate blue potted plants sat neatly on shelf edges. It all seemed... brand new.

You felt like you were waking up more, now. The tiredness was lifting like a spell, and your head was finally starting to ask relevant questions. Where is this hospital? How did I get here? Why is it so high-tech? Where is everyone?

You crossed the hallway, moving over to one of the far doors. The floor was spotless, smooth underfoot. The door didn’t open when you approached. You weren’t even entirely sure what you were doing, you just felt like you needed to find someone and get an explanation as to where you even were.

you’re in hospital.

Yes, I know that. You told yourself, like you were lecturing a child, disregarding the sudden thought again. You made your way across the hall to try the other door.

... Before you could get there, it opened on its own.

... There was a skeleton standing in the doorway. He had a smooth skull, perfect teeth, and deep dark eyesockets, little pinpricks of light floating in them like irises. One white, one purple. He had soft features, you didn’t expect that on a skeleton, but there was a.... roundness to him, that you liked. He was dressed in a neat white lab coat, decorated with classy magenta trim, smart black rubber gloves covering his hands. He looked like a particularly fashionable mad scientist.

He seemed surprised, for a second, face half shadowed by the doorway. But only a second. The room behind him did not look like the rest of the hospital wing- it was darker, greener. But you didn’t have time to look for long... his face melted into a smile, and he stepped through, the door closing behind him.

...

You had a bad feeling, all of a sudden. A strong bad feeling that smothered your initial pleasant thoughts about this cute, round skeleton. You stumbled back a step. Your mind was telling you, loudly, you did not want to be alone in a room with this man.

... Though he wasn’t intimidating in stature or shape, something about him deeply unnerved you. Perhaps it was the tiny specks of light in otherwise dark, dark sockets, like little remnants of a real person lost in a void. Perhaps it was the long shadows under said sockets, the signs of someone who had pushed his mind (and body) to its limits. Perhaps it was his unmoving white grin, creepily plastered to his face, or the too-relaxed way that he held himself.

His purple eyelight glimmered like a gemstone. Suddenly, your feet were rooted to the spot.

“... Oh... hello, my dear.” He said, voice silky, approaching you calmly. He spoke in a saccharine, almost patronising tone, all but pouting his lips and babytalking you. “I’m glad you’re feeling better. But you know... It’s important you stay in bed.”

Your hair stood on end as he drew nearer. My dear? “Who are you?”

He cocked his head, slightly, at your question. But he kept smiling, stepping into your personal space bubble.

“Doctor Baggs.” He said, easily, a hand settling on the small of your back. You still couldn’t move. “Come, now... back to your room.”

... He tapped his gloved finger against your back. Clearly, in a steady rhythm, you could hear the rubber against the fabric of your gown- he tapped three times.

One. Two. Three.

...

... The nervousness about his presence melted, like frost in the sun. The sharp edges of worry in your thoughts dulled- you made a little humming sound, tired again, heaviness returning to your eyelids.

“Good human.”

You didn’t resist, or even protest, when he started walking you.

“... I know I’m in hospital. But where am I?” You asked, dumbly, looking at him. “Am I dead?”

A soft chuckle. He suddenly looked so friendly, so soft and harmless. He was even a little bit handsome. What had you been afraid of?

“No, my dear. This is a special hospital, in the Underground.” His eyelight was pretty, you were focused on it rather than your room’s door opening. “You know what the underground is, don’t you?”

“... Oh.” Yes, you knew that, your gaze wandered off. The Underground, where the Monsters lived. More information that was just in your head, like it had been there the whole time. “Yeah.”

“You had a nasty fall.” His hand stayed on the small of your back as he moved you toward your bed. He was all but cooing. “You’re being treated, aren’t you?”

“... For a concussion.” The words came out of your mouth before you’d even thought them. You sat down on the bed obediently, it was very comfy.

“That’s why it’s hard to think.” He put a hand on your knee, his voice took on a silky quality. “You find it very hard to think, right now, don’t you? You find it hard to make sense of the world around you. But that’s alright, because you know it is caused by your concussion. Concussions make it hard to think. You trust your doctor.”

You looked at him again. “... Are you my doctor?”

“Yes.” He purred. “So it’s important you listen to me, darling. Only me.”

You were laying back. When did you do that? That same white ceiling above you. You felt dizzy... sleepy... head stuffed with cotton. It was important you listened to him... hopefully you weren’t so tired you forgot his instructions.

“It’s alright, my dear.” Baggs said. “I'm already inside your head.”

Your eyes closed. But you could still see magenta.

it’s okay. no need to leave.

you’re just in hospital.

///---///

...

... This wasn’t fair.

Baggs glared at your reclined form, as your eyelids fluttered, like you were personally responsible for this injustice.

well... in a way, you were.

At the very least, he comforted himself with the knowledge that this was very interesting. The way you responded to his magic was strange, unique, and fascinating to observe. Your Soul seemed to know his touch, welcoming him like an old friend- and though that made you dreadfully easy to hypnotise, it also made you incredibly aware of when he was interfering with your head, in a way he’d never seen in any subject before. You found his implanted memories like a bloodhound picking up a scent, his triggers like lone clouds in an otherwise clear blue sky. He couldn’t deny a certain level of abject fascination.

... But the fact you were interesting didn’t make up for the rest of it.

His perfect teeth gritted. He had dedicated his life to freeing monsterkind from their prison, to achieve his brother’s happiness. Why did the universe insist on throwing a wrench in his machine now, when it was already far too complex to stop? He had sacrificed so much for others, even the very core of his being. Had he not done enough to deserve a break?

He’d been so sure before. He still understood his overwhelming responsibility... the future of an entire race, resting on his shoulders. And the part of him that had driven him to make the ultimate sacrifice told him he couldn’t just stop now- that part of him knew he was too deep to turn back. It was the part of him that wanted to continue his mission, to save his people; it was tragic that he couldn’t have his Soulmate, yes. But it wouldn’t be the first part of himself he had given up. His whirring, scientific mind wanted him to find a way to sever this inconvenient bond... if anything, scientifically, this was a fantastic research opportunity, he had the chance to examine a real Soul bond in ways that no one ever had before. And since it was his bond, he could do what he wanted with it. He didn’t have to fear moronic questions like ‘why?’ or ‘is this ethical?’.

what kind of stress could a bond resist? was there a reliable way of cutting off the connection?

He felt his eyelights sharpen, hand balling into a fist. Yes- he could cut the bond. Rid you both of this troublesome link. Then, he’d have no qualms about doing what he needed to do, for the good of his kind.

He had a greater purpose than... playing house with a human.

...

but you want that, don’t you? you want to live in peace.

His breath quivered. It was getting more and more difficult to still his mind.

you’ve always wanted that.

... Part of him wanted to be rid of you. But oh... much, much more of him wanted to have you. He wanted you, he wanted this. You were his one in a billion, he knew logically that this feeling was just the pull of his Soul, but his Soul constituted his being, didn’t it? He wanted to care for you forever. He wanted you to meet General, and then he could look after you both. Even now, keeping you in a pretty little cut off wing of the lab, he felt a deep instinctual pleasure from ensuring you were warm and safe somewhere nice.

Once he cut your connection, there was no going back.

He swallowed. What... what if... he just let himself have this?

... What if, just this once, he allowed himself to put his own happiness above that of others?

...

...His chest hurt. He lifted up his hand, and drew your Soul out of your chest with precision that only a scientist could have. You didn’t even shift. The glowing object appeared with the gentlest of shivers, hovering suspended above you... his glove was off before he could think, he was aching to feel its glow against his bones.

He cupped it, carefully. Like one would cup an injured bird.

... Would it really hurt anyone, to give himself this small selfishness?

...

You Soul hummed, content. Souls were never this happy to see him. Any of the ‘warm’ Souls (particularly red) would fizz and shake ineffectually, even when under his complete control, a match still trying to produce a flame even when held in a bucket of water. The cooler colours, like cyan and green, tended to immediately shrink back from him in terror. Though all Souls would do that, in the end.

...

... Your Soul... it was all but purring. Settling easily into his hands, a kitten curling up. It felt warm, and happy, it liked being close to him. He found himself sinking onto his elbows... staring at the little glowing heart in his claws, his face in a contemplative frown, eye bags seeming deeper and heavier despite your Soul’s light casting on his face.

nobody would know, either way. if i cut the connection, or kept you for my own... nobody would know.

...

He allowed your Soul to return to your chest, after that small indulgence. His expression was still.

...

A hand on his.

He startled- when he looked down at you, your eyes were open, expression dazed but still soft. Not a hint of magenta. For a moment, he was caught off guard, pulled out of his reverie and not knowing what to do; he hadn’t told you to wake up. He hadn’t told you to do any of this.

“... You should... sleep.” You mumbled. Your eyes were so gentle. Your hand came up... a finger brushed across his cheekbone, then traced the darkness under his sockets. He was completely frozen. “... You look tired. I could...”

...

He suspected you were going to offer to help. Though there wasn’t much you could do, in your state. Your fingers continued to brush his face, warm and slow, and he couldn’t bring himself to pull away.

His breathing hitched. you wanted to care for him. even now, when he had you under his thumb, you wanted to help him.

...

... He put his ungloved hand over yours. If only you knew he was beyond help.

“... I’ll sleep later, darling.” He said, warmly. “After you.”

“Mm... ok.” You hummed. You seemed mollified by that. Your eyelids fluttered shut... without his influence, you happily went to sleep.

...

He placed your hand back down by your side. Once he was certain you were completely unconscious, he ran his hands across his skull, letting his head droop.

It was the first time in a long time that he truly didn’t know what to do.

#commissions #local trash goblin encounters feelings in the wild and is totally thrown off his game #fun fact: baggs is one of (very few) fictional characters I am canonically taller than #tw hypnosis

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pascaloverx · 5 months

Text

Rewrite The Stars

Chapter Two

Summary: One photo changes your whole life, when you accidentally bump into a celebrity and the world starts to believe that you are a couple.

chapter one. chapter three

The next day you woke up with a sore body, feeling as if life had shaken you. You lost your job and your dignity in the same night. But at least he met Pedro Pascal and spoke to him. Unfortunately this won't pay your bills but it will be a good story to tell your future children. You slowly get up feeling the daylight hitting your face. You woke up to your cell phone ringing like crazy. Damn charges that don't let an unemployed woman sleep in peace. But there's something different today, a strange noise outside of people almost whispering. None of your neighbors whisper. Everyone either shouts or speaks very loudly, which in your ears is the same thing. Will someone be arrested or caught cheating in an apartment near yours?

Your curiosity takes over you and you peek out the window while watching countless messages from your best friend. She first asks if you have anything to tell her, then tells you to turn on the tv. You don't understand anything, and on the street there are people hiding near your apartment like vultures. Then you turn on the television and come across photos of you and Pedro Pascal last night. Photos taken out of context.

Without context, what was him stopping me from falling to the ground turned into him holding me romantically. And him giving you the check as a tip became him paying for the "time" you spent together. What the hell is that?

You take out your cell phone and search for the mysterious woman who is having an affair with Pedro Pascal and several pages appear with those photos you saw on television. But you were still feeling safe until you saw a post written by your old boss telling the world who this mysterious woman was. And you started to understand who the people outside your apartment were. You began to feel the world around you becoming suffocating. On the internet, there are people wondering what you are to Pedro Pascal: a lover, girlfriend or stalker?

It was when an unknown number called you that you focused on something else, regardless of how confused you were.

"Can you leave your apartment through the back and go to the corner? There's a car waiting." A woman speaks with a serious and assertive tone. You wonder if this isn't some prank or parallel universe where you get screwed every day of your life.

"If you tell me who you are, I can get out the building's fire exit and be in that car in five minutes." You speak with distrust of whoever is on the other side of the call.

"Mr. Pascal's agent. Now be discreet and don't be funny." She says seconds before hanging up on your face. Kind of rude but if she's offering you a way out, that's what you're going to do. It takes no more than two minutes for you to put on a sweatshirt before heading down the fire escape. Yes, you're wearing pajamas but you didn't think you'd have time to take a shower.

"You walk too slowly for a person who's running away, you know?" The same voice on the phone says this to you as you get into the car.

"And you're very rude for someone who makes a living managing famous people, since we're being inconvenient." You say as you sit in the car, putting on your seatbelt then. Only then do you notice that Mr. Pascal is in the car too. In fact, you're sitting next to him. Which is unusual to say the least.

"The girl is right. Sorry for the commotion but we're out of time, which isn't an excuse." Pedro Pascal speaks the first part, addressing the woman in the passenger seat and then speaks looking at you. He extends his hands towards you and you greet him, shaking hands.

"I imagine you're aware that the world thinks you two are having an affair. And while it's not true, it's gotten the media's attention." Pascal's agent doesn't even introduce herself and starts talking about the topic of the moment.

"Let me guess, you think I faked everything and you want me to disappear with the photos?" In today's world, you know that people rarely trust each other.

"I know it wasn't you. Not to mention that anyone wouldn't risk hitting their head on the floor to create a scandal. But we need to resolve this, for the good of both." Pedro Pascal says, looking in your direction deftly. It even seems like he trusts your good intentions.

"For an older man, you trust people easily. But I didn't really publish the photos, or force any of those moments with you." You speak thinking you just accused one of your favorite actors of being naive.

"I don't know what offended me more, being called old or naive. You seemed kinder yesterday." Mr. Pascal speaks pretending to be hurt, which is kind of cute in your opinion.

"Look at them, already tuned in as a couple. It's going to be perfect." The agent speaks in a genuine tone of happiness, which you find strange.

"I'm sorry, what's going to be perfect?" You ask, confused about what she meant.

"You two will be the next Cinderella couple of this generation. The internet is already highly mobilized to know what you are to each other, what you do together. Of course, there are haters but there are many supporters of this couple." She speaks so seriously that you have to laugh. No one will ever believe that you are dating.

"Sorry, but have you gone crazy? Who's going to believe I'm dating him?" You say in total disbelief that this will work.

"We'll leave the details for later, but don't worry. All you have to do is take this relationship contract with you and read it. If you agree, you and Pedro have started a fake relationship as soon as possible. If you refuse, let's pretend this proposal never existed and you can move on with your life." The agent speaks and then asks the car driver to stop near your building.

"And you agreed to all of this?" That's all you say, holding the contract in your hands and getting ready to get out of the car. The question was clearly directed at Mr. Pascal, who seemed surprised.

"I decided to give you a chance, I hope you give me the same opportunity to be your fake boyfriend." That's all he says, opening the car door for you. And then you got out of the car feeling like you were trapped in a very crazy dream.

#fanfic pedro pascal #pedro pascal x y/n #pedro pascal x you #pedro pascal x reader #pedro pascal fanfiction #pedro pascal #reader insert #original character

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headphonegrl · 1 year

Text

“Someone in there said something really weird.” You nod your head towards the door of the restaurant, your arms tucked around your sides in an attempt to keep all the warmth from escaping your coat. Ten minutes ago, you were sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with the people you had grown up with and a part of you deep down suddenly felt fifteen again.

Kylian furrows his eyebrows together, unknowingly tilting his head slightly to one side. There’s a neon sign outside the bar next door and the red light is reflecting onto his face, tinging him scarlet. “What?”

“Just something about us.” Both of you have always come as a pair, one never without the other for as long as your memory stretches back. There was a running joke between your mothers about how you and Kylian were attached at the hip and would have to be removed by doctors. “How everyone thought we were going to get married.”

“It’s funny.” He kicks at a block of ice that’s stuck to the pavement, his shoelaces undone on one foot. If you were both nine again, you’d lean down to tie them so they wouldn’t get tangled around the peddles of his bike. Though you’re both in your twenties now with your childhood possessions stored away collecting dust, so you just leave it. “I’ve been told that a few times.”

You raise your eyebrows. Stupidly, you’ve always believed that love wasn’t that easy to spot. That other people would never notice the glances across rooms and knees bumping together under the table. That they were sacred; like your own little secret language. “You have?”

Kylian doesn’t reply, there’s a space of silence that’s filled by the wail of some police sirens. You’re sure if it was quiet enough he’d be able to hear your heart thumping in your chest like one of those big drums.

“How are you guys still alive?” Kylian’s girlfriend shuts the door behind her with a loud slam that makes your body jerk upwards. “It’s freezing out here.”

“My hands have gone numb.” You rub your palms together as if to exaggerate your point further, then you smile at her and she returns the gesture sweetly. Under the light of the buildings her necklace twinkles against her collarbones, a little ‘k’ covered in tiny diamonds sitting proudly in the middle of her chest. All you can do is look down at your feet.

“This has been fun.” She loops her arm through his and presses her temple against his shoulder, closing her eyes like she could drift peacefully off to sleep. For a second, it looks so intimate that you feel like you’re watching something you shouldn’t be. “It’s been nice to meet the rest of your old friends.”

“Yeah.” Kylian is staring at you and you’re wondering if he can feel it all too: that horrible sensation that can only be compared to running parallel to a train that you’ll never be able to catch. “Old friends.”

Regret burns in your chest and it won’t leave no matter how many times you try to swallow it down. For your own comfort, you’re going to imagine that in a parallel universe somewhere you told him you loved him when you were seven and making daisy chains as he played football. That you had kissed him at that house party when you were both seventeen and dizzy from too many cheap vodka shots. Pretending is going to make this a lot less painful. Pretending is easy. “Old friends.”

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decayedgloria · 6 months

Text

obey me characters and their visions

Or what I think are their visions idk it’s 3 am and I just found out I failed my pathology exam so here’s a crossover of two games that provides me an escape from this putrid reality 😁

also just trying to get rid of drafts rn

Tags: sfw, pure crack speculation, I’m going insane, obey me demon brothers and undateables and luke, genshin impact visions, everything here is MY OPINION and should not be taken seriously, feel free to disagree with me

Lucifer

-He strikes me as the type to either have a hydro vision or a geo vision

-more leaning towards hydro

-hydro vision holders tend to be dedicated to their work and uphold their own view of justice, more often than not being protectors of some sort i.e Candace and Aaru village, Ayato with the Kamisato Clan

-I draw parallels between him and Ayato because they both have gone through hell and back for their families (often literally) and have had to salvage tarnished reputations in order to protect said family

-also very rich and elegant men who have a “dark side” that most aren’t aware of

-It’s also just every hydro character being really sophisticated and elegant tbh he fits the vibe I think (minus Childe but he has his moments)

-Geo because, well… look at him. He’s prime geo vision material. Like a rock solid wall holding up the HOL but like he’s also hanging by a thread lol.

Mammon

-Geo Vision, Hear me out on this.

-Not only does it suit his color palette, but if you think about it, Mammon places a lot of responsibility on himself to be a good older brother to his siblings (despite falling short most times), we see this especially during Nightbringer

-Geo’s thing is literally responsibility. Every geo user has some sort of responsibility that they themselves have chosen to undertake, whether or not they can handle it

-They’re all also quite stubborn. Once they’re dead set on something they will never let it go, and on top of that they also protect either someone or something

-Every geo user has a goal relating to something to do with material or status: Ningguang and the Tianqiu, Noelle wanting to be in the KOF, Zhongli wanting to retire (lmfao). Mammon wanting to be rich (and wanting him and his brothers to be at the top of the Devildom in Nightbringer) literally fits.

-Mammon, despite being a goofy character, fits into geo so perfectly it’s actually insane.

-Mammon and Itto are the same person. I’m not elaborating.

Levi

-Electro vision all the way.

-It’s no surprise. Canonically he’s seen as a weirdo, even by his brothers (not me tho I love my men a little pathetic) and he doesn’t spend much time mingling with others, so of course he’s gonna be singled out

-almost every single electro vision holder is outcasted by at least one society; Beidou being cast out of her village, Fischl being thought of as eccentric because of her personality, the literal electro archon becoming a shut-in

-He would absolutely get the vision probably in like the early part of Nightbringer when we got stuck in the TSL universe and he had to make a decision

-(if you’re wondering why I keep bringing up Nightbringer it’s bc it’s the one I’m currently playing ok)

-Levi also passes the “I have a scary animal that helps me fight” thing. Henry’s quite formidable when he’s back to normal size :)

Satan

-Hm, thinking about it and at first I’d say dendro is the obvious answer but there’s also quite a few other contenders actually.

-Pyro is one of them, and when drawing parallels Diluc comes to mind (obvs grumpy men stick together always.) As the avatar of wrath, he’s like mad 80% of the time and I can imagine him raining hellfire upon everything (and he has, best believe).

-But also he’d fit the “passionate” description, he’s so passionate about books and magic that he’d literally kill for a book that he wanted (and did I’m pretty sure). He’d also be considered passionate for hating Lucifer so much I think

-he also has quite the past to fit with a pyro user, especially during Nightbringer when he’s still coming into terms about being basically a baby demon and learning to confront his brothers and finally accept them

-Dendro is quite obvious for him. He craves knowledge from books, and I’m sure if he were in Teyvat he’d find his way in the Akademiya just to get into the House of Daena’s restricted section

-I think either or could be his vision, depends on which Satan you’re talking about (Nightbringer Satan and main timeline Satan are two vastly different individuals)

-if you really wanna get into it tho, cryo/electro's pretty... fitting. Especially for nightbringer Satan. Even if his brothers try not to make him feel like it, he will always be different from them; the fact that he basically was made to replace Lillith in a sense, and he distances himself away from them because he just doesn't fit in.

-all in all he's so versatile realistically he could have like 4/7 visions since his character is so dynamic between the two games

Asmodeus

-Now this was harder to come up with, but after giving it some thought I think he’d have an Anemo vision

-think of it this way. In Nightbringer take a shot everytime I bring that game up his whole arc in the beginning was learning to let go of the celestial realm and accepting the fact that he was a demon now, effectively granting himself the freedom to love himself once more

-Anemo is the element of freedom right? He fought himself and his inner demons for freedom like that, which happens to a lot of those who are granted this vision (Wanderer and Xiao moment)

-Thats really all I have for him. Tbh, the only other vision I could see him wielding his pyro, but I couldn’t think of anything else I can say that hasn’t already been said

-another short anemo king go figure (he and heizou would get along I think)

Beelzebub

-another one I had to really think of, but upon further deliberation with myself I'm thinking pyro again (the default vision lmfao)

-Yes. Passion for food, he'd get along with Xiangling quite well (too well, imagine her in the devildom holy shit)

-Also pretty passionate about working out and protecting his brothers, so there's that lol

-I am stumped on him bc he's like lowkey just there bro like

-how would he even get his vision idk man

-but imo pyro is the default vision so he gets it (feel free to disagree with me)

Belphegor

-If you think this guy does not have an anemo vision you are wrong

-like dead mf wrong he is anemo all the goddamn way

-he lost his sister and still blames himself for it, but he also wants to be free with his brothers in the devildom

-the other vision i would give him is electro because he does tend to like, shut himself off or whatever so there's that

-but he's 100% anemo I don't make the rules sorry

-first tall male anemo user?? (surprisingly he's 5'10 guys it's probably all that sleep he does lmfao)

Diavolo

-hmmmm, such a hard decision I wonder what vision I would give to the literal prince of hell- pyro.

-jk jk let me explain

-Pyro, because as I've stated before, it is both the default vision imo and also the vision for those who are passionate IMO (I cannot stress this enough)

-Diavolo is very passionate about RAD, and the whole "demons getting along with other species" concept is something he has been working very hard on (man is trying to end specieism in the obey me verse)

-on top of his outgoing and friendly personality, pyro really does fit him like a glove. I could make an argument for geo because he shoulders a fuck ton of responsibility for the devildom (esp in nightbringer) but like

-he is warm and friendly and strong, perfect pyro material

Barbatos

-I needed to think about this one for a bit, but after further deliberation with the screams that echo in my head, I am confident in saying that this man has an anemo vision

-if he were in the genshin universe he'd def be one of the shady people from celestia (bro is literally istaroth but i digress)

-as much as anemo fits him aesthetically, I also want to point out that he just... gives people freedom? Like the first half of nightbringer was him finally fulfilling someone's wish to go to heaven to see their lover

-he also just parallels a lot with venti, idk i just see him being very fitting with an anemo vision

-like, he's immortal yet does not look it (Scara, Xiao, Venti), downplays his power to appear "normal" in a sense that he won't be an immediate threat to those perceiving him (Venti), saw a pyro kid and decided to adopt them and begrudgingly take care of them no matter how annoying they are (Xiao and Hu Tao though I may be reaching)

Luke

-bro does not have a vision yet (jk its cryo)

-I feel like he'd be given a hydro vision solely for the fact that he is changing his, quite frankly specie-ist, ways lol (like eula hello?)

-he is quite shy when mc first met him, the only reason why he didn't immediately get mad at them is because they weren't a demon and that's saying something

-he tends to be very guarded around said demons, often becoming aggressive when interacting with them but he's warming up. It's like a wall of ice slowly melting through the mc and simeon's guidance

-he also reminds me of mika for some reason

Solomon

-he has an electro vision and yes, it's exactly the same situation as Lisa

-though he doesn't need one (none of them do tbh), I feel like he wanted one just for shits and giggles like I definitely see him being a descender on Teyvat

-he's literally the most powerful human in the obey me verse, of course he's going to be viewed differently from others even though he "tries" to not be too overt about it (very, very big emphasis on tries. I think he only does it for mc atp)

-I feel like he'd get along well with the electro ladies as well, particularly Miko and Lisa (Gorou and Luke need to hide like asap)

-in all seriousness though, he just fits into electro so well given all the character traits present in electro wielders

-another vision I could see him having is dendro, partly because he's always down to have more knowledge about magic that he doesn't know yet and is in constant pursuit of creating pacts with the demon brothers

Simeon

-another hydro wielder :)

-calm, collected, elegant, sticks to their principles- classic hydro archetype tbh I love him so much

-again, very similar to Lucifer's reasoning but he leans more towards hydro wielders like Nilou and Candace I think, who are quite relaxed but won't hesitate to protect what they love and fight for what they deem is right

-spoiler warning: he literally got cast out of heaven for the mc.

-as I've said before, there really isn't anything I can add that I haven't said before, other than the fact that Simeon would definitely enjoy Xinqiu's company and possibly get along with Furina when discussing acting and the arts

-other than hydro, I don't think any other vision suits him tbh (big maybe on anemo but like, it doesn't really fit tbh)

I am so fucking bad at character analysis but here you guys go

the labor of my sleepless night while i gather more motivation to write the second chapter of madame neuvillette

also i am so very tempted to start writing for other fandoms but this blog is enough for now tbh

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saraanzu · 4 months

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I’ve been rewatching drdt chapter 1 episodes and somehow it’s only just hit me that the motives have so far been a repeat of dr1’s motives… like, I knew the motives had been done before, but it didn’t occur to me that the order was also the same. somehow.

we know that the tragedy happened a while ago in drdt and society has somewhat recovered from it at this point, so it’s likely that the events of dr1 also happened in its universe. a lot of the series’s meta jokes rely on the idea that the show is unpopular and the formula has all been done before, so I suspect this repeating of the original motives is apart of that.

that being said. is the chapter 3 motive seriously going to be a stack of cash again? that’s probably one of the most unpopular motives in the series, and the only character I think it would appeal to is teruko, who already has everything she needs in the school. (maybe arturo is money hungry too, he talks about wanting to charge teruko for his services when they escape, but that’s about it…) of course, the way drdt handles its motives has been very different from dr1, the video motive was never distributed and everyone’s secrets get mixed up. so I’m wondering how the money motive could be subverted… following the logic that drdt’s motives will be taken from dr1, the chapter 4 motive would involve revealing who the traitor is. iirc there’s been no implication so far that there’s a traitor among the cast besides the mastermind, but I think that was the same in dr1, too.

on a similar note, my rewatch also reminded me of how heavy the parallels between dr1 ch1’s and drdt ch1’s cases are. xander/sayaka both crash into the protagonist, befriend them and seem to genuinely care for them but still end up betraying them, attempting a murder, and getting killed instead, the protagonist being suspected for their murder. min killed xander by accident trying to defend teruko and leon claims to have killed sayaka in self defense (as celeste points out, he didn’t need to follow her into the bathroom after she retreated but alright). min and leon both have complicated relationships with their talents and are in denial about their execution, with heavy emphasis placed on their fear of death.

finding parallels between the second chapters is a bit harder though, as we don’t know how drdt ch2 will end. arei and chihiro were both strung up, so maybe the person who hung arei’s body was different from who killed her. if the culprit is levi as people suspect, than he and mondo are both more muscular characters with tragic relationships to their brother(s) who are prone to angry outbursts.

there’s also the Gender Stuff. dr1 ch2 has themes of toxic masculinity and chihiro “hides their gender” (not saying I approve of how that was handled, but unfortunately that’s how the narrative frames it), and in drdt ch2 we learn that J, a tomboy, has been hiding her identity and her more feminine birthname. we also learn in her FTE with arei that her mom forced femininity onto her and this resentment lead to her developing internalized misogyny and hatred towards femininity in general, not just in regards to herself. there’s also nico being outed as nonbinary and this leading to violence, which I suppose parallels how chihiro’s secret threatening to out their agab lead to their death.

#drdt #danganronpa despair time #danganronpa: despair time #despair time #talk tag #jo’s meta

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sapphirerubydragon · 4 months

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I can't do that fancy thing you guys do with the illustrative images but.. how far do you think the parallelism will go in terms of Peter tied to the punching bag and Miles tied to the punching bag?

1. Miles tries to appear threatening to Peter at first with his "questions". Likewise, I think Miles 42 is only menacing in appearance but he has goodwill. We've already established that he's a vigilante. He punches the bag but I don't think that he will maul Miles unless he thinks it's absolutely necessary.

2. Miles comes to the understanding that Peter is a variant of his universe's Peter and shows him compassion. I think that Miles 42 will eventually come around to Miles and feel empathy towards his cause.

3. I expect that Miles, like Peter, will escape his bonds after all Peter did say "trust me kid this'll make you a better Spiderman". Miles will probably have the upper hand at least for a moment because no one anticipates that he will get free.

4. I've been wondering if Miles will be jaded like Peter is because of all he's been through. Both Miles experience loss and trauma and that will definitely be a point of connection. I expect that they'll work together and find a mutual point of interests so that they can have a truce. They have to be like brothers, I will scream if they're not and I hope they do lots of quibbling too.

5. Miles will be focused on getting home and he'll probably be so tunnel visioned he may not accept help at first, like Peter did.

The thing is, Peter does so much commentary in ITSV on canon - for example he can predict Olivia and King Pin's villainous dialogue because it's always the same, and there's always a bypass key, goober, override key.

The creators have clearly been playing with the idea of canon getting old for quite some time.

And we'd think we know the rest. But Gwen's made it very clear... that we don't. So I don't know if we will get much more in terms of rehashing of ITSV Peter through BTSV Miles.

Either way I'm excited to see the new bonds formed and which old bonds will be redeemed.

The thing I missed most in ATSV was the dynamic between Miles and Peter. It's always been one of my favourite things about ITSV and it makes the betrayal in ATSV all the more heartbreaking for me.

You know, when Miles is in trouble in ITSV while Olivia chases him he yells Peter! And on the train when threatened by Miguel he yells Peter's name again and doesn't get the guidance and protection he needs.

Whew. There are so many, many threads to tie up in BTSV!! I'm psyched about the new stuff but I'm also curious about the callbacks and parallels they'll use for nostalgia and problem solving.

#miles morales #across the spiderverse #peter parker #spiderman #into the spider verse #miles 42 #beyond the spiderverse #ghostflower

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princessbubblenumbsblog · 4 months

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Hi so the first chapter of this fic (which is the first one I've ever decided to post) is already on ao3, but I figured since I'm posting the second one I might as well post it here for those who don't wanna read it on ao3! Enjoy!

Title: One And The Opposite

Rating: Teens and Up (swearing, mentions of sex)

Summary: After filling the shoes of his alternate self in a parallel universe, Miguel O'Hara swiftly discovers that embodying a different version of himself is far more challenging than he initially anticipated. As he juggles with the complexities of family dynamics, with a wife and daughter who both expect him to be the man they remember, he tries to stay afloat, grappling with the pros and cons of navigating two lives simultaneously.

A domestic Miguel trying his best.

Chapter 1: A new earth

Getting there was definitely the easy part.

Miguel, having now crossed the portal, found himself in a version of his own universe that felt both eerily familiar and distinctly different at the same time. The air crackled with an energy unique to this reality, and the surroundings hinted at subtle variations from the world he knew.

The place smelled like blood, car fumes, and rain.

All there was left to do now was dispose of the body, which he quickly and painlessly did by sending it to a post apocalyptic earth where humans didn’t exist anymore, but not before searching him for all his belongings, and taking a last look at the dead stranger with his face who laid motionless on the floor.

Once that was done, he carefully examined the possessions he had salvaged. All of them served as a reminder of the life his alternate self had left behind, which he now would be occupying.

A wallet with a photo of his daughter, a couple credit cards and all his documents. No money, which could suggest that currency might differ in this version of reality, a detail he filed away for later consideration. A set of keys with a keychain of a child’s drawing encased in clear resin, to protect it.

It resonated with a heartfelt sentiment: He couldn't help but think about the child who had created that drawing. Her life, her experiences and her dreams so far. Briella.

And last but not least, His wedding ring, which thankfully fit him snugly. Commitment.

A tangible connection to his past and a reminder of the choices he had made. Miguel contemplated, for the nth time that day, the significance of his decision to enter this reality, wondering if it really offered a true escape, or a mere variation of the challenges he planned on leaving behind.

As Miguel began to scan his surroundings, he noticed subtle differences in the architecture, technology, and even the people bustling about outside the alley. Their clothes looked different from other earths, but not completely unlike his own to the point where he couldn’t blend in if he wanted to.

He was used to crossing multiple universes on a daily basis. What he wasn’t used to, however, was having to accept the fact that he would be actively living in this one.

He also couldn't ignore the extremely likely possibility that his alternate self might have faced different challenges in the past, family or no family. And this knowledge only added layers of complexity to his quest for a fresh start.

Armed only with his memories, belongings, and the unique perspective of being himself in this alternate universe, he ventured forth into the unknown. The portal behind him closed, severing the connection to his original earth for good.

Miguel embraced the uncertainty, a deep inhaling of this air bringing about a new kind of determination previously unknown to him.

And so, for the very first time, he grabbed his keys and went home.

Read it on ao3

#across the spiderverse #atsv #atsv miguel #miguel o'hara #marvel #spiderman 2099 #miguel spiderman #miguel spiderverse #original character #my fics #shameless self rec #my fic #fic rec

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hoziernaturalevents · 2 months

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Hoziernatural Recs: Destiel

Sign-ups for the 2024 round of the Hoziernatural Multi-Ship Bang are open, and people will soon be working to create a whole new batch of Hoziernatural content! However, for those of you who would like something to read between now and posting, we have some recs to fill that need 💚

Everything listed below is Destiel, but if you're a person of varied taste, then check out our Wincest, Rare Pair, and Gen/Character Study rec lists!

A Call to Motion by @banshee1013 with art by @nickelkeep

Beta: @rauko-creates

Hozier Song: Movement

Rating: Explicit

Word Count: 22,019

Pairing/s: Castiel/Dean Winchester, Dorothy Baum/Charlie Bradbury, Gabriel/Rowena MacLeod, Jessica Moore/Sam Winchester

Warnings: None

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Dance, Modern Dance AU, Dancer Castiel, Dancer Dean, College Student Sam, Strangers to Lovers

Summary:

After seeing Sam safely accepted to the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Dean finally feels like he can start pursuing his own dream - which just so happens to be Modern Dance after having passed by the studio on his way to work. Then his instructor, Rowena, tells him about an opportunity at a dance company in Kansas City, which he discovers is run by Gabriel Shurley - brother to Castiel Shurley, the man who's audition for the Paul Taylor Dance Company in New York inspired him to pursue his new-found passion.

Castiel Shurley is adrift - moving to Kansas City with his brother to help run their cousin Balthazar Angeles' dance company after a falling out with his Artistic Director - and lover - in New York. The dance company is a wonderful, talented group, but Castiel found his love for dance shattered along with his heart.

That is, until a green-eyed, bow-legged, incredibly gifted novice dancer appears for auditions, and Castiel feels the urge to dance - and love - return to him.

Angel in the Shortwave by @columbocas with art by @squirrelofcelestialintent

Beta: @squirrelofcelestialintent

Hozier Song: Angel of Small Death and the Codeine Scene

Rating: Explicit

Word Count: 5,123

Pairing/s: Castiel/Dean Winchester

Warnings: Graphic Depictions of Violence

Additional Tags: Top Castiel/Bottom Dean Winchester, Castiel is Saved from the Empty, Time Travel, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Sex Worker Dean Winchester, Patricide, Canon Universe

Summary: Castiel escapes the empty into a parallel universe. There he meets a young Dean turning tricks. Post-The Winchester's Dean searches for Cas.

Be Like the Love that Discovered the Sin by @grim-work with art by @deancodedcastielenby

Beta: @sky-is-torn

Hozier Song: Be

Rating: Teen & Up

Word Count: 5,100

Pairing/s: Castiel/Dean Winchester

Warnings: None

Additional Tags: Awkward Flirting, Angst, Kissing, Falling in Love, Dean Winchester has PTSD, s5e3 Free to Be You and Me

Summary:

Once, in Tennessee, when he was in middle school, someone told Dean he was a child of God.

During ��Free to Be You and Me,” Dean and Cas talk without doing much talking, and try to invent something new.

honey you're familiar (like my mirror...) by @deaniewithalittleweanie

Hozier Song: From Eden

Rating: Explicit

Word Count: 10,953

Pairing/s: Castiel/Dean Winchester, Minor Rowena MacLeod/Sam Winchester

Warnings: Mentions of Body Horror, Canon-Typical Violence

Additional Tags: Body Swap, Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Behavior, Castiel Bears the Mark of Cain, Smut, Dark Crack, Angst, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Season 10, Nightmares, Wings, Every possible angle on a body swap fic all in one, Tone Shift, Bottoming from the Top, Masturbation

Summary: While desperate for a cure for the Mark of Cain, Dean wakes up in a dark alley no longer in his own skin. Now occupying Castiel's body, he has to grapple with being an angel and no longer having control over the Mark. Meanwhile, Castiel now has to learn to control the rage that comes with bearing the Mark in a body that is already at its breaking point with it. Dean can feel everything Castiel used to feel and vice versa, making the chemistry between the two of them all the more volatile.

Mad Dog Caged by @mbqnoyolo with art by @squirrelofcelestialintent

Beta: @ididitallofitforyou

Hozier Song: Like Real People Do

Rating: Teen and Up

Word Count: 5,527

Pairing/s: Castiel/Dean Winchester

Warnings: None

Additional Tags: PTSD, hallucinations, nightmares, first kiss, post attack dog spell, hurt!Cas, homemaker!Dean

Summary: Dean and Cas are recovering in the Bunker while Sam puts as much distance as he can between himself and the brooding men. The Attack Dog spell has Castiel lurching from reality to hallucinations and Dean struggles with trying to care for him despite his own terrifying flashbacks of Amara, the Mark and Purgatory.

Nothing Fucks With My Baby by @rauko-creates

Hozier Song: NFWMB

Rating: Teen & Up

Word Count: 620

Pairing/s: Castiel/Dean Winchester

Warnings: Canon-Typical Violence

Additional Tags: Protective Castiel, BAMF Castiel, BAMF Dean Winchester, Murder Husbands, Hunter Husbands, Established Relationship, Canon Universe

Summary: I was feeling an intense need to listen to Hozier's NFWMB on repeat while writing about Cas smiting the shit out of everything in the way to get to Dean and slaughtering everything that dared to lay a hand on him. Not that Dean's a damsel in distress in this situation; he's actually holding his own just fine. Cas is just intense.

Remember Me, Love, When I'm Reborn by @lazarus-rose with art by @deancodedcastielenby

Beta: @very-offkey-kazoo

Hozier Song: Shrike

Rating: Explicit

Word Count: 46,251

Pairing/s: Castiel/Dean Winchester

Warnings: Canon-Typical Violence, Character Death

Additional Tags: Parallel Universes, Post-Canon, Post-The Winchesters, Angst With A Happy Ending

Summary: In some ways, Dean thought his death would solve things. He thought it would give him a chance for a happy life in Heaven surrounded by his family, but he was wrong. So he decides to take a ride in his Baby and find that missing piece that keeps him from being happy. Almost everywhere he goes, there is one constant – Castiel. He sees his angel, over and over, finding him in different worlds with different versions of Dean and then watching over him from afar.

Back on Earth, Dean didn’t have the words for the feelings inside him, but his afterlife might just provide him with the strength and wisdom to hold on to true happiness when he finds it.

Swan Upon Leda by @kelsstiel with art by @marvfortytwo

Beta: @deaniewithalittleweanie

Hozier Song: Swan Upon Leda

Rating: Explicit

Word Count: 174,096

Pairing/s: Castiel/Dean Winchester

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Hospital, Kid Fic, Slow Burn, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Happy ending, Minor Character Death, Explicit Sexual Content

Summary: Pediatric Surgery Fellow Dean Winchester meets baby Jack Kline and neuropsychologist Castiel Novak his first week on the job. Dean’s been accused a time or two of caring a little too much in the past and it’s hard not to care about the neurotic adoptive father and his medically needy preemie. After a series of run-ins between the pair, Dean and Cas develop a friendship that everyone else around them suspect more from immediately, though it takes them a little longer to get the memo. When Dean struggles with a particularly devastating patient loss, their mutual understanding of loss and love bring them closer in a way that neither of them could have expected.

The Love, The Dark, The Light, The Flame by @raimykeller with art by @nickelkeep

Beta: @quizasvivamos

Hozier Song: As It Was

Rating: Teen & Up

Word Count: 8,188

Pairing/s: Castiel/Dean Winchester

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Additional Tags: Angst With A Happy Ending, 15x19 Alternate Ending, Dean Winchester Saves Castiel from the Empty, Homophobic Language, Getting Together, Fix-It, Dean Winchester Has Self-Esteem Issues

Summary:

After Dean, Sam, and Jack defeat Chuck, Jack opens a portal to let Dean try to rescue Castiel from the Empty. The Shadow will let Castiel go on one condition: Dean has to solve a case.

Dean is transported back into his 19-year-old body to hunt whatever monster is killing young, gay teens in San Francisco. But, Dean must face much more than supernatural monsters if he wants to free Castiel from the grip of the Empty and eternal slumber.

Wasteland, Baby! by @deaniewithalittleweanie with art by @deancodedcastielenby

Beta: @wanderingcas

Hozier Song: Wasteland, Baby!

Rating: Explicit

Word Count: 46,326

Pairing/s: Castiel/Dean Winchester, Aaron Bass/Dean Winchester

Warnings: Canon-Typical Violence, Drug Use

Additional Tags: Post-finale, Dean Winchester Saves Castiel from The Empty, Endverse (5x04: The End), Endverse!Castiel

Summary:

With his dying breath, Chuck releases the Croatoan virus onto the world the Winchesters just tried to save from him. Fueled by rage, Dean rescues Castiel from The Empty, but the angel comes back with a screw knocked loose and most of his grace depleted. To both of them, Castiel’s confession before his death is best left unspoken of. In a world of destruction, chaos, and death, Dean has resigned himself to being chained by reality for the rest of his days.

That is, until Sam finds a lead on restoring a very weak Jack’s powers. The mission has Dean, Castiel, Jack, and Charlie criss-crossing the continental United States on the hunt for power and a cure for the virus that has destroyed civilization as it once was, all the while trying to repair the broken bonds between all of them.

#hozier #spn #hoziernatural #destiel #destiel fic #destiel art #rec list

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blainesebastian · 1 year

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breakin’ up is hard to do

words: 3,138 ship: austin butler x reader summary: (requested by bri): exes to reunited lovers (exes who are working on the same movie) + sentence starter “How could it work out this time? There’s no guarantee.” warnings: none notes: thanks for reading :) appreciate all of you! masterlist is here! tag list: @killerqueenfan, @karamelcoveredolicity, @elizabethrosecresswell, @gigisworldsstuff, @stylesmendeshearted

The thing about past relationships is that’s where they’re supposed to stay: the past.

You can’t honestly say that most of your breakups have been amicable, because they haven’t been, and mixing that together with celebrity status, social media and constantly being under the public microscope? Hasn’t made anything any better. There’s a lot of back biting, unkind commentary and lies all weaved together into this patchwork of drama that feels far too Hollywood even for your own tastes. You suppose you can’t get too upset about it; it feels signed up for to a certain extent.

The only person in your dating pool that hasn’t been an absolute nightmare has been Austin and you have a feeling that has everything to do with the fact that you both are very much the on-again-off-again couple. If you were two normal nobodies just living your lives, you assume this wouldn’t be the case, but because you’re both celebrities in the height of your careers there’s this black hole that keeps pulling you back in. You work well together, chemistry off the charts and screens every time you share a film, and maybe that’s why directors and producers keep slamming your realities into one another.

You keep ending up in Austin’s orbit, this constant journey in which it feels impossible to escape him—and most of the time you don’t want to, no matter how annoying or frustrating it might be. It’s hard to deny that you do well together when it comes to work and maybe that’s the ironic part, right? That acting is so easy with him? You’re not about to hop on a soap box and slander him, or anything, because you know how incredible he is at his craft, how hard he works, how infectious it feels to be in any single scene with him.

Relationship wise? It just never worked out. No matter how hard both of you tried, there are some puzzle pieces that just don’t fit together. Despite that, it never impacted auditions or opportunities and tumbling back into old habits, routines, comforts, felt easier than breathing on more than one occasion. It was effortless to remember how much you could love Austin when running lines together, completing press tours, going to countless and constant events with one another.

Though, you suppose that was never the hard part—the falling, it was the figuring out what you were going to do when you hit the ground, whether there would be pieces to pick up or if you could maintain feeling whole.

Regardless of relationship shortcomings, that doesn’t mean that your feelings for one another are non-existent. There has always been a level of respect, care and love for the eachother through projects, friendships, other relationship highs and lows. Distantly, you know there’s no one else you’d rather trust than Austin, no one who really understands all your inner workings and quirks and downfalls. And you try not to think about whether that’s why ‘seeing other people’ never works. Close friends have tried to tell you that the back and forth with him just isn’t worth it…but it seemingly something that you can’t quite pull away from either.

There’s a part of you that likes the magnetism, the chaos, the uncertainty.

You wonder sometimes, again, if you both were just regular people if your relationship would have been easier to navigate. Or maybe in that universe it never would have happened at all. You’re a big proponent of ‘everything happens for a reason’ and perhaps it’s just one of those things. You and Austin were always meant to be everything that you are—two parallel lines that never quite intersect. Always a pair but never together, a perpetual ‘maybe’.

Which is how you’ve landed a lead role opposite Austin for a rom-com—the storyline is predictable, but decent and funny, and the script convinced you with wonderful arcs for your character. Besides, it’s different than your usual serious type of film set-up, so you enjoy variety. It’s definitely a little distinct from Austin’s usual track too unless you’re comparing his earlier work in TV with something like The Carrie Diaries. Your agent’s right when she tells you that it never hurts to broaden horizons, so you’re looking forward to your friends, family and fans seeing how it’s turned out.

For now, the universe has pushed you and Austin into the same interview space with Entertainment Weekly and no matter how many times you’ve done this? you for some reason get before-interview jitters. That gaping pit in your stomach that you’ll freeze up on a question or not know what to say…or worse, say something completely ridiculous. At least this isn’t a live talk show, or anything, so you can always edit yourself.

But still.

“I kinda wish this was the one with the puppies,” You say after a moment, sitting on a couch with Austin as someone pins a microphone on the lapel of your leather jacket. You went for something casual yet added some flare with red lipstick that matches the red booties stemming off black jeans. “Who does that again?”

Austin smiles lightly, running a hand through his hair. He looks perfect, which…shouldn’t at all be surprising at this point. He’s always been easily handsome but especially for interviews, dressed in a pair of black slacks and booties to match, a soft maroon button down with a few buttons open and a jean jacket on top.

“Buzzfeed Celeb,” He answers after a moment, glancing over at you. “Why are you nervous?”

You laugh lightly, turning your head to look at him as people ready the set—check cameras, lights, adjusting what needs done before the interviewer comes out. You raise your hands and give him a bit of a shrug,

“I have no idea. No matter how many times I do this I never feel prepared.”

“You’re startin’ to sound like me.”

You can’t help but smile thinking about that—how in the earlier days of your relationship (or well the first time you two were really together) Austin was so new to all this, interviews, publicity, a ‘B’ actor working his way to the ‘A’ list.

“I have this recurring nightmare in which I get asked a question I don’t know how to respond to,” You crinkle your nose, “But then some of my teeth fall out too, so, I dunno if that can be trusted.”

Austin laughs, something bright and warm that makes your stomach flip flop, “Can probably guarantee that’s not gonna happen. Look, I got you—if you get stuck on somethin’ I’ll help you out.”

You do trust him to do that, to look out for you and have your back if you for some reason completely blank. Austin himself has always kinda felt like a safety net, there to catch you—maybe that’s another reason falling for him was so easy.

“The questions won’t be super complex or complicated anyways.” He purses his lips, this look of amusement lingering in his eyes, “It’s not like they’re gonna ask about that night out a few months ago after you polished off half a bottle of tequila—”

And he doesn’t even get the rest of the sentence out because you audibly gasp and playfully smack his chest to be quiet. He laughs again, reaching for your hand and curling his fingers along your own,

“What?” He asks innocently, “Don’t want to talk about that?”

“Shut up,” You laugh, your cheeks kissing the softest of pinks. “Never mention that night again.”

“It was a fun night,” He grins, squeezing your hand.

You suppose you can’t quite deny that, shaking your head as you look away with a fond eyeroll. You know he’s brought that up for only one reason, to distract you from your nerves, and you have to admit it’s completely working. You don’t even notice that your hands are still joined together on Austin’s thigh until the interview host comes over to introduce himself and you feel the warmth of his fingers disappear from your own.

“What’s goin’ on guys?” The host smiles, giving you both a handshake. “Nice to meet you both—I’m Durrell.” Who is perfectly handsome himself—tall, with dreads and one of the smoothest, genuine smiles you’ve ever seen.

Hopefully this will make it even easier to respond to his questions.

Right off the bat, Durrell is warm, inviting and asks interesting things or provides great lead-ins for conversations about the film. The discussion is loose, comfortable and easily bounces back and forth between you and Austin as questions are given. About halfway through, the questions are broken up with small games that you’ve played during interviews before— ‘top five’ kinda thing or ‘three items you can’t live without’. This round is all about ‘would you rather’ and Durrell smiles as he asks you,

“Would you rather have a first date that’s super high maintenance and talk is cheap or a cheap date and the conversation is interestin’?”

A laugh leaves your lips because it feels like a no-brainer but you kinda ponder it for a moment, “What’s considered high maintenance—like are we about to have dinner on a yacht or?”

“Whatever you want—honestly would let you pick wherever you wanted to go.”

You smile at Durrell because that is smooth. He’s been kinda throwin’ comments like that your way since the interview started—subtle, lowkey flirting. It really doesn’t bother you because you’d rather have an appealing person asking you questions than someone dry and ‘just doing their job’. Besides, Durrell is handsome, funny, and it’s making you feel more comfortable doing the whole interview.

The ironic thing, however, and you’re…not completely sure but almost certain given how well you know Austin, but your ex is seated between you and Durrell so you can see him consistently in your line of vision. At first, when Durrell was throwing lines like this your way, there was amusement pulling at the lines of Austin’s face, slightly dancing in the blues of his eyes. Kind of like a can’t believe this guy is doin’ this sort of thing.

But now that you’ve picked up on it a bit more, you’re giving that slight energy right back to him.

“Oh wherever I want?” You ask, grinning and Durrell laughs.

Austin clears his throat and shifts on the couch, not so obvious to anyone who doesn’t know him—but you do. You can see the line along his shoulders, the tension there, the gentle eyeroll before he looks over at you.

Interesting.

“Hmm, well—I think,” You purse your lips, “I think I gotta go with the cheap date and interesting conversation, right? Otherwise all the high maintenance stuff can’t save how boring it might be.”

Austin raises his eyebrows, a small smile on his lips, “You are not a cheap date.” And it’s definitely joking but you have a feeling he says it for another reason other than to tease you.

Durrell makes a noise, leaning back into his chair, “That’s right—forgot that you two dated.”

Austin kinda hums in affirmation before carrying his gaze over to Durrell, “Definitely enjoys bein’ wined and dined.”

A scoff mixed with a laugh leaves your lips, “Now you’re just giving away trade secrets.”

And game points to Durrell because he comes right back in with, “That’s alright—I’ll take the tips.”

There’s an automatic flush that kisses your cheeks and splotches along the back of your neck. To take the spotlight off yourself, you turn the question around and back to Durrell, “Where do you like to take your dates?”

He raises his eyebrows in soft surprise, clearly not expecting to be asked anything himself. But he takes a moment to think, tilting his head a little, “I mean I like to cook so—why go out for food?”

“Oh you cook?” You smile, “What’s your go-to?”

Austin listens to the conversation, a smile of his own painted on his face, but you know it’s not genuine because it doesn’t reach his eyes. It’s just for show, that soft pinch of uncomfortableness lingering in the frame of his body as Durrell talks about a few things he likes to cook. Your gaze flickers between him and Austin, nothing shifts in his demeanor—even when the conversation moves to a different topic.

If you didn’t know any better…

When the interview wraps up and both you and Austin are escorted off stage to grab coats and belongings, you linger towards the exit of the building, waiting for your SUV to pull up. A few fans who knew both of you were filming an interview today linger outside along the guard rails. You slide your heavier coat on over your leather jacket because it’s supposed to snow today, glancing at Austin as he adjusts his scarf. He wore something similar when you both picked out a Christmas tree last year…and you have no idea why that feels like a particular pang to your stomach.

“So I didn’t know you still got jealous,” You say after a moment, “Kinda cute.”

Austin turns slightly to look at you, a scoff tumbling out of his mouth because, “That was not jealousy.”

You smile a little, ready to drag him through this conversation, “Oh no? Your face right now looks like it did on that couch—sour. Lemon sucking sour.”

He laughs, which is good, you don’t actually mean for this to be an argument but…who is Austin trying to fool right now? You know him, especially in moments where he’s not speaking. Something was definitely going on.

He shakes his head, putting his hands into his coat pockets, “Just not sure where Durrell thought he was goin’ with that, that’s all.”

Now it’s really time to fuck with him—you purse your lips, shrugging your shoulders. “I dunno, he gave me his number, so.”

Austin opens and closes his mouth like a goldfish and you can’t help but laugh, pointing, “See? That’s the face!” He sighs and looks outside the front door for his car which has been there this whole time…you realize he’s waiting for yours to show up so you can leave together. “What, you don’t like Durrell? He can cook.”

“I’m sure he can,” He mumbles under his breath and then looks at you again. A muscle is working in his jaw and he only does that when he’s frustrated or whether he’s really chewing over words in his mouth before he speaks. “I dunno, maybe I…don’t like the thought of you goin’ out with Durrell.”

You hum, finally—the heart of the matter. You roll back on your heels a moment and give Austin a faint smile, “Durrell? Or anyone.” You already know the answer.

He nods slightly before he speaks and you know exactly what he’s thinking about without him even having to say it—it’s been three months since you broke up and you’ve obviously been down this road before. Will this time be any different? When will be too many times? When will you know it’s time to give up? To let go?

“Anyone.” Austin finally says, keeping your gaze for a long moment. It’s unlike anything you’ve ever felt before, every single time, that hold Austin seems to have over you—how it feels to be with him, regardless that it never seems to end the way you both want.

You see your SUV pull up behind Austin’s car but neither of you move, your own little center of the world in front of these doors as you seem to hold eternity in the palm of your hand. There’s a precipice that you’re unsure you want to cross over—what will change this time around?

You let out a long sigh, tipping your head back a little and despite all the teasing and joking around about Durrell…you’re scared. Your feelings for Austin are just as deep as the ones he has for you but every time something goes wrong, when you begin to pull apart from one another, he takes a piece of you with him. You’re not sure how many times you can do this without feeling empty, scraped from the inside.

“How could it work out this time?” You ask, “There’s no guarantee.”

Austin nods and you kinda hate that you’re holding your breath while he contemplates your words, your question. It’s valid to ask, isn’t it? One day you’re not going to want to keep going around in circles, no matter how decent your chemistry or how good the sex is, how well you work together or how it sometimes feels like Austin is your person.

“No guarantee,” He agrees, “But I’d rather do it wrong with you a hundred times until we figure it out.”

A small smile tugs at the corners of your mouth because you know how serious Austin is being, how he means every word he says despite that it sounds kinda cheesy. It doesn’t change how it makes you feel—stomach full of butterflies that swirl right up into your chest, brushing against your ribcage. There’s so much apprehension in your veins but…you have to go with your gut, right? It might be messy and haphazard but it’ll be worth it—you can’t exactly fault what Austin is saying.

You’d rather keep getting it wrong with him than get it right with anyone else.

Taking a step towards him, you offer a warm hum before reaching out to fix part of his scarf that’s ticking out of his coat weird. “I dunno…I mean, Durrell was offering to cook.”

Austin laughs, something short and sudden like built-up tension slipping loose. He rolls his eyes, moving to wrap his arms around your waist. There’s a distant thought in your head about how anyone outside the windows on the doors can see you, how your cars are waiting for you both to leave the interview building, and how…all at the same time, none of that seems to matter either.

“He’s not the only one who can cook,” Austin smiles, reaching his one hand up to cup your cheek, playing with a strand of hair between his fingers. “I’ll make you whatever you want—I know what you like.”

You smile up at him, eyes flickering down to his lips. You suppose that’s true. Now, there’s only one thing you want taken care of. But of course, Austin reads you like an open book. He leans down slowly and captures your lips with his, the kiss slow and patient. When you pull back, your hand slips down to lace your fingers with his, moving as a unit outside and towards your respective cars even though you’ll both end up at one destination.

Time to begin all over again.

#austin butler #austin butler x reader #austin butler imagine #austin butler drabble #austin butler fic #elvis 2022 #mccall writes things

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