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betterdaysareatoenailaway · 3 years

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Random Review #3: Sleepwalkers (1992) and “Sleep Walk” (1959)

I. Sleepwalkers (1992) I couldn’t sleep last night so I started watching a trashy B-movie penned by Stephen King specifically for the screen called Sleepwalkers (1992). Simply put, the film is an unmitigated disaster. A piece of shit. But it didn’t need to be. That’s what’s so annoying about it. By 1992 King was a grizzled veteran of the silver screen, with more adaptations under his belt than any other author of his cohort. Puzo had the Godfather films (1972 and 1974, respectively), sure, but nothing else. Leonard Gardner had Fat City (1972), a movie I love, but Gardner got sucked into the Hollywood scene of cocaine and hot tub parties and never published another novel, focusing instead on screenplays for shitty TV shows like NYPD Blue. After Demon Seed (1977), a movie I have seen and disliked, nobody would touch Dean Koontz’s stuff with a ten foot pole, which is too bad because The Voice of the Night, a 1980 novel about two young pals, one of whom is a psychopath trying to convince the other to help him commit murder, would make a terrific movie. But Koontz’s adaptations have been uniformly awful. The made-for-TV film starring John C McGinley, 1997′s Intensity, is especially bad. There are exceptions, but Stephen King has been lucky enough to avoid the fate of his peers. Big name directors have tackled his work, from Stanley Kubrick to Brian De Palma. King even does a decent job of acting in Pet Semetary (1989), in his own Maximum Overdrive (1986) and in George Romero’s Creepshow (1982), where he plays a yokel named Jordy Verril who gets infected by a meteorite that causes green weeds to grow all over his body. Many have criticized King’s over-the-top performance in that flick, but for me King perfectly nails the campy and comical tone that Romero was going for. The dissolves in Creepshow literally come right off the pages of comics, so people expecting a subtle Ordinary People-style turn from King had clearly walked into the wrong theatre. Undoubtedly Creepshow succeeds at what it set out to do. I’m not sure Sleepwalkers succeeds though, unless the film’s goal was to get me to like cats even more than I already do. But I already love cats a great deal. Here’s my cat Cookie watching me edit this very blog post.

And here’s one of my other cats, Church, named after the cat that reanimates and creeps out Louis and Ellie in Pet Sematary. Photo by @ScareAlex.

SPOILER ALERT: Do not keep reading if you plan on watching Sleepwalkers and want to find out for yourself what happens.

Stephen King saw many of his novels get adapted in the late 1970s and 80s: Carrie, The Shining, Firestarter, Christine, Cujo, and the movie that spawned the 1950s nostalgia industrial complex, Stand By Me, but Sleepwalkers was the first time he wrote a script specifically for the screen rather than adapting a novel that already existed. Maybe that’s why it’s so fucking bad. Stephen King is a novelist, gifted with a novelist’s rich imagination. He’s prone to giving backstories to even the most peripheral characters - think of Joe Chamber’s alcoholic neighbour Gary Pervier in the novel Cujo, who King follows for an unbelievable number of pages as the man stumbles drunkenly around his house spouting his catch phrase “I don’t give a shit,” drills a hole through his phone book so he can hang it from a string beside his phone, complains about his hemorrhoids getting “as big as golfballs” (I’m not joking), and just generally acts like an asshole until a rabid Cujo bounds over, rips his throat out, and he bleeds to death. In the novel Pervier’s death takes more than a few pages, but it makes for fun reading. You hate the man so fucking much that watching him die feels oddly satisfying. In the movie, though, his death occurs pretty quickly, and in a darkened hallway, so it’s hard to see what’s going on aside from Gary’s foot trembling. And Pervier’s “I don’t give a shit” makes sense when he’s drilling a hole in the phone book, not when he’s about to be savagely attacked by a rabid St Bernard. There’s just less room for back story in movies. In a medium that demands pruning and chiseling and the “less is more” dictum, King’s writing takes a marked turn for the worse. King is a prose maximalist, who freely admits to “writing to outrageous lengths” in his novels, listing It, The Stand, and The Tommyknockers as particularly egregious examples of literary logorrhea. He is not especially equipped to write concisely. This weakness is most apparent in Sleepwalkers’ dialogue, which sounds like it was supposed to be snappy and smart, like something Aaron Sorkin would write, but instead comes off like an even worse Tango & Cash, all bad jokes and shitty puns. More on those bad jokes later. First, the plot.

Sleepwalkers is about a boy named Charles and his mother Mary who travel around the United States killing and feeding off the lifeforce of various unfortunate people (if this sounds a little like The True Knot in Doctor Sleep, you’re not wrong. But self-plagiarism is not a crime). Charles and Mary are shapeshifting werewolf-type creatures called werecats, a species with its very own Wikipedia page. Wikipedia confers legitimacy dont’cha know, so lets assume werecats are real beings. According to said page, a werecat, “also written in a hyphenated form as were-cat) is an analogy to ‘werewolf’ for a feline therianthropic creature.” I’m gonna spell it with the hyphen from now on because “werecats” just looks like a typo. Okay? Okay.

Oddly enough, the were-cats in Sleepwalkers are terrified of cats. Actual cats. For the were-cats, cute kittens = kryptonite. When they see a cat or cats plural, this happens to them:

^ That is literally a scene from the movie. Charles is speeding when a cop pulls alongside him and bellows at him to pull over. Ever the rebel, Charles flips the cop the finger. But the cop has a cat named Clovis in his car, and when the cat pops up to have a look at the kid (see below), Charles shapeshifts first into a younger boy, then into whatever the fuck that is in the above screenshot.

Now, the were-cats aversion to normal cats is confusing because one would assume a were-cat to be a more evolved (or perhaps devolved?) version of the typical house kitty. The fact that these were-cats are bipedal alone suggests an advantage over our furry four-legged friends, no? Kinda like if humans were afraid of fucking gorillas. Wait...we are scared of gorillas. And chimpanzees. And all apes really. Okay, maybe the conceit of the film isn’t so silly after all. The film itself, however, is about as silly as a bad horror movie can get. When the policeman gets back to precinct and describes the incident above (”his face turned into a blur”) he is roundly ridiculed because in movies involving the supernatural nobody believes in the supernatural until it confronts them. It’s the law, sorry. Things don’t end well for the cop. Or for the guy who gets murdered when the mom stabs him with...an ear of corn. Yes, an ear of corn. Somehow, the mother is able to jam corn on the cob through a man’s body, without crushing the vegetable or turning it into yellow mash. It’s pretty amazing. Here is a sample of dialog from that scene: Cop About To Die On The Phone to Precinct: There’s blood everywhere! *STAB* Murderous Mother: No vegetables, no dessert. That is actually a line in the movie. “No vegetables, no dessert.” It’s no “let off some steam, Bennett” but it’s close. Told ya I’d get back to the bad jokes. See, Mary and Charles are new in town and therefore seeking to ingratiate themselves by killing everyone who suspects them of being weird, all while avoiding cats as best they can. At one point Charles yanks a man’s hand off and tells him to "keep [his] hands to [him]self," giving the man back his severed bloody hand. Later on Charles starts dating a girl who will gradually - and I do mean gradually - come to realize her boyfriend is not a real person but in fact a were-cat. Eventually our spunky young protagonist - Madchen Amick, who fans of Twin Peaks will recognize as Shelly - and a team of cats led by the adorable Clovis- kill the were-cat shapeshifting things and the sleepy small town (which is named Travis for some reason) goes back to normal, albeit with a slightly diminished population. For those keeping score, that’s Human/Cat Alliance 1, Shapeshifting Were-cats 0. It is clear triumph for the felis catus/people team! Unless we’re going by kill count, in which case it is closer to Human/Cat Alliance 2, Were-cats 26. I arrived at this figure through my own notes but also through a helpful video that takes a comprehensive and complete “carnage count” of all kills in Sleepwalkers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmt-DroK6uA

II. Santo & Johnny “Sleep Walk” (1959) Because Sleepwalkers is decidedly not known for its good acting or its well-written screenplay, it is perhaps best known for its liberal and sometimes contrapuntal use of Santo & Johnny’s classic steel guitar song “Sleep Walk,” possibly the most famous (and therefore best) instrumental of the 20th century. Some might say “Sleep Walk” is tied for the #1 spot with “Green Onions” by Booker T & the M.G.’s and/or “Wipe Out” by The Surfaris, but I disagree. The Santo & Johnny song is #1 because of its incalculable influence on all subsequent popular music.

I’m not saying “Wipe Out” didn't inspire a million imitators, both contemporaneously and even decades later…for example here’s a surf rock instrumental from 1999 called “Giant Cow" by a Toronto band called The Urban Surf Kings. The video was one of the first to be animated using Flash (and it shows):

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So there are no shortage of surf rock bands, even now, decades after its emergence from the shores of California to the jukeboxes of Middle America. My old band Sleep for the Nightlife used to regularly play Rancho Relaxo with a surf rock band called the Dildonics, who I liked a great deal. There's even a Danish surf rock band called Baby Woodrose, whose debut album is a favourite of mine. They apparently compete for the title of Denmark’s biggest surf pop band with a group called The Setting Son. When a country that has no surfing culture and no beaches has multiple surf rock bands, it is safe to say the genre has attained international reach. As far as I can tell, there aren’t many bands out there playing Booker T & the M.G.’s inspired instrumental rock. Link Wray’s “Rumble” was released four years before “Green Onions.” But the influence of Santo and Johnny’s “Sleep Walk” is so ubiquitous as to be almost immeasurable. The reason for this is the sheer popularity of the song’s chord progression. If Santo and Johnny hadn’t written it first, somebody else would have, simply because the progression is so beautiful and easy on the ears and resolvable in a satisfying way. Have a listen to “Sleep Walk” first and then let’s check out some songs it directly inspired.

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The chords are C, A minor, F and G. Minor variations sometimes reverse the last two chords, but if it begins with C to A minor, you can bet it’s following the “Sleep Walk” formula, almost as if musicians influenced by the song are in the titular trance. When it comes to playing guitar, Tom Waits once said “your hands are like dogs, going to the same places they’ve been. You have to be careful when playing is no longer in the mind but in the fingers, going to happy places. You have to break them of their habits or you don’t explore; you only play what is confident and pleasing.” Not only is it comforting to play and/or hear what we already know, studies have shown that our brains actively resist new music, because it takes work to understand the new information and assimilate it into a pattern we are cogent of. It isn’t until the brain recognizes the pattern that it gives us a dopamine rush. I’m not much for Pitchfork anymore, but a recent article they posted does a fine job of discussing this phenomenon in greater detail.

Led Zeppelin’s “D’Yer Maker” uses the “Sleep Walk” riff prominently, anchored by John Bonham and John Paul Jones’ white-boy reggae beat:

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Here it is again with Del Shannon’s classic “Little Town Flirt.” I love Shannon’s falsetto at the end when he goes “you better run and hide now bo-o-oy.”

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The Beatles “Happiness is a Warm Gun” uses the Sleep Walk progression, though not for the whole song. It goes into the progression at the bridge at 1:34:

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Tumblr won’t let me embed any more videos, so you’ll to travel to another tab to hear these songs, but Neil Young gets in on the act with his overlooked classic “Winterlong:” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RV6r66n3TFI On their 1996 EP Interstate 8 Modest Mouse pay direct homage by singing over their own rendition of the original Santo & Johnny version, right down to the weeping steel guitar part: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VT_PwXjCqqs The vocals are typical wispy whispered indie rock vocals, but I think they work, particularly the two different voices. They titled their version “Sleepwalking (Couples Only Dance Prom Night).”

Dwight Yoakam’s “Thousand Miles From Nowhere” makes cinematic use of it. This song plays over the credits of one of my all-time favourite movies, 1993′s Red Rock West feat. Nicolas Cage, Lara Flynn Boyle, Dennis Hopper, and J.T. Walsh https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tu3ypuKq8WE

“39″ is my favourite Queen song. I guess now I know why. It uses my fav chord progression: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kE8kGMfXaFU

Blink 182 scored their first hit “Dammit” with a minor variation on the Sleep Walk chord progression: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sT0g16_LQaQ

Midwest beer drinkin bar rockers Connections scored a shoulda-been-a-hit with the fist-pumping “Beat the Sky:” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSNRq0n_WYA You’d be hard pressed to find a weaker lead singer than this guy (save for me, natch), but they make it work. This one’s an anthem.

Spoon, who have made a career out of deconstructing rock n’ roll, so that their songs sometimes sound needlessly sparse (especially “The Ghost of You Lingers,” which takes minimalism to its most extreme...just a piano being bashed on staccato-style for four minutes), so it should surprise nobody that they re-arrange the Sleep Walk chords on their classic from Gimme Fiction, “I Summon You:” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teXA8N3aF9M I love that opening line: remember the weight of the world was a sound that we used to buy? I think songwriter Britt Daniel is talking about buying albums from the likes of Pearl Jam or Smashing Pumpkins, any of those grunge bands with pessimistic worldviews. There are a million more examples. I remember seeing some YouTube video where a trio of gross douchebros keep playing the same progression while singing a bunch of hits over it. I don’t like the smarmy way they do it, making it seem like artists are lazy and deliberately stealing. I don’t think it’s plagiarism to use this progression. And furthermore, tempo and production make all the difference. Take “This Magic Moment” for example. There's a version by Jay & the Americans and one by Ben E King & the Drifters. I’ve never been a fan of those shrieking violins or fiddles that open the latter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bacBKKgc4Uo The Jay & the Americans version puts the guitar riff way in the forefront, which I like a lot more. The guitar plays the entire progression once before the singing starts and the band joins in: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKfASw6qoag

Each version has its own distinctive feel. They are pretty much two different songs. Perhaps the most famous use of the Sleep Walk progression is “Unchained Melody” by the Righteous Brothers, which is one of my favourite songs ever. The guy who chose to let Bobby Hatfield sing this one by himself must have kicked himself afterwards when it became a hit, much bigger than "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling."https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiiyq2xrSI0

What can you say about “Unchained Melody” that hasn’t already been said? God, that miraculously strong vocal, the way the strings (and later on, brass horns) are panned way over to the furthest reaches the left speaker while the drums and guitar are way over in the right, with the singing smack dab in the middle creates a kind of distance and sharp clarity that has never been reproduced in popular music, like seeing the skyscrapers of some distant city after an endless stretch of highway. After listening to “Unchained Melody,” one has to wonder: can that progression ever be improved upon? Can any artist write something more haunting, more beautiful, more uplifting than that? The “need your love” crescendo hits so fucking hard, as both the emotional and the sonic climax of the song, which of course is no accident...the strings descending and crashing like a waterfall of sound, it gets me every fucking time. Legend has it that King George II was so moved by the “Hallelujah” section of Handel’s “Messiah” that he stood up, he couldn't help himself, couldn't believe what he was hearing. I get that feeling with all my favourite songs. "1979." "Unchained Melody." "In The Still of the Night." "Digital Bath." "Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?" "Interstate." "Liar's Tale." “Gimme Shelter.” The list goes on and on. Music is supposed to move us.

King George II stood because he was moved to do so. Music may be our creation, but it isn't our subordinate. All those sci-fi stories warning about technology growing beyond our control aren’t that far-fetched. Music is our creation but its power lies beyond our control. We are subordinate to music, helpless against its power and might, its urgency and vitality and beauty. There have been many times in my life when I have been so obsessed with a particular song that I pretty much want to live inside of it forever. A house of sound. I remember detoxing from heroin and listening to Grimes “Realiti” on repeat for twelve hours. Detoxing from OxyContin and listening to The Beach Boys “Dont Worry Baby” over and over. Or just being young and listening to “Tonight Tonight” over and over and over, tears streaming from my eyes in that way you cry when you’re a kid because you just feel so much and you don’t know what to do with the intensity of those feelings. It is precisely because we are so moved by music that we keep creating it. And in the act of that creation we are free. There are no limits to that freedom, which is why bands time and time again return to the well-worn Sleep Walk chord progression and try to make something new from it. Back in 2006, soon after buying what was then the new Yeah Yeah Yeahs album, I found myself playing the album’s closing track over and over. I loved the chorus and I loved the way it collapses into a lo-fi demo at the very end, stripping away the studio sheen and...not to be too punny, showing its bones (the album title is Show Your Bones). Later on I would realize that the song, called “Turn Into,” uses the Sleep Walk chord progression. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exqCFoPiwpk

It’s just like, what Waits said, our hands goes to where we are familiar. And so do our ears, which is why jazz often sounds so unpleasant to us upon first listen. Or Captain Beefheart. But it’s worth the effort to discover new stuff, just as it’s worth the effort to try and write it. I recently lamented on this blog that music to me now is more about remembrance than discovery, but I’m still only 35 years old. I’m middle-aged right now (I don’t expect to live past 70, not with the lifestyle I’ve been living). There’s still a whole other half life to find new music and love and leave it for still newer stuff. It’s worth the challenge, that moment of inner resistance we feel when confronted with something new and challenging and strange sounding. The austere demands of adult life, rent and routine, take so much of our time. I still make time for creative pursuits, but I don’t really have much time for discovery, for seeking out new music. But I’ve resolved to start making more time. A few years ago I tried to listen to and like Trout Mask Replica but I couldn’t. I just didn’t get what was going on. It sounded like a bunch of mistakes piled on top of each other. But then a few days ago I was writing while listening to music, as I always do, and YouTube somehow landed on Lick My Decals Off, Baby. I didn’t love what I was hearing but I was intrigued enough to keep going. And now I really like this song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMnd9dvb3sA&pbjreload=101 Another example I’ll give is the rare Robert Pollard gem “Prom Is Coming.” The first time I heard this song, it sounded like someone who can’t play guitar messing around, but the more I heard it the more I realized there’s a song there. It’s weird and strange, but it’s there. The lyrics are classic Pollard: Disregard injury and race madly out of the universe by sundown. Pollard obviously has a special place in his heart for this track. He named one of his many record labels Prom Is Coming Records and he titled the Boston Spaceships best-of collection Out of the Universe By Sundown. I don’t know if I’ll ever become a Captain Beefheart megafan but I can hear that the man was doing something very strange and, at times, beautiful. And anyway, why should everything be easy? Aren’t some challenges worth meeting for the experience waiting on the other side of comprehension or acceptance? I try to remember this now whenever I’m first confronted with new music, instead of vetoing it right away. Most of my favourite bands I was initially resistant to when I first heard them. Queens of the Stone Age, Kyuss, Guided by Voices, Spoon, Heavy Times. All bands I didn’t like at first. I don’t wanna sleepwalk through life, surrounding myself only with things I have already experienced. I need to stay awake. Because soon enough I’ll be asleep forever. We need to try everything we can before the Big Sleep comes to take us back to the great blankness, the terrible question mark that bookends our lives.

#sleep walk #santo & johnny #neil young #queen #dwight yoakam #led zeppelin #the beatles #betterdaysareatoenailaway

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iveryafterdark · 3 years

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Day 128

Part 11, Nameless werewolves. [semi-Long]

Last Part. Next Part.

Ever since the little hunting disaster with Relis and Vaitelin, Time had been doing his best to avoid being recruited to go on another hunt... not that it was difficult. The second they stepped back into camp Relis made sure everyone knew about his broken ribs, so no one had been expecting much of him of late. It had only been about a week, though, so, eventually, that would change.

"I don't think you should be going around patrolling yet, you still have a broken rib." Bear cautioned, though he was starting to sound more like whining with the amount of times he had said something similar. While the dark-toned man wasn't wrong about the rib situation that didn't mean that he wasn't capable of keeping their borders safe. Even with a broken rib, he was still more powerful than any mortal was.

"You worry too much, stop being such a mother-hen." he responded dismissively to the guard, who frowned deeply in response... or Time assumed he did. He wasn't really bothering with throwing the shadow-man a look to check. It had been a little under a week, and for the most part his lungs felt fine again. Gods heal faster than mortals, another week and it would be like it never happened.

"Last time I was careless you got hurt." Bear responded, voice low but pointed. Time pretended he didn't hear him, it was a reasonable thing to do with how quiet he was now speaking, as much as he liked Bear he might have to do something about his penchant for seeing him as needing protection. Despite the, occasional, complaint from the brown-haired man the walk existed mostly in silence. It Seemed Bear wasn't so eager to talk anymore... maybe thinking too much. Time would leave him to it, which meant less of Bear worrying a hole through his ears.

The young-god's attention only snapped back to reality when the werewolf stepped in front of him, arm out to stop him, growling at.. someone. Time rolled his eyes at the bristling guard, clearing his throat and pushing Bear to the side as gently, but firmly, as he could manage. Another stranger stood several yards away, hands raised to show innocence, dark brown eyes watching Bear warily.

"You! Finally worked up the courage to show your face, little stalker?" Bear spat, crossly, Time couldn't help but think that he was just taking his frustration out on the guy. This 'stalker' dipped his head deeply, eyes lowered to the ground, posture poor as if to make himself look smaller. If he stood up straight he would probably be about Time's height... which, yeah, he supposed that would make him 'little' to Bear but he had been named that for a reason.

"Lashing out needlessly, Bear? Let's, at least, see what he wants before you verbally abuse the man." he chided with a light tone, he had been disapproving of the guard enough today no need to put him in a further bad mood. The lack of response told him that he was willing enough to allow the man to speak. This 'stalker' was a fair-tanned man with hair almost as dark as Bear's in brown, short and messy. The most interesting thing about him, however, was the excessive amount of body-paint he was using. White-ash mask over the majority of his face, as well as his hands, wrists, throat, and chest, bright yellow and black stripes cutting around the back of his hair, and arms, that reminded Time a bit of a Bumblebee. This guy didn't look very threatening to him.

"What can I do for you, little bee?" he asked in an amused tone, ignoring the disgusted snort from Bear behind him, the stranger's dark brown eyes went wide at this and he dipped his head further down. As if to apologize for the momentary eye contact.

"Your defender is right to look down on me, to call me such things, I have been following you for some time now." his voice sounded uncertain, but Time didn't focus as much on that as he did the words themselves.

"You've been following me?" his voice harder now, a slight threat.

"Yes." another dip of his head like a duck bobbing in a lake.

"For how long?"

".... Since you first stepped foot into the meadows.. when you met the Robin." Time's blood went cold in his veins at that, the almost constant sensation of being watched that he had attributed to the new territory? It had been this guy following him around like a ghost. How had he went this entire time and not noticed that he was being followed? The young-god turned his gaze to Bear for an explanation.

"I noticed a few nights ago, he's really very good at being a rat."

"Why didn't you let me know we were being tailed when you found out?"

"I... didn't want you to worry about something like that right now?" A question, that same almost guilty look he had worn when Time first met him. The implication in Bear's words were, also, not lost on him. He didn't say anything because of his broken ribs... they'd discuss that later, right now they had a mouse to deal with. Time turned his sharp, orange, eyes back to the strange man. As soon as the attention was back on him he seemed to scramble to say something before Time could.

"I meant no harm, I merely followed you because being near your group makes it safer for me to travel."

"If you wanted safety you should have returned home." his harsh tone caused the striped man to wince. "Why reveal yourself now? You've been in hiding for several months, why change something that's been working for you?"

"Because..." the stalker glanced between him and Bear, before carefully approaching only to stop in his tracks a few feet away when Bear began growling defensively. The man kneeled on the ground, not unlike Robin would when she prayed, and raised both of his hands up to Time like one would in offering. It was a strange thing, he could feel the power connection with even just this gesture, something he had seen but had never been involved.

"Because I am a man with no name, no family to speak of, but I have worth." ah, one of the unfortunate, untrustworthy, people forced to walk the world alone due to the nature of their existence. Not a single soul to vouch for them. Often treated as criminals and chased from cities both human and otherwise... and it was strictly forbidden to give one's self a name. A hangable offense.

"I am an honest man, I am loyal, I will give you everything I have to offer. I just need a chance." His plea was soft, heartfelt, full of pain, and loneliness, and desperation.

"You say this but by the very nature of your existence there is no way to prove any of your claims. You could be a criminal, a madman-" Bear responded, distrust on his voice, Time held out a hand to quiet him. The striped man's eyes seemed only honest, a small amount of hope in them at the gesture.

"You ask for a chance, the opportunity to prove yourself?"

"Please-" he sounded on the verge of tears. "-that is all I ask. Just one." a long moment of silence followed, Time sizing the nameless man up, before nodding shortly. He had never seen such a look of pure gratitude and relief before than the one that followed.

"You already know the way back to camp, but you should walk with us this time." the striped man rubbed his hands across his face, looking at Time like he was as important as the sun, before getting to his uneven feet. Hm, the white marks on his hands and face hadn't budged despite that, maybe they were actually tattoos and not body-paint. The yellow stripes that went through the back of his hair was definitely painted, though.

"What are we going to tell them when everyone expects him to be introduced? He has no name, and I'm sure some of the others won't be like being around an unclaimed." Bear, again, voice unusually hard.

"Leave that for me to worry about, Bear." the man opened his mouth, but at the warning look he was thrown just sighed.

While there had been some raised eyebrows when Time offered no introduction for the new member no one made a particular fuss about it, going about things as usual as the sky began to darken into night. The bee-colored man was following him closely, like a lost pup, seeming to be afraid of being left alone with the rest of the group. Understandable, considering the past experiences that he had probably had with other large groups of people. Due to the constant following, and looks of sheer gratitude he was getting from him, Time noticed rather quickly when the nameless man went missing while the rest of the group was sitting around the fire to eat before bed.

Like usual, Astaria, Felis, and Surie were sitting in a half-circle talking, telling bad stories, worse jokes, and laughing loudly together. The three were nearly inseparable at this point. Near them was Vaitelin, who would briefly exchange insults with Astaria throughout the night. A weird relationship those two had, Time wasn't going to even try to parse out if they loved or hated each other. Sitting close to himself was Robin; who was acting stranger and stranger as more time passed, Relis; who was sitting on the ground instead of on the log like everyone else, and Bear. In the beginning, the nameless man had been sitting next to him as well but, at some point, he had dipped out. A sense of doubt stabbed through his rib, had it been a mistake to trust him? A man with no one willing to claim him or vouch for his goodwill? Was he really dangerous like Bear had believed?

Bear seemed to sense the thought process going on in Time's mind and gave him a knowing look, at least he had the decency to not look smug about it.

"Think I made a mistake on that one?" he was expecting a quip, or a snappy response, or an incredulous look, but instead Bear just looked conflicted and shrugged.

"He... seemed genuine to me." uncertainty, a complete reversal of the confident distrust he had shown earlier.

Time decided to wait beside the fire for the rest of the night, the rest of the group retiring to bed one-by-one until it was just him and Bear waiting.

"You should really get some rest-" the yawn was loud enough to cause him to wince and shuffle a bit further away from the werewolf. "-you aren't gonna heal any better sleep-deprived." it was probably more along the lines that Bear was exhausted and didn't want to stay out any later.

"You can lay down whenever you want, Bear. I'm not forcing you to stay up." the guard just blinked at him in an unamused manner, before rubbing his eyes and stretching. Seems he wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. He was starting to think he should just lay down to allow the poor man some rest when a rustle caught his attention.

Turning towards the sound was a figure, with dully-glowing brown eyes. The oddness of the silhouette caused him to bristle, Bear growling beside him, but the familiar gesture of the being just... kneeling with hands out caused him to pause.

"Do not be alarmed." it sure was the same nameless man from earlier, voice soft.

"What happened to you?" Time narrowed his eyes at the shadow, trying to better decipher what he was seeing.

"I was... hunting?"

"Was that a question?" Bear growled shortly beside him, he didn't seem tired anymore.

"I... took down the buck that tried to attack you." the nameless man added, shifting. Ah, the oddness of the silhouette was him hauling a... full-grown deer on his shoulders. Surprising, for a man that height.... even if he was, obviously, a werewolf.

"You.... managed that all by yourself?" a short nod, in response. Time eyed the unclaimed werewolf warily before gesturing for him to come closer. In the fire's light it became more obvious the situation, by the looks of it the man had field-dressed the buck and skinned it, the cloak draped around his shoulders. Once the striped man stood only, about, a leg-length away from the young-god he kneeled once more and presented a thick bear-leather bag that he had been holding at his side before removing the deer cloak and placing it on top as well. The nameless man closed his eyes, muttered something Time couldn't hear, before pushing the hunt to Time and bowing deeply to the ground. An offering, the first he had ever received personally, the gesture made Time felt like he was breathing ice-cold water in the best way. Like he was drowning in ether. He sat stunned for many seconds, staring blankly at the offering and the nameless man, before blinking the tears out of his eyes.

"I underestimated you." Time said, even his voice felt different. Smoother. It must sound different too because Bear was giving him a look. The striped man sat up, though he was still kneeling, cautiously looking at Time with the reverence that Time had only seen directed at his own father before.

"You've proven yourself in my eyes, I see no reason for you to walk the world nameless and shunned. I will claim you, vouch for you when needed." his brown eyes were shining. "I think the name... Hercules suits you just fine, don't you agree Bear?" the dark man blinked, like he didn't understand what was happening, before nodding.

"Welcome to the pack, Hercules." the guard agreed, dipping his head in greeting. Hercules, as he was now dubbed, looked like he was in sheer disbelief. Like the world had suddenly stopped making sense.

"Unless, you would prefer something different, of course?"

"No!" the reaction was so quick it made Time raise an eyebrow. "No, Hercules is... perfect. Thank you, I will not disappoint you." he was grinning, the first time Time had seen him do so, sheer joy on his face.

"Now, everyone else is asleep so I think you should join them, you'll be no use to us dead on your feet." a deep nod, but Time doubted someone who looked so excited would be falling asleep anytime soon.

#wolvden

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lukatheselkie · 3 years

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HMC - Body Swap

@hetaliamondaychallenge

I’m sort of back. I still don’t feel well enough to strictly use canon characters, so have this cute oneshot of Prussia and one of my OCs.

College AU where they’re still countries and personifications. Arthur leads the Soulmate Body Swap Program.

Pairing: Prussia x Alrik (OC; Fika)

Headcanons: Gilbert often wears blue contacts to change his eyes from red to purple. The pain given from touching a scar depends on the severity of the situation that gave it, and sometimes who gave it.

Content Warning: Cussing, scars, specific sex toys mentioned but not used.

Alrik grunts quietly when his phone blares an alarm at him. He rolls over and pokes at the screen, turning it off. He doesn’t recall setting an alarm, as he usually lets the sun wake him up, but sometimes he does stuff without realizing. He sits up with a sigh, shaking his head in an attempt to clear his sleepiness. He furrows his brows when his hair doesn’t hit him in the face. What’s with that? He opens his eyes slowly when he hears an unfamiliar voice nearby. “Where the hell am I!?” This is not his room! The door flies open and a concerned Ludwig hurries in.

“Gil, jou’re at home, not jour dorm. Jou drank too much last night und passed out.” That explains the headache. Wait… Ludwig? Gil? He tosses his head back and groans loudly. “Gil? Are jou okay?” The gentleness in his voice infuriates Alrik.

“Nej! Jag är inte okej! Jag kan inte tro att din dumma bror är min själsfrände! (No! I'm not okay! I cannot believe that your stupid brother is my soulmate!)” Ludwig’s eyes widen and he stumbles backwards a bit. Only one person would yell at him like that.

“Alrik…?” He huffs and crosses his arms over his chest.

“Who else?” Ludwig stares at him for a long moment. “Don’t just look at me!” He turns his head away, cheeks flushed in both anger and embarrassment. He will never admit it, but Ludwig is pretty attractive without his hair gelled back. “Go call Arthur! I’m going to make sure today isn’t Berty’s day as well. What a pain that would be.” Alrik sighs, and grabs for Gilbert’s phone. He grimaces when an ‘enter passcode’ message pops up. “You don’t happen to know his passcode, do you?” Ludwig shakes his head slowly.

“Nein. But he should have fingerprint ID on.” Alrik places his thumb over the home button, keeping his expression cautiously neutral. Thankfully it works, and he navigates to the calling app. He types in Albert’s number with ease; it’s one of three phone numbers he knows by heart. The other two are his own and Berwald’s. He lifts his head up to glare at Ludwig when he hears him part his lips to say something. The German holds up a hand and backs out of the room.

“Hallå?” Alrik sighs in relief when he hears his brother’s voice.

“Berty.” He puts as much love into the name as he can. “Is that you?” He can almost see Albert’s brows furrowing.

“Ja.”

“Oh thank goodness. You didn’t swap today. This is Rikky.” Alberts makes a quiet, shocked noise. “I know. I was hoping to have more time too. But there’s nothing I can do about it. Listen—Gilbert is in my body. I’m not happy about it, but apparently we’re soulmates.” Alrik lets out a groan. “Great. I have to make up with him.” He shakes his head. “That’s besides the point. Make sure he puts my necklace on, okay? Please. Oh, also! Wake him up rudely. He uses an alarm, and my ears are still ringing from it. He’s lucky it didn’t trigger my hearing sensory overload. Ludwig is calling Arthur. We’ll have to settle on a place to meet later. I just had to make sure you were okay, and knew what was happening. Jag älskar dig.” He ends the call before Albert can ask him to stay. He’s weak to his brother, but he really needs time to process. Ludwig peeks his head into the room.

“Hopefully he didn’t switch?” Alrik shakes his head in response.

“Nej.” He tosses the phone aside haphazardly. “Did you call Arthur yet?”

“He’s not answering.” Ludwig stares at him for a long moment. “Vhy don’t jou take a shower? It vill help zat headache.” Alrik bristles.

“As if! I don’t want to- to-!” His face turns crimson. Ludwig can’t help but smirk a tiny bit.

“Don’t vant to see him naked?” Maybe he finds this a bit *too* humorous. “Jou vill see him like zat eventually.”

“I don’t want to think about that.” Ludwig shrugs. “...But I’ll wash his hair. That should help clear his head. My head? I don’t know how this works.”

“Jour head. Jou also sound more like jourself zan him. I hope Antonio und Francis don’t vant to hang out vith him today.” Alrik perks up at the mention of Francis. “Vhat? Do jou like ein of zem?” “Not particularity. I’m hoping Francis and Berty are soulmates though. That would be nice. Good for Berty, for sure.” Ludwig smiles at him. It takes him off guard. “What?”

“Jou und Gil aren’t too different. He often puts his brother—me—first too. Jou’re both run by emotions. Jou have a more feminine style zough.” Alrik’s head jerks up at that.

“He better not touch my cute clothes! I spend a lot of time making sure they’re perfectly put up! And if he even thinks about touching my makeup, I’m going to filet him!” Ludwig chuckles. “It’s not funny!”

“I know it’s not. But I’ve never seen jou zis passionate before. It’s refreshing. Und a lot like Gil. It makes sense jou two are soulmates.”

“It does not! I hate his guts!” Ludwig sits at the end of the bed quietly.

“But vhy?”

“Jou know ze answer to zat.”

“Humor me.” Alrik looks away.

“...Fine. I’ve been unfairly rude and mean to you. Gilbert is only being a good brother by protecting you. It’s my fault things get physical.” Ludwig nods slowly.

“Vhy do jou hate me zough?”

“I don’t.” Alrik closes his eyes and lays back, clearly not wanting to explain. Ludwig lets the silence stretch out between them. By the time five minutes has passed, the Swedish man can’t handle it anymore. “I’m jealous, okay? I’ve known Feliciano wouldn’t be my soulmate. But I still fell in love with him. It’s completely one-sided and that’s fine. What’s not fine is how effortlessly you got close to him! I spent so long trying… Only to be pushed aside when you came into his life. I’ll never compare to you.” He turns his head into the pillow, trying not to cry. He takes a deep, shaky breath. A surprised grunt leaves his lips when he smells something sweet yet musky. “Den jäveln luktar till och med bra! Jag hatar honom så mycket! (That bastard even smells good! I hate him so much!)”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be the source of jour pain. I don’t know how to fix zat. But I vill say Feli has already swapped vith his soulmate, und it’s not me. I hope jou can find some reassurance in that.” Strangely, it makes Alrik feel a bit better. Ludwig laughs quietly, and he shoots back up. His eyes land on the phone in his hand. “I had my phone ready to translate,” he explains. “I know jou slip into Swedish vhen jou’re angry. I zought realizing jou laid back on his bed vould make jou angry. I vas right, but I vasn’t expecting jou to say he smells gut.” Alrik flushes crimson, and stands up quickly.

“I’m going to wash his hair now! And I’m using whatever I see fit. He can go one day without proper care. I never fully care for mine, and it’s fine.” Ludwig raises his brows at him, but doesn’t say anything. He practically barricades himself in the ensuite. He lets out a quiet sigh of relief when he hears Ludwig leave the room beyond the door. He takes the opportunity to study Gilbert in the mirror.

His eyes are a beautiful, piercing red. He could swear they’re purple most of the time though… Ah, he has a pair of blue contact lenses. For some reason, the knowledge that Gilbert wants to hide his eyes makes his heart ache. There’s no need to! He shakes his head, and looks at him some more. His jaw is a lot sharper than Alrik’s. His nose is longer and more slender. He smiles, and even that’s different. Gilbert is roguishly handsome, whereas Alrik’s soft and cute. His stomach knots up; he really does look like a woman, doesn’t he? He decides to stop looking at Gilbert's facial features, and tugs off his shirt instead. He pauses at the sight of the bare torso. He had no idea he was so toned. He glances at the mirror, and feels something within him shift awake.

“Nej! Absolutely not! Stop it, mind! I am not attracted to Gilbert! Under no circumstances will I ever be attracted to him!” His mind isn’t listening to him. But he’s not listening to his mind, either. He’s too busy staring at the scars. They’re easily hidden with a shirt, just as his are, but they’re clearly there. They aren’t quite as deep as his, but most still have a decent depth to them. He runs his fingers over them lightly. Only some cause pain to shoot through him. The majority of them either ache dully or don’t react at all. He knows the ones that hurt the most are from other personifications, or a serious happening in his country when it was around. He finds himself wondering if there’s one from being dissolved.

“Alrik? Are jou alright? I heard yelling.”

“J-ja, I’m fine.” It barely comes out. He shakes his head, and turns toward the tub. There’s no point in wondering when he can ask Gilbert about them later. They have to get along somehow. Whether they liked it or not, it had been decided they were soulmates. He would try it if Gilbert was willing. But that’s the thing, isn’t it? Gilbert might not be willing. He can only imagine what’s happening there. ~

Gilbert jolts awake to cold water being poured on him. “Vhat ze hell!?” He hears a quiet laughter that gives him pause. That sounds nothing like Ludwig! And why doesn’t his head hurt? He knows he drank a bit too much last night.

“God morgen, sleepy head,” says a voice he’s not entirely sure is there. He looks around the room, and frowns when he sees a white-blonde haired man. He has too many curls to be Ludwig. And he’s wearing big, round glasses. He looks vaguely familiar. “Your alarm nearly caused my brother to go into sensory overload. Du should be more cautious, when du know du could swap anytime.” Ah. He recognizes him now. Stockholm Syndrome. What’s his human name again? Al… Bert? Yeah, that sounds right! But why is he in my room? He runs over the words in his head. ...Unless he’s not in his room.

“Scheiße!” He hops up, and feels sick at how close to the ground he is. His soulmate is *at least* seven centimeters shorter than he is! He has who it is figured out before he can even make it to a mirror. The mirror confirms it though. He runs a hand over his—Alrik’s—face, then through his hair. He grimaces at the rough texture. Well, it’s not really rough, but it’s not as soft or as cared for as his hair.

“I’ll go help Berwald make breakfast.” Albert leaves the room, looking a little too smug, probably about having poured cold water over Gilbert. He goes back to his frantic inspection of Alrik. His nose is short and somewhat squat. His cheeks are pudgy, and his jawline isn’t very strong. His lips are decently plump. He runs his fingers over everything he looks at, except for his eyes. Everything about his facial features is round. That combined with his normal fashion sense and makeup? No wonder he gets mistaken as a woman. It’s rather unfortunate, honestly. He’s rather pretty, when he’s not scowling. Which he isn’t, because Gilbert’s in control. But his body can’t be so feminine people get a good look at him and think he’s still a woman, right?

“Zis feels strange,” Gilbert grumbles as he pulls off Alrik’s nightgown. The first thing that catches his eye is his semi-hourglass shape. Guess they can. The second thing he notices is the scars. He’ll come back to those in just a moment. He pokes Alrik’s stomach, laughing a bit when it moves. He’s not quite overweight, but he’s not thin either. He might weigh more than Albert. Gilbert grabs hold of his hips, and sways around a bit. Everything about Alrik is soft. Well, besides his personality. Maybe that’s why he didn’t notice how cute the man is until now.

He shifts his attention to the deep scars. They look painful. He lightly traces the longest one, which crosses the majority of his torso, flinching heavily at the pain it causes. Regret knots up in his gut. He knows for a fact he’s punched Alrik where this one is. Yet he continued to fight. He’s strong. Gilbert shakes his head and moves on to the next one, down his left side. It’s not as deep, but it still hurts to touch. He lays a hand over the shortest and shallowest one, on his right upper forearm, and frowns. It doesn’t hurt enough to pull away, but it still stings. “Vhere did jou get zese?” He stares at Alrik’s reflection, and notices another one on his inner left thigh. He cautiously places a hand over it, and promptly makes a strangled noise of pleasure. *That one hurts and causes arousal at the same time, got it.* He pokes around at Alrik’s body a bit more, and that’s how he finds the fifth scar. It’s on his lower back, so that’s why he didn’t see it to begin with. He examines the rest of his body, but there’s only those five scars.

“Gilb’rt, g’t dr’ssed. P’t his n’ckl’ce on. It’s on his n’ghtst’nd.” He comes back to his senses at the gruff voice. Berwald. His eyes dart around the room. There’s a dresser and a closet. He goes to the closet first, but quickly figures out it mainly holds dresses, skirts, and super fancy shirts. There’s a pair of cream, knee-high, heeled, open-toed boots he intends to wear though. He finds the necklace Berwald mentioned, and ties it around his neck. He searches through the dresser from top to bottom, left to right. The top shelf has sweatpants, the second has large shirts, the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth have cute shirts, the seventh and eighth have skirts, the ninth has patterned pants, and the tenth causes Gilbert to flush crimson, slamming it shut. He takes a few deep breaths, preparing himself to open it again. When he does, he looks closer at the items inside.

There’s a few boxes, each containing a different type of lube, five egg vibrators, varying in sizes and all wireless, two dildos, one of which is delightfully sparkly, one realistic thrusting vibrator, one double-sided dildo with an insertable vibrator, seven cock rings, a fleshlight, two warming vibrators, three sets of anal beads, and a large amount of suction cups to stick onto any of the dildos or vibrators with a flat or semi-flat bottom, presumably for wall or floor fun. He feels himself blushing harder by the second, but he commits the items to memory. Since they’re soulmates, he fully intends to use as many as he can on Alrik. But much, much later. There’s also a few silk scarfs in the drawer, but he doesn’t let himself think about what those might be for.

He goes backwards a few drawers, picking out some light blue jeans with a cloud pattern, a cream skirt, and a light blue shirt with a cream squiggle pattern on it, almost like stripes. He pulls the clothes on, then the shoes he pulled out of the closet earlier. He can’t help but smile when he notices Alrik’s toenails are painted a pretty bronze. He stands up, and lets out a sigh of relief. Thank goodness! He’s back to his usual height! And the boots are wedges, so they’re pretty easy to walk in. He makes his way to the ensuite to fix Alrik’s hair. When he’s done with that he looks at the makeup, and decides to put some on.

“I can’t believe him,” Alrik groans out, shaking his head at the sight of what Gilbert dressed his body in. Ludwig chuckles, but doesn’t say anything. Thankfully, Arthur let the two soulmates and their siblings skip classes for the day. Normally it’s just the soulmates that get to skip, but this is a special case.

“I heard zat, jou know.” Alrik sets Gilbert’s face in a scowl. “Hmph. Vell I think it’s sexy.”

“That’s exactly why I don’t like it. How many men flirted with you on your way here?” He hums in thought.

“Twenty? Don’t vorry, none of zem zink jou’re a voman anymore.” Alrik holds up his hand.

“I don’t want to know. Can I have my body back so I can fix… this?” He motions at the entirety of him. Gilbert places his hands on his hips and makes a kissy face.

“Vhy? Jou look gut!” Alrik shakes his head with a heavy sigh. “Fine, fine. But jou have to promise not to upset Luddy.”

“I won’t. We talked that through. I… was being unreasonable. But that’s in the past now. You’re my soulmate, not Feliciano.” Gilbert’s eyes widened slightly. Ah. That makes a lot of sense.

“I’m a better soulmate zan him anyvay! For jou, at least.” His voice goes almost soft. Ludwig and Albert give each other a confused look. Gilbert breaks out into a laugh. “Being in someone else’s body lets jou get to know zem better, so of course ve’re getting along.”

“Mm. He’s right. I feel like I know Gilbert much better than I did when I went to sleep last night.” Alrik-in-Gilbert’s-body turns to Albert. “You can go on to class, if you want. I know how much you hate missing.”

“Ah, jou too, Luddy. Ve’re fine. I promise I von’t attack him. Zat’s in ze past.” Alrik nods along to his words.

“If jou’re sure.” They nod enthusiastically. “Zen…” He holds out his arm to Albert. “Shall ve?” His lips part, and he nods after a moment. He cautiously takes hold of Ludwig’s arm, smiles shyly at him, and walks away with him.

“That was uncharacteristic for Berty. He’s wearing his gloves, but he doesn’t normally touch anyone. Today must have us all frayed.” Alrik shakes his head. Gilbert chuckles.

“Speaking of frayed… Mr. I-own-twenty-two-sex-toys.” Gilbert watches his own face turn crimson in a blush.

“I knew I should have hidden those in my closet! I can’t believe you counted them!” He shrugs nonchalantly.

“I vas super embarrassed vhen I found zem. But I knew I couldn’t pass up ze opportunity.” Alrik huffs, blushing even harder.

“Shush! I don’t want to hear anymore! Let’s just get this meal over with so we can switch back. The way you did my lip gloss is bothering me.” Gilbert grins at him.

“If jou insist. But can I kiss jou after ve switch back?”

“You have to remove my necklace first. In this body, not mine. It’s important to me that my soulmate be the one to remove it. I’ll tell you the story later, if you have to know.”

“I vould like to know. Danke for offering to tell me ze story. But jou’re right, ve should change back first. I’m vashing jour hair zough! Und getting jou product. Jou don’t take care of it, do jou?”

“I don’t really see a need to. I don’t have split ends, and I don’t even get it cut professionally.” Gilbert scoffs.

“Zat explains ze unevenness. It vas hell pulling it back, jou know! But it looks nice now. Let me take care of it if jou von’t.” Alrik makes a quiet noise of disbelief.

“...Fine.” He turns his head away. “If you promise to be gentle.” Gilbert smiles brightly. How cute. “Not because I can’t handle it! I’d just rather not deal with my sensory overload.”

“Ah, jou’re really cute vhen jou’re not aiming a punch at me.” Alrik crosses his arms over his chest.

“And you better not forget it!” He closes his eyes and tilts his head back. “And you’re handsome. Don’t let it get to your head.” He opens his eyes in time to see Gilbert grin. “I said don’t let it get to your head!”

“I’m not, I’m not.” He waves him off. “It makes me happy to hear zat zough. I’m glad ve both decided to try zis.”

“I am too.” His voice is barely above a whisper. “You don’t plan on using my toys against me, do you?” The silence is deafening. “GILBERT!” He laughs loudly, getting a few seconds head start in running away. It’s no use though; Alrik’s legs are too short to successfully run from Gilbert’s body. But that knowledge is worth being caught.

“In the far, far future, okay? Nothing for at least a year.” Alrik calms down a bit.

“M-maybe before then is okay… But six months minimum!” Gilbert sticks his tongue out happily. Alrik rolls his eyes and goes back to the table, Gilbert following after. Despite their past, he’s glad Gil is his soulmate. As Ludwig said, they have a lot in common. And there’s the added bonus of two older brothers to worry over each younger brother.

#hetaliamondaychallenge #hetalia #hws prussia #hetalia prussia #hetalia oc #Alrik Johansson #Albert Olsson #hws germany #hetalia germany #hws sweden #hetalia sweden

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hetaliapurgatory · 4 years

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okay is it just me but i need to see gerita as Maria and Tony from the movie west side story because.. r e a s o n s

Ooooh yes. I saw this musical once, and I kind of dig how this fits. 925 words, starring Feli as Maria, and Lud as Tony!

(Find it on ao3)

Feli had been having a good time, until now.

Despite the near suffocating heat of the gymnasium, Feliciano had danced at least a dozen songs in a row. Of course, Antonio had monopolized most of his dances. They were to be married. It was to be expected. If Feli had been relieved when Lovino had pulled Antonio aside to hatch some scheme, he didn’t have to tell anyone.

So he had quite enjoyed himself swinging around on the arms of strangers, acquaintances, friends of his. He had danced until he exhausted himself, and then he had danced a little more. Finally, he had collapsed somewhere near the punch bowl to try to catch his breath.

The current song was winding down, and the ensuing stillness gave him a moment to take a better look at all the dancers. It didn’t at all surprise him to find the dance floor divided nearly evenly in half.

On one side, the Sharks, his brother’s gang. Lovino very likely would have been dancing with the rest of the gang had he not been snickering in a corner with Antonio, his closest friend. There was trouble in their eyes. Feli hoped they wouldn’t cause a scene.

But then, there were the Jets, and where the Jets went, trouble followed. He could easily pick out their leader from the undulating crowd. With his red eyes and ivory skin, he tended to draw looks-- not that his loud mouth didn’t do that anyway. He was dancing with some blonde in a way that might have been provocative had it not been so silly.

The two sides kept apart, kept to themselves, hardly mingled except to look down their noses at one another. Caught in the middle of the two sides was Feliciano, sipping his punch and wondering vaguely when he might be able to go home.

The song ended. Lovino and Antonio rushed to center stage, where the crowd cleared to give them space. Feliciano was about to worry about a fight, but then the next song flared into action, and the pair broke into some of the flashiest, most obnoxious dancing Feliciano had ever seen. He had been too tired to join anyway, but any residual desire to dance had vanished with their display.

Before he could so much as roll his eyes at them, the leader of the Jets broke into the circle with his partner, determined to steal the spotlight. Lovino’s gang jeered, but a few more couples stormed the floor to reassert the Sharks’ dominance of the dance. In a matter of seconds, the two sides were dancing very pointedly at each other, sending one clear message: we’re better than you’ll ever be. It was nothing but a childish taunt. The dancing might have been impressive, were it not so mulish, and Feliciano wanted nothing to do with it.

Feli wondered again how long it might be before Antonio stopped gloating and took him home already, if this ridiculous battle would end after just one song, or whether it would simply keep going, on and on, outside the gymnasium and into the streets, forever and always until both sides had worn each other down and nobody would admit having lost.

It was difficult to watch. Everybody seemed to be dancing this hateful dance, everybody except Feli.

And the stranger across the gym.

They locked eyes, and Feli was struck by how sharp the other’s gaze was. It was absolutely magnetic. He hadn’t realized he had been gravitating towards him until he found himself close enough to notice the blue of his eyes, the serenity in the way he held himself.

“I’m a little scared to go out into that mess,” joked the stranger. “I might get trampled.”

“It really is a mess, isn’t it?” Feli laughed. He didn’t know why he was laughing, but the stranger was smiling, too, and that felt good, so he laughed again. “You know, we could use the buddy system. Maybe then we won’t get lost out there.”

“Are you asking me to dance?” said the stranger, eyebrows shooting up towards his slick blonde hair.

Feli offered him his hand and a grin, and that was all the answer the stranger needed.

The battle ebbed when a slower tune drifted over them, but Feli hardly noticed. They could have danced to anything. They danced for an eternity. It wasn’t enough. They chatted all the while. His name was Ludwig, and the leader of the Jets was his best friend-- although they were more like brothers for how long they had known each other. And he agreed with Feli! They were all making fools of themselves, dancing like that, dancing like they wanted to stomp each other into the ground.

When Ludwig and Feli danced together, it wasn’t like that at all. It was slow, and sweet, and curious.

He wanted it to never stop.

“Hey, don’t you know he’s engaged?”

Their little world shattered under Lovino’s voice. Lovino took Feli by the arm, dragged him away, chastised him, telling him he needed to be more careful about keeping better company, but Feli didn’t hear any of it. He was too caught up in those blue eyes watching him leave, those arms he wanted to feel around him again and again, too encapsulated in the sudden realization that he needed to see him again, as soon as possible--

--and then, stunned by one last revelation, one that would keep him up not only that night, but many, many more.

Feliciano had fallen in love.

#hetalia #gerita #hws italy #hws germany #west side story au #hetalia fan fiction #anonymous #Anonymous

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madelinecoffee · 5 years

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Is This Seat Taken? Ch. 3

Summary: Rucas Senior Year AU. Riley’s a loner who doesn’t really have any friends, besides her twin brother Josh but she keeps to herself in school. Something happened the year before where she missed the 2nd half of the year but she’s back for senior year and Lucas’ heart is ready. He’s had a crush on her since he moved to Philly in 3rd grade and he’s convinced this is the year they’ll move up from the class-friends label and into something more. This is not a completely fluffy fic, I’m going to be diving into some deep shit so if that’s not your cup of tea please leave *this does include some serious depression if it goes beyond that I will trigger warn it*

A/N: Hi friends! New chapter! Let me know your thoughts on it all! Things are moving fast, because as I told Feli I cannot write slow-burn. This is leading into something big going down so prepare yourselves. Tagging: @iwantyoutochooseme @celluloiddreams @imaginarybird Words: 1879 Previous: Ch. 1 Ch. 2

Lucas stares at her shocked for a moment before he can do anything other than breathe but once it settles in that Riley is asking him on a date all he can do is frantically nod as he figures out how to use his voice. She’s smiling softly at him as he nods and when he does get his voice to work it cracks as he manages a “Yes”, before he clears his throat and tries again

“I would love to go on a date with you Riley.” Riley beams up at him they decide on 11 am at Blue Max’s they’re walking out of school before it dawns on Lucas that they never decided on transportation or if they were going to meet there. This entire time Riley’s been back he’s never seen her drive, Josh always does. But he thinks he remembers her having a white Toyota, but all he’s seen was Josh driving and it wasn’t the Toyota.

“Do you want me to pick you up for our date?” Lucas can’t help but smile as he says date but his nervousness shows through as he rubs his neck

Riley looks at him for a moment and he sees panic flash through her before she shoves it down.

“I would love it if you would pick me up” Josh is giving her a look from the car and Maya is giving Lucas his own look as well, so before Lucas has time to fully react she hugs him tight and jogs away to Josh

When Lucas gets over to the car Maya’s giving him a weird look, “What’s wrong with your face?”

“What?”

“Your face, you look like someone injected you with happy serum or something I don’t know. But you’re smiling way to much”

“Oh well Riley just asked me out” He states with glee as he starts up the car

“WHAT!” Maya shrieks as he pulls out of the parking lot

It’s the next day and Topanga is helping Riley get ready for her date by offering her support

“You’ve liked Lucas forever, and he was always such a nice boy, I’m sure it will go well” Topanga smiles warmly at her daughter while he daughter gives her a look

“Mom I’m sure it will, Lucas has always been the nicest and from what Josh, Maya and Zay say he likes me a lot. I’m not worried about it being a nice time. I just, it’s our first date. And I want it to be perfect.”

Topanga nods, “You know what Joanne says about building things up to be perfect in your head sweetie.”

Riley nods, “And that’s the other thing! I have told him about any of that! Or The Thing. And I don’t think I’m ready to fully but I want him to know some and god Mom now I’m stressed out! Maybe I should just cancel!” Riley makes a move to grab her phone, but Topanga grabs her instead

With a fierce look in her eye Topanga talks to her daughter, “Riley this could really be the start of something beautiful but that means you have to give it a chance. You don’t have to tell him about The Thing, but you could tell him about some things that are a result of The Thing or some things that caused it. But whatever you decide is up to.” Before Riley can respond the doorbell rings, Riley jumps up smooths out her dress and runs down the stairs, but when she opens her door it’s only her Uncles.

“Uncle Eric! Uncle Jack! What are you doing here?” Riley deflates

Both of her Uncles smile, “We’re here to meet Lover-Boy” Eric states proudly

“We’re also here to offer our favorite niece support as she goes on her first date.” Jack stated as he nudged his husband while Eric nodded,

“Yeah that too”

Before Riley could say anymore the doorbell rang again, “That had better not be Aunt Morgan and Aunt Morgan.” She stated as he gave them a look. But standing on the other side of the door was Lucas holding a bouquet of flowers wearing blue jeans, his boots, and the flannel she had complimented him on before. He completely lost his breath as she opened the door. She had a bun on top of her head but most of her hair was down, and she was wearing a purple dress that flared above her knees out with a pair of converse.

He handed her the flowers while he tried to close his jaw, “You look wow”

Riley giggled prettily at him, “Thank you, and come in for a second so I can put these in water”

Lucas nodded as he stepped in not expecting the three Matthews men to be staring him down.

Jack started, “If you hurt that little bean so help us god-“

“We will end you and hide your body so no one can find it-“ Eric continued

“And make your disappearance look like an accident, but that won’t be a problem will it Lucas.” Cory finished

“No sirs” Lucas answered confidently

Riley shot daggers at her family as she walked back in, “You guys stop.”

Lucas chuckled as he grabbed her hand, “Don’t worry they’re only looking out for you. You ready to go?”

Riley nodded, ”Yeah all my stuffs in my pockets! Look this dress has pockets!” As if to prove her point she put her hand that wasn’t holding his in her pocket and smiled at him as he beamed down at her.

Riley was having a wonderful time, he had opened the door to his car for her and helped her in, he bought her coffee even though she argued, and he was holding her hand occasionally running his thumb over her knuckles. They had been talking about everything and nothing for the past couple of hours and Riley couldn’t stop smiling. The coffee shop was small but cozy, there weren’t too many people around and the noise wasn’t overwhelming.

They had talked about some important topics, like how Pluto was still a planet and how they both loved animals but Riley wanted to fill Lucas in on some things. She drew at the same courage she used when she asked him out,

“Lucas there’s something I want to tell you, it’s kind of serious” Lucas gestured for her to continue, “So I really like you and I really want whatever this is to continue-“

“Me too” Lucas butted in for reassurance

“But there’s a few things you should know about me before that. Um for one I hate large crowds and loud noises.” Lucas nodded he knew things just from watching her,

“And um. I’m really really really insecure, I don’t mean to be and my family tells me there’s no reason to be but I often feel out of place and inadequate.”

“Oh Riley” Lucas comforted squeezing her hand but letting her continue

“That’s why I don’t always eat with you guys, it’s overwhelming. And why I’m so glad you’re my automatic partner because the idea of choosing someone freaks me out. Though I’d choose you anytime, over anyone.”

“Me too, thanks for telling me Riley. But I had already kinda figured out the first two.”

Riley gave him a curious look, “How?”

Lucas turned bashful, “Well you’ve been like that since we were kids, and uh I watched you a lot. Not in like a creepy way but in like a---I liked you way. And as for you being insecure, it’s okay. If I have to remind you everyday how perfect you are, I will”

The two smiled at each other with their hands on the table as Lucas spoke again,

“Since we’re sharing secrets, um I kind of have a temper. When I was younger pre-moving here I had some serious anger stuff and um at the start of high school it came back and I went to therapy for it. Which has helped a lot, and I box on the sides now to work off some of the anger. But I just wanted you to know.”

“Thanks for telling me that Lucas, and if you ever need to talk about it. You know I’m your girl right?”

Lucas nodded, “I do” There was a pause where Lucas debated with himself if he was really going to do it but before he could fully process it, it was out of his mouth. “I know it’s our first date and everything, but would you be my girl all the time?”

Riley cocked her head to the side, “Like your-your?”

“Girlfriend” Lucas finished smiling

“YES!” Riley shouted as she launched herself across the table to hug him

On Monday none of their friends were surprised that the two were officially dating after only one date. They’d been pinning a lot. But the girls of their high school did not seem to like the idea, and Riley noticed. All sorts of girls had been trying to date Lucas since middle school and nothing, Riley Matthews goes on one date with him and they end up dating?

Riley brought it up with the group as they ate lunch that Monday, “All these girls won’t stop giving me the death glare and it’s giving me the heebie jeebies.”

Maya nodded, “Yeah I heard a bunch of them talking in the bathroom about it, I told them to mind their own damn business. You two make each other happy, it’s that simple.” Riley gave her a grateful smile

Lucas piped in before Riley could respond, “No one’s said anything, mostly because I doubt they would say anything to you and we’re always together. But I can feel their daggers” Lunch continued on as normal and as did their school days.

Riley and Lucas would go on dates and outings on Saturdays; sometimes they’d go with the group sometimes Riley would ditch Lucas just to hang out with Maya. But after a few weeks things settled down in their personal lives and things seemed good.

It was early October now and school had really picked up, it seemed to the gang that their teachers had all gotten together and assigned projects and papers. Lucas knew it was stressing Riley out because she had made a few comments on it, and he could tell she was drawing into herself. But mostly she seemed fine, she came to school went to class they held hands and sometimes they kissed at her locker. She seemed mostly fine if not a little more tense than usual that are why it surprised Lucas when she wasn’t at school on Friday.

She had texted him, “Hey Blue” which was her pet-name for him considering how much blue he wore, “I won’t be at school today, I’m not feeling right. Could you take good notes for me and get my work?” Complete with three purple hearts

Lucas went over on Friday after school with Josh to drop it off. Her door sign said she was taking a nap so he and Josh went to play video games downstairs as he waited for his girlfriend to wake up. They were having a good time until they heard a crash from upstairs.

#is this seat taken #rucas fic #girl meets world fic #rucas fanfiction #my writing #let me know what you think please!

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oneletterwrites · 7 years

Note

Could I get a continuation of the beauty worth au? I loved it so much and id like to see what the little babus are up to after being there for a while

Part of this AU (X)

New Customs

Lovino is restless. His leg hasn’t stopped bouncing since they left Matthew’s home. He knew that this day would come eventually but he tended to ignore the possibility entirely. After spending so long in the bright colors of the Gold Kingdom, the sight of his old home is almost gloomy. A deep sigh escapes him as he tries once more to get his leg to stop moving.

Without a word Matthew takes his hand. Lovino takes a quick look at his husband. Matthew is smiling uneasily as he looks out the window. He has it worse as far as Lovino is concerned yet he’s the one doing the comforting. Lovino shakes his head. This home is more familiar to him, Matthew has been completely uprooted.

They spent a full year in the Glow Kingdom together, during the course of their engagement to see if they could be compatible as a couple. Should they have really despised each other, the engagement would have been broken off. Lovino considers himself lucky in that aspect. Matthew is sweet and agreeable in every fashion, handles his quick quips easily and usually ends up laughing at his sassy remarks. He’s very lucky.

Their wedding had been fun, or as fun as any kind of ceremony can be. The hall had been decorated in their kingdom’s crests with an overabundance of the Glow Kingdom’s favored colors. The spectators all wore subdued colors if only to make it so Matthew stood out. His outfit had soft patterns and hardly any hard edges in brilliant gold and white that made him shine.

It contrasted drastically to the dark red suit Lovino wore. The angles hard and crisp that accentuated they way he is. Opposite but complimentary. The golden ring that now sits on his finger a reminder of where his spouse had come from, a matching ring of red on Matthew’s hand.

Saying the vows had been weird, but not entirely forced. Lovino couldn’t say he didn’t have a soft spot for Matthew. The small kiss they shared has yet to be repeated though it wouldn’t be the worse thing for it to be the only one they have. Lovino is just glad to have someone around who likes him at all.

The year ended, the marriage flying by in a blur of a night, and just a month later the call for Lovino to return home with his new spouse had been made. As the 1st Prince, he is the heir to the throne, and must return home to continue being taught how to rule when his parental figures decide to retire.

As only a 2nd Prince Matthew is the one who has to go through a long goodbye not knowing when he would actually be able to see the people he calls family again. He and his brother shared a long hug and the 1st Prince tried to pretend he didn’t have tears in his eyes. Every thing Matthew called his got packed into carriages along with themselves.

Lovino looks out the window next to him. Along with his clothes and trinkets, the footman Matthew called his came too. Not that Lovino minds. At first of course he had been furious at the idea of his then fiance having a footman. It’s not something his home kingdom condoned, more so wanting people of ‘lesser looks’ far away rather than close.

Matthew had his reasons though, and Lovino can not fault him for wanting to save someone’s life, especially after it had been his fault the poor boy might have been killed. The odd beauty Matthew told him of first believed to be nonsense is nothing but the truth.

Gilbert is extraordinary in his eyes. Highly different than anyone he’s ever seen in a person and beautiful. His eyes fit so well the colors Lovino grew up with while mixed with his complexion makes him stand out. His hair is hard to keep clean he’ll admit but after a decent rinse it shines. Every day since he knew it would be okay Lovino has run his hands through it.

He’s not sure where Matthew stands with the footman but he knows the looks they both give the self confidence lacking servant are more than just an idle affection. It’s similar to the looks they give each other.

He can’t imagine the kind of pain Gilbert goes through, his whole purpose of being near them in the eyes of everyone else is just to be an ugly ornament. Lovino could never see him that and he knows Matthew hates the thought. They work so hard behind closed doors to make Gilbert laugh, show some sort of emotion other than cowering.

Some days his personality makes a break for it, laughing loudly and saying something a little too snarky that might get him whacked in the back of his head. Lovino snorts and mocks the person for having no sense of humor while Matthew makes sure Gilbert is okay.

Some days though the world seems to shatter at the dejected look Gilbert can’t seem to shake. They usually happen on eventful days. Days where he is fully seen with his comforting hood pulled back and no where to escape from the other ‘pretty titles’ mocking him for how he is. Those days make Lovino furious.

He can’t count how many times he’s stood up to others for Gilbert’s sake and he plans to continue to do so no matter what. It’s cruel that someone like Gilbert has to be put through what being a footman is. If anything, Lovino is glad for it only because otherwise he never would have gotten to meet the wonderful person Gilbert is.

“Yo,” He says plainly. Gilbert looks to him from the horse that has been given to him. Matthew squeezes Lovino’s hand on the other side and he catches a glimpse of the smile on his spouse's face. Lovino smirks at Gilbert who has his brows twisted in confusion.

“Just so you know, my Kingdom does not have footmen,” Lovino tells him. He snorts at the way Gilbert’s eyes widen.

“What’s going to happen then?” Matthew asks. Lovino turns to him quick to share the smirk then back to Gilbert.

“Guess he’ll have to be our personal servant,” He shrugs. Gilbert almost looks disappointed but Lovino has a plan.

“You’ll have to be with us at all times and make sure we have everything we need,” He explains, putting emphasis on the fact Gilbert should be with them no matter what. Matthew giggles and a small smile cracks itself onto Gilbert’s face.

“That won’t be too hard will it?” Matthew asks happily from the other side. Gilbert shakes his head and a snicker manages to slip out of him.

“Not at all my princes,” He says but there’s a glow in his eyes that hadn’t been there before. Lovino is a little proud to say he’s the reason for that.

–

“Lovi!” Catching his brother somewhat easily, Lovino hugs Feliciano tightly, moving to bow to his mother and father next. His mother giggles brightly and pulls him in, forcing his dad to at least give him a comforting pat. Servants pour out of the castle to unload Matthew’s things and put them in the room the two will share. The Olive Palace is a welcome sight to him and the small homesickness he may have felt is far gone.

“Who is that?” Feli asks once he notices Gilbert carrying a special bag of Matthew’s more prized possessions. Gilbert bows properly first then tenses looking to Lovino and Matthew for help on what to do.

“He is my personal servant,” Matthew interjects quickly. The king and queen give each other odd looks at the excuses.

“He’s a little..strange don’t you think?” The queens says. Lovino smacks a hand to his face.

“Don’t be rude Carmen,” The king says to her though his disgust is just as evident. Lovino sighs.

“He used to be a footman, but we have both grown accustomed to his help and company and do not wish for him to leave,” He says darkly. The king and queen stare at him blankly before the queen laughs loudly and ruffles Lovino’s hair to mess it up.

“You always were the fiery one,” She says in a semi-condescending way. She turns on her heel and Feli follows after when she beckons for him, always the favorite. The king however pinches the bridge of his nose with a sigh.

“I trust you’ll forgive her eventually?” He asks. Lovino just raises an eyebrow to the question. Though not the worst of kings, as a father figure Roderich has some skills lacking.

“Not likely,” Lovino quips back at him. He waves Matthew and Gilbert to follow him. They both bow when they pass the king and scurry to follow after Lovino as he guides them to where he knows they have set him and Matthew up together. Their things are mingled already.

Once the door is closed Lovino presses the palms of his hands to his eyes with a deep sigh.

“How fucking rude!” He shouts suddenly causing Gilbert to almost drop the bag in his hands. He passes it off to Matthew quickly for fear of actually dropping it while Matthew just carelessly tosses the bag to the large bed in the center of the room.

“Lovino it’s going to be okay,” He says placing a soft hand on Lovino’s arm. He groans and snatches Matthew up in a tight hug that’s immediately returned. The squeeze is momentarily stopped by Lovino and Matthew both waving Gilbert closer. He does so hesitantly. When they wrap him up in the hug his hold on the two of them grows bold.

“One day no is going to say anything bad about you,” Lovino hisses aloud but they all know he says it for Gilbert’s sake. A small laugh escapes Gilbert and he smiles to Lovino gratefully.

“I’m pretty content to just be here with you both,” He says just a little awkwardly. Matthew takes Gilbert’s hand sweetly though Lovino’s glare grows.

“Content isn’t good enough, you deserve to be happy,” His tone is bitter. Gilbert laughs again but they can tell how much the sincerity gets to him when he casually rubs a small tear out of his eye. Lovino takes another deep breath then falls face first onto their bed. He’s joined by the two and lets them squish him into the feathers.

“Right now though, this is okay,” Matthew says to him. He grunts in response and Gilbert’s snicker is heard. As much as he hates how badly Gilbert is treated, what they have has to be enough. There will not be anything he can do until he is king and even then, it will take hours of learning, teaching, not to mention the years it will take to gain the proper knowledge. He’s still young.

They remain cuddled in bed until another servant comes to tell them a feast has been prepared. They join the main family in the dinning hall. Matthew is the one to answer questions about their time in his kingdom and the wedding. Lovino stays mostly silent until he has to talk. Gilbert stands with the other servants who aren’t sure how to treat him but his head is held high.

It will take some time Lovino knows this but one day he will make it so no one ever says anything bad about Gilbert again. The side glances they share and the slight smirks that appear when they do only cement the idea. Matthew smiles between them too and though Lovino isn’t sure where his feelings sit with the both of them, he knows he doesn’t want either of them to be less than happy.

#aph canada #aph south italy #aph prussia #prumano #romacan #prumanocan #drabble #me-ohh-my #polypolypoly #beauty worth au #fuckin!!! love this au #thanks for asking for it again my favorite pairing #the king and queen of the olive kingdom is austria and nyo spain #im sure a lot of people will think its hungary its not #my ideas for this au are probably never ending #ily

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