#I have a good ol case of the writers block | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

elm-writes-stories · 7 months

Text

Cuphead: Isle of Memories (Rewrite)

*Hey guys! I'm so sorry I took so long to get the next chapter up. I got a case of writer's block, but I'm back now! So, this is published on September 22, 2023. If you guys like this episode/chapter, don't be afraid to heart, reblog, and comment! That would be greatly appreciated! Warning: blood. Enjoy!*

Episode Six: The Roots of Hatred

Natalie breathed heavily while running through the dark maze. She was hiding from someone. Someone she knew for a long while. Someone who was her best friend. Now…a monster in her head. She hurried to hide in the dark corner, watching red eyes peering through the darkness to look for her.

“Oh, come now, Natalie, we’re not finished with our little game yet,” Cassidy’s voice rang through the maze.

Natalie breathed faster than ever before, looking around the maze to look for her.

It was sudden Cassidy appeared beside her with a mischievous grin, causing Natalie to yelp in fear and fell back against the floor.

“Found you,” Cassidy replied with a demonic giggle.

Natalie stumbled onto her feet and kept running. She refused to stop. She looked over her shoulder and found that Cassidy was catching up behind her. Finally, Cassidy pounced on her like a feral cat and pinned her against the wall with the cat’s grip around her throat.

“Cassidy! Please! I’m so sorry!” Natalie cried while struggling from her grip.

“Oh, you think your sorry is going to make everything better for you? Oh no, no, no. You see, there are these things…oh, what are they called? It’s something you’ve never experienced in your pathetic rich life!” Cassidy thrusted Natalie through the wall, taking her back to the Ruth Mansion.

Natalie blinked in shock to find her and her mother sitting together. Her mother was measuring Natalie’s food along with Aurora’s food. Natalie had to eat the food her mother measured. Natalie frowned at the sight before noticing her mother turning around her eyes red with white slit pupils like Cassidy. She was face to face with Natalie.

Natalie screamed in fear.

~.~

Natalie screamed awake and sat up abruptly from her bed in the early sunrise. Cuphead nearly stumbled out of his stool placed next to the bed where Mugman was sleeping at.

He whirled around to find Natalie breathing heavily from the nightmare. “Are you okay?”

Natalie started to calm down and looked at Cuphead. She rubbed her head with a groan. “Just a stupid nightmare.” She noticed Mugman sleeping. “Is he still passed out?”

Cuphead glanced at his brother sadly. “Yep. He’s still passed out.”

She noticed the bags under his eyes. “You haven’t been getting sleep at all. You need to—”

“I ain’t too worried about it,” Cuphead responded.

“O-Okay. I-I will just take a walk around base to clear my head.” She got up from her bed and started to head out the door until she saw Cuphead staring at his brother with a sulk. A frown was present on her lips while she looked away for a second. She sighed and walked over to Cuphead. “And you’re coming with me.”

“Huh?” he uttered while she sat next to him. “No, I’m fine.”

“Please?” she asked with her eyes sparkling.

He glanced into her eyes and rolled his. “I’m fine here.”

“Have someone else watch Mugman.”

“Like who?”

“Anyone in the base is good enough.”

He frowned and stared at his brother.

She smirked. “You’re sulking.”

“No, I ain’t.”

“Yes, you are. It ain’t good to stay like that forever.”

“But I’m not sulking.”

“Then what’s going on in that liquid brain of yours?” she asked with her head tilted.

Cuphead frowned. “I kept thinking that it’s my fault for every time Mugman passes out. Down in the hall of mirrors, I hallucinated that Mugman just died in front of me while transforming into a monster. It was fake though because I just saw Mugman right in front of me and I knew he ain’t no monster. But…it did get me thinking a bit that even though I can see right through the illusion, I keep thinking that ole should’ve, would’ve, and could’ve. Like I shouldn’t have left Hell when Mugman, Chalice, and Canteen were dealing with Cassidy. I mean, I was helping you and it ain’t got nothin’ to do with you. Still, I wished I’ve gone back and help Mugman…or understand how to break Cassidy’s curse.”

Natalie looked away sadly.

“My brother needed me and I wasn’t there…I know that it sounds stupid and I shouldn’t get all emotional thinkin’ about it. You know what, it probably is.”

She smirked. “You’re definitely sulking.”

He rolled his eyes. “Okay, fine. I am. So what?”

“That’s why we’re taking a walk around base.” She held his hand, which caused them both to widened their eyes at her sudden action. She was about to move her hand away from his, but he held it for a moment. They were both holding hands, blushing madly.

Cuphead blinked and shook his head, letting go. “Sorry, I don’t know why I did that.”

“Eh, nothing to be sorry for.”

Cuphead smiled at her and looked at his brother. He rubbed his brother’s head with a soft sigh. “Fine. But I’m walking around for ten minutes and come back.”

“Sounds fair.”

Cuphead stood up from his seat along with Natalie and followed her out the door. They walked through the hallway and exited the base. They didn’t go too far from the base and started their walk around the base.

They walked for a while without saying anything to each other. They exchanged glances before blushing and looking away.

“Soo, what’s your favorite hobby?” Natalie ignited the conversation with a nervous grin.

Cuphead blinked in surprise and rubbed his chin. “Hmmm, I have a bunch of hobbies. I’m not sure if I can name them all on the top of my head. Let’s see…oh! I like going to carnivals.”

She smiled a bit. “No way, me too. It’s better than being cooped up in the house with Mom. Heck, it’s a lot better to hang around Cassidy than around my mom…”

Natalie lost her smile and lowered her gaze on the ground.

He frowned and looked ahead of him. “Don’t worry. We’ll get Cassi back. We just need a foolproof plan and—” He heard a whimper from her and looked to see she was trying to suppress the tears. “Hey, are you okay?”

She clenched her teeth. “Yeah, I’m okay. Just a little…um…worried about Cassi is all.”

He tilted his head. “Hey, how did you find Cassidy yesterday? We looked everywhere for you both and we don’t how she took you hostage in the hall of mirrors.”

“I didn��t find her…” Natalie said sadly. “She found me.”

He arched a brow. “Did something happen between you and Cassidy?”

She shook her head. “She just held me hostage and stuff. It’s nothin’ to worry about.”

He shook his head. “There’s more to it, is there?”

She looked up at him and frowned.

“Did she hurt you at all?”

“Nah, not really.”

He found it hard to believe when he noticed her rubbing her throat as if she had been grabbed there before. He looked away and noticed they were rounding the corner of the hide-out approaching the woods with leaves swaying in the gentle breeze. Putting his hands in his pockets, he leaned back as if he was trying to act casual while looking at her. He noticed her gazing at the ground, trying to hold in the tears around him.

“You know, you don’t have to toughen up around me, right?”

She looked at him when he made the comment. He put his hands back out of his pockets and leaned forward more to show that he was more attentive if she needed to vent. He gave her a friendly smile.

She exchanged a smile back before losing it when she looked away from him. He lost his smile when he saw that she was hugging herself.

“I’m okay, Cuphead. Really.”

He looked away until an idea came to his head. “Hey, Natalie, wanna hear a joke~?”

“What joke?”

He smirked at her and walked confidently. “So, there are these two cannibals eatin’ a clown and—wait…dang it! I always forget the punchline.”

She chuckled. “One of them goes, ‘does this taste funny to you?’. Heh, that one is always a classic.”

“But it makes you laugh,” Cuphead uttered in shock.

She nodded her head.

He grinned in excitement. “Oh! I got a good one. You know what’s worse than finding half a worm in your apple?”

She snickered. “What?”

“Fallin’ in the sewer!”

She bursted out laughing with tears in her eyes. “That is so bad!!!”

“But it’s funny.”

“Yes, it is!” She wiped the tears from her eyes.

Cuphead softly smiled to see her like this.

She looked back at him as her laughter died down. She blushed when staring into his eyes, causing him to blush too. They looked away from each other, their hearts picking up the pace when they were around each other. They looked at each other for only a couple of seconds before looking away again.

Cuphead noticed a pink rose they were about to walk by and picked it up. He smiled and glanced at Natalie. He stuck a stem with the pink rose in her hair, which caused her to turn and look at him. She took the stem out of her hair and looked at the pretty pink rose. She twirled it around with a soft smile. When she stared at Cuphead, she found her cheeks growing warm.

Her stomach was turning into knots and her palms became sweaty. Was this natural for someone to make her feel this way? She watched Cuphead looking away with a soft smile on his face, looking around the woods. He seemed to be in his own little world, which made her curious as to what world was Cuphead in. Maybe something stupid and idiotic…but also chaotic and wonderful. She couldn’t believe she was thinking all of those things. Was she having a crush?

No! No! No! Oh no!

She wanted to slap her own face for having a crush already. No! Now she will have to hide it from Cuphead. When he glanced at her, she couldn’t help but get lost in his eyes and—

“What?” Cuphead asked while looking into the woods and then back at Natalie awkwardly. “What are ya staring at?”

Natalie blushed madly and looked away. “Nothing!” She rushed off away from Cuphead, who arched a brow in confusion.

“Huh? Did I do something wrong?” Cuphead asked himself.

However, he didn’t notice Bowlboy walking into the scene beside him.

“I think she likes you,” Bowlboy commented.

“Ya think so?” Cuphead replied without looking at Bowlboy until he recognized the voice. His pupils shrank dramatically and he slowly turned his head with a creak.

Bowlboy waved with a goofy smile. “Heeeey~”

Cuphead glared at the bowl. “You.” The flames wrapped around his clenched fists, fire blazing out of his cup head with red-orange glow in his eyes. “Ya gotta a lot of nerve to show up here after what you did with Mugman! Ya lucky he ain’t here to whoop you into a new oblivion!”

“Wait, how did you—?”

“Mugman told us after you put Tremaine inside of him. Did you really think he wouldn’t tell me anything?!” Cuphead growled at Bowlboy.

“Whoa, whoa,” the flower with orange petals and a yellow face came out of the woods while putting up his hands shaped like leaves. “There’s no need to start a forest fire.” He leaned over to Bowlboy. “I thought you were on good terms with ‘em.”

“Keyword: were,” the humanoid zeppelin hybrid said while approaching beside the flower.

Bowlboy giggled nervously. “It’s not like I knew what Tremaine will do to Mugman.”

“Oh, bananer oil! You got Tremaine from the Night Stalkers and injected it into my brother! You shoulda know that they are dangerous just by ‘em killin’ people in the city!” Cuphead barked at Bowlboy.

“You know, that cup’s gotta point,” the flower whispered to the bowl.

Bowlboy frowned. “Well, I didn’t think much of it then.”

“Well, now do you—wait a minute—what are you doing here along with—?”

“Hilda,” Hilda introduced herself. “This is Cagney and—wait, where did he go?”

“Where did who go—?”

“Did you see that demon-infested camp?” The red-skinned genie replied while flying into the scene. “The Devil has already made camps around the isle and it’s only a matter of time before he—oh, hello. What’s going on with the flames?”

“Uh…he’s about to burn down the forest when he saw Bowlboy,” Hilda responded.

“Oh…what did Bowlboy do—?”

“He injected Tremaine into my brother a while back! He’s lucky that we found a cure to get Tremaine out of his systems,” Cuphead responded with his arms crossed.

“You have the cure to Tremaine?!” Cagney shouted in shock.

“Where?!” Hilda gasped in excitement.

Cuphead widened his eyes in fear. “Um…”

~.~

Brineybeard had Aurora sitting on his shoulder while she watched him search through the woods for some food so that the others could eat. However, he could barely find wildlife to munch on for everyone to eat. He approached the cliff and looked to see more Tremaine spreading around the isle.

“Shiver me timbers,” Brineybeard muttered.

“No food?” Aurora asked.

“Afraid not, lass. The food store be ransacked by infectees ‘n we be barely survivin’ wit’ the portion we ‘ave left. We ‘ave more mouths t’ feed than anticipated.” Brineybeard looked to see the fishes were floating up to the surface of the water. “Dang it, we can nah even fish wit’ the ocean bein’ this bad. We ‘ave t’ reckon o’ somethin’ creative t’ get grub fer everyone.”

Aurora and Brineybeard heard rustling in the bushes. Before Brineybeard could react, Natalie stormed out of the bushes and sat down on the tree stump with her face red.

Brineybeard tilted his head in confusion and glanced at Aurora.

“Sissy seems sad,” Aurora pointed out.

“Aye...I’ll go talk t’ her alone. Here, ye can play right here, make sure ye stay where I can see you,” Brineybeard replied while putting Aurora down on the patch of grass.

“Okay,” Aurora said with a bright grin.

As she was fiddling with the flowers on the patch grass, Brineybeard approached Natalie. He watched her hiding her face and holding a pink rose in her grip.

“Uh, are ye okay?” Brineybeard asked.

Natalie whirled around to see the pirate and her blush went away instantly. She hugged herself and faced the horizon in front of her. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

Brineybeard didn’t seem to believe that for a moment. “Uh…do ye mind if I sit next t’ ye?”

Natalie glanced back up at the pirate and looked around for her little sister. “Uh…where’s—? Oh, there’s Aurora.”

Brineybeard turned to find Aurora still playing with the patch of grass, befriending the tiniest bugs she could find. “Aye, she’s right there.”

“Oh, I’ll watch her—”

“Are ye sure?” Brineybeard asked.

“Yeah, she can be a handful sometimes,” Natalie replied with a soft smile. “I have to keep an eye on her and—”

“Don’t worry, lass. Take a moment t’ relax a bit. I’ll keep an eye on Aurora. She doesn’t seem t’ be a handful t’ me.”

“You sure?”

“I ‘ave handled the rough seas afore. I can easily keep an eye on yer sister,” the pirate reassured her.

Natalie hugged her legs and looked out into the distance.

The pirate tried to read her face to see if there was something wrong while occasionally looking back to see Aurora playing on the patch of grass still with the bugs crawling on her. She didn’t seem bother by it, which surprised the pirate captain for a moment before shifting his gaze back at Natalie.

“Wha’‘s wrong, lass? Is everythin’ okay?”

She nodded her head. “Yeah, I’m fine.” She sniffled, the tears now approaching her eyes. She bit her lip and turned her head away to not show the pirate she was about to cry.

He noticed this movement with a frown. “Look, I dunno wha’ happened down in Davy jones’ locker yesterday, but I know that ye did the best ye could t’ rescue Cassidy ‘n we can come back t’ get her afore it’s too late.”

“It’s already too late,” Natalie responded with her voice cracked.

“No, ‘tisn’t. We can still save her ‘n—”

“And then what? It’s not like that everyone in this wold is going to have a different opinion of her once she gets back!”

Brineybeard shook his head. “But she’s not a burden—”

“I know that!”

“Hey, I’m trying to help ye,” Brineybeard snarled in harsh tone.

Natalie gasped and hugged her legs, trying to hold in her sobs as best as she could.

Brineybeard frowned and wanted to mentally slap himself for the tone he used on Natalie.

“I made her into a monster she is now,” Natalie sobbed.

Brineybeard blinked in surprise at her response. He stayed silent.

“I called her a burden, because I was so angry. I know that she isn’t. She’s been my best friend since I was a kid. She was one of the most real friends I ever had in my entire life. And I called her a burden. I made her into this monster. I-I said that she should’ve died along with her kind. I didn’t mean it! I never meant any of it…but she doesn’t see that! Why would she want to be friends with someone who’s imperfect? That’s why Dad left me. I wasn’t perfect enough for him. And now, I am having a crush on Cuphead! Of all people to have a crush on, it’s Cuphead! I can’t tell him I am starting to have a crush on him. Why would he even be with me? Ah, great, I’m ruining my face.”

She started to wipe her tears away with her sleeves. Natalie let out sobs, her body shaky. Brineybeard witnessed it and looked to see Aurora approaching them with her face in concern for Natalie.

“Are you okay, sissy?” Aurora asked Natalie.

“I’m fine, Aurora. I’m fine,” Natalie answered.

Aurora approached Natalie and hugged her from the side. Natalie glanced over at Aurora and picked her up to cradle her.

Brineybeard softly smiled at the girls. He glanced over at the horizon with a sigh.

“Ye took advantage o’ Cassidy’s friendship, ‘ave ye?”

Natalie nodded her head sadly. “It’s my fault for how she turned out.”

There was a pause as Brineybeard sighed sadly.

“Let me tell ye a tale about the pirate cap’n who scuttled his crew,” Brineybeard said in a low tone, which caught Natalie and Aurora off guard. He lowered his head and his gaze was cast down on the ground in what appeared to be shame. “‘twas a long time ago, way before ye were even born, the pirate cap’n was the fiercest across the seven seas. He had slain the sea monsters, bloodied the other crews, ‘n was feared by all who dared t’ walk past ‘im. The pirate cap’n had an amazin’ crew who backed ‘im up, no matter wha’. Howe’er, the concerns o’ the crew grew ‘n the pirate cap’n didn’ even pay attention.”

Natalie and Aurora glanced up in interest as Brineybeard continued, “He took his crew fer granted, walk all o’er ‘em, ‘n would send ‘em t’ the planks if they dared speak up against ‘im. One fateful day, the seas became rough. The crew wanted t’ turn back, but the pirate cap’n was stubborn. Too stupid ‘n stubborn. The waves rocked the ship, damagin’ it. Howe’er, the rogue seas took more than jus’ planks o’ wood. It took his entire crew ‘til he was the only one left. Once the seas were calm, the pirate cap’n had already lost his crewmates. Most o’ ‘em are the most faithful, the most loyal, ‘n...’n the most trustworthy crew the pirate cap’n ever had the pleasure o’ workin’ wit’. But...he lived wit’ his actions ‘n the consequences o’ ‘em fer such a long time.”

Natalie and Aurora frowned at Brineybeard’s story. Brineybeard paused and looked at the girls with a frown at first…until he softly smiled at them.

“It took years fer ‘im t’ finally realize how mighty miserable he was ‘n even longer fer ‘im t’ realize that it didn’ ‘ave t’ be this way.”

Natalie tilted her head while Aurora became distracted by the butterfly and chased after it with a little giggle.

“‘twill take time ‘n effort t’ change fer ‘im. But all he knew he wasn’t who he used t’ be. He could ne’er take back wha’ he had done t’ his crew ‘n, even though he was the blame fer thar demise, he tried everythin’ t’ make up fer it. Then he found a new crew. A crew he swore he’ll protect no matter wha’ happens.”

“Are you talking about yourself?” Natalie asked with a brow raised and her tears dried.

“Heh, it was kind of obvious, huh?” Brineybeard chuckled.

Natalie nodded her head.

“The point is, lass,” Brineybeard said while looking into her eyes. “I couldn’t make up fer me crew aft me time o’ bein’ a jerk t’ ‘em. But thar be still a chance fer ye t’ right yer wrong between ye ‘n Cassidy. Sure, ye might nah be mateys fer a while, but ye know better now ‘n ye realized yer mistakes. That’s all it takes t’ get better. Ye learn from yer mistakes ‘n avoid makin’ ‘em again.”

Natalie pondered about what Captain Brineybeard said. The pirate captain noticed this with a small soft smile at her.

“‘n thar’s a chance fer ye t’ be wit’ Cuphead.”

Natalie blushed when he mentioned Cuphead.

Brineybeard smirked at her when he noticed the blush.

“I want to be a better friend to her,” Natalie replied.

He nodded his head in understanding.

“But I’m afraid that she will…well…she would have every right to not be my friend. I gave her more than enough scars.”

He frowned. “Aye. I know...’twill take time, Natalie. Don’t rush it. If we do save her, thar might be a chance where ye can tell her that yourself. She might nah wants t’...or maybe she wanted t’ try the friendship wit’ ye again. Let her know how ye feel about her. She needs t’ know it sooner than later.”

She rubbed her arm. “She might not believe me.”

“Then that’s somethin’ ye both could work on together. Show her that ye can change ‘n be the matey she deserves. ‘n she will work on believin’ it.”

Natalie and Brineybeard exchanged smiles until they heard Aurora’s scream.

Brineybeard got up from his seat on the stump and hurried over to the sound of Aurora’s scream. Natalie followed after the pirate captain in concern for her little sister.

~.~

Aurora was surrounding by demons with red eyes staring at her. Her back pressed against the tree.

“Get back, meanie heads!” Aurora shouted while glaring at the demons.

One of the demons leaped to attack before Brineybeard stormed in and tackled him, throwing him into other demons.

“Are ye alright, lass?” Brineybeard questioned the toddler.

Aurora gasped and smiled brightly. “Briney!”

He scooped her up into his arms and placed her on his shoulder. He noticed Natalie approaching the scene behind him.

“Aurora! Are you okay?!” Natalie shouted to her little sister.

I’m okay, sissy!” Aurora chirped happily.

Brineybeard looked around to find more demons approaching them. “It ain’t safe here. We needs t’ go back t’ base. Go!”

Natalie hurried to find the base while Brineybeard followed behind her.

Meanwhile, Cuphead hurried through the forest with Cagney, Hilda, Djimmi, and Bowlboy to run from the demons coming from the trees.

“There’s a safe place we can go to! Hurry!” Cuphead determined while speeding ahead of them.

“Uh, little cup, slow down!” Djimmi shouted.

“He ain’t gonna! Come on!” Cagney determined while carrying Bowlboy on his back.

Cuphead was too far ahead of them to really tell where the cup was going. “It’s right up—” He looked behind him to find no one following him. “Uh…guys.”

“WHOA! WHERE DID YOU COME FROM?!” Cagney’s yell could be heard from a distance.

The cup hurried back over to find Djimmi fighting the demons by summoning mummies from the coffin shaped like him. Cagney used vines to fight off the demons attacking from all sides while defending Bowlboy. Hilda flew into the air and sucked in the clouds at the sky, just to shape-shift into a centaur with a bow and arrow.

Cuphead clenched his fists to summon the red flames and joined in the fight to punch every single demon they missed. However, Cuphead could hear Natalie’s scream and looked at the direction where it came from.

Cuphead zoomed through the forest and managed to tackle the demon encountering Natalie. Natalie gasped in shock when he stood in front of her with gritted teeth at the other demons.

“Come on! Show me what you got!” Cuphead growled at the demons.

Brineybeard pulled out his sword and looked to find Aurora missing from his shoulder. He gasped in fear and looked around until he heard her scream. He turned his head to find the demons leaping branch from branch while carrying screaming Aurora in their arms.

The pirate gritted his teeth and glanced at Cuphead. “Cuphead, get Natalie back t’ base! Go!” Brineybeard charged through the woods to get Aurora.

Natalie breathed heavily while Cuphead scooped her up and extended his wings, flying away from the demons. However, as he flew up with Natalie in his arms, Cuphead noticed Cagney, Hilda, Bowlboy, and Djimmi getting tranquilized and captured by the imps, dragging them through the forest.

“Oh no,” Cuphead uttered in fear. He looked around to find the base and flew down in front of the entrance. “C’mon, we gotta—”

“They got my sister,” Natalie responded. “I can’t just go back to base without her.

“You stay here. I’ll go get them out of the demon camp.” Cuphead started to walk off before being grabbed by the shoulder. He turned to look at her. “What?”

“I’m coming with you.”

“What? No, it’s not safe—”

“I don’t care. That’s my sister. I can’t just abandon her,” Natalie responded with her brows furrowed.

“Well, do you have anything to defend yourself with?” Cuphead asked.

Natalie looked around to find something to take with her. “Give me one second.”

Cuphead noticed her heading inside the base temporarily with a brow raised. He waited for a few seconds before she came out with the large steak knife.

“Alright, let’s go,” Natalie determined.

“Uh…that wouldn’t be my weapon of choice,” Cuphead stated. “I don’t think you can fight demons with it.”

“Maybe if I stab them multiple times, they could fall over and die!” Natalie determined and strode forward.

Cuphead blushed a bit and followed after her.

~.~

Natalie stormed through the forest, gripping the handle of the steak knife. Cuphead walked beside her with a confused look on her face.

“Do you even know where we’re going?” Cuphead asked with a brow raised.

“No, but if we keep walking, we might find something—”

Cuphead grabbed her from the handle before she could fall off the cliff in front of her. She blinked and blushed, shaking it off.

“I guess it’s not that direction,” Natalie replied while Cuphead shifted his gaze down to find a beach below them and the demons dragging the familiar pirate captain and the little cup toddler into the cave.

“Wait, we’re in the right direction,” Cuphead responded while pointing below them.

Natalie looked to see her little sister being carried into the cave along with a passed out pirate captain. “Oh no…”

“I didn’t we got caves in this isle,” Cuphead uttered in confusion.

They watched the demons and their captives disappeared into the cave.

“How do we get down?” Natalie asked.

Cuphead smirked and spread his wings. He scooped Natalie up in his arms as she gasped in surprise. He hopped off the cliff, hovering over to the beach and landed on his feet. His wings withdrew into his back and he smiled.

“Heh, glad I have wings,” Cuphead replied until he realized that he was holding Natalie in his arms longer than expected. They both blushed as he put her down. “Uh, sorry.”

“It’s…fine. Now, let’s go!” Natalie determined while striding into the cave.

Cuphead followed after with an interested glance on what she was going to do. “Uh, you realize that there are probably more demons inside the cave.”

“Don’t care. They got my sister. I’m going to get her.”

Cuphead and Natalie walked through the dark cave. The flame lit up on Cuphead’s porcelain head. He lit the way as they headed down the dark cave. The deeper they went, the more they heard something crawling around.

They entered the area where webs were all around them, causing Natalie to shiver.

“Huh? You would think that it would be warmer inside of the cave,” Cuphead replied.

Natalie froze with pupils shrinking in fear. The teen cup noticed her froze and arched a brow.

“What?” He looked up and widened his eyes in pure fear. On the ceiling, they saw a large eight-legged spider demon with eight eyes crawling to the ground.

They clenched their teeth to watch the giant spider roared at them.

Natalie screamed in terror and ran behind the boulder to hide from the spider. Cuphead spread his fiery wings with his fists clenched. The orange fire surrounding his fists as he leaped to punch the spider. As Cuphead was fighting against the giant spider, the imps came in to aid the spider and fight Cuphead.

Natalie snuck towards the pathway that will lead her to the dungeons, but she stopped and looked to see Cuphead taking down most of the imps. However, the spider was the one grabbing Cuphead by the ankle and throwing him against the wall. She watched with a soft look on her face and shifted her glance over ahead of her. Her eyes moved down to her knife in her grip, narrowing her brows in determination.

Cuphead was thrown onto the ground and tumbled against the wall. His eyelids were getting heavy from the amount of damage. He watched the imps slowly approaching him with their cackles and the spider crawling towards him. Before Cuphead could get back up to face them one more time, Natalie hopped onto the spider’s back with an angry battle-cry, stabbing the spider’s back with her steak knife.

The spider whined in pain while trying to shake her off. While the imps were distracted by Natalie, Cuphead got up and spread his fiery wings, letting out the fire to burn the imps. The imps screamed in pain as his whole body became on fire, orange glowing feathers growing on his skin. He stretched his muscles with cracks and turned his whole cup head with more cracks. Then he jumped into battle, his fists punching the imps and breaking their bones just by his strength of his punch. His speed picked up more intensely, but Cuphead didn’t care that his powers were only growing.

Cuphead noticed that Natalie was thrown off the spider while she yelped. He bolted towards her and caught her in his arms. Sitting her down, he zoomed towards the spider and burst through the spider’s body to permanently kill him.

Natalie heard someone coming into the area while taking out her knife and stabbing the imp who came into the room. The other imp stepped in and pinned her against the wall. Before he could make a move on her, Cuphead dove towards the imp and flipped in the air to kick the imp off of Natalie. The imp was pushed off of Natalie and collapsed on the ground.

Natalie and Cuphead exchanged gazes at each other as she blushed to see Cuphead glowing orange and red mixed together, his feathers covering his torso and his arms.

“Wow…” Natalie uttered in awe with a blush. She shook off her awed gaze, but her blush was still there.

Cuphead blushed a bit for a moment until they noticed the imps ahead of them. “There’s more comin’ at us.” He glanced over at Natalie and extended his hand out to her. She looked at him with a confused glance at him.

“Wanna take them out together?” Cuphead asked with a smirk.

She exchanged a mischievous smirk back and took his hand.

As the imps charged towards them, Cuphead and Natalie held hands and zoomed towards them. He swung her towards them, letting her kick them with her heels while he still held onto her. They spun around in a circle while Cuphead used his other hand to form a finger gun and shoot fireballs from his fingertips. He pulled her back into his arms only for him to throw her up towards the ceiling. He was shooting fireballs from his fingertips while Natalie slashed the spiders about to come down from the ceiling to fight them. Soon, Cuphead caught her in his arms and set her on her feet, but still holding her hand when using his other fist as a finger gun to shoot the incoming imp.

Natalie slit the imp’s throat when he approached them. Cuphead pulled her back into his arms and used his finger gun to fire at the imp coming at them.

As they were fighting, it appeared like they were dancing to an unnamed rhythm. They took out each imp while storming through the cave and holding hands in the process.

~.~

Brineybeard shared a cell with Djimmi and Aurora while Cagney, Hilda, and Bowlboy shared the cell next to him. They were all playing card games while being contained.

“You know, you can get us out of here with the snap of your finger, right?” Cagney questioned Djimmi.

“Of course, but I just want us to suffer here,” Djimmi responded with a fake grin on his face.

Cagney squinted at the genie. “I’m sensing sarcasm in your tone.”

“Of course, I’m being sarcastic. I wish I could get us out of this mess magically, but there’s one problem.”

“What’s that?” the flower asked.

Djimmi took off of his hat and pulled out his lamp. “This is the problem.”

“Then why are you carrying it around?”

“Because I’m chained to it for millions and millions of years. You see?”

“But you’re able to fight all those bad guys with magical abilities—”

“Limited magical abilities. I can only summon mummies from the past and create some solar fireballs. Nothing else,” Djimmi explained. “I can’t snap us out of this situation, because someone needs to wish it out.”

“Okay, I wish you could get us out of here,” Cagney replied.

Djimmi gave the flower a deadpan stare. “You have to rub the lamp and make the��”

Cagney snatched the lamp and rubbed it. “I wish you could get us out of here.”

Djimmi gasped in shock. “Oh my goodness. Oh golly! Cagney, yo-you’re my new master.”

“Wait, really?”

The genie gave the flower a deadpan stare and snatched the lamp back. “No. You have to have the DNA of the last person who rubbed this lamp. And you don’t have it obviously.”

“Great, guess we’re not getting out of here then,” Cagney said while placing a card in the middle to continue the game.

“Who was the last person that rubbed the lamp?” Hilda asked in curiosity. “Do you remember the name?”

“Eh, not really. It was a decade ago when he last rubbed the lamp. He wished for his son to be…well…non-existent.”

“Poor kid,” Bowlboy uttered.

Hilda covered her mouth in surprise. “Did you make his son non-existent?”

“No. I just teleported him to a local orphanage,” Djimmi said. “There’s a lot of gray-area in ‘make my son disappear’. Sooo, I teleported his son to a local orphanage. I didn’t bother to ask for specifics. People could wish some awful things sometimes.”

“That is awful,” Hilda spoke softly while laying her card down.

Cagney blinked for a moment. “Wait, did he make three wishes?”

The genie shook his head as he laid down a card. “Nope. Only made one and was satisfied with the result.”

“Do you know where he lives?” The orange-petaled flower inquired

“Yeah…but I think he might be dead from the Night Stalkers situation.”

“Great, we’ll never get out of here,” Cagney groaned.

Aurora was sitting on Brineybeard’s lap and picked the card for him to put down. The pirate brightly smiled while putting the right card that reversed to Djimmi.

“Is she your daughter?” Hilda asked with an adoring smile at Aurora.

“Oh, uh, no. I took her ‘n her sister in though when her mom be in jail,” Brineybeard informed.

“Oh, where’s the sister?” Djimmi inquired.

“OVER HERE!!!”

The prisoners turned to see Natalie and Cuphead entering the dungeons, drenched in both imp and spider blood.

Cagney widened his eyes in shock. “Uh…wow…”

Brineybeard noticed Natalie holding Cuphead’s hand, smirking a little.

“Sissy and Cuppy are coming to rescue us!” Aurora celebrated while clapping her little hands.

Cuphead headed over to the cell where Brineybeard, Aurora, and Djimmi were held and ripped the cell door open with his super strength.

Djimmi blinked in surprise. “My, my, you might want to be careful—”

Cuphead tossed the cell door aside and ripped open the next cell door that held Cagney, Hilda, and Bowlboy.

“Holy cow, did you go to a boxing gym or what?” Cagney uttered in shock.

“We need to get out now! Come on!” Cuphead urged the group. However, before they could all band together and get out, more imps showed up with their weapons.

“Get them!” the imp shouted.

“My arms are getting tired from fighting them,” Natalie uttered while stretching her arms.

“Don’t worry about it, lass. I’ll take it from here,” Brineybeard said with a glare at the imps.

Djimmi summoned solar fireballs and looked around the imps.

Cagney rooted himself on the ground, ready to attack with the vines.

Hilda cracked her knuckles before putting them up.

Cuphead spread his fiery wings with his eyes reflecting the flames.

Aurora hugged her sister’s leg in need of protection.

Bowlboy noticed the lamp on the ground in the cell and picked it up. “Are you sure the lamp won’t work?”

Djimmi glanced over his shoulder. “It only works for whoever rubs the lamp last—”

The sudden glow burst behind them and they looked to see Bowlboy rubbing the lamp in curiosity. Bowlboy blinked in shock at the sudden reaction.

“Wait, how come it works on him?” Cagney questioned timidly.

“Oh, you’re the son,” Djimmi muttered to himself.

“What?”

“Nevermind that. Make a wish and make it snappy.”

“Uh…I wish to get us all out of here.”

The imps came closer to them.

“I hate to break it to you, champ, but you’re going to need to be more specific,” Djimmi responded.

“Uh…uh…out of this dungeon…excluding the imps.”

“I can work with that,” Djimmi replied while clapping his hands together, creating smoke all around them. The imps charged to attack them and noticed that they disappeared without a trace.

~.~

The group teleported outside of the cave on the shore thanks to Djimmi’s powers.

“Yes! We made it out!” Cagney shouted in victory.

Bowlboy frowned while holding the lamp.

Everyone sighed in relief.

“We need to go back before everyone worries about us,” Cuphead responded.

“Go back where?” Hilda asked with a brow raised.

They all heard thundering footsteps coming from the cave.

Cuphead clenched his jaw and hurried towards Bowlboy. “Bowlboy, wish us back to the Howling Aces’ base. Hurry.”

Bowlboy rubbed the lamp with a confused look at Cuphead. “Uh, I wish for you to take us back to the Howling Aces’ base.”

“You got it,” Djimmi replied while snapping his fingers and the group teleported over inside of the Howling Aces’ base.

“Yes! We’re here!” Cuphead shouted.

O’Fera noticed them and walked up to Cuphead, Brineybeard, Natalie, and Aurora. “Where have you guys been? Everyone’s worried sick about ya.”

Elder Kettle came into the scene. “Cuphead, please don’t tell me that’s blood on you.”

“Uh…no,” Cuphead lied with a fake grin.

Brineybeard let out a hearty laugh and lifted both Cuphead and Natalie up on his biceps. “Har har har! They scuttled the imps ‘n the spiders while rescuin’ us from the dungeons!”

“Wait, what?” O’Fera uttered in shock and fear.

“Yeah…um…there was a demon-infested camp over by the shore,” Cagney informed.

“Great, one more thing to deal with,” O’Fera said with a deep breath.

Bulldog overheard the conversation and stepped in. “We need to strengthen our base then if the demons are gonna come at us.”

“That’s a good idea. But will it be enough?” Elder Kettle asked.

“I guess we’re going to have to fortify everything we got. We need to train the others in combat and we need to—” as O’Fera listed on about what to do with the base, Cuphead and Natalie noticed they were holding hands still.

“Um…sorry—” When Natalie was about to pull away from Cuphead’s hand, he kept his grip on hers. She looked up to notice a soft smile in reassurance.

“It’s alright. I ain’t too worried about it.”

She noticed her bloody clothes. “Ugh, I look disgusting.”

“Same. At least we look disgusting together.”

Natalie snorted with a blush. “Yeah.”

They exchanged smiles while everyone else was getting ready to fortified the base more from enemies nearby.

To Be Continued...

#cuphead #mugman #ocs x canons #elder kettle #cuphead: isle of memories rewrite #cagney carnation #hilda berg #bowlboy #the howling aces cuphead #djimmi the great #captain brineybeard

6 notes · View notes

bluheaven-adw · 2 years

Text

It's been a while since we had a good ole fight scene analysis! For this one, we have Jim and Angor clashing in the season 1 finale. Now, I could watch Jim fight all day long. 1: because he's so agile and athletic and I laugh at his lack of dancing prowess because Dude, what do you think you're doing when sword fighting??? And 2: every fight scene has its own unique, and super cool, details which is testament to the quality work of the Writers, Storyboard artists and Animators. So lets get to it!

First up, their very first clash after Jim regains control of Daylight. It's just a few seconds, but they are a thing of beauty. That first jump and then backflip doesn't look like much at full speed, but slo-mo? Watch how he uses the momentum of his swing to rotate himself mid air so he lands facing Angor instead of with his back turned. No wasted energy there, and bonus that it's quite a visually graceful move as well. He also calls the shield as he comes out of the rotation and has it folded/unfolded and vanished again seemingly without thought. Pretty sure he's running on instinct and does his best fighting that way, when he's in the moment and not in his own head. He blocks a strike with his shield, and seeing Angor spin though that hit, back handsprings/flips out of the way of the second strike he knows is coming, and lets the momentum carry him in a slide back, away from a third hit, before launching himself from his crouched position. Here's the cool part though. He does that handspring one handed because he's still holding Daylight in his right hand! Bonus: there's a Stalkling being attacked by a gollum in the background.

Remember how I brought up dancing? The second clip touches on that a bit. Jim and Angor are VERY similar fighters, and if Jim had a bit more experience with offensive fighting under his belt, they would be quite evenly matched, which this clip shows. Neither are really getting hits on each other, but flowing back and forth, mirroring each other. It's definitely a dance, until Angor kicks Jim in the face at least. Did you know that while Jim is predominantly right handed (while writing), he's technically ambidextrous? And he takes full advantage of it when fighting. Here's those little details that you just don't see until things are slowed down. They didn't have to be put in, but again... the quality of this show. Watch Jim's first two swings. He seamlessly corrects his grip for the direction of his swing by swapping hand positions before each one. It's so smooth too, efficient, second nature. I'm pretty sure that's straight up instinct for him, versus training. Even in slo-mo it's hard to catch the second one. I've put a short pause at each one first before playing the full low speed clip.

I didn't cover the entire fight because, as we know, Jim kind of runs out of steam at this point and kind of gets his ass handed to him until Claire and Toby think to lend a hand, or hammer in this case.

Thats it for this fight scene analysis! Hope you enjoyed.

#tales of arcadia #trollhunters #toa #toa trollhunters #trollhunters tales of arcadia #trollhunters toa #jim lake jr #james lake jr #fight scene analysis #toa analysis #blu's vid clips #blu's analysis #angor rot

99 notes · View notes

jerricocreates · 4 months

Text

I'm having a bad case of DM writers block, in the sense that I'm coming up with ideas for everything accept my next session. I've got a wicked time loop idea for next campaign, but nothing for 2 days from now. So, in order to help my mind process what's on the table, I'm writing down a bullet list of all the current factors going on.

Party is lv 10 assorted mages. Phoenix Sorcerer, Knowledge Cleric/GOO Warlock, Aberrant Sorcerer, HB Gadgetsmith Inventor. (Occasional Glamor Bard)

PC Cleric/Warlock's family has been corrupted by evil wizards working for BBEG#1.

Because of her own fault, PC has mostly been abandoned by her family, especially her jilted mother. (Her younger sister has also had her mind wiped of PC.)

PC's family runs a huge smithing company.

Smithing Co has been doing suspiciously better thanks to the involvement of the evil wizards who the mother likes.

Home town is currently dealing with a huge crime wave, the likes of which haven't been seen in this era. (Linked back to BBEG#1)

Smithing Co has been bolstering the town guard with better weapons to help fight the crime wave.

The mother is secretly working on a plan for something else big. It's a secret. Don't tell them.

PC wants to kill the evil wizards, primarily on the basis that they mind wiped her sister, but she also suspects the crime wave is their fault. Start a big problem in order to sell the solution.

Smithing Co factory/manor is heavily guarded and previous attempts to get in won't work. Guards have been beefed up, security has better patrols, invisibility protection, and secret entrances have been blocked off.

Evil wizards rarely leave the house and often teleport places.

PC has someone on the inside. Her older sister has not had her mind wiped and has been working to try and convince their mother that the evil wizards are evil.

PC2 has a criminal contact that they've paid to pull some strings to find a weakness. Their hope is to catch the evil wizards (1 or more) on the outside.

Criminal contact has a safe place for the party to rest. He hasn't been touched by the crime wave because he's a fence for the thieves' guild.

Criminal contact has a knack for getting ahold of things people probably shouldn't have that would be very useful for breaking in places.

That said, here's what I need:

A method of draining their resources. They are level 10 and a straight fight with the wizards would be too easy. I'm thinking of using the crime wave for this. Have them heroically swoop in to stop a group of low level thugs without wasting too many of their resources.

A possible time sensitive situation. Draining their resources means nothing if they can just wait until the next day when they are well rested. I'm thinking having this related to the mother's big plan. Have the older sister tell the group that the mother is leaving soon so they've got a small window of opportunity.

A method of getting in the house. This one is easy. The criminal contact can give them a scroll of seeming which will get them through the door with the help of the older sister.

Something to build tension. Frankly, I'm not sure what to do here. The time sensitive aspect may be enough but I feel like there needs to be an extra something special.

A dramatic confrontation/boss fight. I mean, this one is simple. I've got these down at this point. Put the party in a room with the villains and have them monolog and fight. Maybe even trim the fat and just have them all fight in the foyer. Throw in the little sister who is just confused by these colorful strangers and it's a recipe for fun.

Back up plans. The evil wizards are sly and crafty. The type of villains that have back ups of back ups in case their first plan goes awry. They are persistent and likely won't die here. They are too smart for that. I just don't know what that will be at this moment. Probably the good ol teleport away anyway.

This is is risky, but I had one of the first bosses the party fought come back as a revenant. I was thinking of having a roll at every fight as to whether he shows up or not, maybe a countdown timer that is clearly indicated to the players. "After X turns, the revenant shows up and you guys will struggle."

This list has actually been very helpful. In the process of typing this, I think I have my plan down well enough that I can adlib the smaller details. Good planning session, me.

0 notes

calmthefuckdownalright · 2 years

Text

So today is not a good day for productivity for me as I have a deadly vase of Writer's Block. And a slight cold which mildly explains the eye thing from a few days ago.

The way I usually cure Writer's Block is Tik Toks of my inspiration (Wilbur Soot in this case) or YouTube where I just watch random animations to see if anything sparks my interests like music or a drawing.

Well I just got off my phone, not cured of the ol' W.B. yet BUT

I did just have to say that Wilbur motherfucking Soot has NO right to be that handsome. Like seriously, I'm happily in love with myself at the time, but THIS MAN. Has gotten the PINNACLE of the gene pool.

Just go look at him! Cheers to the lucky one that steals that man's heart because Jesus fuckin CHRIST! Wilbur Soot is a score on any level and I'm so happy he exists or I wouldn't have the sheer overflowing amount of serotonin I have now. He is just

✨gorgeous✨

And I can't stress that enough. Again I am not in love with the man, I just greatly appreciate him and his strive to entertain which makes him all the more beautiful.

Edit: I'm reading this back now and maybe have realized I was high on allergies...

like seriously "a deadly vase of Writer's Block"?? It wasn't the fucking Writers Block it was the fucking cold I dealt with for two weeks. I think that's the most frustrating misspell I've had. 😭

#Lovely Thoughts with Vick💙#This is purely fan based #I am NOT crushing on the man #He's just a pretty boy #wilbur soot

0 notes

epiclamer · 2 years

Note

PLS THAT MIND LINK PROMPT WAS SO GOOD IF YOU EVER WRITE MORE COULD YOU PLS TAG ME I'D HATE TO MISS THAT

*sobs* of course.

@hahahawastingmylife

@missdrarrydawn

@of-the-way-and-wildflowers

(No reposts but reblogs appreciated <3)

Part 1 Part 3

Linked Pt. 2

Get off of me.

What’s the magic word?~

Hero pushed Villain away at full force, even though Villain hardly budged. A knot caught in their throat as they registered the evil glint in Villains eyes.

Villain slowly shifted their hands a little, one down to Hero’s waist, the other at their neck, toying with the fabric in between their fingers. Tugging on the suit around Hero’s neck, Villain pulled it down just enough to show a little skin. They smiled, leaning in close and letting their breath hit Hero’s bare skin.

What’s. The magic. Word.

Hero gulped, throat bobbing against Villains hand. Hero’s eyes landed on their teammates fighting before flicking back to Villains smirk.

please

It was so quiet, the quietest thought to have ever passed through Hero’s head, but it was loud and clear in Villains.

Sorry, I didn’t quite catch that, love~

Hero’s face burned, but they had to keep a straight face. They couldn’t let Villain do any more damage then they already had-

Hero’s eyes had trailed from Villains lips and were now locked onto Superhero’s horrified gaze.

Shit.

Villain let me go.

Villain only chuckled from deep in their throat, the hand on Hero’s waist drawing soft circles that made Hero shiver. The hand on Hero’s neck switched to grabbing Hero’s chin, pulling their gaze from Superhero’s and forcing their eyes to meet. Resting their foreheads together so their lips were hardly a breath away.

Don’t focus on them, beautiful. Lips brushing against each other’s.

Eyes on me. A heated breath and trailing hands.

Love, I’m not going to ask you nicely again~

What’s the magic word.

#sorry this isn’t the best #I have a good ol case of the writers block #rip #hero x villain #villain x hero #possessive villain #drabbles #fantasy #fluff #imagines #oneshots #scenarios #writing #fiction #villain #hero #hero and villain #villain and hero #superhero

323 notes · View notes

puppypeter · 3 years

Text

✨ All fics are complete! ✨

He Loves Me Cause I’m Cute, He Thinks I’m Pretty Funny | 2588 words 📱

He watches it back one more time after it posts, checking for typos in his subtitles and captions, and has to laugh again.

Steve fucking Rogers? His brain thought he could pull Captain America, literal superhero and America’s favorite sweetheart?

“Hello I’m a 35 year old amputee living in New York and I think that I could get Steve Rogers.”

the one where bucky posts a tiktok and steve is utterly smitten.

Summer Slipped Us Underneath Her Tongue | 10712 words 🧳

Bucky is a tour guide who enjoys sharing the rich history and culture of each city they pass through with a bunch of early-20's college students who just want to know the cheapest place to get drunk.

Except for Steve, who asks Bucky for a personal tour around his hometown.

The rest is, as they say, history.

You Make My Heart Skip A Beet | 3853 words 🧑🏼‍🍳

“I made soda bread.” Steve lets out the 6’2” supersoldier equivalent of a squeak. “Oh, I love soda bread,” he says eagerly, rolling forward on the balls of his feet like he does when he gets excited. “My mom used to make it all the time when I was growing up.” The tips of Barnes’s ears turn red, and he mutters something that sounds suspiciously like, “I know.”

Ollie Meets Bagel | 5517 words 🥯

He was a skater boy, Steve said let's get bagels, boy.

Steve wants to start doing this twenty-first century thing properly. He gets help in the form of skateboarding, skateboarders, bagels, and Sam Wilson.

Taxi | 5113 words 🚕

Bucky Barnes was, he hoped, a good taxi driver.

He's so good, he actually tries to return lost property that ends up left in his car and... well. It has some unexpected consequences involving a National Icon.

Enough said.

Leg Day | 12157 words 🏋️‍♂️

“So talk to him,” Sam says.

“I can’t,” Bucky groans. “I can’t, Sam, I. He just.” He fluffs his hair up and stares at Sam, distraught. “I want him to bench press me.”

“Okay, so it’s serious,” Sam interprets. “Got it."

(Or: The one where Sam is Bucky's long-suffering roommate, Bucky is a hot mess of a millennial, and Hot Steve spends far too much time on the Lat Pull-Down machine.)

Love In Aisle Four | 2127 words 🛍️

When Bucky needs to swing by the supermarket after a long, hard day of work, the last thing he expects is to meet a cute grocery clerk named Steve…

Coming Up Easy | 45515 words ✍🏻

“Listen, I was just thinking,” Steve says, his face open, eyebrows raised in a tentatively hopeful expression. “Why don’t you come stay at my place for a while? I’ve got an office that I barely use, and a change of scenery might do you good, right? Help you beat that writer’s block?” With a crooked smile, he adds, “I promise I’m not a serial killer.”

While Bucky would normally crack a joke about how that’s exactly what a serial killer would say, right now, all he can do is blink at Steve in surprise, heart tripping over itself in his chest. Steve wants him to come and stay at his place. In Massachusetts. Just the two of them.

"Oh," Bucky croaks. "I- Wow."

“I mean, no pressure,” Steve says hastily. “Totally fine if you don’t wanna. I just thought I’d offer, in case it might help, y’know?”

“Yeah.” Bucky ignores the little voice in his head that sounds an awful lot Nat and Becca, telling him he’s setting himself up for heartbreak. “I mean, if you’re sure, that would be amazing.”

Anywhere The Wind Blows | 8845 words 👨‍🚒🎖️

After a catastrophic fire that shakes him to his core, Steve Rogers quits his job as a Brooklyn firefighter and relocates to a cabin in the remote Canadian wilderness, wanting quiet and solitude and to maybe never have to speak to another human being ever again. He gets his wish, more or less, until a recently injured Bucky Barnes is discharged from the Army and rents the cabin next door.

The Safer Course | 7918 words | Part 1 of Won’t You Be My Neighbor 🏡

When Steve moves to the suburbs in 2033, he intends to retire from superhero life.

He does not intend to fall in love with his pain-in-the-ass neighbor.

Every Year I Have You | 7064 words | Part 2 of Won’t You Be My Neighbor 🏡

Steve set the bar pretty high, as birthday presents go.

Bucky is determined to outdo him when July 4th comes around.

Beneath The Mistletoe | 21203 words 🎄

Bucky had a bet with his sister that if he didn’t have a boyfriend to bring home for Christmas by the time he was 25, he had to give her $200 and go blonde for a year. But now he's 25, it’s nearing December, and not only is Bucky as single as ever, but he’s also running low on cash. He doesn’t exactly want to bleach his hair, either.

At least Steve is willing to upgrade their relationship from best friends to fake boyfriends.

The Settler | 52203 words 🍞

“What do you want to do?”

Steve pauses and looks at them.

What he wants is to stay with them. He doesn't have any family left, they all died before he even joined the war and became... this. Captain America turned whatever he is now. But Natasha and Sam have become his family over the years. Not just because they're on the run together, fugitives and vigilantes, but way before that too.

He doesn't want to leave that.

But he knows that, realistically, he can't stay with them and they can't stay with him.

So he looks at them with a smile and lies. “I don't know.”

OR; In which Steve retires and finally finds a place to call home.

You Can’t Put Your Arms Around A Memory | 1148 words 🐈

"Alright, Bucky," Steve slows his steps, watches his neighbour stop at the bottom of the next flight of stairs. There's a canvas bag in his hand that Steve didn't notice earlier, cream coloured with the figure of a sleeping, black cat painted on it. "Have a good day."

He thinks Bucky's cheeks pink up a bit right then and there, but Steve can't tell. He's too distracted by his pounding, foolish heart, by the way Bucky smiles bashfully, and ducks his head. The way he seems like he wants to stay.

To Believe In Tomorrow | 3959 words 👨🏻‍🌾

Bucky's mornings at the community garden get a little more interesting when the new guy shows up.

Maybe This Christmas | 24873 words | Part 1 of Maybe ❄️

Bucky’s not going home for Christmas. But it’s fine. He’s spending Christmas alone in his apartment, but it’s cool. He’s not feeling up to seeing his family after his accident anyway, plus he has to work. He’s totally fine with it. But then he runs into Steve, literally, and suddenly his Christmas isn’t looking so empty after all.

-----

Hurrying was a bad idea. Bucky’s foot hits a patch of ice and slides out from under him in what would have been a comical cartoon banana-peel-like trip, if it wasn’t happening to him, and he braces himself to hit the ground. This is going to hurt.

“Fuck,” Bucky screeches, but as he lands on his back, it’s not the cold hard concrete he expected, but a solid mass beneath him. Oh god, Bucky thinks as he realises he smacked into the person behind him and took them down with him.

Maybe This Year (Will Be Better Than Last) | 133868 words | Part 2 of Maybe ❄️

Last year, Bucky Barnes met Steve Rogers. Well actually, he slipped and fell on him. What followed was the best Christmas either of them had ever had. But what happens when Christmas is over and life returns to normal? What happens after the Christmas miracle?

-----

Bucky should have known. He did know. When things seem too good to be true, they usually are. And Steve is the best thing that has happened to him in a long time, possibly ever, so of course it couldn’t last.

Maybe This Time (I Hope I Get The Chance To Say Goodbye) | 34561 words | Part 3 of Maybe ❄️

Steve and Bucky Barnes are happily married. They've made it through some hard times and come out stronger and happier, together. Then Steve gets called on to come out of retirement for the most important mission of his life and everything changes. Everything.

-----

“Have yourself a merry little Christmas…” Steve starts singing along softly, and Bucky chuckles, before leaning his head onto Steve’s shoulder, always happy when he’s in Steve’s arms.

“From now on, our troubles will be miles away…” Bucky joins in.

Dancing round their living room, just as in love as ever, their troubles seem light-years away, if not non-existent.

Sadly, they’re closer than they think.

The Unexpected Gift | 9504 words | Part 1 of When Winter Comes 🐕

Steve Rogers is fine.

After ending a long-term relationship with Sam Wilson, Steve moves back to New York. He's tired and lonely but depressed? No. At least, that's what he thinks.

From the window of his apartment, he watches a dark-haired man and his service dog sitting in the park, wondering what his story is.

The Winter Storm | 2218 words | Part 2 of When Winter Comes 🐕

"If I could give you one thing in life, I would give you the ability you see yourself through my eyes, only then would you realize how special you are to me."

After Bucky and Steve confessed their feelings for each other, life has its own twisted way to challenge the most profound love.

One January Night | 4213 words | Part 3 of When Winter Comes 🐕

Before going back to work, Steve Rogers still has things to learn: 1- Depression is a bitch and the battle against it isn't an easy one. 2- Dating a person with disabilities comes with its share of challenges.

Bucky Barnes Has His Shit Together (And Other Lies He Tells Himself) | 14159 words 🔒

You’d think a guy who owns one of the most successful bakeries in Brooklyn, has a million-dollar smile and that antiquated good ol’ boy charm, blond hair and blue eyes and biceps for days, would know what’s what.

But don’t let that fool you: Steve Rogers is a mess.

Obvious | 917 words ☕

"Oh, I have a prompt! So, it makes me laugh how painfully obvious Steve and Bucky's feelings are to everyone when they're in that pining, slowburn, does-he-doesn't-he phase. But imagine Steve and Bucky working in a coffee shop together and constantly bickering, nudging and playfully flirting with each other. And all the employees and patrons are so invested in their relationship and just want them to kiss already but no one realizes that Steve and Bucky have been married since they got out of HS."

#stucky #steve rogers/bucky barnes #bucky barnes/steve rogers #stucky fics #stucky fic #stucky fic rec #stucky fic recs #stucky fics rec #stucky fics recs #stucky fan fiction #stucky fiction #stucky ao3 #stucky complete #stucky au #adorable stucky fics

380 notes · View notes

howdoyousleep3 · 2 years

Note

hi K!!!! i dont know if you remember, but i sent you an ask a while ago asking for tips on writer's block and you gave me some really lovely advice. i wanted to reach out and say thank you again and also let you know that your advice WORKED and I completely finished my 65K+ stucky a/b/o fic that i hit massive writer's block on this summer. i'm now posting new chapters of the fic every thursday and wanted to share the link with you in case you're interested in reading— it's omega sex worker/rut partner bucky and lonely architect alpha steve with lots of mutual pining (and plenty of good ol' smut). if its not your cup of tea, no worries— but just wanted to extend my gratitude again <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 this fic wouldn't have been finished without you!

oops! lol - forgot to send a link. (https://archiveofourown.org/works/35465566/chapters/88402264) :D

M! This is so great! I'm so happy to hear that my tips helped you complete a monster of an accomplishment! This 100% does sound like something that is my cup of tea; in fact, it sounds like something I'd chug and demand another round or three or five of. So happy you are happy with your fic. You should be so proud! ❤️

#askK #a/b/o universe #omegaverse #fic link #ohhhhh 😍

23 notes · View notes

novantinuum · 2 years

Note

7, 10, 44, 92

Thanks for sending some in! :DD

(Ask game for fanfic writers)

7) tell us about the plot of the first fanfic you ever wrote

Oh god.... uh... well, I knew I was writing self insert furry fic about the game Blinx: The Time Sweeper at seven. But I don't quite remember what the actual plot was.

So the runner up here has to be when I started writing a whole series of fan scripts for fake Doctor Who episodes with my friends when I was twelve (question mark??? i think that’s how old i was???), starring our very own Doctor who I cast my brother as. It was basically just "blah, blah, monsters... chaos... insanely powerful companion character does huge chaos... giant war, everyone almost dies, but then they don't and are super messed up about it..." Oh, and also the Doctor just randomly has a daughter now, yeah, we don't know how either, but the daughter is played by Me because I created her and I say so"

10) at what point in the process do you come up with titles, and how easy or hard is that for you?

Hah... title musing either happen at the very end of the process, or the very beginning. I feel like I always come up with a title last if I'm writing one-shots or shorts. But in the case of long-fics, I find it important to come up with titles that I feel fit the overall theme of what I'm trying to get at.

Often, I'll write out huge lists of ideas and then pick from those.

For instance, "The Ballad of Aryll: Song of Time" for my most recent project took a good few weeks to settle on. And then my fucking dumb ass realized way too late that there is a canon "song of time" within broader Zelda lore. Oh well. Don't really care, at this point. I have my own "Song of Time" within the plot of my fic that is called that because it's basically an ancient hymn singing the praises of the heroes and goddess-borns of time long past, continuously reincarnating in Hylia's never-ending war against evil. The song itself comes up as a plot point a few times, and then on a broader scale... the title exists as it is because this story is about Aryll's travels with her brother amidst this time of destiny. It's overtly about her involvement in this verse of the Song of Time. It's a forgotten ballad, in many ways... a ballad that never got to be told in "canon" Breath of the Wild because any family Link might've had surely died in the fires.

44) any writing advice you want to share?

This comes from recent experience...

After a week of nonstop writing, (I jammed out about 6K words in that time), I hit a severe period of block in which I couldn't get any words out for days.

What I eventually realized... was that there was a scene coming up shortly that I simply didn't want to write from the POV I was in. I didn't feel as if it would be interesting from the current perspective, since I was telling a part of the story that readers would already be familiar with.

My solution was to just switch the POV entirely. Boom! New perspective. Fresh eyes. I immediately had new ideas roaming in my brain for how to frame this scene.

So like... if you're finding yourself stuck at some point of your story, why not inject a bit of change and see if it helps any? Add some weather. Change the time of day. Change a perspective. Give your character a different reaction to an event, even. Just a few ideas.

92) first, second, or third person?

I'm a slut for a good ol' typical third person, but that's mostly just because it's what I have the most practice with. I've never written anything in first person that I can remember, but I have played around with some second person POV.

Speaking for myself, I think second person is best saved for situations where there's an overt purpose to be in an atypical POV. The first time I attempted this view point, it was because I was overtly writing vent fic and wanted to really slip myself into the POV character's shoes. The second time, it was because I thought second person might do well at presenting a sense of detachment from reality, given the subject matter of the story.

In the end, don't be scared of playing around, though!

#jen rambles #ask meme #the ballad of aryll

8 notes · View notes

porcelain-soupspoon4 · 3 years

Text

You’re Not So Bad (Isaac Foster x Reader)

A/N: I finished Angels of Death a few weeks back, and it was so good! I just had to write a short story about it. I’m not the best writer, but hopefully my first writing of this anime is somewhat close to Zack’s character.

Warnings: Cussing, Blood Mention (it’s Zack)

You never expected to meet someone like Zack until he arrived on Floor B2. You assisted Reverend Gray, acting as another guardian of B2 after he took you in when he found you as a homeless teen, sleeping on the outside steps of his building. He wasn’t the best father figure you could’ve had, but he still treated you better than the streets did. When hearing the elevator on your floor ding, you wanted to see who was there, but Reverend Gray stopped you, warning you to be careful of the people you may meet. When you asked why, he described the people that held the names Isaac Foster and Rachel Gardner. In all honesty, you didn’t think they were actually as bad as he made them sound, considering that he over exaggerates his descriptions of people to you to keep you safe. Also considering the other psychotic people he had as guardians on the other floors, you could trust your own gut when you met the duo. You stayed hidden in the background while you watched Reverend Gray journey with Rachel to Dr. Danny’s floor. Watching them leave from the end of the hall, you saw a man in a dark brown hoodie and a scythe laying on the ground. That must be Isaac Foster. You could tell that he was bleeding out badly, a pang of guilt and empathy coursing through you. You were hesitant to approach him, remembering that the Reverend said he was dangerous to meddle with and there was a high chance he could react violently to you if you dared to try and talk. But seeing him looking on the verge of death, you couldn’t help but walk slowly toward him. It may seem unreasonable to walk right into danger, but you knew you could take care of yourself. Reverend Gray provided you with a weapon of your own, a basket-hilted sword. He helped you to perfect every swing and stab. Not only that, but you weren’t too bad at fighting hand-to-hand either. Luckily, Isaac Foster appears to be too injured to try and fight back anyway. I honestly don’t think my sword would be able to block his scythe well, I hope he doesn’t use it on me, you thought. As you got closer and closer to the strange man, he fidgeted a bit. You paused your movements, clutching the handle of your sword in its scabbard. He weakly turned his head towards you, his eyes opening slowly.

“Who the fuck are you? You gonna try and kill me?” he questioned, a sharp tone in his voice. You noticed he made no effort to reach for his scythe, so you let go of your sword’s handle.

“No.....I wouldn’t try to kill someone if they’re already dying,” you responded. He let out a dry laugh.

“I hate to break it to ya sweetheart, but I’m not dying any time soon. Monsters are hard to kill. Besides, good ‘ol Rachel’s gonna fix me up. But enough of the chitter chatter, you didn’t answer my first question. Who the fuck ARE you? I thought there’s only one guardian on each floor, unless Reverend Shithead cheated,” he spat. You let out a small chuckle, finding his way of talking a throwback to when you were a teen. Although, he seemed to be around the same age as you, twenty or twenty-two years old. His bandaged face looked confused to your lighthearted reaction. He scowled, “Hey, what’s all that laughing for? I didn’t even say anything funny.”

“Oh nothing, just thinking of my teenage days. But to answer your first question, I am another guardian of this floor. My job is assisting Reverend Gray on this floor, though I’m not really allowed to interact with the people who come here. But I uh, couldn’t help feeling a bit bad for you, seeing you bleed out like that,” you finally confessed. Letting out another dry laugh, he looked at you with a smirk.

“Feeling bad for me, huh? Not the best decision. Don’t know if you can already tell, but I’m a cold-blooded serial killer. If I wasn’t feeling shitty at the moment, I’d cut that pretty head of yours off. Seeing you this calm around someone like me really pisses me off,” he said. You only let out another small chuckle, which irked him even more.

“I’m sure you would, Isaac Foster. Although, I don’t think a fight between the two of us would end so quick. My weapon may be smaller than yours, but I can hold my own very well. If I could survive majority of my childhood and teen years being alone in the streets, I think I could survive you,” you calmly said. His temper apparently sky-rocketed because the next moment, he was yelling.

“The name’s Zack, you bitch! Don’t go being so confident in yourself, it’s sickening to watch. I bet my ass could ruin all that confidence with just one land of my scythe. I’ll have you begging for your life, just you wait ‘til I’m in a better state to kill ya. Ugh, now I have two bitches to kill!” he groaned, then coughed loudly, more blood oozing out of his wound. You felt guilty again, wanting to at least stop the bleeding for a little while.

“I carry some bandages and patches with me in case there’s a time I ever need to fix myself. If you need some I can-”

“Just leave it alone, will ya? I already got Rachel getting shit for me back on the other floor, I don’t need your damn help! Why the hell does everyone wanna help me?”

“M’kay, but you’re bleeding pretty badly, by the time she comes back, you’ll most likely be passed out-”

“I said leave it alone! Stop tryna play nurse, your stuff probably won’t even do shit.”

“But it’s better to stop the bleeding as soon as-”

“Will you shut up? You’re gonna make me go into shock.”

“I just wanna help-”

“I said I don’t want any damn help!”

“Well you won’t be much of a monster by bleeding out all over this damn floor! If you wanna at least live long enough to kill that girl Rachel, you could at least be somewhat decent and let me patch you up before you go all out, getting your own self killed instead! Now shut the fuck up and let me help! Geez! How does that blonde girl deal with you?” you shouted. Your yelling got him to close his mouth and shut up, surprised that he got someone as calm as you to get angry. How can I get her angry, but not scared shitless? It’s like she wasn’t even phased by my damn appearance, he thought. There was a short silence in the hallway, until Zack finally spoke up. “Didn’t know you had all that anger in ya. Heh, to be honest you even got my crazy self startled. I have no clue how Rachel deals with me, but all I know is her messed up head wants me to kill her. So I’ll do it. If I want to keep my promise to her.....I guess you should do what ya want. But don’t be a pervert about it.”

A small smile formed on your face as you took out your supplies in the small medical bag you carried around.

“How the hell are you smiling after all that? Sheesh, I’m starting to think you’re even weirder than Rachel is,” Zack let out noises of disgust. You scoffed, rolling your eyes at his childlike behavior.

“Tell me something.....,” he began to say, “why haven’t ya mentioned anything about my appearance? I’m literally covered in bandages and burnt underneath. Don’t I freak you out at all? Why aren’t ya scared?”

“Well, I’ve seen crazier. I also don’t like to make a judgement about someone based on only their appearance. Sure you’re not ordinary looking, but I know there’s more about you than what I see on the outside,” you replied. Everything that you needed to help him was taken out. You didn’t have any type of alcohol or a sewing needle and thread to fully cover what you believed to be a deep gash in his abdomen, but it was all that could be done for now until Rachel got back. You reached over towards his wound, but hesitated. You looked him in the eyes, as if you were silently asking for permission. He nodded slightly, his breathing hitching a bit when he saw the look your eyes held. You looked so genuine, not one hint of fear in you. Was that.....kindness? No, it couldn’t be. Why would anyone show kindness to him? You unzipped his hoodie, a faint blush on your face. Sure he was an asshole, but it still felt.....somewhat intimate? Not in an inappropriate way, just in a trustworthy way. The fact he had so much trust in one stranger to help him like this.....it was odd. You undid the bandages already on him that were worn out. His wound was revealed, and so was his skin. Wow....is all of him burned? You shook your thoughts away. You grabbed a bunch of gauze sponges you had and grouped them together, beginning to apply pressure to his wound. Zack hissed at the pain, saying almost every curse word you think is in the dictionary. You let out a soft “Sorry” as you continued to clean up the big amount of blood on his body. Once you began to bandage him up tightly, Zack started up another conversation.

“You’re different from the other guardians.....why aren’t ya trying to kill me? Isn’t that what you guardians do?” he asked curiously. You showed him another small smile. That damn smile, why does she smile so easily at me? It’s not like Rachel’s forced ass smile. What’s up with this bitch? Why is her smile so.....familiar?

“Well, like I said before, I just assist Reverend Gray on this floor. He’s the main guardian. I’m just someone he happened to take in after he found me sleeping on the steps of this building. Heh, teenager me. Homeless after my parents abandoned me as a toddler. I’m not sure what made Reverend Gray want to keep me. Sometimes he acts like a father, but then I remember how self praising he is,” you sighed, “I know the people on the other floors kill so you expect me to be the same, but I don’t want to kill someone if they aren’t totally out of their mind.”

“So is that why you didn’t try to kill me? Cause ya think I’m not totally out of my mind? Heh, well I’m pretty sure me killing people for fun isn’t sane either. I hate seeing people happy, sooooo I kill ‘em. What’s not psycho about that?” Zack stated.

“Well for starters, I didn’t try to kill you because you were already injured, so it wouldn’t have been fair. And you can’t be totally out of your mind if you let me help you with your injury.” Zack scowled at your reply, knowing you were right. Even as a serial killer, he had morals. He hated lying, and he himself would never tell a lie.

“You remind me of him too much,” he grumbled. Your head perked up.

“Did you say something?”

“I said you talk too much.”

“No, you definitely said something else.”

“No I said you talk too much.”

“Doubt it, tell me what ya really said.”

“That is what I really said.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“Zack.”

“Ugh, I said you remind me of him too much,” he said softly.

“Him?” you questioned. Zack sighed. “There was this man I met when I was younger, a blind man. He let me stay at his place for a couple days. Even after I told him I killed a guy, he still had that dumb smile on his face. He always had that smile on his face around me. It was annoying, him being so calm around someone like me. Pissed me off, but I didn’t kill him. He fed me and everything. I mean he already died cause of something else, but it doesn’t matter anyway. Are ya done with my bandages yet? It feels like it’s been hours!”

You rolled your eyes at his commentary. “Well, whoever that man is, he had quite the patience with you.”

“Hey! I was giving you a compliment! Geez, way to be rude!” Zack crossed his arms, turning away from you. You only chuckled once more. You finally finished wrapping enough bandages as you could, making sure it was snug enough.

“Happy now, angry boy? I’m done. They’ll still get bloody, but at least the bandages are fresh and not worn out,” you said, giving him another smile just to annoy him.

“Thanks,” he mumbled. “I never caught your name. Since I told ya mine, it’s only fair you tell me yours.”

“It’s (Y/N),” you said.

“Well (Y/N),” Zack rubbed the back of his head. “You’re not so bad.....maybe I’ll keep ya alive.”

#angels of death #angels of death zack #isaac foster #zack foster #isaac foster x reader #isaac x reader #zack x reader #angels of death x reader #zack foster x reader #angels of death imagines #isaac foster imagines #isaac foster fluff #anime #isaac foster fanfic #angels of death fanfic #aod #aod x reader #satsuriku no tenshi

220 notes · View notes

kiribakuhappiness · 3 years

Note

👖 Are you a planner, plantser, or pantser? Is it consistent?

Ahh, this question is always so interesting!

First I just want to define the terms above - in case some people aren't aware of their meaning!

Planner: Relatively self-explanatory, a planner is someone who plans out their entire story from start to finish before they even think about writing it. Character backstories, settings, relationship connections, timelines, order of events and their significance, important symbolic details, everything is entirely fleshed out before that pen hits that paper or before those fingertips start tapping away at that keyboard!

Pros: - No need to stop writing for every new plot point/chapter - Generally very well fleshed out characters and scenes. - Plenty of room for constructing well thought-out foreshadowing.

Cons: - Takes a lot of time and effort before the writing process can even begin. - Generally very difficult to tweak details later on, as it creates a domino effect regarding the remainder of the preemptive planning.

Panster: Coined from the term "by the seat of one's pants," a panster is someone who gets a vague idea for a story and takes off running with it. No direction or planned events needed, just their juicy inspiration and a blank document! Pansters are also usually known for writing scenes out of order.

Pros: - Lots of creative freedom. - No feeling of being weighed down by a predetermined path/plot. - Great technique when writing a story that will contain a lot of plot twists.

Cons: - So. Much. Editing. - Will generally end up doing everything that a Planner would do, just later on in the game. - Character motivations + plot structures can suffer by becoming cloudy and unclear/unexplained.

Planster: Probably the easiest to identify/define after learning about the other two, but a planster is someone who is a healthy mix of both! Most writers are plansters, as the range is much more varied and so, by default, contains the medium average. Plansters will get a new story idea, make a few notes or plan out a few important scenes/details, and then use that like a vague roadmap for their stories similar to the dodgy early-2000's Google Maps Directions.

Pros: - A healthy amount of creative freedom when coming up with new scenes and characters. - Easier to make midcourse adjustments in regard to plot devices, foreshadowing, etc.

Cons: - Writer's block can set in when struggling to connect one vague predetermined plot point to the next.

As for my answer, I am very much a Planster, leaning more towards Panster! Usually when I come up with a new story idea, it's a very vague concept, but a concept nonetheless.

So, take Why Is Everything So Weird With the Lights Off? as an example!

When I started that fic, my only notes going into it were these (copy + pasted from my notes app):

Bakugou appears at Kirishima's door; he's been drinking (third year, reasonable age to engage in such activity). Kirishima's first time seeing Bakugou drunk. Bakugou has come to confess his feelings - Kirishima can't imagine why Bakugou would think that midnight on a school night is a good time to strike up a conversation, but what kind of friend would he be if he turned him away? Kirishima's chivalry to be a good friend battles internally with his desire to be with Bakugou as the night progresses. Bakugou is uncharacteristically touchy and honest about his wants to hang out with Kirishima (internally, he's frustrated that he keeps fucking up his attempts to confess, and so tries to stay later and later to get it right). "'M not fuckin' comfortable," he [Bakugou] says [from the makeshift bed on the floor], louder and firmer, as if that will change anything. From beginning - no attraction/romance detected between them. As story progresses - lines start to cross and blur and Kirishima's buried feelings for Bakugou become more apparent to the reader. (Their relationship has started to subtly change, as all relationships tend to do.)

As you can see, there's very little in-depth details here. I don't really go into long-winded explanations and I don't really focus on anything regarding the setting or plot points. Of course, the type of notes I take and the amount of attention to details I give vary drastically regarding the project, but the entire idea is at least glossed over so I don't forget it, and I always try my best to be firm when considering Character Motive (ie; Bakugou drunkenly arrives with the one and only goal to finally confess his feelings to Kirishima), the rest of the fic and all of its minor details come as a result from these motives.

I'll give another example where I went into A LOT more detail, again, copy + pasted from my notes app! Disclaimer: major spoilers for unwritten chapters regarding Fighting Tooth and Claw to Get Back to You.

[Upon UA Katsuki + Fantasy Katsuki meeting for the first time]

"It is fucking winter?"

"Yeah. It's fuckin' winter."

[Right before they switch back] - UA Katsuki experiences a darkness where he finally meets Barbarian Bakugou face-to-face. They approach each other, movements mirrored, and it's UA Katsuki who raises a hand out towards him first, which Barbarian Bakugou hesitates to accept (he is resentful and ashamed of UA Katsuki and believes him to be ignorant and immature). But UA Katsuki needs to know what happened right before the switch, he needs to unlock that memory, and Barbarian Bakugou is reluctantly curious about his unwavering determination, so they clasp their hands together in a strong grip and are thrust into a new place - sunny and filled with green grass. The barbarian clan is there, Dragon Eijirou included, as they prepare to train for several moons straight before migrating away for the winter. Barbarian Bakugou and Dragon Eijirou leave to go train on their own, unbeknownst to them that Eri is following. They banter for a bit and kiss before bakugou wraps an intimidating hand around his neck and jaw. "Are you going to fight me or not?" Dragon Eijirou grins at that, still giving him a sultry, distracted look despite the fingers clasped threateningly around his neck. "What do I get if I win?" He teases. Barbarian Bakugou smirks before he gives Dragon Eijirou's head a light shove in the opposite direction, who steps out of his space again just as easily as he had entered it. "Off, you dumb lizard," Barbarian Bakugou grumbled, still looking amused before he reached over and pulled the glinting, golden sword (All Might) from its holster on his hip and brandished it towards Eijirou, whose red eyes glisten with a new kind of want as he stared at it - the dragon part of him yearning to collect such a valuable treasure. "You would look good as a King, Katsuki," he tells him. Katsuki's smirk grows wider. "And you as a dragon, if you'd ever hurry the fuck up." He gave the sword a vague sway through the space between them and Eijirou's eyes flash dangerously. "Come and take it from me. I know you want to," Katsuki goaded. Eijirou turns into a dragon and they fight.

[Choice made when Imperial soldiers attack during their training session (mentioned at beginning of story by Sero)] - All Might (sword) is falling off the cliff's edge, while Dragon Eijirou is about to get shot by a piercing arrow. Barbarian Bakugou chooses to try and save Dragon Eijirou (abandoning the sword and his future Kingdom), who calls out "NO" even as a dragon who shouldn't be able to speak (he doesn't want Bakugou to lose his throne just for him), which causes Barbarian Bakugou to stop abruptly in shock. The arrow is shot and pierces Dragon Eijirou's underbelly. He lets out a loud roar before he plummets down into the forest out of sight (leading to his capture). Barbarian Bakugou sees red, reaching down to grab the nearest abandoned steel sword (one shown at beginning of story that UA Kirishima shatters) that he then uses to swing down and slice into the shoulder of the soldier that had shot Dragon Eijirou. More soldiers descend into the valley. Katsuki hears a scream and turns to see Eri lying on the ground, terrified as a soldier holds up a crossbow at her. "TO THE END OF ALL DRAGONS!" The man yelled (revealing that Eri, in the fantasy timeline, is also a dragon, and explains her fondness for Barbarian Bakugou when she joins their group and observes how he treats Dragon Eijirou with kindness instead of prejudiced fear). Barbarian Bakugou's feet move without thinking as he lunges in front of Eri, just as her fingertips reach out and graze along his shoulder before everything goes black.

When UA Katsuki awakes again, he is in the hospital on campus, and Kirishima is sleeping in the chair beside him.

[fantasy setting, after the switch back. Barbarian Bakugou - despite still being offered the throne for Musutafu - declines. Izuku and Todoroki are preparing to go back to the kingdom with the news of the vanquish of the Imperial Army, gazing out at Bakugou's barbarian clan as he absently moves about the crowd, barking orders and preparing his clan for travel. Dragon Eijirou joins them to watch as well.] "I am surprised to learn of Kacchan's abandonment of the throne. I thought there was nothing in this world that could replace his desire to be King," Izuku mused out loud to him. "He would have made a great leader."

Dragon Eijirou grinned from beside him. "You're wrong, Izuku," he states simply. "He already is a great leader."

Because of the complexity of the story, with all its many plot twists and such a large cast of important characters, my notes are far more in depth here than they are for my other fic - however, these notes wouldn't necessarily be structured enough to be considered a Planner-mindset, as there is still plenty of room for added details, dialogue, etc.

Phew! What a fucking post :,D a big ole chonker - I hope you enjoyed reading at least, if you've made it this far! 🧡

Fanfic Ask Game - send me a question! ☺️

#fic ask game #kiribaku #writing #personal #asks

22 notes · View notes

ororowrites · 3 years

Text

By the Open Fire - Yahya x Black Character

I’m getting back into the writing spirit and decided to write a little Christmas one-shot about my latest celebrity crush. Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa and Happy Holidays!

Warnings: Very, very, light smut, fluffy as hell

Word Count: 2,664

Six months was entirely too long to be away from the love of her life.

Candace tapped the tip of her pen against the blank page, hoping her writer’s block would magically disappear. Being an actress was so much easier than trying to write a novel. Why didn’t Candace just stick to her day job? Since the pandemic began, she was trying her hand at other talents and writing a novel seemed to be the one wish on her wish list that stood out. On top of Yahya being out of the country filming for most of the year, Candace was in search of a way to fight a depression that was on the brink of flooding her life. Her filming project had come to a halt until 2021 and she was stuck in her Manhattan apartment until it was safe to come out again.

Yahya would be home in a couple of days and Candace was looking forward to his arrival. So many months a part made her heart ache and the heart below her waist. After hundreds of facetime calls, numerous texts a day and a few Zoom sessions that included their shared friends, her man would be there in the flesh.

“Fuck,” Candace cursed under her breath. The block wasn’t budging, forcing the actress to give up and retreat to the kitchen for wine. Her phone rang, interrupting her attempt to brainstorm for the next chapter in her book. “You always call at the perfect time,” she groaned at her twin sister on the other end of the line.

“Candy, you can never just say hello like a normal human,” Trinity laughed. “But did mama call you with the latest gossip?”

“No, but she’s been texting me all damn day. I’ve been busy so I haven’t checked them yet. Wassup,” she pressed, knowing the gossip was most likely church related. Their mother had been an usher at the same church since they were nine.

“Girl,” Trinity exclaimed, before explaining the recent Chicago gossip. “Mrs. Jackson got caught cheating with James. Someone saw them out at the park together, kissing up on each other and all that.”

“Ewww, in this panoramic,” Candace gagged. “I’m not shocked though. That old floozy was always flirting with daddy and almost made mama beat her ass one Easter Sunday. Remember that?”

Trinity cackled, “Boooooy, mama was about to peel that woman’s skin back and break her neck. Ol’ girl was trying it that day and knows she is too old to still be acting like that. But enough about Florence, what have you been up to today? Ain’t your man on his way back to New York?”

Candace rolled her eyes because she knew where this conversation was going. Her sister had four children, leaving Candace the only childless sibling left in the pack of five children.

“He’ll be back in two days and then we’re going to Colorado for Christmas. Since we can’t gather for the holidays, figured we’d go somewhere where we can safely distance ourselves but still get away. You know,” Candace said, swirling the wine around in her glass before taking a sip.

“Mmmhhhhmmm. You gon’ get knocked up in them mountains,” Trinity added in a serious tone. “You two renting out a cabin or something up there?”

“Ain’t nobody getting knocked up until she has a ring on her finger. Yes, we’re getting a cabin and just chillin’ out. Yahya has been working and needs a break. I’ve been....lonely.” Candace paced her kitchen, trying to think of an excuse to end this call before her twin irritated her soul.

“Ya’ll haven’t seen each in months, he’s going to tear--”

“Trin!” One major difference between the two of them was the lack of filter on Trinity’s part. The woman would say anything in front of anyone. “Look, I need to go straighten up before before Yah gets here. I’ll talk to you later?”

Trinity sighed loudly on the other end because she knew her sister was rushing her off the call. Not liking people in her relationship business bugged Trinity because she was the nosey twin that wanted to know everything, much like their mother. “Well at least you won’t be needing to replace the batteries in that vibrator any time soon since the real Dr. Manhattan is back in the picture.” Before Candace could reply to the vulgar comment, Trinity squeezed out a quick ‘love you’ before hanging up.

“Nasty ass,” Candace rolled her eyes and placed the phone back in the pocket of her jeans.

The next two days were the same song. Candace’s brain did not want to focus on writing, so she eventually gave up and settled on online shopping to ease her frustration. The night her beautiful man was supposed to return, the actress fell asleep on the couch. His flight had been delayed by a couple of hours and he didn’t make it home until 3AM.

He quietly entered the apartment, knowing Candace could never stay awake past twelve. The 6′3 actor, tip toed across the floor doing his best ballerina impression. Light snores could be heard over the infomercial playing on the television. She looked peaceful, almost child-like curled up on the sofa under her favorite coral throw. Yahya slowly leaned in, placing a soft kiss on Candace’s pouted lips. She stirred slightly, mumbling under her breath and fell back into a slumber.

“Baby,” he sung into her ear, placing another kiss on her cheek.

“Hmm.” Candace finally opened her eyes to see her Christmas gift standing right in front of her. Even with blurred vision, the smell of his cologne was a dead giveaway. She screeched and scurried to her feet to throw her arms around Yahya’s neck. Naturally, her legs wrapped around his waist as he rocked them back and forth. “I missed you so much.”

“I missed you too,” he grunted, peppering Candace’s face in kisses. “My baaaaaaby,” Yahya sang as they fell to the sofa in a heap of long limbs. “It smells good in here, what you cook?”

“Negro, you’re always looking for the food. Ol’ hungry ass,” Candace shook her head and playfully punched her lover’s bicep. “But, I saved you some fried rice and shrimp...homemade because that’s the only dish I’m good at.”

“Oh, that’s not the only dish you’re good at,” he bit his lip, pulling Candace into a slow, passionate kiss, showing her how much he really missed her. With both of them being in the industry, they understood the heartache that came with being in a relationship and not seeing your significant other for weeks or months at a time. In this case, their time away from each other was extended due to the pandemic. “Mmmmm,” Yahya hummed into Candace’s lips before pulling away. He wanted to save the X-rated loving for their trip when he would have more time to rest and beat the severe jet lag from flying across the world for 12 hours.

“We should get some food in this belly, babe,” Candace couldn’t contain the big cheesy grin that made her cheeks hurt.

-------

Christmas Eve

Toni Braxton’s sultry voice filled the cabin as Yahya finished pouring the wine for their night cap. They had a busy day on the slopes trying not to kill themselves or break any bones.

“Baby, where your fine ass at,” Yahya called out, making his way to the living room. The fireplace crackled, sending waves of heat throughout the cabin’s living area. The sun had set, but the mountains were still glowing against the dark sky. Their view was impeccable and the mood was set for a night of bonding and loving. “Candy, don’t make me come get you.” He warned playfully, sitting in front of the fire on their floor palette they had built earlier that night.

“What was that,” Candace teased, stopping in the doorway getting a front row view of Yahya’s bare upper half. His back muscles bulged as he tended to the fire.

“You back there sleeping, old lady,” he asked, with his back still turned away from her.

“No, I was back there wrapping one last gift,” she replied, her voice dropping an octave prompting Yahya to turn around.

His eyes almost fell out of his head, “Damn girl.” Pulling his bottom lip into his mouth, he moved forward, inspecting the gift that was screaming to be unwrapped. “This all for me?”

“Every inch of it.” Her words almost came out as a moan. The way this man was eyeing her had moisture pooling between her legs. The fancy lingerie wouldn’t last long at this rate. Words became an afterthought when actions began to do all the talking. All it took was a soul turning kiss to send them both to the floor on their palette in front of the fireplace. Candace couldn’t tell if the fire had her skin tingling or the anticipation of having his hands rubbing over the most sensitive parts of her body. The wine and fruits sitting on the mantle quickly became an afterthought.

For minutes, they enjoyed exploring each other and parts they hadn’t touched in months. Yahya was nestled between Candace’s thighs, both of them breathless and horny. Candace’s lace get up was quickly removed and thrown to the side. She giggled when his lips grazed her belly button, those giggles soon turning into pants and whispered obscenities. With gentle licks, he coaxed her clit out of its hood.

Toys were fun but they weren’t the real thing and oh did she miss the real thing. See, the real thing knew exactly how to pull her close to the edge before sending her back. Her man’s skilled tongue sank deeper drawing intricate patterns in her center as she massaged the top of his head with her fingertips.

Candace’s breath hitched in her throat and her thighs shook awaiting the impending release. “Jesus,” she moaned as her body suddenly felt light and her center thumped.

“Still as sweet as I remember,” he grinned, kissing Candace’s inner thigh.

Another track on their Toni Braxton Christmas playlist began to play and Yahya rested his head on Candace’s stomach. Time was precious and Yahya didn’t want to waste an ounce of the rare quiet moment they had. Soon, they’d both be filming again and the world would be back to normal.

“What’s on your mind, baby,” Candace asked, her heart and breath back to a steady rhythm.

“I don’t spend enough time with you. At least not lately,” he began. “I knew what I was getting into when we were back in school. Still makes me feel bad though.”

“Yah, I enjoy all the moments that we do get to spend together. You’ve been working your ass off this year. Yes, I would love more times like this but we should also celebrate all your accomplishments. Because you’re doing the damn thang and I’m so proud of you.”

“Thank you. You always say the right shit to get me together,” he chuckled. “Sometimes a nigga just be in his feelings and I missed the hell out of you those six months.”

“Yeah, six months has never gone by that slowly. You should see my credit card statements. I’ve never purchased that many sex toys in my life,” Candace covered her face with her arm.

“Word? Well.... you won’t be needing those sex toys for awhile.”

A smirk formed on her lips when she felt him bump against her thigh, “No, no, you just sit back and relax. I got this.” Sitting up, Candace placed a hand on Yahya’s chest, prompting him to switch her spots.

“You are beautiful,” Yahya’s eyes gleamed. After all these years, he could still make Candace blush like a little school girl. “Don’t hide that smile, girl.” His large hands massaged her thighs as she eased him inside of her.

They both exhaled, letting Toni Braxton serenade them through the night.

---------

Christmas Morning

They had finally made it to bed and got a few hours of sleep before Christmas morning arrived and it was time to get up for their next day of adventures.

First, they needed to re-fuel their bodies after the festivities that took place the night before in front of the fireplace and in the bedroom. The shower also got some of their loving that morning. Candace could hear Yahya singing his own version of Joy to the World while whipping up his famous oatmeal. That man never knew the words to any song but sung his own words with all the confidence in the world.

“Yah, do you ever know the words,” Candace questioned, placing a quick kiss on his cheek before grabbing a bowl from one of the kitchen shelves.

“Nope,” he replied in a matter of fact tone. “It’s the Abdul-Mateen version.”

“Uh huh, sure.”

Over breakfast, they continued joking about Yahya’s talent of making up his own versions of songs. Joy and love was on full display. They had always been the couple to roast each other and the next minute adore each other like the two biggest saps in the world.. Their relationship was built on a strong friendship they developed while they were in film school before reconnecting a few years later.

They walked a short distance to one of the coffee shops near their cabin to grab hot chocolate. It was a chilly 45 degrees, but to avoid sitting in the shop, they walked back to their rental, taking a scenic route that Yahya suggested.

“If we get lost or I end up falling off one of these mountains, I hope my family doesn’t kill you,” Candace joked, admiring the beautiful scene before them.

“Oh, I know where we are. I was out here early yesterday morning trying to find the perfect spot,” Yahya replied.

“Huh, perfect spot for what?”

He didn’t answer right away and instead reached for Candace’s hand, stopping her in her tracks. “Something I’ve been wanting to do for awhile.” Placing his cup on one of the rocks, Yahya pulled a box from his pocket and got down on one knee.

“What...what...” For once, Candace was speechless and caught completely off guard.

“It’s hard as hell to surprise you and I’ve been trying to think of the perfect time to do this without your nosey ass finding out.” Tears began to flow down Candace’s cheeks. “We’ve been at this for a few years and I’ve had some of my best moments with you by my side. I want to make what we have forever.” He opened the small box to reveal a beautiful emerald cut ring. “Say love... would you marry me?”

Being the goofball that she was, Candace laughed between her tears “You’re trying to get me pregnant on this trip, aren’t you?”

“Well that can be arranged if you say yes.”

“Ye...yes, of course!” Her vision blurred as Yahya slid the rock on her finger and stood to his feet to kiss his future bride. Moments later Yahya’s phone rang with an incoming Facetime call.

“Hey Trinity, hey moms,” Yahya cheesed, turning his phone to share the screen with Candace. “Looks like you two aren’t getting rid of me anytime soon.”

“She said yes,” Trinity screamed, jumping up and down with their mother. “Aye, aye, ayyyeeeeee.”

Still in complete shock and happiness overflowing, Candace shrieked, “Wait, you two knew about this the entire time!”

“Yep! It’s been burning my ass to keep this secret from you all this time,” Trinity teased, sticking out her tongue. “He took mom with him to ring shop last year and everything.”

“Welcome to the family, son. Congratulations baby,” Ms. Fredrick sang, clapping for the happy couple on the other end of the call.

“Now, I hope you two are using protection out there because having a baby before the wedding is-”

“Trinity,” Candace called out, shaking her head.

They should have followed Trinity’s advice because approximately two months later.....

Hope you all enjoyed! This is the first piece I’ve written in a year. I have no idea if I’ m going to continue the stories I began before my hiatus, yet. But, we will explore that in the coming year! Who knows, we may get more Candace and Yahya depending on how hard writer’s block slaps me. May the new year bring you all peace and joy!

#yahya abdul mateen ii #yahya x black character #fanfics #celebrity fanfics #black love #ororo writes #holiday one shot

107 notes · View notes