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roxannarambles · 2 months

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Title: Wings of a Butterfly, Eye of the Tiger (Part 4)

Ship: Nemona x Juliana (Julinemo/Terajules)

Summary: Nemona and Juliana just can’t resist returning to Area Zero once more. They find new places to explore, new pokemon to discover, and a new things to learn … about pokemon battling, but also about each other. (Sequel to Picnic in Paradise)

Chapters: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

Tags: Slowburn, Romance, Friendship, Crushes, Action/Adventure, Pokemon Battles, Fakemon

“What the heck kind of Tera type is that?!” Nemona yelled, eyes wide.

“Umm, I have no idea!”

“So we’re seeing a brand-new type?! Holy crap! Jules, this– this is incredible!”

Nemona’s eyes were gleaming nearly as bright as the Terastallized pokemon.

“Y-yeah, but–”

The dragon opened its mouth and expelled a cloud of flames. You yelped and backed away, grabbing Nemona’s hand and dragging her with you. You were able to escape the reach of the flames, although you could feel the wall of heat they put out. Hellcat snarled, agitated by the attack. Nemona said,

“Aw geez. I’m sorry Hellcat, this has been a real trial by fire for you, hasn’t it?”

Hellcat clearly wanted to fight back, but the Roaring Moon was still out of reach, floating above the pit of blackness.

“Jules, what secondary type did this thing have?”

“Dark! I think.”

“Ok. Hmm, if it’s gonna keep us at arm’s length like this, we’re gonna have to send something out to meet it!”

You looked at your assortment of pokeballs, exclaiming,

“But what? We have no idea what Tera type it is!”

“That’s true, but it’s okay, we’re just gonna have to improvise!” She selected one of her pokeballs and looked to you, asking,

“You ready?”

“I-I, um . . .” You struggled to make your selection, flustered over having to deal with so many unknowns.

From the sky, Roaring Moon began to fly in several looping circles, its body glowing in a purple light. Nemona’s confident expression slipped.

“Crap, it’s Dragon Dancing! Juliana, we gotta hurry!”

“Right, right, sorry, ready!”

You both tossed a ball, Nemona releasing her Flutter Mane, you sending out the new Screech Tails.

“Moonblast!”

“Dazzling Gleam!”

The pair of fairies floated out to meet the dragon, one on either side of it. Roaring Moon shrieked, lunging forward and swinging one of its mighty forearms, its glittering talons shredding into Flutter Mane like it was tissue paper. It fainted instantly.

“Dangit!”

Nemona’s pokemon may have been cut short before it could get an attack off, but your Screech Tails took advantage of the momentary distraction, firing off a Dazzling Gleam before Roaring Moon could do anything more.

You could hear a loud crash like shattering glass, and the air was filled with shards of crystal spraying in all directions. You and Nemona watched in shock as Roaring Moon returned to its usual form, looking momentarily stunned as it drifted there in the air. You said,

“Already? Whoa, that didn’t last long.”

“Guess Roaring Moon doesn’t have much stamina. Try to lure it over here with the next attack so we can catch it!”

You nodded.

“Okay. Uh, I don’t think it can take another Dazzling Gleam, though, and Psychic won’t work. Uhmm . . . Screech Tails! This way, come back over here!”

You waved a berry at it, trying to draw it over. You’d literally just captured this pokemon, after all, and hadn’t had much time to train it yet. Fortunately, Screech Tails slowly drifted back towards you, drooling.

Unfortunately, Roaring Moon had finished shaking itself from its daze. Its yellow eyes narrowed, locked onto the puffy pink fairy.

“Uh-oh. Screech Tails, use . . . umm, something else!”

You hadn’t actually had the chance to see its full moveset yet. Screech Tails’ eyes began to glow pink, its tails drifting upwards.

“No, no, not Psychic–”

The ferocious dragon swooped at your pokemon, roaring as it closed in, but its body phased clean through Screech Tails as if it wasn’t even there. The dragon slammed into the cave wall, the ground trembling with the force, causing you and Nemona to jump. Screech Tails unleashed its energy at its foe, but it was a futile effort.

“Try again Screech Tails, use something else, quick!”

Roaring Moon righted itself and turned about, apparently too bent on revenge to bother with anyone else for the moment. It slashed its long claws into Screech Tails, doing some heavy damage. In return, Screech Tails fearlessly bit down on the dragon’s arm, latching on with its fangs. This only seemed to tick the dragon off, though, and it bit and slashed at Screech Tails with its other arm, wrestling in the air above you and Nemona. Your friend called,

“Now’s probably our best chance, start throwing balls!”

Your Screech Tails fainted soon after she’d shouted it anyway; she chucked a pokeball and it drew the dragon inside. It released immediately and you started throwing balls as well. Eventually, one of your Dusk Balls captured it successfully. You picked up the ball, then turned to Nemona. With a little smile, you said,

“Well . . . looks like you got your Roaring Moon.”

Nemona grabbed you and answered gleefully,

“Not just a Roaring Moon, but a new Tera type too?! Let it out, we gotta see it in action!!”

You laughed,

“Okay, okay. I guess since we can’t explore further anyway, we might as well . . . um . . . uh . . . N-nemona?”

“What?”

You pointed wordlessly behind her. She turned to face the tunnel that had been previously blocked by the large, dense cluster of crystals.

There was now no trace of the crystals.

“What??” She turned to you. “How–”

“I don’t know.”

She went to stand in the tunnel, looking around.

“We’re not crazy, right? They were just here!”

You went to stand beside her.

“Yeah, they were. I dunno what to say.”

It wasn’t like they had broken up during the course of the battle, either; there would have been shards all over if they had. It was like they’d just . . . vanished. You both scratched your heads a bit puzzling over it. Nemona guessed,

“Maybe it had to do with the Roaring Moon we fought? That’s the only thing I can think of. It did have that weird Tera type, so maybe it’s connected somehow?”

You shrugged.

“Honestly, in the absence of any other information, that seems as good an explanation as any. It’s the only thing that really changed since I last saw the crystals . . .”

Nemona hummed, nodding. Then she turned to you and said brightly,

“Well, let’s not look a gift Mudsdale in the mouth, we can keep going now!”

“You sure? I thought you wanted to check out our Roaring Moon.”

“I do! I’m so excited I could puke, but I also wanna keep exploring just as much. I mean, we don’t have endless time down here and we’re already this far in, right? It might be now or never.”

She had a good point; you weren’t even sure if you two could return again after today, if your transgressions were discovered somehow.

You nodded.

“Ok. No getting side-tracked, let’s keep going until we no longer can.”

“All right! Let’s go, Hellcat.”

The tunnel took you down to another room that was more confined, with a much lower ceiling. The good news was there were several directions with additional tunnels in here. The bad news was they all seemed to be blocked by the same dense crystal formations. You and Nemona looked around for a while, frustrated to be met with more roadblocks so soon. There weren’t any wild pokemon lurking about, but you did eventually notice a small gap much higher up, towards the ceiling.

“Hey what about up there?” you asked. Nemona looked to the corner you were pointing towards.

“Oh, hey, nice eye! Maybe there’s a way through.”

It took some climbing to scramble up there, but it was only the work of a few minutes. Well, for you and Nemona, anyway. Hellcat bounded up there in just a few clean leaps, taking mere seconds. You were jealous.

“Man, you ever wish you were a pokemon?” you asked, watching Hellcat venturing ahead of you.

“Oh my god yes, like all the time!” Nemona answered immediately,

“Can you imagine battling as a pokemon?! That would be SO much fun.”

You chuckled. Of course that was the first thing she’d think of. The pair of you followed after Hellcat into the small gap, going deeper into the cave.

“What pokemon would you be if you could choose?” you asked her.

“I dunno, there’s too many to pick from! That’s like trying to decide my favorite type, I’ve never really been able to. Mmm, it’d be so cool to be a giant dragon with all that raw power, but what about something small and super agile that can shoot lightning? Or something that breathes fire? Or can punch a hole through a mountain! And that’s not even touching on all the cool abilities . . .”

“I think I’d wanna be something that can fly.”

“Flying, yeah!! Oh man, there’s just too many choices.”

The small tunnel you were following kept narrowing and snaking around.

“Well maybe they’ll make a machine one day that lets us be a pokemon for a while.”

“Haha, if they do, I’ll be the first in line, I can promise you that!”

The tunnel finally fed into a room: as you entered, you found it was a cramped space with a low ceiling coated in a ton of tera crystal. The crystals occurred in big lumpy sections, covering the floors, walls and ceiling in seemingly random places.

The most eye-catching thing about the room, however, was that the ground was absolutely covered in tera shards.

Normally, whenever a Terastallized pokemon battles and their tera form is broken, it sheds a bunch of tiny pieces in the process. Usually those pieces are tiny and brittle, though, and people call those tera fragments. Tera shards, however, were the much rarer, higher-quality pieces that sometimes were dropped by pokemon. These pieces were of such high quality that if you collected enough of them, a Pokemon’s Tera typing could be changed with their power. That made them incredibly valuable. Finding them was very uncommon, though– normally it takes a lot of battling, although if you were lucky you’d occasionally just find them laying around.

This was most assuredly not a normal number of tera shards to just happen across, though. There had to be hundreds of pieces packed into the small space you were now standing in. What’s more, they were shards of almost every type; dragon, fire, psychic, bug, rock, poison, ice . . . the floor covered in an assortment of colors, shimmering like stardust.

“Uhhmmm . . .” you said, staring in disbelief at the cache. Hellcat was sniffing around curiously at the ground. Nemona’s eyes were as wide as saucers.

“Is this for real? Juliana, there’s . . . this . . . there’s hundreds of them . . .”

You reached down and picked up a handful of the precious gems as easy as grabbing a handful of sand. Something suddenly sprung into your memory from your classes from months back, when you’d first arrived. “Remember the rumors that there was treasure hidden in Area Zero?”

Nemona laughed. She still sounded in shock.

“I never imagined they were true. We could change the Tera type of any of our pokemon with all this! Multiple times over!”

That sounded pretty good to you; there were a few ideas you wanted to experiment with in terms of the tera typings on your team. You pulled the bag off your back and zipped it open.

“Guess we better start collecting, then!”

You both started to stuff tera shards into your backpacks like hungry Sableye grabbing fistfuls of treasure. Before long your bags were laden heavy with them.

“I’m actually starting to feel kinda bad about this. I don’t think we should take them all . . .” Nemona said, looking down into her backpack. Your backpack was much larger than hers, but even yours would soon reach its limit.

“I don’t think we can take it all, anyway. But I don’t see a reason to feel bad, I mean, it’ll just sit down here in the dark if we don’t take them, right? Might as well put them to use.”

“I guess . . .”

You headed over to another part of the small room that had an especially large pile of Steel shards and began to shovel them into your bag.

“I can’t help wondering if there’s a reason they’re here, though. It’s almost like they were put here on purpose? There’s so many of them,” Nemona said, still sounding reluctant. You answered,

“Maybe. But if somebody put them down here, it was probably a really long time ago. Area Zero’s been off-limits to most people for ages now.”

You were digging deep into the pile of steel shards, and were uncovering what looked like some shimmery rainbow shards beneath it. Ooh, you’d never seen shards like that before? From behind you, Nemona said,

“Yeah . . . but it’s also possible whoever put these here weren’t human . . .”

When you tried to grab the rainbow tera shards, you realized the shape didn’t feel right– and then they moved in a sudden jerk, and there were a pair of eyes staring back at you. You yelped, falling backwards as a brilliant flash filled the room. Nemona commanded,

“Hellcat, in front, quick!”

The large tiger leapt in front of you, snarling as the bright rays of light struck it in the chest, the air sparkling with tera energy from the attack. Nemona was at your side a second later, helping to pull you to your feet.

“Jules, are you okay?!”

You nodded quickly, looking back at what attacked you.

“What was that?”

Beneath the pile of tera shards, the glittering figure of a Terastallized pokemon appeared, pieces of shards falling aside as it stood on all fours and shook itself off. Its body was small and slender and very catlike: it seemed to be short-haired, but it had jagged, star-shaped tufts of fur on the tips of its large ears, by each of its paws, the tip of its tail, on its cheeks and at a small ruff of fur around its neck. Its almond-shaped eyes were bright like polished opal, and it had a small spiral horn at the center of its forehead. It was crowned with the same Tera Jewel as the Roaring Moon had been, decorated in a rainbow of colors.

Hellcat looked eager to attack, growling at the pokemon and bearing its long fangs, but Nemona held up a hand, saying,

“Just a second, Hellcat, let’s take a look at it first. Whoa . . .”

The wild pokemon blinked its eyes, a soft, ethereal light glowing gently around it. You didn’t recognize the move, but at least it seemed to be fairly passive.

“Nemona, am I crazy or does this pokemon look like–”

“--an Eeveelution?” “Y-yeah!”

“Yeah, no, you’re not crazy, it looks exactly like one.”

“Oh my god.”

She nodded, grinning.

“My thoughts exactly. Okay, Hellcat–”

You touched her wrist, saying,

“Wait!”

“Hm? What?”

You looked back at the pokemon, which was simply standing there, its piercing gaze watching the three of you closely as its tail swished back and forth.

“It seems pretty peaceful. I think I just startled it, when I thought its ear was a tera shard and I tried to grab it.”

Nemona turned to you and answered,

“Well yeah but you still wanna catch it, don’t you??”

You nodded,

“Yeah, of course, I just. I dunno, for some reason I feel kinda bad. We came into its home and robbed it, woke it up and now we’re gonna battle it?”

Nemona blinked at you for a few moments and you felt silly for even saying it until she answered,

“Well when you put it like that, I feel a little bad too . . .”

You looked at your backpack, slumped on the ground and spilling out treasure.

“I guess we could try to leave it be . . . give it back its tera shards?”

The thought clearly seemed to pain Nemona– mostly the idea of not catching the new pokemon, you imagined– but after a few moments she smiled a little and nodded.

“Okay.”

She turned and called out to the pokemon.

“Sorry for disturbing you. We, um, we didn’t know this was your home. We’ll go if you want us to . . .”

The pokemon stared at her, motionless. You went to cautiously pick up your bag, backing away.

“Yeah, and we’ll give you the shards back if you–”

The pokemon jerked, turning to you and giving a cry. It sounded very high-pitched and rhythmic, like glass wind-chimes, but it didn’t sound happy. You looked down at the bag in your hands and stammered,

“N-no, wait, I’m going to give them back, I was just–”

“Jules, look out!”

Colored little balls of light began to fill the air above the wild pokemon. They looked quite beautiful, actually, but you knew better than to be fooled. You scrambled to get out of the way as fast as possible. Nemona yelled,

“Hellcat, quick, Dire Claw!”

Hellcat sprung forward, raking its claws across the mysterious Eeveelution. The colored balls of light started to rain down on Hellcat in quick streaks, like shooting stars, each strike sparkling with tera energy as it landed. The accumulated damage was incredible, the tiger swaying weakly on its paws by the end of the onslaught.

“Holy crap. This thing’s no joke!” Nemona said, eyes wide.

The Eeveelution cried out again, a vengeful little melody. It looked at you and Nemona, its eyes shining like diamonds, power gathering around its body from all around in a big, glittering swirl.

It looked like it was preparing to Tera Blast.

“Oh my god. Hellcat, I need you to Thorn Fang! Now!”

Hellcat was weary but still obeyed immediately, leaping forward and biting down. The wild pokemon screamed and staggered back and there was a loud crash, fragments of tera crystal exploding in the little room as its Terastallization was broken. It seemed the wild pokemon had been stunned, interrupting its attack. You breathed,

“Geez, that was close.”

“Great job, Hellcat!” Nemona quickly turned to you, asking,

“You still want to leave it be, or should we go ahead and catch it?”

You looked back to the pokemon briefly. It looked very weak and vulnerable, and you could see poison seeping out from the wounds marring its shimmering rainbow fur. It was clear that at this point, it was much better to take it with you than to leave.

“Catch it,” you answered. You didn’t need to tell Nemona twice; she whipped out her pokeballs and immediately started throwing. After around six attempts, the ball clicked shut, and the little room you were in fell eerily silent.

You both stared for a few beats. Then Nemona went and retrieved the ball before turning to you. She held a hand over her mouth and made a muffled, excited little squeal.

“Did that really just happen? This is getting so unreal, I swear.”

“Penny’s gonna be so jealous.”

“I know! Man, I’m glad we interrupted that Tera Blast though, that probably would have been very bad in this confined space.”

You choked on a laugh.

“Yeah, we might not have been around to enjoy this.”

Nemona carried on blithely,

“And that move it used, with the colorful lights! I had no idea what it was, but wow it packed a punch. Whatever pokemon this is, it’s tough.”

You looked down at the pokeball in her hands.

“What do you think it is? An ancient version of Espeon, maybe? Or maybe Sylveon . . .”

Nemona shook her head.

“I really don’t know, it’s hard to say since it was Terastallized into that mysterious type! And it’s not like the moves it used can help us to figure it out. I saw it use Swift, Cosmic Power, and that unknown move of course. And then Tera Blast! Which . . . honestly, I thought no wild pokemon could know. I thought Sada developed the move herself.”

You gave a thoughtful hum.

“That’s a good point . . . that is weird. But I guess maybe tera energy came from a long time ago, and so these ancient pokemon know how to wield its power? She might have developed the move from them.”

“True, that would make sense! Although it doesn’t help us narrow down what this Eeveelution is.”

“Mmm, yeah. Well, I guess it doesn’t have to be an ancient version of something we already know. It could be a brand-new evolution, too. Like a Rock-type Eeveelution, maybe!”

Nemona’s eyes widened as idea struck her and she said,

“Or, or! What if it’s an evolution of whatever this new mysterious type is?? So its actual type matches its tera typing. This new tera type is all rainbow colored and stuff, right? That matches this pokemon pretty well . . .”

Your eyes widened too.

“Oh my god, yeah, that might actually be it, Nemona!”

“Heheh, right? Wouldn’t that be cool?”

You gestured at the space around you, saying,

“Well let it back out, maybe we can figure out more–”

She held up a hand, interrupting.

“Ah-ah, Juliana! Remember what we said earlier?”

You blinked, thrown off for a moment before recalling.

“. . . oh, yeah. Um, no more getting side-tracked?”

“Yeah, c’mon Jules, you know you’re like 85% of my impulse control, you can’t tempt me like that–”

You laughed,

“Okay, okay. You’re right, we shouldn’t get distracted now or we’ll never get any further.”

Nemona nodded.

“Right, and things just keep getting cooler and cooler. I wanna see how deep this rabbit hole goes.”

You grinned.

“Let’s back out of this part of the cave, then. If our theories are right about those weird crystal roadblocks, maybe a new way’s opened up out there.”

“Okay! Hellcat–”

She turned and saw Hellcat was laying on the floor, looking completely exhausted. The tiger gave a pitiful little chirp when Nemona said its name. Nemona’s eyes widened and she held a hand to her mouth.

“Ohmygosh, I’m so sorry Hellcat! I completely forgot– ugh, here, let’s get you fixed up!”

She pulled a potion from her bag and went to tend to the tiger’s wounds. Hellcat clearly wasn’t a fan of being potioned since it apparently stung.

“Come on, now, I know it’s smarts, but if you hold still it won’t take me very long . . .”

She sprayed again and the tiger snarled, bearing its huge fangs at her in a threat.

“Don’t you take that tone with me, buster! Sit down. Now.”

Hellcat backed away and sat, making a miserable grumble. She continued to gently spritz potion on the pokemon.

“Easy now, okay. We’re almost done, I promise.”

When Nemona finished, she gave Hellcat plenty of berries and praised it.

“There you go, that’s such a good kitty! These are your favorite kind, right? You like the bitter ones. You did such a good job, thank you for all your help.”

After the treats and the praise– and the potion working its magic– Hellcat seemed much happier, perking right up.

“Oh here, let’s get you a couple Leppa berries too, okay? Guess if we keep coming down here to battle and we’re keeping you a secret, we’ll be needing a lot more Leppa berries, hah. Here you go.”

Hellcat snapped the berries out of midair when Nemona tossed them.

“Sorry again for forgetting you for a minute there. I, um, I kinda get distracted sometimes.”

You spoke up,

“To be fair, so did I. I think most people would be, this is some pretty exciting stuff.”

She glanced to you.

“Mmm, still. . .”

Hellcat bumped its head against Nemona’s leg and rubbed against it, making a small rumble, before walking off and wandering back out into the connecting tunnel. Nemona stared wide-eyed after the tiger.

“Did they just . . .”

You giggled.

“I think they forgive you.”

Nemona bounded up to you and cheered,

“They like me!! They actually like me!!”

“Of course they like you, you’re amazing.”

She laughed, looking a bit shy at how readily you praised her. She glanced away and said,

“Um, let’s finish getting these tera shards, we might as well since we have the pokemon now!”

So the two of you finished filling your bags with tera shards, to the point where you had plenty but weren’t weighed down an excessive amount. Then you headed out of the secret little treasure cache room. Once you’d climbed back down to the main portion of cave where Hellcat awaited, you found that one of the paths was indeed now unblocked.

“We were right! Yessss, let’s go!”

Nemona grabbed your hand and rushed ahead with you. You laughed, Hellcat chasing after you both. When you entered the new tunnel, you found it sloped gently downwards as you traveled. There was the sound of rushing water from somewhere, and the air felt noticeably damper.

Your voice echoing in the damp, cold space, you said,

“Oh, hey, I can hear water?”

You both slowed your steps so you wouldn’t trip on the slightly wet ground.

“Yeah, it’s been a long time since we have. Guess all that water’s gotta go somewhere though, right?”

You nodded. After walking for a while, you commented,

“We really just keep going deeper, don’t we? All these tunnels have been going steadily downward.”

“Mmhmm. They keep getting more and more crystally, too, I noticed.”

You glanced around, noting just how much of the walls and ceiling were coated in tera crystal now.

“Yeah, you’re right. Plus, I dunno if this is just my imagination, but I feel like even the air is . . . more shimmery down here?”

It was the same sort of gleam that the air on the surface of Area Zero had, but it seemed thicker here, like a dense cloud of dust motes suspended in a sunbeam. Nemona agreed,

“Yeah . . . I wonder where all this stuff comes from, anyway.”

You both fell quiet for a bit, pondering the mysterious origins of the tera crystals and energy. But before your idle thoughts could formulate into anything particularly solid, the tunnel had led you to a space that opened up again to a huge ceiling and a large drop. The path led into a continuous curve heading downwards, like a massive spiral staircase. From somewhere above you, water leaked out from the ceiling, forming a waterfall that dropped down the center of the room.

“Whoa,” you said, peeking over the edge of the path. You could see the waterfall crashing into a pool of water far below. The glow of all the tera crystals reflected in the water, bouncing and shimmering, casting all kinds of mesmerizing little rainbow flecks on the cave walls.

“Forget the Ten Sights of Paldea, they don’t even come close to this,” Nemona mused.

You both began to descend the spiral path, but the floor was uneven and slippery from the damp air and so you had to be very careful. There was a portion where the stone had fallen away entirely, but a big chunk of tera crystal had fallen across the gap, acting as a precarious bridge. This was by far the most unnerving section, especially since it was too narrow to comfortably walk side-by-side holding hands. There was a pool of water below you, of course, but you couldn’t actually tell how deep it was, so there was no way knowing if it was safe to fall into. Hellcat took the bridge first, and then Nemona, and finally you, each step careful and measured on the slippery crystal. After that point, the path was comparatively easy, and you worked your way down until finally reaching the bottom.

From down here, you could see the waterfall was crashing into an elevated portion of ground, and the water was relatively shallow and rocky. In fact, you could walk along some parts of the ground until you were practically right beneath the waterfall. The elevated ground continued on for some ways like this, but you could see the water was running off into a deeper pool a bit further ahead. You both worked your way over to stand as close to the waterfall as possible, looking upwards into the room you just descended from.

“Too bad we can’t dive from the top up there,” Nemona joked. You snorted.

“I’m okay with not jumping that.”

Nemona reached her hand out and through the waterfall.

“This is incredible, though, Jules, it’s like some kind of fairy tale down here or something.”

“I know. I wonder if Sada’s ever been down this far. Or anyone, for that matter.”

Hellcat was not as impressed with the splendor laid out before you. The tiger was sitting on the highest portion of the damp rocks, looking displeased with all of the water and licking its paw. It made a little ‘hrrumph’ sound.

Nemona shook her head.

“You’re gonna have to face your fears sooner or later, Hellcat.”

The tiger glanced at her briefly, then returned to licking its paw, ignoring her. Nemona shrugged.

“Have it your way. You can hang out here while Jules and I check ahead.”

The pair of you walked as far as you could on the raised ground, sometimes hopping over rocks as stepping stones where the water was deeper, until you came across another tunnel. It led into a portion of cave with a very low ceiling and tera crystal formations that were growing wildly out of control, incredibly thick layers built up on the walls and ceiling– way more than you’d seen anywhere else. At its center seemed to be another tunnel entrance, but it was blocked by another one of the crystal roadblocks.

“Wow. The crystals are getting a little intense here, aren’t they?” Nemona said, touching the walls covered in the dense layers of pearlescent sheen.

“I’ll say. I wish it wasn’t blocked off, though. I feel like it must look really cool in there.”

“Well, maybe we can find another one of those weird Terastallized pokemon! I bet there’s one around here somewhere.”

You chuckled,

“Your hunches have all turned out correct so far, so I have no reason to doubt it. Let’s keep looking.”

Nemona seemed to love the prospect of finding yet another new pokemon.

“All right, sounds like a plan! Ooh, plus we can learn more about this mysterious new type at the same time. Hm, we need to give it a name, we can’t just keep calling it ‘the weird type,’ huh?”

You suggested,

“Maybe ‘Rainbow Type?’”

She beamed,

“Oh yeah, I love that! Or maybe ‘Light’? Since rainbows are made of light. I mean, we have Dark types, it would be so cool if there were Light types too, maybe Light would be supereffective on Dark? Oh, but that reminds me–”

She stopped walking and turned to you, excited by her new train of thought.

“The Terastallized pokemon have been confusing me. That Roaring Moon used a move that used tera energy– you can always tell when a move does ‘cause you can see the air swirling with the tera energy, you know?– I wasn’t sure what move it was though, so I thought it must be this new type, Light or Rainbow or whatever, right?”

You nodded. Nemona continued,

“But I swear when it used the move a second time, it wasn’t powered up anymore. And then that Eeveelution used Swift and it looked like the move used tera energy, too, which is like, what the heck?! Then it used that mysterious move of course, which also used tera energy. So now I don’t get it! Does it get something similar to Pixilate? Or maybe I was just seeing things, I dunno. Did it look to you like that Swift was powered up with tera energy?”

You scratched your neck and answered sheepishly.

“Well, uhm, I was kinda busy panicking at the time, so I’m not sure . . .”

“Oh, right. Pshh, sorry, of course you wouldn’t have noticed. Well it’s fine, I’m sure we’ll find out more soon. Honestly I’m so excited to face an unknown type, part of me doesn’t wanna figure it out too fast.” She laughed and added, “Is that weird?”

You thought about it and shook your head.

“Not at all. When I was exploring Paldea, every time I came across a new pokemon I loved trying to figure out what it was all about.”

You’d been ambling along the tunnel at a leisurely pace while chatting, not really in any hurry. Nemona clasped your shoulder and grinned, saying,

“Exactly, it’s like that! You don’t really want it to end, do you? I was thinking, before we battle later with our new pokemon, we should make sure to train far away from each other. That way we’ll know as little as possible about each other’s teams and there’s more surprises.”

“Sure. I like surprises.”

Her shoes splashing through the shallow water, Nemona enthused at you,

“Yeah, me too! I can’t wait to–”

A sudden, sharp cry caused the both of you to stop in your tracks and look up. Just ahead of you was a Terastallized pokemon, its colors and jewel immediately demarking it as the new Rainbow type. It stood on two legs and appeared to be some sort of raptorial dinosaur, although its slender body was covered in feathers, which included a feathery crest on its head, furls of feathers on its arms, and a long train of feathers on its tail. The pokemon stood quite tall, looking down at you and Nemona over a narrow snout with its pinched eyes and an expression that left you feeling as though it was regarding you with disdain.

You and Nemona exchanged a brief look.

“Speaking of surprises,” you said quietly. Nemona turned back to the pokemon and gushed,

“This is so cool, we’ve had the best luck with finding awesome stuff down here!”

The pokemon lowered its head a little, lips curling back to reveal sharp, needle-like teeth. A cry vibrated in its throat, rhythmic and strange-sounding, almost like a sound an exotic bird might make. Nemona was standing a little closer to the pokemon than you were, and you didn’t like the way it was looking at her at all. You muttered,

“Nemona, careful.”

“Of course. Hmm, what should I use . . . oh, I know–”

She reached to her belt to select a pokeball, but the raptor’s eyes followed the sudden movement and it reacted instantly by unfurling its massive tail.

The sight was breathtaking, dozens and dozens of long, elegant feathers creating a collective shape like a huge blooming flower or a setting sun, each feather tipped in round spots that shimmered with a brilliant, ever-shifting light; the effect was only heightened by its rainbow Terastallization. The pokemon’s tail shivered, causing the feathers to sway and bob in a very hypnotic way. In fact, the more you stared, the stranger you felt; your head grew heavy and you started to feel a sense of vertigo creeping in.

Uh-oh.

“Nemona!”

Nemona was staring at the pokemon’s tail as well, transfixed, her hand still frozen in place from when she’d been reaching for her pokeballs.

“Nemona, don’t look at it, I think it’s–”

“–too late, I, nghhh– I can’t– move,” she said through grit teeth, her body quivering with the effort, her fingers unable to even curl around her pokeball. You also tried to move and gasped, your limbs suddenly feeling as though they were as heavy as lead.

“No, no! Fight it, Nemona, one of us has to send a pokemon out!”

She grunted,

“I’m trying!”

You were trying too, but the mere act of lifting your arm was overwhelmingly difficult. You could flex your fingers but that just wasn’t enough, because you had your pokeballs all in your pockets. You slid your hands up a few inches and couldn’t get any further– it was like your body just refused to listen. It was terrifying, and you wondered if this was how pokemon felt whenever they got paralyzed.

The raptor pokemon took a few slow steps forward, its tail swaying as it moved, its eyes locked on Nemona. Power began to gather around the pokemon’s body, its tail glowing with a warm pink light. From the color you guessed it was charging a Psychic move.

“Stay away from her!” you screamed, your voice high-pitched in your panic. The pokemon didn’t listen, its tail glowing brighter and brighter, its power rapidly reaching its peak. Nemona was staring at the oncoming move with the expression of someone who realized they’d really screwed up.

You battled hopelessly against your numbed body, your head spinning as you cried,

“Nemona!”

Just as the air began to ripple with the strange energy of a psychic move, there was a shrill, furious scream and the advancing pokemon crumpled under the weight of the tiger from hell leaping onto its back. The pair crashed to the ground, Hellcat clinging to the raptor with its claws and trying to bite it, but ended up getting a mouthful of tail feathers instead. The two grappled desperately for a few moments and somehow the lithe dinosaur was able to slip away from Hellcat’s grasp, although bunches of feathers were left behind in the tiger’s claws. The raptor righted itself and turned to face its foe, flashing its mesmerizing tail feathers in Hellcat’s face.

Nemona shouted,

“Hellcat, be careful, don’t look!”

Hellcat was crouched, ready to leap and pounce, but its pupils widened and it snarled, struggling to move.

“Damnit,” Nemona cursed quietly. The raptor opened its slender mouth and let loose an enormous blast of water right into Hellcat, the force of the hit pushing the tiger back and crashing it into the wall. The air whirled with mist and glittering tera energy in the wake of the move. Nemona yelled,

“Hellcat! What the heck, now Hydro Pump gets powered up too?! This makes no sense!”

In your efforts to better see the pair of battling pokemon, you realized you were starting to get movement back in your limbs– they prickled with a painful pins-and-needles sensation but you could actually drag them along slowly.

“Nemo, I think I can move again, sort of!”

Nemona answered quickly.

“Perfect! See if you can get into my bag, the side-pouch on the left side.”

You were confused why that was a priority but you trusted her, so you inched along the ground until you reached Nemona’s back.

“Left side?”

“Yeah, there should be a yellow bottle!”

You lifted your arms slowly. A bit further ahead in the tunnel, you could see the raptor was skulking its way back up to Hellcat. Hellcat hissed. You grasped the zip of Nemona’s pack and dragged it open, fumbling about for a bit before pulling the bottle from her bag.

“That’s it, that’s it! It’s a Paralyze Heal, squirt it on yourself! Then you’ll be able to use some on me.”

“Right, okay!”

You pointed the nozzle at yourself and struggled with squeezing the handle, which they made way more difficult to use than they needed to. You could hear another blast of highly pressurized water and glanced up, seeing Hellcat snarling in pain.

“Hurry, Jules!” Finally, the dumb bottle released its contents, dribbling the medicine on your hands, which immediately made it easier to use. You were able to douse yourself quickly after that, and it felt like magic, the numbness and pins-and-needles melting away, your muscles loosening up again.

“I got it, I’ll do you now!”

You came around and used the rest of the bottle to spray Nemona all over.

“Great, perfect! More on my legs, they’re still rubbery!” You heard a vicious cry and briefly turned to see Hellcat lashing out, raking the raptor across the face with its toxic claws– then you turned back to finish dousing Nemona with the potion.

“Okay, great job Jules! Let’s go help Hellcat!”

You both approached the pair of pokemon further down the tunnel. The raptor had recovered from Hellcat’s attack and was glowing hot-pink again, preparing another move. Nemona fished around in her bag and pulled out another Paralyze Heal.

“Crap, we’re kind of on the wrong side of the battlefield here,” she realized. The raptor’s back was turned to you both, Hellcat on the other side.

You reached for your pokeballs.

“We can double team this jerk,” you suggested. The raptor finally released a ball of energy, but instead of hitting Hellcat, the energy drifted upwards into the air before simply vanishing away. It was very odd, but you didn’t have time to ponder it, because the next thing you knew, Hellcat sprang forward, sinking its fangs into the dinosaur’s neck.

The Terastallization shattered, coating the ground in little rainbow fragments. The wild pokemon staggered backwards, groaning.

“Or, um, nevermind, looks like Hellcat has it covered,” you laughed.

“Great work, Hellcat! We’ll take it from here,” Nemona shouted, chucking a pokeball at the raptor. The ball missed, bouncing off a rock instead. Nemona’s eyes widened and she looked embarrassed.

“Uh, hm, whoops– I haven’t bungled a throw like that for a while . . .”

You looked at how she was holding her braced arm and said,

“I don’t think I potioned you enough, it might be the lingering effects of paralysis. Don’t worry, I’ll get this one.”

She nodded,

“Right, thanks Jules!”

A few Dusk Balls later, and the raptor was safely contained in your pocket. Nemona quickly went to Hellcat once the coast was clear. The tiger was limping from the paralysis and drenched from the Hydro Pumps, looking quite pathetic, but it still allowed Nemona to crouch down and douse it with a Paralyze Heal.

“There you go, this should help. You did so good, Hellcat! You really saved my skin, thank you so much!”

When she’d finished with the potion, Hellcat could move freely again. It shook water from its body vigorously, then butted its head affectionately against Nemona’s. The tiger wasn’t quite aware of its own strength and had bonked Nemona hard enough for her to land on her butt with an “oof,” but she didn’t seem to mind in the least; in fact, she seemed over the moon.

“You’re such a good kitty, you faced all that water and battled through the paralysis just for us,” she said, petting the oversized cat behind the ears. You could hear a deep rumble and at first you worried Hellcat was growling, but then you realized it was purring.

“Jules, do you hear that?” Nemona whispered, eyes wide with wonder and joy. You nodded.

“I guess it took almost dying for them to realize they like you,” you teased.

“Oh pssh, we didn’t almost die, it was just–”

She paused when there was a strange crackling noise. You both looked up to see a sphere of pink energy materializing out of nowhere in the air above your heads. Nemona’s eyes widened.

“Crap– Hellcat, MOVE!”

You didn’t know what was going on, but Nemona was sitting on the ground and there was clearly very little time, so you lurched forward and helped yank her to her feet and scramble out of the path of the oncoming orb of energy. Hellcat leapt aside as well, and the orb smashed into the ground, a wave of pink tera energy swirling and sizzling before dissipating, leaving behind a sizable impact crater.

You just stared at the crater for a few seconds, blinking. Nemona let out a sigh. At your confused look, she said,

“Future Sight. Forgot about that, haha . . .”

“Oh,” you said, once it had sunk in,

“Isn’t that a base 120 power move?”

Nemona nodded. You added,

“And uhm, it seemed powered up with tera energy . . .”

She laughed weakly.

“Apparently.”

You looked at Nemona again, your expression one of great dismay.

“Nemona, I think that maybe counts as almost dying!”

“Well it does now. Maybe she should, um, take a quick breather.”

You nodded.

“Yeah, good idea.”

The pair of you walked back to the chamber with the really intense crystal growth to check and see if the way was now clear for travel. However, oddly enough, the crystal roadblock had not budged. It didn’t make much sense, since you’d captured the Rainbow Tera pokemon in the area. You both took the opportunity to rest for a bit, though, sitting on a crystal and snacking on trail mix. You helped apply more Paralyze Heal to Nemona and Hellcat groomed itself so that its fur was all fixed up from its last encounter.

After your rest, you walked back to the section of cave with the big waterfall, searching for any more pokemon along the way. There were a few Carbink and Glimmora drifting around, but no other Rainbow Teras in sight.

“I’m not sure where else to look. It’s so weird that the one we captured didn’t do it,” you mused, sitting by the waterfall and watching the Carbink floating around. Nemona peered further into the cave and suggested,

“Well, how about we explore this river? It looks like it goes for quite a ways back there, we might find something.”

You stood and came beside her, looking into the water.

“Worth a try. Looks like it goes pretty deep, I’ll get us some help.”

You pulled a pokeball from your pocket, sending Koraidon out. The big lizard looked excited to be let loose again, trilling happily and stomping through puddles, sniffing around.

“Okay, Scarlet, you ready to go for a swim?”

He immediately turned and ran up to you, eager. You patted him and then hopped aboard, followed by Nemona, who settled onto Koraidon’s flat back right behind you.

“I doubt Hellcat’s as excited for a swim as Scarlet is, so I think it’s time they rested in their ball for a bit,” Nemona said, pulling out a pokeball and recalling the tiger.

“Probably a good idea. You all set, then?” you asked.

“Yup!”

“Okay then, let’s go, Scarlet!”

Koraidon waded out into the still waters. The water got deeper very quickly, so the pokemon switched to a dog paddle. It was impossible to tell exactly how far the underground river continued on; when you gazed ahead through the narrow channel, the view was eventually obscured in the dimness of the cavern. You felt a little thrill over venturing into the unknown, despite the fact you’d been doing it for a while now; maybe it was the sort of thing that just never got old. As Scarlet carried you both onward through the waterlogged tunnel, the ceiling grew lower and lower, until it was barely higher than your heads. The number of crystals in the cave walls and ceiling also decreased, so there were far fewer gems to throw out their light– as a result, it became much darker. Most of the light came from the tera crystals growing under water, casting a soft, ethereal glow to the cave around you that was more diffused and mysterious than the usual glow from the rest of the cave. You told Koraidon to slow down, moving through the narrow, dark tunnel at a leisurely pace. For a while, there was only the sound of water dripping from the ceiling and the gentle, soothing paddle of Koraidon’s feet through the water.

“It’s so pretty here,” you said softly, gazing around at how the water cast rippling shades of green and blue onto the walls. It reminded you a little of photographs you’d seen of the aurora borealis. Nemona agreed,

“I know. It feels so magical and secluded through this part, doesn’t it?”

“Mm-hmm, exactly.”

You breathed the damp air deeply, just enjoying how peaceful it felt to drift through the tunnel. The slowly shifting colors of the water were almost hypnotic to watch. You relaxed in your seat, letting yourself lean back a little against Nemona. She didn’t seem to mind at all, wrapping her arms around you in response, in a way she sometimes did when you were both racing on Koriadon’s back together. You secretly reveled in the feeling whenever she did it, probably far more than she realized.

Nemona giggled,

“I just thought of what this reminds me of, it’s kinda like one of those Tunnel of Love rides, right? Like the ones at the fairs.”

You froze perfectly still, the heat rising to your cheeks. Why’d she say that at this exact moment?

“U-uh . . . y-yeah,” you said, trying to fake a laugh, but it came out sounding more like a squawk. Nemona seemed to sense your unease.

“Oh, sorry if that was weird, it just popped into my head . . .”

You forced your voice to sound more normal and quickly answered,

“N-no, it’s not weird, I-I mean you’re right, they are kinda similar!”

It came out a little more forcefully than normal. Damnit, over-compensated. Lucky for you, Nemona didn’t pick up on it. Instead she just said,

“Yeah! Although I’d say this place is way prettier. Feels more special, too.”

You cleared your throat and agreed,

“Definitely.”

Koraidon slowly followed the bend in the tunnel, curving around a large crystal growing out of the water that had managed to reach the surface and grow beyond it. There was something brighter you could see up ahead, and you both subconsciously leaned forward, curious. Koraidon carried you until the narrow tunnel fed you into a room that opened up wide, your view suddenly expanding to a dazzling underground lake filled with long, sloping tera crystals framing the cave walls. At the center of the lake was a small island, dominated by a single, lonely oak tree.

The tree was completely encased in tera crystal, everything from its trunk to its branches to every one of its leaves– all of it translucent-blue, a rainbow of colors reflecting along all of its smooth surfaces. It looked frozen in time, a silent witness to bygone eras.

“Oh my gosh,” Nemona murmured from behind you. Koraidon paddled slowly out to the center of the lake, affording you a great view of the entire area. It was almost impossible to tell which crystals were growing beneath the perfectly clear, still waters and which were reflected from the ones growing on the ceiling above. It was an incredible feeling, just being in this place and taking it all in, perhaps the first living creatures to be here in eons. Your skin prickled in goosebumps at the thought.

You felt Nemona’s arms squeeze gently around you, and her voice came in a gentle hush in your ears.

“I’m so glad we slowed down to enjoy this, tesoro.”

Your goosebumps spread further, but now for different reasons.

“Me too,” you answered her softly. Nemona’s chin came to rest against the top of your head, her body pressed entirely against your back, and as you floated together in that sparkling cavern, you thought perhaps this was the best moment you’ve had in life for a while now.

Neither of you saw the triangular dorsal fin sticking up out of the surface of the water, silently slicing through the smooth, still waters. Even Koraidon didn’t notice, not until it was too late.When the calm waters were torn asunder with an ear-splitting roar, you and Nemona tossed violently from Koraidon’s back, the only thing you could think was Are you kidding me, NOT AGAIN–!

#pokemon #pokemon s/v #pokemon scarlet/violet #2nd person Juliana POV #julinemo #terajules #juliana x nemona #nemona x juliana #julinemo fanfic #fakemon

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finn-m-corvex · 7 months

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Whumptober 2023 Day 15 - Makeshift Bandages

FINAL ONE OF THE BATCH! Congrats folks, if you've read every single one of these you have officially read 30k words worth of my work in a matter of hours. If you want to be included in the taglist for the next batch please let me know so I can put you on the list!

@splinnters final tag until the next batch because I already know you're going to want to be there!

Words: 2.1k

Jay felt it as soon as he tried to move his leg.

It took everything in him to not scream as the wooden plank shifted, and he grit his teeth when he pushed himself up on his elbows. There was unfamiliar sand piled under him; it must’ve been what cushioned their fall from the sky.

Where were they, exactly?

He spit out a mouthful of sand, finally turning back to see what was wrong with his leg.

And had to quickly look away because the sight almost made him sick.

“Gotta fix it, Jay,” he said to himself, steeling his nerves and looking again. He saw the plank that was pinning the limb in place, noticing that it was one of the destroyed Bounty’s floorboards. With shaking hands, he reached out to grab the end of it, his back twinging in protest and the cuts on his arms stinging. It took a firm yank to dislodge it, and this time he couldn’t contain a small scream as the wood left large splinters behind, buried in his skin.

Definitely wasn’t the worst injury his leg had ever suffered, but damn it was up there.

With another pull, his leg was technically free, and Jay took a proper look at it. It was scraped to high heaven, leaking fresh blood onto the sand and staining it a dark brown. There were large patches of skin missing, and Jay could feel every grain of sand settle itself into the injury, almost like they were burrowing into his muscles. He felt nauseous watching the exposed muscles flex when he tried to move it, and suddenly his vision was tunneling and his air supply was running out as his chest turned inside out.

Oh, he could not afford to start panicking right now.

“Guys!” he shouted, leaning against one of the ship walls that he happened to land near. He hated the way his voice cracked, but there was nothing he could do. “Guys! Anybody?!”

Now that he was paying attention he could feel all of the scrapes along his chest, his back ripped open like he was dragged along a cheese grater. Somehow his gi was almost completely intact despite the damage to his body, and Jay would be lying if he said he wasn’t at least a little bitter about the fact that his clothing seemed to be more durable than him.

“Jay?” he heard Kai yell, but as soon as he tried to answer back his leg twitched hard; it felt like someone had lit it on fire. Instead of calling out Jay screamed, hand going to clutch at his leg in desperation for the pain to stop.

That was a bad idea. Jay’s head was swimming, and he swayed dangerously from the bolt of pain shooting up from his calf where his hand had landed. The feeling of blood coating his hand was far too familiar in the worst of ways, and Jay hurried to pull it back and scrub it on his gi.

Except it wasn’t coming off.

Why wasn’t it coming off?!

“Cole, Zane, I found him!” Kai shouted, rocketing around the corner of the wall. He slipped on the sand, stumbling, catching himself and paling as he took in Jay’s condition. “Shit, holy shit. Get some bandages! We got a man down!”

He would’ve laughed if he had the oxygen. Why were Kai’s zingers always so terrible?

Kneeling down next to the blue ninja, Kai looked him over, and Jay could feel his warm hands ghosting up and down his back as he tried to guage how injured Jay was. “Jay, Jay can you talk to me? Say something, please, I gotta know if you hit your head or not.”

Jay clumsily nodded his head, shutting his eyes and trying to control his dizziness. Panic threatened to overtake him, but he kept running. The world needed to stop spinning before he did anything else. “You got water?”

Looking relieved, Kai pushed some of his curls out of his face. “Yeah, yeah I think we found some. It’s on the way.”

“I know I hit my head,” Jay said, reaching up with a shaky hand to massage his sore jaw. It clicked softly, but the pressure rocked Jay’s vision like it was on a ratchet joint. “But I dunno how hard.”

“I’ll check for a bump,” and Kai did just that, running a single hand over Jay’s scalp. He didn’t find anything, but he was startled when Jay threw his own hand away from his face. Jay’s face lost its color, breathing turning stuttery as the blood ran down his cheek where his hand had been pressed against his skin.

There was blood on his face.

His blood on his face.

“Kai,” Jay said breathlessly, groping around and latching into the fire ninja’s knee, “Kai-”

But Kai already knew what he was going to say. He took a corner of his red gi and wiped Jay’s face as gently as he could, making soft shushing noises as Jay whimpered. “I got it, Jay, don’t worry.”

Zane finally showed his face around the corner, and the nindroid’s look of alarm only made Jay even dizzier. “What happened?” he demanded, sinking down in the sand next to Kai. He started analyzing the debris stacked around the three of them, and Jay cried out when Zane tried to move one of the large pieces of metal his leg happened to be leaning on.

The cry attracted Cole, who was hauling a large and mostly intact crate filled with various bits and bobs that Jay could not be bothered to identify right now. “Jay!” his best friend cried, dropping the crate and rushing to Kai’s side. Jay should’ve been relieved to see all of his brothers alive and well, but there was only the impending feeling of vomit coming up his throat as he watched his leg glisten with fresh blood. Anxiety tended to have that effect when left unattended.

“Move,” he gasped, shoving Kai to the side, “move-”

And not even a second later and he was emptying his guts into the sand, watching it turn from a fine gold to a disgusting mustard. Kai thumped his back, and Jay could hear garbled words from Zane even if he didn’t know what the nindroid was saying. Too much effort.

“-find bandages. We cannot leave his leg like this,” Zane said firmly.

“Yeah, no shit Sherlock,” Jay spat out another glob of gross body stuff, Kai being the only thing holding him up after the red ninja had moved to sit behind his back. “Hurts like a bitch, though.”

“I bet,” Cole said sympathetically, face pallid from looking at Jay’s injury for too long. “At least you still have it.”

“Did you want me to lose it?!”

“No! I’m just saying it could be worse!”

“If his leg becomes infected,” Zane popped in, “and gets any worse, then we may have to consider amputation. Jay could still very well lose his leg.”

“What I’m going to lose is my fucking lunch if you keep talking about cutting my leg off,” because for as brave of a face as Jay was putting on, the idea of amputation terrified him. He was sure that they would build him a prosthetic, but would he still be able to be a ninja? Could he still save people? Would he even be able to work properly? Amputation and anxiety were not a good mix, what a no-brainer.

Kai snorted. “I think you already lost it, bro.”

“Amputation is the last possible option,” Zane assured, patting Jay’s uninjured knee and squeezing lightly. “Cole, did we find anything that can work as a bandage?”

The earth ninja started rummaging through the crate, looking for any sort of anything that they could patch Jay up with, but Jay was suddenly tilting to the side as his vision went topsy-turvy, and Kai was the only thing keeping him from dropping like a stone into the vomit-soaked sand.

Blood loss, his brain supplied helpfully, and Jay groaned from the dizziness that overwhelmed him. Everything was moving in circles, and he barely recognized Kai snapping his fingers right in front of his face. He was trying to get Jay’s attention.

“Shit,” Kai muttered from behind him after seeing how unresponsive the blue ninja was, and he thought quickly. “Zane, give me your sleeve.”

“What?”

“Just trust me,” Kai reached for his own gi sleeve, tearing it off at the seams. He quickly ripped the sleeve open so that it was completely flat, and while normally Kai would’ve done anything to keep his gi intact this situation was an emergency. Zane mirrored his actions on his own sleeve and handed it to Kai, who quickly tied them together. Jay’s head thunked against his chest, and Kai started panicking upon seeing his brother’s closed eyes.

He shook Jay harshly, eliciting a pained groan. “Jay, stay awake. We need to keep an eye on you.”

Frowning, Jay squinted up at Kai’s face. “I am awake, just dizzy. I don’t want to see everything spinning.”

Kai startled when Cole took the makeshift bandages out of his hands, adding his own black piece to the mix. Cole didn’t have sleeves, but he still tore off a large chunk from the strap over his shoulder, letting the front of his gi fall down and expose a couple scratches across his chest; they were nothing compared to Jay’s wound.

Handing it over to Zane, Cole reached for Jay’s limp hand, lacing their fingers together. “Squeeze if you need to, Sparky. This is gonna hurt.”

“Huh? What’s gonna- '' Jay didn’t finish his sentence before he screamed, and Kai was suddenly very hyperaware of the fact that they were in the open. They didn’t know what was in this realm, dangerous or otherwise, and they were sitting ducks with Jay downed like this. Any sort of sound alerting others to their weakness needed to be shut down.

Fumbling around, Kai’s hand eventually closed around a good-sized stick, and he hastily shoved it into Jay’s mouth and told him to bite down on it. Jay whined but did as he was told, strangling the life out of Cole’s hand while Zane wrapped his leg as quickly as he could. It was one of the longest five minutes of Kai’s life, watching as his little brother squirmed and sobbed and knowing that there was nothing he could do to make it better.

“Where’s Wu?” Kai asked as Zane finished, tying the makeshift bandage off with a tight knot and checking it over once more. Cole reached up to take the stick out of Jay’s mouth, grimacing at the splinters that it left behind and the drool leaking down his chin. He wiped away the drool and Jay’s tears as gently as he could.

Zane kept rubbing Jay’s knee to try and comfort him. “He is safe, don’t worry. Cole and I left him in the shelter.”

“Should we try to move Jay to the shelter?” Kai asked, smoothing his hands over his smaller brother’s sides and kissing the back of his head. Jay’s hair was covered in sand but Kai didn’t care; his brother needed the comfort.

“Give him a minute,” Cole said quietly, noticing the way Jay’s chest was heaving, sweat dripping down his brow and the collar of his shirt. He tugged out all of the splinters that he could find, aided by Zane, until there were none left that he could see. Kai kept Jay still, rocking them back and forth as gently as he could.

They heard a roar in the distance, and Kai’s grip tightened out of fear. “We need to move. Cole, get him up, but be careful.”

He and Zane kept a careful watch while Cole took Jay from Kai, debating the best way to carry the blue ninja to safety. Eventually deciding on just a simple carry, he hooked his arm under Jay’s back and the other under his knees, lifting. Jay’s head flopped onto Cole’s shoulder, and Cole could feel his brother’s eyelashes against his skin as his eyes blinked open.

“We’re going somewhere?” he mumbled, hand latching onto Cole’s shirt out of pure instinct.

“Yeah, bud. There’s a shelter nearby that we’re taking you to,” Cole said, starting the brisk walk across the desert sands to the Bounty’s cabin where they had left little Wu, “so just work with me, okay? It’ll be over soon.”

“Okay,” Jay said, and Cole could tell that he was trying to be quiet despite every movement of his leg eliciting a small whimper; it wasn’t long before Jay had his buried in the crook of Cole’s neck, and Cole did his best to ignore the blood leaking through the makeshift bandages and onto the sand below.

He just hoped that dragons or Oni or whatever else lived in this realm couldn’t smell the blood to track them.

#whumptober 2023 #finn's writing #ninjago jay #ninjago fanfiction #lego ninjago #ninjago cole #ninjago whumptober #whumptober day 15 #ninjago kai #ninjago zane

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bucketsofmonsters · 1 year

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The Shapeshifting Detective - Part 6

cw: parental death, grief, referenced murder, referenced cheating, slow burn, more tags will be added as the story continues

male shapeshifter x fem character

word count: ~4k

part 1 part 2 part 3 part 4 part 5 part 6 part 7 part 8

She spent the next few hours cleaning every single bouquet out of the house. It was a massacre, a path of destruction left in her wake.

A familiar voice halted her floral reign of terror. “What in the hell are you doing?”

She turned to look at Anne’s bewildered face. “Saving our lives, apparently,” she replied, moving to throw another destroyed bouquet into a bucket.

She wrestled the bouquet out of Kate’s hands. “I think you need to sit down, rest a little. I don’t even know how you’re still going, you’ve gotta be running on fumes, I think some rest might clear all this up.”

“I’m not crazy.”

“I didn’t say you were. Just that maybe destroying all these flowers isn’t the best use of your time.”

“No, they need to be gone,” Kate insisted. “I need them to be gone, I need to fix this, I need to fix something.”

“Hey, that’s not your job. It’ll all patch itself up, it just needs time. Come on, let’s just stop fighting, please lie down for a bit.”

Kate stood stock still, refusing to follow Anne’s gentle lead.

“How’s my mother been,” she prodded, her whole body tensing as she spoke.

“She’s been your mother. Props to that woman, she sure can put on a show. If I didn’t know better I’d think she was grieving.”

“Maybe she is. Somewhere, deep down in there.

A dry laugh escaped Anne. “C’mon, you don’t really believe that.”

“It’s not that absurd.”

“After what happened between him and Theresa I doubt it but who knows, I suppose anything is possible.”

Everything else came to a halt as Kate processed the comment. “Anne, how do you know about that?”

“How do I… Oh god, yeah, I didn’t have time to tell you, everything’s been so chaotic. I caught them together, I’m the one who told your mom.”

“You did what?”

“I don’t know, I have no real loyalty to either of your parents but it just didn’t seem fair. I kept imagining that she was you. You would want to know, you always want to know everything. She has so little control over anything here, I thought I could at least give her that. She seemed so calm after I told her.”

“What did she do then?”

“I’m not sure, I wasn’t there for the rest of it but I can guess.”

Kate reeled back. “Why wouldn’t you tell me”

“I thought you already knew.”

She said it like it was obvious, like Kate was a fool for not seeing it sooner. Maybe she was.

“About the cheating?” Kate asked, despite knowing that wasn’t what they were talking about, not anymore. She’d keep dancing around the question right until Anne said it, just like she’d been doing since this all began. It couldn’t be her, anyone but her.

“No, about your mother being deeply suspicious in all of this. Come on, don’t pull this, you must’ve known. I mean, if it wasn’t you, who else was here? Who else could’ve hidden it this well? She was already lying about every emotion she’s ever had, I’m sure the whole grief thing wasn’t hard to do. You reacted like a person, like a weird and misguided grieving person who I’m worried about, but a person nonetheless. She’s performing her own one woman play like always, there’s no real grief in there. There’s no way you’re just finding out about this, you’re smarter than that. I mean, I don’t know for sure but you must’ve been suspicious. All of the staff here were, we see what she’s like, how much they hated each other.”

Kate responded by doing the only thing she seemed to be capable of lately. She got angry.

“This is motive, I needed to know this!”

“It’s no more of a motive than everything that was already between them, she’d be just as suspicious without this, half the time I saw them talking I thought she might stab him. She didn’t even seem like she gave a shit. If anything I’m sure she was relieved that she was seeing less of him.”

“You knew I was investigating, why wouldn’t you say something.”

“Did I know that? Because what I remember is you refusing to tell me what you were doing! When was I even supposed to tell you, when you were refusing to talk to me or when you were actively running from me? I didn’t know anything, maybe if you had told me I could’ve helped.”

“I can’t tell you.”

“What happened to you Kate, why won’t you let me help you?”

“I don’t need your help,” she snapped, her defensiveness leaving the comment sharper and crueler than it should have been.

“Fine, I’ll get out of your hair then,” she said with a huff before storming off back down the hall.

Kate was left in the dust feeling regret and the distinct sense that she wasn’t sure she liked who she was becoming.

If Kate from a week ago could see her she’d hate her for what she’d just done, for treating her best friend like that. Kate from now wasn’t all too different in that regard.

How could she do this to her only friend, it wasn’t Anne’s fault. She didn’t know who’s fault it was but certainly not hers.

Kate was drawn away from her aimless self-loathing by the sound of someone approaching.

When she looked up and saw Anne’s face she did the only thing she felt she could do. She turned on her heels and she started to pace away from her, desperately wanting to avoid another confrontation, to avoid hurting her anymore than she alread had.

At the sounds of the footsteps growing faster she realized the futileness of the gesture and halted in her tracks, turning to face Anne.

Anne wasn’t quite able to stop fast enough, running right into Kate before her instincts could kick in.

The familiar face gave Kate a sheepish, “Hello. Sorry about that.”

The goofy smile gave him away instantly.

“Christ, Vincent, what is your problem?”

“You were gone for a while, I got worried.”

“Wait, what did you do with Anne?” She asked, looking around frantically, trying to find any clues to where she was.

“Oh, nothing, I just thought it would be easier to hang around here if I looked like this. I can trail around after you easier, I'm practically invisible this way. I still had one of her dresses hidden in a corner from last time I snuck in here, I’m lucky no one moved it.”

“And what if she sees you?”

He shrugged. “We’ll figure it out, how are you doing?”

“How am I doing? Vincent, you cannot be doing this. You need to leave or look normal or something, I don’t know.”

“I’m not leaving you. Now how are you? You’ve done some redecorating I see.”

She followed his gaze down to her dress, which had large wet spots across it, some rogue petals sticking to the damp fabric.

That plus the fact that she hadn’t slept nor fixed herself up after the party, she was sure that she looked even more out of sorts than normal. Or at least, her new normal. Before all of this, she’d been so carefully composed all of the time, her normal was slowly shifting further and further into madness.

“Stop being so reckless,” she insisted. “We can’t fuck this up and you cannot hurt her.”

“I’m not hurting anyone! You’re the one going around knocking people out, I haven’t hurt anybody!” he responded defensively.

“No one is knocking Anne out.”

“Agreed,” he responded with an eager nod. “Do you know what would reduce the possibility of running into her? If we stepped out for a minute, maybe went somewhere else and talked this through.”

“Oh, fuck you. You’re not taking me anywhere, I’m going to see her.” She’d begun storming off towards her mother’s room before she even finished speaking.

Vincent kept pace with her. He never actually tried to hold her back, never touched her at all, but that didn’t mean he stopped trying to get her to leave. His protests continued ceaselessly until Kate stormed into her mother’s room and finally, his arguments trailed off, eyes darting between the pair.

Kate’s mother rose from her chair, brows furrowed as she got a good look at the state Kate was in.

“Do you have no self respect?” she asked.

She was so focused on her daughter's attire that she entirely missed Kate glaring daggers at her.

“Tell me you didn’t do it.” Kate managed to spit out, no time for niceties. “I’ve been defending you, saying you wouldn’t do that to yourself. Tell me I was right.”

She had the audacity to roll her eyes at the accusation. “Your father was a horrible man.”

It wasn’t a confession or a denial. She said it like it was a fact and in a way, it was. It was certainly a fact that her mother believed that, she had known that as long as she’d known anything.

“Tell me you didn’t.”

“I can if you want me to. Would that make it better?”

Kate shook her head. “Please be honest with me, just this once. Just give me that.”

She refused, staring Kate down, her head tilting to the side. “What is this, why are you doing this now?”

Kate wouldn’t back down. She would get her answers. She’d earned that much. “Why did you do it? Because he slept with someone else? Get over yourself, since when did you give a shit about his loyalty?”

“You know I never cared about that, don’t kid yourself.”

“Then why did you do it? Why did you ruin everything?”

“You think I ruined everything? Do you know what he did? He blamed me. He said it was my fault he was unhappy, if only I’d been a better wife. Do you know how fucking miserable I’ve made myself being perfect? But no, it was my fault. And when I picked up that letter opener, and he said I wouldn’t do it because I’d get nothing, because he’d made absolutely certain I would be ruined and penniless, I couldn’t do anything else. He took everything from me and told me it was my fault and then he looked me in the eye and he dared me to do it. How’s that for honesty? You want to say everything that’s wrong here is my fault? Fine. But you do not get to say that your father was anything but an awful man.”

She looked back at her mother and felt nothing. No sense of victory or justice, no real answers, just endless questions and an all encompassing emptiness in her chest.

She didn’t get the chance to ask them. Her mother was on a roll now, turning both defensive and spiteful in one fell swoop as she saw Kate’s breathing turn ragged and tears prick at the corners of her eyes.

“Someday,” she insisted, “you will marry someone you hate in pursuit of happiness you will never stop chasing. You can’t judge me, I’ve seen the suitors you pursue. You’re no better than I am. I’ll be happier as a widow than I ever could be with your father and someday, when you've had enough of this shit, you’ll understand. And on that day, when your daughter is looking at you like you’re a monster, then you can judge me.”

“I would never do what you did.”

Even as she said it she knew there was no real conviction behind those words. If her mother couldn’t live this life and come out intact, no one could.

In one fell swoop, her mother had taken her past and her future from her. There was nothing, nowhere she could go, no one she could turn to. She’d turn her mother in and then, in however many years, she would turn into her mother.

“You’ll see,” her mother insisted. “You’re already heading towards the same marriage I was in.”

“And my father was the only one trying to protect me from that, not you.”

“I couldn’t protect you,” she tried to reason. “I could barely keep myself afloat.”

“I will tell Daniel to leave you to rot. You have nothing unless I marry up and I will not save you.” Tears ran down her face as she screamed, all the emotions she’d felt were missing boiling over.

“Fine. Take revenge however you’d like. I’ve gotten mine, I suppose it is your turn.”

She sniffled, trying to keep herself composed as best she could. “How could you take him from me?” she asked, her voice cracking as she squeezed the words out of her lungs.

“You don’t understand,” her mother dismissed, a look of defeat crossing her face.

“I do! I understand just how isolated you were and he was the only thing keeping me from that and you took him.”

“Katherine, not everything is about you.”

Kate had practically forgotted than Vincent was in the room at all, everything other than her mother fading away. That was until Vincent snapped.

“Not about her?” he yelled. “What the fuck do you mean not about her? Have you seen her, seen what you did to her? Or have you been too caught up in your own little performance to notice how you have destroyed your daughter. You’re supposed to protect her! But instead you ruined her life and left her alone to pick up the pieces and now you have the audacity to act like she is in the wrong for what, being upset? For trying to help?”

She’d never heard him this angry, never heard him be angry at all.

Her mother reeled back like she’d been slapped. “How dare you involve yourself in this, girl.”

Kate positioned herself between them defensively. “You leave them alone.”

“Katherine, please…”

“No, I’m done listening. You’re not getting away with this, I will make you pay for what you did to him.”

“I tried to get you to understand,” she said. The words sounded like they were more for her sake than for Katerine’s. “I really did.”

And then her mother screamed.

She couldn’t help but feel that this is what she should have sounded like. When she found her father on the floor over a pool of blood. When she realized there was nothing she could do, he was already gone. When she got up in a daze and alerted the nearest person she could find before returning to his side.

This was the kind of scream you made when you found out something awful. This was the kind of scream she should have made, horrified and afraid and earnest.

And now it was directed at her.

She couldn’t make sense of it, couldn’t understand what her mother was doing. She felt like she was floating again, that distant feeling from that night invading her once more.

She barely felt it when Vincent grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the room, barely noticed the setting quickly changing.

Eventually they stopped running and she looked around. She was presented with familiar surroundings, seeing that same warehouse where she’d found out his secret.

“Why did you take me here?” she asked, her voice low and wispy.

“She was going to blame it on you. We had to get you out of there, they won’t believe you over her.”

“They’d believe you. Well, not like this,” she said, waving her hand at his appearance, at Anne standing in front of her. “But as Harvey they would.”

“I know. But you deserve some time to think before I do anything.”

“What is there to think about? You heard her, she did it.”

“She did. Now what do you want to do about that?”

It felt like an absurd question. “I want justice.”

“Justice won’t bring him back, it’s what you want that matters. I wanted to give you time to think, to consider if you were ready to lose both parents''

She shook her head. “I’ve already lost my mother.”

“It’s up to you, you have all the power here.”

“You’re trying to save your friend arent you?” Kate snapped. “Arrest her, that’s what you came here to do. Arrest her, save Evelyn, and then fucking leave.”

“It’s about more than that now.”

“Why? I don’t know you! I don’t know jack shit about you, why are you helping me?”

“Beacuse… I don’t know, because you needed it. Because no one else was helping you and you needed it and you were all alone.

“I didn’t need you. I don’t need you. I’m fine on my own, I’ve always been fine on my own, I have to be fine on my own.”

She collapsed onto the floor, unable to hold herself up any longer. Her skirts pooled around her, the ones from that same fancy dress from the ball that felt like it took place years ago.

She barely noticed when Vincent skuried away behind some of the crates.

When he reappeared he was Harvey once more, in clothes even more crumpled than normal. He was holding out something to her and all at once she realized it was Anne’s dress.

“Here,” he said. “It’s better than that one, more practical. More comfortable too.”

Changing seemed like a herculean task so instead she held it close. It reminded her of Anne.

“I’m sorry,” she called out. “I’m sorry, you didn’t deserve that. You didn’t deserve anything I’ve done to you.”

He settled down next to her and rested a gentle hand on her forearm, tentative and soft as if looking for the smallest sign that his touch was unwanted. He didn’t question her cradling the dress like it was something priceless.

She leaned into his touch, the sense of connection more than welcome right now. He was so warm and gentle and so very kind. She felt as if he was the only thing holding her together anymore, like she wanted to wrap herself up in his arms forever and let him keep her from falling apart.

After a moment of thought he replied, “I have a big family. 14 older siblings. I was always the runt of the family, the littlest, the weakest.”

It sounded amazing, that many people in a house. “I always wanted siblings.”

“Well, you can take some of mine if you want them. I think my parents stopped having kids because of me, because I let them down that badly. I was bad at everything, none of my siblings would give me the time of day. It was like they thought I would rub off on them, make them unlovable too. ”

“You’re not unlovable.”

“No?”

“No. I think you’re the most lovable person I’ve ever met. I think I might’ve become the angiriest person alive and I still can never stay mad at you.”

She didn’t miss the bashful smile he tried to hide before continuing on. “Well that’s besides the point. The point is, you were there, grieving, and no one was doing anything about it. They were all avoiding you or talking to you like you weren’t even there. So many people and you were still all alone. You know, I figured it wasn’t you pretty fast, I know what someone with no one to turn to looks like.”

She buried her head in her hands, feeling overwhelmed by him, by how tender and caring he continued to be. “You’ve been so kind and all I’ve been so cruel to you.”

He shook his head and made a quiet noise of protest. “Absolutely not. You haven’t been cruel, you’ve been grieving and you’ve been honest. Maybe honesty just feels like cruelty to someone from your world, with your endless, pleasant lies.”

“Maybe. I honestly don’t know how to tell.”

“You’ll figure it out.”

“He really was a good man, you know.”

He was caught offguard by the statement. “What?”

“What my mother said. It’s not true, he was a good man. She’s a liar.”

“I don’t know. People contain multitudes, someone can be a good father and a bad husband. The bad doesn’t undo the good but it also doesn’t change your mother’s life. He probably wasn’t a good man or a bad man. He was just a man.”

“I know. He still didn’t deserve this.”

“Of course he didn’t.”

“You know what? Neither did she.”

He spoke softly as he added with a quiet determination, “And neither do you.”

Kate nodded, terrified to say the words out loud, scared to admit that maybe she did deserve better. Maybe they all did.

“I don’t know what to do anymore,” she managed to choke out. “That was all that was propelling me forwards, it was all I had. I needed to solve it, I needed to fix it, and now I’ve solved it and nothing is fixed and I don’t know what to do.”

“Just rest. Please, rest. We’ll figure it out tomorrow.”

He picked up a blanket from the floor, shifting it around her shoulders and pulling her into his side, arm wrapped around her, holding her.

If his hand on her arm was reassuring, she wasn’t sure what to call this. All she knew was it felt real and safe and those were two things she didn’t want to let go of.

For the first time in a very long time, Kate managed to sleep through the night.

#the shapeshifting detective #terato #monster bf #monster boyfriend #monster x human #shapeshifter #Big Important Chapter #Sorry it took so long squad

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love-islike-abomb · 7 months

Text

Renegade: part 4

Roman reigns x OC Scarlet

Gif credit: @romanreigns

Warnings: angst, scifi, errors I may have missed

Tag list: @angelreigns444 @acknowledge-reigns

______

A few days later

Joe's POV

I hadn't yet told my cousins about the woman who's caught my attention. "uce, Woman will only lead them to you faster!" I could just hear them say.

I barely knew her And I was already falling for her. She was beautiful! Her personality was to die for and those eyes! Such beautiful dark brown eyes!!

"Uce! You with us?" I heard Josh say and I snapped out of my trance.

"Oh yeah sorry! Just lost in thought" I said

"About what?" He said crossing his arms "don't tell me it's a woman cause you know better! We can't have attachments! It makes us easily found!" He warned

"Josh how are they gonna find us?! We've been on the run for nearly 300 years! The should have found us by now!" I said

"I knew it! It's a woman!" Josh said rolling his eyes.

"Stop acting like my father Josh!" I glared at him

"Bout time someone does before you get us all killed" I heard him mumbled.

I felt my teeth sharpen and Tried to hide the anger that boiled up in me but it was no use. I ran and punched Josh across the face breaking his jaw only for it to instantly fix itself. He ran back at me and pushed me causing me to fly across the yard. I stood up ready to fight again but Jonathon stepped in between us. "that's enough! Uce maybe him finding a woman is what he needs! Perhaps you should to! You may not be so grouchy if you got some!"

Jonathon looked at me "does she know uce?"

"No she doesn't" i said shaking my head.

"Keep it that way for now!" He said

I nodded. "I like her a lot!"

"That's fine uce! Just keep yourself and her safe. No one in this town knows who or what we are! Let's stay that way!"

"I'm gonna go see her again later this week" I said.

"Just bring her here!" Jonathan said

"Are you sure? Hot head over there may not like that to much"

"Stop! Just bring her over for dinner! Nothing to crazy" he said.

"You 2 better behave yourselves and not be the horn dogs I know you can be!" I said crossing my arms.

"I won't" Jonathon said. Josh seemed to be off in his own little world until his brother nudged him "what?" He whisper yelled "oh yeah me either uce!"

I sighed "fine I'll ask her but if she says no I'm not pushing her. I don't wanna make her uncomfortable"

"Alright just let us know" Jonathon said patting me on the shoulder.

"I will"

Scarlet's POV

It had been a few days since I heard from Joe. I figured he was busy so I didn't think anything of it. I was folding laundry when my phone rang "talk about timing" I smiled.

"Hey!" I smiled into the phone

"Hey beautiful! How are you?"

"I'm alright! Just doing some laundry. Gotta have clean clothes" I said

"I get it" he chuckled "hey I wanted to ask you if you wanted to come meet my cousins one day this week for dinner?"

"Your cousins?" I asked

"Yeah I mean if you don't want to you don't have to" he stammered

"What are y'all planning on doing?" I asked

"Oh just a cook out" he said

"I'd like to come" I smiled

"Awesome!" He smiled "well as far as I know it's gonna be Saturday but since it's only Tuesday I'd love to see you before then!" He said

"It's still early in the day so if you wanna come over tonight you can" I smiled.

"I'd like that. maybe 6?"

"Sounds good"

"See you then" he said

After our phone conversation I finished a few things around the house. And around 4 started getting dressed. I picked out a red dress.

After getting my shower and getting dressed I did a few last things before putting my shoes on. I had somehow managed 15 minutes to spare before he got here. Soon there was a knock on the door.

I took a deep breath and went to the door. "Hey scarl- wow!!" He smiled.

I blushed "you don't look to bad yourself!"

"Is that heart I hear?" He asked

"Oh yeah that's barracuda!" I said

"Nice! You've got taste!" He smiled.

After barracuda was over a song I was somewhat hoping would come in while he was here came on. "Lady in red?" His eyebrow perked up. "I um.... "

"You do look beautiful in that dress!" He smiled. "Come ere" he said reaching his hand out and leading me to the open part of my living room. Putting his hand on my hip and gently pulling me close to him we slowly swayed to music. Grabbing my hand he raised my arm over the back of his neck. "The song isnt lying. You do look gorgeous!" He smiled.

I blushed. I started to say something but he started singing along with the song. "Lady I. Red" he smiled down at me "is dancing with me" his smile started to slowly fade. "You look absolutely beautiful in that dress!" He said.

I smiled "it's been sitting in my closet for almost a year and I never had reason to wear it"

"I'm glad you wore it tonight" he smiled slowly leaning in to kiss me as the song ended. Hia soft lips connecting with Mine had my heart racing as I slowly pulled away and laid my head on his chest A few minutes later I realized we had been dancing with no music "I've never done that before" I said lifting my head up.

"What's that?"

"Danced with no music! I guess the song was still in my head" I smiled.

"Or you're comfortable and relaxed and you didn't need it" he said.

I smiled "I know we just met a few days ago but I feel drawn to you already and I don't know why"

"I don't know either but I'm glad" he said

Slowly leaning in, our lips met again. A soft gentle kiss yet needy enough to leave me wanting more. A soft moan escaping my lips making me smile "you're a good kisser"

"Glad to know" he smiled "have I told you how beautiful you look?"

"Only hundreds of times" I smiled

Grabbing my hand in his and bringing it to his lips to kiss it again... I'be always wanted someone to do that and him doing it without me having to say made it even more romantic. His phone chimed randomly and he looked over at it "it's probably my cousin's wondering where I am. Let them wonder" he said leaning back in to give me another kiss only to stop a few seconds later with his phone ringing.

"Hello" he said sounding irritated

"Are you sure" his attitude towards the person suddenly changed, almost as if he was hiding what they just told him. He hung his head "alright" he said, hanging up his phone. He started to walk away but I grabbed his arm to stop him..

"What's wrong" i asked confused

"I have to go" he said, His facial expression sad.

"That's it no explanation?" I said

"I can't have you involved in this!" He said

"Involved in what? Joe what are you talking about?"

"I'm not who you think I am Scarlet!" He said

"Great... just as I start to like a guy he pulls the "I'm not who you think is am" card! Typical" I said rolling my eyes "let me guess your married and have kids already right?" I yelled.

"Scarlet it's not like that at all" he said

"Then what is it like Joe? You come in here sweep me off my feet with your romance and because I won't jump into bed with you... no you know what just go! Get out! Gone with your wife and kids or whoever else you have! I'm such an idiot!" I said putting my head in my hands.

"Scarlet I -"

"OUT!!"

He turned to walk out the door and turned around "I'll always be here"

#Spotify #Roman reigns #wwe fanfiction #roman reigns x oc #wwe x oc #roman reigns fanfiction #scifi

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vineofroses · 8 months

Text

WIP Wednesday

thanks for the tag @paperstorm @cold-blooded-jelly-doughnut and @thisbuildinghasfeelings!

I've finished the scene between Iris and Carlos when he proposes. I've kept in a bit of this scene for context and because of additions I made to the scene.

Astros highlights and school talk from that breakfast the morning after flash through his head. Lunch at Tia Lucy’s when no one asked him a single question but Mark’s presentation on quarterly reports got ten minutes of conversation time. Homecoming came and no one batted an eye when he told them that Iris was going with him even though she graduated two years ago. The photo his mother took of them was on the fridge the next morning. He doesn’t remember the last time he answered a question that wasn’t “what time will you be home?”

"Do your parents ever ask you about things?" he asks.

"Sure. 'How was your day,' 'did you do your homework,' 'is Carlos coming over again today?'"

Though the last one makes him smile, Carlos shakes his head. "No, I mean, like, do they ever ask you how you are? Or like, I don't know ... take an interest in you?"

Iris doesn't answer. Carlos turns on his side so he's facing her. She's staring back at him, a frown forming the longer she thinks over his questions.

"Carlos, you don't think your parents like you?"

"That's not what I mean. Obviously, they like me. I'm their son. I'm just not sure they're interested in the things I do, or the things I want to do, or who I'm ...".

Carlos drifts off, hoping Iris catches on to his meaning.

"Oh."

"Yeah."

They're quiet for another moment.

"Are you seeing anybody?"

"What? No!"

Iris grins. "A little quick on the response, buddy. It's okay if you are. You can tell me anything."

His parent’s conversation from the kitchen came back to him. It wouldn't be so bad, right? They would be excited, and ask him about things. His mom would certainly like to provide her own input. And homecoming was fun. They could do it again. Looking at Iris, all Carlos sees is his best friend. Someone he trusts, and likes being around. Someone he loves, unconditionally.

He takes a deep breath. "Would you want to marry me?"

There's a beat. Then, "What the fuck."

Carlos blinks, caught off guard. "It wouldn't be crazy, right?"

"Carlos, what the fuck."

"I know I'm only 17, but --"

"You mean now?!"

"Of course I mean now!"

Iris leaps from the bed and starts pacing. Carlos watches, a feeling of dread building within him. Iris looks angry but can’t fathom where it’s coming from.

"No, no, you don't mean this,” she says, wringing her hands together.

"I do --"

"You can't. You're only 17. I'm only 19! And you're gay!" Iris stops her pacing to stare right at him. "No,” she says. It’s a firm “no;” he can hear it in her voice yet her face is guarded. He thinks he’s perhaps misstepped.

"No?" he asks, and as each moment passes he sinks further and further away from the world.

"No. I don't accept."

Carlos doesn’t respond. The world has gone a bit echoe-y; he feels afloat, unmoored. A moment passes. How do you respond to a denied marriage proposal? Maybe he didn’t think this all the way through. They stare at each other. For the first time in his life, Carlos doesn’t know what Iris is thinking but he thinks perhaps something’s been lost here.

A car honks in front of the house. Iris breaks their eye contact to peak out the window. “Dylan’s here. I gotta go.”

She grabs her purse and reaches for her phone on the nightstand, not looking at him.

“Wait, Iris —”

“You should go home, Carlos.”

There’s no slam of the door as she walks out because she leaves it open for him to follow. For a moment, Carlos sits on her bed, waiting for the world to right itself again. Sleep beckons. Exhaustion the size of a great divide settles into him. But Iris told him to leave, and he has to respect that. It’s not until he’s walking back home that he realizes she never changed into the outfit he suggessted.

Open tags because idk who's done this yet.

#911 lone star #carlos reyes #iris blake #wip wednesday

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seaside-writings · 6 months

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Hello, hello, all you holly jolly people! It is the first day of my “12 Days of Prompts” event and we're starting off with something a little scary.

Every Christmas season there are two horror movies that my family and I watch over and over again. The first one as you can call see is “Krampus” and the second you’ll see later on!

Krampus is by far one of my favorite Christmas movies, I know that sounds strange, but it’s the truth. I love the monster designs, how the characters a portrayed, and how it still feels more like a Christmas movie than a horror movie, even during some of the actual horror parts. Plus, I like that it doesn’t try and take itself too seriously.

So if you haven’t seen it yet, I highly recommend it!

Like always if you do use these prompts please tag me so I can see what you’ve made!

I hope you all stay blessed and safe throughout your day.

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays: Celia ❤💚❄⛄🎄

“It started with the wind, on a cold night, much like this,” - “It's Christmas. Nothing bad is going to happen on Christmas!” - "That's what a family is, baby. People you try to be friends with, even when you don't have a lot in common,” - “You're not thinking of going after that snowplow alone, are you?” “A Shepherd's gotta protect his flock,” - “It's the blizzard, honey, nothing's working right now,” - “They can see dust specks on Mars, but no one noticed a giant blizzard hurtling towards us,” “Well, as soon as the power's back, you can write an angry e-mail to the National Weather Service,” - “I would just be calmer if I knew how we were gonna survive Christmas with 12 people stuck in a house with no hot water, no heat, and no electricity,” - “You know, she and I, we butt heads, but I can't imagine life without her,” Yeah, I know what you mean,” _ “And that night, in the darkness of a howling blizzard… I got my wish,” “Oh, lay off of him! The kid deserves a prize for telling the truth!” - “It's just a scratch,” “Oh, my gosh,” “It looks like something bit you.” “Nope! Probably a bear trap under the snow or something,” “We don't have bears here,” - “Dear Santa, I know I haven't been great this year and I'm sorry for that, but I was really hoping you could help out me and my family this Christmas,” - “So, where’s the nog? I need to get merry,” - “Come on, kids, I'm gonna teach you how to make peppermint schnapps,” - "A little sugar, a little spice, makes everything nice." - "I haven't been this hungover since the Pope died." - “But Krampus didn't take me that night… He left me, as a reminder of what happens when hope is lost, when belief is forgotten… and the Christmas spirit dies,” - “They too had given up. And eventually, so did I,” - “What’s she saying?” “This… This is all our fault… he’s come for us all... He?” - “And for the first time, I didn't wish for a miracle, I wished for them to go away… a wish I would come to regret,” - “I'm old enough to know when life is coming at me with its pants down,” - "Listen, why don't we just leave? Right? We can all pile in the truck and we'll just see as far as we can get, and we can pick up-” “The truck's gone,” - “And I just wanna say I’m sorry for… thinking you’re such a spineless dick all these years,” - “Poor bastard must have sailed clear through,” “Looks more like the opposite,” “What’d you mean?” “The glass is punched in,” - “Don't suppose you got me a backup generator for Christmas, did you?” “Yeah, it's under the tree next to your ties and underwear,” - “Blah blah blah. Bullshit, bullshit. Ah, here we go, the wishlist!” - “Enough with the sappy crap, let's open up the damn presents,” - “See? Let them out of your sight for one second, and boom, shotgun wedding,” “Can you not, please,” “Well, you ought to know,” - “What did you see up there?” “You don't wanna know, sweetheart,” "Honey, I just got my ass kicked by a bunch of Christmas cookies, so trust me when I tell you I can take it!" - “It's not starting! It's not starting! Why isn't it starting!?”

“I think our best bet is to stay put, board up all the doors and windows, and as soon as the weather breaks, we'll go find her,”

“Hey, asshole! I take back my wish, I take it all back! Give me back my family!” - “I, um-- I just wanna say thanks for, uh, you know, saving my ass back there,” - “Twisted fairytale horseshit!!” - "I've hunted a lot of game in my day, those are hooves. Big ones too. Could be an elk or a goat,” What kind of goat walks on its hind legs? - “How much ammo do you have?” “A couple shells still loaded, maybe a dozen in my pocket. Why?” - “What? “She said we're screwed,” - “They had forgotten the spirit of Christmas, the sacrifice of giving. And my family was no different,” - “And as he had for thousands of years, Krampus came not to reward, but to punish, not to give, but to take,” - “I tried to help them to believe again, but we were no longer the loving family I remembered,” - “I knew Saint Nicholas was not coming this year. Instead, it was a much darker, more ancient spirit. The shadow of Saint Nicholas. It was Krampus,” - “I just wanted Christmas to be like it used to be, but forget it! I hate Christmas! I hate all of you!” - “Evil Santa? She’ll be yammering about a rabid Easter Bunny come Spring,” - “What are we gonna tell the kids?” “I don't know. The truth?” “Sure, which version of it?” - “Yeah, well, you know-- she always gets a little weird around Christmas,” - “Baby, please don't do this, listen, we can figure something else out,” “This is how I figure things out,” - “You had mom's angel this whole time?” “Yeah, I thought you knew,” “No,” - “It was almost Christmas, but this Christmas was darker, less cheerful. But I still believed in Santa, in magic and miracles, and the hope that we could find joy again,” - “I'm sorry, I just wanted Christmas to be like it used to be,” - “Our village had given up on miracles, and on each other,” - “Remember we used to fight over who got to place her?” “Yeah, you fought dirty, I still have the scars,” “Where do you think my girls get it from?” - “I don't like this,” “Whoever did this is a demented son of a bitch,” - “Come on, come on, please,” “I'm trying! I don't even know how to drive a stick! We have a hybrid! - “The snowplow?” “The keys were in the ignition-” “And it was beat to hell!’ “But if it runs, I drive it back here, and then everyone piles in the car and follows while I clear a path in front of us,” “And go where?” “The mall doubles as an emergency shelter, and if it's empty, we'll try the police station,” “And what if they're gone too?” “Then we keep driving till we see lights or people, plowed road, somewhere safe for the kids,” “And then we bring help back here,” - “I think it's panicking, trying to get outside,” “Well, we boarded everything up,” - “What are you doing? We've got four other kids here to protect,” - “It's not what you do, it's what you believe, and what you've given up," - “I think all this might be my fault,” - “What are we gonna do now?” “We keep the fire hot,” - “Oh, hey, there you are! Hey, kiddo. we thought the sugarplum fairies may have gotten you,” - “Everybody, hold on to each other,” - “Be good,” - “Wow, what's this all about?” “It's nothing just… merry Christmas,” “Merry Christmas to you too, baby,”

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phoenixwatchesmovies · 6 months

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What I'm Watching: November 2023

The Fall of the House of Usher

Sycrhjodxfhbaudiffebuvehtxt I'm obsessed with this show. So far, this is the first and only Mike Flanagan adaptation where I was familiar with the source material already, and it was a fucking BLAST playing Spot The Reference. Additionally, the conclusion of the rave scene has been burned into my memory ever since and I cannot for the life of me get it out of my head, in the best and worst way possible. Sooooooo good, but oh my fucking god. And it's been a long time coming, but this series has elevated Carla Gugino for me to Rachel Weiss meme status. You know the one I'm talking about. I just.... THIS SHOW IS SO FUCKING GOOD. The writing, the story, the performances, the cinematography, the scares, the all of it. It's split down the middle between stuff you can point and go "ha! I knew it!" and stuff you just can't see coming, and it's all top tier. I typically need a cool down period to recover after most Flanagan stuff, but I'm just itching to get back to this one as soon as possible. Is a good amount of that just me thirsting over Verna? Well, yeah. It's pretty much Gugino's show, and everyone else merely appears in it. Actually, that's not fair. Everyone involved not only fucking went for it, they fucking nailed it. This is Mike's last run with Netflix, and by god, the whole team went out with a bang.

Cowboy Bebop (2021)

Let me start by saying that my post mentioning how much I wanna bang Spike went as viral as things tend to go on this blog, so I'm glad that resonated with some folks. 😂 I'll admit, I have a lot less nostalgia for the anime as a lot of the audience for this, having only seen it twice, but as far as adaptations go, this was perfectly okay. As someone pointed out already on one of my posts, it's a lot less existential than the OG, and therefore a lot less heavy. And since all I wanted out of this was a good time, I was happy with it. I was EXTREMELY happy with the opening credits in particular. My stance on adaptations in general is that if a piece can stand on its own merit, I don't care how closely it adheres to the source material, and in my opinion, the live action succeeds. In fact, my one and only complaint is...not enough Ein!

Anne With An E

The books stay in my reading rotation, so despite my philosophy on adaptations, I had very high expectations going into this several years late, don't worry about it. And...I was not disappointed. I ended up crying over almost every episode, and that never happens, so... 😅 It's so sweet and I was charmed from the get-go. I've still got a season left, and since it seems to be doing its own thing apart from the books now, I'm really looking forward to it. I'm also dreading it, because I'm not ready for it to be over. Then again, that's how it feels finishing the books as well, so that's only how it should be.

Five Nights At Freddy's

Lemme tell you, I've known jack shit about FNAF aside from "evil Chuck E. Cheese" for years now. I've had the tags filtered for almost as long as I've been on Tumblr (I love the people I follow, but I gotta curate my experience). I've made it my mission to go as long as I can without knowing anything at all about this franchise if for no reason other than it's fucking e v e r y w h e r e and I was sick of the overexposure. But now because a relative of an acquaintance of a family friend was one of the cannon fodder characters, I got roped into watching this and my streak is broken. I can't unknow what I know about this franchise. Which I'm extra annoyed about, considering what the creator of the games tends to put his royalties towards. 😑 From a film standpoint, it's fine. I'm not sure what age range the target demographic is, but having the horror stuff happen off screen made it feel more vanilla than the average episode of Supernatural, and I'll let that speak for itself. The look and atmosphere were exactly what I'd imagine if told to picture an evil Chuck E. Cheese, the animatronics are appropriately creepy (though let's be honest, it doesn't take much to make ANY animatronic creepy), and I was a little surprised and impressed with the soundtrack. And it was nice to see Josh Hutcherson in something new, though it's still so odd seeing him as an adult. I'm most familiar with him as a kid in RV, and holy fuck, I feel old looking at him now. I could have used a little more Matthew Lillard--why would you get Matty Lilly in your movie and then NOT do something with him?!--but given the character/story/what have you, I get it. One plot point in particular didn't stick the landing, as far as I'm concerned. In an effort to tie up all loose ends, it made things too contrived in a "that's convenient but now it makes less sense" kind of way. Don't know if that's how it goes in the game, and I don't care enough to find out. All in all, I've seen worse, I still don't get the hype, and I'm still not the target audience. And that's perfectly okay.

Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet Of Curiosities

A horror anthology? With GDT?? Sign me up yesterday! I don't think there was a single episode I didn't like. And I wasn't prepared to recognize so many names in the credits. Actors, directors, composers, authors, you name it. And it was fun! The stories were bizarre, assorted creature designs were gnarly, and whatever else was going on with the vibes episode to episode, they all felt consistently creepy and sinister. "The Autopsy" has the distinction of being one of the few things I've watched that almost made me puke. "Pickman's Model" was the first thing to freak me out bad enough I stayed awake to get it out of my head in a Very Long Time. "The Viewing" was the only ending that felt unfinished, it was so abrupt, but the style and aesthetic was so *chef kiss* I'll overlook it. (Side note: that episode's director also did Mandy, which I've been meaning to get to for awhile now? Hoo hoo, have I got some visuals to look forward to!) I knew as soon as I saw Jennifer Kent did an entry that hers was going to be my favorite, and that's not even coming from a biased place. "The Murmuring" is beautiful and heartbreaking. Easily my favorite aspect of the series is how you get a sense of each individual director's style BUT the entries themselves are so flavored with GDT, the whole thing stays cohesive. Now all I can do is hope for another season. :D

#watch a thon 2023 #the fall of the house of usher #cowboy bebop netflix #anne with an e #five nights at freddy's #guillermo del toro's cabinet of curiosities

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alwaysxlarrie · 1 year

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a snippet + last line challenge

i’m halfway done with chapter 8 (it should be up by midweek!) so thank you to @beelou, @nooradeservedbetter, @larrysballetslippers & @beardyboyzx for tagging me to do a snippet! & thank you to @justahappycloud, @lunarheslwt, @thebreadvansstuff, @larry-hiatus, @hellolovers13 & @neondiamond for tagging me to do the last line challenge :)

snippet:

Harry will let him think whatever he wants as long as he gets to see Louis’ bicep muscles flexing. Not only does the sight make Harry’s jaw ache with how much he wants to bite them and suck a few bruises into the skin, but it's also phenomenal wank bank material. He’d never admit that if asked, but. The thought of Louis using them to pin him down, hold him up against a wall, choke him a little? Siri play ‘What Dreams Are Made Of’ by Hilary Duff, please and thank you.

Plus, Louis is a sucker for Harry painting his nails — when he’d noticed Harry painted them a few weeks ago for the first time, Louis’ jaw had dropped and he immediately picked up Harry’s hand, gently running his thumb along the nail beds. When he’d looked back up into Harry’s eyes, Louis’ were noticeably darkened and his eyelids were hooded. The rest of the day, whenever he’d noticed Harry about to start a task that might ruin his nails, he’d intervene to help. Harry’s nails were definitely dry at this point and if they chipped, he could’ve always just redone them that night, but it was cute to see Louis care so much and it was lovely to be taken care of by him. The sexual tension had been through the roof that day, though; Niall and Liam even went as far as to stay out of Louis’ way entirely whenever they could — they did not want to get in between Louis and whatever he was going through. They didn’t even know about Harry and Louis almost getting off against Harry’s car before going home that night and Harry still couldn’t blame them.

“You sure we really need to do that, Haz?” Louis asks with an amused glint in his eye as he raises an eyebrow.

Oh no. Louis might have caught on. There’s only one thing to do now: keep it moving.

“Yeah, of course! We can’t form our best judgments just by looking at the photo on the paint canister, you know? Gotta open it up and look at the paint itself, too.”

Right. Okay. Maybe not keep it moving like that. His flirting seriously, truly, honestly has a ways to go. How he managed to get someone like Louis, he’s got no idea; his game is absolutely atrocious.

One might say that maybe his first issue is still using the word ‘game’, but that’s neither here nor there, thanks.

“Right,” Louis muses, smirking knowingly when he takes the canister, watching as Harry’s eyes immediately dart to his biceps, “well if it means so much to you, I suppose we could take a look.”

last line:

“He’s never felt so seductive and powerful before in his life; maybe there is something to be said about spontaneity being a turn on after all.”

ok so the last line is 25 words but i don’t know anyone who hasn’t done either of these atp so i’m just gonna tag a few people & not worry ab the count lol: @lululawrence, @brightgolden, @loveislarryislove, @kingsofeverything, @the-larry-way, @tommokat, @kingonafiftymetreroad, @hearyouhowling, @greenblueish & @jaerie

(also yes this fic has essentially become a long winded appreciation post for louis’ arms/biceps but can u blame me???)

#my snippets #you are my destiny (you are the reason that i still believe)#tags and challenges #my writing #this still needs to be edited a lot yikes!#last line challenge

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kavaeroexe · 2 years

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Well i just thinking about a crossover honkai and star war , reader is like valkyrja , and died because trying bring back Kiana , fyi reader trying bring back with Himeko yeah u know both died but success bring back Kiana and reader its look like Cecilia Schariac , because reader its the twin with Durandal

Reader died but they/she transmigration to Star war universe , she maybe become a senator ... Well its up to you make this a Yandere stories or not

Sorry for my bad grammar , i hope u can understand what i said

And luv you writing , i enjoy with teh fic/hc hc u made

-xoxo

Oh my good IDEAAA, i actually have a few version of reader reborn to star wars universe, but i want reader to have the version of Jedi or a Senator, so i made both version of them, lets go!!

warning : typos, bad grammar

attention! please do not try to repost my works, i only post my works on tumblr, if anyone see someone stole my works please inform me through the comments, tag me in the works, or message me!

reader as a Jedi

oh no wonder

i mean you got the basic skill to fight at the first place

as a Valkyrie, kicking droid’s ass, dealing with a Sith(shitty) is an easy part

but to become the jedi itself, you have to learn many things you gotta say, patience, calm, generous, you take quite a long time to masters those, but people in the council takes it easy with you fighting skills because they could see you already masters those, they focus you more on learning the force

oh god, nobody doubts you if you have to vanish the droids or even.. people-

Obi-wan in the council if he has a mission that he have to be dealing with many droids : “yeah i’ll take Y/N with me, we need a killing machine for those droids”

Anakin loves to randomly spar, like..

“Y/N take this!” *swing his lightsaber to Y/N’s head

“ KARKING HELL SKYWALKER” *proceeds to break Anakin’s lightsaber

master Windu whenever Y/N is beside him : “One mistake than this young Y/N falls into the wrong hand.”

master Yoda seems to be enjoying his life whenever you be with him after you done with your mission, cause everybody knows that you’ll be recharging after mission and you grows silent, generous and calm

Padme loves whenever you visit her cause you love to teach her tips on self-defense

“hit them in the chin, the harder you do, the more their legs go numb”

Ahsoka likes you, you seem reliable, trustable, and...better than her master, you can think in a difficult situation and knows how to beat the shit out of people without lightsaber, idk, when you’re with her, all she sees is like every problem that she has seems easy for you to take care of, so she rely on you a lot

“Master Y/N! master Anakin told me to eat vegetable!!”

“you have to eat vegetable under my roof, Ahsoka!”

“listen Skywalker, she’s carnivore.”

if you reveal the secret that you once a Valkyrie or a warrior on your world, everyone seem to be understanding why you grow as a killing machine

“so warrior in the past, you are” -Yoda

“so you kick ass for droids.. human.. ship!?” -Ahsoka

“damn, must be sucks for that ‘Herrscher’“- Anakin

“damn, must be lucky for that ‘Herrscher’ to be kicked by you” -Padme

“i see now why death never scares you..” -Obi Wan

“well at least force is better use than Honkai right?” - Master Windu

“so how did you die?” -Anakin

“burned.”

Anakin after Obi-wan leaving him in burned state : “oh so this is what it feels like..i smell like grilled chicken, that’s why Y/N said it smells like grilled chicken”

“so like...do you eat the Honkai beast to get the energy.. or..is it tasty? did you cook it?” -Ahsoka

reader as senator

interesting..!

you probably don’t want to go through training and kicking people’s ass, so you decide to play with politics

you probably once in a state where “damn Palpatine wants to be an asshole like Otto i see”

you play pretty much a good role for being a senator

many people admires you

Obi-wan doesn’t want to admit but he likes it whenever he got the sneaky lil time when you both could discuss about each other’s problems like politics and Jedi duty

Anakin finds that you often spend time with Padme, mostly about your works, but its not rare to see you guys having a normal chat and talking about personal diaries.

you only heard Ahsoka through Anakin’s story so when you got the chance to meet her, you talk a lot to her

honestly you both be friend well with many people, except Palpatine

since he reminds you like Otto, maybe this one’s old man doesn’t do it for love but he’s just as annoying as Otto apocalypse

actually when you’re in honkai universe, you maybe don’t watch a lot of star wars but you know that Darth Vader and Anakin is the same person, but how hard you try, in the end you couldn’t change Anakin’s destiny

and so does with Padme’s fate as well.

since you have normalized yourself to work 24/7 you never be see to be tied or exhausted, and you don’t mind keep joining meeting, taking care most of documents, and go to any formal party that you should go to

actually most of the people that knows you grows a little worried about your work, habit, and behavior, its just.. when was the last time you sleep? because they never seen you asleep at any time

actually surprise to see you could actually beat the kriff out of people whenever you need to get everything in line, but you insist everytime you being asked that fo you want to be trained as jedi, the reason is you dont want to move your body to killing things, and that is because you’re lazy lmao

#star wars hc #star wars x reader #star wars writing #star wars fanfic #star wars

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seasidemew · 1 year

Note

Ough your reply and tags are giving me so many FEELINGS on these guys him wanting to try to bring her back??? FixiNG her GLASSES?? ;^; absolutely wailing oh no he actually really likes her ack-

Unfortunately I do kinda see this version of May being fully gone shes just a body it probably destroyed her consciousness and soul so gone gone but also I'm here like hrggg but what if she wasn't fully gone okay??? What if she could come baaack?? Me wailing at myself even tho I'm the story writer XD

Darkness would definitely be pretty badly affected by it because like she kind of did the same thing once drowned and smothered Mays consciousness dragging it back into a mental prison to take control and she can only imagine the resurfaced trauma that would bring as this feral thing that looks like her sister slashes at her just unable to reach snarling and trying to kill her. She'd work with him to try to free her sister desperately hoping praying a little spark of her sister has trapped itself in some safe mental bubble that the corruption can't get to and that May can come back because if not? She doesn't want to think about it.

If may was fully gone and they got the crystals removed she'd either flatline because no soul or probably comatose no brainwaves because there's nothing there anymore she'd be just a body kept alive artificially. Darkness is familiar with soulless vessels breathed life through tubes and machines but this is the first one that has caused her to break down and wail and urg I gotta go lie down XD I'm making ME sad there's so much potential in this Au

YEAH YOU GET ME

🤝

He's allowed one (1) extra sentimental connection, as a treat (that will ruin his psyche forever lmaoooo)

He would hate to see her as a life support husk tbh that would be terrible. Like I could see him ultimately draining it with some twisted mindset of like at least what's left of her is with me now, but I don't think even he would fully believe that narrative, he knows it's fucked up to hell. And like if he did, Darkness would probably never forgive him, and he'd know that.

Honestly if he DID just totally lose her he would go mad. Madder, total isolation. He would start to let his "good" side go and his own corruption would speed up quite a bit. If he saw Darkness or Matt sometime after her true death it would be BAAAAD times. Especially Matt, he might somehow mistake Matt for May and go into full attack mode. Oops

Us just creating like 5 splitoffs of the same au that's already a splitoff of another au

#answered asks #fanwriter anon

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jasmariswonderland · 2 years

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“Remember to Breathe” ~ Danica’s Dorm Uniform Vignette (2/3)

“Our dorm leader is a little intimidating, but please don’t be afraid. This is the most beautiful dorm in our school!”

(A/N: This was originally posted back in February when I was still new to twst. Now that I’ve had this blog a few months, I decided to go back to some of my old vignettes and edit them. Some passages and plot bits have been rewritten and I’ve learned to make fake screencaps. Fake screencaps here are originally from Lilia’s ceremonial robes and Jade’s dorm uniform stories respectively.)

~~~

Three Days Later…

Taima: I see, well, look on the bright side.

Danica: What bright side?

Taima: *grins* Your evaluation could have gone way worse!

Danica: I guess, if you wanna look at it that way. It’s just…

Taima: I know, I know. Think of this as a challenge, your first at this school.

Epel: Is there a reason why performing makes you so stressed?

Danica: Not performing itself, performing alone.

Taima: Dani has a thing about always performing in a group. Back in our idol club, she never wanted to have solos even though, honestly, we thought her voice was the strongest out of the three of us.

Danica: But I won’t be singing solo for the contest, why is Vil-san making me do this?

Taima: I think he probably wants to see how serious you are about competing in the VDC.

Epel: *crossing his arms* Or how well you follow orders. That seems more likely.

Danica: Ugh! Well, at least you’ll be there, Tai-chan, and I’ll only be singing for a small number of people, mostly those in my dorm.

Taima: …

Danica: Hmm? What’s wrong?

Taima: Uh…about that…

*Flashback to Scarabia dorm lounge*

Jamil: Taima Abilene?

Taima: Yes? That’s me.

Jamil: This just arrived for you. *hands her an elegant looking envelope embossed with the Pomefiore emblem*

Taima: For me? *reads it over* Oh, cool! I’ve been invited to a concert at the Pomefiore dorm!

Kalim: A concert! Sounds awesome! Who’s performing?

Taima: My friend Danica, she’s such a good singer. You guys should come too!

Kalim: Yeah! I’d love to! There’s nothing I love more than…

Jamil: Kalim, you forget the invitation was extended to Taima only. Would it really be appropriate for you to barge in uninvited?

Kalim: Haaa, don’t be like that, Jamil! I’ll ask Vil if we can come too! I’m sure he’ll say yes!

Taima: Yeah! The more, the merrier!

*Back to the present time*

Danica: And?

Taima: Weeeeell…*laughing awkwardly* if it makes you feel better, only Kalim-san is coming. Jamil has a club meeting that day soooo…yeah…

Danica and Epel: … *glaring at Taima*

Taima: Heeeeyy, in my defense, there was nothing in the invitation saying I couldn’t bring a plus one!

Epel: Geez, ‘think Vil-san invited anyone else?

Danica: Sevens, do I hope not!

Taima: Try not to worry too much. Tell ya what? Me and some of my dormmates are gonna check out that Monstro Lounge on the other side of campus. Ya’ll wanna tag along?

Epel: I love to, but I’ve got etiquette lessons back at Pomefiore. Ugh!

Danica: I would too, but in addition to everything else, I gotta go find a club to join.

Taima: Oof, maybe next time then. Got any leads?

Danica: One, someone told me there’s a light music club meeting today so that’s where I’m heading.

Taima: Wish you luck on that; catch ya’ll later.

Epel: Buy, guys.

Danica: See ya back at the dorm, Epel.

~~~

Danica: Oh, I’m sorry, did I come to the wrong place? I’m looking for the light music club.

Cater: *smiling* Then you’ve come to the right place!

Kalim: *also smiling* Nice to see new faces. Welcome!

Danica: Thank you, but, this club only has two members?

Lilia: *hanging upside down right above her* Three members to be exact. And we’re more than delighted to welcome more!

Danica: EHHH?!

Cater: Haha, don’t scare her off, Lilia!

Danica: *trying to laugh* I wasn’t scared. Just surprised. (He wasn’t there when I…did he teleport?!)

Cater: Don’t worry, he does that to everyone, even us! Anywho, glad to have you with us, Dani-chan! I’m Cater, a junior from Heartslabuyl, and you’ve just met Lilia.

Lilia: Lilia Vanrouge, third year and vice dorm leader of Diasomnia. Pleased to make your acquaintance, Miss Danica, such a lovely name.

Kalim: And I’m Kalim! Dorm leader of Scarabia!

Danica: Pleased to meet all of you, but, how do you know my name? I don’t think any of us have met.

Cater: Haha, true dat. We might not have met in the flesh, but you’ve been the topic of our discussion today. I was just betting with Lilia when you’d show up here and…

Danica: Excuse me, what are you talking about?

Kalim: He’s talking about your concert! Of course! We’re all hyped about it!

Danica: …!

Cater: I just got my invite, took a little convincing, but Vil finally agreed when I convinced him we were scouting for new members for the club! And that by keeping the invite list exclusive, he’d…

Danica: INVITE LIST?! Who else is coming?! (How did I know Vil-san was going to do this?!)

Kalim: Well, I’m coming as your friends’ plus one, and Vil said we could each bring one person.

Cater: I’m bringing my vice dorm leader Trey. For some reason, he was totes interested in coming with me when I told him it was gonna be at Pomefiore. But hey! The more the merrier!

Kalim: Yeah! That’s what Tai-chan said!

Lilia: I was going to invite Malleus since he hardly ever gets out and…

(Danica tunes out the rest at the mention of Malleus)

Danica: …!!!! (MALLEUS?! MALLEUS DRACONIA?! WHY IN THE NAME OF THE GREAT SEVENS WOULD HE…)

Lilia:...but he’ll be busy at that time so I’ll be bringing Silver instead.

Danica: *gives a little smile* (Oooooohhh, thank goodness…)

Kalim: Oh, Silver’s coming? Awesome!

Danica: …

Cater: But back to present, Dani-chan, what you’ll be singing?

Danica: I... have a few ideas. I’ll probably make a final decision once I get back to my dorm.

Kalim: Yeah, probably gotta talk the setlist over with Vil-san, huh?

Danica: Yeah, most likely. He’s allowing me most control over my performance, but he insists on having the final say on everything. And naturally, I have my own ideas and he…*trying to smile* has his own. (LIKE THAT I SHOULD BE DOING THIS IN THE FIRST PLACE!!)

Lilia: Even so, perhaps you’d be so kind as to give us a little preview of what to expect Saturday?

Danica: *eyes widening* A…what?

Cater: Yeah, I’m sure Vil won’t object to that!

Kalim: Sing for us! Sing for us!

Danica: …I…I…

Lilia: Go on, don’t be shy, Nightingale.

Danica: Well…I would…it’s just…I…I…

*The three look at her with curiosity*

Danica: Oh no! I completely forgot! There IS something I need to square away with Vil and it can’t wait! My deepest apologies for leaving so soon but we’ll all see each other Saturday!

*The sound of hurried footsteps and the closing of the door*

Kalim: She seemed nice!

Lilia: A little timid, but very sweet indeed.

Cater: Maaaannn, why must Pomefiore always get all the cuties??

~~~

Danica: Sidonie-san! Where’s Vil? I must speak with him right away!

Sidonie: He and Rook are in the ballroom, is everything alright?

Danica: It’s about Saturday! He’s probably not going to like this but…

Vil: *Standing with Rook* What won’t I like?

Danica: !!!

Vil: Go on, what do you have to say?

Danica: Ermmm…well…I’m sorry to bother you, Sir, but this is about Saturday.

Vil: Ah yes, we were just going over preparations!

Danica: But…since you…chose to invite other students…I feel all the more pressured to be perfect. I know this will upset you but I’d like to cancel, or maybe…

Rook: Cancel?! Why ever for?

Vil: All I said was that you could invite your Scarabia friend. I never stated I wouldn’t invite others.

Danica: I understand that, but…I’m…concerned about my ability to give a top-notch performance.

Danica: …Well…for one, I brought some of my stage costumes with me from home when I came to NRC. I recently tried them all on and it appears I’ve…lost some weight. Since this concert is such short notice, I don’t have time to send my costumes to a tailor. Therefore, I don’t have anything suitable to wear.

Vil: Hmmm, well now, that would be quite a conundrum warranting cancellation…

Danica: *face lights up*

Vil: …if you weren’t already going to wear your dorm uniform. *smiling* I appreciate your desire to look fabulous, but in this case, wearing your dorm uniform would be more appropriate since you will be bringing merritt to Pomefiore. Is there anything else you’re concerned about?

Danica: YES!!! I mean…yes there is. I assume the concert will be here in the lounge. If that’s the case, with everyone who’s been invited, I’m worried this space is a tad too small to…

Rook: How interesting that you would read my mind, Mademoiselle! Vil and I just arrived from the ballroom and I have convinced him that space would be more suitable for allowing you to truly shine!

Vil: Anything else?

Danica: One last thing, I guess (pleeeease, let this work). Back in my old idol club, we would always have our performances recorded. That way, I could watch them later to critique myself and take notes on what to do differently in the future. *with a smile* I’m guessing it would be too short a notice…

Vil: Hmph. I must say, and I don’t do so lightly, that your devotion to perfection is honorable. Fear not. Cater seems adamant about taking pictures for social media, so I’m certain he’ll be more than thrilled to take video as well. I’ll make sure he forwards everything to you.

Rook: As you can see, cherie, you have no need for concern. Come Saturday, you will merveilleusse!

(Danica lowers her head sadly, Sidonie notices.)

Sidonie: Vil, I might be meddling but I think the idea of Saturday’s concert is distressing her. A lot.

Vil: Is that so, Danica? There seems to be more you wish to say.

Danica: …

Vil: Go on.

Danica: (Should I say it? But this may be my last chance) All those things are important to me, but the honest truth is, I’ve never sung solo before. If you make me do this, it would be a first for me.

Vil: I know.

Danica: Huh?! How do you…

Vil: How I know is of no importance. Do you think I would consider any amateur singer to represent our school, and our dorm, at the VDC?

Danica: No, Sir. And I want to meet your expectations, but I…

Vil: *frowning* If you want to meet my expectations, you can begin by not acting so sullen before you’ve even started! How will you know what you’re capable of if you give up at the slightest difficulty? Unexceptionable!

Danica: I’m sorry. I certainly don’t want to be a disappointment. *lowering her head* I’ll…do my best on Saturday.

Vil: That’s better. Now, you should probably start rehearsing, you can use the ballroom if you wish. (Danica leaves, Sidonie looks concerned) Hmmm? What is it?

Sidonie: Don’t you think you’re putting unneeded pressure on her? Even if she leads the girls’ team for VDC, there will be others with her. Doesn’t this seem kind of excessive?

Vil: Not at all, because when she wins, she will be in the spotlight to a much larger degree. I only wish to see if she is up to the challenge.

Sidonie: Wait, so you’ve already decided to let her lead the girls’ team?

Rook: Oui! After finding some videos of her idol club on the internet. She’s quite talented and certainly has a winning presence!

Vil: She’s not aware of this yet. I’ll inform her Saturday evening, after her performance.

Sidonie: But now this makes even less sense! Why make Danica prove herself if you’ve already decided…

(Vil and Rook give her a look and she pauses in thought)

Sidonie: I see…so you’re testing her. If that’s how it is, don’t worry, I won’t tell her anything. *looking slightly defeated* I just hope you know what you’re doing.

- TO BE CONTINUED -

#twisted wonderland oc #twst oc #pomefiore oc #OC: Danica #things i write

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sunmoonandeddie · 3 years

Text

and he kissed me right here

pairing: modern!bucky barnes x reader

word count: 6,100

summary: I've always been sure that all I ever wanted was a glamorous life.

warnings: Cuss words, mentions of the Afghanistan war (Bucky is a veteran), angst, happy ending, cheesy romantic confessions, age gap

a/n: This is based on the song 'Stars and the Moon' from Songs for a New World! It's the first one shot in my musical series! This is written in first perspective, but there is no physical description or use of a name in this!

Twenty-Two

I sighed as I tossed a few more dirty plates into the dish window, wiping my brow. After a shitty dinner rush and an even shittier rush around two in the morning consisting only of drunk ass college kids looking for some sort of carb to suck up all the alcohol in their systems, I was ready to go the fuck home.

“Sweetheart, you head on home now,” the head chef insisted as he watched my head nod slightly as I tried my best to fight off sleep. “Ain’t nobody comin’ in before Melissa gets here. No point in you staying on your feet any longer.”

Louis was a godsend. At sixty-seven years old, you’d think he would rather be anywhere but a diner at almost four in the morning.

“Nah,” he had said when I’d asked him a few months after I’d first started. “My Ginny died a few years back, and since she’s been gone, I don’t really have the stomach to sit around that house all alone.” He had laughed, but there’d been a deep sorrow that had come over his deep brown eyes. “Kids are worried, but… Sleeping the day away is better than laying up at night staring at her side of the bed…”

“You sure, Lou?” I asked even as I headed for the back room where all the employees clocked in and kept their possessions in their own little cubbies. I did my checkout in view of the security camera, just like always. I didn’t want anyone to be able to say I stole anything.

Everyone who knew me knew that I wouldn’t, but I’d worked at two many places where the girls tried backstabbing each other and sabotaging everyone else to get them fired.

Though people were a lot nicer in Louisiana than any of the other places I’d lived.

Louis chuckled as he set a to-go box in the window, nodding towards it. “Mmhm. Long as Buck is getting you home safe.”

I gave him a joking eye roll as I took the to-go box gratefully, grinning at my name written in all caps with green Sharpie on top. “You know you don’t have to make me dinner every night.”

“Yes, I do,” he said, shooting me a look. “How else do I know you’re getting enough food in you, huh?” He pointed his rag at me. “Now you go ask him to get you home. Tell him I said he can clock out, and that he’s supposed to text me when he sees you safe inside. You better not say you’re gonna ask him again just to walk yourself home.” The old man shook his head as I headed for the back door, muttering to himself, “Damn girl thinks I’m gonna believe she’s feeding herself good enough when she’s risking her damn ass walking home alone.”

Despite the fact that I’d put off asking for Bucky Barnes’s service, I really did appreciate how fiercely Louis cared about me.

It had been a real long time since anyone had cared so much.

I hesitated at the back door of the diner, my hand resting against the cool metal.

What if he said no?

Granted, he most likely wouldn’t. But what if he said yes, and he secretly thought me some dumb little girl that couldn’t take care of herself?

What did I care if he thought that?

“I don’t care what he thinks of me,” I huffed as I straightened my shoulders, holding my chin a little higher.

“Stop talking to yourself and get going!”

I jumped in surprise, before shooting a glare in the direction of the kitchen. “Stop listening in on my private conversations!” I demanded before storming outside with new found vigor.

Only to freeze when Bucky looked up from where he was sitting on the curb, smoking a cigarette.

God, he was handsome.

“You okay, doll face?” He asked, his New York accent a sharp contrast to the southern drawls you were used to.

“Um… Y-Yeah,” I said faintly, glancing back at the door that I’d come in from. “Um… L-Louis wants me to ask you… Can you walk me home? Or give me a ride? I don’t… I don’t know if you drive…”

“I do drive.”

“O-Oh. Okay. Great.”

“But I don’t have my car on me.”

I peered at him curiously. “Oh. Um… I can just walk by myself. I don’t wanna… I don’t wanna be a nuisance…”

He stood up, tossing his cigarette to the ground and stomping it out. “Don’t be ridiculous, darlin.’ Come on. I’ll walk you.” He shoved his hands in his pockets as he began to head for the street. “Besides… It’s a real nice night.”

“Oh…,” I said in surprise at how ready he was to be of service. “Okay. But only if you’re sure.”

A faint smile graced his lips as he glanced at the ground, letting out a faint chuckle that rumbled deep in his chest. “I’m sure, darlin.’ But you gotta lead the way.”

I was surprised by the rapid pitter patter of my heart beat as we walked side by side down the street, the chorus of ‘Yellow Brick Road’ getting stuck in my head on a loop.

Bucky was an enigma that I found myself wondering about more often than not, but I always ended up talking myself out of going there. After all, he was an older man. A much older man. At least fifteen years older than my own twenty-two years, or something along those lines, not that he looked it. The man looked like some kind of rugged Greek god. Like Hades if Hades was born in the eighties. His dog tags clinked together under his shirt as we walked, his metal prosthetic glinting in the moon.

“So how did you end up in NOLA?”

It took me a moment to even realize that he was talking to me, my heart skipping a beat and my face going hot in embarrassment. “I’m sorry, what did you say?” I asked.

His bright blue eyes flickered over to look me over. “How’d you end up in New Orleans?”

“I actually don’t know,” I snorted, avoiding his eyes as I kicked at a few broken up pieces of asphalt. “I just… Picked a bus ticket and ended up in one of the Carolinas. Then I picked another bus ticket and ended up in Minnesota. And then I picked another, and another, and another, and then I actually just… ended up here.” The months I’d spent alone on those Greyhounds felt both so long ago and also like it was just yesterday. “The diner was the first place someone recommended for food that’s good but cheap, and as I was eating my mountain of cheese fries, I saw the flyer that said they were hiring. So here I am now…”

“Huh,” he said, his brows furrowed. “I didn’t take you for the type of person to run off on your own… riding buses all over the country…”

Head tilting to the side, I gave him a long look. “You didn’t? What kind of type did you peg me for?”

Bucky gave me a long look, a single brow raised as though silently telling me that I jumped to conclusions. “Just that jumping from place to place can take a lot outta someone,” he said slowly, his voice low and soothing. “Hell, if you were my girl—” He broke off as his cheeks flushed a pretty shade of pink, his long hair falling in his face.

I swore my heart had stopped inside of my chest, and I swallowed thickly around the lump in my throat. “Oh?”

He rushed to try to correct his wording. “I-I just mean, a lady should be comfortable. And if I had a g-girl like you, well… You’d never want for anything,” he stammered, stumbling over his words like a flustered school boy. “Hell, I… I’d give you the stars and the moon…”

I was shocked into silence, staring up at him like he was the sun itself. “Bucky…”

“No, no, don’t say anything. I… I know that was a lot,” he insisted quietly, unable to meet your eyes as he stared up at the shitty apartment building you called home. “Hell, you probably don’t want a gross old man hitting on you.” His metal hand, glinting in the low light of the street lamp, reached up to brush against my cheek for just a moment before it quickly dropped. “Just let me walk you home each night so I can make sure you’re safe, yeah?”

“Yeah,” I breathed out, unable to take my eyes off of him as he took a few steps back.

There’s a somewhat playful smirk on his lips as he watched me stumble up the steps, continuously glancing back at him. “Goodnight, baby doll.”

“Goodnight,” I said, barely audible before I finally headed inside.

Bucky kept his word. He walked me home every night, and honestly, there wasn’t a moment that I wasn’t thinking about what he had said, about if I was his girl.

What if I was his girl?

But… with that meant I’d have to give up the life I’d dreamed for myself. I wanted luxury, to never worry about bills or where I was gonna get my next meal or if I could afford to buy the nice work shoes or if I could only get the cheap ones that would fall apart in three months and then I’d just be right back where I started.

I wanted the life that celebrities lived. Hell, I wanted to go to parties on the same yachts the Kardashian-Jenners did, even if I couldn’t fucking stand them.

And with Bucky… I wouldn’t have that.

“So why’d you go on the run anyway?” Bucky asked one night as we sat on the curb, eating ice cream in the Louisiana heat. “I know you told me how you got here, but you’ve never told me why.”

“You’ve never told me how you ended up here or why either,” I shot back, nudging his shoulder with my own.

Somehow the age difference seemed non-existent as we sat there. Honestly, I felt like we were just a bunch of dumb teenagers, shooting the shit and enjoying each other’s company.

Bucky took in a deep breath, his shoulders sinking in a way that made it look like he had all the weight of the world on his shoulders. “I was over in Afghanistan for a long time,” he admitted quietly. “When the war first started, I was 19. I had no idea where my life was going and I had no options except my dad’s mechanic shop. So I enlisted with my best friend, Steve. The one I told you about.”

It’s completely silent except for the sound of an occasional car horn off in the distance.

“Neither one of us knew what we were doing. We realized very quickly that we had no reason being over there, but… but there was nothing else,” he said, swallowing around the lump in his throat. The ice cream he was holding was melting in his trembling hands. “I didn’t know how to do anything else, so I stayed. Steve moved up in the ranks, but I stayed pretty low… I didn’t mind. Kinda liked being the older guy all those young kids could talk to, could rely on… Because they were just like me, getting into a fight that wasn’t theirs because they had nothing else.”

My heart was shattering inside my chest as I scooted a little closer, my knee knocking against his as I tried to give him some sort of silent comfort. He’d been through Hell and made it through.

Bucky let his head rest against mine, his eyes closing as he breathed in the scent of my perfume. “They eventually moved me to some kind of specialized team… Called us the Howling Commandos. I found out that Steve was heading it and he picked me to be part of it. That’s how I met Sam, because he was on some sort of similar team with the Air Force, except it was just him and his friend, Riley,” he continued, taking a bite of his chocolate fudge brownie ice cream. “I am proud to say that I didn’t kill a single person while I was over there. I just couldn’t. Hell, they’re people just like me, terrified and unsure of what’s going to happen.” His lips pressed against my forehead, letting it linger. “But then about five years ago, I was on a mission with the Commandos, Sam, and Riley, and… this bomb went off while we were playing a game of soccer. I wasn’t even in a fight. That thing took my arm and it took Riley.”

Tentatively, I let my fingers find his, holding his hand and squeezing reassuringly.

“Sam decided to come home with me.” There was a forlorn look in his eyes, as though he was right back at that game of pick-up soccer. “After losing Riley… he couldn’t find a reason to be over there. And then Steve decided to stay, and hell, he’s still over there, leading that fucking team…” Glassy baby blue eyes finally found mine, the both of us doing our best to not cry. “I couldn’t face my family for a long time, so Sam asked me to come stay in Louisiana with him and his family, and I haven’t left since.”

“Have you gone to see your family?” I asked slowly, almost like I was scared I’d frighten him if I spoke too loudly, like a wild animal. “Let them know where you are? That you’re safe?”

He turned to look at me, his baby blues shining. “You worried about me, baby doll?”

“I can’t help it,” I said honestly, unable to tear my eyes away. I hadn’t opened up to someone like that in so damn long. “I can’t help but worry about you.”

The way that I felt about Bucky absolutely terrified me, but there was nothing I could do to stop it. It snuck up on me, like a train coming around a bend.

I hated it.

“What do you want out of this life?” Bucky asked on one walk home, his arm linked in mine. He’d become so much more… tactile. If anyone took a moment to look at us, they’d think we were a couple on a romantic stroll.

Perhaps we were.

But I couldn’t help but grin as I looked up at the sky, taking in the warm air. “I wanna live like how the movie stars do… I want a big house on the beach and twenty cars and a yacht and… and…”

He looked at me long and hard. “And you never wanna have to worry about where your next meal is coming from, if you’re gonna have a place to sleep at night…”

For some reason, I’d felt a bolt of panic over whether or not he’d understand. Whether or not he’d think differently of me, but I should’ve known that he wouldn’t. Hell, he knew me better than anyone else.

“You understand,” I said quietly, my hand squeezing his bicep gratefully. “I want to live how the other half lives for once. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.”

A small smile graced his features as we shuffled along. “There isn’t. But… What about love?” He asked.

“Love?”

“Love.”

Love.

Could I even have love? Did I want it?

“I don’t know if there’s a lot of room for love in my plans,” I admitted after a long moment. “In my experience, love has always just been a lie. A word used to manipulate and eventually abuse.”

Letting out a snort, he let his fingers tickle down my tricep until his fingers intertwined with mine. “I’d show you it’s not… I’d show you what real love is,” he said. “I’d give you every part of me, give you all my strength to help you grow into who you wanna be, even if I don’t particularly care about being famous or rich…” He brought my hand to his lips, kissing my knuckles. “I’ll give you a love story, a life, that’s a million times better than any recycled Hollywood plot… I’ll give you the stars and the moon, if you would just let me.”

I hated the way that he made my heart beat faster, the way my breath hitched. “Jamie,” I breathed out quietly, the two of us having stopped in our tracks to just… take each other in. Live in each other’s presence for a moment. “I…”

“You want a big life… one a lot bigger than little old me,” he said simply, shrugging. His blue eyes were so honest, so loving. So warm. A warmth I hadn’t ever experienced before. “I know. But that doesn’t change that I’m in love with you. And if you ever change your mind…” Bucky reached into his pocket and pulled out a business card, pressing it into my free hand. “This is where you can find me. I figure it’s time for me to go home.”

We’d come to a stop in front of my building, and I was shocked at how tight my chest felt. My eyes watered as I stared at him long and hard. “Jamie, please… I⏤”

“Don’t say it. It’s okay,” he insisted as he cupped my cheek, letting his thumb run over my skin as though he was memorizing it. “I just want you to be happy, darling. You got that?” His lips pressed to my forehead, letting it linger. “Go get that life you’ve been dreaming of.”

Twenty-Three

I left New Orleans the next day, grabbing a bus ticket after throwing all of my belongings into my old duffel bag. It was time to move on.

But God, did it hurt.

I didn’t stop crying for weeks, fighting the urge to go right back to Louisiana and tell Bucky to take it back, to get him to beg me to stay with him.

But what kind of life would that leave me with? Working in the diner day after day? Never getting anywhere?

But you’d have James, a voice inside my head reminded me snarkily.

Then again, he most likely wasn’t even in New Orleans anymore, if what he said was true when he gave me the business card of his father’s mechanic shop. Was he really planning on going home to New York City?

A few months later, and I’d worked my way all through the southwest to Santa Fe, where I met Pietro.

My heart was pounding as I pressed in the familiar numbers, having memorized them from the business card now soft and faded from how often I held it in my hands like a lifeline. “Come on… Pick up… Pick up…”

“Barnes Tires and Motors, this is George,” a man said in a gruff voice when he finally picked up. “How can I help you?”

“H-Hi, is James there? James Barnes? Bucky?” I stammered out, hands trembling so bad that the old payphone was almost rattling.

There was a pause, and then muffled talking away from the phone.

And then I heard it being picked up. “This is Bucky,” he said.

It felt like the wind had been knocked right out of my lungs. How had I gone so long without hearing his voice?

Breathing in sharply, I tried to figure out the words to say. But my throat was dry and it was like I’d suddenly forgotten the entire English language.

That was all that it took for Bucky to realize it was me. “Baby doll? Baby doll, is that you?” He asked quietly. “I…” He took in a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. “You don’t gotta say a thing, sweetheart… But just know that if you’re in trouble or you need help or… or anything at all, you better call me…” His voice wavered, as though he was fighting tears just like I was. “God, I miss you so much, baby doll. I love you.”

I love you, too.

I hung up before I could actually say the words. “God, I’m so fucking stupid,” I whispered as I leaned back against the wall of the gas station I’d found myself at, rubbing the heels of my hands into my eyes.

My dumb ass had decided to wander from the bus station, and I’d walked over a mile away. Unless I was staying in Santa Fe for a bit, I’d need to start making my way back.

“You okay?”

In my distress, I hadn’t even heard the rumbling of the motorcycle or noticed the handsome man making his way to me. “Uh, yeah. Yeah, I’m fine,” I said even as I wiped my nose with a pathetic sniffle.

He eyed me for a long moment, his eyes roaming over my figure. “You hungry? I know a great little place nearby. My treat.”

And well, I was never one to turn down free food.

Even if that ‘little place’ ended up being a food truck.

“You know, when you said it was a little place, I didn’t picture it having wheels,” I said teasingly, licking salsa off of my lower lip. “Though, it is the best food I’ve ever gotten from a food truck before.”

“Oh, come on. This is the best food of all time!” He laughed, shaking his head.

“I don’t know if I’d go that far,” I snorted, finishing off my flautas.

Pietro looked at me long and hard. “So, are you gonna tell me what the hell was going on to have a pretty girl like you all teary eyed?” He asked, his head tilting to the side.

I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. “Was this your plan all along?” I asked. Wiping my hands off on a napkin, I did everything I could to avoid his eyes. “Get me all fed and then question me?” But at the same time, the thought of being able to finally talk to someone about it was so appealing… After a long moment of hesitation, I finally gave in. “I fell in love with a man, and he let me go because he knew that I want a life he can’t give me,” I said. “And I was a bitch who didn’t even tell him I love him back when he said it to me.”

Pietro took in a deep breath, slowly letting it out. “Damn. You really are a stone cold bitch, aren’t you?”

“Hey!” I indignantly threw a chunk of tomato at him, glaring. “I just opened up my heart, you dickwad.”

“Dickwad?!” He said, blinking at me in shock. “No one’s ever called me a dickwad before.”

I raised a single eyebrow at him. “Maybe not to your face, but they definitely have.” He gave off the vibe of a fuckboy, of a really, really bad fuckboy.

“Well, since you’re running away from your feelings, how about you spend a week or two with me on the road?” He asked with a grin.

I couldn’t help but blink at him in shock. “What?” I let out a laugh, pulling one of my legs up to my chest. “Do you throw that line out to every girl you meet? Or am I just special?”

Pietro threw a chip at me, and I barely managed to dodge it. “No, I don’t. But… You remind me of me. Needing adventure. A life bigger than four walls and a fence.”

Instinctively, I wanted to snap back that sometimes, four walls and a fence could be an adventure, could be the biggest life there was, as Bucky’s face flashed across my mind.

But I couldn’t do that. Not when I wasn’t ready to face the truth myself.

“Come on, sweet cheeks,” he teased as his foot hooked around mine. “Just think of it. The open highway, a rhythm beneath your feet… Nights full of passion and days of adventure…” Pietro’s voice was deep and husky, as though he was trying to lure me in. “No strings… just warm summer rain soaking us to the bone before we find some cheap motel to huddle down in…”

Plastering on a smile, I stood up and brushed myself on. “Thanks, but… I’d rather be drinking champagne, and the quicker I get to LA, the sooner I will be.”

He let me go with a kiss on the cheek and his cell number pressed into my hand, with a promise to come and pick me up the second I rang.

And despite how sweet he was, how wild and funny and charismatic, there was only one man I wanted to call.

Twenty-Four

I sipped at my martini as I sat at the rooftop bar, absentmindedly watching the television that was mounted on the wall as people droned around me. I’d been in Los Angeles for a year, and I’d spent my time finding the best places to find a husband who could give me the life I dreamed of.

As much as I didn’t want to admit it, it took connections to build a career, and the best way to get a foot in the door when nepotism was so rampant was by marrying someone in the industry.

My silk dress was the most expensive thing I owned, something I’d saved up for months for, had skipped meals for. And fuck, was it worth it. I could feel the stares, the lingering gazes on the little bit of thigh that was exposed by the slit in the dress.

I’d already turned away several men, able to tell just from their expensive watches and cheap suits and shoes.

It was amazing how all the up and coming finance bros thought they fit in with the truly big dogs.

“Well, hello, gorgeous.”

I turned to see who was speaking, my heart skipping a beat when I realized who I was speaking to.

The world famous (or infamous) director, Tony Stark.

“Hello, handsome,” I said smoothly, my lashes fluttering innocently as I took a sip of my horrible drink.

I fucking hated martinis. Always had.

But ordering a martini was more sophisticated than ordering a frozen strawberry margarita.

“Is this seat taken?” He asked as he motioned to the empty bar stool right next to me, even as he was already sitting down. “Let me buy your next round.”

“I can’t think of anything better,” I said, feeling as though my dream life was already in reach.

Twenty-Eight

“Tony, where are you taking me?” I laughed as I let my boyfriend lead me to the private dock at our Malibu mansion.

Well, his mansion. I just happened to also live there.

It had been a whirlwind of a year since I had met Tony, and he’d bought me that second round. He’d taken me all over the globe, anywhere my heart desired.

But I made sure to avoid New York City, though he never understood why. I would never tell him.

Not when I was so close to my dream. I could practically taste it.

“Come on, come on. I have a surprise for you,” he said, keeping his hands over my eyes. He was sure to keep me from tripping and busting my ass, thank god.

The ocean waves were so comforting as they hit the shore, a sound I’d gotten used to over the past year.

He finally brought me to a stop, quietly telling me to keep my eyes closed. “Okay,” he said finally. “Open them.”

My eyes slowly opened, adjusting to the bright light of the California sun. But I was more shocked by the sight of Tony on one knee in front of me, holding out a box with a sparkling diamond ring in it. “Tony?”

The ring was the size of a fucking meteor. It was easily the biggest ring I’d ever seen.

“You know, I never thought I’d meet someone like you,” he said quietly, his dark eyes shining. But his voice was steady. “Someone who understands me, who doesn’t expect me to change into someone I’m not. You accept me as I am, and that’s why I want to give you the world.” He couldn’t help but grin as he nodded to the right. “Starting with that yacht you’ve always dreamed of.”

I hadn’t even noticed that there were two yachts at his private docks instead of just the one. The new one had SS Princess emblazoned on the side, and I couldn’t help but laugh. “Oh… Tony…”

“So, what do you say?” He asked, bringing my attention back to him. “Will you be my wife?”

“Yes.”

Thirty-Two

Swallowing nervously, I looked down at the business card in my hand for the millionth time, the stock paper soft from how often I’d looked at it in the past ten years.

Hell, just how often I’d looked at it in the past six should’ve made it fall apart by now. Not that I didn’t have it memorized.

I’d finally ended my marriage after being miserable for so long. I’d gotten my yacht, my fancy houses, my career, all the jewelry that I could dream of, and none of it made me happy. Tony and I… never grew. And I never dreamed. Every day was the same, and every day was torture as I realized that I didn’t have the one thing that actually mattered.

The garage in front of me was busy, music blasting and the sound of men shouting to each other as they worked.

Suddenly I felt absolutely ridiculous wearing a Chanel dress and Gucci heels, an Hermés bag on my arm.

BARNES TIRES AND MOTORS was lit up along the top of the shop in bright red letters, though the lights in the ‘r’ of ‘motors’ were out.

I felt like a fool. I had wanted the life I had so desperately that I gave up everything for it. I got the movie star life, my name on billboards and my face on magazines.

But it wasn’t ever enough.

My heels clicked against the blacktop as I slowly made my way towards the front area of the shop, bells clinging above my head to let them know someone was there.

“Can I help you, ma’am?” A man asked as he came around the corner.

He looked so much like Bucky, it punched the air straight from my lungs.

“H-Hi. I’m looking for James Barnes. Is he here?” I asked after a long moment of hesitation. There was no way that the man was Bucky, but I didn’t doubt he was related.

The man raised his brows, wiping his hands on a rag. “My son’s in the shop. I’ll take you to him.” His full head of hair was white, his thick facial hair matching. Even with all the wrinkles on his face, he was a handsome man. Holding open the door for me, he led me into the loud shop, some eighties rock song blasting over the speakers.

I couldn’t help but smile as ‘Rock You Like a Hurricane’ by Scorpions came on. It was one of Bucky’s favorites back when we worked in the diner together.

“BUCK! YOU GOT A VISITOR!” The man shouted, causing several people to look our way.

My cheeks felt hot as I avoided their gaze, hoping they wouldn’t recognize me. I didn’t want to be a famous movie star anymore, a celebrity that had to beg for scraps of privacy.

My mind went numb, my heart stopping inside my chest as he stepped around a gray Ford Escape another man was working on.

He was even more handsome than he was the last time I saw him.

“Can I help y—” He broke off, his blue eyes going wide when he realized that it was me. “Hi.”

All of a sudden, everything I’d planned to say flew out of my head. All of the eloquent words I’d strung together were gone. And I just proceeded to word vomit.

“Did you know that, uh, when you marry someone you’re not in love with, you won’t… you won’t grow into it?” I asked, my voice shaking. “Um… I married a man who could give me a life I thought I always wanted, and he just… sucked.” Eyes stinging, I fought back against tears. “And I thought that all I ever wanted was the life I have now, was the life movie stars and the Kardashians lived. But… But I hate it. I hated every second I was away from you.” I let out a weak laugh, unable to stop the tears. “I wanted to turn around the second I got on the bus in New Orleans, but my stupid stubborn ass didn’t. I should have. I should’ve gotten off and just run right back to you because I… I love you, James. I always have.”

The garage had gone almost deadly quiet, and my heart sank when I realized Bucky looked almost frozen in shock.

“I know that I shouldn’t have showed up like this,” I scrambled to say. “But I… I’ve been trying to get my divorce finalized for two years and I finally did, and I kept telling myself that once it was done, I’d never hold myself back from what I really want ever again. From who I want. If… If you want me.” My face felt like it was on fire, my hands shaking. I shook my head as I took a step backwards. “What am I thinking? There’s no way you’re not married. I… I’m so so—”

Before I could finish the word ‘sorry,’ Bucky had closed the distance between us, his hands cradling my face so gently. He held me like I was made of fine crystal as he kissed me. He kissed me like his life depended on it, like I was the one source of oxygen.

And I kissed him back just as fiercely. “I love you. I love you so much,” I breathed out in between kisses, unwilling to let him go as my Hermés bag fell into the dust and oil on the concrete below.

Bucky smiled into the kiss, his arm wrapping around my waist to keep me pressed to his chest. “I love you so much, darlin.’ God, I’ve missed you…” His nose nudged against mine as we finally broke for air, both of us breathing heavily.

My knees felt like Jell-O as I held onto him. His grip was the only reason I hadn’t fallen to the ground already.

“I’m sorry I was a dumb twenty-two year old,” I said, snorting as he stole another kiss.

“No… Don’t be sorry,” he insisted, his fingers massaging my scalp as our foreheads pressed together. It was like he was scared to stop touching me, like I would disappear at any second. “You were young… You had to go out and make your own mistakes… I’ve just been waiting for the day you were ready.”

All the years apart melted away and all that remained was the two of us, two souls so intertwined that there was no way to truly separate us.

Our lips were half molded together as I said, “I’m never leaving you again. I promise I swear on everything…”

My heart almost stopped inside my chest as I heard someone clearing their throat, looking to see Bucky’s father staring at us with his arms crossed over his chest. “M-Mr. Barnes, sir…”

He gave a crooked smile that was so reminiscent of Bucky that I couldn’t help but grin back. “The Mrs. will wanna know if you’re staying for dinner.”

“Yeah,” I said as I looked up at Bucky, toying with a strand of his hair. “That sounds perfect.”

Later that night, Bucky and I laid in his bed, a mess of bare limbs as his fingers ran up and down my back soothingly. “What do you want from this life, baby girl?” He asked absentmindedly.

Humming, I traced shapes on his bare chest, sometimes pressing a kiss to where his prosthetic met his shoulder, on the tender scar tissue. “You.”

A grin tugged at the corner of his mouth, despite the already mischievous look on his face. “Really? Not even the stars and the moon?” He asked teasingly.

I knew he’d give it to me anyway, give me all that he could. But I was sure now that the only thing I wanted from this life was his love. “Not even the stars and the moon.”

#bucky barnes x reader #bucky x reader #bucky x y/n #bucky barnes x y/n #bucky barnes reader insert

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thebibliosphere · 3 years

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So I'm currently unemployed because I got fired for taking too much sick leave (it was legally sketchy blah blah blah but in the end I just can't work and take care of myself and investigate my mystery health problems at the same time). So I've been spending more time writing!

I really admire your writing and loved Hunger Pangs. I'm looking forward to the poly elements developing and I'm wondering if you have any advice for writing about poly. I've made one of my projects a snarky take on "write what you know" ... Apparently what I know is southern gothic meets Pacific northwest gothic, chronic illness pandemic surrealism, and falling back-asswards into threesomes.

I know this is a very open-ended question and I don't expect an answer, I'm just curious about it if you have the energy. As a writer, trying to write honestly / realistically about polyamory/enm, I'm curious if you have any thoughts on what's different about portraying monogamy or nonmonogamy in books, romance or erotica or otherwise.

I'm trying to read examples but it's hard to find examples that fit the niche I'm looking at. Excuse me if this question is nonsense, it's the cluster headaches.

I'm sorry to hear you've been dealing with all that and solidarity on the cluster headaches. But I'm glad you're finding an outlet through writing! And I hope you're happy with an open-ended ramble in response because oh boy, there's a lot I could talk about and I could probably do a better job of answering this sort of thing with more specific questions, but let's see where we end up.

There's definitely a big difference between writing polyamory/ENM (ethical non-monogamy) and what people often expect from monogamous love stories.

Just even from a purely sales and marketing standpoint, the moment you write anything polyamorous (or even just straight up LGBTQIA+ without the ENM) you're going to get considered closer to being erotica/obscene than hetero romances. It's an unfair bias, but it's one that exists in our society. But also the Amazon algorithm and their shitty, shitty human censors. Especially the ones that work the weekends. (Talking to you, Carlos 🖕.)

So not only do you start out hyper-aware that you're writing something that is highly stigmatized or fetishized (at least I'm hyper-aware) but that you are also writing for a niche market that is starving for positive content because the content that exists is either limited, not what they want, or is problematic in some fashion i.e. highly stigmatized or fetishy. And even then, the wants, desires, and expectations of the community you're writing for are complex and wildly varied and hard to fit into an easy formula.

When writing monogamous love stories, there is a set expectation that’s really hard to fuck up once you know it. X person meets Y. Attraction happens, followed by some sort of minor conflict/resolution. Other plot may happen. A greater catalyst involving personal growth for both parties (hopefully) happens. Follow the equation to its ultimate resolution and achieve Happily Ever After.

But writing ENM is... a lot more difficult, if only because of the pure scope of possibilities. You could try to follow the same equation and shove three (or more) people into it, but it rarely works well. Usually because if you’re doing it right, you won’t have enough room in a single character arc to allow for enough growth, and if ENM requires anything in abundance, it’s room to grow.

And this post is huge so I’m going to put the rest under a cut :)

There's also a common refrain in certain online polyam/ENM circles that triads and throuples are overrepresented in media and they may be right to some extent. Personally, I believe the issue isn't that triads and throuples are overrepresented, but that there is such minuscule positive rep of ethical non-monogamy in general, that the few tiny instances we have of triads in media make it seem like it's "everywhere" when in actuality, it's still quite rare and the media we do have often veers into Unicorn Hunter fetish porn. Which is its own problematic thing. And just to be clear, I’m not including this part to dissuade you from writing "falling back-asswards into threesomes." If anything, I need more of it and would hook it directly into my brain if I could. I'm just throwing it out there into the void in the hope that someone will take the thought and run with it, lol.

I’d love to see more polyfidelitous rep in fiction, just as much as I’d like to see more relationship anarchy too. More diversity in fiction is always good.

Another thing that differs in writing ENM romance vs conventional monogamy is the feeling like you need to justify yourself. There's a lot of pressure to be as healthy and non-problematic as possible because you are being held to a higher standard of criticism. Both from people from without the ENM communities, and from the people within. Granted, some people don't give a shit and just want to read some fantastic porn (valid) but there are those who will cheerfully read Fifty Shades of Bullshit and call it "spicy" and "romantic," then turn around and call the most tooth-rottingly-sweet-fluff about a queer platonic polycule heresy. That's just the way the world works.

(Pro-tip for author life in general: never read your own reviews; that way madness lies. I glimpsed one the other day that tagged Hunger Pangs as “ethical cheating” and just about had an aneurism.)

And while that feeling of needing to justify yourself comes from a valid place of being excluded from the table of socially accepted norms, it can also be to the detriment of both the story and the subject matter at hand. I've seen some authors bend so far over backward to avoid being problematic in their portrayal of ENM, they end up being problematic for entirely different reasons. Usually because they give such a skewed, rose-tinted perspective of how things work, it ends up coming off as well... a bit culty and obnoxious tbh.

“Look how enlightened we are, freed from the trappings of monogamy and jealousy! We’re all so honest and perfect and happy!”

Yeah, uhu, sure Jan. Except here’s the thing, not all jealousy is bad. How you act on it can be, but jealousy itself is an important tool in the junk drawer that is the range of human emotion. It can clue us in to when we’re feeling sad or neglected, which in turn means we should figure out why we’re feeling those things. Sometimes it’s because brains are just like that and anxiety is a thing. Other times it’s because our needs are actually being neglected and we are in an unhealthy situation we need to remedy. You gotta put the work in to figure it out. Which is the same as any style of relationship, whether it’s mono, polyam or whatever flavor of ENM you subscribe to* And sometimes you just gotta be messy, because that’s how humans are. Being afraid to show that mess makes it a dishonest portrayal, and it also robs you of some great cannon fodder for character development.

Which brings me in a roundabout way to my current pet peeve in how certain writers take monogamous ideals and apply them to ENM, sometimes without even realizing it. The “Find the Right Person and Settle Down” trope.

Often, in this case, ENM or polyamory is treated as a phase. Something you mature out of with age or until you meet “The One(tm).” This is, of course, an attempt to follow the mono style formula expected in most romances. And while it might appeal to many readers, it’s uh, actually quite insulting.

To give an example, I am currently seeing this a lot in the Witcher fandom.

Fanon Netflix!Jaskier is everyone's favorite ethical slut until he meets Geralt then woops, wouldn’t you know, he just needed to find The One(tm). Suddenly, all his other sexual and romantic exploits or attractions mean nothing to him. Let's watch as he throws away a core aspect of his personality in favor of a man.

Yeah... that sure showed those societal norms...

If I were being generous, I’d say it’s a poor attempt at showing New Relationship Euphoria and how wrapped up people can become in new relationships. But honestly, it’s monogamous bias eking its way in to validate how special and unique the relationship is. Because sometimes people really can’t think of any other way to show how important and valid a relationship is without defining it in terms of exclusivity. Which is a fundamental misunderstanding of how ENM works for a lot of people and invalidates a lot of loving, serious and long-term relationships.

This is not to say that some polyam/poly-leaning people can't be happy in monogamous relationships! I am! (I consider myself ambiamorous. I'm happy with either monogamy or polyamory, it really just depends on the relationship(s) I’m in.) But I also don't regard my relationship with a mono partner as "settling down" or "growing up." It's just a choice I made to be with a person I love, and it's a valid one. Just like choosing to never close yourself off to multiple relationships is valid. And I wish more people realized that, or rather, I wish the people writing these things knew that :P

Anyway, I think I’ve rambled enough. I hope this collection of incoherent thoughts actually makes some sense and might be useful.

----

*A good resource book that doesn't pull any punches in this regard is Polysecure by Jessica Fern. It's a wonderfully insightful read that explores the messier side of consensual non-monogamy, especially with how it can be affected by trauma or inter-relationship conflicts. But it also shows how to take better steps toward healthy, ethical non-monogamy (a far better job than More Than Two**) and conflict resolution, making it a valuable resource both for someone who is a part of this relationship style***, but also for writers on the outside looking in who might have a very simple or misguided idea of what conflict within polyam/ENM relationships might look like, vs traditional monogamous ones.

** The author of More Than Two has been accused of multiple accounts of abuse within the polyamorous community, with many of his coauthors having spoken out about the gaslighting and emotional and psychological damage they experienced while in a relationship with him. A lot of their stories are documented here: https://www.itrippedonthepolystair.com/ (warning: it is not light material and deals with issues of abuse, gaslighting, and a whole other plethora of Yikes.) While some people still find More Than Two helpful reading, there are now, thankfully, much, much better resources out there.

*** Some people consider polyam/ENM to be part of their identity or orientation, while others view it as a relationship style.It largely depends on the individual.

#long post #writing #ethical non-monogamy #relationship styles #relationship models in fiction #also that kindle link is an affiliate link #because fuck giving amazon free recs

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