#brotp: see you in hell

[carolmunson]

always something there to remind me (s.h.)

summary: ten years after the sealing of the upside-down, you and your fiance steve head to a cookout to unwind during memorial day weekend. with steve on edge after a rough half sleep full of night terrors, you hope the day can be salvaged by seeing the party and just relaxing, but a violent thunderstorm changes those plans for the worse. pairings: steve x reader, lumax, edancy. heavy on the steddie brotp tho.

tw: 18+ as always. this story deals with themes of mental illness and ptsd, it is only intended for mature audiences. descriptions of ptsd flashbacks, internal and external (please be advised they are dramatizations). partner violence (unintentional). drinking/smoking. discussions of mental illness. very moody steve but very soft steve. features some tense arguments. smut, like, very loving and passionate smut. this relationship is not perfect, it's also a depiction of a moment in time in 1997. the emotional load was very much a woman's job and i personally think steve would be 'too proud' to be 'too soft' about his stuff. so there are parts that seem kind of 'eh' but -- that's just how things were sorta. gif by @kingofscoops

His pill case sounded like a rattle when you took it from the medicine cabinet, taking it into the kitchen where he was shrugging on his freshly ironed polo. The ironing board and hot iron still set up by the counter. The black stone contrasted nicely against your cherry wood cabinets that he installed two summers ago. That was when you both thought he might be getting better: the night terrors were less and less frequent, the flashbacks far and few between, he was less tense, less irritable. Seeking you constantly for soft touches and kisses, any kind of affection he could pull from you he'd take willingly. Two years ago was your two year anniversary -- when he finally told you the real story. Why he had all those scars, why he can't sleep, why he wakes up in a cold sweat crying. Why you'd never been able to figure out which health care company was providing him with so much medication and therapy when he was working part time at the hospital -- it's because it was the FBI.

It was two years ago where they took you to an underground office where they told you everything. Steve sat next to you, gripping your hand so tightly you thought it might break. They reassured over and over that nothing was coming back, that everything was over, but that Steve and his friends will likely never recover emotionally and mentally from what they endured. Four years into things now, you were both his fiance and his nurse. You checked in monthly with his caseworking team, but in these last few months, they've had nothing but shaky reports. You wondered if maybe his mind just isn't as sharp as it used to be -- you both just entered your thirties, maybe things get knocked loose quicker when you've been to hell and back. "Here, honey," you say softly, putting his pill case on the table. He looks at them and sighs, amber eyes lingering on the 'Saturday' section of the pill box. "Let me get you some wa--" "You don't need to give me my pills every day," he says -- it's soft and sharp, "I know I have to take them. I've been takin' them for ten years."

You offer him a tight smile, "I know, Stevie..." You trail off. 'It's important that he feels in control of the situation, a lot of his role when he was in this situation was to protect others. Try not to baby him about it, he might be fragile, but he doesn't like to feel like he is.'

"It's just...I don't want a repeat of last year," you quietly remind him. He had gotten too sure of himself when he started to feel better -- missing days, stopping altogether, off and on.

He reaches for the pill case and pops open the Saturday square, tossing the main five pills into his palm and then into his mouth. Pain, anti-depressant, anti-anxiety, migraine, blood thinner. The heavy stuff sat in the cabinet above the fridge: Quaaludes, Oxycontin, Sumatriptan, Clozapine -- among others. Every day was a reminder to him that he didn't come out of this a stronger person. His dad let him know that at every visit, treating him like he had a son made of glass. "Don't," he says after he swallows, "Don't start with me."

Your eyes narrow in on the finger he puts up in warning and travels down to his big hand, a vein popping in his forearm and under the band of his watch. His bicep flexes against his polo, you follow it across the expanse of his chest and down the other arm, landing back on the pill case.

You knew last night what kind of day it would be this morning. Desperate reaches for you while he woke up from another nightmare, his damp chest up against yours while he hid his face in your neck. He hugs you so tightly to him so he doesn't float away, and you match his strength as best you can until he falls back asleep. Sometimes it takes hours of stroking his hair and soothing him before he feels safe enough to even close his eyes. In the years you've been together, he's been more and more embarrassed over these needier nights. 'It's just, baby -- I'm a man. I have to get over all this shit.'

"I'm not starting anyth--" "You are," he warns, eyes narrowing. He clenches his jaw, "Don't."

"M'sorry," you breath out. You take the pill case when he sets it back down and bring it back upstairs to the main bathroom. You refill the case before placing it back in the medicine cabinet with a sigh. When it closes you look at yourself in the mirror, no longer the fresh 26 year old he met at the hospital admin desk when he started his part time job as an assistant in the children's psych floor. Gaining hours towards getting his pediatric therapist licensure to help kids who were like him and his friends -- well, sort of. To some extent. You smooth over your button down dress, his favorite one in your closet -- navy blue with beige flowers littering the fabric. It flounces over you in dips and swoops, falling just under your knee. Another sigh and you grab your purse from the bedroom and slip on your sandals, clip clopping down the stairs where you hear him grab the keys. Another Saturday morning where the group gets together and just hangs out, even though Steve sees Eddie, Rob, and Dustin pretty often throughout the week. They've been doing it for years now, but the outside buzzed with the promise of summer, Memorial Day weekend making everyone feel more at ease. Everyone except Steve.

He slams the car door when he gets in the drivers seat, making you jump in the leather of his Lexus. He runs his hands over his jean clad thighs, having grown in size over the last six years with age and trips to the gym. 'I just wanna be in like, peak physical condition if anything tries to come back. I wanna be more ready than when I was a kid, y'know?' And while the muscle was certainly titilating, it made for a very wary you when things went left. "Don't be like that, Stevie," you say softly, your voice calm and gentle like it is with patients on the floor, "I promise I wasn't trying to get on your case. Do you -- I don't know, do you wanna just stay home?" "No," he snaps, looking ahead toward the road as he starts the car, "I didn't pack a cooler full of all the shit you made for this cook-out just the stay home." "Can you relax?" you ask a little harsher than you planned, "Are you even good to drive?" "I'm good. To drive," he says through gritted teeth, pulling down the street. "Are you sure? 'Cause -- Honey you -- you didn't sleep so good last night and I --" He hits the breaks hard, stopping short at a stop light turning to look at you, tilting his head a bit to glare at you down the slope of his straight nose.

"Drop it," he says, the tenseness in his voice sends a chill up your spine. "Stevie I'm not trying t --" "Drop. It." he warns again, "Don't make me raise my voice at you." "Don't talk to me like that," you say sharply while he pulls the car forward when the light turns green. "Then don't talk to me like I'm a fucking child," he snaps back. "Well maybe if you didn't have an attitude with me like one I wouldn't have to," you cross your arms over your seat belt and huff. He shakes his head slowly, tongue tight between his teeth. He thought he knew better than to fall in love with someone who had a tongue as sharp as his. "You're askin' for an argument when you say shit like that to me," he says lowly, the Lexus crunching over helicopter seeds while he navigates through the neighborhood. You see his shoulders rise and fall while he attempts to steady himself -- fuse lit and ready to blow. "I'm sorry," you follow up, a deep breath filling your chest. You uncross your arms to lean your elbow on the edge of the window, resting your cheek in your hand, "I didn't mean that." "You did," he responds, tight and frustrated, quiet. He hastily reaches into his back pocket with one hand, eyes still on the road. Steve pops a cigarette between his full lips and you sigh at the sound of the lighter flicking. “What’s wrong now, hm?” he asks while the cigarette dangles from the corner of his mouth, “What’s your problem?” “Nothing,” you say – it’s something. He takes a drag and blows the smoke out the open window, “It’s just that you bought that pack yesterday and it’s already half way gone. You always chain smoke when you –” “Give me a fucking break,” he snaps, voice raising with each word, “God, can you let me have fuckin’ anything?” “No Steve, I guess not. God forbid I look out for your heal–” you start sarcastically. “Look out for yourself, baby,” he says sharply into the rearview so you can see his glare, “I’m doin’ just fine without you on my back.” You bicker the rest of the way to Ed and Nancy’s house, he only raises his voice one more time. 

Eddie and Nancy's wedding was one for the ages, something about the mixture of straight laced and all over the place that made sense when they tied the knot. The pair, you were told, seemed unlikely until Eddie was in recovery after being removed from the Upside Down. He was down there for six months, tested on for another six. The Party and the older kids would visit him every day, keeping him updated and fed and hydrated. They'd cheer him on when he made advances in his mobility -- but for the most part he just needed rest. Nancy was working a lot, throwing herself into journalism like she always wanted, so she'd come to the hospital late. She wasn't really one for small talk so instead, she'd just read. She'd read aloud while he was asleep, her voice slow and calm -- stoic. Keeping him lulled like still water, she didn't even know if he knew she was there. One night, she picked up where she left off on the first installment of Lord of the Rings, continuing in her soft stoic voice. She watched him lay there with his eyes closed, breath steady, the beeps of the hospital machines in quiet rhythm with him. She at frist felt silly before she started, but maybe in his dreams he could hear her, and maybe just maybe if she does something fun, he won't have nightmares tonight. So she tries it...she puts on a silly voice for Samwise, and she continues with her silly voices. Gruff and manly for Aragorn, gleeful for Sam, some weird form of Scottish for Gimli. She bites her lip, smiling as she tries each one, shaking her curly head at her ridiculousness and stops. Then she hears it...the low rumbling giggle from Eddie in his hospital bed. "Keep going, it's funny..." he said with a grin, eyes still closed. "You can hear me?" she asked, trying to stifle her giggle. "I can hear you every night," he said, eyes peering open slightly, "It's the best." "Do you want me to keep reading?" she asked with a blush. He nods, a soft grin pulling up on his lips while he eyes closes again, "Only if you do the voices."

When you park in the driveway it's clear that the rest of the group arrived before you, their cars already Tetris'd into their places. Steve lugs the cooler out of the back seat with a grunt, hoisting it to rest on his broad shoulder. You roll your eyes at his machismo, like someone is watching him at all times and he has something to prove. You both walk to the back, the sounds of music and conversation and laughter bubbling louder and louder as you get to the gate of the yard.

A symphony of 'Heeeyyy!' and 'There he is!' and 'Finally!' come from the group as he opens the gate and you follow in toe. Eddie comes over quickly to help with the cooler, his hair still as long as it was when he was 20 – the only real updates being his five o’clock shadow and the ring in his nose. A few more weary tired lines by his eyes. His home made Iron Maiden muscle tee had a small sweat mark by the neckline – they must’ve been out here getting ready all morning. “Hey man,” he grins when the cooler gets set down, pulling Steve in for a tight hug. “Hey,” Steve smiles, patting his back hard, savoring the hold. “You alright?” Eddie asks when he lets go, putting a hand to his face, “You feeling okay?” Steve smiles tightly and nods but Eddie only half buys it, returning his look before turning to you. He comes forward, kissing both your cheeks with his full lips, scruff scratching at your skin, “Hi, sweetheart.” “Hi Ed,” you grin, watching everyone else come up to say their hellos. “Where’s Nance?” Steve asks, but his question is answered when she waddles out of the sliding door of the kitchen with a pitcher of lemonade. From the back, you’d have no idea she was seven months pregnant, but from the side – let’s just say, it was gonna be a real big boy. “Honey, what did I say?” Eddie calls out, walking over to her and taking the pitcher. “It’s not even heavy,” she chides back with an exasperated eye roll. You giggle at their bickering, listening to their sweet back and forth with a gentle ache in your chest. You wonder if Steve will be the same way when you’re pregnant. You wonder if the back and forths will sound so sweet, so innocent, so soft. Your thoughts are interrupted by the sound of the cooler opening, turning to look and grab what you can to put in the fridge inside. Steve takes the meat out to put by the grill and a few appetizers that you put together last nice. You take the icebox cake and chocolate covered strawberries, hurrying with them through the sliding door into the kitchen. “I know, mommy just thinks she can do it all,” Eddie coos, resting his hands on Nancy’s stomach while she slices cheeseburger toppings on the counter, “She just won’t rest, are you gonna be like that too? You gonna run me ragged? You gonna be just like mommy?” Nancy laughs and it’s half airy, half from deep in her belly, “Look, it’s just better if I’m active so that I’m not surprised by it when he’s born.” “I know,” he says, kissing her cheek, “I know. You still love me, Wheeler?” “Love you always,” she grins, blushing when she sees you come in with desserts, “Oh! Oh my goodness, let me help you!” “I got it!” you say, “Just hope there’s room in the fridge!” When everything’s loaded up you give each other a hug, watching as Eddie and Steve have a mildly stern conversation about who is grilling what. ‘It’s my grill.’  ‘And? It’s my meat.’ 

“Do you think they should just kiss?” you ask while you watch them. “Honestly, I feel like they need to at this point," she laughs, "Go on outside, I’ll be out in a few,” Nancy encourages and you make your way back out into the very early summer heat – mugginess starting to soak the air around you. Before you know it, you’re already being pulled over to the picnic table to watch a game of Magic the Gathering between Lucas, Max, Dustin, Mike, and Will. El doesn’t come back to Hawkins very much,so you’ve been told – she’s the only person from the group you haven’t met. “So is this like D&D?” you ask, resting your cheek against your palm while you lean on the table. “Yes and no,” Max explains, looking at her options, “It’s like…” “Like poker but D&D,” Dustin says, making Mike, Will, and Lucas snort. “I think that’s the easiest way to explain it to you,” Mike says. “I trust that,” you laugh with them. You’ve been consistently hopeless with trying to learn the mechanics of Dungeons and Dragons but still enjoy watching, loving it more when Steve decides to join a campaign. He lets loose in ways you’ve never seen when he does, smiling and laughing, free like a child in the summertime. The sun beating on your back suddenly disappears when you hear Steve come up behind you with a hand on your shoulder, “Can I have my glasses, honey?” “They’re in the glove box,” you say, turning around, “Why do you need them?” “Oh, is Erica making you read her thesis outline?” Lucas asks, “Just tell her to buzz off. She already passed it in.” “Sinclair – don’t be an asshole,” Steve gives him a look that can only be described as ‘bitchy’, “She wants some assurance. We need another psychologist in the family, and she’s obviously the only one smart enough to get it done.” “Rude,” Max deadpans, flicking her eyes up at him. “You’re rude, twerp,” he says back, he turns back to you after sucking his teeth, "My glasses?"

“I just said, in the glovebox,” you repeat, a little sharper than you meant to. He lets out a huff through his nose, looking at you like he can’t believe you’d get snippy with him before stomping off toward the gate of the yard. “Is he alright?” Dustin asks quietly, “I saw him on Thursday he just…I don’t know, he seems a little tense.” “He had a bad night,” you explain, toying at a splinter in the wood, “He’ll be okay.” The sun disappears again but not from the expanse of your fiance’s shoulders and chest, but from a thick cloud moving slowly across the sky. The relief from the heat is almost welcomed until you feel the humidity raise a bit in the air – a little too tight, a little too suffocating for your taste. 

The party is in full swing while Meredith Brooks’ ‘Bitch,’ blares from the boom box, Nancy and Max screaming the lyrics with abandon while the boys groan. You smile at how much fun they’re having, the afternoon going smoothly enough that you haven’t had time to notice how cloudy the sky had become. Your eyes linger on Steve, glasses on while looking at Erica’s thesis outline with her on the back porch. He had a pen in one hand and a cigarette in the other, the fifth one in the last hour and a half.  "You got something here," he says to her, tapping his pen while continues reading, "Your argument's really strong -- especially about the rates of homelessness, it's almost always trauma related." "Well -- I am me," she says. He raises his brows and nods in agreement. "Can't spell America without Erica," he teases. You watch him, how gentle he is and how he taps through outline, asking her questions about how she feels about the finished thesis, where she got it bound, if the articles he sent over were helpful. They speak in words you don't understand, but it's okay -- he looks calmer, brows softened while they talk, so encouraging. "I'm a bitch, I'm a lover, I'm a child, I'm a mother, I'm a sinner, I'm a saint, I do not feel ashamed --"

Eddie's rasp pierces the groups singing and conversation as he belts the lyrics next to his wife. Everyone looks up to watch him go, laughing as he does. "We should cover this," he grins, "Me and the guys, we gotta cover this at the next show." "So you can get boo'd off the stage?" Mike laughs. "So I can make sure your ass doesn't get in the bar?" he asks back. Mike scowls while Dustin laughs at him -- it's always smarter to not try it with Eddie, he'd always get you back ten fold. With a jolt, you feel something cold hit your hand, looking down to see a water drop splat against your skin. Then another, and another, and another. After the fourth or fifth, the rain starts to come down -- and then it starts to pour. "Alright!" Nancy calls, "Everyone grab something and head inside." The Party rises, wincing as the rain pellets down on them while everyone grabs a foil tray or covered Pyrex filled with food. You follow suit, hurrying inside with the undressed cheeseburgers and buns, laying them safe on the counter in the kitchen. Everyone else starts to file in, Steve and Eddie turning off the grill while the sky starts to darken significantly. The first rumble of thunder sends everyone's face to a flat line -- you wished Robin wasn't spending the weekend in New York City so that you'd have someone on the front lines with you and Nancy to keep everyone at ease. Nancy and Robin definitely had their moments but had a much tighter grasp on the world around them now.

A few flashes of lightening crack followed by deep rumbles of thunder. Boom, crack! Boom, crack, crack! You notice everyone resettle themselves around the kitchen table -- jittery, quiet. You sit down across from Steve while he looks down, following the woodgrain with his finger. You keep your gaze on his chest, watching for a tell -- he swallows the frustration he feels from having your eyes on him. "It's alright guys, just a storm," Nancy reminds everyone gently while she brings in the last of the food from outside. Eddie gets her seated before opening things back on the counter, the kitchen smelling like barbecue while he opens the foils. The conversations start around you again while you sit across from Steve, the tension sitting like a weighted stone in your chest. Another flash of lightning and that's when you notice it, the twitch of his hand. The thunder rumbles and he reaches up to rub his eyes with his thumb and forefinger under his glasses. Shit. "You okay, honey?" you ask him softly. He swallows, jaw clenching, "Mhm." "Okay," you nod, trying not to bring attention to it just yet, just incase it passes. The thunder booms again and he lets out a breath through his nose, he takes his glasses off and rubs his eyes more agressively. You tap your foot under the table and he can hear it, he can hear everything in the room -- the scrapes of foil on foil. The separate conversations. Eddie's laugh while he talks to Nancy. The clinks of silverware. Ice in cups. The drumming of fingers. Your tap. Tap. Tap. Tapping. Under the fucking table could you just stop tapping your fucking foot -- The next crack of lightening is so intense it shakes the house and everyone gets quiet. 'Just a storm', Nancy reminds, but her voice sounds far away. Thunder rumbles again in the distance and he swears when the lightening flashes through the windows it's red. He rubs his eyes again, a short burst of breath coming through his nose. 'Honey?' he hears you but its like he has cotton in his ears. The thunder rumbles again, the slick squelching of vines starts to creep into the sound of it. Another crack of lighting and the lights in the kitchen flicker. But when they turn back on Steve isn't with the group anymore. He's not even in the kitchen. He's back at the Creel House. 'Baby? Steve?' your voice is distant -- does Vecna have you? Did he find you? Is he taking you away from him? Steve whimpers, getting out of the chair, pulling at the roots of his light brown locks -- desperate to pull himself out of the memory, "Help, please..."

"I'm here, Steve," you say rounding the table while the rest of the group stands back, getting ready to help. Max grabs a boom box and Lucas runs to his car to grab his tapes with everyone's favorite songs on it -- just in case. Dustin approaches him slowly, hands out in front of him while Steve shrinks to the floor, back against the cabinets. "Steve, it's me, it's Dustin," he says calmly and slowly, "You're in Eddie's kitchen, Steve." But Steve only hears Dustin saying his name -- Dustin must be in trouble. "I'm coming," Steve says, eyes shut tight, falling further away. You watch as sweat grows on his hair line and neck, muttering a fuck under you breath. This was gonna be a bad one. "Honey, honey," you continue, kneeling down in front of him to ease his hands off of his hair, "You're okay, you're safe. I'm with you." 'Honey.' He hears your voice in the distance, searching for you in the blue black haze of the Upside Down, the thick particles of dust in his eyes. The slither of vines covers the walls and the floors while he ascends the stairs -- where are Nancy and Robin? Weren't they with him? "Nance?" You watch him call out for Nancy and she goes to get up but Eddie puts his hand delicately on her shoulder. He shakes his head no at her, "Just talk to him," he says to her. 'I'm here, Steve, it's okay!' 'It's okay!' But it's not Nancy's voice, it gets more an more deep, more gravelly, more like him. Steve flinches in front of you, soft 'no, no, no's slipping from his mouth. 'Stevie...' Where are you? Does he have you? 'S̷T̴E̶V̴I̷E̵.'

The sound of Vecna's voice booms in his ears, the thunder rumbling, the red lighting flashing to light up the house. You were never here -- Vecna tricked him. He breathes hard, looking around while the vines snake around, searching for him. "Okay, okay baby," you say hurriedly, watching him while he starts to hyperventilate. You raise your voice to get through to him, "Honey you gotta take some deep breaths for me, okay? Can you hear me?" Max and Lucas come back, smacking the tape into the radio and fastforwarding until Marc Cohn's Walking In Memphis crackles through the speakers. They both heave breaths while the song plays, leaning over the table to settle down from running. "You hear the song, honey?" you ask, "Can you hear it? Talk to me, Steve." You reach your hands up, sliding slowly up his chest to rest your hands by his jaw in a soothing touch. But for Steve in the Creel House, the vines have found him, slithering up his chest and around his neck, tighter and tighter against the wall. He tenses, big hands coming up and grabbing your wrists with a grip so tight you whimper. "No, shit, shit, shit! Fuck! STOP! NO! I CAN'T!" he panics, gasping for breath while his nails dig into your forearms and drag painfully downward why he tries to pull you away. "Ow, ow baby, hey, you're hurting me," you yelp out. He doesn't stop, eyes switching from tightly closed to open and unfocused while he reaches up to your biceps, clawing at them in defense. You reach out a final time. "Honey, honey, please, it's me," you say, tears balancing on your lower lashes while he rises, taking you with him. He handles you real rough, grabbing you by the shoulders and throwing you to the ground with a loud thud. And god does it hurt.

"HEY!" Eddie's voice booms out, gruff and loud like the rumbles of thunder outside. He gets behind Steve, pulling his arms close to his chest while Steve struggles against him. Erica and Mike hurry toward you to help you slowly up off the floor. You reel at first, wanting to run back to him. "Stay in front of her Wheeler," Ed warns, "You all stay right there." You stand behind Mike with Erica who takes your hand tightly in hers. You feel the pulse of pain in your arms when you look down -- gouges and deep scrapes, the blood shines in the line of the kitchen. You shake your head out of it and watch on as Eddie and Dustin do what they can to help -- the song continues to play in the background. "No, no," Steve whimpers, twisting his wrists in Eddie's grasp to break free, but in this state Eddie is stronger. He pulls him close, Steve back to his chest while they sink back down against the cabinets. "Shh," Eddie soothes, still holding him tight, "We got you, just listen -- you're in my kitchen. You hear the song playing?" Steve grunts, thrashing while Eddie hugs him tighter to him. "Steve, listen, listen to the song," Dustin says, "Focus on me and Eddie's voice, listen." Steve struggles, less intense than before, "Shh, shh, it's okay Harrington," Eddie soothes, rocking him slowly back and forth. "They need me," Steve cries weakly, breaths slowing while he pulls again at Eddie's hold, "Gotta save 'em..." "Steve," Dustin says again, getting closer. He rubs his shoulder slowly, pressing his thumb into the joint, "We're safe, all the kids are safe." "Safe..." he repeats back. Eddie sighs a little in apprehensive relief, letting go of one wrist to run a hand over his head, turning Steve's face into his chest and holding him close. "That's right, Steve," Eddie says softly, "Safe." 'Saw the ghost of Elvis, on Union Avenue, Followed him up to the Gates of Graceland And they watched him walk right through...' Steve can hear the lyrics, warbled and tinny in the Upside Down. 'Safe, safe, safe.' Echoing through the walls -- it gets dimmer. 'Now security they did not see him, They just hovered round his tomb...' Dimmer and dimmer. 'Almost over buddy, I can tell, we're right here. You feel Henderson?' A soft warm rub on his shoulder, the lyrics to the song, Eddie's voice. The sound of vines fade away, he hears the rain, it fades to black. "Walkin' in Memphis..." Steve whispers, half confused, while his eyes open and focus -- squinting in the light of the kitchen. Overwhelmed he looks around while the room tilts on it's axis. He grips Eddie's leg tightly to steady himself, he's breaths picking up again. "It's okay buddy, it's just us," Eddie says again, "You with me?" Steve nods, face cracking while he lets out a broken sob. You can only watch while Eddie flicks his eyes up at you in another warning to not come closer yet. Dustin let's go while Eddie starts to hoist him up, wrapping Steve's arm around his shoulder while he helps him to the guest room down the hall. "C'mon big boy," he says gently, "Let's get you some rest."

Things feel a little quiet after Eddie comes back from the guest room, he's tense -- no longer having fun the way he was before. His eyes are dark while he heads outside into the rain to have a cigarette. Lucas turns off the stereo and The Party sits back down at the kitchen table for a moment to decompress. They silently take out of the Magic the Gathering cards and start to set up again, Erica joins them seamlessly. When things seems a semblance of stable, Nancy gets up and takes your hand and leads you to the bathroom, "Let's check you out, alright?"

You sit on the toilet seat cover while Nancy takes out a first aid kit from under the sink. You listen while she hums the climax of Whitney's 'I Have Nothing' quietly, searching the medicine cabinet for some Bactine for your cuts.

"Are you okay?" she asks, taking both of your hands to outstretch your arms, she turns them to see the damage -- she tries to hide her face of disappointment but it's clear.

"I'll be fine," you say softly while she wipes down the gouges and scrapes, "I can take care of it Nance."

"No, you just -- just let me," she says softly. The Bactine stings -- so does the way she looks at you -- pitifully. You hear Eddie's boots clomp down the hallway before he shows up at the door frame of the bathroom.

"You okay, sweetheart?" he asks -- you wish people would stop asking. They only ask when they see him lose control. You do this all the time, you take care of him all the time.

"I'm okay," you repeat, "A little banged up, but y'know. It's okay."

"Does he do that alot?" Eddie asks, his jaw clenching, "Does he hurt you a lot?"

"This is one of maybe...I don't know -- four times he's gotten physical with me during an episode," you explain, "And you all know about them."

"Does he hurt you when he's here?" Eddie asks, tapping at his temple.

"No, Ed, don't be ridiculous," you sigh, exasperated that he'd even ask.

"Steve's not like that, Eddie," Nancy says, "We've been over this." "Well, here's the thing Nance," he starts, tense, "We're ten years out of this shit and no matter how bad my shit got I've never put a hand on you like that. Ever." "Eddie --" "No, no, listen," he says, "I don't like that, and I especially don't like that happening in my house in front of my pregnant wife." "And what would you like me to do about it, Ed?" you snap, "I can't -- fuck -- I can't fucking fix him for you." "I'm not asking you to fix him," he says back, a pain deep in his chest coming through with his voice, "I'm asking you to be sure that you still want to be a part of this -- your wedding's what -- October? You really wanna be worrying about this?" "For better or for worse, right?" you ask back, choking on the lump in your throat, "That's the promise." Eddie tucks his lips in, his own eyes getting teary while he scans the gouges that Nancy carefully puts bandaids over. "Ice your hip and shoulder for the first couple days," he mutters, biting the edge of his them, "After a fall like that. Then heat." You nod, quietly murmuring a thank you. "S'what my mom used to do," he says under his breath. Eddie scans you slowly one more time, swallowing hard before pushing off the door frame and walking back down the hall. You hear their bedroom door click closed in the distance. "You know how he gets," Nancy says, "Stuff like that y'know -- that's hard for him." "I know." She takes a washcloth, running it under cold water before squeezing it out. Droplets fall on the fabric of her light purple maternity shirt, leaving dark people marks on the top of her belly. She hands it to you. "Here, for his head," she says softly, "In case he's not all the way back yet."

You creep slowly into the guest room, seeing him laying on his stomach with half his face buried in the pillow. His sculpted arms tucked under it to give him something to hold. "Baby?" you ask quietly, "You awake?" He nods with his eyes closed and you look him over -- big hulking man who needs to be held. He hates it but you can't help but love him for knowing he needs it. You put the wet face cloth on the side table, sliding down next to him while he moves over to his side. In one swift motion you've replaced the pillow -- arms wrapping tight around your waist and up your back, one hand molding over your shoulder. He hides his face in your neck and you can feel his tears on his lashes and cheeks. His shoulders shake while he cries for a while, cold sweat damp on his shirt and the back of his neck. You never check how long he cries for – as long as he does. “I’m here,” you say softly, nails grazing his scalp in a steady swipe, “I’m right here.” You adjust a bit in his hold and you feel his grip tighten slightly, a soft whine of desperation leaking from his throat. “Don’t go, please,” he begs softly. “M’not going anywhere big guy,” you soothe, “This wedding’s already put us ten grand in the hole. Where would I even go, now?” You hear a soft ‘tsss’ come out of him, a tug of a smile against the skin of your neck where he hides. 

“Oh, is that funny?” you joke, still coasting your fingers through his hair. He groans, letting his arms let go of you so he can sit up, you can see the tension in his body still. Steve looks down at you with tear stained cheeks and tired eyes, beckoning you forward with his fingers. You sit up for your thank you kiss, his warm palm cupping your cheek while he holds you gently in place. He kisses once slowly, then twice, three times – holding the last so you know he means it. When you break away he rests his forehead against yours, offering a few shallow breaths. You stand up off the bed while he sits off the edge of it, standing between his thighs. 

"Did I hurt you?" he asks softly. He asks after every episode ever since he did hurt you back when you first started dating. A swift smack to the arm that stung for a solid twenty minutes afterward with the amount of power he put into it. It welted. He cried for hours. He wrote you love letters every day for a week. 

You nod, showing him the scratches and bandages on your arms, "I think you thought I was a vine or something. You threw me. Like, to the ground. It was pretty hard."

His lower lip quivers, "No, no, no." “No, Steve,” you assure, trying to calm him, “It’s okay, you didn’t know. It’s alright, I’m alright. It was an accident.” 

His face contorts while the tears start again, his big hands reach out to your waist, pulling you close to him, "It's not okay, it's not alright."

His voice raises an octave while he cries, "I'm sorry, baby."

"It's okay, Stevie, shh," you whisper to him, he pulls you in tighter, body shaking while pressing his nose against your cheek.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," he cries, sniffling, "You know I didn't mean it."

"I know you didn't," you say back, your own cry getting caught in your throat. He sniffles again, leaning back to face you, both of his hands cupping your cheeks, his thumbs rubbing the apples.

"I love you," he says with a depth and intensity that makes the lump in your throat give way. You cry with him and it breaks his heart, "I love you so much honey, you know I’d never…"

You nod, trying to calm your cry the way he was able to calm his -- so used to swallowing it up even though you'd beg him not to.

"I – shit – I have to tell you something," he says softly, hands sliding from your cheeks back down to your waist and then your hips. He looks down at the small triangle of mattress between you and the apex of his thighs.

"What's up, Steve?" you ask, running your hands through his hair again soothingly, "What is it?"

He lifts his head up, eyes shutting at the comforting touch, but when he opens them he looks defeated -- guilty, "I haven't been taking my meds at night. I was -- was flushin’ them cause I just -- baby, I don't know. I can't keep depending on this shit."

"Steve."

"I know," he nods, "I know...That's why -- that's why my shit's getting worse."

"You're not just taking this stuff to take it," you say, cupping his cheeks, "It's to keep you here. It's to keep you with me."

"I know," he repeats, voice cracking again, "I'll call my shrink tomorrow I promise. I'll get back on track. Fuck -- I'm sorry -- and I'm -- I'm sorry I was so mean to you this morning."

"It's okay," you nod, pressing a kiss to his forehead. You drop your hands and rub his shoulder, "I think we should go home, alright? We can get on the couch for the night and just rest."

"Okay," he says quietly, nodding. He slowly gets up off the bed, a little dizzy, using you for support. You both slowly walk out of the bedroom, Nancy peeking around the end of the hall.

"Everything good?" she asks.

You smile at her, "Yeah, I think we're gonna head home."

She smiles tightly, heading into the kitchen where the rest of the group still sits, eating and talking. Their heads turn when you both come into view -- soft eyes and smiles.

"I'm okay, guys," Steve nods, barely able to meet their gazes, "It's fine."

Nancy approaches you with a few tupperwares filled with food and dessert, "We'll get the cooler back to you on Tuesday."

"Don't worry about it," you smile, gathering the tupperware in your arms. You watch as the group gets up one by one to give Steve a hug goodbye. Their movements are slow and controlled, warning touches on his shoulders beforehand to remind him ‘It’s just me, it’s just my arms, I’m hugging you’. Soft mumbled words of support, nothing too loud – don’t startle each other. Wraiths of the friendship they all shared earlier. Rehearsed reactions to all of their sensitive needs – if you’ve seen one episode, you’ve seen all of theirs. And you had, once or twice. “I’ll get a copy bound for you,” Erica says while she hugs him. “You make me so proud, Sinclair,” he smiles. Nancy walks you both to the door and you turn, “How’s Ed?” “He’ll call later,” she nods, a look behind her eyes that matches yours. You hug goodbye, share quick reminders about food for the baby shower and a few crafty decoration plans before heading to the car with a very tired Steve. The rain patters on the hood of the Lexus while you both sit in the leather interior, this time with you in the driver's seat. He rubs at his temples with his eyes closed while you rifle through your purse for a sandwich baggie of emergency migraine medicine. “Here,” you say, handing him the pill, “Before it starts to get bad.” “Hmm,” he grumbles in agreement, popping it in his dry mouth to suck it down.  “We’ll be home soon, okay?” you say, hand coming down on his thigh reassuringly, “Just close your eyes for now.” 

He takes the tupperwares when you get out of the car, fishing his keys out of his back pocket while he does. His strides are long while you hurry up behind him, following him into the house only to bump into his back while he’s stopped by the thermostat to turn on the air. “Sorry,” you say softly. “S’okay,” he replies back, barely above a whisper. He puts the food in the fridge while you head upstairs to start a shower, a ritual you’ve both come to learn well after days or nights like these. You take out the good soap, the shower oil, all the aroma therapy you can to get him to ease up. Anyone else watching you get things ready would assume it was about to be a very sexy time for you. On the same coin, these showers are probably the most intimate moments you have with each other. He comes in as the room starts to steam and you help him ease off his polo, you start on the buttons of your dress while he takes off his jeans and socks. He helps with your bra, both of you shedding your underwear at the same time before you step in. Steve soothes almost instantly, his muscles relaxing under the hot stream, sighing further while he gets soaped up. You don’t have to be in there with him, but you do. He needs you so close so he doesn’t float away. His favorite part comes near the end, sitting in the flow of the shower together while you wash his hair. His eyes flutter closed while your nails scratch and massage him – he swears his hair is even thicker than it was before with all the blood flow you encourage. You wash his hair twice, then deep condition, holding him to your chest while you wait the five minutes it takes to settle in. He leaves soft kisses on your collar bone, on all the marks he left on you in Nance and Eddie's kitchen. He holds your hand, so you can’t float away. You both end up on the couch afterward, the leather groaning beneath you both while you lay across the deep seat cushions, you lay on your back, he lays on his side against you. The heat of his bare chest warms you through your oversized sleep shirt. His soft sweat pants tangle up with your bare legs. You let whatever’s on TV play – reruns you guess, you’re thinking about too many other things. “How’s your head, baby?” you ask while his eyes shut, leaning on your shoulder. “S’fine, better,” he says, he lifts your hand and kisses your fingers before placing both his and your hand on your chest over your heart. The ba-dump, ba-dump, ba-dum lulling him to sleep. You half watch TV for however long until your own eyelids get heavy. You click off the TV and opt to turn the stereo on low, just so he doesn’t get lost while he sleeps.

You wake up to oldies, music your parents would listen to on records in the living room growing up – songs that came out a few years before you were born. Oldies. It's dark outside but you can still hear the rain. Steve’s already awake, just watching you while his hand smooths back and forth over your sternum. “You snored,” he says. “Good,” you reply quietly. You both snort out breathy laughs, feeling the warmth of his lips as they smoosh against your cheek. “How you feeling?” he asks, hand coming up to rest on your cheek, sliding down the side of your neck. “A little banged up,” you say, “Might bruise.” “M’sorry,” he says again, a tinge of guilty pink tinging his ears. “It’s okay,” you repeat for what feels like the thousandth time in the past six hours. “You looked really pretty today,” Steve says gently, almost sheepish, “I should’ve told you.” “You looked really handsome,” you say back, “But you were kind of being an asshole so I didn’t want to tell you.” “You should’ve told me, it probably would’ve cured my PTSD,” he says seriously but sarcastically, “Could’ve saved the entire afternoon if you just said how good I looked. Prob’ly wouldn’t have had an episode.” “You’re such an ass,” you laugh, smiling. He leans in to kiss you and it’s the kind that makes you too weak to stand. That kiss got him a second date, it proved that they said about old King Steve in highschool. On the stereo, Sherry Baby bleeds into Unchained Melody.

His hand reaches up under your neck to tilt you up toward him, tasting your tongue with his, guiding you with his kiss, “Angel…” he murmurs. He breathes through his nose while he keeps his lips pressed to yours, desperate to stay here in this moment, attached to you. “Steve,” you say softly, breaking away, “Stevie…” “Please,” he whispers, nuzzling your nose slowly, “Please.” “Lemme take care of you.” “I…” your thoughts trail off while he kisses your neck, sucking and nibbling gently at the spot just by the hinge of your jaw. He waits for your soft sigh, the tilt of your hips towards him – your allowance. He grins when he hears the air pass your lips, the realignment of your spine beneath him while he settles between your squishy thighs. His hands travel south, pushing up the hem of your big t-shirt to your waist, holding you there for a moment while his kiss takes over your mouth again. He tugs your cotton panties down, breaking the kiss while he sits up on the couch to slide them off your ankles. Steve looks down at you with an expression that makes your breath catch in your chest, serious – with supple lips, needy eyes. He leads himself back down again, big hands sliding down the sides of your thighs over your hips to your waist again. Instinctively, your legs spring up to wrap around him while his hips align with yours, feeling his strained cock in his sweats against you. “Jesus…” he whispers again, eyes fluttering closed. He buries his face in your neck while you rock slowly against him, the pressure and friction against the underside of his erection sending low volts through his body. “Mm-mm,” he grunts, shaking his head ‘no’ while mumbling, “It’s supposed to be about you.” “Well stop dangling it in front of me then,” you giggle quietly, he giggles too. The smile sends you reeling, his pretty teeth, the way his nose scrunches. He leans forward again to kiss, he just can’t stop kissing, can’t stop tasting your lips, feeling you against him. Steve’s hand reaches down to pull himself out of his sweats, pushing the waistband to the tops of his thighs while he uses the other to push one thigh out off the couch. “You ready f’me?” he asks huskily, tip dragging slowly from the pool of slick at your opening up in between your folds. He lets his thumb run in slow circles over your clit while he waits for your answer, your slow nod while you lean your head back on the arm rest gives him the okay. He eases himself in slow, the tip pushing past your opening with some resistance. “Open up a lil’, honey,” he mumbles quietly while he guides the tip in again, “Open up for me.”

Your little gasps float out of you and into the fuzzy part of his brain, gliding down his spine. You angle your hips upward, one thigh up against the couch cushions and the other dangling over the edge, spread as wide as you can. He holds himself above you with one arm, the other aiding in pushing himself further in, the tip finally breaching your core. He keeps guiding, slow back and forths while you ease open for him – taking him in, inch by inch. “Oh yes, mhm,” he groans to himself softly, “Thass–hmm-that’s it, angel.” He let’s go when he’s three fourths in, crowding over you, forearms on each side of your head while he strokes slowly to start – getting you used to him, accommodating his size. “That’s good?” he breathes. “Ye-yeah,” you breathe back to him. His mouth latches to yours again, feeling him guide your hands up beside your head, lacing fingers while he presses you deeper into the couch cushions. He keeps his strokes slow and deliberate, feeling every ridge of you inside, how you suck him in and hug him tight in place – but how he feels isn’t nearly as important. It’s the way your brows contort, the way you bite your lip, your whines into his mouth while he kisses you. Each slow thrust makes you coat him in a new flow of slickness. “C’mere,” he says into your jawline, letting go of one hand to sneak behind you at the waist, pulling you flush to him. The new angle makes you let out a whine while he hits a spot deep inside you, he grunts at the reaction, the feeling of you taking him in. His pace picks up the smallest tick, face centimeters from yours – your noses brush, lips barely touching while his amber eyes keep steady on yours. You let out short huffs, little whimpers every time the head of his cock pushes deeper with every roll of your hips. “S’nice, hm?” he asks, brows slanting, softening. “Mhm,” you squeak back, “S-so good, honey.” Your legs pull in again, socked heels resting on the top of his butt while he sighs at the change in pressure. “Thassperfect, god,” he hisses out, head dropping down to your chest, pressing sloppy kisses above your breasts while he gathers himself. He groans into your neck while wet warmth tightens over him, soft velvet walls coaxing him closer and closer to the edge. 

Steve’s shoulders flex while he balances on his forearms above you again, your forgotten hand taken by his, fingers interlocked. His face inches from yours while he looks at you, the way your eyes flutter, the soft parting of your lips, the high pitched  ‘Uhn, uhn, uhn, uhn,’s coming out of them — you’re so beautiful.

“So pretty,” he says to you, huffing a breath into a smile, “So pretty, baby.” 

You kiss him a thank you. You see him swallow when he breaks away, his eyes getting glassy. 

“S’gonna be okay,” he assures, nodding down at you, nose to nose, “We’re gonna be okay.” Slow thrusts  between statements. 

“Gonna get married,” he says, a groan flowing right down into your mouth while he kisses you, “Gonna be just like Ed and Nance, right?” 

You nod while his thrusts get more passionate, deeper.

“Yeah? That’s nice?” he asks, “Marry you? Take you just like this after the wedding?” 

“Yeah,” you gasp back, “Yes, Stevie.” 

“Give you a baby?” he asks in a low whisper into your skin, lips pressing against your cheek, his strong nose dragging against your cheek bone, “Give you so many babies. You want that?” 

“I want that,” you nod, face pinching while you feel yourself building up and up in a slow churn. 

“You want that?” he asks again, coming back to hover over you — tears in his eyes, “You want that with me?” 

You nod to each other while he embraces you in an old movie kiss, wrapping himself around you, pressing him to his chest while his thrusts get purposeful, controlled. 

“I love you,” he pants into your ear, “I’m yours, m’all yours.”

“I love you, too,” you rasp back, free’d fingers interlocking in his hair. He gets leverage on his knees, the leather of the couch squeaking under him while he repositions. Soft smacks of skin between you echo in the living room against the backdrop of the low stereo.   “Oh my god, Steve,” you moan out, “You’re – oh god you’re so deep.” “So deep, angel, Christ–” he huffs, trying to make a mental note of this position so he can remember it for October – really make it stick. His thought process stifled when your nails drag down his back, making his passionate thrusts quicken – a signature cocky smirk flick across his lips. “Mmm, that feels good honey?” he asks – he knows the answer. Your mouth hangs open in a silent scream, tears glazing over your eyes while he feels you pulse over him. Thank god the couch was leather. Watching you bathe in the afterglow of your orgasm he works you toward the second with ease, chasing his pleasure with each soaking thrust into you – so nice like this, so pliant – his little ragdoll. When he cums it’s deliberate, spilling inside you with your eyes on each other. You give one another breathless kisses, bodies interlocked, sticking to the couch in new found exhaustion. The phone rings. Neither of you get up to answer it. ‘BEEP. You’ve reached the Harrington residence – Did you forget my last name isn’t Harr– If you’re calling before October 1997 then it’s not just the Harrington residence yet but – whatever you know what I mean. Leave a message, we might call ya back.’

“Hey Harrington it’s Munson, um, just making sure you’re okay, man. Sorry I disappeared for a little bit there. Love you, call me back when you can. Bye.” 

thanks for reading. <3

#steve harrington x you #steve harrington #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington smut #steve harrington angst #steve harrington fan fiction #steve harrington one shot #steve harrington x y/n #steve harrington fanfic

[fumifooms]

Hi hi! I'm sure you have loads of asks to get through. But if you may, we talk a lot about Chilchuck and Marcille (as we should 'cause they're great!), but since you've mentioned that Laios is your fave char, I would love to hear if you have any takes on Laios and Izutsumi's dynamic. I feel sometimes like she doesn't really like him...? It's funny but I also feel bad for him sometimes. ^^;;

You can’t ask me this and expect me to not drop everything else I’m doing. Little did you know they are my brotp. They are so special. Izutsumi gets along more with literally everyone in the party, but their relationship was so narratively important. They’re a really underrated and overlooked dynamic! I’ve had them as a topic at the back of my mind for a while, seeing someone else interested was all the push I needed gdbdg. This isn’t super long though, their issues with each other and lil arc is surprisingly brief and easy to summarize.

Laios & Izutsumi : what’s their deal with each other

For me one foundational train of thought for Izutsumi & Laios is, well. I read this awesome smart post deconstructing how Izutsumi’s beef with Laios is because she only just broke free and wants freedom without having someone ordering her around, and that’s sort of her whole character arc, isn’t it?

Isn’t Izutsumi’s picky eating a reflection of just that? In a life where she was a slave, she could at least control what she chose to eat and not eat. But then you might wonder, why did the narrative want her to grow out of that? Simply put, Izutsumi has a contrarian streak, one that is often extremely counterproductive. We saw that especially near the beginning, with how hard it was to make her work with them as a team. The issue is that now that she is free, she needs to not block out others by habit, to not lash out and refuse the healthy things in life, the people who want good for her. And that’s something that’s addressed in the succubus chapter as well as the fight against the ice golem, that she shouldn’t insist that she can do everything alone and fight against any team effort.

I love how onesided the Laios izutsumi dynamic is. He stays away from her generally, like doesn’t interact much, but he wants the cat pats… Which Izu made clear she did NOT want. And Chil is the only one in the party to not really see her as a cat for most of the story really, as shown in the relationship chart. He’s well meaning and wants the best for her, but he crowds her and doesn’t understand her at all. But he reallyyy wants to get along with her.

On the other hand, Izutsumi’s very existence and identity gave Laios an immense amount of hope that Falin could be brought back and still be herself and live well, even if she still had part of a dragon’s soul in her. I think that’s a lovely way to contrast the way that Izutsumi hates herself as a beastkin and her body, while Laios is like "Thank you, your existence as you are is the answer to all my worries" AND he super likes monster bodies and beastkins so it’s like. I think part of her hostility to him, besides feeling like he doesn’t understand her perspective and is maybe dismissive of what his party members want (which would remind her of Maizuru to some degree probably), is that he says all these good things about her being a beastkin, and it’s so jarring with her own version of herself that it raises her hackles and she reacts negatively, especially with how flippant and eager he is about it. But yes like, this is their first meeting!! Beyond his interest in her as a beastkin because of his monster hobby, Laios is just so very grateful for her and chooses to put his trust in her.

That’s interesting too, how one of the first things she asks about upon meeting them is why the hell they would want to rescue Falin even if she were to stay as a chimera-beastkin and still have the dragon soul in her. It’s her asking "Who would want to stick with a beastkin?" thinking that there’s something fundamentally wrong with having two souls and it making you unlovable. And their differing views on monsters do make them clash

But ultimately he chills out about her, which ironically enough shows in the way that they don’t interact much- He gives her space, and accepts that the beastkin may not like him. BUT at the end of the day they have an incredible bond of trust- Laios asks Izutsumi to kill him if something goes wrong with the Winged Lion. Not only is that sort of an intimate request and act, but that means that he leaves it up to Izutsumi’s judgement as well to know if it went wrong and when to act. He doesn’t only trust her skills but also her decision making, despite how tough they’ve been on each other in the past. He’s giving her the ultimate role, the go ahead to make or break their plan and be the difference between saving or destroying the world. And the last tidbit of info we get on their relationship in canon is when she hides behind him because she’s shy- Certified having befriended the cat moment. She trusts him and sees him as a safe person! And by saying that she’s shy, he’s showing that he did end up understanding her and how she is.

No matter the rocky parts of their relationship, they still have a strong foundation to it and were great allies and road companions, one of the few persons that had each other’s back when it mattered the most, both for the world and for their personal arcs. And post-canon, well…

He’s accepted that she needs space and whatnot, and meanwhile she’s accepted his interest in monsters and taken it in stride 😌 They end up having this familiarity with each other and even if there’s still a bunch of emotional distance imo and they never really got into the nitty gritty with each other not like her with Chilchuck or even Marcille, they see each other. They nod in greeting and respect each other from afar……. But also still tease and chat familiarly up close and if she offers him the opportunity for cuddles he will take it. You know, if it’s not her just falling onto him because she’s sleeping she has no respect.

Siblings behavior… If you know my take on the general party dynamics, I love thinking of Laios & Izu’s dynamic as him being an older brother figure where they have a love-hate relationship. Siblings rivalry. I have a bunch of funny little doodles I’ve wanted to make with them for months, the prompts for which are in the screenshot put below. But yeah like you know, they’re protective of each other but in that very critical way as well, truly forged by being stuck with each other for a while and having to come to understand and accept how the other is. Strife with conflict, but ultimately sticking with each other through thick and thin… Siblings siblings SIBLINGS SIBLINGS SIBLINGS. Sigh I just want them to cuddle on a couch and she purrs while simultaneously being snide and mean to him, they are so… Izutsumi is the character ever

Oh, which! While I’m here, I always recommend this fanfic about the two of them interacting and Laios treating her like a cat, it’s just fun and lighthearted. They’re suuuuch an underrated duo

If I find more Laios & Izu moments I think are worth sharing I’ll just add it onto this I think. We shouldn’t be too hard on him he was raised by dogs so cats are a whole other language to him but also, so wild to me that he never tried to engage with her on a cat level properly like where is the hissing at the catgirl and the cat taming moments, he sucks at socializing with cats smh smh.

I want to do an analysis of queerness in Dungeon Meshi with relationships and social norms and stuff and Izutsumi’s arc is gonna be central to that too. Her relationship with EVERYONE is SOOO GOOD AND IMPORTANT AND COMPELLING. But I guess this is where I leave it off for now, I hope I’m not forgetting any point I wanted to make hmmm

#Dungeon meshi #delicious in dungeon #Spoilers #dungeon meshi manga spoilers #izutsumi #laios touden #laizu brotp #Analysis #relationship analysis #Idk idk. Scene analysis #arc analysis #Fumi rambles #This is my brother and this is my sister! We are siblings and we care for each other! #What’s that? We have a younger sister. You thought we were two but there is another. Come on Izu snap out of that trance it’s time to do #THE SIBLINGS DANCE #Ask #Falin & Izutsumi would be so good too actually #That “you can trust your sibling to kill you if needed” thing where it’s even more relevant bc of Laios and faligon GGDBDKDB #Killing someone for their own good is siblings coded in dunmeshi real?? /j

[chrysalis-the-butterfly]

Sir Pentious perhaps?

Certainly, my dear!

Send me a character and I’ll list:

Favourite thing about them: His dorkiness! I like how he starts out trying to be intimidating so he'll be thought of as a formidable foe, and then learns to embrace his naturally dorky self and be a better person. Maybe there's a message there about toxic masculinity? Or maybe I'm reading too much into it.

Least favourite thing about them: That so-called 'joke' in Episode 6. You know the one. I mean, you can't have a whole episode taking sexual assault seriously when it happens to Angel Dust and then turn it into a joke when it happens to Sir Pentious. I'd have preferred it if, instead of Pen being dragged into the sex room, Valentino overheard his "sex with everybody" line and started offering him a job at the porn studio and making him flustered, and that was what motivated Angel to stand up for his friends.

Favourite line: "The only cool thing here is to say 'No' to drugs! Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to not have sexual intercourse before marriage!"

brOTP: I like the enemies-to-friends thing he had going on with Angel Dust! My favourite moment is in Episode 5, when Pen is trying to shield his cookies for Lucifer from Angel's grabby hands, and then he has to stand up straight to salute Lucifer with a quick, "Your majesty!" before he goes back to shielding the cookies, but it's too late because Angel's taken one, but Angel doesn't make a big deal of it, he just says, "Heya, short king," to Lucifer as if there's nothing out of the ordinary going on. They're like brothers! Pen is the responsible one and Angel is the naughty one, but at the end of the day, they've got each other's back. It's fun to watch!

Also, now that Sir Pentious is in Heaven, I love the thought of Emily becoming his new best friend! She could show him how Heaven works, and he could teach her what he knows about Hell, and together they could try to find a way to let Charlie know that redemption actually works.

Plus, there's the angst potential of Sir Pentious interacting with Molly - he knows who Angel Dust is, and she knows who Anthony is, but they don't know they're talking about the same person... I'd love to see a Pen/Emily/Molly trio going on escapades in Season 2!

OTP: CherriSnake! I wasn't sure about the ship at first, but it's grown on me. It's a neat example of the enemies-to-lovers trope, where Sir Pentious' admiration for Cherri as a worthy opponent turns into something more romantic. And they could have bonded over being inventors - Pen with his gadgets and Cherri with her "brilliant explosive contraptions". Too bad he only confessed his love a few seconds before his heroic sacrifice...

I think I like this ship for its potential. What will Cherri do now that Pen is gone? Will she find out he's in Heaven? Will that motivate her to stay at the Hazbin Hotel, to get redeemed herself and be reunited with him? It's rife with story possibilities!

nOTP: Sir Pentious and Vox (StaticSnake?). Mainly because Vox told Pen to kill himself in Episode 2. That was unacceptable.

Random headcanon: Sir Pentious has a son! Remember that moment in the pilot when Angel said, "Harder, Daddy!" and Pen replied, "Son?!" I think Pen did actually father a child when he was alive, and he'd been scouring Hell trying to find him again. (And for a moment there, he thought Angel was declaring that he was his son.) Pen never found his son in Hell, but now he's in Heaven, maybe he'll have better luck...

Unpopular opinion: I actually quite like Sir Pentious' singing voice! It's nowhere near as bad as people make it out to be. And I much prefer it when characters' singing voices match their speaking voices, instead of being wildly different. (Looking at you, Vaggie.)

Song I associate with them: @hazbinned made a video of Pen being kept awake at night by Angel blasting out "Made You Look" by Meghan Trainor, so now I associate that song with Sir Pentious! LOL!

Favourite picture of them:

#hazbin hotel #sir pentious #egg bois #angel dust #cherri bomb #cherrisnake #emily hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel emily #molly hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel molly #lucifer morningstar #charlie morningstar #vaggie #valentino hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel valentino #vox hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel vox #hazbin hotel pilot

[azureintrigue]

SEND YOU A CHARACTER? KUNG LAO RIGHT NOW! ALL 12 OF THEM! (Just mk11 i DOJT know)

RAAAGH ANYTHING FOR U POOKIE !!!!

Sexuality Headcanon: Bisexual!! God people are hot. I think he found out early on he was bi (like 15-16) and was a little jarred about it, at first, simply because he grew up with the Wu Shi and had no idea he could even be bisexual, but it didn't haunt him. He just sort of went with the flow. It just meant if a guy was cute enough, he'd flirt with him too. Gender Headcanon: I am trans, therefore, I force my trans agenda on EVERYONE. Smacks him with He/They pronouns and dubs him trans. He's trans. Thank you for coming to my ted talk. A ship I have with said character: OTHER THAN OUR LOVELY LOVELY LAOHAN.... I like Lao with Erron Black...Their interactions spark much chemistry and HE'D ALSO DO SOMETHING DUMB AND END UP GETTING INVOLVED. Cowboy Hat x Razor Hat. Also there's again, that aspect of righteousness with someone who...maybe does not have the greatest of morals. A BROTP I have with said character: GOES WITHOUT SAYING, LIU KANG. They're besties in every timeline. Other than that, his interactions with Nightwolf are !!! Interesting. He seems less like someone who looks down on Kung Lao, like some other characters, and more of a concerned figure. I could see them getting along. Nightwolf's down-to-earth humility and dry remarks + Lao's Cockiness and sarcasm remind me a bit of MK1's Raiden and Lao. A NOTP I have with said character: I heard Lao and Liu were cousins??? Not sure if that's true, but also, they seem like besties to me. I don't see the chemistry, personally. That, and also. People ship him with Jade?? I personally like Jade and Kotal so I'm not too big a fan on that one. A random headcanon: Messy as hell. But not as in, like, his room or anything, that remains decently neat, just his way of going about things. The type of guy to sleep almost late every morning and wake up in a hurry, he's still slipping his pants and shoes on as he steps out of his bedroom. The type of guy to multitask and yes, it works, but it makes other people nervous because from an outside perspective it looks like he's precariously juggling a bunch of tasks. He's confident in himself, and what he's doing though. And most times, things blow over well. In fact, most of the time, things only end in disaster when he's being nagged or distracted. Best to let Lao do what Lao does: Lock in and run around for three hours doing a bunch of tasks because he procrastinated for too long. General Opinion over said character:

I relate to him a lot, actually. His bravado and confidence that often get criticized as being "too much" his desire to be more than someone's second choice, more than just "Liu Kang's best friend", and his overall vibe are something I point at the screen and go ME!! ME FR!! At. But also apparently, he's lazy as hell and like. Me too for fucking real. I'm a class-S procrastinator it's actually a problem. Anyway. He's like my third-favorite MK character. Raiden and Kotal unfortunately take up first and second (that order may change, it always ends up doing so in like a week). I RELATE AND HE MAKES ME LAUGH AND HE'S MY MAIN IN MK.

#offerings 🦐 #Kung Lao #kung lao headcanons #mk11 #answered asks #Ask game

[jinn-mori]

Ban and Elizabeth BROTP Headcanons

Be the change you want to see in the world, so here are my headcanons for these two because I wish they interacted more.

Ban loves teaching Elizabeth new recipes whenever she wants to make something for Meliodas. Whenever she's in a bad mood or needs to blow off steam, Ban will let her vent-bake. Or, he'll let her knead the everloving hell out of whatever dough he has available.

Given Elizabeth grew up hella rich and Ban grew up hella poor, what they consider expensive vastly varies. This also led to Ban having to stay with Elizabeth during shopping trips so she doesn't overspend.

Ban knows how to sew from having to maintain his clothes and before the Sins kicked Hendy's ass, he taught Elizabeth how to sew since with her being royalty, it's a skill she likely didn't learn.

Ban has nearly beaten up several customers for trying to get handsy with Elizabeth. Meli is more subtle in his threats, but Ban will straight up say 'You try groping her, I will steal your hands and beat you with them'. Ban does not play around.

He has tried so many times to get Elizabeth to swear. Elizabeth deserves to say 'Fuck'. I may write a fic that's just Elizabeth getting to say 'Fuck'. And it's because of Ban. He's simultaneously a good and bad influence.

Ban is a master haggler and is basically Elizabeth's scary dog privilege against scams.

Elizabeth told Ban about the various different treasures that the Liones royal family has and they have this thing of Ban stealing a treasure and Elizabeth stealing it back. It's basically like that gay pirate plate post but with a piece of treasure. And neither party can use magic to steal it back. The tradition probably gets passed down to Tristan and Lancelot.

At Meliodas and Elizabeth's wedding, the bouquet hit Ban square in the face. Ban nearly choked on flower petals that day.

#sds ban #sds elizabeth #nnt ban #nnt elizabeth #seven deadly sins #nanatsu no taizai #undead ban #ban the undead

[jcs-singular-slut-strand]

"send me a character" shockingly: jiang cheng, jiang wanyin, sandu shengshou, jiang-zongzhu, jin ling's jiujiu

Wow wonder what about me and my blog made you think of him 🤔

Favourite thing about them: I expected him to have a massive meltdown wayyyy earlier than he did, so yay! (Not sure how much of that is down to the fact that I was actively reading posts about the show that contained loads of spoilers and very heavy biases against him before I finished the show for the first time so I was just waiting for him to turn the way people were saying he did. Spoiler! He never did). This man raised a Sect from the brink of near extinction in about 3 months and at the age of what, seventeen?? And then rebuilt it all on his own?? This man is incredible, someone get him a celebratory twister ice-lolly

Least favourite thing about them: He got rid of his slut strand

Favourite line:

From the book (paraphrasing) - "you would certainly be a mark of shame on his entire teaching career"

From cql, it's either - "Who is this famous and talented Cultivator? Could you please introduce him to me?"

Or - "If I remember it right, that talking kid is your son, right? He's so good at talking"

brOTP: Him and Qin Su as friends intrigues me (I also kinda ship it, but that's irrelevant right now) cause she was most likely the only maternal figure in Jin Ling's life and Jiang Cheng is not an idiot, he knows that Jin Ling needs that kind of influence. He's basically the mother of the child whose father got remarried after the divorce and who then strikes up a friendship with the new wife in order to raise the child more efficiently. Co parenting 🫶

OTP: Jiang Cheng x Peace and Happiness (jk it's chengxian, but I also fw chengxuan, chengsu, and chengqing)

nOTP: fucking Xich*ng, got mad beef with Xich*ng

Random headcanon: is incredibly good with numbers, like the opposite of discalculus. Good for tax and trade negotiations. We love a highly efficient, overly capable King 🫶🫶

Unpopular opinion: He has every right to be fucking pissed at Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji

Song I associate with them: The entire album "Laurel Hell" by Mitski. Like the whole thing. Also, "Are You There Sweeheart?" by Kate Nash, and "911" by Lady Gaga

Favourite picture of them: This one makes me have a wee giggle whenever I see it

#asks #jiang cheng #the untamed #mdzs #grandmaster of demonic cultivation #mo dao zu shi

[rays-of-fire-and-ice]

Note that I plan to get to all of these at some point, but I’m looking to see what I should do next. Description for each fic are below the cut.

Sequel to On the Shoreline: written from Momo’s perspective, it’d have how she’s reacted to Hell’s invasion, conversations and shopping trips with Rangiku, a conversation with Renji about their friendship and worrying about Izuru, and of course her trying to get Toshiro involved in beach activities but seeing something is deeply troubling him.

Hitsugaya shows Momo his bankai for the first time: what it says on the tin. It’ll probably be a short one, but I’d want to explore how Momo feels seeing Toshiro achieve something like this, and how Toshiro interprets her reaction, fearing she will be afraid of his power.

The Big One: you all know this one, I’ve mentioned it a few times. A multi-chapter fic about how Toshiro and Momo reconcile after Aizen’s defeat and where they go from there. It’d start a short time before the battle against Aizen, and continue into the events of the battle, then into the year and a half of the aftermath, and potentially into the Thousand Year Blood War arc. It’s be based on a combination of canon, headcanons, and event analysis I have done in the past here and here. It’d also likely include scenes from other fics I have written (such as As Months Go By, As Seasons Change) but rewritten for the fic or told from a different perspective.

It’d be a big project for me, one that could take more than a year to release in full. If this is the winner of the poll, it’d be my sole focus, meaning you may not see as much of writing as frequently, but I will likely write other oneshot fics in between chapter releases to take a break from it every now and then.

Hitsuhina battle fic: this is technically another request from last year, but as the requester is relaxed about me doing it (thank you @whipplefilter!), I’ve had it floating around for a while. I wanted to explore that part of Toshiro we got to see when he was a zombie for Giselle, where he’s completely unrestrained in his fighting…and I wanted Momo there because, you know, angst XD There’s a snippet of it here.

Fifth Division gardening fic: more or less what it says on the tin. It would be mainly from Hinamori's POV and feature snippets of Fifth Division throughout the years, but centered on a group of officers that start gardening in the division. These characters will mostly comprise of my headcanon officers (see them here), and may start from when Hinamori began with the Division all the way to after the Thousand Year Blood War. There's likely going to be a focus on Hinamori's growing sense of responsibility, how her relationships with her subordinates (once her fellow officers) changes the higher up the ranks she goes, and her perception of the duties she has when it comes to the Souls that fear Shinigami. While it'll mostly be centered on the platonic relationships in Momo's life, there will of course be hitsuhina snippets too!

Hinamori realizes her feelings fic: if written, it’ll be in a similar style to To Know Love, Momo gradually realizes her feelings for Toshiro. I plan to keep it short and sweet, but well…it’s me, so chances are it’ll be more than 2000 words XD

Orihime and Toshiro brotp fic: so far I’m envisioning it to be short and sweet, but it’ll look at either one of two (or maybe both) scenarios: either 1) Orihime heals Toshiro’s arm after Aizen’s defeat, and learns what happened in the battle with him and Momo, or 2) they meet sometime during the Full Bringer arc or a short time before the Thousand Year Blood War arc, Toshiro thanks her for allowing him and Rangiku to stay with her during the war against the Arrancars, and they discuss Ichigo. Vague ideas at the moment (and who knows, I may come up with more), but I love this dynamic and I wish it were explored more.

Hinamori is missing fic: a very old idea that recently resurfaced. Set during the Arrancar arc, not long after Toshiro and co. return from the World of the Living after. Momo sneaks out of Fifth Division, unable to stand being inside somewhere that reminds her of Aizen and her life before anymore. When her Division realises she’s missing, they alert everyone. Toshiro eventually finds her, angst ensues.

Tenth Division through the years fic: very similar to the Fifth Division Gardening fic (and they could end up being companion pieces together, see the last option in the poll), in which it's from Hitsugaya's POV and features snippets of his life in the Tenth Division, from when he starts in the Division all the way to after the Thousand Year Blood War. It'll show Toshiro various bonds with those in his division (again, mostly my headcnaon officers, see here) and of course have snippets of Hitsuhina and brotp goodness with Rangiku. The focus will be on Toshiro changing relationship with his offiers turned subordinates as he goes higher up the ranks, and his perception of himself as a child prodigy.

Fifth Division gardening AND Tenth Division through the years fics: a surprise twist entry! >:D As I feel these two would be companion pieces, I wanted to give the option of me working on these two together and releasing them either on the same day or only a few days apart at most.

#bleach #hitsuhina #fanfiction #I liked how the last poll turned out #so I want to try it again! #thank you again to everyone who voted in the last one #hoping editing on the Shinji fic isn't going to take long

[coffeebrownn]

Do you ship any other ships than Winterfield? (Even if you don't actively engage in any other ships, do you have any that you think are neat?)

i don't really actively engage any other ship than Winterfield!! but i'm pretty indifferent with any ship in resident evil (except problematic ones)

technically one of the reason why i like Winterfield other than the dynamic is probably how chill the community it is, sure it's pretty "dead" but i'm happy with a few people around to interact, comparing to the more popular ship like Aeon, Serennedy, Nivanfield, etc. tbh i just prefer to be in a fairly unpopular community, i'm scared with a lot of stuff and one of them is being in a popular ship community.

so ships that i find pretty neat other than Winterfield:

- Claire/Ada, this one i find particularly interesting, i drew them once and I'll draw them again

- Carlos/Jill

- Claire/Jill

- Sherry/Jake

- Billy/Rebecca

ships i don't understand/care, (this doesn't mean i hate the ship, you probably just never see me mention them outside this context):

- Anything that's related with Albert (Chrisker, Weskennedy, etc), i don't like Albert, he's scary, the community is scary

- Anything related with Leon (Aeon, Chreon, Serennedy, etc), Leon is popular and the community is scary if i took a wrong step

- Chris/Piers, this is a popular ship, i avoid popular ships

- Jill/Chris, I prefer them as BROTP

- Lucas/Ethan, this one can burn in hell

so yea!! i just really really love Winterfield and that's the only ship that i'll be happily draw any time!

#anon #ask #thanks for the question anon!

[iam93percentstardust]

bucky barnes for the ask game 💗✨

Bucky Barnes, my beloved <3

Favorite thing about them The sexie, sexie murder strut. We love to see it.

Least favorite thing about them My least favorite thing about him is something that would get me booted from the fandom, so I'm gonna say Marvel's insistence at prioritizing him at Sam's expense. I love my boy Sam. He deserves better.

Favorite line "Who the hell is Bucky?" Bestie when I tell you I about screamed in the theater. I miss the old days of the MCU when there weren't fifty million articles after each movie analyzing every single easter egg in the film. I had no idea Bucky was coming back in CATWS and I was delighted.

brOTP Steve & Bucky. They remind me of my high school best friend and I.

OTP Winterironfalcon. I couldn't decide between winteriron and winterfalcon, and winterironfalcon is the best of both worlds, so there's my OTP for him <3

nOTP Stucky... they remind me of my high school best friend and I

Random headcanon In post-CACW Avengers tower verse, after his recovery, Bucky decides to get a job as a mechanic. Tony is deeply baffled by this and tries reminding him that he doesn't need a job, he's being sponsored by a billionaire, and that there are plenty of cars for him to putter around with in the tower's garage. Bucky doesn't care; he gleefully goes off to work each day.

Unpopular opinion Automatic rank progression doesn't work like that in the American military system and I'm tired of seeing cold takes of Rhodey should be saluting and deferring to Bucky.

Song i associate with them When Your Feet Don't Touch The Ground by Ellie Goulding

Favorite picture of them Walk walk fashion baby...

#alle answers

[antiv3nom]

Bedman (Romeo)

omg havent had an excuse to talk abt bedman in a hot minute thank u anon...

favorite thing about them:

i love the tragedy of his story arc... that feels like a weird thing to say but its the first thing that came to mind! just. look. the road to hell paved with good intentions bit taken to the extreme really works here!!! the idea that he remembered the name of every person he ever killed because he was under the impression he could bring them all back, only to have the rug pulled from under him? hurts me! in the best way!!!

other than that i do enjoy his design, both romeo himself and the bed :] i wanna give my bedman cosplay another try sometime for sure, it didnt work out for various reasons but i have most of the components and would enjoy cosplaying him fr in the future

least favorite thing about them:

i think i dont really dislike anything about the way bedman is written in the source material strongly enough to point it out here? i think my main gripe is the way the fandom treats him to either extreme, like theres "bedman did nothing wrong ever" people and "bedman is horrific" people and i wish both camps would chill out and recognize hes like. a complex character? but i do think most people do this already which i can appreciate

favorite line:

im a little obsessed w his win line against may in xrd

"I do not understand humans who are motivated by love. A person is born, lives for a number of years, and interacts with up to eight billion people. What proof is there of something they can't even define?"

bc like. buddy. you dont even realize it. YOURE driven by love. all this shit wasnt just for yourself but it was for delilah too!!! fuck!!! you dont even see it as love you see it as necessary because shes that important to you!!! and dont even get me STARTED on the bed in strive and how its still running because of his last minute code additions which almost act as the last part of his will to protect delilah. GAHHHH

brOTP:

BEDMAN AND AXL INTERACTIONS. PLEASE. PLEASE. their dynamic is so interesting as characters with such fascinating ways of interacting with the world...gah. GAH. and no one fucking talks about it!!!

OTP:

sinbed. must i wlabo.

ok but i will, im not as into them as i was like a year ago but i still do really enjoy their dynamic. sin being such a beacon of hope and being so willing to see people as good contrasted with a post-xrd living bedman (bc all my sinbed stuff exists within au but im having fun out here so sue me) seeing himself as inherently evil due to his actions despite his intentions and believing no one would ever care for him? it hits for me

nOTP:

i dont know of anything off the top of my head that ive seen for him??? nothing prevalent at least.

actually on second thought i think ive seen like one instance of bedman and ram in a romantic sense, and that im not a fan of but i guess i could see the appeal, just not my thing

random headcanon:

this motherfucker would have gotten heated in some internet forums or wiki talk pages, DEDICATED to accuracy out here and he WILL fight you about it

unpopular opinion:

not entirely certain i have one? i think the "bedman while flawed is not actually a terrible person and was doing his best given his extremely fucked up circumstances" is a pretty cool take by this point for most people

i think the only thing i have is that my interpretation of bedman has always been as like a young adult rather than a kid but like i dont really have a concrete opinion on that and i totally understand people who do see him as a kid like its entirely understandable to do so

song i associate with them:

other than his character themes, its GOTTA be dramaturgy by eve, which just. it gives the vibes. read the english lyrics it will make sense i prommy

favorite image of them:

THE EEPER...

OTHER than this one its more an animation but his 6p in xrd is so silly i love it so bad...and for a more serious option his instant kill is really cool

#ask #random ramblings #bedman #ask game #anon

[bellysoupset]

I just reread your fic were Jonah had a vertigo episode and Vince told him he was dating Wendy.

I just love Jonah and his friendships with both Vince and Wendy so much.

So I'd like to request Jonah taking care of either Vince or Wendy.

!!! This ask made all my braincells dance, I never got a request for Jonah x Vince's brotp, so I just had to rush and write it. Someone else asked for concussed Vin so... The best of both worlds. This is a part 1

-------

Jonah drummed his fingers against the steering wheel, trying to quell the anxiety and annoyance inside of him. He still wasn't quite convinced this wasn't a prank.

Concern stirred in his chest and Jonah pressed the gas pedal a little harder. He'd be furious, but he'd rather this was a prank, actually.

It wasn't rare for Vince to text him. Their conversation was mostly unilateral, with Vin bombarding his instagram DMs with memes, messages that Jonah rarely reacted to aside from one snippy line here and there, but that he treasured a lot. When Vince went radio silent in their non reciprocal chat, Jonah worried.

It was, however, very unusual for Vince to call him. When they went on double or triple dates, it was Wendy doing the calling, never Vin.

So Jonah had been dumbfounded when his phone had rang in the middle of the day, Vince's name displayed across the screen.

He glanced at the map on his GPS, then scanned the deserted road, as if he'd see Vince- As soon as he turned the next exit, Jonah's stomach dropped to his feet.

Sadly it hadn't been a prank.

There was a tree fallen on one side of the deserted, middle of nowhere road, tire marks on the wet tarmac and then Vince, sitting on the curb, with his motorcycle fallen a couple feet away from him.

Jonah parked the car hastily, jumping out and power walking to his friend, "What the hell happened?"

Vince looked up from the ground, squinting at him, "uhm- Car, lost control-" he was slurring, gesturing to the site of the accident, "hit me straight on."

"Where is the bloody car right now?" Jonah seethed, crouching down to get a good look at Vince's face. He wasn't wearing the helmet anymore, it was on the ground near his boots. His face was milky white, a hard frown in the middle of his brows making Vince look quite intimidating.

"Drove off..." Vin rubbed his neck, then met his eyes and Jonah's anger all but doubled. Some jerk had hit his friend and simply driven off? "I'm sorry... I-"

"Shut up," Jonah rolled his eyes, leaning in to plant his fingers on Vince's vitals, "how hurt are you?"

"Not sure," Vin mumbled, shifting uncomfortably as Jonah explored his neck in search of bruises, personal space be damned, "my side hurts."

"Lean back, lift up your shirt," Jonah bossed and expected a cheeky Vince-esque remark in return. An at-least-buy-me-dinner-first line or even I'm-telling-Leo. Instead he got sullen silence and obedience, which only made him all the more worried.

Vince gingerly unzipped his jacket, then attempted to pull up his shirt, but he didn't get very far. His grip on the fabric was weak and his arm didn't seem to be cooperating. Jonah mentally made a note to check his shoulders, then slapped Vince's hand away and pushed the shirt up.

There was a nasty cut, covering all of Vince's left side, starting a couple inches under his armpit and going all the way near his belly button, surrounded by scrapes and scratches. It wasn't deep, otherwise he'd probably be bleeding out, but it was ugly nonetheless. The blood had already clotted over.

"Shit, Vince," Jonah frowned, leaning in to inspect the wound, "I think this need stitches..."

"Uhm, are you sure?" Vince blinked heavily, "can't you just- I don't know, band-aid it?"

Jonah stared at him, unimpressed, "You're a piece of work," he scoffed, then pushed the shirt back down, "what else hurts?"

"My foot," Vince gestured his left foot, "I think I broke it."

"And you didn't start by saying that?!" Jonah raised his eyebrows, sitting back on his heels to undo Vince's boot and carefully remove it. His foot was swollen alright and purple around the ankle, but once Jonah poked him on the sole, the toes all curled in reflex, "I don't think it's broken, but you definitely need an x-ray to check for hairline fractures or any torn ligaments- In fact, I think you need a whole body check up, Vin."

"I'm fine," Vince groaned, rubbing a hand over his face. He had scratches all over his chin, dried blood where his eyebrow had split open, "I just wanna go home. Can you drive me home?"

Absolutely not, Jonah thought, but instead he nodded, "sure, I'll drive you home," he lied with an eyeroll, barely keeping the sarcasm from his voice, "you didn't happen to get the asshole's car plate, did you?"

"Nope," Vince seemed completely drained, "can you not tell Wendy? At least until later."

Wendy was in NYC, visiting her family, so Jonah shrugged. He wouldn't be talking with her until tomorrow, "okay... Put your arm around my neck, c'mon."

Between the wounded foot, the nasty gash on his side, the probably dislocated shoulder and the fact that Vince was fucking 6'4, it was a hassle to get him up and limping to the car.

Jonah was sweating and panting by the time he got Vince sitting down again. This would've been easier if Luke was here... Jon pushed the thought aside almost with a scowl. He hadn't called Lucas and he figured there was a reason why Vince had called him instead of his siamese twin.

"Jon," Vince leaned his head heavily against the inside of the car, near the door, "can we go?"

"Hold on a second, let me just get some pictures of your bike," Jonah squeezed his shoulder, "hang in there, don't fall off the car."

Vince's bike was in a surprisingly decent shape. The were some parts from the front scattered around the ground and the front tire had been slashed open- Jonah shuddered as he pictured just how the bike had gotten that way, Vince being catapulted out of it. He snapped a couple pictures, jolting down the license plate and then rushed back to the car.

"Be honest with me, were you speeding?" Jonah asked, as he put the seatbelt around Vince, wincing in sympathy as he felt his friend recoil when the wrap hit his wounded side.

"No," Vin leaned his head back, breathing through his mouth, "no... Raining..." he mumbled, as if that explained everything.

"Okay..." Jonah started the car, glancing nervously at the man lying right next to him, "hey, don't pass out," he poked Vince's thigh five minutes later, as he noticed him sliding down the seat, "I need you to stay awake, you could be concussed."

"Not concussed," Vince groaned, sitting up straight once again, "just in pain."

"Where?" It was a dumb question and Vince could say everywhere and it'd probably count as an accurate answer, but Jonah wanted him to keep talking. For once he missed the incessant chatting.

"Side," he answered quietly, "fuck, my bike..."

"I'm gonna call someone to tow it, it's okay," Jonah rolled his eyes, starting the windshield wiper as the rain started back up. He noticed Vince's teeth chattering, "are you cold?"

"Uhm..." Vin nodded, then leaned forward, resting his forehead on the dashboard, one hand resting on his stomach, "don't feel well, Jon..."

"Not concussed, uh?" Jon scoffed, already pulling the car to the side of the road. He reached over Vince when the man didn't move and unlocked the door, undoing his seatbelt, "c'mon, Vin, don't be an ass, puke out of the car."

Vince obeyed silently, making Jonah feel just a touch more concerned. He hated that his bantering wasn't getting an answer, it was widely out of character.

Vin hung his torso out of the car, bracing heavily against the door and let out a weak heave, followed by a pained gasp, "hurtssss..."

Frowning, Jonah planted a hand on his shoulder to keep Vince from falling off the car and then moved the other one down his spine. His leather jacket had been slashed clean through, something he hadn't noticed before. Vince heaved again, a delicate gagging that was so unlike him, followed by a whimper. Jonah drummed his fingers gently over his wounded side and then pulled his hand back as he met a weird poking under the skin.

"Goddamit, Vince, I think you have a broken rib," that would explain why he was struggling to even vomit without crying from pain.

There was a noise from his friend, followed by yet another retch and then Vince was choking on the liquid, vomit rushing out of his mouth and splashing on the road.

Jonah's stomach churned with sympathy and he squeezed his hand on Vince's shoulder, turning his face away and trying to tune the awful noise out.

Vince heaved again, whole body convulsing with the pain, and Jonah ducked his head, not bothering to muffle his own wet belch. He could taste his lunch all over again.

"Sssorry..." Vince groaned, from his right, before coughing once again and heaving loudly, the noise much louder now. Jonah heard, distinctively, as he emptied out the last of his stomach contents and was reduced to a mess of dry heaves and sobs from the pain.

He straightened up, sniffling and wiping the tears from his cheek, "sorry, Jon-"

Jonah ignored him, flinging his own door opened and bracing against it as he belched again, his lunch threatening to leap to his throat. He swallowed convulsively, gagged and then thumped his chest to dislodge one sick burp, spitting all the thick saliva on the road under. Stomach more or less settled, Jonah straightened up, daring to look at Vince.

He felt beyond humiliated. It was such a pathetic display, to be unable to help his loved ones when they got sick because his own stomach was too weak, "I'm sorry," he grumbled, voice rough and thick.

"I'm so-"

"You look awful," Jonah interrupted, choosing to do this instead of telling him to shut the fuck up and stop apologizing for daring to be sick with a probable concussion, "Vin, I'm taking you to the hospital."

Vince frowned, shaking his head, "I'm fine, really-"

"You have a broken rib, for sure. A sprained ankle at best. That wound is gonna need at least 50 stitches. I'm pretty sure you're concussed and fuck - who knows what else," Jonah glared at him, enumerating the injuries on his fingers, "I'm driving you to the hospital."

"It's gonna cost my right arm and for what? For broken ribs they only tell you to rest and take painkillers. I'm not concussed, I know how a concussion feels like. My foot they'll also just tell me to not walk around and let it heal. I don't need stitches, I'm not even bleeding anymore," Vince said, sounding annoyed and glaring at Jonah, "I thought you wouldn't make a fuss."

Jonah's glare took a steely turn, as he realized Vince had called him specifically because Lucas would've been frantic and probably called an ambulance. It was insulting, "Fuck you," Jonah scoffed, "Did you think I'd find you all mangled and just be like here, I'll drive you to the dorms so you can have internal hemorrhage in the middle of the night? Just because I'm not Lucas? Go fuck yourself Vince," Jonah spat out, slamming his own door shut and starting the car back again.

A heavy silence fell upon them. Jonah stubbornly ignored it, seething with anger. From the corner of his eye he could see Vince looking away from him, a pained frown on, the closest he could get to pouting in this much pain.

It went on for good fifteen minutes, until Vince broke it by mumbling a small, rough "I'm sorry. That was stupid of me."

"Uhm," was all Jonah answered, still just as furious.

He squeezed the steering wheel between his fingers, with much more force than necessary, and rolled his shoulders. The ugliest part of him wanted to yell at Vince a little bit more, bitterness coating the inside of his mouth.

"Jon," Vince interrupted his spiraling angry thoughts and Jonah pointedly ignored him.

"Jonah," Vince said a bit more strongly and Jon sighed, looking away from the road.

"What? If you'll try to get me to not dri-"

"Pull over," Vince groaned, a hand clasped tightly over his mouth, "now, Jon."

Jonah cursed under his breath, they were no longer in an empty road, but close to the hospital and it wasn't as easy to pull over so soon, "hold on, hold on-" he chanted, signaling the need to stop and scanning the crowded street for a spot.

Next to him, Vince let out a gag, hunching over further.

A car pulled out in front of a store and Jonah rushed to take it's spot. It was a tight fit, but-

Vince gagged again and then Jon heard a whine as liquid splashed on his hand and lap, "fuck-"

Jon pressed his eyes closed, the car coming to a swift stop, but clearly he was too late. He breathed in deeply, forcing himself to be on check as he turned to his friend, to assess the mess... "fuck, Vince."

Vince hadn't quite made a mess, because he hadn't puked actual vomit. Instead there was bright blood in his hand.

"I... This can't be good, right?" Vince's voice was shaking and Jonah shook his head no.

"No, it's not," he agreed, noticing Vince's eyes the size of platters, clearly mortified, "c'mon, let's get you checked up."

Jonah couldn't remember if he had ever seen Vince be scared before. Even when he had been severely dehydrated, almost a year ago he had been more annoyed and out of it than scared.

Now he was very awake and aware of everything, much to Jon's dismay. He couldn't help his own sympathetic wince as Vince got transferred from his car to the emergency bed, the paramedics grumbling about Jonah driving him there in the first place instead of calling an ambulance.

He busied himself with getting Vince's bike picked up and then sat on the waiting room, hating to be on the opposite side of the hospital experience for once.

His phone buzzed and Jonah glanced at it nervously, half expecting it to be Wendy miraculously knowing the hell had happened. Instead it was Leo.

Leo: I thought you said you had the day off today? Court ended early and you're not here 🥺

Jonah breathed out, ignoring the prickles of anxiety running up his arm and typed back "I'm at the hospital. Vin got in a car accident."

He saw Leo type and retype, the little bubble appearing and disappearing multiple times, before the screen suddenly changed into the call mode.

"Hey-"

"What happened? How is he!?" Leo's voice was up a whole note, "how did you-"

"He called me, I think two hours ago? He seemed a little in shock, but overall very aware. Sent me his location and everything," Jonah answered, sliding down the seat and staring at the ceiling, "I think the rain caused him or someone to lose control, but either way, they hit his bike head on and then ran."

"What the fuck-"

"He's in x-ray right now. For sure at least one rib is broken, maybe his left foot too. Something is up with his shoulder, I couldn't quite see... Oh yeah and there's this big fucking wound on his side. He's gonna get stitched up after the x-ray and MRI."

"MRI?" Leo said and Jonah could hear him moving around, "did he hit his head?"

"He says he didn't, but he flew off his bike, so," Jonah rolled his eyes, "the idiot didn't want to come to the hospital."

"Sounds like Vince alright," Leo let out a weak chuckle, "you're bringing him here, right?"

Jonah hesitated, thinking back on the fact he had told Vince to go fuck himself, "uh-"

"He can't stay alone in the dorms," Leo cut in, "Wendy's out of town and he called you. You're bringing him here, even if you have to drag him."

"Yes, sir," Jonah teased lightly, opening a smile, "...Don't tell Luke? Or Wendy?"

"I don't talk with Wendy," Leo pointed out with a huff, "...Do you need anything? A coat? Food?"

"What...?" Jonah frowned, "no, you don't have to come over. We're fine, he'll probably be out in an hour or two, unless they want him to spend the night in case of a concussion."

"Vince would rather die," Leo pointed out with a little snicker, "... Are you okay? You sound shaken up."

"I'm fine..." Jonah mumbled, "just worried."

"Aw, he cares," Leo teased lightly, "I won't tell anyone, I promise."

Jon let out a smile, but Leo's teasing had only made him feel worse. He nodded, before remembering his boyfriend couldn't see him, "yeah, of course he will," he agreed, "I gotta go. I'll text you later. Love you."

"Love-" Jonah hung up before he heard the end of it, getting up from his seat and walking to the folding doors that lead to the closed part of the hospital, pacing around it anxiously.

It was another hour and a half before a girl he knew from class stepped out, "Vicent- Monacelli...?"

"Vicenzo," Jonah corrected, stepping forward, "hi Claire."

"Oh, hi Jonah," she smiled, "you're the one who brought him in?"

"Yeah... How is he?" he couldn't be bothered to hide the nervousness. He hadn't mentioned to Leo the coughing up blood, but that had been driving him insane with worry.

"He's fine," Claire tapped her clipboard with a pen, "giving the nurses a run for their money, he keeps trying to leave. Let's talk inside."

Vince hadn't been transferred to a private room, which Jonah counted as a sign he wouldn't need to stay the night. He was leaning back on a long armchair, with an IV connected to his arm, an angry frown on his face. His foot had been put in a boot cast, his shirt removed and his arm was now resting on a sling. A long bandage on his side, covered also by the bandages wrapping around his torso. A million butterfly bandages were scattered all over him.

"I thought you had left," Vince piped up, opening a lopsided smile, "can you tell the nice doctor I can go home?"

"No," Jonah rolled his eyes, looking at Claire, "doctor?"

"Alright, so let's start from the least worrying. You have a dislocated shoulder-"

"It happens all the time," Vince interjected, to which the doctor and Jonah ignored him.

"we've put it back in place and you're supposed to wear the sling and avoid moving your shoulder as much as possible for the next six weeks."

"That's crazy, six weeks?! Classes will start back up, it's my final season-"

"What else?" Jon pinched his nose bridge.

"Left foot is just twisted, but twisted badly. Three weeks of boot," she glared at Vince pointedly, "otherwise you will break it, then it'll be much longer. And you won't play your precious football game."

"It's a twisted ankle, please," Vince scoffed, "I've sported worse injuries during a game-"

"What about his ribs?" Jonah squeezed Vince's bicep to shut him up. Claire crisped her lips in annoyance and Jon almost laughed. Clearly Vince was not growing on the hospital staff.

"One broken rib, one cracked. Four weeks of bed rest and four more of little to no movement," she sighed, "I'm serious, Mr. Monacelli, if you don't rest, you'll end up breaking the one that is cracked and that one has a very bad angle to your lungs. Don't try your luck."

Vince grumbled something in italian, but nodded, wincing as he shifted on his seat, "she says I don't have a concussion, by the way."

Jonah scoffed, then looked at the blonde doctor before him, "really?"

"We ran all the scans, Jon, he's fine," Claire nodded and Jonah almost laughed as he could see she was holding back a mean comment, "Our best guess is the vomiting was due to the pain and shock."

"And the coughing up blood? His lungs are alright?"

"Yes. The blood was actually from a tear inside his mouth, he probably bit down when he hit the ground and the stomach acid irritated the wound," she opened a small smile, "as long as you rest and take the medication correctly, you should be fine, Mr. Monacelli."

"Alright," Vince nodded, then grabbed the IV pole to hoist himself up, "so I can go home?"

Claire mulled over the answer, looking conflicted. Jonah knew that technically, with those injuries, they couldn't hold him overnight, no matter how much it looked like Vince was just gonna ignore all doctor orders.

"He's coming with me," Jonah piped up, "I'll make sure he rests."

"The hell I am!" Vince whined, "I have my own dorm-"

"You're coming with me whether you want it or not," Jonah glared at him, "or you can stay the night here."

"They can't hold me here," Vince scoffed, then frowned and looked at the doctor, "you can't, right?"

Jonah grimaced and Claire clearly understood, because she shrugged, "if we think you're a danger to yourself, we can," she lied.

Vince's face fell and he sighed, sitting back down, "fine," he said, as if he had any choice on the matter. Jonah let out a relieved sigh.

Signing Vince out was easy enough, at least when compared to once again getting him to hop back to the car, since he vehemently refused using a wheelchair, much to everyone's displeasure.

"I don't think you realize you're a giant," Jonah panted as he pushed the passenger seat as far back as his sport car allowed and gave up on using the seatbelt.

"Uhm..." Vince let out a defeated sigh, leaning back against the leather seat, "I'm useless."

"You're hurt," Jonah reminded him with an eyeroll, "look... I- I'm sorry I yelled at you-"

"No," Vince sighed, "no, you were right... I was a jerk. Can we just go? Everything hurts."

"Your drugged, Vin," Jonah snorted, circling the car to get in the driver's side, "I doubt you can feel your face right now."

"I can and it hurts," Vince groaned, then closed his eyes as the movement started back up, "are you sure you don't mind me being at your place...? I can call-"

"If you say Lucas I'll leave you on the side of the road," Jonah slapped his friend's thigh, causing Vince to jerk and let out a whine.

"Fine, whatever," Vince smiled, eyes still closed, "...Told you I didn't have a concussion."

TBC

#narrator voice: and he was wrong <3 #mywriting #emeto fic #emetophilia #vince monacelli #concussion #sickfic

[raayllum]

how long would you say you've actively shipped any of your favorite ships? - im curious specifically about sorvus, sorpeli, and claudiez

I wouldn't say Sorvus is one of my faves even if I do 1) love Soren and Corvus individually, 2) Corvus is one of my favourite side characters in the whole show (like top 5) and 3) I do really like them! That being said:

Canon

For the bulk of TDP ships, canon-wise, I shipped them as their relationships were revealed (aka Harrow/Sarai with the info we got in S1, Claudia/Terry with the info we get in S4, Runaan/Ethari back when he was known as 'Tinker' thanks to the S1 credit sketch, etc).

For Janaya, I shipped them from the first time they met in S2, since "rival intellectually and physically matched generals on the battlefield" along with both being very pretty is a decently long-ish homoerotic trend in literature (aka a production I saw of "Coriolanus" really leaned in on it, although I think I saw that pre-S2's release. Applies though)

For Rayllum, I shipped them pre-show even if I was also down to brotp them. They'd be travelling together, thus having plenty of time to develop an interesting dynamic / were around the same age, and the screencap released before the premiere of them sitting under the tree (Callum, distracted but eager, and Rayla, exasperated and fond) really drew me in since that's a ship type - dynamic and gender wise (I don't tend to love ships where the guy is the more grumpy/guarded one, I think, since women are so often forced to do More of the emotional labour in relationships Anyway) - I'm already Very susceptible to. I tried to hold off a little bit in early S1 cause I didn't want to ship them too hard, but then 1x05 came along with the boat scene and it was Over for me. They've had my heart ever since (5 years going on forever)

Requested Rarepairs

Sorvus

So I didn't really ship Sorvus (although I was never opposed to them) for the majority of the time post-S3. I didn't really ship Soren with anyone and preferred Gren/Corvus at that time (due to their personalities / closer dynamic to Amaya and therefore each other) as well as enjoying Corvus/Opeli. However I was also really hoping that Corvus would stay on the council/with Ezran, and figured that if Soren was going to end up with anyone, Corvus was probably the most realistic choice (shared goals, decent development, timeskip to help things, similar ages).

That said I still didn't actively ship them (like I didn't mind them but was completely impassive/neutral y'know?) until I wrote an interaction between them in "if heaven and hell decide" (a canon divergent S2 where Claudia and Soren decide to delay their betrayal of the trio, and therefore travel with them for much longer) and the fact that Corvus would see Soren at his worst in canon (S2) but also see and appreciate who Soren was becoming... I started to turn a corner and grew to ship them a lot more. I'm really excited for them to eventually be canon, it seems, even if they're not My Endgame for either character In My Head for years-post war, at least for now.

Claudiez

For aged up Claudia/Ezran, I think this post (dated July 2021) was when I started to ship these two. There was something about the interplay of Claudia telling Callum about Harrow's death, but he only seeks out comfort from Rayla, and Ezran rejecting Rayla's offered comfort about Harrow and instead accepting it from Claudia, that felt very apt to me? And then a couple weeks later I wrote my formal "I actually do ship Claudiez and here's why" meta so it's been a few years now!

Both the younger sibling uniquely given their father's mantle to carry in ways their older brother just doesn't have to; Ezran being connected to all nature while Claudia continually perverts it, thus Ezran having the relationship to nature that she needs to learn/acquire for her own healing additionally; they both see the throne as a tool to help and breaking their fathers' cycles with each other; the childhood friends to enemies to friends to lovers of an according slow burn because of said age gap; ending up as Queen of Katolis but not the way her father imagined and ending up with one of the brothers, just not the one everyone previously expected; Ezran getting to grow up and into his own and assert his independence and choices (no matter what his brother thinks about it), etc. I also think personality wise they suit each other - Terry's parallels to Ezran in personality are some of the reasons I think Clauderry works at least as a short term pairing.

It's also kinda perfect bc, since they'd only get together like 10-15 years post the end of the show Anyway, so like. they're Endgame to me no matter what and there's nothing canon can really do about it, #improvise adapt overcome.

Sorpeli

This probably started out as the truest crack ship because it started as a joke of like, Soren flirting with her at 20 and easy to dismiss and then again when he's 30 and Opeli is like "I deserve a little fun," so they start having a physical fling, and then catch feelings (Soren falls first, she falls harder). The earliest post I have for them is from May 6th 2023 but I know realistically I'd probably shipped them for a lot longer (what can I say, younger men not being put off my older women aging bc society is bullshit, and contrasting personalities + devoted man & woman who feels undeserving will always get me) before I ever had mind to say anything. Then I dragged @jelzorz into it and the rest, they say, is history. So like 1.5 years at least now?

I'd probably be even more into Sorpeli than I already am but I'm not unconvinced that Opeli won't die (I really hope she doesn't, but I do understand how it could benefit Ezran's narrative in particular) but like if all seasons pass by and she's alive? Canon crack quartet with Endgame Rayllum, Claudiez, Sorpeli, and CorTerry is a go <3

TLDR;

Rayllum before the show started, Janaya in S2, everything else when the ships got introduced, then next we have Claudiez (July 2021), Sorvus (casually since Oct 2021), and Sorpeli (late 2022/early 2023).

#shipping #thanks for asking #anonymous #forbidden op lore #requests

[spiritofjustice]

If you’re still doing the character ask game maybe Apollo or Athena???

Send me a character and I’ll list:

I will always accept more of these, I love talking KRKJF So thank you! I'll do both of them.

Apollo:

Favorite thing about them: I know it kind of applies to all the MCs, but he is sooo... cringefail. And I love that about him. Like idk he's just so sweaty and vaguely unwell all the time and I think it's charming that he's constantly convincing himself he's Totally Cool Totally Fine Just Absolutely Fine. I also like that he can't help but be kinda mean. Not that he is a mean character, just that he has the most shit-tier filter when it comes to talking to people. I love how often he says shit he shouldn't to people, it's funny as hell to me. I love him Least favorite thing about them: He's really boring until Spirit of Justice. At least to me personally. He's like cardboard in AJ, and I don't... care about his arc at all in DD lol. Spirit of Justice may have slapped another backstory onto this bitch, and while it's silly, I think it works the best because now at least we have SOME understanding of his background. And I like his dynamics with the Khura'in crew a lot. Favorite line: idk... I don't really pay mind to people's lines. But the bit in Turnabout for Tomorrow where he says he finally trusts Athena is fun. I also like that bit in 6-5: "If you committed a crime, you'd better be ready to do the time. Be you a priest, a saint, a queen or a god." That goes pretty hard. Like bro he fucking rules during Turnabout Revolution it's crazy, he's the star of that trial for sure. The star he should've been in this trilogy all along. brOTP: Him and Athena are iconic together. I like him and Trucy for sure, but Athena really brings out some great stuff in his personality. They are so damn funny together, and you really get the impression they care about each other a lot despite the constant teasing and the rivalry. OTP: I generally don't ship Apollo with anyone because I headcanon him as aroace, but if I was going to pick a ship, I like Justicykes, I admit. I think it could be a cute ship and they already have a terrific dynamic together. But yeah. nOTP: Since I already said Nahyuta/Apollo when I did Yuty's, I guess barring ships like him and Trucy which are a given for me, I don't really care for Klavier/Apollo because I feel they have no chemistry. Like. At all. Like for anything KRKJFN The writing between them in AA4 is so Nothing to me, so idk, I just don't see it. It's not a bad ship and I understand why people like it, but it didn't click with me-- but it probably also didn't click because I don't particularly like Klavier to begin with. I don't think he's very interesting. Random headcanon: Uhhh idk! Let's see... I do headcanon Apollo as a trans man, and since I also headcanon Yuty as trans, I guess like... I like the idea of them playing games as boys when they were kids because they don't have the language or knowledge to understand why neither of them are particularly happy with being viewed as girls, so it was a little secret thing that they encouraged for each other because it made them happy. They understood when no one else did. And then they reunite 15 years later, see the other has transitioned, and thinks, "That explains a lot" lol. Unpopular opinion: His SOJ backstory is stupid as fuck but I actually also think it's great and the best thing they've done with his backstory so far, especially since they have continued to not tell Apollo and Trucy that they're siblings (though yes, I know, the ending of SOJ implies Thalassa and Phoenix are finally going to tell them). It's the first time I had a good grasp on his background, and I think his dynamic with Dhurke, Nahyuta, and Datz is legit great. Song I associate with them: I don't think I've ever thought about it. Everything is Fine by Qbomb could be good for him, but it's also very intense, probably too much even for him. But I'll go with that. Favorite picture of them: I love his grin, it's adorable

Athena:

Favorite thing about them: Her personality!!! I love how bombastic she is, I love how much emotion they put into her animations and everything. I love how much she cares about people, she's so ride or die and hardworking even when people underestimate her or look down on her. It makes her a really endearing character. I worried if I'd like her when I first started DD, but she's honestly awesome. She's my favorite protag from the new trilogy, though Apollo is not very far behind. Least favorite thing about them: I wish she wasn't so young sometimes. Like I find it weird that the newer games veer so much towards people becoming lawyers fresh out of high school, and even for someone as smart as her, I'm just like... you can't make her 20 at least or something? And I feel like the only reason she's even 18 in DD is because the assistant characters have to be a teen girl. Like. Yknow lol.

I also thought it was kind of annoying how 6-4 kept pushing her being a kid when basically nobody ever talked to her like that before. It felt like they just needed more conflict so threw in suddenly everyone being like "she's just a little BABY GIRL who doesn't KNOW NOTHIN" and I thought it was a touch lame. But not too intrusive, really. At least someone started recognizing she's young as hell, lol. Favorite line: Everything she says is iconic. How am I supposed to pick. Yeah I honestly don't know lol brOTP: Her and Simon are legendary together. Their dynamic is so fuckin funny and endearing to me. It's one of the highlights of DD and the highlight of Turnabout Storyteller. I never knew her and Blackquill were connected before I played DD, albeit I basically never saw anything new trilogy content so it surprised me, but I love them. The siblings of all time OTP: Justicykes, I guess? idk. I don't really ship for her. I'm not even certain what my headcanons for her sexuality are to begin with. I could see her as a lesbian, but I could see her as pan, but I could see her as aro, so on. Her and Juniper is cute too, I just feel like their dynamic isn't fleshed out enough, but that's kinda par for the course in DD. But I can vibe with it. nOTP: Her and Blackquill romantically. Like sorry, but you have fundamentally misunderstood their dynamic. I feel strongly about that. I can't explain it, but it really feels like it misses the point of their dynamic and what makes the dynamic great, but idk. Also it's just Weird for a lot of reasons. Random headcanon: (guy who makes every character he likes trans voice) I Think She's Trans. Also love her being taller than Apollo, I'll go with that hc like the rest of us. Unpopular opinion: I dunno. I think she's a mixed bag to a lot of people because of how DD pivoted so aggressviely away from AA4's vision and direction, which makes it tough for me to determine what an unpopular opinion with her would be, beyond that, like, she really needs her own game. I'd say DD is her game, but we need one where she's in the driver's seat and leading the story on her own. I don't want to see Phoenix or Apollo helping her anymore I'm sick of it KRKF

No clue if that's unpopular though, lol. Song I associate with them: I got nothin', sorry. Favorite picture of them: I like her angy sprite, it's cute.

#dyelwi #asks #Psy's replies #aa tag #headcanons tag #long post #thanks for sending!

[parasitoidism]

sending you walter after u sent me jonathan #dialectics

waoh its like cause like law and chaos are the same woawwwwwwwww

favorite thing about them

I do really like that he's such a little asshole sometimes like he just talks shit about people and demons right in front of them its really funny LOL but aside from that I just really like how .. clear his line of thinking is? Like it just makes so much fucking sense exactly how his life experiences and the structure of mikado's society led him from point a to point b in the course of the story because its like soooo fucked up. And it's just like this thing with him and jonathan where it's like he IS being manipulated and the .. conclusion he reaches is really not sound but the way Jonathan just can't understand that he's not just being corrupted by a demon and actually has reasons for feeling the way he does which like in turn drives them apart even more is like ooh its so good

least favorite thing about them

Oh walter i understand where your feelings are coming from but trying to create a world where the strongest survive isn't very based of you

favorite line

I have been thinking about the way he brings up Issachar to Flynn a lot recently and I think it's like... It is ultimately manipulative right. Like he is at the end of the day bringing up Flynn's dead friend whenever he's trying to get Flynn on his side like yeah he's using that tragedy to appeal to his emotions and especially in the YPR scene he's just flat out saying "If my worldview is fulfilled, what happened to Issachar will never happen to anyone else". But I don't think it's just like "Oh I'm just going to say whatever I have to in order to get this guy on my side" I think he really does believe it like he always has this sense of camaraderie with Flynn because they're both casualries throughout the whole game and I think he probably saw himself in Issachar in his last moments which is why this one at shen duque has been sticking with me because he's directly repeating Issachar's last words about "changing this rotten world". Like I think that did genuinely affect him and him invoking Issachar and his fate the way he does is his way of being like, his way of trying to get Flynn to understand what he believes to be true, that his world will never result in that kind of injustice again. IN MY CUTE LITTLE OPINION AS THEY SAY

brOTP

I THINK HE AND ISABEAU SHOULD HANG OUT MORE for the parallels bro the parallels does anyone else see the parallels Walter and Isabeau both have the thing of like being raised with a singular expectation for what the rest of their lives will look like (fisher for walter monk/monastery work for isabeau) and then being chosen as samurai instead like I think IDK i just think. i think about things sometimes.

OTP

Jonathan and Walter are really good like notice how although they do get along with and respect each other they can never fundamentally understand each other. notice how it was always fated to end before it could even begin

nOTP

uhhh Idk. I can't really think of any ships that I hate in smtiv because nobody really gives af about this game like that it's just me and my mind palace and like a few other people's mind palaces

random headcanon

Second oldest child with an older sister and 2 younger brothers idk when this popped into my head but it just did one day and now it's just like. i believe it.

unpopular opinion

People focus on the Hoy thing but that's just like a way that all the casualries talk in this game like Hope also says it a lot but I think the funniest thing about the way he talks is that he says shit like HELLS BELLS all the time like he's an old woman

song i associate with them

I DONT HAAVE ONE again like theres only a few characters I have Songs For

favorite picture of them

I only read like 2 chapters of it but the artist of demonic gene draws him very cutely

[manhuntingbonanza]

Danny

Bet

favorite thing about them: I find him relatable as all hell! Thank goodness he didn't turn out to be an edgy James Earl Cash knock off!

least favorite thing about them: Something about him being a Project scientist in the past doesn't sit quite right with me. I mean, I get it and he did suffer the consequences (and then some), but still... :/

favorite line: "I can be you. But I have a choice! A CHOICE! And I choose to be ME!"

brOTP: With Judy and Dr Whyte. I'd include Leo, but we both know how that ended up lmfao

OTP: Him and his wife, until 2001.

nOTP: No hate to those who ship him with Leo, but I just don't see it.

random headcanon: He and his family used to go on vacation to San Andreas and Vice City. When he and his wife were young, they once traveled to Carcer City.

unpopular opinion: I'm pretty sure some people know this already, but I like Daniel way better than Leo. Apparently the other way around is more of a popular opinion. I'll take an awkward average Joe as a protagonist over an edgy hardass like Leo and Cash (much love to Cash, still), because I feel Daniel is more fleshed out.

favorite picture of them

I got two!

The one of the left cracks me up every time 😭😭 As much as I hate the endings, I very much like the shot on the right.

#project files 📄 #ask game #codename: n/a

[vinegar-on-main]

isabeau smt for the send a character thingy 💥

ISABEAU! Spoiler warning for SMT IV!!!

Favorite thing about them Everyone talks about how she reads Yaoi, but nobody ever mentions she was raised by monks, and IS NOT the law guy. I think that's so funny and awesome for her.

Least favorite thing about them If you just look on the surface (Cough do any route besides neutral and DON'T play apocalypse) Shes kinda generic and besides a couple memorable moments, she doesn't do much for the narrative. I'm so happy Apocalypse gave her more of a role. Lets not talk about how she got there though.

Favorite line Well i could go for the obvious. or the not so obvious. But lets go for something that You'll Never See from me:

"...You might be interested to know that I finally read the conclusion of that manga. This is how it ended. Even should an uprising succeed and a new regime be installed, another rebel will inevitably arise." "Do you intend to become the cause of a never-ending war of succession?"

brOTP I cannot see her being friends with anyone but Flynn. They've gone through hell and back together by the end of the neutral ending.

OTP/nOTP Yeah uh I don't see her being into relationships. I would be open to anyone to change my mind, and who knows! Apocalypse may change my stance.

Random Headcanon Isabeau is the funniest person out of the Samurai Squad, (Her, Flynn, Walter and Jonathan) and she doesn't even know it. She'll regularly drop sick burns without even meaning to. Unpopular opinion I'm not sure if the fandom is big enough for that, but I think I stated it in the OTP/nOTP section :p

Song I associate with them Okay i'll be honest. This was the first thing that came into my mind. And not for the Yaoi reasons.

YES she would read the shit outta this, but OH MY GOD it fits her so much. Susato and Isabeau would be friends methinks. Favorite Picture of them

This one probably struck me the most. She looks so frightened but still stands in defiance.

Also gonna ping @meme-boys-blog because i think he'd wanna see this :p

#crab dni #mav dni #ask game answers #smt iv #smtiv #Isabeau SMT #smt #shin megami tensei #megaten #asks