#but i cannot let them start until i know they won’t get spoilers

[supernaturalyaoi]

watched s5e4 the end and immediately started rereading dta. of course

#if anyone knows exactly the point in which dta starts #meaning like deans timeline #in the show #PLEASE let me know #bestie has agreed to read it bc im showing them the show #but i cannot let them start until i know they won’t get spoilers #i’m thinking like s7 ish? #dta #scott.txt

[vingvks]

Mikey headcanons.

(My perspective, opinion on Mikey headcanons)

(Also any ideas for characters?)

MIGHT BE SPOILERS! ⚠️

Mix of female and male reader

(Kanto or kantou manji idfk and idfc)

Might be bad grammar because I’m naturally a fast typer.

Fluff

-I could see Mikey being clingy (Toman Mikey and maybe even Manila and Bonten Mikey but in more private places with just you and him.)

-Toman Mikey’s probably very defensive and protective of you, just like with baji. (Ifykyk)

-if your in a bad mood he might give you a couple nibbles of his dorayaki, only if your sad but he’s definitely stingy.

-messy sleeper. I feel like sleeping in the same bed with him is a mess. He definitely will have his arms and legs everywhere. I feel like he would randomly wrap legs with you.

-Your relationship would probably be private for safety reasons even though he would still let you around Toman but your his so called close “friend” similar to his relationship with Draken.

-Petty, not petty in like a bad way though. For example if you forget to get him some dorayaki when your coming to see him he’ll do something small but petty as revenge.

-only sleeps in cold beds. He likes the cold breeze in his room.

-he’s like a woman on her period when you don’t bring him the snacks when he asked you to.

Angst

-when Draken died his mental health got even worse. I believe Draken used to baby Mikey because he could never get out of bed on his own after what happened with Shinichiro so you’d have to be the one to help him with simple tasks like helping him get up and care for him because he won’t do it for himself.

-Bonten Mikey is a light sleeper so if you move a lot he’ll definitely get pissed and hurt your feelings by saying something insensitive, he will never hit you though.

-Bonten Mikey has insomnia on certain nights, he’ll lay in bed with you until you fall asleep and then get up to do something else while your sleeping.

-Manila Mikey would ruin plans with you to go out and find takemichi. (Ifykyk)

-Bonten Mikey would definitely talk shit about Bonten executives to make you hate them as much as he does.

-Once kanto manji arc started Mikey became possessive. Like you cant talk to certain people and he needs to know where you are at all times. This is because Mikey feels as if those around him that he loves are bound to die, he feels as if he’s bad luck. If you were to not tell him where you were he would send members out to find you and dark impulse might even happen, as in he might hurt or kill someone in the meanwhile.

-long hair Manila mikey will come to your house randomly to hang out meanwhile acting as if he doesn’t have his victims blood on him.

-all Mikey’s (except toman and kanto) are pretty merciless. That’s included killing a child or animal if needed.

-Ever since Kanto manji arc Mikey tends to get easily frustrated or pissed even though he keeps a blank face. His eyes say it all.

-sometimes Mikey might snap at you because of dark impulse and then realize what he did. This would result in him doing something such as starving himself, locking himself in a room somewhere or just straight up harming himself as self punishment.

(This is actually a headcanon because of black dragon arc where Mikey purposely let taiju hit him as a punishment to himself and when he let Draken beat him up because he couldn’t protect Emma. Basically letting others hurt him because he believes he deserves it.)

-Manila Mikey has manic episodes sometimes. I feel like he would be delusional at times and hallucinate.

-Bonten Mikey cannot sleep without you, he doesn’t like the thought of you being somewhere else while he’s laying down.

-Manila Mikey is manipulative time to time to get what something he really wants. When he doesn’t get it regardless he’ll loose his cool and get violent, Mainly from dark impulse.

-Keep a close eye on Bonten Mikey and Manila Mikey when you can. Atleast text Bonten Mikey four times an hour to check on him. But don’t text him on busy days. If he doesn’t answer your text call him on a busy day, call him.

-Mental disorder for sure.

-bad communication skills. Whenever you call him out he’ll say something like “You knew what you were getting into.”

-puts you and those he truly loves before himself. Selfless person but also very selfish when it comes to people he doesn’t care about.

-Bonten mikey has fantasies of having a double suicide with you. So that he’ll be free from his suffering with you still right beside him in his heart. You’d both probably end up dying with each other.

-very possessive and jealous. To the point it can be agonizing. Only if you really put him in his place (in any way..) he’ll stop for a bit.

-Manila mikey is usually smiling but as soon as he gets angry his whole persona turns upside down.

-Bonten Mikey has scars all along his body but hides it with sleeves etc.

-Long hair Manila mikey does a lot more gore killing then you’d expect.

-toxic asf

-yandere (toman mikey doesn’t kill others however other timeline Mikey’s wouldn’t hesitate for you.)

-They’d probably treat you like shit at times but go spiraling when you threaten leaving them, despite knowing that you can’t.

-I feel as if at times they’d occasionally victimize themselves, only till you hit them with a reality check.

-They are guilt tripping at times, but I feel they’d do it to get your attention, unhealthy obsession.

Smut

Dominant (mixed slight submissive in this too but yeah…)

-Long hair Manila mikey would wanna do some crazy shit sex wise, despite him never actually doing it for you sake.

-Bonten Mikey is definitely rough but quiet. In a irritated mood? That’s fine, he’ll take it out on you sexually.

-kanto manji Mikey is also pretty quiet but he starts off slow and then gets faster. He really doesn’t care, he’ll fuck you while other Kanto manji members are near.

-Manila Mikey does a lot of foreplay. Like thigh and neck kissing and slowly making his way up. If you were to do it to him he’d be ashamed of himself but then again he loves it.

-I feel as if long hair Manila Mikey and short hair Manila Mikey would do foreplay for a long time until you get desperate enough to beg him for more than just that.

-Manila Mikey groans a lot and whines occasionally. I feel like he’s slightly louder and whines often when he’s in the submissive role.

-Kanto manji Mikey doesn’t have a high-sex drive so he’ll just rail or ride you for your sake (he still loves it though) . But every other Mikey timeline do it for themselves.

-only time Kanto manji Mikey is in the mood is when he needs to relive his anger. (Either topping you or bottoming for you, whatever he wants more.)

-Every Mikey timeline is controlling in the sex department. (They can still be a controlling bottom until you put him in his place.)

-long hair Manila Mikey only fucks to get his mind off things. He’ll go all night, depending on how long you go the louder he gets.

-he’ll praise you just so your body can react.

-his hips and thrust are hard. Prepare for painful aching the next day.

-Thigh kissing kink.

-choking kink.

-lots of hickeys on collarbone and neck.

-emotional sex depending on how he’s feeling.

-passionate sex if you’ve pleased him or impressed him in anyway.

-he definitely leaves bruises on your hips, he keeps a firm tight grip.

-I feel like Manila Mikey would call you “doll”

-Manila Mikey is playful and unserious at first but when he starts to feel the pleasure he gets quiet and rough.

-this might suck a little but if you piss them off sometimes he’ll become controlling and only go for his own orgasm, leaving you half done unless you beg for it.

Submissive

-Bonten Mikey was not a big fan when he realized he was more submissive to you. As long as you take him somewhere very private he’ll be as loud as he wants. Other than that he doesn’t fuck in places where people are near.

-Kanto manji Mikey is loud. Deadass don’t know why but I feel like he’s mumbles curse words while you rail or ride him, he’s gets a satisfaction of relief. (depending on your preference and gender)

-Manila Mikey, his ego was lowkey hurt but if you go fast he’ll only care about sex in that one moment.

-Kanto manji Mikey doesn’t like fucking in open places. You have to be somewhere private and far away from gang members. As long as he isn’t limping or aching when your done he’ll pretend nothing happened and go on about his day.

-Bonten Mikey whispers. He’ll whisper if he wants it slower or faster but if you don’t slow down sometimes he’ll get loud.

-if you make Manila Mikey cry in the middle of sex he’ll get submissive and emotional. He’s a pretty crier.

-Manila mikey likes to ride. He’s louder that way.

-I feel like in response to his trauma he’d hate being degraded severely while bottoming, only occasionally, he’d probably prefer quiet sex or you praising him.

-Both Bonten and Kanto manji Mikey grip sheets tightly. They might even tear the sheets.

-best place you can get any timeline Mikey submissive is bending over a desk or table.

-Manila Mikey has a praising kink, you praise him and he’ll praise you back. He will ever admit how much it makes his heart race.

-Bonten Mikey breathing gets erratic when you praise him.

-All Mikey timelines hate the thought of getting caught being in a submissive position. I genuinely think they would kill or threaten anyone who were to see a damn thing.

-Bonten Mikey is disrespectful until you fuck him dry. He’d probably be judging and talking shit nonchalantly then get all quiet when you prove him wrong.

-Neither of the Mikey timelines talk much in the middle of sex beside Manila mikey. I believe that the rest of the Mikey timelines beside Manila mikey are pillow princesses when on a bed because they’re too embarrassed to see the look on your face while your fucking them. (Either riding or railing them)

-fucking any long hair Manila mikey or any adult Mikey with with his long hair out and free is top tier. He’s pretty with his hair out and messy.

-Punishment sex for any of them is a turn on but they’ll never admit. Nothing is more embarrassing to Mikey than you making him beg for it.

#dom male reader #toman mikey #mikey tokyo revengers #mikey smut #sano mikey manjiro #manjiro sano x reader #sano manjiro #top male reader #bonten #manila #kanto manji gang #mikey x y/n #future mikey #tr mikey #female reader

[nonsensicalramblings79]

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and parallels in OFMD

2.7k word meta

If you haven’t read my other post about why I’m talking about albatrosses in the first place, read the first part of this and come back! All of this will make the most sense if you read all of the parts I’ve written – I’ve split them up for ease of reading, because holy shit this is long.

TWs: animal death, blood, eating animals, starvation, emotional abuse, physical abuse, gunshot injuries, suicidal ideation, canon-typical mental health problems

MAJOR OFMD SPOILERS THROUGH S2E03

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Let me start out by saying that yes, this is anachronistic – this poem wasn’t written until 1798. I also don’t care: Oluwande is wearing crocs, Stede’s “corpse” is crushed by a piano whose maker won’t exist until 1863, Blackbeard’s got his whole leather-daddy getup, Zheng Yi Sao won’t be born until 1775 – OFMD plays fast and loose with historical accuracy, and I am never going to dismiss an OFMD theory because the timeline doesn’t match up :P

Now that that’s out of the way, a little bit of background information. Long summary incoming.

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is a poem written by English poet Samuel Coleridge. The story is told through the words of the mariner, who has recently survived some horrifying ordeals, soon to be told to a poor unsuspecting stranger who just wants to attend a wedding. As the story goes, the mariner set out with his crew of 200-some-odd men, and everything’s going just peachy until some storms pick up and drive them toward the South Pole. Stranded and lost, the crew fear for their lives, until an albatross appears. At the same time that the albatross appears, the storms clear, the helmsman is able to make their way through the ice of the South Pole, and a southern wind picks up, pushing them back north. The albatross follows the ship, but the mariner believes that it is somehow responsible for the mists and fog that now surround the ship, so he shoots the bird with his crossbow. At that point, the fog and mists actually do clear up (by coincidence or otherwise) – and the crew praise the captain for taking down the bird.

But it’s a fickle crowd – soon the wind stops blowing, and the ship is becalmed; the crew blame the Mariner for killing the bird that had been their good luck. They sit in the middle of the ocean for days or weeks, dying of thirst. They cannot even speak, they’re so thirsty – but they make sure that the Mariner knows that he is to blame for this by tying the albatross’s body around his neck and forcing him to wear it like a grotesque necklace. Eventually, everyone on the ship except the Mariner dies (there’s a bit here about Death and Life-in-Death rolling dice to see who lives and who dies – the important part is that none of the crew survives).

Finally, the Mariner is left alone on his ship of corpses, which strangely do not smell or rot. He wishes he could die, but he doesn’t. During this time, he begins to appreciate what there is left to appreciate – the life around him in the ocean, in the air, “all things both great and small” – and the curse is lifted from him. The albatross detaches from around his neck and sinks into the ocean.

From this point on, the story goes about as you’d expect – the curse being lifted, the wind picks up again, setting the Mariner speeding back home (though, perhaps unexpectedly, his crew gets to come back as zombies for a short while to man the ship until it reaches land again, at which point they die again. RIP). As the ship is coming upon the Mariner’s homeland, it sinks like a rock to the bottom of the ocean – a hermit happens to see the Mariner floating out there and comes to pick him up, thinking he’s dead. When the Mariner opens his eyes, the hermit believes him to be the Devil himself (I mention this only because I think the wording of “Demon? I’m the fuckin’ Devil” lines up perfectly with this).

As penance for shooting the albatross (as if all of this so far wasn’t enough), the Mariner spends the rest of his days wandering the earth, telling his story and making random wedding-goers sad.

HOO BOY, that was a lot. (A whopper, one might say.) Thanks for sticking with me so far.

Now, some of the parallels between this poem and the events of OFMD are more neat and tidy than others are. The biggest parallel, obviously, is the link between the albatross and the “impossible birds” that Ed references in S2E01 – the entire reason I started reading this poem to begin with. The links between the show and the poem are not ones that I think the characters in the show (Ed) are consciously making. I think these allusions more reflect the themes and symbols that the writers and directors want us as the audience to pick up on. Therefore, the “impossible birds” conversation in canon is not talking about albatrosses in the sense that they are commonly referenced in literature, as the proverbial weight around one’s neck that represents guilt – but we can still talk about that symbolism outside of canon.

And talk about it I will.

For those of us who have watched the show, it probably goes without saying that Ed’s got a fair amount of guilt, shame, psychological trauma, etc. that he carries around with him. So if we’re going to invoke the albatross metaphor following S2E3, what specifically can we say is Ed’s “albatross?” There are a few candidates that immediately come to mind. It could be his guilt surrounding a) his father’s murder; b) Lucius’s attempted murder; c) the abusive, toxic relationship that he carried on with Izzy; or maybe even d) himself.

That last one is a little esoteric, so let me explain. Ed hates himself – aside from all the self-destructive tendencies as evidence, he admits it out loud in his dream with Hornigold in S2E03. I wonder if the albatross that is hanging around Blackbeard’s neck is Edward – the real Edward, the one that is more than just his fame, his terrifying persona, his violence-as-a-form-of-love tendencies – the Edward that Stede fell in love with. I wonder whether Ed’s guilt surrounds more than just how he’s hurt others, but how he feels he has killed a truer, better version of himself, and that he can never regain it. In line with The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, killing this “albatross” of a better Edward didn’t just kill him – it killed everyone around him as well. And now, after he has borne the blame of others for having gotten them into this situation, he is forced to wear…himself. The guilt that weighs him down is the knowledge that there is a version of him that was loved, that Stede loved, and in his eyes, he has killed that version of himself.

I want to take a moment to acknowledge a post (or several posts) that I saw several months back in relation to season 1. In these posts [Link1, Link2], smarter people than me drew a connection between a metaphorical albatross and the black cravat that Stede gives to Ed – and that Ed continues to wear until he and Stede change into their privateering academy garb. Something both of those posts touch on is how the cravat represents Stede, and I think that is completely true; however, I posit that the cravat represents the fact that Ed is lovable.

Something that’s been pointed out in the past 48 hours since these episodes dropped is that Ed is not wearing the cravat during the first parts of season 2. Only when he essentially decides to kill himself via storm do we see him once again wearing the cravat (the cravat is also noticeably absent from the purgatory dream sequence).

What exactly this means is still shaky to me – in my mind, Ed does canonically see the cravat as a reminder of his “real” self, and he puts it away and tries to hide it while he’s still…well, functioning is far too strong of a word, but at least not actively suicidal like we see at the end of episode 2. I think hearing Izzy supposedly shoot himself is what pushes Ed over the edge into being actively suicidal; perhaps at this point, some part of Ed is still hoping against hope that he can convince himself not to do it, to wait for Stede. Alternatively, it may be that if he dies here, he wants to take the idea of a “better him” with him.

In the sense of the cravat representing the albatross (meaning the cravat presence is not a choice of the characters, but of costume design), the cravat being missing during the batshit-insane-high-on-rhino-horn Kraken era may represent him not actually feeling the guilt of losing himself during this time. He may have actually convinced himself that a lovable version of himself never existed, and he’s living guilt-free. The guilt comes back when he hears Izzy shoot himself – he’s reminded that he caused this by killing a version of himself that Izzy trusted and even loved, in his own fucked-up way. From then on, the cravat is back on – the guilt is back, and it’s strong enough to induce the kamikaze-type rage we see in the storm.

(Important to note here that while I stand by this interpretation, I’m not sure how it fits with the fact that Ed is wearing the cravat just after the Krakening – the moment when he’s looking back on the island that he just abandoned the Revenge crew on in S1E10.)

I’m leaving this one for myself to come back to later on the off-chance I have some sort of epiphany.

Oh wow, you’re still here?? Probably time for a water break. Go on, the rest will be here when you get back. And there’s unfortunately quite a lot more that still needs to move from my brain to this Word doc.

Ready? Ok.

So that’s one possible interpretation of what Ed’s “albatross” is – I won’t spend time on other possibilities because what I’ve laid out here is the interpretation that I most strongly subscribe to. But all that is only really addressing one part of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Granted, it’s the most important part, symbolically, but there are some other parallels that I want to address that together convince me that the writers of OFMD are actually, specifically referencing this poem.

Obviously, there’s a parallel in that both the happenings of the poem and OFMD occur on actual, physical ships, captained by the man who ends up “shooting the albatross” and being rightfully blamed for it. Both of these ships suffer because of the dead albatross – physically, both ships are taken through devastating storms, and both ships are falling apart. The ship in the poem stops moving indefinitely because of a becalming (all wind and ocean currents stopped); the Revenge stops moving indefinitely because Ed removes the wheel. Both ships suffer casualties – in the poem, everyone dies, and on the Revenge, those crew members may be physically alive, but they are haunted by it. The poem makes note of the fact that the crew died of thirst – while this doesn’t seem to be a main concern on the Revenge, the show does show us, rather graphically, that they were beginning to starve, having to catch and eat raw seagulls to survive (note that dead birds are also a recurring theme in OFMD, leading me to believe even more that albatross references are intentional).

There’s an interesting pattern in the poem concerning dead people – specifically, how they don’t seem to be entirely dead at first. Firstly, the crew that die of thirst drop dead, one by one, on the deck of the Mariner’s ship. However, the poet notes that the bodies did not decompose or smell. Later, these bodies are resurrected by whatever sea spirit chooses to spare the Mariner’s life, using the bodies to man the ship and sail it back to shore. When they are done with this, they drop dead once more, staying on the ship as it sinks to the bottom of the ocean. When the hermit finds the Mariner floating in the ocean, he thinks him dead, before the Mariner’s eyes shoot open (similar to a certain someone at the end of S2E03).

In season 1, I can’t think of any instances wherein someone was presumed to be dead, but actually wasn’t, aside from Stede’s fuckery. However, this theme has come up at least 3 times in season 2 so far: Lucius being the obvious one, then Izzy, and finally Ed himself (and if I’m understanding correctly, Ed was actually, literally, cold-in-the-ground physically dead, not just “presumed dead.” This might be clarified in a future episode). That seems…intentional.

Side note: how long was Ed supposed to have been dead? Days? Didn’t anyone notice that he wasn’t, like, rotting? Especially when “the smell of rot” has been something that very consistently shows up in the show when it’s relevant (see: Lucius’s finger infection, Ed being able to smell Izzy through the walls of the ship).

One more thing: the last thing that the Mariner sees when leaving the shore, and the first thing he sees when he gets back? A lighthouse. Now, could that just be a coincidence, with lighthouses being a very common image in sea-based stories? Sure. But I’m choosing to believe that this poem was chosen (and yes, I say chosen – as in the writers took inspiration from this poem) specifically because it has so much imagery in common with OFMD.

These are admittedly tenuous links between the poem and the show, but they are links, so I’m including them.

The last thing I want to mention about this poem is how its “moral,” if it can be said to have one, is to treat living things with respect – you as a person do not live in a vacuum, and your actions have consequences for others, not just yourself. And I think this sentiment lines up incredibly well with a line that Jim has in S2E02:

…

There was a time when life meant something on this ship. When we lived for each other.

…

According to Jim (and according to literally everything the show has been telling us), the ship was a safe place when the people onboard cared about each other. Fang mentions that Blackbeard didn’t even react when Ivan died; Blackbeard callously shoots his first mate, with the intent of having him killed; he doesn’t even care about his own life and whether he lives or dies. Just like in the poem, this is the issue that needs to be resolved in order for the curse to be lifted – the Mariner (Ed) needs to rekindle an appreciation for life. In the poem, this is a simple “every living thing is special” kind of epiphany – I get the feeling it’s going to be a much more complicated journey in OFMD, especially since the show as a whole is somewhat irreverent concerning the deaths of non-recurring characters. For Ed, I imagine it’s going to be more of an appreciation for his own life – not the value of life on the whole, but the value that his life holds.

So. That’s a lot of words that I just typed – I’m hoping at least some of them made sense. Huge thank you to anyone who made it this far! This is all I’ve got on this particular poem, but I’ve still got more things I want to say about another poem called L’albatros (Charles Baudelaire) and how it relates to Ed and his perception of himself. It’s a huge stretch to say that this poem exists in-universe and Ed has read it, but it makes sense to me and I want to get my thoughts down on (virtual) paper – I’ll link to it in the original introductory post (link to that at the top of this post!).

Let me know what you think!! This silly, stupid pirate show will be consuming my thoughts for at least the next several months, and I’m dying for some reciprocal opinion/info-dumping. Inbox is open!

#ofmd #our flag means death meta #our flag means death #ofmd meta #ofmd s2 meta #ofmd s2 #ofmd s2 spoilers #ofmd spoilers #ofmd blackbeard #ofmd season 2 #ofmd season 2 spoilers #literary analysis #meta #stede bonnet #izzy hands #impossible birds #albatross #the rime of the ancient mariner #poetry #lucius spriggs #jim jimenez

[thatsadbietch]

How the Mighty Fall

When your and Scar's bickering about how to rule the Valley gets tiresome, the Fairy Godmother seems to have an idea, though its not exactly traditional.

My usual warnings: no spoilers this time, and it is a tickle fic! Enjoy <3

“Scar! You may not eat the sunbirds in the plateau, we’ve been over this at least a dozen times!”

“It’s not my fault.  What kind of leader lets their people starve? If I were in charge-”

“Not gonna happen!  Even if I wanted to give it to you, the other villagers wouldn’t allow it.”

“Oh, nonsense, they would love me as their Ruler,”

“You tried to eat some of them!”

This bickering between Dreamlight Valley’s current ruler and the fallen lion king went on, as it had been more frequently as the stress of leadership and dealing with the Forgotten ran more rampant on your agenda.  Scar, seeing the opportunity to try to break you, resulted in these arguments more often than not.  The remaining residents were getting both worried and annoyed: sometimes these arguments could be heard all the way from Dazzle Beach.

“That’s it!” Merlin shouted from his home and, using his magic, teleported in front of Scar’s cave, where the two royals were continuing on.  The Fairy Godmother must have had the same idea a few seconds prior, as she was already there when he arrived, trying to soothe both parties.

“Now, now, tell me what happened,” she asked calmly.  Merely her presence was enough to calm the torrent in your mind, and you took a deep breath.

“I have to keep telling Scar not to eat the sunbirds.  Or Remy.  Or literally anyone else in the Valley.  If he wanted to be a Ruler, he’d have to be smarter than that.” 

“Oh it has nothing to do with my intellect, I assure you.  It’s in my blood.  I’m a natural hunter.”

“What about Simba and Nala? I don’t have to tell them not to eat villagers!”

“If they’re so inclined to deny the nature they were born with, that is their choice.”

“All right, enough! From both of you!” Merlin intervened.  You were shocked at first; you’d never really witnessed your friend and mentor unleash his temper.  However, you also knew he had a particular sore spot for Scar.

“Merlin,” the Fairy Godmother started, “let’s calm down.  Not make matters worse, yes?” Merlin looked at her.  You may have been a quick learner with magic, but she and Merlin were born with it, and they understood each other.  She seemed to be able to calm him as well, and you were thankful she’d arrived.

“Yes, I agree, my apologies.  But what are we to do?  This behavior cannot go on.” Merlin spoke in front of you and Scar as if you two were not there.

You suddenly spoke up, “We used to be friends, Scar.  Or, at least friendly.”  Scar went from scowling at Merlin to looking at you, almost laughing.

“I don’t believe we’ve ever seen eye to eye on Valley matters, Ruler.” 

“Maybe not, and I don’t remember everything.  But I used to be friends with everyone.  I don’t know how I know that, I just do.”

Merlin and the Fairy Godmother looked to each other.  “Merlin, I have an idea.”

“Yes, m’lady, let’s hear it.”  The Fairy Godmother’s smile grew sweeter, which somehow made you more uneasy.

“It would be best if I just showed you all.”  You and Scar did not like the sound of that.  But before either of you could object, she began her spell:

This bickering and fighting just won’t do,

Try seeing from another point of view.

Repair these broken, severed ties,

Until then, they remain by your side.

You braced yourself, but only felt a fleeting and gentle pulse of magical energy.  Did the spell not work? Scar scoffed.

“I have no time for this, I have other matters to tend to,” the dark lion growled, and began making his way back inside the cave.  That is, until you both felt a forceful tug and, like a fishing rod, reeled you and Scar back together.

“What do you WANT?” Scar growled at you.

“Nothing to do with this, believe me.  I think this is Fairy Godmother’s spell at work.”

“Yes dear, it is!” she almost cheered, “You two will not be able to be more than two meters apart until you reach an understanding of each other.”

“What if I ate them?” Scar asked.

“WHAT?”

“You can try,” the Fairy Godmother replied, almost as if she dared him, “but my spell won’t allow physical harm to fall on either of you.”

As if he didn’t believe her, Scar went to swipe at you, his paw freezing in place a few inches from your shoulder.  He couldn’t even bear his claws.

“Now then, if we’ve moved past the arguing for today, I suggest you go about each other’s day.  See what daily life looks like for our dear Y/N, Scar.  And you for him, young one. Walking in someone else’s shoes is a good first step to understanding them.”

“Oh, I see,” you said, and turned to Scar.  “We’ll be stuck together until we make amends.” Scar rolled his eyes dramatically and, dripping in sarcasm, he spoke.

“Perfect.”

************************************************************************

You decided not to let this hinder you, so until you could come up with a way that satisfied Fairy Godmother’s spell, you tended to the village as usual.  Merlin and Fairy Godmother had already taken the Forgetting off your shoulders for the time being: you seemed to be at a standstill of the magic variety that they offered to figure out while you were with Scar.  

The first few days went about as well as you would have expected: the villagers were confused, some scared to approach with Scar tailing you. You both bickered about sleeping quarters until you both reached an agreement to trade off houses every other night.  You hoped this compromise, and a compromise to let Scar nap for an hour each afternoon in the plateau, were steps toward a resolution.  But, he was still pretty sour about the whole ordeal.

“Can’t you reverse this nonsense? Surely if you created the Valley, you can undo this treacherous enchantment.” Scar complained, lying lazily at the ground a few feet away while you tended the village vegetable garden.

“Believe me, I’ve thought about it,” you admitted, “but to reverse a spell that a powerful person like the Fairy Godmother cast, it would take more time than it’s worth.  We may as well do as it dictates.  Trust me, I’m as happy about it as you are.”  He huffed in response, and after a few beats of silence you were approached by Moana and Remy, a pairing you hadn’t at first thought would create such a strong friendship.

“Hey Y/N! We wanted to thank you again for helping me out with getting all those coconuts for me and Remy the other day.  The cakes we were able to make were amazing!”  You remembered this favor fondly, as Moana and Remy have started to bond over cooking with her home ingredients in all kinds of different ways.  When Remy told her about making coconut cakes and frosting, but not being able to pick coconuts himself, she nearly sprinted to you with her boundless energy in excitement.

“If Remy’s cooking, you don’t have to ask me twice! It's no problem,” you replied, smiling up at them from your kneeling position.  The two know also that, mostly at night when all the favors are done and most are asleep, you’re awake with Merlin and Fairy Godmother, talking all things Forgotten, Night Thorns, and the darker magic that’s tried to buckle Dreamlight Valley.

“We saw you looked busy and thought we would come help, if you’d like.” Remy asked, planting seeds being well within his range of capabilities. The worried glance in Scar’s direction didn’t go unnoticed.

“You guys don’t have to, no need to worry-” you stopped short when you realized they mostly asked as a courtesy, but planned on helping you regardless as they got to work alongside you.  Gardening was not your favorite task by a longshot, and your smile broadened.

“You didn’t come planning to take “no” for an answer, did you?”

“When was the last time you turned someone away that needed your help?” Moana asked, poking at your ribs to enunciate her point.  A few giggles came out with your response.

“Ohohokay, I gehet it.”

After the task was finished and the sun began to set, you said your goodbyes and headed toward the Peaceful Meadow, more specifically where the Pillar of Friendship stood.  Scar, reluctantly following, looked at you curiously as you sat on the ground in front of it.  He laid again on the ground and waited for you to say something, but you didn’t.

“What are you doing, exactly?” he asked, after enough silence had passed that he was genuinely confused.

“This is the first pillar I was able to restore when I came back to the Valley.  So I made it into a peaceful place.  I’m sure you remember I’d asked all the residents to keep this area of the meadow specifically quiet, clean, and comfortable, in case someone just needs a place to breathe for a minute.” You looked to Scar, and were surprised that you still had his attention. “I think we need to breathe for a minute.  Or, at least I do. I think it’s going to take more than daily tasks and afternoon naps to understand each other.”  

Again, he surprised you by not offering a sarcastic retort or a mild insult. Instead, he posed a question.

“Why do you go among your followers the way you do?” You studied his face but saw he wasn’t insulting you: he truthfully didn’t know. 

“What do you mean?”

“You do dirty work, the constant favors, the nagging. You even let them touch you.  Is this not meant for someone below a ruler?”

“That depends.  I’m sure there are rulers who reign much differently than I do.  The way you would, it sounds like, would be much different from my approach.  But I don’t see you all as “followers” or “beneath me”.”

“Is that not the reality?”

“As far as my responsibilities go, there are certain things only I can do.  But that doesn’t make me or what’s important to me any more significant than someone else or what’s important to them.  I like to think that this makes the difference between a leader and a tyrant.” Scar scoffed.

“You think of me as a tyrant?” To his surprise, you threw your head back and laughed.

“I absolutely consider you a tyrant!”

“What’s funny about that?” he asked, clearly not amused, “Your subjects need to know their place, and yours.”

“You don’t have to be demanding or instill fear to earn respect.”

“...What other way is there that does not show weakness?”  You met him at eye level, feeling as though the next thing you say could make or break the conversation.  This was, after all, the deepest conversation you two have had since being magically bound.  Maybe ever.

“There is strength in showing vulnerability.  We all have weak points, Scar, whether we care to acknowledge them or not.”  He was silent, contemplating this for a moment.

“Before Simba’s time, I was well-respected in the Pride Lands.” You fixed your gaze on the Pillar, freezing and listening, as if sudden movement would make him stop speaking.

“I was appointed leader of the Lion Guard under my insufferable brother.  We were tasked with keeping the Pride Lands safe and the Circle of Life in balance.  Once on patrol, I was approached by a lion I’d never seen before, stating I was the rightful ruler of the Pride Lands.  I had always agreed with that sentiment and… it became the beginning of my undoing.”  You chanced a look in his direction and he also was not looking directly at you; he was also looking at the Pillar as he spoke.

“I trusted this lion’s word only because he’d said what I wanted to hear.  Next thing I know I have a venomous cobra attacking my eye, and fortunately I find the strength to fend them off and keep them from ever coming near the Pride Lands.  I just wanted some recognition for it, and do you think Mufasa,” he uttered the name in disgust, “gave me that satisfaction?”

“He could have been a better brother to you, then.”

“To put it lightly, yes.” A few moments of tense silence passed before you responded.

“Scar… I’m so sorry. I wish I’d known.” you replied, to which he sighed.

“You were but a cub the last time you ruled.  I wouldn’t have expected you to understand.”

“Merlin may have.  And the other Villagers.  And they still can, but you have to allow them.” He scoffed.

“I’m serious, Scar.  You don’t have to tell them everything.  You don’t have to tell them anything, but you at least can’t threaten to eat them all the time.”

“...I’ll give it some thought, oh gracious leader,” he retorted, though you detected no malice. 

“I’ll take it.” you responded and, not thinking about it, pet Scar’s mane.  Simba and Nala don’t mind when you do this, but realizing your mistake you quickly retracted your hand.

“I didn’t mean-”

“How dare you pet me like a common housecat!” he said, more confused than angry.

“You’re right, I wasn’t thinking-”

“How would you enjoy it if I just touched you as I pleased?” 

“I just said you were RIHIHIGHT, Scar!” you cackled, Scar haphazardly poking and pawing at your side.  He looked at you curiously, then maliciously.

“I suppose you actually quite enjoy it.”

“That’s nohot what I- OOF!”  For someone as lazy as Merlin claims, Scar was able to stand and pounce in one quick and fluid motion, effectively pinning you on your back.

“I suppose if I can’t use my claws, this will have to do,” he reasoned, sounding annoyed.  However, the gleam in his eye and smug smirk told another story.

“Wahahit Scar, noohohoho!” You pleaded, and you weren’t surprised when Scar completely disregarded your cries.  Being a fully grown lion, his two paws were nearly the size of your torso, meaning he could knead into all parts of your ribs at once with relative ease.

“Scaahahaharr! Dohohon’t!” You spat in the midst of wild cackles.  In response, he kneaded faster and with more vigor, effectively rendering you helpless in your own belly laughter.

“Oh, dear, Ruler, we spoke of weak points, but I hadn’t imagined yours being so easily exploited,” Scar taunted, kneading down your sides and relenting just above your hips.  Residual giggles spilled out as you spoke.

“Scaahahar, wahahait!”

“For what, your majesty? I’ve seen the others torment you in such a way, this is your fault for allowing such foolish behavior,” He replied, dragging a claw across your belly from one hip bone to another. He hadn’t expected such a squeal to come from you, and smiled rather evilly, lazily tracing his single claw randomly across your belly and up your sides, occasionally using his other paw to skitter his claws lightly on your hip bones, keeping you guessing.  

“I suppose I can draw my claws, so long as I don’t hurt you.  How convenient. For me.” You doubted Fairy Godmother anticipated this when she bound you and Scar together.

“Ohohohoho, greheheat! AH HAHAHAHA, SCAHAHAR!” you shrieked, feeling light traces scurrying rapidly over the thin skin protecting your hip bones.  It seemed with each swipe your body wanted to kick your legs out, but being trapped under Scar’s body, the ticklish sensations had no other outlet than the grip you reflexively had on Scar’s wrists. He tutted at you, mocking sympathy for your situation.

“You poor thing, like a field mouse captured by a bobcat,” he teased, “Exactly how much of this can you endure?”  Coupled with the constant torment of your hip bones, the question had amplified your giggles and deepened the blush across your features.  You weren’t sure how much more of this you could take, but you had a feeling Scar would test that boundary. He wasn’t exactly known for mercy.  However, he relented, but kept his paws threateningly on your hips.

“Why do you allow your followers to torment you in such a way? Is this not demeaning?” You caught your breath and wiped the mirthful tears from your face.  Your breath then hitched upon feeling Scar’s paws tense, threatening the sensitive area.

“I expect an answer this time.”

“You’re *huff* getting one *huff*,” you finally said, and Scar actually waited a beat.  He also wasn’t usually known for his patience.

“Who you call my followers, I call my friends,” you started, “I let them for a lot of reasons.  Because I trust them, and they trust me.  And because that’s how some of them play or show affection. Or that’s how they express when they want to be ornery,” you glared up at him at this, and he scoffed, but his eyes appeared thoughtful. “When you create a bond with someone, it’s quite the opposite of demeaning.”

“I would not allow such behavior from my subjects.”

“I know, and that’s okay,” you stopped, debating internally about what you say next.  It could lead to your utter demise, but knowing you weren’t going anywhere yet anyway, you decided to rattle the cage. “Some just simply can’t take what they dish out.” Scar’s eyes widened at your impish grin.

“What did you say?” he growled, his glare sending a chill down your spine and anticipation in your belly.

“Although that could be pretty tyrannical as well, doling out punishments you couldn’t handle yourself.” 

“I’ll show you tyrannical, dearest Ruler,” Scar bellowed, willing his paws to dig with renewed vigor into your hip bones.  The squeal you elicited was probably not considered “quiet” as you like to keep it around this Pillar, but as there was not much you could do about it, you laughed madly, futilely bucking and squirming underneath Scar’s weight.

“Having regrets about challenging me yet?” Scar tormented, allowing himself a sinister smirk, featuring his fangs, at your expense.

“Noohohohohone!” You tried to remove the nearing desperation in your voice, not wanting to give Scar that satisfaction.

“Oh reeeaaally?” he asked, dragging out the question as if to emphasize how much he didn’t believe you.  “Let’s try this, then.”

You hadn’t the clarity to even imagine what he could be up to, but cackled and wriggled wildly as he trailed upward, letting one paw scurry with his claws haphazardly up your side while the other kneaded up until he reached your ribs.  He snickered at you, as if he could tell your body didn’t know where to go or what to do… that is, until he kneaded further up, toward your underarm, to which your body clamped both of its arms tightly to your sides.

“Oh dear, what could this be?” he relented, making sure you could hear him and how curious he was about your sudden defense.

“Scahahar, plehehease,” you wheezed through residual giggles. “I cahahan’t-”

“Now, now, that’s not the attitude to have.  Supposedly you can do anything you set your mind to in this Valley, yes?”

“You know this is different!”

“How about a game then? I know you like those,” he started, and freed you from under him.

“A game of cat and mouse. I’ll let you go and count to ten, then if you can keep away for ten minutes, you win.”  You were surprised at this, and wondered what the catch was, but then he started.

“One, two, three…” you scrambled up and tried to bolt it, but were instantly pounced on, landing on your chest.

“SCAR!”

“...Seven, eight, nine, ten. Oh look, I’ve caught you!”

“You cheated! I should have figured.”

“You wound me, Y/N,” he started, “I laid the rules quite clearly for you.  I counted to ten and you didn’t keep away.  I said nothing about being unable to count and hunt.  Now, where were we…” Being on your belly, you were even more powerless under Scar’s weight, and he wasted no time wriggling his claws in the hollows of your underarms.  You hadn’t stood a chance; even though you expected it, you still shrieked in surprise before devolving into hearty belly laughter.  You reflexively clawed at the ground in front of you, which made Scar snicker.

“You still think you can escape me? How pitiful,” he teased, using his claws to skitter under your arms as opposed to the vicious kneading.  

“NAHAHAH, SCAHAHAR!” you squealed, and it was about the last noise you made before your laughter fell silent.

“Oh, I suppose you’ve had enough.  This time, I’ll grant you mercy.”  This time he kept his word, removing his weight from you to lay where he originally was in front of the Pillar of Friendship.  Was the light that bright earlier? He couldn’t remember.

You allowed your giggling to cease and your breath to be caught before returning to where you also were sitting before you were viciously “mauled” by a usually grouchy lion.  This same lion though looked rather proud of himself… and strangely at ease.

“This is supposed to be a peaceful place,” you scolded, half-heartedly.

“I’m aware.  It was you disturbing the peace with your incessant giggling and carrying on.” Your banter continued and you spent a good portion of the evening in this spot before turning in for the night, tonight being a night in Scar’s cave as part of your rotation.  Funnily enough though, when you woke the next day, you stepped outside and realized you were too far from Scar for the spell to still be in place.

#tickle #tickle fic #tickle community #fluff #disney #disney dreamlight valley #ddv #ler!scar #lee!reader #the lion king #the lion guard #ticklish!reader

[ninjakittycomics]

Major Crimes (things that shoulda been)

OK.

I don’t know how to do a “under the cut” 

So, if you need to avoid a spoiler for Major Crimes (which finished in 2017 or 2018, I forget... time is really mussy in my head right now)

Theeeeeeeeeeeen.... take the title and these sentences as a cue to start scrolling away to avoid it :)  (i’ll also make sure to tag it as such)

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ON THAT NOTE, let’s roll.   Spudmeisterin and I were talking about the ending, and how bloody bad/lazy writing it was.   so here’s some points we came up with.

(i realize they wanted to be dramatic and surprising, but they missed the mark)  What would be more surprising, is if they allowed Sharon Raydor to retire happily.   (because killing women for people’s pain so they can finish the impossible task, as well as “close to retirement so must die” and also “i’m happy/just married so must die” tropes are just....so rife.  just soooo rife)

SO.

In my mind, she did.

She had the same heart thing (ouch)  cuz, let’s face it... life can do that.  Whether or not she needed the transplant or was put on a pacemaker and a severe restriction on her job choices/retirement choices, I’ll leave that up to you.

Either way, she’s out for that part of the season.  The rest of the team nails Stroh the cartoon villain serial killer. yada yada.

They come back to her hospital room after Stroh is shot.   Andy is there, as well as Provenza, Julio, Rusty, and Amy.

Sharon is like, “did you get him?” (meaning, did you catch the bastid etc)

Provenza does his little...kinda look down sheepish and is like, captain we had to shoot him.  I shot him.

And Andy chimes in like, “really, he totally did it”.

Which causes Sharon to do that all knowing, “Mmm.”

(she knows that Provenza didn’t do it, but she doesn’t care.  Stroh is done, everyone’s healthy/safe/accounted for.)

they do the usual happy banter, then the nurse is like, she’s still got a long road to recovery, everyone out, she needs rest.

Sharon Raydor retires Officially. (so does Andy)   They had some awful close calls, and they want to enjoy their worlds, and the time they have left.

That doesn’t mean that they don’t do occasional consulting (kinda like alexa crowe in “my life is murder”)

It should be noted that Provenza is unlikely to retire until he literally cannot anymore..  He’s absolutely running the Major Crimes unit.

Rusty becomes a proper DA (working with Hobbs, instead of just interning)

Sharon and Andy embarrass (cutely) the hell out of Rusty at his wedding.  (i can’t decide if he gets back together with Gus, or he finds someone else along his healing journey.  The writers really just flung their story all over the place)

anyhoo. it’s cute.  much goofy dancing.

Provenza gives Best man speech, and Rusty hides his face in his hands on the table.

(ooo.  the night before, part of the bachelor party, the gang goes axe throwing.  Julio and Amy clean up on the bets (but which one wins between them?)

Some times, Sharon, Andy, Rusty, his hubs, Provenza and Patrice, go to disneyland.  it’s a retiree thing/family thing.   They love the really freaking weird rides.  Patrice has a special hat made for Provenza saying “Louie”.  He grumbles at first, but accepts that He’s wearing it, because Patrice is wearing hers ^,^

He won’t go to Disneyworld though, because California is superior (or he’s a grump, it’s hard to say which)

and because it sounds about right to me, Sharon and Andy make it somewhere into their 80′s. 

If anyone else wants to add to some of the ridiculous antics, feel free.  And spuds, I think i forgot a point or two, feel free to add ^,^

#major crimes #major crimes spoilers #Sharon Raydor #Rusty Beck #Andy Flynn #Provenza #Julio Sanchez #Amy Sykes #Patrice Perry #Patrice and Provenza

[monstersinthecosmos]

okay so i just finished IWTV....... oh my god!!! oh my god. it's embarrassing how insane this book made me. for the last 50 pages or so i was regularly taking breaks to run laps around my apartment like a lunatic because i physically could not handle all the pain and angst and despair coursing through my body LOL. i got so immersed in the story i forgot pretty much all of the background for armand you'd given me (and i can't remember most of it even now!!! my mind is in shambles) and still, very organically...... he became my favorite. even despite all of the. you know. and maybe even more so BECAUSE of it. i've just never witnessed an evil so heartbreaking!!!!!!!!!!? THE ABSOLUTE DEVOTION?????? DERANGED AND UGLY AND UTTERLY BEYOND REASON????!!!! FUUUUUUUUUCK!!!!! i'm sorry for vomiting all over your inbox i genuinely cannot conjure up any resemblance of coherence atm!!! THANK YOU FOR POINTING ME TOWARDS SUCH LUXURIOUS PAIN i LOVE it i want MORE! <3 <3 <3

oh my god OH MY GOd ,... omg... 🥹🥹

WELCOME WELCOME YES THIS HOW I FEEL EVERY DAY OF MY LIFE I WISH I KNEW WHERE TO EVEN START 

(I really feel like just answering with this meme and not subjecting you to a wall of text but I'LL TRY !!!)

GOD LIKE WHAT THIS BOOK DOES SO SO WELL AS LIKE IMMEDIATELY GROUND FLOOR OF THE SERIES LETS US ALL KNOW THAT ALL CHARACTERS COMMIT EVILS AND ARE NOT GREAT PEOPLE BUT THEY ALL WANT TO BE LOVED AND ARE TRYING LOL. 

LIKE LOUIS MOVES FROM ABUSIVE PARTNER TO ABUSIVE PARTNER UNTIL HE’S FINALLY SO DEAD INSIDE THAT HE CAN BE BY HIMSELF AND WALK AWAY.

AND LIKE IT’S SO HARD BECAUSE YOU SEE HOW CLAUDIA FREED HIM FROM LESTAT, AND THEN ARMAND FREES HIM FROM CLAUDIA. AND SOMETHING THAT ALWAYS FUCKS ME UP SO BAD IS THAT ARMAND HAS SUCH A SKEWED MAP OF APPROPRIATE BEHAVIOR BUT HE’S NOT EVIL. HE’S TRYING HIS BEST, IN THE BEST WAY HE KNOWS HOW.

Wait hang on I’ll take caps off I’m so sorry lmfao I’m just really worked up. 

I think there’s a sort of meme-ier version of this like Armand going “hi 🙂 I killed your daughter 🙂 you can kill all my friends if you want 🙂 I won’t stop you 🙂 do you like me? 🙂"

But it’s actually SO TRAGIC god. Like I read IWTV as a story about domestic abuse and the family cycle, personally, and I see Claudia as an Oedipal figure. Louis is unable to get away from Lestat until Claudia makes it happen, and Claudia winds up being so cold and cruel and he’s stuck with her until Armand frees him. And there’s a lot of conversation about like, Armand being manipulative or what he did to CREATE this, how did he push them both where he wanted them, etc, but the thing that gets me is that when Louis wants to break up, Armand lets him leave.

And like SKIP WHAT I’M ABOUT TO SAY IF YOU DONT WANT A SPOILER BUT LIKE I DID MENTION THIS IN MY OTHER POST  —— but if you read Lestat’s book and get the background on how he and Armand met, it’s sort of the opposite where Lestat destroys Armand’s coven and Armand is so devastated about it, vs 100 years later he ALLOWS Louis to destroy a coven. AND HE GETS THE GUY!!!! In TVL he like BEGS Lestat to be with him and Lestat isn’t interested lol but he gets to keep Louis this time.

IDK IDK IM JUST REAL EMOTIONAL. 

And like !!!!!!!! God idk. If you read more of the books you get so many indications about how people in Armand’s life don’t respect him, and a lot of times people write him off because he looks like a teenager. They don’t take the danger of him seriously, which makes him even more dangerous. But it’s so heartbreaking reading IWTV and seeing how Louis respects him so much, and sees him as wise and calm, and needs him! 

And like maybe Louis is uniquely qualified to not judge people for looking like children because he has spent the last 90 years with a vampire child and respects her as an adult, you know?

If you keep reading you’ll see how much Anne Rice like retcons or how much the continuity flops around so like EVERY book will have a Doylist vs Watsonian conversation like, she never comes out and says that Armand looks like he’s 17 in IWTV and in the later books it’s a huge point every time he’s on the page just HE’S SHORT HE’S 17 HE LOOKS LIKE A CHERUB etc and maybe that’s because she hadn’t decided that yet but also maybe Louis is the only person who fucking respects him. :) 

#im DEVASTATED HELLO #i'm sad about armand again good morning! #armand's trauma hole #trauma hole theory #vampire chronicles #interview with the vampire #armand/louis #deep ass thoughts about vampires

[childofwonder]

I finished The Path :D

Quick character and song analysis for Cal Roberts, Hugh Dancy’s character. So spoilers obvi but also TW! Sexual abuse, trauma and violence will be talked abt in this post.

When I was getting close to the season three finale I had listened to Two-Headed Pt. 2 and had the connections thrown in my face. Neutral Milk Hotel has always used religious or spiritual imagery in their music which is so fitting for a show about being in a cult. The way Jeff describes relationships and trauma, how he puts them all together can be healing and a little scary as it is a very raw look at the horrors of life. It reflects the way a victim may respond to their own trauma once they have started the healing process. This song reflects Cal’s experience as Jeff reflects on his family and childhood and the use of fatherly imagery.

As Cal’s story unfolds it’s revealed that he is a victim of childhood sexual abuse and it’s explored quite extensively. Cal isn’t fully aware of the abuse and has it is slowly revealed to himself and others. This trauma effects every aspect of his character and the relationships he forms within the cult. He believes that he has had something so important to him taken away and that if he can be the leader he can take all that damage back. This position of power he is so desperate for is to strip Steve of his agency (even after his death) which he believes will help him overcome this pain. Cal also believes that the darkness of those who hurt him is who he is and not the reflection of what happened to him and the adults who let him down. He has lost himself in this darkness.

In the season three finale Cal has reached a bottom. Eddie is going to reveal the secrets of Steve and the movement, exposing the abuse done to Cal in the process. Cal cannot see a future past this point and spends the episode planning a suicide attempt. He leaves the mother of his child two letters, buys a gun and goes to the hidden cave with painted flowers which he knows no one else knows about except him and Sarah. After finding the letters, Mary calls Sarah and begs her to help find Cal and she explains his plan. Sarah rushes to the cave to find Cal with a pistol preparing to take his own life. It is dark at this point and they are completely alone. Up until this point Sarah and Cal hadn’t been interacting much. In season one their childhood relationship is rekindled and in season two Sarah becomes co guardian of the light with Cal, leading the cult together because Cal had dug a huge hole for himself. To lead alone he probably wouldn’t survive but with Sarah she would be able to conceal his crimes (he kills someone, oops) and keep up the facade that Cal and her were “chosen”. As they continue to lead Sarah discovers more and more of Cal’s secrets, she comes to despise him. They also end up sleeping together and getting together during season two which doesn’t last very long because Sarah discovers that Cal had an unhealthy relationship with Mary and that she was pregnant. (I can not tell you how worried I was that Sarah was going to get pregnant) all this to say that Sarah is very important to Cal. They both really loved each other and their relationship had fallen apart. Sarah starts to leave the movement during season three so her and Cal never get a chance to reconnect till this point. Sarah talks Cal down very slowly and reassures him that the darkness put inside of him is not who he is, that he isn’t what those people did to him. He believes that putting it to an end will make it go away but she tells him it won’t. He starts to cry saying he wants to be over it already and he hugs him. He drops the gun and goes back with Sarah. The impact of this trauma has left Cal directionless and his only option is to stay with the cult. He sees it as home and wants it to change for the better and be apart of that change. He joins Eddie and Sarah as they continue the cult at the end of the episode. The show doesn’t get a fourth season but they wrapped up Cal’s storyline enough to give him a new starting point.

Cal’s original motivation for leading the movement is that he is the son of Steve and that Steve had promised him that he would lead in his absence. Cal takes this a step further in season two to try and strip Steve of his influence and placing the importance on who comes after Steve. Not only does Cal want to take away Steve’s influence and power to give it to himself, but he wants to prove that he is the rightful Son of Steve. His whole childhood he had been taken away from his alcoholic parents so the only father he knew was Steve. Steve even alludes to thinking of Cal as his son. When Eddie confronts Cal to tell him he’s the chosen son he is broken about it. He knew that he had lied about being chosen but it must have stung to have it confirmed that your abuser and the god you believe in chose someone else rather than you after you had been subjected to abuse, which he believes makes him worthy of being leader.

Cal has a confusing number of love interests and partners throughout the three seasons but the one who is most significant is Mary. She is the first one to approach him in a sexual manner and he consistently goes back to her. She disclosed to him that she was abused by her father as a child and that she is vulnerable and damaged. Cal not only can relate to that but takes advantage of that. Knowing that she has an interest in him and that he has power over her, he continues the relationship with her to extremes in secret. Cal and Mary’s relationship isn’t really abusive. He definitely has a position of power over her as he is her CULT LEADER but he never hurts her and restricts himself with her every time they are together. This early on shows how Cal has a victim mentality to sex and relationships. He struggles to be intimate or let others touch him and usually is acting on sexual impulses. The relationship between Cal and Mary has heavy marriage symbolism in season one and two, Cal encourages Mary to form a relationship with another cult member she met early on. Cal become jealous of Mary’s affection towards him so he jealously sends him away. After Mary angrily confronts Cal about him sending her bf away she realizes his feeling for her, he goes to get her bf back. When he’s brought back him and Mary have some struggles but Cal encourages them to move forward together and get married. On the night of Mary’s wedding she goes to Cal again. This is the first time they actually have sex. She goes through with her marriage to her bf and then discovers she’s pregnant. Right off the bat in season two it’s hinted to that the baby is Cal’s and after being abandoned in the woods by her bf Mary gives birth. The cult finds her outside of the compound with a newborn in which it is revealed that it is Cal’s baby. Then they begin having a real relationship for awhile. They start living together and raising their son but still never get married to each other. Cal never commits fully to Mary but takes on the role of father with a great amount of pride. During season three Mary and Cal have a scene together that I think shows how much Cal actually cares about her and in someway himself too. Mary gets a urge to make Cal “feel good” and Cal stops her to ask her how she would want to be touched. She’s thrown off by him asking the question so he asks again in a clearer way and they have a gentle scene together. Whenever they had sex it wasn’t violent or abusive. It was usually passionate and gentle. In the end Mary has much more control over Cal than she has over him because he is always putting himself down and Mary is just learning to build herself up. It’s an interesting progression and in the end Mary is better off. She becomes independent of Cal and the cult at the end of season three giving her a hopeful future. The lyrics “Two-headed boy, she is all you could need. She will feed you tomatoes and radio wires.” Reminded me of their relationship as Mary is the one person Cal comes to love and connect with most deeply throughout the series, she gives him his son and helps him connect with the trauma he had forgotten. Also in the first episode of season two which hints to Mary carrying Cal’s baby, he eats a tomato from the garden on the roof which I find funny.

Two-Headed boy Pt. 2 has imagery that reflects some of Cal’s story and matches the story of his life. Him coming into the knowledge of his abuse and his son, him finally connecting with people who love him and those he cares for. The lyrics “Love to be with a brother of mine” reminds me of his relationship with Eddie. How they are both orphans brought into the cult, just at different times, and how they were treated so differently. Cal being able to reconnect with Eddie in season three was really heartwarming. He isn’t really trying to be brotherly with Eddie but it happens naturally that he doesn’t notice it. He trusts Eddie and even helps him which is so different to the way Cal was with him in season one in which he’s trying to gain control over Eddie and steal his wife. Also “Brother we are one in the same” which highlights cal and Eddie’s reflective relationship.

In season one Cal and Eddie return from Peru at the same time and their conflict starts almost immediately. Cal has a relationship with Eddie’s wife Sarah because they grew up together, Cal and Sarah’s first interaction in e1s1 is him subtly flirting with her. Sarah had chosen Eddie over Cal and it sets up a competition between them. They are constantly competing for the love of Sarah, Steve and the cult.

In season three while Eddie is running the cult he keeps Cal close by at first only accepting him back on conditions. As the season goes by Cal proves himself worthy and Eddie begins to trust him again. At this time Cal knows abt his trauma and is in the process of initially working through it. When Cal uses the HC (it’s a thing from the show but it’s basically restricting breathing by using ropes) in the painted cave he confronts his trauma with Steve. The tighter and tighter he wraps his belt around his body the more Steve suffers infront of him. Steve at this point is dead and the person who is actually inflicted with the pain is Eddie. He comes to understand Cal’s pain and trauma because he can feel it. He can feel all the trauma as Cal restricts himself and understands what had happened to him. This connection between them is linked by Steve. Steve had chosen Eddie as the son and they became connected by the lightning that strikes them and Eddie clearly has some psychic abilities when he was having visions of the future so it really isn’t a far fetched idea. When Eddie comes to Cal to let him know that he now knows what happened Cal is shocked that he figured it out but he also accepts that he was the one who told him. Eddie had already been treating Cal differently at this point but after this they are more brotherly than ever. They work together, give each other advice and Cal even supports Eddie as a leader, he sees him as family. When Mary leaves Cal for defending Steve on tv, Cal tells her that he wants to stay in Meyerism because it’s the only home he’s even know and now he feels that he wants to stay and be connected to the people he loves. He doesn’t want to lead it or take it away from Eddie, he just wants to continue to help it grow. He wants to have his family.

These parts of his story reflect the song A LOT. Cal’s journey from broken boy to evil leader to broken man is all there in the show to see and the song felt so similar to the person Cal gets to be at the end of the show. By the finale he is stronger than he had ever been, he has a family and people who love him and want to protect him. He has gained so much of what he deserved as a child and now gets to raise his own son better than he was. It’s a very beautiful story. Even though Cal pissed me off A LOT it was a really beautiful story to watch unfold. I really had no idea his character would become so complex and complicated but the execution of it was amazing. His story was handled with care and thought which left room for him to grow and evolve from this arrogant liar to a trusted friend. There are even more details that I could connect to the song but they are all kinda obvious if you watch the show. Jeff’s writing style has always been spiritual and religious which is simple enough to connect it to this show but Two-headed boy pt. 2 really speaks to Cal as a character and his journey through childhood trauma and self acceptance.

#the path #the path hulu #hugh dancy #neutral milk hotel #Cal Roberts #spoilers #song analysis #character analysis #HEU #hannibal extended universe #I only am putting that there because Hugh and Raul are in this show and they only interact once #literally will and chilton went on national television to debate if the evil cult was actually an evil cult

[folkloristico]

Spoiler!

I was responding by explaining how I reimagined the Dragon Flame lore, but it was turning out to be a terribly long info-dump, so I just had to cut that part out—and I still ended up writing a lot. Sorry about that!

Basically, roughly 1200 years prior Bloom’s birth, a civil war forced the Court of Domino to find another way but childbirth to pass on the Dragon Flame to another guardian.

They succeed, but the ritual they come up with is complicated. That is because, when transmitted naturally, the Dragon Flame grows with its guardian, but to inject such an amount of power into a person all at once would kill them.

The solution is to seal the Dragon Flame under many locks; there isn’t a precise number, it mostly depends on the situation. Based on how many locks you intend to create, there are people—I haven’t figured out their names yet—who help the current guardian to keep the power under check while it’s being transmitted to the next one.

Nobody has ever succeeded to pass it on at will alone.

Until Daphne.

The war is particularly hard on her. On one hand, she is the guardian of the Dragon Flame—Marion still has fire magic and shares a link to the Dragon Flame, but what remains in the past guardians is just a trace, a faint glimpse of it. Daphne feels it should be her, more than anyone else, to be fighting Valtor and the Coven. But on the other hand, she knows Marion and Oritel won’t let that happen.

Having both been raised by strict parents (Marion’s mother and Oritel’s father were especially shitty), Marion and Oritel try to not make the same mistakes. As a result, they tend to overcompensate, and Daphne can sense that. She’s a smart, receptive child. She doesn’t want to see her parents more hurt than they already are, so she always tries her best to not let them down. She tends to keep everything bottled inside of her. She almost never fights back, never complains.

But she knows to her bones that the war is getting close with each passing day, and she cannot let the Dragon Flame fall into the wrong hands. She starts researching any other way she may pass on the Dragon Flame to someone else (her newborn sister is her first guess) should anything happen, and she tells no one. (Griffin suspects something, and in the first draft I have Daphne openly asking her for help, but I’m considering whether I should cut that part out.)

The Coven attacks, and Daphne actually manages to pass on the Dragon Flame to her sister. Then Domino is destroyed, Bloom gets sent on Earth—you know how it goes.

When Domino is revived, everybody is happy and ready to party, but the sentiment doesn’t last long as reality soon kicks in. Daphne is made corporeal soon after that thanks to Bloom and Griffin, but Marion and Oritel find her… changed. She’s tired, both physically and mentally.

She and Oritel get into a fight when Oritel says something condescending and he’s literally shocked at Daphne’s response, she’s never acted like this. Like—Oritel realizes—a young woman her age.

Returning to life is hard on anyone, of course, but Daphne seems to be suffering in a different way than any of them. She has missed so much, like anyone from Domino has, but it’s not only that. She feels incredibly old and young at the same time.

When Oritel discovers how exactly she was able to pass on the Dragon Flame to Bloom, he is… many things. Shocked. Incredulous. That’s what their fight is about, and it’s like the pressure of constantly keeping any emotion under control snaps in Daphne all at once. 

Marion’s role in their conflict is complicated. Upon being revived, she barely feels like herself. It’s like she’s constantly on the edge of breaking into a million pieces, much like Daphne (and Oritel, too) is. Daphne’s current status is worse than she’d thought and she’s devastated. She feels like she has failed Daphne. It scares the hell out of Marion to think that she has tried so hard not to follow her mother’s example, only to retrace her footsteps backward to the same result—building a wall between her and her daughter.

Of course, having the Bloom situation to figure out doesn’t help. Instead of one, Marion is left with two daughters whom she can’t understand.

All of this happens around the same time Marion has offered Bloom to invite Mike and Vanessa to Domino, but it was before Oritel and Daphne’s fight, when Marion thought things were starting to settle down. There’s a lot of angst, but also some degree of second hand-embarrassment because they’re just standing there like 🧍

(I was actually planning to have Bloom walk in the middle of the fight, but having Marion being the one who does is even better. I love how the second part of my SotLK rewrite is basically family drama and suffering.)

#ask #writing #my fics #winx club #winx daphne #winx griffin #winx marion #winx bloom #winx oritel #sotlk rewrite #but half of it is me making it all about the characters i like #darkpoisonouslove #winx headcanons

[musings-of-a-rose]

Light Me Up - Chapter 11/Epilogue

Pairing: Benjamin “Benny” Miller x f!reader

Word Count: 7000+

Rating: M for mature - 18+ only!

Warnings: Mature themes and some canon mentioned. Just like ao3, “creator chooses not to use warnings.” If you click Keep Reading, that means you agree that you’re the age to handle mature themes. Also by clicking Keep Reading, you understand warnings may not be complete in order to avoid spoilers for the story.

Notes: This is it. The final chapter. I can’t believe it’s time to say bye to Benny and Sparks. So I won’t! While this is the official end of their story, I will ALWAYS be open to asks, drabbles, one shots requests, etc because I’m never letting them go. Writing this fic is what started my love for Benny (and look at how far that’s gone!)

Thank you to each and every one of you who have read and reblogged, commented, etc on this fic. Words cannot express what that means to me.

**Originally I was going to post an optional epilogue in a separate post BUT I decided to combine it. It’s tacked on to the end of this one and will have a couple of tagged warnings for topics included. Be aware that you do not need to read the epilogue if it’s not your jam as there are no major plot points in it. I just wanted to write a little more!

**Reader is ethnicity inclusive despite stock photo bias

**If you want to be added to the taglist, join here or let me know!

<<Chapter 10

Light Me Up Masterlist

Benny Masterlist

General Masterlist

“You know, I had that ring for a while,” Benny confesses as he pulls you closer to his side, sliding the blanket up a little higher on you both.

“You did?” Your head rests on Benny’s bare chest, your hand playing with his chest hair as you stare at the ring now adorning your left ring finger, a soft smile on your face.

“Yeah. Went out and bought it right after I told you about Will. I thought for sure you’d leave me after the way I treated you, but you didn’t. I knew then and there I wanted you in my life always. I just had Frankie hold the ring so I didn’t lose it.” He chuckles. 

“Wait..Frankie knew before tonight?”

“Oh yeah. Since that day. Paili was in on it too, but not until tonight.”

“She was really good about not telling me, especially for a kid.”

“Well,” Benny reaches up and scratches the back of his head. “I actually had something planned. Much bigger. But then I just saw you at the bbq and we were surrounded by friends and I just…I couldn’t wait.”

Shifting your body, you look up and stare into his big, blue eyes. “It was perfect, Benny.”

He leans down to give you a soft kiss. “So…any thoughts as to when?”

“Hhhmm…I’m not partial to any specific time. You?”

Benny smirks. “Tomorrow?”

You slap his chest lightly and he yelps, chuckling at your response. 

“Alrigh’, guess that’s a no on tomorrow.”

“Benny, I need my family there too. And so do you.”

“Can’t we just elope?”

“Do you really think either of our families would let us?”

Benny laughs. “Paili would definitely kill me.”

“After she was done killing me.”

Silence for a few moments before you speak.

“What about a smaller wedding? Meaning just close friends and family?”

“I love it. Makes it more personal.”

Benny clears his throat before speaking again.

“I was thinkin’...what if we rented out all those cabins? At that place you’ve always wanted to stay…Snug Harbor? Out in Washington State? Then we could get a vacation house on the west side with a water view for our honeymoon.”

Your head snaps up to his as you find his eyes. “You’re…serious?”

“I am.”

A giddy laugh escapes you as you sit up, straddling his lap and placing your hands on either side of his face.

“I can’t believe you remembered. I must have mentioned that way back when we first started dating.”

“I remember everything you tell me about yourself.”

Leaning forward, you kiss him, moaning when you feel his hand slide up your body. He breaks the kiss briefly to ask:

“That’s the plan then?”

“That’s the plan.”

Benny kisses you and lays you back on the bed, pulling multiple orgasms from you before you both collapse, falling asleep tangled up in each other’s arms.

—----

“What do you mean 3 weeks from now?” You’re trying to contain yourself but you swear the representative from Snug Harbor just told you that the only availability they have for the entire harbor to be rented out is in 3 weeks. 

“Yes, 3 weeks from now, miss. We do have excellent wedding planners who could help-”

“I’ll have to call you back.” Hanging up the phone, you pinch the bridge of your nose, setting your phone down on the table. 

Benny comes up behind you and starts to massage your shoulders. “Everything ok?”

Sighing, and slightly moaning at his touch, you shake your head. “Just got off the phone with Snug Harbor.”

“And?”

“The only time we can rent the whole place is 3 weeks from now. Otherwise it’s off season, so half the island is closed and it’s bad weather, or they’re booked for like 3 years.”

“Ok.”

“Ok….what?”

“Ok let’s get married in 3 weeks.”

Turning your head slowly, you look up at him. “What?”

Benny sits in the chair next to you and scoots it closer to you, taking your hand in his. “Let’s get married in 3 weeks then.”

“Benny, I-”

“It’s just our family and close friends. We don’t have to be all fancy.”

“But..a dress, food, flowers, I’d have to-”

“You can go shopping now.”

“But the dress will have to be altered and that takes time-”

“Sweetheart,” he leans in close. “You keep forgetting that money can open doors. I don’t like to use it like that but this is for your wedding dress. We can find someone who will alter it in time.”

“I….do you think so?”

He smiles and his whole face lights up. “I wouldn’t care if you walked down the isle in one of my old shirts. But I know a dress is important to you and I’ll do my best to get you what you want.”

You let out a puff of air you didn’t know you’d been holding. “3 weeks?”

“3 weeks. What do you think, Sparks?”

You take a moment to evaluate. If you didn’t have to worry about a dress or anything to do with the actual wedding, would you hesitate? If it was just you and Benny and someone who could marry you?

You’d marry him right now.

“I think we’re getting married in 3 weeks.”

Benny whoops, slapping his hand down on the table before gathering you up in his arms and spinning you around the kitchen, his smile so wide that it could be seen from space.

“Is 3 weeks up yet?”

—----

Planning wasn’t as bad as you’d thought it would be. You had hired a wedding coordinator in Friday Harbor, who took down all the things you and Benny wanted or didn’t want at the wedding; everything from food to colors of the wedding, to types of flowers, indoor or outdoor, types of chairs, all of the little details most people wouldn’t think about. The only thing you had to worry about was your dress and Benny’s suit. 

You thought dress shopping would be terrible, but you happened to fall in love with a dress at a mom and pop dress shop, knowing it was the one for you. They were happy to alter it for you and would have it done in time for any additional alternations. 

The dress arrived without any issues, and any hiccups with the planning were taken on by the wedding planner. You’d settled on a ceremony on the grass overlooking the small harbor, before moving inside to eat. It was Benny’s parents, plus the boys and their wives or girlfriends and kids, and your parents and brothers and their families. Paili and Roaslie were over the moon at getting to not only vacation in the same place, but they were both walking down the isle as a flower girl and ring bearer. 

The one bedroom cabin you and Benny would be staying in until your honeymoon was in the middle of the front row of cabins, overlooking the harbor. Everyone had arrived 2 days before the wedding so they could get settled and then have the bachelor and bachelorette parties. You and Benny had suggested having them together, but the look on Santi’s face made Benny cave and you both agreed to do them separate: The girls were all in one cabin at the very end, playing dirty games and drinking, and the men on the opposite side of the row of cabins, doing much the same thing. All the kids were having a sleepover in the suites above the main hall, supervised by a nanny.

The bachelorette party was fun, but a few hours (and a few drinks) in, you felt compelled to go for a walk. Not really sure why or where, you slip out, no one noticing you’d gone. You walk behind the cabins, stumbling slightly on the pebbled path, before you run head first into something solid. Not something. Someone.

“Oopmh!” the someone said as you collided.

“B-Benny?” You ask, blinking a few times to try and see through the dark. 

“Sparks?” Benny responds, reaching forward and grabbing your arm. “ ‘s that you?”

“Mmhmm.”

“Why’r you out here?”

“Why are you?”

Benny sways slightly. “I…I came to fin’ you.”

“Really?”

“Hoped you’d be in the room.”

“I..I was hoping the same.”

Benny leans down to kiss you but misses and sucks on your chin. 

“Wanna ditch the parties?” You ask, looking up at him.

“I doooo.” He says, trying to be quiet but not really succeeding. 

Creeping around the front of the cabins, you see that you both happened to stop at yours, even in the dark and slightly drunk (or more drunk in Benny’s case), you both had sought each other out. Benny follows you inside, closing the door behind him. You manage to get a quick text out to Monica, telling her you’d gone back to the cabin and not to disturb you, when you feel his hands on you, hastily and sloppily trying to rid you of your clothes. Tossing your phone down on the table, you spin in his grip, pulling him to you and kissing him as you walk to the bedroom.

Somehow, you both managed to remove your clothes and Benny pushes you down onto the bed, immediately hovering over you, planting kisses across your lips, neck, chin, moving down to your chest, chuckling when you gasp. 

“Benny..we..shit…isn’t this bad luck to see each other before the wedding?”

“It’s so damn dark in hear sweetheart, I can’t see you anyway.”

Brain still fuzzy from drinking, you can’t fight his logic. “That…that makes sense.”

He starts to kiss down your stomach, but you stop him, pulling him back up your body and kissing him deeply.

“Want you inside me.”

“Whatever you want.”

Benny, still drunk, takes a few thrusts to get it right but when he does, he pushes in quick, overly excited that he finally found the right spot. Frantic breaths and whines fill the cabin, your names escaping from each other’s lips as he sets a rough pace, pulling your leg up on his hip to hit that spot inside of you. 

“Oh shit, Benny!” You come, moaning his name as you pulse around him, hearing your name spill from his lips as he comes moments later, thrusting erratically into you. 

Benny collapses on top of you and on instinct, you start massaging his scalp, listening to his hum of contentment…

—----

Knock, knock, knock

A hard rapping on your cabin door wakes you from where you’re sprawled across the bed, naked, with a slightly drooling also naked Benny tangled up with you in the sheets. Glancing over at the side table, you notice the time and groan - you both were needed at a quick breakfast before getting ready for the wedding.

Today, I’m marrying Benny.

A smile pulls at your face as you hear the knocking again, more insistent this time. 

“Benny - you gotta get up,” you speak quietly in his ear, getting a moan in response.

“Why?”

“Because I can’t get the door and someone is-”

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!

Benny groans again, but pulls you tighter to him. “Tell ‘em to fuck off.”

“Well I would but you have me pinned.”

A sleepy, deep chuckle comes from him as he nuzzles into your hair, inhaling. “Yeah I do.”

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK! “BENNY! GET YOUR ASS OUT HERE!”

“Fuckin’ Fish always gotta be on my ass.” Benny grumbles.

“We are getting married today and he’s trying to keep you on schedule.”

A slight pause before one of his blue eyes opens, finding yours. “Married, huh? You sure you still want to marry me?”

“I’d stay with you the rest of our lives whether or not we get married.”

Both of his eyes open now, bright and shining, full of love as he pulls you to him, kissing you softly and deeply. 

“What did I do to deserve you?” He asks softly, talking more to himself than you.

Opening your mouth to reply, another series of knocks, now more like pounds, come from the front door.

“BENJAMIN MILLER PUT ON SOME PANTS, STOP KISSING YOUR GIRL, AND BOTH OF YOU COME GET BREAKFAST!”

“He’s so demanding,” You chuckle, Benny doing the same.

“Yeah. But we better do what he says because he ain’t leavin’ until we do.”

Benny detangles himself from you and opens the bedroom door, walking towards the front door. 

“Benny! Pants!” You yell after him, laughing as he waves you off.

Hearing the door unlock and open, all you hear is a series of swears from Frankie, mixed in with “put some fucking clothes on, man!” before Benny is back, laughing as he looks around for some jeans and a flannel shirt. 

—----

After breakfast, served in the small hall where your wedding dinner will later be held, you were whisked back to your cabin while Benny was forced to Frankie’s. Neither of you were to see each other until the ceremony. Which you thought was complete bullshit but you humored everyone.

The hair and makeup team came and started taking care of everyone, even people not in the bridal party if they wanted it. Paili and Rosalie were beside themselves with the treatment, calling themselves queens as they strutted around the small cabin, pretending to be Anna and Elsa. 

Monica agreed to be your maid of honor, or matron of honor, as she and Frankie were married. Her rainbow colored hair was swept up into a beautiful style, the colors winding beautifully around her head as she watched your face for any sign of hesitation. When the makeup team took a short break, she leaned in to you.

“Any cold feet? Jitters?”

Shaking your head, you admired the way your hair moved in the mirror. “No. Why?”

“Because it’s Benny. Had to check.”

Glancing up at her, you see a small smirk tugging at her lips as she grabs her drink, using the straw the makeup team demanded everyone use. 

—----

You stand at the door to your cabin, waiting for the song to end and yours to start. Paili and Rosalie had already bounded out of the door on their queue, happily tossing flower petals and island approved bird seed on their way to the alter, a couple of your sister in laws not far behind. Monica gave you a quick hug and a wink before she walked out, the door closing slow enough for you to see her unite with Frankie from the other side, a wide smile on his face. 

The music fades away and you hear the first notes of the song you had picked to walk down the isle to, not wanting the regular processional or Canon in D. Glancing down at your hands around your bouquet, you gently brush your fingers against the delicate necklace that’s wound there, your grandmother’s that she had left for you when she had passed. 

“And…go!” The wedding planner had opened the door and called to you from behind it, moments after the song had started. You hear the shuffling of people as they all stand, waiting for you to arrive.

Taking a deep breath, not out of nerves but out of anxiety that you’ll trip and fall flat on your face, you exit the cabin and walk down the patio, taking your dad’s arm and smiling up at him, seeing tears behind his eyes. 

“Don’t let me trip,” you say quietly, half chuckling, half serious.

“Never.”

You make it to the start of the aisle, wildflower petals, sourced and approved by the wedding planner on island, decorate the aisle. Pausing, you wait a moment as you see Frankie tap Benny on the shoulder to let him know it was time to turn around.

When he turns, your breath catches in your throat. He’s beautiful, in his all black suit, his shoulder length hair brushing the tops of his shoulders, the blonde reflecting the sun as if he were some sort of demi-God. His eyes are bright blue and shining with love and tears, as he takes you in, some of the tears making their way down his cheeks, just narrowly missing the biggest smile you’ve ever seen him wear.

Blinking, you realize that you too have started to tear up as your dad pats your hand, moving you both forward. He’s leading and you’re grateful as your eyes are glued to Benny’s. Everything else fades into the background, as if only the both of you existed in this moment. Reaching the end of the aisle, you turn to your dad as he gives you one last hug before sitting with your mom. Taking the last few steps, you finally find yourself in front of Benny, his hands immediately reaching for yours, giving them a small squeeze.

The officiant starts their speech, saying something about love and trust, but all you see is Benny, his eyes never leaving yours as he takes you in, a breeze rustling his hair as it comes in off the small harbor behind you both. As if at a distance, you hear your name from the officiant and repeat when they say, eyes still glued on Benny as he takes a ring out of the little box that Rosalie is holding up, trying her best not to drop it. He slides the ring on your finger and pulls your hand to his lips, lightly placing a a kiss to your fingers. The officiant speaks to him next, Benny repeating his parts. If it wasn’t for little Roaslie tapping your side, holding the box up for you to take Benny’s ring out, you’d have completely forgotten, your focus completely taken up by Benny. Taking the ring out of the box, you give a quick wink to Rosalie before turning back to Benny, sliding his ring on his finger. A few moments later, all you hear is the word “kiss” and he’s on you, his hands gripping your face to pull you closer as Benny kisses you deeply. Cheers and clapping sound from your friends and family before Frankie leans in and says “There’s kids here.”

Chuckling, Benny pulls back first, that smile spreading across his face as he takes you in, placing his forehead to yours momentarily before grabbing your hand and turning you to walk back down the aisle, hearing the wedding planner announce to everyone that there are horderves and drinks ready and that dinner would be served when you both returned from your photo session. 

The photographer and videographer drove you out to several locations on the island, taking a multitude of photos that would turn out gorgeous. They drove you back, took a few more around the harbor before calling it and heading inside to set up in the hall where everyone else was hanging out. Benny takes your arm and starts to follow the photographer, but you pull him back, calling to the photographer.

“Can you tell Frankie, the Best Man, that we need like 15 minutes before we’re coming in? I know he has to announce us and all that.”

“Sure,” she says knowingly.

Pulling Benny’s arm, he looks at you quizzically as you guide him towards your cabin, opening the door and closing it behind him.

“Everything alright, sweet-” Benny’s words are cut off as you practically throw yourself at him, gripping his suit jacket and pulling him towards you, kissing him frantically. He kisses you back, arms winding around you until he suddenly breaks the kiss.

“Do we have time?”

“I’m making time.”

Benny chuckles as you manage to make out and walk to the back bedroom, pushing him down on the bed. He undoes his pants, pulling himself out as you climb up him, straddling him. Pushing your underwear to the side, you sink down on him, both of you ready to go. Moaning out his name, you pause for a moment, but Benny sits up, pulling down on your shoulders as he starts to deep thrust into you, watching your face contort with pleasure, both of you breathing heavily. It’s not long before you’re both coming, moaning each other’s names as he thrusts sporadically into you, Benny’s head dropping to your chest as you both take a moment to breathe. 

“We still have our clothes on,” he chuckles.

“I’m pretty sure the wedding planner would kill us if we messed up these clothes.”

“Well you took a big risk coming to this cabin then.”

“I’m willing to risk death if it means I get to feel you inside me.”

“Fuck, sweetheart, don’t say shit like that if you don’t want me to do somethin’ about it.”

Tightening your muscles around Benny, who was still inside you, you speak quietly. “And what if I want you to do something about it?”

His eyes darken as he looks up at you, pushing you slightly to get you to stand up. When you do, he stands too, telling you to get on your hands and knees on the bed. Smirking, you hike your dress up so you don’t wrinkle it, crawling up the bed. A warm hand pushes your upper back down, sliding back to grip your hips as he pushes your dress over your hips, moving your panties to the side. 

Benny thrusts into you quickly and sets a rough pace, letting the sounds of your pleasure guide him as he rails into you, careful not to hurt your dress. 

“Oh God, Benny!” You moan, feeling his hand snake around to rub at your clit, quickly sending you towards the edge.

“You looked so…nuhhh…fuckin’ beautiful. I can’t believe..uuhh…you said you’d marry me,” Benny manages to say between thrusts, his own pleasure starting to catch up to him.

“I couldn’t wait to be Mrs. Miller!”

“FUCK!” Benny yells, coming loudly as he continues to thrust into you, feeling you tighten around him as you come too, your body lit up like a live wire, fingers and toes tingling with your release. 

Benny takes a moment before he pulls out, quickly grabbing a cloth to clean you both up before you straighten up, smoothing down your dress and smiling widely at the fucked out expression on his face.

“So the last name gets you going. Good to know,” You wink at him.

“I didn’t know it’d have that affect on me. Damn.” He fixes his pants and pulls you to him, kissing you more gently than you thought he would. He starts to deepen it but a knock at the door interrupts what would probably have turned into round 3. 

“Fuck more later! Everyone wants to eat!” Frankie yells through the door, unable to keep the smile out of his voice. 

Benny winks at you before taking your hand and leading you to the door, opening it to see Frankie with a giant grin on his face.

“We’re comin’. Keep your pants on,” Benny says, closing the door behind him.

“We’re all starving because you couldn’t keep your pants on, Benjamin,” Frankie retorts, a friendly tone to his voice.

“Actually, that was me,” You say, feeling your cheeks heat up as Frankie looks at you, eyebrows raised in surprise. “I…couldn’t wait.”

Frankie drops his voice, pink creeping up his cheeks. “I get that.”

—----

The reception was a blast. Benny had surprised you with your first dance by secretly taking dancing lessons, literally sweeping you off of your feet in time with the music. People ate, danced, speeches were made, and Benny was required to dance with both Paili and Rosalie, although you saw Paili sneak a few more dances in with him while Rosalie batted her eyelashes up at Will, who couldn’t turn her down. Frankie danced with you for a song while Monica danced with Benny, all of you twirling around the dance floor. 

In lieu of a bouquet tossing, you presented your bouquet to Benny’s grandmother, the last living grandparent between the both of you. Her eyes filled with tears at the gesture, clutching the beautiful arrangement to her chest as she hugged and kissed you both. You also decided to not have a traditional wedding cake but instead a pie bar, a variety of flavors made in a local bakery adorning the decorated table. Once you saw the kids starting to nod off while they were standing, you decided to call it a night, heading back to your cabin as everyone blew bubbles as a send off. The second you got in the door, Benny helped you out of your dress and you took a quick shower, wanting to get off the several layers of makeup plastered on earlier by the makeup team. Benny took a shower after you but by the time he came out, you’d already passed out on the bed, completely exhausted from the day.

—----

You knew you’d both be too tired to head to the house where you’d spend your honeymoon directly after the ceremony, which is why you stayed in the cabin. So you decided to invite everyone to breakfast in town, a reservation for all of you already made. 

Walking in late, your brothers and of course the boys all wolf whistled and winked, knowing exactly why you were late. And if there was any doubt, the nervous shuffling of your feet and the rapidly rising heat in your cheeks just proved they were right.

After breakfast, everyone headed off to do their own things while you and Benny packed up your tiny cabin that you’d live in for the last few days and drove to the house Benny had rented on the west side of the island, making sure there was not only a water view but water access, a small, private beach all to yourselves, none of which you were aware of.

The house was beautiful, a long winding driveway with pine trees lining the edges lead up to a larger 2 story home. Benny parks the car and walks around to open your door, smiling at the look of awe on your face as you take in the flower beds and trees. The first thing you notice is that it’s quiet - no neighbors or anyone to share the house with. 

Benny takes your hand and you blink, turning your head to look at him.

“This is gorgeous, Benny!”

“Just wait- it gets better.”

He leads you to the front door where he types in the pin code to unlock it. Opening it, you start to walk forward but his arm shoots out blocking you from entering. Before you can ask, he’s swept you up in his arms, one behind your knees and the other your back as he walks you over the threshold, gently closing the door behind you.

“Benny! You didn’t have to do that,” you say, chuckling to yourself.

He gives you a wink before setting you down. “I definitely did. Take a look around and I’ll grab our shit.” He turns to head back to the car to unload while you take in the house.

It’s like it walked out of a magazine - modern kitchen with a northwest feel, a giant stone fireplace in the open concept living room with a large, handmade wooden dining table set a little higher than the other rooms. There’s a staircase to your right that you had every intention of  heading up - until your eyes took in the entire back wall of windows and how it opened up to the water.

Gorgeous views of the Salish Sea as far you could see, a craggy shoreline with the island’s pine trees around the edges take up the space beyond the little deck that housed a hot tub. A simple, man made path leads down to your own private beach, complete with driftwood logs to sit on and a fire pit already made up. 

“Holy shit,” you breathe out, completely taken aback by this unexpected view. 

“You like it?” Benny came up behind you, wrapping his arms around you and leaning down to put his chin on your shoulder.

“I…Benny I never expected this,” your hand gestures to the view as he hums in your ear, turning to gently nibble at it. 

“Well, you said you always wanted to have a water view. West side, right? For the orcas? I wasn’t expecting the bea-”

You cut him off, spinning in his hold and pulling him to you, finding his lips immediately. He kisses you back, chuckling when he feels you trying to undress him.

“You haven’t even seen the bedroom yet.”

“Great idea - let’s go now.”

He laughs, a bright, mischievous smile stretching across his face. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Don’t you mean Mrs. MilLER!” You yell out the last half of your new last name as Benny picks you up, throwing you over his shoulder as he climbs the stairs practically 2 at a time, passing a couple of doors before finding the master bedroom and tossing you down on the bed. 

Neither of you waste time, both trying to help the other shed their clothes as you press kisses in between the stripping. Once Benny wriggles free of his pants, he pushes you down into the bed, your back feeling the soft fabric of the comforter as he pins your hands on either side of your head. He notches himself at your entrance, feeling you shift your legs open wider to accommodate him. He stares down at you, his face only a few inches from yours as he brushes some stray hair from your face, a soft smile on his face.

“I love you so much, Sparks.”

“I love you so much, Benny.”

He kisses you softly before pulling back, wanting to watch your face as he gently pushes inside, smiling at the way your pleasure contorts your expressions.

“I love how you feel inside me, Benny.”

“That’s because we were made for each other.”

Rolling your eyes, you smile at him lovingly, retort dying on your lips as he pulls his hips back and pushes back in, adding an extra deep thrust once he’s fully inside, smiling wider when you cry out his name. Pushing your hands against his hold, he eventually releases you and they immediately grab onto his ass, pushing him deeper as you moan and writhe under him, your body feeling like he’s hitting every pleasure point as he makes love to you. 

Coming suddenly, your nails dig into his back as you moan out his name, Benny still deep thrusting to carry you through your release, quickly following with his own as you come down, heavy breathing as you simply lay there holding each other. 

“I fuckin’ love you. So much, sweetheart,” Benny mumbles into your chest, having laid his head there after he came.

“I love you too. So much, Benny.”

—---- 

The next day, you’re in the kitchen with Benny who had insisted on making dinner for the both of you (as you’d had reservations in town every other night). It wasn’t anything fancy but you loved watching him move around the kitchen, his randomized playlist playing through the kitchen speaker. His hips sway to the music as he sings along. The song ends and a quiet one comes on.

“I can’t believe we’re actually married!” You say, sitting up on the kitchen island as Benny turns to you.

“I can’t believe you said yes.”

“There’s no one else in the entire world that I’d rather spend the rest of my life with. I’m proud to be Mrs. Miller.”

Benny moves quickly, slotting himself between your legs as he kisses you. “Well now, Mrs. Miller, it’s time I get to taste what’s in the kitchen.”

Humming into his mouth, you reply “Shouldn’t it be the other way around since you’re cooking?”

“Shut up and spread your legs.”

Benny pulls a stool over and sits in front of you, any sarcastic comment you had leaving your brain the moment his tongue was on you…

—----

2 weeks had passed since the start of your honeymoon. You’d done nearly everything the island had to offer: whale watching, zip lining, every tour they had, a wine tasting, feeding alpacas, kayaking, mopeds, all of it. Anything you did Benny gave it his all and you were slightly jealous that he seemed to master things with ease, as if he’d always done them. 

You couldn’t stay jealous or even annoyed with him for long - not with the way he’d make up for it when you were alone. He’d made love to you nearly everywhere in that house, not even pausing to worry about people with binoculars when he fucked you on the beach, saying if they wanted to watch him make love to you they were welcome to stare at his ass. 

As you packed and left the house for the last time, you turned and took one more look, etching the memories into your brain to remember them forever. Benny wrapped his arm around you and pulled out his phone, making sure the house was in the background as he snapped a candid photo of you both kissing in front of the house with a promise to return one day.

—----

A couple months after your honeymoon, you found the perfect house. It’s checked every box that you and Benny had and you bought it in a heartbeat. It only needed a little paint and some new furniture, which had arrived and all the boys came together to help you assemble it. 

Once your new house was finished, you hosted a giant cookout, having everyone come over for food and swimming in your new pool. It was a great day filled with family and laughter that lasted well into the night.

The next morning, you woke before Benny, quietly tiptoeing downstairs to make coffee. Assembling your drink, you sipped from your mug, staring out the back window to your dream backyard, taking in the morning light as it reflected off of the dewy grass. A few minutes later, you heard Benny shuffle downstairs and grab a mug, making himself a cup before he moved to stand next to you, taking a sip as he wrapped his arm around you. There was nothing planned today, no wedding planning, no honeymoon, no furniture to assemble or party to host. Just you and Benny. And you couldn’t wait to start the rest of your lives together.

—-----------------------

Notes: Ok, folks! The official fic ends here and I’m feeling a way about it. I absolutely LOVE Benny and Sparks and I really struggled with ending their story. Please absolutely feel free to send me asks or drabble requests or whatever for these 2 because I am 100% NOT ready to give them up. Thank you so MUCH for reading and I hope you enjoyed it! 

HOWEVER 

There is an optional epilogue! I say optional because it’s going to discuss themes of pregnancy, labor/childbirth, and Benny being a dilf. I realize that’s not everyone’s jam, especially with reader inserts and that’s ok! The way this story flowed, I knew I’d be able to set it up so that those who don’t want to read these elements didn’t have to worry about missing any major plot points. 

—-------------------------

Epilogue

2 years later….

The timer on your phone goes off, causing you to jump slightly at the beeps sounding off in the near silence of the room. Turning it off, you take a deep breath and look at the man sitting next to you, his blue eyes shining nervously back at you. He takes your hands and holds them for a moment, rubbing little circles into the backs.

“No matter what it says, Sparks, we can always continue tryin’ like we have been. Ok?”

Nodding, you let out an exhale. “I know, Benny.”

Hands shaking slightly, you reach up and flip over the tiny plastic stick that was sitting on your counter, holding your breath as your eyes take in what was showing in the little window.

2 very bright pink lines.

“It’s positive!” You start to cry, ecstatic that it finally happened after months of trying. Benny whooped, his voice echoing off the walls of the bathroom as he gathered you into his arms, hugging you tight but avoiding squeezing your stomach. 

“We’re gonna be parents!” He says, his own voice cracking with overwhelming joy. 

From that moment on, Benny’s focus was all on you. His hyperfixation turned to that of pregnancy and childbirth and how he could be the best, most supportive partner during each of these times. He got you whatever you craved whenever you craved it, held your hair back when the morning sickness took over, rubbed your back and told you comforting things when your hormones would overwhelm you, give you massages, literally anything you asked for, Benny did. 

And he was no different in labor. You’d both gone to the labor classes at the birthing center, also opting to take a hypnobirthing class. The moment your water broke in the middle of the night, Benny was by your side, waiting and timing contractions for you so you didn’t have to until the best time to finally head to the birth center, your bags already in the jeep. 

Labor was hard work, but between your mental preparation and Benny’s support, you knew you could do it. Benny was by your side the entire time, even when you labored in the tub, dabbing at your forehead with a cloth and rubbing your back, applying counter pressure to your hips if you needed it. You knew your body was made to do this and Benny made sure you knew how strong you were. 

A few hours after you arrived at the birthing center, your first son Emmett was born. Skin to skin was immediate for you and the bond was instant, Benny cutting the cord as he watched you both in complete awe after having “caught” Emmett a few moments before. Once things were settled, Benny gathered up Emmett in his arms, tears freely flowing down his face, a wide smile plastered to it. 

“Hey little dude. I’m your dad. I can’t believe you’re finally here,” Benny coos to him as he bounces the tiny baby, not noticing how your heart was aching in a good way from watching the interaction, tears streaming down your face.

A few minutes later, Benny walks over to you and places Emmett on your chest, helping you to adjust your position to start feeding him. He pats your hair away from your face and you look up at him as Emmett eats.

“You’re amazin’ you know that? Look what you made.”

“We made, Benny.”

“Yeah but you definitely did all the hard work.”

“I don’t know. You definitely did some hard work too.”

He chuckles. “Don’t you ever get your mind out of the gutter?”

“Not while I’m with you.”

—----

Life with newborn is always an adjustment, no matter how many kids you have. Benny was there with you at every feeding until you finally told him to get some sleep and that you could tag team it. No sense in both of you being sleep deprived. 

He threw his all into being a dad, diapers, playtime, all of it, Benny did with such love and care that it hurt your heart to watch, but in a good way. Benny would lean Emmett against his bent legs, bending over him making goofy faces and voices while Emmett stared up at him, eventually the blank stares turning into smiles as he got older. 

Seeing Benny simply hold Emmett also set you on fire. Something about this tall man holding a tiny baby, your tiny baby just lit a fire inside you. 

That fire brought you 5 additional kids. 

When your youngest was 4, you decided to have a play day in the back yard, inviting everyone over for a cookout. Benny spent a few hours the night before setting up a bunch of lawn games. However, when it came time to play, the kids all had a different idea.

“Let’s play get dada!”

“Yeah!”

“Wait just a minute - oh shit!” Benny laughs as your 6 kids chase him around the yard, trying their best to get ahold of him. 

Sitting back in your lawn chair, you laugh as one of them manages to get ahold of him somehow, bringing down Benny as they all launched themselves on top of him as he tries to army crawl out of the dog pile, unsuccessful due to his laughing. 

Santi’s newish girlfriend sits down next to you and looks at Benny, who was somehow managing to crawl his way out of the pile.

“Why did you have so many kids?” She asks, half joking but mostly serious. “I’m not sure I could even handle one.”

You look back at Benny and the love pouring out of him for each of your kids and it echoed back at him in all of their faces. 

“How could I say no to that man? How could I resist climbing him like a tree?”

Benny overhears this part of your conversation and he manages to walk over. “It’s true. All these kids were her idea!”

You smack his leg as he chuckles. “I’m just irresistible.”

Before you can retort, your kids have whisked him away again, this time to play one of the games he’d set up.

—----

Later that night, you catch Benny as he walks past the foot of the bed, kissing him deeply as he lifts you into his arms, feeling your legs wrap around him. He turns and lays you down on the bed, hovering over you.

“Told you I was irresistible.”

Chuckling, your eyes reflect back at him his own desire. “Oh shut up and fuck me.”

—----

General Taglist:

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[madametnt]

The Best Possible Run of Until Dawn as Scientifically Calculated by Me

This is a sequel to my Worst Run(TM) guide which can be found here

Last time, we turned every character into the most awful version of themselves they could possibly be. Now, we’re gonna do the opposite. Not only is it an everybody lives run, but we’re gonna make it so every character finishes the game on as good of terms as possible. Here is what I consider to be a golden run of Until Dawn.

SPOILER WARNING: this guide assumes you have played through the game at least once

Unlike last time where we only interacted with/picked up clues that were mandatory or affected relationships, this time we are going to be collecting every clue in the game as to make the characters GIGA BRAIN and get all of that juicy clue dialogue.

Because I don’t want to painstakingly describe the location of every clue in the game, I’m going to link a video that does it for me. You can find it here

There are time stamps provided in the description so that you can hop around to specific items. Note that totems aren’t necessary for this play-through since they are never acknowledged by the characters. You are still free to do so for that sweet sweet 100% if you’re a completionist like I am. If there are still questions about the clues/totems, feel free to message me in the replies about them and I will do my best to help you.

Dr. Hill segments won’t be listed since they are mostly subjective. However, the absolute must is to make Josh feel guilt and take responsibility for his actions. We’re giving the lad a redemption arc, basically.

One last thing before we begin. Anything marked with a * is just additional information that I thought would be helpful to know.

PROLOGUE

- Let go/do nothing as Beth

CHAPTER ONE

- Close the bag as Sam so that Chris is happy to see her

- Do not shoot the squirrel as Chris as doing so lowers his relationship with Sam and guarantees she cannot escape the psycho later on

* It doesn’t matter what you do as Jessica, just note that explain raises her relationship with Chris and lowers it with Sam, while demand does the inverse

- Do not threaten Mike as Matt to raise their relationship

- Comply with Emily’s request to continue on as Matt to raise their relationship

- Encourage Matt to look through the telescope as Ashley because we wanna be an honest homie

- Snowball fight doesn’t matter, just don’t hit the bird

- Kiss Mike as Jess

CHAPTER 2

- Worry about Josh as Chris to raise their relationship

- Be confident with Ashley as Chris to raise their relationship

- Go down towards the camera (opposite of Ashley on the stairs) to talk with Matt

- Ask Matt how he’s doing as Chris to raise their relationship

- Agree with all of Josh’s statements about Ashley as Chris to raise him and Josh’s relationship

* Talking to Sam does not affect stats as there are no answer choices in the conversation

- When Matt confronts Mike about Emily, de-escalate the situation (challenge and then apologize)

- As Matt, make sure when Jess and Emily start fighting, that you side with Emily first, and then side with Jess at the second prompt

* Siding with Emily first makes her less pissy at you later, and siding with Jess afterwards minimizes losing too much relationship with either

- Take a selfie with the bae as Mike

- Agree with Jess about Emily being a bitch as Mike to raise their relationship

- Be respectful as Mike when him and Jess examine the police tape to raise their relationship

- Pick heroic as Mike when Jess falls in the mineshaft to raise their relationship

- Choose flirtatious as Mike about the bird to raise him and Jess’s relationship

- Select flattering as Sam when Josh mentions Chris and Ashley as being mocking lowers their relationship

- Reassure Josh as Sam to be a good friend :)

- When picking up the baseball bat as Sam, pick serious to raise her relationship with Josh

- High five Josh as Sam so you don’t leave the homie hanging (spam triangle)

* Choosing to prank Josh or not doesn’t effect anything

- Be heroic as Sam about the noise to raise her relationship with Josh

CHAPTER 3

- Take a seance seriously as Ashley as to not upset Josh (more than you’re going to anyway)

- Be apologetic about the prank as Ashley to raise her relationship with Chris

- Respond flirtatiously to Jessica’s prank as Mike to raise their relationship

- Instead of crossing the bridge, walk down towards the camera until you find a tree with E+M surrounded by a heart carved into it

- Confess to Jess about being a sap as Mike when she inquires about the tree to raise their relationship

- Show the mask to Jess as Mike since picking scare lowers their relationship

- Comfort the deer as Mike because we love animals in this house

* PSA: do not approach wild animals IRL even if injured unless you are a professional or are fairly certain you won’t get mauled

- Choose whatever route you want in the chase scene, just make sure you actually pick options as indecision will annoy Jessica

- Help up Jess as Mike instead of unlocking the door to raise their relationship

- The rifle is not a clue, but if you decide to pick it up make sure not to pick scare as that lowers Mike and Jess’s relationship

- By this point, your relationship with Jess should be maxed and she will strip down to her underwear since she’s super downbad

- Show Ashley the letter as Chris since lying is bad

CHAPTER 4

- To save Jessica, make sure to pick all of the risky, unsafe paths as Mike and jump instead of shimmy

* You can not fail more than 4 times with each missed QTE being 1 fail, picking a safe path accumulates 3 fails so be extra careful

* If Jessica’s jaw is still intact when you find her then she is still alive for now

- Choose to save Josh as Chris to raise their relationship

* Ashley’s relationship with Chris is not affected either way oddly enough, but Josh’s relationship with Chris lowers if you choose to save Ashley

CHAPTER 5

- Do not punch doggy

- Feed doggy bone :)

- Pet doggy :)

- Do not touch the waving hand. Seriously. It’s not a clue. You can walk right past it and lose nothing. Do not let the intrusive thoughts win.

- Agree to smash the door for Emily as Matt to raise their relationship

- Make sure to catch Emily when she almost falls off the ledge you’re shimmying on to earn her appreciation

- Agree with Emily about the fire tower as Matt to raise their relationship

- Escape the psycho as Sam, I’ve seen variations on how to successfully do this, but here’s what I’ve found works

1. Run

2. Jump over the bed

3. Run

4. Pull down the cabinet

5. You HAVE to hide once closing the door behind you (be sure to turn your flashlight off when prompted with triangle and succeed in the short don’t move)

CHAPTER 6

- Calm down Emily as Matt to increase their relationship

- Do not attack the deer or Matt will be knocked off a cliff, plus we love animals here

- Keep the flare gun as Emily and do not fire it

*This slightly lowers her relationship with Matt, but allows us to avoid being bitten by the wendigo. Plus the relationship loss is so minor that it doesn’t affect anything.

- Comply with the park ranger over the radio as Emily

- Be supportive of Emily as Matt to raise their relationship

- Show concern towards Emily as Matt to raise their relationship

- During the first prompt, try to save Emily as Matt to raise their relationship

- During the second prompt, jump to safety as Matt so that he avoids death

- Do not insist upon seeing a ghost to Chris as Ashley since doing so lowers their relationship

- When discussing the prank with Chris, choose to be sympathetic as Ashley to raise their relationship

-Be courageous when Ashley expresses hesitation at going to find Sam because we are bad bitches in this household

- In the room with the hitlist, enter the closed door to find a projector and watch the video

- Choose apologetic as Ashley when prompted to raise her relationship with Chris

- Don’t split off from Chris as Ashley since splitting up is dumb

- Do not stab the psycho as Ashley to spare her a black eye, and so that Chris won’t punch Josh in retaliation later

- As Chris, aim the gun at yourself first as to not scare Ashley

- Shoot either yourself, or do nothing to maximize your relationship with Ashley

* Do not shoot Ashley as this will guarantee Chris’s death later

CHAPTER 7

* Be sure to turn around immediately when given control of Sam as to not miss the clue since it’s very sneaky

- Show concern towards Mike and inquire about Jessica as Sam to raise her relationship with both of them

* Emily’s section here doesn’t matter, just continue getting all the clues since there are a lot of them

- Scold Josh as Chris, and then be skeptical to raise their relationship

- Be defensive towards Josh as Chris since being aggressive lowers their relationship

- Do nothing when prompted to disarm Mike or hit Josh as both choices have negative consequences on relationships

CHAPTER 8

- During the chase as Emily, succeed in QTE’s to guarantee Emily’s survival, and make sure to hop of the conveyor belt when prompted. Because we have a useable flare gun, you will be prompted to shoot the wendigo. It’s crucial to hit this shot so Emily avoids being bitten.

- Show concern towards Emily and Matt as Chris when she returns to the lodge to be a good friend

- Survive the chase as Chris, there’s no choices just don’t miss the QTEs

* There will be no choices in the basement since Emily did not get bitten

CHAPTER 9

- Survive the chase as Mike by succeeding in the QTEs and don’t moves. To save the dog, barricade the door with a locker when prompted.

* If you miss to many QTEs Mike will live, but the puppy will die :(

- Reassure Chris as Ashley to raise their relationship

- If you are collecting all the totems, choose follow voice to collect the totem down the path but DO NOT open the trap door as this will kill Ashley

- Otherwise, ignore the voice and continue on

CHAPTER 10

* Since we’re getting all the clues, Josh will be guaranteed to live since we need to pick up Hannah’s journal

- Show concern for Jessica as Matt to be a good friend

- Survive the encounter with Jess as Matt by following these steps

1. Hide (you will be prompted with a don’t move, do not let Jessica fall over)

2. Break through wall (or whatever the opposite of abandon Jessica is I don’t remember)

3. Hide together (don’t move)

- Survive the final battle as Sam by

1. Locking door or running doesn’t matter

2. Succeed the don’t move

3. Save Mike

4. Succeed the don’t move

5. Keep picking hide and succeeding the don’t moves so that all the other have time to leave the house

Eventually Sam will run to the switch automatically once everyone has made it out of the house.

Congratulations! You did it! You’ve gotten the scientifically best run of Until Dawn. Pat yourself on the back you’ve earned it.

#until dawn #guide #samantha giddings #joshua washington #hannah washington #beth washington #chris hartley #ashley brown #emily davis #matthew taylor #jessica riley #michael munroe #spoilers

[animusxy]

It’s been so long since I’ve been on here and I’m trying to get back into the rhythm of writing but I have mocks coming up so I’m not sure when I can actually start working on things longterm. I will be trying my best. In the meantime, I’m about to go into a rant on HOTD and the fan base. Specifically towards the die-hard black supporters who seem hell-bent on justifying every little war crime they do.

To be clear I DONT SUPPORT THE BLACKS OR THE GREENS. SO I WILL BE TRYING TO REMAIN AS UNBIASED AS POSSIBLE WITHOUT LETTING MORALS GET IN THE WAY TOO MUCH.

Both sides do horrible things during the war and you can argue that one side has a stronger claim than the other all you want. The lesser of two evils if you will.

But that’s all objectively viewing things.

I’ve read the books and though unreliable I know the main points that will be coming in the next seasons of the show. I will warn you now THERE WILL BE SPOILERS.

My first point is who should be on the Iron Throne. An extremely controversial topic. Personally I don’t think anyone in the show would be a good ruler, barring Jace perhaps. This includes Rhaenyra, Aegon, Aemond and Daemon. You name it.

I don’t think I need to explain with Aegon. He’s not suited, he lacks the ability to handle that stress. Not to mention horrendous actions towards women.

Aemond, now this is my speculation as he is my favourite character (Yes, even with Luke and all), would be good in politics and tradition. He’s smart, a warrior and respects religion however he would not be able to connect with the smallfolk in my opening so while to the higher ups he’d probably be great, he probably wouldn’t be very well liked by the people.

Now Rhaenyra, I’ll give some examples because this might be the most gruesome part for the die-hard black fans to read, if they haven’t already stopped when I mentioned Rhaenyra before (this might be a bit controversial I know). Rhaenyra was welcomed when she took the throne but it didn’t last. She understands politics to a degree but she has serious entitlement issues.

For example: She taxed the fuck out of the smallfolk and while they were starving in the streets what was she doing? Throwing feasts to celebrate her crowning and her child being named Prince of Dragonstone. You can imagine how scorned they must have felt, Rhaenyra was practically rubbing it in their faces. Not to mention there is a war going on.

Instead of ensuring her victory and place on the Iron Throne she let her vengeful streak take over. She had anyone she thought to be a traitor hung or beheaded and their corpses littered around and outside the Red Keep further estranging the smallfolk who, as Mysaria so beautifully put it give the crown their power.

But here’s the thing Rhaenyra doesn’t care about the smallfolk, it’s implied that she believed that to be beneath her and it does show. She stayed away in Dragonstone when she should’ve been securing her claim. Her absence could have allowed the Lords to change allegiances as well (of course not the Starks).

Not to mention the rumours that Rhaenyra had something to do with Halaena’s death. This may be wrong, Helaena could have thrown herself from the Red Keep, but it cannot be deemed until the show gets to that point.

I like Rhaenyra’s character, I understand why she does a lot of what she does but I will not condone them. I won’t justify them either, nor will I with Aegon, Aemond or Daemon.

Now my first instance. Rhaenys and the Dragonpit. This was not by any means a ‘Girl Boss’ moment. It looks cool and I love how it was done but it really goes to say something about Targaryen entitlement.

Rhaenys burst through the ground killing probably thousands of the smallfolk, roaring at her enemies with Meleys and then flying away. The Dragonpit has other entrances she could’ve gotten out another way and given Rhaenyra a heads up without revealing that she had escaped.

We see this entitlement when Aemond chases Lucerys and accidentally kills Lucerys. It was SO STUPID. Aemond thought that he could control Vhagar because he’s a Targaryen and look how that ended up. I say accident because it was but that doesn’t change anything Lucerys is still dead and know he’s going to have to deal with the fallout.

Blood and Cheese, the amount of people I have seen cheering this like saying ‘It was completely justified’ is astronomical. I can’t help but think about whether or not you should be in a mental hospital if you think the same thing.

In what realm of possibility does a Toddler, probably around 6, deserve to die? I would like someone to answer that question if they believe that he should’ve died in the way that he did. Because by saying it’s justified you’re saying that they deserved to die. These are the same people who will love the ‘A child shouldn’t pay for the sins of their parents’ trope but as soon as it suits their favourite characters it’s completely okay and great to watch. Now you may say, Rhaenyra had nothing to do with it. Which may be true in the books but the show is canon so only time will tell and as far as the books are concerned Rhaenyra had little remorse for what had happened.

This isn’t to say that Lucerys deserved to die because he absolutely didn’t. He deserved to be punished about the eye and Aemond as well about the comments (though I would argue that an eye is a lot more than enough of a punishment) but he did not deserve to die and while Aemond is one of my favourites and I don’t like/dislike Luke, I am going to miss him in the coming seasons because he was a very kind person and I would love to see how he’d progress in the Dance of the Dragons.

Daemon is not a good guy or grey character. He killed his first wife, an innocent, and choked Rhaenyra. He has affection for his family but it doesn’t stop him from doing cruel things. You don’t need to justify his actions, he’s there to make you think about your own morals. He’s not meant to make you feel comfortable when you see what he does. He’s there so that you can question his actions and his reasoning behind them. He’s a fascinating character to watch and my second favourite in the show. This also applies to Aemond btw but I think he’s a little more on the unhinged side compared to Daemon.

Now I think my final point will be that Rhaenyra is not a feminist. She could not care less what happens to other women as long as she is treated equally or better than men because of her position in the world. She’s not going out of her way to help people, she’s using her position to get one over on anyone she doesn’t like. She’s not like Daenerys, she doesn’t care about people who are suffering unless they are very close to her. The same also goes for Alicent but she leans more towards the religion aspect of it.

Okay, rant over. I haven’t checked this over so there could be typos

I’d love to hear your opinions about any of the events that have occurred within HOTD or will occur and if there’s anything you haven’t heard up there but would like me to explain just message me.

#house of the dragon #aemond targaryen #hotd #hotd season 1 #helaena targaryen #daemon targaryen #prince aemond #rhaenyra targaryen #rhaenys targaryen #lucerys velaryon #jacerys velaryon #jacaerys velaryon #Blood and Cheese #hotd spoilers #queen alicent #alicent hightower

[sakusamusimp]

Serpents and Dragons: Chapter 1

Sweet Pea x Reader

Summary: After her father’s psychotic break, Y/N and her family moved to Seoul from Riverdale. After joining a mafia group, she and her family wind up back in Riverdale. Nothing could prepare her for the wonderful things she would experience there, nor the horrific events that would change her life forever.

Content Warnings: Eventual smut, graphic depictions of violence and/or injury, gang/ mafia activity, cursing, occultism, toxic family, bullying, harassment, inaccurate depictions of mafia lifestyle and medical information. MINORS DO NOT INTERACT! I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANYTHING YOU READ! Reminder: I am not responsible for your triggers and cannot cater to everyone who reads my works.

Word Count: 3.5k

Author’s Note: I am so sorry about the delay in the schedule. I had senior portraits and completely forgot about them until the day before. Anyway, better late than never. Here is the first real chapter of Serpents and Dragons, I hope you enjoy it. (Also, slight spoiler, this generally follows the Riverdale plotline so I guess it should be considered a slow burn since they won’t meet until the plot for season 2 starts.)

The first few days in Riverdale were spent in seclusion. One of the few mansions in the town that had been previously deserted, now had 7 inhabitants. Within a week, the Riverdale branch of NCT was already flourishing again. Y/N had preoccupied herself with unpacking all of her things before deciding that she would visit Pop’s for the first time in a while. 

“Lana! I’m heading out to Pop’s, do you want anything?” She shouted from the doorway.

“Oo! Get me Pop’s special curly fries, extra salt.” Her older sister responded, the excitement obvious in her voice. Y/N smiled before grabbing her jacket and heading towards her Yamaha sport bike. It had been a gift from Johnny on her 14th birthday, much to the dismay of her mother and sister, who would have preferred her to start with a cruiser. The black bike was her pride and joy, having put thousands of dollars and too much effort into it for it not to be. The 20 minute ride seemed to have flown by, but that could have been due to the fact that Y/N never follows speed limits. Parking her bike, Y/N dismounts, placing her helmet and jacket in the side compartments. ‘I don’t need everyone and their mother knowing that another gang has shown up in Riverdale just yet.’ She thought to herself before opening the door to Pop Tate’s Chock-Lit Shoppe. 

“Hey, Pop.” She said calmly to the aged man at the counter. 

“Well, I’ll be. Miss Y/N Kim has come back to town.” Pop said. The familiar old man in the comforting atmosphere of his diner made Y/N just a tiny bit emotional. “Let me guess. Chicken fingers with sweet potato fries and a strawberry shake with extra malt and 2 cherries on top.” The old man said, the fatherly smile on his face bringing a sense of contentment to Y/N.

“I see even 3 years of absence can’t shake your memory, Pop.” She smiled, adding that it will be a dine in order before dropping a 20 on the counter and a 10 in the tip jar. She looked around the old diner, memories from her childhood flooding back into her mind. Getting cherry freezes with her mom after receiving report cards, ice cream with her sister on hot summer Saturdays, and even sharing milkshakes with her father before going home for dinner. However, the memories that hit the hardest are those she shared with Archie, Betty, and Jughead. Sitting in a booth, at least one parent sitting at a table nearby, conversing about whatever 8 year olds talk about and planning out their sleepovers and hangouts for the next school year.

“Never thought, I’d see the day that an old friend comes back to this place.” A voice snapped Y/N out of her daydream. Searching for the voice, her eyes landed on the familiar crown shaped beanie. “Why exactly did you come back, Y/N/N?” Her eyes lit up as she walked over towards the boy sitting alone in a booth with just his laptop and a coffee. 

“Juggie!” She squealed, enveloping said boy in a tight hug. “I missed you so much.” She said, keeping her grip on the boy until he separated.

“I see that not even the big city of Seoul can do anything to change you, Y/N.” Not long after, Pop dropped off Y/N’s food to the now shared booth and the next 2 hours were spent with the pair catching up with each other. Y/N obviously kept some things secret for the time being, but told Jughead all about the school she went to, the social scene in Seoul, and even about her sister’s marriage and mother’s death. 

“I’m sorry about your mom, Y/N/N. She was a wonderful person and I know you miss her.” Y/N’s solemn expression worried Jughead, but he never would have expected her response.

“It’s not that big of a deal, Juggie. She may be gone, my dad too, but I have a new family now. Lana and her husband, plus all of the family that come along with him.” She said, her expression was now just as it had been the last couple of years, stone cold. She was unintentionally building a wall between her and Jughead, protecting herself so she doesn’t seem vulnerable. “I should head home, but we should keep in touch. Here’s my number, so text me sometime.” With a slip of paper and those final words, Y/N stalked up to the counter, grabbing the bag of food she had ordered for her sister 10 minutes prior and dropping Pop some more money before walking out the door. 

She wasn’t aware of Jughead watching all of her moves as she left, switching the food out for her jacket and helmet before riding off back home. She didn’t realize that Jughead had seen the dragon emblem on the back of her jacket.

The rest of the summer went along normally. After her brief meeting with Jughead in the diner, they began to meet up more often, rekindling their old friendship. Eventually that bled into her friendship with Betty and Archie as well, however she did have to put in more effort to start talking to Archie again given how busy he had been. The summer was filled with hangouts at Pop’s, swimming trips to the quarry, and backyard cookouts at the Andrews’ house. It was July 4th weekend and almost everyone in Riverdale was preparing for the special day. Some were planning road trips, others were spending precious time with their family. For the members of NCT, those living in Shadowfield Manor specifically, they were camping near Sweetwater river.

“Y/N, I swear. If you lose that compass, I will smite you.” Renjun threatened, slightly out of breath from the hike to their campsite. “Renjun, I am one of the most, if not the most, responsible of our group. Besides, I know my way around here so even if I did lose it, we would still be able to find our way back.” She grunted, holding onto a tree to steady herself up a ledge. 

“Jeno, stop putting rocks in my bag to weigh it down. Not all of us work out 29 hours a day, 10 days a week.” Jaemin complains, throwing yet another rock out of his backpack. Jeno just shrugged, secretly picking up another rock and replacing the one that was just thrown out. 

“If you told anyone that those two specialize in assassination and body disposal, not a single person would believe it.” Lana whispered to Jaehyun, who simply shook his head at the duo's antics. ‘I don’t think they would believe it if you said any of those five are gang members, actually.’ Lana thought to herself, keeping track of any landmarks they passed, just in case they did end up getting lost.

A sharp squeal was heard behind the group, gathering the attention of everyone in the group, who whipped around to see if there was a threat. “I swear I feel a snake against my foot!” Chenle, the youngest of the group, screeched, his high pitched exclamation probably being heard all the way in Fox Forest. 

“Chenle… that’s grass.” Y/N sighed, staring at the blades of soft grass that are still against his foot. “I don’t know how you do deliveries when you’re this jumpy.” She grumbles before spotting their campsite. “There’s our site. Do try to not kill yourselves within the next 10 yards.” Lana chuckled at her sister’s comment before dropping her stuff on one of the tree stumps within the campsite. 

“Our resident arsonist, Renjun, would you mind starting the fire?” Lana asked, not even waiting for his nod of approval before giving everyone else assignments. “It’s already 7:30, so if we want to do anything before sundown, we should start now. Chenle, help with the fire. Y/N and Jeno, pitch the tents. Jaemin, Jaehyun, and I will start with dinner.” She ordered, tossing the three tent bags to the pair and giving Chenle the fire starters. 

“Jeno, I don’t think this is how you pitch a tent.” Y/N deadpanned, looking at the wobbly structure that Jeno had put together in less than five minutes. “It literally looks like it’s about to collapse if someone breathes on it.” As if mother nature wanted to prove her point, a small gust of wind blew, knocking the tent down completely. 

“This is stupid. Why do we even need a tent anyway? We should just rough it out and sleep on the ground.” Jeno grumbled, sulking on a nearby stump while Y/N finished setting up the tent she had been given. Seeing her perfectly pitched tent was yet another blow to Jeno’s ego. Especially considering that the fire had been started and dinner was in the works, so the only thing left to do was get the tents set.

“Alright, quit sulking. We have two more tents to pitch since yours caved in. Let’s get to work.” Y/N said, grabbing Jeno’s wrists and pulling his limp frame from his seat. Within the next 20 minutes both of the other tents were pitched and the pair joined the others by the fire. It wasn’t a big fire, considering they had to cook over it, but the warmth it gave on a cool summer night was almost addicting. “Never thought that Mr. Lee Jeno himself, who claims to be super handy, wouldn’t know how to pitch a simple tent.” Y/N joked, bruising the prideful boy’s ego just a little more.

“It was extremely entertaining though. Watching him be completely lost with what to do with the spokes was probably the height of entertainment these days.” Jaemin joked, nudging his best friend’s shoulder.

“It wasn’t that bad.” Jeno grumbled, grabbing a piece of bell pepper from the ingredients pile Lana had made for dinner. Noticing the missing pepper and spotting Jeno’s hand going in for another, she quickly smacked it away, scolding the boy.

“Fragile tent aside. Let’s go swimming in the river tomorrow. There’s a nice pond not far from where the river forks, so we should go swimming there.” Lana said, turning the potatoes sitting in the fire. “Jae and I used to go there every summer when we were younger. It’s pretty secluded so it was the only place we got any… privacy.” Lana continued, dragging out the last few words just to mess with the teenagers in front of her, all of whom groaned at the words leaving her.

“Ew. We don’t need to know about your sexual endeavors so please, keep the details to a minimum. Better yet, let’s not talk about it ever again.” Y/N said, a look of disgust washing over her face, matching that of the boys beside her. Lana and Jaehyun just quietly laughed to themselves, hands intertwined as Lana stirred the soup cooking over the fire. In all actuality, they hadn’t done anything sexual in the spot and it was really just used so they could spend quality time together without the peering eyes of their parents over their shoulders.

“Well, dinner is almost ready. Why don’t we decide on sleeping arrangements?” Jaehyun said, stirring the pot that was dangling over the bright orange flames. “Obviously Lana and I will be in one tent. So with the other two we can either split you into a group of two and a group of three. The other option is we have Y/N share a tent with us.” Now Y/N has nothing against her sister and brother-in-law, but she would rather not have to share a tent with them. 

“We’ll do two and three!” Y/N said, very quickly, shuddering at the idea that her sister and Jaehyun may try and get naughty while she’s sleeping. “We’ll figure it out when we go to sleep, but I am not going to share a tent with you two.” She finished and began unpacking the bowls and utensils they had packed for this trip.

“What a coward-” Jeno started, abruptly stopping when Renjun’s hand collided with his skull. “The hell was that for?!” He exclaimed, rubbing the spot on his head. Renjun shot him a warning look, motioning towards Y/N, who held a small plastic knife in her hand. Under normal circumstances, someone with a plastic knife wouldn’t be threatening, but with Y/N and her exceptional knife skills, it spelled certain death for Jeno.

“Jeno… you have about 15 seconds to run before I shiv you with this butter knife.” Y/N warned. Nobody was planning on interfering with her Jeno-oriented homicide, especially not Jaemin, who had been on the receiving end of her butter knife attacks before.

Jaemin patted his best friend’s shoulder, whispering in his ear, “If I were you, I’d take her warning and actually run. She knows which arteries to aim for.” Jeno seemed to weigh his options for a second, standing still with a shocked look on his face before bolting in the direction of the river. Y/N was hot on his tail and all anyone else could do was watch.

After a grueling 15 minutes, Lana finally put an end to the murder chase and called the two back to eat. “I swear, you two will be the death of me. I’m certain I already have gray hairs from the stress you put me under.” She said, rubbing her temples in disdain.

“Lana, I think that those gray hairs are from you getting old.” Renjun snarked, earning him a well-deserved smack on the head from Lana and Jaehyun. Renjun glared at the two, rubbing the sore spot on his head before turning his back to them and sipping on his soup.

Once everyone had finished eating and cleaned up the remnants of dinner, Lana and Jaehyun stalked to their tent while the five teenagers behind them argued about where to sleep. “No way in hell am I sharing a tent with Chenle. He snores like a bear and I know for a fact that he’ll try to steal my sleeping bag at some point.” Jeno complained, gripping his sleeping bag tighter whenever Chenle jokingly grabbed at it. 

“I swear you two are the biggest babies in grown men’s bodies. Jaemin, Jeno and I will share a tent and Y/N can have Chenle-” Renjun was quickly cut off with a smack to the back of his head. “Damn! If you all keep this up, I’m gonna have permanent brain damage.” He complained, rubbing the once again sore spot on his head. 

“If you think for one second that I am going to share a tent with Chenle alone, you have another thing coming. If I have to suffer, I’m gonna make sure at least one of you suffers with me.” Poor Chenle just sat there as his friends took digs at him, but silently snuck away to go to bed. “Renjun, since you wanna be the ringleader of our tent distribution, why don’t you sleep with Chenle and Jaemin, Jeno and I will share the other tent.” Y/N snarked, grabbing her sleeping bag and the arms of the other two boys and quickly diving into the empty tent. 

“Next time, we’re bringing four tents.” Jaemin grumbled, pulling out the air mattress he had snuck with him. “It would really suck to be Renjun and Chenle right now because I know for a fact that I’m the only one who brought an air mattress.” As soon as Jaemin said that, Y/N’s phone pinged with a message from her sister.

“Well, Jaemin, I hate to burst your bubble but Lana and Jaehyun also have an air mattress. Wait a second, those motherfuckers!”

“Language!”

“I think they have a portable aircon!” Y/N exclaimed, quickly unzipping the tent and sprinting over to her sister. She ripped open their tent door, “What the hell?! How is that fair? The rest of us have to sit out here in the summer heat and you’re chilling in here all comfortable with an AIRCON?!?!” After about ten minutes of bantering, Y/N finally returned to her tent and laid down on the full dressed air mattress. 

“Never thought I would see you lose your cool over an air conditioning unit.” Jeno said smugly, getting under the covers on one side of the bed. Jaemin crawled into the other side, leaving very little room for their other tent inhabitant.

“Scooch.” Y/N said before weaseling her way between the two boys and snuggling up to the fluffy pillow Jaemin had packed. Seconds later she felt a harsh poke in her ribcage, turning her head to be met with Jaemin’s disapproving glare. 

“That was my pillow.” He grumbled before moving half the pillow closer to him and laying his head down. “You’re so lucky that you’re my best friend or else I would have ripped your nails off their beds.” He half-heartedly threatened, bringing the blanket up to his neck.

“I swear to God, if you two don’t shut the hell up, I’m gonna come over there and smother you with that damn pillow.” Renjun’s groggy voice was heard from the tent next to them, however, it was mostly drowned out by Chenle’s obnoxiously loud snores. “I may just smother myself with it at this point.” He almost whispered, disregarding his own comfort and flipping the pillow on top of his ears.

The sun had barely risen, the digital clock on Lana’s cell phone reading 5:30, which was far too early for any of the teenagers to have willingly woken up. Lana and Jaehyun themselves had only been awake for around fifteen minutes, which was just enough time to restart the fire and start making breakfast. “Never again will I agree to take five teenagers and a man baby on a camping trip.” The young woman grumbled, sipping coffee with one hand and stirring eggs with the other. 

“What do you mean ‘man baby’? I am very mature.” Jaehyun snarked but the slurping of his coffee just proved his wife’s words to be true. Luckily, the death glare he received from her was enough to put a stop to the coffee slurping. Instead he busied himself with waking up all of the soon-to-be grumpy teenagers. “Rise and shine brats. Get up, we’re gonna have breakfast.” He said loudly, ripping open the tent and letting the harsh rays of the sun cascade over the kids’ faces. 

Loud groans were heard, specifically from Jeno, who everyone knew wasn’t a morning person. The next complaints were from Y/N, who was the only one brave enough to actually voice her taunts at Jaehyun. “I think I understand why the only person who took interest in you was Lana. I can guarantee that it isn’t even six, so why the hell do you want us up so early?” She complained, her sleepy glare matching that of her sister. 

“Well, either you get up now or I come back with a mug of river water and soak all of your pajamas.” He smiled before heading off to the other tent. Fortunately, his threat seemed to work as the three filed out of their tent and towards the logs surrounding the campfire that Lana had been sitting at for the last ten minutes. 

Jaemin made a beeline for the coffee pot, so eager that you’d think he was just going to drink from the pot itself. “Jaem, you may need to chill with the caffeine. I don’t think your heart can handle your usual ten cups a day for the rest of your life.” Y/N said, pulling a bottled orange juice from the cooler that had been set in the river to preserve the temperature.

“My heart is gonna be just fine.” He said as Jaehyun practically dragged Renjun and Chenle to the fire. “I’d rather be bouncing off the walls than be as much of a drag as Renjun.” He said, smugly sipping his coffee afterward, definitely not expecting the harsh slap to the back of his head. “Ow.” He deadpanned, staring at the new coffee stain on his shirt.

The next twenty minutes were spent in casual conversation and a general sense of comfort. Everything seemed normal until the sound of a gunshot resonated throughout the area. The initial sound startled Chenle enough that he dropped the mug he had been holding. “Is there someone looking for us?” He asked worriedly, looking back and forth between Lana and Jaehyun. 

Unlike Lana, Jaehyun and Y/N, the other boys were unsettled by the sound. “I forgot that you’re not used to things around here. Don’t worry about it. I’m sure it was just a hunter getting its catch.” Y/N shrugged, brushing aside the boys’ panic. While her words themself did little to calm the boys down, the reassuring nods from the elders of the group did the trick. Throughout the rest of the camping trip, the group went on to believe that the gunshot they heard was just a hunter. And they would continue to believe such, until they went back to town and found out that Jason Blossom had disappeared from Sweetwater River that same day.

#sweet pea x reader #sweet pea smut #sweet pea fluff #sweet pea #NCT #mafia nct #nct mafia au #nct dream mafia au #jaehyun x oc #riverdale #fanfic #kpop #fanfiction #original character #sweet pea angst

[falseprophetpoll]

Ok so if you do want to dare and get into MCD let me set some expectations: It’s a founding father of Minecraft Roleplays, was one of the series that got that genre popular. It is ABANDONED I cannot stress that enough, if you go into it you will find no satisfying ending.

There’s Technically four seasons but you can ignore MCD Origins as that’s jsuy a mod showcase survival series with no bearing on the real start, one and two were both 100 episodes and season three only made it into the 20-30s before it got dropped (season three is also only accessible through it’s playlist on the side channel Aphmau Stories, as Jessica (the creator) kinda started hating MCD towards the end and especially that season). Now the early episodes of season one are more of a survival let’s play with a dash of story, but it quickly ramps into more of a focus on the story (that being said, it’s still slow going. It only really speeds up around Zane’s first appearance I’d say)

Also ships? Don’t have them. Just. Just don’t. Ignore all chemistry placed at your feet to chew on. It’s a whole thing I won’t get into it but my fellow MCD fansy will understand.

Also you may be tempted to jump into MCD Rebirth, the revamped version of season one with Jessica’s team’s new and fancy skills, I wouldn’t do that. It’s also abandoned and spoils some stuff abiut the OG MCD experience, however if you can’t get into MCD proper then yeah give it a shot but you won’t see any Zane in it as I don’t think it even reached episode 20 in regards to its events and Zane shows up around the 40-50s I think.

This is a TIME DUMP! And in this time dump uou CANNOT EXPECT QUALITY! Voice acting doesn’t come in until around s1-90 (and isn’t fully voice acted until the tail end of s2 or started with s3), the set dressing feels a bit Minecraft Basic until season 2, Jessica and her team only started having things like high definition skins and smooth animations by the time MCD was already abandoned, and the story is.

Well here’s a new point. The story. The story is something! The writing isn’t great! It has a lot of potential but because of some....choices there are points where characters get out of character or characters aren’t explored in the ways or lengths you want them to be. That’s partially because of the limited perspective as the main character Aphmau is our camera and view into the world, like a first person book. However the fan rewrites and redesigns and just fanworks in general? Call it MCD brain rot but damn that shit fucks. Someone made an entire Ro’Meave family tree going back hundreds of years. They created a LANGUAGE. Fucking love them shout out to @stellisketches

So I think that covers all the warnings you’d need. If you dare lift the old and mossy rock now, you can’t say no one warned you or hyped it up too much

I genuinely appreciate this honest assessment of the series. Personally, it doesn’t deter me because I know it’s abandoned now, but if I hadn’t known before getting into it, that really would’ve soured the experience. I’m not gonna tag as spoilers because I WANT to anyone else who’s considering it from this blog to see this.

Now, I don’t mind low quality and just, a lot of implications that are explored in fandom (I like the trafficblr series, Hermitcraft, Wizard101 - I get the “I’m gonna take these ideas and make ‘em beautiful” mentality) so I think I may look at it when I’ve the time! Maybe I’ll catch you on my fandom sideblog some time :)

#asks #save

[nyrandrea]

Of Blood and Oil - Chapter 5

Summary: The little stray cat had brought salvation to the inhabitants of the Walled City in their darkest hour, now it was time for them to return the favour.

(Takes place after the events of the game, so there will be spoilers!)

Start from the beginning here!

Also available to read on AO3!

Enjoy!

B-12 hadn’t stopped reprimanding himself since the moment he came back online.  

Not only had he been a terrible friend to the little outsider during their journey by not asking him about his family or where he had come from (not that he would have gotten much of an answer due to their language barrier, but still!) but now he had failed him again by being the very last one to wake up and find out how the feline was—if he had made it through the night.

Thank the ancestors he had.

Remarkably, the orange tabby didn’t seem to hold it against him as he treated him as fondly and with as much adoration as he did during their travels. Trilling and bumping his head against his hand until he got what he wanted in the form of a head scratch. It was an odd sensation; of fur brushing up against his metal digits, but it was one he was all too glad to experience.

“Despite everything, you really haven’t changed, have you?” B-12 muttered fondly.

“Mrrrrh?”  

“Do you even recognize me?” The robot asked, his tone melancholic as he cupped the cat’s face gently in-between his hands.

“You probably can’t understand me without my translator,” B-12 said. “But I do hope you know it’s me.”

“Rrrrehh!” was his answer as the cat rubbed his head deeper into his palms, a strong, hearty purr emanating from his throat as he aimed a slow, loving blink at the mech.  

B-12 smiled. “I’m glad.”

Rubbing his thumbs in a slow-circular motion against his friend’s cheeks, B-12 glanced over to the other room, where he could hear Doc busying himself with sorting the lab back into what he called ‘organised chaos’, complaining that Seamus had tidied it up too much.  

“Excuse me?” B-12 gingerly called out, flinching when, along with a clattering crash, Doc swore loudly before popping his head through the doorway.

“Yes?” He inquired sweetly, as if nothing had happened.

“S-sorry, did I...?”

Doc held up a hand. “No, it’s fine. The ol’ wires are just a bit frazzled today,” he said, tousling his own tangled cables as if to make a point.

“No doubt,” B-12 politely answered. “I was just wondering if...,” he trailed off, not wanting to inconvenience the scientist more than he already had, but continued when he was gestured at. “Would it be possible if I could— we could— go outside for a little fresh air?”

Doc made a frowny face at the suggestion. “I don’t know... technically you don’t need air. And you’re in no fit state to go wandering off, neither is he,” he said, nodding his head to the cat, who—as if to prove him wrong— dropped down from the crouch with a light thud and stretched himself before scratching the carpet with newfound vigour.

Both robots gave him a surprised look, with Doc shaking his head and grumbling something about getting a scratching post.

“Fair enough, I stand corrected,” Doc admitted. “Which, I’m afraid, is something you cannot do at the moment. Not without help.”

“Yes, I understand,” B-12 nodded sadly. “It’s just...I promised the little one that we would see the Outside together, and given how terribly I have done with my promises so far, I just...thought...” he trailed off, his downtrodden expression pixelating into a broken heart.

As if to really sell the performance, his friend rubbed against his leg, mewing with a catch in his throat, making it sound as miserable and broken as possible.

“Oh, for the love of— fine,” Doc said, throwing up his arms as he caved in to their little pity party. “I won’t be able to help you—I have far too much to do— but...if I recall correctly, the soft ones would use long sticks—canes—to help them walk if they had any difficulty.

‘Yes,' B-12 had wanted to say. ‘I remember that.’  

“Let me see here...” Doc muttered as he rummaged through an old dusty cupboard, before pulling out an old broom. “Ah. This should suffice for the time being.”

Breaking off the bottom, Doc handed it over to him.

“Go on, take it for a spin, as the ancestors would say,” the scientist said, putting a hand to his chin in thought. “Wonder why they spun things...?”

Knowing not to take the old saying quite so literally, B-12 tested his make-shift cane by tapping it on the ground to make sure it was stiff and sturdy. Whether it would be strong enough to take his weight was another matter...

Feeling absolutely no pressure at all from the two pairs of eyes diligently trained on him—with Doc’s hands twitching at his side, no doubt ready to spring into action should the worst happen—B-12 took a non-existent breath and hoisted himself up.

Though he could feel no pain; the way that his knee joints creaked and popped was not at all pleasant, and the way his arm shook as the stick took the brunt of his weight wasn’t lost on him either, there was no way he was going to be able to hold out.

‘I really am sorry...’ B-12 thought as he screwed his eyes shut. ‘I have failed you yet again...!’  

A soft vibration next to his knocking legs made him look down, the orange cat looking right back up at him with knowing eyes as if to say, “You’re strong. You can do this.”  

Nodding back, B-12 forced a leg forward.

“Hey! You’re doing it!” Doc exclaimed.

“I am?” B-12 asked as he looked down; another leg moved forward, one after the other, with his friend winding between them with every step. “I am!”

“Remarkable!” Doc cheered with a punch to the air. “B-but!” The scientist started, his excitement instantly withdrawing. “You might want to take a break; you wouldn’t want to undo all your hard work!”

“No.” B-12 shook his head.

“No?”

“Sorry Doc, but I want—I need— to go Outside. I need to see it now. With my own eyes. With him.” B-12 said, crouching to pet the cat as he trilled in agreement.

Doc waved a nonchalant hand; who was he to argue?

“Like I said before: that’s fine. Just...make it back by dusk, eh? We haven’t brought you both back from the brink of death just to lose you to the Zurks.”

B-12 nodded, and turned back to his friend.

“Might we take a little pit-stop along the way?”

xxx

Arriving at his old apartment had been less...poetic than B-12 would have wanted.

The abandoned house, after so much quiet and reflective time, had discovered the company of wildflowers that had sprung up when the sun poured through, bringing a little bit of brightness to what was still a depressing looking apartment. As if to combat the gloominess, that same jovial tune was somehow still playing on loop; it left a hollow feeling inside him, like a husk.

Speaking of which...

Hobbling into the room where it all began, B-12 stared at all the blank monitors that enveloped the room, the ones that he had used to guide the cat to the secret lab. The one he had hidden away from prying eyes in a last bid to escape his fate.  

Bending down, B-12 picked up the head of the lifeless body that was slumped next to the pod. His head. Of his lifeless body.  

That’s right. In a last-ditch attempt, he had tried to transfer his consciousness into this Companion to preserve his own life.

And there were many more pods like this dotted around the city.

“You don’t think...?” B-12 looked down to the cat, who was pawing at one of the levers.

Chuckling, B-12 set down the robot's head and gave it a light pat. Solving this world’s mysteries would have to wait until another day. There were more pressing matters at hand.

“That’s right,” he said, idly testing the lever for himself. “You were the one who freed me from the network. Twice, actually.”

Moving on, B-12 followed the cat around the apartment—dolefully noting how sluggish and slow the usually spry feline was—until they reached the cabinet that had once held their favourite backpack.

“Do you miss it?” He asked, amusement in his tone.

“Mrrrah!”  

“I thought so,” B-12 agreed. “You were flopping around so dramatically when I put it on you, I thought we might never escape the apartment, never mind the city.”

“Ehhh.”  

“Oh, hush now. We got through it, didn’t we? Just one of many hurdles that we faced together, hm?”

Ignoring his creaking joints, B-12 sat down on the carpet next to him, pinching and smoothing out the long, hard whiskers that sprung out from his muzzle. Unlike the tabby’s soft fur, they were sleek, and sharp to the touch, almost like a porcupine’s spines. The motion almost put B-12 into a sort of trance, only stopping when his friend decided that was enough by batting his hand away.

“Apologies,” B-12 said with a pat on the head, which was received a lot better. “I never had cats in my past life, which I wholeheartedly regret now. My wife was more of a dog person.”

“Meh!”  

The robot held up his hands in defense. “My wife, I said! Not me. I... didn’t even like dogs that much. I don’t think I liked any animals at all, really. How times have changed!” He said with a sudden smile, which disappeared almost as quickly.

“I-I miss her. And the kids. Two daughters, I think we had. Adopted. The plague...it...affected our reproductive organs first. There was a sudden decline in birth-rate. That was the beginning of our demise.”

With a sigh, he chuckled dryly.

“Here I go again, talking about myself. When will I learn?”  

The cat—lying at B-12's feet now—said nothing, but blinked slowly at him. Though they couldn’t understand each other through words anymore, those olive eyes bore right through his metal shell and latched onto B-12's soul, giving it passage to a kind of warmth and understanding that no language could ever describe.

“Thank you, my friend.”

xxx

Stepping onto the fresh grass that sprouted from the earth for the first time was a much more euphoric experience than the apartment had been. The rolling fields that were just outside the walled city were like a green sea with white-dew-foam crests that rose with the sunlight and swayed with the wind. Perhaps when the Companions settlements expanded, the tops would be neatly trimmed, and she would be quiet as harbour waters, flat and calm.  

But for now, mother-nature was as joyous as the waves; natural and wild.

To say it made B-12's core race with exhilaration would be a severe understatement.

“It’s... beautiful ...,” was all B-12 could manage.

His feline friend seemed less bothered by the grand vista and opted to raise his head and sniff the sweet scent that the fresh rain often brought as small droplets gently pitter-pattered from the gray heavens above.

“Oh dear,” B-12 muttered, raising a hand to catch a few splashes of water. “Come, we best make tracks if we’re to avoid this downpour.”

Going as fast as the stick would allow him, B-12 made his way towards one of the nearby camps as the other robots took shelter—though grateful to be under the sky, they were still wary of the unpredictable elements that she wrought upon them sometimes. Especially when it came to the electricity that bolted from the heavens and unfortunately frying a few poor unsuspecting souls.

Glancing down and concerned to see that his companion wasn’t weaving between his legs, B-12 turned back to see that he actually hadn’t budged at all, sending B-12's RAM for a loop.

“What on earth are you doing?” The robot asked, gesturing at him to come. “We mustn’t stay out here.”

Completely ignoring him, the cat merely sat and raised his head with his eyes closed, as if he were actually enjoying getting wet.

“What kind of cat are you?!” B-12 exclaimed, completely exasperated as he hobbled back to his friend to glare down at him, eventually breaking down into a bemused smile as he shrugged. “You’re so strange, you know that?”

“Mreh!”  

“Fine, but only for a little while,” B-12 conceded, lowering himself onto the softening mud. “After that, we’ll have to dry off, preferably before we get an earful from Doc.”

“Ehhh...”  

“Then it’s a deal.”  

As the raindrops fell with a steady rhythm, B-12 mirrored his companion and faced his screen up to the blossomed clouds, closed his optics for a moment and imagined each splash soaking into his skin, the wind tousling his hair and the damp soil beneath his curling fingers, soothing in its coolness. Hearing their laughter, he opened his eyes to see his children playing and splashing in the mud in their brand-new wellies, beckoning at him to join them.

A presence rose at his side, a woman—the most beautiful he had ever saw—ran over to them, her auburn hair swaying as she grabbed one of them, swinging the child in circles as she squealed with joy. They all turned to look at him, holding out their hands with beaming smiles.

And he took them. Grasped at them. Never wanting to let go.

They jumped, they laughed, and they fell back onto the rain-soaked earth, not caring about how many washes or detergent it was going to take to get all the dirt and muck out.

As the sun broke out from the clouds, they all reached out to try and grab a piece as the light escaped from their fingers.  

He reached up.

And just like that they were gone.

Blinking and rotating his still outstretched hand as the sun rays bounced off his metal fingers, B-12 sat up—mud and stray grass blades sliding off his chassis—and looked down at the orange cat, who hadn’t left his side throughout his...daydream? Hallucination?

“What happened?” The robot asked, hoping to get some kind of clarification from his only witness.

The cat sneezed.

“I see.”

It was...the perfect memory. One of such intense feelings of happiness. The last time he had ever experienced such an emotion as a human. His other memories had been fleeting, but he was determined to cling onto this one and store it in his RAM to play out like an old movie reel whenever he needed to. Of this, he was certain.

Grateful that nobody else had seen what he could only imagine was an ungraceful display, B-12 stood up and brushed himself down, noticing only then that his walking cane was still on the ground.

“I... what?” B-12 breathed as he lifted up each leg and hopped on it before kneeling down and touching his companion on the head just to make sure he was indeed still in the realm of reality.

A head bump confirmed it.

“Unbelievable...” B-12 muttered in amazement. His legs were still creaking a bit too loudly for his liking, but he could walk. Just like that. “Quite a day this has been, huh?”

As if the sky itself had been listening to him, colours of all kinds arched into the bold, blue sky, stretching as open hands reaching for the sun-kissed rain. From the vivid red to the regal purple, it was like a doorway in which all around them was home, a place where robots and organics could be free and safe.

With a smile as bright as the rainbow, B-12 bent down to pick up his best friend, and held him close to his chest, his fingers combing through wet fur and chin resting between two flicking ears. Feeling content for the first time in centuries.

There were words he wanted to say that could convey such happiness; of how grateful he was for this little kitten dropping into his life and changing it for the better. For being given the chance to have a future in this beautiful, heavenly place they could call home.

“Mrah!”  

“You said it, friend.”

xxx

Chapter 6 --->

#stray #stray game #stray b-12 #stray doc #fanfiction #stray fanfic #my writing

[blissfulalchemist]

WIP Week Start

Was tagged by: @unholymilf @florbelles @strafethesesinners and maybe a few others that got lost along the way apologies. Tagging in turn those three and @belorage @heroofpenamstan @adelaidedrubman @statichvm @jackiesarch @confidentandgood @leviiackrman @shellibisshe @roofgeese @indorilnerevarine @themarcspector and anyone else that wants to/has something they want to share!

I’ve heard people like Stasia and Sib so please have a little more of their fabulous relationship. We also all can do with something lighter after the last piece of work. Endwalker spoilers truly like this is all post that.

“So you know the identity of said soul?” Krile asks, “With absolute certainty.” Siberite nods, “Well that certainly makes things a little complicated.”

The group turns quiet, Siberite crossing her arms, “If only there was a way to locate their soul in the sea.”

“That’s to even assume their soul still resides there. They could very well be sundered and we don’t know how to bring back their memories like an Ascian,” Krile points out, Sib’s eyes going wide.

“Wait….I think I may know someone that can help,” she whispers, “If anything we can get confirmation on if their soul is here or in the sea!” The two look at her curiously, “Just trust me….and grab your coats. It’s gonna be cold.”

“No.”

“No?” Siberite whines, “Come on, Stasia, please?” 

“Please, you say?” The warrior nods, “Well in that case….No.”

Siberite lets out a groan, Raha looking down at Krile, “Well I can see why her and Emet-Selch were close.” He looks back up catching the eyes of Jullus, who simply shakes his head in warning.

“Why? It’s just a tiny little favor. One thing and I promise I’ll be out of your hair.”

Stasia pinches the bridge of her nose, sighing, “No you won’t. Because by damning my mentor do I take on his curse of never knowing peace.” The woman leans against the table, arms crossed, “Even if I wanted to help, which I don’t, I can’t.”

“I thought you could, you know,” Sib starts waving her hands in front of her eyes, “see souls like he could.”

“One,” she starts, raising a hand counting off, “I cannot see souls like him. It takes a great deal of energy to do so and even then it’s like singular threads, unless they are unsundered or on their first life. Two, even if it was something I was stronger in and I felt inclined to help you, I never met this person so how the hell am I supposed to know just what I’m looking for.”

“But I’m pretty sure they’re Hyth-.”

“Oh gods, you realize I didn’t just follow you the entire time in Elpis? I did explore and I listened in on other matters.”

“Well do you have any ideas on how we could possibly look for them?”

“No, so go.” The warrior hangs her head, her friends assuring that it was worth a shot. She looks up at Jullus who stands in a corner, jaw tight and arms crossed, cocking a brow. Stasia growls, grumbling as she stands straighter. “Wait!” She calls the group stopping and turning slowly as she looks within the drawers for something, “There is one other possibility, it is, however, a potential long shot.”

“I mean we’ll take a long shot,” Siberite says slowly, “but why change your mind on helping us?”

“Jullus is giving me the look that I should at least feign sympathy to one’s problems,” the young man sighs, shaking his head. She turns holding up a lavender crystal reminiscent of those that were a part of The Convocation, simply lacking a constellation. “I found this among Emet-Selch’s things, I didn’t have the faintest idea just who it could be for until our trip to Elpis. Everything fell into place.” 

“Is that-?”

“Yes. We both know how stupidly sentimental the man was. Why he made it when he had full belief in his plan coming to fruition is a question we will never know the answer to.” Stasia tosses the crystal, the warrior diving for it, “I never saw someone be ascended, but the concept seemed to be that you just needed to have the memory be strong enough to elicit the emotional reaction from the soul. With your power of the Echo this shouldn’t prove too difficult to figure out.”

“And if we can’t use the memory in the crystal?”

“You could try a more aggressive memory. Something I could assist you with.”

Sib rolls her eyes, “Oh you would just love that wouldn’t you?”

Stasia gives a half attempted smile, “If that’ll be all, I ask that you leave.”

“Uhm how do you expect us to find him? He could be anywhere in the world.”

“He’s in Ishgard,” she says, not looking up from the papers that gained her attention. “He was here, helping in the restoration of some of the houses here. Is that enough information to suffice?”

“Only because I assume that’s all you’re going to give us,” the warrior turns to Raha and Krile, “Guess it’s off to Ishgard. Maybe we’ll get lucky and Aymeric or Lucia will have a list of people that were here for the restoration.”

-----------------------------------------------------

He clutches his head, mask bouncing down the stone steps, letting out a rough scream, falling to his knees. Siberite’s jaw tightens once she’s picked it up off the floor, daggers piercing Stasia, “Are you fucking SERIOUS right now? I told you we weren’t going to use those painful memories to try and ascend him!”

“He’s fine,” she says, pointing with her chin in his direction, “Your friends have him.”

“Fine?! FINE?! You call that fine? He’s traumatized!”

Stasia rolls her eyes, “It would have taken you longer to pinpoint a memory that was less so. I sped up the process.”

“You just wanted to hurt the man! You brought your own selfish agenda into this and look at what you’ve done!”

“I did not! I did the most efficient thing to awaken the old soul.” She crosses her arms, lips pursed, “Did your pure Mother Hydaelyn not do the same to you to bring back that precious Echo of yours? What makes this any different?”

“We don’t-. I-I mean-. Ugh!” Siberite growls loudly, “That is not the fucking point and you know it!”

“What is the point then?”

“He may not be able to help us or anyone else again for that matter. You could have permanently damaged him.”

“Pity, the self proclaimed useless man is in fact rendered useless.” 

“God Stasia! Could you not put your hatred for the man aside for this one instance? There was no logic to what you just did! You did it out of pure cruelty.”

“Is waking the memories of Hythlodaeus without this man’s full knowledge not a cruelty in its own right? Neither you nor I have any idea just how much he saw in the Final Days, so even if you did go through in finding a sugary, sickeningly, happy memory to ascend him you’d be bringing back all those memories too.”

Sib’s teeth grind a moment before barking out another argument, prompting Stasia to snap in response, repeating the cycle. Krile and Raha shake their heads, looking back at Laelius, his shoulders shaking as he struggles to catch his breath. Raha gently puts a hand on him, “Laelius, can you hear me?” 

#my wip tag #these two are just something so special and i am here for it #ffxiv #unholymilf #florbelles

[destinysbounty]

"There’s a lot more to it than that, but I won’t bore you with the details" no. Spill. Tell us everything about City of Gears

!!!!! I would love to!!! I freakin love this wip and I could go on about it for years probably.

(For anyone who's curious, here is the "City of Gears" concept in question)

Now, this story has changed a LOT in the past few months. First and foremost, it's kind of evolved into less of a fanseason and more of just a really involved fanfiction. Reframing it in my head as a fic/wip instead of an all-out fanseason has really helped take some of the pressure off and let me just enjoy the process of making it.

And thanks to that change, I've actually made heaps of progress in just this past week alone!! I have most of the main story beats and character arcs figured out, aside from a few patches here and there as well as some of the specifics. My goal is to start writing it sometime in the next few weeks. Which will be SO cool, because this concept has lived in my head rent-free for a bajillion years now.

That being said, the basic premise is fundamentally the same: the ninja stumble upon a series of disappearances in a quaint steampunk-themed tourist town, where the callous and manipulative Lady Adelaide has been turning people into mannequins. For now I'm calling them Clockwork Servants, due to the wind-up mechanism on their backs, but I'm not totally married to either of those concepts yet so that may change. Zane gets turned human, which is the main focal point of the fic, but he's also not the only one Going Through It: Cole is a ghost again, Lloyd is trapped in Oni form, and since this takes place sometime post-Seabound Nya is having a hard time dealing with, uh, that whole mess. She's human again, but that doesn't mean her trauma is gone or anything (whether this fic will be Crystalized-compliant remains undecided). And also Skybound comes back to bite Nya and Jay in the ass, so that's fun. Also also Morro returns, this time as a kind-of ally, which definitely won't cause issues for Lloyd at all whatsoever.

I've also made a lot of developments for Lady Adelaide and her motivations. She believes the human form to be a 'gift', to be the highest form of existence, and that you cannot be truly real if you aren't human - but that the humans of Ninjago have taken their 'gift' for granted and have no appreciation or regard for their humanity. She wants to 'elevate' the likes of nindroids and serpentines to a 'superior' state of being by making them human. The original humans of this world, however, she feels do not appreciate their 'gift' and therefore no longer deserve their humanity. So she wants to turn them into mannequins instead.

As such, Adelaide's goal is to create a new world order: the only people with humanity will be those she believes deserve it, thereby replacing the original humans and punishing them for their complacency/carelessness by turning them into mindless mannequin servants.

So yeah, there's a reason she turns Zane into a human. She is trying to convince him that his friends don't truly love him as a person, and never will until he becomes a person - until he becomes human. She really twists into his head, blaming all the bad stuff that happened to him on him being a nindroid - if you were human, Vex wouldn't have been able to ruin you. If you were human, you wouldn't have been dismantled and shut down time after time. If you were human, your father wouldn't have been able to turn off your memories. If you were human, you would have been able to die and stay dead. If you were human, your friends would love you enough to protect you instead of just watching from the sidelines as you sacrifice yourself time and time again. That whole slimy shtick. (Listen, Adelaide gave him the gift of humanity and she's gonna make him appreciate it whether he wants to or not.)

Oooh, and I know this is veering into spoiler territory but I just HAVE to share this one quote from Lady Adelaide, just to give you a taste for her character:

"How many times will your friends have to fix you before enough is enough? How many times will you die before they give up on you altogether?"

Because at the end of the day, that's the core of the fic. Zane is human, and there's all sorts of funky hijinks where he figures out how to be human and whatnot and tries to figure himself out, and it's all silly and goofy and what have you - but at the end of the day, a human cannot turn off their emotion meter or flip off their memory switch or encrypt all their trauma into a digital puzzle box. All his old coping mechanisms are incompatible with his new organic body, which means that every single trauma he's ever repressed is swinging at him with a baseball bat to the face. He is NOT having a good time right now.

Lady Adelaide may be a total asshole, but you gotta give credit where it's due - she somehow accidentally forced these idiots into the world's worst therapy session. I mean sure, therapy doesn't usually involve fighting hordes of wooden mannequins, but whatever works, right?

On the note of the mannequins, that's actually something I kinda wanna touch on. These mannequins all used to be people, before Lady Adelaide cursed them. Some of them even used to be the ninjas' friends and allies. But since the mannequins all look identical, it's impossible to tell them apart. Cole's dad becomes a mannequin, and he ends up having a bit of a Spirited Away Chihiro-in-the-pig-pen moment when trying to figure out which of the mannequins is his father. This, of course, means they can't in good conscience hurt the mannequins like they would with other horde enemies, only subdue them or run away. As you can imagine this makes all their fights way more complicated.

Also, human!Zane has a golden kintsugi-like scar on his face that may or may not be representative of the faceplate that fell off when he fought the Overlord. This detail isn't super relevant to the current discussion but it is very important to me personally.

Anyway, that's the broad strokes of what I'm willing to reveal for now! The rest involve spicy spoilers that I don't wanna give away just yet lol

Thank you so so so much for giving me an excuse to rant about this!!! <3

#at any given moment i am having Many Thoughts about this wip #ninjago #zane julien #zane ninjago #city of gears #ask #destiny post