#dreams come true after years and years of being like Theres no way they’d do that. There’s no way they’d make a cosplay for lucilius in his | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

perriwinklesblog · 3 years

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I know some people prefer consistent content but I like to take it as it comes and sometimes life happens and other projects need to take priority.

So right now, I consider this to be a mid season break. Techno going into the prison was like the midseason finale for the Dream Prison Arc and Wilbur and Ranboo’s stuff was like their midseason finale and the Red Banquet where the egg was contained, was a midseason finale and alllllllll the mini episodes we’ve had since there are like specials etc.

You know, like how in Dr Who you can go a few years without a solid season but get a special at Christmas and New Year? You know like that.

So like all other programs, stories, videos I watch, I am coming up with ways in which the next bit could go. Some are a bit out there and definitely not happening, others I could see happening.

This is long and pointless and full or errors both grammatically and spelling wise but I had fun thinking of what could happen next. Read if you want.

Dream escapes prison with Technoblades help. A server wide man hunt comes for Dream but unlike his videos he had stolen the spare armour in the prison and so is pretty OP making it easier for him to put distance between his enemies and himself.

Technoblade returns to the artic and him, Phil and Will come to an in pass, a slight disagreement. Philza whilst having sided with Dream before, knows he’s not a good guy. Only used him to help destroy lmanburg for his own morals. It was not because he agreed with Dream. In his eyes, he was using Dream for his own goals. Plus, now he’s seen the aftermath of Dream’s terror on the citizens he realises the man perhaps shouldn’t be set to run entirely free. This slightly goes against Techno’s beliefs but the main issue of tension between them is Technoblade willingly placing himself in danger when he didn’t need too and helping release the man who tortured Tommy and clearly has something going on with Ranboo thats bad.

Wilbur is angry because Techno won’t say where Dream has gone due to an agreement between the two and Technoblade is a man of his word. Wilbur wishes to thank and meet the man who saved him. This also worries Philza because he’s worried he’ll revert back to the man he saw the day he blew up L’Manburg. Over all tension between the three

Niki and Wilbur finally meet and it is as heartbreaking as it is beautifully tragic. Wilbur apologises but misses the mark, misses what hurt her which hurts her more. There’s an explosion with their argument that leaves a stunned silence. Niki asks Wilbur to leave. He does so.

This leads to a Wilbur and Ranboo conversation where Ranboo tries to reason with Wilbur about Niki’s side. Wilbur brushes it off because much like the blue counterpart we all miss, he’s not a fan of the negative emotion. He tries to focus on the business etc and let’s slip that Dream has escaped somehow. Ranboo leaves. Wilbur is confused but distracted by a confrontation with Quackity.

Ranboo then starts his stream and he’s in the fucking panic room and he’s panicking because there are signs so many signs and they don’t make sense. Theres lesson rules, asking about the missing journal and it’s like every issue he’s ever faced is staring right back at him because Ranboo has never really resolved any issue, just pushed and moved on. He’s tried but that usually failed and for a while he’s ignored all the issues and here they are in front of him, all at one. A big volcanic eruption of anxiety and stress, and it ain’t sitting with him.

Dream appears. But is it really him? We never know because after a conflict and a back and fourth about everyone in Ranboo’s life eventually landing on a threat about Michael and Tubbo, he blacks out and the stream ends.

Quackity is livid with everything thats happening, the careful empire he’s building is falling apart and he’s shifting the blame around from person to person. He manipulates everyone around them into believing this is somehow their own fault and that they must make it up to him because he has been nothing but kind and loving to them. He gave them a place, a roof on their head when they had nothing. He misses out the parts where he insulted and or destroyed their homes, but it works and his employee “family” become the main bounty hunters for Dream, with Bad and Ant tagging along since they’re guards.

Now the streams relating to the manhunt displays everyones wants. They’re all doing this wanting something, and whilst it’s to gain Quackity’s favour back they’re all doing that for different reasons. Their motivations are somewhat different even if on the surface they are the same and so on the man hunts, because there will be many, this is slowly picked apart and through that the manipulation of Quackity is revealed and then we see a parrallel between Quackity and previous people in power where they start to get desperate to keep control over the thing they’ve created. Because that’s been one of (not the only) issues with every leader on the server, the control and their feeling of lack of, even if thats not truly the case. But you get these moments between all the characters where they’re trying to outwit one another, trying to figure it out without blatantly saying it. Maybe Foolish does. He’s a bit of a himbo.

Ponk always said he’d leave the door open for Sam and I truly think something happens, whether it be a look in the mirror with one of his guards going too far with someone or a conversation with Quackity where Quackity holds the mirror up to Sam maliciously, that causes him to hit the rock bottom and just break and I want that breakdown in front of Ponk. And I want Ponk not necessarily to give him the second chance off the bat but give him that peace offering, give him that hand to pull him up. I want him to take Sam to Niki and explain to Niki we’ve done bad things in the past, this is a safe haven and I believe Sam needs help and a place he can truly feel safe and for a moment Sam does and this begins his raid to redemption in gaining back the trust of the people in his lives. He becomes Tubbo 2.0 spying on Quackity like Tubbo did for Wilbur, but maybe less... bad.

But what of the Fiances? Wellllll,. With Dream escaping him and George meet in secret. George confesses he doesn’t believe it’s real and for a long time has been struggling with reality. He misses the early days, misses when they’d just have fun. Dream says he was having fun and George says I wasn’t. Dream shows true regret for George but says its too late now, can’t change the past. George agrees. Dream asks him what he’s going to do and he simply replies with “Sleep” Ending stream.

Sapanps stream is a lot more WE ARE GOING ON A DREAM HUNT WE’RE GOING TO CATCH A BIG ONE, I’M NOT SCARED. vibes. He’s gearing up, he’s suiting up and he’s saluting pets on the way. He made a promise and with everything else going on in his life, he’s ready to throw himself into a distraction. He tries to convince George to help him but he waves him off saying, what’s the point? and mumbles something about divine powers and dreams which Sapnap just shakes off. He tries to find Karl in Kinoko but instead comes across Quackity. They have a blow up about how They abandoned each other, both did wrong but neither see the other side of things and eventually he tells him to leave. Quackity says okay, and the place blows up. Foolish cries in the corner. All that heard work but the boss said so. Sapnap ends the whole thing saying at least he’s there for Karl and Quackity pauses and is like why? And Sapnap is all like you care. Just go, you’ve done enough damage, I can’t have you damaging him too. And after a little more but but but between the two, Quackity goes. Sapnap leaves the place to burn, going to find Dream and hopefully Karl on the way.

Karls in space. That’s where his latest travels have taken him and where the other side decided was his time to visit. Here I see a Wizard in Oz scenario where solutions to some issues will be revealed for Karl in relation to the other side. When it comes to his Dream SMP stuff, he starts confusing names and people more and Sapnap is worried about him, considering keeping him in a safe place. The only place that survived was the library with Karls books. Karl says he’ll stay there. Thats where the answers are anyway. Sapnap is unsure and gets bad vibes but is distracted by a lead on Dream and agrees, he tells him he’ll be back soon.

They don’t see each other for a long ass time

I’m not sure on the egg stuff but I do feel Niki and Puffy should have a conversation about all the shit thats happened and Puffy trying to help Niki and vice versa. I feel like Puffy should reach out to Foolish and try and comprehend what the fuck is he doing with Quackity. They have a little argument but it comes to a point where Puffy realises she cannot shield Foolish from harm and that her son ,just make his own decisions. All she can do is guide him where she can and hope that when it comes down to it he will make the right choice. She hopes she didn’t fail this dependant like she did with Dream her duckling. Though only she sees it as failure.

Jack and Niki finally talk. She goes searching for some things and comes to his new place, he tells her to fuck off and that he doesn’t need anyone. They all abandon him. Niki pretty much does the verbal equivalent of slap some sense into him as she and him discuss how he is not the centre of everything, how he is not the sun. She was hurting, and he didn’t bother, no instead they just fed off each others anger and once he couldn’t feed of her or anyone else he isolated himself. She tries to convince him there are better things in life, there are better ways to place your energy etc. A lot of healing talk with Jack being stubborn. Eventually Jack finds himself at the door of Quackity after sticking to stubbornness, not quite ready to heal and he becomes the next member of Las Nevadas. A big blow to Wilbur too.

They finally destroy the egg with magic. I dunno how but either destroy or hatch. Either or would be great. Red comes out the thing and I want a gay ass villain please. Bring it Red. Let’s go. Invite him to the server, bring the fire, bring the plant power Red. He can be the villain that unites everyone in a begrudging way. Like they all hate each other but fine i guess we’ll team to stop Red and Ant.

Skeppy’s dead.

Tubbo and Ranboo have a fight but Ranboo says “Weren’t we enough?” and it’s in relation to him and Michael (this happens before panic room). Thats when Tubbo realises where the wires got crossed and he immediately rectifies it but explaining he’s happy with the two of them but he wanted a job, something to work towards. Family wise he’s got it all, he’s content with it all but he wanted a project and one that didn’t incite violence. Fun rivalry sure, but he’s done with violence, he’s doesn’t want to add to the nightmares he already has. He wants competition but not one that will put all he loves in danger. So they talk it out and Ranboo feels more confident and Tubbo asks him to tell him if he ever takes anything too far because he can get a little carried away sometimes. Ranboo agrees and then they have a cute playdate with Michael. Then Ranboo does the thing with Wilbur and ends up in panic room.

Tommy and Tubbo discuss everything and lay it all out on the table because Tommy doesn’t want to be on the other side again with Tubbo. Tubbo doesn’t understand why everyone is making such a big deal about his burger business and Tommy tries to explain the issues with Quackity and the level of intensity he’s seen with Wilbur but Tubbo just laughs it off. They eventually talk about Ranboo and Tommy relents saying he likes Ranboo although he does sometimes get jealous of how Tubbo seems to have it all. Tubbo tells Tommy of his nightmares and so does Tommy to Tubbo. They come to an understanding with each other and understand that no matter how long they go apart, there is always a space shaped to fit them perfectly in their lives for them. Tubbo and Tommy then go play some pranks.

Wilbur is unhappy with the pranks and gives a lecture and they get into a fight. This leads to Wilbur talking man to man to Quackity. Theres some weird sexual tension. Once again they’re trying to outwit one another. That when we get to the crazy stuff.

And here’s where I get crazy with my stuff.

Ponk is digging in his lil cave when he accidentally breaks through to a random room buried deep underground. Tommy’s there trying to scam him out of something he has. Tubbo and Ranboo too. When they get to this room Ranboo thinking it’s the panic one and freaks out, but the others calm him down. Ponk thinking theres diamonds in the room storms ahead setting off some traps but surviving. Tubbo opens one of the chests and just says theres a bucket in there. Ponk pulls it out and says it has a named fish in it.

You see where I’m going.

They empty the bucket whilst asking what the fish is called. They are interrupted by a voice. It’s Sally.

Dream had captured her and bound her to a bucket and put her in the chest and hid her from Wilbur.

She has been released. She freaks out over how much time has past because for her nothing has changed at all. She thought it might have been a couple of hours or something since Dream pulled that prank on her but clearly not.

They all catch up and the season ends with Sally and Wilbur meeting in front of Quackity, Dream in the shadows and Sally and Wilbur turning to see Fundy who just freaks the fuck out.

Oh and just a side, Callahan is the last member of the syndicate and God of the server and is having fun playing with the mortals.

And then I have the next season planned out and how I’d end the whole thing but like until then. This is it. Mid Season to finale. How I picture things happening.

None of this will happen but isn’t it fun to imagine?

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imaginedxlan · 3 years

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Miscommunication (Neville Longbottom)

a/n: first #harrypotter imagine look at me, told you I would have some random things coming to this account. I have and always will be a simp for Neville Longbottom so heres that

Being friends with Draco and his minions is never easy, especially when you have a secret crush on a certain Gryffindor that you know they’d never let you hear the end of if they knew. When your roommate confronts you about your feelings for one of your closest friends, you’re forced to spill.

warning(s): cussing, sexual allusions

Part 2

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Pansy walks into the library in a huff. This isn’t out of the ordinary, she can be quite dramatic, but today her huff seems to be heftier than the other. She drops her things next to a table close enough to you where you can see her making a ruckus and plops in a chair, burying her face in her hands. Usually you let her sort out her thoughts before she inevitably complains to you about whatever Goyle said to her that day or Hermoine calling her pugface again, but not today. She’s actually crying.

“Pansy?” You ask, but she doesn’t lift her head. “Are you alright?”

She doesn’t even bother to move her face from her hands before she says, “Like you care.”

This was out of the ordinary. Pansy has been your roommate as well as best friend since the two of you met on your first ride on the Hogwarts Express. You stand up from your cross-legged position on your chair to sit in the empty seat at her table

“Pansy, darling, how could you say such a thing?” You ask, genuinely confused and slightly hurt by her accusations. “You know I care about you.”

She turns her head to look at you, her eyes red and her sleeves stained beneath her. She doesn’t change her face, still scowling at you, you’re not sure what you’ve done but you know she can’t be mad at you for long.

“Would you tell me what I’ve done so we can talk about this?” You plead with her, you hated when the two of you fought, it always created a weird tension in your lives.

“You must love the way he looks at you,” She starts, sniffling all the while she’s reprimanding me. “Draco just can’t get enough of you, huh? You know how much I like him, y/n, did you have to go after him too.”

“What in Godric’s name are you on about?” You ask, more confused than you were before. “Draco? Pansy there is no reality where Malfoy and I have feelings for each other.”

“I see the way he looks at you.”

“Babe, he’s looking at you!” You exclaim, rubbing her shoulder comfortingly. “Malfoy doesn’t want me. Even if he did, I don’t like him like that one bit. You know I don’t like his type.”

Blood purity this, death eater that. It all got fairly boring quickly when you spend as much time with the miniature Malfoy as you do. Truth be told, you were at first obsessed with the blond, following his every move through your first few months at Hogwarts, but after a while his constant complaints about Harry Potter and his threats about his ‘father hearing about this’ hindered you from ever entertaining the thought of being with Malfoy in any sort of romantic sense.

Everyone you associated with in your house was very similar to Malfoy, just a slightly less whiny version with less daddy issues. Crabbe, Goyle, Theo and Blaise, they all had their hang ups, so you started to look outside of the Slytherin common room. You hadn’t planned to fall for a Gryffindor, you had hoped for a Ravenclaw at least being the intense hatred your friends held for the red and gold clad students, but it just happened.

You’re quite smart, just second to Hermoine Granger in many of your classes, all except herbology. That’s when Neville Longbottom entered into your life. After going to Professor Sprout, hysterical about your most recent marks in the class, she decided to take pity on you and employ her best students to help you.

You could tell you made him nervous, the whole time you were asking about mandrakes and gillyweed his cheeks stayed the same shade of crimson they had from the minute you walked into the library and gave him your signature Slytherin smile. You like the way he looked at you, the way he hung on your every word, the way he wasn’t condescending in the way most of the male friends you have made at Hogwarts are. Neville is kind just for the sake of being kind, it was something you weren’t used to.

“No, y/n, I don’t know that.” Pansy says, not in a mean way, more pleading than anything. “You never tell me about anything when it comes to boys, you always just let me go on and on about Draco, there has to be someone.”

You let out a deep sigh, Pansy is your best friend, she should be the one to know about your little crush on the Gryffindor, but you can’t help but dread the day she accidentally lets it slip to her beloved Malfoy.

“Pans before I tell you I need you to know I am not even remotely embarrassed about liking him, I just haven’t told you because the gits we call our friends would ruin him, alright so you have to promise not to tell anyone.”

Pansy sticks out her pinky and waits for you to link yours with her. You interlock both of your little fingers and kiss your thumbs before pressing them together, solidifying her promise. You take a breath and turn your head to look a little further back in the library where you see Neville explaining some phenomenon to Harry Potter who looks bored out of his mind. Pansy’s gaze follows your before she gasps, smacking her hand to her mouth.

“Merlin, y/n, you like Potter?” She whisper screams, making your head snap in her direction, widening your eyes at her.

“No you idiot, the other one.” You clarify before turning to look at him again. The way he is so deep in thought, obviously about something he’s passionate about, is so intriguing, makes you fall for him a little more every time you catch him in this state.

It’s not before Longbottom can feel two pairs of eyes burning into the side of his head. He cautiously looks to his left to see the two Slytherins looking his way. When he catches your eyes, he immediately blushes but doesn’t look away, neither do you. You simply give him a gentle smile and a small wave before turning back to Pansy who can’t contain her growing grin.

“You really like Neville?” She asks and your nod, seemingly not able to wipe the smile off your face either. “Y/n, I think thats lovely.”

“You know, I didn’t plan on liking him, but after he tutored me in herbology I just couldn’t keep away,” You gush, you can tell your face probably looks like it’s in a dream state but you don’t care. You snap back to reality to tell her again, “You see why you absolutely cannot mention this to the boys. Especially Blaise.”

You didn’t mean to add that last part, you’re cursing yourself for it actually. You hadn’t meant for anyone to find out that for a brief period of time, solely out of desperation on your end, you and Blaise had been each others extra curricular activity so to speak. It ended the minute you realized you actually had feelings for Neville, you never told Blaise the true reason but if he knew it was Neville he may well murder him.

“Blaise?” Pansy ponders, a knowing grin forming on her lips. “Don’t tell me Zabinis been in your lady parts.”

You gag at her choice of words before nodding sheepishly. “It was a year ago and it was purely out of frustration, I promise. I wanted to tell you but he made me promise to keep quiet since I was the one who ended it. I told him I liked someone else, he thinks it’s Theo. He wasn’t mad because I think he thinks Theo is the best looking out of them. I obviously disagree because I didn’t let Nott in my pants now, did I?” You realize you’re rambling and Pansy is taking in all of this information while stifling a laugh. You shake your head before continuing. “But if Blaise knew it was Neville all along he would hex him or something. You see the way Crabbe and Goyle shove him in the hallway and Draco torments him, and I don’t want Blaise joining in on it okay Pans? I really like him.”

“You’re secret is safe with me, don’t worry.” She assure you with a kind smile. “Have you snogged him?”

You shake your head, “I haven’t even spoken to him about it, we don’t talk outside of herbology. I don’t know why, I feel like I can’t muster up the courage around him.”

Her jaw drops before smacking the table in front of us, “Y/n, you are hottest sixth year in this place, quite possibly the hottest witch to walk these halls ever. I know for a fact you’re the hottest bitch to show Longbottom that kind of interest, it’s not like he’d ever say no to you.”

“That’s the thing Pans, I’m not the kind of girl he goes for,” You sigh, letting your chin rest in your hands. The thing about you and Neville is your relationship is strictly academic. If you were to tell him you had feelings for him, ones that he didn’t reciprocate, he’d probably never tutor you again. You’ll take any time with him that you can, even if it’s just to listen to him go on and on about plants. “I don’t want to freak him out, he might never want to talk to me again. I’d be so embarrassed.”

“If he’s stupid enough to take one look at you and think ‘eh, not my type’ then he’d be the one who should be embarrassed.” She tries to assure you, it doesn’t make the thought of telling him any less scary. You never want to see a look on his face when he’s disgusted with you, and you fear that’s what you’d get if you told him. “Do me a favour and look in the mirror, remind yourself who you are. I don’t just mean your face, I obviously think you’re gorgeous, me and half of this school think so, but also right here.”

She points at you heart and smile. You shrug your shoulders and before you know it, Pansy is making a big show of her exit and making the fact that theres and empty seat across from you extremely apparent, calling out as she leaves, “I won’t be back, darling y/n, don’t save my seat.”

You blush and shake your head as she sends you a wink, leaving you alone in the library. You’re not alone for long before you hear a voice behind you ask.

“You mind if I sit here.”

“Not at all.” You reply, knowing full well who it is. “Hi Neville.”

#neville longbottom #harry potter #neville longbottom imagine #blaise zabini #pansy parkinson #harry potter imagine #slytherin #slytherin imagines #slytherin x gryffindor

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lunarreaper-ut · 3 years

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How exactly did killer loose his arm? Was it cuz he got distracted or was it tactic to prevent something even worse?? ;-; how did nightmate take that sight? How did he get the idea to give killer some of his magic to make an artificial arm for him, did he knew it would work? Was it a hard or painful process for any of them?? (God i love the idea of killer getting a shadow arm from nm >w< makes him even cooler! Kyaaaaa~ still a sad thing tho uwu)

Was nightmare ever in the mood/need/curious to ask killer sing somehing (for him~)??

What ships will happen in kingdomverse??

Alsoo... Uhh dont know if thats an OK question but can they get pregnant? I wanna know if babybones are an possibility in the future? qwq

Ah yes... the Incident.

Allow me to explain the unfortunate event in which Killer almost failed at his job.

(This is gonna be heckin, and I mean HECKIN long. We got some worldbuilding ahead!)

How did Killer lose his arm?

This event happened several years after Killer began his duties as Royal Guard. Dream had already told Nightmare he no longer needed a Royal Guard, and Killer already expressed his wish to stay as one. Nightmare and Killer were frequently having their nightly visits, and things were going well.

One night, however, after Killer had returned to his room and the two had settled in for bed, something happened.

Now I haven't mentioned this before, mainly cause your questions have thankfully not uncovered it >w< During Nightmare's reign, there was much despair in the Kingdom. Negativity brings out the worst in people, as we're all aware I'm sure, and it's no wonder that some people would be driven mad by the results of Nightmare's actions.

Some people began to believe that if they worshipped Nightmare, they would be spared from his wrath and from the destruction his crafted creatures wrought. These people formed a cult dedicated to Nightmare, praising his actions and renouncing their loyalty to the Sun King. They called themselves The Corrupted.

Cults are a very hard thing to get rid of, especially if you weren't aware they existed. When Dream returned and cast Nightmare into the Void, the Corrupted hid themselves in the shadows, vowing to return only once their "True King" returns as well.

The issue arose when Nightmare did return from the Void. Nightmare, throughout his reign, was most often seen as his "transformed" self, and it was that self that The Corrupted worshipped, not Nightmare.

The Corrupted believed that they could bring back the "True King", and to do so they needed to remove the "Imposter King". The cult spent time learning the routines of the castle in order to break in to Nightmare's quarters when they were certain no one was around.

They had acquired a drug meant to incapacitate monsters and suppress their magic, and modified it to be several times as strong. Nightmare certainly wasn't at his strongest either, the Kingdom was a naturally positive place when Dream was around.

A few cult assassins threw a smoke bomb filled with the drug into Nightmare's room while he slept, and unfortunately it worked well enough. Nightmare wasn't unconscious, but he didn't have as fine of control over his magic or his own body.

The assassins came into the room, intending to kidnap Nightmare, but it's rather fortunate that Killer is a light sleeper, isn't it? Killer came into the room just as one of the assassins was about to grab Nightmare.

There was quite a few of them, as they'd been prepared for resistance, and though I hate to say it, they were skilled too. They weren't just some guy picked off the street and given a weapon, it was as if they'd been trained for years just for this moment.

It's likely they had been. Killer was having difficulties, but holding his own well enough. He would only really need to hold them off long enough for the guards to get to the room. Well, that's what he thought until he saw another assassin coming towards a practically immobile Nightmare, and he clearly wasn't intending to just kidnap the King.

Killer moved without thinking, and without his armor he was much more vulnerable to attacks... but getting injured wasn't an issue. He had to protect Nightmare at all costs, even if it meant he got hurt. That was the moment he lost his arm.

Killer didn't have time to register the pain, and slew the assassin who dared attempt to harm Nightmare. Killer was outnumbered still, and if he was having difficulties before, it was going to be impossible to hold out now.

He was lucky he didn't have to though, as several Guardsmen burst into the room. Seems they'd finally heard the commotion. The Guardsmen drove out the assassins, only managing to capture two. Killer was tended to, and he refused to leave Nightmare's side until the drug wore off.

How did Nightmare handle it?

Nightmare was half conscious in the moment, and so most of what he saw didn't register properly. It was only when the drug had worn off and he saw Killer by his side, sans one arm (Hehe), that it hit him.

Nightmare was angry first and foremost. He was angry it happened, angry Killer was dumb enough to get hurt, angry he wasn't able to resist the stupid drug, and angry that Killer seemed completely unbothered.

Nightmare didn't react well at all, and he ended up putting Killer on temporary leave. When Killer tried to refuse Nightmare said he was useless with only one arm, and Nightmare didn't need a useless Guard. Killer shut up pretty quickly.

Killer was still allowed to stay at the castle of course, but he was forbidden from coming near Nightmare's office, or taking part in any Guard duties. Nightmare believed that what happened was the stupidest thing Killer could have done, and refused to think otherwise.

It was during Killer's leave that Nightmare did research. He interrogated the cult members, and utilized glamours (Which we all know he's not fond of) in order to leave the castle without issue. Throughout his research, he spoke with the Court Apothecary regularly about Killer's injury. How was he fairing, is he at risk of dusting, is there anything to be done, stuff like that.

The Apothecary had made an offhanded comment that Killer is going to be without his arm for the rest of his life, since skeletons don't regenerate. Not unless he got enough magic to replace the missing arm at least.

He mentioned just getting a prosthetic for Killer, but that went in one ear and out the other, so to speak. Nightmare began to think about the suggestion (even though it was a joke). Nightmare had a large surplus of magic, and he thought about whether or not it was possible to somehow weave his magic with Killer's and form a new limb.

By the time Killer had returned to Nightmare, asking to return to his duties, the King had already figured out a way to properly do the procedure. He of course asked Killer if he would be allowed to do so, that he wasn't certain if it would work and that it certainly wouldn't be pretty.

Killer agreed without issue. The process was indeed a painful one... fusing Nightmare's magic with Killer's was difficult, and it was akin to taking a freezing cold needle and sewing a constantly shifting mass of energy directly to his soul. (Not actually how it worked, it's just how it felt).

The only reason Killer got through the procedure was because of Nightmare's intent. We all know that intent comes through to Monsters when involving magic, and Nightmare's intent made the process a lot less painful. Heal, fix, help, care, all those things came through to Killer.

It helped that Nightmare had a good relationship with Killer. His magic was much more willing to accept Killer's and vice versa. If this had been done between Nightmare and a stranger, it wouldn't have worked.

It took Killer a few days to work the arm properly. It was almost dead weight for a while. After that, it took even longer for him to properly fight with it, and longer still for him to be able to utilize the magic it was made with.

Has Nightmare ever asked Killer to sing for him?

Nope, Nightmare doesn't even know Killer can or that he has a good voice XD Killer has never sung in front of anyone, nor does he care to. It's just not something he does, but I imagine there could be a few scenarios where he gets coerced into it. Singing with friends, soothing a wounded animal (Yes Killer would do that, he likes small animals. They're cute.), that kind of stuff.

Nightmare's never had a reason to think Killer could sing. >w<

What Ships are going to be canon in Kingdomverse?

Well we've already got Cream, Killermare and Afterdeath as being confirmed.

Honestly I've kinda decided to leave the others more open for interpretation! If you want, you can say Errink is gonna happen, Lust could probably be someones s/o, it's all up to interpretation >w<

Theres quite the cast of characters in Kingdomverse?, and there might be more added later (if I can think of them), so honestly I'm sure there's no issue with some other ships coming to life!

Basically theres no other planned canon ships >w<

Can the skellies get preggers?

I don't see why not! Nightmare and Dream being immortals doesn't stop them from having kids, but I would say that if they did it would probably be through a different process than mortals.

I'd say that monsters need to make the conscious, or unconscious decision that they want a child or that they are ready for a child before they can have one.

Nightmare and Dream would probably be a bit difficult to have a child with purely because they have an immense amount of power and magic (even after a bond), so it might be a bit risky even for them to have kids.

(if any of you do make ship kids I want to see them though, I love baby bones >w<)

#Kingdomverse?#Kingdomverse #answered asks #lots of lore in this one!#KV!Nightmare #KV!Killer #Killermare #Cream (mentioned)

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grunklefidds · 3 years

Text

an unfinished stanley-centered same coin fic that has been sitting in my phone since around new year's (i'm happy with what's there of it, it just cuts off abruptly and i don't think i'll be adding to it any time soon). enjoy

1.2k words, only significant warnings are for recurring discussion of self-loathing, some unreality/depersonalization as relevant to the theory, not particularly detailed mentions of violence, and a good sprinkling of cursing

stanley dreams of burning. flames hot enough to burn blue licking around him until theres none of him left.

he thinks the first time he told ford he really was a bad kid they were seven or eight. ford told him that he was wrong. stan gave him a noogie and they laughed it off.

he doesn't remember most of his dreams. still he often wakes up feeling like he's just got away with murder.

lying on his brother's bed with snow eddying outside the window, stanley was distantly aware that if he shifted to lie on his side, the fresh burn on his shoulder would hurt less. he didn't move. a fuck-up like him didn't deserve small comforts.

he burns up into nothing that night.

the phrase 'self-esteem' wasn't really present in stan's vocabulary until well after he'd got settled in to life as mr. mystery. talking about that sort of things with kids was not in style when he and ford were young, and for the first decade or so of adulthood he was too busy surviving to really give it any thought.

dreams are strange things, anyway. sometimes you do awful, awful things in them, as if watching yourself do it, any sense of horror completely absent. surely you'd never really do that! if all the people in your dreams are really you, if the you in your dreams is really you, then you must be some sort of monster, right?

stan tried to get in on the self help game back in '78: it seemed like an easy grift. when he found some junk workbook called SHAME 'N' YOU at a garage sale the first year he was in gravity falls, he dismissed it as more of the same. he still slipped it into his jacket. good for spare toilet paper if nothing else.

dreams of fire mix with dreams of him trapped in a colorless motionless place. it feels like home.

stan didn't like sleeping much in that first year or two working on the portal. at night he would sit in the kitchen desperately trying to understand the physics books he got at the library, alternating coffee and vodka, rather than sleep. he certainly didn't deserve to rest, not until he could clean up his mess. it only seemed fair.

occasionally among the dreams of fire and stifled screams there's feelings of comfort. some are memories of old hijinks with sixer but out of order with the colors brighter and warmer, and some are pink flashes of a sense of being protected. stan remembers these as little as he remembers the flames.

he found the phrase 'negative self-talk' not in the first book from the garage sale, but a similar one a few years later. stan scoffed at the concept. how could thinking that shit be a problem if it was all true?

his dreams are a bit less remarkable once the little guy starts working around the shack. it's nothing stan notices at the time, nothing abrupt, but dreams about ice cream goats and missing deadlines for high school english papers begin to slip in among the flames. some he even remembers. they leave him less exhausted in the morning.

at some point, despite the years of headache and frustration, it started to feel like stan was making good progress on the portal. it was satisfying, mastering all the nerd junk he picked up from books well enough to get the damned thing rumbling again. he wouldn't let himself feel proud of it, but 'accomplished' might be in reach once his brother was back.

his dreams are all over the place while the little ones are there. vivid memories of glass shard beach, flames a brighter blue than theyve been all his life, and horrifying sequences of him hurting the children in impossible ways. the traces of them leave his heart racing in the first moments after waking up.

having the young twins around the house made things a hell of a lot livelier. between getting general weird feelings from them reminding him of his brother and going out of his mind with worry when they didn't manage to hide whatever magical death trap they'd found that day, stan hadn't worked this hard at keeping a poker face since the 80s, at least.

dreams of happy days on the beach mix with ford looking at him with fear and shoving him onto a scorching stovetop. during the day, watching the kids smack each other with empty paper towel tubes, he recognizes the feeling in his gut as jealousy.

soos got on fantastically with the twins. stan was thrilled to see the three joking together, and tried to quash any fuzzy feelings over it. surely he was glad to have a load off while another adult (the big goober being over twenty still felt strange) could watch out for them. ...he could think more about who exactly he could call his family once he allowed himself to rest.

his dream the afternoon that gideon broke in is strange even for him. his memory of it fades as quickly as most of them do, but during it he's distinctly aware of someones other than him in his mind. some of them feel comfortably familiar- the kid he'd watched grow up and the kids he'd like to- and one feels terrifyingly familiar. he desperately tries to reach them, manages to pat dipper on the back, and is awake in what feels like seconds.

the day that the shack's deed was stolen, stan felt like he hit rock bottom yet again. of course he put on a strong face (out of courtesy) for the kids, and for soos (who probably knew better by now), and for soos' grandmother (who still intimidated him a little), but it was damned hard. thirty years of blood, sweat and tears over that machine, and a flimsy piece of paper with his brother's signature was still all there was keeping him off the street. all that work, added up to nothing. he couldn't help but see it as some kind of confirmation.

his dreams about jail are never pleasant. they're never true to life (though his memories of it are bad enough): something always twists partway through into some vast structure or impossibly tight space. they make him wake up nervous and ashamed.

he wouldn't say it to anyone, but stan loved cooking for other people. part of it was that he only ever ate enough to keep him moving when he was living alone (even well after things had settled in the shack). if it was for someone else, he actually thought about what the food would taste like, and, shockingly, he usually enjoyed it more. stan discovered this a while after soos started working there, but having the kids actually living at the house (not just there after school or whenever soos wanted to come over before his shift started), he was getting a lot more practice. it was nice.

stan dreams of being small and exhausted. he's giddy, he hasn't had an opportunity like this in decades- no, centuries! he runs around banging into every sharp object he can find, gleeful to have a new sucker to discard. the glee barely fades as the blue flames burn him out to wakefulness.

he makes bacon and eggs for breakfast.

later that day, he saw mabel stitching a sock puppet with her own face. he raised an eyebrow, but when she grinned at him he smiled back.

#stanley pines #same coin theory #gravity falls fic #dont @ me abt the changes in tense it is on purpose #i think i originally wanted this to go a little beyond what the finale covers but i forgot abt it -_____- sorry #p #stanley

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jett-dawson · 3 years

Text

BELLA ARC

The Rule

the rule states that any student who takes pictures of student work at rainbow high well experience an immediate expulsion. why does this only apply to bella? why not violet or karma, or anyone else who has pulled out their phones to take photos of things on campus? sounds like double standards to me.

the rule is dumb. especially since the students LIVE and WOR at rainbow high 24/7. they have a right to their work. the rule is dumb and is definitely a form of symbolism. i have seen this theory go around the fandom before & i have even addressed this theory before. i will address it again. stay tuned in the next slides for more on that.

The Timeline

we all knew bella was gonna get kicked out. whether or not we wanted it to happen, it was heavily implied in episode one that someone in the runway group was going to get kicked out. bella was the odd one out. she’s not in the wave one lineup, she’s not a part of the actual rainbow, and she was (more or less) a surprise to us when first seeing teasers for episode one. after that, the series of events through the first episodes had absolutely nothing to do with bella’s expulsion. there was no lead up! it was very sudden and the rule was very new to us. never was this rule stated before.

while i hate that it was written like this, i think i may know a meaning. this is a kids show. we are consuming children’s media. there is absolutely nothing wrong with that & anyone of any age is free and welcome to enjoy kids cartoons. what we have to understand is that this media isn’t exactly targeted towards us. i’m sure MGA, the company, is aware of us older fans. they use social media for that matter. that is where you find older fans. so that is where they get direct feedback from us. anyway... this show is obviously targeted towards a younger audience. if they were to extend the plot line, younger kids may not catch onto a lot of stuff that us older fans would. that’s not necessarily bad, but it doesn’t seem to be what the writers want. they write with simplicity, while still keeping in mind of laying out specific things in the show for specific reasons. so this sequence of events was written for younger kids to understand. bella was written & planned to be kicked out from the very beginning. kids may not have known this. so they introduced a rule that was unheard of so they have a reason to kick out bella. do i agree with this method? no. absolutely not. do i think they could’ve done better in finding a way to kick bella out? yes. absolutely. but younger kids will look at this and see that Bella broke a rule. Bella got kicked out. simple as that.

Symbolism

there have been theories that have gone around the fandom on the symbolism behind bella’s arc. her character, removal, and replacement all seem to line up with a real life sequence of events. allow me to explain.

bella is definitely a reference to barbie. her shirt is a direct take on a barbie shirt we have seen before. her character/personality is almost a lot like barbie if you think of it. if you’re into dolls and you’re into the community, you will know that Barbie/Mattel is MGA’s main rival. they have been going at it for years. constantly trying to dominate each other. MGA has made it very clear that they do not like Mattel. the creator of rainbow high himself stated that he “respects” barbie but believes it is time for her to leave the shelves and retire. it’s time for something new, something fresh, something modern.

think of it in the rainbow high timeline. bella(barbie/mattel) is living in this world of rainbow high(mga). the creator of bratz created the bratz concept while technically working for mattel. it just so happened that he was on leave. he took the idea over to mga and they went with it. mattel got mad, claiming the work as their own.

the rule of rainbow high can be related to this. whatever work is made at rainbow high stays at rainbow high. if any third party gets involved then you are due to immediate expulsion. this just so happened to bella.

bella/barbie was working on something she wanted to take to an outside source. rainbow high said no. this is our work. bella/barbie took it outside anyway resulting in an expulsion. bella is pink. pink is not part of the initial lineup. she reached the end of her rainbow.

amaya comes in. amaya resembling all things rainbow high. amaya the main character. she is the embodiment of rainbow. her character revolves around everhthing this company has preached for rainbow high. she is new. she is fresh. she is modern. she replaced bella. (no, i do not blame amaya for any of this. amaya is a whole other story)

barbie is flopping. barbie is not doing well. mga wants to take barbie down. mga is dominating the toy isle. they have created many successful lines and will probably continue to do so for awhile. bella is barbie. amaya is mga. amaya took over. mga took over.

Bella Herself

now i do not blame bella one bit for going and doing what she did. yes, she broke a rule. whether or not the rule is stupid, she did it. and she got what she asked for.

but you have to keep in mind who she is. bella is a young girl, age 14/15. at that age... i, too, would’ve done just about anything to work with my idol. someone i admired so much has practically thrown out an opportunity that i’m positive i could win. i would most definitely go for it. and bella did. but the problem was taking a picture. bella is known to be impulsive. we can see this in several different episodes where she wanted to complete the tasks given to her and to help her friends complete theirs. even though jade did her very best to persuade bella not to do it, bella chose to. she consciously chose to. now what i think a lot of people haven’t realized is that bella literally pulled nearly 2 all nighters contemplating on what to do. the first night she stayed up thinking about the internship and making the set. the other night she spent running around the school with jade and taking the photo of the art. this poor girl must’ve been tired. she was conflicted. do you risk your dream school and everything that comes along with it for a summer internship? or do you wait for another opportunity that could possibly never come again? if bella were older and more matured, i’m sure she wouldn’t have done it. but she is young. and she has learned from this experience.

unfortunately... she was expelled on the spot without any warning. we still haven’t gotten any closure on who saw her sneak the picture. that’s very suspicious but then again... it’s probably just poor writing. but with what we can assume, they probably involved bella’s space & privacy to get that information. anyway. bella had no bad behaviour whatsoever prior to this situation. rainbow high is a hard school. they are very tough on their students. they gave bella no chances. she didn’t even have much time to process it, pack her things and properly say goodbye to her friends. it all happened so fast. she said it herself... “i cant believe this is happening” yeah me either

as for the teachers... yes. they are doing their jobs. i have seen this point being made several times and i agree! technically they are! but RH is lowkey a messed up school system. they pressure their students day in and day out to be the very best and do the very best. i get why, but it’s to the point these students are sleep deprived. staying up all night to do assignments and have escape rooms. having to start class five minutes after completing night assignments. so much to the point that jade’s response to the question “what will u so if u pass the runway project?” in Violet’s AMA was “SLEEP!” this school is messed up. working like a big company and claiming these poor students hard work as their own is mean. and these teachers support it by working at this school. they may be doing their job, but they’re allowing this poor situation by being a part of it. this can be related to REAL life in places like media and the music industry. i have little knowledge on it, but you can compare it to the situation with Taylor Swift and how she technically doesn’t own a bunch of the music that she made. i believe it has to do with legal matters, and if i remember correctly something she got involved with when she was only young. yeah. theres that thing again. getting involved when you are only young. same with bella. there’s a direct correlation and that’s where i believe that type of symbolism could potentially come in to play.

this opportunity that was given to bella was life changing. and it was a SUMMER internship. SUMMER. if RH operates anything like schools IRL, they’d have to give their students a summer break. why was it so major to them when bella could still work for.. i mean attend to rainbow high all year then take the summer of for the internship. something that rainbow high could’ve looked good for having!

again, if RH operates anything like an IRL school, schools often pay attention to their students and outside opportunities. opportunities that boost the students status. the better the students, the better the school. with this high-end, once in a lifetime opportunity, bella could’ve gotten it and not only done better for herself but better for rainbow high itself.

bella knows what she did. and i know she realizes the consequences, especially now. but this poor girl has suffered through so much. all for this drama to her exploited on a very popular & very exclusive drama channel.. the vi life. but no way in heck was any of that fair.

Amaya Raine

i don’t wanna dwell too much on this one since i haven’t really seen much drama about it lately and i’ve already said enough before. but amaya is definitely not to blame. she had absolutely nothing to do with bella’s expulsion as far as we know. i remember there being fan theories that she would be the one who had found a way to tattle on bella, securing her own spot at rainbow high. as far as we know, this is not true.

amaya had been wait listed for her dream school. it’s lucky but kind of underwhelming. so the moment she got the call that she finally had a spot in RH, she was beyond excited, not knowing what was ahead of her. oh, yeah, btw, not gonna ignore the fact that they secure a spot for amaya THE SAME NIGHT bella took a photo of the artwork, not knowing she was gonna be caught and then expelled. in her mind, she was positive she wasn’t caught and wasn’t gonna get in trouble. it’s the fact the staff was very prepared for this all under 24hrs.

anyway. amaya was already hella nervous. she seems to be an anxious person and was definitely wanting to make the best first impression. heck, she even made her own outfit so she could stand out! but unfortunately to her surprise, she was greeted with a bunch of frowns and a few dirty looks. she was forced into this situation with absolutely no warning and had to put up with everyone disliking her at first (except our favourite ray of sunshine, our mutual blue bby & our drama chasing diva)

so it’s unfair for amaya to be blamed for all of this when she didn’t even know. yeah, i am sad that jade was viewing her so wrongly. but i cannot blame jade. jade is sorta stubborn and obviously struggles with major change. she lost the one she was closest to and suddenly was forced to adjust to this new girl who took bella’s place. if i were as cold of a person as jade, i’d have that exact same reaction. she didn’t wanna believe bella was gone. she didn’t want to experience this change. she didn’t bully amaya, thank goodness. she just paid little to no mind to her. of course she threw her a couple angry looks and was very brief with her whenever she spoke. but eventually they made up. no one was bullied, no one is mad.

FINAL COMMENT THEN I AM DONE

yea ok if you bully me or anyone else for simply digging into RH lore then you can leave. or i’ll just block of that’s easier for you. some of u only watch at surface level and that is okay! if that’s what you enjoy, k. cool. you do you.

some of us dont watch at surface level and that is also very very okay. some of us want to get as much as possible out of rainbow high, given the circumstances. so we dig into it more than others might. some of us try to find the symbolism or pick up on tiny details that had gone by unnoticed. some of us go as far as redesigning the characters and reimagining their personalities and life at rainbow high. creating fun headcanons and making cool associations. just don’t bully people who do that. don’t get mad at us and tell us “getting too deep into this is worthless” “you’re not gonna get a job in life if you sit and defend a character all day”

news flash, it is some people’s literal jobs to read pieces of art and media and analyze it. english majors literally do this exact thing. heck, it may be more complex than this. but anyway. stop telling people that. can we normalize enjoying this without being insulted for it??? if you don’t wanna enjoy the episodes then okay. cool. you do that. i’ll go analyze my favourite characters and enjoy as much of the show as i can because i find enjoyment in this <33

#rainbow high #rainbowhigh #rainbow high dolls

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trashcatsnark · 3 years

Note

5 and 7 for the get to know your V thing

Ahhhhhh, thank you so much for the ask, nonny! You made my night!~ Also, SPOILER WARNING!!!!

5. how do your loved ones (LI, found family, etc) feel about you being a merc? or if you’ve given up the life now that everything’s finished, what was their reaction?

THIS GOT LONG AS FUCK AND I APOLOGIZE!!!!!!!

So, my V is a former nomad with this whole convoluted backstory about how her clan is Raffen Shiv, darwinistic asshole bastards and she left and now they wanna gut her for betraying them essentially. So, her blood family is less concerned about her career choices and more concerned with putting a bullet in her head.

However, her found family, initially is Jackie, Misty, Viktor, and Mama Welles. Jackie’s her partner in crime and kinda brought her into it, though she was doing similar work in the Badlands already. And honestly, a part of me thinks Jack sometimes feels some guilt over that. My V is in her early twenties, fairly young, whereas I do believe Jackie is canonically 30. So, theres definitely a part of him thats like I dragged a fetus into merc work what have i done. Which is probably why he’s a little protective of her on gigs. Misty worries about them both, so does Viktor, and Mama Welles of course. And in terms of found family later on, generally speaking, they worry about her a lot.

Judy still sees a walking corpse, scared of when V’s luck is gonna run out. I think she also struggles a lot with the dichotomy of V to her and the V she knows exists. Because after the initial, rough start of their friendship, Judy sees V as a good person who helped her. But V is also a merc, she kills for money, lives have price tags to her which seems so opposed to the same V who helped her find Evelyn who supported Judy and grieved with her. Its a weird contrast that Judy isn’t always sure what to make of.

Goro obviously doesn’t think much of mercs, we see this in game, he’s got kind of a judgey vibe. And as he ges closer to V, I definitely think he finds himself wishing they’d switch professions, but he knows they feel the same way towards his life. He told them he can’t be taught new tricks, so, as much as he’d like to its not really fair to push them to change when he won’t either.

Kerry is terrified of the day she goes on a gig and doesn’t come back, I feel like he’s the kind of friend to offer financial help in hoping to coax her out of it, but she refuses it every time which drives him up a wall. Because he wants to help, V has become his closest friend (other than Johnny) and between her allowing Johnny to take over for concerts or just giving them time to talk without her and her merc work leaving her always bruised, always bloodied, always with a new wound. He feels like he’s watching his best friend slowly kill herself and no matter what he can’t help her, because she won’t let him.

River, I don’t know much of at this point, but I feel like given his job he’s seen what night city does to people, the horrors she must be facing and the danger she’s in, and wishes she’d find something safer. From what I have seen he seems to be big on like settling down, having a normal life, and I think he’d want that for V too and doesn’t always get that it isn’t something she wants.

Panam seems to do smuggling work mostly, like a lot of nomads (most extreme job she mentions is smuggling a corpse, not being the one to pull a trigger) so she of course worries about V’s more dangerous jobs and tbh especially with my V being a former nomad; I think Panam would also almost see V as a warning sign of what could happen to her if she continues to stray from the Aldecaldos.

And of course, Johnny worries more than he lets on. At first maybe just cause their lives are linked in some ways, but overtime it’s more because of a genuine concern for her. As ironic as it may sound for our terrorist rockerboy, it genuinely worries him to watch how much danger she puts herself in on a regular basis.It feels like despite everything they’re trying to do, she doesn’t truly care about her own life, and at a certain point it terrifies him because he can’t help but think that eventually there will come another morning and he’ll feel like something is missing and it’ll be true, that he’ll search and search for that sense of relief of having her but it will never come because she’ll truly be gone.

7. if offered enough money/power, would you be willing to join the corpo lifestyle? if you’re former corpo, would you go back?

Not in a billion fucking years! My V was anti-corp and anti-capitalism long before Johnny came into the picture. Because she’s a nomad, she knows what led to nomad groups, it was the corps taking and destroying land. And now, the corps go on news and talk about how evil nomads are for having the nerve not to bow down and lick the corp boots. As much as she dislikes her nomad family at this point, she still agrees with certain viewpoints that were instilled in her, one of them being the dangers of corps and capitalism. And hell, if she’s being honest, she blames corps at least somewhat for her nomad family situation. Because their initial actions that spurred nomad families traveling and the continued smear campaigns on nomads helps foster the isolation of certain nomad groups, an isolation that can give leaders within these families the unchecked power to do whatever they want with no consequences. She gets why people do become corpos, why if you’re scouted out and have a chance to live a life so many never could dream of why you’d take it. When the choices are starving or licking the boot; you do what you gotta. But, for herself, she couldn’t ever compromise her morals like that.

#cyberpunk 2077 #cp2077 #c2077 #aidan becker #THANKS AGAIN NONNY IM SO SORRY ITS SO FUCKING LONG #Anonymous

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getbacktoworknovice · 4 years

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🐎Snarky, Handsome Devil

[an AU in which you are a summer time employee who works at a riding ranch for kids and have a massive crush on one of the instructors Jacob Frye~ (this is part one of a series (reposting some older Ao3 stuff~)]

You always looked forward to summer.

A chance to get away from school, your siblings and your parents for three glorious months. Not that you didnt love your family of course, it was just a nice break from the reality you were stuck in nine months out of the year.

Every summer, ever since you started high school, you worked part time at the Frye Riding Ranch, a sort of summer camp for underprivileged kids to get a chance at taking care of and learning how to ride horses.

The people who ran it, Ethan Frye and his twin children, Jacob and Evie Frye, were very generous being that they only charged the families one dollar for the three month camp and in some cases, they let children join for free.

Apparently they had come from hard times as well.

You yourself were an actual hired hand, hired on by Ethan your first year at high school and kept on as he seemed to like your personality. You were hoping he would, after all, you loved kids AND horses and this was like a dream come true to you.

Kids were always so much easier to deal with than adults and they adored when you did your funny little voices, especially the British one as the owners whole family were Brits. Adults tended to give you odd looks.

Especially Jacob.

But then he would just give you that annoyingly charming half smile of his and go back about his business as if he hadn’t been looking at you at all. He rather loved kids too (which was part of why you found him so attractive) and even referred to them as his little “Rooks”.

He was kind with the horses as well. You’d caught him before as he was giving one a bath, talking to her sweetly and patting her lovingly as he got her cleaned up. It was the cutest thing you ad ever seen. Though you were certain he would deny he ever did such a thing if you asked him.

To be perfectly honest he had annoyed you at first. On your first day he had paired you with the worst horse they had to “break you in”, he’d doused you several times with the power hose and made you shovel so much manure you couldnt smell anything but for three days after.

You definitely hadnt had much of an appetite your first week, making Evie worry for you and then give Jacob a harsh telling off when she found out what he’d done. He wasnt a bully, she assured you, he was just…a pain.

Needless to say you’d avoided him for a month afterward but towards the end he came around. Apologized even. Which surprised you. You didnt realize you had a crush on him until you came back the next year and he gave you a big hug…

and you could feel every muscle he had.

He was every inch the rugged cowboy you’d seen on many a cover of romance novels. Muscled, rough around the edges, wild hair and eyes…and that damn smile of his! Yes indeed to you every inch of him was rugged and wild…and you loved it.

You just wished you were able to tell him. He was four years older than you and you just figured it was a passing fancy. You’d get over it. Yet every time you saw him and tried to still your beating heart it never worked. He would smile and nod at you, or say something that made you laugh, or stand too close to you when you saddled the horses for the kids.

He was the sweetest asshole you’d ever known.

You actually looked forward to getting up in the morning.

Today was turning into one of the funner days you’d had in the last three years. It was the day before graduation and to celebrate they always had a giant bonfire and a mini rodeo of sorts where the kids got to show off what they’d learned and earn a “badge of honor” for their efforts.

They were just cheap plastic sheriffs badges, but to the kids they might as well have been solid gold trophies. They got the biggest smiles on their faces and your heart just melted at the sight. Even Jacob took it a bit easier in terms of joking around, taking the event as seriously as the kids did.

You were in charge of getting all the firewood ready for the bonfire the next night as well as making all the certificates the kids would be receiving along with their badges. You were sitting at one of the tables in the rec room with Evie, writing out all the kids names neatly on their certificates, while Evie printed out the pamphlets for the parents.

“I do hope it doesn’t rain.” She was saying as you finally finished with the “S” names, rotating your wrist a bit to work out the soreness in it. You loved calligraphy but it hurt. Looking up when you heard her words you gave a curious gaze out the window, noting it was a bit stormy looking.

“Maybe it’ll blow over.” You said hopefully as you didn’t want it to ruin the kids’ fun. “If not I suppose we could hold the ceremony in here.” She said just as rain started to pelt outside. You gave a bit of a groan as now you’d have to go and cover up the wood with a tarp.

“Shit…” You grumbled as you grabbed up your coat and headed out the door. Te bonfire pit was a good ways away from the rec room and cabins so you had to book it to the barn to grab up a tarp. By the time you made it to the bonfire it was pouring down rain.

Quickly you began tucking the tarp into the corners of the pile, doing your best to get the wood covered so it would actually burn tomorrow, but it was getting windy and every corner you managed to get covered would pry itself loose by the time you got to the other end.

You were about to lose it when you felt someone grab the other end of the tarp to assist you. Giving a relieved sigh you looked over to see it was Jacob. You felt your heart begin to beat wildly again and you couldn’t control it. “Jacob…!” You started but he only yanked on the tarp.

“Dont just stand there like a fish!” He insisted as the rain pelted him without his jacket. “Move!” That snapped you out of it and you began to help him, tucking the tarp into place and covering it to help it stay safe from the rain.

With his help you got it done rather quickly and one he was certain it would stay the two of you took cover in the barn. You were both soaked but Jacob had gotten the worst of it, his black t-shirt stuck to him and his jeans were soaked through.

You were so glad you’d grabbed a jacket.

“Thanks,” You managed to say after you’d caught your breath. “I was about to give up there for a minute.” You admitted and Jacob laughed. “Wind was bein’ a bit of a bully wasnt it?” He grinned, taking off his baseball cap and wringing the water out of it best he could.

“Oh yeah, just a bit.” You teased in return with a smile that quickly turned into a blush when you saw him strip off his soaking shirt. You never knew he had a tattoo, but you turned your head so quick you didnt actually see what it was.

“What’s the matter love?” You heard him tease. “Never seen a man without a shirt before?” You felt your face get redder. “I-I…n-no…I mean…!” You were so flustered you couldnt even get a word out. “Sh-shut up!” You finally grumbled but he only laughed.

“Oh come now, you dont have to be so harsh with your tongue.” He said as he took your shoulder and leaned in close to your ear. “Your not having dirty thoughts are you?” He teased and you whirled on him to tell him off.

But stopped short as you felt his lips against the corner of your mouth.

Giving a small squeak you jumped back, your eyes wide in surprise. “J-Jacob, what the hell!?” You stammered, completely flustered. Jacob however only smiled that cocky little smile of his. “Been wantin’ to do that.” He said as he wrung out his shirt.

“Wh….what? What do you mean youve been wanting to do that?” You stuttered and he gave you a sideways grin. “Why, precisely what it means. I’ve been wanting to kiss you for a long time.” He said in plain terms.

You felt your knees buckle a bit and your heart began to thump in your chest. “R-really..?” You asked slowly. You felt like you must be dreaming. Youd had a crush on him true but you never in your life expected it to be reciprocated by him.

“Why?”

That question seemed to get to him as his cheeks actually turned a little pink. “Well…because I like ya.” He said with an honest shrug, putting his shirt back on. “I thought that was obvious but I guess I went about showin’ ya the wrong way.” He admitted sheepishly.

You gave a snort. “Yeah, making me shovel maure isnt the fastest way to my heart y'know!” You insisted with a swat to his arm. Jacob laughed aloud, a laugh you’d grown to love. “I guess I did fumble that one up a bit…” He admitted, giving you a soft look with his brown eyes.

“So…how is it you feel about me?” He asked and it was your turn to flush in the cheeks. You honestly didnt know what to say at first. “I..I mean I really like you Jacob. I’ve…I’ve had a crush on you for a while…” You hated to admit that out loud.

“I just…I feel like I’ve known you forever,” You said as you looked up at him. “I know it sounds silly but I’ve really come to like you.” You said, feeling a sense of relief at finally getting that out in the open.

Sensing your relief he gently took your cheek getting you to look at him. “Well since I like you and you like me….ya wanna try that kiss again?” He asked. He wasnt pushy about it or trying to force himself. His stance was relaxed, and his hand gentle.

How could you say no?

Leaning up towards him his lips met yours halfway, cupping your cheek as he kissed you long and deep. It was the most amazing kiss you’d ever tasted in your life. When you finally pulled away from him he rested his forehead against yours.

“So…theres only a week left of camp,” He said as he looked down at you with a bit of curiosity in his gaze. “I dont suppose you’d be willing to…let me come visit you in the city sometime?” he asked. You just gave him a smile and kissed his nose.

“You can visit me anytime….just make sure you come by car. If you ride a horse into the city people tend to freak out.” You teased. Jacob only laughed aloud.

“I make no promises.”

#jacob frye #jacob frye x reader #assassins creed syndicate #assassins creed imagines #assassins creed #assassins creed x reader #snarky boi #jacob tag

63 notes · View notes

shibalen · 3 years

Note

💥hewwo can I pwease get a romantic male matchup for bnha (darkbox bc I live for angst) (music box) when you have the time uwu

Levi he/him gay entp supposedly (also if it's not too much to ask please no characters under the age of 18 please)

I've been described as having a strong and loud personality, I'm extroverted and outspoken. I'm pretty eccentric too.

I value friendship, kindness and standing up for others.

Goal wise I'm pretty aimless. I dont have any goals, if I die well I guess that's it babey. In the meantime I'm just here to help animals and people who need it.

Positive traits: I always stick up for people in need, I'm good at reading people, I'm good with animals, I love to make people smile and laugh, cheerful, good at talking my way out of bad situations, uhm. Friendly!

Negative traits would be: hot headed, loud, stubborn, arrogant, comes across as intimidating:( good at getting into bad situations, gets into fights very often. Can be spiteful, I've been described as a pyromaniac so theres that. Can be sadistic

What pisses me off: my father. I can and will cause trouble for that man for as long as I live. And people who pick on the weak.

My hobbies and interests areeee: true crime babey! Crying over video games, baking, the occult, taking naps, dream interpretations and tarot readings

Likes: animals, cats specifically, stars, fire, sunsets, supposedly haunted places, storms, being dramatic for the hell of it, tormenting people in a good hearted way

Dislikes: uhhhh hot weather I guess.

Quirks: uh I have 5 cats! Ones my fathers but he never takes care of his cat so i pretty much count him as my own (plus he likes me more than my dad and it pisses my dad off hehe) I have weirdly accurate intuition, it makes reading people easy, knowing what they want to hear and what they dont.

Uhhh dates and relationship wise I'm honestly happy doing whatever my s/o wants to do. All I want is to see their face light up.

My love language is physical touch, I dont like touching people but if it's someone I feel strongly about youd have to pry me away from them.

I once got kicked out of a library for starting a fight in it, trashy I know but I wasnt going to stand there and do nothing while my friends were being bullied and pressured into getting involved with a really dodgy man. I scared the bullies off for good at least B) they never bothered my friend again babey

Oh I'm also known around the area I live in as someone who's good at finding homes of lost pets. Often times I come across a lost animal and befriend it in no time and use my connections to find its family.

Sorry if this was rly long and thank you for your time!! I hope you have a fantastic day uwu if anything's too difficult to come up with ideas for I'm more than happy for you to change anything to make it easier for you too!

♡︎ matchup for anon

heya! here i am with another late matchup but i hope you still see this. i'm sorry about the delay (╯_╰)

bnha: i match you with . . .

natsuo todoroki !!

• this was one of those "heureka!" moments for me. you both hate your dads and hot weather? it's a match made in heaven! okay jk, these are just nice add-ons.

• what really made me consider Natsuo were your values and personality. kindness and friendships are important to both of you. Natsuo's a medical student so i am convinced helping others is high on his priority list too. he loves your driven and passionate nature because he doesn't go sugarcoating bs either.

• you're definitely the more energetic one while Natsuo only gets hot-headed about the things that are the most important to him. i think it's a good compromise, you can help each other out :)

• he was a little taken aback and cautious of your explosiveness at first but warmed up to it quickly after learning what a kind person you really were. now he thinks your dramatic attitude is funny during your sillier moments ٩(◕‿◕｡)۶

• speaking of, you lads met at an animal shelter. there had been a dog that was astray in the neighbourhood of his home, so Natsuo, being a responsible boyo, took it to the local shelter.

• then there you were, standing by the help desk with five kittens wrapped in your jacket in your arms. apparently someone had been trying to drown them so you'd taken care of the situation accordingly.

• Natsuo understood jumping into a lake to rescue the poor animals because he would have done the same, but you could have had just called the police?? it was extremely ridiculous but admirable at the same time to beat all those guys up.

• your chat turned into a pleasant conversation afterwards as you were waiting for the animals to finish their check-ups. Natsuo was a bit shy but you didn't mind and kept the chat going which he appreciated.

• later he volunteered to help you look for good homes for the animals you'd both found. during this project the two of you got to know each other quite well and ended up hanging out together afterwards!

• and from that point on, everything fell into place naturally. the growing spark between you was undeniable and you both knew it. Natsuo definitely liked you longer, he was just a lil dense about it . . .

• you're nothing short of a hero in his eyes but dear lord he worries for you. when he's attending lectures he sometimes can't help but wonder if you're all right and not getting involved in anything violent.

• attends to your possible injuries while nagging you not to be so quick to start a fight next time. in return, you playfully bully him for being such a mom.

• you join forces with Fuyumi to pick on him about your relationship. even though you're already together, soft Natsuo still blushes when his affection for you is brought up, it's entertaining for both you and Fuyumi.

• idk if you've heard but Natsuo's 181cm tall!! hugging someone has never been easier even if you happen to be taller than him. the only thing is his skin's naturally kind of chilly so he's lowkey worried if you dislike it but you always assure him he's perfect!

• one time he was stressed over exams so you baked him some blueberry muffins. he gave you the biggest hug and kiss because it's exactly all these little things you do that set his heart racing for you ♡︎

• "last night i saw a dream about being a frog and eating giant flies, it was gross."

• "oh, that just means your love life is about to become fun."

• "i'm not sure how those two are related."

• "just trust me. i'm a pro at this."

• he also likes giving you headpats as much as he likes receiving them! his hands are quite big so he often runs his fingers through your hair when you're cuddling or hugging. it's especially relaxing after a long period of studying. also him carring you on his broad back ԅ(￣ε￣ԅ)

• you enjoy the little things in life and complain about your fathers together. you've agreed to wait a while before even mentioning your relationship to them because, honestly, Natsuo doesn't want any more horrible influences in your life.

• you get him sucked into the world of video games. it's always fun to watch him struggle but he never gets salty about losing maybe a lil he adores your smile as you laugh at him for being so bad at them.

• your dates include: helping out at animal shelters and retirement homes, video game and movie nights (especially about true crime), arcades and astronomy tower explorstions. i feel like Natsuo's more into traditional, romantic and chill dates and that's your usual thing. though i see sometimes you going to get coffee and ending up solving a 50-year-old murder case instead (✧ω✧)

❦︎ ink box

— despite Natsuo's best efforts to distance himself from Endeavor, it wasn't quite as easy and everyone was very much aware of the Todoroki family. and now the son of the number 1 hero had a lover.

— it wasn't actually that troublesome at first. some newpaper paparazzi occasionally annoyed you but you didn't care for them. most of the time Natsuo and you had your peace during dates aside from a few casual fans.

— but of course there are all sorts of people out there, some out for revenge, some for money, and being desperate means using even the lowest of methods to get what you want.

— so one time it happened, and it was all that took. several bitter villains thought they'd get their revenge through you, silly as it may sound. they made a big show of kidnapping you and demanding Endeavor to 'make up' for his wrongdoing. but all got resolved thanks to heroes, the only casualty being Natsuo's heart from almost exploding from worry and his deepening hatred for his father.

— later on, it wasn't that Natsuo was worried about you not being able to handle yourself, he feared what might happen if more of powerful villains came after you.

— so, after some debate, you agreed not to meet up for a short while to let the fuse of the incident settle down. it would be safer once the media forgot about it. you still texted and chatter over phone though!

— but then a week turned into two weeks, then into a month. you were wondering what was taking Natsuo to say the coast was clear and did a straight-up inquiry through a video chat.

— you could see he was restless the entire time. he said you should wait longer just to be sure everything was calm before meeting up. you became irritated because he was obviously lying and not being his normal, brutally honest self.

— why was he giving you this crap straight to your face?

— truthfully, Natsuo hadn't been sleeping all right recently. ever since that day he had reoccurring nightmares about something awful happening to you. they were just dreams, he knew. yet considering his ruffled up past and the frequency of those horrible visions, it would have been lie to say he was unaffected.

— paranoia just wouldn't leave him alone, and no matter how much he wanted to hold you in his arms again and hated making up stupid excuses, the voice at the back of his mind whispered this was for the best.

— after a month and a half had passed you've had just about enough, however. whatever reason he was keeping you in the dark for did no longer stop you from crashing into his house and demanding the truth.

— Natsuo knew you and expected this to eventually happen. after you made such a powerful entrance though he also knew there was no getting around it this time. really, it was comforting knowing you cared so deeply.

— he told you exactly what had been happening and you resisted the urge to punch him in the arm for having such a mindset. but the look in his beautiful grey eyes was so heartbreaking you threw yourself to embrace him instead. your touch was everything Natsuo had craved for for all this time.

— you skillfully assured him for the next couple of hours while keeping the talk light-hearted (he had obviously been overthinking way too much already). soon enough the issue was resolved and you had a sleepover right there to make uo for the lost time (Shoto and Fuyumi kept eavesdropping on you because y'all were being way too loud in a cute way).

— "i love you, Natsu, but if you ever keep something like this a secret from me again, i can't guarantee the safety of your arm or your front door."

♫︎ music box

— If I Had An Airplane by SayWeCanFly

— This December by Rick Montgomery

— Round & Laundry from Carole and Tuesday

— Haven't Had Enough by Marianas Trench

— Bowie On The Radio by Ryan McMullan

♡︎ runner up: Dabi / Touya Todoroki

thank you for requesting, hopefully you enjoyed this! i'm really pleased about matching you with Natsuo, it's just so perfect. have a lovely day and remember to take care of yourself ♡︎

#len's matches #💥anon #matchups #bnha matchups

3 notes · View notes

shadedrose01 · 4 years

Text

Monster

Relationships: Harley Keener & Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Harley Keener/Peter Parker

Tags: Time Travel, Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Canon Character Death Discussed, Canonical Character Death, Its not shown tho, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Harley Keener Needs a Hug, Tony Stark Acting as Harley Keener's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure

Prompts: “2029, that’s not a real year” / time travel / future au

Notes: HAPPY PARKNER WEEK 2020 EVERYBODY!! Im so excited for this, and I hope you guys are too! We're starting off with a fic that's more irondad with Harley than parkner, oops 😅 BUT most of the rest of the week is allll parkner. Either way, I hope you all enjoy!! 💞💞

Read on ao3 here!

The tools he was subconsciously fidgeting with fall to the floor with a few loud bangs, and theres a quick thought of "oh shit, Jax" before its gone and the overwhelming reality of his situation smacks him in the face and floods his mind. This, this can't be real, he reasons, his eyes wide and his jaw dropped, his vision blurry from sudden tears as he stares at the hologram in front of his own two eyes. Blinks, ignoring the tracks that run down his cheeks, rubs his eyes hard, checks again. Because it can't be true, but the hologram still says "successful", still shows the 99.73% chance of working, still gleams in a bright green glow and illumates the entire room.

He releases a shuttering breath, takes a wobbly step back on legs that feel like they'll give out at any second, grasps on tightly to the table beside him to hold him upright as his gaze is still locked into the image still in front of him, still existent, still real even though it couldn't be, it was too good to be true, but it was.

He places his free hand hand over his mouth, his lips pulling at his cheeks as his smiles so unbelievably wide, tears slipping into his mouth unbeknownst to him because- he did it. He really did it.

Harley had found a way to recreate time travel. He had his chance.

Eleven years ago, Harley had disappeared into ashes and dust, had died along with half of the entire planet, the entire universe. Six years ago, he had returned, lost and confused, only to find his house in shambles, his mother dead and that Tony Stark- the man that had saved his life once upon a time- had done it again, along with everyone else by snapping the infinity stones and bringing everyone back, losing his own life in the process. A few days after that, he was called by Pepper Potts herself- or, Pepper Stark now, he later discovers- to tell him the news, and personally invite him to his funeral. A few weeks, and he was on a plane, then in a car, then surrounded by people, heroes in which he didn't know, seemingly the only non-powered kid there, outside of Tony Stark's daughter.

Six years ago, Harley Keener met one Peter Parker, and everything fell into place. Everything that was once dark, cloudy, uncertain after a whole five years of being gone, was now bright, sunny, and hopeful. They were at a funeral, sure, but Harley just knew that they were meant to be. They just clicked, and as the days, weeks, months, and years went on, they had grown together. First through their grief, then their confusion, their bitterness, fustration and anger at a world that had moved on without them, then through their connection, their love. They had talked through messages and even hand written letters when they were 16, 17, they had went to university together when they were 18, 19, moved in together when they were 20, 21, and adopted their Jackson, or Jax as they called him, when they were 22, 23. They were soulmates since the moment they met, had found each other when they needed each other most, and Harley had always said, always known that it was Tony who had put them together, who had put them in the same place and gifted them with the other, and Harley couldn't have been more thankful.

And yet... Harley couldn't get this stupid idea out of his head. He had gotten it the first year after, when he had drank away his sorrows and clambered to the lab, throwing things out of the closet, Tony's closet in a fit of passion, of agony and loss, until he had stumbled upon two glass tubes full of a vibrant red liquid and had frozen solid, like a deer in the headlights, an idea, a plan forming in his head. He had scribbled down everything he could think of, he drew what he remembered of the way the time portal had looked, had rambled to Peter about once he had come home from his patrol- his coping mechanism of the time- trying to think of ways to recreate the very time machine Tony had recreated to go back to retrieve the stones, only instead of getting stones, they'd be saving him, saving Tonys life and it would be great.

But, then he remembers how Peter had shut it down then and there, how upset the other man had gotten, thinking Harley was insane, telling him of all the things that could go wrong, of how it could change the entire outcome of the universe, and then, once he recognized how drunk Harley truly was, had dragged him to bed and given him an ultimatum in the morning, had told him to forget the idea in the morning, or else they were over. And Harley had forgotten about it for a while, had put it into the back of his mind and tried to focus on the here and the now, tried to focus on their relationship, on Peter, on his kid, on their lives... but he just couldn't get it out of his mind. Not completely. It was like an itch he couldn't scratch, that just grew more and more itchy the longer he ignored it. When he had proposed to Peter underneath the stars, at a candlelight dinner, and they had called all of their family afterwards, he had felt a pang in his heart. When he had gotten married to the man of his dreams in the forest, surrounded by their family and friends, he had ached, knowing Tony would've been in the front seat, probably crying like a baby, even though he'd never admit it. When they had adopted little Jax, and gotten to hold their baby for the first time, Harley had yearned, aching for the father figure in his life to help give him advice, to help tell him what to do, to be there at all. Even though Tony and Harley hasn't been close before everything, he had always wanted Tony to be there for these steps of his life, and he knew, knew that Tony had wanted it too. He wanted to rant to him about his crush, wanted to ask for his hand, wanted him to walk him down the aisle, wanted him to teach him how to be a dad, wanted to tell him all about Jax and his quirks, his first steps, "He's babbling now, Tony, it's the cutest sound you'll ever hear!" and he just...

He hears footsteps walking down the hall, and Harley's breath hicks. His gaze shifts to the two smaller tubes on full display on his desk, just beside the reactor for Iron Lad suit that he had upgraded for this exact situation, just in case this moment ever happened. He hears Peter call his name, sounding a little worried, and his gut drops, his heart beating like stallion galloping in an open field. He doesn't think as he grabs the reactor, sticking it to his chest and pressing it, feeling the nanites fall into place over his skin as he also grabs the tubes, putting one into the canister and the other into a holding area, for his way back, before racing to the platform and hovering his finger over the button, the system already set to bring him back to April 15th, 2023.

He knew Peter would be upset, and might hate him, might leave him for this but... he had a chance, and he just couldn't let it go. He squeezes his eyes shut, feels more liquid slip down his cheeks, silently begs for forgiveness before pushing the button just as his helmet falls in front of his face, Peter's face, full of unbridled fear being the last thing he sees, a scream of his name being the last thing he hears before he shrinks, collapsing again and again as he weaves through tunnels of nothing, of time, he assumes, his eyes narrowing and his teeth clenching as his body is bashed around by the wind and speed of his decent, until suddenly he's on the ground again, on all fours, his hands and feet grabbing onto dirt and surrounded by dust particles floating in the air. Harley gasps, panting out fast breathes as he sits up, and turns to look behind him, his mask retracting instinctively as he sees the ruins of the Avengers Compound, and loses his breath again.

He's here, holy shit, he's here, he's doing this, oh my god Peter was going to kill him.

His head whips around as he hears a loud yell, multiple yells, and then screaming, sounds of weapons clashing and fists thumping, people fighting, and it brings him right back into his reality, his helmet returning over his face as he creeps forward, around the rock (or scrap of compound, Harley couldn't tell) that he was hiding behind to see the battle firsthand, the allies matched by the enemies one for one. From here, Harley can see Black Panther, T'Challa swiping at an aliens ankles before jumping on top of him and slitting his throat, while his sister Shuri is beside him, shooting lasers the smaller ones rushing beside them. A wizard is using a magic rope against another alien creature, holding it down while a... goose? Duck? Burns its face with a cigar. Harley doesn't know why he's surprised at that, he's seen weirder in his years, but he shakes it off quickly, whispering for his AI, TON-EE, to track and find her namesake.

He can't be seen, he knows that much. Iron Lad didn't exist at this time, Harley wasn't apart of the battle, and now, as he watches it take place all around him, smells the sharp bitterness in their air, breathes in particles and coughs out soot, he's sort of thankful that he wasn't, a complete contrast to the nights, the years spend wishing that he was.

TON-EE beeps at him, and then a map comes up, of one large red dot surrounded by what looks like a million tiny white ones, all allies and enemies, and when it zooms out, Harley can see its right in the middle, right where all of the action is. Of course Tony could be there, in the hardest place possible for him to get to. He's gotta make things harder for him, even after death. Or, before death? Whatever, it doesn't matter. Or, it won't, if Harley gets his way.

He's just gotta get there now. He can hear the battle raging on in the background as he whispers to TON-EE, and starts to fly, feeling the armor shift as it turns and flips, the retroreflective panels going into place and turning him mostly invisible to the naked eye. Normally he wouldn't fly when in this mode, his replusors and their glow would give him away, but he's hoping the battle will be enough of a distraction to where nobody will notice. Or, if they do, they'll ignore it for the time being, and assume he's just another ally. He makes sure he's high above the battle, making sure to keep an eye on the flyers around him- Falcon is dropping grenades and bombs further into enemy territory, and Ant-Man, while huge, couldn't move very fast, so he should be fine- as he zooms into the warzone, moving quickly and efficiently, watching as the red dot gets bigger, closer.

He feels something out of the corner of his eye, in his blind spot, and he jerks backwards at the last second, just as a giant white Pegasus flies past him, a woman on its back and a higher pitched scream of "woAH-" flying past afterwards, hanging from- from a web, Harley freezes, realizes, watching Spider-Man, watching Peter cling to the web as he gets thrown around haphazardly, hanging off of the horse, clutching onto what he knows is the infinity gauntlet, remembers from when Peter told him so all those years ago, a few months after all of this. Told him that he had it, that he should've held onto it when Carol asked for it, should've gotten the stones and used it himself, should've saved everyone himself, he mightve survived it after all but Harley had only felt fear, knowing that he wouldn't have. He shakes the memory away, and follows the swirving horse, the clinging spider, knowing it'll lead him straight to where he needs to be.

The thing was, Harley had forgotten why Peter had fallen to the ground, why Carol had gotten the chance to ask him for the gauntlet, only remembering when he hears a scream of "Look out!" Before all hell breaks loose, canons shooting down from the sky and exploding to the ground, shaking the earth beneath him.

"Shit!" He tries to fly out of the trajectory, tries to get out of the battlefield while still staying close, but his leg gets nipped by the beam, he gets thrown off balance, and then he's falling, and crashes to the ground with a loud bang that's sounds quiet compared to the booms of the canons, of the tremors of the earth he can now feel beneath his fingertips, his entire body shuttering with the ground. He groans, his body searing with pain, before his mind reboots and the panic sets in. He checks the storage area, sighing with relief when the vial is still in tact, before checking his system to see whats broken, what's working, whats still up. His back replusor is down, so his flight system is gone, but outside of that, it seems everything is still working, and he breathes out a sigh of relief. Its okay, he can still do this, he'll just- have to find his way on land, he'll just have to be more careful.

He glances around, the earth still exploding around him, hearing wails of pain from people he can't even see, dust scattering in the air and blood seeping into the dirt, his stomach churning at the sight and his ears ringing as he tries to focus, stepping forward to run into the field, to find his way to Tony just as the tracker system reappears in his field of vision, just as he sees the red dot basically overtaking the screen, just as he's grabbed and is suddenly in flight, weaving through the air in somebody's arms.

Before Harley can even struggle, he's being dropped, the two suits landing back down at the same time, and Harley turns, his eyes widening as he sees the signature red and gold, scruffed and marked and dirty from the fight, the bright blue glow of the arc reactor, and the two eye slits that disappear as his visor retracts and suddenly Harley is stumbling because oh my god, he did this, this is it, this is- he is-

"Kid?? Is that you?" Tony asks, voice full of wonder and awe, full of bewilderment and concern, his iries a little darker, softer than he remembered, his hair and beard full of gray hairs and his face full of wrinkles from smiling, laughing, crying, and he's so real, this is real, that Harley can't help the sob that bubbles out of his chest, that slips past his lips. He can hear Tony still talking to him, saying something about Harley's suit, but he doesn't even hear it, can't hear it as he stumbles forward and pulls the man into a tight hug, his body lurching forward in another silence cry, tears flowing down his pushed up cheeks harder when he feels the warmth beneath his fingertips, the smooth metal and the feeling of skin and stubble against his cheek and he's here, he's okay, he's alive. "Harley?" The man murmurs quieter, sounded so confused but also not questioning, seemingly not caring as he pulls the younger man closer, running a hand down his back and pressing a kiss to the side of his head. "Bud?"

"I'm sorry," He blurts out, and he doesn't even know why he says it, but he needs him to know, needs him to. "I'm sorry. I just-" He rubs at his eye with a free hand, burrowing his face into Tony's neck, feeling the rapid bump of a heartbeat beneath his skin and sobbing again. "I missed you so much." Its a whisper, under his breath, one he doesn't mean for Tony to hear, but its clear he does, the man stiffening up for a few seconds before untensing with a shaky breath, tugging Harley even closer.

They don't say anything else for a while, Tony clearly thinking, putting together pieces of a situation he shouldn't even know, that Harley never should have told him, but he can't care, doesn't care right now as he feels Tony move, feels his chest rise and fall with each breath, feels the heat beneath his skin, feels his jaw moving and his cheek shifting as he blinks, and breaths, and lives. Harley could stay here forever, and be happy, but he knows he can't, knows that isn't how this day should, or can, go.

"What year are you from?" The older man questions, finally breaking the silence between them as he seemingly put the puzzle together, and Harley releases a shaky exhale, shutting his eyes, longing to block out the world and live in this moment forever.

"2029," He answers anyways, honestly, and suddenly Tony snorts, Harley furrowing his eyebrows at the seemingly random sound until-

"2029? Come on, that's not a real year."

Harley bursts into chuckles, unexpectedly, and from the grin it places on Tony's face, that was the purpose of the tease. "I mean it, old man. 2029."

Tony lets out a noise similar to a squawk at the old man comment, and lightly smacks the back of his head as Harley snickers, feeling so light and warm, he missed this, he missed this feeling so much, and seemingly sensing the sadness lingering under Harleys skin, the mood darkens again, their voices quieting again as Tony whispers, "2029, wow."

"Yeah," Harley whispers back, feeling the heaviness in the air on his back, his shoulders, his lungs, almost suffocating him with its thickness.

"So you're... 24?"

"23." He corrects, as Tony finally steps back and Harleys fingers twitch to pull him back in, as Tony's hand grabs his chin lightly, a thumb rubbing his cheek in a soothing, paternal gesture, his eyes softening even more, growing shiny in the faint gray light.

"All grown up."

Harley hums in affirmation, ignoring the way the back of his eyes start burning again, his heart swelling. "I have a kid, a son." Now that he has the chance, everything just seems to be spilling out of him without filter.

Tony's eyes widen and his face glows with a pride that makes Harley's shoulders shutter again, even as his smile widens far enough to break his face. "A son, huh?"

"Yeah, me and- me and Peter adopted him a few months ago, his name is Jackson Anthony, and- and he's perfect, Tony, he's perfect, he's so small, and sweet, and he barely cries, he's like a dream." And that he's started, he can't seem to stop, spilling quickly about Jax, and about Peter, the wedding, their life and how wonderful it is, how much he loves them, but before he knows it, he's biting his tongue and freezing into place, words on the tip of his tongue that he dare not let out, he can't, his chest feeling heavy and aching as he thinks, 'God I wish you could've been there'.

Tony just smiles, tight and sad, like he knows what he's thinking, like he knows what happens, and brushes another tear off his cheek as he asks, soft and low, "Harley, why are you here? Why did you come back?" And Harley just stares at him, begging and pleading him to understand without him having to say it, and when the mans face shutters, his eyes darkening and his smile tilting into a light frown, he knows that he does. "Kid-"

"I couldn't-" He shakes his head, clenching and unclenching his hands rapidly. "I had a chance, Tony, and I had to, I have to-"

"You can't, bub." Tony murmurs, and Harley just shakes his head again, harder, firmer.

"I have to."

"You can't." He restates, holding onto Harley's arms tightly and forcing him to make eye contact, to look him in the eyes even if Harley wants to look anywhere else, wants to think of any other way, any other option than this. "This is my destiny, kid."

"It doesn't have to be, there has to be another way," Harley pleads, "Captain Marvel could survive the snap, I did the calculations, if I just get the glove to her-"

Tony just shakes his head too, looking eerily serious, sullen. "It could change too much, it could change everything, Harley-"

"So? You'd survive-"

"You have a husband, and a kid-"

"So did you!" Harley spits back, shaking off Tony's hold and glaring at him, even as he shakes, and swallows around a lump in his throat. "You had Pepper, and Morgan, and- and Peter, and me and you just- you still want to just-"

All of the fight rushes out of him, and his shoulders slump, his head held low and salt pooling at his chin, dripping to the floor. Tony takes a step forward, and carefully places a hand onto Harleys shoulder, stating calmly, accepting, "I made my choice, kid. And I don't regret it." When Harley peers up at it, face scrunched up in agony, Tony continues, soft and sad. "How can I, when I get to see this? When I know you and Peter are so happy, when I-" He swallows. "When I hope Pepper has moved on, and Morgan has got the chance to grow up with his two older brothers." He squeezes Harley's face, and gives him a smile made only for him, full of honest, open love. "How can I regret any of it, when I know all of my family is together again?"

"Without you." Harley chokes out, and Tony's smile stays, shrugs once.

"If thats the price to pay, I'll pay it. I told myself I'd do anything, anything to get you and Peter back. I knew it was worth it, worth anything, and now, this," He rubs Harleys cheek as he crumbles with another agonizing sob, "Now I know for sure. It was worth it. It was all worth it."

Harley falls into his arms again, wailing loudly into his chest, and Tony just soothes him, shushes him quietly and holds him close. "I miss you so much,"

"I know," He murmurs faintly.

"I love you so much." He sobs, and Tony just presses a harder kiss to his head, and holds it there for a few seconds, liquid dripping onto his head.

"I love you too, polpetta. More than you'll ever know."

"I don't know if I can- can lose you again."

Tony doesn't answer this time, and Harley cries harder, his entire body tremoring just like the ground did, knowing, knowing he has to back, knowing he cant change Tony's mind, but aching, his heart shattering and crumbling into pieces of dust similar to the compound surrounding them, and it takes a few more minutes, a few more moments of a hug so tight it makes his muscles whine, his bone creak, before Tony tells him quietly, melancholy. "You gotta to back, Harls."

He squeezes the man again, nodding, knowing he's right, knowing his husband his back there in the garage waiting for him, knowing his son is in his cradle, fast asleep, knowing his life is waiting for him back home. He savors the last few seconds of holding his father, his dad in his arms, before he steps back. Tony gives him a grin, one last, big toothy smile, a complete contrast to the shine in his eyes, on his cheeks, and Harley smiles back, saying one last "I love you," and hearing it echoed in return.

"I love you too. Both of you, all of you."

He takes the vial out of the storage slot, putting into place, and glances up one last time, searing all of Tony's features into his mind, into memory, his words echoing in his head as he presses the button, whispers a goodbye, and shrinks.

The return back is much faster, Harley only getting a blink before he's back in his garage, the room a mess similar to how he left it, and the first thing he sees is Peter, his husband, the love of his life still stood in the very same place, in the doorway of the garage, his baby browns wide and teary, looking so fearful, so scared, yet so thankful that Harley returned.

"Harley?!?" He gasps, and Harley barely gives his suit time to retract before he's rushing forward and crashing into Peter, Peter already into soothing mode and whispering faint reassures, to himself or to harley he doesn't know, Harley crumbling again in his arms and sputtering out, over and over and over, "He loves you, he loves us, loves us so much." Like its the last chance he'd ever get to say it again.

Peter just holds him close, similar to the way his dad did only moments before, and Harley sinks into the warmth, vowing to live in the here and the now from now on. To live in the moment, and be there for his husband and his son, knowing that Tony was watching over them, with that same proud smile and little glint in his eyes.

#parkner week 2020 #parkner #parley #harley keener/peter parker #harley keener #peter parker #tony stark #irondad #this is mostly irondad oops #sorryyy #the rest of the week will be better #or more parkner anyways 😂

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aprilwritesabook · 4 years

Text

I appolgize in advance for this long ass post haha.

Alright, so here's the deal. This post is gonna be part rant, part confessional, and part inspirational speech. So if your following this blog purely for the updates on my books you can skip it haha.

I know a currently published author. I used to kinda be friends with them in highschool, but it was more like a friend of a friend type deal. But I digress. Point is. They recently released there second book on Amazon. And I really wanna be happy and proud of them, and to see it as an inspirational thing, buuuuut I'm almost 100 sure they are actually a fraud?

And that's not me being bitter. I really really really wish this wasn't the case. But I have the evidence to back this theory up.

1- they claimed that there first book sold out multiple times. And to be fair this one might be at least partially true. Its rated pretty high on amazon, But then again they only have 4 people rate it and three of those people are the editor formattor and artist for the book. Soooo. Yeah I sure hope they rated it well.

2- they are constantly posting stories to there social media that are far fetched at best. They work in a bookstore. And almost every other week its a slightly diffrent story about a customer who "didn't even know" he was the author who would "burst into tears" the second he told them what the book was about because they were just Soooo touched by the message that they wept to a total stranger??? If that had happened even once it would have been an odd occurance. And this is something that apparently happens alllll the time to them. (I hate to drudge up old memes like this, but)

3- this person has recently made a tick tock and a youtube channel. And like, the content isssss questionable? And that's not necessarily a crime or anything. But they give updates about it on social media as if they are speaking to a mass of adoring fans and like...you can see how many subs and views a person has. We know he dosn't have a big fan base. And I know that sounds harsh. But like, some more gullible people have asked him for advise on how to be "successful" and "gain a following", and he answers them with authority. Like he has the answers even though he clearly dosn't? And that feels really... disingenuous at best?

4- along the same vein as 3. They recently made a post on twitter about how they are "overwhelmed by the amount of love and support they have found on the site" and how they get "some many heartfelt messages." Annnd again. I clicked the account. They literally have 5 followers. And not a SINGLE person has EVER liked, retweeted, or commented on a SINGLE tweet of theirs. Not one. Soooo like not only are you pretending to have a huge fan base that dosn't exist your also making up there engagement with you? Which this alone I feel brings validate to my doubts about the other things. Clearly they arn't above blatant lying and extreme over exaggeration. And also they either don't realize we can all seeeee these facts. Or they don't think anyone will actually check and call them on it ?????

Now there's a lot of other examples I could give. But my point isn't to put this ONE person on blast. I'm not trying to start beef or cause damage to their reputation or anything. Which is why I won't say their name or what there books are. The only way you'd know who I'm talking is if you also knew them in real life. In which case you either already know all this, or you should, so you don't fall victim to their lies.

The reason I'm saying any of this at all is because I think I know why they are doing it. And why so many indie authors or would be media mogels feel the need to do this.

The issue with trying to "build an audience" and "self market" yourself, is that you really only have 2 ways of guaranteed sucess.

You either need to have a pre established audience based on success you've already had in the past. (IE youtubers and movie stars writing successful books cause there fans will buy anything of there's reguardless.)

Or you need to buy your way in. Be it by quitting your day job to make social media your full time job, buying ads, hiring a social media person,or hiring a team of people with their own audiences (audio book narrators, cover artists, managers, ect)

And if you don't ALREADY have an audience, and you don't have the funds to BUY your way in, then your just gonna have to get real lucky.

You can be lucky for knowing somebody with an "in". They work in publishing, or advertising, or they're your rich uncle. Just someone who you can go to to get that boost one way or another to get one of the first two methods going for you.

You can get lucky by commenting the right thing on the right post and gaining followers that way. Or by being in the right place at the right time to meet somebody important.

You can be lucky by having lots of supportive friends and family who will promote you and your work FOR you.

Or lastly (and this is in the realm of being a one in a million case here. So it basically never happens without one of the other things I mentioned also being true.)

You can be lucky by working REALLY hard, and being REALLY talented, and having the world actually NOTICE YOU somehow? Just one person with influence who can find you in your dark hole of insignificance and shine a light on you so now the world can actually seee you.

And that sucks.

You could write the greatest book in the whole world. Truly a masterpiece. But if nobody buys it or reads it because they don't know who you are??? Then it dosen't matter does it?

It sucks Soooo hard.

Because untill you get those people with influence to shine a light on you, theres nothing you can do. And the market is soooooo drenched in new indie authors that the odds of the right people finding and liking your book are slim to none.

Its super unfair.

The people who have the influence arn't gonna buy a book with 0 reviews and no social media following.

Why? Because THEIR brand depends on only recommending the good shit. And they need to find that good shit NOW. If they read every book written by nobody's online, they'd have to wade through ALOT of garbage. wasting all their valuable time and money till they found something worthy. And honestly, from a business stand point, you cant really fault them for that

This is where the lies come from.

So basically no matter how you look at it, or what your strategy is, In order to get fans, you need to ALREADY HAVE THEM.

When your just starting out. And I mean truly at square one. It really feels like the only way to "make it" is to "fake it"

If you PRETEND to have a big following. And you PRETEND your books are selling really well already. And you PRETEND that people care deeply about you and your work... Then there is a chance that nobody will do the homework to find out its all a lie.

And if they think your successful already, then it sends a message to the consumers brains of "well they must be good. Everybody loves it/them".

It sucks that so many people who have found real success did so with lies, cash, and being already well connected.

And then they buy it, and they follow you, and the confirmation bias sets in, and eventually you'll dupe enough people into liking you that you don't HAVE to lie anymore.

Those of us with no cash and too high a conscious to lie our way to the top are left with virtually no chance of succeeding no matter how hard we work or how good our content is.

And I'm not claiming to be "better than" or "more worthy" than anyone else. I wanna make it clear that of your in the portion of having it fake it so you can follow your dreams then more power to you. Its a valid strategy. I hate that it works and I hate that its the only option sometimes. But I don't hate the people as creators for "doing what it takes." I get it. Really I do.

And it suckks major ass that so many people feel like this is the only way.

My whole point here. Is that we have slowly built a system where this is our reality. And honestly? End of the day? There's not a damn thing we can do to change it at this point.

In a perfect world made of unicorns and puppies. I could say "hey lets all go ready books by completely unknown authors. Be the change you wanna see in the world." But at the end of the day, especially in the unfiltered world of self publishing, It would be a complete shot in the dark to spend your resources on something completely unknown. We rely on word of mouth, and "best sellers" and high following to do the work of filtering out the bad stuff for us and it would be unrealistic if not impossible to go back on it now. Even if we wanted to there algorithms and shit built into the code. You'll never find the books that Amazon dosnt want you to find unless you search for it directly.

Now comes the confession/inspirational bit

I know all of the above to be true...But I'm choosing not to care

I'm not gonna lie my way to the top. I'm not gonna hide my struggles out of fear of seeming inferior. So here goes

I struggle a lot with depression and anxiety. I've been working on it, and I've gotten so much better in recent years. But there are always gonna be times when I slip up and my mental illnesses take over

When I was writing my first book I felt really empowered and good about myself for finally getting past all my own barriers and following my dreams.

And then once I was done writting and editing and I was ready to show the world and get feedback. I flopped.

I couldn't find anyone willing to beta read. Those who said they would do it (even people who claimed they "couldn't wait") ghosted me after I actually sent it to them

I was hoping to get 20 people. I really wanted it to be the best it could be. Only 11 actully signed up. Of that 11, 5 people actually read it: My spouse, my brother, my best friend, and 2 others. Those two others read the first bit I sent them, took a few weeks to get back to me, said they loved it, but then Neeeeeeeeever got back to me when I sent them the next chunk.

Now you can look at all that and come to the conclusion that it sucks. I know I sure did.

The struggles at each step made me doubt myself more and more to the point that I almost gave up writing all together.

And I didn't want to take about it or how it was making me feel, even though it was having a serious impact on me. I wanted to bottle it all up and let it consume me. Allllll because I didn't want people online to write me off as a failure before even giving me the chance.

I wasn't lying about being successful. I was just trying to hide the fact that I wasn't.

And that's almost as bad. Because then all the new authors just feel worse about themselves and their journey because they think they are the only ones.

Your not alone.

Everyone is struggling.

We just aren't talking about it.

I haven't written a word in over a week because I've been so afraid my second book will be dead on arrival like my first.

And I KNOW somewhere out there is someone just like me whose thinking of giving up.

Don't.

Just keep going.

Do your best. And then come find another struggling writer and share with each other. The world outside might not understand your struggle. But another author might.

We can't change the market. We can't change the way social media works, or how people decide if they will buy things

But what we CAN change, is whether those of us within the community want to be honest about our struggles and frustrations. Or if we want to hide them away and lie about them for the sake of making more sales

I think by being honest with one another we can create a better network.

That way the next time you feel like garbage for not being an "instant celebrity" like everyone else. you can look at the community and realize that you were never the problem

If we just keep making new writing friends our collective reach will eventually take hold in the outside world. Don't wait for a random influencer to notice you. Just make one friend at a time. Be known amongst your peers and maybe the rest will follow

And if your a writer desperate for feedback, or just a friend to share your troubles with. Hit me up. My inbox is always open.

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madison02me · 5 years

Text

Reunited

There had been a distinctive rise in crime in the kingdom of Corona lately, frequent reports of petty theft and coning. But Eugene is more focused on the fact that he keeps lying to Rapunzel.

Well, lying was a big word. He just had never told her the whole truth. He wasn't an orphan. Well, he was, before he was adopted; by two men, named Miguel and Tulio.

(Based on this prompt: https://somethingscarlet13.tumblr.com/post/157973954130/where-is-my-fic-where-theres-a-new-rise-of )

To say that Eugene was happy, would the understatement of the century. He never thought that he could even have the chance to be this happy, it certainly was a far cry from the orphanage where he was found. Rapunzel was his dream come true...which is why he hated lying to her about his past.

Well, lying was a big word. He just had never told her the whole truth. At first, it was because he barely knew her, then it was because he was afraid she wouldn't except him for it, which he admits was a stupid idea. But now, he was just in too deep. He knew that if he told her now, she might never forgive him for not telling her the truth. He had to keep up his alias as the thief orphan boy who grew up to find the missing Corona Princess.

Except, he wasn't an orphan. Well, he was, before he was adopted; by two men, named Miguel and Tulio.

-------

Eugene was sitting in the throne room while Rapunzel spoke with a few of castle's royal advisers, they were talking about the numerous wedding gifts that the kingdom had received from some of the neighbouring kingdoms.

It had been just over a month since Eugene and Rapunzel had gotten married. It had been the perfect wedding, well, except the ring bearers looked like they had gone through hell for some reason. But Eugene couldn't help but think of who should have been there, his dads. It had been over 5 years since he had run away to claim enough money to make sure they'd never have to worry about cash ever again. But, unfortunately, he had caught up with the Stabbington Brothers and his dreams morphed from getting money for his family to getting money for himself.

He's not proud of who he was after he ran away and before he met Rapunzel. He didn't regret running away, because if he didn't then he would have never met his sunshine, but that still didn't quell the hurt in his heart, knowing that he just run away out of the blue and then never spoken to them again, he hadn't even written to them since he left. And even if he wanted to now, they no doubt would've on from where they were staying since he had left, by now. He had no idea where they were, or even if they were still alive.

God, he hoped they were alive somewhere.

He knows he shouldn't worry, they've been in the business a lot longer than he had and always managed to get themselves out of tough situations, but he just couldn't help it, he wondered if they worried about him too. Knowing them, there was no way had hadn't freaked out when they found the small note he had left.

Eugene was brought out of his deep thing by hands being brought over his eyes, blinding him.

"Guess who?" A sweet voice said in his ear. He smiled as he lifted his hand to rub the knuckle of the soft hand.

"I didn't know that an angel had decided to visit the castle."

A small giggle could be heard before Eugene swiftly swiped the hands off his face before turning to sweep his new wife off her feet with her squealing all the way.

While Eugene could never forget his dads, for this moment he would put them aside to focus his whole undivided attention on his wife. "Now you hear me." She said in a cheeky tone after he had set her down on the ground. "What do you mean?" He asked, perplexed.

"I was calling you but you were so deep in thought you mustn't have heard me."

Yeah, he did tend to get like that when he was deep in thought.

"Aww, I'm sorry Blondie. I get like that sometimes." He said in an apologetic but embarrassed tone as he rubbed the back of his neck, not meeting her eyes.

"You wanna talk about it?" Rapunzel asked in a gentle voice, she could see that whatever he was thinking about, it weighed heavily on his mind.

Eugene shook his head, even if he wanted too, he couldn't burden her with his predicament.

"Nah, Sunshine. Everything's fine, just thinking about the new rise in crime that we've had recently. Simply can't figure out who's behind it."

While it was a lie, it was a believable lie, ever since he had become a Guard instructor, finding out patterns in the crime rate had become one of his jobs, and there had been a rise in crime in the kingdom of Corona lately, frequent reports of petty theft and coning. Which wasn't new, there was always going to thieves and con men in every kingdom you went too, but reports had significantly gone up in the last few weeks; just after the wedding.

Rapunzel had been with Eugene long enough to tell when he was lying but decided to not to press the issues, he would tell her when he was ready.

"Alright, if you're sure. You've seamed a little down since we got married..."

She couldn't help but worry about Eugene's mood, was he having second thoughts? Eugene's face switched from gloomy to panicked before gathering Rapunzel's face in his hands.

"Rapunzel, don't think for a second that I didn't want to marry you, for gods sakes, I was asking you for years. Do you think I'd keep asking if I was unsure? I've just had a lot on my mind and I didn't want to bother you, being a princess is stressful enough having to listen about my difficulties, I love you too much to stress you out like that."

Rapunzel's eyes widen at hearing the emotional speech, while Eugene wasn't an Apathetic person, it usually took a lot for him to talk about what he was truly feeling. She gathered him a tight hug, she didn't think that it was bothering him this much. This wouldn't stand.

"Eugene, knowing that something is bothering you and you thinking you have to hide it from me, well, of course, it will bother me. We agreed that we would never hide our problems from each other, if you don't want to talk about, then that's fine but don't hide for me, Please?"

Eugene hugged back as he listened, she was right, she was completely right. Pulling back from the tight hug, he places a loose strand of her golden blond hair behind her ear. He sighed, he couldn't take it any more, he couldn't take lying to her any more.

"You're right. You're completely right. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for hiding this from you and I'm sorry for lying to you."

At the word 'Lying' Rapunzel pulled back and arched her brow. Lying? Lying about what?

But before the princess had time to question her husband about what he meant the doors of the throne room were thrust open with so much force it made the two inside jump in fright. They quickly calmed down they only saw that it was just the captain of the guard as he quickly crossed the room before bowing at the knee.

"You're Highness, my Lord. We got them, we finally caught them." He panted out, he clearly had rushed over to tell them this information but the two were thoroughly confused.

"I-I'm sorry, what? Got who? Caught who?" Rapunzel spluttered out

"The thieves who have caused the rise in crime your highness, we caught them coning people out of their money with loaded dice." Loaded dice, a classic. He could remember making those for the first time, and who taught him...

"Oh, that's good, was there a lot of them?" He asked, there had been a big increase in reports of theft and people of being conned out of their money, so he expected a gang of some kind.

"Oh no, it was only two men. A blond and a dark-haired one. Almost got away when they posed a fake dual in the street, but we managed to catch up to them." The caption said, looking quite proud of himself.

... What?

No, there was no way.

"Wait!" Eugene yelled out as the captain turned to leave, supposedly to deal with the criminals.

"D-Did one of them a red shirt, grass-green eyes and golden blond hair while the other had a blue shirt with a brown vest, lake blue eyes and long black hair?" He asked in a rush. It couldn't be, it was impossible...

The Captain and Rapunzel were looking at him with wide eyes, what was he talking about? Did he know these men?

The caption nodded his head slightly, that was almost an exact description of the two perpetrators, he knew because had seen them himself.

"Y-yes my lord but I don't see-!" The man was quickly cut off as Eugene interrupted him with a loud, bellowing statement.

"Bring them to me! If the refuse, tell them... Eugene wants to see them." With the order, the man quickly bowed before again rushing out the door. Eugene then put his hands to his head, face full of shock and panic before beginning to pace around the room, muttering to himself.

"No, no no... There's no way...it's impossible...it can't be..." He ran his hand through his hair as Rapunzel watched with a shocked expression.

"Eugene... Eugene... Eugene!" She yelled out, trying to catch his attention as he was clearly distressed. She put her hand on his shoulder when he continued to overlook her. "EUGENE!" she practically roared in his face

With that roar, his thoughts were brought back to the present and Rapunzel. "Eugene, you're scaring me, why did you tell them to bring those criminals here? Do you know them?" She asked in a stern but confused temper.

Eugene figured that now was a good time as ever.

"Know them? They're my Dad's."

As almost on cue, the doors opened once again only slowly and two men stepped in. The room was silent and the two men stepped closer to the couple and as Eugene stepped forward.

All three of them couldn't believe their eyes.

"...Son?" The blond man said in a small, hesitant voice.

Eugene's eyes started to well up at hearing a voice he hadn't heard in 5 years.

"Dad, Papa..." Eugene didn't have time to think before Miguel and Tulio ran forward and enveloped their long-lost son in an almost crushing hug, but he didn't care, he just hugged them back as small treats started to run down his face, accidentally staining their shirts.

Rapunzel could only watch the scene before her, she was confused but from what Eugene had just told her, these men were Eugene's parents... but they were both men. But then she thinks about her past, she thought she had a mother, that was a lie, but she had been adopted by her so that means must have adopted him.

"Eugene, it's been so long. We missed you so much." Miguel spoke as he pulled back to cup his son's face. "Oh, you haven't changed a bit, look at you, you're so handsome. I wished we could have seen the wedding, but we just missed it, we didn't even know you were here until the news of your wedding became big news around the world. How have you been my son, have you been eating enough, no new scars' huh? God, I hope not."

Miguel was rapid-fire talking as he nuzzled his face against Eugene's. It had been 5 years, could you blame him for being a little enthusiastic to finally see the son he thought he had lost all those years ago?

Miguel caught eyes with the blond woman also in the room, and she waved slightly, looking a bit bewildered but happy. Miguel's eyes widened as he realised just who he was looking at and the ring on her finger made it even clearer.

Pulling back completely he walked closer and bowed at the beautiful woman's feet. "You must be the long-lost princess who was able to get our son to stay in one place, so we could find him and I must say you are the most stunning creature I've ever seen," He then gently picked up her hand and kissed the knuckle, he then glanced back at the dark-haired man who too had stood up and was watching them with intense blue eyes. "Well, the second most stunning creature I've ever seen."

Rapunzel's face went completely cherry red as the admittedly handsome blond man showered her with compliments. She smiled as the man stood before her. "Oh where our manners, I doubt that our Eugene has told you about us, So I am Miguel." Without missing a beat the dark-haired man stepped forward and put his hand out to shake. "And I am Tulio." She gently gripped the hand in from of her and gave a hardy shake, the more she was around them, the more excited she grew, She had IN LAWS!!

"It's very nice to meet you guys, and your right, I didn't even know you two existed until just now," While she said it in a joking tone, it was complicity true. "But still, I look forward to getting to know you, gentlemen."

At the mention of Eugene, Tulio's mood morphed from happy to meet Rapunzel to a fit of ferocious anger as he turned to his Son, without a word he stalked over to him, reached his arm up and gripped Eugene's ear in a death grip, pulling him down by it, causing Eugene to squeal in pain.

"OW! Owowowowow! What are you doing!?" Eugene squeaked out.

"EUGENE! What the hell did you think you were playing at running away like that?! Do you have any idea how worried me and your father were when we found you gone?!" Tulio yelled pulling his son away to Miguel and Rapunzel, who could only watch on, wincing in sympathy.

"I-I left a note!" Eugene pleaded, trying to quell his angry Papa, but it was no use, this anger had been building up for 5 years, there was no stopping him now.

"Did you really expect that to satisfy us?! We thought you had been taken away by the mob or something, we looked for months, only to find you had paired up with the Stabbingtion Brothers! Really Eugene?! The Stabbingtion Brothers?!" Tulio pulled his son closer, so he could stare right into eyes, he needed to understand how he was feeling.

"You didn't even write! Not once in 5 years did you write to us to even say you were still alive. We lost all hope, we honestly thought you were dead until your wanted poster started propping up everywhere! God..." Tulio's death grip had disappeared off his ear and his hands starting shaking and his breath hitching. Eugene could see that his papa was tearing up now and it shocked him, not once in all his life of knowing his papa did he ever see him cry.

Eugene was then again engulfed in a tight hug by his papa, only now he could hear the almost silent sobs that Tulio was emitting. Wrapping his arms around him, Eugene began to rub his back, hoping to soothe him as well as play with the slightly more-grey-then-what-he-remembered black hair. "You ditched us... We thought you had ditched us for a better life than we couldn't provide... Heh, you always did want your own island..." Tulio said against Eugene's shoulder as he clung to his son's vest as if he would disappear again if he were to let go.

Eugene could now see just how much his disappearance had affected his dad's. He knew they loved him, but he never expected that they would have worried that much or spent all there time looking for him, he still didn't regret running away, but he did regret never writing. He can't begin to imagine what they must have been feeling, he guesses he shouldn't tell them he technically died saving Rapunzel.

"I'm sorry. I never meant to abandoned you guys, I wanted us to be rich enough to the point where we'd never have to worry about cash ever again but I just got so caught up in all the promised riches I forgot who I was getting them for." At the end of his little speech, he motioned for his Dad and Rapunzel to come into the hug, which both joined in no time.

"Can you guys ever forgive me?" He asked, looking into the eyes of the three people who loved him more than anything in the world and the feeling was mutual.

"Only if you let them tell me every single embarrassing story of you they have under their belt." Rapunzel said in a teasing tone. "Oh, my dear, we have plenty of those, like that time he accidentally ran around naked in the city square?" Eugene's face when completely red at the mention of that story, he hated it. Why did he have to tell Rapunzel that one?

"Good one Miguel. Hey, you should tell them in Eugene's room, because that where he is going to be for a while." Tulio said gripping the back of his vest. "What? Why?" He asked, not unlike a child.

"You seriously think you can run away like that and not get punished? I don't think so." Tulio said, yanking him closer, just like a parent would, to make sure their child wouldn't get away. "You are Grounded. So very Grounded!"

"What?! I'm a fulling grown man!" Eugene protested while Rapunzel and Miguel vigorously laughed in the background.

Yeah, and I'm still your father and while I'm around, you'll listen to me. So Room. Now." Even though Eugene had been away from his parents for 5 years, but he still knew not to argue with his papa when he was like this.

So he led his family back to his and Rapunzel's room. Where they spent the rest of that day catching up, Rapunzel hearing the story of how Tulio and Miguel's first met and El Dorado and then Rapunzel and Eugene telling them how they met, everything was wonderful. This is exactly what Eugene wanted, his whole family together and learning about each other.

Life was going to be perfect from now on.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DIED?!?!?!"

"... I got better?"

He was so grounded for life.

#tangled #the road to el dorado #road to el dorado #tangled eugene #eugene fitzherbert #tangled rapunzel #rapunzel #non/disney #headcanon #tangled crossover #crossover #tulio and miguel #Miguel #Tulio #migulio #miguel and tulio #Disney #dreamworks

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starryse · 5 years

Text

Undead and the Living

Seventeen Zombie Apocalypse! AU

Words: 2,233

Genre: Supernatural, Zombies, Purely Fictional

Seventeen X reader, but the male lead is undecided until later chapters.

Chapter One

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The clock was slowly ticking by, as if time had just abruptly stopped. Pencils clicking against the wooden desks could be heard throughout the classroom as your teacher collected the tests. Most students had their heads down, ready for the bell to ring for break. You, however, had your eyes trained on the window to your right, continuously looking around the schools yard, as if something would magically appear and take away the boredom etched in your eyes.

As time went on, the ever lasting quiet continued, and the peers around you began to slowly drift off, drool evident as it seeped onto the geometry books in front of them. And you couldn’t blame them, with the mix of the silent room and the fact you had woken up merely two hours ago, drowsiness had fought its way to you as well. Your hand rested against your head, as you leaned onto the front of your desk, head slowly slipping down your arm. Everything was calm as you found yourself being in between your dreams and being awake.

What felt as hours had only been a few minutes when a sudden burst of yelling was heard through your closed classroom door. Your eyes snapped open as you slowly brought your head up. The confused eyes of your classmates travelled around the room, everyone looking around at each other as if they knew what was happening outside. Murmurs of what was going on were drowned out by the resounding noises that grew louder and more apparent. The bearded man who was once grading everyone’s tests rose from the spot behind his desk, stepping out to the door.

You sat in the corner, slumped by the window, curiously watching the teacher to see his reaction of the chaos outside. “Everyone stay here, and please keep calm and stay quiet. I’ll be back, I want to see what this uproar is about. Stay in your seats!” The teacher dismissed the class, opening the door and disappearing into the havoc taking place. As quickly as the man had walked out the door, it was slammed shut behind him.

Almost immediately after the adult had left the room, the air grew loud with conversations surrounding the events that could be happening just outside your classroom walls. All though you remained in your seat, not mixing in with all the rising talk, you couldn’t help but wonder yourself what exactly was going on. Was someone in your school? Did a famous singer suddenly show up at your schools front door? Was a fight going on? All these options had you slightly worried, no matter how big or small they may possibly be.

As you aimlessly looked at the classroom door, praying what was going out there stayed out, the boy with the rounded face that had been sitting next to you since the beginning of the school year, turned over to look at you.

“What do you think thinks going on out there? Soonyoung said he thinks it’s the freshman’s rallying against the no sugar ban.” As if you were brought back out of a trance, you turned to face the owner of the questions.

Honestly, you didn’t know what was going on out there. You didn’t even have a good guess as to what was happening. All the ideas that were temporarily filling up your thoughts were just irrationally based off of the curiosity and fear of what it could be. Sighing, you leaned back into your chair, sliding away a fly away from your face.

“Honestly, Seungkwan, I wish I knew. I don’t have a solid guess. I mean, for all we know maybe Soonyoung’s right. It just seems weird that all the screaming, and what seems like bombs going off, would be from a simple ban of sweets and sugary shit.” You glanced over at Seungkwan, then turned your head to look back at your original gaze of looking out the window.

Seungkwan hummed in agreement, his hand moving to ruffle his hair back. “That’s true, for all we know a horde of zombies could be roaming our halls.” Seungkwan booed like a ghost as he wiggled his fingers in your direction.

Laughing at the boys sad attempt to lighten the mood up, you swatted his hands away from getting closer to your sides as they inches closer. You grinned before reaching over to shove his shoulder, “you’re going crazy, Seungkwan.”

“Quite possib-“

Before Seungkwan could finish his retaliation, a loud thud banged against the shut classroom door. As everyone got up to examine what was now stuck against the door, you leaned over the desk trying to get a peak for yourself. Unfortunately for you, your desk was sat in the far back corner, not in a viewing distance of the silver door the students were gathered around.

A loud series of screams and curses were heard, the crowd jumping away from the door and scrambling to stand as far back from the entrance as possible.

“THERES A FUCKING HAND ON THE GLASS” the tall grey haired boy pointed to the door, ducking behind the now deceased teachers desk.

Not believing what the giant had,

ear-piercingly screeched, you stood up from the comfort behind your desk, walking your way over to the once crowded door.

You rolled your eyes at the immature words that were said, “Seriously you guys, were not 5. How about we don’t play sick jokes like tha- WHY IS THERE A BLOODY HAND ON THE DOOR, AND WHY IS IT MISSING FINGERS”.

Your hand grasped across your mouth, your

e/c eyes beginning to widen like the bug you spotted on the way to school. You looked around the room, making sure you and the now terrified Mingyu, whom was still hiding behind the desk, weren’t just going crazy.

In the midst of the freaking out and panicking everyone was doing INSIDE the classroom, you all had seemed to forget just what was happening outside. The bickering happening between you and the class was soon cut off.

“WAIT”

The class immediately shut their mouths at the sudden outburst from the class rep, Seungcheol. All heads turned toward the boy who was etching his way closer towards the door.

Soonyoung furrowed his eyebrows together, stepping away from Seungkwan, who was just ranting about the bloody hand, whose blood was still tragically smeared over the glass.

“What is it Coups?” Seungcheol looked out the door, scanning over the scene outside the safe haven classroom, his face mimicking the one the younger boy was showing. He turned his body back to his peers, them all messily scattered across the room.

“Do you guys hear that??”

You looked over at the boy by the door, walking over to where he was standing.

“Um, I don’t.. hear anything” you tilted your head, glancing over to Seungcheol. You pondered for a moment, maybe Coups is going crazy? His face frowned upon that, but his eyes told a different story. If he kept rolling them they’d end up falling out of his head, pft.

“EXACTLY- you don’t hear anything! Do you not recall the screaming and bangs that were JUST happening?”

As if on cue, your eyes widened once again. Your mouth widened, as a long oh fell out. You turned back around to the door, looking out the reddened glass.

Parts of bodies were left along the hallway floor. Massacred bodies were pressed against the long lockers, and splotches of dark red painted the once white walls. The lights that had previously lit up the narrow corridor were now glitching and hanging from wires off the ceiling. It truly looked like a scene from a horror movie.

Your hand covered your once hung open mouth, tears threatening to leak passed the surface of your eyes. “Oh my God, I- is.. is this what we were hearing?” You turned away from the horrifying scene. Your classmates. Your teachers. People you’ve known since you were 5, they were gone.

Mingyu got up from behind the desk, walking over to your huddled figure. His arms wrapped around you, pulling you away from the door. “Hey, hey, you’re alright y/n-ah. It’s out there, your fine. We’ll get through this, yeah? Cmon, lets sit down, hm?”

Mingyu was the closest thing you’ve had to a brother, a sibling in general. You grew up together, he was literally the boy next door. The first time you met the goofy giant wasn’t the best first impression a person could have. One minute you were playing soccer with your cousin, next minute you had a baseball flying at your face. One bag of frozen peas and a black eye later, you became friends with the frantic brown eyed boy who came rushing over apologizing endlessly. Truly the rest was history, the frantic energy never left him and he was there whenever he was called.

Mingyu sat you down on the widow ledge by the desks, leaning you against the wall. Everyone either came over to comfort you, or filed over to the door to see what had you worked up. Gasps were heard from the group huddled around the door.

It must have been near lunch time now, yet no one had the strength to make a move out the door. The images from the other end of the door were still glued in everyone’s brains. You were now sat in the teachers desk, rummaging through the drawers to find anything to get in communication with someone. Of course, the one time your school decides to get rid of any tech use.

Quiet conversations could be heard throughout the small room, and things seemed to be awfully silent outside as well. Out of the corner of your eye, a movement outside the door caught your attention. You tilted your head over to the door, narrowing your eyes towards the figure. “Pst! Cheol! Come over here!” You waved your hands over to the dark haired boy.

Seungcheol got up from the desk across from you, slowly walking his was over to your shrinked down figure. You both crouched down behind the door, popping your heads up just enough to peer over the glass. The figure you noticed earlier was now getting closer to the door, it’s pace steadily increasing when it sensed yours and Cheol’s presence.

“Fucking Hell I think it sees us! We need to move back, go, GO!” Seungcheol ushered you away from the door, the two of you fast crawling across the dirty floor. Your bodies immediately hid behind the desk, once again only showing enough to see what was coming at a quicker pace towards the classroom.

The figure was now directly in front of the door, it’s disheveled face practically stuck to the blood smeared glass.

“Is- is that Mr. Jeong?!” The blonde haired girl, whom you didn’t even know the name of, walked over to the door.

“JINAH NO, Get back!” Oh. So that’s her name. Her friend, you had presumed, pulled her back from being in the sight of the horrifying figure outside. Too little too late.

Your now rotting teacher had already seen her. The corpse began pounding on the door, it’s body jamming into it repeatedly. Not risking what could happen if it kept that up, you began to push desks in front of the door that was slowly beginning to creak open.

Taking your lead, a group of boys began to mimic your actions, quickly placing things in front of the door. They began stacking the desks, building up a wall in front of the thing on the other side. The door began to break from the constant beating, it’s hinges coming off of its sides and the wooden frame cracking into pieces. Everyone jumped back, praying the stuff in front of it would keep the decayed teacher out. The door began to crumble down, bringing the corpse with it.

Soonyoung walked in front of the group, getting as close as possible to the hallway as he could. A small ew could be heard from the red haired guy, his shoulders visibly cringing back. Soonyoung turned back a round, a slight smile on his face.

“Good news, the zombie thing is dead! Bad news, we’re trapped in our school during a zombie apocalypse.”

“Thank you captain obvious, please, any more info we should know?” The boy to your right spoke up, a displeased look taking over his features.

“Actually, Minghao, yes. That was the first undead thing we’ve encountered the past few hours we’ve been here. And luck just happened to be on our side when the stupid thing killed itself on accident” Soonyoung walked over to your now dead teachers desk, spinning the chair around with his foot

“...Butttt not every zombie is going to do that, and I have an itching feeling that’s not the only dead thing with us here. So. We need a plan, my friends.” He finished his little speech with a grin, sitting himself on top of the wooden desk.

Everyone’s mind went blank as the realization set in. You were in a zombie apocalypse. Flesh eating zombies are now roaming everywhere, and you just happened to be in a school.

You sighed, running a hand through your h/c hair. “Alright. Let’s come up with a plan then, and one that doesn’t end up with us all becoming a zombies lunch.”

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lesbianfreyja · 5 years

Note

hey do u have any ways u force urself to write. i need to write this fucking faulkner paper and like ik i can and itll be good once i do it i just need to Do It its already like 900 years late. im loving yahfhskjd law so so so so much btw i rlly love ur characterization for den and the whole fic is just so endearing and enjoyable like theres heaviness to it but its not like overbearingly angsty and its just rlly fun to read

i have some advice but it might not be universal or healthy (lol) and it differs heavily based on what i’m writing

fic writing is for fun, and that’s why i try to remember when i’m doing it. sometimes it becomes obsessive (because i have ocd, and because i love validation, and that’s quite the line to tread lmao) but ultimately i do it because i love it/i have shit to say/stories drum in my fingers until i get them out, even if it takes time. i’m glad you love it!!!! if people didn’t i’d get demoralized way more often! with fic writing, usually i can’t force myself to do anything until i know the basics of what i want down - right now i’m stuck on a scene b/t charlie and mac because i know what i want them to get out of it, but i have no idea what the outside context of the overall conversation will be. usually in that case, i just have to wait it out.

inspo will come to me when it comes, maybe from binge watching the show, maybe from watching smth else, maybe from a convo i have irl or a dream or what have you. in the meantime i write as much around it as i possibly can. i’ve currently written every single scene for the next chapter that either came easily or at least didn’t come extremely difficultly, and once i have part of a scene down i usually let the characters’ voices follow me through the rest of it…sometimes you just have to let them run free. writing fic for me is often a solid push and pull of me nudging the characters down the path i want them to take, but mostly i just sit there and imagine them talking, and see what they say. i have to parse apart exactly how i think they’d say it, but i can get a fair amount of their tone and message just from listening to them have the convo in my head. not to be extremely embarrassing on main but when i was obsessed with twilight, stephenie meyer basically said this in her faq and it really resonated with me lmao. this applies to original fiction btw too. that’s why its often easy to finish a scene once i’ve begun it, if i can get a piece of the convo than usually i can build outward - give me a snippet of a convo and i can begin to see their location, what started this convo, and their motivations. i’ll have to trim it down to fit their tone/how often they lie/how difficult they find it to express themselves later, but after i get it all out, it’s easier to cut away the ooc parts until you’re left with glances to convey what used to be a paragraph and what have you

can’t write a sex scene? have a drink or two and write it all spelling errors and all, it’s usually way dirtier than i intended too but you can clean ALL that up and make it in-character in editing

academic writing was never nearly as difficult for me, especially once i got to college. pretty much everyone i know used adderall to write essays, and i sat down a few times expecting to do that myself, but i ultimately never ended up needing it. in high school i was smart enough to more or less make shit up to get through it (i always say the only thing i learned in high school is how to bullshit effectively) but in college you get to pick your research topics, or they’ll hand you a book and tell you to pick whatever part of it you want to write about, so i usually latched on to one snippet of interest and expanded from there (many of my essays were about how the characters were secretly gay or more or less feminist than they should be, as you can imagine)

i was never much for formal outlines, and i DON’T subscribe to the 5 paragraph essay format, but i usually made a basic outline in my notebook so i’d remember to hit all the points i wanted to make/be able to steer myself back on course when i started rambling abt something. usually i have an overarching point, and like 2 supporting arguments that i go into HEAVY detail about and probably have some supporting arguments about them within themselves. make an outline that lists your thesis and your 2 or 3 main points. if you CAN easily, write down some supporting arguments for those main points, but don’t get caught up on it.

how do i start? just sit down and fuckin start. deadass. tell yourself that if you finish before 8pm you can smoke a bowl or something, then smoke a bowl after you’re done regardless of the time. then sit down and just start typing, WHEREVER your mind wants to begin. let it, it’s way easier to follow your motivation than try to corral it, you’ll just end up giving yourself writer’s block

intros are easy. don’t worry too much about starting them; you can come up with a catchy first sentence way later (same with a catchy ending sentence; i still CANNOT write last lines for the life of me). for your intro literally just say: These 2 or 3 things are connected, actually, and I think they connect in a specific way to prove [thesis]. you can bulk out the intro later, but MOVE ON. that’s not the important part of the essay, at all. if your thesis can’t be turned into a question THAT YOU THEN ANSWER, then it needs to be bulked out. you should be able to make it a question, for example: Why is Emily Dickinson a lesbian? becomes “Dickinson’s lesbianism is the driving force behind her decisions to do x, y, and z” in which x y & z are the main points of your essay.

don’t worry too much about sources or quotes. i can’t tell you how many times i just made arguments in essays and then put in brackets [find a throwaway quote about x to support this later], then highlighted the text so it’d stand out and i’d remember to get back to it later. then MOVE ON.

don’t get caught up in anything, not grammar, not specifics, not finding the perfect segue between paragraphs. just try to get down everything you have to say FIRST, or you’ll bog yourself down and lose steam. sit there until you’re done making your points, then take a break

conclusions are easy. scroll back up to your intro. what does it say? put that back down, exactly, and bulk it out a little by referencing some points in the main paragraphs of your essay. if your intro just said “x y and z is true” then your conclusion should say “her woodcarving shows x is true, the fact that the moon was full that day is why y is true. these two things make z true”

go back and find sources/quotes to plug into all the times you wrote [find a throwaday quote]

TAKE AS LONG AS POSSIBLE OFF. if you try to edit and expand immediately, you WILL fail to catch things. if you’re a little unfamiliar with your own writing, you’ll be able to catch things like spelling errors, things that make so little sense you have no idea what you were trying to say, times you forgot to plug in a quote, or when a transition sounds a little like a record scratching instead of playing smoothly

if you’re really pressed for time: just fucking send it in without doing a second reread, because FUCK IT. getting it done is more important than perfectionism; fixing those last straggling spelling errors gets you +2 points whereas being a day late loses a letter grade

most importantly: WRITE ABOUT WHAT YOU CARE ABOUT. if you’re only getting specific prompts, try to twist it as best you can until you give a fuck about it, it’s WAY easier to write about shit that matters to you. i LOVED twisting prompts until suddenly this boring ass white boy book is secretly about this minor female character that appeared on 2 pages, and after awhile i got really fucking good at it.

just sit down and start writing. you’ve got to start somewhere, even if you end up erasing and rewriting the starting point later. at least you’ve got the ball rolling.

#not to geek out and go full english major but i miss writing argumentative essays #like medium key #holy SHIT!! why is this an essay in and of itself like you didn't even ask lmao #fic stuff #yl #college #book tag #anon #ask

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piperemerald · 6 years

Text

Memories

I have commissions open and will write for pretty much any Votlron pairing or idea!

Pairing: Klance

Premise: In which Krolia sees a handful of memories Keith and Lance shared and gives Keith the motherly advice he needs.

Read on AO3

Krolia saw more of her son’s life than she let on. She knew that neither of them had any control over the moments that they saw, and didn’t want to embarrass him by bringing up the ones that she knew were clearly not for any eyes but his own. That didn’t mean she didn’t treasure each glimpse into the life she’d thought she’d never get the chance to be a part of.

Most of the memories hurt her heart. Part of her had always known that it wasn’t in Keith’s genes to lead a perfect life, but seeing how ripped at the seams his child hood was felt like a knife in her chest. The universe hadn’t been good to him. He’d struggled to survive and he was still fighting now.

However, there were a handful of moments that made her glad. As she had expected from what Keith told her of his life, all of these included the friends he’d found himself with. She’d heard stories of the paladins of Voltron as she continued her mission for the Blade of Marmora. None of the legends told in countless planets quite captured the quickly group of kids who’d sworn to save the universe.

Keith talked about Voltron without hesitation. Unlike the sore spots of his growing up or the still present wounds of the losses he’d endured with the Blade, this was a topic he seemed happy to share with her. That was why the glimpses she caught surprised her. While Keith loved talking about the group, he’d made a point to cut out a detail. That detail was Lance Mcclain.

Sure, Keith had talked about his former school rival and teammate about as much as the others, but he never told his mother what Lance really meant to him. She had to see that for herself.

The first moment happened a week after they had boarded the creature taking them through space. Keith was asleep, but she was too restless and had been spending the past hour watching the fire. It hurt her eyes, but there was something compelling about seeing the flames from and flicker out.

It happened without warning. One moment she was completely present, sitting next to her son’s sleeping body. The next she was standing in a crowded hallway. Only she wasn’t standing. She wasn’t there. She was seeing everything clearly, but it wasn’t through her own eyes.

Keith was just trying to get passed everyone else. He didn’t want to be here, he really didn’t.

"Hey, Keith!”

Of course he was being wrenched out of his thoughts by the most annoying voice he had to deal with. Of course he wouldn’t be allowed to just walk out of here without some sort of half-assed confrontation.

“What do you want?” He turned to face Lance.

“Seriously?” Lance had his arms crossed and what Keith imagined was supposed to look must more threatening than a pout on his face. “You can’t just call me out in front of everyone and saunter away.”

“It’s not my fault that you don’t know how to pilot,” Keith said smugly before grimacing. “Saunter? Really?”

“Just mind your own business next time,” Lance huffed.

“Whatever, Lance.” Keith shook his head, but he couldn’t help the small grin forming on his face as he walked away. He made sure Lance didn’t see it. He didn’t know how this kid would react if he realized that despite his determination that they were opponents, he was the closest thing Keith had to a friend in this place.

Keith had told Krolia he only vaguely remembered Lance from before they became paladins. She had a feeling that this was what he’d told everyone. She decided not to question the matter. Keith hadn’t meant to share that moment with her, and she wasn’t going to invade what he wanted to keep private any further than time was already making her.

Still, it was nice to see a younger him smile. So many of his memories lacked anything happy, and if this boy trying to irritate him could give him that then she was grateful.

Part of her did question why Keith was so dead set on keeping this a secret. It wasn’t as if Lance and him weren’t teammates, or that Voltron was as divorced on acting on emotions as the Blade. If her son was anything like her—and she knew he was—then emotional connections wasn’t something that came easy to him. Krolia only ever had a rare few loved ones, and most of those she had lost. At times that had made her more reserved, but it had also made her cherish love in the instances that she had it.

But many that was presuming too much. Keith might just not like to dwell on his life before becoming a paladin and a member of the Blade. That she understood more than anything.

That morning Keith seemed a little bit lighter. She wished she could say the same for herself. After seeing the memory it had been even harder to still her thoughts enough to fall asleep.

“Did you sleep well?” She asked her son as they began what had become their mourning routine.

“Surprisingly, yeah.” Keith smiled. It was the same smile that she’d seen in the memory.

The next one was just as unexpected as the first. She was watching Keith try to teach the dog how to fetch. They hadn’t settled on a name for him yet, mainly because Keith didn’t want to go with Yorak but couldn’t think up anything better.

In the eighteen years she’d been away from Earth, she’d managed to keep domestic fantasies at bay. However, watching Keith now made her think of what it might have been like if she stayed. She could see a much younger him with a much more Earth-like pet. She’d be watching them in the yard of the house her and her husband shared while he made dinner for the three of them. They’d talk about what Keith did that day at school and a million tiny trivial things that not one of them had really been allowed.

It was then that the real past took her dream’s place.

Keith was sitting alone in the control room. When he first joined Voltron he’d thought that it would be jarring to look out into empty space, but now he found it oddly relaxing. It reminded him how small he was—how small all of them were. For some reason, that made most of his fears calm down a little bit.

The peace was of course shattered by the sound of something falling behind him. Keith sprang to his feet, expecting—well, at this point he wasn’t even sure what he was expecting. His eyes were met with Lance, sprawled on the ground and looking thoroughly embarrassed.

“I wasn’t supposed to trip,” he informed Keith.

“Right,” Keith uttered.

“Hi,” Lance pulled himself to his feet.

“What are you doing awake?” Keith asked him.

“Hello, Lance. It’s nice to see you. How are you doing?” Lance attempted to imitate Keith’s voice.

“Whatever,” Keith shook his head. “It’s late.”

“Well, technically it isn’t.” Lance informed him, walking forward to sit down. “Since we’re in space and all.”

“You know what I mean,” Keith muttered. “Everyone else is asleep. What are you doing here?”

“What are you doing?” Lance asked back. “You’re awake too, you know.”

“I’m aware,” Keith said dryly. He sat down as well, for the moment accepting Lance’s presence. “I come here to think sometimes.”

“At midnight?” Lance asked.

“Yes, at midnight,” Keith rolled his eyes.

“Do you need no one else to be around to think?” Lance questioned.

“It helps,” Keith said pointedly.

“Then your brain should thank me for giving it a break,” Lance decided. “Also, I’m pretty sure theres a difference between thinking and brooding.”

“I don’t brood,” Keith said stiffly.

“Uh, yeah you do.” Lance informed him.

Keith sighed. He wasn’t in the mood to bicker, he just wanted to clear his head.

“What about you?” He asked Lance. “What are you doing here?”

“Oh, nothing,” Lance shoved his hands in his pockets. “I can hear Hunk snoring from the other room. Kinda hard to sleep through that.”

“The walls are sound proof,” Keith dismissed.

“Which is why it’s so distracting!” Lance exclaimed.

Keith didn’t buy that for a second. Flimsy excuse aside, Lance wasn’t a a great liar. Whenever he said something that wasn’t true, every part of him seemed to radiate an “I’m guilty” vibe. Keith was sure that made things a lot easier for Lance’s parents when he was growing up.

“So you can’t sleep?” He asked.

“I can sleep fine,” Lance brushed off. “When it’s quiet.”

“Right,” Keith nodded.

Why was it only now that he seemed to notice the dark circles under Lance’s eyes? Surely those hadn’t been there before. Someone would have said something. Shiro and Allura were the most observant and caring people Keith had ever met. They would have seen how tired Lance looked in a heart beat. It wasn’t like he could make part of his face go away.

Then again, Keith had once seen how many beauty products Lance had in his room. He could be covering the sleep bruises during the day. Still, that would mean that he was actively trying to hide whatever was going on with him from the rest of them.

Maybe Lance was a better liar than Keith thought.

It was at that moment that Lance failed at stifling a yawn. So he was tired, he just wasn’t sleeping. That explained why he’d tripped on nothing coming in. He was probably exhausted but he wasn’t sleeping. He had trouble standing, yet he’d made himself walk all the way from his room to here.

“Are you okay?” Keith hadn’t meant to sound like he really had no idea. That was probably the worst thing he could ask, anyway. Of course Lance wasn’t okay, that much was obvious.

“Yeah,” Lance shrugged. “I wasn’t the one brooding.”

“Right,” Keith muttered.

He noticed when Lance’s shoulders slumped a little bit more, and his body leaned a little bit farther back into his seat. He also noticed that it was getting harder and harder for Lance to keep his eyes open. Keith didn’t say anything, or try to keep Lance awake. They sat there in silence for what felt like ages, but really was probably only a few minutes.

When Lance finally slipped out of consciousness, his head fell onto Keith’s shoulder. Keith stiffen slightly, but didn’t try to push him off. If he did Lance would wake up and continue to avoid sleeping for whatever reason.

So he just sat there with Lance’s head resting on his shoulder, quietly looking out into space. Suddenly everything was peaceful again. Keith wasn’t sure that it made sense for him to feel at peace with Lance practically sleeping on top of him, but for some reason the sound of his breathing was soothing.

At least, it was until Lance jolted awake with a violent gasp, nearly punching Keith in the chest as he did so.

Krolia was starting to wonder what time was showing Keith without her knowing, or if this trade was something that only went one way. Maybe this was deliberate. Maybe some force was telling her that these were the moments she needed to know. Or maybe she was seeing the memories that Keith chose to call back to him while they waited to continue their mission.

“They’re getting worse, aren’t they?” Keith didn’t bother with small talk when he found Lance alone in the control room.

“It’s fine,” Lance shrugged.

“You’re a bad liar,” Keith informed him even though he still wasn’t certain about that.

“Why are you here?” Lance didn’t sound defensive, just curious.

Keith didn’t have an answer for that. He was tired enough to sleep, and he didn’t need to clear his head right now. This was one of the few times where he was calm, but he’d still dragged himself here when he knew that the rest of their team was asleep.

“I don’t know,” Keith lied.

“Okay.” Lance knew he was lying. Keith hadn’t noticed when they’d gotten to the point of being able to communicate with out talking. He’d only ever been that connected to Shiro, but some how Lance and him were on the same page.

“You could tell the others,” Keith voiced. “Pidge might know some science way to help them stop. Or you could ask Allura to use Altean magic on you. I’m sure you’d like that.”

Lance tried to laugh.

“Why don’t you tell someone?” Keith asked more seriously now.

“You know why,” Lance stated.

“You’re in a team now,” Keith pressed. “How are people supposed to rely on you if you keep stuff like this hidden.”

“That’s funny coming from you,” Lance informed him. “I’m fine Keith. You don’t have to worry.”

“I’m going to anyway,” Keith blurted.

For a second neither of them said anything. Keith didn’t like to speak his emotions. He didn’t like to make connections if he didn’t know how long they’d last. He didn’t shut people out on purpose, but that thought pattern was so engraved into him that it was hard not to.

“I remember our bonding moment,” Lance let the words fall from his lips with a small and genuine smile.

“I knew it,” Keith couldn’t help smiling back. “Do you want to sleep in my room?”

Keith wasn’t sure where the confidence to ask that had come from. The second it left his lips he could feel his face turning red. It didn’t help that Lance was staring at him, apparently at a loss for words.

“I mean,” Keith cleared his throat. “You can’t just not sleep. I could wake you up if they get bad, and at least then you won’t be alone after.”

“Are you sure?” Lance wasn’t brushing him off. He wasn’t telling him he didn’t need help. He was looking at Keith like he actually wanted to say yes.

“Yeah,” Keith nodded. “We don’t have to tell the others if you don’t want to.”

“Why are you doing this for me?” Lance asked.

“We’re part of a team,” Keith reminded him.

“I wonder how long it’s been for them,” Keith voiced one day.

“The Blades?” Krolia asked.

She’d been in the middle of attempting to make them lunch. It seemed the both of them weren’t very skilled in that department. She remembered once saying that she’d take the ability to fight over knowing to cook anyway. She was rethinking that now.

“And Voltron,” Keith answered. “They’ll notice if I don’t contact them for a while. They’ll get worried.”

“Maybe they’ll decide to rescue us.” She wouldn’t mind that. Even if she was happy to finally be with Keith again, they were both slowly getting restless.

“Yeah,” Keith sighed. “I don’t think they’d listen to him.”

“I thought Shiro was the leader?” She asked.

“What?” Keith blinked at her. “Oh, yeah. He is. I meant—never mind. I’m just babbling.”

“Right,” she hummed. She was pretty sure she knew who he’d meant.

“Is something going on between you and Lance?” The question caught Keith completely off guard. Shiro was giving him a knowing smile that Keith really didn’t know how to react to. “I saw him sneaking out of your room yesterday morning.”

“Oh,” Keith wasn’t sure if he should laugh or scream. “No. No, it’s not at all what it looks like.”

“Okay, Keith,” Shiro was still smiling.

“I’m serious,” Keith sounded like he was babbling excuses. It really was nothing like that. Not at all. “We were just talking.”

“I get it,” Shiro told him. “It’s between you and him. That’s nice. I’m happy for you, Keith.”

“There’s nothing to be happy for,” Keith tried. “Shiro, I’m not lying.”

Shiro ruffled his hair. He hadn’t done that since Keith was in high school.

“Where you and Dad in love?” The question seems to come out of nowhere. “I mean, I know you were, but—God, that sounds so stupid.”

“Is this about why I left?” She had to ask.

“No,” Keith shook his head. “No, I understand that.”

“What’s bothering you?” She knew something was. She knew he wasn’t just wondering, there was something behind the question.

“What’s it like?” He asked a little hesitantly, as if he was judging the words even as he was voicing them.

“Being in love?” She asked.

“I just,” Keith ran a hand through his hair almost nervously.“I never talked to him about it before he—”

That sentence was left unfinished. It was alright. They both knew how it ended.

“And Shiro never tried to broach that subject so,” Keith smiled meekly. Suddenly he was nineteen and not stiffened from war and hardships. Suddenly he was the young man who might have come to her one normal night with these questions and an innocent gleam in his eyes.

“It’s nice,” she stated.

“Well, I figured that much,” he muttered.

“Do you think you’re in love?” She asked him.

“No,” Keith seemed to hear how quickly the word came out and how untruthful it sounded. “I don’t know.”

“You can talk to me,” she told him.

“I know,” he smiled at her now. “I just want to figure things out in my head first.”

She couldn’t help the knowing look that spread on her face. It was funny. All the times that she’d imagined him grown up, she’d never thought that so much of her would be in him.

“What?” Keith crossed his arms.

“We’re very alike,” she hummed.

“Yeah,” he stated.

“Your father wasn’t like that,” she told him. “He was more passionate. He was very impulsive in a good way. He went with his gut and didn’t go back on it.”

“Yeah?” Keith was listening intently now. He was hanging on every word. She pushed down how sad that made her feel. It had been so long since he had a parent.

“When I was your age, I didn’t think that everything happened for a reason.” She went on. “I figured that everyone was in charge of their own fate and that was that.”

“Are you trying to say meeting him was destiny?” He asked skeptically.

“Having you was,” she answered honestly. “Meeting him was a happy accident and I wouldn’t trade anything for it.”

“So that’s what love is?” Keith wondered. “An accident?”

“For me,” she admitted. “It’s something that people like us don’t think we’ll get. But, Keith, that doesn’t mean you don’t deserve it.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

“I thought they stopped,” Keith said when he opened the door of his room to find Lance awkwardly hovering outside of it.

“I was gonna knock,” Lance said quickly.

“Right,” Keith wanted to laugh. If he didn’t feel so empty inside he probably would have.

“They might come back,” Lance told him.

“You’re still a bad liar.” Keith stepped aside for Lance to come into the room, closing the door behind him. “What’s up?”

“Nothing,” Lance shrugged. “I’m just on edge.”

He wasn’t.

“Lance,” Keith exhaled.

“Okay,” Lance sighed. “I don’t get why you won’t let be be subtle. I don’t want you to be alone right now.”

“I’m fine,” Keith tried.

“No, you’re not.” There was something in his eyes that Keith never really thought would be directed at him. “I know you’re not, and that’s okay. I miss Shiro. We all do, but you’ve known him the longest. You were the closest too him. It’s okay for you to be in pain.”

“No it isn’t,” Keith said sharply. “Me being in pain isn’t going to find him.”

“Neither is you bottling everything up,” Lance countered. “Look, you don’t have to talk to me. But just let me stay here, okay? Just for tonight.”

“I don’t need you feeling sorry for me,” Keith started.

“It’s me caring,” Lance corrected. “And you don’t get a choice about it.”

Keith felt something inside him collapse. He felt something stop fighting, because maybe this was what he’d wanted the whole time. He’d wanted someone to push through his walls because they knew that he was destroying himself alone inside of them.

“Just don’t hog the blankets this time,” Keith uttered.

“No promises.”

“I like guys.” The statement didn’t seem like it was coming out of nowhere. All day, Krolia had thought that there was something Keith was trying to tell her. She didn’t think that was it.

“Oh?” She raised an eyebrow.

“I don’t know if for Galra that’s a big deal or not,” he continued. “On earth it kinda is. I didn’t tell Dad, I mean I didn’t know I did back then. I didn’t think that I’d ever have the reason to come out of the closet, since Shiro kinda already pegged me as gay.”

“Come out of the closet?” She questioned.

“It’s what people call telling everyone that you’re gay,” he explained.

“Which means liking men,” she figured.

“Or women if you’re a girl,” he added.

“And this is a big deal on earth?” She was starting to get it.

“Yeah,” Keith nodded.

“I’m glad you told me.” She didn’t think it was something that he needed to say like a confession, but from how he was talking she could tell it was important to him. That alone made her happy that he’s wanted to tell her. “So is there a boy that you like?”

“No, not really,” Keith said sheepishly. She wasn’t sure she believed that.

“You don’t have to tell me that much,” she added. “I don’t think most boys tell their mothers those details.”

“Do Galra care?” He wondered. “About which gender you prefer?”

“Most don’t,” she had come across a few who thought that others were odd for their romantic preferences but those were few and far between.

“Right,” he nodded.

“They’re more concerned with those who like other species,” she added.

“That would be you then,” he said with a slight smile.

“Fitting the norm doesn’t run in our family,” she informed him.

“Good.” For a moment, he didn’t say anything. When he did speak, his voice was softer, and the slightest bit more vulnerable. ��There is a boy”

“Yeah?” She hummed.

“He doesn’t like me.”

“How do you know?” She doubted that. If Keith’s memories where anything to go off of she really doubted that.

“I just do,” he sighed.

“I’m sorry,” she meant this.

“It’s okay,” he shrugged. “Considering everything going on, heartbreak is nothing.”

“Does that stop it from hurting?” She knew the answer to that.

“No.”

There weren’t words that could mend what he was feeling. So instead she pulled him into her arms and just held him. She thought of how she would have comforted him if they had lived that normal life. She thought about how much bigger all of this would have felt if they weren’t floating in the middle of space.

“Hey!”

Keith hadn’t thought that it was going to be this hard to catch Lance at the end of the meeting. It was becoming for rare for the Blade to travel all the way to the Castle of Lions to strategize, but Keith had made sure that he was with the group when they did.

“Hi,” Lance turned to him as if he hadn’t been avoiding his eyes for the entire day.

“I thought we could talk,” Keith stated. He’d thought that Lance would want to as well. He’d thought that they would waste no time catching up.

“About what?” Lance asked.

Keith didn’t know what to say to that. He didn’t know what the air of coldness between them was. This wasn’t them. This hadn’t been them for a long time.

“I don’t know,” Keith said honestly. “Anything. How you’ve been, I guess.”

“I’m fine,” Lance said curtly.

“That’s good,” Keith uttered.

“Yeah,” Lance turned to walk away. Keith wasn’t going to let that happen. He wasn’t going to leave them like this. Maybe the him when he’d first joined Voltron would have, but he was different now. They both were.

“What’s going on?” Keith demanded, blocking Lance’s path. “Are you mad at me?”

“I can’t do this right now, Keith,” Lance didn’t meet his eyes.

“Do what?” Keith questioned. “What is with you?”

“What is with me?” Something in Lance’s restraint broke at that. “I’m not the one who disappeared.”

“What are you talking about?” Keith gapped at him. “I didn’t disappear, you know exactly why I left. You all do.”

“Okay, that makes it all fine then, Keith.” Lance said harshly. It was only now that Keith realized what he was hiding. It was only now that Keith saw he was trying really hard to keep himself from crying.

“What’s wrong?” Keith asked. “If you don’t talk to me, I can’t fix anything.”

“You can’t fix anything,” Lance stated. “There isn’t anything to fix.”

“Then why are you mad at me?” Keith all but shouted.

“Keith, I don’t know who you are anymore!” Lance stopped trying to keep the tears at bay. He stopped trying to keep his voice steady and his chest from contracting with silent sobs. “And you didn’t even give me the chance to say goodbye.”

“I told you I was going—”

“Yeah, and then you were gone,” Lance cut him off. He didn’t sound angry now. He just sounded sad. “You gave me no warning. One second everything was normal and then it was all gone.”

“I had to.”

“You wanted to,” Lance corrected. “And that hurt the most. I kept questioning everything before that. I kept wondering if maybe everything else was just you humoring me. Maybe you actually left a long time ago and I was just too stupid to notice.”

“That’s not what happened,” Keith hated how broken he sounded. He hated how much these words shattered him. He hated how much he had wounded the boy in front of him. He’d cut into him and not looked back.

“It was like I was in mourning or something,” Lance continued.

“I wasn’t dead,” Keith reminded him. “I still talked to you guys.”

“Not of you,” Lance snapped. “Of us. It’s like we died and you didn’t give me the chance to save us.”

“I’m sorry,” Keith uttered. Because that was really all he could say now.

“I am too,” Lance just sounded weak now. He sounded weak and tired and like he’d given up. “I miss you a lot.”

“I miss you too,” Keith needed him to know.

“But we can’t just go back to how things used to be,” Lance smiled now.

It wasn’t a real smile. It was him trying to put on his brave face. Keith had seen that before. He’s seen it when the nightmares started, he’d seen it all the times they rushed into what they knew would be a battle, and he’s seen it when he left.

“We can’t,” Keith said. He couldn’t just leave the Blades, and even if he did that wouldn’t fix the hole he’d made. It wouldn’t convince Lance that all he really wanted was to be back by his side again.

“You should go,” Lance told him. “You weren’t supposed to stay this long, right?”

“Yeah.” Keith didn’t want to leave.

“Call us later,” Lance tried to push humor back into his voice. “So we know you’re not getting yourself into trouble.”

“I will.” Keith didn’t want to leave.

“Bye, Keith.”

“Bye, Lance.”

Keith walked away.

“I’m gonna miss how quiet it is here,” Keith remarked.

“Really?” Krolira asked doubtfully.

“A little bit,” Keith shrugged. “It’s nice not to be in the middle of everything for once.”

“You don’t have to always be there, if you don’t want to,” she told him.

“Neither do you,” he countered. “Someone has to.”

“I didn’t think we’d be this the same,” she mused.

“Neither did I,” Keith smiled now. “You’re a lot better than the mom I imagined.”

“Really?” She raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah,” Keith nodded. “She was incredibly boring compared to you.”

Krolia laughed at that.

“You’re much more grown up than I thought you’d be at this age,” she let him know.

“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” He asked her.

“I’m still deciding that,” she ruffled his hair for good measure not caring about the eye roll she received in response.

“Keith!” Lance didn’t give him anymore of a warning before launching himself toward him. For a second, Keith thought he was going to punch him. He guessed he’d kinda deserved that. Instead Lance tackled him into what Keith took a second to realize was a hug.

“What?” Was all Keith was able to get out before Lance did infect punch him. “What the hell are you doing?”

“I should ask you the same thing!” Lance was angry, he was really angry. “Matt told me what you tried to do.”

Oh. So that was what this was about.

“I didn’t do anything,” Keith pulled himself up from the ground. Lance was still squared off, this time Keith didn’t know if it was to attack or embrace. “Lotor showed up before I could.”

“And what if he hadn’t?” Lance questioned.

“You know what,” Keith felt cold. He didn’t know what to do with the stare Lance was giving him. He didn’t know what to do with the worry.

“Never do something that stupid again,” Lance hissed. He grabbed hold of Keith’s shoulders. Keith hadn’t realized he was that strong.

“What else was I supposed to do?” Keith snapped. “I was trying to protect the rest of you!”

“With your life?” Lance’s grip on him tightened. “That’s not okay, Keith. There’s always going to be another way.”

“But there wasn’t!” Keith shouted. “You think I just jump into danger because I want to? I’m not an idiot, Lance. I looked at the situation and…”

Keith swallowed his words. He didn’t know if he wanted to voice them. He knew this wasn’t the right time, he knew there was never going to be a right time, because this wasn’t right. It was selfish but if Keith was being completely honest with himself, he was always going to put Lance first. Whether that meant giving up his place in Voltron or his life.

“And?” Lance was still staring at him with those bright, demanding eyes. Keith wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to keep anything from those eyes.

“And I’d rather die than not keep you safe, okay?” Keith pulled out of Lance’s grip. “I’m sorry if I scared you, but I’d do it again if I had to.”

“Keith,” Lance’s voice was softer now.

He looked like he wasn’t sure how to phrase what was going through his mind. Keith just watched as the emotions danced on his face. Lance didn’t need to say anything. Keith heard exactly what he needed just by looking.

“We should go find the others,” Keith said softly.

“You’re not staying, are you?” Lance asked.

“You know the answer to that.”

It was after that memory that Krolia decided she wasn’t going to keep silent anymore. She wanted to give Keith his privacy, but she knew that if he was anything like her—and he was—being alone with his thoughts was not going to do him any good. By not making him talk about Lance, about why he left Voltron, she was leaving him alone with the pain.

She was going to sit him down and have a conversation. Then they’d found the Altean colony, and everything after that had pushed talking aside. It felt like none of them even had the chance to breathe until it was all over.

They stopped on a plant to plot their corse back to Earth. They were going back to Earth. That alone was too much for her to handle.

Keith was like her. He thrived under pressure and had learned how to handle a crisis. It seemed that with Shiro recovering from coming back to life, he had appointed himself the leader. She was proud of him, even if it was stressful to watch him run around making sure everything was in order.

“I didn’t think he’d actually find you.” The voice startled her out of her thoughts. It was a voice she’d heard in Keith’s mind so many times, but in person only through the chaos.

“You’re Lance,” she stated.

“Yep,” the blue paladin nodded. “He told you about me?”

“A bit.” Far more than he’d meant to.

“Right,” Lance sighed. Somehow she felt that had been the wrong answer. “I don’t know if he told you, but—I just—do you know if he’s going to stay?”

“With Voltron?” She asked.

“Yeah,” Lance nodded.

“I don’t,” she answered honestly. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Lance sighed again. “Thanks.”

“If you want him to, you should tell him,” she added.

“Nah, I’d just get in the way,” Lance shrugged. “He’s gotta do what he’s gotta do.”

“Talk to him,” she said firmly. “If you don’t you’ll regret it.”

“I can’t tell if that’s a threat or a premonition,” Lance sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck.

“It’s both,” she informed him. “Take it as both.”

She pulled her son aside later. It was nearing night and the group had decided to rest in a near by inn. The inhabitants of the planet where on their side, so at least they didn’t have to worry about safety.

“This wasn’t how I wanted you to meet them,” Keith chuckled. “I’d kinda hoped that we get a calm moment.”

“That’s not how this universe works,” she said knowingly.

“Yeah,” Keith nodded.

“I need to talk to you about something,” she started.

“Is it about Lance?” He asked before she could say anything. “I saw the two of you talking earlier.”

“Yes, it’s about him,” she answered.

“And about all the memories of him you saw?” Keith asked this as if he wasn’t dropping a bomb on her.

“You knew,” she stated.

“Yeah,” he ran a hand through his hair. “I was gonna talk to you about it, but I didn’t really want to talk about it.”

“Would it be better if I pretend I didn’t see it?” She asked him.

“I don’t think anything is going to be easy for any of us anymore,” Keith replied. “I’m not embarrassed.”

“Okay,” she nodded.

“But if you’re gonna ask me to just go and talk to him, I can’t.” He added.

“And why is that?” She questioned.

“Look at everything that’s going on,” Keith sighed. “I’m not going to make him talk to me about feelings. Plus, I’m pretty sure he’s still mad at me for leaving in the first place.”

“He’s not going to forgive you if you don’t talk to him,” she chided.

“Communication isn’t my strong suit,” he said dryly.

“I know,” she smiled a sad smile. “You get that from me.”

“I think I’m gonna go to bed,” Keith decided. “I’m really exhausted.”

“We’re not done talking,” Krolia told him sternly.

“Mom, I don’t need love advice,” he groaned.

“How about just advice then?” She rested her hand on his shoulder. The tips of his hair brushed against her fingers. He really needed to get that cut sometime soon.

“I have a feeling you’re going to give it to me whether I say sure or not,” Keith relented.

“You’re a smart kid,” she smirked.

“I’m not a kid,” he muttered. Only he was. He’d never really stop being one, even through the trauma, and loss, and danger.

“It broke my heart to leave you and your father, but I did because I had to,” she started.

“I know,” he interrupted. “We talked about this before, I understand.”

“Do you know how I was able to leave the two people that mattered the most to me in the entire universe?” She asked him.

“Because you knew you were doing what was right?” He assumed.

“No,” a sad smile formed on her face. “Because no matter what happened, I was still taking with me all of the moments that we shared. I’m never going to see your father again, but he’ll always be with me.”

“I know he will,” Keith smiled too. Just for a moment. “But I don’t see what this has to do with me and Lance.”

“When I met your father I didn’t think about having to leave someday,” she told him. “I didn’t think about the war, or danger, I thought about the moment and I’ve never regretted anything that we shared.”

“You know I can’t just do that,” Keith stated.

“Why?” She asked.

“Because we’re not on Earth protecting lions, we’re in the middle of the war!” Keith exclaimed. “We don’t have time or the luxury for things like feelings.”

“No,” she said firmly. “It’s because we’re in the middle of a war, and because you might not have all the time in the world, that you deserve that luxury. If you just fight for the mission, Keith, you’ll survive but you’re not going to live. Fight for the people you care about, and let yourself have the chance to care about them.”

“He’ll want me to stay,” Keith uttered.

“Do you want to?” She asked him.

“Yes,” his voice was small now.

“You’re going to do just as much good with Voltron as you would with the Blade,” she told him. “And unlike the Blade, I think they need you.”

He nodded.

“And you need them too,” she added. “You can’t pretend that you don’t.”

“That doesn’t mean he feels the same,” Keith murmured. “What if he doesn’t?”

“What if he does and you do nothing?” She asked.

“I’m scared,” he uttered.

“I know.” She pulled him into her arms. “But have you ever let that hold you back before?”

Keith stood outside of the room he’d been told Lance was staying in. This was stupid. After nearly dying so many times, he couldn’t bring himself to simply knock on a door. God, this was stupid.

He didn’t even know what he was going to say. He didn’t know where to start. There was so much he wanted to tell Lance, but in the end would any of it change the things Lance had yelled at him. They’d pushed that fight aside because they’d had to, but that didn’t change the fact that Lance didn’t see him as the same person anymore.

He didn’t know if that changed the nights that they’d slept in the same bed just to make sure that the other could make it through the night. He didn’t know if Lance had let go of the moments they’d spent together because he was afraid the Keith had let them go first. He didn’t know what went on in Lance’s head. He never did and it was driving him crazy.

The door opened before he could work up the courage to ask to come in.

“I was gonna knock,” he uttered.

He watched surprise turn to amusement on Lance’s face. He remembered the time that Lance had said the same thing to him. He wondered if Lance had felt as anxious as he did right now.

“Right,” Lance grinned at him. “You wanna come in?”

“That would be nice,” Keith nodded.

They sat on the edge of the bed. Lance seemed to be waiting for Keith to start talking. That was fair, Keith was the one who’d hovered outside his room wondering how to come in. Keith was the one who needed them to talk. That didn’t mean he knew how to.

“I’m sorry,” he stated because that seemed like a good place to start.

“For what?” Lance raised an eyebrow.

“Everything,” Keith meant this. “Leaving, mainly. Not talking to you alone before I did.”

“It’s okay,” Lance had a sad look in his eyes. “I get that you had to.”

“No, I didn’t,” Keith said out loud for the first time. “I wanted to because if I didn’t I thought you’d be the one to leave.”

“What?” Lance just looked at him.

“You told me that you’d step down if you had to,” Keith remembered the conversation. “I didn’t want it to come to that.”

“You’re an idiot,” Lance informed him. “You’re such an idiot.”

“You’re welcome,” he muttered.

“I didn’t tell you that because I wanted you to fix my problem,” Lance sounded frustrated now.

“I know,” Keith told him. “I was the one who wanted me to fix it. I didn’t want you to have to feel like that.”

“Well, you being gone didn’t exactly make it go away,” Lance sighed.

“I don’t regret going,” Keith needed to say. “I regret that we didn’t talk about it.”

“I’m sorry I yelled at you,” Lance said softly.

“Don’t be,” Keith replied. “I’m kinda glad you did.”

“You shouldn’t be,” Lance huffed. “I was frustrated, and hurt. I know I shouldn’t have said most of it.”

“But you meant it,” Keith knew this.

“Yeah,” Lance nodded.

“Can we be okay?” Keith asked. “I understand if the answer is no. I really do, I just miss you a lot. I know that things aren’t the same as they used to be. I’m not saying I think they can go back to that, but I just—”

“Keith.” There was something else behind Lance’s eyes now. “We were okay since you came back in that Altean pod.”

“Oh,” Keith uttered.

Lance smiled now. Keith loved seeing him smile like that.

“So,” Lance nudged Keith’s shoulder with his own. “What else is bugging you?”

“What?” Keith blinked at him.

“You still look like you’re about to jump out of your skin,” Lance informed him. “Come on, give me some credit. I’ve known you long enough to read you.”

Keith hadn’t really thought about that. He knew Lance well, but he’d never really stopped to consider how much Lance knew him. He could tell something else was wrong. He could always tell when something was wrong.

“Why were you coming out of your room just now?” He asked suddenly. Lance had looked surprised when he found him standing there, but he’d still stopped whatever he was doing so they could talk.

“Oh, uh,” Lance rubbed the back of his neck. “I was actually gonna go find you.”

“Really?”

“Yeah,” he nodded.

“Why?” Keith had to ask.

“Because I wanted to annoy you,” Lance said matter-of-factly. “Obviously.”

“Right,” Keith rolled his eyes.

“I don’t know,” Lance admitted. “Your mom said something about how we needed to talk. Turns out she was right.”

“She’s right about a lot of things.” Keith meant this.

“I’m happy for you,” Lance’s tone dipped into serious again. “That you found her, I mean. You deserve that.”

“Thanks,” Keith smiled at him. “So, do I get to meet your family when we get back to Earth?”

“Oh, trust me, you don’t want to,” Lance laughed.

“No, I do,” Keith insisted.

“They’re going to avalanche you with like a million questions,” Lance informed him.

“I think I can handle that,” Keith grinned at him.

“That’s what they all say,” Lance stated flatly.

“All?” Keith raised an eyebrow. “How many half aliens do your bring home, Lance?”

“I guess you’d be the first in that department,” Lance shook his head.

“You miss them, yeah?” Keith hummed.

“I do,” Lance told him. “A lot.”

“My mom told me to talk to you too,” Keith confessed. “I mean, I still would have if she hadn’t—”

“No, you wouldn’t,” Lance scoffed. “You suck at confrontation, Keith. Unless it’s yelling.”

“Shut up,” Keith sputtered.

“It’s true,” Lance crossed his arms.

“She also told me something else.” Keith was going to say it. He was going to say it before he chickened out again.

“That you have secret Galra powers you haven’t tapped into yet?” Lance didn’t miss a beat.

“What?” Keith shook his head. “No.”

“Come on, that would be so cool,” Lance whined.

“You’re such a child,” Keith stated.

“I’m not!” Lance exclaimed.

“I’m trying to be serious here,” Keith added.

“You’re always trying to be serious.” Lance shrugged, but his expression softened. “Okay, what did she tell you?”

“That when we’re at war, or in the middle of danger, we should still be allowed to feel things.” Keith knew she was right. He knew that it went against everything he’d told himself for a long time, but she was still right.

“Okay?” Lance shot him a questioning look.

“Even if it means that we might not get to forever,” Keith continued.

“I’m not following,” Lance stated.

“I, um,” Keith wanted to slap himself. He hated sounding this awkward. He hated that he was this awkward. “God, why is this so hard to say?”

“You’re turning red,” Lance pointed out.

“I know,” Keith hurried his head in his hands.

“It’s kinda adorable,” Lance let him know.

“Shut up,” he groaned.

“Come on,” Lance put a hand on his shoulder, making him lift his gaze. “What are you trying to say? I promise I won’t laugh or anything.”

Keith was going to say it. He was going to open his mouth and take the step that scared him more than the possibility of dying. He was going to trust that his mother was right, and that this wasn’t going to be a mistake.

“I like you.”

And then the words were out. And then he heard them, he watched Lance hear them. And then he could feel himself caving in.

“I know, that’s kinda coming out of nowhere,” he babbled. This wasn’t a back pedal, it was too late for that, but he couldn’t just leave that hanging in the air. “It isn’t for me, I promise, but I could have done a better job at hinting I guess. I mean I never meant to tell you, but—I don’t know. I spent two years away from everything and that kinda made me realize that these feelings are real. I’m sorry if I just made things awkward, I didn’t—”

Keith didn’t register Lance’s hand on his face until their lips were pressed together. He didn’t realize what was going on until Lance was pulling him close. It wasn’t the practiced motion that he thought someone like Lance would have. It was sloppy and confusing and everything Keith had hoped it would be.

“Sorry was that too much?” Lance asked as he drew back.

“No,” Keith uttered. “I—”

“You’re still red,” Lance giggled.

“Does that mean—”

“Yeah,” Lance answered before Keith could even find the words to form the question. “Since that day you made sure I actually went to sleep. Or maybe since school, I don’t know. It’s kinda blurry.”

“And all the girls you flirt with?” Keith questioned.

“You didn’t actually take that seriously?” Lance laughed.

“Yeah,” Keith said sheepishly. He hadn’t thought he’d had a chance.

“I just like to joke around,” Lance looked the slightest bit embarrassed now.

“You’re impossible,” Keith exhaled.

“Yeah, I know.” And then Lance kissed him again.

They were laying on Lance’s bed. They weren’t quite asleep yet. Lance’s head was going to cut off the circulation in Keith’s arm, and he really didn’t care. It felt good to be like this. They were breathing the same air, tangled together lazily. They’d slept shoulder to shoulder so many times before, but it had never been like this. They had never been this close. Keith had never been able to hold Lance in his arms.

“Keith?” Lance’s voice was and tried and beautiful.

“Yeah?” Keith hummed back.

“Does this mean that you’re gonna stay?” He asked. “For me?”

“Yeah,” Keith answered. “I will.”

He was going to stay like this for as long as he could.

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