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plant-acts · 11 days

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Note to Self: You Are Allowed to Cry on the Floor

Linked Universe College Theater Fic

(2,060 words)

Summary:

In two weeks, Wind will be done with his first semester of college. In two weeks, Wind will finally be able to have a weekend for himself without rehearsals or studying. In two weeks, Wind will go home to see his best friend.

Wind thinks he will go insane before then.

OR: Sometimes the best advice comes from 5 tech majors relaxing on the studio floor.

(Ao3)

Wind thinks he will go insane before then.

Christmas break could not come sooner. Actually, thinking about it now, time might be going slow out of spite. It knows he’s at his wit’s end and wants to see how far it can push him.

How fucking rude.

Every day feels like a new hill to climb. Time was out sick for a week, which meant nothing tech-wise was done because apparently, he holds all their common sense. Now that tech was working double time, Wind had fallen behind on learning his lines for the upcoming show, meaning he was staying up every night memorizing and because he was staying up every night, his grades were slipping.

In conclusion, he’d rather fight monsters in some fantasy world than be dual majoring theater right now; but that is impossible, so he might as well suck it up.

No one else seemed to have this problem. They all knew exactly what they were doing. Legend could memorize two shows at once, Warriors balanced school with a job, and Hyrule kept track of every show with no issues.

It wasn’t fair.

Wind felt moments away from drowning. Maybe that’s why they treated him like a kid. They knew he was just floundering around like a fish out of water.

He walked on autopilot, making his way to the studio theater. The tech meeting had started five minutes ago, and he wasn’t looking forward to being chewed out by Twilight. Wind was too proud to admit it, but the older man scared him. Not his personality, no. He was, as Malon put it, sweet as pie. But he looked as though he could snap someone in half if they were to get on his bad side.

Wind was standing in front of the door all too soon. He had to remind himself to take a deep breath. They aren’t a pack of wolves; they weren’t going to tear him apart limb for limb because he was late…well they might make him clean the prop loft, which would be equally bad.

Slowly, and with great bravery because Wind was so cool, he opened the door. What he did not expect to see was Twilight, Wild, two of the quadruplets, and Hyrule lying on the floor, staring up at LED lights as they softly shifted through the colors of the rainbow. Yet that’s what greeted him.

Was this the sign of a mental break? Were they hallucinating? Did only eating microwave noodles finally take its toll on them? Warriors always said it would, but he never believed him.

Twilight waved him over. He didn’t seem mad, which was a good sign.

“What’s going on? Is this some theater cult thing?” Wind was pretty sure it was.

From the middle of the group, Hyrule spoke up, “We’re de-stressing.”

Ah, that made more sense.

“Lay down.” Twilight patted the space next to him.

Wind would never pass up a lazy day, so he walked over and lowered himself to the floor. Laying back, his hands rested on his stomach as he watched the shifting colors above him. They moved slowly, going from one side of the theater to the other. It was nice. The other’s soft breathing was the only sound in the room.

His mind wandered again. He didn’t have time to relax. He still had to finish learning lines and catch up on work, and the set was only half finished. A tight feeling formed in his chest. Maybe he wasn’t good enough to be lying here with people who have it all together? The bright colors seemed to mock him now. How dare they be so happy and warm when he felt like his spark was slowly dying.

Before he could stop himself, he interrupted the calm atmosphere.

“Does it always feel like this?”

Wild let out a small laugh. “The ground? Well yeah, it’s solid concrete.” He knocked next to him for emphasis.

“No.” Wind took a shaky breath. “This overwhelming. Does college always feel like it’s one step ahead of you? Like no matter what, you’ll never be as good as everyone else.”

The room felt suffocatingly quiet.

Gilt curled in his gut. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.” His voice gave a pathetic crack.

He just had to open his big mouth, huh? Everyone was trying to de-stress, and here Wind was putting his problems out in the open. Tears formed in the corners of his eyes. Was he really about to cry like a baby in front of the others?

Twilight turned over. He could feel the older boy’s eyes burning into the side of his head.

“Are you ok?”

There it was. The straw that broke the camel’s back. Wind’s breathing stuttered as the tears flowed. “I’m trying my best. I promise.” Fuck being strong. All he wanted to do was cry until he fell asleep. So much was bottled up in only a few weeks that he felt like he was overflowing.

Someone grabbed his hand, rubbing small circles into his knuckles. “Take a breath, kiddo.” It was Hyrule. He recognized that strange accent anywhere.

Through his wet lashes and blurring colors, he could make out Wild walking over to sit next to him. “Do you want us to get Wars?”

Wind shook his head, probably a little too fast. Absolutely, in no world whatsoever, would he want his brother to see him crying on the theater floor. He would rather drink straight salt water, thank you very much.

“Alright, alright, we won’t get him, but do you want to talk about it?”

Did he? Would they think he’s weak? If he told them, would they see him as some irresponsible teen who shouldn’t be there? They would never trust him with anything important, but on the other hand, what if they could help? They might know the secret to surviving college.

Wind decided to trust them. “I just-I’m so tired.” He glanced at everyone. Hyrule was beside him, holding his hand with Twilight slightly behind him, while Wild was on the other side. The other two hung back. They had never been the best at comforting people. “You all seem to have it together, and I have no clue what I’m doing. I feel like every time I make progress on schoolwork something happens and I’m even more behind than I was. How do you do it? How are you able to do so much?”

Unsurprisingly, it was Twilight who spoke first, “Well, for one, we absolutely don’t have it together. We’re a theater department. We just know how to fake it till we make it.”

Hyrule nodded. “I know it’s rough right now, but eventually you will fall into a rhythm, and it will be second nature, kinda like high school. At first, you have no clue what’s going on, but after a year, you become a pro.”

He’s got a point. High school felt huge, and there were so many expectations. Freshman year was spent trying to figure out who you are, and more importantly, how to navigate the halls. The following years, although still challenging, slowly became easier.

“Yeah,” That was one of the quadruplets, Wind could never tell them apart. “The first semester of college is rough. Everything is new and confusing. Hell, I almost failed all my classes, so you’re not alone.” Scratch that, this was totally Vio. Blue would eat rocks before failing a class.

“You’ve gone your whole semester without almost dying. That’s already better than I did.”

He couldn’t help the watery chuckle that escaped at the others’ incredulous looks towards Wild.

Blue pat the younger boy’s shoulder, “Moving on. Give yourself some credit, dual majoring isn’t easy. It’s almost twice the classes. I’m surprised you weren’t burned out sooner.”

Wind shrugged. “What can I say? I’m just built different.”

“When was the last time you took some time for yourself?”

Uh oh, now Twilight was starting to sound like his parents. Time and Malon were very insistent that their students put their health before classes.

“Um, it’s been a busy few weeks.” Twilight opened his mouth, but Wind cut him off. “I know it’s not healthy, but I need to be in good standing with my teachers. I’m not going to be that actor or technician who never shows up and I’m sure as hell not going to get into the habit of skipping classes."

“There is a difference between not showing up because you’re lazy, and not showing up because you need to help yourself.” Hyrule gave him a stern look. “If you need a break, take one before your body makes you. Remember when Legend did two shows at the same time? He ended up getting sick right after closing night because he hadn’t been taking care of himself.” Why did Wind have to get stuck in a room with the mother hens of the group, even if they were completely right?

Twilight must have a third eye for people who don’t want to take a break because he just smiled. “You know what? This has been a productive meeting, and we all have been working hard lately. I’m going to let us head home early.”

Laying back, Wild put his hands behind his head. “Sounds good to me!”

“Guys please.” Now Wind was getting annoyed. They were treating him like a kid again. This is exactly what he was scared of happening. “I’m not stupid. The set needs to be finished and we’re already behind. We can’t all leave because I’m a little tired.”

“It’s not just about you, I know most of us haven’t gotten more than 5 hours of sleep in the past week. We’ll just come in during the weekend and do some work. I bet we can even get Time to fire up the grill and make hotdogs. It can be a theater major workday.” Curse Twilight for making coming to the college on an off-day sound fun.

“Um, won’t that defeat the entire purpose of rest?” Never mind, Blue just had to ruin the idea with his common sense.

“Maybe, but at least we can get some good sleep today, and then everyone will help over the weekend instead of just the techs.” Vio is the best quadruplet hands down, for the moment at least. That opinion is subject to change whenever convenient.

The others continued planning while Wind looked back up. The lights never stopped their colorful display. He was tired and stressed, but somehow felt more relieved than he had in months. No one judged him. Instead, they wanted to help. Who knew all he had to do was ask? Not all the worry was gone, and they were definitely going to be more watchful for the next few months, but at least he wasn’t alone. If his friends could figure college out, then he could too. Maybe his spark would even burn a little brighter.

Twilight pulled him from his thoughts. “Do you need a ride home?”

“Nah. War’s class should be ending soon and he can take me.” At least he thinks so. He had no clue how long he was lying on the floor having a pity party.

“Alright. Do you want to keep lying here until then?” Hyrule had a small smile, like he already knew the answer to the question.

“Yeah. That would be nice.”

Together, the tech majors laid back, lost in their own worlds as colors danced around the dark room. They were all exhausted and a mess, but at least no one was alone in feeling that way. It was just a theater kid thing.

It didn’t take longer than half an hour for Warriors to show up and the brothers to load into the car. Wind almost fell asleep against the window as they drove.

Damn everyone for being right that he needed sleep or something like that.

Neither talked for a long while until Wars glanced over and cleared his throat. “So, the boys tell me you’ve been stressed lately.”

Those fucking snitches.

#linked theater au #linked theater au fics #plants fics #linked universe #lu wind #lu twilight #lu wild #lu hyrule #lu blue #lu vio

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dumbbitchenergy17 · 1 year

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Clan of Three - Chapter 4

Chapter Four: The Gunslinger and Past

Plot: A Mandalorian, an infant with a history of the jedi, and a teenager with similar powers with an undiscovered lineage. An unlikely group to travel the galaxy together.

Word Count: 5.3K

Pairing: Father Figure!Din Djarin x Platonic!Teen!Reader

Warnings: fighting/violence, massive angst, childhood memories, death, just a really sad chapter

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Leaving Sorgan was a hard moment you felt actually happy there. You weren’t running from the Guild or the Empire able to live on some planet without fear but that soon quickly came to an end. The Razor Crest zooms through space barely avoiding blaster fire from a guild ship that had found you.

“Hand over the kids, Mando. I might let you live.” The bounty hunter says over the comlink as Mando dodges another bullet the ship spinning around making you dizzy. A blast hits the ship shaking it and loud alarms sound in the cockpit. “I can bring you in warm or I can bring you in cold.” The hunter says as Mando flies dangerously in your eyes to avoid more attacks and when they try ramming into you Mando drops the ship making the starship get into his view with a single shot and the ship explodes.

He huffs looking at the damage that he received, “That’s my line. Losing fuel…” The left engine was damaged and the right wouldn’t be enough to get them out of the system in case more bounty hunters arrived. He flips a switch the power shutting off the entire ship going dark your only light being the galaxy surrounding. Flipping the emergency power and looking over the holomap you see him punch in coordinates manually flying the ship until you appear to arrive at a desert planet.

“Where are we?” You ask Mando as you begin to enter the atmosphere the large plains of sands familiar to you, he doesn’t answer as a voice from the comlink cut through.

“This is Mos Eisley Tower. We are tracking you. Head for bay three-five, over.” You feel your blood chill but your heart soars at the same time. Mos Eisley…that was a name you were familiar with, looking out of the window and seeing familiar structures of the planet you were born on. The dual suns shine through the windows…you must have been dreaming. You were home..you were on Tatooine. The ship lands and you’re already down the ladder ignoring Mando’s calls out for you. Your fist slams on the button on the ramp not even waiting for it to come all the way down jumping off your skin instantly warm from the dual sun something you were used to.

You walk out of the starport the loudness of the crowd fills you with nostalgia. Memories of walking through the streets looking for your next meal or a place to stay at to avoid the cold and any creature stalking at night. It was almost instinct to see a Rodian distracted at a stand selling goods, you flick your wrist and a basket holding items hit the ground spilling everyone. The owner begins to shout at the Rodian assuming he knocked it over who tries to explain distracted as you slip by your hands slick grabbing the pouch full of credits and disappear into the crowd. You smile holding the hefty bag of credits and attaching it to your belt, this felt normal..you were home. You see the cantina ahead entering the doors the place is pretty filled with aliens and some droids. Coming up to the bar sitting towards the side a droid who appears to be the bartender comes over.

“Um…some spotchka,” You say pulling out a credit from the bag you stole and sliding it across the table. Maker were you going to get kicked out cause you were underage that would be embarrassing. The droid just nods takes the money and produces a glass holding an arm out as spotchka pours from a nozzle, filling the glass nicely, and pulls away to tend to another customer. Nodding you hold the glass between your hands taking a small sip wincing slightly from the burn. You were never going to get used to that.

“Hey, droid, I'm a hunter. I'm lookin' for some work.” A familiar voice says and you freeze instantly putting your arm up so it blocks most of your face glancing over and seeing Mando standing on the other end of the bar speaking to the droid. You had to be kriffing kidding me.

“Unfortunately, the Bounty Guild no longer operates from Tatooine.” The droid responds and you can hear Mando sigh his dislike of droids clear.

“I'm not looking for Guild work.” He says and the droid shakes its head,

“I am afraid that does not improve your situation, at least by my calculation.”

“Think again, tin can,” A voice behind you at the booths calls out and you see Mando look over as you busy yourself taking a sip of the drink. Your nerves make you take too big of a sip and you force yourself to swallow, the burn fills your throat not settling well with your stomach. Don’t you dare puke it up. “If you're looking for work, have a seat, my friend.” The man says and you hold a fist to your mouth trying to keep your face calm and hidden as you feel the Mandalorian you were quite familiar with walks past you.

“Name's Toro, Toro Calican. Come on, relax,” He introduces himself and you hear Mando sit down, “Picked up this Bounty Puck before I left the Mid Rim. Fennec Shand, an Assassin. Heard she's been on the run ever since the New Republic put all her employers in lockdown.”

“I know the name,” Mando says as you listen in on the conversation your drink long forgotten as you were able to settle the churning in your gut.

“I followed this tracking fob here. Now the positional data suggests she's headed out beyond the Dune Sea. Should be an easy job.” Toro says and you hear Mando stand going to leave.

“Well, good luck with that.” “Wait, wait, wait, hey. I thought you needed work?” Toro tries getting Mando to stay.

“How long you been with the Guild?” Mando asks and Toro responds long enough, “Clearly not. Fennec Shand is an elite mercenary. She made her name killing for all the top crime syndicates, including the Hutts. If you go after her, you won't make it past sunrise.” He warns him before you hear him turn to leave again.

“This is my first job. You can keep the money, all of it. I just need this job to get into the Guild,” He begs Mando, “I can't do it alone.” Silence comes from the two men.

“Meet me at Hangar three-five in half an hour. Bring two speeder bikes and give me the tracking fob.” Mando agrees and you hear something hit the wall fizzing.

“Don't worry, got it all memorized,” Toro nods and Mando keeps walking to the door and you glance at him before looking away. “Half an hour.” He says before leaving.

“Looks like you're stuck with me now, partner.” Toro cockily replies as the door to the cantina shuts behind Mando. You sigh wiping the sweat that was on your face from your nerves. You wait a few minutes sure he had already left before standing up. You have no idea how he didn’t notice it was you but you weren’t going to push further. Just head out of the cantina and figure out what you were going to do next, you went out the second door that was there. The sound of people on the streets is loud as you slip out now on a side street leading to the main one. Walking out right about to reach the main road when a hand grabs you by the collar pulling you into a small dead end. You reach for the knife in your belt swiping your arm out to strike your assailant in the chest when it comes in contact with a loud clang of metal. As one hand grabs your wrist twisting the knife out of your hand the other slams against your shoulder pushing you against the wall pining both of your arms as you get ready to scream and fight freezing seeing Mando glaring down at you.

“Get off me.” You struggle in his grip but his hands are heavy, not budging.

“You think it was smart running off? What if that Rodian noticed you stealing from him, or the man looking for a way into the guild finding out you are a highly valued bounty?” He says scolding you as you glare at him still trying to get him off you.

“That’s none of your concern…I’m home you don’t have to worry about me.” You spit back kicking him in the knee making him back off as you move to grab the knife that he gave you lying in the sand.

“Home? You were fighting to survive here to see the next day. What about your parents…do you have anyone you have here to call home?!” He says blocking your path from leaving the small dead end.

“This planet is all I have! I did it before and I can do it again!” You yell pointing your hand down to the ground beneath you…you had nothing…parents dead..the one man who actually looked after you somewhere on this planet that you had no idea how to get there. “Just leave. Take the child back to its home but this is mine…you’ve done your job Mando.” You say pulling the bag of credits from your belt and tossing it at him but he doesn’t catch it letting it hit his chest and falling to the ground, “Your payment for your service.”

“I don’t want your money.” He says and you scoff stepping towards him grabbing the bag,

“Not my money remember.” You try walking past him when his hand latches to your arm. “Let go of me Mando.” You say not looking at him as his hand tightens on your arm.

“Kid… let's just go back to the Crest.” He says and you try pulling your arm free but he holds strong.

“Mando let me go…” You could feel a fire bubbling in your stomach beginning to rise, “I don’t need you to look after me like some child. I don’t need you or anyone.” You spat pulling your arm again but it won’t break free.

“You deserve a better life than this,” He says trying to reason with you, “You and the kid are special something I’ve never seen bef-” “Get the hell off me Mando I swear to the maker!” Your voice is cold and he can feel the anger reaching its peak.

“Kid just listen-” “I said let go!” You shout ripping your arm free of his grasp with a strength he hadn’t expected you push your hand out and he’s sent flying back slamming into the wall a crack forming pinned there. He’s lucky he wasn’t badly hurt, the beskar protecting him. He looks at you shock hidden by his helmet but you could sense in, the feeling that covered you lightly like a gentle touch was weighing down on you. You drop your hand and he slumps free from the weight holding him down. He didn’t know what to say, it was the same thing he saw in the child with the mudhorn…and you during the escape of Nevarro and the battle on Sargon. He thought he had hit his head or the adrenaline of the fight had gotten to him but nothing was clouding his mind now. You slammed him into the wall without even touching him.

You step back feeling the weight on your chest making your breathing labored this feeling covered you almost painfully. You’re gone having darted out of the alley disappearing into the crowd of Mos Eisley before the Mandalorian could even get up. The day quickly passed as you traveled through Mos Eisley the familiar routes you used to take as a child before you found yourself outside an old building, the sunset of the dual suns a usually beautiful sight made your heartache. Boarded doors a building long out of use as your hand brushes away the dirt and grime covering the small plaque highlighting the door. Pulling the blade from your belt tracing the metal that was given to you. The pride you felt receiving it the trust you grew with him, how quickly it crumbled in days.

Slicing through the wood easily you move the boards aside using two hands to pry the door open squeezing in. Entering the dark home you spot a small lantern grabbing it seeing a bit more fuel as it turns on the light filling the home, a place you haven’t seen in years an empty home of memories. It was a small home, the living area and kitchen combined so most dinners were on the seats surrounding the small table in the living room. Entering further in the sounds of a child’s laughter and that of a mother and father’s rings clear in your head.

“Mama come on, Papa will be here soon!” A small child’s voice calls out rushing past you waiting by the door excitement in her eyes as a woman with similar features walks over.

“Patience Y/n…remember don’t jump him when he gets here..work was lon-” Your mother’s words fall on deaf ears the second the door opens revealing a man tired from a lengthy day of work is jumped by a small child.

“Papa!” You giggle wrapping your arms around his neck as he catches you pulling you up into the air your laughter growing louder as he spins you around.

“My daughter oh I missed you.” He grins hugging you back as your mother watches on lovingly before he walks over hugging her pressing a sweet kiss on her lips, “And I have missed you.” Your mother pulls you out of his arms putting you on the ground as you run off as he wraps his arms around her.

“A long day?” She asks and he sighs sagging slightly the smile he put on his face fading, “Not many ships came by…this blockade on the Outer Rim, it's stopping anyone coming in or out. People are getting desperate here.” He says. The empire’s blockade affected Tatooine deeply, with no open water and places to grow, most items like food came from trade. With this shortage, it was only time until grew rowdy and with a place filled with Tuskan raiders, bounty hunters, and anyone desperate for food. It was dangerous.

“Maybe you should ask to leave work early tomorrow, I grow worried each day when you come home late.” Your mother says stroking your father’s face as he nods silently. It was hard enough for two people to have enough food on the table but with a growing child, it was stretched thin. Your parents had sometime gone days without eating just to make sure you had food in your belly.

“Papa! Mama! Look at this trick I learned.” Your voice comes rushing out of the shared bedroom the three of you had holding a doll your mother made for you. The two watched you place the doll down in front of all of them stepping back. You hold your hand out your face scrunching up in concentration. They watch as the doll twitches before standing up on its legs, you move your hand slightly and the doll’s hand raises waving at them. You drop your hand and the doll falls back to being inanimate. You look at them with a wide smile ready for their response. Both of them look at each other silently communicating their fear...not of you but for you. They had found out you were force sensitive when you caused a ball to come towards you when you were only four. They had never seen anything like it but when they heard around in Tatooine rumors of a Jedi and learned of who they were and how similar it was describing the things you could do they quickly became fearful.

Your father kneels down in front of you a small smile on his face, “That’s very interesting Y/n but remember what we said,”

“Don’t use my powers I know, but I thought you would like it?” You say a sad tone in your voice that broke your parent’s hearts.

“Of course we do sweetie, your power is beautiful. We just need to be careful…people can’t know about this alright.” Your mother says coming towards you wiping the stray tears that weld up in your eyes. You nod sniffling to stop the tears, reaching down and grabbing your doll.

“Now let’s eat and you can tell me everything about your day my little womp rat!” Your father scoops you up in his arms tickling your sides as your squeals fill the room your father’s own bellowing laugh filling it.

A large bolt cuts through the air pausing what was meant to be a touching moment. Your father holds you in his arms as silence fills your home. Another loud pop fills the air again until it grows louder and multiple ones until a shout rips through the air outside that has you all freezing.

“Darling?” Your mother calls out stepping closer to you two as the loud pops in the air grow louder and louder until screams are filling the air.

“Mama…Papa? What’s happening?” You ask,

“Take Y/n into the room now lock the door behind you,” Your father passes you off to your mother’s arm and you see your father move to a drawer and he pulls out something cocking the item back.

“What about you-” “Just do it!” Your father yells back making you jump slightly in her arms. The shouting outside as loud booms filled the air only make you clutch your mother tighter.

“Papa?!” You cry out reaching your hand out as your mother turns rushing toward your room the door closing behind it, she puts you down as you look around in confusion. You see outside the window bright flashes of light. But it was night what was doing this?

“Quickly under the bed, and do not make a sound no matter what you hear.” She says holding your arms as you look around in fear tears filling your eyes, “No tears you must be strong and brave you understand.” She wipes the tears from your eyes as you nod clutching the doll between your hands. Your mother gives a smile trying to hide her sadness and fear. You crawl under the bed the gap small enough for you to fit that you didn’t even know to exist. You clutch your doll between your hands when you hear a loud noise coming from outside the room. You hear your father shouting before another large bang fills the air and it’s quiet. The sound of multiple footsteps grows close before the door is burst open and you hear your mother screaming out as other voices are yelling out hear. The sound of a fight makes you cover your ears before a loud bang makes you jump squeezing your eyes shut. It was a dream you were going to wake up and this would be over. Whoever was in your home tore apart the room and outside.

You weren’t sure how long you stayed under that bed your small hands clutching the doll until the night was surely over and the fighting that raged through the night had ended. An odd silence filled your home as you slowly shuffle under the bed when your witness your life crumble in front of you. You should have just stayed under that bed.

Your footsteps are slow, both your father's and your mother’s bodies were long removed only leaving the damaged home and a frightened child behind. The stains of their blood couldn’t seem to get out of the hardened sandstone. The home you had many happy memories had been stripped away from you in one night, entering your old room everything was the same nothing moved. It was as if the room…this whole house was frozen in memory, your foot makes contact with something, and looking down you see the small doll. Time and the weather had gotten to it practically a ball of rags. Bringing it up to your face it was withering away in your hand the smell stale but the only lasting memory of your childhood. When you were happy and what were you now?

A child alone once again.

Mando’s mind hadn’t been as focused as he would like working on this mission. He could’ve tracked you down easily but with his needing to leave for Fennec and what you said to him. He would give you space but what if space isn’t what you need? Did you really think you were happy here? He and Toro had captured the high-ranking assassin but since one of the speeder bikes had been damaged he was sent out to retrieve the ride Fennec used to travel. He returned to the spot to find Toro gone with a dead bounty hunter, her blood staining the sands. He had no choice but to return to Mos Eisley, he may have lost the credits but his mind was more focused on trying to get you back.

You were haunted by memories as you stayed in that abandoned home. The night had fallen long now hidden in your childhood home, the small lantern running on its last fuel. Seated at the small table in the space you would occupy as your seat with stolen food from your run-in at the cantina. A lonely dinner with empty chairs a home without love and laughter. The cold whispers of ghosts and lost memories drown you. What this meant to be your life, fighting to stay alive from bounty hunters and the empire that won’t stop coming after you. This was your decision you left them…you wanted to be alone.

A crackle fills the room and your hand instinctively reaches for your knife looking around for where the noise had come from when it came through again and you heard a voice.

“Took you long enough, Mando,” Toro’s voice rings out static and broken up, you look down hearing the voice coming from you. Your eyes widen seeing the comlink attached to the back of your belt. Grabbing it you listen in, “Looks like I'm calling the shots now. Huh, partner? Drop your blaster and raise 'em.” His voice sounds further away from Mando and you hear Mando sigh the sound of his blaster dropping on the ground.

“Cuff him. You’re a guild traitor, Mando. And I'm willing to bet that this here is the target you helped escape.” You hear a noise coming from the child making you freeze. This wasn’t your problem Mando was going to win as he always does. “Where’s the other one huh Mando, got her hiding somewhere,” Toro says.

“Just leave the kids alone you’re already going to get enough to bring me in,” Mando says, you hear Toro laugh and you hear another cry come from the child chilling your blood.

“Bringing you it won't just make me a member of the Guild, it'll make me legendary. Besides the bounty on those kids never said they had to be brought in alive.” The click of a blaster has you shouting out instantly unaware they could hear you on the other end.

“No!” Silence fills the air before you hear footsteps and something being grabbed,

“Now it’s not nice to listen in. Wherever you’re hiding give yourself up…or they all die starting with the kid.” His voice is rough before you hear the commlink fall to the ground and a loud crush and it’s silent. Your hand clutches the commlink…this wasn’t your business. You were alone now. Just walk away…do it.

“You must be strong and brave you understand.” Your mother’s voice rings clear in your head and you attach the link to your belt heading toward the door. You turn to look back at what you had called your home. Flashes of memories before fading away as you turn and leave.

You blend into the crowd a ghost passing by strangers. A brush of the wind as your feet carry you to the starport, the same port your father worked at. You slow down seeing a speeder bike outside recognizing the rifle of Mando’s attached to the back. Your hands move to the bike slowing down seeing a single blaster resting on the seat. Your hands grab the rifle pulling it over your back your hands tucking the blaster in your pants. There was only one way to come through the hangar and he would be waiting right there for you to arrive there. So you weren’t going to be coming through the front door. The wind blows through your hair, the hair on your skin raising as you stand multiple feet up in the air walking along the large roof of the port. Holding your hand out you close your eyes reaching out, the weight returns painful at first before becoming light to the touch gracing your skin. It stretches across everything around you before you sense the connection you gain so many weeks ago.

The child.

Footsteps light on the wind that no one, not even your Mandalorian notice your arrival from the roof, peering over you can see the Crest there, and in front of it is Toro holding the child as he looks around his gun trained to Mando and another woman. Sliding the rifle off your back aiming Toro, hit his hand or leg anything on the side not holding the child. Your finger presses on the trigger the bolt ringing through the air, the kickback sending you back and you fall through one of the holes in the roof. The bolt strikes right beside his foot and he whips around firing at the roof where you were as you are hidden behind a large crate. Your back pressed against the wall of the crate you trying to catch your breath, from the fall and the recoil of the strong weapon knocking the air from you. The rifle is still up on the roof your hands grab the blaster holding it between two hands.

“I know you’re here! Just come out and I won’t kill the kid or Mando.” Toro calls out and you peek from the crate seeing him facing away from you and looking around. Where you were at didn’t give you a good shot that didn’t hit that child. You turn back take a deep breath and look over at another crate you raise your hand flicking out and the other crate shifts slightly. Toro shoots at that as you rush but he had caught the glimpse of the blur of clothing in the darkness shooting at the ground in front of you making you stop in your place. Blasters pointed at each other and you see Mando with this other woman to the side.

“Drop the blaster.” He says and you keep your hands steady on the weapon.

“Let go of the child.” You say slowly taking a step forward when the gun pointed at you turns to press against the child making you freeze.

“I said drop it!” He yells and you nod holding a hand out while slowly kneeling to place the weapon on the sand.

“Your eyes kid!” Mando yells out and you instantly cover your eyes with an arm as a loud bang fills the port catching a bit of a flash of white light. Quickly adjust to the flash charger firing your gun as Toro’s arm makes him drop the child. He blindly shoots out and you dodge out of the way before firing another bolt striking him in the chest.

Standing up letting out the air held in your lungs as Mando freed from his binds and steps toward Toro.

“Where is it?” The woman asks and looks around before finding the child hidden behind a basket, picking him up, “There you are. Are you hiding from us? Huh? Look at you. That's all right. I know. That was really loud for your big old ears, wasn't it?” She coos over the child as Mando stands beside you. Your finger twitches and the rifle from the roof falls off it landing in your hands. Holding out the rifle and the blaster,

“I’m assuming you knew I was coming.” You say and he looks down at you the damn helmet hiding his emotions.

“No, not really, just a shot in the dark.” He says taking the rifle and slinging it across his back but not taking the blaster, “Keep it…it will keep you safe.” He says pushing the blaster back into your hands and you look down at the item gifted to you, just like the knife. The trust he had in you even though you rejected him. You left him.

Mando had accepted at that moment that you were going to leave. You proved to him you could protect yourself. He couldn’t ignore the small piece in his chest that primal urge to see a defenseless child wanting to protect. But he didn’t even know anything about you only that you’re a seventeen-year orphan from Tatooine who fought their entire life to only be chased by the empire and bounty hunters for things he wasn’t sure how to explain.

“So, I take it you didn't get paid?” Peli sighs him handing the child off to him, a hand holds out two bags of credits. Mando looks over seeing you holding Toro’s pouch and the one you had stolen earlier is still full of credits.

“Does that cover it?” You ask and Peli quickly takes the bags feeling the weight and nodding.

“Yeah. Yes, this is gonna cover you. All right, Pit Droids! Let's drag this outta here!” Peli shouts out clapping her hands and the small droids scurry out grabbing the body being to drag it away. Mando is still frozen why had you given away your credits if you were?

“Mando!” You call out to him and he turns seeing you standing on the ramp of the Crest holding onto the side looking at him, “What are you waiting for?” You give him a look and that springs the bounty hunter into motion as he follows after you closing the ramp of the Crest behind him. Entering the cockpit placing the child in his cradle seeing you strapped in your seat looking like you belong here and not staying on the planet. He settles in as well turning on the fixed ship the engines roaring as he begins to leave the spaceport of Mos Eisley.

“Thought this was your home?” It felt like a sensitive subject to bring up but you didn’t seem affected by it as you look out the window the dual suns you grew up to seeing rise and fall in the sky entering right over the horizon.

“I lost my home long ago…” You say your past is buried behind you. The childhood you desired to have old memories now and unrealistic dreams, “It’s time to let memories die.” The ship exits the atmosphere and you said goodbye to that chapter of your life. The home you grew up in, the planet you learned to survive in, the life you lost. All those memories are buried deep in the sands where your parents rot.

The only sign that you existed there before would be the small memorial for graves that were to never be filled. Three, a father, a mother, and their daughter. A small doll left as a childhood dies.

Goodbye, mama…papa.

#star wars #star wars fanfiction #clan of three series #the mandalorian #din djarin x jedi!reader #din djarin x reader #din djarin x y/n #din djarin x teen!reader #mando x reader #din djarin #din djarin fanfiction

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razorblade180 · 6 days

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Neat accidental AU things

So I was straightening out and revising some of my content and I kept noticing little things I didn’t intend but are cool to think about.

Weiss and Nora are constantly hanging out and are consistently the envy of every mother at a PTA meeting in the TSF AU

Jaune and Weiss know how to drive a Yacht

Any child of Yang has the biggest branching family tree aside from the Arcs

TSF Yang has put down the most villains.

In Lasting Embers, Qrow had a kid years before the whole of team RWBY worked out their drama. Potentially even before Ruby got married.

Ruby only has Dustin’s eyes whenever she thinks of Cinder.

Premonition is the only AU where the friends eventually graduated.

TSF as a casualty rate of exactly one hero character and that’s Pyrrha

Ruby takes Whitley grimm hunting so he can have cool summons.

Carmine’s dual hair color looks like a ripening strawberry. Guess you can call her a strawberry blonde

Adam has been at Yang’s home more than she has and that’s a crazy thing to think about.

L.E AU would all things considered have the strongest team RWBY, but also has the most casualties.

Aside from Rosebud, Ruby and Weiss are always the last to get married

Neo is Lasting Embers has somehow made it into both main friend groups by not just being talented at her job, but also having an “interesting” relationship with a member. Adam for the bad guys, and Weiss for the good guys.

This one isn’t an accident, but I still think it’s pretty cool that Veronica didn’t utter one lie throughout any story.

Blake has the most consistent win rate in all my AU despite also being the weakest in all of them as well. Meanwhile Yang’s track record is the riskiest.

TSF Weiss and Ruby share a wedding anniversary.

Penny and Oscar have been married the longest out of all my couples in any story except Lancaster in Rosebud.

#rwby #ruby rose #weiss schnee #blake belladonna #yang xiao long #jaune arc #lie ren #nora valkyrie #rwby au #rwby rosebud #rwby lasting embers #rwby twin snowflakes #RWBY premonition

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choclodox · 7 months

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Lieutenant Colonel Maria Suarez 💙 like Dr. Yin, she was a smart cookie and also fast tracked through college by doing dual enrollment and piloting lessons in High School so she could get to piloting a samson ASAP. She came from a family of pilots and she wasn’t about to let the legacy die. ⁣

⁣⁣⁣

She met Big Q when she was deployed in Nigeria. Because she had college courses under her belt and was doing them while on her tour, she also got promotions quicker. And because of a crazy stunt she pulled while on a mission, Big Q told her she could call him by his first name after living to tell the tale of something that insane (which is very unusual in the military, even if they were only like…2 ranks apart). I wonder what happened 🤔

⁣

He’s also the only person left alive who knows how Maria got her call sign “Fireball.” When it comes to fighter jet pilots (and I would assume Samson pilots by the time their deployment in Nigeria takes places) are given their call signs (nicknames) by their squad mates based on something stupid they did as a rookie (I’m not kidding, look it up).⁣

⁣

She was also friends with Grace. And it was through Grace that Maria met Dr. Yin. ⁣They really hit it off when Maria showed her drawings of Pandora’s wildlife to Yin (drawing was a hobby of hers btw).

⁣

She always had a thing for Dr. Yin, but alas, she was always too afraid to do anything about it for a few reasons: 1) she felt like she was taking advantage of a position of power even though Dr. Yin was a civilian and not a military subordinate, 2) she was worried about the mind gap even though Dr. Yin was far from naïve, 3) she just felt she was too…old. Which Dr. Yin had no issues with.

Overall, Maria was just overthinking it all along 😢⁣ (and funny enough, this was the one thing Grace and Miles were able to agree on).

#avatar #avatar the way of water #avatar2 #avatarfanart #change is who we are #recom squad #recom oc #maria suarez

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mysterygrl20 · 4 months

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My Top 9 albums of 2023

I got tagged by @blmpff. thank you 💕

I listen to mainly kpop. So i guess this is my favorite kpop albums of 2023. And my spotify is heavily tied to stationhead for listening parties so it's very biased and unreliable.

First off: Ateez and their 3 EPs they released this year stole my heart and overtook SKZ.

Halazia from Ateez's Spin off: From the Witness was a mini EP. This started my year as they literally released it Dec. 30, 2022 so I didn't add the album cover up there in the top 9. I was also still lowkey freaking out as I had got to see them in concert Nov. 2022 and they had Xikers (pre-debut) perform with them. And I watched this music video way too many times.

youtube

1. Outlaw - Ateez. This is a no skip album. I love every single one of these. Don't make me choose a favorite.

2. The World EP.FIN: Will - Ateez. I picked one of my favorite group songs off this but their unit songs are amazing: Everything- Jongho and IT's You (Yeosang, San, Wooyoung)

3. Dual - The Rose. I got to see them TWICE this year: Sept & Oct. 2023 and had a BLAST. This album is amazing. Also I really liked the album cover.

4. Rockstar - Stray Kids. Another no skip album. I got to see SKZ in March 2023 for their Maniac tour. And Mr. Bang keeps me delulu on Bubble.

5. 5-STAR - Stray Kids. [hehe fitting] Another no skip album. My number one song was obviously S-Class. Superbowl shook me to my core. And then they made me cry with Youtiful.

6. Deadlock - Xdinary Heroes. They spelled out FUCK YOU in their title song Freakin' Bad.

7. The Name Chapter: Temptation - Tomorrow x Together. I saw TXT in May 2023... It's an EP of 5 great songs.

8. Dark Blood - Enhypen. My vampires. I literally made a BL gifset to the lyrics of their song Bite Me. Another favorite: Chaconne.

9. House of Tricky: Doorbell Ringing - Xikers (and also their other EP: How to Play) I got to shanty (Tricky House) with them pre-debut. I love their concept too. Also Tricky House some how made it in my top 15 songs for 2023.

Honorable Mention:

FML- Seventeen. There's just something about this album I like.

The Name Chapter: Freefall - TXT. Solely for Blue Spring being on it.

SKZ Replay: I also hold this close to my heart as it was a christmas gift from Stray Kids in 2022. So it feels more like a 2023 album. It also has the most whiplash between songs.

Single: Dum Dum - Jeff Satur (and also Steal the Show) but also Macarena - Blitzers and Baggy Jeans - NCT U [which they also added to an album] and the eurovision winner Cha Cha Cha - Käärijä.

or title tracks like: Shalala by Taeyong or Guilty by Taemin that I want to include for reasons.

Favorite OST from 2023: Let's Try from OFTS. I listened to this every Friday waiting for the new episode to be released. And it should have made it into my spotify 2023 playlist. I almost picked MSP's cover of Tilly Bird's Just Being Friendly.

Tagging but no pressure @trashlie, @thatdamngoodlookingbutterfly, @quadruple-agent, @theteatimechronicles @tinytalkingtina @theelast-straw @aceoflights and anyone else who wants to join in.

#spotify #music #tagged meme #stray kids #ateez #xikers #xdinary heroes #the rose kpop #seventeen #enhypen #Youtube

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natalynsie · 1 year

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The Best Thing (Gustholomule Oneshot)

Matt's least favorite event had to be Grom.

Or, at least, that's how it was the last two years.

“Bro, I don't wanna be the fifth wheel again,” Gus complained to Matt as they sat in Matt's room doing homework. Matt layed stomach down on his bed, writing his essay on dual tracks. Gus was working on full-room illusions for his advanced class, so if Matt's essay turned into a book on Gusology, he knew why.

“Yeah?” Matt responded. At least he got to be a wheel. If Matt was anything, it was a unicycle.

“Last year was all, 'oh my sweet potato' and Hunter awkwardly flirting with Willow. Made me miss announcing. But now that's King's full time thing.”

“Okay? What are you getting at?”

“Wanna go with me?” Gus asked, looking at Matt, whose stoic expression quickly burst into flames.

Gus seemed to regret all of his life choices as he waved his hands in front of his face.

“No, no no no, as a friend! Titan, that wording was bad.”

“Oh, oh, okay,” Matt calmed down. Not that he wasn't a little disappointed. But wait– he got to go with a friend this year! Something other than a random date that would ditch him in the first ten minutes. Hopefully Gus wouldn't ditch him.

Gus wasn't like that. He hoped.

Sometimes he felt like Gus was just playing a giant prank on him. Bria used to do things like that, ask him to do things with her and never show up. It was so embarrassing, even before she went bad she did things like that.

But Gus was different.

“Sure, I'll go with you,” Matt responded.

“Great!” Gus chirped. “It's settled. I'll pick you up at 6:30.”

“Sounds great.”

Even after Gus left, Matt worried. It was crazy, he knew Gus was his friend for real. Gus never did anything to hurt him. He stopped calling him Matty when asked, even though Matt kind of liked it (something Gus picked up on and started calling him Matty again). He let him sit with him at lunch without Matt having to convince him. He kept his promises and he never genuinely insulted him.

But the thought still haunted his mind.

He shook his head. Gus was amazing. Really amazing.

Matt couldn't deny it. Every time Gus called him Matty, or rested his arm on Matt's shoulder, or complimented Matt, even if it wasn't even a huge compliment, Matt's heart raced and his stomach filled with butterflies.

It felt kind of wrong. Gus was his best friend, and daydreaming about holding hands and kissing him would be so weird if Gus ever found out. He could only imagine Gus's reaction– disgusted and repulsed. He would never want to see Matt's face again.

Matt couldn't ever tell him. It was such a big risk. The tiny chance Gus felt the same, or losing his only friend.

Maybe Matt should change that "tiny chance" to zero percent chance. Why would Gus like him?

Gus was confident, and pretty, and funny, and cool, and nice, and talented, and Matt was none of those things. The only thing he had going for him was his art, maybe his writing, but those traits were unknown to Gus anyways.

Sometimes, Matt wondered why Gus even bothered to hang out with him.

“Matt!” Steve called from downstairs, knocking Matt out of his thoughts. “Dinner!”

“Coming!” Matt yelled back, putting his pencil down and racing down the stairs.

He sat across the table from his brother, immediately eating his food.

“So, what did you and Gus do?” Steve asked.

“Just hung out. He asked me if I wanted to go to Grom with him and his friends.”

“Man, you should just ask him out already,” Steve suggested.

“No way! He'd be so grossed out. He'd never want to hang out with me again.”

“Matt, how long have you been crushing on this kid? Like ten months?”

“A year.”

“Right. An entire year. I know you're scared, but I think you should go for it. From what I've seen, he likes you back. Plus, he's way too nice to give up being your friend anyway.”

Matt frowned. “Augustus may be nice, but he's not going to stay friends with me for pity points. My stupid crush is gonna be the end of me!”

Steve rolled his eyes. “I'll never be able to convince you, will I?”

“Nope,” Matt smirked.

Steve sighed. “You are such a handful.”

~~~

The day of Grom came too fast. The queen was revealed to be Willow, and Luz and Amity were no doubt ecstatic to cheer for her.

Matt was in his room, fixing his hair. He was wearing white suit with a red shirt, and he spent way too much time doing his makeup, which was just red eyeshadow and black mascara. He just wanted to look perfect.

Knock knock knock.

Matt ran down the stairs to see Steve already talking to Gus. Gus was wearing a newer blue suit, which was paler in color and had the slightest hint of green.

“Hey Augustus,” Matt greeted.

“Matty! You look awesome! Are you ready to go?”

Matt blushed slightly. “Yeah. Let's go.”

Gus smiled, waving goodbye to Steve as he closed the door.

The two began walking towards the school. It was only a five minute walk from Matt’s to Hexide, so they didn’t even need their palismen.

“Your brother was telling me–” Gus began, but was cut off.

“Spare me my dignity and don’t tell me, will you?” Matt replied.

“Fair response, your brother always tells me the most embarrassing stuff about you.”

“I should start telling his girlfriend embarrassing things about him,” Mathholomule suggested. “See how he likes it.”

“His girlfriend? Why not his friends.”

Matt blushed, realizing what he just compared. “Um, I mean, because his girlfriend is really close with him and I’m really close with you– but not in a girlfriend way! Oh my titan, I’m sorry, I just–”

Matt screamed into his hands and he heard Gus giggle. “It’s fine dude, talking is like that sometimes.”

“This time it wasn’t talking, it was just me,” Matt complained. “I should learn how to not do that.”

“Hey Gus!” A shout was heard from above. Matt and Gus looked up to see Willow and Hunter flying to the school.

“Is that your boyfriend?” Hunter asked.

“He’s not my boyfriend!” Gus yelled back.

“Keep telling yourself that,” Willow said, flying closer to ground level.

“Wow, you are very calm, considering you’re about to battle Grom,” Matt commented, trying to change the subject.

“I think I’ve got it. I’ve conquered my fears before, I can probably do it again.” Willow shrugged, looking away.

She couldn’t do it again.

It wasn’t even fifteen minutes into Grom when Willow ran off screaming, a figure Matt couldn’t make out chasing her.

On a less terrifying note, the first fifteen minutes were okay. Actually, they were great. Hunter, Amity, and Luz spent their time cheering for Willow while Gus and Matt dramatically lip-synced to the music in the background. There was some teasing from Luz and Amity, but it wasn’t anything he wasn’t used to.

But getting shoved through a crowd and into the hole Grom came out of was something he wasn’t used to.

His screams as he fell were drowned out by the screams of everyone else.

When he hit the ground, stopped rolling, and looked up, he saw no light. There were dim orbs of light illuminating the caverns he had fallen into, but he still could barely see his feet.

Meanwhile, above the chaos, Gus was busy calling out for Matt.

He knew Matt had probably ran off with the crowd, but he was better safe than sorry.

When everyone was gone, he expected silence to be heard, but there was a faint sound coming from the caverns. Gus’s heart dropped as he dropped himself into the hole under the school.

In the darkness, Gus couldn’t see much, but he saw small parts of Grom swarming together in one spot far down the tunnel. Gus followed quickly after.

“Matty?” He called out, to no answer.

He heard faint whispers down the tunnel, and slowed down.

“Matt?”

The whispers got louder.

“Did you really think you could get away from me?” Gus heard a voice that resembled Bria’s ask.

Gus creeped down the hall, following where the voice had come from.

“I wish you were never born, I’ve lost my entire youth because I had to deal with you,” Steve was heard, louder than Bria had been. Another voice began to whisper, and Gus froze as his heart stopped.

That was his voice.

“You really thought I wanted to be friends with you?” It began, and Gus started running as fast as he could toward the sound. He peered over a corner to where he saw Grom, a form of Gus with a death grip on Matt’s head. Gus could see the tears running down Matt’s face through his closed eyes, completely helpless and alone. “You’re useless, I just kept you around for laughs. I never wanted to be your friend, nevermind your bo-”

Gus screamed and jumped at Grom. Maybe Gus wasn’t exactly strong or had practical magic for this type of situation, but his anger took a hold of him. He punched the fear bringer as much as he could before it slipped through the cracks of his fingers and formed itself next to him.

Matt was frozen, but Gus couldn’t pay attention right then. Luz had given him glyphs in case of this type of situation, so he folded a fire glyph in half and pointed it at Grometheus, who would morph into Adrian Graye if given the chance. But Gus wasn’t willing to give those chances.

“Augustus…” Matt whispered, but Gus couldn’t hear.

Gus opened more plant and fire glyphs, even though he knew he was starting to run low.

“AUGUSTUS!”

Matt pulled Gus out of the way of a giant arm flying through the air towards Gus, taking his hand and running. Gus threw some ice glyphs down the tunnel while Matt dragged him up the stairs and out of the pit.

The two sprinted out of the school and into the forest behind it. Matt created a little dome with magic to hide them from Grom.

Gus let out a sigh of relief and looked up to Matt, whose face was buried in his hands.

“Matty, are you okay?” Gus asked.

“No? I just watched all my worst fears come to life,” Matty responded, not daring to look up.

Gus slid over to him quietly, looking at the barren wall in front of them. “I’m sorry, Matt.”

“Thanks for helping me,” Matt mumbled. “I would still be down there if not for you.”

“Of course. You’re my friend.”

Gus heard Matt let out a sob, and take in a shaky breath.

“I mean it. No matter what Grom said. You’re my best friend.”

“Why?” Matt croaked.

That simple word pained Gus to his very soul. From the tone to the question, it wasn’t right. No one should have to ask that.

“Because you’re awesome,” Gus began. “Honestly, you’re so much more past surface level. You’re really smart when it comes to literature. I like how you talk a lot, and no matter what happens to you, you persevere. You’re always there when I need you and you’ll do anything for people you love. What more could I ask for?”

Matt looked at Gus with teary eyes and a soft smile. His mascara, and makeup and general, was ruined but Gus still thought he looked great. Matt choked and cried again, but this time of happy tears.

Gus pulled him in for a hug, and Matt dug his face into Gus’s shoulder.

“I’m so glad I have you,” Matt stated simply, and Gus felt his heart skip a beat.

“I’m glad I have you too,” Gus responded as Matt rose back from his shoulder, wiping his final tears away.

“Do you think Steve really hates me?” Matt asked, looking away.

“No,” Gus replied. “He was just talking about how proud he was of you when I knocked on your door. Though he did add a comment about it being a ‘date’.”

“Oh my gosh, he’s so embarrassing,” Matt groaned. “But I still love him.”

Gus smiled.

“I feel like I’m such a burden right now,” Matt half-joked. “To you and Steve. But I think I know you guys care for me a lot. Just tell me if I’m being too much.”

“You’re never too much,” Gus comforted. “You’re not a burden, and you’re right, I do care about you. A lot.”

Matt pulled away from the hug and leaned against the wall of the dome.

“Can I tell you something?” He asked.

“Yeah, what?” Gus asked.

“Well, before I say, I just want you to know that it’s okay if you… don’t want to be friends with me anymore. We had a good run.”

“What?” Gus questioned, voice cracking. Nothing would ever make him not want to be friends with Matt.

“I… kinda have a crush on you…”

Gus froze, processing the overload of information he had just received.

Matty? Like me? Oh titan, oh titan, oh titan, I’ve lost the ability to speak. Focus, Gus, focus!

“I’m so sorry,” Matt apologized.

“Don’t be,” Gus managed to say. “I think I like you too,” He lowered his head shyly, but kept looking at Matt.

Matt’s eyes grew wide as he looked at Gus. “Really? You’re not messing with me, right?”

“I’d never mess with you over something like this.”

Matt’s open mouth morphed into a smile and he hugged Gus.

“You’re one of the best things that’s ever happened to me,” Matt mumbled, and Gus melted.

“You too.”

#gustholomule #augustus porter #mattholomule #willow park #hunter toh #steve tholomule #grom #the owl house #post-canon #Grometheus the Fear Bringer back to bring another gay couple together #oneshot #fanfiction #fanfic #gusxmattholomule #mattholomulexgus #toh mattholomule #toh gus #natie fics

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ivyial · 9 months

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RIGHT SO

after my previous reblog, i feel compelled to write a "short" post (love letter) about (to) this game

so for those of you who haven't played it, or never even heard of it, professor layton vs phoenix wright: ace attorney is a crossover game between the two franchises (you'll have guessed it from the title) and it is PAINFULLY underrated :,) (i also hear that it is now hard to get physical copies of this game at a decent price so i'm glad i kept mine)

essentially used to be my favourite game of all time before it got dethroned by the resident evil 4 remake (but i will forever remember it fondly). i remember my parents gifted it to me for easter back in 2014 (so i was around 12 back then) and i don't think they realised how much this would change me. like this is one of the reasons why i started thinking about studying law later LMAOO.

essentially layton and phoenix both end up helping this young girl, espella (i played it in french back then and her name is aria so their english names are a struggle for me) who is being hunted by witches and then put on trial in london for the assault of a ship's crew member. then the wildest thing happens and they get sucked into a book and are sent back to medieval times. yes it sounds insane. but in this small town called labyrinthia, witches are real, and so are witch trials (DOESN'T IT SOUND COOL AS FUCK??).

they've all forgotten who they are, though. phoenix doesn't remember being an attorney and layton doesn't remember anything either. they find espella again, and she's put on trial AGAIN, for witchcraft this time. the game alternates between the usual layton riddles and ace attorney's investigation/trial phases. the odds are high this time around, because those found guilty of witchcraft are shoved into a metal cage and plunged into a pit of fire. they're not messing around.

of course, it wouldn't be layton or ace attorney without a massive plot twist at the end. i'd argue this one is probably the most insane out of all layton games (it's even a bit far fetched tbh, but just saying, you do not see it coming) (okay it's even full of plot holes and i haven't revisited the ending in years but if i did, i think it would be detrimental to my mental health).

the art style is amazing - i'm in love with the later ace attorney art styles, starting from dual destinies and this game, and particularly the latest great ace attorney chronicles. here are a few of my favourite character designs from the game:

but overall, one of the best things about the game has to be the soundtrack. it is the perfect mix of both franchises' music and it is a CRIME that neither level 5 nor capcom have released this on spotify (capcom i know you have all other AA soundtracks on this app. add this one. i am begging you). if you've never played an ace attorney game before, then you do not know the sheer adrenaline of phoenix shouting OBJECTION and the music speeding up. here's one of my favourite tracks:

youtube

tell me this doesn't make you immediately want to confess to 47 crimes you haven't committed.

it's kind of the perfect crossover game if you're into the genre, it's perfectly balanced between riddles and trials. the stakes are also a lot higher and there's actual executions. maybe i shouldn't have played this at the age of 12 actually - at some point (spoilers ahead), maya is wrongly executed and the scene will forever haunt me for some reason:

youtube

(go to 18:06 if the youtube timestamp doesn't work) i chose the french version of the cutscene because it's the one i played back then and i find that the french dub is a lot more compelling than the english one (somehow? the french haven't produced a good dub in decades so). also maya's screams are downright heartbreaking and the scene was traumatising asf when i was a kid

ANYWAY. please play this game, it's so much fun. for the AA enthusiasts, there's an edgeworth cameo at the very end. i very much fear that this game will be forgotten eventually, but it warms my heart to see that there are still people talking about it on the internet.

#it is THE game of my childhood #professor layton #phoenix wright ace attorney #professor layton vs phoenix wright: ace attorney #professor layton vs phoenix wright ace attorney #phoenix wright #hershel layton #luke triton #maya fey #Youtube #plvpw

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convenientalias · 1 month

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Please Watch Circle: Two Worlds Connected (Another Manifesto)

After convincing some ppl to watch White Christmas, I am filled with hubris and thus have returned to try to convince y'all to watch another kdrama thriller. This times it's Circle: Two Worlds Connected (2017). It's sci-fi, it's whumpy, it's got a dual timeline going on, and it's got a great cast. It's also one of the first kdramas I ever watched--I started it back in 2017, lost access to the site I was streaming it from, and 3 years later, when I became actually competent at finding kdramas, I remembered to go find it again! I've now watched it... four times? five times? anyway it's a good show so let's dive in.

The Premise

Every episode of Circle has two parts to it.

The first part: In 2017, a college student named Kim Woo-jin is having family problems. His paranoid twin brother is convinced aliens exist and are killing ppl. Woo-jin met an alien once when he was a kid, but he's been repressing this and ignoring the implications ever since bc of related trauma. Then Woo-jin's twin goes missing, and Woo-jin goes haywire trying to track him down.

The second part: In 2037, society has become a little dystopian, particularly in a closed-off island city called "Smart Earth". "Smart Earth" is supposed to be a place without crime, but when a murder takes place, Detective Kim Joon-hyuk, an outsider, worms his way in to investigate. Secretly he's more interested in investigating Smart Earth itself... and trying to find his long lost brother.

HM I WONDER IF THERE'S A REASON THESE CHARACTERS BOTH HAVE KIM AS A SURNAME. PROBABLY JUST A COINCIDENCE I WOULDNT KNOW. IM SURE THESE TWO MYSTERIES HAVE NO RELATION TO EACH OTHER AT ALL.

The Characters

Kim Woo-jin:

Yes that is Yeo Jin-goo (I feel like most of my followers have watched Beyond Evil, but if you haven't, maybe you know him from Hotel del Luna or The Crowned Clown, idk, he's great). And yes, he is incredibly stressed and will be for pretty much the entire show.

I feel like the main selling point of the first half of this show, apart from the mystery itself, really is just "do you want to see Yeo Jin-goo be so, so tired and act in progressively more insane and risky ways over the course of twelve episodes".

He is a very good brother. He also is in a dynamic duo with a girl who may or may not be an alien. More on that below.

Kim Bum-gyun

He's paranoid and he's not always the best brother. But he's trying to be better and also. He may be (at least partly) right.

Han Jung-yeon

"Hey look at me I'm a normal college student and definitely not an alien. Despite the fact that I do kind of look identical to that alien you met like fifteen years ago."

"Regardless that was not me bc I am normal. Let's become a detective duo!"

Kim Joon-hyuk

Played by Kim Kang-woo! I feel like he's a bit less known than Yeo Jin-goo but I still love him. Very versatile actor. In this he's being your typical unruly cop but with Many Secrets. Going into much more detail than that would unfortunately give spoilers but I like seeing him piss Lee Ho-soo off.

Lee Ho-soo

Nicknamed "Pierrot" by Kim Joon-hyuk for the way he's ~always smiling~, Lee Ho-soo is Smart Earth's ideal peacekeeping employee. He thoroughly believes in their dystopian mood regulating technology and closed off society and no, he does not want to learn any deep dark secrets, thank you very much!!! Leave him alone!!!! (Yeah, he's going to go through all kinds of emotional breakdowns lols.) My favorite character on my first watch-through; later I began to stan Woo-jin more but it's a close thing.

So, so, so...

Is It Shippy?

Honestly, kind of depends on what you're looking for. The most obvious ships would be Kim Woo-jin/Han Jung-yeon, a ship that is very teased but never becomes canon, and Lee Ho-soo/Kim Joon-hyuk, a classic bickering-but-gradually-coming-to-understand-each-other type of duo. There are other shippy routes you could take... my friend for example ships two of Woo-jin's professors. I personally think certain reveals could lend themself to a [REDACTED] [REDACTED] shipping dynamic, which is all too rare, but since I redacted that part you will never know what I mean by that.

Is there shippy fanfic out there? NO BECAUSE THERE ARE A TOTAL OF FOUR FANFICS FOR THIS SHOW ON AO3 AND I CANT FIND ANY ELSEWHERE EITHER. yes three of those are shippy. YES I WANT MORE PLEASE.

More General Thoughts

Circle is a little melodramatic and messy, but it is also very clever. Even after the basic worldbuilding becomes clear, you probably won't be able to guess all the answers to the mysteries until mm. Episode eleven of twelve? I mean I'm sure there are people out there much better at guessing than me but. I didn't.

I also think it's more fun to watch this show (at least the first time) with a bunch of different theories in your mind as to what happened during the time skip. I had at least three running concurrently. No, none of them were correct. I never said I was good at guessing I only said I had fun.

Not EVERY loose thread gets tied up by the end. But things do get mostly resolved. And there's a lot of angst and suspense along the way!

Here are a few more pictures to convey the vibe:

I can also offer you a minimal number (two) of goofy gifsets.

Closing thoughts:

If you've watched Circle, pls come talk to me sometime. If you haven't watched Circle, I recommend giving it a try! I can tell you that anecdotally ppl who I've forced to watch White Christmas and Circle both like Circle better (except me, I like White Christmas better but also I am to be fair obsessed with both).

And for now, I have successfully exorcised my Circle feels for the day. Probably. I hope. (I may be back.)

#circle two worlds connected #kdramas

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nonobadcat · 2 years

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A real world AU Gothic Romance - part 1/3

Pairing: Ghost Shigaraki X Fem!Reader

Rating: Chapter one is PG-13. The other two chapters will be for readers 18+ only.

Content Warnings: Dead dog mention, cannon typical parricide

Eventual Kinks: Toys, V/oy, relations with a literal ghost

Chapter One Word Count: ~3k, Ao3 Mirror

Part 2 ---❤--- Part 3

Saturday October 15th, 2022

“So…?” gesturing like a vaudeville showman, you held out both hands towards your new house. “What do you think!? Great, right?”

Your best friend, Serenity, shoved her purple box-frame glasses up her wide, button nose and pursed her plush lips. Clicking her tongue, she curled her pointer finger into a loose coil of hair. Two tone sarcasm purred into her one word reply: “M-hmmm…”

Scratching the back of your neck, you glanced up at your new purchase just in time to watch one of the old tiles slip from the upper pitch of the dual-hipped roof. It bounced off the attic dormer, rolled past the mildew coated eaves, and slid across the mossy porch awning before tumbling a mere foot into the patchy, overgrown taxus bush.

You forced a smile and pointed to the ancient, untamed yew. “Well, at least the roots are strong.”

Serenity pinched the bridge of her nose. "Please tell me you didn't use the realtor's home inspector."

"Oh come on Ren-Ren," you laughed, waving her off. Your eyes rolled to the side as your smile fell by one tooth. "I mean… I checked the plumbing myself, so…"

Brown eyes narrowed at you as your voice trailed off. With a deep, motherly sigh, she squeezed your shoulder. "Listen, you know I love you, right?"

You nodded.

She hooked her thumb over her shoulder. "It's a dump."

"It's a historical home!" You protested, crossing your arms. "It has good bones!"

Serenity eyed up the dingy, chipping brick and sun bleached slate tiles before shaking her head. "How many square feet?"

You fanned your hand across your chest. "3.5k with an acre of property plus a full attic and root cellar."

She blinked. "Hold up. That's like $400k+ most places! I thought you said your budget was $220,000?"

You grinned. "Yeah, and this was only $130,000 including closing costs. Crazy, right?"

Your best friend did a double take, staring at the ramshackle Second Empire with renewed interest. "Well… at least that covers the roof and siding." She thumbed her chin and cocked her head. "You're sure this thing has indoor plumbing?"

You shoved her shoulder. "Don't be a dick."

Serenity snickered into her palm. "Okay, so aside from having a friggen 'root cellar' and all the curb appeal of a haunted house, what else is wrong with it?"

You pointed to the far edge of the property where a line of grizzled pines swayed in the autumn breeze. "Busiest train tracks in the greater metropolitan area."

She whistled. "That's gonna blow."

"Literally," you agreed, massaging your temples.

She elbowed you in the ribs. "Still quieter than living with your ex."

You grinned. "No kidding!" With a wave of your hand, you beckoned her around the side of the building. "Wanna see the cool part?"

"Your definition of 'cool' is sus."

You grabbed the sleeve of her caramel colored duffle coat and tugged. "Just come on!"

Across the clover riddled lawn, Serenity trudged behind you in her knee high, slouch boots. She wrapped her arms around herself and rubbed to fight off the cool October wind. You pulled to a stop beside a massive old swamp oak and opened your purse. A wax coated paper sack appeared from the depths of your handbag. Scrawled in inky cursive were two words: "Doggone Delish".

You squatted low, and reached between tumbling roots. Gently brushing the leaf litter aside, you unveiled a carved piece of lichen encrusted soapstone. Time had worn the words smooth, but they were still legible.

"Mon: 1885?" Serenity murmured the text out loud before her eyes fanned wide. "Don't tell me that's a—"

You laid the oatmeal biscuit on the gravemarker and patted it fondly. "He was a Corgi. I found an old picture in one of the drawers." Rising to your feet, you brushed your hands on your jeans and grinned at her. "I always wanted a pet Corgi, and now I've got one."

Serenity eyed the long, dark branches of the towering giant above you. Their bare, grasping fingers crawled at the breeze. "Yeah well, hate to tell you this but your new dog is up the stump and fattening the squirrels by now."

You scoffed and flashed her a playful smile. "So? Ghost dogs are cheaper than live ones."

"Freak," she teased, kicking your heel.

You stuck out your tongue and wiggled your fingers at her.

A low rumble tumbled in on the wind. The train's whistle shrieked out in the distance. Serenity covered her ears and grimaced. You shrugged and pointed to the house. She nodded, trailing behind you.

When they spotted the biscuit upon the gravemarker, the pair of crimson eyes in the upstairs window wrinkled with delight.

After a brief climb up the sagging porch steps and a short war with the new latchkey, your party arrived in the entryway. Pastel grey and tar black tiles arranged in geometric patterns lay just before the lanky old staircase. To the right, sunlight streamed through the bay windows of the empty, blandly colored front parlor. As Serenity handed you her coat, she examined the silk rose print wallpaper of the foyer.

"The previous owners have all tried to renovate, but all of them had to stop the repairs before completion for some reason." You patted the yellowing flowers. "So a lot of it is still the original turn of the 20th century decor."

"Okay…" A puff of dust fluttered through the air as your companion tapped one of the old gas landliers in the entryway. With a grin, she turned to face you. "This place is kinda old-timey cool."

"Keep your shoes on," you told her, shuffling her coat onto the hanger. Tucking it into the cedar-lined hall closet, you toed the chipped porcelain tiles. "I haven't finished sweeping yet."

Serenity rolled her eyes. "Nobody’s got time to clean this much house by themselves!" She huffed and crossed her arms. "Why do you think my trunk looks like I scrubbed Mr. Clean’s bubbles?"

With a squeal of happiness, you flung your arms around her shoulders and crushed her against your chest. "Marry me, Ren-Ren."

"Keep that talk up and Marcus's paranoid self is gonna blow my phone up with his 'Baby, where you at?’-s," she laughed.

You released your friend and toed her boots. "You sure keep that boy under your heels."

"Mistress Ser knows what he likes,” she agreed, using the sleeve of her hubbie's hoodie to wipe the dust off the flecked glass of an old, gilded mirror. Tracing the ornate brass with the pad of her finger, she turned to you. “I’m loving this. Where’d you get it?”

“Came with the house.” You nodded to a cabriole legged, mahogany console just below the looking glass. Though the deep auburn shellac had silvered with sun damage, crystal knobs and burled wood spoke to its posh pedigree. A square shaped water ring in the dead center hinted at the old flower vase which must have once graced the hall. “Anything fabric was mouse eaten, but I saved the bedroom set.”

She wrinkled her nose. “You’re gonna sleep in some dead person’s bed? Gross.”

“Don’t make that face, Ren. I’m changing out the mattress.” You sighed. “Besides, this is legit heirloom stuff. When will I ever be able to afford fancy antiques on a my salary?”

Serenity patted your shoulder. “Long as you don’t go banging a ghost or something.”

You shoved her down the hall. “You're really gonna go putting those thoughts in my head?!”

“You love it,” she teased back, running her hand over the dusty glass shades of the wall bracket lamps. “Are these oil?”

You shook your head. “Natural gas with an open flame. The seller said they capped the lines years ago though. Apparently, they caused a huge house fire back in the day and killed everybody except the little boy who lived here. After that they switched to kerosene and candles.”

“Open flame?” Serenity pulled away from the light as if it had teeth. “Small wonder the place went up.”

“Yeah,” you agreed, cupping your elbows. “Sounds like the people who owned it in the forties tried to repair the damage to the gas when they added the electricity. Supposedly the lines were sound, but the gas never worked right. The flame was always going out, leaving the gas running unchecked. They think it was low pressure or something. It made them annoyed so they sold it.”

As you walked, your companion eyed the soaring twelve foot ceilings and ornate transoms above the massive box doorways. “Well duh. If you make your walls friggin fifty foot tall, of course you’re gonna have pressure problems!”

“Yeah, but the water pipes work fine,” you pointed out, grabbing the round brass handle to the empty parlor. Chantilly parquet floors creaked below your feet as you strolled to the old coal burning fireplace and rested a hand on the chipped marble mantle. In the center of the elaborate plaster medallion, a dusty teardrop crystal chandelier hung above your heads. You flipped the wall switch. The light flickered to life with a painful click, illuminating faded scarlet walls. “The electrician says the wiring is safe, but it still sounds sketch to me.”

“Like it’s grinding or something.” She pressed her ear to the peeling, geometric patterned paper before shaking her head. “Well, at least I don’t hear any bees. Marcus’s mom had them in her walls one summer and Memorial Day turned into a horror movie real fast.”

You strolled to the old pocket doors on the far wall and pushed them wide. Beyond the thick walls, worn stain and gouged wainscot welcomed guests to the formal dining room. Ready for eight, the solid mahogany table stool proudly on hand carved, reeded legs. Beside the bay windows, a matching buffet complete with a wide, oval mirror and rosewood inlays awaited crystal bottles filled with port and brandy. Between twin hall doors, the empty hutch cried out for platinum-edged bone china and silver candlesticks to fill the empty shelves encased in its diamond mutins.

“I had to strip the cushions from the chairs,” you explained, resting your hand on the glossy table. “But the wood cleaned up nice with some mineral spirits and paste wax.”

Serenity shot you an incredulous look. “You've been watching too much ‘This Old House’.”

“It’s only $10 a quart at the hardware store. Way cheaper than a new table.”

Your companion rolled her wrist and beconked you to her. “Show me your hands.”

You cringed, holding out dry, peeling fingers.

Her eye twitched. “That’s it. After we finish this tour, I’m gonna drag your scaley self to Sally's Beauty.” She ripped her phone out of her pocket, furiously thumbing the keyboard. When the signal lit up with one bar, she snarled. “If there even is one in this podunk town.”

You shrugged. “It’s a well water and septic world out here.”

Gripping her head, Serenity groaned. “I’m buying you a Brita filter. Asap.”

Heading down the long foyer, you made a sharp turn onto a narrow, walnut trimmed staircase. The dark, hand carved banister wobbled in your grip. You frowned at the loose fourth baluster. Not another one! Stupid Victorian hide glue! The original carpenter did some beautiful dovetail joinings but that stuff could not handle the humid summers in this area. More and more, the only dates you seemed to go on were with Norm Abram, Titebond and wood clamps. Now… the question was should you Amazon Prime some of the original stuff for authenticity’s sake or go with the stronger, cheaper wood glue you could get at Milton’s Hardware?

Cheaper probably. Considering the cost of Mansard roof repairs, cheaper was about what you could afford.

Leading her to the creaky upper hall, you bypassed the largest of four bedrooms on the south side of the house. Serenity paused, peaking through the crack in the old, tilted door frame. You shook your head and jerked your thumb down the landing.

“I got stuck in there last week. The house shifted so much over the years that it jams on humid days. I have to sand and rehang it before next summer.”

“Stuck? With cell service this bad?” She glanced out the far window at the long, overgrown expanse of forest which blocked any sight of your neighbors. A shiver rippled down her body. “Creepy.”

You paused, shaking hand rattling the old brass knob to the northern bedroom. “Tell me about it. I’ve left a crowbar and one of those fire escape ladders in there ever since.

Past the solid, double hip door sat a time capsule to the late nineteenth century. The original oak floors had yellowed with age but even the home inspector was impressed by their lack of seam gaps. Overlooking the front of the property, late 2000s double hung bay windows (a testament to the seller’s half-finished remodeling) encircled a small sitting area near the original coal burning fireplace. After hours of fighting with cast iron grating and a stubborn chimney flue, you’d managed to seal out the worst of the draft. The elegant brass chandelier surrendered its tarnish after two hours of polishing, leaving it capped with a luxurious glow every time the sun peeked through the gauzey Walmart curtains. Unlike the worn examples downstairs, dark wallpaper with golden peony blooms looked untouched by the years.

You flopped onto your new, plastic wrapped mattress and stretched your hands wide. “Behold! Antiquey expensive stuff!”

Serenity’s jaw dropped as she took in the six part, solid mahogany bedroom set. As lovely a red as the day it was made, each piece of satin smooth craftsmanship testified to its owner's fortune. Capped in gothic embellishments and trimmed with burr wood inlays, the queen sized bed looked more like a cathedral than a sleeping space. A marble topped, tiered dressing table with dangling pewter drawer pulls stood ready for silver backed, boar bristle hair brushes and ambergris scented perfumes. You could hide four bodies in the massive armoire. Deep dresser drawers would hold six full skirted walking costumes with ease. Loveliest of all, the free standing, body length mirror reflected your companion’s flabbergasted gawking.

She pointed to the tall, narrow door. “Ho-how’d they even get this stuff in this room?!”

You snickered, rising to your feet. “That era was all knockdown furniture,” you explained, turning the dressing table around. Tracing the dovetail seam between top and bottom, you tapped your temple. “Not like they wanted to haul all this stuff up the stairs anymore than we would.”

Serenity whistled. “Smart.”

“Oh! I almost forgot!” You dashed across the room to the six foot tall secretary desk and pulled down the writing table. In the center cubby, a luscious painting of olde English foxglove, Narcissus, and Lily of the Valley graced the Purpleheart inlays. You turned the small brass key in the latch and extracted a yellowed, black and white photograph of two children and a pudgy Pembroke Welsh Corgi. “Meet Mon, Tenko, and Hana Shimura.”

Your friend studied the picture. Hana, decked in high pigtails, stood solemnly in her dark pinafore and pristine, lacey apron. Tiny lips smashed in a thin line hinted at her efforts to control her smile. Under a messy flop of black hair, Tenko’s bright eyes gleamed with delight as he forced the Victorian portrait frown while clutching his new puppy.

“Hold up,” Serenity demanded, tapping the picture with her long, lavender nail. “Aren’t those Japanese names?”

You nodded, returning the old photo to its hiding spot. “I think so.”

She crossed her arms. “Japan had its borders forced open by Perry in 1854. We’re supposed to believe some super rich Japanese family just packed it up, moved to Gilded-Age America, learned the language, and built a mansion in the middle of Podunk, USA just a few decades later?” Jabbing an annoyed figure at the elaborate plasterwork around the chandelier, she added: “Possible, but unlikely much?”

You shrugged. “Deus ex machina?”

Serenity clicked her tongue and rolled her eyes. “I guess, but it’s a terrible one, even for a smutty fanfic.”

“Eh… it’s Halloween. Gotta get our fix somewhere,” you replied, kicking the cotton batting. “Help me get this on the bed?”

Bustling to your side, your companion tore through the thin plastic. “So… which one of the Shimuras burnt the house down?”

“I think it was the dad,” you explained, hefting the edge of the mattress above the bed frame. “Might have been rich, but rumor has it he was a perfectionist and family beater. According to the librarian, local gossip was that, after he killed the kid’s dog, the wife tried to take them and leave.”

Serenity grunted as she swung her side up and over. The mattress flopped into place with a woosh before sinking down into the platform base. “Yeah, bet a man like that doesn’t take too kindly to his favorite punching bags up and walking away.”

You scoffed. “Anyone who hurt Mon-chan deserves to burn.”

All at once, your hackles rose. Pricked ears caught the tail end of a distant cackle. You whipped around scanning the room.

“What’s up?”

Rubbing the back of your neck, you shook off the feeling like a wet dog. “N-nothing. Just swore I heard a…” Your voice trailed off as you fixed your gaze on the old looking glass before glancing to the window. “Weird…”

“Hey!” Serenity grabbed your shoulder. “Don’t be pulling that ‘I thought I saw something’ nonsense when I’ve gotta sleep here tonight!”

You laughed and threw up your hands in apology. “Sorry, sorry. Just caught a glint of sunlight in the mirror. That’s all.”

Inside the glass, body shaking with laughter, Tomura’s pale hand clamped tight over a skeletal grin.

Part II coming Saturday October 22nd, 2022

Taglist:

@THE-LADY-WRITES-WHAT @wonwoosbestbuddy @OCEON6 @dabisqueen @shig-a-shig-ah-ah @feral-creep @bat-eclecticwolfbouquet-loveuet-love @smilinghowever @imaginedheroine @CLOUDS-NO1-FAN @MOONTHECREATOR @HARLEYWRITESFANTASY @MANJIROSGIRL @vamperilous @MADDY-HAT @cakernofakers @builtd-different25 @kurtasim @shiggyniggy @koreluvsspring @smilee-spooks @beware-thecrow

@m0nim0ni @minnieplier-blog @blehitsriot @moonwad @saikis-seceretcoffeejelly @nainainairi @bakuhoe37 @un-deadinsomniac @nonominchan @utena-akashiya @molita111 @nekolover93 @pimp-in @slaughterbat777 @chxrryvibes @blackchemicals @coldsaladpiecop-blog @flamme-meuf2-shiggy @aphorditeslust @just-yer-average-key @rekoii @justnothingguys

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rebuke-me · 7 months

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im gonna throw my fantasy high bmc au at the wall and see if it sticks anywhere

the bmc kids are all first year students at aguefort adventuring academy. they're all kind of figuring themselves out, working through their issues.

jeremy is the one and only human. he's kind of tossed around from class to class, not sure what he even IS. honestly, he doesn't even know how he was accepted to aguefort at all. he becomes a cleric, channeling who he thinks is a god of self-betterment. ends up not being the case. he's little more than a vessel tbh.

michael's a half-orc bard. he's jeremy's one friend, and he's wary about all of the Popular Kids (tm). he's got magic headphones that act as a sort of weapon, but he also plays the melodica. because of course he does.

christine is a halfling bard, but her weapon is her voice. sure, she has a short sword for when she needs it, but she mostly just tries to charm her way out of things or pretend to be other people.

jake is a half-elf ranger. he tells everyone he's a full elf, because he's ashamed of not being what everyone wants him to be. he ends up becoming a dual class ranger barbarian. lots of pent up rage.

brooke is an air genasi druid. she's forced into the healer role most of the time, but it doesn't really fit her. eventually swaps classes to be a monk because i want her to kick all kinds of ass. let brooke say "self care" after suplexing a baddie.

jenna is a half-elf half-dwarf (shut up dnd bitches its my au i make the rules) and she's a divination track wizard. she can tell the future when she wants to she just usually would rather stay in the present.

chloe is a full high elf sorcerer. she's basically the fantasy high version of old money, and she's a pretentious little bitch /aff.

rich is a dwarf barbarian. he's trying his best, but he doesn't really know what's going on. he used to be a rogue before the deity that jeremy's summoning whispered to him that it could help him out.

#anyways i have a fixation :D #im so good.#be more chill #bmc #jeremy heere #jake dillinger #christine canigula #michael mell #jenna rolan #brooke lohst #rich goranski #chloe valentine #fantasy high #bmc fantasy high au #jupiter's bmc aus

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marenwithanm · 1 month

Note

Oh!! What headcanons/plans do you have about Wood's family? And/or Who was the hardest to design?

Hi thanks for the ask! I don't really plan on going into Wood's family and such during the actual comic, so I'm happy to lore dump it all right now 🤣 he's probably the one who I've thought the most about for this question, because there's literally nothing to go off of. Also I got another ask for question 9 (which is asking about all of the links families) so I'll go into my thoughts on the other Link's families there.

So Wood was a normal kid you could find anywhere, living in a small village. (I can't decide if I want that to be on the outskirts of Hyrule or not even in Hyrule in the first place). He had parents who worked hard to provide for him and his little baby sister. His dad was a wood worker, and made the little play sword he still carries around (so Wood is quite attached to it. Sure would be a shame if it were to, oh I don't know, snap in half one day 😈) One day, while he was out playing, Ganon's armies raided the town. It went a little something like this:

Wood survived, of course, but the head trauma combined with the emotional trauma left him with spotty memories. He's been wandering around since, mostly just trying to stay alive in the monster infested wilderness. Until one day, he runs into the Princess's nursemaid, Impa, and is tasked with saving the land of Hyrule.

So basically Wood did have a family, but he can't really remember that fact beyond some blurry faces and a feeling of warmth. In between the first game and Adventure of Link, I think he spends some time trying to remember where he came from, and maybe even finds the ruins of that village, but that's a story for another time. It does make his fight against Ganon a bit more... personal than he first realized 🤣

Aaaaanyways, onto who was the hardest to design. I tend to stick pretty closely to the base designs of the Links (which is part of why I think other ppl's links meet aus are so cool how do y'all come up with such neat designs????) but if I had to chose someone it would probably be our ✨Mysterious Figure✨. But I can't talk about him yet so second hardest would probably be Rock. There are two toon links in Little Links (wind waker and minish cap), and I didn't want either to just look like the stock toon link design.

(plot twist, this one is neither minish cap or wind waker link, its spirit tracks link! and unless you're a mega nerd and notice that the line art being colored is a spirit tracks thing (and maybe the belt being grey and the shield design, there's really no way to tell lol. So, you can see why I wanted to stay away from that)

Ocean was easy, just put him in his outset outfit and you're done. But Rock was a bit harder since he doesn't have any alternate outfits in game. I ended up going with a blacksmith apron and long sleeved shirt and pants in the toon link colors. I like his design, but I do sometimes worry he isn't recognizable as Minish Cap Link on his own. But to be fair to me, the only way you can recognize Minish Cap Link even in offical art is with Ezlo on his head and I can't exactly do that here since its before everyone's adventures, so I think I did just fine. As for everyone else's designs I really just took their offical art and in game designs into account. Like Pinkie's red shoes are just from alttp Link's sprite

Ocean has a bracelet because he has one in wind waker and I extrapolated from there.

I do kind of wish I had done something fun with Wood's eyes, since his loz 1 sprite has dual colored green and brown eyes, but oh well its too late now.

Also, sorry this answer took so long, I wanted to include a bit of art but its my spring break right now so its been a hectic (but fun) week

#little links #loz #link #links meet au #not comic #ask #wood #rock #boot

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memories-beneath-the-skin · 9 months

Text

Its not a monster

*trigger warning, violence and suicide *

It's not a monster

It's not my demons

For so long I have had the time to really look inside and know what is in me.

This will be a brutally raw and vulnerable write, with some very tough subject matter. Not my usual writing that get hearts, maybe want to swipe on past.

It's me. Always has been me, used to think me at 29 but it's the me that either died or was born when I was 5. It's me, it walks a different path, but as I look at me... It's me.

At 5 I was swimming In lake, as my dad was wading and fishing, my brother 3, was playing on shore. My dad said keep behind a certain point in the water, I listened. As I did I side shifted to a very mushy place, my foot slipped and I fell into a 3 foot drop, where boat motors Rev to get on up a trailer. My feet slipped and I dropped, the water icy cold, the seaweed tangling in my legs. I didn't hold a breath at first as I didn't expect and I ended up taking a large inhale of water in my surprise. The bubbles drifted to the top and I felt my lungs breathing water, or more so going through the motions as I found no air. I struggled and the lake got dark, I was slipping off to what felt like a heavy sleep. My dad grabbed me, smacked my back as I was laid over his shoulders violently vomiting water.

That was the first time I realized I wasn't mortal.

At 12 was in upstate NY, visiting grand parents, lived on a farm near a lot of Amish. Every year they would help on my grandparents farm, so my grandmother baked things and gave out eggs every week. I was with a kid older than me, wanted to do some target practice with a 22, some short rounds, he also brought a double barrel 12 gauge which I thought had bird shot. We went out, he placed guns out of the way, but he did not follow safety rules, had two deer slug rounds chambered. He ran back to house had guns leaning on tree. I was behind tree a good ways back, just waiting. Their coon hound came out, tracked his scent, got excited at his smell on the guns and mucked about knocking them over onto a stump, it scared the dog and it stepped on the dual hammers, somehow discharging a shot. All I heard was a thunderous blast and I was knocked to the ground. Dog had spun it towards me, I couldn't hear or see but blinding pain. Felt like sweat running down my back but was blood, I'd be dead if it was the slug. The round blew apart a tree behind me sending a chunk of wood the size of an orange, glancing across the back of my head/neck. I still to this day have a small spot where I have nerve damage and it's numb when I touch.

15 We were traveling through middle lower Canada, I unbuckled grabbed an apple from back of station wagon. Just has buckled back up, I see a ladder coming at the windshield, dad yelled swerved to shoulder, car bit soft shoulder and then chunks of blasted bedrock, car flipped on roof, slide 150 feet, windshield and roof closing in, being shredded. Without thought I unhooked, dropped to roof, kicked my door open, pulled my brother out, he was screaming, I had broken his collar bone with my arm, mine was fractured. I pulled open dads door, blood all over front windows, my mom was covered in blood, face pressed against caved windshield . I watched emergency crews extract her, I watched my dad have a heart attack, my brother writhing in pain. I stayed up 3 days no sleep, making sure my mom was woken up every so many minutes to not let her slip into a concussionary sleep, I couldn't place that solely on my dad and his broken heart.

16 working at the diner, started at 14 washing dishes as my barber knew the owner, by 15 I was prep cook, by 16 I ran window, kitchen and staff at night after school and weekends. One night closing troubled dude Chad came in fucked up. Drunk and on drugs, he found a 2 foot long bread knife and was just trying to chop bread we had just made earlier that day, crushing it. He kept saying not sharp enough... Not sharp. He kept sharpening it as I scrubbed the grills clean, he was taking heads of lettuce and chopping the fuck out of them, and sharpening this fucking knife, I couldn't leave, every time I'd try he would grip my shirt and not let me pass, I thought about running and jumping through the cramped food pass through window for the servers to grab plates , but feared failing. I have always been a very big dude. Only one server was in restaurant, she was vacuuming and I also feared he would hurt her. The offspring came on the radio, You Gotta Keep 'Em Separated.... And I heard the 4th worse thing that has ever made my blood run cold and heart stop. I hear Chad say quietly.. Gotta separate your head.. I bet it's sharp.. Then louder he says hey dude come here.

Only way out of the kitchen was past him, he was in doorway, to the right in hall was freedom /front door, the left a pantry room with walk in fridge, no exit. I turned from grill to knife rack behind me, may as well try.. I saw it empty, he had taken them all, now I knew this was partially planned ahead at some point. I approached the exit, he lifted knife up and as he blocked door, caught the blade on the wooden header. I lept at him, drove into him like a linebacker, I was definitely stronger and bigger, he went into the mug storage rack in hall, and fell onto floor, sitting in broken glass and still clutching the knife he was blocking the right, I ran to storage room, he got in behind me, split second decision I grabbed a can of pumpkin filling off shelf, he swung knife, I jumped back, he caught the tip of it in my left palm, in the meat of my thumb. He raised knife again and I hurdled the can at his face, it struck his throat, dropped knife and fell to knees gasping for air, I kicked his stomach like I was punting a football and he fell on his face. I slammed steel door closed and dragged a 300 pound potato peeler and steel table to block door. By then server was shrieking as she heard the glass mugs fall and shatter, she called the police as I pressed my body against table, blood running down to floor off table from my hand, as he was stabbing door with knife, telling me that... It's just a head. I walked away with a nice little permanent scar on my palm.

*not done yet.. All 2 of you still reading.. Now is your chance to stretch, get a refreshment, or back out of post, warning next segments are very vulnerable for me to share and hard to read*

29...May

I was in carpool, early on a Wednesday, and radio said section of freeway shutdown by emergency crews as report of pedestrian accident. Was about 5 am. I made it to work, got to about 830 and HR needed to see me, I went up front, my HR leader was looking upset and waiting, her eyes sad and wet. I said Holy shit you are firing me? She said no... But to come to office. In office two police officers stood up, called me by name, I asked... Holy shit, your arresting me? No.. Sit down. They asked if I had a car.. No. They said, we need to take you to your parents house. I'm demanded to know that's going on, again its you will learn once you get there, I told them to fuck off, grabbed phone, called parents house. All my dad would say was come home. I demanded to know what happened to mom, he said she's fine, come home.

Fast forward to riding with two cops making small talk as I was fighting off panic attack.

Got to my parents they were outside, took me into back yard and told me my brother and his wife were dead. My legs gave out, I couldn't hear anything but my screams of disbelief as the world started spinning and I'm clutching the grass trying not to black out. I thought car accident.. Had to be.. They told me he killed her and then himself. That was the pedestrian accident that morning, him jumping to his death off the bridge onto a major interstate freeway (number 1 worse thing I've ever heard.) my mind further dove into panic... 4 month old baby... They said was left safe in crib.

I went into protection mode, had to get my parents taken care of, mentally and physically they were shells of hurting pain and I was all they had. I loaded up their van with clothes and crap they needed, drove them to my rides share point, retrieved my car, got them home to my house. By then it was state wide news, every channels top story for local news, pictures of him and her, the standard trope of coworkers /neighbors stating.. What a surprise, seemed so quiet. I contacted my local police in case they figured out my connection and address.

Went back down with my dad, 81 missed calls on his answering machine, all news outlets, I made two leave that drove up driveway, one lingered in street... I go down did the... Our family is saddened by the senseless violence that's occurred, our sympathy and prayers go out to both families and all affected... After that they wanted more I told them to fuck off.

No answers why just outcome.

Got my dad back up to my house, dug in for 5 days, many tense I moments, fights, painful energy, got called in Sunday to a police interrogation room they had just spoken to the victims family.

They asked if I wanted details, I did, but I told them I dreamt it all... That I already knew. Detective asked what I thought, I told him she was sleeping, he stood over her a long while and then attacked her. Detective asked how I knew, I told him I drempt it multiple times.

*graphic ahead, warning *. Detective said at some point went out to shed, retrieved hatchet, had hatchet in spare bedroom, cover was found there, no idea how much time passed, went to bedroom, struck her in head repeatedly as she slept. She got up, ran down hall to escape he struck her as she fled based on forensic details in hall....made it to kitchen he grabbed large kitchen chopping knife, and sparing details stabbed her in a very excessive, repetitive manor and fled in her car. Neighbors heard screams but did not know where, she crawled halfway out front door, into deck and couldn't go further, she layed whispering for help.

He drove around an hour, tried to cut his own throat failed, called 911 from his cell and stated that no one would understand why he did it, but had to, the baby was fine, but had to. I've only read the transcript, haven't had the courage to listen to his last words. He jumped with cell in hand, and was just an open feed of traffic noise. Police came to bridge, identified address, found her, she had a faint pulse, but passed during life saving measures.

.......

So much to unpack from the point of all this...

I have a nephew that will soon be a legal man, that I didn't fight custody for that went to the surviving brother on her side, my parents were only allowed supervised visitation when they allowed, we were invited to 2 birthdays and I Christmas and that stopped I was not allowed any. When I tried I was told that my brother took away his mom, so he won't get to know me. My patents wanted to sue for visitation, I did not, enough pain has been done. I will reach out to this man once he desires to know my side. Pains my heart he never got to know his grandfather as my dad passed a few years ago.

It hurts because I'm not a violent person, I don't have it in me. I sacrafice my time and body to protect animals and others. But the blood that runs through me, that we shared, has repercussions in life that I don't blame anyone for thinking either. People often look at my large stature like I'm just prone to be a threat. I don't blame them, I can only imagine the justified reasons they think that about me.

No one won in the event, I have spent years learning medical training, suicide identification and prevention training, and de-escalation techniques that I can apply to situations as I see them.

I can't remember his last words, guilt washes through me as I tear myself apart... Could I have fucking seen it before it happened, and stopped it?? I'd have a brother to grow old with, to care for aging family with, to do normal things and my reality turned upside down.

I've lived for 16 years empty, hurting, I can't remember out last conversation, only his final action, trauma killed that for me. I have spent years trying to remember, tried meditating, drugs... I simply can't remember that will always hurt.

I could not find a murder support group, but did a suicide support group, I never felt like I fit they had family that left them and wounded them and I dare whine about missing him.

Survivors guilt /guilt by association runs rampant in me. I know I'm not him, I know we are just related but when their family treated me with no mercy, when you see a coworker you dare think you can confide in change look at you different and pull away, it causes a man to hold that in.

I've been to 10 years of counseling, taken 5 different anti depressants, 3 different anti anxiety meds, tried church and prayer, and involved myself into other things.

I didn't trust strangers before this, I've always been that antisocial loner, I was picked on and beaten at school because my dad supported the basics, garage sales and thrift stores for clothes. School clothing was store brand, shoes off brand, I used to hate my dad as I share his name, and it's unique and rhymed with a popular mascot back in the 90s, the whole class would chant a taunting Matra at me.

I don't trust anyone, no one the comes to me first. Even when I go to them i have so much trouble, I have such deep ingrained fear of abandonment that it makes me awkward , sociality awkward.

I've been asked why I write so dark at times, it's no different than love, or sex... I write from past, from mood, emotions and situations stored inside me, sometimes I write as situations unfold, but I've lived a life of emotions, easy to use that energy, people confuse it as me being depressed and sad... No, but I have been before.

I tend to be too loyal to those I connect, I take up too much attention, too clingy.

At 34 I had a bad luck situation, I was at a nature preserve, suddenly a dodge charger police car tears through the grass, I knew they were coming for me as I was the only one there, I leaned on a pole, watched a sheriff get out, gun drawn and pointed on center mass, and screaming something. I had my hands in my hoodie, hood up and that moment I felt like my life wasn't worth continuing, I thought about death by cop. Just start running and screaming at him, pray he unloaded not wounded. The last moment my mind slowed, my mom for years has asked... Do you feel safe. I had promised her I would never take my life. So I complied, deescalating the situation, found out man with gun sighted in area, dressed similar as me.

I lived in a deep shell, no emotions. No care no joy, no laughter, no.. Nothing.

Wasn't until maybe 7 years ago I told doctor I wasn't scared of anything, I could sit in a road, watch a semi come at me and my b heart rate wouldn't even climb, I didn't care.

My sleep was non existent for years. I would stay up as late as I could till exhausted and I found success with not dreaming, didn't always work. My dreams at times has flayed me alive. Thats when I started to write on tumblr, it helped my sleep.

Something needed to change and past trauma and the event that broke my back created two things... I crave emotions, not fake staged, bland, real displays, at times even hatred to me felt better than a pretend, numb act of emotions.

To protect myself.. The me I spoke of earlier... It's had it's use for me, within seconds comes up, can act logical, emotionless. When my heart on my sleeve is too freely , I feel too much, or I feel like I don't deserve I bring me up. That other me.

If I'm threatened I go calm, logical, even I feel like I have had too much energy stimulus, I let me ride in the captains chair.

I withdraw. From all. From family, friends, neighbors, strangers, tumblr peeps. I get cold when threatened with ultimatums, as me and me agree we don't deserve what we have.

Haven't for so long. The more who care, are the more who can hurt me, the more I have around me.. The more who will leave. The ones that leave hurt me deeply, even though it's the me that pushes, and causes the departure.

I'm afraid of being alone, yet to protect I push, find fault, a reason to be... Alone.

I am aware it's fucked up.

Hurts to open my soul and have someone leave, go silent, my favorite post lately that I wrote, that meant large meaning that got a few hits was... 'silence is a murder weapon'

I want to stress I'm not the victim, I'm not playing that card, the dead are the victims, my parents are the victims, the lives changed are the victims.

I am not needing condolences, or sorries.

I am what I am today and can only be that.

It's not a monster or demons, but occasionally a different me..

I carry scars and rough edges, intense emotions and trust issues, plaqued my anxiety attacks and insomnia.

I just needed to write this out to the universe.

#original writing #writers on tumblr #vulnerability #vulnerable #raw thoughts #spilled words #spilled writing #spilled ink #writeblr #writing #writerscommunity #Pain #Trust #Hurt #Care #Truth #Laying it out

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