#that's gonna stay unfinished forever i think

[main-bird]

here is a noya wip but also an alt version at the same time

#haikyuu fanart #haikyuu nishinoya #my art #i'm actually not sure if i'll finish it #one is almost completly done but the alt version with the slicked back hair? #that's gonna stay unfinished forever i think

[atelierlili]

In-Panem/Not Reaped Everlark AUs

Got asked to give some fanfic recommendations for In-Panem/Not Reaped Everlark AUs so here we are. Most of them (if not all of them) are gonna be fluffy and happy tbh because i can't take my pookies being hurt ):

Completed:

A New Path (138k words) by Endlessnightlock

The day after aging out of the Reaping, Katniss crosses paths with Peeta. She thanks him for the bread and to her surprise, a tentative friendship begins.

One of my favourites. I love the direction the author took with this story. Always made me want more!

Go Slow, Peeta (20k words) by Oakfarmer

The era of the Hunger Games has come to an end. How Everlark slowly happened anyway.

This was the one that started it all for me. Short, simple and to the point! A classic in my opinion.

Nothing Owed for a Gift (10k words) by orphaned account

Lately, Merchants have taken to flirting with unwitting Seam folk as a joke, sometimes going so far as to ask them out on a date. I've even heard of a couple instances of a Merchant asking someone from the Seam to marry them, and then laughing hysterically when the poor recipient says 'yes'. So, when Peeta Mellark approaches me after the reaping, red with nerves and pushing his lips together as if he's trying very hard not to do something like laugh, I'm immediately wary. Peeta can't possibly be asking me to marry him for real. ... right?

Urgh. Literally one of my favourite one-shots.

Inevitability (44k words) by Xerxia

What if? What if Peeta and Prim hadn't been reaped?

Definitely not the fluffiest fics in the list, but Katniss absolutely SHINES here. And Peeta stays very true to his character as well. Absolutely worth the read.

It Takes A District (55k words) by MTK4FUN

Thinking her mother is dying, Katniss Everdeen marries Peeta Mellark to keep her sister out of the Community Home.

I love this fic. I don't know what it is, but there's something about it that makes it standout on its own.

Katniss Everdeen Is Not A Stalker (241k words) by MegaAuLover

Katniss as a little problem, she can't stop looking through Peeta's window, trying to find a way to pay her boy with the bread back but as time goes on she realizes she wants more. But there is a problem the District is flooded with Peacekeepers and everyone faces danger as the Capitol tightens its reigns on the district. Can love bloom in the middle of adversity? Or will it shrivel in the face of surmounting danger?

This is the one. Easily one of the bestest AUs imo. Very long read- but I will be naming my first born after the squirrel. The Everlark relationship here is A+++.

Incomplete/Ongoing:

( I know its weird to recommend incomplete fics, some these ones are legitimately my favourite fics and think are still worth the read.)

Cavedweller (79k words) by Jennajuicebox (last update: 2021-01-25)

Her mother once told her she was brave. A word Katniss wouldn't have chosen for herself. Brave implies that you run headlong into the scary unknown. Brave implies you face the things that want you dead. It dredges up thoughts of conquering armies and swords raised over head. Katniss isn't brave. As much as she would never admit it to herself she is scared out of her wits. She is staring into a gaping chasm, waiting for it to swallow her whole.

I love AUs that explore Katniss otherside of the family so much. As always, the Everlark development here is absolutely heartwarming and delicious. 10/10

On the Threshold ( 97k words) by ghtlovesthg (last update: 2020-06-26)

Nineteen and free from the Reapings forever, Katniss finds a token on her doorstep commemorating her passage over the threshold of adulthood. Discovering the identity of the sender will start Katniss on a road that leads toward life's other milestones.

This is exactly how I envisioned Everlark would get together had it not been for the Reapings. So so so so good. There is just enough here to be satisfied that the fic is unfinished ; w;

hope you find something you like! I always have more if you want more to sink your teeth into <3 Happy readings!

@heartforeyes @the-tiny-fangirl

#everlark #the hunger games #thg #katniss everdeen #peeta mellark #everlark fanfiction #fanfiction recommendation #these are just a few I have sitting around in my bookmarks. #I know I have a few that I haven't added because I forgot ;Q:

[honeylations]

NAKAMURA KAZUHA x FEM!READER

Prompt: Still not being over your ex boyfriend (Choi Yeonjun), you thought it was a good idea to fake a relationship with Kazuha, aka a complete stranger, to make him jealous.

Warnings/Notes: reader is a med student, Kazuha is a mechanical engineering student, mentions of other idols

———

“Y/n?” A voice softly calls from outside your room that you chose to ignore.

There was a short silence before the knocking continued and your dorm mate spoke again. “Y/n, I know you’re awake”

“Go away, Chaeryeong” You groaned and hugged your thick blanket closer to your body.

The said girl opened the door anyways and gagged at the sudden stench of your room.

And also the horrid looks of it. Dirty clothes were scattered all around, unfinished ramen cups sitting on your study desk, and Chaeryeong could’ve sworn she just saw a cockroach run past despite the darkness.

“I said go away” You muttered tiredly into your pillow that was wet from your whole week of tears.

Chaeryeong hopped to your window and drew the curtains, blinding you with the bright sun. Actually, you didn’t even know it was morning from the longing you spent in your dark room, busy listening to Taylor Swift songs.

“Y/n, I know you’re heart broken but I can’t stand to see you skip lectures AND live like a pig” Chaeryeong said with a hand on the hip.

“You don’t understand it at all, Chaer…I just wanna stay here forever and die”

“Well if you’re gonna continue gluing yourself to the bed and only eat 2 minute noodles, you’re definitely not gonna wake up the next time you sleep”

“I don’t think I’ve slept at all this past week”

“I don’t think so either. Come on hun, this is not how I want you to be. Yeji and the other girls have been asking about you too. Don’t leave them worried sick” Chaeryeong sat next your laying body.

“If I go back on campus, I’ll see Yeonjun again and I’ll probably end up crying when I do” You hid under the covers.

“Look, I’m sorry Yeonjun broke up with you. Believe me, I’ve been holding myself back from running him over but you’re gonna make yourself look pathetic by not making the effort to move on”

You closed your eyes as the same scene of the breakup kept replaying in your head.

It was a Monday morning when you and Yeonjun were sitting at the cafeteria, waiting for the rest of your friends to arrive. You pulled out a big lunchbox since you cooked and packed food for the both of you.

“I cooked your favourite today, babe” You smiled and continued placing the utensils on the table.

Yeonjun sighed and rubbed his thighs to ease the anxiety eating him alive. “Y/n, can we talk? Just before the others get here”

“Yeah of course. What’s up?” You said calmly, unprepared for your boyfriend’s next words.

“Please don’t hate me for this, Y/n I’m really sorry…”

You stopped in your tracks and gave him your undivided attention. “What do you mean?”

“I want to break up…”

It was like the world stopped moving and all of a sudden you couldn’t hear the voices of the students around you. You could hear your heart beat and the palms of your hands started to sweat.

“W-What?”

“I wanted to talk about this another time where we were alone but you’re always caught up with so many lectures, it made it difficult. I’m really sorry Y/n, please believe me when I say that”

“Why? Was I a bad girlfriend? I can do better, I swear!” You started to tear up.

Yeonjun scratched the back of his neck and sighed. “No, it’s not that. Honestly, I just feel like my feelings for you aren’t as strong as they were before. I didn’t wanna lead you on nor force myself to continue the relationship when my feelings are unclear”

“Unclear? You can’t just lose feelings like that without a reason Yeonjun!”

“Y/n, I don’t have a proper explanation okay?”

“Heyyyy what’s up party people!” Yeji appears with her girlfriend, Chaeryeong. Food trays in their hands.

Their smile fell when they saw you rush to pack up your lunchbox in tears, sobbing your way out of the cafeteria. Yeji clenched her jaw and slammed her tray on the table, staring down at Yeonjun.

“What the hell did you do, Choi?”

“Y/n?” Chaeryeong’s voice broke you out of the flashback.

“I’m here”

“What do you say? If you come back to Uni, we’ll help you get over that stupid boy”

“Yeah, I’ll treat you bingsu!” Yuna’s voice made you scream and sit up from the bed.

“What the hell, since when did you come in?!”

The tall girl grabbed an empty laundry basket and started throwing your used clothes in it. “A few minutes ago but you seemed too lost in thought to hear me”

“Oh sorry” you thread your fingers through your unwashed hair.

“Don’t be. I missed you, hun. The others do too. Especially Minji, Sakura, and Yeji. They said the group projects feel empty without you”

“You gonna take up our offer, Y/n-ie?” Chaeryeong smiled sweetly.

Sighing into your palms, you have a small nod. “Fine.”

The two girls squealed and Chaeryeong hugged you but she quickly moved back from your stench. “Oh my god you need a shower”

Frowning, you lifted your armpit to your face and gagged. “Fuck you’re right”

“Go shower while we tidy your room. It’s time a for a fresh start” Yuna ordered, reassuring you with a thumbs up.

“I love you guys”

“Yeah yeah we know. Shoo shoo stinky!”

———

After a healthy breakfast and long hot shower, Chaeryeong and Yuna prepared you an outfit for the day. Yuna even offered to do your makeup for you.

Arriving at the University, you were happy to see the rest of your group patiently waiting by the engineering building. Yeji, Sakura, Minji, and Hanni all ran to you, pulling you in for a group hug. Yuna and Chaeryeong laughed before joining in.

“I’m so happy to see you, Y/n” Yeji said as the hug circle separated.

“Me too, Yeji. Feels good getting some fresh air”

“Should’ve seen her room” Yuna mumbled.

“I’ll start getting better guys, I promise” You smiled warmly at everyone, receiving a big smile back.

“Y/n?” A masculine voice called behind you.

Instantly turning around, you regretted to see your ex boyfriend with his friends Beomgyu, Soobin, Taehyun, and Huening Kai.

“Hold me back before I rip his teeth out” Chaeryeong whispered to Yeji who immediately held her waist.

“Yeonjun…hi” You breathed out.

“How have you been? Haven’t really seen you around”

“Been good, totally good. Was just busy with…stuff” You cursed at yourself for not thinking of better responses.

“Ah I see. Have you’ve been seeing anyone lately?” He suddenly asked, surprising you and your group.

“Why are you asking?”

Yeonjun timidly shrugged and buried his hands into his pockets. “No reason”

“Well I’m not—“

“Yeah she’s been seeing a hot girl” Yuna blurted out, all the attention going to her.

Your eyes were as wide as saucers.

Yuna clung onto Chaeryeong’s shoulder tightly, realising she fucked up big time.

“You’re bi?” Yeonjun asked.

“Um—“

“She’s swung both ways since junior year” Yuna spoke again and you really wished a rock fell on her head right now even though she wasn’t lying.

You’ve liked both genders for a while but you tried focusing on men more because you were getting too delusional with your crushes on straight girls. You wanted to save yourself from the heart break but looking at your situation with Yeonjun, the plan didn’t work out anyways.

“Oh…Who’s the lucky girl?”

“Hey Kkura-Chan there you are” A female student appeared with a stack of papers in one hand.

Out of panic, you hastily grabbed her wrist and pulled her to your side, sending Yeonjun an awkward smile. “This is her”

Yeonjun frowned. “Nakamura Kazuha…You’re dating Kazuha?”

Looking up at the taller (and extremely pretty) girl, she didn’t look back at you but instead wrapped an arm around your waist. “Mhm, that’s right. Sorry, is there an issue Yeonjun?” Kazuha asked.

“No, no problem at all. See you in class” He shook his head and walked off with his group.

Kazuha released her hold and finally looked at you. “You alright?”

All you could think of was: Goddamn this girl was hella fine. How come you haven’t seen her before? She was so much taller than you, had wavy black hair, glasses, wore baggy denim jeans, and black shirt.

“Y-Yeah. Sorry about putting you on the spot like that because SOMEONE wanted to LIE” you targeted your words at Yuna who hid behind Yeji and Chaeryeong.

“It’s okay, I thought he was bothering you”

“Thank you again, Kazuha was it?”

“Yep! Nakamura Kazuha, first year mechanical engineering student. Also mutual friend of Sakura”

“It’s nice to meet you, I’m Kwon Y/n, first year med student”

“Sorry Ha-Chan, did you have something for me?” Sakura asked, now standing in front of the other girl.

“Oh yeah, your review papers that you texted me to get from our dorm. You left it”

“Thank you!! Would’ve died without them”

“Dramatic as always” Kazuha rolled her eyes with a handsome smile.

You were melting.

“I gotta get going. Yunjin’s waiting for me. I’ll see you at lunch, Kkura Unnie” Kazuha announced, starting to take her leave but not before she flashed you a short smile.

“See you around, Y/n”

Once she disappeared into the building, all your friends crashed into you with squeals.

“WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FRUITY TENSION?!” Hanni screamed.

“You totally like her!” Minji added.

You were being slapped left and right. “I do not! I just met her!”

“Just letting you know Y/n, Kazuha is single and also likes girls” Sakura winked.

You groaned before pointing a finger at Yuna. “This is all your fault!”

“I’m sorry, I freaked out!!”

“What do I do now? Yeonjun thinks I’m dating Kazuha when I’m not but we basically see each other everyday in this stupid campus!” You paced back and forth, starting to feel the incoming headache.

“Why don’t you two just continue faking it?” Chaeryeong suggested.

“You’re kidding” You deadpanned but your dorm mate shook her head.

“Hear me out. Yeonjun looked totally jealous and that brings me satisfaction because if you all have forgotten, he was the reason Y/n was living like a hobo this past week!”

“Damn was I that bad?” You muttered.

Chaeryeong continued. “Look at it as a way of revenge, Y/n. Yeonjun might still have feelings for you and since he broke your heart, just break his back”

You scratched your chin. “Doesn’t sound like a bad idea”

“Right? Kazuha also seems so chill about it so it shouldn’t be too much of a problem for you to talk it out with her. Also Y/n, I swear to God, if you take Yeonjun back, I’m running you BOTH over”

“Wasn’t planning on it anyways” You rolled your eyes.

“Come on let’s go to class. You got a week worth of revision to do miss Kwon” Yeji playfully scolded before Chaeryeong kissed her cheek.

“See you later baby” Hanni pecked Minji’s lips.

“Ugh, lovebirds. Bye Y/n-ie” Yuna waved, walking off with Chaeryeong and Hanni to the business department.

You walked alongside Yeji, Sakura, and Minji to the medical building, already dreading it.

———

“KIMCHI JIGAE KIMCHI JIGAE KIMCHI JIGAEEEEE!!!” Sakura hopped around impatiently while you, Yeji, and Minji were returning your laptops and notebooks inside your bags but the Japanese girl would not stop clawing at your arm.

“OW! Can you not be feral for one second?!” You raised your voice, seeing the scratch marks.

“But you know how packed the cafeteria can get! I don’t wanna miss out!”

“We’re going we’re going!” You chuckled and allowed yourself to get dragged out the room like a doll with the others tailing not too far behind.

You all finally reunited with Yuna, Hanni, and Chaeryeong at a big table in the cafeteria, noticing a few more familiar faces joined who you recognised as Lia, Ryujin, Haerin, Hyein, and Danielle.

Sakura had already disappeared into the line, fighting her way for Kimchi jigae.

“Y/N!!!” The 5 screamed and squished you in another group hug.

“Oh em ghee I’m so popular” you giggled, the girls groaning and pushing you away.

“Nevermind, don’t miss you anymore” Lia pretended to yawn.

You laughed and sat down just in time for Sakura to return with two food trays. “As an apology for scratching you, I got you food”

“That was fast” Danielle commented.

“It’s called pushing and shoving, my dear Australian friend”

“Thanks Kkura, I forgive you” You made a kissy face, about to pick up your chopsticks when the same annoying masculine voice called you.

“Hey Y/n” Yeonjun smiled, leaning onto the table.

Chaeryeong scratched her head and hissed. “Why are you always here when we don’t want you to!”

“Sorry, is it ok for me to talk with Y/n privately?”

Chaeryeong arched a brow. “What am I? Y/n’s mom?”

“No, but I am and I say no you cannot” Sakura replied with crossed arms.

“Y/n, it won’t take long” Yeonjun whispered and you tried hard not to fall again.

Another food tray suddenly squeezed past Yeonjun’s hand and placed next your tray. “Excuse me, wanna sit next to my girlfriend” Kazuha muttered and sat down, holding your waist like she did that morning.

“Ha-Chan!” Sakura cheered, waving enthusiastically.

“Since when was Kazuha part of our group?” Haerin mumbled to Danielle who could only shrug but watch intently.

“Also, girlfriend??” Hyein added to Danielle’s other ear.

“Y/n please?” Yeonjun pleaded.

You looked at Kazuha and the other girls. Giving a deep sigh, you slowly stood up, Kazuha’s hand never leaving your waist. “Alright”

“Y/n seriously?” Chaeryeong scoffed but you reassured her you’ll be fine.

“Don’t take too long, baby” your fake girlfriend pouted that you weirdly wanted to kiss.

“I won’t” You pinched her cheek and walked off with Yeonjun.

Finally in a private area of the uni, you crossed your arms and glared at the taller boy. “What is it this time?”

“Just wanted to say I miss you…” He muttered, looking down at his feet.

“Sorry, I just wanted to remind you that YOU broke up with ME”

“I know and I’m sorry for that, Y/n how many times do you want me to apologise? I fell out of love!”

His raised voice was starting to get on your nerves. “Okay? If you fell out of love then why did you ask me if I was seeing anyone? Let alone wanting to talk to me right now?!”

“Listen, this past week of not seeing each other made me realise that I probably made a mistake”

“Probably? This is some bullshit” You ran your fingers through your hair out of frustration. “You broke me Yeonjun! You were the reason I locked myself up in my dorm for the whole week, acting like a hobo!” You added, copying the description from Chaeryeong earlier.

“Ok but I thought you’d give yourself more time but here you are suddenly dating Kazuha?”

You made a face. “Is this what it’s all about? You’re jealous of me and Kazuha’s relationship?”

He scoffed. “Im not jealous. Im just saying I’m surprised to see you move on so quickly, it’s like you never loved me at all”

“YOU fell out of love, what the fuck Yeonjun?! Stop trying to make me sound like some whore. Kazuha was there for me when the entire break up started” you managed to create some sort of love story between you and Kazuha.

“Since when did you and Kazuha talk anyways? That bitch only stuck with her loser friends most of the time!”

Hearing him insult your (fake) girlfriend got you clenching your fists. “Don’t call her that”

“There’s no way you’re dating. You’re doing it to mess with me huh? Trying to make me crawl back to you”

The more he spoke, the more confused you got. “Let’s rewind a little bit because didn’t you just say you missed me? PICK ONE GODDAMN EMOTION YEONJUN!”

“Don’t fucking yell at me—“

“Who the hell do you think you’re talking to, Choi?” Kazuha spoke through gritted teeth, standing in front of you.

“This conversation is only between me and Y/n, Nakamura. Back off”

“Well hearing you yell at my girlfriend like that, there’s no way I’m gonna ignore it”

“Zu, let’s go back inside” You held her arm.

Kazuha looked at you with a puppy smile. “Okay”

The more you looked at the taller girl, the more you realised she looked like an adorable Samoyed.

“We’re not done talking, Y/n” Yeonjun growled.

You shook your head. “No, we are done talking, thanks” You scrunched your nose at him before walking off with Kazuha.

Yeonjun punched the wall before taking his leave.

Seeing that he was gone, you pulled your hand away from Kazuha. (Much to her dismay)

“Thanks for saving me again, you’re a hero”

“I don’t mind being a hero as long as I’m only saving you” She winked.

“Hey Kazuha, I hope you don’t mind me asking you a favour” You fiddled with your fingers.

“I already know what it is and I’m totally fine with it if it’s the only way to keep that weirdo away from you” She smiled.

You looked up with wide eyes. “What?”

“Sakura texted me during class”

“I’m gonna kill her” You looked away but the taller girl held your chin.

“If we’re gonna make this believable, we need to get to know each other properly”

“What’s on your mind?” You tilted your head.

Kazuha pulled out her phone and opened Instagram. “Socials and number please? So we can organise hang outs”

Shyly grabbing the device, you put in both your username and phone number before returning it. “Sounds good. How should we start?”

“Why don’t we join the others as we talk?” She put her hand out for you to hold which you happily accepted.

“Alright, let’s go”

As Kazuha talked about her plan, all you could do was stare at her and study every inch of her pretty face. Her smooth clear skin, her silky hair, her heart jumping smile, her jawline…

The way she would hold your waist, hold your hand, it made your body react more than when you were with Yeonjun. Although you had basically just met the Japanese girl, there was something special about her that you wanted to see more of, but you couldn’t specify what it was.

Maybe being dumped by Yeonjun wasn’t so bad after all.

#gxg #wlw #le sserafim #le sserafim x fem reader #le sserafim x reader #nakamura kazuha x reader #nakamura kazuha #nakamura kazuha x fem reader

[whencartoonsruletheworld]

wait so curious cause i like your interpretations of the lore, what do you think is up with all the emphasis on “the one you should not have killed” from ucn¿¿¿¿

i really do think it's michael, haunting his dad over sending him down into the bunker to die. william knew the funtimes wanted to kill him and sent michael anyway cause he cared more about his research/elizabeth than him. in doing this, william created a walking corpse chasing him down for years upon years for the sole purpose of setting him on fire. he lured michael down there by saying he could save elizabeth-- a promise of his dead siblings coming back, and of redemption for, y'know, shoving crying child into an animatronic. instead, he let michael die, and michael wasn't gonna let him get away with that

just labelling the spirit "the one you should not have killed" only makes sense from the standpoint of "THIS death is the one that fucked up your plan." because, like, he shouldn't have killed anyone in general, especially not fuckin kids, so "the one you should not have killed" can't refer to, like, a victim he was morally in the wrong for. he was morally in the wrong for everything he ever did in his life. with that in mind, the kids were too confused and scattered into pieces to do much other than haunt the animatronics and try to bite any adult that came near them. elizabeth was an accident and she was trying to help her dad at the end. charlie is confirmed to to not be the vengeful spirit by her saying "i don't hate you, but you need to stay out of my way." michael, however, spent years tracking down his dad, and, again, set him on fire twice (assuming you believe he's the fnaf3 protag).

when he says henry "tried to release US," he's referring to fnaf6, but that he's not letting his father go when he still has unfinished business with him. and that unfinished business is fucking with him over and over and over. this is only actively harming michael, though; while, yes, willie-boy is being tortured, michael is just forcing himself to stick around his abusive dad's spirit forever, making him replay michael's own nightmare experiences. ("this is how it feels, and you get to experience it over and over.") watching it might feel gratifying for a while but when you hear the one animatronic say "is this a prison for you or for me? perhaps both," i think that's implying that all the golden freddy symbolism is michael's torment; he feels like he belongs here still for killing his brother.

when omc tells the spirit to "leave the demon to his demons," he is telling him that he does not need to be here, that he does not deserve damnation for a mistake he made as a kid, and that if he just lets his vengeance quest go and moves on, he can be at peace. i honestly really like leaving it open-ended there, of whether michael will continue haunting his dad for his own sense of revenge, or forgive himself and move on. either way william's getting tormented in hell, it's just a matter on if michael accepts that he himself doesn't have to be there with him.

idk if i answered ur question there i just like to ramble. anyway ask @birdsareblooming for her thoughts she's the one that convinced me

#fnaf

[hamofjustice]

Julinemo Week, Day 1: First Meeting "So uh… is he always like that?"

"Ugh, no. Well… I mean, he's usually a prick-- Uh, prickly guy, but… pero bueno, he's not usually not quite that--"

Nemona rattled her head, sending her ponytail swinging, and dismissively pawed at the air between her and her new neighbor as if tossing the unfinished thought out of her mind.

"Ah, whatever! Don't you worry about those weird vibes, Juliana! You've got enough on your plate, signing up to a new school in a new place with your new Pokemon-- You don't need to get sucked into whatever dumb drama the rest of us have goin' on. This is your big day! Sorry about all that."

"Nah, nah, it's fine, you didn't do anything wrong. It's, uh... definitely been an exciting day so far, that's for sure! Hehehe..."

"Ah, haha, yeah, for sure! Heh… man..."

Juliana turned to Nemona with a reassuring smile... and noticed her friend's hand seemed to be hovering over her shoulder. Nemona glanced away and quickly jerked her arm away to scratch her own scalp instead.

"… You okay?"

Nemona froze mid-scratch, eyes wide. "Huh?"

"I, uh… I guess I'm not the only one feeling kinda jittery this morning, huh? I promise I won't fall off any more cliffs for a while." Juliana said with a slightly forced-looking smile.

The taller girl remained frozen for a second as they walked, before snorting and visibly releasing a bit of her own tension. "Ha! Haha! Yeah, you better not, 'cause you know what happens when you scare somebody half to death twice?"

"They… get scared three-quarters to death?"

"… Heh! You've got a quick wit to go with that sharp eye, bud! No wonder you've been such a fast learner!"

"Hehehe. Thanks."

There was a pleasant lull in the conversation as they both grinned down at the road...

Soon, though, Nemona cleared her throat and stopped in her tracks. Juliana stopped too and turned to face her curiously.

"Speaking of fast learning, I should probably get out of your hair and let you have fun doing, uh, Trainer-y stuff without me hovering over your shoulder." Nemona suddenly decided. "Do what you want for a bit and I'll see you up ahead at the Pokemon Center, all right?" she proposed, pointing her thumb at the red-roofed, ad-covered outpost off in the distance.

"Oh, um… wait…" Juliana softly protested when Nemona started to leave, raising a limp hand as if she had a question in class and wished she didn't.

"Huh? What's up? Think you'll need more Poke Balls? I've got a bunch..." Nemona began, already digging noisily through her bag.

"No… well, I mean, maybe later, but, I just, um-- You're not bugging me, you can stay."

Once again, Nemona seemed to not expect that. "Oh... really? You'd... rather I stick around and keep an eye on ya, huh? All right then! You got it, boss!"

Juliana smiled brightly up at her. The morning light seemed to sparkle in the new student's eyes. "Well, yeah. We're friends now, right?"

Nemona smiled back as she zipped her bag shut, then rubbed the back of her neck and suddenly seemed very interested in the grassy field nearby. "… Yeah, but, y'know, sometimes friends might need… a little space and quiet and stuff. Gotta be considerate."

"No, I'm glad you're here! I mean... if you have some business you need to get to right now, that's fine..."

"Nope! No, all my attention's on you, bud! Well, I mean, unless you don't want--"

"Okay, okay! Just making sure." Juliana mercifully interrupted. "So uhhh… you said Normal Pokemon are pretty good against everything, yeah?" she asked casually, starting to walk down the road again.

Nemona's eyes brightened with renewed energy at the topic change. "Oh, uh, yeah! I mean, they've got a FEW issues, there's a few types that-- Uh, I'll warn ya if you're gonna run into 'em, but that Lechonk should be consistently solid against mooost things with some training, which is good if you're not sure what to expect yet! Now, you might end up not keeping it on your team forever, though, 'cause it's not really gonna have the advantage against much of anything, either. Well, unless you give it--" she rambled, then glanced down at her companion's attentive gaze. "Uh, never mind, I can nerd out about all that later. Yeah, Normal-types are nice and reliable, yep!"

Juliana nodded a few times. "Hmm… I dunno… I don't think I'd replace the first Pokemon we caught together. That's gonna be a great memory someday, right?"

Nemona blinked. "Wh-- Oh, yeah, true, can't be, uh, what's the word… too pragmatic about it, heh. Stuff like that matters for sure! Sorry, there's that competitive brain again…" she responded, looking away once more. "I'll make sure to train up that Pawmi I caught with you too, then."

"Nice! More little rivals, just like the Pokemon the Director gave us, hehehe!"

"Heh! Yeah… little rivals…"

"… Ooh, what's that?" Juliana soon asked, pointing ahead at what appeared to be a green-haired baby plodding around in a long white dress that would be a better fit for a green-haired toddler.

Nemona rattled her head again like she'd been caught zoning out. "Huh, wha-- Oh, that's a Ralts! They're pretty rare! Psychic and Fairy type, pretty good with special moves. It's a little flimsy at first and takes a while to train, but it's totally worth it in the end."

"Whoa, Psychic? And Fairy?"

"Yeah, there's a buncha Fairies around here, actually..."

"Well, I'm already sold on this one from how cute it is! I'm definitely gonna try and catch it."

The little Ralts seemed to immediately take notice of Juliana when she said that, and turned to face her.

"Oh, uh, Ralts can sense folks' feelings! It probably knows what you're thinkin' right now. Heh, wish I had that power…"

Juliana, meanwhile, was grinning confidently with a Poke Ball in hand. "Well, I've got nothing to hide from it. Let's make another new friend, Lechonk!"

Nemona beamed as she watched Juliana's battle unfold. The new Trainer was having too much fun in the wide world she'd been welcomed into, despite the bumpty start, to notice that the unrivaled Champion watching over her was wiping something out of her eye.

#julinemoweek #julinemoweek2024 #julinemo #nemona pokemon #juliana pokemon #nemona #pokemon scarlet and violet #pokemon sv #pokemon #nemonaposting #hamfiction

[kurlyfrasier]

A Wish of Something Good

Pairing: Zuko x Katara

Word Count: 1785

Synopsis: Katara finds Firelord Zuko in his mother’s garden. (My apologies, I am absolutely terrible at writing synopses) OR Zuko, pressured by council members to marry a quiet Fire Nation girl, does not want to. (that sounds better lol)

Warnings: None. PIning. Angst. Fluff.

A/N: This short little fic was inspired by the beautiful piece of art below by @beanaroony​ (: It got me writing again after several months so I really appreciate it! This was originally gonna be A LOT sadder with no happy ending, but I’m a sucker for happy endings and apparently can’t write sad ones lol :D Enjoy!

Katara had fallen asleep next to him. A natural occurrence when she came to visit. All Zuko had to do to get her there was tell her his chest was hurting again from Azula’s attack. It was a lie, but it got her next to him within a week - two, at most. He couldn’t help but think she had to know it was a ruse. Right? She was the healer. She had to know there was nothing left to heal.

But she was leaving and Zuko was certain his heart couldn’t take the months long separation again. It tore him apart when she left each time. The hole was becoming a chasm, never truly healing from the other times she went away.

Frustrated, he slipped out of bed, only turning back once he was closing the door to make sure Katara hadn’t awoke. Once at his mother’s garden, where the turtle-ducks liked to play, did he stop. It was a quiet night with only the sounds of the ocean waves in the distance. For a moment, he stared at the flowers Katara planted. Moon flowers. A difficult flora to grow in the brightness of the Fire Nation's capital. But if anyone were to successfully plant them, it would be her. He sighed, a smile playing at his lips with the thought. When a quick look of his surroundings proved he was the only one around, Zuko pulled a small weight out of his pocket.

It had been burning a hole there for months, but it never left his person. A constant weight - constant reminder - of what he could never have. The necklace seemed heavy in his palm. A glass stone made of lightning and sand on the beach of Ember Island was settled in molten lava rock of his volcanic home. Glued together by his own fire. The pendant hung from silky swirls of red and blue to honor both his and her homelands.

He could never give it to her. Not in the way he wanted. And there was no way he could ask her to replace her mother’s she currently wore around her neck.

With another, much heavier sigh, he pocketed it, unable to look at it without simultaneously wanting to hurl it into the ocean. Where it would be lost forever. Never to be found again.

With a deep breath of chilly night air, Zuko settled into his firebending kata only to leave it unfinished, too tired to go through the movements. He sat down in the grass, picking at the blades as his thoughts swirled.

HIs council was pushing him to marry a nice, quiet, Fire Nation girl that wouldn’t distract him from ruling. But he didn’t want that. He wanted-

“Zuko?” Katara’s voice sounded relieved and Zuko couldn’t help but think how much different it was now compared to the old days when she said his name. Full of disdain, hate, and disappointment. Full of fear for what he would become. Fear of what he could be. “What are you doing out here?” She stepped closer, a breathy giggle escaping. “I know you wake up with the sun, but even this is too early for you.”

He stayed silent, allowing her settle down next to him, knees and shoulders bumping as she sat down and rested her head on his shoulder. A heavy, burdened breath seemed to leave her body as she melted closer to his warmth, arm looping through his as she hummed, satisified. She would fall asleep like that. He knew, because she had done so a dozen times before. A closed-lipped smile couldn’t be stopped even if he tried. It was a sad thing. To love his best friend. To have her so close and so far away at the same time. To be able to touch her, but not have her. He grimaced, wishing it was simpler. Wishing he could have this one thing - this one bright spot in his life - after everything they had been through. They deserved happiness, right? He deserved something good after all the bad. 

Was he good enough for her, though? Could he ask her to stay with him? In this place that must remind her of all the bad memories of her childhood. Of her mother being taken away at such a young age. Of the destruction his people caused in her homeland. Zuko couldn’t possibly hope for-

“Don’t go,” he rasped, the words were passed his lips before he could stop them. His screaming heart pounded in victory. His mind felt betrayed.

“What,” her head popped up, forever blue eyes bore into his own.

He swallowed, knowing he wouldn’t be able to stop now. He glanced away, “Stay.”

“Zuko-”

He hopped up, lost energy suddenly found in this moment of uncertainty. He stepped away toward the turtle-duck pond, anxiety needing a way out. He didn’t notice the necklace as it fell beside his friend with a light thud. The red and blue clashed with the grass. The glass glinted in the moonlight. There was no way for her not to see it.

Gently, she picked it up, hands shaking as blood rushed in her ears, letting the silence reign. She didn’t know much about the rituals of engagement for the Fire Nation, but she did know only the Water Tribes used necklaces. She couldn’t believe her eyes. She wanted to believe this was for her. She wanted that more than she needed to breathe. But the truth was, Zuko could’ve made this for anybody. She knew the pressures he was facing from his council to get married. Knew this could be for a different girl. Maybe one of the girls from the Northern Tribe he had met when they were there for negotiations. They were pretty and refined. Perfect for what he needed to tie up any loose ends between them. Perfect to show he meant peace. Not like her, who was outspoken. Hard where they were soft from all her time honing her fighting skills. And her little Southern Village meant nothing compared to the elegance of the Northern Tribe. They had little to offer the Fire Nation in terms of supplies and soldiers Zuko may need in a future ally. While her tribe was mostly made of children and older women, with very few people who could fight, let alone waterbend.

Katara let those bitter thoughts settle in her stomach before she spoke up, voice barely a whisper, “You dropped this.” She slowly stood, eyes cast down, unable to face the man before her.

Zuko’s head snapped in her direction so fast his entire body whirled with it. A few urgent strides had him standing so close he could feel her body heat. She held it out to him like it wasn’t hers. He didn’t move to take it. Afraid that if he did, she would be gone from his life forever. Never to be seen again.

“You don’t like it?” The words weren’t precisely what he meant to say, but they were out, floating between what little space was between them.

Clutching it tight, she let her arm fall, spinning so Zuko wouldn’t catch the tears starting to stream down her cheeks, “It’s beautiful.” She hoped her voice didn’t sound as shaky as it felt. She closed her eyes tight in a failed attempt to keep them at bay.

Zuko couldn’t believe his ears. She liked the necklace he made her. She thought it was beautiful-

“Who’s it for?” Her words stopped his heart. “She’s very luck-”

His arms, with a mind of their own, wrapped around her waist, “Katara-”

She struggled in his hold. Sniffles rose to his ears and his arms turned to steel, pulling her back against his chest. As much as he feared and admired her waterbending, he was not allowing her to leave this conversation. Not before his heart got to say what it wanted. Then he would let her go. Then he would let her leave. Even if it meant forever.

“Katara,” he rested his chin on her shoulder and she froze, stiff as a board. He took a moment to memorize her scent of seawater and sand before he said the words he could never take back, “I made that for you.”

“For me?” She relaxed slightly, voice breathy, eyes opening to look at the pendant through her blurry, tear-filled vision.

“If you want it,” he replied. She stayed silent and unmoving, worrying him. “That is- It doesn’t have to- It’s a gift. I don’t expect you to- But I would like it. I mean, love it. I would love it if- I love-” Zuko loosened his hold, ready to give up his incoherent babbling when she latched onto his arm and pulled it close.

An exhale rattled through her chest and he pulled her impossibly closer, steadying her. She relaxed completely, allowing her weight to settle against him, soaking in his strength. 

“When?” Katara was thankful her quiet voice didn’t falter.

“Months ago.”

“Months?” She still wasn’t brave enough to turn around and look Zuko in the eye, as much as she wanted to. This - the necklace, his love - wasn’t quite real yet. “But I thought the council-”

“I don’t want what the council wants,” his voice was strong and steady as he continued to hold her. “I don’t need what the council thinks I need.”

Zuko sounded so certain to her ears, she couldn’t help but twist in his hold to get a good look at him. He let her, golden gaze searing her own, a question left unspoken between them.

“I need you, Katara,” he said, voice reverent. “I need someone who will tell me when I’ve become too overbearing. Who will fight me for what’s right when I’m wrong. Who won’t let me get power-hungry,” a small smile graced his lips before his voice turned to a serious whisper, “Someone who won’t let me become my father-”

“You would never-”

“Someone,” he interrupted, knowing she meant well, but also knowing that man’s blood still flowed through his veins, no matter how hard he wanted to deny it. “Someone I love.” He let that sink in, watching as the miracle of Katara’s uncertain gaze turned into unbridled joy. “Not some quiet girl who won’t speak her mind.”

“Then help me put this on,” Katara held out the necklace.

“I don’t expect you to replace your mother’s-”

“Shh,” she stopped him with a finger to his lips, smiling uncontrollably. “She will always live in my heart, Zuko. But I think this,” she glanced at the swirling red and blue ribbon, the fragile glass held steady by the sturdy volcanic rock. “This suits me better, don’t you think?”

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

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#writing #zutara #zuko x katara #zuko #katara #atla #Avatar The Last Airbender #my writing #fanfic #inspired #art #cute #fluff #pining #um #angst #look at me #writing again #lol

[chickenfics]

the way I love the ocean

Relationship: Robin Buckley x Female!Reader

Summary: It was the summer of ‘87. Nothing in your life had prepared you for Robin, but somehow everything had begun falling into place. It all started with a movie and a pair of ocean-blue eyes, and suddenly you were dancing to a Jukebox in a long-closed diner, or racing down the length of a pier, swimming in the moon-dipped lake and walking her home down yellow-lit streets, talking about the way The Smiths sound like indigo and the best time of the summer is when the fireflies start to come out.

It was the summer of ‘87, and you were falling in love.

Word Count: 6.3k

A/N: Red Alert: we've reached adorable nickname territory, this is not a drill. Also, I highly recommend listening to 'Brown Eyed Girl' after reading this. For some reason, in my head, it's Robin's Song and it always makes me feel so warm and fuzzy listening to it and imagining this story. Anyway, happy reading. 

Let me know if you’d like to be tagged for future chapters!  

Fic Playlist!  Also on Ao3

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Chapter 4: Brown Eyed Girl

"So, do you ever think you'll leave Hawkins?" 

You and Robin were walking under the yellow pooling glow of streetlamps, their little cylindrical spaces like checkpoints you passed by, one after the next. You were pushing your bike, and the tape Robin had given you felt warm in your pocket. Robin was still wearing the flower crown; the flowers looked pale -- the white ones, at least, and the others looked dark, almost inky in the rich blue-gray light of the summer night. Like The Smiths, you thought, and you smiled silently to yourself before remembering that she'd asked you a question. 

"I don't know," your voice sounded impossibly loud in the empty street. You were almost afraid that the houses would hear you and turn on their porch lights, sullying the perfect balance of light, dark, light, dark that the street was providing. "Maybe. I feel like I'll have to," you looked at her. "Can't stay here forever, right?" 

"I dunno… sometimes I just feel like I'm never gonna get out of here," she kicked a stone beneath her feet. "Like I'm -- cursed, or something. I think we all kind of feel that way, my friends and I. We've… we've seen some shit, gone through just as much, and it's all so connected to Hawkins that… I don't know," she shrugged. "Eddie says that Hawkins, like, knows our blood now, or something, so it won't let go of us. But he's also, like, kind of a weirdo, so…" 

Your laughter rang softly into the night and Robin smiled, her skin wrinkling, painting lines into that delicate skin around her eyes. She looked like an unfinished painting, beautiful in its imperfections -- in its potential beyond its existing beauty. 

"I get that, feeling like you'll never get away. Sometimes I have to remind myself that there's life outside of Hawkins. Like, this isn't the only place in the world," you snorted.

Robin grinned. "Yeah. For being so small, this town really feels big sometimes." 

"Have you ever thought about college?" you hesitantly asked. That was how most kids your age got out of a place like this. 

"Nah. I mean, I have, but… I’ve come to the conclusion that it's not really my thing. Steve's the same way. We kind of just plan on hopping from one job to the next and hoping we survive somehow."

 She watched her feet for a moment, then suddenly glanced up. 

"Oh, turn here," she said, and you followed. "What about you?" 

"Same -- not really my thing. Like you said," you smiled. “Just hoping I survive somehow. Which makes my parents real happy…" 

Robin laughed at your sarcasm, then raised her eyebrows.

"Yup, I know the feeling. Which, it’s like… both my parents work, like, minimum wage jobs, and my dad went to college but my mom didn't, so you'd think that would prove it doesn't really matter either way, but no, I just have to further my education or I'll be a disgrace to my family lineage.” 

"Right?! Then again, maybe our parents want us to get out of Hawkins as much as we do. I guess college seems like the most realistic ride out of here." 

"Who's going to tell them you can just, like, take a Greyhound?" 

You laughed, nearly tripping over your bike -- and then definitely tripping over a jutted corner of the sidewalk. You gasped, and Robin's hand reached out to grab your bicep. 

"Woah there--" 

"Sorry!" 

"Oh, please," she waved. She was still holding onto you, but her grip had loosened now that you weren't actively falling over. "I'm, like, the clumsiest person I know." 

"Thanks for…" you nodded towards your arm. As if she’d just realized her hand was still there, she pulled it back into her own space. You couldn't be sure, in the dim light, but you thought she might be blushing. 

"You're welcome. Yeah, of course. No problem-o…" 

Your arm burned warm from where her fingers had been just moments ago, and the tape in your pocket seemed to have only gotten hotter. You wondered if you were going to spontaneously combust or something. Wouldn't that make the news… ‘Local girl bursts into flame, more at five.’

"Oh, uhm. This is me," Robin stopped in front of a small house, grey beneath the cloudy moonlight. "Thanks again for walking me home." 

"Of course. Thanks again for the tape." 

"I'm just glad you liked it," she replied in that softly eager way, the way that made you think maybe she was holding back a little for fear of coming across as 'too much.' She kicked at the pavement, then glanced up at you. 

"Are you gonna be okay getting home? It's pretty dark…" 

"Yeah, I'll be fine," you tried to sound reassuring. "My place isn't that far, anyway. Swear I won't get axe murdered, or kidnapped, or abducted by aliens or anything." 

"Promise?" she asked with the ghost of a smirk, and she held out her pinky. Your breath failed you in the moment that it took to register what she was doing. 

Then you reached forward and hooked your pinky around hers. She grinned. 

"Promise," you murmured. "I could… call you tomorrow after my shift?" 

"Sure. That way I'll know the aliens haven't gotten you." 

"But," you tilted your head. "What if they, like, take over my mind and then put me back on Earth as their spy, or something?"

"Then… I'll ask you how you liked the fireflies and the crickets, and if you talk about The Smiths I'll know it's really you." 

"Okay," you replied, eyes going starry at everything that Robin was. You weren't even sure how she was real. 

When she released your pinky, you missed the warmth of her skin in an instant. 

"Talk to you tomorrow," you whispered. 

"Night, Earthling," she replied with a little two-finger salute. You watched until she made it through her front door, waving when she turned around one final time. 

Then you were swinging onto your bike and pedaling home, keeping on the lookout for any flying saucers. 

You set The Smiths album next to Tango in the Night, which had found a home on your nightstand. Two was technically a collection, and although Robin hadn’t technically given you ‘Tango in the Night,’ both of them still felt connected to her. Whenever you looked at the tapes, you thought of movie nights and quiet evenings in the woods, and Robin with her rosy smile and her bright eyes. You couldn’t have known that, when her parents went to sleep that night, Robin folded the flower crown you’d given her into wax paper, hiding it between the pages of the heaviest book she owned -- one corner peeking out so she wouldn’t forget it was there. 

It seemed that you had both started keeping pieces of each other, along with your indigo skies and your crickets, your dreams and pet peeves, and a pinky promise with a secret code just in case either of you got abducted by aliens. 

_______________________________________________________________ 

You and Robin talked as often as you could over the next few weeks. You were both busy with work, and besides that, it seemed like, at any given point, Robin’s life was more chaotic than your average person's. She and Steve hung out with a group of kids quite often. Steve called it ‘babysitting,’ Robin insisted that the 'babies' were almost adults by now, so it technically wasn’t. Steve had argued that they were the only actual adults in the group, which meant that they were responsible for whatever shit went down, which meant that technically they were babysitting. Robin had ignored him and insisted that one of these days she’d introduce you to them. Your anxiety at the idea must have been clear on your face because she quickly assured you that they were really good kids. Well, most of them. 

“Mike is kind of going through a phase right now, but he knows to be polite to strangers or Steve will get started on one of his rants about good manners.”

Steve had interrupted her assurances with a very loud, very dramatic scoff, which Robin also ignored. 

“Anyway, besides that, they’re good kids. Dustin’s a little twerp, but he’s the best. Lucas is, like, the sweetest boy I’ve ever met, and his sister Erica’s awesome -- when she likes you, that is. That girl is tiny but mighty.”

“Very scary,” Steve confirmed. 

“But she’ll probably be glad to have another girl to hang around. I think she sometimes gets tired of being surrounded by a bunch of immature teenage boys.”

“And immature Robins,” Steve butted back in. They were like two halves of the same court jester. 

“How dare you? I am not nearly as bad as those little dinguses -- and besides, Erica does like me. I think.”

“‘You think,’” he mocked, and she launched a VHS at his head; an action she’d never hear the end of because “You can’t break the fucking merchandise, Robin. Keith will have our asses.”

And so your days went, visiting the two at Family Video whenever you could, bringing them leftover pastries, fries, or coffee from the diner. That was how you learned Robin was not a coffee drinker. 

“I had one sip of caffeine by accident and my heart nearly exploded right out of my chest. Never again, thank you very much. I think if I drank a whole cup I’d actually go into cardiac arrest.”

“More for me,” Steve had said with a shrug, accepting the cups gratefully. 

Robin and Steve sometimes visited you at the diner, too. You’d told them, somewhat regretfully, that you wouldn’t be able to give them any free food -- even if they were friends of an employee -- but they’d just waved away your concerns and planted themselves in a booth. They ordered food, then sat and waited for your shift to be over. They even helped you close up a couple of times. 

One night, Steve must have been in a particularly good mood. He and Robin had just finished splitting a basket of fries and you had just ushered the last customer out the door -- a woman everyone knew as old lady Daniels, who was a recurring offender when it came to staying long past closing time. She also had a running tab that you suspected wasn’t going to be paid before she kicked the bucket, but Tiffany was lenient on account of them being old friends. Or so the lore went. 

When the three of you were finally alone, Steve hopped up and carried their tray right back to the kitchen, insisting that he clean it himself. You’d tried to tell him -- many times -- that he absolutely did not have to, that you didn’t mind taking care of it, and that it was probably against the rules for him to be back there cleaning stuff off anyway, but he wouldn’t listen. You trusted him, so you let him do his thing. 

By the time he returned, announcing that he’d “just gone ahead and washed the rest of the dishes” because there were “only a few,” you and Robin were wiping off tables. Again, you’d tried to tell her that she didn’t need to help you, you were more than happy just to have her company while you worked, but like her friend she was relentless. Their kindness made you feel unbearably warm. 

“Hey… now would you look at that,” Steve muttered to himself, and you and Robin had barely dragged your eyes away from one another in enough time to see him drop some change into the old jukebox in the corner. With one hip jutted out and his arms folded against his body in a contemplative pose, he pursued the song options. You knew they were all oldies, and guessed he was probably trying to figure out which one would be the least insufferable. You didn’t much care what he picked -- you’d heard them all and you liked most of them. Still, it had been a long time since anyone had touched that jukebox; it had probably only been played a dozen times since you'd been employed at the diner. You wondered if it still even worked. 

You got your answer as the machine let out a whirr, dropping the record of choice into place with a scratch of the needle. A warble filled the air as the vinyl began to spin, and then an upbeat, strumming tune began, joined by a rhythmic tambourine. Steve turned around to grin at you and Robin and, as the lyrics began, both your eyes widened gleefully at the same time. 

‘Hey where did we go?

Days when the rains came

Down in the hollow

Playing a new game’

‘Brown Eyed Girl’ by Van Morrison filled the diner like a ray of warm sunshine. You and Robin grinned at each other, eagerly glancing back over at Steve, who grabbed a broom from where it was leaning against the counter and began to dance with it, shaking his hips. You burst out laughing and Robin looked like she was ready to explode with joy -- her smile big and her face scrunched in fond amusement. 

Steve did a little flourish, pretending the broomstick was a guitar for a moment before dropping it and grabbing Robin’s hands, shimmying them as he pulled her into the aisle. He sang along as Robin laughed brightly, too happy to grumble at him -- and eventually, he got her singing, too. Then suddenly he gave her a spin that sent her straight into you. 

Your hands shot out, catching her as she laughed breathlessly and grinned. 

“Oof, sorry,” she giggled, grabbing onto your forearms. Then, leaning back and throwing her head almost upside down, “Steeeeeve!”

“Sorry Robs,” he replied, dancing between the chairs with the broom again. “This fine lady here’s my partner now. You gotta find your own. I think there’s a nice lookin’ mop in the back…” 

Robin was rolling her eyes before he even got the sentence out, and then they landed on you. They were shining, somehow a brighter shade of blue than usual. 

“Dance with me?”

“Oh, I-I don’t know,” you held up your hands, but Robin used your protest as an opportunity to place her curled fingers under yours, waving them gently through the air as she began to sing, her expression opening into eager pleading, grinning like she already knew you’d say yes. 

‘Standin’ in the sunlight laughin’

Hidin’ behind a rainbows wall 

Slippin’ and a-slidin’

All along the waterfall with you

My brown eyed girl’

Her smile was so charming, her face flushed with excitement and her nest of her hair sticking up in a beautiful messy spray. She was like a siren and there wasn't a chance on Earth you’d say no. Or any other planet, for that matter.

You grabbed her hands. Her smile grew wider and she closed her eyes blissfully as she stepped back and began dancing you towards her, her low, raspy voice joining the crackle of the record. 

‘You my brown eyed girl 

Do you remember when 

We used to sing 

Sha la la, la la, la la, la la l-la te da

Just like that’

She gave you a wink and you just about died. You thought maybe you had when she laid a hand on your waist in a mock-ballroom dance. Soon you found yourself holding onto her, too, and it felt so good. She hopped around, leading you in a messy but charming dance as the cheery music played loudly -- the liveliness of it juxtaposing with the dark and still atmosphere just outside the windows. But inside the diner, everything was warm and breathing and beautifully alive. You followed Robin’s lead, catching her whenever she tripped over her own feet, laughing when she shook her hair out in front of her face, her own laughter sounding like a melody singing along with the jukebox. 

Steve danced back into view, hooking his arms around your necks and leaning between you, blowing a puff of air into Robin’s ear. He ducked away as she tried to ruffle his hair, arms flying up defensively to guard his perfect hairdo. You giggled, and Robin turned her smile back onto you, her wrists finding your waist again to rest there casually. You both swayed as the chorus began to fade and the song scratched to an end. 

“God. 'M feeling pretty lonely over here,” Steve drawled, hopping onto a barstool and leaning an elbow on the broom handle. “‘S just me and this strange lady I’ve only just met. Maybe I need better standards or something.”

Robin scoffed loudly, stepping beside you to rest an arm on your shoulder -- much like Steve was doing with the broom. You laid a hand on the small of her back, knowing that the flutter in your heart and the breathlessness in your chest wasn’t just because of all the dancing you’d done. 

“Hold on,” you alluringly began, an idea coming to mind. “I think I might have just the thing to cheer you up.”

Pulling out of Robin’s grasp, you headed around the counter and into the kitchen. You heard the clunk of another coin, the first chords of another song. You smiled. 

“Here we go,” you announced, reappearing with an armful -- three bottles of beer.

“Oh shit,” Steve's face lit up adorably, lips curling into an excited smirk. “Nothing like drowning the sorrow of being single and alone in booze.” 

“You’re not alone,” Robin chipperly replied. “You have us.”

She accepted a bottle from you with thanks, and you gave Steve a grin to match the one Robin was wearing. He glanced between the two of you like you’d actually lost your minds. 

“Okay, but that’s, like, not the same thing.”

“You mean you want a hot babe to dote on you,” Robin replied, lips peeling back into a devilish grin as she took a swig of beer.

“Wow, Robin. Way to shit on Y/N. And after she just bought us drinks, too.”

“Wha -- I didn’t,” she dropped the bottle from her mouth and glanced over at you. “I didn’t mean that you’re not hot -- I mean, you’re hot, for sure -- like, super hot… I… I mean…” She was nearly as red as the L.E.D. lights advertising Tiffany’s Diner just outside. 

You waved your hands in reassurance, trying not to completely freak out yourself.

“I mean… thanks," you managed, your words half-lost beneath her hasty explanations. 

She'd just called you hot. ‘Super hot.’

Holy shit. 

 “Y-Yeah. You're… welcome.”

The combined heat between the two of you must have been enough to start a fire. Steve stared past you with a smug grin, then drank half his bottle in one go. 

“Woah, slow down there Harrington, you still have to drive us home.”

“‘Us?’” Steve demanded. “I swear to God, Buckley, I’m gonna open a goddamn shuttling service and make you pay me for all the shit you make me do.”

“Oh my god, you are actually so dramatic. Remind me why I’m friends with you?”

“Must be my car, because that’s all you use me for.” 

Robin coughed up an indignant scoff. 

“So what is it this time, huh?” he continued, glancing between the two of you. You sipped at your beer, more than used to their bantering by now. “Don’t tell me it’s the ax murderers again.”

“Aliens,” Robin replied, eyebrows raised. Steve stared at her, then turned his stare to you.

“Aliens,” he repeated, and you both nodded. “Yeah, definitely gonna start charging you…”

You and Robin burst into giggles, which had Steve looking like more of a disappointed parent than he already did. He couldn’t keep up the act for long, though, and soon enough the three of you were sprawled out in various seats throughout the diner talking about Steve’s love life -- or lack thereof -- and why Robin wished Steve would stop talking about his love life -- or lack thereof. 

“I swear, she was, like, super nice, but…” he groaned, leaning back against the countertop. “And then she’s planning on going to college in the fall -- like literally everyone else my age, of course -- and so I’m like, what’s the point, you know? Long-distance relationships never work. I literally have one with my parents and they don’t know even half the shit that’s gone on in my life. I’d be surprised if they even know I’ve graduated.”

“Uh, which one is this again?” Robin asked, raising a hand. “J… Jessica?”

“Jenna!” Steve insisted. “Her name is Jenna, Robin. 

“Sorry!” Robin insisted right back, raising her hands defensively before throwing an arm onto the table. The two of you were lounging back in a booth, your empty bottles discarded on the table. “It’s not my fault the girl of your dreams changes every week like phases of the moon.” 

Steve scrunched his face up at her and she stuck her tongue out at him, which he ignored by taking a final swig of his beer. He clanked it back onto the table and sighed. 

“So, what about you?” he asked, jerking his chin towards where you were leaning against the windowpane, your legs propped up on the booth seat. “You got a special someone?”

“M-Me?” you pointed at your chest. 

“Steve,” Robin hissed, one of the few times you’d heard her sound genuinely upset with him. 

“What? I’m just asking! We’re friends -- friends can ask other friends that sort of stuff, right?”

“I’m… not dating anyone, if that’s what you mean,” you hesitantly offered, glancing over at Robin. She was looking at you. 

What could you say that wouldn’t have been an outright lie? You couldn’t tell him the truth, that was for sure; couldn’t just come out and say that you had a massive crush on his best friend who very possibly didn’t like you like that and might want to end your friendship, which was one of the best things that had ever happened to you, if she knew how you felt about her. How you really felt. And you were pretty sure there was no way you could survive Robin hating you, or her and Steve suddenly disappearing from your life. 

It wasn’t that you thought Robin would care -- she didn’t seem like the kind of person who would -- you were just scared. Because you liked Robin, and she seemed to like you; the problem was you liked her more than just a friend, and if you pushed that boundary but she didn’t like you back…

You weren’t sure she’d still want to be friends with you. And being friends with Robin felt like something you couldn’t live without. 

“Cool,” Steve casually replied, and you only then noticed that he’d been watching you carefully. Despite what you feared, there was a lack of judgment in his eyes, and he seemed almost… curious; like he could tell there was something more going on but he wasn't going to push. 

You took a deep breath. 

“It’s all good,” Robin suddenly spoke up, glancing hesitantly over at you. “I’m not dating anyone, either. Steve makes single life sound like it’s the end of the world, but that’s just because he’s actually the most dramatic person I’ve ever met, and also a hopeless romantic so everything he experiences is, like, ten times more painful than it actually needs to be,” she shrugged.

And then, before you had a chance to wonder if there was an ulterior motive to her telling you that she was single besides just making you feel better, the moment was over and the conversation had moved on -- mostly on Steve’s part, who did nearly all of the talking. That was fine. You were too busy trying to ward off the overwhelming weight of just how fucking difficult it was to not know if Robin somehow felt the same way about you that you probably couldn’t have followed the conversation even if it was interesting -- no offense to Steve. 

“And that’s when I said… are you two even listening?” he demanded, and both you and Robin jumped. 

“A…Apparently not,” she weakly offered, sending you a quiet look. 

“Sorry, Steve,” you offered. “Was it… something about Jessica? Jemma…” you furrowed your brow. “J--”

“Jenna! Christ on a fucking bike, why does no one listen to me?”

“Probably because all you do is talk,” Robin shot back. “Like, it is literally constant. You’re probably contributing a vast majority of the sound pollution across the entire state of Indiana.”

“Oh my god,” he said, looking to you for help. All you could do was shrug and do a piss-poor job of hiding your laughter behind your hand. 

“You guys are awful friends,” he snobbily insisted. Robin rolled her eyes toward the ceiling, then got up with a smirk and planted herself on Steve’s lap, grabbing his shoulders and giving him an obnoxious kiss on the cheek. 

“I’m sorry, dingus,” she sang. “Please don’t be mad.”

He made a dramatic show of wincing and wiping his cheek before he gave a little scoff and hugged her around the waist. You were lost trying to come up with a reason to be mad at Robin so she’d do that to you. But your mind came up blank. She was just too perfect, too sweet and kind and wonderful; you couldn’t fault her for a single thing. All you could do was try not to stare as she hopped off of Steve's lap and plopped back into the booth as if nothing had happened; as casually as if she hadn’t just made your lungs drop straight through your chest. You were pretty sure you’d have to scrape them up off the floor during your next shift. 

“Hey,” Robin suddenly said, nudging you with her elbow, and it wasn’t a kiss on the cheek but it was something. You’d take anything. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” you quickly shook your head, smiling in a way that you hoped looked relatively normal. “I’m good. Just tired.”

Robin’s brow furrowed sympathetically, and she let her forearm brush against yours on the table as she tapped her fingers. Why? You felt like you were wailing it to the sky. Why did she do things like that -- the lingering touches and hidden smiles and longing glances? She had to know she was driving you crazy. You would have died to know what all of it meant. 

If you were braver, you would have asked. 

“Are we all good here? Like, for closing and stuff?” Steve asked as if all three of you worked at Tiffany’s instead of just you. Some of your internal turmoil was momentarily set aside as fondness replaced it. Even if you were confused, you were still pretty lucky. 

“Yeah, all good.”

“Great,” Steve announced, jumping up to collect the empty bottles. “Let’s get you ladies home, then.”

Robin didn’t say anything this time about Steve calling you ‘ladies,’ but she did bump her side into yours as you headed for the door, smirking like you shared a secret. You felt like maybe you did -- if only you knew what that secret was. You smiled up at her anyway and let the touch of your hips linger, wishing that it could have turned into more; wishing that it could have gone on longer and never stopped. 

As had become a habit, Steve carried your bike to his car -- and not long after, Robin helped you get it out. You could tell, though, that something was different tonight. You could almost feel the energy in the air, the unbroken potential hovering around Robin like a cloud. 

“Hey, so,” she finally broke the silence, lowering your bike onto the pavement as the atmosphere cleared. “I hope Steve didn’t put you on the spot or anything while he was prying into your love life. You don’t have to, like… tell us personal things, even if we are friends. Which… I mean, we are… right?”

“Yes. Of course,” you insisted. Then, a bit more shyly, “I mean -- I’d like to be.”

“Me too!” she replied, waving her hands before clasping them in front of her, nervously playing with her fingers. “I just… I want you to be comfortable, you know? And, I mean, sometimes I kind of talk without a filter -- a-and Steve’s filter is a little unconventional when you compare it to everyone else's, haha…”

“Robin,” you waited for her to look at you, and when she did, it was like she was trying to hide through her eyelashes. “It’s okay -- really. I really like you guys. But… if it makes you feel better, I swear I’ll tell you if you ever make me uncomfortable or cross a line or anything.” You raised your eyebrows imploringly, and Robin visibly relaxed before beaming at you. 

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, for sure.” In a moment of confidence, you stuck out your pinky. Robin’s grin softened, giving you a look of eager surprise. She hooked her pinky around yours. 

“But hey, you too, alright?”

“Yeah -- of course. Me too,” she nodded, giving your pinky a firm shake. “Alright, well,” she smiled sadly. “I guess I’d better go. My parents are probably gonna freak at me for getting home so late. They’ve gotten kind of uber-sensitive about my curfew since last summer when I… well… it’s a long story with way too many moving parts. Anyway… night.” she ducked her head, rosy cheeks shining warm beneath the streetlights and the crescent moon.

“Night,” you replied, finally letting go of her hand. “Keep an eye out for aliens.”

Robin’s lips curled into a grin as she walked back towards the passenger side door. 

“Sure thing, Earthling,” she winked.

Your feet were stuck to the pavement even as Steve pulled away with a wave that you physically couldn’t return. 

From inside Steve’s BMW, the two best friends were having a similar issue. 

“Holy shit.”

“Steve,” Robin groaned, hands planted over her face, covering her eyes and hoping that maybe Steve wouldn’t notice how red she was. 

“You just winked at her. Robs, you just winked at her.”

“Steven, I swear to God--”

“Ha! Haha!” Steve reached over to grab her shoulder, shaking it so hard that her teeth knocked together. “Jesus, Robin! I mean damn, you pulled out the moves and everything. Did you see her, by the way? I think we should circle back to make sure she actually got inside ‘cause it looked like she was about to fall over.”

“Would you stop--”

“I’m being completely serious, Robin. Holy shit,” he glanced away, blowing a raspberry and raking a hand through his hair. “So what kinds of flowers do you think you guys’ll want for the wedding? Also, what’s her favorite color because we’ll have to pick, like, napkins and tablecloths and all that stuff.”

“Why do you know so much about wedding planning?” she furrowed her brow, and Steve glanced over at her before shrugging. 

“So?” he persisted, eyes widening as he waited. Robin leaned against the window and smirked. 

“Indigo. Something, like… dark indigo.”

Steve fell quiet for a moment, taking in Robin’s starry-eyed expression. It was like she was looking somewhere else, far away from his little car or the street in front of them, or even all of Hawkins. He smiled. 

“That’s… poetic,” he couldn’t help but comment.

“Shut up, dingus,” Robin fondly replied.

 ______________________________________________________________

You and Robin didn’t see each other for a little while after that night. You talked on the phone as frequently as you could, but between working evening rush hour shifts at the diner and Keith cracking down on how often employees could use the phone -- he must have figured out they were using it for non-work-related purposes -- yours and Robin’s paths didn’t get the opportunity to cross. 

It felt like forever since you’d seen her even though it had likely only been a few weeks. Even so, it seemed that you weren’t the only dramatic one. 

“Steve’s been asking about you, like, constantly,” Robin said over the phone one evening. “No offense, but I think he just misses all the snacks you usually bring us.”

You snorted, smiling fondly at the thought. 

“I know -- work’s just been so busy lately. But tell him I’ll be around with more soggy fries and half-melted milkshakes soon.”

You wished you could see Robin’s smile as her laughter came through the receiver, the crackling and long distance doing nothing to change the way it sounded like spring. The way it sounded perfect. You wished you could see that dimple in the corner of her mouth, a little wrinkle that always appeared when she smiled wide enough, the crease swallowing up a few of her freckles. You just wished you could see her. 

“No worries, we totally understand,” Robin was saying. “But, uh… Steve’s not the only one who misses you…”

Your end of the line was silent. 

“I mean, it’s been, like, weeks since I’ve had a strawberry milkshake--” 

You laughed, leaning your head onto your hand, scratching lightly at your temple as you felt your face grow hot. “The next chance I get, I’m taking you out for one.”

“Yeah?”

“Oh yeah. We can go back to that spot in the woods again. I’ll bring The Smiths.”

“Sounds like a pretty good way to spend an evening,” she said, voice a raspy purr. It made you crazy. 

“Hopefully soon.”

“Yeah… hey, my mom’s calling. Actually, she has been for, like, five minutes now but I’ve kind of been ignoring her. I’m surprised you haven’t heard her on the other end,” she scoffed. You laughed into your hand. 

“Alright. Talk to you soon, yeah?”

“I’d offer you my pinky, but I’m afraid technology hasn’t reached those capabilities yet.”

God, she was unreal. And here she was, talking to you over the phone. You felt like the luckiest person on planet earth. 

“Night Earthling,” she said, as if on cue. 

“Night Robin. Say ‘hi’ to Steve for me.”

“Will do.”

 You heard the lingering echoes of her smile and then it was cut off with the click of the receiver. Your head was spinning somewhere out in the woods near Lover’s Lake -- somewhere where the crickets were loud and couldn't be silenced by the hanging up of a phone. As much as you would have liked living there forever, real life had a tendency of moving on, even when your daydreams were so much better.

 It wasn’t until a few days later that you spoke to Robin again. She called you Friday at the diner two hours before your shift ended. 

“Honey,” Tiffany waved you down as you were bringing an order back to the kitchen, phone in her hand and the chord stretched around the corner. “You’ve got a call,” she held up the phone. 

You’d been expecting one of your parents. Who else would have called you at work? You really should have known. 

“Hey there, Earth girl,” Robin grinned. 

“Oh, it’s ‘Earth girl’ now?” you arched an eyebrow despite the heat that instantly spread down your neck, you tucked yourself back into the small hallway of employee lockers and leaned onto the wall next to the phone hook. 

“Trying new things. Anyway -- are you free tonight? Please say you’re free tonight.”

You’d planned on going home, taking the longest shower of your life, then dropping into bed to watch reruns on TV, but technically…

“Yeah. I don’t have anything going on.”

Robin let out something between a groan and a sigh. 

“Ahgh, yes! Okay, so Steve and I got invited to this party--”

“I got invited to this party,” Steve interjected, his voice distant but clear enough. “Robin’s just my plus one.”

“Oh my god, whatever,” she grumbled, clearly exasperated. They’d obviously had this argument beforehand, and of course they hadn’t come to a resolution and neither of them had caved. You wouldn’t have expected less. “But, uh, I was wondering if you’d be my plus one. Or… plus two, technically speaking. Plus one squared?”

You heard Steve muttering “You’re such a nerd,” seconds before the sound of her elbow connecting with his ribs. 

“So… will you come? It’s at Mandy’s house -- do you know Mandy? She was in Mr. Richard’s Calculus class. Kind of a priss, but whatever. Steve insists that I go along with him for emotional support, and I could really use your emotional support.”

“Yeah, sure,” you agreed before you had enough time to regret the decision, let alone even think about it. The cheer Robin let out was a million times worth it. “What’s the address?” 

Robin told you and you wrote it onto your order pad. 

“That’s actually not too far from my house. I can bike, meet you guys there.”

It took Robin some convincing from both you and Steve for her to agree, but finally, you settled on leaving your house around eight, which would get you to Mandy’s around eight-fifteen. Robin assured you that they’d already be there by then and would find you. 

“Thanks for this, you’re a lifesaver.”

“No problem. It’ll be fun!” At least, you hoped it would. 

Parties definitely were not your thing, but… Robin had asked you. And, if it meant getting to spend the evening with your two best friends, then maybe it would be fun. The promise of alcohol definitely didn’t hurt. 

Robin and you agreed to use each other as alibis, telling your parents you’d be spending the night at your friend’s house. Steve’s parents were away on business, so he didn’t have to worry about it, and said that you could all three crash at his place for the night. You felt a bit of excitement flutter around the pit of anticipation in your stomach. 

“And remember, don’t get abducted. We have a deal, Earthling. ‘M not ready to give you to the aliens quite yet.”

Yeah… maybe it would be a fun night after all.

_______________________________________________________________

Taglist: @alonezz​, @gaysludge​, @gray-cheese, @rare-breed-of-human​, @vea-vea-vea​, @lady-silkwing​, @im-a-milf​, @yourmanifestingbigsister

#robin buckley x reader #robin buckley x you #robin buckley x female reader #robin buckley x y/n #robin x reader #robin buckley fanfic #robin buckley #st #st fanfic #stranger things #stranger things fanfiction #steve harrington #steve and robin #ao3 link #ao3 fanfic #fanfictions

[markofcastiel]

The Plan

Relationship: Dean Winchester/Castiel

Summary: Cas has been his best friend since they were eight. But now they're both applying for universities and Dean is more anxious than he wants to admit.

Tags: fluff, first kiss, self-esteem issues

"If you get accepted to all of them, which one are you gonna pick?"

"I dunno, Sammy!" Dean snaps, closing the book in front of him with more force than necessary. The pencil that Dean had been anxiously chewing on just seconds ago rolls off the desk with the vibration, and lands on the hardwood floors with a clack.

"I'm so sick of everyone pressuring me for answers!"

"Dude... it was just a question..."

His baby brother is getting bigger and bigger. He's nearly Dean's size now and shows no signs of stopping his growth spurt. But in moments like these Sammy can still pull off a face that reminds Dean that he's just a gangly 14 year old kid - with huge puppy eyes and a sad retriever look. Dean would calm down and apologize for snapping if he wasn't so riled up:

"Not when you're the third person asking me that today. Just lay off my back already!"

Sam raises his brows high, and his lips quirk in the way they do when he's preparing a comeback.

"Touchy~~"

"Bitch."

"Moooooom, Dean called me a bitch..."

"You-"

Mary's voice reaches in from the hallway almost instantly: "Dean, language!!"

Sam sticks his tongue out, grins triumphantly, and then whispers "jerk" before running back to his room.

Freaking Sammy...

"At the risk of being the fourth to ask..."

His best friend speaks up from behind him, letting the sentence linger in the air unfinished. Dean turns around in his chair to see Cas sprawled across his bed, calmly observing him. He has a book open in front of him, but it's upside down so Dean's pretty sure he wasn't really studying.

"I do wonder the same, Dean."

"Not you too, man."

"I'm just curious."

"Look... I don't know, Cas."

Dean sighs, and finally decides to give up on studying, since his mind is too far gone.

His room is not so big, so when he stretches his leg, it actually reaches the bed. He uses this fact to his advantage, one foot pushing insistently at Castiel's thigh in a silent demand for him to move. It works, effectively making his best friend sit up and scooch over enough so that Dean can also sit down on the cushy mattress.

Even though there was more than enough space to leave a few inches between them, they end up squished right against each other. But Cas doesn't complain, so Dean lets his head drop onto his best friend's shoulder, and closes his eyes for a brief moment, trying to chase away the worry bubbling inside. His brain keeps racing around, thinking about the future and how everything seems so scary and uncertain. He still feels like a kid but he has to make all these grown up decisions and move away from everyone he loves.

It doesn't really seem fair.

"Can't I just stay here forever?"

Although Cas doesn't answer, he reaches out, sensing Dean's distress. His hand finds Dean's nape, and starts stroking tenderly along Dean's spine, soothing all the muscles down its path. Dean just leans into the touch and sighs again, now a happier sound.

Cas has a way of always feeling like sunshine, peeking through even on the cloudiest days. Dean basks in the attention, and lets go of the worries for a moment, just focusing on the warmth of Castiel's hand, and the way Cas' breath ghosts against his hair. He thinks he feels Castiel kissing the top of his head, a feathery touch, barely there - but maybe he was just imagining it. After a few moments of silence, Dean finally allows himself to ask:

"What 'bout you, Cas? You never told me which university you decided on."

The soothing hand leaves Dean's back and he instantly misses the contact. Cas stares at him silently, and it's only when Dean rights himself up and looks back, raising a brow in question that Cas replies, with a mysterious finality to his tone.

"I don't know yet."

"What? Really? You don't know?"

Cas simply shrugs. He's suddenly very interested in the book in front of him - it seems he finally notices that it is upside down and his hands fumble to turn it around.

"Oh..." Dean is surprised, to say the least.

His best friend is always so sure of himself, so certain of the path that has to be taken to succeed in life. When they started highschool Cas had already picked all his classes before Dean could even decide on one. So Dean wasn't expecting an 'I don't know'. If anything, Dean was expecting a bullet list of next steps and timelines to achieve his life goals or something geeky like that.

"Ok," Dean mumbles out, slightly dazed, before turning even more interested. He can't believe he never asked:

"Huh... which universities did you apply to?"

Blue eyes snap back up, meeting his.

There's a weird sort of tension in the air until Cas finally answers.

"MIT, Caltech and KU."

"What?! Are you serious?"

Dean turns to face Cas fully, the ecstasy obvious in his eyes. He grabs Castiel's knees and squeezes.

"Those are exactly the same ones I applied to! Dudeeee, that's such a coincidence - it would be awesome if we ended up in the same one!"

Dean rambles excitedly, not noticing the calculated gaze on his best friend's eyes.

"This is the best news I've heard all year, Cas - I freaking LOVE you!"

He throws his arm around Cas, squishing him tight and kissing his cheek like crazy, forgetting that wasn't a normal thing best friends do.

"And with your big brain I'm sure you are gonna get into all of them, Cas!"

Cas huffs out a small laugh, his eyes crinkling softly at Dean's excitement. But his smile fades away when Dean's face darkens. He slowly releases his grip on Cas, and Cas knows what's coming before Dean even starts.

"Me, on the other hand... I mean... what if I don't get into any of them?"

"Dean."

Cas sounds tired beyond his years, as if he hasn't just turned 18, but instead has lived centuries watching the Earth turn on its axis.

"Dean, look at me."

Dean complies, though he's not sure why. Emboldened, Cas barrels on, confident and unwavering:

"You're one of the brightest people I have ever known."

"No, I'm not," Dean scoffs.

Cas squints, and his head tilts.

"You do realize that your GPA disagrees?"

"You're one to talk, Cas... you have 5.0 GPA! And I'm pretty sure the only reason you don't have higher is because you were afraid the teachers thought it was too good to be true."

"I like Advanced Placement classes..."

"Yeah, well. You're basically a superhuman genius or something."

"Hmm... in that case perhaps you should listen to me when I say you'll get into all of the universities you applied to."

Dean rolls his eyes, but Cas persists:

"My GPA is not the point, Dean. I'm not the one who secretly thinks I'm dumb, despite being elected Valedictorian and having the second highest GPA in our entire school, and likely one of the highest in the country for our year."

"I was only chosen as Valedictorian cus everyone knows you suck at speeches, Cas! You'd probably just get up there and give a one-liner about how 'we're all people trying their best in a world where it's easy to do your worst' and then end with a weird goat joke that no one gets."

"That was my speech in middle school."

"Exactly!"

"The joke just didn't translate well. It was funnier in the original language."

Dean roars with laughter, and then slaps Cas in the back.

"And that is why I am Valedictorian, buddy."

Cas looks slightly uncomfortable, but it just makes Dean laugh harder. He's clearly imagining a myriad of terrible speeches that some imaginary Castiel would do. When he finally comes down from his high, he wipes the corner of his eyes, and shakes his head.

"Man... I'm gonna miss you too much if we don't end up in the same uni..."

Cas awkwardly looks away.

"Why didn't you pick one yet anyway? Knowing you, I thought you already had a whole grand plan in mind," Dean pries, curious. Cas remains quiet, staring a hole into a spot on the wall. Dean can tell when his best friend is holding something back. Dean bumps his knee against him, and insists.

"What is it, Cas?"

Cas chances a look, and quickly caves in as soon as he sees the bright green eyes staring up at him.

"I'm waiting."

"Really? What for?"

Cas looks away again, cheeks slightly tinged in pink. If Dean didn't know him so well, he would say Cas was embarrassed. But Cas was never embarrassed, so he must be imagining it. When Cas seems to stall, Dean pushes again.

"What are you waiting for, buddy?"

"You didn't pick yet."

"Ok..."

Dean scrunches his nose.

"What does that have to do with it?"

Cas looks back at him, annoyed.

"What?"

"You didn't pick yet," Cas repeats slowly, as if somehow that explains everything. Dean just makes another face, even more confused.

"So what? It's not like you're planning to follow me into whatever university I-"

Cas looks at him meaningfully.

Wait. What?

Dean can feel himself turn red and redder, all the way up to his ears. No. No way. Was Cas really waiting for him to choose just so he could go to the same one???

"Yes, so..." Cas confirms his unspoken question, closing the book in front of him, "please hurry up, Dean. Your indecision is interfering with my plan."

"Your... plan?"

And that's when Cas pulls out a bullet list of his life goals - Dean was right, he does have one - and hands it over.

"I was supposed to be at step number 7 already, which is getting an apartment for us near the campus. But if you don't pick a university I can't start on that one."

"Cas."

"Yes?"

"Did you seriously put 'Marry Dean Winchester' as bullet point number 20?"

"Well, 18 is too early, and 22 seems too late. I think bullet point 20 is the perfect balance."

"Cas..."

"Yes?"

"We're not even dating yet."

"Of course not," Cas says with some exasperation, pointing at number 10 on the list, "that's only after step 8 and 9, Dean, since we will be much more emotionally mature."

Dean smiles, a silly, huge grin and shakes his head. Well, he was never one to follow grand plans and by led by other people's rules so he cradles Cas' face between his palms, leans in and kisses that stupid look off of his best friend's face.

Cas squirms under him, a delightful surprised hitch leaving his mouth, but ends up clinging to his leather jacket like there's no tomorrow. When Dean finally pulls away he marvels at his best friend's spit-slick lips, and the way that dark hair got all ruffled up, making Cas impossibly sexier.

"So," Dean chirps cheerfully, the future suddenly seeming much more exciting.

"Which university are we going to?"

Cas doesn't answer, just pulls him back in for another kiss, and then another. They only stop to come up for air, and even then they're both smiling wide, breaths ragged and hearts beating fast.

"What about th-"

Oh god,

Cas started kissing up his jaw, and somehow Dean's jacket found its way the floor.

"-C-Cas, w-wha- t-the plan?"

"Mmm," Cas mumbles between kisses, and then his tongue darts out to lick a line behind Dean's ear, making Dean shiver and fall apart with a whimper.

"Changed my mind."

"Hell yea-"

"Boys."

The voice suddenly startles them both apart, and they turn at the speed of light to find Mary Winchester at the entrance of Dean's bedroom, staring past the -very open- door. Dean can't believe he was this freaking stupid, and he can feel his heart hammer anxiously in his chest.

"Mom, it's - it's not what it looks like-"

Mary rolls her eyes.

"Oh really? 'Cus it looks like you knuckleheads finally realized you're made for each other. I could power a town with the stares you two have been throwing at each other for the last ten years."

"M-mom," Dean mumbles.

"Now, hands off each other and come help me with dinner. I think I burned the rice again..."

---

"MIT."

Dean blurs out right in the middle of dinner. All the eyes lift off of busy plates full of food, staring up at him, waiting for more explanation. Dean squeezes Cas' hand a bit tighter below the table before clearing his throat and trying again:

"We decided on MIT."

His family cheers, rushing to congratulate him. Sammy however, asks all too eagerly:

"We? Are you both going to the same one?"

Dean blushes, suddenly nervous, "y-yeah."

John groans, making Dean practically jump out of his skin, heart hammering on his chest. But then his little brother's voice raises over the sound:

"Called it," Sammy announces, and shoves an open palm in front of their father, "pay up old man!"

John reluctantly pulls out 50 dollars, just as Mary smacks both of them on the back of their heads, clearly displeased with whatever just transpired.

Dean stares at his father like he just grew an extra head but John just slowly chews at his food, and doesn't provide any additional explanation.

"I'm happy to hear that, baby," Mary says gently, looking genuinely pleased. She proceeds to elbow John, and the man finally seems to realize he should say something.

"Yeah. Good for you, son. You take good care of each other, you hear? Keep your noses outta trouble."

Dean blushes and nods furiously, the words of his father always his gospel.

Cas, in the meantime, is far too focused on scribbling all over his (now slightly crumpled) piece of paper. It seems 'Marry Dean Winchester' is now circled extra hard, and has been moved up a few steps on The Plan.

Dean ducks his head and smiles, shy and proud. Yep, it's still gonna be scary moving away from his mom and dad and he's gonna miss the hell out of his lil brother.

But he's got Cas.

Whatever happens, they're gonna be alright.

#destiel #destiel fic #destiel fanfic #ok this one had to be sweet and fluffy since the other one was so dark haha #my writing #in which John Winchester is not a complete asshole for once #also Mary #look i just want dean to be happy and loved

[veryace-ficrecs]

Supernatural Post-Finale Fix it Fic Recs

Fanfiction set after or during s15e20 that changes the ending in some way.

This list will include all ratings and tags, so read at your own discretion! :)

Of Loss and Love by BadassCompany - Rated E

“You saved me,” Cas says.

Dean wants to crawl inside that low rumble of a voice and curl up there forever. Delirious, he says, “Yes.”

Then Cas says, “You kissed me.”

Dean swallows. “And?”

Cas kisses him. Something burns at the hem of Dean’s shirt and his eyelashes flutter darker and it’s much, much later when he realizes he’d felt a spark from the lightbulbs blowing out.

*

Dean barely talks since Cas died. Even once they save him, it's too damn hard. In which fucked up coping styles leave both Cas and Dean convinced the other doesn't really love them. Cas thinks Dean is offering to sleep with him out of the goodness of his heart, or so Cas won't leave. Dean is trying to be less of a dick and ends up crying all the time. Cas just wants Dean to let him be the big spoon. They get to heal and be in love.

Local Cryptid?? by chlodobird - Rated T

Carry On by TheWeepingMonk - Rated G

In an imaginary world where the finale was emotionally satisfying, Team Free Will got to grow old. Dean and Cas settle down and run a bar-slash-diner, and Sam decides to go back to school. Law just isn't his thing anymore, but with the amount of lore he knows, he figures he could make a pretty decent history or mythology teacher.

Essentially, his weird knowledge and weirder family means that rumors spread. Local Man becomes College Campus Cryptid, more at 9

what they deserve (it's better this way) by sobsicles - Rated M

"That was weird."  

 "What was weird?"  

 "Dean," Sam answers. "He's gotten really happy out of nowhere and now he's taking a roadtrip so Charlie can meet his dog? I just don't buy it. He's up to something."  

 "Up to what?"  

     Sam struggles to makes a guess then finally says, "I don't know...maybe he's trying to find a way to bring Cas back."

Dean and Castiel have some unfinished business. Heaven is as good enough of a place to settle it as any.

Wayward Son by masquerade97 - Rated T

so weird how the spn finale was just an hour of dead air. that was weird right? anyway this is what i think happened 

for which no words exist by MediaWhore - Rated T

'a prayer for which no words exist' // richard siken

"Dear Cas who art in my bathtub, give me the strength to be honest about how I feel. For your sake and for mine. Forgive me all the times I wasn’t in the past, all the words I should have said but didn’t. And please stay. Please stay with me when all is said and done. Amen. "

Dean rescues a newly human Cas from the Empty. That's the easy step.

all the things yet to come are the things that have passed by cosmicocean - Rated T

“I mean, listen, we’re not good at the huggy feely crap. Any of us. And I get that, you know. And I get, I mean, I could’ve said something, you know, I know that. I get it. I get all of it  But you just, you give this whole speech, and you telling me that you just, you want what you know you can’t have? You never asked. And it was always, you know, it was always-“ he grits his teeth, taking a breath.

“We always came back to each other. I said terrible things to you and you said terrible things to me and we fought and we killed and we died and always, always, we came back to each other. We figured it out. So you’re gonna come back. You’re gonna come back, Cas, so help me god, and we’re gonna figure it out. And I would have said yes. If you’d asked, I would have said yes.”

AU after 15x19, where Dean has a little place in the middle of nowhere, a dog, and is trying to figure out a plan.

Keep Your Love Alive by dothraki_shieldmaiden, FriendofCarlotta - Rated E

Dean gets to spend eternity sharing beers with Bobby on the Roadhouse porch and riding around in his Baby with Sam. He’s at peace… or he feels like he should be. But a few things nag at him: Where is Cas, and everybody else Dean had been hoping to see in Heaven? Why does he feel like he’s stuck in a loop, reliving the same memories over and over again? And who are the strangers wearing Sam’s and Bobby’s faces?

#supernatural fanfiction #destiel fic rec #destiel fanfic #supernatural #dean winchester #castiel #veryace recs #ao3 fic recs #ao3

[donniesexceptionalmind]

Heya!!!(⁠ﾉ≧⁠▽⁠≦⁠)ﾉ⁠*⁠.⁠✧

You don't need to awnser this, I just wanted to send the process of my cosplay! (⁠｡⁠･⁠ω⁠･⁠｡⁠) By now, I only have an unfinished version of the shell(gonna paint it today!!) and the clothes I'll wear underneath it. I think it's turning out pretty good for my first time making something like this, even if it's a little crooked. I'm new at this and halloween is at night anyway so no one's going to notice. ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(—ᵕ⁠ —)⁠_⁠/⁠¯ So, here's some pictures of the shell! :

(As I stated before, it is still in progress, so it is not going to stay like this forever. I'll paint it today after school) (Also, this is not necessarily a ROTTMNT Donnie costume, it's like a mixed up verson of all Donatellos... Or something. So this is not one of ROTTMNT Donnie's battle shells.)

Bye bye!!! (⁠｡⁠･⁠ω⁠･⁠｡⁠)⁠ﾉ⁠♡

This is amazing! I absolutely adore what you have made so far & I am positive the finished work will look amazing!

#donnie answers #donnies exceptional mind #turtle net #rottmnt cosplay #rottmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles

[withdenim]

Uhh hi!! Just saw your post in my tl and I really love your sora design!! You might know me from emo tho, im one of her/their friends— sorry if its makes you uncomfortable but uh yeah, what's your opinion about the newest season/series of ninjago??

Oh hello!! It’s nice to meet you! Emo’s a great mutual friend to have, love ‘em to death 💜💜

It doesn’t make me uncomfy at all! I have SO many opinions on Ninjago and no one irl to ramble to lol

Solid RGB siblings content. We love to see it. The hug? God, Ough, that was beautiful. But also all the ribbing at each other. They’re so cute 🥺

“Kai??” “I made a huge mistake!!” “I’m gonna kill you!!” Was so incredibly sibling of Kai and nya

The introduction of Arin and Sora was very cute imo. I love that we got so much content of Sora this season but I hope the next one is more about Arin. He was sidelined a lot in this one 😔

The addition of lloyd following them bc he thought Arin was one of the ninja was a fantastic way of getting them into the same place naturally

SPEAKING OF LLOYD

MY CRINGEFAIL SON??? What was he even DOING this season???? His BEST, that’s what.

The beard gag was so transmasc swag of him honestly

Um. I want them to Dragon Ball Z lloyd more. By which I mean continue boosting his powers to ridiculous extents. We got two of those this season iirc and I am THRIVING

Imperium City being so. Like That. Holy fuck. Girl that’s fascism with a feminist twist. Like we stan a girlboss but not when they’re giving that energy fr

Soras entire story and arc I’m sobbing??? That’s so. I’m holding her.

Killing her parents killing her parents killing her parents

Dude bring Oni Lloyd back or I’m gonna riot. You can’t leave the oni Lloyd arc unfinished forever. Let him go batshit

Or at very least let him come to terms with his anger and maybe even harness a more peaceful and controlled version of his oni side !!! Lloyd has so much to be angry at and crystallized acknowleged that and then didnt see it through.

Um. The giant fucking dragon in the tank????? Fire as FUCK dude

GIVE BACK COLE AND JAY I MISS THEM. THE NINJA MISS THEM

I stand by my post where I said Zane should have been found via falcon honestly trapping him in the basement felt weird like. Girl. Context pls?

It also felt somewhat demeaning like hm youre leaning away from his inherent humanity and only acknowledging his robotic traits

The dragons were all diversely designed and that goes hard

The “stay calm” bit with Lloyd and wu had so much potential and it kinda just. Sat there and looked pretty.

Arin was really just fantastic I love him so much.

OH. LLOYD TELLING ARIN HE HAS A FAMILY,,, guys holy fuck they are The Same and Different

Lloyd expanding the RGB gang AS WE SPEAK

Whoever said “Lloyd is to Arin what Kai is to Lloyd” you’re RIGHT

ALRIGHT that’s everything off the top of my head I think? I probably forgot a whole ton. Thanks so much for asking about it!!

#Ninjago #ninjago spoilers #dragons rising #dragons rising spoilers #ninjago dragons rising #Ninjago dragons rising spoilers

[buck-yyyy]

BYLER - BEGINNING OF A TIME LOOP

!! major character death and angst !!

THIS WORK IS UNFINISHED AND WILL NEVER BE FINISHED

It was an odd feeling, the end of the world.

You’d think that it would make you feel hopeless. Lost, confused. Scared out of your mind, and maybe ready to die.

But the only thing that Mike felt was cold, hard determination.

And sure, he was afraid. It would be impossible to not be.

But as he sat awake in his bed in Hawkins, watching the puffs of spores float through the air for what could easily be the very last time, the only thing on his mind was how ready he was to end this.

For good.

His door opened, and he looked over.

Oh. Nancy.

She was wearing full camouflage, her hair tucked out of her face with a practical bandana. She even had her gun, already strapped across her chest, her hands wrapped around the handle and barrel.

“Mike. Get up. It’s time.”

He took a deep breath, readying himself.

“Am I the last one up?”

Nancy nodded, watching him carefully.

“Are you gonna be okay?”

“Yeah,” he breathed, rubbing his eyes. “Yeah, I’m fine. I’m ready.”

She turned around, glancing back briefly before walking out of the room and pulling the door shut.

He pulled on his clothes: a white tee, a black denim jacket with a soft, fuzzy collar, loose and flexible black cargo pants (each pocket full of useful tools and supplies), and sturdy leather boots that they’d nabbed ages ago from some military store.

As he went to leave, he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror on his wall.

God, he looked grown up. He didn’t look like the skinny little fourteen year old kid that he did two years ago, when all of this started. He was taller, leaner (though still thin). His jaw was sharper; and his Adam’s apple pressed against the skin of his throat, bobbing as he swallowed.

He pushed back the twinge of resentment that arose with the thought of any lost teenage years.

Sure, it wasn’t fair—but it didn’t matter. That wasn’t the point.

He was ready.

He pushed open the door, walking out into the hallway and making his way down to the living room, where the entire group was sitting strewn around the room, staring solemnly at the floor.

The atmosphere was thick, choking; anxiety filled the room with an uncomfortable fog that made Mike want to run back to his room, slam the door shut, and hide away forever.

But instead, he joined the others on the couch.

“Hey,” Lucas greeted, raising his head.

“Hey,” Mike responded absentmindedly. He stretched his arms, cracking his back. “We need to go over the plan again.”

Robin pulled out a large roll of paper, spreading it out across the Wheeler’s coffee table. She looked up to Nancy.

“Nance? You want to do it?”

She nodded, taking a steadying breath before moving forward and pointing at the marked up paper.

“Okay. We have five teams. Steve, Robin, Dustin, and Erica, you guys set up. You’ll be going in first, making sure the coast is clear of bats or dogs, or God forbid a full-grown.”

“Demogorgon,” Dustin interrupted. “And we’ll carry through as Scoops Troop, thank you.”

Nancy nodded, clearly holding back an eye roll.

“Right. And you’ll be fully armed, with spears and shields. Chest plates go underneath your clothes. You have them on?”

Erica rapped her knuckles against her chest, the solid noise indicating a thick vest underneath.

“Got ‘em.”

“Once you’re in, you’ll set up the way for everyone else. We know the path, that shouldn’t be an issue; we know that he’s camping out in the library. But we do need you to defend while everyone else comes through.” She took a deep breath, pushing back a stray hair. “Once… Scoops Troop clears us, everyone but Murray and Joyce come through. You two are reconnaissance, you’ll make sure that there’s no dangers from outside the gate. And if there are?”

Joyce held up a large siren. “We’ll let you know, hold them off, and help you get out, if needed.”

Nancy nodded again.

“Good. Once everyone is in the Upside Down, we spread out—but once we find him, we stay together. Scoops Troop is outer defense, flanking at the sides. You’ve got the Molotovs, if he tries to get away, flame him. Don’t let him get out. Trap us all in, if we have to; we’ll find a way to get out after he’s dead.” She paused, taking a deep breath. “Me, Hopper, Lucas, and Will, we’re all ranged—we’re the third ring. We stay behind Hopper.” She glanced over at Will, who was staring grimly at the plan, his jaw quivering slightly. “Will, I know you don’t want the gun, but we don’t know enough about the extent of your powers to let you go in without it. And Lucas, you have enough arrows, right?”

Lucas reached for the large quiver leaning against the couch, picking it up and setting it next to the crossbow by his feet.

“Plenty.”

“And just to be clear,” Hopper said gruffly, pushing his way to the front. “She’s going over this plan, but I’m the one in charge. I tell you to get out, you get out. You need to listen to everything I tell you once we’re in.”

Dustin gave him a mock salute, and Nancy gave him a quick nod, before turning back to the map.

“El is the center ring. She’ll be the one doing the majority of the fighting, we know this. That leaves Mike and Jonathan—and you two will be flanking El. Both of you are armed,” Mike glanced over at the crowbar and nailed bat, respectively, sitting off to the side, “but you’ll only be stepping in if necessary. Keep El safe. That’s your job. The majority of any real fighting will be done by the rangers and El, and she needs to focus.

El raised her hand, standing up straight from her spot leaning against the wall.

“And once it’s over? What then?”

Nancy grimaced.

“From what we can tell, it might start to fall apart. Erase itself, maybe, I don’t know—nobody does. But whatever happens, we run like hell. I don’t care how fast you can run the mile—you run ten times faster than whatever you’ve got. Joyce and Murray will have the gate prepped for removal, and they should be able to stop it from closing, we’ve practiced that. They’ll get us out, remove the stoppers, and then it’ll close and we’ll have won.” She allowed herself to smile at all of them, beckoning them to do the same. “And it’ll be over. Permanently.”

Lucas clapped his hand against Dustin’s back, his face pulled into a perfectly serious expression.

Despite the forced confidence, something squirming in Mike’s chest insisted that it wasn’t enough.

It’s not going to work! the thing screamed, pounding its invisible fists against his rib cage. Everyone’s gonna end up dead!

Mike shook his head, his thick messy curls bouncing against his neck.

No, we’re not, he told himself sternly. It’s a good plan, and nobody is going to die. We won’t let that happen.

And if someone does? the thing retorted.

He paused.

Then it’ll be me.

~

Everything was going perfectly, and it fucking sucked.

The unease creeping in around the edge of Mike’s mind was no longer just creeping in; instead, it was full-blown constant panic.

Not panic that he was in the Upside Down.

Not panic that he was only some thirty feet away from Vecna.

Panic that something was going to go wrong, and it would all be his fault.

He clenched his crowbar tightly in his hands, the cold metal a relief from the buckets of nervous sweat dripping off of his body.

“Shit—Jonathan!” he yelled, dropping the crowbar and running forward, jumping up to reach for El’s leg—but she was already up too high before he could reach her.

A deep, echoing laugh came from the front steps of the library where Vecna stood.

“You’ve lost. Accept it,” he said, his voice buttery and sickly sweet. “Or die with her.”

“Mike!” Jonathan called out. “Here, if I lift you up, we should be able to reach her!”

“But she’ll still be in the trace,” Will said.

Mike spun around.

“Will? What are you doing, you’re supposed to stay in your ring?”

Will dropped his gun into the mud, straightening out his shoulders.

“There’s no other way. He doesn’t know about me yet.”

“Will, no,” Jonathan said sharply. “You can’t, it’s too dangerous.”

“Hopper already approved it,” Will replied, walking forward.

“What?”

Vecna watched curiously as Will walked forward, his smaller frame trembling.

“Will Byers. The boy who came back to life.” He laughed. “Though, can we really consider it living, what you’ve been doing?”

Will looked up at the sky, taking a deep steadying breath.

Mike was frozen in place, his feet stuck to the floor with panic. Across the way, Jonathan appeared to be in the same situation, his eyes wide and terrified as he watched his little brother stand at the front of the fight.

No one moved, nor even dared to breathe.

Everything hinged on this—but what if it went wrong?

What if—

Before Mike could finish his thought, Will screamed, throwing his arms out wide. As he screamed, small crackles appeared at his fingertips,

vecna dies, UD starts to fall apart

A sickening crunch snapped Mike out of his panic—a second too late.

Will crumpled to the ground, his face covered in the blood still leaking from his nose.

The world moved in slow motion.

He was vaguely aware of Jonathan running at him, grabbing at his wrists and trying to pull him back, but he slipped out of reach, darting forward and turning over Will to face him.

“Will!” he heard himself yell through the ringing in his ears. “Will, you have to get up, you got him! He’s gone! We can go home!”

Will didn’t respond.

“Will,” Jonathan said, his voice slowed through the fog. Mike could barely hear it, but his voice was cracking heavily, as he pushed down the thick sobs that threatened to escape from his throat. “Will, no, please.” He knelt down next to Mike, wrapping his fingers in Will’s shirt and pressing his forehead to his chest. “Fuck. Fuck, no, what am I supposed to do?! Will, you can’t—“

Nancy ran up behind Jonathan, her hand pressed to her mouth and her eyes wide.

“Mike, Jonathan,” she whispered, kneeling down next to them both. “It’s too late. We have to go, now, everything—it’s all falling apart.”

“No! No, why the hell would we leave him here, he’s just—he just needs to get up! Help me carry him!” Mike insisted, pulling at Will’s wrists. His body moved limply with the gesture, following Mike’s every movement.

Jonathan backed away, turning around with one hand clasped against his mouth, his back heaving as he retched into Nancy’s shoulder.

“Mike. We have to go, okay? We can’t—“

“I’m not leaving him!” he shouted. “We can’t leave him! He just needs to wake up!”

At some point, Hopper had joined the group. He clasped a hand on Mike’s shoulder, pulling him up.

“It’s too late, Mike,” he said, his tone flat yet oddly gentle as he pulled him back away from Will. “He’s gone. We have to go. We have no choice.”

“Then fucking carry him!” He was screaming now, his voice cracking heavily. “We can’t leave him here, he’ll die!”

Hopper watched him closely as Nancy led a shaking Jonathan away.

“Come on, kid. We gotta leave him. We can’t lift him up through the gate.”

“I don’t fucking care,” Mike hissed. He wiped away some of the blood from Will’s upper lip, smearing it on his white shirt. “We’re just going to have to figure it out. He just needs to get to a hospital.”

Hopper let out a deep exhale.

“I’m sorry, kid. I’m sorry.”

In one fell swoop, he picked up Mike and slung him, kicking and screaming, across his shoulder, casting a final look at Will’s still body before jogging ahead to catch up with the others.

“Put! Me! Down!” he shouted, pounding his fists against Hopper’s back. “We have to go back for him! We have to—“ He twisted around in Hopper’s grasp, ready to make a run for Will.

But it was too late.

The blackness had already consumed him.

His vision turned red.

“You fucking killed him!”

“Okay, is that everyone?” Steve gasped, leaning against a light post to catch his breath.

Hopper nodded.

“Yeah, we’re all here.”

“No, where’s Will?” Joyce said, peering into the gate. “He’s not back yet, did anyone see him?”

No one said anything.

She slowly looked up, turning to Hopper.

“Hop. Where’s Will.”

He looked away.

Jonathan detached himself from Nancy, moving forward to wrap his arms around his mom, pressing his nose into the curve of her shoulder.

“I tried,” he whispered, his eyes welling up and his entire body shaking. “Mom, I tried so hard, but he—“

“No. No, no, no.” She shook her head, ducking away from Jonathan. “No, he’s just on his way back. We have to keep the gate open.”

“Joyce.” Hopper set his hands on her shoulder, tilting up her chin to meet her eyes. “We have to close it, okay?”

“No!” She pulled away. “You’re going to trap him in there!”

Mike pressed his face to his knees, curling into himself on the ground.

“Hop, stop it! Go get him, what are you doing here?! He needs help!”

“Joyce. Joyce, there’s nothing more that anyone can do. We have to close the gate. We have to end this.”

“No!”

“Hopper’s right, mom,” Jonathan croaked. He’d returned to Nancy, her arms wrapped protectively around his chest. “We have to close it. He’s—“ He pressed a hand to his mouth, a spluttering choking noise escaping from between his fingers. “He’s gone. It’s too late.”

Joyce backed away from the group, her whole body shaking uncontrollably.

“Stop it. Stop it,” she hissed, pointing a finger at each of them individually. They all looked away. “We can’t do this. We can’t lose hope, not when my boy is still trapped in there—we have to find him!”

Murray crept forward, slowly removing the blockers from the gate with one hand while he rubbed at his face with the others.

Joyce jerked around at the noise.

“What the hell are you doing?!” She slapped his hand away from the gate. “You’re going to trap him in there!”

Thick ropes of guilt and mournfulness looped around each of them

Hopper came in through the door, his hair wet from being freshly washed.

“You okay, kid?”

Mike stared at the wall, not bothering to look up.

“Mike?”

A beat.

Two.

“I wish you left me instead,” he said slowly, his lips dry and chapped. “You carried me out. You should have taken Will and left me there.”

Hopper looked down at the floor, rubbing the back of his neck.

“You know that wasn’t an option.”

“Well, you should have made it one!” he yelled, suddenly jerking his head away from its spot staring at the wall. He threw himself out of bed, taking long strides over to where Hopper was standing and pointing an accusatory finger into his chest. “You left him! And you took me! It was the worst fucking decision any of you have ever made!”

Hopper pursed his lips tightly.

“Kid, it was too late. It wouldn’t have done anyone any good.”

“I don’t care! I don’t care what real, actual good it would have done, you should have taken him and just let me die, because he’s done more good for all of us than I could ever hope to.” A dry, choking sob escaped from between his lips, and he lifted his clenched hand, bringing it back down and hitting Hopper’s chest. He did it again, and again, and again until he was peppering small blows over his torso, arms, and shoulders.

“Mike. Mike.” Hopper held his shoulders in place, keeping him an arms distance away. “You can’t do this. Will wouldn’t want this, okay?”

“How the fuck would you know?” he screamed, ducking out of his grasp. “You left him in the place that ruined his life! You don’t know anything about what Will would have wanted!” Stumbling backwards, his back hit the wall, and he slid down it until he was sitting cross legged on the floor.

A heavy throbbing in his head made his eyes nearly cross, the pain striking his temples over and over again until it was unbearable.

“I hate you,” Mike whispered, smacking the back of his head into the wall repeatedly. “I hate you, I hate you, I hate you so, fucking, much.”

Silently, Hopper sat down next to him on the floor, keeping his hands folded in his lap as he stared up at the ceiling.

“I know,” he said quietly, difficult to hear between Mike’s intermittent sobs and gasping breaths. “Believe me, kid, I do too. I wish I could have done something more.”

“You could have carried. Him. Out.” Mike hissed. “Don’t act like you’re the victim here. You don’t matter. Will is the one who’s gone, and it’s your fault.”

“There wasn’t time, Mike. There was nothing anyone could have done.”

“Yes, there was!” He stopped, taking a deep, gasping breath. “Get out.”

“Mike—“

“Get. Out.”

Hopper sighed, smacking his hands lightly against his thighs and pulling himself to his feet.

“You’ll understand eventually,” he said, turning to give Mike one last glance before he walked out of the room.

And he was alone.

The crunch of Will’s body collapsing echoed in his mind, the scene playing out on repeat in his head as he curled up into his knees, fat tears drilling uncontrollably down his face to the rhythm of his sobs.

Will was gone.

Will was gone.

He’d never again get to see his sly grin during campaigns, or the way he scrunched up his nose when he was focusing on something. He wouldn’t ever hear the velvety sound of his laugh when he thought one of Mike’s jokes was funny, or his slightly off-tune voice as he belted along to one of his bands in the basement.

He wouldn’t get to put an arm around his shoulder, or give him a lingering hug.

He’d never see him again.

He fell asleep like that—curled into a little ball on the floor, his clothing still stained with dirt, grime, and the thick, blotchy patches of Will’s blood.

A knock on his door woke him up several hours later.

And as he opened his eyes, something inside of Mike shattered.

It wasn’t that Will was gone.

It wasn’t that he watched him die.

It wasn’t that his own sobs still echoed in his mind.

It was the fact that he wasn’t in the hotel room in Indianapolis like he’d fallen asleep in—because he was back in his room in Hawkins.

Another knock at the door startled him, and he sat straight up, clutching desperately at his covers.

Nancy walked in, her bandana from yesterday pushing her hair back out of her face and her large gun still strapped across her chest.

A chill ran down his spine.

“Get up, Mike. It’s time.”

#stranger things #byler #my writing

[vinjaryou]

💕 Thank you for sharing those writing questions with me, my dude. They're very good. Also, I have a few here for you in return! 1. Share a song that makes you think of [fic title] 5. What’s a fic idea you’ve had that you will never write? 18. What’s one of your favorite lines you’ve written in a fic?

you're welcome! I have quite a few memes in my drafts that I need to post/answer, eep, lol (and I might have reblogged your latest one too, XD)

a list of fanfic writer asks

1: share a song that makes you think of...

Did you have a specific one in mind you wanted to ask about? For this one though, I'll go with a more recent piece - both Godsmack's Under Your Scars and Seal's Kiss From a Rose both get me thinking about kintsugi. To get a little more specific, the former when Reilena notices the peek of one of Vincent's scars that he's tried to hide, and then when he gives her permission to undo his shirt and bare some of them to her, and the latter is when the piece turns more tender and sweet heat, the quiet end of the song going with Vincent's silent 'thank you' as they fall asleep in each other's arms.

5: what's a fic idea you've had that you will never write?

That is a very good one, because I'll generally jot down any idea I have, it just depends on whether or not it ever GOES anywhere, so I can't really say I'd NEVER write it, lol. I have notes for a werewolf AU - literally just a single scene - and then a random Tekken/FFVII scene that I still kinda want to put to paper just because I really like it (and it hammers in that Vincent Valentine would make more sense in the Tekkenverse than Akuma ever would, yes I am still very salty about him being randomly stuck in the Mishima storyline no I will not get over it, lol).

I have a bad tendency to put fics on indefinite hiatus more than just not write them - I have 3 multichaps that have been abandoned for different reasons, but I still have the notebooks and writing for them if I ever wanted to pick them back up (and I still know how one of them ends, even though I never wrote the actual ending, lol).

That said, I have a couple AUs with a former RP partner that I've put on a permanent backburner because they bring up pretty iffy memories. So I think we'll go with that. I'll never write (more) for those; the notes and scenarios that have been written will just stay in their folder for now.

18: what's one of your favorite lines that you've written in a fic?

'If it is a sin to love another, then may I be forever damned.' Wrote it in an unfinished Ancient Egypt Yuugiou canon/oc fic literal decades ago, and it still sticks with me to this day. Will I ever manage to work it into another fic? Hopefully, because I feel that it could work with Vincent and Reilena, too.

For a couple more recent ones...

“You deserve to live, to love and be loved, Vincent. You have atoned enough.” - Lucrecia Crescent, to sleep, and dream of the sweet

---

“Can’t, or won’t?” Bluntly asked as he held an ashtray out, waiting for Vincent to drop the spent cigarette butt inside. Setting the plastic tray back on a nearby table, Cid leaned against the wall beside his friend, his own cigarette still stuck between his lips. “Maybe I don’t know yer entire life story – you keep that shit locked up tight, and it ain’t my place to ask just now – but what I do know is that we don’t have a lotta time left, and if you don’t do anythin’ now, it’s gonna be one more thing to add to yer list of regrets before our final showdown.” - Cid Highwind, if i had asked you out that night

(taking liberties with that last one, because I just really like how bluntly Cid tells Vincent to go say something dammit, XD)

#asheanon #thanks for the ask! #vinrei #i love rambling about writing feel free to ask more if you'd like! #so many links in this post it might get lost in the zelda timeline /bad joke #hi i ramble #also yes headcanon is that Vincent is an occasional stress smoker

[idabbleincrazy]

One Last Kiss

Fandom: Bones

Rating: T

Pairing: Sweetooth (mentions of polyamory)

Word Count: 975

Warnings: angst, set during 10x01, kissage, pre-existing poly, Sweets p.o.v., set in my poly verse

Summary: Sweets and Booth after Daisy drops by.

A/N: technically this is a sequel to my unfinished Sweets/Booth/Bones fic, but it wouldn't leave me alone and I don't want it sitting in my docs forever. Just know that the three of them were in a polyamorous relationship during his stay with them in s8 and they still had sporadic sex throughout s8&9. Title is from the song from Bye Bye Birdie (the lyrics are actually rather fitting considering how the episode goes)

Lance watched Daisy shut the door behind her as she left the apartment, chewing his lip nervously. He heard Booth shift behind him and turned to face him with a smile he hoped wasn't too guilty-looking.

"So, a baby, huh?"

"Uh, yeah. Look, Booth, I'm sorry I never said anything. I only found out about a month before all this started and we were waiting for the right moment, but…"

Booth closed the space between them and clasped his hands on Sweets' shoulders, his gaze softening as it locked with the psychologist's.

"Sweets, hey, no, I get it, alright. I'm not…I'm not mad at you about this. Hell, I'm happy for you, really. What did Bones and I tell you when you moved out, huh?"

"That even though we weren't living together anymore, it didn't mean we'd stop being a family."

"Exactly. We're a family, Sweets, and Daisy, and little Lance Jr., they're gonna be a part of that family now, too. You have nothing to be sorry about, okay? Me and Bones, we're always gonna love you, and we'll always be here for you, kid."

Sweets nodded, the guilt about Booth finding out about Daisy's pregnancy this way now shifting into guilt about the focus suddenly being on his life rather than the real problems Booth had come here to discuss.

"God, Booth, you came here to work on what's happening with the investigation and I've gone and made it all about me."

"Don't be. Seriously. There's really not much more to talk about anyways, until Bones and the team find more evidence. I'm sorry for the blow up over it when you stopped by the house, I'm just…laser-focused right now."

Sweets pulled away and sat on the couch, gesturing for Booth to do the same.

"I've missed you, Booth. I hate that I couldn't come see you, but Bones told me you said it might compromise the investigation."

"Yeah. I didn't want them tailing you. You don't need that. Visiting me in there, the guys at the Bureau would've stopped trusting you; you needed all avenues open in case something popped up, you know?"

"I understand. It was just hard." Sweets turned to face Booth, not quite able to meet his gaze. "I told Daisy about us, about our situation."

"Oh? Oh…um, does Bones know you told her?"

"Dr. Brennan was the one who suggested it." Sweets looked at Booth, breathing out a sign of relief when he saw that he wasn't angry, just slightly worried. "She said she thought Daisy was the type of person who would understand, and that it was important for her to hear it from me, as early as possible, rather than finding out down the road. And, she was right. Daisy was, is, perfectly accepting of it."

"Is?"

"We've discussed it, and included Bones in the discussion, and she's okay with it if we continue on the way we have been. Actually, she's expressed interest in maybe being included in our dynamic, if you're okay with it."

"Really?"

"Yeah. They haven't done anything, because Dr. Brennan wasn't able to discuss it with you, but it's obvious she and Daisy have a connection that goes deeper than just working together at the Jeffersonian. And, Daisy has admitted she thinks you're appealing."

Booth chuckled lightly, the worry disappearing from his face. He gave Sweets a cocky grin.

"She thinks I'm hot, huh?"

Lance rolled his eyes and grinned back.

"Well, you do have that ruggedly handsome thing going for you. Especially with that stubble." Sweets huffed out a breath. "Booth, can I just kiss you already? Can we just…can I just have that, and we save all the complicated talk for later? I-I know you just got out of that place, and you probably have a shit load of stuff running through your head, but I just need-"

Sweets' babble was cut off by the press of Booth's lips against his, and he let himself just melt into the kiss as an arm wrapped around him, pulling him closer. This was what he had needed, what he had been missing the last three months. Booth's all-encompassing passion as he took the lead. It was present in everything the older man did, and no less evident in this moment as he deepened the kiss, urging Sweets' lips to part. He moaned into Booth's mouth as their tongues met, and fisted a hand into his shirt, clutching him close as the kiss lingered on.

Booth was the one to break away, just as Sweets' other hand crept its way towards his lap, pressing his forehead to the younger's, breath coming out in ragged pants.

"I can't, Sweets, not now."

Sweets swallowed down the whimper of regret, the sting of rejection pushed aside by logic. Booth had only been out of prison for such a short time, of course he would need more time to readjust. He'd barely even had enough time to be with Dr. Brennan and Christine before he came here, it was unreasonable to expect him to be in a place, mentally or emotionally, to want the kind of intimacy the kiss was leading towards.

"It's okay, Booth, I understand, really."

"Thanks." Booth released his hold on Sweets and stood up. "Look, I gotta check in with Bones and see if the team has made any progress. And keep this new guy Aubrey from looking too closely. Man, he gets on my nerves."

"Alright. You'll keep me informed, right? And, you'll call me if you need anything? Anything at all. I'm here for you and Dr. Brennan. So's Daisy."

"Yeah, I know, kid. I'll let you know if something comes up. And..thanks. For this, for everything."

Lance smiled that 'don't mention it' smile of his and watched Booth walk out the door, lips faltering into a worried frown.

#booth/sweets #bones fanfiction

[ravenadottir]

hi there.

this is a very long post about why i'm deactivating my inbox and taking some time off, so... if you're not interested, skip this one. you know it's long and... not cohesive, which is very on brand for me.

gotta keep that ✨aesthetic ✨ going.

it's been maybe a year since the last time i closed my inbox for a while. i really need every spare second i can get to focus on my other projects. i have many pieces to finish, and coming in to tumblr and responding asks takes some time.

don't get me wrong, i fucking love it (i'll talk about it later on in this post) but i just really have been buried in unfinished projects, and well, you've seen the length of my answers, bitch can't shut up about the subject people ask him about lol so it takes a while to answer them, and i need this time.

i'm not sure how long this hiatus is gonna take, and i'm ok with not knowing. if this was last year's time off i would be calculating everything, trying to come up with a solid calendar mark, but now? nah, i'm cool with not knowing.

a few things i need to address before i go:

plenty of characters are queer or other genders and there's nothing you can do about it. you can argue with the wall because it's the only thing that's not gonna disagree with you.

i have no problem with anyone in the fandom. if there's any "beef", that's you having it with me, it's not mutual. i can't hate/dislike someone i don't even know or care about. get over yourself.

if you feel the need of sending hate in my inbox... i do hope you find peace, and whatever situation, person, struggle is making you feel so angry, i hope it's temporary. also, know that you don't need to ignore or try not to feel your anger, you just need to know how to manage it. people you don't know in real life, and that are not responsible for making you feel this way, are not exactly the people who deserve your explosions. if you cannot confront your trigger, know this: it's gonna be ok. this is not gonna last forever, and you will have the power to leave this situation soon. i know it sounds condescending, but i'm being serious. everything is gonna be ok.

from here on out it's about to get cheesy, so if you're uncomfortable with feelings, this is the end of the post for you. hope you have a blast while i'm gone. stay hydrated and fed.

i have some advice for you: please don't let anything negative affect the way you look at your work or creative process. whether it's a condescending comment, or an ask, or even someone in real life saying something... if you're in search of the perfect way of writing, something that fits with your style and time table, you have to think about what you want, and not what other people will think it's interesting. YOU'VE GOT THIS! keep going, you know exactly what to do, don't let the writing paralysis get to you.

to whoever sent those asks about writing advice, please tag me in your updates if you ever do write those pieces. i would honestly love to read them now that i'll have more time. i'm a big advocate for "the more the merrier" and that's not gonna change. TAG ME!

stop clenching your jaw and go drink some water and eat something. that frail body of yours is not gonna survive on air and positive thoughts you dumb bitch (affectionate).

i'll be logged off for a while so i can work on the (many, many, many) outlines i have to finish, so i might not respond messages as quickly, but i'll get to them at some point.

this is random but... i have discovered watercolor and brown noise and it has been really peaceful lately. i don't know if this information will serve you in any way but i thought i would share.

anyway!

the anons that have sent me questions, prompts, ideas, requests of any kind, i hope you know you have made my day many, many times. i can’t stress this enough, if there wasn’t any asks for me to answer, there wouldn’t be as nearly as much content in this blog. and in the fandom for that matter! i love that you always bring interesting and insightful asks to us, and sometimes fucking hilarious, keeping the fandom alive and running. we never met, we never talked, but you kept coming back and giving us more stuff to talk about. thank you, because i learned so much while processing those answers, and i think we can all agree, you are the true backbone of this place. I FUCKING LOVE YOU.

to the people that have become my friends and have been there for me through happy and sad moments, i truly love and appreciate you so much, you’re absolutely the type of light a person would be lucky to have. you’re brilliant and deserve the world, so never forget that! i hope you stay evolving but never change, because you are amazing, and you have so much to give. I FUCKING LOVE YOU (2).

to the people I wasn't friends with but i saw you on my dash... my introvert ass didn't let me get to know you, but i know for a fact you're so cool and deserve the world! i wish I had talked or reached out, but i couldn't. and still, i see you and yours posts, your writing, your drawings, and you're fucking talented and amazing. please never change.

in case i don't come back i just wanna say this: this fandom is only wonderful because the people here are fantastic and creative and warm and amazing and supportive and gorgeous and awesome and funny and-

the time i spent here wasn't a waste. quite the opposite, it was very fun and interesting. i made some really good friends, i have rediscovered a passion, i have figured out my disabilities, sexuality, gender in the mean time... it's been a blast! so i guess i just want to say, i love this fandom and the people in it.

i’m the kind of person that believes learning is an endless process. whether it’s academic, self-knowledge, or even, for lack of better term, “streets smarts”. you’re never gonna stop learning, and i hope you don’t.

we can all improve and evolve and it doesn't mean you have to change. i had an epiphany a while ago and i'm more convinced than ever that what i'm doing is right. so if you ever... have one of those, keep going. i know you can do this, and i know there are some days when you feel like it doesn't matter, but it does. i promise you, it does.

you never know who you're reaching but i guarantee you are reaching someone, so please, keep going, whatever your craft or work is.

and last but not least, if this is the last time we talk, i hope you know this: i'm proud of you. whether because you posted a chapter, or because you made a funny post, or even because you made your bed today. we know these are trying times, and possibly an "apocalypse surviving" era, SO IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT YOU DO! if you chose to relax today, or to write, or just to make some ramen to feed yourself, i don't care, you're still alive and doing your best to stay sane, so I'M PROUD OF YOU.

ok, i think i'm done.

stay hydrated and fed. hopefully we'll talk soon?

alright, bye.

[vivacissimx]

hi! can i ask your opinion on what do you believe happened with rhaegar and lyanna? why didn't they communicate to lyanna's family after she left? how did lyanna react to her brothers' deaths? do you think it was consensual at all time or was there a moment where lyanna would have wanted to leave but couldn't? what did she think of the war and of the prophecy? tysm!

I'm gonna try to lay out my thoughts on this but just going to sticky note that Rhaegar & Lyanna are background characters, yes dynamic to a point, but whose ultimate purpose is to intertwine with Jon, Dany, & Arya as their story is "unfinished"

What I believe happened was that post-Harrenhal, Rhaegar went back to Dragonstone with tensions higher than ever between him and Aerys. I think Aegon was born, Rhaegar had his realization that he was not TPTWP, and that his ongoing correspondence with Aemon reflected his confusion/need for some advice on how to proceed. I think Lyanna and Brandon stayed in the Riverlands, either in Harrenhal with Brandon's soon to be relations (Minisa Whent being Catelyn's mother) or somewhere else that wasn't Riverrun, and that while there, Lyanna felt suffocated by the incoming wedding(s), a feeling likely exacerbated by Brandon's womanizing.

I think Rhaegar rode off into the Riverlands to visit the Ghost of High Heart and hear whatever she had to say on the Aerys and TPTWP matters, which were getting harder for him to manage considering the failed Council at Harrenhal. It seems to me that the two knew each other, that he was the first to sing her Jenny's Song which he very likely wrote. And I think he came across Lyanna again at some point

Second sticky note: There is no such thing as omniscience. There is just an opt-in moment, when you make a choice whose consequences you can't possibly foresee, but at the time and from where you're standing, it's the right one. When Jaime joined the Kingsguard, did he know what was going to happen later? Ned when he gave Cersei advance warning? Jon when he swore into the Night's Watch? No, but that represented their desires and values at the time regardless

I think Lyanna decided that if the men in her family weren't going to stop her unwanted marriage, in front of her was the opportunity to do it herself, if she only valued her freedom to choose enough to dare. I think Rhaegar (who is mirrored by Dany) deeply sympathized with her situation and her drive, that there was a kinship they felt between each other which led to Rhaegar taking her with him

As for why there wasn't a letter, well, it doesn't seem Lyanna felt she could trust her family. I don't think anybody could reasonably have foreseen that Robert's Rebellion would happen as a result, either. This isn't trying to whitewash things, it just seems that if there had been a letter saying "hey I ran off willingly" then precisely nothing would have changed wrt the event that really kicked off the Rebellion, which is famously wolf-blooded "gallant fool" Brandon riding into the Keep, Aerys executing him, Rickard, & others, and calling for NedBert's heads from peace-loving Jon Arryn.

That's the moment where after Rhaegar & Lyanna couldn't leave, btw. What were the real options? Return Lyanna to her family, through hundreds of miles of possibly hostile territory, into the hands of a denounced rebel, severing the relationship between Rhaegar (along with his family) & Aerys forever? Or bring Lyanna to the Red Keep, with an unstable Aerys who would probably use her as a hostage against NedBert? The safest place for her was right where she was

However, when you say Lyanna wanted to leave, do you mean "Lyanna wanted to leave the romantic/sexual relationship she had with Rhaegar"? Personally, I don't think that part of the relationship really kicked off until after Brandon and Rickard's execution. I don't believe they ran off with each other for the sole purpose of having an affair or getting pregnant, but rather that it came to be that, as two people who never really expected to find each other - as for if it was consensual, they're written with Lyanna's name being Rhaegar's last word and Lyanna dying with the crown he gave her in her hands. I'd say there's enough imagery for readers to decide that for themselves

On Lyanna mourning her brother/father and if the war made her feel any sort of guilt... I mean, sure. Of course. She doesn't come across as a monster. Self-flagellation is human. I do think that Lyanna identifying the three lords not teaching their squires honor as the culprits in Howland being beaten up, that she tells Ned "love is sweet, but it cannot change a man's nature" (and really, is it Robert she's saying those words to? Or is it her brother, who loves her with his 'whole heart' yet doesn't listen to her protests?) means that she has a very critical mindset towards the social system around her. That she understands, to a point, how chivalry and patriarchy function, that her desires and needs are invisible under such a system. So do I think she loathed herself, thought it was all her fault? No, I think she probably wised up pretty fast to the idea that the Rebellion wasn't actually all about her

The prophecy is sort of a grey area to me, Rhaegar explicitly believed Aegon to be TPTWP, I don't think he had the prophecy all figured out at all (in fact he was straight up wrong about it) so assuming that he sought out Lyanna specifically to make a prophecy baby who then turned to indeed be 1/2 of the prophetic savior duo is extremely wishful. So how much she knew about it would be variable on how close she was to Rhaegar, and I'd wager that she was akin to most Starks on the matter (i.e. not too much of a 'signs and portents' type, maybe even a bit skeptical of the whole enterprise). These are all my opinions, naturally

#asoiaf #asks #rhaegar targaryen #lyanna stark