#but the other one i had to redo like six times
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attempting a digital painting of the final scene from 'save the undone years' by whitherward aka @whatanybodygets and its going surprisingly well but I'm doing shading around the blobs of color that will be kaz's hands because im putting them off
#whitherward#gah i hate them#was able to hide one of inej's hands#but the other one i had to redo like six times#JUST REALIZED IT SOUNDS LIKE I HATE THE AUTHOR#I DO NOT#I HATE HANDS
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DCxDP fanfic idea: Timeline Prevention Squad
Clockwork is trying to catch up on paperwork because even the gods had to do tedious work. He is flipping through pages and pages of time concerning reports when he stumbles across a particular request stuck between three old Speed Force crimes reports.
A request from Mordecai Wayne asking the time accident for help to his original time. It was filed through a ritual of one of his lost temples.
Clockwork gapes at it, suddenly realizing he forgot to follow up and had left Mordecai Wayne - better known as Bruce Wayne - to fling around the timeline.
Clockwork, when he was young, had allowed humans to set up temples and given them direct runes to send their burned parchment to him for requests. Initially, he designed the request ritual to enable humans to help or prepare for future disasters.
Give them a little warning in the form of deviation.
Then, humans turned it into trying to control the future. Or to change what had happened by having altered the past. They started thinking he would move the times to fit their desired outcome.
Tried to offer people sacrifices when he ignored the requests. Clockwork can watch the timelines like an observer over a parade, but humans put on the parade at the end of the day.
It was their free will that gave him a show. And it was this free will that cost lives that shouldn't have ended because of other humans' greed.
He closed his temples, scrambled his runes, and let his temples rot.
Clockwork thought he got them all, but he obviously left behind some crumbs of his old worshipers.
Those crumbs were enough for Bruce Wayne to painfully piece together and redo his ritual to send him a request for aid in his time placement.
He hadn't even read it, having flung it into one of his filing cabinets to look over later and... didn't.
Clockwork snapped his fingers, pulling up Bruce's timeline. He winces when he sees it too late; it's past the point, but luckily, Tim Drake pulled him out and brought him home.
People don't know that Clockwork can't undo timelines- he just makes new ones that stream off his intervention.
The most recent time he stepped in was with Danny Fenton in a universe created due to Merlin asking Clockwork to save his lover Arthur, and thus, certain events did not come to pass- like the finding of Gotham.
He rescued Daniel's family by freezing them just as the explosion happened, allowing the young hero to think his dark future had never come to pass. That was not true.
There is still a world where Daniel's family died in the explosion, and it existed right allowed side the one that they didn't.
He could do the same and step in to prevent Bruce from ever getting hit with the Omega Beams, but that would create six different timelines, which would be a pain to file for. Daniel was only two, and he-
Wait. Daniel.
That's what he could do!
He couldn't make up the fact Bruce Wayne got lost in time and asked for aid. But he could send compensation in the form of one eager gooddoer who would help him in his ultimate goal.
Make Gotham safe.
And who better than a child with a strong sense of justice and the power of a minor God?
After all, Bruce's request wasn't to get back home. He thought he was going to die from the overlapping beams. Bruce thought there was no more hope for him.
Instead his request was
Please allow me to ensure my kids are okay and will be alright once I pass.
He picks up his sticky notes, scrambling a quick message to Danny. He pauses momentarily, wondering if he should admit his mistake, but that would.....ruin his reputation.
He chooses to lie by omission.
Dear Daniel,
Please come to my Keep. I have a mission that requires your assistance in an alternate timeline.
You must help keep Bruce Wayne and his kids safe. Whatever the costs are, as is his request for aid from a higher being.
Daniel couldn't resist a mission that sounded like he was a hero, and it didn't mention who the aid was requested.
To ensure Daniel will never learn he will....tell him that the Waynes could never see Phantom or......or he be trapped there forever!
Yes perfect.
A few seconds after sending the sticky note through a portal, Clockwork senses Daniel pick up the note.
And suddenly, he sees events flash before his eyes. Scenes of Daniel following Gotham's hero. Rescuing them from their worst rouges while Bats. Circling through the nights to stop the more minor pity crimes that they were too exhausted to handle.
Enrolling into Gotham Academy to ensure their civilian safety and status. Getting close to the younger Wayne and even obtaining an internship with Tim Drake to help him at WE.
Then, Daniel gets more substantial and robust due to all the deaths that drenched Gotham. It would be just like a Kryptonian on a planet of a Blue Sun.
It would make him more robust than a yellow sun, and Daniel would flush there!
Clockwork smiles as the visions end. He did a great thing making this suggestion. Phantom will be fantastic in Gotham!
Now, hopefully, that pesky free will won't ruin his plan-
A vision of Daniel being worshiped as a Phantom as different Gotham natives start to believe him, and an unlock god appears.
Clockwork winces, but he figures if no human ever sees Phantom unless he is there for righteous heroism, he can understand why they were confused.
Which isn't so bad-
A different version of Daniel possibly appears in the future. This one shows Daniel in a bright red suit at WE with Tim Drake hyperventilating not too far away. Apparently, he suspects Daniel of being Phantom, but his hormones are getting in the way of his logical thought.
This wasn't so bad as it wasn't a cult. It was just risking Daniel's secret identity. Then again, he could honeypot his way out-
A different future appears. One where Daniel accidentally convinces the Bat children that he's stalking their Father. They think Daniel fancies Bruce Wayne, despite the alarming age difference, and try to block him at every turn.
This is okay; there were different outcomes, but nothing bad.
And it's already been done. He can't change the past, not without making more timelines.
He sighs.
Hopefully, this will all work out. Somehow.
#dcxdpdabbles#dc x dp crossover#Timeline Prevention Squad#Clockwork send Danny on a fake mission#Danny takes it very seriously#a whole new dimension for him to play in?#yes please#There could be so many outcomes that Clockwork can see#some are crazy
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Part Three of Six of Meddling ;). Part One. Part Two. AO3 Link.
Nancy drives the four of them to whatever mystery location as Steve has a minor freak out in the backseat because it’s finally hitting him that he kissed Eddie. And Eddie kissed him back. And that’s not something he wants to just breeze over and pretend never happened.
How will things ever be the same after this?
Steve runs a hand through his hair as reality hits a little too hard.
“You okay?” Eddie whispers as his hand moves to rest on Steve’s knee.
Steve glances down at the hand and squeezes it once before he replies, “Yeah.” But he knows his smile is a little too forced based on the way Eddie’s staring back at him with concern.
The car slows to a halt.
“We’re here!”
Steve glances out the window, and it suddenly hits him. They’ve taken them to the bar where they first met.
“Throwback,” Eddie breathes out.
It had been a while since they had been back there. Things had changed over the past three years, and they had found a new bar with better acoustics for Eddie to play at when he isn’t hogging the small stage at the café where he works.
Still, sometimes Steve misses the place where some of his best memories had formed.
Once they get inside, nostalgia hits Steve in a way that’s almost bittersweet. Eddie must be feeling the same way based on the low whistle he lets out next to him as they look around. Nothing has really changed since they were last here.
“We’re going to grab a table away from you guys but remember to take pictures and just text whenever you want to head out. But this is our lunch plan so eat up,” Robin says with a big smile before grabbing Nancy’s hand and pulling her to a far corner spot.
“I’m kind of relieved that they’re not sitting with us,” Eddie admits as he and Steve walk to the opposite part of the somewhat dead bar. “Can’t wait to get that camera out of my face. I just hope they don’t try to sneak pictures of us while we’re eating.”
Steve snorts. That sounds exactly like something Robin would do, so he does his best to find a booth where he can’t see the girls and vice versa. He eventually points at one and sits across from Eddie, and the sight of him thoroughly distracts him from any thoughts about Nancy or Robin.
Eddie pulls out his phone and sets it down on the table. He taps on it once and asks, “What if we only did a cheesy picture of each other before we eat, with our food, and a quick selfie after we finish? Then we can just live in the moment and enjoy this.”
Steve sticks out his hand for Eddie to shake. “Deal.”
Eddie grabs his hand and presses a quick kiss against the back of it. “Deal,” he agrees with a wink.
A blush starts to creep up on Steve’s face, so he ducks his head and grabs his phone – but he knows he’s not being subtle about trying to hide his face. As a new means of distraction, he hits the camera icon and quickly snaps a picture of Eddie without warning. “Pre-date picture done.” Oh, why did he have to call it a date?
Eddie luckily brushes off his little blunder and scoffs, “No, you have to redo that. You gave me no warning!”
Steve just laughs as Eddie pouts. Next thing he knows, Eddie’s phone is coming up and snapping a picture of him. Steve freezes. “Hey, that’s unfair.”
Eddie snorts and presses on the picture. He frowns at it before turning his phone around. “Why do you always have to be so photogenic?”
The picture is... very telling of everything Steve is feeling. He can practically see the joy and love radiating off himself in a way he hasn’t seen before. It’s terrifying.
Eddie turns the phone back and clicks around a few times before proudly smiling and turning his phone off.
“What?” Steve asks suspiciously.
“Oh, nothing. But could you check the time on my phone?” Eddie asks, sliding it over.
It’s a weird request, but Steve goes through with it, tapping on the screen. “It’s...” he trails off before he sees the time.
His smiling face stares back at him as it covers the lock screen on Eddie’s phone. He glances up at Eddie who watches him somewhat anticipatorily. Steve doesn’t say anything, but he unlocks his own phone and immediately changes his lock screen to the picture he took of Eddie.
It’s cuter than Steve thought it would be considering that he took Eddie off guard. He isn’t looking at the camera. Instead, he’s smiling softly at Steve with his dimples on full display. The only thing wrong with it is that it’s a little bit blurry, but he thinks it adds to Eddie’s general vibe.
It’s the perfect lock screen really although he thinks Robin and Dustin might kill him for kicking them off it.
It’s worth it.
As Steve slides his phone to Eddie, a waiter comes by and introduces himself, “Hi, I’m Tony, I’ll be your waiter today. And the ladies over in the corner told me you two were celebrating an anniversary today?”
Oh, no. Even from a distance, the two are meddling as much as they can. Steve is about to say no when Eddie replies, “Yes, it’s been three years since we first met in this very bar, and two years since we started dating.” He leans in toward the waiter all conspiratorially and stage whispers, “Give it a year, and I’ll probably be back to propose to him right here.”
Steve chokes on his saliva.
“Sorry, babe, did I say that too loud?” Eddie asks with a big smile. He turns back to the waiter. “He’s always telling me that I don’t know how to whisper.”
It’s true, but Steve can’t say very much as he keeps coughing.
“We’ll get two waters please,” Eddie says, starting to sound a bit concerned.
The waiter must be too because before Steve knows it, a glass of water is being placed in front of him and he’s chugging it down. Gosh, he wishes this were a beer.
Eventually, the coughing dies down, and Steve shoots an apologetic look at the waiter. He just smiles back and politely asks, “Do you know what you want to order?”
Steve shakes his head and swipes the water off his mouth. “Haven’t looked at the menu yet, we were too busy... reminiscing.” Since when is he playing along with the lie?
“No worries. You two take your time and happy anniversary.” The waiter quickly dismisses himself, and Steve is left to stare at Eddie.
“Why would you do that?”
Eddie throws his hands up. “One, this is great practice for faking a relationship, lets us establish some backstory. And most importantly, two, celebrating an anniversary means a free dessert.”
“We’re at a bar, not a Chili’s.”
“There’s still the potential!” Eddie argues back. “Please, Steve, my love, my sweetheart, my muffin-”
“Please never call me your muffin ever again,” Steve says, cringing.
Eddie sighs but then a mischievous grin slowly appears on his face. This can’t be good. “I promise not to call you that if you pretend to be my boyfriend of two years during this lunch.”
The payoff is quite great, but he can’t let Eddie know that, So, Steve takes his time rolling his eyes and pretending to weigh the pros and cons of it all while Eddie shakes the table with how hard he’s bouncing his leg.
Steve reaches under the table and grabs his knee to still it. “You have yet another deal. But you have to stop shaking the table, too.”
“Sorry,” Eddie apologizes bashfully. He quickly moves on when he realizes Steve’s phone is still on the table and taps on the screen. He smiles at it and pushes the phone back. “Not as bad as I thought.”
“Not bad? It’s perfect,” Steve scoffs as he grabs one of the menus at the end of the table.
He doesn’t get a response, but Eddie is smiling at his menu when Steve glances up.
Eventually, they put in their food order and chat about random things just to catch up a bit although Steve talks to Eddie every day – usually in person but occasionally over text.
Then, Eddie randomly throws out the question, “So, are you seeing anyone?”
Steve swallows hard and shakes his head. “No, are you?”
“No,” Eddie replies.
Steve tries and fails to hide a smile. They both know if they started dating someone the other would be one of the first to know, but it’s cute that Eddie asked.
Their food comes out, and their conversation halts for a bit while they eat. But the relationship conversation plays over and over again in Steve’s head until Eddie interrupts his thoughts. “Man, I can’t believe it’s only been three years since I met you.”
Steve laughs and finishes chewing his fry. “It feels like I’ve known you longer.”
“Technically you have, if you count all the times Dustin mentioned my name before we met.”
“Could’ve met sooner if I hadn’t been so afraid that you would be a weird nerd,” Steve teases him.
“Hey, you know I’m both of those things, so don’t say it like it’s an insult,” Eddie says with a smile.
“Well, I didn’t think those two things could be hot together, so excuse me for assuming,” Steve replies while shoving a fry into his mouth.
Eddie leans forward. “You think I’m hot?” he asks as if he’s teasing him, but Steve can hear a bit of the uncertainty in his tone, so instead of shaming himself for admitting it he shrugs.
“Always have.”
Eddie stares at him for a few seconds before he clears his throat and changes the subject, “You should’ve worn the yellow sweater.”
The comment startles a laugh out of Steve. “Of course you would bring that up. I’ve never understood your obsession with the thing.”
“Well, there’s a reason I brought it up now.”
“Oh really,” Steve says raising his eyebrows, not ready for whatever line Eddie has prepared. “And why’s that?”
“It’s what you were wearing when we first met,” Eddie says as if it’s nothing.
It takes Steve entirely off guard. His stomach does a little flip. “You remember what I was wearing after all this time?”
“Yeah,” Eddie says but quickly moves on to ask, “Speaking of that night, what happened to that girl you were with?” He looks away as he asks the question, taking one of Steve’s fries but still not looking him in the eye as he eats it.
Steve tries to shake off the little piece of information Eddie just gave up as thinks back. He shrugs. “Nothing happened there. I was actually on a date with her that night. She left after we met. Told me I should go out with you instead since I hadn’t paid her any attention since the moment I laid eyes on you.”
Eddie glances back up at him, holding so much intensity in his gaze. “Why didn’t you ever tell me this?”
“Because I didn’t think I had a chance and didn’t want to risk getting my heart broken.”
Eddie stares at him, and Steve thinks that they both feel it. All the time they lost that they could’ve potentially spent together if Steve would’ve said something three years ago. But maybe Eddie is thinking something entirely different.
“Steve-”
“Hi, I hope everything is tasting alright. Also, I have a dessert on the house for you two. Happy anniversary, and I hope to see you two next year,” the waiter says as he slides the check on the table. Steve swears that he has the same bad timing as Robin and glares at the man as he turns his back.
“Steve-” Eddie tries again, but then, speak of the devil, Robin is suddenly scooting into the booth next to him and making grabby hands at the dessert.
“I love free dessert,” she says. “Thanks for going through with it. I thought it would be good practice.” It’s a clear lie based on the way she’s staring at the chocolate cake.
Nancy gives Steve an apologetic smile as Robin steals his spoon and digs in.
Steve shoots Eddie a look trying to convey, we’ll talk later.
He gets a sad smile in response, then they both pick up their forks and take a bite of the cake. Steve can barely enjoy it as he knows that the fate of his and Eddie’s relationship might rely on their next conversation. But Nancy and Robin also won’t leave them alone.
This is not good.
Part Four
Tag List :
@henderdads @little-gae-shit @dreamingtheimpossibe @leethegay @lazyavenuewhispers @olibxr @thegayestpersonever @heartsforhawke @estrellami-1 @messrs-weasley @evillitteguy @miss-hit @infrogulous @romanticdestruction @liz5100 @evix-syne666 @bebe07011 @corrodedseraphine @meganwinchester @manda-panda-monium
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hihi! just in here to say that i love your twisted earth au very much, its such an interesting concept and i love the way you write the characters?!!?!/ and to request some twisted earth hcs with rollo, chenya, and neige!
Twisted Earth Part Six
Summary: non NRCx gn!reader. You are the game. They are real.
A/N: full disclosure, I'm on the English server and have worked really hard to avoid masquerade spoilers. So Rollo's part is based on the snippets I've seen. After I play the event, if I think my assessment is off, I'll redo his part. Also, initially I was going to have Neige be a VA of your best friend, but an anon gave me an idea to have him as a villain. Special thanks to you boo!
Parts: One Two Three Four Five
He is a little like Floyd in that he's always searching for fun. Unlike Floyd, instead of crashing, he just continues to up the silliness stakes. His friends downloaded the game on his phone as an attempt to keep him out of trouble for a while.
And it worked! Kind of! When he's not sneaking onto NRC campus, or going to his own classes, he's got his eyes trained on his phone. It's the first time a lot of his peers have ever seen him sit still.
He decided you would be the most fun to prank, and the most likely to enable his behavior. Whether this is true or not, if you were real, he'd be dragging you along for the ride. I wish you luck man. If you think you hear breathing or giggling behind you, but can't see anyone, trust your instincts. He wants to see you jump.
He didn't start playing until later so he only has one or two of your cards. He is incredibly jealous of his classmates who have the cards he wants, and may or may not make it very difficult for them to play during event periods so that they don't get any farther ahead of him.
He's been acting ever since he was a child. But he's never gotten a chance to let loose! With this project, it wouldn't be outright clear that Neige was in it at all, so he got to be an antagonistic millionaire's son in the second book. And he had so much fun! Plus, now he's friends with all these voice actors, who really want to allow him the chance to let loose as the villain. He's so excited for his new opportunities!
He plays because it reminds him of working with his voice actor friends. Because the cast was so large though, he didn't have a chance to work with everyone. You and your immediate friend group were not an arc he got to see come together. He thinks that's why he was drawn to you. You were a route that was completely new to him. The novelty, and just how precious of a character you seem to be, keeps his attention, no matter how long he plays.
If you were real, he would wrap you in a blankie and tell you all the ways he loved you until you loved yourself, and could never doubt in yourself. He really really really wants to kiss the tip of your nose. (He can't explain it. It's just an urge he has)
He has all of your cards but one. It's just the bonus of playing since its release. He's missing an event card where you are dressed in a Halloween costume. He really wanted it too, but it's alright! He can just ask to see the script, that way he doesn't miss the story.
A world without magic? Magicless humans? He is wondering if the Devs got a little glimpse of heaven when they were making this game.
You. You are so perfect. You could be his pure human, who will help him fix this world. After he helped you see the light of course.
(I am so sorry. My image of him is kind of like a psycho)
He plays after a long hard day of being surrounded by flawed mages (himself included). It just eases his spirit a little bit. Not all is wrong with the world.
He doesn't really bother collecting cards. He has what he has and he's alright with it. He gets what he needs from you from the main story, and his late night shower thoughts.
Side note, he does not like other people's fan theories about you. Only his are correct, and he'll fight people on it until they get annoyed and give up.
#twisted wonderland#twisted wonderland x reader#chenya#twst chenya#chenya x reader#twst chenya x reader#neige leblanche#twst neige#neige leblanche x reader#neige x reader#rollo flamm#rollo flamm x reader#twst rollo#rollo x reader
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Fish Lips Part 5
Ship: Aonung x Kiri's twin sister!Reader
Warnings: Language, bullying, gore, fighting, talk of war, injury and blood, slow burn, enemies to lovers (not really a warning just some people don't like that trope), death of (a) character(s), not proofread
Words: 2,170
Keys: (y/n) = your name,,(y/i/n) = your Ikran's name,, Neural Queue= the braid extension of a Na'vi's nervous system that allows them to link up to animals and Ewya,,(y/II/n) = your ilu's name,,
Chapters; Introduction || Part 1 || Part 2 || Part 3 || Part 4 || Part 5 || Part 6 || Part 7 || Part 8 || Part 9 || Part 10 ||
Spoilers for Avatar: The Way of Water A whole ass lot.
Did I tell yall I love ya??????? Nicest ppl ever, I just wanna hug ya n squeeeeze yaa. Okay funny story, my cat King Cinnamon is an insane orange cat, and I was watching Avatar again (It's literally on replay every time I write these fics) and he would only attack the screen when Jake was on the tv. I made him stop ofc, but it was hilarious, HE WOULD HUG THE TV AND TRY TO BITE JAKES FACE LMFAOOA. I don't think he likes Jake much (He is an avid tv watcher btw.)
I deleted this chapter like six times cuz I hated it, I still do but I'm tired of redoing it so I hope you all like it. Ik I said slow burn and it seems like I'm rushing but dw this story still has a long way to go.
It had become a routine of yours and Aonung's to sit on 'his' rock at night, normally just a silent moment between you both. Almost every night you would swim to the rock, and he'd be right next to you ten minutes later. Sometimes he would speak, other times you would, but normally it was just enjoying each other's company.
It has been four months, but you still weren't on the best of terms in your opinion. He'd still let out an insult here and there and you'd jab right back. You took notice of the drastic difference in his behavior towards you, especially lined up next to your siblings.
You didn't understand what was so special about you, you were practically a carbon copy of your brothers, especially Lo'ak who Aonung seemed to dislike the most. Well, technically both of you acted like your father when he was younger, according to your mother.
Rash, irresponsible, and shoot first, ask questions later. Of course, you'd just roll your eyes at that, you couldn't imagine your father getting into stupid fights and arguments. Which was in fact what you were doing in this exact moment with Lo'ak.
" You broke my necklace, you bitch." You yelled, the last part in English, and Lo'ak glowered at you, Tsireya cocked her head at you in confusion.
You stuck out your broken necklace, the beads missing and some handpicked rocks you got from home. His ears went back." Wasn't me!" He snarled, ears going back and smirk from his face falling." You were the only one in the Marui before it was broken." You pointed at his chest; he smacked your hand away.
" It wasn't me, stop always blaming me!" He yelled and you rolled your eyes." Oh yeah then-"
" Knock it off!" Kiri yelled at you two, glaring as well as she could as Tuk braided her hair. You both glared at each other." Mother fucker." You hissed in his ear quietly, and he side eyed you.
" Dickhead."
" Twat face."
You both covered your mouths and giggled to yourself at the childish insults, completely forgetting the argument you were just in." You guys should teach me English! I wanna know what you're saying!" Tsireya stated and you both looked at each other.
" Lo'ak can teach you." You smiled at her patting his back. Aonung, Rotxo, and Neteyam swam over. They were teaching Neteyam how to hunt under the water so that they could take him on hunts.
" What's up." Rotxo waved his hand in greeting, and You all waved back. " I'm trying to convince them to teach me English." Tsireya announced and Neteyam looked at you and you shrugged in response.
" I already caught on to one." Tsireya spoke proudly and you raised a brow." Oh yeah?"
" Yeah, 'bitch'." She repeated your words and you and Lo'ak cringed as Neteyam whipped his head at you two." That's...not really a good thing to say." Lo'ak explained and you snickered quietly to yourself.
"Oh, apologies." She went a bit lower in the water in embarrassment." What does it mean?" Rotxo asked and Aonung eyed you as you giggled with Lo'ak, he had been watching you a lot more, but you pretended not to notice. Neteyam rolled his eyes." It's an insult usually towards girls."
Neteyam glared at you, and you shrugged, you really didn't know she was going to catch on and take interest in your small talks in English with Lo'ak. It normally wasn't even a full conversation; it was more throwing insults and giggling about it afterwards. it was a little game you guys did, having childish humor like the two of you have it was just between you guys.
" Why are you insulting Lo'ak with a female insult?" Tsireya questioned and everyone turned to you." Because he's a big baby girl." You teased taking a braid in his hair and twirling it to piss him off.
He smacked your hand away as you snickered at his annoyance." Anyways, what do you wanna do today?" He asked and everyone looked at each other. " I'm gonna go fix the necklace you broke." You exclaimed huffing at Lo'ak who rolled his eyes." That's what you get for calling me a female insult." You saw a smirk on his face, and you rolled your eyes back at him.
" Seeya." You waved at them, and everyone said goodbye, except for Aonung he just gave a small wave. When you got out of the waters Kiri called you over.
"Yeah?" Kiri nudged her head towards the water where everyone else was." You have an admirer." She teased as Tuk moved her head back into place." Stop moovingg." Tuk whined, you turned your head a bit to catch Aonung flick his eyes back to your big brother. You shook your head." Nah."
" Yes so. He's been staring at you the entire time." You rolled your eyes and waved a hand at her." Okay, whatever you say." She shook her head and went back to her conversation with Tuk as you walked towards your Marui.
When you got back to your families pod your mother was there with Ronal. They stopped and turned to look at you as you awkwardly stood at the entrance." Oh, sorry." You gave a half smile and Ronal's face flickered to the necklace in your hand.
" My, you're quite the crafty one." She put her hands out, gesturing for you to place the necklace in her hands. You did so hesitantly." It was almost finished but it got broken." You explained rubbing the back of your neck.
She ran her hands along the rocks and beads, after an awkward silence she looked up at you." Would you like to help me craft sometime?" She asked, going back to looking at the necklace." Me? Sure!" You grinned at her, and she nodded.
" It's gorgeous dear." She complimented and your ears darkened. You bowed your head a bit in thanks." Thank you." You breathed and smiled, Neytiri handed you a basket as you began to turn and leave.
" Please grab some more fruits for dinner on your way back." She ran her hand over your hair affectionately and you leaned into her touch before she pulled away patting your shoulder.
You gave her a smile before you left to the woods behind the branches of woods that made up the Metkayina village. As you walked slowly through the batch of woods you heard the sound of footsteps behind you.
You turned around, Aonung staring at you with his unbothered stare that he has been giving you all week. You both just stared at each other awkwardly until you cleared your throat to speak." Are you following me?" You smirked and he looked away for a moment before meetings your eyes." No." He responded, surprisingly no smug or rude comment.
You squinted your eyes at him." You've been acting weird." You waited for a response, but he just started walking past you." I'll show you where the best place is to pick fruits if you zip your lip." He smirked at your face; annoyance plastered on it.
You raised an eyebrow at him." Fine then looks like you won't be sharing this amazing fruit picking location because my lips aren't gonna seal for you." You walked past him and continued straight. You didn't hear anything as you continued to walk forward, so you thought he was gone.
" Man, that boy." You mumbled, flicking a branch in front of you." What about me?" His voice rang out and you let out a quick scream. " Jesus Christ, man!!" You held your hand to your racing heart, he let a loud laugh." Who is Jesus Christ?" He asked and you scoffed." Some famous guy from Earth."
" That's a weird thing to yell out after being scared, do I look like Jesus or something?" He asked, his face looked serious, but his eyes were glistening with mirth. It was your turn to laugh." Not even close!" You bent over the basket you were holding your ears and cheeks a dark purple.
When you got done laughing you looked up at him, he was watching your face the whole time. A peaceful silence broke out as you stared at each other as you gained your composure." I still don't like you; you know." He spoke matter of fact, and you rolled your eyes.
" We were having a moment." You turned forward and began your walk again, which this time you noticed his presence." Why did you follow me out here?" Your question booming through the quiet forest. He didn't respond until you turned around to give him a quizzical look.
" I just wanted a walk, is it a crime that I accidentally ran into you." He shrugged and you squinted your eyes at him." In the same spot as me?" You quirked a brow at him, he folded his arms across his chest." It's a pathway bound to be walked on." He argued and he pointed forward.
" Plus, your headed to a beautiful spot where I like to sit." He took a step towards you with a smirk." Wanna join me?" He quizzed but you didn't by it. How come every time your alone and he shows up he claims you're on his spot or area.
After a few beats if silence, his smirk slowly turning to an annoyed pout." Fine don't, you're missing out though, on a great view." He was really trying to convince you to come without actually saying it.
" Oh please, I am the greatest view." You joked and his eyes roamed you up and down before he shrugged and spun on his feet." Hey what was that for?" You hissed at him, and you tugged his arm as you followed him through the trees.
" Aonung?" You looked up at the boy who was giving you a mischievous look. " Look." He poked your cheek directing your face forward as he moved a large leaf out of the front of you. " Woah." You breathed; a waterfall was in front of you with a lake surrounding it.
" See told you." He walked towards a rock and sits on it; you follow close behind looking at all of the plants surrounding the water." Do you have these in the forest?" He asked and you shrugged." Waterfalls and lakes yeah but some of the plants are different."
You admired a flower that was near Aonung's leg, and he looked down." How'd you find this place?" You asked, he placed his feet in the water." Well, it wasn't hard to find I just used my eyes." You scoffed, you moved onto a different rock, placing your mother's basket next to you.
You dipped one foot into the water, moving your feet in the warm water. You could feel his eyes on your and you turned your head his way." You've been staring at me." You spoke, and he turned his head fully towards you.
" I haven't." He scoffed in denial, and you rolled your eyes, smirking at him. " Well thanks for showing me your lovely place, I still don't like and I need to go get fruit for my mother." You stood up and he got up as well." I'll show you the fruit spot."
You unconsciously smiled at him which made him give you a quizzical look." What?" He asked and you wiped the smile from your face." What, I wasn't' smiling."
He rolled his eyes and gestured for you to follow, you picked up your pace and fell beside him as he walked you towards this fruit pocket of a sort. It was a peaceful silence that followed your walk towards the fruit but the whole time you were wondering as to why he was being so nice to you today.
" That necklace you had in your hand in the waters with Lo'ak," He broke the silence, but pausing to make sure you were listening." Who is it for?" You shrugged at his unusual question." It was more for a reminder of home, but since it lost some of it's pieces I don't think I'll finish it." You stated, smiling at the thought of Ronal's compliment of it." Why do you ask?"
" No reason." When you reached the area Aonung helped you pick some but reminded you he was doing himself a favor and not there to help you. When you got done picking you headed back with him, it was almost late afternoon, so you had to hurry it up.
" I still don't like you, forest girl." He reminded you once you reached the point where you went your separate ways." Yeah yeah, don't think I like you either fish boy." He shook his head and walked away. Today was definitely an odd day, but peaceful nonetheless, you felt like you were finally starting to fit in.
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Taglist; @akinatrix , @willowbrookesblog , @lovesickbtch , @ao-sleepy , @elli-aesthetics , @ducks118 , @aeclark04 , @audigay ,@lola-bunn1 , @curlszx88 , @kidwithaheavystick , @weridpersonhelp , @yeosxxx , @tsamiaxoo , @shartnart1 , @tsukette , @daphne000 , @amarillyssnowdrop , @neteyamsmate4life , @stitch-lele , @purplefsh , @dumb-fawkin-bitch , @goodiesinthecloset21 , @theghostofshadows , @aonungs-tsahik , @simpliheavenli , @bob-the-ikran , @littleshybunbun , @werelosingdaylight , @ijwsbdinp , @xoxovienna , @findingourtreasure ,
#atwow#atwow x reader#atwow aonung#atwow ao'nung#aonung#aonung x reader#aonung x you#avatar ao'nung#ao'nung x you#ao'nung#ao'nung x reader#avatar#avatar the way of water#avatar x reader#avatar aonung
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parts one two three
———
The first emotion Keith feels, immediately upon waking, is intense dread.
And if that doesn’t sum up the day he’s about to have. Fuck’s sake.
He already feels pretty guilty about yesterday. Besides the fact that Lance is his right hand man — they’re supposed to have each other’s backs, and Keith definitely didn’t have Lance’s, because even though Lance wasn’t in the right he wasn’t in the wrong either — and they’re supposed to be leading this as a team, Keith knows part of the reason things fell apart so quickly is because he didn’t talk to Lance last night. He probably couldn’t’ve convinced Lance to kill the beast, obviously, but they could have definitely explored some different angles together. By letting things fester, Keith pretty much ensured that Lance was going to come up with some elaborate, dangerous scheme that was going to cost them an alliance, and worse, possibly get Lance hurt or killed. (Lance had a good track record with dangerous animals, sure, but this is a beast. The thing sounded like a mix between a polar bear and a dragon. There’s only so much Lance can do, uncanny abilities or not.)
But what’s done is done. Keith can’t very well redo yesterday and make Lance un-mad at him and everyone else, so he’ll have to make do with what he’s got.
And what he’s got is first shift on make-sure-Lance-doesn’t-mutiny-duty.
Fuck, Keith thinks as he makes his way out of his room, this is going to be the Actual Worst.
As usual, Keith is one of the first people on the bridge. Unusually, Lance is next. (Usually he is last, and also late).
“Hey, Lance,” Keith says, trying to muster up a smile.
Surprisingly, Lance beams right back. “Hello, Numb — uh,” his smile falters. “I mean, hi there, Mullet.”
Keith slumps. “I’m still Mullet, huh.”
Lance nods.
“You reckon I’ll work my way back up to Keith, soon? I’ll do anything, you know I will. I’ll even try your horrible face mask with you.”
To his further surprise — Lance must have actually slept well, or something — Lance smiles again, and this time it’s soft even to Keith’s eyes.
“Really? You would do that?”
“I’d do anything for you,” Keith says, and it’s more than he means to.
Lance frowns, and Keith’s heart sinks for the millionth time in just a few hours.
“Except help me save an innocent animal’s life,” he says, and there’s nothing Keith can say to that.
They sit in tense silence until the rest of the paladins arrive.
Shiro counts them once they do, like they’re kindergarteners and he’s a very tired EA, and furrows his brow when he finishes.
“Six. Including me. Who are we — where’s Coran?”
“He said he’ll be here in a few dobashes,” Lance says. “A calibrator broke down in the control room somewhere — nothing urgent, but he wants to get it fixed to get it out of the way. He’ll be back before we’re gone long.”
“That’s fine. Thank you, Lance,” Allura says, transparently trying to ease the tense line of his shoulders, a little.
It does not work. Lance sets his jaw and looks away.
Allura sighs. “I’m sorry, Lance,” she tries. “I know this is hard for you. If it were possible, and we had more time, we’d find another way.”
“Whatever.”
Keith decides that enough is probably enough. Allura and Shiro look genuinely dejected and apologetic, and both Pidge and Hunk look upset.
“Look, Lance, this situation sucks for everyone, okay? It sucks. We’re going to do what we can. If we get to the situation in question and we can actually manage to fix things without killing the beast, then that’s what we’ll do, okay? We’ll do our best.”
Lance exhales, shoulders slumping. He looks… guilty, and his guilt certainly does nothing to appease Keith’s.
“Sorry,” Lance mutters. “I know this is hard for everyone.”
Keith swallows the lump in his throat. He genuinely can’t remember the last time a non-major battle mission sucked so unequivocally for everyone involved, but Jesus Christ.
“Let’s just go,” he says, and everyone nods before following him off the castle and to the wet, humid heat of the planet.
———
part four
#coran is not good at pretending to be lance 💀#also this one is short i was tempted to post two parts in one but No we shall prevail#vld#voltron#lance#lance mcclain#keith#keith kogane#klance#pre klance#pining keith#whipped keith#langst#klangst#team as family#lance is good with animals#black paladin keith#red paladin lance#keith is Trying#lance is a disney princess#my writing#longpost
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ALL THINGS CONNECTED | j. flatters
chapter five — barely surviving
summary: growing up on the set of avatar: the way of water was a dream. your friends had become your family, all except for one. jamie was the one person you always found yourself drawn to, in ways more complex than the title of 'best friends' [2.3k].
pairing: fem!reader x jamie flatters
notes: based on jamie flatters documentary: all things connected. co-stars/friends to lovers. inspired by @cacapeepee. anxious teenagers, first kiss nerves, this chapter probably being too short.
masterlist ⎸ chapter four | chapter six
2017.
"IS IT YOUR first kiss?"
".. maybe"
you were sat across from sigourney in her hotel room. the entire day on set, she could tell that there was something off about you today. you messed up your lines, forgot blocked parts of scenes and barely knew which way was up.
the entire day you had been sitting on the fact that next week you would be kissing jamie. it wasn't like you thought kissing was a massive deal, you were sixteen, you knew lots of people had already had their first kiss.. you hadn't.
but you knew a first kiss is supposed to be special. you guess it would be in a way. it would be with jamie, and to you, that's pretty special.
he was quickly becoming your best friend. jamie knew almost everything about you and you were rarely separated. so if your first kiss was going to be with jamie, so be it. that wasn't the part that was worrying you.
what was worrying you is that it would change your friendship. would it become awkward once you kissed? would you have to practice the kiss? redo it over and over until james was happy with the shot? probably, he was a perfectionist. kissing your best friend isn't something many people would be comfortable with, what if jamie was one of those people?
"so is that why you're worried?" sigourney asked. she had brought you back to her trailer, saying she needed to ask you a question. she hadn't stopped interrogating you about what was wrong since. "you're worried because it's your first kiss? kissing is easy, only the boys mess it up" she smiled.
you chuckled lowly at her comment. knowing that she had shot plenty of on-screen kisses in her time as an actress, and that you would also probably have your fair share if your career continued the way it was going. but the first one, was going to be daunting.
"it's not that it's the first," you led, pausing for a sigh, "it's that it's with jamie- not like, 'ew jamie'-" you pulled a face- "but more like 'oh.. jamie', what if things get weird after?"
"weird?" she asked.
"what if we can't really be friends after?" you shrugged, getting embarrassed you shook your head and continued to speak, "like what if it's super awkward and he doesn't wanna talk to me outside of work anymore? i don't want that to happen," you looked up to her.
"sweetie," sigourney sighed, coming over to sit next to you instead. she grabbed your hand and enveloped it with hers. "you say you want him to talk to you outside of work, right?" you hummed a response. "that's all it is.. work" she smiled. "you both are here to do a job, to act, it's just pretend," she shrugged.
you sat with her words. she was right. you were here because you're professionals. professionals who had a job to do, one that involved kissing each other, but a job no less. it was just another day on set, nothing to worry about.
“you think he thinks that too?” you crossed your legs and held them close to your chest, suddenly feeling a little too vulnerable.
“sweetheart,” she queezed your hand, “if he doesn’t.. hes in the wrong profession” she laughed, you laughed too. you couldn’t help it really. the anxieties that sat on your chest were now fading after hearing what sigourney had to say.
it’s just a part of the job.
“should i talk to him about it?” you ask, raising your eyebrows.
“if you want to, if that makes you feel more comfortable course you can” she nodded, “he would want you to tell him how you feel”.
you nodded, thinking on it. “he’ll be in his room now, he’s probably with filip though” you shrugged, your brain throwing excuses out involuntarily.
“do it when you feel is right,” sigourney smiled. you nodded and leant into her arms, letting her hold you for a little. “i know it’s initimidating, but you will kill plenty of guys in this field of work. you’re gonna be fine,” she put her head on top of yours, you rested in the crook of her neck and she rubbed your arms. “wait for the right time,” she said.
on the wooden coffee table in her room, your phone buzzed. signourney let you go and you reached over and laughed when you saw the notification.
[📱 jamie flatters: ] going to the pool w filip, jack, and duane. come with?
“what?” signourney smirked.
“i think i found the time,” you chuckled, showing her the notification.
this weekend, the cast had a day off from filming, so majority of you were put up in a hotel for the weekend. where there is a hotel in manhattan, there is most likely- almost always- a pool.
the boys were obsessed with it. coming from london, jamie never got to really grow up swimming in pools or the beach, the weather never proved nice enough to. so whenever he could make use of a pool, he would. the days in manhattan were getting hotter as the summer season began. the humidity was tough to get through, the boys were more than happy to utilise the pools late opening hours when they could.
after leaving sigourney’s room, you headed down to your own on the floor below, the one you shared with bailey, jack and duane. jamie, trinity, filip and britain on the floor above yours. you got changed into your swimsuit, grabbing a towel from the hotel’s bathroom and wrapped it around yourself.
you rode the elevator along down to the first floor and headed towards the pool. the lights illuminated the water and a blue hue shone on the ground in the night sky. you spied your castmates in the pool, splashing each other, duane shouting something about jamie ‘being a bitch’ before dunking him under the water. jack and filip both yelled something before jumping on top of the other two boys. that’s all they were.. boys having fun.
you clicked open the gate and closed it behind you, sitting down on a sun lounger and watched it unfold, the job of making sure that no one died had fallen onto your shoulders as the boys continued to wrestle. when duane popped his head up for a second he noticed you sitting there.
quickly, he pulled the other boys out of the water, jamie being the last one to break the surface. they all stared at you like they had been caught doing something they shouldn’t have… which i guess, they had been.
“oh hey..” jamie panted, water dripping off his face, “nice of you to join us”.
“shut up,” you brushed him off, “i was with sigourney”.
“boring!” jack shouted, jamie splashing him in the process.
“sooo..” filip dragged out, pursing his lips, “are you gonna get in or just sit there like a wet mop?” he asked, crossing his arms.
“oh shit,” jamie nodded.
“wow,” duane chuckled.
“a wet mop?” you repeated, nodding your head at filip.
“you gonna sit there and take that y/n?” jamie asked, looking back over at you.
“no she’s not,” jack chipped in.
“i’ll show you a wet mop, geljo” you stood up and dropped your towel- “when i put my foot in your face,”- you said before jumping into the pool with them all.
the night flew by, jack and duane were the first to bow out. jack convinced that his lips would turn blue if he sat in the water for any longer. filip left soon after, slyly sending jamie a thumbs up and a smirk when you looked away from him. so, after an hour or so of swimming and playing chicken in the pool, it was just you and jamie.
you debated getting out, you really did. but the water was so warm and jamie looked so relaxed resting his back against the water’s edge. so you decided to sit there together for a little while longer. maybe this was the right time that sigourney was talking about.
but to your surprise, jamie spoke first.
“did you see the scene roll out for next week?” he asked. his voice was trading lightly on the topic. as if he had been thinking about it as much as you had.
you hesitated before responding, “yeah, um- i did”.
“how do you feel about that?” he asked, looking down into the water and avoiding your gaze. you couldn’t fault him, you were essentially doing the same thing as him. avoiding eye-contact.
“um..” you shook your head slowly, searching for an answer and hoping that one would just pop out at you. “i don’t know really.. i’ve never-“ you sighed, closing your eyes. “well, i’ve never kissed anyone so..” you shrugged.
jamie finally turned to look at you. he noticed that way you looked smaller, embarrassed of the fact. “you know that’s not a bad thing, right?” he asked.
you stuttered, “no, no, no. i know that, but um- i just- i just wanted to make sure that you, um- knew? i don’t know,” you shrugged. your words were falling out at a rate more rapid than usual, jamie picked up on it.
“y/n” he stopped you. you sighed, taking a second before slowly turning your head to look at him. you met jamie’s gaze and held it like a conversation. you were talking to each other in there somehow, it was as if he seemed to understand what you were thinking in that moment. “it doesn’t matter than you haven’t kissed anyone, you know that yeah?”
you turned away, “i mean.. yeah?”
“so why are you freaking out?” he asked, “it’s alright” jamie nodded.
you sniffed, the water making your nose run a little. you ran your hand through your hair before looking back at him. “our friendship.. it will never be like it was before” you said. “what if.. what if we kiss and then we like stop being friends or something,” jamie watched as another sigh escaped your chest, he saw how much this had been weighing on you.
“you’re so silly,” he chuckled, rolling his eyes at you. “we could never not be friends, especially over something like that,” jamie wanted to make sure you heard what he was saying, “y/n, you’re one of my closest friends.” you heard that part. “and i wouldn’t like something like a little kiss, that we literally get paid to do by the way, mess up our friendship,” he chuckled.
you let out an exhale as a laugh, softly nodding afterwards. “you promise?” you asked. jamie looked down at you, a smile on his face, knowing that you already knew what his answer would be.
“you’re stupid if you think i don’t,” he leant his head back, his smile became a kind smirk.
the silence between you two soon returned, allowing you both to sit with your newfound clarity of your scene for next week. sigourney was right, it’s just a job. as you let your body relax in the pool, you felt yourself becoming more sleepy as the minutes slipped away into the night. you yawned, covering your face.
“come on,” jamie stood up and held out his hand.
“you wanna go?” you looked up at him in surprise. he scoffed at your demeanour.
“that’s like the fourth time you’ve yawned in a minute, you need to go to sleep”.
you shook your head with a smile before taking jamie’s hand and allowing him to help you stand up in the shallows of the pool. the cool night air pierced your skin, you were lucky that jamie was quick to hand you your towel. you thanked him quietly as you shivered in your swimsuit. your hair was dripping down your back, chilling your spine. jamie led you out of the pool enclosure and headed towards the elevator.
“oh my god, it’s cold,” you sped up, breaking into a jog, jamie following closely behind you. luckily, the lobby of the hotel was a nicer temperature for your ride back up to your rooms. when the elevator got to your floor, you said goodnight to jamie, but were surprised to see him follow you out.
“what are you doing?” you laughed, “you’re the next floor”.
“i know,” he nodded, beginning to walk down the hall towards your room, “i want to make sure you get inside safely, stupid” he nudged you. you faltered in your step a little, not failing to notice the way that jamie was ready to catch you even if he was the one to cause your fall. you kept your balance and shoved him back.
“well, here’s my room” you chuckled, “you’re now free to go to your own room, loser”
“fine, next time i’ll let you walk the halls at midnight and get abducted,” he shrugged, leaving. you rolled your eyes and grabbed his hand, pulling him back towards you.
you brought jamie in for a hug, which he reluctantly returned with a chuckle. “thank you,” you whispered.
“for walking you to your door?” he asked.
“no dumbass,” you pulled away from him, “for talking to me about.. it. i feel a lot better now,” you admitted, “so thanks”.
jamie chuckled, “that’s why i’m here”. you both held each other’s gaze for a little while longer. “i’ll see you tomorrow?” he asked.
“course,” you nodded, “tomorrow”.
jamie began to walk down the hallway, back towards the elevator.
“night flats,” you called.
“flats, hey?” he turned towards you, walking backwards so he could still see you.
“yeah,” you nodded, “you got a problem with that?”
he shook his head, a smile slowly breaking the surface. “no.. i like it” he smiled. “i’ll see you tomorrow, y/n”
taglist: @littlexscarletxwitch, @thexplosivegirl, @lagoonabluebabe, @rexorangecouny, @ilovejakesullysdick @rhiannonhippiegirl @leelumenaura @playboykenz @couragemydearheart @whos6claire @m-1234 @coconut-dreamz @graysonshaven @stvpidscvpid @ok-boke @cvsmic-love @sully-stick-together @caniuseurname @fandom-geek17 @sully-stick-together @leaveitbythewave @mirandathebanana @aisselasstuff @midnightstar-90 @jellybeanstacey0519 @bellstwd @netemoon @deadgirlwalkingtaylorsversion @innercreationflower
#all things connected 𓆝 𓆟#jamie flatters imagine#jamie flatters x reader#jamie flatters#jamie flatters series#jamie flatters au#avatar 2#avatar the way of water#neteyam x reader#avatar 2022#avatar x reader
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Emma to Bruce
Dear Bruce,
Bruce, Bruce, Bruce. Will I keep writing to you when all these renovations are done? When things have returned to some form of normalcy? Or is normalcy over—is the crack in the Nephilim world one that can’t be healed but will only widen over time, with more and more changes, until finally there is too much change to bear? In which case I guess I will keep writing to you, Bruce, as a kind of silent witness to the strangeness of these times.
Sorry, sorry. I am feeling a little poetic tonight because Jem and Tessa and Kit and Mina arrived today and…well, that’s just kind of how Jem and Tessa talk. Being, you know. Way old. And because it feels like all this business with the cursed house is in its final chapters and I don’t have any idea how things are going to be after that.
In any event we didn’t do anything about the curse today, we just ended up visiting with the Carstairs-Herondales, who should definitely pick a shorter name we can use for them. Team Victorian Era? Team Time When Everything Was Very Romantic But It Took Forever To Get Anywhere? Hm. I guess I’ll ask them for ideas, since mine are, uh, bad.
There was some complication right when they arrived. We had picked out a couple of bedrooms for them to use and asked the brownies to make them up with sheets and towels and all that. And then we checked them before the guests arrived and I’m glad we did because the faeries had made up all the rooms for…birds? Like, for huge, person-sized birds. Big nests of sticks, six feet across, and branches to perch on. And big balls of birdseed hanging from the ceiling. So we had to ask them to redo the rooms and the brownies looked so disappointed. (But we didn’t say the guests were birds! I have no idea why they thought that!) The worst part is they did a really nice job, like, if we were being visited by giant birds they would have been very comfortable. They still seemed puzzled when everyone did show up that Mina wasn’t a big egg. Faeries, man.
Speaking of Mina, who is not a big egg but rather a small toddler, she is extremely cute. She is walking now, or toddling, I guess, and she says “mama” and “dada” and also “kish” which apparently is what she calls Kit. And she has a little wooden toy stele that she is constantly trying to scribble on everyone with. Apparently Kit has been learning runes and Mina wants to learn them too.
We should have just gone straight into curse-breaking but to be honest we were just having a very nice time hanging out. Tessa and Jem are very easy to spend time with, which is nice given how high-strung most of our other friends are. I suppose once you’ve gone through all the stuff that has happened to them, it takes a lot to upset you. Just the way Jem talks about the curse makes me feel more reassured that we’ll be able to fix it, even though we don’t really know what we’re doing or what’s gone wrong so far.
They seem really impressed by the house, also, which makes Julian look all proud of himself in a highly adorable way. Tessa said the last time either of them were here was after Tatiana was arrested and sent to be an Iron Sister, and they were searching it for demon stuff. (Most of which, she admitted, they clearly didn’t find. It seems obvious from the way she talks that they didn’t understand how dangerous Tatiana really was until it was too late—I really want to ask her about that but it seemed a dark topic while we were all having a good time.) Jem said by that time it was already in pretty bad shape, but Tessa said she saw the house once “in its prime” at a ball, and then she blushed a little. Whatever happened during that ball must have been pretty impressive if she’s blushing about it 130 years later!
Of course there’s still that overall shroud of heavy memory that kind of hangs over the place, and no amount of new paint and replaced windows can help that. That’d be the curse, of course. Still, it felt cheerier this evening than it ever has before. For the first time I felt a little like it was our house and friends had come to visit and it was surprisingly nice and ordinary. As long as I don’t think about what’s going on with the Clave.
Also a concern: Kit. He was hanging out with us most of the day, but he was really quiet, for him, and a couple of times he excused himself to go take a walk in the garden. Julian said he thinks Kit broke up with his girlfriend and maybe he’s sad about that, but I don’t know. He was really jumpy whenever any of the builders were around, and kept a close eye on them anytime they were nearby. Round Tom introduced himself and Kit nodded, but he didn’t say his name or much of anything else. I mean, you can hardly blame him. His relationship to faeries, and Faerie itself, is complicated. According to Tessa, Cirenworth is very tightly warded against faerie incursions, and even the town and the roads nearby are protected. Magnus and Catarina made sure of it. So this would be one of the first times he’s been around faeries since the big battle outside Alicante; even though these faeries are safe, it must be weird for him.
But you know Kit. He has this aura about him like he doesn’t want to answer any questions about how he’s doing. Today he’s been out front, watching the faeries in the garden — it could be he’s worried about them, or maybe he wants to join them? I don’t know. Maybe Julian or I can get him to open up a little while he’s here. Or maybe I’ll get a moment to ask Jem or Tessa if they know what’s up.
Anyway, that’s all from me for now, Bruce. Tomorrow we break a curse! I hope!
Emma
#sobh#secrets of blackthorn hall#emma carstairs#bruce#Kit Herondale#jem and tessa#julian blackthorn#faeries
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Fourth of July
Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader, Steve Rogers x Reader
Summary: Bucky visits the cemetery the first since Steve funeral, but he isn’t the only one that’s mourning on the Fourth of July.
Word Count: 2.3k
Rating: R
Warnings: Grief, self-harm, depression, death, mourning, mentions of infidelity
A/N: Listen, this has been in the works for a year, but I’ve been redoing this whole time. I wrote it listening to “Fourth of July” by Sufjan Stevens. Slight AU because I like to think that Bucky didn’t know that Steve was gonna do that shit. 
It was humid in the city, making it feel a lot hotter than it actually was. He had started to sweat under the sweater he had pulled on and he tried his best to ignore the discomfort. The slight breeze made the various red, white, and blue decorations flap in the wind and carried the scent of someone grilling nearby. Hot dogs, he thinks.
As the sun started to set, the smell of gunpowder started to fill the air as the streetlights started to flicker on. Children ran past him as he walked on the sidewalk, sparklers held high in their hands. They giggled and laughed, their families yelling at them to be more careful. The man just keeps on walking, quickly crossing the street as soon as his destination came into the view.
Bucky shoved his hands into his pockets, keeping his cap covered head down as he walks into graveyard, gravel crunching under his feet. He hasn't been here since the funeral and he didn't really want to come today, but he knew he should.
A part of him still wanted to scream at his best friend, wants to ask him what was so special about Peggy Carter that he had to go and upend so many lives. The other part of him just wants to stand there and cry, mourn the loss of his best friend, his brother, the only tie to he had to his old life.
Yet, someone had beat him to it to that second one.
He didn't expect her to be kneeling there in front of the shining marble headstone, her body as still as the statues that dotted the cemetery. She doesn't hear him, or possibly just chooses to ignore that someone else was here to mourn over the same person today. He can see that she's saying something, but even with his super hearing he can't hear it.
Bucky stopped in his tracks, not knowing exactly what to do in this situation. Should he let her be, let her mourn? Should he call Sam and ask her to come sit with her? Raynor hadn't prepared him for this. He was barely getting his own feelings under control, so how was he supposed to help anyone else? Fuck, fuck, fuck.
He had only met her a handful of times, with most of them being before a fight. The first time that he had met her, the first time he actually can fully remember meeting her, was after the mess in Berlin, when his arm was caught in a vice because none of them knew if he was still Bucky. She had smiled at him and said in a saccharine sweet voice, “I will not hesitate to put you six feet under if you do that shit again, understood?”. It was after that comment, after Sam and Steve had both look at her almost in shock, that the latter had introduced her as his wife.
Before he knows it, his feet are carrying him towards her, his footsteps almost silent on the grass until a twig snaps and announces his approach. Y/N's back straightens, her body tensing. Bucky's feet don't stop though, not until he is standing right behind her. She keeps her eyes locked on his headstone, tears having left black colored tracks on her cheeks.
"Are you alright?" Bucky questions, immediately kicking himself for how stupid his question was. Of course she wasn't fucking alright. The woman was crying at her lover's grave on the man's birthday. You're a fucking idiot, James Buchanan Barnes. He watches as her eyes shut and she tilts her chin upward every so slightly, letting out a shaky breath. In the distance, fireworks go off, shimmering in the sky.
"You don't have to say anything-It's okay." He quickly replies, knowing that he wouldn't want to open up to someone that he hardly knew. Y/N sighs, her eyes fluttering open and she looks back down at the slab of marble. In front of it was dozens and dozens of offerings. Flags, small shields, candles, plastic red, white, and blue flowers, action figures of the man himself-all left by people they didn't know.
"I didn't think anyone was going to be here. I thought that since it was getting dark that everyone was going to be watching the fireworks." She tells him, her eyes scanning over the words on the headstone over and over again, as if the name was going to change, "I guess I was wrong."
"I didn't want him to be alone on his birthday." She cuts through his thoughts with a knife, stopping him in his tracks. Her voice sounds small, almost faraway as she continues, "I didn't want to come, didn't want to be here, but-but, I knew he shouldn't be alone on his birthday. No one should be alone on their birthday."
Red explodes in the sky, bathing them both in scarlet. Another flies past it- a green one this time-and bursts as the other fades, just as Bucky takes a seat beside her. He gives her ample space as he tries to get comfortable on the grass.
"No, no he shouldn't." Bucky echoes as he picks up a small action figure of Steve. The eyes are slightly crooked and the colors of his suit have been discolored by the sun, "Did he ever let you throw him a party? I tried, but the punk never let me. Always told me that we shouldn’t waste money on shit like that."
"A couple of times, but nothing too big. Just something small, no gifts, no frills." She answers, a faint smile appearing on her face, "Always gave me something to do. I've never been patriotic."
A bright white firework exploded in the sky, making it look like a thousand more stars had suddenly burst into existence before flickering out.
"You aren't patriotic but you married him?" He questions, holding the action figure in the air. She her smile grows ever so slightly as she shakes her head, her eyes turning towards the sky. Bright blue illuminates her, turning her cobalt for a few seconds.
"I see the irony in it too, don't worry."
There's a moment of silence between them. He looks away from her, his eyes focusing back on the headstone in front of them. The noise of the city celebrating still sounds then, the whistles of the fireworks flying into the sky, the cheers of happy children.
She had disappeared after the funeral.
No more public engagements, no more paparazzi shots. Sam had said that she hadn't been calling, hadn't talked to him at all since they laid Steve to rest. The lights were always off at the house she used to share with him in Brooklyn, but they knew she was home.
She didn't have anywhere else to go.
Her friends were either dead or spread to the wind. Her team was gone, splintered far beyond repair. She would’ve had her husband, but he had made his choice and now she sleeps in a bed that’s too big for her, in a house that’s too quiet, too empty.
"Do you think-Do you think we are allowed to be mad at him?" Her voice is no louder than a whisper when she decides to speak. Her eyes once more on the slab of marble, looking at it like the man himself was sitting there with them. She continues, her eyes watery, "I don't-I've been trying not to be angry with him, but I can't."
"I think so. He-He kind of screwed us over, didn't he?" Bucky answers, turning his head to look at her once more. Her thumb was twisting her gold wedding band around her finger, trying to calm herself, rating to rein in her emotions.
She was there was Steve came back, hair white and skin wrinkled. She hadn't said anything-No, she just looked at her husband, tears filling her eyes. There was no screaming, no sobbing, no real signs of any outward emotions other than her watery eyes. Steve had tried to talk, tried to explain himself, but she had just walked away. She knew what he did, where he had went. There was no point in arguing with him, with fighting over a choice he had already made so she didn’t. Bucky wonders if she had cried after that, if she had screamed into her pillow after being betrayed by the man she loved.
He didn’t know that an oh so familiar numbness had started to taken a hold her as she had walked away from the situation. She doesn’t remember any of the drive home-she honestly doesn’t understand how she able to drive at all. The next few days were a blur-she didn’t leave the house, hell, she didn’t even leave her bed unless she had to.
It had taken four days for it to finally settle in, for the pain to crack through and force itself through that numbness. There had been a lot of crying, of screaming during that time. Shattered picture frames, broken dishes. She kept to herself, not wanting to take her anger out on anyone as she processed everything.
At the funeral, she didn't say much to anyone. Everyone's condolences were met with a small smile and nod. She had stood in between Sam and Bucky in the front pew. Her back was rigid, her head held high. Her makeup and hair done perfectly-she had been the dutiful wife and now it seemed like she was becoming the perfect little widow. For a second, Bucky had thought she was processing this all well-better than him, at least-until Sam suddenly grabbed her hand in the middle of someone's eulogy. She had been scratching the back of her hands until they were bloody and raw, her pale pink nails discolored by garnet.
Another firework screams its way into the sky, exploding and illuminating them in emerald for a brief moment. She shifts in the grass, drawing her knees into her chest, making her look smaller than she actually is.
"I miss him. I-I don't know if I should, but I miss him. I still love him." She announces, barely loud enough for him to hear, "No matter what he did, I still love him. I-I wish I didn't, I think it might make it all easier."
"I yelled at him, both Sam and I did. He tried to justify it, wanted Sam to convince you to forgive him." Bucky confesses, his eyes still on her. She turns her head to look at him, brows furrowed, “He didn’t understand why you were so angry with him.”
“I talked to him before he-He didn’t want me to be mad at him. He didn’t want to leave with us with in the middle of fight. Didn’t want to leave it like that. He couldn’t stand it when we fought and these past five years-God, it felt like that was all we did. Everything I did wasn’t good enough fir him.” She looks back down at the ground, fingers picking at the grass, “I kept askin’ him ‘Why?’ and he couldn’t give me an answer. He told me that he loved me, but he also loved her. He acted that’s all he needed to say.”
“I know he had a family with her. Had kids, grandkids, the whole shebang. He had told me-He told me that after we fixed everything-after we brought everyone back that we were gonna settle down like we always talked about, that we could start trying and God, I knew it sounded too good to be true.” Emotion is wrapping around her neck like a noose, making her words strained as tears start to roll down her cheeks, “And I wanted it so bad. I wanted a family with him, even though things were shit and he was pushing me away, I still wanted that. I thought-I thought that finally everything was okay and I feel like an idiot for believing it.”
Her words hang in the air above them, above his grave. They weighed heavily on Bucky, forcing his shoulders down. Steve had promised her a family, a quiet life-some semblance of normalcy and had ripped it away for what? For a woman he knew less than a year? Bucky had asked him if he had regret what he did and Steve hadn’t responded. He had just changed the subject, deciding to instead talk about the quality of his hospital food.
“You’re not an idiot. You didn’t-You didn’t know he was going to do this. None of us did.“ Bucky replies, his voice just as quiet as hers had been moments before. She just sits there, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. Both of them just looked at the grave in front of them, a dozen different emotions flowing between the two.
The tears on her face have started to dry. In the distance they could hear music playing, people laughing, and celebrating. They continued to sit quietly in the cemetery, the buzzing of cicadas and fireworks turning into white noise.
-
"Shall we look at the moon, my little loon?
Why do you cry?
Make the most of your life, while it is rife
While it is light
Well, you do enough talk
My little hawk, why do you cry?
Tell me, what did you learn from the Tillamook burn?
Or the Fourth of July?
We're all gonna die"
#bucky barnes/reader#bucky barnes x reader#steve rogers x reader#steve rogers/reader#james bucky buchanan barnes#bucky barnes#steve rogers
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Hai, wild me here to deliver this. Ghost isn't always trying to be all dark and broody by being all quiet, he just is autistic and words get really hard. Soap can read him almost perfectly now, Price can read him but more in a general sense than specifics, Gaz can read the most basic of emotions, and Roach and him can full on have non-verbal conversations with just looks.
Like;
Ghost is sitting there with a kind of spaced out look. He keeps running the pad of his thumb along the edge of his glove, not an uncommon sight when idle.
Soap walks over and sets a glass of tea down and sits with him. He could see the way Ghost's eyes kept jumping to the door at footsteps and that the paperwork wasn't being completed in the slightest. " 'ere ya go L.T. Your fancy Earl Gray with two sugars." A grounding point.
Ghost glances to Soap for a moment before pulling his mask up and grabbing his tea to sip on. He lets out a hum of appreciation before lapsing back into silence.
---
Price had been watching Ghost all day and watched the way the pent up energy was killing the other. What exactly was causing it he didn't know, but Soap wasn't here to translate for him so he had to guess himself. And by that he meant sending Ghost to work with the recruits and see how long it takes for one to come crying.
Almost an hour passes before the recruits are stumbling into his office, bawling about Ghost making them all redo the training course six times.
Definitely pent up energy with no where to go, so he'd leave Ghost out there to work it all off.
---
Gaz just notices how to tell when Ghost is feeling something. He can see when he's angry and needs to get out of the way. Can see when he's happy and can be approached with less sarcasm. Basics to get through. Most of the time he just follows Soap and Price's lead though.
---
Roach glanced over at Ghost, watching the way his eyes scanned the paper again and again. He tilted his head a little 'You okay?' and waited for the other to respond. He knew he could see him.
Ghost tapped his fingers on the desk, drumming in a pattern. 'Bored, need movement.' He leaned back over his paper and kept working.
Roach gave a subtle nod before getting up and walking over. He waited for Ghost to put down the papers and get up before leading the way so they could for a run.
141 knowing Ghost well enough he doesn't need to even speak for them to know what he needs. God, I love this
#call of duty#cod mwii#modern warfare ii#simon ghost riley#john soap mactavish#kyle gaz garrick#john price#gary roach sanderson#autistic ghost#ask#thanks for the ask <3
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It's all about the Light
People were commenting yesterday about the surprisingly photographic quality of this image, so I want to deal with some of those inquiries here.
First, though, since the main character's clothes were a mess in that one—as I was beginning the process of tweaking about six different things at once in that set—I wanted to redo the render with that problem fixed. So here we have Freelorn back in the "dress casual" he'd have been wearing in court that morning, in this soon-to-be-published work, when the magpie first becomes an issue.
The first question most people seem to have had about this lighting setup is: "How did you do that?" And in all honesty, even after backing out to have a look at the set as a whole, I'm still not entirely sure how I did it...except that over time and multiple uses, more and more light sources of various kinds got hooked into that set. Tl:dr; I got lucky. (shrug) ...A more detailed discussion, with wider images of the set, is over here.
The first time I got lucky that way was in this shot. Just a joke render: a take on the concept "short king". "Hey," I thought, "I've got a king sitting around here, and he's short.* Let's emphasize how short. For fun."
(I wound up rendering that shot several times, over several posts, as a diagnostic. I'm nothing if not persistent about establishing for certain that I have no idea exactly why something's happening.) :)
...And then after a while another opportunity for a joke came up, in a meme-based mode, and who was I to pass up such a thing? Especially when all I had to do was change some positions a little.
(caption: "We lost focus and had a consensual workplace relationship." ...Yeah, did they ever.) :)
In any case, you'd best believe that I went out of my way to preserve the original file/version of that set, so as not to accidentally mess up that overall lighting effect; and then occasionally used duplicates of it to stage other work, including the topmost image on this post, and various others that followed it.
Like this one, more an atmosphere piece than anything else, in which the man sitting in the Throne is having a bad day—
—and this one, of the very first time he sits in that chair, preparing to do justice on the surviving leaders of an army of people who the day before were trying to kill not just him but everybody he loves.
(ETA: noting a minor eye problem with the above: something technical. Will do another render and put it up in the morning.)
...Anyway, I've been meaning for some while to put aside the time for serious work on the Throne's textures.** Partly it's just a desire to have it look nice. But also, this isn't just some fancy chair; at least not to the people whose rulers sit in it. It's been intimately associated with the descendants of a demigod for hundreds of years—in fact, no one's really sure how many centuries. And popular opinion in Arlen has it that the Throne's routine adjacence to even quite dilute divinity has over time elevated it beyond mere furniturehood: has, indeed, caused it to become sensitive about whether the person who sits in it is in fact entitled to be there at all. (Not least because, sooner or later, bad things tend to happen to those who aren't.)
So in illustrations the Throne ought to look like a good solid artifact that's been around for a while and has picked up some patina. But it should also look like it's been well cared for, and have something of an air of venerability. (sigh) Still working on that. —Anyway, the current textures have always been temporary measures, unsatisfactory to a greater or lesser degree. I look forward to creating ones that better reflect what I see in my head... though that's a matter for a different and more technical post.
As to those questions:
@megatraven Is that fucking blender?
No, it's Daz Studio. I have to deal with Blender more than I like to at the moment (for example, I need to create new steps for that set in Blender shortly), and it drives me around the bend. But I've been working with Daz long enough now to have acquired at least some expertise, even though sometimes I have less idea about why things are working (or not) than I'd like.
@fyeahnix #tumblr brain rot is so strong I thought this was some AU take of that Jack Frost twink from Guardians
Oh. No, nothing to do with him. This character is the one around whom most of the drama of my first fantasy series has crystalllzed out. Freelorn started out more than forty years ago as kind of a romantically-inclined jerk with a love of lost causes and a recurring sporadic inability to think practicalities through. But he's been improving. :)
Anyway, thanks again to everybody who commented kindly about the good look of the images. The light: it's all about the Light. :)
*Lorn's probably about 5'9". Dusty's around 6'2" or a bit taller. (In that second image, definitely taller, as the boots that go with that outfit are riding boots and have significant heels.)
**And also the tapestries directly behind the Throne.
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Puzzlefic Recs
These Days We Celebrate / Reconfiguration by Phoebeus
Original synopsis: “Originally a series of canon-compliant stories spanning the six month gap between the defeat of Pegasus and the arrival of Otogi, it now includes a branch-off story that changes the climax of the Millennium World arc and explores what would have happened if Atem had gotten his own body a month prior to leaving for Egypt. [Manga-canon, Puzzleshipping]”
Type: Series of oneshots + one multichap longfic
Word count: 300k+ altogether
Rating: G/T/E
Warnings: None
Status: Complete
Times read: 3 times for the whole series, at least 5 or 6 for Reconfiguration specifically
Standout characters/aspects: Yuugi's mom & Honda
Notes: The holy grail. The puzzle fic to end all puzzle fics. Nothing beats it. It aligns almost 98% with my personal headcanons, & the small things we disagree on are contextualized in a way that makes sense in the story. Yuugi's mom is iconic in this story, & my own interpretations of her lean heavily on her portrayal in this series.
Haunted House Sweet Home by InkFlavored
Original synopsis: “Yugi doesn't believe in ghosts. He never has and, up until now, he thought he never would. But when he moves into his new apartment, things start disappearing, doors start slamming, and an ancient crown has it out for him. He's forced to face reality: he's living in a haunted house. But will he be ‘living’ there for long?”
Type: Multichap longfic
Word count: 150k+
Rating: T
Warnings: Mention of eventual major character death, brief mention of eventual Yuugi/Atem/fem OC in final chapter
Status: Complete
Times read: Probably 3ish
Standout characters/aspects: Feriha (fem OC) has a very small part, but she is integrated in a well-thought-out manner & quite likable.
Notes: This fic takes a lot of normal aspects of ygo like “cursed object” and “troubled king” and gives them a new spin! Bonus points for writing an OC villain who works as well as Hazim does.
Egyptology Exercises / All This We Do in the Name of Ma’at by Nedjemet
Original synopsis: “My attempt at redoing Yu-Gi-Oh with a focus on character development, magic, and historical accuracy instead of card games. While this is technically a series, "All This We Do in the Name of Ma'at" functions as a standalone story. All of the other stories are just in-universe follow ups to show what the characters got up to after the story was over. These shorts largely function as stand alones, too, since Ma'at follows cannon very closely in the important ways. All of the stories are ordered loosely in terms of when they occured. You can read them in any order.
All of the Egyptology is heavily researched and I did my best to get it right. If something is off and you have a source, please send it my way!
All of the stuff in modern Japan has minimal research done and is more for flavor than anything else. I'm going for anime-level accuracy with that, not realism.”
Type: Multichap longfic + a couple of shorter multichap fics + bonus work diving into the Egyptology research used in the fics
Word count: 200k+ altogether
Rating: T/M/E
Warnings: None
Status: Complete
Times read: Twice for All This We Do in the Name of Ma’at, probably 5-6 times for the two sequel fics
Standout characters/aspects: Nedjemet’s research on the Egyptology aspects is very impressive
Notes: Really good! The main fic is quite plot & research heavy tho, so I find myself revisiting the two shorter follow-up fics more often. More fluff than substance for me.
The Last Puzzle by Tenderwulf
Original synopsis: “11 years after the Ceremonial Duel, Atem and Bakura inexplicably find themselves back in Domino. When they meet their previous hosts, they realize how much things have changed: Yuugi, the now world-renowned King of Games, is going through a marriage crisis, Ryou is struggling to balance studies, work, and his brittle mental health, and Malik... well, Malik is living his best life—and his own yami is nowhere to be seen.
They soon realize they all have to work together in order to solve the mystery of the yamis’ return: some to make sure that they stay, and some to make sure that they don't.”
Type: Multichap longfic
Word count: 300k+
Rating: T
Warnings: Graphic depictions of violence
Status: Ongoing
Other ships: Tendershipping [Bakura Ryou/Yami Bakura], past Peachshipping [Mazaki Anzu/Mutou Yuugi]
Times read: 1
Standout characters/aspects: Yami Bakura’s character development is stellar.
Notes: Very good, altho I confess that I’m slightly more interested in the puzzle storyline than the tender story (which happens to be the main plot lol). Very much worth reading.
Keep the Light Shining by Clydeside
Original synopsis: “Yugi's new job as a lighthouse keeper sounds simple enough... until he realizes he's not entirely alone on the remote island: a dark spirit haunts Crawford Sound.
It lingers like a shadow in the night.
It watches, and it waits.
The past keepers warned of an inescapable terror, but as the days turn into weeks, Yugi begins to think it's not the ghost he ought to fear.”
Type: Multichap longfic
Word count: 50k+
Rating: M
Warnings: Major character death (Atem is already a ghost)
Status: Complete
Times read: 3
Standout characters/aspects: Worldbuilding!!!! This story is so gorgeously atmospheric
Notes: Please please please read Keep the Light Shining, it’s so good. The horror aspects combined with the romance and mystery aspects are so well-balanced.
Lineament by Zuzeca
Original synopsis: “Once seven, now three. A broken Pendant, a crumbling empire, and tugging at the seams of reality, hints of a sinister power returning. His faith in destiny strained past breaking, newly-crowned-and-deposed Pharaoh Set makes the questionable decision to try and solve the Millennium Puzzle with magic. As it goes with magic, his efforts are rewarded…but not quite in the way he expected.”
Type: Multichap longfic
Word count: 50k+
Rating: M
Warnings: Major character death (Ghost Atem again)
Status: Complete
Other ships: Logicshipping [Priestess Isis/Priest Seto]
Times read: 3
Standout characters/aspects: Set & Isis are very interesting & well-developed characters here.
Notes: Really interesting twist on the whole series. Somewhat of a time travel fic, but in a much more satisfying and less cheesy way than most.
Snake Charmer by InkFlavored
Original synopsis: “Prompts: ‘Wow, my pet snake looks so cute this morning and I’d be even happier if I actually had a pet snake.’ & ‘You curse under your breath in a foreign language and I know I shouldn’t be turned on but I totally am.’
Type: Oneshot
Word count: 20k+
Rating: T
Warnings: None
Status: Complete
Times read: 5
Standout characters/aspects: Osiris the snake is an icon
Notes: 100% fluff. Cute snake. Utterly delightful.
Cut Off / Whiskey, No Chaser by InkFlavored
Original synopsis: “Few people choose a day during the week to drink away their problems at a bar downtown. Most people wait until the weekend, content to simmer with their issues until Friday. Others do it at home with friends, and without worrying about how they're supposed to get home in time for work in the morning. All in all, it's rare that someone walks into a bar on a weeknight at ten-thirty to start drinking.
But that's exactly what happened to Atem.”
Type: Two multichap longfics
Word count: 100k+ combined
Rating: T
Warnings: None
Status: Complete
Other ships: Past rivalshipping [Mutou Yuugi/Kaiba Seto]
Times read: 2
Standout characters/aspects: Great way of showing how Atem becomes part of the friend group
Notes: It’s cute! Not InkFlavored’s best work, but all of their stuff is worth reading.
Macchiato Incommunicado by InkFlavored
Original synopsis: “Prompt: ‘my favorite coffee shop is closed for the day so i have to find somewhere else where i can get my overly-advanced pretentious order and i found the place where you work and now i never use the other place anymore because even though you always serve my drink with a “what the fuck has normal coffee ever done to you”-sigh you're really cute and i'd like to go out with you.’
Type: Oneshot
Word count: 15k+
Rating: T
Warnings: None
Status: Complete
Times read: 3
Standout characters/aspects: Points to everyone else in this fic for putting up with Yuugi & Atem’s stupid bullshit.
Notes: Pretty good interpretation of the dreaded miscommunication plot and the cliché coffee shop AU.
The First Leaves That Fall by Clydeside
Original synopsis: “When Yugi arrives in Yubari to settle the last of his grandfather’s affairs, he finds a mountain village in quiet decline. Most people have left for the city, buildings are crumbling, and nature grows dense and wild against its outskirts.
But among those who remain, superstition abounds, and they all offer the same advice:
Stay out of the forest.
Yugi, however, is intrigued. By the puzzle of its shifting paths. The riddle of a wind that speaks, if he listens.
And, perhaps most of all, by the stranger who always shows him the way out before dark.
Or: Yugi falls hard for the local cryptid. Not everyone is cool about it.”
Type: Multichapter longfic
Word count: 40k+
Rating: T
Warnings: None
Status: Ongoing
Times read: 1
Standout characters/aspects: Honda & Miho are really great friends, and bonus points for local Shinto priest Bakura, who is as ominous and strange as ever.
Notes: I love this fic!!!! Again, Clyde is the best at writing spooky & atmospheric stories. I can’t wait to see what really happened in Yubari to make the nature spirits (including Atem) so angry.
Chained to You by SajiSpellhart
Original synopsis: “Taking place after the events of Season Zero, all the shadow games happened but Yugi never found out he was possessed by the spirit of the puzzle. Now he's an adult, living on his own, and he starts to notice strange and spooky things happening around his apartment. When he sees his own shadow moving Yugi begins to suspect his new place is haunted. But is this shadow spirit malicious or... kinda sweet?
Yami does a bunch of stupidly sweet domestic shit for Yugi to help take care of him. Expect romance, fluff, self-care, and Puzzleshipping shenanigans.”
Type: Multichapter longfic
Word count: 100k+
Rating: T
Warnings: None
Status: Ongoing
Times read: 1
Standout characters/aspects: Yami is incredibly cute in this fic.
Notes: Really interesting AU where Yuugi never finds out about Atem as a high schooler, and so Season 0-esque shenanigans continue into adulthood.
He Has a Heartbeat by Kaibbage
Original synopsis: “Atem is back, and this time he's living and tangible. As such, Yugi cannot stop touching him - and vice versa.”
Type: Oneshot
Word count: 3k
Rating: E
Warnings: None
Status: Complete
Times read: 10 at least
Standout characters/aspects:
Notes: So cute!!! One of the best Atem Comes Back oneshots out there. Very sweet short little PWP.
Superimposed / Bird Rock Lambchop (Bird Bigger Bird) by Toffeecape
Original synopsis: “Yugi wants his other self to have nice things.”
Type: Series of oneshots + short multichaptered fics
Word count: 70k+ combined
Rating: E/M
Warnings: Some installments mention major character death (but with the caveat that the characters cross over to the Egyptian afterlife), most have no warnings
Status: Complete
Times read: Superimposed probably like 5 times, whole series twice
Standout characters/aspects: Love Yuugi’s urge to provide for Atem, very sweet. I also love the chapter of Like a Stone into a Pond that focuses on Yuugi’s mom’s relationship with Atem.
Notes: This series is sort of YMMV for me. To be entirely honest, the smut gets a little too weird for me in a lot of installments, so I don’t revisit it too often, but the first installment is definitely my favorite, and I love seeing the intimacy between Yuugi & Atem grow while they’re still sharing a body. The 4th installment is my other favorite, as it focuses less on smut and more on character interactions.
Phantom Limb by Killdoll
Original synopsis: “In the hospital after the fire where Yuugi reassembled the Millennium Puzzle, Yuugi and his Other Self have a heart-to-heart.
(Puzzleshipping, set during anime canon, attempted ghost cuddling.)”
Type: Oneshot
Word count: 3k
Rating: T
Warnings: None
Status: Complete
Times read: 5+
Standout characters/aspects: Really great characterization
Notes: Very sweet examination of the aftermath of (the anime version of) the fire.
Pieces of Puzzleshipping by Phoebeus
Original synopsis: “Originally this was where all of my tumblr prompts and random ficlets would come to live, but it's quickly become home to all of my random puzzleshipping fluff, instead. We shall acknowledge it as such until at least one other ship invades!”
Type: Oneshot collection
Word count: 17k+ combined
Rating: E
Warnings: Author Chose Not to Use Archive Warnings (I don’t remember anything too triggering in these oneshots besides a safeword use that is immediately respected in chapter 10)
Status: Complete
Times read: 2-3
Standout characters/aspects: To be honest, I don’t remember these individual oneshots all that well, but I love all of Phoebeus’ work.
Notes: Bite-sized and enjoyable fluff!
Getting Rivalzoned (and Learning to Live with It) by Oogenesis
Original synopsis: “Finding out that your best and closest and most infuriatingly attractive rival has come back to life is one thing.
Finding out that he and his former vessel have eyes only for each other - well, that's quite a different matter.”
Type: Short multichapter
Word count: 8k
Rating: T
Warnings: None
Status: Unfinished (seems to be abandoned, but I recall the last chapter working fairly well as an ending, so it’s not too infuriating)
Other Ships: onesided Prideshipping [Atem/Kaiba Seto]
Times read: 3ish
Standout characters/aspects: Just so incredibly funny.
Notes: This is my ideal prideship scenario. Sorry, Kaiba.
Visiting Hours by Oogenesis
Original synopsis: “Kaiba, at Atem's insistence, finally brings Yugi along on one of his visits to the afterlife, and promptly regrets it.”
Type: Oneshot
Word count: 1.5k
Rating: T
Warnings: None (possible major character death as Atem has already crossed over to the afterlife)
Status: Complete
Other Ships: One-sided prideshipping [Atem/Kaiba Seto]
Times read: 5ish at least
Standout characters/aspects: Same as the previous fic, just so funny to see Kaiba so deeply jealous while being completely ignored.
Notes: Love how excited to see each other Yuugi & Atem are.
Ours, Not Mine by MagiMevi
Original synopsis: “The spirit found such ease and amusement in simply perusing Yugi's daily memories, and Yugi no longer wanted to just share them with him. He wanted to make them with him – he wanted the spirit to create new memories – he didn't want to just amuse the spirit with the passing fibres of his life – he just – he wanted -
Don't worry about it, partner.”
Type: Oneshot
Word count: 5k
Rating: T
Warnings: None
Status: Complete
Times read: 2-3
Standout characters/aspects: Great exploration of Yuugi’s character
Notes: Yuugi scheming like hell to try to get Atem to live & enjoy himself while in the puzzle is one of my favorite tropes, 10/10.
Take Him (Cut Him Out in Little Stars) by InkFlavored
Original synopsis: “Most people think of light and silence as comforting things. To Yugi, they're anything but. Atem's mind is tearing itself to pieces and no one understands.
PuzzleJune 2019 (Week 3: Light)”
Type: Oneshot
Word count: 5k
Rating: G
Warnings: Creator Chose Not to Use Archive Warnings (Major character death canon to the end of the manga)
Status: Complete
Times read: 5+
Standout characters/aspects: I love Atem’s talk with Akhenamkhanen.
Notes: Definitely one of the most influential Atem comes back fics to my own work! It’s fabulous, 10/10.
The Seldom Seen by Clydeside
Original synopsis: “Yugi’s soul has gone missing after reassembling the Millennium Puzzle in the fire, leaving the Other Yugi to fill his place.
As he tries to hide the truth from Yugi’s friends and family, he searches for his partner and the scattered pieces of his soul. But without Yugi at his side, he is losing control of the Puzzle’s power over the shadow realm… and the creature it contains.”
Type: Mid-length multichapter
Word count: 45k
Rating: T
Warnings: Major character death (albeit tagged as “only sort of permanent”)
Status: Complete
Times read: 3
Standout characters/aspects: Angst!
Notes: I love any fic that examines Atem’s relationships (or lack thereof) with Yuugi’s friends and family.
Jolly Sailor Bold / Shellfish Tendencies by Kudalyn
Original synopsis: “‘The seas sing for those who are lost, and for those who find as well.’
Atem is a siren/merman and Yugi is a ghost haunting a sunken ship Atem comes across. Atem is intrigued by the ghost, hangs around enough that they start to get to know each other, getting attached, and falling for each other over time. But Yugi’s memories start to fade, as ghosts don’t get to stay forever on the living plane, and Atem has to deal with this loss.
My entry for the YGO Big Bang 2018!
Content Warning of character death and mourning, with reward at the end if you stick through it ;)”
Type: Series of two oneshots
Word count: 15k+ combined
Rating: M
Warnings: Major character death (sort of temporary? It’s complicated lol)
Status: Complete
Times read: 3ish
Standout characters/aspects: Honestly really interesting implications about the origins of mermaids……….
Notes: Super fun twist on a mermaid AU.
Untitled Puzzleshipping Doujinshi by Kaluda
Original synopsis: “This is a doujin I made in 2019 that I decided to post here as well. Inspired by the end of the Dark Side of Dimensions film.”
Type: Short comic
Word count: N/A?
Rating: Unrated (I would say G)
Warnings: None (Major character death canon to manga/anime)
Status: Complete
Times read: 3ish
Standout characters/aspects: Such cute art!!!!!!
Notes: Rare comic example, but it’s posted on ao3, so I’m counting it as a fic. It’s really very sweet & short, go check it out!
Angle of Approach by InkFlavored
Original synopsis: “Definition: (in golf) the angle at which the club head strikes the ball. This affects the trajectory the ball will travel and spin.
The only thing Atem hates more than his family’s annual summer vacation is the “family” part. A whole three months away from home, away from friends, and away from freedom. This year, he’s nearly resigned himself to the worst trip he’s ever been on, surrounded by people he couldn’t care less about.
Then he meets Yugi, and decides to make his own fun.”
Type: Multichap longfic
Word count: 130k+
Rating: E
Warnings: No archive warnings apply, general warning for emotional and slight physical abuse by parents, and definitely warning for workplace sexual harassment
Status: Ongoing (Unfinished? Abandoned??? I sure hope not)
Times read: 2
Standout characters/aspects: Yugi is phenomenal in this AU. I’m obsessed with him.
Notes: I love this fic!!!! I usually don’t like fics where Atem is an asshole, but apparently it’s fine if he’s a bottom lmao. Anyway I love seeing Atem very very slowly become a better person against his will, and I’m really hoping Ink_Flavored is still working on this fic. It’s one of my favorite ongoing works.
Dress Up Game by InkFlavored
Original synopsis: “The Mutou family, including the newly resurrected Atem, get invited to a wedding. Neither Yugi nor Atem have anything to wear to the event, but it’s not a big deal. All they have to do is go shopping to pick something out. How bad could it possibly be?”
Type: Two chapter fic
Word count: 25k+
Rating: T
Warnings: None
Status: Complete
Times read: 3
Standout characters/aspects: Really great attention to detail about Japanese culture. Taught me a lot about traditional Japanese weddings!
Notes: This fic is so cute! Really nice fic that focuses on Atem living life after coming back from the dead.
Await Red to Become Anthracite by Zigur_zig_ah
Original synopsis: “Yuugi, security guard un-extraordinaire, leads a particularly mundane life. He sits in front of a monitor for eight hours a cycle, pretends to concern himself with the safety of five-hundred and thirty-nine Roman coins of no value whatsoever, and occasionally, when work is especially slow, occupies the unenviable position of Duel Monsters champion of the known universe.
But something stalks the perpetual darkness of Proxima-b. A horror from beyond the grave, loosed in a moment of carelessness, has set its hollow, empty sights on Yuugi - and Yuugi, try as he might, can't seem to stay away from it.”
Type: Medium length multichapter fic
Word count: 30k
Rating: M
Warnings: Creator Chose Not to Use Archive Warnings
Status: Complete
Times read: 1
Standout characters/aspects: Really fun combination of futuristic sci-fi, horror, canon, and ancient Egypt?
Notes: A bit less romance-y than plot-centered, but the way the story unfolds is really fascinating.
Hindsight by Cloudsmachinations
Original synopsis: “Yugi needs to wear glasses. Atem needs to calm the hell down.”
Type: Oneshot
Word count: 2.5k
Rating: T
Warnings: None
Status: Complete
Times read: 3ish
Standout characters/aspects: I love an Atem that is down bad
Notes: So cute tbh
#aka: a rec list for anyone who hates dom atem as much as i do lmao 😅😅#a lot of these are pretty obvious/popular already eg anything by clyde/inkflavored/phoebeus but hey#it's my list & i'm in charge#morgan rambles#my ramblings#yugioh#ygo#yugioh duel monsters#mutou yugi#mutou yuugi#puzzleshipping#atem#yami yugi#blindshipping#fic recs#rec list#yugi mutou#yuugi mutou#yugioh dm
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So I’ve been tagged in six sentence sunday!
I’ve never done these before and I’m not very active on here so i wouldnt know who to tag in response (although if any of you are fine with being tagged, please write to me! Id love to hear what everyone’s doing, and make some new friends!!
Since I last posted on tumblr I’ve finished all the inktober drawings I planned to draw. They’re all posted on my instagram, but I’m severely behind on posting here😅 tumblr is great but I cannot for the life of me shake off the awkwardness that comes with posting on another media that isn’t my preferred one. But if anyone who doesnt have instagram wants to see the rest just lmk and I’ll post them!
Other than inktober I haven’t really done anything.. i wanted to draw something for valentines, and got an idea a day before which is obviously WAY too little time to finish anything. And well, then valentines day passed and I no longer had a deadline.. so I didn’t finish it. I cannot for the life of me finish anything without a deadline. (Literally realized like 4 days ago that ive basically never finished a high-effort illustration without a deadline or someone relying on me😵💫 which kinda sucks ngl)
But since six sentence sundays are for wips, I guess I can show it to y’all what i drew for valentines!
So heres the concept (which is almost better than the finished result will be. I didn’t manage sultry Simon’s facial expression very well in the actual drawing😭 he just looks annoyed instead of ‘sexy’)
Aaannnd this is a wip of the actual drawing:
I really might end up redoing sultry Simon’s face, cuz it just isn’t working. I wanted the “expectation” side to like be the baz vision equivalent of some sexy male models slicked in oil and faces all squinty and lip-bitey. I didn’t want there to be a trace of an actual person, only the vision of “hot” so an annoyed simon with a bow will not do :/
Sidenote about simons shirt: eat the rich more like swallow the rich amirite?
I have this dumbass obsession with putting simon in ugly T shirts where theres printed the most ridiculous quotes on. I have a whole pinterest board on it. I tastefully called it “simons questionable taste in fashion”
(It’s all dumbass crop tops and tiny shirts with big chunky shoes. Idk I just love that on him)
But uhh I think that’s all for now! Thank you for tagging me @thewholelemon and @j-nipper-95 for tagging me a lot of previous times where i didn’t do anything bc i was shy😅
See you all next time!
Also idk if people put tags on SSS but I’m just gonna do that bc its what I’m used to
#carry on#simon snow#simon snow salisbury#baz pitch#fanart#awtwb#baz grimm pitch#the simon snow trilogy#carry on fanart#valentines day#work in progress#digital art#ok confession baz is only holding a ringbox bc my reference was holding something in their hands#and i didnt have the energy to find a new reference for his hand alone
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20 Questions for Fic Writers
Thanks to @kiwiana-writes for the tag!! I did this back in like... October, and a LOT has changed since then lol
How many works do you have on ao3?
29
What's your total ao3 word count?
299,988 (though this includes 110,000 from the co-written PJO AU and 2,000 words from Manu's fic that I podficced to)
What fandoms do you write for?
Only RWRB for now, though never say never to others. I recently read Check, Please! and I've had some thoughts, but I have far too many WIPs for RWRB to write them rn. Also I have some ideas for The Pairing, but again, I have... so many RWRB wips...
Top five fics by kudos:
Longer Than Most | 26K, trans Henry accidental pregnancy (also this is how I found out it had become my top kudos-ed fic AH)
The Super Six Take a Lie Detector Test | Vanity Fair | 7K, YouTube interview
Let Me inside (I Want to Get to Know You) | 6K, epistolary roommates
Claremont 2008 | 28K, canon divergence where Ellen gets elected in 2008, childhood friends to lovers
(Dil)Do It Yourself | 17K, meet cute at a DIY dildo workshop
Do you respond to comments?
I really try to. But. I have gotten quite behind recently. I would love to catch up but it's just a bit overwhelming at the moment.
What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?
I don't really have any angsty endings?? but a fic @affectionatelyrs and I are working on is going to have an ambiguous ending and my joke is that someone should the version of it where things take the angsty route
What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?
I mostly write happy endings, but I am going to say that Let Me inside (I Want to Get to Know You) is the happiest because it's kinda the tropiest
Do you get hate on fics?
Not hate, but I've gotten one or two weird comments, or comments asking about updates.
Do you write smut?
I do! (this is one of the things that's changed since the fall)
Craziest crossover:
The closest I've gotten to a crossover is the PJO AU, but that's not even an actual crossover.
Have you ever had a fic stolen?
Nope.
Have you ever had a fic translated?
Nope.
Have you ever co-written a fic before?
Yes!! Super Six and the Siren's Call with @inexplicablymine and @read-and-write- was the first, and then I wrote Let Me inside (I Want to Get to Know You) with @affectionatelyrs. I also did the podficcing of the voice notes for love has a voice (and it's yours) by Manu. I've also got a couple more projects coming up with Jamie also.
All time favorite ship?
Well that I've written for, FirstPrince :)
What's a wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will?
Unfortunately I don't know if I'll ever finish Baby's First Pride because I've grown a ton as a writer since then and I would want to redo the old chapters and that just isn't all the compelling to me anymore...
What are your writing strengths?
I fucking hate this question. But I am going with dialogue and humor (and humorous dialogue) which has been co-signed by others so I feel less weird about saying this.
What are your writing weaknesses?
I would like to be able to keep smut more concise at times, because it always turns into a Big Scene but it doesn't always need to be a Big Scene. And I've been trying to work on a particular style of writing which is a bit more uhhh snappy? I don't know how to describe it. But that's still a huge work in progress, because I always get more rambly than I want.
Thoughts on dialogue in another language?
I definitely try to include it for the characters in RWRB who speak other languages, and when I do I lean on my friends who speak those languages as a native speaker.
First fandom you wrote in?
Officially: RWRB. For myself: HP.
Favorite fic you've written?
Honestly it's always whatever I'm working on at the moment, which is a couple of WIPs: Fire Island WIP, Parasocial Relationship AU with @affectionatelyrs, and my Big Bang fic come to mind.
But really I want to know what y'all's favorite fic of mine is!!!!
I'll tag 20 people, sorry if anyone's done this recently, but in case anyone wants to go again: @mainstreamelectricalparade @14carrotghoul @anincompletelist @littlemisskittentoes @gay-flyboys
and @songliili @gayrootvegetable @leojfitz @welcometololaland @rmd-writes
and @bigassbowlingballhead @eusuntgratie @captainjunglegym @cactusdragon517 @cricketnationrise
and @violetbaudelaire-quagmire @bribumblebee @nocoastposts @magicandarchery @itsmaybitheway!!!
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Working in an indie bookshop has been a dream. Granted, it's only my first month, but man. :')
By nature of the shop, every shift is different. Tourists, regulars. Some are chatty, some are quiet. New books are always arriving. Events, book club. Seeing what people want to order, getting requests for recommendations.
The customers have all been absolutely lovely and deeply patient with me whenever I have an "I'm new, sorry, one second," moment.
And like, today, a girl came in for a book she had on reserve. I started to ring her up and she said, "Oh, sorry, I paid already," and I had a frozen moment because I realized I had no idea how to check on that in the software. So I made a judgment call based on Vibes and said, "You're good, then!" and handed her the book. She said, "Are you sure?" and showed me her bank app opening on her phone, but I smiled and waved her off. After she left, I rang up another customer, waved goodbye, glanced at the other customers browsing, and then she reappeared and told me, "I'm sorry, it'll stay with me all day if I don't–" and she showed me the transaction on her banking app. We both smiled, and as she headed off again (making sure to close the old door correctly behind her), I watched her go and thought, That's a lovely human being, and I hope she loves her book. (Percy Jackson.)
A pregnant woman came in looking for gifts for the children of a friend she was on her way to see, and she was so bubbly and excited about her own baby, she left me smiling for a good ten minutes after she left.
A man bought four books and his card didn't go through, but I was so busy chatting and laughing I almost missed it. I had to re-scan his books and redo the whole transaction, and he was so understanding and patient, we exchanged two more stories after his receipt came through, and both of us were laughing by the end.
A family of four came in, and one of the girls asked for a horror comic. I couldn't find one, so her father helped her pick something else. After they left, I ordered two middle-grade horror comic books so they'll be there for her next time.
Like, I actually rest on my days off now because I'm not dreading going back. I can't overstate how wild that feels. I have the next two days off, but I'm genuinely looking forward to being back there! When I worked Monday-Friday in an office, I did not have that experience. I got into the bedtime procrastination thing of staying up until 2am on my phone because after the commute to the office, work, and the commute home, I had so little time to myself. I was drained and anxious.
I don't take anything home now. No stress, no reports, no projects. I come home, I get head-bunts from my fuzzy roommates, and I unwind.
Small Talk About Books and Sometimes Also People's Small Dogs: The Job really has been a dream. Today I talked to thirty-six people about books, and in between customers, I read "Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop" by Hwang Bo-reum while snacking on rice krispie squares I made and listening to a soft piano Ghibli playlist I put on.
The only downside is the pay, but c'est la retail work.
In conclusion, indie bookshops are very yay, and I'm incredibly grateful to have a job in one. <3
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Endless Summer: Josh Kiszka x Reader Fanfiction
Part Six
description: you and sammy have been best friends since you were kids, and being around his family was the norm your entire life. when invited to a trip to their family lake house during the summer, you find yourself spending more time with his brother than your best friend. and, one thing has been clear your entire friendship: brothers are off limits.
warnings for this series: alcohol and marijuana usage, explicit content (18+, minors dni), angst, swearing
word count: 8.8k
⊱ ━━━━.⋅ εïз ⋅.━━━━ ⊰
There had been a few days that had passed since the movie night, leading into a new week and less time to confess to Sam about you and Josh. You and him had come up with new ways to see each other in private, along with continuing the nightly routine visits and early morning wake-up calls. To say you were a bit relieved you would have to stop sneaking around would only be considered partially true, but hey, it would be nice to let Sam in on your biggest secret yet eventually.
Josh had even stayed in your room once or twice overnight, setting an alarm in the morning to leave you and reside in his quarters. If you never stirred from your sleep when the ringing of the alarm from his phone went off, he would just pepper your face with kisses and let you know that he would be running off to his own bedroom. Although neither of you wanted to separate, you had to for the obvious reasons.
You two were enamored with each other. It was most likely to do with the exciting jitters of a new relationship and exploring one another after years of being unable to do. Even if you had known him for so long, you were still finding new things out that surprised you.
With the past few days, you all found yourself redoing the kayak trip, but you staying in Sam's kayak the entire trip instead of stirring him on about Josh again. You four even went to the local shops and took Josh where you found his mala beads. There were even more there when you all came back, and he ended up buying another pair of them, along with a shirt you told him that you liked on him.
This specific day of the next week was spent lounging at the lake, talking carelessly with the boys about anything that popped into your head.
"Only about two weeks left now, huh?" Sam took a seat next to you on the rocks that lined the lake. You both watched Jake and Josh splash each other like kids, trying to dunk each other under the cool, salty water at least once or twice.
"Two weeks seems like such a long time, but I know it's going to pass by quickly." You whipped over to him with your lips pressed tightly together. "At least that doesn't mean the end of summer."
He nodded at your words with a hum, taking another glance at his brothers before returning his eyes to you. "It also means we have the rest of the summer to do whatever the hell we want. Maybe take that trip to Chicago that you wanted to go on."
An airy laugh exited through your nose as you remembered the night you and Sam spent together that pushed your plans with Josh back to the next day. "You suggested Detroit because Chicago is a 'bit far'."
He shook his head and shrugged with a light smirk. "But you said you wanted to go to Chicago. I'll take you there, but you're gonna have to fork over some gas money." He nudged your arm.
"Fine, but we're going to the art museum." You pointed your finger at him.
"Deal." He nodded satisfactorily.
You two continued watching his brothers scramble in the water, talking and laughing with each other. You rested your head on his shoulder, folding your arms around your legs that pressed to your chest and allowing him to wrap an arm around your shoulders. You took in a deep breath, exhaling it with a pleased sigh that life was where it seemed to be exactly where you wanted it to be. Seemed is the key word, because Sam still hadn't been informed about you and Josh. But you had crossed the long bridge to confirming your feelings with Josh, and so far, that was enough to satisfy you. But as the weeks grew shorter, you began to understand how frustrated you truly were that you had to keep it all a secret.
"Are you excited to go back home, see your family and stuff?" You raised your head from his shoulder.
He met your eyes with his lips twisted as he thought. "I mean, yeah, I miss them, but nothing beats this." He flung his unoccupied hand out to the crashing waters. "Do you say that because you miss your parents?"
"No, I say it because you're always away from your family. Of course, I miss my mom and dad, but I get to see them all the time. Whereas I barely get to see you anymore."
He clicked his tongue and pulled you back into his body that had your head resting back onto his shoulder, rubbing at your arm. "Believe me, I miss you a lot when I'm on tour. But, hey, it's worth it when we get to go do stuff like this. We haven't done a trip in forever together, and we were granted the entire summer just to do whatever we wanted together."
"Who knows, maybe I'll get sick of you by August." You giggled to yourself and felt him squeeze you lightly.
"Rest assured I'm already tired of you. Think I'm going to join my brothers, who I get to see all the time and always annoy me." He patted your arm and left you on the ground as he strode into the water. You laughed with an eyeroll, watching him swim over to his brothers and join them in their madness.
They all called your name, motioning you into the water without telling you what exactly they needed your attention for. You walked into the waters that cooled your sun-kissed skin and swam over to them with a slightly concerned expression.
"Need me to settle some sort of dispute?"
"Quite the contrary, y/n," Josh brought his finger up as he wiggled his eyebrows at you, "we need your participation in a friendly game of chicken."
"Friendly is what you call that game? Sam can barely hold me up and I get dunked into the water every time." You chuckled and flicked your eyes over to Sam, who looked at you with a small, disapproving smile.
"I'm sorry you're not satisfied with your partner. I promise we'll win this time, alright? We can even switch it up a bit and I'll be the one to push you into the water."
To say you we slightly taken aback he would be fine with his brothers holding you on their shoulders was a small understatement, but it was for a "friendly game", so it didn't mean anything to him. That, you were thankful for. And it gave you an opportunity to get a bit close to Josh without causing any sort of suspicion.
"Alright, you're on. Save your strength - you'll need it." You pointed at him.
"Well, I'm not up to bat first." He shook his head with a laugh as he placed his hand over his heart. "Joshua is."
"You should take your own advice, y/n. You'll be eating your words shortly." He gave you a devilish smirk, followed with a wink, and pulled his brother to the shallower end of the lake that you all four would be able to stand in.
"You forget I have a height advantage, Josh." You said as Sam dove under the water to gain you access to throw your legs over his shoulders.
"He'll level the battlefield out for us, don't you worry, 'nervous nelly'." Josh reassured you with a toothy grin as he tapped Jake's shoulders to sink under the water.
Sam rose from the water and had his knees bent a little to keep the heights between you two relatively similar, and you let out an exasperated gasp at the name calling.
"Your first mistake was calling me that." You squealed as Jake gripped onto Josh's legs and holding him tightly on his shoulders whilst walking over to you and Sam.
"Am I making you mad?" He grinned at you.
"Alright, kids, on three." Jake began.
"If your tactic is to get under my skin, it's not working." You shook your head with a downturned smile plastered on your face.
"One." Jake dragged out slowly.
He sucked a breath of air through his teeth. "Seems like it is, y/n."
"Two."
"Not even a little bit, Josh." You glared at him playfully, beginning to raise your arms up in attack-mode.
"Three!" Jake launched himself forward and had Josh landing his hands into yours, both of you forcefully pushing each other back and forth.
You were a giggling mess trying to compose yourself. Sam had helped you fight against his brother, looking up to you and cheering you on.
"Stop going easy on me, come on. Use some of your strength." You teased at Josh.
He mouthed his next sentence to you. "You like force, huh? I'll take that note."
That caught you off guard, reserving to letting go off his hands and shoving his shoulders back. With your hard push, you had Jake stumbling back, but keeping his balance and walking back over to you as he forced Josh to launch his hands forward to land his hands on the sides of your shoulders.
"What was that for?" He struggled with you as you slapped your hands onto his arms and battled for the release of his grasp.
"Shut up." You laughed, teetering on Sam and tightening your grip around his head to lessen his ability to hear.
"What, are you going to make me?" He clicked his tongue and challenged you with a devious smirk.
"Thanks for telling me what you want." You nodded, pushing him back with all of your force and Sam helping you throwing Josh off as he rose to his full height. This had Jake shouting that the whole thing wasn't fair, and Josh falling into the water on his back. Sam tapped at your thighs and jumped lightly, exclaiming at your shared victory.
"Who's eating their words now?" Sam laughed at them. His reaction had Jake rolling his eyes, and Josh popping out of the water as he ran his hands back to smooth his hair.
"I demand a rematch!" Josh shot his finger up to the air. "This time, I'm not going easy on you."
"Alright, Josh." You said and waited for him to resituate himself back onto Jake's shoulders.
"This time, no cheating." He pointed at Sam, and Sam nodded. "On three."
"Hey, she wasn't going to win if-."
"Three!" Jake exclaimed and Josh had clamped his hands onto your shoulders and pushing you back. Sam had barely caught his footing, loosening his grip on you and having you fall into the water.
You sprung up to hear the twin's laughter, giving each other high fives.
"That was cheating." Sam pointed at the both of them with an annoyed grin.
"I didn't say I was going to count to three." Jake shrugged and tilted his body forward to allow Josh to slide off his body.
Josh popped out of the water in front of Sam. "You can take your frustrations out on y/n, though." He shot a glance up to you.
"Hey, I-."
Sam cut you off quickly. "Alright, I'll get onto Jake's shoulders then." He nodded and helped you off of his shoulders smoothly as you slid off from behind him.
You watched as Sam made his way over to Jake and telling him to go under, although Jake told him to give him a few seconds to readjust the muscles in his shoulders.
Josh looked at you with pure amusement. "A bit too easy to get him to allow me any access to you."
You rolled your eyes with a light giggle. "Because this is a friendly game, remember? Not the time to try and get too touchy with me, Joshua."
"Well," he brought his mouth closer to your ears, "it certainly won't be the first time I've been between your thighs."
You pushed his shoulders down, forcing him under the water and waiting for him to turn to give you access to throw your legs upon them. Once he did, he held your thighs tightly, raising up from the water and shaking his hair out of his face. He brought a hand off your plush thigh to wipe the water off his eyes and through his hair.
"What were you two whispering about?" Jake cocked his eyebrows at the both of you. He had kept his sly comments to himself the past few days, but now he chose to make a small one to throw you both off your A-game.
"Strategical tactics, brother. Sam won't last a second, I assure you."
"How much would you like to bet on that?" His lips curled into a smirk.
Sam began to speak. "Can we just-."
"A Jackson." Josh said to him with sheer confidence.
"Twenty? I'm not betting that much on a game. How about ten?"
"Playing it safe because you know Sam will lose, I see." He said, following with a knowing hum. "You got yourself a deal." Josh looked up to you with a wide grin. "Don't lose, alright?"
"Don't think I will." You patted his cheek, looking up to Sam and giving him a challenging look. "You ready?"
"Yeah, ready to shove your ass into the water." He raised his hands up and waited for his brother's countdown.
Once the number three escaped Jake's lips, Josh gripped tightly onto your thighs and pushed you forward with force. You and Sam intertwined your hands with each other, releasing light grunts due to using all the force you had in your body.
You both had fought with each other for quite some time, neither of you being able to overmatch each other's strengths. One of you was bound to give up eventually, but neither of you were prepared to do so.
You then remembered one trait about Sam that was considered a weakness in this situation: ticklish. He always was since you two were kids, especially in his armpits and the sides of his stomach. You began to run your mind through how you would swiftly move your hands to his sides without giving him the upper hand to push you down, so, you locked eyes with him and kept them there for a moment.
"Ready to give up yet?" He said to you with a light grunt.
"Not just yet Samuel." You spoke. He never really appreciated his full name in usage, so when it left your lips, it took him aback. You flew your hands to his sides and began wiggling and digging your fingers into the skin.
"Hey! That's not-." He tried pushing your fingers off of him, but his laughing fit had him unable to do so.
"Push him!" Josh yelled up to you. With a quick reaction, and Josh launching you forward, you pushed Sam's shoulders and had him landing on his back into the water.
Jake pushed your knee, causing Josh to lose his footing just a bit but being able to replant them on the ground in a firm position. Sam swam over to you and Josh and pulled at your ankles.
"I will be expecting my winning money soon." Josh looked over Sam's shoulders and to Jake, who flipped him off in return.
"You're gonna regret that, y/n." Sam looked up at you.
"Are you going to pull me down somehow?" You cocked your head to the side with folded arms.
"I will gladly help you with that." Josh said as his grip ran over his brother's hands and flung you back into the water.
You sprouted up and gave him a hard swat to his chest, only for him to burst into laughter. He just gave you a shrug, and you noticed Sam looking down at you with a light grin.
"You're a piece of shit for that." You pointed at Josh.
"Seemed fair considering you were getting some sort of winning streak. You had to come down one way or another, right?" Sam said from over his brother's shoulder, and your eyes flicked up to him.
"Let's go again then, huh?" You offered, to which you all looked over to Jake.
"Think my shoulders need a bit of a break. Lunch?" He looked between the three of you with his hand clapped at the back of his neck.
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The four of you joined back at the lake for a bit, choosing to relax in each other's presence for the remainder of the time spent outside. Basking in the warm sunlight that kissed your skin, although leaving your cheeks pink, it wasn't something you disliked. It was a reminder of the summertime, especially since your skin was growing tanner than it usually appears.
You all agreed to part ways and take showers to wash off the salty lake water, then join each other in watching the sunset around the fire pit. The usual routine of spending your nights outside became something you grew fond over, especially when it would switch up with a fun game included or Sam taking his turn in playing guitar. And on this night, he did just that.
He strummed the guitar for a bit, playing numerous different riffs that didn't follow a specific song. Just anything that came to his mind he played.
"Think Sam is giving you a run for your money, Jake." You nodded over to him.
He shot his eyes in your direction with a confused expression. "Yeah, he's pretty good, but he can't play guitar behind his head."
Sam scoffed as he stopped his playing. "Alright, well, maybe you can teach me, so we'll be even."
"A magician never reveals his secrets." Jake raised his bottle towards Sam.
Sam leaned in towards you, and said, "I'll learn it one way or another."
You giggled at him, patting his shoulder and edging him on to continue his playing.
The memories you were creating here with them would be unforgettable, whether that be the interesting events that took place every day, becoming closer with Sam and reconnecting after too long of time had passed, or finally being with Josh after years of wishful thinking and doubts.
The fire wasn't lit until an hour had passed in fear of it dying down too quickly. Sam ditched the acoustic and helped Josh get the flames lit ablaze, then both of them taking their usual spots around the pit once more. Jake had even brought marshmallows to roast, along with graham crackers and chocolate to make s'mores. It was like being a kid again, hanging around the fire at night with their family and stuffing your faces of the gooey sandwich.
"S'mores tonight? When'd you come up with that?" You pointed towards the bag that was filled with the squishy, white food.
Jake looked over to you and then to the bag. "When Sam and I were out shopping for groceries. Figured we could eat them while we watch the sunset."
The sun was slowly sinking down the mountainside. It painted the sky with hues of orange and pink while it lowered down into the lake.
Jake had the skewers at his side, standing up and handing two to you and Sam. After doing so, he handed the both of you your own bag of marshmallows, graham crackers, and Hershey's chocolate that he had stowed behind his seat and out of sight, making a sly joke that he was sure Josh and him would be able to finish their own bags.
You plopped one marshmallow onto the pointy stick, whereas they all followed your motions and began to roast them over the fire.
"So, you guys excited to get back onto the road?" You flicked your eyes between all of them.
Josh hummed for an answer, looking over to Jake as if he expected him to speak for him. Jake noticed his brother's eyes, then forwarded his direction to you. "Think we are all pretty stoked to get back out there. But it's nice to take time off and do whatever we want."
You gave him a small smile, followed with a nod, then whipped your head over to Sam. "You?"
He shrugged his shoulders as his eyes lit up in golden from the fire. "I always love touring, but nothing beats being here. It's like a sense of humanity. You know, feeling normal?"
"You don't feel normal all the time?" You huffed a laugh as you took your marshmallow away from the fire. You blew onto the small flame that overtook the top of it, putting it out and starting to make your s'more.
"Well, I didn't mean it like that," he rolled his eyes with a toothy grin, "meant it like, there's no feeling you can get from anywhere other than home." He turned the handle of the skewer in his hand, before lifting it up and examining his lightly burnt marshmallow. He lowered his voice a bit, flicking his eyes over to his brothers before he turned to you. "And I don't get to hang out with you when I'm gone."
You laughed at his slight change of voice. He was always shy when it came to his feelings, especially speaking them out loudly when his brothers were around. Fear of seeming too soft, seeming too vulnerable.
"Awe, you're getting sentimental with me." You giggled as you brought your s'more to your lips.
"Shut up," he breathed. He smushed his marshmallow between his graham crackers, ditching the chocolate and taking a bite.
You just rolled your eyes off of him and noticed Josh had completely burned his marshmallow to a crisp, taking it off with a satisfactory smile and beginning to make his s'more.
"I think it's still on fire, Josh." You had your fingers over your mouth as you spoke to mask any bits of remanent pieces around your lips.
"Just the way I like it." He gave you a nod, looking over to Jake who just gave him a quiet laugh.
"He likes to burn his mouth." Sam leaned in towards you as he spoke, laughing under his breath.
You exchanged in the laughter and seeing Josh shooting you both a disapproving look. He took a large bite and hummed loud enough for you all to hear, then turning his head over his shoulder to watch what was left of the sun fall down where he could no longer see it.
As the sun began to set, and the stars lit up the sky with the moon, you all went back and forth telling numerous stories from your younger years. Usually, the twins would be the leaders in the stories, but they eventually gave you and Sam the floor.
And there you were again, brought back in time for a moment and forgetting that time passed quicker than you'd like. It was like when you all were in high school, wide awake in their backyard or watching movies in their basement. Time never reminded you that it had taken its course with their lives and leaving you behind in these moments, and you guys aren't who you used to be: four innocent individuals unsure of what the future held.
And those thoughts captivated your mind as you focused your eyes on the fire, beer in hand. You were never much of a beer drinker until Sam and you stole a few from their fridge and drank too many in his backyard after everyone went to sleep. But you still drank it around them because it felt right. Hell, everything felt right when with it was surrounding the three of them.
"What are you thinking about?" Sam tapped your forearm, and you quickly shot your eyes to him with a confused expression.
You quickly gained your consciousness back. "Just, about life. How I'm going to miss the fuck out of you when you leave."
He nodded slowly, clanking his beer bottle with yours and raising his to his lips. "That's my least favorite part about tour."
He knew you were unbelievably proud of them for all that they have accomplished. He knew that you wish them nothing but the best in everything that they do. But he also knew how much you missed him, his presence, your best friend that you would be able to stay awake with for hours on end and fall asleep without realizing it.
He continued. "But hey, we're here together now, right? We've got now to focus on, not the future."
You gave him an understanding nod, taking a small sip from your bottle and relaxing your arm back onto the chair with your hand hanging over the plastic.
There was now another person you were going to miss: Josh. Yeah, of course, you missed him when he was gone before, but things were different. You were going to have to remember how it felt to be wrapped in his arms, to kiss him, longer than you had the chance to. But Sam couldn't know that was plaguing your mind more than him. Because you've gotten comfortable coping with Sam's absence, but not Josh's. Not ever. And now, you were unsure how long that would take.
"I don't think I ever thanked you for inviting me, Sam." You rolled your head over to him. He looked at you with a raised brow, and a smile creeping from the corner of his lips.
"Well, you're welcome." He shot his chin up in your direction. "I'm glad that you decided to come. Reminds me of our trips up here as kids."
"That's what I've been thinking about!" You resituated yourself in your chair to lean closer to him. "It's like being back in time for a moment, except we're all older."
He huffed a laugh, shaking his head and taking another sip of his alcoholic beverage. "That's how time works, y/n."
"That's not," you sighed, "you know what I mean. Like we're reliving past memories."
"Except we're creating new ones - better ones. Unfortunate that they're here to screw it up." He joked, lifting his drink over to his brothers who were caught up in a conversation. They both noticed your eyes lingering on them, so they acknowledged the both of you.
"You guys saying some mean shit about us?" Josh cocked his eyebrow comically at you and Sam.
"No, y/n was just talking about how it feels like we're 'reliving past memories' being here. And she thanked me for inviting her." Sam gave you a quick smile.
"Well, I think I speak for everyone when I say we're glad you joined us on this trip." Josh gave you a soft smile, keeping his eyes held with yours. Intention and meaning laid behind that look, but only you could decipher it.
"I'm just happy none of you have gotten annoyed with me." You sighed.
"Who said that we haven't yet?" Sam muttered, to which you gave him a back-hand slap on his chest with your free hand.
"Guess that's my cue to get ready for bed then." You said. You had noticed the night had bloomed fully, and you could feel your body becoming glued to the chair. You stood, finishing the last few sips of your beer before saying, "goodnight."
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You had fully gotten yourself ready for bed, laying under your covers and waiting for Josh's arrival. You never needed to ask him to come into your room after everyone went asleep, but you figured you'd shoot him a text.
Hey, waiting up for you. I miss you.
You stared at that text for a few seconds, deciding to delete it and let time be the fate of whether or not he'd come see you. You set your phone down flat onto the nightstand, next to a photo of a family photo of the Kiszka's. It had caught your eye, so you figured you would examine it while you waited.
You heard the door creak, loud enough to forward your attention to the noise, and you saw Josh smiling at you sheepishly, wearing a pair of brown shorts and a bare chest as he creeped into your room with minimal noise.
He turned his back on you two shut the door. Then, he pointed at the picture frame in your hand. "Whatcha looking at?"
You flipped the picture towards him, and he met you at your side and picked it up. A light smile grazed his lips as he began tracing a few of the faces that lied in the photo.
"Sam hated those braces." He chuckled, setting the photo back onto the nightstand and meeting your eyes.
"I remember him complaining about the bullying. I always felt so bad for him."
Josh crawled over you, making himself comfortable under your blankets before pulling you into his side. "I tried sympathizing with him, but he usually just went to his room in frustration."
You had your head rested in the crook of his neck, with one hand placed on his chest and the other tucked between yours and his's bodies. "He was never a fan of showing his emotions."
Josh just shrugged it off, unsure of what to follow it up with. He rubbed the side of your arm, then using his pointer finger to drag it down slowly. He pressed a kiss on the top of your head as he continued his motions. You were truly content with how you were with him, and the thought of Sam wasn't one that you wanted to plague your mind anymore with.
You removed yourself from his embrace and sat on your legs for a brief moment. He gave you a puzzled look, but it immediately wiped off his face once you straddled his waist. You brought the palms of your hands on his chest, running them up and down smoothly as you watched your motions.
Your eyes looked at him through your lids with a coy grin dancing on your lips. You were satisfied with the way his hands fell onto your hips the moment you sat on his hip. Then, he began running them up your sides from underneath your shirt. His hands were cool at first, but immediately melted into your skin once he ran them back down your body.
He leaned up and crashed his lips onto yours. His hand had tangled its way onto the back of your head with your hair looping through his fingers. You had one hand on his shoulder, the other on his face, holding him onto your mouth to keep him from breaking away. Who knew after a short period of time you would miss the way his lips taste?
Peppermint laced his tongue as he met your own, groaning with an open mouth and gripping on your hip harshly. You prayed his fingers would leave prints just as a reminder the next morning that they had grazed your skin.
His lips traveled to your jaw, then your neck, holding you onto his mouth with each kiss. He was sure to not wrap his lips around your neck too deeply and leave any trace of his whereabouts, but deeply enough for you to know he was there in that moment. You had found your nails digging into his shoulder blades, with your mouth hung open and releasing quiet sighs of pleasure. The way his cool lips hit your seemingly burning up skin was a sensational relief, and you began to rock your hips gently against him.
He wrapped his fingers around your chin and brought you back onto his lips hungrily. His hands landed back on your waist to help you steady your pace and feel each motion wherever he could. But you, you could feel him under you, growing harder with each movement of yourself against his shorts.
You found yourself slowing your hips to a halt and pressing your forehead onto Josh's. The question lingered of "should you" and "what if's"? You both seemed to have decided what you wanted, but there was your mind wandering again on worry and safety.
"Hey," Josh looked up at you with his eyebrows pulled towards the bridge of his nose, "everything okay?"
You breathed a laugh through your nose. "Yeah, everything is fine. Just..."
"Sam?" He said, free of emotion.
You gave him a look of disappointment, not towards him, but yourself. You just nodded, bringing your hands to his face and removing your forehead from his. You felt bad that you were still holding back because of your best friend, but that just meant waiting a little longer.
"I'm sorry, Josh. I just-."
He cut you off quickly as he cupped your cheeks. "No, no don't be sorry. Think it's best if we wait, anyways. Builds up more," he shook his shoulders, "tension."
You rolled your eyes, pressing a kiss on his lips with a downturned smile and looking at him with a sigh. "You've got to be the most understanding person I know."
"That's a good thing, right?" He gave you a toothy expression, mouth parted open.
You just gave him another kiss as your answer, then wrapping your arms around his neck while tilting your head to the side.
"Feel a bit bad I'm letting him get in the way of us." You gave him a light shrug. "We both kind of promised each other that he wouldn't."
He resituated himself under you, then wrapped his arms around your back and bringing you into his chest. One of his hands caressed your back, while the other massaged the back of your head.
"You shouldn't," he whispered into your ear, "but I understand where you're coming from. It doesn't upset me; in case you were worried about that - that you're worried about Sam. He's also right next door, so it's best we don't test out limits any more than we have."
"Just can't wait to tell him so I don't feel like a shitty friend for keeping this a secret." You mumbled into his skin.
"Thinking about sitting him down, like an intervention of the sorts, and telling him."
You leaned up and looked at him with your face scrunched up. "That's what you suggest?"
"Would you rather me be casual about it? Just go up to him and tell him like it's no big deal."
"I don't even know what I'd prefer," you shook your head with a short exhale through your nose, "but all I know is that it'll be...interesting."
"Interesting, indeed, my dear." He widened his eyes, then giving you a gentle kiss.
You removed yourself from on top of him and relaxed on the side of him, just like you were moments before you decided to sit on his lap. You sighed with slight relief, but thoughts running through your head of different scenarios of said day that would occur. How would he react? What would he say?
Josh held you close to him as the both of you relaxed with each other. It was going to be the closest thing to you sleeping in the same bed for the time being, and neither of you wanted to break from the moment. So, sitting in silence was comforting enough for the both of you.
You reached your hand out for him, and he intertwined his own with yours. His thumb rubbed the back of your hand as he hummed a soft tune.
"I've always loved your singing." You looked up to him.
He pressed a light kiss on your forehead and gave you a soft smile. "Well, I'm glad you do. Have yet to hear you sing, though."
"You're not going to want to hear my tone-deaf voice, Josh." You chuckled at him.
"Oh, I think I do." He egged on as he squeezed your hand. "A little duet, perhaps?"
"Not tonight, and probably not ever." You gave him a stern look with a quirk of your brow.
"Alright, alright," he sighed, "one of these days I will."
You rolled your eyes and relaxed your head back onto his shoulder. You could feel the usual pull your body had on you when you grew more exhausted, feeling as though you were unable to move from your position. His comfortable heartbeat was practically lulling you to sleep.
"I think I'm going to fall asleep." You groaned, letting your eyes rest shut.
Josh huffed a laugh, placing a light kiss on the top of your forehead. "Then I should probably leave for the night. I'd love to stay for another sleepover, but think I'll just use my bed tonight."
He shuffled himself out of the bed and waited for you at the door. You dragged yourself out from under the covers, coming over to him with your arms ready to be wrapped around his neck and pull him into a kiss.
"See you in the morning, alright?" He said into your lips.
You pulled away and gave him a singular nod. Neither of you liked saying goodbye, rather choosing to say when you two would see each other next. It was an odd sentiment that became some sort of tradition between the two of you. Because, truly, neither of you wanted to leave one another, but it was the unfortunate fate that was given to you both for obvious reasons.
He pressed his lips on yours once more before leaving you, holding your face in his hands with delicacy. The feeling of how soft his lips brushed against yours was one that you always missed, but moments like these were reminders that you’d get to wake up every morning and feel the same sensations all over again.
“What the fuck?” Sam spoke slowly, but annunciated every word from the now open door that you and Josh hadn’t heard creak from its shut state.
You pulled your lips off of Josh’s quickly. You didn’t push him away though, letting him act in his own actions by placing his hands flat on the sides of his legs and looking at his brother in near terror, the same expression you wore.
Your breath grew shaky, and your stomach began to turn and twist into a nauseated feeling. Your mouth was agape as you stared at your best friend witnessing the sight in front of him. Neither of you knew what to say, so you all reserved to silence. Frankly, you felt like you couldn’t move a muscle and were stuck frozen in place. Sam, on the other hand, tightened his grip harder on the door as his jaw tensed up, eyes still blown wide but eyebrows furrowed tightly. This was the most frustrated you’ve ever seen him, and that only made you more fearful of what was to come next.
You were caught doing something you never should have done in the first place, although it wasn’t his right to tell you what you could and couldn’t do. But it was wrong of you to be with his brother in the first place upon his request, and you broke that promise. That promise alone diminished every last ounce of trust he had in you and filled his entire being with disgust. Anger, hurt, disappointment; you name it. All of the negative emotions he could possibly have felt, he did now.
And you, you did as well. You had realized the mistake you made, and seeing how upset your friend was only made the reality of the situation worse. You had hoped that if you just shut your eyes, this would all go away, but that wasn’t how life worked. You had to own up to your mistakes, but you were afraid that if you opened your mouth, vomit would come spewing out.
Josh took in a deep, shaky breath. “Sam-.”
“Don’t say a fucking word to me, Josh.” He hissed; voice shaky as his finger pointed directly to his brother. He kept his eyes squinted at him, as a warning not to speak another word or else he would regret it.
Was he expecting you to say something? Did he want you to speak? If you were supposed to, you had to try and spill some words out of your dry mouth.
You swallowed the knot in your throat in hopes of being able to say something. A sentence. A single word, a sound. But all you could manage to do was stutter for a few moments, locking eyes with Sam as soon as your mouth began to utter sounds.
“I am so, so sorry, Sam. Please, let me-.”
“Let you what? Explain to me whatever the fuck it is I just saw?” He spat at you. His nostrils began to flare as his stare became more intense. “You are not fucking sorry. Don’t you stand there and lie to me, y/n. Unbelievable.” Your eyes began to well up with each word he spat at you. His eyes were already daggers, but his words were like bullets shooting into your heart with each slight raise in his voice.
Your bottom lip began to shake as you let out a choked breath, watching him suddenly stop caring about how you felt. In times where you were like this, he would be the one to console you. But now, that was the last thing he would do for you.
He turned his back on you, and without hesitation you followed him quickly out of your room and tugged at his arm the moment you were able to catch up to him. He whipped his head to meet your welled-up eyes and pull away from your grasp.
“I don't even know what to say to you right now, other than the fact that I'm fucking disappointed.” He stood in front of you, his pointer finger raising up shakily and shooting right into your face. He just watched your eyes become blurry, not even a single hint of sympathy in his face. You knew he wanted to see you hurt, because that’s what he felt. He wanted you to feel as shitty as he did, as horrid as it sounds. But he didn’t care. “And you,” he looked behind you and noticed Josh standing just outside your door, walking over and looking down upon him yet lowering to his level just so he could meet his face properly, “you fucking promised you wouldn't try anything with her. You knew how I would feel, know how I feel about this, but you chose to do it anyways.”
You watched the scene from your locked position, feeling as though you were unable to move. Josh’s eyes began to wrinkle at the sides as his lips pulled tightly into an aggravated look. Now it was his turn to be upset, and you were just a bystander choking on your mournful, regretful tears. “It’s not your fucking choice to make, Sam.”
He was challenging him. He had no fear pent up in his system anymore, instead, a blazing fire that was igniting into fury. And Sam let out an evil laugh, throwing his head back as he shook it. Sam knew that Josh was never one to back down, so this was definitely some game he intended to play until things got messy.
“So, you admit that you don’t give a shit about how I feel then, huh?” He raised his eyebrows loosely. A devilish smirk had coiled onto his lips terrifyingly. He was trying to intimidate his brother, trying to win this game that Josh had begun the moment he shot back at his brother.
But Josh wasn’t usually a fighter He didn't want to start something that would become messy and for you to witness, although you've watched them brawl each other a few times as kids. “I didn’t say that, S-.”
He cut him off quickly with his hands clapped on his shoulders, tugging his brother closer to him. “But you know that’s what you did, right? You disregarded my feelings, my words, everything I ever said to you about how I would despise if this ever happened.” He shook his head in astonishment, with a light scoff breezing out through his nose. He flicked his eyes over to you, seeing how your lips had been pressed tightly together to muffle your cries with a quivering chin. How your eyes were puffy and had begun shedding a few tears down your cheeks and staining them.
Sam turned his attention back to Josh, who rolled his eyes and began to speak calmly. “Can we be civil and talk about this instead of you trying to make me feel shitty about this? I know you’re upset, Sam. But, I think you can grow some common sense and let us talk to you-.”
“No.” He pushed his brother back lightly as he removed his firm grip on his shoulders. He looked at you again, waiting for another tear to fall from your face. “The fuck are you crying for? Surely you’re not because you feel bad about this.”
“I do-.”
“No,” he stomped over to you as he raised his voice, “you obviously don’t! You’re crying because you were too stupid enough to get caught, y/n! You don’t feel bad. If you did, you never would’ve done whatever it is you two have been doing in the first place. Are you happy? Are you satisfied that you did the one fucking thing you promised me you would never do? Congratulations, y/n, you really outdid yourself with this one.”
Your breaths were quiet cries to him, letting your mouth open as your eyes flicked between his own. He had never yelled at you like this, never talked down to you like this. It was the most gut-wrenching thing you could ever experience. You just wanted this all to go away, for this all to be a twisted nightmare that you could wake up from.
“Why are you being so mean to me, Sam?” It was a stupid question you were asking, but it was one you wanted to say out loud. There was the obvious reason why he was upset with you, but how he was dragging you through the dirt only made you feel like you didn’t know him. You never saw this side of him before, and frankly, you didn’t recognize who stood before you. It was mortifying to watch him just stare at you as if he could care less you were very much upset about this. In fact, you could even get the sense he wanted you to cry.
He just laughed at you, leaning his head back as he continued his laughter to himself. “Can’t believe-why am I being mean to you? Are you fucking kidding me?” He brought his hand to his head as he looked around the dim hallway with an evil, toothy smirk plastered on his face with disbelief. “You destroyed the trust I had for you. You think I wouldn’t be upset by this? Is that what you expected?”
You let out a choked cry. “No, Sam-.”
“And yet, you chose to sneak around with my brother. Disgusting.” He spat, pressing his lips tightly together with a light shake of his head. He looked towards Josh, who was breathing deeply by the way his shoulders rose with each inhale of air he took. “Fuck you.”
He walked back to his room without another word to you both and you grappled enough force to move yourself towards him, watching as the door shut loudly in your face. Your legs felt like jelly with each step, eyes barely of any help with how your tears filled your waterline and blocked your vision.
You banged on his door with the sides of your fists, screaming his name as you cried. “Sam, Sam please open the door.”
You continued your actions, calling for him again and again. “Sam, please. Please can we talk about this? Sam!”
You were growing exhausted. You could feel your legs wanting to give out with every harsh knock on his door. You were practically using all of your force. “Sam,” you choked out quietly, “please.”
You sunk your hands down from the door, lowering yourself to the floor as an uncomfortable knot bubbled in your throat. Your entire mouth felt dry, and it had you gasping for air as you fell onto the ground and relaxed your face onto the wood. Your cheeks were burning up - your entire body was with how your waling cries were bouncing off the walls. Your eyes faltered to the floor as your body reminded you of the nausea that sat in the pit of your stomach and tore it from the inside. As if you could feel so empty yet so built up with everything that was happening internally and externally. You felt lost.
Josh came to your side immediately, crouching down and waiting for the right moment to bring you into his body. He wasn’t sure if that was what you wanted, so he just relaxed his elbows on his knees with his hands hanging over the split of his legs. You met his eyes, and although you were utterly embarrassed by how unattractive you felt in this moment, that was the last thing you cared about right now.
“I shouldn’t have let this happen; this is all my fault.” He said in a low whisper, with his face fully in a regretful state. He didn’t regret anything he did with you, no, he regretted breaking the promise that he had everything figured out. That Sam wouldn’t find out this way. That Sam wouldn’t get in between the both of you.
You couldn’t find words to say, you just leaned the side of your head back onto the door and shut your eyes. You begged yourself to wake up, wake up from this. Wake up. Wake up.
You banged your fist against the door again, whether it was in an attempt to call out for Sam, or out of pure agony. You couldn’t pick out exactly how you felt, but you knew it was painful. You weren’t upset with Sam, or Josh, but yourself. It takes two for a relationship to happen, and you could’ve not let it occur. But you instigated the first kiss, telling Josh it was okay and that you didn’t care what Sam thought. It was you that started this. It was you that fell for him first. It was you that betrayed your best friend.
Josh had sat himself on his knees, pulling you into his chest and letting your head fall near his heart. Mucus began to drip from your nose as you choked on your own breath, practically hyperventilating from your cries of dismay. Josh held you tightly in his arms, looking down at you because he didn’t know how else to comfort you. He knew there was nothing to say to make you feel better, because what was there to say? That he was sorry? You knew that. That you two would figure it out? How? How could you believe that when that was all he’s been promising to you for the past weeks and a half?
So, he sat with you mute, listening to your loud cries that should’ve woken up Jake. Hell, it could’ve wakened up anyone in distance of the lake house if they were near. You tried to calm yourself, processing with every ounce of mindful thinking you could forge together to focus on your breathing, but to no avail.
Eventually, he wrapped his arms under your legs and pulled you up with him. A light grunt escaped his throat as he stood to his feet, but he managed to keep you in his grasp and take you back to your room. You didn’t fight it, mainly because there was no energy left in your body to do so, instead reserving all of it to continue your cries.
He rested you into your bed, throwing the covers over your body and stripping his shorts off his body once he reached the opposite side of the bed. Even if you wanted him to leave you alone, which you were sure that you didn’t, he wasn’t going to just walk out on you in your most anguished state. It tore at his heart to see you like this, as he’s only really seen you cry once or twice.
You shuffled yourself into his chest, painting his bare skin with your tears. He just rubbed your back slowly in hopes of relaxing you, and it helped to some extent. You cried to the point of near exhaustion, and as much as you felt the need to let out more upsetting whines, your body was unable to do so. So, you just choked up a bit, sniffling into his chest as you rested your eyes, pressing harshly onto them to release anymore tears your body could produce. But there was none. Your eyes were simply dry, puffy and red. You didn’t know if that would be the end of your sobbing, if you would wake up in the middle of the night and remember that Sam had cut you deep with his words and have you spiraling back to feeling sorrowful. You didn’t want to think about it anymore, because you know you needed sleep. And Josh was helping coax you with each circle he drew on your back, and with each trace down the side of your head he’d bestow upon you.
⊱ ━━━━.⋅ εïз ⋅.━━━━ ⊰
series taglist: @gvfleetwood @sacredjake @aureatopia @myeyehurtz @alexiagx @objectsinspvce @unhappycylinder @spinthehemmo @carbonwritingthroughtime @thecoldwind @ageofsophgvf @fakeplastiqtree @thepritchardscale @gvfpal @light-myluv @raviolilegs @jordierama @alwayskiszka
other tags: @ageofhearingloss @mountain-in-springtime @ignite-my-fire @gvfsstardust @jakesguitarsolo @fallonfatality @gold-mines-melting @digitalcalamity @demolitionndann @lipstickitty @lexii-nv-c @joopsworld @ryrybaby @hellowgoodbye << for all of you new here, welcome to my first series! tagged you in a interesting plot point, so you might want to catch yourself up a bit if you'd like! ;) and, thanks for joining my taglist! will be tagging you all in future works.
-part seven-
#greta van fleet#josh kiszka#jake kiszka#sam kiszka#danny wagner#sammy kiszka#danny gvf#josh gvf#jake gvf#sam gvf#josh kiszka gvf#jake kiszka gvf#sam kiszka gvf#josh kiszka fanfiction#josh kiskza fanfic#josh kiszka fluff#josh kiszka angst#josh kiszka smut#josh kiszka fic#josh kiszka x reader#josh kiszka x you#josh kiszka x y/n#endless summer#endless summer fanfic#endless summer fanfiction#sam kiszka angst#sam kiszka fanfic#sam kiszka fanfiction#sam kiszka fic#sam kiszka fluff
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