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bullet-prooflove · 4 months

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This is the Year: Juan 'Juice' Ortiz x Reader

Part of @storiesofsvu Holiday Bingo! The square was Resolutions!

Tagging: @stydiaswish @goosterroose @crazy4chickennuggets @kmc1989 @withakindheartx @darqchilddaydreamz

Juice doesn’t believe in New Year’s resolutions. He’s made them plenty of times over the years, but he’s never been able to stick to it. That is until he meets you.

He’s sitting on the swings by the clubhouse when midnight comes around, a beer clasped in his hand. His gaze shifts to Tig whose standing on the porch, his arm looped around Suzie’s waist, his thumb ghosting over her cheek. Those silver rings contrast against her skin as he tips her chin up and kisses her. There’s so much love between the two of them, there has been from the start and now the two of them have a baby.

Juice wants that, he wants to feel like he matters to someone, to love them and be loved in return.

This is the year, I do it. He promises himself as he watches the fireworks erupt throughout the night sky. This is the year he asks you out.

It started in late November in the botanical gardens. Tig had been doing a lot of treks across the country, smoothing out the Sons withdrawal from the gun game. Suzie was getting big, trying to finish up work at Cara, Cara before maternity leave started. She was finding it hard to walk Bonnie. Juice had offered to help out, he loved animals especially dogs. He’d started taking Bonnie to the botanical gardens. He’d read up on scent walks, how they were mentally relaxing for dogs. He thought that it may help with the healing process after everything she’d been through with the dog fighting ring.

The two of them had gotten into a routine. They’d go to the gardens, and she’d have a sniff around, explore for a bit before they played with the ball launcher. After that they’d chill under a tree, get some doggie ice cream, people watch and play tug.

They’ve been doing this for a couple of weeks before he notices you. The pretty girl on the bench with the sketch book. He’s always been fascinated by creatives, he’s more mechanical minded, good with his hands. It’s the reason he’s so good with computers and with engines, there’s something about them that just makes sense to him. He catches your eye, and you give him that smile. The one that makes his entire world light up.

It's April when the roses come into bloom, it gives the botanical gardens a new lease of life. Bonnie’s in her element, there’s new smells to explore. The dog has come out of her shell so much over the past few months that Tig’s asked him to continue with the dog walking. Both him and Suzie are busy with the new baby, they want to make sure Bonnie doesn’t get left out.

It’s Bonnie that makes the first move, the gardeners have been rearranging some of the plants, adding new ones. You just so happen to be seated alongside of one of them, the lead slips out of his grasp as she takes off bee-lining towards it. He hauls ass after her, calling her name. When he eventually catches up, she’s seated in front of you, tongue lolling out of her mouth as you shower her with attention.

“Sorry, sorry.” He apologises, scooping up the leash. “There’s a lot of new smells, she gets excited.”

“I get it.” You tell him. “My friend’s dog is the same. We usually come out here in the evenings, play a little, it’s a good wind down.”

“You like dogs?” Juice asks as he scratches behind Bonnie’s ears.

“Sometimes more than I like people.” You say with a smile.

He laughs because honestly, he feels the same way.

“Hey, let me buy you a coffee.” He says, tipping his head towards the coffee cart by the fountain. “You can tell me a little more about your friend’s dog.”

That’s how it starts. He learns that you’re an artist, that you teach adult classes at the local college throughout the day and some evenings. You come to the botanical gardens to get to some versatility, drawing nature throughout the seasons, sometimes you draw people. You flick through the pages of your sketchbook, showing him different depictions of the same space. It transforms throughout the year, sometimes the shading changes, you add shadows. It grows, it develops, it becomes something more.

“I prefer painting.” You tell him when the two of you head out on one of your evening dog walks. Bonnie and Misha, the Cockapoo are checking out the trail ahead as you walk side by down, sipping hot chocolates from the coffee cart. “I just love working with colour, seeing the difference it makes, the contrast.”

“You have such passion.” He tells you as his thumb chases up the side of the takeaway cup.

“What are you passionate about?” You ask him, your shoulder bumping against his.

“Honestly?” He asks, taking a gulp of his caramel hot chocolate.

“Yea.” You say with that enthusiastic grin of yours. “What gets you up in the morning? What do you live and breathe?”

“Engines.” He tells you, shrugging his shoulders as you laugh. “I don’t know what to say! When I start stripping down a bike and I put my hands to work, something in me just clicks. It’s like the whole world makes sense. I just focus on the task, the nuts and bolts of it and I don’t know…” he trails off for a second as he tries to find the words. “It’s soothing you know?”

“That’s how I feel about painting.” You tell him, your gaze on the two dogs as they snuffle in one of the bushes. “I couldn’t do it for a while, a couple of years ago and it drove me absolutely crazy.”

“I noticed the scars.” Juice remarks gesturing at your right arm. “You broke your arm at one point?”

“What’s Misha got?” You say, quickening your step before you call out for the dog to ‘drop it’.

The walks turn to dinner dates, which turn to late night bike rides because sometimes he can’t sleep, and he discovers that you can’t either. You feel so good against him, your arms wrapped around his waist, your cheek pressed against his back. It’s after one of these rides that you invite him inside and he knows it’s not just for coffee.

He makes love to you in fresh sheets, in a room that’s filled with canvases and colour. His fingers entwin with yours, your thighs hitching around his waist as he loves you like he’s loved no one else. Your fingertips chase over the scars on his back, the ones from where he was shivved in prison.

You know that’s one of the reasons he doesn’t sleep sometimes. He dreams about that day, of the shiv plunging into him, the blood dripping onto the concrete underneath his feet.

Your palms trail down the curve of his spine, caressing his ass before you draw him even deeper, and he moans into your mouth because until then he’s tried to be a gentleman but you…

You untether him completely.

It’s playful, sensual and soft. He smiles as you bite his lower lip because his baby, she knows exactly what she wants and it’s him. When you shatter underneath him, it’s the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen. He comes hard, his hips flush against yours as he drinks down your pleasure.

Another year, another New Year’s party.

Juice steals you away before midnight, breaking into the botanical gardens where the two of you first met. He lays down a picnic blanket so that you can watch the fireworks in peace.

It’s perfect, this moment, lying beneath the stars with the woman he loves.

He’s been carrying the ring around with him since he bought it a couple of weeks, just waiting for the right time and he knows now in his heart that this is it.

He says your name as he props himself up, withdrawing the ring from his pocket. You tilt your head towards him as he holds it up.

“Simone, I love you.” He tells you, the earnestness shining in his features. “Let me spend the rest of my life making you as happy as you make me.

“Juan…”

He just loves the way you say his name. You’re the only one that gets to call him that, the only one he lets call him that.

“Juan, I can’t.”

His world crashes in on him. The ring slips from between his fingers tumbling onto the blanket and getting lost in the folds. Everything goes numb, he feels the emptiness flood through his body as you reach for him, your thumb ghosting across his cheek. It’s just an intimate gesture, and it hurts so fucking much.

“It’s not you.” You tell him, your voice cracking. “It’s me, it’s entirely me.”

The story comes out in stops and starts and Juice’s heart breaks with every single word. You can’t marry him, of course you can’t, because you’re still married to the abusive asshole who used to beat the hell out of you.

It’s the reason you left Seattle and came to Charming.

You’d ran after he’d smacked you around so hard, he’d shattered your right arm. He’s the reason it aches when it rains, the reason you had to stop painting a couple of years ago.

“I never divorced him.” You tell Juice as you sit on the picnic blanket with your knees drawn up to your chest. “If I do, he’ll find me…”

Your eyes sting, the tears leaking down your cheeks. You let out a shaky exhale before you raise your eyes to the sky.

“It’s over, right?” You say as you use the back of your hand to chase away the tears.

“No.” Juice says quietly as he sits beside you. “Not if you don’t want it to be.”

“I can’t give you what you want,” You say softly, toying with the beaded bracelet on your wrist. “I can’t be your wife.”

He gathers you up into his arms, drawing you into the comfort of his body. If he could take this all away for you he would, but he can’t because your history is what brought you here to him. His love for you, that’s unconditional, it doesn’t matter what label you put on it. He’s yours, for better or for worse.

“I don’t need a wife,” He whispers against your hair line as he cradles you close. “I just need you.”

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chouxsardine · 4 months

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Love is a four-legged word--Sam Kiszka x reader

Summary: Love comes in all forms, it is, afterall, a four-legged word--Sam and y/n met at a park while walking their dogs. The furry friends are their best wingman.

Pairing: Sam Kiszka x f!reader

Word Count: 7418

Warnings: dogs, description of crying, allusion to death of pet, death of animals, mention of the name of alcohol (but no alcohol involved) (please let me know if I missed any!)

Genre: fluff, angst, hurt/comfort

Author's note: This is my longest piece so far and my first Sam piece (yipee!! exciting!) This was a Christmas gift to I want to @dannythedog thank her for hosting the gvf secret santa. But as late as it was… I hope it can still count as a New Year's gift? This took so long to write and I myself went through a pretty emotional journey while writing this. I have more to say, but I will save for the end if you care to read it. Enjoy for now.

“Come on, Rosie bug, it’s time for your walk.” Sam stood up from the sofa, raising his arm for a stretch.

Being the good girl that she is, Rosie was already waiting patiently at the door, sitting still while Sam put the harness and leash on her.

It was a sunny afternoon, warm and cloudless after consecutive days of rain. Taking advantage of the delightful weather, Sam decided to extend their daily walk and take Rose to the park. He has always loved this park. There’s just something so intimate about this public space that always draws him towards it. It is situated a few blocks away from downtown, a beautiful getaway from the hurly burly of the city. It has a large lawn area that turns into the most pleasant shade of green in April, around his birthday. The colour so lovely that it gives him the urge to touch the grass, hug a tree, and nuzzle his face into nature. It is also the best place to people-watch—college lovebirds, laughing toddlers, family picnics—it is like being in one of Georges Seurat’s paintings.

It seems that many people think the same way as Sam. The park was busier than usual. The duo took their familiar route, following the gravel path to the fountain where the running tracks start. They would take a break on the bench where Rose can enjoy some treats.

Sam has done a good job socializing Rose due to the need for frequently traveling on the road. Rose is a curious girl and is open to making new friends, but she always listens to Sam. When other dogs pass by either barking over-excitedly or stopping to exchange friendly sniffs, Rose generally remains unfazed. She knows that remaining her composure and staying close to Sam is going to warrant some loving pets and yummy treats. Therefore, when a black and white Pit Bull trotted up to Rose, Sam didn’t pay too much attention. The dogs are all on leashes in this area. If any of them stop for a little longer, Sam will usually exchange a friendly smile with the owner, then each side will go about their own business. However, Rose seemed to be especially interested in this new friend. She stood up and started wagging her tail softly, gently bumping nose with her newfound friend, learning their smell and demeanour. That’s when Sam noticed that this dog looked a little special. Instead of the common collar, it was wearing a blue bandana with the word “adopt” printed on the corner. Sam followed the leash and looked all the way up. He saw a pretty girl looking down at the two dogs interacting with a mesmerizing smile.

Sensing his gaze, the girl quickly looked up.

“Oh hi, so sorry about this. Klaus is a shelter dog; he doesn’t get to interact with other dogs a lot, so he got a bit excited.” She said apologetically.

Ah, so that explains the bandana.

Now it seemed that Klaus took an interest in Sam as well. Considering his lack of socialization, Sam thinks Klaus is doing exceptionally well. He was sniffing Sam’s jeans, nudging his ankles with his nose.

“No, no, don’t worry. I don’t mind.” Sam bent down and extended the back of his hand to Klaus. After receiving a lick and some kisses as signs of approval, he started scratching Klaus behind the ears. “I’m Sam, and this is Rose.”

“Nice to meet you, Sam. I’m y/n,” y/n said before crouching down. Rose immediately moved towards her and started pawing her hand.

One thing Sam loves the most about Rose is that she has good taste in people. Come on, this girl chose Sam to be her handler. (Sam has always believed that it is Rose who came to him, not the other way around.) And based on Rose’s reaction now, Sam would like to boldly assume that y/n is a decent person as well.

“Come on, Klaus, let’s go.” y/n gently tugged the leash, but she was completely ignored. The two dogs were already playing together, bowing and bouncing just like puppies.

“They can play for a bit,” Sam said. He loves seeing Rose Bud making friends. “If you are not in a rush, that is.”

“No, I’m not. Thank you so much,” y/n relented.

“So, Klaus is a shelter dog, you said?” Sam asked as he scooted over and let out more space on the bench for y/n to sit next to him.

“Yes, today is his Doggy Day Out,” y/n kindly explained. “People can sign up to take a shelter dog out for a ‘field trip’ for a day. It helps them manage kennel stress and increases their chances of getting adopted.”

The thoughtfulness of the idea makes Sam smile. He has heard about similar programs before, but this was his first time encountering an example in real life. “So you chose Klaus?”

“Yeah, Klaus is one of the longest residents at the shelter.” y/n cupped the dog’s adorable face in her hands and cooed. “I mean, look at his face, how could I say no? Besides, people often have a misunderstanding about Pit Bulls, you know, about them being aggressive and all; so it’s harder for them to get adopted.”

As absurd as it sounds, that is sadly the truth. Sam remembers seeing more than once those distasteful comments under Rose’s account.

“Indeed. Sometimes we truly don’t deserve dogs.” He said.

A comfortable silence draped over them, except it was quite loud in y/n’s mind and chest right now. Y/n had been stealing glances at the man next to her in between conversations the whole time and she hoped she wasn’t being too obvious. There was no denial that Sam is outright gorgeous. He was wearing a navy blue t-shirt underneath an unbuttoned black plaid shirt, black pants, and a pair of Nike blazers. But what attracted her the most was his hair, the hair that suddenly made her self-conscious about her own (which really needed to get washed today). Sam has dark brown hair the length to his shoulder. The loose curls look lush and smooth, shining under the sunlight, which makes it a lighter flax colour. The strands that frizzes away are delicate and golden, swaying along with his breathing. Y/n bet they are silky and soft to the touch too. Plus, he has really pretty hands, with the pink leash wrapped around his palm contrasting against his olive skin. Slim, bony fingers, with nails that are clean, round and well-trimmed. Those are hands well-kept.

Maybe there is a grain of truth to what people say about first impression after all, Sam thought. A girl with Rose’s approval, a nice smile, and a sensible and tasteful take on Pit Bulls (She also looks cute). Sam thinks he quite liked her.

“So, what are your plans for the day? I mean, for Klaus?” Sam quickly corrected himself to sound less snoopy.

“We haven’t left the shelter for long. I was planning on getting him a pup cup first.”

“Pup cup! What a coincidence, that’s exactly what Rose bug and I have in mind,” (Liar. He didn’t). Sam put on his best smile. “Mind if we join you?”

Their conversation carried on smoothly as they made their way to the nearby bakery. Sam found out that y/n volunteers at the local shelter and works as a freelance photographer and a part-time dog walker. Y/n learned that Sam is a bassist and keyboard player who is in a band with his brothers (“That explains the pretty fingers,” Y/n thought to herself).

The bakery is a hidden gem in the neighbourhood, with a walk-up window inlaid into the white brick wall. A blackboard with cursive chalk writing was propped up beside it, displaying the menu. A separate hand-drawn poster on the wall sayid “puppuccino available for furry friends” in brush lettering.

“Do you want anything? My treat,” Sam asked as they approached the queue. “Please say yes so I have an excuse to ask for your number just in case you want to return the favour sometime.”

A bold move? Yes. But he felt like taking chances today.

Y/n raised her eyebrows in slight surprise. Sam held her gaze, silently restating his point.

“Fine, if you insist.”

“I do insist.” Sam stepped aside as it was their turn to order and let y/n go first. “After you.”

That’s smooth. Real Smooth. Y/n thought. Almost as smooth as his hair.

For the next few weeks, Sam and y/n has been talking on and off through text messages. Their chat history was mainly composed of Sam sending goofy dog videos and y/n replying with cute pictures she took of dogs at the shelter. Sometimes Sam spotted y/n holding multiple leashes, walking dogs on the sidewalk, and sometimes he went to the shelter under the excuse of dropping off donations just to see her. Occasionally, they would fix a date to meet at the park for a “puppy play date” when y/n took another dog on their Doggy Day Out. While the dogs rolled together or chased each other within their sight, they would sit on the bench with coffee cups in their hands and a box of cookies between them to share. Y/n found Sam to be a charming guy. She loves his brutal honesty and his humour with a witty tongue. He loves to hold her gaze while talking to her. At first, she hated it—the unrelenting stare from those captivating brown eyes makes her want to squirm in her seat—and Sam was never the first to break eye contact. But over time she had learnt to stare back nonchalantly, usually with a single raise of her eyebrow.

There was no lack of vocal banters as well, which usually embarks after one of them blurts out some controversial opinion. With some people, a debate over things like if pineapple belongs on pizza or should you pour milk before cereal can quickly lead to annoyances, but it’s different with Sam. Sam brings out the competitiveness in y/n just like she was back in her high school debate club. Backchat with Sam is fun; he makes one willing to takes all the steps—from gathering evidence to forming thesis statement—just to be rebutted by a single line of his ingenious comment; and y/n is not even mad about it. The cherry on top is that Sam always likes to push one step further by adding the flirtatious “What now, little mama, cat caught your tongue?”. She feels offended in the best possible way.

On the other hand, as composed as he seems to y/n, Sam feels that things always came out of his mouth without filters when he is with y/n. For example, he will never let go of that one time they argued about the right way to hang up toilet paper.

“It’s obviously under! Have you ever had times when you hang it over and it unrolls itself and you get this massive pile of toilet paper on the floor?”

“No, Sam, I have not. I’m pretty sure that’s because you got a bad roll or some mean spirit in your bathroom pulled it.”

“It’s a perfect roll, just out of the package!”

“Then it’s definitely some mean spirit. Burning some sage should fix it. Obviously, the correct way is over so that it doesn’t rub against the wall.”

“Bold of you to assume I have dirty walls!”

“How do I know? You probably do!”

“I will not stand any defamation to my name and my wall. You can only form such an opinion after you have checked it out!”

Y/n gave him an interesting look. Just before she could say something, Rose rushed back to their side, and for once, Sam was relieved that the debate withered away because as soon as those words left his mouth, he wanted to slap himself.

Why would you say that, you freaking idiot? What kind of activities should you be engaging in that will lead to a situation involving you showing her the cleanness of your bathroom wall, which unfortunately is, in fact, kind of gross and stained with flashed pee?

But fate is a fickle little thing. Little does Sam know, it was not long before they did end up in that situation, just not in the way as he has expected.

Earlier that day, Sam has sent y/n a message asking if she wants to meet at the park the next day and received a brief message that reads, “Sorry, got caught up at the shelter”.

That is usually a bad sign because it means that there’s either a large intake or some kind of emergency. Y/n also ran a volunteer social media account, posting adorable pictures and short videos that she took of the dogs when she takes them out for a walk for temperament tests, adding visibility to help they find a loving home. Sam vaguely remembered y/n mentioning that they took in a puppy that was hit by a car. He secretly hoped it wasn’t any bad news. Sam debated between sending her a goofy dog meme with the caption “Take care” to lighten up the mood or asking further. He waited, but the three dots on the other side of the chat box never came up.

It was around nine in the evening when Sam received another text from y/n.

Y/n: Are you busy right now?

Sam: No, just chilling. What’s up?

Y/n: My car broke down.

The three dots are still blinking when Sam’s finger flew through the screen.

Sam: location?

Sam: I’ll be there.

Rose looked up confused from her spot on the couch, when Sam rushed to the foyer, one arm already in his jacket and stuffing his feet into shoes.

“Hold the fort, Rose bud!” He yelled before locking the door behind him.

Y/n’s car broke down not too far away from the shelter. Sam saw the tow truck and the roadside assistance as he drove near. Y/n was talking to the truck driver. From the distance, she looked so forlorn and lost under the jarring redness of warning lights. The size different between her and the heavyset man towering over her makes her looked like a puppy soaked in rain. Sam had never felt such a strong sense of protectiveness towards anyone. He wanted nothing more than to rush to her side and engulf her in a hug, if she would let him.

He almost drifted as he swerved his car into an empty parking space by the side of the road. He ran to y/n’s side.

“Okay, Miss. The insurance company will contact you for further details,” the roadside assistance worker nodded to y/n. “The truck will tow your car to the garage. Do you have a ride home?”

“Yes,” said Sam before y/n could answer.

The man gave him a knowing look before he said, “Good. Make sure you take all your valuable belongings in the car with you.”

Sam helped y/n put her stuff in the backseat of his car before opening the passenger side’s door for her. Sam had noticed that y/n’s body was stiff and tense the whole time when she was standing outside, and it remained so as she plopped down onto the seat.

“Are you okay? Did you get hurt?” Sam turned to her eagerly once he had situated himself.

As soon as the words left his lips, the dam broke loose. Y/n’s shoulder visibly relaxed as loud sobs ripped through her body. She tried to purse her lips and contain herself but tragically failed. For a minute, she couldn’t make a single syllable other than frantically shaking her head and shoving her hands to her mouth, trying to muffle her crying. Y/n’s whimper filled the car, mixed with the loud beeping alert and yelling outside as the truck towed y/n’s car away.

“Oh, y/n,” Sam felt like someone had stamped on his heart. “Can I give you a h—”

Without a word, y/n almost knocked herself into his arms. It was only when he was holding her that he realized how badly she was trembling. This is their first proper hug, far from how Sam has imagined it. He wrapped his arms around y/n’s frame, one hand hugging her shoulders to him and the other rubbing her hand in wide, gentle stripes, tucking her head under his chin. Y/n’s hand held onto Sam’s arm, fingers digging into his biceps like a drowning person holding onto a piece of driftwood. Sam was firstly relived that y/n was not physically hurt; and then there were the emotions, which they could deal with. Whatever made her this devastated, he was determined to turn it around and make it better.

They stayed like that for a while, bodies squishing together uncomfortably over the middle console, until Y/n finally started to calm down.

She pulled away from Sam’s hug. Sam immediately reached to the backseat for the tissue box, from which y/n took a handful of tissues and turned her head to the side to wipe her face.

“It…it was Huxley,” she was fighting to speak without breaking down again. “He’s g—gone.”

Upon hearing the name, Sam’s heart dropped to the bottom of his stomach. His former wish had fallen through after all. Huxley was the puppy that came to the shelter from a car accident. He was sent in by a Good Samaritan on Monday. From the photo y/n posted, Sam knew that he was a young Australian cattle dog. Sam thought he was out of danger as y/n updated the post on Tuesday, saying that there was a rescue willing to pull him.

Sam didn’t press on with further questions. He sat patiently, handing y/n more tissues as she needed and waited to piece together the story from snatches of her speech.

“They did an x-ray and found he has a fractured pelvis. A rescue tagged him…and he was supposed to l-leave the shelter today.”

“We thought he was f-fine until…until he suddenly deteriorated this a-afternoon. There was, um, internal bleeding and… the vet said, the in-injury was too serious to recover and, and s-suggested…”

It was taking all her strength for y/n to squeeze out the last few words: “…it…it was the kindest to..put him d-down.”

Y/n buried her face into her hands as she resorted to another burst of weeping. Her shoulders shuddered with every muffled sob. “He reminded me of Wendy…I couldn’t save n-neither of them!”

This was the first time Sam has heard about Wendy from y/n. He guessed that Windy used to belong to y/n. He had once saw a photo of y/n and a white puppy tucked in her wallet when she was paying for coffee. Y/n never talked about it and Sam never asked. He decided he was still going to be silent about it today. He wouldn’t want to force her to narrate whatever tragic event that had happened in the past again, knowing that she probably had already done it to herself over and over again in her brain upon seeing the loss of Huxley.

Sam mulled over his words. Platitudes like “you have already done your best” sounded superfluous. Y/n, and he believes that everyone at the shelter, did everything they could; but that doesn’t fix things, does it?

“Was he loved when he was gone?” Sam gently took y/n’s hand in his.

“I was too coward to stay until the last moment,” y/n looked at Sam through teary eyes, “and he couldn’t really stomach any food by then. But yes, we made sure he was surrounded by treats and toys.”

“Then that’s what matters,” Sam managed a smile and said softly. “Dogs are very grateful creatures, you know that. Now that Huxley has crossed the rainbow bridge, he must be thanking you for loving him to the end, to provide him with a warm bed so he didn’t have to go alone and scared on the side of some highway.”

Y/n’s was still hiding her face in her palms, with her elbows resting on her knees, but Sam recognized a trembling nod from her. Now he felt tears stinging in his own eyes. He rubbed the area between y/n’s shoulder blades and carefully opened his mouth: “Look, y/n. I don’t want to sound like I’m taking advantage of the situation. But I am really worried about leaving you alone for the night like this. Would you like to perhaps crash at my place for the night? Rosie can keep you company.”

“Let me take care of you.” Sam closed his eyes for a second before he added, “As a friend?”

To his relief, y/n nodded again before turning her head slightly to face him, revealing half of her face, all wrinkled with red marks and tear stains, her eyes bloodshot and glassy.

“Sorry for being a bother.” She whispered through quivering lips.

“Never. Never a bother, mama,” Sam’s heart clenched again, hard. He reached out and gently squeezed the back of y/n’s neck before starting the car. “I got you.”

Y/n could hear Rosie’s claws clacking on the wooden floor before Sam turned the key in the lock. As he opened the door, they are welcomed by an excited Rosie, just as expected. Sam had taught Rosie well not to bolt towards guests or jump on them, so she was expressing her joy through a wagging tail that put her whole body into motion and repeated bowing; her pink tongue sticking out of the side of her mouth. The goofy gestures raised a chuckle out of y/n. The first smile that he had seen on her face all night.

Sam’s apartment is cozy and vibrant. It has rustic brick walls and exposed beams. A red oriental rug lies in the middle of the room in front of a light camel-coloured sofa. There are touches here and there where Sam lets his intrusive thoughts win—so a piece of decor that does not match the general style appears but ends up working nonetheless, such as the banana leaf wall paper that only covers one side of the wall. A long-neck floor lamp throws warm glow over half of the living room.

“Go sit, y/n. Make yourself at home. You want some tea?” Sam laid out a pair of slippers for her as he asked.

Y/n had half a heart to reject out of politeness but realized she was too tired to put on any facade, and it is unnecessary after all considering she had just bawled her eyes out before Sam. Her eyes were stinging from crying and her face must have looked like a mess now.

“Thank you. Can I borrow the bathroom, please?”

“Of course! It’s right there.” Sam pointed her the right door.

Closing the door behind her, y/n felt like her legs were about to gave out. She sat down on the closed toilet lid and closed her eyes, thoughts swarming in her mind. Now that the initial throbbing pain in her chest has subsided, she began interrogating herself. What was it that made her agree to stay here overnight? “Worry about leaving you alone”….You are used to being alone—heck, you have been for years. All the past experiences and rational judgements were reprimanding her in a motherly tone with a scowl, but her body was faithful to the ghostly touches and phantom breaths that he had left on her skin during their hug. She forgot when was the last time that she had received a hug that conveyed such empathy without blind assumption. She forgot when was the last time that she felt valid for her feeling sad and mourning. She forgot when was the last time that she was not forced to explain. Yet Sam came and reset the record for her.

Three gentle knocks on the door interrupted her thoughts.

“Yes?”

“I grabbed you a clean towel. I’m putting it on the handle, so just watch it when you open the door.” Sam’s voice came from the other side of the door.

Oh Sammy, Y/n thought to herself with a wry smile. The nickname naturally slips into her mind. This is not helping.

What it is about this man that makes you trust him enough to break down in front of him and then agree to stay at his place overnight? Was it because he was nice to dogs? Green flag. Nice hair and clean nails, perfect side profiled, chiseled like an Apollo statue? Green flag. Top tier banter and flirting? Beige flag (but has potential).

Her brain started hurting again. Her heart said fuck it, go wipe your face, drink tea, and pray that he’s not a patient serial killer three months in disguise who likes to collect dog memes. Y/n opened her eyes and the first thing she saw brought an untimely giggle out of her.

Toilet paper hanging from under? Red flag.

When y/n opened the bathroom door again, Sam was feeding Rose her dinner.

“There you are! Thought you fell in.” Sam looked up at her with a toothy grin.“Sorry,” he apologized for his joke before y/n even said anything. “I made you tea, I guess you haven’t eat yet? I can order takeout or whip something up real quick.”

“That’s very nice of you, Sam. But I really don’t think I can handle a meal right now. Tea will be just fine for me. Thank you.”

Y/n must have washed her face in the washroom. Now her face looked fresh, setting off her reddish nose which she rubbed a little too harshly. The bags under her swollen eyes made her looks droopy, much different from the energetic y/n under the sun in the park. She looked very….huggable.

Y/n took a sip from the mug Sam handed her. It’s lavender tea. She felt her nerves slowly stretched as the warm liquid slid into her stomach. Having finished her dinner, Rose wasted no time joining them on the sofa. She found the perfect spot between Sam and y/n, laying her head on her folded paws.

“Do you want to watch a movie or something?”

“Um-hmm,” y/n absent-mindedly hummed. “You take the pick.”

Absolutely nothing furry, nothing barking, nothing wagging its tail. Sam scrolled through the catalogue.

Y/n raised her eyebrows when she saw Sam finally settling on Vanderpump Rules.

“Surprised?”

“Surprised, amused, guilty as charged.” Y/n admitted.

“No way! Which season are you on?”

“Seven? I can’t remember much though.”

Sam couldn’t deny it, there’s just something about watching and becoming invested in other people’s cheating drama that gets you to forget about your own problems real fast, at least temporarily. When one of the girls made an especially spiteful comment and Sam got no reaction from y/n, he turned and saw her dozing off, her chin rested on her clavicle, one hand still resting on Rose’s back.

She’s bound to get a stiff neck sleeping that way. Sam gently pulled her shoulder to the side, resting her head on a cushion, and pulled the blanket over her. Other than making a few indistinguishable murmur, she didn’t stir; or if she did, she chose to relent to Sam’s touch. Now that her eyes were closed, she looked peaceful under the orange light of the lamp, one almost couldn’t tell she was crying so hard a few hours ago. Sam debated if he should carry her to the bedroom or at least wake her up, but in the end, he did neither. Instead, he sat down on the carpet, his side pressed against the sofa, putting his head on his elbow.

Whatever this is, it fels tranquil and nice. She is close and far, her silence remote and candid, still as a star*. It feels like love. He feels his heart heavy with love. She doesn’t know. Maybe she will, eventually. But not now. Now he just wants to have this moment, in case it is all he will ever have.

Y/n is woken up by the wetness of her face. “Rose, stop!” She managed to open her eyes under Rose’s kiss attack. She propped herself up on her elbow and saw Sam sitting on the floor next to her, still asleep. But that changed quickly as he became Rose’s next target. Did he just sleep all night like this? The light seeping through the curtains formed bright patters on the floor. Gosh, she must be really tired to sleep so soundly on the sofa.

“Morning.” Y/n pursed her lips, containing a chuckle as she met gaze with a hair-disheveled Sam, who was holding the side of his neck, grimacing.

Sam felt every single bone in his body crackling as he stood up. Actions have consequences.

The drive back to Y/n’s house was quiet. Y/n thanked him for letting her stay overnight, which he insisted that was no big deal. Then he cranked up the radio and let Stephen Stills take over.

“Thank—-”

“I swear, if you thank me again—-”

They almost said together as the car pulled up to a halt in front of y/n’s apartment.

Y/n smiled apologetically nonetheless.

“Hey, like I said, it’s really no big deal. It wasn’t so courteous of me not to offer you dinner and let you sleep on the couch anyway,” Sam said. “I am very sorry about what has happened. I hope you are feeling better now.”

Y/n chewed on her bottom lip and nodded. It was after several heartbeats that she said, “You know, your bathroom walls are dirty, Kiszka.”

Sam blinked and then barked out a laugh, throwing his hands in surrender. “Guilty as charged.”

“Call me if you need anything, yeah?” Sam watched as y/n unbuckled the seatbelt. He could tell that for a second, y/n was going to thank him again.

“I’m not guilt tripping you into this, but…the offer to co-dog walk always stands.”

“Sure. I’ll let you know.”

“Oh, and one more thing,” Y/n paused as she shut the door.

“Hug Rosie extra tight for me.” With that, she turned on her heels and walked away.

It was three days later that they met again at the park. The weather was starting to get cold. Sam would always choose the vivifying spring days over fall, but he also appreciates some delicious crunching of the leaves as one walks.

“I can really tell the season is changing when the benches feel a bit cold under the tush.” Sam commented as he sat down next to y/n.

“Oh, do we have to get you padded pants then?”

“Seriously, do they make those?” Sam gasped in feigned surprise. “Anyways, how’s your car?”

“I got a call yesterday, it should be ready to pick up by Thursday,” Y/n said. She was chewing on the edge of her coffee cup. “I feel so stupid losing it like that the other day.”

“But you don’t have to, though. There’s nothing wrong about feeling things, and emotions don’t lie.”

“Yeah, I guess. But in the end it’s not about me, it’s about them. There’s always more dogs that need help and always more to do.”

“I know you said not to, but I really need to,” y/n said as she turned to Sam and threw her arms around him, catching him in surprise. “Thank you, Sammy.”

Sam couldn’t help but notice how nice it felt to have her nose buried in his shoulder. Talking about emotions don’t lie.

His hair smells nice too. And it is indeed so, so soft. Green flag.

Somehow, they fell back into the old rhythm after that. Sam guessed that when people say woman in a dream, they must be referring to their phantasmagoric nature. With each day passing, he became more and more inclined to believe that what he thought he had was nothing more than wishful thinking and self-deception.

Christmas was approaching. Their brother’s lack of contribution to the holiday preparation did not go unnoticed by the twins. Jake was first to approach Sam, saving Josh as the last resort. Although Jake doubted if they would really need him.

“Sammy boy, what are you sulking about?” Jake sat down next to Sam, who was lying facedown on the carpet.

“M’not sulking,” Sam mumbled. “You just interrupted my perfect nap.”

“No shit, wonder if you can even breathe lying like that.” Jake nudged him in the ribs, earning himself a smack on the arm.

“Have you asked her out yet?”

“Who?”

“Quit playing with me, brother. You’ve been spending enough time at the shelter and the park that we thought Rosie was going to the big sis this time.”

Sam flipped over with a groan, his hand laying across his forehead. “No. I think she probably doesn’t feel that way, honestly.”

“Okay,” Jake rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “But how do you feel? Really smitten?”

“I don’t know,” Sam sighed. “You know the trend that goes, ‘one minute you are asking for her number, the next minute you are getting screamed at by her cat’? When I asked for her number, I was hoping so bad that we will be making advent calendar for our dogs every year.”

“Damn.” For a moment, Jake was struck by the weight of that statement; its authenticity and spontaneity echoed in the air.

“You really got some of Josh’s romantic shit, huh?”

“Don’t act like you haven’,.” Sam rolled his eyes. Jake couldn’t argue with that.

“Look, I knew you will tell her eventually. Come on, don’t give me that look. We both know that you will. But this is not like some assignment where you can just keep putting off until all the points have been abducted.”

“You have my permission to take the day off. But you better be making it up to me once you’ve got her. Do you have any idea how painful it is to untangle four strands of those lights? My fingers deserve better than that.”

Sam shot his elder brother a plaintive look. Jake raised his eyebrows provocatively, but the genuine encouragement still shone through.

“Just get your ass up already, kid.”

Sam was going to see y/n that day anyway. The shelter was doing Christmas dinner for the animals and y/n had texted him earlier asking if he wanted to come help. The shelter around Christmas looked like a kindergarten. Garlands and ribbons hung from the ceiling. Cheerful Christmas carols played through the announcement speakers. Even the bulletin board were updated with the animals’ intake pictures with their new Christmas photoshoots.

“Y/n is at the big dog kennel in the back.”

The round-faced woman at the front desk warmly greeted Sam as she recognized him. He had been a regular; the staff had naturally associated him with y/n and had been secretly calling him the sexy Tarzan*. (Y/n burst out laughing when she first heard that nickname; she couldn’t deny the resemblance is uncanny.)

Sam wasn’t sure how he was going to do this. Yes, he was going to wing it but it’s not like he could just blurt it out. The place started to smell like food as Sam passed the reception area. He found y/n and her colleagues standing in the meet-and-greet area around a table full of buckets and a crock pot with the largest turkey he had ever seen. Y/n waved him in as she saw him.

“Thanks for coming! We’re about to start.” Y/n handed him an apron.

“There are separate bucket for veggies, meat, and broth. You just grab some from each into the bowl and pass it down, Sally and Theo will squeeze in the yogurt and puree, add the dry treats…and a bowl is done!” Y/n walked him around the table as they went through each step.

“This feels like I’m at a poke station.” Sam chuckled.

“It is, special Christmas edition.”

Suddenly, Sam felt more at ease. He was grateful that y/n volunteers at the shelter. It’s at least comforting to think that he would have nearly a hundred flurry friends as his wingman.

They walked down the corridor, stopping at each kennel, opening the door and sliding in the bowl. Some dogs were more timid and nervous, huddling in the corner and coming up to the food when they were left alone. Y/n made sure to skip those ones a few more beef jerky. But most of them were already wagging their tails like windshield wipers in heavy rain, waiting impatiently at the front of their kennel.

It took them nearly an hour going through the whole the dog area before the empty cart was wheeled back to the preparation room.

“They have special food for the smaller animals like the rabbits as well. But, by far, our job here is completed. Well done, soldier!” Y/n untied her apron and threw in onto the table.

“Are you doing anything after?” Y/n asked.

“No, not really. Why?” Upon hearing that question, hope and anxiety bubbled together in Sam’s stomach.

“I could treat you to a coffee for helping out today, or perhaps hot chocolate?”

“Hot chocolate sounds great.”

“Awesome, you’re in for a treat. I know a place that makes bomb hot cocoa.”

It was snowing heavily when they stepped out. The ground is already covered in a thin white layer. The snow was coming down thick and fast, Sam could hear it falling onto the crisp fabric of his jacket. They walked along the side road. The sky was already dark, making the snowflakes dancing under the streetlights all the more obvious. The cars passing by, their tires rolling over the splashing snow, made sounds like someone stirring the repeatedly pushing the buttons of a a fountain drink machine. As nice as it was, Sam soon realized his mistake of forgetting to wear gloves when he headed out. It was strange how he seldom felt cold amid the big snowfalls, it’s always the coldest the day before. It was always the build up.

“So….do you have any plans for Christmas?”

“Oh, yeah I do. I am going to this awesome party. I'm going to dance, have fun, raid the charcuterie board, get shit-face drunk, and then crawl back home. Giving the weather we are having now, I’m probably going to slip and fall, break my face on the sidewalk, and lay there unconsciously until some hobo finds me and steals my purse, but all he is going to find are handfuls of puke that I threw up earlier,” y/n finished with a mischievous smile. “How does that sound?”

Sam was speechless for a few seconds. “I’m only with you on the ‘raiding the charcuterie board’ part.” He finally said.

“Always appreciate a good humour, Kiszka.”Y/n threw back her head and laughed. “I’m messing with you. Quite the opposite, I’m doing nothing. Probably still going to drink, but definitely no party.” She made a stank face.

Y/n has mentioned that she had just moved here not long ago. Sam never heard her mentioning much about her family, and he did not want to blindly assume.

“Do you want to come to mine for Christmas?”

“Crashing your family gathering as a stranger? That doesn’t sound like a very courteous thing to do.” Y/n replied.

Sam tried to focus his sight on the tip of his shoes. Just say it already. He was suddenly afraid to look to y/n. It feels better just to hear the rejection, not to face it head on, right? And could they still have hot chocolate after this? He could really use one now.

“Well, wouldn’t be weird if you were going as my girlfriend,” he finally said.

It was taking everything in Sam to hold his gaze on y/n. He saw her head shot right up. Beneath the initial shock, Sam couldn’t quite figure out the emotion hiding in her eyes. It’s always the build up. Always the build up. But now that the cat is out of the bag, he might as well just spill it out.

“I think I really like you, y/n.”

A smile crept up onto the corner of y/n’s mouth, and Sam saw it grew to a grin.

“Are you cold?” she asked.

“Hum?” That was not what he was expecting. But he appreciated a question, any question, to redirect the attention from the….previous embarrassment.

“Did you forget your gloves?” It was only then that Sam realized that he has subconsciously managed to snake his hands into the opposite sleeves of his jacket and fold his arms in front of his chest in order to warm up his hands.

“Yes, and my fingers are freezing off,” he said through gritted teeth. “And I am dying of suspense and embarrassment.”

Unexpectedly, y/n sighed and took off one of her own gloves. “There’s no need to feel embarrassed,” she said as she pried Sam’s right hand out of his sleeve and delicately stuck his stiff fingers into the glove, as if caring for newborn ducklings.

“It feels kind of good to see even Mr. ‘beat-me-in-every-banter’ at a loss for witty comments when it comes to feelings. Just proves we’re all human, doesn’t it?” She then took Sam’s other hand into her own and placed them into the pocket of her coat.

“There. See how much better it is if we simply express ourselves?”

Sam could feel y/n’s thumb brushing his numb muscles. “I may not be the best person to lecture you on this because, well, I myself have done a pretty lousy job at it too. But, I can try to improve, as your girlfriend.”

“Can you give me the chance to try?”

Oh god, now she’s asking me.

“My honour, y/n,” Sam felt like he could breathe again. And his quick wit returned. “One thing is not true though.”

“What?” Y/n asked as they continued to walk.

“I didn’t beat you to every banter. I lost in the toilet paper one.”

Y/n raised her eyebrows in amusement.

“I guess you were right. I called a truce with my bathroom ghost the other day.”

A man who is not afraid to confess his feelings and admit when he is wrong? Green flag.

Easter Egg

Y/n did end up attending the Kiszka’s Christmas gathering as Sam’s girlfriend. Jake was smug about it the whole time (“Told you we don’t need Josh”.) He determined that Sam owed him big time and demanded that he repays him by taking down the Christmas tree and and moving it up to the attic after the holidays are over.

Of all, Rose was more than thrilled to have her over because y/n came bearing special gift for her.

“I brought dog beer.” Y/n said proudly.

“You brought what?”

“Dog beer!” y/n laughed, showing the package of four cans. “It’s just unsalted bone broth with oat and barley.”

“Shame on you for leading Rose bug down this dangerous path!” Sam pretended to be annoyed but was already reaching for Rose’s water bowl.

“Come on, Rose’s a good girl, she can handle it. Plus, she is under parental supervision.” y/n said as she popped open a can.

“Oh, is that what we are now, ‘mummy’? Dog parents?” Sam looked smug.

As Rose happily lapped up her new beverage, y/n affectionately patted her on the neck: “And you always remember, Rosie girl, beers over boys. Well, I guess your daddy can make an exception but… ‘a healthy amount of beer over any contact with boys*’”.

*1: adapted from I Like For You To Be Still by Pablo Neruda

*2: it is from here (once you see it, you can't unsee it lol

*3: a quote from one of my favourite Youtuber: Christines Snaps

Hey, you've made it!! thank you so much for reading!

here's something more I want to say.

Firstly, the two dogs mentioned are real dogs; sadly they have both crossed the rainbow bridge now. You can read more about them here: Klaus and Huxley. I changed Klaus' story here because I'd like to imagine that having pup cups, going on walks, and having fun with other dogs is the life that he should have been having before his life was unfairly taken away. And I want to honour Huxley. The inspiration for this piece came to me because I relay information for shelter dogs that are listed to be euthanized in high kill shelters. It is absolutely heartbreaking to see how many healthy dogs lose their life at no fault of their own. I have always believed in the power of writing; I myself have been healed by the writings of others in this community many times, and I would like to do something with my writing too. I hope to raise awareness through this piece: There are just too many homeless pups. Please spay and neuter- their lives depend on it; and if you ever want a pet, please always go to the local shelter and check out their euth-list. Saving one dog is not going to change the world, but for that dog, the world is changed forever.

Secondly, about the writing; this is my first time writing Sam and my longest piece. As many of you surely must have noticed there are some loose ends, I apologize. I was emotional while writing this and I dragged it out. Plus, I made the mistake of reading one of the most amazing fanfics ever while writing this. I became self-conscious and kind of defeated---emotions get in the way, so I think this is leaning more towards a cathartic experience. For those that have experienced the pet loss, I am sorry and I feel for you. Please know that they can always feel your love and you will meet one day at the rainbow bridge. I intend to dig into this piece further in the future: perhaps make some more changes and edits, perhaps writing some blurbs between this y/n and Sam. If you would like that, please let me know.

Lastly, sincerely thank you to @dannythedog for the gvf secret santa event. It may sound stupid but that event carried me through my finals and several mental breakdowns. It has not only helped me to connect with so many wonderful people in this fandom, but it has also encouraged me to write. I never would have thought picking up writing again would give me so much closure and comfort. Plus, she did an awesome pairing; I got one of my favourite writers here as my secret santa!! and I got to know Nina.

This is so much longer than I intended. If you have made it here, wow, I am giving you a big big hug. Thank you to everyone who takes the time to read my writings. I hope that there are many more to come.

More of my writings: Mariner's Complex || Permission to Fall || Ticked (all my boxes) || The Lucky Ones

(do we want a masterlist or a taglist? let me know :))

#greta van fleet fan fiction #sam kiszka x reader #sam kiszka fluff #gvf fluff #gvf fanfiction #greta van fleet fic #sam kiszka fic #gvf #sammy gvf

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chimachapterbooks · 5 months

Text

LONE WOLF

It was dinnertime for the Wolf Pack.

That meant three things: meat, meat, and more meat.

Everyone was gathered around a large campfire and chowing down on the day's feast. All the Wolves were chomping and chewing and generally having a good time.

Everyone, that is, except Wonald.

For as far back as anyone could remember, Wonald had always been a bit . . . different. While his friends all howled at the moon, Wonald loved basking in its light.

While the other Wolves snarled and growled at animals that came too near to the pack, Wonald would walk up and try to make friends.

But it was dinnertime that really set Wonald apart.

His choice in food was, well, strange.

"Wonald, what are you doing?" A white Wolf named Windra marched up to him.

Windra was one of the most beautiful Wolves in the entire pack. She was also one of the most vicious.

Wonald gulped, then stammered, "Um, well, I'm, um... I'm actually making a salad."

"You're what?" Windra looked down at the bowl of lettuce, tomatoes, and other vegetables in front of Wondald in disgust. She took a sniff and crinkled up her nose. "That is the worst excuse for a dinner I've ever seen. Wonald, hard as it might be to believe, you are a Wolf. Wolves do not eat salad. Wolves eat meat."

"But I don't like meat," Wonald protested.

Windra leaned in close. "It doesn't matter if you like or not," she hissed. "You are a Wolf, and its what we do!"

Wonald shrugged. "Well, it's not what / do. Besides, I don't have any meat, then there's more for everyone else, right?"

Windra growled in frustration and stalked away.

"Phew." Wonald exhaled. That had been close.

Usually the other Wolves just ignored him when he was acting different. But tonight, they seemed especially argumentative.

When his salad was ready, Wonald went off on his own to eat. That way, he wouldn't provoke any jokes from the other Wolves, or have to watch them gulping down their dinners.

After his meal was over, Wonald returned to the rest of the pack. Even though he usually ate dinner alone, he still liked to be a part of the group. They were his family after all. And he figured that by now they would be full from eating and would have calmed down.

Unfortunately, Wonald was wrong. All the Wolves had grown even rowdier. They were fighting amongst themselves, growling and snapping and biting.

"Stop it!" Wonald cried as he jumped away from a pair of wrestling Wolves. "Why do we have to fight all the time, just because we're Wolves?"

The others responded by snarling at him. "It's what we do, Wonald. If you don't like it, then maybe you shouldn't be here!"

Wonald felt hurt. He was used to being made fun of. But the others had never told him to leave. Wolves always stuck together, even when they were arguing.

Shaking his head, Wonald walked away. He decided it would be better to sleep away from the pack tonight.

That would give them a chance to cool down. By tomorrow morning, perhaps they would be in better spirits. He headed over to a small cave where it would be quiet and dark.

Wonald slept soundly, not even stirring when there was some commotion outside. When he finally woke up, it was late the next morning. He got up, stretched, and headed for camp to see if he had any berries left for his breakfast.

But when he stepped outside, Wonald's eyes grew wide with surprise.

There was no sign of the other Wolves anywhere.

All the vehicles were gone, too. It looked like the whole camp had packed up overnight and moved on somewhere else!

"I can't believe it," he whispered. "They left me!"

Wonald's heart sank. The Wolves hadn't been just grumpy last night. They had really meant what they’d said! They had wanted Wonald to leave! And worse, they had actually moved on without him! Wolves always traveled in packs, roaming from one campsite to the red next. But they never left one of their own behind ...

Until now.

It must be my fault, Wonald thought sadly. They got tired of how "different" I am and decided to kick me out of the pack. But I don't want to be on my own. I have to find them!

Wonald sniffed the ground. Years of hunting out the tastiest nuts and berries had given him an excellent sense of smell. He could tell the pack had gone northwest. Wonald started to follow them.

After a short time, he came to a fork in the road. By the large vehicle tracks on the ground, he could tell the pack had gone right. But the wheels of their trucks had torn up all the dirt, demolishing a nearby meerkat nest.

The meerkats were busily trying to repair the damage.

Wonald walked over. "Can I help?" he asked.

"Look at this mess!" snapped one of the meerkats.

"We had just finished cleaning up for the big family reunion! All fifteen thousand one hundred sixty-seven of our relatives are coming over! and some nasty bunch of Wolves knocked down our house!"

'I'm sure they didn't mean it," Wonald said soothingly. "They were probably just in a hurry. Here, let me clear some of this dirt away from your holes."

The meerkats grumbled, but when they saw Wonalds large paws were better at clearing away dirt than theirs, they agreed. He had repaired the worst of the damage in no time at all.

When Wonald was done helping the meerkats rebuild their nest, he set out on the trail of the Wolves again.

It wasn't long before he came upon a grove of trees that had been knocked over. A bunch of squirrels were running to and fro, gathering nuts that were scattered on the ground.

"Nuts, nuts, nuts!" said one of the squirrels.

"Yes, there are certainly a lot of them," agreed Wonald.

"No, I mean, nuts to those Wolves who knocked down our trees!" said the squirrel. "We put all our nuts in these trees, and now they're everywhere. Some are crushed. We'll never be able to recover all of them. No, no, no!"

Wonald immediately began picking up nuts and bringing them to the squirrels' pile.

As soon as the squirrels noticed him, they shook their tiny fists angrily.

"First you Wolves destroy our trees, and now you're taking our nuts!" they squeaked.

"I don't want your nuts, though they do look tasty,” Wonald assured them. "I was just trying to help you clean up."

"On," said the squirrels. They looked sorry for yelling at him. "Well, that's all right, then. Keep going."

Once that job was finished, Wonald moved on. He couldn't believe how much damage his Wolf Pack was causing as they traveled. Sometimes he had a hard time believing he was a Wolf. He would never act this way!

The Wolves' scent was getting stronger, though, so he knew he would catch up to them any minute now.

Soon, Wonald came to a rushing river. On the shore, a little beaver was crying.

"What's the matter?" Wonald asked.

"My beautiful dam!" said the beaver. "Some Wolves came by and broke it to pieces as they crossed the river. It will take me hours to fix and just think of all the bark I'll need to find! And the sticks and the rocks. I'll never be able to gather enough supplies. I could hire a professional dam builder, but do you know how much they cost? Five hundred pieces of tree bark an hour, and that's just for labor! And then there's-“

"It's okay," interrupted Wonald. He knew from experience that beavers would talk all day long, if given the chance. "I'll give you a paw rebuilding your dam."

Together, the Wolf and the beaver worked side by side to fix the broken dam. When they were dong the beaver offered Wonald some tree bark as a snack.

Wonald said no--he wasn't that hungry. Besides, the scent of the Wolf pack was superstrong now. He would catch up to them any minute.

A short while later, Wonald came to a small hill. He could hear the Wolf pack on the other side, snarling and growling! Wonald ran toward the sound. Just as he reached the top of the hill, he spotted them. Windra and the other Wolves were chasing some rabbits away from their grazing ground. And the wheels from their huge trucks were completely ripping up the grass as they went.

"Hev! Stop!" Wonald cried, rushing forward “Leave the rabbits alone!"

"What are you going to do about it?" growled one of the Wolves, without turning around. "Get lost!"

That's what you told me the last time," Wonald said. "And I spent all day trying to find you again. But after seeing all the damage the pack has done and the way you've ruined so many innocent animals homes, I'm not sure I want to be with you guys after all."

The Wolf who had snapped at Wonald suddenly looked over his shoulder. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped. "It's Wonald! Hey, everybody, it's Wonald!"

The rest of the Wolves turned.

"Wonald? Where?"

"Did someone say Wonald?"

"Out of the way, let me see!"

The whole pack suddenly surrounded the young Wolf. Even the rabbits stopped running and watched what was happening, puzzled. Wonald didn't know what it all meant, either.

"Why are you guys so happy to see me?" he asked. "You're the ones who ran off and left me, remember?"

"We didn't abandon you," Windra said, running up to him. "You abandoned us. When it was time to move out, you were nowhere to be found."

"I didn't know you were leaving!" Wonald insisted.

“Worriz told us right after supper," said one of the wolves. "Didn't you hear him? We spent the entire evening packing up camp."

Wonald suddenly remembered that he had walked out after supper. He had missed the pack leader's speech to the other Wolves. That was why he didn't know the pack was traveling on before dawn.

"We looked everywhere, but couldn't find you," said Windra.

"I came looking for you, but only saw all the damage you have been doing in the forest," answered Wonald.

"Well, we were upset," said an older Wolf. "We thought you had deserted the pack. No one has ever left the pack. You might not always act like we do, but you are still one of us, Wonald."

Hearing that the other Wolves had missed him made Wonald happier than he'd been all day. Still, he couldn't shake aside his disappointment at the destruction the Wolves had caused.

"I know you were upset," he said. "But you guys caused a lot of damage to other animals today. I'm not sure I'm ready to rejoin the pack just yet."

All the Wolves gasped.

“You really would leave us?" they cried in dismay.

“Well." said Wonald slowly. He looked over at the rabbits crouched nearby. The little bunnies were stir shaking in fear, but they were mostly stunned by what was happening.

"I've been helping the animals repair everything you guys destroyed today," Wonald said. "I think I could be convinced to rejoin the pack, if we helped the rabbits clean up their grazing field."

"If we what?" many of the Wolves exclaimed. They didn't like being told what to do, especially if it involved helping.

But the elder Wolf quieted them. "Wonald is one of us," he said in a loud voice. "So perhaps, just this one time, we should try things his way." The older Wolf then looked over to Worriz for approval. Growling, Worriz nodded in agreement.

The pack spent a short while helping repair the damage to the grass while the rabbits watched on in amazement. The little creatures kept their distance. But they seemed rooted to the spot. They had never seen the Wolves being helpful before!

When the Wolves had finished, the grass looked better . .. mostly. Wonald smiled. It would do.

"All right, enough helping," snapped Windra. “Wonald back. So we had better find a new place to camp for the night. Preferably where there are plenty of-“ She gave Wonald a long look.

"vegetables," she said through gritted teeth.

Wonald grinned.

That night, he had his usual salad for dinner. But this time, when the others went to howl at the moon, Wonald went with them. He still thought it was kind of a silly thing to do, but they were his family after all.

Together, the Wolves howled happily until the dawn.

#where my Wonald fans at #still super weird they didn’t use the show model for the story #like who is this guy this ain’t Wonald #still good story tho #legends of chima #chima #lego chima #lego legends of chima #for chima #worriz the wolf #worriz #lego chima worriz #windra the wolf #wonald the wolf

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eriexplosion · 3 months

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Time for our breather episode, Common Ground

The scenery in this show is so damned good, the way I am instantly in love with Raxus and the gold tones.

Honestly this episode fits much better given what we see in Spoils of War/Ruins of War, emphasizing the humanity of the people in every system. TCW triedddd to do this with the 'heroes on both sides' but they really just kind of said it and then showed us like one lady that didn't suck in the entire show. She died immediately. So I appreciate these episodes.

Also I just love the Senator's droid she's hilarious to me.

Avi Singh is voiced by Alexander Siddig and it made me trust him immediately like all those people in the crowd cheering that is me hearing Julian Bashir's voice come out of this little animated man.

HOW can the scene of them just walking contain so many of my favorite character moments? Omega feeding Wrecker a piece of Mantell Mix, Tech steadying Omega when Hunter helps her off Wrecker's shoulder to make sure she doesn't fall over, her smiling up at him, this expression of UTTER DUBIOUSNESS and SUSPICIOUS SNIFFING from Echo

I headcanon that Echo has hella digestive problems after a large portion of them was replaced by technology so every food must pass this sniff test and 90% of them do NOT but especially not whatever sugary concoction goes on this space popcorn.

I do NOT get why people thought for so long that we don't see Tech caring for Omega because every time she stumbles Tech is right there to steady her, he takes such good care of Omega oh my god. Sometimes love is making sure your baby sister never ever falls over!

Which he also does when she gets on a chair and he is right there like JUST IN CASE.

Adolescents often exhibit lack of balance as they grow best to be within two inches of her at all times in case she wobbles.

GRANDMA CRIMES WILL BABYSIT DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT. DON'T TRUST HER BUT SHE'LL TOTALLY DO IT.

I do think it's very funny that the one time Hunter successfully keeps her out of a mission by leaving her on another planet, she immediately becomes central to a gambling ring.

I want a count of how many times Echo complained about this job while Tech is just YOU KNOW WHAT'S GREAT, EARNING MONEY TO EAT WITHOUT PUTTING IT ON CID'S TAB. And Wrecker is just excited to mark off a new system on his Visited Locations list.

"Now are you convinced?" "No >:[" Echo has very valid reasons to not be thrilled about this job but unfortunately separatist doesn't mean much anymore and also they're so cute when they're Grumby.

When you clean SO sadly that Cid comes over like STOP BEING A MOPE. Omega's really leaning into her early teens attitude with SOR-RY.

ANGY.

Bolo and Ketch's DISAPPOINTED HEAD SHAKING is so fucking funny. You UPSET the CHILD Cid. Go fix it. Like they weren't taking bets on her fucking up her bow training earlier.

I know Hunter's mentioning Omega is supposed to be Feelsy a little but I do admit it misses a little bit because it's not like she's missing or anything. I do wish they had done something like this with Crosshair early on, like in Rampage when he orders Echo to be eyes in the sky, switch it to him saying Crosshair's name instead and then correcting.

THIS ANTIQUE VASE IS PRICELESS, BE CAREFUL :C I love herrrrrr

You know the senator is in real trouble because they took his hat.

AND BEHOLD! I HAVE SAVED YOUR MOST PRIZED VASE :D

Quite a bit of time is spent on Grand Theft Walker in this episode. Also I'm glad they're using stun bolts but oh boy is it concerning to stun a bunch of clone troopers in the same area where walkers are fighting, this is such a way to get squished.

As always I'm a big fan of Tech getting Punchy I love that he's not at all a docile nerd.

Echo stepping forward to encourage Avi to leave because he can't help his people in custody is sweet but would have been slightly better if we got a little more one on one interaction between the two of them. Even just one solid scene would be good.

I'll give the batch one thing, their success/failure rate is slightly better than I remembered, they are up to 3 successes and only 1 major failure

Frankly they should stop doing merc work though and just let Omega gamble her way through the galaxy.

SHOW A LITTLE GRATITUDE TO MY FRIEND. Cid is officially Affectionate towards this small child.

Another good character moment is Wrecker giving Hunter an EXTREMELY SERIOUS *TALK TO THE CHILD* LOOK

Really the main plot of this episode is a good breather but it really shines in tiny moments that make me Squeal a little. Just those little character interactions that I ADORE.

#the bad batch rewatch

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seajellyx · 1 year

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an apple a day 2: electric boogaloo. chaos edition

octavinelle taking care of you while you're sick and doing an absolutely job 👍 [bc i'm still sick and it sucks] octavinelle x gn!reader, all together, ambiguous relationship warnings: non serious illness, possibly ooc, octotrio being smart dumbasses, even dumb smartasses, if you will, not proofread, honestly it's just me bullying them

an apple a day part 1

azul somehow sniffs out the beginning of your sickness before you yourself are even sure. i don't know how but he tells you to take it easy and get more rest.

once you become full blown ill he just sighs and banishes you to bed rest, this whole time he's been quite gentle on you and it's really surprising, but you're not complaining so you follow his orders and go back to your dorm.

the leech twins quickly notice your absence and inquire their boss about it, but only after harassing everyone you know and stalking around the campus looking for you.

azul breaks the news of your illness and they all stand in silence for a moment, thinking.

see, sickness in the animal world is rare, but serious, especially in the ocean

so these three dumbasses definitely thought you were gonna die for a bit, before common sense kicked in and they realized that they have access to medicine. and fucking magic.

jade, the only rational one, just looks up ways to help you.

can't be that hard! floyd bounces out of the room with the full intention to "take care of his shrimpy!"

azul shakes his head, sighs, and sends jade after him to make sure you don't die

the two pick up some supplies, then bust into your dorm like they've got a warrant or something, effectively waking you up from your nap

"w-what... the?"

"wow shrimpy, you sound awful,"

"yeah thanks. what are you two doing here?"

"we're here to nurse you back to health, of course."

"uhh..."

they actually take pretty good care of you. sorta

they get you everything that you need, and somehow know what you want or need at any given moment and immediately fetch it for you

after telling them your symptoms, they try to assuage them in any way they possibly can, making sure you stay in bed, turning off the lights or closing the blinds, opening up the windows (if it isn't cold out) to bring you some fresh air, or placing a cool towel on your head if you have a fever.

jade takes this opportunity to subject you to several different tea brews. most of them are pretty standard, but some are a bit bitter. he tells you that they're medicinal herbs.

to be very honest, these two do not know what bed rest actually means, because the several mommy blogs they read didn't specify

so floyd and jade (but mostly floyd) have been making quaint conversation to keep you entertained

you let them know that you should actually be sleeping and they finally shut up

they sit by your bed, unless you ask them to leave, and jade works quietly while floyd plays a game on his phone, or whatever floyd does in his spare time

if you're having trouble sleeping, jade will recommend white noise, calming music, or melatonin. floyd begins singing you a lullaby unprompted. but it's okay because he has a nice voice.

azul ends up coming around bc when he asked the tweels for updates all they did was send him cryptic messages and blurry photos of floyd snooping around your dorm.

you wake up sometime later to the sound of your kitchen being quietly destroyed, the three come in, holding a nice, hot bowl of soup for you, and a mug of tea

you ask them about the state of your kitchen and jade tells you to eat your soup

it's surprisingly good! and not at all suspicious

while you eat, azul asks you how the tweels have been taking care of you and floyd immediately tries to defend himself, very inconspicuous and convincing, good job floyd

you tell him that it's been okay, and that you're still alive, so that's something.

after you finish eating, the three bid you goodnight

at least one of them is watching over you until you fall far into sleep

you wake up in the morning and the dorm is empty

making your way downstairs, you find the place surprisingly tidy, maybe even cleaner than it was before.

overall they do a mediocre job and you don't die.

they're hella suspicious though, floyd has probably hidden several pranks in your house while no one was looking and now jade has the layout of the place memorized.

azul was the only normal one.

wait, if they were all taking care of you, then who was running the lounge?

#twst x reader #twisted wonderland x reader #octavinelle #azul ashengrotto x reader #jade leech x reader #floyd leech x reader #is this even good #writing

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a-gay-little-cat · 3 months

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tell us about tiger..... top 10 tiger facts #please

I present to you, him!

But let's start out with the basics before moving to facts. His name is Tiger, 41 years old, 7ft tall, trans man and currently a mercenary in Night City! This one's getting long so it goes under a read more but here you go!

He is a nomad. Buuuut... he doesn't run with any clan anymore, not by choice though. Roughly 10 years ago he lost his camp in a fire thanks to some corps or god knows who deciding to beef it out right near their camp, not really caring about people getting caught in the crossfire. Many died and those who survived scattered, maybe to join another clan, maybe to a different city, but Tiger doesn't really know. He very much returned repeatedly to see if anyone else would still be there, hoping to find his family which he didn't see with the other bodies. Never found anyone though, not alive at least. Tiger also lost his husband in all of that, taking the ring of his body and still carrying it with him. Being a guy with nothing to his name now, he set out to NC, city closest to where they were camping at the time and just kinda... let himself be taken along, never quite processing any of that, not wanting to face his grief. He did very much consider trying to join in with another group but also it felt.. wrong? He just could never bring himself to. But all of this also very much does lead to him struggling with being a nomad, is he really one still if he isn't moving with a clan? Especially faced with this when he and V encounter the Aldecaldos. Which is a whole other thing I could talk about but damn this first fact is getting long !!!! Also I've never quite settled on which of the Big 7 his group belonged to... At least I think its 7 big names n theres all these little subsections... Gots to sniff my little lore book again some time.

He has a niece! Which he didn't know until recently. A little bit of a happy development after the first fact is that his parents and sister did actually make it out alive, but it wouldn't be until a few years later once Tiger made a name for himself with boxing that they'd find him. In the time they were seperated his sister had a daughter, Ellie. And by god does he love his niece dearly. He spoils her rotten and she loves her uncle so much, thinks he's the coolest.

Tiger is a mechanic/engineer. His interest has always been cars and engines and you've got to keep stuff running around the camp somehow. If your car is making a weird noise, your motorcycle isn't starting or your generators are acting funky, he can fix it. Tiger loves anything mechanical. Anything hardware related he loves messing with. Computers may not be his expertise as much but he loves learning and trying new things.

He is an ex-animals member. Tiger was easily scooped up by the animals, hard to miss a guy like that and he's already got the whole big cat theme going on so he fit right in. Things wouldn't always go smoothly though and eventually he turned into a guinea pig for them to test new and cool concoctions for enhancement which very much very experimental. But he wasn't aware of that, it happened gradually and without him really noticing. His sister very much did pick up on him behaving odd and differently, looking sickly and all that which resulted in her hiring mercenaries to invesitage for her. It wasn't an easy job for them but they did find evidence and it didn't take much to convince Tiger to leave. And leave he did. Safe to say he and the rest of the animals are not on good terms.

He loves cooking!!!! Nothing like a good hearty meal to keep you happy and healthy!

Tiger very much picked his name at a young age. He always loved reading about big cats, fascinated by them. His interest resulted in his parents calling him their little tiger as nickname but it just stuck and he loved it so much. To him its like his parents picking his new name, in a way.

He knows its cheesy, tacky and over the top to have a lot of things on his body be themed after a tiger, leaning into all of that but it makes him happy. The tail, his truck, his clothing, a lot is influenced by that. Though obviously he doesn't only build his identity around that, but its a big part of him that brings him joy.

Because I've seen someone bring it up in the tags on one of my art pieces of him. Tiger can't purr, he considered having something like that done but no, he chuffs, like a tiger does. One could say its a vocal stim. Most of the time he does it in greeting, to agree with something or when he's happy. Little happy noise.

The tail isn't just for looks, a lot of his cyberware very much serves a purpose outside of being just for looks. Tiger works together with his ripper to have the cyberware do exactly what he wants. The tail helps with balance but can also be used to hit someone or grab onto something. He has full control over it but it does also idly move to reflect his emotions or reactions.

His truck is called Leviathan. The truck in question:

It was lost for a little while because it broke down on the way to NC, he didn't have the needed tools to fix it so he had to abandon it, as much as it hurt. Returning to the spot he left it at it was just gone and he was unable to track it down. Very much took from the nomad specific quest in game here but yea the geolocation pinged again and he was able to find it again.

In summary:

#tiger #my ocs #ERM. HI THIS GOT A LITTLE LENGTHY AND THATS ME TRYING TO NOT RAMBLE ON.#I HOPE U ENJOY

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modern-inheritance · 8 months

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Modern Inheritance: Mates (One Word Prompt Story)

Set in that ambiguous time period of MIC's plot where Dras Leona happened in Inheritance but Nasuada wasn't captured and the war kept dragging on.

(A/N: I can't say I'm back, but it is good to be writing again. I don't know where this romance muck came from but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't oddly fond of it. It started as a humor piece and then actually got serious for a bit. This could be considered a follow up to the other one word prompt Wonder. Hope you enjoy!)

Eragon ran his fingers through his hair again, doing his best to comb it back to its normal disarray.

‘Do I look normal?’ He turned to Saphira, palms out and held away from his body as he did a quick 360 spin. He was pretty sure his clothes were fine, he had stopped by his tent to grab a fresh set but hadn’t been able to find a mirror.

The dragon snorted, an undercurrent of laughter weaving through her voice. ‘Normal? Do you mean to ask if you look like you just had a wild rut with your bodyguard and eternal infatuation for the first time last night?’ Saphira lowered her head and regarded him with one large eye, mirth dancing in the pre-dawn light reflected there.

Eragon felt his ears promptly turn a dark crimson. ‘Could you please stop calling it that?’ He pleaded. ‘It makes it sound so…animalistic. It was more than that, it was….’ The young Rider trailed off, his face heating up as well as memories of the encounter began flitting to the forefront of his mind. ‘I shouldn’t be thinking about it right now. Just…do I look okay?’

Saphira contained her giggles as best she could. She knew what the previous night meant for Eragon, what it meant for his heart and what it meant for them both as a bonded Rider and Dragon. She could feel underneath his nerves that the young man was practically leaping with joy, his heart singing with a completion that had evaded him for so long. Teasing him was fun, especially with how flustered he was in the moment, but she would never leave him without support. Even when letting him squirm was exponentially more entertaining.

So she cocked her head this way and that, gently nudged him slightly to get a better look, and gave him a cursory sniff. ‘You still smell like sex.’

‘Saphira!’

‘Not enough for the elves to detect.’ The dragon assured. After looking him up and down one more time, bobbing her head, Saphira gave him a gentle chuff. ‘You look fine. Very normal.’

Eragon let out a sigh of relief he didn’t realize he was holding. ‘Thank you.’ Still a bit nervous, he nodded towards the makeshift pens the Varden had set up to hold their animals. ‘I guess if you want something to eat, now’s the time.’

Saphira merely folded her paws over each other and rested her head on the ground. ‘I hunted last night. I will wait for you here.’ She gave him a nudge with a short blast of air from her nostrils, pushing him towards the near empty mess tent. ‘Go on. Be normal.’

He gave her a nervous smile and pushed through the flap, trying to hide the excited shaking of his hands.

Inside the tent was dim, lit only by a few soft lanterns scattered throughout. His elven bodyguards were already arrayed at several tables, eating their breakfasts before dawn as they usually did. The quiet murmur of their voices only paused for a moment when Eragon entered, and then returned to the low mumble of a typical morning.

Collecting his food from the trays set out by the cooks, Eragon quickly found a seat across Brom and Glenwing at an otherwise empty table.

“Morning.” He nodded to them both. Just be normal.

“Good morning, Eragon.” Glen smiled, raising two of his mechanical fingers in greeting.

Brom just grunted, hunched over his coffee.

First hurdle crossed. Relieved, the young Rider ducked his head and began attacking his breakfast. Who knew that spending a majority of the night entangled in someone’s arms would be so draining?

So focused on his meal, Eragon didn’t notice when Glen glanced up and did a sudden double take. Nor when the elf nudged the young man’s father beside him.

Eragon did notice when Brom suddenly choked on his coffee.

He looked up, concerned, as the old man coughed and banged his chest, face turning red. “Hey, you okay?”

“Totally fine.” Brom wheezed. There was no mistaking it. That was definitely there. Brom was still getting used to being a proper father, no matter the smattering of years that passed since revealing his relation to the boy. He couldn’t tell if he should be proud, worried, or angry.

Glen just hid his smile with a sip of his tea. Taken them long enough. He was happy for them.

A few minutes later the tent flap brushed open. Eragon stiffened his muscles, resisting the urge to turn. He knew exactly who had just walked in. They had planned it after all. Don’t show up at the mess together, or too close together.

“Good morning, sir.” He could hear some of the sleepiness still in her voice as she greeted Blödhgarm as normal, could practically see in his mind's eye the way she tapped her knuckles to her chest in a tired elven salute. “Reporting for duty.”

“Good morning, Arya.” Blödhgarm’s smooth voice remained even. Good. He didn’t notice anything.

The relief trickling in abruptly halted when Blödhgarm suddenly let out an uncharacteristic choked cough. But that had to be just a coincidence, because Eragon could hear that Arya was already walking by as it happened. Her footsteps stopped though, and he could hear her turn back.

“You alright?”

Blödhgarm cleared his throat. “Quite. Anything to report?”

Eragon could hear the shrug in her voice. “No. All quiet.” When the fur covered elf didn’t respond beyond a hum, Eragon felt his tensing shoulders slump back to relaxed. Must have been dust or something.

A few moments later Arya put her tray down next to Eragon’s, sitting beside him at the bench. “That was weird.” She frowned, scooping up a bland forkful of tofu scramble. “Did he pick something up the last time the Queen’s scouts came by?”

Eragon shrugged. “Maybe?” He looked to Glen across the table, the medic doing his best to keep a straight face. “Did he talk to you about anything?”

“Uh-uh.” Glen shoved a torn piece of bread into his mouth while mumbling the negative. That would do for now.

Brom, however, sat with his mouth hanging open. He snapped it shut when Arya looked up, but apparently he hadn’t been fast enough.

Arya squinted at him suspiciously. “What’s wrong with you, old man?”

Caught and flustered, the old Rider opened and closed his mouth a few times. He had known there wasn’t really anyone else who could have left that on his son, but seeing as the woman in front of him with one as well had left him somewhat shellshocked.

After a few moments of Arya staring at him with a raised eyebrow and his chance catching flies rapidly increasing, Brom managed to sputter, “Any–...Anything you two want to tell us?”

“What?” Arya frowned. Brom reached up and jerkily tapped the side of his head. “What are you–” Her eyes suddenly went wide. “Oh. Oh no.”

Eragon whipped his head around. “Oh no?”

Arya lowered her rapidly blushing face into her hands with a groaned, “We didn’t.” It was more of a plea than a statement.

“You did.” Brom confirmed.

“Please tell me we didn’t!”

“You did!” Glenwing laughed.

Eragon looked between the three of them, incredulous. “Would someone please tell me what’s going on?”

From behind her hands, her head now lowered to the table and her ears turning as dark scarlet as Eragon’s had, Arya half laughed and half mumbled, “We marked each other as mates last night.”

Still laughing, Glen reached across the table and tugged his former CO’s head to the side. On the tip of her opposite ear Eragon saw a dark bruise, clearly outlining a bite mark. His hand flew up to the tips of his own ears, and with a rapid blush he felt a slight bolt of soreness on his left.

“Oh.” He looked down at his food. “Well, that’ll do it then.”

The tent filled with soft laughter, and with a jolt Eragon realized it was the other elves.

“About time!” Yaela called, shaking her head with a smile. “We’ve been waiting.”

“Seconded on that.” Glen beamed. “Half of us were about to start putting bets on you two.”

Blödhgarm’s sonorous voice cut through the rabble. “As long as this does not affect your duties–”

“It won’t.” Arya was standing, face still splashed with color but her expression firm. “It never has and it never will. And from all of you!” She pointed menacingly at the other tables where her kind gathered. To Eragon’s surprise, the laughter and jovial attitude died immediately. “Not a word of this leaves this tent. This is our business, so no hint of this goes in any official or unofficial reports. Understood?”

Blödhgarm cocked his head and raised an eyebrow. The elfling typically followed the loose command structure set since he and the rest of the spellcasters had arrived. This was a bold move, though in truth he had long ago learned to expect those from the Queen’s daughter.

He nodded. “Understood.”

Arya dropped back onto the bench, leaning against it for support as she looked suddenly drained. “Good.” She rubbed her forehead. “Okay, good. That’s the main thing. Okay.”

The tent slowly returned to the soft murmur of quiet conversation, though this time a little more hushed. Arya turned back to her food, poking at it with a fork as the other occupants of the table did the same.

“Sorry about that.” Eragon looked over at Arya’s mumble. “I…I got scared for a second. Islanzadí….” She closed her eyes, and took a breath. “I just don’t want someone else telling her.”

“No one will.” Glen assured. The two across from him looked up. “And I want to say congratulations to you both.”

Brom cleared his throat and set down his coffee mug. “I am…entirely unsure as to what I’m supposed to do in this situation but…” He nodded. “I’m happy for you two as well. Just…be careful.”

The acceptance of his father instantly sent a broad smile across Eragon’s face. “Thank you.” The wiggly glimmers of excitement had wormed their way back into his chest, making his heart flutter.

Arya, however, wore a half twisted smirk of trepidation and amusement on her lips. “You’re both going to tease us mercilessly about this, aren’t you?”

‘They’ll have plenty of help with that.’ Saphira’s toothy grin flashed through the minds of the four at the table.

The elf shook her head with a laugh. “Fine. I guess there’s no avoiding it.”

Eragon shook his head, and for the entirety of breakfast didn’t lose his smile.

It wasn’t until after, a few days after in fact, that the young Rider and his original bodyguard had a moment of time alone again. They didn’t spend the time as passionately as they had that night, but instead sat together in Eragon’s tent, letting the quiet drape over them.

In some ways, Eragon mused, their relationship hadn’t really changed. They had done this before as friends many times, just sitting together in a little piece of solitude away from the war and tumultuous world around them. It had taken time for their shoulders to touch but from that point on they leaned on each other for support, a moment of contact that didn’t signify danger or a brief spark of comfort that would flit away.

The only difference was that this time Eragon was sprawled out, his head resting in the elf’s lap as she gently combed her fingers through his hair. His own fingertips wandered her side, feeling the muscles beneath shift as she breathed. Occasionally his palm would slide over her hip to lay flat on her back, relishing in the warmth that seeped from her skin to his.

They stayed like that for a time before the young Rider tilted his head upwards. “Arya?”

“Hmm?” She brushed his bangs away from his eyes. He’d probably ask her to help cut his hair again soon. It was getting longer than he usually preferred, the back nearly touching his shoulders.

“What the others noticed before. The marks. What’s it mean?”

“Oh.”

Eragon sat up when her hand paused. “You don’t have to–”

“No. No, you should know.” Arya was blushing again, and Eragon couldn’t help the soft laugh that escaped his lips. She had so rarely blushed before, but now, having to explain the base instincts of her race to him had her stomach turning in knots. “Many elves don’t commit to a partner. When they do, it’s…it’s expected to be long term. Like, long term.” She bit her lip, trying to find the best words. “We instinctively marked each other because of the whole…pheromones…thing. And usually that mark means that we’ve committed to each other. Exclusively.”

Eragon frowned slightly. “So...did we essentially get married while having sex?”

Arya laughed at that. “No! But…it just means we’re monogamous. Usually there’d be more talking about it first.” She looked down, her voice dropping. “I…I didn’t mean to lay claim to you like that without asking. I should have asked, and it’s considered practically illegal to do so without asking. I…” She took another deep breath. “I do love you, Eragon. And I also know that you are young, and could have anyone you want. You reciprocated the bite because of instinct, without knowing what it meant, and I shouldn’t have let it get to that point.”

Concerned at the rising distress in her voice, the young Rider slipped his fingers between hers and squeezed her hand. A pang hit him when her grip remained loose.

“I should have asked you and explained it. And if you want to reject it then we can just heal the marks, you don’t have to be bound by–”

He was relieved that his lips on hers silenced her. Her fingers immediately found his hair as he leaned into her, his own hand falling to the back of her neck to hold her close. When he pulled back he felt a tingle of pride that Arya was somewhat breathless.

“Well, if you should have asked….” He murmured, pressing his forehead to hers. “Ask me now.”

“What?” She fumbled, lightly putting a hand to his chest. “Eragon, you don’t have to–”

He shushed her gently, brushing her lower lip with his thumb. “How do I ask then?” He didn’t know why she looked so dumbfounded. He hadn’t exactly kept how much he loved her, how much he had wanted her and wanted her by his side forever, a secret. Worry wormed its way into his mind. What if she didn’t? What if that night was all just pheromones and battlefield friendship being mistaken by biology for genuine love? “I won’t if you don’t want me t–”

“You use my name. You ask if I will be your mate until the sun burns out or our feelings fade the same.” The words tumbled from her mouth in a rush. Her dark eyes looked into his, and for a moment Eragon saw past the rough and tumble exterior, the battered memories and steely conviction, all the things he had thought he had seen through before and he saw something new. She was pleading with him, begging for him to say the words despite the fear that kept sneaking up, the fear of losing him like she had lost so many others and the fear that one day his feelings would fade, that he would turn away from her to find another.

Eragon met her gaze and gently cupped her face in his hands, nose to nose with the woman he couldn’t even begin to describe how he felt so strongly for.

“Arya Dröttningu, will you be my mate until the sun burns out or our feelings fade the same?” He smiled softly, his voice that low rumble again. “But mine won’t.”

Arya’s fingers tightened in his hair and she closed her eyes, teeth digging into her lip. The last time she made this claim, the man she held had indeed burned out with the sun. He was buried leagues away, beneath sun dappled pines and with a black morning glory climbing the trunk of his living grave marker. That pain, that ache, the feeling of seeing him fall, it never went away.

Except when she was with him. Except when she felt Eragon’s arm around her shoulders the last few months, except when he couldn’t help but hug her after losing sight of her on the battlefield, when he looked at her with those dark eyes of his, when he laughed, when he touched her at all and when he slid his wonderful hands across her bare skin that night and stole her breath from her lungs with every damn kiss. It had happened so slowly yet so fast, and even though the pain was still there she could pass it by and know.

Know that it was okay. Know that Fäolin would have wanted her to have someone again. Know that Eragon was here, and alive, and she’d do everything she could to keep it that way. Know that she was the bodyguard this time, know that he would be safe with her, with Saphira, with Brom, with everyone else and everyone in the Varden was working to keep this one man and his partner of heart and mind alive.

And the King be damned if he was going to try and take another from her.

Fuck, she really did love him. And he had made it clear that he loved her.

She was already saying it, eyes open and locked to his.

“I will. Eragon Bromsson, will you be my mate until the stars burn out or our feelings fade the same?” She slid her hand over his, murmured against his lips, “Mine won’t either.”

“I will.”

When Arya pulled back she was met with one of the most Eragon expressions she had ever seen. He was beaming ear to ear, eyes shining with that childlike light that always had her on the edge of laughter. He was practically shaking with excitement, and suddenly grabbed her hands.

He dropped off the cot and onto one knee, clasping both her hands in his and kissed them, trying to hide the giddy smile. “We’ve done it your way, now I get to do it mine. Arya Dröttningu, will you marry me?”

At that Arya couldn’t help but laugh. He was too much. “I’ve told you, elves don’t marry, you big dope!”

The smile never faded. “Then can I at least get you a ring? I can make them like Roran’s and Katrina’s, we’ll never have to be wondering what part of the warzone we’ve managed to get to again!” Eragon was practically bouncing, and again pressed his lips to her knuckles. “Pleeease?”

Damn it. The way he looked at her from under his bangs, gaze a mixture of pleading puppy and somehow alluring, made it nigh impossible to refuse him. Laughing again, Arya shook her head in disbelief. What had she gotten herself into when falling in love with him? “Fine! Fine. But nothing fancy!”

The bouncing increased. “Can I say we’re married?” Arya’s sharp frown still did little to dissuade his joy. He knew better than that, knew that she didn’t like that kind of personal information being slung around the Varden where any spy could seize on it. “No. Okay. Can I at least tell Roran and Katrina that we’re officially mates?”

Arya sighed, teasingly making it sound as long-suffering as possible. “You can tell Roran and Katrina. Brom and Glen already know, but you can tell them it’s official if you want.”

The elf jumped when Eragon let out an elated whoop and leapt to his feet. “Saphira!” He was out of the tent before Arya could blink, and then back again, grabbing her hand and pulling her out with him. “Saphira, we need to go see Roran and Katrina right now!”

As Saphira launched them into the sky with a bugle, rippled with her own draconic laughter at her Rider’s joy, Arya just shook her head again and laughed with them. Whatever the hell she had just gotten into, it would certainly be interesting.

#inheritance cycle #eragon #modern inheritance stories #the cyclists #the inheritance cycle #eragon/arya #modern inheritance #ket's modern inheritance cycle #arya drottningu #saphira #brom #glenwing #elf guards #they dont have a tag yet #eragon x arya #eragon's a simp that's no secret #Arya holds a surprising amount of nerves around having a partner again #she's good at hiding it but looking deeper she is insanely scared eragon will die or go the menoa tree route #its not shown but Arya is very much no PDA unless extreme stress situations while eragon learns to hide his PDA via small touches #there uh...might have been some poorly done lemon work between this and Wonder but we're not posting that #anyway very happy to be able to post something long form again even if its not terribly long #i'll try to write more stuff later #i gotta get better at adding saphira in to things though #for now we're going with that she is letting them be lovey dorks in as private as it can get and is letting them work it out #along for the ride and the teasing #Shakarian fics fucking ruined me for biting someone to signify that they are mates okay alright im done now

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floflipo · 1 year

Text

k2 random oneshot

warnings: minor swearing, not proofread, just eh in general, gay kyle broflovski, also gay kenny mccormick

“Huh, you’re usually not up at this time.”

“... I guess.”

Two voices- one cheerful, one groggy- could be heard at the late time of 2:37 AM. Kyle sighs as he reaches across his desk and tries to grab a pen, but drops it onto his wooden floor. There were towers of textbooks, notebooks, and random pencils surrounding a singular sheet of paper. The piece of paper, devoid of Kyle’s chicken-scratch handwriting, sat sadly on his desk.

“Did something happen? You okay?” Kenny softly speaks to the speaker after a few moments of silence.

“No, not really. I’m fine. Just, you know,” Kyle inhales quickly. “Graduation is soon.” Kyle wishes that time didn’t move on so quickly. He missed the times in elementary school, where studies and reputation weren’t a huge worry.

“Haha, it’s weird to think that we’re gonna go to college soon. I mean, it feels like we haven’t changed at all since then,” Kenny laughs. Kyle can imagine it. How Kenny’s freckled cheeks slightly go up, scrunching up his face. He looked pretty when he smiled. He looked pretty with any facial expression, but especially his smile.

“Really? I feel like most of us have changed. For the better, and the worse. I kinda wish we didn’t,” Kyle scratches his hair with the back of his pen.

Kenny thinks for a bit. “Well, Cartman’s still an asshole, Stan still has problems with Wendy, Butters is still… Butters I guess. You’re still you, and I’m still me,” He says finally.

“Change can be a good thing too, but it’s still lonely watching everyone around you grow,” Kenny also adds.

Kyle massages his temple and groans. “I don’t want to deal with any of this shit. University, jobs, moving, and everything. I wish our parents still did everything for us.”

“... Right, you’re moving to the city. It’s gonna get more lonely around here for sure, haha,” Kenny painfully laughs.

“I feel like nothing is gonna work out, Kenny. No matter how hard I try,” Kyle suddenly breaks down, almost crying.

“None of us know for sure if something is gonna work out. But none of us know for sure if something isn’t going to,” Kenny says softly. Gosh, it almost feels like Kenny’s sitting right here next to him, rubbing his back like they used to do as kids.

Kyle almost regrets that he used his last years at South Park for studying. Maybe he should’ve hung out with his friends more.

Kyle doesn’t say anything for a while. Probably because he was crying. Kyle never liked talking when he was crying. All the words that he meant to say end up in a jumbled-up string of sniffs, hiccups, and sobs.

“Hey, I know you’re crying. I’m not gonna push you to talk or anything,” Kenny says slowly, soothing him. “But if you don’t know how something’s gonna end, isn’t it just better to believe it?”

Kyle sends Kenny a text instead. How do you know it’s not going to betray me? He retypes it a few times, due to his fingers shaking.

“... Do you not believe yourself?” Kenny asks.

Not really.

“Mm, then do you believe me?”

Duh, you’re my best friend. Kyle scoffs at the words “best friend”.

“Then believe in me who believes in you, alright?” Kenny’s voice could only be described best as light. It was almost too bright for Kyle to look at directly.

After a long pause, a mumbled “Okay, thanks Kenny,” could be heard, and after that, the short call of three minutes and twenty-seven seconds had ended.

the quote believe in me who believes in you is from an anime called tengen toppa gurren lagann, but the first time i heard it was in monika after story.

the thing about kenny’s voice being light is kinda a reference to killua’s thoughts about gon in chimera ant arc. (when gon insisted that kite was okay)

first time writing a oneshot/fanfic, idrc if it's bad its almost 1 am im going to sleep this isn't proofread btw

#sp k2 #fanfic #oneshot #south park #kenny mccormick #kyle broflovski

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fervency-if · 8 months

Note

You can ignore this if you want, I'm in silly mood after remembering how my husband brought home our family cat lol! MC has lives together with the ROs for quite some time, MC came home a bit later than usual and when the ROs see them MC looks at them with their best puppy dog eyes holding a kitten with the same intense puppy or (should I say kitten?) eyes, MC then asked the ROs "Can we keep it, please? 🥺". How would the ROs react?

Aw! Silliness is fun, and I would definitely not ignore such an adorable ask about cats, especially as a cat owner myself, haha! I bet the story about your husband and your cat is such a sweet and fun one!

The Physician would say that the cat would have to be more of the main character's responsibility, but who is she to say no? She really likes animals, and that goes for cats, too. She would be very sad if she caught it catching birds, though. Please, let's keep it indoors, so it won't hurt the wildlife...

Oh, when it comes to Aubrey, puppy eyes (or kitten eyes, as it were,) would not be necessary. He probably wouldn't even notice that they made that face; he would be far too busy looking at the cat, petting it, and saying how adorable it is. Ah, they said something? They asked if they could keep it. Of course! He would have gotten sad otherwise!

Vesa would smile widely, both because of the cat, and because of the main character's demeanour. They're simply the sweetest! She would love to have a pet, especially a cat or a dog (or both,) so she would highly approve of this.

Narcio would find this very amusing and charming. So they truly love felines indeed. He would smile for a little bit, then frown; 'I couldn't take that much responsibility...' Then he would shake his head. No, he can't say no - he wouldn't mind it, it would be more of a gut reaction. 'Yes. If you so wish. I take it that I will need to put all my porcelain decorations away until this little creature is older? And...' Sigh. '...could you perhaps be responsible for cleaning up after it, overall? And feed it, and... Yes, yes. I will try, too, but let me get used to it first.'

Roswhen would grin. Cute animal. Cute main character. Keep it? Yes, absolutely, they can't see why not. They have a slight preference for dogs, but that preference is only slight. Cats are sweet, too. They would grow extremely overprotective towards the little animal.

Elan would smile sweetly, both at the cat and at the main character alike, and approach gently to let the cat sniff him, and perhaps, if it seemed to trust him, he would try to pet it. He's very good and patient like that. Yes, he wants to keep the kitten. Definitely. Like Roswhen, he has a preference for dogs, but just like them, he loves both. Also, a cat would be easier to take care of when he's unwell, so perhaps it would be more suiting in a sense. He would worry a little, that the cat perhaps wouldn't like him... But that would just be some kitten blues right at the start.

#fervency ros #I dreamed about kittens tonight - this timing was fun

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livelaughwhump · 1 year

Note

Drabble idea for post rescue Elliot finding a stray kitten with no microchip or any sign of a home and trying to sneak the little guy inside. How would the team handle that? Maybe Elliot had been talking and playing with the kitten for a bit but it was scared of his teammates? (Maybe the cat was a frequent visitor before Elliot was rescued and stayed out of site until Elliot had healed more physically) idk I’m obsessed with these types of things lol this just popped into my head. This series is amazing! I’m so tempted to make fan art and I’ll dm it to you if I do and you’re ok with it! Have a great day and take care of yourself! 😊

Masterlist

Oh my god, this is idea is so precious!!😍

Thank you so much for your request!! This was super fun to write

Also, thank you so much for all the love for my series!! I'm so happy you're enjoying it!! And if you do decide to make some fanart, please please please send it to me!!🙏 I would love that!!❤️

Content: brief mention of past abuse, an obscene amount of fluff, very briefly implied animal abuse

(I've decided this takes place a little bit further into Elliot's recovery, when he has a bit more free will)

Elliot had first noticed the little kitten living under the porch about three days ago, when he'd helped Landon take out the trash. It was a scrawny little thing with matted gray fur and huge green eyes.

Poor thing had been curled up in a nest of dead leaves and old, greasy paper bags. It was shivering, and Elliot's heart had ached for it. Landon had merely scoffed at it when he saw Elliot staring and said, "Damn thing's been living there since before we rescued you. I wouldn't get too close to it, if I were you. It probably has rabies or something."

Elliot had completely ignored Landon's warning. Since then, Elliot had spent the next few days sneaking out to talk to the kitten and bring it some food. It was wary of him at first, but it quickly warmed up to him. It even started to eventually approach Elliot, instead of the other way around.

Elliot desperately wanted to bring the poor thing inside, but he didn't think his teammates would be too fond of that idea. Landon, especially, didn't seem to like the kitten, and Elliot hadn't bothered to bring it up to the rest of the team.

Three days of feeding and caring for it later, Karine said something that made Elliot's heart stop.

"Apparently, there's supposed to be a pretty bad thunderstorm tonight," she said. Elliot's breath caught in his throat. Lyra hummed in response, their attention still focused on the book in their lap. "They said there might be golf-ball-sized hail and winds that could get up to sixty kilometers an hour."

Lyra glanced up at her, quirking a brow. "Since when do you care about the weather?"

Karine shrugged. "I don't know. I'm bored."

Elliot wasn't listening to anything they said after Karine's weather report. The only thing he could think of was his little friend under the porch.

"Elliot?" Lyra said, breaking Elliot out of his spiraling train of thought. "You okay?"

Elliot hesitated. "Yeah, I-I just don't like s-storms very much." It wasn't a complete lie. Storms reminded him a little too much of his captivity, because of how often Christian had tied him up and left him out in the rain. However, that wasn't his primary concern in that moment.

"Oh, don't worry, buddy," Karine said. "It's not supposed to start until six, and we won't let anything happen to you, okay?"

Elliot nodded, but he wasn't really listening. His thoughts were trained on the poor little kitten-- his poor little kitten--and the next thing he knew, he was knelt in front its living space, trying to coax it out.

"Hello," he whispered. The kitten perked its ears up. "Don't worry, it's just me." He held his hand out and the kitten began to sniff him. When it seemed satisfied, it tilted its head at him. Elliot smiled. "Would you like to come inside with me? It's not safe out here tonight."

Of course, the kitten didn't answer, but it did take a couple steps closer to Elliot, nuzzling against his hand. Elliot's heart melted. "You must've been so lonely," he whispered. "I know how that feels. I used to make friends with whatever bugs or rats decided to pay me a visit." The kitten blinked up at him and Elliot's smile turned sad. "I guess we're both a couple of strays, aren't we?" The kitten climbed up onto his lap and burrowed itself in his coat.

Elliot took the opportunity to wrap it up in his coat and hug his arms around it in order to keep it hidden. With that, he carefully pushed himself to his feet and approached the front door. Just as he was about to reach it, however, it swung open. Elliot gasped and stepped back as Lyra's face came into view.

Lyra furrowed their brows. "Elliot? What are you doing out here? Karine said there's supposed to be a storm."

Elliot didn't know how to answer. He stared at them, frozen, and silently prayed that the kitten in his coat didn't make a sound.

Lyra glanced around. "Were you talking to someone?"

Elliot frantically shook his head. "N-No, I-I was just, um..."

Lyra raised an eyebrow. "El, are you okay?"

Elliot nodded, sweat beading along his hairline. Lyra didn't look convinced. They glanced down at where his arms were clutching his coat and panic swelled in Elliot's gut.

Lyra sighed. "What's in your coat?"

"N-Nothing!" Elliot lied, shifting his arms uncomfortably. He was careful not to crush the kitten with his arms. "I'm-I'm just cold."

Lyra shook her head. "Elliot, you can't lie to me. I know you too well."

Tears started to well in Elliot's eyes. "I'm s-sorry," he mumbled, turning his face downwards.

Lyra folded their arms over their chest. "What's in your coat?" They asked again.

Elliot sniffled and rubbed his nose. "P-Promise you won't get m-mad?"

"El, I could never be mad at you. I just want you to be safe."

Elliot didn't believe them, but regardless, he unzipped his coat and let the little kitten poke its head out. It sniffed the air and it's ears twitched a bit, but it didn't do much more than that.

Elliot scratched the top of the kitten's head before turning his gaze back up to Lyra. She had an unreadable expression on her face, and Elliot's heart sank.

"Is that the cat that's been living under the porch?" Lyra asked.

Elliot nodded. "I-I was just w-worried about her. I was afraid she wouldn't survive the storm tonight, and-and I wanted her to be safe." Elliot hunched his shoulders and started trembling. "Please, don't be mad."

Lyra shook her head. "I'm not mad, Elliot, but..." Elliot flinched. "But you know we can't keep a cat in the house. Yvonne is allergic."

Elliot's lower lip started quivering. "Please?" He begged. "She's-She's all alone, and-and I promise to take care of her. I'll f-feed her and wash her and-and she can stay in my room! I'll take good care of her, I promise! Please, Lyra. She'll die if I let her go."

Lyra sighed. "Elliot..."

"I'll never ask for anything ever again!" Elliot interrupted. He dropped to his knees, tears beginning to slip down his cheeks. He bowed his head. "Please, Lyra. I'll do anything. Please, don't make me let her go."

Lyra was silent for a beat. Elliot didn't look at her, but he took her silence as a good sign. She didn't immediately shut him down. Eventually, Lyra sighed for a third time. "Why don't we come inside and talk to the rest of the team?" Elliot looked up at her, eyes shining with hope. "If you really want to keep her, it's not just me you'll have to convince."

Elliot nodded. "O-Okay."

"But this isn't a definitive yes. I'm okay with it, but I'm not so sure about the rest of them."

"I understand," Elliot said. "Th-Thank you, Lyra."

Lyra half-smiled at him and helped him back up to his feet. "Come on, sunshine. Let's go before it starts to rain."

. . .

"Absolutely not," Landon blurted.

Elliot's face fell. "B-But-"

"We can't just keep a stray cat. What if it has an owner?"

"To be fair," Karine cut in. "It's been living here for months, and we've never so much as seen a missing cat poster."

Landon rolled his eyes and leaned back on the couch. "Well, what if it has a disease, or something? Yvonne is already allergic to cats."

"Yeah, but it's not a bad allergy," Yvonne added. "I can just take some allergy meds."

Karine shook her head. "You shouldn't have to do that."

"I don't mind," Yvonne assured. "I'll do it for Elliot. He deserves a little friend."

"Yvonne," Broderick exclaimed. "You have enough health problems as it is!"

"I'm fine! I'll sacrifice a bit of my convenience for Elliot's happiness." Elliot smiled a bit when he heard those words.

Broderick rolled his eyes. "Well, personally, I don't mind. My only issue with it is finances."

Karine scoffed. "As if you handle any of that."

"Broderick's right," Landon said. "Cats are expensive."

"We're not hard off for money, Landon," Lyra said. "We can afford a little kitten."

"Why are you defending this idea, Lyra?" Landon exclaimed. "You don't even like cats!"

"No, but Elliot offered to take care of her all by himself."

"And you trust him with that responsibility? He can hardly take care of himself!" Landon shouted.

Elliot's face grew hot and he turned his gaze away from his friends.

Karine smacked Landon on the arm. "Shut up, Landon! Elliot's more responsible than you are!"

Landon glared at Karine before fixing his gaze on Elliot. "I didn't mean any offense, Elliot. I just meant that you still have to recover. I don't want you to overwhelm yourself."

Elliot didn't acknowledge Landon's statement. Lyra rubbed his back and looked up at the team leader. "So far, we have four votes for yes and one vote for no. Karine, what's your verdict?"

Karine was quiet for a long moment, her eyes flicking between Elliot, Lyra, and the gray kitten in Elliot's arms. Her arms were crossed over her chest and her face was twisted in thought. Karine sighed and shrugged. "It's not like my vote really matters. The majority of you have already agreed." She waited a few seconds before continuing. "However, even though I'm not particularly fond of cats either, I suppose, if it'll make Elliot happy, who am I to say no?"

Elliot beamed. "S-So, I-I can k-keep her?"

"Under one condition," Karine said. Elliot's heart skipped a beat. "You don't give her a stupid name."

Elliot looked down at the dirty little gray kitten in his arms and smiled. "W-Well, I-I've been calling her D-Dumpling in my head. Is-Is that stupid?"

"Aw, that's so cute!" Yvonne fawned. "And it is absolutely not stupid." She shot a warning look at their leader. "Right, Karine?"

Karine chuckled and shrugged. "I suppose I can live with that."

Elliot smiled and hugged Dumpling as tight as he could without crushing her. She purred and rubbed her face against his cheek.

Landon scoffed as he watched the display. "Why do you even want that thing?" He asked. Karine shot him a warning glare, which he completely ignored. "It's tiny and dirty."

Elliot smiled as he stared into Dumpling's large eyes. "Exactly," he said. Dumpling pawed at his nose and he giggled. "She was all alone and hungry and-and probably mistreated, just like..." Elliot broke off. He'd come so far in his recovery, but remembering what happened to him was still difficult. Still, he swallowed his fear and said, "Just like me." Landon didn't say anything to that, so Elliot continued. "It-It just wouldn't feel right to leave her like that when-when I was lucky enough to be rescued."

"Oh, Elliot," Yvonne said. "You're too good for this world."

Elliot blushed, and Landon hummed. "I guess she's kind of cute, if you squint."

Lyra rolled her eyes and rested her hand on Elliot's shoulder. "Come on, sunshine. Let's go get Dumpling some food and a bath. Then, we can start introducing her to the rest of the team."

Elliot smiled and nodded, holding Dumpling in front of his face. "Welcome to the team, Dumpling."

This was so much fun to write!!!

I desperately want this to be canon, but it probably won't be until a bit further into the main story.

Also, Dumpling might be a stupid name, but it was the first thing I came up with and my girlfriend said it was cute, so I went with it😅

If anyone else has any requests, suggestions, or questions (for me or my characters) please send them to me!

Taglist:

@l-antre-des-merveilles @pigeonwhumps @nicolepascaline @burningkittypoet @whumpinggrounds @suffering-and-misery @make-them-scream @honeycollectswhump @rabass

#whump blog #whump #whumpee #whump writing #writing #caretaker #amwriting #fluff fic #worthless drabble #snippet #future canon #Worthless #Elliot Córdova #livelaughwhump

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madewithspice · 2 years

Note

Hi,saw how you were doing matchups, may I request for AoT and KNY if they’re still open?

name is Ethan, he/him pronouns, ENTP 7w8(MBTI and enneagram), bi but have a stronger preference for women

Likes: include watching anime, researching on anything making me curious, working on a few hobbies like photo editing,writing and drawing, but I would love to find more in the future, also into self improvement a lot. I also love travelling to different places and unique experiences

Dislikes: probably something that restricts my freedom too much, very hot weather, failing at something, people who are rude in general(not in the playful sense I’m down for that but like always insulting and not knowing when it gets too far)

Add info: 5’ 6”, Asian with Chinese descent,ambiverted but more introverted,love languages I can accommodate anyone but for me receiving it would be quality time and physical touch, i have 0 relationship experience so yeah I’ll probably be a bit shy in it 🙃

That should be all, hope you’re doing good and take care!!

Hello, yes thank you for requesting and for waiting patiently for my slow arse. You take care too :)

For AOT I match you with Sasha Braus

I hope you meant it when you said you like receiving physical touch because this woman will pounce on you, cling to your arms/legs and just generally be an accessory for you. Sasha loves how soft you feel and how you smell. She’s the type of gf just to take huge sniffs of you while hugging you. She likes to hold your hand but she’ll walk more in front rather than besides you, just so she can drag you when she sees something exciting.

As known world wide, Asian food just hits different 🤤 and who better to gorge on Asian food with than the foodie herself. Whatever you make or get, she’ll gladly eat it. But just because she’s a glutton doesn’t not mean she doesn’t makes sure you eat too. She’ll message daily asking if you’ve eaten and God help you if you say no. She’ll rush over with food and feed you whether you want her to or not.

She especially loves how shy you get. It’s one of her favourite things about you. The way you can’t hold eye contact with her for too long and the brushing mess written all over your face. Connie and Jean will endlessly tease you over it until Sasha asks where their s/o is which promptly shuts them up.

For KNY I match you with Tanjiro Kamado

You meet Tanjiro whilst he’s on a journey and you’re taking some pictures of a pretty sunset. He asks to see and you comply, beginning a new friendship for the both of you. The next time you two meet he invites you along to a secret location where “the best pictures of a beautiful view can be taken”. While showing each other your photographs of the view, you notice a few of you. “ I did say a beautiful view” I canon Tanjiro as a smooth mf

Tanjiro is a respectable gentleman and will take things so slowly just to make sure you’re comfortable. He’ll ask before holding your hand, before hugging you, before anything. He’ll always let you pick the dates or the food order. Basically, he’s a no.1 simp.

He will definitely tease you but not too much. He loves watching you get passionate over your hobbies and works. He’ll proudly show off your art to anyone that will look in his direction and now you have a whiny Zenitsu following you two around, stating it’s not fair that he’s alone and you two have each other. That is until he sees Nezuko and chases after her.

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witchthewriter · 2 years

Note

Thank you for doing ships! I've always wanted to have one done for me, so I'm truly greatful for the opportunity.

Level: Four (if you have the time and energy to do three ships that would be fantastic, but if not don't worry about it)

Basic things: I'm 5'1. I use she/they pronouns. I'm bisexual. I'm a capricorn sun, pisces moon, and cancer rising. Last but not least I am an INTP. Last minute addition I am Ravenclaw.

My three randoms are: Peaky Blinders, Stranger Things, and The Umbrella Academy.

In depth info:

I can be described as independent, stubborn, intelligent, eccentric, and cold–hearted (as I have been given the nickname Ice Queen).

I get anxious and stressed pretty easily but I hide it well and try to move on if it's not too severe. I am very family oriented even if they get on my nerves. I find it very funny because I am one of my parents youngest kids, but have lived as the oldest in the house, and I'm the middle child of the youngest three. Essentially I have oldest, middle, and youngest child vibes.

I mimic others easily especially if I'm around them for a while. I have a fantastic sense of humor and am in love with puns and dad jokes.

My taste in everything is very all over the place. I like all music and will watch or read almost anything you put in front of me. I love to sing, read, play piano, learn, watch crime shows, and write.

I tend to be very quiet until I have known the people I'm around for a bit then I don't know when to stop.

I love animals and most often get along well with them. Pitbulls are my favorite dog breed and I will absolutely die on that hill.

I dress how I want when I want. For example one day I'll be in a very pretty dress and look fabulous then the next I'll be a disco girl and after that I'll look like the handsomest little guy there is.

I have a very keen sense for observation and try to be three steps ahead. I love to be prepared as it makes me nervous when I am not. I tend to predict how things will turn out and am very good at sniffing out who likes who (including myself).

I did a bit of a ramble, but I know the more information the better. So I really appreciate you reading my ramble and all. Thank you!

Want to be shipped? Here be the instructions 🦋

Hello, my darling! You sound like such a lovely person <3

What each ship has in common: ⋆ Headstrong ⋆ Independent ⋆ Notable ⋆ ‘Man in charge’ ⋆ Admirable

𝐏𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐲 𝐁𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬

𝐷𝑒𝑠𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑝𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛

I ship you with Thomas Shelby. I think he would connect with your traits such as your keen observational sense, intelligence and the fact that your nicknamed the Ice Queen. By this I mean he isn’t one to show emotions, and I think he would go well with someone who can overcome their stress/anxiety to focus on the task at hand!

𝐻𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑜𝑛𝑠

・I think you would meet because he needed something (from your family shop, the place you work etc.)

・He has a keen observation as well, and is able to sniff out people who have useful aspects. I definitely think he would see this in you, and therefore want your intelligence and knowledge to help with the business

・Sitting at his desk when he gets back late, you doing some of the paperwork. He’ll just lean against the doorway, light up a cigarette and smirk at you

・Calling each other by your last names

・Having the respect of his brothers

・Getting to know Polly and actually really liking each other

・Having insightful discussions with Ada about politics, literaure and just ... life

・He would always make sure you’re safe. Once you have the Shelby name than you will be protected even by title. No one would fck with you. Like ever.

𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑓𝑎𝑣𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢

Your ability to see more than others around you do. You’re able to acclimatize into groups and situations, which he finds impressive. Also, the fact that you like to be prepared. He doesn’t like spontaneity, or rather, he doesn’t appreciate it.

𝑌𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑏𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑑

I think Ada would be your best friend. She would love having you in the family, more girls to outweigh the guys. She loves your intelligence and likes to pick your brain. You would have such great conversation!

𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬

𝐷𝑒𝑠𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑝𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛

I SHIP YOU WITH EDDIE MCBEAUTIFULFACE MUNSON <3 <3 <3 THE MAN OF EVERYONE’S DREAMS. THE METAL HEAD THAT CHANGED A UNIV- okay sorry I’m going too far. But honestly this man right here, this one, yeah he’s amazing. Enthusiastic, charming, kind-hearted!!!!!!!! His heart <3 is SO SOFT, He loves loves loves to make people feel comfortable. Literally you would suit each other so well!

𝐻𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑜𝑛𝑠

・BRAIDING HIS HAIR, if you don’t know how to braid then just playing with it. He will literally moan at how nice your fingers feel on his scalp.

・He would follow you around like a lost puppy unless he’s focusing on DnD, then his whole concentration would be on that. I think he would love your input too

・Singing along to both of your favourite songs, like full air guitar, jumping around, making so much noise!!!! It would be such a blast!!!!

・Dustin would absolutely love you, anyone that Eddie adores, Dustin would too

・Sitting in between in his legs reading while he watches a movie or reading to him. He would absolutely adore your voice

・Kissing each other’s knuckles

・Having so many inside jokes

・Uncle Wayne thinks you’re such a good influence on Eddie and he has hope for his nephew’s future

𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑓𝑎𝑣𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢

Your smile. Your brain. He just loves the way you work. He finds you so interesting. Like he’s so stumped that someone like you would ever want someone like him. I definitely think Eddie is a tad insecure and hides it with his loud personality.

𝑌𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑏𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑑

I think you would have such a fun time having Robin as your best friend. I was going to say Nancy, but I think with friendships, you deserve someone who is out of the box, who has great enthusiasm and can make you feel at ease.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐦𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚 𝐀𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐲

𝐷𝑒𝑠𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑝𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛

I ship you with Diego! I think he would absolutely suit you so fricken well. You would bond over being so hypervigilant and feel at ease around each other. There’s a hidden piece that Diego realises you fill inside of him.

𝐻𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑜𝑛𝑠

・You guys would definitely start off as enemies. Like even if you’re just an ordinary person working at a cash register, he would come in and be like “oh ... it’s you...”

And you’d just roll your eyes.

・It would evolve because somehow he either needed your help or you were thrown into some sort of apocopyptic catastrophe and needed to be rescued. And Diego came as your knight in shining armour.

・I can see there being such witty banter, like the sarcastic comments never stop once you get together

・Learning about Diego’s past and feeling really upset about it. You hate it when people having a horrible upbringing and to see someone who is still carrying that weight of that ... it breaks your heart

・He would be such a good cuddler - like imagine him wrapping his arms around you, holding you tight against your chest

・SO PROTECTIVE, YOU ARE HIS BABY AND HE WILL DIE FOR YOU.

・Hand holding <3 he doesn’t want to at first and tries to deny all the lovey dovey stuff but you don’t take it personally. But he is just teasing and as soon as you start to walk away, he’ll grab you and pull you back

𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑓𝑎𝑣𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢

That you’re stable within his life. He didn’t grow up with love, he didn’t grow up with a proper family. There was so much consistency around traumatic behaviour from his father that having a loving partner, who is stable - is such a change. Diego absolutely loves that he can count on you.

𝑌𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑏𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑑

I honestly think you and Viktor would get along so well. He would understand your sensitive side (especially that pisces moon and cancer rising!!!) I can definitely see Viktor having pisces and/or cancer in their big 3.

You would bring a lot of love to the Hargreeves family as a whole. And they all cherish your friendship!

#ships #ship game #let me ship you #still open

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m39 · 5 months

Text

Doom WADs’ Roulette (2007): Ultimate Torment And Torture

My brother in Christ!

Another partial conversion that uses a shit ton of enemies from the Monster Resource WAD that first appeared in 2007 due to KDiZD! All three of these partial conversions that won Cacoward in 2007 and all use this roster at least partially!

...

I don’t really have anything else to say; I just wanted to point that out.

G9: Ultimate Torment and Torture

Main author(s): Daniel Gimmer (Tormentor667)

Release date: September 11th, 2007

Version played: 1.07

Required port compatibility: GZDoom

Levels: 10

If you suddenly feel like you are playing KDiZD’s distant cousin, then you aren’t wrong, for this WAD is another project made by Tormentor667; although, this time it’s more like a one-man project rather than a community one.

Now you might be wondering What in the actual fuck is “Ultimate Torment and Torture”? To put it simply, it’s a remaster of the series of WADs under the same title (without the ultimate of course), now sprayed all over with Tormentor’s ZDoom’s features obsession, including background noises, a shit ton of new enemies, and other ZDoom stuff that may or may not be completely worthless on the long term.

Now since I didn’t play this series in any capacity, I’m gonna judge this WAD by its own merits. And if you didn’t already notice, do not expect this review to be completely positive; I’m not really a fan of Tormentor’s overly-designed WAD slop.

And although there isn’t really any plot in the text file in the WAD itself, there are text screens that describe what’s happening at the moment you are playing this map. But it all boils down to this – there is a hellish pentagram or something that summons demons and you go after it to end it all... again.

The plot, despite being rather simple (it’s a Doom WAD after all), takes itself too seriously in my opinion. It feels like it wants to sniff its own farts thinking it’s deeper than it thinks. The pretentiousness is especially high as you reach the final episode, with an unskippable monologue from the main character (who, by the way, sounds like Diet Caleb from Blood) rambling some kind of generic shonen anime hero speech filled with never give up this and da people I love that shit. This thing is funnier than most of the Mockaward winners that I played for crying out loud; for the wrong reasons, yes, but still.

But at least you can skip most of the textscreen stuff with the use key... after a small delay.

Now with the basics known, let’s take a look at another Tormentor’s projects.

You might probably know by this point, but if there is one thing that Tormentor is really good at is the visual aspect of his WADs (solo or community-made). And UTNT doesn’t disappoint in this. The oppressive foundry facilities in the second episode; snowy areas surrounding the base in the third one; the bastion with the demonic portal that acts like a bridge between episodes three and four; the mountain that you climb in the final episode; these are some of the highlights in this WAD.

It might be a little bit overboard with the details that aren’t just tiny objects lying around that are not some random debris from the wall, but it’s still amazing for the WAD from 2007.

Oh, and by the way, you can turn off some of the weather effects in most of the maps. Just remember to bind the key to it.

The music is a mixed bag for me. While half of the music tracks fit surprisingly well, the other half has a chance to make you laugh with the WAD sniffing its farts of pretentiousness again. It’s like the same problem as the plot; it gets a pass in the first half, but it gets ridiculous in the second one.

The final boss track is the worst case of unintentional laughter. No matter what you think about Revolutions, when it comes to the final battle between Neo and Agent Smith, the music fits really well. It doesn’t fit at all when you are flying around like a madman trying to destroy a satanic pentagram that protects itself with a demonic energy cylinder while dodging/trying to kill Cycloid Emperors that protect these things! IT JUST DOESN’T!

...

sigh

It does get better gameplay-wise at least.

I don’t really think this WAD is complicated. After the first playthrough, it didn’t really feel that tiring (at least for me). It does have backtracking sometimes, but honestly, I have experienced worse cases than UTNT.

What’s really cool about this WAD is that you can start from any of four episodes. If you are a Pistol-starter, you will enjoy this option (at least partially since you can start like this only at the beginning of an episode instead of in its middle).

You can also play as three different classes. I don’t know what are the differences aside from the starting weapon and the maximal amount of health since I played as only one class to not waste my time, but still, I’ll describe what I know:

The Marine starts with the Shotgun and 100 HP;

The Scout has 75HP and the Pistol (that shoots slightly faster from what I’ve seen);

And the Commando starts with 150HP and the Minigun; NOT the Chaingun mind you, but a Minigun. I’ll get to that weapon later.

There are two variants of the final level. The regular one takes place at the bottom of the mountain, where you climb it up while fighting the entire demonic army. There is also a graveyard with tombstones of people behind this WAD (like many other WADs before this one). This one is more of an epic type.

The secret variant (AKA the Director’s Cut) is hidden in the second part of the final episode. In this case, there are three areas full of monsters, where in the first two you have to kill a specific amount of Mancubi and Arachnotrons respectively (kind of like in Dead Simple) and in the third area you must press two switches to unlock the elevator to the final boss.

I’m not really sure which one is better. The hidden variant feels easier and has a lesser amount of annoying monster variants for the cost of a smaller amount of terrain to maneuver, while the regular variant feels like one last stand of the demonic army that fits perfectly well in a Doom WAD while having more bullshit moments.

UTNT is somewhere in between when it comes to how hard it is. It’s rather challenging, but I don’t think you will end up completely destroyed if you were playing WADs for a while before playing this one.

Every episode ends with the boss fight, where you fight up to four tough enemies depending on the skill level. It’s kind of a neat idea with the health pool showing up at the top of the screen, although I would like it more if the second boss fight had a larger area because I don’t think it was tested enough to be fun (or at least not as fun as the other two).

The final boss is... kind of stupid, I guess? You have to kill one of its guardians to make it vulnerable and fire at it (preferably with BFG). If you don’t realize it in a minute, you will end up with no ammo to blow it up. And again, the music doesn’t help.

Oh yeah, there is also stealth filth once in a while. -_-

I know it’s at worst one enemy per map, but still. What is it with these people keep adding this garbage to their WADs?

There are dozens of new enemies in this WAD. I’m fine with some new enemies to spice things up, but UTNT goes way too far with them. Some of these appear only once in the entire WAD! It’s like Tormentor didn’t know what to do with some of them and just slapped them in random places on the random map.

I don’t have time to ramble about every single one of them. Besides, I already talked about many of these in my previous reviews (like ZDCMP1, KDiZD, and Cheogsh among some of these). So instead, I’ll do quick rounds for every class of these bastards.

Without any further to do – the monsters of Ultimate Torment and Torture ladies, gentlemen, and others:

In the Zombie section we have Rapid-firing Trooper (Wolfenstein SS as an actual Doom enemy), Mutant Marine (tougher Shotgunner variant), Chaingun Major (Hoovy from KDiZD as a tougher variant of the original Hoovy), Bazooka Boy (from Obituary, shoots rockets), Plasma Zombie (‘nuff said), Railgunner (‘nuff said too), and Suicide Bomber (basically Headless Kamikaze as a Doom enemy; my personal favorites).

In the Imp section we have Catharsi (Cyberdemon if Imp; volley of projectiles, leaves a bomb when the die (if he didn’t gib)), Dark Imp (homing projectiles), Skulltag Imp (faster projectiles), Void Imp (Undead Warrior reskin), Soul Harvester (much more annoying homing projectiles; some of them are semi-invisible), Shadow (weaker Arachnotron, for some reason uses stock Imp noises despite having original ones in the past), Devil (tougher variant that can shoot constantly; uses Doom 64 Imp noises), Imp Warlord (has a couple of different attacks), Nightmare (can be hit when attacks and is constantly invisible before doing that), and Stone Imp (Imp if melee).

In the Hell Noble section we have Satyr (melee), Hell Warrior (has a shield), Hell Guard (no idea if he counts here but, whatever; shoots a volley of three projectiles), Hell’s Fury (tougher Baron), Lord of Heresy (tougher Baron but with wings), Belphegor (tougher Baron but with the volley of three projectiles), Afrit (flying, tougher Baron), and Bruiser (basically if the Bruise Brothers were actual bosses).

There are two new Cacodemon variants – Enhanced Cacodemon which shoots three fireballs and has slightly less health, and Cacolantern which shoots faster projectiles.

Same with Pain Elemental – we have Plasma Elemental (‘nuff said) and Tortured Soul (toxic clouds among other projectile).

There are also other enemies, which are Arachnophyte (Spider Bitch but flies), Blood Demon (tougher Pinky), Death Incarnate (hitscanning Revenant that has a small chance to not resurrect), Rail Arachnotron (‘nuff said), and Terror (Lost Soul that has a gigantic blast radius after it dies).

There are also the Source’s Guardians that I mentioned earlier. Look like Cycloid Emperors, kind of annoying to fight, and when they die, they leave their heart or something that functions as stronger medikit

We can’t forget about the bosses too. Aside from Bruiser Demons and the evil pentagram that function as bosses of episodes 2 and 4 respectively, we have Hectebi in the first episode (which are tougher Mancubi) and Giant Spiders in the third episode (Maulotaur reskins that burst out smaller, annoying to kill, regular spiders).

You collapse on the floor.

...

Phew...

Now with the demonic army described (apologies for the information errors if you notice one), let’s talk about new weapons.

Surprisingly, compared to the hegemony that are new monsters, you only get three new weapons. The first one to talk about is the Minigun that I mentioned earlier. It’s basically a much faster Chaingun but with a long break before firing again, meaning that it’s better for close encounters rather than sniping.

You have a flamethrower called... Flamer (how original). It’s your typical WAD flame thrower; don’t get burned by it yourself.

The final weapon is actually hidden in the secret in the first episode. It’s called Pyrocannon Prototype, and it feels like a napalm launcher that shoots mini-nukes. Perfect for bosses, so don’t use it (nor flamethrower) in any other circumstances.

I encountered some bugs while playing UTNT. The most prominent one was when Hell Warriors were completely invulnerable to anything until they raised the shield (something that didn’t happen in the previous WAD when these hulking cats appeared). Another bug that I encountered was in the second episode, where after exiting the secret area, the music from there was still playing; I had to enter and exit it again to properly change back to the original track.

The worst time was with some stability problems. There was one tiny moment in the first part of the fourth episode when there were some framerate drops due to the large amount of enemies and allies fighting each other, but there was a much worse one in episode two, during my secret-hunting run, when after the area with the blue key, the framerate started dropping like crazy, down to around 1.5 FPS.

Gee, maybe it wouldn’t happen if not for the gargantuan amount of shells, bullets, blood chunks, and gore chunks that appear everytime you kill at least one enemy (at least that’s how I think). I wonder if Tormentor ever thought of that situation.

The Ultimate Torment and Torture... makes me sad. I genuinely feel this WAD had the potential to be one of the best WADs ever created but the Tormentor’s obsession with (G)ZDoom features, many enemies that were slapped on this WAD without any reason for nothing but a small cameo, and the pretentiousness that pores out to the surface of the WAD’s plot makes it impossible to reach that status. It’s yet another WAD of its time that by modern standards feels outdated.

There is also another map known as the lost episode. I don’t know how to reach it without warping to it (if it’s even possible to get there normally), so I’ll leave it for the bonus round.

As for me, my break from Doom WADs might end up longer than a week, since I’m planning to buy a new PC that has SSD Hard Drive. So I’m going to move all important files to it once it arrives.

But until then, I’ll see you next time.

Have an early, happy 30th Doom anniversary.

#doom #doom wad #review #doom mod #doom 2 #doom 2007 #2007 #Torment And Torture #Doom Torment And Torture #Ultimate Torment And Torture #Doom Ultimate Torment And Torture #doom wads’ roulette #cacowards #top ten wads of the year

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