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intheshadowsbehindyou · 7 months

Text

The Mercs take Y/N to a nearby carnival in the badlands

WARNING: Chaos ensues. Why the fuck would you take them anywhere?

Scout:

- He’s fine with this. He used to love going to carnivals. It was all him and his family could afford on weekends.

- You’re somewhat bothered by the heat but he’s resilient as fuck. “You want me to grab you some water, babe?” He doesn’t even wait for an answer. Returns in fucking milliseconds with water. You don’t know how he’s so damn fast.

- Sits on the fariswheel with you, he had planned this to be super romantic but he feels awkward. He tries to lighten the mood by standing up in the car and whacking his ball into the poor crowd of people. “Watch this. This is for you, babe.” The sandman ball hits a guy in the face and probably kills him. You’re pretty convinced he’s not alive anymore. “Home run!” He calls out. “Woooo!”

———————————————————-

Solider:

- EXCITED. EXCITED. EXCITED. If he were a dog he’d be wagging his tail. For all the wrong reasons. You know full well you’re in for a ride. It’s not a thrill ride.

- He takes the shooting games way too seriously. Gets mad when he doesn’t get the plush toy prize and pulls out his actual stock rocket launcher to rely on pure splash damage. (Where the fuck did he even hide that?) They’re forced to hand him his prize in fear for their lives.

- If you lose a game, he beats the shit out of the person running the stall. He insists it’s their fault and the game was rigged. Your shot is flawless.

- You leave him alone for TWO SECONDS and he’s already harassing a random bird on the fence he believes to be a Russian drone. Children are staring at him. You can’t take this man anywhere.

——————————————————————-

Demoman:

- He’s not used to this. He went to the Highland games as a kid. Never really had a carnival around his village. He experiences a bit of awe and intrigue as you walk the streets with him. He’s still in his vest and the people of Tuefort are heckling him. They know he’s one of those annoying mercenaries. He thinks this is fucking hilarious.

- He hates the food though. Eugh. He discovers pretty quickly he has a dislike for fried chicken. Insults America’s tastes to hell and back. Almost fucking vomits when he tastes the mac and cheese. What the fucking hell is wrong with you people?

- “Err.. Dontae think those rides are a bit dangerous?” He asks, jutting his thumb behind him. He doesn’t notice the kiddy rollercoaster breaking into pieces behind him followed by screaming families. He’s probably too used to that sound to process it coherently.

- Suspiciously eyes the men setting up the fireworks for tonight. He glares at them while sipping the cheap alcohol he begrudgingly bought at one of the food stalls. Nitpicks them for setting them up wrong. He sets them up himself but the fireworks nearly kill everyone. Turns out he made them more efficient. By that I mean deathly. “No, sweetheart. they’re FIREWORKS. FIREWORKS.” you tell his drunken stupid ass.

—————————————————————

Engineer:

- Oh fuck he’s excited. He had good memories going to carnivals as a kid. Eats like a fucking beast and doesn’t hold back. You watch this man consume more than his own body weight.

- Goes straight to the mechanical bull. Asks you to hold his cowboy hat he wore on the way here. “Sit back and let a big man like me show you how it’s done, darlin.” He doesn’t even fall off once. It looks like he’s barely even moving. He stands up on the fucking bull and flips off the last guy who ate shit on it. Embarrassing him in front of his kids.

- As you’d suspect he’s sort of insulting the lack of regular maintenance on the rides. Whilst in line for the Zipper he shakes his head like a disappointed father and scraps the rusted paint off the ride with his glove. Crushing it to dust between his fingers. Shakes his head some more and sighs.

- Congratulations. The state of these rides have broken this poor man. He can’t take it anymore. Take him to the petting zoo with the farm animals right now before he suffers a brain hemorrhage.

———————————————————————

Heavy:

- “What did little baby say about carnival?”

- He’s heard of carnivals in plenty of books but his life of isolation has prevented him from ever experiencing such a thing. The concept is almost alien.

- Well, he goes with you and he hates it. He looks like an incredibly discontent kitten the entire time. As you ride with him in all the kiddy rides, he looks even more pissed as he just so happens to break one of the rides upon sitting in it. The consequences of being a giant mass of muscle are truly unfortunate on this day.

- His face brightens up a little bit as you buy him a footlong sandwich. He’s never seen a sandwich this big before. He eats the entire thing within’ minutes.

- Finally you find a place in the carnival he somewhat enjoys but pretends not to. He hits the high striker so hard the bell fucking breaks and goes flying. He complains that this game is too easy — until he’s handed a cute little toy bunny of course. “I have been gifted rabbit?”

- Everybody is now batshit afraid of him.

———————————————————————-

Pyro:

- YAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

- Bouncing in the car the entire way there. Miss Pauling had to drive you two there because Pyro doesn’t own a vehicle. She sighs in exasperation and asks pyro to“please quiet down, sweetie. Pauling is thinking.”

- You have a massive dog jumping off the walls of the car right now. They can’t sit still. Pauling is miserable. In other words, water is wet.

- Once she drops you off she makes you both swear to not catch anything on fire. It’s bad for business and doesn’t give them a good look. Pyro has no intentions of listening to her and heads straight for the fire eating performance. In their point of view; these people are somehow consuming rainbows.

- They do all sorts of things with you. Allowing you to lead the way to any attraction you felt drawn to. Whether it be trying to get dolls or getting on a ride. They seemingly want to do as much as possible before the sun goes down.

- after you tell them it’s late, they groan in despair but nod obediently. Prioritizing your guys’ shitty adulthood of work was sadly something that had to be done. They held your hand on the way back. Carrying a shit load of plush dolls in the other massive glove.

- “Did you two have fun?” Miss Pauling asks, you swear she puts on a motherly voice just for pyro. He excitedly claps his hands and agrees with her. She blinks though and sees the chaos behind you. You trace her gaze with confusion, wondering what she was gawking at. For some reason the entire carnival was on fire and you didn’t even notice on your way out that it spread to pretty much every corner.

- You both look back at Pyro. They’re holding a match. Of fucking course. Miss Pauling rubs her face. “I’ll call the firemen..” She sighs in defeat.

————————————————————-

Sniper:

- “Carnivals are stupid.” He says, a lit cigarette between his teeth. “Jus’ mediocre entertainment. Not even good. Believe it or not I have standards for my own personal pleasure as well. I’m not going to some stupid thick headed colonel sanders’ freakshow to eat hot grease n’ Emu legs.” You have to correct him that it’s technically turkey legs. “Whatevea mate.”

- You somehow manage to convince him anyway. But he was doing this only for you. He growls as you drag him by the hand onto the carnival grounds. Wishing he was back in bed. He glares at everybody who even dares breathe in his direction.

- He likes the farm animals well enough but quickly diverts his attention away in slight intrigue upon seeing the shooting gallery. You are thrilled and BEG him to win a prize for you. “There’s no way in hell i’m doing that, love.” You want to see this guy in action and the look of shock upon everybody’s faces as Sniper beats multiple children.

- Well.. Okay. But only because you keep inflating his ego with your compliments. He goes up, gives the person in charge his money, and brings the scope to his eye. Multiple kids are in the gallery next to him and missing every single shot on the fake cardboard animals. He mutters an insult to their ineptitude. He doesn’t even have to look to know they didn’t land a shot.

- Sniper takes down literally all the targets within’ seconds. Including the ones that the poor children were shooting at. Every. single. cardboard animal.

- The person running the stall begrudgingly gives him the biggest teddy bear they have. The Teddy bear that multiple families present were wanting to get in the first place. Kids are complaining and parents are complaining. Life’s suddenly great. Sniper looks amused at the amount of attention and cracks a smile at you. He wonders how you knew this would make him happy.

—————————————————————————

Medic:

- “Ack! what complete nonsense! I am far too busy of a man for such boyish games!” He acts dramatic about it. Crossing his arms and turning up his nose.

- “Yeah but— what if somebody dies on the broken ass rides? That’s like free organs right there.” You say.

- “Hoo. Well, you do have a point. Alright! I’m convinced. But only this once.”

- Medic is actually rather terrible at the gun related games. He can’t aim precisely. At one point you found a crossbow related game and he held his hand over his mouth in embarrassment. Realizing he had managed to hit everywhere but the desired target. You joke that hey— at least a life isn’t on the line this time. He passive aggressively slaps you over the head lightly with his glove and moves to the next game.

- You go to the bathroom and come back to see him dragging a bloodied dead body into his car. “Ah, I’d explain but it’s a rather long story!” he says enthusiastically. Accidentally holding up his equally bloodied ubersaw, and then immediately hiding it behind his back.

- He won’t go on the rides. He’s bold and brash but he isn’t an idiot. He knows full well those things aren’t structurally sound. He stands up tall in his usual thinking pose. A finger to his chin as he takes in the sight of the rides. “What are you thinking?” You ask him. He grins at you. That disgusting, devilish, i’m-making-an-evil-plan grin. You are now scared.

- He steals an entire fucking carnival ride for less than moral medical purposes. The ENTIRE FUCKING THING is in the back of his car and the car is chugging along. Wheezing and trying to get this thing back to the base. He’s going to break it apart and sow the parts onto a Frankenstein-like creature.

_________________________________________

Spy:

- Mother of god, can’t you guys go on a more relaxing date? One with less screaming, noisy music, and people? What about a nice five star restaurant? Or the park?

- He refuses to eat any of the food. At all. He’d rather starve in a ditch than eat such filth. Not even bothering with the alcohol. He avoids people like the plague and you’ll turn to ask him a question and WHOOOOSH! he won’t even be there until you reach your hand out and blink his invis watch by poking him. “Stop cloaking, pussy.”

- He literally begs you to choose another place. PLEASE. End his suffering. You swear you’ll find something here he enjoys though.

- You were standing in line for a ride and once you got to the front he had stepped out of line and said “Oh! after you.” In typical gentlemen fashion. Letting you go on the entire ride by yourself. You glare at him from the ride and he’s smirking mischievously. Waving his fingers to greet you.

- For the rest of the night he takes it upon himself to mess with you. You offer him some cotton candy and he hands it to a little boy in a stroller instead while nobody was looking. You saw that in the corner of your eye. “Im not fucking blind, Spy.” You say. He puts his hands behind his back innocently. “Oh, what? I consumed the wretched morsel like you asked!” “No, you didn’t Spy.”

#team fortress 2 #tf2 #spy x reader #medic x reader #demoman x reader #heavy x reader #pyro x reader #tf2 x you #tf2 x reader #sniper x reader #engineer x reader

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callsigndragon · 1 year

Text

Seeing Red | Ch. 9: Missing firsts📲 ✍️

Pairing: Jake “Hangman” Seresin x ex-wife!Reader (Call sign: Red Queen)

Word count: 2.3k

Warnings: a new meaning of the 'there was one bed' trope, mentions of death, abandon, sad feelings, Jake guilty era continues... and Beau Cyclone Simpson.

Masterlist on pinned

There’s a tingling feeling in your heart when you read the words ‘our son’. You shouldn’t feel like that; you know it. But Liam is happy because he gets to see his dad at last—that’s something you can’t ignore.

If he’s happy, you’re happy.

Your mom has been asleep for at least one hour, extremely tired after all the driving she has done today. You tiptoe to Liam’s room, which is actually your room because you didn’t expect your mom and baby to appear out of the blue. They were supposed to be here tomorrow. And Charlotte had clear instructions: never bring Liam to Top Gun.

But Jake has always been in Charlotte’s heart. She thinks that Jake had a good reason for getting a divorce. Maybe your mom thought that bringing Liam to Top Gun would make Jake regret every single second he had been away from you and ask for forgiveness. You don't know why she is still trusting him. You also assumed that he had a reason for leaving your life and that once the problem that had caused him to leave was resolved, he would return, explain everything, and you would be happy ever after with the son who was growing inside you.

He never came back. And by the looks of it, he’s not going to give you an explanation, either. It’s okay. You don’t need to know. You honestly don’t want to know. Knowing the reason might ease the relationship between you two, and you can’t allow yourself to fall for this guy again.

Again? As if you had ever stopped feeling something for him.

And if those feelings had faded away during the last two years, seeing him lying down in bed with Liam sound asleep over him, his face hidden in the crook of his dad’s neck, doesn’t help a lot.

That’s the image of a loving father.

“I can’t move,” he whispers, kissing Liam’s head. “Not that I want to.”

You smile a bit, walking closer to the bed, and lie down next to him. “It’s funny because I never thought this would be your reaction after meeting Liam.”

“You thought I’d leave?”

“Honestly?” He nods. “Yeah, I thought you’d leave again. But your dad instincts took control over your body.”

Jake sighs, hugging Liam closer. “You know I’ve always wanted to have a family.”

“That’s why I named him Liam.”

“Thank you for that.”

There’s a silence after his words. It’s not awkward. Silences have never been awkward with him.

“You told him who I was.”

“Every kid deserves a dad, Jake.” You grab Liam’s hand, his tiny fingers closing around yours. “And you’ve always been a good man to me.”

“Until I wasn’t.”

“You’re never gonna tell me why you left me, right?”

“I can’t, Red. I literally can’t. Just… Just know that if I had a choice in the matter, I would have stayed with you. Always.”

You shake your head. “Let’s not talk about that.”

“Tell me about Liam. What does he like?"

“Well, he likes planes,” you chuckle.

“Guess that’s in his blood.”

“Yeah… He likes cars. But not cars in the sense of automobiles. The movie Cars.”

“Tell me his favorite character isn’t Mater.”

“Okay, I won’t tell you that.”

He groans. “That’s Rooster's favorite character.”

You bit your lip. “Why do you know that?”

“We watch a lot of movies with Payback’s kids.” He confesses, grabbing the blanket and covering Liam’s body. You help him, making sure that Liam’s arms stay under the blanket, but he moves them again, one grabbing Jake’s hair, the other searching your hand. “Sweet baby.”

“Yes, he is. He also likes chocolate. Bluey. Dogs, of course. And his grandma.”

“I also love his grandma.”

“I swear, if she was younger, you would have married her.” You joke, trying your best not to laugh.

“I don’t know. Your father would have come from death and killed me.”

“Oh, yeah. They loved each other so much.”

“Are you… seeing someone? Because explaining why the father has suddenly appeared will be interesting."

“No… It’s kinda hard to date when you're a single mom. I don’t even have time to read a book; how am I supposed to date?”

“It’s bad that a part of me is glad that you’re single?”

“It is. Are you single?” You close your eyes and mentally facepalm yourself for asking that question. Why do you care?

“It’s kinda hard to find someone to date when you had the perfect woman in front of you and had to let her go.”

A tear slides down your face. Fucking idiot, why does he say things like that? “I’ll sleep on the sofa.”

“No, no, please. I’ll shut up, okay? Stay here.”

Something tells you to leave. That you should go and sleep on the sofa, creating the distance you need right now.

You are proud of yourself for being a very strong woman. Always doing the right thing, following the rules, thinking before acting.

But if the world ended in this exact same moment, this bed is where you'd like to be.

"Was it Valentine's?" He asks, somehow closer to you, his breath tickling your skin.

"What?"

"When we made him."

"Oh. Yeah, it was on Valentine's."

"So his birthday is in November?"

"14th"

"Nine months exactly?"

"A perfectionist"

"Just like his mama." You both say it at the same time, and Jake's laugh makes Liam stir in his sleep.

"Mama?" He raises his arms, looking for you.

"Shhhh, baby. Mama's here. Wanna sleep with Mama?" Liam nods, and Jake moves him, so he is now lying down in between the two of you, his face pressed against your chest. He falls asleep in seconds.

"You should get some sleep." Jake says, looking at the time on his phone. "I'll leave early in the morning."

"Stay and have breakfast with him. Told him that you make the best pancakes." You close your eyes, slipping into Morpheus' arms.

It's weird, because you could swear the last thing you remember is someone's lips pressing against your forehead.

"Can you explain to me why I am in a toy store at 9 AM?" Payback groans, sipping from his coffee.

"Cause you're the only friend with kids I know and I need advice." Jake reminds him, comparing the two Mater toys in his hands.

"Another Mater boy?" The taller man laughs, and now it's Jake's turn to groan.

"Mater, Mater… He's not that cool. Doc Hudson. That's a good character!"

"You always go after the fatherly figures, Jake. Doc, Mufasa, Tony Stark... Do you, perhaps, have daddy issues?"

"I love and respect you, but I'm not going to stop myself from throwing this toy at your head." Jake warns, raising the toy.

"I bet you wouldn't throw that if it was Tony Stark."

"I hate you." Jake looks at the toy; it doesn't seem to have small pieces that could break. "Okay, this one's good." He leaves the toy in the cart and keeps walking down the Cars section.

"Did you really not know she was pregnant?"

Jake had been waiting for that question since he parked in front of his house one hour ago. The other daggers would also ask him along the day, is something inevitable.

"No, she was like… almost three months pregnant, and all her symptoms showed up when I left. I can assure you there wasn't a baby bump or anything the last time I saw her."

"Man, that sucks. I don't know how I would feel being in your place."

"Wanna know how it feels?" Jake turns around, holding his gaze. Reuben would never admit it, but Jake looks like he's about to cry. "I'll never know how it felt the first time he kicked his mom's belly. I'll never know what it feels like to run to the store at 3 AM because the baby is craving strawberries. I never went to childbirth classes. I didn't read a book about how to raise a kid. I wasn't there when she went through labor. I missed his first laugh, his first steps, and his first words. How the fuck did I end up hurting a son I didn't know I had?"

"I don't think you hurt him, Jake"

"Can you be sure that Liam didn't cry, not even once, asking for his dad?"

Payback knows how improbable that scenario is. Kids cry, asking for their parents. Of course, Liam had cried asking for his dad.

"Jake, you didn’t know. You're not the one to blame, and neither is Red. She did what she had to do."

"I'll never blame her. She tried to contact me,butd she couldn't because I blocked her. Dammit, I'm such a dickhead."

Payback chuckles. "Stop it. What's done is done. Just try to be part of that kid's life for the next 16 years."

"Only 16?" Jake frowns. He wants to be in Liam's life as long as he breathes.

"You never know what your son might do when he turns 18."

"18? His 3rd birthday is in six months, and I'm already panicking."

"Oh, first-time fathers are so cute."

"Stop joking and help me find more toys, please."

"Okay, what else does he like?"

"Bluey."

"A boy with taste." Payback concedes, walking with his friend to look for more toys.

"Where's Liam?" Mickey whines when you enter the briefing room.

"Well, hello to you too, Garcia." You laugh. "And Liam is at daycare. My mom was so tired that I left her home to rest. Poor woman spent all day driving yesterday."

"But he's coming, right?" Bob pouts. How can a man so tall pout like a baby?

"You all want to meet him?"

Mickey, Bob, Nat, and Rooster nod at the same time, smiling like idiots.

"You can come over this weekend and have dinner with me and Liam."

"I'm gonna meet my nephew." Rooster fist bumps, and you're about to chuckle when you notice that Payback, Jake, and Javy are missing.

"Where are these three? Mickey, where's Payback?"

"Dunno."

You take a deep breath. Second day being the team leader and people are already arriving late.

Your phone pings, and you look at it. It's Jake.

Just when Jake sends you the last message, your phone turns off, completely out of battery. Amazing. The beginning of a great day.

Almost an hour later, Jake, Javy, and Payback are still missing. You’re supposed to prepare for a special class that Dagger Squad needs to teach to the new Top Gun students. But without three pilots here, it is hard to move on.

The door opens, and you’re sure that Jake’s stupid smile will be at the other side, but what you see is Liam running inside the briefing room, looking for his mama. Cyclone appears behind him.

“OH MY GOD IS HIM.” Mickey screams in joy, scaring poor Liam, who starts to cry.

“Mickey, why do you have to be so loud?” Bob smacks him.

“Hispanic people are loud, I thought you knew by now.”

“It's okay, baby. What are you doing here?” You whisper to the baby, calming him down.

“He started crying and calling for his mom. They couldn’t reach you, so they contacted me.” Cyclone explains, playing with Liam’s hands. “And we played for a while with some planes until he calmed down, right buddy?”

“Planes are cool.” Liam agrees, nodding.

“Oh, god. My phone turned off an hour ago, and Jake was supposed to bring me a charger. I’m sorry, baby, Mama’s phone didn’t work.” You say while kissing his head.

“It’s otay. Boo is cool.”

“Who’s Boo?”

“I think that’s me. Cyclone was a hard word for this little guy, and Beau turned into Boo.”

“Thank you so much, Cyclone. I’ll make sure to keep my phone charged from now on.”

He waves it off, smiling. “Don’t worry. And please call me Beau.”

“Well, thank you again, Beau. But now I’m in a bit of trouble. What am I supposed to do with you little trouble maker?” You tickle him, the sound of Liam’s giggles making everyone in the room smile.

“You’re still planning tomorrow's class, right?”

“Yeah, we’re missing a few pilots. They’re bringing me some reports I needed.”

“And you sent…” he turns around, looking at the people in the seats, counting which are the missing pilots. “Three men for such a simple mission?”

“Seresin is involved. You need one to stop him from creating chaos and another one to actually do what they’re supposed to.” You are trying your hardest to cover for him, because he really had to go buy toys on a job day.

“You could have just sent Payback.”

“And have to see Hangman’s face all morning? No, thank you. Now that he knows who Liam is, I won’t stop seeing him for the next 16 years.”

Cyclone laughs. “Yeah, it’s true. You told me before.”

“She told him before?” Nat whispers to Rooster.

“I saw them talking in front of his office this morning.”

“It’s Cyclone trying to make a move on Red?” Bob mutters, and all of them look at the Vice Admiral with loathing in their eyes.

Jake may be a dick, but there’s no denying that he loves Red and that he would do anything for that kid.

Cyclone is now public enemy #1.

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finntheehumaneater · 4 months

Note

“It’s all YOUR fault!”

For the ask game 🙏

Hallo, love!!!

this isn’t necessarily Steddie, but I hope you enjoy!!!

angst prompt list | hurt/comfort prompt list | nice scenarios list (more about the asks in my pinned post)

CW: mention of drugs, guns, weed, alcoholism, animal abuse (but it’s more like neglect than abuse), and smoking, implied sexual activity

Max was nearly over the neighbor’s fence—the chair she had brought outside was tipping out from underneath her, but maybe she could just climb back over the fence afterwards—when the chair finally gave out and she fell backwards onto the cold grass, feeling the wind knocked out of her. “Shit—“

She gasped, turning over onto her stomach and pushing herself up, trying to breathe, but her lungs wouldn’t take in air. There was the sound of a car door opening and closing, silence, and then muffled cursing, followed by the sound of crunching on gravel. She ignored it, bending over and coughing out another gasp, her hair falling into her eyes. “Fucking shit—“

“Jesus, kid,” a voice muttered, and she saw someone kneel next to her, an orange flannel and a corduroy jacket flashing out of the corner of her eyes, and she felt a hand press against her back, rubbing against the fabric of her shirt. “You tryin’ to get yourself killed?”

Max finally sucked in a breath and coughed, folding over again. The hand stayed on her back, pressed against it gently, until she whipped around and glared at the person. It was Wayne. She didn’t really know Wayne, but his nephew had brought over food, once, and ate with her in her front yard. He made her hair smell like cigarettes from how much he had been smoking, but he seemed nice enough.

“I’m fine,” she snapped, waving Wayne’s hands off when he went to help her up. She could stand on her own, she wasn’t a fucking kid. Wayne looked at her, then to the chair, and then to the small white dog on the other side of the fence.

He raised an eyebrow, looking her over as she dusted the dirt off of her hands “You tryna steal the neighbor’s dog?”

“No—“ she said quickly. “I mean—whatever, why do you care?”

“Because I know the person who lives here, and I don’t think he’ll take kindly to havin’ his dog stolen,” Wayne said quietly, crossing his arms and leaning back slightly. He looked tired.

“What, is he going to fucking shoot me or something?” She bit back, but her eyes widened slightly when Wayne nodded. She sighed and looked back over at the dog. She didn’t know his name, so she had just been calling him Jamie. “He doesn’t…he doesn’t feed him, I know it. I have to do it. And I don’t think he gives him much water, either. He’s out here all the time.”

“Hm. Well, how about we go talk to him before we try and take his dog away, hm?”

“He deserves to have his dog—“ Max cut herself off when Wayne narrowed his eyes slightly. She looked down and glared at the grass beneath her sneakers. It was cold out here.

“You go put the chair back, and I’ll get my nephew. He knows Briar better than I do. Might be able to talk some sense into him.” Wayne muttered, sighing. Max watched as he walked off, before dragging the chair back towards the back door of her trailer. She managed to get it back through the door without making too much noise, putting it back at the table.

She went back into the living room quickly, just to make sure her mom was still there—and she was, passed out on the couch with a couple empty beer bottles scattered on the floor, her red hair plastered to her forehead with sweat. Max left her there, half-falling off of the couch. She still had her high-heels on.

Max grabbed her jacket and then ran back outside, across the street to the Munson’s trailer. The air around the place smelled like weed. She knocked on the door and waited. No one answered. Fuck it, she thought, pushing the door open and stepping inside.

Wayne was sitting on the couch, his feet up on the coffee table, drinking from a mug that looked like Garfield’s head. She always knew the old man was weird, but now she just thought he was fucking crazy. “Where’s Eddie?”

“Getting dressed. He’s in his room if you want to go knock. See if he’s done.”

Max huffed and looked around. Wayne’s trailer had the same set up as hers—and it looked the same as hers, too, mostly. Cluttered. Messy. But with a lot more mugs and mechanic magazines. She walked down the hallway to where her room was and knocked. There was faint music coming from inside, and it smelled like cigarette smoke. It was the kind of music Billy had listened to. Fuck, no, she wasn’t going to think about that asshole anymore. It wouldn’t bring him back—not like she wanted him back. He had nearly killed her ex-boyfriend…well…she wasn’t actually sure what they were to each other, right now.

Sometimes she would go and see Lucas when she went over to Dustin’s, and they would laugh and everything would be fine—and then other times she didn’t want anything to do with him, resenting the idea of even being in the same school building as him. She missed Lucas.

“Yeah, yeah, hold on,” She heard Eddie mutter, and there was another voice in there, too, but she couldn’t hear it over the music.

“I know, sweetheart, hold on,” Eddie said, and Max narrowed his eyes. “Gotta do something for Wayne, then I’ll be back.”

Was he with a girl or something? Gross. The door opened and there Eddie was, looking annoyed and a bit disheveled, his Iron Maiden t-shirt half tucked into his black jeans, his hair messed up and kind of sweaty looking. “Can I help you?”

“Wayne said you’d talk to Briar for me,” Max said, glaring at him, feeling a bit awkward with the way he was looking at her. Eddie sighed, looking back when a voice asked, “Eds? Who’s that?”

Max’s eyes widened slightly and she pushed past Eddie, who made a noise of protest, trying to grab her arm and tug her back. She hit his hand away, and her eyes widened slightly when she saw Steve, shirtless in Eddie’s bed, his hair pushed back, blinking sleep out of his eyes. “What the fuck?”

She looked back at Eddie, whose face was flushed bright red as he looked away. Steve noticed Max and made a quiet ‘oh’ sound, before giving her an apologetic smile. “Hey.”

“You know what—Steve, you and I can talk about this later. Eddie, let’s go.”

She grabbed Eddie’s wrist and pulled him outside, her heart nearly beating out of her chest. Not because of the fact that Eddie was sleeping with a guy who was practically her babysitter, but because she was afraid of what Briar was going to say.

“Why are we talking to Mr. Jones, anyways?” Eddie muttered, rubbing his eyes and sighing as Max led him to the front door of Briar’s trailer.

“His dog.”

“What about?”

She knocked on the door and then turned back to Eddie. “He doesn’t take care of him. He leaves him outside everyday, and I’ve been feeding him so that he doesn’t starve.”

Eddie’s eyes widened slightly as he looked concerned. “Shit, Mayfield, I don’t think we should—“

The door opened, and there was Briar. He was tall, with whisky brown hair and a scowl across his face. “The fuck you kids want?”

Eddie cleared his throat and pushed Max behind him a bit. Max kicked at his leg, and Eddie winced, glaring at her, but he moved his hand. He turned back to face Briar and sighed, giving him a small, strained smile. “Hey, Mr. Jones. How’s it going?”

“Munson? I didn’t ask to buy anything—“

“I know, I know, I’m not here with weed. We, um…it’s about your dog?”

“Benny?”

Eddie nodded, and Max stepped back out from behind him, ignoring him as he tried to pull her back. “How often do you feed him?”

“What?”

“How often do you feed Jami—Benny?”

Briar turned around, glancing in the direction of the backyard. “Dunno. Every few days, I guess.”

“Well, he needs more food than that,” Max snapped, because I’ve been feeding him every night for the past few months.”

“Mayfield,” Eddie hissed, trying to tug her back, but she ignored him, taking a step closer to Briar.

“You know, I don’t think you should even have your dog, at this point.”

Briar’s eyes narrowed, and he looked down at Max. She stayed where she was. Eddie tugged her back, and she tried to get him to let go, but he just held onto her arm even tighter—tight enough to hurt. “I’m sorry we bothered you, sir. I hope you have a good rest of your evening.”

Briar nodded and closed the door, and Max whirled on Eddie, her eyes watering. “What the fuck?”

“Mayfield—“

“No, shut up! This—this is all your fault! He’s not going to listen if you don’t let me talk to him!” She screamed, and she knew she was being too loud, because someone in one of the trailers across from him opened their door to look out at what was going on, a cigarette pinched between their lips.

Eddie grabbed her shoulder and his expression softened, but his voice was still stern. “Look—I’ve been here a lot longer than you have. And I know Mr. Jones. He’s not going to listen to you, no matter how much you scream at him. I’ll talk to him for you. Tell him all about the dog. Okay?”

Max nodded, willing her tears not to fall. “Whatever.”

“You going back to your place, or do you need to stay at mine?”

Max’s cheeks flushed. She had only stayed over once, when Eddie was out somewhere and it was just Wayne, but she had been too tired to remember it. She felt angry that Wayne had told Eddie about that, but she didn’t say anything about that. “Not after what you and Steve did in there. You’re going to need to burn your bed.”

“Oh, fuck off.” Eddie muttered, rolling his eyes, and Steve stepped back, pushing his hands off of her.

“You’re such a child.”

“Says the literal child.”

“I am not—“ She cut herself off and sucked in a deep breath, sighing. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Eddie. Tell Wayne…and Steve…I said goodnight.”

Eddie looked a bit surprised, like he expected Max to snap at him again the second he let his guard down. He nodded, turning and going back to her trailer.

Max went back to hers. She hauled her mom back up onto the couch, turning the light off in the living room and picking up the boor bottles to put in the recycling. She took her pills, praying that she wouldn’t wake up with another headache—or have another nightmare—and didn’t bother changing for bed.

The next morning, coming home from school, she saw Briar walking Benny down the street.

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tartarusknight · 1 year

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The King of the Freaks | 17

Links to all chapters

Steve parks in Jeff’s driveway a little bit before noon. He was about 5 minutes early but he didn’t want to sit in his car. What if they had seen his car pull up and wondered why he just sat in there for so long? But he also didn’t want anyone to think he was too eager. Except he had a pie with whipped cream that needed to be refrigerated. So, he got out and walked to the door, knocking.

He shifted awkwardly and heard, “Totally! Just hand me that knife and I’ll-” as Jeff opened the door.

Jeff grinned, stepping out and shutting the door behind him, cutting off the shouting. Well, making it so you couldn’t make out the words. “Steve, hey,” Jeff smiled like everything was fine.

“Um, is everything-” he starts awkwardly but Jeff cuts him off.

“Yeah, Mom and Z are arguing. She wants to help but mom’s always worried and doesn’t like handing any sharp objects over. Which of course, makes Z even angrier.” He says like it’s nothing. “Mom always breaks and gives her the knife, so it shouldn’t be too much longer.”

Steve blinks and Jeff laughs awkwardly, “Sorry. This isn’t the best introduction, is it?” Then he looks and spots the lemon meringue pie in Steve’s hands. “Oh cool, why don’t I just,” he takes it from him and they head in together. Steve slips off his shoes and takes in the warm house, family photos everywhere.

“Don’t worry, I’ll just kill myself on Thanksgiving!” Zahra shouts, and Steve winces. They appear at the doorway of the kitchen and the two women go dead silent.

Jeff clears his throat, “Mom, Zahra, this is Steve.” He says in a tone that Steve knows means, knock it off. “Steve, my family.” He waves towards them and puts the pie into the limited fridge space.

“Sorry, I thought I had a few more minutes to try and break her,” Zahra says and moves to greet him. Steve sticks out his hand and makes sure not to look at the scars that had to be there. It makes her smile.

Jeff’s mom sighs, “Darling, I’m so sorry.” She says and she wipes her hands before moving over to him. “It’s great to meet you. I’m Dorothea, you can call me Thea, my husband Charlie is outside with his brother Donny and my boy Nolan.” She rambles and he tries to keep all the names lined up in his head. “We’ve got a whole houseful coming our way but for now, that’s it.” She says and he nods, glancing over at Jeff.

However, then he’s pulled into a quick hug from Thea. “And now my Jeff isn’t a chatterbox but I’ve heard of you.”

Steve smiled, “Not much to talk about I’m afraid. But I’ve heard about all of you.” He says and ignores the soft sigh from Jeff. “Nice to officially meet you, Thea.” There’s a big smile on her face and he doesn’t even think his mom’s ever looked that happy toward him.

He clears his throat and looks at Zahra, “You know, a big reason we’re friends is because of you, actually,” he confesses and watches her eyebrows furrow. “Well, um, we bumped into each other at the store. And well, uh, meat and I- we're not close friends." Steve thinks about Dustin coming to him for help. Of the buckets of meat they dropped onto the ground. He thinks of fear in his veins as he knew he had to go out of the bus. The snarling of the demodogs before he sprung the dogs' trap. "But Jeff helped me with some recipes.” He said, “Even helped me trick a few kids I babysit into eating greens.” He laughed softly, pushing those memories back.

Jeff’s arm went around his shoulders. It was comforting and he could feel some of his nerves fall away. “He’s the one I told you about. How he’s getting Eddie to eat vegetables.” Jeff offers and Steve watches his mom light up.

But that made no sense to Steve, he frowns, “What do you mean? He’s never said he disliked them… wait was I being too pushy? Did he feel like he couldn’t say no? Oh, I didn’t even think about it. But whenever I asked, he said anything was-” he rambled, feeling like an asshole.

Jeff gave him a squeeze, “Nothing to stress over. Honestly, Eddie will eat anything you make him. I promise,” he says and Steve has a moment of realization. Eddie eats what Steve makes him because of his crush. Steve’s eyebrow furrows, but does that mean Jeff knows about Eddie’s crush? That Eddie’s gay? Maybe Eddie’s out to them or maybe he’s just obvious to Jeff as well.

“Meat and non-meats are simmering,” a tall man comes in and he’s got a shorter kid following behind him. The kid looked about Dustin’s age, maybe a couple of years older. He presses a kiss to Thea's cheek and Steve glances over to the grill outside. He never even heard of turkey on a grill. His mom would have a heart attack from something so… so… perfect. A smile stretched over his face and looked up at Jeff. This isn’t a stuffy family dinner. There aren’t any extra people in the house that they barely know. Well, in a way he’s the one that’s extra. But as more people show up grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins… he doesn’t feel that out of place.

Jeff stays at his side but everyone’s so kind that Steve doesn’t think it’s super necessary, but it’s appreciated. They are also a very touch-affectionate family. He’s gotten more hugs in the last hour than he’s ever gotten from his mom and dad combined. It’s a little overwhelming but he likes it. He gives them hugs back each time, even lifting and twirling the youngest girl, Madilyn, when she gives him a hug. He was a stranger, but he doesn’t feel like one. It’s like they brought him into the family so quickly.

There were so many people and yet he could feel the love between the Matthews family. There was Theodore (Theo) and Lorraine who were Jeff’s mom’s parents along with her brother Leon, who was married to Shirley. Shirley and Leon had Madilyn (Maddie) who was only 8 and Shirley’s dad Anthony along with her sister Elizabeth (Beth) who was married to Mitchell. Beth and Mitchell had Joel and Dawn, who were 23 and 21. Then there was Charles (Charlie), Jeff’s dad’s parents Joseph and Ethel, along with Donald (Donny) and Lucille (Lucy), Charlie’s siblings. And lastly, Lucy’s friend Brianna (Bri) who she’s lived with since college.

Steve could barely keep up with it all. He's able to talk with Jeff’s Uncle Mitchell about the last basketball game. He’s talked with Grandpa Joseph about swimming and what he loves about it. They mention how a few of them would go to his next meet because It’s been a while since they watched one. He talked with Zahra about food and she told him a few stories about Jeff that had Jeff trying to shut her up.

He even talked to Beth about the party which he loves dearly. To which Shirley, Beth’s sister, cut in and asked him how the Byers were. They had sent them a few casseroles on the anniversary but they didn’t want to be nosy or rude, so they hadn’t pushed for information. Steve told him how Will was doing a lot better, he had a few hiccups on the road to recovery but he’s got a big group of people behind him now.

Which led to a conversation with the last Aunt Lucille, but call me Lucy, dear, about Dustin. Steve talked Dustin up, telling them how smart he was, most of the time. There was a small awkward piece in which Grandma Ethel asked him how he met the kids. He did his best to stick with the story he told Eddie. Theo, Thea’s dad, grumbled under his breath about racists when Billy popped up. It made Steve think of his own parents who would probably be disgusted by Steve's choice of company. Fuck his parents though.

“So, Steve, what are things you do with your family on holidays?” Anthony asks and Steve blinks. “Anything you’ll be sad to miss?”

Steve felt something drop in his chest. “I haven’t celebrated Thanksgiving since I was a kid, honestly.” He shrugged and looked away from the sad looks.

A hand landed on his shoulder, “what did you use to do?” Charlie asked and he realized these people, an entire houseful of people, wanted him to enjoy the holiday.

Tears welled up and he choked back his emotions. “Um, I don’t really remember. My Boppa, he was the one who liked to celebrate. But usually, it was just the two of us. So, uh, I’d usually just watch him cook. Messed around with music playing.” He offered and Brianna was quick to her feet.

She glanced over at him, “dancing?” She asked and he nodded.

Without much haste, music bloomed through the stereo. “Loving you the way I do. I only wanna be with you. And I would go to the ends of the earth. 'Cause darling, to me, that's what you're worth.” Steve blinked as he was pulled to his feet. A few people were groaning as they were heckled into joining. But Steve was just surprised to be pulled into a makeshift dance with Bri. It wasn't a real waltz but their hands were clasped and she shimmied them to the beat. Steve had been taught to dance; his parents were sure that a real man should be able to lead. But this- at this moment, he followed.

Bri twirled him and he let out a surprised laugh. “Where you lead, I will follow. Anywhere that you tell me to. If you need, you need me to be with you. I will follow where you lead.” None of them cared that they looked silly. They were doing it to have fun. To make him happy. Steve laughed as he was dipped. It wasn’t a fancy party where he had to wear a suit. This was a party where everyone was in warm sweaters and looking like an actual family. “If you're out on the road. Feeling lonely, and so cold. All you have to do is call my name, and I'll be there on the next train.”

Steve couldn’t help but dream that this was the family he grew up in. A family so close, so full of love. “Dinner time!” Charlie called and the music was turned down but left on. Bri and Lucy had him tucked between them and Jeff sat across from him. Steve glanced over at Lucy who had a small tattoo on her ring finger. It was a little vine around her finger. Like a ring. Steve looked down at his hands and then over at Bri’s. She had a matching tattoo and Steve blinked. Huh. He looked away from the tattoos and over at Jeff who was arguing with Nolan while putting the meatless option on Steve’s plate.

So… Lucy and Bri weren’t just roommates. That was fine. Honestly, he was glad they found someone. It couldn’t have been easy. And it made sense in all honesty. Jeff probably knew about Eddie or at least saw through Eddie well enough. But with his Aunts, because they called Bri an unofficial aunt during introductions, he was raised to accept it. Steve was told so many bad things about queers. He had used the word as an insult a few times. But Steve wasn’t his dad. So, pretended not to notice.

“Hon, there’s barely anything on your plate,” Lorraine huffs, and suddenly his plate is gone from in front of him. Lorraine, who had been up to get a glass of water, was moving around the table, putting things onto his plate. No meat, but plenty of other things. Steve noticed Jeff’s anxious look between Steve and his grandma, but Steve felt okay. Maybe he wouldn’t be able to eat all of it. But it reminded him of his Boppa and of Joyce.

When it was set back down in front of him, he cleared his throat, “Thank you.” The older woman pressed a kiss to the top of his head before continuing on. It had been swift and most of the others had already filled their own plates.

However, Steve noticed how no one actually picked up their silverware. “Now, it’s time for thanks. What is one this you’ve been thankful for this past year?” Anthony asked and Madilyn perked up. “Maddie, you’re up first.” Steve listened to Maddie, Nolan, Zahra, then Jeff. After Jeff, they paused. Anthony smiled over at Steve, “Steve?”

Jeff clears his throat, “we go by age.” He offers and Steve nods.

Steve thinks about his year, “I’m thankful for the people who’ve come into my life. I have way more friends than I did.” He says and feels his cheeks go red. But they don’t force him to sit with the embarrassment, instead, Dawn says hers.

But Steve can’t help but realize something. Over the course of a year, the group of people he cared about grew triple its size. From Tommy and Carol to Nancy and the Byers. Then when the monsters came back, the rest of the party came to him. Sure, he lost Nancy but he gained the kids. Then he gained four more people. And because of Jeff, he was here. “Let’s hope for another year to be thankful for.” They all said after Anthony said his. It was enough to snap Steve out of his thoughts.

He was quiet during the meal but no one forced him to speak. Jeff tried every so often to bring him into the conversations but Steve felt overwhelmed. He was barely holding it together. Only when his plate was empty and his cup was drained, did he even realize he was eating. Almost everyone else was also done, but he hadn’t thought he’d be able to finish. He stared at his plate but in doing so he watched the way his hands shake.

He excused himself to the bathroom and clutched the sink, tears welling up. “Today is a good day, why are you being like this,” he hissed at his reflection. The red of his face showed the tears that were falling. “You’re not alone. You should be happy. Why- why can’t you be happy?” His voice broke and he turned on the tap. Just as he’s about to splash water on his face there’s a knock.

He glances behind him, “Steve? Hey, man, are you alright? You seemed uh, off during dinner.” Jeff’s soft tone felt like another thing to add to the growing pile of uncertainty. “Steve?”

Steve moves and opens the door, Jeff’s the only one in the hallways and he’s so thankful. Because he can’t stop his tears. “Oh,” Jeff says softly. Steve stays silent as Jeff turns off the tap and shuts the door behind him. But as soon as Jeff gets in close, Steve can’t stop himself from hugging him. Jeff makes a surprised sound but he hugs him back. “Steve, can you tell me what’s wrong?” But Steve doesn’t know. He should be happy. He was happy. But then… something just switched in him.

Suddenly Jeff lowers them onto the floor and Steve sits side-by-side with him. Jeff’s arm wraps around him and pulls him closer. “I’ve got you.” He says and Steve lets out a small sob. “Take as long as you need.” And Steve doesn’t know how long it takes until he stops crying, but Jeff doesn’t let go of him the entire time. “Steve?” Jeff questions and Steve sighs. He sits up so he can look at Jeff.

“I should be happy.” Is all Steve says, it’s all he can think.

Jeff looks at him before shrugging, “No. You don’t have to be. Feelings don’t really make sense… they don’t always do what they should.” Jeff looks tired as he says this.

Steve’s eyebrow furrows, “w-what do you mean?”

“Honestly, I don’t really know. I want to know, want to understand, but some things you just can’t figure out. Especially if you don’t have someone to help you look through all the things in your head.” And it makes Steve really look at Jeff. Jeff’s always seemed so put together, so calm, but was he really?

“You want to help me sort through my feelings?” He says slowly, just so he knows for sure. Jeff just nods. That makes Steve frown, “why?”

Jeff groans like he knew it was going to be asked but had hoped it wouldn’t be. “Okay, you have this thing where you don’t believe we like you. Like you're scared we’re gonna use you but you also don’t let us just do things for you. I care about you and I want you to be okay.” At Steve's silence, Jeff frowns, “Fine. How about we trade off? You let me help and I’ll- uh, I’ll talk to you about my own confusing thoughts.”

Steve cracks his knuckles just to do something. “I- okay.” He murmurs and he leans against Jeff once again, just so he doesn’t have to look at Jeff. “I think you have a great family. And today has been great.” He says softly, “But I- it’s like my chest has something that just keeps pushing down on it. Like I can’t get past the fact that none of this- my parents wouldn’t even be happy that I’m hanging out with you.” Steve admits, “My parents have a lot of things to say about people that aren’t like them.” He can see the small clench of Jeff’s hand.

Steve plowed on, “All my life, I challenged their beliefs. And I just think I can’t get over the fact that if they had come home, it would’ve been a house party, not, not something that was just family. I would be wearing a suit and pretending to listen as people talked about shit, I didn’t agree with or even care about. But you are all so close and I don’t understand it. I want it so badly but I don’t know how to handle it.” He glanced over at Jeff. “Your family’s shown me more love today than I’ve ever gotten from my parents.” He admits and tightens his grip on his knees. “I don’t know how to deal with it.”

Steve sighs, “Before last year the only friends I had were Tommy and Carol. Then I left them and Nancy was there for me. I started babysitting for the kids but I wasn’t- it wasn’t anything special. Then I broke up with Nancy and the kids were all I had until you guys. And I don’t know how I-” Tears were starting again. “I’m just really fucking thankful for you.”

“I’m thankful for you too,” Jeff says and Steve gives him a small smile.

“Boys?” Thea calls and Steve jumps a little at the reminder of what was outside the door. “Is everything alright?”

Jeff clears his throat, “Yeah, Ma!” He hollers and Steve shifts, standing up. Jeff grabs his wrist, “I’m going to be honest because you deserve that. I thought you were puking in here. You never eat much and you ate so much. I was worried that you didn’t want to upset us so you forced yourself to eat too much.” He admits and Steve had overeaten but that hadn’t even crossed his mind. “I worry about you. At first, I moved to help you because I saw Eddie’s inner shepherd come alive when he brought you over that first day. But then the more I looked at you I saw Zahra.”

Steve looks at him and Jeff isn’t shy about meeting his gaze. “I found her, Steve. And when I realized that you didn’t really have anyone to find you, I wanted to give you that someone because you’re honestly one of the best people I’ve ever met. It made me care about you. But it’s so much more than just taking care of you. I want to be there for you but I also just want to be around you. I feel like I can be myself with you and be open with you. So, I am trying to do that. And one of these days I think we should really sit down and talk. But right now, I really want you to enjoy the day.”

Steve nods and they get up off the bathroom floor. He splashes cold water on his face, but his face shows his breakdown. Jeff gives his shoulder a quick squeeze and gives him a smile, “We’ve got a basketball hoop out back. Do you think you could beat all of us in a game of horse?” Jeff teases and Steve laughs.

“I’ll try,” he promises and Jeff nods. They exit the bathroom and Jeff calls out the challenge to his cousins. Nolan is a basketball fan and is quick to join them. Steve thinks that it’s fun with the Matthews family. It reminds him of playing with Tommy but it’s different at the same time.

Being friends with Hellfire, it’s all around different but it’s also good. The more time he spends with them the more he wants to hold onto them. And as he watches Zahra jump onto Jeff’s back, hanging off of him, he desperately wants to keep them. It’s Thanksgiving, the first one in five years that he’s not alone. The day you’re supposed to show thanks… well Steve is truly grateful for Jeff. And if Jeff wants Steve to have a good day, then Steve will try.

@zerokrox-blog @cyranx @adaed5 @the-redthread @lifeisnotsobadonceyoustopcaring @idontgetpaidenoughforthisshit @failedstarsandgoldenclouds @bisexualdisastersworld @deadlydodos @anythingyouwanttobe @nburkhardtt @bestwifehaver @thehumblefigtree @megzdoodle @swimmingbirdrunningrock @mightbeasleep @bxlthazar @autumnal-dawn @chillichats @nonbinary-eddie-munson @the-daydreamer-in-the-corner @eddie-munson-is-my-wife @a-little-unsteddie @sharingisntkaren @a-huge-nerdy-nerd @0o-queendean-o0 @beckkthewreck @vi-an-te @vampireinthesun @newtstabber @dinosareawesome2137 @spicemallow @hellomynameismoo @luthienstormblessed @briceslayed @angeldreamsoffanfic @dbquills @prideandsensibility @iwouldsail @ponfarrtimeatthevulcannightclub @spectrum-spectre @the-chilly-kat @yearningagain @loopsmd @starlight-archer @sleepy-time @goodolefashionedloverboi @crazyshipper67 @sherrylyn628 @bidisastersworld @v3lnys @n0connections @pyrohonk @cherixxx69 @theotalksalot @tailsfromthecrypt @ledleaf @grimmfitzz

#Jeff is back!!!#along with his family <3 #stranger things #steve harrington #season 2 au #steddie #pre steddie #high school au #the fallen king and the king of the freaks #eddie munson

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trans-luis-serra-navarro · 25 days

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Hello EveryPony this is my analysis of why ‘The Milk Carton’ by Madilyn Mei is The Most Luis Serra song Ever Created that I was peer pressured by my friends into posting (/j)

((Continued in the reblogs!!))

youtube

* I would also like to note that this is all copy and pasted from DM’s between me and my friends, so if the grammar/spelling seems a little wonky or silly, that’ll be why BXBBSNSJX

Ok so the intro is all sad and whatnot. This is him as he’s dying. In those inbetween moments after he’s called Ada and before he shot Krauser. He’s reminiscing on his life and just how much he misses his childhood bed. He thinks about how good he had it as a child and at umbrella and how he’ll never be able to retrace his steps and fix his mistakes or go back to a home that doesn’t exist anymore

Taking this one literally it’s him as a kid being very carefree. He doesn’t know the forest is full of wolves and he doesn’t know what’s coming up next for him in life

And then this line kind of makes me think of how he had a pretty sheltered upbringing. Like the rabbits he sees while hunting aren’t white and fluff and cartoony like on tv. The wolves aren’t friendly like the dogs in town and he finally wonders only after his grandfather was attacked if they’d domesticated him

These lines, again, make me think about how he was living so carefree with umbrella. He knows maybe deep down that what he’s doing is illegal but does it matter?? He’s living the highlife

And then the beat drop is him finding out Oh!! They’re gonna use what I’ve made to Kill People!! And suddenly the ‘in crowd’ he wanted to be apart is the one thing he’s trying to run from and get them to let him out

And then this is him returning home, but this time with his face plastered on wanted posters everywhere- and people recognise him from the missing posters his face was put on when he ran away as a child and he realises he’s drowning in his own guilt, his work, everything- bht he quite literally never learnt how to swim

This I imagine is him right before and right after he meets Leon. He’s forgotten things. He’s left them at a home that no longer exists. That he can no longer return to. He’s left his belongings and bits and pieces of himself in his burnt home and with umbrella. Life was one big race to make it but now it’s one big chase to make up for everything he’s done

These lines I imagine are him ALWAYS telling OTHER PEOPLE that they can still win- they’ve just gotta be faster, cuz that’s been his method his whole life. Be faster than your mistakes, be stronger than you realise. He tells this to Ada, Ashley and Leon and eventually he tells it to himself

Then this big portion I imagine is him riding the high of thinking he’ll make it out alive. That he can have one more adventure as don Quixote with his Sancho- defeating giants and cracking jokes etc etc. he reminisces on what he’s done but he’s riding that euphoria that he’ll make it out (think like when he turns around to face Leon and says “we made it all this way- you know it means we’re almost-)

This one honestly kind of reminds me of him running into his lab to get the treatment, always throwing himsled in danger to save others- but it also reminds me of his he’s literally struggling to breathe and stand while shooting Krauser. One last stand. But whose gonna be there to save HIM when HES suffocating

#Youtube #luisposting #sillyposting #music #video #luis serra #luis serra navarro

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jmagnabo92 · 4 months

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GGSB Fest 2024 Day 1 - A Terrible Discovery

@goodgodfathersiriusblack

For Prompt 32 - Adventures

When Sirius returns from the veil after being in it for five minutes, everything changes. A conversation about adventures leads to a different end to the war.

AO3

***

Things had been rather chaotic in the last week since the DOM. Sirius had somehow managed to walk out of the veil unscathed and clearer than ever. He’d run after Harry (who believed he died and had gone after Bellatrix) and had gotten caught fighting her and Voldemort to protect Harry.

With the entire Ministry witnessing this and the way Harry had clung to him afterward, things had changed. Sirius had been cleared. Harry had only returned to school long enough to check on his friends and gather his things. They found a home in the wilderness, somewhere that had a lot of land and he had used every protection spell he knew (which was a lot since he could go through his father’s books, and he was a paranoid son of a bitch that never every protection spell known to man) on before move-in day.

Unfortunately, neither of them had much to move in with, and had to go shopping for basically everything.

Thus, Sirius had put off having a potentially difficult conversation for an entire week, but now that things are settled, he makes them both a cup of strong tea and takes it out to the back deck where they can sit and enjoy the freedom, they’ve both been craving.

“So… I, er, I know a lot has happened this week and in the last few years…”

“You’re not going to make me tell you my adventures, are you?” Harry asks, a slightly groan in his voice.

Sirius sighs. “The war is going to get a lot worse now that he’s out in the open. There’s no more getting away with things – everyone will know it’s him, so it’s better to talk them out now with whatever details there are so we can figure out how to end him for good.”

“I thought you said that the prophecy is hogwash, and I shouldn’t listen to what everyone’s saying.”

“And I mean that, a hundred percent,” Sirius assures him. “But he thinks it means something, and I want to protect you by ending him for you.”

Harry looks like he wants to fight him on it – say something about how he doesn’t want Sirius to risk his life for Harry, but he knows that Sirius is adamant that he takes care of Harry, not the other way around.

“And you think my adventures are the key to figuring out how to stop him?”

“I think you have been given information that you may not even realize could be vital to ending him and that’s why he keeps coming after you.”

Harry nods. “I suppose that makes sense.”

“So, will you tell me? About these adventures?”

Harry still hesitates. “If you promise not to go attacking everyone who ever hurt me ‘cause it’s a long list and…”

“I promise.”

“Alright, well, I guess I should tell you a bit about life before Hogwarts first…”

Sirius paid attention to every little detail, getting furious by certain treatments (and noting that Harry clearly wasn’t safe at the Dursleys), but noting specific mentions of his scar as he listens to Harry’s adventures because he knows that scar is important… he’s just not sure what is so special about it.

There were some things that Sirius thought were normal kid things – agreeing to a midnight duel and accidently coming across a three headed dog – that’s just Hogwarts. Crazy things happened in Hogwarts all the time… trolls though… that was new. Still, Harry survived, but then, his first quidditch match…

How had no one done anything to help aside from Snape? Why had Hagrid dismissed Harry’s concerns?

His questions continue as he listens. Things get worse – Harry choosing to help Hagrid and nearly getting killed because he was sent to the Forbidden Forest on his own at eleven. He worries about the centaurs’ prophecies. He doesn’t like that they’re right about war or their worries about interrupting what’s meant to be.

Still, despite being put through a bit of hell to the point of wanting to quit quidditch, the worst part is going to the professors and getting no help whatsoever and feeling like he has to handle it on his own. It makes him furious that eleven-year-old Harry felt like all of this was on his shoulders already.

As Harry goes through the tasks, he confesses that Dumbledore probably set him up, to test him. Let him face Voldemort on his own. It makes Sirius crush his cup of tea and they pause the story to get another cup.

Only knowing that he made it out alive had appeased Sirius into stopping him from going and confronting Dumbledore. The rest of the story was important. Voldemort had let Quirrell die, he couldn’t touch Harry, but Harry’s scar had a connection with Voldemort. He’d mentioned it before and it was obvious from this past year, but Sirius can’t help writing it down in his notes. He’s sure that there’s something he’s seen in his family’s books about the situation.

Still, Harry presses on. He goes into details about his second year that nearly has Sirius breaking his promise not to throttle anyone and risk getting sent back to prison.

It’s only Harry stating, “You got me away from them, don’t get me sent back,” that stops him.

He takes a deep breath and says, “I’m sorry. I just think you deserve better.”

“I know that now, but I – I have you now. Don’t ruin it.”

“I – I promise not to ruin it,” Sirius states, in fact, he has a calming potion somewhere. He summons it, causing Harry to give him a confused look. He downs it and then says, “Please go on.”

Harry gives him a look, but does begin speaking, again. He details some truly horrific things as the events of his second year unfold. Even with the calming drought, he absolutely wanted to strangle a few people, but he did know the gist – hints from stories of his adventures from his professors, and he manages to get to the chamber without breaking another cup. He’s sure that’s to do with the calming potion.

Harry attempts to gloss over the interaction with teenage Riddle, but Sirius stops him. “This is when you probably gained the most information. Teenage Riddle would’ve been more open less cautious about what he shared not that Voldemort’s any better when he thinks he’s won.”

Harry nods and details everything. The important bits included the possession being different than a normal possession, draining Ginny life force, and ending it by stabbing the book. That was telling.

Regular magic couldn’t end him, and he needed something extremely difficult to overcome (the only reason Harry’s still here is because Phoenix tears can do just that). It was something nearly indestructible that Sirius had an awful feeling he knows what it is, deep down, and he’s going to have a difficult time ending Voldemort with this information.

Still, Harry continues on, finishing the story and causing Sirius to be curious about the Malfoy of it all. Perhaps it’s time to get more information about them out of Kreacher.

Then Harry details some things about third and fourth year, most of which Sirius already knows. He pauses before the graveyard. “Do you want to hear it all, again?”

“It would be helpful, yes,” Sirius states. He offers his hand for Harry to squeeze. “Take your time, I’m right here.”

Harry nods, reassured. It’s slow going, detailing everything again, but Sirius pays closer attention this time. Particularly to Voldemort’s own speech and idea that he went further than anyone else to be immortal. It brings him back to the horrible book, the way that he was wraith, and the way his scar reacts to him… there’s something there, he’s sure of it.

Especially when Harry tells him about this year with the feelings and visions. There’s a connection there that has something niggling in the back of Sirius’ mind.

“… and that’s it really,” Harry says, after he explains about Voldemort’s failed possession of him. “I haven’t felt anything since.”

Sirius nods. Voldemort’s probably realized that if he can see into Harry’s world then Harry can see into his and it’s just as dangerous as it his beneficial. He’s more proficient in occlumency (and Sirius will be going after Snape for his behavior) and it makes it easier for him to block out Harry.

There’s a hefty pause before Harry asks, “Do you really think knowing will help you?”

“I think it already has. I’ve got some ideas for what’s really going on, but I need to look at some books.”

“Can I help? Please.”

He wants to say no, but he knows that if anyone deserves to be a part of this, it’s Harry. Especially since Dumbledore’s already stated his intention to start telling him things.

“Alright, kid, we can do this together.”

“Brilliant.”

***

It takes weeks of painstaking research and a rather unfortunate conversation with Kreacher (he really hates the elf now) before he has some basic ideas of what Voldemort’s been doing – horcruxes. Worse yet, more than one. Harry had already killed one – the diary. Regulus had stolen a second that Sirius was able to kill with magical death fire – Slytherin’s locket.

How many others were there?

Well, based on his conversation with Dumbledore, four. He had wanted to slowly parse out the memories he’d been gathering over the years ever since he believed how deep into the dark arts that Voldemort had gone, but Sirius wasn’t having any of it. It was a waste of time, and he wanted to end Voldemort as soon as possible.

Maybe Harry could have one normal year of school, finally.

Dumbledore relented and with Harry’s knowledge and discussions with the ghosts of Hogwarts, they were able to determine that Voldemort had a snake, Hufflepuff’s cup, Ravenclaw’s diadem, and the Gaunt ring. Dumbledore had already taken care of the ring. Which left three.

It hadn’t taken much prying – given the orders he could give to Kreacher, however unpleasant, to get the information about the cup being in Bellatrix’s vault. Bringing in Kingsley and Bill, they managed to get an order to obtain her vault and get ahold of it without breaking in. Sirius had the rights to do it since she was a convicted criminal. Technically, Narcissa or Andy (even disowned) could’ve done the same thing as a member of the Blacks, but luckily for him, they hadn’t.

Harry had been the one to suggest that Voldemort could’ve put the diadem in the room of requirement. Surely there was a room of hidden things that would make it seem plausible.

The room itself was beyond anything they had anticipated, but with the Order finally doing something, it was attacked with vigor.

It took a few weeks of searching, but finally, finally, they found it. On the bust of the worst headmaster Hogwarts had ever seen, but finally.

Sirius happily raised the Sword of Gryffindor and sliced it in half, watching as it screams and disappears.

One to go.

***

“We should just attack Malfoy Manor,” Sirius states. He’s surrounded by Order members and Aurors. The Head Auror looking quite like he can’t believe he’s taking orders from an ex-(innocent)-fugitive. “We know he and his snake –”

“Nagini,” Harry pipes up from beside him.

“Right, Nagini, are in there,” Sirius states. “We don’t know how aware he is of what we’ve done, but once he knows he will move, and it will be difficult to pin him down. We can’t let that happen. He could end up making more – unstable as his soul already is – and we would have no ideas.”

“He doesn’t seem to be aware when one is killed, only if someone tells him,” Harry states. “That’s why he knows about the diary.”

“Potter’s right,” Snape states, quite looking like he hates the words spilling from his mouth. “But we won’t have long before he does figure it out. He’s already suspicious and paranoid.”

“Let’s take the time, plan it right,” Moody states. “We’re only going to have one shot – we can’t screw this up.”

“Then, let’s plan.”

***

That evening after hours of planning, Sirius is summoned to Hogwarts. He’s not terribly happy about this, but with assurances that Harry (with Ron and Hermione relaxing for the night) will be okay, he goes.

“It’s been a long day, Albus,” Sirius states. “We’re very close to ending this and now that it’s in the Ministry’s hands…”

“It’s not, Sirius,” Dumbledore states. “Because there’s something I haven’t told you.”

“More?” Sirius asks. “I thought we agreed –”

“I couldn’t tell you in front of Harry.”

“Tell me what?”

“When Voldemort’s unstable soul split the night he attacked the Potters, one part became a wraith, while the other part went into Harry’s scar, that’s why it acts the same way some of the horcruxes. Giving him visions and feelings of Voldemort’s – why they’re so connected.”

Sirius takes a deep breath. He’d known this for a while. It was the only thing that made sense and it was why he’d been working with a healer out of the country to find a way to remove it before the final raid.

“I know.”

“So, you know that he must die?”

“No!” Sirius nearly yells. “He doesn’t have to die, what – you – are you serious? All this time, you planned for him to die?”

“He should survive, if he walks to his death willingly,” Dumbledore states. “When Voldemort took his blood –”

“That was two years ago,” Sirius states. “Which means, before that, you thought – you figured… how could you?”

“There weren’t any other options –”

“Yes, there are! I’ve been working with a healer, Dumbledore. One who figured out a way to remove his scar – he doesn’t have to die,” Sirius states. “How could you think that keeping him alive all of this time just to have him die at the right moment was okay?”

“I assumed it was necessary because of the prophecy,” Dumbledore states, somewhat ashamed. “I thought intervening would prevent the prophecy from being fulfilled.”

“Not all prophecies are fulfilled. Some aren’t meant to be, and you could have saved Harry a lot of trouble had you done the right thing with regards to this situation… instead…”

Sirius doesn’t wait for a response. Instead, he storms over to the fireplace.

“It’s a good thing that he has me to actually look for a solution and find one. Planning his death, I can’t believe you.”

Without another word, he’s back home and his terrible mood is obvious to the kids, but he waves them off. “Enjoy your night.”

“Thanks, Sirius.”

***

In the morning, Harry sits across from him with tea and a grim smile. “He knew?”

“He did, I’m sorry, kid,” Sirius states. “Although he believed you would survive because he took your blood if you let him kill you, that only became a thing after the graveyard…”

“Wow,” Harry says, softly. “I suppose that I should’ve known somehow…”

“No, no. You believed in him just like everyone else. There’s nothing wrong with that,” Sirius assures him. “I think he just… doesn’t always look for other answers. The important thing is that we’re getting rid of the scar and by the end of the week, he’ll be gone, too.”

“That does sound pretty great. You’ll stay with me?”

“Always.”

***

The procedure goes well, and on Friday Morning the Daily Prophet has this headline:

You-Know-Who Defeated: The Chosen One’s Innocent Godfather For The Win!

Sirius doesn’t care for the attention on either he or Harry. All he cares about is Harry’s grin as he sits across from him at the table.

“Think this means I’ll finally have a normal year?” Harry asks, hopefully.

“I think this best chance you’ll get to have one,” Sirius offers. “Thank you for having the difficult conversation at the start of the summer. Now, you’ll be able to go back to school and not worry about anymore adventures.”

Harry smiles. “Thank you for everything, Sirius. This means more to me than I could ever explain.”

“You don’t have to thank me, Kid. I’m always here for you, always.”

“I like the sound of that.”

“Good.”

#sirius black #harry james potter #sirius and harry saturday #good godfather sirius black #Good godfather Sirius Black Fest 2024

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rphelperblog · 2 years

Text

Camille O'connell Quote Rp Meme

- Cami is canonically bisexual just as the lovely actress who portrayed her- Leah Pipes-some quotes are slightly edited for rp purposes. feel free to change pronouns as well

“You are the architect of your own unhappiness.”

“Booze and board games... sounds like heaven.”

“You have lived long enough to never tell a woman that she looks tired.”

“Oh shut up, I am so mad at you that I can hardly speak.”

“Because against every ounce of my better judgement and my sanity and my common sense, turns out I have complicated feelings for a monster.”

“Love will make you strong. It will make you the man that I know you want to be, and you have to remember that because I won’t be here to remind you.”

“It never gets old for you guys. your like a dog with a bone.”

“I came through the front door. You appeared through the window like a creeper.”

“is there anyone not plotting your downfall? I doubt you would trust your own reflection.”

“Excuse me, if I have to drink something to get through the killing.”

“I know why I am here. For someone to hear your side.”

“So be a good little boy and get back into bed.”

“Don’t do that crooked smile thing. i haven’t seen you for months and then you show up..”

“I realized that all my saddness was swallowing me up... and I couldn’t let them.”

“Is she right? Do you see me as some fragil thing to keep behind glass?”

“Bartender with a grad degree in therapy- I know a bit of an oxymoron.”

“somethings not right. I just can’t figure it out.”

“I don’t know who you are, but if you have a problem with me. Let them go.”

“You are such a coward. This isn’t about me.”

“This is my time. You steal it from me.”

“I am beginning to think your sister is a bitch.”

“You are to scared to trust.”

“Has it ever occured to you that I am less interested in fixing your problems than I am at swallowing my own.”

“This is not about you. This is about me. And who I am.”

“You are not annoyed me. you are angry at yourself for getting us into a mess.”

“But today you saved someone who doesn’t mean a thing to you, why?”

“We are called therapists these days. And you could do with some couch time.”

“All of your violence is pointless.”

“what if someday his demons become mine too.”

“Who is this dirt bag eyeing me like a lack of lamb? Old friend?”

“I would step in front of a bus before I let your mother control my body.”

“I really don’t have another tomorrow do I?”

“I wanted to be brave, I wanted to handle this with dignity, but I can’t. I don’t want to go, I’m so scared.”

“I guess that makes me immortal.”

“You won’t kill me while the sun is still out.”

My mom said beer wasn't lady like so I learned to love it as an act of rebellion”

"I need to feel that pain. Without it, I feel broken. Empty. Like there is someone to blame and I'm letting them get away with it"

“No one can control you unless you let them.”

“You don’t get to delete the details that annoy you. If you love something you have to accept the good with the bad.”

"Maybe we just do the best we can and never give up."

“My sanity is not a joke.”

Oh goodie, the mystical knife of ludicrous torment. Glad that's still around."

“Oh than you served your purpose don’t let me hold you up.”

“It sounds like booze.. do we have anymore booze?”

“Some people don’t want to be saved.”

“I always imagined that having a woman’s mouth on my kneck would be a lot more erotic.”

“Look at you repeating the cycles of destructions again.”

“This is my time. You steal it from you.”

“You are a scared little kid convinced he will be tossed aside the second he isn’t needed.”

“Don’t patronize me.”

“He’s charming, sexy, confident, incredibly hot. Let’s be honest, he’s a bad guy just like you.”

“Would a laptop kill you?”

“No one is taking that away from me.”

“No I am just getting started.”

“I don’t think you want to hurt me. See he is the most ruthless man in all of history- and he kind of likes me.”

“I don’t know how but I will undo whatever the hell you have done to me.”

“You know I have a black belt in karate.”

“I think I am a pretty good drunk.”

"I know your heart. You're so much better than this."

Because love will make you strong. It will make you the man I know you want to be. And you're going to have to remember that.. because I won't be here to remind you.”

“whoever is out there, make yourself known or I will gouge out your eyes.”

"Every artist has a story you know. He's angry. Dark. Doesn't feel safe and doesn't know what to do about it. He wishes he can control his demons instead of having his demons control him. He's lost. Alone. Or...maybe he just drank too much tonight. Sorry, overzealous psych major.”

“Oh lovely, than instead of hating you darkness, she will become a monster herself by example.”

“I came here because you need me. You needed me to tell you that this is not you.”

“I know you are hurt, but please listen to me, you are better than this.”

“ Am I supposed to fear you too?”

“There is more to life than the pain that they made you feel.”

“There are good things and you need to see that too.”

“If it not for that, someone else would be standing here.”

We were bonded our whole lives. And I know... know he didn't just snap. And I need to know who did this, and I need to make this right. No, no don't take this away from me."

“I was never naive enough to think that I was your light, but there is light in you. All that anger, the cycle of abuse that your father began, you can end it. You have to, so you can be the light for your little girl. “

“You know, sometimes I ask myself why I let people like him into my life. I have this destructive pattern. I’m always drawn to the bad boys. Maybe deep down, I feel like that’s what I deserve.”

“This is a city of death, fires, floods. To say nothing of the violence we do to each other. We may laissez les bon temps rouler, but really we’ve turned life into one big party to distract ourselves from a single, unavoidable truth: We’re all going to die.”

“I took a beer bottle and smashed it in his face.”

People are not awful. They want to be good. Something makes them bad, makes them snap. There are always signs. Symptoms before someone has a psychotic break.”

It’s an ancient mystical plot that I am using to destroy you.”

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goldrushenthusiast · 1 year

Text

Analysis on Sejanus, and a bit his relationship with Coriolanus, as requested by @mym00nagedaydr3am

First off- Sejanus. Sejanus is (in my opinion) one of the most unpredictable characters in the book, because he doesn’t know what matters to him (at a personal level), and he truly has no real sense of self.

One easy assumption about him would be that he is loyal, but is he? Sejanus calls him and Coriolanus brothers, even going as far as to use a childhood nickname on him, then correlates with the enemy and plans against the capitol. There is so much to unpack just there.

I believe Sejanus definitely did care about Coriolanus. When Coriolanus told him he saw him as a brother, I think Sejanus believed that and felt at least a bit the same level of closeness. But Sejanus is more surface level than puppy dog eyes.

One part that sticks out to me is Sejanus calling Coriolanus “Coryo” after nearly getting him killed in the arena. The exact quote is; “’I’m so sorry Coryo.’ said Sejanus. ‘So sorry.’

Coryo was a nickname for old friends. For family. For people Coriolanus loved. And this was the moment Sejanus decided to try it out?”

I don’t think Sejanus used this accidentally, but I also don’t think Sejanus understood Coriolanus well enough to understand how he’d react to that. Remember, Sejanus sees Coriolanus as the boy who gave him gumdrops when everyone else made fun of him. Coriolanus was the boy saving him seats during class, and deflecting negative attention from him. Sejanus does not see the manipulative and regretful of that side of Coriolanus.

This side of Coriolanus is shown in the next part of that quote, saying “If Coriolanus had the energy, he would have reached over and strangled him.” That is who Coriolanus is. Sejanus can’t see that.

Sejanus also has no personal loyalties. He is most definitely not loyal to the capitol, though Coriolanus describes him as having his loyalties still lying in district two. But Sejanus moved to the capitol as a kid. Nearly everyone treated him badly. Why would he like that? But a place where his family lived, (even if they all cut him off) sounds so appealing to him because he never had any family but Ma. He creates a loyalty for himself, not because of personal connection, but out of an urge to find something about him that is not not understandable. I think he also created it, in the beginning, to get back at his father for bringing him to the capitol in the first place.

Sejanus also finds rebels within the first month of being in district 12. Even Coriolanus doesn’t know how he does it- because Sejanus lied to him. His “brother,” and the person he felt close enough with to call him Coryo. That’s something to consider.

That’s on what matters to him, and a bit about how he makes up his own self.

How does this make him unpredictable? Because we already know he is. This is an explanation as to why he is, not a justification or a theory. Surprise!

Sejanus constantly preaches peace. He doesn’t want the Hunger Games, he doesn’t want what would happen without them, and he doesn’t want any violence or fighting at all. He detests Dr. Gaul for this reason.

But what does Sejanus also do? He supports, helps, and participates in schemes with the same rebels who killed 3 innocent people. All to stop the capitol, no? But he still does. And he does nothing when Coriolanus kills Mayfair, nor when he himself is mixed up in that crowd.

He looks into buying HIMSELF, and other rebels guns, despite not wanting to use them. There is no other purpose to guns than violence. He makes himself seem bad with guns, then to turn around and do this?

Sejanus is classified by much of the fandom, and even a bit by Coriolanus and Suzanne Collins as an honest, slightly goofy boy who just wants what is right, and is a bit misguided. Sejanus is so much more layered. He isn’t even honest.

He certainly does make you think so, though. He knows the dangers of speaking against the capitol, he knows what it all means, yet continuously opposes the Hunger Games, in front of very important people. He acts and speaks “without thinking” but he does think. He thinks of his going into the arena as an act of rebellion, and he shares that with Coriolanus. He thinks of his buying guns as supporting the rebels as yet another act of rebellion, and considers himself good at covering it up. He helps Billy Taupe, knowing he is the enemy of Coriolanus (further reinforcing how he didn’t really see him as a brother, or on the same level as one) and the police. He has nowhere near the same family values as other characters, so how would he realize how in danger he puts everyone close to him in?

Not to mention, he brought thousands of dollars to District 12. We don’t know why, but it’s easy to assume a rebel cause. He definitely thought of that! And when talking about money with his bunk mates, he agrees that there is not a penny between them. This is what makes even Coriolanus suspicious.

Now, I did not write this to make everyone hate him, nor do I think of Sejanus as cold and calculated. I truly do believe he wanted the (objectively) right things. But I do think he is more surface level than what the fandom typically portrays him as. I think that he thinks more than we think he does, and that he is very smart.

I came off a bit more harsh and accusing in this than I wanted to, but sides could still be argued for both extremes of him. Something I didn’t bring up was Sejanus mouthing “Coryo” before dying, and screaming Ma when he did. I think Sejanus realized his faults and was asking Ma for forgiveness and apologizing to her then, and that the Coryo thing was a question. Not an accusation, but a question. That, or a warning. This could honestly be evidence for both sides of him, but I don’t think there is enough context to decide.

In conclusion, I don’t think we give Sejanus enough credit. But I also don’t think we should give him more. He is quite unpredictable, and for the above reasons. He would not have made it far into adulthood, and if he did, I think Coriolanus would have made sure it wasn’t for long.

#sejanus plinth #bosas #ballad of songbirds and snakes #coriolanus snow #district 12 #bosas analysis

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symbioticsimplicity · 1 year

Text

I just remembered Billy Hargrove existed and I'm about to make it everyone's problem.

Okay, so first of all, I've only seen like bits and pieces of season 2 and none of season 1 so if I get things wrong, that's why. (I'll fix it eventually when I'm less sick and miserable.)

But Billy struck me as a lot of wasted potential. He was a foil for Steve, I get that, but I feel like they could have kept that up while still bringing him back around instead of killing him off.

Like yeah, he's got anger issues like a motherfucker, but they could have kept that while just giving him something to take it out on. Give me this big, pretty, asshole seeing his sister in danger (the sister he claims not to like and isn't very good to) from a nightmare monster, realizing his endless reserves of rage could save a life instead of take one.

Give the Party a goddamn berserker.

Like sure, he's not soft and motherly like Steve and none of them would ever go to him for life advice, but hes sure as shit made sure they didn't die often enough for them to at least tollerate him. Maybe he's even maimed a monster in a cool enough way for one of the kids to give him props for it. Imagine if that was the first time someone told him he'd done something worth being proud of.

The praise becomes the thing he lives for, even if its from a bunch of dumb kids. The kids who are all a lot smarter than anyone really wants them to be, who take notice of this. So they start praising him more.

They might not know what happens to him at home, but they know that kind of rage doesn't come from nowhere. Or, most of them don't know. Will and Jonathan who both survived an abusive father, clock him immediately.

Billy doesn't take kindly to pity though and he's too hurt and raw to really get close to. So they don't address it directly, they just keep giving him what they can and he keeps protecting them when its go time.

Billy and Steve have probably the weirdest relationship out of all of them. Steve is too mouthy to keep all of his thoughts to himself and he won't just let Billy be mean to the kids either. They nearly get into it whenever they're nearby each other if there isn't an immediate threat. Billy thinks Steve is spoiled and too soft and will take any excuse to throw hands with him. They're a mess.

It becomes common Party knowledge not to leave them alone together, which works right up until they get stuck together during a plan gone wrong.

They bitch at each other the whole time because it isnt the time or place to fist fight. Some harsh words get thrown around until a dig hits a little too close to home and forces some emotional honest out of Steve first. He snaps about how his life isn't the happy place people assume it should be, would he even be here if it was? He rants about how the only truly good thing he has going for him, the only real love he gets, is from those kids. That’s why he's still there, why he always will be, and why he'd die to protect them.

And Billy who's slowly been tamed down by their kindness and weird affection, he gets that at least. He doesn't say it, can't, his throat closes up whenever a real feeling comes over him, but he gets it.

After that he's not as hostile as he used to be. He's still sharp around the edges and he's still hurt, but he doesn’t want to cut every single person who touches him.

By the time season 3 comes around, he's the Party's big attack dog. Can be pet only by Party members and if anyone so much as looks at them wrong, he's ready to throw down.

He makes an effort with Max too. Tries to be more like a brother, and he finds out that he actually likes Max beneath the resentment for their circumstances. He figures out he wasn't really mad at her, but everything else. They bond over surprisingly similar interests and personalities. He loves her sharp wit and envies her ability to say things that could turn a person to ash on the spot. She's kind of a bitch and he can respect that.

When he gets possessed, the Party focus more on fixing him than just defeating him. El uses their own connection to help lend Billy the strength to fight back when she goes into his mind. He remembers that his life isn't a hopeless void anymore, that he has people to protect, people hes come to love as loathe as he is to admit it.

He fights with everything he has and frees himself from possession. It was hard on him and he passes out, spends a few days in the hospital unconscious, but he pulls through.

The kids are there to meet him when he wakes up. Max cries and hugs him and for the first time he feels like maybe he's worth a shit, like maybe he's worth loving.

#billy hargrove #stranger things #IT WAS RIGHT FUCKING THERE GUYS #i cannot tell you how badly i wanted to see him get redeemed #i want him to be the angery older brother who would kill a man over his sibling and her friends #steve shouldnt be the only character to have gotten a redemption arc #and I'm sick of this show making interesting characters just to kill them off #also i would have loved to see him Steve and Eddie all having to function around one another #like please

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docholligay · 7 months

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Ep 7: The motherfucking wolf attack

Hello! This is about up to Episode 7 of Yellowjackets, and ONLY episode 7 of Yellowjackets. I have not seen beyond the seventh episode, at all, and know NOTHING about this show. Please do not spoil it for me. Things that are spoilery in nature, for me, include: saying things like “Just wait!!” confirming or denying anything I put forward, outside information about the cast interviews or creator statements, leading questions like “Do you think “blank moment” means anything?” etc. Remember that Y’ALL HAVE SEEN THE SHOW AND I HAVE NOT. This informs the way you talk about things relating to the show. Just be really careful is all I’m asking. Also: If there is LITERALLY any stance I could take on this show or character that would make you upset, please just fucking block the tag

If you WOULD like to discuss the show and my takes on it, the Discord is right here! I don’t go there, so it’s a great place to get every emotion out.

Please thank @sailorsunspot and @moonlight-frittata for backing this odd way of doing a liveblog, and remember my tip jar is always open

Okay, so, let’s get this huge, giant problem I have out of the way. The wolf attack. I have a MASSIVE problem with this, and much iof it is informed by my own life, and the place I live, and the political and personal stituations therein. Don’t misunderstand me, I am in fact not one of those weirdos who thinks killing an animal that kills lviestock is always a moral wrong, but wolves are continually blamed for the actual sins of coyotes and, you know what? Stray ~doggos~. We shot a lot more dogs for taking lambs than anything else.

Neither do I think media has the responsibility to only portray the most righteous, correct, and holy version of anything. I find it fucking asinine the way people complain about the portrayal of shit sometimes, believe you me. But on a personal level, I find this fucking wolf attack thing reprehensible, annoying, and that sort of city kid shit that is funny when it’s hunting but less so when this idea has led to the near-extinction of a species and there are STILL HUGE DEBATES RAGING in real, human places. I’m not saying you have to have a problem with it. There are loads of things that stick in people’s craw about how things are portrayed in fiction that I would look to you and go, “Oh, get real” about. Fair is fair.

But, for me:

There have been exactly 6 fatal wolf attacks in the last 100 years in North America: 2 of them were bit by a rabid wolf and actually died of the rabies, 1 was a toddler killed by her father’s captive wolf, 1 was killed in a captive wolf sanctuary when she went alone into a pen of unsocialized wolves, and the other 2 were a lone human with no other humans around killed by an entire pack, one of which was very likely starving. So you’ll forgive me if, having read the commentary around at least three of these, I think it’s wildly insane to show this on television to a bunch of fucking people who can’t tell the difference between an elk and a mule deer. Wolves did not kill fucking Van, wolves did not attack a group of five young women around a fire, I would give anything for this to have ended up being a fever dream because it annoys the SHIT out of me and I hate being there with a show I really enjoy.

And, please know, I understand the symbolism here. Taissa is the wolf, and Taissa destroys the things she cares about so that they won’t get in her way. Taissa burns down her own life. Taissa has been acting completely aloof and detached whenever Van mentions anything about them building a life together, while Van is already fucking married to Taissa in her head. And this isn’t me saying, “Taissa doesn’t care for Van” I don’t think that’s true I just don’t think any of these things broadly matter when it comes to the predatory pursuit, the hunt, her desire to win and find victory over things. I think THAT is what Taissa craves the most, and I think that’s why she’s fucking haunting Sammy (I think) and BITING HERSELF in the garden.

She’ll maul herself if only it means she comes out on top, it’s insane, I love it, I just wish we didn’t have to deal with this particular slice of it OR that I could rely upon people having absolutely any idea whatsoever how nature actually works.

#Doc watches Yellowjackets #Yellowjackets S1 E7

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biographydivider · 1 year

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A Team Rocket Fic! Well, it was inevitable.

I needed to write something for my first ever blorbos - especially as their retirement draws near!! Plus, I’m in my feelings right now and I’ve been watching a lot of old school Pokémon for comfort.

Jessie is standing in line at the PokéMart (forty more Antidotes piled up in her basket; her latest clutch of Ekans just will not stop biting each other, the little brats) when, out the corner of her eye, she sees a shock of black hair crammed under a red-and-white cap.

Something swoops in her stomach, and she turns so quickly her hair takes out the person in front of her in line - Jessie apologises, though deep down she’s pleased she’s one step closer to being served. But no. She’s trying to be nice, now. Turning over a new leaf. They all are. So she forces herself to simper “ahaha, sooo sorryyyy” - all the while frantically scanning the PokeMart. Why is he here, she specifically picked a town without a gym to set up her breeding centre, there was simply no reason for him to...

Ah. No. Of course it wasn’t the tw...it wasn’t him. A little boy, chasing his new Charmander around the store, laughing so hard he couldn’t breathe. Drunk on his new freedom, away from Mom. Jessie knew that feeling. When her first clutch had hatched, she’d invited the boys over and danced the night away, tiny ribbons of purple Pokemon slithering around their feet as they swigged from a bottle of fancy wine. One had bit Meowth on the tail, and he’d yowled so loud that the neighbours had knocked on the door to make sure she was okay. She was usually such a quiet member of the community, after all. Once they’d gone, satisfied she wasn’t being killed, Jessie and James had laughed until they felt a bit sick. She had given them the grand tour soon after; delighting in the fact she now had her own bedroom, an en suite, a wardrobe for all her outfits! A living room! A couch! Look, fellas! And it all belongs to me!

The boy finally corralles his Charmander and they leave. Off on their own adventures. Jessie shrugs, turning back to the counter just as the guy behind it called her forward. He doesn’t even look like that, not any more. He’s big now; broad shouldered, but still dumb as a box of Geodudes. She and the boys had gone to see him battle at some tournament a month or two back; she’d called it her vacation for the summer. James - Mr. Fancy Designer - had stumped up for swanky digs, and they had good seats for once, instead of wandering the aisles dressed as hot dog vendors. Going straight had its perks when your best friend spent his days selling dresses to fancy widows and flirting with their equally rich sons.

The kid had used Pikachu. Of course. His battling style - barrelling ahead blindly, resorting to a Thundershock if he was backed into a corner - hadn’t changed in all this time. He hadn’t learned a thing - but, Jessie supposed, they hadn’t either. He’d won his match, and whooped so loud you could hear him over the commentators. The more things change, Jessie had thought, as she screamed along with him, James’ arms wrapped tight around her waist in glee.

“Back again, Jessie?”

She nods, and the clerk laughs, ringing up her Antidotes. “By the way, my sister’s Ekans evolved last week. She called to let me know.”

“Oh! That’s wonderful!” Jessie smiles, and she means it. “She took one of my first babies. Alyssa?”

“Amara.”

“Close enough, right?”

“Ha. Well, she’s racking up victories somewhere past Celadon. Arbok’s her main partner, so at least I know she’s safe out there with him to watch over her.”

Jessie thinks back to her own nights sleeping under the stars, her own partner resting his gigantic head on her stomach. She can still picture every groove in the scales on his belly, every marking on his hood. Jessie bites down on the desire to cry until it vanishes. “That’s...great.”

“Here you go, Jess. And a free Premier Ball; special offer this week if you spend enough.”

That offer was just on Pokéballs and she knew it. Maybe he was flirting with her? She was gorgeous, after all. But she already had two men in her life, and she didn’t need any more.

Meowth was staying for a few days; he bounced between her house and James’ apartment. They joked it was a custody arrangement. He’d been sitting on the roof a lot recently, staring at the moon most nights. He had these sad periods, now that they weren’t on the road as much. Jessie didn’t know what was worse; Meowth screeching in that awful accent and following her around yammering about nothing, or just sighing and mooning and taking up space. For such an idiot, her friend sure did think a lot.

Jessie was thinking she’d get him to look after the new clutch for her for a long weekend, pretend she had admin to catch up on for the new Trainers who were looking to adopt. She’d caught him in there with the hatchlings before, purring happily to himself while they crawled all over him. Meowth always did have a paternal streak. Or, more accuratly, a desperate, clawing (ha) need for affection. Same difference. Maybe she could entice him in tonight, and they could watch a movie. He loved Hollywood blockbusters. He could snuggle on her lap, if she swore she wouldn’t tell James.

“See you next week,” she calls over her shoulder to the clerk.

“Bye, Jess. Hope all those Ekans don’t cause too much trouble!”

She winces. Something akin to an electric shock runs through her, and she can almost hear the music pounding in her head. The words would come so easily, if she let them. Along with everything else. Everything in this PokéMart would fetch a pretty coin with the right buyer. Plus, all those lovely Pokémon running about would get her in very, very good favour. She could burn this life down in a second and run away - back to what she’d known for all those years. Simple, easy, comfortable villany. But she knew she didn’t want that any more. None of them did. So, instead, she turns on a dime, and waves to the clerk.

She says;

“Don’t worry about me! I’m prepared for trouble!”

Laughs at the private joke.

And leaves.

#pokemon #pokemon fanfiction #team rocket #jessie #james #meowth #my loves #my forever blorbos #this fic is very much based on old school Team Rocket #Maddie Blaustien era Meowth and all that #my era of Pokemon

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chasseurdeloup · 10 months

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This is Why We Fight || Ren and Kaden

TIMING: Before the Sound of Silence LOCATION: The pines PARTIES: @ironheartedfae and @chasseurdeloup SUMMARY: Kaden tries to track down a Cu-sith, turns out he's not the only one. CONTENT WARNINGS: child abuse/neglect and emotional abuse (in reference to Ren's past)

Kaden couldn’t say with one hundred percent certainty, but he was still pretty damn sure that the reports of a “weird big green dog” were a cu-sith. He knew well enough to know they were fae, but it wasn’t like he was a stranger to fighting canine-like monsters so he might as well investigate. If worse came to worst and it seemed like he didn’t have a handle on the situation, he would just high tail it out of there and find a warden at the 3 Daggers to finish the job. The goal was to kill it, right? It was supernatural. And dangerous to humans. Sure, the reports didn’t indicate that it hurt anyone recently but… Putain.

He’d figure out his plan later. He was prepared either way. He had his crossbow, shotgun, tranquilizer darts as well as bullets, iron knives and some regular ones just in case. Whatever the situation, he was ready. The hunter made his way up to the spot on the trail the hiker said they last saw the beast. He crouched down and was looking for any tell-tale signs when he heard footsteps coming up behind him. Kaden whipped his head around to see a kid taking the path. Damnit. He could just stand up and get out of the way, sure, but he wasn’t sure that they should keep going on the trail. The monster could be a hundred meters or so farther into the woods and he’d be sending this kid into danger. “Hey there,” he said as he stood, holding his hands up, hoping to stop them in their tracks. “This path isn’t safe up ahead. There’s a dangerous animal that’s been spotted here. You should turn around and go back home.”

—

A dangerous animal. Hah. The stranger in the green jacket didn’t know the half of it. Ren had been tracking the Cu’sith the last few days. And unfortunately, the path they were on was one of the only ways toward the nest it’d been building that was still downwind. It was close. She could feel it. A pint-sized pocket of scowls only stared up at the stranger. Unnerving eyes boring holes into his, over a foot higher than her own. She was silent for a fair bit longer than was necessary or polite to be. Just as much because she was annoyed as it was because she didn’t know what to say. She never really did.

Having someone else here complicated things. What was he even doing out here? Was he some sort of park ranger, or one of those ‘hiking enthusiasts’ Ren had heard about somewhere? For a split second she thought she heard something, but– no it was too small to be the beast. Maybe some sort of squirrel or bird in the underbrush. “If it is not safe you should also leave.” Her harsh accent bit at the words, all while she attempted to look behind the man who was far too fucking tall. “How are you to know animal is ahead and not behind?”

—

The silence stretched out so long that Kaden wondered if the kid could speak at all. Had he fucked up and spoken in French and not English? He wouldn’t have been surprised if that was the case, but that didn’t seem like the issue. This seemed like some sort of stand-off. Only she was far too short to be intimidating. She was unsettling, though, he’d give her that.

“Cute,” he said, shaking his head. “I’m animal control, I have this covered. So not safe for you doesn’t mean it’s not safe for me.” Not only that, but he was a hunter. If anyone was going to go up against a big fucking fae dog, it was going to be– well, alright it should be a warden, but he was a solid second choice. “And I know it’s ahead because I’ve been tracking it. Almost like it’s my job.” He looked down at her and raised his brows, arms folded across his chest, all in an invitation for her to turn around and go home.

—

When everything you’d been taught had more or less been in a controlled environment where things like bystanders, officers of the law, and controllers of animals (whatever that meant) never came into play, things got messy. Ren couldn’t help resent this man for just doing his job. Even if it was still a bit confusing as to what exactly it was. Maybe it was like a police officer, but for animals? Did he put animals in jail?

In any case, he was an object in the was as well as something she was supposed to protect. Right? Ren bounced her weight between her feet. Indecisively straddling the idea of just bolting past the man, or to just hold back a bit. Go around and take the less safe approach towards the creature's den. “Perhaps you missed something.” She settled on her least favorite option, trying to talk it out. That’s what people did, right? They talked. “I saw signs of big wolf-like creature back there.” True, though he’d probably come from that direction as well. Between words, she barely breathed, barely let her mouth leave the thin straight line it had pressed firmly into. Her eyes though, they were bordering on pleading.

—

Kaden was all ready to brush off his hands, turn around, and continue his damn hunt, assuming he was about to be alone again. Only, as he shifted in his stance to turn on his heel and walk away, he noticed he was the only one moving. Putain. She wasn’t going to budge, was she? Of course he had to meet a stubborn kid out here in the fucking woods. He just wanted to make sure she didn’t get killed, and what did he get for it? Defiance. Annoying.

“I didn’t miss shit, alright,” he said, unable to temper his words at this point. “I saw them, too. And that’s why I plan to deal with it. By myself.” Kaden took a step forward and took her by the shoulders and went to turn her around to face the other way. “While you go back home. Where it’s safe. And sound. And don’t worry about the–”

A low growl rumbled from the brush behind them. Putain de merde. “Run,” he hissed in a hushed tone at her, hoping that maybe this time would be the time she’d finally listen. His hand reached down for his knife as Kaden tried to keep himself steady and his movements minimal. In his head, he counted to three.

Un: his hand wrapped around the hand of his knife.

Deux: he shifted his weight on to the balls of his feet, bending his knees ever slightly.

Trois.

Blade in hand, Kaden spun around to see a giant, moss-covered canine-like creature leaping out at him. He didn’t know if its claws or his knife would strike first, but there was bound to be blood.

—

This was exactly why Ren shouldn’t have wasted time talking. Talking never works. The nymph felt the beast approach a moment before it pounced. Just enough time for her to spring back. The stubborn man spun around to face it, and it did not escape her eye that a blade had slipped from some unseen somewhere to his hand. There had been no recognition in his eyes when she had approached or she might have labeled him a warden. If he wasn’t one, he wasn’t prepared for this.

Maybe the animal control officer thought it was a regular wolf he was tracking, maybe he didn’t. All Ren knew is it was her job to take monsters like that down before they hurt anyone like him.

The next six seconds felt like a lifetime. Each movement had to be perfectly timed for this to work, and even then, it might not go well.

Один: Heel turn in the dirt, dash to the side.

Два: Crouch as low as possible and–

три. Strike.

Her tiny frame was good for a lot of things. It hid how strong she could be, and provided a low center of gravity. The latter was very useful in cases like this. Ren’s upward momentum took the beast completely by surprise, it didn’t even see her coming out from behind the man. The next hit came from the earth itself as the ground rose to meet them both.

The fae wolf stood, confused, shaken. It looked down at the projectile only to realize it was another fae. In its mind, there was no way she had been the thing to hurt it. In its mind, another fae would not do such a thing. Clearly, it had something to do with this man and his iron knife. The Cu-sith recovered faster than the nymph, and it stood almost protectively over top Ren. A low hungry growl bellowed out of the beast as it geared up for another go at Kaden.

–

Kaden held his forearm out, ready to brace it against the beast, expecting to feel sharp daggers of pain as the talons dug into his skin, his knife in his other hand waiting to return the favor. Only, the pain never came, and his blade only slashed thin air. “Huh?”

Some blur of motion had come from behind him and sent the cu-sith careening off to the side and away from him. Merde, were there two monsters now? Had he come underprepared? The fuck was going on?

Shit, the kid.

Kaden spun on his heel to check if the kid was okay, if she’d ran or been stubborn enough to stay. She wasn’t there. Kid must have been a fast runner. He hoped. The hunter adjusted his grip on the knife and faced back towards the action, preparing himself for whatever was waiting there now.

He wasn’t prepared for what he saw. The goddamn kid. On the ground. And the dog was… protecting her? Wait a second, had she been the thing to topple the beast to the ground? “What the fuck…”

Before the words could leave his lips, the beast was snarling and spitting, advancing towards the hunter as it hovered over the girl. Putain. He wasn’t sure what was going on, not really. Was this cu-sith hers? It was acting like it, alright. Even if it was a monster, he knew that behavior. He’d seen it plenty of times. It was a dog protecting its family. He may not understand what situation he walked in on, but he knew animals. Was it possible that this monster wasn’t all that different? No, no, they were dangerous. It was a monster. He knew that. And yet, the consciousness there, the protective stance. Putain de merde, this was a stupid idea.

“Hey, hey,” Kaden started, raising his free hand and slowly crouching down to place his knife on the ground. “Easy now. I’m not going to hurt you.” Yet. The growl deepened, rumbling through the trees. “Or her! Not hurting anyone.” He took another cautious step back.

–

Life blinked back to Ren’s eyes, the hit had knocked her for a bigger loop than she realized it might. Dirt and podzol pressed up against her face as she pushed her weight onto her elbows. Confusion set in faster than pain. Teeth, claws, the sharp stinging burn of a bite– no. They never came. Because the beast was standing over her. Not on her. Not pinning her. Not even attempting to. It was either unable to hurt her or unwilling to. As the realization settled like a stone in her stomach, it soured her spit. Made it taste like metal in her mouth.

“Дурацкий man!” Ren’s eyes widened as she watched Kaden put the fucking knife down. Watched it through the cu-sith’s legs. Of course it wasn’t paying attention to her. Of course it didn’t see her as a threat. That was the whole point of her, wasn’t it? So why did it sting so much every time, to see creatures like this put their faith in her? “It is going to hurt you if you do not get out of here!” How did he not get that?

As if her words were a command, the Cu-Sith dug down for another pounce.

—

Kaden knew damn well that remaining calm and unthreatening didn’t always work, but he had to try, he had to hope. Some stupid fucking part of him had to cling onto what he knew he just saw, some part of him that just wanted to feel secure and right about leaving his family and rejecting the code. Maybe it wasn’t just humanoids that were capable of more than just destruction. Maybe he had even more to be guilty about.

Or maybe he hadn’t been entirely wrong his entire damn life. Putain. His bleeding freaking heart was about to become literal if he didn’t get the hell out of the way. Kaden threw himself to the left as soon as he saw the cu-sith push itself off the ground. He ducked and rolled as far as he could, twigs and rocks digging into his skin on the way. Shit, shit, shit, shit.

Kaden crawled and clawed his way up onto his knees. The beast had realized it was empty-handed and had already swiveled to face the hunter again. Knife, knife, where was another fucking knife? He scrambled to grab a weapon off his belt, any weapon. Pistol. There was that. That was good. Kaden was fumbling with the gun, digging it out of its holster and trying to line up a shot, any shot, but the monster was ready to attack. He wasn’t sure there was going to be enough time. “Hey, kid,” he called out, voice shaky and eyes not leaving the cu-sith, “now might be a good time to call off your dog.”

—

Indignant and fired up, there was no way Ren was accepting that kind of slander. “It is NOT my dog!” She shouted as she scrambled to her feet. The beast was charging again, and Ren wasn’t going to let it find any purchase. Legs bent and sprung again, this time she landed on top of the creature. Whose confusion let itself be known as it nipped at her leg as it swung around the thing’s neck. Better her than him. This was her job. This was her purpose. She had to be the shield. And the sword.

“You should run. Like how I have said this!” Words. Maybe if she’d been better with them, or more clever with her phrasing she could have conveyed this trouble before it befell them. Maybe she could have saved the officer the cuts and bruises he’d surely have in the morning. Ren curled an arm below the cu-sith’s jaw, slamming it shut as it snapped a few more times. Looking for any flesh it could stick its teeth into… or at least so she thought. The bite on her leg wasn’t nearly as deep as it could have been. If anything it seemed more out of shock than actual malice. And now it just wanted to get her off its back.

It bucked and knocked the tiny girl off. Ren managed to salvage the fall by at least letting herself roll in between Kaden and the cu-sith. When she stood again, protectively between the pair the beast’s confusion only grew. Hungry eyes glared daggers at the ranger, and almost pleaded with the nymph. It whined, a pitiful sounding thing. Melancholy and mad. A mix Ren knew too well. Why it was looking to her for direction, she had no idea. But she’d use it all the same.

“GO.” If it wasn’t going to attack her, she could at least get rid of the problem for him. The cu-sith hesitated, and Ren stomped forward and shouted once more. “GO, LEAVE.” Intimidation certainly wasn’t what got the creature to listen. A curious intelligence sat behind those emerald eyes. Still an animal, yes. But it knew who its kin was. Knew who it did and did not want to attack.

—

Kaden stumbled back, trying to load and aim his pistol. He held up the gun and was ready to take a shot. Every instinct drilled into his head from years of training told him to shoot this cu-sith, to fight it and cut it down until there was nothing left. He knew that was what he should do. But could he do that if this had been a normal domesticated dog? A stray? Never. He’d never kill a dog unless it was the last option or the best option for them. And the cu-sith… No, it wasn’t a dog, but what he’d just seen, that behavior, it was the same as any of the dogs in the shelter. How could he slaughter the beast knowing that?

It didn’t matter. Before he could decide what the fuck he was doing, the kid had launched herself onto the creature and was wrestling it to the ground. Even if he wanted to shoot, he couldn’t do it now – he’d risk shooting her in all the action. When it bit her, he wondered if he’d made the wrong call, lining up his shot again and ready to pull the trigger. But he couldn’t.

And then, there she was, standing in between him and the cu-sith. The beast could leap over her and tear him to shreds without a second thought. Instead, it stood there, waiting on her command. His brow furrowed as he watched the interaction play out. There was no way this animal wasn’t hers in some way, no matter what she said. His body tensed as the creature continued to stand its ground, growling and begging her to let it tear the hunter to shreds. Kaden was about to turn and run, like he should have far earlier, but then the beast bowed its head and turned away, walking back into the forest, its moss-covered fur blending in with the green of the brush around it until it almost faded away into the woods.

Kaden stood frozen in place until he could no longer make out the shape of the cu-sith in the distance. “You… alright?” was all he could manage to ask her once he finally allowed himself to breathe. There were too many questions. About what happened. For her. Surely she had some for him. And he had plenty for himself, too.

—

Soft paws barely made a sound as the cu-sith listened to Ren and ran. The further it went, the deeper her stomach sank. Watching it disappear into the underbrush with an expression that edged on shock and horror. It listened. Bright green eyes mirrored the leaves around her, shaking just as much as they did in the wind. Her back was to Kaden. He was talking at her now. Asking if she was okay, and… was she? Physically, sure. Well enough. The bite was barely a graze and managed to avoid the mostly healed stitches from her last leg injury. But was she alright?

Jury was still out.

The bile that had risen around the pit in her stomach made her mouth taste sour. Ren turned away. Eyes finally retreating from the traces the cu-sith left behind. She picked up anything she’d dropped, and started off back home. Trudging away with a slight limp. Shoulders and hackles raised. Fully not at all wanting to stop and chat about whatever that was. She didn’t need another person in this town to worry. To make her feel like she was real. Like she could be something good.

If she could be. So could they.

And where the fuck did that leave everything else she knew? What did it mean for the countless fae she’d taken down without a second thought? For other people she’d killed. The khione in January. The spriggan, the hesperidae, and the faun in February. Two more fauns, and a muse in March. April, May, June… There were many. And she remembered each and every one. Their faces. The looks of shock. Of betrayal.

“You should be disgusted with yourself. You’re a disgrace. A fae carrying around iron blades? And you planned to stab another fae with that? You’re a traitor to your kind.” The voice was clear but the face was not. A fae that got away, and did so with her knowledge of why she was hunting them in particular.

—

Putain de merde, why couldn’t any hunting just be straight forward anymore? Kaden scrambled to gather his weapons and followed after the kid. She was limping and hadn’t answered him and she’d tackled that cu-sith at least three times. “Hey, can you stop?” he called out as he trotted to catch up to her, meeting her in a matter of a few strides.

“You’re limping.” Well that was obvious. There was also something about her, something he recognized, almost like a mirror being held up to himself. The brashness, the way she had dove in, knew what she was dealing with, and the way she was stubbornly walking away and ignoring the pain. “Kid, wait,” he said, this time, reaching out to grab her shoulder. “Are you…”

The unspoken words hung in the air. Kaden swallowed before trying again. “Are you a hunter?”

Why did he hesitate to ask? Did he not want the answer? He wasn’t sure. Maybe he wanted to just walk away the way she had, not care. But ever since he got here his stupid bleeding heart had only grown bigger and softer. Stupider. He knew it was going to get him hurt in one way or another – hell, probably more than one way, but he couldn’t help it. And he couldn’t just let this young hunter walk away on their own after that shit show that he caused.

—

No other phrase could have had quite the poignant punch that ‘Are you a hunter?’ had on Renata Daryova. The nymph stopped dead in her tracks, never turning to face the man that addressed her. Hands still balled up into fists at her sides as her breath hitched in her throat. Dry as the sahara and just about as likely to verbally answer any question thrown its way. Are you a hunter? The words danced around in her mind, already too crowded with faces and voices and last words. Bites of betrayal and grief running up and down her spine like an army of fire ants. Repeating his question again and again and again.

Was she?

“I DO NOT KNOW.” Shouted, barked almost. Not exactly a normal answer to that particular question. But she didn’t have an answer. What she had was a pair of legs that would not fucking move no matter how much she willed them to start running right then and there. Mentally screaming at herself did no favors. She might as well have been a tree for how well she was rooted there.

Hunter, hunting, hunted.

Ren had gone out that day intending on killing that very same beast that showed her more compassion than she’d ever had shown it. And what did that make her, huh? Was she a monster because she was born a fae and all fae were evil, or was she a monster for listening to that, for turning her blades on things that might not have deserved it at all. Was every single thing Darya taught her a lie? It turned over in her stomach again and all Ren could do to stave off the nausea was dig her nails deeper into her palms.

—

Of all the answers she could have given him, that was the one he didn’t expect. But somehow it was the one that Kaden understood more than he wanted to.

He was a hunter, he was born as one, he was trained as one, and he could never rewrite his genetics or change his past. He was a hunter, there was no question.

But he had just let a monster go. A monster that was trying to kill him and had injured a kid who was actually trying to fight it, who was likely trying to uphold what she was told was her duty. Or at least, he had tried to let it go. She was the one who had actually managed to get it to go away. Even though she was the one trying to fight it off.

No wonder she was left lost and confused. He knew that feeling all too well. The last time he’d seen his sister, she made it all too clear that he was no hunter. She made it even clearer that he wasn’t her brother, either. He couldn’t imagine what she would have done if she had seen him just then.

The kid’s answer may not have made sense to anyone else, but Kaden understood. It was like the reflection in the mirror only grew sharper.

“You hunted like one. Did better than me. Had better instincts.” He wasn’t going to bring up any of his actions, not now. “I’m a ranger. So I wanted to ask.” His voice was even, soft but not condescending. “Sorry I got in your way.” It had been a while since he’d spoken like that to another hunter, all business, all duty and fucking bullshit. He hadn’t missed it, but it felt like the only way to reach her, the only sort of conversation she wanted to have. Hell, how many times had he talked to Keira like that? Too many to count. Even though it seemed he never managed to reach her, maybe this time it would be different. “Name’s Kaden, by the way,” he offered, hoping that maybe she’d turn around.

—

He was a hunter? Weren’t Rangers supposed to be fast? Or at least good at fighting? Truly Ren didn’t know much about other hunters. She barely knew anything about Wardens, being kept away from them like she was a pariah kinda did that to you. God had she been blind? A new flavor of rage filled her chest to bursting. This time directed somewhere other than herself. Kaden the Ranger was still talking. Still going on about things in a way she was probably supposed to understand. No, it was just another human who didn’t realize she wasn’t. It was becoming far too constant of an occurrence.

“I was supposed to kill that fae.” The fire that burned inside her seethed out with those words, all the vitriol she could muster. A warning not too unlike a rattler’s shake. She was going to kill it. Kill all of them. She was supposed to be the iron heart that sunk into any cluster of pests she found and exterminated them. She was supposed to stare down people who felt like family even when she didn’t know them just because they were also born to the fairfolk. How many had she condemned to death on that basis alone?

Ren wanted to scream. She wanted to run. Wanted to be anywhere but here, be anyone but herself. Here she was having a full blown mental breakdown and trying to hide it from this probably well meaning stranger. No, she would not be turning around any time soon. And the fucking second she got her legs to start working again she’d be out of there.

—

Her voice sounded like the one that screamed in his own head whenever he let a monster walk away, which was happening more and more often. Kaden hadn’t figured out how to quiet his own subconscious let alone what to say to her in response. If he did, he would have saved Keira from herself a long time ago. But the kid hadn’t walked away, hadn’t stormed off just yet. That had to mean something.

“Says who?” he asked. He stayed stationary, steady, hoping not to spook her, though he had a feeling that this would be the moment she either turned and faced him or walked away. He didn’t know which would be better, which he’d consider a success. But all he could do was wait.

—

Far too filled with red hot anger to actually articulate the caged animal emotions that burrowed deep in her chest, Ren found herself cursing in Russian. Or maybe it was Swedish. Words she hardly knew the meaning to, only that they were used in righteous anger by the very same woman who put the ideas in her head that were poisoning her from within.

Another hunter was here. Another hunter was questioning her. Worse, it was mimicking the small voice that had begun to speak up at the back of her mind. At first it was a quiet flickering thing. Barely louder than the beating of moths wings. Little by little it grew. Nurtured and bolstered by the milk of human kindness. Now it screamed, shouted, raged against the one thing Ren had never allowed herself to be mad at. And she didn’t know what to do with that. She wished it was at just about anything else. It’d be so much less confusing.

Kaden, the animal control officer, the ranger, was not the problem. He was a complete stranger caught in a storm of someone else’s emotions. Ren could be a lightning rod or offer a calmer wind to dissipate the clouds. Easier said than done. But it was the better of the two options. She took a breath. Then another. The cursing helped. That’s sort of what it was for, right? Get out the excess angries so rational thought could take their place.

“I do not know if this is something I can speak of.” An honest answer. “I should not have yelled at you.” A guilt ridden response. “But this is not your fight. Kaden.”

—

Even though he didn’t recognize the language (or languages), Kaden knew cursing when he heard it. There was a flavor to expletives that transcended the words themselves. Not to mention the waves of anger he could see radiating through her small frame.

He clenched his jaw, trying to bite back the feeling of the hairline fracture creeping its way down to crack his heart, ready to shatter it at any moment. He’d felt like this. He never had this moment in front of anyone else, only in private, but the struggle was all too familiar. That was fine, though. That didn’t pain him the way it did when he thought of his sister, how much he wished she could feel some of the same confusion and frustration. He wished his words could have had even an ounce of the same effect it had on this young hunter he just met. How could something he said make her sling into a fury of expletives and rage when the same words, the same thoughts, would only make Keira feel disgust?

He knew he wasn’t the best big brother, even though he tried and tried over and over again. He knew he’d failed Keira. Hell, for all he knew, he was failing all over again to help someone else. He didn’t fucking know.

It didn’t seem like she did either.

“That’s okay,” he said. “You’re not the first.” And she was far from the scariest person to yell at him. “I’m not sure what you mean by that, though,” he continued, brows furrowed, almost daring to take a step towards her. “If you mean the fight against fae, no shit. If you mean something else…” Like helping her, maybe. “I don’t know.” He couldn’t find the words to say what he wanted, couldn’t figure out how to offer help without pushing the kid away. Not that he even knew what help from him looked like or if she even needed it, let alone wanted it.

No, there was no doubt she needed help from someone, even if it wasn’t him. He’d seen that reflection of himself in her and he knew damn well he could probably use some fucking help. Then again, he wasn’t sure if he would accept it either if he was in her shoes. “All I’m saying is hunters should look out for each other.” He considered the word hunter in particular. It held complicated feelings for him, clearly did for her, too. “People, too,” he added.

—

"Just– " Two knife-less hands threw themselves into the sky. "Just STOP helping!!" Ren hit a wall. In computer terminology it'd be something like not having enough bandwidth. In nature it was closer to a dam. Too much of something, even if it's a good thing, even if it's life saving, it could be deadly at the wrong time. "Helping is the PROBLEM this town is full of fucking helpers!!" The not quite a hunter, not quite a normal fae, and definitely not a normal person, let another primal rush of rage escape.

This time though, her legs sprang back to life. Sprinting off like a rabbit spooked by a barking hound. The slight limp affecting her gait, probably making the bite and sprain worse with each stride.

Emilio. Nora. Van. Metzli. Gael. Andy.

And now Kaden too. Too much owed. It felt like the world was caving in, when it should have felt like a welcome mat. Hello world, everything you know is a lie. Her head felt like it was caught in a blender, and Ren didn't even know what a blender fucking was.

Today could rot in hell.

—

The words stung more than Kaden expected. Though the voice was different, and so was her stature and so much more, the words were the same. Keira had told him as much. More than once. And he never listened.

Sure didn’t fucking help her that he kept trying. And it sure as hell didn’t help Damien, either.

Maybe the kid was right. Maybe helping was the problem. It was hard not to think that’s all he was. Even if he knew damn well that he was projecting, that he was putting something onto the situation that he had no fucking business putting there, he couldn’t shake the feeling.

Failure.

That was the only thing on his mind as he watched her form get smaller and farther away, just as he’d watched the cu-sith’s earlier. It ran, she ran, and Kaden remained standing there. He hadn’t slain the monster, he hadn’t helped the kid, in fact, he’d only gotten her hurt. Why the fuck was he there? Why was he trying? Fuck, he didn’t even know what it was he was trying to do anymore.

Deep breath. Kaden gathered his belongings and set off back down the trail. As much as he wanted to sink deep into the pit where he could bathe in his own feelings of failure, he had to try not to let himself go there. This was one moment. One kid. One monster. This wasn’t his sister. No one had died. This wasn’t failure. Not yet, at least.

Not yet.

#writing #wickedswriting #para #this is why we fight #c: ren #ironheartedfae

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