#there is *always* lore drops when he appears.
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Memories of Us
Chapter 18 : Remember Me
AO3 || Master list
A/N: so this is my longest chapter...it's around 6.7k words lol and there's a lot of lore drops going on soooo yeah enjoy lol.
Thanks to @cheesy-cryptid for their blessing on each chapter. Your support means the world to me.
Super special thanks as always to @micropoe10 because this girl has literally been here from day 1 supporting, uplifting, pushing, and helping me with this story. She even wrote the last few bits to save me from myself and I can never thank her enough. Love you so so much Rue.
Tags: @justporo @satanicspinosaurus @sleepy-timaeus @tragedybunny @davenswitcher @wayward-hel @hereliesblackdragon @misscrissfemmefatale
Astarion had begun to realize how much he enjoyed Octavia’s company. She was the eternal sunshine behind the clouds and each bit of affection from her broke them apart and allowed the light to come through.
The thought of someone caring about him was a lost concept, that someone could see something inside him other than what he saw himself.
Octavia was utterly infatuated with Astarion, she wondered if there was more to this routine the two of them found themselves in. The feeling of their bond becoming stronger, drop by drop of her delicious blood.
She was desperate to unearth more of his secrets, all while still hiding her own. Octavia was blinded by her own hypocrisy, the irony of her wanting to dig into his past while denying her own started to eat away at her. As she stared at herself in the mirror by the front door, she felt something tugging at her to be truthful with him.
There was a knock on the door, she took a deep breath as she finished fixing her hair.
You need to be honest with him. He was with you. It's the least you can do.
Astarion waited outside Octavia’s house, she had suggested going to a night market in Rivington she heard of. A friend of hers apparently told her it was a great place to go on a date.
He was somewhat nervous to be out in the open so publicly with someone. It had been so long since he let himself do it, not feeling the same as when he and Tav would walk hand in hand on the same streets.
Astarion leans on the rails of her front steps, he stares up into the starry sky. The stars sparkled as if they were there just for them. He smiles to himself, hearing the door open.
“Hello beautiful. I was afraid you were leaving me to go to the market all by mys-” He turns and the words are taken out of his mind as he takes in Octavia’s appearance.
She was in a mid-thigh length mustard colored pinafore dress, with a black short sleeved shirt, and some black tights with black leather ankle boots. A woven bag hung from her shoulder. This was one of the few times that Octavia could swear he was rendered speechless.
Octavia giggles and gives Astarion a kiss on the cheek, “Oh come on, you've seen me naked, I’m not dressed that seductively right now.” she walks past him and turns to wait for him at the end of her steps. “Ready to go?”
He nods with a grin and follows behind. As he steps down to the sidewalk, he holds his hand out, testing how she will react to his small gesture.
Octavia blushes, her heart fluttering slightly. She swings her shoulders back and forth, in a giddy wiggle. She smiles, biting her lip and takes his hand in hers. It felt cold, but so safe. She felt his fingers slip between hers in a comfortable lattice.
They walk through the street, silent at first. After they cross the road, Astarion wraps his arm around her waist and speaks. “You look wonderful by the way. I know you said you didn't look enticing, but I beg to differ. I think you look absolutely appetizing.” He squeezes her hip, Octavia’s cheeks are flushed a light reddish tone.
Astarion pulls Octavia close, hugging her in a playful embrace. She laughs as he bends down to kiss her. “You're being awfully affectionate. Are you feeling okay?” Octavia asks Astarion.
He lovingly cups her chin with his hand and pulls her in for another kiss. “I’ve just been really happy these last few weeks. I just figured that since we are on a date, I would act like it.” Astarion shrugs, giving Octavia another kiss before releasing her from his arms.
Octavia leads Astarion down the road to where the market was being held and becoming more populated. It had been so long since Astarion came to the street markets. He hated the crowds, the noise, all the different smells of foods he can't enjoy, but with her by his side it's all just background noise.
Astarion looks down at Octavia, a smile creeps into his face as he watches her eyes light up with excitement. Perhaps he could suffer for a bit longer, she did seem pretty eager to go out like this. Who would he be to deny her such simple pleasures?
Octavia can't decide where to go first. To her left was a stall with handmade leather bound books, to the right some flower stands, and not to mention all the food! She took Astarion’s hand and began to walk towards the flower stand. He smirks letting her lead him to wherever she wants.
“I love flowers. My mom and I had a garden at my childhood home where we grew so many. I tried maintaining it after she died, but it was just so hard to keep it up by myself. My dad was never one for being outside in the dirt even though he grew up near the Druid Grove.”
Octavia confesses with a laugh, she turns to Astarion and her smile drops a bit.
“I'm actually going to visit him soon. He's moving back to the Grove and he asked me to come help him empty out the house…feels weird to go back to basically throw away all the memories we made there.”
Astarion notices the change in her smile, the drop of her shoulders, and the way her hands come together. Her fingers twiddled at the variety of flowers carefully laid out with a far off stare. He takes one of her hands and holds it gently.
Octavia turns to him with faint tears on the corner of her eyes. She takes a deep breath and shakes her head. “It's been a long time coming. My mom's been gone about 16 years at this point, so why do I feel so sad?”
Astarion’s grip tightens on her hand. He knows this feeling too well. The feeling of moving on and allowing the grief to come and go as it pleases. Astarion takes in their surroundings. The last time he allowed himself to be in this type of market was the last time he saw Tav.
“You feel sad because you miss her, love. I've been there myself. In this very market no less.” Astarion finishes his sentence with a soft breath.
Octavia looks at him, recognizing the same sadness behind his eyes. The grief of losing someone you love. She remembers one of the things that makes her feel better is to talk about her mom, so maybe he can tell her about his loved one? “What were they like? The person you lost?”
Astarion glances back at Octavia, he hadn't thought about telling Octavia about Tav just yet, or at all. He pays for a bouquet of wildflowers that Octavia’s eyes locked onto. They turn and begin to walk away from the stall.
He hesitates before giving her a sad smile. “I’m not sure if this is the right time for that, I mean, I'd rather focus on you tonight, if you don't mind.” They sit on a bench near the edge of the market. Astarion looks down at the bouquet, taking a small pink rose and placing it in Octavia’s hair.
His hand lingers on her cheek, he leans down and kisses the corner of her eye. As he pulls away, he catches the smile that forms from her lips. He hands her the bouquet, as she leans on his shoulder, perfectly distracted away from her questions.
“No matter how long it is. Know that you will always carry a piece of her with you. As long as you remember her and the love you had, you'll never be without her.” Astarion comforts Octavia as they hold hands.
Astarion's good at the little words that everyone likes. The pleasant platitudes to soothe a broken heart. Meanwhile, he continues to push his own feelings of grief deeper down.
He could still see Tav standing at the opposite side of the market, the bag she carried full of contents hung from her shoulder. He stood about 8 stalls away from her. Her sweet scent hit his nostrils as he traded meat for bottles of blood.
Astarion had turned his head towards the scent, nearly dropping the glass bottle in his hand. He couldn't believe she was still in Baldur’s Gate after 30 years. He didn't know how long he was staring, until the merchant cleared their throat.
Astarion thanks them and turns back towards Tav. She's staring into a mirror that sat on top of the stall. She seems as if she's looking for something inside of it, a dreamy far off look behind her eyes. He hesitates wondering if she would be happy to see in or if she’d punch him. He’s frantically running scenarios in his head when he notices her head lift up.
Astarion shields his face with his cowl, only his bright red eyes shining through. He slings his bag over his shoulder and hesitates to walk closer to her. Tav fully turns to face him, her face the same kind loving light he saw in his trances. She smiles, beaming towards him, a look of recognition and love.
He swallows, the world seems to be closing in.
Instantly, though, that same world comes crashing down when he hears a small voice calling out. “Mama!! There you are! We’ve been looking all over for you!” A little girl runs past him, straight into Tav’s arms. Soon after a man comes up to them both and wraps an arm around Tav's waist.
He watches as the man kisses Tav and leads her away.
The rest of that day the way she looked past him burned in his mind. Could she have already forgotten about him? How long did it take for her to move on?
There's no point in dwelling on it now, he's got a lot of other things to worry about of course.
“Astarion? Are you okay? I didn't mean to pry again, I’m sorry.” Astarion is broken away from his thoughts by Octavia’s soft apology, her hand resting in his. He looks down at their hands intertwined. The flowers sit on the bench between them.
“The last time I saw her, she was standing at a stall like the one we were just at. I'm pretty sure she forgot who I was…or she had this look on her face like she did. I’ll never forget the way she looked into that mirror…This glossed over sort of blank empty look to her eyes. It was so strange, like she didn't remember where she was for a second.
Besides, she had a child and a husband? Partner? I don't know. I didn't hang around too long to ask, and I didn't want to cause any issues so I just stayed out of it.” Astarion confides, his voice mournful and far away.
Octavia feels the grip holding her hand tighten a bit, perhaps she's edging too close to his boundaries again? She rubs her hand on the top of Astarion’s arm. The motion soothes him and replaces the icy shards of sadness that pricked behind his eyes.
Somehow though, as he looks into her dazzling green eyes, he feels that lovely warmth in his chest. That feeling of comfort he’s longed for over a century.
They lock into each other, taking in their collective grief. Their sadness was the thing bringing them closer together. “You know, I’ve never told anyone about her.” Astarion confesses, “It's the first time that I've felt comfortable to feel this grief with someone who can relate. Thank you for giving me that opportunity to share a little with you.” He leans down and kisses her sweetly.
Octavia smiles reluctantly, a small shy blush grows on her cheeks. She must have something on her mind. “Is everything alright, my dear? You seem lost in thought.” Astarion asks.
She nods slowly, turning to look out to the market. “I was hoping that I wouldn't bring up anything sad, but I guess I couldn't make it through one date without ruining the moment.” Octavia huffs in a soft awkward laugh. “Gods, for once I wish I could stop being so melancholic and just enjoy the good things my life has given me lately. Like you.”
Astarion sits up a bit, he could feel a slight warmth at the tip of his ears, was he blushing? He clears his throat and asks, “Really? What about me?”
She smiles and plays with his fingers in her hand. “Where to start? You're kind, well…to me,” a soft giggle follows “you're smart, incredibly handsome. I feel pretty fortunate to have someone like you on my side, you understand me. Whoever let you go is foolish to have done so, but they opened up that path to you for me. So maybe they weren't so foolish after all.” Octavia lifts her hand, kissing the top of his hand.
“She didn't leave me. I left her. I left because I was scared. Scared that I couldn't take care of her how she wanted. Scared that she would figure that out on her own. That she would wake up one day and realize that I ruined her life. So I ran. I didn't even say goodbye. I just picked up my bag and left in the middle of the night. Like a coward.” Astarion spits out, the shame and regret dripping from his lips. His lips purse as he bites the inside of them.
Octavia frowns, she takes the flowers and places them on her lap. She plucks one out and begins to softly spin the flower, opening the petals. “You're not a coward.” She brings the flower up to his ear, tucking it behind.
“I don't think you're a coward for trying to keep someone you loved safe.” Her hand lingers on his cheek, caressing his face. “‘The things we do for love’, as my mom used to say.”
Astarion melts into the warmth of her hand. His heart felt the grief it was used to, but with her here it didn't seem so devastating. To allow himself to be vulnerable with someone felt strange, as most things involving Octavia do.
They sit in silence for a few seconds, before Octavia speaks “Not to change the subject or anything because I feel awkward,” she laughs a bit, “but I've noticed that you haven't been wearing your glasses lately? Did something change?”
Astarion bristles a bit, having to think on his feet. He was a bit hesitant to admit that he was not feeling the need to keep hiding behind the magical lenses any longer. In reality, he began to feel more comfortable to be himself around her.
But instead of giving her that openness, he lies again. “Oh, I…felt like I'd be calling more attention to myself if I were to have them on right now. Besides, wasn't it you that asked me why I wore them indoors right as Gale introduced you to me? I feel like this is the opposite of that.” Astarion ends with a soft tilted giggle.
“Imagine if someone stopped us to ask why I'm wearing sunglasses in the evening? As you so tactfully had that first night? That would have definitely ruined the date. Either way, you didn't do anything wrong. You’re perfect.” Astarion pulls Octavia close, releasing his hand on hers, and drapes his arm on her shoulder.
Octavia melts into his embrace, a bittersweet feeling hung over them. She brings her hand up to her shoulder and interlocks her fingers into his again. Astarion felt her relax a bit.
“How long will you be away?” “Do you want to come with me?” They speak at the same time, interrupting each other. Astarion clears his throat and Octavia laughs quietly. She turns her head to ask again, “Do you want to come with me to Wyvern Hills? I'll be gone for around six days?”
Astarion thinks it over, the idea of meeting her father was intimidating, even more so because he would probably have to explain his particular affliction. “I don't think so, darling. You deserve a break, and I don't think Gale can handle everything by himself again. I had him do that once and he nearly quit. It's too much for one person to handle. It would be unfair to him.”
Octavia feels Astarion’s other hand start to run up and down her arm. It's as if he was soothing her, or himself, maybe both? He was beginning to recognize the same comfort of sitting in silence with a loved one. The reminiscences of a quiet evening under the stars.
The sounds of nature envelop them, an intimate orchestra for two lost souls floating in an everlasting ocean of grief. In the vast darkness, they find the light and come together.
Octavia had lost herself to these feelings like so many times before. Astarion was born in it, used to the push and pull of it. Having lost the will to swim against it and let the waves crash over him, caught in its current thrashed around, but this was different.
To Astarion, Octavia feels like the safety net pulling him from the depths. The warmth of her affections was melting away his fears. His heart wanted to tell her how he felt. To confirm that after all these years, he finally felt the warmth of loving someone again.
“I lo-” Astarion almost confesses when he catches himself and continues, "I'll miss you. A lot. I just realized that we haven't been apart since we met. It'll be strange not having you around.” He leans down and kisses her cheek. “Come back to me, okay?”
Octavia felt her cheeks flush and her heart flutter.
Was he..? No…I’m probably just projecting.
Octavia couldn't deny her feelings for Astarion. The little flashes of lightning whenever he held her, made her laugh, or kissed her were exhilarating.
She couldn't deny that she loved him.
Octavia was terrified to tell him so after hearing him talk about his lost love. Who would she be if she heard all his pain and immediately said “Well, guess what? I love you!”? Her face felt hot, how long had they been sitting here?
She turns to Astarion and kisses him, she lets her feelings pour into their kiss. Octavia could feel tears gathering behind her eyes, “I’ll miss you too.” She smiles and kisses him again, feeling him lean into her, his arms wrapping around her.
Octavia pulls away a bit, “I should go home now, I told my dad I would try to be there as early as I could.” Astarion responds with a whine, Octavia giggles as he plants small kisses all over her cheeks, nose and lips.
“Don't miss me too much, Star.”
“Is that a challenge, darling?”
They laugh as Astarion unwraps himself from her, he stands and holds his hand out. Octavia takes it and they walk off into the night.
They leave the flowers on the bench.
--------------------------
Octavia walks up to the cobblestone cottage she grew up in. The patch of wildflowers she used to run in have turned into a full meadow, their blooms alert and open as if welcoming her back.
She walks up the gravel path to the doorway, noticing a small hummingbird on the hibiscus bush her mom lovingly tended. She smiles watching it flit away. Her trip would be over soon. A ping of sadness runs through her, saying goodbye to the place is going to be hard.
Suddenly the door swings open. Her father, Ralomaer, stands at the doorway with a giant grin on his face. He has a red flannel shirt on with some white powder on the bottom and some dark pants.“Hey kid! Have a nice walk? Are ya hungry? Got some breakfast made up for you!”
“Did you make waffles by any chance?” Octavia asks, with a laugh. Her dad tilts his head, his brows furrowed and he shakes his head, “Yeah, how’d you know??” Octavia laughs harder and points at his shirt. “You're covered in powdered sugar, Dad.”
Ralomaer laughs and waves his hand over the fabric, cleaning it up. Octavia walks up to him and remarks, “That must come in handy, you always used to hate doing laundry.”
Her dad laughs, “Well when you live alone, it's kind of pointless to wash one thing at a time. This is faster and better for the environment. Anyway, go eat. I'll meet you upstairs when you're done, it's attic day!” He waves his hands in a flourish, as Octavia walks past him and into the kitchen. Her dad climbs up the stairs.
Later that morning, Octavia sits cross-legged on the floor of the attic. Her father sits across from her on an old wooden chair. Between them sat an open wooden crate full of letters, drawings, photos, and many memories from her childhood.
“Okay, now I understand why you wanted me to come by and have this visit with you so urgently. This is really nice to go through with you, Dad.” Octavia chirps excitedly.
“Well don't thank me, thank your Auntie Taeladra! She insisted I clean the attic since she bought the house from me. Kept telling me something about ‘Preserving family history’ and ‘can you tell Octavia to come instead, isn't this pretty much her job.’” Ralomear holds up his hands, making finger quotes.
“Gods, she sounds like my coworker, Gale.” Octavia and her father laugh, as she rifles through the crate. Finding medals, trophies, countless books, letters, and pictures.
“You know, I think you’d like Gale. He's pretty funny. He's smart, witty, and so quick! He's been a great mentor, and an amazing friend. I'm really lucky to have him.” Octavia smiles warmly as she keeps rifling through the crate.
Her father stares at her, a puzzled look on his face. “What? What's that look for??” Octavia asks playfully.
“Are you dating this Gale? That was a lot of complimentary language for someone who is just a friend, my darling.” Ralomear gently teased.
“Dad! No! He's not my type! Besides, I'm way too busy with all the research and work and just…everything.” Octavia laughs, hiding her face behind her hair. She quickly looks away, hoping that her answer would squash this conversation.
“Oh my little bookworm! Don't keep your head in the books too long, you'll miss out on writing your own story.” Ralomear pinches Octavia’s cheek adoringly.
She smiles at her father, a little embarrassed laugh leaves her lips. A feeling of dread grows, she knows that her visit might end with her having to possibly define whatever she's got going on with Astarion. A small seed of insecurity plants itself in her stomach. How could she ever find a way to ease her father’s worries when it came to her love life?
“I’m gonna see what else is back there.” Octavia gets up and starts looking through the rest of the crates that occupied the attic. They were all stacked neatly in the corner of the little room. She walks up to the circular window next to the stack and opens the thin curtain.
Small dust spores kick up as she swings the window open, allowing the fresh air and sunlight to flood in. When she turns she notices a dusty tarp in the darkened corner of the attic. Some canvas frames sat on top of the tarp, it was staged as if it was trying to conceal something.
Octavia comes up to the items, carefully moving them aside. What she finds is an old wooden crate. “What the..?” She runs her hand on the edge of it, easily sliding it open. “Woah…hey Dad? I found something?”
Ralomaer looks up quizzically and wanders over. He stands with a hand on his hip, the other scratches at his beard. “Well would you look at that! Didn't even know that old crate was in here! No wonder your auntie wanted you to come through here, you and your museum skills are great for finding old junk!” he laughs.
Octavia began digging through the crate. Inside were old spell scrolls, tomes, stacks of handwritten letters from her great grandmother, the other adventures she traveled with, even highly detailed hand drawn maps!
Octavia could not believe the amazing treasure trove she had just unearthed in her own home. How long has this been here waiting for her to find it?
She finds a book full of sketches of various plants, animals, and locations all over Faerun. Octavia fixates on a fully illustrated image of the inside of what looks like an Illithid colony! She continues to flip through it, mesmerized by the way everything is drawn.
Octavia turns the page and is struck with drawings of eyes that look relatively close to Astarion’s own. She feels a strange sort of recognition from looking at the drawings.
The blood colored irises that were lovingly depicted in charcoal and ink, have a haunting familiarity to them. She knows Astarion is old, but she never asked exactly how old…
Her father pulls her out of her suspicions, “Lookie here, Tavvy! I found a rather interesting letter!” Ralomear recalls as he unfolds the antique parchment, handing it to Octavia. She reads the letter, her mind a little frazzled by yet another strange coincidence.
Darling Tav,
Laurent tells me you've been having nightmares again. It's been about 20 years since everything happened, are you still being plagued by the memories of it all, or just one particular, specific person? I still have some of my contacts from the House of Grief from my days as a Sharran. If you're serious about taking the risk, I could put you in contact with them. Let me know when you two get settled into your cottage. Lae and I can be over as soon as a tenday.
You're always in my thoughts, my dear friend.
Love always,
Shadowheart
“House of Grief? That sounds ominous.” Octavia remarks, remembering the extreme rituals Sharrans would take in order to release painful memories. Octavia could hardly imagine the suffering of those who felt it necessary to forget something, to now know that her own grandmother endured that shakes Octavia to her core.
“Sharrans eh? Good thing you did that whole exhibit on them! Maybe your friend Gale can help you out with this stuff?” Ralomear remarks.
“Yeah…maybe… Do you think Grammy had some PTSD from the whole Netherbrain thing?” Octavia asks quietly, the seriousness weighing heavy on her heart.
“I’m not sure, baby. Your mom always avoided the subject with me. Something about not wanting to dwell on the past and enjoying the time you had in the now. It was the one thing I never understood about your mom. How I wish you could ask her now.” Ralomear solemnly muses. He looks at Octavia, smiling mournfully.
They stay in the silence for a moment, before Octavia breaks. “I miss her. I could really use her brain right now.” She runs her finger along the outside of the crate.
“I miss her too. You definitely took after her, your brilliance is obviously her doing, my heart.” Ralomear takes Octavia’s hand in hers, squeezing it lovingly.
“I am so proud of you, I know your mom would be too. Now, let's keep digging through her stuff!” Ralomear smiles warmly and releases her hand.
Octavia shuffles through a stack of books, most of them run of the mill books, nothing too noteworthy. Until she notices a blue-gray fabric bound book. In silver letters across the front it read ‘Warming the Melancholy Heart’. She cards through it, until a small hand written letter falls out.
Octavia opens it, scanning the page. She gasos and begins to read the letter to her father.
Laurent,
The Unburdening your wife chose to follow through with should have fully set in by now. I have sent you some recommended reading should you have any questions about the procedure. Your wife has all my gratitude for all she did for me and the others. To give her this blessed relief in this trying time is the least I could do.
As per her concern, she may have some fleeting memories, but those should fade in time. Should she have any aftereffects or complications, do not hesitate to contact me again.
Shar’s blessings be upon you,
Nocturne
“Unburden? What does that mean?” Ralomear asks Octavia, handing her the letter.
Octavia reads through the thin book, the words describing the taking of memories sound as if they're trying to lessen the serious action being taken.
The remedy may seem non-existent, but it is not so. No heart that beats is a stranger to that which gives it joy - you must seek it out however you can.
Octavia flips through the book, most of it is filled with testimonials from people who went through the process. Lines of affirmation for what has been done to forget. Her eyes linger on one of the pages describing the aftereffects, symptoms ticked in red ink, tally marks keeping track of each in black.
✓ Forgetfulness ///
✓ Melancholy ////
✓ Face blindness //
✓ Staring at nothing //
✓ Nightmares of past memories /////////
These shall subside as time passes, you will need to guide your loved one through the process moving past their burdens. Should they seem different, another session may be required.
You may notice your loved one have an empty, far off look to their eyes, that will lift as their healing progresses. If you find they are forgetting more than intended, return to the House of Grief.
Be aware of them looking into mirrors for a long period of time.
"Mirror??? What?” Octavia gasps, covering her mouth quickly after. “Tavvy? Everything alright? Your face looks really sweaty all of a sudden…” Her dad reaches out and places the back of his hand on her forehead. “Oh yeah, you're feeling a little warm, why don't you go lie down? We're almost done for today, so I can finish up and bring some tea to your room?” he gives her a soft pat on the shoulder.
Octavia nods, “Sure, thanks Dad.” she can't wrap her mind around everything she just read and saw. She grabs the sketchbook and the book on Unburdening and walks out of the room. She descends the thin ladder leading up to the attic, then walks into her room, closing the door.
Octavia presses her back against the door, sliding down until she's sitting on the floor. The sketchbook closely held to her chest.
She opens the book back up to the images of the eyes. There's no doubt in her mind that she's looking into the same eyes that she had back on the bench outside the market.
Suddenly, Octavia remembers that she had the enchanted journal at the bottom of her bag. She crawls over to her bag at the foot of the bed, and flips furiously through it.
One entry immediately catches her attention.
Gods, it's been incredibly hard trying to keep these entries as neutral as I can. There's no telling what else could come for A. About two tenday ago, we went through that freaky meadow, A and I ran into a Gur hunter named Gandrel. Said he was looking for a vampire spawn, I noticed A’s whole attitude immediately change. His face looked as if he had been slapped. Those eyes that keep staring at me, turned so fox-like and angular. As soon as we heard A’s name come from the hunter’s lips, it was over. I have never seen him move like that. He swears it’s Cazador, but what would Cazador need him for?
Octavia presses her knees up to her chest. She closes her eyes and tries to push the notion of this being Astarion whom her ancestor is referring to out of her mind. It can't be him, could it?
She reaches over to the foot of her bed and rips through her bag, shaking out its contents, until finding a black velvet bag. She slips the ribbon off, taking out the red leather bound book that Astarion had given her.
She flips through, reading the first few lines. It speaks of people who had been captured, the various ways in which they were beaten, tortured, abused, and finally, bled try and turned.
Each one had an entire 20 page section dedicated to their specific treatment. Near the bottom of one page, she notices a name.
According to Aurelia, the Gur sent someone to find him. I sent Dalarya and Petras to stalk the Gur encampment in Rivington. They are to kill whoever does not give up information.
The boy will be found, I need him to ascend. The Ritual of Profane Ascension will be completed.
I WILL BECOME THE VAMPIRE ASCENDANT.
Ritual of Profane Ascension…where had she seen that phrase before? Octavia goes back to Tav’s journal, flipping through until she sees those words again.
Today, I got a better look at his back.
He's got a circular scar with Infernal written all around. When I saw it the morning after the party with the tieflings, he said it was poetry, but he didn't know that I know Infernal. I was hesitant to tell him what it really was, but something told me to keep being honest.
When I asked him where he got it, he told me it was a gift from his old master, Cazador. I explained to him that I believed it was a binding glyph, Cazador was planning something and whatever it is, it seems he needs the missing piece that I have in my party.
My suspicions were proven correct when we met up with the devil after finishing the Gauntlet of Shar and killing the Orthon.
He told us about this Rite of Profane Ascension. How Cazador needs 7 of his spawn to sacrifice along with many others to make himself into some kind of super vampire that can walk in the sun, go into homes without being invited, all those things that go along with being a vampire….
I'm not so sure about it though. Raphael explained that the soul of the Ascendant would be lost, and he would be a shell of his former self.
I don't know if I could go through with it. Killing all those people? It seems like such a big decision to make, so permanent and serious. We had a group meeting after everyone cleaned up and had dinner. Karlach and Wyll were adamantly against it. They can't justify all that loss for one person to benefit.
Gale and Shadow had more rational arguments, they both had ambitions to be greater than they were through their own rites. A seemed to listen to Shadow over Gale, but ultimately it was Lae’zel that convinced him otherwise.
She told him how all she wanted was to serve her Queen, but after seeing everything we have, she realized that she can't keep chasing the shadow of a lie. Sometimes, we have things we want, and we find that to achieve them, we would lose all of ourselves. If that was the case, what was he chasing after? If he wanted freedom, he's already free.
I think that was what finally opened Star’s eyes.
Star??
“Fuck me.” Octavia can feel the color drain out of her face. She looks around the floor at all the books that were surrounding her. She picks up the sketchbook and keeps looking through.
She noticed that every so often, there are pages ripped out. As if someone tore them up in a fit of rage. When she reaches the page with the eyes, she sees a little doodle of a star beside each one.
Octavia can't help the trembling in her hands, there's been this creeping suspicion inside her for a few weeks now.
The enchantment Gale broke, the log book Astarion gave her, the way he described his lost love seeming like they had been Unburdened and now all this? The clues are becoming glaringly obvious to her, but, it can't be….can it?
Her heart is thundering inside her chest as she keeps going through the pages of the sketchbook, more torn pages, drawings of flowers, and finally near the end of the book, two full pages of the binding glyph that Tav had described.
Three circles, almost like a bullseye, surrounded by Infernal symbols. The scarring looked deep and painful. Octavia’s mind races remembering how Astarion winced and seemed to not want her to touch him there.
Octavia’s eyes survey the page and her breath is ripped out from her lungs when she sees a profile drawing of Astarion looking her right back in the face. She can feel the tears well up behind her eyes, her entire life she had been told about this grand adventure, this amazing thing that her great grandmother had done for the city she loved.
There's almost double the amount of writings speaking all about a seventh spawn. It used a code for their abuses and names but I was one set of entries that surpassed all others in her eyes.
Octavia swallows, she grabs the red leather book one more time, she opens the book towards the end, as soon as she sees his name, it all comes crashing down on her.
I have dispatched the brood. They will find him and bring him home. And when they do, I will make him scream for this.
Their tale was fanciful, but they believe it to be true. Astarion, standing in the sun’s light? Willing and able to disobey me? Inconceivable.
My spawns fail me. Astarion eludes me. I WILL HAVE MY DUE.
Octavia’s blood runs cold.
There it was, hidden in plain sight this whole time. Astarion is everything that she has been searching for. He's the one who was there, the one who was in the paintings, the one who Tav forgot. All the evidence was clear, and now seeing his name in this journal that she barely bothered to look at back home…
Home.
Oh gods, how was she going to be able to look Astarion in the face now?
The only thing that made her doubt all of this was his back. She hadn’t seen it yet. She dreaded having to ask to see it, what would she say? How would he react? She presses her head up against the footboard of her bed, closing her eyes tightly.
Octavia's heart shattered as she sat clutching her knees tightly to her chest. The room grew smaller and the air around her was stifling and thick. Between the sobs, she tried to catch her breath, trying to stop the room from spinning, holding on to her legs, anything to ground her.
But what was left to stand on? Everything she knew up to this moment had been a giant mystery until now, shrouded in a decades-long secret. Locked away behind paintings and books, the things that once gave her comfort, that now sat scattered about her felt tainted.
She shoved them away, call it anger, frustration, fear, it all blurred together now. The floor felt like shifting sand, like it would give way at any moment sucking her down. Hiding her, like the other 7000, like his siblings like him...HIM.
Did he know? Did he know about her relationship to Tav? She had so many questions now and everything felt more and more uncertain. He loved Tav, and she had loved him that was for certain. Was he still in mourning, did he regret leaving Tav? Was she Tav's replacement?
Oh gods the room was spinning as Octavia lay down on the floor curled in on herself. She couldn't think that way, but she couldn't help it anymore. She no longer was thinking with a clear and rational head, instead, she let her emotions control her.
Binding her to the belief that Astarion once upon a time loved a woman so intimately, that she would never be able to fill that void. As sleep took her the last thought that plagued the visions within her mind was one that had read in the journal, something that Tav had penned so long ago.
Would Astarion ever leave Octavia like he had left her? And if he didn't would she ever be good enough for him to convince him to stay?
#bg3#astarion#baldur's gate 3#baldurs gate 3#astarion ancunin#bg3 astarion#astarion bg3#fic: memories of us#bg3 fanfic#shit's getting real now y'all.
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People always rank either Ei or Zhongli (or both) above Venti in power rankings. Like, who is the strongest archon? There are always two answers: Morax or Beelzebul. Never Barbatos.
I like to think otherwise.
This guy has cut mountains with his winds and thrown them so far away into the sea, made winter disappear and turned Mond into what it is today: from a barren rocky land that used to be filled with snow and raging blizzards into this green plain field with gentle winds where agriculture is so much easier then it ever was back then. I don't think people of Old Mond could have ever imagined for Mond to turn into what it is today.
But he still calls himself weak. And people took that to face value. And some still do despite it being proven otherwise by Nahida.
Venti said that an archon derives their power from ruling over their nation. But Nahida denies this later and says that archons gain their power through the faith of the people.
Clearly, Venti lied to us.
And if we go by what Nahida said,,,, Every freakin person in Mond has faith in the Anemo archon. They sing praises of him despite not having been in the presence of their god for 5 centuries. He has a statue and a Cathedral (who else has that?).
So, Venti is Strong.
Remember his gnosis is in the shape of a queen chess piece? Queen has the most freedom on the board. Venti's ideals are freedom. And his element is anemo. Anemo is the free-est element out there.
He might as well suck the air out of your lungs if he so wants to. He governs over it.
My point is, Venti is overpowered.
And let's not forget how that little wind wisp gained archon hood.
It was his desire to protect that helped him into becoming a god. When the nameless bard died, he felt the need to protect whats left. To protect what his friend died fighting for.
And its a pretty cliche concept out their about how a hero grows stronger, in any story. Its their need to protect. Right?
And Venti still wants to protect Mond- despite him saying otherwise. He shows up everytime Mond is in danger. Whether directly or indirectly, he always helps out.
So here is what I think. The reason why he calls himself weak.
Its because he is so strong, strong enough to scare Celestia. So Celestia has put him on some sort of leash. He can't use his powers in it's entirety. There is probably some sort of seal.
So Venti is weak.
Because he can't use all of his powers. Because he is chained to Celestia's whim.
Venti is weakest of the seven because he is the only one who has some sort of leash on him.
The god of freedom, chained.
Plus, it can definitely not be a coincidence that the defiled statue was of Barbatos, out of all the seven. Chained, hanging up-side down and corrupted.
And the fact that the abyss order was going to use Barbatos (chained) statue to create a machine to "topple the divine thrones of Celestia."
None of that can be a coincidence. Knowing hoyoverse, it definitely isn't.
So yeah. Venti is definitely not weak. He just can't use the full extent of his powers as of right now.
Venti is strong, but also weak. If he isn't chained- he is easily the strongest.
He can slice the mountains and throw them far into sea- if Zhongli throws a big peice of meteor on him, venti should be able to cut it in half too. if he has all his power on him that is.
I really hate it when people call him weak just because he said so himself. Especially when it's been proven that we shouldn't take his words to face value.
He is not like our sweet little Nahida, people.
#also#i feel like we are going to see something about this in his second story quest#there is *always* lore drops when he appears.#however big or small#venti#barbatos#genshin barbatos#genshin venti#character analysis#genshin impact venti#genshin analysis#genshin impact lore#genshin impact#archon venti
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Ok, listen up movie and tv people.
What we need 0 of: sexy Dracula, Mina as Drac’s reincarnated lover, Lucy being blamed for her murder because she’s ‘too sexy’ and ‘she wanted it’, blatant Jonathan erasure, blatant Quincey erasure.
What we need 100 of: the Harker Supernatural Detective Agency.
Starring:
Mina ‘I’ve got a typewriter and now that’s you’re problem’ Harker, following the paper trail of every monster that dares to step into her country.
Jonathan ‘Everyone I’ve ever met is my friend’ Harker, buying beers and chatting with all the witnesses to gather up more clues.
Dr. Jack ‘I’m supposed to be the smart one but I’m weirdly good at break-in’s’ Seward, the one who can do whatever science /technology/ B&E that is needed but loses his glasses when they’re on his head.
Lord Godalming, Arthur ‘The Bankroller’ Holmwood, giving them the funds to travel, send wordy telegrams, and buy sexy new all-black vampire-killing outfits each episode.
Quincey ‘The Muscle’ Morris, here to politely tip his hat at passers by and then pop into an alleyway to curb stomp Jack the Ripper or something.
Lucy ‘Everyone would die for her, how does she always end up in these messes’ Westenra, who is the sweet and beloved friend of everyone in this office but somehow remains blissfully unaware of the supernatural nature despite being targeted by nearly every monster of the week.
Guest Starring Prof/Dr/Esq Van Helsing (his title changes every appearance) who rushes in to lore drop and dunk on Seward, smile lovingly at Lucy, then rushes back off to Amsterdam.
And if it absolutely has to have a reincarnated character, then it’s not Mina; Van Helsing is the reincarnation of Dracula’s ex-spouse who constantly rolls in to ruin his plans whenever he shows up.
And Dracula has a mustache, damn it!
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Reunited Again Aren't We?
Vox x CollegeStudent!Reader
A/N: Lololol I felt bad I left you guys on a cliffhanger in "Troubles Unforeseen" so here's Vox's POV to the whole thing. Bro already has minor panic episodes when you go inactive so let's see how he deals with the fact you're just entirely gone. Oh and this chapter will feature a bit of the iconic radio demon because trolling Vox will never be unfunny to me HAHAHAHA.
A/N: This interlude's gonna be a wild ride, it's also gonna have some lore dumps because of Lucifer lolol. Hence it is fucking LONG- Btw please send me ideas for Vox and Reader now that they've reunited in death. Fluffy, angsty, smutty, doesn't really matter hahaha, I'm still going for the slowburn btw so please keep that in mind XD ANYWAYS- I hope you guys enjoy this interlude and as always, happy reading!
There was something wrong.
Like, really really wrong.
At least to a certain technology overlord.
Vox just couldn't get rid of the sick feeling he had in his gut.
It had been just a few hours after you said you'd leave for the party.
Knowing that, he tried to just distract himself with his work and hoping the feeling would go away.
Only to find himself counting minutes as nothing seemed to change.
Against his better judgement, he found himself shooting you a quick message.
He was just checking in on you, no harm no foul right?
"Hey doll, how's the party?"
He stared at the phone for a bit, wishing you'd reply and quickly put his paranoia and nerves to rest.
Instead, Vox was quickly reminded that he had a broadcast in a few minutes by his secretary.
Fuck.
He just really couldn't shake that ominous feeling.
Despite that, he put on a charming smile and just went about his business.
Unfortunately, he'd lost track of time after getting swarmed up by work.
So it was only hours later that Vox was able to check back in on you.
And to his dismay, there was still nothing from your end.
You didn't even see his message.
He tries to convince himself that he's just being paranoid.
That there really wasn't anything wrong.
But as he was staring at the screens connected to your gadgets hoping for even just the slightest activity-
The one that showed your phone suddenly fizzled out into static and abhorrently loud white noise.
He recoiled from the loud noise before the panic finally settled in.
Vox had known you for almost two years-
And this hadn't happened once.
The screen where your phone's interface had once been just went back to being one of his typical monitors.
Displaying statistics, graphs, surveillance and whatnot.
The overlord quickly checked if he could still interact with your laptop and tablet and breathed a sigh of relief when he could.
Especially when he could still control that little desktop version he made in his likeness for you.
So, maybe things didn't entirely go to shit.
But still-
What fucking happened?!
He kinda goes off the walls blowing up your notifications or trying to get your attention through the devices he was still tied to.
Which only makes his anxiety worse when there's still no response from you at all.
At this point, it's been a few hours since you've completed dropped off the radar and Vox was just not having a great time.
Were you still at the party or something???
That was of course until a news article appeared as a notification on your laptop.
Vox knew he shouldn't have cared about it much, it was probably just another one of those internet clickbait things anyway.
Especially with the headline.
"Students Injured by Drunk Driver, One Dead"
Who wouldn't think that was an exaggerated story?
But something in the back of his mind demanded that he check it.
It was probably the paranoia filling up with just all the worst possible scenarios.
The overlord just shook his head, he'll check it just to prove to himself you weren't part of it.
Just anything that could tell him that you were okay.
But the second he opened the article to read through it-
Vox immediately felt his stomach drop.
He could immediately identify the bloodied individuals in the headline picture.
It was your group of friends that had gotten caught in that accident.
And it was you who'd gotten killed.
Seeing you bloodied and battered in the outfit you so proudly showed him mere hours ago made him feel downright horrid.
It was like he couldn't even breathe.
No-
No way!
It couldn't be, it was just someone that looked like you!
It had to be!
Was what the overlord tried to tell himself.
But when he scrolled down the page and saw your name written in the article as the one unfortunate death-
Vox knew for certain that he didn't see wrong.
The sick feeling he'd been getting was his instincts giving him a warning.
A warning he didn't heed.
And it costed you.
He sat there in his chair for a minute trying to process it all, especially when the overwhelming guilt finally hit.
Vox wasn't ever one to feel that way, especially in his ruthless line of work.
Not to mention how he generally is a cutthroat businessman who would do anything to get what he wanted.
But when it came to you, he felt immense regret for not having better painted his worry.
That he didn't tell you something felt really off.
It was a new kind of weight at the moment, especially when he was still shell shocked from the blitzkrieg of information.
And even if you still chose to go to the party-
He still could have warned you.
And that was a fact he couldn't let go.
Holding his screen in his hands, Vox just sat there trying to calm himself down.
He definitely couldn't just go back to work like this.
This was bad.
He couldn't remember the last time he felt this kind of overwhelming anxiety.
Was that it?
Would he ever see you again?
Or had he lost you for good?
The overlord was about to kind of just let his emotions run it's course until another realization hit him.
It only popped up in his mind when he saw some random surveillance footage of the city on another one of his monitors.
If you were dead-
There was a chance you could be down here.
He highly doubted it given your nature-
But there was still a chance.
He hadn't lost you yet.
So that was how Vox found himself rapidly traveling through wires and cameras all over pentagram city just holding onto a thread of hope that you would be around somewhere.
Velvette had given him an odd look when he just bolted of the Vee tower like his own ass was on fire but he couldn't bring himself to care.
The priority was you.
As he had unfortunately realized over time.
Zapping himself around through some cables, and cameras wasn't hard.
Tiring as he continued to do it but moving around like a shock of electricity was nothing new to the overlord of technology.
The problem now being that Vox had absolutely no idea where to even begin looking.
Pentagram city was huge, there was his tech and products in nearly every corner.
Aside from Alastor's stupid hotel-
And maybe cannibal town-
So it wasn't that difficult for him to get places.
But where would he even start?
It was unlike him to do something in such a sporadic manner.
Appearing here, appearing there-
Just to check, just to see.
He'd completely lost his cool in his panic and tried to picture what you'd look like as a sinner.
If there's one thing Vox had grown to recognize and love about you, it was your bright eyes.
That gaze that always looked at him with either cheer or mischief.
He was certain that wouldn't have changed even if you were launched into heaven or hell.
Problem was that didn't narrow his options at all.
How was he supposed to know how your other physical features would translate once you were down here?
Hell, he had a TV for a head!
The overlord zapped himself out of a nearby CCTV camera with a huff.
He couldn't keep traveling like that unless he wanted to exhaust himself before he'd even searched half of the pride ring.
So he straightened out his bow and brushed off his suit before just walking down the sidewalk and subtly searching that way.
He wasn't phased when some sinners took pictures of him, nor did he have the capacity to even care.
As long as they didn't get in his way, he left them be.
So imagine his surprise at the sense of familiarity he got passing by someone staring at the display TV screens on one of his many stores.
He swears he's never seen the person before, but there was something about their vibe that just hit like a sense of Deja vu.
Looking over at the sinner that seemed to even be amused at one of his broadcast reruns-
He got a good look of your face.
Your gaze really didn't change.
"Huh, so this is what he does down here. Goofy ass TV-"
And that was your voice.
He wouldn't mistake that anywhere.
"(Y/N)?"
You screamed in shock before you turned your equally surprised gaze to him.
When you met his eyes, Vox knew for sure it was you.
"Vox!!!"
You dropped the bag you were holding and immediately tackled him in a hug.
The overlord opened his arms instinctively to catch you, but he was caught off guard by your sudden movement that he ended up falling backwards and landing on his ass with you in his hold.
He couldn't really say anything when you were just rambling on and on into his chest about who knows what.
Vox couldn't even keep track of what you said.
He was just too relieved to still have you around.
It took a brief moment for him to tighten his hug on you, fearing that if he let go you would disappear.
The both of you stayed like that for a good while, until a certain princess Morningstar and her girlfriend found the two of you.
"(Y/N)???"
"(Y/N) get away from him!"
Vox could only compare how fast you whipped your head around to the times he'd caught you doing something silly.
Subconsciously his hold tightened on you as Vaggie approached, how in Lucifer's name did they even know you were here?
"No! I'd been looking for Vox ever since I ended up down here! I know he's not going to hurt me!"
He was more surprised at how quick you were to defend him, especially since-
Wait-
You'd been looking for him ever since you ended up in hell?
He couldn't catch the rest of the conversation you had with Vaggie and Charlie as he was too busy buffering.
By the time he'd finally been able to pay attention again, you were helping him stand back up with a bashful smile.
And that was when his worry finally reared it's ugly head.
"Wh- How the fuck are you even down here?! I told you to be careful and you'd gotten yourself killed?!"
"As if that's my fucking fault! How was I supposed to know I was gonna die that night?!"
The both of you go back and forth for a little while and you slowly calmed Vox down from his emotional rollercoaster.
He only noticed he was shaking slightly when you grabbed his hand and smiled at him.
A smile Vox was scared he'd never even see again.
He felt a little funny with your hand in his, not to mention just how small your palms were against his own.
"I'm okay now, see? You're such a worry wart."
"I could've lost you, why wouldn't I be?"
You just flick his screen with your free hand in response, but Vox didn't miss the slight red that dusted your cheeks accompanying your pout.
It was only then that he was able to get a good look at you.
He wanted to both laugh and scream at the fact you seemed to have taken traits of a doe, ears and all.
It was like Alastor just had to give him a middle finger no matter what he did.
He also noticed your outfit was the same as the one you had died in, which was probably a hint that you hadn't been down here for long.
Plus, you were just...
Short.
Well, you only stood up to his chest so you just seemed small in comparison to him.
A soft cough brought his attention away from you.
Ah.
Right.
"Hey there Mr. Vox! I see you're well acquainted with (Y/N)!"
Vox was about to just shrug off Charlie's greeting and leave with you when he noticed your stern gaze.
Oh fine, he'll play nice.
"You can just call me Vox, princess. No need for the formalities. It's a pleasure meeting you!"
He returned, extending his free hand to shake with his signature grin propped up on his screen.
Charlie just smiled and shook his hand, introducing herself and Vaggie.
Well, he already knew who they were but he played along.
"Oh just call me Charlie and this is Vaggie, we were actually just shopping with (Y/N) before you appeared?"
Huh?
Vox raised an eyebrow at you but you just nonchalantly pointed to the dropped groceries nearby the two of you just sitting on the sidewalk.
So that was what you were holding before you tackled him.
Before he could respond to Charlie however, you beat him to it.
"Saaaaaay why don't you go back to the hotel with us?"
"Excuse me?"
"I mean I'd reckon it's not like you have anything else to do if you're out here."
Vox didn't really know how he was supposed to react first.
One, he was done with the day's work so you had him kind of cornered.
It wasn't like he could say no to you anyway-
And two, the hotel-
If Charlie and Vaggie were here with you then he could assume what hotel you were talking about.
And he was absolutely livid because he knew fucking Alastor was there.
Alastor.
And you were staying there?!
Though it seems like you heard his thoughts and poked his screen to snap him out of it.
"Oh and don't worry about Alastor, I've been a pain in his side ever since I came to the hotel. He's just really easy to piss off, kind of like you actually- and it's entertaining to watch."
Vox just gave you an annoyed glare from the comparison to which you shrugged.
Though when he weighed his options, maybe it was for the best that you stayed at the hotel despite his rival being there.
It was probably the safest space in hell at the moment-
Especially with how they were able to drive away the exorcists.
That and...
He wasn't so sure about having you in the same space as Valentino.
The pimp already blew up at him when you were just on his phone-
How much more if you guys were in the same room?
He broke from that train of thought though when you just suddenly started messing with his bow tie.
Tugging and poking, Vox couldn't help but find your behaviors as puzzling as it was cute.
He gaze softened slightly at you before he chuckled.
"Just what do you think you're doing doll?"
"Messing with your tie, what else?"
"Hmm, I can see that. Mind telling me why?"
"Cuz I can? Besides- do you wear this outfit all the time?"
"Only when I'm working, aren't you curious."
"Eh, it's all I've seen you wear so I figured I'd ask. Besides, this is the first time we've physically met."
Vox missed the weird glance Charlie and Vaggie gave the both of you.
Not that he would've noticed anyway when you were busy taking up all his attention.
Eventually, you were able to talk the tech overlord into walking you back to the hotel.
He felt a little weird when you finally let go of his hand to pick up the groceries you'd dropped but he wasn't sure why.
Well, more like you were dragging him along.
Charlie and Vaggie were talking excitedly in the front as he just strolled alongside you.
He wasn't really paying attention to them.
"I don't actually know much about what happened in the accident, just that it was a car crash. Speaking of- how did you know I died?"
"A news article popped up on your computer, I almost thought it was clickbait at first."
"Huh, well at least I ended up on the news!"
You both fell seamlessly into conversation all the way on your walk.
And despite you just behaving the same Vox was familiar with, seeing your reactions in person was a completely different experience.
Your energy was almost contagious even.
Vox just intended to drop you off at the hotel and return to his tower-
But you being you, decided to drag him inside despite his protests.
Charlie and Vaggie went ahead inside with the groceries while you once again grabbed Vox's hand to take him inside.
The overlord could already feel all eyes on him the second he stepped through the doors.
Talk about awkward.
"Greetings old pal! What brings you around here?"
Vox visibly cringed when he heard Alastor, forcing his trademark smile onto his face before looking at the deer.
Everyone already seemed to be taking cover for the inevitable fight that was going to happen between the two overlords when-
"Cut the shit Alastor, I don't need you antagonizing Vox when I want to chill out with him."
Vox didn't even have room to reply when your voice immediately cut through the tension like a knife through butter.
Even he looked at you with slightly widened eyes, did you just not fear Alastor at all?
In hindsight, Vox realized you didn't seem to fear him at all when you guys met so was this really unexpected?
The radio demon only narrowed his eyes at you in annoyance, static starting to surround him and you simply crossed your arms.
"If this is meant to be scary, I suggest trying something else. Cuz, you're honestly kinda just being creepy."
Alastor tilted his head before suddenly laughing off your words, your own deer ears pinning back in irritation.
"Why I was just trying to say hello my dear! No need to get so hostile!"
"Don't call me that. It's either my name or nothing ya weirdo."
That piqued Vox's interest, you never had any issues with his petnames-
And yet it seems like you had every bone to pick with his rival.
Was that because of him???
He bit back a laugh and just continued to spectate your exchange.
"If you do insist (Y/N), but I will say you have a terrible taste in companions."
You just flipped Alastor the bird and Vox raised an eyebrow at you.
He didn't even have to say a word to the deer before he disappeared back into the shadows.
"So what was that about who antagonizing who?"
"So much as say another word about this exchange I'm going to punch your screen in Vox."
"That's if you can reach it dollface."
And just like that, you both fell back into your usual banter.
The others would've thought you and Vox were arguing if it weren't for the seemingly genuine grins on both your faces.
There wasn't an air of hostility around you and Vox like when you confronted Alastor.
It was friendly, which was... weird to say the least.
All the more for the current residents of the hotel.
You were a new arrival, so the fact you were so buddy-buddy with one media overlord while having every bone to pick with the other was a little confusing.
Not to mention that Vox was kind of just... there.
Like he wasn't trying to strike up a deal, or even do anything to the hotel.
Was he there just for you???
That fact made them more concerned about your backstory than anything.
When a lull in the conversation between you and Vox finally hit, Angel spoke up.
"Say uh, toots. How'd you end up down here?"
You didn't seem to mind the nickname this time, instead simply shrugging nonchalantly.
Vox was sure now you just said you had problems with it because it was Alastor.
"That's actually a good question. I've got no idea."
"Seriously? Then how do you explain the fact you're friends with like- hell's biggest media overlord?!"
"Oh that? I met Vox when I was alive. No biggie though."
Vox just snickered from everyone's dumbfounded expressions.
Of course he could leave it to you to completely misunderstand just how important the title of "overlord" is.
"I think I might be able to help figure out why you're down here (Y/N)."
It almost entirely caught Vox off guard when Lucifer of all people suddenly made his presence known.
Not to mention the guy was just really short.
Like- wow.
You'd think with all the paintings and tales he'd be a bit more intimidating too but nope.
Vox just looked over at you next to him while you just gratefully gave Lucifer a hug and accepted his offer.
Seems like he wasn't wrong when he mentioned that you could easily make friends anywhere in the past.
The overlord nodded his head slightly to acknowledge the king of hell but was more focused on what he was going to do to help.
It wasn't like they could just watch your entire life on rewind-
Or could they?
Vox just watches as Lucifer uses his magic to form this... golden orb thing in front of everyone.
So color him shocked when it suddenly starts playing some of your memories.
From when you met him because of the ouija board incident-
Up until the point you died.
Was he the reason for your damnation???
Was that why the orb showed that??
"So that's how you guys know each other- don't see anything that could've caused you to be down here though. Let's go farther back."
What-
Now the overlord was completely stumped.
Just what.
Okay, maybe he jumped to conclusions too soon.
Apparently, from skimming through your memories- it seems like the main reason why you were down here with the rest of them-
Was because you stole a candy bar when you were like- five.
"And you were worried about not meeting me."
"I mean, how was I supposed to know I was damned since I was FIVE?! What the hell is this bullshit?!"
Vox could only laugh at you throwing a hissy fit, everyone else around you still being a little confused and dumbfounded that you were in hell for such a small and kind of idiotic reason.
"It's not funny Vox! I can't believe I'm stuck down here because of a fucking candy bar!"
"I thought you didn't mind being down here?"
"Oh trust me I don't, I'm good with wherever you are. But I could've at least gone down for a cooler reason! Fucking hell!"
He couldn't help but smile fondly as you continued to rant.
It wasn't the first time he'd seen you like this, but he always found it cute anyway.
Screens between you both or not.
#vox x reader#hazbin hotel#vox#hazbin hotel vox#hazbin hotel x reader#hazbin vox#hazbin vox x reader#vox x you#hazbin hotel vox x reader#get off my screen series
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Drawing Ryōmen Sukuna
Development notes
This post has been in the making since last year, before the manga has reached its current arc. My aim was to respond to comments that pointed out that my version of that time didn't look like the one in the anime.
I calculate everything I do and the way I do it. My current goal is to share my thoughts on the development of my take on him - simply because I'm a nerd when it comes to anatomy and I love figuring things out. It involves a lot of thinking, questioning, analysis, dissecting information and building theories. So I totally understand if it's not anyone's cup of tea.
MANGA SPOILER WARNING
The very beginning
I used to have a serious case of lack of self-confidence. My earliest art of Sukuna dates back to 2021, but it always felt like my skills are not worthy of this particular character. I never shared my art. I was also struggling to find my artistic voice. I was obsessed with the idea of semi-realism, but even if I managed to pull it off after weeks of stylisation practices, I didn't like the results.
Due to personal reasons, I stopped trying to draw him for a long time.
The development of "my" version
It was an entirely conscious decision to draw him differently.
The top reasons for the change was that I didn't want to sexualise him in his host, Yuuji, who is a minor. Back then I thought he inflicted the deformation on himself (extra limbs, eyes, etc), for the sake of efficiency, and I was curious what he looked like before that - or what he would look like in a civilised environment.
During the process, I considered a number of factors:
the beauty standard of the other JJK men - I wanted him to fit the lineup - his original appearance made him stand out quite much
in a setting where he adheres to the rules of society, more or less, I believe his MBTI personality type (ENTJ) would dictate a lot of his choices when it comes to appearance, at least to a certain extent. I thought he would choose to have an appearance that fits the beauty standards of the era
I kept his tattoos because it's a very distinguishing feature of him, but I also exercise freedom in the way I draw them, to make them as stylish as possible
Reincarnation
I used to believe once he reincarnates, his proportions would be closer to that of a "normal" human, even if he has some extra limbs. However, his size and features are above and beyond of what we are used to, and even the story emphasises their malformed appearance. So a a whole new era of Sukuna started in my art. I chose my favourite manga panels of him and mix-and-matched the most attractive features into a figure that I consider on the fine edge of monstrosity and unconventional handsomeness.
Even when I draw him with a regular number of limbs, I keep his usual mass and proportions. I dubbed this form "true gains" form.
I also realised that some of the tattoos Yuuji's body displayed was a product of the partial reincarnation stage, like we see it on Tsumiki's forehead.
NOTE: Did anyone notice that Sukuna is getting progressively more and more human/handsome in the manga? When he took over Megumi's body, I also noticed that as the story progressed, he started to look older and more mature. I'm curious of it was a conscious decision.
Twin dilemma and speculations
According to the Japanese wikipedia page, the mythical figure Sukuna could have been a conjoined twin. Despite my extensive digging in the matter, I was shocked by the recent lore drop.
My question: what does Sukuna look like in a universe where he did not absorb his twin in the womb during development?
It hasn't been confirmed, but I find it very possible now that he was born with his extra limbs, eyes and mouth, as well as the deformed, wide features. (...as opposed to my first theory about him altering his own body for the sake of efficiency)
This, however, would mean that in a universe where both him and his brother are born healthily, he would look different. There is the obvious lack of extra arms, eyes and mouth - but I believe he would also be closer to the JJK beauty standard of men, as far as proportions go (eg. more narrow face, anime-esque nose, larger eyes).
At first I was hesitant to accept this idea, as I'm very attached to the 4-arm hulk / "true gains" form now, but then I realised: this would mean that "my"version of him actually has logically explainable place in at least an alternate universe.
Thank you if you got this far.
I may edit this post later. Let's see where the story takes us.
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little songbird
part 2 (prelude) to my orpheus and eurydice angst fic "doubt comes in" — i'm not entirely certain i'll make this a full fic but if yall like it i might end up adding another part (would still be a prelude since part 1 is technically the end unless anyone requests a spin-off-esque addition)
part 3 (prelude pt. 2) part 4 (prelude pt. 3) part 5/finale (semi-alt ending)
includes: heaven lucifer ofc, a little lore, some blending of greek mythology, i don't think there are any warnings besides fluff and luci is a hopless romantic but also the relationship is ambiguous right now, still dramatic just dramatic greek fluff (also I made angels have golden blush because they have gold blood)
When you first met Lucifer, you’d just finished your duties on Earth and were going to come back to celebrate. As a Virtue, your job was to persuade the seasons into change — you sang a melody you’d taken from nature itself, soaring over the clouds and riding the winds until autumn fell over the world and you went back home until nature needed your persuasive help once more.
But as you were going up, he was coming down. You came face to face, stopping each of you in your tracks.
You’d heard of him, of course; Lucifer, the Morning Star, with his wondrous creations and unattainable dreams, but you never thought you’d see him in person — it always seemed like he was too busy working to ever come down to Earth.
Yet here he was.
You moved out of his way. “Sorry. I didn’t see you coming.”
“No worries at all.” He gave you a very charming smile, making you smile back reflexively. He took off his hat, tufts of blond hair falling in his face as he took your hand, bowing as his wings lifted him higher. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Humility.” He kissed the back of your hand and your small smile broadened. “I can’t believe we haven’t met yet.”
“You know who I am?”
“Of course.” He pulled a blooming purple flower from his lapel, twirling it in his fingers. “You’re the one that made this.”
You didn’t know what to say, heart thumping against your ribcage with a swell of pride that he, a Seraph — and not just any Seraph — Lucifer, knew and coveted the small flowers you made blossom in a world that was filled with bigger, much more beautiful things.
“I collect a new one every spring,” he continued, watching your reaction with a smile that he couldn’t help. Your eyes widened, hand gripping his without realizing you were even still holding it. “I came to collect a few of your golden leaves this time.”
“My leaves?” Was all you could think to say as your wings and heart fluttered with pride. You quickly dropped his hand when you felt your wings behind you, suddenly very aware of his presence and gaze. “I didn’t paint the leaves.”
“No, but you persuade nature to make them,” he laughed, tucking the stem of the flower into your hair as he did. “Who knew Humility would be so humble.”
“It is my virtue,” you said quietly, taking his hand to stop him from fussing with the flower he gave back to you. You opened his palm, brushing your hand over it. His wings fluttered the same as yours. “But thank you for your kindness, Lucifer.”
“Honesty,” he corrected as a golden leaf appeared in his hand, shimmering in the light. He stuck it into his lapel, where the flower had been, and grinned. “Such a generous gift and I don’t even know your true name.” You laughed at his tone, hinting for you to keep talking to him just as you were going to leave, and properly introduced yourself. “It suits you,” he said, “someone who creates this beauty,” he deliberately didn’t look at the scenery, “should have that beautiful of a name.”
“Aren’t you kind,” you said with a raised brow, knowing he was flattering you; calling you beautiful without outright saying it, you could easily pick up on his intentions.
“Too kind for your liking?”
“I didn’t mean it like that!” You said quickly. “I was only joking—“
“I know!” He laughed, soothing your sudden embarrassment with a zealous, maybe overly so, hand on your cheek. “Who knew an Angel of Virtue would be so virtuous,” he joked again, laughing and stroking your cheek with his thumb before he dropped his hand. He was certainly overzealous, but you couldn’t say you minded it. “I should stop teasing you — go on, I’m sure you have important work to do—“
“Your work is far more important than mine,” you blurted, then wanted to slap yourself across the face. “I mean, my work isn’t any more important than yours — I’m sure you have more important things to do—“ he continued to let you put your foot in your mouth, watching you try to make sense of your words with a doting smile and fluttering wings. “—I mean, if you’re staying, I can stay, too—“
“You want to stay with me?” He concluded with a grin and you blanked, shaking your head at yourself as a golden glow dusted your cheeks. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” he laughed, knowing teasing a Virtue like this was both cruel and profane, “if you’d like to stay, please do… but if you have work to do, I’m sure we’ll meet again.”
You looked around, thinking that perhaps nature could use a little more of a push toward fall. The winds could be a little sharper, and the grass a little duller.
“I’ve always wanted to hear your song,” Lucifer said, seeing the wheels turn in your mind and taking his chances. “If you think Earth could use a bit more help…”
You thought for just a moment longer before offering your hand to him. “You can help if you’d like.” He took your hand, and you rose higher above the clouds, listening closely for the soft melody that nature sang, before flying in the direction the wind took you and singing…
A simple melody. It was a song you knew well; there were no words or swells to make you know what came next, just an endless melody that the winds would sing as they carried the seasons through Earth.
And Lucifer knew just what to sing along, bringing the endless melody a harmony that made it feel so complete. He guided you beneath the clouds so you could see how the seasons changed — and then it came;
Summer rain.
A tell-tale sign that your duty was complete, though it always came some time after you left. Now, you got to experience the misty rain and watch as animals came out to play.
Lucifer laughed, wings going over the two of you to shield you from the rain. “Look at that…” He peeked between a pair of wings, reveling in the beauty you’d created together. “As usual,” he said, “a job well done.”
The next time you met was at the Season’s Celebration in The Garden. It was moved a week later to celebrate the summer rain, but it was a quarterly tradition. The other Virtues brought their specialties, but the highlight of the festivities were the heavenly spirits distilled by Charity and Chastity; not a single angel came without taking a bottle for themself.
Cherubim played music, Seraphim danced, and the Ophanim made an appearance when they could, but the center of attention was on the seven Virtues and their drunk, lively dancing and cheering.
The seven of you danced in a circle, glasses raised in the air with a flush of gold on each of your faces as you sang along jovially.
The celebration lasted all day and night, animals coming to join you as wildflowers surrounded the seven of you. Butterflies, chipmunks, rabbits, and the like came out of hiding for a last experience before hibernation and migration. Birds came down from the sky, one in particular flitting around the circle and each of the Virtues before finally stopping in front of you. Pale yellow with red cheeks, tweeting at you until one of your fellow Virtues spoke. “It wants you to sing!” They laughed drunkenly, taking another sip from their glass. “We should all sing,” said another as you let the bird perch on your hand.
It was the song of nymphs, muses, and winds; a sirenic song that each of you knew well. The plants in The Garden blossomed bigger and bigger and the bird in your hand flew to the middle of your circle before a cloud of white puffed around it.
“Oh, it is you!” Laughed Chastity as Lucifer appeared, laughing along and twirling her as she said, “I didn't think you’d ever come to one of these.”
“How could I resist after such a beautiful change in the seasons?” He said cheerfully. “You lovely Virtues have outdone yourselves this year.” He then laughed, turning to Chastity, “and It’s always nice to see such heavenly creatures so drunk.”
“Flattery gets you nowhere,” said Temperance.
“Certainly not with you,” said Lucifer and Temperance laughed at his jesting, the rest of them seeming to understand much more than you did, how to take teasing like his.
“Flattery gets you everywhere,” insisted Chastity, and Diligence and Kindness laughed like they’d never heard anything funnier. “What’s so funny!?”
As the other Virtues started a loud, joking conversation, you met Lucifer’s eyes. He smiled, then looked at the music still being played and went to you. “Shall we?” He offered you his hand, wings fluttering behind him and making that same shimmering gold wash over your cheeks. It made him smile as you took his hand.
“Patience is a much better dancer than I am,” you said as he led you to an open area.
“But I want to dance with you.” And the moment your own wings fluttered behind you, he knew you just wanted him to confirm that. “Maybe you’re not as humble as I thought,” he whispered, making sure no other angel heard his taunts. He then changed the topic, hand reaching up to brush across your cheek. “You kept my gift.”
“Of course I did.” You took his hand, using it to twirl under his arm as his wings lifted him higher than you. Yoy gave a very playful smile. “A gift from a Seraph should be coveted.”
“Oh, I see,” he laughed, shaking his head at you and your teasing. “You misunderstood me.”
“Did I?”
He nodded, a small half-smile on his face. “I wasn’t returning your flower as a ‘gift from a Seraph’—“
“You weren’t?”
“No, and you know that. That’s why you gave one back.” You laughed, a coy look on your face that made him shake his head as you looked at the golden leaf he still had stuck to his lapel.
The two of you danced with all of Heaven watching as you spun, flew, and swayed to the music. He didn’t overstep, and he wasn’t overly forward with his gestures, but he was deliberate. He held you against him, but did it gently. He held your hand, but made sure you put your hand in his first. He lifted you with a smile and met you in the air, leading you back down as others joined in.
Their laughter and chatting made it so that your conversation was much more private, giving Lucifer the chance to whisper, “How many gifts do I need to give you before you do understand?”
You hummed in thought. “I haven’t decided yet.”
But Lucifer had decided, since the moment he experienced your first time changing the seasons, he was going to love you; however you ended up loving him — a friend, a colleague, he didn’t care as long as it meant that he knew you. He didn’t even expect anything from you. You’d done enough; your ways of changing the seasons brought him out of his cold and lonely workplace that he’d never realized was so cold and lonely until he experienced your summers and springs; filled with warmth and community. Angels never ventured to Earth so often before you, and he could easily understand why.
How someone could take on the job of multiple angels and the outcome be something so much more beautiful than he’d ever seen, he had no idea, but he was in awe every time he saw your humble work. He’d watch from Heaven, seeing the way you did things. It was the same as any other, but you didn’t indulge in pride as you did it. You did it for the good of the Earth, rather than bestowing a gift.
He held the utmost respect for you.
Though, Sera was certainly tired of hearing about that respect, because just a week ago, when you first met, she was the one to urge him down sooner.
“You’ll never meet if you wait this long,” she said, brow raised as she stood behind Lucifer at the golden gates, watching from the clouds. “Humility is very kind. You could say hello,” she pressed.
“Does Humility have a name?” He asked curiously, continuing to watch as the clouds changed. “It seems so rude… just saying Humility.”
“I’ve only ever known Virtues by what they represent; that’s how they introduce themselves,” she said, shrugging. Lucifer hummed, nodding and continuing to keep his attention on the clouds. She gave him a nudge, “You could ask.”
“You must want me to leave.”
“I want you to stop longing like this.” Lucifer laughed. “Go on.” She gave him a gentle push, making him have to open his wings before he fell. “Just don’t come on too strong.”
“Right…” He took a deep breath, smoothing down his coat. “I can do that.”
#hazbin hotel x reader#hazbin hotel#lucifer morningstar#hazbin hotel heaven#lucifer hazbin hotel#lucifer angst#lucifer x reader#lucifer morningstar x reader#hazbin hotel lucifer#hazbin lucifer#lucifer x you#lucifer morningstar imagine#lucifer fluff#lucifer morningstar x you#lucifer magne#lucifer#lucifer morningstar hazbin hotel#hazbin hotel fanfiction#fluff#lucifer x reader angst#hazbin hotel angst#hazbin hotel fluff#angst#light angst
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I Was Only Supposed to Drop This Off: Attack of Kings Leviathan Prologue *Spoilers*
Let me just say. Leviathan is the devs favorite, he has to fucking be because this fucking prologue was wild, no build up, no fluff like with Beel where MC went on a cute little date.
NAH just side fucking swept in whatever the breeding kink this is omg („ಡωಡ„)
Btw this makes me think of that OM Levi thing I wrote about where he's going into rut on his birthday and he breeds you in his room when you're both supposed to be attending his surprise party (good shit)
Let's start off to catch you all up before I dive into this.
All the screenshots won't fit so:
Satan is pissed off because he owes Levi a favor and Levi specifically asked for MC to deliver the Anti-Pandora's Box (which I may add has some really cool lore behind it involving Satan) and he's so pissed about it that he's taking his anger out on everyone that comes across him. Even poor Leraye tried to soothe his majesty's anger by offering a teddy bear to rip up and Satan just fucking yeets his ass into the sky.
Satan is even like "I'm going to invade Hades...." like he's that pissed.
Sitri warns MC not to open the box, and also explains that Satan loves the box so much and that's why Satan is so angry.
*cough*that ain't why*cough*
So here's MC running in the palace and trying to deliver this damn box that everyone keeps telling them not to open and then after being like "Levi you can't say hello? Damn" in short of words......
Okay, so it's out of character for him to stare at MC like that it appears...
Me being like OH WHAT?
This is where MC and I differ, I because I'd just be confused on why he's stripping rn, like I'm just delivering a box-
Now see...this is where Levi would of had to choke me foreal because I would have told him to shove it up his ass don't tell me to shut up when I'm asking you a question
Oh.
OH
Oh f u c k.
I....I was lost for words when this popped up because like...
HIS DICK IS BIGGER THAN USUAL???? WH A TI S
No MC, you aren't weird I won't judge you but yeah uh phew....because I wish they'd show what it looks like and I swear if they show us what it looks like in the Erolabs version...I'm going to scream
Ooo a smell? Now I know this must mean he's definitely going through something at the moment since we're having smells, a larger than before penis, and buckets of precum dripping on the floor or whatever fluid that is.
W a it.
Levi....
LEVIIIIIII
MOTHER FUCKING LEVIATHAN JAMES LEONARD THE THOUSANDTH
I'm in fucking shambles right now
I can't handle the amount of fullness that's happening right now
H E LP
Let me get my drink and
I'm so serious rn there was so much fucking going on and this is just the prologue I can only fucking imagine MC is about to get bred pretty much the entire story from beginning to end
and I'm damn well sure that the true reason Satan was upset is possibly NOT the box, but because he knows this is the around the time Levi is going through that and the fact he asked MC to deliver the box was possibly an excuse and he didn't really need it to begin with.
And that's why he's pissed.
In my delulu SatanxLevi ship, he'd be mad because it's usually him that goes and helps Levi with that and he's always happy to help. He's mad that MC is chosen because A. He doesn't want to share MC B. That's a special time between him and Levi so he doesn't wanna share that either C. He's not being included period
I'm just gonna sit here and process this, have a snack, and recollect myself because I was thrown across the room and back with this prologue I can only imagine what the other stories are like.
#whb#what in hell is bad#whb leviathan#whb spoilers#like no prep no foreplay just-#this was wild#breeding time for mc#just...fuck me
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The Parents of the Friend group. |Part 1
Steve Harrington × reader
~the party already knows about yours and Steve's relationship and even before you and Steve got together, they made it pretty clear that Steve is the mom and you're the dad. Plain and simple
Warning: playfully bullying Steve, mentions of season 2, mentions of the upside down, reader pronouns she/her, y/n used a couple times
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With everything that the party member went through at a young age, you and Steve always cared and protected them with any chance y'all get. With that being said, Steve made it a monthly thing to have the kids (including Robin and Eddie) sleepover for at least a night just so they can enjoy themselves young and to also ease Steve's paranoia of not knowing when another type of monster will appear out of the blue. You didn't have a problem with the idea of course mostly since you loved the kids as if they were your own kids but it gets tiring after a while, mostly when it's in your own home.
Tossing and turning in bed while hearing loud chatters in the distance. Moving around to grab a hold of Steve and hopefully cuddle back to sleep but you feel the other side of the bed empty.
Is it the 24th already?
Groggily getting out of bed still half asleep and walking to the bathroom to freshen up and get ready for one hell of a day. After wearing something more appropriate and becoming wide awake, you mentally prepare yourself to walk out into the chaos. When you open the door, everything suddenly becomes clearer and louder. You see Erica and Dustin arguing about what channel to put on. Max and Robin are practically attacking Lucas for his poor taste in comics. Eddie, Mike, and Will try explaining d&d to El (who clearly is not interested). Then you see the main person that you wanted to spend your morning with, but they were clearly occupied and busy. Already heading to the kitchen to your lover to say good morning while giving a peck on the lips.
"Every month...every month, I don't even know why I'm surprised anymore" you say while looking at the hoard of people in the living room talking over each other. "I swear they're little geniuses but when it comes to being on time, they're rather late or too early and today is one of those days." Steve says while mixing a bowl of pancakes batter. "Remember you wanted this, so you can't fully blame them." You say while warming up a cup of coffee, "oh no no no, you can't partially blame me for this, don't act as if you didnt want them around either" Steve says while looking from the pancake batter then to you with a small smile. Okay maybe you also found comfort in having the kids around including Robin and Eddie, it feels more home warming but it's the mess they leave after. "Well...I'm not sure what I can say to that other than calling dibs to drop off the kids" you say frantically before leaving the kitchen and into the living room while hearing Steve trying to call you back in the kitchen.
Once you step in the living room, you weren't sure if you wanted to go back and continue the conversation that you just had with Steve or try to at least have the kids calm down and lower their voices. "Jesus I don't know how you deal with this nerd, all he does is shove facts down your throat!" Erica practically yells at you before walking away from Dustin who is hot on her tail. "Oh IM THE NERD, you practically have the whole pony lore merged in your girly little brain" Dustin yells back at Erica while also passing by you and saying a quiet good morning (which you say good morning back).
"okay well let's leave that to Steve.." you say under your breath before walking to the little closet room in yours and Steve's house to pull out blankets and more pillows already preparing for tonight and maybe for a game that will last till night out. "Hey!" Will said pretty loudly in your ear which had you flinching a little, "Oh my God, what happened, I thought you were with Eddie and Mike? Did you forget your toothbrush again? Or was it your underwear again? You know Steve doesn't really mind besides he barley knows." You ramble and ask multiple questions to Will and whispering the last part knowing that it happened once and he trusted in only telling you. "WHAT no I'm fine, everything's fine, I just wanted to help out a little you know since it's the least we can do" Will says in a soft tone. "Oh no it's okay honey... Well you know what, maybe a little help wouldn't hurt right?" You say hesitantly, knowing how Steve gets when the kids actually help around. He tends to take control but not in a mean way more of a 'just rest my child and I'll take care of you' typa way. "Okay I need you to carry this... And this, and hold this one for me please....oh can't forget Max's..." You say while stacking pillows and blankets in Will's arms which slowly starts piling up to the point that his face is no longer able to be seen.
"is that it?..." Will asks while trying to peep his head out a little just to see if there are any more blankets, "umm....no you know what that's about it, good job buddy" you say before patting Will's shoulder indicating that he should follow you. Both you and Will walk to the living room to find everyone gone then you hear a faint voice counting. "Okay that's 2,4,6,8....8?" Steve says after counting heads to make sure everyone was sat at the table ready to eat although with so much noise and talking going around he can't seem to know if he counted wrong. But just as Steve suspected, he did count wrong as 2 more people walked into the dining room. "Ah there you guys are, okay so that's 10 in total" Steve says with a relief but his cheery tone went away as he saw Will's bottom half since the other half was covered with piles of blankets and pillows. "Babe we talked about this, if you need help call me, now look what you have done to the boy, I can't even see him" Steve says dramatically. You let out a sigh as you take the pillows and blankets from Will and told him to sit down and eat, "it's fine babe he offered and I took it, it's not gonna hurt him. And besides you seemed a little busy so I didn't want to disturb you." You say trying to calm a dramatic Steve down since you always are the one to just take things with a flow while Steve is the one to control the flow.
"I'm not gonna tell you again, if you ever need help just call me over and I'll be there, okay?" Steve says while looking down at you waiting for a response, "sure." You say just to please Steve, "good, now sit down and eat before it gets cold" Steve says with a more cheery tone as he presses a kiss on your lips.
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"UNOOO!!" Eddie exclaims very loudly which caused the kids to groan since they know that Eddie's cheating but they just can't prove it. Everyone was currently sitting on the floor around the little coffee table in the middle of the living room. Everyone decided to play uno after a long argument on how we should play it due to Dustin being competitive and wanting a specific way to play like whether or not we can jump in or pair up with someone. Everyone told him that we're just gonna play uno for the fun of it with no arguments and no competition, which never happened. Steve and you ended up teaming up and showing each other y'all's cards, Erica started becoming aggressive towards Lucas who kept +4 her. "Is there a problem between you and me cause last time I checked, we're blood related and BLOOD RELATED PEOPLE DONT BETRAY EACHOTHER!" Erica screams in Lucas's face while Lucas laughs at her overreacting. "Woah okay Erica calm down, here take my +4 and you'll get him next time when we reverse." Steve says to Erica while passing the card across the table to Erica who simply denied it and said that she didn't want his pity. "Let her fuss it out babe, she'll get over it" you say while laughing a little since you were Erica's babysitter at some point of time, so you knew how long Erica's little tantrums would last.
As the game ended with Robin somehow winning and multiple arguments breaking out. We all went out separate ways as it was almost time for dinner. You and Steve both walk into the kitchen just to finally enjoy y'all's personal time (even though y'all live together). With you deciding that you don't wanna cook, and Steve not knowing what to cook, you both agreed to order Chinese food. It was cheap and the most agreeable among the party members. Pizza was always complicated for the party, Lucas liked olives while Robin was allergic, and El liked pineapple on hers which Eddie completely despised to be in sight of pineapple pizza. Everyone had their own pizza preference that was just too much to order all together but Chinese food is what got everyone to enjoy (although you weren't a fan of Chinese food but you'll eat it for the kids).
Steve finished the order for Chinese food that we will soon have to pick up but in the mean time it was just you and Steve. Steve and you. Both embracing and enjoying each other's company even when yall aren't doing anything but it just felt so comfortable and loving. You sat on the counter with your feet dangling and Steve between your thighs while looking up at you and admiring you as if you were an angel. "You ever think about having kids" Steve asks with a foolish grin across his face, "woah, a very unexpected question at the moment" you say giggling but slowly stopped when you saw Steve still waiting for an answer, "I don't know, maybe,...actually yeah but as long as it's your kids" you say also with a foolish grin which made Steve blush "you know I actually want 6 kids, I don't remember telling you that" Steve says looking deep in your eyes, "oh trust me I remember you specifically telling me how many and what their names would be" you exclaim while rolling your eyes playfully since you have indeed heard multiple times and it's not like your complaining, infact you loved the idea of Steve also seeing his future with you and you guys are only 20 years old. "Let's get married" Steve says with a straight face and you let out a laugh but stop and clear your throat when Steve still looks at you with a straight face, "you're serious? Okay umm listen Steve I love you, I really do and I don't even want to imagine a life without you but we're 20 and we both work at a minimum wage job that barley pays for rent." You say rambling a little, "but trust me when I tell you this, I wanna get married with you so bad and specifically only you but just not right now or at least where we're at right now" you try to say with a little bit of a cheery voice so you don't totally break Steve's heart, "I promise" you say while holding out your pinky Infront of Steve's pouty face, "okay but is it okay if we have kids before we get married?" Steve asks before he even locks both of y'all's pinkies together "whatever makes you happy babe" you tell Steve with a toothy grin knowing that it would cheer Steve up, he then locks both of y'all's pinkies together and gives you a very passionate kiss that caused you to let out a little giggle in the middle of it.
"oh dude, I thought Robin said no public pda" Mike exclaims with a face of disgust before walking and purposely bumping into Steve's back to get a cold water bottle from the fridge. "Dude we're trying our best to keep it private", Steve says in a very judging tone, "you know Mike, me and Steve have seen you and El kiss but you don't see us making a big scene, have you tried growing up a little?" You say to Mike cause this isn't the first time that you and Mike have had this conversation about pda. "if it requires me growing up and becoming anything like y'all, I'd rather stay young and immature" Mike says before walking off but not before steve tells him to watch his tone. "I'm pretty sure he just called us old in so many different ways" you say to Steve, "he just doesn't get it cause he doesn't know what REAL love is, all he knows is young love....and I'm not old, trust I'm never gonna look old either" Steve says before fixing his hair with a pouty face which you laugh at cause you know how dramatic Steve gets when it comes to his age and specifically his looks.
"oh stop whining, we all know that you're gonna get grey hairs by soon mostly with all the stress the kids keep giving you" Robin suddenly comes in the kitchen startling you both just a little. "Okay first of all shut up and don't jinx it, and second who was talking to you?" Steve says in a very sassy tone since his hair is "his best feature" so God forbid anything happens to it. You let out a breathy laugh as Robin kept adding more gas into the fire. "Oh what's so funny huh, you do know you're gonna end up with grey hairs too so we'll both look 50 in our 30s" Steve says which causes you to stop laughing and before you can say anything Robin practically speaks for you, "uh no she won't, cause the kids are scared of her so they always act right around her but with you Steve, oh boy do they give you hell. In fact I'm pretty sure they only listen to y/n" Robin says with a small smirk on her lips. "Oh that's so not true!" Steve says raising his voice a little to state that he completely disagrees with Robin, "yea it is, remember at Byers house during fall, when you know the whole incident happened." You say trying to get Steve to recall what exactly happened that night, "yea what about it?" Steve says still not remembering how that night has anything to do with what they were walking about.
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Fall night 1984:
You and Steve were trusted to take care of the kids. It wasn't anything new to you when it came to having full responsibility of the kids. It practically came as a free side job for you since you protected the kids without any questions asked or needed. For Steve on the other hand, his first time taking care of 5 kids at once and he felt like there was so much responsibility in his hands. He just felt the need to take full control due to the fear of not being able to know what the kids are doing 24/7 at the moment.
With Mike and Lucas arguing about Mike panicking and Dustin having Steve shove a demo-dog in ms.byers fridge it all felt hectic to you but nothing that you couldn't handle. The only calm one that was there was max due to it being her first rodeo and completely confused about the whole situation. Suddenly all the kids start making up a plan on how to help El and everyone else that's heading towards the lab that's filled with deadly creatures. While hearing this plan Steve completely shuts it down. "Yea and then we all die" Steve says making it clear that he totally disapproves of their idea, "well that's one point of view" you say in a sarcastic way, "no y/n that's not one point of view, that's a fact" Steve says with an attitude mostly since you're the other adult that's supposed to help him out but isn't even backing him up. You then raise your hands in surrender and give Steve a mocking face before going back to sweeping up glass with max. Mike then walks off with everyone following right behind him, you and Max decide to forget about the glass pieces since there're definitely way more important things to focus on.
With Mike making a master plan of setting up the underground base on fire and having Dustin,max, and Lucas add onto the idea Steve finally attempts to put his foot down. "We're staying here, ON THE BENCH, and we're waiting for the starting team to do their job, does everybody understand that" Steve says in a demanding tone, "THIS ISN'T A STUPID SPORTS GAME?!" Mike complains to Steve but Steve still stood his ground "I said does everybody understand that, I need a yes.." Steve says pointing his fingers at the kids waiting for a response. "We don't need to listen to you" Mike says still annoyed at Steve, "okay you know what, that's enough...y/n control your kids" steve finally starts talking to you but all you did was respond with crossing your arms and shrugging your shoulders as a sign that there's really not much to say. "Oh seriously you're in on this too!?" Steve exclaims in a flabbergasted tone, "I don't know what to say Steve, it sounds like a really good plan". "Yea a good plan to get us killed". "We're not gonna die okay they know what they're doing!". "Yes imma let a bunch of kids guide me into saving the world, yea sure why not jump off a cliff while I'm at it!",
you and Steve bicker back and forth till you finally give in just to calm Steve down and to get him to shut up, "alright kids you heard him, this plan just might get us killed, steve and only steve thinks its best for us to stay put here" you say in a very rude tone to show that you also dont approved of steves idea, "but-" lucas wanted to say something but went completely quiet when you gave him a look to not talk back "we understand". "fine". "Sure". "Whatever" was the only response you got from the kids as they all got up from the floor but completely halted in their steps when they heard a very loud engine outside...
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"okay that doesn't even count, they kids were getting used to me at that time so they just don't understand how scary I can get, they listen to me. I know they do it's just y'all aren't around or y'all don't remember" Steve says still trying to defend himself which causes you and Robin to laugh at Steve's attempt. "You're right that's one of the many times that the kids listened to y/n but if you want I can go on and on and on" Robin says trying to rile Steve up and laughing through her sentence, "okay you know what I think it's time for us to pick up the food" Steve says before walking into the living room filled with many people that just seem to be in their own world, "alright who wants to come with me and get the food?.." steve says loud enough for then to hear but there still was no response given to him, you weren't even sure if they heard him. "HEY! Who wants to go with Steve and pick up the food!?" You say loudly which caused everyone's attention on you and still no response but instead everyone is looking at each other to see who's willing to volunteer and go with Steve, "no one? Okay... Dustin go with Steve" you say short and simple which caused Dustin to let out a dramatic groan, "why do I gotta go, make Mike go or max go" Dustin whines to you, "no complaints now get up and get the food. NOW!?" you reply to Dustin's complaints and say the last part loudly since you didn't see him move until you raised your voice.
You then walked up to Steve giving him a pat on the shoulder and a kiss on the cheek before walking to the bathroom. Everyone goes back to their own world again and Steve still is a little mad at the fact that the kids do only listen to you and never Steve.
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Everyone's back at the dining table and there is not a single moment that's silent. Everything is everywhere. Things being passed around in front of everyone, people calling other people's attention from across the table and loud laughter filling the air. It didn't bother you at all, okay maybe a little but you also don't know how else you would prefer the kids to be.
You suddenly snap out of your little thoughts when max mentions your name. "Y/n literally wears the pants of the relationship" max tells Steve, who is still flabbergasted at the fact that the kids listen to only you, "no she doesn't, I think that me and her both are equal in our relationship, right babe" Steve then turns to you asking for your input and opinion, "max we're equal there's no one that wears the pants okay...but I do have to take the lead sometimes" you say the last part quietly but not quite enough for Steve to not hear. "Okay first of all you don't take the lead ALL the time and I wouldn't even put it as you taking the lead, more like you knowing what's better" Steve says defending himself, "oh so she does take the lead I knew it" Eddie then chimes in the conversation out of nowhere, "no she doesn't are you guys even listening to what I'm saying?!" Steve says in a frantic way since he feels as if he's being attacked.
"Wait you're telling me that throughout all the shit we've been through, y/n has always been the decision maker?!" Eddie says in a shocked tone from connecting dots in his mind, "what no of course I make decisions too, you guys act as if I don't do anything!?" Steve raises his voice slightly which causes max and Eddie to laugh out loudly which also causes everyone else's conversation to cut off and wanting to know what's so funny. "We didn't say you don't do anything, we're just saying that you mostly listen to y/n. It honestly seems as if she wears the pants in the relationship" Eddie says while still laughing, this causes others who have been listening to laugh too. "I think we all made it clear that y/n wears the pants, I mean like look at them" max says while gesturing her hands toward me and Steve which causes us to look at each other up and down.
"It's like Steve is the mom and y/n is the dad can we all make that clear" Robin says and everyone else agrees with a small response. "Wait what?" You say a little confused on how the subject can change fast but not the topic which was y'all two, you and Steve being the target and center of the conversation. "Yea I mean you guys are like an old married couple that love each other, I think that's pretty obvious right?" Lucas says that also has everyone else agreeing with him. "Steve is so strict and paranoid like a mom and y/n is so chill and a floater like a dad." Mike adds to Lucas's statement that causes Erica to butt in, "Steve yells at me for not taking my shoes off when I walk in, y/n doesn't even bat an eye about it" Erica's comment left Steve flabbergasted. This had Steve more aware of how motherly he's been acting through the past years. "So I'm the lame, no fun boring mom while y/n is the cool fun dad?!?" Steve asks as if clarification to make sure that what they're saying to him is correct. "Pretty much". "Yea honestly". "if the show fits". "Yea" was the response Steve gets from the kids, "that's so not true I can be fun. Matter in fact I'm totally fun it's just not with y'all. I'm so fun that you guys wouldn't be able to handle me." Steve rants about how fun he is just to prove that he's not a boring mom but that doesn't seem to get to the kids, "that's exactly what a mom would say" Dustin then says to stop Steve from going on and on about "how fun he is", and this time it left Steve silent, infact it left the whole table silent waiting to see what else Steve has left to say but clearly he had nothing.
The silence caused you to let out a little snort of laughter which caused everyone to look at you. Seeing Steve get terrorized by a bunch of kids was too funny to hold in that Steve himself laughed. With you and Steve laughing this caused everyone else to laugh along. Everyone then went back to their regular conversation as if nothing happened.
You then looked at Steve with a cocky grin, "I'm their favorite parent" you say while smirking at him, "don't start" Steve says while rolling his eyes playfully and chuckling.
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With everything that has happened in the last 15 hours, the party members calmly agreed to end the day off with a movie. Robin, max, Erica, and El had the couch while everyone else had the floor. The girls wanted you to be on the couch with them but you wanted to end the day with you being in Steve's arms. "Okay everyone brushed their teeth?" Steve asks before he gets himself comfortable and sitting on the floor next to you, "yes MOM" Will says in a joking way which caused Steve to let out a huff then laugh a little. "Come on guys leave him alone, lord knows how many grey hairs you're going to give him by 30" you say in a teasing tone that caused everyone to laugh. "Oooo you're lucky I love you" Steve says after turning off all the light and putting the movie on and laying next to you.
The movie goes on for a while until everyone is out cold. All the junk they ate today completely drained them out. "You know I don't mind being the mom anymore" Steve says all of a sudden, "really? Why's that?" You say a little curious about the sudden change of opinion, "it lets me know that the kids know that I care for them even if it means I'm not fun." Steve says in a low voice trying not to wake everyone up, "I think they already know that you care for them. They just say that to get a rise out of you", you say letting out a breathy laugh that you covered with your mouth. "At least they aren't scared of me" Steve says trying to make himself feel better, "well at least they think I'm fun" you reply back in an instant to Steve's remark. "At least we're viewed as their parents" Steve says looking into your eyes with a boyish grin. "You know what, you're right, at least they look up to us" you reply back to Steve before leaning in to kiss him which Steve kissed back in an instant.
"WHY IS IT ALWAYS ME?!?!" Mike exclaims in a loud tone since he just caught you and Steve making out AGAIN.
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Pls don't be a silent reader and I hope u enjoyed
#steve harrington x reader#joe keery x reader#stranger things x reader#stranger things#steve harrington imagine#lucas sinclair#max mayfield#robin buckley#mike wheeler#will byers#dustin henderson#eleven hopper#eddie munson#mom and dad#cute couple
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No, cause if you think about it, Kaeya never appears without purpose and intent. You might be like “duh that’s what every character is” but think about Childe, or Jean, Barbara, collei, the list goes on. They always appear with fun, happy reasons behind it, but not Kaeya.
He’s not the only character- Albedo shares this as well with how he mostly only appears to drop some lore bombs about khaenriah and gold and then disappears for another year, but it’s still different for Kaeya. He appears during events not only to give us lore, but always, without fail, to reveal something about himself.
Proof? Okay, the 1.4 windblume festival. Kaeya does a silly little poem class with Venti- surprise, he’s threatening him with a Khaenri’ahn message that says “I will triumph over you” and even when you debunk that, you can still see how Barbatos treats him as his own despite whatever stipulations about his heritage there are. 1.6 midsummer islands- Kaeya and diluc both reminisce their childhood, and it’s the first reveal that shows us just how close they really were. After that, he disappears for while, until boom- hidden strife in 2.8, where we find out the real details of his fight with diluc and how they grew apart- but it’s hinted they still care for each other. It also tells us a little about Kaeya’s lore and family, how they took over as regents, which adds to the real gravity of their fight- telling us he’s not just a poor kid from khaenriah, he’s the last real heir to the throne. After that, winelesefest, where it shows us how Kaeya and Diluc are right now, how theyre obviously missing each other and it’s very obvious that they care for each other deeply. That kinda ties up the whole ragbros story for now, and after that it becomes serious.
He appears again in the Caribert quest for us to find out he’s the heir of the organization of vengeful Khaenri’ahns turned monsters who want to take down the gods. He claims to not be affiliated with them in any way- but it leaves the question in everyone’s minds, “what else is he hiding from us?”
Now, he’s recently appeared once again for the 3.8 summer festival, and it looks really innocent and fun and just another way of showing us how kind he really is, until you realize that Kaeya’s outfit from this version describes how much he really hates the burden on his shoulders and how he wishes he was never forced to be an agent of khaenriah.
If you ask me, we’re past the point of just getting to know Kaeya and who he is on a personality basis, and are now getting into the real gravity of his identity as the last hope of the Khaenri’ahn kingdom. It’s really building up how important he’s going to be to the endgame of the whole archon quest storyline and how much of a key role he will actually play. Man I’m so hyped!!
#hahah what a rant#kaeya#kaeya and diluc#diluc and Kaeya#gi kaeya#genshin kaeya#genshin impact#ragbros#khaenri'ah#genshin lore
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Crossroads Deal | Dean Winchester
Pairing: Dean Winchester x Hunter Fem!Reader
Request: No. From my Wattpad account.
Synopsis: Dean reminisces about the woman he loved and lost.
Warnings: Death, demons, crossroads deal, burning a body. Pure angst. I love angst. Italics are flashbacks. E/C - eye colour.
Word Count: 2,850
Main Masterlist
As Dean looks at the body lying a few feet away from him covered in a hotel bedsheet that is stained in her blood, he thinks back to the day he met Y/N, the person who changed everything for him.
"Who are you?" Y/N growls at the two intruders while pointing her gun at them with the safety off and her finger ready to press the trigger if necessary.
The taller one responds, hands up in surrender and a hint of fear in his eyes, "Bobby called us and told us that you need some help."
"That doesn't answer my question!" She growls once more, this time visibly more agitated than before. "Who are you?"
"I'm Sam. This is my brother Dean. " The tall one speaks again, introducing them, while the shorter one remains silent.
"Winchester?" She asks, lowering her gun slightly and scanning each of the men while keeping her eyes narrowed and her guard up. The best hunters were always on high alert and didn't trust anyone unless they had proven to be trustworthy. It was a risky move if you weren't cautious of everyone you came across.
"Yeah," Dean says, dropping his arms as she appears to relax a little.
"Bobby sent you?" she asks making sure,
Both of the men nod their heads.
"Would you please lower that completely? I don't feel like being shot by some girl today," Dean sneers, annoyed.
Lowering her gun, she puts the safety back on and places it back on the table, glaring at him. She resumes what she had been doing before she was rudely interrupted by them while showing and explaining to them all the evidence and theories she's already come up with..
Dean looked and listened to her attentively. As she recounted everything and displayed all the evidence she had gathered, he observed her rigidity in posture, her icy tone of voice, and lack of eye contact. Although he understood that she didn't know them and that he never expected her to welcome them with open arms, this seemed different. Her being standoffish seemed to go a bit farther than workplace professionalism.
It didn't help that this case seems to be a particularly difficult one, with a werewolf and a vampire collaborating to create some kind of hybrid. Being the seasoned hunters that they are, Y/N and the Winchesters believed they had seen everything before this case. Vampires and werewolves were known enemies in every lore book ever written. It didn't make sense to them that they would suddenly start working together.
Of course, there was a lot of arguing between her and the oldest Winchester, someone being used as bait, and their scheme going sideways, which was nothing new for the Winchester brothers. The three hunters barely made it out alive after suffering various injuries.
Y/N was grateful for the help Bobby and the Winchester's provided no matter how hurt she got, knowing that if she continued to pursue the case alone, she'd be in hell much sooner than intended. Crossroads would be overjoyed by that.
After they returned to the hotel room, Dean, who had the least injuries, bandaged himself before assisting Sam and Y/N. He was wrapping Y/N's lower arm when he notices she has a distant look in her eyes.
"What are you thinking about?" He asks her, making sure the bandage wasn't too tight or loose.
"Just contemplating the fact that there are already enough monsters in the world and that we don't need any more. However, here we are, with monsters creating new monsters," She exhales. "How crazy is that?"
Dean finishes applying the bandage and remarks, "If this job has taught me anything, it's that there's far more out there than we realize."
"And that something will always surprise us even if we know to always prepare for the unexpected," she adds .
"Exactly," he says, agreeing with her. "Are you sure you're going to be okay on your own?"
"I gotten this far, haven't I?" She smiles at his sincere concern for her. Her ice-cold attitude toward them has somewhat thawed over the course of the five days they've worked together. She was able to say that she trusted the brothers to have her back, and she's proven to them that they could rely on her to have their backs as well.
"I now have your phone numbers, so if I need to, I'll contact you after I call Bobby."
He rolls his eyes, "So pleased to hear that I'm second on your list of people to call."
With a tiny smile lingering on her lips, she says, "Actually you're third."
He puts his hand over his heart while seeming to stare at her pretending to be offended. "You hurt me. Really, you'd call Sam before me?"
"He argues less," She chuckles.
"You wait till you're always around him," he says as he cleans up the leftover medical supplies. "But honestly, you'll call us if you need us, right?"
Y/N nods in agreement knowing that it's what he wants to hear. "It would be best if you never saw me again. I don't want you to become attached to me."
Dean first believed she was joking, but he was mistaken since exactly that is what happened. He became attached to her, falling in love with her hard and fast. Within a month of their initial encounter, they ran into one other twice more before agreeing to stick together. But it wasn't just Dean who got attached to the former solo hunter. Like his older brother, Sam had also fallen in love with her, but in a very different way. Y/N was the sister the younger Winchester never had. They bickered like siblings, got along like siblings, mocked one another, and stood up for one another exactly like brother and sister. When they discovered her big secret, both brothers struggled with it. Dean, of course, took it the hardest.
While working on the demon case they're currently working on, Bobby unintentionally revealed that her time was running out far too quickly for his liking.
In disbelief, Sam exited the room with Bobby, leaving Dean and Y/N to talk. Although Y/N's revelation had upset him, he was aware that Dean was hurting more. Sam had witnessed first hand how quickly Dean and Y/N had fallen in love with each other.
"Were you ever going to tell us?" Dean asks, leaning against the kitchen wall as she sits at Bobby's kitchen table. He's upset and angry. "Were you ever going to tell me?"
She nods despite knowing that nothing she says would help her. "Of course I was. I didn't know how."
To her, Sam was like a younger brother. Being an only child raised by a single mother, she never had siblings. She enjoys how it feels to have a younger brother.
But Dean is different. So, so, so very different. They constantly draw each other in. Neither of them felt the same way about anybody else. And despite her best efforts to stay away from him, she constantly found herself near him, whether they were sharing a drink at a bar, comforting each other after a nightmare, preparing for the next hunt, or helping him with Baby.
"'I made a deal with a demon and I have less than a year to live' would be a pretty good start," he glares at her, the anger and despair visible in his voice and green eyes. "What did you think will happen? That you'll be gone in 6 months and we'll… I'll forget about you? That's not going to happen!"
She repeats what she said when they first met, "I told you not to get attached."
"It's too late for that," he confesses. "I'm attached, Sweetheart."
It's silent for a few minutes as they both try to gather their thoughts while suppressing their tears and emotions.
"I'm going to get you out of this." Dean says as he breaks the heavy silence that had fallen over them. "We'll figure it out. It's what we do. If not, we'll figure out a way to pull you back out."
He walks up to the books that are scattered on the table and looks through them as though he's looking for information. But all he says is blurred lines and fuzzy pictures, his eyes unable to focus as the flood with tears.
Dean," she calls out in an effort to grab his attention as she stands up and approaches him. "Hey," she says as she removes the book he's clutching from his grasp and lays it back on the table. "There is no coming back from this, Dean. I am beyond redemption. The contract is unbreakable. They will not let me go, not for anyone."
"You're not even willing to try?" He asks, feeling defeated, though he is not about to give up as quickly as she is.
"All I want to do is make the most of the time I have left. Hunters do not have a lengthy life span. It's rare, and you know it," She informs him, a slight frown on her face.
"I'm not going to let you die," he says firmly, the defeat he was feeling replaced by determination.
"You have to," she replies regretfully. The day she met Dean Winchester was the day she knew she made a mistake making that deal.
Before anything further is spoken, he exits the room saying, "No, I don't."
After that, a lot of things changed between them. It had become tense, Dean and Y/N were distancing themselves from each other, they were both more short-tempered than usual and snapped at each other as if they were a couple going through a bad divorce . Before she met Dean, Y/N had accepted her fate, but the brothers and Bobby wouldn't listen to her, and they did everything in their power to free her from the terms of her crossroads deal. Dean went as far as summoning the demon at a crossroads.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Behind Dean, who is glaring at the demon in front of him, Y/N's angry voice can be heard.
Dean shouts back, "Unlike you, I'm trying to save your ass."
"Dean, listen to her; nothing can be done. Your little girlfriend will spend all of eternity in hell," The crossroads demon says taunting the hunter as she grins at him triumphantly.
"That's crap!," he yells, his gaze fixed on the demon as the crunch of gravel under Y/N's footsteps gets louder as she approaches them.
The demon quips, "Really, it's ironic. You finally meet the woman you would give it all up for and she-"
"Stop talking!" He growls at her, stopping whatever tirade she was about to deliver.
"You two could have had a beautiful future together. Marriage, normal jobs, a beautiful home with mini Winchesters roaming around the backyard oblivious to this life that you once lived," the demon continues to taunt the couple. "If only you had met her before she made the deal."
"Would you shut up?" Y/N yells at the demon this time. She turns to face Dean with a guilty look on her face as opposed to his eyes, which were full with rage and determination. "We have to leave."
"We're not leaving until she destroy's your contract," he frowns at her.
"Even if I really wanted to, I can't do it." The devil says, drawing both of their gazes to her. "Lucifer's orders."
"You can't save everyone, Dean, and that includes me." Y/N says, forcing him to look at her again.
"Why are you giving up so easily?"
"Believe me, I'm not. Bobby and I have both tried, as have you and Sam. I'm not getting out of this." She says as tears begin to form in her eyes.
"She's right," The demon agrees. "Just tell her you love her, and make the last four months of her life unforgettable. She'll need something to cling to while she's down there."
Before storming back to the impala, Dean glares first at Y/N, then at the demon, and then back at Y/N.
Y/N goes to chase after him, only to be stopped as the demon begins speaking again. "In your contract, I can make one adjustment. I used to be human, and I was in a situation extremely similar to yours right now. When the hounds come for you, once you're gone since there's no stopping them, I'll allow your soul five minutes to say your final goodbyes before personally dragging you back to hell myself."
Dean is scowling as she looks in his direction. He can hear everything that is being said.
"Why the sudden bleeding heart?" She inquires returning her attention to the demon.
"Like I said, I was once human," With that, the crossroads demon vanishes.
Y/N approaches Dean and, without wasting any time, pulls him into a kiss, reminding him of her love for him.
They didn't go back to Bobby's house that night, where Sam and Bobby were waiting for them. Instead, they traveled to a secluded meadow where she often went to spend some time alone when she was a teenager. They spent the night together in the impala talking, kissing, making love and eventually falling asleep.
After that evening, everything changed once again. The couple became inseparable once again. No one mentioned her crossroads deal and went about life as they normally did. Things seemed better, though their situation continued to weigh heavily on their minds and hearts. Dean promised to make the following four months the best of her life. And he did.
They got married while working on a case in Las Vegas, and during their downtime, he took her to the places she always wanted to see and always found ways to show and remind her how much he loves and appreciates her. He also never disclosed to her his ongoing efforts to find a way to save her.
He is brought back to reality as he feels fingers entwine with his own. She appears as a ghostly figure as he looks up from his shoes, her torso covered in blood, her complexion a ghastly shade of grey, and her usually vibrant eyes now a dull E/C. Her ghostly form still wears her wedding ring and the necklace he got her on her last birthday. He is tormented with guilt knowing he could have done more for her.
"It's going to be okay," she says, causing him to shake his head and avoid looking at her.
She lets go of his hand and cups his face. Standing on her tiptoes, she draws him into a kiss that spoke more than any words could in this moment. It spoke of the love they shared. An unexpected love. A love driven by passion, irreplaceable memories, and hope for the future. A once in a lifetime kind of love.
The kiss doesn't last long before Y/N breaks it, keeping their faces close and savoring their final moments together.
"It's time," she says softly. "You know what to do."
He wants to refuse, unable to let her go just yet. He couldn't drag her out of hell, and there was no angel who was willing to do it for him. Both demons and angels claim that this is her fate and that it was supposed to be this way.
Her cool lips make contact with his warm skin as she kisses his cheek, sending a chill through him. But that shiver paled in comparison to the chill he experienced as she began to fade away as he pulled the matchbook from his pocket and lit it.
"I love you," he whispers.
"I love you too," he hears her say before tossing the matchbook onto the body of the woman who abruptly and unexpectedly stole his heart.
As the body bursts into flames, he collapses to his knees in exhaustion and grief, his eyes never leaving her body as memories flash through her mind.
Y/N in the front passenger seat of the impala singing Bon Jovi's Livin' on a Prayer at the top of her voice while he drives them back to Bobby's after a case.
Her smearing ice cream all over his face when he started a food fight with her in Bobby's kitchen.
Them showering together after a hunt that had them covered in blood, mud and god knows what else.
Laying together naked in bed, her asleep curled against him as he watches her, soaking her all in and making sure he doesn't forget a single detail about her.
Them stargazing.
Her playful bantering with Sam.
Her getting excited about going to a beach.
Her smile.
Her eyes.
Her laugh.
Her tears.
Her voice.
Her heart.
After what feels like hours, he stands up when he hears footsteps behind him. He doesn't have to look to know it's Sam and Bobby as the two men stand on either side of him, none of them speaking a word as they grieved for the woman that had touched their lives in different ways.
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Ok ok ok ok listen. Because I have anxiety I feel it's my duty to say that this show won't be for everyone. I came to it over quarantine because my husband suggested we read Bernard Cornwell's series together, and I agreed because I liked Hornblower and knew this was the army equivalent and, let's face it, I wanted to see scruffy mid-thirties Sean Bean in uniform.
THE PREMISE:
Richard Sharpe is a lowborn rank-and-file soldier in the 95th Rifles during the Napoleonic Wars who is raised to an officer after saving Sir Arthur Wellesley's life (this all happens differently in the books, but the basic event is the same). Throughout the series, he rises in the ranks thanks to his bravery and heroism/recklessness, but he's always caught between two worlds--trying to be a leader of common men while never being accepted by the rest of the highborn officers.
Let's start with the bad:
CONS:
Look, this is a 90s drama glorifying the British army. So like, there are gonna be issues. Women are mostly romantic side pieces to be wooed and rescued, and there are plenty of subplots, verbiage, and stereotypes that didn't age well. Production values are low for the first few and so you've got battle scenes with like fifteen guys and a horse, which honestly I find endearing. But no episode is more cringey than Sharpe's Gold. Due to legal issues, the script had to be rewritten with none of the original material, and it turned into this bizarro semi-supernatural horror involving Aztec gold (in Spain, yes). It's completely different from all the other episodes, and even Sean Bean didn't like it (he called it a "mish mash," which is true). It's such a weird piece of work that we almost stopped watching the show, but we continued, and we were relieved to find that the rest of the series is markedly better. History Hack podcast does a great dive into why this episode was so whack.
PROS:
I MEAN COME ON
Sean really understood this character--absolute chaos on the battlefield and shy and awkward pretty much everywhere else. He's amazing in battle scenes and he's EPIC at acting wounded. But the scenes I replay over and over are when he's socially out of his depth and gets flustered and sputtery and so Sheffield the captions can't handle it.
Supporting cast:
You'll find a lot of your classic British TV favorites making appearances throughout this series, and the camaraderie among the riflemen is always fun. Obviously this is a dude fest, as stated above, but some of the women are also written and acted really, really well--- Assumpta Serna as Teresa is that winning combination of a love interest/action heroine who doesn't devolve into a damsel in distress, and even passes the Bechdel test on a few occasions. And Diana Perez as Ramona is so badass and enjoyable.
Locations: Aside from a few interior sets, these films are mostly shot outside on location, with practical effects and stunts. There's some gorgeous scenery of the Crimean peninsula standing in for Spain and Portugal, and it's just really fun watching these guys run around rocky escarpments and fields with flares and stage explosives going off around them.
Music: I saw someone tag the opening theme as "electric guitar jumpscare" and they're not wrong. It's wonderfully anachronistic and totally 90s and you'll never get used to it. But far better are the soldiers' songs John Tams threads throughout, as well as his and Muldowney's thematic scores, and you will always, always finish an episode with him singing "Over the Hills and Far Away" stuck in your head.
Filming Lore: There was a LOT that happened during filming. Everything from Paul McGann having to drop out as the lead to misadventures in filming in Crimea just after the collapse of the Soviet Union. History Hack podcast has an awesome series of "filming of" episodes with input from cast, crew, and historians, and Jason Salkey (Rifleman Harris) has a book called "From Crimea With Love" that details the batshit filming adventures. I haven't read it but he references it every six minutes throughout the podcasts.
So: you've been warned, you've been primed. Start with Sharpe's Rifles; it's on Youtube. Watch it and Eagle, maybe jump to Battle or Siege if you're not sure, and then make up your mind.
If this all sounds enjoyable to you, but you wish there were more tall ships, more Paul McGann, more heroic brooding, and even MORE true love cosplaying as masculine camaraderie, you're in luck! Because you should also watch Hornblower!
And then draw fan art of it all! Please,,, I am so lon el y
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CONGRATS FOR THE 500 FOLLOWERS! 💫💫 can i request letters A, B, O, P, Q, S and Y of the sfw list for Malleus and Vil? But in a platonic way, as friendship, if you can<3
🍓I've had this one sitting in my inbox for a while because I've just not been in the mood to write for Malleus. He's a special flavor of autistic that I can only write when the inspiration strikes lol.
Malleus
A - Affection: Malleus is VERY affectionate! He's been loved on a lot by Lilia, so I wouldn't say he's touch-starved, but he does act like he is. He always wants to be holding you in some way, and if you are in his vicinity he will come and find you just to be near you. Always greets you with a hug and a kiss, regardless of who is around or where you're at. Worst of all, he gets pouty and throws a Malleus brand temper tantrum if you deny him any affection.
B - Best Friend: It's really weird to be best friends with Malleus. You sorta found him somewhere on accident, spoke with him, and gained yourself a dragon. You don't ever see him in any place that is conventional or normal, and you rarely actually "hang out" with him. When you do see him, though, he's prone to have these really deep interesting conversations with you and then disappear. Quite freaky.
O - Open: It doesn't occur to Malleus that, maybe, he doesn't need to tell you his whole life story at random times of the day. I mean, seriously, you guys will be doing something like study, and then he'll drop that fattest lore bomb known to man and leave you speechless.
P - Patience: Not very. In fact, most things that would piss other people off just tend to make him laugh. He's essentially a god amongst men with an ego to match, and that ego is anything BUT fragile. It's hard to make him mad. You can upset him and make him out, but anger is rare and SCARY.
Q - Quizzes: He's both really good and very bad. Malleus both has some much going on in his head and absolutely nothing. He remembers important dates, and all of your favorite things, but when it comes to like pulling through on important stuff? He sucks! He forgets! He feels so bad after too, like on his knees begging for forgiveness. Then, at the same time, he'll remember something really obscure that you mentioned in passing and it makes you wonder how the hell his mind works.
S - Security: Oh, Malleus is the MOST protective out of anyone in the twst cast. He's a dragon, after all, and they're mostly known for protecting things. You are his most prized and adored treasure, and he protects you as such. I'm talking like, he's always by your side, always watching you, always ready to jump at the chance to show you how amazing and powerful he is. Now, he never gets the chance because who in their right mind would ever upset THE Malleus Draconia, but he still keeps hoping.
Y - Yuck: He hates it when his title is held over his head. He wants friends and connections and love, but his crown gets in the way. If you ever try to use him for his power that would be an instant no from him, especially if he thought you loved him for more than just his position.
Vil
A - Affection: Vil is like... moderately affectionate. Now, he's not exactly the sweetest person. Vil is all about appearances, and hanging off in public doesn't exactly look good. In private, though? He's making up for the missed affection tenfold. Now he's not a huge cuddler, but he is a kisser. And kiss you he does, everywhere. He's so pleased with the bright red lipstick marks all over your face. On top of that, he pampers you like a princess. Massages, face masks, sweets and tea. Only the best for his darling.
B - Best Friend: Vil just decides that you're friends, and then you're stuck with him. It's really not bad though! He's quite a gossip, so you hear all the latest drama around the halls of NRC. You get free makeovers and get to relax around Pomefiore whenever you want. Most importantly, your social status rises to the top, because any friend of Vil's could be a friend worth having.
O - Open: Vil? Open? Please. He's got walls up greater than the wall of China. It takes him a lot of time to open up to you because all of those stupid emotions he's feeling make him so weak. Once you get the first bit of Vil lore, though, he's like a running faucet and just spills everything everywhere. It really makes you both grow so much closer though.
P - Patience: Eh. He's not awful, better than Riddle at least. Vil does have a temper though, and it's not as uncommon to see it as you may think. Now, he rarely ever gets mad at you unless you do something so stupid that he can't help it in his disbelief. Still, his anger is a sight to witness, and much worse when it's directed at you.
Q - Quizzes: Vil is very good at knowing everything there is to know about you. He writes it down, actually! In his notes app! He has a whole list that's just about you and your likes and dislikes and everything you tell him that he thinks is important. He makes sure to utilize it all the time, and it's really sweet how seen he makes you feel.
S - Security: Vil is moderately protective of you. He doesn't really worry about anyone in your classes, it's rare to find someone actually willing to mess with him. What he is worried about is the media. If they got ahold of you, his more intense fans might try to rip you apart. So, he shields you from that as best as he can, because he doesn't want to see you hurt.
Y - Yuck: If you only want him for his beauty. He is pretty, he knows that, and he understands that it's likely a part of why you love him. However, if you only seem to care about how pretty he is or only compliment his looks, he hates it. There is more to him, why can't you see that?
#twst#twisted wonderland#twst x reader#x reader#twisted wonderland x reader#bunni's treats 🧁#malleus draconia x reader#malleus draconia#vil schoenheit x reader#vil schoenheit
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Autobots and techno organic buddy? The buddy is the daughter of Predaking but the Autobots don’t know until they run into Predaking while Buddy is with them.
In case you don’t know what a techno organic is, it’s essentially a human Cybotronion hybrid.
Its been a hot second since I've touched anything Predaking related. If this is not what you wanted, please let me know. Techno Organic Buddy is always a treat to see every now and then.
Hope you enjoy!
Autobots react to Techno Organic Buddy being the daughter of Predaking
SFW, Platonic, Familial, slight angst, Techno Organic reader
TFP
No one knows where Buddy came from.
One day Buddy just appeared on the Autobots radar and the next became a part of the Team. It was certainly a confusing time explaining to Fowler and the kids what Buddy was.
“So you’re a Cyborg?”--Miko
“Miko!”--Jack
“What? I’m just asking.”—Miko
“Yeah I guess I am kind of a cyborg.”--Buddy
“See!”—Miko
“How did you become a cyborg?”--Raf
“I…I actually don’t know? I just am.”--Buddy
“How do you not know?”--Jack
“I just don’t.”--Buddy
“Do you even remember how this happened?!”--Jack
“Jack, I don’t even remember what I ate this morning. What makes you think I’m going to remember how ‘this’ happened?”--Buddy
“…Good point…”--Jack
“Great… more paperwork…”--Fowler
She had created bonds with the Autobots and the humans. Although her creation was still a mystery to the bots, some did help her explore her Cybertronian side.
Buddy was vague about her family whenever the topic was brought up. It didn’t seem too strange to the bots at first. Not many of them would necessarily talk about friends or if they had any family. But in comparison to the rest of the kids, Buddy rarely even uttered a word to the bots about them.
“It’s getting late shouldn’t you start heading out?”--Bulkhead
“Oh, pops wont mind.”--Buddy
“He wont mind?”—Wheeljack
“Yeah.”--Buddy
“But certainly your father is worried about you.”—Ultra Magnus
“Nah. He’s fine. I’ve been gone for longer.”—Buddy
“How much is longer?”—Wheeljack
“Hmm… what day is today?”—Buddy
The kids thought that Buddy may have a hard home. Which they did raise their concerns to their respected guardians. The logic made sense. Buddy rarely talked about them and always seemed to be around the base more than the kids. Maybe it was because Buddy was a Techno Organic? It could certainly be a cause.
Miko was the one who brought this up to Buddy. After all the two were as thick as thieves, sure Buddy wouldn’t lie to her about this.
“Hey Buddy!”--Miko
“Hey Miko!”--Buddy
“I was telling Raf and Jack over here about some stories about me in Japan. All comparing there to here. You got any stories about your folks?”--Miko
“Like what?”--Buddy
“Well you rarely talk about any of them. Mind telling me the reason?”--Miko
“Well… Its really just been me and Pops. You know I don’t know much about me being, well, me. He’s the strongest guy I know and he works far.”--Buddy
“That’s why you don’t talk too much about him? Is he a deadbeat?”--Miko
“No! No he’s not a deadbeat! He’s not perfect by any means, but he tries his best. The place where we were living in wasn’t the best. He sent me to Jasper for me to live a better life until he can join me.”--Buddy
“Wow…”--Miko
“Yeah…”--Buddy
“Didn’t know we were gonna get Buddy lore dropping now. What other secrets are you hiding under your plating?”--Miko
“Boring stuff. How about we go flying above the base instead?”--Buddy
“Yeah! Race you to the elevator!”--Miko
Somewhere on base…
Bulkhead, Ultra Magnus, and Wheeljack suddenly shuddering.
“What was that?”—Ultra Magnus
“Don’t know, but I don’t like it.”--Wheeljack
“My Miko senses are tingling…”--Bulkhead
“Your what?”--Wheeljack
Miko reported back as soon as she was done with the flying. This at least gave some peace to the bots.
The bots did meet Buddy’s father.
However, it was under less pleasant circumstances.
The Wreckers, Miko, and Buddy were scouting an old energon mine when a fearsome shriek was heard from above. Predaking in all of his glory landed a few feet away from the Wreckers spreading his wings out wide.
Ultra Magnus held his hammer tightly in his servos, Wheeljack whipped out his katanas, Bulkhead had his wrecking ball, Miko in her armor held her fighting stance eagerly ready to fight the dragon.
Buddy, however, stayed hovering behind Magnus.
Before any of them could formulate a plan of attack, Buddy flew past them and headed straight for the large Predacon.
There was yelling and running, they thought Buddy was about to die.
But something much more bizarre happened.
Buddy dove in for a hug!
And Predaking was wrapping his wings around them, as if he were hugging her back, before transforming and setting the Techno Organic on his shoulder.
“What the—”--Wheeljack
“Careful Wrecker, there’s children present.”--Predaking
“Hey!”--Miko
“Pops!”--Buddy
“That’s your Pop’s?!”--Miko
“Yeah?”--Buddy
“How?”--Miko
“Buddy you’re saying this guy, the Predacon is your dad?”--Bulkhead
“The same mech who hunted down Wheeljack and I?”--Magnus
“The same guy who crushed Magnus’s servo into scrap metal?”--Wheeljack
“Sorry about that.”--Predaking
“I think some explaining is necessary Pops…”--Buddy
“Very well.”--Predaking
Predaking was Buddy’s adopted father.
Predaking, while still in root mode, had met Buddy one day as she was transported to the Nemesis via groundbridge. Starscream was supposed to give her to Shockwave immediately, but for some reason, he had simply tossed Buddy at Predaking without thinking twice.
Predaking had pity on the small thing and took her under his wing.
Literally.
After that Buddy and Predaking were never far from each other. Starscream had once tried to teach him a lesson by going after her. The Second in Command was covered helm to toe with scratches and had one less arm that day.
After his transformation, Predaking realized that the Nemesis wasn’t the best place for Buddy right now, especially when he started questioning his loyalties. He sent Buddy away to the small human town below and told her to stay out of the con’s radar.
Well, she stayed off the cons radar, not so much the bots.
Now for the bots…
Everyone is confused. Especially when the story was retold to the others.
But comparing stories… it makes sense.
Buddy’s loyalties were not questioned. She had plenty of times to expose them to the Cons or have Predaking attack them, yet that didn’t happen. Buddy is loyal to the bots while Prdaking isn’t, but he isn’t loyal to the cons either.
Predaking is fine with Buddy being with the bots. He trusts them more than the Cons to keep her safe.
As long as Buddy is okay, its fine.
#transformers#transformers x reader#maccadam#tfp x reader#tfp#tfp predaking#tfp x platonic reader#techno organic buddy
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Been noodling idly on something about Aaravos's tiddies chest marking for a while, and since @raayllum just did a big update/summary of the "Aaravos's heart is in the Key" theory... I thought it might be time to put my little thinky-thoughts out there.
In short form: Aaravos's Star primal chest marking is not a natural feature of Startouch elves. It's a brand.
In long form: My initial question was "why, if we have the primordial Star symbol associated with the Celestial elves and with Aaravos himself, would he then have the primal Star symbol front-and-center on his literal body?"
None of the other primal elves have birthmarks or tattoos of the primal sources. (That we've seen. Runaan's might be on his butt or something.) "Actually, all elves are physically marked with the symbol of the primal they are connected to" would also be a very weird lore drop to have this late in the series. So why do Startouch elves have them?
Well, the answer is... they don't. This is a feature unique to Aaravos, and it's an important feature.
For give my heinous artbook page photos, they want thirty-five literal dollars for a digital copy:
What do nearly all of these designs have in common? They don't have their dang tiddies out. We only see what would become the chest mark in the far right and teeny bottom second from the right designs on the second page. Note that in these designs, its nature as a hole or source of corruption is much more obvious—in the far right design, it's even spreading cracks or veins across his body in the same way that dark magic affects humans. (Thank god they didn't go with that single horn, though. The fanfics would have been obscene.) Either way, Aaravos's chest being constantly, readily visible wasn't a design factor until some point where it was determined that it needed to be, because of what would be there.
Furthermore, I'm convinced that Aaravos's design and the use of the Star primal symbol on his chest informed the design of the symbol itself:
Look how much basically none of the unused ones resemble the final design. The one they chose is a total outlier from the direction all the other designs take, but it's also the one that works really well as part of Aaravos. It's the only symmetrical design, and it's simple and solid where the others are busy in a way that would interact poorly with Aaravos's already star-studded skin. (I did a broader analysis of the primal source symbol designs a while back, if you want more.
So Aaravos and the Star primal symbol were designed in a symbiotic way, knowing that it would be a prominent feature for him. Let's take a look at it, then.
In every official appearance of the Star primal symbol, from Rayla's drawing of them to Claudia's spellbook, from the cover of Tales of Xadia to the Mystery of Aaravos titling... the Star primal symbol is in the opposite orientation from the one on Aaravos's chest.
Except in two specific instances: the book page with the Midnight Star poem, and the Key as held by the Orphan Queen in the flashback sequence:
Both of which are referencing Aaravos specifically, and in a specific way—as the one who gifted dark magic to Elarion, and as a deceiving manipulator.
But it's pretty clear that Aaravos's chest star is upside-down. Falling, you might even say. It has also always been that way: we see both in the s1e1 intro shot of the elves preparing to cast the humans out of Xadia and in the much more recent s4e3 flashback sequences that it has the same orientation even before he's imprisoned. It's also there (and I'm 90% sure in the same orientation) in the s6e1 photo leaks (spoilers).
This key element of Aaravos's design is a) not a natural feature, b) very specifically oriented, and c) has been with him as far back as we have thus far seen, to what we are generally assuming for the moment was his "fall."
So, in combination with the "something (literal heart or no) was removed from Aaravos when he "fell" and may be connected with the Key" theory: either in conjunction with or as part of that process, Aaravos was branded, on his body for all to see, with the mark of a fallen star. Then he absolutely owns it with his tits-out outfit, presumably out of sheer fabulous spite, and no one around him actually knows what it means—that he's a punished exile, a piece of himself or his power stolen and/or corrupted.
#something something the primal sources as a force for order/containment of true star/deep magic#hence aaravos's center being placed in a cube of the primal sources and him being marked with that symbol#anyway#aaravos#the dragon prince
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Yandere! Vault Dweller
N: I just finished the Fallout show, went on YouTube and fell down a rabbit hole of lore about the game. I decided Vault 11 shall be sacrificed (hehe). Everything I put in this fic is from the videos I've watched and the fan wiki, so it's like semi-accurate…
Cw: talks about suicide, suicide (not the reader), violence, yandere tendencies, gore(?), death, manipulation, coercion, talks of death, should be gn! reader safe.... if not, put me in the chamber
WC: 2.2k
Quiet. It was quiet. The silence is deafening, yet the ringing in your ear grows louder and louder, each second feeling as if eons had passed. The automated computer voice repeats in your head like a catchy song you’ll hear on those dusty records, the ones Mama used to play and dance to.
“Congratulations, citizens of Vault 11! You have made the decision not to sacrifice one of your own. You can walk with your head held high, knowing that your commitment to human life is a shining example to us all. And to make that feeling of pride even sweeter, I have some exciting news. Despite what you were led to believe, the population of Vault 11 is not going to be exterminated for its disobedience. Instead, the mechanism to open the main vault door has now been enabled, and you can come and go at your leisure. But not so fast! Be sure to check with your overseer to find out if it's safe to leave. Here at Vault-Tec, your safety is our number one priority.”
You were young when your parents escaped the bombs to the vault you're situated in right now; you grew up believing that damned computer about sacrifices and watched your fellow vault mates get killed one by one. You waited for the time it would be you in that same chamber. Now, with this information surfaced…they died for what? An experiment? What would have happened if you had been voted overseer…
The lump in your throat grows heavier, and the arguments and yelling in the background become more and more apparent that you can't ignore them anymore. Your eyes drift to the man standing tall and proud beside you, Charli, his hair still somehow slick back; he still looks perfect even after the maddening chaos of events that transpired these past few days. His blue jumpsuit was as crisp as an ironed suit that the actors would wear from the moving pictures on television before the vault. His expression is as vacant as his blue eyes, his soft lips decorated with a barely visible smile. As he watches the other three vault survivors argue, Your brows furrow.
Why isn’t he affected by the news like everyone else? This information is soul-crushing and life-changing!
Then again, you reason with yourself that maybe this is his way of coping; who are you to judge and microanalysis him like some psycho? Perhaps it’s the lack of sleep or the sense of safety ripped out of your hand like candy stolen from a baby. Heavens, you might nearly flip your lid entirely if something else happens. You sigh. To believe you almost were insinuating that Charli would even be a drop suspicious, and of what, exactly? He saved and shielded you from the massacre that only left the five of you remaining; he was your childhood best friend..how could you? You reprimand yourself.
His eyes finally meet yours, and the sympathy and worry you sought appeared when the blonde saw how distressed you were. “Are you alright?” his soft voice fills your head–drowning out the talks of whether the group should commit suicide in honour of your dead vault men or venture into the outside world to educate others on how your vault was misled. You were somewhat dissociated from the whole conversation. Reasonably so.
His hands, soft yet calloused, turn your head side to side to check for any visible injuries he might’ve missed, which he shouldn’t have—knitted eyebrows and razor-sharp eyes search frantically for anything.
Charles or… As you’ll call him later in your relationship, Charlie, has always been like this. When you met him, he was a reserved kid, a trait that would carry on from his pubescent to adolescent years.
When other kids grew out of their shyness and worrisome attitude and eventually adapted to the vault, he was pushed aside. Well, that wouldn’t be the only reason. His father was the first overseer of Vault 11, the same overseer who thought the best course of action was not to tell the vault residents about the sacrificial system they were now to live with. That same choice he made was the reason for his death, and he was the first to test the new system. He wasn’t a good man. He was greedy, a neglectful father and husband, and so on. A family now ruined by one man’s ill-considered decision; Charles's mom wasn’t much better, the textbook definition of a hypocrite. Bad-mouthing her dead husband, the same one she defended when said husband would push his son away.
Most would fear having no one at the end of the world, but it became Charles's life; while everyone adapted to vault life, Charles adapted to the misfortune of the consequences of his old man’s actions. You decided one day to talk to him while others stood clear. It was a simple conversation; others would just brush it off…which he did initially. But after that day, you would constantly seek him out, and with that, you wore a genuine smile and interest every time you talked to him. His walls crumbled into dust for you and only you. You were like a shooting star he wished for. His reputation grew because of you and, with that, his feelings for you sored. You became his way of life. In his teen years, he decided to become the best match for you– He would participate in every extracurricular activity the vault would provide to make him an unstoppable force of a man. The perfect golden boy was made..for you.
He had the “perfect body,” perfect sperm count, unmatched intelligence, and charisma—he perfected them (even if you were the only one he talked to for long periods)—strength, agility, endurance—all of it. He will be everything you need and more. With that, he made sure no one would vote you as overseer…
He was so soft on you that it would rival feathers. Do you need help lifting that? He's already there. Do you need help with your pre-war history? He’ll just sit you down and study with you for hours. Are you bleeding from an accidental cut? Don’t worry he just finished his first aid training. He already had a plan for you both for everything that would happen.
Everything
“I’m fine…” You grab both of his hands gently. “...Well, not fine, fine, but I'm not hurt.” You smile weakly up at him. “It’s okay. You and I will get through this,” He coos, pushing strands of your hair away from your face and behind your ear. His touch is warm and tender, yet the words you hear next aren’t.
“Fuck..I..I can’t do this I’m sorry.” A man, short in stature, starts backing away, gun in hand, clearly distressed. Your eyes move away from Charli’s to your fellow survivor; unknowingly to you, Charli rolls his eyes at the man's “dramatics.” “We don’t deserve to leave...That thing called us a shiny example..f..f.fucked! Thats fucked! I..I can’t live with that!” Another man says, “Anyone would’ve done what we did.” A woman comments, “You ask me? That's exactly the problem. Now, let’s get on with this.”
“Wait,” you say, stunned, as if he had predicted this would happen. Charles moves his hands to cover your eyes. The short man is first, putting his gun on the roof of his mouth and pulling the trigger, not sparing any more time; the woman is next, the second gunshot. Then, with a sigh and short prayer, the last man repeats the action done by the others. Each lifeless body hits the floor one by one, and then there is silence.
What the hell.
You try to understand the situation, but your brain has yet to catch up…it’s all too much. Charli whispers calming phrases while he shields your eyes with one hand and rubs patterns along your back with the other. Tears start rolling down your face…and you sob. Hard. His hand moves to pet your hair, soothing you while you let it all out of your system.
He moves his body to shield you from the gruesome events that have just taken place; he moves both of his hands and cradles your face. You try looking behind him out of curiosity, but he stops you before you can.”Hey! Look at me with those gorgeous eyes,” He mummers, and of course, you comply. “There we go. You listen to me so well,” he whispers lovingly. “Here’s what we’re going to do. We’ll both go back to my vault room. I have enough supplies for the both of us to survive outside for a while, okay?” He asks you, and you nod, agreeing to whatever he says.
“I need to hear you say it..”
“…yes, of course, whatever you think is best.” He smiles at you, thumb caressing your cheek. “Keep your eyes on me, okay?” He takes your hand and leads you through the halls. It's quiet… you don't like it. Your eyes are trained on his back, Charli…he’s your lifebuoy in the angry sea, the only thing keeping you afloat; if it wasn’t for him…you might’ve met your end with the others. As if sensing your inner turmoil, he squeezes your hand, comforting you…and you squeeze back. Your world just fell apart, yet…it doesn’t seem entirely gone with Charli by your side.
It's only a short time till you reach his vault. You’ve been here so many times it's basically your room by now. The tall blonde turns to look at you. “I’m going to let you go, just for a second, okay..? I just need to get the supplies.” He holds your one hand with both of his– you reply with a soft okay, and with your permission, he starts to move. He moves towards his small desk to grab a small, flat-headed screwdriver, walks to a particular spot, and pops the floor title beneath him, revealing a hidden compartment. It's filled with two modular military backpacks, filled to the bream with necessities for outside the vault.
He was prepared for all of this…
Then he starts talking about what he has in mind for the two of you, settling on the surface of living together and everything. Charles gets lost when talking to you; he can speak his mind about almost anything, and rambling is second nature with you. The hermit turned a social butterfly in your presence.
“You know that computer may have been our downfall, but god did bless me with more information than I could handle…good thing, huh, glad I went through all that code…Vault-tec tried to make it secure, but I found a way...We could go somewhere called New Vegas…” He keeps talking.
But you stand there, still, as a statue, looking down at him as he gathers everything…What did he just say?
You think back to the start when killing between the blocs started..he was right there, ready to protect you, when you and the other surviving tested out if the chamber would kill all of you…he almost seemed to be too assured nothing bad would happen to any of you, almost like…no…no. You’re overthinking, right? But the more you listen…
“You knew…” you shakingly exclaim out loud, cutting him off. “Hmm?” He looks up at you as he puts the tile back…” You knew we didn’t need sacrifices…you knew it would play out like this…” you say louder and more confidently. Those once-homey blue eyes become cold and distant… analyzing you.
You both stare at each other.
You turn and run.
But your efforts are in vain; you don’t even leave the room before two muscular arms wrap around behind you, overtaking you, holding your arms down around your waist, dragging you back. You scream and kick with no success. You end up with his arms around you while he sits down, his back against the wall, and you in front of him with his head in your neck while you let it all out. “When?” you croak out, “When we were fifteen, I didn’t want you to become overseer…I didn’t want you to die..so I wondered if it was the computer that sent signals to kill whoever was sent in that chamber and wondered if I could stop it from killing you specifically; that's when I found out .” He answers swiftly and truthfully, “Why didn’t you tell anyone?” You question, “I didn’t care, honestly, the only thing that matters is you…If everyone died in the process, it would be less work for me…I wanted it to be us from the beginning, anyway. I want you to need me as much as I need you…and now you finally do.”
You feel weak and sick to your stomach… All your peers would’ve ended up dead either way. “I want to leave.” he hums, not mocking you but in acknowledgment. “And do what? You don’t know how to defend yourself; you have no supplies prepared, barely any survival instincts, and you don’t even know any information on the surface above. You can leave, but you’ll die…I can’t let that happen, sorry.” Charles buries himself more into you.
“I hate you,” You whisper.
“That’s okay…all that matters is that you're here…with me and only me… I’ll keep you safe and sound.”
N: This was a long one, whew! I had to think about how I could make a Yandere fic with Fallout, and I had tons of concepts, but this one stood out the most. I hope my execution was good enough....Anyway, my next fic will most likely be a jealous fic about my Yandere lord, so stay tuned! Till then! see you soon my little guppies (´꒳`)♡
extra note: Throughout writing this, I thought "My Way of Life by Frank Sinatra" would fit Charli perfectly.
#fallout#let me cook#yandere oc#yandere drabble#yandere blog#yandere male x reader#male yandere#yandere x you#yandere x reader#yandere oc x reader#yandere x darling#yandere imagines#yandere thoughts#x reader#yandere concept#oc x reader#yandere x y/n
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Fate has spoken (MK1 Bi-han)
Author's note; reminder this is not lore accurate to the Mortal Kombat universe. I write because they're hot. I also do no have beta reader or i read my fan fic from top to bottom to see any errors. I'm lazy okay.
“Is it true?”
A familiar soft voice appears behind him right after he enters his room upon arriving at the Lin Kuei Clan. Bih-han didn’t move an inch,just standing there not knowing what to respond to her. The light of his life.
“You already heard from the others. There’s nothing for me to tell you”
“I want you to tell me. Say it infront of my face,Bi-han”, her tone is frustrated but with a hint of sadness that she tried to bury.
The Lin Kuei grandmaster clenched his fists. His heart is beating. His heart always beats for her. The stern Bi-han who everyone fears and respects him has always been afraid of her. Her kindness and gentle nature scares him, the thing he fears is losing her.
Bi-han turns around. Her eyes are already on her on edge to cry from betrayal. The eyes that always sees him as human and shows him that kindness still exist in his miserable life, “I took Shang Tsung’s offer for more power…. against the Lin Kuei oaths”
A single tear dropped from her eyes. Bi-han stares at her fighting the urge to touch her “And i let father die”
“How could you,Bi-han. He’s like a father to me!”, all the memories of her with the former grandmaster plays in her mind. He welcomed her and her mother with open arms when he found them living by the street after the death of her own father. She and her mother were given a home to live comfortably by his generosity. “He believed you’ll be a great grandmaster for Lin Kuei!” she hits him in the chest “He believed you can take care of us,Bi-han…”
Bi-han just stood there letting her get her anger out on him “You have betrayed Lin Kuei,your family…. You have betrayed me,Bi-han. It hurts. It hurts so much…” she cries and cries showing her pain to him.
“If you won’t follow my orders as the grandmaster. You can leave”
Her heart skips a beat at his words, she tilts her head up looking into his eyes. His eyes tell he is also in pain, “I do not need you anymore here. Leave the Lin Kuei. I am not like my father. I am a tyrant like they called me”
“Does everything we had mean nothing to you?”
Bi-han stares at her shocked,the question is unexpected. Her voice and eyes are demanding him to tell the truth, “Were every night we had walking together in the forest means nothing to you? Tell me”
“No… all of those we had together does not mean nothing to me”
She takes a step away from him. Taking a deep breath without her eyes leaving him “Say that you love me”
Bi-han heart got more heavy. Somehow he forgot to breathe.
“Say that you love me and then I will leave… letting you go on what you desire in life”
Words stuck in his throat. He just stares at her as she stares at him too. She wants to know if their feelings are equal before they went apart forever, “Tell me,Bi-han”
“I…. i love you very dearly”
She can feel the weight she’s carrying on her shoulders lift up upon hearing his confession. Her heart melts even in this betrayal situation “And i too,love you Bi-han”
Bi-han witnesses her last smile he will ever see. He won’t see the kind smile ever again. She won’t even be by his side for now on. He doesn’t show emotions, he doesn’t want her to see him in weakness. But before he was not afraid to cry, this time was different. Those before she is with him to get through the tough time. Now, she won’t be there to comfort him.
“Goodbye,Bi-han. May you live your ambitions and… live with happiness.Farewell”
With that she left. Forever. Bi-han didn’t call her name or hold her hand to prevent her from leaving. He did nothing. Just standing there.
He stood there for hours. His mind is blank. With a heavy heart he left his room approaching her room. Her room is empty, her mother also cannot be seen. She brought her mother with her too. Bi-han closes the door, he sits in the middle of the room. Her scent is still in the room. He sits there to feel everything that is left in the room until her scent and present are gone forever.
“In every timeline, she still won’t be yours,Bi-han. I am sorry”
Liu Kang had told him that;even in multiple timelines existed, they are not fated to be together.
#mortal kombat#mortal kombat x reader#bi han x reader#bi han x you#sub zero x reader#bi han mk#sub zero
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