So itās established in like the first episode that Emma is from Sault Ste. Marie in Michigan, which if you look on a map is further North than both Toronto and Ottowa, so itās no real stretch to say that Emmaās used to the cold. She probably withstands ice and snow better than some Canadians.
In contrast, I headcanon that Brendon Park grew up in NorCal. He went to Berkeley, and spent his residency in Texas before moving to Pittsburgh for his Orthopaedics fellowship. This all to say Brendon prefers his warmer states and makes a point of layering up the moment the temperature dips below 60.
So when sweet Emma starts leaving their shared apartment for her shifts in nothing more than a hoodie when thereās snow literally falling from the sky, Brendon is pissed.
Usually they carpool together, but sheās on a slew of night shifts which makes it difficult for them to align their schedules - like ships passing in the night.
He begins by trying to hand her various jackets on her way out the door either side of the ED, just for her to find a way to leave them behind every time.
When their schedules mercifully start to sync back up, she has nowhere to escape when he takes the coat off his own back and drowns her in the soft padding.
She pouts fiercely when he zips it all the way up to her chin, saying, āHonestly Brendon, the car is like five minutes away. Donāt you think this is a littleā¦ excessive?ā
He narrows his eyes on her and digs in the coat pocket to unearth a black beanie, which he promptly wrestles over her head with a firm set of his lips.
āIf you remembered your coat, it wouldnāt be so bad, now would it?ā He lectures for the umpteenth.
But the thing is, Emmaās from North Michigan and itās barely 35 degrees out. She doesnāt need a coat until they start hitting the mid-twenties, and even then it wonāt be this ridiculous puffy thing heās forcing her to wear.
She continues to argue against his coat-wearing agenda for another two weeks. Two weeks of forgetting her jacket at home, two weeks of wearing his oversized coat for the ridiculously short walk to the car, because he insists on parking on James Street instead of Sandusky Street because itās closer to the ED.
Until heās at the end of his tether and starts just blatantly sending her links to various coats online. Most are pink, with a few smatterings of more subdued blacks in between.
Which one do you want?
Her eyes nearly bug out of her head when she reads the price tags. Thereās no way sheād ever be able to afford any coats like this in her lifetime.
I donāt need a coat. Besides, I canāt afford any of these.
She replies curtly, matching his usual work tone with a huff.
Thatās not what I asked.
Is what she receives back not even a minute later.
She purses her lips and clicks on the most expensive of the ones he sent. Itās cute ā a pretty pink puffy thing whichāll stretch to her thighs easily. It has a fluffy white hood and more pockets than she could dream of.
She sends the link back to him with nothing else and turns her phone off with a scowl. Just as sheās starting to vindictively enjoy her now quiet phone, a small Bzzt startles her into nearly dropping it altogether.
Itāll arrive tonight.
āWhat the actual fuck,ā she mutters with wide eyes. She clicks on the call button hastily and by the time sheās brought it to her ear heās already picked up.
āBrendon Park, what the hell are you playing at?ā She hisses down the line.
She can practically hear his smirk through the phone. āNow youāll have no excuse not to wear a coat.ā He says smugly.
āYou can be a real asshole sometimes, you know that?ā She grumbles without any real heat behind it.
He laughs at her, full chested in the way she knows heās leaning back on his chair with a wide, satisfied grin.
She sighs and with a pout, adds, āThank you.ā
āYouāre welcome Ems.ā He replies. She rolls her eyes at his tone. The idiotās probably scaring the entire surgical floor with his stupid grin.
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
ā Live Streamingā Interactive Chatā Private Showsā HD Qualityā Free Actions
Free to watch ā¢ No registration required ā¢ HD streaming
warnings: kissing / making out, rainstorm scenes, sneaking around, mild angst, lots of fluff (maybe slight smut..????), teasing + flirting, chaotic behavior, in-character miles (soft for reader), found family vibes, flora being flora, ms. kate trying her best.
a/n: soā¦ hereās part two. i actually already have this whole fic written out in my notes, i just kinda panicked before posting today and wasnāt sure if i should even share it š the first part didnāt get a ton of attention, which is fine, but it made me feel a little weird about posting the rest.
iām still figuring out how i want to put it all together on here, so iām just taking it slow. this part ended up softer and rainier than i meant, and for some reason flora keeps catching themā¦ like constantly. i guess thatās just her energy.
anyway, if anyone is reading this, thank you. iām mostly just posting it because itās been sitting in my notes forever and i kinda want it out in the world. <3
āāāāā āā āā ā āāāāā
the storm got worse as the night went onārain hammering the windows now instead of tapping. the house felt too still, too awake somehow, like it was holding its breath. miles had been pacing a little, restless in that way he always was when something inside him felt too loud to keep contained.
i was still in his hoodieāheād given up pretending he mindedāand he kept glancing at me like i was the only solid thing in the house.
he stopped suddenly, eyes flicking toward the window, then back to me.
ācome on,ā he said quietly, that mischievous tilt to his voice. āletās get out of here.ā
āin this?ā i asked, pointing toward the downpour.
he grinned, grabbing my hand. āexactly in this.ā
we slipped out of his room and down the hall, quiet as we could. the house moaned under the wind, but otherwise it was silent. miles pushed open the back door, and the cold rain hit us immediatelyāsharp, wild, waking.
we stepped outside, and it felt like the world shrank to just darkness, rain, and him. his hair was already dripping, hoodie clinging to his shoulders, but he didnāt seem to care.
āyouāre insane,ā i laughed, though my voice was already softening around him.
āyou like that about me,ā he replied, stepping closer, rain running down his cheekbones. ādonāt pretend you donāt.ā
i rolled my eyes, even as my heart thumped harder. āmaybe. a little.ā
miles smirked, that slow, knowing one that always made my stomach flip. he lifted a hand to my cheek, thumb brushing away raināor maybe he was pretending it was just rain so he didnāt have to admit he was touching me on purpose.
āyouāre freezing,ā he murmured.
āso are you.ā
āyeah,ā he said, leaning in, ābut i donāt mind if itās you.ā
his forehead touched mine first, gentle despite the storm. the rain pattered against us, loud and wild, but his voice stayed low.
āiāve wanted to do this all night,ā he admitted.
before i could tease him about that, he kissed meāsoft at first, barely there, just warm breath and cold rain. no rush, no push. just his lips moving against mine like heād memorized the shape of them long before he got the courage to try.
his hands slid to my hips, pulling me a little closer, and i curled my fingers into the front of his soaked hoodie, tugging him down again. another kissāfirmer this time, but still slow. still careful. still him.
the storm felt distant. the house felt miles away. it was just us.
untilā
āmiles?ā
we both froze.
flora stood under the doorway, blanket wrapped around her shoulders, eyes wide but not frightenedāmoreā¦ confused. curious. the way she always looked at us when she caught something she wasnāt meant to see.
miles huffed a small laugh under his breath, pressing one last quick kiss to my cheek before pulling back.
āgo back inside, flora,ā he said gently, not sharp like he was with everyone else. āyouāll catch a cold.ā
she looked between us, then smiled in that eerie almost-too-knowing way she sometimes had.
āyou two are being very strange,ā she said simply.
miles rolled his eyes. āyeah. thatās kind of our thing.ā
i squeezed his hand, and he squeezed backāwarm despite the rain, steady despite everything.
flora padded back inside, leaving the door cracked open. miles looked at me again, rain dripping off his lashes, breath warm against the cold air.
āwhere were we?ā he asked, voice low.
i laughed, stepping closer, brushing a raindrop off his jaw.
āi think you remember.ā
āgood,ā he whispered, leaning in once more, ābecause iām not done with you yet.ā
and then he kissed me againāsoft, slow, and warm against the roaring stormālike he didnāt care if the whole house found us next.
Hi I want to go over a few details of my transmigrator Mobei-Jun fic because Im fond of it
Basically, man was always a transmigrator but legitimately had no idea (possibly because of how he died but Im working out the minor details here)
He was a PIDW fanartist with a similarly evil uncle that's tried to kill him and is in prison for it, but because of one attempt when he was young he's an amputee
As a fanartist he was generally regarded as PIDW's most popular because of the passion he put in all his pieces, though people frequently questioned why he drew Shang Qinghua the rat traitor so damn much.
(When he gets his old memories back upon reverse transmigrating he deems immediately that he much prefers his husband over him, and draws very specifically a charm of his Qinghua to keep with him because he wakes up terrified that it was all just a dream and is desperate to get his husband back)
Patchwork is done after running way longer than I thought it would lol but these chapter notes are actually on the shorter side because I was usually too focused as I wrote to write little comments down.
Playlist:
The playlist was split into two parts. The first part was most Act 1, Catra-coded while that second was more Act 2, Adora-coded, but it was also kind of what you see vs. what they feel with the first part being a lot more blustering and the second a lot more real
Epilogue Life:
Catra does āhypotheticallyā propose at the end of the summer and Adora does wear the ring an annoying amount because sheās doing it to flaunt Catra. Glimmer calls it their promise ring to make fun of them lol
Chapter 1:
ā¦ Weaverās soulmate is not dead, but they did leave, so she calls it a death and refuses to mentally acknowledge why it happened (her)
Chapter 2:
ā¦ Itās kind of a known ātropeā if you will (scenario), where two people will have crushes/fall in love with each other but never go through with it the way they want to because one or both of them is expecting to fall for their soulmate instead, thatās why Tallstar says āthereās one in every classā, it happens mostly in school and work setting where you see just enough to think you could/do love someone but are convinced one day youāll actually find āthe oneā so either you never date at all, you only do it casually, or you have sex (once or multiple times) but refuse to commit to a relationship. It sucks for absolutely everyone involved lol. In this case, Tallstar was pretty sure Catra would date Adora if she thought Adora was willing considering she didnāt have her own soulmate, but Adoraās own soulmate was stopping them so Catra was trying to fill the void with anyone else and not genuinely trying to date her.
Chapter 3:
ā¦ I think the views on soulmates would vary a lot by cultures, especially historically. There used to be tons of different believes about soulmates and as globalization progressed, some dominant ones began to eclipse others until they were viewed as old fashioned.
Magicats were the most fascinating to me and why theyāre included in the fic, but theyāre not the only race that doesnāt easily show their soulmarks. Lizardfolk are technically born with then, but theyāre typically faint and darken with each shed. An old myth amongst them is that once your mark is āvibrantā youāre ready to meet your soulmate, problem is thatās completely down to your own perception. Since they typically darken for decades, however incrementally once you reach adult size, what counts as vibrant āenoughā for you? Itās kind of impossible to say when you donāt know what the final color of your mark is going to be until you see it on someone else (and even that doesnāt work if your soulmate is another lizardfolk or someone like a scorpioni). You also just become more likely to meet your soulmate as time passes before you meet more people, so the mark darkening is kind of unrelated.
Scorpioni at one point in time thought soulmarks had nothing to do with other people and just represented what kind of role you were destined to fill in society, but this slowly evolved into something similar to the magicatsā beliefs, and from there evolved into the current general understanding that you share a unique soulmark with people who are meant to be with you for life, though they tend to put a lot less romantic emphasis on it. Scorpia does that by herself lol
ā¦ Along with those historical beliefs also came historical roles. There were some countries where it was illegal to marry a non-soulmate. This could take different forms: only two people with matching soulmarks could marry each other, anyone with matching soulmarks (include 3+ people) could marry people, you could only marry a non-soulmate if you didnāt have a mark yourself so two+ soulmate couples werenāt getting broken up, or even that upon meeting your soulmate you were considered automatically that cultureās equivalent of āmarriedā. Yes this applied to soulmates within a family too.
Yeah so a lot of these had to change lmao. Countries de-criminalize non-soulmate couples at different rates, but it was blatantly obvious that platonic soulmates must exist, so as pressure and judgement from other cultures that didnāt assume marriage between soulmates became more widespread, the requirements around marrying them changed. Different places are at different stages even if itās generally seen as a very old belief in most places, but despite the legal differences, the ādefaultā cultural belief within the culture the fic takes place is that 9 times out of 10, your soulmate is romantic and youāre going to marry them.
Chapter 4:
ā¦ Iāll talk more about the nature of a soulmark below because Iāll have to retread it otherwise, but itās very rare for it to be shared by more than two people, although it is possible. Itās like quintuplets lol. It usually would theoretically be possible for a lot more people on average to āqualifyā as soulmates, but itās logistically unlikely for all of them to meet and work together if that makes sense. Maybe there are three people that actually could be your soulmates as a quad, but because youāre never all going to live in the same city (practically for ever meeting at all, or even after meeting on chance because you have different taste and want different things out of your forever), you have completely different hobbies that would split your time, one (or more) of you is too possessive to share a soulmate, etc, if those 3+ people actually tried to make a long-term relationship work, it would be more stressful than just being marked for one soulmate.
This phenomenon is kind of suspected and the reason that a lot of polycules trend towards being made of multiple pairs of soulmates who all feel bonded but maybe one couple could never be nesting partners to the other because their habits around the house would drive them nuts lol so they donāt actually share soulmates. Some people who support this theory think there would be some sign in your soulmarks, like how the ancient magicats thought soulmarks didnāt have to be a perfect match but share a connection.
ā¦ On a similar note, platonic and aromantic soulmarks can definitely happen, but it requires either two people who donāt want a romantic relationship at all or who can handle the minefield of a platonic soulmate intersecting with a non-soulmate romantic relationship without one of them falling apart, so itās not the most common scenario. Some aromantic people do still want a ālife partnerā in the sense of a best friend, roommate, platonic sexual partner, etc, and those kind of people can easily have platonic soulmarks, but if itās someone who genuinely wants nothing or that kind, then they might just end up with no mark at all. Iām kinda in the middle honestly lol
Chapter 5:
ā¦ Catraās opening lines here mirror her opening lines in the breakup convo with Tallstar because sheās in a spiraling hell loop and is too depressed to ever break free or grow from it :)
ā¦ I have a fewā¦ not quite callbacks to Tip Of Her Tongue? But there is a plot point about a breakdown haircut, and Catra has more sexual experience than Adora, and Adora does strap Catra, so there are some parallels XD And I really liked doing a different take on it six years later, my writing has developed a lot but I still love that fic sm
Chapter 6:
ā¦ I didnāt actually know that scorpions glow under black light until She-ra and I always thought it was a cool fun fact and did exactly nothing with it outside of In The Great Beyond (which also barely references it lol), so I thought bringing it in for soulmarks would be a super fun way to finally utilize it!
It also introduces a parallel between Scorpia, who canāt show her mark and desperately wants to meet and marry her soulmate, and Perfuma, who hides hers on purpose because she wants to love her soulmate for who they are before she loves them for being her soulmate.
ā¦ Perfumaās philosophy around soulmates slowly developed as she realized she was trans and came out. She felt the magic of discovering who she was, how the world feels totally different when sheās living as who she is (cough not depressed cough), and she wants to experience that with her soulmate. She never showed nor actively hid it growing up, she decided she was going to keep it secret until she had fallen in love in high school. Perfumaās not exactly a shy person, but she also is still working on getting comfortable with her body, so she and Glimmer had a vague conversation and then just took steps to ensure Perfumaās privacy with her body when she needs it and Glimmer had never seen her soulmark as a result. She also hasnāt seen Scorpiaās either so it didnāt really matter lol
ā¦ The friend groups are kind of siloed, Seamista know and occasionally hang out with both Catradora and Glimbow, but usually Mermista independently hangs out with Catra and Adora hangs out with Sea Hawk just based on when and where their classes are, although anywhere Mermista is, Sea Hawk eventually shows up, even if itās because he was there all along knowing sheād come lol. Catra usually hangs out with Scorpia completely independently. Glimbow hang out with Catradora fairly evenly, although Catra actually spends more time with Bow this semester because of their classes even though she was friends (āfriendsā) with Glimmer first. Perfuma (currently) isnāt really attached to the friend group and just happens to see them around Glimmer as her roommate. Entrapta almost exclusively knows Catra and at one point Catra was convinced she lived there because she had never seen her outside of its walls. They donāt plan to hang out or anything, it just naturally happens when theyāre in the lounge/lab/same class, etc.
Chapter 7:
ā¦ āYour soulmate doesnāt deadā¦ I was here first,ā was actually āYour soulmate doesnāt deserve you, I was here firstā but Catra was notttttt speaking real words by that point.
ā¦ Catra deep down knew from this kiss onwards that Adora had feelings for her and might even want to date, but she was convinced those feelings were shallow (romantically) and that Adora would still eventually fall in love with her soulmate, so she just mentally (and verbally) shut it down immediately and pretended they both didnāt mean anything by it.
Chapter 8:
ā¦ āAdora would have to be some super human goddess to move itā Iāll do that improper use of she-ra smut one day, probably.
ā¦ The show was diabolical for having Catra tell Shadow Weaver āAdora is just confusedā in season one like okay I see you homophobia reference. Anyway it gets added to Catraās spiral here :)
Chapter 9:
ā¦ Catra is so used to feeling bad that she misread the absence of it as dissociation that would lead to a crash. And I mean she was a little out of it, but not like she thought.
ā¦ āAdora is rolling over for her and sheās going to eventually resent herā Yeah the thing sheās rolling over on is you not having a romantic relationship. Thereās a really easy way to fix that without causing any more issues that youāre never going to believe.
ā¦ Adoraās wrist itching because she knows about and feels negatively towards her soulmateā¦ versus Catraās mark flushing and feeling warm because she doesnāt know about it and sheās so in love with Adoraā¦ā¦.. Yes good. Oh sorry I mean itās ādebunkedā dw about it.
ā¦ Alright confession #1 lol. Adora asking Catra to leave a date sheās on was actually an idea from Joy Or Regret. It was in a very different form in that fic, but I ended up ditching that idea early because I didnāt like the implications. It was supposed to be the final leg of the fic when Catra was āfinding herselfā post-rejection and was dating girls for the first time until Adora believed her and couldnāt take seeing her with other girls. That entire arc was supposed to be different to my memory starting with their kiss and rejection taking a different tone so Catra thought Adora really wasnāt interested in dating her any time soon and it was her fault for taking this long to unlearn the mental block of āI was in love with someone I thought was a man before so I must be straight and gross for liking Adora nowā and realize actually she was not being transphobic to like Adora all along. Catraās dating arc was supposed to be the mirror to Adora ādatingā Starla in high school, but I wanted something happier and more accepting for them when I started hammering that fic out.
If I like an idea (a snippet of dialogue, an arc, etc), then I usually save it in my snippets folder for later. Because I was planning both fics at the same time (and trying to decide which one to actually write lol), I already knew there was a much better home for that idea where I could dive into the angst of it without any harmful implications, so I just moved it right to Patchworkās folder lol. It feels weird to talk about how hesitant the implications made me when Iām including it in another fic for the same pairing also set in college with both of them wanting to date each other but feeling like they canāt for an outside reason, but 1) like I said they needed acceptance by that point in Joy or Regret, not prolonged drama, 2) I was already nervous to do that fic anyway (and right to because I did have to turn anon off- wait hang on Iām realizing Iāve only gotten hate for my fics where Adora is trans?? Not with Catra, Bow, etcā¦ Well that has implications I donāt have time to unpack right now but Iām sure we can all start to imagine the reasoning for. Wild. What was I talking about?)
ā¦ Catra was worried about the cheating thing ever since Tallstar made that comment while breaking things off, so when Adora brought it up she did get worried that Adora wouldnāt trust her/take her intentions seriously, which is why she - frankly terribly - tried to assure Adora that she wouldnāt cheat on someone she was exclusive with.
ā¦ This is the kind of shit I have to unravel from my notes when writing:
Always, i think. O not8?3: whenevwr t got pointed out - when people startted talkong about your ma4k and high achool and auddenly i couldnt make myself believe in t)3' much. And then veeyone of y984 hilrfriends has made it hardee t9 push down
Blehhhh cat4-/: response physical or verbal here
Like come on lmao. This is from the initial outline of the confession so it didnāt end up making it into the fic but yeah this is what Iām working with in my outlines.
Chapter 10:
ā¦ Adora ābarelyā bit Catra because she was actually going to do it and then second-guessed herself and stopped but already was far enough along for Catra to think she was just doing it terribly.
ā¦ I wrote this smut with a sutured up perforated gut lining <3 #justgirlythings no fr was not a sexy headspace but I also couldnāt wait to be feeling good enough for that idea to sound fun again š
Chapter 11:
ā¦ Ok so if you missed it, an anon somehow guessed this fic had bloodplay in it before I posted a Thing about it except that it a kink I had kind of written something adjacent to but never actually committed to. Unlike the anon that somehow one-shot Start Your Engines based on CH1, their reasoning actually had nothing to do with the actual reason lol I just knew all along it was going to be a scene that took a lot to write and I was going to need to have enough energy and be excited for it. And then I got a hole punched in my gut. Oops.
ā¦ Oh similarly, right before I posted Chapter 12 someone suddenly sent me an ask about Perfuma, who Iām pretty sure hadnāt been mentioned since Chapter 2, and the timing was insanely coincidental with me just writing the set up for her soulmark reveal. I donāt know how that timing even worked out but it did make me feel less worried about it not coming up for so long lol. I couldnāt have them find out before Catra found out she and Adora were soulmates or it would have added an entire arc from her new crashout so it just had to simmer and that let Catraās reaction to it be used to show her maturing attitude towards soulmates.
ā¦ I loooooved the theorizing, and I noticed it kind of fell into two camps: where people were guessing the story/I was going, and the direction people wanted/would take the story themselves when writing. Something I saw pop up a few times was the sentiment of "I kind of hope theyāre not soulmates because I love them rejecting fate" paired with "but these two are such soulmates." Yes. Agree. LOL. I can't see a universe where these two aren't soulmates in the romantic, mystical sense of the word, it was just a question of what logic actually places the marks.
Something I didn't bring up a lot during this was that I already have a soulmarks AU where Adora has a different soulmate and Catra has none. I'm sure a good number of my readers have read it before, but I didn't want to bring attention to it by bringing it back up and have people try to use that as a "solve" for this fic. In that fic, soulmarks help you find people who are going to be important to you. Usually, the most important person in the world to you, but after finding out she has a throuple mark with a man (the BFS), Adora decides that there's no life where she and Catra weren't intertwined from the start of their memories, so Adora has that soulmark to keep her from just walking by two people who would have just ended up being strangers to her if they didn't have the marks to make them stop, recognize, and connect with each other.
That's an AU I already wrote, so the rules for this AU were never going to be same, which is why I didn't want to call attention to it. In this AU, your soulmate can be a romantic, or platonic, or familal bond, but it's someone who either matches you in such a deep way you can understand each other like no one else could, or someone you would be a completely different person without. Catra and Adora are that to each other. It was really important to me that yeah, they're soulmates, but before they ever knew that, they chose each other. That they make the choice to defy fate, and that action is just as powerful with Adora's soulmark matching a stranger as it is with them actually being soulmates, because it's an action that they took when they didn't know the difference. Even they struggle with feeling like that choice was negated, but it really wasnāt. It was a hard choice to make. Discovering they were soulmates just meant they didn't have to keep fearing that was the wrong choice for the rest of their lives.
Quite frankly, Catra was way too fucked up in this AU for them to not be soulmates. It was going to eat her alive waiting for and fearing the eventual appearance of Adora's soulmate. It didn't matter how long it took, she was ALWAYS going to fear it.
ā¦ Okay so. Admission time. Admission I probably shouldnāt even make because itās almost too āhow the sausage gets madeā.
Catraās mark was supposed to be fine. When I incepted this AU, the mark always was there and just blended into her skin well until Adora accidentally found it during sex. Iād toyed with the concept of it being damaged only briefly before deciding that would cause obvious damage to her coat and dismissing it. Then when I was writing Chapter 11 it justā¦ happened. Adora just saw white. Burn marks appeared on the page. When I say I write directly into my Word doc this is exactly what I mean. Part of the delay with posting Chapter 11 was deciding if I wanted to keep it, but it led to two very different endings for the fic, but my fingers had magically found the way to do it without breaking up her coat and mkaing it obvious soā¦ I kept it. And then had to make a lot of adjustments to the vague shape of the ending in my head, obviously none of the Weaver stuff was there, so I approached Perfumaās and Scorpiaās soulmarks completely differently too. Originally the fic ended before the end of the semester, but I like this ending a lot better, so good job on my fingers. But yeah, actively considered, then unplanned, then reappeared lol. Thatās my secret for this fic.
Chapter 12:
ā¦ I change my mind on whole scarred Catraās mark like every day. Like I know but then what I know changes. You know. Anyway it doesnāt matter because they never find out lmao. What I will say is that Catraās biological parents were not soulmates, were not supposed to have a child, and were always struggling with what they would do with her. Theyāre also dead. Catra doesnāt know that about her dad, she does know it about her mom. She also had two foster homes before landing at Shadows, got kicked out of the first one for behavior issues and moved to the second that was supposed to be able to handle her before she injured her foster siblings too much just trying to play before she landed at Shadows. So technically there are at least four suspects.
Chapter 13:
ā¦ Perfumaās mark is right below her boobs in the center, like where a bra band would sit and a semi-popular placement for tattoos IRL. Itās actually just high enough to peak over a band and curl up the underside of her boobs (she was a little nervous about it getting distorted when she transitioned), but Catra saw enough to suspect that she knew that mark already.
ā¦ Mermista had seen Adora at the library like, every time she went there recently, so she figured it was a good spot to give her something without Catra present. She knew about the soulmates thing (obviously), but they didnāt tell anybody else that they had tried to go back to talk to Weaver, so she had no idea what Adora was researching and figured she was so stressed because of finals and the big change with Catra.
ā¦ Okay so like the thing with soulmates in this universe isnāt that youāre romantically destined or two halves of the same soul dramatically split, but that who you are is naturally intertwined. Like if you were a computer program you would have 90% of the same code or any missing function you have can be perfectly called from your soulmate class and vice verse. This simile has gotten off track. ANYWAY. This can be a good or a bad thing. Entrapta, Darla, and Hordak are a good example of this but I never was able to fit it in the fic because look at how much it expanded already š I really wanted to explore all the fucked up angles of soulmates though so I really wish I had been able to weave it in, but Catra wasnāt close enough with Entrapta for it to feel like anything but exposition dumps to include more than I did. Here it is though:
For Hordak, having a similar soul is a bad thing, because his soulmate is his older brother, who has always used the differing parts of his soul to be abusive and evil lmao. Hordak has some of his anger tendencies, but on the lighter end of the spectrum. When he came to college he was trying to extract himself from that situation and thatās how he ended up clinging onto Entrapta.
Entrapta and Darla are soulmates not because theyāre destined to be romantically but because (Entrapta created her in canon) I mean because they grew up closely together being bullied for their autistic traits and thus retreated into each other for support because they felt like they were a freak to everyone else. They eventually ended up dating for similar reasons, but neither of them really experience romantic impulses the same way the other soulmates in the fic typically do. Entrapta and Darla donāt develop any problems, but Entrapta does end up bonding with Hordak separately. I donāt actually know how the love triangle ends lol I know they do try to both date Entrapta at once and it probably does not go perfectly, but thatās why the mention of them got circled back around on here. And none of them are hand-holdy people but Entrapta was commanding Hordak around āRatatouille-styleā (except she wasnāt pulling his hair, she was just pointing places and he was going lmao) because she forgot to eat and almost fainted standing up. Hordak was taking her to the cafeteria with some detours.
If you saw the version of this that said Emily no you didn't <3
ā¦ Perfuma does kind suspect something ish? But she also talks herself out of suspecting something subconsciously because she wants the magic. Her and Scorpia talk via DMs all summer and by the time they get back to school Perfuma strongly suspects Catra set them up now but sheās ready to show Scorpia her mark and she even brought a blacklight with her so Scorpia could do the same.
ā¦ Catra does āhypotheticallyā propose at the end of the summer and Adora does wear the ring an annoying amount because sheās doing it to flaunt Catra. Glimmer calls it their promise ring to make fun of them lol
Iāve been working on this so long I genuinely do not remember any differences with the outline I havenāt already talked about LOL
Meta:
Writing process autopsy
Upcoming:
In my heart the next fic is a oneshot. Thatās how I envision it. I worry it could be hard to read that way due to a specific idea Iāve not committed to so I wonāt talk about it lol but Iāve thought of actually making it chapters and asking people to just use the āview entire workā button by default but I know basically no one is going to do that lol so Iāve got to decide what Iām going to do and then how to implement it. Anyway.
Iāve still gotta cull this from all the random ideas I threw on here, but this is a threat <3
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
ā Live Streamingā Interactive Chatā Private Showsā HD Qualityā Free Actions
Free to watch ā¢ No registration required ā¢ HD streaming
sneak peek time!! this is for my fic āit's me and my tv against the worldā. it doesn't really have spoilers per se, but itās big shot era!Spamton. NSFW & objectum. uhh idk what else to say, im embarrassed
Spamton checked his watch for what must have been the fortieth time, wondering how much longer Vivienne intended to chat with that impossibly beautiful but severe woman. She was always frowning and impeccably dressed, but he could never remember her name. Something with a C, he was fairly certain.
Interesting taste the Queen had.
After fourteen hours of meetings, his eyes had given up any real hope of staying open, and he suspected he might simply fall asleep standing up, right there in the car park with his briefcase still in hand.
Being a big important person drained your soul, scooped it out with a tiny silver spoon and served it to people who wouldn't even remember your name. At least the spoon was nice. Pity about the soul, really.
A yawn overtook him so completely that the briefcase found its own way to the asphalt, freeing both hands to brace against the Cungadero, letting his faithful friend take the weight of his body without complaint. He'd been awake for twenty hours. Twenty hours of handshakes and small talk and remembering which fork to use.
Bodies did strange things when you pushed them past their limits, they forgot how to stand, how to think, how to keep the blood from rushing somewhere inconvenient the moment you pressed against something familiar. Entirely indifferent to his suffering, or so Spamton assumed until the Cungaderoās doorhandle caught the fabric of his trousers.
A finger hooking into his belt loop and tugging him closer. His body decided that still wasn't enough, pressed was better than leaning, friction was better than stillness, and he found himself rolling forward once, experimentally grinding against the door panel that sent a jolt through him so sharp he had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from making a sound.
What the hell he thought he was doing, rutting against his own car while Vivienne could appear at any moment. Although, to be fair, she probably wouldn't be entirely surprised. She knew, from Spamtonās own mouth no less, that heād given himself a hickey with a vacuum cleaner as a teenager.
It was pathetic, grinding against a door handle in darkness while his business partner chatted away inside. The knowledge of his own absurdity should have killed the arousal dead in its tracks but instead it seemed to feed it, because here he was, doing it again, much slower this time, letting the metal ridge drag along the length of him. Wishing the door handle would curl fingers around him and squeeze.
Look at you, Spamton told himself. Twenty hours in a boardroom and this is what you do with the first minute alone?
And the truly ridiculous thing was that he'd been meaning to see a doctor about this. Weeks now, heād been telling himself it was stress, the insomnia, the shrimp cocktail dinners that passed for nutrition. Nothing had stirred below the belt in so long he'd started to blame the endless cortisol.
Yet here he was. Exhausted and starved. And hard as a gearshift.
The Cungadero finally released the lock for its owner. Spamton preferred to imagine the car was letting him in because it wanted him inside, had been waiting all day just like he had, patient and ready to receive him. Whether entering a vehicle could be compared to entering a cathedral was a difficult question, but the hush that greeted him felt holy enough to count.
Both left you alone with your sins in the dark.
āEccomi, amore mio. I know, I know, I left you out here in the cold. Let me make it up to you.ā
Iād drive you to the coast, Spamton thought, one hand drifting to his belt. Iād take you apart on an empty road where no one could hear us. Every bolt, every wire, every hidden thing inside you that no one else has ever touched. Iād push you until the speedometer begged.
His fingers found their target through the fabric and he groaned against the wheel.
Or Iād simply climb into your back seat and show you what a man can do with nothing but desperation and a very, very patient automobile.
Slowly, he slipped two fingers into the air vent, past the first knuckle, then the second, feeling the cool plastic grip him. āSo tight,ā he breathed. āyou'd squeeze me just like this, wouldn't you? I'd have to work for it. I'd make it worth your while.ā
You'd let me do anything. You're so good. So patient. So fucking beautiful just sitting here waiting for me to come back.
He let himself moan, imagining the Cungadero was the one touching him, the seatbelt tightening across his chest like a lover's arm. The car took every whimper he gave, swallowed them, asked for more, greedy thing that it was.
Spamtonās hips rolled forward against nothing. Itās alright. There would be so much time to think of all the other ways he could show his beloved thing exactly how devoted he was.
He'd barely begun to imagine what else his tesoro might let him do, how loudly it might purr, when his phone rang.
Mikeās name burned across the screen, forcing Spamtonās rhythm to stutter. Damn Mike who always sensed the exact moment Spamton was about to have something for himself.
His other hand, the one not currently occupied, twitched toward the phone on instinct, because you answered when Mike called. Mike had trained that into him, and the training didn't just vanish because your brain was foggy with want.
But the carās leather creaked beneath him, and Spamton imagined it was protest. Jealousy. The Cungadero wanted him all to itself and resented every second his attention was elsewhere.
āShh,ā he breathed, pressing his palm flat against the dashboard, soothing. āShh, I know, I know. He doesn't get to interrupt us. He doesn't get to have this. You're the only one who takes me this well, aren't you?ā
A missed call was a conversation later, and conversations later were always worse.
āYou're right... He can wait,ā Spamton kissed the steering wheel's centre. āHe can wait while I finish what I started with you. You've been so patient all day, haven't you? Sitting out here in the cold while I shook hands and pretended I wasn't counting the minutes until I could come back to you. You deserve my attention more than he does.ā
His thumb, clumsy with haste, fumbled the phone. He was sure he didn't pick up.
Mike could choke on his own demands for all Spamton cared right now.
