#[ and is much much nicer and more REAL with others and HERSELF for once !!! ]

[bloodthirstyflower]

like this for a starter with prison verse dollie   !!!   capping at 3 for now. 

[pupyuj]

→ “magic words.” || jang wonyoung x reader fic.

— what was supposed to be a simple tutoring session turns into something more when the most popular student in the campus, jang wonyoung, opts to teach you a completely different lesson...

word count: 4.7k.

dynamic: dom!mean girl!jang wonyoung x sub!nerd!virgin!reader.

content warnings: smut, praise kink, mommy kink, overstimulation, semi-exhibitionism, fingering, begging.

requested ? : nope.

a/n: this one has some sort of a plot so it takes a while to get to the smut part,, hope this one was okay! (jang wonyoung pls marry me.)

next: your colorful secrets.

jang wonyoung was late.

you didn’t know why you were even disappointed. what did you expect from someone with her social status? rich, popular, and a bit of a snob… which was why it was a surprise when you managed to convince her to help you study for an english project. you really didn’t know how you did it. when your professor had told you that being aided by someone who was near fluent in the language could help, the only person that came to mind was wonyoung. she studied abroad once, has the top grades in class, and still looked somewhat more approachable than aeri uchinaga (the other student that could’ve helped you).

or maybe it was just your big dumb crush on the campus princess that willed you to talk to her on that miraculous day, but that’s completely unrelated to your current dilemma.

after five more minutes of waiting, you started feel disheartened. what if she was just playing a joke on you? it’s not like wonyoung was an angel; you’ve heard horror stories about some of the fucked up shit she has done in her time in the campus and even before that. so there was definitely a possibility that she tricked you into believing that she was truly into the idea of spending time with who was essentially a nobody, like you.

ten minutes passed, now you were just really, really sad. but your pride was too big, you didn’t want to walk out of that room looking heartbroken. what if wonyoung and her douchebag friends were waiting on the other side to laugh at you? you shuddered at the idea. you already face so much humiliation and scrutiny from being different than everyone else in this school when really they should be all like you: hardworking, passionate, and actually try to give a fuck about their studies instead of just partying every weekend.

twenty minutes later, well — you were nearly passed out. you rested your head on your arms, blinking sleepily at the lights that you dimmed slightly earlier. you decided that you were going to take a short nap, and then you’ll get to work on your own. screw wonyoung and her joke promises. you were hoping that the rumors weren’t true, that people just made them up because they were jealous of her and her money, her brains, and that pretty little face and those beauty marks and those unnecessarily attractive slender fingers. but she really is just like everyone else.

needless to say, you fell asleep. and you don’t exactly know for how long, because when you were shaken awake by someone, your head was seemingly in another dimension. you lifted your head from your arms and yawned softly, earning a laugh from whoever it was that woke you up. you rubbed your eyes, blinked, and tried to identify the person standing by the side of your desk and— oh, shit.

“w-wonyoung?” you asked with your eyes wide, staring at the tall, gorgeous girl clad in expensive attire that smiled down at you. were you dreaming about her again?

“the one and only,” jang wonyoung takes off her jacket and folds it neatly, putting it on one of the unoccupied seats across the table. “i know i’m super late. i had to find a real reason to come here other than, you know, just for shits and giggles. you should thank gaeul-sunbae for talking some sense into me.” oh. she couldn’t have said that in a nicer way?

“okay…” you murmured, nervously picking on the lint on your clothes for no reason.

wonyoung settles herself beside you, sipping on a cup of iced coffee. she slides a full cup to your side of the table, “that should wake you up.”

“you didn’t have to get me one…” you replied timidly but accepting the cup nonetheless.

“oh, i didn’t. gaeul-sunbae got that for you and told me to give it to you because apparently, it was the least i could do for making you wait for over an hour. huh,” wonyoung puts down her cup, leaned back on her chair, and looked at you, smirking. you tried your hardest not to blush at the way her eyes completely raked over your figure. you shifted uncomfortably on your seat, suddenly finding your skirt too short or your uniform too tight. “maybe she has a crush on you. ha! well, that’s quite a jump. from that hot soccer captain in that other university, ahn yujin-ssi, to you.” wonyoung giggles.

god, really? you held back the urge to groan, or roll your eyes, and just smiled awkwardly at her. you were seriously regretting having that dumb crush on her. she was pretty, but her mouth and the things that come out of it made it hard to truly like her.

“i doubt that…” you said, picking up your pen and opening up a novel. the very same novel you had a hard time understanding, and the very same novel that you hoped wonyoung would help you understand but that didn’t seem likely now. seeing that all she wants to do is insult you.

wonyoung doesn’t say anything else, merely fishing out her phone from her bag and silently scrolling up, completely forgetting the reason she was here in the first place. you sighed, tired eyes skimming through the words in your novel. every single word you read just went over your head, and you really hoped wonyoung would notice how helpless you looked but she was… well, she was taking photos of herself. you took your eyes off your novel to do nothing but stare at her. truthfully, you would also drop everything to take photos of yourself if you were wonyoung because she did look particularly good in this day.

“why do you even need me? you’re supposed to be super smart. aren’t you on scholarship at this school?” wonyoung suddenly asked while still posing. you flinched, immediately turning back on your novel in hopes that wonyoung wouldn’t know that you have been staring this entire time. 

(she did. but whatever. everybody stares at her.)

“t-that’s exactly why i need you, though,” you said. wonyoung chuckles. you blushed at what your words may have implied. “i want to keep that scholarship, but i-i’m not that very good at english and you’re… you’re great so i thought you could help…”

wonyoung closes her phone and puts it down, “well, aren’t you adorable. i kinda get why gaeul-sunbae is obsessed with you. don’t tell her i said that.” were you some kind of inside joke between her and gaeul or something? you doubted that the popular senior actually gave a damn about you, so maybe wonyoung was just pulling words out of her perfectly fine ass.

you really needed to stop talking like that.

“don’t start crying now. i’ll help.” wonyoung brings her chair closer to yours. maybe a bit too close for your liking, but her perfume calmed your senses so you appreciated the lack of respectable distance nonetheless. she takes your novel from your hands and without a word, she examines it. the front cover, the back, the first few pages, and the chapter you were reading. you watched intently as she did her work, and you couldn’t hold back squirming in your seat because of course jang wonyoung looks fucking hot when she starts taking things seriously.

her eyes flicker back onto yours and she catches you staring. you didn’t even make an effort to look away. it was too late anyway. wonyoung wordlessly stared back at you, eyes completely devoid of emotion so you couldn’t tell whether she was annoyed of you for staring or not.

“this isn’t what we’re studying in class.” wonyoung said.

“n-no. i’m reading it for myself. i want to write a thesis on it.”

“a what? so, you’re saying you’re doing this for fun? you have that much time?” wonyoung looks at you in disbelief. she puts down your book, almost offended at this reveal.

“that’s how i study. if i can’t prove to myself that i understand whatever i’m doing then i pretty much failed at that subject.” you confessed.

wonyoung groans, throwing her head back. you stared shamelessly at the curve of her neck, and had this sudden urge to kiss her. what the fuck. “i thought you were going to write a dissertation with how you made this whole thing sound so urgent yesterday. turns out it’s just a cute little project, and for yourself! you’re wasting my time, you know.” the tall girl said.

again, you felt sad. you grabbed the book from her side of the table and pouted as you looked at the cover, “w-well, you’re free to leave if that’s what you think…”

“you won’t cry?” wonyoung asked. you took note of the teasing evident in her voice and rolled your eyes.

“why would i—”

you looked at her and found your words getting stuck to your throat. it was weird, because wonyoung was literally just sitting there and yet she looked so… there's really no other way to put it in your lovesick little head. wonyoung looked regal. arms crossed, sly smile, eyes shining with mischief, and one long leg crossed over the other, hiking up her skirt just a little. you immediately looked away, but you were too late. wonyoung knew exactly where you were looking at.

“oh, i see,” wonyoung giggles and leaned forward, propping her arm up on the table and putting her chin on her palm. you avoided her stare, but you couldn't hide your red ears. “gaeul-sunbae’s gonna be really disappointed to hear about this.”

“please, stop with that. gaeul-sunbaenim is not interested in me.” you say in an attempt to divert her attention.

well, much to your dismay, wonyoung wouldn’t let up just like that. she completely disregards what you were saying. “i guess you’re kinda cute. in an almost pitiful way.” she says, eyes examining your features way too intently. “intelligent, decent, and you don’t dress that bad…” the tall girl continues on, taking note of the accessories you have on your wrists, neck, and hair.

you really didn’t know if she expected you to thank her.

“i’d say innocent too, but that's not all true, is it?” wonyoung moves closer, her perfume once again wafting into your nose and nearly intoxicating you. she places a pretty hand on your thigh, smirking at the way you flinched and hid behind your book. “since i’ve lost interest in whatever you actually want to do, how about we do something that’s actually worth my time?” she says, prying your book off of your hands and putting it on the table.

“i-i can’t skip classes. i was serious when i told you that i want to keep my scholarship—”

“don’t worry. you won’t be stepping a foot outside of your beloved school for this activity.”

see, there were a lot of things that you didn’t believe were true in the world. one of them being your brother allegedly not being free earlier this morning to give you a ride to school because he had something important to do, when you knew he just wanted to play video games until he had to leave for his classes. and now, you have something you can add on the list: jang wonyoung kissing you.

you were waiting to be woken up again, convinced that this was all just a very detailed and prolonged dream. but wonyoung bites your lower lip and nothing happens. other than you moaning softly, obviously.

“i knew you’d like this.” wonyoung mutters before grabbing you by your necktie and pulling you closer. her tongue tasted like coffee, mint, and peaches, and her lips were so, so soft. you were on cloud nine; how many people can say their totally unattainable crush kissed them first?

still, despite liking wonyoung’s lips and the warm feeling on your chest, you couldn’t help but gasp and move away once her hand squeezed your breast.

“what?” wonyoung asked, a bit annoyed.

“w-what are you doing?” you asked back, wrapping your arms around yourself.

“...trying to fuck you? i don’t understand what was so misleading about my intent there.” wonyoung says, looking at you like you were the crazy one.

“how is sex so casual to you and your friends…?” you mumbled. you said all that but the thought of wonyoung touching you like that made you feel certain things in your lower region that you really did not want to know about. or maybe you did, but you were just terrified.

wonyoung, utterly confused, quirked up an eyebrow. “why wouldn’t it be to you? wait,” the tall girl takes another second to look at your bright red cheeks, and the way you squeezed your thighs together presumably to calm that feeling in your core. and then she laughs. “of fucking course, you’re a virgin.”

having your crush find out that you haven’t been touched all your life and laugh at your face about it was not in your bingo card.

“that’s putting it lightly… you’re even my first kiss.” you admitted. you absentmindedly touched your lips with your fingers, smiling as you remembered the way wonyoung’s felt when she had been kissing you.

the tall girl stares at you, there was a softer look in her eyes that made you melt. “ugh, you really are fucking cute. you’re making me feel really bad about poking fun at you earlier.” (and that was definitely new. jang wonyoung never feels bad.)

you shrugged, simply accepting that that was her personality, as brutally honest as she was. you started packing up your things half-heartedly after minutes of silence. a part of you was mad at yourself for cutting off that kiss earlier. maybe you would still be kissing wonyoung right now if you hadn’t stopped her, or maybe you’d be doing something more.

“where are you going?” wonyoung asked, looking up at you since you were now standing.

you pulled at your uniform, “y-you said this was a waste of your time so… i think i’ll just study on my own. t-thank you, though. for the coffee and… that other thing.”

just as you made a step towards the door, wonyoung stands up and catches your wrist in a tight grip. “you’re killing me, (y/n).” wonyoung muttered. she pulls you close, which causes you to drop your bag to the ground and nearly crash into her.

“because you’ve somehow managed to make me feel soft inside, you’re getting laid.”

“i’m getting what—”

“i’m gonna fuck you, (y/n). seriously, what era are you from?”

and with that, wonyoung kisses you again. she wasn’t as gentle as before. her hands were on your hair, tugging and pulling. you didn’t know where to put your hands exactly, but wonyoung noticed this somehow took one of your hands with her own and placed it on her hip. you tried to keep up with her as much as you could, not at all aware of how messy you really were with the way you kissed.

unsurprisingly, wonyoung was annoyed at this and pulled away, “this isn’t a slobbering competition. can you calm down?” she says.

“i can’t. i really like you—”

“fuck. you’re pathetic.” she kisses you again, and you really didn’t know if you should have felt insulted or flattered. a part of you wanted to see how far you could go, this was a once in a lifetime kind of thing after all, so this time around you actually tried kissing her better. wonyoung moves, she’s got your lower back pressed against the desk and her hands on either side of you while you hold her face. she lets you control the kiss, smiling slightly since she found you so, so endearing.

wonyoung sneaks a leg in between your thighs and presses her knee against your buzzing core, making you moan into her mouth. she takes off your school-issued blazer and throws it mindlessly in some unknown corner, then she takes your necktie and slowly tugs you towards the small couch in the room, all while keeping her lips on yours. she unfortunately breaks the kiss and sat down on the soft cushion, leaving you standing in front of her, confused and out of breath.

wonyoung leans back on the couch, smirking, “come on, baby. give me a show.”

you didn’t know what she meant, and you were too afraid of turning her off by asking. but by the way she licked her lips as her eyes scanned you up and down, you just did the next best thing you could’ve thought of doing. you pulled off your necktie and you must’ve done something right because wonyoung’s smirk only widened, urging you to continue on undressing yourself. next, you started unbuttoning your white shirt, revealing your silky cream-colored bra. and finally, you pulled off your panties, just so you wouldn’t have a hard time doing it later.

wonyoung was more of an open book than you expected because it was quite easy to tell that she really like what she was seeing.

patting her lap, wonyoung beckons you over, “sit.” she said. you let your shirt fall to the floor and did as you were told, settling yourself on the taller girl’s lap. you shuddered at the feeling of her thigh against your bare cunt, and fought the urge to ride her.

“it’s always the quiet and nerdy girls like you, hm? hiding all of this behind a book and some straight A’s…” wonyoung’s pretty hands explore your body; from your back, your chest, your stomach, and to your thighs. she enjoyed the way you shivered and slightly moved yourself, desperate for some friction in that area. she plants a small kiss on your collarbone before smiling up at you and attacking your neck. she sneaks a hand underneath your skirt and palms your dripping pussy, her long fingers parting your folds and her thumb just barely brushing your clit.

your soft moans filled the air as wonyoung marks you up. she favored your chest, leaving hickies all over it. she leans back, staring at her work proudly. you took her face in your hands, tilting her head up slightly and then putting your lips on hers. you could feel her smiling as she kissed you back. she found your enthusiasm entertaining, but she was glad she wouldn’t have to do all the work. you boldly pushed your tongue past her parted lips, bravely exploring her mouth. your heart starts beating erratically upon hearing wonyoung’s muffled moans. her voice was so pretty.

suddenly, wonyoung inserts a finger knuckle deep inside you, making you gasp into her mouth and pull away from her lips. the tall girl laughed, “that caught you off guard?” as if she wasn’t looking directly at your widened eyes and gaping mouth. wonyoung pulls her single finger out slowly and pushes it back in, watching as your face contorted from the tiniest bit of pain you were feeling.

“one more?” she asks, but she doesn’t give you a chance to reply and goes ahead and inserts a second finger, making you whine and hug her. wonyoung giggles against your chest as she quickens her pace, relishing in the feeling of her fingers smoothly going in and out of you. the pain was quick to go away, and soon enough you only felt pleasure.

“you’re so tight, baby,” wonyoung wraps her free arm around your waist to keep you steady. she curls her fingers inside you and you moan loudly in her ear. “i’m glad i got to you first. i guarantee you nobody else can fuck a pretty little thing like you as good as i can.”

wonyoung looks up, staring at your features while you try to keep yourself as quiet as you can. the walls weren’t soundproof after all, and the librarian could very well just open the door and invite herself in to check on the students occupying the room. upon realizing this, you threw a quick glance at the door, worried out of your mind. wonyoung notices and gives you a kiss on the cheek to grab your attention, and she was successful.

“nobody will care. plus, you’re with me. you’ll be fine,” she said. she holds onto your waist tighter as she moves her fingers even faster. you clutched onto her shirt, biting your lip but unsuccessfully holding your moans back. “be as loud as you want, baby. let this whole school know who’s fucking you.”

wonyoung couldn’t even begin to tell you how turned on she was right now. you were falling apart before her eyes, the prim and proper (y/n) (l/n) being reduced to this… and knowing that it was all for her… wonyoung doesn’t know if she could hold herself back from completely ruining you on the spot.

“mmhn… ahh— mommy..! mommyy…”

well, shit.

wonyoung was pleasantly surprised. she chuckles, “what? say that again, love.”

you shook your head, embarrassed. “it… it just—fuck—it just slipped out.. i’m sorry…”

wonyoung presses her thumb on your clit and rubs it roughly, “say it.” you whined loudly. that felt too good.

blinded by pleasure, you fulfill wonyoung’s wish. “m-mommy… mommy, ruin me, please…!” you started moving your hips, meeting wonyoung’s thrusts and somehow it made everything feel better by about a hundred percent.

wonyoung was considerably happy. “good girl. can you take one more?” again, she asks but she doesn’t wait for you to answer. now three of her long fingers were inside you, just completely pounding into you mercilessly. the tall girl watched as you basically fucked yourself into her hand. shit, she could cum by the sight of you alone. you were even more beautiful when you were a mess… wonyoung has to fuck you more after this.

“this is a better look for you… none of that honor student bullshit. don’t you like being fucked stupid like this?” wonyoung says, once again curling her fingers and smirking as you throw your head back in pleasure.

you managed to choke out an answer. “yes, mommy… i do, i do…”

never in your life did you ever expect to be calling your crush, the untouchable jang wonyoung no less, such a nickname and even more so, getting fucked by her in a semi-public setting! you were sure to get weird looks from people who might be outside, and the news will spread like wildfire of course but you didn’t care for any of that. not right now, at least. because why else would you think of anything but the girl who was taking you to the stars?

“feels good, yeah? want more, baby?” wonyoung was saying. she herself was getting her panties soaked the faster you were riding her fingers, but she was going to have to take care of her own problem later. she couldn’t take her eyes off of you, after all.

“mmhn.. more…”

wonyoung clicks her tongue, “magic words.” she brings her hand down to your ass, making you whine.

you immediately comply — you were chasing after something that was unknown to you, but you desperately wanted it. and you knew only wonyoung can help you get there. “p-please, mommy… i want more…” you said, looking directly into wonyoung’s eyes and watching as her pink and plump pillowy-soft lips spread into a satisfied smile.

“mhm. you learn quickly, don’t you? what a good girl.”

fucking hell. did everything that came out of her mouth have to sound so hot?

as promised, wonyoung gives you ‘more’. she shifts herself slightly up on her seat, holds your waist in a death grip and whispers, “put your arms around me.” then, she pulls her long fingers out almost all the way before plunging their full length back inside you, deeper than it has ever gone. the sound that left your mouth loud, dirty, and wonyoung could hear the pain beneath all pleasure. 

she repeats her action, and you finally understood why she told you to hold onto her because holy fuck you were going to fall off her lap. you wrapped your arms around wonyoung’s neck and held her close, screaming into her ear every time she brushes past your sweet spot.

“w-wony.. wonyoung— mommy..! i feel weird… i feel weird, i feel weird…!!”

“shh, shh, it’s okay. it’s supposed to feel like that,” wonyoung starts kissing up your neck again, stopping directly under your jawline and leaving another hickey there. “you’re doing so good, baby. we’re almost done. just hold on for mommy, ‘kay?” she pats your ass, gently rubbing on it to ease the sting that her slap left earlier.

you shook your head, “i c-can’t… stop, stop… please..!” you were feeling too many things at once. you wanted whatever this was all leading up to but it was overwhelming. you wanted it to be over but you wanted to prove something to wonyoung, as if ‘holding on’ for longer like she asked would get you a medal from her or something.

“okay, okay… let go, then. it’s okay…”

wonyoung hits a spot and unexpectedly, the pressure in your stomach tightens and breaks in a second. your entire body stiffened as you came undone on wonyoung’s hand with a long, loud moan mixed with a sob. wonyoung shushes you gently, using her free hand to caress your back. she pulls out her other hand from your cunt, it was completely drenched with your juices.

you leaned back after getting a hold of yourself, albeit only a little, and watched as wonyoung licked her fingers. fuck. what you would give to engrave that moment in your mind.

“feeling alright?” wonyoung asked, brushing your damp hair away from your face with her dry hand. you looked exhausted and fucked out. it was hot. wonyoung’s core was throbbing like crazy. she wanted to get off to you so bad. you nodded weakly at her question, even though you didn’t look and feel ‘okay’. you were feeling a lot of fucking things, that’s what.

“t-thank you…” you said suddenly.

wonyoung tilts her head to the side, “for what?” seriously, you were so cute. with your flushed cheeks, eyes glistening with tears, and hair a big mess.

“...you know what for.” you mumbled, hiding your face in the crook of her neck. wonyoung laughs—music to your ears—and pulls you close by your waist, hugging you and kissing your bare shoulder.

the two of you stayed like that for a while, neither of you saying anything for god knows how long. you would ocassionally lift your head and wonyoung would kiss you, then softly asking if you were okay, or if you needed anything. sometimes, she just looked at you, tugging at your heartstrings and making you wonder just what she was thinking. (‘how come i have never seen you before?’)

eventually, however, it was time for both of you to leave as you had some actual studying to do and wonyoung, well, she has a party to attend. typical.

“hey, i’m giving you my number.” wonyoung says when you finally managed to make yourself look tidy and somewhat presentable. you knew that hickies were all over your neck, but you were too tired to lose your head over them.

“uh, why?” you asked, reluctantly pulling out your phone but not handing it over just yet.

“oh, no reason. i give my number away for free. it’s a thing i do.” wonyoung replies in an exaggerated tone. she snatches your phone from your hands, rolling her eyes at your apparently ridiculous question. her actions reminded you that yes, wonyoung will always be a snob through and through. even after giving you the best fuck of your life.

“ha ha.” you laughed sarcastically. you barely caught your phone when wonyoung mindlessly dropped it on your hands in retaliation. you weren’t going to lie though, having your crush put her number on your phone was a dream come true. you looked at your screen, ready to send wonyoung a quick message so she can save your number when you noticed the name she gave herself.

mommy💘

before you could say anything, wonyoung puts a single finger on your lips and winks, “call me when you need ‘help’ again, baby.”

[shieldofiron]

Steve Harrington collects strays. Everyone in town can tell. From the gaggle of barely pubescent kids following him around, to the stray cat he rescued from a tree in the parking lot of Family Video (her name is Pickle and people actually clapped when he lured her to safety.) Once Billy even saw a crow fly up and give him a gift in the middle of a conversation.

So at first, this is what he thinks Steve is doing and it’s pissing him off. Inviting Billy for sleepovers and acting all concerned when bruises bloom on Billy’s ribs and face.

“I’m not your charity case, Harrington.” He says on several occasions.

But Harrington is persistent. And so fucking pretty. And nice, nicer than Billy’d thought after that night in the fall.

Finally Billy gives up because it’s better to be a stray in Harrington’s collection than nothing at all to him.

Until one night when Steve drags him home after he (yes, a little stupidly, get off his back!) had been sleeping in his car for a few nights.

“God, I’m so… you know you can come here, Billy, so just come here,” Harrington flings off his jacket with that huff that makes Billy fall more in love with him every time. “Why do you have to fight me all the time?”

“I was fine, god, maybe sometimes I like sleeping in my car.”

“Bullshit, you do not. You told me you get all jumpy someone’s going to attack you and there’s no room in your backseat.” Harrington slams the front door, his tone dripping with condescension.

“That’s not what you said last night, Princess.” Billy jokes trying to diffuse some tension.

Harrington reacts so strongly, shoving himself up in Billy’s face. “Don’t.”

“Chill out, it’s just a joke.”

“No it’s not,” Harrington paces in a circle before putting his hands on his hips. “Why don’t you just… you piss me off so much sometimes.”

“So then leave me alone, Harrington.”

“I can’t!”

“Why?” Billy’s throat is suddenly desperately tight. Why did he say to leave him alone? What if Steve actually does? Fuck, he doesn’t want that.

Harrington runs a hand through his hair. “Because I went and fell in love with you, and now you can go punch me in the face or whatever you want but I’m not letting the man I love sleep in a car.”

Billy’s wires get all crossed, anger and desperation surging as he tries to comprehend what Steve even said. “Fuck you! You don’t get to say that to me and dangle hope in front of me just because you feel sorry for me.”

Harrington’s face gets pinched and mean. “It’s fucking true!”

Billy falters, stumbling on solid ground. “But I love you?!”

It comes out like half statement half question.

“We’ll, alright then,” Harrington throws his hands up. “We love each other. It’s settled!”

“Fine.”

“Good.”

“Great.”

“Perfect. I’ll get you something for bed.” Harrington huffs, spinning on his heel.

And just when Billy’s starting to second guess what just happened, Harrington spins back around. He buries a hand in Billy’s hair and kisses him hungrily. He kisses him like he’s going to bring down his crow army if Billy doesn’t kiss him back, so Billy does, weak kneed, sagging against the pretty decorative table in the Harrington foyer.

When they part, Harrington makes a strangled noise like he can’t bear to do it. Like he wants Billy, not for a collection. For real.

When they head up to bed together, Pickle makes herself scarce.

[jgracie]

LEO AND Y/N’S GARAGE: AUTO REPAIR AND MECHANICAL MONSTERS

masterlist | rules

in which life after camp half-blood is everything you and leo could’ve wished for

pairing husband!leo valdez x wife!athena!reader

warnings none :)

on the radio . . . this is the life (amy macdonald), keep driving (harry styles)

an i read the bit w leo and calypsos repair shop in house of hades and knew what i had to do 👩🏼‍💻

Eventually, the scent of your lineage - half mortal, half Goddess - began to wear off. What once was the bane of your existence, singling you out as ‘different’ and putting you in danger from the moment you popped out of your mother’s brain, was now a faint odour, a mere memory of the life you once led and the people you knew.

Leo didn’t wear off, though. He could never. Your relationship had been unexpected by everyone who knew the two of you. Pristine, perfect Y/N, daughter of Athena, the girl who not only stayed within the lines but drew them herself, and Leo Valdez, a messy, wild son of Hephaestus. From the moment you laid eyes on him, you knew you wouldn’t stand him. He was persistent and annoying, never giving you a moment’s peace and tearing down the walls you so carefully built around yourself. 

In the end, he grew on you, and you realised you had a lot more in common than you thought. For example, your love of machinery. For as long as you could remember, you gravitated towards wires and nuts and bolts, only stopping when you got to camp as your life became filled with training and learning about the side of the family you didn’t even know you had. You used to longingly stare at the Hephaestus kids, itching to pick up a wrench and join them as they made all sorts of weaponry. Now, you own your very own garage: Leo and Y/N’s Garage: Auto-repair and Mechanical Monsters.

It started off as a silly joke between you and Leo. You were newly graduated and after spending so much time taking care of the Godly side of your family, you forgot what life as a mortal was like. Sure, you always wanted to be a mechanic, but what now? You didn’t want to work for someone else. You spent your whole life working for other people and watching as everyone you loved had shrouds burnt for them (if they were lucky), so you thought it was only fair if you did something for yourself. 

“We could always open our own garage,” Leo had said when you voiced your thoughts that day, “‘Leo and Y/N’s Garage: Auto-repair and Mechanical Monsters’ has a nice ring to it, right?” 

You laughed, saying something along the lines of “get real, Valdez,” before deciding to help him as he cooked dinner. Little did you know, Leo was being real. The next morning, he started looking for places he could rent for your garage. A few months after that, he began furnishing it and months after that, he started advertising. Once he was sure that everything was perfect, he decided to show you his little project, a velvet box with a certain piece of very valuable metal weighing down his coat pocket.

Today marks the six year anniversary of the opening of your garage (as well as the six year anniversary of your engagement), and to say business was booming would be an understatement. It started off as a place for mortals only, they’d drop off their cars and the nicer ones would stay for a little to make small talk, marvelling at your stories of how you sailed from the US to Europe together on a ship Leo built himself (you censored a lot of your experiences, of course), but after you expanded the garage, making it almost twice as big as it was before, you thought, ‘Why not let this be a place for demigods, too?’ 

Hidden from the eyes of mortals, the second half of your garage comes to life. There, you sell weaponry, armour and anything a demigod could possibly need, as well as providing a safe haven for those who needed recuperation after a long and tiring quest. You loved meeting them all, giving them advice and comfort as proof that things do get better and not all demigods die at the age of 16. 

“Leo, have you seen Espe?” You yelled, wiping the grime from your hands as you realised your daughter had gone missing. Your son was too young to be at the garage and usually you’d stay with him, but your hands were itching for a hammer and your dear sister and brother-in-law offered to babysit, so why not let them? Your daughter was another case. She seemed to have inherited her parents’ inability to sit still and love for making things, insisting on spending all her time at work with the two of you as soon as she could walk. 

On cue, Leo waltzed into the mortal side of the garage, your first born daughter, named Esperanza after his mother, in one arm and a toolbox in the other. “She decided to amuse herself with daddy’s magic toolbelt,” he said, sitting down on a nearby stool and placing her on his lap, “summoned about 50,000 gummy bears. I’m surprised she managed to override the cooldown on it, I’ve been trying to figure that out for years”

“Gummy bear?” She asked, looking up at Leo then at you, a grin - one she clearly got from her father - gracing her lips as she suddenly seemed interested in your conversation, making the two of you break into fits of laughter, which in turn made her laugh. Did she know what she was laughing about? No, but it didn’t matter anyway.

Unbeknownst to the two of you, you were being watched. Sydney and Aaron, the two demigods you were hosting as the former’s leg healed, were going to tell you that they were good to leave tomorrow when they stopped, noticing you were having a moment.

“It’s hard to remember they’re demigods too,” Aaron began, “they seem so… normal. No chaos, no monsters, nothing,” he stared longingly at you, then down at the girl next to him. Could they have that too?

As if she read his mind, Sydney took his hand in hers and smiled, “we’ll make it, trust me. They went through a lot before this, remember? They were part of the last great prophecy. If they can do it, so can we.”

If you had told your past self that you’d marry the one boy who managed to get under your skin, start a family with him and open not just a garage, but a place where demigods could feel a sliver of normalcy, you would’ve laughed in your own face.

[sterredem]

enough for you

Lando norris x ex!Singer!reader

Face claim Olivia Rodrigo

Warning comparison, angst (not really), not proofread, spelling mistakes (as always)

Summary basically just the song enough for you

A/N no part 2. I really love this one. It’s a bit short but still one of my favs.

Don’t forget to repast and comments. And dead back is also welcome❤️💜

Twitter

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Real life

Y/n was miserable. That was to say the least.

While her relationship with Lando was at the beginning beautiful now it was… not. As the internet has seen she has changed herself. She begin to where make up. That was because she thought if she looked like the people he had dated before he would like her more. All that and all the hundreds of dollars spent on make up only for him to say he wasn’t the ‘compliment type’.

She also began reading his self-help books. That was because she wanted him to think she was smart- she was. That was besides the point, but she wanted her to seem intelligent in the things he read too.

Besides those things she did some things that he would like; she learned his coffee order, and how you can make. And she learned all his favourite songs. She now knew all of them by hard.

And still, with all that. He was an asshole. Sure he wasn’t mean but he could surtenly be nicer. Because while y/n did all those nice things, Lando just couldn’t get himself to appreciate it or acknowledge what she did.

And that is how she ended up here. Crying on the bathroom floor after she realised everything he did wrong. She realised it after seeing the comments left on her newest YouTube vlog. After that she also saw some twitter threads and then everything hit her. He was in the wrong, not her.

And she was done.

After a few hours of self pity she decided that it was time to get ready. What was she getting ready for you ask? A date with Lando…

Yeah maybe that wasn’t the best idea.

But she stood up and made herself look presentable. After waiting a few more minutes the doorbell rang and she walked to the door. There he stood. He looked good. But she knew what was to come. They greeted each other kind of awkwardly. They both knew that their relationship wasn’t the same as before.

They walked to his car and got to a restaurant where the date was.

That part of the date was alright. The part where it got wrong was when they both returned to the girls house. She invited him in and he took the invasion.

Once in and seated on the couch Lando began talking “Y/n I am so sorry to do this to you.” He began.

“Can you just get to the point?” The girl cut him off. She already had teary eyes.

“Alright. I want to break up. We just aren’t the same anymore. You are never satisfied with anything I do, and I just don’t love you anymore. I care about you as a friend, but not as a partner.” Lando said. It almost looked like he was trying to fake cry. But that happened more than once. Y/n had just accepted that he didn’t have much emotion for her once the 1 year mark passed. And that was 1 year ago.

Y/n was speechless. Well not really. But all what he had to say was ether insulting him, screaming at him or saying things she will regret. So she just waited till he soos something else. She knew that there will be something else. Thief relationship was more complicated to just leave because he ‘didn’t love her anymore’. She knew that.

“Y/n, say something. Please.” She didn’t. He repeated the sentence a few times. Every time he said it a bit louder. Until he was almost screaming. “Say something dammit! Be mad at me, scream at me, punch me. Anything! Just not silence.” Lando said. She had a suspicion why.

“Why Lando?” She whispered. Lando almost didn’t hear her. But he did. And he had a questioning look on his face.

“Why what?” He asked aloud. His voice a little softer than before.

“Why don’t you love me anymore? What is it? I know these is more to the story than you are saying.” She said. She was now talking aloud.

“I- Y/n. I am so sorry.” He said. He didn’t want to say it out loud. “I-“

“Just say it Lando! I deserve to know. You are breaking up with me. Just let me know why.” The girl said.

“Y/n. I don’t want to hurt you.” The boy said. She gave him a look. “Alright. I just- I haven’t loved you for some time. And so I just began talking to some people. And there was this girl- we didn’t do anything. But I have come to love her. I just- I am so sorry Y/n.”

That was the breaking point for the girl. She had a suspicion about it but him really saying it hurt. “Please just leave.” She said. She was now almost crying.

Lando took the hint and walked out of the room. He walked back with some paper towels for her and placed it on a table. “I will go home. I will bring your things at my house to your friend. Can you maybe packs a box with mine? You can just drop that off at mine when I am away on a racing weekend. I will put the keys of your house on the table by the front door.” Lando explained. With that he walked out of her house and placed the key on the table.

When she heard the door close she broke down. At this point she was filling crying. He found someone more exiting. All the things he had said hurt hear deep down. All she had ever wanted was to be enough for him.

Maybe she just wasn’t as interesting as all the girls before. But still- he couldn’t have cared less. She loved him more than she had ever loved someone else.

After a few more minutes of crying she stared thinking again. She didn’t want his sympathy she just wanted herself back.

She didn’t just broke her hard- he broke so much more.

She needed to think about something else. She first needed to poor her heart out and then get a distraction. But how could she do that best?

She had an idea. So she walked towards her music studio, grabbed her notebook and began writing. She sat there for a few hours. Writing, making melodies, recording voice notes and music notes. Until she almost had a whole song.

After that she called het best friend for a distraction. But not befit she had sent all the notes to her producer.

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Instagram

Liked by TaylorSwift and 4.836.836 others

Yourusername ‘Enough for you’ out now! This is a song that is very close to me. I wrote this song a time of my life where it felt like there was no hope. I hope that you will all love this song as much as I do💜

View all 206.835 comments

Taylorswift Amazing song💜

SabrinaCarpenter A real masterpiece

Y/f/n 💜💜

Charles_Leclerc Another banger Y/n!

LewisHamilton Great job Y/n👏

OscarPiastri Always a great song when it is an Y/n y/l/n song

Maxverstappen1 We do love the song as much as you💜

Carlossainz55 Isn’t that good waste?

User1 OMG SO GOOD!!

User2 SO THIS IS ABOUT LANDO??? I am now a Lando hater!

User3 OMG! There are so many drivers in the grid! I think Lando last almost all his on grid friends!

User4 BANGER

User5 💜💜💜💜💜

User6 THIS SONG IS JSYRBYSCEJSGENAUS

User7 WE LOVE IT💜💜

User8 I love how supportive her friends are (the singers and drivers)

User9 AAAAHHHH

User10 Do we maybe get moreee????

User11 YOU FOUND SOMEONE MORE EXITING

User12 THE NEXT SECOND YOU WHERE GONE

User13 This song really hits hard after a break up

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[faorism]

(really in my feels about the ot3 because of the @powerpolyculeshowdown so here's some propaganda)

parker and hardison allow eliot to be sillier. more ridiculous. outragous, even. eliot sings the stupid ditties hardison writes special for him, and he rolls his eyes at parkers pokes and prods and the occasional "accidental" face slap, and eliot can express himself for what actually bothers him no matter how nitpicky, versus having to calculate what he should say. (he still argues with hardison that throwing in on a brewpub was a stupid plan given its risk, no matter how many times hardison claims it was always a gift for him.) eliot laughs more. real laughs; you can tell because his smiles look more and more like grimaces: the way his ma perked her mouth which his dad always teased her about (though it was his favorite thing about her), rather than the wide toothy grins eliot learned because he knows, tactically, they are best for charming. parker and hardison let him not feel like he's a monster. or... parker tells him she always thought the big bad wolf had a bad rap, and hardison says some stupid shit about monsterfucking being the hip thing the kids are into these days, anyway.

hardison and eliot allow parker to feel deep. it's food that tastes like a hug and it's gadgets made just for her and it's loving and being loved and it's being one another's real families. she doessn't want to run away, anymore. or... she wants to run but with her friends beside her. or... running cons is all she's ever wanted to do, and all she did, for so long. parker is good at it. she loves it. she loves that hardison and eliot love it too. but... feeling deep is also being deep. she's no longer just her piles of money because she is no longer afraid of herself. her past. the memories that hurt. the habits she thought she needed to grow out of but always missed. these habits, like bleeping sounds that arent words and hands move move moving. hands that were once made to stay now can fly because hardison buys her fidgets and designs some just for her and keeps locks in lucille for when parker feels like infinity and needs the vibrations of ticktickticks to bring her back to herself. and eliot lets her braid and unbraid his hair; he won't let her blow dry it, not yet, but... he lets her pet his hair while it's still hot, now. it frizzes his hair a little, and parker feels her pulse rush throughout the day knowing she did that to him. eliot and hardison kiss her knuckles when they burn.

parker and eliot allow hardison to be mean. vindictive. he is nicer than he needs to be. wants to be... what he needs to be is nonthreatening, for the most part, in many places. he knows what it means to be him: tall and black and queer and gaining muscle and too smart for his own damn good and so very, very tenderhearted. hardison loves so damn deep, and he cares so damn much, but part of caring (the other side of a coin) is not giving a fuck. it's the boiling point of rage and betrayal. the i need to walk away from this fight because you are dead wrong and imma about to say something imma regret, so go fix yourself. the im not gonna forget, im not going to forgive, and im going to get my revenge. parker and eliot would not have questioned hardison's joy at securing the capture of the men that put him in that damn coffin; they hold space for him to be fully himself with all his ugly parts and his petty parts and the parts that do bring hardison shame if he thinks about it for too long. they know he's not perfect, and that? that feels like safety and love and forever to hardison.

[mangoisms]

circle k (back to you)

summary: in which you're just the graveyard shift employee at circle k bombarded by vigilantes.

━ chapter ten: there’s no way to hide it (i know what you’re fighting) | read chapter nine

━ pairing: tim drake x f!reader

━ word count: 4.6k

━ warnings: none

━ masterlist

━ a/n: sorry again </3 grad school just.... eugh. enjoy tho <3 have more end notes of me losing my mind over tim and wally's relationship too <3 also i talk a bit about wally's powers affecting reader there as well <3

Staying with Wally and Linda is… nice. 

Nicer than you thought it would be. 

Once you got over your hangups about it, anyway. And that went by quickly. It had to, because as it would turn out, being stabbed really does limit the things you can do on your own. Like pulling up your underwear and pants (and socks) after a shower and sitting up and sitting down. And picking up things from the floor if you dropped them. You ended up dropping your phone on your second day after discharge—or rather, it was going to drop, then Wally was there, snatching it mid-air and depositing it back into the (relative) safety of your hands, and it did occur to you, then, that if you had been alone, it would have become a much bigger issue.

As it was, at the moment, he just gave it back to you, settled down beside you on the couch, and started stuffing his face with chips, half-heartedly complaining about your choice in movie.

(It was Interstellar, which he ended up tearing up over, but then claimed it was just because he missed the kids. The snicker Linda let out—working at the kitchen table—assured you it was very much a bluff.) 

It still chafes, sometimes, but they like to remind you that you’ll get better eventually and be able to do those things. But until then, that’s why we’re here, isn’t it?

And it’s true. And with that, you realize… it’s really nice to be taken care of. 

It’s not... quite the same if Steph—who visits frequently when she can—was doing it, it’s something else entirely. Something… reminiscent of your parents. Your mom who took care of you when you had fevers, pressing cool towels to your forehead, and your dad who would run to the store at any time of the day to get medicine and whatever else you wanted, too. 

Linda, who, sitting at the desk working, upon noticing you feeling a bit chilly while Wally is cooking dinner, will get up and grab you a blanket. Or when she breaks for lunch, she’ll cut fruit for herself and for you, without you asking. And Wally, who tells you that whatever you want, whether it be for something he cooks at home or something to-go or something at the store, he will get it for you. One day, you find yourself craving some Chinese food. Wally does you one better and, instead of dropping by any of the Chinese places in Gotham, runs all the way to the country in question to grab all of you dinner. 

Of course, for the fastest man alive, it’s nothing.

You preoccupy most of your time either watching TV, reading, or helping Linda with her book. She’s in the copyediting stage now, so you lend a hand. 

Other times, she helps you, usually by taking a break from copyediting, the two of you doing little practice press sessions, reminiscent of those times in Keystone; except now, knowing you and past the social boundaries of a stranger, she does not spare mercy—both with her questions and whatever scenario she dreams up, then her critiques at the end of it. Wally pitches in, too, and he can be a real pain in the ass about it just like her, with sneaky underhanded phrasing that trips you up too frequently. But what better way to learn than from them?

You’re all staying at a two-bedroom AirBnB in Old Gotham. Your studio wasn’t big enough to accommodate all of you. You don’t exactly mind it, since the AirBnB is really nice, much nicer than your shitty apartment, but it was all incredibly stressful for a little bit because you got let go from Circle K. And while you have savings, those savings are supposed to be for school, covering the rest of tuition and textbooks that financial aid doesn’t cover. 

But Steph came through on that, once again reiterating the offer to stay with her and Crystal at their house rent-free—an offer you accepted, given your situation. You were able to exit on your lease with minimal issue—mostly because you only had a month of it left—and she, Crystal, Wally, and Linda worked to get your things packed and moved out. You couldn’t offer much help other than directing where you wanted things to go and what you wanted to take with you to the AirBnB. 

According to Dr. Scott, your healing timeline is six to eight weeks. But you should be able to be on your own at four to five weeks. You have a follow-up appointment four weeks from when you were discharged where they’ll look at it and remove the stitches. 

But two and a half weeks after discharge has all of you scrutinizing the wound very closely after your shower. 

“It looks good,” Linda offers. “Much better than before.”

Wally makes a sound of agreement. In his lap, eight-month-old Wade West has a cold teething ring in his mouth; he joined you a few days ago and you have grown fond of him, as you’ve volunteered to feed him or play with him when his parents were busy doing something else. Your recovery has given you that luxury. But the pace at which you are healing has you a little… curious. 

Which leads to now. 

“It’s only been two weeks, though,” you point out. “But it looks like I’m at four weeks and ready for the stitches to come out.”

“Is it bothering you?” he asks, frowning. 

Wade throws his teething ring. Wally snatches it up without looking away from you, pressing it back into his son’s hands. 

“No, but it’s just… it’s weird, right?”

He and Linda share a look. 

“What is it?” you ask, immediately knowing they’re hiding something. They’d looked like that for a while before broaching the subject of bringing Wade here. The twins were doing just fine and video-called frequently, but they most likely enjoyed the freedom the Garrick's (and the West-Allen's) afforded them as the de facto grandparents willing to let quite a bit slide, at least in comparison to their parents. 

Wade, on the other hand, is still just a baby. He needs his parents. And you suspect his parents need him, too, so you agreed. Insisted, if anything, that they take him back. They’ve been happier because of it and that makes you happy. 

But two weeks together, with all the truths laid out, allows you a closer insight into your friends. (Still odd to call them that, but again, it’s something else. A friend combined with a sister and a brother and an uncle and an aunt and maybe something a little parent-adjacent, too. Weird. But you guys, ultimately.)

Wally makes a funny face. Linda purses her lips. 

“Is it bad?”

“No,” they say quickly, glancing at each other, then looking at you. 

“It’s, uh,” Wally winces. “It’s a side effect of, well, me.”

“You?” you ask, frowning. You know a fair bit of information about his powers, about the… speed force. The energy in which he and all the other speedsters draw energy from. 

“There are side effects to associating with us,” he admits. “Nothing dangerous, mind you. But… side effects nonetheless.”

“When I was pregnant with the twins and Wade, I was able to tap into the speed force,” Linda puts in. “But as soon as they were born, it was gone.”

You frown, lowering your shirt. “But that’s not what’s going to happen to me, right? I mean, that happened to you just ‘cause the kids had part of his DNA?”

“Yes,” Wally says, nodding. “It’s just—it’s not unprecedented. We don’t know entirely why side effects manifest but we know it usually happens with those we spend a lot of time with. And I mean, a lot of time.”

“But there’s a social component as well,” Linda adds. 

“A social component?”

“I care about you,” Wally says bluntly and you jolt at the fact of it, eyes widening. “And that plays a part. Generally, for a speedster’s family and close friends, if they spend enough time with them, they can age more slowly, like we do. And there is a small healing factor as well. Not as quick as mine but still faster than if you weren’t around me. You’re also immune to my lightning. It won’t hurt you. And truthfully…”

Now he hesitates. You can’t imagine what it must be. He said all that other stuff easily and it’s not an easy thing to grapple with, is it? 

But it doesn’t put you off. 

It’s… it’s honestly hard to swallow. The enormity of it. What it means. 

I care about you. 

“What?” you ask quietly. 

He sighs. “I could’ve maybe healed you from the get-go. I’ve done it before with a friend but I didn’t know if it would hurt you and I didn’t want to take my chances.”

“No, I understand. This is…” you gesture vaguely. “I mean, this is enough, isn’t it?”

He looks like he wants to say more but thinks better of it, nodding at your words. You don’t try to pry, either. 

“Will it be a problem during the check-up?” you ask next. “I don’t want you to get caught.”

“I’m sure stranger things go on,” Linda says. “Looking too closely isn’t good for anyone.”

“If push comes to shove, we can get you looked at by a doctor with the League,” he adds. “And they won’t notice if you bail on your follow-up, either. Like Lin said, way too much happens in this city for them to extend the effort.”

Well, getting looked at by a doctor with the literal Justice League feels like a bit much but needs must, you guess. 

The more physical side effects aren’t the only things going on. 

Nightmares plague you frequently these days. 

Of the attack itself, sometimes when you’ve switched places with Steph or Wally or Linda or Tim and you can do nothing but watch them get hurt. 

Then of your visit from Batman. 

Sometimes it’s him doing it, with a batarang, and the agony, the burning, it feels too real, combined with that night at the store, when he spooked you in the dark. 

It has you waking up in the middle of the night crying and your wound aching from your thrashing. Even worse when you wake up to the darkness of the room, your eyes summoning figures in the shadows. 

They both intervene accordingly. 

“Would punching him in the face make you feel better?” Wally wonders one night. “Because I can do that. He wouldn’t even see it coming.”

“It’s true,” Linda adds. “And you know he would deserve it this time.”

“He deserves it a lot of the time. It’s just that Superman says we need to talk out our problems. As if he and Wonder Woman don't want to regularly break his jaw. Besides," he says, a tad petulant now, "I know the importance of communication. I’m married. But he never gets that memo so if words don’t work, what else can you do?”

Punch him, being the clear unspoken answer. 

Well. 

You stare up at your ceiling, partially illuminated by the night light Linda plugged in. She sprawls out on your left, while Wally is on your right. It’s a bit of a tight squeeze on the Queen-sized bed, since Wally has a decidedly stocky frame but you three make it work. 

You didn’t have a nightmare tonight but that’s mostly because you haven’t yet gone to sleep. Your sleep schedule, over the past few days, has suffered. They noticed. They always do. 

“No,” you mutter. “That won’t help. It’d just make him more aware of me.”

And that awareness is the thing that makes you tetchy. 

After all, will there be some kind of repercussion for knowing what you do? Will he come to drive home another message, another threat about what you know?

You haven’t asked Steph about it and you certainly haven’t asked Tim, either, since you both still haven’t spoken since that night at the hospital (and that is a whole other thing plaguing you, too, but you digress). 

Linda takes your hand and squeezes it gently, comfortingly. On your other side, Wally does the same. 

The reassurance from both of them overwhelms you for a second. You aren’t looking forward to when they have to go back to Keystone. It’s selfish, you know, but they care for you with no strings attached. Because they want to. Because they choose to. 

Maybe you should’ve fought harder against it, at letting all these new people in. Just… more ways for you to get hurt. But that didn’t work with Steph and it didn’t work for Tim. 

Besides… you’re tired of denying yourself these kinds of comforts. You deserve it, don’t you? After everything? 

It is quiet for another moment. Linda holds your hand in hers, a steady reassurance. Wally’s thumb moves back and forth continuously over the back of your hand. It’s no less comforting. 

Finally, he takes a deep breath. You prepare for a serious opener, something about seeing a therapist, something about, once again, using League resources, because that way, it won’t cost anything and you could talk about your experiences freely. But instead…

“I could go back in time and stop him from ever confronting you?” 

The snort you let out is unbidden. You don’t even know why. Time travel is something he can do. Insanely enough.

But then Linda giggles. 

And you, a little sleep deprived, a little emotional, can’t stop yourself from dissolving into laughter, too. The kind that makes you light-headed. 

On your other side, Wally lets out a snort of laughter that makes you and Linda laugh harder. 

For a moment, all of you are laughing and laughing and laughing and everything is right in the world. 

Naturally, in the morning, things go downhill.

Mostly by you making the mistake of turning on the TV.

Wally and Linda aren’t news-type people. At least not here. Linda, because she said she’d get too big of an urge to go out there and chase leads, and Wally because he said he’d also want to go out there and save the day and that would royally piss Batman off and that relationship was already fraught with tension. 

Not to say they stayed away completely. When going out, they checked out what was going on, kept track of which parts of the city to stay away from if there was something going on. 

For your part, you wanted to take a step away from reality. Needed it, really. 

This morning was a simple mistake. You had Wade in your lap, Wally making breakfast, Linda settling down at the desk to start her edits. You were just trying to find the cartoons Wade was so fond of watching when you landed on GNN.

Then the TV was showing a chaotic scene at the Museum of Antiquities, saying something about a hostage situation and the shot abruptly shifted to the roof, zooming in on the figures there, Red Robin, Tim, and Signal, barely visible from the ground but recognizable all the same, and then a gunshot, ear-piercing even through the TV, and you managed to catch sight of Tim collapsing before everything devolved into chaos, footage shaky, people screaming, someone yelling.

It hits you quickly. Too quickly for even Wally to do something. 

In a blink, the TV is shut off and Wade is taken from you, shifted into Linda’s arms as she and Wally speak to you, but their words fuzz out in your ears, muffled as if you are underwater and the weight on your chest is crushing and you can’t breathe because you might’ve just seen Tim die and the thought consumes you until there is nothing else. 

When you resurface next, you’re curled up on your bed, with the world’s worst headache throbbing in your head and a bone-deep exhaustion still plaguing you. Wally is there, too.

The door is closed but you can hear Linda cooing at Wade, his high-pitched giggles are easily audible. 

Wally plays a game on his phone. Fruit Ninja. His thumbs move so fast, they blur a little bit, but he still manages to get one of the bombs, cursing as he does so. 

You watch him do that for a while but eventually, he gets tired of it, shutting off his phone and turning to look at you.

“So.”

You wiggle onto your side, picking at a loose thread in the blanket.

“Is he…” your voice catches, throat tightening. “Do you know if…”

“He’s okay,” he says gently. “It was just a graze.”

Is it bad, you wonder, that you don’t ask about the hostages? About what that whole situation was about? That you only care to hear what happens to Tim?

You don’t know.

What you do know is that you’ve lost so much. You’re still scared to lose it. 

You can’t lose him.

But you don’t get a say in that, do you? 

“I’m not fond of the kid,” Wally says a minute later, green eyes carefully scanning your face as he props his head on his palm. “If only because of this whole situation…”

“Tim isn’t bad,” you whisper. “He’s just… a little misguided at times.”

By now, after the rush of emotions calmed down, after settling into something like a routine, you’ve been able to think about it. You’re still hurt by what he did but you can understand why he did it. 

Mostly… mostly, you miss him so much it hurts. 

Your more physical wound is healing nicely but there’s still an emotional one inside you; it scabbed over in these weeks away but now, it’s open and raw and you just want…

You just want Tim. 

So much. 

You didn’t think it was possible to want someone this much.

But you’ve never done this before, you’ve never had something like this before… and you’re scared. 

You almost miss Wally’s next words, caught up in your own head. 

“You’re putting it very nicely,” he’s saying, “but I won’t disagree. I don't, actually, which is kind of… really annoying.”

You latch onto that, that brief diversion, if only for just a moment. "Annoying in the conventional way?"

"You have to ask?"

"You are a strange, strange man, Wally West. I do need to ask."

The laugh he lets out is full-bellied and warm. You smile, too, affection settling warm and sweet in your chest, briefly chasing away the pricks of sadness.

"No," he says, chuckling. "It's not in the conventional way. It's mostly because I do see that he is misguided. And I know how and why he is like that."

Right.

To be honest, you haven't thought much on it. On what other knowledge comes with knowing Tim and Steph's identities. It's a leap, but from what you've gleaned, from what you know of Tim's relationship with his adoptive father, what you know of Steph's opinion of him…

Well. It makes sense. And it makes you ache, thinking of the distance Tim tries to put between him and Bruce, of the things you have learned not just about Bruce Wayne but Batman, too. 

A frown mars Wally's handsome features now, grass-green eyes distant, fixed on a spot on the wall next to the bed. "I've always kind of known, I guess. But being confronted with it directly is something else entirely. And I do get it. I can see why he's like that. I don't consider myself a paragon of communication and expressing feelings and my parents were really… not great at all, but I had Aunt Iris. Then Barry and Jay and Max and… I don't know. I guess it's just the dad in me. Having child sidekicks is hardly a new thing in the community and questionable at times but what really matters is the mentorship. He is capable. I can see that. But from what I've seen here, I wonder if both sides of him have had the same amount of direction. Does that make sense?"

"Yeah," you whisper. "That makes a lot of sense."

Finally, he looks at you. "But we can't change the past. And if you'd like to keep him around, which I suspect you do, maybe…" He trails off but you understand what he is leaving unspoken and the thought softens you. Wally is so good. Prideful and annoying and short-tempered at times but ultimately good. All of them are. 

"And on that topic," he continues, eyebrows raising a bit. "I think… for you… it’s time to see him.”

You stay quiet and continue fiddling with the loose thread. Wally’s hand finds yours, squeezing it gently, reassuringly. You get the message even though he doesn’t say anything.

No matter what happens, we’re here. I’m here.

You let out a shuddery breath. 

“Does it ever… scare you? Caring so much?” Loving so much?

“Terrifies me,” he agrees easily. “I have a long list of enemies who would love to—take Linda and the kids away. Kill them or worse. But worse has happened before. We manage to get through it each time. And for you… you love him, don’t you?”

You bite your lip. “I… I do.”

He nods, not appearing surprised by your agreement. “He loves you, too, you know. Even that’s clear to me.”

“But is that enough?”

“Sometimes it’s not. But you have to try, anyway. Who knows what you’ll find if you do? And what you might lose if you don’t?”

You know what he must be thinking about. 

Being with Linda couldn’t have been an easy choice for him. The Flash is just as known as Wonder Woman or Superman. The title comes with its baggage and its enemies. But he did it, anyway. They both did and look at what they have now. A marriage, a family, a home together. 

You keep thinking that you can’t lose Tim and it remains true but… you never stopped to consider what your part might be in that. Not for the danger that might take him away from you but… your own feelings regarding it. Whether you can do this with him, take this leap and change everything for the two of you. 

You can.

You have to.

“You look like you just had a come-to-Jesus moment. I’m great, aren’t I?”

You smile. “You are, Wally. You really are.”

He flushes a bit but the smile he returns is still bright. “Just for you, kid. But honestly, please, it kind of kills me to give you romantic advice regarding Batman’s kid. I won’t say no to it! Just, you know. Get together already.”

“Are you going to be nice?”

“Only if he’s nice,” he shoots back.

“Honestly, Wally. You’re the oldest one here.”

“So? He’s twenty-one, not thirteen.”

“You’re ridiculous. Also, do I need to say something similar to Linda?”

“Do you need to say something similar to Linda? Um, yes. She’s worse than me.”

“I stand corrected. You both are ridiculous.”

But you would be lying if you said you wanted to change that. 

Steph comes over a little while later. Linda texted her about your… moment. She and Wally exchange places and she stays with you, comforting you and reassuring you that Tim is okay. 

“Tim’s a rubber ball,” she says to you, curling a piece of your hair on her finger, your head in her lap as the two of you watch Lizzie McGuire. “He’ll bounce back.”

“That’s not as comforting as it sounds.”

She lets out a soft chuckle. “Well, it’s that and, according to him, he isn’t going to die before he gets to see you again.”

Your breath catches in your throat. “Steph…”

“Not lying. He was a bit delirious from some mild blood loss and the pain but that’s usually when he’s his most honest. So.”

“That’s horrible. You know that, right?”

“Hey, tell that to him. I’m just stating the facts.”

“Well,” you swallow nervously, your eyes on your laptop perched on the end of the bed but nothing in the show registering for you as you prepare to ask your next question. “Then… in that case… did he… mention anything about doing that?”

“He didn’t say anything but knowing him, I wouldn’t be surprised if he disobeyed the clear order for bedrest and came to see you tonight.”

“What—? He better not—”

“No use in trying to stop him,” she says. “I think today was a push for both of you. And when Tim sets his mind to something, you and I both know there isn’t any stopping him.”

That… yeah, that is true. But that bullet grazed his neck. Somehow, it managed not to damage anything vital. A graze, that’s all it was, but still.

“He’s such a handful,” you mutter.

Steph grins. “Yeah. But that’s half the fun with him, isn’t it?”

Your face goes hot and you mutter something noncommittal. She laughs. 

Despite her words, you still think you need to reach out, too.

So, when she leaves before dinner, having promised to spend the evening with Crystal, you pick up your phone and take the leap.

steph said you were probably going to come over tonight so we can talk

i think it’s a good idea too, although i would like for you to rest and recuperate from your near-miss today at least for a couple days

Your heart climbs to your throat as you see him quickly read the text. You stand from the bed, leaving your phone there as a restless, nervous energy filling you. You pace until your phone vibrates with a new text. 

i want to see you

It’s simple. Five little words.

Five words that leave you feeling oddly breathless with the weight of them.

Because you know.

You know.

He should know, too.

i want to see you too

but i can go to you, you know

i know

i’ll drop by your fire escape at 11:30

is that okay?

That last one comes a minute later after the first two and you smile. Tim can be bossy. You and Steph have given him plenty of shit for it. He’s gotten better at realizing it, too.

sure

just give me a warning before you try knocking on my window or something

until then please actually rest???

i will :)

It’s familiar. Not much, really, but it makes you smile, anyway, and you fall back onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling, feeling like a giddy teenager. 

Obviously, you two have a lot to talk about. And you’re still mad at what he did but like you said, you understand. You just have to make sure he doesn’t keep you in the dark again like that and more importantly, that he doesn’t double-cross you. Because that’s what it was, in a way. He crossed a line, so many lines, coming to you as Red Robin. Continuing to come to you as Red Robin. It was dishonest and you hate the way it makes you feel.

But you can move past it.

You want to move past it. 

You both feel the same, don’t you? 

The thought overwhelms you, your face burning hot.

Man. You haven’t actually thought about that until now. But… that’s why. That is the core of everything. And Tim’s questionable ways in which he handled that aside… it seems to be an inalienable truth.

He feels the same.

Tim Drake, for whatever reason, feels the same as you do. 

Hell, look at what Wally said. 

He loves you, too, you know. Even that’s clear to me.

You’ll make it work.

You both will.

reblogs are appreciated!

taglist: @peachesona @knoxx-seresinbradshaw @kikis-writing-service @sweetistic @soundsfunbutno @ginevraxrogers @fridaenpina @skcj24 @bath1lda @only-cherry-blossom @laughydaphne @fhrjrirj @iamthesimpmother @alittlelateforstars @thaliadoesthings @scarlett13 @zelabee @coffee-love-alltheabove @benstormy @sad-girl09 @lockofspades @thereallchristine @thatonecroc @1lellykins @jelsafan0 @hearttjason @kno-way-home @moniverse05 @bat-h-tic @ghostindeath @escapism-r-us @plnkbees @gabrielle-tia @a-candle-maker @randobeetlehouse @solaris-love @blueberrygeniejam @th1s-b1tch-1s-dead

[ask to be tagged! either in my inbox or here! ^_^]

[dizzyjelly]

Good Morning, Ellie Williams

Word Count: 2.4k

Part 2 here

Summary: You’ve liked Ellie for a while, and seeing her is the highlight of your day. But she doesn’t like you, in fact, sometimes she can’t stand you. After being fed up with all her tormenting one day, you flip out and have to deal with your school principal. After this, Ellie reveals her true feelings for you.

A/n: The idea of this fic actually came from a real-life experience I had, but it is not at all the same in this story lmao. I don’t really like the ending I gave this and I honestly wanna make a part 2 but I wanna know what you guys think before I start part 2. I’m working on 3 other fics rn and I think you guys are really going to like them!

It was your favorite part of the day. Not lunch or when the last bell rang, but seeing her. You’d liked her for a while now, so she was your favorite part of the day. And you knew you weren’t hers, for some reason, she just couldn’t seem to get along with you. But, despite that, you’d still greet her every morning. A frown would find its way to your lips if she was absent.

She never missed school unless she had to though. So, every morning like clockwork, you’d walk into your fourth-hour class and sit down. You’d put your bag underneath your desk and as you pulled in your chair you’d say,

“Good morning Ellie Williams.” With a smile, always with a smile.

Even if she didn’t like you all that much, she was kind enough to respond. Most of the time all you got was a nod and a hum, but sometimes you’d get more. You almost gasped the one time she said ‘good morning’ back to you. Not with a smile. But still, you were over the moon.

She never said good morning, instead she’d say ‘yeah’ or ‘hey’ or nothing at all. You tried not to, but you smiled from ear to ear for the rest of that class. Ellie noticed, and she felt good about making you smile. That was until she quickly reminded herself you two were not friends.

Today was like any other, you sipped on your water bottle as you walked into class. The bracelet you wore slid down your wrist since it was a size too big. You found your way to your chair and your bag was set neatly on the floor in no time.

“Good morning Ellie Williams.” You faced her with a smile.

She glanced up at you from her phone, squinting as if she was unsure about you.

“Hey.” She spoke dryly, clearly uninterested in you.

You sighed softly then pulled out your phone, scrolling mindlessly as you thought about the auburn haired girl sat beside you. Maybe one day she’d change, be nicer to you. Maybe she’d even smile at you.

“Your bracelet is too big.” She comments, you look over and see her eyes fixated on your bracelet.

“So?” You shrug, returning your attention to your phone.

“Whatever..” She rolls her eyes and then looks back at her phone.

Why was she looking at your bracelet anyways? Was she.. admiring you? It was weird of her to notice such a specific detail about you. And just yesterday she’d helped you clean up the contents of your pencil case after a spill. She was being nicer. Weird.

The next ten minutes of class were spent listening to your teacher explain today’s schedule. You guys were going to be working in the library, which you’d enjoy. The library at your school was pretty and it had great AC. The following ten minutes consisted of packing your things up and walking down to the library.

Once you got there your teacher told you to pick partners. You panicked. None of your friends were in this class, the only person you really knew was Ellie. But, much to your surprise, she looked your way. A head nod was her way of asking to be your partner. With a small sigh, you stood beside her and waited to receive your assignment.

After the teacher handed out your papers, you smiled at Ellie. She kind of just.. stared at you. You ignored this and started to read the instructions off the paper. Your assignment was to pick out a book you’ve read and do a report on it. All the information you needed was laid out in the rubric. You and Ellie now stood at a bookcase, pulling out random books and reading the titles.

“I don’t read.” She whispers to you after a few minutes.

“I figured, don’t worry, I read.” You shrugged with a chuckle.

“Ok..” She cleared her throat and just stood there awkwardly while you kept searching through books.

“These bookcases are so fuckin’ fancy..” You chuckled softly, “I bet if you pull the right book, a secret passage will open.” You joked, looking over at Ellie.

She chuckled. You looked over at her, and realized, she wasn’t laughing at your joke. She was laughing at you. At you. She sighed and looked away from you.

You pursed your lips into a thin line, not saying any more as you continued to look through books. You’d finally found one and then you and Ellie walked over to a nearby couch in the library, sitting down and taking out your papers. After a few minutes of you doing all the work, and Ellie just sitting and watching, she finally said something.

“I wasn’t trying to be a dick earlier. Sorry.” She whispers to you, your face goes red at her apology.

She is being too nice. What the hell.

“Why are you being so nice?” You whisper back, not even saying it’s ok because you were too focused on her attitude change.

“What do you mean? When am I not nice to you?” She asks back, as if she was friendly and kind all the time.

You turned to stare at her with a confused expression. She looked back with a similar one, and you realized she was being serious.

“Do you know how many times I’ve said good morning to you?” You ask, not giving her time to answer. “We’ve been in school 67 days, and I’ve told you good morning 65 times. Minus two days because you were out for the flu that one time. You have said good morning to me once.” You explained, Ellie was surprised.

Not only that you’d kept track of when she wasn’t in school, but your math was surprisingly good.

“I’m mean because I don’t tell you good morning?” She asks.

You sigh, clearly she didn’t get the point.

“Whatever. It doesn’t matter, let’s just get this over with..” You sighed, focusing back on your work.

Ellie nodded and didn’t say anything else, just watching you write with her hands rested in her lap. You worked silently as well, not bothering to try and make any kind of small talk. She’d either laugh at you again, or just be weird and nice.

As your teacher came by, Ellie tried to pretend she was doing something. Whrn your teacher asked if she was helping, you nodded and said ‘of course’ even though she’d done jackshit. It didn’t matter to you, and you weren’t interested in getting Ellie into any kind of trouble.

She smiled at you, but you just stared down at the paper. She sighed, sitting back and watching you work. Eventually class ended and it was time for lunch. You got up and slinged your bag over your shoulder. You made your way to the lunchroom and sat with your usual friends, taking your lunch out of your bag and unpacking it.

While you wouldn’t know it, Ellie watched you. She watched the way you threw your head back when you laughed, or how you  gasped with a smile at something your friends said. She smiled seeing you so happy. She’d realized she’d come to like you, maybe more than a friend. Definitely more than a friend.

As Ellie made this realization, she tried harder and harder to distance herself from you. At first she got nicer, but then she got mean again. Really mean. You were tired of it. She’d already been ignoring your daily greetings for two weeks, and for the past week she’d been throwing insults your way.

You’d had enough, it was a Friday and you were just tired. That morning, your mom picked a fight with you like she always does. And she said something they’d make you cry, like she always does. The result of this being a tear-soaked face with runny mascara that you rushed to wipe clean before getting on the school bus.

Despite Ellies tough act, you’d still be giving her a good morning. Not today though. You were just done. It was too much, she’d been too mean. While it was mostly because of the argument with your mother, you felt hurt. And Ellie was partially responsible for that.

After you walked into class, you set your bag down and sat in your chair. You angled your body away from Ellie, taking out your phone and busying yourself. She let out a short, bitter laugh.

“No good morning?” She teased.

You gave her nothing, still. Silence was what her question was met with. Ellie put her phone down and adjusted herself, her brows furrowed as she was genuinely a little worried for you.

“What’s up with you..?” She asks softly, moving her chair closer to yours.

When you continued to not say a word, she nudged you by pushing her foot against your shin lightly. You sighed, finally turning to face her.

“Stop it Ellie” your voice was stern, “I’m really not in the mood, ok?” You gave her a dirty look.

“What do you even mean? I’m just trying to ask you what’s wr-“ She tries to defend herself, but you cut her off.

“I don’t fucking care! Honestly, everyday you pretend to care, or even give a shit, about me, I just get less and less patient! I am so done with all your bullshit, you’re such a liar!” You were just emotional now, knowing no boundaries as you yelled at her, "and you're mean." tears filled your eyes now.

As you saw your teacher approaching you from the corner of your eye, they spilled. You’d been beyond embarrassed, the entire class having just heard your meltdown. Ellie had an unreadable expression on her face. Her mouth hung open, her eyes wide but her brows furrowed.

She panicked when your teacher came over. You buried your head in your arms on the table.

“Uh.. Ms. Y/L/n, you’re going to have to go to the office..” She whispers to you.

You didn’t care at this point, why should you? Your mother already berated you so much earlier this morning that you might not even shed a tear at how disappointed she would tell you she was. As you walked to the office, your cheeks ran red with embarrassment from how badly you just freaked out.

Now, you sat in the waiting area of the office. Your leg bounced up and down so fast and aggressively you thought the floor might break. And then you thought you might actually die when Ellie walked in and sat beside you. Your heart nearly stopped when she leaned over and whispered in your ear.

“Said I was going to the bathroom, wanted to come and clear things up. I’m gonna make sure you don’t get in any kind of trouble..” She tries to reassure you.

And, even if you kind of hated her. Even if she made you cry before you went to bed sometimes. It worked. You let out a small sigh of relief, turning to face her. Due to how close she’d already been to whisper to you, your faces were just inches away. Your noses nearly touched. You pulled back, and looked down.

“I’m.. sorry.” You spoke quietly, trying your best not to cry again.

“I know.” She says back.

Before anything else could be said by either of you, the principal came and called your name. You stood and walked into her office, and Ellie followed not far behind. Once you were in there, the principal proceeded to play the school's camera footage of what went down in class.

Your face was red hot, and you looked away as much as you could. Your principal tsked and sighed, eyeing you and Ellie.

“I don’t even know why Ellie is here, but Y/n, you have to know this kind of behavior is unacceptable.” You were so ready to defend yourself, but Ellie beat you to it.

“Miss, with all due respect, this wasn’t her fault. I have not been the kindest to her, in fact I’ve been terrible to her. I’ve insulted and tormented her, I’ve been unfair. She didn’t deserve any of that.” Ellie's eyes were on you as she said that last sentence.

You were too busy panicking that you might get suspended to notice her gaze. But, after some hard convincing and agreeing to a good amount of after-school detention, the principal let you stay. However, she did ask you take the rest of today off, and told you it’d be a good idea to stay home Monday as well. You had no idea how you’d explain your mandatory absences to your parents, but you were just beyond thankful the principal didn’t call them. After thanking your principal, you left her office as fast as you could.

Ellie followed and she started to walk with you, even though the class was in the other direction. You didn’t say a word at first, but as you reached the exit doors you turned to face her.

“Thank you, you didn’t have to do that.” You had mixed feelings about Ellie right now.

“I did. You’re welcome, and I really am sorry for how I’ve treated you.” She apologized, and she actually sounded genuine.

“Yeah.” You sighed, you weren’t going to tell her it was ok because it wasn’t, “can I just ask, why were you so mean to me anyway?” you noticed the way Ellie starts to fidget with her hands nervously, and how she looks away from you.

“It’s a defense mechanism I guess,” she says, still not making eye contact with you, “I didn’t know how to deal with the fact that I actually like you so, I acted like I hated you.” She sighs, feeling embarrassed of the way she acted.

“You like me? Like as a friend, or..?” you ask, your cheeks reddening with blush again, there was no way she meant what you hoped she did.

“Um, more than that. I know I give pretty shitty signals but yeah, surprise, I like like you..” she sighs again.

“I like like you too.” You whispered.

<3 ------ <3

It was safe to say everyone in school was shocked when you returned Tuesday. Not only because you didn’t get suspended, but also because of how well you and Ellie were getting along. You felt insecure because there was lots of talk about your freak-out. But Ellie, who was trying to prove herself to you, did her best to quickly and quietly shut all of that down. She was pretty successful too.

And now, every time you say good morning, she says it back.

[ro-presents-under-the-nola-stars]

Jennifer "JJ" Jareau and Boys

Butch Lesbian HCs/AU Background

Pre-Little Bama Girl

JJ NEVER LIKED BOYS. When she was little, she didn't like the way they looked. She didn't like the way that they smelled. She didn't like their jokes. She didn't like the way they would pull her hair or push her down or pinch her or call her names. Even aside from those the things she didn't like, even as a little girl, she never found them interesting. She didn't even notice little boys in her class until they bothered her enough that she had no choice but to notice things she didn't like. She didn't really notice them until her hair got pulled, until she got poked with pencils, until she had crayons, sand and God knows what else thrown at her. She didn't notice them until she was randomly being shoved to the ground, until she was randomly pinched, until she was randomly called some demeaning name.

JJ was a fighter. If she got her hair pulled, she pulled their hair right back. If she got pushed down, she got up, dusted herself off and pushed them right back. If someone threw something at her, she'd throw it right back.

And every time, she would think how she didn't like boys. Every time she would think about how girls were so much less annoying. Girls were nice. They drew each other pretty pictures. They played fun games together. Girls were interesting.

JJ can't tell you who said it her first, that boys were only mean like that when they wanted a girl to be their girlfriend, but it changed everything for her.

(She didn't understand the logical, either)(She pulled out chairs for girls she liked, gave them snacks out of her lunchbox, and shared her toys. She let them win in all their games. She held their hands at nap time.)(But she didn't hit them. She didn't pull their hair. She didn't push them down. She never called them mean names)(It made no sense that little boys would do those things when they liked girls)(It made even less sense that they were allowed to.)

The mention of the boys wanting her to be their girlfriend meant no more was she just doing what was done unto her. Her first fight, her first real right, happened when a little boy yanked her ponytail at recess and called her stupid. She wasn't just annoyed now. As she turned around, the only thought in her mind was how much she didn't want to be his girlfriend. So, she didn't just pull his rat-tail. As she punched him, once, twice, six times and while she was doing it, all she could think about was how she never wanted him to want her to be his girlfriend.

She kept fighting after that. I mean, really fighting. She never stopped getting attention from boys, and she was determined to stop being liked.

She got in so much trouble for it. Oftentimes more trouble than her male counterparts. Her teachers, her mother especially would tell her that she should be nicer. That the boys didn't mean anything by their behavior, that they just liked her and she wasn't being fair to them. Her mother would tell her to be gracious. She would tell her that she should think of herself as so lucky that so many boys think she's pretty. Her mother would say that she was too pretty, anyway, to fight. Fighting wasn't ladylike. Fighting would ruin her pretty little face before got to properly grow unto her. Her mother would tell her that she would never find a husband when she grew up, if she kept fighting like that, if she wasn't gracious or nice enough, if she ruined her pretty little face.

JJ started to fight more.

[taoofshigeru]

Side-note on Octopath Traveler H'aanit

(since I had an ask that I chose to make about her today)

I always felt like the title of her story boss lead-in track, "For Master" (師匠のために), was a bit of an outlier relative to the others and doesn't mesh quite as well with her (very well-done!) story arc.

Most other Octopath "keywords" that come in via the soundtrack are more nuanced in terms of what the character's goal is and what they ultimately achieve as a result of their quest. Olberic's sought-after "Redemption" changes shape from simply tracking down and beating Erhardt to finding the man truly responsible for Hornberg's demise, but in the process he redeems Erhardt as well and finds real redemption in fighting for a cause and freeing the town that Werner holds dominion over. Tressa's "Treasure" is something concrete she sets out to find in chapter 3, and achieves, but Noa Wyndham's hand in marriage the experiences on her journey and the diary she kept of them turns out to be the real treasure.

These "For" keywords are almost always chosen with a strong double entendre to coincide with the twists in a character's story arc. Like with Therion, whose journey for "Freedom" from the bangle turns into something that sets him free from Darius and his past more generally, allowing him to look for the future. There's a lot of the ethos of squeezing the character's journey down to a word that changes meaning with the shift in context between chapter 1 and chapter 4, which I love as a writer. Pick a single word which the story can grow around, such that its original meaning and the new contextual meaning shine together like interwoven rainbows from a prism in a sunbeam.

On one level, H'aanit is on a quest to find her master Z'aanta, then rescue him from his petrification curse, but her journey takes on more significance once she fights the dragon. She's becoming a legend, a master hunter in her own right, ultimately slaying the Redeye where Z'aanta failed, and ending up with tall tales to tell him. Her journey always felt to me like it was about becoming a master, and finding it in herself to become one, rather than just looking for a specific person. However, since she never finds an apprentice, the choice of "師匠", a master in the sense of an instructor or a teacher, feels slightly misplaced. Maybe if she had a kid aiming to learn from her in her chapter one, then she was finally able to go home and give those lessons at the end of her story, it would have landed better.

Alternatively, something like "For Quarry" might have been nicer. Since her quest starts out as a hunt for Z'aanta, then becomes a quest to slay the Redeye. It has the bonus of carrying extra nuance of putting Graham out of his misery once endgame lore drops. (Since that was something she did "for" him, albeit unknowingly.)

Other "For _" comments: Primrose, who sets out for "Revenge" and does indeed achieve total and fairly satisfying revenge, is admittedly a bit of a counterexample. Albiet a slightly more bitter pill because of all that Simeon bullshit.

Ophilia, meanwhile, is like a weird case where the original text is weak but the localized version is strong enough to hold up. Her pre-boss motif is "For Light" (試練のために). The original text could more directly be translated as "For the Ritual" or "For the Kindling", but Ophilia's involvement with the church is as much about her family, her adoptive father Josef and sister Lianna, than it is a strong attachment to the dogma per se. It's a major character focus that her sister was supposed to be the flamebearer but Ophilia took over so she could be with their father. And in the finale of the Ophilia arc, the focus is on saving her sister, bringing her back to the light, much more so than on the trial of the flamebearer per se. In that way, "For Light" is great because it can be about the kindling, but it's also very much about bringing Lianna back into the light.

[rozyrne]

the fact that her retainers didn't come to meet her - the audacity! - means she has to seek them out herself in a flounce of rose perfume and fluttering petticoats.

it's evening when she sets out, bells chiming as students mill between classes. she won't get distracted, even with all the new sights and sounds! ..well, maybe a bit. there are flowers she has never seen growing her, and the weather is so much nicer, but - no! she's on a mission!

( she does pluck a flower, though, discreetly. other students are doing it - so surely it's fine if she does, right? besides, she's a princess! )

there are so many faces. so many students, and most of them older than she. she puffs out her chest and pushes through the crowd with the determination only a teenage girl can carry, and finally - finally! - she spots a familiar bow and blue-pink hair.

"you kept me waiting long enough!" she calls out to her retainer, pushing her way uncaringly through the crowd to stand in front of him, hands on her hips. "how rude!"

and yet - despite her harsh words, she's smiling. a rare hortensia smile, the sort worth capturing on a canvas - a real smile, not that saccharine royal smile. the slope of her lips is gentle, her eyes bright.

she throws herself at rosado, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"how have you been?" is asked quieter, more vulnerable. closer to his ear. a weakness for few and far in between - a weakness for not just her retainer, but her friend.

he'll swear it up, sideways, and upside-down on the jana and the divine one and everything in between — that he was looking for her first! bonus points of being well-liked and having a bunch of people to talk to was that he was never ever late to the latest and greatest scoops, and even in a place as full to bursting with royalty as this academy, word of a princess still makes it down the grapevine to his eager ear.

did you see her dress? yep, that's elusia for you!

i swear the newbies that keep showing up here are each crazier-looking than the last. that's her highness princess hortensia you're talking about! and my best friend, to boot.

rosado, of course, didn't usually like to brag ( it wasn't very cute ) but today, today, he couldn't help it.

hortensia— hortensia— was on the way!

he totally didn't sleep last night. ( but when's that ever bothered him? )

so he'll swear it on his best brushes, his favorite platform heels, and all his sweet snacks for the rest of the week. that when hortensia finds him, it's because he's lost track of where to look at the town gates around so many people, and because she's always been a little smaller than most; there's no way a princess should be showing up to the academy unreceived, right? not by her retainers, and definitely not by her friends.

he'll remember that look on her face forever, anyway. like the kind of candy you had once as a kid that changed your life maybe, and you could never find it again anywhere else. and then one day it just shows up, completely out of the blue. he doesn't get to see it all that much, anymore.

"you're here . . . ! you're actually, really here! i almost can't believe it," he gasps, utters, and breathes into her shoulder, squeezing and rocking from foot to foot like he doesn't want to let go, grinning so hard his face hurts. she smells like the sea freshly crossed and the sky so blue and a little of the snow and ice of elusia, a little like powder and taffeta and bubblegum. and just when he's about to pull back to look at her to really make sure he isn't dreaming, she whispers again, this time like a secret just for his ears. how has he been?

he's been great; he's been happy. he's been totally occupied, and over his head in homework without her to help, and busy with training, and wrapping his head around everything there is to do here, and—

and there's really only one thing that's totally, one-hundred-percent the first and truest thing he wants to say. "ohh, i've just missed you."

arms cinch tighter; just a few more seconds. because she sounds a little like he remembers from not-as-happy times and back then there wasn't anything he could do about it, but this time he can give her a hug, at least? "but now everything's right in the world." now he does pull back, hands on both her shoulders, beaming with all daylight starshine; she's going to believe it! he'll make her believe it. things'll be so perfect that she'll have no other choice! "you, and me, and goldmary. we're going to be unstoppable, just like old times."

[wooawi]

Thinking back to it, I actually really wanted Chloe to leave Paris… but back in Malediktator rather than end of season 5.

Let’s be real, she was annoying in the story and her “character arc” wasn’t actually going anywhere. She was only relevant to the plot after that for Miracle Queen, and not by much. Marinette becoming guardian could’ve happened without her.

It would’ve been much nicer to have her realise that no one likes her, and that she’s much more of a nuisance than anything, and then leave to work on herself (or start over in New York). But rather, they told us that she knew all that, and then nothing happened. She continued being an asshole, kept bullying others, acted like an entitled brat regarding the Bee Miraculous, and then worked hand in hand with Hawkmoth. And then worked with him again. And then again. And– see where I’m going with this?

Her character fell flat after Malediktator, not because she had any significant depth before that, but because there was an attempt at such. She went from background character #2 to a character with a backstory, motivations, a goal, etc for a solid episode and a half. And then… nothing. It’s like, you have a food you’ve been eating all your life. Then someone cooks it a different way once that’s really good. Unfortunately, that same dish you’ve been used to now falls flat in comparison to The Upgrade.

I loved her character from the start because she was a welcome change from those who loved Marinette. She was interesting, she was wacky, and she was absolutely stupid with her bad girl antics. She was a fangirl of the only person in Paris she absolutely despised. She was fun. Eventually, she got some character development and got so much better for some time. Then, she became a plot device for giving Marinette level ups, and isn’t that what every other character essentially is?

I see where they were going with all this, yes. They didn’t actually care about her. Then maybe one person saw potential and wrote out an episode, but no one ever touched on that ever again. So she’s back to original Chloe but worse because now she doesn’t do anything like before. She’s just bad getting progressively worse so the audience stops looking for anything good in her rather than to be funny/interesting/a contrast to everyone else.

Either she should’ve been written out by sending her to New York then or she should’ve actually done better like she promised Ladybug. Hell, I would’ve loved to see her try to be better in Paris, albeit with some backsliding, to show that she for real meant what she said. But. Yeah.

Keeping her going the exact same way for 3 more seasons before having her be run out of Paris for checks notes working with Hawkmoth (sigh), is so… anticlimactic? It’s a lame ending for something that was drawn out for so long lmao.

[dumdumsun]

To Nightfall

A/N: Happy holidays, y’all! One more chapter!!

Warnings: character death (Klaus, ya know), violence, blood, mentions of blood and death/dying

Word Count: 5130

—————————————

Chapter 19: Oblivion

(Y/N)’s mind was in a frenzy as she barreled down the passageway that glowed in a white patterned light along the walls. She placed her hands on the wall to steady herself so as to not crash into Allison in front of her. She wasn’t certain who was behind her, but she only hoped it was Five or Klaus.

From the front of the line, Lila kicked open the door on the other side of the passageway, the group spilling into the room. Perhaps it was her mind running wild, but (Y/N) was almost certain they had gone in a circle. Despite her limited time in the Buffalo Suite, though, she did notice some differences with the room. The paintings had changed, the furniture was completely different. The biggest difference was the buffalo head that was once over the mantelpiece was now the tail end of a buffalo.

“Let’s never do that again.” Viktor panted.

“What? Narrowly escaped the apocalypse?” Five sarcastically asked.

“Yeah, that’s kind of our thing, isn’t it?” Diego mumbled as he inspected the room, harpoon at the ready. As he returned to the group, Ben was staring at the buffalo before them in wonder, swatting the tail of it with his hand.

“There’s something very wrong about that…”

“Same suite, just ass-backwards.” Lila informed.

“No hyperbole there.” Five frowned.

“This is some hardcore Alice in Wonderland shit.” Ben gasped. Diego tightly smiled.

“Yeah, it only gets weirder.”

From the open door, the final passenger of the caravan bolted into the room. Breathing heavily, Reginald shut the door and leaned against it. “At last,” He breathed. “The other side…”

(Y/N) shook her head and looked around the room. “Hold- Hold on. Where’s Klaus?”

“Children, I’m sorry, but your brother…” He trailed off for a second. “I did all I could, but he didn’t make it through in time. The Kugelblitz has claimed its last victim.”

“Bullshit, he just helped me through! How did you make it and he didn’t?!” She raged. “We’re going back to get him!”

“There’s nothing to go back to, my child.” He went to place a hand on her shoulder, but she moved away quickly, standing at Five’s side, who gently held her as his venomous stare fixated on Reginald. The old man sighed in disappointment. “Children, there will be time for tears later. Right now, we have to keep moving.”

Reginald brushed past them all to leave the room and enter the hotel. When he was gone, everyone took a second to let everything sink in.

“Wait. Luther and Klaus?” Viktor whispered in disbelief. They had lost two more members of their team. It was becoming surreal. More surreal than the incoming apocalypse they had just dodged.

When the lot of them finally decided to follow their father, they all ended up in the lobby. The Hotel Oblivion had much more of a polished hotel decor than Obsidian did, with its shiny checkered floors, lack of tacky furniture, even the pillars shone orange instead of blue.

“You guys should’ve stayed here.” Ben grinned as they walked further into the lobby. “This place is way nicer.”

“Lila and I barely got out alive last time. Remember?”

“Yeah, but I’m here this time, and the numbers are in our favor.”

(Y/N) rolled her eyes at Ben’s smug reply, having enough of his cocky attitude. She much preferred his inebriated self more than the real him. In fact, she preferred her Ben to him.

“Well, whatever it was, it was strong, fast and super pissed.” Lila sighed as they neared the front desk.

“Alright, so, whatever you do, do not ring this bell.” Diego informed, pointing at the brass bell sitting at the desk, a sign with the Japanese language written sitting beside it. “Unless you wanna lose a finger or a tentacle.”

Sloane moved closer to it. “I’ll take my chances-”

“Don’t!” Lila stopped her.

“Get out of my way.”

“To take out this thing, we need to be in the right state of mind.”

At that, a fire crackled in Sloane’s eyes. “State of mind? Do you mean, am I angry? Yes, I am angry. I wanna kill whatever it is that hurt Luther!”

(Y/N) walked up to her sister-in-law and gently placed a hand on her back. “Sloane, we lost both Luther and Klaus. We’re all angry, but if we aren’t careful and smart about this, then we’ll only lose more people. I wanna kill it, too, okay?”

Lila nodded in agreement. “Yeah. When the time is right, we’ll act.”

“Don’t even try it, Five.” Diego called out to his brother, who was approaching the entrance of the hotel, a glaring white light barricaded on the other side. “Doors won’t let you out.”

Five hesitantly walked back to the group as Allison scoffed. “So, what, we’re stuck here?”

“This place is a test and a trap and a means of salvation, all at once.” Reginald spoke.

Viktor motioned towards the bell. “Does anyone know what that sign says?”

“Yeah, it says ‘Do not ring the bell’. That’s what that means.” Diego firmly said.

“We get it, Diego. Bell bad.” Five shrugged. “What do we do? Anybody know?”

A little ways away from them, Reginald had taken out his signature journal as he inspected their surroundings. Everyone’s attention turned to him, awaiting what they hoped was an explanation he was getting to. But he didn’t say anything.

“Reggie?” Allison called out. “Reggie.”

When he didn’t answer, Lila sighed and headed towards the other side of the room. “I’m hungry. Does anyone fancy an unagi roll?”

Ben glared and walked up to her. “How can you possibly eat at a time like this?”

“Shut up, Ben.” (Y/N) mumbled as she walked past him to follow after Lila. Where the alcoholic bar once was now sat a rotating sushi bar, presenting what seemed to be freshly prepared fish. (Y/N) joined Lila at the bar and watched the woman stuff her face for a bit before her curiosity just couldn’t be held back any longer. “Lila?”

“Yeah?”

“We’re friends now, right?”

“Where are you going with this?”

The girl sighed and picked up a piece of sushi. “Are you pregnant?”

Lila nearly choked on her food as she stared at (Y/N) in fear. “What did Diego say to you? Because if he said anything, I swear I’ll-”

“No, no, no.” She shook her head and chewed on the fish in her mouth. “He didn’t say anything.”

“Then how do you know?”

(Y/N) smirked at her. “Lila, I’ve been pregnant twice. I can tell the signs.” She picked up another piece. “Almost every time I’ve seen you, you’ve got food in your mouth and yet, never a drink. Not when we celebrated trapping the Kugel and not at the wedding. Now, we haven’t been friends for long, but you don’t strike me as the type to not drink at all.”

Blinking, Lila swallowed both the lump in her throat and the sushi, but she never stopped eating.

“No wonder Diego’s been so protective of you…” She whispered. “Hey. Bit of advice from a mother to a mother?”

Lila slowly nodded.

“Do whatever you need to do to keep that baby safe,” She gently held her hand. “This is also coming from a childless mother… If we make it out of this, I’d like to meet my niece or nephew.”

A teary smile slowly stretched across Lila’s face before (Y/N) gently patted her hand and hopped off her stool, heading back into the lobby. As she passed Diego, she gave him a proud smile and a nod. She walked right past Reginald without even a glance to him and approached the staircase, where Sloane sat.

The poor woman was trying to clean her blood-stained hands as she sniffled and weeped to herself. (Y/N) saw so much of her past self in Sloane, and she hated that she could empathize with her.

“I’ll help you with that.” She whispered and sat beside her in-law, taking the rag and beginning to clean her hands. It was then that (Y/N) realized that her own hands were also covered in blood. Blinking, she moved the thought away. “I was a widow before I married Five.”

Sloane’s lashes batted the tears out of her eyes and down her cheeks. “You were?”

“Yeah,” (Y/N) nodded, choking on her words as her heart clenched. “I lost my husband and I was left with two very small children who I was not ready to raise alone. I wasn’t strong enough for them, you know? I-I fell into depression and I just… I ignored everything. My responsibilities, my career… the two of them. They didn’t deserve that. They needed me more than ever…”

(Y/N) fell silent for a moment to collect herself. She had never, ever talked to anyone about her neglect towards Michael and Jada. Not even Allison, who was always there for her after Anthony’s death. Now that she was admitting out loud what a horrible mother she thought she was, the sinking in her stomach only plummeted deeper, eating away at her to make her feel even more empty.

She supposed this was her karma after all those times she tuned out Jada’s crying, after all those times she pretended not to hear Michael on a late night complain about how hungry he was. She didn’t deserve her children.

She came back to herself when she realized that the pity party she was throwing was not meant for her, and turned back to Sloane. “What I’m trying to say is that no one gets to tell you how strong you need to be, okay? Because they can say whatever they want, look at you in any way, but nothing can truly prepare you to lose someone you love… I’m kinda losing track at this point. It feels like my whole family is dying.”

“My whole family did die…”

(Y/N) let out a silent sigh before wrapping her arms around Sloane and pulling her close. Sloane sniffled and clung to the girl as more tears cascaded down her face.

From the other side of the room sat Five and Viktor, quietly conversing with one another. “Nah, it’s like the old man said.” The boy whispered, his eyes on Reginald, who was still walking about the lobby. “Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, and three times ain’t gonna happen ‘cause I’m not a gibbering idiot.”

“Well, we can’t be sure he killed Klaus or Luther.”

“You serious? This is his modus operandi. We’ve seen this before. Have you forgotten how we all came together in the first place?”

Viktor sighed as his face fell. “Dad’s funeral.”

“Exactly. He pulled this on you rubes before, and he’s doing it again now.”

“Come on, Five…”

“No. He lost the vote to come through the tunnel, yet here we are.”

Viktor shook his head, not wanting to believe what he was afraid he believed. “Are you really sure that he could kill Luther?”

“I think he could kill Luther, Klaus and the rest of us without breaking a moral sweat. And what’s worse, I think Allison is involved.”

“No, no.” Viktor scoffed, the both of them turning to look where Allison was joining Sloane and (Y/N) on the former’s other side.

Sloane sighed and slowly sat up as Allison cleaned her hands. “I hate to say the things everyone says.”

“Mourning in cliché is the last thing you need to worry about.” Allison rasped, (Y/N) sending her a warning look.

“I know everything is ending,” Sloane sniffled. “...but I thought we’d be together when it happened. I didn’t even get to say goodbye.”

Allison and (Y/N) shared a look before the former gently took Sloane’s hand into hers, wiping it clean with her rag. “I got to say goodbye… to my daughter… and my husband. (Y/N) got to say goodbye to her kids.” She gently spoke. “But it wasn’t enough. And I think she can agree.”

“She’s right. It’s not enough…” (Y/N) whispered tearfully.

“Feelings are just… They’re too big for words. Luther loved you… to the moon and back.”

The three softly chuckled at Allison’s sweet attempt at a joke.

“You made him so happy, Sloane,” (Y/N) gently kissed her cheek. “In all my life, I’ve never seen him smile as bright as he smiled at you.”

Neither of the two noticed how Allison met Reginald’s eyes.

“No, she… she was with Sloane in the tunnel.” Viktor whispered as he watched Allison comfort Sloane.

Five tilted his head slightly. “I’m not talking about Klaus.”

“Luther…? What? No, she would never do that.”

“She’s been unraveling since we got to this timeline.”

“Yeah, she lost her daughter.”

“And she killed Harlan.”

Viktor frowned deeper. “(Y/N) almost killed Dad. She lost her kids and she watched herself die twice. She’s not unraveling?”

“(Y/N) is absolutely losing her mind, but she hasn’t taken any of her pain or anger out on us like Allison has. Dad deserved what he got from her, Allison is the one siding with him. Do not compare them.”

Viktor blinked at the offense in Five’s tone and turned his head back to watch Allison now cleaning (Y/N)’s hands. “Even if you’re right, I can’t imagine they’re just gonna come clean if we confront them.”

“I agree…”

Once her hands were free of blood stains, (Y/N) gave both Sloane and Allison a cheek kiss before descending the staircase. She was just about to head over to Five and Viktor when she caught Ben in her peripheral. He was in another seating area, anxiously wringing his hands as he tracked Reginald’s every move. She knew that look. It was a look her Sparrow self gave him. It was a look she and her siblings gave him when they were young and in his grasp. Ben was still seeking validation from him.

With a sigh, she abandoned her original agenda and walked right up to him. “You know, you can stare at him as long as you want. He’ll still be a total dick.”

Ben shot up to his feet with a heated look. “Excuse me?”

“What, you disagree?”

“He is my father. He’s your father, too. The difference between you and me is respect.”

“He was never a father, Ben!” She quietly hissed so as to not cause a scene. “He was just a man who adopted us! Didn’t you care about your (Y/N)?”

“Of course, I did!” He snapped back in her volume.

“Then why are you still following Reginald? After everything he put her through?”

Ben looked away. “He said it was never his intention to hurt her.”

“Good or ill intent, he still broke her. Even when she was freed from the basement, she was still in his grasp.” (Y/N) blinked back her tears. “That’s the issue with abuse, Ben. You can never truly escape it. But you need to break free now more than ever, because whatever he told you, he didn’t tell you everything. Whatever he’s got planned is only for his benefit, and I know you know that.”

His eyes didn’t leave her even when she walked away to join her husband and brother elsewhere. However, his attention was stolen by Reginald when the man ascended a flight of stairs wordlessly. Ben stood and followed him with furrowed brows. When he reached the top, he saw Reginald examining a grandfather clock, he and Allison having a hushed and heated argument. When they noticed his presence, they ceased their talking, Allison moving past him with a bump to his shoulder. He ignored it and set his eyes on his father.

“What was that all about?”

“That’s none of your concern.” Reginald answered as he scribbled in his journal.

“Not my concern? We’re here now, in the Hotel Oblivion. Just like you wanted. I made that happen.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Reginald snapped his book shut. “Allison killed Harlan, and I united the families. What did you do, Number Two?”

He left his son behind and returned back to the lobby. “Gather around, children. Now that we’ve had a chance to catch our breath, the real work can begin.”

Five stood from his seat as everyone collected at the center of the lobby. “Ah, the myth of the seven bells, eh?”

“Exactly. Somebody’s been paying attention.”

“Okay, so we find the bells, then what?” Diego asked.

“No, no, no, no.” Reginald shook his head. “The bells are just a metaphor for this.” He held up his journal to show off a drawing sketch along the pages.

(Y/N) squinted her eyes to get a better look. “A sigil?”

“Correct, my child.”

“Don’t call me that.”

He hesitated, but continued. “The sigil is the key to the seven bells. Once we find this symbol, we’re one step closer to resetting the universe.”

“What do we do when we find it?” Sloane quietly asked.

“I don’t know.”

A collective gasp sounded as Viktor stepped forward. “Excuse me? We’re here because you said you have a plan.”

“I do. Up to a point.”

Lila snickered. “Great. So, we’ll just stay in the hotel forever, staring at the walls and eating bad sushi.”

“Finding the sigil is our only way out of here and the best chance we have of resetting the universe.” Allison spoke up.

“Funny how you and Dad are on the same page again.” Five narrowed his eyes at her. Allison glared at him, which caused Viktor’s want to deescalate the situation before it got ugly.

“Okay, uh, where do we start?”

Reginald perked up. “We’ll split into groups. I will go with Allison and Sloane, Ben, Five and (Y/N) with Viktor.”

“No, we want Allison.”

Five nodded with a sly smile. “Ben for Allison. We’ve trained together, so it makes sense if we take Allison.”

Allison clenched her jaw and scoffed. “Yeah. No, thanks.”

“Why not?” (Y/N) raised a brow, truly confused as to why Allison didn’t want to team with them. Allison looked at her, speechless.

“Splendid idea!” Reginald piped up. “Allison, you go with the Umbrellas. Sparrows, stick together. Everyone take a different floor. We must find that sigil.”

“What about us?” Diego called out.

“You’re a duo.” He waved them off. “Nobody wants to listen to your endless bickering. Now, spread out, leave no stone unturned, and meet back here in thirty minutes.”

Three floors above, the Umbrella team entered one of the bedrooms, Allison and (Y/N) beginning to look through drawers for any sign of a sigil. “Someone went through a lot of trouble to hide this thing.” Allison said.

“How big is it supposed to be?” Viktor asked as he wandered the room.

“You know, dear old Reg didn’t say.”

Five hummed. “Really? Hm. That’s surprising. I figured you’d know more about his plan.”

Allison slowly turned to her brother. “Sorry, what’s that supposed to mean?”

(Y/N) straightened with a frown. “Guys, what’s going on?”

“I saw you and him in the White Buffalo Suite during the wedding.”

“Wait,” She stepped closer with wide eyes. “She’s the person you saw with him?”

Viktor sighed. “I don’t know if now’s the right time-”

Allison interrupted him. “You know, I heard that you blacked out last night.”

“I did, and it took me awhile to remember what I saw, but I do remember, Allison.” Five stalked closer to her with an accusatory finger pointed. “You and Dad made some kind of deal. What did you agree to?”

“A deal?”

“Mmhm.”

“With Dad? Please, tell me you’re joking.”

Viktor stared down. “He’s not…”

At his agreeance, (Y/N) crossed her arms and glared at her sister. “Answer the question, Allison.”

Allison chuckled and turned to her sister. “Oh, you, too? See, this is exactly what I meant,” Her finger waved between the married couple before she turned back to Five. “You’re out of your mind.”

Five leaned closer. “You and Dad make a deal, now Luther is dead.”

“Okay… Luther was killed by whatever the hell that thing is.”

“And Klaus?”

“He didn’t make it into the tunnel.”

But Five didn’t believe her for a second. Neither did his wife. “You know, your deal is costing people their lives.”

“Do you really think that I made a deal with Dad to kill Luther and Klaus?”

She looked between her siblings, and while none of them answered, their expressions said enough. Viktor guiltily avoided her gaze, (Y/N) was still measuring her with her eyes and Five continued to stare her down with an unwavering certainty. She was losing them.

“I’m done.” She moved past them to leave the room. “I’ll meet you in the lobby.”

“Hey… Hey, wait, no.” Viktor sighed and then scoffed at Five before hurrying to catch up with his sister. “Allison. No, just listen to me.”

Five shook his head and looked to his wife, who was frustratedly tapping her foot. “So, her apology to me was bullshit, huh?”

“Afraid so, my love.” He swiftly brought her hand into his and began out the room. “Let’s go before we lose ‘em.”

When the two stepped out of the room, something (actually, many things) were off. For one, the hallway was much smaller than it was before. Five called out for his siblings as he walked towards one end of the hall up to a plant that was not there before. (Y/N) rushed up to the other end of the hall, where three paintings hung on the wall. She pushed against them in case they would lead her into another secret room, but the wall didn’t budge.

“Okay, what the hell is going on?”

“Now the real fun starts.” Five clicked his tongue and walked back into the very different bedroom they had just exited. (Y/N) followed him in, dread settling into her heart when she realized they were now on the fifth floor.

On the third floor, Allison was still storming away from Viktor. “No, I’m done with the three of you and your conspiracy theories.”

“Come on. Just listen to me-”

“Why should I?!” Allison whirled on him after pressing the elevator button. “Huh?! You’re the ones who voted to stay and die. You’re the ones who said to hell with family and the whole universe. I’m the only one fighting to save both.”

“We just need to know what Dad is planning before more of us get killed.”

Allison, once she realized they were two people short, moved past Viktor to look around the corner. “Where the hell are Five and (Y/N)?”

Viktor followed. “They were right behind me. Five?” He walked back down the hall in search of his siblings. He stopped in the doorway of the bedroom, but neither of them were there. “(Y/N)?”

Back on the fifth floor were Sloane and Ben, the former moving picture frames in search of the sigil while the latter leaned against the wall and ridiculed her. “Ooh, don’t forget to check under the plants.”

“Get off your ass and start inspecting the walls for hidden compartments.” She sharply spoke. Ben pushed himself off the wall and knocked on it.

“Hey, uh… here’s a wall and, uh…” He knocked on another. “Oh, here’s another wall.”

She rolled her eyes and opened a door to one of the rooms. “What the hell is wrong with you? People are dying left and right, and you’re acting like a sulky teenager.”

“You sound just like Dad.” He growled as she moved to another room. At his retort, she whipped her head back to him and shut the door.

“Why is it so important for Dad to like you? He doesn’t define you or us. We made our own mark in this world without him.”

“As the Sparrow Academy, but they’re gone now.”

“He was never a Sparrow! He was our dad, and a shitty one at that! You don’t need him.”

He sneered. “Easy for you to say when you’ve already got a new family.”

She deeply inhaled as her lip quivered, pointing a finger at him. “And the best part of that family just died.”

Their argument was interrupted when Five and (Y/N) rounded the corner, hand-in-hand. “I can’t believe I’m saying this,” Five started as his wife went up to Sloane and shared a hug with her. “I’m actually glad to see you guys.”

“What’s wrong?” Sloane looked down at her.

“There’s something seriously wrong with this hotel. We were just two floors down and now we’re here the next second. It’s like the place is alive.”

Ben frowned. “We should get to the lobby.”

“Tried it.” Five shook his head. “Whatever direction we choose, we end up in the same spot.”

“Or maybe you two have no sense of direction.”

(Y/N) bristled. “Alright, douchebag, lead the way.”

Ben gave her a look before doing just that, the teens parting to make room for him. They let Sloane in front of them before they joined hands and followed them. On the third floor, Allison and Viktor were looking for the two of them, calling out in hopes they’d call back.

“(Y/N)?”

“Five?” Viktor called before sighing. “Where are they?”

“How the hell am I supposed to know?!” Allison hissed.

“Come on. We can’t keep doing this.” He stopped the both of them. “Please, how do we get back to the way things were? You know, before that fake apology and-”

“And the lies?”

Viktor nearly groaned in frustration. “Allison, come on. How do we do that?”

She stopped and stared at him for a second, biting her lip before she inhaled. “I don’t know that we can.”

Suddenly, the entire hotel shook and rumbled, the lights above them glowing a bright yellow as the ceiling lamps swayed with the force of the shaking. They planted their feet to keep from falling and surveyed the area around them, the air shifting as an ominous tone settled within the many halls of the hotel.

“We should get back to the lobby.” Allison led Viktor back where they came from. “Which one of our moronic siblings do you think rang the damn bell?”

A few feet ahead, a figure broke through the wall and stood before them. This figure was large in stature, covered in armor with a mask-like face covering in the shape of a tiger on its face. Before either could react, it swiped its large ax through the air and cut into Allison’s arm, sending her to the ground with a gut-wrenching wail of pain.

“Allison!” Viktor cried out. Glaring up at the guardian, he summoned his blue energy and blasted it to him, sending the armor-clad figure down the hallway and skidding across the floor. Immediately, Viktor dropped to the ground to help up his sister and get her as far away as possible. “Allison, we gotta go! Allison, get up! Let’s go!”

The guardian twirled his ax in the air before darting after them. On a different floor, the quartet had rounded a corner the same time as another guardian. This one looked similar to the first, only its mask was different and it held a katana rather than an ax. Spotting its targets, it snarled and swiped its katana through the air, holding it up at the ready.

“Really? A samurai?” Ben deadpanned.

This must have been it. The thing that killed Luther. Sloane tried to remember Diego’s description of the possible weapon used, but all she could remember was “blade”. That was all she needed. With a war cry, she charged up to the guardian. It headed right for her, but before it could send its blade into her, she flipped around it, ending up behind the guardian. It turned around and swiped its katana down, but halted when Sloane used her power to stop it. It was clear that she was struggling, though. She was going to need help.

“Revenge looks good on her.” Ben smirked. Five and (Y/N) rolled their eyes.

“Would you shut up and help us kill this thing?” The boy scoffed as he went up to an ax hanging on one of the doors. He grabbed it and went to blink closer to the guardian, but stopped when (Y/N) grabbed ahold of it. His eyes widened in astonishment when she duplicated the weapon. “Where the hell did you learn that?”

She smiled before sending her ax into the wall next to her. From its shadow, she pulled out a duplicate of that ax, along with a clone of herself from her own shadow, its hands tightly clutching the weapon as it was summoned from the wall. (Y/N) turned to Five and cocked her head.

“My sister taught me.”

Ben leaned against the wall and watched the three lunge for the guardian, hacking axes and manipulating gravity in an attempt to defeat it. Below them, Viktor was assisting Allison in hurriedly rushing down halls to get to safety. When he saw the sign for the spa, he urged her forward. “Here, here. Go, go, go.”

She ran inside and leaned against a pillar, holding her bleeding shoulder in agony. Behind her, Viktor shut the door and rushed her towards the back of the spa, behind the last tub. “We need… We need to tie off that wound.”

Allison whimpered and groaned as Viktor acquired a towel. “You were right, okay? I made a deal with Dad.”

Viktor ripped the towel and looked up at her. “Luther and Klaus?”

“No, I had nothing to do with that. I swear.” She winced. Viktor quickly wrapped the towel around her arm and tied it roughly, Allison crying out.

“Why tell me now?”

“Because I need you to believe me, okay?” She panted as he let go. “That I did this for all of us. Luther and Klaus, too.”

He shook his head. “What did he offer you?”

“I need you to trust me.” She whispered. “Look at me. If we get through this, everything’s gonna be okay.”

The door to the spa fell in, granting access to the guardian. This one was different, though. Yet again, it had a different mask and held a chain. One end of the chain held a mace, and the other end held a sickle. It swung the end with the mace before sending it forward, blowing the tub to pieces when it crashed into it. Allison and Viktor split ways and flew out of different exits to avoid the blast.

“Viktor?” Allison called out from the ninth floor.

“Allison?” Viktor called out from the fourth floor.

—————————————

Taglist: @natewrightt @sapphicsyn @m00n-sh @starcurrent @alexander-hamilhoe @youcandalekmyballs @wonderlandfandomkingdom @yrdadjstcallsmekatya @sm0kingcrack @sbyderman @moatsnow @bubblegumflamingos @starstormssymphony @meowiemari @magicalgothpandamaker @keayastitties @hehehehannahthings @harryshomeismyhome @rhain3 @deigobonitooo @xxeiraxx @camerondiaz48104 @theyaremorethanjustfictional @that-can-of-fizz @luckyzipperscissorsbat @0range-slices @molzsecretspace @officialjypofc @dragon-master-kai @justsomecreaturewandering @fandomxo00 @roman0ffsheart @idktbhloley @wifeofcamillamacaulay @twsssmlmaa @teamspideyman @instabull @distinguishedmakerpandapatrol @the-simp-next-door

[skinmanwithaskinplan]

also ik i just sent one but i cannot pass up the chance to infodump about a story me and a friend are working on because let’s be real no one irl actually cares. it’s more of a concept so far, as in we’ve done a lot of world building but not much actual writing of the story.

so it’s about this kid called ellis who’s like 5/6? and she’s grown up in a giant house in the woods with a creature sewn together frankenstein-style from who knows what. she barely sees it, although it occasionally leaves dead animals on the large dining table for her to eat (it doesn’t have a very good concept of what human children might want to eat).

i’m the woods near her house lives a mountain spirit. they’re normally quite social creatures, who tend to live in large communities in cave systems and such, yet this one seems to be living alone. she keeps seeing it, and suspects it may be stealing her possessions (although it profusely denies these accusations).

nearby, in a nicer section of woodland, another girl called ruth lives with her parents in a cottage. she has never left these woods, and has never needed to, for her parents grow their own food and are probably vegan i guess so no need for anything else???????? it is always raining in these woods, because her parents angered a petty weather witch before ruth was born and she cursed the rain to forever follow them. ruth herself is cursed by a demon, who she believes to be her friend. seeing as she is also about 5, and her parents cannot see it, they have always assumed it to be her imaginary friend.

ellis’ mother was a witch, and when her child was stillborn, she made a deal with something (we haven’t decided what lol) that every year, until her child’s 4th birthday, she must bring another child as a sacrifice in return for her daughter to live. she had 4 years to spend with her child, and must then exchange her soul in return for ellis to live. knowing that she won’t be around to look after her much longer, she constructs a creature to look after ellis once she is gone.

also the demon haunting ruth is not her friend

there’s some other stuff, but the ideas aren’t fully constructed, and the story changes everytime i tell it haha

sorry if that was a bit long

That actually sounds so cool. I’d love to read it if/when you guys finish it. I love odd and mysterious creatures. I’ve got a story I’m working on myself and I’m in a similar situation. I’ve got character designs, I know what I want the world to be like, I know what I want to happen in it, I just need to actually start writing.

Don’t worry about writing something too long either, I love reading about cool stories like this.

[star--nymph]

97 for the ship asks? For your cullenmance, fenrismance, and alistair/morriganmance

OC Ship Ask

97. How do they wake their S/O up? Is it difficult to rouse them?

Eurydice/Cullen

Eurydice and Cullen usually let each other sleep in if they can because both of them have such erratic sleep habits in the first place. It can flip on who gets up first because sometimes Eurydice gets up before the crack of dawn because she feels like it or Cullen gets up at first morning bell because that's been his habit for the last seventeen years. Out of the two, Eurydice is the harder one to raise when she does sleep in. She burrows herself in under blankets and pillows like a bird's nest and Cullen has to dig her out just to see her. He finds it pretty funny because it's the only time Eurydice turns into a real brat, groaning and whining and hiding beneath whatever she can get; or she goes limp in his arms like a cat. He tries to be romantic about it and wake her with a kiss, but that just gets a pillow in his face. Eventually with enough pestering Eurydice will roll out of bed in a cloud of her own knotted hair. Cullen does take much to wake because military life has made him a relatively light sleeper. Eurydice really only needs to run her fingers through hair or nudge him and he's up.

Garrett/Fenris

Garrett is a farm boy through and through, so he's up at dawn by choice and he's happy to do so. When Fenris first came to Kirkwall, he was hard wired for fitful sleeps and early starts, forgoing sleeping in a bed for a time just in case of a random attack. In took time for Fenris to break out of that mindset after he moved in with Garrett and accept that he was in a safe place. Once he did, however, he was more inclined to sleep in for at least a few more hours after Garrett does his routine. Garrett comes to wake him for breakfast and it doesn't take much to rouse Fenris--more or less a few pokes and he's up--and if Garrett is too busy to do it, he sends his mabari Ares to do it for him. Fenris can't really fight against a mabari yanking the sheets off him, no matter how much he threatens.

Alistair/Seren/Morrigan

Seren is such a spoiled brat about getting up and her mabari Thristan isn't any better. Regardless of how long they've sleep or how the sleep was, they will refuse to budge without a tantrum. Seren will mutter 'five more minutes' and when someone pulls the blanket off a pretty little head, she'll let out a whine that could break glass. Sometimes she even hisses when someone shines a light on her. Alistair is a pretty good sport about waking up, though he's pretty groggy in the morning and has a habit of walking into random things because he hasn't full opened his eyes. When he wakes Seren, he grabs her by her arms and forces her to seat up despite her going 'Nooo, Ali, noooo' and trying to lay back down when he's not looking. He's picked her up before and planted her right in front of the fire so she has to wake up, and when she pouts, he just flicks her in the forehead, kisses it, and puts her breakfast in her lap. Morrigan has no patience for treating Seren like a little princess, so when she wakes up with Seren wrapped around her, she just sighs, lays there for a good few minutes, and then says 'enough, you're not a child', then worms her way out of her grip. Seren tries to get her to come back but Morrigan is already up and out of there, leaving Seren to sit there and puff her cheeks before she either lays back down or gets up. If she good, though, she'll get a kiss. Seren is a lot nicer when she wakes either of them up, kissing them all over their cheeks and singing to them. Alistair loves it; Morrigan pretends she hates it, but she never stops her sooooooooo.

[what-if-queen-camilla]

Chapter 42

That was a tough one to write. I hope you'll like it... and do take part in the poll! :-)

06th September 1997

Of course, Thea had agreed to go to the funeral with her aunt and cousins and so Camilla had taken her to London the next day, where they'd stay at her parents' Kensington flat until after the funeral was over, to get an appropriate outfit for Thea's first big public appearance. It still made Camilla feel uncomfortable that, out of all possible occasions, it had to be Diana's funeral and that she couldn't be by her side, but she trusted that her sweet little angel was going to do brilliantly. Still, it'd have been much nicer and easier if they'd just taken her to Royal Ascot or the Sandringham Flower Show next summer… So they went to Harrods and picked an elegant, yet unobtrusive, knee-length black dress with a matching coat for her. As a headpiece, they’d chosen an equally elegant yet unobtrusive, simple black headband as Camilla considered her a bit too young and her position too controversial to raise more attention towards herself than necessary by wearing something "fancy", she was well aware that all eyes would be on her and that, whatever she was wearing, people would undoubtedly scrutinise every step she'd take so Thea's outfit had to be perfect. She had also instructed her to always stay behind her cousins and next to Sarah, and always do everything Sarah did in exactly the same way in order to stay as inconspicuous as possible, only speak when somebody directly asked her something and always keep her eyes lowered, fixed on the ground, and somehow it had broken her heart that she had to say this. Nobody wanted to be invisible and usually she always tried to encourage her little girl and boost her confidence but this was different. At least a spokesman for Charles and his sons had issued a statement explaining that, at the express request of Their Royal Highnesses Princes William and Harry, their half-sister Miss Theodora Parker Bowles would attend the funeral of the late Diana, Princess of Wales. Of course, as expected, it had caused controversy but Camilla had been glad that at least the public had been "warned" that way; she didn't even want to imagine what a bombshell it'd have been, had they only got to know at the very moment. 

Sarah came over to pick up Thea early in the morning. She’d take her to Buckingham Palace, where apparently the whole family would be gathering together before the procession to Westminster Abbey would begin. That was going to be the hardest part for them all and the part Camilla was most afraid of. Her poor little darling had to stand outside Buckingham Palace, surrounded by the whole Windsor Clan, once Diana's coffin, followed by Charles, William, Harry and also the Duke of Edinburgh, would proceed past. The mere imagination of that scenario gave her goosebumps and the thought of her daughter having to go through this all by herself, without her by her side, while the entire planet was watching had caused her a complete sleepless night. Hopefully it wouldn't be too traumatising for Thea, hopefully the others would be kind, hopefully Charles and the boys would be okay… 

Before Sarah and Thea left, Camilla hugged her tightly and kissed her so affectionately that it almost scared Thea. "Mum, please. It's only for a few hours.", she said, probably not aware of the real meaning of it all, which was probably even best. "Yes, darling. I'll be thinking of you all day and when you come back later, we'll have a cosy evening, just the two of us." Camilla promised, pressing one last kiss on her daughter's cheek, and eventually waved them goodbye. 

She watched them getting into the car out of the kitchen window and burst into tears as the black Audi took off. She was so worried, and it killed her that there was nothing she could do to help. How on earth was she supposed to get through this awful day? Before she could have thought about it any further, the doorbell rang and she quickly dried her tears before rushing to the entrance hall and welcoming… “Andrew?" She hadn't been expecting anybody in particular but out of everybody she knew, her ex-husband was the last one she'd expected to show up. "I thought you might like to have a bit of company today…", he said, looking almost as worried as she herself. Though Thea was not his biological child, he had never stopped caring for and loving her like a father should. She still adored him and still went over for weekends every now and then. He still was, and would always be, her daddy as well and somehow, Camilla was pleased to see him and very touched by his thoughtful reaction. "Thank you, Andy.", she said, greeting him with a kiss on the cheek, motioning for him to follow her inside.

Buckingham Palace 

Despite the sad nature of the occasion and her undeniable nervousness and fear, little Theodora was quite impressed when she entered Buckingham Palace together with the Duchess of York. She had never been here before and it was magnificent. She'd very much have liked to enjoy a look around but somehow felt that it wasn't the day for it; Mummy had told her a thousand times that she absolutely had to follow Sarah's instructions, only speak when she was directly asked and keep her eyes lowered down on the floor. The Queen and members of the family had gathered in one of the reception rooms on the ground floor and while Thea was relieved that she didn't spot the Duke of Edinburgh anywhere, she was still looking out for her father and brothers. "They're not here, little one.", Sarah explained. "They will join the procession from the West Wing* and are already waiting there. We'll go outside any minute as well and watch them from the front gates. We have to send them all our love and support, will you do that?", Sarah asked and Thea nodded, when suddenly, much to her relief, Beatrice and Eugenie came over to say hello to their mother and cousin which made her feel less alone. She had also spotted The Queen and Princess Anne in a corner of the room but they didn't seem to have noticed her, and to her disappointment, Great-Granny was nowhere to be seen either. "She will only be at the service.", Sarah explained, and suddenly a bit of a rush occurred and Sarah reached out for her and Eugenie's hand, motioning for Beatrice to walk with Thea as well. "Come on, girls. Off we go.", she said and the four of them followed The Queen and the others through some corridors and eventually outside of the Palace.

"Dear God, look at the crowds!", Camilla sighed as the camera showed an especially impressive view of the thousands of people who had gathered around Buckingham Palace and The Mall to say their last farewell to their beloved Princess. "It's crazy.", Andrew replied. "It's busier than in 1981." He had to know. He'd been there, taking part in the procession at Charles and Diana's wedding. The camera moved to the front gate and the commentator described the scenes: “The Queen, Princess Margaret and other members of the Royal Family… standing outside Buckingham Palace…”, followed by a dramatic zoom out, featuring all of them in one picture. “There she is!”, Andrew exclaimed as they spotted their little girl, right behind her cousins Beatrice and Eugenie, just as Camilla had instructed her over and over again. It broke her heart to see her poor little darling standing there all on her own, but at the same time filled her with immense pride. Of course, she was only ten, but she already looked so beautiful and dignified and was doing so well. The camera moved over to the procession that had meanwhile reached the West Wing of Buckingham Palace, and eventually captured Charles, William, Harry, the Duke of Edinburgh and Earl Spencer, who were all going to join in and walk behind the coffin in a minute. Camilla couldn’t hold back her tears any longer as she saw her love’s and his son’s pain in their eyes… What an awfully hard and sad journey it had to be, and how much she wishes she could be there with them, be there for them. Andrew gently took her hand and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. “She’ll be fine, Milla.”, he said, and just like that, the camera once again, moved over to the royal party gathering at the front gate, just in time for them to witness a rather heartwarming scene between Thea and her Uncle Edward, who was obviously whispering something to her, following which she hesitantly made her way to the front row, right between her two cousins. Before Camilla had the chance to worry any further, the procession reached the main entrance of Buckingham Palace and both mourning sons, William and Harry, turned their heads towards their family and Camilla felt like her heart stopped beating as she, along with the majority of the world’s population, watched Thea blowing a loving kiss to her heartbroken brothers… 

*in reality, they only joined the procession from St James's Palace but I really wanted to have this special sibling moment.