#I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Cassandra who wasn’t pretty

[secretceremonials]

No thoughts, just jagos’s cassandra

[forgedroyalseal]

My Reputation’s Never Been Worse

Chapter 13

(I love this chapter so much and I really hope you do too)

An hour later, Alyss found herself walking down the narrow, shady path towards the lake alone. They had discussed what they should do over breakfast, and it was decided that only one of them should check on Will. They didn’t want him to constantly feel like he was being ganged up on. Cassandra had instantly volunteered, but Horace suggested that Alyss should go. She had seen him the least out of all of them, and Horace thought it would be good for them to talk one on one.

She clutched the mug of still steaming coffee in her hands and turned around the last bend before stepping into the clearing that slopped into the lake. Nyah sat under a tree, light flickering through the leafs, casting shadows on her face. Alyss approached quietly, unsure if her presence would be welcomed or not.

“Join me.” Nyah called to her without turning around. Her words were soft and inviting. Alyss sat besides her, setting the mug down carefully next to her. Will was in the water, steadily swimming back and forth across the lake. He moved as powerfully and as surely as a ship, cutting through the water as if it was what he was born to do. The girls watched him in silence for a while before Alyss broke it.

“I don’t remember him ever really swimming when we were growing up.” Alyss sighed. This was just one more thing that she didn’t know about Will.

“When we met, Will was in constant agony. His hip wound was still pretty new, and it was a complete mess. Every time he had to sit was a struggle, and forget about standing back up. An old sailor that was working on the same ship suggested Will try swimming to build up his strength and to give himself some time off of the injury. It really helped with the pain, but I think it help him mentally even more. The water has a calming effect on his mind, and it give him something physical to focus when he gets overwhelmed.”

“So you two didn’t met an Eisel?”

“No, we knew each other for a couple years before we ended up in Eisel. I was on the ship Will found work on.”

“I didn’t know that women worked on ships. What did you do?”

Nyah closed her eyes from a moment. When she opened them, Alyss such raw pain and regret that she wished she could take the question back.

“Women typically are kept off ships, old superstitions died hard, you know? But on this ship, well, I guess they felt I was worth the risk. My father sold me to captain the year before Will joined the crew.”

“You don’t have to-“ Alyss tried to say but Nyah just continued speaking.

“The captain would offer me as a reward, or as bait. Or he’d just use me himself. Will was the first man who had shown me kindness in years. He never once-“ She shook her head. “Even when offered, Will refused to do what the other men would. Even when it made the other men suspicious, he never touched me. He became my saving grace on that ship. I wouldn’t be alive if it wasn’t for him.”

“I’m sorry you had to go through that.” Alyss said, heart tight with sympathy for the woman next to her.

Nyah shrugged, “It was awful. But it could have been worse. There are so many women that it was much worse for. So many women who never found their Will.” Her eyes had remain locked on Will the entire time she had been telling her story and understanding dawned on Alyss.

“You love him, don’t you?”

Blushing, Nyah turned to Alyss. “I think everyone who meets Will falls at least a little bit in love with him. But yeah, I do. He doesn’t feel the same way though, so I’ve learned to be satisfied with just having him as a friend.”

“I wouldn’t be too sure about that. I mean, you seem to be the only person he let’s himself relax around. The only person he’s himself with.”

“We’ve been bonded by pain and fear. We care deeply for each other, but it’s nothing more. He’s madly in love with someone else. I don’t think he’ll ever be capable of falling for anyone else for as long as he lives.”

And without having to ask, Alyss knows. She sees it in the heavy look Nyah levels her with. It’s the same look that Horace gave her this morning. The same look everyone has given her every time Will was mentioned over the past five years.

It was her. Will loved her, had for a while it would seem. He loved her, and yet he still left. Will loved her, and yet he had barely spoken to her since he had returned. He loved her, and yet he had written to George while he was on the run. He loved her, and yet he never once said a word.

Will loved her.

And yet, that didn’t seem like it would be enough to keep him here.

“You finally figured it out, huh?” Nyah nudged her.

“He never said.”

Before Nyah could reply, Will was walking up to them, water dripping off of him. Drops clung to the ends of his hair, catching the sunlight and causing him to look as though he was crowned with diamonds. In this light, with the blood and grime washed away, he looked nearly ethereal. Alyss’ breath caught in her throat. She had known Will all her life, and sure, as a teenage girl who started feeling things for the first time, she had seen Will as cute. And after everything in Norgate, handsome even. But looking at this older, rough edged version of Will standing in front of her, and knowing his feelings towards her, she felt as though she was seeing him for the first time. Seeing him as a man. Not the teenage boy she knew. It hit her like a tidal wave.

Oh.

It was Will. It had always been Will. Somewhere deep inside her heart, she had always felt it, she just hadn’t known it. She had loved him long before she even knew what love was, or what it could be. The past five years with out him had been agony. She felt as if a part of her had died and rotted inside of her chest. And seeing him again, so different, so hurt, she was torn between being grateful for his return and terrified of what it meant for their future. Because she couldn’t lose him again, she couldn’t watch him leave. Not now that she could name the feelings that tied them together.

“Alyss?” His voice broke through her internal crisis. She fought down a blush when she realized she had just been silently staring up at him.

“This is for you.” The words rush out as she pushes the mug of coffee towards him. “It’s probably cooled down a bit, but that’s never stopped you before.”

“Oh, um, thank you. But I don’t drink coffee anymore.” Will shot Nyah a look that she obviously ignored.

“You’re joking right? You lived off of this stuff.”

“Yeah I just… Lost my taste for it I guess.”

Nyah rolled her eyes. “Will, you’ve known Alyss all your life, can you please just be honest with her. Can you be vulnerable with her for two seconds?” She stood and shoved Will down by his shoulders so he was sitting besides Alyss. “Tell her the deal with coffee at least. I’m going to see where Miles has wondered off to. We’ll meet you two back at the Castle.” She picked the mug out of Alyss’ hands and left them before Will could argue.

“You don’t have to tell me anything you aren’t comfortable with.” Alyss says gently.

Will sighed, “No, Nyah’s right. I should tell you. I mean, it’s you. If there’s one person I should be able to be honest with it’s you.” He glanced down at himself. “I didn’t expect to have this conversation half naked and soaking wet, but…” They both laugh and Alyss leans behind him to grab his discarded shirt then tosses it at his face.

“I think I’ve seen enough of your body today.” She says the words before she can stop them and feels her face burn right red the moment they come out. Will just grins and tugs the shirt on. It gets stuck over his head for a minute and when he finally wrestles it on, his wet hair is wild and starting to curl at the ends. She looks at him and the start to laugh all over again, falling into each others sides.

“So, coffee?” Alyss asks once they compose themselves. She watches Will’s face fall and half regrets bring it up, but the other half is desperate for insight into the past five years.

“Right.” Will looked up the the branches overhead as if trying to find the words spelled out among the leafs. “I was heading to the coast when Ranger Conway caught me in Greenfield. He put an arrow through my hip.” Will gestured the where the knot of scar tissue sat underneath his damp trousers. “He bound me and dragged me back to his cabin. I’m honestly not sure what his plan was, if he was even planning on bringing me to Castle Araluen or if he was just going to kill me himself. Either way, he wanted to have his fun with me first. He wanted to watch me suffer.”

“He kept me tied up for three days. I’m still not sure how I didn’t bleed out on the floor of the cabin, or how my wound didn’t become infected past the point of no return. For the most part, he left me alone during the day. But at night,” Will forced back a shutter, “Conway was a drunk, and a cruel one at that. One night, he was making coffee. I made a stupid comment, I don’t even remember what it was anymore, and it pissed him off. He took the kettle of coffee off the fire and doused me in it.” Will pulled the collar of his shirt down and pointed at the discolored scaring on his chest. “I’ll never be able to forget the smell, it’s seared into my brain. Coffee mixed with burning flesh. I can’t even get a whiff of coffee anymore without getting nauseous. Later that night after he had passed out, I dislocated my thumbs to slip out of the rope binds and ran like hell until I reach the sea.”

Alyss stared at him with wide, watery eyes. “I-I don’t- Will.” So much emotion spilled into his name that it came out as a sob. Will turned her into him so that she was half in his lap and wrapped his arms tightly around her.

“I’m ok Alyss. It was years ago. I’m ok.” He whispered.

“No, it’s not ok! Nothing about this is ok! You never should have gone through that, any of it.”

“But I did, and I came out on the other side.”

Alyss pulled back from him just enough to look him in the eye. “Did you? Because sometimes I look at you, and feel as though I’m looking at a stranger. But then other times, I still see the boy I knew. It’s as though you’ve been split in two Will, and I’m never sure who I’m seeing.“

Will sighed deeply, clearly trying to control his emotions before responding. Alyss knew that she was pushing more than she should. Knew that it wasn’t fair to have this conversation now, after he had finally opened up to her about what he had had gone through. But after learning about his feelings from Nyah, and the sudden realization of her own, she needed to get through to him, needed him to understand how worried she was.

“I am trying Alyss. I don’t know how to do this anymore. How to be who you all want me to be. I can’t just go back to the boy you all remember.”

“You don’t need to Will. None of us are expecting you to be unchanged by the last five years. But there are times where I see glimmers of yourself that you force down. That you cover over with anger and resentment. You don’t need to be all or nothing Will. You can just be you. All any of us want, is you.” She placed her hand on his cheek, thumb gliding over a scar by the corner of his mouth. “All I want, is you.”

His own hand slides over hers and he presses a kiss into her palm. “I’ll keep trying. I promise.”

“That’s all I ask.” Her voice was a whisper, not daring to speak any louder in fear that it would break whatever fragile connection that held them together in this moment of vulnerability.

“There is so much I should tell you.” His words were heavy with guilt and fear.

“And you will, when you’re ready.”

She felt him lean forward. Watched his eyes flicker down to her mouth. Felt him take a deep breath.

“Will! There you are, Crowley- Oh. Oh!” Gilan’s voice shattered the intimate moment like a rock going through glass.

Will pulled back from her and Alyss felt a surge of murderous rage towards Gilan.

“Hope I’m not interrupting. I can come back.” He says grinning as he sits down next to them, clearly have zero intentions of leaving them alone.

“What do you want Gil?” Will asked exasperatedly. Alyss slid off of Will’s lap as casually as she could, but felt Gilan’s shining eyes watching her with amusement.

“Crowley was looking for you. But I am more than happy to cover for you if you need to uh, finish whatever’s going on here.”

Will shot him a hard look, which if directed at anyone else would have made them back off immediately. But it was Gilan, who ignored Will’s gaze and continued smiling wolfishly at the pair.

“We were just talking.”

“Oh, is that what the kids are calling it these days?” Gilan teased.

“What does Crowley want?” Will asked, trying to move along.

“I don’t know.” Gilan shrugged. “He’s in his office waiting for you.”

“I should go. It might be about Eisel.” Will stood and stretched. He reached down and offered his hand to Alyss, who took it and pulled herself up. “Do you mind letting Miles and Nyah know where I am?” He asked her.

“Of course.”

Will smiled then turned to Gilan, “And not another word out of you.” Gilan put his hands up in surrender, grin still plastered on his face.

The three of them walked back to the Castle together and once Will broke off towards Crowley’s office, Gilan pulled Alyss aside to an empty sitting room.

“I don’t what you said, or did, but whatever it was, he seems different. Lighter.”

“I just- listened. Told him we didn’t need him to be anyone but himself. I’m not sure how much it will effect him, but I’m not giving up on him.”

“None of us are.” Gilan’s eyes gleamed and the sincerity of the moment evaporated. “Now, care to share what exactly I interrupted?”

“Nope, you’ll just have to use your imagination.” She pushed past him and he called out after her.

“Oh, believe me, I will!”

[etoilebinaire]

14 and 15 for Evanna/Merrill, 23 and 24 for Rasha/Bull, 27 and 29 for Jess/Bastila/Juhani? :)

Thank you Sierra 💕 these are so much fun!! It's long so under a cut!

Evanna/Merrill: 14: What little things remind them of each other? What reminds Merrill of Evanna is the warmth, comfort and smell of a fire. Pretty dresses and nice fabrics, even if there’s not much of that in Kirkwall. Another thing that reminds her of Evanna is a little more abstract, but the feeling of when you’re a little tipsy in a bar and everything is getting lively. Some people might be passing out drunk, fighting or starting a fight, but there’s also your friends dancing together and laughing and a kissing couple in the back of the bar. It isn’t all good it isn’t all bad but it’s all people living. That’s Evanna for Merrill. For Evanna, after she met Merrill she suddenly noticed flowers all around that she’s never seen before. It’s because Merrill loves to point out and pick flowers because they’re pretty. Before, Evanna would look over them without a second glance but now they remind her of Merrill. Also, the most cliché stuff ever, but any time Evanna would see an emerald or some other beautiful green-ish gem she’d be reminded of Merrill and her eyes. It’s exactly like in the fanfiction and I think she would tease Varric with eye descriptions all the time as well. 15: What habits or characteristics have they picked up from each other? Evanna is a chronic lip-biter and eventually Merrill starts to mirror that but it’s the opposite of a problem because they’ve made it the perfect excuse to smooch in order to share chapstick <3. Evanna has this stupid joke where any time some kind of creature flies overhead, she stops in her tracks and says “dragon?” even though the chance that an entire dragon randomly flies over Kirkwall is extremely small. However, Evanna is very good in running a joke into the ground when none of her friends think it’s funny anymore. Merrill is smart and already knew a lot of bird species and has now made it her personal goal to be able to identify any flying creature so she can answer Evanna’s rhetorical bad joke. The first time Evanna wasn’t paying attention and missed a bird flying over, Merrill was the one to stop the entire group in their tracks and announce: “Dragon? No, it’s a sparrow”. Cue a lot of groans and ‘not you too’ from their friends and Evanna melting in a puddle because that is the most adorable thing she’s ever heard and Merrill is looking at her with the biggest smile on her face to see if she did the joke correctly.

Rasha/Bull: 23: What was their first impression of each other? Oh you already know. Bad. Their first impressions were actually without ever seeing each other. Bull did his homework and already knew the Herald of Andraste was Vashoth and about the Valo-Kas. I don’t think he was particularly thrilled about a Vashoth being the newest Andrastian prophet but he’ll give them the benefit of the doubt. Rasha had a good first impression of the Chargers with Krem, but also wasn’t thrilled that their leader was “Qunari, like you. Big, got the horns, all of it”. She definitely assumed he was Tal-Vashoth at first. When they actually meet on the storm coast, their second first impressions are mostly discarded in order to do some risk vs. usefulness assessment. Rasha is pretty much what was expected (not Qunari + wearing pieces of like 4 different cultures + not being expressive = a Vashoth mercenary). Bull is a little too knowledgeable about the inquisition but then he just straight up admits to being Ben-Hassrath and gets the Rasha Disapproves -200. Rasha then loses an internal discussion with her instincts in favour of the inquisition needing more people. She’s the embodiment of that tweet ‘(angriest I’ve ever been in my life) ok sounds good’. After threatening some being eaten alive by Cassandra she still hires them.

So then Rasha’s impression is: *kill bill sirens* spy who infiltrated the organization with approval of everyone around him cause humans don’t realize how dangerous Qunari spies are and Rasha has to keep an eye on him because the humans think he’s just friendly and that’s bad. Bull’s impression is.. also cautious since Rasha does seem high strung all the time and the inquisition can’t have their Herald having an emotional breakdown. But I think he also has some sense of respect for how practical her thought process is. 24: How did they fall for eachother? As I mentioned before, they found themselves stuck in an (somewhat one-sided) enemies to (mutual) reluctant colleagues to friends to lovers pipeline. Rasha is just too scared of Qunari spies to realize how compatible she and Bull are at first. Like, she will go along with the bit to convince Cullen that they can both breathe fire but then the bit is over and they’re enemies again. Their keep-a-straight-face-through-puns competitions are Spy Training and not friends joking around. Obviously. Neither of them fall for the other until after Bull gets fired and they start sleeping together. For both of them really, it’s the sheer effort they make to help each other. Rasha is trying very hard to believe and trust Bull on his word (“you’ll always be safe with me” isn’t always an empty promise and Bull has been nothing but reliable and deserves more than immediate instinctive dismissal) and her internal debates are now also broadcast on her face because she’s trying to openly communicate and be honest about her feelings and it’s adorable. After some encouragement from Rasha (“if you’re not honest my mind will make something up and that will be worse”), Bull is also making an effort to air his thoughts. It helps that Rasha is close to as messed up as he is, so neither of them will be scared off with talks about escape routes or how to most efficiently kill as many people in the room as possible. Obviously Bull grounds Rasha and provides the safe place she never thought she would have, which is a big part in how she fell for him, but she also does the same for him. Most people in the inquisition are terrified of the Rasha Death Glare™ and Rasha is very good at getting to high places where nobody is able to reach. Bull would also struggle to climb a steep rooftop but again, the effort is adorable and would earn him a smile and a helping hand. Then they would pretend to not hear any people bothering them. Also, the fact that when Rasa spotted a dragon her first thought was “Bull should be here” and barged into the Heralds rest to get him. Cue the drunken “Kadan” afterwards that they both forgot cause of that damn Maraas-Lok.

Jess/Bastila/Juhani: 27: What interests do they share? For interests they don’t share, do they ever participate anyway? Their general interest in saving the galaxy and being jedi and lightsaber forms etc they all share but that’s boring. Juhani and Jess both really like tea and Bastila is best at making tea so she makes tea for her gfs. Juhani would have trouble being patient enough to let it actually set before trying it, and Jess would boil water and then forget she was making tea in the first place. So, Bastila. They also like exploring places and new planets, and I think they’re all prone to warmer climates so they explore a lot of beaches. Nightly walks either under or among the stars. With some encouragement from Jess, dancing. For interests they don’t share.. They definitely do not share Jess’s swoop racing “hobby”. I would even go as far to say that they argue about it sometimes. Juhani questions the morals of getting all the racing money when Jess is using the force to win (even though she swears she isn’t!) and Bastila thinks it’s unnecessarily dangerous. It’s because Jess thought it was a good idea to ride around with the three of them on a one-person swoop bike one time and everything went well nobody got hurt but Juhani doesn’t believe in mechanical transport anymore and Bastila is never letting Jess drive again if she’s present. Jess always retorts to “but me swoop racing SAVED YOU, Bas!” and Bastila is offended and always responds “I saved myself!” and Juhani is in the middle wondering if her girlfriends are ever not going to be childish about that. In short; I think they do have separate interests that the others rarely participate in, but that’s for the best.   29: Where is their relationship lacking? What could they do to improve it? Hmm.. Their communication could be better. I think they could use a big honest sit-down conversation about how the jedi (including Bastila) treated Revan when she nearly died and last-minute got saved etc. Even if she’d never admit it and she’d think discussing it is useless, Jess definitely has mixed feelings about that. I’m sure Bastila and Juhani do too. While all three love each other equally, Juhani does harbor some envy for the strong force bond Jess and Bastila share. Again, I don’t think they really talk about any of that. Jess often assumes communicating by sensing their emotions through the force is a replacement for verbal communication and it’s really not.

[raineydays411]

My fathers daughter

prologue

Tony Stark x daughter! reader

Summary: By all definitions you were a daddy’s girl. It’s been you and him since your mom left you both. But what happens when your both forced to face your past?

a/n: y’all know i can’t resist a good crossover

If there had to be a face for daddys girl, you’d be the poster child. 

Ever since you came into Tony’s life, you and him have been attached by the hip.

You were with him through everything.

When he became Iron Man, when he joined the avengers, and even during civil war. Even though it hurt you to see your family be torn apart, you could never betray your father. Then again, you have to admit that you were happy that the avengers compromised and were able to get back together. Earning you a new family member in Bucky. You were happy. Happy with the life you have with your dad and avengers. 

Which is why your mother suddenly reappearing and demanding to be in your life kinda of peeved you off. 

Let’s start from the beginning. 

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It started off with a gala. 

Some bougie charity event that rich assholes attend to donate large sums of money, not out of kindness, but only to show just how rich they are. You hated these types of events.  You hated the fake smiles and false interest in your life. All they wanted was to get close to your dad. They even try to set you up with their snobby stuck up kids. You hated it. 

And here you were, trying to find a way to get out of this boring conversation with some snob from Beverly hills. You can see your dad laughing at you from across the room. 

“You know, you look a lot like Mrs. Wayne.” He suddenly says, looking at you.

“Who?” You ask, suddenly paying attention.

“Mrs. Wayne, you know, Bruce Wayne's wife.”

You know who Bruce Wayne was. Your dad absolutely detestes the man. He never really told you why. He just said to never trust a Wayne. You also know that he’s Batman and his army of children are/were Robin. It was pretty obvious and rather easy to figure out. Then again, you were able to hack into the Bat computers main systems. They really need to update their firewalls. 

“Um no I didn’t know that he had a wife to be honest.” You reply, not really interested.

“You can pass as her daughter you know? She is very beautiful. As are you.” He says in a flirty tone. 

You roll your eyes, seeing your father finishing up a conversation and make your move, but then you hear 

“Oh look, there's the Wayne family right there.” 

Causing the attention to turn to the main entrance. There you saw Bruce Wayne. Tall, handsome, and charismatic. He was smiling, waving at the host. Next to him, his oldest son Dick. Another very handsome man, Tall with blue eyes and raven hair. Sending charming smiles to the crowds of women. Then Tim Drake, too focused on his phone to pay attention to the crowds, and finally Damian Wayne. A small boy with a sharp scowl. To his left, you can barely make out the form of his wife and his daughter, Cassandra Cain. You can also see Stephanie Brown chatting excitedly to Mrs. Wayne, who you still couldn’t see.

“Jeez, they brought the whole cavalry.” You mutter, looking at the star struck boy you were talking to.

You roll your eyes. The way people worship this family is strange. They act as if they are royalty or gods. You look at your father, expecting him to be making a sarcastic face or something. But that’s not what you saw. No, you saw a look on his face that you haven’t seen on his face ever. That’s when you walked up to him.

“Daddy...are you okay?” You asked cautiously.  He turned to you, shocked.

“Y/n!” He practically shouts, “ I’m okay, are you okay? We can leave right now if you’re not okay?” 

You frown in confusion, “ Umm yeah, I’m fine...”

“Good, Good. We’re going to leave now, this gala kinda blows. DOn’t you think?”

You can see his eyes dart to the Waynes to you. He looks...panicked. It was weird to you. Usually he keeps his cool during events like these. 

“Um sure..I just need to go to the restroom first” You say, seeing him nod. You walk off, shaking off the concern you have for your father. As you push through the crowds, you can hear them whisper as you passed. Something about Mrs. Wayne. 

You shake your head, “Can’t they talk about anything else??” 

Then you finally find the bathroom. You walk in, expecting it to be empty, only to be faced with Cassandra Cain and Stephanie Brown. They were chatting near the sinks as you walking into the stall. After doing your business, you walked out to the sink, going to wash your hands, but you saw Stephanie freeze, then nudge Cassandra. They both stared at you as you washed your hands and went to dry them. You give them a side eye, wondering why they were staring at you so hard. 

“Um hi?” You say carefully, the jump not expecting you to speak.

“Oh! Hello Im Stephanie and this is Cass” Stephanie says with a smile. “ You’re Y/n Stark right?”

“Uh yeah...Its nice to meet you dudes” You say quickly, already ready to walk out the restroom. 

“I’m sorry for staring, it’s just that...you look a lot like her mother” She says gesturing to Cassandra. 

You chuckle, “ Uh yeah so I’ve heard...hey I gotta go...”

“Oh right! Sorry heh” Stephanie laughs nervously, “It was great to meet you”

“Yeah” You agree half heartedly, “ You too”

And with that you go to find your father. You pass by the Wayne sons, only to see them take a double take when you pass them. 

“God that family is weird.” You mumble seeing your father talking to Bruce and his wife. He looked distressed and angry. You speed up, wanting to make sure your father doesn’t punch Bruce Wayne the way he looks like he's going to.

“Hey dad...um I’m ready to go.” You says with your back turned on the Waynes.

“Y/n..” Your dad says panic exploding on his face, “ Y/n sweetheart um...”

“Yn?” You hear a woman whisper.  You turn to see Bruce Wayne and...your mother. 

You remember the day she left. It was a sunny day. The kind of days that usually are in good memories and have happy endings. She was supposed to take you to the park so you can meet your dad there. You hardly saw her over the years, just every three months when she would come to the then Stark Tower to visit. But that say...that day was different. She had gotten a call, from who you don’t know, nut it seemed important. Because she left at that very moment and never came back. She never reached out, never called, texted or anything. Just radio silence. Your dad was heart broken.  He had hoped that one day she would move in with you and him, and you could be a family. He loved her with his whole heart, but she just didn’t love you both enough to stay. He was a mess after she left, and you picked up the pieces.

You were nine.

If it wasn’t for Pepper stepping in after witnessing one of his breakdowns, you don’t know what would’ve happened.

You stare at the woman who left you, who broke your fathers heart. Who broke your heart.

“Ms. Wayne.” you say curtly, taking pleasure in the way her face fell, “ Mr. Wayne, it’s lovely to see you again. If you’ll excuse me and my father, it seems like he’s not feeling too well.”

You weren’t lying, Tony looked like he was about to puke. His face was pale and he was kinda sweaty. So you wrapped your arm around him and lead him to the entrance, starting to pull out your phone to call Happy.

“Y/n wait!” Your mother cried out, pulling her arm away from Bruce and placing a hand in your shoulder. You jerked your shoulder out of her grasp.

“ Y/n, I know you’re mad at me” she starts, cringing when she hears you scoff, “ But wait a second. Let me look at you...my petal you’re so big.”

You turn and glare at her, “ Don’t call me that.”

“Oh Y/n, please—“You cut her off again.

“Hey i’m just going along with what you want. This is what you wanted right? No contact with us?”

You can see a crowd start to form around you, and you see the scattered Wayne’s push through it. They look at each other in confusion trying to understand how you seem to know their mother.

“ Of course that’s not what I wanted, oh petal I meant to call I just...” She trailed off

“Couldn’t be bothered?” you say harshly, “ I couldn’t care less. Just leave us alone. That should be easy for you.”

You feel your dad tug on your hand, and you turn to him. Eyes softening when you see the expression on his face.

“ Happys here kiddo.” He says softly. You nod and start to walk away. And you hear your mother protest, but you cut her off with a venomous,

“It was nice seeing you again Mom.”

and then you were gone. This time, leaving your mother behind and her confused husband and children.

[butwhyduh]

What do you think about damijon x reader? It's a concept I've seen a few times, and it's pretty neat. Part of me is super into it when the reader is like an amazon, just because the parallel is there between their little group and the big three. I'd love to hear your opinion on the matter.

Also: "Getting a girlfriend, Kent. I hope you're a fan of distractions." "Does this mean you don't want to hold hands with us?" "...I didn't say that."

Awwww that’s adorable. Superwonderbat gen 2.0. Obviously I mean when they are both grown.

I feel like it would have to be the reader and Jon that start dating and they both admit they have a crush on Damian.

“Who doesn’t think Nightwing is hot?” Jon joked.

“Exactly. It’s totally natural,” you said. “Nightwing and Flamebird are both way too hot. Like sometimes I don’t even understand how attractive you both are.”

“Aww, Thanks. I wish I could date you both sometimes,” Jon said and you laughed.

“Yeah. Same.”

……

“Maybe…”

“You think-“

“Why not?”

“The worst thing he could say is no.”

“Yeah.”

“Yeah…”

“Are we gonna ask him?”

“Absolutely.”

——————————

3 days later

Damian was sitting by a gargoyle on a roof in Gotham when you both flew over. You sat on one side and Jon the other. Damian looked between your both who were watching him.

“What brings you here?” He asked. Cassandra wasn’t near as strict a Batman as Bruce had been but she did try to limit metas working in her city. Damian tried to honor it when he could.

“We were wanting to talk to you,” Jon said.

“Yes, so we were thinking, Dami,” you said taking his face in your hands. Damian stiffened. He knew Amazonians were more free with affection but he wasn’t. “We want you.”

“You want me,” he asked. “What does that mean? Jon, what is she talking about?”

“We want to be with you. As a couple,” jon said gently. Damian turned to look at him but you turned his face back to yours. He didn’t slip out of your hands the way he could.

“We both have interests in you, Damian Wayne,” you stated and he pulled back from you only to bump into Jon who stabilized Damian. “Please don’t leave. We want to talk. My people don’t define relationships so strictly as they do here but I know this is different.”

“I- I need to think,” Damian said, gently pulling himself away from you both. You nodded.

“Take your time. We’ll be okay no matter what your answer,” Jon said. Damian nodded roughly. He had had a crush on Jon since they had met as kids and on you when he met you a few years later. He looked between your faces. Didn’t you know he wasn’t good like you both? He had killed. He had done things he can’t take back. But no, you both looked at Damian like he was the moon.

“How would it work?” He finally asked. You grinned and Jon huffed out a little laugh.

“Terms and conditions? Ever a bat,” he laughed. “We take care of each other. We keep it between the three of us.”

You nodded agreement. “Sex is as you wish or not if you don’t wish. We just want to love you, Damian.” Your frankness was always so startling to Damian. He stepped a little closer.

“What do we- what do we call it?” He asked.

“Poly or sometimes I’ve heard it called a throuple,” Jon answered. “I’d just say I’m lucky to have a boyfriend and girlfriend.”

“Are you thinking about it?” You asked. “Do you want to try?”

Damian stood silent for a moment. “I guess. Yes.”

You grinned and clapped your hands together and Jon huffed out a laugh. Damian let his lip turn up in the corner. You moved over to next to Damian. “Can I kiss you?”

“Yes,” Damian answered after a second.

You turned to Jon who had come close and asked him, “can I kiss you?”

“Of course.”

“Can you kiss each other?” You asked and they both nodded. You gently cupped Damian’s face and kissed him softly on the lips. His lips were cold in the windy Gotham air. You pulled back only to kiss Jon. His lips were warm as always. Then you gently cupped both of their heads as Jon bent closer to kiss Damian. You couldn’t help but watch them both.

————————————

4 days later, Wayne manor

“Damian, I approve of your relationships but I must insist you and your partners take your kissing sessions elsewhere besides the rooftops,” Bruce said from his chair. His old back injury was flaring up again. Damian froze before nodding.

[fishfingersandjellybabies]

Lovestruck - fic

Characters: Tim Drake, Damian Wayne, Jason Todd, kinda Dick Pairings: future!jondami, implied-kinda?timkon, also timbernard Summary: Damian starts acting weird after Tim and Bernard begin dating. Turns out even this kid can be naive, and a total idiot, when he wants to be. A/N: idk a headcanon I couldn’t stop thinking about haha. Damian is absolutely one of those genius kids who don’t know the most basic things. Also if it’s not clear, Damian is comparing Tim’s answers to what he likes in people to if they match Conner. all ages are current canon so Tim is immortal and Damian is 14 mkay bye.

~~

When Tim started dating Bernard, he expected a lot of different things. He expected Bruce’s protectiveness, Dick’s softness, Jason’s gift of XL condoms, Cassandra’s date suggestions and even Stephanie’s own prepared shovel talks for his new paramour.

But he did not expect…well, this.

He did not expect to see Damian sitting on the front porch when Bernard brought him home from their third date. He did not expect Damian to start furiously writing in the notebook on his lap at the sight of them.

He did not expect to come down to breakfast and see the kitchen table scattered with notes and lists and images of way too pretty people, pictures of Bernard and Steph among them.

“…What are you doing?” Tim found himself asking sleepily.

“Research.” Damian replied simply, sipping thoughtfully from a mug on the island. “None of your concern.”

“Oh yeah?” Tim asked as he approached. Instantly he tapped the photos of Steph and Bernard. “So why are there pictures of my ex-girlfriend and current…boyfriend here?”

His stomach still did giddy jumps at the thought.

Damian’s lips twitched, like he’d been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Then he reached out and slid the photos underneath some papers. “Just…persons of interests.”

“For?”

“None of your concern.” Damian reiterated. Quickly, he began to shuffle all of his papers and pictures together. “Jeez, what does that Dowd boy even see in you…”

And then he was gone before Tim’s pre-caffeine mind could catch up.

After that, Damian was less obvious, but Tim could still catch on. In fact, everyone was catching on. But, like the emotionally constipated Bats they were, no one said anything, or tipped their youngest off.

They all just watched, as he suddenly began to distantly follow Tim around. Around the house, around the city, both as a civilian and in uniform. It was Cassandra who declared that Damian was watching who Tim was interacting with, not necessarily him.

He never followed him on his dates, though.

Then came the questions. Every time they were together. They’d go to lunch downtown near the office, and Damian would ask:

“Do you like that girl’s hair?”

“Would you ever wear those shoes?”

“How much do you respect a person if their suit jacket doesn’t fit them properly?”

When they’d be staking out a suspect on a building overlooking a street corner, he’d say:

“That belt is too gaudy.”

“You can tell he spent way too many hours in the mirror getting ready to go to that disgusting dive.”

“I can’t believe she’s walking on this street in those heels. Would you go for comfort or fashion?”

And it continued, the following, the seemingly random questions. After a while, Tim chalked it up to…maybe Damian was just getting to know him. Just trying to actually get along for once in their lives. They were both getting older, more mature. Maybe it was just time they started acting like what they were.

Brothers.

But then he came home one afternoon to find Dick standing in the manor’s foyer, back leaning against the wall that led into the central sitting room they all used. It was almost evening, which meant Damian was most likely in there sketching, or reading with his pets.

Dick noticed him open the door, and quickly put a finger to his smiling lips. Tim nodded and silently closed the door behind him, carefully took off his shoes and jacket, then tiptoed over to Dick.

He peeked around Dick’s shoulder. Sure enough, Damian was in there, but he was standing at the fireplace, staring down into the flames.

Jason sat in the loveseat behind him.

“Jay just got in there. He hasn’t said anything yet.” Dick breathed. Tim frowned skeptically. Surely Damian knew who was in the house. Knew there was something going on if Jason had just sought him out.

“What are we interrogating him for?” Tim whispered back. “Did he lose one of Alfred’s recipe books again?”

Dick just shook his head and pointed into the room. Tim looked back in.

Jason was relaxed in the chair, but staring intensely at his youngest brother. Damian must have known that, felt his eyes, because he wasn’t looking up. Kept his gaze glued to the fire at his feet.

Suddenly, Jason huffed, crossing his arms. “Spill.”

“Spill what.” Damian rolled his eyes.

“Spill why you’re stalking Tim.” Jason said bluntly. “Why you’re asking him all those dumbass questions.” A pause. “…Why you’re keeping tabs on his boyfriend.”

Tim inhaled sharply, glaring up at Dick. Dick waved both his arms quickly, implying that Jason’s words weren’t true, that it was just to catch Damian off guard.

“I’m not keeping tabs on him, Todd. That’s ridiculous.” Damian countered. “I’m merely making sure they’re still together.”

A moment to let the fire crackle.

“Well, I’m also making sure that boy isn’t hurting or manipulating Drake in some way.” Damian murmured softly. “But mostly, I’m just making sure they’re still together.”

Jason crossed his ankle over his knee. “Why?”

“What, I can’t be concerned for my brother’s safety and happiness?”

Jason snorted. “Not that brother’s.”

Damian glanced over his shoulder and narrowed his eyes. Then back to the fire.

Jason waited a minute, let his eyes dart across Damian’s back, study his posture. “…Why are you so concerned if Tim and his new boy-toy are still together?”

Damian shrugged silently.

“Don’t do that.” Jason scolded. “Use your words, Damian. Like a big boy.”

Damian let out a frustrated exhale. “I’m just…confirming Drake isn’t looking elsewhere.”

“What, to cheat on his boyfriend?” Jason drawled. “Timmy’s not the cheating type, I can tell.”

“No. No.” Damian said sternly. “That’s not what I’m saying.”

“Then what are you saying?”

“I’m saying!” Damian threw his arms out. Let them fall back to his thighs with a slight smack. “…I’m saying I’ve seen him look at others the way he looks at Bernard Dowd and that is…concerning. …To me.”

“Others?” Jason questioned. “What others?”

“Like Conner Kent!” Damian finally spun around now. Jason’s eyebrows rose in surprise and Damian rolled his eyes again. “Oh don’t tell me you don’t see it. Those two have been flirting with each other since the damn day they met. Drake dating this boy now only confirms the possibility of their eventual coupling.”

Jason let his face settle back into neutral, let the words bounce around in his brain. “Okay…I guess I can agree with that.”

Tim glanced up at Dick, who gave him a wink. Tim’s face instantly went beet red.

“But that still tells me nothing.” Jason continued. “So Tim and Conner maybe had or have crushes on each other. Maybe they’re attracted to each other. Maybe they’re forever star-crossed and nothing will ever happen. So what? Why does that bother you?”

Damian kept his lips pressed firmly together. After a moment, he spun back towards the fire.

“…Damian?”

“…Because it would be weird.” Damian said at last. “It would be weird if he and Conner…”

Damian’s voice fell to an unintelligible mumble.

“What?” Jason asked gently. “I didn’t catch that.”

Damian mumbled again, still impossible to understand.

“Kid, you’re gonna have to speak up, okay. I can’t hear you-”

“I said it would be weird if he was dating Conner while I was dating Jon!” Damian yelled, whirling around once more. “And if he breaks up with Dowd and starts dating Conner before I can gain the courage to talk to Jon then I’ll lose my chance!”

His last words echoed in the space around them. Floated into the hallway and echoed up the stairs, too.

Not that anyone noticed. Tim had grabbed Dick’s bicep, while Dick had thrown a hand over his own mouth in surprise.

“Oh my god.” Tim whispered. “Oh my god, oh my god.”

“That…” Dick murmured. “That’s the cutest fucking thing I’ve ever heard in my life.”

Jason, luckily, had more composure than the two of them, and suddenly Tim realized why it was Jason doing the prodding, not Dick.

Jason’s eyes had just widened, no other movement than that. He remained still, remained calm, even as Damian’s face darkened, and embarrassed tears appeared in the corners of his eyes.

“Oh.” He said simply. “Oh, Damian.”

“Shut up.” Damian crossed his arms again, but they all knew this time it was to hold himself. “Don’t…don’t make fun of me.”

“Never.” Jason promised. “But also, not a thing you need to worry about.”

“Why, because Jon will turn me down anyway?” Damian whispered bitterly, turning away. Not towards the fire this time, just the window.

“He’d be an idiot to, and I’ll beat the shit out of him if he does.” Jason said as he uncrossed his legs and leaned his elbows on his knees. “No, I mean, you don’t need to worry about it because it wouldn’t be weird if y’all just so happened to be double-dating.”

Damian waited, then glanced back at Jason. “It wouldn’t?” Jason smiled and shook his head. “There isn’t like…I mean…a law…?” He inhaled slowly. “If Drake and Conner started dating, wouldn’t that make Jonathan and I…related?”

“That’s only if they got married, and even then, wouldn’t be weird.” Jason shrugged. “What, you’ve never heard those stories of like…twins marrying another set of twins? That shit happens all the time. You wouldn’t be the first.”

Damian blinked owlishly, let his hands fall back to his sides. “…Oh.”

“Yeah. Oh.” Jason laughed, standing. “Besides, Tim seems to really like Blondie whats-his-name so…I really don’t think you have anything to worry about.” A second, to cheekily add: “At least…not right now.”

Damian twisted his lips. “I told you their chemistry was obvious.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, so is Bruce and Clark’s if you ask the tabloids and half the Justice League.” Jason droned, reaching out for Damian’s shoulder and tugging him into his side. “But like I said, don’t worry about it. Who cares about your idiot brother and who he’s dating, let’s focus more on you and how you’re gonna woo one Jonathan Kent, mmkay?”

He quickly ushered Damian out of the room using a door on the far side, only glancing back once to mouth oh my god! dramatically to the ones watching from the hall.

“That…” Tim exhaled as Jason closed the door behind them. “…was the most precious thing I think I’ve ever seen.”

Dick hummed in agreement, then: “…But is he right?”

Tim glanced up at him.

“You and Conner?”

Tim felt his face warm a little. “…I’m dating Bernard, Dick.”

“Okay.”

“And…I think I should go call him. We haven’t talked all day.”

Dick smirked. “Okay.”

“…Don’t look at me like that.”

Dick let out a chuckle. “Okay.”

“…Stop saying okay.”

“…Okay.”

“Dick!”

He laughed again. “Sorry, sorry.” He ran his fingers through Tim’s hair. “Tell Bernard I said hello, and also warn him that your younger brother is absolutely ready to gut him, should he hurt you.”

Oh yeah. Tim forgot that little tidbit. He felt his face warm even faster.

“Yeah…” He sighed, turning towards the stairs. He ignored the little flutter in his heart, at the idea of his lovesick, protective, ridiculous little brother. God, that kid. “Yeah, I think that’s probably something he oughta know.”

[starfirette]

How about Helena Bertinelli jealous of the reader with other people because she didn’t have the same experience of seeing cartoons and movies (say the search for revenge is not full of cinema tickets. Something fluff in the end please 🥺💖

I made this into a bullet fic!! I hope that's alright. That quote is stellar, though!!!

This woman is the most sheltered assassin I think I've ever known

She may be a mafia boss but, like, she's very much like the sheltered kid

At the end of the day, she's afraid of everything. She worries about food poisoning and mass shooters

She's afraid ALL THE TIME for your safety and everyone else's

Well, when someone asked her why she "just can't have a fun time" she got angry and flustered

it was margarita night at the taco place Harley loved so much, and these nights became tradition

Harley had finally found real friends and she was ready to get to know them all

Everyone was talking about their favorite movies and all of a sudden everyone around Helena seems to be quoting something that she didn't know

Everyone knew it word for word and Helena didn't

you all laughed and Helena didn't, so naturally you were concerned

"Didn't you ever see Toy Story?" you asked

"Uh, no"

"Oh. We should watch it tonight."

"Uh, okay."

"Oh! Let's watch Studio Jibbly," Harley said as she sipped her drink

Cass just drank a virgin lemonade but she nodded

"It's 'Gib-Lee'" Dinah corrected. Harley didn't care

"What is Studio Jiggly?" Helena asked

"Again, it's pronounced 'Gib-Lee.'"

Shut up Dinah

"It's sorta like a series of anime movies," Renee said. Even Renee knew and that made Helena feel lame

"Animated movies? That's cool," Helena said rather meekly

"No, anime movies," you corrected. "Oh, we should watch The Secret World of Ariette! Remember I said I loved that for a baby name?" you told Helena as you nudged her. Yes she remembered but it didn't matter right now

"That's really great, really, really, but I've never seen it."

"That's why I suggested we watch it," you said carefully

"You didn't see it? I mean, it came out in 2010, that was like a decade ago," Harley said as she stirred her drink

"Ten years ago I was hunting down everyone that massacred my family before my very eyes." Helena sipped her margarita as her friends looked around, feeling a little not comfortable

"Oh, Hel..." you muttered, rubbing your girlfriend's shoulder sympathetically

"I saw that with Rick in the movie theatres," Harley continued on.

"Well I'm sorry, Harleen, but-"

"Oh shit," Cass said. Helena only calls Harley Harleen when she's mad. When she's mad at Cass, it's Cassandra.

"-But I didn't have much money for cinema tickets during my quest for revenge."

".......Cinema?" Harley asked.

"Quest?" Cassandra said.

"Not enough money?" Dinah said, sounding high pitched and shocked. "You lived in a villa."

"She's Italian," you told Harley. "She says cinema."

"Ah, those romantic languages," Harley said as she tapped her temple. "So, you know, romantic."

"Shut up," Helena snapped.

Dinah balanced her chin in her hand. "So why don't you have an accent?"

Helena just left the table

You glared at everyone. "Thanks. Now she's upset"

"Ah, boo hoo. So she didn't experience cartoons and movies? Just show her the cartoons and movies. No biggie. Now witnessing the so called 'massacre' of her entire family is a bigger issue to tackle."

You glared harder at Harley.

Harley leaned forward and asked, "She doesn't even have, like, an auntie?"

You left the table while Renee cackled in the background. She never actually contributes to conversations

You found Helena lighting a cigar outside, looking distressed and sad

"I don't really see why you're upset," you said, trying to make light of the situation. Helena wasn't happy

You hugged her waist from behind, inhaling the smell of her tobacco and leather perfume

"It doesn't matter that you didn't see movies. Or cartoons. We can just binge it all together. That doesn't sound fun to you?"

Helena tapped some ash on the sidewalk. "I'm pretty sick of being the oddball."

"Hel, you're not the oddball. Renee is basically a high functioning alcoholic with a gun collection. Cassandra is basically homeless and a pick pocket who now works for Batman. Dinah has a magic scream, and Harley is Harley. So you fit right in."

Convincing Helena it would be okay goes perfectly. Everyone goes home and starts out with the classic movies; some original disney. pixar, The Titanic.

By far she loves The Godfather, Forest Gump, Snow White, and Heathers

She watches lots of cartoons in her free time just to study up on lingo and classic media references

She keeps a notebook

She wonders why "What's up, doc?" is so popular because it's not funny

She rants all the time about why Looney Toons isn't funny.

She doesn't like Bugs. Don't ask me why but she'd probably kill him on sight.

[the-insomniac-emporium]

Serenade (Daniela Dimitrescu/Reader) Pt. 9

Fandom: Resident Evil: Village Rating: T for language + mentions of sensitive topics Warnings: Referenced past abuse. Does not go into detail. Notes: Longest Serenade chapter yet at 4k+ words! Bit of angst, majority is fluffy fluffer fluff though. Next chapter is maximum h*rny, with two versions depending on reader, uh, equipment. EDIT: Forgot to put title, like dumbass. Past Chapters: Pt. 1: Nocturne, Pt. 2: Overture, Pt. 3: Accelerando, Pt. 4: Toccata, Pt. 5: Poco a Poco, Pt. 6: Elegy, Pt. 7: Harmony, Pt. 8: Obbligato

Chapter 9: Berceuse

(Berceuse: A lullaby. Generally slow and undulating.)

One moment you’re playing the piano, lovingly demonstrating a song you’d like Daniela to learn, the next you’re blue screening as she places a teasing kiss to your neck. It takes all of your willpower to keep playing, improvising a way to end the song right then and there. Then you’re turning to Daniela, eyes wide, blushing hard. She’s giggling. When she regains her composure, you give her a confused expression.

“I’m pretty sure this is the first time you’ve made real eye contact with me all morning. What gives?” She asked, frowning slightly. Awkwardly rubbing the back of your neck, you avoid her gaze, doing little else than proving her point. This frustrates her, and she lets out an aggravated sigh. I should probably tell her what happened, you think, dreading the idea. Still, the two of you had been making an effort to communicate better. What kind of partner would you be if you didn’t tell her about her mother’s intervention?

“Okay, okay… I wasn’t sure how to bring this up, but if I’m being this obvious about it anyway…” You started, trailing off anxiously. In response, Daniela places one of her hands over yours, giving you a reassuring squeeze. Though your face somehow gets even redder, the action gives you the courage required to continue. “I had another progress update meeting with your mother yesterday. I was worried, since this was the first one where you weren’t present, but I didn’t- I mean, er… Fuck it, she knows you’re interested in me. Doesn’t think we’re already together, thank God, but she told me, and I quote, that my response should be ‘swift and uninterested’. What are-” before you can finish you’re cut off by a loud groan, followed by your girlfriend cradling her head in her hands. Yeah, you think, this is about what I expected.

“Of course she did! I can’t have anything nice,” Daniela snapped, having gone from ten to sixty real quick. You’re just glad that she wasn’t taking it out on the piano. “How would she even know about us? I only stare at you when she’s not looking!” Oh? Since when did she stare at you? Certainly if Lady Dimitrescu had noticed, you would have as well?... Then again, the few times where all three of you were in the same room usually involved you working while they chatted or ate together. Still, the idea of Daniela making heart eyes at you from across the room was enough to make you blush again. “Look, she’s probably making some assumptions. There’s no way she knows as much as she thinks she does, at least not about us. So let’s just be careful- ugh, I sound like Bela- and otherwise keep doing what we do. Alright, songbird?”

“If you’re sure, then so am I. Let’s try to focus on our lesson for now, though,” you replied, doing your best to sound confident. Hoping to add in a little reassurance, you give Daniela a quick peck on the cheek. Unsurprisingly she ‘dodges’, instead kissing you on the lips, but you hardly mind at all. When she pulls back she’s got a huge grin on her face.

“Lesson now, fun later, got it. Speaking of later… You and me, inside the library, right after lunch. I’ll tell mother we’re going over theory and key recognition, but really-” she leans in close, mouth barely an inch from your ear “it’s a date. Don’t worry about getting caught, I’ve already made sure that neither Bela nor Cassandra will interrupt.” Your heart skipped a few beats at her suggestion, and you had to admit… you were beyond excited for this. When was the last time you had gone on an actual date? Years ago, just a month before you left your hometown and moved to the village. That had been a date you’d spend the rest of your life regretting… then again, it was what made you leave in the first place. And if you hadn’t left, you’d have never met Daniela.

Maybe it hadn’t been that bad after all.

————————————

Four minutes past one in the morning, you shuffled nervously towards the library, with note cards in hand. Even if you weren’t really going to help Daniela study, you wanted to be prepared in case you bumped into anyone along the way. After all, this was the night shift, when most of the servants were up and about, accomplishing any tasks deemed ‘too noisy’ to be done while the manor occupants slept. Thankfully, the fact that lunch had just finished meant a fair amount of workers would be busy cleaning up the dining hall. In the end, you only passed one other servant, but it was the only one you hadn’t felt confident about running into: Daphne.

Despite your long-standing friendship (having known each other in the village, and being brought to the castle within the same week), you had yet to tell her about your relationship with Daniela. Which by itself wouldn’t have been too bad, if not for the fact that she could tell you were hiding something from her. This had, understandably, put a damper on your friendship. From her perspective, there was nothing you shouldn’t be able to tell her. Even you weren’t sure if you should be more honest, all things considered. There was no way she’d ever tell someone else about your situation. But if one day you got in trouble for lying to Lady Dimitrescu… and somehow someone figured out that Daphne knew too, well, she’d be just as fucked as you, if not more so. After all, there was a chance that Daniela’s affection for you would lead to a lighter punishment. Not that being exiled into the forest was much better than being flat out killed.

So when you saw Daphne heading towards you, you tried to get by with a simple smile and a brief wave.

“Aren’t you even going to say hi?” Daphne asked, tone stiff but filled with disappointment. It catches you off guard, to the point where you drop your note cards. Immediately you’re squatting down, gathering them up, taking the excuse not to look at your friend. She doesn’t move to assist, instead pausing in the hallway to watch you. “We were supposed to stick together, you know? But it’s like becoming Lady Daniela’s little plaything made you think you’re better than the rest of us. Better than me.” That last part was barely more than a whisper, and you freeze in place, hand still hovering over one of the cards. “I shouldn’t have said anything, it doesn’t matter. Just try not to get yourself killed, alright? I don’t want to be the one to clean up your corpse.”

“Daphne, wait, please!” You said, finally moving to your feet, blocking your friend’s path. When she looks at you, you can just barely make out tears in the corners of her soft blue eyes. “I’m sorry, really. I… I can’t tell you what’s going on because I can’t risk getting you in trouble. You’re my best friend, Daph, and I don’t want anything happening to you just because I was doing something reckless.”

“Do you really think I don’t know what’s going on between the two of you?” Daphne questioned, with a bitter laugh. She’s shaking her head in disbelief, even as you stare at her, shell shocked. “Maybe the others haven’t caught on yet, but I’ve seen the way she looks at you, and I’m not oblivious to the way you talk about her. I figured you’d tell me eventually… It’s been weeks, though. More than that, I mean seriously, don’t you think I’d go down for you in a heartbeat? There was a time where I was sure the two of us would do anything for each other, ride or die when the dying part was a guaranteed end to all of this. Something tells me that’s not the case anymore.” Now she refuses to meet your gaze, instead staring down at what few note cards still lay on the floor.

“That’s still the case, I promise. It’s hard enough to look past what our employers do to strangers. If they hurt you? I’d never dream of forgetting, let alone forgiving them,” you explained. It’s enough to make her look back up, but she’s far from smiling.

“If that’s the case, maybe I’m looking at the wrong signals. But I’ve got to go, and I assume you do too. Take care,” she said, before slipping past you as quickly as she can. Then you’re left to gather the last of your note cards, mind whirling. Cruel as the thought may be, you hoped that this wouldn’t ruin the mood for your date. The best your mind could do to cope was focus on one thing at a time…

————————————

“Are you sure this is safe? I can’t even remember how many times I’ve been told to keep this door shut, under the threat of, you know, losing my life,” you called out, hanging out in the doorway. Beyond you by a few meters was Daniela, who twirled about with laughter, reaching out to catch a few falling leaves. This was the entrance to the garden, as far as you could tell. Not to be confused with the vineyard, which was larger, as well as on a completely different side of the estate. You had never been to either, seeing as only a select few servants were allowed to leave the manor. If Daniela hadn’t made it seem like you’d be staying in the library, well, you probably would have protested a little, regardless of how badly you wanted to go on a real date. Even when you had met up with her, she hadn’t told you any details, just laughing and asking you to follow her.

“Don’t be a baby! We’re still a few weeks away from autumn, and besides, you’re here with me! What could possibly go wrong?” Daniela asked, sending you a cheeky grin before dashing off into the garden proper. For a moment you’re left on the threshold, a picnic basket in your arms, wondering what the season had to do with your safety. Then you sigh, figuring that it couldn’t be that bad. Hadn’t your girlfriend mentioned this to Bela, anyway? Certainly the responsible older sister would have stepped in if something genuinely dangerous had been suggested? Well, you hoped as much, at least. With that in mind you close the door behind you, then dashed towards where Daniela had gone. Even as you round the corner, you don’t see her, and suddenly you’re nervous as hell. Before you can call out to her, the sound of rustling leaves catches your attention. Suddenly something jumps out at you! “Rah! Gotcha, babe!”

Ah, of course it was your girlfriend, clearly pulling a leaf from Cassandra’s book. You playfully smack her arm in response, trying to ignore the way your heart pounded. Humorous intentions aside, she had legitimately scared you, and you had nearly dropped your basket in response. Before you can say as much, Daniela’s hooking her arm in yours so she can pull you further into the gardens.

“You’re lucky you’re so fucking cute, firefly,” you muttered, a tad grumpy now. Most of your irritation was false, however, intended to tease your girlfriend. For a moment she doesn’t seem to realize that, and she stops in place. Once her eyes meet yours she understands what’s going on. Then she’s grinning, sticking her tongue out at you, and continuing down the path. Soon enough you’re approaching a paved brick circle. All around it, minus where it meets the walkway, are various flowers in bloom. Past the flowers are bushes, and past those are trees, whose branches provide a canopy for the circle. “Wow… and I thought you were pretty,” you teased, admiring the view.

As soon as the words leave your mouth, Daniela lets out an offended scoff, before taking the basket from you. Wordlessly she opens it up to grab the blankets within, spreading them without sparing you a glance. Now it’s your turn to wonder whether or not her anger is just a joke. Hoping so, you help her smooth out the blankets, making sure the two of you have ample space to spread out. At one point both of you reach for the basket at the same time, and she just grabs your hand instead, squeezing it. Next thing you know she’s pulling you down onto the blankets, rolling on top of you.

“Come here often?” She asked. Then, unsurprisingly, the two of you kiss. Both of your arms wrap around her waist, holding her as close as you can. One of her hands cups your cheek, the other resting on the ground to support herself, for ‘optimal makeout angles’. It’s a minute of bliss before she has to pull back for air. Instead of pulling away entirely, she shifts down a notch, resting her head against your chest. “Mmm… so comfortable. I could just… fall… asleep…” Daniela murmured, pretending to be sleepy. You can’t help but laugh, chest obviously shaking in as you do. “No! Pillows aren’t supposed to vibrate.”

“Are you sure about that?” You asked, only laughing harder.

“They don’t talk, either,” Daniela replied, huffing as she does. When you keep laughing, she rises to a sitting position, much to your disappointment. “So you have chosen death? So be it. I’ll just eat these candies myself, then.” With that said, she digs into the picnic basket, retrieving a bag of chocolates. Pouting, you reach out to try and yoink one away from her. Rather deftly, she pulls them away, sticking her tongue out at you before tossing a couple in her mouth. Determined, you surge forward, trying to catch her off guard, only to (somehow) end up face down in her lap. “Exactly like I planned, songbird. Now get comfy, alright?”

One of her hands trails fingers through your hair as you semi-awkwardly roll over. Now you’re facing up, watching your girlfriend practically inhale a few pieces of chocolate. But now she seems more inclined to share. She plucks one more from the bag, offering it to you by holding it in front of your mouth. Gladly you open up, and she drops the chocolate, before giving you a small ‘boop’ on the nose. Both of you laugh, then, a sound that sparks warmth in your chest. This was… nice. Relaxing. Not only were the two of you allowed to be as open with your affection as you wanted, it was the first time in ages that you had actually been outside, able to enjoy the sunlight.

Several minutes pass by like this, with Daniela feeding you (and herself) candies, both of you taking time to appreciate the scenery. Eventually the bag of chocolates becomes close to empty, and you see your girlfriend have an ‘oh crap’ moment.

“I was going to save some of these for you to smuggle into your quarters, damn it… guess you’ll just have to refuse to share, babe,” she said, shrugging a little. Then she sets the bag aside, now devoting both of her hands to playing with your hair. “Guess I’ll just have to find something else to keep my tongue occupied. Know any volunteers?”

“Hmm… I would, but it’s reeeaaaaaallllllly comfortable down here,” you teased in reply. Suddenly her hands are taken out of your hair, and you can just barely see that they’re positioned on her hips. She’s pouting at you, very similar to how you’ve seen her mother do, yellow eyes betraying her mischief. What exactly did she have planned?

“Really, songbird? I take you out, give you a wonderful place to rest, hand feed you chocolates… and you won’t even kiss me? When was the last time you even got to do something like this?” She asked, perking an eyebrow. The question is innocent enough. The answer, however, is not. Even with your head in her lap, you cannot fight off the brief sense of panic as your mind flashes into the past. It takes a deep breath, a few blinks, and a reassuring touch from Daniela for you to calm back down. “Songbird?... Hey, hey, it’s okay, I didn’t- I don’t know what happened. But we don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to, we can just…” She trails off, sounding unsure of herself, and you feel a pang of guilt. Was it finally time to come clean?... Yeah, yeah it was.

“It’s fine, I promise. I just… I need to sit up for this,” you explained, begrudgingly rising out of her lap. But she doesn’t let you pull away entirely, a hand guiding you to sit right up against her. Then she gently wraps an arm around you. Leaning into her touch, you rest your head on her shoulder, closing your eyes for a few seconds. “It’s kind of a long story, firefly… But this has happened often enough that I need to tell you. At least part of it. So, well… When I was younger, I, uh, I read a lot of romance novels, watched a lot of movies. Not even the good ones, really. And I didn’t- I couldn’t think through them. Couldn’t analyze it the way I needed to. So I didn’t get a good grasp of what a healthy relationship looked like. My, uh, my folks weren’t keen on demonstrating one for me, either…

“Before I came to the village, I was, well, uh, the thing is you might not like this part? And you’re not gonna like the next part, either. Just… listen to the end, please,” you pleaded, waiting for an acknowledgment before continuing. “I was engaged, as in to be married, to a woman I had known for most of my life. We were neighbors, and had gone to school together, and everyone thought we were the cutest couple. Hell, for the longest time I thought that. We weren’t, though. She was-” Daniela tenses a bit, though remains silent- “manipulative, sometimes aggressive. Anytime there was an argument, she made herself into the victim, told me that I was crazy. She wanted to make all the decisions about our relationship for me, and I just… I didn’t question it. Not even after she proposed, when my only reason for saying yes was because we were in public, with friends, and she clearly assumed that I’d agree. I tried to tell her that I wasn’t ready, that maybe we were going too fast, but she tuned me out.

“I didn’t even think about running until our final date. That was the first, and the only, time that she ever… that she ever-” a few tears spill from the corners of your eyes- “got physical with me. She’d broken things before, for sure, but I never thought she’d hurt me.” Daniela rubs your back gently, her breathing a little shaky. Evidently she hated hearing about this as much as you hated talking about it. Somehow that made it a little easier to talk through. “The next day she had to work early, so I just packed up my things, went over to my parents’ house and told them what happened. For once they actually agreed, if you can believe it. Told me to get the hell out of town, said that they’d deal with my fiance, and our relatives, so that I didn’t have to worry about anything when I came back. It was less than a full day before I drove away from everything I had ever known, promising my folks that someday I’d be back. Didn’t settle down until half the continent was behind me, not ‘til I was here at the village.”

There were a couple moments of silence as Daniela waited to make sure you had finished talking. Then she’s kissing the top of your head, shaking a little more noticeably now, murmuring reassurances that you can’t quite understand. Again you lean into her touch, indescribably thankful for her comforting presence. Fuck, you think, I probably ruined the date… so much for spending quality time with my lil firefly. When the silence breaks, it does so softly, slowly, a careful opening rather than a forceful push.

“Why would you give me a second chance? After what I did to you?” Daniela asked, voice barely audible, her head still resting atop yours. It’s not the response you expected. Not in the slightest. You pull away slightly, to look her in her eyes, heart aching at the tear stains on her cheeks. Even though you want to give her an answer that will bring her peace, your mind draws little more than a blank. Why had you given her a chance? You had wanted to be with her, without doubt, even before Cassandra and Bela intervened. Even after every time that she reminded you of your past…

“I-I don’t know. Maybe I haven’t learned anything from what’s happened,” you started, uncertainty clear in your tone. “Or maybe it’s because you looked… regretful. You didn’t enjoy what you did, and I saw it in your eyes. And… and then you did something about it. If you hadn’t shown remorse, or if I genuinely believed that you might do something like that again, we wouldn’t be here right now. I mean, in that case your sisters probably would have killed me for turning you down, but that’s not entirely relevant right now, is it?” You’re rambling a little, stuttering over your own words. Still, somehow it makes Daniela laugh, and relief floods your chest. Soon enough you’re curled up against her once more.

“Hey,” she said, after a minute of comfortable silence. “Thank you for showing me what romance is supposed to be.” Then she’s leaning in for a kiss, and you’re responding eagerly, unable to stop yourself from smiling. This time it’s your hand that runs through her hair as you pull her in as close as you can. To your surprise, she does pull away a tad earlier than usual. But there’s a grin on her lips, and she looks satisfied as hell. “Definitely more of that, soon. There’s just one more thing we have to do, to make this date perfect, you know? I may or may not have, kind of, written you something? You’re not allowed to laugh, though!”

“When have I ever laughed at you?” You asked, teasing, literally laughing as you speak. In response, Daniela scowls, making a point to look away in feign protest. “Joking, joking… I’ve just, you know, never had someone write me something before. Kinda don’t know how to react, really. Other than blushing real hard-” which you were doing- “and trying to play off my excitement with humor. But I promise I won’t laugh, even if you start with something like ‘roses are red, violets are blue’ or end with something like ‘just us in bed, doing the do’. Please tell me that’s not what you wrote, though?”

“Now that you mention it, maybe that should be what I recite. Sounds exactly like the sort of thing that would get me laid,” Daniela joked, rolling her eyes at you. Then she’s tugging a loose piece of paper out of the picnic basket, unfolding it to reveal a well-worn surface and hand-written text. She hesitates for a moment, glancing up at you, before taking a deep breath. When she speaks it’s clear just how nervous she is. But with every line she gains a measure of confidence, by the end acting her usual confident self.

Step from the shadows, weary corners of my mind Encased in old thoughts, brought into new life Like ashes rising from tombs housing the divine

Spinning webs as I descend, from the cradle of heaven From the dead I have risen, blessed be the gift I’m given Only from your haunting call do I embrace living

Catching the corners of my lips turning up All my years I’ve felt, but never this much Quietly writhing, begging for your softest touch

The pursuit of unintentional romance left abandoned Whispering love-locked tales to be consumed Sweeter than every facade I have ever imagined

Come closer now, into my arms, heart embraced Trailing fingers over scars, sewing lines traced Tell me love, “we shall last until the end of days”

At first, all you can do in response is stare at her, expression filled with affection. Inside your chest your heart was racing, and you couldn’t remember the last time you felt this warm. Reaching out, you take one of Daniela’s hands in your own, grinning as soon as her gaze meets yours. Both of you are blushing rather hard. Then she sets the poem down, eyes never leaving yours for even a second. You try to stutter out a few words, but find your tongue tied, and so you settle for placing your forehead against hers. The two of you stay like that for a few loving moments. When you part, it is only to come back together, this time in a tight hug.

“One helluva date, yeah?” Daniela asked, looking incredibly proud of herself. You can’t help but nod enthusiastically in response, honestly happier than you had felt in years. “Well, I will have to let you get back to work soon, unfortunately… but we have a few minutes, at least. Besides, having to part will only make tonight all the more sweeter.” At that you pause, confused, tilting your head to the side. Realizing that she must have gotten ahead of herself, Daniela blushes before elaborating. “You, me, my room. Tonight, right after your shift ends.”

You could hardly wait.

[nochiquinn]

legend of vox machina episode 7: scanbo OR it’s only comic relief until it stops being funny

I got so excited when I saw the title of this episode

all the reactors I've seen thought stonefell was anders on account of the weird cut/camera focus when percy was talking about them

yes your honor I would die for cassandra de rolo

she does sound moderately like a fable npc

mala: that was an assassination attempt

anders is built like a pear on a barbecue fork

like okay. he's not wrong about the baby de rolos being pampered b u t that's not THEIR fault. kids are never responsible for the situation they were born or brought into, only with what they do with it once they're old enough to develop agency. he's just lashing out at them bc they're easy targets. and papa de rolo is right, it's NOT his job, and if it's not an urgent "everything's gonna blow up if we don't do this" matter he shouldn't have kept pushing. also don't bitch about your students' parents in front of them, let alone directly TO them.

okay I'm done now we can continue

I did NOT see the nails holding keyleth's effigy's antlers in place until mica pointed it out and for the record: I hate it

"I assure you, I'm in control" press x to doubt

his hair is getting a lot fluffier/less coiffed as time goes on (good)

"if you turn that thing on any of us again, I will not hesitate, I will kill you"

imagine knowing what percy's guns can do, even if you don't know what they are, and seeing him use them brutally and mercilessly on two prone, helpless people in two days (never mind what they all knew stonefell was and what he did), and now he's leaking smoke and his eyes are black from corner to corner and he's pointing it at you. and if he'll point it at you, his teammate (you'd like to think friend), who won't he point it at? vex? keyleth? and the only way you know to stop him is to put him down.

there's gonna be a lot of meta/fic in these next few recaps and I refuse to apologize

this means he kept the de rolo crest buttons this whole time

I love how they visualized this. just this whole sequence with the hammers and the barrel clicking

how'd he get a forge tho

scanlan

mala pointed out this is how early scanlan deals with dark shit, is to make a joke out of it, but has no filter on when it's appropriate to say it out loud

pours one out for matthew mccoughnatree

this is a really nice sequence tho

when keyleth's ambition outstrips her control

"who's the sixth barrel for?" props to whoever it was caught percy's shadow

I wasn't sure ale would put out a fire instead of dousing it but it probably has a pretty low alcohol content compared to like vodka

it's like dousing a fire with natty light

vax actively countering vex instead of just sniping at her

"this is bigger than all your personal shite" I mean yes but I would like more of the personal shite

s c a n l a n

like he has one job and that's fucking with everyone but. scanlan.

can archie like. wipe his face. it wasn't bothering me until mala pointed it out.

venkman

"let. me. be. ANNOYING." huge tiktok audio potential

me: oh no is this a musical episode mala: it was threatened

this was INTENSELY unneccesary

CrItIcAl RoLe WaS nEvEr ThIs CrAsS

D&D GUARDS

I'm sorry, they're clearly playing bunions and flagons

blink? I assume?

"how would this ever help?" idk if you needed to get inside a dragon

nut check WITH the gauntlet

I remember the fire breath being much more controlled in the stream, I am probably remembering wrong.

scanlan: literally a thirteen year old

yes. YES. the triceratops is LOOSE.

doors: the only thing to stop a charging triceratops

"who let that sex-crazed gnome do this solo?" "uh...you?" "never listen to me again."

"excellent plan, vox machina" "I mean that is what we're known for" rank lies

"I was dead yesterday, remember? can only improve from here."

tbf the DOOR wasn't trapped. just the everything else.

I just love how bigby's scanlan's hand has been used in the show, much more versatile than I remember it being in the stream

(or it was just so ubiquitious in the stream I stopped appreciating it properly)

you have activated GrogRage™

"oh man, they are fucked now"

mala pointed out vex and keyleth still work together in battle, regardless of their personal squabbles. they can hate each other later when they're still alive.

(also probably helps that keyleth actually has no beef with vex, and is likely absolutely bewildered at the way vex has been treating her lately)

COCK LIGHTNING

no! double-tap! confirm the kill!

"good show, scanlan."

I legitimately loved vax running in ahead to find anders (and percy beating the shit out of him for it later) but this does make more narrative sense

"let her go and we can discuss a future where you're still breathing."

hey show what the fuck

hey show what the Fuck

[bigskydreaming]

Doing some writing today off and on between errands and work, and jumping around various Kings of the Sky installments, specifically Dick, Jason and Cass stuff, so probably gonna post snippets from a bunch of them as I go. 

(Kings of the Sky is an AU that goes canon divergent from the point of Jason calling Dick for advice for dealing with Bruce after the Garzonas case and where things end up going dramatically different from that point on. Including Jason not dying, being part of his own lineup of Titans between Dick and Tim’s, Dick being adopted not long after the Church of Blood incident, Cass being the third Wayne kid to be taken in and adopted and with Tim and Duke being next and then Damian coming along later once they find out about him. This is basically my ‘the family’s alright’ AU with largely ‘Good Dad Bruce’ except for Dick and then Jason yelling some sense into him about the other, respectively, in the first two installments, just FYI).

Anyway, this bit is from a story called “In Their Shadows Grow Trees Of Good and Evil,” set about a year after Cass has been adopted, when she and Jason are both sixteen and Dick’s twenty-one. Also just FYI, because canon has never been specific about what ways Cass is neurodivergent due to the comic-book style ‘rewiring’ of her brain so that she could learn to speak later in life, I tend to go with her being dyslexic and having aphasia. She sticks exclusively to sign language and being a silent presence in her costumed personas, so that there’s no chance of people connecting the dots between Black Bat and Cassandra Wayne, as she mostly speaks verbally in her civilian persona and doesn’t hide her aphasia. The reason there’s not likely to be any obvious signs of aphasia in the snippets of her I post is because I wait until I complete something to choose words at random to replace with aphasia-born mixups, so its more realistic and I’m not gearing her dialogue towards deliberately placed moments. Just in case you were wondering.

In Their Shadows Grow Trees of Good and Evil

“Hey Todd,” sneered an exquisitely obnoxious voice. “Why’s your sister so fucking weird?”

Jason sighed the sigh of a soul a mere century into its eternity of damnation as he rose from the lunch table he’d been studying at and crammed the rest of his books into his backpack. Then he pasted a cheerfully bland smile on his face and turned around, geared for academia warfare (teenage prep school edition).

“Hey Craig,” he said brightly. “Why’d you come out of the womb so ugly your parents had to tie a piece of steak around your neck just to get the family dog to go near you? Mysteries abound.”

The advancing junior slowed a step, momentarily rocked by his truly impressive return volley. The grimace Craig’s already gargoyle-esque features twisted into made his face even more unpleasant to look at than usual, which was quite the feat. Jason would have applauded if just looking at it hadn’t already turned him to stone.

But the bargain basement basilisk kept on towards him rather than turn tail and skulk off to pop his emotional blisters, so Jason sighed a sequel to his first one. Looked like it was one of those days where Craig felt up to powering through. Guess someone had eaten their self-esteem Wheaties that morning. Joy.

“You think you’re pretty hot shit, don’t you, Todd?”

Jason shrugged. “I mean, to be honest I kinda have a one track mind, so right now I’m mostly just thinking about punching you in your mistake.”

“My what?”

“Your face,” Jason elaborated with exaggerated patience.

“Huh?”

“Oh my god, I’m saying your face is a mistake. See, its not as fun when I have to stop and explain it to you. Ugh, you ruin everything.”

He neatly sidestepped the older boy as R2-Dumbass stayed frozen, smoke coming off of his internal CPU while trying to catch up. For a second Jason thought he was home free, but then he remembered the universe fucking hated him so haha, sucks to suck. Also, a small crowd had gathered to witness the verbal jousting match, and nothing invigorated an asshole like Craig more than an audience of like-minded peers. So there was that too.

“Whatever. Laugh it up all you want, you little shit,” the junior rallied. “But just remember, mocking your betters will never change the fact that you were born street trash and you’ll be street trash until the day you die.”

Honestly? Not his best effort. Jason almost felt bad using any of his good material. Seemed like overkill at this point. But he did have a strict Scorched Earth policy to maintain, so.....

“Yeah but my dad could buy out and ruin your dad so that means I still win, right?”

He smirked as the barb landed and Craig’s face set into a sunset vista of strangled purple and furious red. Bam. Direct hit.

“Listen, you - “

“Oh for fuck’s sake, it was rhetorical,” Jason interrupted. “I don’t actually care what you think even a little bit. Nobody does. You don’t matter. Please go be irrelevant elsewhere, you’re fucking dismissed, you loser.”

“Speak for yourself, charity case.” Oh goodie, Craig’s backup singers had finally arrived. Now if only he could remember to care enough to learn their names in the first place. Seriously, who told the extras they could have lines? “All the jokes in the world can’t change who and what you are.”

Jason shrugged and continued nonchalantly up the hill to where his sister was standing with arms crossed, staring down at something on the other side.

“True genius is never appreciated in its own time,” he tossed back over his shoulder. “I’m sure I’ll be immortalized in song eventually.”

The mob of morons deigned to let him go without further incident. Though he suspected that had less to do with his scathing wit and more to do with him being headed towards Cass. She was immaculately presented as always, wearing the Gotham Academy uniform like she was born to it despite hating its uncomfortable stiffness every bit as much as he did. But that was just Cass for you. 

For all that she still struggled at times to engage verbally or speak up in social settings, her mastery of body language remained without peer. She could chameleon-camouflage her way into matching poise and posture with anyone - a skill that had allowed her to walk into school on her very first day with her head held high as though she owned everything in her sight. Exuding so much Queen Bee Intimidation Factor even the other hive queens were afraid to approach her  themselves. Sending forth their drones to try and woo her into an alliance, only to see her remain oh-so-casually above it all, a slightly contemptuous smile adorning her lips.

Basically, she scared the shit out of their classmates without them having anywhere close to a true understanding of why, and Jason was outrageously jealous. Rude. Unfair. Why did his siblings always get all the cool toys when all he had was his rakish charm, scintillating intellect and debonair.....nah, who was he kidding. He was fucking awesome. 

“Sup, sis,” he said, cresting the hill to stand beside Cass. “Just FYI, I just took a popularity bullet for you, which means you owe me your dessert tonight. Its a family rule that’s totally a real thing and definitely not something I just made up right now because Alf is making chocolate soufflé.”

She made no acknowledgment and remained stock still, a Colossus at Rhodes peering down into the shifting shadows of the parking lot below.

He peered down as well, though with absolutely no idea what they were looking at. Solidarity, yo.

“So are we staring fixedly at anything in particular, or should I just pick my own spot and commit?”

His humor was totally wasted on her as always. Instead of laughing and telling him what a lovable goof he was, she just inclined her head in the direction of a blonde girl where she was standing next to the driver’s side door of a Mercedes-Benz, dictating final commandments to her peons before departing. Well, probably. Jason was just guessing, based on his own body language reads, and like, general disdain for literally everyone at this school that wasn’t related to him.

He made a face. An extra special one reserved just for this classmate in particular. “Ugh, Madison Dunleavy? She’s the worst.”

Cass raised a cool eyebrow. “I thought Craig Hendricks was the worst.”

“He is. They’re both the worst. Its a hotly contested position here at Gotham Academy.”

She rolled her eyes and nodded back down at the Queen of Air and Darkness. “So. You know her?”

“Nope,” Jason said. “Come to think of it, I’ve actually never seen her in my life. No idea who that is. Can’t help you, sorry. Shall we go home?”

The Eyebrow of Inquisition speared him with clear intent. Who the fuck needed words when you could pack the Encyclopedia Britannica into a single facial expression?

Jason sighed gustily. 

“I had a slight altercation with her freshman year that led to her declaring her undying enmity for me until the end of time. The word nemesis may or may not have been thrown around once or twice. I can’t recall.”

The Eyebrow of Inquisition lowered nary an inch. Ugh, she wanted more? Why did everyone in his family hate privacy, with the obvious exclusion of himself when snooping through Cass and Dick’s rooms for blackmail material, which was actually intel-gathering and thus another matter entirely.

“Okay so basically what happened was my first week here I overheard her talking shit about me and not even twenty minutes later she was pretending to kiss my ass in homeroom, like probably because of Bruce, y’know? So I just busted out laughing and told her to fuck off and die and she has inexplicably loathed me ever since.”

Avoiding further Eyebrow Inquisition-ing, he made a show of peering around aimlessly. When the silence extended and it was clear Cass was absolutely not going to break first, Jason waved a hand in dismissal and took to peering oh so casually at his fingernails. "I suppose I was less tactful back in those days.”

He chanced a look up, finally, and saw his sister’s eyebrow had somehow managed to mighty morphin power ranger its way into a configuration evoking both judgment and disbelief, with the latter perhaps aimed at the idea he was significantly differing in the tact department these days either.

“I don’t love the implications your face is making right now,” he told her.

She ignored him, because of course she did. 

“Does she know Dick?” She asked instead. Jason shrugged.

“I mean, maybe? She’s probably seen him around at one of those stupid galas we have to go to, and actually I think maybe she has an older brother who was either in Dick’s grade or like, one above or below it? I don’t know.”

Now both eyebrows were doing the dance of disbelief. Okay, so maybe that was poor situational awareness on his part, since it wasn’t like Gotham Academy was a big school with a ton of other kids and also he’d only been in the same class as Madison for like over two whole years, but whatever. There were extingent circumstances.

“Look, she’s a total snob who’s always looked down on me and in return I willfully ignore both her existence and that of everyone and everything even tangentially related to her. Its called equality, Cass.”

She pursed her lips and went back to the peering, because of course in the mind of Cass it made total sense that the Grand Inquisition didn’t need to be followed up by any explanation on her part, what the hell. Like was he supposed to have inferred it?

“What’s this all about anyway?”

“I heard her talking about Dick earlier,” she said without peeling her eyes away from her personal recon mission. “I don’t know what she said though, I just heard her say Grayson, and then I was busy looking at what her body was saying. I know it was about Dick because she shut down when she saw me. And I didn’t like the way she....looked....before that happened. The way she was talking. It was.....”

Jason frowned but held back any follow-up questions while he waited - with total patience because he wasn’t an absolute cad, thank you very much - for his sister to find the word she was hunting for. It was a major source of frustration for her, that whatever neural map her brain followed put body language and spoken language in totally different regions of her brain, separated by a fairly great divide. Meaning she usually had to make a conscious choice to focus on body language or conventional languages - whether verbal or sign. But it tended to be one or the other; she’d yet to master taking in and comprehending both forms of ‘language’ at the same time. And none of them had quite figured out how to convince her that she wasn’t actually missing anything when she chose to focus on one specific form of communication - that she was still observing far more than most people ever would.

“Proprietary,” Cass settled on at last. She nodded her satisfaction with her choice of word, and Jason waited a whole two point five seconds before sticking  his whole foot in his mouth.

“Proprietary?” He asked with a scrunched nose as he weighed that for possible context and implications. “You sure?”

She glared. He winced. It was a whole thing.

“Yeah, I know, sorry, sorry, I heard it the second it was out of my mouth. We don’t actually have to experiment with the legitimacy of if looks could kill.”

Cass rolled her eyes, but eh. That could’ve gone worse.

Jason swiftly redirected attention anyway. Discretion is the better part of valor, after all.

“So. The Queen of Air and Darkness was talking about our big bro, and her mood was.....proprietary, huh?” He recapped while digesting the info like a boss. “Well. Definitely not loving that, I gotta say. Hold please.”

Pulling out his phone and pulling up his most recent texts, he began typing furiously.

“What are you doing?” Cass asked.

“Texting Tom,” he replied, because duh. Hah, now it was his chance to have the answers that should be patently obvious and thus make with the ‘are you kidding me’ when she asked obvious questions she should know the answer to! How do you like them apples, sis?

“Why are you texting your boyfriend right now?”

Jason rolled his eyes, because fair is fair, but never ceased texting for a moment. Time was of the essence here, probably. Well, maybe. Okay probably not. But it’d still been like half an hour since he and Tom had last texted and that’s a very fucking long time in teenage years.

“To be our getaway driver tonight, obviously.”

She stared at him. He didn’t look up, but he could feel it anyway. He was very intuitive like that.

“What?”

Jason heaved another sigh, one keyed to tones of ‘oh my god, do I really have to spell this out,” exasperation. He was just racking up the bonus points here. It was really too bad this wasn’t an actual competition he could actually win and this was all just pettiness taking place wholly in his own head. Lame. 

“Well, clearly we now have to go snoop in Madison’s house aka lair to see if its actually a house or a full on lair. Because she’s either a creeper or like, legit evil, and its important to know which one before we proceed, because obviously we can only bust her for being a weird creeper about our brother as Jason and Cass, whereas if she’s legit evil, that’s gotta go down as Robin and Black Bat. I’ll handle the snooping, you’ll take look-out, but we still need a wheelman and that’s why I’m texting Tom. This is all very mission-oriented, okay. I’m a professional.”

“Right,” she affirmed, while sounding anything but convinced. “Why don’t we just tell Bruce?”

Without looking up or breaking stride, he said: “I’m going to give you til I finish typing this sentence to figure out what was wrong with what you just said. Remember that we are talking about hypothetical danger to our brother, and also Bruce’s idea of a proportionate response to any of his children being in even hypothetical danger. And also our brother’s idea of a proportionate response to Bruce’s idea of a proportionate response. Look, you’re still new so I’m gonna need you to just trust me on this one. Its gonna be a no on telling Bruce without further intel.”

Cass said nothing in response to that, which meant that she was conceding the point and recognized the wisdom of his words. Or maybe that she was just gonna go ahead and do what she wanted anyway and just wasn’t bothering to fight about it, but it was probably that first thing.

“Well you better not just make out with your boyfriend all night,” is what she said at last, and that got his attention reeeeeal quick like.

“Umm. Wow. Okay. So, first off, you’re not the boss of me and who I make out with and when, so jot that down. And second, now I’m definitely going to make out with my boyfriend extra hard, with the exception of when we are actually on our recon mission because as previously established, I am a professional. And also, again, you’re not the boss of me.”

Jason ignored her Eye Roll With Extra Emphasis, and instead just held up his phone to Text With Extra Emphasis, as he read along with what he was typing.

“By the way babe, we have to make out extra hard tonight,” he said, tongue sticking out of the corner of his mouth while he dragged out his dictation with the kind of focus that usually led to Bruce asking why he couldn’t apply as much intensity to training as he did to pettiness. “Cass has suddenly decided she can dictate terms to me and I need to shut that shit down ASAP, so thank you in advance for your assistance in this matter. Smoochies and other gay stuff to the best boyfriend ever.”

Jason frowned as a response pinged back seconds later. 

TheCatsMeow: ....the things I put up with for the sake of your weird family dynamics.

TheOnlyRobinThatRocks: Yeah, yeah. You’re a saint among were-panthers. Must you mock? Why can’t you just tell me I’m pretty instead?

TheCatsMeow: Sorry. Let me try again. OMG you’re so pretty Jase how did I get so lucky xoxo.

TheOnlyRobinThatRocks: No. Its too late. It feels forced and unbelievable now. You’ve ruined it forever.

TheCatsMeow: Got it. From now on I will only tell you that you’re repulsive and hideous.

TheOnlyRobinThatRocks: I’m breaking up with you.

TheCatsMeow: But after I help you with your mission tonight.

TheOnlyRobinThatRocks: Obvsly. I’m a professional. Why do people keep forgetting this?

TheCatsMeow: And also the making out to spite your sister.

TheOnlyRobinThatRocks: Yeah we should do that first too. I mean we already penciled it in.

[silverhart-makes-art]

I finished ‘The Rise of Flynn Rider’ last night. Had a really good time with it; it was like reading a wild episode of the series.Thoughts are below, but be warned of potential spoilers.

So many cameos of characters from the series that we know and love - Edmund, Eugene’s mother, the Baron, Stalyan (I love Stalyan more and more with every appearance, but especially sassy little Stalyan here), Captain, Maximus, Anthony the Weasel, the Stabbingtons, Hook Hand and Hook Foot, Ulf, Vlad, Big Nose, Attila, Shorty (I think?), the rest of the Pub thugs, the Tower randomly drops in, Pascal's mother (Pascal's mother?!), a new Brotherhood member we knew nothing about (what?!), the king and queen show up, Baron actually stole from the Spire Vault, which is impressive, Vardaros is mentioned, Cap randomly mentions Cassandra at one point. Just a wild cameo-fest. Pretty much every chapter had me going 'oh, I know that thing, that's from the series!' And with the exception of the Baron, Lance, and the Stabbingtons, none of these cameos really amount to much in the story. But they sure are a lot of fun. I appreciated them, even if some of them made no sense. It's just pure fandom fun.

Also something interesting to note, both in this book and 'What Once Was Mine' the kingdom is always just called 'the kingdom'. It's never referred to as Corona, or the Kingdom of Corona. I'm curious if recent events had something to do with that. It does make the reading a bit awkward in places, especially here where there is mention of the Dark Kingdom and the Seven Kingdoms, but Rapunzel's kingdom is just 'the kingdom', never capitalized or named or anything.

Spoilers ahead, but I was honestly surprised Vedis didn't turn out to be Quirin. Quirin coming to Corona with a circus is an amusing thought, and I don't see how it would mess up continuity any more than it already was in the book. But it is hilarious to me that pretty much everyone and their mother gets a mention in this book except for Varian. Too bad Varian, you weren't tall enough to be in this book.

This book sets up a lot of stuff that just... never comes to fruition. I like seeing Edmund and his wife getting a bit of backstory there, but there isn't enough there to justify it. There’s not even enough to really add to fandom speculation or headcanon, and the story doesn’t do anything with it. Edmund never comes up again, and eventually the whole Dark Kingdom plot is kind of dropped. It makes sense in the story to drop it, but then there’s no need to establish Edmund and all this Dark Kingdom lore in the first place. It would be stronger if the prologue were cut, and the reader had to discover the mystery along with Eugene. It feels like there should be a payoff, but the payoff comes years later and in another story called 'Tangled the Series'. They find Rapunzel's tower, and proceed to do nothing with it. The Brotherhood is mentioned, and is almost set up as this big interesting thing, and that goes nowhere. If I wasn't familiar with the series I think this book would be very frustrating to read (On that note, I would be so curious to hear the thoughts of someone who read this book and hadn't seen the series). But the absence of Lance Archer as a character is, I think, the most disappointing thing, since everything else is wrapped up in the movie and the series. Lance Archer is constantly referred to in this book, from the very beginning, up until the end, but the actual character makes no appearance. Having little Eugene and Arnie meet a childhood hero and either be inspired or discover they’re not as heroic as they thought, would’ve been really interesting and would’ve tied into the themes very nicely. Also the big twist could be that Lance Archer is actually a Lady-thief, or Lady Caine’s father, or something else fun like that.

It's not a well structured story, but like with 'What Once Was Mine' the characters are really what stands out most. The main theme of making your own family, is more or less solid. The beats it goes through are pretty formulaic, and some of the plot points are a bit convoluted, but Eugene and Arnie are very cute and I enjoyed reading about them. Also the fact that it is such an easy read makes me pretty forgiving of it's flaws. I read through it in about half a day. It's like the book equivalent of popcorn - it's just fun to munch on.

Also love the weird logic that an orphanage has to receive money from the kingdom in order to pay taxes back to said kingdom. But the same taxes get stolen on the way by a Robin Hood-esque Lance Archer who gives it back to the orphanage. It's the most convoluted tax program I've ever heard of. I'm not criticizing it, because it's clearly working - the money eventually gets to the orphanage. But wow, I've never been more curious about fictional taxes then I was reading this book. It's kind of hilarious that for all it's talk of cracking down on crime, Corona would cease to function without do-gooder criminals. All just a part of the kingdom's unique charm, I guess!

As a last note, this book also made me really interested in the Flynnigan Rider books. Like I know they don’t actually exist, but I wish they did. Every time I read or hear about them, I just want to get my hands on them. They sound right up my alley - swashbuckling adventures, just two friends against the world, fighting off bad guys, rescuing horses, swinging from ropes. Those are my kind of stories. Can someone please write the Flynnigan Rider book series into existence? Thank you.

[glorytoukraine2022]

Hey everyone! I’m back with another analysis! This time I’m going to do a comparison of reformed villains from Elena of Avalor and Tangled the Series. The main reformed villains I will be comparing is Cassandra, to four reformed villains from the two aforementioned shows. If you’re a fan of both shows, you probably might know who they are.

First up, will be Cassandra vs Varian. I know this is an obvious choice I’m starting off with, but given that these two are from the same show, they’re the easiest to analyze. TTS does everything it can to push comparisons between Varian and Cassandra and make them seem like parallels. However, these two couldn’t be more different.

Varian didn’t want to turn to crime. He only became a criminal because he was pushed to it. When Varian lost his dad, he asked for help not only from Rapunzel, but the entire kingdom as a whole. But because of a false rumor going around the kingdom claiming that Varian had attacked Rapunzel. Rapunzel never cleared the rumor, nor did she follow up on Varian’s request for help. The King sent guards to chase Varian out of his home in order to cover up the destruction of the rocks, isolating Varian from society and any possible aid. Varian was still wron, but he literally had no other options left.

Cassandra, however? She was faced with no such situation. Her life was pretty stable when she stole the moonstone. Was it perfect? No, but if she was so unhappy, than she could have left anytime. She was even offered an opportunity to become a warrior of the kingdom of Ingvarr, but chose to stay because of her friendship with Rapunzel.

Like Varian, Cassandra too was mistreated by Rapunzel. I don’t blame either of them for wanting to leave her. Yet the show didn’t use any of these valid reasons as her motive for Cassandra stealing the moonstone. Instead, they decided to have Cassandra victim-blame Rapunzel for her own kidnaping.

The entirety of season 3, we see Cassandra gaslighting an abuse victim. Gothel didn’t kidnap Rapunze because she loved her more than Cassandra. She only cared about her magic hair.

Varian realized his actions were wrong long before the events of season 3, but nobody in Corona gave him a chance, leading to him turning to a Terrorist Leader. But when the Saporians revealed that they were going to destroy Completely using Varian’s chemicals, Varian turned against the Saporians to save Corona and it’s citizens, despite how the kingdom mistreated him, because it was the right thing to do. Cassandr, on the other hand, was about to rip the Sundrop straight from Rapunzel, despite her clearly being in pain.

For my next comparison, it will be Cassandra vs. Victor and Carla Delgado. One could argue that Cassandra saw the power of the moonstone as a power conduit and a means of respect, similarly to how Victor and Carla saw being Malvagos. However, given that TTS does seem to give a clear or specific reason for Cassandra’s theft of the stone, it’s honestly hard to say if power, respect or anything, for that matter, is Cassandra’s motive. “Destiny“, is also given as a motivation, but it’s hard to tell. Whereas Victor and Carla’s motivations for becoming Malvagos is clearly stated that they saw it as a means to gain power, in order to gain respect, which, quite frankly, makes more sense than anything that came out of Cassandra’s mouth throughout her entire villain arc.

Yes, Cassandra and Carla were both abandoned by their naristsstic, power-hungry mothers, but the way each of them reacted to it couldn’t have been more different. When Ash betrayed Victor and Carla by turning Victor to stone, Carla was devastated, and who wouldn’t be? Yet in that moment she saw her mother for who she truly was and turned against her, standing by her father when he needed her.

Now Cassandra? Let’s see, she went on a rampage to hurt her friends and others innocent people and ATTACKED her father. See the difference? One could argue that Cassandra was four when Gothel abandoned her whereas Carla was 19, but Cassandr’s memory of Gothel’s abandonment was repressed until Zhan Tiri showed it to her in The House of Yesterday’s Tomorow. Even though it happened when Cassandra was at a young age, when she remembered it, she was a 24 year old woma, and should have handled it with the maturity of a young adult.

Nobody is saying that Cassandra isn’t allowed to feel hurt. Nobody is saying she isn’t allowed to react badly. That she isn’t allowed to confront her father on the truth if she feels that he kept it from her. But you’d think she’d react in a mature manner. That she’d be willing to hear her father out and talk to him about it rather than straight out attack him!

Carla clearly wanted her mother in her life. She wanted a relationship with her. Cassandra also clearly wanted to be raised by her birth mother, but their mothers made their own choices. Ash and Gothel chose to abandon their daughters for selfish purposes. They can’t change who their mothers are, as much as they might want to. The difference is, only Carla has the maturity to realize that. She also realizes that she has her father, who loves and cares about her more than anything in the whole wide world. Cassandra disregards all of this.

From what we know about Victor and Carla’s childhoods’ Victor had fun days at the palace racing Esteban down the halls, playing hide and seek and cooking with him and Elena. Carla had fun cooking with her father as a child. But some of their lines from “Don’t Look Now”, tell us that their childhoods weren’t exactly peachy. According to Victor, if you had seen him as a child, he would have “always had a frown” because he was put down by others and was “treated like a clown” whenever he tried to stand up. And let’s not forget that him and his family were banished by Shuriki while Victor was still in his teens.

According to Carla, she and Victor were “always on the move“ and that the only thing that never changed was that she would “always feel alone.” The reasons she and Victor could never settle down was probably because they survived as theives and con-artists. If they were alwlays on the move, than Carla probably nevertheless had the chance to make friends growing up. And we’re suppoesd to feel sorry for CASSANDRA?!

While it’s possible she might have felt looked down upon like Victor, Cassandra had a pretty stable life growing up. Growing up inside a CASTLE! She was even allowed to train for the Royal Guard at age six! Victor and Carla had to resort to becoming con artists for a living, and Cassandra is pouting just because she didn’t get the job she wanted?!

When Carla nearly fell to her death after she was knocked over a ledge, Victor was terrified that he was going to lose Carla right then and there, causing him to realize that power wasn’t worth the price of losing his daughter. This gave him the incentive and courage to stand up to Ash for Carla’s safety, and end dark pursuits right then and there. Ash responded to this by turning him into stone. Heartbroken and angered by Ash’s betrayal, and realizing her mother’s true nature, Carla stands against Ash and reforms as well.

Victor and Carla may have once believed that power would gain them the respect they’ve always wanted, but in the end, realized that they never needed power. All they ever truly needed to be happy was love and family. Each other. That’s what I call a true, remarkable redemption. Cassandra didn’t seem to learn or realize anything based on her experience. To this day, I still don’t understand just what new insights and changes resulted from Cassandra’s “redemption.” All Zhan Tiri did was take the moonstone from her. There should have been more than that to her redemption.

Now, last, but not least, Cassandra vs Esteban. Now, I saved this one for last, because Esteban is the one I’ve heard people compare Cassandra to, and while I understand where they are coming from, I still have my objections. I’ve heard people compare Esteban to Cassandra based on the fact that they both had a desire to be noticed. While I understand this comparison, I still feel like Esteban is the more sympathetic of the two.

As much as Esteban wanted to be listened to, he always loved his family deeply. But he always made the mistake of trusting the wrong people, first Shuriki, then Ash, and then the Four Shades. He trusted them, only for them to go after the people he loved and wanted to listen to him in the first place. Cassandra wanted to be listen to, but she didn’t care if it cost her everyone that had ever cared about her. We see this early on in season 1, during “Challenge of the Brave”, when she tries to sabotage Rapunzel’s chances in “Challenge of the Brave” by stealing her weapon of choice, and in “Great Expotations“, when she breaks her promise to Varian that she would be his assistant at the Science Expo if he completed her Handmaiden duties for her, just so she could be on guard duty.

Both Cassandra and Esteban are ambitius and have sought to undermine their family/friends if given the oppourtunity, but I felt that Esteban was always more misunderstood whereas Cassandra was just willing to screw over anybody in her way. Think about it, even after Esteban joined up with Ash, he NEVER EVER wanted to hurt his family, and was always going out of his way to protect them and migiate harm. Cassandra, on the other hand? Went on a killing spree to murder her friends and cause as much destruction as possible.

I have also heard people comparing their redemptions and complaining about how they were both “last minute.” While I would agree in regards to Cassandra, I would NOT say the same about Esteban. As I pointed out in previous paragraph, Cassandra was still hell bent on hurting Rapunzel before Zhan Tiri grabbed the moonstone. Just before that scene, Esteban had just sung a duet with Elsa about how remorseful he feels for everything he’s done and all the people he’s hurt.

Iv’e also heard people comparing their “deaths”, claiming that Cassandra dying was a self sacrifice. NO. I REPEAT. Cassandra’s death in the TTS finale was NOT a self sacrifice! A self sacrifice is when you knowingly put yourself in harm’s way for someone or something else, knowing that you’ll be killed, or seriously injured in the process. Esteban teleporting in front of Elena to take Cahu’s time grain, was a self sacrific. Anna choosing to save Elsa from Hans in Frozen was a self sacrifice. Cassandr’s death was NOT self sacrifice. Cassandra and Rapunzel didn’t believe they were going to die or suffer any consequences by uniting the stones. The only person who they bellived would die was the person who United the stones, that person being Zhan Tiri. Cassandra’s actions were not self sacrificial, in any way, shape or form. What Esteban did for Elena in that moment was more powerful than anything Cassandra did in the finale.

All of these people I talked about above were better villains than Cassandr, with much better motivations, and are More worthy of redemption as have becom better people than she ever will be. If Cassandra ever grows in the futur, sh’ll be lucky if she ever gets at least half to where all these wonderful people are today.

I’m sorry if this analysis isn’t as good as my others so far. I stayed up until 3:40 AM writing this, so I apologize for any sloppiness or spelling mistakes you might see. I still hope you enjoyed my thoughts!

[highly-opinionated-ramblings]

New video message from: Tim Drake, in the group chat: Top Secret Super Memes

Video begins:

“What’s up, it’s your boy Tim, aaaaaaand, I’m your host...welcome back to another family segment, today I’m going to be trying to guess everyone’s favorite Avatar The Last Airbender characters. I feel pretty confident that I can get most of them. Yeah, pretty confident. Let’s go!”

(Video cuts to Dick Grayson, sitting on the kitchen counter with two different laptops open)

“Dick!”

“Hey, how’s it go-”

“Is your favorite Avatar character Aang?”

“Huh?”

“You strike me as an Aang guy.”

“Hah! Well, that’s-”

“Is that right?”

“He’s tied for my favorite.”

“Ok? Tied with who?”

“Ty Lee!”

“T- Why?”

“I just think she’s funny! And her part in the Ember Island episode was really-”

“Oh, fuck off!”

(Video cuts to Stephanie Brown, in the process of putting a load of laundry in the washing machine, some of which bears very obvious blood stains)

“Is your favorite Avatar character Zuko?”

“...Why’d you say it like that?”

“Like what?”

“Like...is it really that obvious?”

“Yes.”

“Wh- no, but-”

“No, it’s really obvious.”

“Dude-”

“You can always find the Zuko fans.”

“Shut up! Don’t be acting like you’re better than me-”

“Ah, ah, I was right, though, wasn’t I? Got em!”

“Shut the hell up, Tim! I know your favorite’s Jet, which is as lame as it gets-”

“No it’s not!”

“-and if you even try to argue that point with me, I’ll kick your ass!”

(Video cuts to Barbara Gordon, in the library with a book open on her lap and a pen behind her ear)

“-m busy, is it impor-”

“Is your favorite Avatar character Katara?”

“No, it’s Asami.”

“Awww, Asami doesn’t count!”

“What! Why not?”

“Doesn’t count, original series only!”

“That seems needlessly discriminatory.”

“Katara, yes or no.”

“...I guess so. Of the original series.”

“Yesss! I’m on a roll, guys, I’m on a roll.”

(Video cuts to Jason Todd, eating from a family-size package of barbeque flavored potato chips)

“Jason, Jason.”

“Hm?”

“Your favorite Avatar character is also Zuko. Am I right?”

“...No.”

“No?”

“My favorite is Momo.”

“Oh! Oh, is that so?”

“Yeah, man, Momo. You know, Momo-”

“Yeah.”

“Momo is integral to the plot of the entire series. It’s shown over and over again that everything would fall apart without him.”

“Right.”

“And his segment in Ba Sing Se was an unparalleled cinematic masterpiece. Universally acclaimed.”

“Right, right. Unparalleled.”

“That’s what I’m saying.”

“But like, who is it really, though?”

“It’s Zuko.”

“I knew it!”

(Video cuts to Cassandra Cain and Duke Thomas, studying at the dining room table, which bears the distinct appearance of rarely, if ever, being used for it’s intended purpose)

“Alright, ok, your favorite Avatar character is Sokka-”

“Is that what we’re doing?”

“And yours is Toph. Am I right?”

“Yes.”

“Yeah, I- wait, Toph is your favorite?”

“Yes.”

“I woulda said, like, Mai, or something.”

“No.”

“Alright then.”

“Kinda makes you change your opinion of people, doesn’t it?”

“It does, actually. Wait, who’s yours?”

“...Not telling.”

“Hey, that’s not fair!”

“Not telling! Not telli-”

(Video cuts to Damian Wayne, leaning against the Batmobile, with an open bottle of water in his hand)

“Favorite character?”

“Yeah, and for you I’m gonna guessssss....uhhhh....Sokka?”

“No!”

“Aw, man.”

“What kind of person do you take me for?”

“I don’t know! It was harder to guess for you than it was for everybody else. And your best friend is practically real life Sokka.”

“I can appreciate Sokka’s role, but I would hardly say he’s among my favorite characters.”

“Who is your favorite, then?”

“Avatar Roku.”

“Roku? Really?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because he’s cool.”

“I- You know what, that was a really simple answer, and I can respect it, I can respect it.”

“Well, good.”

“Are you going to ask me who my favorite is?”

(The camera pans over to Bruce Wayne, approaching from the direction of the Batcomputer).

“Oh! Do you have one?”

“He hasn’t seen all of it.”

“I’ve seen most of it.”

“Ok, Bruce, who’s your favorite character, then?”

“I like Zuko’s uncle, Iroh.”

“Ohhh. Because he’s like, the surrogate father figure, and he-”

“Because he’s cool.”

“Oh. Ok.”

[problematicfavesareproblematic]

Never Be Sorry, Not For This

It was just supposed to be two friends dancing. You should’ve known better: Eugene Roe + Dirty Jazz in a dark club on a hot Georgia night would be the death of you.

(i listened to Death Letter by Cassandra Wilson while writing this, in case you wanna feel the spice)

You giggle slightly when Gene’s hand presses hot on the middle of your back, the giggle graduating to an apologetic snicker when he shot you an impatient look.

“Really? Are you twelve?” Roe grumbles, holding your right hand up gently and keeping it close to their sides.

“And a half.” You wink, smirking as he rolls his eyes and shakes his head at you.

He looked stupidly handsome in the low light of the club, a light sheen of sweat on his skin catching the light and making him shine like some sort of angel.

Careful, a voice in your head whispers. Don’t read more into this than there is.

He had only brought you here because Bill fucking Guarnere was incapable on minding his own business and keeping his goddamn mouth shut for longer than two minutes and practically strong-armed Gene into inviting you. 

During a night of Sobel-assigned kitchens inventory with Gene and Guarnere, Bill had asked you about your recent birthday- what you’d done, who you’d heard from, if you’d gotten anything. 

“Paperwork, my dad and my sister and her family, and Sobel gave me an earful about controlling my facial expressions when he’s trying to establish his authority- Thanks for asking.”

Your answer was apparently incorrect, and Guarnere had turned to Gene and pointed at you with his thumb conspiratorial.

“That’s gotta be the saddest shit I’ve ever heard, eh Doc? Can’t let such an important day go to waste like that, can we, pal?”

Guarnere proceeded to bully Gene into inviting you to the jazz club the medic always flocked to on his weekend passes, the place he chose to escape to  in lieu of the bar favored by most residents of Toccoa. 

But before you’d had a chance to tell Bill to shut up and stop being weird, Gene had nodded and looked down at the inventory sheet in his hand.

“I mean, we could if you wanted to.”

You had a feeling that he was regretting extending the invitation now. 

When the two of you had entered the club you’d suddenly realized that this wasn’t the traditional, big band jazz you’d been expecting.

Oh no, you were pretty sure Gene had accidentally taken you to a sex club of some kind- and you became even more sure the moment your eyes had adjusted to the darkness and you’d been able to make out your surroundings.

The singer on the stage was lit with a red light, voice smokey and seductive as she crooned a slow melody, eyes hazy as her hands trailed up and down the microphone’s stand in a clearly suggestive manner. There were two men with instruments behind her, the one with the drum looking at her silk-clad body like he meant to ravage it.

Maybe jazz means something different in the south?

Couples were writhing to the drums rhythm, bodies draped over each other like some kind of Rodinian menagerie. 

Now, you were pretty confident in your capabilities as both a soldier and a human woman- you wouldn’t have gotten this far if you hadn’t been able to trust yourself and what you could handle.

And you knew for a fact that you were incapable of pulling this off.

Now, Gene was a patient man, but you could see in the set of his jaw he was starting to get frustrated.

 I don’t blame him, I’m acting like I’ve never been alone with a boy before. 

Clearing your throat, you bite the inside of your cheek to try and get your shit together.

He’s trying to do something nice for you and you’re ruining it….

”I’ll stop, I promise.” you plead, ducking your head to try and catch his gaze. “I’m just nervous, give me a break…”

“You’ve literally run out in front of a moving plane to get a piece of debris off a runway ” he interrupts you like you hadn’t been talking. “You stole Sobel’s car—”

“At least if those things went wrong I would’ve just been killed.”

Eugene snorts at that, and you hear him mutter something to himself in French.

“And now?” He asks, tilting his head towards the band on the stage and the other dancers around you . “You think this is worse?”

You fix him with a look of shock that you know will make him laugh again. “Death over humiliation, every time! Obviously. What sort of question is that? C’mon Genie—”

“I know you know how to dance. I’ve seen you and Nixon dance at Malarkey’s birthday dinner in last July—”

You cringed internally. You’d forgotten there had been witnesses to that.

“Ok, first off,” you tap one of your fingers against his shoulder for emphasis. “that only happened because I lost  a bet with Lewis. And to be clear-I know how to ballroom dance, and that’s different because the whole point is to be rigid and straight and precise. This is….proving to be a challenge.”

You’d always been good at those sorts of things- order and rigidity and accuracy. You were used to knowing what was expected of you and how you measured up to those expectations. But you were going into this completely unprepared. You hated it.

“Just think of this as a basic waltz step, just slower.” Gene supplied, and when you started to fall into the familiar step he immediately made it clear that he was going to be dictating the pace, meeting your quirked brow with one of his own.

“Much slower. Glacial. Frozen molasses sliding down a flat hill—” You chide lightly, trying to disguise the waiver of apprehension in your voice.

“I don’t think that’s a phrase. But yes- that slow.”

You sigh, letting him lead you in an almost unbearably slow box step, letting him take you through five box-steps before huffing and hooking your chin over his shoulder and rest your head there, groaning melodramatically like you were in pain.

“This is impractically slow.” you lament. “It doesn’t look or feel right—”

With a quick move of his arm he presses you closer into his chest, knocking you slightly off balance before moving you so his thigh is wedged between your legs. 

You flush at what you assumed was a mistake on his part, and when you go to step back down from his thigh he moves with you and holds you in place.

Eugene Roe, you saucy boy.

“Gotta let me have some of your weight. That’s why it feels like you’re doing it wrong….” 

His voice is soft as stone, and you know he can feel your breath catch in your throat. “C’mon, mon cher- I got you.”

You’re suddenly very glad that he's pulled you so close because you don’t have to hide the scarlet blush on your cheeks at the imploring tone in his voice.

It made you want to trust him. It made you want him, period. 

Full stop.

It’s dancing. People dance. Friends dance, it doesn’t mean anything unless you want it to.

Unless you let it.

You take a deep breath and let your knees bend slightly, allowing your hips to slot together and your heart thud against his. 

Just as he promised, he keeps a hold on you, the arm around your waist like a belt holding the two of you together, and your ribs jump in a quick inhale as his fingers curl around your waist.

If he notices your reaction, he’s kind enough not to mention it.

“Good,” he says under his breath, and you feel him nodding against your hair. “That’s good.”

Good God, had his voice always been so low?  Fuck he was good at this….

You hmm in reply, your self-consciousness put on the back burner in order to cope with the absolute burning electric currents seeming to run through your body, just beneath your skin. 

You’ve never been so overwhelmed by another person, let alone some boy as you felt at this moment in Eugene Roe’s arms- you couldn’t so much as breathe without him knowing, each inhale bringing with it the sweet, clean smell of the aftershave you couldn’t quite identify and the salt of his skin.

The steps of the waltz have melted into a rhythmic sway of your bodies, shifting weight from the ball of one foot to the other in time with Gene’s lead.

It’s everything you can do not to shake as his thigh flexes between your legs, your sex rubbing agianst it deliciously every so often and making you feel stupid with longing.

“You okay?” he asks quietly, and you realize that you’ve been holding your breath the whole time, a distracted chuckle escaping your lips before your nod softly.

“Yeah, course.” You wrap an arm around his shoulder and sway with him, giving the hand holding yours a quick squeeze of reassurance. “You?”

You feel him nod. “Yeah, me too.”

You hum, letting your eyes drift closed as you try to think about keeping your breathing even and touch light.

Which was proving harder than you’d anticipated— the slow curling beat of the new song beginning and it’s rumbling melody settling over your heads like the foreboding clouds of a storm that neither of you seemed too interested in seeking shelter from.

This whole place could burn down and all I’d see is him

After a few more moments you feel the hand at your back begin to knead at the knots along your spine, strong fingers rolling like revered thunder against your tense muscles.

“Give me some more,” he quietly demands. “You need to lean on me more….you’re still too tense—” and you bend your knees a bit so you can feel the pressure of his thigh where you’re throbbing for him the most. 

“Shhhhhhiiiiiit…” he hisses quietly, almost to himself. 

“Eugene,” you breathe before you can stop yourself, titling your head so your temples press together. “ We, uh…..We said we wanted to go by eleven...”

Your reminder is purely for show, arousal hot in your chest and stomach. 

When he hums in acknowledgement, you can hear the lack of intention behind it. The idea of separating from this man made you feel cold—a prospect you found unbearable despite the heat making your hair stick to the back of your neck.

Staying, we’re going to stay.

Part of this feels inevitable, like the two of you had always been destined to end in this sinfully filthy embrace with nearly every single part of your bodies touching, and you couldn’t find it in yourself to curse the humidity you so loathed.

A whimper escapes your throat when you catch your clothed clit on some bunched fabric from the leg of his pants, and his arms abandon their dancing position to wrap around your torso and smooth his hands up and down your back

“Like this, Doc?” you can’t help but whisper, sighing prettily when his grip digs into the meat of your shoulder blades. 

You know you aren’t dancing anymore, haven’t been dancing for a while. You feel your hips jump against his, a low groan rumbling in his chest as one of his hands flashes down to squeeze at your ass.

“Fuck darlin’....” 

You turn your head so your lips are at his ear, eyes nearly rolling back in your head at the sinful roll of his hips as he drops a bit lower, a growl in his chest at the breathy way you gasp his name.

“I’m sorry” he’s whispering. “I’m sorry—”

You know what he’s apologizing for.

He thinks he’s confirming Sobel’s horrible accusations— that you’re nothing more than a warm body in the eyes of the men of Easy Company.

Their CO had a special place in his heart for taking the time to remind you that you were a woman and insinuate that you were nothing more than a barrack whore who was a pretty good shot on a rifle. 

“Even pious Winters seems to find you distracting, Miss Y/N. Maybe we should send you ahead of the pack to give the Krauts something to enjoy before we show up.”

“Don’t be sorry,” you shake your head and bring one hand up to lightly touch his cheek, voice thick in your throat. “Never be sorry. Not for this— Shit, Gene....”

One of Gene’s hands slid up your neck and into your hair, holding your head as he turned to look at you, pupils blown wide beneath heavily lidded eyes.

You look at his lips, bringing your thumb over to smooth the furrow in his brow.

“Never?” he asks, and with one final look into his eyes you shake your head.

“Never.” you hear yourself say, 

You kiss the corner of his mouth first, not wanting to rush him, still worried that (somehow) you were misreading his intentions. 

As if he wasn't gyrating his hips with you in a way so dirty that you were surprised you hadn’t been asked to leave. As if you couldn’t feel the ghost of his hard cock against your hip….

Apparently Gene thought you were now the one moving too slowly, because he uses his hand in your hair to turn your mouth to his and kiss the breath from your lungs.

His lips taste like whiskey and a tiny bit like the candied pecans you’d brought him as a thank you for taking you out. 

You sighed against his mouth as you slid one of your hands down his chest, fisting his shirt as his tongue parts the seam of your lips and deepens the kiss.

“Embrasse-moi (kiss me),” he mumbles between the kisses he plucked from your lips. “Je pense toujours à toi, Je ne peux pas vivre sans toi….tu as besoin de savoir que (I always think about you, I can’t live without you. You need to know that.).”

You’re french is lackluster at best, but something in the way he’s saying the words that makes you feel as if he’s being unbearably sincere in whatever it is he’s telling you. 

“I dont…” you begin, but then something wicked and heavy settles in your lower belly that has you pulling back enough that you can look him in the eye.

HIs lips are pink and swollen, and you nearly forget what you wanted to tell him.

Debauched, absolutely lewd and lustful.

Your hands find his and with a reassuring nodyou put his hands on your hip and thigh, another curse slipping past his lips as his fingers bunched the soft fabric of your skirt in his hands.

“Show me what you said.” You know you’ve said it like a command but you’ve never felt more less in control in your entire life. “Please, Eugene—”

He nods solemnly, and when he replies you get the feeling he’s making you a deeper promise than you are aware of.

“I will. I promise.”

and he does.

(*throws fic at you and runs away* than you for reading bYE (p2?))

[theheraldsrest]

“Inquisitor’s romanced companion (Cullen, Blackwall, or Iron Bull) finally seeing the Inquisitor come back from a long journey.” Well, someone likes big guys. Let’s give this a try. -Cabot

Blackwall

He had been carving the same spot on his piece for some time, but it didn’t seem to register. Once in a while, he glanced at the entrance of the stables, thinking he saw something but it was always just someone walking or birds flying. Each time, he’d shake his head, tell himself to calm down, and try to focus on what his hands were doing. It had been a week and a half since the Inquisitor left, accompanied by Varric, Bull, and Sera. Not the most reliable bunch but he knew they would never let the Inquisitor be harmed. He couldn’t help it. She had said they would be back soon, yet she wasn’t and had all together stopped sending messages to him. The last one he had received had contained only a few words: Thom, miss you dearly. Stormcoast is, as ever, cold and wet. On the plus side, plenty of spindleweed. As if we don’t have enough of it already. I love you. He couldn’t stop himself from re-reading this same letter, each time his focus catching on to her elegant writing over her words of endearment and his name. He was staring at it again, causing him to miss the wood he was working on had become weak, suddenly snapping. As he cursed himself, a chuckle reached his ears. “You know, if I hadn’t seen you carve the griffon saddle, I would’ve thought this was your first time working with carpentry tools.” His heart lifted as he turned to see that familiar smile and those shining eyes that he adored looking at him. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you didn’t know what soon meant.” She stepped closer to him, humming. “Two words. ‘Island’ and ‘dragon.’ I can’t control the bloody things appearing out of nowhere. Can you blame me?” It was his turn to chuckle as he pulled her into his arms. “No, I suppose not. Glad to have you back, love.” She pulled him into a kiss, Blackwall melting to her touch. The wait was definitely worth it.

Cullen

“Sir?” The commander snapped out of his thoughts, looking up from his desk to a scout standing by the door. “Yes, soldier?” He flinched at how dry his voice sounded and cleared it before saying “What is it?” “The latest reports from the spymaster, sir.” He stepped up and placed several papers onto Cullen’s desk. He picked each up, scanning them, looking for her name or even her title but nothing was found. He gave a frustrated sigh and looked them over to see if he missed something before noticing the scout was still there. “I don’t have anything new to report to her. You’re dismissed.” The scout gave a quick bow before going through the doors, leaving Cullen. Tenting his fingers together, he let his eyes unfocus as he thought. It had now been a couple of weeks since the Inquisitor left and not a single word had been sent back, not even from Leliana’s scouts. He knew he shouldn’t worry about her. She was strong, reliable, but he couldn’t help thinking the worst. Shaking his head so as to stop the idea of them being attacked by a dragon from creeping into his head, he stood up and left the room to walk along the ramparts. He stopped himself short before reaching the spot they usually spend time at and turned, instead, to look down on the grounds. He could see the troops training new recruits, the mages and healers working to restore those who were injured, something happened at the tavern as Sera jumped from the roof and ran, her cackling floating up to where he stood. Why the Inquisitor kept her around, he didn’t know. He couldn’t help his eyes falling to where he had usually spotted her when he walked about: under the trees where Cassandra sat, the spot next to the stairs where they had had there awkward chat, up to where he could see Vivienne leaning over the banister and back to the ground at the gates, where the horses were gathered, flicking their heads as their riders-wait what? He turned his gaze quickly back to the horses at the gate, their rider’s voices caring up to him. One of the riders jumped from their horse and was quickly moving to the stairs when she suddenly looked over. Even from this distance he could see that bright smile growing on her face as she waved and began making her way up the stairs. He made his way over as she finally turned on the final landing and spotted him, breaking into a run and throwing herself into his waiting arms, clinging tightly to him. He held her, the missing piece to his as he heard her muffled voice say “I missed you.” “And I, you.” 

Iron Bull

The sword he wielded clang against Krem’s as he threw him off. They had been at it for a while and Bull could see the sweat dripping down the younger man’s face but Krem focused, fixed his stance and charged again. In a few moments, Bull squatted next to Krem on the ground, panting and unwilling to move. “I think that has to be the most pitiful swing I’ve ever seen from you, Kremiscius.” Krem only smiled and shot back “Yeah, well, it’s going to be pitiful against a pitiful opponent.” He opened his eyes to look up at his chief’s frozen face. Bull could only grumble but held a hand out to pull Krem up. Once back on his feet, the smaller of the men looked up at him, a calculating look on his face. Bull turned away from him and waved over his shoulder. “That’s enough for today, Krem.” “Is this about the Inquisitor, chief?” Bull froze once more and turned to look at Krem, his brow creased in concern. To Krem’s relief, Bull smiled and said “Nah, the boss can handle themselves. It be foolish to worry about them. Besides, I’m giving you the chance to take a break. Better take it before I decide we need to go over your shield bashing again.” Krem quickly left, but the smile fell from his face as soon as Krem was out of sight. Krem knew him way too well. He rubbed the back of his neck, thinking. Sure, Frostback Basin was a good two week journey, and they had only been gone for seven weeks now, but it still made him worry. There hadn’t been any word back from them, all except their last letter, stating for Bull to be jealous because they went through a tournament-like trial. But that letter came around the time he assumed they reached the Basin. No other words or notes, not even a hint to what they were doing or what happened. Bull was trying to think of every scenario, knowing that kadan would be able to find a way out of each. Still, this wasn’t something he was used to, worrying about a lover. It was different now, he was committed to them, dedicated even. It hurt to wait, wait for any sign. He could see the same thing on other’s faces as they, too, waited. He decided to take out his frustration on the dummies nearby. It wasn’t until Bull had taken a few throws at the tied-up straw did he feel eyes watching him. He turned and felt all of his worries fall away. There, walking towards him, was his inquisitor, his kadan, with a smirk on their face. Bull turned fully towards them, crossing his arms across his chest and giving a dead serious look that made them pause. After a moment, they mimicked him and gave him a serious face as well. They stood in silence for a bit before Bull said “So.” His kadan raised their eyebrows in surprise. “So? That’s it? See me come back and say ‘so?’ “ “Yeah, pretty much.” Bull turned away, continuing his fighting with the dummy, fighting back the smile growing on his face as he listened. Nothing and then careful footsteps over and then a hand on his arm. “Did I miss something? Or did I do something before leaving that I’ve forgotten about?” Bull shrugged and continued. His kadan was quiet for a few moments before saying “Are you just screwing with me?” Again, he shrugged, refusing to look at them. He didn’t expect them to slip under his arm and get in front of the dummy. Now he could see the scratches and marks of battle on their face along with a worried expression. “Bull, what’s-” They jumped as he let out a surprised laugh, picking them up. They thumped his chest, yelling “Bull, you complete arse! I thought I did something wrong!” He pulled them closer, chuckling. “You did do something wrong. One being you didn’t make sure people knew you were alive and second being you didn’t bring me along to make sure you were alive. It was funny watching you squirm.” The inquisitor thumped his chest again, but they were smiling. “Next time I go to some Maker forsaken jungle with low hanging branches and trees, I’ll bring you along with me to fight the giant spiders and darkspawn. Sound like a plan?” Bull laughed, “No.”

There, enjoy. Have some burly men loving you. -Cabot

[darling-dummy-blogs]

A Dummy's Heartbreak- Victor Li (PT 1)

Summary: Cassie and Victor broke up 4 months ago and haven't spoken to or seen each other since they went their separate ways. The day of their anniversary comes around and after realizing the importance of the day, Cassandra is hit with intense and conflicting emotions. She ends up irrationally calling Victor and admits...

Paring: Victor Li x Cassie (OC)

Genre: Angst

Warnings: Mentions of break-up and alcohol use.

Fandom: Mr. Love Queen's Choice

Word Count: 2.3K

Notes:

Backstory; After Cassie and Victor broke up, Cassie left Loveland City and moved back to her hometown, she found a job at a production company and lives in her (now deceased) parent’s house with her aunt (who took over as the head of the house to care for Cassie’s younger siblings after their parent's death ( and yes she has siblings))

This part will be Cassie’s POV (1st Person View)

Here it is! The first part! So Sorry for the delay! I appreciate in all the support everyone has given me to write this piece and I'm feeling even more encouraged to write more again! Enjoy the angsty ride my lovelies! <3

Today was just not my day.

As it usually isn’t. The week was barely starting and I already felt as though the weekend needed to arrive quicker. Although...To be fair, everything has been a mess ever since he walked out of my life...

To start off, I missed my alarm this morning. What a great way to start the day...

I quickly rushed to get ready and ran straight to work, feeling frantic and anxious for being late. Only to see that work had begun to pile up on my desk. Just by looking at the huge pile of papers, I already felt drained.

“Looks like I might be working late tonight…” I muttered to myself and held back a resigned sigh and frowned.

“Cassie! How come you were late? Everything okay?” A voice, filled with concern suddenly spoke out, making me snap out of my thoughts to find where the voice came from, only to look at one of my co-workers, Lillian, who just so happened to also be a close friend of mine.

Me and Lillian were friends in high school, we had connected and bonded pretty well, she was like a sister to me. However after we graduated, we sadly lost contact.

I didn’t think I’d get to see her again, however when I started working for this production company just a few months back, I found out that she worked here too. We instantly connected again. It felt as though we never lost contact.

I gave her a small exasperated smile as I shook my head dismissively, sitting down at my desk which was across from hers.

“Ah.. everything is fine, I just slept through my alarm this morning. That’s all, no need to worry about me.”

“No need? You know, I always worry about you silly.” She frowned, she held two steaming cups of coffee in her hands, setting one down on my desk for me.

I let out a breath of relief giving her a small nod, as thanks for the coffee. I didn’t have time to stop for breakfast or get some coffee. I let out a small laugh. “You sound just like my mother. I’m okay, there isn’t anything to worry about.” I gazed at her, taking a sip of the coffee she gave me.

She rolled her eyes, a small smile replaced her frown, “I might as well be your mother, because you gave me a scare!”

“Yeah, yeah. I know. I’m sorry.” I gave her a sweet smile and pleading eyes. “Forgive me?”

“...Fineeee, you’re forgiven. Just don’t do it again!” She huffed, lightly ruffling my hair. I nodded with a grin, “You got it. It won’t happen again. Come on, let's start work before the boss scolds us for slacking. Wouldn’t want to set her off now would we?”

I giggled out as I mustered up my courage and got to work immediately, Lillian did the same, her face now filled with less concern and more happiness.

This is where my day suddenly takes a turn for the worse…

I tried my hardest to get through the heavy workload throughout the seemingly long day, however my mind kept slipping up and I gradually kept making mistakes over and over again. Now the day was almost over and yet I still had piles of paperwork to sort through.

I let out a huff as I stared down at my work, feeling frustrated.

Lillian looked up from her seat, seeing my frustrated gaze. She spoke out to me in a gentle tone. “Cass? You okay?”

I looked up at her, after a moment, running my fingers through my hair as I nodded slowly after a moment of silence. “Y-Yeah.. I’m just.. frustrated that I’m noticing more errors… I don’t understand why I’m like this today… I’m not usually like this…” I let out a heavy sigh as I rested my head on the desk, shutting my eyes.

What could it be…? Why am I feeling so weird today...?

“Is something on your mind, maybe?” She stood up from her desk, walking over to mine, leaning against it as she gently stroked my hair, knowing that it was something to help soothe me whenever I felt down and anxious.

“I… I honestly don’t know….” I muttered quietly, I then looked up, resting my chin on the desk, my eyes trailed across the clutter of stuff around me, frowning as I tried to figure out what was truly bugging me. My eyes then land on the calendar.

I eyed the month. June…

“Lillian…” I suddenly croaked out, my voice coming out as a mere whisper. “What is today’s date?”

“June 1st … Why do you ask?” She spoke clearly, confusion evident in her voice.

Crap… How could I forget about this day….

A sudden wave of sadness hit me, and I could feel the tears well up in my eyes, I blinked them back as I looked away, sniffling.

Lillian immediately noticed something was wrong and grew concerned once again. “Cassandra… What's wrong?”

I took a moment, shutting my eyes tightly, wiping at the oncoming tears. It’s only been 4 months but it still hurts… I let out a shaky breath, clearing my throat as I gazed at her. “Today is… mine and my ex’s three year anniversary today. We broke up four months ago… It still hurts… I-I’m sorry…”

My voice became hoarse as I tried holding back sobs. Lillian frowned as she then pulled me into a warm embrace, she rubbed my back, she then spoke out. “I am so sorry to hear that… I never knew you were even in a relationship before… why didn’t you tell me about that?”

I sniffled, hugging her back after a moment I spoke out again. “The pain was still too fresh… It was hard to talk about him with anyone.” I let out a small sob before continuing.

“W-When… When I came back home, it was just days after the break up. I moved back into my parent’s house and into my old room… and it was harder because I brought my ex back to my home nearly every holiday and special occasion… We made memories there with my family… It hurt so much…”

My voice became a whisper, she listened silently as I rambled on. “And what makes this worse is, I still love him. I miss him so much… But since the day we broke up, I have not spoken to or seen him in four months…”

I shut my eyes, sobbing quietly against her, hiding my face from her view. I couldn’t bear to look up and see her sad expression, it would only add more fuel to my sadness.

“H-he meant the world to me… I thought I would be with him f-forever… It h-hurts so much...” My voice trailed off, all the repressed emotions I’ve tried holding back all those months ago came rushing out in quiet sobs and rivers of tears.

Lillian continuously stroked my back, before speaking gently. “I know it hurts, it will hurt for awhile and that’s okay. You need your time to heal…” After a pause she added.

“Why don’t you head home? You look like you could use the rest and working right now isn’t what is best for you. I can cover the rest of your work and I’ll tell the boss to hold on the workload for you, okay?”

I tried to compose myself. Shaking my head, stubbornly. As much as she was right, I needed to do something today, anything to keep my mind from wandering back to him and this day. “N-no… No I can’t ask that of you…”

“But I want to. You clearly need the day off to cope. Throwing yourself into work isn’t going to help you Cassie.” She looked down at me with a serious expression.

Hah… at that moment, she reminded me of him. That was something he often told me when he felt as though I was overworking myself. At times, I did.

But only because I wanted to make him proud…

I wiped at my tears, giving her a small smile, as I gave in. “Alright…” I spoke in a soft tone, my voice barely coming out due to all the crying I just did.

She released me from her hold as I gathered up my belongings, gazing at her once again with a bittersweet smile. “Thanks Lillian, I owe you one. I’ll see you later.” After waving my goodbyes to her as I left the office with my head hung low.

Not wanting others to see my depressed state, I quietly yet quickly made my way back home, thankful that the office was just a good twenty minute walk from my home grabbing my keys from my bag. I walked in.

The house was quiet, which was a good thing. It meant my aunt wasn’t home. Although I had already known that she wouldn’t be home.

I moved in with my aunt four months ago when I returned after leaving Loveland. I was grateful that my aunt took over the house after my parent’s passing. She took care of my younger siblings when I couldn’t. I was forever grateful that she was so accepting of me coming home.

If it wasn’t for her… I wouldn’t have a place to live.

However, I knew she wouldn’t be back until tomorrow; She was out of town on business and left the house to me for a few days. I let out a breath as I dropped my belongings on the table, dragging my feet into the living room, plopping down onto the soft cushion of the couch, staring mindlessly at the ceiling. Unsure of what to do to occupy my time.

The more I stared up at the ceiling in silence, the more I got trapped in my thoughts. He began to fill my head once again. I shut my eyes, feeling the build up of my tears once again. No. Not again.

“Why can’t I stop thinking about him?!” I spoke out loud, my voice echoing throughout the large room, I was beginning to grow frustrated rather than sad at this point.

I lightly tugged on my hair, as I tried to compose my emotions which were only drastically changing with every thought and memory I made with Victor. As if that wasn’t enough, images began to flash within my mind.

His soft smile…

His loving gaze…

Hearing his gorgeous laugh and the way he’d affectionately call me a “dummy” every time I did something silly or stupid. Oh how I wish I could hear him call me a dummy one more time...

I really am just a dummy… A dummy still hopelessly in love with him

I didn’t even realize the tears that began flowing down my face once again.

Goddamn you, Victor Li. Why did you make me fall so hopelessly in love with you?!

Peeling myself off of the couch, I made my way over to the kitchen, the only way to drown my sorrows and feelings for him was with alcohol. I didn’t even care if it was too early in the week for this.

I need to get him out of my head.

I sniffled as I pulled out a wine glass and a large bottle of red wine. I then made my way back to the living room, sitting myself down once again, filling my cup to the brim of the glass before turning on the tv. I needed distractions. Maybe playing a movie will help.

After scrolling through what seemed like countless channels, I settled on a random movie. It wasn’t like I was going to pay much attention to it. I’m too busy crying my eyes out. I took large sips of wine, my eyes still blurred with tears.

No matter how much I drank, he still was on my mind. Even the alcohol didn’t seem to help me in my time of need. I downed what seemed like my fourth or fifth glass. I didn’t bother to keep track. Setting down the now empty glass on the table, I laid down, curling up on the couch, my head suddenly spinning. I let out a small groan.

Perhaps having too much wine after crying so much probably wasn’t a good idea… I rubbed at my eyes, drying up my tears. After a moment of regaining my eyesight, my eyes gazed over to my phone, laying flat on the table beside the glass.

...Should I call him…?

No… No I shouldn’t. We haven’t spoken since we split. It would just be weird to suddenly contact him out of the blue after everything that happened between us.

As much as I knew my mind was trying to be rational and reasonable about the situation. I couldn’t stop my hand from grabbing my phone, scrolling through my contacts and finding his contact. I took a shuddering breath before pressing the call button.

My heart anxiously churned within my chest, as I sat up properly, chewing on my fingernails while the phone rang… and rang.

It kept ringing. I began to think that maybe he would not answer. He probably blocked my number or something… Yet, on the last ring, he picked up.

There was a moment of silence before a quiet voice could be heard on the other end.

“Hello…?”

My heart skipped a beat, I swallowed as I tried to muster up the words to speak. What am I doing?! Why did I think this was a good idea!? Gosh, I really am an idiot…

I scolded myself mentally, as I shakily spoke out. “H-hey… Hey Victor.” I took a pause, before adding. “I-It’s been awhile…”

“It has… Why did you suddenly call me, Cassie…?” His voice came out soft but it also had a hint of sadness to it. Was that just my imagination..? Is he still hurting too?

“I-....” I swallowed, tears filling up my eyes. “I just….” My voice wavered. In order to feel better, I needed to tell him.

“I Miss You. I Miss Us..."

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Author's Note: Part 2 will be out hopefully by the end of today if not Thursday morning! It will be in Victor's POV and will include more detail about why they broke up! Thanks for Reading <3