#I’m so glad he’s back in the dome

[sittinginsunflowers]

I can’t stop thinking about how Trapp is playing Hunch.

Like his client asks him to find someone and he does. Job over. But instead of questioning Conrad, or trying to break down the mystery of it all, he’s more concerned with how everyone’s treating him. So, he gets in a fight with the owner of a speakeasy, tries to stop known mobsters, stands up to a literal murderer, all because he sees a kid and knows he can’t possibly deserve the treatment he’s getting. He isn’t getting paid to care about Conrad, or even really Imelda. And yet when they to go to the memory bank, Hunch immediately acts as a distraction, so Imelda can get what they need without anyone else getting hurt. Technically, their business is done, but he still makes himself the target rather than playing the part of the detective he is and potentially putting her in danger.

Curiosity doesn’t need to be kind, but he is. He’s kind because sometimes, being curious about other people, means trusting them before you have the proof that it’s the right choice.

[zaczenemiji]

I really wanted to ask if you could do like a GN! It can be fem too it doesn’t really matter—

The Reader where like Ultraman can transform bigger too but they're more inspired by Mothra (like a mothra suit). I think it would've been like so cute to see Emi go all awe and clingy to the reader because how bright and heavenly they look💕

Kenji gets all jealous seeing his kajju daughter prefer the reader over him a lil bit. tall parents raising baby monster

Emi’s Favorite

Kenji Sato x Reader

Word Count: 1,546

Genre/Warning: Established Relationship, Family Dynamics, Jealousy (very slight)

Author’s Note: Loved this idea so much, thank you for this first request! Emi with a moth mommy ⋆˚ʚɞ

MASTERLIST

Something about your boyfriend changed the night after Gigantron’s “attack” on Tokyo Dome. That night, you were supposed to help him fend the kaiju off but he insisted he’d do it on his own.

For some reason, you were glad you did not join in because (1) their fight became a pursuit in the sky, and (2) you could not zoom in the air the same way Ultraman does. The only reason you’re able to fly is because of your wings—moth wings on your suit, which would put you at a disadvantage in the case of an air chase.

You were supposed to come over to his place that night to check on him because you were sure that the skirmish had caused more damage to his already injured shoulder. However, your calls were left answered by Mina, telling you that Kenji had already fallen asleep.

Deciding not to disturb him, you simply let him be. But in the days that followed, something surely wasn’t right. He couldn’t focus on his games, he looked so fatigued and restless all the time, and oh good gracious, there were now dark circles under his eyes.

He just looks so stressed and you were so upset with the fact that he didn’t want to tell you what’s going on with him. The time he got into a fight with the other players was the end of the line for you.

You barged into his house, finding him by his bathtub, in front of a TV, watching the news about him. The usually peaceful atmosphere in his house was now charged with tension as you made your way towards him. At that moment, Kenji was praying so hard the kaiju in his basement would keep still.

He still wouldn’t tell you what’s wrong. “It’s not about us. It’s about…” he said, “…something bigger. Something I’m not ready to share yet.”

Your eyes softened at his response, though the ache in your chest remained. You made him promise to talk to you when he’s ready and he agreed. You can’t stand seeing the love of your life like that but at the same time, you didn’t want to force him to do anything against his will. Taking up Ultraman was already enough of that.

Almost two months, after the incident, he seemed back to his old shape. Better, even. And thank heavens, finally, he could now tell you about what happened.

���There’s a what below?!” You asked in disbelief. The two of you were standing in front of the elevator and for a moment, you think your ears are playing tricks on you.

“A baby kaiju,” he replied and went on to explain everything. Still in disbelief, you took in everything with a nod. He placed his hand on the small of your back as he guided you into the elevator.

The moment you saw the big pink baby, you gasped. Emi made happy noises as you approached. However, upon noticing you, she suddenly began to cry.

Kenji was tapping on the glass containment in an attempt to shush her. But to no avail, Emi just cried harder.

“I’m sorry, she doesn’t know you yet,” Kenji apologized. “But I assure you, she’s a sweet big baby.”

Remembering how, at first, Emi only recognized Kenji when he was Ultraman, you decided to try something.

“(Y/n), what are you—“ Before Kenji finished, a soft glow enveloped you, and moments later, you emerged in your giant form. Your wings spread wide, shimmering with black patterns and warm tones of yellow and orange.

Emi’s cries slowed, her curiosity piqued by the sudden change. She opened her eyes, sobs turning to soft hiccups as she stared up at you in wonder. Her claws tapped the glass as she reached out, trying to grasp your wings.

Kenji watched in awe as Emi’s distress melted away. “I think it’s working,” he whispered.

“May I?” You asked, gesturing to the lid of the containment unit. Kenji gave a nod of approval. Carefully, you turned it before lifting it off.

You lowered yourself closer to Emi, your wings fluttering softly as she climbed up her containment. The gentle breeze they created seemed to soothe her further.

Emi let out a delighted squeal, her earlier tears forgotten. She toddled closer to you, her claws gently touching the edge of your wing. She let out a happy chirp, eyes sparkling with joy.

Kenji stepped closer, a relieved smile spreading across his face. “Wow, she loves you in this form,” he said.

You smiled down at him. “She’s just like her dad,” you replied. “She knows a good thing when she sees it.”

Kenji chuckled before he himself transformed into Ultraman. He sat beside you with Emi in between the two of you.

Your wings gently enveloped Emi in a comforting embrace. She was now calm and happy as she traced the pattern of your wings with her claw.

“Gentle, baby,” Kenji said as he rubbed her head.

She continued walking around you and playing with your wings until she tired herself out. She walked in front of you and climbed on your lap, nestling her head on your stomach.

“Awww, baby,” you cooed. You gently picked her up into your arms and gently swayed.

Kenji moved close to you, wrapping an arm around you. You nestled into his arm, head resting on the junction of his neck and shoulders. The three of you slept like that for the night.

The next morning when Emi awoke, she immediately looked for you. Realizing that the moth lady was missing, she cried. Mina was quick to assist her, playing videos of cartoons and Kenji to calm her. To Mina’s surprise, none of them worked.

“Who’s making my baby cry?” Kenji asked as he approached. He expected her crying to cease once she saw him. However, that is not the case.

“Huh?” He questioned. Emi always calms when she sees him. “Mina, try showing her pictures of (y/n).”

Mina did as told and as miraculously as yesterday, Emi stopped crying. “It seems like she got herself a new mother,” Mina commented.

With Emi’s growing fondness of you, you found yourself frequenting at Kenji’s house more than ever. She was just so cute; like a live plushie when you’re in your giant form.

“Hi babyyyy,” you cooed as you transformed into your giant form. You scooped her up, her head nuzzling against you. Her earlier play was abandoned in favor of your presence.

You walked in on Kenji and Emi playing baseball together. And you didn’t mean to interrupt but when you saw her walking towards you, you knew you had to transform.

Kenji smiled at the scene. “She really loves you, you know,” he said.

You smiled back, feeling a warm glow inside. “I love her too,” you replied. “She’s such a sweetheart.”

Emi chirped happily as she climbed up your torso and onto your shoulder where she could watch and touch your wings.

Kenji watched the interaction, his smile fading slightly as a twinge of jealousy crept in. His baby kaiju shows a different kind of joy when you’re around.

He loved Emi dearly, but lately, it seemed like she preferred your company over his. He couldn’t help but feel a bit sidelined.

“She really lights up when you’re here,” Kenji said, trying to keep his tone light.

You glanced at him, noticing the slight edge in his voice. “She lights up when you’re here too, Kenji,” you replied. “She loves you.”

He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “I know, but… it feels like she’s more excited to see you than me sometimes.”

You tapped the space on the floor beside you, gesturing for him to switch to Ultraman. Thankfully, he did not resist.

You moved close to him as he sat beside you, his hand finding its way to your thigh. Your head automatically rested on his shoulder.

“You’re her dad, Kenji,” you said. “She loves you so much. Maybe she’s just fascinated by my wings right now.”

You felt Kenji nod, although the jealousy still lingered within him. “Yeah, maybe,” he replied. “I just want to be enough for her.”

You leaned back to look at him. Your other hand which was not holding Emi on your shoulder, moved up to hold his face. “You are enough. You’re everything to her,” you said. “And to me.”

Emi squirmed out of your hand, gently jumping off your shoulder and landing on your lap. She toddled over to Kenji. He looked down at her, his heart melting as she reached up, wanting to be held. He picked her up, and she nuzzled against his chest, purring softly.

“See?” You asked with a smile. “She adores you.”

Kenji hugged Emi close, his jealousy fading into thin air. “Yeah,” he said. “I guess you’re right.”

You spent the rest of the day playing with Emi, taking turns holding her and making her laugh. By the time evening rolled around, she was content and sleepy in Kenji’s arms.

Before reverting to your original form, you kissed Emi’s head and then leaned in to kiss Kenji. “I’ll be back soon,” you said. “Take care of our little one.”

Kenji smiled, his earlier worries forgotten. “We’ll be here, waiting.”

Taglist is open! Comment if u wanna be tagged on future Kenji oneshots

@scribble0rat

[just1cefor4ll]

How are you? I just read the cigarettes after sex fic and I'm giggling and kicking my feet <3 Can I request a Joost Klein x fem!reader that's opposite of his style? Like opposites attract :3

The devil with his angel

Joost Klein x fem!reader

summary: readers style is a bit more feminine and usually wear lighter colours, unlike joost who had a masculine, street wear type of style. you were the prime example of the saying ‘opposites attract’

a/n: reader has a slightly specified outfit, hope thats alright<3

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╰┈➤ ⋆｡‧˚ʚ 🐦 ɞ˚‧｡⋆

— You and Joost have been dating for a few months in secret, wanting some privacy before revealing anything to the public. It was more for you to build your relationship more and have your peace and quiet for some time, knowing your fans could get a bit hectic. You loved each other dearly, you two filled each other’s empty spaces, you fit together like an ancient puzzle basically soulmates.

In the present, you were currently at Joosts concert, you being on the opposite side of the barrier blocking the fans from rushing to the stage giving you your space. You were smiling, singing along to his songs. You only started learning dutch when you started dating Joost to show your dedication to this relationship and how much he meant to you, and so you could support him during his concerts like you were doing now. You didn’t fit in the crowd however at all, everyone wearing more darker colours, or something not that bright meanwhile you were here in a floral dress, some white stockings, mary janes and some accessories. You stood out like a black sheep, which was ironic since you were the only one NOT wearing black. You stood closer to the stage, taking some photos of Joost on your polaroid camera he got you on your birthday. You smiled, everyone would be able to tell you were love struck if your back wasn’t facing them.

Joost was in the middle of playing his song ´Droom Groot’ , it was clear he loved performing the atmosphere of his concerts were never dull, always some kind of emotions were being felt during his concerts. The end of the song was nearing, the “Yes, yes, ladies and gentlemen this was Joost Klein with his hit single ´Dome Groot’ “ You smiled softly, Joost looking down at you with a smile before crouching and cupping your cheek in his hand, giving you a kiss on the lips. Your eyes went wide and your cheeks got hotter, the crowd screaming and whistling, even some gasps were heard. It really was a strange sight, you really were polar opposites.

The next day the media went crazy. You were on every media, trending somewhere in the tops 10s. You scrolled through all the articles, some fans were beyond excited and celebrated the union of their two favourite artists, while others were dumbfounded. They had no idea how such polar opposittes could have found their way to each other. Joost came out the shower, towel loosely tied on his hips as he dried his hair. He came towards you and looked at your phone. “How bad is it?” He asks, a smile on his face. You return his smile, looking up at him. “It’s a mix of ‘oh my god i’m so happy for them’ and ‘how are they even together’ but that was more than expected.” You say and he nods kissing your forehead. “Yeah, but i’m glad I don’t have to hide my love for you anymore.”

Despite the media going crazy, you two embraced your public relationship, attending events together and Joost couldn’t help to always post something about you somewhere, your styles making you guys even more magnetic. Fans slowly started to see the connection between you two, acceptance growing more by the day. One time you both had to speak up about your relationship a bit more, since death threats started to be thrown into your inboxes left and right.

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Joost Klein

@joostklein✓

It’s funny how you all see our styles and think we’re two worlds apart. Aside our styles were just two people who have passion for music and love each other.

Liked by bambiethug, {yourusername} and 2,082,096 others

user79107 and 568K others commented

bambiethug: you two are such sweethearts!! sending you all the love and protection from evil<3

user6618990: JOOST NOO MY HUSBAND

fucktheebu replied to user6618990: grow up you’re like 12

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{your nickname}

@{yourusername} ✓

I get we have different styles but giving us death threats? Wow..

You don’t see more then what we put on the media, you don’t know what our relationship is like behind closed doors. We may have different styles but we love each other and have the same passion for music, we basically balance each other out in our own way. Sending love to everyone that supported us xx

Liked by joostklein, user97741 and 1,980,762 others

hihixlovers and 567K others commented

lolianx: ❤️❤️ love your dynamic fr

apsondabluebirdha: tell them!!

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After that the whole thing calmed down. You two lived your lives more peacefully and you didn’t have to hide anymore. The both of you made a song together, tours sold out and your albums too. It was nice but it did add some stress to your career. You managed it all together always being there for one another despite your slight differences. You cherished every moment together, whether it was a simple night out, cooking together, singing silly songs together or just cuddling and watching a movie, all of it was just perfect.

You were currently in prague, performing a concert there together. You were the opener of Joosts concerts, since you didn’t really have the finances to two different tours so you decided on being the opener which you were more than happy to do.

You sat in a café, admiring the view of prague and also lost in thought. Joost was talking about the upcomig concerts, talking about the new places he wanted to see. He noticed your dazed state and stopped talking, putting a hand on yours as if to silently as if you’re okay. “Just thinking.” You say and he raises a brow; “About?” He pries and you chuckle softly. “I mean, do you ever think about how unlikely this is? Us, I mean.” You ask he he thinks for a moment, gathering his thought before soeaking up; “All the time. And every single time I realize how lucky I am to have you. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me and I appreciate you.” You smiled, heart full of his enduring words. “Same here Joost, same here.”

About half a year later, your one year anniversary came. You were standing on stage, just finishing a song you wrote together just a few months ago. Cheers were heard throughout the crowd, signs with words like “We love you!” “You saved me.” “We’re proud of you.” were held high in the air, your heart melting. Realisation hit you like a truck as Joost picked you up and spinned you around, smiling wildly. He put you down, resting his forehead against yours, sweat dripping down from all the jumping around you’ve done during this concert. You smiles lovingly, holding his hands, fingers interwined. “We did it Joost.” “Yeah, we did.” In that moment you knew you found the right person. You realised you wanted to spend the rest of your days on this earth with this man, in his embrace, in his presence. Together you created beautiful and unforgettable memories that defied expectations, showing that sometimes, the most gorgeous harmonies come from the most unexpected places.

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╰┈➤ ⋆｡‧˚ʚ 🐦 ɞ˚‧｡⋆

[lurkingshan]

Things That Have My Attention In 4 Minutes Episode 6

Original timeline FINALLY let’s gooooooooo

Going back to the start to see Great’s utter lack of remorse for killing that woman, his spoiled brat reaction to his dad handling his mess, and his decision to help his terrible friend get away with a murder was a great reminder that he is in fact a terrible person.

Congrats to… a bunch of us? for piecing together the original timeline correctly based on what we had. In the original sequence of events, Tyme was deep in his revenge plan, got dumped by his girlfriend for neglect, and then intentionally seduced Great so he could record their sex and use it for leverage against Great’s dad. Which didn’t really work. He’s not good at plans, y’all!

By the way, Tyme? Clearly not a virgin. I never liked that read anyway so I’m glad it’s dead. His awkwardness during his first time with Great in the redo timeline is more about his feelings being engaged, it seems.

Great being unphased about the video and just wanting more of that good dick makes perfect sense for his character. He doesn’t care about anything or even have real curiosity about what Tyme was after with that stunt.

And as we finish up the timeline we learn the source of Great’s regret. It’s not any actual self-motivated remorse or understanding of his moral failings, of course. Instead it’s Tyme calling him a coward to his face and rejecting him. His attempt to suddenly claim a moral high ground with his parents after his own string of murders was hilarious and I don’t think he gets the irony.

But someone does! Tonkla coming in clutch as the cause of Great’s cardiac episode was EXCELLENT. And it makes perfect sense because in this timeline, Great is one of Dome’s murderers along with Title. I think safe to assume we’ve been seeing everything else Tonkla was up to in this time in the cold opens, though the exact timing and sequencing of them is up in the air.

The only piece that’s still not tracking for me is Tyme’s side of the romance. The events of this episode explain why Great’s choices in the redo seem to center on getting Tyme to trust him, but they don’t explain Tyme’s reactions to him. This is hardly a love story for the ages. He and Great were emphatically not in love in this original timeline, so I don’t see why Tyme would trust him if he was also reliving this timeline. And if Tyme is not reliving things, that rushed romance arc in the redo timeline doesn’t really work. He has no reason to trust or fall for Great that easily. We also still haven’t seen how Tyme gets shot, so I am inclined to believe there is an additional timeline at play that fills in the remaining gaps and better motivates Tyme’s end of the romance.

Noting here that in the original timeline, the lady Great hit, Dome, and Nan all die, but his mom does not. So by saving that woman, Great inadvertently caused his mother’s death. Something to ponder as we head into the final eps and figure out whether these changes stick.

I’m still hoping that this story is going to take us to a nuanced and complex place and not lead to a pure happy romance ending for Great because honestly he does not deserve it.

It’s nice to finally have a week where we actually got a bunch of questions answered and didn’t generate too many new ones!

[miragemurder]

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Separated

Part 3 of Spotlight & Secret

Pairing: Veneer x GN Reader

Genre: Fluff, Slight Angst

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Part three is here! Thank you guys so much for your support. Honestly didn’t expect this series to get far so I’m glad you guys enjoy! Velvet is kind of a bitch in this story so I’m sorry to all my Velvet lovers. I’m working on some smaller requests right now so please keep sending them in! Master list coming soon.<3 ★ ★ ★

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Run. Get away as fast as you can. That was the only thing you had on your mind when you first heard Velvet’s steps down the hallway. Secret. This has to be a secret, no one must know what just had happened. If you were caught making out with one of the biggest stars Mount Rageous had to offer it would be game over, for the both of you. You couldn’t risk Veneer’s whole career over one simple kiss.

You hurried down the hallway until you got out onto the main floor of the Rage Dome. You took in some deep breaths, trying to regain the air you just lost scurrying down the hallway. Looking around, you found the nearest bathroom and quickly walked in. Speeding to the mirror, you fixed up the hair you “accidentally” messed up and splashed your face with some water.

You looked up into the mirror and a moment of realization struck you. Veneer’s lipstick is waterproof. Your lips were stained the same shade of green his lipstick was. You tried everything you can to rub it off, using a towel, water, even your sleeve. Nothing. Sure the people out there would see the lipstick and think none of it, but you knew that Velvet would know, somehow or other. She always finds out.

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

“Ugh where’s crimp? I told her to be at my vanity in ten and she’s not there!” Velvet walked into Veneer’s room, immediately making her presence known.

She looked over to Veneer who was frantically combing out his hair, making sure it looked just how it did before your two’s little session. She rose a brow, slowly walking over to her brother.

“Veneer, what’s up with you? Why are you acting so skittish and nervous?” Velvet questioned, approaching right behind him.

“Oh me? I’m fine! I don’t know what you mean, I’m totally fine. Nothing is wrong with me, I’m totally… perfectly… fine.” Ending his sentence, he slunk back into his chair. He quietly panicked, hoping everything looked normal.

Velvet squinted her eyes and watched Veneer through the mirror before twirling around his chair, having him face her. She brought her hand to his face, almost inspecting it.

“Your lipstick’s smudged.” She said softly in a stern tone. She looked him directly in the eye, furrowing her brows.

“Why is your lipstick smudged?” She slowly backed off him and crossed her arms. Veneer gulped, not knowing how to respond.

“Veneer.” Her voice rose. Clearly she knew something was up.

“Please sister I can explain!” Veneer frantically stood up, breaking his silence.

“Veneer you know the rules about this!” Velvet shouted, “Who did you have in here?” She took ahold of his collar, keeping a firm grasp.

“Answer me!” She screamed. Veneer flooded with panic, trying to push her hand off of him.

“It.. it was [_____]!” He cried, closing his eyes as he felt himself tear up. He was frozen in place, silently sobbing to himself. He knew he should act strong and stand up for himself but he all he felt was vulnerable.

Velvet let go of his collar and stood in silence, the feeling of rage seething out of her. Veneer opened his eyes slightly to watch his sister’s next move.

“I never want to see their face here again. If you know what’s good for you, you will delete their number and never speak to them again. I am not risking my dream for your emotions to get in the way. You know the rules, you can not have a relationship with a fan-“

“But they’re not a fan-“

“You will not!” Velvet yelled. This was the first Veneer had ever seen his sister so upset. He couldn’t move, all his emotions were crashing against each other like waves of the sea. He felt himself visibly shake as he looked into his sisters eyes.

“Get. Out.” He spoke. Velvet’s eyes grew wide at his sudden comment.

“I said get out!” He yelled. Velvet swiftly turned and exited his room. Veneer walked over to his couch, breaking out into tears. Why did he care this much? It was only a person he met a couple weeks ago. They haven’t even been dating yet he was enticed. He slowly curled up into a ball and sobbed into his knees, eventually drifting off.

Veneer woke up to the sound of a hard knock from his door. He hurried to get up and brush himself off, wiping away the tears that crusted away in his sleep.

“15 minutes.” The director yelled from behind the door. Veneer panicked, there was no way he was going to be able to get ready in time for the meet and greet. He quickly through on his shoulder padded top and ran out the door to his sisters room to find crimp.

Once he made it to her room he quickly knocked, huffing a little from the slight jog. Velvet opened her door, fully ready for the event.

“And what do you think you’re doing here?” Velvet questioned, raising a brow.

“I need Crimp to help me get ready.” Veneer sighed, still trying to catch his breath.

“Oh no, no, no. You’re not going.” Velvet hissed, walking out the door and passing him. Veneer turned to her, confused.

“What do you mean I’m not going?” He hurried to catch up to her.

“I mean clearly you’re not prepared. I also don’t want you and your “lover” to see each other.” Veneer paused, Velvet continuing to walk down the hall to go greet her fans.

Veneer stood silent, then slowly started walking back to his room. He felt like such a wreck. First, his lover had to hide away. Second, his sister found out. And now third, he wasn’t going to be able to visit his fans at the meet and greet. He walked into his room, closing the door and sat right in front of it. This is what he wanted but why did he feel so empty?

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You were exploring the rest of the Rage Dome until you saw a crowd off people waiting for something. You slowly walked over to inspect the crowd and to see what was happening. Suddenly, you heard a voice from a speaker go off.

“Please welcome, Velvet and Veneer!”

You rushed to push yourself to the front of the crowd, wanting to see Veneer. You watched as Velvet came out from behind the little stage they had going on. There was a set of stairs so one by one fans could greet their favorite Popstar. You watched as she walked to the center of the stage. You noticed that Veneer was gone and started questioning what was going on. Until Velvet noticed you and made a quick realization. She slowly walked over until she was fully in front of you.

“Nice to meet you, [____].”

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Guys, I really feel bad about this one I’m sorry. I felt like I did you guys dirty. It’s not my best work but I hope you guys enjoyed, I’m probably going through a mini writers block rn. I know Veneer was technically already “ready” in the last post but he cried and passed out, I feel like you would have to fix yourself up again after that. Also, Velvet very much knows everything about you and Veneer, she has her ways~

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[amorchai]

Hi! I know you're looking for Finnick Odair ideas maybe you could do one Finnick and reader reuniting in D13? Maybe reader was taken by the Capitol or they just haven't seen eachother

𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐑𝐄𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐍 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐂𝐀𝐏𝐈𝐓𝐎𝐋 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐑𝐄𝐔𝐍𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐍𝐈𝐂���.

pairing(s): finnick odair x reader

words: 645

warnings/tags: violence mentions, katniss + peeta in a bad state, bit of angst but finnick being soft, established relationship, overall r having a hard time and finnick being the best bf ever.

it was all a blur to finnick. trying to pull you away from the tree as the lightning struck the cord-covered arrow and collapsed the dome. but it was hard to see at first, passing out on the floor before he could attempt to see if you’re okay.

next thing he knew, he woke up to find out not only peeta and johanna were taken by capitol – but you were too. it sent him into a state, begging plutarch to do something about it. to get you back.

for a long six weeks finnick and katnissed watched peeta on screen, getting progressively more worried as he grew thinner and more emotionless. and while he comforted katniss, finnick worried about the state you would be in.

when he wasn’t at meetings or aiding to katniss, he was crying in his small room in district thirteen, pleading to empty room for your safe return, and the same for his friends.

he would never sleep, unless the lack of hours caught up and he unwillingly passed out. and this time he woke to a startle, haymitch barging into his room, “they’re back, they’re all back.”

firstly, he visited katniss, haymitch letting him know of the return of a brainwashed peeta who attacked her. fear grew in the pit of his stomach as he watched, doctors surrounding her sleeping body as her neck looked badly bruised and breathing wheezy and tired.

“apparently, they only hijacked peeta. johanna and y/n have returned pretty traumatised themselves but with clearer heads.”

finnick desperately kept up with haymitch’s steps as he described the situation, “what about peeta? can i see peeta?”

with a sigh, haymitch answers, “i don’t think anyone should see the state he is in right now, maybe in a few days.” they approach a door, finnick mimicking haymitch as he comes to a halt.

“y/n might be asleep, but i believed you would still want to pay a visit,” haymitch pats his shoulder, finnick thanked him as he anxiously opened the door.

the room was dull, bright white lights making it more like an asylum and grey walls and matching floors. but his eyes immediately find you and fill with light. you weren’t asleep, you were awake.

you were sat up, the doctor just finished taking your blood pressure and had packed away while johanna slept at the other side of the room, finnick’s heart sank seeing her shaved head.

“finnick?” you say and he tries to not break down, wanting to stay strong for you. “yes, it’s me, honey.” haymitch stands by the door to allow finnick space as he approaches your bed carefully, too scared to hurt you or overwhelm you in this moment.

“i missed you so much,” you say, tears welling up and finnick finds his own vision blurring with tears as he sits in the chair beside your bed and holds your hand, “i missed you more, bug.”

you laugh softly through the sniffles, his affectionate pet name making you feel slightly more at ease while his thumb gently wipes your tears. yet he ignores the own ones falling down his face.

“are you alright? i’m so sorry i couldn’t save you,” finnick feels that he’s failed, a terrible boyfriend for passing out instead of ensuring your safety but you only shake your head. “none of this is your fault, finnick. i’m just glad we’re back.”

finnick stands up, leaning over to press a long kiss to your forehead, his hand moving to hold the back of your head carefully like your precious porcelain, his lips warm against your cool skin.

“you’re okay now, yeah? you’re not going back, not on my watch, okay?” he says in a murmur against your skin and you reach up to run your fingers across his arm gently, “i’m here now, finn.”

and god was he glad you were.

amorchai masterlist . taglist

amorchai © ─ all rights reserved. no reposting/translating/copying will be tolerated.

[zerun0]

"Where Love Flows Like Water" — Viktor x Y/N (Female)

English is not my first language. Feel free to comment on any of my mistakes and i will update the post, also I more than happy to receive suggestions, and advices on how to improve my work.

Inspired by my own personal experience. — !SFW! — Established relationship, Fluff, Flirting, Aquarium, First kiss. — Word count: — 2,5k (Full uncut version on AO3)

The streets of Piltover had a soft glow in the afternoon sun, casting warm light onto the city’s elegant architecture. The Academy loomed large behind Y/N as she descended the steps, her heart racing in her chest. She had spent the entire day thinking about this moment — her very first date with Viktor.

Viktor, the enigmatic, brilliant student, whose mind seemed to work on levels beyond most. His quiet demeanor and thoughtful nature had always intrigued her. Y/N had been unsure if he even noticed her amid his busy research and invention-filled life. But here she was, walking toward the Piltover Aquarium for an afternoon together. A gentle breeze toyed with the strands of her hair as she neared the entrance, where Viktor waited.

Dressed in his usual simple, well-worn jacket and gloves, Viktor’s warm, golden eyes lit up as he spotted her. His crutch was resting against his side, and he gave a slightly shy wave as she approached.

"Y/N," he greeted, his voice soft but tinged with nervousness. "You look... lovely today... so lovely."

A slight blush warmed her cheeks. "Thank you, Viktor. You look... thoughtful, as always."

He chuckled, his gaze lowering for a moment, the tips of his ears tinged pink. “I suppose that’s a compliment.”

Y/N giggled as entered the aquarium together, the grand, dome-shaped building humming with a gentle energy. A calm, serene atmosphere filled the space, enhanced by the soft gurgling of water and the shifting colors reflected from tanks.

— In the aquarium —

The first display they passed was a large circular tank filled with a school of shimmering, silver fish. Their scales caught the light and reflected it in an iridescent cascade, creating patterns that danced across the room’s walls.

“These are Glimmerfish,” Viktor said, his voice calm but tinged with the excitement that came when he spoke about something scientific, as he tried to start talking to Y/N to make things less awkward. “They reflect light in a way that creates optical illusions — see how the patterns change as they swim? It’s fascinating.”

Y/N leaned closer to the glass, watching the fish move in unison, creating a mesmerizing effect. “They’re beautiful,” she whispered, her breath fogging the glass slightly. “I can see why they’re called Glimmerfish.”

Viktor stepped beside her, his presence warm and comforting. There was something undeniably charming about how he talked — always quietly, as though each word mattered. He watched her out of the corner of his eye, and Y/N could feel his gaze. She smiled, turning toward him, catching him mid-look.

His eyes widened, and he quickly glanced back to the fish, fumbling for words. “Uh, yes, they… they’re quite interesting. Their patterns... ah, tend to shift based on light conditions.”

Y/N let out a small giggle, the sound soft and affectionate. “You know so much. I love how passionate you get about these things.”

Viktor cleared his throat, his cheeks flushing as he looked at her. “It’s hard not to be, when the world is so full of things to learn. But I… I’m glad you enjoy hearing about it.”

They moved on, walking side by side through the halls of the aquarium. The soft glow from the tanks cast a blue light over them, making everything feel dreamlike. As they wandered deeper into the displays, the conversation between them flowed easily, even if both of them were slightly nervous. Y/N found herself relaxing more with each passing minute, feeling more comfortable in Viktor’s presence.

As they reached the next exhibit, a wide tank filled with a variety of colorful, exotic fish, Viktor hesitated. “May I… hold your hand?” His voice was barely more than a whisper, laced with the vulnerability of someone unused to asking for such things.

Y/N’s heart skipped a beat at the unexpected question. She blinked, looking up at him, her face warming. His hand was outstretched slightly, hovering between them, as though he was unsure if he should pull it back or continue forward.

“I...I’d like that,” she said, her voice soft and sincere.

With a tentative smile, Viktor gently took her hand in his. His grip was light, delicate, as if he were afraid of hurting her, but Y/N squeezed back reassuringly. They stood together for a moment, both looking down at their intertwined fingers, the silence around them broken only by the soft splashing of water and the distant hum of life inside the tanks.

The tank before them was teeming with vibrantly colored creatures. Fish of every shape and size darted through the water, weaving between the coral structures that had been painstakingly recreated to mimic an ocean reef. There was something playful and innocent about the way the fish moved, as if they were dancing just for the two of them.

One particularly striking fish caught Y/N’s attention. It was small and round, with long, delicate fins that billowed like silk in the water. Its body was a soft pastel pink, and it had a curious expression on its face, like it was examining them as much as they were examining it.

“That one looks like it’s judging us!” Y/N said, pointing at the fish, a light laugh escaping her.

Viktor chuckled beside her, his thumb gently brushing over the back of her hand. “I wouldn’t be surprised. Some of these species are known...well... for their intelligence.”

The fish hovered near the glass for a few moments, its wide, unblinking eyes following their every move before it darted away, disappearing into the coral. Y/N sighed contentedly, leaning slightly into Viktor’s side as they watched the rest of the tank’s inhabitants swim lazily by.

“It’s nice,” Y/N said softly after a while, her gaze still on the fish but her thoughts clearly on something else. “...Being here... with you.”

Viktor’s grip on her hand tightened just slightly, a silent acknowledgment of her words. “I feel the same,” he admitted quietly. “I… wasn’t sure if this would be something you’d enjoy. I know I’m not exactly the most… exciting person.”

Y/N turned to look at him, her expression soft and earnest. “Viktor, I like you for who you are. You don’t have to be exciting or different. I like your quietness, your thoughtfulness. This—” she gestured to the aquarium around them, “—this is perfect. Being with you is perfect.”

Viktor’s eyes met hers, and for a moment, the world seemed to shrink around them. The soft glow of the tanks, the gentle hum of water, everything faded into the background. It was just them, standing close, hands entwined, hearts beating in sync. Viktor’s face softened, a rare smile gracing his lips — one that was just for her.

Y/N felt her heart skip a beat, the warmth in his eyes filling her with a sense of closeness she had never experienced before. She could feel the faint tremor in Viktor's hand, the same nervousness that fluttered in her own chest, but there was something else, something tender and unspoken in the way he looked at her.

"Viktor..." she whispered, barely able to form the words as her throat tightened with a surge of emotions she couldn't quite name.

His name, on her lips, seemed to anchor him. He took a breath, slow and measured, as if the weight of the moment had finally settled around them. Viktor's fingers tightened slightly around hers, as though gathering the courage to act on the emotions swirling between them.

The area was empty, dark, lighten up only by the artificial lights from the tanks... it felt like the perfect moment.

He trailed off, his eyes dropping to her lips for the briefest of moments, then returning to her eyes, asking a silent question. The air between them crackled with tension, but not the kind that pushed them apart. It was the kind that pulled them closer, like a magnetic force drawing them together in ways neither of them had fully anticipated.

Viktor’s eyes met hers, and for a moment, the world seemed to shrink around them. The soft glow of the tanks, the gentle hum of water, everything faded into the background. It was just them, standing close, hands entwined, hearts beating in sync. Viktor’s face softened, a rare smile gracing his lips — one that was just for her.

Y/N felt her heart skip a beat, the warmth in his eyes filling her with a sense of closeness she had never experienced before. She could feel the faint tremor in Viktor's hand, the same nervousness that fluttered in her own chest, but there was something else, something tender and unspoken in the way he looked at her.

"Viktor..." she whispered, barely able to form the words as her throat tightened with a surge of emotions she couldn't quite name.

His name, on her lips, seemed to anchor him. He took a breath, slow and measured, as if the weight of the moment had finally settled around them. Viktor's fingers tightened slightly around hers, as though gathering the courage to act on the emotions swirling between them.

“I…” Viktor began, his voice barely above a whisper, his gaze locked with hers. “I don’t always know how to express what I feel, but right now…”

He trailed off, his eyes dropping to her lips for the briefest of moments, then returning to her eyes, asking a silent question. The air between them crackled with tension, but not the kind that pushed them apart. It was the kind that pulled them closer, like a magnetic force drawing them together in ways neither of them had fully anticipated.

Y/N’s breath caught in her throat as she felt Viktor lean in, the space between them growing smaller, the warmth of his presence enveloping her. Her heart pounded against her ribs, a rush of excitement and nervousness overwhelming her senses. She wasn’t sure who moved first, but suddenly, they were closer than ever, his forehead resting lightly against hers. The soft scent of him, the subtle smell of his cologne, woody and floral, surrounded her.

“Is this… okay?” Viktor asked softly, his voice barely audible, his breath warm against her lips.

Y/N’s heart swelled at the care in his words, the quiet hesitation that made him so uniquely Viktor. She nodded, her lips parting slightly as she whispered, “Yes.”

That one word was all it took. Viktor closed the remaining distance between them, his lips brushing against hers in the softest, most tentative kiss. It was a gentle, fragile thing — as though he were afraid she might pull away, afraid to break the spell that had woven itself between them. But Y/N didn’t pull away. Instead, she leaned into him, her free hand finding its way to his chest, feeling the rapid beat of his heart beneath her fingertips.

The kiss was sweet, unhurried, and filled with all the emotions they had both kept locked away for so long. Viktor’s lips were warm, slightly chapped from the long hours he spent working in his lab, but they moved with a tenderness that made Y/N’s heart flutter. There was something so intimate in the way he kissed her, as though he were discovering a part of himself he had never known existed until this moment.

Slowly, hesitantly, Viktor pulled back, his lips hovering just inches from hers. His breath was shallow, his chest rising and falling with the weight of what had just happened. His hand was still in hers, fingers gently intertwined, as if he were afraid to let go.

They stood there for what felt like forever, wrapped in the quiet intimacy of the moment, the soft hum of the aquarium filling the space around them. It was as if the world had shifted on its axis, and all that mattered now was the connection between them, the unspoken promise that whatever had just bloomed between them was something worth nurturing.

“Thank you,” he whispered. “I don’t… I don’t always know how to express these things. But I’m… happy. Happier than I’ve been in a long time.”

Y/N smiled back at him, her heart swelling with affection. “I’m happy too, Viktor.”

"Shall we continue.. our little date?" - Y/N said happily, holding his hands tightly

"YES ! " - Viktor spoke, his voice louder than he intended - "I am sorry, we should...continue" - He said nervously, his cheeks red with embarrassment.

They continued their walk through the aquarium, hand in hand, the soft light reflecting off the tanks painting their skin in hues of blue and green. Viktor pointed out more fish to her as they passed by — some tiny and darting quickly through the water, others large and slow-moving, their scales shimmering under the dim lights.

At one point, they reached a tank filled with jellyfish, their translucent bodies glowing softly in the darkened room. The jellyfish floated gracefully, their long, tendril-like appendages trailing behind them like ribbons in the water. Y/N and Viktor stood in awe, watching the way the creatures moved with such effortless grace.

“They’re so delicate,” — Y/N whispered, her eyes wide as she took in the sight.

Viktor nodded, his gaze fixed on the jellyfish. “Yes. But they’re also resilient. Some species of jellyfish can live for hundreds of years, regenerating themselves over time. They’re a fascinating example of nature’s ingenuity.”

Y/N smiled, marveling at how Viktor could see the beauty in even the smallest things. His mind worked in ways she could barely comprehend, always seeking to understand, to learn. It was one of the things she admired most about him.

They stayed there for a long while, watching the jellyfish drift lazily through the water, neither of them feeling the need to speak. The silence between them was comfortable, filled with the unspoken understanding that they didn’t need to fill the air with words to enjoy each other’s company.

“I don’t know what the future holds,” Viktor said softly, his voice tinged with the uncertainty that always seemed to accompany his thoughts. “But I know that… I want you to be part of it.”

Y/N’s heart swelled at his words, a wave of warmth and affection flooding through her. She opened her eyes, meeting his gaze with the same sincerity that had always drawn her to him. “I want that too, Viktor.”

— Outside —

As they left the aquarium, the evening sky above Piltover had turned shades of pink and orange, the sun setting over the horizon. They walked side by side, still holding hands, their steps slow and unhurried. The cool evening air was refreshing, a pleasant contrast to the warm glow that still lingered in Y/N’s chest.

“Thank you for today,” Y/N said softly as they reached the steps of the Academy.

Viktor smiled at her, his eyes warm and filled with a rare sense of peace. “No. Thank you, Y/N. For making it… special.”

They stood there for a moment, neither wanting to break the quiet, lingering closeness between them. Finally, Viktor lifted her hand to his lips, brushing a soft, shy kiss across her knuckles.

Y/N pulled him by the tie, and closed a passionate kiss on his soft lips. His eyes were wide as he stared surprised at what just happened, but only took him seconds to relax and reciprocate the kiss.

[theother456-stories]

The drive to Carter’s house had been eerily quiet. You and Daniel, your partner of four years, exchanged only occasional glances, the air in the car thick with anticipation. Months of searching, hours of late-night discussions, and countless online conversations had brought you here, to a quiet suburban street, to meet the man who could fulfill your shared dream.

Carter greeted you at the door with a wide grin, his presence immediately commanding. He was taller and larger than you had expected, his frame broad and powerful. His warm demeanor, however, put you at ease. “Welcome! I’m so glad you two made it. You must be exhausted from the trip,” he said, ushering you inside his home.

The house was cozy, with soft lighting and a faint smell of spices lingering in the air. Carter led you to the living room, where you all sat down to chat. His deep voice carried easily over the hum of conversation as the three of you shared stories, laughter, and the nervous energy of what was come

Carter smiled, his expression warm and reassuring. “Let’s head upstairs, then.” He gestured for Daniel And you to follow him, you lingered behind for a moment to collect your thoughts.

When you finally worked up the courage to join them in the bedroom, the sight that greeted you made you stop in your tracks. Carter was sprawled across the bed, his stomach swollen to an almost unbelievable size. The massive dome stretched his skin taut, pale and smooth, with faint red lines marking where it had expanded. It rose and fell slightly with his breath, wobbling with every small movement he made.

“Hey,” Carter greeted you casually, resting a hand on his enormous belly. “Sorry about this—Daniel couldn’t wait to get inside.” He chuckled, giving the massive gut a light pat. The motion sent ripples across its surface, and you swore you could hear muffled sounds coming from within.

You couldn’t tear your eyes away. His stomach was immense, almost cartoonishly round, pushing his shirt up to his chest. The waistband of his pants was undone, unable to contain the sheer size of him. It dominated the room, filling your vision and leaving you in awe.

“He’s doing great,” Carter said, as if reading your mind. His voice was calm, almost soothing. “He’s comfortable, and he’s already settled in. You can feel him if you want.”

You took a hesitant step forward, your hand trembling as you reached out to touch the massive sphere. The skin was warm and firm, with just enough give to feel Daniel’s presence beneath. Carter shifted slightly, the movement causing his belly to wobble again, and you felt a faint vibration under your palm as Daniel made a muffled sound from inside.

Carter grinned, leaning back against the pillows with an almost smug satisfaction. “It’s something, isn’t it?” he said, rubbing slow circles over his gut. “I wasn’t sure I’d fit him all in, but he just slid right down. I think he’s even enjoying himself in there.”

You couldn’t help but stare, marveling at the sheer size of him. His belly was enormous, towering over the rest of his body like a giant, living monument. The weight of it pressed into the mattress, and you could see the faintest hint of motion beneath the surface as Daniel shifted slightly inside.

Carter’s eyes met yours, his expression warm and inviting. “Whenever you’re ready,” he said softly, patting his belly again. “There’s plenty of room for you too.”

Your heart raced as you processed the moment. This was what you and Daniel had dreamed of, what you’d planned for months. The sheer absurdity of the situation couldn’t dampen the strange, surreal excitement that coursed through you.

Taking a deep breath, you stepped closer, your hand still resting on the immense, wobbling dome of Carter’s gut. You felt a wave of calm wash over you as you nodded. “I’m ready.”

Carter smiled, his grin widening as he adjusted himself, preparing to welcome you as well. The journey had been long, but you knew, without a doubt, that you were exactly where you were meant to be.

[formerlycookierunauprompts]

Requested by @deirdredeity (I accidentally deleted the og ask because tumblr was being fussy) :

OMG?? 🤯🤯 whattttt omgggg fuck being an anon I’m the one who requested the flustered reader shi (mmm was an anon bcz I didn’t wanna embarrass myself but whatever) omg dayumm you went crazy with it and I’m more than satisfied 😍 you always EAT (get it? haha.. eat.. and shadow milk.. haha) I love it tysm ❤️❤️ glad that I didn’t accidentally break a rule hehe.. we love girlboss girlfailures in here 😘 didn’t expect it to be that spicy but nevertheless I am GLAD ty for this juicy piece also you said currently he’s sealed so continuation where bro is UNsealed? 🤯🫣 (jk don’t take me too seriously I have a mental age of 5 jokes aside thank you i really appreciate it, it turned out super well way beyond expectations I was expecting like a few pickup lines or smooches but definitely not this it blew me out of the water hard tytytyty ily❤️)

Alright bet I get to go crazy again

Requested Prompts #43 - 💓

There's a ringing in your ears, what the hell happened? You just wanted to take a nap... yet it feels like you were in a dome of glass that just shattered. You can feel a poking against your cheek, it's something large, metalic and- wait. You crack open your eyes, just enough to see the intimidating form of Silent Salt staring you down. You're lucky that the beasts consider you... actually, you don't know what they really think of you. Do they think you're their pet? Their friend? a Frenemy? Well, either way you were their warden. " Silent Salt...?" You groan, pushing yourself up from the ground. Silent Salt says nothing, merely just pointing a ways in front of you to- ... hold on, WHAT THE FUCK??? " THE SEAL???" You exclaim, looking at the humongous crack in the realm of the seal. It pulsed with a blue, shadowy energy, which could only mean that Shadow Milk had escaped. And that was bad, very bad, because it meant that you were failing at your job. And... with how big that crack was you doubted that Elder Faerie was on the outside trying to wrangle Shadow Milk back into the seal... Meaning that you had to go outside to get him back in, but doing so would leave the other beasts unattended. Either way, you're failing at your job. So what choice do you really have? You look back at Silent Salt. " Uh... thanks for letting me know?" You said to him, to which earned you a thumbs up in response. You quickly pondered on your choice before looking back to Silent Salt. " Try not to escape while I'm gone, I don't want to double fail at my job." You tell him before running off towards the crack in the seal.

----

As you expected, everything was chaos. Possessed faerie cookies lingered, danced, and fooled around all around you. There were quite a few things that were on fire and the echoes of twisted laughter almost mocked you as you steeled yourself. None of them were who you were looking for despite the resemblance he'd dressed them up in. " Dammit... where would he go if he got out on his own?" You muttered to yourself as you looked around. Fortunately, you could narrow it down to a few places, unfortunately you realized that you are but one cookie. You cannot traverse the entirety of Beast Yeast in just a few minutes or so, it'd take you a few days realistically and by then all the other beasts would have likely gotten out! Were you really fucked no matter what? Probably. You took a deep breath, if anything he'd probably be in some kind of gigantic theater- Well wouldn't you know, there's a gigantic theater right over there that's just oozing with Shadow Milk's aura. There was no way he wouldn't be there, and so that's where you'd go. Hopefully you'd be able to drag him back to the seal.

----

Shadow Milk watched as those pesky little heroes ran about, celebrating as if they'd truly won. Those poor, ignorant fools! They really thought that they'd actually sealed him away in the tree again? They'd been running around in his silly little maze ever since he'd taken hold of the new half-a-cookie guardian's little friends! It was honestly quite pathetic how they hadn't realized they'd been tricked into a false sense of security, he was literally the beast of deceit! Everyone's most beloved Trickster! Tricking them into this just felt too... easy, too boring. He could try his hand at getting Silly-Vanilly to chop down the tree, all he has to do is show him the truth! And why wouldn't he want to know the truth if he embodied it? Unless he was willing to live in a lie... then he was much farther from the Truth than Shadow Milk thought- His train of thought was interrupted when the doors of his theater of lies swung open. " Hm?" That was... odd. Elder Faerie certainly shouldn't be alive, White Lily and co are stuck in his maze of deceit, so then who...? There you stood, looking quite peeved off if he had to say so himself. " Oh! Little Warden, how thrilling that you've come to make an appearance!" He chirped, casting his view of the maze to the side. The maze could wait, his little warden was here! " Shadow Milk Cookie!" You called out, pointing at him accusingly. " You will return to the great seal immediately! And that is an order from the Warden of the Seal!" You commanded him, don't mind the quick pov switch but it was frustrating enough that Shadow Milk escaped in the first place, and now he had the audacity to give you such a smug grin in reply? " Oh Little Warden..." Shadow Milk began, laying on his stomach as he rested his chin on the back of his hand. " It's so so so cute that you think that you can order me around like that~! I'm a free cookie now, and that means that I can do whatever I want again~!" He chirped with a flourish of his free hand, you could see the excited mania dancing in his eyes, you couldn't allow this to stand. " Okay, but you haven't actually earned your freedom at all. You just waited until the seal was weak enough so you could break out!" You retorted, which may have been the wrong thing to say judging by the way his grin dropped for a moment. He soon broke out into a maniacal cackle, seeming to have found your words hilarious. " Ehe he he ha ha hah! Sure, I may have done that, but does it really matter?" He teased, reaching out a clawed hand and picking you up by the edge of your cloak. You shrieked as you were hoisted into the air, you didn't have the protection of the seal that kept you from crumbling while in the real world, so your life was in a lot more danger here. " Ack- Put me down! Or at the very least hold me properly!" You protest as you squirm in place, you feel a shudder run through your dough as the beast before you lets out a low, rumbling chuckle.

" And why should I? You adorable little morsel~" He purrs, flipping you around in his hand so that you were laying on your back on his palm instead of dangling in the air. God fucking dammit, he was doing this again. He knows every, single, god damn weak spot of yours and by god does he abuse them frequently, mainly because they mostly relate to him. " You-!!" You protest, quickly shutting up when you feel his breath wash over you like a wave of hot air. And the way he's looking at you is already making you weak- No, you have to stay strong. " You know..." You hear him begin and fuck when did he get so close? There's a certain glint in his eyes, one that both intrigues you and makes you fear for your life. " I never really got a taste of you like I wanted to... Care to let me just have one little bite? Or maybe just a taste... either would be fine~" He teased with the low, stupidly sexy voice of his. You could already feel his lips at the tips of your little cookie feet, ready to open and swallow them whole if you let him. You could already feel your face turning cherry red, and you knew that he could see it judging by the slight excitement that made itself known in his eyes. You felt tempted to indulge him, but you also didn't want to lose your feet... But maybe he'd go back to the seal? No, he wouldn't... Would he? Or maybe he won't just go for your feet, he's teased you multiple times about gobbling you up in one bite. So if you give him this will he just... eat you? Apparently, you took too long to decide. You felt something moist and blue against your arm, a semi-satisfied hum creeping out of the beast holding you captive. " Mmn... I was right, you really are a sweet little treat. One that I can have all to myself~" Shadow Milk purred, his face looming over you as he left you to process what he'd done. You were in for a long ride, weren't you?

----

AUGHIJBSGHGKSHG I CAN'T, I CAN'T WRITE ANYMORE/lh Shadow milk... you bastard why must you make me FEEL THINGS????

but, uh, i hope you enjoyed and if anyone wants to continue this then PLEASE.

[trashmouth-richie]

𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐰

its absolutely miserable here rn but i enjoy writing these little winter stories so have another,

“why? why do we live here?”eddie grumbles, rubbing his red chapped hands together and blowing on them. 

the indiana wind blew hard against the windows, rattling the screen door and creating a draft that seemed to keep the trailer at a crisp 65°.

wool socks and long johns weren’t enough to keep him warm, the thick flannel he’d had since forever was threaded to the very top, his throat tight against the suffocating button. 

“ ‘t’s where the horses died, i guess.” wayne chuckled, cricketing his feet together as he lounged back in his squeaky worn recliner. 

the small space heater glowed angry red, drawing more electricity from the trailer. 

“get that van started up?” wayne asks around the mouth of a pabst. 

eddie flicks his lighter open and shut in a habitual manner, “didn’t want to, but finally gave in,” plopping down next to the heater to warm the apples of his cheeks, he lets out a small sigh of relief from his chattering teeth. 

wayne grunts in approval and they sit in comfortable silence. the howling wind keeping melody with the lonesome whistling of the ceiling vents, the garfield wall clock adding a chimed staccato. 

every business in town was closed. the gas stations, the diner— the weather man called for people to stay home: no travel advised. but healthcare didn’t operate around the weather.

his watch beeped at 9:45PM and he figured the van would be good and warm by now. 

“alright, i’m headin’ out,” he called to wayne as he shoved his arms through the cool leather and begrudgingly shoved a stocking cap on his head. 

wayne gave him a solemn look, “you be damn careful.”

eddie grinned his cheshire pearls, “always.” 

-

the steel door by the back entrance had a small window facing the parking lot. your co workers all had gone once the other shift had shown up to start their nightly duties of rounding on patients and stocking supplies. 

trisha asked if you needed a ride but you waved her off, “he’ll be comin’” 

you worried the snow might have been too deep for his van to handle, maybe it didn’t start at all? maybe the electricity went out in the trailer park?

 the nails on your hand suffered between your teeth as your brain concocted more and more things to worry about. things that could go wrong. 

but not long after a single headlight broke through the tree line and there he was, lining up with the sidewalk as close as he could without actually driving onto it. 

with one deep and ragged warm breath, you braved the weather. the snow scraping against your face in icy claws of unforgiving cold. wind whipping the starchy fabric of your nursing assistant scrubs this way and that. 

the dome light brightens as he climbs out from the van opening your door before you could reach for it yourself. a winced smile on his lips when he sees your chilled face. 

“get in baby,” 

he shuts your door and your fingers begin to thaw against the vents in eddie’s van, the warm comforting smell of rich tobacco and hints of weed engulf your senses. the smell of him singing a song to your soul. 

his door opens and shuts tight and he’s chattering his teeth loudly before grabbing your hands and kissing heat into them. 

“missed you,” he murmurs, “how was work?” 

“long…busy,” a barking cough creeps from your lungs and tightens your chest, “glad it’s over,” you say weakly, reaching for his hand and threading it between yours, “i switched shifts with diane so i have to be back at six.”

eddie’s eyebrows furrow into worry but he hides his concern. that place worked you like a mule, they didn’t care how bad the weather was or if you were sick… and he hated them for it. you looked exhausted, the normal glow to your skin was dusted over with whatever virus you were currently fighting.. but eddie knew there was no use trying to tell you to take it easy for once. 

“alright sweetheart, i can take you, wanna stay at mine tonight or go back to your place?” 

the small home you rented with your childhood best friend jonathan and his girlfriend, leah was on the outskirts of hawkins. and since your landlord was jonathan’s mom the rent was dirt ass cheap. the hopper’s residing in a desolate cabin owned by the chief. 

winter was rough this year and between eddie’s long hours at the factory that  didn’t seem to slow down, and your irregular shifts at the nursing home, you didn’t get to see much of your boyfriend, “stay with me?” 

-

the tv was blue when your key finally busted through the locks and you wedged your way inside. leah and jonathan both asleep, curled into one another on the oversized couch. 

tracking snow in, you and eddie toe off your shoes gingerly trying to avoid the unwelcome surprise of wet snow on your socks.

“i fucking hate snow,” eddie mutters hanging up both of your coats. 

“oh cmon, mr grinch, “ you tease with a small smile after hacking up another cough, “you don’t like how pretty it makes everything look?” 

“hard to look cool in this damn thing,” he says tossing the black stocking cap onto your counter, his hair a mess of kinky curls, frizzing into oblivion. 

“well,” you say, running your hands up his chest and around his neck, “i think you look cute.” 

eddie rolls his eyes and you scoff before he dives into your lips and kisses you loud and obnoxious. erupting giggles from you as his icy hands work themselves beneath the hem of your shirt. 

the laughing as your cough acting up again and eddie places a palm to your forehead worry etched into his eyes, you look back at him, “would the heat miser like a hot toddy?” 

eddie rubs his thumb into a circle pattern on your back. fuck he adores you.

“i’ll make ‘em, you go take a hot shower, alright? you feel sick.” 

you roll your eyes, “i’m not sick,” you garble through a coughing fit, “’m just sleepy.” 

“sure, sure, whatever you think.” 

—

when you’re dressed into pajamas and a long robe, eddie is stripped down to his long johns and the band shirt you liked to hold hostage at your house. your room is set up like a picnic, pb&’s and a twinkie to wash down the hot liquor. 

“pretty much a gourmet chef,” eddie says, licking peanut butter from his thumb, “i even ate your crusts for you.”

“my knight in shining armor,” you muse and eddie takes an exaggerated bow.

he sits crossed legged on your bed, “let’s eat i know your hungry,” 

eddie’s idea of a hot toddy is warm tea with double the amount of whiskey. yours he made sweet with some honey but his is kept straight and burning with whiskey. 

a light buzz clouds your head by the time you finish your drink and the exhaustion settles into your bones, the cough loosened a bit with your hot shower but now your sinuses were filled and you were only breathing from your mouth. 

“lay down baby, i’ll be right back.” 

eddie flicks off the light and sets the plate into the sink, jonathan is standing in the kitchen warming a a pot of milk on the stove. 

“that you coughing munson or her?” 

eddie finds the crinkly pack of cigarettes in the pocket of his jacket and pulls one out for himself and jonathan. 

“me? nah, she’s sicker than a dog.” 

jonathan stirs the milk and takes the cigarette from eddie’s offering hand, “leah and i had something like that last week, probably just something going around” 

the two smoke openly in the kitchen, both deciding it’s too cold to go outside. jonathan stirs the hot milk into the waiting mugs with chocolate powder, cigarette and spoon swirling in a dance of smoke and clanking ceramic. 

“there’s some vicks in the bathroom if you need it,” jonathan says, stubbing out his cigarette into the nearest ashtray, balancing the mugs in each fist, “ tell her to take a day off for christ sakes.” 

“yeah that’ll go over well.” 

they both chuckle knowing just how stubborn you are and jonathan disappears into his bedroom. flicking out the lights, eddie follows the hall to your room and sneaks inside, laying down next to your burning up body and sweat slicked forehead. 

he pulls you into him and you groan with the uncomfortable delirium from your fever. 

“eddie?” you whisper into his chest, fisting his shirt into your palms, “it doesn’t snow in arizona.” 

“you’re right princess,” eddie says pressing his lips to your fevered head, “it doesn’t.” 

you snuggle deeper into him, and speak a barely audible “let’s move there.” before you fall into a deep sleep. 

when morning comes and the wind hasn’t died down, you sigh a little relief when his van doesn’t start, and don’t object when eddie hands you the phone so you can call your job and tell them you won’t be making it. 

here is the actual temp from my weather app— 🥲 also tagging @eiightysixbaby bc jonathan’s girlfriend is her, duh.

[natalievoncatte]

“Your son just kicked me, Miss Luthor-Danvers.”

Kara looked over to the couch, where Lena bad stopped reading her book, which now lay propped on the dome of her stomach. She looked absolutely exhausted, with dark circles beneath her eyes, marring paler than usual skin.

The pregnancy was taking its toll on Lena, but just as difficult for Lena was the order to remain on pelvic rest, as were the Herculean caloric requirements of gestating a Kryptonian child on Earth. Lena Luthor was the type of woman who grew more fatigued from orders to lay up in bed, and Kara had to practically bat her phone out of her hand to stop her from answering emails at all hours of the night.

Kara swung out from behind the kitchen island, carrying another smoothie with a carefully selected mix of fruits, vegetables, and protein powder.

“Blegh,” Lena said, as she choked down a gulp of the stuff. Does it have to be so sweet?”

Kara didn’t answer. Lena looked haggard by her own usual standards, but to Kara, she was the most gorgeous thing she’d ever seen. Yes, she was pale, but there as a rosy glow in her cheeks and though she sighed and complained and groused, rarely had there been such joy in her eyes. One of Kara’s new favorite things was catching Lena unawares, finding her smiling at nothing and cradling protective arms around the new life coming to being within her.

After she gulped down the last of the thick, gloppy shake -which Lena had given the appetizing name of ‘nutrient slurry mark one’, she turned halfway on the couch.

“There he goes again,” said Lena, sighing.

Kara reached out with a trembling hand, resting it gently on the warm curve of Lena’s skin. She went quiet for a moment, forcing back the tears. Thinking about this overwhelmed her. She’d never dreamed she’d really have this, much less with the most beautiful and kind woman she’d ever known. A soft twitch against her palm made her grin from ear to ear.

“I’m glad you’re enjoying this. I’d like to get some sleep.”

Kara chewed at her lip for a moment.

“What if I try singing to him?”

Lena raised a sharp eyebrow.

“Alex gave me an article that says that babies can hear us while they’re in the womb.”

Lena’s head fell back against the cushions.

“Do you know any lullabies?”

Kara swallowed, hard.

“Yes.”

There was a pause, as Kara worked herself up, pulling the words from the lost days of her youth, across an ocean of stars beneath a far distant sun.

She more spoke than sang at first, until her voice grew into something soft and light, like a rare flower opening its petals to greet the sun. By the time she really began to sing, Lena was smiling, listening intently.

Kara dug deep in her memory for the words to the traditional Kryptonian lullaby, a promise from a young mother to her child lost in the wilderness, an invocation to come home safe to loving arms before the reunited in the final verses.

When Kara finished she looked up and saw that Lena was fast asleep, her hand now resting atop Kara’s as it rested on Lena’s belly. Tenderly, Kara drew her hand back and, with practiced ease, raised Lena in her arms and carried her back to the bedroom, another Kryptonian verse flowing softly from old memories, and the eventually they slept, until sunrise.

[tagsecretsanta]

From @gumnut-logic

From @gumnut-logic to all of Thunderfam.

Author's note: I didn't know if I could write this year, so I didn't enter any prompts to avoid disappointing anyone. However, I did manage to write nearly 4000 words of something with a prompt from my Hubby. So please, everyone enjoy this for what it is, and I hope you have/had a wonderful festive time.

-o-o-o-

Scott was used to working in loud environments but this was ridiculous.

There were people yelling orders and running back and forth, hammering, power tools screeching, and worst of all, singing.

So much singing. He was glad Virgil wasn’t down here. The cacophony hurt.

“I’m sorry, sir, what did you say?”

“Commander Tracy, from one secret organisation to another, we need help.”

Scott blinked.

The old man frowned. “I said we need help!”

“I know that. That’s why we’re here.” He drew in a breath. “Is there anywhere quieter we can talk?”

Watery blue eyes stared at him a moment before turning and waving for Scott and Gordon to follow.

It had been an interesting half an hour since John reported this situation. They had received a call from Molloy Deep, basically a deep hole in the Arctic Ocean. This would have been a Tuesday call out as there were deep sea habitats all over Earth’s oceans (and unfortunately of varying funding and consequently quality - a bug bear of Gordon’s and the source of many a post-rescue rant on the part of the aquanaut).

However, there were no recorded deep sea habitats in or near Molloy Deep, mainly because it was so deep and because, well, Arctic Ocean, anyone?

But John was able to locate…something…at the requested geographical spot and as they were a rescue organisation, the rest was worked out en route.

Thunderbirds One, Two and Four sped across the planet until they reached the spot between Greenland and Iceland.

As per John’s report, there was something down there.

Scott had elected to go down with Gordon, something about this had him on edge and he couldn’t define why.

And it had absolutely nothing to do with all the times Gordon had gone down this deep and not come back in one piece.

No, not at all.

He earned himself a frown from both Virgil and Gordon, and Alan had to transfer over to One, but he went anyway, Commander’s prerogative.

And there definitely did turn out to be something in Molloy Deep.

The usual midnight zone darkness was gradually broken by spots of light on the cliff they were following down. Closer inspection revealed creatures hovering in the water column like Christmas ornaments.

Gordon was going nuts about new species discovery and the percentage of life that was unknown in the deep, etcetera, etcetera, but they had a mission. He could come back next time he had leave.

In any case, they quickly became less individually important as they navigated deeper, a golden glow emanated from below them, the glowing ornaments increasing in number until the midnight landscape was lit…well…like a Christmas tree.

The glow became a huge dome glittering in the water, surrounded by unique sealife that now had Gordon throwing a full-on fit.

But ultimately, they located an airlock and backed Four into a secure connection, and the pair of them embarked into a very strange world.

A world where it was gently snowing.

It was obvious that the area they entered was some kind of docking space. Several factory-like buildings were crowded about and it wasn’t long before they were grabbed by a young worker and hurried in the direction of a portly old man sporting a white beard and moustache.

He would have been totally cliche and straight out of a children’s story if it wasn’t for the Motörhead T-Shirt, jeans and sneakers.

But considering they were several miles underwater in a giant snowglobe, the list of unbelievables was already maxed out.

The old man led them out of the factory building and into the snow.

“I’m sorry about the cold. The environmentals aren’t happy at the moment.”

The man sighed, turned and stalked through the snow to a house…which might as well been made of gingerbread. Hell, Scott walked past a red and white striped candy cane a foot thick and, taller than him, sticking out of the snow beside the path.

“Scott-“

“Gordon.”

“Do you think-?”

“Focus on the mission.”

“But-“

They reached the house and were ushered into a warm living room complete with an open fire and…yes, a Christmas tree… in July.

“Have a seat, gentlemen.”

Scott hesitated. “We were called in for an emergency.”

The stocky man turned to frown at him, his bushy white eyebrows colliding with his nose - not unlike what Virgil’s did on a fairly regular basis.

“Yes, this is an emergency, but we have time. Just enough.” And as if to prove the point, he walked across the room to the mantlepiece, opened the face of the ornate clock sitting up there and pushed its long hand back by a good fifteen minutes. He closed it and turned back to Scott. “See? We have time.”

It was Scott’s turn to frown. Gordon nudged him and pointed to his diving watch on his wrist.

It matched the time on the mantlepiece.

What the-?

The old man gestured them both to the sofa. “C’mon, you have questions, I have answers, sit down so we can get to the meat of the problem.”

Of course Gordon moved first, practically bouncing across the room to take a seat. Scott moved a touch slower, eyeing everything, assessing and questioning.

“Sit down, Commander. I don’t bite.”

Scott had no choice but to obey.

The fire crackled and bounced as the old man sat in a large sofa chair opposite them He scratched his beard a moment as if pondering where to start.

“As the Commander of International Rescue, you are aware of the need for secrecy when working for the good of all?”

Those blue eyes held his own. “Yes, sir.”

“We both need that secrecy, Commander Tracy. So I am hoping we have the confidence of you and your organisation.”

“Of course.”

He paused a moment. “I have no doubt that you have your suspicions as to mine and my organisation’s identity.” Beside Scott, Gordon was fit to burst. “But I will ask for no extraneous questions.”

Gordon froze. “But-?”

Those cool eyes turned to pin the aquanaut. “Do you like coal, Mr Gordon?”

His fish brother gulped. “No, sir.”

“Neither do I. It is one of the reasons why I need your help.” His attention turned back to Scott. “The ice is disappearing and with it, its protection. We have to move, to find a new base of operations. I have a place in mind, but I need to get there.”

“How many are needing rescue?”

“Four million, five thousand and three.” A soft blink. “And myself and my wife.”

Scott’s jaw dropped.

“It’s a lot, I know, but from what I’ve seen of Thunderbird Two, it should be able to do the job.”

“Four million…sir…that would take years!”

“We will make time.”

“Sir!”

“We have less than six months.”

“Not possible.”

Those watery blue eyes stared into his soul. “Do you have dreams, Commander?”

Scott’s lips hardened. “I thought we weren’t asking extraneous questions.”

“Hmm, I guess it could be seen that way from your point of view, however, dreams do lead to possibilities, do they not? And I need to move our base of operations as soon as possible to these coordinates.” He reached down to a table beside his chair and handed a piece of neatly folded paper to Scott.

Opening it, he found a set of coordinates written in perfect copperplate cursive.

Cursive or not, the location was clear.

“You want International Rescue to help you move to Antarctica?”

The old man shrugged. “It’s land, it’s a geographical pole, and it’s basically empty. Though note it is East Antarctica - I fear West Antarctica will befall the same fate as the Arctic.” He looked up at the ceiling and glanced around the room. “I will miss this place.”

“Sir…” Scott sighed. “I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name?”

“Nikolas.”

Beside him, Gordon twitched.

“Nikolas, I want to help you, but moving four million people is just not possible, much less in six months.”

“Five months and fourteen days.”

Scott sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “The logistics - Thunderbird Four can only carry a maximum of ten people at a time, maybe fifteen at a stretch. You are over five kilometres below the surface. Thunderbird Two can carry many more, yes, but getting them up there…four million…”

“Commander, the four million are the easy part. If I were you, I would be more concerned about the reindeer.” With that he pushed himself to his feet. “Come along, time is a-wasting.” He turned his back and walked out the door.

-o-o-o-

More to come @gumnut-logic in the next few days :D

[ruiniel]

Hey ho! Love you blog and writing so much!!! I wish I could write as well as you. They way you write Alucard is just magic ✨

I saw that you had asks open for Alucard and if it’s not too late I had a suggestion, maybe there’s one you might like?

Lisa never dies AU Alucard x Fem Human who’s come to study under Lisa. She’s already betrothed and there’s a lot of moral conflict on Adrian’s side as to whether he should confess to her. Reader is clueless but suffering as she feels her love for Alucard is unrequited. Could be smutty if you feel like it?

You're kind, we all have our interpretations, glad you enjoy mine enough to send an ask! Tried to incorporate most of what you wrote. Will be a longer one, here's what I have for Part I. Next part will have an Alucard POV.

Hidden

Fandom: Castlevania series (2017-2021)

Pairing: Alucard x fem!reader

Rating: T

Count: 2k

Tags & Warnings: Mutual pining, Romantic angst, Unresolved emotional tension, Second Person POV, Two people running from their feelings like their lives depend on it, for Reasons

I. Status quo

“Not yet. Wait five minutes longer.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” you stammer, placing the beaker back in its place. The laboratory is silent today, with only you and Lisa and the clink of glass and hiss of flame. You’re working together, aiding the head physician of Belmont in an experiment she sustains will bring forth a new type of medicine that might revolutionize the treatment of infection. 

Lisa smiles, always patient, and you feel all the more clumsy, and in all honesty rather useless.

Your mind’s just not in it today, and the reasons? Well.

There is no reason, there shouldn’t be. You’re content. You have someone by your side, to spend a life together. Your fleeting life, the thought beckons.

You bury down the thought of his voice, the patience he poured into teaching you the basics before his mother took you under her wing. It matters little now. You’ll pass this apprenticeship and you’ll always find work, in any place, away from the agony that takes hold whenever you meet his eyes lately.  

“Are you all right?” your tutor asks, and you shake your head, annoyed at yourself. 

“Yes, I...”

“Drifted away, I know what that’s like all too well,” Lisa adds with a smile, her attention back to her working table. “After all, we’re only human, aren’t we?”

“Yes...” Only human. 

How stupid is it to think he would ever look at you that way? Your friendship at least endures, and he does not know. 

“Mother?”

You bite the inside of your cheek at the voice, listening to the footsteps drawing near, the tread you’d recognize anywhere. 

“My dear?” Lisa asks.

Adrian pauses somewhere between your working stations. “I need a gauze and disinfectant. Sara fell during one of their usual games by the river and now sports a gash the size of Belmont’s ego.”

“Of course,” she turns to you. “Darling please will you show Adrian where we moved the supplies?”

You freeze, still with your back turned, wanting to appear busy. The dome is silent again, and the faraway laughter of children can be heard through the open windows.

He doesn’t say your name, merely waits as you face him, slowly. You’ve seen less and less of him in the past month, and you yearn to look. I have someone. Someone worthy. This would never work, him and I, even if he did... “This way,” you say, your manner betraying nothing as you disappear among the many stacked shelves of the laboratory storage area. You’ve had plenty of practice in that respect, after all.

You find the section hosting the necessary items and reach for the sliding stairs nearby while Adrian busies himself momentarily with an open tome lying on one of the tables.

“What are you doing?” comes the softly spoken question.

“I’m... retrieving what you asked for?” If there’s irritation in your tone, you can’t be bothered to hide it.

“That wasn’t necessary. After all, I could get them myself, without the use of—”

“Yes, I know, but now I’m already up here,” you say while struggling to reach for a roll of bandages.

“Careful!” Adrian warns, but your boot’s already slipped on the well-worn wood and for a second you feel the relentless pull of gravity, and your fall.

Next you know—

You’re held none-too-gently against Adrian, the grasp of his hold crushing your ribcage as you try to breathe. Without realizing you’re clutching at the folds of his loose cotton shirt, knuckles pressed into the bare skin below his collarbone. 

You dare not meet his eyes, struggling even as he places you on your feet, your heart a mess.

“I told you I can get them myself,” he says with due exasperation. His back is already turned, and he pushes the stairs aside, rising to the intended spot. 

You open your mouth to speak but can think of nothing to say that would be in any way useful. You should thank him, but decide against lingering. He seems to be in a strange mood today—better to retreat and so you do, finding your way back to the other side where his mother is still noting down proportions. Stiffly you walk, fingers curling against the imprint of familiar warmth at their tips. 

You wish it could be like before, between the two of you. Why does it feel like treason each time you meet his eyes, choking on your emotions like rags being forced down your throat? 

I shouldn’t be wasting time on this. 

And so you try to follow suit, heeding that sensible thought and smiling at Lisa as you reach her.

Two weeks prior

Your legs dangle in the air as you sit on the stony battlement with your gaze cast towards the forest beyond, sunken in thought. This is a time of celebration, but the reminder only makes you quirk your mouth tiredly and with some amount of distaste. It is a chilly night, made colder by the harsh winds reaching from the West. You’d forgotten to take your cloak, and now hug yourself to warm your prickling skin. Below, the townsfolk are steeped in song, drink, and merriment. 

You sigh. At least there is peace to be had up here. You’d left needing solitude, and so disappeared from the eyesight of any who might wonder. As luck has it, your friends, trapped in their own wiles and enjoyment, had scarcely noticed your departure. Things were already animated in the groves surrounding the village, and voices raised in joyous song dimly reach you from afar. Even Adrian had been indulging in the fragrant honey wine offered for the occasion, despite his otherwise restrained manner.

You frown. Yes, Adrian. Your friend, your dearest friend, with his sunset gaze aglow from the bonfires, cast on you like melting gold, and burning just as much. 

You wonder at these rather trying new thoughts, and why in recent years such things come to your notice as they had not in the past. He always held to himself and seems utterly disinterested in matters of the heart. Tonight, however, he’d been no less than gallant and, from what you could tell, eagerly inclined towards conversation. 

You bring your knees to your chest, wrapping your arms around them, lost in the shy moon rays peeking from torn clouds streaking the sky. You don’t know how much time had passed, and late realize someone approaches. You don’t turn to see who it is, not until you hear a shift of material, and breathe the scent you know too well. 

Adrian fluidly sits down by your side, leaning back with his palms propped against the stone.

Your heartbeat is ruthless, but still you do not turn. He’s so near you feel a few gilded strands touch your cheek as the winds blow them in this direction and that.

He follows the sight of that same moon, now layering a silvery grin over castle and forest. “I’ve never known one to flee a festivity so early.”

You snort. “Some of us tire faster.” Odd, you’d been joyful indeed and eager as the day began, and now a ragged mood confuses you more than anything. 

When you should be happy.

You feel warmth, and realize Adrian’s undone his coat, placing it around your shoulders, over your hunched form. 

You don’t move, do nothing to fasten the material around yourself, either. It has something of him warming you from head to toe. What you fail to place is the sweet ache as you drink in his scent, nearly sighing aloud. “What are you doing here?” 

Adrian looks your way, an eyebrow raised. “You disappeared. I wanted to see that you were well.”

“But how did you know it was me?” You don’t usually come here, and had deliberately avoided any of the places he knows you frequent. 

Adrian stares long at the moonlit sky. “I would know you anywhere.” His voice holds that same unflinching honesty, a simple truth for him.

Rather dizzy, your words still come bitten at the edges. “I’m fine. Of course. Now I believe your curiosity is satisfied?” 

A gentle hand is placed on your arm, but immediately withdrawn. Somehow, the gesture angers you. It shouldn’t. 

“...what’s wrong?”

“Nothing is wrong,” you stare away, into the black horizon. “Why would anything be wrong?”

Adrian says nothing, and a part of you hopes he’d leave you to your misery. The other hopes he doesn’t. 

“You’ve always been a terrible liar,” he tilts his head to look at you. 

You grumble something unintelligible. 

“That is good to know,” he teases, while reaching inside his tunic to retrieve an object. “This, also, was part of the reason I was searching for you.”

Now you truly wish he would go, but you cannot see your days without him for a while now, and worry over what Adrian would think if he knew.

“Will you sulk or look?”

Annoyed, you set your gaze on his palm; your eyes go wide. “What... is this?”

Adrian holds the pendant up for you to see better. “A gift, for the sulky one. Did you think I’d forgotten today was your birthday?”

You stare at the piece, shining with a light of its own. The chain is so slight one could barely tell it was there, and a small, round pendant of iridescent moonstone glows against his pale hand.

“You mean, for...” Words fail as your eyes meet his. His smile is small and sweet, and you wonder what it would taste like before hot tingles creep up your neck, reaching all the way to your cheeks. “Thank you, this is... this is kind. You know I don’t…”

“May I?” 

You catch his meaning and so turn with your back to him, his coat falling from your shoulders, looking down to see the stone nestled in the hollow of your neck. You bite on the inside of your lip when his fingers touch your skin to fasten the pendant and when you turn to face him again, a smile beyond your will pulls at your lips. “I… it’s beautiful. Thank… you.”

His hands are curled in his lap as Adrian breaks your gaze. He shakes his head. “Listen, I—”

No. You can’t, you can’t hear whatever other pleasantries he has to say. What is this? Why is he doing this now, kindly gestures like crumbs to feed the thing within you that suddenly is ravening, yearning for something that frightens you, that you’ve finally set to rest?

“Adrian.”

He looks at you then, and you stare at each other for so long you don’t even know when you’d begun to shiver with the cold again.

“Yes?” 

“As of next week, I am betrothed. To Matei.”

He is still watching you, not a line changing on his face. “That is wonderful. Matei, is it?” A pondering smile. “I’ve seen the two of you together often, but did not want to presume.” Silence falls between you. The smile is frozen on his face. “Where is he, though?”

There used to be a time when there were no secrets, no strangeness. You look down, touching the gem at the base of your neck. “Still not returned from Brașov.” A change of topic is in order, though you know Adrian has never been one to pry, and so would not ask more. 

Yes, Matei is a good man. He’s kind and honorable, and has a knack for making one forget their woes. It’s a good decision. It has to be. “It feels right,” you murmur anyway. Then why does this hurt? 

“Are you happy?” Adrian asks, rising and leaning on the stone edge with his elbows. The question is soft, but his voice lacks the warmth from earlier—maybe it’s your imagination. 

A stray cloud mists over the moon, and the night grows darker around you. “It feels right,” you repeat stupidly, suddenly needing to be away as you rise from your place. “I should go inside, it’s gotten so much colder…” You drop his coat. “Again, I thank you for your gift.”

Adrian does not move from his place, his loose hair shielding his expression. “It was gladly given. And—congratulations.”

You nod in thanks though he does not see it, wait for a moment longer. He sketches nothing, having fallen into a reverie it seems, and everyone has the right to solitude. “Good night, Adrian,” you turn on your heel and walk briskly to reach the door, not looking back. 

Part II

[rainbowcaleb]

FICLET FRIDAY— SPOILERS!

I wanted to write something new, but then the “ficlet” is becoming a proper fic. So here’s just a snippet while I finish writing the rest!

“I’m really glad you’re here with us, Dor.” Orym stays where he is, but keeps his eyes looking out. The blue lights seem to gently drift with the cold wind that has chased them all day.

“Me too. Despite what my wardrobe says, I’m glad I ended up here. With you.”

Orym really can’t turn and look now, not when his cheeks are remembering when Dorian first showed off that outfit for them all.

A voice rings out and Orym feels temporarily saved from too blushing of memories.

“Oh boys, Esseth has the dome ready!” Fearne calls out, a little echoey in the space.

“I have told you, my name is Essek.” They hear him reply.

“Ooh, well with all your face changing, who can keep it straight?”

Dorian catches Orym’s eye and they both struggle to stifle a laugh. There are many ups and downs to their travels, but their friends are all ups.

Dorian takes Orym’s hand, and gives it a squeeze. “Let’s head back.”

“Wait—“ Orym wants to hold his hand, to linger in this duet, but his eye has snagged on something in the distance. “Can you see what I’m seeing? Is that light moving towards us?”

Dorian looks back out, squinting into the dark. “Oh. Oh I think I see what you’re—“

It happens faster than either of them can expect. What was a blue spark in the city they had long left behind hurtled towards them, growing from pinprick, to beam, to a ball of light that smacks Orym in the chest.

Or it would, if Dorian hadn’t shoved Orym behind him in a split second decision. The light impacts him silently, impossibly, Dorian’s face lit bright cyan from underneath as the light dissolves into his chest. Orym’s hands are on him immediately, scrambling where the light just disappeared.

[quietlyimplode]

ignite your bones

After the fall of General Dreykov, and the remnants of the Red Room still at large, Natasha first year at SHIELD is anything but healing. Labeled a traitor and a turncoat, Natasha tries to find her footing in a strange new world.

Whumptober 2024: Day 25 - being monitored

Warnings: nothing I can think of but feel free to tell me

Word Count: 1.8k (gif not mine)

Summary: back in shield and Natasha is given something more than she thought.

Masterlist

Whumptober Masterlist

.

Clint calls Maria to let them in.

Shield is still standing, still the towering building that holds fear and promise.

Natasha thinks, not for the first or last time, if this is a good idea, and hates that she feels sick with nerves about the unknown that befalls them.

She does well with thinking on her feet but this slow patterns of movement and change is too unsettling.

Maria greets them with a smile and a wave, and Natasha wonders if she’d ever seen Maria smile before.

Scowl - sure, but the the genuine smile that she shows makes Natasha step back at the ease that it comes with.

Maria leads them to the seventh floor.

The wide expanse looks like offices and as Natasha looks curiously down the hall, she realises that she’s never been here before.

Handing Clint a set of keys, two key cards and a backpack, Maria turns her back and opens another door.

“Everything’s in there right?” Clint asks, cryptically, setting it down on a chair.

Maria nods, “yeah everything you asked for,” she replies distracted, grabbing a jacket and something else that Natasha doesn’t see.

They leave the room and Natasha follows their footsteps.

The pace is quick.

Clint looks back to make sure she’s behind them.

“How’s the debrief going?”

Maria shrugs.

“As well as to be expected. Out of the last of the hundred employees, I’m hoping no one else is one of them.”

Natasha sees the cameras on the walls, little domes that are visible in every corridor and at every turn.

She was acutely aware of them in her cell, and knew there were no blind spots.

The Red Room was different.

The monitoring was all human in most of the areas with surveillance only at the doors.

Natasha knows the reasons now.

She’s been too long in the world to know that when things are on cameras, it’s too easy to blackmail someone with footage.

Too easy for it to be used against them.

Bars on windows, locks on doors and handcuffs to keep them.

Being monitored on camera required someone to watch it.

In a way, she was glad.

The lack of surveillance allowed them to get away with a lot more than what they would have have if there had been the constant need for masking against cameras.

Clint stops.

The nondescript door has the number 47 on it.

He hands over two key cards.

“This is yours,” he tells her.

“You’ve been upgraded from the cell.”

His lopsided grin catches her unaware and the gesture of a space of her own makes her stomach flip.

“What?”

He tries to hand them to her again.

“It’s your space.”

When she doesn’t take it, he unlocks and opens the door for her.

She hesitates.

If he’s annoyed by her actions, he doesn’t show it, instead he enters first and holds the door for her to go inside.

She looks around.

“Where’d Maria go?”

She must have lost time, deep in thought about surveillance.

Clint looks at her strangely.

“She had some more errands to run. She said bye?”

Natasha stays at the door.

He seems a little unsure what to do.

“It’s uh, all shield issued, so a little stark. But it all works. The fridge, the stove, the bed, shower…”

He sees her looking up and around.

“There’s no cameras in here,” he says quietly, as if reading her mind.

He offers her the backpack.

“Here.”

She opens it slowly, unsure what to expect and what he expected of her.

The copy of crime and punishment that Maria had given her sits on clothing.

A smaller bag in the backpack holds a toothbrush and toothpaste, with some shampoo and conditioner.

She stares openly at Clint, who takes it from her and sets it on the bed, unpacking it slowly.

“Maria guessed your sizes so I hope it’s okay. Tshirts, shorts, workout clothes. She said that you needed something that wasn’t in black.”

He offers a rueful smile.

Natasha stares.

“I’ve…”

She stops herself, and touches the clothing.

“I’ve never really had my own clothes before.”

Clint’s face falters.

“Oh,” he says.

She didn’t mean it in a self deprecating way, it was a fact of the matter that she had never had money to spend on clothes and preferred to purchase things that would keep her safe.

Weapons.

Food.

Natasha stares, unsure what to do.

Clint shrugs uncomfortably; for a man who usually seems to have an endless supply of words, he doesn’t seem to know what to say next.

“We talked a while ago, before all this happened about exercise and getting out and doing some normal things. You uh, still have a schedule but it’s a little different. We need to continue with debrief, but therapy might look a bit different now that Olivia seems to have gone awol.”

Natasha sits on the bed, letting his words wash over her.

“They’ve given you a pass to the gym and the sparring mats too. The shooting range, library and the cafeteria.”

She looks up at him.

“You umm… you have to be accompanied… but you can just tell us- me or Maria or Coulson, and we can go with you. And this area, well, you’ll have to be back each night by 8pm. It locks down. It opens again at 7am, so maybe not too restrictive, even if… you know.”

He smiles.

“Oh! And you also get day leave. It’s only for a couple of hours but yeah, you can leave a couple of times a week. That… that has to be accompanied too. But it’s something? Right?”

Natasha feels emotional.

It’s more than she’s ever been given.

“It’s something,” she manages, her voice catching.

.

Clint walk with her to the shield library, the building an expanse of books and technology.

She decides immediately that she likes it here.

The last debrief had gone as well as expected, the fallout manageable and the topics easier than most.

Clint had asked if she wanted to do anything afterwards and at her shrug he had brought her here.

Standing at the door, he looks around and finds the nearest couch, yawning and making a beeline.

“Explore yourself,” he offers and sits with his phone in hand.

She stands still, looking around, thankful that only one other person seems to be milling around.

Walking slowly, she looks at all the books.

Mostly non fiction to start with, rows on rows of books of titles in English, reference books and fiction books.

A real library.

Natasha unconsciously smiles.

She looks back to where Clint still sits and ventures further.

She feels eyes on her, but ignores it, hoping she’s safe in the place of quiet peace.

The stacks seem so tall.

Green books, thick books, books with large text, paper backs and comics. There seems to be no end to the amount of books that live here.

She touches them gently as she walks, trying to keep an eye on everything around her, the feeling of others being around growing.

Clint doesn’t look worried, barely looks at her at all.

Natasha stops before she disappears from his view.

She turns around to find herself face to face with an older woman.

“Hello,” she greets.

Natasha doesn’t say anything, taking a step back, wondering if she needs to protect herself.

“I’m Maggie.”

The woman says it like she should know who she is.

Instead Natasha nods.

“You’re Natasha.”

Natasha glances to where Clint was sitting, finding him missing from the chair

She takes another step back, worry filling her.

Not here, she thinks idly, I like it here.

“You have my copy of Crime and Punishment.”

It’s not what Natasha thought she would say, and in her surprise a laugh breaks through her lips.

“What?”

Maggie points to a chair, surrounded by paperwork and books.

“Oh. I’m the librarian. And I have a great memory. They put me here because I’m not to be trusted elsewhere.”

She takes a step back, and then, in fluent Russian; “I don’t think they trust me just yet.”

Natasha gawps.

The woman looks to be in her late 50s, hair slicked back, eyes wide and knowing.

“What?”

Natasha thinks for a moment that she’s going insane.

“I’ll be over there if you need anything,” the woman tells her, “but bring back the book when you can, I think we can give you something that is more interesting than Dostoevsky, don’t you think?”

Natasha stares as the woman walks away, looking around to find Clint and ask him who she was, what she was.

Another widow?

She continues to stare, and decides that she’s not a widow, the way she holds herself and the way she walks, not reminiscent of the training.

Clint appears in view, two books in hand, and smiles up at her.

He seems to notice her frozen, and approaches.

“What’s up?” he asks, breaking her stare away.

“Who’s she?” Natasha ask, looking directly at where Maggie is sitting at the desk.

Clint looks over.

Maggie catches his eye and waves.

He waves back and turns his attention to Natasha.

“We should go,” he nods at the door.

“Why?” Natasha feels even more curious now.

“Oh, no reason, it’s getting close to cut off time.”

Natasha looks at Clint’s watch, 6.45pm, and realises she’d been wandering for almost an hour.

She feels she could spend hours there, if not for the scripting eyes of the librarian.

Following Clint to the door, they walk and she memories the way there from her small room.

“Who is she?” She presses, still curious.

“Maggie? I think she’s Australian.”

Natasha stifles a laugh.

“No she’s not.”

Clint smiles good naturedly.

“What language did she talk to you in?”

“Russian,” Natasha answers, as they enter the room.

She opens the door, her own key card, and all of her things are in the same place she left them.

Except on missions, she’s never had a place that’s just hers.

She suppresses emotions, angry at them for curling and threatening so quickly.

“Yeah. She does that.”

“No,” Natasha rebuts, “perfect Russian, she spoke to me in perfect Russian. Like a native speaker.”

Clint nods again.

“Yeah, I know, she does that. She can speak any language. Ask her next time, she’s like got one of those memories, but her parents made her memorise languages and now she can speak anything, and like, perfectly. I’m glad someone cleared her, because as far as interpreters go, she’s our best one.”

Natasha frowns.

“Any language?”

Clint laughs at her consternation.

“Any.”

Natasha thinks of how useful that would be, how much she could learn. The craving of knowledge bites at her.

“Could we go tomorrow? She asked if I could return the book.”

Clint shrugs.

“Sure.”

He turns to leave.

“I’ll be round at 8.30 as usual,” he tells her, opening the door.

“Uh, sleep well?”

Natasha looks around at her own space, returning the sentiment, hearing the door click and returning to her thoughts.

The apartment is small, but to Natasha feels like a palace.

.

[a-bad-case-of-the-stephs]

OOH WAIT been meaning to ask this bc I know ppl have lots of varying opinions on the matter:

Batgirl: Convergence

How do we feel about it, Re: Steph?

It's been a long time since I most recently reread it so I can't really summon too many thoughts on it- I remember doubting that Steph would've quit being a vigilante in the dome, even if I liked her nursing career, I liked her roommates dynamic with Cass, and I liked a couple of Steph's jokes and bits (yelling at killer moth that he's wasting her time, singing "We Are The Champions" when she knocked out catman). I also remember loving how Steph was drawn but that's just cause I'm way biased towards Rick Leonardi's art.

Would love to hear your take on it though, bc I've heard people say they love how it depicts Steph, or they hate how it depicts Steph, or they're indifferent, etc etc. curious for your thoughts

Okay I won’t lie I hadn’t read Convergence Batgirl before receiving this ask, because I didn’t know about Convergence Batgirl. I’m not going to get into it bc no one cares but the way I started reading comics was a little stupid insane, so I’ve read a LOT but there is a chance any book which wasn’t published in an ongoing or which I couldn’t find out about by reading ongoings I just might not having heard of.

All this to say: glad to know about it now! Thank you for asking me about it! I’ve read it twice now but my review and opinions might change with time and as I think about it more. Also this is really really fucking long, hope you don’t mind.

I had a pretty similar take to you abt Steph’s nursing career. I really liked Steph being a nurse, it felt like a good choice for Steph. But I also had similar and pretty major gripe with it: I just can’t see Steph giving up Batgirl to be a nurse unless it’s an evolution of her character. We all know Steph is stubborn as fuck and I can’t see her abandoning the mantle of Batgirl with anything less than an absolute decisiveness about how she could best help people. It would never be a backing down, as Convergence seems to portray it as. I just can’t see Steph quitting being Batgirl the way she does in Convergence, because of nebulous reasons which never really get explained, and especially given her Batgirl 2009 progression.

I was a fan of the moment Steph mentions her pregnancy. Steph mentions her pregnancy/her baby two times I can think of in the entire time between the aftermath of her giving birth and the new 52: when she talks to Cass on the rooftop and when is dying at the end of War Games. Two is not a lot of times. Would more mentions make the arc somehow better written? No. Would it benefit Steph’s character? Maybe, maybe not. Do I think it says something that DC has the balls to do a horribly executed teen pregnancy arc but not the balls to meaningfully acknowledge that choice again as consequential to Steph’s character? Yeah.

I think especially given how much time has passed for Steph and how much she’s grown as a character, her thinking about her pregnancy and especially how it’s shown as something that she uses to help her help people, is pretty well executed and intriguing to me. Again especially so because we get so little reflection about the pregnancy from Steph normally.

One little nitpick about it though. Steph reassures the pregnant teenager she’s aiding with birth that the amount of pain as she pushes is ‘normal’ and reassures her that Steph gets it. The dialogue doesn’t make as much sense if Steph had a c-section, which she did. It’s not like the biggest issue, just something small. (I’m like the Cinemasins of stephanie brown aren’t I? Damn.)

I was also very curious about the gendering of the baby, it’s something Steph does during War Games as well, referring to the baby as a girl despite specifically choosing when she gave birth not to know the gender of her baby. Even her dream sequence in Robin #65 is very very careful with language, the baby never is gendered. Once I feel like I can chalk up to author error, but if it’s occurred twice now I feel comfortable assigning an in-world explanation for this. I’m thinking it’s projection, just how Steph sees her baby and thinks about ‘her’. The dream sequence and her own twisty way she combined her own childhood with her baby’s potential one and plain old intuition combine and cause Steph to start thinking of her baby as a baby girl post pregnancy. She isn’t trying to think about it. She actually spend a good deal of time trying not to think about her baby, especially at first, about its eye color or where it’s sleeping at night or its gender. But inevitably thinking about her baby as a girl just trickles into her brain, until she doesn’t think twice about it and she refers to her baby as a girl even in the rare conversation, even while knowing she made that choice to not really ever know. (Okay tangent over)

Steph as an animal lover is interesting to me, as an extension of her defender of voiceless / victims shtick I think it works for her, but on the other hand it makes me think of the panel where she kicks this evil goose and then I laugh. I genuinely can’t think of any other notable moments of Steph and an animal interacting, besides the evil goose and the other brainwashed animals in the Robin 80 Page Giant. But sure, Steph as an animal lover is cute. No gripes with that. I like the description of her eyes as cow-like, that was fun to me.

Unfortunately Cass’s characterization felt off to me. I liked that they lived together, that was cute, but Cass didn’t really seem like herself. I don’t think she made a single expression the whole book. Also they gave her blue eyes which is crazy to me.

I did find it really funny when Steph jokingly refers to Cass as honey. I thought it might’ve been a Future State esque situation again where DC lets them be a (plausibly deniable) couple ONLY in alternate universes to the main continuity. Obvs not how it ended up playing out in Convergence, but still funny to me.

I wasn’t a fan of how much Steph devalues her own skill. I felt like a solid chunk of Steph’s internal narration was downplaying her abilities and doubting herself. It’s in character, don’t get me wrong, specifically in any pre batgirl2009 story. But it felt super out of place in a story which takes place after Batgirl 2009 has occurred. Because bg2009 serves as such a huge self confidence and self worth glow up for Steph, it felt like a huge step back for her. It’s one thing if it was just about her being out of practice, but it went beyond that. I can also see Steph having periods of lower self esteem and regression to old feelings about her self worth, but it feels like we’re missing an inciting incident for that. I would say her quitting Batgirl is the obvious answer, but the issue is I don’t think Convergence does a good enough job justifying that choice either, so I feel like I need an emotional inciting incident to explain Steph’s choice to quit Batgirl as well.

I thought it was a strange choice to say that Steph and Tim became a couple In the nebulous post bg2009 but pre-convergence-Dome period of time. I like the terms they were in Red Robin and Batgirl (2009) with the slightly sour but playful banter of exes who know eachother too well. This portrayal felt much less grounded in their history. The romantic throughline also came out of left field to me, given we didn’t find out that Steph and Tim had even gotten back together only to have broken up again until the second issue.

I will say I love the way Kwitney brings the realistic toll a crime fighting lifestyle would have taken on Steph and Tim into the story. It rarely gets explored, and I love when scars or long term injuries get acknowledged. Also kind of a sweet scene despite it all.

On the topic of Steph and Tim in Convergence Batgirl, I really liked this panel.

Something about this really speaks to me. I have to think on how it works w Steph’s character more, but I really do like this for her. And also the ref to Tim and Steph’s first date w the swing set is cute.

The thing with Convergence: Batgirl is that it’s asking a question about Stephanie Brown. By making her the champion for Gotham, and constantly comparing her to those better suited for the role, the comic pushes this question over and over again; Why is Steph ‘special’? Why her?

It’s a specific question abt why she would be chosen to be the champion, but it’s also a more general one which investigates the nature of Steph as a character. It’s a question she’s been leveled a lot as she’s been alternatively valued or devalued over time.

Kwitney comes to one main answer: Steph is good because Steph is resourceful and unpredictable. It’s Steph’s creativity and willingness to talk things out and pursue nonviolent solutions which allows her to best killer moth, (did the dome turn him back to a normal guy you think? Pretty sure he was still a Huge Moth Monster last we saw him) subdue the stampeding crowd of Gothamites, and convince Catman to surrender in order to win the challenge.

While this answer works, I don’t think it’s quite right. In fact, I think Batgirl Convergence accidentally refutes and reverses the real thing that makes Stephanie Brown ‘special’: her indomitable perseverance and will.

Steph gives up Batgirl, which is not portrayed as a choice to evolve into a role she feels she could help more people as, but as a kind of ‘giving up’ that ultimately turned out for the best.

Steph seems to give in to Tim, at first expressing anger over being dumped by being ghosted, because Tim no longer wanted to date her when she wasn’t Batgirl, and then seemingly giving in to his desire to rekindle their relationship without even discussing the situation again or expressing her feelings of betrayal. Those feelings aren’t resolved, they are abandoned.

And Steph wins as a champion, the genesis for Convergence’s investigation into what makes her a worthy vigilante, by convincing Catman to give up, stating that if he didn’t, she would. Does she actually give up in the fight? No. But the language of ‘giving up’ as Steph’s only path to victory in a game about what makes her valuable is so intriguing to me.

For the record, I don’t think Stephanie in Convergence Batgirl is constantly quitting, or somehow not stubborn. She perseveres, yes, but I do think there is a strong irony in these big story beats in Convergence revolving around Steph doing the very opposite: giving up.

And while Steph is certainly resourceful, and certainly unpredictable, her strongest point to me will always be the fact that she never does give up, no matter what the odds, no matter what she’s told. So in that way, I do think Convergence Batgirl fails. It asks this question about what makes Steph a worthy vigilante and then refutes the best answer entirely. Because of that, to me, it fails to explain what makes Steph special, it fails to answer the key question it asks to a standard I’d agree with.

Side note, I don’t know why Steph can never get writers who have written for her before. I find that unfortunate. That being said, I do think Kwitney did a solid job of understanding Steph’s character. Not perfect, but to me it’s clear she tried to ground Stephanie in her past.

I feel I might be more critical if I didn’t have new52 Steph Brown to stack it up against. At least this is a pre flashpoint story where I know her history as a character is pretty much intact. This world, even if elements are different, feels familiar.

Overall, it was a nice read despite its flaws. I think it messes up some important things about Steph’s character, but it also gets quite a few things right. My opinion might change with more time though. Thanks again for the ask, I’m curious as to what you think if you wanna weigh in!