#Maybe I should start tagging that for relevant chapters

[aleyothorncrow]

Raise Up This Gift, I'll Sharpen the Knife: Chpt. 8: Lothering

Rating: M || WC: (4,104/27,989) || Lothering Arc || Chpt: 8/25

(-> Read from the beginning)

Chapter Excerpt:

The one where deathroot grows amongst the wheat.

Only Blackwall gave an unconscious sigh as he stared at the nearby tavern, still full of rowdy laughter and music despite the pitched tents and parked wagons lined all the way up to its door. “Oh? So bread’s off the table, but ale’s still fair game?” Vivienne scoffed, and Mirenan started to scold her with a sharp, “Viv—” But Blackwall beat her to it. “Ale would at least fill the belly.” Despite the downward furrow of his brow, he didn’t appear to be angry at all with the enchantress. No, it was something between challenge and charm that Mirenan could not put a word to—something in a language she did not know. But Vivienne seemed to understand, and she seemed strangely persuaded. “You know, it might not be a bad idea. And with how popular this establishment appears to be, the price must not be too dear.” She turned to Cullen, who still had the pouch of silver. “You have got to be kidding.” All of Cullen’s resentment toward Vivienne blinded him to whatever persuasion lurked in Blackwall’s eyes. “Do you really expect me to open the purse strings so you can both drown yourselves in drink?”

Chapter-specific tags/warnings below the cut.

Chapter-specific tags: Lavellan POV, Blackwall POV, Cullen, Vivienne, The Iron Bull

Chapter-specific warnings: No warnings for this chapter. :)

[arcanewhoosh]

Too Soon (Partners in Crime, Chapter 8)

This chapter will also be posted on AO3 here

4.2k words

Proofread? Y/N

Relevant Tags: Jinx x Reader (But this is a Vi focused chapter), Vi & Reader, Mentions of past drug use, Mentions of abuse, Alcohol

Following the success of the Hex Coil project, Jayce and Viktor present to you an unexpected request: A meeting with Vi.

It's over a celebratory dinner, just the three of you, at one of your usual haunts in Piltover, where you get the inkling that Jayce and Viktor are acting just a tad bit strange.

At first, you think it's just cause they're nervous about the report you'll need to file with the council about the Hex Coil project. Maybe they were running scenarios in their head that the council will want to monopolize its use, and charge people a shit ton just to be able to install it; or worse, a subscription service.

But as you're wolfing down one too many salted egg calamari, it occurs to you that this kind of jumpy behavior is often associated with them needing a big favor from you. Like the time you had to do the company's books, or when they told you that they had volunteered you to look after Poro while Heimerdinger's was away.

"Alright," You start. Jayce stops mid-drink of his beer, Viktor mid-chew of his noodles. "Spit it out."

Viktor immediately slurps more noodles, and shrugs, leaving Jayce to fend for himself. Your eyes flit to Jayce, waiting for him to fill you in on whatever he and Viktor were avoiding.

"Uhm—well." His eyes dart around the restaurant, as if something would swoop in to save him. Viktor, finishes up chewing his noodles, and sighs.

"Violet would like to speak with you. I think it is a horrendous idea, but Jayce thinks you should go see her."

"Oh."

"Woah, hold on a second!" Jayce holds his hands up. "I'm not going to try to talk you into seeing her. That's purely up to you, and whatever you decide, we support."

"But?"

He looks off to the side before back to you. "But, my own personal opinion, she seemed sincere in wanting to speak to you."

"She also told us about what happened between you and Powder." Viktor cuts in, earning him a Hey! from Jayce. He shrugs in response.

You lean back on your chair and cross your arms, eyes darting between the two of them. On the one hand, You couldn't say that you were keen on speaking to her, seeing as she's Jinx's sister and they tell each other everything. Jinx telling her about your shouting match isn't really out of character. On the other hand, you do feel like you owe her for what she did for you at the party.

The more you think about it, the more surprised you were that you aren't completely abhorred by the idea. It looks like the high from a successful Hex Coil test deterred any and all bad mood swings, no matter what they were. Except with Jinx, you were still pissed about that.

"Yeah, okay." You say as you shrug.

"We completely understand—"

"Totally valid—Wait what?"

"I beg your pardon?"

You wish you could pull your phone out and snap a phot of their agape mouths, but you decide to take the high road and answer them first.  "Yeah, okay. I can talk to Vi. When does she want to meet?"

It's Jayce who recovers first. "Really?"

"Yes, Jayce."

"You heard me correctly, didn't you?" Viktor says, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes Viktor. Vi wants to speak with me, I'm willingly agreeing to."

He sits up straight. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Well, do you know why she wants to talk to me? That would help me decide whether it's a good idea or not." They both shake their heads.

A thought occurs to you, and you grin. "You two weren't banking on the Hex Coil working before telling me this, were you?" They shake their heads and quickly try to dispel any notion that they would do that, and you laugh. "Alright, alright. Would you have told me this if it didn't work?"

"Probably not."

"Definitely not."

"Fair enough."

Vi wants to talk, huh? The more the thought sits with you, them more curious you get. What did she even want to talk about? Did Jinx ask her to speak with you? Probably not, you muse. Even though Vi was her closest confidant, Jinx's pride would never let her ask her sister for help in this department.

Your face sours momentarily at the thought of Jinx, but you're able to recover quickly enough, turning your attention back to Jayce and Viktor.

"Well, I guess I'm okay with speaking with her. Besides," You shrug, "I kind of owe her for the whole party thing, might as well hear her out." Viktor sits back in his chair, seemingly gauging whether or not you're being genuine. Jayce is tapping his finger on his beer glass, waiting if you're going to say anything else. The former sighs.

"Well, I guess, if you believe that this isn't for any nefarious reasons, you could go see her."

You stifle a laugh. "Why would you think that she'd have nefarious reasons to speak to me." He shrugs and takes a sip of his wine before muttering You never know.

"So it's settled, then." Jayce says. "I'll let her know that you're okay to talk. She left me her card," He slides over Vi's business card to you. "Said you can text her what time you're available, and she'll adjust."

You take the card, flipping it through your fingers. Detective Sergeant it read, and you whistle at the rank. "Someone's moving up in the world."

"Not as much as you'll be moving up once we get the Hex Coil up and running." You grin at Jayce's words. It looks like the success of the Hex Coil not only boosted your mood, but could immediately make you forget about whatever else you were previously talking about.

"To the fucking—ow! Sorry." You rub the spot Viktor slapped on your shoulder, as he nods towards the customers that turned their heads your way. "—to the Hex Coil." You say, voice a few notches quieter, and raise your glass.

"To the Hex Coil." Your mentors say.

---

"I don't know about this."

"Well you won't be able to tell anything with your eyes closed—ow!"

"You're not helping, Mylo!" Your grip on the tree trunk tightens as Vi continues to scold Mylo. You hazard a look at the squabbling teenagers, all standing on a thick tree root, big enough to hold the weight of several adults, safely; across a huge river crossing, too huge for you to jump over!

"I'm just saying, even Powder made it across." Mylo retorts, gesturing to Powder, who was also trying to coax you to jump.

"I don't think I can make it." You say, turning your head to hide in the trunk. As long as you can't see the river, it can't hurt you.

"You'll be fine! I got you!" Violet calls out. You turn your face away from the trunk, and blink.

---

"I got one chicken, one beef gyro with fries to go for number nineteen!"

You look up from your phone as your order is announced. Despite the long queue of people during the lunch rush, you were hardly deterred from ordering your favorite--cholesterol infused, according to Viktor--lunch items. Despite Viktor's warning faintly echoing in your mind, and the fact that this particular food truck is way too far for you to make it back to the office in time, you don't mind making the walk there. After all, Jayce did give you the option to have the afternoon off, since you had a personal errand to run.

"I had drinks with those?" You tell the server as you hand him your number. A scrawny looking kid with a mop of red hair, can't be older than sixteen, shuffles around the bag and inspects the receipt.

"Oh sorry" He says. A tap on his shoulder prompts him to step to the side as a large burly man comes into view through the window, handing you two sodas.

"Orange and root beer?" The man says to you. You grin as you take the sodas and the bag of food.

"You know me too well, Jericho. Thanks!" Jericho winks at you before waving you off, looking over the new orders that had just come in for the truck. Just as you're about to head off to the side, you hear someone call out your name.

You turn and spot the source of the voice, donned in her Enforcer uniform, with her shiny badge on her waist.

You'll never admit this to Vi, of course, but you spent a good chunk of the week running through how you were going to start this conversation. All the introductions you could make without you looking like a complete idiot. You weren't exactly on good terms with her—you were on terrible terms—before your confinement, and even when your circles intermingled again, neither of you made an effort to seek the other out. Between that, what she did for you back at Jinx's party, and now the invitation to talk—you weren't sure how you were gonna go about the entire ordeal. You decided to play it off how you would meet up with Viktor or Jayce. Whatever that meant.

"I got us food." You raised the bag and two sodas, an offering of peace. Vi eyes the bag, then the food truck, then lets out a small smirk.

"Some things haven't changed, I see." She grabs the sodas from you, freeing up one of your hands. You see through the air of nonchalance; she's following your lead.

You shrug. "Jericho's the best."

"Indeed he is."

A beat of silence passes as neither of you know what to say next. Vi shuffles in place, and you rub the back of your neck.

"The park's still there-"

"You know the park-"

You pipe down at the same time, before you chuckle, the tension around the both of you easing up.

"The park then?" She asks.

"Lead the way detective." You nod to the direction of the park. Eventually falling in step with Vi.

It's a short walk, and there weren't a lot of people around since most were scrambling to finish lunch and get back to work. There's a slight charge to the silence that settles over the both of you as you head to a set of monkey bars and some old seesaws.

You look over to Vi, who shrugs and hands you the sodas, before hoisting herself up on the bars. You hand her your lunch and pull yourself up, settling next to her. She hands you your food and soda, and you both eat in relative silence.

"So, want me to just rip off the band aid?" She says after a while.

To be honest, you thought that was how she was going to start the conversation, but you decide to not comment that, and instead nod your head. "Yeah… I mean, I'm really curious as to why you wanted to talk in the first place."

Vi is sat in front of you, but facing away and staring off at something on the ground. Nevertheless, she lets you know that she's listening by nodding her head.

"Have I angered the fuzz?" She snorts at your question, mid-chew. "You thought I wanted to talk to you cause my sister ran her mouth?"

You shrug. "It's either that or what you did for me last month at the party."

---

"You'll be fine!" Vi shouts at you again. The others have started walking ahead, looking for some place more comfortable to rest.

"What if I won't be? What if I don't make it and fall into the river?" The offending river apparently hears you, and you swear the volume of the water rushing through increases.

"I'll catch you, don't worry about it! Just… Take a breath, and run and jump!" She beckons you over with her arms.

The river is scary. Very, very scary. Too wide to jump for you. But Vi sounds like she's sure about being able to catch you, and it's not like you can find your way back on your own if you turn around.

You look over to the older girl, and she smiles at you, nodding her head over.

"Okay!" You manage.

"Alright! Just…whenever you're ready."

"Okay…" You cling to the tree for a few more seconds.

"…Any time now, bud." You make a face, resigning to the fact that you have to actually jump, and not just agree.

You hesitate for a moment, heart thudding in your chest as you slowly inch your foot forward, little by little. Eventually, you're far enough where you have to let go of the tree. Your hand tries to stay connected to it as long as possible, eventually your fingers being too far to be able to touch.

"Good." Vi moves forward from where she is on the root. "Now just, jump when I count to three."

You nod and let out a breath, steadying yourself for the leap.

"One-"

---

"Hey, you still here?" Vi reaches over and snaps her fingers in front of you. You swat her hand away.

"Yeah, sorry, drifted off there a bit." She holds her gaze at you for a bit before nodding. Now wasn’t the best time to push the subject, not when this was your first chance to actually talk.

"So…why did you want to talk?" She leans back a bit, her legs idly swinging from under her. She looks a bit ridiculous doing it in her enforcer uniform, but you bite your tongue. That's something old chums would say. No sense of familiarity, not between the both of you.

"The party, actually."

"Hm." You purse your lips. You're surprised by your own reaction. Initially, you thought that you'd be okay discussing it, that your curiosity—and the high from the Hex Coil—would be enough of a cushion for your mood. But apparently, there's still a smidgen of bitterness at the thought of it.

Vi looks over to you. "You sure you're okay talking about it?"

"Rip the band aid off, right?" You say, taking another bite.

She nods. "Rip off the band aid…" A sigh, as she sets her food down on her lap and dusts off her hands. "I like to think I saw you at the worst part of your life." Oh wow, she was actually ripping off the band aid. "But the party… I've never seen you so angry."

You stop mid-chew, considering the implied question in her words. No one had ever described you as a violent child. And you weren't an angry teenager, either. Even with your troubling history with substance abuse, you were never violent with anyone. Your first outburst had surprised even you. It earned you a beating from the officers back in the day.

"A lot happened in between, Vi." You take a swig of your soda. "I tried figuring that stuff out with a therapist, she said it was a lot of unregulated emotions that kind of overflowed—which I think is utter bullshit." She snorts at your remark. "Cause we supposedly worked through all of those issues. But clearly the party shows otherwise."

"When did it start? Was it someone messing with you in juvie?"

"I got messed with as much as all the other kids did." You shrug. "I can't tell you how it started, really. It just happened one day, then I was angry all the time."

There's a look in Vi's eyes you know too well. Pity. It was a look that Jayce had thrown at you a lot when he first heard your story, not long after the two of you met. It wasn't his fault he had such a terrible poker face, but you still eventually told him off and stated that you didn't need his pity. Mel had thankfully only looked at you with pity a split second before keeping her face neutral. And Viktor had never looked at you that way at all.

"You know," You start. "I used to think I was angry because I thought you narc'd on me." Her eyebrows furrow at you.

"You thought I narc'd on you and Powder?"

"I did until I remembered that she also got arrested." You take another bite of your food, chewing thoughtfully before continuing. "As much as you hated that we were using, you'd never ruin her future for it."

"And she didn't have some hotshot councilor that saw potential in her and plucked her out." She adds dryly.

"It's not my fault Mel saw potential." You add air quotes as you say it. "Anyway, the bottom line is, I don't know why I got angry, I just know it happens if you bring up mum dying or anything related to it."

"Your birthday." Her remark catches the both of you off guard, and you have to take a breath. "Yup, that too."

A few minutes of silence pass, the both of you quietly eating your food. Vi doesn't follow up with any questions about your time in juvie, and you're thankful for it. The last thing you wanted to talk about was getting beat by discipline officers or getting your head dunked into a toilet.

"I'm sorry." She says finally. You turn to her, and you're surprised by the sincerity in her eyes. "That all of that had to happen to you. And that I cut you off all those years." You scoff at the last part.

Your answer is immediate, straightforward, rehearsed. "I think I would've done the same if—"

"You were a kid." She interjects, but it doesn't really change your sentiments.

Enough time should have already passed for you to not be bothered. You know you shouldn't be bothered, but your jaw still tightens. "I was old enough to know right from wrong."

"Still—"

"I made peace with that part, Vi." You say firmly, more to convince yourself than her. There was no need for any of you to dwell in the past. "Besides, it got me here. So I guess—I guess it worked out in the end."

She holds your gaze, looking for any cracks in your resolve. The moment passes when she sighs deeply, still in obvious disagreement with you. But she doesn't push the subject, and another stretch of silence passes between you two.

"Mylo and Ekko are sorry, too." She settles.

"Really?" You ask sarcastically.

"They are." She insists, turning fully towards you. "I know Jayce and Cait told you to steer clear of them, but it was me who asked them to do that. You know, while I tried to get them to see sense."

"Why are they suddenly so sorry?"

"Because they realized they were being outright dicks? Especially since they haven't seen you in years?"

A snort. "Or you twisted their arms."

She shrugs, a smirk playing on her lips. "Maybe, maybe not. But they're sincere, I swear."

You feel yourself relax a bit, the tension in your shoulders dissipating. "I'm sorry for what I did at the party." Vi purses her lips, before nodding. "You shouldn't have beat the crap out of those two, but you shouldn't be apologizing, either."

The two of you finish off your lunches as a comfortable silence settles over the empty playground. Judging by the lack of people running around the sidewalk, you guess that it's probably well past lunch time, and at some point, you should be heading back to work.

Right on cue, your phone buzzes. A message from Jayce.

Do you need the afternoon off? It's fine if you do.

"Do you need to be getting back?"

A shrug. "I probably should."

Vi nods, jumping off from the monkey bars and dusting herself off. You follow suit, and the both of you are left at an awkward point where you have to say goodbye.

"Listen." She starts. Shuffling around on her feet. "Thank you, for agreeing to meet with me. I know this wasn't easy for you."

"You caught me at a good time, actually." She raises an eyebrow at you. "We had a breakthrough at work, so I was in a really good mood when Jayce and Viktor told me about this."

"Oh. Would you not have met with me if you just had a normal day at work?"

"Maybe? I think still would've. This conversation was kind of long overdue, yeah?"

"Yeah. That and…" She trails off a bit, but you wait patiently as she tries to find her words. She stands up straighter, and looks you straight in the eyes.

"I want to fix things."

She waits for a beat for you to react. Not that you could, the words were still processing in your head. "I know it's been years, and I've also been a complete dick to you in the last few months, but I wanna try and make up for it… For all of it."

You blink, then blink again. The shock on your face must be obvious, because Vi is quick to put her hands up in a placating manner. "Only if you want to. I'm not gonna force us all to go back to how we were when we were kids. I don't know if we can go back to how things were. But I'd really like to try, at least, and the guys would too."

Whatever initial expectations you had prior to meeting with Vi, whatever guess you could've made on why she wanted to meet, this definitely wasn't in any of them. After all the silence—and the minor hostility at times—here was an olive branch; a request to start over.

You like to think that any self-respecting person would turn down her offer. Anyone who's been cut-off then treated poorly should know better. People are only ever in your life for as long as they need to be, and clinging onto old memories and feelings is unneeded, cruel to yourself, even.

---

"I'm sorry I couldn't jump, Vi."

"Don't sweat it, kiddo."

You look over to her, checking to see if she's upset. She was looking forward to this trip, after all. "You're not mad at me?"

"F'course not." She nudges you with her shoulder, mouth half-full of food. "Why would I be mad?"

"Cause I wasn't brave enough to do it?" She scoffs, inhaling the rest of her sandwich. "So you weren't ready to jump over a river, you'll be ready one day. Maybe not tomorrow or a week from now, but one day."

You consider her words as you take a tentative bite from your own sandwich; packed by your mom for the trip there. "What if I'm never ready?"

A shrug. "Then we don't go over this river."

"But what if the others want to jump over?"

"They can jump over, me and you can hike around it."

"Even if you want to jump over?"

"I'd rather all of you safe and having fun."

"Even if you can't jump over this river forever?"

"Even if I can't ever jump over this river forever."

You smile sadly at her, shoulders slumping slightly. "Mum's boyfriend says I'm a sissy sometimes."

"Yeah, well. He's a dick. Don't ever think you have to do something you don't want to." She ruffles you hair and sits back on a tree, before squinting at something in the distance. "There they are. Told you they'd come back for us… or at least for the snacks."

You follow her gaze and spot your friends waving over to you, their loud voices already bouncing off the trees. Vi stands up and starts walking towards them, before turning back to you. "I'll always be there for 'ya kiddo. Alright?"

---

"And Jinx?"

A shrug. "Eh, she's a big girl now. You're issues with each other are yours."

You snort. "Does she know you're doing this?"

"Yeah, duh. She'd kill the both of us if I didn't tell her about it first." "And she's fine with this?"

"She said I could do what I want."

you narrow your eyes slightly. "So what, are you gonna have a family dinner and invite me over, or something?"

"Actually," She takes the bag of wrappers and empty sodas, walking over to a trash bin "I don't know if Jayce told you this yet, but we're all going camping next weekend."

You raise an eyebrow at her. "Camping?"

"Yup, the guys wanted to go, so I invited Cait, Cait asked if she could invite Jayce..." Vi continues to ramble on how Jayce said yes and invited Mel, but that Viktor had turned him down.

Stuck in the middle of the wilderness with people you aren't on the best terms with—sans Jayce and Mel—for an extended period of time, sounds like a terrible idea. Anyone in their right mind would immediately say no, also, your ex—did you two break up? Were you officially dating?—was going to be there. A bad idea, very bad idea.

Almost as bad as jumping over a river.

"I'll... I'll think about it."

Vi stops mid-sentence, eyes wide. The hopeful glint in her eye is evident as she lets out a breath. "Really?"

"That doesn't mean I'm leaning towards a yes, Vi."

"No, yeah, totally, it's fine." The hope fades a bit, but you still see it. "Just... Let Jayce know, yeah? And he'll let me know?"

"Sure, Vi."

She wipes her hands on her pants, a pensive smile on her face. "I'll uh, see you around?"

You mirror the smile she gives you. "I'll see you around."

[kaufmann-6]

Let's talk about tagging! I feel like many of us need some tips on how to tag on AO3, so follow along to find out some common mistakes people make when tagging their works.

1 - Wrong relationship tag

I feel like we've all been overwhelmed by AO3's interface and what everything meant when we first started posting fics, but I wish people looked up how to tag relationships before posting their work.

What you need to know about this is that relationship tags that have a bar ("/") refer to romantic and/or sexual relationships, and the ones that have an ampersand ("&") refer to platonic relationships such as family, friends, etc.

It affects the readers experience on the site if the writer tags the platonic ship and the fic has those characters in a romantic relationship. I really don't like opening a fic to see that and be immediately disappointed, so please be mindful when putting your relationship tags in.

2 - Cross-tagging

This one also applies to Tumblr. Tagging characters, relationships and other tags that are not important to the story or are secondary and barely appear is not nice and it crowds those tags with fics that don't even feature that character/relationship more than a few times.

I know you are just trying to get more people to see your work, as a writer, I feel that; I always debate with myself which tags are relevant when tagging, but just don't do that, please, the right reader will find your works, but don't crowd unnecessary tags, that disturbs the experience of many readers that have to scroll past dozens of fics just to find one that actually has the character/ship they want in the spotlight.

3 - AUs and fandom tagging

This one is talking about how people tag a fandom when posting an AU instead of using an AU tag for that fandom in the additional tags.

This is specially a problem on small fandoms. People write AUs based on those fandoms and tag them in the fandoms of the fic, and that ends up crowding the tag with fics that don't even have the original fandom's characters.

It's different from crossovers, when you use the fandom tag, because AUs use the plot, not the characters, so you should put the fandom in the additional tags and reference that it's an AU, instead of using the actual fandom tag.

Some examples of what I'm trying to explain are Harry Potter AUs. Many people write their characters in a Harry Potter-like setting, but the fic is not actually a HP fic, if you get what I'm saying, because no HP characters are in it, only the writer's characters form another fandom or original work.

4 - Tagging a trope that is only in the fic for a chapter or two

I feel like this one also relates to cross-tagging, and it refers to tagging major tropes that pop up in a fic at a random time for only one or two chapters.

Some good examples of this are "sickfic" and "case-fic". Those two tags refer to a type of work that is centered in a theme, such as a "sickfic", in which the entire story revolves around a sick character, or "case-fic", when the plot is about solving a case and what it entails.

Maybe instead of using a tag that implies a model of a fic such as "sickfic", you could use, for example "Sick character A".

5 - Not putting possible triggers in the additional tags

It's important to tag for possible triggers in your fic so people can avoid fics that contain them and not get accidently triggered in the middle of reading.

6 - Misuse of Ratings

I know rating can be hard, and we often feel unsure of which rating is appropriate, which is why you should read the description of each rating and find the one that fits better in your fic.

On AO3, you can click on the blue "?" button next to the ratings when putting the fic information in, that helped me a lot when I began posting.

You wouldn't want to tag something that has a sensitive topic as General Audiences just because it's not explicit. Believe me, I've seen everything.

[bossuary]

“Who do you need to see?” said Evariste, rubbing his face.

Spite’s eyes flared an eager pink. “Illario. Smelled like. Copper and questions.��

They were on the same page, there. Evariste studied Spite’s face, or his use of a face, but found nothing deceptive in it. Illario was important to Lucanis, who was important to Spite. After the Ossuary, if he’d had his way, Evariste would have put the lesser Dellamorte under lock and key.

“I know what you mean,” he said, maybe too cynically. Spite brightened further. Evariste started down the stairs. “Come on. Lucanis will see Illario tomorrow.”

A grumble. Spite glared in open frustration. “Is that…long?”

“Not to us,” Evariste replied.

Satisfied, Spite loped down to join him.

Chapter 2 - Shake the Tree, is on AO3 right now.

Chapter 3 should be posted by the end of February.

Then, updating roughly every 2 weeks as time permits.

(relevant tags: m/m, Pen Pals, Secret Past, Pining, Size Difference, insomnia, later chapters will be spicy.)

[darksturnioloqueen]

Someone needs to do Chaser!Matt or Chaser!Chris

Let me explain. Personally Matt probably has the best photos to fit the lore but chris girlies can pop off too cause of his personality…. OH THE LORE YOU ASK?

TORNADO CHASING!!!!!

Imagine a back story where their youtube career died something one or both werent ready for so while Nick and the other brother is thriving normally they are out CHASING that constant high from adrenaline.

I like Matt cause of his obsession with country things and it almost makes sense if you spin it to where its out of character he used to be quiet and now hes just an adrenaline junkie trying to get the best videos to stay relevant.

Obvi insert love story: maybe she is a tornado chaser but in the sense she finds the beauty in the choas hence why she starts to see the beauty in (Matt). He is slowly unravelling and she is there to witness it. (Girl on his chasing team maybe) oh fuck! And he like puts them in danger and she finally speaks up (classic fight)

He goes back home and sees his brothers and just relaxes. Sees on the news a horrible tornado strike and starts freaking out and explains to his brothers how stupid he was he didnt see it, didnt see her. “Go get her Matt.” He goes back. Shes hurt. (You decide depth) Classic make up.

“This whole time I was chasing a high when I could have should have been chasing you.”

“You know how I always say there is beauty in the choas? There is beauty in you too (Matt). I see it. I see you.”

🥺🥺🥺

Yo if someone does steal this what is wrong with you??? Just please tag me or inbox me the chapter links cause I NEED THIS.

The dark queen and redbull results at 9 AM.

— The Dark Queen

[fangirlingfromdownunder]

A Sweet Mishap - Chapter 21

Pairing - Jensen Ackles x Reader 

A/N: I just want to start by thanking everyone for all the love on this story so far. Let me know if you want to be added to the tag list. This chapter is a little heavier (as is the story going forward, but I'll include potential triggers for each chapter as relevant), so please read the TW below and only read on if you feel comfortable doing so.

Potential Trigger Warnings: mentions of depression, suicidal thoughts, domestic violence

A Sweet Mishap Masterlist | Main Masterlist

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The days blend together in a whirlwind of rehearsals, work, and studying. The excitement for the upcoming show is palpable, but underneath it all, a sense of exhaustion lingers. I push through each long day with determination. Then one night, I stumble home after a long day, late at night. I check my mail before going up to my apartment and find a large box with my name and address on it, on the floor infront of my mailbox. Knowing the date I can only imagine what it might be. Suddenly I’m wide awake. I rush up to my apartment and dump the box on the coffee table. Knowing it could only be one person, I send him a text.

Can I open it or should I wait until tomorrow?

I wait awhile but don’t get a response. I figure he’s either asleep or in the middle of filming. I force myself to leave the box and go for a shower. Feeling warmed up and relaxed, the package falls out of my mind as I collapse into bed and fall asleep.

As I drag myself out of bed the following morning and get dressed for my shift I remember the box. I check my phone and there’s still nothing. Knowing that it’s later in the day in Vancouver, I decide to try to call him while I finish getting ready. It goes straight to his voicemail and I start to get anxious. I doublecheck the sending address on the box and it has a Vancouver address with his name, so I know at least it hasn’t even come through his management, this was all him. This makes me a little more excited, but I can’t figure out why then he’d all of a sudden be ignoring me. I try to keep a level head and tell myself he’s just busy with work. I don’t have time to dwell on it anyway. Regardless, I can’t help but dread serving loved up couples their caffeine hits for the next few hours.

I force a smile and throw on my apron as I find my rhythm. Despite my initial anxiety, I find myself getting lost in the familiar routine, the busy atmosphere providing a temporary distraction from the unanswered questions swirling in my mind. I push through and then go to my classes as usual, while avoiding checking my phone to keep myself from spiralling further unreasonably. 

As I walk home alone from the theatre, through the streets filled with loved-up couples, I try to feel happy for them while I hope that maybe next year I’ll have someone to share it with. As I approach my building I see someone sitting on the ground infront of the glass doors with their head on their knees. My heart races a little as I worry it could be someone looking for a way to sneak into the complex; I’ve seen stranger things happen in the city, unfortunately. The scene also reminds me of the time I sat in that exact position when Tyler first kicked me out of the apartment. I can’t imagine someone going through those same emotions on Valentines of all days, but for my own safety and the safety of others in the building I hope it’s the latter.

As I get closer, I can tell it’s a young girl. I think about walking past, but then I think about the immense difference it would have made if someone stopped when I was in her position. I clasp my keys in my palm as I crouch down beside her. 

“Hey, are you alright?” I ask, but she just shakes her head. “I know Valentines Day can be rough. Do you at least have somewhere to go? It’s too cold to stay out here.” She shakes her head again as her whole body shakes as she lets out a small sob. “I obviously don’t know you or what happened, but I’ve sat where you’re sitting…If you want to talk about it or just be around someone and not talk about it…” She shakes her head again. “You should at least come into the lobby, out of the cold night air.” When she still refuses to move I shrug off my jacket and wrap it around her. I feel my phone vibrate in my bag, but ignore it. While she’s refusing to talk, I know from experience that she shouldn’t be alone.

I sit on the pavement beside her under the dim streetlights in silence. When I start to shiver involuntarily she offers my jacket back. “You should go inside and stay warm. Don’t stay out here because of me. I’m obviously not worth it.” 

Hearing words so similar to ones I’ve said myself breaks my heart. “Only if you’ll let me call you a ride or bring you in. You won’t believe me, but I’ve had those exact thoughts. I don’t think you should be alone tonight.” I know it must be extremely hard for her to trust a stranger but I hope I can at least get her somewhere safe and warm.

My phone vibrates again, this time with a call. I ignore it. I don’t want this girl to think anyone or anything is more important than her. 

After a while, when she realises I’m not going anywhere, she says, “There’s no one to call…I-I was stupid.”

“I’m sure you weren’t. I’m sure you are just young and optimistic and caught in terrible circumstances beyond your control. But you likely won’t believe me, because I know I wouldn’t have. I haven’t got much to offer, but I do have an apartment with a fireplace and a comfortable couch and bed, you can have whichever.”

“I don’t-”

“It’s no problem. I just want to get you off the street for the night and I don’t imagine you can afford a hotel in the city, not to make assumptions, I just know how expensive it can be out here.”

My phone starts to buzz again and she sinks back. “You should get that.”

“They can wait. It’s probably just my mom checking because she knows how hard Valentines can be for me.” I don’t want to push too hard but I know it’s only getting later and colder and neither of us are making the most of my jacket now. I stand up and swipe my keyfob over the scanner. “At least come into the lobby, I’m happy to stay down here with you or bring you a blanket. Just come out of the cold.”

She hesitantly nods and pushes herself off the cold concrete. I lead her into the lobby. “You can come up with me or I can bring you down a blanket. It’s up to you. I don’t want to make you feel uncomfortable, I just want you to be warm and safe. And know that you’re not alone.”

“She looks around the bare, unhomely lobby and quietly asks, “C-Can I come up with you?”

“Of course.” I press the button for the lift and step back. When we get in, I notice she doesn’t even have a bag with her, just a phone that appears to be flat. I lead her into my apartment and quickly turn the lights on and start the fireplace. “The bathroom’s through there,” I motion towards my room, “If you want to have a warm shower or wash your face. The bedroom’s also in there if you’d prefer, or the couch.” I do my best to make her feel comfortable as I kick off my shoes and put down my bag. I also toss the now wilted roses in the bin, after pocketing the card. 

“They from your boyfriend? Does that mean it gets better?” she asks.

“It’s complicated, but yes, it does get better. It may take a while, but this moment doesn’t define you. Your life is so much more than your worst nights.”

She hesitantly takes a seat on the couch to warm up by the fire and I pull over a stool. “Y-You said you sat were I sat…C-Can I ask what happened?”

I nod. “My boyfriend at the time cheated on me in this very apartment. I came home from work and caught him in our bed with some girl her met at a bar. Same way he met me, ironically. He was a few years older. There were plenty of red flags I ignored. But it hurt for a long time. I am just lucky to have a great friend that helped me pull through the worst of it and keep putting one foot in front of the other.”

“He cheated with you here? And you stayed?”

“Yeah, crazy, right? I had a job here and classes and a friend and dreams. All of which were more important than a guy I moved across the country with on a whim. He went back to our home state and left me the apartment…and all the bills. I thought about trying to leave, but the location was perfect and the rent was cheaper than other places. I did get a new bed though. I threw out the bedding and sold the frame; there was nothing wrong with it, just that I couldn’t get the image of her gripping the headboard while he took her from behind, out of my head.”

“I’m sorry…”

I shake my head and shrug. “He was a dick. I’m just glad I didn’t let it break me. I almost did, and those thoughts resurface now and again, but I’m stronger for it. I know that now. I only realized that recently, actually…It’s these experiences that will eventually help you realize your worth.”

“He-He still has all my stuff. He begged me to forgive him…He-He wouldn’t let me…” I look her over as she speaks and notice she’s still cold. I reach over and pull the blanket off the back of the couch and offer it to her. She wraps it around herself and cuddles it close to her chest. That’s when I notice light purple bruises on her wrists.

“Did he?” I nod at her wrists and she hides them under the blanket. But then she nods.

“You can stay here as long as you need. I have a friend that works as a security guard, I can ask him to come over and help get your stuff tomorrow…Or we can go out and get you whatever you need.”

“He only does it when he’s…I provoke him…It’s my fault.”

I shake my head, knowing those feelings all too well. “Yeah? What’d you do?”

She shakes her head back and throws off the blanket. “It was my fault. I should go back. He’ll be mad if I-”

“I can’t and won’t stop you if you want to go. But I wish you wouldn’t. Just take the night. Get some sleep and think it over.”

She hesitantly pulls the blanket back on as she starts to cry again. “I-I just…I just wanted to go out. It was my first Valentines Day in a relationship…And in the city…I j-just…I-I shouldn’t…I know…”

“Hey, Sweetie. It’s okay to want those things. And every girl deserves that. Your man should want to take you out and show you a good time; not just on Valentines, but every day. But most of all, he shouldn’t ever hurt you. You’re not his punching bag.”

“He didn’t…He just-” My phone vibrates noisily on the counter cutting her off. “C-can I use the bathroom?”

“Of course. Let me know if you want to borrow some clean clothes. I should have something that should fit.”

“I’m okay. Thanks.” She quietly gets up and goes into the bathroom. I listen for the shower to turn on before I get up and check my phone: 15 texts and 3 missed calls from Jensen. I sigh and call him back without opening the messages.

“Thank God, you’re alive at least!”

“Me? You ignored me first.”

“I was working.”

“Yeah, me too.”

“At one in the morning? I know you get on the subway around eleven thirty, you always text when you get home. I didn’t hear from you. Jared only just talked me out of calling the police for a wellness check.”

“I’m sorry. It’s just…Something came up. I can’t talk about it right now. But I’m home and I’m safe. And I’ll call you tomorrow.”

He sighs. “Well, happy Valentines for yesterday, I guess…”

“Don’t be like that. I texted you last night and called you first thing this morning. You didn’t answer. We’re both busy. I had to accept that, so do you. And I really am busy at the moment. I will call you and explain when I can.”

“Someone more important, huh? Some guy from the show?”

I instantly tear up at his implication. “You know what? Screw you, Jensen. You know what I’ve been through and you really think I’d do that to you? Screw you.” I hang up before he can make any excuses and wipe my eyes hastily to appear strong for the girl who needs me. He instantly tries to call me back but I flick my phone to silent and plug it in to charge. I grab a change of clothes and knock lightly on the bathroom door. 

“Hey, it’s just me. I have some clothes here if you want them.” I wait a few seconds, but when I don’t get a response I put my hand on the doorknob. “I’m sorry, I’m coming in. Call out if you don’t want me to.” I don’t get a response so I push the door open and for the first time I’m thankful that it doesn’t have a lock.

I notice her sitting on the floor with her back against the bathtub and her head between her knees. She shakes as she cries heavily. As I get closer, I notice one of my bottles of painkillers in her hand. I let out a relieved sigh when I see the cap is still on. I twist off the water in the shower and crouch down beside her. 

“He’s not worth it…None of them are. But you are. You can have a very bright future. Focus on your dreams, what you want. If you put in the hard work, you can make it happen. I know it’s hard to believe right now, but it’s true.” I hold out my hand and she hands over the bottle. 

“What if he-What if someone saw us? What if he knows? What if he-”

“Do you wanna go somewhere else? I can call my friend and we can go somewhere else. As I said, he’s a security guard, he can protect you.”

She nods. I stand up and go get my phone and bring it back. I flip down the toilet lid and sit on it as I call Nick. I know Stella will be asleep, but I’m just hoping he’s finishing a shift. It rings a few times before he answers.

“Y/N?”

“Hey, Nick. Can you come over?”

“Are you okay?”

“I’m okay. I was just wondering if me and a…friend could come stay with you and Stella?”

“Jensen?”

I shake my head eventhough I know he can’t see me. “Nick, could you just come, please?”

“Sure. I’m on my way. Meet me downstairs?”

“Actually, could you come up? I’ll buzz you in.”

“Okay?”

“Thank you.”

He hangs up and I go back to sit with the girl. That’s when I realize I don’t even know her name. “I’m Y/N, by the way.” I try to break the tension a little to make her feel comfortable, “I can’t believe I forgot to introduce myself.”

“Anna.”

“Nice to meet you, Anna. My friend’s gonna come here and take us back to him and his wife’s place. They live over in Manhattan. They’re both really nice. Stella is the one I was telling you about that helped me when I was going through my worst. You’ll be safe there.”

“W-will you c-come?”

“Of course. I won’t leave you.”

“I’m sorry I wasted your water and went through your stuff.”

“I’m just glad you’re okay. But I need you to tell me the truth, did you take any? I don’t mind, I’m just worried about you.”

She shakes her head. “I-I couldn’t…I couldn’t do it.”

“Well, I’m glad.”

She hangs her head again. “Todd’s gonna be so angry…”

I try my best to stifle a laugh, “Really? Todd? That’s his name?” She nods. “That’ll do it.” She looks up confused. “I’m sorry. It’s just in my experience, guy’s with T-names are the worse. The guy that cheated on me? Tyler…and also, Trent, before that.”

“Two guys?”

“What idiot falls for it twice, right? That’s why I want to help you now. Don’t make the same mistakes I did. Don’t let it become a pattern. Let him be your one and only lesson. Realize your worth now.” I hear the buzzer from the intercom near the door. I stand up and hold my hand out. “My friend’s here, let’s go back out where it’s warmer.”

She slowly takes my hand and lets me pull her up and lead her back to the couch. I only leave her for a few seconds while I buzz Nick up and then let him in. Being already on edge he scans the apartment and instantly spots Anna. 

He leans close and lowly says, “There’s some frantic guy in the lobby. I don’t think you should go anywhere. I’ll stay here.”

I nod in understanding and introduce him and Anna. I gently explain the change of plans and urge her to take my bed. She argues, claiming that she should go down and check if it’s him and calm him down. But Nick and I dissuade her. In the end, she says she doesn’t want to be alone, so I lay down in my bed with her while Nick rests on the couch watching TV.

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Taglist: @stoneyggirl2 @hobby27, @n-o-p-e-never, @deansimpalababy,

@winchesterwild78, @kr804573, @chriszgirl92, @smoothdogsgirl

@speakinvain, @deans-baby-momma, @1967winchesterimpala, @ladysparkles78

[atonalginger]

WIP Wednesday

I was tagged by the lovely and talented @fangbangerghoul, who shared a cool art wip today. thanks for the tag! I'm going to generally tag folks today because that way I don't worry I'm forgetting anyone lol. You got something you think you want to share, I've tagged you. I was thinking of you there. Yup, you.

Last week was a rough one for me creating wise. Heavy 'why bother' thoughts stopped me from even opening my laptop. I've been able to finally shake it and have another chapter down and hopefully will get more on track in the coming days but it's a process or whatever and there's going to be ups and downs.

I've also started to struggle at deciding what to share and what not to because...well I don't want to spoil my own story? I worry that sounds conceited but I want people to want to read the story and if they know everything that happens then...what would be the point? But also I'm only working on the one story atm so that's what I have to share...so I'm threading a needle here I guess. Maybe I'm overthinking things...

ANYWAY

I have a snippet from a chapter with Manny...well two snips...and some art? Under the read more for space saving.

first snippet:

Sleep was weird for Manny. It started with a nightmare where Cora had been snatched by the Redeemed instead of them. The monster wound up to slam her faceplate first into the concrete floor when everything froze. Her helmet was mere millimeters from an impact that would have shattered the glass, her body twisted in a gnarly position in the hands of the Redeemed.

“Quite a terrible scenario you’ve conjured.” A strange voice said. It was a delicate male voice with a raspy edge and a slight lisp. Manny looked around the still dream but could not find whoever spoke, “she’s replayed your flights every time she sleeps. Quite interesting that you can’t let go even to sleep.”

Manny searched for the source more, trying to pinpoint the direction with each word but it seemed to move around the edge of the scene. Almost like it was gliding across the floor.

“How would you fix this mess?”

Who are you? Manny asked.

“Not relevant,” He answered, “you have very little time left to fix this dream. How would you? Or will you watch her die?”

The last question set them off. They rushed the Redeemed and shoulder checked it, somehow knocking it off balance. They wanted Cora free from its grasp but knew from experience that the hands were like vices that would only release if a line was cut. A knife formed in their fist, an all black combat blade Evgeny had gifted them when they got the Eager Fortune. Manny found the weak point at the monsters elbows and dragged the blade across. Droplets of blood formed but nothing sprayed with time frozen. The vice grip released and Manny pulled Cora away, laying her on the floor before they turned back to the Redeemed. The knife punched through the neck guard with ease and with both hands Manny twisted the knife to carve out the throat before pulling it free.

“Such a savage kill,” the voice sounded delighted, “even if a touch too quick for my taste.”

Who are you!?

“Still not relevant,” He answered, “You should relax though. I’ve learned recently that too much stress does terrible things to the human mind and what’s to come demands you be sharp.”

What’s to come? How am I supposed to relax when…Who. Are. You?

“See, this is why I like you,” the lisp intensified, like the voice was hissing. Which was ridiculous, “You’ve got this spark! The passion, the energy, the fight. You are your own man, no matter what others try to do. If only you would embrace that more. You know who you are, why do you deny yourself that truth?”

Stop toying with me! Manny shouted, Who are you? what are you?

The pale blue eyes that first met them in the maintenance shaft flickered before them, “Who indeed, that is the question. Feel special, Manuel, I don’t put this level of effort into just anyone.”

Cora’s touch pulled them out of the nightmare. She was propped up on her elbow looking down at them with worry as she brushed their hair from their face. Then reality hit: they were struggling to breathe and drenched in sweat. She urged them to breathe in slowly, to focus on her voice, while she brushed their cheek with the backs of her fingers. Manny reached for her arm as they tried to comply, their mind a mess from whatever had just happened.

Her attention drifted to the edge of the bed, her expression hardening for a moment as she exhaled hard. The anger melted away as quickly as had appeared and she returned her attention to them with a tender kiss to their forehead.

--

snippet 2

She curled up next to them and broke down once more, her sobs rattling her whole body as she unloaded two weeks worth of fears. Manny rubbed her back and rocked her side to side while thinking about what the snake had said to them. ‘You are your own man, no matter what others try to do. If only you would embrace that more. You know who you are, why do you deny yourself that truth?’

It was something weighing on them for some time that they’d pushed away once they landed on Va’ruun’kai. When did they have time to contemplate that while facing a crisis like the one in Dazra. Why would He bother to waste time on it either? Cora said he was invested in the crisis, not either of them. Yet He took precious time to bring it up. He called them Manuel, a desire they had not shared with anyone.

--

I also have some art that is all set after the events of the current story.

Cora and Manny, some weeks after the story is over and they are back in Akila City. Cora stole that shirt from Manny's closet.

Manny and Cora about a year later. Cora stole that sweatshirt too. Half her wardrobe at that point is just stolen clothes from her boyfriend's closet.

[greypetrel]

WIP Wednesday

Thank you @heniareth for the tag! :D

I posted the main thing I worked on last weekend, oopsie! I have some progress on art, but not anything relevant nor anything new. So it's a writing thing. Beside the prompts, I'm working on the next DadWolf chapter. Aisling in Kirkwall working at the Gallows, Dorian still in Tevinter, everyone is having a great time.

Tagging: @salsedinepicta @ndostairlyrium @shivunin @dungeons-and-dragon-age

@dreadfutures (more on the Mythal redesign? I'm so curious) @inquisimer @rowanisawriter @skinwalkingxana @cao-the-dreamer and YOU!

The year had turned and Aisling was still in Kirkwall.

She sighed, deeply, slouching on the desk in Varric’s childhood home. She got her room -got told it was a guestroom, he insisted not to have her neither in Bartrand nor in his parent’s room- and it was simple but elegant, more spacious than whatever she’s had in the last years, between Denerim and Minrathous. The mail on the screen still looked at her and demanded an answer, asking her where she would have come back exactly, that she was needed up north, that they couldn’t postpone their research so much. Her grades, her doctorate, so on and so forth.

By now she knew the drill: Felix’s health plunged and professor Alexius became antsy and started pushing her and Dorian for more results, and quicker. Which was what he was doing now.

Aisling, 6:39 [ What’s the story, morning glory?

A fluke or I should really get back? How’s Felix? ]

She started to type her answer, carefully weighting words to be vague but not too much. Deleted a sentence, rewrote it, munched the nail of her thumb some more, as she thought. Surprisingly, her phone vibrated in few minutes.

Dorian, 6:42 [ The usual. Rough night, but he’s stable. He answers the phone if you want to write him, later. Yet another day of me alone reviewing notes and equations, I will die of consumptions, all alone and bored, no one to bring me snacks and working for all three. Alas!

But I’m that genial, so you can take your time. You haven’t finished there and what you sent me is… Concerning.

How’s the situation? ]

Aisling, 6:47 [ Already or still awake?

I’m worried. The results I have are… It’s nothing like any rock, it almost seems… Organic? I don’t know, I requested some treatises on lyrium from Orzammar, but the situation in the city is terrible, I don’t know if interlibrary loans are still even possible? I don’t know if anyone in the Shaperate will answer…

I don’t know, Dor, it’s… I just want to come back, but I don’t think I can. Can you send me those notes checked by today, please? I don’t want to drag it further than I should.

Sorry for the rant. I’m just tired. ]

Dorian, 6:55 [ Still awake, running on the fifth coffee and maybe getting some progress. You?

I was about to ask you if you were sure you sent me data on anything organic. I’m no biologist, but it’s weird, it’s too variable to be inert? I was supposing the etheric values to be like so, but not with such variability feels unlikely? Can you check again, please? I’ll forward you everything as soon as I’ll reach the pc.

Is there anyone valid who can help you, there? We’re too far to really be of help. Felix is also concerned about you, and Maevaris, I hope the lab is equipped enough for you to handle that stuff.

Would love to fly down but I think Alexius would have a stroke, and Felix will only feel worse without my brilliant company.

Work is dull without you, even if my ears are recovering without anyone screaming and you calling it music.

Get back soon before I die of boredom. ]

Aisling, 6:59 [ Go take a nap! Or tell Felix he can throw a shoe at you to make you go.

I really want to get back, by the way. ]

Dorian, 7:13 [ My head is forever disfigured, I hope you’re happy of the great results of your shoe-tossing campaign.

So bad? ]

Aisling, 7:15 [ I am drowning in a valley of tears out of my deep, deep regret for doing such a vile thing.

One of the templars is nice, and the mages stopped hating me so openly. But I keep feeling observed and out of place. I’m trying to help more, but I don’t know whether it’ll be appreciated.

Can I send you another project for you to read? I think I got the numbers right, but you’ve always been better than me with them. Show Felix too, I’d use an engineer.

I’ll present it in three days, wish me luck. -_- ]

Dorian, 7:17 [ You could have spared telling him to throw the second shoe.

You’re risking yourself by finding a way to avoid weird lyrium. Truly despicable, they all must be right.

Send whatever, as the best brother in the entire universe I’ll grace you with my attention. Yes, yes, a gift will be enough to thank me, no need to make it two, please.

By the way, you haven’t heard it from me but there are voices of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang in class. I’ll sign you up for Truly. ]

Aisling, 7:20 [ The first one was very envious that only her sister got the chance to hit such a modest, humble, totally demure personality.

You get what I mean.

Oh, cool!! Sign me up, but please, please, don’t sign up for Caractacus. I don’t want to go through Grease all over again, if mr Licinius wants us to remotely pass like we’re in love, I’m out. Plus, you were born to sing Posh!

On my way to the ferry, it’s too windy. Do you remember Kirkwall to be that windy? I’m freezing! >< ]

Dorian, 7:23 [ Preposterous, vile and malevolent! I’ll tell Varric to ground you. Surely he’ll send you to the Merchant Guild in his place if I suggest it.

Hey, our inverted part rendition was great. Sandy and Rizzo should have been together in the original, come on, we improved it. And say what you want on the moustache, but it gave Sandy the personality she lacks. We’ll improve Chitty too. Maybe we can also make it fly for real.

Mh.

Will send you calculations on the matter.

I remember it being cold. Have a nice day, and please get a further pair of gloves before playing with the lyrium. ]

Aisling, 7:45 [ Sadly he doesn’t want me to use the Guild money to buy horses. A good attempt, bro.

It was epic, thank you for leaving me Danny to play. But I think we’ll be kicked out of the musical theatre school altogether if we try it again. Plus I really want to play Truly.

I will! I’ll roll around from how many protective layers I’ll have on! I’ll be a sphere!

Have a nice day you too, hug Felix for me and get some sleep, please. ] *forwarded a selfie, Aisling is wrapped in an XXL scarf rolled around her neck, shoulders and head. Under a hat, all that peeks out is her reddened nose and eyes, closed in the wind that’s making short locks of hair stick horizontally. On the background, the Gallows towers emerges from the mist*

---

WRONG I actually went on with something! >:) Thank you for reading this long wip, have a treat:

[freeluigihesbae]

an announcement

i saw this fic bookmarked under an author's page. i had just read and commented under a fic of theirs and out of curiosity, i scrolled through their bookmarks to see this. i clicked to read to convince myself it wasn't what i thought it was, but unfortunately, it was.

there are certain things we can write, the extreme being smut between two people who can be entirely unrelated. step-sibling smut is probably the most we can push boundaries because some people aren't comfortable but the lack of blood relation is what makes it acceptable. i might not write it myself but i'm find with seeing it.

i clicked on this fic and i skimmed words in the first few sentences and i instantly closed my page. it was so disgusting. it was exactly what you're thinking (and frankly what the tags say it is). smut. about two brother who MIND YOU went through heavy sexual assault because of their parents. this goes beyond dead dove and fucked up.

what's worse are the comments. there are people cheering this fic on calling the portrayals of lyle and erik to be "hot" and "sexy." hell if these people were fantasizing about the brother individually fucking themselves, i wouldn't care. instead, these are comments people are making about a fictional setting in which both brothers are fucking each other?

it's disgusting to make sibling incest and even more deplorable when you make it about two brother who were destroyed by their parents and especially their father. i am so so so disappointed. i am so disappointed we are taking pleasure in things that are so screwed up and fucked up.

i commented earlier on a post @luigis-wetdream i believe had either made or re-blogged which i responded to talking about underage boys/children were being thirsted over. it's relevant here because erik is portrayed to be 15 in this fic but grows older and i just cannot. i cannot fathom or understand this in any capacity.

this fic has 106 comments and i can't help but wish hell upon every single one of the people who enjoyed it and further encouraged the author to continue. it's worth noting the author made themselves anonymous, obviously because they knew what the fuck they were writing was deplorable and absolutely criminal.

i have been an advocate for the menendez brothers starting halfway through 2024 and after understanding the facts of their case, i had a very clear view about documentaries that were made to profit from their case. a great example is the monsters show made about them - nic chavez and cooper koch were actors however the brothers were sadly portrayed in ways they should NOT have been during the course of the show.

what i want to highlight are the several problematic angles that come to light when you read the fic's tags. i was desperate to be proven wrong when i clicked on it but i closed my tab instantly. this is so disgusting and if you are one of the people quietly enjoying these things, you are a part of the problem and reason why some people still don't support the brothers.

it's not just about the fact they may have splurged after killing their parents, but some people believe they had sexual proclivities with each other which is further propagated by shit like this fic. 11 chapters? 1 chapter is bad enough but how do you come up with this much disgusting, vomit-inducing filth about those poor brothers?

i do not expect to speak much about them on this account because it's mainly for luigi and fics i'm writing for him but i just had to give a very strong warning for anyone who takes fics like these lightly, excusing it by saying "it's just fiction."

if it's just fiction, it should tell you about what this person and the people commenting accept. life is not a fucking fantasy. these are the same people who would gag if they saw two siblings make-out in front of them.

or maybe they wouldn't. i don't know. this made me feel so disgusting i wanted to throw my computer across the room.

there was a parent/child incest tag and i didn't know what to do other than write my feelings out.

with that being said, i want to conclude by saying that i FULLY support the menendez brother and believe they should be freed. my heart aches for them and even though i might not talk about them on my own volition, feel free to leave comments or messages/inbox requests and i'm happy to discuss my thoughts about them, their case, or any other related items.

i felt it was important to highlight that people like this exist. just remember this person made themselves anonymous.

don't be the kind of person who has to hide because you're killing your conscience to indulge in something that feeds extremely sick and fucked up desires.

tagging the smut tags for both actors because this is extremely important for those readers to know about this.

thank you all. please continue to support the brothers. educate yourself on their case if you aren't adequately up to date.

[theriu]

River Reads Midnight Sun

Well met, traveler! This is the starting post for my experiment, wherein I, who have never read the Twilight books or seen the movies, read Midnight Sun (basically Twilight from Edward's perspective) and commentate for (hopefully) your entertainment! I decided it would be easiest to do this a chapter at a time, and my commentary will essentially be a summary of each chapter so people equally unfamiliar with the story can follow along. You can follow or block this experiment with the tag #river reads midnight sun.

I think that should do it! Let's get started with:

Chapter 1: First Sight

In which Edward finds high schoolers very Boring and Inane, and also nearly goes bonkers over a potential snack.

First things first: Can we talk about how gross pomegranates look? Is the cover art SUPPOSED to resemble an optical illusion between a halved pomegranate and a bleeding heart? Either way, EW.

Right, on to business!

Edward is bored, you guys. He is SO BORED. High school is so boring. Purgatory is mentioned, as well as “tedium” and “monotonous.” He really wants us to know how bored he is, even though the word “boredom” is not used until the sixth paragraph. But trust me, he’s very bored. One begins to wonder why the immortal 100+-year-old vampire is choosing to hang out daily in such a boring place, but I’m sure it will be explained.

Now we learn about his mindreading powers! This is also very boring because most of the minds he has to read are petty high school minds. By the way, the inane sheeple chatter in the school mindscape today is all about the new girl! I wonder who she could be! Ed sure doesn’t care! He can see every angle of her face via peoples’ thoughts, and he is NOT impressed. Half the “sheep-like males” are crushing on her. Edward’s disdain for them is palpable, almost as if it's not totally normal and fine for human teenagers to find new things like a new student exciting. We may be witnessing a smidge of superiority complex, which is shocking, no doubt.

Mind-reading as a way to introduce other relevant characters is handy, I will grant the author that! Of course, Ed tries not to mindread his fellow vampires out of courtesy, but he KNOWS what they are probably thinking, and boy is he ready to tell us!

Rosalie: Is either actually super hot or super thinks she is, and apparently this debate encompasses her every waking moment. She only compares herself to VAMPIRES, of course, because humans could never be comparably hot. Related to a stagnant pool. Wow, Ed.

Emmett: Hyper competitive guy who has no new thoughts because he says EVERYTHING he thinks. Compared to a glass-clear lake. I suppose that means Ed maybe thinks he has depth? Maybe? We'll err on the side of optimism.

Jasper: Suffering. That’s literally the entire description.

Alice (who can see the future) introduces herself by beaming thoughts at Ed asking how Jasper is doing. Jasper is not doing well. Apparently he is so ready to eat people that he has forgotten how to Human and is sitting in a corpse-like rigor, because it seems when you become a vampire you lose quirks like restless leg syndrome and blinking? This feels full of potential hilarity to me, but I fear such hilarity will not be realized in this Very Serious Book.

Anyway, back to Jasper, who is SUFFERING. Alice asks if there is any danger. Edward signals no. Half a page later, his exposition about Jasper's problem adds, “Jasper was very dangerous right now." Okay, so which is it?! PICK A LANE, ED

(On a genuine note, I already like Alice; she counters Jasper’s fantasies about eating a girl by telling him her name and a few personal facts in a way that shows Alice makes an effort to know her classmates as more than just The Humans. Yay empathy!)

Btw, Ed’s internal monologue indicates they’re hanging out at this school to build their strength and endurance by being around humans and not eating them, and to that I say REALLY??? You chose high school for that?! The one where you’re SUPER BORED?? GO HANG OUT AT A COFFEE SHOP OR SOMETHING

Ope, plot progression! Bella has entered the chat lunchroom. Literally everyone is thinking about Bella, including Jessica, no doubt the requisite catty high school rival who crushed on Edward previously. She has many disgruntled thoughts about Bella, Bella noticing the Cullens, everyone noticing Bella, etc. Ed, who has been doing a great job keeping us up to date on the general thought processes of the student body, takes this moment to assure us once again how much he finds all of this chatter inane AND petty AND trivial, and he’s definitely going to try harder to block them out (again).

Wait, oh my word, was that a line of HUMOROUS BANTER between the Cullens just now?! I have renewed hope for this Very Serious Book!

So Edward is the vampires' mental scout who checks for people suspecting he and his family are inhumanly weird (as opposed to acceptably weird), and naturally he does a brain scan on Bella. Oooo but he’s not hearing anything! And now they have locked eyes! Her eyes are very odd, because of the DEPTH of them! Already, Bella is very Frail and immune to mindreading and somehow has “deeper” eyes than I guess any other human Edward has met in his 100+ years? Ed, I think you need to make eye contact more.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled torrent of inane high schooler thoughts! Amazingly, they are all still focused on Bella and being attracted to or jealous of her, because of course real high schoolers are all Inane and Tedious. (The one exception is Angela, who is busy thinking about homework. I like her, she seems normal.) Jessica is being catty again, and what’s this?! Ed suddenly has this STRANGE URGE to SHIELD Bella from this nasty girl! How very odd and unusual! Especially from a guy who very clearly finds all human teenagers Inane/Petty/Trivial! Bella must be special, except she is also “very unexceptional." Also, Ed is highly frustrated that he can’t read this girl’s mind, despite him constantly reading her like a book and her having “deceptively communicative” eyes.

Rosalie breaks Ed out of his frustration-driven contradictory spiral, and they all go to class, Ed casually mentioning his two medical degrees in an internal dig at his biology teacher (again, why are you hanging out at high school???) Naturally, Bella shows up and the only seat available is the one next to Edward, because Plot everyone is subliminally terrified of him. Ed has a moment of panic wondering if not hearing one girl’s thoughts means he has a vampire disease and is gonna lose all his mindreading, and then he has another moment of empathy for Bella having to sit next to the Scary Vampire.

Then she walks in front of an air duct, and Edward is suddenly overcome with INTENSE BLOODLUST THE LIKES OF WHICH HE HAS NEVER EXPERIENCED BEFORE!!! He wants to eat her SO BAD, you guys! He spends roughly EIGHT PAGES brooding on how badly he wants to eat her, noticing how delicious she smells, crushing the underside of a desk with his intense self-control grip (but having the presence of mind to “destroy the evidence” by rounding out the finger-shaped hole he just made), analyzing the logistics of eliminating a roomful of witnesses and whether to do so before or after eating her, seeing his monstrous reflection in her eyeballs, angsting over how bad he will feel when he murders a bunch of people, plotting ways of murdering her that WON’T result in collateral damage, questioning Bella’s sanity for daring to SHAKE HER HAIR IN HIS VICINITY, angsting about how disappointed his wonderful adoptive dad Carlisle will be (aww, that’s actually sweet), stubbornly deciding “she can’t make me,” hating Bella with the fury of a thousand suns for daring to smell so delicious, and shutting off his breathing so he has at least some self-control, which does sound uncomfortable but I applaud the effort.

Then class finally ends (for him and for us), and he goes and hides in his car. Which, honestly, relatable.

The car timeout helps restore his sanity, and he determines he does in fact not need to kill her and that hating her guts for smelling like an eight-course dinner probably isn’t fair! He just needs to avoid her as much as possible. Bless your heart for your optimism, Male Lead of a Paranormal Romance Novel.

The solution he comes up with is to charm the poor secretary (who keeps having to remind herself mentally that he’s too young for her, which, augh) into switching him to a different sixth-period course. Bella chooses this opportune moment to walk in, which he doesn’t notice until her DELICIOUS SMELL is blown over him (I question why someone with such advanced senses can only notice powerful smells when he is downwind of them). Edward’s Amazing Vampire Vision kicks in, allowing him to once again see his Monstrous Face in the reflection of her eyes, despite her being over against the wall. He briefly contemplates double homicide, then . . . uh . . . gives up on changing classes so he can walk away. This doesn’t feel like a long-term solution, Ed, but Kudos for the self-control.

The chapter wraps up with him jumping into his car (it’s the end of the day, so the others are waiting for him) and breaking the speed limit out of the parking lot. Alice uses Future Sight (it’s super effective!) to see that Ed is either going to book it out of Forks (the town) or go and murder Bella in her house. I once again have reason to like Alice, who orders him not to do it, adding that it would metaphorically kill Bella’s dad. He drops them off and races away again, not yet sure if he’s going to tell Dad Carlisle that he’s leaving or going to go eat the delicious new girl. And Scene!

Well, that wasn’t as painful as I feared, so huzzah! I kind of appreciate the internal look at his thoughts and how his mindreading lets us see other characters even when they can’t talk. Got a bit long at times, especially with how Inane and Petty and Trivial high schoolers are to Edward! LOTS OF DETAIL about how badly he wanted to eat Bella and possibly murder all bystanders, which I guess does go to show how bad the bloodlust is, because dang! (But why do none of the others have this reaction to her yet? Maybe they just don’t have classes with her. You must be this close to the Bella to ride the maniac vampire train!)

And with that, I have earned a much-deserved break before delving into CHAPTER TWO: OPEN BOOK! I’m sure Edward will totally succeed in his plan to skedaddle out of Forks and never see Bella again! Stay positive, Ed! =Dd

Chapter 2->

[thebookofeibon]

a sweeter alternative

Rating: T Chapters: 1/1 Words: 6868 Fandom: Ensemble Stars Ships: ReiKao Relevant "tags": blood time. uh sex mentions and allusions i don't write it though i'm not at that comfort level yet.

“You know how he uses it in place of blood?” Kaoru kept his eyes on Rei, catching Adonis’s nod in the corner on his eye. “Well the past couple of months, it hasn’t been doing the job.” “Huh? What do you mean past couple of months?” Koga eyed Rei. “He’s been drinking twice the amount he usually does, he’s been drinking different brands, and he’s still slow as if he’s low on energy.”

i'll add squidgeworld link when i post to there

for now u can read under the cut!

i suppose i can start putting my notes here in the mean time. uhhh this one's been in the works since october, just chipping away at it here and there. idr what the inspo was i think i just wanted to address the vampire thing.

his vampirism works how i want it to work bc it's a disability and i am also disabled and that's that. idc that vampirism isn't real

this is in my little series i had on ao3 where they live together in an apartment and i don't know the timeline for realsies i'm making shit up. this is actually the first one in the series to not have a pinocchioP title and it's bc. i couldn't find one. what can i say he doesn't have any vampire songs. the vocaloid vampire song also didn't fit but it was the working title of this.

i'll also make a page for this series on this blog since. gestures to no longer using ao3

~~~~~~~~~~~

“Rei-kun.”

“Mmm.”

“Don’t ‘mmm’ me, you heard exactly what I just said.”

Rei doesn’t answer, entirely pissing Kaoru off. “You have had two large containers of tomato juice this week and you’re still falling asleep in random places. It’s not working the way it used to.” Rei’s grip on his pillow grows tighter as he really pushes the limits his face can go into it. “It’s 8pm, and I’ve been trying to wake you up for almost two hours.” He walked over to the bed to take the pillow, only to find Rei’s resistance to be much stronger than it should be. “This. Has been happening. For two months!!!” He tugged at the pillow with all of his might, though he really couldn’t get anywhere with it. “You need blood!” A final tug that still resulted in nothing causes Kaoru to let go, huffing as he caught his breath. “I don’t pretend to know your condition, but I fear that staying strictly with tomato juice isn’t going to work anymore!”

Rei stayed with his head buried in the pillow, only letting out a groan in response.

“You’re acting like a child.”

Rei mumbled a response into the pillow, completely inaudible.

“I can’t hear you.” A beat. Two. “You are impossible.” He huffed, walking with a little too much force out of the room.

Only when he was sure Kaoru was out of sight did Rei lift his head to look out into the living room. He frowned, eyebrows scrunched together in…it’s not anger, it’s not disappointment, dismay?

He didn’t really want to accept that Kaoru was right. Rei has known for a few months now that something was wrong with his juice intake, but he’d hoped that it wasn’t obvious, and it hasn’t really been to the kids. But Kaoru? Of course he’d figure out, it was dumb to even entertain the idea that the man he lives with and sleeps next to wouldn’t notice something was wrong. He laid his head sideways on the pillow, still looking out into the hallway. He was still tired.

He even tried changing brands, thinking maybe his default brand was the problem, but after trying all the ones available on the market, something else that Kaoru for sure would’ve noticed, he also began to come to the same conclusion.

This vampire does need blood to survive.

He began questioning family members after the first month, especially those he knew took alternatives for blood. But he didn’t receive answers he liked.

“Yeah, it stopped being viable after I turned 25, like its good when I’m in a pinch but I don’t rely on it anymore”

“I stopped relying solely on tomato juice when puberty hit, it’s still my primary source but I do need actual blood every other month to be at top shape.”

“There’s no alternative that’ll provide you accurately with the amount of iron our bodies need. As an idol, I’m surprised you’ve made it this long before realizing the faults in your juice alternative.”

Rei’s brought out of his head by the sound of a loud “clink” on the bedside table and he looks up to spot Kaoru, placing a full glass of tomato juice on the bedside table.

“Decided to show your face after all?” Kaoru teased, ruffling Rei’s bed head.

“You just said the juice isn’t working.” Rei grumbled, eyeing the damned glass. He hates this brand, he’s learned. Too sugary for his tastes.

“Well, you have a whole thing still and you’re fighting this theory so it's the best I can do.” He shrugged and walked out again.

Rei watched him with a scowl. “Come back here.”

Kaoru turned his head back pensively. “Hmmm? Does his wicked highness finally see fit to have my offering?” He turned around with a grin and a bow.

“What’s wrong with me just wanting to have you near?” He didn’t let up on his scowl. “Senior year you would be appalled by this behavior.”

“Hmmm? Why are you so caught up with how senior year me would feel? This is nothing! What senior year me would be devastated by is the amount of time we spend making out. Or how much sex we’ve had.” Kaoru smiled as he walked back into the bedroom. “Seriously Rei-kun! My one time of being pissed off at you for biting me has been waaaaay overshadowed by how many times you have given me head in the last, what? Four years? Since that whole ordeal.”

Rei buried his face again by the end of Kaoru’s ramble, burning red ears all that’s visible of his immodesty. He was right, technically speaking. High school Kaoru is at this point a different person than his current partner, that Kaoru would faint if he even knew they lived together.

“Honestly, Rei-kun?” Kaoru was next to his ear suddenly, causing Rei to jump and look over to catch the smug grin spreading across his tan skin. “I think it’d be suuuper hot if you took my blood during sex.”

“Gross, did talking about my mouth get you horny?” Rei pushed Kaoru’s face away and reburied his own.

“Hmmm? You act like you’ve never thought about it~.” He can hear the grin he still has. Hands grasp at his shoulders and begin to rub. “Like you don’t linger when giving me hickeys, or when you can’t help yourself and still bite slightly too hard.” He pressed harder into the knot Rei had there, the vampire letting out a moan.

“You almost sound like you want me to feed on you for your pleasure more than my well being.” He grumbled into his pillow.

“I can bring up non-sexual examples too~” Another tight push against Rei’s shoulder has the vampire letting out a small whimper. “Whenever we cuddle, you always nuzzle into my neck at least once. In fact, it’s more rare that you don’t immediately bury your face into my neck. I’m always thinking, wow, I feel super vulnerable with how close his mouth is to my neck!”

Rei whined into his pillow, half in embarrassment, half in pleasure from the massage. He turned his head so he wasn’t talking into it anymore. “Really? Always?”

Kaoru laughed. “So you don’t even do it on purpose?”

“No!”

“When I wear my turtlenecks, sometimes I catch you staring at my neck when I move in a way that exposes more skin.”

“Kaoru-kun, this is embarrassing me. I’m going to cry. Do you want me to cry?” He pouted, holding back a whine when Kaoru removed his hands from him. “Why do you hate me? What did I ever do to you?”

“Not drink my blood.” The pillow Rei had been attached to this whole time quickly left his hands and collided with Kaoru’s face.

-----------------------------

It was a bad day from the minute Rei woke up, but they had an important media interview today so he really pushed himself to get out of bed and face the day.

Honestly? It’s been a bad week for the vampire. With no real reason for his energy to be completely depleted, he understood what it meant. He really didn’t want to admit it though, he really didn’t want to have to rely on blood.

“Hey, Rei-kun.” Kaoru nudged at him on the couch, gaining only a groan from the vampire. “I know you’re tired, let’s try and get some food in you before we have to go.” Rei opened his eyes at that, already concerned.

“What time is it?”

“Really? It’s only been 20 minutes since you woke up.”

“…Really?” He almost wanted to cry at that, it’s felt like an hour.

Kaoru frowned at him. “Seriously…I know it’s an off day for you but even that’s a little concerning. Come on, let’s go eat.”

They stopped at a diner nearby that Kaoru likes, ordering something small each with some coffee. Coffee doesn’t usually work on Rei unless he’s really lucky, but it’s the thought that counts here.

“Oi-hey! No falling asleep.” Kaoru tapped on Rei’s plate with his fork to make noise, startling Rei from what he supposed was dozing. “Finish eating, maybe that’ll keep you awake.”

He stared down at his half-eaten omelette with a frown, picking up his fork again. Every little bit helps.

“We’re here, wake up.” Kaoru nudges Rei awake again. The cab had come to a stop and Kaoru was in the middle of paying her. Rei seemed to be only capable of frowning today, mainly at himself. Kaoru glanced to him, offering a smile as he started to push Rei out the door.

“This is the fourth time in the last two hours he’s fallen asleep.” Kaoru sighed. “I know I shouldn’t complain, it’s out of his control, but it’s really frustrating today.” Rei blinked his eyes open, watching Kaoru and Koga talk in the waiting room outside of the recording studio.

“Maybe once he gets talking he’ll stay awake.” Adonis shrugged beside Rei on the couch. “Oh, good morning Sakuma-san.” He smiled at him, and Rei couldn’t help but return the smile.

Kaoru sighed again, much more audibly than before. He dug into his bag and pulled out a juicebox, tossing it to Rei. “Please, this is just an hour and a half, Rei-kun.”

Rei fumbled to catch the juicebox, but he did nonetheless, and he carefully detached the straw and stuck it into the top. “I’m sorry, you know I’m not usually this bad…” He sipped slowly on the box.

“The weather’s kinda whack right now, more than usual, s’probably what’s affecting you.” Koga crossed his arms. “Plus the thing you were complainin’ about the other day with your juice.” He gestured at him with his chin.

“Yeah…” Rei deflated a bit into the couch, feeling everyone’s eyes on him.

“What’s wrong with your juice?” Adonis tilted his head.

“You know how he uses it in place of blood?” Kaoru kept his eyes on Rei, catching Adonis’s nod in the corner on his eye. “Well the past couple of months, it hasn’t been doing the job.”

“Huh? What do you mean past couple of months?” Koga eyed Rei.

“He’s been drinking twice the amount he usually does, he’s been drinking different brands, and he’s still slow as if he’s low on energy.” Rei tried to shrink down as much as he could in the couch, trying to avoid eye contact. It’s embarrassing. Kaoru tutted. “You are so annoying sometimes.”

“Then…are you saying he needs blood?” Adonis tilted his head.

“Exactly. And he’s refusing to take any.”

Koga clicked his tongue, then finally brought his eyes off Rei to look at Kaoru again. “We can’t really force him.”

Kaoru kept his eyes on his partner however. “…No, I suppose not.”

“UNDEAD?” A woman’s voice called out, breaking the tension. “We’re ready to get you guys set up.”

-----------------------------

Rare, these days, for Rei to turn down showering with Kaoru when they got home, and with how his health has been, he really should’ve taken the opportunity to share the shower with him. But he wanted time alone to think.

He’d really been trying to ignore it, not even out of pride really. He’s grown accustomed to admitting when he needs help. He has friends willing to accommodate his needs and he couldn’t be more grateful for them because of it.

It’s not pride, it’s…arrogance. That’s it. The refusal to admit that he’s wrong. It’s been several months now, at this point the tomato juice hasn’t been helping longer than it has this year. It’s at least worth a try now to take blood, no matter how little he actually wants to do it.

It partly has to do with Kaoru’s refusal that Easter, the fear of hurting him always at the back of his mind, but a lot does have to do with how he just doesn’t want to drink blood. He’s trying so hard to be human, he’s doing everything he can to be human. Drinking blood is not a human activity!

And he hates the taste of it!!! That’s why he settled with tomato juice, because it actually tastes good!!! Why should he have to do something he can’t even-

“Your turn.” Kaoru walked past Rei brooding on the couch and ruffled his hair, drawing him out of his thoughts for the moment. He looked up, lifting his head out of his hands, just when had he slouched over? He probably looked just as crazed as he felt. “Don’t think too hard in there, you might overheat.” Kaoru smiled.

Rei huffed a laugh, relaxing his shoulders a bit. “Yeah, of course.” He stood up with a few joint cracks and began to walk up the bathroom-

“I’m serious though. Try to sit while you’re in there, and leave the door unlocked, okay?” Kaoru dropped his smile. Ah, alright.

“Mm, of course.”

The shower was nice, he supposed, though it would be quicker to stand, sitting at least gave him time to think again. He really could just ask. It doesn’t need to have some special occasion. Though it’s kind of embarrassing at this point to admit defeat, after being urged to do this from family and friends for so long now. And again, sometimes just the smell of blood was enough to upset his stomach, thinking about the smell is even-

A trail of blood running down the drain with the water appears and it startles him, jumping back a bit to try and locate where the bleeding is coming from, knocking some bottles down in the process. He lifted a hand to his face and sighed as he drew it back. A nosebleed. Okay, sure, this might as well happen.

The bathroom door opened a crack. “You alright?” Right. The noise.

“Yea-” A cough, “Yeah I’m fine- Nosebleed.” He breathed in, head going light. “Could you come turn the water off, dear.” He lifted a hand to his head. A vampire who can’t even look at blood, how inane.

Kaoru opened the door further and walked in, opening the curtain on the side closer to the valve to shut it off. “Are you alright?” He asked again.

“A bit lightheaded is all, mind getting me some tissues?” He did his best to keep his head tilted downward until Kaoru pulled the curtain back, sitting on his knees, with a few tissues in hand. Instead of letting Rei take them from him, he instead reached in himself to block the nostril the blood was coming from.

“I told you not to think too hard.” Kaoru laughed, using his other hand to cradle Rei’s head. Rei leaned into his touch instinctively, doing his best to keep his head lowered. “It’s hot in here too, were you trying to instigate a nosebleed?” 

Rei glowered at him, taking a deep breath in. It was a joke, he understands, and Kaoru simply chuckled at the stare. He pulled the tissue away momentarily to assess the bleed, then quickly repositioned it to a cleaner area to hold against the nostril again. Rei sighed, his health was never going to be easy, was it?

-----------------------------

Rei lie on his back on the bed, shirtless as he didn’t want to risk staining any shirts, fingers interlocked over his chest as he stared up at the ceiling, wad of tissue paper plugged up his nose to get the remaining blood taken care of. Kaoru entered the room after a few more minutes, bringing with him some tart slices that he had bought earlier that day.

“I got one for both of us~! Recovering from a shower nosebleed seems fitting time to eat it!” He smiled and sat on the edge of the bed. “Usually eating in bed is against our rules but what’s the harm in bending this once?” He set the plate down on his lap and patted the spot next to him. “Come, sit.”

“…I…” Rei squinted with tightly knit brows, not looking away from the ceiling.

“Hm?” Kaoru was already picking up his slice to eat.

Rei stayed silent a moment before finally shifting his gaze to Kaoru. It softened when he saw how content he was with the bite he’d taken, a small smile stretching across the blond’s lips that he probably didn’t even notice he had. He opened his mouth again, then closed it when nothing came out and turned back to the ceiling.

Kaoru’s head tilted. “Babe, I’m not a mind reader, and if I was, your’s would be impossible anyways.”

“…” Rei turned his head completely away, embarrassed just a little. “I need blood.” It was quiet, small, not meant to leave this one piece of furniture. He refused to look in Kaoru’s direction. He could already feel his gaze on him and he wasn’t really keen on the teasing that would follow.

But there wasn’t a verbal response, he heard some movement, likely Kaoru setting the plate down, then felt the bed move as slowly his light was obstructed. Kaoru’s hand landed next to his head and he frowned, still refusing to look up at him.

“You open yourself up to me and yet refuse to look at me? You wound me, Rei-kun.” Kaoru sighed. Using the hand on the opposite side of Rei’s face, he lifted Rei’s chin to face him upwards, smiling a little at the blush covering his cheeks, then frowned when Rei still focused his gaze on the wall. With a huff, he pulled his waist up further onto the bed and placed his legs on either side of the vampire, sitting down onto his stomach. “What’s a guy got to do to get even a glance, huh?” He scowled as he watched Rei’s gaze shift not towards him, but upwards to further avoid looking at Kaoru.

Rei’s hands fidget on his chest, unlocking themselves to tap idly without thought. Kaoru clicked his tongue watching them, evidence that Rei isn’t entirely spaced out from the moment. In one swift motion, they’re taken from their place on his chest and pinned above his head, taking Rei off guard enough to finally look back at him with wide eyes.

“There we go~ All I had to do was surprise you!” Kaoru grinned, releasing his grip on Rei’s hands to lean in and place a kiss on his lips. “I don’t like being ignored, you know~” To punctuate, he pulled the tissue out of Rei’s nose, only taking a moment to examine how fresh the blood on it was before tossing it to the floor.

Rei watched the tissue fall to the floor with a frown. “Gross.” He couldn’t help but laugh, though, when Kaoru tried to go in for another kiss. “Hold on, hold on.” He placed a hand in front of his face to catch Kaoru’s, laughing when Kaoru still tried to push through. “Down boy!” He jokingly raised his voice.

Kaoru grinned. “Down?” The glint in his eye was mischievous. Rei sighed as Kaoru took the hand placed against his face and laced his fingers with it. “Easy command~” He followed through and started to kiss down Rei’s neck, hovering when Rei’s laugh bubbled out.

“You’re going to agitate my nosebleed, then I’m going to get blood all over the bed.” He squeezed Kaoru’s hand, using his other to slide into his blond hair.

“Oh you’ll be fine.” Kaoru hummed as he trailed further down. “We have tissues in here if it comes back.” He paused at Rei’s collarbone, glancing up at him. “It doesn’t help when you’re encouraging me, either.” He smiled, free hand aimlessly wandering Rei’s chest. Rei grinned down at him, then gripped his hair and pulled back with enough force to pull him away. “Ah!” Kaoru laughed. “Hey!”

“As much as I’d like to continue,” Rei let go of his hair to dramatically drape his arm across his forehead and closed his eyes, “I am oh-so tired from losing blood-”

“Then take some of mine.” Kaoru narrowed his eyes playfully.

Rei opened his eyes to peek down to him again. “Aside from the tart, have you eaten recently?”

Kaoru blinked, then looked up in thought. “Uhh…”

Rei clicked his tongue with a smile. “No blood drinking tonight then, dear.” He lifted his arm off his head to cup Kaoru’s cheek. “Thank you for the offer, though.”

“Come on, we’re in bed, it’s not like I’m going to go on stage right after.” Kaoru pouted.

“No, you’re still wanting to fool around though, which is still quite a rigorous activity, don’t you think?” Rei’s thumb brushed against Kaoru’s lips, which only prompted the blond to open them and take the digit into his mouth. “Kaoru-kun.”

“We can always stop if it gets too much~?” Kaoru leaned down again to be just in front of Rei’s lips. “I can be the one resting?” He lowered his voice as he lowered himself to brush lips.

Rei ran over the options in his head, subconsciously wetting his lips. Their hands let go of each other, Rei’s landing on Kaoru’s thigh and Kaoru’s coming to Rei’s face to tip him far enough to close the distance.

He still wasn’t keen on the idea of drinking blood, thinking about the taste is almost enough to make him pull away from the warmth of Kaoru’s mouth in disgust. He could feasibly take only a little bit, work himself up slowly to drinking more over time. He slowly pushed himself to sit up, Kaoru taking the hint to help ease the transfer of positions. They parted from each other temporarily to allow Kaoru to lie down and Rei to climb on top of him, then came back to each other as quickly as possible. Rei shuffled his hips further down on Kaoru so he could trail down his neck with ease.

Were they not idols, in some other universe, Rei would love to mark Kaoru up as much as possible, he hesitated in one spot on his neck and debated if it was too high up to cover with a turtleneck before deciding it was. He moved lower before taking the skin in his lips. Not biting, not here. A sigh leaves Kaoru’s mouth as Rei’s hand travels up underneath his shirt. Makeup would definitely need to be used to cover this one, but it won’t be as noticeable.

“A bit high up, don’t you think?” Kaoru carded his fingers through Rei’s hair.

Rei took a moment longer before pulling away, using both hands now to pull Kaoru’s shirt up, which Kaoru obliged and lifted his arms to remove the article. “I just wanted to do that one.” Once the shirt was removed, he moved back to where he was and traveled further, pausing once again in a spot, but this time to try and gauge where to bite. “I’ll only take a little…I’m not exactly…fond of the taste.” He hovered around a general area around Kaoru’s neck and collarbone.

“Alright, fair enough.”

“Don’t be offended if I don’t like it.”

“You’re still human, I think it’s rather normal to dislike the taste of blood.”

The reassurance was nice, it was almost the push that Rei needed to dive in. He checked the pulse in one spot and took a deep breath in before pressing his lips to the spot, then lightly placed his fangs against it. It’s not like he hasn’t bitten Kaoru before, or drawn his blood from a bite either, but those were different. Those were just bites to bite, this is fairly common practice in any couple. This bite was different, this is…

Kaoru’s fingers slowly brushed through Rei’s hair and it almost made Rei laugh. Why is the guy getting blood taken from him in such a monstrous way more relaxed about this than the one taking the blood?

No, he can’t be anxious about this when he’s already poised to strike. With another deep breath taken through his nose, he bites down, incisors piercing through Kaoru’s unblemished skin. Kaoru lets out a grunt at the bite, fingers gripping somewhat tighter into Rei’s hair. It takes everything in Rei to stay biting and let the blood into his mouth.

It wasn’t as bad as he had been dreading, not necessarily good either, but he isn’t immediately repelled by the taste and texture. It tasted like blood, that’s for sure, but perhaps it’s the thought that it’s Kaoru’s blood that has Rei thinking that it has something unique to it, a sweetness that Koga and Adonis’s blood didn’t have. The indifference didn't last for much longer, however, as the texture on his tongue began to become too much for him to handle and he released Kaoru, licking the puncture wounds as he had been taught in the past.

He pulled away completely to look Kaoru in the eyes once he was sure the blood wouldn’t flow too much more. Kaoru looked at him with a smile, eyes only slightly distant. “Are you alright?” Rei broke the silence first.

“I am, I think if you had gone any longer I would’ve had a problem, though.” He chuckled. “Are you alright?”

Rei nodded, returning Kaoru’s smile. “I am…I’m sorry, I should’ve stopped sooner, I spaced out.”

“I thought you didn’t like the taste?” Kaoru clasped his hands together to rest on his chest, mirroring Rei’s earlier pose.

“I…didn’t really. But it tasted different than I thought it would.” Rei huffed, averting his gaze. “I was distracted by that thought for a moment longer than I should’ve been.”

Kaoru chuckled. “Perhaps the necessity of it is what changed your thought process?”

“Perhaps.”

“Rei-kun.” He unlaced his fingers and slid his hands to Rei’s thighs, Rei’s gaze coming back to him. Kaoru’s smile widened, eyes squinting. “Ready to resume where we were?”

Rei blinked, then grinned back at him. “Wasting no time at all, are you?”

Kaoru’s hands traveled up Rei’s thighs to his hips. “What can I say? You’re like, glowing right now, and it’s kinda hot.”

Rei chuckled, then leaned back down to kiss him.

Kaoru doesn’t tell him that he still has blood on his chin, and when Rei’s nosebleed does come back a few minutes later, it covers up the prior blood when it leaks onto Kaoru’s face mid-kiss, making Kaoru laugh. They absolutely have to clean the sheets after this.

-----------------------------

It’s immediately apparent the next day at practice that Rei was feeling better. He was more energetic, more aware, more talkative. Koga and Adonis didn’t comment on it until Kaoru entered the practice room late after leaving his badly scheduled photoshoot and changed to a t-shirt, revealing just enough of his neck that the bite marks are visible.

Koga almost growled at him. “Why do you need to wear a collar that loose?”

He grinned. “It’s easier to practice choreography in loose clothing, isn’t it? Besides, don’t I usually wear shirts like this to practice?” He started his warm up stretches, eyeing Koga.

“So you let Sakuma-san take your blood?” Adonis chimed in to try to break up the tension.

“Mhm~ Though it’s more like he let himself take my blood.” He switched to a new stretch as he talked.

“That’s good.” Adonis smiled and looked over to Rei. “You seem a lot better.”

Rei returned the smile and began to start talking when Koga cut him off.

“Should Hakaze-san even be at practice today then?” He said it almost accusatory, pointing with his thumb over to him.

“He didn’t take a lot.”

“Mm, as Kaoru-kun says, I only took a small amount to ease myself into drinking blood. As you know, I don’t like the taste.” Rei nodded. “But yes, even that small amount did make me feel much better than I have in a while.”

“What made you decide to do it finally?” Adonis had shifted onto the floor to help Kaoru with his last stretches.

Rei hummed, closing his eyes in thought. “I am tired of feeling so weak. Kaoru-kun had me sit in the shower last night because he was worried I’d faint standing up and hurt myself. Then when I was in there, I got a nosebleed that usually wouldn’t be a problem, but since I’ve been this way, it nearly knocked me out.” He opened his eyes. “I need to do what is best for my body, I suppose.”

Adonis nodded. “I understand, I’m glad you feel better then, even if it requires doing something you don’t like. It’s like taking a medication with a bad taste.”

“Exactly, Adonis-kun.” Rei smiled.

Kaoru stood up with one last stretch. “And with Rei-kun feeling better, we should get on our practice, hm?”

“Agh, yeah we need to catch you up.” Koga groaned. “Alright. We’re moving on then.”

-----------------------------

As spring began rolling in, it became harder for Kaoru to cover up the bite marks on his neck, and they weren’t exactly keen on flaunting their relationship so publicly since they’re idols, so problem solving began. Because of Rei’s vampirism, he was able wean himself off of taking from Kaoru as often as he was—which was only every other week, changing it to every three weeks—and was able to play off his new fatigue as a sun problem, which wasn’t entirely a lie either. Supplementing it with tomato juice offered some extra relief, even if it wasn’t as good as blood.

Thankfully, there are other places to get the best blood flow that also weren’t dangerous for Kaoru. In a pinch, Rei could go for the inner elbow as if he was a doctor, though it’s not easy to bite there. If he’s well aware of what clothing Kaoru will be wearing for the next week and a half, Rei can go for practically any spot that’s likely to be mostly covered.

But the best area that is a catch all for privacy and decency, they found, was the thigh, which unless for some reason Kaoru wanted to wear more revealing swimwear, was completely hidden. Unfortunately, this required proper planning ahead, as it wasn’t something they could do last minute in a public place by sneaking away for a few moments.

“I suppose it was only a matter of time before we had to start planning our sex lives out.” Kaoru laughed as Rei dragged him to the bedroom.

Rei snorted in response. “It doesn’t have to end with sex every time, dear. We watched a movie after the last time.” He lightly pushed Kaoru to sit on the bed. “Besides, we’re not completely scheduling that out, this would be an outlier.” He lowered himself to his knees and scooted towards Kaoru’s legs.

“I suppose you’re right.” Kaoru grinned down as Rei unbuttons his pants. Rei looked up at him as he slid the jeans down. “You’re so pretty.”

Rei hummed, slipping his fingers into Kaoru’s waistband. “I’m beginning to think all this is just a means for you to get off instead of a means of me getting energy.” He slid his underwear down, revealing both thighs, one of which was still very bruised from the last feed. He heard Kaoru laugh above him.

With his own teasing remark and the bruised leg in sight, Rei hesitated as he really took in the severity of the situation again. He rested his hands on the inside of Kaoru’s thighs as he sat back on the balls of his feet with a frown. A minute passed and then there’s a hand on his chin, tilting his head to eye level. He looked past Kaoru, unable to meet his eyes all of a sudden.

“This is for you, babe.” Kaoru moved his head to try and catch Rei’s gaze. “I’m playing it up a bit, I’m sorry if it came out serious.” He smiled.

Rei still avoided looking him in the eye, staring at his forehead instead, then looked back down to his bruised leg. “Perhaps we should bump the frequency down to once a month…” He mumbled. “Or drop it entirely for the summer…”

Kaoru frowned. “It’s your life, if that’s what you want to do, we can. I’m just concerned about your energy levels if we were to drop this entirely, you’ve been much more active since we started doing this.”

He couldn’t fight the claim, this is the most awake he’s been since before the war, it’s kind of nice, all things considered. The bruises are turning green as they get closer to healing. “I don’t know.” It was hard for him to admit, he’s so accustomed to having to know everything.

Kaoru watched him for a moment, then sighed, sitting up. “Come here.” He held his arms open. “Let’s rest today, then. We have no other responsibilities until tomorrow afternoon.” Rei stood up, wrapped his arms around Kaoru, and immediately shifted all of his weight on him, causing them both to fall back on the bed. “Whoa!” He laughed, patting Rei’s back. “Hold on hold on my pants are still down-“

“Just kick them off.” Rei mumbled into the crook of Kaoru’s neck.

“Not when you still have pants on! The sensory problems I’ll have are chilling to think of!”

“Then take mine off.”

Kaoru laughed. “Fine!”

-----------------------------

As the weather cooled down again, Rei permitted himself to go back to two feedings a month, as Kaoru had begun to wear higher collars again. There was something about feeding from his neck that Rei didn’t have problems with like he had with the legs. Perhaps it was the cliche of it, or the intimacy, or the way it looks when he’s done.

It was frustrating to him how much he clearly needed the blood, life could never be simple for him. He pulled away from Kaoru with hesitation, watching the blood trickle down his collarbone for a moment. Kaoru’s hand in his hair ran through his curls lightly. It was the intimacy, he decided, that drew him more to the neck than anywhere else.

“Still find blood gross?” Kaoru whispered, not so much for privacy as they sat alone in the meeting room, waiting for their juniors, but more so from the lack of energy after having given it to Rei.

Rei licked at the wound, peppering light kisses around it. “A bit.” He murmured back.

“You’re not fooling me, you know. Perhaps you just like my blood~ I’m your exception now~.” With his other arm available now, he pat Rei’s back.

Rei chuckled and sat back, looking down at Kaoru’s face. “I didn’t take too much, did I?” He brushed some of Kaoru’s hair out of his face.

“I didn’t eat necessarily well today is all, no worries.” He let his arms fall to Rei’s thighs.

Rei idly fixed Kaoru’s collar to cover the bite, mainly to make sure it’s coverable. “And you let me drink from you? Bad Kaoru-kun.”

Kaoru opened his mouth to speak when the meeting room door opened, Rei quickly threw himself down next to Kaoru on the off chance it wasn't Koga and Adonis coming in. Koga paused at the door at the sound of Rei hitting the couch quite heavily.

“Should I be concerned?” He eyed them, watching Rei sigh.

“No, I was just being safe.” Rei smiled.

“You have blood on your chin, it wouldn’t have worked.” Koga sighed as he walked in, followed by Adonis, whose eyes widened at the sight. Rei bristled and lifted his sleeve to wipe at it, lightly slapping Kaoru’s arm.

“I wanted to see how far into the meeting we’d get before you noticed.” Kaoru grinned. “Thought it’d be funny.”

Adonis sat down across from them. “I fear it wouldn’t have lasted very long.”

Koga closed the door before sitting beside Adonis. “You two are disgusting.”

“You say that yet you haven’t complained about Rei not being active recently, so you have to pick~” Kaoru shot him a very cheeky grin.

“What is this, a game? I have 0 control over you freaks.” Koga scoffed. “You know, when you stopped flirting with girls I was glad because it made you less annoying, then you immediately began flirting with Sakuma-san-“ He squinted. “And you just dropped the honorific! Shameless!”

Kaoru cackled at his response, throwing his head back as his chest shook for a moment.

“Oh my, you did drop the honorific.” Rei smiled, a hand coming up to his face to try and hide his smile.

“Both of you! Disgusting!”

Adonis smiled, letting out a small chuckle before speaking. “As fun as this interaction is, we do need to discuss funding.”

Rei beamed. “Yes yes.” He clapped his hands twice. “Serious mode everyone!”

-----------------------------

Adonis and Kaoru left the booth to go to the bathroom while they waited for their food to arrive, leaving Koga and Rei sitting across from each other. Rei hummed a song he had been fine-tuning for the last week while watching the direction of the bathroom. He faded out his humming as he glanced to Koga, feeling the other’s gaze piercing through him. “What’s on your mind, Koga-kun?”

Koga bristled for a second before sighing softly. “Are you happy? With drinking blood?” He frowned. crossing his arms.

Rei blinked, turning so he could look properly at his friend. “What do you mean?”

He slanted his lips as he thought of an answer. “You hate blood. Is it worth the energy?”

Rei thought for a moment, humming softly as he did. “I wonder the same thing, sometimes.” Is what he comes up with. “It’s different, having all this energy again.”

Koga huffed. “I don’t really think that answers the question.”

Rei closed his eyes, picturing the image of blood running down Kaoru’s neck. A year ago it would’ve made him queasy to think about drinking it, but now he felt indifferent towards it. “I guess I just don’t have an answer. It’s complicated.”

Koga was quiet, glancing to the bathroom’s direction again. “If the two of you weren’t dating, would you still do it?”

That was something that hadn’t really occurred to him. Would he? He can’t even imagine another reality where he was in this situation and he wasn’t in a loving relationship with Kaoru. He thought then about the possibility of it being Keito, or Wataru, maybe even Shu or Kanata. In each scenario, he could see it happening so long as they loved each other. “Hm…” But then again, would Keito be willing? The other oddballs would be different for sure, each one of them would have a different relationship to the act of blood drinking that just aren’t the same. “No. I think I’m only okay with it because of our relationship.”

Koga hummed. “Okay.”

“Any other questions?” Rei watched him as Koga tapped his fingers against his opposite arm. “You’re still curious, I can tell.”

“…Hakaze-san is fine with it?”

Rei laughed. “He was begging me to drink his blood, actually.”

Koga’s lips twitched almost into a smile before he caught himself. “Okay. That’s all I wanted to know.”

Rei opened his mouth to respond, only to close it as Adonis sat back down next to Koga and Kaoru next to him.

“Still no food?” Kaoru sighed. “I’m sooo hungry.”

“You went to piss, there’s no way the food would’ve come out in such a short amount of time.” Koga barked, uncrossing his arms.

“A man can hope! You’re hungry too, right, Adonis-kun?” Kaoru looked to Adonis pleadingly.

Adonis blinked, then raised his hands in defiance. “I am, but he’s right, we weren’t gone long enough.”

Rei smiled, watching the three of them bicker. It was strange to think about how distant the four of them were during school, he couldn’t imagine a world where they went their separate ways after graduation. The possibility of that was so real at one point, but now he’s sure only death would separate them, both as a unit and as friends, and these days, Rei didn’t feel that impending doom as hard as he once did.

“Rei, I can feel you thinking.” Kaoru nudged him out of thoughts. “Anything of note?” He smiled.

Rei hesitated to answer, then shook his head. “Just having my regular old man musings~ Pay me no mind, Kaoru.” Even though he had practically been waiting to drop the honorific since graduation, it still felt strange coming out of his mouth.

“Hmmm, I’ll have to pick your mind later then~” Kaoru glanced at the others, grinning when Koga made a disgusted face at them. He opened his mouth to say something more before the waiter finally came with their food. “Oh sweet!”

Rei kept his eyes on Kaoru, only glancing up at the waiter to give him a smile as his food was handed over.

Yeah, there’s no one else he would ever consider relying on for this. The only reality he cares about is this one.

“Are you not hungry, Sakuma-san?” Adonis didn’t necessarily sound concerned though, he surely understood Rei’s hesitance. He looked over to Adonis, then shook his head.

“My apologies, I was still caught up in my thoughts.” He put his hands together, said his thanks, and picked up his chopsticks, catching Koga shake his head at him out of the corner of his eye.

No other reality would be better than this one.

[eddysocs]

The Tie That Binds Us — Chapter Fifteen (Trials And Tribulations)

Summary: Harper and Olivia face challenges as the trial begins, testing the bond they’ve built. As tensions rise, they find comfort in each other, and a little reassurance from a friend.

Word Count: 1,455

Tags: Some angst and some fluff

As March arrived, Harper was reminded of history class and the Ides of March. It felt apt for the two of them. Not so much that they were about to be repeatedly stabbed in the back as Caesar had, at least not in a literal sense, but with the trial mere days away, Harper knew there’d be a lot of hard times coming their way. Yet even before their relationship had taken on a more romantic nature, they still would have had one another to help endure this. Now, Harper hoped, with that extra layer between them, they’d get through this and come out the other side stronger.

On the first day of the trial, Olivia had left early, before Harper had even gotten out of bed, as she had awoken to an empty house, but she didn’t mind. It gave her time to clear her head and prepare herself for the day to come. She wanted to look nice, but not overly bright and cheery, as that certainly didn’t reflect her mood, nor that of the case they were bringing against her former school. So, she rifled around in her closet and reached for a black dress with a white collar and a stitched on sunflower belt. She didn’t wear it often, but for today it felt fitting, somber, yet hopeful.

As she looked over her choice in the mirror, she heard the front door open. Olivia was back. She went out to greet her, and saw her in a fitted blue dress, so unlike her usual style, yet that wasn’t the aspect of Olivia that truly gave her pause. It was her hair. She’d gotten it cut off. It even looked darker, though she didn’t think she’d actually had it dyed.

Olivia caught Harper staring at her, mouth slightly agape. "Hair holds memories," Olivia explained, as if she felt she had to justify her choice. "I thought now was as good a time as any to start fresh."

"You don’t have to explain yourself," Harper reasoned, getting over her initial surprise. "It’s different, but it’s nice. I just didn’t expect such a change, that’s all."

A momentary silence fell between them, before Olivia sighed. "Are you ready for today," she asked, stepping forward to adjust the collar of Harper's dress.

"I think so. Ready as I’ll ever be, I guess. What about you?"

Olivia shrugged, her hand still on Harper's collar. She looked like she was ready to cry, and no doubt that by the end of the day, they both will have done their fair share. "I’ll be okay," she finally said.

"We both will," Harper agreed. "Though I do have a question. It’s not exactly relevant, but should it come up…can I call you my girlfriend now? Not that I really talk to anyone but Tony. Maybe Clay. I just didn’t want to—"

Olivia squeezed her hand, causing her to pause. "Yes. You can call me your girlfriend if you’re comfortable with that. I don’t have to remind you what happened with your locker though, do I?"

"No, I know. I’m not planning on making a loudspeaker announcement on it, I just wanted to know what was appropriate."

Olivia cracked a smile, and Harper vowed to commit it to memory, because it may be the last one she gets for a while, maybe even until this all was over.

The courtroom was a dreary place. They could feel the weight of it's high ceilings as if they were crushing down on them, and the tension in the room before the trial had even begun was the furthest thing from comforting.

Harper sat beside Olivia, their hands joined at their sides, hidden from the prying eyes of lawyers, jurors, and Liberty High staff in attendance. As the trial commenced, the grip between them was tight, not just for comfort but for survival.

Each witness called to the stand added another layer of pain, another reminder of why they were here. Harper had watched Olivia hold herself together through it all, through the depositions, and the reopening of wounds that had barely begun to scab over. She admired her resilience, but she also saw the exhaustion pooling beneath her eyes, the weight of grief pressing into her shoulders.

As yet another Liberty High administrator fumbled through their excuses, Harper risked a glance at Olivia. Her jaw was tight, her lips pressed together as if she were physically holding back the rage that simmered just beneath the surface. Harper wanted to reach out, to press a kiss to Olivia's temple, to promise her that justice was coming, even if it felt like an impossibility. But she could only squeeze her hand tighter, hoping the gesture spoke for her.

Outside the courthouse, the world didn't pause for their grief. Harper had known this would happen. From the moment their relationship became something more than a need for comfort, more than the occasional overnight visit, she knew people would have opinions. Olivia was older. Olivia was Hannah's mother. Olivia was still wrapped in a grief so thick that some people couldn't understand how she could find love, let alone with someone like Harper.

Luckily for Harper, she had Tony to unburden herself to. "I heard some girls whispering about us today," Harper told him, referring, of course, to her and Olivia, as she shoved her hands into her jacket pockets. "They were saying it's sick. That I must have some kind of 'mommy issues'."

"You do. I know your mother, but that’s not what this is. I can’t say I fully understand it, and you don’t need to hear it from me, but I know you’ve found something real. Olivia, she looks lighter than she has since I’ve known her, and you've found a confidence that used to be so unlike you. You’ve changed each other for the better, at least from my perspective."

She looked at him then, seeing the steady certainty in his eyes. Tony had always been the kind of friend who didn't waste words, who saw things as they were and called them out.

Tony hesitated before adding, "You good?"

Harper thought about the trial, about Olivia's exhaustion, about the way her former classmates' words had lingered longer than she wanted to admit. Then she thought about Olivia's hand in hers, the way they fit together despite everything, and nodded.

"I will be."

Tony nodded, satisfied with the answer. "Good. Cause I've got your back if you need me. Both of you."

A week later and it was the night before Olivia was slated to testify and Harper found her sitting at the kitchen table, staring at an untouched cup of tea.

"Can't sleep," Harper asked gently.

Olivia exhaled, shaking her head. "I can’t stop going over what I'll say."

Harper slid into the chair beside her, reaching out instinctively. Olivia let her take her hand, let her trace slow circles over her knuckles.

"You're not doing this alone," Harper reminded her.

Olivia let out a shaky breath, finally looking at her. "I know," she whispered.

"You need your rest. Have you even tried to go to bed?"

"Not yet," she admitted.

"Come on then. You can’t get any sleep if you’re not even trying." Harper got up and tugged lightly on Olivia's arm, a gentle gesture to get her to come along. Olivia looked like she might crash before Harper was able to walk her to her bedroom, but she was bound and determined to try, for the sake of Olivia's health if nothing else.

Finally, the trudge was made and Harper pulled back the covers to let Olivia in, folding them back over once she’d made herself comfortable. "Don’t go," Olivia muttered. It sounded like half a question and half a statement. They hadn’t shared a bed yet, but Harper wasn’t even considering that as she softly promised not to leave. Olivia needed her, so there she’d be.

As the days continued to roll on, the mental toll was wearing on them both. There had been no clear indications on what the verdict may be, and the stress of potentially losing their case and not seeing any sort of justice for Hannah had been hanging over their heads, until finally the day was here. March twenty third. The day their world came crashing down. The jury declared that the school was not responsible for Hannah's death, and Olivia broke down crying. Harper had ushered her out of the courthouse immediately, dodging several reporters gathered outside as she got Olivia to the car. She drove them home, balancing her concern for Olivia with keeping a watchful eye on the road. As for her own tears, well, they could come later.

🩶🩶🩶🩶🩶🩶🩶🩶🩶🩶🩶🩶

Chapter Fourteen <- 🩶 -> Chapter Sixteen

Forever Tag: @baubeautyandthegeek, @kmc1989, @curious-kittens-ocs, @fanficanatic-tw, @gcthvile, @immyowndefender

Harper Cassidy: @megandaisy9, @boobear729, @ghostsunderstoodmysoul, @freshmoneyalmondathlete

[arcanewhoosh]

Tribulations and Triumphs (Partners in Crime, chapter 7)

This chapter is also posted in AO3 here

3.7k words

Proofread? Y/N

Relevant Tags: Jinx x Reader, Modern AU

After two weeks of radio silence, you and Jinx finally have a chance to talk and hash things out. Meanwhile, the Hex Coil project is given another chance to prove itself.

This was supposed to be a longer chapter but I saw that I was pushing 4k words and I hadn't even started the supposed last scene so there's a section that's alluding to a flashback, but the flashback will be in the next chapter instead, along with the last scene.

Also one of the reasons this took longer is because I had an entirely different scene with Jinx written out. Then about a week ago I randomly realized that the scene didn't feel like it was the sensible route to go with, so I scrapped it and went with the current version. But that also means I might have to write more chapters lol.

In the few seconds between you turning the doorknob and the door itself opening, a flurry of thoughts managed to run through your mind.

Do I apologize first? Will she apologize first? Who's more in the wrong? Wait it's probably me. Dammit. Have I apologized enough? Should I have eased up on the texting maybe?

After all, you spent the better part of the past two weeks being absolutely pathetic chasing after Jinx. You could admit that now, since- mercifully- she was the one who showed up at your door and not the other way around. But now that she was actually at your door, you realize that all those days wanting to talk to her, you hadn't properly thought out what you wanted to say to her--whatever that meant.

Then there was your earlier conversation with Viktor, which spurred the rational, self-respecting part of your brain. The part that told you that Jinx should've discussed the party instead of jumping the gun and surprising you with a room full of people. Some of which you didn't even know.

Why is she here? To talk, obviously. But would she only talk about the party; why she did it? Would she talk your ear off for starting the fight? Would she apologize? You realize quickly that one of the drawbacks of reconnecting with people you haven't spoken with in years, is that you no longer have a solid sense as to what their motives are.

You steel yourself as you open the door, forcing your face to remain impassive.

Flowers are immediately thrust into you face when the door does fully open.

"I'm sorry." Is what greets you from behind the assailing purple flowers.

You blink. "Flowers?"

"… Yeah I don't know either." She shrugs, not out of nonchalance, but from what you can tell, anxiousness, nerves. And just like that, seven words addressed to you, and your resolve is already chipped at the edges.

The both of you stand there for a few moments, Jinx not making a move to enter like she usually does; you not moving aside to let her in. You could count on one hand the number of times Jinx reeled in her usually unfiltered nature. First when you two had met as kids, second when Vi had gotten mad at her for getting paint on her boxing gloves, and third… back during times you'd rather not remember.

"Come on in." You say as you open the door wider and step to the side. She walks in as you mutter a slightly confused thank you for the flowers. She's in the middle of making a comment about Caitlyn once bringing Vi flowers as an apology when she notices the bat resting by the wall. She stops mid-stride and raises an eyebrow at you.

"In my defense, I thought I was gonna get robbed."

Who the hell would knock before robbing someone. You hear her response in your head before she can even say it. That's a lot of snark for someone apologizing, you'd then answer. But she doesn't, and it throws you off just a tiny bit. 

"Yeah, that's fair." Another awkward pause as she waits for you to close the door. "I came here to apologize about the party. It was a bad idea." It was a terrible idea. But you don't say that, of course. Instead, you simply nod and wait for her to continue.

“I can see that it made you really uncomfortable and that’s why you reacted that way. I shouldn’t have assumed that a couple of years and you’d be okay to party or whatever, and that’s on me.”

Is she… following an apology format? She couldn’t be. Surely, self-assured, stubborn, prideful, smart Jinx wouldn’t google how to set up an apology. But then again, it was something you were taught in group therapy back in the day. Who’s to say that she wasn’t taught the same things. She does look sincere, though, if not struggling, absolutely out of her element.

“I feel really shitty about it and… I really want to make it up to you, only if you want, no pressure, take your time with it-" She rubs her hands on her face and lets out a grunt before flopping onto your couch. "God, why is this so hard?”

“Apologizing to me is hard?” You quirk an eyebrow.

She straightens immediately. “No, no of course not. It’s…ugh, stupid Caitlyn and her gentle parenting.” She mutters the last part out, clearly annoyed, but you still catch it. If you weren’t trying so hard to remain stoic, you would've laughed.

"What about Caitlyn?"

"Nothing! I'm-" She stands and walks up to you, for a moment you think she's about to seize your hands. A habit she reacquired and often used when she was trying to reassure you that her latest project was totally safe and wouldn't blow up.

It always blew up.

"I'm just… I had this entire plan on how to do this, and I knew what I was supposed to say, and now." You try to ignore the pang of disappointment in your chest when she stops herself from reaching out to you.

"I messed this up, too." She wraps her arms around herself, eyes downcast. You stop yourself from walking over to her and lifting her chin up.

She sighs for a moment, before continuing. "I really do feel bad about what I did, and I feel worse for running off after."

"And not speaking to me for two weeks." You add, your tone snappy but dulled at the edges. "You could've… I don't know, at least let me know you were okay?" Her head snaps up to look at you, a mix of surprise and confusion on her face.

"Why would you need to know if I was okay?" You scoff and throw your hands up. so much for staying impassive.

"Because I care? Because we spent the better half of the past few months with each other than without?" The confession nets the opposite of the response you were hoping for. You half expected her to be upset about your sarcasm, half expected her to look like she understood what you wanted to convey--I am so fucking sorry about what I did too--but instead she... Looks more confused?

"I started a whole fight and put your family in the hospital, and you’re… you’re not even mad?" Now you're confused, too. "I don’t know what’s worse, you apologizing or you shouting at me.”

She opens her mouth to say something, but quickly closes it again. Her eyes leave yours for a few moments, instead settling to a spot a little to your left. A quirk she has when she's trying to think about what she wants to say.

"But... The party--"

"Was something you should've discussed with me first, and not jumped into, yes." You hold your hand up when you see her about to cut in. "But even I can admit I was way out of line with how I reacted. And then I kept trying to contact you like some creep."

Your attempt at a joke flies over her head, and nets you the opposite of your desired response. "I ghosted you for two weeks, and did this whole party thing; why aren't you mad?" Her voice starts to rise at her question, and you find your temper flaring in response.

"Because I recognize that I screwed up, too? Why the hell would you want me to be mad?"

"Cause you're being too fucking nice!"

"Didn't you come here to apologize? Now you're upset that I wanna resolve this? What's wrong with talking this out like adults?"

Even though you don't know Jinx as well as you used too, her tendency to close herself off and blow up at people when she was too anxious to talk thing out is something that has never changed. You know you should be the more mature one, the one who takes the high road, the calm one. Her face scrunches up in anger.

"Oh, excuse me for being childish, oh righteous one!"

Maybe it was the fact that it was three in the morning, maybe it was the fact that her visit caught you off guard, or maybe you do have a right to be angry, to yell, to ask her What were you thinking? I thought you'd know me better than to bring up a bad memory.

"You know what?" You scoff. "I think I am mad about the party. Because what the fuck were you thinking?" The wrong thing to say, really. But now you're angry, and you find that you don't really care what comes out of your mouth.

"Oh here we go. What were you thinking, Jinx? You should've known better, Jinx." She does a mocking impression of your voice "I'm sorry for trying to do something nice for you--"

"You literally could've talked to me about this first!" Your voice cracks a bit as you shout. You never really did well with verbal confrontations. "It's not rocket science."

Jinx, however, is an expert at it. "Well my bad for thinking you got over it in therapy. Didn't you have that in juvie?"

Oh.

That'll do it.

It takes a few seconds for her to register what she had just said. But you, it hits you the moment the words left her mouth. The immediate ringing in your ears, the heat in your arms that starts creeping down to your hands as your breathing becomes ragged.

Her brows unfurrow, and her eyes widen as--what you hope is--immediate regret washes over her face. The I'm sorry, that was too far, I didn't mean it already one her lips. But it's too late now.

It’s amazing--frighteningly amazing really--that the one person who could convince you to talk at fuck all in the morning; who could wear down the guard you set up for yourself without even trying; make you forgive her so easily—and you’ve already forgiven her for the party, honestly—could single-handedly tear your chest open and rip you apart.

But should you really be surprised?

"Get out." You say through gritted teeth. You turn your face when her eyes try to meet yours.

"Wait-"

"Get. Out." You blink away the tears threatening to fall down your face. You are not going to let her see you cry. "Don't fucking speak to me, again." You turn around and walk over to the door, open in, and wait for her to step through. All the while looking at the wall in front of you.

No words are heard through the quiet hallway of your building as Jinx leaves, only the loud slamming of your apartment door.

Despite having an absolutely shitty week, significant progress had been made with the Hex Coil. Firstly, the Council had agreed to reopen the testing site for Hex Tech, after a lengthy discussion on how you absolutely needed the chambers to run more tests and; how high the return on investment would be if you were able to test successfully and release this to the public during a power crisis. Secondly, after having to redo the schematic diagrams for the Hex Coil--and a little help from an anger-infused work fixation--you were able to figure out how not to blow up the entire setup while activating the gemstone. Now, all you needed was another run through with Jayce and Viktor at the testing chamber.

You’re currently wrapped up in drawing a barely comprehensible graph, occasionally looking over to your computer to confirm that the manual computations you were making matched up with the ones on your screen. Viktor and Jayce were looking over at machine diagnostics, making sure nothing would go wrong with all the hardware that was just replaced.

"Okay, so the simulation didn't blow up the computer, so theoretically, the real thing shouldn't blow up either." You say to yourself as you try to give yourself a pep talk, unaware of Viktor raising an eyebrow at your statement.

“I don’t think the computer’s processing capabilities have anything to do with our test running correctly.” You hear him say. You don’t turn around, too engrossed on the graph you were making.

“Well—I mean I made the simulation so…” You trail off, hoping that Viktor drops the topic. The simulation was pretty well made. You should know, you spent the entire week making it.

“Uhuh.” Is the response you get. You feel an unreasonably heavy hand pat you on the shoulder, which could only mean this was Jayce offering support.

“It’ll be fine, we worked out all the kinks from the first test. If something else goes wrong, we’ll fix it again.” Ever the optimistic, Jayce gives your shoulder a squeeze before returning to his monitors, putting on his protective goggles. “So, are we ready to test this, or what?”

Viktor follows suit, giving you a thumbs up before putting on his goggles. “Diagnostics are good, ready when you are.” He says as he turns a key, and you hear the familiar hum signaling the equipment in the testing chamber coming to life.

Oh so suddenly, your nerves are alight. With the time-consuming distraction of having to set up the Hex Coil reaching its ends, you’re suddenly very, very aware of the weight of the project. A million different scenarios of how things can go wrong suddenly flit though your mind, the events of Progress Day—and unfortunately, the events after—at the forefront.

You make your way towards the observation windows, and see the rods around the main and subcoils start to spin. An update that you deemed needed. It would take the load of the entire set up if you did a warm start with the coils, instead of having everything spring to life at the same time.

A knot forms in your stomach, whether from anticipation, or dread, you're not sure. Between the first test just a few weeks ago, and the expectation of results for this test, everything is suddenly starting to feel very real. As if the past week—three—flew by in an indistinguishable blur.

You shake your head, trying to will away the dread creeping up on you.

You’ll be fine. A voice in your head says. A memory, really, an unwelcome one at that.

What if I won’t be?

I’ll catch you, don’t worry about it.

“Sprout?”

You blink.

Jayce. Jayce is calling from behind you.

You quickly shake your head and put on your headphones and goggles, pretending to now hear Viktor’s Are you alright? And opting to stand near the main unit, putting a hand on the glass casing of the lever. You pull down the mic from your headphones—another new addition that made it easier to communicate while the coil was operating.

“Testing chamber clear?” You start.

“Clear!” You wince slightly as Viktor’s loud, staticky voice comes through the headphones.

“You don’t have to shout anymore, Viktor, we have microphones now!” Jayce’s own voice comes through, albeit at a much more reasonable volume.

“Sorry!” Viktor shouts again.

The moment is ridiculous enough that some of the tension leaves your shoulders, and you allow yourself to let out a chuckle.

“Alright, let’s stay focused here.”

“Sorry.” They both say.

“Main coil?”

“Level.”

“Sub coils?”

“Fully operational!”

Now or never.

“Hex Coil test running in three—“You lift the glass panel.

I’ll catch you!

“Two—“

Promise?

“—One.”

You pull the lever. The humming grows louder, clearly audible despite the protection of the headphones. The light from the gemstone seeps into the observation room, flooding it in blue. All three of you whip your heads to the screen showing the chamber. Sparks of electricity already transferring from the main coil to the sub coils.

"Rectifiers?" Your eyes don’t leave the screen as you ask. The rods on the coils look stable, and there aren't any immediately visible red flags. You hear a cackle of static followed by a They're stable! from Jayce.

You make your way to the observation window. Confident in leaving the main panel after installing kill switches in Jayce and Viktor's stations in case anything went awry.

You let out a breath you didn't know you were holding, and lean a bit closer to the glass, only now allowing yourself to take in the beauty of the sight before you. The gemstone is glowing a brilliant blue, casting light across the entire testing chamber. Nothing has blown up yet, and Everything is working and We're fine, we're fine, we're fine.

Then you notice the hum start to go quiet, and the glow of the gemstone start to dull. You push your face up to the glass, before taking off your goggles and headphones to turn around.

Jayce is at your station, holding the lever down, and Viktor is standing beside you--When did he get here? --smiling.

"What--"

"The batteries are already full." Jayce says simply, taking off his headphones, and your jaw drops.

"Batteries that were built to power houses for at least a week. Full in no less than three minutes." Viktor puts a hand on your shoulder and gives you a little shake to get you out of your stupor. You, however, are still stunned.

Three minutes, the coil was already running for three minutes?

"It… It worked?" You say it so quietly that Viktor almost doesn’t hear it. He lets out a soft laugh and pats you on the back.

"Yes, yes I think it did. Looks like your simulation was correct." Jayce makes his way over to the both of you, a huge grin on his face.

"We did it, sprout."

You let out a huff, unable to reply with words. You look back at the gemstone; rods still spinning slowly around it.

"We did it." You finally manage.

"Jayce did just say that." The half condescending tone in Viktor's voice completely flies over your head, as you’re already turning around, putting your hands on the former's shoulders and shaking him--violently, he claims--and jumping up and down. You ignore his pleas for you to stop shaking him. You do, however, take it easy on the jumping on account of his leg.

Jayce joins in, and eventually Viktor relents and celebrates with the both of you; all of you exclaiming celebratory remarks. The occasional variations of, Wait till those snob-nosed councilors see this, and, Hey, easy, my wife's a councilor, being thrown around.

Eventually, you all calm down. You, out of choice, the other two, out of necessity. You make sure to point out that they're getting old, and their old bones can't handle jumping around anymore. Viktor comments that he has a valid reason to on account of his leg, then follows up with a comment about Jayce not doing any cardio at all. You take this as an opportunity walk back over to the observation window while the two bicker.

You don't know why you feel the need to check on the Hex Coil again. Given that it's not going to go anywhere since it's literally bolted to the floor. But you grew up in an environment where good events were immediately followed by catastrophic tragedies. So really, was it such a strange thing to have to check on your several-ton project, just in case it suddenly vanished into thin air?

"Two years." You say to yourself, tapping a finger on the glass. "Two years, and we finally did it." The Hex Coil, predictably, says nothing back to you. But that's okay, it's still there and that's what's important.

You don't notice your two mentors approach you, nor do you see the fond smile on Jayce and Viktor's faces. "No, not two. Eight."

You turn back to him, slightly confused. And Jayce's smile grows.

"Everything you've gone through, every obstacle you had to hurdle through." He nods over to the testing chamber. "Led to that. Look how far you've come."

"You did always say you wanted to change the world." Viktor chimes in. "We're incredibly proud of you."

Maybe it's because you had a really, really, really bad week--month, actually. Maybe it's because the other two are getting sentimental. Or maybe, just maybe, a small part of you didn't think that this was achievable; the washed-up troublemaker junkie, coming up with something like this. Someone you yourself didn’t see as worth any time or compassion. Hell, you barely had any reason to keep going back then, but for some reason, these two jerks standing with you saw potential, and decided to take a chance on you.

They let you crash at their place, made sure you kept clean, stayed out of trouble, gave you space to grow and provided guidance, grounded you. Even when you started a fight and made an entire scene, they still worried about you, first. So unflinching, accepting, supportive. You used to think that you were undeserving of that kind of love, but they even beat that--with kindness--out of you.

And now here you were.

Whatever the cause is, you feel the tears prickle, and your lips purse. You look down, and cover your face with your hand, not wanting them to see you cry. You try to take a steadying breath, but it comes out shaky.

"That's so fucking corny." You choke out.

You hear the both of them laugh, before they wrap their arms around you. Your hand is still covering your face, but you're so very obviously crying.

"We love you too, kid."

Thank you, you want to say, you very much try to say, but it comes out gurgled and incoherent because you're now full-on sobbing. They seem to understand this, however, as they respond with a pat on the back and ruffling of your hair.

When you were younger, you used to dream momentous moments like this as some sort of huge fanfare. There would be applause, a coincidentally gathered crowd around you bearing witness to the greatest achievement of your life so far. Your loved ones on the side, crying tears of joy. Congratulations thrown around by important people; bottles of champagne shaken and their contents sprayed at you.

But here, right now, with the two people who have been your family to close to a decade, it's enough, more than enough.

[strixcattus]

Happy Pristine Cut day!

I will be liveblogging my Pristine Cut playthrough. These posts will not be tagged with #slay the princess due to spoiler reasons, and I'll keep them long and relatively far between for spam-avoidance reasons. (I understand there's some sort of daily image limit in effect, so I'll try not to hit it, either... even though I'm not sure what it is.) They will be tagged with both #pristine cut spoilers and #scpstptpc (Strix Cattus Plays Slay The Princess The Pristine Cut, previously #spstppc which should then be self-explanatory), so those'll be the tags you want to block. I'll also be putting every one under a cut, so no one should be caught off-guard. For anyone who does want to see these posts, read on.

Again, the game plan:

My first run is going to be me, roleplaying as though it's December 25th of last year and I'm playing the game for the first time. Not exactly—I'll cut out the bit where I thought it'd keep overall run progress if I quit and lost a piece of my third route, and just pretend I wanted to do it the second way from the start (unless I see a better option?). The relevant routes here are Tower -> Fury and at least a hint at Sp3ctre.

The second run is where I hit on all the new and expanded chapters. Expanded ones first, ending on either Dams3l or Sp3ctre depending first on whether I've already gotten Sp3ctre and second on last-minute whim.

The third run is to fill in all the gaps. Adversary -> Fury, maybe. Stubborn!Den. (Or should I do Stubborn!Den first, and save Skeptic!Den for the end of this run, on the assumption that it will probably make a good final route? Or should I just do Skeptic!Den first like I'd planned, because it's more honest to what I did on my own the first time around?) Any other Voices to any new chapters, if I can figure them out. (If Prison3r is a guts trio chapter, that's one!)

If I need a fourth run to check out things like Skeptic!EotN, Moment of Clarity, and even more Voices in, say, Adversary -> Fury or the new chapters, I'll do one. I'll try to do as much of these runs in a day as I can, but I will admit this is a rather large amount. (Ha! The naïvété of youth. Is that too many diacritics?)

And, of course, I'll be keeping my bingo card updated:

(Link to my previous pinned post here so I can find it once I'm done with this)

[linipik]

FAR OUT AT SEA

"Shiro is determined to know if the new human research base is a risk for his fellow merfolk with the help of a marine biologist and research intern Adam."

rating: T

pairing: Adam/Shiro

tags: Adam (Voltron) Shiro (Voltron), Keith for half a line but he is there, Merman Shiro, Everyone lives, First Meetings, plot-driven action, Alternate Universe Merpeople, Canon-Typical Violence

This fic is part of the Once Upon the Seashore PDF (get it for free on my Ko-fi)

Chapter 2 of 4

Previous Chapter

Although Shiro was so sure he had not given anything away during their conversations, Adam was observant enough to notice Shiro asked too many questions about things he should already know, given the information shared in the application process. He was convinced Shiro was plotting something off protocol, maybe something against the superior officers, even, yet he just couldn't bring himself to openly confront him or become a snitch. He could not imagine “Takashi” would do anything harmful, after all; he was a bit impulsive maybe one of those diehard conservationists with their head way out of the bureaucracy of laboratories and Adam couldn’t blame that passion, but the Shiro he met wouldn't purposefully hinder the ongoing research or hurt anybody. After some thought, Adam decided to keep quiet and figure out Shiro’s intentions bit by bit.

He didn’t have to wait much. Shiro confessed that he suspected there were undercover operations going on at the deepest levels of the base, which used the excuse of oceanographic research to do something else, maybe weapon development or oil exploration. Adam wouldn’t say Shiro’s suspicions were too unfounded and he never signed up for something like that, And when Shiro asked Adam's help to infiltrate that area in order to confirm such suspicions, to which Adam, agreed with no hesitation.

That was how it started or ended. The challenge was demanding and exciting at first, but once they went over all the unsupervised laptops and offices left without keys, they realized there was a wall.

The juiciest stuff was locked under top-quality security systems and the best equipment, as two mere interns, there was nothing they could do.

Despite the overwhelming evidence of their defeat, Shiro was adamant about finding a way to bypass the security measures as soon as possible. Choosing his words carefully, Adam tried to talk him out of it. He told Shiro that, although he was completely right in that breaking into grade A military secret files was the responsible thing to do, right at the moment they were at a disadvantage. They would fare better by ascending first, they needed more time and a real plan to uncover in any meaningful way what was going on, they were also in a position of power that allowed them to make sure this clarence problems on the research they were supposed to work didn’t happen. He asked Shiro for patience.

– o –

It was another afternoon in the cafeteria after another dead end looking for the relevant classified data.

 “Whatever they are doing, it has not caused noticeable damage so far, so they must be calculating it carefully,” Adam insisted, “it would not be convenient for them to just destroy a whole ecosystem in a day or something.”

“Yeah, I guess” Shiro replied, unable to hide his scowl, The same exploitative human practices that have always worried him, that keep merfolk hidden, “They think they have the right to do anything they want with what they find just because it’s unexplored for them, it’s not fair” 

There they were again, the same stubborn passion, the same edge in his words that set Shiro way apart from others to Adam, like there was something bigger out there.

“I totally get you, but we gotta play our cards right. What if they get us trying to hack the security system and they kick us off or send us to jail? In that case, we are not ever going to figure out anything.” Adam’s tone was calculated and yes, he was reasonable.

Shiro took a moment to think, averting his gaze toward the window. The skies outside looked gloomy. There was no storm alert, but they would probably have rain later.

“I guess you are right.” 

Adam wanted to say something more, maybe suggest they do something different for a change, let go of the stress of the last few days with like… a date? But before he could gather the courage to ask, Shiro nodded with a tired smile and disappeared down the corridor toward his room.

Righ. He most likely wanted to recover some sleep. The date idea would have to wait.

– o –

Shiro, however, didn't have “rest” or “sleep” anywhere in his mind. His duty was first to discover if merfolk were in any danger and he couldn’t clear his suspicions in a human way, not with Adam by his side.  After gathering some tools, he sneaked out of his room and left the residential area, careful to no bring attention to himself on his way to the deck. He knew Adam would disapprove… or worry if he went looking for Shiro and didn't find him in his room. He felt as if he was betraying the unspoken thing they had going on. That thought almost made him turn back. Almost.

Once he considered he was far enough in the loading docks and thus safe from onlookers and obscured away from the security cameras, Shiro silently jump in the water and was again a merman, now underwater he felt more clarity than the days before. He had postponed his mission enough. No matter what kind of mission the military was running undercover, they could not be anything good and it was Shiro's duty to stop them for his people. After all, he was one of the few who ventured far into human territory and he knew how terrifying they could be. 

Stealthily swimming back to the base, Shiro snuck through one of the underwater gates and began destroying all the underwater equipment and submarines he could find. That should get the officers distracted so he could have the time to finally get to the deeper levels and deal with whatever they are really doing there.

----

Far Out at Sea is complete on PDF >> GET IT HERE <<

[bleachbleachbleach]

12/18 - 12/31/2023

The chapter I’m working on right now begins Part 2, and is Kira's. I’m trying to figure out how much of this act is meant to be told from Kira’s POV and how much belongs in Rose’s chapter, instead. Which is challenging because 1) Rose’s chapter is seven chapters from now, and phew, that’s asking a lot of me to know what info would be thematically relevant here vs. much later! And because 2) Kira is entirely tertiary to the situation, and there may be little of it that DOES make sense for him to narrate.

Which would suggest, well, there’s your answer, B3! But then I’m like, isn’t that Kira’s whole post-TYBW situation? What with the being stitched together with Dead Guy souls and being kinda sorta a dead guy himself. Maybe should be narrating everything because he’s tertiary to everything, perhaps including his own mind/body, and because none of it makes sense for him to narrate. Which I’m into conceptually; mechanically, I’m like, uh, okay, how do I… how would you like me to make that work.

Rather than see that puzzle to its end, I ended up writing my HitsuHina Gift Exchange fic + a string of scenes from Hisagi’s chapter, the latter of which are really embarrassing but make me happy.

The planner I bought last year had little boxes each week where you were supposed to write your highlights for the week. I dutifully filled these out, except when I was out of the country and points in June, because it was a very ??? month. These were often very pathetic, because this was a stressful, exhausting, sometimes depressing year and I am a burnt husk of a human being, but writing fanfic featured in these highlights 11 separate times! <3 (To add to that count, talking to people on Tumblr about writing/Bleach featured twice, and Hitsugaya and Hinamori also both featured (specifically, going back through our Hitsugaya tag and spending a full hour scheduling birthday reblogs; and my condor!Tobiume commission ToT <3333).

Next year I anticipate will be even more stressful, because I have a lot of deadlines I need to meet and they are not things that spark joy; but my time will be a bit more in my own hands, so I’m hoping to balance that out by asserting more regular time to do things that DO spark joy, and to, uh, heal a bit.

I wrote in the tags of a reblog post that my writerly hopes and dreams for 2024 were to finally write my Dieselsexual Akon/Hisagi and, ambitiously, to finish both Parts 2 and 3 of this WIP. I don’t know if I’ll finish Part 3, but Part 2, for sure! My other goal for 2024 is to find ways to make posting fanfic more fun for me, because that part feels very not fun. I’ve done some brainstorming about it, to start that off.