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literaila · 2 years

Text

jack-o-lantern

tasm!peter x reader

summary:

"you just have to scoop out the seeds and put them in the bowl."

"thank you for explaining de-gutting to me."

warnings: fluff and pumpkins

a/n: sorry i’ve been watching sherlock. here’s halloween. love ya.

"peter," you say, whining.

he laughs--teeth still stained with chocolate--looking at you with his wide eyes. with his too smart smile and fabulous eyebrows. "it's not that bad."

if there's anything to blame, it's the candy you'd brought over for him.

"i'm digging around this poor pumpkin's guts."

peter pushes a bowl towards you. "try not to get any on the counter," he says, amused.

you scowl at him, blinking. "why are you making me do this?"

"'cause i love ya," peter hums, scooping out his own seeds. he's moved on from your dramatics, preferring to pay more attention to his pumpkin. "this is fun."

"i told you i didn't want to do this."

peter raises a brow. "you told me that you hadn't carved a pumpkin since you were a kid--"

"cause it's slimy and weird and gross--"

"--and i told you that we had to fix that."

"i'm going to throw up."

peter nudges you, laughing. "you're fine."

"peter," you whine some more. "can't you just do this part? i'll help you carve, i promise, but i don't--"

"this is a part of the experience."

"i've experienced enough."

he laughs again because he is a monster. "baby, you just have to scoop out the seeds and put them in the bowl. you can even close your eyes."

"thank you for explaining de-gutting to me, peter."

"look," he says, proudly. "i'm already done."

he shows you the inside of his pumpkin, which is... orange, but fairly clean.

and if it wasn't for the adoring smile on his face you might've pushed the pumpkin away. if it wasn't for this childlike peter, elated at the prospect of halloween.

you're doing this just for him, you swear.

smile at him.

"you missed a spot right there," you point to a string dangling around the inside.

peter frowns, looking. "this is why i'm not helping you."

"you know," peter says, picking up the bowl full of pumpkin meat and carrying it to the kitchen. "i let you borrow that shirt for nothing."

"where'd you put the pictures?"

"pictures?"

you flip your pumpkin around, smiling at the now-cleared table. nonetheless, the seeds that you may or may not have thrown at peter, which are, of course, now on the floor.

he'd finished clearing your pumpkin for you. it only took a couple of kisses to convince him.

and he'd started cleaning up without a word. you might feel guilty, if not for the fact that he got pumpkin in your hair when he was kissing you.

instead, you decide to be proud.

"the cute little faces," you say, looking under the tarp on the table. moving a chair.

"the design book?"

"yes, peter, that."

"i think it's on the couch."

you check the couch, smiling when you find it sprawled out across the cushions, open to something that looks like a skeleton.

"are you doing this one?" you ask, tracing the drawing with a fingertip.

and running directly into peter as he walks out of the kitchen, of course.

"woah," he lets out a small laugh, hands on your shoulders, skin tracing down yours, steadying you. "you good?" he asks, eyes soft and playful.

"are you carving this one?" you ask again, frowning. you hold it open so that peter can see.

"oh," peter takes the book from your hands, flipping through the pages. "i just thought that one was cool."

"you can't do that one," you tell him.

"why not?"

your brows are furrowed as you look up at him. your heart is begging for escape. "cause i want it."

peter laughs, setting the book on the table.

he grabs your hand, tickling the skin because he wants to see you smile. "okay, picasso. first, we're gonna go over some knife safety."

you stare at him, blinking. "i know how to use a knife."

peter pushes you to sit down, gently, leaving another kiss on the top of your head. and then he sits down next to you grabbing one of the knives.

"i really don't want to have to sew you up tonight."

"there's this thing called a hospital. dunno if you've heard of it, but us regular people can go there when we get stabbed--"

"first things first," peter says, completely ignoring you. "never point your knife at anyone. namely me."

"peter," you complain, throwing your head back.

“and you have to promise not to stab me, because it happens more than you’d think—“

you groan.

"okay, okay," he relents, putting the knife down, and grabbing your face so you'll look at him again. "i'm done."

"you're never done."

he laughs at your face and nods. "yeah, but we've gotta get going so we have time to put them out before it gets dark."

you turn your head so you can kiss his palm. then smile back at him.

"you don't have anything to say about the shirt?"

and then you look down at the shirt peter had given you. just so your clothes wouldn't get dirty.

it's almost spotless.

you hum. "i figured i'd take it home and wash it."

peter raises a brow.

"i mean, you didn't really think i'd give it back to you, did you?"

"it's my shirt."

"it's our shirt," you flash your best smile at him, lips curling at the edge.

"i gave that to you so that--"

"i was thinking that maybe i'd wear it around for a while. and, you know, if you happened to get it back sometime, it would smell like me."

"--you could keep it for as long as you wanted."

"you're really not going to let me see?"

peter is sticking his tongue out of his mouth a bit, intensely concentrated on whatever he's carving out of the pumpkin.

judging by the scraps he's left on the table, it's just a hole.

"you'll see when i'm done," he mumbles, grabbing a different carving knife.

you're still not sure what the difference is between all of them.

when you were carving your face--which is brilliant, thank you very much--you only used one. it took you ten minutes.

peter's been going for almost an hour longer.

not that you're complaining, really. he's fun to watch. fun to laugh at when his eyes widen after something falls off of his pumpkin.

"how much longer?" you ask him, chin resting on your hand. you're attempting to distract him with your smile, but it has proved futile so far.

it's only been thirty minutes.

you grab another piece of candy from the bag across the table, unwrapping it.

peter glances at you, raised brow.

you look back at him innocently.

"can't rush art, baby."

"but i can rush my boyfriend when he's taking too long..."

"art," peter says. "you'll see."

"in a decade, maybe."

he says nothing, just keeps on carving.

you take a moment to look outside, to the fall world that you'd just randomly woken up to one day.

and this holiday activity that you've begun to enjoy--not that peter needs to know that.

but it's all a meek moment, compared to this.

to staring at peter with his warm brown eyes, with his loving gaze, and charming smile.

the epitome of fall, you're sure.

he's much more worthwhile.

"okay," peter says after a couple more minutes have passed. "i think it's done."

ignoring his choice of words, you lean over the table, eager to get a peek.

but peter frowns and moves it away from your gaze.

you pout. "hey. i wanted to see."

"you didn't let me finish."

you sigh and raise a brow, patience limited.

peter smiles. "thanks for doing this with me, bub. i know it's not your thing, but i figured we should do something to celebrate together."

you blink at him, a ghost of a smile on your face. "sure, love."

"but next year you're cleaning your own pumpkin--"

you scoff, mouth dropping.

"--because, really, we're both adults and--"

peter is distracted by your sneaking hands, making their way toward his pumpkin and spinning it around before he gets the chance to stop you.

"hey! that was a surprise."

your mischievous smile falls. "peter."

"this is a violation," he says, crossing his arms.

"what is that?" you ask, looking between his pumpkin and him, thoroughly confused.

it looks... well. there's a giant hole in the middle. and two triangular shapes on the edge. a mauled cross-hatching on the side of the pumpkin, and something that looks like a stab wound.

it's a bit unbelievable.

peter sighs. "you weren't--it wasn't," he sighs again, hand dropping. his mouth looks for words that aren't there.

you laugh, confused. "it took you an hour to do this?"

he scowls at you. "i'll have you know that my pumpkin could win awards."

"oh, for sure."

"in fact, i'm thinking of submitting it to queens pumpkin carving contest," he continues.

you nod. "no doubt that you've got a winner here. the trick-or-treaters will be terrified."

his top lip curls, so you know that he's not really upset.

"did you and the pumpkin get in a fight?" you ask, after a moment, laughing.

"he was mocking me."

"the bastard," you gasp, rubbing a hand up and down his arm. comforting. "don't worry, i won't let those pumpkin guys mess with you anymore."

"thanks, baby," peter smiles at you, leaning a bit closer.

"what were you trying to carve?"

"it was supposed to be you."

you blink, staring at the monstrosity that is his pumpkin.

"i don't know if i should be flattered or offended."

"i think i went a little bit too far with the eyes."

you nod with your mouth open, not sure which hole is supposed to look anything like an eye.

"that's so..." you look at peter trying not to laugh. "sweet."

peter looks at you, proud smile.

"c'mon," you whisper to him, standing up. "let's get these outside."

he kisses the side of your jaw as he stands up, grabbing both of your pumpkins.

and just there you decide that fall might be your favorite season.

that peter is.

my masterlist here.

tags:@moonlarking-blog @v1ci0us @preciousbabypeter @alexxavicry @directioner5life @inthegetawaycarwithtaylah @localrockstargf @thoughtsofagodlovingsunflower

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snowbaamgyu · 6 months

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Hi, do you mind writing something about this?

Here it is! Sorry if it isn't that good, also I'm the worst with endings but I hope you like it after all.

A Freezing Burning Feeling

The final months of the year were the busiest in the kpop industry too, all idols having awards, presentations for Christmas or New Year's Eve, seasons greetings and much more, so it isn't a surprise that any of them get sick at some point, specially around those months where it's common for virus to be around.

TXT had to fly to Japan for their MAMA's presentation, all of them having a surprise for the fans there.

It was a busy schedule, and they were feeling tired from everything.

Before they headed to the airport Taehyun noticed the slight discomfort in his stomach after eating lunch, but he payed no attention to it, some sleep could fix it.

"Wanna watch a movie?" Kai offered, Taehyun accepted and it distracted him from his discomfort, they were heading to Japan so the flight didn't take that long.

When they arrived Taehyun felt so exhausted like that plane had taken all his energy to land, even tho he was sitting the whole time.

Some typical procedures at the airport later and they got to their hotel.

"Finally" sighed Beomgyu who was also tired, all of them agreed with him, wanting nothing more than taking a shower, put on some comfy clothes and sleep.

But of course before anything of that could happen Yeonjun said "Wait, let's eat dinner first, I heard there's a buffet tonight and it would be cool if all of us ate together" well, normally each one of them went to their rooms and ate something from room service alone, but this once, they decided it was a good idea. And it was, just Taehyun thought this was unnecessary because all he wanted to do was curl up in bed like a ball.

Halfway through the meal Taehyun's stomach decided it wasn't okay with what he was eating and started to feel queasy, slowly he stopped eating but it was too late, his stomach was now upset, gurgling and making weird noises that he wondered if the rest heard. Without wanting to draw any attention he slipped his hand under his shirt and started to rub it lightly.

"Are you alright?" Kai noticed after a while. Great.

"Yeah, just ate too fast maybe, my stomach is taking its time to process the food" it was more than that but Taehyun didn't want to make everyone concerned about him.

"Why don't you go to your room and rest then? It's kinda late anyway so we should probably go too" God bless Soobin. Without needing to be told twice, Taehyun stood up and wished everyone good night.

Taehyun was taking a much needed long hot shower, helping him relax and forget about his pain for a bit.

Tho at times he had to stifle some burps that tasted just like what he was eating, but in a disgusting way.

He put on his pajamas and turned on the TV, deciding to watch something in the mean time he got sleepy.

But he awoke not too much later, the lights off and the movie he had put on was already over and it automatically played the second part, but what was different was that he felt suffocated.

Everything was burning, it was hard to breathe and his stomach was cramping as if it was trying to squeeze itself.

Taehyun quickly took off the covers and drank some of the water he had left on the nightstand before he layed down.

But it wasn't enough, he was sweating, it was like he had a heater right beside him, and his whole body was hurting, his stomach specially.

He curled up more, embracing his middle as another cramp left him gasping for air, the cramps now turning into some nauseating feeling.

Not sure of what to do he went to the bathroom, not knowing how he made it but at least the cold tiles helped a bit.

His shirt was damp with sweat, and he was sure he was pale, he couldn't look too much to the mirror. Kneeling in front of the toilet, unsure of how long would it take to his very first meal there to re appear, but it was agonizing, and he didn't even have his phone with him at that moment, he could use some help but it's too late to move, with a shaky burp his stomach was finally expelling a its contents.

Taehyun was still trying to regulate his breathing when the second wave came up, much larger and thick than the first one, going through his nose too, he was left coughing and the third one was also the same.

It was like that for a while longer than he would've liked it to be, but for every time he heaved up some more sick, his stomach felt less heavy, though it was still hard to the touch, and was pretty much still vomiting, after a while it stopped. But Taehyun kept on rubbing it, the pain still there, and for the more pressure he applied, more burps kept on coming up and left him dry retching over the toilet. Too nauseous to move and being that exhausted, he finally fell asleep right there on the floor, he flushed the toilet and wiped his mouth, the cold tiles were somehow refreshing him from the burning sensation that made its way through all his body (or making it worse but he didn't care tho)

When Taehyun woke up, he noticed that the nausea had subsided so it was safe to move to his bed, the uncomfortable hot feeling was now replaced by all the contrary, if he fell like burning a while before now he felt like he was freezing.

As quickly as he could Taehyun made his way to his bed, seeking for warmth between the blankets. However, after an hour, his temperature changed again, and so, the cycle kept repeating.

It was a hell of a night, Taehyun had barely slept, not to mention his stomach was still in knots. By now the others must be awake, having breakfast and getting ready for their performance at night, Taehyun decided to call a manager and see what they could do.

"Hello, Taehyun-ssi, good morning"

"Hyung, I'm not feeling well, I had a rough night" Taehyun said with a tired sigh.

"What happened?" the manager was now concerned, if it was necessary they needed to cancel his performance and Kai had to do it alone.

"I don't know, before we got on the plane my stomach was feeling kinda off, I thought it was just the excitement or the nerves about all this, but after trying to sleep I threw up, a lot, and my body was either so hot or so cold and... I'm tired... but I still want to perform".

"Okay, I'll drop by your room with the medical staff, they'll give you something that hopefully will be enough to let you rest for a while and feel better to perform, but I want to let you know that if after that you're still not feeling good then there's nothing we can do, your health comes first, Taehyun-ah".

And Taehyun was aware of that, so when the medical staff arrived to his room and connected him to an IV of vitamins and supplements and a bunch of more stuff that were supposed to make him feel better, he fell asleep, finally relaxing. He didn't know it but all the members came by to check on him from time to time and then left for some individual schedules, Soobin was there when he woke up tho, almost five hours later since he fell asleep, confused about where he was until he remembered.

"Hey, how're you feeling?" Soobin's calm voice, it soothed any of the discomfort that was left —even if there wasn't anything left—.

"Definitely much better than last night" Taehyun yawned, rubbing the sleep off of his face, Soobin stood up when some room service arrived, he put the tray of food on his legs and opened the containers, it was soup, and some other light dishes for his stomach.

"Eat something, at least just a little bit, but have something in you aside from those fluids, if you're feeling completely better manager hyung said you are able to perform, but if you're still feeling bad then you're also able to rest, they have an statement prepared and all".

Okay, Taehyun now was hungry, so he ate slowly until his appetite got bigger and finished almost half of what Soobin had ordered for him, not wanting to risk getting his stomach upset again, and when an hour passed and his body wasn't trying to reject what he ate he told everyone he was perfectly fine to perform, and started getting ready, giving his all on that stage with the support of his members.

#tomorrow x together #txt #emeto tw #txt sickfic #sick!taehyun #kang taehyun #sickfic #choi soobin #choi beomgyu #choi yeonjun #hueningkai #request

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rorywritesjunk · 1 month

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(Day 19. "Is this for me?" SunnyxBuggy with some ThistlexMarco. This AU I gave Sunny an injury to her hand which ended her apprenticeship early and had her joining Buggy sooner.)

"So, what are you getting him for his birthday?" Thistle asked as she and Sunny watched Buggy carry around little Rayleigh. The little girl decided Uncle Buggy was the absolute greatest person and refused to be held by anyone else currently. The little visit the four of them arranged was nice: head to an island that would be neutral territory for both crews. Buggy still took some issue with his sister being part of and married to a member of Whitebeard's crew but he stopped complaining about it when he was given the baby to hold.

"I ask and he either says he just wants all the treasure..." Sunny began to say before glancing over at Thistle. "Or... He gets very lovey and says that I'm his greatest treasure so... I don't know yet."

"He's such a romantic nowadays, isn't he?" Thistle hummed as she watched her brother with her daughter, how he kept lifting her up to show her some trees, point out birds, little things like that. All Rayleigh wanted to do was grab his nose. "He's grown up so much."

"I really want to get him something special." Sunny sighed as Buggy tried to keep his head away from his niece. She kept reaching for his face. "I just don't know what."

"The only thing I remember him loving more than treasure was some pancake whale stuffy I stole for him when we were first taken in by Roger and Rayleigh." Thistle told her as Buggy finally caved and let the baby grab him. "He chucked it over the side of the ship when he turned 10 after some asshole said he was too old for that sorta thing."

"What?! That's so mean!"

"Eh, not everyone was always nice." Thistle shrugged. "I stole all of that guy's shoelaces after that, however. I didn't like what he said to Buggy."

"Why shoelaces?" Sunny asked.

"So he had to walk everywhere barefoot." Thistle told her. "And sometimes there were sharp rocks and broken glass."

"... Huh, okay."

"Anyway, you'll think of something. I wouldn't worry too much."

Sunny nodded, a look of concentration on her face as she watched her husband. How could someone say that to a child? She looked back at Thistle.

"Could you draw it for me?"

Sunny's birthday came first. Buggy gifted her with pretty fabrics his crew looted from a merchant ship, along with some nice kitchenware. He offered to give her the jewels he found, but it wasn't necessarily her idea of treasure so she let him keep it. He made her dinner, got drunk, told her all night how much he loved her, then crashed on the bed at midnight.

She made sure he was comfortable before she went to clean the kitchen as she thought about what to do for his birthday. She had a small idea but wasn't sure how she'd accomplish it.

Buggy's birthday came faster than she expected but she was ready. She cooked him a tasty dinner and gave him his gifts. Three new cravats she found at a shop, two new bandanas (one cut from the same fabric of a dress she managed to make from his gift to her, the stitching was a little rough in places but Buggy said nothing as he tied it around his hair), and the final gift she almost hesitated to give him. What if he thought it was weird? Would he get mad at Thistle for telling Sunny about it? She didn't want the siblings upset with each other, they only just reconnected after all those years apart.

She hesitated on the last gift, keeping it behind her back while Buggy finished fixing his hair under his new bandana. He spotted the polka dotted wrapping paper and looked up at his wife.

"Is this for me?" He asked, pointing with one hand while the other snuck around to grab it. Sunny tried to take it back from him but he kept it out of her reach. "Ohhh, what didja get me, babe? Hm? What's got you so shy?"

"It's-"

"Oh, maybe sexy lingerie you wanna wear for me?" He grinned at her as he brought the gift back to himself. "Feels... A bit bulkier."

"It's not lingerie, honey." She told him. "But... I don't want you to get upset."

Buggy frowned at his wife before looking back at the parcel in his hands. Glancing back at her, he carefully unwrapped it, wondering what she was going to give him. Divorce papers, maybe? No, she loved him. She told him this morning in bed when she was in his lap, her hands touching him as he held her close, grateful for her to be in his life.

The paper fell to the ground and he held up a mishaped flat whale. The fabric was a dark blue with light blue polka dots. The stuffing was uneven in places and the eyes were stitched on lopsided. Buggy swallowed heavily and looked up at her.

"Thistle told me about this. I... I thought maybe you'd like it." She laughed nervously as she reached for it. He hated it, didn't he? Not only did she likely stir up sad memories from his childhood, the thing looked ridiculous. She struggled to do some of the most simple tasks now that nothing came out right. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-"

He set it down before standing up. Sunny stood her ground, wondering how he would react, but he wrapped his arms around her, hugging her close as he let his cheek rest against the top of her head.

"Buggy?" She wrapped her arms around him and looked up at him. "Honey? Are you okay?"

He pulled back and cleared his throat, wiping at his eyes. "It's perfect, babe. Don't stress, okay? It's-uh, it's a one of a kind thing, y'know? And *I* have the only one!"

"You like it then?" She asked. "I-I went off a drawing your sister did for me. She told me what happened and I felt so bad for you and-and I wanted you to have a good birthday since this is the first one since we got married and-"

Buggy silenced her with a kiss. He didn't want her to doubt the appreciation he had for the gift. He knew she worked hard on it, knew it would have been difficult for her to cut out the pattern, sew everything together, and wrap it. Her hand injury made things difficult for her and the fact she took the time to make it for him told him how much she really loved him.

When he pulled back from the kiss, her eyes were wide and shiny with tears but she was smiling at him.

"I'm glad you like it, Buggy."

"Yea, well, I'll like anything you give me, babe." He grinned as he leaned down to cover her face with kisses. She let out a surprise yelp, trying to wriggle away from him but not making much of an effort. He let one hand venture over to the table, wanting to touch the gift once more.

He couldn't believe she made that just for him.

#buggy the clown #buggy the clown x oc #buggy x oc #sunny x buggy #thistle x marco #bugust fic

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esta-elavaris · 10 months

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Part Twelve [2,590 words] ~ James Norrington/OC

An AU of my completed, 400k+ word fanfic Catch the Wind [AO3], in which Elizabeth, not James, is the one to discover Theodora Byrne after she crash-lands into the world of Pirates of the Caribbean.

Page breaks by cafekitsune.

Also now on AO3 and FF.net.

Masterpost - Part One - Part Two - Part Three - Part Four - Part Five - Part Six - Part Seven - Part Eight - Part Nine - Part Ten - Part Eleven - *Part Twelve* [you're here!]

Tag list [let me know if you want to be added!]: @missfronkensteen @teawithshakespeare @dancerinthestorm

"I have a surprise for you."

Norrington looked aghast at her words, and Theo grinned, laughing and quickly continuing before he could get up and sprint back to the Interceptor. Or maybe just directly into the ocean. Whatever he continued to be the swiftest form of escape.

"You can relax, it's not for you. But you had a pretty big hand in it, so I wanted you to be the first to see it."

"The necklace?"

It could never be said that he wasn't shrewd. Or that she didn't have a way or making things painfully obvious, she supposed.

"The necklace," she confirmed, sifting through her skirts until she found the pockets sewn within.

"Wouldn't I be the third to see it, then? Behind Turner and yourself?"

"If I knew that you were going to be like this about it, you'd have been the twentieth."

"The twenty-first would've been too insulting?"

"Had to save a spot for Amelia."

"I shall keep the rest of my comments to myself, so I'm not catapulted further still down the list."

"Mm – any more snark and I'd have to put you square behind taking it to the cells in Fort Charles to show the folk there before I let you see it."

"In which case I would have to give permission – which I would only bestow if you allowed me to see the necklace, as recompense."

"I bow down to a skilled tactician," she said drily.

Of course, her deadpan humoured was dulled a bit by the smile on her face, but she couldn't help it. Who could have ever thought that the inscrutable James Norrington would ever be willing to sit and chat nonsense with her – unbegrudgingly, and with a smile on his face? It beggared belief. And she enjoyed it more than she should.

"It's not an exact replica. They're not so much twins as sisters, but I kind of like that," she explained, drawing the little cloth pouch from her skirts. "It'd be a bit to twee if we were cutting about in matching jewellery."

"Cutting about?"

"Yes, yes, she speaks like a weird little commoner, we know this."

"I was not mocking you," he said simply.

He looked tempted to add something else and she waited patiently for him to do so, but when he finally did, she had the feeling it wasn't what he originally intended to say.

"Must I beg, if I wish to see this necklace?"

"Is that an offer?"

"No," came his emphatic response.

Theo laughed, unwrapping it and then dangling it by the chain before him. The pendant was around the same size as her own, and shone just as brightly, but with small curling designs running along the edges of the shape. Will had explained the reasoning for this – something to do with imperfections in the only silver he'd been able to squirrel away for use, and how this disguised them. But they were very pretty, so she'd hardly been inclined to complain in the first place.

He looked at the necklace – truly looked at it, rather than just fixing his eyes in its general direction for a polite amount of time before he went on to rattle off some sort of canned, polite compliment. The action made Theo more nervous than she let on. Sure, she'd borrowed some of Elizabeth's jewellery here and there for social gatherings, but he'd spent his whole life surrounded by the fashions and the ways of this time. If something was up with the necklace, he'd see it immediately.

Once upon a time, she would have expected him to therefore voice it immediately, too. But now she honestly couldn't say whether she'd expect that from him or not – for he was kinder than she'd first realised. Even if he probably wouldn't thank her for pointing it out.

"It's a fine piece," he said, holding it up to the light and nodding with approval that appeared perfectly sincere. "I'm sure Miss Swann will be ecstatic."

"I hope she will be. It's just such a relief to finally be able to do something nice for her," she admitted, accepting the necklace back.

He cleared his throat, perhaps uncomfortable with the sincere tone their conversation was taking, then he hesitated for a moment before he spoke.

"You must know that neither of the Swanns would hold any expectation in that regard."

"Of course I do. That just makes it worse. If they begrudged what they gave me, I'd feel less bad about it."

"Ireland must be a strange land indeed," he snorted.

Although there was something in his tone that suggested he knew exactly what she meant.

"No," she sighed, only half-joking. "Just me."

Thankfully, he chose that moment to steer them into less choppy, awkward waters.

"I'm curious. You're well-read, and you mentioned missing your books from home. What do you ordinarily read?"

Had she not been trying to rein in a very mortifying bout of emotions, she might've realised how that had the potential to be a dangerous question – given the time discrepancy.

"Whatever I can get my hands on. It depends on my mood. History…"

By that, she meant salacious autobiographies of her favourite musicians.

"…Philosophy…"

That one, at least, he could take at face value.

"…Horror," she added.

"Horror?" he frowned.

Well. It looked like that hadn't been invented yet. Great. Although she shouldn't have really been surprised, she supposed – what book invented it? He'd been pretty generous in describing her as well-read, but she wasn't an expert on literature, nor educated on it enough to know when certain genres began or how. She could guess that horror began as gothic literature and morphed a bit, and it did seem a bit early even for that. Although she wasn't sure what signs she could look for. Amelia stomping about the town in Demonia platforms and black lipstick? Annoyingly, she'd probably be able to pull it off.

Alas, she'd dug herself into this hole now – so she might as well start making it hospitable.

"Horror – stories of…of ghosts, and the supernatural, and of people who do terrible things."

"It hardly sounds like the stuff of recreational reading."

"It makes sense, once you dig into it."

"By all means, explain it to me."

From anybody else, it might've felt condescending. Hell, from him it would have been condescending only a few weeks ago. But instead, as he spoke, he watched her with open curiosity – with expectation. Not because he was waiting for her to make an absolute tit out of herself, but because he genuinely expected that what she was about to say might be interesting. From James Norrington, that was damn high praise.

"It…it provides a safe avenue to explore those feelings," she cringed at how new-age faux-intellectual that sounded, especially to someone who had actually fought in battles out at sea, and quickly continued. "For someone who's never experienced real fear, or real danger, if they get really engrossed in a story full of those things, they experience that fear. Obviously to a far, far lesser extent, but it's something. It's better than nothing. I'm not saying a book'll turn them into some grizzled war veteran-"

"Like myself?" he asked drily.

"You're not grizzled," she snorted. "Reading horror is just…microdosing danger."

"Microdosing danger?"

Was she hallucinating, or was that an amused smile on his face? One that wasn't even grudging? God, she was at risk of swooning.

"Yeah, like-"

"I can guess your meaning well enough, even if I've never heard the phrasing before."

"Look at us, bridging the language barrier. You've a promising career in diplomacy ahead of you."

"By God, I hope not. If you'd been paying attention, you would have seen that my skill lies in conflict."

"So does diplomacy, really."

"Diplomats cannot utilise cannons in their work."

"Maybe you could be the first."

He rolled his eyes and she couldn't help but laugh fondly, wrenching them back to the topic at hand. There was only so much of her nonsense that he'd willingly tolerate before he excused himself, and she enjoyed his company.

"There's something thrilling about it, too. Scaring yourself when there isn't anything real to be scared of. Monsters, evil, the like. It can be exciting."

"Spoken like one who has never encountered monsters, nor evil," he said flatly.

"You don't know what I've seen."

She meant the words to be teasing – referring to what she knew lay ahead, perhaps, or maybe just the sight of her dad's brothers-in-arms hungover on a Sunday morning. James didn't laugh, which wasn't that surprising, but nor did he roll his eyes. Instead, he looked…well, not quite stricken, but suddenly very solemn indeed, his mouth opening and closing wordlessly for a moment before he forced his lips together. Bowing his head, he cleared his throat and then looked back at her again, very much the solemn Captain Norrington.

"You are right – I do not. My apologies."

Theo blinked in surprise. She'd gotten fairly decent, although far from infallible, when it came to gauging her daft little jokes here, but Norrington's sincere and solemn response caught her off guard. Not least because he watched her keenly now. Was there something she should be saying?

"Er…don't worry about it. I was only being silly."

He continued looking at her for a few long moments, and she couldn't help but feel like whatever he'd wished for her to say, that hadn't been it.

Governor Swann was holding a dinner party that evening – for the seniormost men in Port Royal who were about to make sail. It was a tradition that the Governor himself had founded shortly after arriving in Port Royal, ensuring that the men about to leave at least got one good meal in, as well as a bit of entertaining company, before they went off to see to their duty. Ordinarily, it was something James merely endured. Yes, he often found he enjoyed the evenings more than he expected to, but that lack of expectation seldom had anything to do with the company he would find there.

He'd more than earned his reputation of being a man of duty. Whatever minor gripes he had with how they extended to whispers that he had no sense of humour, or that he could find no joy in anything but duty, he could roll his eyes and brush off such comments. Not least because of the small amount of truth in them – for on the nights before he was due to leave Port Royal, he simply had no desire to spend the last of his time making small-talk in drawing rooms. No, he would much prefer to instead spend it making sure that everything was in order, including his thoughts, before he left.

This voyage would require no extensive preparations. It was more of a patrol than a real mission. A short journey through the surrounding waters, aimed at both ensuring those waters were safe, maintaining a tangible presence for any foul eyes who may be watching with malintent, and to stop their wits from dulling during extensive time inland.

Still, James found himself disgruntled at what lay ahead…and all because of a conversation he'd had with Governor Swann himself, that morning as they walked the battlements of Fort Charles.

"Elizabeth is ecstatic at the prospect of tonight – it's her first chance to show off her gift from Miss Byrne. I don't suppose you've seen it?"

"No," he lied. "I have not. What is it?"

If he told the truth of the matter, there ran a real risk of credit being attributed to him, and not Miss Byrne. He had no risk to detract from her victory. Not when he'd seen how jubilant it made her.

"A necklace – a pretty little trinket, to be sure. It won't be featured next to the Crown Jewels any time soon, but the sentimental value behind the piece far outshines those in the eyes of my daughter."

James chuckled. "I'm sure it does."

"Truth be told, I was worried about the influence our guest may have on her, but I've discovered those worries were all for naught. Miss Byrne has certainly brightened up her days considerably. Thick as thieves, those two."

"Good. I'm glad."

Worryingly, he found he even meant that. Mostly.

"You never know, perhaps Miss Byrne will find herself a suitor during one such evening as tonight."

Stilling, James blinked and looked up at the Governor. "A suitor?"

"Come, Captain," the Governor chuckled, misunderstanding his shock. "She has her eccentricities, but she's fair. Some may even profess to find her charming, in her way. If we cannot find her father, and if he does not find us, or if he cannot find us, God help him, we must…look to the future. She could do far worse for herself than a strapping young lieutenant. Although, I grant you, it would have to be one with good humour."

There were only two lieutenants who came to mind at all, and the latter part of Governor Swann's statement firmly ruled out Gillette from the running. Although he had to admit, it would make a good show to see Gillette trying to woo a woman such as Theodora Byrne. But Groves? The notion of Groves doing so filled him with less humour. And how could it not, he reasoned? They knew nothing of her background, nor how that background may impact whether she was eligible at all. That was the source of his discomfort. Nothing more.

The memory of the conversation had James' lips thinning. Hopefully Governor Swann had less of a stomach for matchmaking than his daughter did.

Ordinarily, this turn of events would have been a great help. Elizabeth could no longer fill her mind with misguided notions regarding himself and Theodora if Miss Byrne was occupied with the attentions of Groves, that much was true. It would have been an exceedingly neat little solution. One, he was sure, he would have personally encouraged – were it not for the extraneous factors.

And as for those extraneous factors, he was certain – truly certain – that he was getting somewhere. You don't know what I've seen. When they'd first met, she never would have admitted such a thing aloud to him. This camaraderie that had grown between them, that very same camaraderie that surprised him in how little he had to feign or resort to pretence in order to achieve it, and worried him in how natural and easy it felt, was working.

Was it wrong for him to find happiness in that? More than the mere satisfaction in achieving an important aim, but the true pleasure in having gained the confidence of a woman – a person – who had shown themselves to be truly decent, whatever her secrets? For he was good at sniffing out artifice and foul intentions, and while Theodora had some of the former about her, she had none of the latter. Today, he'd almost even slipped up and admitted that he liked her strange little idioms and turn of phrase, but he held himseld back. Thankfully. For that could very well be misread, and spook her. And when she did finally confide in him, as he was growing more and more hopeful that she would, he would in turn finally be able to help her.

The notion of Groves swooping in and courting her was just that. A mere notion. A passing possibility planted in his mind by an errant comment of Governor Swann's – a fleeting comment he probably now had no recollection of making, for it meant so little. It was not set in stone, and it only bothered James personally because he might undo the progress he was making here. That was all.

Yes. That was all.

#catch the wind #ctw #james/theodora #fallen through time esta-elavaris #ftt #james norrington/oc #james norrington x oc #pirates of the caribbean fanfiction #pirates of the caribbean fanfic #potcfic #james norrington fanfiction #james norrington fanfic

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supercriminalbean · 2 years

Text

The Red Turtle Neck

Emily Prentiss x Gender!Netural Reader.

A/N: Okay, so unsure how I feel about how this turned out. Seeing as this wasn't even meant to be a fic the first two paragraphs were in another oneshot I'm writing but it didn't fit but I still liked so I had to use it somehow and somehow this was created so yeah. Enjoy, please leave feedback where I can improve. Thank you all 🖤

Summary: Gender netural Reader They/Them pronouns no use of (Y/n) Reader and Emily had a friends with benefits relationship before she died, but feelings got involved. How do things go when Emily comes back from the dead.

Warnings: Mention of death and faking death. Swearing, crying, alcohol, drugs. Emotions, fluff.

Words: 2.8k.

Fuck, your neck is covered in dark bruises, how the hell are you going to hide this from your team, you got no idea. Your makeup skills are good, but not that good, and even if they are, it's not as if you have the right type of makeup here. Groaning softly as you look through your draws trying to find something that might help cover your neck up enough, that no question will arise. Aha, a scarf, it's a really old knitted scarf you must have gotten when you were what, 16 or 17, from a family member. You can’t wear this, you never wear scarfs, and this well this will just make the team know what you're trying to hide.

“For fuck sake” You grumble, shoving the scarf back into your draw slamming it close, well try to. A piece of red fabric keeps getting stuck when you try to close it. Glaring at it with pure hatred, why does clothing only get in the way when you're already in a bad mood. Without even thinking you grab it, pulling it out all ready to throw it on the ground and forget all about it. But now that you're holding it, realisation dawns on you as to what top it is. The red turtle neck, Emily and your shared turtleneck.

~~~

You thought you got rid of this months ago, obviously not. This was originally her top, but it somehow ended up in your washing one night and after that, you both wore it just as much as each other. Derek loves to say that, that turtle neck was the first sign you two had started doing it. You love to hate that dirty mind of his. Taking a deep breath as you hold the top, feeling as it gets heavy in your hand. This top could easily hide your neck, and it is just Emily style to help you hide your hickeys from the team. Maybe it's time to put your top back on, smiling softly as you slide it on. As soon as it's on, you suddenly don’t feel alone, feeling as if Emily is watching you from above. While of course low key judging you, as you hide your whore phase from the team. Again.

~~~

Months have now passed since you started wearing the turtleneck again. The only thing that still makes you feel close to your late 'friend'. You hold on to so much regret regarding you and Emily's weird relationship. You two of you were always more than friends who worked and slept together but, you two could never make it more, than just that. You never realised it until she died but you were completely in love with your best friend and when she died a part of you did too. You managed to put yourself back together slowly, using alcohol and random sex to fix a strange hole in your life.

~~~

When you walk into the bullpen one morning, getting barely any sleep last night after another nightmare. You're wearing some of your comfort clothes these morning, your favourite jeans and Emily's red turtleneck. The bullpen is quiet and on edge for the first few hours of the morning. Hotch had finally returned back from his assignment this morning and has been in his office with the office door closed all morning with JJ and Chief Strauss. Barely anyone on the team could concentrate on their paperwork just watching and waiting to be included in on, the intense conversation going on behind closed doors.

~~~

“You don’t think JJ is being transferred again do you?” Reid asks again for what feels like the 100th that morning.

“Nah, no way I think it has to be way bigger than that” Morgan stare grow the more he watches them. He’s barely moved his eyes off them for the last hour, his paperwork completely forgotten about.

“Maybe it's about the job she was on when she was transferred, maybe something happened?” Penelope gulps, her worry clear on her face. Sitting beside Morgan, needing his comfort.

“You don’t think they are going to split us up again do you” Looking up from your desk and around at your team. Everyone knows it could happen but no one wanted it to be said out loud. The thought is worse than most may think it could be. The job itself is good, but its hard and makes you question the world more than not, and the only way you get through it is with those that keep you safe everyday. Trust doesn't come easy with this job so once a team trusts each other it is hard to let one another go.

“No I don’t think that is what’s going to happen” Rossi speaks up. Making the team's head all snap to the senior agent sitting beside you. “They know that we work well together, they won’t split us, trust me on that one” His smile and calm voice does little to comfort the nervous of the four profilers.

~~~

Another 20 minutes go by when Chief Strauss finally walks out of Hotchner's office, not even glancing at the group of profilers gawking at her as she walks past.

“My team, conference room now” Hotch’s voice makes you all snap your heads up at him. Hotch and JJ standing on the ledge, staring down at you with almost unreadable faces. Which only makes your anxiety grow worse, as you watch them walk off.

Once the whole team is in the conference room and both doors have been closed, that is when everyone can get a proper look at Hotch. He wasn't in his usual work wear, he's wearing casual clothing with facial hair, looking like he hasn’t had time to sleep in a long time. JJ stands close to him, looking weary and guilty, unable to look at anyone.

“I received a call this morning and have been talking with Chief Strauss to see how we proceed with this information” Hotch crosses his arms, staring at everyone. His eyes soften as he takes in everyones worried looks, his eyes stopping on you.

“Hotch what is it?” You press him, coming to stand by Morgan, as the others take a seat. Your heart seems to be wanting to test the theory. If it can really beat so fast, that it will escape your chest.

“This morning, Ian Doyle was brought into custody when he was found outside his son's school. He is now in our custody and won’t be getting out anytime soon” Hotch's face lights a little as he speaks. The room seems to fill with everyone letting out a sigh of a relife.

“But there is something else you all need to know” Hotch takes a breath, guilt filling his face as much as he does his best to hide it.

“Aaron what is it?” Dave asks, staring at his friend, in concern.

“Why don’t you two take a seat” Hotch looks at you and Morgan, gulping thickly as you meet his eyes shaking your head.

“Hotch, what is it?” Morgan asks sharply. Your mouth is becoming too dry to ask anything. Your body runs so close to the edge, fearing that something horrible is about to be said.

~~~

“Seven months ago I made a decision that affected this team, as you all know Emily lost a lot of blood after her fight with Doyle but the doctors were able to stabilise her, and she was airlifted from boston to bethesda under a covert exfiltration, her identity was strictly need to know, and she stayed there until she was well enough to travel” As Hotch speaks, he keeps his voice levelled his eyes glancing around the room, taking in everyone's reaction. The rooms fall silent as the news sets in. Your body feels like it's running cold, everything around you feels so far away, almost like it's a dream. Your eyes flick to JJ who's standing there watching you guilty, you open your mouth to say something but no news comes out.

“She's alive?” Garcia is the first to break the silence. Her voice breaks as tears slide down her face. You let yourself glance at Garcia for a split second before your eyes are back on Hotch. The room feels like it's spinning as people's voices fade into the background, unable to focus on the betrayal falling from Hotch’s lips. The last Seven months of pain that you went through of losing your Emily, could have been prevented but no, It wasn’t. Your best friend is alive and two people you are meant to trust with your life with HER life, have been lying to you. Your stomach is twisting in pain, feeling as if you're about to vomit from this knife that has been stuck into you.

~~~

The voices are still talking, but that doesn’t get your attention, what does are the footsteps. Footsteps that you never thought you would ever hear again. The voices fall silent once more, when Emily Prentiss comes to a standstill in the doorway.

“Holy cow….” Garcia is the first to respond as Emily smiles weakly at everyone, seeming to be at a loss for words.

“Guys… I.. Im sorry” Emily tries her best to string some words together but luckily she doesn’t have to for long. Garica is up in an instant, rushing towards her to wrap her arms around the dead woman. You're unable to move any part of your body as you stare at her in shock. Frozen to your spot as you watch her hug everyone in the team. Morgan is the last to approach her, slowly still unsure if she's even real. Emily wraps her arms around him pulling him close, closing her eyes as she does so.

“I'm so sorry Morgan, you didn’t deserve that” She whispers softly. Pulling away as her eyes opens, landing straight on you. Taking a few steps away from Morgan, she moves towards you, keeping direct eye contact. Which seems to tear straight into your heart, as you take in her beautiful brown eyes. Something you never thought you would ever see in person again.

“I'm so sorry” She starts to say, coming to a stop in front of you. Opening her mouth to say something else.

“Don’t” Interrupting her, your voice is croaky. You hadn't realised you have been crying as you had been processing the news.

“Please just.. I know I have a lot to explain to you” She reaches out, placing a comforting hand on your shoulder. Which you shrug off quickly, scoffing at her in disbelief.

“No, no, I can’t deal with this, with you” Shaking your head as your body starts to click into gear, stepping back from her quickly. “I loved you, and you died. I can't do this!” Having finally found your legs, you walk out of the room as fast as your leg could take you, before running towards the elevator. Emily tries to follow you but is stopped by Morgan.

~~~

Two bottles of wine lay empty on the ground beside you. Slowly, you get up to open another bottle. You had been hoping that the alcohol would help get rid of how you feel, or at least ease the feelings. But soon the afternoon turned to the evening, and you're still drowning in your pain. Sipping on another bottle waiting for your pizza to turn up. When the door knocks, you jump from the couch. Stumbling to the front door, opening only to be filled with anger.

“Oh fuck off, not you” Groaning softly as your eyes land on the reason for your alcohol consumption.

“Hey, I have your pizza okay, just let me in” She sighs softly, smelling the wine on your breath. “Please” Emily adds with a small smile, seeing the hesitation. Sighing, nodding as you step back, making your way back to the couch.

“Fine, but you get no pizza, dead people don’t eat” Huffing as you sit back down. Picking up your third bottle of wine, which is half empty, already.

“Jesus, Red, how much have you drunk tonight” Emily sighs, looking at the bottle before sitting beside you. Placing the pizza down in between you.

“Don’t you dare judge me, I have had one hell of a year!” Snapping at her as you open the pizza box, ot taking any. As your look back up at her.

“I know it's been hard, it hasn’t been easy for me either. " She starts but falls silent by the look you give her.

~~~

“Why, did the girl you fell in love with, but you couldn’t do anything about it die after her hidden past came to light, and you had to watch as your family was falling apart around you and you couldn’t do anything to help them, and all you really have left of her is this stupid turtleneck, cause wow, what a coincidence.” Laughing bitterly as you lift the bottle to your lips again. Letting the liquor burn your throat as you swallow. Glancing up to see Emily face drop, filling of guilt and heartbreak.

“No, but the person I fell in love with, I had to lie to and leave behind, and I had no idea if they even felt the same way” Emily grabs the bottle from your hand as you go to take another sip, rolling your eyes at her. She places the bottle down as she grips your hands tightly, which forces you to look her in the eyes as she continues

“I had to live seven months never knowing if I would ever see them again, I had to leave my family behind knowing I have caused nothing but pain for them, I left the person I fell in love with, before I could even tell them how much I love them and how brave and strong they are”

Your lips are trembling as her words sink in, tears dripping down your face as you allow yourself to read the pure love and the fear sitting in her eyes, as she watches you waiting for your response.

“It hurts Ems, It hurted so much” You whimper out. Pulling her hands up to your face, crying softly.

“Oh baby,” She whisper softly. Quickly she moves the pizza out of the way, pulling you into her arms. You snuggle into her chest, allowing yourself to fall apart in her arms, knowing you're safe with her.

“You're safe now, my sweets, I'm not leaving you ever again, I promise you, my love” She whispers as she strokes your hair tenderly, helping you calm down.

~~~

You two lay there for a while even after you have fully calmed down. Not wanting to move, either of you. Feeling at home in each other's present, a feeling neither of you have felt in a long time. Steadily, you pull yourself up into a sitting position, glancing at her. Her eyes follow you worriedly.

“I'm sorry Ems, we still need to talk a lot more but” Your voice comes out weakly, sighing tiredly.

“You're drunk and honestly I'm tired, we can talk tomorrow morning” She smiles lovingly at you, as she wraps an arm around your shoulder lightly. “But, I do need to ask you something. We can figure out everything else out in the morning, but I can’t go another night without asking you properly” Emily places a hand softly on your checks, turning your head to look at her. You smile gently at her, knowing what she wants to ask her.

“Oh and what may that be Prentiss?” Smirking teasingly at her, knowing how much she loves that look on your face.

“Be mine?” She smiles more. Her eyes fill with love as she leans into you when she sees you nod.

“Always, I’m not losing you again Ems” Your words are barely audible as you lean forward, capturing her lips with yours.

~~~

You two share a deep, meaningful kiss, one that helps calm both of your nerves from the last few months. Once you pull away from her, her forehead comes to rest on yours. Smiling at you, like the mad in love woman, she is.

“You better not leave me again, Emily, because otherwise you will be a dead woman” Laughing faintly, as you pull back from her.

“Oh trust me, my love I’m never leaving you again.” Smiling at you, as she slowly moves back.

“Good” Smiling as you lay back in her arms, finding a comfortable spot to stay for the rest of the night. Grabbing your blanket that's hanging on the back of the couch as you both snuggle down. She finds a movie to put on as you grab the pizza, knowing you two won’t be far away from falling asleep. Knowing that this sleep is just the start of your new beginning.

#emily prentiss x gender netural reader #emily prentiss one shot #emily prentiss fluff #emily prentiss x reader fluff #bau x reader #emily prentiss fake death fic

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sizebrained · 2 months

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It's So Hot, Can We Go to the Pool, Part 5

Ben follows after Sam, Hazel is pissed, Sam is embarassed. Cob admits something that complicates things with Sam.

CW: Adult themes, language, fluff, angst, arousal, mentions of bodies, functions, desires, and mouthplay. ***

It was Sadie who finally asked if Ben thought Sam was ok.

Ben had gotten lost in conversation with his neighbor. It was nice. Hazel had been right, but she usually was right. Ben could have found it annoying, but was more impressed than anything else. Several minutes had passed, and Sam didn't return like either of them thought she might. If it had been a bathroom emergency, there were the bathrooms right in the lobby. And if she'd ignored those for some reason, she would have easily made it all the way up to his floor and back by now.

Something must be wrong.

Ben kept sneaking glances over at the inflatable Sam had been in with Hazel and Cob. He didn't see them in the cupholder or anywhere else. He worried that they were in the pool itself, but he couldn't go in and check.

If he suddenly went over to an empty pool lounger in front of Sadie, that could draw her attention. He was worried he seemed weird. Doing that could make it even worse.

He was getting better at casual conversation, but his social anxiety was still there lurking. Maybe the tiny pair were still hiding somewhere he couldn't see. He'd have to go ask Sam so he would know where to look for them when he came back. Ben excused himself from Sadie to go check on his sister. He went back up to his condo. At the closed door, he could hear Sam's voice through it. "HOW MANY TIMES DO I NEED TO SAY I'M SORRY. OK?! I'm obviously stupid!" Sam yelled. "And it was WAY WORSE for me!" Ben's face looked confused again. He didn't hear anyone else besides his sister. It made him think that Sam must have been talking to Hazel or Cob because their voices are too soft to hear through a door, unlike Sam. She had gotten them out of the pool and up here somehow.

Ben opened the door and closed it behind him quickly, in case anyone was in the hallway. There never was anyone else in the hallway, but he was paranoid nowadays. He fretted over Hazel and Cob's safety more and more. It was like his anxiety had shifted from its usual targets to new ones.

Maybe that's what happens when you start caring about other people more. Sam was standing on one side of the kitchen counter still in her bathing suit. It looked way too small which seemed strange to Ben. She usually had a hard time finding clothes that fit, but bathing suits were normally one of the few items she could find easily. In the middle of the counter, he saw Hazel standing her head tilted back so she could fully glare at Sam. He felt relief knowing she was safe. But then he noticed how she was standing. Even from this far away he recognized her body language. It was fury, which was rare. "Hey! I'm glad you got away safely, but uh what happened? You all disappeared." Ben asked while walking over to the other side of the counter.

He sat down on a stool so that he was facing his sister, Hazel standing between them. It was nice to have to look up at his big...well older sister. For years now, it only happened if he was sitting or something. His recent growth spurt made that even worse.

Ben also noticed that his condo didn't feel nearly as hot or stuffy now. Maybe it was from being in the pool for so long or, hopefully, they finally fixed the air conditioning. As Sam and Hazel stayed silent with Ben's arrival, the hurried sound of the spinning ceiling fan filled the otherwise eerily silent condo. Hazel turned to look at him. He was shirtless like he had just come out of the pool. She took a breath and steadied herself. She was so angry. Thankfully, she needed that right now. Being this angry made it easier ignore Ben when he was in such a state of undress. At least he was dry...ish.

She moved in months ago now. As time passed, Hazel found herself more and more bothered by her "roommate" when he was only partially dressed. It made it harder for her to be around him when she felt like she did. She didn't see him as some kind of patient anymore. He meant so much more to her now. "SAFELY?!" Hazel shouted after a moment of silence.

"SAFELY?!" she repeated.

She was breathing in and out of her nose heavily. Ben looked a little terrified, like he was worried he had done something wrong that caused her to be so mad. He was waiting to be corrected.

God does he have to be so...so...bloody cute...Hazel thought in frustration.

Sam kept looking out the wall of windows instead of either Ben or Hazel. She felt so embarassed and ashamed about her spot decision. Hazel was making it worse. Sam swished the last gulp of her beer around in her mouth several times before swallowing. She turned to the fridge, opened it, and retrieved another one. "He's right babe. You are safe. And what else was I supposed to do?" Sam asked, her body bent over, leaning into the fridge while she spoke.

She turned to face them and cracked the beer open using just one hand. She finished half of it in a few gulps. "Did you..." Ben started but was interrupted by Hazel. "IN HER MOUTH!!! IN HER BIG BLOODY MOUTH!!! SHE PUT US IN HER MOUTH AND SCURRIED OUT OF THE POOL!!!" Hazel shouted and stomped her foot in anger emphasizing some of the words as she did. "WITH US!!! IN!!! HER!!! MOUTH!!!"

"What?!" Ben said shocked and looked at his sister. Then at Hazel. He had wondered where they went but never would have thought of that they were in Sam's mouth. "Why...you could have just like...grabbed them in your hand and said it was your phone or something..." Ben thought out loud trying to understand. He looked at Hazel's face again. She was really cute when she was this mad. He felt like he shouldn’t think that given she was angry, but he did. Something about someone so small being so filled with so much rage. She was fierce. Much fiercer than Ben felt like he was, maybe even fiercer Sam.

If she was human sized, based on her look right now, he probably would be trying to hold Hazel back from clawing out Sam's eyes or something.

Hazel tried to calm herself down by vigorously rubbing her face with both hands. Her tail shook a little in sync with her arms as she shook her whole body out. It helped.

Ben looked at his sister then at Hazel. There was a moment of heavy silence between them all as they all stared at one another. Ben started laughing. Hard. Hazel tried to stay angry, her arms were crossed over her chest as she watched him. But she loved it when he laughed. She couldn't help but laugh at his laughter too. She covered her mouth with one hand to stifle it, hoping neither of them noticed.

Ben was holding his chest and wiped his eyes as his laughter slowed.

"Oh my god Sam! Why would you put them in your mouth?!" He asked through the laughter. "Well...what else was I supposed to do?!" Sam asked flustered. She lifted her shoulders and elbows gesturing at herself in her swimsuit.

"Where else was I supposed to put you in this? I can't believe you would have preferred an alternative." Sam normally would have used this as a chance to to egg Hazel on a bit. But she was seriously trying to make her case that it wasn't that bad of a decision. "Good lord! Can you please?! Go put on some clothes. We are not going back down to the pool anymore today anyway. I do not know if you noticed but your air is flowing in here again. It is quite cold actually. So go get dressed...Both of you!" Hazel asked turning away from both Ben and Sam to look out the windows. Standing on the countertop between them, she was buffeted on both sides by more bare human skin than she could remember at one time.

"Sure babe no problem!" Sam said finishing her beer, sounding a little peeved.

Sam then let out a belch that she did not try to hide or excuse herself for like she typically did. She was hurt and acting up because she didn't know what else to do.

"Gross..." Ben and Hazel both said in unison turning to look at her.

"Oh give me a break you two prudes. You want gross? Try having two little tails swishing around the roof of your mouth and tongue." Sam said shivering at the sensation.

Sam turned and walked towards Ben's bedroom. Ben narrowed his eyes knowing she was going to borrow some of his clothes again.

"Uh where's Cob?" Ben asked turning to look around noticing they weren't immediately around.

"They have been in your bathroom sink since we came back. I think they're traumatized." Hazel turned and looked up at him. Then she narrowed her eyes as he remained in place. Ben stared at her for a moment trying to figure out what what he was supposed to be doing. "Oh right. Shirt. Sorry." Ben said sheepishly at the tiny staring figure. Ben didn't really think it was weird for him to be shirtless. Especially not just coming from the pool or in his own home. But he got up and followed Sam into his bedroom. He heard the bathroom door close as he walked into his bedroom. She must have gone into the bathroom with Cob. With Ben and Sam on their way, Hazel got down from the countertop in a few graceful leaps. She made her way over to her bookcase to change out of her own bathing suit. In his bedroom, Ben opened a drawer. Sam had taken the very sweatshirt he was going to put on before going into his bathroom. He took the risk and traded his damp bathing suit for underwear and shorts.

Then he grabbed a tank top instead of the sweatshirt he had wanted. He slipped it on, with a sigh, walking back out to Hazel.

In the bathroom, behind its closed door, Sam pulled Ben's huge sweatshirt on over her head. She looked down to see Cob curled up in the hand towel nest next to the edge of the sink.

Sam had made it for them after they said they needed to wash off from being in Sam's mouth. Sam felt awful. It reminded her of when she first met Cob and had done the same thing when Cob was freezing. Cob had said they loved her. She walked over and pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear before deciding to take out her ponytail. It was a mess anyway. She shook out her long hair and brought her face over to the vanity's edge. Sam's big green eyes looked down at Cob huddled in a ball in the hand towel, one edge pulled over them like a blanket. "Hey babe. Are you doing ok? I'm really sorry I just panicked and didn't think it through. I promised I'd never hurt you and I feel like I broke that a little just now...but I was trying to keep you safe you know?" Sam pleaded in a whisper down at the tiny, mostly hidden figure in the hand towel. More than Hazel reaming her out, it was the idea that she had scared or hurt Cob that made Sam feel truly terrible. She hated it when she spooked them somehow. She thought she'd been doing really well. They had a rough start as Sam got accustomed to just how tiny Cob was and how every day things had to be adjusted to make it less accidentally intimidating for them. And now Sam felt like she had to start over from the first spot on a complicated board game again. But Cob didn't feel awful, or unsafe. Sam didn't break her promise. At least Cob didn't think so. They were feeling something else and didn't know what to do. Cob had liked it. A lot. Being in Sam's mouth like the gum she always chewed was terrifying, and amazing, and unlike anything they had ever experienced. It made Cob a mess, and not just pool water and Sam's saliva. "Am I gross? I mean was it really gross and disgusting for you like you said?" Cob asked slowly and softly at Sam.

Both of those things and more had been mentioned by Sam during her argument with Hazel while Cob cleaned up in the sink. Cob heard everything Sam had shouted back at their sister, even from the bathroom.

Thinking that something they liked so much was so awful for Sam made Cob hurt. They felt ashamed for liking something that maybe they shouldn't like. They were so confused.

"Babe! No, no, no, you're not gross!" Sam said hurriedly at Cob.

Hearing the tiny question from the tiny form under the towel made Sam felt even worse somehow, which she didn't think was possible. Cob was, at least, one of Sam's closest friends and she hated the idea that she was making them feel badly. "I just...it...I wasn't thinking. I was worried I was going to hurt you or swallow you by accident. And it's like I've never had anything alive in my mouth before? I wasn't really prepared. And I was worried about Ben's neighbor seeing you...so I was scared. You're not gross Cob, not to me. That's not what I meant ok? I'm sorry." Sam said while bringing a hand up and cupping it over Cob's body in and the hand towel they were nestled in. Sam pressed down gently until she felt Cob's body move up against her in a sort of light hug against her hand. "I'm an idiot ok? Do you forgive me? I don't know how I can make it up to you but I will alright? Anything you want." Sam promised worried she'd done something beyond repair. And perhaps, promising too much. Cob stayed silent and didn't try to move or struggle away from Sam's hand on top of them. It was nice. They loved feeling Sam like this. And with her hair down, the ever present fruit smell of her filled Cob's nose. It was always so sweet and powerful. She must have used a ton of whatever it was for it to linger like this. Finally, Cob felt brave enough to be bold. "You're not an idiot. And I'm not mad or scared or anything...it's just...do you think..." Cob stumbled through their words before stopping. Sam leaned down and towards them even closer and whispered back. "Do I think what babe?" "Do you...think you...we...that we...do you think we could...do that again...sometime?" Cob finished. "Do what...oh...oh...Oh!" Sam said in surprise.

She realized what Cob was asking of her. But she wanted to make sure. "Babe...did you...like being in my mouth?" Sam prodded and lifted up her hand then placed it back down in gentle, reassuring strokes over Cob's whole body under the soft fabric. Sam was a little curious and excited by the prospect of Cob enjoying it. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if she tried it again. It wasn't like Sam would be able to do it with anyone else. But it felt like crossing a line that Sam had managed to stay firmly on one side of for some time now. Sam had teased and touched a toe across the line, and especially earlier today at the store. But she never fully crossed it with Cob intentionally and purposefully. She had promised and she was still worried about what that would mean for her and Cob if she did. Cob nodded but realized that Sam might not be able to see it, so they spoke up. "I did...but...it's not gross to you...or gross for you is it?" Sam brought her hand over to one side of the hand towel nest and cupped it delicately. She brought her other hand out flat against the vanity edge while sliding Cob and the towel onto her waiting hand. She lifted Cob up while she stood back up to her full height.

She held Cob in the towel nest against her chest while she looked down. Sam felt so torn by all of this. She wasn't sure what to do, but she knew she didn't want Cob to feel bad about having any desires. She wanted them to be safe with her, always.

"Babe it's not gross. You're not gross. But...we have to...it's...uh...well...it's...this is complicated." Sam finally offered.

"Yea..." Cob replied feeling the same.

Sam's stomach rumbled loudly in hunger, breaking into their quiet moment. Cob looked up at her from the towel. Her hair was framing her face and the ceiling light was making a halo around her. Cob thought she looked like a literal angel as she smiled softly down cradling them in her hands. Cob didn't think anyone or anything could be more perfect than right now. Other than getting even more of it with her. "Let's uh...see what Ding Dong has to eat and we can talk about it more later back at our place ok?" Sam said petting Cob again as she held them. She walked out of the bathroom to rejoin her brother and Hazel. Cob pushed up into Sam's hand and nodded. *** End Part 5

#g/t community #g/t writing #g/t #borrowers #g/t fluff #giant/tiny #gentle giant #giant tiny #giant / tiny #handheld #gt community #mouthplay

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gyunmireu · 6 months

Text

who you are | heonwon gang

Fandom: Best Teacher Baek

Pairing: Heonwon Gang x Reader

Word Count: 1.2k

Genre: Fluff..?

Summary: Your visit to Gang's room to treat his injuries leads to a conversation you never thought you would have.

A/n: I just read Best Teacher Baek over the last few days and Gang has my entire heart ㅠㅠ so ofc I had to write a little something something for him~ He might be a little ooc, but I hope you enjoy <333

also available on ao3!

"Did you get beat up by Mr. Baek again?" Your familiar voice startled Gang, who had just slumped onto his bed, having just come back from a beating– ahem, training session with Mr. Baek. You were leaning against his doorway, with a tiny amused smile and your medicine kit propped against your hip.

He flushed, embarrassed that you were seeing him all battered and bruised up (again) but you made your way over to his bed, settling down across him. A tiny voice in the back of his head asked why you always came to his room to do this, when the girls' dorm rooms in the Baekryong school were at the other end.

"You knew I would so why come here to rub it in my face?" He huffed, not really meaning it. He would never admit it, but he liked that you came to fuss over him. You just hummed in response as you opened the kit and started applying the medicines on his cuts and bruises.

"I wonder why, too," you said quietly, avoiding his eyes. Whenever you would come to fix up his injuries, Gang would always stare at you unashamedly. It made you flush but you had learned to ignore and pretend that he couldn't notice it, dense as he was. It's not like you needed to fix his wounds either; it was just an excuse to be close to him, to care for him in your own small way. If he didn't realise that, then he certainly wasn't going to figure out your crush on him through a mild flush on your cheeks in the dim yellow lights of the evening. "It's not like I expect you to ever win."

"Hey!" He pouted, more hurt than he would let on at your lack of belief in him. You paused in your actions to look at him carefully.

"Of course I don't expect you to win against Mr. Baek," you clarified, lips drawing up in a small smile again. "If it's anyone else though… I think you're more than good enough to take on any of them."

"That's right, I am!" Gang's cheeks burned. You complimenting him while he could feel your gentle touch over his face was a dream. Sometimes, he really worried that he was hallucinating you coming to his room every evening. Wouldn't that make him some sort of weird pervert?

You just smiled at his response and continued working quietly. Gang stayed still and silent as always, never letting out even the smallest of hiss or a grunt at the burn he was definitely feeling.

"The medicine must hurt, right?" You asked quietly as you worked on the last one. His eyes flicked up to meet yours (where was he looking?) and he shrugged.

"Nothing can hurt me," he muttered, the line making you huff out a short laugh.

"Of course," you teased, "nothing can hurt the big, strong Heonwon Gang!"

"You…!" Gang narrowed his eyes at you as you stifled the laughter while packing up the kit. Only when you were done did you look back at him. The moment your eyes met, you burst out into laughter much to his protests. "I am the strongest! I'll show you!"

"Alright, alright, I admit you are, really," you giggled, failing to hide it under your hand. Despite his words, you could see the tiny smile peeking out of the corners of Gang's mouth. "Come on, let me circulate your qi once, then I'll leave you alone."

Both of you paused at the last part, neither wanting you to leave but he couldn't justify any other reason for you to stay. (And if the Head Supervisor found out about a girl staying over in a guy's room, the both of you could say goodbye to the Blue Dragon academy for life, so maybe it was a good thing.) Gang offered you his hands, both palms up for you to slide yours into.

"Alright, relax," you murmured, letting your qi into him to check his flow. Your instruction to relax was the only thing Gang could never follow; how was he supposed to relax when you were holding both his arms and he could feel your qi running through his system? It felt like a gentle and intimate caress that always left him flustered beyond belief. (And if it did anything down there, then no it didn't, and he would carefully hide it.) "Everything seems okay! That's great."

Your hands lingered for a second or two more before you slipped them back and fiddled with the kit to distract yourself.

"I was joking before but…" you hesitated for a second then looked up to find Gang staring at you intensely. Your heart raced under the attention, the thumps resounding loudly in your ears. "I just wanted to say that it's okay if it hurts. You can complain and hiss and tell me if it burns. Just because you're strong doesn't mean you don't feel pain– and I know you complain to the others, but you always hide it from me, so I thought…"

Gang stayed silent at first, looking away. When he spoke, he almost seemed a little shy.

"You already see me…like this," he mumbled, uncharacteristically timid for once. "I want you to think I'm really cool and strong and dependable, not… not what everyone else makes me out to be. I know everyone says I'm a troublemaker, violent and absolutely nuts, but, I didn't want you to see me that way."

If you saw him like that, you would never love him. Why would you? You were one of the top students, a role model of good behaviour and obedience. Even the Head Supervisor was a little soft on you! The only reason you had ever even looked his way was because you both studied under Baek Suryong.

"I'm sorry for pretending I'm someone I'm not," he flushed and looked down, really embarrassed. His apology startled you– he was being really unlike himself.

"What's wrong with being who you are?" You huffed, crossing your arms over your chest. You leaned forward, feeling bold from what he had just said, to admit, "I like you as you are, dumbass. You might be violent and a troublemaker but you're also cool and strong and dependable. I wouldn't like you any less if you complained or whined or told me something like you're scared of the dark– you would still be the Heonwon Gang who made me laugh when I was in a lot of stress, the same guy who risk his limb from Cheon, the same Gang who has a heart of gold. You're more than what you make yourself out to be. You weren't pretending to be someone you're not because you are all of that and so much more."

Gang blinked, stumped at your unexpected confession. Suddenly, you wondered if you had said a little too much. You were about to lean back, noticing the proximity now but he leaned in, effectively freezing you. His eyes kept slipping downwards to your lips as he carefully asked, "So… if I show you all of me… all of who I am… would you still like me?"

He was slow, giving you enough time to back away if you didn't want it but you did. You had wanted this for so long and it was like your heart was about to burst.

Instead, you just smiled and said, "I would, because I'm dumb enough to do that," before closing the distance.

(Outside the room, in the hallway, Hyeok and Sang-ung high-fived and Yeomin muttered a "fucking finally" to herself. Cheon just laughed silently, knowing your qi senses were sharp enough to notice them all.)

°•❀•°

#best teacher baek #fanfiction #best teacher baek x reader #heonwon gang #gang heonwon #heonwon gang x reader #gang heonwon x reader #btb gang heonwon #btb heonwon gang #female reader #heonwon gang x you #gang heonwon x you #best teacher baek fanfiction #fanfic #heonwon gang fanfic #gang heonwon fanfic

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lollytea · 2 years

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Omg Lolly the first 6 minutes were uploaded in better quality by someone and include a few extra seconds where all new outfits except Luz's are on screen (presumably this shot comes after the intro montage but was cut before it for some reason?!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8ovrHvJQg4

I have a hunch you'll like Willow's new look :D

Head full!!!! Thoughts many!!!!!

(Okay there's been another leak situation today but we're not gonna talk about all that here. I'm not sure if that quick second after the montage counts but I think it's alright to show since its not spoilery and we all kinda knew what the new outfits would be anyway. But just to be safe I'll put it under the cut.)

Willow flowy cardigan real!!! Its so pretty!!!! Thank god that shirt is a yellow rather than orange, that's so much nicer. I was iffy about the look before but now that I think about, she's really giving off autumn-vibes with this colour palette. Fitting. I think my least favourite part is the little leaf on her shirt (Willow has been playing animal crossing :D!!) is navy. Its throwing me off for some reason. But that's not a huge thing. Overall girl is DRESSIN. Love you Willow.

She's a shutterbug now!! That's adorable!!! Love the idea of Willow using photography as an outlet. Snapping shots of her friends and the palismen to express how much she loves them and pinning them by her bedside. Taking pics of human realm plants and wildlife and sunsets and rain and whatever else she finds beautiful and saving them to show her dads when she gets home.

Also...I have a strong feeling this is gonna be plot relevant...Willow's gonna snap a pic and there's gonna be something Weird in the background, I know it.

(Also we got those drawings they did of their families in high def and I just...she wrote "We're fine, Willow!" next to her dads. I wanna cry. Little Miss "not if I never look down" strikes again.)

ANYWAY there's other stuff to talk about here.

Unsurprisingly Amity looks FANTASTIC!! I love her outfit so SO much. She's such a fashion queen. Gus too oh my god!!! I love his jacket and his bracelets and he's wearing the little amplifier thingie as an earring!!! We love him!!!!

GOOD AFTERNOON TO HUNTER'S PANTS. This outfit was shown in the concept art for the panel and it mentioned that he sewed the patches into the knees himself. Sewing Hunter real. This puts the image in my head of Camila buying some extra clothes for the kids and she gets Hunter some ripped jeans cuz she's like "I'm pretty sure that's what teens are into right now." And Hunter grits a smile about it but he fucking hates them ("why the FUCK would they sell pre-ripped pants??") and takes it upon himself to fix the issue.

I love that Vee is here and helping in the portal process. I knew she'd be present this season but I didn't expect her to have such an active role in the kids efforts to get back home. But of course she's helping!! It's been months and they've bonded!!! Those are her friends!!!

It's so cute how the kids have clearly personalised the old shack to make into their own little hangout spot. The plants, the fairy lights, the pictures, the mirror the corkboard, the cooler, the attempts at wallpaper, the beanbag, even a fucking BASKETBALL HOOP. This is their place. It's absolutely for very serious portal constructing and plotting but they've clearly had a lot of fun over the months here.

Little bed for the palismen 🥺

Also...Flapjack keeps pecking at the floorboards. He was doing it in the montage too. There Is Something Under There and It Belongs To Caleb.

Anyway one shot. Yet so much to say. I love them all so much.

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sad-sad-detective · 6 months

Note

Hello there! There have been no questions for a long time…We need to fix it!

1)About the sore point. How is the work on the new chapters going? I'M NOT PUSHING OFC NOT, but...you know. Live and wait.

2)How did you find out about DnD? Can you call it your hobby? How long do your parties last?

3)What are your favorite bands besides Ghost?(if you haven't asked about it yet)

Hello, hey!💜 Why, I'm always glad to talk, you can send me asks anytime! Just saying lol

1) Well, right now I have about 2/3 of chapter 6 of "Home to the flames" ready. I keep saying to myself "I have to finish it this month", but you know how it is. Chapter 9 of "Rainbow" is about 1/3 - it is Aether-centric, and the big guy's gonna have a lot on his plate. Some events and decisions from previous chapters are gonna play their part too. But! But I have a small treat for you guys. I've finished a companion piece to "Hot streams will fork and divide" and now I'm just waiting for my beta to finish checking it. The story may be a little weird though… you'll see.

2) I learned about TTRPGs in general back in high school. You know, if you are a geek teen, you'll find out about them sooner or later. But, well… Sometime in 2021 my friend mentioned that she and her gf want to try playing DnD and asked if I wanted to join. I didn't feel interested at that particular moment, but as time went, and my friends told me about their characters and the storyline they were playing, my curiousity about it grew stronger! So, I think it's my new hobby now along with writing and drawing. Our parties last about 4-5 hours (including small breaks for stretching our legs or having a snack) because we are SOCIAL FIENDS. Honestly, I love it. Besides, our DM came up with kind of detective/horror story, so the characters spend a lot of time interacting with witnesses, looking for clues etc.

3) The list is gonna be long! I'm a big fan of Bebopovsky and his music (you may want to look up "Bebopovsky and The Orkestry Podyezdov", if you're interested, it's his dark jazz project)! Always in my playlists: Kaizers Orchestra, Timber Timbre, Glass Animals, Sleep Token, The Raveonettes, Spiritual Front, Morphine, The Kills, Black Sabbath, Type O'Negative, The 69 Eyes. A recent discovery which I highly recommend is Curse of Cain. These guys are pretty cool, and the band lore is interesting. What else… Ulterior? They are fun, if you like post-punk, and have this… I don't know how to describe it… raw feeling about them.

#from the ask box #writng #dnd

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echoweaver · 1 year

Text

Echo in Time: Winter 1307-1309 Part 2

"You've got to be kidding me," Nash said. "I heard you'd gone someplace far from here."

"I did," she said. "Then I came back. Where are you living these days? I'm not going home, or not to that home anyway, and you and I need to have a long talk."

"It's out of town," Nash stammered. "Actually, it's the old Howland farm."

"You went back there?" she asked with wide eyes.

"I fixed it up," he said. "For my wife."

"Oh," Jacqueline said, nodding. "I bet she wouldn't like to see some girl from your past turn up on her doorstep."

Nash shook his head. "She's gone," he said, feeling his chest grow tight again. "Things didn't... turn out like I planned."

Jackie put her hands on her hips. "All right then. I have time. Show me what you did with the place."

"It's a long walk from here in the cold and snow," Nash said.

Jacqueline shrugged. "It turns out I have plenty of time, and my plans canceled. Also, I have nowhere to stay at the moment, so unless you want to pay for an inn, your place is what we have."

So he led her back to the farm. The snow was finished for the moment. The sky was clear, and the wind was low. Jacqueline told him her story in broad strokes -- not long after the Howland fire, she joined up with a troupe of traveling minstrels to see the world. And she had seen some fascinating places, but the work was seasonal, and winter wasn't the season. She and Dagon had been paramours for a while, but he'd gotten very possessive in recent months, and well, "We'd never had any expectation of being faithful," she said, "And he certainly wasn't."

Nash listened in silence and grunted his sympathy. Then he let her draw out his story in bits and pieces until at last they were back at the farm house.

Jacqueline looked around appraisingly. "You built it back better," she said. "I see that there's only one bed, and I'm exhausted. I hope you don't plan to be weird about it.

Nash was too exhausted himself to make any protest.

#echoweaver #sims 3 #sims 3 story #morbid's ultimate decades challenge #sims 3 echo in time #first echo #praaven reworked

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imagines-by-a-typical-fangirl · 3 years

Text

Good Girl, Bad Boy (Pt. 10 of 15)

Pairing: Billy Hargrove X Reader

Word count: 2.3 K

Summary: You're the extreme opposite of Billy Hargrove. The good girl, with perfect grades, the child every mother wants to have. And you don't want to have nothing to do with his kind. Ignoring Billy – and his constant, lingering stare – became an habit. But after you're put together for a special school program, you'll have no choice but to get along with him. And soon enough you'll find out that Billy is so much more than just Hawkins' bad boy.

<-Previous part (09)

Next part (11) ->

A/N: This part was inspired on the song Treacherous by Taylor Swift

{Stranger Things Masterlist}

{Dacre Montgomery Masterlist}

Treacherous

You can't believe you let Billy convince you into this. These parties were never your thing. They usually happen during the week, and on the next day, you can see the effects on those who went. Today is Saturday, but even so.

Maybe it was Billy's intense stare, or how he smiled and caressed your cheek as he asked you to go with him... Or how he said he wouldn't go without you because there would be no point.

Sighing, you look at yourself in the mirror, blushing at the memories. Your hair is styled with some waves, and they flow down your shoulders. The dress you choose is tight, perfectly hugging your body. Not too tight though, as the dresses Stacy and her friends wear. It's decent and delicate, pink and black... And you wonder if Billy will like it.

“(Y/N), Billy is here!” Your mother yells and you sigh, fixing your hair and leaving the bathroom.

Once you put the high heels on, you take your purse and go downstairs. Billy is seated on the couch, but his eyes find you immediately, and he stands up. “Hey.” You mutter, walking over a very weird Billy. He has his mouth half-open, eyes scanning your body. “Have you lost something?” Trying to keep the sassy tone, you cross your arms, heat spreading through your cheeks.

“I just never saw you on a dress before and...” He sighs, eyes meeting yours and a smirk coming to his lips. “You're stunning.”

Biting your lip, you look down, taking in the leather jacket and the red shirt underneath, which has a lot of buttons left open. “You look good too.” You mutter, running a hand through your hair. “Shall we go?”

“Sure.” Nodding, you start walking to the front door.

“(Y/N).” Your mother calls, and when you turn around, she's standing by the kitchen door frame. “Be back by ten, alright?”

Silently, you nod before waving and walking out.

The ride to the party is filled with small talk. Billy keeps stealing glances, a small smile that never leaves his lips.

Once you get there, a house you don't even know who lives in, you raise your eyebrows as you walk in. The music is loud, but the people are louder. The place is crowded, and you wouldn't want to be the one to clean this place after.

“So, what do you think?” Billy asks, mouth close to your ear.

“It's very loud!” You tell him, and someone bumps on you, making your shoulder collapse on his chest.

Billy gives someone a hard stare before looking down at you. “Wanna dance?”

“Yeah.”

“Come.” He takes your hand, guiding you to the living room, which has the furniture all moved, creating an open space. There are a lot of people here already, but they move aside for Billy. A lot of eyes lay on you, but you ignore them. “I don't even know if you can dance, pretty girl.”

“Oh, I do.” Smirking at him, you wrap your arms around his neck, and start moving.

Billy raises his eyebrows, clearly impressed as his hands encircle your waist. You're very, very close, and you can feel all of his body. Your cheeks burn, the proximity making the butterflies in your stomach go crazy. The heels do make you closer to his lips, but still, he'd have to bend down to kiss you.

Kissing Billy Hargrove. You never thought you'd want to do such thing.

But here you are now, dancing with him, spinning around and colliding your back against his chest as his arms hold you close, moving to the hectic beat. And it's perfect, amazing. Not because of the party, but because of him. You want to be like this forever, in his arms.

“You? Here?” The voice, very familiar breaks through your stupor, and you come back to Earth. Steve raises an eyebrow, purposely ignoring the man holding you. “I could never convince you to come to these parties. Not even when we were dating.”

Billy gets tense behind you, arms holding you a bit tighter. “Well, that was because I never had a good reason to come. Now I do.” Shrugging your shoulders, you gesture at Billy. “Where's your girl?”

“Bathroom.” He says, looking around. “There she is. Gotta go.” He steps away, but stops suddenly, eyes focusing on Billy for the first time. “You try anything with her I–”

“Steve, go.” Cutting him off, you speak up. “I'll be alright, Billy treats me well.”

“He better do.” With one last angry stare, Steve walks away, and you breathe out, relieved.

“I'll get you something to drink,” Billy says, letting go of you. You turn around, giving him a look. “A soda. Just soda.” Smiling, he raises both hands in defeat. “I know you well, pretty girl.”

“Alright. I'll check the backyard.”

“I'll meet you there,” Billy says and you nod, starting to make your way through the people.

The backyard isn't empty, but it's not crowded as the house is. Blame it on the cold. It's freezing, and you wish you had brought a jacket. The yard is cute though. A single three and some wooden tables scattered around. There's a bench under the tree, so you sit there bracing yourself and rubbing your arms.

“Hi.” Someone says, and you find Tyler coming to join you on the bench. “You look absolutely amazing.”

“Thanks.” His tone sounds weird, and you move away from him a little.

“People didn't use to notice you, but they sure are now. And God, you're so beautiful.” He says, and you give him a confused glance. Why is he saying this? “How did you manage to stay invisible for so long?”

Furrowing your eyebrows, you shrug your shoulders. “Because I'm not the type of girl guys like you pay attention to. And now that I'm with Billy–"

“You're with Billy?” He cuts you off, eyes following a small group of people walking by. “Is it official?”

“Mmm... We're... We're hanging out.”

“There's a big difference, see...” Tyler moves closer, wrapping an arm around your shoulders. You immediately shake his hand away, but he keeps it on the backrest of the bench. “Because if you're with Billy, your off-limits. And if you're not... Well, I can have a shot with you.” Tyler run his fingers through your shoulder, all the way to the back of your neck. So you get up, not even trying to seem polite.

“I'm not interested, Tyler.” Bracing yourself from the cold, you look down at him.

“Look, you know Billy won't keep you. Save yourself a broken heart.”

“(Y/N),” Billy calls and you thank the heavens. Turning around, you find Billy coming your way. “Tyler.” He says in a weird, plain tone.

“Billy.”

“Here.” He hands you over the can of soda, eyebrows furrowed. “Everything alright?”

“Sure,” Tyler speaks before you can, a humorless laugh escaping his lips.

“Wasn't talking to you.” He snaps, eyes coming to look at you.

“I'm fine.” With a half-smile, you tell him, craking the can open and taking a sip.

“Mmm.” Billy mumbers, and you can read the question in his eyes. “Here.” He says at the same time he starts taking his jacket off. “You're cold.”

“I'm not, really.” You protest, but he puts the jacket around your shoulders anyway. “I mean it, B. You'll be cold.”

“I'm alright.” He assures you. “And come. Let's get out of here.” Without giving Tyler a second glance, Billy guides you away, and you don't even try to resist.

You thought he was driving you home, but instead, he took you to a snack bar, where he bought you ice cream. And here, leaning against his car in the almost empty parking lot, you're having more fun than you were back at the party. The night is a bit cold, but the sensation Billy brings out makes you warm.

“Did Tyler say anything?” He asks, putting his empty plastic ice cream cup on the hood of his car.

“No, just... He said I'm pretty, that you'll break my heart so I should give him a chance.” Shrugging your shoulders, you look down, putting your cup next to his before pushing yourself up, sitting on the hood of his Camaro. “But don't mind him. Nobody else knows what happens between us.”

“I won't break your heart. I'm scared you will break mine.” Billy says, a nervous giggle leaving his lips. “(Y/N), I...” He comes closer, his hand, on the hood, touching your leg. Then you fold a leg under yourself, your body leaning closer to him. It happens involuntary, as a need you have you didn't even know was there. “I use to act and think and feel like I was unbreakable. But you... You made me weak.” It comes out as a plead, and Billy ends the little distance between you two. His face is too close, and his blue eyes are everything you see as his hand comes to caress your cheek. “I'm completely at your mercy. I'll do anything you say”

You've never been this close to Billy. And yet, you want more. The whole world is out of focus, and even the gravity is too much. Your heart needs him, it wants him. “Put your lips close to mine...” Your voice is barely a whisper, as your mind tries to win the fight over your heart. You'd be smart to walk away, but Billy is quicksand. He pulls you in. His kindness, gentleness... His touch, his voice, his eyes... Every single thing draws you closer. “As long as they don't touch...”

“I'm in love with you,” Billy says, eyes never leaving yours. “I've been since I saw you for the first time but it only got stronger. When we're close, I want to kiss you, and touch you and look at you... And when I see you walking away all I can hear is the sound of my own voice asking you to stay.”

A smile takes over your lips. He's confessing it, he's saying it with all the words. Billy's heart is open... And he loves you. “Everyone warns me about you. They tell me not to fall for the bad boy and sometimes it scares me but... Your name has echoed through my mind and I just think you should know.” Holding on the collar of his shirt, just to make sure he'll stay close, you look at his lips. “But nothing safe is worth the drive so...”

“(Y/N)...” He says, begs, pleads.

“This path is reckless... Treacherous... But I like it.”

And it's settled. You want him. And when Billy loses control, when he kisses you, you surrender. His lips taste like ice cream at first, but soon after all you can taste is him. And it's amazing, indescribable, inebriating. You've never kissed someone like that, you never wanted to kiss someone like that, and now you know why.

You've been waiting to kiss Billy all along.

And when you have to pull away, he holds you close, forehead touching as you both catch your breathes. The silence that follows isn't uncomfortable. It's the silence of two people in love enjoying each other's company.

“So...” Billy says after a while, his thumb caressing your lower lip. “I believe we're dating now.”

The different tone makes you laugh, playfully pushing him away and jumping off the hood. “What makes you think that?”

“A good girl like you wouldn't kiss someone she's not dating.”

“I'll make an exception for you...” With a smirk, you open the passenger door. “We can go back to the party if you want.”

“No way. I'm taking you home.” Billy gestures for you to get inside, closing the door for you.

“Are you for real?” You ask as he starts the car.

“Yup.”

“You know my mother isn't home, right? She wouldn't even know.” Putting the seat belt on, you look at Billy. He has a smile on. The kind of smile you've never seen before.

“No, I want to make things right this time.” He glances at you, and your eyes fall on his lips, making you want to kiss him again.

Blushing, you nod, looking at the road ahead. “Alright.”

On the ride home, you listen to some music. And as he speeds through the streets, you sing out loud. Some people look with an angry face, eyebrows furrowed, but it only makes you sing louder. You're happy, like you never felt before.

The song is only turned off when he stops by your house, and you step out of the car. Billy walks you to your front door, and you stop there, turning to face him.

“I had fun tonight.” You tell him, a hand on the door handle, but with no intention of going inside.

“So did I.” He mutters in a low voice, stepping closer. Despite the high heels, he's still taller, so you raise your head to look at him. The darkness hides you both from curious eyes, and it makes you brave enough to move closer, holding on to his shirt.

“You know that if I cross the door with this jacket I won't give it back anymore, right?” You whisper, a smile on your lips.

“Take it, it's yours.” He whispers back, a hand caressing your cheek. “The jacket... My heart...” And he kisses you again, slowly, allowing you to feel the warmth of his lips and mouth against the cold of the night.

But he pulls away too soon, and you sigh. “What?”

“It's past ten, pretty girl. Get inside.” He places a kiss on your forehead, reaching behind you and pushing the door open. “See you tomorrow at school.”

“Good night, B.” Smiling, you turn around and step inside, but the door remains open until his car disappears down the street.

@multific @tina1938 @graciehams @moatsnow @all-the-stars-on-your-skin @captain039 @rebelemilu @theodore-likes-frogs @prettyinpunk85 @taisab02 @pascal-rascal424 @aleksanderblack @gruffle1

#billy hargrove fanfiction #imagine billy hargrove #billy hargrove imagine #imagine stranger things #imagine billy Hargrove #billy hargrove x y/n #billy hargrove x reader #billy stranger things imagine #billy stranger things #billy stranger things fanfiction #stranger things fanfiction #stranger things imagine

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chasingpj · 3 years

Text

𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐨 𝐝𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐫

pairing: leo valdez x child of iris!reader

requested?: yes!

translation: full of color

warnings: uhh, mentions of mental health and ?? maybe some typos lmao

category: headcanons, fluff, best friends to lovers

pre-relationship

though, leo saw you around camp often, you caught interest in him before he caught interest in you

i mean, he literally couldn't miss you because your outfits were always bright, whether it was a combination of colors or monochromatic

you and your siblings actually look like a rainbow threw up on you guys, and it's honestly iconic

no one at camp can not notice the children of iris, especially when they're in a herd

one day, you were sitting alone at a picnic table near the lake, and you found yourself drawing him in your sketchbook

you sketched a portrait of him while he spoke to piper at a table nearby

you've always found the floppy curls and how his brightest smiles always look a little manic to be adorable

when you sketched his portrait in your notebook, you didn’t intend for him ever to see it

until a couple of weeks later in the arts and crafts center, leo passed by and caught sight of a new project you were working on

he stopped in his tracks to compliment your drawing

since you were nowhere near done with it, you couldn’t admire the piece as much as he was

but his enthusiasm was so endearing

he politely asked if he could see more, and you didn’t hesitate to slide over your sketchbook

he noticed a lot of your drawings were scenery and people at camp; especially your siblings

he stumbled across a detailed sketch of a woman and her child sitting in a bus

“wow… who’s this?”

“oh, I don’t know. It was just a little girl I saw on the train with her mother.”

“so you just drew her?”

you never realized how weird your habit of drawing random people was until he had asked

you giggled nervously, quick to explain yourself, “I tend to draw people or things that I find beautiful. I wanted to capture how calm and happy she was with her child ‘cause at the time, I was stressed and angry. Watching and drawing her made me calm.”

leo nodded, a faint smile on his lips before looking back down at the drawing. “that’s really cool,” he complimented, and you shifted in your seat, suddenly shy.

And then it hit you

you were so willing to show leo all your works that you had completely forgotten that his portrait was in that book

your pulse thumped loud in your ears, mind racing to figure out a way to take away your sketchbook before he could see it

you ended up spending so long thinking of what to do that he arrived on the page in no time

right before he could see the drawing in its entirety, you slammed the book closed and snatched it

leo’s startled expression turned into a mischievous smirk

“was that me?”

you froze in your place; a squeaky sound escaped your throat in your embarrassment

leo’s brown eyes sparkled as he leaned into you, your gaze fixed on his, “y/n, you think I’m beautiful?”

AHHHH!

^^ that was you in your head btw

leo laughed, amused at your attempt to deny it

“then why did you snatch it away?” he raises an eyebrow before reaching over quickly to grab the sketchbook back

you didn't pull it out of his reach fast enough, leo getting a grip on one side

the two of you pull it back and forth, leo laughing at you as you continued to deny what he saw

though you were incredibly embarrassed, you couldn't contain the laughter bubbling in your chest

gods, of course, this would happen to me, you thought

he got it out of your grip, and you sighed in defeat, watching him flip to the page of him and piper

he was quiet, studying the picture for a second before giving you that playful smirk

“you think I’m beautiful?” he asked again

you playfully rolled your eyes, “it was more piper than you.”

your tone was sarcastic, only fueling leo’s banter with you

“oh really?” he chuckled to himself, “but i’m the only one colored in.”

you were silent at his observation before scoffing, “whatever.”

leo only laughed as you take the book away from him

“don’t you have somewhere to be, fire boy?” you asked and nudged his shoulder

the glint in your eyes made him smile, and he shrugged, “i guess i do. i'll see you around."

you nodded, too shy to do anything else, and he walked off

after that, leo took it upon himself to talk to you every day

leo teased you about the drawing all the time, and he found the way you would play along to be funny

before you both fell in love, you were close friends

you had such an optimistic point of view about life, and it was pretty contagious

somehow when leo was in the dumps about something, you always knew what to say

you were just so easy to talk to, and because of this, your friendship just grew naturally

your first kiss was towards the end of summer

leo invited you to hang out with him in bunker nine at, specifically, 6 pm

you teasingly asked if it was a date, and you remember the way he tensed up a bit

with a mumble, he asked, "what if it is?"

from the tone in his voice, you knew he wasn’t joking

in fact, his tone was hesitant, a part of him was expecting you to reject him

then the heavy pit in his stomach turned light when you smiled and said, "then I'm down."

the grin leo gave you made your heart flutter like crazy

your first date consisted of eating snacks and watching a movie on one of those portable DVD players

You picked up on the tension between you and him, and noticed the opportunities for a kiss kept passing

it was until Leo walked you to your cabin that night did you have a moment of boldness and asked, "so are you going to kiss me or?"

leo's eyes widen in surprise before his face broke out in the familiar smirk he gives when he flirts with you

you rolled your eyes playfully and grabbed the front of his shirt, pulling him into you

your first kiss was sweet and soft; a little awkward

his hands hovered over your sides for a second, not sure what to do with them until he decided to rest them on your waist

it was the perfect way to mark the beginning of your relationship

relationship

since you guys are both broke teenagers, you got creative with date nights

you came up with the idea of paint splattering with him

you guys got canvases, covered the walls and floors with plastic to make sure you didn't dirty them

then you filled water balloons with paint and just threw them

despite you guys singing and dancing around in the midst of it, the canvases came out so good

and to commemorate the beginning of your relationship, you hung them up side by side in bunker nine, and when you guys get a place together, you hang them up in the hallway of your apartment

leo is a huge gift giver; as i’ve said before in my “how he shows he loves you” headcanons

he’s made you a lot of things; canvases, jewelry, little trinkets with scrap metal

one of your favorite gifts from him is a suncatcher with rainbow quartz

you fell in love with it and when you move in together, you make sure to hang it up in the kitchen with the bunch of other suncatchers that he’s made you

i love the idea that you would attempt to bring more color in his wardrobe

a lot of his clothes are muted in color; you don’t mind it but you were interested to see what he’d look like in a colorful outfit like yours

To say the least, he was not that enthusiastic and maybe, you shouldn’t have put him in a monochromatic orange outfit but… you still thought he looked cute

leo thought he looked like a traffic cone though so it didn’t stick

it’s okay because you like him the way he is anyways

another thing is that you guys are super supportive of each other and leo loves just how you manage to lift his mood

once leo was having a bad mental health week

you guys were sitting under a tree, looking out at the water

his head laid on your shoulder and small sniffles came from the other

it hurt to see him like this and you wished you could do more to make him feel better

then you had the greatest idea to make a rainbow for him

so you did

leo was so stunned when he saw the rainbow form over the lake

he looked at you surprised and when you admitted to making the rainbow for him, the emotion on his face was indescribable

and then you laughed and held him when he started crying because he said it was the nicest thing anyone has ever done for him

another time, you insisted that meditation would be good for him

he literally sat down for like 3 minutes with his eyes closed before he was itching to get up and do something

even when he was sitting down, he was still bouncing his legs and fidgeting

so that fell through too but you still helped him in other ways and he’s so grateful for your optimism and bubbly personality

leo always says that you bring color to everything; literally and figuratively

one of the things you bring color to is his life

and he’s constantly reminding you of this; that his world just feels brighter now that you’re around

and it’s literal too

since you painted the walls of bunker nine a bright orange

he asked you why orange, and you told him because orange encourages productivity, creativity, and most importantly, optimism

it may have also reminded you of the orange outfit you put him into

anyways, you told him that it hurt you to see him get down in the dumps, and you insisted there was no way he could be sad in a bright orange room

needless to say, you were kinda right

masterlists taglist: @nct127bee @minamisulemisa @yanfeisluvr @cartocns @slytherclaw-kitten @idk-bye-no @percysbluehairbrush @Hermioneswifeee @quteez @drayshadow @ashookykooky @anything-forourmoony @loverstyless @yelenabel0vaswife @ohmydamgods @jordannfields @amy-writes-blog @muted-mayham @dreamerball @earthtokace @thehighladyofday @lala-llama123 @tootsdoll @slytherindaughterofposeidon0 @black-rose-29 @somekidnamedkai @possiblylostchasecousin @hamdehlesmis @cami05sworld @does-anyone-hear-me @sol-the-salmon

if your username is bolded that means i can’t tag you ! you probably have your visibility settings on!

#leo x reader #leo valdez fanfiction #leo valdez one shot #leo valdez imagine #leo valdez #leo valdez timestamp #leo valdez fanfic #leo valdez x reader #leo valdez x you #leo valdez headcanon #my writing

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jdrizzle15 · 3 years

Text

Her Second Return

Just like all of you, and especially my fellow Penny fans, I am absolutely devastated by the Volume 8 finale. I had been in quite a state these last few days, utterly heartbroken, and actually nauseous at times. It feels strange to me to be legitimately grieving a fictional character, but it’s not a bad thing to feel this way. To me, this just shows that CRWBY loves her just as much as us to have written her so well that we connect so completely with her, that it feels like we lost an actual piece of ourselves when she’s gone.

But as you can probably tell by the title, this mega post isn’t gonna be about accepting this end, not in the slightest! Today I want to share canon evidence that can point towards another return of our beloved quirky red headed cinnamon bun! I’m here to spread this hope that I and others in the Nuts & Dolts dolts Discord server have!

I have this separated into many different sections to keep these thoughts organized. With that said, here goes…

A Father’s Words:

In Episode 7 of Volume 7, ‘Worst Case Scenario’ we learn the origins of Penny’s aura, and thus her soul. We also learn that it takes more aura each time she’s brought back. This leaves open an option that could be used at a later point.

Many people theorized that Pietro could indeed revive Penny one more time, which he would absolutely do. But there also lies the possibility that someone else could donate some of theirs, I’m not sure about this as I feel like it’s akin to blood donation where compatibility matters or there's a high risk of altering her, but the possibility is definitely there.

Now, the conversation in Chapter 5 of Volume 8, ‘Amity’ that Pietro and Penny have is an important moment for both Father and Daughter. It was there to show how her death in PvP all that time ago really did have a heavy impact on him and is still affecting him to this day.

Instead of continuing to pretend that everything is A-okay, like he had done for most of Volume 7, he finally lets his true feelings about how it come out to Penny for what is quite likely the first time. Even going so far as to say "Are you asking me to go through that again?" when she offers to take the risk of trying to lift Amity with her power. He wants Penny to be able to live her life.

This entire scene with Pietro established “this is what will likely happen” even if circumstances are much different now, it doesn’t negate the fact that this is a key part of Penny’s story. Scenes like these have a purpose beyond simply making an eventual death all the more heart wrenching. Her never actually getting to live her life makes those scenes basically moot. It makes them effectively pointless from narrative point of view. Unless there's more to it.

Building Relationship:

The build up between Ruby and Penny the last two volumes has been absolutely phenomenal with a definite destination in mind, and this doesn’t feel like that destination. So much of the arc of this season was to help Penny. This girl that our main protagonist absolutely adores and treasures, it would just be awful to throw all of that out for what amounts to an avoidable end. Why use so much of their precious and very limited runtime on deliberately building up this relationship only to end it abruptly, and permanently, when they’re separated?

In my opinion, RT is definitely smarter now than to intentionally set up what was really looking like a budding gay relationship only to kill one of them for good. If N&D wasn't actually going in a romantic direction, why would they leave in all of the romance-adjacent stuff that they got, that's not how ‘just friends’ act. And that is not something you use such valuable time building up for absolutely no pay off whatsoever...

Representation of Hope:

At its core, RWBY has always been about hope. It’s not at the forefront the whole time, but there's been an underlying theme of hopefulness that has persisted since it began. Some describe the show as a Hopepunk, I personally find this to describe RWBY really well. This genre of storytelling is about caring for things deeply and the courage and strength it takes to do so. It’s about never submitting or accepting the way things are. Fighting for what you believe in and standing up for others. RWBY fits all of this extremely well. How does this relate to Penny? She has been shown to be a sign of hope for everyone, but especially for Ruby, the main main protagonist. A prerequisite for a Hopepunk story is the hope.

Her first death in V3 was something that fundamentally changed Ruby. For the first time in the series, we see our main character all but broken by this event. With the loss of Penny, immediately afterwards, Ruby’s hope followed. She made up for it through determination and force of will. We see it affect her multiple times throughout the journey to Volume 7. But upon her return in V7, Hope reached a high point for everyone, the sheer relief on Ruby’s face is plain to see!

In V8 chapter 5 ‘Amity’, Penny literally raises hope by lifting the arena into the sky so Ruby could spread her message. And when she falls, and Amity with her, the connection is lost and hope plummets again. From there things take a very negative turn with the hack begins to take Penny’s agency.

In chapter 11 ’Risk’ is the point in the arc where everyone is reunited for the moment, so two separate hero stories are no longer a thing at that point in time. For the time being focus seemed to be shifted to care about the characters and how they’re going to solve the current problems. This is also where Ruby reaches her lowest emotional point in the season.

It’s not huge, but it’s interesting how connected this is. Before Ruby and Yang share a good cry over learning the possible fate of Summer, Yang brings up restoring optimism and hope to Ruby after the younger sister storms out of the room in frustration. This is where Penny’s scenes take up the rest of the episode. Getting Penny back in control of her own body and safe again is what makes the ending of the episode much brighter, when just 5 minutes before Ruby had been distraught and scared. This then spills over into the group coming up with the plan to use the staff, putting the main group in a much better mood. Of all the things to go right, it’s interesting that it’s Penny.

Things go wrong with the plan in the end and Penny dies. I find it interesting that once again, Penny got them hopeful in their chances of doing something right. Given said plan succeeded but at the cost of Penny of all people, Penny is shown to be the beginning and end of hope for them

The highest and lowest points for hope seem to directly correlate to when Penny’s around. When she comes back again, hope will return too, just like it had before. And because she’ll likely be back for good this time, the second return will probably be close to when Ruby is nearing the complete abandonment of hope. This would be pretty par for the course of the show honestly.

A little aside, but in a sense, Penny also represents Unity. The CCT in Vale fell after her first death, knocking out global communications and the unifying connection it gave. When it was restored for the briefest moment, she was there. Her body connected so she could allow for its launch, her soul lighting the night to hold up Amity with every ounce of her strength. So of course when the Hack succeeds and she falls, she takes global comms down again with her. At a smaller scale - even at the Hack's second last attempt to control her, she draws everyone in the Schnee Manor together. At the start of the volume, Yang states the one thing that they all agree on is not surrendering Penny.

Unity seems appropriate for one whose first song and wish was for but one friend, who would go on to find so many more in the process, and permit for a moment the possibility of all Remnant becoming friends once more. Where she first died, the name of the episode devoted to her story - Amity, "friendship", from the Latin root amicus, "friend" - she almost lives and dies with the very possibility of a united Remnant. It's no wonder she's a priority target for Salem, the great divider, and it seems natural that her next restoration may very well allow the next bid to bring the world together.

The Void Screams:

Moments after Penny's death, we hear a weird scream in the void space. It was a guttural, pained, angry scream, almost like the void space itself was crying out. All the portals shuddered and flickered when it happened.

Some think that this scream was Salem returning, but that happens earlier than Penny’s death, her return is signaled with cinder's arm acting up. We know this because after the arm finished flailing uncontrollably, Cinder said triumphantly "she's back." If it were Salem screaming, it would have happened after she fixed herself, but it didn't.

And I doubt Cinder would have been surprised or unsettled by it considering she was happy Salem returned not long before it. And why would a Salem scream affect the portals anyway, she has no connection to the staff or it's magic.

Another thing to consider is the fact sound is not transmitted through the portals. Otherwise, they would've heard Oscar and the rest calling for them, or the screams of the citizens of Mantle and Atlas. This lowers the possibility of that scream being from Salem even further.

The sound really seems to be coming from something else entirely within the void, and that something is not at all happy. There’s also the fact that Penny was the only person who died in the void space, everyone else was just thrown out of it like Ruby and Co. The only logical cause to me is Penny. Her body was a product (or byproduct) of the same creation magic that made the void space, her blood seems to have been a trigger.

Now I can't be sure about it, but this makes me feel like Penny is almost a part of creation itself? For whatever this thing is to be so angry, that is the only explanation I can think of currently. But all of this could possibly relate to the Narnia allusion of 'the willing victim killed in a traitor's stead' that others have brought up, which will be covered next.

Narnia Parallels:

Atlas has several parallels and references to fictional places (putting aside real world ones like the United States). One of those is that of Narnia, both on the surface and on a deeper level. It is a land of winter year round, where people struggle to survive and there is a present divide between those loyal to the current Monarch and those who are not. James is a parallel to Jadis, the White Witch, a ruler whose thoughts and cares aren’t exactly centered around the actual well being of the people. The hologram table in Ironwood’s office is designed to look like stone, like the Stone Table which features prominently in the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. He has a handpicked cadre of special agents/secret police, like how Maugrim and his wolves served Jadis. Another key parallel is how Jadis’s winter sets in to oppress and kill everyone in Narnia, but the Witch provides aid and protection to her loyal followers. She has all the power to spare harm to others, and uses it only for the loyal. As soon as Mantle splits from James and Atlas, no care is taken to protect them from the cold of Solitas even though he has every ability to turn the heating grid back on. His protection is only for the loyal.

Now that the parallel is established, let's look into the details. Starting with how James plays the role of Jadis.

"I had forgotten that you are only a common boy. How should you understand reasons of State? You must learn, child, that what would be wrong for you or for any of the common people is not wrong in a great Queen such as I. The weight of the world is on our shoulders. We must be freed from all rules. Ours is a high and lonely destiny." These are the words Jadis says in the Magician’s Nephew to justify the blood civil war she and her sister had waged for rulership of Charn, before she came to Narnia. She won that war, technically, but only after the last battle had been lost and her sister had marched right up to her so that they were face to face. Jadis’s troops were dead, her followers had surrendered, and the capital was under full control of her sister. But, she still had one card, one ultimate play to win and prove the throne of Charn was rightfully her. The Deplorable Word, a piece of old magic that killed everyone and everything except for her on Charn. It was monstrous, senseless, cruel beyond measure. But it got her that hollow victory. This mindset, the disregard for the people except as tools for her own will, the ultimate ‘aoe’ destructive move that no one had even considered her using, the unwillingness to stop even when by all practical measures the war is over, is a shocking parallel to James. In many ways, he is Jadis in mindset and deed.

Then there is the shared desire for A Thing that both James and Jadis have. For James it’s the Winter Maiden and control over her. For Jadis it’s the Silver Apples from the Tree of Youth. And funnily enough, the Maiden Powers parallel the Apples quiet well. These apples grant power and a life of eternal beauty, but should not be taken or eaten on one’s own initiative. They must be given, a gift granted by another, or only suffering will come from obtaining them. "For the fruit always works — it must work — but it does not work happily for any who pluck it at their own will. If any Narnian, unbidden, had stolen an apple and planted it here to protect Narnia, it would have protected Narnia. But it would have done so by making Narnia into another strong and cruel empire like Charn, not the kindly land I mean it to be.” Jadis’s immortality, and some of her power, come from the fact that she ate an Apple of her own will after stealing her way into the garden where the Tree of Youth had been planted. She gained the eternal life she had wanted and the power along with it, but she did so by taking it and was cursed because of it. Her skin turned pale and her lips blackened as if she were a frozen corpse given life. She will be trapped in a life of misery and hate according to Aslan- oh hey Cinder, how’s having stolen the Power you always wanted working out for you? Cinder had the power she wanted, but she only got hungrier, eager to claim more and increase her might. But in her pursuit she was defeated and humiliated by Raven, had to steal her way out of Mistral, and then suffered defeat after defeat while in Atlas. Only in the end, when she didn’t keep pursuing the Maiden Power, did she get any kind of victory.

The reason these parallels to Narnia are so important is one of the most famous events of the series. The cracking of the Stone Table and the rebirth of Aslan after his death. ‘When a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor's stead, the Table would crack and Death itself would start working backward.’ Well, the ‘Stone Table’ in James’s office has cracked, and Penny strikes me as a pretty willing victim. She has never actually committed any actual treachery or harm, as she was the Protector of Mantle, and fought for its and Atlas’s people until the very end. And because of her death, the actual traitor, Winter, who loyally served James until he had gone too far, was saved. Through Penny’s self sacrifice, Winter was saved. So now Death itself will start working backward.

(Major props to my friend @catontheweb for writing this section, I was getting nowhere with it, if they weren't there this part wouldn't exist!)

Norse Mythology:

The tree we see in the post credit scene gives off some serious Yggdrasil vibes. Also called the World Tree, it is essentially all of creation in Norse Mythology. It connects all nine realms, including the God realms of Asgard, the human realm of Midgard, and the underworld of Hel.

Humans are born from the branches of Yggdrasil. The web of Wyrd is woven for every person once they're born, and their path is set from there regardless of how many times the souls cycle over. But at the end, they're destined to end up in one of the worlds, for a myriad of reasons.

I believe Penny landed closest to this giant tree. She was on the center platform in the void space, so if that space is directly above the island(?) the tree is on, it makes sense for her to fall by the center nearest to the tree. This would not only open up all kinds of possibilities for the volume in general, but it would also create options for Penny.

The whole of Yggdrasil’s representations fit well into Penny’s story. Birth, growth, death and rebirth. We can count Penny’s appearance in V7 as birth for now, her growth is all her development in leaving =the military and becoming a Maiden, her death just happened, and her rebirth would be her revival. And this is a cycle she’s gone through before.

The Norse god Odin and Yggdrasil have quite a connection. In one story, Odin cut out one of his own eyes to gain knowledge from a pool underneath Yggdrasil. The only one that fell whose eyes alone are incredibly significant to the story was Ruby. So, they could choose to have her allude to Odin by having Ruby make some kind of deal with whatever entity likely rules over this magical place. An eye for Penny’s life.

There’s another story about Odin, Yggdrasil and the pursuit of knowledge. Odin so loved knowledge, that he sacrificed himself in a quest to learn the deeper magic of runes. It was believed one could only learn the magic spells from runes in death. So, Odin hung himself on Yggdrasil for nine days as an offering, and teetered between life and death. After he mastered the last spell on the ninth night, he ritually died and all light was extinguished from the world. Odin’s death lasted until midnight, when he was reborn and light returned to the world.

This story doesn’t fit Penny perfectly, but allusions often don’t. So If she really did land near the tree, she could be another loose representation of Odin’s story here. What she did wasn’t for knowledge, but to save her friends and keep Cinder from getting the Winter Maiden power. She believed it necessary that she sacrifice herself to achieve this end. As we established, Penny represents Hope, so her death means the loss of hope. This parallels Odin’s story of his death meaning the loss of light itself. So if this theory holds up, it would make this death temporary, until her rebirth and the return of Hope with her once again.

Alternatively, Ruby has the potential of loosely representing Odin in this story as well. Odin later uses the knowledge of the runes to do many things, but the most relevant one right now is awakening the dead. Both of these stories are about making a personal sacrifice to gain something that is desired. Ruby would absolutely make such sacrifices if it meant saving Penny.

It is said that Odin lived “according to his highest will unconditionally, accepting whatever hardships arise from that pursuit, and allowing nothing, not even death, to stand between him and the attainment of his goals." This sounds like Penny's arc of accepting the WM powers. This is more just a general connection between Penny and Odin, but I found it interesting.

Side Note: I encourage anyone who’s interested to look into RWBY connections to Norse Myth, there’s a surprising amount of things that feel eerily similar to the show. Likely just coincidental, but it’s fun to think about!

(If I got any of this wrong, I sincerely apologize by the way. I researched as best I could, but I admit it could have been lacking.)

Ambrosius and the Staff:

Ruby told Ambrosius "we kinda wanna keep her around longer than that" as part of her very specific instructions. Then Penny died about ten to fifteen minutes, at the absolute most thirty minutes later in-universe. I don’t know about you, but to me that seems very short to be considered ‘longer than that’. Technically it is, but when writing a story and a character says something like that, you typically don’t just kill the character they were referring to basically right away. It makes sense for a week-by-week watch, but in a volume binge, which many viewers do, it becomes ironic how fast Penny dies after being removed from her robotic body.

The first time we see the staff of creation being used, it's to save Penny. Using the staff of creation to help Penny is a sign of how incredibly important she is.

They’ve even got this entire transformation sequence for her, so it wouldn’t make sense for them to throw all that away two episodes later. In a meta context, it’s a massive waste of time and budget considering the asset creation for Penny.

Penny is a character who has already hopped bodies two times. And now we're supposed to just believe that this time it really is a final death? Just two episodes after we were explicitly told her body isn't what matters, that "Her soul is who she is" and that "the mechanical parts are just extra"? From a writing perspective, it feels strange, like your breaking a promise right after making it. And frankly, CRWBY is better than that, which makes me think this is not the actual end for her.

A possible connection between Penny, Ruby, and the Staff (thus Creation) can be seen in the intro. As Ruby is falling and being dragged down into the darkness, she is shown reaching for the staff. In the void space, Penny is the one with the relic. So with Penny having this strong connection to Creation, and the lyrics “fight for every life” playing as Ruby reaches for the staff, it’s a safe assumption to make, with the knowledge we now have, that the Staff of Creation represents Penny in this particular moment. Which could mean that V9 will be about, at least partially, fighting for Penny’s life.

Musical Hints:

In terms of music, Friend, as a song for Penny, is very dissonant from the episode itself. The song is oddly cheerful for Penny’s recent untimely death, and it overall highlights the wrong parts of death. It’s simply too happy to be a song about losing one of the most, if not the most joyous characters in the entire show. The song also abruptly ends. There’s no outro, and while this could symbolize the fact that Penny died young, it could be that the song itself is unfinished in a story sense.

What do we hear just before the song finishes, though? A progression of notes that sounds eerily similar to the last line of the opening of Volume 8. The notes for “Fight for ev’ry life” and “Who fin’lly felt alive'' share a similar melodic structure, they aren’t perfect clones of each other, but they are incredibly similar, to the point where it seems intentional. Penny may very well be the life that the opening song is fighting for. It is also worth noting that the line “Fight for every life” comes just after “Sometimes it’s worth it all to risk the fall,” which is the exact wording used for the description in the Volume 8 finale. Team RWBY risked the fall, yet, strangely the opposite of fighting for every life happened with Penny’s sacrifice. Perhaps the time to fight for every life has yet to happen, and we will see it come Volume 9.

For another thing, the lyrics for Friend are entirely centered on Penny’s feelings for Ruby, to the point where they read very much like a bittersweet love song. The music itself is incredibly cheerful, as mentioned previously, creating a mood whiplash with the end of the volume. Why would we hear a song about Penny’s feelings for Ruby, sounding like a love song, if her death is supposed to be a tragic sacrifice akin to Pyrrha’s? The song may very well be giving a clue into its future use in the show proper.

If this was meant to be a good bye song, why make it so cheerful and romantic sounding? There's only one part about her dying and even then, it's just too accepting and goes right back into cheerfulness. The song is also pretty hopeful, telling Penny's story in a fairly chronological order. And the part where she talks about sacrifice is quite pointedly followed up by one about feeling alive. It also ends with the super cheerful chorus, the word "alive" being the last... (Remember the episode title: The Final Word)

(I want to thank my friend @shadow-0f-x for writing the majority of this section! I was struggling to choose how to tackle it as I am not well versed in music theory.)

What We Didn’t See:

It is likely that Penny understood Jaune's semblance better than him and figured something out about it’s abilities in the same way that she understood Ruby's semblance better than her. She had plenty of time to observe his semblance up close as he boosted her aura to stave off the virus. Because of that intentionally timed cutaway in the finale, we don’t get to hear her explain herself after her strained “Trust me.” All of that seems really suspicious to me.

Pyrrha Parallel:

Pyrrha and Penny both sacrificed themselves to stop or stall Cinder. Jaune tried to convince the both of them to stop. With Pyrrha, he failed, while with Penny he actively helped her sacrifice herself. Doesn’t make sense for the guy who was determined not to let anyone else do what Pyrrha did, unless of course Penny assured him she’d be alright.

The Moment:

RT including the suicide hotline in the description shows that they're aware that Penny basically committed assisted suicide, seeing it as a noble sacrifice worth doing to save her friends. They're aware, and I believe they're smart enough to condemn that decision to hell and back.

The best way to do that in my opinion is to pull her back into the land of the living and let her witness first hand the consequences of throwing her life away so freely. This would show Penny how her actions affected others so maybe she could learn to truly value herself. To not think herself expendable. It would be bold and unwise to portray this choice as something good, unless it was going to be called upon later and be pointed out for how horrible it really is.

On top of this, Penny was way too content with her death, happy even. There's no way team RWBY is letting her stay content with it. It’s almost as though we're supposed to join Ruby and Co. in calling bullshit on what Penny is saying and doing because no, Penny, this is not how things are meant to work. It's as if Penny was basically saying "I want to die for my friends" because most of the volume had been about everyone else making sure she didn't die. She knows it will hurt them. She knows.

At the peak of it all, a choice like this will totally destroy Ruby. It may very well be her breaking point for Volume 9. Curiously, the moment itself is written like it’s the first choice Penny’s ever made, yet the entire Volume shows this isn’t the case. However, this is the first choice that Penny’s made solely independently and it’s rather pertinent that the choice she makes is a mistake. Outside of giving Winter the Maiden gift and saving the day temporarily, this sacrifice will not have any lasting positive effects. Jaune will be saddled with the grief of killing Penny. Ruby will have to live with losing her best friend and not being able to protect her a second time, and Winter now has the burden of the Winter Maiden abilities, making her a target of Cinder. This is a bad thing, and Penny needs to see the long term consequences.

Transfer of Power:

As we all know, colors in RWBY are really important and get a lot of focus in the show. That means the yellow we see as Penny gives Winter the Maiden Powers was intentional and likely important, no matter how insignificant it may seem. It’s possible that the transfer effect being yellow could have something to do with Jaune’s semblance. When Fria gave the power to Penny, the effect was very much blue, so this transfer should have been green since she was the one giving it this time. The weirdness of this transfer and the focus on color in RWBY really makes it look like something’s up with how that went down.

A little off topic, but Penny saying "I won't be gone, I'll be part of you." makes me think... Winter is smart, so when she gets time to think about what Penny said, maybe she'll arrive at the same question many in the audience came to; if she's literally part of Winter, can they be separated again? If Winter starts questioning that, the possibility of Penny coming back just skyrockets.

Fria actually tells Penny "I'll be gone" before giving her powers up, which is an interesting contrast to Penny telling Winter "I won't be gone". She may have gotten that line from Winter be all philosophical in V7, saying Fria was now a part of Penny, but it hits differently coming from an actual Maiden. S5o it’s possible that Maidens usually actually will be gone, but Jaune's semblance did something to change that.

This could go well with the theory that they won't need to find an aura transfer machine, or build another one, because Jaune will have a semblance evolution allowing him to do the transfer instead. It might actually be that this evolution already happened and the golden light we saw was Jaune transferring penny's aura to Winter in some way?

An observation that I find interesting is when Penny gives winter the powers, not only is the aura yellow but penny completely glows yellow too, and she obviously starts to disappear, but she doesn’t seem to fully disappear, she just glows.

It's possibly a fading out effect and she does fully fade but animation makes bright light easier, and so we don't actually see her disappear because she's dead and not gone. But it does once again emphasize the color yellow here!

And the color is coming from Penny, it does go up Winter's arm a bit, but Penny is clearly the source. This transfer is so weird and I’m not really sure how to interpret it. There's just actually no reason that we are aware of to make the effect yellow here is the thing. Unless it has something to do with either Jaune or Ambrosius, or potentially a combination of both...

Jaune’s Aura:

The way we see Jaune's aura break in the finale is strange. His aura shouldn't be breaking here. It had been long enough since he was boosting Penny, he's had time to recharge, and it didn't look like it was a strain on him at all. Plus, we know he has a lot of aura, so there probably wasn't too much to recharge in the first place.

He has a massive amount of aura, it has never broken before as far as I remember. Even if it has though, that doesn’t make this occurrence any less odd. It should absolutely never be a one-hit KO. We didn't see anything that would've drained it, that should not have been enough to break his aura. Unless he did something - something that would require a huge amount of aura - that we just didn't see. That amount of aura drain is far more than just an attempt at healing would do, Jaune absolutely did something with his semblance that took up almost all of his aura.

Pinocchio Allusion:

As any Penny fan knows, her character allusion is Pinocchio, the puppet who became a real boy. Penny deviates from the allusion by having always been a real girl, as Ruby is quick to point out, but she shares many story beats with her original story including multiple deaths. In the original story, Pinocchio dies from being hung by his own strings due to his poor decision making and he dies. Sounds a little familiar, does it not? This is where his tale originally ended. Readers were unsatisfied with this ending however, so the author decided to change the story by reviving Pinocchio and teaching him to be more careful.

Unlike Pinocchio making all the wrong decisions, Penny often makes the right ones, or ones she thinks is right, when concerning others. While usually a good thing, this has meant Penny almost giving herself up multiple times during V8, her last attempt being successful. This is where Penny and Pinocchio begin to share similarities again. They are both very reckless when it concerns themselves. This carelessness comes from different places, but it ends with the same result of them endangering their lives and even sometimes losing them.

In the Disney movie, Pinocchio dies by drowning after going to rescue Geppetto and washes up on the shore (like the beach in V8’s post credit scene). His father is devastated and takes him home to grieve, but as a reward for his selflessness in rescuing his father, the Blue Fairy returns and brings him back to life, as well as granting him humanity. Penny sacrificed her life as well, and it stands to reason that she should be rewarded for it, much like her allusion was.

Penny got her maiden powers from someone with blue aura and then gave her powers to someone with blue aura. So it could be that not only Ambrosius, but Fria and Winter as well represent the Blue Fairy. It could be set up for Winter helping to bring Penny back to life once more. It’s an out there theory I admit, but it’s not outright impossible either. The Blue Fairy in Pinocchio saved him three times that I know of, so RWBY having three representations does make sense.

Geppetto wished for him to live as a real boy, but it depended on what path Pinocchio took. This is very reminiscent of Penny and Pietro. Pietro wants to see her live her life, and surely with him absent in V8C14 that didn't work, despite Penny choosing. Her father did not see her happy enough to live her life, and will only be able to learn her death through others. But Pinocchio's themes were life and being alive. So the likelihood that this is not her end yet is quite high!

A Girl That Fell Through the World:

Penny could be the girl who fell through the world. The girl in the story fled the consequences of a choice. The only person who chose her ultimate fate was Penny. The others were pushed into the void, but she chose to die. The consequence of her choice is Ruby’s grief first and foremost, which Penny won’t see. The girl who fell through the world does come back though, and the world will be changed severely with Penny’s absence. Alternatively, it could also be Penny coming back to Wonderland or wherever they currently are, as long as it’s unrecognizable to her.

What Returning Brings:

Others might say another return would have no story relevant purpose, but I wholeheartedly disagree. Penny gives a profoundly youthful, joyous, and wondrous outlook on the world and story that we hadn't seen since Ruby in Volumes 1-3(not the end), Penny returning would bring a much needed levity back in after the despair they will undoubtedly be going through. While not necessarily a huge thing in most other shows, for RWBY, a show largely about keeping up hope, an ounce of such relief is a necessity.

As much as I hate saying it, Penny’s death does actually make some narrative sense because she had to pass on the Maiden powers. (They could have done this in a number of ways, and I personally think they chose rather poorly, but I digress.) Throughout this whole volume, we can see Penny seemingly being set up to join the main cast, but would have been too strong with the powers. This also accomplishes ridding her of the burden of responsibility that comes with being a Maiden and lets her obtain the freedom that’s so important to her character.

Once she returns, seeing this grief that her actions caused, particularly to Ruby, will get her to realize more that her actions can have serious repercussions. She made a choice, but that choice hurt the people she loves. She must have known that it would but I’m not sure she ever realized just how much.

I didn’t want this post to be heavy in the shipping department, so I largely left it out, but I am going to say this one thing that could have an impact. If Nuts & Dolts is on its way to being canon, which this volume makes it feel highly likely, this could be a catalyst.

It could prompt an arc for the both of them in which Penny learns to live her life fighting for her loved ones, rather than sacrificing it for them. A relationship could potentially start from there. And Ruby seeing Penny learn these things may also help her to stop doing the occasional but very dangerous and reckless things she does. Ruby witnessing Penny coming to terms with what she did to the people that care about her would actually make her stop to think “wait, is this how everyone else would feel if I got myself killed?” That would be a very important moment of character growth for her.

I’m certain there are other significant things that Penny returning can bring to the show. And there are definitely more sections I could add to this. At this point though, assuming anyone even made it this far, I think I’ve been going long enough already. So let’s just roll into the outro!

As painful and hopeless as it seems, I'm choosing to trust them with this because there is absolutely no way they didn't see backlash coming. The way this finale went makes me think that they calculated for backlash and aren’t jumping into something they don’t have a plan to recover from. Whether this trust is unfounded or not remains to be seen, but I don’t think it is currently. I do think, however, that the cause of this backlash was a major misstep. Now that it has happened though, they have a chance to do something good with it.

I know for a lot of you, trust in CRWBY has been damaged, some even irreparably so. And for those that feel this way, I don’t blame you. My trust in them took a hit too, but isn’t broken completely yet. There are many ways that they can bring her back that would make sense with the narrative, they have the ability to make it right, and after going over all of the hints and general weirdness of things many times, I think they will.

I'm feeling pretty confident now and I really didn't expect that to happen at all to be honest. But discussing and theorizing with the discord server seriously helped get my hopes back up surprisingly fast! It’s actually thanks to all of them that this gigantic post even happened! So thanks a ton my fellow Dolts! And a special thanks to!!

@arcana-amicus

@catontheweb

@cosmokyrin

@gaydontmesswithme224

@jammatown919

@shadow-0f-x

They really helped get this thing across the finish line!

And thank YOU for reading all~ of this! I sincerely wish it gave you some of the hope and confidence that I now have!

#RWBY #rwby vol8 #rwby v8 #rwby spoilers #Penny Polendina #nuts and dolts #mechanical rose #a little #Essay #more like dissertation #I haven't written this much in #probably ever actually #Have HOPE people!

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