#The pose completely changed from what I had in mind too. First I wanted iris hanging off him like a kid but now she's using him to keep her

[minai28]

Dragon siblings

[persimmonsimmer]

4, 6 and 12 for the ask game, Please!?

Thanks for asking! 😊

4. What is your least favorite thing about the sims 2? The first thing that comes to mind is how cumbersome building is. I'm trying to push myself to learn the tricks and get better, but it would be nice if we didn't have to resort to cheats and third-party applications to change wall heights, attach garages to houses on foundations, or build a house on a foundation that isn't the standard four clicks high. And I wish it were possible to move windows up or down walls, and add them easily to those low wall pieces that are generated by placing roofs. :'( I'm very grateful that we have all the cheats and building tools we do--just wish many of them could have been built into the game more intuitively.

6. What is the worst/unluckiest thing to ever happen to your sims in game? I'll go with something that happened recently.

I had popped into Meda’s household quickly to grab a certain shot I needed. I posed her and froze her with the freezer clock, but it happened to be 5 a.m. in game and I wanted better light. I was planning to exit without saving after getting the shot, so I decided to just burn through a couple in-game hours on speed 3.

Then out of nowhere Meda started making those hysteric sim crying noises--while still frozen, so she was sobbing but without her pose or expression changing at all. So I paused, looked around, and saw that the social worker had arrived on the lot and was in the process of taking Idara and Iris away!

Big WTF? moment and an immediate exit without saving. It wasn't a big deal in the end since I'd been planning to exit without saving anyway, so I didn't even lose any gameplay, but it was creepy and completely unexpected. The twins had been asleep the entire time, and there were no warnings, pop-ups, nothing. I even reloaded the lot immediately after just to see if somehow one of their needs had dropped to an unacceptable level without me noticing, and no, all of their needs were 75% green or higher, so there's no way they could have dropped that quickly, within two in-game hours, while they were sleeping in bed.

All I can think is that freezing Meda without freezing the time, and leaving the twins unfrozen, made the game think the twins had been left alone on the lot, triggering the social worker to arrive? Maybe this is a well known thing to watch out for when using the freezer clock, but it gave me a nasty surprise.

12. Do you have any unpopular opinions about the game? If so, what are they? Ahh, nothing all that juicy is coming to mind for this one! For now, I guess I can say that I've never really liked Bon Voyage and mostly find taking my sims on vacation to be tedious and repetitive. Maybe that would change with the mods I have installed now and with some remodeled vacation subhoods, idk. I'm a loooong way from being able to take sims on vacation in Panorama.

Another minor, not-sure-how-unpopular-it-is opinion is that I love having multiple births in my game (though even I'll admit I probably had my multiple birth odds set too high for a while as evidenced by Panorama's string of twins and triplets in round 2). But generally, the more the merrier. I love the challenge of taking care of multiple babies and/or toddlers at once without letting the whole household devolve into chaos.

[iffeelscouldkill]

Mission Log: REDACTED

A/N: Now that Yuletide reveals are revealed, I can go ahead and own this fic I wrote for the awesome Mousek for Yuletide! It’s quite long (14,999 words), so I’m not going to post the whole thing here, just enough to give people a flavour and lure them to AO3 for the rest.

This fic is written in an “audio narrative” format, in the same style as the From the Archives ficlets if you’ve read those. Slightly spoilery warning (skip over this to remain unspoiled but please read if you’re concerned about potential triggers): this fic features people’s memories being modified (though not completely irreversibly) without their consent.

Enjoy, friends!

Summary: Canon divergence AU from mid-episode 9. Instead of executing Plan B, the Rumor crew learns about a top-secret Regime project that is being carried out at ADVANCE Labs - and that the fate of the crew of the Iris is not what they thought it had been.Violet Liu goes in undercover, posing as a member of the lab team. But can she undo what the Regime has done to the crew and free them - without losing herself in the process?

Read on AO3!

---

“This is Agent McCabe. Two weeks have now passed since our last update. Based on the continued lack of audio input via this swarm of Strain H, we can assume that the crew of the Rumor have acted on the intel given to them by the insurgents, Thasia and Violet Liu, and successfully cured themselves of the VCN nanocloud infection.

 “As a result, pending further developments in this case, the Strange Case of Starship Iris is now considered closed. Footage from the case remains available in the archives and can be accessed on request by submitting form B7-081 with a superior’s signature.

 “My thanks to Major General Frederick, Agents Bauman and Cross, and the specialists at Procyon, as well as Junior Agent Goodman for their assistance in this case. Long live the Republic.”

*

SYSTEM: E.L.L.A.

USERNAME: EMILY CRADDOCK

ACCESSING RECENT DRAFTS... YOU HAVE ONE RECENT DRAFT. COMPOSED 26 JULY 2191.

REVIEWING DRAFT...

“Hey, it’s me. I just wanted to check in and say that I’m fine, I’m safe and I passed the background checks without any problems. I kept thinking the whole time that someone from the intake process would recognise me, but – none of them seemed familiar, and I guess I wasn’t either. Just a very small cog in the vast machine of the Reg- the Republic. God, I’ve got to get used to saying that again.

“I’m all settled in in my apartment – it’s twice the size of my room on the Rumor, but I can’t help thinking how much I miss that space.” Quiet laughter. “And you all. I… guess I’ll talk to you soon. I’ll have more to update you with tomorrow, after I start work at the lab. And I’ll be able to let you know whether our intel was good.

“Until then… Violet Liu out.”

*

“This is uh, lab report 05, week two? Analyst Brannon reporting on behalf of Gamma Team at ADVANCE.

“Over the past few days, our lab has continued work on synthesizing the NDMA proteins, and Specialists Chang and Yeboah report that they have made some positive advancements in this area. We have provisionally moved up the timeline for the first round of testing with this in mind, though Specialist Yeboah cautions that we need to monitor how the new proteins react with other molecules in the solution first, and then with the blood cell samples.

“A new member also joined our team today – specialist Huang. I wasn’t aware that we’d actually been hiring for our vacancy, but uh, she seems very qualified? A little over-qualified, even. In addition to her qualification from Brightwell she has extensive experience with this type of lab work, which makes us lucky to have her as part of the team. She’s joined Analyst Vázquez and Assistant Hudson in their work on the histone deacetylases.

“My specialism is in a completely different area, and I’m pretty sure our work histories have never overlapped, but – she seems familiar somehow. Except she said she was based on Mars up until six months ago, and I’ve been working on New Jupiter since… uh…

“Sorry – lost my train of thought for a minute there. I’ve been getting these persistent headaches… I think it’s all that poring over modelling data. Though I never get them while I’m working, so maybe they’re delayed-onset headaches? Heh. It could be the lab lighting; I might ask Supervisor Kaaka if we can swap out the bulbs for a lower wattage.

“Uh, anyway. This is Analyst Brannon signing off. Long live the Republic.”

*

ACCESSING RECENT DRAFTS... YOU HAVE ONE RECENT DRAFT. COMPOSED: 27 JULY 2191.

REVIEWING DRAFT...

“Hey, it’s me. Oh my god… oh my god, I can barely process what’s been happening. I was going to send this message as soon as I got back to my apartment, and instead I’ve just been sitting and staring into space because it’s just so… surreal…

“They’re alive. They’re all just… alive and working in a lab at ADVANCE on New Jupiter.

“I mean, we haven’t ruled out the possibility of highly advanced duplicates, but why would the Repub- the Reg- the IGR go to all that trouble? The simplest explanation - even if it still sounds pretty far-fetched - is that they're the same crew.

“Brian, if you’re listening to this – Alvy's alive. I know I didn’t work with him that long but I’m sure, I’m so sure it's really him. But it’s like Thasia and Other Violet said – none of them remember who they were, or their real names. Everyone here calls him Analyst Brannon – Michael Brannon.

“We’re not working very closely together, but I found an excuse to go over to his workstation and introduce myself, and – it seemed like he recognised me. I’m gonna try and find ways to talk to him – the real Alvy Connors is still in there, Brian, I’m sure of it.

“Is there anything you want me to… ask him? Maybe a question that only he would know the answer to?

“Sorry, I don’t have much more time – the IGR has listening devices planted throughout every Republic-issued apartment; everywhere except the bathroom. Even they have to draw the line somewhere. I scanned it, and it’s clean, but if I remember right there are still sensors that will activate if you go above a certain noise, light or heat, threshold – y’know, in case anyone takes it upon themselves to… build a bomb in here or something. And I don’t want the bugs outside to pick up what I’m saying, which is why I’m whispering.

“But I can’t stay in here too long, or they’ll get suspicious, so – I’m fine, and so far I haven’t messed up or called the Republic the Regime or anything in earshot of anyone. And no-one has recognised me. Well, except for Alvy, maybe.

“I’m still trying to figure out what exactly they’re working on, here. If you’re going to go to the trouble of staffing a lab with the crew of an… of an exploded space ship, it must be important, right? Or maybe not. Maybe it’s just a test, to see how well they assimilate.

“I’ll let you know when I know more. Until then… stay safe. I will too. Violet Liu out.”

*

ACCESSING RECENT DRAFTS... YOU HAVE ONE RECENT DRAFT. COMPOSED: 27 JULY 2191.

REVIEWING DRAFT...

“Hi, Liu. It’s me.

“I’ll keep this to the point, since I know you probably don’t have much time to spend playing back these messages. We’re all fine here. Kind of in a holding pattern, since there’s not much to do until we hear more from you or from Thasia and the other Violet, but it’s not too bad.

“Jeeter’s really happy, by the way, since he listened to your message. I mean, I think he’s still – processing – because he thought Connors was dead, he even wrote to his parents, and now we find out he’s alive, but not… y’know. Not Connors any more.

“But he’ll be fine. Krejjh is helping, which means the two of them are being even more nauseating then they usually are, and that’s saying something.

“Anyway. Listen, I know you want to try and get through to Connors, but… just be careful, okay? None of us, including Jeeter, wants you to get hurt or – worse – on the off chance that we might be able to bring him back. We always knew it was gonna be a long shot.

“Tripathi said to tell you the same, by the way. Well, she said it in a more… Tripathi… way, but the idea was the same. Find out what you can, but don’t get caught. We can’t afford to lo- to mess this up.

“Okay, I should go. Arkady Patel out.”

*

“This is lab report 06, week three. Analyst Brannon reporting on behalf of Gamma Team at ADVANCE.

“Since my last report, we have introduced the synthesized NDMA proteins to the solution and tested their interactions with samples representing different blood types. Six out of eight of the samples produced expected results, but two of the samples produced some unexpected interactions with the AB type blood cells, which warrants further testing and study.

“Specialist Huang, Analyst Vázquez and Assistant Hudson are progressing with their work on the histone deacetylases, which should be ready to introduce in the next phase of the solution, pending resolution of the AB blood cell issue.

“Okay, what else… Oh, Specialist Huang is integrating well with the team. She and I have had a couple of conversations, though our second one was unfortunately cut short when my headache started up again. Maybe I should bring it up with Dr. Starling…

“Damn it. Is that the time? I was supposed to go for my treatment a half hour ago – damn it, damn it.

“Uh… I should probably redact that from the final report. This is Analyst Brannon, signing off. Long live the Republic.”

*

ACCESSING RECENT DRAFTS... YOU HAVE ONE RECENT DRAFT. COMPOSED: 30 JULY 2191.

REVIEWING DRAFT...

“Hey guys, it’s me again. Violet. It feels kind of nice to use my own name for a change instead of being called ‘Specialist Huang’ all the time… I almost forgot to react to it once, though luckily Vázquez thought I was just focused on my work.

“Not a whole lot to report still – I’m still trying to figure out what it is the Regime is doing in these labs. It’s something to do with DNA methylation and synthesized NDMA proteins – well, I won’t bore you with the science, but why would the IGR be working on that? Could be they’re trying to develop a neural enhancer, but for what? I haven’t ruled out the possibility of there being some kind of link to the nanobots, but no-one here has mentioned nanites, and there are no nanotech specialists working in the lab.

“They keep us very siloed, too. I know what I’m working on, or at least what I have to do, but I don’t know why, and none of the people I work directly with seems to know what we’re developing here. Just something about a solution and blood cell samples. We might not even be the only lab working on this, which means I’ll have to find another way to get at the bigger picture.

“I spoke to Alvy a couple times – I was careful, Arkady, don’t worry. We didn’t manage to talk for long anyway – people don’t socialise much here. I’d kind of forgotten what it was like to work in this kind of environment, where no-one trusts anyone or lets their guard down, because people will backstab each other for the slightest thing. Maybe they had a professional disagreement, or don’t get along, or they wanted to get the credit for the other person’s work. It doesn’t take much of an insinuation to get someone transferred or – worse.

“Nothing’s happened, not yet, and it’s still nowhere near as bad as that student internship I did during the war. But it feels… tense, almost hair-trigger. I think I heard we’re having an inspection later on this week.

“Anyway, Alvy – I didn’t get to talk to him for very long, not just because of the environment, but because he had this headache come on the second time we talked. I’m not sure if it means anything – he said he gets them often. Brian, do you… remember him saying anything about that before?

“He seems a little different to the way I remember him on the Iris – a little more serious, less laid-back, though he’s still the friendliest person on the team. I didn’t… get to know him under the best circumstances, so I’m not sure if that’s due to the memory wipe or not.

“He also mentioned that he’s been seeing a doctor for these treatments – they all have. It could just be something to do with the away shuttle explosion, some kind of recovery program – there was an explosion, even if it didn’t really kill anyone, and Alvy’s got these – support struts in one of his legs, I think they’re carbon fibre. He walks with a slight limp sometimes.

“It could be nothing, but I feel like it might be worth digging into? Arkady, are you able to poke around in ADVANCE’s systems a bit, see if you can find anything that resembles medical reports?

“I’d better go. I brought my makeup bag in here as a cover for taking a bit longer – I don’t even know if the IGR has cameras in these apartments, but better to be safe than sorry – but there’s only so long you can take to put on the bare minimum I wear.

“Send me a message when you can. Violet Liu, out.”

*

ACCESSING RECENT DRAFTS... YOU HAVE ONE RECENT DRAFT. COMPOSED: 30 JULY 2191.

REVIEWING DRAFT...

“Hey, Liu. Good instincts on the medical treatment thing. I didn’t spot anything like that in my initial sweep of the system when I forged your interview and acceptance records, but I wasn’t on the lookout for it either.

“There’s a limit to what I can access without jacking directly into ADVANCE’s mainframe computer or piggybacking on their local network, but I’ll dig around as much as I can.” Jokingly: “ Worst comes to worst, we could always send Jeeter in with an earpiece and make him pose as a computer technician.

“Oh, also, Jeeter says he doesn’t remember Alvy ever mentioning any kind of migraines or head pain. Apparently he’d go on these all-night coding benders and then sleep for two hours and be completely fine the next morning. Maybe it caught up to him, but – well, I’m not gonna jump to any conclusions. I’ll see what I can find in the medical records.

“Also – be careful with the inspection, okay? Your ID will hold up, Campbell doesn’t skimp on the quality, and you look different enough from the physical description they have on file, but those Regime higher-ups will ask some weird shit to catch you out.

“You’ve got the comm if you need us for anything. Just… keep your head down.

“Arkady Patel, out.”

*

ACCESSING RECENT DRAFTS... YOU HAVE ONE RECENT DRAFT. COMPOSED: 31 JULY 2191.

REVIEWING DRAFT...

“Hey, Liu, listen. You were right. There’s something weird going on with these treatments.

“I managed to track down the medical records for the whole crew. Wasn’t easy, but I’ll save the tales of my security-defying exploits for another time. Anyway, I managed to hack into an account belonging to someone called Dr. Starling. They were brought onto ADVANCE’s payroll on June 1st – two days before the away shuttle exploded.

“There are files for all of them, and the scientific stuff doesn’t mean much to me, but from what I can tell, they’re monitoring them all for signs of what Starling calls ‘leakage’ – memories from their previous lives. Five of the other crew members have reported experiencing head pains, and it’s not a physical injury – Starling seems to think the pain is set off by them thinking back beyond a certain point, or being reminded of something from their past life. They upped the frequency of the ‘treatments’ to try and counter it, but so far it hasn’t worked.

“I think that’s what they’re for, the treatments – they’re keeping the crew’s memories suppressed. Which means, if they can be interfered with somehow…

“Bad news is, I can’t get into the scheduling system, not without access to the local network. But in Starling’s notes it says that Alvy was meant to come in for a treatment earlier today- well, yesterday technically, since it’s after 3am. But he didn’t show. So maybe you could get through to him.

“Obviously, don’t blow your cover, but if Alvy’s been getting these headaches a lot, it could mean he’s trying to remember? You said he got a headache when you guys talked – what were you talking about?”

A stifled yawn. “Shit, I’d better sleep, Sana wanted me to help encrypt some intel to send to Thasia and the other Violet Liu first thing in the morning. I’ll talk to you later. Arkady Patel out.”

*

ACCESSING RECENT DRAFTS... YOU HAVE ONE RECENT DRAFT. COMPOSED 31 JULY 2191.

REVIEWING DRAFT...

“Arkady, you’re a genius! Oh my god, I could kiss you.

“I’ve only skimmed the records you copied, but they make references to a solution that sounds a lot like the one we’re developing in the lab. What if that’s the answer? What if that’s what the IGR is having the crew develop, another version of the treatment – maybe one that’s more permanent…

“…Oh god, that’s so dark. They’re having the crew work on erasing their own memories. It’s so inhuman, so – exactly what the IGR would do.

“–I have to go, I’ve got work in half an hour, but – this really helps. And I’ll try to talk to Alvy today, see if he seems any different after his missed treatment. Violet Liu out.”

*

ACCESSING RECENT DRAFTS... YOU HAVE ONE RECENT DRAFT. COMPOSED: 31 JULY 2191.

REVIEWING DRAFT...

“You, uh—” The sound of awkward throat-clearing. “You are welcome. Yeah. Like I said, it’s uh, it’s what I do! So, no, uh thanks required. Though if you wanted to, I—

“Shit, I’ve gotta go, Sana needs me. Uh, Arkady Patel out.”

Read the rest here!

[meangirlsx]

That Beautiful Sound

Pairing: Lydia Deetz x reader Word count: 1593 Warnings: Corny jokes? Puppy love? It’s really fluffy. But I don’t think I have anything to warn about. Request: Would it be possible for you to write a school setting Lydia x Reader where they’re already in a relationship? Maybe shortly after getting together? Also, I loved the story you wrote about the reader going with Lydia to meet her mom!

——

“Hey, babe,” Lydia’s voice rang behind you.

You felt yourself perk up as you turned to face her. You had only been officially dating for a few days, and you weren’t quite used to hearing her use a term of endearment to refer to you. This was also your first Monday back at school since you’d gotten together the previous weekend.

You’d been studying together after school on Friday for an English test coming up. When you were done, she’d asked if you would help her with a photography assignment by modeling for a few photos. You’d joked around for a long time as she snapped way more pictures than either of you had anticipated. You thought there might have been some flirting, too, but you weren’t sure. You’d been friends since she’d started at your school earlier in the year and you couldn’t tell if she felt the same way about you or if she was just glad to have a friend. You would have been happy to just be her friend, if that was what it was, but you hoped it was more. You got your answer when she asked you on a date to the library for the next day.

You’d agreed to take things slowly and not put any pressure on it, but by the end of the date, you were each leaving the library with an armful of books and a girlfriend. You ended up spending all of Sunday together, as well.

You still wanted to pinch yourself, remembering it all. You found yourself starting to grin as she approached you.

“Hey, Lyds!” you greeted her.

She leaned down to kiss you hello, but she pulled away quickly and you saw that she was...giggling?

“What’s so funny?” you asked.

“I’m just still getting used to this. I still kind of can’t believe it.”

You thought your brain short-circuited for a second before you regained yourself enough to say, “Me, too.”

“Can I walk you to class?” she asked.

“Your first class is on the other side of the building,” you said.

“And?” She took the textbook and folder out of your hands. “Ready?”

“You don’t have to carry my stuff for me,” you said, but you’d already started walking.

“You can pay me back by staying after school with me while I develop my film from the weekend.”

You felt your resolve soften. “You say that like I wouldn’t want to do it anyway.”

“Even better,” she said. “So, do you want to sit together at lunch?”

You looked at her and saw that she looked a bit nervous, like she thought you might not want her there.

“I know you sit with your friends. I don’t want you to change that. I was just thinking that maybe I could join you. I haven’t really made friends, yet, so—”

“No, of course! Please join us. My friends will love you. And I want you there.”

You watched her mouth form a small, content smile as you stopped outside your first classroom.

“Thank you for walking me. And for carrying my stuff. You really didn’t have to.”

She handed your items back to you carefully. “I wanted to. I would have hardly gotten to see you this morning, otherwise, and that would be a crime. I would’ve had to call the cops. Helicopters would’ve been circling the school. It would have been messy. And very dramatic.”

You laughed, and you saw Lydia break out in a grin.

“What?” you asked.

“Nothing,” she said, shaking her head softly. She raised her eyes to meet yours and you swore you could feel the mood shift. “I just...love your laugh.”

“Oh.” Your felt your face heat up and you knew you were blushing.

Not that Lydia would have noticed. Her gaze had dropped to the floor as soon as she’d finished speaking.

“I’m sorry. That was stupid. Forget I said that.”

“I don’t think it was stupid.” You paused, hoping she would look at you again, but she didn’t. You continued anyway. “I love your laugh, too.”

That made her meet your eyes again. You thought she might be blushing, too, but you couldn’t be sure. The overhead lighting in school hallways wasn’t anyone’s friend.

“So, I’ll see you in English?” you asked.

She nodded. “See you in English.” She planted a kiss on your cheek and went on her way.

English couldn’t come soon enough. You didn’t even mind that you had a test. You knew you were ready, and you couldn’t wait to see Lydia again.

You wondered if she felt the same way, because her whole face lit up when you walked into the classroom.

She finished her test before you, but only by a couple of minutes. You found her waiting outside the classroom for you when you finished. It was your last class before lunch, so you headed to the cafeteria together.

You discussed the test until your friends arrived. You could tell they were all ecstatic to see Lydia sitting with you. Your friends hadn’t been there for more than five minutes before you could tell she had already completely charmed them. They did love her. They kept shooting excited and curious glances at you, and you always smiled back at them.

You insisted on walking Lydia to her first class after lunch. You were pretty sure she’d already made a mental note to walk you to your first class every morning. You decided you’d do the same in return for her first afternoon class. She didn’t need a textbook for her class, so you held hands the entire walk there. When you parted, she kissed your cheek again and you agreed to meet up outside the dark room after school.

And that was where you found her waiting after your last class.

“Have you ever been in here before?” she asked.

“No, I haven’t.”

You swore you saw her bounce, just once. “It’s really cool! I’m excited to show you.”

Inside, all the lighting was a dim red, and there were stations set up all around the room to develop film. The walls were lined with photos hanging from wire to dry.

You loved watching as she worked on her film. She looked so at peace and so focused even though you were talking while she worked.

Once she had them all hung up, she said, “I’m really excited to see how these turned out. Would you mind doing homework in the library or something so we can wait and see? It shouldn’t be too long.”

You nodded. “I’d love to.”

You weren’t sure how you managed to get your homework done while you kept talking, but before you knew it, you had finished your homework, and so had Lydia, so you headed back to the dark room.

She had some other pictures she had hung up, some old houses, some empty parks, but she made a beeline for the row of photos she had taken of you. You followed closely behind her. Not that you had much of a choice. She had a tight grip on your hand.

She released your hand only so you could view her photos at different speeds. You went down the line slowly until you realized she had stopped in front of one in particular.

Most of the photos of you were posed in some way, but this one wasn’t. You were laughing. You looked so happy. You weren’t sure what you were laughing at. You had laughed so many times during the photoshoot. But you knew that whatever it was, it was completely to do with Lydia. She had even captured the sunset behind you like a glow or a halo. You weren’t always fond of pictures of yourself, but this one was remarkable. You couldn’t help but think it felt like she had captured the way you looked through her eyes.

“This one’s my favorite,” she said softly. “I was a little nervous for how it would turn out.”

You breathed out slowly, in shock. “Lydia…”

She shrugged. “I told you. I love your laugh.”

“You’re hired as my personal photographer. No one else is allowed to take photos of me ever again. Only you.”

She laughed, and you smiled.

“Would you take pictures of our pets for the holidays? Those would be such good gifts.”

She laughed harder, so you wanted to keep joking, but a thought occurred to you.

“Wait, that would actually be a great job for you. People would pay you so much money to take photos of their pets for the holidays. Or of their families for Christmas cards or whatever.”

“Start my own business? My dad and Delia would love that.” Then she stopped laughing. “Actually, that is a really good idea. Then I’d have the kind of money I want to buy you the holiday present you deserve.”

“That’s so not the point of that!”

“It’s too late. I’m already planning.”

“Lydia—”

“How would you feel about a crown? And maybe a scepter?”

“You’re impossible,” you said, but you couldn’t stop yourself from laughing. That seemed to be more and more of a common occurrence around her, and you weren’t complaining.

“Yeah. But it makes you laugh, so it’s worth it.”

You just stared at her for another moment, taking the moment in. It almost didn’t feel real. You reached for her hand and she leaned into you. You let the warmth of her body wash over you as you turned and continued looking at the pictures together.

——

Tag list: @mars-bars-stars, @reader-ships, @anxiousankylosaurus, @msmith74, @broadwaymusicaltrash, @you-thinks-wrong-romeo, @theatricalwriter, @be-more-heidi-hansen, @peachy-jolly, @g1ngersp1ce, @trumancheerleadermaui, @dancewyou, @spookabeth, @coral-cat-iris, @madameboxhead, @elaineygrace, @theolwebshooter, @ohsomightykeyboard

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[wolf-555-writer]

Heating Up Part 2

Apparently I always need to write more parts or something... Anyways, hope you enjoy!

Read part 1

Caitlin Snow/Killer Frost x Meta Reader

Summary: Due to Catlin’s ‘unstable’ powers, she leaves Team Flash to go her own way. You respect that but hope to see her again, which will of course happen. Eventually leading to an ‘interesting’ encounter with Killer Frost. 

Word Count: 2,180

Jumping through a strange looking portal together with Caitlin and Cisco, you harmlessly land in the cortex at STAR Labs again. Still needing to get used to this type of travelling as your face clearly depicts, displaying an extremely disoriented expression. But nobody has noticed it, because they all immediately rush towards Caitlin. Glad that their Caitlin has safely returned. That’s why you decide to search for a chair to sit on and relax. Besides, you don’t want and also don’t feel the need to interfere in their happy ‘family’ encounter. Exhaling deeply, you completely relax in the seat you found in front of a couple of computer screens. Closing your eyes to rest up for a bit.

After some minutes have passed you perceive a sudden mood change, hearing the tone in Cisco’s voice become bitter. Attentively opening your eyes and turning your head in their direction, you see them arguing with each other. Apparently a discussion ignited? Cisco is using an excessive amount of arm gestures, swinging them around, nearly hitting Iris. And Barry is just standing there, completely frozen, probably thinking of a proper response to give. Then you faintly hear your name calling.

What are they talking about? About me? You start to listen to their conversation, because, well- you are a little curious. It appears that Caitlin feels the need to leave, go her own way as the ‘old’ Caitlin Snow is no more. She needs to discover her powers, and thereby her alter-ego Killer Frost, on her own. Away from her friends.  

The other members of Team Flash obviously disagree, so you clearly noticed. They don’t get why she wants to leave. Because finally they’ve found somebody who can help her control her powers, namely you. All eyes are now fixed on you while you sit there awkwardly in a not-so-charming pose.

I don’t want to get mixed up in this. Caitlin can make her own decisions, right? 

You simply stand up and decide to go since this is not your problem to fix. Do they want you to take sides or something? You quickly walk away, leaving them as they stare at you in total confusion. Exiting with the announcement: “If you guys need me, I’ll be at Jitters!”. Not even being able to hear if they’ve responded to your abrupt departure. 

By the time you enter the brightly illuminated place, you instantly smell the magical aroma of coffee. It’s amazing, right? Craving some well-deserved caffeine after the adventure in the dark, misty woods, you order your favorite hot drink. Placing yourself on the comfortable couch, you immediately take a gentle sip from the coffee mug. Benefits of your power: managing the perfect consuming temperature of a beverage. Very important of course. 

Suddenly Caitlin enters through the glass doors, wandering inside, explicitly searching for someone.

“Hi, is it okay if I sit here?”, she carefully asks. “Sure”, you answer, not expecting this visit. Sensing your heart rate rising, you get a little nervous. “Everything okay with your friends?”, you continue, curious about the outcome of their disagreement.

“Don’t worry about that”, she returns, deflecting the question. “I actually came here to thank you. For your help. For saving me.”

“Oh- Eh.. N-no problem”, you stammer, slightly startled by her gratefulness as your heart skips a beat. “If you by the way ever need my help again, I’ll be there”. Hoping she’ll take you up on the offer. You most certainly do not want this moment to be your last with her, even though you just met her.    

“Thanks”, she responds while she timidly tilts her head towards the floor, noticing a slight blush on her cheeks. “But I decided to leave Central City for a while. Go my own way. Try to figure out my powers, by myself. So, you won’t be bothered by me anymore”, she declares, probably still feeling extremely guilty about the events that happened when she was her alter-ego. But you don’t care what she did or didn’t do, because it wasn’t her fault, right?

“No, it really is no trouble! I am always happy to help”, you reply, clearly showing your instinct to assist and serve people in need. Especially to someone like the woman in front of you.

“But I do respect your choice. It’s been a pleasure meeting you Caitlin Snow”, you reveal with a smile while you stand up. Eyes locked with her beautiful brown ones. You feel lost again. A warmth rippling through you as soon as your hands touch. “It was also nice meeting you, (Y/N) (Y/L/N)”, she friendly responds, smiling warmly. She softly lets go of your hand and you watch her walk away, exiting Jitters. You’re overtaken by intense happiness, hoping you will meet her again, preferably someday soon.

///

From that day on you’ve helped the team, assisted them on missions if The Flash is in need of your services. You’re still a firefighter though, and in your free time you mostly hang out at STAR Labs with the new friends you made. Just like on this random, ordinary day.  

“I'm back!”, you call out, carrying everyone's favorite order from Jitters. You abruptly stop, doing whatever it takes to not drop the different types of coffee as you stare at her.

“Caitlin?”

“Hi (Y/N)”. Listening to her beautiful voice, calling your name gently, you’re just gaping at her a little too long while being totally speechless.

“Everything okay (Y/N)?”, Iris questions now that they all gaze at you in confusion, not knowing what the hell you’re doing.

“Yeah… eh s-sorry. So, you’re back”, you stutter a bit, asking Caitlin this fundamental question. The first thing you notice is that she’s wearing a badass leather jacket. It suits her. It suits her perfectly.

“Well… not exactly. I mean, I came here because I need a little help from you guys”, she responds, causing that grin on your face to quickly disappear.

“Ow… okay”, carefully setting the hot drinks down on the desk in front of you. Honestly... you were kind of hoping for a different answer.

Caitlin continues to discuss the pressing matter with Cisco and Barry as Iris marches up to you. Pulling you away to create just enough distance so that the others cannot hear her announce the following: “You could just ask her out, to grab a drink with you. You know, like normal people do…”. She lifts an eyebrow, seeing right through you.

“Yeah... I could”, you respond, gaze now fixed on the bleak floor. “But, um, I actually have to be somewhere else right now. So... I'll ask her later. Maybe.”

“Gotta go!”, you state whilst advancing your pace, swiftly exiting the cortex. You can still catch a glimpse of Iris who's dramatically rolling her eyes and sighs. Honestly, Iris is right. Behaving like this is not gonna get you anywhere with Caitlin. There is no denying in that and you know it.

///

Driving in your car, listening to your favorite music while trying to clear your mind a little because you can't stop thinking about what Iris said.

I mean of course I can ask her on a date… But what if she doesn't like me? Or what if I ruin everything? Or what if she blows me off right away? Or-

Your rambling thoughts are interrupted by the sound of your phone. Probably got a text message. But you'll check it later when you’re not driving anymore.

Parking the car at the usual spot, you walk towards the fire station. It seems quiet. Meaning you can easily go inside, undetected. While walking you grab the phone out of your pocket to read the message you received earlier. Seeing it's from Cisco you quickly open it.

Helping Caitlin atm. Not at STAR labs in case you were wondering

Great… You're truly disappointed that they went without you. But okay- maybe you shouldn’t have left then. Or they weren’t in need of your assistance after all even if you had stayed. It sucks either way.

With a grumpy face you wander inside the station and encounter a colleague of yours. Because obviously the place wasn't entirely abandoned.

“Wait- I thought you had the day off?”, she asks. She looks at you confused, frown appearing on her face.

“Um…”, you pause since you can’t think of an excuse. You could tell the truth, but you do not want to because you're kind of embarrassed. Dashing towards the lockers you respond with something like: “I forgot, eh, some important things, so, um- yeah.” 

Not doing much, just relaxing and hanging out at the station, contemplating life and stuff, you receive a text from Iris and calmly read it. You instantly snap out of the relaxed state due to the words that appeared on the screen. All the muscles in your body activate. You don't hesitate and quickly get up, jumping out of the chair. Sprinting full speed towards your car while swiftly searching for the car keys, heading out in an enormous rush. Practically feeling like you’re just as fast as The Flash is right now.

///

Arriving in some dark, shady alley. Barely any light shining through due to the tall, grim buildings surrounding it. Nice place… is this seriously the correct location? Iris had reached out to you with an emergency text, declaring Team Flash is in deep, deep trouble. But she only gave you that, and of course the address, as information. So you have absolutely no freaking idea what you’ll run into. And with no cell reception you can’t call her back. Well prepared...

Jolting your head towards an echoing, loud noise coming from inside one of the old buildings. That sounded like a nasty fight had come to a devastating end... You’ve spotted the damaged, rusty door and quickly enter. As you walk inside, heartbeat pounding and hands becoming sweaty, you feel daunted and stop. 

“How bad will it be? If The Flash and Vibe can’t even handle it? Am I able to handle it? I guess I have to...

Accelerating your pace while inspecting the depressing environment now flying by you. It’s dimly lit in the small passage you’d entered. A rather disturbing smell hits you. Definitely the moldy scent from the humid walls surrounding you, therefore covering your nose with your right forearm. It has become awfully quiet here. Not catching a glimpse of Barry or Cisco around, you begin to doubt again if this is the correct place.

What kind of help did Caitlin even need?! you ask yourself in frustration. You can’t seem to apprehend what sort of mess she has gotten herself into. Suddenly a figure appears in the light at the end of the hallway where you’re running towards. 

Thank god, it’s Caitlin. But wait- is it? Is it her…? You recognize her black leather jacket you admired earlier today. However... Snow white hair. Silver eyes. No- it’s Killer Frost. Guess this is the reason your urgent presence was required.  Apparently Caitlin still can’t control her powers.

“So. You came back for another round? Heat things up again?“, she sneers at you, also perceiving a minor fraction of anger laced in her voice. Yeah... probably some hard feelings about the confrontation you had with her in the misty woods a while ago.

“Just came here to help”, you calmly answer -or try to- because you sensed the trembling in your voice since you’re maybe a little frightened.

“I don’t need your help. I don’t need any help at all. This is all Caity’s fault”, she continues agitated, averting her gaze from you. Taking advantage of that as you covertly shift towards her. Slowly closing the distance without being too obvious. Because if you want to change her back into Caitlin, you at least have to be near her. 

You stop as she suddenly turns to you, her eyes focused on your form. “You know, Caity actually wanted to ask you”. “Wanted to ask me what?”, you respond ignorant, slightly relaxing your state around what appears to be a cooled-off Killer Frost.   

She spotted you had moved closer and teases: “Oh, and don’t turn me back into Caitlin, hot stuff. Not yet”. A bit dazzled by the flirty nickname she just gave you, almost forgetting your true purpose here. Hold up- did she just send you a brief, desiring wink...?      

Still several meters away from her, you’re able to see her features more clearly. Now face to face with Killer Frost. Staring into her chilly, glimmering eyes as you start to heat up -uh... because of your powers.

Out of nowhere, without any reason at all, she aimed both her arms in your direction in an instant. A shockwave of cold air is thrown your way, generated by her deadly powers. You freeze. Well- not literally. At least… not yet. Will you be able to evade the rapidly progressing cold fog in time? You already brace yourself for the cruel impact of the sharp, ice-cold blast that will most definitely strike you in mere seconds... 

continue with part 3

[kaladinisbae]

82, Kaladin and Adolin.

82. Is that my shirt?

Thank you for the prompt, I really liked it. In fact I liked it so much I ended up writing a longer fic than expected. Twice as long in fact. Hope you like it!

Adolin walked into his room after a long day of strategic meetings, exhausted and really looking forward to some peace and quiet. So when he noticed an unfamiliar uniform hanging over the back of a chair he felt exasperated rather than wary. Was it really too much to ask for some alone time?

He sighed and walked further into the room. The door to his bedroom stood slightly ajar and while he snuck towards it he begun counting down his heartbeats to summon his Shardblade. The moment it appeared in his hand he pushed the door open and jumped in, prepared for a fight. Only to stop short in his tracks. He had prepared himself for assassins, so finding Kaladin posing in front of his mirror was the last thing he expected.

Kaladin yelped and blushed a bright red at being caught in such a situation. Adolin stared in disbelief at him. “Is that my shirt?” he asked and let his Shardblade disappear.

“No…”, Kaladin said, still frozen in the same pose. As if realizing this he quickly put his arms down.

“Yes it is”, Adolin said. He recognised it now. It was one of his more fancy shirts that he never wore because of the codes of war his father made everyone in the Kholinar army follow. It was a shame too since it was a really good looking shirt, a light blue with lace at the collar and sleeves. Besides if it had been Kaladin’s shirt he wouldn’t be trying it on in Adolin’s room. Adolin smiled smugly and leaned against the doorframe. “I thought you didn’t like fashion.”

“I don’t, I only tried it on to see how stupid it really looks”, Kaladin immediately said, but the deep blush on his cheeks betrayed him.

“It’s okay, bridgeboy. You’re not any less manly just because you like fashion”, Adolin said with a laugh.

Kaladin’s face immediately souered and he regretted his words, though he couldn’t tell what about them had caused the change. “I’m not afraid of appearing less manly.”

“Then what’s wrong?” Adolin stepped forward and for every step closer Kaladin took one backwards until his legs hit the end of the bed. He lost his balance, waving his arms around in the air for a second before falling backwards onto the bed.

Oh, Adolin thought, Kaladin wearing my shirt, sprawled on my bed is even hotter than I imagined. He felt a blush creep up his neck.

“It’s just … such a waste. Do you know how much food or medicine I could buy for the price of just this shirt? As a bridgeman that many spheres would have made me able to save several of my men’s lives.” Kaladin sighed and shook his head, still sitting on the bed. He wouldn’t meet Adolin’s eyes. Adolin immediately sobered up.

“It’s okay to enjoy nice things. Especially considering what you’ve been through. It can’t have been easy being a slave and a bridgeman.” Adolin took a deep breath. “I’m sorry for always calling you a bridgeboy, I’ll stop it.”

Kaladin looked up, his intense, dark eyes finally meeting Adolin’s. Adolin had never before realised how beautiful dark eyes could be. “I don’t actually mind the nickname that much. I’m proud of my time as a bridgeman.”

“Alright then, bridgeman”, Adolin said and smiled at the surprised look he received. He took one last step forward and stood at the foot of the bed, almost close enough that his legs brushed Kaladin’s. “You know, that shirt really does look good on you, but I bet it would look even better on my floor.”

Kaladin blushed but at the same time a look of bewilderment settled on his face. He swept a few strands of hair away from his face. His long and vaguely windswept hair. Adolin really wanted to push his fingers through it. “What do you mean by that?”

“I … oh Stormfather”, Adolin sighed and looked towards the ceiling for strength. His heart thundered in his chest but he had to do this. His feelings had been eating at him for far too long. He couldn’t stand it any longer. “I guess I’ll just have to show you.”

Adolin kneeled on the floor in front of Kaladin with barely an inch left between them. He slowly leaned forward, making sure that Kaladin had enough room to pull back if he wanted to. He didn’t. Adolin pressed their lips together in a short and sweet kiss before immediately pulling back. He assessed Kaladin’s face after an reaction and almost gasped at the sight before him.

Kaladin was completely red in the face and his eyes were wide, pupils almost completely swallowing the brown of his iris. He brought a hand up to touch his lips and his breath shook on the way out.

Adolin waited with baited breath for what he would do. Would he get angry and storm out? Would he be disgusted at having another guy kiss him? Maybe he would even be sad, feeling betrayed at his friend having romantic feelings for him. Either way Adolin fully expected to be rejected.

Kaladin gripped his collar and Adolin steeled himself for a punch. So he got caught completely off guard when Kaladin used the grip to pull him closer and smash their lips together. Unlike their first kiss it was far from gentle, with their teeth clashing against each other and noses bumping gracelessly. Adolin didn’t care, it was perfect nonetheless.

Taking a loose grip on Kaladin’s hair - finally - Adolin angled his head to deepen the kiss. He placed his other hand on Kaladin’s chest, over his heart. He could feel it beat rapidly. Kaladin nibbled at his lower lip and when Adolin gasped he slipped his tongue into his mouth. Adolin moaned and enthusiastically reciprocated.

Eventually they pulled back for air, foreheads resting against each other. Adolin smiled at Kaladin and after a moment he got a small one in response. It made his face light up and stole Adolin’s breath away again.

“You should keep the shirt”, Adolin said between breaths. “It looks really good on you.”

Kaladin smirked. “I think I will.”

If you’ve missed the earlier prompts I’ve written you can find them on my ao3.

[vegetalass]

Everything Electric

Inspired by the mess that was the spoilers nsfw discord chat and the conversation abt argent ripping out one of ur eyes… It unlocked the fact that i used to like gore…. SMH

TFW lady argent rips out one of ur eyes and then u go to dr. mortum and say thenks mather for my life

FORGIVE ME if this is shit it wasnt beta read

Villain name: Ophelia

Warning: contains Fallen Hero: Retribution spoilers, and heavy blood and gore!!! RATED R BRO!

FH:R belongs to @fallenhero-rebirth

Lady Argent/gn!Reader/f!Dr. Mortum - 2371 words

i.

Blood.

So much blood is leaking out of your mouth as the pressure on your windpipe keeps increasing.

“Argent…” you gurgle, trying to spit but ending up drooling a messy concoction of blood and spittle all over your villain suit instead.

Her claws are extended, this time longer than you’ve ever seen them, and while one hand presses into your windpipe hard enough to make you dizzy, the other is dangled in front of your nose like a toy in front of a child.

And you are not a child.

“Stop,” you plead, stuttering, even though your throat burns and eyes water in pain. But Lady Argent does not, and looking into her face lets you know that she doesn’t plan to, either. From the empty look in her eyes, you can tell that she’s lost herself in another world — one where the both of you never formed an alliance, and one where you deserve Hell and she’s the chosen one who’s going to give it to you.

Suddenly, though, as you should’ve been expecting this, she screeches something unintelligible and plunges her fingernails deep into your eye socket. Though at first you feel nothing more than an annoying pinching sensation, as the pain begins to register and become too much, you hardly notice as the pressure in your head releases in a pop so intense that the rest of your vision goes dark.

You try to scream, but end up making some kind of choked whine instead, as Argent hasn’t moved a muscle since and continues her heavy assault on your throat.

“What is it, Ophelia?” she grins, her teeth gleaming in the light of the moon, before laughing at her own stupid inside joke. “Is something wrong?”

As her fingers continue to root around inside your head, claws doing irreversible damage to your nerves, you try to use her distracted and giddy state to pull her other hand loose from around your neck. While trying to find enough space between her hands and your throat to breathe, Argent’s body shakes again in her mad state, and you are able to tear yourself away from her grasp in the hopes of collapsing on the floor and somehow getting away.

But it’s too late, as she is not so kind as to spare you, and continues holding onto the warm flesh hidden inside your eye socket. What a pitiful state you must be in, howling and moaning, as she succeeds in coming away victorious, and you are left seeing and tasting red from sudden lack of an eyeball.

Breathe, dry heave, rinse, and repeat. You don’t even register the pain when you press your dirty palms against what’s now a hole in your head and try not to hyperventilate.

You look up at her, missing eye covered, good eye blurry, and see her victory pose, smiling above you and holding the bloodied piece of you-meat like a trophy. Though instantly at your recognition, she throws the slimy meatball over her shoulder and uses her fist to slug you in the jaw.

“You didn’t even need that,” she says while laughing, before gazing into what’s left of your eyes and deciding to walk away.

Blood is still leaking from your mouth… and Argent doesn’t look back as she leaves you to sob on the concrete.

ii.

You look nothing like the weeping animal she left in the alley. And you look nothing like the weeping human she was expecting to see at your next meeting, either. Your face is not sunken in, bruised, or malformed. You’re not in an eyepatch or mask, and your face seems to look almost brand new.

A new face, almost… a new eye.

The realization hits her like a train, and she snarls, upset at the smug smile you pointedly send her way when you realize that she has it all figured out.

A replacement. The beautiful, black aperture Dr. Mortum installed in place of an eye.

And Lady Argent can see every wire, every miniscrew, and every bit of fiberglass that was used to create a weapon more fluid and powerful than any of the tech she’s seen installed in any of the Rangers.

And it makes her mad, fingers flexing and claws cutting into her palms as she makes plans to take a swipe at your face at the next chance she gets just to peel back your skin.

You smile at her, the angry thoughts like water off a duck’s back.

“So, you noticed,” you say, full of pride and a sense of smug satisfaction, “how do I look?”

Argent snarls, though she does pause to admire the lovely handiwork that was done to your face as you wait for a reply.

While your skin might look the same on the surface to any normal passerby, there’s no hiding the internal metal plating that’s been fused to your skull permanently, or the black sclera that whirs softly unlike normal white flesh. One has to wonder what kind of twisted procedure you put yourself through just to get better, because it was only an eye that she managed to take and now you’re practically a cyborg.

But saying you were completely healed would be unfair, as you haven’t fully gotten used to the implant yet. The way that things blur in high definition and in a spectrum brighter than anything you could ever image.

Chrome. Thermal. Electromagnetic. Something you can’t even name.

Like Lady Argent’s eyesight, from what you remember of possessing her, though you can’t see any wires or pipes through walls or anything. But this isn’t so bad, you think, not that you’d ever want lose an eye again. You’re just thankful her claws didn’t manage to clip into your brain.

Before the operation, the Good Doctor did require you to keep your remaining organic eye, and all the leftover tissue that was still in the damaged socket, but as expected, her technology was flawless. You find it’s often quite easy to forget you even have anything fake implanted in your head at all as the gradient technology she installed first was the easiest thing to get used to.

High tech and lightweight Medi-Polymer in place of a real cornea and iris, fitted with a sleepless microcomputer and accurate analytics, all grafted to your optic nerve in a painful surgery that had you out of commision for weeks.

Despite the lasting, striped scars that Dr. Mortum couldn’t be bothered to fix, she did let you choose the flashing colors it displays to the world, even if so far you have left the bandages on in public. It does help hide your face, though, and that’s always a bonus.

So, you’d say it was worth it, despite being forced to tell Ortega when he wouldn’t stop fretting at the sight of your head wrapped in tape and gauze that it was some unexplainable and permanent head trauma. You left the part where Lady Argent mauled you out, as it’s a secret that’s to be left between the two of you (and Dr. Mortum, of course).

It was the one thing you could be sure of, Lady Argent wanting to spare herself from the news by not getting reported by another Ranger.

Though still lost in thought, it’s easy to detect the waves on rage that now pour from Lady Argent’s mind into yours at your silence, as suddenly, she breaks your reminiscing by lunging at you. Her fingers quickly extended into sharp-pointed knives as she reaches for your face, but instead of simply waiting to be scratched, you catch her wrist in your hand easily, and twist her body away from yours to slam it against the waiting brick wall behind the two of you.

It’s like you didn’t even need to see her move.

“What?” you ask, feigning confusion at her shocked face, as she is now on her knees below you with some kind of crooked neck.

You don’t start to choke her. You don’t even mention her eyes. And even if she hates you, you can still read the recognition in her mind of the fact that you didn’t kick her down just to get revenge.

Because for once, she feels helpless and knows that you know it.

“Call me sometime, okay?” you taunt, laughing in her face the way she did at the eyeless and crying you, before leaning down to wipe her bleeding nose with your cape. She knows the gesture is not meant to be kind, and as her mind replays the swift way you were able to knock her off her feet, she is suddenly aware of how much powerful you really have gotten.

All because of an eye. The one that she took.

You straighten up, still looking down at her with your teeth bared in a smile. One eye cruel, and the other a mean, unblinking blue and orange. Both intense and focused.

iii.

You moan in pain as she peels back the bandages, blood vessels in your closed eye socket pounding against the heat of what you can only assume to be your brain overheated with the nasty fever you’ve been sporting since the incident itself. You grit your teeth as the dirty cloth is removed, now damp and warm from sweat, and the fact that you haven’t changed it in a few days. “Now, what did you do this time, Ophelia?” Dr. Mortum’s voice is neutral, though you know from your game of charades that she only starts to wonder aloud when she’s getting really curious and the probability of you actually responding is close to zero.

“Lady Argent,” you mutter, trying to be amused by Mortum’s long ‘ah’ at the confession. You’re not doing a great job at resisting the urge you have to reach up and press your knuckles into your head and relieve some of the pressure.

“I’m flattered that you chose to trust me, though it’s not recommended for any clients of mine,” Mortum continues, having wandered off after taking one good look at your ruined eye socket and deciding to search for one of her many stored medical kits, “but your assistant, I presume, is so sweet.”

You know who she’s referring to, but you’re just glad that everything worked out.

It took all of your remaining energy just to enter your puppet’s head one last time to give her a call. Begging her to come pick up your aching body and drive you away in the back of her car to replace the half of your face that Lady Argent destroyed, as this was something you couldn’t do yourself.

It took a couple days for her to find you, but she did, and it was a relief to see her, even if you were neither in your puppet or pretending. It’s funny how things work out.

All those self-stitched scars. For nothing.

“I assume we’re going with a full replacement?” she voices, having returned and seated herself at your side to begin the cleaning, soaking and opening process.

You cannot help the eager nod that escapes you, even though the saline solution Dr. Mortum starts applying to your face has you leaking red tears instantly.

“It will take a few weeks, and then more to recover…” she hesitates, exhaling, and you can tell she’s scanning you for any signs of danger, “but you can stay here.”

You know what she’s thinking, that even in your weak state you could be a danger to her practice. But from the way you look in the image of you in her head, you can tell there’s not much danger to even be had. You look so frail, sick, and destroyed. Not the mention, from the way she glances up and down your form, it’s almost as if you weren’t someone she was expecting to be the Ophelia.

But you are never what people expect.

And with that, she decides that due to your sickly state, you are not a liability. You are not about to jump up and destroy her or her lab. If you tried, you know it would be quite easy to stun you into submission and take out your remaining eye as punishment, too. She doesn’t have to think it to know it.

Because she pulled a gun on you once before.

But her thoughts have changed directions, almost easily, naturally, and you can tell now that what she’s thinking is kind. Suddenly, her thoughts of you are as an ally. No, a friend, and for all intents and purposes, you are dying of a high fever she know that in the hands of anyone else, could leave you as a pitiful, sightless corpse.

But Dr. Mortum isn’t cruel. She never has been, and you are glad when she responds to you in kind at the thought of the mutual understanding and benefits you could share if she does decide to help you. You do your best to push the thought her way instead of speaking.

She smiles finally, then, at least you hope that’s what she’s doing, and runs her cool knuckles across your bloody and sweat-stained forehead in a form of soothing reassurance that makes you feel like a child.

And you are not a child.

Though, you are glad that you’ve always been quite generous to her, and that it’s easy to look human in your sticky, skin tight pajamas.

Not there’s much you could really say if (or rather, when) she were to find out the truth, because existing can’t get much worse than this.

And if you were that someone else, anyone else, you’d love to respond to her contact. Her sweetness. Her power.

But you’re not, and it’s always been your puppet who she’s preferred, anyways.

But right now, you let yourself be sick. You let her touch you and welcome you into her waiting arms. Because she might not welcome you again.

“You’re lucky I’m a doctor, Mon Cherie,” she whispers finally, voice kind, body warm. And as you sink yourself into her and try to smile with closed eyes, you hope that it doesn’t look like an ugly, toothy grimace.

Because you know you are really, very lucky.

[jade4813]

A Lie, Told Often Enough, Chapter 5

Author Notes: Inspired by @fallinginloveinaflash‘s AU prompt. All credit for the idea goes entirely to her.

Title: A Lie, Told Often Enough

Rating: NC-17

Synopsis: Iris just landed her dream job at a PR firm and her first assignment is reforming the bad boy image of celebrity artist Barry Allen. He’s overly cocky and well-known for being a playboy, but Iris has never met a challenge she couldn’t handle.

Chapters: 5/?

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

“I can’t believe we’re doing this,” Iris said on a breathless laugh as Barry twirled her around. They were surrounded by other couples on the dance floor, but he only had eyes for her as he pulled her in close. “This wasn’t the plan at all.”

“But do you mind?” he asked, stroking his fingertips along the curve of her spine. His smile was wide – and just a little bit wicked.

She shook her head. “No,” she whispered. “I don’t mind.”

Bowing his head, he brushed a soft kiss along the curve of her neck, the warm caress of his breath making her shiver. She felt his tongue caress the curve of her ear, and she had to stifle a moan as she pressed her body against his. Hooking one leg over his hip, she felt his hand slide along its curve before he lifted her hard against him. She could feel his erection through their clothes, and she rocked against him, smiling when she heard him catch his breath.

“I’ve wanted to do this since the day we met,” he breathed, trailing a line of kisses along her jaw. His free hand cupped her cheek, his thumb tracing a small pattern against her skin. Then he sucked her lower lip between his teeth, swallowing her gasp with his kiss.

“Don’t stop,” she moaned, tracing the line of his lower lip with her tongue. “God, Barry...”

Iris was awoken from her dream by the sound of her phone ringing. She groaned as the memory of Barry’s hands against her skin slipped away. Then blinked the sleep out of her eyes, looked at her phone screen, and groaned again. She’d know who it would be even before she saw the name, but that didn’t keep her from wincing. With a sigh, she pushed the last threads of her dream aside – and chose not to think too hard about the direction it had been taking. Or its subject. Hitting the button to answer, she injected false cheer into her voice. “Mason! I can explain!”

“I certainly hope so,” he replied, not trying to hide his irritation. “Because I expected to find pictures of Barry Allen and Patty Spivot all over the web this morning. So imagine my surprise when I tired on the computer to find photos of you instead.”

Fighting a grimace, Iris explained everything that had happened the night before, ending with, “He went with the first name that came to mind. Mine. If I backed out after that, it would have done more harm to his image than going along with it.”

“Which is why, if you want to work in this business very long, you should know to always have a backup plan,” he chided her. “You should never have let yourself be put in that position.”

She sighed. “I understand. But I –”

“I’m not sure you do understand, Iris. I have a company to run and an image to protect. I’m in the business of managing other people’s images. Not setting up a dating service to the stars.”

“That’s unfair!” she protested.

“Yes. It is. But I have to live in reality, same as you. What happens when it becomes known that you work for my agency? There’s a reason we always stay in the background – why we drive the story but we never become the story. What happens when you take on your next client? What are they going to think about the headlines you’re making today?”

“I’m sure we can explain,” she offered weakly.

Mason sighed. “Iris, perception is everything. You should know that; we’re in the business of perception. Which reminds me. You’re going to have a lot of attention on you for a while. I think you should stay away from the office for a while.”

His tone caused a knot to form in her stomach. “Does this mean you’re firing me?”

Silence a little too long echoed down the phone line. Finally, he responded, “In this business, a mistake isn’t a mistake if it turns out to be a hit.”

Sucking her lower lip between her teeth, Iris nodded, even though she knew he couldn’t see her. “I-I understand,” she murmured softly. She’d received his message loud and clear. If posing as Barry’s girlfriend successfully rehabilitated Barry’s image, she’d keep her job. If it failed, on the other hand…

“Good. I’ll see you when this business with Barry Allen ends. One way or another.”

With a groan, Iris hung up the phone threw back the covers. There was no way she’d get back to sleep now.

Iris sucked in a deep breath and had to brace herself before she turned on the computer that morning. It was time to check what people were saying about her work – a task she wouldn’t have minded yesterday but was less eager to do today. She wasn’t entirely sure she wanted to know what people were saying about Barry’s new relationship.

But it was part of her job, so she booted up the computer and started her search. The coverage was more or less what she’d expected. The photos were splashed across site after site, complete with the speculation she’d anticipated. Everyone wanted to know who Barry Allen’s new girlfriend was, but not everyone was convinced the relationship would last. Iris had anticipated that, as well.

Sucking in a deep breath, she turned to social media to check the buzz the stories were creating. She read the first few comments with relief.

“Who is she? She’s gorgeous!”

“She’s the girl he met in the coffee shop? Why couldn’t it have been me??? I drink coffee!!!! I want to be her sooooo bad. #Lucky #Jealous”

“Look at the way he’s looking at her. #Goals”

“She’s beautiful, but I’m not sure about the dress. I’d kill for those legs, though.”

“IS HE LICKING CHOCOLATE OFF HER RIGHT THERE? OH MY GOD, THAT IS SO HOT! HOW IS SHE NOT DEAD RIGHT NOW???”

But it didn’t take long to discover that not everyone was enthusiastic about the news.

“He’s dating HER? He could date anyone he wants, and he chooses a nobody? I’m not buying it.”

“I don’t think they’re dating. They just don’t look right together. I don’t know why. They just look like friends to me.”

“She looks like of like a bitch. She’s probably just after his money.”

“Fake. Why would he date her? She’s probably some new singer the studio’s trying to push. I’m betting we see a record drop by this “up and comer” in the next three months. Tops.”

“You wouldn’t say that if you’d ever heard me sing,” Iris muttered, closing the window. She paused just long enough to refill her coffee, then she grabbed her notebook on her way back to her desk. Since circumstances had changed, she was going to have to rethink her plan. On the plus side, that meant she didn’t need to worry about reworking Patty’s image anymore. She could focus solely on her assignment with Barry.

But if her job was on the line, she also wasn’t sure how much she wanted to – or could – draw things out. It was going to be a balancing act that required perfect timing. This pseudo relationship had to last long enough to sell Barry’s transformation, but it had to end before her credibility with potential future clients was shot.

With that in mind, it seemed like a good idea to dig deeper into his previous relationships – or his suspected relationships, at least. If she saw what had driven the speculation in the past, maybe she could use it to her advantage now.

A few hours later, Iris straightened in her chair, stretching the kinks out of her neck before she stood to answer the knock at the door. It almost wasn’t a surprise to find Barry on the other side. “Hey. You shouldn’t look surprised to see me,” he greeted her with a grin. “You asked me to come by today, after all.”

“Yeah, but I’m still not used to you listening to me,” she mumbled, following him into her living room. “And the fact you are immediately makes me suspicious, of course.”

Barry seemed unfazed by her skepticism. “You told me I should be attentive to my fake girlfriend. This is me, being attentive. Want to go for a walk?” She arched her eyebrows in question, prompting him to explain, “I hear it’s something couples do. And we are a couple, right? Well, kind of a couple, at least.”

Iris looked away, pondering her options. As much as she would have liked to find a way to do her job without furthering this PR relationship, she’d realized last night it simply wasn’t going to happen. Barry’s suggestion was smart. They’d gotten their names out there; plenty of sites had already started to publish speculation about them. It was good strategy to follow up the buzz by getting out and about today, being seen doing things that typical couples would do. “Fair enough,” she agreed. “Let me grab my shoes.”

As they headed outside, Barry grabbed her hand and said, “I also thought we should talk schedules in the next couple of days. I’m going to be doing some recording this week, but we’ll need to plan our second fake date.”

“Of course,” she agreed, watching him out of the corner of her eye.

“Still suspicious of my motives?” he asked with a grin.

She nodded, but she didn’t bother to hide her smile as she joked, “Of course. Getting you to wear Patty’s scarf was like pulling teeth, but now you’re playing the attentive boyfriend. I can’t help but wonder if you’re up to something.”

Barry sighed. His expression grave, he admitted, “I feel bad. About last night. This wasn’t your plan, and this charade is going to put you in the public eye. That kind of media scrutiny and speculation…I know what that’s like. I know how hard it can be. I wasn’t thinking when I said your name, and I never meant to do this to you.”

Iris grimaced. If only he knew that she had bigger problems than media speculation. Her entire career was on the line. But he couldn’t have known that. “It’s all right,” she reassured him. “It could be worse.”

“Yeah? How.”

She laughed. “I could be dating someone. For real, I mean. Talk about awkward.”

He was silent for a moment, and it gave her a chance to enjoy the weight of his hand in hers. Finally, though, he said, “Oh. Well. Um. Are you?”

Seeing the attention they were drawing by bystanders on the street, she scooted closer to Barry and threw him what she hoped would be interpreted as a loving look. They had meandered to a park in her neighborhood, and she led him to a small duck pond in the center. As they paused by the water, she answered, “No. I’m not dating anyone.”

“So it won’t be a problem if I kiss you?” She gasped at his question and turned to face him. He shrugged. “I just thought…we have an audience. We’re supposed to be dating. I know you’re wanting to get people talking about us. But if you’re not ready, or if it makes you uncomfortable… I mean, I guess we’ll need to kiss eventually if we want people to believe we’re dating. But it doesn’t have to be today if you –”

Iris felt her cheeks go hot as she remembered the kiss they’d shared in her dream. His hands upon her skin, the memory haunting her even after she’d awoken. Not that she’d ever tell him about it, of course, but now she was about to kiss him for real. Was she ready for that?

“It’s okay,” she whispered, drawing him closer to her. “I’m ready.” And with her hands fisted in his shirt, she pulled him in for their first kiss.

[megwritesfanfiction]

Let Go, Chapter 2/?? (Raven/??)

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans. This is a work of fiction that I am not making a profit off of. 

A/N: ... I just remembered that I planned to update this today. I was originally gonna tomorrow, but tomorrow is a looong day. So let’s go!! 

Did you miss the first chapter? Here ya go! Chapter One

Flashback

“Here.”

Raven flinched her hand catching the object before she had time to register what Beast Boy had thrown at her. Unclenching one hand, the other examined the object the changeling tossed her. She picked up the black string, noticing the penny dangling from the center. She looked at the changeling.

Beast Boy’s grin widened as he looked from the necklace to the empath.

“A penny…?” Raven spoke slowly as she looked at the coin. It was shiny. “A shiny penny…?” She continued, hoping if she described the present before her it would make more sense.

“Not just any penny, Rae!” He chirped happily as he took the necklace from her. Stepping behind her, he gently brushed her hair to one side of her neck. Carefully, Beast Boy threaded the necklace around her neck making sure to fix the penny in front and center.

Raven blinked curiously as she felt the cool copper hit her skin. “It’s a penny on a string.” She stated obliviously.

“This…” Beast Boy started, his fingers busily working to tie the necklace in place. “Is the penny I gave you when the world ended. This penny survived the end of the world.”

“We survived the end of the world.” Raven pointed out with a smirk, her fingers going to the necklace rubbing it between their thumb and index finger thoughtfully.

“I know!” He cheered happily ignoring her sarcasm. “We found this penny, picked it up, and all day long we had great luck!” He stepped in front of her, standing proudly with his knuckles curled at his waist in a superhero pose.

Raven chuckled, turning to face him. “If I recall correctly, you were the one who found the penny and picked it up.” Since when was he taller than her?

“Yes, but then I gave it to you, so I transferred the good juju to you!”

She eyed him strangely. “Juju?”

“Juju.” He confirmed with a knowledgeable grin. “So, I think this penny is good luck. I mean, if surviving the end of the world and defeating a super demon isn’t super lucky, then I can’t tell you what is.”

Raven, surely, couldn’t argue with that logic. “Sometimes, I think you forget how much luck we have on our side, Rae.”

“Luck?” She wondered with a confused little frown.

Beast Boy nodded sagely. “Somehow we all managed to be in the right place at the right time.”

“Coincidence?” She shrugged.

“Nope, my dear.” He leaned down to gently tapped her nose. “Luck.”

Her eyes narrowed as she gave him her patented look of skepticism.

“Look, I want you think about the odds of us all being brought together.” Beast Boy started. “Now, I’m no mathematician...”

Raven resisted the urge to make a sarcastic jab at him, biting her lip for control. It was too easy after all.

“But, I think those odds are small, like really small…” He explained, gesturing wildly. “So small, in fact I think the only way to explain it is luck, because quite frankly, we were the perfect team of heroes to help take Trigon down.”

Her brows relaxed as she thought about his theory. She hated to admit it, but he kinda had a point. “I see your point.”

“So, I think that penny is the perfect symbol for everything.” Beast Boy decided firmly. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder, pulling her against him as he walked her toward the common room. “Sometimes things seem so insignificant and small, but we don't realize it they make the biggest difference in the end.”

She smiled, breathing in his delicate earthy scent. “If you say so, Beast Boy.” She decided.

Flash Forward

Honestly, she’d forgotten she’d had it.

Once Changeling had slipped the necklace around her neck, Raven had never taken it off. At first, she convinced herself that she hadn’t felt like fussing with the little knot drawn taut in the string and that is was more practical to just keep it around her neck. So, she tucked it underneath her uniform, hid it under her civilian clothes, and showered with it around her neck.

When she noticed the copper discoloring, she coated the penny in clear nail polish to seal it and tucked it back underneath her uniform.

So, after a delicious dinner of chicken and waffles a la Cyborg, her satisfied stomach soured when she came face to face with the memento. She’d said her casual goodbyes to the others around the dinner table, making it seem as if she were just going to bed for the night.

Everyone else was staying up to watch movie.

Raven politely declined, casting meaningful glares at Nightwing, Cyborg, and Starfire as she gave them a little wave. They knew they weren’t going to see her tomorrow.

She managed to retreat to her room. Her plan was to change into a casual road trip. Iris suggested that she go through the process of moving to make it more meaningful to her. That meant packing and traveling like the average human being, no teleportation or magic to make things instant.

She stepped into her bathroom, yanking her arms from her leotard as she pulled it down around her waist.

There was the penny.

His penny.

The solid black string was frayed and faded, and the penny hadn’t fared much better. The nail polish managed to slow the weathering, but it hadn’t stopped it. The little coin, though dull, dingy, and discolored was still secure around her neck.

Her thumb and index finger pinched around the copper examining it, before her hands wrapped around the string around it. With growl, she pulled the necklace from her neck and throwing it to the trash can in the corner.

Refocused she peeled out of the leotard, switching to a worn pair of indigo skinny jeans, ombré grey shirt, black jacket, books.

She gave her room a final look over as she slung her backpack over her shoulder. Raven stopped in front of her doors, her eyes glued forward as if she were Orpheus exiting the underworld. Her fingers hovered over the keypad as the thought of leaving left her panic stricken.

“Damn it” She whispered defeated, dropping her bag and turning back to her bathroom. Her feet stomped angrily as she marched over to her trash can, digging out the necklace she’d tossed.

Raven shoved the trinket in her pocket and walked back to the door. The airy bell chime of her cellphone disrupted her pace. She dug into her pocket pulling out her phone.

Roy.

About an hour away. See you soon.

Picking up her backpack, she exited her room for the last time.

Changeling frowned as he leaned away from the back of the couch, looking around the room. “Where’s Raven? She loves these kind of movies.” It seemed wrong to watch a movie Raven enjoyed without Raven. She’d graciously suffered through quite a few slasher films and action blockbusters.

“She said she was going to bed after dinner.” Terra answered, adjusting herself against him as placed her feet on the couch.

“She did?” The changeling frowned that was at like eight o’clock.

“Yea, ya goof.” Terra told him affectionately, stroking underneath his chin. “You were too busy picking over the last couple waffles to listen.”

Changeling’s lips twisted thoughtfully. “Maybe one of us should go get her?”

Cyborg pretended not to hear him as he kept his eyes on the musical number.

Starfire nervously chewed her lip. “Perhaps…” How could she put this delicately?

“We shouldn’t wake her.” Nightwing spoke, casually popping a piece of popcorn in his mouth.

Starfire turned to her boyfriend, eyes wide in somewhat disbelief as she struggled with what she should say.

Cyborg continued to pretend this conversation wasn’t happening. He picked up the remote and turned the volume up a few notches.

“We’ll see her in the morning.” Nightwing nodded, turning his attention back to the movie.

Starfire grabbed a handful of popcorn carefully eyeing the masked teen. Her look of disapproval was clear.

Changeling didn’t push it. “Okay.” He shrugged. Nightwing and Starfire were acting strange enough, he didn’t want to add a pissed off half demon.

He’d talk to her in the morning.

“What if they weren’t together?”

Her decision to meditate didn’t seem like a mistake until Raven realized her mind wanted to focus on the conversation she had with Nightwing that morning.

Raven huffed, roughly pulling her long hair into a lose bun. Rolling her shoulders back, her hands rested lightly on her knees as she released a slow exhale. She focused on her breathing as her body began to feel weightless.

She’d honestly tried not to think about the possibility of Changeling and Terra breaking up. That simple thought brought up a chain reaction of questions and possibilities that Raven couldn’t make sense of.

It was easy to think that the end of that relationship would open up the possibility for her to have a chance, but time had given them too many variables.

Nightwing thought one of those variables was Arsenal.

For a moment, Raven felt her gravity shift.

Roy Harper.

She’d met him as Speedy years ago.

To her, he looked like a red headed, arrow slinging Robin.

He was acrobatic, cocky, arrogant, and completely oblivious. Roy was always the loudest one in the room, first one to the party, and last one to leave with a girl in one arm and a drink in the other.

Until last year.

Every Titan located in North America had come to visit sometime last summer for a week long team development session. At the end of the week, Nightwing had allowed them to throw a barbecue.

Raven recalled leaning against the wall, a cup of rum punch curled in her hand. Watching the sea of Titans drunk and gyrating to some electronic beat, there were benefits to her introverted buzz.

She remembered the sting of liquor on her tongue every time she glanced at Changeling and Terra entwined on the dance floor. Raven figured alcohol was the best remedy for the green eyed monster. She brought the cup to her lips taking a large gulp of punch.

“Hey Rae.”

His voice surprised her, forcing her to swallow sharply. “Arsenal?”

The redhead chuckled. “Roy.” He corrected, looking down at his casual t-shirt and jeans. His back relaxed against the wall next to her as he head bopped to the music. “Why aren’t you out there?”

Her laugh was audible over the music. “Why aren’t you?” Raven questioned seriously. Her attention drifted to can of soda in his hand. “And why aren’t you drinking?” She didn’t know he was capable of being at a party without a beer in one hand, shot of tequila in the other, while gyrating on some girl.

Jasper eyes flickered self consciously for a moment as he shrugged with what looked to be a forcibly jolly laugh. “I’m cutting back.” Roy told her. “Wanna get out of here? Get a grilled cheese sandwich? I know a place.”

Raven looked to Changeling and Terra and turning back to him. “Grilled cheese sounds good.” She told him, setting her cup on the counter.

They went to one of the all night diners downtown and ate grilled cheese sandwiches with few words exchanged. Her face twisted with horror when he squirted ribbons of ketchup all over his french fries.

He laughed, messily licking the ketchup from his fingers as he ate and made a scowl of disapproval when she couldn’t finish her cheesecake. Being a gentleman, Roy finished her slice.

They texted casually and exchanged little comments on social media after their late night grilled cheese.

Raven had mentioned her move to him after he sent her a picture of a pizza topped with spaghetti noodles and sauce. Roy seemed to be dead set on proving that the east coast had better food than the west.

She just wanted to know who thought it would be a good idea to put pasta on a large slice of pizza. Raven confessed to him that she’d put it on her list of things to try when she got there.

Roy couldn’t contain his excitement. He promised to take her on a taste tour of Steel City after he learned she was defecting to the east coast.

He was the only person who hadn’t asked her why she was moving, and Raven loved that.

“Rae?”

Raven’s eyes widened suddenly as she felt the weight of gravity kick in. Before she could catch herself, she dropped from the air and to the ground with a thud.

“That’s gonna bruise.”

Raven wasn’t sure which was more bruised, her ego or her hip. She groaned, slowly opening her eyes. “Arsenal…?”

He released a heavy sigh, arms stretched out in front of him. “You’re going to have to stop calling me that when I’m not in the tights. It’s Roy.” He chuckled gently, pulling Raven to her feet. “You alright?”

“Yea.” She confirmed. Her finger tips reached for the ceiling as she stretched the dull ache in her back. “Why didn’t you call me?”

His brow wrinkled. “I did. I called you before I got in the tunnel.” Roy told her. “Also, that car isn’t exactly quiet.”

“Fair enough.” She decided, pulling her backpack on her shoulder and walked to the trunk. “Let’s go.”

Roy watched her curiously as he hit the fob button for the trunk. “Aren’t you gonna say goodbye? I figured we could leave in he morning if you wanted another night here?” Why was she in such a hurry?

“Already did. I was thinking we could start tonight, less traffic.” Raven confirmed, tossing her bag into the back and closing it with a slam. “I snagged you some chicken and waffles if you wanna snack. I can take the first couple hundred miles and we can switch off in Nevada or something.”

Roy could only stand, jaw slack and head slanted with confusion as she took the keys from his hand. “Umm…” He couldn’t decide what question to ask her first.

“Come on.” She urged, hopping in the driver’s seat and turning the car on.

“Shouldn’t you tell them you’re leaving?”

She adjusted the mirrors so she wouldn’t have to look at him. “They know.”

He frowned.

Raven sighed, hands gripping the stirring wheel. “Can we please go?” She didn’t want to think about how pathetic she sounded or looked. Her goal was to get out of here before she had to face Changeling.

“Okay.” He decided, moving to the passenger side of the car. “Chicken and waffles?”

“Yes.”

“Together? Like on the same plate with syrup?”

“It’s good.”

Roy stuck his tongue out in disgust.

“It’s delicious.” She laughed as she exited the garage. Her eyes lingered on the closing garage door as it closed. “Trust me.” Raven told him as she sped out of the tunnel.

“Okay.” Roy nodded, drumming his fingers against his knee as they drove. “We’re stopping for grilled cheese though.”

Raven nodded, watching as her view of the tower got smaller and smaller behind her. “Alright.”

To be Continued...

[theeoswriter-blog]

Once Upon a Time in Eos Pt.9

Final Fantasy XV Fanfiction

Characters: You (reader) Noctis, Ignis, Gladius, Prompto  Rating: Fluff and Smut (M for MMMMM) Links to previous chapters 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

The next morning came around quickly, you woke up to find yourself alone, which was bliss, remembering that you had your own room for the first time in a long time. You slowly got ready to explore, hoping that Ignis was still on for today, the two of you never really got any time to spend together alone, you were interested and curious to see how this would go down. You strolled down the stairs, to see Iris waiting nervously, you strolled over to her, wondering what she was up to this time “

Good morning Iris” You chimed in, looking at her smiling

“oh! Good morning [Y/N] how are you doing?”

“Fine, having my own room was bliss… how are you doing?” “I’m happy you are here, all of you.”

“Where are the others?”

“Well… Ignis set off really early, Prompto is wandering around somewhere, he went alone. Gladius went with Ignis and Noct…. I don’t know. I was hoping he would appear soon. I wanted to show him around Lestallum”

“that would be nice, he needs a break from everything that’s happening”

“You think so?” she sounded hopeful “I just, thought it would be nice to spend time with him” She smiled, scratching the back of her head. “What about you [Y/N] has anything changed with you?”

“me?” you pointed to yourself looking rather confused “Me and what?”

“You know…. one of the boys…”

“OH!” You went bright red “nothing… I’ve known them too long” You smiled laughing awkwardly. “Well… I best go find one of them” You laughed, waving “have fun with noctis!”

“have fun!” She sung, waving smiling. You started to stroll around the town, it was a new experience for you, you felt relaxed as you finally could stroll around town without being stopped and stared at, or known to be Cor’s daughter in the city of Insomnia. You felt finally… at home.

This town was full of powerful women, women you felt you could relate to completely as they worked in the power plant, they did everything here, taking complete charge. You admired them, you felt powerful here. Although in the back of your mind, you thought about Prompto last night. His reaction was strange, normally Prompto was extremely cheeky when it came to romance and seeing other people kissing, all through high school he would joke around when he saw any of that sort of stuff, and when it came to you, he had always been a little cheeky, however very protective if any guy had hit on you… in fact thinking about it now, you had never had any romantic attachment, because Prompto had advised against it…. Strange. You spotted Ignis and Gladius strolling down the market street, they hadn’t spotted you as the two of them were being toured around by Talcott. You wondered where Prompto was, he was nowhere to be seen. You watched the two grown men, being ever so gentle with Talcott, you had never seen them interact with children, so for you it was a refreshing scene to watch. You stepped out, so they could see you, Talcott waved you down as you approached the three of them.

“Good morning” Ignis chimed in “We are being shown around by Talcott this morning, if you care to join”

“Sure” you smiled, joining the three, as Talcott excitedly showed us around the town… Ignis watching you with Talcott everytime he could be facing you, a slight smile on his face.  

The day went flying past, before you knew it, it was the evening, the sun was setting over Lestallum and you felt relaxed more than ever. You found yourself walking alone towards the Outlook, to watch the sunset, even though you were alone you didn’t mind, sometimes you felt you spent too much time with the boys, and just needed some time alone. A lot of couples were there sitting on the benches, watching the sun go down, but you were alone, you felt awkward but at the same time, you were at peace with yourself. You leaned against the stone walls, your arms resting against its hard surface, letting out a long sigh.

“hey, I didn’t know you were coming down here” you heard the familiar voice of Prompto. You turned and smiled “You should have told me!”

“Sorry…” sighing, you turned back to watch the sunset “I didn’t think anyone was around” You smiled, watching the birds fly through the sky “Isn’t it beautiful?”

“Yeah…” Prompto said looking at you “Beautiful” You hadn’t even noticed, as you watched the sunset, Prompto clicked his camera, taking dozens of photos “hey selfie!” he cried out, raising his camera high, the two of you smiled, posing for the shot before Prompto took a shot

“it’s been a while” you said, waiting to see the photo “since we took a photo together”

“ah, it has! He smiled, looking at the photo of the two of you “this is perfect! Look at the lighting!”

“Send it to me sometime?” you smiled “I want to keep it”

“Of course” he chimed, turning to face the sunset, as the light started to fade. “It has been too long, don’t we look different now” he sighed staring at the photo “We look old!” “Hey hey! We do not!” you playfully knocked into him, making him smile.

Prompto leaned against the wall, his hands propping him up.

“Hey…[Y/N] can we talk?”

“what’s the matter Prompto?” raising an eyebrow you looked at Prompto, whose face had turned slightly red, his body tense. He looked awkward, more awkward than usual

“I… about last night”

“yeah?”

“are…. Are you and Ignis...?”

“are we what?”

“together…” his voice cracked, looking down at his feet “I mean, it’s okay if you are it’s just… I just…”

“Ignis? He” You thought about it for a moment. Could you say you were together? Nothing was official and it certainly wasn’t the time to declare something more serious was happening between the two of you. Then you thought closer, this was Prompto, your childhood friend, your best friend.

“A few weeks ago, when Insomnia fell, Ignis asked me to wait for him… he declared his feelings for me”

“Iggy? And what did you say”

“At the time… nothing, last night, I felt like I could agree to…wait”

“ah…” Prompto went quiet, staring still at the floor, his feet shuffling slightly under the awkward conversation and situation we were in.  “Well… I hope it works… you deserve it”

“what has brought this on Prompto?” You asked, raising an eyebrow

“Because I saw you two…. Together” his voice was lower than usual, his face was weak, his eyes watering a little “You… both”

“Prompto….”

“Why him?” Prompto asked, before he turned to you “Why Ignis?” You looked at Prompto, your stomach felt like it was in your throat, your heart pounding. What was Prompto trying to say… “Why….” he closed his eyes “what made him so special to you?” As he opened his eyes again, they were watering.

“Prompto…” You tried to reach out for him, but his hand brushed you away

“Please…” he stood up tall “don’t…” He walked away, his shoulders low. You watched him for a moment, as the skies turned darker, you let out a sigh, a tear trickling down your cheek

“What have I done…” You whispered to yourself.

You went back to your hotel room shortly after, taking your time, not really wanting to go back to see any of them. You reached the corridor, hearing the others laughing, minus you and Prompto, didn’t make you feel any happier, in fact you felt worse. Prompto was the funny guy, the one who always kept us so upbeat, however you were the reason why Prompto didn’t even want to socalise with anyone, you just imagined him, sitting alone in his room.

You reached your door and quickly went inside, slumping down on your bed.

“I just…” you sighed to yourself “I want everything to be how it was” you sulked, tears starting trickling down your cheeks, faster and faster as it became uncontrollable. Your body felt weak as you laid, head against the pillow, curled in a ball. You felt completely alone in this one moment and not in the good sense. Little did you know, someone was listening from the otherside of the door…

You closed your eyes, hoping for it all to of been a dream, that Prompto hadn’t said anything, that Ignis had not made his emotions clear, that you had just been the five friends which you were when you set out on this trip. With no tension, with no secret meetings or talks by the fireside. You thought back through it all, your eyes sore from crying so much. There was a knock at the door, from the other side, which joined your room to Noctis and Gladius. You didn’t respond hoping they wouldn't bother. However you heard the door open. You buried your face in the pillow hoping they would think you were asleep.

“Is something the matter?” … it was Ignis. His voice was calm. “[Y/N]... are you awake?” He moved closer, coming to look at you, checking if you were awake or not. You couldn’t hide it very well as you felt him sit next to you, his hand brushed over your hair “what happened?”

You looked up at him, his hair was messy, he had obviously found a moment in the day to relax, as he didn’t seem so formal as he usually did, the lack of gloves meant something towards that.

“My darling, what is the matter?” he said, continuing to stroke your hair. “Have I done something to upset you?” “No..” you murmured from the pillow “I just felt down… thats all”

“I see…anything I can help you with?” You shook your head “I see…” Ignis seemed upset by the state you were in “Let me get you something to drink” he started to get up, but you grabbed his hand “hm?”

“Ignis…” you muttered, looking up into his green eyes which seemed so full of despair seeing you like this. “I don’t want to ruin what we have…”

“You can’t, there is nothing which can do that…”

“But I think I did” You responded “Prompto… he…”

“Ah…” Ignis seemed to know something you didn’t. He nodded slightly “i’ll talk to him”

“Will you?” You held onto his hand tightly.

“Anything for you” he said “now get some sleep, we have somewhere to go tomorrow morning, which involves a lot of walking”

“Okay..” you muttered, he kissed you on the forehead and walked towards his room, turning your light off as he went.

But still, that kiss didn’t feel the same.

Ignis opened the door, to find Prompto leaning against it, nearly falling through Ignis grabbed him before they made any noise, which could of allowed anyone to of known what Prompto had been up to. “Listening were you?” Ignis sighed as he closed the door gently, as not to make too much noise

“I…” Prompto went bright red “Iggy..”

“Do you want to tell me something?” Ignis responded, like a parent speaking to his child “Prompto, what did you do?” “How…”

“You were listening, clearly you heard”

“Iggy, I…” Prompto was going redder in the face “I just had to… I… it just came out”

“How long have you?”

“What?” Prompto paused “loved her?” he looked towards the door “since the moment I met her that day she was late to meet us…and she crashed into me in the corridor” Prompto had a shimmer in his eye, not knowing if it was admiration or tears, Ignis continued to let the boy speak. “Ever since then…what about you?” He looked away, not really wanting to know. 

“One time on the bench... near Noctis’ apartment” Ignis laughed to himself “something about the way she told me I could live my own life...”

“I see...” Prompto looked away, rolling his eyes a little. 

“And you had no plans on telling her?”

“She couldn’t think of me that way, besides I tried to hide it, the whole Cindy thing… I just wanted her to feel a little jealous, so maybe she would… realise she had feelings for me too”

“Prompto, you know that's not what you should of done” Ignis sat down, untying his shoes for bed

“It’s a little late for that now isn’t it Specs?” Prompto snapped a little, being a little brave towards the man who had stolen his first love away. “Besides doesn’t she think it was all you? You were the one who always made everything seem so perfect. You kissed her everynight, hoping she would one day realise it was you... you smile at her, watch her, admire her! What else does she see you as Iggy?!”

"I didn’t click till that night she told me about it…I didnt know”

“Did you take the credit for the goodnight kiss?”

“I didn’t claim it was me... I will let her know”

“Don’t… don’t tell her..” Prompto said, slumping onto his bed “I can’t…” he closed his eyes for a moment “bare it anymore…I cant do this to her anymore... just promise me one thing..”

“Of course, anything”

“Don’t… don’t ever break her heart. Or I will come and get you, no matter where you are, if Noctis tries to stop me or not, I would put her before my own life.” he turned to face Ignis again, this time his face looked serious, the only time Ignis could say he saw Prompto like this “I mean it Ignis. If you can’t protect her, if you can’t hold her when she needs to. You know I will be there, and I will always be there for her.” Prompto turned back around, pulling off his jacket “That I swear”

Ignis didn’t reply, instead, turned the light out, hoping that tomorrow, would bring a calm to this storm which he had accidently created.

[childofaura]

Rating the anime I’ve watched in 2019: A really short list

Kinda just felt like doing this, 2019 has been a REALLY interesting year in anime. I didn’t watch a whole lot of stuff, but I wanted to kind of go over what I did watch. So I’ll talk about what I thought and rate it 1-10.

PLEASE KEEP IN MIND: THEY’RE RATED SOLELY ON MY OPINIONS, IF I DON’T FEEL STRONGLY ABOUT ONE PLEASE DON’T GET MAD. ALSO ALL OF THESE WERE WATCHED IN SUBS. ALSO SPOILERS AHOY.

1. Dororo.

The OP was AWESOME. The animation in the first half of the series was really smooth, but there was a slightly noticeable dip in animation later on. Not huge, but still there. Actors were FANTASTIC, and the little girl who plays Dororo is so cute! Characters were incredibly well written and varied, Hyakkimaru still struggled despite his honed reflexes and training, and Tahomaru was so morally divisive, it was great. Somber tones really bring out the nasty forbidden underside of the Shogunate’s “lasting peace”. Though the ending with Tahomaru, Hyakkimaru’s mother, and his father figure all dying in the fire was rather... disappointing, Hyakkimaru forgiving his father and Dororo deciding what to do with the large sum of money left behind, to use it for the greater good, wraps everything up.

Dororo’s a solid 8/10.

2. Rising of the Shield Hero

I ended up checking this one out after hearing all the controversy it was stirring up, because I wanted to see what it was. Like always, the “controversy” was a big tepid pile of nothing, and I got to experience an isekai that operates under a different mood with different dynamics. Animation quality is consistent and good, and there’s a LOT of female characters that are well rounded and strong, like Raphtalia, Melty, the Filolial Queen, Glass, etc. Scenery is beautiful, and Naofumi’s growth into trusting again is nice to watch. Also the soundtrack is so enjoyable, Kansas is my favorite song. Cons, though few, are still there: the pacing can be a little funky at times (Mainly what comes to mind is that AWFUL filler episode where they fight the Church from the molten pit, and don’t move AT ALL. Worst episode ever), the physical growth of some of the characters like Filo is jarring (In two days she grows horse sized, after they had that montage of taking care of her) even with an explanation. The last thing that rubs me the wrong way (It’s not really a con in general, just a con for me) is Raphtalia’s crush on Naofumi. It’s simply that they spend the first few episodes building their relationship as a father/daughter, then they try to shift to romance after establishing that first familial relationship.

Rising of the Shield Hero’s an 8/10.

3. The Promised Neverland

AAAAAAAH HOT DAMN I LOVED THIS ONE. It was completely out of my range of what I normally watched at the beginning of 2019, BUT I LOVED IT SO MUCH. The animation is eerie, especially the facial expressions and how smoothly they move. The children are so darling and thinking about how they might have possibly died in S1 broke my heart, as well as me hoping they didn’t, lol. Every episode leaves off on this wonderfully tantalizing cliffhanger, so binging the episodes are a must. Characters like Mama and Sister Krone are terrifying, though in the latter’s case I love how clever she was, and was sad when she died. Her Japanese actress definitely blew it out of the water and had a lot of fun with the character. I’d say the only (not really a con, but) thing that weirds me out is how close the characters’ mouths are to their faces, but that’s a stylistic thing and I won’t fault them for that. The children are strong and resilient and I can’t wait for the next season.

The Promised Neverland’s a 9/10.

4. Demon Slayer

I got into this one late, and I hate myself for getting into it late. But nonetheless, I’m so glad I watched it and I can say with confidence it’s up there with FullMetal Alchemist: Brotherhood’s level of excellence. Tanjiro is such a kind-hearted boy who constantly puts himself through physical torture for his only remaining family; Nezuko’s “hypnotism” to see humans as family feels more like placebo because she just genuinely has compassion for people, especially when she looks at Ms Tamayo and Yushiro as family when they’re also demons. All the characters are deeply involved in this story with either known or hidden (Zenitsu) strengths that allow them to conquer their struggles. The style is unique and the character designs are pretty, and HOO BOY THE FIGHTING ANIMATIONS, THE STYLIZED TECHNIQUES. MWAH! MUCH LOVE! I love the soundtrack so much, it almost reminds me of the Pokemon movies’ orchestra pieces. The story is well paced, and no issues with filler. Showing how even demons deserve compassion is a beautifully unexpected twist in this show.

Demon Slayer’s a 10/10

5. To the Abandoned Sacred Beasts

I do love this series dearly, and while the good outweighs the “meh”, I still have to address the issues. BUT FIRST, THE GOOD THINGS: Characters in this show are incredibly in-depth, even the soldiers. The designs of the Incarnates are fantastic, terrifying and imposing. Schaal is a strong young girl who sets off with just a suitcase and a rifle and, after meeting Hank, decides to get inside his mindset to see why he’s doing what he does, and why he had to kill her father. Hank is a man in constant suffering who has to see his best friends losing themselves to insanity, knowing that they’re not the people they used to be but questioning whether he’s really doing the right thing regardless. All the soldiers have their own focal point in the episodes they show up in, showing their unique traits and attitudes, and how it links to the monsters they are now. The concept of Incarnate soldiers is parallel to veterans with PTSD. While Liza’s a bit of a ridiculous fan-service character, there’s really no complaints because the fan-service in this show is balanced; they show Hank unnecessarily shirtless a LOT (Though honestly I’d be fine if they let him wear his shirts more). But the cons. There are a decent amount of them. Animation is clunky and lower budget. Pacing is not easy to keep up with, as the split between Hank’s mission and the main conflict with Cain interrupt each other quite jarringly. Schaal’s father seemingly rises as a zombie again to serve no other purpose other than Schaal’s character growth, as we could assume that a LOT of the other monsters like Keynes, with the fire of justice, would also come back to life. Liza doesn’t really seem to do much or contribute much as a character; she came close when she volunteered to take up the Incarnate Extermination Squad’s equipment by saying she knew how it worked but she literally. Just. Held up a shield for the commander (forgot his name, Cain’s little bro) to jump off of. She needs to do more. Love the series and I love watching it, but it’s a mixed bag.

To the Abandoned Sacred Beast’s a 7/10.

6. Fire Force.

Well... this one is definitely gonna be tough to deal with, because I only got maybe 8 or 9 episodes in before I had to break away. So I’ll break it down simply.

Pros: Animation is SOLID. ABSOLUTE. FLUID AND DYNAMIC. It’s literally Midoriya vs Todoroki, but in EVERY EPISODE. Some characters are fascinating and enjoyable like Shinra, Maki, Joker, and Hibana. The concept of Infernals, people who just burst into flames without warning, are a solid idea to run on. The OP is a banger. The soundtrack fits the mood perfectly.

Cons, and a lot of them: There isn’t a whole lot going on in terms of variety, it’s mainly fighting Infernals in the city. It picks up eventually, but slowly. While some characters were enjoyable, others were either flat or downright unbearable to deal with; flat characters like Obi (He’s not a bad character, but he feels... generic) and Iris (Also not bad, she’s strong in what she’s had to deal with and being kind regardless, but it’s just standard quiet girl.). Unbearable character is really just two so far: The lieutenant, who gets borderline abusive (both mentally and physically) with Maki (Like I get it dude, you had trauma with fire and Infernals but you don’t need to be an abusive shit), and Tamaki, ESPECIALLY Tamaki. She’s rude, screechy, treated Shinra like utter shit when they first meet, and respects almost no one outside of her district for no real reason. And she also falls into the next con: The one-sided fan-service. Now I will defend the right to fan-service with everything I believe in, but I’m still allowed to have my opinion on it, and the way it goes in Fire Force is just... so awful. Fan-service jarringly interrupts what are supposed to be heavy emotional or important scenes (Iris sitting on the ground with nothing but a towel, Iris getting her clothes burned off by Hibana, Tamaki sticking her butt out after getting hurt by her district partner, Tamaki’s clothes being burned up and being against the wall with that weird-ass kitty pose with her wrists, etc.), Tamaki’s “lucky lechery” is supposed to be funny somehow but it makes literally no sense, and oh cool she ends up sexually harassing the dudes with it, too. I could understand this level of fan-service if it was like a harem anime or a cheese-cake-ish anime or whatever, but it’s- it’s a shounen. There’s nothing that really shows you there’s gonna be this weird level of fan-service.

I respect everyone who loves Fire Force, but it’s just not my cup of tea. That’s all.

Fire Force’s a 6.5/10.

7. Vinland Saga

THIS ANIME. THIS ANIME IS PERFECT IN EVERY WAY AND YOU WILL NEVER CHANGE MY MIND. The first OP PERFECTLY encapsulates just how much of a hellish live Thorfinn is about to live. The animation (Being from the same company as Attack on Titan and Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress) is SUPERB where the characters move with weight and purpose. Seriously, have you seen how the characters jump forward? With their legs and arms forward? It’s a little detail but it’s so great. Characters are multi-faceted and it gives me strong feelings about how awful they are but how clever or strong or brilliant they are. The pacing of the anime is perfect; something plot-important happens in each episode, the characters travel long distances to give you a feel of movement, and there’s not a single episode that could really be considered “filler”. Dynamics of these characters work in fascinating ways at times. The actors absolutely own their roles; Askeladd’s actor nails that perfect nonchalance where he seems surprised but you know he’s truly not, Thorfinn’s older actor knows how to scream his lungs out in anger. The main star, though? Thorkell, hands down. That guy is absolutely having fun with his character.

Vinland Saga’s a solid 10/10.

[wylanvanwreck]

Helnik // Ship to Ravka // Oneshot Fanfiction

Requested by @andromeddea​ Characters: Matthias Helvar, Nina Zenik, Genya Safin Basic Summary: Genya interrogates Matthias about his past as a drüskelle while on the ship home to Ravka. Word Count: 1,542 Oneshot/drabble requests: Open Sidenotes: I haven’t read TGT, so if I butchered Genya’s character at all, it’s simply out of ignorance. I apologize in advance. Otherwise, enjoy!

Matthias had never seen Nina look so peaceful since her affliction with the parem. She leaned against the railing of the ship, gazing wistfully at the rolling waves of the True Sea. The scent of salt hung in the atmosphere surrounding the front deck. Mist rested softly on the thick locks of her light brown hair, dampening her kefta and making her lashes glisten. He was happy to go home with her, to stay by her side and support her in defending the Grisha against his former comrades. A drüskelle he was no more - a thought that drove him mad in Hellgate yet now would make a proud declaration.

But he was still Fjerdan. One look at him in Ravka still posed a threat to his life.

Matthias tugged on his hood, shielding his face from view of the other Grisha roaming around deck. He kept close to Nina, huddled down at the railing with his legs crossed. He’d been waiting for Genya for half an hour. If he was to survive in Ravka, he’d need some kind of disguise whether subtle or drastic. He thought back to when he’d infiltrated the Ice Court with Nina and her crew, how she’d darkened his eyes and hair, how it wasn’t too sufficient in masking his identity from Commander Brum. Genya was supposed to be a one-of-a-kind Tailor. His life was, quite literally, in her hands.

Something kicked him softly in his side. Matthias looked up to see Nina smirking down at him. “What is it?” he asked.

“Stand with me,” she said. “Look out at the sea. You can still see the shadow of Kerch.”

Hesitant to attract attention to himself, Matthias tried to stand as discreetly as possible. He’d gotten halfway up when something tugged from behind him, and he fell right back down on his rear end.

“Oops.” Nina lifted her foot from the tail of his coat, where she’d pinned it to the wooden planks of the deck. “My mistake.”

“It’s forgiven.” Matthias rose and leaned against the railing beside her. He didn’t dare look over his shoulder - he’d seen the Squaller, Zoya, cast him a funny look. At least she wasn’t a potential threat.

Sure enough, the edge of Kerch was visible just at the horizon of the True Sea. When he’d first arrived to Kerch as a prisoner destined to Hellgate, he hated the sight of the place. Ketterdam had been a prison itself, rife with criminals and filth and dishonor. He’d lived his darkest days in the depths of Hellgate. But then Nina walked back into his life. He’d met Inej, Jesper, Wylan, and the demjin. He’d hated them, too, once. Now, as the edge of Kerch started to dissipate from the horizon, he knew he’d miss them. Thank Djel, they all survived the infiltration to the Ice Court and the onslaught of rival gangs after their return. Jan Van Eck may just get to live the rest of his days out in Hellgate, Matthias thought. With Rollins out of business, the Hellshow may come to an end.

Somehow, he doubted that’d be the case.

Nina wiggled her fingers into Matthias’ hand and intertwined them with his, resting her head on his shoulder. The mist clinging to her hair dampened the fabric of his shoulder, bleeding through to the skin underneath. He didn’t mind it. She was warm and soft. He felt comfortable. He felt safe.

His little red bird was by his side.

“Looks like I’ve got front seats to a new rendition of the Princess and the Barbarian, eh?”

Matthias and Nina almost butted heads as they looked over their shoulders. Genya stood with her Tailor’s kit in hand, a small smile dancing on her lips. Nina didn’t miss a beat. “I’m the barbarian.”

Genya laughed. “Ah, yes. Nina, the barbarian, a true wild card at heart. I can see it now, on the stage.” Her gaze flitted to Matthias. “I’m going to need the princess, though, if you don’t mind.”

Relief flooded through Matthias’ veins, dropping his anxiety, but only a little bit. He turned to face her and obeyed her command when she gestured for him to sit down. Nina plopped down beside him, and Genya knelt in front. She clutched his jaw gently in her fingers, turning his face left and right. “All scarred up. I can clear those away, if you wish.”

His marks from Hellgate. Tempting. But it didn’t seem right. “No,” said Matthias.

“He’s stubborn,” said Nina. “You get used to it.”

“We’ll see about that.” Genya opened her kit and studied Matthias’ face a moment longer. “All we really have to do is change your hair color and eyes. It’ll help more than you think.”

“It didn’t fool Brum.”

“Brum knew your face,” pointed out Nina. “He knew you for years. In Ravka, it’s not as likely they’ll recognize you immediately. If that’s the case, I’m sure Genya can give you some wrinkles to lessen the tension.”

Matthias frowned. “I don’t like the sound of that.”

“Don’t worry.” Genya plucked out a bottle of dark liquid - tincture, Matthias remembered, back when Nina had done the same to him before infiltrating the Ice Court. “That’s the last thing I’d do to you. Now hold still.”

Matthias sat rigid as a statue as Genya pried open one of his eyes with her fingertips. He resisted the urge to blink when a couple drops of the tincture from the bottle hit the surface of his eye and absorbed into the iris.

“So,” said Genya, adding a couple more drops, “you ditched the drüskelle way of life.” She sat back to review her work. “It wasn’t just because it’s too cold up in Fjerda, is it?”

Matthias tried not to flinch when Genya’s face drew close to check for any inconsistencies. “I don’t mind the cold.”

“You’ve got a knack for humor, don’t you?” Genya winked at Nina as she snickered. “Really, though. Why’d you leave?”

Matthias pursed his lips and glanced at Nina. “It… wasn’t honorable.”

“Honor.” Genya pried open his other eye and proceeded to darken it, too. “A weighty word to throw around in easy conversation. I guess the topic isn’t all that easy, though.” She returned the bottle to her kit. “How was it dishonorable?”

“Genya, come on.” Nina’s tone was light but sincere.

“It’s not an issue.” Matthias reached out and took Nina’s hand again, running his thumb over her knuckles. He nibbled his bottom lip for a moment before he looked Genya in the eye. “You’re human.”

Genya raised a brow. “You think I haven’t noticed?”

“I meant, the Grisha are human. They’re not lesser than the ones the drüskelle would consider natural. My people have committed crimes against yours so heinous, it’s difficult for me to once believe I was so proud to be a soldier in that line of work. The Grisha, their abilities… it’s a beautiful thing.”

Nina’s fingers tightened in his.

Genya stared at him for a long time before raising her hands above his head. His blond hair had grown a few inches since the escape from Hellgate, though the nicks from his botched shave still shown through. “Only curious,” she said, plucking a small pot of antimony from her kit. She worked the powder into his hair. “What led you to the life of a drüskelle in the first place?”

Matthias swallowed hard. “Grisha Inferni killed my family.”

Genya froze, paused halfway through his hair where she’d rusted the gold to a deep auburn. “Oh,” she murmured. “My condolences.”

“It was a long time ago.”

Silence descended upon the three of them like a vulture - swift and strong. Genya completed the transition of color within Matthias’ hair, applying the same hue to his eyebrows. Nina’s eyes were locked on their hands, still tangled in a knot. And Matthias wanted nothing more than to wither away in that moment. It was a memory that renewed a brief flame of hatred - and shame. The Grisha who hurt him did not represent the majority of the group. The Grisha around him in that very moment would never drag him into a pit of writhing agony. Nina had saved his life, once sacrificed her own just to ensure the safety of the whole crew. Proof that his hatred was misplaced, misguided, nonsensical.

Genya restored the antimony in her kit, her brows knitted together. She surveyed Matthias one last time, drumming her fingers on the wooden planks. Then, she asked, “How do you plan on taking care of my Nina?”

Nina snorted. “I don’t need taken care of. I’m not somebody’s pet.”

Matthias nodded, thankful for the change of subject. “I’m still keeping my oath.”

Genya beamed. “I’ll get out of your hair, then. But don’t think this is the end to my questions. I want to see just what exactly I’m dealing with here.” She stood, kit in hand, and left.

Once she was out of sight, Matthias turned to Nina and gestured to his disguise. “How is it?”

“You look Kaelish.”

Matthias’ lips quirked into a smirk. “Funny. That was your own disguise when we first met.”

“Hm.” Nina rested her head on Matthias’ shoulder, and he felt safe again. “I almost forgot.”

[formidolumina]

A REALLY LONG  CHARACTER  SURVEY.

RULES.  repost , don’t  reblog  ! tag  10  ! good  luck  ! TAGGED. @yourwhcre​ TAGGING. whoever wants to do this!

FULL NAME : Thaal Sinestro NICKNAME :  Sinestro, Sin AGE : 36 BIRTHDAY : January 21, 1981 ETHNIC GROUP : Korugarian NATIONALITY : Alien LANGUAGE / S : Korugarian, Galaxy Common SEXUAL ORIENTATION :  Bisexual ROMANTIC ORIENTATION : Biromantic RELATIONSHIP STATUS : Verse Dependent CLASS : Noble Class, Lord HOME TOWN / AREA :  Korugar City, Korugar CURRENT HOME : Qward, Antimatter Universe PROFESSION :  Sinestro Corps Leader

PHYSICAL.

HAIR :  Black military cut, brushed back to be neat, victor style mustache EYES : Black scelera, yellow iris FACE : heart shaped LIPS : Thin lips with frown lines at the corners from all the frowning or smirking he does COMPLEXION : Magenta BLEMISHES : none SCARS :   On his back, there’s a burn scar in the shape of the green lantern symbol. Along the scar can be thicker scar tissue in points due to the arrow constructs used to create it from his fight with Kyle Rayner. TATTOOS : None HEIGHT : 6′ 7″ WEIGHT : 79 kg or 174 lbs BUILD : Athletic and lean muscle FEATURES : Smug smirk, hands either clasped or crossed behind his back, erect pose and looking down his nose at others beneath him ALLERGIES : None USUAL HAIR STYLE : Neatly brushed back USUAL FACE LOOK : Narrowed eyes and a cold mask or smirk USUAL CLOTHING :  Yellow lantern uniform

PSYCHOLOGY.

FEAR / S : Failure / Losing his daughter / Being forgotten / Insanity / Being forever alone / Powerlessness / His people being victimized because of him / Loss of control / His legacy overshadowed by Hal Jordan ASPIRATION / S : A safe and orderly universe / The safety and progression of his people the Korugarians POSITIVE TRAITS : Loyal, powerful, driven, amazing cook, master tactician, godly ass NEGATIVE TRAITS : Prideful, narcissistic, controlling, powerful ZODIAC :  Capricon/Aquarius Cusp TEMPERAMENT :

choleric. The choleric temperament is fundamentally ambitious and leader-like. They have a lot of aggression, energy, and/or passion, and try to instill it in others. They can dominate people of other temperaments, especially phlegmatic types. Many great charismatic military and political figures were choleric. They like to be in charge of everything. However, cholerics also tend to be either highly disorganized or highly organized. They do not have in-between setups, only one extreme to another. As well as being leader-like and assertive, cholerics also fall into deep and sudden depression. Essentially, they are very much prone to mood swings.

SOUL TYPE / S :

Leader: It would be hard to imagine you being anything but the leader in any group. In fact, taking any kind of subservient role may feel demeaning to you. As a Leader type, you have a natural air of authority, and a charisma that makes you stand out in a crowd. (Think how out of place Elvis might have appeared if he’d stood in the background playing saxophone instead of being the front man.) You bring to this life an innate wisdom, which is why people will look to you for advice. You may sometimes make decisions on your own without thinking to involve others, and once you’ve made up your mind, you may be reluctant to change it. This may work in an emergency, but in other circumstances it can give the impression that you are arrogant or condescending.

VICE HABIT / S :  drinking / killing / conquering the universe VIRTUES / VICES: honorable / prideful FAITH : Believes in a god that’s a unique combination of a cosmogonic dualism and eschatological monotheism. He doesn’t actively pray or perform religious acts yet he recognizes his god and nothing good awaits him in the afterlife except darkness. GHOSTS ? : He’s seen them and was one for awhile.. They exist. AFTERLIFE ? : Darkness REINCARNATION ? : Of course ALIENS ? : He works with aliens and is one himself. Duh! POLITICAL ALIGNMENT : Sinestro’s Might EDUCATION LEVEL : Formally educated and trained on top of furthering himself afterwards

FAMILY.

FATHER :  Dad (deceased) MOTHER : Mom (deceased) SIBLINGS :  Sister (Alive somewhere out there MAYBE) EXTENDED FAMILY :  Abin Sur (Brother-in-law/Deceased), Arin Sur (Spouse/Deceased), Soranik Sinestro Natu (Daughter/Alive) NAME MEANING / S : Sinestro is one of the warrior noble houses of Korugar. Thaal was a strong male name meaning power or pride. HISTORICAL CONNECTION ? :  Derived from the Latin word sinestra, meaning ‘sinister’ or also ‘left’ and ‘left handed’. It’s commonly associated to wickedness.

FAVORITES.

BOOK : Crystals by Jennie Harding; The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli MOVIE :  Indiana Jones movie series 5 SONGS : Filthy Pride — Social Repose; Ghengis Khan — Miike Snow; All Time Low — Jon Bellion; Haunt — Banks; Guillotine — Jon Bellion HOLIDAY : Feast of Sacrifice MONTH :  August SEASON : Summer PLACE : Desert WEATHER : Hot, dry weather, sun high in the sky SOUND : Bamboo water fountain SCENT / S : Bamboo TASTE / S : Sweets FEEL / S : Silk ANIMAL / S :  Leopard gecko NUMBER : 7 COLORS : Red

EXTRA.

TALENTS :  Cooking / Rock Identification / Archaeology / War Tactics / Floriography / Formal Dancing BAD AT : Forgetting / Letting Go / Modern Dance TURN ONS :   Pain, biting, scratching, moaning TURN OFFS :  Weakness, extreme subservience, unwilling to contribute with creative ideas, ignorance, innocence HOBBIES :  Rock/fossil collecting, crystal healing

TROPES : The Ace / Arch-Enemy / Armor-Piercing Question / Back-to-Back Badasses / Badass Arm-Fold / Badass Boast / Badass Creed / Badass Mustache / Berserk Button / Big Bad / Blood Knight / Break the Badass / Comic-Book Movies Don't Use Codenames / Crazy-Prepared / Daddy Had a Good Reason for Abandoning You / Darth Vader Clone / Dastardly Whiplash / Depending on the Artist / Does This Remind You of Anything? / The Dragon / Dragon With An Agenda / The Dreaded / Enemy Mine / Even Evil Has Loved Ones / Evil Counterpart / Evil Plan / From Nobody to Nightmare / Good Is Not Nice / Imagination-Based Superpower / Legion of Doom / Man of Kryptonite / Meaningful Name / The Only One Allowed to Defeat You / Retcon / A Sinister Clue / Utopia Justifies the Means / Villainous Friendship / Villainous Widow's Peak / Was It Really Worth It? / Well-Intentioned Extremist / Willing Channeler / Xanatos Gambit AESTHETIC TAGS : yellow, fear, space GPOY QUOTES :  “ We’re supposed to be the protectors of the universe but we’re just a mess.” — Vanna

FC INFO.

MAIN FC / S : Michael Fassbener ALT FC / S :  — OLDER FC / S : Mark Strong YOUNGER FC / S : — VOICE CLAIM / S : Jason Isaacs GENDERBENT  FC / S : —

MUN QUESTIONS.

Q1 :   if  you  could  write  your  character  your  way  in  their  own  movie ,   what  would  it  be  called ,  what  style  would  it  be  filmed  in ,  and  what  would  it  be  about ?

A1 :  Sci-fi fantasy with wuxia elements. It’d be about Sinestro as a Green Lantern with all his trials and adventures.

Q2 :   what  would  their  soundtrack / score  sound  like ?          

A2 : Mix of techno pop, classical, and techno swing.

Q3 :   why  did  you  start  writing  this  character ?        

A3 :  I didn’t like him at first so it seemed the right move to pick him up. It was only by making myself research more into his character that I fell in love.

Q4 :   what  first  attracted  you  to  this  character ?          

A4 :  His mastery over fear and the way Doug Mahnke drew him in New 52.

Q5 :   describe  the  biggest  thing  you  dislike  about  your  muse.                

A5 : The artist can’t decide how he looks like and the writers also can’t decide with his character. He’s a hot mess creatively although you can spot core elements of his portrayal if you squint. I hate it the most the trope of this is evil, BLAME SINESTRO. It’s not always his fault, guys! It’s Jordan’s fault.

Q6 :   what  do  you  have  in  common  with  your  muse ?          

A6 :  Military background, hatred of stupid people, desire for power, extreme protective streak, love for rocks and their meanings/uses.

Q7 :   how  does  your  muse  feel  about  you ?          

A7 : He mostly squints my way and tries not to directly interact unless he wants something. He’s wary and prefers to hang out with my other muses.

Q8 :   what  characters  does  your  muse  have  interesting  interactions  with ?        

A8 : My OC, Black Adam, Soranik Natu, Carol Ferris, Hal Jordan, and many others. I love all things Sinestro so his variety of interactions is what I live for.

Q9 :   what  gives  you  inspiration  to  write  your  muse ?        

A9 :  Picking out one of his many songs I associate with Sinestro and put it on repeat depending on my mood.

Q10 :   how  long  did  this  take  you  to  complete ?          

A10 :  Way too long. I had to research and google a lot of information to make sure I had what I had in mind in order.