#This might come down to translation things but I'm not the one to figure that out

[hermitw]

ui ui said that replacement training can only be done twice in a month (for each person).

Yuuji was planning to train with Yuuta and Kusakabe.

Does this mean that Yuuta only had one day to learn the limitless technique?

Or... Were they spending extended periods of time in each other's bodies?

Edit to add - Yuuta mentions it being "a single replacement" in ch. 262.2. I just forgot!

Still we don't know how long that session lasted. But it only happened once.

[doedipus]

a large amount of time I've been spending on -untitled undefined scope original fiction project- since the last time I posted about it has been trying to develop the protagonist concept I came up with last summer or whatever into like, a character that would feel real and era appropriate.

it's fun research to do. naturally a lot of the details I assigned to her are things that I already think are cool, so it's been a lot of fun trying to trace her traits back through the relatively recent past, getting reminded of how much things have changed, or where the gaps in my intuition are, and then doing a flurry of reading to get a sense for exactly how someone like her and the people around her could have happened and what her life was probably like leading up to her present day. hopefully this results in some good good verisimilitude.

[moonydustx]

how they would react to F!Reader saying she's pregnant but with Shanks, Rayleigh and Law?

Oi oi! Turu bem? Vou deixar até o comecinho da resposta em português porque sim hahahahah primeiro, obrigada pelo pedido e segundo, eu acho que me empolguei escrevendo de novo, sou inimiga do resumo. O do Ray acho que pode ter ficado um pouco confuso porque tentei usar as duas eras (como pode ele ser tãão saborosíssimo toda vez que aparece, af). Mas é isso, obrigadão e espero que goste <3

And here’s the translation of the day: Hey Hey! How are you? I'll even leave the beginning of the answer in portuguese because yes hahahahah (for those who don't understand PT-BR, I discovered that the requester is brazilian like me) firstly, thank you for the request and secondly, I think I got carried away writing again. I think Ray's might have been a little confusing because I tried to use both eras (how can he be so delicious every time he appears, haha). But that's it, thank you and I hope you like it <3

Oh, and hello @badlandsx! I'm tagging you here because I saw your request about Law, but don't worry, I'll soon write the other part that you also requested. Thank you <3

requests open | one piece masterlist (other pregnancy stories are here)

Warnings are place individually in each story.

Rayleigh

Warnings: mentions of new and old Ray, like I said I love them both. Buggy and Shanks kids are one of my favorite things about Roger's era, so we have them here. Mention to F!Reader being an herbalist. Brief not-so-canonical mention of Sabaody's arc.

Acid temperament, answers on the tip of the tongue, a captivating smile. Rayleigh didn't have much of an option but to fall in love at first sight when you two bumped into each other in a random bar on a random island. It didn't matter anymore when he managed to convince you to be part of the crew. Your knowledge of herbs and medicines was just an excuse he used to get the captain to accept - and Roger knew Silvers Rayleigh enough to know it was just a pretext for you to get on board.

It didn't take long for the glances exchanged and toasts proposed to turn into hidden moments at Oro Jackson, kisses stolen when others weren't looking, that turned into a golden ring around your finger. Now, such moments had turned into a new life being generated in you.

"You should stay less agitated for now, please." Crocus asked. You had come up with a lame excuse for him to stay on the ship with you while the others had disembarked. "By my reckoning, these are still the first few months, it's the most sensitive period. Any more aggressive activity can bring risks."

"You will die?" Buggy's squeaky voice caught the two of you's attention. When you found the spot where the boy was hiding, you saw Shanks cover his companion's mouth.

"Nothing like that, come here." you leaned on the counter, calling out to the two who soon stopped in front of you. "How much of our conversation did you hear?"

"That you don't really know what to do, and that you need to be less agitated and that you're sensitive." Shanks took the lead, listing, Buggy came further behind, eyes attentive to your every movement.

The two boys already saw you almost as a motherly figure, always trying to hide and lean on you whenever they got into trouble, of course they would be scared to hear such loose information.

"I'll trust you two, but I want you both to keep your mouth shut." you bent down to his level. "I'm pregnant, but it's too early for anyone to know, okay?"

"Pregnant?" they both screamed and you covered their mouths. Further behind you, Crocus was deliberately laughing at the two boys' reactions. "Does that mean it's the baby that's hurting you?" Buggy completed.

"No one was hurt." the doctor took the lead, explaining to both of them. "A pregnant woman requires more care and is also more sensitive. Well, you knowing this can be of great help."

"What do you mean by that?" Just like you, the boys seemed to have doubt written all over their faces.

"Someone here loves to get into trouble, until Rayleigh finds out and can keep an eye on you, you two are responsible for it. No fights, no crazy adventures, no almost anything." the man laughed when he saw your indignant expression.

"I promise to keep her and the baby safe." Shanks puffed out his chest, taking pride in what he had said.

"What? I promise more than him." Buggy grumbled.

"As long as you both promise to keep quiet, that's fine with me."

When the two youngest saluted, you knew you were screwed.

It was difficult to disguise such a situation when in the following days the two of them became your shadow. The only time you could see yourself alone was going to the bathroom. If you went to your little corner to work, one of the two would be sitting next to you, following everything you explained to them - since they were there, they would learn something. In day-to-day tasks, one of them always set out to do his part. Rayleigh was already finding their little movement strange, but he knew how attached you were to both of them, so it wasn't something that bothered him.

"I'm going to take advantage of the fact that it's our last day here and I'm going to go down to the village, I need to get some materials." you announced. "Does anyone need anything?"

"Everything's fine here." Gaban warned and one by one, the other companions agreed.

"Wait!" a panting Buggy ran across the boat. "I'll go with you."

"Get out you fool, I'll go." Shanks shouted from the other side.

"Come on, the three of you, what do you think?" you suggested, before his little fight escalated.

"You two don't think you're stealing much of my wife's attention, do you?" Rayleigh proposed, seeing the two swallow hard and deny it. "Alright, enjoy the little walk."

It was supposed to be a quick visit to the island, if the boys didn't decide to start trouble with one of the sellers, you got in the middle and now you were lying on your ass on the floor - in the pushing and shoving, there ended up being a push for you while arguing with the seller . Before you could calm the boys down, you saw them running towards the ship, shit.

Rayleigh's attention was stolen when he saw the two crew members rushing into the Oro Jackson. Buggy burst into tears and insults directed at his friend, while Shanks seemed to be looking for someone specific. You, however, were not with them. It didn't take much to connect the facts.

"Where is she?" He approached the kids, completely ignoring them. "What happened?"

"A tragedy." Buggy, dramatically, started crying even more.

"You idiot! We can't tell them anything." Shanks poked Buggy, who immediately retaliated with a push.

"Crocus said we should keep an eye on her and now she's fallen and is going to die!"

"She fell?" Rayleigh was already impatient with their drama, unable to find any connection in their grumbling. "Explain this properly."

"It was just a fall, nothing big." the redhead tried to alleviate the situation.

"Boys, it was just a fall, she's definitely gotten herself into bigger trouble." Roger laughed, watching the two boys pushing each other.

"I don't want to know. Where's Crocus?" Buggy grumbled, ignoring the captain's own laughter and his friend's false calm temperament.

"What kind of fall was that for you two to be so worried about?" Rayleigh held out his hands, pushing the two boys apart by their foreheads.

"This idiot went looking for a fight." Shanks tried to reach the clown, stopped by the first mate's hand.

"And this idiot who doesn't know how to keep his tongue in his mouth." Buggy fought back, only hitting the air.

"First she said we were supposed to be quiet."

"You knock down a pregnant woman and I'm the one who has to stay quiet!" The words that came out of Buggy were able to provoke silence among the other pirates. "Shit!"

"She's going to kill us man."

"Where is she?" Crocus appeared, stopping in front of the boys and an astonished Rayleigh. "How did she fall? What's all that crying, Buggy?"

"Is she the pregnant woman?" Rayleigh asked in a much calmer tone than usual.

The hands were now no longer used to separate the boys, they just hung beside his body. Seeing the two kids swallow hard and look at each other, Rayleigh no longer needed any more answers.

"Rayleigh, Crocus go to her, now." Even with Roger's orders, Rayleigh was already heading in the direction of leaving the boat, not worrying about who would follow him.

Upon entering the village, it didn't take many steps for them to find you - only then did Rayleigh notice the doctor's presence. What was strange was finding you still lying on the floor, your elbows propped up to keep your face up while you were still arguing with the man in front of you. You didn't look hurt, you just looked mad at the man.

"It was just some herbs!" you shouted, excited.

"You idiot! If it was just some herbs, you should pay." the man shouted back.

Before you could respond, a body appeared in front of you and you didn't need much to recognize that it was your husband.

"What is happening?" his patient voice asked, looking at you over his shoulder. "I see that you seem to have problems with my wife."

"You see, she allowed two boys to steal herbs from my store."

"That is true?" he turned to you, finding a wry smile. Your permissiveness with the boys would still kill him. "How much does she owe you?"

The man spoke and almost as if predicting the problem, Crocus threw some coins to Rayleigh, who handed them to the man. A few seconds later, they were both around you.

"Did you get hurt?" the doctor asked, seeing your eyes dart from his to your husband's. "Buggy accidentally told him that little secret."

"Shit." your grumble was low, in a way you avoided looking at Rayleigh. "Maybe I spent my money buying some sweets for the three of us, but I needed those herbs too." you list, feeling your face burn with guilt and shame.

"Do you feel any pain?" Rayleigh asked, his voice almost forcing you to face him. Without finding words, you just denied it. "Great. Let's go back to the ship."

Crocus supported you by the waist and as soon as you stood up, you bitterly regretted having denied the question your husband had asked. The excruciating pain that shot up from your foot made you scream and fall forward, being held by Rayleigh.

"I was wrong, so wrong, what the hell." you grumbled, taking your aching foot off the ground. "It fucking hurts, it really hurts, Ray, do something." your teary eyes searched for his, who looked attentively in your direction.

"First I need you to calm down, sweetheart." he asked, wrapping his arm around you and providing even more support. "Crocus, what do we have?"

"Let me see." he bent down again, finding a swollen ankle. "It could just be a sprain or it could be broken, let's go back and that way I can see calmly."

"Go ahead, I'll take her."

The doctor took a few steps away and the two of you remained there for a few seconds, until Rayleigh took you in his arms and took you back to the ship. You knew he wanted to tell you something, but you also knew that that wasn't the appropriate place.

Before you could receive the necessary medical attention, you needed to calm both boys down. Maybe the explanation you and Crocus gave the two of them earlier had been too much for them to think that a little fight would bring you down. Rayleigh ushered them both out and closed the door behind him.

"When were you thinking of telling me?" he asked, still distant.

"To be honest, I still don't know." a light laugh escaped your lips. "They both found out by accident, hearing me talk to Crocus."

"I still can't believe those little idiots found out before me." his expression softened as he approached you.

"Are you mad at me?" His hands circled your waist, pulling you to the middle of the bed.

He gently created space for himself between your legs, taking care to place your bandaged ankle to the side. The fierce kisses this time were replaced by some caresses along your lap, some quick kisses on your lips.

"Furious?" His smile floated to your forehead, turning into a small kiss. "I just found out that the woman I love most is about to bear me a child. How can I be furious with such good news?"

His mouth once again met yours and despite the softness in which your tongues tangled, the gentle touch of his hand sliding down your side - curious fingers floating over the fabric on your belly - before your dress found a different path than your body, a small external noise caught the attention of both of you.

"Sure." Rayleigh pulled away just enough, allowing you to still feel his breath against yours. "You know it's Roger who's waiting, don't you?"

"Yeah." you laughed, seeing him groan as he let go of you.

"And that he's about to come out screaming with joy" he asked again and you nodded, trying to adjust yourself in bed and hide any evidence of what was about to happen.

Rayleigh barely opened the wooden door and Roger followed by other companions entered, a smile from ear to ear.

"A child!" He pulled you from the bed, hugging you tightly. "Another crewmate for us! This is incredible, get ready today we're going to drink, we're going to celebrate."

"Oi! She can't drink." Rayleigh pointed out and saw Roger let go of you a little and then hug you tightly again.

"Then let's eat, eat a lot. I'm going to order an incredible feast!"

If before your concern was to escape the needy and attentive claws of Buggy and Shanks, now the two boys seemed to have found company. Your other companions - being practically led by Rayleigh made you feel adorable all the time. Even with your hormones screaming at the top of your skin, even with all the strange desires and the constant need to be attached to your husband, everyone seemed to be ready and happy to see you pregnant. Rayleigh felt proud and a little overprotective of you, no wonder, since you had already returned to the boat covered in blood that didn't belong to you just because someone had tried to rob you or when you almost convinced Roger to loot a village because you wanted cakes from a bakery that was closed when you docked. You still preferred to stick to your herbs, but that didn't mean you were harmless.

Little Arthur came into the world calmly and quickly, as if everything was meticulously planned for him to arrive on that peaceful afternoon. Even though you were still uncomfortable and tired after giving birth, you couldn't contain your laughter when you saw the two youngest members of the crew fighting over who would pick up the little one first. Knowing the affection and care attached to you, you proudly allowed the two of you to carry the title of little Arth's uncles - provoking yet another argument over who was the favorite.

The bonds between you and Rayleigh became even tighter after the birth of Arth and, shortly after, little Dalia. A few years after the gang broke up and Roger was executed and on that day, you and your husband stepped back from the role of parents and allowed yourselves to cry on each other's shoulders. The tears of pain at the loss of Roger soon turned to missing your eldest son, a fruit doesn't fall far from the tree and of course, Arth never let you two tell him everything you knew, he would find a crew so that together they could find the One Piece.

The door to your house opened and you saw a familiar face enter. A mother knows very well what each child's traits could bring and when you saw an almost identical copy of Rayleigh rush through the door, you knew it was your boy back. He had finally found a crew - one that carried a straw hat familiar to the one you knew.

"What?" the voice of his companions shouted in unison as Rayleigh properly introduced the two of you.

"You mean you know everything?" Usopp turned to Arth, who just shook his head. "Oh, that's a lot of information at once."

"We never told him anything." you explained, holding your third child in your arms, a girl who had just turned four years old.

"You said your parents were pirates, but you never specified which ones." Luffy pointed out, his mouth full of food.

"My parents already had their time, now they have other priorities." Arth took little Lure from you, the girl's laugh echoed throughout the room. "Just like this little one here."

"You only have these two children?" Nami asked, interested in the difference between you and Rayleigh to the white-haired child.

"In fact, only Dalia and Arth were born to me. Ray saved our little Lure from being sold to those damn nobles. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to save her family, but we took it upon ourselves to take care of her."

"And Dalia is also a pirate?"

"Not for now, but she's on an island with some of our friends, training." you simply informed, seeing that Arth had understood the message.

That same day, you saw your son disappear before your eyes, into the hands of the tyrant Kuma. Luffy looked desolate and you followed suit, both screams echoing through the damp Sabaody forest. Only when Rayleigh managed to drag you back home did you understand that your boy would be far away, safer and according to Kuma himself, with someone you both would trust with your eyes closed.

Almost two years have passed since Rayleigh took on a mission and left you alone on the island, taking care of what was left behind.

"Father?" Lure's voice caught your attention. At the door, Rayleigh crouched down, waiting for the white-haired girl to jump towards him.

"My sweetie you are so huge!" he let the girl hang onto him, filling the top of her head with kisses. "If I took a little longer, you'd be bigger than me."

"I missed you so much." she clung to Rayleigh, who was walking towards you. "Mommy too."

"I bet she felt it too." With one of his free hands, he circled your waist, lightly kissing your lips. "I hope two of my favorite girls are okay."

"Dad, did you know that Uncle Duval asked Mom to stay with him?" The girl laughed at the little gossip told, earning a reprimanding look from you, even if it was a joke.

"Uncle Duval, hm? I'll have a little talk with him." Rayleigh placed her on the floor, yet the girl remained there beside you, paying attention to everything.

"Just a friend of the Straw Hats, we took care of Sunny while you were gone. I even tried to start the plating, but I'd rather focus on my teas." You explained, allowing yourself to hug him completely. "How are things over there?"

"By things, do you talk about our Dalia?"

"Perhaps." the passive tone in your voice became even calmer when your face was buried in his chest. "I miss my little girl."

"She promised to come soon and she's doing great, she's been one of Kikyo's right-hand men. She's so strong, you'll be proud." he felt you nod against his skin, the distance of two years seemed too far for a quick hug to satisfy. "Want to know about Arth?"

"Have you heard from him?"

"Is little brother Arth coming?" Lure clung to Rayleigh's leg, watching her father. Even without the blood connection, the black king found it comical to say the least how similar you two had become.

"Not yet, my dear. And I haven't heard from him exactly, but rather where he is." Rayleigh began to explain, meeting your curious eyes. "I only received a small note."

He took it out and handed you the small crumpled paper. The tranquility that had been missing for two years invaded you as you read each word.

I hope this reaches you and your wife, Rayleigh-san. Knowing her, I believe she is distraught over Arth's disappearance. He has been training with me and I promise that I will keep that old promise to keep him safe. No clumsy clowns this time.

Shanks.

Shanks

warnings: F!Reader and Shanks don't have a fixed relationship at the beginning of the story, F!Reader has a restaurant. Maybe wrong use of haki, brief spicier section and brief mentions of childbirth. Shanks is an adorable girl dad here. Emony, in some language that I don't remember, is a name related to treasure.

"When are you going to go to sea with me?"

That question had already been repeated countless times every day that Shanks decided to stop at your restaurant. He always made up a little excuse that his crew was hungry and that no other place in that city would be able to fulfill his orders. He repeated every time you served dishes wearing the apron he said made you look amazing, every time he convinced you to stop working for a bit and share a dish with him, every time he was on top of you. you on the bed, as you asked for more and more.

However, every time the answer was the same.

"Give me a good reason red-haired, one other than me ending up in your bed, and I will."

You had already lost track of the times he did this, that he asked and you refused, that you shared hours together and the next morning he left you to return a few months later. This time however, it was difficult to lose track of time, as with each passing day, you discovered a change in your body. It started with irritability, then the aching body, nausea and finally, the positive test on your hand and your shocked family right behind you.

The whole city already knew that you were the redhead's favorite person and at that point, no one dared to mess with you or insinuate anything. Knowing how quickly rumors could spread, you chose to keep it a secret until it became impossible. The secret only lasted four months before his jolly roger appears on the horizon. Already knowing the routine he used to have on the island, you prepared yourself to soon find him entering the door.

"Finally, my favorite cook." his voice hit you before you even saw him. "Long time no see you."

"Yeah, it's been a while." out of habit, you allowed his hand to hug your waist, but you tried not to tighten yourself too much in his embrace.

"Everything is fine?" he asked, noticing your more distant behavior.

"Yeah, it's just been a busy day. What can I get you guys?"

"What's good on the menu today?" Lucky Roux asked, his typical piece of meat at hand had already reached its end.

"A fish stew, we also have some pies. Did you bring any new recipes for me?" You reached out to him.

Since the first time you met the red-haired pirates, you and him had gotten along well and the little deal was that he would always bring new recipes and in return, he was the only one who didn't pay at your family's restaurant.

"Spicy noodles and oysters with honey." he stretched out the two papers in his hand. "Two recipes, two dishes."

"Okay, you win. Anyone else want some stew?" the men piled in, affirming yes. Before you could leave, you felt Shanks' hand grab yours.

"Wait a second." a chill passed through your body as his eyes analyzed you. "You look different, I don't know. It's like you're even more beautiful."

"Don't give me those cheap lines, redhead." you warned in your playful tone. "A stew for you too?"

"The day I deny this could rip my other arm off."

Like the other times they appeared there, Shanks and the others stayed almost the entire day. Much of the food at that point had already been replaced by drinks, which forced you to practically dodge the glasses that were offered to you.

The restaurant was already empty, even your brothers who used to help you had already left, leaving you alone with the leftover dishes and tables to organize for the next day.

"It doesn't seem very gentlemanly to me to leave a lady alone." Again, just like that afternoon, you saw Shanks enter the door, ignoring the "closed" sign.

"You don't need to worry about me, I'll sort it out in a few minutes." You gave your best smile, seeing that he wasn't convinced.

"Then I can help you solve something else."

Not giving you much room to deny it or to at least try to address the issue that was hovering between the two of you, Shanks revoked his right over your mouth. Amidst the scattered tables and trying to turn off the light in the room so as not to attract so much attention, you went unnoticed by his hands taking off your apron and immediately undoing the buttons on your t-shirt. When the piece became a small puddle of fabric on the floor next to your apron and Shanks slid his hand down your torso, you realized that he had indeed noticed.

"What is that?" his voice was low, even though there were just the two of you there.

"I think you're smarter than that, redhead." you tried to alleviate the situation, seeing that it had been in vain.

"It's mine?" His eyes met yours, his serious expression made chills run up your body. Shanks was adorable, one of the kindest people you'd ever served at your restaurant, but he was still a pirate. "Hey, look at me, is it mine?"

"What do you think?" you responded immediately, seeing him take a few steps back. "I found out a few weeks after you left here last time, so far it's been easy to hide with dresses and aprons, but it looks like it won't last long."

"So it's mine?" he insisted, making you huff in frustration.

"The last time you came here, I remember you making me scream a few times that I was yours. I am a woman of my word, there is no one else who is the father of this baby but you."

His expression soon contorted from something serious to a slight smile that turned into a loud laugh. His hand found your face, stroking it with some delicacy.

"You told me you needed a good reason to leave with me." he started, seeing you already look disbelieved. "And no, I don't want you just in my bed. I want you by my side, forever. I want you to leave with me so I can make you my wife. To make you the mother of all my children." his hand reached down and caressed the bump on your belly. "This explains so much."

"So much, tomato head?" You let your hand rest on top of his, enjoying the affection.

"Your bad mood when you saw my face or you refusing to drink with me." He approached, pressing his face to yours. "You look even more beautiful than the last time I saw you."

"Shanks…"

"Please say yes."

He used that entire night to convince you to go on board with him and the next morning to help you pack your bags and head to his ship. When the other companions saw your face, they were in disbelief for a while until the true reason for your presence was explained, to everyone's delight.

For a moment, it was too much information for your head, learning a little about the life of a pirate, understanding what Shanks was like as a captain and the changes in your body seemed too much for you. It wasn't surprising that you had practically hijacked the ship's kitchen all to yourself and it was very common to find you in the early hours of the morning, up to something.

"What's the recipe for today, mummy?" Shanks appeared, his face still crumpled indicating that he had just woken up from a good sleep.

"A cake, that's all." you just responded, feeling him press himself behind you and slide his hand over your big eight-month-old belly.

"And what's the name of the cake?" He leaned over your shoulder, still caressing you. "Is it "I'm worried about my baby's future." or "The baby woke me up by kicking me in the ribs"?

"How do you know that?" you laughed, taking some of the still raw dough for him to taste.

"Delicious." he muttered before he could follow up on any thoughts. "Daddy's Haki. I always know what's going on with my baby."

"Oh, of course." you laughed and immediately felt the same pain that had gotten you out of bed a few hours ago and had been recurring in the last few moments. You knew what it was, you just wanted to enjoy the time you still had with your baby inside.

"Honey?" Shanks asked as he saw you lean your body against his and groan in pain. "My love, what is it?"

"Didn't daddy's haki help you this time?" you tried to laugh but the pain hit you again. Before you could continue your sequence of laments, you felt your dress and as a result of the proximity, Shanks got wet.

"No, it didn't help, it's happening now, isn't it? Hongo!" he started screaming, trying to pick you up.

"Shanks, what if…" your eyes moistened with anxiety and accumulated tears. "What if I'm a terrible mother? What if nothing works? What if I can't bring our baby into the world?"

"There's no what if." he pointed out, gently pulling your chin. "Look at me, we're going to bring our first child into the world and everything will be fine. Come on, it's time to meet our baby."

Emony was born after long hours of labor. The small tuft of red hair was identical to Shanks's and her cry was celebrated by the entire ship who had woken up with your screams of pain and with Shanks running back and forth behind Hongo.

The girl was a little copy of her father, from her red hair to her attitude, which made you constantly laugh - after all, at the age of five she had already declared that she was going after One Piece alone when you two gave her a little scolding for her coming out of hiding during a fight you were involved in. You should also anticipate that the girl's strength would be derived from her father and not hers. A break on an island meant having the two of you spotted by enemy pirates while you were taking a walk with little Emony. After trying to escape and fight, you both ended up surrendering, you were on your knees, a gun against your head and little Emony was lifted by the collar of her dress.

"My daddy is going to finish you off, your shit" she declared, trying to kick the man, completely in vain.

"Will he really do that?" the man teased her, seeing the girl become even more nervous. "I'll be waiting for."

"You know this is his territory, what do you want on this island?" you asked and felt the gun being pressed even more against your head.

"Take it away from my mommy!!" Emony screamed and you felt something different in the air.

The man who was pointing the gun at you fell, fainted, as did the other men who accompanied the pirate. Their captain let out a loud laugh, pressing his hand even tighter against Emony's dress.

"Haki? At such a young age?"

"Mommy!" the girl jolted towards you, seeing you get up and walk towards her.

"I suggest you take your rotten hands off my daughter." Shanks' voice came from behind the man.

By dodging a little, you can see the crew approaching. Benn was already pointing a gun, almost glued to the head of the tyrant who had his hands on your little Emony.

"This here?" he shook the girl dismissively, turning to face Shanks. "You know, lately the navy has been investing a lot of money in Yonko's children." the man threatened, a stupid smile adorning his lips. "What's your offer for the brat?"

"Lucky, Yassop?" Shanks just signed. "You guys take my girls inside."

Without waiting for the man to respond, the redhead punched him in the face and before Emony could reach the ground, Lucky caught her. The two of you were taken inside a small store, where some vendors offered water and a place to calm down.

"Where are my girls?" Shanks' voice reached the two of you, but your daughter ran to him, hugging her father's legs, who picked her up. "Are you hurt, my little one?"

"No daddy." she smiled, victoriously. "You see, I'm ready to be a pirate." the joy in her voice brought some peace of mind to both of you.

"I thought you were already a pirate." Benn, who accompanied Shanks, commented and got the girl's response by sticking her tongue out at him.

"I'm going to be the greatest pirate! Just like dad." she replied, shaking herself off Shanks' lap. "Come on Uncle Benn, I bet I beat you."

"Bet? Let's see." The first mate let the girl hit him a few times, laughing at her effort.

"And you, love, were you hurt?" Shanks stood next to you, holding your shaking hand.

"I just got scared. Shanks, she…"

"I felt it. That's how I knew she was in danger." he replied before the question even left your thoughts. "She's barely trained and can already do this? She's really going to be a great pirate."

"Babe…" your warning tone made it clear that this was not the time for him to encourage such ideas.

"Imagine, she's a captain? Our daughter has a big future. In fact, we know who she takes after." the man boasted, earning a shove in response. "I think she needs companions."

"She can arrange it over time."

"Or we can help." the mischievous tone was already almost inert to the way he spoke to you. "Just a few more babies, a first mate, a cook." He started to list, seeing you deny it. "But you look so beautiful pregnant."

"Forget it Shanks."

"Daddy, mummy!" Emony's voice drew you both in. You watched the girl pose as victorious, on top of a Benn Beckman, Lucky, Yasopp and Limejuice piled on the floor, pretending to be defeated. "I won!"

"Now I challenge you, my little fire hair." Shanks joined in the game, going over to the girl.

Maybe some brothers for Emony would be nice - and maybe Shanks would have given you a good reason to accompany him every time you saw him love your little daughter.

Law

Part 2 here

warnings: angst, more angst, arguments with a fluff and happy ending. I mean, do I really need to inform you that our boy is going to freak out about the possibility of amber lead in his baby? Perhaps not very common uses of his DF, Law freaks out for a while, but then becomes the best dad in the world (we saw so little of Law with Lammy, but I bet he was an amazing brother and that he would be such a great girl's dad). And of course, Rosi comes from Rosinante. This text here is huge, sorry.

Being subordinate and companion to a captain who happened to be a doctor was one of the most practical things in your life. Did you catch the flu? He would solve it. Were you injured in battle? Just call the captain.

This meant not having any problems, especially after you decided to start dating. Law became even more attentive to every detail of your health, which made you realize that you didn't have much time to deal with the situation in your hands - more precisely, the situation in your womb.

The tests remained hidden in Ikkaku's drawer, with her being his only confidant at that moment. You wanted to know how many months it was, to be able to share such news, but you knew that as soon as Law found out, he would freak out and that's why you were avoiding him.

Avoiding, in the past verb, after all, he had already noticed something wrong between the two of you. Two knocks on your bedroom door startled you and your roommate.

"Hey." he looked dejected when the door opened, his attention automatically turned to Ikkaku. "Mind leaving us alone for a few minutes?"

"Of course captain." a pious look came from her towards you, before the woman disappeared from your field of vision.

Law, not knowing what to say, sat next to you. As you tried to grab his hand, you felt him move away. Damn it.

"How long have you known?" his cold tone dictated that he was probably not happy at all with the news.

"How do you know?" you answered his question with another, trying to buy time before the approaching storm.

"Today marks two months since you haven't asked me for help with any colic or complained about being sinking in a red river." he laughed, even though he didn't look happy. "By my reckoning, it's also been two months since that day in the kitchen."

Of course, the day in the kitchen. You and Law were always careful, even if you already used your contraceptive method, you preferred to use other types of protection. Except when you arrived at Polar Tang drunk and alone, which resulted in a unprotected sex session on the shared kitchen table.

"Quite a recipe we made." You tried to make fun of him.

"What do we do?" For the first time at that moment, you saw Law's eyes actually find you, worried and afraid.

"What do we do?" you repeated. "I'm pregnant Law, I don't know if there's much to do other than wait for the baby to be born."

"You know what worries me." his harsh response cut through any kind of excitement you held back. "You know very well what will happen to this child."

"What can happen." you corrected him.

"Would you rather risk waiting the nine months, giving birth and seeing your child die some time later? Sounds like a great idea to me." Cynicism echoed in his words just as your two voices were already much louder, taking your hatred to levels you didn't yet know.

"Would you rather I have an abortion and then spend the rest of my life wondering what if my baby had been born healthy?" his silence was the answer you needed at that moment. "You know what? Leave me on the next island, I'd rather take a risk and have my baby happy than have to abort it or even worse, my baby has to live with a parent who hates its existence."

"You don't understand what this could entail." He stood up too, trying to put something that looked like sense into your head. "You stay here until this is resolved."

"This has already been resolved and you don't need to have any involvement in my baby's life." you were sure the entire submarine was already listening to that argument between the two of you. "Get out of here, Law."

"But…"

"Get out of here!" you screamed even louder, seeing the man give up and leave. It only took a few seconds for Ikkaku to appear and allow you to cry for hours on her shoulder.

Anyone looking from the outside could see that you two were in pain. Law had become a shadow of the captain he was, only having small appearances to issue orders or to follow you - even without saying many words - every time you approached an island, fearing that you would leave the crew. Even though the two of you didn't talk anymore, you knew that his disappearance was related to studying everything he could about the disease that ravaged his country and was also present in him.

In the two months that had passed, Law had stopped being your boyfriend and practically become your doctor. Without exchanging many words, you only met when he decided to do some examination on you. To break the mood, you always took one of your friends along. The little information you had about Law came from Bepo, Shachi or Penguin, the only ones who were still able to invade his room and talk to him. Like that afternoon, when they insisted that you convince him to leave the room and have dinner with all his companions.

"Law?" two knocks on the door accompanied your voice. His tired look hit you immediately.

"How can I help you?"

"I wanted you to come have dinner with us." you tried to appeal to what you want. Many times, before pregnancy, that had worked.

"I am a little busy."

"I can bring something here." You suggested, approaching him. On the table, you saw accumulated papers, the vast majority of which titles were not related to Amber Lead.

"No need to worry, I'm fine." he simply replied, seeing that you were reading the papers on his desk. "I found some new studies."

"Law, I told you that you don't need to worry about that right now, we don't know yet…"

"When would you rather I worry?" the cynicism was once again there in his voice and he knew how much you hated it. "When you die on the table because for some reason this shit got to you? Or when I watch our baby die?"

"Now is he our baby?" you used the same resource as him. "From what I remember, I had made it very clear that I didn't want you to be involved in this."

"But it's my obligation."

"Your obligation as a father? I think you lost that right when you made it very clear that I had to take my baby away." you started to walk away from his desk. "Or your obligation as captain? As a boyfriend that isn't, I don't know what it's like to have a boyfriend for a good few months."

"I was busy, trying to find a cure for you two."

"We're both not sick." you sounded offended by what he had proposed. "But keep it up, sink into your books, don't worry when I disappear from this fucking submarine."

You left slamming the door, stressed. The looks that reached you seemed full of pity and concern. You only managed to get as far as the kitchen before a pang hit your head and stomach. Being supported by your colleagues, the only request you made was that no one tell Law about it. You wouldn't give him reason in his incessant search for something he didn't yet know.

Alleviating your worries, the diagnosis arrived quickly: just a spike in high blood pressure. A few hours of rest and an IV should do the trick. When you saw Bepo murmur an apology, you knew exactly what he was going to do and so did your friends, as little by little they left you alone. You remained turned away, even though you heard the door open. Something in the air had changed, it was as if you immediately felt more tense and prepared for another argument.

"Babe, can we talk?" Law's voice sounded much lower than normal, definitely attracting your attention. His affectionate way of calling you was an easy way to make you fall for his words. You turned around, facing him and started to adjust yourself to sit on the stretcher. "No, please, stay still there."

"I'm just going to sit down." You did so, your movement being followed to the millimeter by his eyes. "Just to be clear, I don't want to fight."

"I didn't come here for that reason." he approached, hesitating with every step he took. "Actually, I know you didn't want me to come here for any reason."

"I just don't want to have to hear from my doctor that I'd better have given up on the idea." you turned around, allowing your legs to dangle. "I understand your concerns Law and I would be lying if I said I haven't been terrified of the idea since I saw the first positive test."

"I know." He finally stopped a short distance away, but he still didn't touch you. "I… I-I, damn, why is it so hard?"

"Just let the words come, don't think about them." you suggested, figuring it was just pride keeping you from apologizing for all the previous argument.

"I-I feel like shit." a sigh came out along with the words. "You're right, as a boyfriend I've been terrible, as a doctor then, just look at the fact that you're in a hospital bed and the last person to be informed is me." his fists clenched and then loosened, his tattooed hands rubbed against his face, perhaps in an attempt to get the words out of him.

"Law?" your heart broke when you heard a sniffle come from him, it was the last gesture you expected after everything, it was difficult to connect the information like this.

"I can't lose you and I know it doesn't seem like it, I know I've been a terrible person, but I love this child. I can't lose this too." For the first time after so long together, you saw tears run down your loved one's face. His hands stuck to his hat, pulling in a failed attempt to hide his face. "I can't stop regretting saying that to you, what if our baby hates me for it? What if our baby knows that for a moment, even a small moment, I didn't want him or her to exist."

"My love?" You extended your hand, being accepted by him. Law fit between your legs and buried his face in your neck, even with the muffled sound, you only heard his murmurs and sobs.

"I'm sorry, please. For yelling and being an idiot." he asked, still not letting go of you. "I just can't deal with the thought of losing either of you."

"My dear, look at me." his irises remained almost hidden by the tears that accumulated at his waterline. Your hands dried his face and you didn't know how you weren't crying together. "We still don't know if our child will have amber lead disease, we don't know the scope of your fruit in the cure."

"What should we do in the meantime?"

"As I told you, wait. Make the best of this little time we have until the baby is born." you suggested while your hands traced caresses on his face. "And I just want, I need, my boyfriend back. I don't know how far I can go without you by my side."

"I promise to get better, I promise to take care of you." he replied, taking a deep breath and composing himself. With his hands rubbing his face, Law looked much more centered. "What happened today? When Bepo called me, he just told me it was a blood pressure problem and that you were resting."

"I said I want my boyfriend." you insisted with a smile on your face and saw a small ghost of what would be a smile on Law too.

Law first checked the serum that was being applied to you and then took off the hat he was wearing, placing it on your hair. With his face millimeters away from yours, he placed a quick kiss on your lips, followed by one more and another, until finally you gave way to him. The skin of his face was still damp against your face and your fingers caressed his scalp, the gesture he loved so much and god, how he had missed it. When Law pulled away, you almost pulled him back. Two months were too long apart - even under the same roof.

"I missed you so much." You confessed, not wanting to let go of his hand.

"I missed you too my love, I'm sorry for being such an idiot for so long." He sank against your skin again, this time stealing a few kisses along the way. "What do you think we make up for lost time?"

"That sounds interesting to me."

"No, no sex." he cut you off as soon as he saw you smile mischievously. "Room."

You were back in his room, now lying on the soft bed with gray sheets. Along with the two of you, only the serum and support tied to your skin had come. Law adjusted himself, sitting with his back against the wall and adjusting your body to be against his skin. You saw from the corner of your eye his hand go towards you and retreat, ignoring any complaint he would make, you pulled it back and placed it flat against your belly.

"I don't think you can feel it yet, but I've already started to feel some small movements. In fact, I thought I had stomach gas, until Ikkaku and I found a book explaining that it was the baby." You explained and looking over your shoulder, you could see bright gray eyes staring at you. "Right now, from what I feel, the baby is here." you slid his hand away, stopping next to your side.

"Can I tell you something?" he asked, using his other arm to hug you even tighter. You nodded and saw him smile at the likely thought that crossed his mind before the words came out. "The other day, I accidentally spied on you in your room. I think you had just gotten out of the shower and were in front of the mirror."

"Oh no Law, I don't believe it." you laughed, already knowing what day it was.

"I think you spent about fifteen minutes posing in front of the mirror, caressing our child in your womb. God, you looked so beautiful, so radiant." he allowed himself to almost melt against the wall behind him. "I'm sorry I wasted so much time, so much stuff."

"Can I tell you something too? I actually need to update you on a few things." you asked and felt his face move against your skin, nodding. "Did you know that our baby is already just like you? I can't even see a piece of bread before I'm ready to spill my stomach."

That night, the two of you spent a lot of time there. You telling him about the little news that Law had missed in the time you didn't talk and him explaining little curiosities to you, things that seemed incredible to him because they were happening in the body of the woman he loved and he didn't have the courage to tell you before.

In the fifth month - now with a new version of Law, one much more adept at the idea of ​​being a father and much more attached to you. You were dragged by him to a small room, finding Ikkaku, Shachi and Penguin sitting at the table waiting for you.

"What is that?" You sat down in the chair that Law arranged for you, he soon took the place next to you.

"You said you didn't want me as a doctor, so if you want and you have time to think about it, they will be your doctor."

"And you?" your voice was almost cornered, trying to connect the pieces of the situation that was presented. "Aren't you going to be at the birth?"

"I'll be there all the time and any problem, I'll take care of it. But I want to be there for you, for our baby. Instead of scalpels and speculums, I just want to hold your hand." Law chuckled as he saw your little pout that you made start to tremble. "Sound like a good idea to you?"

"T-This is in-amazing." despite Law seeing you get emotional, the loudest crying came from the other side of the table.

"Man, that was beautiful." Shachi was struggling, leaning on Penguin.

"It's so good that you guys are back."

"Idiots." the woman commented, turning to you. "Come on, tell me everything you expect from the birth of our little baby."

After spending the remaining months buried in books next to him, this time looking for good information and not just a cure for an illness, you learned that the stretcher was not a good place to give birth and that sensations were an important part of the process, in other words, goodbye Ope Ope no Mi's anesthesia powers. Law seemed to want to make up for the distance by always staying close to you and always reminding you how special you were to him, like when you looked adorable when the jumpsuit stopped fitting around your belly or when you and Bepo joined in complaining about the heat.

With the help of your own nature, the chosen doctors and Law behind you in that hot tub, your girl arrived into the world quickly and much less painfully than you thought. In the first few hours, little Rosi didn't let go of you and only when the water around the bathtub became cold did Law manage to take his focus off the little baby to take you two to a more cozy place.

In the early days, Law's hands seemed tied to Rosi. When the girl with eyes as gray as her father's wasn't on his lap, Law was following you like a shadow to ensure the health of both of you. Sometimes looking sideways, you could see Law observing every inch of the girl, in a constant search for signs of the cursed disease that had once taken his family from him. He would never allow that to happen to his little girl.

The worry lasted for years and there was never a sign of the disease or any other illness. Before, if everyone at Polar Tang had a strict health care schedule, with the arrival of the girl, attention redoubled.

Rosi was like seeing a mini-version of Law walking around, especially because of the copy of his hat that he had gotten for her. All the love that Law took to give you and her, when it was just a fetus inside you, the doctor seemed to make up for it with the girl, there wasn't something she wanted or asked for that he wasn't ready to do.

Rosi seemed to love accompanying her father in laboratories and studies, this seemed to change when she was once injured in an attack, in fact Rosi lost her balance with the Polar Tang speeding into the sea and ended up getting a cut on her forehead, patched by Ikkaku since Law was busy fending off enemies. That had been enough trauma for little Rosi to not want to know more about medical things.

"Please, my sweetie, it's just a small remedy." you tried to pull the girl out of the closet.

"No, no, no." she grumbled. The little gray eyes full of water. "It's going to hurt a lot."

"It won't hurt, my love." you insisted, seeing her deny it.

"My princess?" Law bent down, reaching her height. "Come on, this is to make you okay."

"Daddy, it's going to hurt a lot, I don't want it." she grumbled even more, knowing that Law was much easier to convince.

"Doesn't your throat hurt too?" he asked and the little girl nodded. "I promise it won't hurt anymore."

"But what about the injection?"

"Daddy also promises it won't hurt at all." he reaffirmed and saw the girl come out of hiding, heading straight into his arms. "Babe, she's a little feverish." he murmured to you, almost despair forming on his face.

"Law, it's just a cold." you warned him, following him as your daughter rested against his shoulder. You knew that when it came to Rosi's health, Law was the most concerned of all.

"Daddy, it's because I was lying on the ice with Bepo." the girl confessed the information, adjusting herself to reach Law's field of vision. "I'm just a little sick, that's it." she created a small space between her fingers.

"That's great, my love." He placed the girl sitting on the stretcher. "It means it'll only take that long for you to get better." he repeated the gesture she had made with her fingers. "Ready?" he saw her deny it, laughing. "Do you want mommy to hold your hand?"

"Yes!" She reached out her little hand to you. "Mommy, what is this?"

"It's dad's way of taking care of us." You tried to sum it up the best way. Maybe she was too young to understand how akuma no mis works.

"Ready? First take a deep breath…" Law imitated, holding the air for a while and making her laugh when she saw him puffed up. "And now…" he applied the injection to her arm. He knew it hadn't hurt at all, but the girl automatically started to pout. "My little princess, what happened? Did it hurt?"

"No." she said, her voice breaking. You both had to laugh when you saw her asking you to hold her without even moving the arm that Law had given the injection to.

"My love, what do you think…" Law bent down to look into her eyes as he spoke. "We can go to the kitchen and steal…"

"Bepo!" the girl stretched her arm towards the bear that appeared in the field of vision. "I want to be with Bepo."

"With Bepo?" Law pretended to be frustrated.

"He's warm and I'm cold." you passed the girl to Bepo, who was her favorite company. Law insisted that it was because the mental age was identical, but you always laughed at the accusations while the bear grumbled.

"What do you say we read a little?" Bepo suggested, letting Rosi climb onto his shoulder.

The two of you accompanied him to the living room, giving Bepo information about the girl being feverish. It only took a few words from the bear who started reading one of her favorite stories for Rosi to fall asleep. Law carefully took his daughter from him and started walking alongside you to the girl's room.

"I can't believe she chose to go with him."

"Well, you had just given her an injection, she harbored some resentment." you joked and saw him frown. "Maybe the next one will like us more than a huge, cuddly bear."

"Next, huh?" he spoke in a low tone, not wanting to wake the girl in his arms.

"Exactly. Or have you forgotten about the ten minutes hiding in your living room when Ikkaku was having a girls' night out with Rosi?" You saw his expression light up, a smile that you hadn't seen the first time you had this kind of conversation and that was one of your favorite things in the world.

"How long, is a month half?" he tried to hold back his louder, surprised voice.

"Yes, I took the test last week." you watched him open the door and place little Rosi on the pink bed. Before you could return to the subject, you felt him take you in his arms and lift you up, filling your face with kisses.

"I love you so much, I love you both." he put you down. "To be more exact, the three of you."

[wachtelspinat]

do you have any advice, resources or practices you recommend for making your art more expressive? I adore how you push expressions and body language, and the way it keeps its weight is phenomenal! I wanna learn how to do that, too!

hey thank you so much <3

one of the most important things that i've learned on my way and that i've kept in my mind ever since is what makani states in [this post] sometimes i go into a drawing and just try to construct it bit by bit, only to realize that the eyes don't fit the mouth etc... then i remember to treat it all as ONE expression and (second very important lesson incoming) i erase everything and start anew (i know it feels bad to just delete a sketch of a head (you don't have to delete it right away, you can always just take another layer) but believe me it not only saves you tons of time, you also learn more when you just start over from scratch. the thing i do is as follows, i keep the bad sketch open and try to figure out what i don't like about it, and put extra focus in those areas in the new sketch. like i think the eyes were too dull in the first try? the solution is to draw them open even wider, turn up that expression a nodge, try to "bend" it). i know this sounds exhausting, you might think isn't it easier to just try to fix the first sketch? i thought so too for many years, but believe me, if you don't like it, start a new one. you will always be amazed on how good it can turn out (and, as said before, the benefit of analyzing your own art and trying to figure out what went wrong and fixing it in a new attempt is HUGE.)

third thought on this is "don't be afraid to push the boundaries". like i grew up being a huge ren & stimpy fan as a kid, i love classic cartoons, i love exagerated expressions so much, eyes popping out, sweat drops flying around, over the top visualisation of feelings. that's my shit (pizza tower i'm looking at you). then on the other hand i also love things feeling palpable and real, hence the weird mix of my style i guess... what i want to say is: don't be afraid to push your expressions a bit. not only is it fun, with the right balance it really adds to it all (in regards of body language and facial expressions likewise).

and last but not least, so important: use references. i often take photos of myself doing weird gestures just to see how the mouth or the eyes would look like for a specific expression, how the nose wrinkles, how the shoulder come up when trying to visualize that someone is tense etc etc. use ref, please, not only photos but also drawings, try to figure out how other artists translate certain gestures in their art, how can you stylize this (everything ofc without copying directly from them... like for personal practice everything is cool and chill, but respect the rules of the artist community)

it is hard to pinpoint down how everything we do in our art lives comes down to what we draw at the end of the day, like everything i post, how it looks, is the result of almost 2 decades of drawing with a purpose, but i hope this helps a bit.

[somehow-a-human]

Deciphering the Angelic Language

DO NOT ASK NEIL ABOUT FAN THEORY

Oh boy, I'm finally tackling a post on this! I haven't seen a ton of discussion about this or progress and I think that's because it's very complicated. I've done a bit of work on it and I'm hoping by sharing here we'll be able to combine our brainpower and make some more progress!

SO! Let's get into it shall we?

Let's start with what we've been told about the Angelic Language:

An SFX team member said that the pillars in heaven "don't translate into words" (so maybe it translates into something like hex? ASCII?)

A speaker at Ineffablecon confirmed that the language "contains meaning and can be decoded"

According to the Chapter 6 VFX Breakdown video, "The creative team broke down the symbols into an alphabet of about 140 runes"

I'm going to start with that last bullet point. An alphabet of about 140 runes, which math-wise narrows down what type of alphabet we might be looking at. Specifically, I think it might point to Consonant/Vowel Pairs, which gives you 126 characters, then add in numbers and punctuation, you've got about 140. That's my best guess anyway.

The next thing i did was look at the Heaven CCTV footage of Gabriel FRAME BY FRAME to analyze the runes on the screen in these scenes. I think this is the best place to start for a number of reasons, first of all, being that the CCTV footage seems to only use a subset of the runes that don't include and modifications like extra dots or ticks. I consider them base runes.

Secondly, the runes cycle through a lot of changes here so it's a great place to look for patterns, and find patterns I did.

I found 4 sets of runes that cycle sequentially through a repeating pattern. Okay I'm going to do my very best to explain this.

The above we will call set A

The above we will call set B

The above we will call set C

The above we will call set D

The runes on the CCTV will *almost* always follow the sequence of their set, and when they reach the end of the set, they're marked with one of the following first two sequences below which I'm referring to as "indicator runes" after which they either repeat the same set or a different set.

The only time the runes change in the middle of a sequence is when they're denoted by the third row indicator runes before the change occurs.

So there does at least seem to be some pattern to the runes, at least when it comes to the ones used in the CCTV footage. These however are only about half of the total number of runes, the other half are derived from these initial ones, and have additional tick marks and dots added to them to add some sort of meaning and differentiation.

These screen grabs are from the Chapter 6 VFX Breakdown video, and during the lead in to these animations I think I can also say that the language is probably read right to left, as that's the direction the runes scroll in on the screen.

These scenes are also shown with a certain glowing overlay, so I'm wondering if when we can figure the language out, if there is an interesting message here to be read as well.

Anyway! If you have any other info or this has sparked any ideas about the language for you please let me know! I will continue to play with it and update when I have anything of note! :)

[steve-language-rogers]

Should Have Known Better

A pool day with the Avengers causes Steve to figure out your secret. Hurt/comfort. Steve Rogers x f!reader. Steve being so sweet and protective and perfect. Set sometime when all the Avengers (including Bucky) are happy and living in the tower together. Reader is also an Avenger. Oneshot. 3.6k.

Tw: Reader is being abused by an unspecified male someone close to her. Dissociation. Bruises. Anxiety. Please take care of yourself if this content may trigger you.

A/N: This is my first fic and has been in my notes a LONG time. Wrote it for myself when I was going through something tough and figured there might be others who could use a lil fictional man comfort.

18+ only. Minors DNI. I do not consent to my work being translated, reposted, put on other platforms, or stolen.

GIF by @buckyscombatboots

You should have known better.

Some snide remark you make with a mischievous look at Tony about being a little rusty after his bad dive into the water would come back to bite you in the ass. He's the king of snide remarks, and no insults, no matter how playful, go unpunished. Most of the time, you took his teasing as a sign that he liked you. Today, the consequences of his taunting were much more than you bargained for.

August in Manhattan was scorching, so the team was lounging at the Tower's rooftop pool for a rare day of relaxation. You used to love swimming, but you chose to stay dry in your coverup for a reason–a good reason.

However, Tony could never have known this. A few drinks later and, "You know what makes iron rust faster, Y/N, water!" The next thing you knew you were pushed from the edge of the pool straight into the water.

Gasps of disbelief and giggles filled the air from the team, alongside a lightly chastising, "Tony!" from Steve. When you got your head back to the surface, you shrieked at him with indignation, a smiling tugging on your lips as you pulled yourself back onto the edge. Thankfully, it had all happened too fast and the water made too much of a splash for them to have seen your skin when you went under.

"You'll pay for that when you're least expecting it, Stark," you warned, stamping your soaked feet inside.

"Y/N, where are you going?" asked Natasha., smiling You paused in the doorway.

"To dry off..." you say with a laugh, said as if it was obvious.

"Why don't you just take your coverup off and dry off in your bathing suit out here?" Bucky offered.

"Uhh...I don't want to get sunburned," you explained lamely.

"Sugar, there's an umbrella five feet away from you," said Sam.

"C'mon, no one's gonna judge you if your six pack isn't a defined as Thor's." Tony joked. Thor wiggled his eyebrows at Bruce, who shook his head in exasperation.

"Guys, just let her go," Steve defended.

Your response rushes out of your mouth and you shift your weight from foot to foot, "I'd really rather just dry this off inside quickly. I'll be right back." You turn and continue into the room, and turn to close the door after you, only to be stopped by Steve.

"Right behind you!" he called out, "I just have to grab something quickly," he smiled.

You held the door open for him and gazed up at his sweet expression, hoping he couldn't see how your eyes sparkle for him. "You didn't have run, Steve. I would've waited for you."

"Well," he tilts his head shyly, "I know, but I didn't want to hold you up," he says. "I know you didn't want to get wet today and I'm sure you're uncomfortable." Ugh, why did he always have to be so conscientious?

"Plus," he whispers, leaning close to your ear, "you're dripping all over Tony's expensive hardwood." He meets your eyes with a teasing gaze and nudges your elbow before heading down the hall.

You walk as quickly as you can to the closest bathroom, trying your best not to drip all over the place. Since you're wearing a bathing suit under your coverup, you don't bother to close the door as you strip off the garment and start drying it with a hair dryer.

You should have known better.

The loud whir of the dryer prevents you from hearing Steve's footsteps as he returns. "Y/N?" he calls. You don't notice him approaching until he right on the other side of the doorway. "You can wear this if you wan–what the fuck?"

Shit! You slam the bathroom door shut but it's too late. You know he's already seen the purple and yellow bruises covering most of your ribcage and abdomen.

In typical protective Cap fashion, the door instantly yanks back open as he storms in. Does Steve respect his teammates privacy more than any of the other Avengers? Yes. But his concern for their safety always takes precedence over privacy.

His eyes are wide, his brows are furrowed, and his mouth is hanging open. His whole body is tensed and you can see that Cap quickly replaced easygoing Steve the moment he caught sight of you.

"What the fuck happened to you, Y/N? Why are you covered in bruises like you've been beaten to shit?!" You squeeze your eyes shut and turn your face away from him. He's sounds mad. In a different situation, you'd have the wherewithal to know that he's just scared for you.

After recognizing your fear, he takes a deep breath to calm himself and softens his voice. His eyes are trained on you, desperately searching for a hint as to what's going on. Stepping closer to you and placing his hand gently on your arm, he asks again, "Y/N, what happened to cause all of these bruises?" His anger has dissipated from his words, but the question hold just as much authority as anytime Cap speaks.

"Steve, please" you whimper, trying to back away from the intensity of his gaze. "Please don't worry about it, it's nothing," you beg. You're staring at the marble counter, the tiled wall, even the damn wet coverup that started all of this as you attempt to avoid his gaze.

It's completely futile, as always when Steve is concerned about you and won't relent. "Y/N," he holds your jaw lightly, forcing you to face him, "I need you to tell me how you got those bruises."

The statement is final. You know he knows that they're not from a mission (he reads every report to make sure no one has gotten injured) and that he's not going to believe they're from some clumsy accident (he's had too many bruises himself and can tell what kind of marks a targeted attack leaves).

You can't tell him the truth. You close your eyes again to avoid his gaze, "It's fine Steve, they're almost healed," you say to try to deflect the question. He still doesn't let up.

"Y/N, did someone do this to you?" he asks, already half-sure of the answer. Your silence confirms his suspicions. He lowers his voice as soft as it can go, knowing what the next question will do to you. "Did someone close to you do this to you?" he asks.

Your eyes pop open involuntarily. You feel trapped and screwed because he knows–how did he know?

The instant he sees terror in your gaze, his heart breaks for you. How could he not have known? You're frozen in shock, reactionless. He moves his hand to the back of your head, caressing your hair and bringing your face into his chest. His other arm wraps around your back, soothingly rubbing circles on it as he hugs you into him. "Oh, Y/N..." is all he can say for a moment, his voice wavering with the pain he feels for you and the guilt he feels for not seeing the signs sooner.

Tears stream down your cheeks but your face is frozen still in worry. You couldn't break down sobbing now to save your life if you needed to. It felt like your emotions just shut off completely. All you could do was hyperfocus on what you needed to do to keep yourself safe in that moment. Which was ridiculous, considering you were with Steve who had never, ever hurt you before. For some reason, danger still felt imminent.

Steve pulled back, cradling your face in his hands, brows furrowed with worry and eyes the slightest bit glossy. "You're safe now sweetheart. We're gonna keep you safe. I'm gonna keep you safe."

You nod because your brain tells you it's the right response. You're not sure if you're actually hearing anything he's saying. You register the feeling of his thumb, swiping across your cheek. He must see the glazed over look on your face. You think he calls your name a couple times and the next few minutes are blurry. You're breathing, breathing deeply and slowly with him. He's guiding you back to yourself.

You blink a couple of times as your awareness sharpens back into focus. "With me again sweetheart?" Steve asks, thumb still caressing your cheek. It's bad, he knows that. You need to see a professional right away, but he needs you conscious and present in your body first. "Y/N, I'm so sorry that this has happened to you. I'm never going to let it happen again. But right now, we really need to get you to a doctor."

You're shaking your head violently halfway through his sentence. "No, no I don't need a doctor," you say instinctively.

"Sweetheart, I've seen bruises like this before and we need to make sure that nothing is broken," he says. "I can call in Bruce, or Helen, if you'd like. No one else on the team has to know if you don't want them to. But we need to make sure you're okay."

"Okay?" you ask, confused. "He's going to know, he always says I can't go to a doctor or the hospital, that they won't even treat me because nothing is wrong and he'll be so mad if I do it, I promised not to." The look in your eyes is wild, but you're speaking in sentences again and Steve takes this as a good sign. What you're saying is an entirely different story. But if he wants to help you, he can only take it one step at a time.

"He's never going to find out, I promise. Okay? You're not even going to leave the building, just downstairs in the medbay. No paperwork, no records, nothing. I'll stay with you if you want." You don't look convinced. "I promise he'll never know, alright? Do you trust me when I say that?" he asks, hoping to appeal to your rational side.

"Steve, I–I... he always finds out everything I try to keep from him. Why would this time be any different?" you're desperate and terrified, and Steve wants to rip that guy's throat out for everything he's done to make you like this.

"Sweetheart, because this time you have a team of superheroes and spies who are behind you," Steve says with a small smile.

This is what gets through to you. Your gaze flickers between his eyes, and your brows are still taught with fear. Slowly, however, you nod your head and say, "Okay Steve."

Relief floods his face as he pulls you back in for a gentle hug. "It's gonna be alright," he promises. You want to believe him so badly.

Thank you for reading! Comments & reblogs are always appreciated. If I can help anyone feel comforted by this, I'll have done my job<3

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

I'm sort of confused on Silver's personality. I know the game typically portrays him as someone who is empathic/kindhearted/etc., but after looking through his battle lines and the Glorious Masquerade tower scene (where he's joshing with Sebek before they go to fight the flowers), it seems like he lets out a different part of his personality? Battle lines were sourced from the wiki.

I initially thought it was exclusive to when he's fighting, but in his dorm uniform vignette, he's just praising Sebek's skills during their sparring (unless sparring vs. real fights prompt different reactions from him, but he doesn't seem to have the same cocky dialogue in book 7 either).

For reference, I'm EN only.

To those he considers his allies, yes, Silver is generally cordial (if not blunt) and empathetic. If it’s a situation where he has to protect his loved ones? Then Silver has to get serious and take down those threats. At the end of the day, he’s a knight and he has duties to tend to. However, it’s not so much of a confusingly merciless aspect to his character, erasing his empathy, or showing a hidden dark side to him 8as it is just another facet of who he is and an extension of his preexisting traits.

Given the opportunity, Silver tends to opt for discussion first before attacking or deceiving. Notable examples of this include Fairy Gala: If (where he expresses guilt for tricking the fairies and suggests just talking with them instead) and Endless Halloween Night (where he attempts to speak with the ghosts… until his peers ruin it by preemptively attacking them). In the cases where he does have to resort to violence, it usually comes with this air of reluctance, he’s almost never the instigator (but instead follows someone else’s lead, like Jamil in Endless Halloween Night), and/or he apologizes to those he beats down (book 7). When listening to the audio for the battle lines (I’m not sure if you did this too or if you just read them), I don’t really get a sense of arrogance from how Silver speaks. They’re mostly pretty neutral and soft. Because of this, I don’t think he takes any genuine joy or pride in striking others down. It’s just… something that comes with the territory and the nature of what he does. A “necessary evil”, you might say.

I cross referenced fan translations and native Japanese speakers in my own life about Silver’s battle lines. They seem to be pretty accurate, so the explanation for the can come down to a few things.

One idea is that the Diasomnia students just speak melodramatically; this is something that Azul and Idia remark on in Glorious Masquerade:

Having others misinterpret the meaning bc behind their words and body language is a detail that may ring especially true for Silver, as his Dorm Uniform vignettes center around a misunderstanding between him and some mob student peers. Lilia notes that while it may be easy for him, Silver’s father, to read and to understand Silver’s emotions and the intention behind them, this may not be true for others.

Let’s circle back around to Silver and his identity. Being a knight is a Big Deal for him, who wants to have the power to protect the people he loves and to “pay back” what he feels is owes to his father. He even references the fruits of his training and physical prowess in various battle lines. The pride Silver has in his own power, then, comes from that selfless desire to fiercely defend the things he cherishes—but as his Dorm Uniform vignettes show us, it’s so easy to misinterpret his aloofness as something else. Due to this + the dramatic flair of the Diasomnia students, maybe some players misunderstood Silver’s battle lines as being more arrogant than he intended for them to be.

Another idea that I think also makes a lot of sense is just how Silver perceives the situations he’s in. He’s able to be a lot more amicable when he’s fighting alongside Sebek, his childhood friend, fellow knight, and pseudo-little brother figure. They have known each other for so long that they can read each other’s true feelings and can perfectly coordinate their attacks with one another. Silver understands that Sebek lashes out because he’s embarrassed and this is how he shows affection; Sebek knows that Silver is empathetic and kind but that others fail to see if because of Silver’s stoicism, etc. They can afford to poke fun of each other while they train or do a practice sparring match—and Silver, being the older one, naturally feels a sense of pride seeing Sebek make improvements.

In Glorious Masquerade, Silver and Sebek are panting and starting to get tired from fighting the fire lotuses… and yet they’re still able to lightly tease each other, pointing out that the other is slightly faltering. This is how they communicate with each other, because they both have too much pride to show weakness in front of their fellow knight.

It is Sebek who suggests having a competition to see who can cut down the most flowers, NOT Silver. Knowing that Sebek is the type who conceals his emotions with fake bravado, it’s very likely that the competition was Sebek’s roundabout way of encouraging Silver and giving him motivation to keep fighting.

Alright, now pay attention to Silver’s face between the first and second screenshots here:

At first, Silver seems surprised. Almost immediately after, he’s doing that soft, lopsided grin while seemingly saying a really arrogant line about how he’s going to essentially mop the floor with Sebek and secure the victory. Looking at this scene from an outsider’s perspective, Silver’s weirdly being stuck-up to his friend in these dangerous circumstances… and that’s the thing, it’s the OUTSIDER’s perspective.

Given how well the two know each other and their respective communication styles, I’d wager this scene isn’t how it appears on the surface level. Again, it is Sebek who suggests the competition… after he notices that the chips are down. Silver knows that Sebek is brash in his efforts to cheer others up. That is most likely what Sebek is doing now, and that’s why Silver so quickly rebounds from shock to smiling. When he says, “I was just worried about how I’d calm you down when you inevitably lost”, it doesn’t necessarily have to read as an ill-timed taunt. It could also read as Silver joking back to try and ease Sebek’s weariness and grant him some motivation too.

Lastly, here’s the boring meta answer (booooooooo): things that are said or happen in battles/gameplay don’t always match up or make 100% sense in the context of the narrative. For example, playable characters don’t always have the same stats as when we battle them as mini-bosses, somehow you can have a whole team of the same character, etc. For Silver, the battle voice lines he has do not make sense for every battle he takes place in for the main story, and thus he may not truly be telling Silver Owls “Know your place” (which does, in fact, sound a little hostile OOC) when you deploy him to fight. You have to also consider that we have like… zero explanation for any battle lines other than they’re battle lines. This is completely unlike the main story which has tons of context and set-up.

Thinking of it like this, we can clearly separate battle lines from lines of extended dialogue shown in the main story, vignettes, etc. It doesn’t mean the Silver we see in battles isn’t “real”, it just means the Silver we see in battle segments won’t accurately reflect his current state of being at that point in the story because he doesn’t have specialized voice lines to suit each scenario. Silver has always consistently been kind-hearted and willing to hear others out; this was not changed even in book 7. It only appears that he has oddly stuck-up and out of character voice lines because our brains want to stitch everything together into a single narrative even when the gameplay meta and the story meta don’t want to align.

[sccrim]

illusion club — kakashi hatake

ʬʬ . warnings ▧ ▧ stripper / stripping , touching

this was a fic i was gonna start for him but ended up not liking it so this is what was supposed to be the first chapter ahahha

"right this way mr. kakashi." a woman smiled making sure kakashi went to his table. everyone in the club knew who he was. they all knew he always had to sit in vip with a clear view of the stage. "so many new women." might guy smiled deeply eyeing all the lady's in there.

this place was like candy to them. every other night they always went to relax after long days of work. kakashi only went to this specific club for the only woman he loved to see. he admired your body like art. made sure he memorized every single detail about your body figure, face, hair.

"your admirer is here for you." your friend laughed placing her dark red lipstick on her lips. "yeah and he bought his friends." you smiled lifting your boobs. "good thing i wore my new heels." your friend blew a kiss while walking out to the floor. "hope you get lucky tonight."

"tell n/n i'll be in the private room." kakashi fixed his suit and took a sip of his whiskey. he walked across the floor to the private room waiting for you to walk in. he missed you. missed your body moving side to side in his hands. missing the feeling of tracing your body while she dancing on him. he wanted you, no actually he needed you.

"back for more mr. kakashi." you smiled walking toward his seat. "you could say that." he spoke softly. "you know you're making the others jealous." you grabbed his arms and placed it on your hips. "is that so?" he slightly bit his bottom lip looking at you sway your hips. "you can't always have me to yourself. i have to make money some how right?"

kakashi grabbed a stack of hundreds and threw it on the table. "bend over." he demanded. you smiled bending down placing your hands to your ankles looking back at kakashi. "everyone knows when i walk in here you're all mine. they have a problem they can speak to me." he placed his cigar down. putting his right hand on your ass. "ah, there's where you're wrong hatake." you turned your body to him and sat on his right leg.

"i'm not yours." you whispered in his ear. "is that so?" his hand placement now on her lower back. "strip." he threw another stack on the table. "is that how we treat woman now?" you slipped your bra off. "please baby." he soft spoke blowing out a bit of the smoke. something about you put him in a trace. he was the only man you would strip for. one, the money was good. two, you had actually liked kakashi.

the first time he laid eyes on you on that stage he just had to have you and only you. so many women trying to dance for kakashi but he just couldn't deal with them. you were the only one he requested and it had to be you. if you weren’t there then he wouldn't show up. he only had money for you. everyone in the club knew not to mess with you when he was there.

"can i touch you?" you nodded as you sat directly on his lap. kakashi placed his left hand on your inner thigh and his right hand on your throat. you leaned your head back in pleasure as he kissed your neck. this wasn't out of the ordinary. you both liked the feeling of each other. even if kakashi didn't throw stacks out you, you would let him do whatever he wanted to you. he was the only man you would let touch you and feel up.

"times up mr. kakashi." you smiled, getting up placing your outfit back on. "come to my office tomorrow." he spoke as you grabbed his hand making him follow you back to the floor. "and why's that?" you questioned. "you'll see. be there at 8." he whispered in your ear, putting a stack on the side of your hip.

all the girls staring at you guys — jealous of how much you would get just from one man alone. kakashi was a rich man and he didn't care how much he would spend on you. he knew one day he'll have you. it was just a matter of time.

 sccrim — all rights reserved. please do not modify, repost , translate , or plagiarise my content.

[cirilla-fiona-riannon]

My Yakuza Man (Mitsuhide)

Translations may not always capture the exact nuances or tone of the original text. Expect grammatical errors and inaccuracies.

✮⋆˙ Prologue

Mitsuhide: "What's wrong? You don't seem to have much of an appetite."

Mai: "I think it's weird to eat normally in a situation like this."

Mitsuhide: "Agreed."

(Then why did you even ask!?)

Mitsuhide: "However, on that first night we met, you stood up to a group of armed men with remarkable boldness. I figured someone like you might actually eat heartily even now."

Mai: "Sorry to disappoint. But seriously, that doesn't sound like a compliment at all."

Mitsuhide: "Not true. Back then, I did say you were interesting, didn't I? That's quite a rare compliment coming from me."

Gracefully holding his knife and fork, Mitsuhide smiled at me with an air of elegance.

I could feel the occasional glances from the other women seated at nearby tables, their gazes filled with admiration.

They didn’t seem to hear the unsettling conversation, which made me sigh with relief.

(He's talking about that, isn't he?)

That night, caught in a violent conflict, I ended up yelling, 'You should value your lives' when I tried to protect a young man named Ranmaru.

Mitsuhide: "That was a good first meeting."

Mai: "It was the worst for me."

Mitsuhide: "Don't say that. Learning your name and workplace so quickly was a stroke of luck. Thanks to that, I managed to keep you from slipping away."

(I should've just removed my ID back then!)

It was too late to regret it now.

Having had my identity pinned down, I found myself at the mercy of Mitsuhide. 

Under the guise of a date (blackmail), I ended up being dragged to this fancy restaurant.

Mai: "Um, you really don't need to threaten me into silence. I swear I won't tell anyone about what I saw that day."

Mitsuhide: "Silence you? That's an odd thing to say. What exactly did you see?"

Mai: "You know, um, possession of unauthorized firearms and swords?"

Even though I knew no one around could hear us, the topic was sensitive enough that I instinctively leaned in and whispered.

At this, he slightly narrowed his eyes as if holding back laughter before exaggeratedly raising his eyebrow.

Mitsuhide: "Oh dear. You've witnessed something amusing, haven't you, Mai?"

His teasing tone was lighthearted and annoyingly smooth.

(Ugh, it’s like nothing I say bothers him at all!)

(If this isn't about silencing me, then why is he involving himself with an ordinary office worker like me?)

Mai: "You really don't want me saying anything, do you?"

Frustrated, I tried to test the waters, but his perfectly composed face didn't flinch in the slightest.

Mitsuhide: "If that's what you want to believe, I won't stop you. But it's a bit sad."

Mitsuhide: "All I've done is genuinely invite someone I'm interested in for a meal."

Mai: "Y-You're so full of it!"

Mitsuhide: "What would it take for me to earn your trust?"

His evasiveness, paired with words that almost sounded like flirtation, was starting to confuse me.

Unable to read his intentions, I could only stiffen in frustration. Seeing this, Mitsuhide chuckled softly before saying something completely unexpected.

Mitsuhide: "Do you eat meat?"

Mai: "Huh, meat? Uh, yeah, I guess."

Mitsuhide: "Then try this. I've heard good things about the food here."

Cutting the dish into a refined, bite-sized piece, Mitsuhide held the fork up to my mouth.

(Wait, is this a 'say ahh' situation!?)

Mitsuhide: "Truth be told, I don't really care about food. As long as it fills me up, that's good enough for me."

Mai: "Huh?"

(This guy has perfect table manners, but his way of thinking is like that of a warlord.)

Mitsuhide: "But that wouldn't satisfy the chef, would it? So, instead, I'd like you to enjoy it."

Mai: "This is ridiculous. If that's the case, then why did you even invite me to a restaurant?"

Mitsuhide: "I figured you'd find it harder to make a scene in a crowded place. Plus, I wanted to see that kind of expression from you."

Mitsuhide: "Come on. Give up and open those stubborn lips of yours. You don't want me to force it open, do you?"

Mai: "………"

(This is already forceful enough.)

Even as I thought this, his voice, laced with a seductive tone, caught me off guard, making my heart skip a beat.

Mitsuhide: "I'm going to touch your lips."

Mai: "Mmm."

As he brought the fork closer, I had no choice but to surrender and open my lips.

The meat touched my tongue. I gently bit it down, feeling the hard touch of the fork.

Mitsuhide: "Good girl."

(Please don't smile so beautifully like that.)

He watched me quietly as I ate, pleased with my compliance, and finally withdrew the fork.

I felt an overwhelming embarrassment as if I had been forced into doing something shameful, and my cheeks burned with heat.

Mai: "I really don't get it. I have no idea what you want from me."

Mitsuhide: "I'm flattered that you're thinking about me."

Mai: "Stop joking around."

Mitsuhide: "I just wanted to know more about you. It'll be useful for the future."

His words felt loaded with meaning, making me feel uneasy and restless.

But at that moment, his gaze suddenly turned cold.

Mitsuhide: "It seems I have some guests."

Mai: "Huh?"

Man 1: "There he is! Mitsuhide Akechi of the Azuchi clan!"

Man 2: "Don't let him escape!"

Mitsuhide: "Fighting here would be uncouth. Mai, stand up."

Mai: "What!?"

He didn't even flinch when the men pointed at us and charged toward our table. He calmly stood up and, almost as if escorting me, elegantly wrapped his arm around my waist.

Mitsuhide: "You'll accompany me on this little escape, won't you?"

(----!)

He whispered into my ear with an almost playful tone, and it hit me again that this man was unlike any ordinary person.

(This guy is way too dangerous!)

Even as I realized this, I couldn't resist and found myself running alongside him.

[evertidings]

heya kristi, may i have some advice? i'm finding myself stuck at a wall as i'm attempting to make my first ever if and it's intimidating to say the least ;; while i feel so so inspired by wts and other ifs, on the other hand i strangely feel pressured?? to make something worthwhile? creating a story takes time and it's a long investment but i can't help but want to rush myself into putting something out there quickly... how do you pace yourself?

Ah, this is a late response so I'm not sure if you need this anymore, but reading this really resonated with me so I'm going to reply anyway.

Comparing yourself to others will always be a rabbit hole you can't escape. You might look at me and think I've done pretty well for myself, but I also have days where I feel inadequate. I'm aware that I'm not as fast of a writer as some authors and it kills me every day. Even worse is when I watch an episode of a TV show and I find myself thinking: "Oh, you should be writing right now," even though I have every right to wind down and have other hobbies. At the end of the day, you gotta realize that this is all in your head. No one is pressuring you to be faster or to do things you don't want to do—those are just your personal demons.

As long as you want to write this, I genuinely believe the pieces will fall into place from there, success and all. I feel like it becomes quite clear to your audience that your heart isn't in it, which tends to translate negatively. Why would I want to read a work that even the author doesn't care about, you know? You can tell when an author is passionate about their work and that energy is infectious. As long as you maintain your spark, that's all that really matters. In other words, if the story you're writing means something to you, it'll mean something to someone else.

In terms of pacing yourself, just go at a speed that feels right for you. Give yourself a word-count goal to hit every day or week, but don't burn yourself out. Make sure you're only writing when you want to. Hope for success but don't go into things with that as your only goal. Make a blog for your IF, talk about your work and get people excited, but be smart with your marketing and don't promote a demo that has 2 words to its name. I always tell people that a demo should come out within the first 1-2 months of first posting about it—that way, you don't lose interest but you still have enough time to build up hype.

At the end of the day, everyone works differently. I'm still figuring out how to manage things myself, nearly 4 years into doing this. Take advice that you know will work for you and shape it into something that's your own.

I know I went on a bit of a tangent there, but I hope this was helpful to either you, anon, or anyone else reading this with a similar question. All my love <3

[syscest]

[not a confession] y'all mentioned sys4sys sex now i'm, curious about the intrasystem sex basics.... i don't even know where to begin looking for info on this, but i'd like to be more intimate with my headmates. can y'all talk a little bit more about that or share any tips. thanks a bunch (anyone can share tips btw)

hi ^^

so intrasystem sex ends up being a lot more complicated and individualized than intersystem stuff in our experience. a lot of it comes down to how your individual experience of systemhood works.

for folks with fully realised "headspaces" where it feels like headmates all hang out while not in front. headmates interacting with each other, or having fucked in headspace, is sometimes just like. a fact of life. or at least that's what I'm led to believe.

we personally don't have much of a headspace, and interactions seperate from the body tend to feel pretty floaty to us. it's good for flirting or bullying your headmates, but doesn't manage sex for us.

if you're capable of co-consciousness, or even just fairly rapid switches, we can definitely recommend masturbating together. mutual masturbation counts as sex for folks in different bodies, so why should the shared body experience be different.

getting off to smut that you can project a fantasy about you and your headmate onto and passing control of your body back and forth in the process, is probably our most common method here.

at the same time having a headmate instruct you how to get off, or order you to do particular things. is very hot. and once again a kind of kink/sex you can do with people in other bodies, that translates pretty easily to in-system sex if you're co-con.

if you have the ability to be co-con and also pass control of parts of the body back and forth, you can also sometimes get the sensation of another headmate touching you through the body (e.g. their use of a shared hand on your use of the shared face). or, if they can immobilise parts of your body for you, you can sometimes get a good approximation of what it might feel like having them pin those parts of you down.

even if you can't share bodily control, you can try things like having one headmate put the body in restraints (collar and a leash tied around a bedpost, cuffs around the ankles - normal kink precautions apply make sure it's something all ur headmates can undo in a pinch) and then switch out of front, leaving another headmate tied up in a compromising position. while it might not be a direct headmate on headmate interaction, you're still very much doing a kink scene with your headmate.

if you don't have the capacity to talk back and forth in your head or similar, things get a bit more difficult from here. sexting your headmates or leaving them slutty pics in a private chat for them to read later is always an option. as is just getting off thinking about them and seeing if they express opinions about that later.

our experience is a blend of a lot of the above, and we've found a solid horny rapport between headmates can be really positive. getting caught off guard by a headmate's horny thoughts and stumbling to catch your breath? having a headmate throw you onto your bed. grope you. tease you. push you around? getting collared and leashed to the bed and left to relax half naked and feeling very cute about it? finding porn that reminds you of another system member and masturbating furiously while you tell them what you'd do to them? being ordered to cum in a glass and then swallow your/your headmate's cum? well it all ends up a nice pleasant blur of experiences, at least for our own median-ish system.

if anyone else has tips or experiences feel free to chime in. again what works best for you will likely be very individual and require some trial and error to figure out ^^

[ladykailitha]

Never Hold Back Your Step... Part 13

This really is getting down to the end here. I'm already at the Mind Flayer in the spot where I'm at in the story so...yeah. Then it would just one chapter after that. Maybe. I don't know. But it's sad to see this one go, too.

Of course as with "Can Anybody See Me?" once this is done, I will begin work on the final story which will take us all the way to the end of the fourth season. Which I hope to get done before season 5. Ideally.

It will have a line from a song in a musical just like the last two (1776 and The Scarlet Pimpernel respectively) so you have any songs you think will fit the theme of the third book (which will be Steve and Eddie clashing over nerds vs sports until that fateful day in March) let me know in the comments or tags or even a DM or ask. It took me months to come up with the title for this one, so any help would be great.

Here we have the dipshit detectives trying to figure out the message and the "secret tunnel".

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12

~

Once they explained everything to Robin, she told them about what the message said. And no given the context of the message coming from the mall it suddenly made too sense.

“The clock tower, the shoe shop and the Chinese place,” she crowed. “It’s got to be.”

“You sure you translated it correctly?” Steve asked. “Because what the fuck does blue meeting yellow have anything to do with the clock tower?”

Robin rolled her eyes and huffed out a deep sigh. “The hour and minute hands are blue and yellow and meeting in the west would be 9:45!”

Eddie tilted his head to the side. “AM or PM?”

Robin stared at him for a moment in shock. “Oh. I don’t know. Could be either I guess.”

Eddie looked at his watch and cursed. “As thrilling as all this has been, I have to get to band practice.” He gave Steve’s shoulder a squeeze. “Be careful, Stevie. Okay?”

Steve nodded and squeezed Eddie’s shoulder back. God, he just want to kiss him goodbye, because it might be his last opportunity to do so. But Dustin and Robin were watching and probably half of the mall too. “As careful as I can be.”

“How can you be so super chill about this?” Robin asked after he left. “Like Russians are running around our mall and Eddie acts like this is a normal Tuesday for you?”

Dustin and Steve shared a glance.

But Steve just scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Like I’ve had the worst year. My girlfriend broke up with me, I got my head bashed in by Hargrove, I got harassed by the basketball team, I nearly got water dumped on my head because I won the part fair and square, then the same asshole tried to scramble my brains further, I didn’t get into the right colleges and was forced to work here instead of the rec center pool like have for the last three years, and a fuck ton of other things. Now Russians have set up shop in my home town? This is just the cherry on top of a very shit filled cake.”

Robin and Dustin winced. Dustin knew that Steve’s year was actually way worse than the truncated version he gave Robin, but they couldn’t tell her about the tunnels, El, monsters, and secret labs. Hence, fuck ton of things.

“Okay,” Robin conceded, “it does sound like your average Tuesday.” She looked up at the clock. “You’re supposed to be off, anyway. So shoo and take the genius child with you.”

Dustin beamed up Steve smugly, but Steve just knocked his hat off on his way to clock out.

“Hey!” Dustin shouted after him. He turned to Robin. “Can you believe this guy?”

Robin just shrugged. “You’re the one who’s friends with him, not me.”

Steve walked out moments later, twirling the hat on his finger. He walked past Dustin to the mall food court. He stopped and turned around.

“Are you coming or are you going to keep harassing workers?” he huffed, putting a hand on his hip.

Robin burst out laughing as Dustin hurried to catch up, scooping his hat off the floor in haste.

Steve shook his head as they walked through the mall. “Hey if we grab my binoculars, I bet we could stake out the mall and look for Russians.”

Steve looked at his watch and sighed. Eddie wouldn’t get done with band practice until much later tonight and he didn’t want to go back to his large empty house, because of course his parents fucked off to the Caribbean for the summer. His father had forced him to give up a job he loved for the most humiliating retail job imaginable and then fucked off to some place pleasant, leaving him to rot.

“Yeah, okay.”

Dustin let out a whoop and jumped up and down. “You won’t regret this!”

Steve buried his head in his hands. “I already do.”

~

Steve and Dustin were hiding behind a large potted plant with Dustin’s binoculars watching people go by.

“What are we supposed to looking for, anyway?” Steve asked, scanning the crowds.

“Russians.”

Steve tore himself away from the binoculars to glare at him. “Thank you for that unhelpful assessment. I know I’m supposed to be looking for Russians, but what do Russians look like?”

“I don’t know,” Dustin huffed. “Tall, blond, scary looking dudes, I guess.”

Steve rolled his eyes and kept looking. He spotted Anna Jacobi flirting with Mark Lewinsky and huffed out a a noise of disgust.

“You have got to be kidding me,” he said with a sigh. “Anna can do way better than swamp ass Lewinsky.”

Dustin smacked his shoulder. “Can you please take this seriously? You’re supposed to be looking for Russians, not your next date. Besides you already have the perfect girl right there!”

Steve rolled his eyes and went back to looking through the binoculars. “Don’t say Robin.”

“Robin.” Was the immediate response.

“No, man,” Steve said as Dustin grabbed the binoculars from him, “she’s not my type. She’s not even in the ballpark of my type.” Considering that she had boobies and not a dick, pretty much sealed the box on any chances of that romantic relationship going anywhere.

Dustin looked over at him and sneered. “And what’s your type again? Not awesome?”

Fuck you. But Steve sneered and stuck his tongue out. “Thank you.”

Dustin grinned back at him with a little hum.

“Look,” Steve said, “for your information, she’s still in school. And she’s weird. But not like Eddie weird. Weird, weird. And she’s hyper. Like worse than Eddie. At least if you put a book in his hand, he’ll settle down. She’ll tap her fingers and twirl her gum. She was also one of those kids in drama who didn’t think I deserved the role of Thomson. That’s a bad look. And she’s in band? But not a rock band like Eddie, a fucking trumpet.” He twisted his lips in disgust. “No.”

Dustin turned to face him. “Now that you’re out of school, that means you’re an adult. And don’t you think you should move past primitive social constructs like popularity?”

Steve looked at him as if he was joking. “Popularity? Are you fucking with me right now? Did you forget I wasn’t popular for the last four months of high school? Primitive constructs, I tell you. Where the hell did you learn that shit? Camp Know Nothing?”

“Camp Know Where, actually,” Dustin huffed, “And no, it’s shit I learned from life. Instead of dating someone you think will make you cool again, why not date someone you enjoy being around for a change? Like me and Suzie.” He smiled broadly. He turned back to watching the through the binoculars.

Steve was soo close to just telling the little shit that he was dating someone he enjoyed being around, someone who did make him look cooler, someone who loved him for him and not in spite of him. But instead he took a deep breath and said, “Oh Suzie. Yeah, you mean hotter than Phoebe Cates. That Suzie. And let’s think about how exactly you scored a girlfriend?”

He scratched his head, appearing to think about it, then he snapped his fingers. “Oh yeah, with my advice. Because that’s how this works, Henderson. I give the advice and you follow through. Not the other way around, all right?”

Dustin sighed. “I just think you could really benefit from being with someone like her, you know?”

Steve rubbed the top of the kid’s head. “I’m doing better than you think I am. Better then everyone thinks I am.”

Dustin stared at him skeptically, but left it alone. Steve knew that there was no way he was going to leave it alone. He just knew that it was going to come back and bite him in the ass in the worst way and at the worst time. He could feel it.

~

“There is a secret room under the mall,” Steve said slowly, not quite wanting to believe this. “And we can get there through the air vents in the break room?”

Robin nodded emphatically. “Yeah, isn’t that cool?”

He had no idea how to tell her how uncool that actually was, because Jesus fuck, the deeper they got into this, the more over his head he felt.

“Let’s go see your secret tunnel,” he said with a sigh, rubbing his face, just suddenly exhausted by the whole thing.

He followed them to the back and looked up at the vent in utter despair. Sighing, he got a ladder and set it up, then hunted around for a screwdriver. Once he found one, he tucked it between his teeth and started climbing. He reached the vent and unscrewed the screws holding the vent in place.

“Oi!” he called out to Dustin. “Hold these!” He held out the screws for him to take. “Don’t lose them, otherwise people are going to ask why there is a great big gaping hole in the wall.”

Dustin rolled his eyes, but did as he was told. Steve put the screwdriver back between his teeth and took off the vent cover.

“It’s a tight space,” he murmured. “Hey, Robin you think you could fit? You’re pretty thin.”

Robin put her hands on her hips and glared up at him. “While I appreciate you thinking I’m skinny enough to fit, I question your sanity if you think I’m going down the creepy tunnel.”

“Vent!” Dustin huffed. “You’ve both called it a tunnel. It’s not a tunnel, it’s a vent. And none of us are small enough to fit.”

DING! DING! “Hey!” someone called out from the front of the store. “Is anyone here?”

Steve who had been climbing down the ladder, stopped and shared a look with Dustin. A slow smile took over their faces.

“Erica!” they said together with glee.

They ran out to the front with Robin fast on their heels. They skidded to a stop and their smiles grew to actual grins when they saw that she was alone and not with her many friends.

“Erica...hey,” Steve said smoothly, leaning against the counter. “What can I get you?”

She narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously. “Why are you suddenly being so nice?”

Just then Dustin and Robin burst out of the back room and stumbled into front and Erica was even more suspicious than she was before.

So Steve bundled her over to one of the booths and tried plying her with all the ice cream a little girl could conceivably eat, while Dustin filled both Robin and Erica about the messages and all their clues and how they put it all together. It was a hard but impressive sell.

“So will you do it for America?” Dustin asked.

“Well, you can’t spell America without Erica,” she said smugly. “A life time supply of Scoops Ice Cream and you’ve got a deal.”

Robin and Steve shared a glance. Then Steve reached across the table to shake Erica’s hand.

“Deal.”

~

Part 14 Part 15 Part 16

And if you remember something else there from WIP Wednesday... yeah. It wasn't fitting with the rest of the story and had to be cut. Sadness.

Tag List: FIVE SLOTS REMAINING

1- @mira-jadeamethyst @rozzieroos @itsall-taken @redfreckledwolf @zerokrox-blog

2- @gregre369 ​@a-little-unsteddie @chaosgremlinmunson @messrs-weasley @kultiras

3- @maya-custodios-dionach @goodolefashionedloverboi @val-from-lawrence @carlyv @wonderland-girl143-blog

4- @justforthedead89 @irregular-child @bookbinderbitch @bookworm0690 @blondie1006

5- @anne-bennett-cosplayer @yikes-a-bee @awkwardgravity1 @littlewildflowerkitten @genderless-spoon

6- @dragonmama76 @ellietheasexylibrarian @thedragonsaunt @useless-nb-bisexual @angels-of-hades

7- @mugloversonly @y4r3luv @greeniebean911 @birbsauce @acingthecounts

8- @cryptid-system @counting-dollars-counting-stars @ravenfrog @dreamercec @sadisticaltarts

9- @clockworkballerina @bluelightsinthevoid @blcksh33p1987 @i-go-pink-in-the-night @mamafaithful

[wagconts]

𝗠𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗮 𝘅 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿! 𝗙𝗲𝗺!

𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘆 :: where you and Medina are always getting on each other's nerves.

𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 :: mention of Tati and João (sometimes referred to as Chumbo/Chumbinho), two Brazilian surfers.

𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁 :: 1.250k

𝗰𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 :: English isn't my first language; I write my stories in my native language and translate them with the help of translators. So, if anything's confusing, I'm sorry! Sometimes it might be a local slang.

─ Another one for the collection! ─ Medina plopped down next to me.

Gabriel showed me a Polaroid he had just snapped of me while I was distracted, messing around on my phone. I looked at him again, and he had a grin from ear to ear.

─ Seriously? When are you gonna stop taking random Polaroids of me? ─ I asked.

─ Only when my film runs out. And sorry to break it to you, but I just loaded a fresh roll before we came here.

I sighed. Coming to Paris was amazing, like a dream come true. Representing my country in the sport I love, the one I’ve dedicated my entire life to perfecting, was a total win.

This was my second Olympics. I didn’t even make it to the podium in Tokyo, but this time, my confidence was on another level.

The downside? Sharing a house with Gabriel. We've been here for a little over a week, and I still couldn’t figure out his vibe.

One minute, he's all friendly, asking me to share my surf stories, even handing me a flower he picked from some random bush on the beach.

But the next, he's teasing me, throwing shade like we’re rivals from different teams or something. Go figure.

─ You love me, huh? Always sticking close. ─ I said, locking eyes with him.

─ Love’s a strong word, babe. Let’s just say I enjoy watching you lose your cool with my little jokes.

─ I never lose my cool, I’ve got better things to do!

Liar.

─ Sure you do!

─ Are you two lovebirds joining me at the beach or what? ─ Tati interrupted, standing in front of us.

─ Beach? Hell yeah, I'm coming. ─ I jumped off the couch, excited.

─ What’s this, babe? You’re ditching me? I thought we could spend the whole afternoon together. ─ Medina teased with a smirk.

Tati and João burst out laughing at the surfer's joke. I shot him a look and flipped him the bird before heading to my room to grab a swimsuit.

[ .... ]

─ Eh... that was an average wave! ─ Gabriel said as soon as my feet hit the sand. ─ I'd give it a four.

─ Why don’t you go catch a better one then? Talk's cheap; show me what you got. ─ I shot back with a smirk.

─ I like the attitude! ─ he grinned ─ What do I get if I impress you?

─ Nothing, duh. It’s not a prize competition.

─ Kinda boring, but alright, just for the challenge... watch and learn from the best.

─ Best? That’s a stretch! ─ João hollered, making me laugh.

Gabriel rolled his eyes, grabbed his board, and headed toward the waves.

I hated to admit it, but... it’s Medina, you know? He really is one of the best surfers we've ever seen. It’s no wonder he gets all the recognition.

─ You got this, Gabriel! ─ Tati cheered, clapping ─ Come on, (your name), cheer him on too!

─ As if I'd boost that ego any higher ─ I muttered.

Medina spotted a wave and positioned himself on the board. Tati and João went silent, their focus shifting to the water. That wave was the biggest one we'd seen since my last run and his.

I stood up from the sand, watching along with the other two surfers beside me.

─ Is he crazy? He’s lost his damn mind.

The wave passed, but where the hell was Medina?

─ Shit! ─ I muttered under my breath.

─ What the hell did Gabriel do? He’s totally lost it.

The three of us started getting anxious. Tati began shouting his name, hoping for a sign that Gabriel was okay.

But nothing.

So we ran toward the water. Tati and I stayed at the shore, trying to spot him. João didn’t think twice before grabbing his board and heading to where Medina might’ve wiped out.

─ Relax, (your nickname), Gabriel’s a big boy. He knows what he’s doing. ─ The blonde reassured me, patting my shoulder.

─ He’s an idiot, that’s what he is! Did he really need to do all that just to mess with me? ─ I fumed. ─ We have no idea what happened, what if he hit his head on a rock and started bleeding?

─ Girl, stop thinking the worst ─ she scolded. ─ João’s already on it.

Speaking of João, we looked at him; he signaled that he hadn’t found anything.

I took a deep breath. After a few moments, João seemed to spot something, and then, Medina reappeared, climbing back onto his board.

Relief washed over me, and I hugged Tatiane.

─ He’s such a drama queen ─ she whispered, making me smile.

As soon as the two got back to us, the first thing I did was check if Medina was okay.

─ Don’t worry, I didn’t hit anything! Just got caught off guard.

─ Could be worse!

─ Just so you know, (your name) was super worried about you. ─ João teased with a grin.

─ I was worried, yeah, but not like that. I just didn’t want anything bad to happen.

─ Damn, babe, I was getting my hopes up here ─ I mean, who else can nearly have an accident and still crack a joke?

─ Open your eyes, Medina, and make things happen without the jokes! ─ Tatiane whispered, but he still heard it.

[ .... ]

Night had fallen over the skies of Teahupo’o, the sea was calm, and the stars lit up the sky. I was sitting on a rock, finishing up waxing my board so it’d be ready for the heats tomorrow.

I felt a cold weight on my shoulder and looked back to see Gabriel standing there.

─ Still here? I thought you’d be done by now ─ he sat down next to me.

─ Almost done. ─ I said, looking at my board ─ I don’t want any slip-ups tomorrow.

─ And you won’t have any! You just need to keep all the focus and courage you’ve had these past few days ─ he said, looking me in the eyes.

─ I know, but it’s tough. If I gave it my all in the group stage, now that it’s elimination rounds, I need to double that effort.

─ If you keep letting that fear in, it’s only gonna get worse. How about I grab us a couple of cold beers? ─ I laughed ─ What’s so funny?

─ Getting me tipsy the day before the competition? You trying to throw me off my game?

─ Never! It’s the opposite, to pump you up.

─ Damn.

For the first time, I really looked at his face. His brown eyes sparkled like the stars in the sky, and that smile... I could spend hours just looking at photos of him smiling.

─ Kiss me already, (your name)!

I smiled softly before our lips met. He kept his hands in my hair, deepening the kiss.

We pulled back, smiling at each other.

─ Easily my new addiction.

[oh-nostalgiaa]

thank you to @therebelcaptainnetwork for hosting secret santa again, which is the most wonderful time of the year (and the only time i muster enough energy to write, wah)!

my gift is for the lovely @toooldforthisbutstill, who asked for fluff, snow day/rest day, green/earth tones, or hope. i'm sorry i couldn't manage historical or fantasy, but i hope this small slice of life pleases nonetheless.

you can also find this fic at ao3! without further ado, here is:

you're gonna lead me home

The thing about peacetime is this:

There is no manual. There isn’t a set of instructions to follow in order to live in it to the best of one’s ability - especially if one (or two, in this case) are far more used to (and suited for, all things considered) doing whatever it takes to survive wartime.

You are simply taken from everything you’ve ever known and thrust into an entirely new situation with no guidelines and you are told ‘hey, good luck’.

While Cassian concedes that it’s not entirely true that he and Jyn had been airdropped into the unknown since they had been offered an apartment in glittering Coruscant and declined, but it still feels overwhelming at the best of times. This small, nondescript home on a small, temperate, mid-rim world is theirs to do with as they please.

At first, what they do is take stock of their new surroundings, taking careful note of what needs repairs or upgrades, what they can realistically immediately renovate and what may need to wait. More importantly, they examine every inch of their home and the land that surrounds it and they make intricate plans for how to keep themselves and this place safe.

You can take the soldiers out of the war, after all, but the war never really seems to end.

Cassian used to like to pride himself on how quickly he’s been able to adapt to any number of situations during his years as a spymaster, but another thing he’s learning is that the skills he’s gained from years of doing the hardest work imaginable don’t always translate to his new life.

And learning on the fly isn’t always quite so easy when there’s not the threat of death hanging over his head if he fails. Still, sometimes he thinks that death might be slightly easier to bear than disappointing Jyn.

Okay, so that’s a little dramatic, but not entirely inaccurate.

They have both spent most of their lives never staying anywhere long enough to put down roots. The relationships they have built have been superficial at best, because no matter how much it’s hurt to do it, they knew that disappearing was always what they were best at and what was necessary in order to survive another day. They have kept to the shadows and engaged in distasteful things they’d rather forget because there simply wasn’t any other option at the time. They looked over their shoulders constantly, because they never knew when a blade might be plunged into their back, metaphorically and literally speaking.

And that mindset is perhaps the hardest thing to rid themselves of.

Some days are easier than others. With no strict timetable to follow, new routines must be created, otherwise they both bristle at having so much free time and nothing to fill it.

Cassian finds that he’s rather adept at some of the repairs that need doing - the leak in the water filtration system comes to mind - and what he can’t figure out on his own, the holonet helps him learn. The same with cooking, actually. As it’s turned out, for as capable and dangerous as she can be in other areas, Jyn Erso is a complete disaster behind the stove and doesn’t quite possess the patience to want to learn to be otherwise. So Cassian has shooed her out of the cramped kitchen and taken over the cooking duties. He’s surprised by the natural affinity he seems to have for it and sometimes (when he’s feeling maudlin) wonders if in another life, that’s a path he would have gone down.

Some days, life doesn’t feel quite so difficult to navigate. Some days, he’s almost convinced that they’ll manage just fine.

And then there are the bad days.

There are days when one or the other or both of them revert to a state of readiness (and paranoia) that something’s going to happen if they are not hyperaware of every single thing in their immediate vicinity, every tiny noise more than enough to ramp emotions to the point of no return. And stars help them when they cross that point, because the blowup is not pretty. Neither is the aftermath.

If they’re lucky, the result is simply snapping at each other and then pointedly avoiding the other until their tempers settle. They would never put hands on each other, but when snapping turns to worse - well, they can wound each other terribly using just their words.

Icy little shards of insults that hit their target with startling accuracy every single time.

What’s worse is that neither are accustomed to apologizing, despite knowing when they’re in the wrong or when they’ve taken one step too far.

Sometimes, Cassian chooses to focus on repairs to keep himself busy, and if he feels like a particular argument requires more of a distance between he and Jyn, leaves a message letting her know he’s heading into town for supplies. Despite any simmering bad blood between them, he’s perceptive enough to know that not leaving that note would only just make everything all the worse. The sense of abandonment still runs deep in her veins, even though he has promised over and over again that he is with her come what may.

He leaves her to get her aggression out in her garden, or chopping wood, the type of hard physical labor that results in a good, deep sleep once the day is over with.

Repairs get done quicker than anticipated when there are a spate of bad days in a row, and soon, the barebones skeleton of their new home starts to come together in earnest. He only hopes that in time, they’ll both learn how to enjoy it without the fear of everything falling apart hanging over their heads, and that they’ll be able to build the life together that neither believes they truly deserve, deep down.

Sometimes, when the blood runs hot, not bad, they find themselves taking their frustrations out on each other physically - not sparring, although that is an option, but in a much more intimate and pleasurable way. All they need is the closest room or free surface and eventually, verbal jabs turn into gasps and moans, and when all is said and done, they may be disheveled and sweaty and breathless, but any annoyance felt toward each other has disappeared, replaced by satisfaction.

Things are still awkward afterward, as they are wont to be when a real apology hasn’t come, but Cassian’s learned that he and Jyn still find ways to offer one without words.

He’s learned to read her body language like a book and knows when she’s got a headache. He doesn’t say anything, but gently sets a steaming cup of tea down in front of her that he’s sure will alleviate her symptoms enough to allow her to participate in her usual activities. Thanks, holonet.

And Jyn's observation skills are unmatched. Even if Cassian never complains out loud, he will sometimes find exactly what he needs waiting for him, and he knows there’s only one person that could have done it. He tears his favorite pair of gloves, and later finds them stuffed in the pocket of a jacket, carefully darned back together and stronger than ever.

A tool needs replacing or a knife needs sharpening? He’ll find them exactly where he’s left them last, brand new and glittering or looking sharp enough as though it’s never been used countless times before.

I’m sorry may not come very naturally to them, but by stars, they are doing their best. As far as he’s concerned, that’s got to count for something.

Sometimes, on particularly clear nights, an apology can look like curling up together on the soft grassy hillside to silently stare up at the sky together, letting the peace and stillness wash over them as they watch shooting stars overhead. Those times, nothing needs to be said. It’s enough that Jyn’s resting her head over Cassian’s heart, letting the steady beating of his heart lull her into relaxation. It’s enough to be able to press a gentle kiss to the top of her head and be assured that even if he can’t see it, she’s smiling.

Sometimes, it’s enough to know that through it all, the good days and bad days, the lessons they’re still learning about how to live, the love always remains.

The rest will come in time.

[ladytabletop]

Do you happen to have any resources regarding accessibility in ttrpg design? About design, colours, phrasing of text or anything else that could be helpful!

I spent wayyyyy too long compiling all this - but it's important, and I appreciate you asking!!

Accessibility is a subject near and dear to my heart, and I will say up front that I'm not sure universal (aka accessible to everyone) design is possible, because people's needs can vary even within the same subset of similar disabilities (such as limited vision or blindness). BUT that doesn't mean we don't try to design for and make our games available to as many people as possible. Mismatch by Kat Holmes is a great read on design for accessibility in general, as is Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez. You might also check out literally anything Alice Wong has ever done.

To start, I recommend this article on the Lenses of Accessibility.

(for reference, this article is about web/graphic design, so I'm going to try and distill the most salient points for game design)

We are going to primarily focus on a few of these lenses:

Color

Font

Images & Icons

Layout

Readability

Structure

Keyboard

More details under the cut.

Color

Why does color matter? Well, for starters, there's a lot of colorblind people out there. Contrast affects readability. Autistic people and people who suffer from occular migraines might be affected by particular vivid colors. There's lots of reasons to consider color and the work it is doing in your piece, but in general you can provide a black and white, high contrast version of your game to help users.

There are tools out there to figure out if your contrast meets certain readability standards, such as this one.

Font

Dyslexia and other visual processing issues can make font choice really important. Plus, some fonts really affect readability. Additionally, line height, justification, and size of text can affect readability.

Best practice would be to provide a plain-text version of your game (and beware of "dyslexia-friendly" fonts which may or may not actually help - sticking to a basic readability font like Arial, Tahoma, or Verdana, is safest). I like this style guide for reference.

Images & Icons

For visually-impaired people, it's important to use alt-text, descriptions, and/or captions to help screenreaders properly translate images. Tons and tons of details that could go into this, but there are better people than me to describe it.

Layout

We've talked about this a bit, but there's tons of resources for this. There was recently a great writeup about Yazeba's Bed and Breakfast in terms of layout that I highly recommend.

Readability

More of the thing we've already talked about - it really is a combination of all the other lenses that comes down to readability. Audio versions of your game are always a good way to avoid the restrictions of screen readers, but can be expensive to produce.

Structure

This is tables. Tables are a nightmare for screenreaders, but including them as images can also be a problem. The short solution is "don't use tables" but that's not necessarily great for seeing people. The section in this blog is really great when talking about options for structure.

Keyboard

Debated on whether to include this, but given how many games are being read as purely digital files, I think it's important to have workable interactive elements that can be navigated through without a mouse. Some of that is going to come down to the programs being used to open your files. But if there are things you can do on your end (such as labeling form fillable fields on an interactive character sheet), they're worth doing!

Please understand that this isn't an exhaustive list. There's tons of resources out there and technology and standards are constantly changing.

It's also is important to note that even doing one of these things is helpful. You might look at this list and go "wow that's too hard" but I promise you, it's worth it. My games do not all have accessible versions! That's something I'm trying to rectify. The biggest part of that for me is thinking about accessibility from the start instead of at the end! But we can start today, and that's better than not starting.

The most important thing to remember are that disabled people are NOT a monolith - needs will differ from person to person. Accessible design makes gaming better for everyone!

Final Resources:

Accessibility in InDesign

Accessible-RPG

A11Y

Accessible Design for Teams

[loriannbowman]

The Day Before We Parted Ways | Tragedy Boothill Smut Fic

Notices: I can't find Boothill's given name, so I'm calling him Colt. It's said his name, in some language, translates to "Loaded Gun." Boothill POV

Song while writing:

Warnings: Tragedy, Sex, Strong Language, Fem!Reader, Biting, Death, Vaginal Sex, Consensual Sex, Fingering, Oral (Fem Receiving)

Minors DNI

I don't know if you wanna read this but @postmoe I love you bb

Get ready Ladies, Lads and Lassoes, prepare of one hell of a ride.

SAVE A HORSE-- *gets punched in the throat*

He knew he was in love the moment he laid his eyes upon her. Hair that blew in the wind as she stood there, holding her dress down, standing in the middle of a wheat field. Her back was facing him. The strong, insatiable urge to walk towards her was driving his footsteps forwards.

"Uh... Miss?"

She turned around, showing Colt her beautiful face. A cute nose, soft lips, bright eyes, pretty lashes. The way her hair framed her face. He could almost feel his heart stop in his chest.

"Yes? Can I help you, sir?"

Oh, god, her voice. It sounds like heaven to his ears. He knew someone out there would think otherwise, but not to him. She was beautiful, perfect. All he wanted to do was sweep her off her feet and carry her away. Colt was tongue tied. He couldn't figure out what words were at this moment.

"Sir?" she called again.

Snapping himself out of his stare, how rude of him, he clears his throat before speaking.

"Uh... You seemed kinda lonesome, standin' there all by yerself. Is... uh- everythin' alright?"

The woman's eyes grow large before a smile presses upon her lips.

"Thank you for your concern, but I'm perfectly alright." She smiles.

"I haven't seen ya 'round here before. Ya' new here? Where ya' from?"

She lets out a soft chuckle.

Damn... her voice was so soft..

Colt could feel the palms of his hands and the back of his neck sweating from nerves... No... it was definitely just the noon day sunlight. He's perfectly fine.

"Yes, I'm new here. My family just came from the north east a few days ago. I just wanted to look around here. I assume you're a resident of this town?"

Colt puffs his chest, chin up.

"That's right, miss! Name's Colt. I've lived here fer all of my life, as far as I know..." he whispers the last part.

Another beautiful, heart stopping giggle escapes her lips, and a faint blush builds up on his face. He can't help but place his hand upon his heart.

"May I have yer name, miss?"

"Of course. My name's (Y/n)."

"Well, that's a beautiful name for a beautiful lady," Colt says, winking.

Colt tries his best to appear as strong and handsome as any woman would want.

The young woman shows a bashful expression, covering her face behind her hand.

"You're very kind sir, and not so bad lookin' yourself."

Colt really thinks he might have died and gone to heaven right on the spot. She was flirting back with him.

"W-Well, uh, fuck... I, uh... really like the compliment. Ahem, w-where do ya live? I'd like to get to know my neighbors."

Colt could feel his face become entirely red. The best he could do was cover his face with his hair and hat.

A smirking smile crosses (Y/n)'s lips. She snatches up Colt's hand in her's.

"Come on, cowboy, it's this way~"

***

Seasons seemed to pass in the blink of an eye. Colt had already spent two years of his life with (Y/n) and one year with his baby girl, Laura.

Colt and (Y/n) were out walking when they found the poor babe abandoned in an old, rotting shack. They both agreed to adopt and take care of the sweet little thing together.

Within that year of Laura's adoption, Colt finally proposed to (Y/n), who luckily for him, said yes. The wedding was a beautiful thing, baby Laura was the flower girl, being held by her grandpa Graey, dressed in the cutest dress by her grandpa Nick. Once the vows were said, Colt couldn't hold back from a passionate kiss.

"I love you, so fuckin' much, baby~"

(Y/n) rests her head upon Colt's chest, listening to his rapid heartbeat.

"I love you too."

***

“Laura’s such a big girl. She’s already starting to walk,” (Y/n) sighs, leaning her head into Colt’s shoulder, wedding dress hiked up around her thighs.

"I know..." Colt says with a blush, running his fingers down the skin of his newly wedded wife's legs, feeling the soft skin against his. "I wonder how quickly she'll learn that little guitar I made her too."

"If it works," (Y/n) teases.

"Hey!"

A melodious laugh rings through the house as she snuggles deeper into her husband's warm body. She strokes her fingers down his exposed chest. The first thing Colt did when he brought her inside and laid her down was unbutton his annoying dress shirt.

"You know I love you," (Y/n) says with soft smile.

A blush overcomes Colt's face.

"Yeah... I do."

"Do you love me?"

"So fuckin' much."

"Then you should kiss me."

Colt looks at his wife with a smirk growing on his pale lips. He grabs her hand and kisses the back of it.

"With pleasure, my lady~"

He kiss her knuckles, then the back of her hand, then her wrist, and continues upwards until he reaches her collar bone. His tongue then gently laps at (Y/n)'s slightly sweaty skin, tasting her scent before biting down. It wasn't hard enough to hurt too badly, but strong enough to leave a mark that claimed this woman was his wife, his lover. He needed no one else but her, and Laura of course.

A soft whimper escapes his wife's throat, managing to cause a shock of excitement to shoot through his whole body, quickly targeting his loins.

Colt wraps his arms his wife, forcing her to come even closer to his body. He kisses deeper into her neck, causing bruises to form. Another soft moan escapes her lips before she forces her hands between the two of them.

"Colt..." she whispers out, "What about Laura?" We haven't put her to bed yet."

Colt lets his head lull forwards, cocking his head to the side and looking up at his wife through fluffy hair.

"Yer right, babe. I'll be quick as lightnin'."

Colt gives another kiss upon (Y/n)'s cheek before getting up. There, on the other set of cushioned chairs, their daughter rests, head lulled back, mouth open, drooling and snoring. Colt and (Y/n) can't help but chuckle and the former picks up the baby.

"I'll meet you in our room," (Y/n) says, also getting up and moving through the house like a ghost, all dressed in white with reddened lips.

Colt's heart can't help but beat faster in his chest as he holds Laura in his arms, the soft sound of her snoring the only thing overpowering his his own heart. He strokes her hair with his calloused fingers, feeling the fluff as silky as a cat's fur.

Opening Laura's room, Colt carries her over to her bed, tucking her in. He takes off her small, white shoes, and undoes her pink flower dress. Finally he pulls the blanket over her tiny body before pressing a kiss upon her forehead.

"Goodnight, sugar. Papa loves you so very much."

As silently as he can, Colt tiptoes out of the room and closes her door.

With a soft sigh, Colt makes his way down the hall to his now shared bedroom. Coming into the doorway, he see (Y/n) laying across the bed, hair spread around her, her dress already long gone.

"I've been waiting, cowboy~" she coos.

A flush washes over Colt's face. This was the first time since he met (Y/n) that he's blushed this hard. He coughs lightly to clear his throat.

"Pardon me, Ma'am, I didn't mean to keep a lady waitin'."

Colt steps through the door, closing it behind them while unfastening the last of his buttons. He carelessly tosses aside his shirt. His hands quickly dart to his belt, unbuckling it with a loud clinking sound. Unzip and unbutton before he lets his trousers fall to the ground. Nothing left but his knickers. Another wave of embarrassment washes over his body, causing not just his face, but his ears and shoulders to redden.

Gazing up, his eyes meet (Y/n)'s. Her eyes seem to sparkle in the dark light. She raises a seductive hand and beckons Colt over towards her. With faux confident strides, he approaches the woman who captured his heart.

"Now, where did I leave off," he mutters into her ears.

He nibbles at the lobe of her ear, causing a giggle to fill the room. Colt lowers his biting towards the crook of her neck, inhaling her scent.

"God, I love you."

"I love you too, Colt," she moans out, hands wrapping around her husband's neck once again.

One of her hands travels down the Colt's front, tracing over every muscle and every scar that litters his body.

"I married a good one," she says softly, a gentle smile on her lips.

"I can say the same thing sweetheart. Now, let me take care of you."

Colt pushes (Y/n) down onto the bed, entrapping her with his arms. Colt's hair falls around his face, causing a shadow to encapsule both of them together.

Colt presses his palms on the sides of (Y/n)'s hips, spreading warmth against her skin. He rubs them up and down gently, trying his best to get his wife as comfortable as he can. His message grows larger with every pulse, falling lower and lower every time while returning back straight to her hips.

(Y/n) lets out a soft sigh, feeling at ease with her husband's touch. She coos, trying to entice her husband to do more.

Finally, when his hands reach down far enough, down towards her ankles, Colt moves up her nightdress, lifting it in one quick motion over her body, leaving her completely baren to him. His face has never been so red and his eyes has never seen anything so beautiful.

"N-Now, babe... Just so ya know... This is my first time... S-So I don't really know what I'm doin'... Do tell me if I ever hurt you... 'kay?"

(Y/n) lets out a soft hum, a sweet smile on her face.

"Don't worry, this isn't just your first, it's our first."

Colt can't help but sweat slightly, more nervous than ever. This was his first. This was her first. This was their first... He had to do this right.

Colt, with a new found determination and motivation, regrabs her hips. This time, however, brings her closer to his body. Colt sits on his knees while (Y/n) lays on her back, her privets pressed firmly against his pelvis.

Colt places his palm against the flat of her chest before caressing his fingers down until he reaches her clit. He strokes it gently, causing a soft jolt to be sent through (Y/n)'s body. She gasps at the reaction that pulses through her.

"Y'all right?"

(Y/n) moans.

"More..."

Colt gasps a breath. Biting his lip, he touches his wife's bud once again, tickling the nerves inside. Another great moan escapes his wife's lips. These sounds only cause Colt to become excited. He feels himself growing aroused, anxious for what's to come.

The cowboy takes his other hand and drags it down, skipping past (Y/n)'s clit and instead, teasing the entrance of her vulva. His fingers trace around the lips like fingering around the rim of a cup. Colt's insides feel like their buzzing, the anxiety building up higher as his nerves grow.

Carefully, he pokes one finger inside, feeling the hot, velvety insides of his wife's pussy. His finger was instantly coated in a thin, clear liquid.

"A-Ah~!" she gasps.

He could feel fire building within both of them.

Colt ever so carefully, begins to pump his finger, grinding the pad against the wall, feeling the hot flesh squish underneath it. He can't help but gasp, quickly becoming addicted to the sensation.

Colt leans over, leaving his hands inside her and against her clit, and presses his chest against his wife's. His gently rubs the tip of his nose over his wife's in a sense of intimacy. Colt leans into a kiss, feeling the steaming saliva mix with his. He groans, feeling his member press against the plush of (Y/n)'s bottom. They're hot breath seem to become one as they press further into one another.

"I love you," Colt says through a mouth full of his lover's tongue.

His teeth lightly graze against the bumps of (Y/n)'s tongue, attempting to drink up her entirety.

(Y/n) can only moan out in a responds, feeling Colt add two more fingers into her, not giving her a chance to breathe.

Colt's fingers steadily grow faster, pressing deep into all the spongy innards. His fingers flex, spread and release in rapid succession that all his wife could do was wrap her arms around his back and dig into his muscle.

In Out In Out In Out In Out In Out In Out In Out faster and faster and faster.

His other hand presses harder into her clit, rubbing circles round and round, feeling the slick escaping (Y/n)'s pussy contaminating his other hand. The heated liquid only adding to his finger's rapid and messy movements.

"A-Ah~ AHHH~!" her voice was pitchy and broken.

(Y/n)'s legs cling around Colt's strong waist. She was feeling a heat that was so unfamiliar to her. Tears begin to spring form her eyes as she can do nothing but cry out her pleasure.

"C-COLT!" she cries out.

Colt presses his chest against hers, feeling her try to arch her back as her legs extent into a point, toes spreading. Her body quivers under his, hot, sticky sweat binding them together like melted wax. Colt can feel her breath against his ear, her chest rising and falling against his.

"C-Colt... Ahh~"

His fingers continued to pump in and out of her, but slower now, helping her through her orgasm. The sticky feeling against his fingers was slightly thicker now. His hot breath escapes his lips as he sits up once again, looking at the mess his darling wife made. He can't help but smile, mouth open as he tries to calm himself.

His fingers, barely left inside (Y/n)'s pussy, are now soaked in a creamy white substance, slightly tacky as he plays with it with his thumb.

"That's my good girl."

Something enters Colt's mind.

I wanna taste it.

Letting into those thoughts, he brings the cream to his tongue, having a first taste of what he might consider ambrosia. His eyes blow out wide at the taste. It's a mixture of her natural musk, a salty taste, and what he can only assume, is the natural taste of her slick filled cunt.

The buzzing sensation inside him only grows stronger, thoughts of her taste clouding his mind.

In a strike of lightning, his hands grasp the sides of her hips one against and drags her further up his chest, getting her dripping cunny closer to his face. He takes no hesitation into dragging his tongue along her plush vulva, the reddened lips covered in a rich slick.

Colt's eyes roll into the back of his head. Her scent and taste was overpowering all of his senses. His muscle tongued deeper into her her pussy. He licks and licks and licks and licks and licks and-

"A-Ah! C-Colt! P-PleASE!" (Y/n) cries out.

However, Colt can't hear her, not right now, when he's completely lost within her.

One of his hand goes back to her clit, beginning to reproduce those sweet sounds that little buttons makes.

Colt's mind is spinning so fast he might just pass out.

Lick Lick Lick Lick Lick Lick

He puckers his lips, trying his best to slurp up her body. He nibbles on her vulva, drinking the slick, licking her walls. It was all so much. His hand that clings onto her hip digs deep into her flesh, probably hard enough to leave a bruise.

Colt lets out a groan that reverberates into her folds, his adam's apple bobbing against the seam of her neathers. Her bottom inwardly puckers, clinging around his face, nearly cutting off Colt's airway. Not that he currently cares about that.

The heat of his breath fans over (Y/n)'s lips, causing more heat, more moisture, more sex.

"Fuuuuuck," Colt curses into her body, only causing more vibrations, vibrations shooting up her pelvis and deep into her core.

"AGH-!" she chokes as she tries her best to keep her heart from exploding. "C-Olt! MmhH! M-MORE PLEASE!" she begs.

(Y/n)'s hot hands jump onto Colt's hair, gripping it tightly by the roots, trying to find anything to hold her here, in the conscious world.

Lick Lick Lick Lick Lick Lick Lick Lick Lick

(Y/n) twists her ankles around themselves, making a tight link around Colt's head.

Colt's cock grows harder and warmer with every squeal from her throat, precum drenching his underwear, leaving dark stains dripping down the entirety of the thin fabric.

The pressure keeps pushing and pushing and pushing and pushing and pushing and pushing and-

"AGH! AHHH~! AhhHHH~!"

(Y/n) squeezes the tightest she can against Colt's head, who can only respond with a grumble and moan as more of her cum drips into in longing mouth, coating his tongue in the thick essence.

(Y/n)'s body collapses, going completely relaxed. She's panting heavily, sweat stinking up her whole body. Colt's head rolls back, eyes looking even further back as he tries to catch his breath. His tongue has a mind of its own and continues to lick his lips, trying to taste every last drop.

Colt's eyes refocus themselves, staring up at the ceiling with heavy pants escaping his slick covered mouth. He then rolls his head forward, standing on his knees, looking down at her vulnerable body. Her hand gently placed against her heavily beating heart.

"Oh, babe... You... taste fuckin' good. But, I ain't done yet. I still need," he says between pants, "your body filled with my baby."

Colt collapses forwards, back into the starting position they were originally in. His arms around her head, the only thing supporting him from crushing her under his muscular weight. His drool drips down his chin as he breathes like a hungry deprived animal. In a split second, he lunges forwards, biting down on her already bruised neck, sucking and drinking up her sweat and scent and sex.

God, she tastes good.

Colt's erection couldn't possibly grow anymore painful. He lets her neck go before gritting his teeth, fishing his cock out from his underwear. It's soaked in its own precum, its almost as slippery as his wife's sweet cunt.

He looks one last time into (Y/n)'s dizzy eyes, sending a silent message, a silent question.

She nods.

An open mouth grin grows on his face as he aligns the tip of his cock against the entrance of her body. His face flinches, and his eyes dart to (Y/n)'s face. Her face is scrunched, trying to deal with the excess stimulation.

"Alright, baby... I'm goin' in three... two..."

He pushes himself all the way in.

"ONE! GAH! You're so fuckin' tight... I really did get a good woman, the best in the entire world," he grunts out, idly humping into her.

(Y/n) has a hand over her mouth, trying her best to suppress the screams she wishes to cry out. It hurt so much, but felt so so good.

"MMMhh... I'mma..." he pants, "start movin' now. 'Kay, babe?"

Through teary eyes, (Y/n) once again nods her head, wrapping her arms around her lover. Her nails dig into his flesh even deeper this time, probably going to leave shallow scars.

"Alright... Here we go..."

Colt slowly draw his member out until the very tip is left inside before slowly pushing back inside. He starts to repeat this motion over and over. His breathing becomes laboured slightly, but he doesn't care. His hips start to move faster without his thought or input. Faster and faster and faster.

In and out in and out in and out and in and out and in and out and in and out and in and out and in and out and in and-

A heavy knot begins to tie itself in the loins of Colt, feeling the need to tighten this knot as much as he can. He can't just stop here, not when he needs to satisfy his wife. What kind of man would he be then?

In and out in and out in and out and in and out and in and out and in and out and in and out and in and out and in and-

(Y/n) could feel herself growing tight and pinch once again. A strain passing through her body with laboured breaths. Her tongue lulls out of her mouth, panting like a dog in heat. She bucks her hips into Colt's deep thrust. She whimpers and squeaks at the feeling building up inside her once again.

In and out in and out in and out and in and out and in and out and in and out and in and out and in and out and in and-

Colt's breathing gets even faster, and his thrusts grow slopping, letting slick spill out of (Y/n)'s cunt. Sometimes his ruts are so messy, he falls out, having to quickly put himself back inside. Sweat drips down his forehead and onto the sheets beneath him. He presses his forehead against her, noses gently brushing against one another.

In and out in and out in and out and in and out and in and out and in and out and in and out and in and out and in and-

He opens his eyes, locking them with (Y/n)'s. A deep set connection, one not felt in their sex, but in their hearts, in their souls. Even with the thick and rough ruts, Colt presses the gentlest kiss upon his beautiful wife's lips.

"I love you," he whispers.

"Mm..." she moans out quietly, "I... I love you too."

With a deep yet gentle kiss-

In and out in and out in and out and in and out and in and out and in and out and in and out and in and out and in and-

Colt lets out a soft groan

In and out in and out in and out and in and out and in and out and in and out and in and out and in and out and in and-

Letting all the pressure that builds up inside him

In and out in and out in and out and in and out and in and out and in and out and in and out and in and out and in and-

In and out in and out in and out and in and out and in and out and in and out and in and out and in and out and in and-

In and out in and out in and out and in and out and in and out and in and out and in and out and in and out and in and-

Release...

He cums. He cums as much as he can head leaning back as he bucks wildly. His cum fills up her body, filling her womb, her pussy, dripping out her folds.

In and out... in and out... in...

His high was short, but felt so good. His body quivers before collapsing. He makes sure to fall onto the side of his wife as to not crush her.

Through messy hair, he locks eyes with (Y/n), and a smile is all he can express, breathing heavily through his smile. (Y/n) rolls all the way over onto her side, staring lovingly into Colt's eyes. She smiles, tears running down her face as she can't help but let out nervous and giddy giggles escape her. Colt can't help but giggle like a child too. Tears. Big, fat, and glossy tears drip down the sides of both of their faces as they kiss once more.

Colt, finally feeling the exhaustion catching up with him, wraps his arm around (Y/n)'s waist, pulling her into him before closing his eyes.

"Goodnight, baby."

A sigh escapes both of them

"Goodnight, my beautiful cowboy."

***

He didn't know what was happening. All he knew was that his heart had stopped, tears of sadness rolling down his face. Fire and bombs rained down from the sky, leaving nothing but a burnt surface. By the time he made it out of the IPC ship, it was too late. All of them. All of them were gone. Dead.

He didn't know what would have been worse, not finding them... or what stand right before him.

Nearly incognizable was his wife, six months pregnant with their baby. Laura's skin was melted with (Y/n)'s as they were in their eternal final embrace as mother and daughter. Colt could only collapse to his knees, mouth agape, tears silently rolling down his face and onto the burnt corpses.

Then he felt it. His fist was in a tight clench and all he could do was-

"AAAAGGGGHHHHHH!!!"

-scream. He could only scream, tearing at his hair, his fingers digging deeper into his beating skull. He was so angry. No. Not angry. Not furious. He was in wrath. He swore he would destroy every single person who did this to his home, his friends, his family.

Colt looks up to the sky, the world now raining in its own mourning. In the distance he could still see those ships that those men in the black clothes arrived in. He glared at them, resented them with so much hatred that he could only feel his body burning up.

"I'll find you. And you'll be dead."

***

Boothill jumps awake, metallic hands gripping the seats of the Astral Express. He only wanted to take a little shut down nap to help recharge himself. Everyone else was in their own rooms and Pom Pom was busy cleaning the other cars, leaving Boothill all alone. Boothill touched his face. Tears. It had been a long long time since their deaths... So, why now? Boothill clutches his head before silently sobbing into the darkness...

~~4396 Words