#and how much brute strength they go through on each other like several times every single day

[pumpkinsforsale]

Hello! I am a professional carriage driver and instructor. I work for a non profit taking care of horses and training drivers.

There are a lot of misconceptions about whips, they are not a weapon, they are a tool. Like any tool, they can be misused. I don't know enough about riding so I can't say much there, but a whip is to gain attention. I can whip a draft horse with all my strength and it will feel like a rubberband slap at most, if that. If you watch horses in a field together, you'll see kicking and biting, things that hurt way more than a whip could. If you whip a horse excessively in the same spot, or in the face (especially their eye) it can hurt them. Again, think a rubberband slap on you.

It is a training device, it is an attention grabber. If my right horse is lagging behind, making the left horse struggle to pull the weight, and I already called out and he isn't listening, I tap him with the whip to get his attention.

If a horse sees something scary, and I have pedestrians near me, and I already tried calming him down with my voice, what do I do? Let him panic and tear through a crowd of people, or whip him to get his attention to walk forward. The whip says "hey, pay attention to me, I am giving you a job to do" and it works.

The whip is an extension, and a translator. Horses communicate a lot through nudges and touches, as well as pushing and bites. A whip is translating my intentions into something a horse can understand, a tickle or a snip "listen to me"

TL;DR: whips are a tool to be used with correct horse training, they can be misused just like any tool, and it is really, really hard to hurt a horse with a whip, since that is simply not what they are designed for

Edit: everyone in the replies is saying how little experience they have with horses, while I, a full time trained professional who is running a very public educational barn at an accredited museum, is wrong. I'm losing my mind and I need to walk away.

Absolutely insane that I was taught to punish horses with physical pain (whips, kicks, pulling on the reins) when they didn't do as told. I rode from 2004 to 2012, it really wasn't that long ago. I was taught to whip a horse when he bent down for a bit of grass during a trail ride. It's all hitting me now, how deeply fucked up it all was.

I overheard a kid at a thrift store a few weeks ago, ranting at their dad about the whips for sale at one of the stands, and how you aren't allowed to use whips at all. So I hope that means things have changed, at least at the beginner level.

But of course pony riding schools aren't the same as professional riding organizations. I can't help but feel like the constant horse abuse at high level competitions is an indicator that things haven't changed at all. That horse abuse is still normalized, and that the outraged kid yelling about whips was just an outlier.

When will the horse world realize that horses are emotional, sensitive creatures who feel pain and fear?

[starlitangels]

@frenchiefitzhere I want Wolf Mama back pls I would have put this in your inbox but I think it's too long. 536 words. I'll be in the bathtub if you need me

—

Imperium-Lasko is great for several reasons. The first is the contrast between his prime universe counterpart, the second is character foiling.

The whole point of the Imperium universe is showing the characters reflected through a "dark mirror." Showing what they would be like in a world where the fundamental rules are vastly different. An illustration of how strengths can be weaknesses and vice versa depending on the situation. How the characters change, and how they don't.

Imperium Lasko, president of the Imperial Academy of Dahlia, shows our prime universe Lasko in a world where he didn't have to be scared of who he was and the powers he has. In the prime universe, his intelligence is often secondary to his anxieties. He knows what he's talking about and he's good at theoretical knowledge, but hesitant to use his magic in significant ways most of the time.

Academy President Lasko has none of those problems. He's confident. Both in his magic and himself. He's aware that he's intelligent and he has no fears or anxieties in using that intelligence to his full advantage. Which he often does. Compared to prime-Lasko, his Imperium counterpart shows what he could be, with all the confidence in the world on shameless display. While Imperium-Lasko is often cunning and has been shown to abuse the power he has, he was very sexy doing it he never once wavers in his conviction. He expects to get what he wants, and he gets it.

He is shown, in the Imperium, to be a character foil of the Imperium universe's version of Gavin, Vindemiator. The two and their interactions are clearly meant to showcase their differences, highlighting one against the other. Where Vindemiator is forced to swallow his pride to get what he wants for the sake of his safety, President Moore gets what he wants in part because of his own fearless pride in himself.

In the brief instance they're shown together, they illustrate the darkness of the Imperium as a central government and its influences, as well as the less-influenced personality of someone who is new to the culture.

President Moore and Vindemiator aren't just foils of each other. They also foil their own prime universe counterparts. Lasko is often shown in the main universe to be of the somewhat more timid variety, and Gavin is bold and easy-going and unflappable in almost every situation. Often leading conversations and spearheading (mostly flirtatious) interactions. In the Imperium, we get to see the dynamic flipped. Vindemiator has to submit while President Moore plows ahead.

He gets to be a great character because of his differences between his own counterpart and the other characters he's surrounded with. He's well-mannered and smooth-talking where the Imperium version of Huxley is brute force and blunt honesty. He talks with a honey-sweet voice that belies all the scheming going on just below the surface. He owns who he is and he's satisfied with that choice.

No matter which universe, Lasko is shown as very comfortable with his own sexuality. In a universe where his confidence in the rest of himself is boosted beyond belief, that much is obvious in how he handles himself—as well as his interactions with others.

[mega-bastard]

Bitch in Heat Stuck Under Debris Gets WRECKED

a miki mouse whorehouse collab, the m.list you can find here 

cw: sexual harrassment, abo themes, dubcon kinda

as the poor quality picture can’t really show you, I got stuckage and I chose Bakugo with the finishing touch of making it ABO <3 It’s also two days late but shhhhh we don’t talk about it uwu also 2.7 words of pain enjoy 

katsuki bakugou is becoming a thorn in your side.

you’ve both been metaphorically and somewhat literally glued to each others sides since highschool. it’s not necessarily a bad thing, to be quite frank katsuki is something of a deterrent in a world of second genders and pheromones— something you capitalized on in high school.

being an omega hero isn’t something entirely world shattering, but it’s a position that comes with lots of stereotypes— stereotypes you fought tooth and nail to fight against in your younger years. being one of four omegas in your class was...irritating, to say the least. lots of preconceived notions that you needed to be helped with trivial things, and while your classmates intentions came from a good place it was maddening. save for katsuki, back when he had no restraint with his anger and aggression, he didn’t coddle you like your classmates did. Labeled a brute for his actions towards his omega classmates in trivial interaction or sparring, you thrived on the normality— katsuki was an ass to everyone. Your omega was placated, finally encountering an alpha who wasn’t belittling her with preconceived daintiness.

it was easy to hang near katsuki, ignoring the atrocity that was his vocabulary. eventually like the rest of the peanut gallery that was the bakusquad, you just existed alongside katsuki— which meant that you grew on him. katsuki swears up and down that you’re all a nuisance but you’ve seen him go up to bat for all you at some point, you knew you’d all made some sort of ragtag pack with one another. this was rather amazing to you at the time, not to sell yourself short but you’d never really imagined belonging to a close knit group of friends— especially realizing that they understood when it was appropriate to step in for you. katsuki in particular had a knack for being at the right place at the right time.

During your second year you fumbled.

interning with miruko had its perks, a top 5 hero with raw strength, cunning, and the drive to just keep going— and an omega. landing and internship with her had been a dream, even more-so when you learned she’d been watching you since your first year because of the festival. bright eyed and eager, nothing could have dampened your spirits— neither katsuki and his usual moody behavior or the standoffish alpha from shiketsu. yes, you all had landed an internship with miruko and part of you was...worried? katsuki had never looked down on heroes based on their second genders but you couldn’t speak for the shiketsu alpha, both alphas interning under an established omega hero put your inner omega on edge— you didn’t quite know why though. but you chose to squash the feeling and enjoy your internship with who was essentially your idol and continue on.

then you started getting sexually harassed.

his name was omori kisai and he was the worst. hailing from shiketsu, known for their dignified schooling, he was far from it. salacious comments dropped when no one was listening, less that appropriate touching when passing by and just general ick that had your skin crawling and omega snarling. it was easy to brush it off as banter the first time, section off the awkward contact as an accident. The second time you made it clear the comments were not liked and the touches far from appropriate, after the third time you’d snap an insult or have to hold a trembling fish from making contact. but it was coming to a head and your suppressors could only do so much to hide your souring scent. looking back you should have said something, but your pride had told you that it was a necessary step to overcome and push through— that he wouldn’t be the last. it weighed you down, day by day, a heavy cloud that wouldn’t let up. one particular bad timed comment brought tears to eyes and shame to your entire being.

thankfully, as time would come to show, katsuki tended to nose into your dilemmas.

the day prior to the abrupt end of your harassment  you’d been tripped up by a villian and had fallen a sizeable distance into a pitiful excuse of pond. of course, omori had taken this as an open invitation to mock you and then offer you his shitty hero costume cloak— not without hinting at you returning the favor ‘somehow’. yeah right. you had stomped off, unaware of katsuki’s presence nearby. come next day, omori avoided you like the plague and katsuki not so subtly stuck to your side like an unwilling chowchow— all growly and temperamental. but his constant presence rubbed his scent off on you. despite his less than chummy attitude, you weren’t mad; katsuki smelled like cinnamon spice and whiskey with hints of burnt caramel— absolutely overpowering yet decadent all the same.

you tried not to think about just how much you enjoyed his smell. your omega was purring about it.

the omori incident was the beginning of katsuki’s subtle hovering. though you pried the truth of his involvement in omori leaving you alone after offhandedly bringing it up to mina and jirou one day, katsuki helped you out of situations as invasively as possible time and time again. by the end of third year it was no secret to you of your classmates teasing of your relationship with katsuki; an amiable and prideful omega and the irritable powerhouse of an alpha. you brushed it off because...well you didn’t know why, but katsuki’s seeming indifference to the teasing had you quelling every jittery happiness your inner omega expressed at the thought of katsuki being your alpha.

now, three years out of highschool and beginning to climb the ranks, katsuki was becoming testy— and for the life of you the reason couldn’t be more opaque.  you both work at the same agency, and due to the nature of your quirks you spend all your time together due to their compatibility. compatibility was a bitter word for you, katsuki and yours supposed compatibility had been talked about for some time now but the sobering reality is that perhaps you two were simply good friends— and now sharing your omegas endearment for the explosive alpha had reared its ugly head.

your heat was a week away and already you felt the familiar fatigue begin to lap at you alongside general moodiness. all that coupled with the annoying need to be around katsuki was maddening and sprinkling his own extra grouchy attitude on top and you were ready to snap. in hindsight, that should have been your cue to take an extra week off— instead you chose to once again to champion pride instead of your intellect.

you could have stayed home this morning, you should have.

patrol had been slow, not particularly unusual but favored nonetheless. face raised to the slowly dipping sun you couldn’t help but sigh, the warmth of the late afternoon sun was heaven sent-- you could sleep standing up with much issue. it remided you katsuki, strangely enough though most things did recently.

the sound of screaming and rushing feet shook you from your drowsy stupor. Set on alert, you spied the source of the sudden discordance and found several villains causing a commotion. quickly calling for backup for you before finding yourself facing a hulking mass of green charging you head on. tranquility gone, it was time to fight.

the ache in your body could not be more apparent but your humiliation ran more rampant in your system than any ache or pain could, your fatigue more than present as your body hummed with warmth. leave it to you to get stuck face down and ass up amongst the trashed ruins of what was an office building, weighed down between a broken desk and a collapsed bookshelf. the villain you had engaged with, some self-named idiot calling himself cruel croc, packed a punch and your bruised body and rendered office floor were a testament to that. of course, you’d done quite the bit of damage to him yourself before the entire floor collapsed underneath you both— rendering the meathead unconscious under a rather hefty pile of concrete and debris whereas you were pinned and to utterly weak to do much.

the thrum of your heat was beginning its path of vengeance through your body, feeling too pliant to get yourself out of what was otherwise easy to fix problem. you were feeling it, bad. the heat of your clothed cunt was beginning to become too apparent, unconsciously squeezing your thighs to provide relief to no avail. no, this could not be happening right now of all times. but as much as your inner monologue fought to try and will away your heat, the warmth was becoming too much and sudden breeze of wind had you trembling and whining. the feel of slick beginning to wet your hero costumes spandex set your hazing thoughts into sudden panic, if cruel croc woke up or if another villain came across you would they be above...the thought alone could’ve made you puke. flashbacks to second year had you bucking wildly for freedom, you wouldn’t let anyone have the opportunity for—

“ OI! Shitty ‘mega were are you? Are you—“

you stilled, biting hard to keep your mouth shut. your omega was whimpering, desperate for the alpha, HER alpha to relieve her from her heat. on a normal day she could melt into his scent, but right now? she could drown in it and die happy. with his scent getting stronger the closer katsuki clambered toward you, the more the head haze grew-- the slicker your thighs became. the whimper you let loose was pitiful, the need for some sort of stimulation to your cunt becoming near painful the longer you remained so close yet so far from katsuki. the pathetic little “alpha” you whined as you heard him quickly approach from behind would’ve been utterly embarrassing to you in any other situation.

but if you could have turned to see katsuki, you would’ve been met with the look of an unmistakably feral alpha-- pupils dilated to hell, fingernails blackened, and canines elongated and sharpened. but what you lacked in sight, you could hear and smell.

katsuki was the definition of an alpha as is, but the way he was pushing his scent out was like a big red sign that screamed ‘DANGER’. To you, it had you feeling utterly submissive-- if you weren’t already face down and ass up you certainly would’ve moved into position.  practically salivating at the thought of what katsuki could do--

the heated palm on the globe of your ass is thought pausing, the sudden heated touch coaxing a sugary sweet moan from deep in your throat-- the small touch quickly turning to rough palming at your moaning. tt feels so good, but you want more. need more. 

“Please, need more Alpha” it's breathy and whiny, something you're far from day to day but it feels too natural escaping you. mewling at the ghost of a touch over your clothed cunt, your blubbering when it presses harder-- escalating you to tears of frustration when it ceases. practically feeling katsuki’s harsh breathing near your cunt you begin to wiggle and wail with all manner of unrestrained vigor; chanting alpha and katsuki like a prayer and begging for relief like a sinner for forgiveness. it’s working, you know it is, if katsuki’s breathing is anything to go by but he refuses any further touching. you want katsuki everyday, but right now you need him. 

“Only want you Katsuki, please it’s only been you,” you hiccup your words through a shrill plea, but the tearing of your soaked spandex sends an excited chill down your spine. your legs tremble with excitement when katsuki grips the tops of your thighs and spreads them-- revealing your drooling cunt. it’s both too much and not enough all at once and you wiggle once more, yelping from a smack to your left ass cheek. it’s not particularly painful, not even as katsuki rubs over it right after the hit, but it quells your wiggling nonetheless. you open your mouth to urge him on but he beats you to it.

“No one else, you got that ‘mega? No one gets to see you like this, no gets to touch you like this-- your mine,” he punctuates his declaration with two of his deliciously thick fingers in your cunt and you squeal, “ you got that? I’m your alpha, always have been always will be.” nodding despite yourself, you struggle for words with his fingers pumping in and out alongside the ghost of pressure on your clit “Yes! Yes, I’m yours Katsuki!” you babble your words already teetering on the precipice of your first orgasm. it takes a pickup in pace and a rough rub along your clit and your wailing, slick streaming down your thighs as your first orgasm crashes into you.

despite the pleasant haze in your head, you faintly hear zippers being undone and the shuffling of clothes. licking your lips, you perk your ass up as much as the heavy bookcase allows, purring in excitement like a spoiled cat. The rough grab of your hips leaves you gasping, feeling the length of katsukis dick along your thigh-- long and heavy. you're salivating as he lines himself up with your weeping cunt, ramming his entire length in you with little regard. stars shoot across your vision and your ears deafen, crying out at being so full. it feels wonderful being stuffed this full and you babble it to katsuki. if you could see him, you would see just how prideful and smug he looked-- only he can take care of you like this, none of the other shitty alphas can take care of you this well.

katsuki sets a rough pace, drawing himself out slowly like he’s aiming for you to feel every vein of his dick before slamming back into you. your poor cunt clenches sporadically, drawing groans and growls from your alpha and all you can do is choke on broken moans because the way he feels churning your insides is downright sinful. you felt a band begin to tighten in your belly, your broken moans evolving into babbling-- how good katsuki was making you feel and how he was the only one who made you feel this good. it spurred him onward, fucking into you with more vigor alongside groans of your names and his own praise for you. “Good fuckin ‘mega”, “Takin’ me so well”, and “My perfect little mate” were some of the praise you could catch and had you preening. All of it combined you felt the band tighten and you couldn’t stop yourself from sobbing out. feeling the base of Katsuki’s length begin to swell, you could only salivate at the thought of being knotted.

“Want your knot Katsuki! Alpha I need it”

 at your blubbering demand, katsuki faltered in pace for only a moment before a deep mix of a groan and growl ripped from his throat. grabbing and bending your leg upwards he fucked deeper and faster into your battered cunt, the new angle sending you hurtling into your orgasm. eyes rolled back and tongue, you felt utterly boneless-- momentarily brain dead before screaming out at Katsuki knotting you, his own groan of pleasure mixing with yours as he filled you impossibly full with his seed. 

 trembling underneath him, you were only a fraction aware of movement above you before the weight of the bookcase vanished from you. weakly you glance back up at your alpha. your surprised to see just how feral he looks, no doubt you’ve pushed him into his rut. whimpering as he moves down upon you, he nibbles and kisses along your jaw and neck before biting down on you scent gland. a flash a white hot pain curtailed by just as intense pleasure wracks your wrecked body but the dopy look of happiness pulls a low purr from katsuki.

you wanna say something, anything, but your too exhausted and as katsuki knot subsides you let another weak whimper as he removes himself-- feeling his seed spill from your battered cunt. he pulls a quiet moan from you as he gathers some of it a pushes back in-- and a glance at his smug face lets you know that he’s decidedly not done with you yet.

[chaozsilhouette]

Moonlit Musings

The night is such a perfect time to face one’s darkest truths. Shrouded in the moon’s light what can one do but admit to their flaws. It can be a time of rejuvenation and rebirth, only if you let it.

§~~~~§~~~~§~~~~§

It was a quiet night.

The full moon hung high in the heavens accompanied by millions of stars. Not a cloud to be seen, an ideal night for passions to run wild. Normally people would be taking out their telescopes or arranging romantic picnics.

Sadly, nights like these only filled Sun Wukong with dread. It was a night like this when he was finally able to return after the Journey. That was the night he learned he had lost a precious treasure.

When he returned, he expected to be greeted by his subjects until Macaque showed himself. He expected to be strangled as the pale furred monkie admonished him for his recklessness. He expected to watch as fury transformed into tearful joy as they embraced one another for the first time in over five hundred years.

But that wasn’t what happened.

The moment he set foot back onto Flower Fruit Mountain, he sensed something was very wrong. Like his previous return trips, his subjects greeted him with loud celebrations. The new mothers showed off their infants. The young ones wasted no time climbing all over him, taking in the scent of their king.

The immortal elders, however, looked concerned.

That was when he realized Macaque’s scent on the mountain was far too faint. Even the magical signature of his clones no longer felt fresh.

Macaque was nowhere to be found. The monkeys reported Macaque had returned a few years after he stopped by the mountain earlier in the Journey but not as his usual self. He didn’t respond to any of their questions. He didn’t even take time to check in on the infants. He didn’t say a word.

He just entered the mansion, but no one saw him leave.

Entering the mansion, Wukong dashed to their room desperate for answers. Opening the doors, he saw the room was horribly empty, sure all of his belonging were exactly as he remembered them, but all of Macaque’s stuff was gone. Macaque’s closet was empty and all his books had vanished. Despite his desperate hopes, there wasn’t any signs of a struggle or hidden messages to be found.

Macaque left of his own free will, but why?

He couldn’t bring himself to sleep in the bed they shared so many nights together. Every time he dared, he awoke expect to be greeted with the comforting warmth of familiar presence, instead he opened his eyes to a cold emptiness.

The lack of answers broke his heart, but he didn’t have time to start tearing the landscape apart trying to find him. Now that he was back for good, he had so many responsibilities to catch up on. He was determined to be a good king for his subjects and that meant ughthinking things through. Plus, he wanted to spend as much time with his master and brothers as possible.

Then there was the concerning fact all his previous allies had severed their alliance with him.

Apparently after all the fuss with the Demon Bull King, word had spread that Wukong broke their alliance by disrespecting protocol and attacking the royal family. Plus, his new position as a defender of humanity annoyed more than a few respectable demons. Combined with the sheer number of powerful demons he killed on the Journey cemented the idea that having an alliance with him would only end poorly.

He was banned from court meetings and the other kings in the surrounding areas wanted nothing to do with him. The chaotic nature of his past had finally caught up to him and in the worst possible way.

He was still recognized as the Monkey King of the Sun Court but was effectively blacklisted. No one wanted to mess with him, but they also didn’t want to interact with him. Not good for his mental health to say the least.

Simians are naturally social creatures. Wukong was used to constantly being around other people and learning new things. His time imprisoned was not kind. His first year of freedom had him constantly climbing over his brothers and master just to reassure himself that this was real.

And now that he couldn’t reconnect with old faces unless it was through a battle to the death…It forced him to delve into old memories. Memories that while sweet only made the emptiness more pronounced.

§~~~~§~~~~§~~~~§

Sun Wukong smiled as he watched Macaque’s reaction.

The six-eared monkie was furiously pinching the bridge between his eyebrows after he shattered a boulder with a careless headbutt as though it would make his life mercifully easier. “You’ll have to explain it to me again. What did you mean by ‘no longer under Yama’s jurisdiction’?”

“Exactly what I said. I was napping. Having some time to myself, when out of nowhere some idiots tried to take my soul to the afterlife.” Wukong explained as though having entities of death rip out your soul to drag it to the underworld was no big deal.

“Bet you weren’t happy.” Macaque couldn’t help but smirk at the flippant tone. He just made it so difficult to stay mad.

“Not in the slightest. I barged my way to the top brass, bunch of cowards called the Ten Kings (totally undeserved titles by the way) and demanded what the fuck was going on.” He was still ticked off even if the payoff was sweet. Seriously! Did immortality mean nothing to these cowards? They couldn’t even play it off as him dying in battle. He was in the peak of his youth! “Can you believe they tried to play it off as a misunderstanding? Should have smacked the loudmouth when I was there.”

“So, through a series of ridiculous events, you erased your name from the records of the dead.” Macaque could easily piece together the rest from there. No matter how ridiculous the odds. He learned never to bet against his friend when a problem could be handled with brute strength or intimidation. If it didn’t look like such an answer was possible, clearly, they hadn’t experienced the force of a determined Wukong. Something about facing a ticked off monkie of practically infinite strength and invulnerability left harden conquerors pissing themselves.

It was hilarious.

“Not just mine. In my infinite wisdom, I erased the names of several of the monkey inhabitants of esteemed Flower Fruit Mountain, including yours.” Wukong playfully booped Macaque’s nose.

Turning away to hide a light blush, Macaque scoffed to cover his embarrassing response. “Typical. I can’t leave you alone for five minutes without you doing something insane.”

“I know. I’m just that awesome.”

“So what? Are we now double immortal?” That was the question wasn’t it. Due to their master’s instructions, they were immortal and ageless, so what exactly would this give them? He didn’t feel any different. He couldn’t sense any new powers or changes in his instincts.

His counterpart, however, had other things on his mind. “Who cares. All I know is that those idiots have no control over our souls anymore.” And with that the King took his rightful place across Macaque’s lap as the other returned to his scrolls.

Wukong instead took the time to examine his friend, who finally gained enough confidence to fully drop his glamour and embrace his true appearance.

He still couldn’t believe Macaque actually had six ears. The weird part was how natural they looked, almost as if seeing him with only two was bizarre. The coolest part was how each pair softly glowed a different color. Blue. Purple. Red. Sometimes Wukong would just stare at them, imagining that he could see glittering stars emanating from that glow.

Suddenly those magnificent ears twitched. Macaque didn’t bother looking up from the bamboo scroll. “A trespasser...multiple, boar and vulture demon. Another hunting party”.

“Again. Ugh. Don’t these idiots ever give up!” Don’t get him wrong, Wukong loved a good fight. What better way to prove how superior you are to others than to steal what’s most precious to them? But even he was starting to grow bored with the sheer number of hunters that thought kidnapping his subjects was a quick cash grab.

After the fifth army he returned in pieces to the surrounding upstart lords, you’d think they’d take a hint.

Thankfully he wasn’t the only powerhouse on the mountain. “I haven’t tasted blood in a while. Why don’t I defend the kingdom while your highness enjoys a show?” Macaque set aside his reading material, eyes glittering with bloodlust.

Wukong returned the smirk with one of his own. “I’m always up for a good thrashing. One request: make it glorious.”

“Don’t I always.” Macaque joked as he retrieved his spear from his own shadow.

Wukong summoned his cloud and claimed a good vantage point. Once again, he marveled at his friend’s hearing. Judging by the distance it would have been at least three hours before he would have detected their presence.

Kicking back, he transformed some hair into a fruit platter and waited for the screams.

§~~~~§~~~~§~~~~§

To this day, Wukong knew Macaque was alive. Thanks to his efforts combined with the intense training, the monkie was double immortal. Besides, that monkkie was way too stubborn to die. He would survive purely on spite if he had to.

Macaque left, but why?

While he may have effectively isolated himself, that didn’t mean he didn’t hear about the other courts. A few centuries ago, he heard rumors about the formation of a new court by someone under the title of the Macaque King. Supposedly they were a powerful monkie who knew way more than he had the right to. For a brief moment, Wukong dared to hope it was his old friend, but it didn’t last. The few recounts he caught described him with black fur. Besides, he knew how much Macaque hated the title of King. Even when Wukong offered him the position as co-ruler of his kingdom, the pale monkie adamantly refused.

Still, he was curious.

For a few weeks he could have sworn he detected a familiar scent hiding underneath Mk’s. And he wasn’t the only one who noticed. A few of the immortal monkeys questioned him on the mango infused scent and what his plans were. It was almost too much to take in.

To think he returned to teach his student instead of showing his face. It hurt just to think about it. He chose to ignore the beckoning scent until it became impossible to ignore MK’s leap in progress. Then it just vanished like it hadn’t been testing his patience. Like it hadn’t brought him to the brink of shaking the kid upside down until he confessed where his old friend was hiding. The kid probably grew wise, or someone told him to change his bathing habits, and by the next training session it was all but gone.

Dragging his hand down his face, Wukong tried to reevaluate his thoughts.

Getting mad at the kid wasn’t going to solve anything. He knew he hadn’t been the most attentive master. Hell, the whole hammer exercise at its core was a desperate attempt to remove a painful reminder of better times. His master would be disappointed in how he was running away from his problems, but would encourage him to take the steps to be better. Zhu Bajie would be a sarcastic little shit, trying to get him riled up so the monkie would prove him wrong. Sha Wujing would sit him down and wouldn’t let him leave until they talked everything through.

He had to make things right with the kid. He deserved a better master. And this New Years he was gonna get one.

He spoke, praying the winds would carry his voice to his Warrior.

“Macaque. I know it’s been a while, but…I-I want to talk. I know you’re out there, somewhere I can’t reach. I miss sparring with you. I miss lazy days napping in the shade by your side. I miss defending the mountain as we held contests to see who could take out the most trespassers before their common sense kicked in. I miss you. Please come home.”

§~~~~§~~~~§~~~~§

The moon was high in the sky. Stars danced in the heavens as the faintest hints of vibrations pulsed through the concrete from the late-night dance clubs. MK lay awake, his mind struggling to make sense of it all.

Ever since Macaque disappeared in order to remain undetected, he kept thinking about his relationship with the Monkey King. Sure, he was being trained and he was definitely making progress. The monkie was still on his case for supposedly cheating on him with another mentor. Nothing MK said or did could make the monkie think otherwise. Thankfully, he was no longer shooting him suspicious glares, but the underlying tension remained.

The sad truth is they just weren’t that close.

He would have expected to learn more about the Monkey King on a personal and emotional level, but he just couldn’t get past that wall. Their training sessions felt more like just the Monkey King arranged just to get it over with. There was no passion at all.

Okay, perhaps that last bit was an exaggeration.

When you peered past the arrogance and pride, you found one socially awkward monkie. It was similar to Red Son the more he thought about it, both seemed to find it difficult to talk to or relate to others in a friendly setting. Sure, Monkey King projected a friendly demeanor and called him “bud”, but if he didn’t know any better he could have sworn the monkie was afraid to take that final step.

The last few sessions had taken a bit of a turn in a positive direction as Sandy would say. Maybe Monkey King decided it was time to make a change? Maybe this was all a trick so MK would lower his guard and reveal Macaque’s identity? Maybe he was just tired and should have conked out an hour ago?

Maybe.

Reality was so different from the legends. When Tang first introduced him to the Monkey stories, he was hooked. He loved listening to the tales of the infamous trickster that flipped off every major religious figure with unbridled confidence. Meeting the Great Sage in the flesh was like a dream come true until he was exposed to the King’s less pleasant tendencies.

Mk couldn’t help but wonder just how much confidence the Monkey King had in his training skills. Did he ever train someone before? Could MK talk to someone about this without appearing even more ungrateful than he already looked? Why didn’t he stop Red Son from unsealing his father when he was there? Why didn’t he simply seal the entire family when they were reunited? Why did the five times immortal sage decide that now he needed to train a disciple? Was Monkey King not telling him something important?

He had so many questions and not even the foggiest idea of where to start looking. Or perhaps he did?

The truth was he missed Macaque. The dark-furred monkie may have only taught him for a month, but the progress he made and the level of care he was exposed to made him feel as though he had finally unlocked the ability to fly.

He missed the regular grooming. He missed learning about the demon community. He missed learning new ways to mess with Red Son through appropriate court manners.

Watching the fire user freeze up at the term “honorable prince of the Iron Bull Court” just made him laugh, when his hair combusted it really matched his face. Now that he thought about it, were those horns starting to peek out of his forehead? And maybe the slightest hint of a tufted tail swiping the bottom of his coat? Seeing the demon frantically compose himself was a treat he didn’t know he needed. He still had the video saved as one of his favorites, didn’t hurt that Mei caught it at the perfect angle.

Oh yeah, he missed that.

With any luck, New Years would be the start of something better.

§~~~~§~~~~§~~~~§

On an island that remained surrounded by unquenchable storms, a single black-furred monkie sat cross-legged in a secluded part attached to the palace. All around him fruit trees and bushes bore a hefty bounty releasing an intoxicating scent of life.

Ears twitched.

Macaque opened his eyes, aroused from his meditation. It was odd. He had the faintest sensation that someone had been talking about him. Now that wasn’t exactly unusual, he made plenty of allies and enemies across the centuries. What was odd was that the voice sounded like someone he once cherished.

But that couldn’t be right.

The deceptive silence of his personal orchard gave him no answers. Not that he really expected it to.

For some reason he refused to identify, Macaque turned to the single peach tree in the grove. A tribute from his past and a reminder of his mistakes. But it was also a valuable resource once he learned the truth about the peach’s properties. He used its powers to protect many happy relationships, if only it could have helped him so long ago.

No matter.

He still had many projects to work on, including one successor just rife with insecurities. He honestly felt bad ducking out as he did. If things were different, he would have offered him a new life. His Stars were always happy to welcome a new member into their budding community.

As a bonus, his presence would have interrupted their constant attempts to set him up with new dates. He adored their efforts but being paired with partners who only wanted power or he would view only as friends was not something he enjoyed. Although watching them mentally destroy those they didn’t find suitable for him was quite entertaining.

Either way, New Years was coming up fast and he still needed to approve a few changes. His Stars were determined to make sure this event topped last years in every way possible, but they had to make sure they didn’t set the orchard on fire again. Or worse, they could launch the fireworks into the storm barrier. He wasn’t sure why or how, but the tornadoes and clouds turned different colors as explosions rang throughout the night.

It was beautiful but lost its charm after the third day.

[paper-n-ashes]

sparks and embers - chapter 1

Characters: Poe Dameron x Original Female Character, Kylo Ren x Original Female Character

Story Tags: Explicit (18+), Canon Compliant/Divergent (Set after TLJ), First Person POV, Love Triangle, Slow Burn, Enemies to Lovers, Porn with Plot, Hurt/Comfort, Kylo Ren hates Poe Dameron

Summary: Alexys is a doctor living a life of exclusivity on Raxus, hoping to survive through a peaceful existence, concealing herself from those she believes would use her, or kill her. When fate intervenes and instigates a perilous journey she'd been desperately trying to avoid, Alex finds herself caught in the middle of two sides in both war and love.

Preface: Let me say, I am immensely nervous about this. After months of back and forth inside my mind, I’ve decided to go for it and begin the long process of moving my long running series to Tumblr, along with changing the name (something I’ve wanted to do for a long time). I hit a big emotional road block after over a year of writing and posting, so I’m hoping this move will eventually get me back into the swing. But for now, I’m looking forward to revisiting the beginning of this space love triangle.

If you’ve already read the saga, absolutely NO pressure to read again. Each chapter will be edited a little, but no major plot points will change. To any newcomers who find themselves interested, the story is already posted on AO3 if you are desperate to continue. Otherwise if you prefer reading on Tumblr, or simply like the forced breaks between chapters, I’ll be posting a new chapter every couple of days. I know it’s not written as reader insert, but I just couldn’t make the story work out in any other fashion. I poured a lot of love and heart into Alexys so I hope you’ll give her a chance.

Chapter 1 - Crash Landing

Words: 3.4k

Chapter Tags/Warnings: descriptions of severe injury including blood and bone, medical procedures 

Read on AO3

~

I felt it before I heard it.

A booming crash of metal and glass, sending a shattering vibration through the walls and furniture around me. After the years of mostly silence I’d become accustomed to, the noise that came pummelling into my ears almost made me shriek in surprise. It was short lived, coming and going in a flicker so quick I had to wonder if it was real at all.

Lights began to flash, blinking rapidly in uneven time. The mixture of harsh beeps indicated something was faulting my electricity circuits, plunging me into the darkness of night over and over.

I could only question myself again at the plausibility of this being a dream, but the slow, increasing creak emanating from beyond the walls of this building brought me to a certainty.

Something had crashed outside.

Fear radiated through my limbs, leaving me stuck where I was standing for a few moments, before an uncontrollable urge of selflessness and honestly, curiosity, forced me to move and exit the safety of my clinic.

There wasn’t really a way to prepare for what I saw not metres away from my front entrance. A ship, an X-wing of some variety, was wrecked into itself, varying metals twisted and curled over each other, flames beginning to billow out from the creases. I could feel the heat of them rise as I cautiously stepped forward, taking in the scene with wide eyes. Only seconds had passed when I saw it – the movement of something – no, a person, demanding my attention. The pilot of this battered machine had been thrown just beyond the edge of its hull, broken transparisteel smattering the ground around them.

Hm, the Resistance should probably investigate their flight safety measures.

That thought quickly flittered away when the pilot moved again, this time with a painful moan echoing into the atmosphere. The switch inside quickly flipped, and an all too familiar feeling of conviction flooded through.

This is your cue Alexys.

I raced quickly to the pilot and knelt on the ground before them, fingers carefully removing the black and red helmet with both urgency and restraint as to not cause any more possible damage to their head or neck. The moan I'd heard just moments before let me know this person had some kind of airway, but it was pertinent I assess further. With the helmet gone I noticed the short, lightly waved black hair of a man, his eyes pulled closed, a few bruises and smudges of grey soot smattered over his face. His chest was moving, laboured breathing with the occasional heave on inhale.

At least he’s breathing.

“It’s alright,” I insisted. “I’m here to help you.”

There wasn’t any discernible response from the pilot other than a groan that withered away slowly, and that in itself was worrying. Kneeling over his body, I placed two fingers under the line of his jaw, halfway down, trying to feel for a pulse. I could sense the thump of blood under my fingertips, but it was too slow, too faint, too uneven.

Not great, but it was enough for now.

I began to scan over his body, knowing it was time to assess what was giving him reason to cry out in pain. There were severe burns on his left arm which had caused some of his flight suit to stick to the skin, with more scalds reaching down to his torso and abdomen. His right arm was almost definitely broken with the limb morphed into an irregular angle almost halfway along.

Without being able to look at them directly to ascertain whether I was going to be able to move him, I pressed on his hips gently, silently praying he hadn’t broken his pelvis. He muffled softly, but anyone who had actually shattered the bone would have screamed. As my eyes continued to scan down, it became obvious all too suddenly the shattered edge of his right femur bone poking out of the orange flight suit.

Kriff, this is not ideal.

I wanted to kick myself for not noticing it before, but there was no time, not with the very real possibility of him bleeding out in front of my eyes. My feet moved under me, racing back to the clinic room, knowing where the bandage and splint lay waiting, along with the anaesthetic injections I had stocked in the pharmacy cupboard.

He was certainly going to need them.

Within minutes I was back to the ground with the pilot, clicking together the injector handle and vial, piercing the needle straight into his thigh above the fracture site. I wouldn’t be able to wait for it to dull most of the pain, so internally, I braced myself for the scream I was about to elicit from this poor human's chest. The second I started to wrap the bandage around the splint, a piercing wail echoed through the air, almost causing me to hesitate. Still, my hands continued to haphazardly wrap the white material around his leg, pushing through the guilt it ignited. 

Suddenly, the noise stopped.

My eyes darted to his face as his head slumped over on its side. “Hey!” I shouted into his face as I scrambled back to the top end of his limp body. “Hey can you hear me? Open your eyes if you can hear me!”

There was no response.

I pinched at the muscle on his shoulder, harder and harder to elicit any kind of reaction. Nothing. My hand pulled into a closed fist and grinded against his sternum. “Come on, open those eyes if you can feel this!”

Still nothing.

Again I took check of his breathing, chest still rising and falling, yet shallow and with little power. His heartbeat had begun to race, but through my fingertips I could feel the strain in the muscle. Something was seriously wrong, even more so than his other injuries. Something internally. If I didn’t get him into the clinic, he was going to die.

In a snap decision, I chose to forgo an attempt to run back and locate the hover-stretcher. It would take too much time to set up and power on, time this man didn’t have. I would have to move him myself.

How the hell am I going to do this?

With my arms hooked and locked under his armpits I began to drag the pilots hefty body backwards towards the clinic behind me, thankfully only a few meters away, barely making it past the entryway when a roar of flames overtook the X-wing. I looked up to see the blaze almost completely engulfing the ship, a ferocious heat searing into my eyes and face. With even more urgency I heaved the body into the large clinic room, getting up and slamming the door just in time. Just before a house rattling explosion sent shockwaves into the atmosphere.

Lucky didn’t seem to be an appropriate feeling considering the situation I was in, but at least no one had died. Yet. With my last bit of brute strength, I hoisted the pilots limp body onto the closest hospital bed, noticing then the trail of red liquid I’d brought along with me.

Oh no no no.

With him still lifeless, I tugged at his body and limbs to lie flat on the bed, scurrying to my medical trolley and hauling it back to where the pilot laid, ragged breaths still thankfully escaping into the air. Snatching the heavy shears from the top drawer, I began to tear through the thick fabric of the flight suit, unclipping and removing as much of the life support vest and belt as I could. I had to be careful not to rip away the fabric that melted into the burns scattered all over his body, the number of them increasing as I peeled away the suit, starting from his legs, up to his abdomen and chest over to his upper arms. His torso was in full view now, a smattering of dark hair over his pectorals, underneath which showed the bruises of his crash’s impact.

Oh he’s definitely got some broken ribs.

As my gaze scanned over his skin, I could finally isolate where all that blood had escaped from. A deep penetrating wound just below the last rib on his left flank. As I registered his quick shallow breaths and the uneven rise in his chest, it became obvious.

Collapsed lung.

Whatever had pierced through his chest had poked an extremely damaging hole in his lung, the pleural space now filling with air, leaving no room for his lung to expand. My following movements were swift and calculated, almost automatic. A pointed scalpel was soon in my hand, poised to cut. But I couldn’t help but hesitate. It had been so long since I’d had to do this. And yet, somehow, concern for this stranger’s life was quick to weave it’s way through, dissolving my fear into pure resolve.

I made my incision in between the 4th and 5th ribs, using a clamp to push into the underlying tissue and past the pleural cavity, a gloved hand then entering to check I’d made it through. With an instinctive confidence, I guided the chest tube between the layers of tissue, undoing the ratchet of the clamp to an immediate rush of air. The pilot’s chest heaved in relief, along with my own.

One crisis averted.

But there was more to do. Connecting a drain to the tube, I haphazardly sutured it in place, before flying to the pharmacy cupboard. My stock of bacta was limited, returning with an already prepared vial into the pressurised injector, reminding myself I would need to use it sparingly if this stranger was going to make it through the full extend of his injuries. I had cursed at myself only a few times in the years past at being so far removed from a higher level medical centre that would be overflowing with bacta and medical droids that could help in exactly this kind of situation, but the thought had never burned me so badly. There was no way to know if I could keep this man alive with the resources that yesterday I had been more than comfortable with. I would just have to try.

I injected some of the bacta solution throughout the surrounding area of the wound and covered it with heavy dressing, knowing the bleeding would quickly be curbed. Unfortunately, the wound itself would take a few days to fully close, only ever being able to afford lower quality bacta. Before moving on to the burns, I placed some basic monitoring, lines extending from electrical dots over his chest, wrist and neck to the data monitor above the bed. As the numbers lit up on the holo screen, I felt myself breathe a small sigh of relief, having prepared for a much worse result. His heart rate was better, oxygen levels returning to normal, blood pressure not optimal by any means but high enough to sustain his life, for now.

After securing an oxygen filter over his battered face, I continued to inspect and clean as many of the small and more sizeable burns dotting his body. Even with the many I had uncovered, the one extending from his shoulder past his elbow was the one of most concern. Third degree and extremely unhappy looking. If I wasn’t quick to treat this, it could leak even more fluid from his already compromised circulatory system. I was thankful he still remained unconscious when I began to slowly shed the charred material melted into the skin layer. I couldn’t help but shudder as I remembered the initial scream this man had let out, knowing I would be hearing it now if not for his comatose state.

Covering the immense scald in as much salve as I could spare, I began to wrap it in protective antibacterial bandage, soon moving on to protect his many blisters and deeper burns with dressings. Glancing at the monitor screen, he was still stable, and swallowed hard. Now it was time to attempt possibly the most daunting part of this patient’s treatment.

His femur was still sticking through the tissue of his thigh, slightly dried dark red blood creating lightning strike looking lines extending from the wound.

I need to get some blood into him before moving this.

I quickly got to work on an IV cannula, his poor blood pressure making it significantly more difficult than it should have been. Two bags of O- blood were all I had, and a wave of dread coursed through me with the thought of that not being enough if this all went wrong. My fist squeezed the fast flow pump of the IV line, pushing fresh blood urgently into his system, making his blood pressure rise only slightly. With the last of the red liquid trickling through the line I wheeled over the portable X-Ray. It was so old the mechanical arm screeched at me as I positioned it into place over the pilot’s leg. The bone had to be at least somewhat in place before getting the bacta to work its magic or this guy might walk with two uneven legs for the rest of his life.

If he actually made it through the rest of his injuries, that is.

Shaking my arms out at my side, I sucked in a few deep breaths to build my stamina. Unfortunately, this stranger was stuck with a small framed female to attempt reducing his severe fracture. With one last inhale, I drew the courage to pull as hard as I could horizontally at the knee joint, digging my fingers into a vice grip around the limb and yanking it towards me. To my relief, the fractured edge of the femur to slipped back into the hole it was peeking out from, settling back under the skin.

Thank all the stars in the galaxy he’s not awake for this.

I quickly pressed the image button on the X-ray to assess the progress I’d made. The faint white lines of bone edges were stark enough on the grey background of the image. The fracture wasn’t reduced even nearly enough. I prepared myself again, with another deep breath I pulled hard. This time my efforts were forced into angling the lower portion of bone to try and lock it back into place. The grinding of bone edges could be felt through my fingers, pushing myself to pull even harder, creating more space between the fracture in the hope of giving a fighting chance of lining up the splintered edges. My muscles were whining, begging for this to be over, tears of exhaustion soon stinging at the edges of my eyes.

With one final twisting motion there was a sudden click.

Finally.

My relief was short lived.

It was slow at first, before racing faster. A stream of dark red blood pooling at the wound the broken bone had made.

Oh maker no.

Within moments the pace of the blood quickened. I shot my hands to the open flesh site, pressing down hard in an attempt to disturb the flow. The liquid quickly covered my gloved hands, already sure I’d sliced into the femoral artery. The pressure of my hands into the area made the blood spurt out onto my arms, my clothes, my face, everywhere. The monitor was screaming, blood pressure falling quickly. Wiping some of the hot coppery fluid away from my left eye, I slid my fingers back into the gash, moving desperately to stop the overflow before the man lying in front of me bled out, knowing it would all be my fault.  

You have to do it Alexys. He will die if you don’t.

The voice nagged at me, pleading to do what it wanted.

He’s with the Resistance! If he survives, if he contacts them, they’ll find me. And they’ll know.

It is time to decide. His life. Or yours.

Seconds ticked by fleetingly, numbers flashing on the monitor trickling down, the speed of blood flow from the pilot’s leg stubbornly keeping it’s intensity.

Everything I’d done to get here, to isolate myself so no one could find me. It would all amount to nothing. My easy, albeit lonely life, would be gone. All because of this stranger.

But I couldn’t let him die. Not like this.

In one flash, I removed my hands from inside the wound, ripping off my gloves and placing two palms at either side of the leg. With closed eyes, I willed the energy out of the depths of its slumber. From the darkened corner of my mind I pulled it back into existence, opening the gate I’d locked it inside for so long, letting it finally burst through and fill up my brain. From there it down through my neck, through my chest and down my arms, right to the end of my fingertips. Its warming glow was almost comforting, friendly. I would have basked in it for a while if not for the life that hung in the balance before me.

Through the pads of my fingerprints I pushed the stream outwards, connecting past the skin of this innocent human being, and felt the overwhelming heat of pain and dimming of energy.

Hurry, he’s dying.

I began to map out the tissue of his leg, frustratingly slowly, starting at the smallest of capillaries, weaving and winding through the flesh, connecting them through the maze of fat and muscle. I could feel the sweat forming on my forehead, my breathing forced and harsh. The vessels grew bigger as I pushed the energy through, skipping past broken points of other smaller injuries. I could fix them later.

Finally, I felt a molten warmth radiating close to where the maze had guided me. Racing to it, I sensed something pushing me back, the pressure of escaping fluid holding my efforts. I’d found the cut, but now I had to somehow knit it back together.

You’re taking too long.

The alarms of the monitor started to echo with a hollow ring inside my ear, fading until I could hear almost nothing. The world around me was blurry, only the image of vessel tissue and all-consuming redness visible in my minds eye. The energy I was expending began to burn me - I wouldn’t be able to keep this up for much longer. I reached out with it, what felt like many hands grasping desperately at the severed edge of the vessel, frantic yet delicate, pulling whatever tissue I could hold back into place.

Several fringes connected, the pressure pushing forcefully against me, making it harder to hold. I couldn’t help but begin to shake at the strain, the sound of my own heart pounding over the slowing heartbeat of the pilot. My grip was already beginning to fade before I started to sew the pieces of artery back together, an ache growing behind my eyes as I pierced an invisible needle through the tissue, over and over, still clawing at the unsewn edges as I made my way around the tube.

I was so close, the tension of the fluid still being driven out of the broken seal almost overcoming me. The unseen thread had almost made its way full circle. I was almost there.

My entire body rattled with exhaustion and pain. One final thread wove itself around the artery, its abrupt closure alleviating the strain on invisible fingers that had been clutching it all together.

You did it.

The energy dissipated quickly in a rolling wave, letting it retreat back into my mind, scampering to the secluded area of my brain, hidden once more. I felt light suddenly, dizzy, the world coming back into focus, screaming alarms growing louder. It was too much, all at once.

A sharp pang of fatigue enveloped every part of my senses and I faltered back, knees giving way, slumping to the floor.

Then, there was only darkness.

~

Next Chapter

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[wordsfromthesol]

The Oblivious One

Author: @wordsfromthesol​ Taglist: @zphilophobiaz​ Pairing: Conner Kent x Batsis!Reader Warnings: Violence…kinda. Word Count: 1.2k A/N: This request got lost and I feel awful about it because it's so late. Don't hate me. Enjoy.

Here you were again, stuck at Titans Tower. This was Dick's baby…as much as he would deny it. Yet you found yourself helping out more often than you would like. Dick knew you couldn't say no to him, he was family.

"So, uhh…why am I here Dickiebird?" You blurted out the question almost as soon as he came into the training room.

Dick scoffed at the nickname but answered you anyways. "I just need an extra set of eyes on this mission. We have three locations to infiltrate at once. Trying to pull in all the help I can get."

"Hmm…" You glared at him as you threw a right hook into the heavy bag before you.

"And you were requested." Dick tried to hide his smirk, "I'll brief you later when everyone is here. Be ready by 7." Before you could question him further, he scampered out of the room.

"Because that's not suspicious…" You mumbled to yourself as you threw a spin kick at the unsuspecting bag before you. Though you felt a hand grasp your ankle just before it landed. Your eyes followed it back to its owner. Conner.

"Wanna spar?"

"Oh the infamous Superboy thinks he can take me?" Sarcasm heavily laced the words falling from your lips.

"Heh, it's worth a shot." Unlike yours, his words trembled, trying to shake off the awkwardness only he was feeling.

"Let's go then Kryptonian." You motioned towards the ring. It took several minutes before one of you could get the upper hand and you were the lucky winner, finally pinning him to the ground. "Brute strength isn't everything." You quipped while staring down at him.

"Yeah, but I could get used to this." As you furrowed your brow in confusion, Conner quickly backtracked on his statement. "Because…uh…I have a lot to learn. From you." You swung your leg over his body and stood up, stretching out your arm to offer it to him.

"I will happily beat you up anytime." You smiled as you pulled him up from the ground.

"Right…uh…thanks!" Conner let out an awkward, forced chuckle just before he ran from the training room.

**

You waited at the conference room table as the other vigilantes that Dick had roped into this mission filed in. Kory, Donna, Raven, Gar, Conner, and Wally all joined you. I guess Dick wasn't kidding about pulling in others to help. You thought to yourself as Dick started his rant on the mission. You finished reading the dossier just as Dick finished his spiel on why this was important.

"So we are breaking off into three teams. Kory, Gar, and I. Donna, Raven, and Wally. Y/N and Conner. These attacks need to be timed perfectly. We all need to get to the corresponding key centers at the same time. They must be switched on within seconds of each other." Dick continued for another twenty minutes before he finally sent everyone on their way.

You and Conner set up just outside the fortress, waiting for the signal from the other teams. "Man, how'd we get jipped a team member?" You whispered as the two of you began mapping out the number of guards.

"May have been my fault, sorry." You tilted your head in confusion, waiting for him to continue. "I just…I asked to be on your team."

"Yeah but that doesn't --" As you began to question his logic, Conner blurted out in defense of his last statement.

"To learn. I wanted to be on your team so I could learn. From you." You let out an involuntary chuckle, anyone else would have found the interjection awkward and unnecessary. It just reminded you of the confused clone you helped save three years ago. You still couldn't believe how much of the world he had learned in that short time. Finally, the signal came and the two of you headed into battle.

The outside guards were fairly easy to get past, you just took turns picking them off one by one until you entered the main room. That's where the real battle ensued. Bullets and knives flew through the air. Just as you leaned to the side to dodge one, a man tackled you to the ground.

"Solaris!" You heard Conner scream your vigilante name as you fell to the ground. You grabbed a batarang and shoved it into the man's side. You rolled him off of you and jumped up, ready to help Conner. After all, he screamed out for help…right? Maybe not…you realized as you stood up and Conner was at your side. The remaining guards were unconscious on the ground. "I thought. Nevermind. Let's go."

**

The rest of the mission went without a hitch and you were home in your own crime-ridden city of Gotham before you knew it. You were kind of surprised when Dick followed you back home but just figured whatever the bigger picture involved Bruce.  You were right…partially.

"Bruce isn't here," Dick mumbled as he sauntered into the training room the next morning.

"Are you really that surprised dear brother of mine?" You laughed as you began stretching, readying yourself for training.

"No…kinda. He knows I needed to talk to him about this." Dick walked over to you. "So, anything happen on the mission?"

"Uh…we got the information you wanted? No one was injured?" Dick raised his eyebrows as if asking for more information. "Alright, I'm confused. Was something supposed to happen?"

"You can't be that oblivious, Y/N/N." Dick shook his head.

"About what?! Stop teasing me!" You huffed out, hopping up from the mat and readying yourself to spar with your older brother.

"Hey, I'm not looking to get injured." Dick held up his hands, waving off the invitation. "Just thought Conner wouldn't chicken out this time."

"Chicken out? This time?" Furrowing your brows in confusion, you replayed everything that happened on your trip to the Tower. Your eyes grew wider and wider as your interactions with Conner repeated in your mind. Finally, the scenes were interrupted with a sudden burst of laughter emanating from your brother. "I gotta…make a call." You ignored the laughter and stumbled out of the room.

**

"Conner?" Asking the question just as someone picked up on the other side.

"Yeah…" The voice on the other end confirmed the assumed identity.

"Why didn't you just ask me out?" You hadn't expected to be this blunt, but then again you never expected Conner to like you.

"Every time I said it out loud…it sounded stupid. I sounded stupid." You could hear the insecurity in his voice. It made your heart break.

"I've known you from the beginning. You've never sounded stupid. Don't ever think that." Silence took over the conversation until you couldn't take it anymore. "Just ask me Conner!"

"I…uh…do you want to get dinner sometime?" The question finally left his lips.

"Yes. I would."

[crossroadsfossil]

106 degrees

Summary:

Here’s a fun science fact: Birds consistently run at a higher temperature than humans do. It tends to range between 99 degrees fahrenheit up to 112 degrees. Hawks’ own body temperature tends to self-regulate around 106 degrees.

This is important when you get caught in an autumn rainstorm with a villian you don’t really trust.

Also known as 5 times Hawks falls asleep on Dabi

Prompt: For something fluffier, how about Hawks can't stop falling asleep on Dabi because of how hot he runs. Dabi constantly has an arm full of bird and has no clue what to do

Bonus if they still didn’t trust each other the first time it happened

A03 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/31366130

Here’s a fun science fact: Birds consistently run at a higher temperature than humans do. It tends to range between 99 degrees Fahrenheit up to 112 degrees. Hawks’ own body temperature tends to self-regulate around 106 degrees.

It’s something he and Rumi discuss often, if only because Rumi liked to snuggle up to him and comments on it constantly. She has no room to talk since she also runs at a higher temperature. Granted, it’s not much higher than your usual human baseline. She runs about a hundred or a hundred and one, depending on the season.

Needless to say, Hawks is a very popular patrol partner in the winter. Add in his feathers (which are amazing insulation, despite not being meant for it) and the large fluffy jacket he’s never without, and it’s not surprising that he’s almost never alone in the cooler weather, even if most of his companions can’t keep up with him once he gets going.

Neither his feathers nor his jacket are doing him any good right now, as soaked through as they are. His day had gone from bad (a long day topped off with a meeting Dabi ‘forgot’ to tell him about) to worse (an incoming cold front) to absolutely terrible (a storm that was preceding the cold front, resulting in rain, sleet, snow, or all three since this was Japan after all).

As soon as the sky opened up, Hawks insisted they take shelter. He’d herded Dabi towards the closest abandoned warehouse. He ignored the expression Dabi sported as he broke in. He didn’t care what the villain thought or how entertained he was by the action. He was a practical man and it was abandoned. Besides, if he didn’t get out of the wind and rain, he was at serious risk of going into torpor. The gear he was wearing today wasn’t meant for repelling water and it was about as much use as an icepack in winter.

There were a list of things he didn’t want to happen around Dabi, and going into torpor was fairly high up on that list, alongside bullet points such as ‘getting drunk’, ‘getting high’ and ‘running into another hero’. The best Hawks could expect from Dabi was for the villain to light his feathers on fire. At worst, he figured Dabi wouldn’t be the only burnt nugget around after he was finished with Hawks.

“Hey birdie, I’m not opposed to a show but take me out for dinner first.” Dabi said, watching as Hawks shrugged out of his coat and feathers in one fluid movement, catching his jacket before it fell off completely. He let his feathers fall to the ground with a disgusting splat. Laundering those would be less of a hassle than laundering his jacket. He draped his jacket over a nearby box in the vain hope that it might dry a little. It probably wouldn’t, but who knows. Maybe if he annoys Dabi enough, the fire-quirk user might raise the temperature in the warehouse by a few degrees.

“Ha. Ha. Not everyone has a fire quirk, asshole.” Hawks replied, giving what remained of his wings a shake to get as much of the water out. A quick look around the warehouse revealed it wasn’t as secure as he had thought, with great gaping holes in several of the walls. He shivered as the wind blew through them and started looking for anywhere that would provide a barrier between himself and the wind. He watched enviously for a moment as Dabi rolled his shoulders and began steaming slightly, burning the moisture out of his clothes and coat.

He spotted a pile of boxes, with several piled up on three sides to make a small nook and started to walk towards it.

“So, what do you have for me?” He asked, sitting down and scooting until he hit the back ‘wall’ of boxes.

Dabi shrugged. “Nothing. Just wanted to see if you’d come.” He replied.

Hawks stared at him, not quite believing what he just heard. Dabi’s growing grin cemented the fact that he had not, in fact, misheard.

“You’re an asshole. You seriously just called me out here on a whim? I’ve got better things to do, Dabi.”

“What, rescue people? In this weather? I think not.” Dabi said, slinking towards Hawks. Instead of taking a seat on the box directly in front of him, Dabi decided that the best place to sit was practically in Hawks’ lap. He shoved the hero over and leaned against one of the boxes that made up a makeshift wall and smiled at Hawks, daring him to do anything about it.

“Dick. So what now? Are you going to suggest we play Shiritori or I-Spy to pass the time? Since you invited me out for a playdate, we might as well.”

“That is not what I did.”

“You did it on a whim. It sounds like either a playdate or you miiiiiiiiiissed meeee.” Hawks said in a sing-song tone, delighting in the way it made Dabi’s face scrunch up in irritation.

“We could play ‘how many burnt feathers does it take to get to the crispy chicken center’.” Dabi held up a palm, a blue flame flickering to life in the center of it. Hawks looked between the flame and Dabi’s face and, very pointedly, brought his hands up to warm them.

“Thanks. My fingers were getting cold.”

Dabi huffed and closed his fist, snuffing the fire out.

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

When the bird actually showed up in the storm, Dabi wasn’t sure what he was expecting. He certainly wasn’t expecting the hero to stick around, let alone break into a building. Especially not the way he had. In the split second between Hawks looking at the door and breaking in, he’d assumed the hero would use a feather to lock-pick it. It seemed like something the hero would do- sufficiently flashy enough and sounded like the sort of party trick the pigeon would learn. Instead, Hawks had pulled out one of his larger feathers, slid it into the bend of the padlock and twisted it, using the feather like a lever and cracking the lock off with brute strength.

He wouldn’t say it intrigued him, but it was damn close. There were still things about the bird he didn’t know and he was still half-convinced the hero was a spy, but shit like that definitely made him question that assumption.

The hero also annoyed the ever-loving hell out of him. More than Toga or Twice did, so he was hoping the bird would slip up and he’d have an excuse to roast the number two hero.

The storm outside had rolled in completely, throwing the warehouse into almost complete darkness. He and Hawks had stopped sniping at each other almost half an hour ago, the warehouse filled with the sound of screaming winds and hammering rain. He was pretty sure this was a new record for Hawks. If he gave a shit, he’d say something about being impressed. He didn’t give a shit and he was more interested in figuring out what the fuck was making that weird noise. It kept disturbing the quiet of the warehouse; it was almost a peeping squeak, like a chain swinging in the wind, but far more organic.

He lit up one of his palms, peering out into the darkness to see if he could spot the noise. All it did was make the shadows worse and throw the hero into an eerie light. The hero was sitting with his eyes closed, and as Dabi watched, about every third exhale the bird would shiver slightly and let out that peeping noise.

Was that… Hawks’ version of a snore?

Pretty ballsy of the hero to fall asleep next to him. Ballsy and stupid as hell. Slowly, he brought his hand closer to the bird, intent on setting at least one wing on fire.

Gold eyes blinked open, unfocused. Dabi froze, waiting for the bird to react.

Hawks did, but not in a way Dabi had been expecting.

“Fucking hell-” Dabi spat as Hawks leaned against him.

The bird was freezing.

It was like getting hit by a wet washcloth that had been sitting in a freezer, and within moments he could feel the water seeping through his clothes. The bird was freezing and soaking wet.

Then the bird shivered again, almost cuddling into Dabi’s arms. Hawks’ eyes had closed again and it left Dabi with an armful of bird and no good idea how to handle this or how to feel about it.

Logically, Hawks was probably seeking out the warmth, and hell, maybe he was like Spinner. Spinner hated the cold and was about as tolerant of it as Dabi was of the heat. Guess that might explain the sleepy-thing. Spinner mentioned something about torpor once. Dabi hadn’t been listening because Spinner was goddamn annoying.

He brought his legs up, shifting Hawks so that he was sitting sideways and half on Dabi’s lap. One of his hands came up and, against his better judgement, settled on the remaining plumage Hawks had left on his wings. They looked comically small like this, and he had been wondering about how they felt.

Right now, they felt wet and cold.

He tsked and slowly heated his hand up, combing his hand through the feathers.

Slowly, they went from feeling like wet paper to delightfully smooth and soft.

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

Normally, Hawks enjoyed waking up. He had a nice bed and decadent sheets. He usually woke with the sun, and despite having an early shift, that still usually left him with an hour he could spend just basking in the delight of a nice bed. If he left the shades open, he could do so in a puddle of sunlight.

His bed didn’t feel right this morning. Too lumpy and for a moment he tried to recall if he had brought anyone home the night before. There was a hand combing through his hair, so there was a very distinct possibility that he had left the warehouse the night before and-

His eyes flew open at the thought.

He didn’t remember leaving the warehouse and-

“Chill your tits, bird brain. Just me.” Dabi said, giving a light tug on a lock of Hawks’ hair. He ignored the pleasant way it sent shivers down his spine.

“What the fuck.”

“Yeah. That was my thought too. Lemme guess- you go into torpor?” Dabi asked.

“Do I even need to answer that right now?” Hawks’ shoulders slumped and he groaned.

Fantastic. He did exactly the thing he hadn’t wanted to do. Dabi let out a soft huff, almost a laugh but not quite. Hawks leaned back, feeling an arm against his back and keeping him from going too far. Dabi didn’t look peeved, and that raised his hackles. His eye narrowed as he tried to figure out what happened.

“What?”

“You did something.” Hawks stated, running through a checklist in his mind. He didn’t feel any burns. Nothing smelled like ash. The only real change from before he went into torpor was his hair and wings were fully dry and his clothes felt, well, not dry but not sopping wet anymore.

Oh.

OH.

Dabi noticed the grin on Hawks’ face, and started spluttering. “You were just-”

“You preened meeee.” Hawks sang, laughing at the affronted expression on Dabi’s face.

“I did not. You were dripping everywhere.”

“Uh-huh. And that included drying my wings… why?”

“....Because they were there. So shoot me if I wanted to know if you had greasy bird feathers.”

“Nope. That the same reason you decided to sweetly comb through my hair? I mean, really Dabi. If you wanted to play with my hair and wings that much, you could have at least gotten me dinner first.” Hawks teased, stifling a laugh as Dabi’s expression went from affronted to a grouchy embarrassment, before then actually lifting Hawks up and dumping him on the ground.

One- Damn. Hawks’ wasn’t heavy but he was mostly muscle so. Damn.

Two- He was just laughing harder now. To think that Dabi got shy about being caught playing with hair. He got to his feet, trying to brush the dust from his pants before giving it up as a lost cause.

“Well Hotstuff, thanks for the preen and playing heating pad. Guess we did get to know each other a little better tonight.”

Dabi flipped him off, sliding off the crates and making his way towards the door they came in through.

“Dabi?” Hawks called out. To his surprise, Dabi stopped, turning to look at him, dubiously waiting for the rest of his question. “For the next meeting, can I play with your hair?”

A moment later he was scrambling away from the fireball Dabi sent his way, despite knowing that it wasn’t a true attack and Dabi was only trying to get him to stop talking and hide his frazzled expression. Hawks watched Dabi make a beeline out the door, wheezing on his laughter as he gathered up his jacket and feathers.

Teasing Dabi was going to be so much fun.

[dmsden]

No Two Alike - Making interesting combat encounters

Hullo, Gentle Readers! This week’s Question from a Denizen ties in nicely with another article I wrote recently. AN Anonymous readers asks, “ So I'm wondering, have you ever done any articles on interesting encounter design? Not just the creatures involved, but also the environment and the running of (particularly combat) encounters so that they become more interesting than simply a repetition of 'I attack him. Again.' statements from players?”

Well, Anonymous, hopefully you recently read my article at https://dmsden.tumblr.com/post/646002547172179968/keeping-pace-ways-to-speed-up-combat. Although the original query was about speeding up combat, I ended up talking a lot about making combat more interesting so that you wouldn’t need to speed it up. I think that answers some of your question, but I’m going to follow it up with some advice about making encounter design interesting. (It’s almost as if I’d decided to put these articles in two adjacent weeks...huh!)

Beyond making your combat descriptions exciting and keeping the action fast-paced, you can make encounters interesting by making sure there’s something at least a little different about each one, so that the challenge of each will be unique. I read something in an RPG I purchased recently called Worlds in Peril, where they mentioned that each combat can be thought of like a puzzle that needs to be solved. In superhero comic books (the genre of Worlds in Peril), it’s rare that the villains can be defeated through a straightforward toe-to-toe fight. If that were the case, Superman would simply win every time, because of his awesome strength. Instead, the foes are often presented as a puzzle that Superman has to solve.

For example, I recently watched an animated movie called Superman Unbound. In it, Superman faces Brainiac for the first time. He discovers that, while he can physically overcome Brainiac, Brainiac’s ship is, essentially, an extension of him, so any defeat is largely temporary; his ship helps keep his little world completely sterile and contained. Superman finally realizes that he can only win by luring the central Brainiac out of the ship. Brainiac’s need for control over his environment short-circuits him when he’s forced to deal with Earth’s mud and insects and chaos.

Keeping this idea in mind, you can add elements to combat that make each one like a challenge to be solved rather than simply overcome by brute force. I’m going to look at terrain and enviroment, monster mixtures, if/then combats, and alternate challenges.

Terrain and environment are one of the easiest things to vary, and they can really affect the feel of a combat. You could have a combat with five orcs using boulders and rocks for cover, and it’s going to feel very different if the fight happens on a narrow bridge over a lava flow. In one, PCs and monsters will be moving around a lot to try and take advantage of the natural cover, difficult terrain, high ground, and so on. In the other, the PCs may be concentrating more on keeping themselves safe from falling, or maybe concentrating on attacks that push their targets, trying to bring a swift end to things.

Early in my campaign, my PCs encountered a Gauth in a hall full of mirrors. I had the Gauth using its eyebeamns through the mirrors, allowing it to attack from many different angles. Once the PCs discovered they could cast spells through the mirrors, too, it made for a very interesting and surreal combat. You can do something as basic as setting a combat underwater, or you can make insane combats where the fight happens in a raging river while being swept downstream, in the middle of a forest fire, while plummeting through the endless skies of the Elemental Plane of Air, or anywhere else you can imagine.

When you do create a combat in an unusual environment, think about how the environment will affect normal combat and how the PCs and monsters can use the environment as a tool or weapon. While underwater combat gives significant advantage to creatures with a swim speed, a druid might be able to use control water to create disadvantages for them. A combat in a forest fire might allow PCs to knock enemies into the flames, to kick burning embers into their opponents’ eyes, or even to knock a burning tree into their opponents for an area of attack. If the PCs don’t take advantage of the environment, have the enemies do it to give them an idea of what’s possible.

Monster mixtures are a lot of fun to play with. Given the XP budget, I’ll tend to have 2-3 kinds of monsters in a fight. If I have a choice, I’d rather have a couple of orc fighters, an orc archer or spellcaster, and a pet giant boar or something than just a group of straightforward orcs. The different kinds of attacks and defenses of the variable monsters make for a more interesting fight, and you can exercise even more creativity in describing the various attack. The orcs can slash with their scimitars and axes, the boar can brutally gore with its tusks or trample with its hooves, an archer can send arrows whistling through the air, and an orc cleric could fill the air with profane magics.

An if/then combat is one that really is like a puzzle. There’s some kind of condition that must be met to either end the combat or make it much easier. If the necromancer is slain, then all of the skeletons collapse, leaving only the two wights to fight on. If the enchanted shackles are struck from the statue of Bahamut, then the priest of Tiamat becomes vulnerable to all attacks instead of resistant. If the enchantment on the Eladrin Bladesinger is broken, then she will aid you against the Hag and her Tree Blights. You could allow skills like Perception, Insight, Arcana, History, Nature, Religion, and the like to be used as a Bonus Action in combat to give clues as to how to change the battle, or automatically tell characters if you think they should know. A Grave Cleric, for example, could automatically recognize that cutting down the Necromancer is the way to end this battle more quickly. An Archfey Warlock might have their Patron whisper to them to aid the Bladesinger to free them from the Hag’s curse. An Acolyte might remember a holy book about shackling a statue to a God, and so on. This rewards the players for their choices during character creation and gives them a moment to shine.

Alternative challenges are something I’ve talked about before, and they form a more detailed version of the If/Then combat. I use the 4E mechanic for skill challenges to allow PCs to affect combat through means other than making attacks. This is a great way to allow characters like a bard with a lot of knowledge skills to make a big difference in combat. For example, in my campaign, an Arch-Fey was captured by the Briar Hag Auntie Mengybone, making her more powerful, immune to all damage except cold iron, and allowing her to raise plant monsters to do her bidding. When the PCs confronted her, some of the PCs took the time to use Detect Magic and saw bonds linking her to the Arch-Fey, who they’d thought to be dead. Several of them then spent their combat rounds using Arcana to disrupt the magical bonds, which ultimately freed the Arch-Fey. Auntie Mengybone was then returned to normal and attempted to flee before being stopped and destroyed by the others.

Anonymous, I hope that, in conjunction with my previous article, this gives you some solid ideas about making combat a lot more than “I attack” every round.If you get your players to RP more in the middle of combat, give them meaningful choices and alternatives, and generally make combats more lively and interesting, I think you’ll find that things will be a lot more fun when they happen.

Until next time, Gentle Readers. May all your 20s be natural.

[readingwithlemons]

The Training Scene

 Edited 8-21-21

Prompt Scene to the Series: Rising Sun

Description: Y/N and Jasper are in charge of training both the other Cullens and Uley Pack, how to fight an army of Newborns. Still on touchy ground, Paul realizes the cruel severity of his imprint previous life and the rest of the pack seem to gain more respect for the tiny leech.

Word count:1902

DISCLAIMER: I USED SOME OF THE DIALOGUE WRITTEN BY MEYER IN THIS PROMPT. I USED THEM AS A WAY TO FIX MY STORY IN WITH HER STORY MORE FLUIDLY.

Warnings: physical fighting, foul language, talk of death

a/n: Paul and the rest of the pack will be wolf form for most of this scene anything in Bold will be the conversation between the pack.

I avoided looking at anyone in the pack as they walked through the tree line. While my family gawked and stared at the large pack, I stood tensed, swallowing the pings and pangs of guilt I felt for not sharing this detail with my family. However this wasn't my information to give them.

Trying to refocus my thoughts towards helping Jasper with plans of training. It became hard to drift from the grey-silver wolf that held my shattered heart in his hands. Anger and Embarrassment still flooded through my system from our last conversation. I was hurt that he had thought so low of me and that he felt the need to scream at me in front of the whole pack.

I flinched as the memory of what I said popped back in my head. 

~

“Do you really think I wanted to be this monster?” I spun around to stare at him. Ignoring the eavesdropping teens behind me. Paul's face still held the ame disgust, as it did after Jacob told everyone of the newborn army.

“You honestly think that I asked to be this bloodsucking filth.” Paul's face flashed in shock at my phrasing.

" I had a life." I stressed the last word " A good life. With a doting husband, who I only recently found out, killed himself because he couldn't protect me." 

I never told Paul about Jonathan...or anything about my past because…Well he never seemed to care. Hell, Alice and Jasper are the only ones that even knew about Jonathan's suicide...maybe Edward but- \

Finally looking and registering the blank look that was Paul’s face now. I felt nothing but anger as I tried to bite my tongue from telling him anymore. He doesn't deserve to know about Jon. He doesn't get to use that against me like he uses everything else to attack me.

He just doesn't understand the fuckery that I've had to deal with. “ Did you know that one of the uhh-” I looked back at the ground “side efforts~” 

I almost laughed at my word choice. “Of being a leech is that you can’t kill yourself.” I could hear his heart skip a beat. “ Yeah... we can kill each other just not ourselves.”

A laugh escaped my throat, then another , then another. I shook my head, trying to pull myself back together. “And I know that because I tried every single method of the book."

“Even lighting myself on fire, did nothing but tickle me.”

"Y/n" I heard him breathe, then I felt the tiniest brush of a touch on the top of my shoulder. Jerking away from him, and looking back at his face. I saw the disgust that had laced in his expression and eyes were gone. In its place, was an expression of remorse. 

Full on laughing I tried to continue my speech, “It’s hilariously fucked up isn’t it” If I could cry I would be. I swallow the dry sob in the back of my throat. 

“Well my whole entire existence is fucked up actually.” I started to calm down. “ If it wasn’t, I would be 6 feet under right now.”  

“ Y/n” He started but I held up a hand to stop him, but he squeezed out “ It was a bad choice of word-.” 

"Of course!" I blew up. " Because you didn't know." I raised an eyebrow as he raised a hand to touch me again. He put it back down as when he saw the flames in my eyes. I continued "Because you never gave me the chance to explain to you what I went through. You just assumed that I asked for it ." 

"I'm done with having to defend myself, morally from you."   I turned and headed back to my vehicle, ignoring Paul's yells, as I slammed the car door. Bella would just have to get a ride from Jake. 

~

A wave of calmness hitting my system pulled me from the embarrassing memory. My eye shot up to Jasper, who was on the other side of her. He was still staring straight ahead. 

“Welcome” Carlisle spoke, I let my gaze settle on his relaxed stance out in the middle. My father has always amazed me with his calm appearance. 

"I know it must be a difficult thing for you to come." Then he went on to explain that Edward would be acting as a translator, so that way they don't have to phase if they don't want to.

“Thank you” Edward replied in a gruff tone. “We will only watch and listen, but no more. That is the most we can ask of our self-control.” I was thrilled more by that statement than I should be. I was hopeful that maybe I would be able to leave this place without a glance at a certain wolf.

“That is more than enough,” Carlisle smiled calmly. “My son Jasper” his right hand moved to gesture  “And daughter, Y/N '' his hand then shifting slightly to me, I nodded in acknowledgement to Carlisle gaze.

If I was still human, I would have had thousands of tiny goosebumps, up and down my arms right now. It felt like there were at least a thousand eyes on me.

"-have experience in this area. They will teach us how the newborns fight, and how they will be defeated. I’m sure you can apply this to your own hunting style." I heard a low rumble among the wolves 

“They are different from you?” asked Edward. Or Sam? This is getting confusing already. Carlisle smiled, “How about I let them explain.” again gesturing toward Jasper and me before stepping back to stand next to Esme. Jasper and I both walked up from the back to where Carlisle stood in the middle. 

I took a quick glance at Jasper and knowing, he would want to talk more than I did but I promised to speak mainly to the wolves if he explained more to our family. So that meant this question was for me to answer. 

Directing and keeping my attention to Sam, I tried to stay unfazed as I spoke “Yes, as they are still very new to this life. The Newborns will be full of frenzy driven by the brute strength given to them from the blood that still lingers in their system."  

"The newborns will fight amongst themselves. As of today we know that their numbers sit at 20. Ten for us and ten for you, with that it shouldn't be too difficult. but it's highly likely that their numbers will either lower farther or raise. ”  A rumble of excitement seems to run through them. 

“We are happy to take more than our share. If necessary” Edward translated, I notice the change in the tone. I smiled, “We will have to see.”

“ What makes you two more qualified on this matter than any of the others?” Edward spoke again. 

 There was a rustle next to me as Jasper took a step forward. Arms behind his back, his stance reminded me of my first meeting with him after I changed, posed and ready for a fight. 

“Y/N and I were forced into this life for the same reason as these newborns were forced. Except developed a conscience that our creator-" spoke with clear disgust in his tone. " -did not have control over." 

I heard a small gasp behind me and a small rustling of feet behind me. Clearly Bella did not know this strange detail. Jasper began to pace. I always picked on him when he did this. 'Your military is showing', I would say. But right now, it was nothing short of intimidating how he stood. 

“We know how to defeat them because we know what it's like to be them.” “Thank you” Edward quickly cut him off. “We will watch now.” Nodding Jasper turned to face back to our family. 

“There are 2 things you need to know, 1. Don’t let them get their arms around you; they will crush you instantly. 2.” He stopped turning back to face the wolves.

I flashed a look at Sam, the black wolf stood taller staring back at the ex-major. 

“ Don’t go for the obvious kill “ Jasper spoke clearly emphasizing each word wanting them to understand him. “ They will be expecting that. “ Jazz relaxed “ and you will lose. “ Sam let out a huff in response. 

“ Y/N and Emmett, you are up first.” I heard a mumble pass down the wolf line as everyone spread back leaving me and Emmett at different ends of the field.

“This should be good” Emmett spoke now, seeming to warm himself up, rubbing his hands together. 

“Emmett relies on his strength very much like the newborns.” Jasper said “ so he will be a good example for you.” He looked between Emmett and I. "Start whenever you are ready." I smiled at Em “Don’t hold back” cockily,  he let out a bearish laugh at ending it with a smirk. “Not in my nature” and he charged.

I felt the wind as he chucked me in the air, quickly catching myself in a landing spin charging back at him. It seemed not even a long second had passed before I had his large head smashed into the ground. 

“Again” Emmett growled. Smiling, I pushed away from him. I tried to ignore the huffs and snorts coming from the wolves' side.

“Don’t lose your focus” I told him “Following your emotions is only making your moves more predictable.” He nodded, standing up and heading over to his end of the field again. I nodded toward Jasper who agreed with my assessment, gesturing to continue with Emmett.

Taking my place again, Emmett charged and within the next minute he was already calling for another rematch. 

"Don't turn your back on your enemy." Jasper spoke with an eye roll. 

**Paul’s Pov**

"Y/n is kicking his ass." laughed Jared. Silently laughing with him I watched as Y/N jumped on top of the big Cullen twisting him mid-air and slamming him into the ground again. 

"That she is, " agreed Sam lightly chuckling.

Watching her first stand across the field from that large Cullen made my insides twist in worry; however, as I watched her pin him in no time flat, it seemed to bring a sense of pride in me. It only made me feel even more guilty. I shouldn't be happy to finally see her again. I didn't deserve it. Not after what I said about her.

"God, please just apologize to her already" spoke Leah, before I could reply Sam growled softly

" Leah," he warned.

"Shut up" I replied harshly. "I'll keep my thoughts to myself."

"What? I am only trying to help! Out of all of us. I'm the one who knows best how to handle the emotional range of a woman." Quick to defend herself, I realized Leah made sense.Before anyone could really respond to her statement. We watched as Gruff-man walked off the field. Leaving only Y/n on the field...undefeated. Edward stepped up, Jacob tensed as Edward's death flashed in his thoughts

"Jake" Sam barked

Watching all the Cullen's fight each other it was clear to anyone that both Y/N and Jasper were the only experienced ones. Either of them lost a fight with any of the others. It made me wonder…

"We're done for the day"

------

[iamnightduchess]

Reiner & Mikasa: A Retrospective Pt.2

“The Shield of Marley & The Blade of Paradis”

Why ReiKasa is a (BR)OTP ship that’s worth more than a fleeting glance

[*caution: a continuation of a long reflective post with the sole intention to share a fan’s perspective through available representation through manga, anime, exhibition & etc. This post is not to convince nor argue where is its place in canon, but only to explore the vast possibilities of these two amazing characters that I love. In the end, if the series ends with Mikasa alive & ending by herself or with X character, then it means Isayama believes that X character is the one she’ll find that eventual happiness with and I’m all for that. Same goes with Reiner :)] Special thanks to @berumika​ for sharing some of the additional points that are included in this post. Years down the line after SnK ended, I’d love to have a post I can revisit of these two amazing characters & the possibilities that could have been from time to time. I’m having absolute fun in observing how much both of these characters have grown since the series debuted in 2010.

Pt. 1 available here. Warning: Image heavy, potential spoilers.

When I first got to know SnK/AoT, it was through the anime first before manga. Bad idea for me. My initial perspectives of Mikasa & Reiner were skewed and that was later rectified as I navigated the original source directly. Eren is the first protagonist that was introduced by the series creator but I was drawn to Mikasa & Reiner when I started the manga after Season 1 ended. 

Trainees

These top two trainees of the 104th batch are closely matched to each other in ranking. We don’t see them interact directly in the anime, but in the early panels of the manga, Reiner could be seen sitting down with Eren, Mikasa & Armin during mealtimes.

Sure, Mikasa can be expected to not converse with Reiner directly, but if her two childhood friends have their good friend sitting together for meals, at the very least we can expect them to have some brownie points in socialization.

Apart from being total gorgeous hotties, they’re both physically strong people, with Reiner always being second to Mikasa in terms of brute strength. Total muscle pairing and I could see them being at par with each other during physical drills. Reiner & Mikasa could go all out, even beyond 100% and the other would be physically capable to take/receive the force. Shadis would’ve tasked them to lead the physical trainings from time to time. They have been sparring partners, evident from the moment Mikasa threw Reiner across the field into Eren who’s sparring with Annie. Their fitness regime would be in-sync with each other. I could see them having mad respect for each other and secretly admire the other person’s prowess and skill. 

Connection through Eren

As highlighted primarily in Pt.1, Eren has been shown to look up or aspire to be high achievers like Reiner and Mikasa both. He wanted to be as strong as the two of them. The odds of the very same people he look up to, as the two individuals who would be able to stop him, I would suspect as very high at this point.

When they were younger, Reiner has always been the one that’s pulled Eren up when he’s down, nearly giving up & at the lowest points of his life. He was also the one who convinced Eren to ‘keep on moving forward’, which we’ll learn later was one of the most ironic moments that Reiner recalled as he feels responsible for everything that begun, which also pushed his guilt inside him to his near-suicide attempt.

Survey Corps

Reveal on Wall Rose

Mikasa, was one of the few junior SC members who were called in for the secret meeting with the unit’s top brass the night before the reveal. She was made aware of Reiner & Bertolt’s possible identity as the enemy after she assisted with apprehending Annie in Wall Sina. While Reiner was talking to Eren, Mikasa could be seen being highly agitated, hands shaking as she waited with unease breath for Reiner & Bertolt to make their move.

She was later seen questioning her hesitance on delivering the killing blow or at least enough to incapacitate them. Mikasa called Reiner & Bertolt “the plague of humanity” in anger and absolute disappointment. They were still her friends that she knew for three years & it had been difficult for her to kill them.

Thunder Spears Training

Mikasa could be seen reflecting in a combination of unease, sadness & regret as she recalled back the moment she was unable to break Reiner’s armor with her blades.

Return to Shinganshina

Mikasa was the one who crippled the Armored’s legs. She wasn’t as emotional as Connie, Jean & Sasha but there was a deep, painful rumination on her part the moment they assumed that Reiner was dead dead. She was also the one who noticed the sudden move from Reiner’s Armored Titan. In the anime, she could be seen angry & frustrated at Reiner’s refusal to confess that she pulled too hard on the bandage in her hands while she was helping Jean with his injuries.

Time-Skip (Current)

Reiner’s reminiscence & nightmares

Reiner’s reminiscence of Mikasa was indirect, but he highlighted her (and Armin’s) fierce, unwavering loyalty towards Eren. He had recurring nightmares of her & Levi that are the symptoms of his PTSD. The anime specifically used her shot to highlight the last image of her that he saw: anger.

Assault in Liberio

You could see the existing disappointment on her face when Reiner’s partially transformed Titan appeared, having to cross paths again in such a way after four years. She could’ve intervened the way she did with Galliard’s Jaw but she didn’t. Eren said Reiner’s out of any energy left to retaliate and Mikasa didn’t disagree. At this point, Mikasa is already affected by Eren’s actions in murdering the women & children inside the building that he shifted in and the destruction they all left behind.

Connection through Gabi

Reiner’s young cousin reminded Armin & Mikasa of a young Eren. The difference is that, Gabi had an early opportunity to be saved through the compassion showed by Mikasa and Sasha’s beloved family. The very same people who had every right to be sad, grieving and taking out their anger on the child who gunned down their beloved friend & daughter.

Mikasa doesn’t verbally express her emotions but it can be shown through her body language & facial expressions. I love seeing the tender way she pressed Gabi’s head onto her shoulder as protection and a symbolism of safety. It was a bit sad that this ‘bond’ was short-lived but what an amazing connection it would’ve been if Mikasa & Gabi had been given more space to develop their bond in canon.

Concern for Reiner & Annie

Usually when Mikasa verbally expresses something, it is usually important/significant to her. In ch.124, she could be seen asking Gabi about Reiner’s location. Why? It’s because she is concerned for Reiner’s safety. If his Armors were undone, he was vulnerable and with pure Titans and the Colossal Titans walking around, he would be in danger.

“We need to help Reiner & Annie.” She was heavily concerned with Reiner and Annie’s lives at the docks. But this moment is more important for Connie as a callback to the moment when Annie & Reiner both had saved Connie when they were trainees.

Adjacent Manga/Official Art Paneling(s)

In the current final arc of the manga, (several panels have been highlighted in Pt.1) it’s quite interesting to note that Mikasa & Reiner’s characters/panelings have been drawn adjacent to each other. I could also see the way Armin, Reiner & Mikasa (ARM) are getting primary focus by Isayama in this final arc.

Others (Misc./Semi-canon)

Cool-faced Cookie (Attack on Titan Game)

When Reiner suggested the player to do a melee practice with two other sparring partners, he immediately spotted Mikasa & Historia. It’s very interesting to note that Reiner’s nickname for Mikasa is “Cool-faced cookie” as he hinted the player to ask Mikasa for an impromptu practice.

The blink and miss furtive glance(s)

In Lost Girls OVA’s ED by WIT, a screenshot of the primary 104th walking together could be seen. Mikasa could be seen sneaking a glance at Reiner.

In a scene during the fresh SC recruits discussing intensely about Eren’s role as humanity’s hope, Reiner could be seen glancing silently with concern for Mikasa, as Jean questions her vouch of confidence in Eren’s abilities.

In Snk OVA#3, Mikasa is grouped with Reiner for the excursion and they could be seen having good teamwork together. When Mikasa’s ‘sixth senses’ are triggered due to Eren being in danger, Reiner could be seen looking at her direction immediately as if sensing her distress. 

Characteristics & Zodiac Signs

Amazing/Compassionate with children

Known as the Shield of Marley, Reiner’s a caring keeper, a natural leader and a provider who’s naturally amazing with children. Everyone looks up to him. Would’ve made a good family man if the circumstances were different. Based on his characteristics & physical attribute, he reminds me of Mikasa’s father below, no matter how short-lived he was. I could see her admiring that side of him even if it wasn’t mentioned directly. They are both loving, selfless, protective towards their child/ward.

Mikasa, true to her name, an Ackerman, a genetically-enhanced super soldier/warrior of Paradis that wields their blades with the highest efficiency. Though she might not seem as natural with children, did come from a healthy & loving upbringing with her parents for nine years. Her real persona as a child pre-awakening is a curious, thoughtful and actually a warm-hearted girl. Post-awakening characteristics could also be contributed from the traumas imposed by the murder of her parents, the fall of Wall Maria, the death of Carla & having to shoulder the immediate responsibility as Eren’s new ‘guardian’/caregiver/problem-solver/mess-cleaner.

She shown her compassion towards Gabi, which in turn had proved to the little girl how there are good-hearted, forgiving people in the Island. Mikasa could be observed as being heavily concerned with Falco as she questioned Jean about the young  boy. One could see the anger on her face when she saw Connie took off and abducted Falco to be fed to his mom. She drew the line in harming children even if they’re trained enemy soldiers.

Aquarius & Leo’s Compatibility

Reiner’s a Leo and Mikasa’s an Aquarius. Their characteristics are too coincidental to their respective astrological signs to be disregarded completely.

He’s an extrovert (Ref: younger!Reiner. Older Reiner too but his PTSD’s and maturity have taken over his more outgoing personality) that compliments her introvert personality yet they both have their inner demons to deal with and could somehow understand that about each other. He’s a ray of sunshine that could enlighten her melancholic personality. Yet their dominant personalities, although might be clashing at first, eventually would lead them to respect the other’s perspective. This would ring true when they were younger. Currently they have grown older, wiser and more understanding of the other.

At the current Final Arc, this has been highlighted in Part 1, recent chapters have shown older Reiner and Mikasa’s unspoken respect and understanding for each other. The current Reiner’s natural leadership as a born Leo is very apparent. Reiner was being very mindful of her feelings as Eren is a very sensitive subject & Mikasa took in Reiner’s words with serious consideration. 

It would be great to see more of their combined synergy as Reiner & Mikasa’s teamwork could be seen once again in ch.135. Aquarius & Leo would take turns to take a back seat while letting the other leads.

They are actually very physically and sensually compatible with each other & could potentially be an unstoppable force if they were to fight for the same side. At the moment, I’m hoping to see this potentially deadly combination once again in ch.136 onwards. They could’ve overtaken Eren’s Founding Form is it wasn’t for OG!Ymir’s one-sided overkill powers. To the real God who created the parasite worm, please take powers away frpm this uncontrollable grandma in a little girl’s body.

More of Mikasa’s Aquarius & Reiner’s Leo Compatibility Meter with description below:

Since this is SnK and not Berserk/Tokyo Ghoul/insert other josei manga titles, no one’s having sex directly haha In an ideal world, Reiner & Mikasa’s physical attractions for each other will almost be off the charts. “When they find true emotion, Aquarius might actually end up respecting the king”. In current arc, this can be observed. She respects Reiner & his words.

The above describes both Mikasa and Reiner respectively. Mikasa does not reach for heroism directly but it can be seen indirectly from the way she had inspired a child Louise through her bravery, protecting Gabi and rescuing/protecting the Azumabito Service crew from the Jeagerists. Reiner has always been born to be a hero, regardless of the circumstances of his conception or birth.

“If they end up fighting for the same cause, they could turn down entire governments and use their incredible force to change anything in the world.”

Even oppressive, destructive supernatural, God-like powers? Ymir & Eren, better be prepared. 

 “To get there, these two would have to stop the battle they have with each other.” Check and Check.

“Leo -- has the ability to give clarity to any situation.” Ch.133. That was not Reiner projecting. He’s always been Eren’s counterpart. He’s telling the readers that there’s a part of Eren out there that still wants to be stopped since he has surrender his will to Ymir. She took his words into serious consideration and in Paths, voices out to Eren on his sins and burden.

“Leo is exactly what Aquarius needs to find love. -- to liberate and shine as if they have been searching for one another for many lifetimes.” In an ideal world or in my gazillion AUs: Reiner and Mikasa could be soulmates.

This could ring true for the younger Reiner & Mikasa.

Reiner and Mikasa both are indeed strong, selfless individuals in each other’s eyes. This can be observed in Ch.133 & 135. Reiner feared her but respect her strength & feelings when it relates to Eren nevertheless. Even Reiner was taken aback by Pieck’s ultimatum in blowing the Founder’s neck, although Armin had suggested the same thing the night before.

“Just like the Sun and the lightning don’t go together, Aquarius should take over on a rainy day, in a depressive crowd or in places where they both feel as if they would drown. This is where Leo needs to give in and let their partner rule the sky--”  It wasn’t a rainy day or depressive crowd in ch. 135, it was a chaotic shitstorm and they were all not drowning but dying. Period. Our dear Mikasa took charge like a BAMF Queen that she is. She was putting her life on the line to protect the four injured men behind them. She aimed to buy them more time if she could as everyone expected it to be the end. As highlighted in Pt.1, you could see the helplessness on Reiner’s face when he saw Mikasa’s breaking point.

Reference : http://www.astrology-zodiac-signs.com/compatibility/aquarius-leo/

Final Exhibition

The Final Exhibition highlights the Last Stand: the direct final confrontation between The Founding/Attack against The Armored, with Mikasa being in the middle of the confrontation, tipping the scales of the outcome. Before, she assisted Eren against Reiner. Currently, she is working with Reiner to stop Eren.

Trio(s) Parallel

An interesting panel from ch.97:

EMA & RBA have always been lauded as the main trio of their respective sides. We have seen Armin taking over Bertolt’s powers & is potentially promised a future with the girl that Bertolt had feelings for. Recognize the probable pattern?

Guy from trio 1 ate Guy from trio 2′s Titan & is promised a potential future with the girl he cares for/have feelings for/close with from the trio.

Only one between between Eren & Reiner will remain. What if the story begins with Eren but will end with Reiner all along?

SnK HighSchool AU / Breakfast Club X-over

In the movie, the Jock (Quarterback!Reiner) ends up with the Rebel (Goth!Mikasa). He looks past her eccentricity & see her for who she is. This is a fun crossover by Isayama but very interesting to see Armin, Mikasa & Reiner work together to save Eren in the fake previews.

Whether the combined strength and perseverance of the Blade of Paradis & the Shield of Marley be enough to save the world from total annihilation? It remains to be seen very, very soon.

No matter how the series ends, whether both Reiner and Mikasa survive or not, I’ll be looking back in pride upon seeing their journey, growth & dynamics as either individual or together in this beautiful series by Hajime Isayama’s brilliant mind. Because of him, these two characters inspired his readers, myself included, to be brave and fight for what they truly believe in: humanity & its continuation. It has been an incredible ride and I will continue to enjoy writing for this OTP/BROTP, that I’ve fell so deeply in love with and their vast possibilities.

[shoichee]

Phantom Thieves of Hearts in KNB

Persona 5 x Kuroko no Basket crossover

[knb x s/o reader]

Headcanons on how KNB characters find out you were a member of the Phantom Thieves + what they do afterwards

Warning: very very brief mention of harassment/assault | mild spoilers up to Haru/mild insinuations of Akechi | mild spoilers of KNB’s “Last Game” movie

Part 2 is here! Part 3 is here!

Kuroko Tetsuya

you two started dating for a while, but recently, Kuroko began to notice out how you always seem to weasel your way out of group hangouts or turn down after school dates with him or just altogether disappeared without a trace/word

“Um, do you want to eat together at Maji Burger after school today?”

“Wahhh! I’m so sorry, Tetsu!” you hugged your boyfriend with regret before declining. “I already have plans today…”

or that one time when school ended and right when he turned to ask you if you wanted to walk home together, you were just… gone

you were becoming a Kuroko and he was worried

he tried to ask you about your behaviors but you always brushed him off or deflected the subject elsewhere

while he figured that he should wait before you were ready to tell him, he grew antsier as you grew busier and busier and had no time left for the two of you to hang out beyond just class

one day he decided to follow you using his lack of presence and unknowingly walked into the metaverse along with you

but he then sees your attire changed,

then some other people in costumes,

and weird monsters—

he was just standing behind a pillar the entire time and was waiting for the perfect time to go and confront you when you and the strange group encountered a hostile group of shadows and started battling like pros

his eyes were on you the entire time like: 👁🕳👁

you were so graceful, yet so fierce, and so badass—

after the whole battle, he sneaked up to you and tapped your shoulder for you to whirl around in complete shock

the other PT members were just as baffled about where he came from

Ryuji: “Quick, he’s an effin’ enemy shadow!”

Ann: “Ugh, Ryuji! Be quiet!”

Futaba: “Stuuuuupid, if he was a shadow I would’ve already alerted everyone.”

after Kuroko explains how he came over because he was worried about you as your boyfriend, everyone was gushing (Ryuji was salty that he doesn’t have a girlfriend still, and Yusuke was elated to have found his next art models)

after being sworn to secrecy and lowkey threatened by Haru and Makoto, Kuroko supports you from the shadows (ha ha, get it?)

he asks Riko to teach him how to do massages so he can massage your sore muscles after a rough metaverse run

it gives him more excuses to be with you and touch you and pamper you to his heart’s content

he may or may not have used massage times as an excuse to cuddle and smooch your neck and back

he sometimes asks you what his own “heart” looks like, and you assure him that he doesn’t have a palace because he’s the purest being ever

he pays more attention to the news regarding the PT and gets really worried when even the politicians get involved (you had to reassure him constantly)

he vibes super well with Joker because they’re the silent protagonists™️ with a sassy streak sometimes

he definitely bullies Ryuji, I can feel it

you actually teach him some of your own signature moves to help Kuroko develop new trump cards in future games (especially against Touou Academy)

he teaches you how to diminish your presence to sneak up on shadows even better than Joker’s ambushing

Kiyoshi Teppei 

this sweet man is so attentive to you and your needs, even if you didn’t ask anything of him

so when you came to watch the game between Seirin and Kirisaki Daiichi, you were livid

he did not deserve this

even if you hated to watch the game, you stayed until the end, and after, you rushed to the lockers to check up on him

“Teppei! You idiot!” you were already tearing up. “You’re okay, right?”

you were holding his limbs and checking out all the wounds he was sporting

even when your boyfriend assured you, it went in one ear out the other

you were boiling in anger

he pinched your cheek

“I’m okay, (y/n).”

you grumbled and hesitatingly dropped the subject but that didn’t mean you wanted to drop the matter entirely

especially since you had the power to change other people’s hearts and their actions

but you didn’t want to bring it up to your PT members, since at first seemed more of a personal problem within the basketball matches rather than a widespread societal problem

that is, until Ryuji brought up that their own school’s basketball team got extremely roughed up and injured a couple weeks ago, but there were finally news of it coming out because the school tried to keep it quiet (but several students finally leaked the news out)

you then tentatively brought up about Seirin’s recent match

all of you guys did further research on the Kirisaki Daiichi basketball team’s history and you all found out how every basketball team they went against had their aces severely injured or taken out

time to change some hearts

mainly, the Kirisaki Daiichi starter players

luckily for you, Riko ordered Teppei to stay home for at least a few days to rest up before coming back to school, so you were free to do some thievery

you still visited Teppei’s home once or twice and brought snacks and balms (his grandparents love you)

so off the Phantom Thieves went, and you guys all went to work changing five hearts back to back

holy shit, their shadows in Mementos were just as brutal, all of them having their own special foul play or bad attitudes in some type of way even in combat (Yamazaki was the one who didn’t use foul play, but he had brute strength)

the PT succeeded in changing their hearts but got dark bruises and deep cuts in exchange

you in particular had it the worst

you took it upon yourself to play decoy/bait for all the shadows’s battles separately to let the other members finish it all of with All-Out-Attacks for each of them

you chuckled to yourself at how deja vu it all was to you, and you now kinda see what Teppei was talking about when he was willing to sacrifice himself for the sake of his friends

Haru was trying to wrap bandages on your forearms and lower biceps while Ann was applying alcohol to cuts on your legs and a few on your face

when you were treated, you were mostly fine, save for a few blue bruises peeking through everywhere and the abundance of white wraps around your limbs and a bandage or two plastered across your cheek

Joker ordered you to stay home for the next week, and you were fine with it; it would be way too suspicious to show up to school looking completely beaten up

so you were just chilling on the couch, flinching every now and then when your skin brushes over the fabric a little too fast or when your wounds touch anything, to be honest

meanwhile, Teppei was still at home recovering, but he pushed himself to at least be able to go to school starting the next day

day 2 crawled by, and now you’re really feeling the injuries now; everything was beyond sore and that didn’t even account for the natural exhaustion your body felt from coming back after a metaverse trip

in other words, you got double whammied and your body ached to move

you weren’t immobilized but you really preferred to sleep it off all day

you knew that at this time, Teppei would probably push himself to go to school today to see you, so you sighed before you reached for your phone

you texted Riko to tell Teppei that you had gotten sick IF he asked about you; you didn’t want to text Teppei directly because you knew he would immediately come over to your house and then see you in your state, but not letting anyone know where you were would send your poor boyfriend in a panic

you also didn’t want him to worry about you when he had his own body to worry about first

second day passed by without much incident surprisingly, and so you decided to check your phone to see a text from Riko from earlier:

I told Teppei not to bother you or visit you because you needed to recover without any distractions, and him coming over or texting you would just make you not get the rest you needed. Hope you get better soon!

Riko, the MVP

today’s the third day, and your wounds were still so obvious; Joker was right, you were gonna need at least a week

but being absent for a week was also suspicious in itself for student attendance

you heard a distinct knock knock on your house door and you knew you couldn’t avoid Teppei any longer

you shuffled yourself to the door, muttering a few curses of pain here and there before you quietly clicked the door open

when Teppei saw you littered in injuries, he was at first shocked, then confused, then heartbroken that you hid this all from him, and then furious

“Who did this to you?”

“I—uhhhhhhhhh—”

“... Why’d you hide this from me?”

he pushed the door further and let himself in, ignoring your weak protests

he gently scoops you up, gives you a forehead kiss, and walks you over to your room to gently place you on the edge of the bed; he settles himself on the floor beneath you

he looks up at you imploringly to tell him, his arms reaching up with his abnormally large hands to cup your cheeks, thumbing the bandaid on your cheek

“Please… tell me.”

he never uses pleas in these sorts of contexts because he’d feel like he would be pressuring/coercing you into doing something you weren’t comfortable with, but when he did, you knew he was serious, and your resolve easily crumbled

so you spent the rest of the day telling about your double life as the Phantom Thief while he hugged you from behind with his chin on your head

when you finished explaining the basic concepts and the steps to change a heart, Teppei grew silent until he said:

“You still haven’t told me where you got the bruises from.”

“Huh? Didn’t I just tell you that we have to literally battle shadow monsters to change people’s hearts?”

Teppei hums but he taps on the bandaid on your cheek

“You sound like you’ve been doing this for a while, yet this is the first time where you went absent from school, let alone sustain injuries to this degree.”

Shit, you were going to leave out stuff regarding the Kirisaki Daiichi, but sometimes, you forget that Teppei is actually quite sharp despite his oblivious demeanor

so you shyly confessed the rest of the events you hid from him, afraid of how he’ll react once he hears what they did in combat

“I see…” he trailed off, and you held your breath

“And from what you said, they’ll change?...”

you nodded and said, “They won’t be terrorizing any more basketball teams with their dirty plays.”

“That’s a relief,” he sighed. “Although…

I don’t like the idea of you being hurt by their hands.”

“Glad to know our feelings are mutual,” you dryly replied.

he gave a hearty laugh for the first time that day

“I guess so.”

first operation of business once you mostly recovered was to tell the PT that your boyfriend knew and how he came to know about them; everyone took it rather well once you explained yourself and trusted you to keep Teppei in check

thankfully, you don’t get those awful wounds again, but once in a while, when you do come in with a nasty bruise or two, Teppei comes into your house with takeout food and applies a bunch of ice packs for you

Aomine Daiki

you were really good at sports

like... really good at it

sometimes during PE, you would do random trickshots with the ball in the respective sport for the day, or you would do a rather skillful maneuvering to dodge incoming balls from other players, and Aomine LOVED watching his little significant other wiping the floor with your classmates

he, being way too excited at the possibility that you might actually be a challenge for him, challenged you to a one-on-one in basketball

on the street court, you moved as if you were one with the ball, guiding its course as you ducked under his protruding arm, sidestep him as you predicted his change of pace, doing really elaborate spins as you avoided him with ease

were you striking flamboyant poses every time you made a hoop??

he obviously won, but you gave him way too much trouble for someone who he hardly ever saw play basketball

“hey, were you secretly practicing basketball for years and you just never told me?”

you just shrugged and said that you sometimes played for fun with your relatives, but even Aomine, who’s a general idiot, didn’t 100% buy that reasoning 

he first thought you were just a Kise 2.0 who had the natural talent to copy and learn from people really fast… but the more he thought about it, the more it didn’t make any sense

where the fuck would you copy a spin-duck-juke-flip combo move? those movements were nowhere close to the orthodox forms of any sport

one day, while he was still thinking about you on the rooftop, he called Momoi

“Oi, Satsuki, research up my (y/n), yeah?”

after being startled out of her wits that he directly asked her for a favor, she went right to work, closely examining you during PE for the next few days

meanwhile, Aomine has just been poking and prodding about where you learned those moves (spoiler alert: he was clinging onto you and draping his lanky arms all over you to get you to fess up)

Momoi’s results: you were extremely agile and nimble like Aomine but you had a huge streak in creativity and craftiness, especially when outsmarting your “opponent”

you were pretty good at balancing your phantom thief life, love life, and school life (you always finished up homework during school, Aomine always naps up the rooftop in the evening and you had the free time to leave for your PT time)

however, when Aomine started getting clingier because he was so damn curious about you, you were no longer able to slip away and use the excuse of “I have a particular schedule and curfew because of my family” because he’d insist he’ll walk you

you then had the idea to let him walk you to your house first, then wait until he leaves, and then go meet up with the PT gang

it worked for a couple weeks, but the added physical work of walking to your home, and waiting for him to leave, and then you dashing to the hideout to make it on time really leaves you beyond exhausted especially after you go on dungeon grinds

in other words, you started sleeping in class a lot and slept on Aomine during lunchtime at the rooftop (which he at first did NOT complain)

he only really started being suspicious when you out-slept him; he’d always wake up in the evenings just to see you still snoozing

you overslept one evening and when you straightened yourself awake and checked your time, you visibly paled and in a panic, grabbed your bag and booked it without a goodbye

you forgot about a confused Aomine who was right next to you

as you dashed to your destination, he was right behind you, worried about what exactly happened that got you so distressed

you headed to a particular coffee shop in Yongen-Jaya (don’t worry, Touou Academy is located in Tokyo as well), and when you sharply rounded a corner, you activated the metaverse app, accidentally sucking in a trailing Aomine

“Wow,” Aomine whistled, after recovering from his shock from seeing you in a more extravagant/raunchier attire. “Babe, you look great.”

you inwardly sighed

out of all things, the first thing on his mind was how you looked, and definitely not the fact that the atmosphere was all distorted

“Daiki, sit tight… I’ll be back.” you pushed a protesting bluehead out of the metaverse before you turned to your PT friends who were watching the ordeal silently

“This looks like deja vu, doesn’t it Mona.”

“Ugh, I still haven’t forgotten what you did, Ryuji.”

“Lady Ann, I would never handle you like that—”

“Liar.”

you all did business as usual, and you asked Joker if you could at least explain to your boyfriend the basic going-ons; he nodded

the next day after the information sunk into Aomine’s dense head, he still wanted to see you in your phantom thief outfit (you smacked his arm)

still, it finally explained why you were unbelievably nimble

from now on, every free time you had together, he drags you to the court to play one-on-one’s; he might even practice and pick up some of your own moves to use in his games

when you’re exhausted (quite often), he always offers up his shoulder for you to sleep on, or even better, lets you sit between his legs as you lean against his chest, cradled between his arms

after Aomine dumps off his old porn mags to Ryuji, they suddenly become best friends JWBWITBWJ jk, but in all honesty, Aomine was surprised to see Ryuji expressing the same level of passion (about track) like Aomine does for basketball (apparently Yusuke’s passion for art flies over Aomine’s head because “I don’t get it, they’re just scribbles”)

you guys may or may not teach each other different parkour moves, just for fun

Midorima Shintarou

when you first met him, he found it super odd that you didn’t find his obsession with oha asa off-putting at all

sure, you raised a brow when you first found out, but you never really joked about it nor did you seem to care right after

“Is that your lucky charm today, Midorima?” indicating to his ziplock of herbs

“Yes.” he adjusted his frames “Today is an average day for cancers like me, nanodayo”

“Okay”

“Okay?” he thought, caught off guard not only at the fact that you were the first person to bring up that it was a lucky item in a conversation, but you being so casually accepting as well

usually people ask him the more logical question what the hell he was holding rather than if what he had was a lucky item

he chastised himself for overthinking, he probably had a particular reputation and thought rumors spread to most people about his oddities, and that you weren’t an exception

in truth, you saw way more concerning things than some green haired boy holding a phone book around

in other words, the only way to really make you shook is to just pull out something scarier than all those shadows from the metaverse

besides, Joker has a few weird inventory items of his own: moonlight carrots, random accessories and weird trinkets as weapons and gears… you name it, he’s got it all

honestly, Midorima just reminded you of Joker in terms of both of them having the weirdest items but then turning out to be unexpectedly useful sometimes, and you’re just really amused

Midorima would probably start crushing on you once he was panicking because he thought he was careless when losing his lucky item (in reality: Takao decided to fuck around with him), and after you noticed his visible distress, you offered your dried squid (which you coincidentally packed for lunch today as a snack)

you heard him mumbling about where the squid was and so you handed him your package and asked him if this was the lucky item for today

once he quickly nodded, you tossed it him and said that it was his to take

Midorima was sputtering, oh no

he’s fallen and he can’t get up

after beating the ever living shit out of Takao, he’d reluctantly confess that he’s “interested” in you; Takao got the memo and cackled

next few weeks pass by with you two making small talk before class and during breaks, with a snickering Takao always nearby

Takao, being wingman, invites you to watch a Shutoku home game (cue Midorima staring daggers)

so you showed up, and boy you were SHOOK

no shadow would ever be able to do some accurate shots and aiming like that

so it kind of became a ritual of yours to go to the home games whenever you can (if PT activities didn’t interfere), plus you’d figure Joker would do something similar to learn skills useful for the PT

so you decided to observe the team (mainly Midorima) and maybe watch their moves to see if you can apply them to battle

oh, why is he so good-looking even when he’s especially sweaty and—

Midorima will never admit it, but he always looks for your face when he walks into the court before he relaxes 

“Shin-chan, looking for your lover?”

“Shut up, Takao.” 

but his blushing gives him away so badly and Takao keeps busting out laughs, holding his stomach

your presence kinda became Midorima’s new lucky charm for the games

and you two got closer now that you had new topics to talk about (basketball and other hobbies)

it was only until Midorima asked about what you did in your free time that you stopped and just went silent, caught off guard that he was interested in your life beyond school

“Uhhhhhhh…” you couldn’t tell him you steal hearts on the downlow

“I just… do a lot of volunteering”

“Is that so, nanodayo.” he didn’t deliver it as a question, as he narrowed his eye at your reaction (where you were generally normally collected)

one day after school, when Midorima went to go look for you, he found you with Joker

and you looked very close with him

jealousy as green as his moppy hair reared its ugly head and he didn’t know whether to approach you or leave you be… until Takao pushed him from behind

“O-oi!”

“Ah, Midorima! There you are! I was waiting for you!” you called him over, while Joker was silently assessing the green-haired man from the glint of his frames

he awkwardly headed over to you, and you introduced Midorima and Joker together and you told Mido that Joker was a really good friend and coworker

“You work, nanodayo?”

wait wait wait shit that was a bad slipup—

“(y/n) works with me sometimes on several odd jobs around Tokyo—”

“A-and I volunteer afterwards!...”

Joker gives you a look of exasperation and “you suck ass at lying, holy crap”

you wanted to slowly introduce your crush to your PT friends, so you did, every week, you’d ask each one/two to come to Shutoku where you’d introduce them to Midorima

Midorima is secretly happy that you’re opening up about your personal life to him, although he constantly gets a naggy feeling that something wasn’t right, especially when your “friends” kept acting weird sometimes when he asked the specific questions of:

“Do you guys always hang out?”

“Where do you guys even meet up if I never saw (l/n) with you anywhere near Shutoku?”

“How’d you guys meet?”

“How long have you been friends?”

oh no, this was gonna go south for you fast

thankfully, your friends were decent actors (Ann, not you) 

Midorima really vibes with Yusuke’s wavelength, and Yusuke praises Midorima for “his expression of art through the use of his lucky charms”

Midorima feels weirdly happy that someone for the first time is unabashedly praising him about his superstitions LMAO

anywho, so you and Midorima were kind of in the “more than friends” situation as time went on, but he was still frustrated that he wasn’t exactly “close” to you emotionally; he knew you were hiding something from him

one day, you stopped coming to his games for 4 consecutive games

Midorima is kind of dying

he’s dying and really scared that you’re not into him or he did something wrong, but he’d rather die than ever admit it

one day you approached him really nervously, and ask him to come with you to an area in Shibuya aND HE THINKS YOU’RE GONNA BREAK UP WITH HIM EVEN THOUGH YOU GUYS AREN’T EVEN OFFICIAL

you start apologizing at the fact that you couldn’t come to his games and Midorima insisted it wasn’t a problem (yes it was, he was so stressed)

actually, for the past few weeks you were hoping your PT gang would approve Midorima and later on you hoped to tell him about your thievery with your friends’ approvals

you bring him to your PT gang and from there all of you explained what you all did, confessed what you all were hiding, etc. (they trusted him as per your begging and pleas)

you told Midorima that you couldn’t make his games recently because of those PT activities

he thought you all just lost it and he thought you were mixed up with some crackhead junkies and tried to pull your arm to leave ASAP

but Joker just gives a smirk before he activated the metanav and sucked everyone in

Midorima’s reaction is like Makoto’s when she first witnessed the metaverse

after the whole ordeal and him digesting the information, from that point on, he gives you small lucky items/charms and makes you take them along in your inventories “just in case” but we all know it’s because he’s worried for your safety

oh and you officially became a couple ( ˘ ³˘)♥

bonus: you pester Midorima to teach you how to “shoot” more accurately/farther to help with your PT battles especially in throwing projectiles like *model* daggers and shurikens

he gets along best with Yusuke and Makoto

Akashi Seijuro

so in this au, the PT gang more or less goes to Rakuzan with you or at least goes to a school near yours in Kyoto

this headcanon also takes place shortly after “Last Game,” so his “Oreshi” side reigns

so since the o.g. PT originated in a Kyoto school (in this AU, rather than Shujin Academy), Akashi, as student council president, had more or less heard it from the principal to be wary of this similar “prank” with other kids, and to give harsher discipline if anyone was caught doing so

honestly Akashi thought these people were really over-reacting to mere rumors, but he’ll do what he’s gotta do to maintain order at school

nothing escapes this guy’s eye, literally

he noticed how you’re paying more attention to any nearby conversations that mention the key phrase, “phantom thieves”

“Darling, is something the matter?”

“Oh, sorry, I was just curious in what they were saying,” you said, tugging his hand with yours as you walked on ahead

you weren’t lying at the moment, his eye didn’t see any signs that you often did when you do lie

you knew being a phantom thief while dating THE Akashi Seijuro was a suicide mission but you literally prayed to fucking Igor that your acting skills were sufficient enough in getting past his radar (you asked Joker to help you with this; never ask Ann for acting tips)

Joker suggested for you to try to give half truths, and when you give whole truths, to make them vague and casual enough

for the next month, it was all fine, Akashi hadn’t suspect a thing and things were going uphill for the phantom thieves as well

your group was getting coverage from even the big news channels

but if something grows popular, there’s bound to be gossip, malicious slander, and lies

Akashi was just getting overwhelmed by requests from administration and faculty to try to control the students’ enthusiasm for the PT and deter their efforts in openly showing support

of course, you help him with his paperwork often 

you’re just reading all these papers and you’re trying to stifle your laughs

“What’s so funny, love?” he teased, eyes narrowing affectionately at you

“They’re just really ridiculous.” you were honestly dying at the fact that some kids think the PT members were super spy agents from abroad sent to undermine society

and he had to admit, they were, and he responded with a light chuckle of his own

the next day, while you two were cooped up in the student council room to sort through papers, a female student timidly walked into the room and asked for help specifically from Akashi

a PE teacher was allegedly touching female students, and she happened to be one of the victims; none of the adults took her seriously so she hoped Akashi would appeal to them

you were next to him, gritting your teeth and digging your nails into your palms as you were hearing this scared girl being forced to turn to another peer because she couldn’t get help from any adults around

Akashi vows to make her request his top priority and you swore you found another reason to love this redhead of yours

as soon as the student left, Akashi squeezed your shoulder to comfort you and you put your own hand over his, squeezing it back

“Don’t worry. Leave it to me, my love.”

you smiled, although in your head, you’re planning to tell this to the PT to settle this in a different manner

mission success, you changed the heart of the teacher and news spread like wildfire in Rakuzan once he confessed and turned himself in

everyone hailed Akashi as a hero, since the female student thought he must’ve did something

Akashi might’ve talked to some other teachers to convince them to speak out the other day, but he didn’t do anything to warrant such a drastic change in the perpetrator’s behavior

he frowned; you were the only one with him at the time the student asked for help

as more news of PT pop up, this incident was too convenient to call it a coincidence 

it’s time that the two you had a talk

as he walked briskly around campus, trying to look for you, he noticed you and the PT gang together; he’s seen them around with you for the longest time and knew they were your friends, and none of them raised any alarms in his head… until now

“Hey, (y/n), are you sure it was okay to change his heart right after you heard that student’s request?”

“Yusuke, I… know it’d look really conspicuous considering the surge in news coverage,” you started. “But the point of us starting this thing was to help others in need! If we’re just waiting around to keep a low cover just for our own convenience, then what’s the point of being Phantom Thieves?”

Akashi stopped in his place, amazed at your resolve

“... Shall we finish the rest of the Memento requests?” a deep voice rang out, belonging to a certain ravenette, Joker

everyone nods, a unanimous decision 

the metanav activates, and Akashi immediately noticed the change in atmosphere 

he tried to escape it but once it activated, it already pulled him in

the PT members don’t notice him and they walked a few meters ahead onto the tracks, until Futaba cried out that there was a strong shadow

“Guys, careful! Powerful shadow detected right at the entrance of Mementos!”

“Bwah?—that’s impossible!” Morgana hopped to try to look at Futaba’s screen

as everyone runs back to the location, you gasped

“A-Akashi?”

no… there were two Akashi’s, one of them the real person, and the other his shadow

Akashi looks completely lost; it was like facing his “other” dominant self again except it wasn’t in his mind

it was real

“I thought we decided to become one again,” Akashi calmly spoke to his other self

“We have… but a part of you is hesitant to accept the new side that embodies both sides of the same coin that is you.”

“Isn’t that your significant other, (y/n)?” Makoto whispered, and you could only nod as your throat became dry

“Shouldn’t we help him?—” Haru started

“No,” you quietly whispered

it was something he needed to confront alone

Joker nods in understanding as everyone continued to watch, ready to jump in to help in case something goes awry

“You’re still afraid,” his shadow continued. “You still feel the guilt from how you treated others when you were me.”

Akashi said nothing, not denying a single thing the shadow said

“You’re correct, and while I am still wary of you,” he began. “I’m no longer alone. I have friends and a special someone to protect, and they would do the same for me.”

“What if you end up hurting them again? Maybe you’ll hurt your precious lover,” his shadow taunted

“Then they can deal with me however they see fit,” Akashi spoke with resolve. “Until then, I will be someone who will carry himself with dignity and share kindness with others like a true king.”

long story short, Akashi became a persona user after the iconic “I am thou, thou art I” monologue

Akashi took the pain of attaining the persona like a badass with such calmness; the only indication that gave away the fact that he was in pain was that he collapsed onto a knee and winced as he held his head with one hand, the other hand on the floor to stabilize himself

his mask would be like an extravagant masquerade ball mask, with three long, pointy feathers attached to the right side of the mask to give Akashi the silhouette that he’s wearing a tiny crown on the side of his head

Akashi’s attire would definitely have a blazer cape and a simple earring similar to Howl’s from Howl’s Moving Castle; lots of mahogany/burgundy/scarlet + browns color schemes

imagine after an All-Out-Attack, Akashi’s finishing screen says “My Orders Are Absolute” as you hear his voice say “Lower your head” over that

at first, Morgana suggested the codename as “King,” and while it would make sense, Makoto was already “Queen” and you rejected that idea on the spot for obvious reasons

Yusuke was very occupied gushing dramatically over Akashi’s PT outfit and how the colors just worked so well together with his hair too, and he suggested the name “Crimson” or “Scarlet”

it stuck (you can choose which you like better)

while Akashi isn’t an official member of the PT, he’s informed just as much as the official members, and he goes when he feels like the mission is a bit more dangerous than usual in order to protect you ｡•́‿•̀｡

he and Makoto would get along well since they’re both student council presidents and both love to strategize

however, Akashi is different; while Makoto analyzes shadow weaknesses, moves, and potential item drops, he provides position strategies since he noticed everyone just kind of stands adjacent to each other and directly in front of the enemy shadows

he likes to apply basketball systems of defense/offense depending on the situation of ambush to fully utilize each member’s abilities (like how he does with Rakuzan’s team)

once Joker introduces Akashi to Akechi and Hifumi, he’s over the moon

Akechi and Akashi are so similar in wit and personality (Bokushi side though, not as much the current Akashi) that Joker thinks he made the mistake of introducing two formidable figures together

he’s very impressed with Hifumi, and although he’ll still win the shogi matches against her, he acknowledges her as the best challenge he’s had since a long time 

you were kinda jealous that he was spending a lot of time with Hifumi playing back-to-back matches but he made it up to you with cuddles

you and Akashi are the power couple™️

imagine yours and Akashi’s showtime together !!

End Note: howdy there! if you would like to see more persona 5/knb crossover headcanons, just submit over names of other knb characters you would like to see this particular headcanon for hehe

[elenamiria]

Better Have My Money

Pairing: Maul x Reader Darth Maul comes to you, a syndicate leader, to join the Crimson Dawn. You offer him a deal that he can’t refuse and one that benefits both of you greatly.

Word Count: 3.8k Warnings: Smuttt, fingering, exhibitionism, fem reader, Switch reader, and Maul is a switch (i don’t make the rules), cannon typical violence, reader is not nice (but neither is maul but they aren’t mean to each other)

Thank you so much to @hxldmxdxwn who not only beta read this for me but also so many of her fics inspired my interpretation of Maul! If you haven’t read her stuff go do it, everything she writes is amazing! 

I’m starting a collection of song inspired fics and this is the first one. The song it’s based off of is Bitch Better Have My Money (obviously) by queen Rihanna! If you like this and have any requests for songs and/or SW characters just let me know! (also if you wanna read my other fic it’s here - it’s Obi-Wan x Reader)  

You didn’t get to your position by being kind. Running a crime syndicate was a difficult task, running one as a woman - near impossible. Others consistently underestimated you but that was to your advantage, the amount of people you conned into horrible deals simply because they didn’t think you would deliver must be in the hundreds. When they couldn’t flow through on their end you let them know that you would give them time, but you would collect one way or another. You relied not on brute strength like some groups but instead you had a vast network of spies. You consistently gave yourself the upper hand with the most up to date information, using it to leverage the best deals and stay one step ahead of the competition. That’s how you learned about Crimson Dawn and their leader, Darth Maul.

When Maul himself had come to your base to ‘recruit’ your group for Crimson Dawn he was unprepared to be welcomed in. He was so used to fighting his way to the leaders and killing them to assume power not whatever was happening here. So, when he was brought straight to you he was honestly speechless. You were lounging at the end of a large room on an elegant black and gold chaise. You had smiled when you saw him and put down the data pad you had been reading from. Greeting him like an esteemed guest, you told him you would be more than happy to share all of your resources with him. There was only one condition. You explained you had very few employees that were skilled warriors and you could use someone of his skill set for difficult situations. Confused he had inquired how you had made it as high up as you did without fighting and you laughed, a sound he found himself enjoying greatly, before telling him there are ways of persuasion other than violence; but also that it didn’t take a warrior to poison someone. 

He was shocked to find himself agreeing to your terms and when you beckoned him towards you with a smirk and he was even more shocked to find himself complying. Perhaps he listened to you because he could see no ill will in your eyes, which you kept trained on him in a way that heated his body. Maybe it was because when he used the force to sense your intentions the only thoughts present in your mind were of bringing him and yourself pleasure. And maybe it was because everyone in the past who had wanted to dominate him had only done so for themselves, never even thinking about what he wanted. So as he found his mouth buried in between your legs and praises streaming from your mouth he expected to be shocked, angry even, but instead only found satisfaction. 

When you had learned about his past, how ruthlessly he was used then tossed aside, you tried to end your half of the deal telling him you wouldn’t use him like that and you also tried to end your extracurricular activities feeling guilty in your domination of him. He was eager to reassure you that you were nothing like his former master, that you made him feel loved and that some small part of him deeply enjoyed handing the reins to someone who he could place his trust in but that he would appreciate you submitting to him too, something you were more than happy to do. He didn’t tell you at the time but he had grown fond of you and he actually preferred going with you to these collection calls in order to protect you from any harm. 

You were currently heading to collect on a debt that a smaller syndicate boss owed you. He was a stupid man and had continually put off his repayment, you had warned him that the next time you came you would either be collecting or you would be assuming leadership of his measly organization. When you let him know of your impending arrival the slimeball, Willem Brasi, actually tried to charm his way out of his dire situation. All that his flirting had done was anger the Zabrak at your side. When you turned to him and saw how tense he was you ran a gentle hand over his arm quietly reassuring him that the sleepover would get what was coming to him.

Your heels rang out every step you took followed by the metal clink of Darth Maul following behind you. The two of you were quite a sight. He was completely shrouded in darkness, his black robe encasing his whole body and his hood pulled fully over his head casting dark shadows over his red and black face. Barely noticeable was a long delicate silver chain that led from a clasp on his large black collar and led to a ring situated on your finger over a sheer black glove. While he was fully covered your skin was on display with a black satin dress that clung to your hips and split in two on the top leaving your back and sternum bare, covering your chest loosely. Your legs appeared every step you took thanks to the large slits on either side, dark red shoes covered your feet. You wore a delicate necklace of precious crystals that held a clasp for you to attach the chain to if you chose and your lips were painted black. You wore a gold mask that covered majority of your upper face including your eyes, there were small slits permitting vision, this created a sense of regality as well as helping disguise your identity, you did love putting on a show for your lover.

When you reached Willem’s throne room you walked to the center. He hastily rose, clearly realizing the severity of the situation, before sputtering out what he thought would be a charming greeting. You said nothing, letting the room sit in silence until he and his men were shifting uncomfortably. When you spoke your voice rang clear “Do you have the credits you owe me Willem?”

He had the audacity to laugh before strutting towards you “ah love, how much was it again? I didn’t realize you would be gracing me with your beautiful presence so soon”. As he approached you could feel Darth Maul’s entire being tensing next to you. You tilted your head towards him a little, in a calming gesture, before turning your face back towards your current problem. 

A false smile quickly painted your lips “Don’t tell me you forgot Willem. You will pay me what you owe me.”

The man faltered in his pace, clearing his throat nervously. “Perhaps I can pay you in another way? I’m sure I can bring you great pleasure”. His pale hands approached your waist and Maul audibly growled. Willem falter again but the idiotic man continued, his hands nudged your gloved arms away from your body before laying his hands on your waist. He was more confident now and started to say something filthy to you before freezing as he felt cold blades press against his wrists. You had knives strapped to your thighs that you unsheathed now to press lightly against the veins of the man touching you. 

“I think you’re forgetting who is calling the shots here. I told you your options, there are only two, either you pay me or I take control of your operations. Now, remove your disgusting hands from me before I remove them for you.” As you spoke you pressed the knives in more firmly, a thin trail of blood appearing. Willem immediately backed down with a nasty sneer covering his face. 

He laughed again before backing away. “you’re a little bitch you know that. You’re outnumbered here, I think you should leave before I have my men kill you” He snarled at you and this time a genuine smile came over your lips, this was going exactly as you planned. You strolled forward, a small hand motion telling Maul to stay where he was. Shaking your head you spoke “I’ll ask you one last time to pay me, otherwise I will seize control whether you like it or not”.

He had been busy pouring himself a drink and took a heavy swig before laughing for the last time “You? Seize control? It’s just you and your-” he paused trying to think of an insult “your fucking dog against my whole organization, I think you’re the one who’s going to lose control”

Your head tilted and your right hand rose, the chain dangling from your finger gleaming in the light, “C’mere puppy”. 

Darth Maul obediently approached you and you turned to face him. Your hands slipped under his robe and met his defined stomach, slowly you trailed your hands up to the clasp that held the robe on. Undoing it deftly you then continued your path up his body cupping his face affectionately. You rubbed your thumbs against his cheekbones gently, small smiles forming on both of your faces, before you gently removed the hood letting the robe fall away from him completely. At his grand reveal quiet noise rang around the room from Willem’s men worriedly whispering as they recognized the Sith. Though Maul couldn’t see your eyes he knew they were looking up at him with pride. Your hands slid down the back of his head and to his large collar, running delicate fingers over the metal you came to the front. You gently rubbed the chain connecting the two of you before unclasping it. You backed away from him and faced Willem, who had gone paler if possible. You tilted your head before sweetly muttering “Puppy, why don’t you show them what you’re capable of?”

The telltale noise of a lightsaber igniting filled the room and you were bathed in a red glow. Pleas started spilling from your preys mouth, and his men drew their weapons in a futile attempt to protect themselves. You turned your head back to the beautiful red and black man, slowly you trailed your hand up your body, just how he would if the two of you were in private, before clipping the chain to the collar at your own neck. At this Maul sprang into action, he moved beautifully saber slicing in an intricate dance of death. Through the whole affair you simply stood there, Maul had taught you how to take care of yourself with dual knifes strapped to your thighs, you were confident with the odds that nothing would happen to you. In his defense, Willem had made a valiant effort - he realized it was no use to go after Maul and so he had turned to you blaster raised with two shaking hands. A cruel smile crossed your face as he tried to rush you. However, he was stopped by a red lightsaber cleanly swiping up severing his hands at the wrists. He screamed out in pain and fell to the floor writhing in pain. Maul kicked him towards you and the sobbing man slid violently to you. You stopped his body’s movement with a well placed heel to his chest. Tutting at him you dug your heel in harder, “You should’ve given me my fucking money. Now, I’m going to take everything you’ve built, too bad you won’t be here to see it.”

You pulled one your knives out but noticed Maul shifting next to you, glancing at him you recalled his anger at Willem earlier and gave him a small nod before backing away. Maul let out a feral snarl that sent pleasant shivers through your body before ending the Willem’s life.

You both sat in silence for a minute before Maul moved to sprawl on the large chair at the head of the room. A smirk covered his mouth and he beckoned you to him, your visits to opposing syndicates usually ended with Maul’s thorough domination of the opposition and then you. Sauntering over to him you added an extra sway to your hips causing a low growl to build in his chest. You slid in between his parted legs and his large hands grasped the back of your thighs. He slowly worked his way up your body, squeezing your waist and slipping his hands under the fabric of your dress to run his thumbs over your nipples, which elicited a gasp from you, before sliding up to your face and tearing your mask off. When your eyes finally met uninhibited after what felt like hours a moan left his mouth, he loved nothing more than being able to stare into your eyes. Your hands rose and you gently pulled off the ring that held the end of the chain placing it in Maul’s outstretched hand. He wrapped the long chain tight around his hand, giving it a test pull to ensure he could control your movement and using it to yank you hard into a passionate kiss. You moaned softly into his mouth responding passionately, your hands ran up his body to gently grab onto two of his horns. A small whimper left his mouth as you tugged on him. You broke apart and he nipped at the parts of your neck not covered by your necklace in between kisses he murmured out “what would you like, my Starlight?”

A breathy sigh fluttered out of you lips and you pulled back just enough to look into his eyes again “My lord, I want anything and everything you will give me”

Maul’s yellow eyes darkened to a rich gold at your words and he spun you around just before he pulled you down onto his lap, gently he took the time to turn your necklace around so the chain attached now ran down your back. His hands slid down your body grasping behind each knee and he roughly tore your legs open and over his mechanical legs, the slits on either side of your dress allowed for this -the silky material rippled then settled in between your thighs the only barrier preventing your exposure to anyone who may wander into the room. You let out a whimper as his hot breath hit your neck, fingers trailing up the inside of your thighs and then dancing over where you craved him most. Slowly he began to run two of his fingers over your pussy, an involuntary cry flew out of your mouth and Maul paused. His head tilted curiously as his other hand slipped under the fabric of the dress feeling around your hips for a moment before a deep chuckle reverberated through his chest, causing a pleasant vibration against your back which was firmly pressed to him. 

“Such a naught little princess, not wearing anything underneath this dress. You wanted this didn’t you?”

You nodded desperately but Maul growled lightly, the hand that was under your dress reappearing and he pulled on the chain harshly pulling you impossibly closer to him and your head tilted back. 

“Words princess” he whispered into your ear.

A small whine left your throat as you stuttered out an answer “Yes, yes I wanted you to take me here, I-I wanted to....” you trailed off as his fingers resumed stroking you over your dress, Maul loosened his grip on the chain as he prompted you to continue with a nip to your jaw and a seductive “Tell me what you wanted and I’ll give you what you need, my sweet girl”

Taking a moment to try to catch your breath as his fingers switched to swirling around your clit you moaned before continuing “I wanted everyone to know. I wanted them to know that I’m yours, only yours and that you’re mine”

At your words a deep purr vibrated against your back and his hand finally slipped under your dress, two fingers easily slipping inside with how thoroughly soaked you were and your walls fluttered around them. A feral grin covered Maul’s face and he began a slow teasing pace, his thumb ghosting over your most sensitive spot. You let out an impatient whine and attempted to buck your hips against his hand but found you couldn’t move them, you tilted your head back so you could glare at the man who had you spread open so deliciously. A coo left Maul’s mouth, though he didn’t look the least bit remorseful, and he adopted an innocent look . 

“What is it my love? Hmm, is there something you need?” His teasing words had you clenching around his fingers as you whimpered and nodded. His other hand trailed up your body to grasp at your throat tightly and you gasped softly, his thumb and pointer raising to tightly grasp your jaw. He was holding you tight enough that it caused a satisfying ache and he shook you a little before speaking again, his words sharp with faux anger “what did I say about using your words, Princess?” Before you had a chance to say anything his pace rapidly increased. A startled noise tore from your throat as his fingers moved at an inhuman pace, pausing only to add a third finger, his thumb pressed hard onto your clit. It was all so much, it verged on overstimulation and small tears filled your eyes as desperate moans and cries poured from your lips. Maul let go of your jaw to let you speak but kept a firm hold on your throat. 

“Is this what you wanted? You should thank me princess, I didn’t even make you beg for it. Though maybe I should” He growled out. Desperately praises started falling from your lips telling him how good he made you feel, how desperately you needed this, that only he could make you feel this way. As you continued Maul moved his hand from your neck to your chest, groping harshly. He rolled your nipple in between his fingers and played with you just how he knew you liked it before switching to the other side. 

As you approached your peak you continued babbling on “Please my king, I’m so close, so close. Please don’t stop, oh yes,” you cried out as his picked up his pace “thank you, thank you my lord!”

Maul’s hand came up to curl in your hair and his pace slowed slightly as he began to speak slowly “My love, Starlight, will you let me in? Please, I-I want to be one with you, I need to feel you, all of you.” 

You turned your glossy gaze to him, you knew he was hesitant about asking this of you - he had brought up using the force to meld your minds before but had never followed through before - though you were prepared to give him everything. Your own hand cupped the back of his head pulling him forward so your foreheads rested together. A blissful smile covered your mouth “Of course puppy, my mind is always open to you. Please love, I want you to feel the pleasure I’m feeling, I want you to feel when I fall apart at your touch”

Maul let out a pleased sigh and inhaled deeply, “Just relax, Princess, just let me in”

His fingers began a sensual pace, enough to keep you on the edge just on the brink of falling over into your climax. It started as a slight pressure against your head that kept growing, your mind automatically rebelling against the intrusion but with Maul’s gentle encouragement to open yourself to him you found yourself relaxing and, again with encouragement, focusing on how you were feeling. The pace of his fingers pumping into you increased until you were blinded by the pleasure and then you felt him - present in your mind, the two of you becoming one. Your foreheads stayed pressed together intimately, your hand on the back of his head rising to rub at his horns. The Zabrak behind you let out a long, slow moan now able to feel all the pleasure you were feeling, every little spark was amplified bouncing between your minds and increasing in intensity. Maul picked up the pace his fingers sinking as deep into you as possible, thumb rapidly circling your clit. You started to whine and whimper begging for release, Maul was just as desperate as you letting out deep moans and there was a content purr insistently tickling your back. His free hand came up to wrap in the hair at the back of your head, pulling hard and pulling away to nuzzle at your neck. 

“Yes, that’s it princess, you feel incredible. Why don’t you cum for me little one, let go. Let me have all of you my love” he spoke pressing kisses to your neck in between his words. His tone grew into a commanding rasp of  “Submit to me, cum for me” before biting hard at the junction of your neck and shoulder. The pain pushed you over the edge and you cried out as your climax blinded you. Maul let out a loud snarl as your pleasure washed over him white hot, his hips bucking in time with yours. 

You weren’t sure how long the two of you sat there not moving, just basking in pleasure, but you slowly came down. Gently your lover pulled his fingers from inside you, raising his hand to his mouth he sensually licked any remains of you off making sure to hold eye contact with your blissed out eyes. Maul then untangled his hand from your hair to wrap around your waist,  his other hand following shortly, holding you to him. As you pulled your head off his shoulder you tensed realizing you had an audience. A man stood at the entrance to the room, mouth gaping and eyes darting all over taken in both you and the carnage around the room. Maul looked up from where he had been nibbling at the bite mark he left and a growl harshly left his throat. The man started to back up, clearing intending on running, and with a quick nod of your head Maul’s hand rose to freeze the man in his tracks. 

You let out a content sigh pressing back into Maul’s warm chest as a smirk covered your face. 

“Is that any way to greet your new queen?” You cooed a small laugh leaving your lips at his terrified expression, “why don’t you go tell anyone you can find that there’s been a change in leadership and if anyone has a problem with that they can come take it up with us” with that you waved him off and Maul released the force hold he had on him. 

You weren’t worried, at this point your enforcers should be arriving to ensure compliance. For now you were content to sit with Maul, you adjusted to a more comfortable position (your legs were aching from being spread for so long) and pressed a soft kiss to his jawline.  A warm smile rose on your face and you couldn’t help cupping the side of Maul’s face, gently tracing his tattoos. 

“I love you puppy”

A deep chuckle reached your ears, red and black lips pressed softly to yours before he replied.

“I love you too my starlight, more than you know.”

[svynakee]

mulan (2020) and chi, a mystical misrepresentation

Disney’s research on chi (气) suggests that early on they fang qi (放弃). Mulan live action makes me want to fang pi (放屁). Long explanation on my gripes with this cultural 'representation’ which ends up backfiring into making Chinese culture look bad, plus why including the ~exotic Asian mysticism~ of qi ruins Mulan (2020). 

*Translations of the words below cut

Part 1: Crouching Representation, Hidden Insult

Firstly, the accepted pinyin is qi, so I have no idea why they’re using chi. I’m no expert on Chinese medicine or spirituality, but I did grow up watching wuxia and having a mother who insisted I change my diet to balance the heat/cold/dry. The concept of qi is not a mystical one to me. I associate it with action movies and aunties who believe in alternative medicine – superstitious, but in that familiar, domestic way. Part of my tradition. Part of my culture. Part of my life.

Qi is not a magical outside force. Qi is your own personal energy. In stories, while you can seal other people’s qi or damage it, it’s not like some life force in nature where you can tap into a flower’s qi to gain plant powers. Mastery of qi is akin to an Olympic athlete who hones their body and self-control to peak physical performance. While their abilities may seem superhuman, they are not divine or innately magical.

In a wuxia setting, people can train until they get enhanced reflexes, strength, senses, motor skills and possibly healing abilities. These are all ‘normal’ human abilities that have simply been pushed to unrealistic levels. Even walking/running on water, running up vertical slopes and ‘flying’ can be explained as being really fast or…jumping really, really far. Outrageous? Yes. But importantly, not magical. This is why a wuxia hero can still be freaked out by the supernatural. In a wuxia setting, using qi is normal and anyone can become the strongest qi user. Some use it for fighting, others to be doctors (enhanced senses + acupressure), or solve crime (there’s quite a few wuxia detective stories out there).

In xianxia, there are more fantasy elements. Those who hone qi are usually cultivators, who do so with the end goal of becoming immortal. This is not a unique trait; the setting often has several (sometimes even hundreds) of flying, super strong, immortal people who have some degree of fame. There can even be establishments that teach cultivation. Or multiple sects full of cultivators who have honed their skills in qi. Entire armies of people who can cast spells and telepathically control their sword. One could argue that immortality is just the mundane ability to remain healthy pushed to the extreme, but xianxia is where monsters and demons and gods roam about.

There are further differences between the genre, but I only want to point out their similarities concerning the concept of qi.

Everyone is born with qi. Nobody is born with the skills to utilise their qi. Qi must be honed through training, usually in a balanced manner (both physical strength and mental acuity, along with some spiritual growth). Even heroes who have parents with strong qi start off weak, because if you can’t use you qi then you’re just a normal person, because everyone has qi. Being born with unusually long legs and large lung capacity might make you a good sprinter, but you won’t go to the Olympics without training, even if both your parents are gold medallists. It takes self-discipline, a good coach and a mastery of your body to reach that potential.

This is one of my gripes against Disney’s idea of ‘chi’ in Mulan. The other one is-

Qi is not gender restricted. In fact, feminine qi is associated with yin, the black part of the yinyang symbol. Not a new concept. There have been female martial artists and heroes in Chinese works for a long time. I hate how Disney is taking a gender-neutral concept, one which already has a degree of progressiveness in Chinese culture and deciding that “chi is not for women” just to push their girl power moral. For a long time, wuxia has had women warriors. Women MASTERS. Yeah, not every kung fu master is an old man with a long white beard. There are female-only sects. There are badass female warriors who participate in hand-to-hand combat and rack up kills. They’re not regulated to being healers and archers and that one ‘Amazon warrior princess’ using a whip. Growing up, I saw more strong, heroic female warriors in Chinese media than Western when I watched action films.

This is my main problem with Disney’s horrendous cultural appropriation. Instead of properly representing the culture, instead of doing research, instead of just NOT GOING FOR EXOTIC ASIAN MYSTICISM, they actually make Chinese culture look worse than it is. To. Support. Feminism.

Part 2: The Chi-asy Way Out

In addition to butchering the core concept of the thing they’re appropriating, Mulan (2020)’s baffling inclusion of qi, whoops, chi makes the story worse overall. Mulan being born with strong chi makes her a master warrior from childhood. However, society doesn’t like it when women have chi, so she is shunned and her parents worry for her. As a soldier, though, chi powers make her an asset to the army, so she becomes respected. In the end she is a hero.

Oh, and remember when Disney said removing Mushu was because they wanted a more accurate adaptation of the original poem?

MULAN WAS A NORMAL PERSON AND NEVER FOUGHT ANY BIRD WITCHES.

The problem is that this means nothing Mulan accomplishes is due to her own actions. How is this an uplifting feminist story? This is the message: “If you’re a girl who fails to conform, you will be ostracized. Don’t worry though – so long as you’re born super special and strong, make the right heroic choices and use your strength for good, you will find acceptance!”

WHO. IS. THIS. EMPOWERING.

Isn’t this just another ‘not like other girls’ story? Mulan likes something that only boys are allowed to do, so men don’t like her, until she proves she’s better than them at that thing, so they accept her? That’s not feminism! Women don’t need to prove anything to be allowed to pursue their passions or feel proud of their identity. And they don’t need to be the best at something to be allowed to do it!

In Mulan (1998), she lacks the raw physical strength of the men. This actually makes sense – she’s the daughter of a wealthy family (hence the marriage arrangement, the nice estate) – so she’s weaker. This weakness leads to her getting bullied. Mulan realises she can’t succeed if she tries to match them in brute strength. She then uses her brains to succeed. There’s a brief training montage where she becomes stronger which admittedly doesn’t explain why she suddenly gets swole, but it’s reasonable that she was always capable to being as strong as the men and merely lacked their background of physical labour (even Po, as monks are expected to maintain their temple).

In Mulan (2020), she just stops hiding her superpowers. After a personal pep talk from her commander, which she gets…because he knew her war veteran father.

Ah yes, magic and nepotism, the inspiration that little girls need! Feminism!

It gets worse. Mulan’s chi not only allows her to excel in the army, but it leads to the main villainess/anti-villain to fixate on her. Xian is a witch, a woman who used chi but fell to darkness. Her goal is to make a world where, uh, women born with strong chi aren’t oppressed. She immediately recognises Mulan as a woman with chi and inexplicably gives her chi tips while in battle. She then repeatedly leads Mulan to each plot point, culminating in her sacrificing herself to save Mulan because she sees Mulan as the kind of person she wanted to be, but couldn’t due to oppression.

Chi is the reason why Mulan is a hero. Chi is how Mulan arrived on time to save the Emperor. Chi is why she is respected. Chi makes her special. Chi makes her a hero.

The addition of chi takes away so much of Mulan’s character growth, her struggles and subsequently her triumphs. Did she join the army for her father’s sake, or because she knew her only chance to succeed was on the battlefield, where chi is a powerful weapon? Is the emperor offering her a position on his staff out of respect for her abilities, or fear that shunning her will turn her into another Xian (who almost singlehandedly gave Bori Khan victory and ALSO was responsible for foiling his plans because her abuse led to her betrayal)? Even the love interest doesn’t befriend Mulan until she shows off her chi and beats him in combat.

Chi gave Mulan everything. And with this poor addition of ‘chi’, Disney took everything from Mulan.

气 - qi, ‘air’ 放弃 - give up 放屁 - fart

[vampire--dad]

Let The World Come At You, Love - Part 3

Part 2

Part 4 (WIP)

——————

Geralt scowls as he pulls on his boots. His hands feel colder than usual, aching from the lack of what little warmth they usually cling to. He’s tempted to slip his icy fingers under Jaskier’s shirt and laugh as he squirms and curses at him, but teasing him can wait. Winter is coming early this year. They best find somewhere to settle in for a few months, and Geralt knows just the place.

As Jaskier grabs the last of his things from their small camp, Geralt turns Roach in the opposite direction they were going.

“I thought we were heading west,” the bard says curiously.

“Change of plans. We’re going back and heading north. Winter is coming early.”

“Where are we headed?”

Geralt feels a tightness close in around his ribs. The same feeling blooms in his chest every year when winter comes and he finds himself heading north again. He’s homesick. He’s never taken Jaskier with him to the keep— a bard known for sleeping around and incessantly bothering witchers was not what the place needed, and knowing Jaskier, he would find a thousand different ways to break his own heart. But this year is different. Now that he’s finally stopped denying how he feels, he wants to take the man he loves to see the place he grew up, to meet his family.

“Home,” Geralt says softly.

Jaskier cocks his head slightly, but after a moment, he smiles knowingly.

“Kaer Morhen,” he says. Geralt nods. “You… want me to come with you?”

Usually Jaskier would return to Oxenfurt for winter, teach a few classes, maybe enter a few competitions, then meet the witcher in Rinde in the first few weeks of spring. Geralt has never invited him to the witcher’s keep with him… but, he supposes this year is a bit different. Geralt nods again.

“Of course I do. I want you to come meet my brothers… unless you want to go to Oxenfurt, which is fine, I could—”

“No, I want to,” Jaskier says, holding back a small chuckle. Geralt seems to have developed his habit for rambling when he’s nervous. “I’ll write to Oxenfurt, tell them to cancel my classes for the winter. Let’s go to Kaer Morhen.”

It takes almost a week, but they venture far north and find themselves at the foot of the mountains. The sky above them is grey and dreary, a promise of snow soon to come. Geralt steers Roach down a path barely visible from the main road, shrouded in trees and bushes. Jaskier leans into his chest as he speaks.

“We used to call this path The Killer. Vesemir would set up obstacles and we would chase each other up the hill,” he says.

The closer they get to Kaer Morhen, the more homesick Geralt seems. Despite the memories he has of the halls beneath the castle, he’s always thought of it fondly. This was where he was raised, where he was trained, where he found a true family. He itches to walk through the gates again and see his father and brothers.

Something rustles a way off in the brush, barely audible to Jaskier but notable enough to make Geralt tense. He pulls Roach to a stop and slides off her back, his brow furrowed in concentration as his yellow eyes scan the thick forest that surrounds them.

“Stay here.”

The bard watches him cautiously. A figure throws itself from the bushes onto Geralt, a red streak hurtling through the green underbrush. Jaskier scrambles off the horse’s back, reaching for the dagger at his hip, only to find that Geralt and the man on top of him are laughing.

“It’s good to see you, brother!” the man chuckles as he stands and offers his hand to Geralt, who smiles as he’s lifted from the ground.

“It’s good to see you, too, Eskel.”

Jaskier sighs and curses quietly.

“Geralt, one of these days you’re going to give me a heart attack, I swear,” he says with a shake of his head.

Geralt looks over at Jaskier with a small frown.

“I thought I told you to stay on Roach.”

“If a man I’ve never met throws himself at you from the bushes, do you really think I’m going to sit there and watch?” Jaskier asks with his hands on his hips.

The white haired witcher bites back a chuckle. He knows Jaskier hates that he thinks he’s adorable when he’s angry. Eskel looks over at the bard and approaches him with a warm smile, marred by a series of scars that run from his cheek to his chin. The lines pull his skin inwards and leave a gap in the curve of his lips. The worry in his yellow eyes doesn’t go unnoticed and despite his appearance, Jaskier offers him a friendly smile.

“And you are?” the stranger asks.

“I’m glad you asked! You’ve probably already heard my name about, maybe even heard a song or two, I—”

“This,” Geralt interrupts, much to the bard’s irritation, and pats his brother on the shoulder, “is Jaskier.”

The bard purses his lips and gives the snowy haired witcher a pointed look. Eskel chuckles at the silent exchange between the two and extends his hand to Jaskier.

“It’s nice to meet you. I’m Eskel.”

Jaskier shakes his hand and smiles, throwing another glance at Geralt.

“At least one of the witchers I know has some manners.”

Geralt gives him an empty look of annoyance.

“What brings you to Kaer Morhen with this old brute? Eskel asks, gesturing towards the other witcher.

“Ah, well, um…”

They hadn’t really discussed how to answer that question. Eskel is Geralt’s brother, but Jaskier is hesitant to say more than he should. Geralt tends to be conservative with who he reveals their relationship to. Even if he trusts them with his life, that doesn’t mean he trusts them with his bard. It was hard for Jaskier at first. He’d usually shower his lover in affection without a care in the world, but Geralt always pushed him away with a quiet, “Not here, not now.” He slowly learned to save it for the time they spend behind closed doors.

“We’re involved, Eskel,” Geralt says bluntly, moving to stand by his lover’s side and take his hand, their fingers intertwined tightly. That clears that up then. Jaskier leans gently against Geralt’s arm. Eskel still looks at them with innocent eyes.

“Involved… in what?”

Geralt rolls his eyes. Sometimes he really doesn’t know how people think Eskel is the smart one. The excitement gets to him and all of a sudden he’s a dolt.

“Do I have to kiss him for you to get it?”

“Oh. Oh! Oh, you mean— right. Right. Well, I’m sure Dad will be happy.”

Eskel walks with them along the path towards the keep. Kaer Morhen is nestled against the mountain. It almost looks natural, like it’s always been there. In its glory days, it was formidable to lay one's eyes on, but over the years and having endured several battles, its towers have crumbled and it seems to shrink into the mountainside. Still, Geralt looks upon it with a smile. He’s home.

Two men wait by the gates for them. One has wild red hair and a wicked look about him, along with a scar that skips across his right eye and continues down his cheek. He looks around the same age as Geralt and Eskel, perhaps a bit younger. The other is much older, with long but thin grey hair and an aged face. If he is as scarred as the other three, it doesn’t show. He might be old but that doesn’t detract from the air of strength that hangs around his figure. His wise eyes crinkle at the corners as he smiles at Geralt and embraces him. The redhead doesn’t take his eyes off Jaskier. The bard resists the urge to squirm under his scrutinous gaze.

“Welcome home, Geralt,” the older witcher says into his shoulder before letting him go. “I see you’ve brought a guest, or did a lost nobleman’s son follow you all the way up here?”

The three younger witchers chuckle. Another set of dark yellow eyes are cast towards Jaskier. He almost lets loose a smart retort, but thinks better of it. Testing the bounds of this man’s humour seems… unwise. A good first impression seems more appropriate. He steps forward and bows his head low.

“Call me Jaskier,” he says. The older witcher examines him for a moment before returning the courteous gesture with a smile that the bard would dare to describe as amused.

“Welcome to Kaer Morhen, Jaskier.”

Geralt slides his hand along the bard’s hip.

“Jask, this is Vesemir.”

He recognises the name. Geralt speaks of him often, although more often than not he calls him Dad. Though the witchers raised under his care never call him that to his face, he does think of them as his sons. Vesemir’s eyes flicker to the gloved hand on Jaskier’s hip and he seems to nod in understanding.

“So, Geralt,” the redhead pipes up, eyeing the lute slung over Jaskier’s shoulder. “What are you doing bringing a bard home? Taking lessons now, are you?”

“Be nice, Lambert,” Geralt says gruffly.

“Why? Don’t tell me you’ve gone soft.”

Before the bickering can begin, Vesemir steps between his sons and places a hand on each of their shoulders. They do love each other, but Lambert likes to rile his brother up and Geralt can be… touchy.

“Don’t you two start before you’ve even gotten inside,” he says. “Come, you must be hungry.”

The stony interior of Kaer Morhen is dimly lit by torches, the fire casting strange shadows along the walls as their footsteps echo through the halls, yet its warm light creates a cozy kind of atmosphere. Vesemir tells Jaskier the meaning behind the name of the castle as they walk together. The other three witchers stray behind, exchanging stories of fresh scars and, at least for Eskel and Lambert, fair maidens across the land. Lambert raises a skeptical eyebrow at the back of Jaskier’s head.

“So how long have you known the bard?” he asks.

“A long time,” Geralt replies shortly.

“Very specific. How long have you been together?”

“A year this spring. Why are you asking?”

“Just making conversation,” Lambert says.

Geralt can tell he’s lying through his teeth. Lambert doesn’t trust easily and isn’t particularly fond of bringing guests to the keep. On top of that, though he’d never admit it, he is fiercely protective of his brothers.

“Is he the one who cleared up the whole Blaviken thing?”

Geralt hums in affirmation.

“Don’t grunt at me, you sound like Vesemir,” Lambert sneers. “Why didn’t you bring him here sooner?”

Geralt pauses. He knows Lambert won’t let him off without answering, but he doesn’t want to say the real reason.

“Didn’t have a reason to.”

“So you’ve known him for... a long time, as you said, travelled with him everywhere, and you couldn’t think of a reason to invite him here?”

“Yes.”

Lambert narrows his eyes at Geralt.

“Are you sure? Because the name sounds awfully familiar... and I seem to remember seeing someone who looked a lot like him in Maribor a few years ago, not long before winter. If my memory serves me correctly, he was getting tossed out of an inn for sleeping with the innkeeper’s daughter… and his wife.”

“Leave it alone, Lambert,” Geralt growls. “That was a long time ago.”

Before Lambert can continue, Vesemir stops the group before the common room and turns to Geralt.

“I was hoping you’d be coming this year, so your old room is prepared, although I may have to bring some extra blankets if there are two of you,” he says. “Go unpack and then we’ll get some food into you boys.”

Geralt nods with an amused smile. Vesemir never lets his boys go hungry. He leads Jaskier down the hall on the other side of the common room, up a flight of stairs, and to a door with the letter ‘G’ carved haphazardly into the frame. Inside the fire is already flickering away in the hearth, warming the surprisingly large room. Geralt leaves their bags by the door as Jaskier approaches the bookcase across the room, sweeping dust off the spines with his hand.

“This room isn’t so different from my quarters at Oxenfurt,” he remarks, taking a book from the shelf and letting the pages fall open in his hand.

“Not what you were expecting?” Geralt asks.

“No, but I’m not sure what I was expecting, really.”

The witcher sheds his black jerkin and tosses it onto the bed before pulling Jaskier against his chest and kissing the soft skin behind his ear.

“You’ll find soon enough that this place is full of surprises.”

More stories are shared over supper. Jaskier has to be reminded to eat between scribbling things into his notebook and prodding the witchers with questions. Eskel is more than willing to relinquish the finer details, even helping him to spin the stories in a true but slightly more fantastical way. Such has become his style. Geralt used to hate how he lied through his teeth to make his tales more interesting, so he stopped— in exchange for better descriptions. His witcher has come to know just how much detail to give him while still allowing a little room for poetic license.

Geralt has already retired to their room, and as Jaskier moves to follow, Lambert blocks his path and scowls down at him. Jaskier makes an effort not to react. The witcher folds his arms.

“I’m going to be frank with you, bard,” he starts. “I know who you are. I know of your… reputation. If you weren’t involved with my brother, I wouldn’t blame you. But you are, so let me make something very fucking clear. If you ever even think of breaking my brother’s trust and slipping into any pretty barmaid’s bedroom like you used to, I will track you down and gut you myself.”

Jaskier cocks an eyebrow. Clearly he still hasn’t learned not to test a witcher. After all, the last one he was snarky with ended up sharing a bed with him.

“I don’t doubt your love for your brother, I’m sure that has something to do with your threats. And I assure you, no such thing will happen. But I have a feeling there’s something more to it than that. Tell me, is it the jealousy of the number of women— and men— I’ve slept with for me to gain that reputation? Or is it the fear that I have slept with that many people because… I do it better?”

Lambert stares him down for a moment. Jaskier holds back a smirk. Suddenly, the witcher leans back and laughs heartily, clapping a hand onto the bard’s shoulder roughly.

“You’re alright, bard.”

——————

Tags: @jaskierswolf @electricrituals @jaskiiier @lovelyeskel @in-love-with-writing002 @patchwork-doublet @elliestormfound @feral-jaskier @moonysourenza

[newtxtinaforever]

Happy Birthday Tina!

Hello there! Today's one shot is sponsored by @neighborhood-newtina-reblogger, a tumblr that I greatly admire. Okay, it's not technically sponsored by the blog, but it did provide the prompt/idea for this one shot, which I will include at the very end in case you want to know what it is. Also, the fanart above belongs to @sydsketch and partially inspires my fanfic as well. Don't want to put the prompt at the beginning and spoil the story, so without further ado, I hope you enjoy this little piece of my Newtina heart. Oh, and happy birthday Tina! ☺️

3rd POV

"Oh, Newt. She's perfect!" Tina exclaimed happily, a smile brightening up her usually tense features. It wasn't that the American witch held a grudge against smiling or having fun; quite the opposite, in fact. She was so used to being responsible that her default look was to come across as a professional who took her job seriously. When she was with Newt, however, she couldn't help but smile. His light-hearted nature simply had a way of making her feel like she could let her guard down and didn't have to worry about what kind of person Newt was. Having fought alongside him in the fight against Grindelwald, Tina knew she could trust Newt. It was a good thing because he had just given her a creature to call her own.

"Really? That's wonderful to hear. I hoped you would like her but I wasn't completely sure if you would be interested in-" Newt was quickly interrupted by Tina's warm words of gratitude. "I love her, Newt. Thank you," she replied. Her eyes sparkled with a light reminiscent of the creature that currently rested in its small glass case. "What's her name?" Tina asked softly as she admired the speckled salamander. Newt blushed before replying, "Well, I thought you might like to name her seeing as she's yours." Both pairs of eyes connected for the briefest of moments.

"Of course!" Tina blurted, although she soon regained her composure. "I'm not quite sure where to start, but I'm sure we can think of something." Newt's tender smile at Tina's inclusion of the word 'we' went unnoticed for the most part, yet the tone of their environment was clearly evident. It was nearly impossible to miss the delicate care each person felt for the other, so alive and tangible was it. The silence that settled in during certain moments of the conversation were not uncomfortable, but peaceful instead. Surprisingly enough, Newt was the next one to speak up.

"Keegan," he uttered cryptically. Tina tilted her head to the right by a dozen degrees. "Who?" she wondered aloud, her sharp eyes fixed on Newt. The famous magizoologist remained quiet for several seconds until Tina cleared her throat. "Oh, I'm sorry. I was simply suggesting Keegan as a name, but I understand if you don't like it. She's yours, so feel free to choose whatever name you feel is best."

Tina lowered her gaze to the ground, then extended her head upward. "The name's fine, Newt. And I want you to be included in the naming process, trust me," she said with reassurance in her voice. Newt smiled. "What about Thea? She's the Greek goddess of light, which is fitting since salamanders feed off of fire, right?" Tina inquired. She waited for a response from Newt, but he appeared not to have heard her. Beginning to wonder if something was wrong with him, Tina repeated the end of her previous sentence. "Right, Newt?"

The man in question displayed signs of life after what seemed like forever. His nose was scrunched as if he had caught a whiff of rotting maggots while his eyes blinked ferociously. What was going on? Tina prompted Newt to explain his behavior, although it took some serious persuading. "The name sounds a bit like... well... like Theseus, my brother." Tina nodded her head in agreement and decided to move on. The last thing she wanted was for her new companion to remind Newt of his older brother.

"Perhaps you might consider Idris. It's Welsh and can mean 'fiery' depending on the language." Newt explained gently. His voice was rich and full of childlike wonder, much to Tina's delight. It was rare to find such a kindred spirit in a world where brute strength and power was often congratulated. Tina tried not to let her emotions become too obvious as she lovingly murmured, "I think Idris is a lovely name. Thank you, Newt." Once again, both pairs of eyes connected and lingered; the result was pure fascination and ultimately love.

With their eyes still fixed on each other, Tina closed the space between them. Her long, thin arms wrapped themselves around the middle of Newt's back. Much like their prolonged glances, this embrace was personal and private, something that was special between them. Tina was keenly aware of Newt's reservations regarding the hug, so she made sure to take baby steps while reassuring Newt at the same time. Her fingers brushed lightly against Newt's back, the warmth from her hands radiating through his pale blue shirt. With a great amount of hesitance and care, Tina tightened her grip on Newt. Hopefully he wouldn't feel uncomfortable; that was the last thing Tina wanted. Nevertheless, she held on to him, refusing to let go just yet.

Nearly a minute had passed before Newt reciprocated the hug. Unbeknownst to Tina, his eyes watered and a huge grin spread across his face. Both sets of arms rested gently on the other's back, a sign of peace and acceptance. It didn't take long for Tina to pull Newt in closer, more confident this time. Any lingering doubt as to whether or not Newt would perceive such intimate physical contact to be desirable was gone. She knew that he would understand just as she had learned to understand the roundabout way he comforted and complimented her.

With an overflowing heart, Newt Scamander enveloped Tina in his arms; pure, sentimental emotion surrounded them. Every part of him wanted nothing more than to freeze that moment and remember it forever. Not only was it rare for Newt to desire physical contact, but it was also rare for him to feel so content as a result of it. In Tina, Newt found appreciation and compassion. Despite miscommunication being a continuous issue between them, the two old souls always managed to make things right. If Newt was honest, Tina completed him — to a certain extent. He hadn't felt that his life was 'less than' without her, but he did notice a change whenever she was around, whether physically or in Newt's thoughts. She was someone who helped him restore his jaded view of humanity, and for that, Newt was grateful.

The embrace continued for several more minutes, Newt mentally recording what it felt like to be so close to Tina.

The scent of her hair, the touch of her hands. Newt was so mesmerized that he even dared to lift Tina off the ground, just a couple inches, and spin her very gently. It was instinct and had occurred before he could stop himself. Never before had he allowed his emotions to come off so strongly in the presence of another human being, and he had to admit: it felt freeing.

As for Tina, she experienced similar sentiments during their embrace. Mind racing, heart soaring... Since when did Newt display such sudden outbursts of affection? While Tina was slightly confused by this, she didn't question it because of her elation. If Newt was comfortable enough to be so physically close with her, she took it as a sign of growth and was proud of him. Each second that passed served as a reward earned by the energy both had spent in order to fight against the evil forces that threatened wizards and muggles alike. After years of fighting, Newt and Tina were given a moment of reprieve. A moment to be still, but more importantly, to be happy.

For Newt, happiness took the form of feeding his creatures. This was nothing new, but having Tina by his side — her eyes full of adoration — made the event much more enjoyable. For Tina, growing closer to Newt served as her main source of happiness, although she also happened to find it in the pursuit of wizardkind's most elite criminals. After all, being an Auror was an important part of Tina's life. The fact that her devotion to justice nearly managed to get her killed was unfortunate, yet Tina had put it in the past where it belonged. She needed her job because it allowed her to protect innocent lives, and that was something Tina would never stop pursuing. Whether it was a sideways smile or a lengthy yet tender hug, both Newt and Tina were fond of the little things in life as well as each other. Nothing, not even Grindelwald, could take those feelings away from them.

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

Author's Note: Below is the prompt for the above one shot ⬇️⬇️

I want Tina to initiate newtina’s first embrace. And I want it to happen in a happy context. I want her to realize that maybe Newt isn’t bold enough just yet to make that move, so she takes control and latches onto him. It won’t be like when Theseus hugged him, arms and back stiff the whole time. It will be at first, while he takes a few seconds to process what’s happening. In those few seconds, Tina is fully aware he’s processing the situation, so she holds him even tighter to reassure him that yes, she’s here. She wants this. She will wait. And once he finally accepts that, I want Newt to reciprocate her embrace with an enormous grin on his face (bonus points for misty eyes). I want him to wrap his arms around her back and tentatively return her gesture. Tina pulls even tighter to erase that last bit of questioning how far he should go. Then, Newt fully wraps her up in him, encasing her with his arms and body as completely as he can (bonus points for a little pick up and spin or something extra cute like that). And they stay like that for a while, just appreciating each other. Wordlessly processing their emotions. Surrendering to their feelings. Just being together like they want.

[shadowjack12345]

The Path

"Aaagh! Dammit!"

Asami cursed as the chair hit the uneven ground, the remains of a ruined building, beneath her. The parachute had slowed her descent but the landing had still rattled her teeth. She clawed at the harness around her, holding her in her seat, but it wouldn't give. She felt her eyes sting and she bared her teeth as she yanked and snarled at it.

Her father was dead.

She grunted wordlessly, forcing the thought away and fought even harder. She stopped and forced herself to slow down. She knew how to release the harness, and trying to rip it off with brute strength wasn't the way, at least for her. She suspected Korra coud probably do it that way. With that thought, she looked up and imagined she saw a flash of blue, accompanied by several other dark shapes, disappear into the hole she and her father had...

Her father was dead.

Her hands fell limply into her lap and she stared blankly ahead. Her vision blurred as hot tears started to fill her eyes, and her chest ached as her breath came quick and heavy. She wondered if she would scream, but Kuvira's colossus ripped its own arm off and hurled it straight over Asami, landing some blocks away with a deafening crash. The adrenaline surged through her and she managed to get her hands to work again - she was still in the middle of a battlefield, stuck in this damn seat. She found the release and the straps fell slack. She pushed them from her shoulders and started picking her way through the rubble to the street. Before she even made it that far, the colossus drew her attention again as it started to make some worrying noises. She watched it carefully for a long moment, then gasped as its midsection exploded and the whole thing fell to earth in pieces. Her mouth leaped into her throat and her legs shook as she started to make her way to the wreckage.

It seemed to take an age, and by the time she had found her way to a clear road, the way ahead was consumed by an expanding burst of spirit energy. She darted into a nearby stairway and covered her ears as it roared past, yelling uselessly at the cacophony. Quickly, more quickly than seemed possible, the maelstrom ended, and Asami cautiously opened her eyes and turned back to the street. When she stepped out, she was immediately drawn to the green and yellow spiralling light that seemed to be flowing up into the sky. Surely everyone else would be heading that way as well.

The sight of the phenomenon would have been spectacular if she hadn't been beside herself with worry. She had bumped into Tenzin, and they had found Mako and Bolin. They said Korra had chased Kuvira into the Spirit vines, and that was now a crater, the epicentre of the explosion. Tenzin had called it a spirit portal and Asami reminded herself to be amazed later, when they had found Korra. Mako and Bolin checked the remaining wreckage with no luck, and everyone started calling Korra's name, not knowing what else to do. Asami just stood, looking around at the vines but not seeing. She couldn't do this. She couldn't lose her father and then Korra all at once. She couldn't let Korra go without-

"The spirits have returned," Tenzin said, hopefully. Asami turned to face him and then followed his gaze to the portal. Just as Korra stepped through.

"And so has Korra!" Asami cried, barely even realising Kuvira was with her. The adrenaline spiked again when the Earth Empire troops showed up, but Kuvira quickly and conclusively surrendered. And that was that. They had won. Su and Lin took Kuvira away and, on shaking legs, Asami reached out to Korra. Her hand landed on her shoulder and she smiled, and Korra smiled back. She was really okay. Bolin cheered and turned it into a huge group hug that nearly collapsed under everyone's weight. Asami took a deep breath, her hand still on Korra's shoulder, and let herself relax a little - the battle was over. The airbenders and White Lotus guards started to show up to take care of the Earth Empire prisoners, and one of them took Mako away to have his arm looked at, and Bolin followed. Tenzin was giving his airbenders instructions as they came and went, and Korra was with him. Wait... she was looking right at her.

"Asami, are you alright?" she asked. Asami tried to say she was fine, but blackness crept in at the edges of her vision and the ground was rushing up towards her. "Asami!"

/

Meeting Korra had drastically altered the path of Asami's life. In a relatively short time she had gone from being an inventor and minor celebrity to a vigilante patrolling the streets looking to fight the Equalists, but only after Korra had exposed her father as one of them. She was arrested, then broken out, then she fought and defeated her father in a mecha-tank. And Mako left her for Korra. Maybe she should have been mad, but Korra had been genuinely sad to show Hiroshi's true colours. And Mako had made his choice, Korra hadn't made it for him. She remembered at the end of it all, waiting as Master Katara unsuccessfully tried to restore Korra's bending, not knowing what to do next, only for Korra to come back and demonstrate that she'd restored it herself, or Aang had at any rate. She remembered the awe she felt when Korra's eyes shone with white light and she returned Lin's bending as well.

Their next adventure was just as exhausting, her company on the edge of ruin, the dark spirits, Varrick, Mako breaking up with Korra, then breaking up with Asami, then breaking up with Korra again! Their attack on Tarrlok's forces was the worst kind of long shot, and even at the time she couldn't quite believe she had flown a plane with Mako and Bolin strapped to the wings to attack the ground. They had lost that gamble, or would have but for Bumi, and Korra had trusted Asami with her father, who she had taken for healing. It had been wrenching to leave the others to fight, but she knew Korra could spare them even less. And so she had sat and waited with Katara, Jinora and Korra's family while the world turned dark around them. It didn't last too long, but it felt like an age as they just waited. When Jinora blinked and woke up, calm and peaceful, she had told them something, just a few words, that once again shifted Asami's world around her.

"Korra saved the world."

They had stayed in the South Pole a while longer while Korra and her people chose a new path for the Southern Water Tribe, and Asami offered what help she could, though her resources were a fraction of what they had been, thanks to Varrick. She managed to get a first-hand account of Korra's battle from Bolin, rolling her eyes when he described Korra becoming a giant spirit, just as big as Aang's statue back home. She looked to Mako and waited for him to chide Bolin for exaggerating... but he didn't. He only nodded along and shook his head at key moments, clearly just as astonished as his brother. Asami still struggled with their account - it was too much, even for the Avatar. Right? Only when she returned home to Republic City did the reality hit her. Bolin's wish of someone capturing the fight on film hadn't come true, but there were plenty of photographs. There she was, clear as day on every front page, and as tall as a skyscraper.

Asami had cried that night. The sheer immensity of what Korra was, what she could do, was too much to bear. It made her feel insignificant and small, yet she also felt powerful, elevated by her association. Korra was astonishing, and Asami would make sure she knew it. She had found her the next day, back at Air Temple Island. Korra was staring out to sea, and saw as Asami docked her small boat.

"Hey, Asami!" she called, waving. Asami smiled back and made her way to join her.

"Korra. How are you?" she asked. Korra was smiling, but there was a shadow behind it.

"I'm not sure. A lot has happened. Is it weird to mourn now for someone who died the literal moment I was born? It sounds weird, even by my standards," she said. Asami smiled sadly.

"I'm sorry, Korra. I wish I could empathise with that," she said. "But I can empathise with breaking up with Mako, at least." For a heartbeat, she though the joke was a huge mistake, badly timed and badly judged. Then Korra laughed, a loud guffaw that had her clutching her stomach.

"You... you are bad, Miss Sato," Korra laughed. Her laughter stopped abruptly when Asami threw her arms around her and pulled her into a fierce hug.

"Thank you," Asami said tightly. "Thank you for saving us." Korra blushed and fidgeted.

"It's okay. That's what Avatars do after-"

"I don't care," Asami interrupted, pulling back to hold Korra at arms length, her hands gripping Korra's shoulders. "You saved us. You saved me, you saved Tenzin, you saved Pema and the kids, you saved your parents, you saved Bolin and Mako, you saved Naga and Pabu. You saved the whole world, Korra, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who's grateful, but I wanted to be sure at least one person told you. So here I am." Asami had said alot more than she had planned to, and Korra stared back wide-eyed and open-mouthed. Then she ducked her head and smiled shyly, very atypical for the Avatar, and looked back up at Asami.

"Thanks. Thank you," she said, before drawing Asami in for another embrace. "I'm really glad you hit Mako with your bike." Asami laughed this time.

"I'm glad I met you too."

After that, their friendship only grew stronger. Asami found herself attending most of Korra's public appearances, even if only to soothe her in the face of public disapproval, and only once did she feel she had to stop Korra from airbending Raiko into a tree. Korra took to starting her days in the city at Asami's front door, the pair of them sitting for breakfast before they each went about their business. Asami took to following Korra home in the evenings to share a meal with her and the Air Nomads, who were always glad to have her. Tenzin still remembered Asami's part in his rescue from the Equalists and so treated her with warm respect, and Pema followed suit. Jinora was politely curious while Ikki was... impolitely curious. Meelo was Meelo.

Then came the airbenders. Somehow, Korra's actions had birthed a whole new generation of airbenders, and she resolved to find them and help them. The first person she turned to for help was Asami, hoping to loan an airship. Asami gave them the ship, crewed it out of her own pocket and piloted it herself. That got her one of those hugs where her feet left the ground - she liked those ones. Team Avatar was back together and, slight awkwardness with Mako aside, it was a lot of fun, a grand adventure. Asami was delighted to find out that, as well as being good friends, she and Korra made a good team, whether fighting bandits or the Earth Queen's soldiers or escaping a giant desert creature. It was odd, looking back later on such happy memories, as they led to such an unhappy conclusion.

The Red Lotus. A secret society devoted to killing Korra. Who she was made no difference to them, only that she was the Avatar. Anything they learned about her was only used to manipulate and destroy her, nothing more. On some level, Asami understood it wasn't personal, if that even mattered, but she didn't care. She very quickly learned to hate them, and the moment when Korra said she would give herself up to them only made her hate them more. They expected treachery and even planned for it, but it hadn't been enough. Korra had been taken, poisoned and beaten within an inch of her life before they were able to reach her. The look on Korra's face when she reached up to her father, eyes shining white, just before the poison almost claimed her, would feature in Asami's darkest dreams for some time. She stood there, unable to move, unable to breathe, and watched Korra die.

It was cruel, she would think later, that that was the moment she became certain of what Korra meant to her. Friends, yes. Best friends, even. But there was more. There was so much more. And Korra would die before she could say any of it.

Until Jinora shouted something at Su Yin and then, Korra moved and coughed and spluttered and lived! She was alive! Asami almost fainted on the spot, but she breathed, she moved, and she smiled when Korra reached up to her father and spoke.

Korra's condition was... bad. Asami moved back to Air Temple Island to help care for her, even made sure she had the best wheelchair possible. Korra let Asami see her, really see her, at her lowest. Only her parents were allowed to remain as close, and Asami struggled not to make any assumptions, to let her imagination go wild - it was an inappropriate time to dump her feelings on Korra and inappropriate to speculate on Korra's feelings. She needed help and Asami would provide it, willingly and happily. Even so, their time together became more intimate by necessity, as Korra needed help bathing, dressing even eating at first, and Asami felt herself falling harder.

When Korra left, Asami was torn. Korra said she'd only be gone a few weeks, and Asami had offered more than once to join her, but Korra had politely declined, citing concerns for her company and other things that Asami would gladly burn to the ground to have Korra healthy again. Still, she respected Korra's choice, partly to try and hide the strength of her affection, and partly because Korra might have been right. A break away from the city, back in her childhood home, might do her good. And Asami was of Republic City, a constant reminder. So she let her go. And while she learned to live with it, she would question her decision for three years.

She moved back to the city, and threw herself into her work. People still grumbled about the spirit vines, and so Asami decided to do something about it. If the vines couldn't be moved, the city would need to change around them. She worked furiously for two weeks on her designs, even hoping to have a meeting with Raiko to get things moving so she had some good news for Korra when she came back. But she didn't come back.

Tenzin told her when she visited the temple to hear any news, that Korra's recovery would take longer than they'd hoped, possibly much longer, and Katara was taking personal charge of her treatment. That was good, Asami supposed, but her heart ached all the same.

"Can we... Could I..." she started. Tenzin gave her a sad look and laid his hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Asami, but you can't visit yet. I'm told she is reading any letters we send, though, so keep that up if you can," he said, kindly. Asami nodded and pursed her lips, her eyes squeezed shut.

"I miss her, Tenzin," she croaked. He smiled.

"As do I," he said. He watched her struggle for a few more seconds then spoke again: "Why don't you stay here for now?" he asked. Asami blinked up at him.

"I could... no. No, you should keep your rooms for your air nation, who knows how many more you might need," she said. Tenzin stood directly in front of Asami and now held both her shoulders.

"Asami," he said, slowly, a fond look in his eyes. "You helped us find and transport the air benders. You helped them escape the Earth Queen. You fought to rescue them from the Red Lotus, including my children. You may not be an air bender, but you are part of the air nation, if you want to be. And you are welcome here at any time, on as permanent or temporary a basis as you please." That did it. Asami's tears fell and she lurched into Tenzin's arms. She looked down when she felt Jinora, Ikki and Meelo wrapping themselves around her as she had seen them do to their father. She was still heartbroken, but no longer felt alone.

Two years later, she would still often spend the night on the island, dividing her time between there and her apartment in the city. She sat at the small desk in her room, an empty teacup next to her as she tapped her pen on the still mostly blank paper. So far, her letter was exactly two words: Dear Korra. She sighed and sat back in her chair, looking up at the ceiling. She had dutifully written, as she had been asked, for two years but having received no reply, she was starting to wonder if it was worth it. Tenzin told her that she was reading them but were they just trying to make her feel better? She didn't know what to do.

"A sign would be nice about now," she muttered.

*KNOCK KNOCK*

"Asami?"

"Uh.. come in Tenzin," she said. His timing was unsettling. He stepped in and she smirked at him. "When I asked for a sign, I didn't think to get one, and definitely didn't think it'd be you," she chuckled. He stopped dead, his brow knitting.

"Excuse me?" he asked. Asami shook her head.

"Nothing," she said, tossing her pen onto the desk. Tenzin saw the bare beginning of a letter.

"Not sure what to write?" he asked.

"Not sure if to write at all. I can't help but wonder if there's any point any more," she admitted. Understanding dawned across Tenzin's face.

"Ah. Hence your 'sign'. I see," he said. "Well, I may not be the sign you were waiting for... but perhaps this is." Asami looked up as he produced an envelope. She took it carefully and saw a post mark from the Southern Water Tribe. Her eyes widened and she looked up at Tenzin, then back down at the envelope a few times before trembling fingers started to pick it open. Just as she went to take out the folded letter within, she gave Tenzin an uncertain glance. He smiled again and bowed before leaving, closing the door behind him. Asami took a calming breath and began to read. It wasn't a happy letter, and she knew of Korra's progress already thanks to Tenzin, but it was a letter. Korra had finally sent a letter and had chosen to send it to her. She read it a half dozen times, wiping at her eyes the entire time, and then she finally picked up her pen again.

It had taken several drafts before Asami was satisfied with her reply. Frankly, the others made it a little too obvious that Asami's feelings had moved beyond just friendship (in fact she'd spelled it out in very specific terms in her first attempt). She kept writing, and a year after that, she was delighted when Korra was due to return, then crushed when she didn't appear. And when she did finally come back, the old feelings, never far away anyway, rushed right back. After their initial, slightly bumpy reunion, Asami found herself following the Avatar again, and extremely happy to be doing so.

On several occasions, she found herself wondering about confessing: sharing tea on Air Temple Island, sitting alone with Korra in the restaurant waiting for Mako and Wu, the actual literal moment she was finally able to hold Korra again in the lobby... heck, even after they'd jumped off a train after rescuing Wu, she'd wondered how Mako would take it if she asked Korra out during their group hug! It would have been a happy time if not for the ever-present and growing threat from Kuvira. And if not for her father.

She was cautiously happy when Lin had brought him to help with the hummingbird suits, emphasis on cautious. It quickly melted away, though, and they fell back into an old and familiar routine of bouncing around ideas and building them as they spoke. And, it turned out, despite everything that had happened between them, he knew her best after all.

"You should say something," he said, quietly, as they cut and soldered and welded at breakneck speed. She glanced at him.

"Say something?" she asked.

"To Korra," he answered without stopping. Asami's heart skipped a beat and her breath held itself against her will.

"About what?" she asked with unconvincing nonchalance.

"Asami, she's about to lead a team of benders against that platinum terror to buy us time, and then we're going to fly these out there to fight it. If something happens..." he said, not needing to explain further. Asami wanted to tell him he was wrong, but they had learned this lesson before. Zaheer had taught them. She stopped her work and faced her father.

"Dad..."

"Go! I'm done here," he said, indicating his work. "I can finish up for you." Asami smiled, turned, and ran. Korra was directing the airbenders as they went to drop Mako, Lin and Bolin in position, she was about to fly after them, glider staff in hand.

"Korra!" Asami called, and suddenly realised she had no idea what else to say. Korra turned to her, concerned.

"Asami? Is something wrong? The hummingbirds-"

"They're fine, we're just finishing up. It's just..." she said. Why was this so hard?

"It's just what, Asami?" Korra asked, looking over her shoulder to the same exit everyone else had just used. "There isn't much time, can we-"

"You have to come back. You have to survive this. I learned what life is like without you in it and I can't bear it. I don't want that. I want you in my life, Korra," Asami said, stepping forward and taking Korra's hand in both of hers. Korra stared, wide-eyed, but the crash of destruction drew her attention. She looked back again, then to Asami.

"I'll come back to you, Asami. Trust me," she said. Asami nodded.

"I trust you," she answered. Korra grinned that lopsided grin.

"That goes for you too, by the way. I need you to survive too, okay?"

"I will," Asami replied, firmly. She would. Korra grabbed her staff again and leapt into the sky. Asami sprinted back to the workshop. She would fight and survive. For Korra.

/

Asami's eyes opened to the night sky moving above here. She slowly sat up, or tried to anyway, when Korra appeared and gently held her still.

"Hey," she whispered. Asami smiled back, tightly. For a blessed moment, she had forgotten, but it didn't last. Her father had died to save her. Tenzin's face appeared as well.

"Asami, you're awake! Thank goodness," he said, sighing with relief. With Korra's help this time, though she didn't feel it necessary, Asami sat up. She saw they were on Oogi's back, and she thought she saw Jinora at the reins.

"I healed you as well as I could, but I didn't find many injuries. We'll have Kya check you over when she can," Korra said.

"I need to find my father," Asami said, her voice rough. Korra and Tenzin's eyes met.

"Asami," Tenzin started, gently. "Your father didn't-"

"I know!," Asami snapped. "I need to find him, I can't just leave him there."

"We won't. Once we're sure you're okay, we can-"

"No! I won't let someone else, some stranger find him like that. I need to. I need..." Asami said, starting strong but getting shakier as she spoke. Korra's hand took hers and Asami looked up at her, miserable.

"Asami. You trust me, right?" she asked. Asami's lips pursed and her eyes filled with tears and, not trusting her voice, she simply nodded. "I'll bring him to you." With that, Korra leapt from Oogi's back and vanished. The next several minutes were a blur to Asami, but she realised they had landed and she was being helped to the ground. Tenzin took her to a seat that faced the city and sat with her, while Jinora took Oogi and left again. Nothing was said. Tenzin only sat with her. Asami broke the silce first.

"I just... it isn't fair. I just got him back. We were... and now he's gone," she whimpered. Tenzin nodded, but he didn't look away from the city.

"You're right. It isn't fair," he said. Asami blinked up at him - she had been expecting him to remind of her father's noble sacrifice to make his death seem somehow less awful. "When Avatar Aang... when my father died, I felt similarly. Feel angry, Asami. Feel sad about how unfair it all is. He faced his death bravely, but don't let anyone tell you it makes it easier." Asami nodded and silence returned, more comfortable this time.

She wasn't sure exactly sure how long they'd been sitting there when there were shouts from across the water. A point of light appeared in the dark city and moved to the water. A great wave surged up beneath the light and bore it toward them. Tenzin stood and watched as it grew closer, then when it reached the island, a water spout lifted it up. Close up, it was easy to identify: Korra, her eyes blazing. She gently alighted on the ground nearby, eddying winds slowing and controlling her descent. Behind her floated an odd grey box, metal and patchy. Once her feet were on solid ground, her eyes returned to normal, and she gently lowered the metal box beside her. It was flat, only six inches high, but long, about four feet. Asami stood, and Korra, a little paler than usual, looked at her sorrowfully.

"This is... I found him," she said. Asami could see now that the metal patches of the box were parts of the hummingbird that Korra had bent into an impromptu coffin. It was so small, and Asami realised that with the manner of his death, not to mention all of the explosions afterward, this tiny box contained all that was left of her father. It must have been a grim task, and Asami sat back down heavily as her knees weakened. She stared at the box, hardly even blinking. Tenzin wordlessly checked on Korra, all too aware of the difficult task she had taken on, and she nodded back. She was shaken, but alright. He moved back to Asami.

"He can stay here with you if you want, Asami, or I can move him into the temple for now. You can stay here or follow him as you like," he said. Asami took a deep, shaky breath.

"Thank you, Tenzin. The temple would be best for now, I think," she said. Tenzin quickly summoned a pair of white lotus guards and had them carry the small coffin into the temple proper. Asami looked away as they picked it up.

"Hey," Korra said, softly, and Asami was startled to see she had sat next to her without being noticed, trying to give her a smile.

"Hey," Asami replied back, but was unable to answer the smile with one of her own. Korra's mouth worked silently as she struggled for something to say, but eventually gave up and settled for taking hold of Asami's hand and squeezing it. Asami squeezed back and tried to look back at the water, but Korra's gaze held hers. The tears came again, and Korra wrapped herself around Asami as she cried herself to a fitful sleep.

She awoke to see the ceiling of her room on the island. She couldn't quite remember how she had gotten here but didn't much care. There was a hollow ache in her chest and though she didn't sob as she had last night, tears sprang easily. She sat up quickly when she heard a sound between a growl and a whimper. On her bedroom floor lay Naga, who stared at her, and sleeping with her back against Naga was Korra, mouth hanging open. Naga stood heedlessly and Asami winced when Korra's head bonked on the wooden floor, though her loud complaints showed she was largely unhurt. Naga walked to Asami's bedside, sniffed around her face and then promptly lowered the weight of her head into Asami's lap. Asami started to idly pet the animal as Korra slowly stood and stretched out the kinks. Despite everything, Asami found herself staring.

"She knows you're sad," Korra said, turning and indicating. Asami blinked and wiped at the few telltale tears.

"You stayed all night?" Asami asked. Korra shrugged halfheartedly.

"When it came down to it, I couldn't leave you," she admitted. Asami managed a shy smile and ducked her head, returning her attention to Naga. "Did you hear about Varrick and Zhu Li?" Korra asked.

"No. Are they alright?" Asami asked. Korra rolled her eyes.

"They're fantastic. They're getting married and he will not be quiet about it," Korra grumbled.

"To each other?" Asami asked and Korra actually laughed.

"Yeah, I know. Don't worry, Zhu Li's happy about it as well," she said.

"Wow," Asami said. "I don't know whether to offer congratulations or condolences." Korra laughed again, kneeling down next to Naga and scratching her shoulder. Asami sighed deeply. "I need to go out there, don't I? I can't hide in here." she said, wearily.

"That's up to you. The world will still be there tomorrow," Korra said.

"Somehow, I think the world would come looking for me if I tried," Asami said, smiling again. It was always easier to smile when Korra was there.

"They'd have to get through me," Korra said, standing and puffing her chest. Asami shook her head and gently pushed Naga's head from her lap, starting to rise from her bed.

"You're sweet," she said, oblivious to Korra's blush. "But I need to go. I need to make arrangements..." the dull ache flared into a sharp pain and threated to spill from her mouth and eyes, but she took a few calming breaths and it dulled again. "...for my father."

"Do you want me to come with you?" Korra asked.

"Korra," Asami replied. "There must be so many people that need you right now. I shouldn't-"

"Asami. I think you might be one of those people," Korra said with certainty. Asami's eyes stung again. She thought for a moment about the task ahead of her and shivered.

"Maybe. I don't need the Avatar, but maybe I need Korra after all," she said. Korra nodded and smiled.

"Then you have me."

The task itself turned out to be fairly simple. Hiroshi had left instructions when he thought he might not recover his relationship with Asami, and there was a spot already waiting next to his wife, so all she really needed to do was sign a few documents and decide whether to hold a funeral. It was also the most difficult thing Asami had done, signing her name under her father's death. As with so many other things, Korra's presence made it easier. Or did she make Asami stronger? Maybe both. Asami elected to return to Air Temple Island for now: her apartment was currently inaccessible and she couldn't face the mansion. Korra greeted her every morning and spent as much time as she could with her.

Asami chose to have a small, private funeral when her father was buried. In fact she was the only mourner. She didn't want anyone there who would only pretend to have forgiven him, either for her sake or for some political stunt. However, even though Korra's duties as Avatar had started to reclaim her time, she arrived, dressed in sombre black and dark blue, and stood by her. They didn't speak, not even when Asami gestured that Korra should join her in her car as she drove aimlessly around the city, heading back to the ferry as darkness fell. Only when Asami stood outside her bedroom door did she turn and yank Korra into a hug so tight it almost hurt.

"Thank you," she said, tightly.

"I thought you might need me," Korra whispered. Asami almost laughed.

"You were right. How lucky I am to get such special attention from the Avatar," she said. Korra pulled back a little to look Asami in the eye, deadly serious.

"Not the Avatar. Korra," she insisted. For once, Asami flushed under Korra's gaze, looking away and fidgeting as she released the embrace.

"Well..." she cleared her throat. "Goodnight, Korra." Korra smiled widely.

"Night, Asami." She kept smiling even as the door closed.

The following days were hard. The ache was becoming familiar now, but the grief easily rushed forward when something she saw or heard reminded or of her father. Her time with Korra eased her pain a little, but she was more surprised at how much other people were eager to help. Ikki excelled at distracting Asami, her questions rapid-fire and unpredictable. Meelo demonstrated an unexpected artistic talent, and Asami found herself trying her hand, usually so used to rigid diagrams and schematics. Jinora guided her in meditation, helping her sort through her conflicting emotions for her father. They rallied around her as they would a member of their family, and she was grateful beyond words. She stood gazing out to sea with Korra one day, making small talk.

"I think I've forgiven my father," Asami said suddenly. They had been talking about pro bending, and the change in conversation caught Korra unawares.

"Oh. Okay. Great! That's great, right?" Korra said. Asami smiled.

"It is. He was trying to make amends, even before, and I think he proved he was sincere," she said. Korra winced.

"Sorry," she said, slowly. Asami blinked at her. Ah. Korra had expressed suspicion when she first returned.

"It's okay, Korra, I didn't mean it like that. I was suspicious too, at first. I'd actually forgotten," she said. "I shouldn't have bitten your head off like that, I was just... it was a sensitive subject." Korra waved her hand.

"Pff. Water under the bridge. Still, I thought it was a pretty memorable day," Korra laughed.

"No argument here. But some parts were more important than others," Asami said. Korra nodded.

"Right, the Wu thing. I guess that did override everything else," she said. Asami didn't reply straight away. 'Say something' her father had told her. Say. Something.

"No," she said. "Not Wu." Korra looked confused. Asami took Korra's hand in both of hers. "You came back. You came back to me." Korra's face flushed bright red, and she let Asami keep ahold of her hand.

"Yeah," she breathed.

"I hear Varrick is holding his wedding here on the island," Asami said. Korra frowned.

"Huh?"

"Jinora told me. I think I might like to go after all. It'll be good to be part of something positive," Asami said. "I'd need some company, though."

"Uhhhh, sure?" Korra said, uncertainly. Asami took a quick breath and soldiered forward.

"Then you'll be my date?" she asked. Korra stared back, slack-jawed.

"Like... as friends?" she asked in a small voice. Asami's heart clenched.

"No." There was a beat, a long moment when Asami was convinced she'd made a huge mistake. Then Korra's mouth stretched into a wide, relieved smile.

"Oh. Oh yes. That sounds amazing," she said. Asami's smile grew to match Korra's

"It does?" she asked. Korra laughed and laid her free hand atop Asami's.

"It really does," she sighed. They both stood giggling at each other for several long moments.

"KORRA!"

Korra jumped and spun around, releasing Asami's hands, much to her dismay. Ikki waved at her from the temple door.

"What, Ikki?" she asked, testily. Ikki shrugged.

"Dad says he needs you for something. He mentioned Raiko," she called. Korra groaned.

"Fine. See you later?" she said to Asami. Asami grinned and flipped her hair.

"See you later," she said. Korra whined and started walking back to the temple, but Asami chuckled when she looked back at Asami over her shoulder, nearly tripping as she kept walking. Yet that didn't stop her from looking back once, twice, three times more. Asami waved each time. When Korra disappeared from view, Asami turned back to the sea.

"I'm in love with a dork," she muttered to herself. The path of her life had been unpredictable, and there had been pain. But it led her here, to Korra, and she found herself looking forward again, wondering where her path would lead next, more certain than ever that she would walk it with Korra.

END

I watched it again.

Hey, me finally finishing this lines up with Korrasami day. Neat.