#and i am now having seconds thoughts . rip! oh well oh darn guess i Have to draw horse scar again ohh nooo u_u

[cuteiemonster]

hi there I absolutely love your pony (and 1 goat) designs they are all amazing

I’m just curious, why did you decide to draw Grian as an Earth Pony, rather than a Pegasus when he’s often associated with flight?

Was it a thing where the fanon stuff was an after thought or was your drawing not cooperating with you at all? (As fellow artist I do understand that occurrence)

or just something else entirely?

it originally stemmed from me not usually drawing grian as an avian most of the time that quickly devolved into " hehe the irony of one of his parents being a unicorn, the other being a pegasus, and he just got the short end of the stick " was too funny for me to pass up

[osakaso5]

La Danse Macabre

Episode 40-2: Unheard Voices, Delivered Voices

Chapter Index

Three Years Later

Cura: Uuuugh!!!

Cura: Damn, I'm tired! These fights just won't end.

Rebellion Fighter: C'mon, Cura, there's no need to get mad.

Cura: I know. I just wish we had more people around here.

Cura: Nerve's been acting real suspicious lately. I have no idea what they're planning.

[Door opens]

Reue: Yawn... Now that was a good nap.

Cura: ........

Reue: Lately, I've been feeling just awful right before and after waking up. Maybe my age is starting to get the best of me.

Rebellion Fighter: G-good morning, sir.

Reue: Mornin'.

Cura: You DO realize that you're technically our second highest ranking member?

Reue: Well, if it isn't Mr. Top Dog. Hard at work as always, I see.

Cura: You should give working a chance yourself, Reue.

Reue: No thanks~. Libel promised me a job that requires as little effort as possible.

Cura: Ugh... You mean the asshole who went and died, right after making promises he didn't have to keep..?

Reue: Hahaha, you're such a jokester.

Rebellion Fighter: Cura! The transportation team from District 4 has run into a Unity Order patrol! They're requesting immediate backup!

Cura: What, seriously? Let's get 'em on the monitor.

Cura: This looks bad... Do we have any free squads nearby..?

Reue: Ah, I think we've got it covered.

Cura: Huh?

Reue: I thought this might happen, so I already sent over a certain someone. 

- - - -

Unity Order Troop: For the Church of Nerve... For Master Misericorde...

Rebellion Fighter: Crap... They've got us surrounded...

Unity Order Troop: For the Church of Nerve... For Master Misericorde...

Rebellion Fighter: I've sent an emergency signal to the base! But...

Rebellion Fighter: I don't think we're gonna make it...

Leiden: Hold up!!!

Rebellion Fighters: ......!?

Leiden: I came to save your asses!

Rebellion Fighter: ...Leiden!

Unity Order Troop: That's...

Unity Order Troop: One of the traitors...

Leiden: Hmm.

Leiden: ...Traitor, huh? Sure, I guess I am...

Leiden: And that's just fine by me. I've really thought this through, even with my empty head.

Unity Order Troop: Stay on guard...

Unity Order Troop: We all strike at the same time..! For the Church of Nerve!

Leiden: Yeah, come at me! I fight for myself!

Leiden: Because I'm Rebellion's Leiden!

Leiden: Don't you forget that!!!

- - - -

Cura: Oh, Leiden's going there. That's a relief...

Reue: Isn't it?

Cura: Fine, I guess you helped. ...But could you at least let me know  when you send out more troops?

Reue: Hahaha. When I notice an oversight in your orders, I can't help but want to fix it.

Cura: You sly old man...

Reue: Come to think of it, it's been around three years since Eternea died and Misericorde took over as the ruler of the church.

Reue: And because of Misericorde, the Unity Order is even more deeply tied to the church now.

Reue: Eternea must've been holding the church back.

Reue: The current Ark follows Misericorde's orders like a hive mind.

Reue: It'll be tough to bring them down. They've never been quite this fanatical before.

Cura: Yeah, they may not have a Celestial right now, but there's still an obvious gap between our technology and theirs.

Cura: Geez... It's gonna be a while before we overthrow them...

Reue: But we'll do it anyway, won't we? Create a world without Celestials.

Cura: Yep, that's what Libel would've wanted. And I decided to stick by him when we were both kids.

Reue: ...You've been doing well. The Surface's forces are concentrated around Rebellion more and more these days.

Reue: We've gotten new members too, haven't we? I'd say you've achieved more than plenty, for such a young man.

Cura: This much is nothing. I'm not nearly as charismatic as our old leader.

Reue: You're too humble. The world is already changing, and I'm sure it's for the better.

Cura: I sure hope so. Especially for all those of us who died for this change.

Horca: Hey... it's not healthy to let yourself be tied down by dead people. We're here for the living.

Reue: Oh, you came to visit, Mr. Merchant?

Cura: Done with your negotiations?

Horca: Yep, thanks so much. I'll be on my way now.

Cura: You're not ripping us off, are you?

Horca: ...Maybe I am, maybe not. Have a little faith in your subordinates, will you.

Cura: Well, for an old enemy, you sure have been a reliable business partner.

Reue: Right. I hear you even trade with Nerve these days.

Horca: I don't give a damn about the past. I'm just doing whatever I can to live a fun, free life.

Horca: I don't wanna hold myself back. That's not why I was born into this world, nor is it why I've survived this far.

Cura: ...I guess that's the life for you, then.

Horca: You guys have nothing to worry about. My motto is to sell everything at the same price, no matter who's buying.

Horca: I'm not making favors to any side. If I did, my old friends would just laugh at me.

Horca: ...I guess I'm tied down by the dead in my own way, too.

Cura: ...Nah. Neither of us are being tied down.

Cura: I'm doing this for Libel and Fuga because I want to.

Horca: ...That so. Well, either way, I’m  looking forward to this new world of yours.

Horca: Make sure that it’s a place  where even people like my old crew  can live.

Reue: ...Haha. Everyone's put their expectations on you.

Cura: What a pain. It's not like I asked for any of this.

Reue: It's the duty of those of us who lived.

Cura: ........

Cura: Oh, it's almost time. ...Get ready, people.

Reue: Oh, it is? I've been waiting for this.

Cura: Yeah, you better have. The kid's our ray of hope.

 - - - -

Qual: Arme. It's almost time. Are you good to go?

Arme: Yes, Qual. I'm ready.

Qual: ...You're not lonely? You haven't been around other people for quite the while now.

Arme: Hm? I'm fine. I have you... And Kabane and the others come see me every now and then.

Arme: Hmm, though I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel even a little bit lonely...

Arme: Cura and his troops are fighting their own fight, and I'm fighting mine.

Qual: I see...

Arme: For as long as I live, a new Celestial can't be born.

Arme: That grants Rebellion more than enough time to win us the world Libel longed for.

Qual: You've grown so strong.

Arme: Strong...

Arme: Qual, listen to me. I've decided something.

Arme: I want to help everyone live their lives.

Arme: However, I can't reach out to or help them in person.

Arme: Still, there may be those who would gain courage from me, even from afar.

Qual: ...Right, living on the Surface has made one thing very clear to me. Those who live in this world need something to believe in.  

Qual: The Surface is free. And that's why its people are afraid. They're anxious about the path they've chosen.

Qual: We could all use something to light up that path.

Arme: Right...

Arme: Libel said I'd bring everyone hope.

Qual: Yes, he did...

Arme: I was the Celestial. The symbol of everyone's faith. But no one saw me for who I truly am.

Arme: ...The truth is, I'm completely  useless. I'm weak, cowardly, naive,  and not very good at reading social  situations, or so I’ve been told. 

Arme: Which is why I'm not fit to lead a religion. I'm not some perfect idol.

Arme: I need others to help me. I need others to keep me from feeling down.

Arme: And in turn, I'll do whatever I can for them.

Arme: Anything to help others live their life to the fullest.

Arme: I want to be the light that shines upon this world.

[Beep]

Cura: Arme, you ready? I'm jacking into the Surface's radio signal. We’re  counting on you, as usual...

Arme: Yes, I'm ready as can be.

Cura: People were pretty suspicious about this at first, but you've gained kind of a fanbase as of late.

Arme: Ooh, really!?

Arme: Actually, I was thinking of learning how to sing and dance.

Cura: Hahaha, sounds good to me. I'm sure everyone will love it.

Cura: ...Just do your best, kid. And...

Cura: Make sure you enjoy this more than anyone else, alright?

Arme: Yes, I will! I'll have so much fun! 

- - - -

Horca: ...Doing it because you want to, huh.

Horca: Ugh, Cura's starting to rub off on me. And so, here I am... Visiting a grave.

Horca: ...It's my first time coming here since I left.

Horca: The Underworld... It really isn't a big deal at all. Just a huge, dumb hole.

Horca: ........

Horca: Ah. Vida, Placer. Is it okay if I just... pretend you're in there?

Horca: I...

Horca: Wanted to apologize. For not coming here sooner.

Horca: All I ever did was make fun of you for being bound to the dead.

Horca: ...But I was wrong. It's not a bad thing that I keep you guys in my memories.

Horca: It's not wrong of me to do something I think would make you happy.

Horca: ...Then again, I can't hear the dead.

Horca: You guys won't mind if I just assume you're happy that I'm still alive, will you?

Horca: ........

Horca: ...Well, you'd better not.

Horca: One of the perks to being alive is I get to pretend your souls in the afterlife agree with everything I do.

Horca: Hah... And if that's a problem, you'll just have to speak up.

[Bzzt]

Arme: Ah, ah.

Horca: Uagh!?

Horca: That scared the crap out of me... I really thought the dead were gonna talk for a second...

Horca: Huh? There's something coming from my transmitter..? Who is that..?

Arme: Cura? Can they hear me yet?

Horca: Whuh? 

- - - -

Arme: Ah, ah. Testing, testing.

Konoe: Oh, I've got a signal! It's starting, Master Kuon!

Kuon: Ah, how exciting.

Konoe: Kabane! Come over and listen with us!

Kabane: ...No. I can hear just fine from where I am.

Konoe: Darn!

Konoe: He's still acting distant... I thought you finally made up, after all these years?

Kuon: Ahaha. Kabane still has some trouble being around me.

Kuon: ...But he can take his time changing. We have an eternity ahead of us, after all. 

- - - -

Arme: Ahem.

Arme: All of you living your lives on the Surface, can you hear me?

Arme: My name is Arme.

Arme: Today, well...

Arme: Why don't I tell you how I met a dear friend, who changed my life? 

The End.

[keepyourlife]

What fics do you like/read/recommend?

Difficult question, cause recommendations I can give but only very limited.

What I like? Slow Burn, Angst, Fluff, damn it I also read Smut sometimes, AUs (I mention something about that later). Basically: I want to suffer, I want to cry, but give me a happy ending. I LOVE good interpreted characters and I LOOOVE well-written relations. What I mean by that is, basically, if a sibling relationship is weirdly written, I tend to just.. not read the story at all. Does that make sense? Whatever.

While I read a lot, I rarely save what I read and more often than not I kind of.. lose half of the fics I read? There’s one I am currently obsessed with, which I found via @worstloki:

doubt truth to be a liar. absolutely amazing tbh. it’s about a younger Loki suddenly appearing in the Avengers Tower, without any memories about what happened (post Ragnarok), it’s got trans Peter & cultural differences between Asgard and Midgard I find quite interesting. Cause while I do know that comic Loki mentioned that the concept of gender and sexuality do not exist in Asgard the way they do on Midgard (I think that is what he said), I found the differences portrayed in that story very believable and also super interesting, cause I didn’t think of that? Especially interesting when you know a bit about the Viking age and its culture, which MCU Asgard clearly was set to resemble.

So, next I need to put a little disclaimer about myself: I normally do not like Reader fics, because more often than not they’re super ooc and I just find this whole.. “y/n” thing kind of offputting and it just makes me uninterested very often. However I have a friend who do likes these kind of stories. And she lets me know. And she needs someone to talk about these stories, so there’s that. And I read a handfull of them and tbh only those I actually find 1. well-written, 2. well characterised & 3. no darn use of “y/n”, cause no I never imagine myself there, I create characters in my head for each story.

A Job Million PRs Would Die For by @saiansha. Jesus fucking christ the amount of times I re-read this story. Honestly, it is, I think, the first Reader fanfic I read in my entire life, was super weary at first cause. idk. I know some people on this website (and AO3, let’s be real) that just post very weird stuff. This one has an interpretation of Loki that I can 100% believe and it is one I support. That was one of my main reasons to continue reading, but it’s also the general writing style that I like and that there’s a Reader character, who is not a helpless damsel in distress. Ultimate proof of that was the most recent chapter. (dear author knows my thoughts, I dared to dm cause I was just. very enthuasiastic about this story)

Broken Crown by @michelleleahhh​. Second one I started reading at one point cause my friend kept asking me to read it. a kind-of AU? It’s set in Asgard. That’s what you need to know. Again, a story that had me from the beginning, once I started. For the writing style and for the characterisation. The story really had me guessing sometimes, cause,, well-written! and really good dialogue!! damn you Freya!! and a decent Reader character that doesn’t have me ripping out my own intestines. (also very enthusiastic about this story, yes this phrasing as a meaning)

Foruneyti by Evaldrynn or @foruneyti (I tagged the blog for the story here, too, don’t mind me pls) Also kind of an AU, basically just Asgard. Anyway, I am so in love with the aesthetic this story gives me. It’s hard to explain, but after 85 chapters I just have this very clear picture in my head of what I think this story looks like. Now, Reader here is also good and well-written, the Original Characters are likeable and not super overpowered, neither is Reader. The canon characters are, in my humble opinion, interpreted nicely and tbh for some reason I just always imagine them in this comic style, rather than the way the films portray them.

Of Different Emotions by @wanderingworldwarrior. my. goodness. I am in love with these stories and I am just. so desperate for an update. idk if we will ever get one, but honestly, I re-read it this week and. Just stopped after the second part, cause I can’t deal with the pain of the third part one more time. First part is set pre-Thor 1, second part is set during Thor 1 and the third during The Avengers. I love the Reader character a lot and the Original Characters just. belong so much to the story. idk I just love the way this story is written, I love the characters, I just love it a lot, alright.

Onwards to anime. Bungou Stray Dogs:

where your loyalties lie by writingfromtheshadows. this!! story!! it’s so good!! it’s a Yakuza!AU and oh my gooood. It’s all just so so well put, compared to canon and I love the dynamics Dazai and Chuuya have here.

Forgettable Significance by Witheryvine. THIS STORY. took my sanity, threw it out of the window and then spat on me. It broke my heart so very often, cause it manages to make you question yourself. morals about relationships out of the window. I re-read this story like five times.

still still still by toriosaurus. I was waiting, desperately, for every single chapter. This AU gives me everything I need and more. I remember doing fanart for this story and being very proud of it, even though it did no justice to the original story. Normally I am not a fan of, idk what to call it, no power AUs because most people just do the thing wrong for me. But this one hits.

If I recommend Twist and Shout now I get thrown into Turbohell, so idk if you want a very sinful Destiel fanfic, then read

Hot Water by Chiyume. I was 16, I decided to read Destiel fanfictions and this one kind of did it for me.

Don’t @ me. I really read a lot more than this, but I suck at organising myself and I just barely ever save shit. Also it’s late, I’ve been on a video call with my friend for over three hours now and I just like to clown when I am tired. Anyway, I used to bookmark Destiel fanfics back in the day and the rest is just. Read it, kudos, comment, and then I forget to save. The multichapter fics are often still in my subscribes, but sometimes. just.. not.

[hoodedwing]

Loyalty Killed Me

Summary: The Joker could finally do what he wanted to do, traumatize Nightwing

Characters: Nightwing. Harley Quinn. Joker. Mentions of Red Hood

Warnings: Just really sick ways of stitching people up. Blood. Depressive. Major character/s death mentions. Batman. Doctor Leslie Thompkins

Additional Notes: I know Joker cannot traumatize Grayson canon-wise? Please correct me if I’m wrong.

Word Count: 2,242 words

***

Time doesn't stop.

Time knows, in its hands. It plays around with the seconds. These seconds matter, someone dying, someone on the communicator whispering, ____ come get me. come get me, I can't go back.

Time doesn't freeze. Time does not have a cloak drapes around it in a timeless manner. Time does not walk in a regal manner and stroke your gaping wounds to cauterize them. Apply pressure because really, when did Time wait for you to stop the damned arterial spray? Have you seen first hand how much blood can spew, almost like a fountain from that serrated dagger?

Time has caught up with Dick Grayson, the Wonder Boy. The Nightwing Blüdhaven didn't deserve. The loving boyfriend/husband of Barbara Gordon. The first son of Bruce Wayne, Batman.

Batman. He doesn't know who's Batman. Not anymore.

-

3200..6400..12800..

Breathe. Breathe. Breathe. Remember, inhale slowly, inflate lungs. Let it circulate through. Let. Let it work.

Richard. That's your name. Your mother was beautiful and your father was handsome. You are a Grayson. You have brothers and sisters.

Pain.

Pain is relative. If you fuck with pain long enough, it won't fuck back with you. Pain spreads through him and he inhales deep, bigger breaths. Trying to drown out the searing ache. He succeeds, deceives his brain.

Dick Grayson is such a liar.

He knows how to lie, how to smile widely at the Blüdhaven precinct when shit goes down or still tell a joke or two when Damian is there.

Dick Grayson is such a liar.

He's a good man. Honest to goodness. He's fooled himself into thinking his left leg didn't feel on fire, he's successfully managed to stop gasping against the rattle of his chest, a rub or two might be the cause. Who knows?

BOY WONDER! SAD YOUR DEAREST BATMAN HASN'T COME TO SAVE YOU YET? WHY LOOK AT THAT.

Mistah J checks his watch and smiles, his crooked smile stares back at Richard.

Dick only looks away as the Joker's cold fingers run his slimy, skinny fingers along his body. He used to shiver under his touch in a bad way, he would gulp and squeeze his eyes shut, hunting for memories to dive into.

When he got Zitka. When his mother named him her Robin. When he went on patrol for the first time with the all mighty Batman. When he first met Jason. Then Tim. Then Damian. Then the nights they spent healing wounds, fighting together or just sleeping or Netflix.

Dick doesn't move, doesn't say a word. He doesn't even let out a humourless laugh or a quip. Dick clings onto a hope.

Batman. Come get me.

BOY WONDER IS STILL LIVING. WHY, THAT'S A JOY. COME OUT THERE LITTLE BLUE BIRD. YOU REALLY THINK YOU CAN STAY IN THAT LITTLE BRAIN OF YOURS? WHEN YOU WAKE UP. THAT LEG WILL HURT. YOUR BLOOD WILL SPILL AGAIN ON THAT DARNED LITTLE CREST.

He doesn't care. The glorious speech does not make him flinch. He looks at the window, one thought crosses his cloudy vision.

Bruce (Dad), come get me.

LET'S HAVE SOME MORE FUN, SHALL WE. EVEN JAYBIRD PLAYED THIS GAME TOO. COME ON, HE HAD FUN. LET'S PLAY BLUE BIRD. BLUE JAY. HMM. I LIKE THAT.

-

Playtime.

Its always target practice. He would lie there and watch Harley swing her mallet here and there, sometimes too close to Dick and she would talk to him, so sweetly.

Aww, you wanna play too? Let's play together, shall we?

His face will clench up, his head will scream and suddenly everything is loud as Harley fires guns at targets and maybe shoot some arrows at Dick.

On lucky days, he's used as her gymnast prop.

I want to fly again. Batman I'm falling, please I'd like to fly again. My wings are clipping and I will rip. -

He falls asleep.

You can't call it sleeping. Dozing in and out of consciousness, he was neither awake or sleeping. A grey haze flittered across his vision. No sign of clarity. He still heard the rattle of his breath, the fire in his leg. The now warm abdomen.

He feels someone at his leg.

Harley Quinn was there, a sly smile as he feels a needle go in and out.

In and out. In and out.

In and out, in and out. You need to breathe Dick. In and out. In and out.

When he hears the door shut and a ricocheting silence, he peeks at his leg.

A sick suturing of his leg stabs with dental floss, a handiwork Harley was sure to boast later on. He doesn't care if it gets infected. What's the big deal? Batman will take care of it.

He turns over on his side to his communicator lay. The Nightwing emblem was shattered beyond measure. No matter, I can get a new one. The communication mattered.

He presses the distress signal again, again. Again. Bruce better get that flashing orange light and he should feel his bipolar touch in no time.

He tries to talk, voice hoarse from decreased usage and a rough sandpaper-like quality stuck to it.

"H..hello? Bruce. Dad. Please get me. I'm.. I'm waiting. Please."

He turns back in his side, curled up like an invited animal.

The rain pours, shadows keep coming in and out but none belong to his dad.

The boy asks the moon if Batman had lost his way. Asked if the moon could shine the light brighter at him so Dad can find him faster. He'll be okay, he'll be okay. Bruce might be lost, after all. There's a lot of streets and time isn't on anyone's side.

-

Two weeks go by.

Dick still finds himself bound by the ties and definitely no sign of the caped crusader.

Batman is surely coming.

That thought fades slowly, over the weeks. He's gotten more used to the Joker and the crowbar.

Is this how Jason felt, when he was in Hell?

Dick cannot remember. Dick only knows how the sound of metal and bones work, how the bullet will hit skin, pierce it through with frightening velocity and dull ache afterwards. The pool of blood will remind him that yes, I was shot.

A sick game of Russian Roulette. Instead of one bullet, there's multiple. A .44 magnum shouldn't hurt anymore. The revolver keeps spinning in his mind where acrobats should be. Where's Bruce. Where's dad. Am I forgotten?

Dick tried to remember how to breathe. Is it that hard? Just pulling in oxygen and letting the respiration mechanism do its work?

Distract thine self.

He tries to remember. Tries. He's trying. Nightwing has to do this. You need to at least remember your name. Your mother, your father. Dick. Dick.

Richard. That's your name. Your mother was beautiful but I don't know what her hair colour is, sometimes it's blonde or chestnut and your father was handsome.  You are a Grayson. You have brothers and sisters. Are they Jason? Tim? Da- I don't remember, I don't remember the tiny one. Is he even real? Your sisters too. Stephanie, Stephanie. I have one more, the sneaky one. She's fast but I don't know her name. I'd like to know her well too. Pity I. I don't know her name. I hope she knows my name. That way I can hear her voice and maybe figure out who is the charming one. I know she does ballet. I know she made brownies once with.. Who? I don't remember his name. The old man with cheery wrinkles and deep eyes. I don't know who he is too. Oh. Oh oh. Dick.

[DANGEROUS TO FALL ASLEEP, RICHARD JOHN 'DICK' GRAYSON. EYES. OPEN. EYES. OPEN. BREATHE. (MY LUNGS DON'T WORK)]

I'm begging someone, please. It doesn't have to be Bruce. Get the ballet girl to help me please, she fast and maybe I can ask her name while she gets me out of here.

-

Bruce never gives up.

You know that too, do you? He's spent 3 weeks finding his son. His beloved child.

Do you ever think how much Bruce's heart breaks over and over everyday?

-

"ALFRED?! CAN YOU GET JASON NOW, NOW, NOW?! I FIGURED HIS COORDINATES."

Bruce flips from the Batcomputer and grabs everything. A blind haste, he's never dressed so fast. His son. Oh my god, his son.

Jason is down there getting the Batmobile to rev up and they speed.

They speed.

Are they fast?

I guess. If you call 290 in 85 fast.

They run, Jason dashing first and his breath catches in his throat. A cold draught erupts inside of him. He snarls, Bruce turns as he digs through the alleyways. He finds what he knows lurks.

"The sick fucker is going to end Dick in the same fucking warehouse he ended me in. That big bitch.

Bruce puts one hand on his shoulder and squeezes. No time to panic, Dick is the one. is the unsaid message as Jason crashes through the window.

And even him, Red Hood. The one who sees and commits murder everyday, stops and hot anger sears through him.

Dick lies, barely 15 feet away, bound up and covered in his own blood, the ripped Nightwing suit from his recon mission. Bruce picks him up while Jason gladly punched (and secretly plugged a bullet) the fuck out of Mistah J and Harley.

They lie on unconscious, Jason evaluates the scenes, trying to suppress his screams at what they've done to Grayson.

Bruce picks up Dick like he's glass, he hurries to the Batmobile with Jason telling to prepare the Medbay.

"The Medbay.. I.. I don't think. Leslie. Leslie can."

Is all Bruce says and Jason revs up, driving the Batmobile way beyond the legal limit. Bruce doesn't give a flying banana about it. He'll pay the fine later.

Bruce looks down at his son, hoping he hasn't fallen asleep yet. Finally, finally Dick is in the arms of the crusader. Half his domino mask is ripped and Bruce tries to not break at the baby blues staring without any light-hearted gaze.

His heart still beats (A reminder he's alive and could've been more alive. Bruce failed him)

"LESLIE. DR THOMPKINS!"

Jason screeches across and marching in, earning angry stares  from the other patients but it turns into gasps and horror when they see Batman carry a limp Nightwing barely clad in spandex anymore. Everyone bows out, knowing they were priority.

-

Something inside Dick broke.

He doesn't know what it is.

He'll live with it.

-

"Bruce, he's fallen into a coma."

Leslie says, solemn. Angry tears form in Jason's eye and he was about to fight Bruce, give him the tirade. Compare him to Nightwing.

The unspoken message rings loudly in Bruce's mind. He doesn't need Jason to say it.

You failed him too.

Jason is seething, anger. Sadness a d everything is violating him from inside.

If you were a minute later, he would've died. We would've been carrying his body to the grave. The Joker would still live. You see the problem? DO YOU NOT SEE THE FUCKING PROBLEM?

Bruce sits beside Dick, his pulse like a fluttering butterfly. He grasps his hand in Duck's fragile one and prays.

Prays that he wakes up.

-

Dick is on a life support machine now.

I guess the ventilator couldn't keep him up. All good boys do die. If not, maybe a part of them broke.

Dick is no exception.

-

Alfred squeezes Bruce's hand. Jason sits so quietly beside him alongside the rest of the family.

Its April 27th. Jason was taken this day.

They don't say a word, neither does Red Hood, he just wants the baby blue eyes to open again.

He cries.

-

Five months have gone by and he stirs slowly.

He's barely moving and Jason shoots up and looks, squeezes Dick's hand again.

Baby blues meet emerald green.

Jason dashes for Leslie. She comes and shoos everyone out.

Jason is fucking glad. Dick is alive.

-

Bruce is disappointed.

He cannot bring himself to meet Dick who's currently in the ward under observation. He's failed Dick. He knows it.

He enters, heavy hearted. Dick is smiling at everyone but Bruce can see it, the hard lines. The sunshine doesn't reach the baby blues. He thinks they've turned into aquamarine, a shade tad too dark. I guess, that's what trauma does to people.

Dick smiles at Bruce, he feels the tension and Dick pats the chair beside him where Jason was sleeping. Bruce softly sits, he has no heart to wake Jason up.

Dick is alive. Dick is alive.

Bruce places one hand on Grayson's one, it feels much more warmer and his pulse is beating normally.

And he breaks.

He cries, tears steaming down his cheeks. An ugly sound escapes his throat. Bruce gasps in air and exhales shakily. Dick watches, silent.

Is this how you felt when I was in Hell?

Dick doesn't touch Bruce, doesn't say its okay and I'm alive. He stares dead into Bruce.

I cannot forgive.

Dick sits quietly, he doesn't have to say it. Loyalty does kill you in the end if you step on all the wrong pieces of glass.

That's when you find yourself falling from the trapeze line, you find yourself swirling again in the memories you wish you could lock.

Loyalty in the end, is your demise.

[reddrobins]

galas gone right [t.drake]

TIM DRAKE X READER

SUMMARY: Here you were once again, alone at Bruce Wayne's gala, which your parents had dragged you to. Luckily, this time it seems like you aren't the only one.

It always played out like this.

Bruce Wayne would be hosting a large benefit, your parents would be invited, then you have to come and to top it off, they leave you alone.

Surrounded by socialites was not how you wanted to spend your Friday evening.

You sat at the bar, aimlessly stirring your drink with your finger. Your heels lay long-forgotten back in the limo, as you always carry a pair of flats in situations like so.

"Not a fan of this either?" Someone asked from behind you.

You jumped at the voice, not expecting any attention on the misfit daughter of the (L/N) family.

Spinning your chair around, you face the person, almost falling off the stool when you realised who the voice belonged to.

There, stood Timothy Drake, the upcoming CEO of Wayne Enterprises. Your eyes widened at the sight of him.

Clearing your throat, you nodded, "Yeah, my parents usually just drag me along. Trying to keep up the appearance, you know?"

Tim chuckled, running a hand through his perfect raven hair, "Yeah. I totally understand. If it wasn't for Bruce, I'd probably be at home watching a movie or something."

Though you were still in awe that the Timothy Drake was in front of you, you carried on the conversation.

"Tell me about it." Then, curiosity now peaked, you said, "I can't lie, I'm honestly surprised that you aren't enjoying the spotlight."

Tim scoffed, waving his hand in dismissal. "Not my thing at all. Just have to keep me in check for Bruce. No one wants to see the new CEO goofing off, you know?"

You smirked, enjoying the conversation, "I wouldn't, Daddy didn't hand me over the company."

The teens face blushed a deep red colour, clearly embarrassed, "Uh," He sputtered, "I'll have you know.." He looked at you, awaiting your name.

"(Y/N)" You gave.

"I'll have you know, (Y/N), Bruce doesn't just hand over things."

It was your turn to laugh, "I was joking, of course, Mr Drake. I know you're brainy enough to lead it."

Tim cringed at the formality of 'Mr. Drake', "Oh nuh-uh, no misters around here, just call me Tim. I really can't stand when people call me mister Drake. Makes me sound like millions of years old."

"Alright, Tim," He smiled at that, "Since we both don't want to be here, let's say we leave?"

The young CEO's eyes went wide, you were suggesting them to ditch? He pondered for a second, thinking what his brothers would say if they found out. Or even what would Bruce say?

Shrugging, Tim spoke, "I dunno, (Y/N), I could get into trouble..."

You sighed, teasingly of course, then spun your chair back around, "Darn, I understand Timmy. Guess I'll just stay at the bar, all by my lonesome."

Hearing a groan behind you, you smiled, knowing that you were getting to him.

He tapped your shoulder and you turned back around. Tim stood there, a hand offered out to you, "Take my hand."

Reluctant and confused, you placed your palm in his, only to be ripped up from your seat. "Tim? What are we doing?"

Tim grinned down at you, "We're getting out of here, follow me."

So there you were, the two of you weaving through the rich civilians of Gotham and towards the back entrance of the dance hall.

"Where are you thinking we should ditch to?" You yell over the chatter of people on the dance floor.

"You'll find out soon." He replied

-

Bat-Burger.

He took you to Bat-Burger.

"You're telling me that we ditched your father's fancy Gala for mediocre burgers and half-assed staff?"

Tim looked at you from across the booth, "There a problem? I mean we could always go back..." He trailed off, amusement in his eyes.

It was a nice look on Tim, not one that many got to see often, especially not the press.

He faked getting out of his seat, only for you to pull him back down, "No, I am not going back there." You cried in distress.

Tim laughed at your over dramatic attitude, but obliged and sat back down, this time looking at the menu. You followed suit.

"Bat-b-que burger?" Scrunching your nose, you catch Tims eyes, "Who came up with these names?"

The boy shrugged in return, "I mean seriously," He spoke, "Red-Hot-Robin Wings? They've gotta be kidding me."

The next few minutes continued this pattern, you and Tim both making fun of the idiocy of the menu, that was until the waitress turned up.

"What can I get you... two?" Her speech slowed as she looked at the get-up you both were in. Tim in a two-piece maroon suit and you in a gorgeous navy gown, probably not what normal patrons wore to a burger joint. Though who's to say that either you or Tim classified as normal.

Tim spoke first, "Um, can I have the boneless bat nuggets? Oh and two coffees," He looked to you, "Or, three if you'd like one as well..."

You placed your head on your palm, resting against the table, "Sure, why not?" Then, "And could I have the Night-wings?"

Taking your orders, she nodded then went back to the kitchen.

"Two coffees?" You smirked at Tim, who gingerly shrugged.

"What can I say," He pouted, "It's been a long night."

While the two of you waited for your meals, soft chatter was made. Tim talking about his duties at WE and you discussing your latest thesis paper on whether or not Vigilantes were wanted in Gotham.

"Fascinating," Tim said, awe laced in his eyes. "What side are you writing for, if you don't mind me asking."

Waving your hand dismissing his insecurity, you spoke, "Not at all, Tim, I'm on the pro-vigilante side. I think the Bats are doing exactly what needs to be done in Gotham, plus..."

You trailed off and Tim raised a brow, egging you on.

"Plus," you continued, rolling your eyes, "I heard one of the Robins was my age and it piqued my curiosity. I wish I had that much courage to protect our city every night."

Tim laughed harshly, "I don't think you do. Believe me, it's not that much fun."

This time it was you to raise a brow, "And how would you know, Mr Drake? CEO connections of sorts?"

"Of sorts" Was all he responded with.

To his relief, the waitress came back over with your food and luckily the conversation was dropped.

-

"That was great Tim, really." You said sincerely as he opened the door to the restaurant, the two of you ready to go.

He smiled down at you, "Of course, it's the least I could do for hosting an awful gala."

You sensed a hint of self-loathing in his statement and you stopped him in his tracks, "No, don't do that to yourself. It wasn't awful, I'm just not a party girl... and it seems as though you're not a party boy." You gently gripped his hand, "I'd say the gala was more than a success... after all, I got to meet you."

Tim's cheeks blushed a rosy pink and he smiled, "Thank you, (Y/N). That means a lot."

As the two of you made your way back to the Gala, Tims com went off.

"Red Robin, come in Red Robin." Dick's voice rang throughout his ears. Tim froze, c'mon guys, he thought, not in the middle of my... date?

"Tim?" You questioned, realising he's several paces behind you.

Tim shook his thoughts away and smiled at you, "Yeah, all good. Thought I heard something."

Meanwhile, through his comlink, Dicks voice still kept going, "Red Robin, come in, Red Robin."

The young vigilante bit his lip conflicted on what to do. He was the best detective yet - even Ras thought so - so then why couldn't he figure this puzzle out.

"Should we call a taxi or something? I don't want your last words to be 'I thought I heard something,' You know how Gotham is and all." You suggested.

Tim gave a chuckle, believe him, he knew exactly how Gotham is. "We'll be fine, I promise."

You looked at him skeptically, what is he going to do - breakout the stocks clipboard?

Tim gripped your hand harder, "I-," He contemplated how to put this, "I know what to do in times of crisis." He said cryptically.

Comfortable silence took over the two of you once more and you continued your path back.

"Red- ugh, Tim! We need you." Dick said, this time louder and more distressed.

Breaking comlink rules, Tim thought, This must be serious.

Tim stopped walking once more, pulling you to a stop as well. "(Y/N), I'm so sorry, but a family emergency just came up and I have to leave, like, immediately. Would you be comfortable walking back alone?" He hated the idea of leaving you to fend for Gotham yourself, but what other option was there?

Gently squeezing his hand, you nodded, "Of course Tim. I was born and raised here, I know Gotham like the back of my hand."

He still seemed on edge with the idea of you alone, so you did the once thing that was guaranteed to clear the teen's mind.

You kissed him.

Reluctantly, you pulled away, then, making sure that he couldn't get another word in, you sped off into the night, hurriedly making your way to the Wayne estate.

Tim stood there, like a lovestruck idiot, but was soon interrupted when Damian sounded in his ears.

"Drake, where the hell are you?"

Right. I have a job to do.

Pressing his earpiece, he spoke, "Red Robin to Nightwing, What's up?"

"Thank god," Dick said in relief, "The Penguin got into the Gala and now is holding the patrons' hostage. The big man is still in there and can't escape to change. We need you to try and get as many hostages as you can out."

Tim's eyes widened, The Gala, He just sent you back there. Oh no.

Now panicked, Tim summoned one of the batcycles, making quick work to get you to safety.

-

Lazily, you made your way back to the large ballroom. Your legs were killing you from the long walk, hoping the whole time that Tim would somehow come back to keep you company.

"Why the hell did they build this place so far away from town?" You muttered to yourself as you dragged your way in.

Pulling one of the doors open, you gasped at the sight.

There stood Penguin, the stocky man armed with a gun, surrounded by goons with matching rifles. Along the back sat numerous patrons, all quivering in fear at the trigger happy rogue.

Your hearts ached when you caught sight of your parents. Your father had blood running down his face and your mother, Oh god. Your mother was unresponsive, laying on the floor,

That made you snap, any shred of common sense fled your body as you raced into the hall making a beeline for your mom.

"Mother!" You called out, voice strained and shaky from fear.

You sprinted towards your parents but was soon stopped when gunshots went off.

"Get back!" seethed the Penguin. "Get back or I'll shoot."

Freezing, you put your hands up, shielding your head.

"Good." You sensed the short man strolling closer and your breath stilled. "Now," He addressed the crowd, "Since a few of you socialites think I'm playing - I'll use little rich girl here to prove I mean business."

"No!" your father yelled, "Please don't! Mr Cobbelpot, I'll give you all of my fortunes, just please don't shoot."

Oswald laughed at your father's pleas, then before you could even react, turned the gun at him and pulled the trigger.

You screamed, but you seemed to be the only one troubled. Peaking through your covered eyes, you saw that your father was, in fact, fine. The bullet never hit.

In its place stood Red Robin, arm up in a defensive position blocking the shot.

Penguin groaned in annoyance, "Will you bat-brats ever let me have my fun?"

Tim lunged at the Penguin, fighting the man for the gun. Meanwhile, Nightwing snuck in from the side entrance, helping assist all of the members to safety. "This way. Stay calm and follow me." He whispered, not trying to draw attention to the scared patrons.

Amidst the chaos, your father yelled out to you, signalling for you to run over to his side.

You pounced at the opportunity, getting up from your kneeling state only to be jerked back into someone's chunky arms. Penguin.

"Where do you think you're going missy?" He hissed, "Looks like this little bird isn't a listener."

You struggled against the man's grip, thrashing about in any attempt at freedom.

"Let her go." Red Robin stared down Penguin, bo-staff at the ready.

"Awe. Does one wittle bwirdie have a crush on another?" The rogue teased.

"Let her go." He said once more, this time venom lacing his tone.

Something cold pressed against your cheek and you came to realize it was the barrel of Penguins gun. In fright, you trashed more, only for Penguin to tighten his grip. "Make me, bird boy."

The action happened so fast, your brain couldn't even recognize who was hitting who. What you did know was that you were finally free of Penguins meaty hands and now we're amongst the hostages.

You watched in amazement as Red Robin hit, punched, kicked and wailed at Penguin, every mark hitting successfully. In a matter of no time, Penguin and his two goons were on the floor, Red Robin standing triumphantly above him.

Without even thinking twice, you ran over to the hero and embraced him. He backed away a bit, cheeks turning pink. He was not expecting that.

"Thank you." You whispered into his chest.

Still a bit shocked, he gave a small nod, "Um, yeah. Of course"

The embrace didn't last too long as you pulled away quickly, a thought rushing to your head. Is Tim okay?

"Oh my gosh. Mr Red Robin sir, my friend was coming back here and I don't know if he's okay or not. I didn't see him among the others and I just need to be sure he's okay. His name is Tim Drake." You rambled on.

Red Robin nodded, "He's safe. Don't worry." Though cryptic, you trusted the vigilantes words and gave him one final embrace. 

[witchofrvnswood]

awwp rant pt. 2: the characters!

oh boy we’re finally back with part 2! 

so in part 1, i discussed plot points that i found troubling and nonsensical. this time, i’m talking about the characters and how they each pissed me off <3

note: am only doing the ones i have beef with, everyone else is cool

let’s start with sophie:

sophie

i’ll be honest, i’ve been conflicted on her character in this book for quite some time. but i think i understand my opinion on her in book 2 much better now that i’ve really thought about it. 

so this is the book where she’s probably at her most vulnerable (book 3 could be a contender too). she just lost her mind, killed many people, and is trying so hard to prove that she is good and deny everything that she had done the previous year. we also see why she behaves the way she does, with losing her mother at a young age and blaming her father for neglecting them. we understand why she goes so far to obtain love and why she ranks true love above everything else.

but her methods with dealing with this is toxic. she sees agatha as a tool for a happy ending, and it seems to come more out of desperation to belong with someone, then wanting agatha herself, as she easily dropped her for rafal and then tedros in book three. she does whatever she can to ensure agatha chooses her and only her much like tedros does in this book.

she sneaks out and follows agatha, makes agatha believe tedros tried to hurt her, comforted her and claimed she had “warned agatha” but also acted super forgiving as if agatha was the one who was in the wrong for doubting her and when the truth comes out, pins it all on agatha for trying to choose someone besides. her. now, agatha is not completely in the right in this situation, but what sophie does is so manipulative and cunning. without knowing her backstory and sympathizing with her, she would easily be soon as a cruel and toxic person.

her time as filip was very humbling for her and she realized what she did was completely wrong and she begans to sympathize with tedros and realize maybe he isn’t the villain of the story like she painted him to be. of course, this goes a bit far and she finds herself attracted to him.... which..... did not need to happen considering how toxic their relationship was in book 1.

at the end, she chose rafal out of desperation to be loved, showing she still hasn’t changed and ended up staying with him as he supposedly was the only person in the world who still loved her. (wrong very wrong he’s awful but we’ll get to that later-)

tedros

bro. broooooo. when i tell you i wanted to throw the darn book when i read his scenes in the first half of the book-

when dovey was explaining tedros’ actions after sophie and agatha left, i could not believe it, i thought she had to be joking because no way does an individual overreact to THAT point.

he literally wanted to murder sophie as revenge for taking agatha away from him?? what?? is he mentally okay? i understand seeing her as a barrier between them because, yeah, he’s always been insecure cause his dad’s best friend stole his mom away from him so that must’ve hit a nerve, but agatha willingly went with sophie. why does he need to hurt sophie over this? it’s up to agatha who she chooses, not sophie. and she chose him! she told him right to his face that she chose him and he’s still like “no we have to kill sophie first-” sir-

not to mention how generally messed up this message is? tedros claims that you can’t be in a relationship and have friends at the same time. what?? why is this in the book? why is this even a theme? of course you should be able to have friends and have a relationship, when did that suddenly become impossible?

 “I let her live last time and she took you! I can’t make the same mistake, Agatha. I can’t lose you again!” (Chapter 12). this is basically tedros trying to cut off agatha’s friendship because he knows she’s close with sophie and is worried she’ll choose her over him and he sees his only solution to this to be killing sophie. honestly, if i were agatha, i would be fucking terrified of him, like when i was reading it i was thinking “run from this relationship please-”

which sucks because i’m a huge tagatha fan but they were undeniably toxic in this book for me.

in the second half though, that’s when i started feeling bad for him because he genuinely thought he got betrayed by agatha too and ugh that killed me bc after her, he had no hope for happiness left and that’s why he turned to revenge, but the moment he freed the teachers, he got locked up, starved, beaten, and tortured which is ??

i wouldn’t wish that on anyone (except aric lawl) and god he did not deserve that i felt so horrible for him. everyone turned against him, the entire school hated him, he fully believed his true love betrayed him, and he got beaten by aric every single night. as much as i despised him before this point, he did not deserve any of that and i’m so glad filip came when he? she? did because yeah it’s tophie all over again (yikes) but he REALLY needed a friend then and i’m so happy he got one.

ONLY TO GET BETRAYED BY HIM AGAIN RIP. sorry that was not needed but ahem

i was so so happy when he realized agatha never lied and ended up going home with her, as much as i hated the ending, i was happy for him and only him, boy’s been through too much.

but overall, i’d say i dislike him as a character in this book but i also felt super bad for him?? book 2 is so complicated y’all i have so many mixed feelings about everyone in this book.

agatha

okay. so. i keep going back and forth between being fucking annoyed at her and feeling bad for her which i feel is an understandable summary of how she is in this book.

her being scared of sophie - i completely understand that. i’d be surprised if she wasn’t. this is a girl who tried to kill her, tore her down, and went batshit crazy just nine months ago and is now suddenly calm but there’s still a bad vibe to her? and she chose her over someone who finally treated her well, finally saw her as an equal, and showed her that she doesn’t have to bear so much burden just to be loved back.

but i honestly felt kind of annoyed at how she automatically, no hesitation wanted to stay with tedros forever and never look back. um. honey. let’s break this down. we’re talking about a boy she has had no contact with for nine months, wasn’t even in a solid relationship with before she left, and said boy probably has beef with her for leaving him in the first place. and she feels completely fine with sneaking into his school and telling him she wants to be with him forever the SAME day she got back.

what??? is??? this???

this is the same agatha who berated sophie for trying to get with tedros the same day she met him without even knowing him well, right? the same agatha who you’d expect to be smart and think through emotional decisions like these, right? did they replace her personality what???

i get the coven pushed her to meet him immediately but this was just so poorly planned out and so tactless i can’t help but judge her sorry hun.

after that she makes herself believe sophie is good and perfect and maybe this is just her lying to herself because she’s mad at herself for choosing tedros but reading about her talking about how sophie is so amazing and perfect and loves her more than anything compared to being ready to bolt at the sight of her was just so fake. can we talk about how fake their friendship in this book? how fake it is in general? i think wbk.

at the end she finds out sophie lied despite the obvious clues (the scim suit (WHY WOULD BEATRIX USE IT), the spirick marks on sophie’s wrist yada yada yada) and she dumps her ass for tedros and decides they’re staying together forever despite barely knowing him as a person not to mention he just tried to kill her um-

(where is the logic in this book please help me i can’t seem to find it-)

the coven

i’ll be honest: they annoyed the HELL out of me in this book. well, specifically anadil and hester. they pressured agatha to choose tedros and go to him on the first day she got back (BAD PLAN) all so they could return to normal,,, which i guess isn’t out of character for them to do anything to get what they want but it really wasn’t their business? or at least they had no right to be as pushy as they were.

not to mention how HORRIBLE they were to dot. oh my god. the way they treated her in this book was disgusting and the lowest point in their friendship. at first i passed it off as them being hurt that dot replaced them and were lashing out because they had no better way to deal with their problems, which is true but also?? let’s not forget they BULLIED dot so bad in their first year and even kicked her out and replaced her with sophie and as far as we know, they never apologized for it. can we really blame dot for wanting new and kinder friends?

but even then they persisted to isolate her from others, shut down her book club which she used to make friends, and ended up forcing herself to gain weight if she wanted to keep their friendship. y’all i don’t even think anyone realizes how toxic the coven can be at times, the books spend a lot of time solidifying their frienship to the point that it ignores how awful it was at first. and not to mention dot is used to this treatment as she’s been physically and emotionally abused by her father, so as much as she dislikes their treatment of her, she still sees them as her friends and she will do anything to keep them.

i’m glad dot has learned to stand up for herself and gave it back to hester in tlea but god was her and anadil’s treatment of her sickiening.

professor dovey

i did not like her scene in the beginning of this book. she was awful to agatha and sophie and kept tossing blame for how the woods changed on them and yelling at agatha for not choosing tedros - um, she had a split second to decide and her friend literally died and came back to life a minute ago, how was she expected to leave her?

i dunno the way she berated them really got on my nerves because they’re just 15 year olds? they didn’t ask for their story to be told or for their personal relationships to affect the entire world? yes, if it had to be pointed towards anyone, it’s them, but instead of comforting them and trying to help them find a way to fix this, she goes all pointing fingers and straight up saying it would be easier if sophie was dead (not gonna lie i had a good giggle when i read this part but if you think about, that’s actually really sickening).

i’ll be honest, i love professor dovey as a character but she just seemed so cruel in book 2 i mean i get she was super frustrated but these children are confused and distraught enough already? she’s their teacher, she’s supposed to look after them but instead she just insulted them and stressed them out.

as for lady lesso, yes she did the same, but that was pretty in character for her. yes, it was wrong of her, but idk it’s something you would expect from her and she’s known to be the type to be tough on her students, while dovey is just not like that at all. and also, dovey was WAY more mean and short-tempered in this mean, i have to say.

evelyn sader

she was... an interesting villain. super cunning super devious i really admired her except for her doing all of this toxic feminism bullshit (which was honestly already bad enough!) for rafal,  A MAN. WHAT. how does that make ANY sense?

evelyn: #kam2020 make them boys your slaves we got this in the bag girls

also evelyn: omg rafal senpai notice me uwu i did all of this for you *gestures towards girls annihilating boys*

anyways her death was um... shocking. rip. or maybe not.

aric

do- do i have to go into this one? killing yara, torturing tedros, being misogynistic, honestly pick one, i just don’t have the energy to rip him apart for the thousandth time.

[leilabeaux]

In My Sights

Masterlist

Pairing: Assassin Ivar/Reader

Word Count: 2026

Summary: When Ivar’s contracted kill is taken out right in front of his eyes, he didn’t expect it to be at the hands of an old friend.

Warnings: Schmut, Oral (Male receiving)

Author’s Note: This is a oneshot assassin AU. I say oneshot loosely because I have a tendency to just build a whole universe in my head and then boom, I get my hopes set on writing a whole series! So for now I will say no guarantees on a second part.

----

Drops of water had been tapping Ivar’s shoulder for the last hour but all he could do was breathe through his annoyance as he kept his scope sighted on the interior of the penthouse suite. He should have accounted for any potential inconveniences when he decided that the under construction high rise had the best vantage point with its lack of walls. Not much he could do now, even the slightest movement could result in him losing the Mark. He was at least grateful that the water was nowhere near his rifle.

He usually preferred a more hands-on approach when it came to eliminating a target. There was just something he loved about watching the life go out of someone’s eyes up close and personal but, unfortunately, this one was hard to get alone. Believe him, Ivar had spent a good month trying to find the best place to eliminate him without raising any questions. The only option was to sit patiently in the empty building until it was clear to make his move.

Although he was perfectly centered in Ivar’s crosshairs, it would be too risky to take the shot now as he was in the middle of his third lapdance, surrounded by his fellow associates and friends who were also in attendance of the bachelor party.

“Thank the gods,” he whispered to himself when the Mark sat up, took the scantily clad dancer’s hand, and led her to the privacy of the master bedroom. The woman’s back was facing Ivar as she climbed onto the man’s lap and leaned down to give him a kiss, her long red hair swaying back and forth when she began to grind herself against him. 

He was fully prepared to pull the trigger as soon as her head was out of the way when the man started convulsing. The dancer carefully came to her feet and slowly combed her fingers through her hair, watching him grab at his throat as if he was struggling to breathe. Her calm stance turned into something more panicked when she opened the door and ran out of the room. Cursing at himself, Ivar wished he took the time to install some bugs in the suite so he could hear what the hell was going on.

Out of curiosity, he kept his scope centered on the dancer as all the party attendees rushed into the bedroom. Watching as she struggled to pull her coat on, he could tell from the shaking of her shoulders that she had to be crying. The redhead turned around to face the window and suddenly Ivar was looking at your face.

He could only clench his jaw as he watched you wipe the fake tears from your now smiling face and blew a kiss in his direction, giving him a mischievous wave before heading toward the exit. “Fuck!”

----

Ivar had waited around at the warehouse and watched as the Mark was zipped up into a body bag. Missing out on a nearly half million payday from what should have been an easy hit had really soured his mood and had him ready to get back home.

It was a few hours later when Ivar finally made it back to his motel room. Though in his personal life he preferred more luxurious accommodations because a son of Ragnar Lothbrok deserved only the best but when it came to his work, the more rundown the motel was the better. He found that people occupying such establishments kept to themselves and asked no questions.

As he unlocked the door and stepped into the dark room, he had an eerie feeling that he wasn’t alone. A creaking sound had him throwing his dagger into the corner before he quickly turned on the lights. You sat with your legs crossed in the weathered armchair looking completely unbothered by the fact that his weapon had landed only one inch away from your jeweled ear. 

Although you had ditched the red wig and your hair was now back to its natural state, you still stuck out like a sore thumb in the outdated room. You were dressed in a white tailored pantsuit with a hint of a red laced bra showing, the same red that colored the soles of your stilettos. Ivar didn’t know a lot about fashion but he was sure your whole outfit cost more than it would to rent the room out for the next year.

You grinned as you looked him up and down, “Long time no see, handsome.”

Setting his crutch next to the dresser, he went to work unpacking all his weapons from his backpack, ignoring you in the process. He was trying his hardest to seem like he wasn’t shocked over your sudden appearance after not seeing or hearing from you the past seven months. He looked up at the mirror to see you pout before you stood up to walk over to him.

“I’ve missed you. Did you miss me?,” you softly asked. Pressing your cheek against his back as you hugged him from behind, you trailed your hand from his chest down to his waistband, “Oh, Mister Lothbrok, is that a gun in your pants or are you just happy to see me?” you asked before pulling out the beretta from its holster and feigning disappointment, “Darn, it’s a gun again!”

With such quickness, Ivar ripped the gun from your hand and had you backed up against the wall. He glared down on you as he placed it on the dresser.

“Uh-oh, I must be in trouble. That one was always sure to get a laugh,” You smirked.

His face loomed over yours while his hands wrapped around your neck, slowly tightening his hold, “There’s nothing fucking funny. If you missed me so much, you could have called. You wasted a whole month of recon I did on that hit!”

“Baby, please don’t be mad at me.” Fear in your eyes as you struggled to get the words out. At first he thought you were crying until a smile broke out across your face. You weren’t crying, you were laughing, “I can’t help that I’m better than you.”

He pushed you hard against the wall after letting you go. He should have known better. You were trained well enough to get out of the most complicated of holds. You’d probably have him down on the floor if you thought you were in any true danger. Just as he was about to step away, you grabbed his shirt to keep him close.

“I know it doesn’t seem like it but I really am sorry for taking away your kill,” You began to leave kisses up his neck and to his jaw, enjoying the advantage of the extra inches your heels gave you. “Let me make it up to you.”

“You’re going to give me half of the money?”, he asked as he unbuttoned your blazer and slid it off your shoulders.

You snorted, “Hell no, I earned it fair and square. It’s not like you need it anyway.” Switching places with him, you pushed him back against the wall and stroked his semi-hard dick through his pants, “I had something else in mind.”

Ivar leaned down to kiss you deeply, swallowing your moans as he massaged your breast, his fingers brushing against your nipple. His tongue danced against yours while you unbuttoned and unzipped his pants, taking care to remove the empty holster and place it next to the gun on the dresser. You pushed down his pants as much as his braces would allow so you could wrap your hand around him and give him a long, hard stroke. Leaning his head back against the wall, he couldn’t stop himself from thrusting into your grip.

You giggled against him, your warm breath tickling his neck, “I guess you really did miss me.” You pressed one small kiss under his chin before you lowered yourself down onto your knees.

You continued to slowly stroke his shaft up and down as you took his head into your mouth, circling your tongue around it. He cursed out loud and thrusted his hips, impatient and desperate to have you take him in fully. Your long nails clawed around his hips when he did this. Just as in your professional life, you hated being rushed through a job.

Ivar felt like melting into the wall as you slowly twisted your hand down his dick while taking more of him into your wet mouth. He tangled his hand into your hair, trying to restrain himself from pushing in deeper again after feeling your moans vibrate around him. Though his eyes were shut closed, he knew that you already had your other hand in your panties, busy circling your finger around your clit.

You popped him out of your mouth but continued stroking, “Still mad at me, baby?” You looked up at him through your lashes while you pressed soft open mouth kisses over the crescent indentions you left on his hips.

“Are you going to tell me how you killed this one?,” he managed to get out before letting out a string of curses when you took him by surprise and quickly took him deep into your mouth, your tongue flicking against his balls. If you were ever going to give him an actual answer about your methods, this would be the best time. He probably couldn’t even remember his name right now. 

You took a quick gasp of air as you pulled away from him again. “I’m sorry, my mother told me that it’s rude to talk with your mouth full.” That got a laugh out of him. “Now let your girl work.”

—-

It was a small ray of light shining into his eyes that woke Ivar from his deep slumber. Rolling over to escape the brightness, he hissed when his back met the mattress. He was still tender from where you dug your nails in, holding onto him tight, pleading for him not to stop as he fucked you into the mattress. He grinned to himself while blindly reaching out to you, hoping to get you under him one last time before check out time but all he got was the cool side of the bed. 

Sitting up, he looked around and saw your clothes that he remembered throwing across the room was now gone. Just like with all your kills, there was no sign of you left anywhere if he didn’t count the taste of you still lingering in his mouth.

He didn’t know why he thought it would be different this time. Maybe he hoped you’d want to make up for the lost time and actually be there when he woke for once.

Just as he was about to lie back down, he noticed the brown case near the foot of the bed. He reached over to bring it closer to him, smoothing his hand over the top. It looked like it was an antique and made with Italian leather, he was sure it wasn’t cheap and that whatever was inside of it wasn’t going to be any less expensive. He sighed, thinking that you were due for another lecture about your spending.

He undid the leather straps holding it closed, curious what was inside. It was too small to house a rifle or a shotgun and too big for a knife. He opened the case to find a throwing axe surrounded by the plush red velvet lining. Running his hand over the axe head and then down the rosewood handle, it appeared to be forged with great care. He didn’t want to think about how much you spent on this gift but he couldn’t deny that you had a good eye for exceptionally crafted weapons.

Noticing a piece of paper tucked underneath the blade, he unfolded it and smiled at the familiar scrawl.

“A proper Viking axe for the only man who can fuck me like a heathen. Maybe you’ll have better luck hitting me next time.”

Next time. There was hope for him. As long as she kept her damned hands off his next target.

----

Endnotes: I think the agent assigned to monitor my activity was probably on high alert for a second there as I was searching about sniper rifles, where to keep daggers for easy access, and who picks up dead bodies. I figured searching for how much an assassin makes for each kill would be a step to far though...

----

Tags: @youbloodymadgenius​

[miraculous-ash]

My thoughts on episode "Ladybug"

-Adrien wanted to make sure that his lucky charm that he made for Marinette was perfect, so perfect that he literally sought the council of his fashion designer father!! -Lila, this bitch, honestly I can't even. But really her watching the class have fun at Marinette's party was pretty funny -Why would stolen test results matter after the test has been passed in? Like on the scale they were treating it with anyway -I'M SO GLAD ADRIEN IS STANDING UP, THANK-YOU -I thought the test thing was already dirty, but the second Lila went to stairs and I knew what was a foot, I screeched. Like this mofo -Honestly we needed the fireman back in here to prove that she wasn't injured again, because obviously the school couldn't. -Tom and Sabine aren't standing for this BS -Okay, so let me get this straight. Lila has A) Framed her for stealing the test results B) Framed/accused her for pushing her down the stairs and now C) FRAMED/ACCUSED HER OF STEALING AS WELL -Marinette really ain't getting any breaks here -NOT TO MENTION ALL THIS IS CONSTANTLY GOING DOWN IN FRONT OF HER FRIENDS -Was a little confused when Hawkmoth showed up here since I know this episode deals with a sentimonster.. BUT OH SHIT WE REAKUMATIZING CATALYST. DAMN. -Alya didn't let the lies get to her this time and believed her friend dodging an akuma -CHLOE PROTECTING SABRINA FROM THE AKUMAS, absolute queen honestly, didn't let the negativity get to her either -But oh SHIT. The other classmates, SABINE, AND MARINETTE?!?!? Damn dawg, poopy is hitting the ceiling hard -The fact that Marinette getting done this dirty is equivalent to season two finale's events with all this reakumatization? I stan -She was legit 50% away from Hawkmoth getting the earrings. Damn. -Again the knowledge of the sentimonster has me ??? but okay, Nathalie is down, this ain't good, but that was close, way too close  -Also, is this the first time we've fully seen Hawkmoth retrieve an akuma? Like 100%? Because I think it wasssss (he always just reuses it, or keeps it close by for reakumatization) -Yes Gabriel, finally being responsible, Jesus, take that broche away from her!! Interesting how he worded what was happening though, what was it? That the damaged miraculous transfers its wounds to the holder? -Tikki berating Marinette from that really big almost -Thank-you Alya, for finally standing by your girl -So wait, they were just gonna straight up put Marinette to working in the bakery full time? Interesting -NATHALIE I SWEAR TO *pterodactyl noise* -I had been wondering for a while there if it was Gabe that was gonna make the sentimonster though, using the peacock himself -This was an interesting creation process for making this amok -Pretty smart plan on Nathalie's part though, not gonna lie, she had poor Chat fooled and was playing him like a fiddle -I loved the old detective film type look to Alya's snooping, nice touch -Marinette trying her gosh darn hardest to leave the bakery, RIP girl, Tom, whyyy my dude -RIP to Chat too honestly, this poor boy's heart, hitting him right where it hurts -Me basically having a heart attack until real Ladybug steps in, I could've believed a reveal happening there if not, since it was just him with senti, even if Mayura saw, it's right before a season finale, I could see a reveal happening here -CHAT BUDDY, THIS IS A BIG OOF MAN, haha how does Ladybug feel about her partner guessing wrong when she guessed right back in Copycat? -Like always though, Marinette and her quick thinking to the rescue -Hahahaha "Senticharm!" *big gun* "Oh yeah? I'll show you a real, Luckycharm!!" *fork* "Yeah, you're definitely the real Ladybug" HAHAHAHA -Me sitting here having a heart attack at an ALMOST MAYURA REVEAL, my heart was already breaking thinking about Chat's reaction!! -ME HAVING AN ABSOLUTE ANYEURISM AT HAWKMOTH ACTUALLY SHOWING UP, MY GOD!!?? -Adrien calling him grandpa, god I'm dead, what's real anymore -Okay, oh shit, just, holy poop, my sweet goly jeepers. Honestly expecting someone to get revealed here right before the season finale, was 100% expecting it to be Mayura (And if so, I don't think Adrien would make the connection to Gabe being Hawkmoth after the events of the Collector, but Ladybug would definitely revisit the thought, but to be honest, Adrien would probably be too crushed to think about it in the moment) -OKAY THEY JUST BOTH YEETED THEM, THAT'S COOL. -Oh Chat, my poor sweet boy -Yes, take the miraculous and DON'T GIVE IT BACK TO HER. Honestly I could see her dying soon at this rate, what a finale that could be -Also, did she just say that she was the reason Hawkmoth was able to discover Master Fu's identity? That's an interesting tidbit -I just realized I don't think I mentioned Duusu yet, well she's precious -LILA, SWEET NIBLETS WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE. -I am HERE for Angry Adrien™ you tell her boy -This is a very interesting turn on Adrien's part though, he is very much like his father in this scene and that unnerves me greatly.. -My sweet innocent Marinette thinking that Lila has actually changed her ways and want's to be friends after all, but she's smarter than that, we don't need to worry -Gabriel making Lila his new muse/model?? Hoh boy. This is going to be interesting in future episodes I'm sure -Also weird that Nathalie witnessed Adrien confronting Lila at the shoot? Like she nodded to her with the approval to obey Adrien, like WHAT WAS THAT?!  And why is NOBODY talking about it?? -This episode was great for soo many ships, like come water your crops people, we got Adrienette, Ladynoir, and whatever Gabe and Nathalie's ship name is -I really can't wait for the season finale after this build up guys. And honestly, I don't think I'm going to be ready for it. How does one even start to get emotionally prepared for what's to come?? Over all, I really liked the episode. It kept me thoroughly entertained and on the edge of my seat. I'm glad that Marinette got some justice. The animation and direction was beautiful. Very pleased

[aithrauniverse]

Chapter 16-Aithne

Looking at the woman, I paled.

I should have already realized that she was the stuff of nightmares, just by looking at her bloodstained dress. The white-and-red cloth of her dress fluttered in the wind as she placed each foot in front of the other. I slowly moved my gaze higher. Her hair hung down from the side of her face, thin, straight strands as black as dusk. They seemed shorn off at her waist, like someone had cut them with a sword. I didn’t speculate further.

Then I saw her eyes.

Off-white holes. No irises, no pupils, nothing. I stared into those white pits, which seemed to be boring holes like bullets in my heart. They stared back, empty, hallow, sunken, almost desperate.

“I know you fear me,” she spoke up, shattering the silence that hung in the air. “I can see it in your eyes. Deep down, you utterly, truly, are scared.”

Gulping, I tried to narrow my eyes at her. “I-I’m not,” I choked, looking away.

“Oh, really?” She seemed to be taunting me. “Well, how about now?”

She transformed, shimmering as she raised her arms. Her dress grew longer, cleaning itself up until it shone, a white brighter than the stars themselves. She snapped, and a denim jacket buttoned itself on top. Her sandals, ripped and broken, were replaced by soft yellow sandals, the strings tied up into small bows. Her entire body frame changed, from pale and skinny, to around my build, just ever so slightly taller than me. Her skin now glowed a snow white. Her face’s change was the most shocking though. Her eyes...they were amber, like mine. Her nose was hooked... mine is too. Her hair grew shorter and wavier, until it hung to her elbows, and the brown that colored her hair was similar to mine, yet again.

And then she sprouted wings. Fluffy and white, identical to Laila’s, just larger. A burst of light appeared, and a halo rested on her head, floating above her hair, glowing brightly. It was the only source of pure light in this whole darn place (maybe other than Astra’s shield and Laila’s wings).

She looked down, down at me, her almond-shaped eyes filled with tears.

“Aithne, it’s been so long since we met. Where have you been all this while? Why haven’t you come to see me?”

Wait. I recognized her.

“C-Cassiel?”

I reeled backwards, as if I had taken a slap to the face. What— how was she here? I thought she had left me and Father years ago. Gone, to live with Stepmother.

“I am not your sister.” The spirit hissed and took on its original form. “Even she had the common sense to leave you.” It felt like the spirit had taken a knife and slashed me straight in the heart, where I was weakest.

“Scared now, aren’t you? See what I can do now? My powers far outweigh yours. Now cower in fear... and kneel to me.” It leered down at me, smirking as if it had succeeded.

That was the last straw.

Yelling, I sped straight at the beast, holding my palms out. A flaming sword flashed, then fell into my palms, enchanted steel encased in flame yet again. At the last second, I jumped, my wings propelling me into the air. I aimed, grimacing and preparing for the final hit, but the apparition was quicker. It turned into a swirling black mass, a terrifying nightmare for most, and shot out a tentacle, grabbing me by the neck. Before I could even react, it pinned me to the wall, its arm shimmering and giving off wisps of black dust.

“Give up already, insolent fool,” the spirit’s red eyes flashed, reminding me of the roses that bloomed in the depths of hell, beautiful but deadly. I looked down. “You are no match for me, young one. Since the beginning of time, when night falls, I creep and lurk under all the young toddlers’ beds, bringing them sleepless nights. I form children’s nightmares, add to the burdens of teenagers’ anxiety, feed and fuel the fire of adults’ depression. I am the pure embodiment of Fear itself. I am dangerous, unescapable, inevitable, sometimes even fatal. I am stronger than anything else. And now, it is time for me to consume your soul, and to keep it with the rest. Well, at least you had the honor of meeting Fear face-to-face.” It cackled at its own joke.

Then it clicked. I knew how to defeat it.

I didn’t just have to look in its eyes. I also had to face my fears. Gah, why didn’t I remember this before? Now I’m pinned to the wall by this disgusting black creature.

Slowly, I lifted my head once more, meeting its cold, hard gaze. I inhaled deeply. “I see you,” I began, then smirked. “I see you for what you are. You’re not a monster, you’re a coward.” The monster’s grip began to loosen as it snarled, rearing back. It was working.

“You hide and strike the enemies behind their backs. You refrain from physical fights; you resort to the mind. You’re not even a tangible being, just a bunch of fluid shadows. Just like the spirit before, yet far, far weaker.” It further loosened its grip, too focused on trying to regain its strength. I stepped out, flapping my wings and rising up until we were face-to-face.

“What sorcery is this?!” it wailed. I merely glared it at, continuing my speech.

“I see you in your true form now. You aren’t even terrifying, just a lost spirit.” Almost there. Now for the final line.

“And now, having seen all this, I have decided. I’m. Not. Scared.” I emphasized on the last three words. With a final howl, the spirit started to change its form—she became a young schoolgirl in her torn, tattered pinafore. She now looked about our age, though her mental state was definitely way older than that.

“So, you’ve found out,” the spirit whispered, in a voice softer than before, “Yes, I’m just a lost spirit. I long for someone to stand up for me. You... don’t know what it’s like to be killed by the pair of hands that had bullied you for a whole decade.

“In my past life, I was a pathetic girl. Poor, weak, and timid. When I died, I had such a strong thirst for revenge that I not only survived reincarnation, but also gained the ability to instill fear into others’ souls. I wanted to make that person feel what I had endured. But I guess... I lost control of my own self...” the girl looked at her open palms, then up at the sky, “It really is time for me to go. So, let me bless you all with the last of my life force. I wish you the best of luck in your journey ahead.”

Then, the spirit began to disappear. She smiled and waved at us, before fading to black, and back to the shadows where she belonged.

I turned back towards my two friends, once again burying the lump in my throat. I smiled tiredly. I hadn’t felt like this since I was five. Since... since Cassiel left me. That spirit led the kind of life I always thought I did.

But maybe it was about time I realized that others had suffered as much as, if not more than me.

“Hey, guys,” I waved weakly, “I did it.” Astra slowly let down her shield. She dashed forward and squeezed me hard, hugging me.

“That... that was so brave, Aithne. I’m so glad you managed to take over that spirit.” I hugged her back and then pushed her away, ruffling her hair absentmindedly. Then Laila stepped forward.

“Aithne... about your sister... I’m so sorry.” She didn’t sound like she was bored, nor tired. She sounded like she had...found out about Cassiel. Had she used one of her angelic powers on me?

I quickly dismissed the thought and raised my head. Laila wasn’t the nosy type. Even if she had found out, it was probably for the better. “Stepsister,” I corrected. “And it’s fine. But we shouldn’t waste any more time dilly-dallying. Let’s get a move on! C’mon, let’s go!”

[rosaguard]

summer waxes poetically about her favorite aeris gainsborough ships:

i never reblogged that five ships meme because...well i don’t have five aeris ships i care about lol. however, i was challenged(tm) so here is something close to it. i do feel like it is fitting to make this post on here since aeris was actually the first muse i truly started writing a ship on after asking someone first ( and i had been writing on tumblr for like...5 years on and off before that for context. anything before that was just..maybe flirting - nothing i felt invested in ).

aeris & happiness.

   the most important ship. the OTP. no other can compare. i think the biggest tragedy of aeris’ death is that so much was taken from her. she had so much to live for, so much to do, and her life was brutally and suddenly ripped away when she was finally getting the chance to figure herself out and rise to her full potential. i don’t want to aeris to die in the remake ( especially because everything about the whispers would’ve felt like a waste of time if nothing significant changes and aeris living is probably as significant as you can get ) but if it happens, it happens - i’ll just be really sad and disappointed by it lol. i’ve always been very clear that aeris’ death is not a bad one despite my blog canon essentially retconning it. there’s a reason she dies and it’s not to further cloud’s man pain ( he had enough of his own trauma already ); she dies because she’s a legitimate threat to sephiroth’s plans. she’s actually an example of a character death, especially a female one, done incredibly well, especially compared to SE’s recent output ( serah, luna, etc. ). also anyone who says she was created just to die is also wrong. barret was originally written to die first and they decided to change it.

    anyway, the point of me bringing all of this up is that i didn’t decide to do away with her death because i think SE sucks and they hate women. i did away with it because a lot of aeris’ character development ( her learning about the cetra at cosmo canyon, figuring out what the white materia does, etc ) is implied / off-screen since we never know her point of view and then well...she dies. i wanted to explore what her feelings would be if she woke up alive after being attacked while meteor is slowly drawing closer to the planet. how would she handle that? how would she feel? would she feel like a failure? would she be angry? what would she do after meteor is destroyed? would she travel the world? join the w.r.o? tell everyone to fuck off and then move to a cottage in the middle of nowhere and live the rest of her life in peace? these are the questions i wanted answered when i thought about aeris living. i don’t care if she ends up with cloud, or zack, or whoever because they don’t matter: aeris matters. she’s her own person with goals, desires, wishes, and more. no one talks about what she would want and do if she had lived. all people care about is what ‘man’ she belongs to as if she’s a prize to be exchanged between them.

   the second reason is simple that she fucking deserves it. she deserves it after living in a lab for 7 years and watching her mother die just trying to get her out. she deserves after having to deal with being stalked by the same company responsible for a lot of her suffering. she deserves to finally be around friends that make her feel loved, accepted, and cared for. she deserves to not feel alone, or like an outcast, or a freak because of her powers. she deserves to be able to go to icicle inn too and see footage of her father for the first time. she deserves to be able to go back to kalm and see her mom again. she deserves to live happily just like everyone else gets to do. her life has been filled with so much tragedy and pain yet she never lets it define her. she blooms in the face of adversity. she keeps smiling even up until the end of her life. she deserves happiness as her end-game and if i don’t get it in canon, i’m going to create it here myself.

aeris & cloud.

    i disliked this ship for a long time. it actually wasn’t because of the ship itself but due to some of my experiences with the shippers. i won’t go into my fandom experiences but i ran an account dedicated to ti.fa for almost six years so i’ve seen how...unpretty both sides of the 'ship war’ can get and it turned me off. a lot. when i decided to write aeris, i immediately started a replay of the the original game with an ‘aeris-lens’ ( analyzing her character, her relationships, making sure i got her date, etc. ). it made me look at her relationship with cloud in a different light since i had never really paid attention to it as heavily before since i avoided the ship tbh. i ended up enjoying their dynamic a lot. they have a natural chemistry with each other but there’s also this unspoken distance between them which is fully intentional - she has her own walls up and he has his. 

    they have a very ‘tragic love’ since well...she dies before anything can fully go to the next level. their relationship in canon is a very ‘what if’ and as a result, i often see people who don’t like the ship claim that they wouldn’t work because aeris wouldn’t be able to ‘deal’ with cloud and would’ve left. to be blunt, this a bad take considering supporting one another is prevalent throughout their relationship: 

aeris: i learned a lot. the elders taught me many things. about the cetra... and the promised land... i'm...... alone... i'm all alone now... cloud: but i'm...... we're here for you, right? aeris: i know. i know, but... i am the only...... cetra. cloud: does that mean we can't help?

cloud: ...i gave the black materia to sephiroth...? wha... what did I do... tell me, aeris. aeris: cloud... be strong, ok? He writhes and clutches his head. cloud urrrrrrgh... what have I done!? aeris: cloud... you haven't done anything. it's not your fault.

cloud: yeah, I hear you. sorry for what happened. aeris: don't worry about it. cloud: ...i can't help it... aeris: oh... then, why don't you REALLY worry about it? and let me handle sephiroth. and cloud, you take care of yourself. so you don't have a breakdown, okay?

    the remake only reinforces everything i like about their relationship: their banter is great, aeris gently takes his hand during one of his ‘moments’ and supports him, she confides in him about talking to her flowers, and he never treats her differently ( which is a big deal when just two nights before, he told someone to ‘get help’ when they claimed they could hear the planet lol ). they have so much in common as well: they both have struggled with loneliness, being an outcast, and not having a lot of friends. i’ll always find it incredibly interesting how cloud is repeatedly not invited to be apart of group functions in the remake ( he wasn’t allowed to celebrate with avalanche and had to sit outside jessie’s house as the others ate pizza ) until he met aeris and she invited him to have dinner with her and her mom. despite the ‘bodyguard’ dynamic to their relationship, they always feel like equals to me.

aeris: today’s special!!! cloud: why? aeris: because i met you, you dumb binch!!!

aeris: *says cryptic stuff and tells him that they can’t fall in love* ( i’m saying they because apparently in japanese / other languages she says ‘we can’t fall in love’, not just ‘you can’t fall in love with me’. ) cloud: uh....how about i do anyway??? also i’m saving you so...see you tomorrow at 11. bye.

me: their relationship never gets to a serious level because the opportunity was taken away from them de to unfortunate circumstances. 

also me: they’re just just...dumb and in love!!!! i’m sorry, that’s just the way it is!!!! she literally tells him that meeting him again was special to her and the silly boi doesn’t get it!!!! one of the composers of the game even said a tracks that plays with them is meant to have a romantic vibe!! when she pulls away from him, he reaches out for her because he doesn’t want her to let go!! the lyrics of hollow is literally ‘this time i’ll never LET YOU GO’ AAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!

    anyway, i’ve also noticed this weird trend in the fandom where it feels like cloud is never allowed to just has his own dedicated feelings about aeris - and i’m not even talking about romantic feelings. i feel like whenever there is talk about cloud’s relationship with za.ck or ti.fa, no one inserts aeris into it. they’re allowed to have their individual relationships with him yet with aeris it feels like you cannot talk about how much she meant to him and vice versa without other characters being thrown in. i don’t know if it’s because of shipping and people don’t want to acknowledge that like...characters can have feelings for multiple people or what but the reality is that cloud did feel something for her. she did mean a lot to him; so much so that he slept in her church two years after she was dead and went to her burial place alone. he missed her.  maybe it was just as a friend, maybe it was because of something more but i really dislike how their relationship and importance to each other, regardless of whether it’s platonic or romantic, is constantly invalidated.

aeris & gene.

     when kas / @castershot first created channels for gene and aeris in our rp server last year, i honestly did not think these two would have a serious relationship at all. i figured maybe they would have a fling or something at best / aeris would be the equivalent of a filler character in a few episodes of the show and then they would go their separate ways. ...that didn’t happen but i’m glad it didn’t! i didn’t know a gosh diddly darn thing about outlaw star but i’m very good at researching and aggressively reading wikis so i was able to whip up a verse ( and someone who watched the show thought i had actually watched it after reading my verse so i guess i did a darn good job! ). anyway, i feel like when writing aeris it’s very easy to...hmm...fall into very certain dynamics and considering gene’s line of work ( doing odd jobs, being a bodyguard for hire, a general jack of all trades ), i didn’t want it to be the ‘he’s a bodyguard, she gets protected, blah blah blah’ dynamic but in space. so their relationship ( at least in my head - there’s a lot going on in there tbh!!! ) basically became somewhat of a deconstruction of cl.erith + ( bad ) stereotypes about aeris in general:

      what if the helpless flower girl that needs saving from the big bad corporation is actually a liar who works for said corporation and was sent by them to retrieve something important(tm) and eliminate anyone that gets in her way? what if aeris, a secret member of the turks, has become so desensitized when interacting with other people since she is constantly wearing a mask and she can’t tell if she’s genuinely falling for someone or if her acting is just so good that even she can’t tell what’s real or fake anymore? what if i took all those bad takes about aeris knowing she would die, flip it, and actually make it so that she does know and still goes alone anyway because she wants to save lives for once instead of being the person who takes them away!!

me: imagine the drama!!! the angst!!! kas, casually: [redacted name b/c of spoilers] would just bring her back to life. me: WHAT?! >:(

apparently one character in the show is casually just GOD and can revive people so they can come back like:

    my bubble was BURST. dreams DASHED. plans CRUSHED. dramatics aside, i still kept the idea of her dying because i do like the take of a more secretly jaded / not as ‘pure’ aeris that works for shinra and has to basically relearn how to trust / care about others again + i live to attack kas and all of her muses. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.  anyway, the point is that i love them and they’re a dynamic i’m very invested in the more times passes. they’re both so stupid and passionate and loud ( the first in character thing i wrote when i remade this blog was them screaming at each other in an argument ) but they’re also sensitive, don’t open up to others easily, and have trauma!! oof x 100.

me: this ship won’t be serious lol the ship, months later: may or may not have a thread with them going on a date. may or may not have gone to ti.fa and cloud’s wedding together ( where kissafist’s tif.a may or may not threaten to smash his balls in if he doesn’t treat aeris right. *smash em, rip em plays in the distance as aeris aggressively laughs nervously* ), they may or may not get married and have twins that may or may not be named ren and rose. me: clown putting on make up.png

so yea, they’ve come a long way(tm).

the end.

[cee693]

Give us bread, Give us salt, Give us wine.

Cee693

 @allaboutmybucks: Barry and Iris spending time together before impending Crisis. I think I'll make this request a two-parter with the next one being a tiny bit less angsty.

In the end, the true state of their feelings wouldn’t be found in in the grand gestures. It wasn't in the breakfasts that had started overflowing with his favorite foods since he’d returned from Earth-3. It wasn't in the luxurious trips around the world. Trips that had them both ignoring the fact that most of the places they went to were from a list they’d compiled two years ago as an Anniversary Bucket List.

It wasn't in the proclamations and declarations of undying love.

It was in the little things.

It was in the touches, the hand holding that was a bit too tight. A goodbye kiss that was a second too long. It was in Barry’s breath catching when some budget forms arrived on his desk at work. He was supposed to fill in his request for the next fiscal year. Which began December 10th, 2019.

It was in Iris hitting ‘unsubscribe’ after receiving her routine alert from her pharmacy to go in for her next three-month supply of birth control pills.

It was in Barry getting into the habit of putting on their record player and getting Iris to dance around the kitchen with him while he cooked them dinner.

It wasn’t something he normally did. They’d danced around their kitchen more times than they could count, but it was usually after dinner or in a spontaneous burst in the day.

Mostly, because Barry was mindful of keeping his wife away from any open flames or boiling pots.

Iris’s track record in the kitchen was… not great. That’s why Barry tried to always have dinner ready to go after work so there was no chance of her getting involved.

But, that week, Iris had come home from work and greeted Barry over the blare of the upbeat record spinning and he hurried to kiss her before twirling her in his arms and sliding her into his work space.

The first time it happened they'd laughed so hard and danced for so long, Iris had to tag in and help him finish cooking so that they could eat before midnight.

The following night, Iris came home to the same sight: Barry happy and singing to music. This time with a bottle of wine chilled and ready for her. Iris kissed him soundly because that glass was exactly what she needed after the day she had.

Unfortunately, their bottle opener was mysteriously vanished so Barry asked her season and baste the roast he had in the oven while he ran out and got a new one.

By the time he returned (suspiciously long for a speedster), dinner was finished and ready to be served.

The next few days were the same and the two of them settled into a nice little routine of cooking and dancing.

Iris didn’t know what brought on Barry’s sudden good mood, but she didn’t question it. She loved seeing Barry like this: all care-free and happy.

Since his trip to Earth-3, Barry took care to carve out time, just the two of them, but she really appreciated that this last week there was no sense of dread in their time together only joy.

And the fact that he was like this with an apron on, sleeves rolled up his forearms as he snuck her bites of food was also incredibly sexy.

She couldn’t resist one night pressing up against him and kissing him sensually. She meant for it to be a quick kiss, but Barry had her up on the counter in seconds.

“Wait,” she pulled back after several minutes of being carried away. “The food's gonna burn.”

Barry shook his head and kissed her again. “Chicken's still marinating. Trick is to add baking soda and let it sit. It tenderizes the meat." Of course he said that last part with extreme innuendo as he kissed the side of her neck.

She liked it when he talked food. As much as she called him a nerd, anytime he flexed his intelligence, it was a huge turn-on for her.

She said as much another night when he swayed them in time to Nat King Cole right in front of the oven. Iris mentioned that the warmth coming from it was divine and Barry whispered that the 375° was just about the perfect temperature for anything.

To Barry’s credit, it took her almost two weeks to realize what he was doing.

And at first it stopped her in her tracks and knocked the air from her lungs.

She’d gotten home from work early and had just texted Barry to let him know when the lightbulb just randomly went off.

She went over the last two weeks of dinnertime in her head and when her suspicion was confirmed she locked herself in her office and cried until the sun went down.

By the time Barry came home, she pulled herself together and dried her eyes, but she resolved to not step foot out her office until tonight’s meal was on the table ready to be eaten.

Iris heard the front door open and close, then the shower run for a few seconds before she heard him back in the kitchen rumbling around.

When Billie Holiday began wafting through the loft, Iris correctly anticipated Barry coming to her.

He knocked on her door and she sluggishly got up to let him in.

"Hey," Barry greeted happily as he entered her office. He leaned down and kissed her sweetly. "How was your day."

"It was fine," Iris responded delicately. "How was yours?"

“Eh. Long. I missed you. I picked up some chicken and shrimp for alfredo? That sound okay?”

“Sure. That's great thank you.”

"Want to come out?” He asked.

"No."

"We could pop open that bottle of red we got from the Uco Valley. Best in the world."

"No. Sorry, I'm busy,” Iris responded, half-heartedly holding up the first magazine she touched.

Barry deflated a little. “Iris. I haven't seen you all day.”

She sighed and felt a bit bad. "I guess I can work at the dining table."

Iris grabbed her laptop and a notebook and followed Barry out to the living room. She settled at the dining table and let him get to work in the kitchen.

Of course tonight, though, Barry seemed to be having a bit of trouble in the kitchen.

"Damn it," he muttered a third time. Pots clanked and there was a definite sound of something spilling on the floor.

Still, Iris resisted the urge to take pity on him and ask him what was wrong. She knew in reality it was nothing at all.

Barry was a terrible liar, but he always gave valiant performances.

"Hey, I'm sorry,” he called out to her minutes later. “I know you're busy but could you help me grab the cream in the fridge? My hands are full."

If she wasn’t so angry, Iris would have been a little disappointed that that was the best he could come up with. She thinks for that lie to be believable she's supposed to pretend that he's not the fastest man alive.

She sighed and stood up. "How much cream?"

Barry nodded to the ipad on the counter. "Recipe's over there."

Iris scowled a bit and peeked at the tablet before she went to the fridge and checked. "We're all out."

"Oh really?" Barry exclaimed, voice higher than normal. “Darn.”

Iris stifled an eye-roll at the bad acting.

"Well, we could make a substitute for cream. Could you grab some milk and some butter? Just measure out a fourth of butter and three-

Iris huffed in frustration and slammed the fridge door.

"-I know what you're doing, so just stop it," she demanded.

Barry blinked and halted his chopping. "What?"

"I know what you've been doing, Barry," she repeated. "Putting out music and wine and finding any way to pull me into the kitchen. Pretending that you can't literally do all of this by yourself in seconds. Whispering off little culinary facts in passing."

"You've been teaching me how to cook," she accused.

"What? No, I haven't!" Barry exclaimed. He tried to sound confused and offended, but he was turning really red.

"Yes, you have!" she fumed.

Tears pricked her eyes. "Why though? Do you want to make sure I don't burn the loft down when you're not around to cook anymore?"

Her voice broke and she looked down, trying hard not to break again. "Is this your way of trying to prepare me for a life of dinners alone?"

Barry put down his knife and turned off the stove. He sighed and rubbed his eyes.

"I just … I'm sorry. I just wanted to give you some pointers that I knew you would remember," he admitted guiltily.

Iris's chin quivered. "You manipulated me."

"I'm sorry," he said again sincerely.

"I knew you wouldn't want to learn if I told you why."

"Yeah, well you're right about that," Iris sniffed, upset. She went to the dining table to pack up her stuff.

"Iris, wait. Please. I just don't know what to do anymore," he told her desperately. "I'm just at a dead end."

Iris whipped around and glared at him for his very poor choice of words.

Barry sighed, frustrated with himself. He tried again "I'm sorry. I am. I know that this wasn't really fair to you. I just want… I need to know that you'll be okay after Crisis. And part of that is making sure you eat."

Iris turned back around to the table.

"That's not something you can control though is it?" she asked weakly, unwilling to face the look in his eyes. Unable to face the words he was saying.

She didn't want this.

She didn't want to talk about this or think about it and she was angry this was in fact what the last few nights have been about.

Happy memories now tainted by their morbid ulterior motive. Everything in their lives touched by this death sentence.

"I don't know what else I'm supposed to do," Barry whispered tearfully. "I… I can't think of you here alone not eating, or only getting by on takeout or tv dinners for one."

Nausea flooded her stomach at the thought. But, he wasn't wrong.

That was her future.

That's what life would be without her husband. Without a child.

Just her. Here alone. No one to break bread with. No one to come home to after a long day. No one with a glass of wine or a tray of brownies waiting for her.

Just solitude.

A sob ripped through her and Barry was at her side in an instant, pulling her close and profusely apologizing.

“I'm sorry, please don't cry,” he begged. “I made a mistake.”

Iris wrestled free from him. "As much as you feel that it's not a choice to die, when you do things like this it seems like it is. It seems calculated and thought-out and it feels like a choice you're making every day.”

“I didn’t want to do this. And it’s not fair that you planned this,” she said, upset. “It's out of your hands. You've accepted what the Monitor said and you’re leaving, but please, don’t try to tie up the loose ends Crisis is leaving behind into a nice little bow.”

“Iris, that’s not-”

She swallowed nausea and just left her stuff where they were. “-I’m going to bed. You should take your time cleaning up before you come upstairs.”

Barry took the hint to give her space and he let her go.

Iris took a long hot shower before she climbed into bed completely exhausted.

It was quiet now.

Ms. Holiday’s voice had ceased.

Iris heard the vague sound of a good bit of glass crashing somewhere downstairs and she was almost grateful for the sound of Barry’s anger.

After weeks of subdued acceptance, it was refreshing to hear signs of emotion in her husband.

And then it was quiet again.

She figured it was over an hour before Barry finally trudged up the stairs and into their bedroom. He creeped by her to the bathroom and she heard him brush his teeth and change for bed.

When he slid in beside her, Iris was still clearly wide awake.

She didn't turn around and Barry didn't expect her to.

He didn’t try to talk to her and Iris didn’t expect him to.

But, his arm slid around her waist at the exact moment she reached behind her to pull him close.

Because, regardless of if they had a choice or not, these were their last days together. And they would spend every one of them side by side.

Iris rocked back and forth in her chair at the Citizen berating herself again and again.

She felt like the biggest hypocrite. She was filled with so much anger and there was no one to be blamed for it. None of this was fair.

Her husband was selfless and good. Everything he did, he did with her in mind.

Barry had done nothing wrong two nights ago.

He certainly hadn't done anything she hadn't done in the past.

She had tried that a few times. Tried to get her affairs in order. Tried to leave instructions for Barry that she knew he would need after Savitar killed her.

After Kadabra's offer went unaccepted and Barry's trip to the future came up short, Iris had bought a label maker and went to town around the apartment, putting up little reminders and facts for her fiancé. Like the Wi-Fi password he could never remember and the best times to go to the farmer's market for the sweetest peaches.

And, though she kept it tucked under her side of the mattress, she'd even began keeping a notebook marking down which of her things should be donated to which charities.

She thought she'd done a good thing.

Thought she was making the future easier for him. Until she came home from work and found all her labels torn off and ripped up and the label maker and her secret notebook dumped in the trash.

When she confronted Barry about why he'd done that, she saw that he was very, very upset, but was trying hard to reel it in.

His voice was shaking when he told her that all of that wasn't necessary. If he needed the Wi-Fi password he would just ask her. And that they'd agreed to never let him go to the farmer's market alone again after the Peony Debacle.

He didn't even acknowledge the notebook. Just demanded that she never do anything like this again. And then he left the house and only returned several hours later.

Iris never wanted to look back on those dark, dark months leading up to her supposed murder. She never wanted to revisit the fucked up headspaces she and Barry were forced into for five months. Least of all with a twisted sense of longing. But, that's where she was now.

What happened three years ago and what was happening now are two sides of the same coin, but the way they were being handled couldn't be more different.

Back then there was fire.

There was anger.

There were slammed doors and passionate declarations of resistance.

There was unwavering belief in defiance and blood oaths of protection.

No matter what loop they were thrown, Barry never lost faith that she would somehow survive. Not one single moment. Not once in five long, grueling months.

And when Iris wavered, when she wasn't so sure herself, Barry shouldered her pain and he found faith enough for the both of them.

But, that was then.

Back when there were flames. Back when there was fight.

Now? Now it's just quiet.

Just unceasingly quiet.

It had only taken Barry two days to lose all hope. To accept complete defeat. To accept death.

Two. Days.

And she was pushed to do the same.

Well, the truth was that she didn't. She didn't accept his death. She never would.

But she couldn't fight fate. So where did that leave her?

In silence.

That's all there was now.

Barry's silence was submission, but hers was seething. It was storming. With no hope for an outlet. Because the hero had already accepted demise.

The silence was deafening. It was demoralizing. And now it was made even thicker by their argument.

Iris scoffed and sat up. If she couldn’t fight the world than she would put her energy into something she could control. There were victories still to be found in the everyday. And if that’s all she could have, she’d fight like hell to claim them.

Barry sighed miserably as he cleaned up and locked down his lab for the night.

As far as he knew, there were no pressing Flash duties at Star Labs so he could just go home. But, he didn't know if he should just yet. There was a chance Iris was still at work and he didn't want to hang around the quiet apartment without her there.

And if she was home already, he was hesitant to do the awkward dance they'd been doing the last few days.

It was a blend of having stilted conversation and clinging to each other.

It was exhausting. And it wouldn't sustain them much longer, but he couldn't find their way out.

Crisis was inevitable. It was coming.

And the two of them would never agree on what needed to be done.

No matter how much she bit her tongue, Barry knew how Iris truly felt about him accepting his destiny. That's why he knew he had to lie to try and prepare her for a small part of life without him there.

And she had every right to feel the way she did.

He was in her shoes not long ago. He'd never forget the feeling of that sucking hole in your chest when you're facing the death of your soulmate.

Barry rubbed his eyes roughly. He’d go home. There was no sense in avoiding Iris. No matter what storm they were facing, it would be together.

He locked the door to his lab just as his phone vibrated. He pulled it out and saw a message from Iris.

Meet me at Jitters when you’re off..

He was out CCPD and outside of the coffeehouse in seconds.

It was late. Jitters was already closed for the night and there was no one inside. Which made him apprehensive.

Why had Iris called him here? Was something wrong? Was she alright?

He phased through the doors and looked around.

It was pitch black, save for a dim light coming from the back. “Iris? Are you in here?”

Hurried steps came from the kitchen and he sighed in relief when he saw his wife come around to the front counter.

“Oh! Hey, I wasn’t expecting you so quickly. I thought you were still at work.”

“I packed up early,” he explained coming closer. “What’s up? Everything alright?”

She looked calm and in one piece. She was drying her hands on a small towel and when he got close enough he saw that she was wearing an apron.

“What are you doing?”

“Everything’s fine,” Iris assured. “I just thought these industrial grade stoves and fire system would be a safer bet than our kitchen.”

“Safer for what?” he wondered uneasily.

“I made us dinner,” she told him simply.

“You cooked? Dinner?” Barry repeated, dumbfounded. He didn’t know what he thought this meeting was about but it definitely wasn’t that.

Now that his attention was there, though, he did smell savory richness coming from the kitchens.

Iris nodded. “Yeah.”

Barry could see that she was still somewhat- not defensive, but on guard. Cautious.

He didn’t want to question if that meant she understood where he was coming from last week just in case that wasn’t the case.

“Wow. That’s- that’s really great! I’m sure it’s great. Thank you,” he smiled softly.

Iris gestured for him to grab a seat at the counter. “I didn’t think you’d be out of work so early, so there’s still a few minutes left until the food’s ready.”

“That’s no problem at all.”

Iris studied his face before she sighed and looked down.

She reached over and grabbed the bottle of wine she’d chilled and poured them each a tall glass.

It was the bottle of red they’d gotten from Argentina. It tasted like heaven. And, though it wouldn’t have a huge effect on Barry, it helped ease the tension in both of their shoulders.

“This is perfect,” Iris moaned as the hints of berry and clove slid down her throat.

“Good choice,” Barry agreed, impressed.

“Oh!” Iris suddenly remembered. “I almost forgot.”

She hurried to the back and returned with a large platter. “Some hors d'oeuvres. I made broiled oysters.”

Barry's brows shot up. “Did you really?”

Iris shrugged. "I think I was being spiteful making something so dramatic," she admitted. "The main course isn't nearly as fancy though."

She came around the counter with the large platter and set it down between them.

Barry lifted the lid and saw that she had in fact made oysters. And they smelled and looked amazing.

"This looks incredible," he complimented with wonder.

"Try one," Iris told him.

Barry only hesitated briefly (as great as it looked, he had been on the receiving end of the adventurous side of Iris's cooking many times before) before he slid a shell off the plate and downed it.

"Holy shit, that's amazing," he exclaimed in disbelief. He looked at her excitedly. "Iris, this is amazing!"

Iris's was still a bit standoffish, but as he thanked her and tried two more oysters, her shoulders loosened and the smile on her face widened.

"Thanks," she said genuinely as she shrugged. "It was no big deal, I just followed a recipe."

By the time the oven timer went off, Iris had settled into the seat beside him and the two of them took turns polishing off the seafood.

She spent a few minutes in the kitchen this time and when she came back she was holding a very large pot. "Okay. Full disclosure, this took a few tries but I eventually got the hang of it."

She carefully put down the sizzling pan and uncovered it dramatically.

Barry was hit with the mouthwatering sight of chicken and shrimp Alfredo.

Barry grinned widely. “That’s my girl.”

“And I used butter and milk cause, funnily enough, somehow a coffeehouse was completely out of cream,” she teased.

Barry chuckled heartily and Iris joined in and soon they were laughing hard at such a simple joke, letting the tension of the week melt away.

Eventually, they gathered themselves and Barry helped Iris dish out the pasta.

She waited with bated breath as he took his first bite and smiled with relief when he told her with complete and utter seriousness that it was the best bite of food he’s ever had in his entire life.

And Barry was sure all was forgiven when she took his fork and fed him the rest of his plate, sneaking bites herself and catching up with him on her day.

By the time they took their last bites, Barry felt warm and stuffed. “That was the best meal I’ve ever had,” he said contently. “Thank you.”

“Glad you liked it,” she smiled. “I guess I can tuck that recipe away for future use.”

The mood sobered up some at the reminder of the future. Iris sighed painfully and sipped the last of her wine.

Barry gently cupped her cheek and turned her back to him. “I’m really sorry about before. You know I was just trying to help. Right?”

“I know,” Iris promised. “It’s just that this is all really hard. It’s more than it just being food, Barry.”

Tears pricked her eyes. “I know I can't cook very well. I know that. And when it was just me I really didn’t care too much to learn. But, I’ve always liked trying. For you.”

He knew that was true. Iris always cooked for them at Joe’s more out of a sense of duty to pull her weight and ease the stress on her working, single father.

She never cooked for Eddie. Never once felt the desire to. She dated him for over a year. She'd lived with him for five months. But, she only ever tried to cook for him once. He'd gotten run down with the flu and after a few days she thought maybe she ought to make him chicken noodle soup. She got as far as almost slicing her thumb clean off chopping up some carrots before she threw everything out and grabbed a takeout menu.

But, after she and Barry started dating and then especially after they got married, Iris loved cooking all sorts of meals for him. They never ended well, but Barry was an expert at making Iris think otherwise.

Barry Allen was the only man who could ever make Iris West want to spend hours huddled over a hot stove or a skillet and read over complex recipes until her eyes crossed.

“After all we’ve been through. After this life we’ve only just started together, it’s just supposed to go back to it just being me at the table?” Iris cried. “I’m just supposed to do normal, mundane things like this as if half of me isn’t gone? You’ll be gone, Barry. Who cares if the I’m living off pork rinds and gum. What the hell difference does it make?”

Barry wiped her tears before wiping his own. “You have to care, Iris. Because if you don’t it will be that much easier to lose the purpose in everything. Food will seem pointless, but then so will washing your face and pretty soon getting out of bed will be too much of a hassle. And who needs to go into work when you’re the boss? I know, I know exactly what my life would’ve been like if you weren’t there after I lost my parents. I saw what my life was like in the future after Savitar. That can’t be your life.”

He shook his head and put his hand right over her heart. “Everything I have. Everything I love is right here. The choice to keep this beating is mine. But, I won’t be here to protect it anymore. To take care of it. That’s only your choice. It’s a choice you have to make. And choosing to keep going in spite of all the pain that’s coming will be the hardest decision you’ll make. It will hurt like hell, but you have to do it. And if something as tiny as making yourself a plate of food after a harsh day is what keeps you going so you don’t collapse or shut down, then you have to do that too. You will have to take care of yourself even when it’s the last thing you’ll want to do. Especially then. I just wanted to try to find a way to help you do that.”

Iris closed her eyes, tears fell harder.

She was wrong. She was wrong before. Barry’s acceptance was full of fight.

Her husband was still full of fire.

Iris nodded. “I will. I’ll try to take care of myself. And I’ll try to stay on top of my meals. I promise.”

Iris felt the desperation ease from his grip. Felt the tension melt away in his exhale.

“Three times a day?” he asked when they separated. He hoped for a positive answer, but had no expectations.

After all this time neither of them had any illusions about the cost of grief. She knew the reality of what she could offer him.

“Once per day is going to be pretty lucky I think,” Iris told him, smiling sadly.

Barry swallowed despair at that. It was the truth. Still he tried to bargain up. “Two times.”

Iris sighed.

“One full meal and a snack,” he amended.

“One full meal and a snack,” she compromised.

He kissed her then, sealing the accord in love.

“I love you,” he said softly when they pulled away.

“I love you,” Iris responded.

She rested her head on his shoulder and Barry wrapped his arms around her tight pulling her as close to him as their bodies would allow.

The feel of her heart beating against his side lulled him. It was always the thing that would keep him breathing.

Several minutes later, something caught his eye on one of the counters. “Did you make those?”

He pointed to a pile of cookies sitting high on an ornate glass plate. They didn’t look like anything Jitters sold.

“Oh wow, yeah. I forgot about dessert,” Iris chuckled.

Barry sped over and grabbed them, sliding back into his seat before Iris could notice. “Let’s try some then.”

“Ooh, baby I would not eat those cookies if I were you,” Iris warned seriously. “I don't think they turned out right.”

Barry waved off her doubts. "All of this was perfect. I'm sure they're fine."

He smelled the cookie then took a big bite to show her he wasn’t worried. But, as soon as the dessert touched his tongue, he regretted it.

His eyes reflexively bulged and he stopped chewing for a second before his sense kicked in and he made his usual sounds of content. "Mmm see?! Delicious!"

The cookies were burnt to a crisp on the underside, but somehow chewy in the middle. And he was certain Iris had mixed up her salt and sugar again, but he powered through and finished the whole thing.

He subtly tried to gasp for breath to clear the taste of ash from the back of his throat. He knew reaching for a drink would give him away so he smiled down at her instead and smacked his lips.

“Wow, gr-great stuff,” he prayed his eye didn’t twitched from the bitterness.

Fortunately it didn’t.

Unfortunately, Iris looked so pleased with his enjoyment that she offered him three more cookies, picking out the biggest ones she could find.

Barry ate them each with a smile, washing down the rancid taste with the joy on his wife’s face.

“Maybe I can do the cooking for the rest of the week,” Iris suggested as they walked home a few hours later.

Before dessert, from the delicious meal she’d prepared he would’ve readily agreed. This was what he had wanted in the first place.

But, the thought of those god-awful cookies made his stomach roll. Depending on what she decided to cook, he might very well not even make it to Crisis.

Still, he thought as he squeezed her hand and took in her eager smile, if that was how he went- at home eating his warm meal across from this woman who he loved more than life itself- it would be the greatest honor.

He grinned and nodded his head in agreement at the offer.

“That would be wonderful,” he said sincerely.

[snowrubies]

Vibrations

MomoxSana

You know there are just some things that Momo thought she would never do like go to space, suddenly combust, or step foot in an adult store. There's a first for everything it seems because Momo was standing right outside of "Eve's Paradise" an exclusively female sex shop.

She wasn't dared to do this or just happened upon it. No, she was here of her own free will, and for a reason. Her career has been largely successful over the last few years. She was swimming in popularity, but her love life was seriously lacking. Not a single person man or woman had asked her out even, on account of the fear of being attacked by the fans for 'taking their precious baby Momo away'

So, that's why she was here. Screw love life. She hadn't been able to have an orgasm in months. She was literally rotting away because of the largest drought ever. No, drought doesn't even cut it anymore. It is like being in the Sahara Desert for five years without water. She needed an orgasm, or twelve, and she needed it yesterday

She walked through the door a little nervous that someone would recognize her through the contacts and wig. What a mess that would be. 'Pop Star seen in a lesbian sex shop'. The lighting was scarce at best. There were a few rooms at the back labeled 'Private, see associate for entry'. An accurate description of the walls would be like a candy shop that only sold suckers. The walls were labeled with things like Venus butterflies, vibrators, strap-ons, BDSM accessories, and not your average sex toys. A sales women came up to her, quite enthusiastically, and said "Welcome to Eve's Paradise is there anything specific that you are looking for".

Once Momo gathered her pride and smashed it with a hammer, she said "I just...nnneed something."

The sales women looked like she pitied her. "Oh, honey. Tell Moonbyul what's wrong."

She couldn't find what to say to her. She couldn’t just say 'I'm a famous pop star that hasn't been on a date in years and really needs a good orgazm.' "I'm in a drought." She settled on telling her.

Oh, ok. Do you have any preferences?"

She did and that was the problem. She needed something different. Something that she didn't already have in her growing collection of sex toys. " I need something different."

Moonbyul immediately steered her toward the section labeled 'not your average sex toys.' She pulled out a box and asked "How do you feel about pain?" The box was full of clamps.

Momo was appalled that someone could like such a thing. She shook her head no."Alright then. How do you feel about giving up control? "

Momo's eyes popped up at the suggestion. She wondered how that could work since she had to do it herself. " Oh, yes. You like that idea. So, now the question is how...OH! That'll work. How about phone sex?"

Momo was unamused, "I don't think that will solve my problem." She could just do that herself for free. Millions of people would give there lives for such an experience with her.

"No, dear. This is no ordinary vibrator. It will definitely work." She handed Momo the box.

The title read 'magic act'. She read the back of the box,'Do you want that magical moment? Are you tired of the ordinary? The the magic act vibrator and headset is for you. This device comes in two parts, a six inch silicone vibrator and a wireless headset. This device has no controls or an on switch. You have no control over it, but someone else does. You simply have to put on the headset, push the button below the left ear, and wait.' Momo was intrigued by this. She smiled a little, and Moonbyul steered her over to the cash register. "That'll be 159.96. And thank you for shopping at Eve's Paradise. May all your endings be pleasure filled."

And that is how she ended up here. Momo was sitting on her bed cross-legged staring at the box. 'why did I even do this? This a new low even for me... But it can't be that bad right? I'm kinda desperate.' She grabbed the box and opened it. She pulled out the headset first, which looked surprisingly exactly like her head microphone she would wear for performances sometimes mixed with headphones. She pulled out the vibrator next. It was no different than any of her others except for a small wire running down the middle.'That's probably how it's controlled.' She then pulled out a very little piece of paper labeled directions. She read, "1. Put on headset. 2. Get comfortable. 3. Push the button under the left ear. 4. Wait. Well that seems simple enough." She grabbed the headset. Put it on. Laid down on her bed. Pushed the button and waited. It only took a few seconds..

"Hello." A very confident, feminine voice sounded through the headset.

" Umm...hi?" Momo was terribly nervous. She'd done it by herself many times, but adding a different person was nerve-wracking.

She heard a little restrained giggle. " You sound nervous."

" I've nnnever done this before." Oh great now I am stuttering. She probably thinks I'm a little virginal girl sitting here in white who just mistakenly turned this thing on.

" Really? Not even with a girlfriend?"

"wha - girlfriend?! Why would I..." This woman was obviously very blunt. I suppose you would have to be in her line of work.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you would have been into girls given the circumstances."

" That's not... No I mean I really do...But just so bluntly...I.."

She giggled again."You sound so cute. So, in the interest of getting to know you, how about we play a game? She you don't feel so awkward hmm?"

Relived for a change in subject Momo said, "That sounds like a great idea. What do you-"

The woman interupted her. "Let's play truth or dare. I'll go first. Let's start with something harmless. How do you like to be touched?"

Momo's eyes went wide, "That doesn't seem harmless to me."

"It'll be very useful for me later, but you could always go with a dare."

This woman had such arogance in her voice it made Momo shiver. "I think that would be much worse. Hmm...let's see. I guess...I like...light teasing touches." This was quite possibly the most embarrassing thing she had ever done. She was just waiting for her to laugh.

"hmm...so you like being teased. I'll remember that."

That shocked the embarrassment right out of Momo. This woman was positively wicked. "I guess it's my turn. What would you do i-"

"I choose dare."

"But I didn't even finish my question. Hmf." She pouted.

"Now, now. Good girls don't pout and whine darling."

"How do you know I was pouting? Fine. I dare you to tell me where you are."

There was a short pause,"I'm not supposed to tell you that, but my house in Korea." She wispered the last part. "Now, as for light touches, might I ask where you like thoes touches?"

"You may not."

She clicked her tongue a few times." How am I supposed to help you darling if I don't know where to touch."

" I'm sure you could figure it out." She sure as hell wasn't going to tell this woman specifics.

" Is that a challenge?"

You could almost be certain that she was smirking. Momo didn't respond to her.

"Challenge accepted. Lay down, close your eyes and let me do all the work. Don't be afraid to tell me what you like."

Momo did as she was told. She heard rather than saw the vibrator move towards her face. She breathed in and out feeling like a nervous child. Her earlier nervousness had been replaced with a new sensation. She couldn’t focus on anything other than the anticipation.

She wondered what this woman looked like. She seemed young, fairly cocky, but somehow graceful.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the feeling of circles being drawn on her stomach. "How does that feel?"

Momo unconsciously opened her legs a bit. The rod slowly made it's way up her body between her breasts. She wanted to rip her clothes off and feel these delicious little vibrations right on her skin, but she was left immobile after the first touch.

The rod moved past her breasts and rested on her pulse point for a while. "That feels good."

A smug laugh, "See, now was that so hard?"

Momo could picture this phantom woman above her now. Her soft hands in her hair while she sucked on her pulse point and collar bone. She wished she would go lower, even just a little bit.

"Take off your top darling, if it is still on. You might as well get rid of the bottoms as well. Save us some time." You could hear the shuffling on the other end of the line.

Momo was quite glad at the moment that she didn't wear a bra today. It just made it that much easier and faster. The cool air pricked at her overheated skin. She felt that just a single touch could make her explode. The rod moved slowly over to her mouth. Momo didn't and still doesn't know why, but she took that rod right into her mouth.

"You are beautiful." the woman said almost as if she knew what she'd done.

The rod moved down to her collar bone. She let out a strangled little moan. She felt like she was going to die and they hadn't even gotten to the sensitive bits yet.

"No. If you are going to moan, let me hear it. Don't restrain yourself."

When that rod made it's way down to her breasts, she didn't restrain herself. She would only draw cirles around them. She started pleading the woman to touch her nipples. "Hmg...please." She couldn’t bring herself to actually say it.

"Now darling, how am I supposed to know what you are pleading for if you don't tell me? You must tell me clearly and extra points if it's done dirtily."

She didn't want to, but she couldn't take it. " I want you to touch me."

"But where and how, my darling?"

Darn. She couldn’t get away with just that. " I...I want...I want you to...touch...my-"

" Your what darling?" She moved the rod dangerously close to her nipple then pulled it away.

She exploded. " Damn it! I want you to touch my nipples! I want you to touch me, fuck me, just do it for the love of God!"

" I give that answer a solid 6. You can do better than that." She ran the rod so lightly over Momo's nipple, so she could hardly feel it.

Looks like she'll have to bring out the big guns. " Ohhh god. Please touch my nipples. Make them red and raw. Don't stop there though. I want you to feel how wet I am for you. I want you to fuck me hard. I need you to." Momo could hear heavy breathing on the other end of the line.

Pant "You are" Pant " doing this wrong. I am supposed to be arousing you." She swallowed hard. " 10 dear. A solid 10."

"hmm!" She could finally feel those glorious vibrations on her nipples.

" I want you to imagine my lips. Right there."

Oh and she could. Just imagining her tongue rapping around her stiff rosy nipples was turning her into a moaning mess. She couldn’t stop the waves of euphoria traveling straight to her core. She wanted to see this woman desperately.

The vibrator abandoned her nipples and went down to where her panties should have been, if they hadn't have been violently torn off earlier. Momo shuddered at the fact that soon she would be feeling these vibrations in criminal places.

"Should I do it? Are you ready to be fucked?"

She didn't answer. It slowly, agonizingly kept going down.

" I would positively love to run my tongue over your gorgeous pussy. Sing for me angle." She just barely touched her clit a pulled away.

"Ahhh? Why did you stop?"

"I plan to stick to what I said . Remember? You like being teased." She ran it over her clit a little harder this time.

"Ahhh! Please more." She greatly regretted tell her she liked to be teased.

She moved the rod in a line from the bottom of her slit all the way up to her clit. " Oh darling surely you didn't lie to me, but it seems like you want things a little rougher." To further prove her point she pushed down on her clit hard.

Momo let out an ear shattering scream. Surely the neighbors heard her. Thank God the members weren't home. "What whould you do if I said I did?"

"It is my job to pleasure you princess. I would do whatever it is that will make you scream."

The tip just barley lined her entrance. She moaned loudly, and then it slipped inside her, easily, dripping with her natural lubricant. She heard a rather feminine squeal from the other side of the line. At least she knew she wasn't alone.

She wonered if this was a regular occurrence or something reserved solely for this particular call, something that had never happened before.

"You're beautiful."

Momo exhaled. "You – You don't know that."

"You're beautiful," she repeated.

She had neither the time nor the focus to argue her point. She could feel the vibrations deep inside her. She grabbed the corners of her bed with both hands, steadying herself as the device surged in and out. The first few times, it went all the way in and then all the way out, teasing her and testing her. She was grinding her teeth, aching for release, aching for the moment her senses would come together and then fall apart.

The device move around inside her. Hitting her at different angles until Momo let out a high pitched squeal.

" There it is." Her mystery woman said.

Once she found that spot within her it was all over. She pounder her hard making sure to hit that spot every time. She knew exactly what she was doing. She knew she needed something harder, darker, and faster, and lord she was giving it to her.

Momo dug her nails into the bed as she slid in and out of her. The force combined with the second-by-second collision of what was happening and the possibility of more, had her delirious. There was only the growing chance that one of these thrusts would eventually unravel her from the bottom up.

She breathed out, moaning and gasping for dear life.

She hoped these sounds turned her on. She hoped these sounds drove her over the edge of no return.

She hoped these sounds would ingrain themselves into the depths of her memory, where she'd be forced to remember this night, where she'd be forced to remember her.

In the mist of all of this, she felt a little glimmer in her stomach. A little ember that was being fanned into a wildfire that exploded every nerve in her body.

Momo tossed her head back, knocking the daylights out of her as she slammed it against her bed. She cried out – chest heaving and heart racing – caught in wave after wave of rapturous triumph. Her face and hair was covered in sweat. She shook and quivered and practically bit a hole through her bottom lip.

The feeling consumed her wholly, so much so that she barely registered her partner's mirroring reaction.

The world came crashing down moments latter. She was still Momo the famous pop idol. She was still in her room. She was still in a call with a stranger that turned her inside out.

She could hear the woman's breathing calm down. This stranger. She could easily be a stalker, or a murderer. The thought scared her but excited her all the same.

"It's technically against the rules to ask this, but I would love to do this again. My darling baby Momo."

That's it. Her life was over. Might as well hand in her resignation now. She knew, and there is no way anyone would keep quiet about this. " I beg you. Please don't say anything about this."

She laughed a little. " Momo you are so dense. This could ruin me to. Actually, I am quite surprised that you don't recognize my voice. Goodnight my little song bird."

"WAIT!!!" She had already ended the call. "Shoot, I didn't even get her name. How could this ruin her? I'm the famous pop star here. Oh, the headlines tomorrow will be atrocious."

Momo was interrupted from her panic by her cell phone ringing. "Oh a text."

Sana:

Momo, make sure you turn off the headset to save battery life.

" There is no fucking way."

[vore-scientist]

Goldilocks and the Giant Wizard

A Tale of the Mystic Woods

(safe/soft GT vore w/fearplay)

Premise: The Giant Evil Wizard Yonah HaEsh has a uninvited visitor to his tower, and she’s quite the troublemaker. I worked a lot of silly lore into this one. 

**Content Warnings**: The titular Goldilocks lives! Do not worry! But there is minor skin irritation/burns (multiple factors involved). Descriptions are not graphic but are intense. Also Yonah briefly considers killing her (but not digesting her alive, he would never!). [please message me for additional info if needed!]

Goldie’s POV is 1st person, Yonah’s is 3rd. 

----

So.

Hi.

My name is Zahav Goldstein-Goldbloom. But most people call me Goldie. It’s great to meet a fan! Oh? Are you not a fan? Surely you’ve heard of me. I’m a pretty awesome adventurer if I do say so myself. And I do. Say so. All the time. I am brave. I am strong! I can run for hours! I am resourceful! And I always come out on top… always… well. Except for right now. Right now I am…

FREAKING! THE! FUCK! OUT!

You will never guess where I am. (Or maybe you will, given fairly universal theme of the author’s blog).

I’m in the stomach of a giant! Who is also a wizard! What’s up with that? Giants can’t become wizards!

Yeah. I was eaten. Gonna die soon. That sucks. A lot.

It’s terribly smelly and terrifyingly dark in here. I briefly took out a light stone but that was worse. The horrible angry pink walls… the slimy mucus… the acids that I’m sitting in… I would rather not watch my own demise. But don’t worry, I’m not going quietly! I’ll scream my loudest up until the very end! This I swear. And I can scream very loud. If you’re worried that I’m using up my air faster: better to pass out and not die painfully right?

There’s no point in telling me that I shouldn’t be complaining, or that adventuring is far from safe. I know. I know. It’s super duper dangerous and adventurers die all the time but I never figured it would happen to me! I always do everything right. So how could this have gone so wrong? Must have been something. I should have just enough time left to reflect.

How about we start at the beginning. Not of my life. As exciting as my entire life is, or… was… I don’t think I have time before well… you know. My skin is already feeling a bit tingly. That’s probably a bad sign.

Anyways! Let’s start a few days ago. When I entered a rather mysterious forest.

—-

The day had been pretty darn great so far! I broke a curse put upon the charming town of Shevana. I guess I did a really good job since they carried me out on their shoulders! Singing my praises! And gave me a nice reward. They told me that I’d done such a good job that they never needed me to visit again. I waved to the crowd as I walked down the road into the bright sunny day.

Ugh. I’d forgotten how boring this part of adventuring was. Travel. Walking. Just me and me thoughts. For hours. So many hours.

I wish I’d stayed in town awhile longer. They gave me some gold but didn’t give me any food for my journey. And you can’t eat gold! Unless maybe you’re a lava snake. But I’m guessing you aren’t since they can’t read. Can’t really hold books in molten coils.

Usually I manage to find something, a stray fruit tree, shoot a rabbit. However I saw no such things on the side of the road! Not that I was concerned. One day without food could not worry me.

But that one day became two. And on that second evening I came to a forest.

I figured I could find something to eat in a forest! Right? Berries at the very least. Countless people have told me to be careful about eating plants I’m not familiar with but I’ve never had any problems.

I didn’t expect the sun to set so fast. Nor for it to start raining. I could barely see three feet in front of me let alone forage for sustenance. What I needed was shelter. Warm and dry shelter. Hell I would take a hole in the ground!

That’s when I spotted it: A hole in the ground!

Right between the roots of a small group of trees growing on a sizable mound of earth and rocks. And it was very dry, the earth inside covered in a soft moss! Finally things were making sense again.

One thing was missing: warmth.

What I lacked in food I made up for in flint and tinder! Miraculously still dry tinder thanks to my awesome waterproof bag that I got from a witch. I offered to return it after I was done with my quest but she wouldn’t let me near her hut and insisted I leave and never come back.

So I lit a small fire.

That’s when the rumbles started.

That’s when I found out that this wasn’t a mound made of earth and rocks.

Well it was made of bears. Large, no-longer-sleeping bears.

Made of earth and rocks.

I was able to get out of there and make a run for it as they disentangled themselves, the roots of the trees had grown deep and I could hear them ripping out of the ground as the beasts roared.

Miracle is an understatement. I shouldn’t have gotten away from the bears. I couldn’t actually run since I couldn’t see even if when the rain stopped. I collided into every thorn bush and tripped on every rock and root. From behind me I could hear them, they were getting closer. Surely at their size they could reach me in just a single bound!

And then I didn’t hear them! I also felt really nauseated as I stumbled into a clearing.

Not a true clearing. It wasn’t an empty meadow. From what I could see it was a garden, and possibly a small orchard? The sky was still dark with clouds. Thankfully The plant beds were spaced very far apart; not the most efficient use of space. And no, I didn’t pick any fruits or vegetables! This is clearly a magical garden! I’m not stupid. I don’t know what gave you that idea!

Fine! I took some apples! They smelled normal enough, and I’m not cursed or anything. Plus I was thoughtful enough to carve the adventurers symbol for “safe” on the tree, to let others know.

After that I just wanted to be out of this rain, out of the dark. And I was still hungry. Apples aren’t very filling.

There was a light!

Shining from the window of a tower at the opposite end of the clearing. I could not believe! And even better, the tower was covered in strong vines, miraculously free of moisture and easy to climb! With the prospect of a roof over my head, I had the strength to make my way up.

That fall from the window into the tower should definitely have broken a few bones.

This was no ordinary tower. It was magical. And whoever lived here was… well giant isn’t the right word. I’ve seen giants and they are about 40ft tall, this isn’t nearly big enough. I’ve heard stories of smaller varieties of giant but none from this continent. Perhaps some really large ogre lives here? But what ogre needs a magical workshop?

I should have maybe, maybe, just waited for whoever lived here to show up, because they weren’t around, and there was a freshly burning candle on the desk.

My hunger having been momentarily abated with apples and distracted by my curiosity, I climbed up on to the desk.

Wow! What treasures! Magical gizmos And whatchamacallits And doodads And doohickeys, And thingamabobs! I wanted to play with each to find out what they all did! And there were books! So many books and scrolls and bottles full of who knows what! I almost did, when I spotted the letter.

Whoever lived here must have left suddenly, for at the edge of the desk was a piece of parchment shiny with ink, and even though I could not read the writing, it was clearly an unfinished letter.

I tried to skim some of the books only most were in languages I couldn’t read. And they hurt my eyes.

It was time to continue my explorations. What I needed to find was a bed, or something suitable as a bed. And if I was lucky, something to eat and drink.

From my vantage point on the desk I could see an open trap door with a staircase leading down into the dark. There weren’t any other exits aside from the window so down I went.

Climbing down giant stairs is not fun. And I didn’t fancy having to climb back up. Hopefully I would find food and be recharged by then. Wow I was hungry.

Was that? That smell. Savory and meaty! Food! A doorway appeared on the wall of the stairwell, which led into a kitchen. There was no way I could prepare food here. Thankfully the table was set for dinner! And with the serving being so large, surely I could take some and it wouldn’t make a difference.

Ow!!! The soup, which had been luke warm, burned my mouth! I’d never eaten anything so spicy in my life! Ow ow ow!!! I reached into the goblet for handfuls of what I figured was water. But it wasn’t. Whatever it was it was sweet and bubbly, and it soothed the pain so I drank more.

No more soup for me, but there was a small, relative to the rest of the place, loaf of bread. A personal sized one. If said person was a few stories tall. It was as large as a bolder with a nearly rock hard crust to complete the illusion. I had to use my knife to carve into it.

The bread wasn’t spicy, it was full of raisins and nuts! Regular sized ones. Delicious! I ate my fill, and had more of the sweet drink before continuing my quest for a bed!

Woah!!! I almost fell off the table. I must’ve been really tired, the room is spinning a bit. But I was fine. I didn’t fall so I was fine! In fact I felt GREAT! I used the chair to get back to the floor and back to the staircase. No way was I getting up it. That way lead to the workshop, I only made it down one floor. So down I must go once more.

This time I found a living room. It was lit by a roaring fire in the hearth. There was a couch, an ottomon, and an armchair.

I tried to climb up onto the couch but it was too far off the ground. I used my grappling hook and it snagged the upholstery but as I tried to climb it just ripped down. I tried again with the same result except my hook got on a seam! It wasn’t far enough up so I left it there.

The armchair was the better bet, I should have inspected all of my options rather than just heading to the first thing i saw.

A large blanket was draped over the chair, tassels reaching the floor, and I was able to climb up. I couldn’t pull the blanket up to wrap myself in it, but beggars can’t be choosers. The Chair was very soft all things considered, though the fabric of it and blanket were rough, it was enough of a bed for someone as tired and small as I.

I promptly went to sleep.

—–

Fuck. That was. Not fun. Bruised and bleeding, he was looking forward to getting back home. At least the storm had passed and the early summer sun was rising. Well, he deserved to sleep a day and a night for this. And get a handsome paycheck. The king was damn lucky to have him at his beck and call! He had postponed dinner to finish writing a report when he got the call too! Now he would have to write a second report!

Finally he stepped over the stone path of his garden, careful not to slip as his shoes were covered in mud. At least he wasn’t tracking blood anymore. Not much at least.

What?

As he passed by his dancing sunflowers they bent towards him. They shouldn’t be active this early in the morning, even in summer. Was something wrong? Were they sick?

All their faces were turned in the same direction. He crouched down to their level (about 4 meters). Their attention was on the apple trees. That’s when he saw it.

One of the trees had been vandalized! Some sort of symbol carved into the trunk. He didn’t have a hope in finding the person, but he wrote down the symbol just the same. He needed to know what it meant. He didn’t want his tower being marked by some guild or cult.

Irritation pushed away some of his exhaustion as he Leapt up to snag the tower windowsill. His wounds stretched and blood trickled out again. He landed in his workshop with a muddy, bloody, thud. Maybe he could finish off the first report after all. Future him would thank him and-

The report was covered in footprints! The not yet dry ink had been tracked all over his desk! He held the now ruined report under the magnifying glass.

Human shaped.

A thief most likely. If they were so foolish as to still be around (and judging by the lingering scent of human, they were), they just won themselves a ticket down his throat. And if they were very lucky, because Yonah was now in quite a Mood™, it wouldn’t be one way.  

It took a lot of focus to make his way silently down the stairs. He wanted to stomp and scream, to be monstrous, but that would give the thief warning. Give them a fighting chance. They did not deserve that chance.

Using his nose he followed the smell of the human to the kitchen. But he did not find them. Instead he found his now cold dinner.

Which the human had clearly helped themselves too! Did this person lack manners? Just, eating off of someone elses plate! Or rather, bowl? There were dried splashes of soup and mead all over the table, and his bread had little holes carved into it. What kind of person did that! Was this even a thief?

That didn’t really matter, he would eat them either way. He took a sip of the mead. Alcohol wasn’t what he needed, but it was what he wanted. Mmmm, it tasted better than he expected. It tasted like…

Had the human just stuck their HANDS INTO HIS CUP? He wasn’t grossed out. It’s not like he bothered to wash the humans when he swallowed them whole or anything. It was just so weird!

Tasted good though. It made him excited to eat the real deal.

Maybe a change of clothes first? And a bath? His current adornments were getting crusty and smelled horrible. So was he. The wounds had dried into the threads and pulled with every movement. Then again, he probably looked really scary. He couldn’t even imagine the state of his hair. 

As he passed through the living room to the bedroom he had a strong urge to pass out on the couch and deal with all of his problems when he woke up. He caught himself unconsciously taking a few steps towards it.

That’s when the scent of the human caught his attention once more. And something else caught his eye.

Something was off about the couch. Inspecting it he found it had been torn! The stuffing spilling out and a small hook stuck in the fabric. First his report, then his bread, now his couch! This thief’s chances of survival were dwindling by the minute.

No time to change his clothes he was going to find the human before they wrecked anything else!

Oh. They were. right there. Sprawled out, halfway under the blanket on his armchair. Sleeping. As peacefully as one could be. Not for long. But he did not want to wake them just yet.

He sat down on the ottoman and leaned forward.

The human certainly looked like a thief. At least, she had adventuring gear. Not all adventurers were thieves but the ones who entered his tower were usually there to steal.

Her shining golden hair made of large curls was impeccably clean and fell across her face with perfect delicacy. Her golden-brown skin was free of blemishes, though her cheeks were flushed, the scent of alcohol lingering on her. She was beautifully innocent looking. And he was furious.

Was she not a thief? Thieves may be foolish but they didn’t break into his house to eat his food and drink until they passed out.

Then he spotted her knife and ink stained boots, about a meter from her head, tossed aside.  

He took a deep breath, filling it with rage and fire.

—

Ouch! What was that! A blast of hot steam?

I woke up to find a very angry giant man in wondrously patterned robes standing over the bed, eyes angrily aglow. As my vision focused I saw that the robes were torn in several places and dreadfully bloodstained. So was the man, and he was still bleeding out of a few wounds, in particular a nasty gash on his left cheek and a black eye to go with it.

More hot breaths growled forth.

Well I am nothing if not polite. Even to grumpy people. I sat up, yawned, stretched a bit, and cheerfully greeted this giant man.

“Hello! I’m Zahhava Goldberg-Goldstein, adventurer extraordinaire! you call me Goldie! What’s your name?”

I held out my hand and smiled. No one can resist my smile.

—-

That’s all she had to say? He pushed the fire in his eyes to grow more intense. But she just continued to smile. Her huge golden eyes sparkling with irritating innocence.

“I don’t believe you’ve earned that information.” he growled and she blinked, “What the fuck are you doing in my tower?”

She considered for a moment, “Sleeping? Well I was sleeping. Boy does one get tired without a steed! I should really get one! And I call myself a hero! Wow You have really hot breath!”

Crossing his arms Yonah let out another snort of steam before he straightened up and leaned back.

“Do you always break into people’s houses?”

The human spoke with her whole body, wild motions that Yonah suspected some people had been in the line of fire of.

“I- there wasn’t a door or anything! Quite perplexing, but i’ve heard of towers like this before. Tricky stuff, but I’ve handled worse. Never met a vine I couldn’t climb, and the window was open!”

“Can I assume those are your footprints smeared across my report to the king?” It did not escape Yonah’s notice that she didn’t actually answer his question.

“Is that what that was? It was in a very strange language, it looked similar to dwarvish. Is that the language of this land? I must have crossed a boarder… I only ventured two days from town..”

Guess she didn’t read giant. Thankfully the king did, and let him write reports in his own language. And again… not actually an answer from this little, absent minded, egotistical, delectable, thief.

“Is this yours?” He held up the hook.

“Oh yes! Thanks so much for getting it loose! It was stuck something fierce wasn’t it!” She held out her hands but he only grinned, used the hook to pick his teeth and tossed it into his sleeve. Her smile wavered only briefly.

She still had not apologized.

“And you who poked little holes in my bread and drank my mead?” Yonah’s left eye twitched.

“I was hungry! After not a bite to eat for two days I Couldn’t believe I found such a bounty. Did you make that bread yourself it was incredible! The soup was way to spicy though, nearly burned my tongue off!”

Yonah raised an eyebrow. So not a thief? Just a poor lost soul? A bit of his anger subsided as a hint of pity grew within him.

“Before I got here I found this hill see, I was trying to get shelter from the rain. There was a small cave so I went in! But then… the Hill… it turned out to be made of bears! And- YIPE!”

—

Out of nowhere I was pinned under his right hand and smoke started billowing out of his hair; the roots of which sparked to life. We had just been talking! Having a nice conversation, what could have prompted this change?!

His face loomed over me, smiling. Not a kind smile either. Why was he smiling? He was clearly mad! Oh what had I done?

Now scalding spittle joined the breath as he shouted at me.

“IT WAS YOU!”

I didn’t respond. I couldn’t! He was crushing the air out of me and I struggled my hardest to get his hand off.

“YOU’RE THE REASON I WAS CALLED AWAY FROM MY DINNER TO PACIFY TALLEKS! DO YOU KNOW HOW HARD IT IS TO GET THEM TO GO BACK TO SLEEP?”

“N-no-“ I coughed, my only reward was a lungful of the hot breath.

“Ooohhhohoh I’m going to enjoy eating you!” he laughed. The unmistakable laugh of -

A villain.

This was a villain’s lair! Stupid stupid!!! Of course! The tower! The vines! The mysterious Workshop filled with bubbling noxious things in jars! The sweet, perfectly trimmed goatee this giant man had! It all added up, but all too late.

My heart stopped. Not literally but it sure felt like it. DID HE SAY ‘EAT ME’?

The hand lifted slightly and I took painful breathes.

But Before I could do anything to save myself the fingers curled around my back and I was Brought to his face. His grin stretched ear to ear and he drew his tongue over his lips.

Using the breath I managed to get, I tried my best to reason with him.

“PLEASE DONT EAT ME! I DONT WANT TO DIE!”

—-

No. Of course she doesn’t. But beaten up and oh so hungry, Yonah was not in a merciful mood.

Why should he let her live? This idiot humans had no respect for other people! She disturbed ancient spirits and felt no remorse! In fact she was acting as if she did nothing wrong!

He was done talking to her. Lowering her from eye level he pressed her onto his tongue and licked her bodily. She shrieked as she was covered in his near boiling slobber.

She tasted very very good. Her tears adding to her already savory flavor. He shoved her torso into his mouth and closed his lips around her.

The blood thundering in his ears drowned out her shrill cries, and after a few more seconds of enjoying her flavor he tipped his head back and swallowed her down.

Alive.

Yonah didn’t know why, but he decided against killing her. For all she had done… as thoughtless and worthless of a person as she clearly was, she had made no attempts on his life. She was just completely oblivious, and tactless. Not an execution worthy crime. Though… he had come very close. He almost snapped her neck when he held her in his hand. And again, almost bit down to do the same between his teeth. It would have been quick, bloodless, painless.

Neither times he did he take the opportunity. And as the struggling mass filled his stomach he wasn’t about to make her suffer a slow painful death as his meal. That was never something he could do, no matter how angry. 

/Of course/ he thought, a wicked grin growing on his face as pat his stomach, making her scream and scramble /she didn’t know any of this/.

—

I don’t know why I continued to scream as I was crammed into the Giant’s mouth, he wasn’t listening to me at all! He was true to his word, he was going to eat me! Oh right it was because it was painful!!! Everything around me burned and I was pushed against the teeth, though the grace of a god who I could not name, I was not bitten.

Not yet.

In hindsight I should have started saying my prayers much earlier. Surely he was much too small to swallow me whole and was going to bite my head off or something. Or maybe my waist? He sealed me inside his mouth, letting my legs dangle out. The tongue was still active and shoving me into the hard teeth.

The end was surely near!

Gravity shifted and I slid down to the back of his throat! As my arms and head were pulled into the tight passage of flesh my legs were sucked into his mouth. I kicked as best I could but all I got were triumphant chuckles as my legs met his enthusiastic tongue.

Powerful rolling muscles shoved drew me down again and again! As my legs were pulled into the restricting tunnel my outstretched arms passed through a tight ring of flesh. Then my head escaped the esophagus. I took a breath and choked on the humid vomit smelling air.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

I didn’t stop screaming as the rest of my body was squished into the stomach. I didn’t stop as my face was pressed into the bottom, where a small pool of fluids was gathering! NOT GOOD! I did not stop as I hurriedly I rolled around to get my head away from the digestive juices.

There was still air. Not the most breathable, but it was air. How long it would last?

And it was even hotter in here, in the belly of the beast. I swear the pool of liquid boiled. I was thrown about, squished and shoved, as the giant laughed and laughed at my impending demise.

And it must be soon. For we are back where we started!

Me.

Eaten by a giant wizard.

And judging by the pounding on my left side, a disgustingly pleased giant wizard. I knew there was evil in the world. But it is really disheartening to know there were those so cruel that they relished in the death of others. And I was so powerless against him! I hadn’t even a sliver of a fighting chance.

I couldn’t tell if it was sweat or his stomach fluids flowing down my face, it all burned the same. It was like a boiling sulfur pool. The worst sauna ever.

ACk! Some of the fluid got in MY MOUTH!!! And the fluid level is… it’s rising. It was at my ankles when I began telling you my tale but now it halfway up my calves, and i’ve got my knees to my chest so… it’s getting worrisome. I’m done screaming. It’s not worth it. I’m sure I’ll start again once my flesh starts literally being eaten away, but for now…

“Hey!” the voice of the giant hit my already pounding ears like a mallet. Oh gods. He was gonna talk to me as I died! Did he have no respect for his meals!? Or was this respectful in his culture… I doubted that.

“Have any last words?” the chuckle shook and swirled around me.

Last words. Did I have any? Were they worth it? Just for him to hear. He knew my name but I couldn’t imagine him seeking out my friends and family. Especially since I don’t have any. Did I want the last meaningful thing I say to be for my killer’s ears only? I kinda wanted to say SOMETHING.  Through sobs I managed:

“Like- like what?” before realizing that asking him for suggestions wasn’t smart. There was a forceful pushing on my left side.

The prodding became more forceful. Helping his stomach soften me up I guess. 

“Are you really THAT Dense?” his evil laughter making the offensive fluids splash my face. I would NOT show any sign of pain. Not yet. But it still hurt. Everything stung and burned like I had waded into a boiling salt sea with a million paper cuts.

“You break into my house! Fuck up my report, tracking ink all over my desk!! Carve little holes into my freshly baked bread and splashing mead and soup everywhere! Rip up the upholstery on my couch! And not to mention you Disturbed the ancient forest spirits which I HAD TO DEAL WITH! ”

“But, I didn’t realize, I didn’t mean to-” I was just trying to survive the storm! It’s not my fault. Right? RIGHT!? But. I would be angry too. If I had written a letter to my mom and someone got grubby food covered hands on it. I would be quite mad! If I had made myself a nice meal and some kid picked at pieces of it, even small ones, I would be furious! I would be beyond outraged if hmmm if some idiot accidentally summoned a demon which I had to banish and said idiot didn’t thank me or admit to their mistake… Oh. I’m the idiot. I’m the assole.

“Yes, you are an asshole. Glad you finally figured that out. I was getting worried.”

Fuck did I say that out loud? My mind must be on its way out. It is getting difficult to breathe. Wait? Why did he care? What was going on?

—

Man it would have just been a cherry on top of his horrible day if he released his victim without  her learning her lesson. Otherwise it would have felt like a terrible deed to unleash her back onto the world. But he wasn’t about to keep her captive. His place would be a pile of rubble in a week if she even so much as looked at his magical artifacts.

You see, he’d heard of entities such as her…

The Heedless.

Wreckers.

Agents of Chaos And Entropy.

She was clearly still developing. There was still time. Not to stop her, just minimize her catastrophes. And getting her to access her Hindsight was a step in the right direction. Now he just needed to send her to someone to unlock her Foresight. But he couldn’t think about that right now.

As he pulled her unconscious form out of his throat he saw her golden skin was now tinged red and blistering in places. He frowned; he didn’t think that he’d pushed the time limit for “unharmed” with Goldie. It had only been a few minutes.

Mucus, spit, and stomach fluids hit the counter top with a loud TSSSS; steam rose.

Ah. Those weren’t acid burns, they were… regular burns. He had been so mad, he couldn’t even begin to imagine what his internal temperature was.

He immediately dumped her body into the half full sink, while he continued to spit up more fluids. Gross. Along with the painful effort involved was almost enough to make him question why he let them live through him. Ok not really. He might have embraced being a monster, but not that much. He was still a person. And so were his victims.

He made sure to keep her head above the water, she was still breathing. She had been awake up until he spat her out. His best guess was she passed out from screaming so much. He held her gently and let cool cleansing water flow around her.

A few moments later she gasped and sat up. Then dived towards the running faucet, she had to get the fluids off of her face. And the waterfall was more forceful than the continuously draining pool.

—

My skin and body ached. I think this is what it feels like to be boiled alive. The ever flowing water kept the heat at bay. All I could do was close my eyes and sit there.

Eventually I opened them, through the water I saw the distorted face of the giant. Still angry. Still bloodied. Still… I was on the outside of his body again! I just wasn’t sure why.

“You can’t stay there forever” the voice of the giant came through the water.

I leaned forward just so my lips breached, “yes, I can.”

The giant’s face came close to me once more and I screamed. But back under water nothing but bubbles came out.

“No. You can’t. This is MY house, so if you stay you will become MY food. Got it?”

I fell over, cowering under his gaze, “You’re going to eat me again!” And huddled up as best I could but I’m no turtle.

“If you dont get the FUCK out of here, yes.” he bellowed, eyes glowing again. “I’m feeling generous, as well as stupid, so I didn’t kill you. Do not push your luck.”

He picked me up! Didn’t even warm me! Rude! But I didn’t dare scream or struggle lest he lose his temper with me. And he wasn’t being gentle, his calloused fingers brushing over my burns, squeezing my sides surely bruising something!

Of course it was better than being eaten! Better than being dead! Not that much, as I was shaken and swung about!

By the time I dared open my eyes we were back in the workshop. And I was dropped on the windowsill, the cool stone just barely won over the rough texture.

“Now,” his face was my entire sky, eyes two burning suns while his hands on either side. I could run, I could leave the tower. But I didn’t think he would approve.

“What do you have to say for yourself?”

Say? What could I say? I’d said everything! right? RIGHT? ...!

“I’m sorry!” I squeaked.

“What Was that? Tasty one?” A drop of hot spit landed next to my face.

“IM SORRY!”

His smile became a crescent moon before he picked me up and set me on my feet.

“There’s hope for you after all,” he said.

—

A part of him, and not a small part, felt a bit bad for what he was about to do. And there wasn’t time or opportunity to get it approved so he might get reprimanded. Plus it might mean he would have to see her again. But it was the only way. Ok, maybe not the only way, but the quickest way, and the sooner the better with Heedless Wreckers.

“For your transgressions I should have killed you, or at the very least made you work to repay the damage,” he tried to look thoughtful.

Goldie inched ever so slightly to the edge of the windowsill. Yonah flicked his eyes and tapped a finger so she knew he’d noticed. She gave him a guilty smile, but made no more motions to flee. Hopefully she was paying attention. This was a bit involved and Heedless Wreckers weren’t known for being able to handle complex tasks.

“Instead I’m giving you a quest!”

—

Out of all the things I anticipated him saying, “I’m giving you a quest” was not one of them.

No one ever gave me quests. I’ve always had to find my own. They were never as glorious as I wished. For some reason I’ve always had to give up most of my reward money or loot for “damages” or whatever. So unfair.

Fuck I needed to pay attention! If I failed he would surely eat me. And kill me this time!

“I’m in need of some hard to get spell components, including the missing piece of the spell itself. Fortunately they can all be found in th capital city. From Fowl Business Apothecary i require powdered hens teeth, 5 grams filtered through dried Red Fanged Weaver webs. I need some of those webs too, fresh.”

Oh gods this was a lot already and it was the first item!!!

“At least 6 pieces of Prickly Pear Fruit and the crystallized thorns from those pieces! Keep track of whose quills belong to who! I believe Midbar’s Emporium will have them in stock, if not they can point you to and imports market, make sure to get pears attached to the leaf, I’ll just have to crystallize the quills myself.”

What? Prickly pear? Quills? Oh he means desert candy!

“Petrified Snail Skulls, pilfered woodlouse hats, and Bottled Pygmy Goat laughter from Pixilious Proprieties.”

He stopped and considered, “you won’t have a problem with riddle solving right? Pix doesn’t let anyone into their shop without answering a riddle. Powers their magic I think. And while you can then make purchases, they will generously discount items for each additional riddle answered”

I dearly wished I could write all this down! I would never remember it. But I had no paper! No pen! No parchment or ink! And even if I did, I’m still damp.

The giant stroked its goatee.

“I should really write all this down,” he mumbled, and walked over to his desk, rummaging through the drawers, which I thought odd since it was just paper and ink right?

Then a thought struck me… I could.. Run. Right now. While his back was turned. No quest! No problems! Running is one of my special talents, it has saved me many times. This might be my only chance. But I didn’t, which was definitely the right choice as the evil giant came back, snatched me off the window sill and placed me on the desk as he finished gathering supplies.

I refrained from mentioning that I couldn’t carry a giant sized list. At least he wrote in a language I could read. Repeating each line as he wrote them; very considerate.

“Oh!” he said halfway through, “There are some more common components I’m running low on, if you can’t find them all don’t stress about it.”

His new calm, almost friendly attitude was freaking me out! Speaking as if I was his regular delivery boy, and not someone he was inclined to eat for dinner just 15 minutes prior!

“Make sure you visit The King’s Treasury first, I’ll notify them of your visit. You need a Treasury Seal to purchase things, as you won’t have the coin with you, and the merchants don’t know you and thus wouldn’t be inclined to sell you some of the rarer items even if you did. Not without considerable mark-up.”

The treasury!?

“And finally,” he looked down at me. There was more than a glint of hunger in those eyes.

“The Library. You will be heading to the Mystical Archives, they will be expecting you, but tell them your name and that you are in search of the following items: First, 27th page of the 12th book on the 3rd shelf of the nearest bookcase right of the door to the section on hyper-natural phenomenon”

“Why-?” but he narrowed his eyes. Yep. not going to question it.

“And a copy of A Nation of Ash Volume 5: Compendium of the Historical and All Too True Sorcery of the Kingdom of AniDeva in the 4th Era Following The Pheonix Storm With A Thorough Index of Relevant Spells and Enchantments By Omexaryl Othar Odelis, Grand Magister of the Realm (3rd Edition)”

Was that even a real book?

It suddenly occurred to me this could be a wild cockatrice chase.

The list was complete, and he blew on it with breath that shivered in the air, drying it instantly.

Then he folded it up, his eyes flashing orange every time he pressed in a crease. I just stood there as it got smaller and smaller until I could easily fit it in my bag.

“Don’t open the list indoors,” he said, handing it to me. I took it without thinking. “It’s not shrunken. It will fold back up itself.”

The trip back to the windowsill was only a few seconds and he did carry me. It wasn’t so bad now that he wasn’t playing the villain. He still didn’t like me, and I couldn’t blame him. We definitely got off on the wrong foot. Mostly my fault. But he did eat me…

That’s all in the past. I was ready to get on with my quest. Even if it was just shopping.

“If I may ask something, Sir-“

“Mr HaEsh” an eye twitched but didn’t flare. He hadn’t given me his name beforehand after all.

“Mr… Ha-Esh” … his name was ‘The Fire’, a bit on the nose.

“Where is the capital from here?”

My hair dried as he heaved a sigh right at my face.

“I couldn’t tell you. No, I really can’t. Just keep walking until out of the forest. Ask someone for a map or directions at the first town you come to.”

Before setting off, he gave me a satchel of provisions. I took this as a sign that he actually wanted me to succeed in my mission.

I thanked him for this chance and he just grunted. But the corners of his mouth twitched upwards slightly.

If I wasn’t on a quest I would have lingered in the garden! In the daylight it was incredible. I wanted to smell every flower, caress every leaf! Not the time.

I ran off.

—-

Finally he could breathe easy. And hope she didn’t burn down the woods on her way out. That… shouldn’t happen. The Mystic Woods was too powerful for even a developed Heedless Wrecker. It was more likely to hasten her exit, at least make that part of her quest uneventful.

Yonah would have loved to go downstairs, reheat his dinner, even drink the certainly flat mead, take a bath, dress his still aching wounds, and sleep all the rest of the day. And he would. But there were a few things to take care of.

Mainly one thing.

He returned to his desk and touched the filigree frame of the mirror and spoke.

“Please put me through to an Operator of His Majesty King Benyamin of Orr, on the request of His Royal Mage, Yonah HaEsh, designation phey-tef-dal-memi-gamil-gamil ” it was long but at least he didn’t have to make up a stupid rhyme. And Yet, if one didn’t say “please” it wouldn’t work at all. Mirrors.

It took a minute for someone to answer, but finally the familiar face of Nava Holtz materialized. Skin almost as dark as warm night night sky, and long black braids ornamented with gold and silver.

She had been an Apprentice Op when Yonah was first hired, assigned to him because none of the more senior Ops wanted to deal with the evil giant firewitch who, as far as the administration was concerned, was more trouble than he was worth. Working well with him earned her some fast promotions and Over the years he’d proven himself. Ops were less rude to his face at the very least. Nava was still his favorite, she had been so patient and kind with his adjusting to his new position.

Which is why he wished someone else had answered, he didn’t want her to deal with this bullshit. Of course, he could think of no one better.

“Yonah! It’s good to see you, oh my word” she gasped, “I heard you had to wrangle talleks.”

Actually, he was glad it was Nava, he didn’t feel up to polite formalities.

She had not failed to notice his sorry state.

“Oh, yes! Um… I’ll have the report later, you can let Marni know I got them to settle down. It wasn’t easy,”

“No, I can see that,” she said, her genuine concern was much appreciated.

In his full report he would mention how they resisted magical restrained, requiring him to physically wrestle them. With diamond claws and fangs, and jagged rocks sticking out of their fur, he was thankful to have only suffered lacerations and bruises. Once they calmed down, and thank fuck they spoke dwarvish (an ancient dialect, but it was sufficient), he burned some inscence and played a flute and off to slumberland they went.

One of them, the youngest, but the largest, wanted to remain awake. And the sleeping ritual only worked on bears who wanted it to. That would be interesting. And he should tell The King, but that wasn’t why he called. For now it sat by its parents, keeping vigil.

“I figured out who woke them,” he said, Nava’s eyes went wide, “and you’re not going to like it…”

He explained about the girl.

“Are you sure she’s Heedless?”

“Yes, I could smell it on her,”

“So if you unlocked Hindsight then…” he could practically hear her heart plummet to the floor.

“You didnt!”

Yonah grimaced, “I did… she’ll be at the treasury in a few days. The tasks I set her should help her think things through. It was a long list, she can’t wing it. And some of the items require special transport methods. She’ll have to plan. I copied the instructions I gave her, I’ll send them over. I trust you can contact the necessary guilds?”

Nava sighed, “Yes, of course. And you did the right thing. It’s just going to be a lot of paperwork.” In fact she was already writing as they spoke.

“The last thing she’ll be doing is a library quest. Two actually. Standard and Precision Exploratory. Can you put me through to Archivist Ahava?”

Nava stopped writing, “Don’t they hate you?”

“Yes,” exactly.

Nava smiled, “So you want them to deal with this. Fun. They are the best brownie for the job. Just don’t give them any grief.”

“I’ll try. And thanks, I’ll call again soon,” he smiled.

“Transferring call,” she said, smiling back, as she fiddled with her mirror set up.

The mirror swirled And went iridescent before resolving into shelves of book! Directly in view of a pile of that rose from largest to smallest.

“Oh me oh my this had better be good! I was in the middle of some important business, very important indeed!” the squeaky yet harsh voice belonged to a stout brownie with light grey-brown skin, straw like hair nearly bursting from its bun, and 4 jewel-like eyes. On their body they wore a fancy, flowing, but rather plain colored suit. And on their face they wore a scowl.

“/Yonah/,” Ahava never refused to be formal with him, and not out of familiarity. They climbed up the stack of books to sit facing the mirror.

“Ahava,”

Their lower left eye twitched as he too addressed them informally. He really shouldn’t, they were higher ranked… one of the highest ranked, Royal Mages.

“Fortune has once again done the disservice of connecting us so make it snappy, I have work to do! And what is the meaning of calling me looking like something a dragon chewed up and out”

Yonah grinned and Ahava’s scowl deepened, “Couldn’t be helped, I was wrestling Talleks. And don’t lie to me, I know for a fact you take tea at this time, for an hour.”

Two eyes narrowed and two eyes widened, their long fingers curled and uncurled.

“But I’ll get to the point. I encountered a Heedless Wrecker today, who needs to be taught the use of Foresight. I’ve sent her on a quest, and it includes the library,”

He explained to the increasingly annoyed Archivist, who was turning an amusing shade of blue.

“I cannot sign off on sending a Heedless into the catacombs! No way no how! There is not a single archivist trained to handle such things!”

Yonah raised his brows and blinked a smile.

“No no no! Out of the question! I will turn her away, yes I will! See if I don’t!”

“But I really do need that book. Otherwise I’ll have to come myself.”

That earned him a glare from all four eyes. Yonah could see the gears turning in their head. Thanks to his status as a dangerous magical entity, he had to be under escort when visiting The Archive. The King required Ahava to be that escort. It was either him or Goldie.

“I gave her a list of items to get for me, several of them are actually for her use in the catacombs’ challenges.”

All but one of the eyes closed as Ahava crossed their arms, taking deep breaths.

“Fine, I’ll do it. I got nothing better to do, and it’s been a while since I went on an adventure. Now, I must get back to my tea. Yes I must”

They disconnected without another word.

It would take at least a few days for Goldie to reach the capital. He had time to take a bath, eat, and change into a soft nightgown before using the Magic Pantry to send the quest details to Nava.

Along with a loaf of bread small enough to share with the entire Ops Team.

[FIN]

[Thanks for reading! please reblog/message me with feedback! for more mystic woods go to vore-scientist.tumblr.com/tagged/+mystic+woods+story or search ‘mystic woods story’ on my blog! For thief stories only search “MW Thieves”]

[stranger-who-writes-fiction]

Leviathan Rising (But like, not THAT Leviathan Rising)

Fandom: Supergirl Rating: K+/T Summary: Someone’s after Supergirl! ...Oh, no, wait. They’re after...Kara Danvers? And Kara decides to play along. A/N: I have blatantly ripped off the plot of Bendis’ recent Leviathan Rising Superman Special to write a lil’ season five ‘what if’ fic. So uh. Spoilers, kinda? For the comic, and some season four stuff.

...

Kara was several blocks away from her apartment when she noticed that something was...off.

She paused, and made a show of fumbling for her phone, all the while listening intently to the group of...five? six? armed people currently gathered in her apartment.

“Maintain positions. Intel says she should be back within the hour.”

She frowned and took a deep breath, trying not to betray the sudden panic rising in her chest. Thoughts of Lex Luthor—specifically, his knowledge of her secret identity—flashed through her mind. She continued to stare at her lock screen while she focused her hearing on Alex's apartment, J'onn's office, L-Corp...

Nothing nefarious. Alex and Kelly were helping J'onn reorganize his bookshelves, and Lena was working late (again) but otherwise...no heavy boot falls. No hushed whispering of orders to 'maintain positions.'

She breathed a small sigh of relief, and listened back in on her own apartment, to see if she could learn anything more.

They weren't making much noise, and no one else in the building seemed to know they were there. So...professionals, probably. She glanced up from her phone and squinted in the direction of her building—to anyone else on the street, it would look like she was merely staring off into empty space.

X-ray and telescopic vision revealed light body armor—

She blinked. ...Light body armor?

She squinted again. They had weapons, but...they all looked fairly...standard. No power-dampening rods. No kryptonite...nothing that could subdue a Kryptonian.

And then it dawned on her.

She hastily returned her focus to her phone, and actually dialed this time, bringing the device up to her ear.

Alex answered on the second ring.

“Yeah?” Her sister's greeting was short, and it sounded as though Kara had caught her mid-laugh. She could hear J'onn and Kelly chuckling in the background as well.

“Hey. Uh...got a sec?” Kara asked, but she didn't wait to hear Alex's answer as she resumed walking down the street. “I think...I'm about to be kidnapped.”

Alex's laughter tapered off right quick.

“...What?”

“Or, abducted, I guess?” She came to a stop at the intersection, and waited patiently for the 'Walk' signal.  “There's like...six guys in my apartment right now. And I don't think they're there to steal my Ikea furniture.”

“Well...well do you need backup? Should I have J'onn—” Alex started to ask.

“No! No—I don't think...” Kara dropped her voice. “I don't think they know I'm Supergirl.”

There was a beat of silence.

“Oh.” Alex said, sounding a little...underwhelmed? “That's...different.”

“Right?”

“So...they're after...Kara Danvers?”

“I think so—they don't really seem...equipped, to handle a Kryptonian.” Kara couldn't keep the amusement from her voice as she said it—it was something of an understatement, really.

“So you're saying it's going to be a short fight.”

Kara hummed as she approached the entrance of her building.

“I dunno...I'm thinking I might go along with it?” She could hear her sister start to protest. “Think about it, Alex! If I just...knock them out, then we never learn why they were after me in the first place!” She had a few ideas; her “Aliens of National City” series had garnered quite a bit of praise, and even a few awards, but it had also earned her more than a few enemies. There were still plenty of Children of Liberty sympathizers out there, not at all deterred by the fact that the entire movement had been orchestrated by a genocidal psychopath.

“That's why we interrogate them, Kara.”

“I don't think NCPD is going to let us do that, Alex,” Kara reminded her. Alex huffed on the other end of the line.

“So I get the DEO to intervene.”

“And make Haley suspicious all over again? Alex, no.” Kara said it perhaps a bit more firmly than was strictly necessary, but Alex's sigh was understanding, as opposed to annoyed; neither of them wanted wanted to tempt fate, and risk a repeat of the memory wipe. Haley was much more agreeable now, certainly, and they would both just as soon keep it that way. “This is actually...much safer, if you think about it.”

“I am thinking about it, and it's a bad idea, Kara.”

“How is it a bad idea?” Kara demanded, “it's not like they can hurt me! And—look. I'll even put in my comm. They won't be looking for it—that way, we can keep in touch, and! Worst case scenario, you can track me. But there won't even be a worst case scenario,” she argued, already reaching into her coat pocket for the small, DEO-issued earpiece. “Okay, see? Comm is on. And in my ear.”

Alex grunted.

“I don't like this.”

“It will be fine.”

“...Whatever. You hail me on the comm the minute things go south, alright?”

“Things won't go south.”

“Kara.”

“Okay! Okay,” Kara agreed. “I gotta go. I don't see any bugs, but I'd rather play it safe. See! I'm being careful.”

“Honestly? I'm not worried about you not being careful. It's your terrible acting that has me concerned—”

Kara scoffed.

“My acting is great. Just ask Franklin.”

“Ten bucks says they see through it in under a minute.”

“I'm hanging up now.”

“What's—oh, J'onn says thirty seconds, and Kelly—”

“You guys are hilarious. Bye!” Kara hit the 'end call' button before any further snide comments could be made about her acting ability. She silently debated whether she should put her phone in her pocket, or her purse. She didn't really want these guys going through her coat, but then, they'd probably check it regardless.

She climbed the stairs to her apartment, all the while going over the specifics of her entrance. How fast was too fast, in terms of turning the key in the lock? Should she put her purse on the side table before, or after turning on the light? Should she turn the light on at all? Oh, maybe they'd cut the power...that's how it usually went. ...In movies, anyway.

Once she reached her floor, she cast a quick glance at her apartment. Her earlier estimate of six was correct—two huddled in the kitchen, two in the living room, and two in the bedroom. All more or less hiding...well, she was sure they'd all consider it really effective hiding. And it probably was, if they'd been dealing with someone who didn't have x-ray vision.

She dug through her purse for her keys, and dropped them for good measure. They clattered loudly against the concrete flooring in the hall—she complained equally loudly about dropping them.

“Gosh darn it!” she said.

“Get ready,” she heard the nearest abductor command. She smiled to herself, before replacing it with an annoyed frown as she jiggled the keys in the lock.

“Gosh darn keys, gosh darn door,” she muttered, making sure it was under her breath and directed at herself. She couldn't let on that she knew anyone was actually in the apartment.

The door swung open; a rectangle of orange light spilled into the darkened dining area. She set her purse aside, and went to turn on the lights.

The switch clicked on, but the apartment remained dark.

Knew it, she thought, somewhat smugly.

She flicked the switch a few times, and sighed in exasperation.

“I just replaced these bulbs,” she could hear them behind her. She shook her head, and started to turn. “That's what I get for buying off brand—oh, God!” She yelled, loud, but not too loud—she didn't want to endanger any of her neighbors by drawing them with necessary, over-dramatic screams.

Her abductors seemed to have the same idea. The one closest to her surged forward, and clamped a gloved hand on her mouth. A taser dug into her side. It was...uncomfortable, but very clearly calibrated for a human.

“It's not working!”

“What??”

Kara mentally cringed. She'd been so caught up in putting on a convincing performance, she'd forgotten to let the taser ‘knock her out.’

“Well, increase the voltage then!”

“No, no! Not that high, you idiot, we want her ali—”

The second round was definitely stronger. She yelped, and made a show of slumping to her knees, before pitching forward on the floor. A slight buzzing sounded in her right ear.

...Odd... she thought. She was fine, so why—

“Check her pockets. And her pulse,” one of them ordered. She bit back an annoyed huff as one of them pawed at her coat (and her neck, in that order)—just as unpleasant as she'd imagined.

The buzzing was really starting to concern her. What was that?

“Alright, get the zip ties and hood, and let's move out.” Her hands were roughly wrenched behind her, and a coarse, dark hood was thrown over her face. Her glasses were knocked askew, but remained on her nose, if somewhat precariously. That was good.

What was less good, was the realization as to what that buzzing sound was.

The comm.

The taser had been dialed up, and had fried the electronics.

As the mysterious abductors dragged her from her apartment (“Aw, geez, she's...she's really heavy? What is she, all muscle or something?”) all she could think about...was how pissed Alex was going to be.

Pretending to be dead weight was much harder than Kara anticipated.

“Would you quit—you're gonna drop her—!”

“I told you, she's really—”

“Just let me do it—oh. Uh. She is...wow, she is like. Solid.”

“That's what I said!”

“Where does a nationally-recognized journalist find the time to get jacked—”

“Enough. Set her down on the chair already!”

Kara had to fight against the reflexive urge to tense as they maneuvered her into an upright position on a flimsy, but most definitely uncomfortable folding chair. As she slumped forward, straining against the zip ties, she listened for any other clues as to her location.

...Lots of...rushing water? In pipes, it sounds like. That wasn't a problem, necessarily, but the constant sound of water would make it hard to pick up other sounds, if she wasn't actively searching for them.

Still. Not a big deal.

Someone roughly yanked the hood off her head. She was bent forward, so she hoped no one would see as she scrunched her nose, in an attempt to keep her glasses in place. Then again, if anyone noticed, or commented, she could pretend to be coming around. The place certainly smelled like it was somewhere wet—the damp, dank scent of mildew permeated her sinuses. Her reaction was, in a way, almost genuine.

“Should we wake her up?”

“Nah, let the boss handle that.”

Kara listened as the sound of their footsteps over wet concrete gradually faded. She remained bent forward, 'unconscious', and wondered how long she'd have to hold her position. Her muscles wouldn't fatigue and strain, the way a human's might—but it would potentially seem strange to her captors, if this went on for too long. She'd have to...maybe slump in the other direction, or...?

Fortunately, she didn't have to internally deliberate on that topic any further, as a new pair of footsteps drew closer. And closer still, until the new stranger was standing directly in front of her.

Another set of footsteps followed, but whoever that was hung back a bit. Something snapped...like a clasp on a...case?

“Alright, give that to me. We're going to wake her up.”

Or like a clasp on a holster, Kara thought, and started to fidget. She didn't want to have to explain why the gun shattered when they tried to pistol whip her.

“Uh...wha...huh?” she blinked and shook her head. There was that snap sound again—they'd holstered the gun. “Wha...where...?” She looked around and sat up. Slowly, of course. “Oh. Oh God—”

“Now now, Miss Danvers, there's no need to panic.” Kara stared at the woman she had to assume was 'the boss.' Tall, tan, and...was that...was that an eye patch? “You're safe. For now.”

No. Upon closer inspection—Kara threw in some exaggerated wincing and squinting—it looked more like a kind of...metal plate, fitted close to the woman's skin.

“Where am I?” Kara asked. That was...that was a good first question, for this kind of situation, right?

“Still in America,” the woman answered. “I'm afraid I can't be any more specific.”

“How...how do I know...you aren't lying?” Kara countered, adding a slight tremor to her words.

“You don't,” the woman said with a shrug. “But I will say this: I'm not really interested in you, Miss Danvers. So I don't see the point in lying. Much less effort to simply be a bit...vague.”

“They just arrived with the package, Miss Bordeaux,” the woman's associate spoke up. Kara looked over at him for the first time, and was shocked to see just who it was.

“Floyd Lawton?” Kara exclaimed, with genuine surprise.

“Ah. I see you're...familiar, with my friend, here.” The woman—or, Bordeaux, as Floyd had called her—didn't seem too concerned. But Floyd certainly didn't look happy. He scowled at Kara.

“It’s Deadshot,” he snarled.

Kara was going to press for more information, starting with how Floyd—Deadshot—escaped from prison, seemingly unnoticed,  but at that point, a trio of...guards, maybe? arrived with a large metal case.

“I'm going to apologize in advance, Kara. May I call you Kara?”

No. “I don't—”

“You weren't exactly our first choice of hostage. In fact, you weren't even on the list,” Bordeaux explained as she nodded to the guards. One of them lifted the metal case, while the other moved to open it. Kara eyed it with her x-ray vision, and was dismayed to discover that it was lined with lead. That was never a good sign. “Lena Luthor. James Olsen. Your sister. They were on the list. You? You were. A last minute suggestion. Provided by a mutual acquaintance, actually. Snapper Carr.”

Kara, who, up until this very point, had been making sure to appear out of sorts, suddenly found herself sitting bolt upright, her heart hammering in her chest.

“What?”

Bordeaux ignored her question. “You've seen the headlines lately, right? Of course you have; you’re a reporter. ‘Mysterious 'Leviathan' Strikes Again’.”

Kara was still stuck on Snapper. Snapper? What...had they kidnapped Snapper too? Or...or...oh Rao. Was Snapper...working for them?

Whoever this 'them' was?

“I...I've...yes,” Kara said, though in all honesty, it wasn't exactly something on her radar. Neither hers, nor Supergirl's. All the reports seemed to indicate that 'Leviathan' was just...a criminal organization. Like Intergang, minus the stolen alien tech.

Leviathan was on her to-do list, sure.

...But it was. Low on her to-do list.

“I want Leviathan,” Bordeaux said as a guard pulled the lid from the case. Kara nearly groaned out loud as a green glow shined from within. “And Leviathan wants Supergirl. You see where I'm going with this, right?”

Not really. “So, you...?” Kara could feel her stomach start to churn, and that terrible, terrible burn. “You...you want...”

“Snapper said you know the Girl of Steel. That you have some way of contacting her, to get interviews.” The guard withdrew what looked like a fairly standard flak jacket. But situated in the center was a large chunk of—what else!—kryptonite. “But even if you didn't, I'm willing to be she'd bet the first person your network of associates would call in the event of your capture.”

“She...she won't come. She'll...know it's a trap,” Kara argued feebly. She no longer had to pretend to be weak and worried. She was now both.

“...How unfortunate for you,” Bordeaux shrugged as she nodded to the guards. They cut the zip ties from her wrists, and wrangled her into the flak jacket, before cuffing her again.

Kara was frantically going over her options, even as a cold sweat broke out on her forehead. She'd fought through kryptonite poisoning before. She...she could get out of this, but she'd have to wait. Wait until they left her alone.

But...wait. Why... why had she said...’unfortunate?’

The sound of rushing water grew louder.

Kara's shoulders drooped. Oh.

That was why.

“We'll make sure to drain the room once Supergirl arrives,” Bordeaux assured her as water began to bubble up from the grates in the floor. “It was nice meeting you, Kara. Oh! And if you could do me a small favor...”

Kara swallowed audibly as Bordeaux leaned close, and smiled.

“Tell Supergirl...Checkmate.”

With that, Bordeaux and her men left the room, slamming the door shut with a resounding THUD. Kara could both hear and see the metal locks sliding into place.

Not a problem. Not a problem.

She repeated that to herself, over and over, as the water level continued to rise, and as the kryptonite sat heavy and hot on her chest. She'd broken out of chains. Taken a bullet to the shoulder! All while exposed to kryptonite. This...this was nothing!

She experimentally tugged at her restraints. Standard metal cuffs. Okay. Okay! She...she could do this.

She gritted her teeth as she felt the water pool around her ankles. Focus. Focus.

She grunted and pulled her arms apart, as far as her strength would allow.

...Nothing.

She huffed angrily, blowing a stray bit of hair out of her face. The kryptonite continued to make her entire body throb in pain. Rao damn it, she hated this stuff.

Again, she told herself, mustering strength and yanking at the cuffs.

Nothing.

Again!

Nothing.

Again!

*Clink*

Kara grinned. The water was up to her knees, but she felt the metal start to give. She took a deep breath. One more time.

She pulled against the cuffs. The metal piece holding them together snapped. She nearly laughed in relief. She was free!

...Kind of.

She fumbled with the straps on the vest, her movements clumsy and slow, but she eventually managed to tug it off.

She looked around, trying to find a place to throw it. Or...maybe put it back in the lead lined case? Yeah, that would probably be best place for it...

She looked around the small room, which was still rapidly filling with water. It was now above her waist. The guards...they had left the case, right?

She took a deep breath and plunged under the cold water, and forced her eyes open. The water was murky, and the room wasn't exactly well lit...but a quick, cursory glance revealed that...the case was nowhere to be found.

Kara surfaced, and sputtered.

“Great,” she hissed. “Just. Perfect.”

She threw the vest as far away from her as she could manage. It wasn't a large room; it did not go far. She could still feel the rock's effects.

Ignore it. Push it down. Fight through it. She told herself. She needed to find a way out of this room. The door, obviously, seemed like the obvious choice.

But she could hear guards. She squinted at the door. Maybe, if she could time it right, when the hallway was clear...

Her x-ray vision flickered. She saw...maybe two or three guards before that particular power gave out completely.

Okay, so. That option was probably a no. She didn't feel like explaining how Kara Danvers managed to escape from handcuffs and knock down a solid metal door.

She shook her head. If only there was a convenient window to jump out of.

...Or. Maybe. Out wasn't the operative word, but rather, up.

She eyed the ceiling. That...would be messy. But these guys were counting on Supergirl to show up, right? So...a little hole in the ceiling would be easy to explain away. Expected, even.

It would take a lot of her reserves of strength, though. It would kinda be...a 'one shot' situation.

She balled her fists, and made up her mind.

Here we go.

She jumped, rather than flew, hoping to retain just enough strength to remain mostly invulnerable as she tore through the concrete above.

She braced for the hit, but whatever she'd been expecting—Rebar, metal pipes, electrical wires—it was not what slammed into her at full, icy force, sending her tumbling back down in a watery spiral.

As she floundered and winced and struggled to surface, she realized that the 'rushing water' sound had not been coming from pipes.

The facility itself...was completely submerged.

ELSEWHERE, EARLIER

Alex wasn't worried.

Alex wasn't worried, because these past several months had taught her something: she could trust that her loved ones could take care of themselves. She didn't have to...have to constantly concern herself with their safety.

So she wasn't worried.

...Definitely, totally not worried.

“You're worried,” Kelly said, in an accusing tone.

“...Only a little,” Alex countered, and took a sip of wine. J'onn chuckled.

“That's progress,” he said, admiring his newly reorganized bookshelves. “I'm sure Kara's fine, Alex.”

“I know,” Alex said, and when Kelly raised an incredulous eyebrow, she insisted, “I do! I know she's probably fine! Logically. Emotionally, I'm still. Not quite. ...There yet. But I will. Get there. Promise.” Both J'onn and Kelly shared a knowing look, but didn't question Alex's assurance. “...I shouldn't check her comm, right? No. Of course not. Because she’s fine.”

“Check her comm, Alex. If only so you see how ridiculous you're being,” J'onn said as he sat down at his desk. Alex rolled her eyes, and grabbed her phone.

She was in the process of pulling up her secured DEO connection when the screen lit up with an incoming call.

LENA LUTHOR

Alex frowned. Lena?

She hit the green 'answer' button and greeted her friend. “Hi...Lena? What—”

“Someone's using kryptonite,” came the flat, quick reply. Alex blinked, caught entirely off guard.

“What are you—kryptonite? What—”

“Given the nature of...some of my research...I thought it best to install something similar to the DEO's K-radiation detection system—a far more advanced, precise detection system, obviously. And that system picked up trace amounts of K-radiation, within a hundred miles of the coast. So I thought...I should let you know.”

“Oh, that's...okay. Thanks, I...” it took Alex a moment to process the information, especially considering she hadn't really be expecting a call like this. But she found herself less interested in the revelation of k-radiation usage...and far more concerned with Lena's...almost apathetic? tone. “I'll...I'll have the DEO look into it. But, Lena...are you...alright? You sound...weird...”

“I'm fine,” Lena said sharply, “...I have to go.”

The call ended before Alex could say goodbye.

“...That...was definitely weird,” Alex muttered. J'onn leaned forward.

“What are you going to have the DEO look into, Alex?” he asked. Alex shook her head.

“K-radiation. Somewhere off the coast. I...oh, great, I didn't think to ask—” Alex didn't finish her thought; a text message with coordinates popped up on her phone. “...Never mind.”

“K-radiation? Should you warn Kara?” Both Kelly and J'onn were standing.

“...Yeah. Yes. Yes,” Alex told herself she could deal with Lena’s weird behavior later, and focused instead on the current problem. “Here, I'll pull up her comm, and—”

The secured DEO connection was up and running, displaying a list of active communication devices.

Kara's wasn't on it.

“...Oh, you've got to be kidding me,” Alex grumbled. J'onn, who was by now looking over her shoulder at her phone screen, and shook his head.

“Well. I guess you were right to worry.”

SOMEWHERE UNDER WATER, NOW

So. That had gone...badly.

Water was now coming up from below, and spilling in from above.

And there was kryptonite floating around...somewhere. It was too dark to see, and Kara was too busy treading water to look for it. Treading water, and trying to decide the best course of action.

She could just...risk her secret identity, and break down the door...but that wouldn't change the fact that the facility would continue to flood, due to the, ah...leak that she’d caused, AND she'd have to deal with guards. Many, many guards.

The other option was...attempt to swim up and out. Deceptively simple. No guards, no risk of exposing her secret identity...

But it would be swimming. Which meant holding her breath, and working against the crushing force of the incoming water AND the increased pressure that came with being this far below sea level.

She was already at half strength. And while she might have retained some of her invulnerability...Kryptonians still had to breathe, for all of their other impressive, super-human abilities.

So. Door, or swim?

Precious seconds were ticking by. She was already basically out of time, with just inches of space left above water.

Well, the more distance I put between me and the kryptonite, the greater chance I have of...not dying...Kara reasoned, taking one last gulp of air before she was really out of time.

The cold water closed in, and now she could see, at least a bit more clearly, the menacing glow of the kryptonite below.

Which cinched it.

She pushed up against the crushing pressure, kicking as hard as her remaining strength would allow.

This is fine, this is fine...just a quick swim, she told herself, even as she felt the acute crush against her rib cage. And that intense press on her lungs drew her entire focus—she couldn't think about how far underwater she was, or where in the world the facility was located. 'Still in America,' if Bordeaux was to be believed. So. Not international waters.

Doesn't matter...if you can't make it...to the surface...Kara thought desperately. Her muscles ached, and her body was telling her, hey...oxygen would be great.

Could Kryptonians get the bends? No, no—Clark kept a spare Fortress in the Bermuda Triangle...but then. He probably never traveled there during a bout of kryptonite poisoning.

Her vision was starting to go grey at the edges. She kept kicking, kept pushing against water. Her body's polite request for oxygen had become an insistent  demand. Oxygen. NOW.

She paddled, and kicked. The water seemed endless. The grey at the edge of her vision was now pulsing black spots, and there was a troubling pounding behind her eyes.

She didn't know what was more distressing; the threat of imminent, inevitable death, or the fact that Alex had been right about how this plan was going to go—which was to say, south.

She was barely kicking now, and her arms felt heavy—she wasn't moving forward so much as floating. She struggled, willing her body to keep going, just a bit farther...

One final kick. One desperate flail upwards.

Her hand broke the surface.

Adrenaline gave her a spurt of energy to surge upwards. She broke the surface and at last, at last, took a deep, grateful breath of air. And Rao, it felt good.

But.

She didn't have enough strength to keep treading water. She felt herself slipping back under. She clamped her mouth shut, but not before swallowing enough water to make her throat seize.

No, no! Don't...don't open your mouth! She struggled not to gag, and to get back up to the surface. She was so close!

In something of a panic, she reached out, almost like...if she could just get her hand above water, she could...she could grab onto something...!

Which was crazy. 

But, to her complete and utter shock, that was exactly what happened.

“Oh my God, Kara.”

“Hrk—cough—nnnrg. I know.”

“Oh my God, Kara!”

“I know,” Kara repeated, lying flat on her back on land. Glorious land. “Li—cough,cough—sten. Listen. It's not—not like I  could've known they ha—cough. Krypto—cough—nite cough.” She was still in the process of trying to expel salt water from her lungs. “They didn’t--they didn’t even know--that kryptonite would affect me! It was a trap for Supergirl! Cough.”

“This...this is not helping. With the anxiety,” Alex tilted her head back and sighed. Loudly. “It's doing the opposite, Kara. The exact opposite.”

“I can't sense anyone down there,” J'onn interrupted, walking up the beach. He was still in his Martian form, having rescued the floundering Kryptonian about a mile or two out from the shore. “My guess is that they evacuated the facility after you punched a hole in it.”

“So, what. Supergirl was supposed to use the front door?” Kara joked weakly. Alex shot her an unimpressed look. “Alex, come on. This...this was a fluke.”

“A pretty dangerous fluke,” Alex argued.

“Admittedly, yeah,” Kara sat up with an audible groan. “But. I...did learn something. I think,” she said. “Something about that Leviathan group.”

Alex and J'onn looked at her in surprise. “You got information on Leviathan?”

“Not much,” Kara shrugged. “But. I know they're making some pretty powerful enemies...and they're definitely not fans of Supergirl. So I think...this just took top priority, on my to-do list.” She punctuated her point by standing—or, trying to. She needed Alex's assistance.

“You owe me ten bucks,” Alex said, slipping an arm around Kara’s shoulders.

“Uh, no I don't,” Kara said.

“Uh, yeah you do. I said it'd go south. It went south.”

“You said they'd see through my acting.”

“Same thing.”

“No! J'onn, tell her it's not the same thing.”

“I'm not getting involved,” J'onn said, though he did move to Kara's other side as they continued up the beach, helping her walk on the uneven terrain.

“My acting was great.”

“You had kryptonite poisoning.”

“It's called method acting.”

“Are you two...going to bicker the entire way back?” J'onn asked. Alex and Kara glanced at each other, and, in near perfect unison, answered.

“Yes.”

FIN

Notes:

Leviathan and Checkmate are both secret organizations within the DC comics universe. Currently, a new Leviathan is running around in the Super books, potentially unrelated to Talia al Ghul’s Leviathan.

Clark’s new Fortress in the comics is located in the Bermuda Triangle. And! In the New 52, Kara had an underwater Fortress of sorts.

Snapper Carr and Deadshot were, in fact, both members of Checkmate.

I was originally going to use Valentina Vostok as 'the boss' but apparently she's already appeared on Legends of Tomorrow. So we get Sasha Bordeaux instead. (Amanda Waller is technically the 'Queen' of Checkmate, but again. Didn't want to use a character that had appeared elsewhere in the Arrowverse.)

I am aware of the similarities to some stuff that happens in the season 2 episode “Alex” but this fic was more inspired by the kryptonite drowning scene from Superman (the movie).

This fic operates under the assumption that Kelly knows Kara's secret.

All grammar/spelling mistakes are mine.

This makes the second longer-fic in a row where I’ve put poor Kara through the wringer. I will be kinder in the next one. ...Maybe.

[sailorzakuro]

MY BIG STRICTLY PARTY POST OF THE 2019 FINAL

Hi I’m shitting Kelvin and Oti won KELVIN AND FUCKING QUEEN OTI WON I cannot believe it I would have been happy with ANY of them but ngl I had a soft spot for Kelvin and Oti and THEY ONLY WENT AND DID IT. THEY BLOODY WON IT. You know when you watch the launch show and you look at them all and you think “I wonder which one of them will be the winner?”, WELL TURNS OUT NONE OF THEM COS KELVIN DID IT HE WON I AM SO HAPPY. K now for the content here we go...

Karim and Amy (Quickstep) - OH THIS WAS SO MUCH MORE ENJOYABLE SECOND TIME ROUND. I mean there was NOTHING wrong with it last time but it just had a tad more flair to it this time, WELL DESERVED 40.

Emma and Anton (Charleston) - Judges put her right in it giving her a recently high scored dance but it was a treat to see her do it just with Anton XD. Not much improvement but it was pretty good the last time anyway, just nice to watch rather than a progression but that wasn’t Emma’s fault at all.

Kelvin and Oti (Rumba) - SHIT BEAR WITH ME NEED TO PREPARE TO TALK ABOUT THE WINNERS K HERE WE GO. I have to say Kelvin definitely got more of the Rumba flow this time around, it was great! Him and Oti’s chemistry and partnership has really grown over the series which is VERY evident in this dance and it was one of the best male Rumbas to date.

Karim and Amy (Showdance) - I SAW NOTHING WRONG WITH IT CRAIG HUSH. Karim really put his soul into this dance and he and Amy executed it BEAUTIFULLY it was amaziiiiiiing this really showed his natural talent and his performance abilities.

Emma and Anton (Showdance) - K yeah I agree with Craig on the synchronisation issues but she looked like she was enjoying it SO much, it suited them so so so sooooo well and it was really enjoyable!

Kelvin and Oti (Showdance) - I ACTUALLY GOT TIRED JUST WATCHING THIS FUCK IT WAS LIKE THEY WERE ON FAST FORWARD. This dance may have been why he won lmao NOT COMPLAINING IT WAS EVERYTHING. LITERALLY. Perfect is all I can say wow.

Karim and Amy (Jive) - AMY’S HAIR WAS MORE LIKE TRACY’S THAN PENNY’S THIS TIME THANK FUCK. All that needed improving from last time lmao perfect yet again.

Emma and Anton (Viennese Waltz) - CRAIG YOU STINGY SHIT GIVE EM A 10 THAT WAS BEAUTIFUL. She looked so much more relaxed, their chemistry was amazing, that was Emma’s best dance ever. She ended on such a good note.

Kelvin and Oti (Samba) - K yeah it still didn’t beat Danny’s Samba with Oti but IT WAS PRETTY DARN FUCKING CLOSE holy crap I am SO happy they chose to do this again!! I thought they wouldn’t cos WHO LIKES THE SAMBA but fuck it was amazing we love you Kelvin AND WE LOVE YOU OTI it had flow it had bounce it had ACTION it was just the BEST dance to possibly end the series on. Also it was difficult to not see that dance through the eyes of “OH SO THIS IS HOW KELVIN’S GONNA DANCE OKAY” I always associate that dance with him being the newcomer who got everyone shook but he won the series with it sooooo... XD.

And now we move on to... THE LOSERS DANCE. MY FAVOURITE PART OF EVERY SERIES. Although now I’m tempted to call it the rejects group like Anneka did XD. They came out in ORDER this time, thank you XD. James and his pancakes, ICONIC, Anneka was clearly itching to get back in that dress and rip Dev and Dianne gone too soon man GONE TOO SOON. I wish David had his Batman mask on tho rip. CATHERINE AND JOHANNES MY LOVELYS I LOVED SEEING THEM BEYONCE IT UP AGAIN honestly I stan that friendship we love we really love. I loved everyone passing the towels for V.Emma and Aljaz like their most iconic moment was TOWELS XD. WILL MY MAN WILL CAME BACK WE LOVE I stg on ITT they said Will’s training for Tokyo 2020 then they had a special guest, and then... Will was just there?? Like honestly I was expecting Jamie fucking Laing to show up but no I guess the special guest was Will but I expected him to be there anyway so?? LOL MIKE RIDING THAT POLE AGAIN WAS ICONIC I was half expecting another conga to break about but oh well XD. MICHELLE BROUGHT BACK THE VOGUING WE STAN A QUEEN WHO WILL KEEP VOGUING DESPITE NO SOD LIKING IT WE LOVE DEDICATION. Saffron’s most iconic moment was... a typical Paso move?? Okay... ANYWAY Alex and Neil were just bopping in front of some gospel singers honestly the opportunity to have Kevin shove Neil out the way was RIGHT THERE and nobody took it I’m mad. AND OMG WHEN MY LOVELY RAMSEY CAME OUT I SCREAMED WE FUCKING LOVE CHRIS RAMSEY IT’S LIKE HE NEVER WENT AWAY YES CHRIS WE LOVE YOU. And that was the end of the losers dance, this has been a written description by me and we stan Chris and Karen.

And now on to... THE CROWNING MOMENT. THE WINNING MOMENT. Honestly seeing them all stood there with Emma and Anton in the middle I thought they were gonna win. I STILL WOULD HAVE BEEN ABSOLUTELY BUZZING, but I thought it would be them. And I have to be honest, if it were Karim and Amy I would have half expected it. If it were Emma and Anton I would have half expected it. BUT FOR SOME REASON I DIDN’T THINK KELVIN AND OTI WOULD WIN IDK WHY. He was clearly very popular and an actual talented dancer, idk maybe I thought because he was my VERY SLIGHT preference he wouldn’t win. BUT HE DID. FUCK.

I LEGIT CRIED I HAD NO IDEA I HAD SO MANY EMOTIONS REGARDING KELVIN AND OTI BUT LIKE I CRIED XD. I cried like Kelvin’s dad OH WE STAN WARREN I WANT HIM ON NEXT YEAR. Him and Jamie Laing XD. Motsi was bawling, Warren was bawling, Liz was bawling AND SO WAS I FUCK. I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy about a Strictly winner as I am these two. VERY WELL FUCKING DESERVED.

All I wanna say now is thank you to ANYONE who has read these incredibly biased reviews of mine XD. I’ve loved FINALLY expressing my love of Strictly without fearing judgement of loving a show that’s “for the elderly”, and this fandom is so amazing and so welcoming. To anyone that has replied to me once or even become a friend, THANK YOU. I’ve loved this year and I can’t wait to do this again next year. AND DON’T THINK I WON’T BE DOING ONE FOR THE CHRISTMAS SPECIAL BECAUSE I AM btw I may be incredibly biased to Dianne SORRY BUT OTI AND KAREN BOTH MADE IT REALLY FAR SO MY FAVOURITE CHRISTMAS PRO IS DIANNE XD. I shall see you after Christmas then!! <3 <3 <3

[phantomphangphucker]

Goo And A Letterman Jacket - Phic Phight

Prompt Creator: @all-hail-trash-prince Prompt: Danny gets stuck in human form, but can still use his ghost powers. Now he has to find a way to disguise himself while still protecting his town. Summary: Danny finally has to cosplay as himself while trying and failing to seem like a regular human.

No warnings apply. Let Danny say fuck

“Oh hey would you look at that. Isn’t this just dandy. I absolutely love it. Just fabulous”, Danny grumbles as he repeatedly tries and fails to transform into Phantom while staring at his reflection in the bathroom mirror. Eventually tossing his hands up he opts to head back to his room.

Grumbling as he goes to fetch his hey-look-it’s-Phantom emergency box. Complete with a well-made jumpsuit, white wig, green contacts and sunglasses. “Honestly, I’m amazed it took 4 years for this bullshit to happen”, he doesn’t even bother trying it all on, knowing full well it all already fits. He tried it all on as soon as he got it all. “My glow is the only thing I can’t replicate, but of all the things why would anyone notice that”, he slips his replica jumpsuit on and then puts his regular clothing over top. Green wife beater, black military pants, black leather jacket and white doc martins. He opts for full black gloves rather than his usual fingerless gloves, to hide his white jumpsuit gloves. Looking himself over in the bedroom mirror, “yeah this'll do”. He shoves the wig and sunglasses in his bag, “it’s not like I can speed put on contacts so just my sunglasses will have to do for any emergency changing”. With that he hops down the stairs to have a quick breakfast before heading to school. On his bus ride there, because it’s just not worth the risk or effort to “change”, he thinks back on how this utter crap came to be.

—flashback—

“Why don’t you give it a rest boxy? This is what? The eighth time today? Do I really have to keep shipping you off?”, Danny sighs as he shoots yet another ectoblast at The Box Ghost. “NEVER GHOST BOY! FOR MY FEARSOME MIGHT SHALL HAUNT YOU ALL!”, The Box Ghost shouts as he throws three boxes at Danny, which Danny easily dodges. Floating sideways, Danny sighs into his hand as he uncaps his thermos, “you need a time out”, as he sucks The Box Ghost in yet again. Not even two seconds after tucking his thermos away he gets coated in green goo. “What in the-”, he gets cut off by Jack excitedly yelling. “Look Mads! I got him!”, Maddie runs up and hugs him before speaking while Danny mutters “Oh fuck”.

“Congrats honey! Now that filthy ectoplasmic scum can’t bother Amity any more! It won’t even be able to leave the GZ!”, Danny barely hears the end of Maddie’s praising of Jack as he just fucking runs; realising he’s turned back to Fenton unintentionally. He dashes inside a bathroom praying to all high hells that the goo covered his appearance, “holy shit, thank Phantom”. Danny pants as he starts wiping off all the goo. “Well either this doesn’t work or its not supposed to hurt. Which is hella weird for my parents”, shaking his head, he gives himself a pat-down making sure nothing looks wrong. “Ok...other than suddenly transforming, nothing is off. Like at all”, sticking his head out the bathroom, he looks around before ducking into an alley. Peaking around the corner he sees his parents following the trail of goo muttering all the while.

“I just don’t get it Jack, the ghost boy should have dissolved from that?”

“And I’m sure all the calculations were right! Maybe that one really is different from all the others?”

“That’s the only explanation we’ve got, for now”

Danny watches his mother shake her head as the couple head back to the RV, “they were tying to dissolve me?”. Blinking a couple times he gives himself another pat down, this time looking for even a hint of melting. “Well I guess I’ll chalk this up to the wonders of being a halfa, for now”, he opts to just walk home because he really doesn’t want to risk any possible melting.

He’s feeling pretty darn good by the time he gets home, so he decides fuck it and tries transforming in his room. Watching himself in the bedroom mirror and still looking completely human, “well fuck me sideways. Fuck me up and down, side to side, and against a wall”. Shaking his head, “well hopefully I can sleep this off, maybe I just need to recharge”. With that he flops down for a nights, hopefully peaceful, rest.

—return to the present—

He’s done his reminiscing by the time he’s at school. Walking up to his locker he sees both Sam and Tucker waiting for him, “well hello guys, isn’t today just fucking peachy”. Sam raises her eyebrow while Tucker snickers, “what happened to you dude? Waking on the wrong side of the GZ? Skulker steal your favourite blankets?”. Sam smirks, “Lunchlady steal all your cereal, again?”. Danny groans and slams his head into his locker before opening it, muttering all the while, “I fucking wish, I got doused in goo stuff and now”. Danny finishes his statement by pulling his shirt collar down enough for them to see his replica suit. “Dude, what? That’s got to be the backup, otherwise you’re are scary fast with hair dye. So what you can’t change? Dude that bites”, Danny groans even louder as he nods, slinging his backpack over his shoulder, after showing them the wig and glasses inside, since he needs to keep it with him for now.

Sam sighs, “well do you even know if you can still use any of your frying Pan stuff?”. Danny shrugs and rubs his neck awkwardly, “I guess that would be a good idea to check but my thermos is fine. So if I got to then I got to”. Sam shakes her head, “just use a damn wrist ray you idiot. Where’d the goo even come from?”. Danny groans again as they start heading to class, “parents, who else? Apparently, it was supposed to dissolve ghosts. Stuff didn’t even sting”. Danny looks around quickly and decides to just shoot Kwan’s laces with an ectobeam. After looking quite content with himself he blows imaginary smoke off his fingertip at Sam, who rolls her eyes at him before snickering, “well look at the bright side then Danny, at least you can still use your powers”. Danny smacks a hand on his chest in annoyance, “Yeah well now I have to go around pulling a damn superman if shit happens during the day”. Tucker scoffs at him and glares judgingly, “dude, learn your superheroes. I’m pretty sure you’ll be putting on, not taking off a pair of glasses”. Danny rolls his eyes as he takes his seat in front of Tucker, “fine, Spider-Man, happy?”. Tucker gives a smug nod as Mr. Lancer walks in. While Danny mutters under his breath, “Oh go eat grass, Tuck”.

It doesn’t take Danny long to realise there’s a bit of a problem, well more of a problem than there already was. As he’s noticing that he keeps having to force himself not to straight up float above his chair, instead of staying sitting in it. By the time first class is over he’s heard basically nothing in lue of focusing on not being a floaty boy and outing himself, which he failed at multiple times but went unnoticed. “So uh, I think this is even more of straight up piss and litter than I thought”, Danny groans to Sam and Tucker. “You aren’t going to just straight up suddenly change in class are you?”, Sam is more genuinely worried now. Danny shakes his head, “I don’t think so but I actually had to force myself not to float. Like how it is when I am frying Pan”. Tucker slaps Danny on the chest, “dude, maybe that shit like gave you full access as screaming Fan”. Danny glares at Tucker, “I fucking hope not Tuck, using shit is way too easy and basically second nature as frying Pan. It’ll be almost as bad as when I first got this shit but with more floating and at full strength”. Sam groans but also snickers a bit, “well hopefully everyone’s just as oblivious as 4 years ago”. As Tucker and Danny sits down for their second class, Danny mutters, “with my luck? Fuck that”.

Again, Danny spends most of the class focusing on not floating and being in general paranoid that his eyes might change colour. He, however, doesn’t get to do this through third class, as his ghost sense goes off half way through. “Oh fuck me, this is just fucking perfect. If this is boxy I will end him”, Danny mutters to himself as he just straight up walks out of class. He stopped bothering putting his hand up or asking to go, 2 years ago; he’d just leave whenever. Much to the annoyance of teachers but they knew he would leave anyway, so this was less of a distraction for the people who actually wanted to be there. Lancer was the only one who even still bothered to write down his sudden leaving, tardies or skipped classes, as he was the only who didn’t consider Danny a lost cause.

Once out of class Danny books it to the bathroom and speed changes, ripping off his clothing and phasing them into the ceiling. Yanking on the glasses and wig, he easily floats through the ceiling. Looking around he finds its Technus, “alright, I guess you’re my outlet for aggression on this fucking fine day”. Technus can see that Danny is not in the best mood but also notices his lack of glow, “ha! Ghost child you are weakened! You do not posses your healthy glow! But I Technus! Suffer no such weakness! For I-”, Technus is cut off as Danny just punches him in the face. “Hot tip techy, I’m never weak!”, Danny jeers as he ectoblasts apart the old computer Technus is holding, which he's sure is a discarded one from the library. Technus looks at his hands sadly before shouting, “it is no matter ghost child! For I will-”. Getting cut off again as he didn’t even see Danny float up to him and shoot him point blank. “You really should use your eyes”, Danny sighs as he sucks in Technus.

Danny shakes the thermos as he floats back into the bathroom, “well thank Phantom that was fast, and look at that! Totally god damn empty bathroom, nice”. Danny gets his stuff and changes back, but opts to just sit in the bathroom since there’s only 5 minutes left of class. He decides it’s probably best to test each of his not super destructive powers, to make sure they all work and to what level. “And that’s body manipulation. Well I’m not sure if I should be pleased or annoyed. All my powers seem to be functioning at full Phantom strength”, rubbing his eyes, “which while great for ghost fights, is not great for seeming like a normal fucking human”. Groaning he gets up and walks to the mirror just before the bell rings. Focusing his eyes, he tried to make them green with no luck, “well damn, still stuck with glasses it seems”. Tossing his hands up he phases out the bathroom door, stops and blinks, “Oh fuck”. Looking around he quickly determines no one saw shit and heads to his fourth class before lunch.

By fourth class, he’s feeling rather wiped, “so I’ve learned trying to force myself to be fucking regular while all frying Pan is not god damn fun”. Tucker chuckles as Danny slams his head against the table, “pretty sure you’re screaming Fan dude”. Which earns him an ectobeam to the knee, as Danny mutters into the table, “outside of looks, no I am not, might as well be frying Pan dressed up as screaming Fan”. Danny then snickers into the table, “I’m literally cosplaying myself, in two different ways”.

“Well if it isn’t Fentit? What you need your mommy to sing you a bedtime story so you can have a little nap?”, Dash comes up jeering, but Danny is just not having it so he doesn’t even bother lifting his head up as he flips Dash off. “Wow, you really do need a nap. Maybe this’ll help”, Dash goes to drop a textbook on Danny’s head but Danny straight up grabs Dash’s arm and strong man flings him over the table. All the while never even lifting his head up or moving anything other than one arm/hand, “I didn’t break him right?”. Sam and Tucker pat him on the shoulders, “all you broke was his ego. Which honestly should be shattered at this point”. Tucker nods, agreeing with Sam, “yeah with the number of times you’ve completely owned him, you’d think he’d give up”. Tucker looks down at Dash as he gets up and grumbles. As Dash walks away Danny can hear him bitterly mutter, “Why doesn’t freak turd just try out for football already”.

Thankfully, there isn’t anymore ghost that day as the final bell sounds. Meeting Sam and Tucker by his locker, “so let me guess, you want both of us to come over, help you figure out what slimed you and how to undo it?”. Danny slowly turns his head and gives Sam an over the top no-fucking-shit face. As Star approaches the trio, “ok, I don’t know what your deal is but the boys egos are too far up their asses so I’m just going to ask you”, the trio waits as Star stops inspecting her nails and puts a hand on on her hip before continuing. “Football try-outs are tomorrow, you are clearly packing muscle so be there, kay?”, Danny blinks a few times before responding. “Uh I ain’t much of a sports guy and do you seriously think I know the first thing about that”, Star shrugs as she walks off. Waving and looking over her shoulder, “just be there, doesn’t matter if you don’t know shit”. Once she’s out of sight Danny tilts his head back and groans, “Oh come on, I get it, but come on”. Tucker snickers as he pats his flat but not muscular stomach, “ah the joys of not being completely fucking ripped”. Sam smiles somewhat sympathetic, “I’m amazed it took them so long, you’re over 7 foot and a literal wall of muscle that knows no fear”. Danny throws his hands up, “except one fear! The fear of being caught, which will be kind of hard to avoid if I fucking break someone in a damn game!”. Sam and Tucker can’t help but laugh at their friends distress as they leave school.

They are treated by Maddie as soon as they get to Danny’s, “well hello kids! Always a pleasure to have you over. You’ll have to mind the mess though,  we’re trying to figure out why the Fenton gooster didn’t work”. The three nod as they step over a couple screwdrivers on the floor. “Uh so since there’s such a mess what is it this time?”, Danny asks as he recognises the odd rooster-shaped gun as the one that shot him. He’s gotten a lot better over the years to make it a point to know what anything new is. “Well it was supposed to dissolve ghosts, sweetie. Make it so they can’t hold a physical form and thus can’t leave the GZ. But that didn’t seem to happen with Phantom”, Maddie shakes her head confused before continuing, “but don’t you worry sweetie we’ll find away to keep those scum from coming here”.

Danny gives an awkward nod as the three go to his bedroom, “well shit, no way I can get my hands on it or it’s plans if they’re working on it”. Tucker taps his chin thoughtfully as Sam turns on the tv loud enough that they won’t be overheard, “well I think it’s safe to say you can’t be frying Pan because your ectoform or ghost form can’t physically manifest. Which is probably causing all your frying Pan ectoplasm to be more intermingled or whatever in you”. Danny groans as he flops on his bed, “which hopefully only comes with the negative side effect of having complete access to my ghost everything while still being screaming Fan”. Sam nods a bit worried, “it’s probably best you don’t stay like this for long. Who knows what else could happen from you being all half dissolved”. Danny nods as the three set to work trying to figure out how to get either the plans or the gun.

Eventually, they settle on getting them to chase Phantom and hoping they leave everything else behind, like they usually do when caught up in the hunt. “Whelp, this will either be really stupid or you guys have an hour”, with that Danny gets changed, contacts included, and flies out the wall. Making a point to fly right past the kitchen window, “look Mads he can even still fly! Maybe if we trap him we can figure out why?”, Maddie shrugs as she followers her excitable husband out the door. Even Sam and Tucker hear her mutter, “I’m pretty sure he’s uncatchable, untraceable and possibly immune to every anti-ghost thing at this point”. The two wait all of five minutes before racing over to the gun and plans, looking them over with feverish haste. Doesn’t take Tucker long to smirk, “well this won’t actually be all that hard though Danny is going to be pretty peeved”. Sam looks up from the gun she is intentionally rigging to not work, “let me guess, he’s stuck for a while?”.

Tucker nods just as Danny phases up through the floor, “you two better have shit because for once in my life I have the unfortunate pleasure of sports in the morning. And sleep is a thing, so?”. Tucker and Sam make quick work of putting everything back as they found it and bolting upstairs with Danny as Tucker talks, “it’s fixable dude, probably take me an hour at best. Just need a few things from the lab but dude, it’s gonna take sometime to put your ghostliness back together”. Danny groans has he grabs Tucker and phases them into the lab, “well explain and grab shit. How long we talking?”. Tucker quickly moves around the room gathering random things, hoping to be out of here before the Fenton’s come home, “three days, then you’ll be all Phantom again. Well not all, just half; your norm. Till then”, Tucker gestures at the floating Danny dressed up as Phantom, “this”. Danny groans again as he phases Tucker back upstairs. Tucker’s already half done what looks like a cocktail drink by the time the Fenton’s get back.

Tucker has to hide the thing when Maddie comes up and offers them some cookies, “I know you kids are nearly grown but everyone has room for cookies and you two should really head home soon”. The three all thank Maddie as she leaves. The cookies are pretty much all gone by the time Tucker is done, “dude, shits done man. Can’t tell if it tastes good though, so fucking cheers man”. Danny groans as he basically just shoots it, “yeah that was not horrible but I’d rather not. Really I’d rather not with all this”. Sam snickers, “ah the life of a halfa who won’t man up and tell his family”. Earning a glare from Danny as they say their goodbyes, “and Danny dude, you know we will be there. Watching you likely scare some freshmen and break something”. Danny just grumbles as he heads to bed.

Danny gets exactly an hour and a half of sleep before his ghosts sense wakes him up. “Oh for fucks sake”, Danny mutters as he throws on his wig and glasses, flying out the window.

It is once again, Technus, “dude why?”. Technus spreads his arms out as he summons a swarm of electronic dogs to attack Danny. “Well this is just roof”, Danny spins sideways and then promptly gets his glasses knocked off by a dog. He just sadly watches them fall and get crushed by the wave of dogs, “well shit, dog shit”. By the time Danny has dealt with Technus, again, he’s missing bits of his hair on top of the ruined glasses. Flying lazily into his bed, he doesn’t even bother with pjs.

The first thing Danny does in the morning is check over his powers and try to transform, “Yup, still the same utter bullshit. I lowkey want to fucking die”. Grumbling all the while he puts on basically the same thing as yesterday, having never even taken off his duplicate jumpsuit. “I’m going to have to hide all this shit in the locker room ceiling, pretty sure trying to wear a jumpsuit under gym clothes would be grade A dumb”, Danny shakes his head and hopes that like usual there are no ghosts early morning. Heading downstairs for a quick waffle, Jack spots him, “well you’re up early son, reason?”. Danny shrugs as he puts in the waffles to cook, “pretty much got forced into football tryouts because I’m just too nice to say no when asked, apparently”. Jack beams and pats Danny on the back, “well I can’t say I’m surprised, you’re built for it. I also can’t say I know how you became so muscular”. Danny chuckles, sticking the waffles in his mouth as he leaves; leaving Jack to contemplate Danny’s fitness alone.  

Tucker and Sam are two of many people sitting in the stands watching hopefuls and one not-so-hopeful tryout. Danny promptly changes out of his jumpsuit and puts everything into the ceiling; changing into shorts, black under armour leggings, runners and keeping his green wife beater on. Danny knows he’ll get some surprises looks because no ever really sees him uncovered at all, “I’d look fucking stupid if I went out in a fucking leather jacket”.

Unsurprisingly Danny is the tallest and most filled out guy there, he also does indeed get stared at. Overhearing Dash, who’s scouting the talent, “well damn he actually showed and Christ he’s more muscular then I thought. I’ll have to tell Kwan to thank Star”. The coach yells for everyone to shut up and listen, “all right you scraps of meat, to be frank we need anyone who is capable of actually doing anything and taking hit. So if you aren’t practically dead you’re on the team”. Danny can’t help but snicker and mutter, “I came here half dead”. The coach smirks, “then maybe you’ll take hits better”, then turning to everyone she points behind her and shouts, “now run 40-yards!”. Danny is mildly surprised at it being such a short distance but he can’t say he really cares, “the only reason I’m even putting any effort here is cause it’s my last year and I was asked more or less nicely”. Though he is practically chanting “don’t do anything ghostly”, in his head the entire time. Surprising no one really, except some freshmen, Danny finishes first and doesn’t even look like he’s ran anything at all. As he stands there and gives a lazy yawn, while stretching his arms out a bit. Dash can’t help but stare at the arms that had just yesterday flipped over a damn table, “I seriously want to know how the fuck that happened”.

The test for athletic ability and agility go pretty much the same, Danny doing everything with ease and feeling almost kind of sad at how easy it is. If anything he’s found focusing on not just straight up flying his way over obstacles to be harder. By the time they get to hitting and throwing ability, half have been cut. Danny can’t help but mutter, “ok this is sad, I’m not even striving to get accepted and these guys who are, can’t do shit”. Danny is then reminded how damn good the coaches hearing is, as she replies to him, “yup, it’s the same every year. But if I remember correctly, you used to be one of the worst”. Danny blinks, a little surprised to get a response and praise, before shrugging, “have you seen my dad? I got his height but not his diet”. The coach slams him on the back, “nonsense! You don’t get muscles from genetics! Whatever it is you do, keep doing it”. Danny smirks at this, knowing full well he never will stop. While the coach goes back to addressing the whole, much smaller, group, “all right pipsqueaks and people with actual potential! Time to see if you take a hit or actual throw shit!”. Danny is honestly nervous for this because he’s almost certain he’ll break something or someone. “Now because we have shit for money, you get no tackle bots. So you’ll just be tackling into each other, if you’re going to die leave school property”, which again makes Danny snicker. “Little too late for that”.

Thankfully for the other students, the coach isn’t a complete sadist and pairs Danny up against the other largest guy there. Danny feels rather sorry for the guy because if he can take rockets to the face and hundred foot falls into cement, there’s really not anything this eleventh grader can do. Danny, however, feels less sorry when the ass opens his mouth, “you’re that freak Fenton kid, what you going to do? Ball your eyes out as soon as someone slaps you? Muscle don’t mean shit when taking a hit”. Danny officially feels like being a bit of an ass to this guy so he lifts up his shirt, revealing the peppering of scars on his torso; “pal, I’ll be impressed if I feel the impact at all”. Even Dash manages to catch a glimpse of some of the scarring, “does Fenton fight or some shit? Because seriously, how the fuck did that happen”. As the coach blows her whistle, Danny has to physically restrain himself from straight punching the guy or shooting him, as he charges at Danny. Danny charges back only seconds after, since he’s more focused on not blowing the kids head off than charging. Unsurprisingly, the other dude gets promptly slammed into the ground. Danny blinks a little, he’s not used to opponents going down so easily, turning around, “seriously? That’s it? Okay...”.

The now embarrassed guy attempts to punch Danny in the stomach to at least save a little face, “dude, do you want fucking pain or something?”. Is all Danny has to say as the guy promptly yanks his hand backs and shakes it out from the impact, which Danny didn’t even flinch from. A couple other guys around start laughing but the coach gets an idea, she wants to see just what this once punny kid could take. “I want all of you to tackle Fenton, if you make him go down you’re on the team”, with that everyone’s eyes light up as they turn on Danny. Danny though a little off guard isn’t really bothered, he’s pretty sure a bunch of High-schoolers is easier than a bunch of ghosts. He’s completely right, as he lifts the last guy still trying, up with his peck and flings him off. Rubbing his neck, “Uh, yeah, sorry, not happening”. Tucker and Sam laugh their asses off from the benches, pretty well positive that Danny’s idea of human levels of strength is completely skewed.

One of the guys shakes his head at the built as hell Fenton kid, “pal, you could crush a man’s head and never notice it”. Danny rubs his neck and shrugs, “you’re not wrong”. Dash comes up all excited and friendly for once, “Why the hell have you been holding out on us, Fenton?”. Danny just glares, “because you guys are dicks? And never asked? Sports ain’t my thing anyways”. The coach shakes her head, “even if you couldn’t throw for shit you’d be worth having to protect those who can throw and to tackle the enemy”. Danny just shrugs, “you’re not wrong but, like, I’ll be more focused on not breaking someone than winning”. Dash rolls his eyes, “that would just teach them not to mess with you? Why wouldn’t you exert that kind of power?”. Earning a harsh glare from Danny, “because I’m not like you and I’m actually a good guy”. Dash just grunts at this as the coach snaps for everyone to start throwing balls.

When it’s Danny’s turn he has to focus on throwing the ball and not an ectoblast, he does end up ectoburning the ball though, “well shit, hopefully no one questions that”. No one actually does and with that everything is wrapped up and Danny, surprising no one, makes the cut.

Danny joins up with Sam and Tucker for class as he waves bye to what is essentially his teammates now. “So I’m definitely still fucked up, but no one seemed to catch the burnt ball so whatever. Not my fucking problem anymore, now I’m going to get changed before my luck runs out”, the two snicker at him as he heads to the lockers.

Danny manages to get his shit and change uninterrupted, but as he’s going to leave Kwan suddenly appears, “dude, that was sick! We’re so going to pummel literally everyone! Anyways, we already made you a jacket because we’re not as stupid as Dash seems”. Danny shakes his head as Kwan leaves, though realising he froze some of the ground when Kwan came out of nowhere, “really? Oh, come on”. Danny quickly melts the ice before heading out and at the sight of the jacket he’s caring, Sam and Tucker’s snickering returns.

Danny just rolls his eyes at them but knows full well it would be insulting to not wear the thing. So he does change into it when no ones looking, “this looks fucking weird on me, I am impressed it actually fits though”. Sam smacks his arm, “well don’t set it on fire too soon, I doubt they want to replace it every week”.

First class goes pretty well the same until one of the football players that didn’t watch tryouts thinks Danny’s jacket wasn’t earned, “why you wearing that freak? Think you’ll get accepted just by wearing one?”. Danny just glares down at the boy from his seat, “something tells me you weren’t there, if you really want the story just talk to Kwan. He gave me the jacket”. The dude clearly doesn’t believe him and actually goes to grab Danny, which he reacts to on instinct. Grabbing the guys arm and yanking him to the ground, ectoburning the guys jacket and his own gloves in the process. This gets the teachers attention as she snaps for both of them to sit down. Danny mutters to himself, “huh, didn’t get in trouble. Power of the jacket I guess...god that is so elitists”. However, that was not why, as Danny soon finds out.

As soon as class is over the teacher asks to talk to him, Danny mutters as he walks up, “well fuck me”. The teacher looks Danny straight in the eyes and asks, “care to explain what was up with your eyes?”. Danny just blinks a couple times, “Uh what?”. The teacher shakes his head, “they were green and glowing. I know there’s some crazy shit at your house so I’ll assume that’s why. But I’d like an actual answer”. Danny blinks again and mutters “oh fuck, of all the shit times for something to come back to my more or less normal” in his head, “hotdogs literally come to life sometimes, so you pretty well said the explanation. Ectocontamination just shows more if someone’s angry or startled”. The teacher simply nods and waves Danny off. Third period doesn’t go much better as he accidentally freezes and explodes a bunch of test tubes. Resulting in multiple girls screaming and running out, a couple of dudes yelp. “Mr. Fenton, I would prefer if only ghosts caused explosions, not my students too”, at which Danny just rubs his neck sheepishly. After that he completely misses the rest of school as he has to pull another emergency Phantom switch.

“Seriously Skulker, what is that? An overgrown hacksaw?”, Danny shakes his head at the unusual and kind of disappointing weapon. Skulker grins as he makes a move for Danny but Danny easily bats away the weapon, however Skulker promptly knocks him on the side of the head. Knocking his wig off which Danny madly scrambles for, “dude, not the hair. For once I actually give a shit about it”. Skulker just stares at him and tilts his head to the side, “ok I know you have not been wearing a wig for the past years, so what?”. Danny shrugs, “parents trying to dissolve ghosts again. So now I get the fun of cosplaying my fucking self. Horray for me!”. Skulker shakes his head and continues his assault, which has gained some onlookers; namely the Fenton’s.

“How in the hell? It looks as if he was  completely unaffected?”, Jack shakes his head but Maddie slaps his arms excitedly. “No Jack! He’s not glowing! And he’s wearing sunglasses! We must have done something! No clue what though”, Maddie shakes her as she prepares the second model of the gun. “I would really like to know why all our stuff stops working right after using it on Phantom too. It’s really annoying to have to start building duplicates”, Maddie shakes her head while her husband smiles. “At least we know this one works! Tested it on some of those ectopusses!”, he finishes speaking just as Skulker and Danny both get drenched.

“OH COME THE FUCK ON!”, Danny snaps angrily at the goo before shouting at Skulker. “Don’t get this shit on you! You fucking tin man! Thermos now!”, Skulker promptly just follows Danny’s orders because he’s learned to tell when Danny’s not fucking around. “You’re parents are a problem ghost child!”, Skulker yells as Danny sucks him in. Danny stares down at his confused parents, who really just want to know why nothing works on him, he then throws his hands up in the air angrily as he goes to sulk in a tree.

“Fuck my entire existence, fuck my life and fuck my death”, after Danny knows Tucker will be home he flies straight into the boy’s bedroom, arms crossed.

“Sweet fucking Plasmius dude!”, Tucker yelps as he jumps off his bed and then throws a towel at the goo-covered Danny. “Care to take. One fucking guess what this is Tuck? Just one fucking guess?”, Danny just lets the towel smack into his face not even attempting to catch it. Tucker just sighs and digs up a second batch of the cocktail, “looks like your parents have finally learned the rules of making goddamn backups”. Danny just mutters as he cleans himself off, “this is the worst joke of my half-life”. Tucker chuckles as Danny flies home, knowing full well the wig and costume will have to be washed all night.

As soon as Danny gets home he goes straight to the bath and tosses everything in, “thank Phantom I got the expensive kind, this shit I can actually clean”. Lifting the cleaned off suit he shakes his head at it, “it’s been two days and this thing is already shredded, how the fuck is it going to last three more fucking days”. With a new appreciation for his real suits natural healing, Danny promptly goes to bed.

Danny’s morning starts out pretty good, he’s well rested and all dressed. As Danny goes to have breakfast, however, his dad barges in with the once again fixed Fenton gooster. “Why does that look like a rooster anyways?”, Danny can’t help but be curious. His dad shrugs, “that’s just what happened son, no need to question creative genius”. With that Jack slams the device on the table causing it to accidentally go off and coat Danny, once again, in goo. Danny sits there with his mouth open about to take a bit of his sandwich, he slowly closes his mouth and puts the sandwich gently on his plate. Danny starts out speaking slowly and calmly, “dad, I mean this with all love and affection. But, could you, stop, FUCKING SPRAYING ME WITH GOO!”, Danny’s sudden angry shout makes Jack jump. Jack blinks at Danny as Danny slowly pulls out his phone, who’s more focused on not crushing it than Jack’s reaction, “hey Tuck, do you, by chance, HAVE A THIRD FUCKING ONE!”. Jack again jumps, not used to ever seeing anger from his son unless it’s Christmas.

Danny snaps his phone closed slowly, wipes off his sandwich and eats it while glaring daggers at the rooster-shaped gun. Jack stands there watching his clearly pissed off son angrily eat a sandwich, not even bothering to wipe off the goo. “Uh, could I maybe clean your jacket and shirt off? Also, it’s uh, awesome you made the team”, Danny glares harder at the gun, and puts down what’s left of his sandwich. “Fuck it, sure thing, just don’t fucking spray me with goo, fuck me, just like fuck all of me”, Danny just straight up makes his stuff intangible falling off onto the floor, with his clean but ripped replica jumpsuit clearly visible. Danny doesn’t even acknowledge his stunned dad, as he angrily finishes his sandwich. Getting up slowly he puts his plate in the dishwasher, slowly turning to his dad who’s starting to come out of shock, “welcome to the joke of the century”.

End.