#and just poor Idis

[torchwood-99]

Theoden's Favourite

Going off the books, I'd say Theoden's kids are ranked accordingly;

Eomer

Merry

-

-

-

Eowyn

-

-

-

-

-

Theodred (kid dies and he says nothing about it)

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Idis, the daughter cut from the first draft.

[2bloved]

just realized i have not posted besides yesterday and since january the 7th MEANING get this i havent posted sicne i was 17 (i am 18 now) so heres oc art dump

9am is just my non fandom sona and the rest are dave and bambi ocs that i could probably spend like 5 hours talking about with their complex lore but. I know u all aint here for that ❤️

[lair-of-asmodeus]

♡ “Make Me Feel Heaven Tonight.” ♡

❥ Synopsis: After getting married, the couple find themselves in the bedroom unable to take their hands off of each other.

A/N: So... I became really horny and ended up writing out a rough draft (or at least what started as a rough draft) of Idia and Fawn (my oc) in their honeymoon after getting married.

⚠️ Minors DNI, will block on sight. ⚠️

“Idia...”

The poor guy couldn’t even look at her in the eye, or see how she gave his balls a little massage beforehand, or how her breasts felt around his hard cock... He could only cover his face while his hair went entirely pink, putting the lighting in the room into a somewhat soft hue. As she moved her breasts on his rod, he felt something warm and wet on his tip. When he managed to look around, he noticed that she was licking the head of his cock while it was between her breasts. He wanted to reach out and touch them so badly. He wanted to feel them, he wanted to--

“...Hehehe... Someone is eager~”

He didn’t realize it before, but it seemed like he was subconsciously thrusting up too.

“Y-y-y-you’re enjoying yourself... Aren’t you..?!”

“What can I say~?”

She gave a kiss on his tip.

“Your reactions are cute~”

He bit his lip while slowly removing his hands from his face. When he looked at her eye to eye, she smiled at him.

“Come on, Idy~ We both know it’s not a good thing to hold back~”

Her usual smug grin held a mischievous aura this time with a hint of lust. While she looked at him, she let out a small laugh.

“Would you like me to use my mouth inste--”

“aaAAAH!!”

Without letting her finish, he ended up shooting his load right onto her face and breasts...

After he caught his breath, he noticed that she was sitting right next to him with the same grin again. She was almost naked compared to him, only having her panties on her while he was butt naked. She shifted her hips and brought a hand on his cheek.

“Did it feel good..?”

Her question brought him back to reality. He was doing this... getting intimate with his wife... His hair immediately went pink again and he covered his face. He felt her caress his cheek.

“...Yeah...”

“Can we do more..?”

“Huh?!”

“Listen, I’m just doing the tamest things I saw in those hentai or mangas and.. I’m aware that not everything can be comfortable for some people... And I’m doing these to you, because... Well.. I love you...”

Heat pooled up on his face as well as other parts of him and he just sat there, looking at her with wide eyes while processing what she just said.

“I still don’t get why you even love me sometimes...”

“Well, no handsome men has called me their player two... Nobody but you...”

A small smile appeared on his lips while he sat up straight.

“I’m only showing you how much I love you... Your body and soul... Would you like me to continue though?”

He gulped while his joy turned to shock.

“I know I’m demanding a lot of things, but--”

He slammed his lips on hers while touching her soft chest and tugging on her nipples.

“Idia..~”

“Fawn...”

The way he pushed himself on Fawn, however, caused her to fall back and now she was the one laying down on the bed. It wasn’t before long that he went on top of her and kissed her while palming her breasts. He pinched her nipples, squeezed them, kneaded them and even broke off the kiss the suck on one while teasing the other.

“If you keep this up, I-I might just lose it...”

He heard her whisper. He secretly wanted it, but not yet... One of his hands went down to her clothed pussy while the other was pinching her nipple and his mouth was on her other breast.

“Idiaaa..!”

...He might be wanting her to lose control now though...

“Ahh... Fuck... If you keep this up, I might just.. ahh! C-cum too...”

He smirked.

“What’s holding you back~?”

“This.”

With that, she grabbed his dick that poking her thigh and started jerking him off, causing him to bite her nipple by accident.

“Argh..! I-Idy~!”

He kept rubbing her clit while her eyes were shut and she was panting loudly while biting her lip.

“Idia..! S-stop-- Fuck! ...I-I’m so.. close..!”

He sucked on her nipple harder while she closed her thighs together while he pinched her clit. As a result, she buried her head on her arms and tried to hold her moans back, but she ultimately failed, causing her to let out a loud moan. He slowly lifted her panties off and touched her wet cunt.

“Look at you, begging me to stop... Your cunt wants me in pretty badly though, fuheehee~!”

“Sh-shut up..!”

“Make me~”

He plunged two of his long fingers inside her, causing her to let out a loud whine as she covered her mouth.

“...I... Idy..!”

Wet and loud sounds were soon all over the room while he kept up a fast but steady rhythm. He glanced at her face for a moment while being jerked off and felt her going in same rhythm as him. Fawn’s legs started to tremble while she clung onto him with one hand while the other was jerking his cock off.

“You... close..?”

He nodded, because he was indeed close to cumming. His cock was also twitching in response, an obvious sign that he was close. And soon, they both did...

“Ahh! Idia! I-Idia! Idiaaaaa~~♡!"

“Mmh.. fuck..!”

...

And he collapsed next to her as they both panted with Idia’s cum having hit on her stomach. After they both caught their breath, Fawn went on top of him without missing a beat.

“Now we came to the best part, sweet cheeks..~”

And without letting him say anything, she practically slid to his still hard-on inside her...

.

.

.

.

“Haah~!! Idia..!”

[PLAP PLAP PLAP PLAP]

“Nngh! Mmph! Mm-- Ahh!”

He smirked at her while ramming his cock in her puffy cunt, causing more of their fluids to leak more onto their bedsheets. He held her chin and kissed her while hugging her waist from behind. Fawn, on the other hand, had become a babbling mess a few rounds ago. He wanted to rest, but the amount of horniness he has wasn’t letting him end this. He’s been wanting to do this more than anything, so... There he was, stuffing her like a turkey with his cum after they were finally married. His cute wifey...

———

As the morning sun rose, they were both cuddling and in each other’s embrace. Although they looked like a total mess with all the hickeys and marks, they were still happy that they had each other. To a new future and what’s to come...

[sotwk]

I hear you are in a Theodred mood?👀 I was wondering if you have any headcanons you'd like to share about him? Or even what you enjoy about writing him?

6 SotWK AU Facts About Théodred

(that I'm looking forward to exploring in my upcoming Rohan WIP)

Théodred is not an only child. He had an older sister. That's right--Idis, daughter of Théoden, exists in the SotWK AU! She was the biggest influence in Théodred's life, the person he loved most. Sadly, Idis passed away from illness when he was just 11 years old, and this deeply affected him.

Théodred is a scholar first and a warrior second. He loves reading, and learned to write at a prodigiously early age. At the time of his death, he knew more about Rohan's histories than even the most experienced scholars in Edoras. He had to be forced by his father to dedicate more of his time to learning military skills.

Théodred is nearsighted, which makes him a poor marksman. As soon as he realized and accepted this deficiency, he focused his efforts on mastering close-quarter combat. He is considered one of the best swordsmen in Rohan.

Théodred values the tradition of shieldmaidens. He pushed for the training of his young cousin Eowyn despite the objections of both Théoden and Éomer. He is the patron and mentor of the shieldmaiden OC in my fic "Taken", and its WIP sequel.

Théodred was nearly betrothed to Lady Morwen, daughter of Hurin of Gondor, in a political match encouraged by their fathers. Ultimately, Théodred declined the engagement, unable to tolerate Morwen's condescension towards Rohan and her ideas (however well-intentioned) about "improving" Rohirrim culture.

Although he did wish to marry and have children, Théodred struggled to find the right woman to settle down with. He felt overwhelmed by his own high standards and the pressure of finding not just a wife, but a Queen who would love and serve Rohan as much he did.

In my head, Théodred is a magnificent character, and it would be a joy and honor to write more about him. (I say as I battle against this dreadful writers' block.)

Bonus headcanon: Théodred is HOT. (Thank you, Charlie Hunnam.)

I'm so happy to be receiving such great Asks from you again, Ace! <3 Thank you for the chance to gush about this man!

[lovelynim]

TickleTober2023/Day 10 - Cloak

Genshin Impact - Aether x Wanderer

P.S.: "Wanderer" is also called "Scara" in here because that's what I've called him if I played the game, ehe

“Hey,” Scara called out, his eyebrow twitching slightly in annoyance.

“Woah… it’s so warm…” Aether sighed pleased, finally managing to shield himself from Dragonspine’s ruthless cold wind. The blonde tightened his grip, pulling the cloak over his shoulders.

Scara sighed, deciding to try a nonviolent approach again - just like aunt Buer asked him. “Aether, seriously-”

“Hm? What is it, Scara?” The traveler asked, barely turning his head to the side and looking at the wanderer.

“You little- ahem, can’t you… get your own cloak?”

“Why?”

Scara clenched his hand into a fist. ‘Why?’, he thought, considering the idea of throwing Aether off one of those cliffs. “Because this is my cloak! You are going to stretch it out, you idi- I mean, I’m sure you brought one for yourself, right? You wouldn’t come to a place like this in that exposing outfit of yours, I imagine.”

Aether pouted, scrunching up his shoulders as he refused to let go. “But yours is extra warm… didn’t you say you used to wear it back in Snezhnaya? Mine isn’t as thick…”

Scara was really, really trying to stick to the lesser lord Kusanali’s request, but that dumb traveler was making it impossible. “Remember, breath in, breath out,” he remembered her saying, nudging Aether’s body underneath the cloak to try to push him away. “I don’t care, just let go of my cloak!”

“Hehey!” Aether giggled, using one hand to stop Scara from keep prodding at his stomach, “no tihickling, that’s unfair!”

“What?” Scara raised an eyebrow, confused. “I’m not playing around, let goHOH- AHaha, Ahahaether!” Before he could insist again, the wanderer felt a pair of hands squeezing up his sides, clawing at his lower ribs.

The blonde giggled along, continuing his assault underneath the cloak. “What? Can’t you take what you dish out?” He teased, taking one hand to tickle Scara’s stomach, making his giggles rise a pitch.

If the cloth was already way too small to protect both of them from the Dragonspine’s cold, as Scara squirmed and flailed his arms, it was even easier for short gusts of cold air to sneak through their protection.

“S-stop pushing! You’ll get us cold!” Aether stuttered, feeling a shiver run up his back as he felt the coldness on his skin. However, the traveler still refused to let go of Scara, his hands descending to his waist and making the poor wanderer thrash even harder.

“S-stahAHAhap it!!” Scara cackled, letting go of the cloak to hold Aether’s by his wrists. “LehEHEhet gohOHo, y-you jehEHErk!!” He whined through his laughter, involuntarily leaning into Aether to protect himself from the cold.

“So we can share the cloak?”

“No- ahAHa, f-fuhUHuck!” Scara cursed, regretting his words as he felt Aether’s thumbs digging a little harder on his waist. “FihiHIHine! Just stohOHOp!”

Glad with the positive answer, Aether quickly wrapped his hands around the wanderer’s body, pulling him into a hug while covering them both with the cloak. “Yay, thank you, Scara ~”

Catching up his breath, Scara rolled his eyes. “W-whatever…” He muttered, feeling his cheeks also getting a little warmer, but, this time, not thanks to the cloak.

A/N: Wahhh, sorry for the delay guys... let's say I'm not the best with scheduling stuff, ehe. Anyway, we are already 1/3 into TickleTober, what are you guys thinking so far? Anyway, hope you liked this one as well!

[flores-desyatov]

new article with a mini interview with Bella and also N/M https://www.ice-dance.com/site/recap-2024-lake-placid-idi-senior/

«Isabella Flores & Ivan Desyatov (USA) (176.45) said that their performance was what they wanted because it was how they had been practicing it at home.

“We’ve been focusing on our skating skills this year and also pushing them together. It’s something that’s helped our skating,” Flores said. “When we began looking for the music for this season we knew that Kaitlyn Weaver was probably going to choreograph the free dance. We were looking for something contemporary. We had some ideas, but we asked her for a recommendation. She suggested the music from the award winning movie, Poor Things. We listened to the soundtrack and loved it. We started coming up with ideas. It was a really fun program to create. Our footwork has changed, but the majority of the choreography is still Kaitlyn Weaver’s. We’ve done a lot of touchups.”

The team skated first in the rhythm dance, so they watched the remaining 21 teams perform. They were happy with their skate except disappointed that the lift just wasn’t as spectacular as in practice.»

[pargolettasworld]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BCUNztwhvU

There is a stereotype that Jewish music sounds “sad.”  The stereotype comes from a couple of sources -- several of the Jewish synagogue modes bear some resemblance to the Western minor mode, which we have (fairly recently) decided is the “sad” mode.  And, frankly, the Europeans who decided that Jewish music is “sad” were mostly looking at the Jews who lived near them, many of whom were, in fact, rather “sad,” in the sense of “very poor and subject to the constant risk of violent attack from the people who described them as being sad.”  So, yes, in Europe and North America, the idea that Jewish music sounds “sad” kind of lurks in the back of our minds.

And then there are the Abayudaya.

Now, the Abayudaya have only been Jewish since 1919, and in that relatively short time, they have gone through a lot of shit -- not all of it for being Jewish, but being Jewish certainly didn’t help them through the Idi Amin years. They’re still very poor, even within the context of living in a poor country, and the Israeli government is constantly jerking them around and trying to find excuses to keep them out of Israel (part of the reason is racism, but there’s a lot more going on than just the racism).  And yet, they make some of the most joyful Jewish music I have ever heard in my life.  There’s no one quite like the Abayudaya for music, and I am so glad that they are part of the worldwide mishpacha.

[effervescentdragon]

country asks :D

1, 5, 10, 20, 24, 26

YELLO 😁❤️

the mountains down south. love driving through them on the way to the seaside, idk why, theyre just lovely, all the rocks and the little houses and everything, something magical to me.

idi u pičku materinu (go fuck yourself in spirit, direct translation is more like go to your mothers pussy) :) i use it a lot

5 i answered in the ask before i think :)

no idea, maybe football? we're pretry good at supporting the neighbours from the former yugoslavian republics in everything tho :)

every ex yugoslavian republic is fair game :D

eastern criminals, or poor basically. lots of cleaning ladies in the british tv series around 2000s were ex yu. :) charming innit? :))

[positivelybeastly]

X-Men #4

On time for once!

Let's do this.

Hmm. Not quite sure how I feel about this? Admittedly, Illyana is a character about whom I know relatively little in the grand scheme of things, but given that she's been fighting for control of Limbo for a while, been a protege of Scott Summers, and was a War Captain on Krakoa, I would think her tactical skills would be up to snuff enough that she could be half decent at chess?

That being said, the trope that tactical ability can be measured by chess ability isn't one that I think has to be followed. It's as much a test of logic as it is of tactical planning and forethought, and between Illyana's more chaotic nature and her lack of formal schooling, maybe it's just the case that she would rather show you how good she is in the field than go on about chess ability. And I can think of a good reason why she would choose to play chess with the person she has blocked, rather than any other game.

Anyway!

Trevor Fitzroy isn't allowed his weird little gremlin bro-pal possible love interest guy Bantam anymore, because of woke. (I know fuckin' nothing about Fitzroy, incidentally, this is based off of their weird relationship in that one X-Men: TAS episode I watched.)

And yeah, what WAS Krakoa all about, huh? Where DID all those babies that got abandoned go?

. . . Well, anyway!

Hank, chairs are for sitting on, not perching on . . .

It's interesting that we're doing split team issues - clearly, this run is taking cues from New X-Men not just in terms of some of its plot points, but also some of its structure; there were multiple arcs that focused exclusively on Charles and Jean, or Logan, Scott and Fantomex, with the rest of the team in the ether. It's not a bad way to tackle a team of this size, and given the news that both Magik and Psylocke are getting ongoing solo series, I'm less worried about them getting focus in a team book now.

Where is the Marauder, incidentally? I can't imagine you need that for a psychic rescue? Unless Max is using it, I suppose. Something that'll come up in #5, I imagine.

It's a sign of just how poisoned the discourse about Hank McCoy is that I saw multiple comments on Reddit saying that this scene heralded a return to evil Beast, because he also didn't like to go out on field missions and would regard his work as more important.

That being said, this reaction was weird to me, given that this Hank comes from an era where he was at his most pro-active, heroic, and willing to fight for people he didn't know - until I read the Infinity Comics, which made it all make a good degree more sense.

Hank isn't being cowardly or showing a case of poor priorities; no, instead, he appears not to trust himself, and he'd rather not place what he perceives to be a volatile, potentially morally untrustworthy element (himself) into a live situation. Working on Magneto's illness is a cut and dry net good with no downsides, so it makes sense he'd want to keep working on that, especially if Hank has reason to believe a similar condition could affect any one of them at any time.

Not sure I love Illyana's antagonism towards Rogue here? Feels kinda like it came out of nowhere and is just being done to foreshadow the upcoming 4 part crossover where these two teams come to a head. Scott's frustration with Rogue's attack on Graymalkin in #3 felt a bit more naturalistic than this.

Idie icesliding like that really does make me wonder if MacKay also wanted Iceman for this team but he was earmarked for Eve Ewing's Exceptional book. I doubt it, just because MacKay's done some really good, pointed work with Idie, which continues in this issue, but the visual parallel is just hard to get out of my brain.

I missed this Hank, a lot.

Also, good time to note that we do have a different artist here! Netho Diaz's style isn't a million miles away from Ryan Stegman's, so it's not a very jarring shift, and I do like how Diaz renders a lot of these characters - less heavily stylised, but heavily styilised isn't always to everyone's taste, so I feel like this was a good pick of fill-in artist.

Man. Have I mentioned I missed this Hank, a LOT? That happy little smile on his face in the bottom right panel really does delight me.

Still not quite the bouncing effervescence of Defenders Hank, but this is still very solidly 90s Hank, who I do rather enjoy, especially when he's in the hands of a writer who knows when to really let his loquacious qualities out to play, and when to let brevity be the soul of wit.

Idie's really come a long way since Wolverine & the X-Men, and I'm really, honestly, very happy to see it. She's coming from a place of real experience and wisdom and the struggle of loving yourself in what can feel like a loveless world, and I hope MacKay continues to showcase her maturation and development. Considering how worried I was that she'd be wallpaper in this series, this is encouraging stuff.

If you had asked me which member of this team of X-Men I expected to give what amounts to a really popping Batman speech, I would not have picked Cain Marko, but this feels real and earned in light of his genuine Krakoan redemption. The elevation from avatar of destruction to protector, to bodyguard, to living target, is fucking awesome.

Yeah, work that pole, Hank.

That being said, this dialogue does still sound kinda weird for Hank. This feels a little more like X-Force Beast than anything else, so I'm wondering if this is a seed of something, or if Hank is just kinda frustrated that what feels like a side quest popped up just as he was about to progress the main quest and enter act 2. God knows that if I woke up in the morning and found out I had to tangle with Trevor Fitzroy and the Upstarts, I would also be a little annoyed - this feels a little bottom of the barrel for the X-Men.

The X-Men fandom at large just heaved a great sigh and said, in unison, "Oh, this fucker."

Not the AoA geneticist I would have wanted to see in this book, but I'll take it, I suppose. Hopefully we get an explanation about where this guy came from, because I was fairly certain he was dead? Not that that's ever stopped anyone before, but just, you know, so we can put it on the Wiki and all.

Laksa! Apparently a spicy noodle dish, usually made with thick rice noodles, with toppings such as chicken, straw, or fish - that being said, given we were told that Glob is a vegetarian and that he therefore only cooks vegetarian, I have to imagine this might be a coconut soup laksa that might include eggs, deep-fried tofu, beansprouts, and herbs, or some variation thereof.

Hank definitely seems to approve. :)

God, please tell me that Colossus is going to join the team, I would absolutely love for Jed MacKay to get to work on our beefy Russian lad, he deserves some TLC after the trauma conga line that was Krakoa and the years before that.

Interesting that he's a blocked number and yet they're still interacting, but then again, I have a browser extension that blocks Reddit on my computer, and I still go on Reddit, so maybe that rings truer than I'd like to admit.

This leads me to my guess as to the reason of why chess - it's playable long distance, and doesn't require any elaboration on moves. You just say the piece and where you're moving them to. Something easy to play with someone who doesn't feel communicative. A way of talking without really talking.

All in all, a decent issue, but it definitely feels more in line with #2 than #1 or #3 - I almost have to wonder if the edict to double ship issues came down, and MacKay felt more able to decompress things and spread them out across multiple issues as a result, especially since I think that, if this were paced more tightly, we'd be progressing through the plot fairly quickly.

If we're taking New X-Men as the blueprint, Morrison would absolutely have squished the last four issues into two - but they weren't double shipping, so.

If we're looking at odd numbers being the plot heavy, characterisation heavy issues, and the evens being action and a bit more 'filler' issues, then I don't think that's an awful structure - I just think that, in a world where single issues cost $3-4 a pop, people might start skipping the even numbered issues in an effort to save money. This might read better in trades, which feels A) bad to say, and also B) increasingly common about modern comics. Not sure how I feel about it.

[meltedbluecaterpillar]

Good evening Absy ^.^ can I call you Absy..i always think it in my head and refrain. I can't help my inner Cater sometimes..

But oh my gosh..a girl can only cross her fingers and pray it was Azul and Jamil on the boad...especially after Azul was in Jammys dream. Yess.. they can have a messy inky makeout. Would they,,bust in black...lol..? I don't know if they would be accostumed to each others preference,, they can figure it out. Ive seen fanart of them which is what struck the interest. Now i love jazul a lot.

I'm not too sure about mallekei..i just don't understand it. But i understand cater as a powerbottom,,teaching malleus all he needs to know because he's a professional! (He really isnt. He just likes being his fuckbuddy and getting recked by Malleus Draconia...even moreso when Malleus suddenly tops him. Why would he complain? If he can't get a selfie with him,,this wll suffice.)

Just for the fun of it I want to say Ruggie can swim. But he really isnt good. He can float and doggy paddle. Maybe Floyd gives him swimming lessons. Which Ruggie instantly regrets when Floyd tries to drag him under and tries to kiss him while he's hardly afloat. He probably panics a little. He can save himself from drowning yes,,just..not with the eels weight on him as well. He's too skinny. I feel like ruggie fits into the category of disordered eating with azul and vil..

But aahh..that sounds like such a cute au to write ugh. Pirate Rugs and Floyd being his helpful little eel (he doesnt know.) Floyd interacts with him for upfront slowly but surely, expecting something in return for his hard work. I can imagine Floyd evily shanking the poor fish,,

Lilidia though yes,,i see them more as good irl bffs if they met..but fwb is also so good. Let the old man show Idia how its properly done! He likes it! Its okay if he doesnt wanna date!! Just fuck him :(. His dating sims can only do so much, Mr. Lilia.

Cater and Idia though yes. They are such a silly duo..Cater would do his best to keep them on the dl..he probably likes to take photoshoots under idys led lights..hes probably invited idy to lm club and Ortho basically insists he go and not decline an invite from a bff!! (He knows)

Iam..talkingso much..my apologies "t.t - 🐍

Good afternoon Viper, I like Absy. I think it is cute and short. Also, forgive me. It has been a few days already.

I think it would be amusing to see an ink-based orgasm. Coating each other and staining their skin. It is oddly romantic as it is sensual. Cater is a professional. The known sleep around. And he is very proud of his skills and how he can bring pleasure and give it. Malleus is a shut in, lacking experience. So he is grateful to have such a bubbly teacher show him the ways of human pleasure. But Malleus getting excited and rutting into Cater is unexpected. But Cater feels happy. He's getting fucked by a future king, this is something he keeps close to his heart even if they end up separating some day. No one will ever give it to him the way Malleus did...

I think it would be a cute AU because Floyd wouldn't end up getting bored. Visiting parts of the world by hitching a ride on the back of the S.S. Savanaclaw. Seeing Ruggie fishing and telling stories about how he's positive he saw a hot mermaid... Merman? A hottie either way... And just for fun, during a late night drink... Ruggie wanders to the dock with a beer in hand. Swaying about before falling in. Where he should have drowned, he wakes up on the slimy chest of his little helper. Lilia is amazing at showing Idia a good time. But Idia thinks life and romance is just like a dating sim. I would like them best as a dramatic slow burn. I am a big fan. I do enjoy Cater x Idia a lot. Especially as boyfriends you don't expect to see as boyfriends. It makes me smile when I think of them getting each other into the things they like. Cater can teach Idia to skateboard, and they can do candy tasting videos together, and Idia can show Cater the wonders of multiplayer and co-op games.

I don't think you're talking too much. I appreciate you for chatting with me as always.

[punchholesinthesky]

im annoyed at the incompetent coppers in this book I am reading.s they are blindsided by someone who uses an alias in their professional work. they think she murdered someone based solely on proximity, even though she had reason to be there and gave them the work she was doing.

like how is someone not telling you the legal name they never use a red flag? how is that lying? it's literally your job to find that shit out ffs

oh she's suspicious cause she's private???

they claim she did it cause her bootprints were near but failed to notice the lack of blood in them? or her clothes? bludgeoning someone is not a clean job

also have they looked if she was even capable of it? like what height was the murdered likely to be? how much force was used? etc ? no they have not

they say oh but we found this photo which proves you knew the victim!

no it proves they were at the same party. years ago.

it'd be pretty dumb of her to kill someone when there's a lot of evidence showing she was there. a lot of which she provided.

plus she has absolutely no motive

between this and someone else being prevented from joining her, it seems that what the evidence is saying is whoever killed her knew there was going to be someone else there, and is attempting to frame said person

so the question is

who knew about this meeting? who knew about this secret tunnel? who had access?

who had motive? who benefits from the death?

so incredibly incompetent they tried to rile her up by bringing up a painful traumatic past event.

and a completely irrelevant one at that, which they had no right to even know about

oh, also the husband, whom she was divorcing and he had shady dealings, changed his name and they did not know that either. they havent looked at his financials, who he's been in contact or anything!

just 'oh thats suspicious. anyway let's look at the girl without motive again'

and now theyre interviewing the husband again whos clearly and shamelessly redirecting them back to her

oh and ofc the main cop thinks shes cute, and is basically flirting with her to try and get in her good graces which is incredibly unprofessional

and the book is like look at this sweet guy! he doesnt wanna arrest her hes just bad at his job! hes being hard on her to overcompensate!

also, the dead wife's friends told the cops the husband was jealous and controlling, and they have also done absolutely no checking

i'm not saying the husband did it.

i'm saying the husband is the first place you look and all they did was check if he had an alibi

at 70% theyre thinking hey we should look into the husband some more.

and thats only cause a lawyer chwed them up and their boss told them to stay away from our poor girl

personally i think it's likely someone the mc works with is involved

they also have not even looked into the victim's life all that much? which seems like a logical step

they suspect the victim's gran was murdered as well, but no suspects there. its worth mentioning theres no way our girl couldve done it and yet..

idk how much longer i cant stand this

i have a low tolerance for bullshit. at least this kind

give me real problems, not idiot balls

her love interest is kind of annoying too, upset she didnt tell him thw truth about her family and background

but how is that any of his business???

she mentions at the beginning how theyve only been working together a few months

and shes understandably private due to a traumatic past.

his feelings dont seem very important

if they started going out yeah but a new friend youre not yet sure ia trustworthy?

now that she's managed to catch the husband in the act they actually discover his evil plan

say sorry but not sorry (sorry it hurt you but the questions had to be asked)

and now they say 'oh its all circumstantial we cant do anything' about the husband

grrrrrr

and now theyre like oh hey those incriminating emails were bs actually

the same idiots who said her timestamped photos werent proof????

oh and apparently her idiot colleague /love interest hasnt spoken to her in months

yeah im definitely not reading book 2

the husband seemed so damn guilty I thought thered be a twist, an accomplice something

not the husband looks guilty cause he is and the cops are just incompetent idiots

ugh, shame i like the MC and its a cool plot but holy shit did this need edits

theres a lot of talk of ecology and bat dna but a lot of glaring plotholes

[post-it-notes7]

Can you tell us more about your Dragato and Falspar dynamic :0?

oh you poor soul, of course I will :)

(rambling under keep reading)

So, to begin! A lot of this will make the most sense if you read dumb luck first, the Dragato oneshot (also a part of the Heart and Soul timeline, just set in the past before MK was separated from the GSA) I wrote that dives much further into my interpretations of this borb and his idiot friend that have a grand total of 10 second of screen time. If you're caught up on In Your Dreams, then you'll have a vague idea of Dragato and Falspar's characters, but neither have had a chance for their personalities to really shine (they're also both... kinda upset too, so only one side of them has been shown)! You’ll even catch a glimpse of other GSA members (cough cough Jecra and Garlude cough cough) if you give “dumb luck” a look :0!

That said, I’ll still summarize what I can of Dragato and Falspar’s personalities and dynamic here! So, Dragato--outwardly, he appears very stict, very cold, and very no-nonsense. He glowers a lot, he’ll snap at those who spread around rumors and try to start fights, and he tries hard to keep the peace, even if it’s strained and you can tell things are two seconds from exploding into all-out chaos. 

To quote my own fic, “he’s the unofficial mediator of the GSA—he’s the one who listens to complaints and makes the changes needed to keep them in check, the one who kills off rumors that take on a malicious edge, the one who breaks up fights that go too far—and he has no idea if anyone ever even seems to realize it. Afterall, his technical role is only that of a pilot and an instructor. One of Arthur’s close confidantes. His domain is starships and space travel.” 

Basically, he does plenty of work from behind the scenes, and he overworks himself a lot. He shares a lot of similarities to Meta Knight, but while MK can and will push himself to the brink and somehow just keep going anyway--Dragato will pass out from the strain, even if he argues otherwise. He has a lot of grievances with what his nature as a star warrior demands of him, and what he’s actually physically capable of.

Important sidenote! *In the H&S series, star warriors are born as star warriors, it’s in their nature! You cannot become one (at least not through normal means) you simply are or you aren’t.* However--Dragato’s true personality is very different from what he purposely portrays to 90% of the GSA and for what has been shown in IYD. First and foremost, on the inside, he’s complete nerd and an honorary idiot in disguise. He has sass, he has attitude, and he wants nothing more than to show someone how capable he is by challenging them to a brawl at 2am and going absolute feral. Even though he’s constantly trying to put out fights and mediate, he’s a conflict gremlin and he absolutely wants to do nothing more than join in and start tearing things apart alongside everyone else. You might notice in dumb luck that he gets an evil little grin right before charging into a fight, too, and that he despises that. 

Once more I’ll steal a line from my fic, “he doesn’t crave bloodshed, but he revels in knowing that he can protect something.” Dragato cares way way too much (in a good way) for everyone in the GSA, and he’ll lay down his life for each of them any day. To him, the most important thing in any situation is that everyone makes it out alive (is his stand-point in IYD starting to make a little more sense :)?) and as you might imagine, constantly fighting with his personality and his nature to act like something he’s not 24/7 makes him very irritable and prone to spiraling over little things when he’s stressed. Star warriors are supposed to fight until their last breath, and Dragato has spent years in the GSA balancing that deep-seated need alongside the constant pressure he put on himself to maintain peace. Fun times. 

Does he every actually relax? How is he possibly still sane? Well--enter Falspar: the redeemable idiot.  

Falspar is, well, a redeemable idiot. He says stupid things, he does stupid things, he can be incredibly obvious, but he has a heart of gold beneath it all and you won’t find anyone who’s more stupidly loyal as friend. He wants to cheer others up and he’ll do increasingly impulsive things to do it. He’s the social one, he’s friendly, but beware, he knows how to fight and he won’t always just sit there and take it. Also, he has a knack for getting out of tricky situations by complete and utter dumb luck. Yes this relevant to the fic title.

(Another sidenote--this has not been mentioned in IYD and only lightly touched on in dumb luck, but physically, Falspar is incredibly strong. He has a form of high natural strength, which is kinda how he managed to break a mask visor with in a single punch, and he can lift heavy stuff somewhat easily. I straight up yoinked this idea from somewhere in the anime where they call him “the strong one” (possibly in sub of the snack attack episode maybe? I’m not entirely sure it’s been a while) but yeah. If he punched you it would hurt. It would probably break something and then some. Because of this, he also has to keep a close grip on how much strength he puts behind each of his actions, which has the potential to spawn its own kind of trouble) 

Falspar and Dragato have been friends for quite a while, Falspar most often addresses him by the nickname “Drago”, and Falspar was there to witness Dragato change from minor troublemaker and local star warrior menace to the overworked pilot instuctor and strict mediator he is now. He knows about how much of a nerd Dragato, is as well as how hard he’s constantly pushing himself to keep up a front--and to Dragato, that’s a lifeline to find comfort in. 

The two of them still clash over plenty of little things; Falspar tends to say pretty stupid stuff (some things that are just flat out nonsense arguments or that contradict each other) and Dragato, who’s stuck being constantly irritable almost all the time, tends to react to it all the same--but! They admit when they’re wrong at the end of the day, and they apologize, especially when they know they’ve messed up bad and that it’s hurt the other. “dumb luck” provides a prime example.

Falspar gets Dragato to open up and admit he needs a break every once in a while, and Dragato tends to defend Falspar in the bad situations he gets himself easily wound up in. They work well as a team once they get past any nonsense disagreements, and though it’s not explicitly stated in “dumb luck”, Dragato tends to meet with Falspar on random nights to de-stress and ramble on about one thing or another. They talk, they do little things for each other to make life just a bit easier, and they stick together. They’re close friends who are also idiots that roughhouse and call each other names all the time, but they care.

As a little bonus, I’ll go on to talk about how they are both currently doing in In Your Dreams, too.

It’s not great :)

As you might recall, Falspar was the one to first suggest the rumor of MK secretly being corrupted. Yep. That’s what started this. Now, Falspar is oblivious and does stupid things that he really shouldn’t all the time. That includes telling the overly-paranoid commander of the GSA who just won a war mere weeks ago something that coincidentally is very plausible because MK did a lot of things that could be marked as suspicious in the past and no one has seen him face to face in 10 years. Arthur is certainly still to blame for taking that idea and running with it, but Falspar also is not helping the situation by shrugging his shoulders and going “yeah MK is ambitions enough to do something like this” and then going about his day like that’s no big deal. 

Dragato on the other hand, is immediately distrustful of rumors to begin with. He didn’t take this news well. He wants solid evidence before he believes an accusation as harsh as MK (someone he thought was dead for a long time after the GSA was separated in the past and is secretly greatly relieved to learn isn't) could be a traitor, though he’s kept his mouth shut, and he’s been going through it now that the war is finally over. 

Dragato cared very strongly for those in the GSA and reaching their goal--he would have die for them and their cause--and now they’ve actually achieved it, but only a mere fraction of the entire GSA remains. He’s sick of losing people. He’s sick of hearing about Nightmare. Honestly, he really needs a break, and he knows that if MK is labeled a traitor with the potential to bring ruin to the galaxy again, then Arthur will stop at nothing to make sure that threat is destroyed for the greater good. 

Dragato feels like he’s the only one who still has faith in MK, aside from Sirica and Knuckle Joe, his only consolations, and he refuses to condemn him without blatant proof saying otherwise. The most important thing right now is that MK is alive. The most important thing is that he doesn’t turn his back on that.

Falspar is very contradictory in Ch23 when he argues that “MK would totally do this, but he totally wouldn’t lie about it.” Basically, he's doing a terrible job of saying “this is believable and really incriminating but I still have faith that MK is doing what’s best.” He wants to acknowledge the worst, but deep down, he doesn’t really think MK is trying to do anything that would put the galaxy at stake. He won't go against Arthur so easily, but he’s in a gray area between distrusting MK and still believing in him, and he bounces around it at random. 

Where does that put them both? well:

“That’s just your innate ability to test everyone’s patience,” Dragato muttered under his breath, still focused on the controls.

“Ay, what’s your problem today?” Falspar edged back, turning a bit snappish. “What’s gotten you so hung up over this ‘delusional’ myth?”

Unfortunately, when Dragato is very stressed and snaps at Falspar, Falspar’s first instinct is almost always to snap back, for better or for worse. They break into fights easily--and right now is a bad time to be fighting. There’s no time to resolving anything, and they’re seemingly on opposite sides. 

Falspar wants to support Dragato, but he thinks Dragato isn’t seeing the fact that no matter what, there’s still a chance MK could be corrupted, and they need to be prepared to accept that. He knows Dragato takes losing people badly, and he sees it as cushioning the blow ahead of time.

Dragato sees it as a betrayal of trust, and no matter how much he doesn’t want to be at odds with Falspar and the others and that despises in-fighting, he’ll chose the option that he believes will keep everyone alive until the end.

WOW that was long, well, hope that gave some insight! Thank you thank you for the ask anon, hope you all enjoyed my rambles <3

[do-what-the-knight-tells-you]

Our Flag Means Death

Why is that the title.

Partially inspired by this TikTok https://vm.tiktok.com/TTPdXCnUMt/

Which is talking about the idea of pirate flags, custom flags to represent you and your crew's identity but which also out you to other people and the way in which queer flags can be a risk to queer people by attracting the dangerous kind of attention...

I absolutely am here for the parallel, particularly with where Stede makes everyone Do their own flag...

Or Blackbeard editing his flag in the season finale as his sense of identity has changed...

But it finally clicked in my brain, why the show might be called Our Flag Means Death in the first place-

The obvious Reading is of course that when you see a pirate flag, as a non-pirate, that is a threat to you and it means that death could be coming your way.

And while on the other side absolutely it can be a parallel to queer flags re: crew, it doesn't even have to be. Even without that parallel, there are constant themes of how short pirate lives are, of how close to death everyone is.

- frenchy's opening song about the short but enjoyable lives of pirates

- The way the entire crew of the revenge is very clear about the understanding that Stede is going to get them killed.

- how jaded Edward is to the idea of having lost crew. "Two crew died" "They're pirates, it's what they do."

- Izzy warning that they're going to die if they don't do something; Ed being ready to pursue death next if that is the only way to alleviate the boredom

- stede nearly dying

- Ed making him face the possibility that his poor captainship is going to kill the entire crew.

- Ed telling everyone to go drink or numb themselves before they die

- Ed and Steve's conversation after the lighthouse shenaniganery "Maybe you could teach me to be an aristocrat" "Maybe you could teach me to be a better pirate" "learn to live the high life" " learn to live a little longer"

It goes on and on.

The flag may mean death for the people the pirate ship catches, but the flag absolutely means death for the pirates. In skirmish, in sickness, at the end of a British sword or rope.

It's all right there in the opening song. I don't know why it took me this long to figure that out. XD

♪ Ohh, a pirate's life sounds just right ♪

♪ Sounds quite nice, I could say that twice ♪

♪ Sounds quite nice, we won't live long ♪

♪ Ful-lil-lad-dee-lil-idi-o ♪

♪ Smash and gouge and stab and poke ♪

♪ And choke you out, that's a pirate's life ♪

♪ Pirate's life, short but nice ♪

♪ Ful-lil-lad-dee-lil-idi-o ♪

.

Parallel to queer flags is a good addition to that reading.

[fatiguing-thoughts]

“How Drunk Are You?” “Yes.” - Day 7 - Embry Call x Reader

“I won’t be gone too long, babe.” Embry says, rubbing the side of my arm and kissing the top of my head. 

“I know, Em. I’ll be okay stuck with Quil and Jared for the hour. Everything will be fine.” I look up smiling at my handsome boyfriend. 

“Yeah, what’s the worst that could happen?” Jared smirks at Embry from the other side of the table.

“So many things. Way too many things. On second thought, maybe I shouldn’t leave you alone with them.” Embry chuckles nervously. 

“Oh come on, dude. You really think we’re gonna let something bad happen to her? Us? Who do you think we are?” Quil places a hand over his chest, feigning shock. 

Embry looks between the three of us before pinching the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes, and tilting his head down. 

“If it wasn’t so cold out I would bring you with me, babe. But you can’t stand outside that long in this weather. You’ll turn into a popsicle.” He looks at me with a pouty face.

“I understand, Em. You have to help Seth though, he can’t leave his car stranded there. We already played a few games.” I reason with him. 

“I know, especially with his date there.” Embry reasons with himself aloud. 

“Oh my god, he’s on a date?” My eyes widen, fear instilling for the poor boy. 

“Yeah, he is. Embry go help him!” Quil yells. “Em, she’s probably freezing to death. Seth can’t just tell the poor girl that he runs a crisp one-oh-eight nine.” I laugh. 

“Okay, you’re right. I should go now, it shouldn’t be too long if it’s just a jump. An hour, tops.” He kisses my head. 

“Alright. I love you, help him out! Save the date for him.”

“I will try! I love you too.” He says before he jogs out the front door. 

“Okay, now that the sap fest is over, let’s have some fun.” Quil laughs. 

“Hey, you better watch it. You’re gonna be the same way when you imprint. I don’t wanna hear a peep out of you, Jared.” I throw a rolled up napkin at Quil before narrowing my eyes at Jared. 

Quil lets the napkin hit his head as Jared holds up his hands, offering a surrender. 

“Sorry, sorry. But I’m just saying, we gotta have fun.” Quil defends himself.

“Agreed.” Jared nods.

“Okay, well that’s fair. I just don’t know what you guys wanna do.” I shrug. 

“We could play beer pong.” Jared says, pulling the stack of red solo cups off the center of the table. 

“I mean, why not?” I shrug, standing up to get the beer that Embry brought for the game night with the guys as well as the drink I mixed myself, as I hate beer. 

Quil stacks our side of the table, as we decided it would be us vs Jared. 

“Okay let’s get this show on the road, dorks. I hope you’re ready to lose, Jared. I’ll have you know I am basically the best.” I laugh, filling the cups with water and handing everyone their own drink. 

We all came to the agreement that it would only be fair if both Quil and I drank for every shot Jared made as he was playing solo. 

Much to my dismay, I quickly learned I was on the wrong team. I talked a big game about my skills, but I barely got to use them as Jared kept sinking shot after shot, game after game. Balls back almost every turn. By the time we got to the third game I was feeling myself grow hot and beginning to sweat, losing a bit of my balance. Words slurring despite my best efforts to stop them. 

“Oh god, we’re losing her!” Quil laughs, balancing me out by reaching for my arm. 

“Okay after this game, I am done. This ju-just isn’t fair, you guys don’t get drunk.” I pout. 

Jared finished off the table, sinking his shots and ending the game, leaving me to only keep drinking. 

“Jesus, when did we start spinning?” I ask, clutching Quil's arm with one hand, placing the other on my head to stop said spinning. 

“Okay, we might have actually lost her.” Jared looks at Quil with wide eyes. 

“I’m liter-literally right here, idi-idiots.” I slur. 

“Oh no.” Quil stifles a laugh.

“No, Embry is not gonna be happy with us, Quil.” Jared walks over to me, grabbing my other arm.

“Oh, I miss Em. Where is heeeeeee?” I whine.

“Hopefully not coming back until you’re sober!” Quil smiles. 

“In our dreams.” Jared mumbles. 

“I-I’m gonna call him.” I start to look for my phone. “Or, or, or you could have a cup of coffee? Some food?” Jared offers.

“I could eat, I hate coffeeeeee though.” I raise my eyebrows in excitement. 

“Great.” Quil runs into the kitchen for a moment, before returning with some goldfish. 

“Here, eat these.” Jared takes them from Quil, handing me the bag and sitting me back down in my seat. 

“Wait, they-they’re not rainbow.” I pout.

“What? That doesn’t matter. You love goldfish!” Quil encourages.

“Yeah, butttt I want rainbow goldfishhhh.” I pout once more. 

“Jesus Christ, why are you doing this to us?” Jared asks me with a worried look. 

“Can I have water?” I ask Quil. 

He nods before running into the kitchen. 

“So like, out of curiosity. How like, drunk are you? 1-10? Where are we placing you, you gonna remember this in the morning?” Jared asks, looking into my eyes. 

“Yesssssss. I just want Embry to come back. I miss him.” I pout. 

“He will, and he’s gonna be peeved.” Quil hands me the glass of water. 

“Oh hush, I wanted to playyyy. It’llll be okayyyyy.” I promise the boys.

“Easy for you to say. He’s gonna kick our asses, not yours.” Jared smirks. 

“No, I’ll tel-tell him you helped meeee.” I smile, closing my eyes, feeling myself grow a little tired. 

“I just don’t think Embry’s gonna be thrilled.” Quil tries to reason with me.

“What won’t I be thrilled about?” Embry walks through the front door. 

His eyes look around the room, surveying his surroundings. 

The cups on the table, the empty drinks of mine, and some beer bottles the guys drank. 

“Embry?!” I shout in excitement. 

“Listen, it was an accident.” Quil tries to reason. 

“Embry, just hear us out.” Jared says. 

“How drunk are you?” He asks, concern lacing his voice.

“Yes.” I turn around and smile at him.

He walks over, the smell of alcohol invading his nostrils. Moving a piece of my hair out of my face. “Hey, babe. How’re you feeling?” He asks in a soft voice. 

“I feel good. A litt-little tired but happy becau-because you’re here.” I smile at him, grabbing his hand. 

“I’m glad you’re okay.” He smiles at me with soft eyes, before leaning his head back up and shooting daggers at Quil and Jared. “Well, she said she’s fine.” Jared says. 

“It’s Jared’s fault. He kept winning.” Quil blurts out. 

“Oh screw you. This was a group game, we are all responsible. She wanted to play.” 

“Em, don’t be mad. I wanted to play.” I smile up at him, eyes closing slowly. 

He looks down at me, letting out a tired sigh. 

“I’ll kick your asses tomorrow for this.” He looks between the two guys. 

“Actually, we’ll be busy all day tomorrow. All week, even. Rain check?” Jared jokes. 

Emrby shoots him a dagger as Quil laughs. 

Embry punches Jared in the arm, causing him to yelp out in pain. 

Quil laughs again, before Embry punches him in the arm as well, reacting the same way.

“Ouch! We took care of her. Stop being a bully.” Quil teases. 

Embry rolls his eyes at his best friends, before focusing back on me. 

“Em, I wanna sleep. Can we go home?” I look up at him.

“Of course, babe.” He picks me up from the chair, carrying me to the front door and out to the truck. 

“Thanks guys, I’ll see you soonnnnnn.” I smile back at Jared and Quil. 

“Bye, (Y/N)!” They call out in unison.

“Feel better! Don’t forget to leave yourself aspirin for the morning!” Quil chimes in. 

“I love you, Em.” I say, as he buckles my seatbelt in his truck.

“I love you, too.” He kisses my forehead. 

The drive home was a blur, as I was drifting in and out of consciousness. 

I felt strong arms lift me out of the truck and carry me into the house, bringing me into our shared bed. 

“Em?” I say as he lays me down, tucking me in. 

“Yeah?” He whispers?

“Can you cuddle with me, please?” 

“Of course, babe. I was just gonna get the aspirin and water bottle for the morning. I’ll be right back.” He leaves a sweet kiss on my forehead. 

I smile at him, waiting for him to come back, fighting my eyes from closing. 

A moment or two later, I felt the mattress dip with weight, smiling I reach my arms over to hug Embry. 

“Good night.” I whisper as he holds me in his arms. 

“Good night, (Y/N).” He pulls me in closer to his chest. 

______________________________

Word Count: 1543

[yellowloid]

Terra incognita is suuuuuuch an amazing story!! I've read it so many times!! 😍🙏😍🙏

- What inspired you to write it?

- What was your thinking process in terms of the way their relationship evolved?

- Was there anything else you had thought of doing but ended up scrapping?

- What was the process like in chosing thunderstorms as his phobia?

- What happens next? 😘

Thank youuuu you're an amazing writer!

aaaah can't believe you've even reread it multiple times, thank you so much!!

(possible spoilers ahead in case anyone reading this hasn't read the fic in question)

- first of all, the inspiration behind it... i started writing it late august/early september. i'd spent all summer working on another wip, a vampire fic that ended up not convincing me at all; so i just dropped it, and i could've started working on some other ideas i still have in mind (which will, eventually, get written) but instead i got hit with this random vision of alex being afraid of thunderstorms and miles comforting him, which then of course turned nsfw because why not? it was a rainy day and i just had to look out the window to have the revelation lmao + i'm a sucker for hurt/comfort, i'd say it's probably my favourite trope ever, so i immediately got really into the idea.

- i really liked the idea of alex being like 'well my heart does strange things whenever i'm around miles and i definitely check him out and smile like an idiot at his texts!! that is bizarre😳 what could it be??🤔' and other oblivious bullshit. i'd say he knew, subconsciously, what it was, but he'd brush it off thinking it was just A Moment TM or being afraid that it'd damage their friendship if miles knew. speaking of miles, i wanted him to be his usual protective and casually flirty self when it came to alex.

add the thunderstorm to give them a push in the right direction, and miles' protectiveness + their casual intimacy would finally make alex realise that no, it wasn't just a momentary feeling, and that it was reciprocated, so why not go for it? miles was a bit reluctant at the end bc he was afraid he'd have his heart broken, but for once i wanted alex to be the one who pushed for them to give it a try (and of course bc i needed to toss some more hurt/comfort in there lol)

- i'm really not sure if i understood what you mean with this question, so sorry if it's not what you meant! if you mean other wips i was working on before focusing on this fic, then definitely that vampire fic i mentioned earlier; if you meant other possible developments for this fic instead of the one i ended up going for, then i'd say not really, no. in my head i had a clear idea of what i wanted to happen, so i just needed to get it on paper!

- idk if it counts more as an influence in my choice for his phobia or as inspiration, but the idea actually reminded me of a girl i knew in middle school - which was a very long time ago, so i don't really remember the details, but basically she was really scared of thunderstorms, to the point that she would start crying, shaking and overall panicking whenever she heard loud thunder. some people in our class made fun of her for it, and even though we weren't friends i felt a bit sorry for her. when i was a kid i used to have the same fear, so yeah, that probably also influenced me.

- it's a bit of an open ending, isn't it? obviously everyone can imagine whatever they want to happen next, but i'd say there will definitely be a lot of talking, since they'll need to make things clear between them to avoid misunderstandings. sharing something like ~that~ with your best friend isn't something that happens every day, especially if it means you both find out it goes much deeper than that, and the pining you thought was unrequited turns out to be very much reciprocated instead. here we've seen alex's pov, but miles has been wanting him for who knows how long! my man was so shocked alex wanted him too that he almost couldn't believe it, poor guy

basically these oblivious idiots need to learn how to communicate, but i'm sure they'll get there sooner rather than later. just like with his phobia, something he's hidden for a really long time, i think this experience will help alex to be a bit more open about his feelings. of course miles will be there for him no matter what, which will undoubtedly make it a bit easier :')💞

thank you so much for your questions and for your appreciation of this fic, it really means a lot!! ❤

[burnsopale]

So back in August I ensconced myself in a cabin on a mountain to do some writing, and I decided to do a take on the classic “Volkov returns from prison”-scenario.

I got five chapters and 35 000 words in and I will never ever finish it because I have no dicipline. So I figured I could at least share some of the readable bits with you.

Working title: Ashen Characters in this clip: BBA, Russian boys, PPB, mention of the Euro-team Setting: 7 years after season one, Russia, a beyblade park in the evening Summary: Volkov has escaped from prison, attacked PPB headquarters and taken back Black Dranzer. The Russian boys have been living with the PPB, and were used and hurt in the attack. Yuriy left with Volkov for unknown reasons. Daitenji Kogoro has gathered the troops and sent them to Russia to find out what Volkov is up to. Meanwhile, Kai’s grandfather is on his deathbed, and Kai is struggling to deal with it.

The crowd swelled, until there was no way that Takao was going to get any kind of private conversation with his friends. He gave up on the notion for the present, and threw himself into matches. He played the kids who wanted to, holding back as much as he could and leaving Seiryuu simmering in the blade, but eventually they called for a match between Takao and Kai.

Takao loved blading against Kai; somehow, he could never do less than his best against Dranzer, but when Kai now took his place on the other side of the small, grounded dish, something felt off to Takao. Kai looked dull, like he was going to the dentist and just had to get it over with. He fitted Dranzer into the shooter with a look like he was miles away.

“Hey,” Takao said, having to raise his voice a little to get past the crowd. “Are you there?”

 Kai looked up, a little surprised. “What sort of trash talk is that? Are you there?”

 “Just checking. I’ll be in your care.”

 “You’ll be under my heel,” Kai said darkly, and now Takao knew something was wrong, but a beybattle had always been Takao’s way to get through to people, so he just bent his knees and raised Dragoon in front of him.

 “Tri, dva, odin! Idi strelyay!”

 Out of the corner of his eye, Takao saw Emily startle, but he’d have to wonder about that some other time because Seiryuu would not be contained any longer and came out roaring.

Dranzer took Dragoon’s attack head on. Seiryuu bent over it like he was confused as to why Suzaku wasn’t joining him. For the longest moment, Kai just stood there, while Takao watched in disbelief.

 Then, as if he was lifting a great weight, Kai breathed in and cried, “Suzaku!”

 Even the vermillion bird herself didn’t so much soar out of the bit chip as climb laboriously out. Seiryuu hissed, offended by this poor showing, and the battle was over in less than a minute.

 Kai picked up Dranzer and went to stand next to Boris and Kyouju without even commenting on the results. The audience was, thankfully, satisfied, but Takao was not.

 He played Eddie and got a much better match out of him; Trypio was one of those tricky blades that you needed strategy and forward thinking to beat.

 Afterwards he got a chance to say two words to Emily about Kai.

 “He is going through a tough time,” she said.

 “Yeah, but he doesn’t usually let it hurt his blading.”

 “He can’t still be grumpy about the finals?” she wondered.

 Takao shook his head. “Nah, he agreed Ralf deserved that one.”

 Emily nodded, biting her lip in pleasure as she thought back. “Ralf was incredible. It was a team win, but he had the best individual result. The data output was like a laden buffet table.”

 “Ooh, buffet! ... Did he lose at all?” Takao didn’t think he had, but he hadn’t been able to catch every battle.

 “Hmm. Rai came close; lightning is good against such massive holy beasts, and it was close for Kai too of course, but no one can quite top the sheer mastery Ralf has over Griffolyon.”

 “It’s not mastery; it’s teamwork,” Takao insisted, frowning.

 “Call it synergy, then,” she said, shrugging. “Ralf knows his business, that’s all I’m saying. They all do, those European bladers.” She chuckled. “You know, Ivan calls them Earthquaker, Wingshaker and Heartbreaker, from back before he learned their names.”

 Takao matched the nicknames to their right bladers in his head. “... What does he call Johnny?”

 “The hedgehog.”

 “What about you?” he asked, nodding to the dish where Max was getting ready to battle Steve. “Are you going to play?”

 She shook her head, a look of pain crossing her sharp features. “Trygator is ... missing. He was taken in the attack. Volkov has it.”

 For a moment, Takao found nothing to say. Inside he was boiling. “We’ll get him back, Emily,” he vowed, clenching his fist. “I swear it.”

 She smiled a dangerous smile, not unlike a crocodile’s. “Yes, we will.”

 Eventually the group detangled themselves from the crowd and began to journey home. The world was growing dark, but the sky was still pale above. Long stretched of road lay without light, which came in handy when they had to escape from a few fans who apparently wanted to know where they were staying.

 They stopped on the lawn outside the hotel where Emily and company were staying, and Takao finally got to ask his question.

 “What happened?”

 The others looked at each other, except Boris who looked down, and Kai, who now said a brief goodnight, reminded them where to meet in the morning, and walked away. Max made a soft sound, but didn’t try to stop him. Kyouju seemed torn between not wanting to pry and dying to know.

 Emily made it easier by briefly telling them of her encounter with Peter Trotty. “Turns out his real name is Trotsky. He’s one of three Borg spies that have been undercover in the PPB for years. Or rather, one of the three we’ve found so far.”

 “What did he mean by that thing he said? Baba who?”

 The Russian boys shifted their feet. Sergei’s lips pulled back from his teeth in a silent snarl.

 Kyouju could, as usual, not help doing a bit of teaching. “Baba Yaga is the name of a witch in Russian fairy tales. She is an old woman who rides through the woods on a mortar, and lives in a house that stands on four chicken legs.”

 “Chicken legs?” Max echoed doubtfully.

 “She is sometimes an enemy, but can also help the hero or heroine, if they do the tasks she sets them.”

 “In this case,” Sergei said, “she is a real woman. She was in the abbey. She trained us, Ivan and me, and sometimes Yuriy.”

 “Don’t ask about her,” Ivan said, putting his hands over his ears. “I hear the creaking in my head all the time. I thought I was rid of it. I thought it was over!”

 “She is dead,” Sergei said with conviction. It sounded like something he needed to believe. “She was old when I came to the abbey; she must be dead. But they had her voice on a tape recorder and ... it’s hard to disobey.”

 “Fuck her!” Ivan exclaimed, and then grew suddenly pale as if he had said something dangerous. “No more,” he said, more lowly. “She’s a fairy tale now. Only fit for scaring children.”

 For a while they stood in silence, and then Kyouju asked the other question, the one that had been hanging over them all day. “Why did Yuriy go?”

 “Because he’s an idiot!” Boris said, holding up clawed hands like he would like to wrap them around Yuriy’s throat. He turned away and roared behind his teeth up at the darkening sky. “He’s a stupid mudak! Fuck!” He kicked a turf of grass so dirt sprayed up. “Fuck, fuck fuck!”

 They watched him stomp repeatedly on the uprooted bit of turf, and then move on to a flower that was unlucky enough to stand nearby.

 “What Borya said,” Sergei agreed.

 “But we’re to blame too,” Eddie added, pulling his jeans jacket around himself like he was cold. “We thought we were doing a good job making them feel at home.”

 “We thought Michael was taking care of Yuriy,” Steve said, stern with himself. “But Michael and Yuriy are nothing alike. It didn’t work out.”

 “And we didn’t notice,” Eddie finished.

 “Don’t talk like that,” Ivan hissed. “Like we were your homework!”

 “But you were,” Emily said in her factual, merciless way. “At first. Then you became our friends. Now you are ours, whether you like it or not. You won’t rest until Yuriy is liberated, but neither will we. He’s coming back home with us.”

 “We’re with you too,” Max said quickly.

 Takao and Kyouju nodded determinedly.

 “The first step is to figure out where Volkov is and what he is planning,” Kyouju said.

 “And that means getting to bed, so we are ready for tomorrow,” Emily added. “Come on, boys. I promised Judy I’d tuck you all in by ... well not this hour, but she doesn’t need to know that.”

 Takao, Max and Kyouju watched them go, Sergei grabbing Boris by the lapel and pulling him away from the flowers he was chewing up. Then they turned and headed for their own hotel and their beds.

 “What do you think we’ll find tomorrow?” Max wondered.

 “We’re going back to the abbey,” Takao answered. “We could find anything.” A feeling of foreboding was growing in his stomach.

 Takao surprised everyone by being the first to get up that morning. He was too keyed up to sleep any longer. He was digging into his second round of breakfast when the others arrived, but politely stuck around to keep them company until they too were finished. It gave him time for round three anyway.

 “You’d think I don’t feed you,” Dad said as he brought his plate to the table.

 “You’d think Grandpa doesn’t feed you,” Takao retorted, looking at the mountain of food on his dad’s plate.

 Kyouju sipped his tea, two slices of toast with honey lying neatly on a plate in front of him. “Like father like son, I suppose.”

 “They snore like father and son too,” Max said, yawning as he took a seat between Kyouju and Kai.

 Kai smiled. He had his own room.

 Their friends arrived from the other hotel a little before ten o’clock, and at ten precisely, two large black cars came to a halt in front of the hotel doors. A huge man stepped out of the first car. He had bushy moustaches and bushy eyebrows, and a great big belly, and he wore shorts, sneakers and a yellow Hawaii shirt that looked deeply out of place in the middle of the city. He shook hands with Takao’s dad, and with Kai and Emily.

 “Hello hello, everywan,” he said, sounding exactly as jolly as you’d expect, like a big Russian santa. “My name is Gregor Gregorovitsj. You can call me Gregor. I will be your guide today. I understand that some of you will be coming with me to look at the papers and other inventory that we cleared out of the abbey, while some others of you,” He looked to Takao’s dad. “Want to go see the abbey for yourself.”

 He looked at them expectantly. Then his eyes alighted on Sergei, and travelled to Boris, and down to Ivan.

 “Oh.” He said. He scratched his head. “... They didn’t tell me why you wanted to go there. Why would you want to?”

 “You haven’t heard about Vladimir Volkov escaping from prison?” Emily asked.

 Gregor looked surprised, and then a little embarrassed. “To be honest, nobody tells me anything. I am only archivist, but I speak English, so they sent me. I have never been guide before.” He frowned. “But if that man has escaped ... hmm ... that explains some things. I may not be told anything, but I do hear things.” He frowned a little more. Kai cleared his throat, startling him out of his thoughts. “But we should get going! Okay, those who want to go to abbey go in the first car; the driver knows way, and someone will meet you there to show you around. Everyone else, in second car with me.”

 “Who is going where?” Takao wondered. “I’m coming with you, Dad.”

 “As am I,” Kai said.

 “And me.” Boris took a step away from his own group towards theirs. “You won’t find anything without one of us going with you.”

 Kai turned to him. “Then it should be Ivan or Sergei.”

 “No,” Boris said simply. “It will be me.”

 Emily pushed her glasses up and surveyed her troops. “Sergei is taking point on the textual evidence, and Steve and I read enough Russian to aid him. Daitenji Kogoro mentioned a warehouse with inventory, so Eddie and Ivan are going there.”

 Kai rolled his eyes in disgust. “And how do we know you won’t have another episode?” he asked Boris bluntly. “You think going back to that place won’t trigger any memories?”

 Boris lifted his head stubbornly. “There will not be an episode. I am going.”

 “You are not safe,” Kai growled.

 “Stop it!” Takao placed himself between them, facing Kai. “If Boris says he will be fine, then he will be.”

 “Why?” Kai sneered. “Because you believe in him?”

 “Because I trust him,” Takao answered.

 Dad put a hand on Kai’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, Kai; we’ll be together the whole time. If anything should happen, we can handle it, but I think Boris knows best if he will be alright or not.”

 Kai shrugged off the hand. “I agree,” he spat. “I just also think he would lie about it.”

 Emily, Eddie and Steve were looking on in confusion and shock, while Ivan and Sergei’s faces were growing dark.

 Boris said something in Russian that was clearly an offer to throw hands, and Kai turned back to him like he absolutely meant to take that offer and go through Takao if he had to, until Max suddenly stepped in front of Kai and drove him backwards.

 “That’s enough, Kai!”

 Takao exhaled in relief as he saw Kai’s attention snap to Max with the irresistible awareness that Max always commanded of him.

 “This isn’t about Boris,” Max said, putting his hands on his hips and leaning forward like he was at work and lecturing one of his kindergardeners. “It’s about you. If you don’t want to go to the abbey, then you don’t have to! But don’t take it out on Boris!”

 Kai’s face got all red and pinched.

 Max straightened up and exhaled. “Kai.” He shook his head. “I’ll come too, and like Kinomiya-san says, we’ll go together, and if you’re scared I can hold your hand and then it will be fine-”

 “Just get in the car,” Kai said in a strangled voice and immediately followed his own advice.

 “Guess I’m coming with you,” Max said, nodding to himself like he thought he had done a good job, and Takao thought so too.

 Max had a way of diffusing – or confusing – Kai that sometimes came in handy.

 Takao just wished they could get to the heart of the problem. This was not about the abbey, he didn’t think so, though it was about going together, and about being lonely even when you were surrounded by friends.

 “Well,” Gregor said, swinging his hands back and forth by his sides. “That was awkward. Would you like to go now?”

 Kyouju decided to go with Ivan and Eddie to the warehouse, and so the teams were agreed upon.

 Takao didn’t know what Daitenji-san wanted them to find in that black stone labyrinth, but as they left the city centre and began to near the desolate edges where Volkov had picked up so many of Moscow’s orphaned and abandoned boys, his feeling of foreboding grew stronger. Something was waiting for them. Something they were not prepared for.