#and now you are gonna just besmirch her good name??

[acornered]

A BUMBLEBEE IN THE MIDST OF GATHERING POLLEN WOULD LITERALLY NEVER DO THAT

[danganronpasurvivoraskblog]

Order #7: Two Togami’s for the Price of One.

Welcome to Canzanilla Cafe, can I take yer ooooorder~?

Welcome to Canzanilla Cafe, can I take yer ooooorder~?

Welcome to Canzanilla Cafe, can we take-

Can you stop?

EGH!

That chime is really annoying.

Well, that sounds like a you problem.

Yeah, you really just suck the fun out of things, you know that?

That’s not a very appropriate thing to say to your customers.

We treat our customers how we wish to be treated. If our customers don’t show US hospitality, we have no reason to return the favor.

Exactly.

That aside...Welcome to the café Byakuya.

Thank you. I’m looking forward to seeing what you can come up with.

And...who might your friend be?

Greetings Mr Kurafto. It was quite a pleasant surprise to hear that you had set up such an establishment. I couldn’t wait to try out the drinks.

...?

Don’t look at me, I don’t know this guy.

Oh, right...I suppose you wouldn’t know.

*He stands up straight.

Just imagine me...but I have blonde hair and glasses.

...

...

Wait...

The Ultimate Imposter!?

“Imposter?”

Bingo.

*He sits back down.

Sorry I didn’t recognize you! I’m just...so used to you looking like him.

Yes, well. I have recently forsaken Byakuya’s identity per his request.

Who are you impersonating now then?

No one. This is my real face and body. And I go by a name now - Ryuji.

Ok, can you all slow down a second, I’m gonna need some more context.

*sigh* Alright...Basically...

*Byakuya takes a moment to explain the context to Maya.

I see...so Ultimate Imposter is your Ultimate Talent, but it’s also the only thing you had to go by for a long time.

You don’t remember your real identity, so you lived by impersonating others. But now you’ve made your own identity and are using that?

Correct. And for the past however many years since the end of the Jabberwock Island Killing Game, Byakuya Togami here has allowed me to use his face and name in unofficial proceedings.

Guess you changed your mind at long last, huh?

Not quite. I just no longer felt content seeing Ryuji go on as anyone other than himself. Though our faces were the same, our personality and interests were different at our core.

No matter how hard he tried to replicate my personality, his own still shone through the façade.

Uh-huh...Well, clearly you get along well enough to want to come and get a drink together.

*sigh* Well, as he said already, this gentleman decided he wanted a break from the lively atmosphere of himself and his classmates at this time of year, so we ended up taking a look around

Turns out he wasn’t quite aware of the Canzanilla Café being set up here before now, so he was rather eager to sit down and put his feet up.

Oh come now, there’s no need to hurt my feelings. I thought it would be a good idea to stop by since I know how much YOU like your tea break.

Although, I suppose you have seen more of the world than any of us, so I doubt this comfy little café impresses him.

Don’t put words in my mouth. Canzanilla went through a lot of trouble trying to get the grant for this. The last thing I would do is openly besmirch her efforts.

That’s not the sort of person I am anymore.

Besides, don’t you remember? I said this one would be on me.

Aw shoot. I wish I was a customer now that I know Togami’s paying.

I think he meant for Ryuji only.

If you want someone to fit your bill, ask your own boss.

But he’d take it out of my pay.

Exactly.

Speaking of which, what can I get for you two gentlemen?

Both: Get me a Double Espresso and take it easy on the milk and sugar please.

...!?

...!?

Oookay...So that’s...two Double Espresso’s?

Both with little milk and sugar?

...Sure.

...Right.

...Ok!

*Maya and Kuripa brew the identical drinks together and bring them back to the table. Byakuya and Ryuji simultaneously take a sip.

...

...

...

...

W-Well? How is it?

Did you like it?

Pleasesaysomethingicantbearthesilence...!

...I apologize Byakuya.

Hm? What for?

You seemed...frustrated and annoyed earlier when I ordered the same drink as you.

Rest assured, I did not mean to copy you. I just wanted a drink that would suit my own tastes, and...they just happened to align with yours.

If I offended you, I apologize. It was not my intention.

I’m not offended. And I wasn’t annoyed earlier either.

When we ordered the same drinks, I was just surprised. Both of the coincidence, and the fact that you have good taste in tea.

Are you sure?

Yes. I’ve known you long enough to know that even though you’ve spent most of your life impersonating others, it’s never been something you’ve been proud to do.

And I must remind you, my request for you to stop impersonating me was for your own benefit, not mine.

...I see...I apologize for coming to such a conclusion.

Besides...Even if you were copying me, you would never be able to copy the feeling of nostalgia I get when I press this cup to my lips.

Nostalgia? What kind of nostalgia?

One that feels like going from rags to riches I assume?

Something like that.

What do you mean?

I told you about my family tournament for the right to be the heir, remember? Before I gained my title, I was actually in a pretty rough spot.

After I was officially taken in by my father Kijo Togami, even though I knew I had earned my spot, it still felt...uncomfortable at first.

Like when your old shoes don’t fit you anymore, and you buy a new pair. It takes some getting used to.

When I first became heir and started living in luxury, it was the first time I ever tried tea. For a long time, this was my favorite blend.

...

Well, whatever...the past is the past. Let’s leave it as it is.

Hahahahaha...

What? What’s so funny?

I’m starting to realize why it is I spent so long pretending to be you specifically. You and I have far more similarities between us than I initially thought.

But...and forgive me if this sounds insensitive...it’s quite funny to imagine the dignified scion, Byakuya Togami, was once a lonely boy on the street.

Are you trying to pick on me?

Of course not. How could I? I spent so long adopting your identity after all.

I do sometimes worry though. I have my own face...and I gave myself my own name...But I still need to find other parts of myself. It’s admirable that you have a life story of pulling yourself out of your unwealthy roots into what sits before me now.

There are many gaps in both my history and personality. I am...somewhat incomplete. To be honest, I’m envious.

Not necessarily...if you ask me...

Ryuji Mitarai is someone who can be given the utmost amount of trust in any situation. Even if it’s something that he has little to no experience in, he will always take charge and formulate a plan to make sure everyone gets out safely.

He is a truly kind and caring individual. He’s very serious about his work and his friends, and is stern in his actions, but when he smiles, he does so in a friendly manner, being protective and supportive to others. He’s also reliable and feels responsible for the safety of those around him. But it’s not like he’s completely set on himself. His biggest weakness is his lack of self-esteem. 

Due to his nature as an impersonator who previously had no identity to call their own, he feels very lonely, and sometimes like he doesn’t truly exist if he’s not adopting someone else’s personality or mannerisms. He constantly has to lie to people as a way to live a life, which he constantly feels guilty for. 

Before now you spent most of the time impersonating other people, so it’s not easy to see your real personality. However, you DO have one.

...

I...Wow...

Jeez Byakuya...That was...touching.

Yeah, I didn’t think you had it in you.

But I meant every word, and not a syllable less. 

And I’m getting rather tired of people thinking that I’m incapable being genuine and nice. Remember, I AM treating you today.

It’s not that I don’t think you’re not nice. It’s more that I know how fierce you can be with words and phrasing.

But if you’re sure about treating me, would it be alright if I had a refill?

Oh? Another drink for the kind gentleman?

You heard the customer Kurafto! We’re here to serve you!~

Hah! I like where this is going. I’ll have another round too.

*Maya and Kuripa bring Byakuya and Ryuji refills immediately. They down their delicious drinks far more quickly.

Hmhmhm...Canzanilla may have an abhorrent personality, but her drinks are hard to top. I find myself wishing I could enjoy some every day.

Aw, you’re too kind.

That...was kind of a backhanded compliment dude...

Do you ever think that if you decide to quit Future Foundation, you’ll start a tea and coffee enterprise and employ her to be part of it?

Hm...

Interesting proposition there...

Wait...really!?

I’m joking of course.

I do sometimes catch myself thinking that I could restore the Togami Family to it’s original stature, but my work for the Future Foundation is something I am dedicated to.

And even if I were to do such a thing, I wouldn’t base it off brewery. There’s already countless industries for imported brands and original blends. They don’t need me muscling my way into the business.

Even so...Thanks for the drinks today Canzanilla. If the café at home doesn’t work out and you ever find yourself needing a cushy job, I’d enjoy having you work here full-time at the Future Foundation cafeteria.

Or, if you’d like something a bit more ambitious...my personal teamaker.

*sigh* Once a smartass, always a smartass...

You’re also welcome on Jabberwock Island. You’d be able to relax on an island scenery and I’m sure everyone would love your drinks. I promise you’d have a blast.

My, my Ryuji, are you competing with me for talent? 

Huh? I was merely making Miss Maya here an offer to come feast and play with us.

You needn’t do so. You may simply stop by the Future Foundation whenever you want Canzanilla to mix you a drink.

...

*Maya pulls Kuripa.

Tipo! I’m so popular!

Can you both cut it out. Maya doesn’t work for either of you!

Ahem...

*Maya steps forward.

While I appreciate your offers, I’d just like to let you know two things.

Firstly, I’m sorry to disappoint you, but tea is not something I especially enjoy brewing. My real specialty is my coffee. Personally I have a dislike for tea, and the only reason I know how to make it is that it’s difficult to run a business if I don’t.

And secondly...your offers sound...great...but I value my own personal freedom and way of life. The way I work? It’s Maya way or the Highya way.

Besides...You two fully understand what it’s like to earn your place in society. Well, so do I.

It took a lot of elbow grease to get enough money to open my cosey little café back in the states. I’m not gonna be so quick to abandon it or let it go.

I see...Forgive me then.

Yes, our words were insensitive...

No, it’s ok! Even with all that said...

When I have a chance, I’ll come hang out with both of you. I promise!

[mypoisonedvine]

The Kind of Girl You Take Home to Mom (part 3 - FINALE) | Andy Barber x reader

(part 1) (part 2)

summary: andy knows how to take what he wants, and he wants you.

word count: 5.6k 

warnings: SMUT, subtle dubcon elements, loss of virginity, infidelity (obviously), wedding ring kink (shocking!!! jk), 

a/n: wow, after all this time I FINALLY finished this series.  sorry it took so long.  I still have an alternate ending that I want to write... but I wanted to go ahead and get this out first.  thank you everyone for your patience!  I kind of expect this to flop despite being the most requested thing ever, but idgaf.

“Honestly?  I always had this weird fear that he was going to try to seduce one of my girlfriends.”

For the second time that day, you choked.

“Wh— are you okay?” Jacob gasped, running over to you as you coughed up water.

Your attempt to respond was useless as you could only sputter and cough, trying to communicate that you were fine with a casual wave, but only managing to flail your arm wildly.

“Was it something I said?” he pressed.

“No, I just—” you wheezed, but interrupted yourself with another coughing fit as your eyes watered from the lack of air.

He slapped your back to try to help you along but it wasn’t very effective, just adding one new source of pain to your predicament.  I always had this weird fear that he was going to try to seduce one of my girlfriends, that was what he’d said.  What does that even mean?  Did he mean it like “I always had this fear, for no good reason,” or did he mean it like “I was always afraid of this, and now it’s come true”?

The way Jacob was looking at you— kind, concerned, patient— it didn’t seem like he suspected you of anything.  He probably would’ve led with that if he knew something, right?

When your airways finally cleared and you were able to start catching your breath, you finished getting ready for bed quickly and hopped into bed.  You couldn’t handle any long conversations with Jacob, though you tolerated some cuddling before you fell asleep.

You dreamt that night that you were drowning.  Andy was holding you, his arms wrapped around you from behind as he pulled you to shore.  Or was he pulling you under?  Either way, you figured you’d had enough water in your lungs for one day.

~

You probably should’ve let them win at Scrabble… you just couldn’t help yourself.

“I have…” Jacob trailed off as he counted in his head, “177 points.”

“209,” Laurie announced, reaching over to rub Jacob on the shoulder sympathetically.  “Sorry, honey.”

“384,” Andy grinned, setting down his pen and pad triumphantly and looking to you for your score.

“Um,” you stalled, almost embarrassed to say now.  “I got, uh, 559.”

Laurie and Jacob erupted into sputters of confusion, demanding that you recount your points as if they hadn’t all seen you play ‘quixotic’ on a triple word space.

“Good game,” Andy murmured with a soft smirk as he stood up and left the table.  You smiled back at him quickly, the other two too busy recounting the numbers on your pad to even notice.

So, that was the end of board games for the night.  Jacob suggested a movie but you just knew that would just be you and him cuddling under one blanket… while Laurie and Andy cuddled under another.  You weren’t sure you could take that.  Instead, you decided to read your book outside— even though you figured Laurie was disappointed you didn’t want to do anything more social.  Complimenting her beautifully landscaped backyard eased the blow, though.

It was hard to get comfortable on the patio couch, not because of the couch itself but because you knew it wouldn’t be long until somebody bothered you.  When you heard the door open, you were a little disappointed to see Jacob approaching you.

“Hey,” he smiled, sliding in next to you on the couch and wrapping an arm around you.  

“Hey,” you greeted in reply, slightly flat in your affect as you immediately dove back into your book.

“You’re feeling okay, right?  We could go for a drive if you need some space,” he offered, rubbing your shoulder gently.

“No, I’m alright,” you mumbled.  “You know me, I like my peace and quiet when I can get it.”

“You… like them, don’t you?”  He must’ve sensed that you didn’t understand what he was referring to at first.  “My family, I mean.”

“Oh!  Yeah, that’s not the issue, really.  I know we’re going back home tomorrow but I still need to decompress a little bit.  I’ll be more social tonight, promise.”

When you looked up at him, his face was closer than you’d anticipated.  It reminded you of when you two met, at a party where the music was so loud that you’d had to stand about this close to be able to carry a conversation.  Well, technically that wasn’t the first time you met, because you had him in one of your classes that semester, but it was the first time you’d talked.  He was fun, he was new, he was friendly.  I can’t stay long, I’ve got a test in the morning, you’d yelled your explanation.  You’re gonna ace it anyway, he had dismissed at the time, so you should stay and have fun!  You deserve to have fun.

Maybe that was what had made you attracted to him: you couldn’t think of anyone else who had been so worried about what you deserved.  But now, Andy was added to that list.  You hated to imagine that Jacob had inherited that nature from his father.  Is he treating you right? Andy has asked you that night, and you really weren’t sure even now what the answer was.  He certainly wasn’t treating you poorly, but was that enough?  

Back in reality (and not in your whizzing, anxiety-ridden thoughts), Jacob leaned in and kissed you softly.  The kiss was just like him: patient, gentle, but also somehow energetic.  It was… nice.  Comfortable.  Feeling a surge of boldness, you set your book aside and leaned into him, pushing the kiss a little deeper.

He let out a tiny little noise, nearly a moan, as your tongues began to slide together.  His hand reached up to cradle the back of your head— you remembered that he did that a lot when you were making out, but all those times felt so foreign now.  Your hands reached up to rub against his chest through his t-shirt; that dark maroon one he wore all the time, so much that it was forming a few holes at the hem.  His hand slid down to your back and—

“Am I interrupting something?” Andy’s voice tore you both from the moment and from each other’s arms.

“Dad!” Jacob protested, sounding particularly immature with the way his voice rose to a shrill yelp of shock.

“I was just coming out here to let you know that your mother wants your help with dinner,” Andy explained, “but I wasn’t going to let an opportunity to embarrass you like that go by.”

“You never do,” Jacob sighed, giving you a quick kiss to the cheek as a goodbye as he stood up and walked inside.  You felt Andy’s eyes on you as you looked to the ground awkwardly, wiping your mouth with the back of your hand.  A few seconds after the door was shut, he spoke again.

“I couldn’t let you two get too hot and heavy, and besmirch this innocent patio couch.”

“You’d better not be mad at me for kissing my boyfriend,” you frowned as you stood up.  “That’s the most normal thing that’s happened all weekend.”

“I’m not,” he assured, beginning to step closer to you.  “Jealous?  Slightly.  Not that I see him as competition or anything.”

“Uh, you probably should,” you disagreed, raising your eyebrow in a mix of confusion and challenge.  

“Honey, I saw you kissing.  It was nothing to write home about,” he laughed.  “He doesn’t seem to realize that, since he brought you here.  Can’t blame him—-” he stepped closer to you and ever-so-delicately brushed his fingers against your arm— “but you know you can do better.  You know nobody can make you feel like I do.”

“Andy,” you murmured, trying to step back as you glanced to the window by the backdoor, through which the both of you were clearly visible to anyone who sat in the living room.  It was empty now, but it was too close for comfort.  “Someone could see…”

“They’re in the kitchen, don’t worry,” he soothed, leaning down to ghost his lips over your cheek and neck, “nobody’s gonna see us, angel, s’just you and me…”

You didn’t want to, but you melted into his touch anyway.  Just those little circles that his fingers drew on your back made your entire body erupt in shivers.  “Andy,” you found yourself whispering as if you needed to remember who was doing this to you.

“I’m gonna fuck you tonight,” he whispered against your ear.  

Your breath caught in your throat.  

“Are you scared?” he teased.  “Afraid my cock’ll split you in half?”

Embarrassed, you nodded.

He grinned, pulling back from your neck to force you into a deep, dominating kiss.  You wrapped your arms around his neck and clung to his shoulders, eagerly allowing his tongue access as it pressed into yours.  A little moan escaped you, causing him to pull your body even closer.  You had worried that kissing the two of them in a row like this would lead to an inevitable comparison, which would be beyond disgusting.  But nope, this kiss made you forget that you’d kissed Jacob at all.  Not that that exactly stopped it from being disgusting.

You knew if you didn’t stop yourself now, you wouldn’t be able to soon… and you really needed this kiss to end before you two got caught.  Pushing on his chest, you pulled back with a sigh.

“We shouldn’t—” you began.

“No, you’re right,” he agreed with a reluctant nod.  Still, you missed his touch now that it was gone.  “We’ll have plenty of time for that later.  It’s just hard to keep putting on a happy face when all I want is to grab you and bend you over the table and—”

“Oh god, you can’t talk like that,” you laughed nervously.  “You’re gonna drive me crazy, I swear.”

“Haven’t I already?” he smirked.

You nodded, because he was completely right.  With a quick wave, you opened the door to step into the house.  He called your name, getting your attention as you turned around.  In his hand, arm outstretched, was your book.  “Almost forgot this,” he smiled.

“Right, thanks,” you nodded, taking it and going back inside.

~

You spent the rest of the day reaching new heights of anxiousness.  Shaking your leg, chewing your lip, scratching your wrist— how could you relax after what Andy had said, how could you act casual?  You were just waiting for the other shoe to drop, for the obvious opportunity to arise and for Andy to be inevitable like he always was.

You weren’t sure how he did it, but he did.  He got Laurie and Jacob to leave you two alone in the house.  With his influential career, he was probably used to getting what he wanted, but you hadn’t anticipated that he was so good at the hard work it took to get those things.

He got you, though.  Not that that took all too much hard work.

“Enjoy the movie you guys!” you told them as they were making their way out the door.  Jacob leaned in for a goodbye kiss, and softly asked one last time if you wanted to come.  

He pulled your shirt up over your head, and you hadn’t even gotten it all the way off before he undid your bra with a quick motion.  You hated to think about Jacob in that moment, but those few times you’d fooled around with him to this extreme, that part of the process had taken quite a bit longer.

When your breasts were free his hands latched onto them instantly; the rough pads of his fingers felt good against the sensitive skin, and his hands were so damn big.  You felt your back arching into his touch.

“Can’t wait to get my mouth on these,” he purred, “but I need to see all of you first.”

You yelped as he picked you up and tossed you back onto the bed.  He took off your socks first, which made you feel a little hot for some reason, and then reached down to pull at your shorts.  You lifted your hips to make it easier, looking up at him and gnawing on your bottom lip nervously.

As he tossed your shorts and underwear aside, you suddenly felt very naked compared to his clothedness.  Probably because you were completely naked and he was completely clothed.  He smiled down at you before grabbing your ankles and resting them on his shoulders, starting to kiss up your leg slowly while never breaking eye contact.

You whined impatiently.  “Andy, please, need you…”

“Shh,” he soothed, “we’ve got time baby, I finally got you all to myself and I’m gonna savor it.”

His lips moved up your calf and thigh, but irritatingly skipped anywhere salacious to get straight to your hips and belly.  “Hnng, Andy—” 

You choked on your words when he licked over your nipple, swirling his tongue around it before sucking it into his mouth.  It instantly hardened between his lips and he smiled.  “Baby, you’re so sensitive,” he cooed against your skin as he kissed his way to the other and did the same.

Your hips bucked up and made contact with his clothed thigh; you let out a high-pitched moan and did it again, rubbing yourself against his suit pants.  The rough material sent shocks of pleasure through you as Andy smiled and left little love bites along your neck.

"Look at you, such a needy little girl," he tsked.  "Rubbing your cunt on me like a whore.  You're gonna make a mess, baby."

"'m sorry I just— oh, fuck," you sighed, your head falling back onto the pillow with a soft thud.

"It's only fair," he shrugged.  "I don't mind spending the rest of the night with your come on my slacks.  So long as you spend it with my come still in your cunt."

You gasped, trying to imagine how you would hide that from Laurie and Jacob…

But you couldn’t keep on that train of thought for very long as he started to kiss down your stomach again.

“Please, Andy, need— fuck, I need you to— um, taste me, please,” you whimpered.

“Hmm, beg a little more,” he smirked.

It was a long line of nonsense after that; some barely-intelligible string of ‘please’ and ‘Andy’ with a little flair of embarrassing whining.  He laughed a little before he finally did what you’d asked, latching his lips onto your swollen clit.  Your back arched instantly as your hands clenched at the comforter beneath you.

It wasn’t at all like you’d imagined it would be— it was so warm, and he alternated between surrounding you with his mouth and teasing you with the tip of his tongue.  You let out a long, deep moan when his tongue slipped inside you, twisting and massaging your walls so perfectly.  Your hands carded through his hair, accidentally tightening and pulling when he licked right over your clit.  He didn’t seem to mind, though, just moaning against you and doing it again and again and again until your legs were quivering. 

Just as you were about to tell him that you were close, he instantly pulled away to speak.  “I can tell you’re close,” he purred as if he’d read your mind.  

“Please, don’t stop,” you begged, but he continued to sit up and started to open his belt.

“It’s not time to come yet, honey.  It’s gonna feel so much better when you come while I’m inside you— for both of us,” he grinned.

As his sweater was discarded and his trousers were pushed down, you bit your lip.  You weren’t sure you would ever get used to seeing his cock, especially when it had leaked enough pre-cum to leave a wet patch on his boxer briefs.

He was on you the second he’d finished stripping, caging in your body with his, growling as he started to kiss your neck.  You whined and arched your back, your heart racing as you tried to cope with the fact that this was happening, this was really happening.  It was surreal, or maybe it was more than real— you were going to lose your virginity.  To Andy fucking Barber.

“I think you’re ready for me, don’t you?” he asked teasingly, his hips moving forward to press his cock against your inner thigh.  You nodded as you swallowed thickly, gasping as he reached down and started to rub his swollen head through your folds.

“Please…” you sighed, even as your chest tightened with distant fear.

You had wondered if what he'd said about his marriage to Laurie being sexless was true.  It certainly would be a convenient lie to garner your sympathy and make him look better.  But you had no doubts it was the truth when he pushed his cock into you; he moaned like a man who had dreamed of this moment for years, who had been so deprived of affection for so long.  

It hurt less than you’d expected, although it was certainly overwhelming.

“Oh fuck, Andy,” you moaned,

“Say my name again, baby,” he demanded with a groan.

“Andy!” you repeated, a little louder right as the tip of his cock hit so deep inside you that it hurt— and for some reason, you wanted him to do it again.

“Fuck, you need to be quiet, or the neighbors’ll hear you,” he hissed as he pumped into you deeper and faster.  “Can you do that or do I need to choke you to shut you up?”

You whimpered from fear at that idea and he laughed a little.  

“Don’t act so innocent, baby, I know who you really are: you’re my dirty little slut.”

“No I’m—” you began to disagree.  A quick slap to the face, not too hard but stinging nonetheless, shut you up.

“You know you are,” he hissed, “so say it.”

You could barely carry this conversation, his cock filling you so completely that you couldn’t think about anything else.  “Andy, I—”

“Say it.”

You gulped but managed to pant between heavy breaths, “I’m…  I’m your dirty little slut, Andy…”

He grinned and began to move faster, deeper, somehow.  You clutched at his shoulders, kissing him and groaning into his mouth.  When his hips slammed into yours, you moaned louder than maybe you ever had before.  "You want it rough, honey?” he taunted.  “Want me to fuck you hard?"

"Yes, please!" you sobbed, your voice hoarse and desperate now.

He grabbed your hips and made good on his offer of brutality, and then some, making you nearly scream.  He kissed you again, perhaps in an attempt to keep you quiet, although it didn’t work that well, as you mouth fell open with every cry.  His teeth captured your lip as he growled above you, holding your hips up so the angle was perfect to send his cock right into the end of you, so deep— too deep, in the most perfect way.

His cock stroking against your walls was indescribable; each thrust made your entire body erupt in shivers.  The stretch was difficult but you loved it, you loved the way his body pushed yours to its limits.  

"Gonna come inside you, honey," he moaned, "gonna fill you up so good, gonna mark your body with my come and make you mine."

"Oh god, Andy, please," you sobbed.

"You gonna come for me, pretty girl?” he encouraged.

“Yes, so close—” you cut yourself off as you choked on nothing, you entire body beginning to tighten and seize up as pleasure spiralled higher and higher.

“Just like that, come on my cock,” he demanded, but you couldn’t do anything else even if you tried— the coil snapped as your vision went spotty.  Just as you started to close your eyes, he held your neck and stared down at you.  “Look at me when I make you come.”

You struggled to keep your eyes open with the intensity of sensation washing over you, but you didn’t want to know what would happen if you disobeyed.  Those blue eyes pierced through you as you shivered underneath him, and with your walls constricting his cock just felt even thicker inside you.  “Andy,” you whimpered, your fingers and toes erupting into pins and needles as you felt him flexing inside you— and he must have been coming in you in that moment, with the way he sighed and his thrusts pumped deeper yet more erratically.

Warmth spilled inside you as numbness decorated your extremities and fogginess clouded your mind.  You lost focus as he collapsed beside you— even when he pulled out, you still felt full, due in part to his come inside you and in part to being ruined so thoroughly by him.  Maybe you’d feel normal again tomorrow, or next week, but right now it was impossible to forget that you were fucked, in every sense of the word, by Andy Barber.

He pulled you into his arms and kissed your neck slowly, his breathing slowly returning to a stable pace as his chest pressed against your back.  He was mumbling something about how you were his girl, how you did so good for him, but you were already drifting into sleep even though it was barely nine o’clock.

You woke up the next morning in the guest room with Jacob beside you, who informed you that he’d found you already asleep when he got back from the movie he’d gone to see with his mom.

You left just a few hours later, waving goodbye to Mr. and Mrs. Barber as Jacob pulled the car out of the driveway.

three months later...

The sun was just starting to set as you made your way home after your last class of the night.  Campus was gorgeous at this time of day, but you weren’t really taking the time to notice it as you focused instead on how wonderful it would feel to kick your shoes off, slip off your bra and slide into bed.  What you didn’t anticipate when you unlocked your dorm room’s door was to find Andy sitting on your bed as he waited for you.  You shut the door quickly so none of the girls mulling about the hall would see him.

He looked so out of place in your dorm.  He was so… adult, and yes, everyone there was an adult, but he was a whole new level of adulthood compared to the other residents of the honors dorm.

“You shouldn’t be here,” you reminded him.

“Why shouldn’t I be?” he questioned casually.

“Because your son is on the other side of the hall,” you explained, unamused.  “What if he sees you here?  What if he sees your car in the garage?”

“You worry too much.  I don’t give a fuck if my son lives nearby, if I wanna visit my girlfriend then I’m gonna do it.”

He’d never used that word for you before— or at least, not in front of you.  It made you feel nervous, glancing to the floor as he stepped closer towards you.  "I think I'm too young to be your girlfriend,” you decided.

"Perfect age for a mistress, though."

You stammered as you tried to balance the way that word made you feel sick with the way it made you feel aroused.  He lifted your chin with a finger, his other hand pulling you closer at the waist.  "Are you trying to act innocent, honey?” he smirked.  “Do you think I didn't realize that it turns you on?"

"Wh-what turns me on?"

"The sneaking around.  The secrets, the lies; the fact that it's wrong, forbidden, taboo.  It's why you haven't broken up with my son yet and it's why you stare at my ring all the time— yes, I noticed."

You frowned, crossing your arms impatiently.  “I haven’t broken up with Jacob because my relationship with him makes a great cover for my relationship with you… I’m doing that for us.  And do you think I like the ring?  I hate that stupid chunk of silver, seeing it on your hand makes me so livid because it just reminds me that I don’t have you all to myself and—”

“Baby, you know I’m all yours,” he purred, kissing down your neck as your back began to arch.  “Meanwhile, I have to share you with him.”

You were amazed that he could refer to his own son with such disdain, but then again, you knew how jealous he could get.  

“If you’re mine then take the ring off,” you suggested between panting breaths.

“If you’re mine then take it off for me,” he countered.  His left hand was travelling up your neck and you grabbed it by the wrist.  He pulled back to look at you as you brought his fingers to your mouth, kissing the tips of them before sucking on his ring finger, deeper and deeper, until it was poking down your throat and the ring was at your lips.  Lubricating it with your spit and spinning it with your tongue, you used your teeth to pull the ring slowly off of his finger.  He gasped a little as you opened your mouth and displayed it for him on your tongue, before spitting it out and across the room; it made a tiny little clinking noise as it hit your floor.

“Fuck,” he growled, the sound deep in his throat and dripping with desperation.

It felt like his hand never left your neck that night, like he was trying to claim you in every way he could all at once.  He was so possessive over you, ironically.  It was hard not to feel like your whole life was waiting.  Waiting for the semester to end so the next one could begin.  Waiting to graduate and get a job and finally begin your real adult life.  Waiting for the marks Andy left on your skin to fade so you didn’t have to wear a turtleneck in June.

Waiting for Jacob to find out, like he inevitably would.

Waiting for Andy to leave Laurie, or at least do something to make it seem like this was going somewhere.  

The thing about Andy was that he had this magical ability to make you stop worrying, in a way nobody and nothing else could.  When you were apart, reality would set in again and you’d decide you needed to confront him the next time you saw him.  It wasn’t even that you needed him to commit to you, specifically, you just needed to know what was going on— because how could he stay married through all this?  He needed to leave her, not for you but for himself.  You would get yourself all worked up and then he’d show up and soothe you until you forgot what you wanted to say in the first place.  When you were together, the future didn’t matter anymore, and neither did everything that was wrong about what you were doing.

It was like living in a dream, a really strange dream.  You were drowning in him, just like you’d known you would, but you didn’t want to stop.  You didn’t want to stop the secret dates when you gave your friends and boyfriend some excuse about having to study, the rendezvous in the back of his car, the midnight phone calls where he was whispering so his wife wouldn’t hear.

You figured that after all this time of being a good girl— the perfect daughter, the perfect student, the perfect girlfriend, the kind of girl you’d take home to mom— you deserved to let go.  You deserved to have fun.

[bitchassbucky]

.zip

Word Count: 2k

Warning/s: toxic/abusive relationship dynamics, gaslighting and manipulation, abduction, injuries were mentioned, stalking, dark!bucky x dark!reader, emotionally/mentally unstable!reader, dismemberment (not gore-y but still), three very special character mentions, shady corporate stuff, career sabotage?, food mention, sedation/drugging, f-words.

A/N: oh my god, this is the final chapter of CTRL. to all who read from the start, thank y'all so fucking much - from the bottom of my big-ass heart, thank you so much for coming along with this journey. this is my first FINISHED series, oh my god. to @babyboibucky (CTRL's number one fan), @sarge-barnes-sir, and @borikenlove thank you so much for indulging my inner degenerate GHJSDFG and for screaming (affectionately) at me when i first let y'all read the finished draft.

BUT THIS IS NOT THE END (just yet), i will be uploading TWO epilogues very soon: the explicit version and the not-so-explicit version. stay tuned!

follow the CTRL series:

i - .exe

ii - .avi

iii - .raw

iv - .png

v - .zip

epilogue:

.eps (explicit)

.eps (cut)

CTRL playlist CTRL moodboard

Your demeanor, character, even tone, changed.

Calculated, cold, unnerving.

But you sat there like a housewife in front of her husband, eating spaghetti and meatballs. Acting all dandy like there isn’t a man strapped onto the chair four feet away from you.

“C’mon, darling, eat! I made your favorite,” your eyes twinkled as Bucky helplessly tugged on his restraints, “oh, sorry, you’re tied up.”

Hm, sick in the head, bad for the heart.

“What do you want?” Oh, wow, even talking hurts for him. His throat is all dried up, he tasted something bitter under his tongue.

You chuckled, moving half a meatball around your mostly empty plate, “for you to stop treating me like I’m stupid.” You spear the meat with your fork, swirling it in the sauce, “I know you’ve been… checking in on me, Bucky.”

Oh, fuck.

“Look, I’m sorry, okay? I was-- I mean, look at you--” He’s making it worse. You’re mad. You’re angry because he was being a good friend.

He only did that because you were lonely and he’s right: you are lonely.

So lonely that you’re willing to kidnap a grown man to keep you company, “I’m so sad for you.”

“You’re aware you’re the one’s been tied up, right?” You’re curt as you should be, scooting over near Bucky to feed him.

“I can’t eat that—” If he wasn’t sitting down and tied, Bucky would’ve vaulted over you and called the neighbors, she’s fucking crazy!

You giggled, rolling your eyes as if he had the freedom to make a choice right now, “if you’re thinking of screaming… More than half of my neighbors are felons or on parole, I doubt that they’ll call 911.”

Jutting forward the fork, you let the prongs gently touch Bucky’s lips, “now, eat! We have so much to talk about.”

“No. I don’t-- I’m not hungry.” He shakes his head, the fork hitting his chin and clanking down the floor.

“Just eat the fucking food, Steve!”

Bucky flinched at your sudden outburst. The words—the name—seeping in a moment later. Steve? Who the hell is Steve? Was he your husband? Boyfriend? His head throbbed again, his mouth filling with saliva like he’s about to throw up.

You kneel down, pulling a napkin from the table to wipe the meat and the sauce from the floor.

“This better not stain.”

—

He promised thrice.

Once over pasta and meatballs, once over dessert, and once when you were clearing the table.

You relented, of course. Half because you love him and half because it’s getting annoying.

“As long as you don’t leave me, okay?”

“Yes, I promise. I won’t leave you.”

Bucky’s still seating on the dinner chair, slightly slumped without the ropes holding him up, “look, I’m really sorry about the anesthetic, I went overboard with it.” You look over to him—at least he’s regaining his fingers and arms again.

“It’s okay, babe, I wouldn’t trust me either.” If he could stand up, he’d go over and hug you. Helping with the dishes, peppering you with sweet kisses.

A genuine laugh slips out of your lips, “ugh, still… I’m really sorry.”

The last of the plates were neatly stacked, cups and cutleries were placed gently on a drying rack. It was getting late, you could tell.

“I’m not mad, by the way.” You muse, prompting Bucky to lean forward, listening to you.

“What do you mean?” He takes your hand into his, ever so gently.

“You did that,” you squeeze his hand back, gazing into his soulful eyes, “because you love me.”

Did you know that some people could read microexpressions well? Bucky went through a whole lot of them before answering, “of course, I do.”

Contemplating whether you call him out on it or not, you hum, placing a gentle hand on his jaw, “it’s okay, you’ll learn how to love me.”

He has to. He has no other choice.

Bucky clears his throat, “have you seen my phone?” His tone was hopeful, upbeat, maybe he can reach out to someone, anyone, before you can do any more damage.

“Yeah, ‘s on the couch.”

He tried to move, he really did. Bucky’s fairly strong, he can bench an easy 140 on a good day. But even the beefiest motherfuckers have no match for Propofol.

“Don’t worry about your friends, they’re not worried about you, Buck.” The coolness of your tone sends Bucky into a panic—again. “D’you wanna check your messages though? There’s a lot of ‘em.”

Grabbing his phone, you asked Siri to read him his latest notifications.

Urgent: Notice of Immediate Termination

From Joaquin: Where are you, man?

From John W.: Do you have copies?

Urgent: Notice of Immediate Termination

Urgent: Gross Misconduct

From Joaquin: Bucky, what the fuck?

From Samuel Wilson: Pick up the phone, Barnes. You’re fired.

17 missed calls from an unknown number

From John W.: I knew you were a freak but holy shit, dude!

72 text messages from an unknown number

Bucky never really liked horror movies. It made him jumpy and anxious. Too paranoid, even. But now? Now he’s sure that people have never experienced sheer fright before.

His toes cramped inside his boots, his feet were cold, sweating. The little hairs on his legs stood up, goosebumps littering the entirety of his body. If he held his breath, he’s sure he could hear his heart hammering out of his chest. The blood rushes past his ears and onto the base of his skull—he’s gonna be sick.

“What,” he gulped back the saliva pooling in his mouth, “what did you do?”

You’re irritatingly calm, “well, I mean… We’re already together, what do you need those for, right?”

Putting a warm hand over his forehead, you cooed, “poor thing, you look sick.”

—

Bucky thinks it’s well past midnight when the anesthetic wore off.

His limbs were heavy, he had to lean on the wall every couple of steps to regain his balance. Helpless. He’s helpless and you both know it. As if it’s a bear trap, Bucky carefully took his phone from the coffee table.

Why would you leave it unattended?

The screen lights up as soon as he picked up, his lock screen littered with ‘fuck yous’, ‘sicko’, and his personal favorite, ‘motherfucker.’

Ignoring the glaring messages, he went straight for the emergency dialler and—you took out his SIM card, snapping it into two neat pieces, placing it beside the phone.

Bitch.

The golden surface of the card was scratched too, he can’t do anything, use it as a toothpick, maybe? His phone was just as good as a paperweight.

He looks out of the window, limping towards it. Even if he could climb over, it would take him forever to get onto the street. Your neighbors would probably think that he’s just on a bad trip.

“It’s bolted shut. Perks of living alone as a single female.” Your voice made him flinch back, like a kid whose hand was halfway down the cookie jar.

Bucky plays it off with a cough, he can’t be weak now, “no, babe, I was checking out a noise. You ready for bed?”

You smiled softly, taking his hand and draping his arm on your shoulders as you prop him against you, “almost, big guy. Gotta get you settled in bed first. Are you tired?”

Nodding, Bucky kisses your temple, “yeah.” He just needs to play with your sick little games until he regains his strength.

Where would he go? His reputation and his job are besmirched, his apartment is probably crawling with forensics too.

“You fell down and banged your head earlier. Nasty cut on your head too. I told you to not tire yourself much.”

You hit and drugged me but I digress, “Yes, darling. ‘M sorry.”

“You scared me, Buck. I thought you were dead.” Are these tears forming in your eyes?

“I’m not leaving you, not by any chance. I promise.”

He promises a fourth time.

—

Your bedroom was bigger than he thought. But of course, he only saw your desk and your bed through the webcam.

Save from the Ted Bundy-esque corkboard you have in front of your workspace, he feels weirdly at home. You tucked him in, reminding him to wake up every two hours for the painkillers.

“You’re not going to bed?” He muses from behind you, all cocooned in your blankets.

“Just need to take this phone call real quick, babe.” Your back was turned from him as you work on your company laptop. He noticed that the webcam is covered with white tape.

The sound of an incoming call filled the room before you quickly answer it, your voice turning hoarse and raspy as if you’ve been crying.

Hi, Mr. Wilson. I’m so sorry for the late call. Do I- do I need to come in tomorrow? I just... I don’t feel comfortable facing everyone—I used all my home hours this week and—

Miss L/N, I’m glad you reached out to me. Is it okay if I record this call for security purposes? It’s just for you, me, and the HR department.

You turned to Bucky, your face is stone-cold but your voice belonged to someone so utterly helpless.

No, you don’t have to call into work tomorrow… Or any other day.

A dainty gasp and a fucking sob comes out of your mouth, your eyes were telling a different story.

Am I fired?

God, no. Please, Miss L/N, don’t worry about that. We want you with us through this entire debacle. We want you to take some time off—paid. We’ll also grant you… a grievance package.

You could almost hear what he would say next.

As long as you don’t talk to any members of the press or any journalists until our friends in the PR department can clean this up.

A triumphant smile creeps on your bare features, putting a finger in front of your lips, you mimic a ‘shh’ gesture to Bucky.

You round up another mirthless sob as the CEO drones on about the bureaucracy of this whole thing.

He was really nice to me, you know? He took me out on dinners and lunches. He even brought me to his place and I– nothing happened but I can’t stop thinking about it.

I’m really sorry, Miss L/N. I thought he was…

A good guy? I really thought so too.

Please stay offline for a bit, just for the weekend, alright? Someone from the HR department will be in touch with you for the process. We don’t wanna be a hassle more than what Barnes is. On our behalf, please accept our deepest apologies.

Jesus, this guy had the PR department cook up an apology letter.

Thank you—thank you so much, Mr. Wilson. I’ll keep in touch.

You burst out in laughter a second after the call ended. Hearty laughter, the one where you can feel your belly tightening.

“Did you hear how good I was, baby? Oh my god, we had them fooled.”

We? Fuck your ‘we.’

You slide over the covers, propping up yourself with your elbow as you turn to face Bucky, “don’t worry, you don’t need them anymore. You have me, yeah? We have each other.”

—

Out of the most bizarre things that happened to him last week, finding dismembered fingers in the fridge was the least of his concerns.

“Honey!” Bucky calls out, holding the ziplock bag with a pair of tongs.

You bound down the stairs, your laptop in hand as you squint, “what am I looking at?”

Bucky hesitated, maybe he’s going insane too, “fingers. Dismembered fingers—are these yours?”

Setting down the laptop onto the table, you peck him on the cheek, smiling as if him holding a baggie with human remains is just your Sunday normal, “god, I hope not. I need my hands to do things.”

As soon as you look back at him, you dropped the facade: “those are Steve’s. Well, used to be.”

Bucky’s afraid to ask the question where’s the rest of him?

“You know the term pinky promise, right? Well, it has a dark origin.”

Just as fast as a bustling train, Bucky rakes his brain for all the times he promised you something. Hoping that he won’t end up with a stump for a hand.

One vividly bright memory is seared into his brain though, the days blurred together with sharp edges and mismatched colors: we love how we were taught to love.

So, who taught you how to love like this?

[bigskydreaming]

Aaaaaaaaand switching over to the DC channel now, lol:

People who are currently keeping up with the Dark Crisis and its intended aftermath stuff....

So I saw an article about the upcoming Lazarus Planet event and laugh-cried ugly haha tears, I looked very good I’m sure, but like. What even. And also no.

BUT WHATEVER. DC’s gonna do what DC’s gonna do, regardless of how many times we say “you keep changing the entire structure of your multiverse every two years because nobody knows or cares how it all works and its actually this incessant flip-flopping that’s the REASON nobody knows or cares how it all works so all you really have to do to make things better is LITERALLY NOTHING and just leave things the way they are for five whole minutes, aka the exact opposite of yet another multiverse restructuring when you haven’t even done ANYTHING yet with the last shakeup.”

DC: Yeah okay, we hear you, but first check this out.

Sigh.

Anyway, like I said, they’re gonna keep trying to workshop the concept of a multiverse into something that’s somehow ‘newer’ or ‘fresher’ than everyone else’s multiverse and somehow functionally different while still being literally just a multiverse, from now until the end of time and/or DC probably. It is what it is. Moving on. Don’t care.

What I DO care about is....the Lazarus Planet stuff said something about “will Power Girl get free from an out of control Omen?”

And I said: wut?

Is this about Lilith as in I lackadaisically presumed nothing was being done with her and haven’t looked up what’s going on with her in ages? Is she out of control and doing something to PG? What’s the deal there? Or is it some other Omen and they are besmirching my girl’s good(ish) name but beyond that I don’t actually have to care or keep up? 

[theseerasures]

For the meta thing, how about big sisters with absent mothers: Winter and Yang? Like, how they dealt with things differently and what a friendship between them would look like

anon i just want you to know that as soon as received this ask i barged into my girlfriend’s room to be like “is this you???” because this ask is so EXQUISITELY tailored to my personal interests that i was like “literally who else would cater to me like this” and it was not her, apparently!!! so thank you very much for this ask.

of course i have SO MANY thoughts about this topic that it took me a complete month to marshal them into something faintly coherent, if staggeringly long, so. i hope it’s worth the wait.

S(chnee)-side: how to lose brothers and alienate sisters

let’s start from some well-trodden ground: the season 5 character shorts, and their subsequent caricaturization via Chibi, which posit the Yang vs. Winter dichotomy as something like “Yang loves Ruby by diving into a monster’s mouth for her, and telling her she always has her back, and Winter does the same for Weiss by...siccing monsters on her, and telling her that she won’t always be around to save her from them.” much hay has already been made about the reasons why the two of them would act in the ways they did, so for the purposes of my own meta i’m going to skip over those, and concentrate on how content since season 5 has updated these conceptions.

and on Winter’s end of things, these conceptions have been updated by showing that she’s, uh.

...full of shit.

we’ve now had TWO instances of Winter going above and beyond to protect someone vulnerable. the first time was for Penny, with whom she has a sisterly bond, and the second time was for Ren, with whom she has...exchanged a few lines of dialogue. if she’s so ready and willing to hurl herself bodily into the path of an aggressor for someone who is basically a stranger, then why all the pageantry with Weiss about how she can’t (or won’t) save her? did she carve some kind of blood relative exemption into her saving people thing? does it only apply to people who wear a lot of green?¹

to properly address this question--and to bring in the Willow of it all--i think we should step back and ask: how does Winter actually feel about the Schnee name?

not Jacques’ name, mind. nor anything he did to besmirch it. Willow’s name, and Winter’s birthright.

because what has always been interesting to me is that while Weiss has talked about reclaiming or rehabilitating the Schnee name from their father’s meddling and still clearly wants to reconcile herself with it, even after being disinherited, Winter has only ever talked about distancing. it’s entirely possible that she had similar aspirations when she was around Weiss’ age and was just more thoroughly disabused of them, but my point stands: Winter shows a discomfort with the Schnee name overall in a way that Weiss has yet to. you don’t have to look any further than Winter’s combat style to see how this discomfort is telegraphed, as she barely uses any Dust, or Glyphs, and the one aspect of her Semblance that she does use and tout are Summons, which just so happens to be the part that emphasizes her own individual ability to conquer foes. something about the Schnee name feels irreconcilably tainted for Winter,² and while i’m sure a large part of it has to do with her father, who can make her explode into emotion confetti by just being in the same room as her for thirty seconds, a not-insignificant part can probably be chalked up to the fact that...

Willow Schnee was probably never all that good a mother.

granted: we’ve have exactly one scene (two if you count the 8.2 sneak peek) with her, so i’m fully ready to be called Boo Boo the Fool if we get a flashback and Willow was some kind of crusading super-mom prior to her descent into alcoholism, but. the idea that she hasn’t ALWAYS had to compromise herself and her children just to get by feels facile. this is not to victim blame, but to say that Willow is an imperfect person (in that she is. a person) placed into a horrific situation, which means that she could not always deal with the situation perfectly. it’s important to remember her agency--both before and after she became an alcoholic--but it’s just as important not to idealize it into something it’s not. Willow was by no means a co-abuser to her children, but she was probably always inconsistent, because living with your abuser for years on end does that to you. personally, i’ve always envisioned pre-alcoholism Willow as...well-meaning and much more perceptive and intelligent than people give her credit for, but beset with her own flaws that grew in proportion to her hurt and bitterness. she was capable of shielding her children from her husband’s worst excesses, and often did; but she was just as capable of retreating when she might have fought, of excusing Jacques’ actions to try to keep the peace, even of lashing out at those who shouldn’t have to handle her negative emotions.

her descent into alcoholism exacerbated these tendencies, but Willow has always been a complicated woman, and the idea that there was a prelapsarian time when Willow was an unmitigated good, before...idk, her Good battery ran out and she became Drunk Victim Non-Mom, is...well, it’s definitely something that a ten-year-old who had an ENORMOUSLY traumatic birthday would believe (and blame herself for), but Winter might disagree. i don’t think her view would be any more objective, if only because the day Winter Schnee has an un-myopic thought is the day i pass gracefully into the West, but her view is probably more complicated and less flattering, because Winter knew her mother more as a person, and that’s something we’re gonna talk about more with Yang and Ruby, later.

the point i want to make now, with Winter, is that her determined inconstancy, where she’ll readily jump into the jaws of a monster for her siblings in one breath and berate them and caution them against needing her in the next--that comes from her experience with Willow. the lesson she wants her siblings to learn is not just “the people who are supposed to love you are cruel, so get a helmet,” but “the people who are supposed to love you disappoint you, which is worse, so it’s better to not rely on them at all.”³ better for them to learn it from her than firsthand, but also--better for herself, because when she does disappoint them (and she did. she left.) at least she can take comfort in the fact that surely it doesn’t hurt as much; she warned them, after all.

in Winter’s mind, this kind of disappointment is an inevitability, so what’s paramount is to make sure that when it does happen her siblings are at least prepared for it. in the face of that the fact that she would actually risk life and limb to help them if they ever need it falls to the wayside; i don’t think it was a mindful decision that Winter consciously made--like, i don’t think she ever thought “i’m going to withhold the fact that i would die for them because that would contradict the whole social Darwinism thing i’m trying to drill into their heads,” because Winter’s just...not that kind of deliberate rational actor, in any arena. rather--and maybe even more damning--i think she just assumes that Weiss and Whitley already KNOW, that it’s a given for them the sacrifices she’d make for them in the same way it’s a given for her. but they don’t! because you have to say these things, and Winter has been force-feeding them the precise opposite.

ultimately all of these contradictory impulses stem from Winter’s deep-seated need for control--both of herself, and of the environments around her, and those in turn come from the fact that she was a) repeatedly wounded as a child and b) had to shoulder responsibilities far beyond her own ability as that same child, which...continues to this day. from this perspective, what matters is less keeping her siblings safe, and more her own ability to save them. she knows that’s imperfect, so she compensates by enforcing what worked for her onto them, and also by keeping them away from anything that could harm them, without their input. i never thought much of the contrast in environments for the character shorts--like of course Weiss would spar with Winter’s Summons at home like the untested shut-in she was--but what did take me aback was that in season 7, after Weiss has waltzed across an entire continent and been promoted to a full Huntress, Winter...still exclusively trains Weiss with her Summons up in Atlas, while Ruby and Yang are traipsing across Mantle killing ACTUAL Grimm. i have no doubt that this was for foreshadowing reasons, but still: it points to the fact that for all Winter loves Weiss and would fight giant monsters for her, there’s a part of her that...doesn’t trust Weiss, and wants to maintain control over her.⁴

this, i think, is part of the reason why Whitley treats her basically like an un-person: it’s not just that she left when he was too young and Jacques filled in all the gaps with lies and slander, it’s also that even when Winter was around the bigger age gap made it much easier for her to reconcile keeping him out of the loop, for his own good. she can’t ever be vulnerable around either of her siblings, but especially not Whitley, because he’s too young; he might let something slip when they’re around Jacques, and she shouldn’t be putting that kind of burden on him anyway. if he resents her when she’s just trying to protect him--except you said that you wouldn’t, Winter you absolute moron--then that’s his prerogative. it doesn’t change her own responsibilities. they can be miserable and Byronic in their own separate cubby holes and it’s fine.

(it’s not fine.)

R(ose)⁵-side: tonight, the role of Replacement Goldfish will be played by...everyone

let’s get one thing out of the way: Yang is a GOOD big sister, and some of the ways that she is good can be chalked up to the fact that she had a better home life, but only some. her character short ends with her promising Ruby that she’ll always have her back after spending the short proving it, and she has--until recently, and we’ll get to that--lived up to it. people get caught up on how much time Yang spends with Blake nowadays, but it’s important to remember that the entire impetus for Yang reuniting with anyone during the Mistral arc was about Ruby. so is the thing that separates a Yang from a Winter is that a Yang preaches what she practices, and isn’t firing a million zillion mixed signals at all times?

well--yeah, basically, but we’re gonna make a big thing out of it anyway.

what made Yang and Ruby different from the Schnees--even before the character shorts--was a sense of parity. in contrast to Winter insisting on maintaining a) the most unapproachable facade in the world, and b) a death-grip on every situation at all times, Yang was characterized from the outset as...chill (ironically). despite her Semblance being LITERALLY hotheadedness, Yang’s passionate energy never manifested in any real desire to take charge. the fact that she was fine (even happy!) with Ruby being bumped up to her year and then becoming leader speaks volumes to how much Yang trusts and respects Ruby’s judgement. rather than try to mask her flaws, she exudes this kind of...radiant fallibility and lets Ruby take care of her, or keep her in line. they complement each other: Yang takes care of more grounded concerns like individual fights and making friends, while Ruby--again, until recently--set more abstract goals and gave them moral direction.

a lot of this can be attributed to the smaller age gap, but i think it also comes from growing up as two motherless free-range children on an island--and the motherlessness is obviously a huge deal for both of them. when i started writing this i honestly thought i’d talk more about Raven, since she’s the mom who’s actually a character already, and her absence plays a huge role in how Yang deals with her abandonment issues in the present, but to be honest: the loss that cut the deepest for Ruby AND Yang is Summer, because Summer was actually around enough to be lost. despite the show frequently dividing custody of Team STRQ right down the middle between Ruby and Yang, where Ruby “gets” Summer and Qrow and Yang “gets” Tai and Raven, it’s the admixture of Rose and Branwen that makes the two of them who they are.⁶ Yang spent more time with Summer, but Ruby spends more time with Qrow, who is Yang’s blood uncle, so the dichotomy between nature and nurture is fascinatingly blurred.

i know this is an unpopular opinion, but i hope Summer really is dead, because the ways that her daughters interpellate their own identities from her absence drives so much of the story. that SUMMER was the first mother Yang lost--not Raven, because Yang didn’t even know about Raven until Summer died--is what shapes her relationship with Ruby, but also her relationship with Raven. what’s always simmering just below the surface of any Yang-Raven confrontation is that the person Yang actually wanted to find the whole time she was looking for Raven was Summer, because she wanted a mom, and a mom looked like Summer. Raven’s not stupid--it might be her one redeeming quality--so it’s likely that she’s always known and resented this. it’s not an accident that the moment Yang stopped looking for Raven for Raven and started looking for her for an easy conduit to her real family was the moment she actually found Raven.⁷ it was the first step to Yang outgrowing her old habits, of waiting for a mother to return--a classic “she needed a hero so that’s what she hurdy blah”

in a way that’s what she’s been doing this whole time. in contrast to Winter, who compensated for her mother’s flaws by ratifying them into universal law, Yang did the same by defying their supposed truth: people might leave her, but she won’t leave Ruby, and Ruby won’t leave her. it’s telling that whenever Yang leaves--even as a literal child--she always took Ruby with her, even if she planned on coming back. (it’s just as telling that when Winter left she didn’t.) she’ll always be there for Ruby, to give her the boost she needs to become the Summer they all want her to be, which means being a little of Summer herself--the part of Summer that baked cookies and slew monsters. and in return Ruby gave her...a sense of certainty, i think: that Ruby needs her and therefore won’t leave, but also that Ruby has the parts of Summer that Yang can’t muster herself--the grand heroic ideal, the moral certitude, etc.

...and now we’re finally gonna talk about the Schism, which i honestly think is the best thing that has happened to their relationship, development-wise. by the end of the Mistral arc Yang has arrived at a healthier perspective with respect to her relationships with everyone: now it’s not about indiscriminately giving herself away to people in the hopes that they might not leave her, but about choosing to give herself away to the people she loves and trusts. on one level this should not conflict with her relationship with Ruby at all, because Yang loves Ruby, but on another...the fact that Yang no longer feels obligated to perform unending support, to be the grounded complement, to fill in the parts of Summer that Ruby can’t--of COURSE that’s going to bring about conflict. because it turns out Yang never needed Ruby to give her direction or discipline. she’s now had time to think of the things she herself values, and those...don’t exactly match up with Ruby’s--or Summer’s.⁸ Yang, having known Summer as a mother, having been confronted repeatedly with the fallibility of mothers, is starting to outgrow Summer, and grow separately from Ruby.

but growing separately doesn’t have to mean growing apart, and i think Yang, at least, knows this. she clearly feels Some Kinda Way about their disagreement (and Blake’s implicit alignment with Ruby), but she’s also confident enough in her own beliefs by this point to commit to them. Yang’s taking charge instead of deferring to Ruby, and it turns out that...she’s actually not a bad leader herself, since she and Jaune have pretty much split a lot of those responsibilities. for her it’s not a question of losing faith or love in Ruby as a person, but about discovering what she herself fights for.

Ruby...sees it differently, because Ruby sees Summer differently. if Yang has always defined herself against Summer by deciding that she can NEVER fully be Summer, so she’ll make do with what she can, then Ruby’s always defined herself against Summer by marking Summer as the endpoint of her personal trajectory. what Ruby knows of Summer--that she was a person who enjoyed life and did not believe in original sin, that had a magical special destiny that was totally fine and awesome and didn’t drive her to her death, that she was a baker of cookies and slayer of monsters--is what Tai and Qrow--and Yang--told her about Summer, because Ruby was too young to remember the real Summer. so Summer for her is this abstract paragon to live up to, and no more. she can’t possibly exceed Summer, because the Summer Ruby knows encompasses literally all that is good.

when Yang tells Ruby “i’ve always got your back” in the short, a lot of it is about Yang, and the ways Yang needed to be there for other people so they’ll be there for her in return. but it’s also something Ruby really needed to hear, because Ruby needed the security and comfort of knowing that even if she screws up there are people around her who can help shoulder the burden. that security already took a serious hit after Yang lost her arm, but Ruby, kind and generous person that she is, was able to reconcile with that, because YANG HAD JUST LOST HER ARM. it would be ridiculous to expect Yang to have her back the way she used to, and besides--it was time she grew up, and growing up means becoming more like Summer, all of Summer, by herself.

and...she gets pretty far, is the thing, because Ruby IS a lot like Summer, and is incredible and amazing all by herself to boot, but the point is that no one should feel this much pressure to be All That Is Good, especially when you’re a teen. Ruby’s not ready to recognize that, partly because at this point so many people are looking to her for leadership, but also because being Summer’s heir is the only real link she has to her mom.⁹ so she hunkers down and does the best she can, in a situation that has far spiraled beyond anybody’s control...and then Yang tells her that it’s not working out, that this time it’s not that she can’t have Ruby’s back, but that she won’t. in Ruby’s mind, this could only mean one of two things: either Yang no longer believes what Ruby believes--what Summer believed, or...Yang no longer believes in Ruby, because she wasn’t good enough.

and well. it’s Ruby. it’s not hard to guess which reason she’s picking right now, especially since she pretty conspicuously refused to call the shots during the Amity heist.

but this is of course a false dichotomy. it’s not about which one of them is right, or even more right, and the show does a very good job with the framing to show that both of them have a point. similarly, what Ruby needs right now is neither confirmation that her long-held beliefs are objectively the best ones, nor that she is good enough to become Summer after all. no; what she needs instead is the knowledge that she’s allowed to fuck up, to deviate from what people have told her about Summer, to become what Summer never was. that’s something Yang can--and will--help her work out.

oh no this analogy is breaking apart: how they’d get along

...oi.

look, even beyond the fact that Winter doesn’t get along with ANYONE over much, i don’t think there’s any universe where she wouldn’t immediately rub Yang the wrong way. not only because Winter’d initially treat Ruby with the same cold tyranny that she (up until very recently) treats Weiss, but also because Yang’s partner is Blake, and--to say nothing of Atlas/Schnee-on-Faunus oppression--she was personally made collateral during the fallout with Blake’s abuser.¹⁰ i myself wouldn’t say that Winter abused Weiss, but to Yang’s protective and skewed view...

well, can you imagine Weiss trying to explain the way Winter ~~~trained her to the Bees? “oh, she sent a pack of Beowolves to hunt me! it was a meant-to-lose fight and when i started doing well she just moved the goalposts. one of her wolves almost ate me before i begged her to stop but it...probably...wouldn’t have...it was fine! my Aura didn’t dip THAT much. Winter’s the best!!” Yang’s hair would have been on fire after the first sentence, is all i’m saying. this coupled with the fact that Yang would very likely view Winter leaving Weiss and Whitley through the lens of Raven doing the same thing to her, and i think it would take a pretty long time for the two of them to see eye to eye on anything.

which is not to say that they have nowhere to go but antagonism, because at their cores Winter and Yang both have a) no hesitation whatsoever when it comes to protecting the people they care about and b) a tendency to define protection literally, often bodily. the difference is that Yang’s Semblance weaponizes these protective instincts for her, and she learned the limits of taking that too far. Winter...doesn’t, and hasn’t.¹¹ that COULD lead to some interesting conversations, but i don’t think Yang has quite the emotional clarity and generosity to reckon with that yet, and they’re not about to talk about it inside the Giant Whale.

a necessary part of Winter’s development is learning to respect the people around her instead of instantly categorizing them into boxes labeled “to fight” and “to protect and order around.” her friction with Yang could be an intriguing way to explore that; i have no doubt, for example, that Winter would have hurled herself between Elm and Yang just as readily as she had between Elm and Ren. similarly, i think if Winter ever were in the same room with both Raven and Yang she’d last about ten seconds before trying to rip Raven’s hair out with her teeth, because Raven is neglectful and casually demeaning in ways that are instantly recognizable to Winter (in the same way they were to Weiss).¹² the issue is that her doing any of these things for Yang--y’know, the same Yang who IMMEDIATELY gave Blake the cold shoulder when she tried to pull the whole “i’ll protect you” crap--is that she would only find it confusing and frustrating, and likely wouldn’t mince words expressing that.

Yang’s a big sister herself, and therefore knows all the big sister tricks, and Yang has a consistent pattern of not wanting to rely on other people, particularly people she sees as adults. so the best path toward a Winter and Yang friendship is probably not the head-on approach, but obliquely through someone else. that someone else can’t be Weiss, because Yang would be already hypervigilant about the way Winter treats Weiss--but it could be Ruby. even putting aside the fact that she is now one of the most important people in the world for BOTH her sisters, Ruby herself is very easy to love, and Winter loves very easily, despite herself. what they have in common--idealism and a martyr complex--would also engender some cool interactions, and Ruby would let Winter take care of her, if only to make Winter feel better.

i could see that being the impetus for Yang tentatively, grudgingly forming her own friendship with Winter, because there ARE things that Winter can give Yang, even if Yang can’t (or won’t) admit she wants them. it’s nice to try out being the kid sister, once in a while.

still, even if they get that far: i can’t imagine their relationship as anything friendlier than this.

¹ tbh neither would actually surprise me; what Winter does and doesn’t let herself do is only knowable to the Gods Who Have Forsaken This Land, and they’re certainly unknowable to Winter herself.

² maybe she knows that the whole “the Schnees were up-from-bootstraps-good-capitalists until that guy Jacques came along” thing is stupid!! i don’t care that he’s Santa Nicholas Schnee ain’t shit

³ this i think is why the current thing with Ironwood is such a bitter pill to swallow, because...she thought she’d been so careful. not in thinking that she’d chosen a man who couldn’t disappoint her, but in caring so deeply about him and investing so much of herself into him, despite the fact she’s only ever let herself call him “sir,” or “General.”

⁴ though i will say, to give Winter some credit: she actually accepts the fact that her sister is totally her own person now with a lot more aplomb than i’d expected, both in the “you stole an airship” scene and during all of Sparks. i wouldn’t be so generous as to read subtle treason into her disclosure of Ironwood’s Winter Maiden plans, but it does point to Winter’s desire for control being much more easily unlearned than that of her boss.

⁵ geddit? it’s a joke about handed-ness because now they both have the Hand Tremor

⁶ Tai is, as always and on purpose, the stabilizing agent. “appropriately underwhelming,” as Winter might put it, but absolutely essential.

⁷ of course then Raven had the gall to resent THAT too, because she’s the worst, and...see above, about Winter Schnee’s self-unknowing.

⁸ curiously, the values that Yang most espouses now--the importance of knowing what you’re getting into, protecting what is tangible, what is within your ability--are a) hard-won from years of taking care of Ruby and b) ones that she shares with Raven. the only difference is that Yang’s circle of protection extends far beyond Raven’s, which only includes herself.

⁹ weirdly enough the best person to talk to Ruby about this might be Raven, who has a very skewed perception of Summer herself (because Raven’s perception of EVERYONE is generally fucked up), but probably won’t hold back when talking about Summer’s flaws. Ruby won’t want to hear any of it, but i think she needs to.

¹⁰ i do think Blake and Winter would have some interesting conversations, if Blake ever...was generous enough to deal with *gestures at all of Winter.* it’s easier to compare Blake to Willow given the shared nature of their interpersonal abuse, but Winter on the other hand knows what it’s like to be hand-picked and groomed by a charismatic man with a singular vision who ended up wholly compromising that vision for the sake of their personal ego. that the White Fang are a good force perverted while the Atlesian Military is rotten to the core would...make the conversation more lively? it’s probably fine?

¹¹ “i’m Winter Schnee and i have maladaptive coping mechanisms that i am currently clinging to, as a maladaptive coping mechanism”

¹² though there...probably IS a world where Raven and Winter end up getting along after the initial skirmish, and it disturbs Yang and Qrow to no end

[wh0reyp0tter]

Chapter Four: The Truth Will Set You Free

Y/N Y/L/N is chosen as one of the champions in the Triwizard Tournament with one of her best friends, Harry Potter. Along with the struggles of being one of the champions, she also has to navigate her feelings for her best friend, Hermione Granger. But, as far as Y/N knows, Hermione fancies Krum.

Includes: Angst, pining, swearing, wlw, bi!reader (mentions of flirting with men), smut, name-calling, Krum hating, fighting, physical violence, fighting, mentions of injuries, and flirting

______________________________________________________________

Music rings through the Gryffindor Common Room as everyone cheers. I grin at the crowd as I walk through it. I feel people patting me on the back as I come down from changing. I see Hermione standing in the corner next to a girl from the year below us. “Hey ‘Mione!” I call. She looks at me and ignores me as she returns to her conversation. I tap her shoulder, she still ignores me. “If you’ll excuse her.” I say politely to the girl she’s speaking to. I grab her arm before tugging her to a secluded area of the room. 

“What the hell?” Hermione seethes. 

“I wanted to talk to you! You haven’t said a word to me since this morning!” I say in a hushed tone. 

“Has it occurred to you, maybe I don’t want to talk to you right now,” Hermione replies. 

“Why don’t you want to speak to me?” I ask, confused. I hear a voice call my name. I look over to see Avery wave me over. I smile at her as I hold up my pointer finger. 

“That’s why,” Hermione scoffs. 

“What?” I say confused. “Avery?” 

“Yes! Bloody hell, I told you I didn’t trust her,” she replies. 

“You don’t even know her, H,” I argue. 

“I know I don’t like you being with her,” she seethes. 

“What?” I ask. 

“I don’t like you being around her,” Hermione repeats. “It pisses me off! You called her Dove.” Her voice grows quieter at the end of her sentence. 

“Sorry, but you’ve been so busy being shoved up Krum’s arse that I’ve barely seen you besides classes and at night!” I argue, my voice growing louder. 

“I don’t spend that much time with him!” She scoffs. 

“Notice how you were his treasure today? You know who mine was? Fred. You’d think it’d be you, but nope. You’re in love with Krum now!” I laugh. 

“His name is Viktor!” She exclaims. 

“I don’t give a fuck what his name is. You have no right to try and tell me I can’t be involved with Avery while you’ve blown me and the boys off every moment you can to hang out with that git. Or is it just me?” I ask. Hermione’s silent as I shake my head. “I gotta go. Avery wants me.” I turn and walk away from the small girl as I walk up behind Avery and wrap my arms around her middle. I rest my head on her shoulder as she smiles. 

“Hi love,” she hums.

“Hello, Angel,” I smile. “What are you doing?” 

“Just chatting,” Avery replies. 

“Sounds boring,” I whisper into her ear. 

“It is,” she whispers back. I grin happily as I tug her closer to me as I tuck my face into her neck. 

“How was your day, Dove,” I say against her skin. 

“Stressful, you gave me quite the scare today,” Avery says as she rubs my arm. 

“I’m sorry. How can I make it better?” I ask as I press a soft kiss to her neck. 

“You could stay in my dorm tonight,” Avery replies. 

“Sounds good to me,” I grin. Avery leans her head back against mine as I kiss her forehead. 

A few hours go by until the party dies down. I feel Avery’s body slumped against my side as I help her up the stairs. She’s babbling drunkenly as she presses her lips to my neck. 

“Ave, what are you doing?” I ask as I push her face away. 

“Kissin you,” she mumbles as she tries to kiss my lips. 

“You’re drunk, not right now,” I say as I push open the door to her dorm. I see one of her friends sitting on her bed. “She’s drunk, but I’m pretty sure she’ll be out soon.” I smile at the younger girl. I set Avery down on her own bed before I pulled her shoes off. 

“Are you staying?” Avery whines as she looks up at me. 

“Not tonight, maybe tomorrow,” I say softly. Avery pouts as I cover her up. She falls asleep moments later. 

“I have to tell you something,” the girl across the room says. I turn to look at her in confusion. 

“I don’t think I’ve ever gotten your name,” I say. 

“I’m Clarissa, but you can call me Rissa,” she smiles. 

“What did you have to tell me?” I ask. 

“Avery was dared to do this, the whole thing with you. I heard her and her friends talking about it. She was dared to make a champion fall for her, and she chose you,” Rissa says softly. My heart drops as my mouth dries. 

“What?” I say softly. “You swear to Merlin you’re not lying.”

“I swear, I have no reason to lie about something like this,” she says softly. 

“What do I do?” I say as I shake my head. 

“Don’t get with her, don’t do anything. You’ll get hurt,” Rissa says. 

“Thank you so much,” I say as I walk through the door. I walk quietly back to my own dorm before I push through it. I kick my shoes off as I close my door. I walk to my dresser as I pull pajamas out. I change quickly before I get into bed. I fall asleep staring at the brick ceiling. 

______________________________________________________________

Once I wake up my mind instantly flies to what Rissa said last night. I stand up and slip on a pair of socks and trainers before going down to the Great Hall. I saw Hermione sitting next to Ron with Harry and the twins across from him. I quietly slip into the spot between the twins as I grab a chocolate croissant. I eat it silently as I stare at the table. I feel a shoulder nudge mine, I look up to see George looking down at me. 

“You alright, Y/N/N?” He asks softly. 

“Avery, it was a dare,” I laughed quietly. 

“What?” George says angrily. 

“Her friends bet her that she couldn’t make a champion fall for her. And I was the oh so lucky champion she chose,” I reply. 

“I swear to bloody Merlin, if she wasn’t a girl,” he says angrily. 

“What’s the matter?” Harry asks as he looks between George and I. 

“Fucking Avery, that right cunt,” George seethes. 

“What’d she do?” Ron asks. I look at George as he gives me a look asking if he can say. I nod softly before he bursts. 

“She was using Y/N! It was all for a bet, her friends said she wouldn’t be able to pull a champion,” George says. Hermione’s face hardens as she looks at me. She gets up quickly as her face scans the Great Hall before she disappears. 

“Where’s she going?” Fred asks. 

“No idea, should we follow her?” Harry asks. 

“No, probably not,” Ron replies. I get a bit more food before I drink my pumpkin juice. 

I make my way to the Transfigurations classroom. I push the door open to see Hermione already sitting at our table. Her face is hidden by her curly hair as she reads the book in front of her. I slide into my seat before I look to the front of the room. 

“You alright?” Hermione asks, not looking up from her book. 

“M’fine, H,” I say softly. 

“You’re not, you’re allowed to be upset,” she says as she places a hand on my arm. 

“You’re not gonna tell me you told me so?” I ask. 

“Well, of course not. You’re upset and I’m not going to exploit that because I was right,” Hermione says. I nod softly as I look at her. McGonagall makes her way to the front of the room. 

“Today’s class will be held in the Great Hall so we can have a discussion,” she says. “Everyone leave your things and follow me.” As we get there, every Gryffindor is in the room. I smile as I see the twins standing behind a bunch of chairs while leaning against the wall. “Ladies on the right, gentlemen on the left.” I scrunch my nose up as I move to sit on the other side. 

“What’s this about?” Angelina asks as I sit in front of her. 

“No clue,” I whisper back. 

“Today we will be discussing the Yule Ball. It’s directly connected to the tournaments. The house of Godric Gryffindor has been the most honorable and humble house around this time. I will not have you besmirching that name by acting like a babbling bumbling band of baboons!” McGonagall says. 

“Right, she’s obviously never been to a Gryffindor party,” I whisper with a smirk to Lina. She lets out a soft snicker as McGonagall shouts at Ron. 

“Mr. Weasley, please join me,” she says. Ron looks at her in shock as he stands up and walks over to her. “Please put your hand on my waist.”

“Where!” Ron screeches as he looks at her.

“On my waist, Mr. Weasley,” she repeats. Ron slowly puts his hand on her waist as McGonagall takes his other hand. She begins walking through a slow waltz as I cover my mouth to try to stop the laughs from bubbling out of me. 

“Oh I wish I had a camera,” I say in awe. I look to see Fred and George mockingly swaying back and forth. Hermione elbows me softly as she glares at me. 

“Now, I hope you gentlemen will each take a lady’s hand and ask her to dance,” Professor calls. The boys sit silently as I roll my eyes. I see Neville stand up as he offers his hand to Ginny. She smiles as she takes it and they begin to dance around. I smile softly as Ron walks over to me. 

“Your hand m’lady?” he says obnoxiously. I throw my head back in laughter as I grab his hand. 

“Of course m’lord,” I reply in the same voice. He pulls me up as his hand sets on my waist. We sway softly as he spins me. I let out a loud laugh as he dips me. “Wow, Weasley! You got some moves.”

“Oi! I’m not just a pretty face,” Ron winks. I shake my head with a smile as I lift his hand above his head. 

“Now, spin!” I laugh. 

“Absolutely not,” Ron says as he shakes his head. 

“Come on, Ronald!” I say as I wiggle his arm around. He rolls his eyes as he duck under our arms and spins. I grin brightly as I watch him. 

“Now you,” he smiles. He twirls me around as I let out a laugh. Ron tugs me back to his chest as we dance slowly. “So, when are you gonna tell ‘Mione you fancy her?” My eyes widen as I slap his chest. 

“What are you talking about?” I ask, my eyes pulling away from his gaze. 

“It’s painfully obvious, Y/N/N,” he teases. I groan as my head falls to lean on his shoulder. 

“I can’t tell her, she fancies Krum,” I replied as my head lifted off his shoulder to look at him. 

“You never know unless you try,” Ron sings. I roll my eyes as I look around the room. I see Hermione laughs loudly as Harry spins her around. My stomach fills with butterflies as I smile softly. “You’re absolutely smitten!” Ron laughs. 

“Oh, bugger off you git,” I mutter as we continue to dance. He grins at me as he spins me again. I let out a laugh as he dips me again. 

______________________________________________________________

Ron plops beside me as he lets out a loud groan. I shift my seat on the couch of our common room as I smile. “You alright Ronniekins?” I ask as I nudge his shoulder. 

“How the bloody hell am I meant to ask a girl to the ball! They’re always together in their scary groups, staring at us,” Ron says as he puts his head in his hands. 

“It’s not that hard, just ask someone,” I shrug. 

“Have you been asked yet?” Ron asks. I shake my head as my eyes scan the pages of my book. 

“I’m probably not going,” I say. 

“You’ve got to go!” Ron exclaims. 

“Why?” I ask. 

“If ‘Mione finds out you're saying that she’ll skin you alive!” Ron says as he sways us. 

“Is she going with someone?” I ask softly. 

“I have no idea. You know she wouldn’t tell Harry and I, we’d take the mickey out of her if she did,” Ron laughs softly. I nod in agreement as I put my feet on his lap.

I walk into the Great Hall for my study hour as I see Hermione sitting beside Ron and Harry. I sit across from them, next to the twins as Snape sets my workbook in front of me. I give him a tight lipped smile as I open it and begin to work. 

“Have you got a date yet, H?” Ron says as he turns to the brown-haired boy. 

“Not yet, it’s terrifying!” Harry exclaims in a hushed tone. 

“I know! How am I supposed to ask a girl when they’re always together!” The redhead whines. I let out a soft laugh as I look at the two. Fred tears a piece of parchment off as he scribbles on it and tosses it at his brother. Ron reads it before glaring at the older twin. “Right, who are you going with then!” Ron huffs in a whisper. Fred smirks at his brother before crumpling up another piece and tossing it at Angelina. 

“Oi! Lina!” Fred whisper-yells. Angelina’s head snaps towards him as she glares. “Will you,” he says as he points at her. “Go to the ball,” he continues as he mimics dancing. “With me,” he smirks as he points towards himself. 

“Yeah, alright then,” Angelia says with a small smile as she turns back to her work. Fred turns and shoots an overdramatic wink at Ron. I laugh softly as I shake my head. 

“Right, Hermione, Y/N, you both are girls! Come to the ball with us,” Ron laughs as he mimics Fred. Snape walks up behind him as he smacks him in the back of the head with a workbook. Ron winces as he rubs his head. I laugh with Harry as Hermione turns to look at him. 

“I have a date already,” Hermione says. 

“You what?” I say as my head snaps towards her. 

“Someone asked me, and I said yes,” she replies. 

“Who!?” I ask. 

“None of your business,” Hermione says coldly.

“I thought we were best mates!” I say in defense. 

“If I wanted you to know, don’t you think I would’ve told you by now!” Hermione says in a tone that mocked mine a few weeks ago. My face falls as I look at her. 

“Cool,” I say dryly as I turn back to my work. 

“Y/N, are you going to the ball?” Harry asks. 

“Probably not,” I say as I don’t look up from my work. 

“What?” Ron says slightly loudly. 

“Not going,” I say as I look up at the trio with a tight-lipped smile. 

“Yes you are,” Hermione says suddenly. 

“No, no I am not,” I say as I shake my head. 

“You have to!” Hermione argues. 

“No I don’t,” I laugh. 

“You are going. No arguing,” Hermione says. 

“We can go together,” Ron says as he waggled his eyebrows at me. 

“Fine,” I seethe. “Only because I don’t want Ronniekins looking pathetic at the ball.” Harry looks at me in shock as he gasps. 

“What about me!” He shrieks. Snape glares at us as I apologize. 

“You’ll find a date. You’re the chosen one. Every girl wants to get in your pants. Ron here is a little more awkward,” I reply. Harry grumbles quietly as I finish my work. I get up as I hand Snape my book and leave the room. 

______________________________________________________________

“You have a package,” Ginny tells me as she sets a long box on my bed. My face lights up as I move closer to the box. 

“It’s my dress!” I exclaim. I tug the top off the box as I look inside. I pull out a long  dark red dress. The skirt is bouncy and made of a soft tulle. It flows to the floor as I hold it up. The top is made out of a silky material, that was covered in shiny red beads and sequins. The straps are thin and cross in the back. The neckline is a wide V shape.

“Oh my god Bex! That’s gorgeous,” Ginny grins. “You’re gonna look so pretty!” 

“I hope so,” I say softly. There’s a pair of open-toed silver chunky heels, they’re covered in sparkles. It has a strap that goes across the top of your foot and one that fastens around your ankle. I dig around the box to find three smaller black boxes. The first box has a silver necklace with a silver rose as the pendent. The second has a pair of gorgeous earrings. They’re crystal dangle earrings. They look like frosty ice more than anything else. The final box is smaller, shaped more like a cube than anything. I open it to see the ring. It’s the same ring my mother wore everyday. It has been in our family for ages. I take it out and hold it between my fingers. It’s gold and has a tiara like design. There’s a small oval shaped red stone in the middle with two tiny pearls on the top and bottom. 

“That’s beautiful,” Ginny says softly. 

“It was my mum’s. It’s been passed down to the eldest girls in my family for generations. And it’s finally my turn,” I say as a smile breaks across my face. I made a mental note to write mum later. I hang my dress up so it doesn't wrinkle before putting the shoes and jewelry away safely. 

[nlights37]

three stars ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

::In very convincing Matthew McConaughey Texan:: Alright alright alright, 3 stars, 3 fics to disclose little nuggets of info on...

1.  From Fixer Upper, Chapter 4 - Jon and Dany’s text exhange:

She was laughing even as she sent the text, knowing how touchy he was about this topic. Honestly, it was the whole reason she sent it.

Dany: I can’t believe we’ve been fake dating this long and you haven’t sent me a single dick pic 😖

The text bubble appeared for so long she was a little worried, but then his novel-length answer appeared. She was two lines in before she was laughing so hard she was crying and her vision blurred beyond her ability to continue reading at all.

Jon: How ABSOLUTELY DARE YOU?! Apparently I need to explain this AGAIN? If the Westerosi Security Agency is going to see my dick they can come here and do it in person like men. I’m not just gonna offer it up on a silver platter for them. Also need I remind you I am a small business owner, madam? This store is my kingdom and you ask me to besmirch it’s good name so you can see my cock at 2 pm on a Thursday? I’m disappointed in you Daenerys, I really am.

It should probably come as no surprise, given the ‘Buttslut’ text I shared awhile back, that a lot of the dialogue I write (including text messages) comes from the way my husband and I talk to each other, and in this case I based Jon’s reluctance to free the Peen digitally off my own husband’s unbreakable stance that sending dick pics means your dick is then somewhere in the cloud and idk I guess he thinks the Governtment is just chilling and collecting nudes all day.  Anyway, I really did ask him once when we were dating why he had never sent me a dick pic and he said something along the lines of Jon’s response here, and even now, years later, it still makes me laugh, so I used it :)

2.  A Thin Line (Just some thoughts on this fic in general, that I’m not sure I’ve shared):

I was SURE, ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN that a lot of people would hate this fic.  Like, I was over the top about ‘Hey this is crack’, etc, because as much fun as I had making them just awful people to each other, I was like ‘ugh there’s gonna be some stans in both camps that maybe get pissed about this’, but I figured fuck it, let’s do it.  The thing about them in this fic that I really, really enjoyed writing was that they are completely and totally unapologetic about themselves, and letting myself just really let them be the worst versions of themselves, I don’t know, guys.  It felt good.  So good that I was like ‘hmmmm, maybe keep it in the drafts.’

Because that’s the thing I like best about them and this fic - it’s not a redemption story about two tortured souls who find each other and then learn the error of their ways.  It’s more like two villains meet at villain convention and will they birth the antichrist?  Who knows, really, but probably, yes.  Definitely.

Anyway, I really dug that so many people enjoyed their unspeakably assholish tendencies and please know I haven’t abandoned my part 3, in which Dany gets to snob it up in the North and you know, so more light bondage, maybe some matching prenups, I don’t want to give it all away.

3.  From Fang and Claw, Chapter 1:

“When you say fucking,” Drogon drawled, “what exactly do you mean, snack?”  The three were all gathered near the stone walls of the Keep, guards watching anxiously as the three creatures of legend circled and paced.

“Stop calling him that.”  Rhaegal leaned in, nipping at Drogon’s swishing black tail.  “He has a name.”

Drogon rolled his eyes, looking at his brother incredulously.  “I’ll call him whatever I like.  What’s he going to do?  Howl me to death?”

Rhaegal glared, inching closer to Ghost.  “He’s magic, like us, and he’s Jon’s, so you’d better behave.”  The green dragon growled.  “You know what mother said.”

The black dragon gave a dismissive snort, his eyes searching the windows of the Keep instead of Rhaegal or Ghost.  “Be nice.  Yes, I heard her.  This is me.  Being nice.  Not eating this talking little snack.”  His eyes shot to the wolf’s.  “Rather nice of me, isn’t it,” teeth gnashed together, grinding as Drogon uttered grudgingly, “Ghost.”

The white wolf ignored the black dragon, his eyes also falling to the windows.  “You want to know what fucking is or don’t you?”

“I want to know what it is you mean when you say Jon is fucking my mother, yes.”  Drogon sounded angry, offended even, and Ghost was surprised two mighty creatures could be so absolutely innocent to the ways of the world.  Why, he’d been fucking for years now.  Surely there were girl dragons flying about somewhere, though the lack of fucking certainly explained the black dragon’s horrible attitude.

“I feel itchy.”  Rhaegal was shifting restlessly beside him.

Ghost gave a wolfish grin.  “You’re bonded to Jon now.”  Rhaegal nodded though it was not a question.  “That’s what it feels like when Jon’s fucking your mother.”  The wolf’s mouth fell open, and he panted in Drogon’s direction.  “Like an itch you need to scratch.”

His red eyes fell to the windows till he found the one he wanted, and he whispered for the duo to follow as closely as they could as they slid along side the ancient stone, ‘til they were just under the window to Jon’s chambers.

“Hear that?”  He certainly could, and by the look of confusion on the dragons’ faces they could as well.  The Silver Dany let out a throaty yell then, followed by Jon’s name, the sounds and smells of mating flowing from the open window and out into the night.

“Is he hurting her?”  Drogon was rumbling and thrashing his tail about, rage building in those mad eyes.

But Rhaegal responded before Ghost could answer.  “No.”  He drew the word out, his head rising until he could look into the room for himself, then shooting back down to stare at Ghost.  “Why are they doing that?”

Drogon mirrored his brother’s actions, even angrier but endlessly puzzled when he lowered his head as well, clearly befuddled by what he’d seen.  “Explain this!”

Ghost gave a shrug, padding off a few paces, ready to give his brother a spot of privacy with his mate, heading for the clearing along the tree line where he could scent some rabbits running.  “It’s what they do.”  The pair was scrambling after him, landbound, awkwardly lumbering after the sleek wolf.  “Humans.”  Both dragons remained clueless, and Ghost snagged a hare and crunched down heavily, warm blood streaking his fur, downing the small prey in a few bites before continuing.  “When they want to make a pup.”

Drogon shuddered as he watched Ghost eat.  “You’re a fucking savage.”  He grumbled and groused, claws swiping out to catch an elk, idly shooting out gouts of flame to cook the meat before he began to tear it apart.  “You don’t even cook your food, little snack.”

Rhaegal ignored it all, focused only on this new knowledge.  “But our mother is a dragon.”  His eyes lit up, suddenly, turning to his brother in excitement.  “It’s how they make eggs!”

Ghost gave a snicker.  “Humans don’t lay eggs.”  He looked at the pair with amused eyes.  “You lot come from eggs?”

Rhaegal gave a nod, but Drogon preened, proud as he broke his meal’s rib cage between his jaws.  “You should be so lucky.  We certainly do.  Beautiful eggs people pay large sums of gold for.”

Ghost crouched, his attention on the deer he could now sense beyond the tree line.  “Like a chicken then.”  He leapt as the black dragon roared in outrage, his jaws sinking into the deer’s neck, and he pulled the twitching body out of the treeline to drop it in a heap before Rhaegal.

“NOT LIKE A CHICKEN!”

Rhaegal looked at Ghost pleadingly before he cooked the deer his host had provided, his eyes begging the wolf to stop baiting his brother, and Ghost grumpily complied.

“Alright, not like a chicken.  Point is, humans have pups that look like them, and they don’t come from eggs.”  He sat on his haunches, watching the pair as they ate.

“So,” Rhaegal snapped into a femur, “you meant to say that’s what Jon’s doing.  Trying to put a small human in our mother.”

The wolf couldn’t stop the snicker of amusement.  “Oh, no he’s already done that.”  He looked at the pair wonderingly.  What sort of beast were they, that they couldn’t smell the pup in their mother?  “Now he’s just fucking her because it feels good.”

There is nothing funnier to me than the idea that (1) Ghost would ever try ot explain to anyone what sex is and (2) that the dragons wouldn’t know and would be VERY offended and it took a little bit for me to write this scene way way back ago when we all thought that Season 8 would not be a massive shitstain in history because I kept laughing so hard picturing this shit.

This story is probaby one of my favorites, just because it’s silly and every magical creature is TIRED TIRED I SAY of everyone dicking around and just the notion that they’re all like ‘THESE HUMANS ARE SO DUMB UGH DO WE HAVE TO DO EVERYTHING?!”  It just really tickled me, and I might never have written it had the amazing @aweseeds not requested it after her winning bid for the Jonerys Unites charity event.  So, everyone say thank you to aweseeds lol, this might’ve just stayed in my head and silly tumblr posts without that fine investment in fandom content.

Thank you lovely @frostbitepandaaaaa for the ask!  I LOVE YOU BITCH, I AIN’T NEVER GONNA STOP LOVIN’ YOU BITCH!

[kamaria-sweet-writes]

Mermay prompt (Laiken) Part 3

**Laiken**

I’d been standing there for pretty close to 20 minutes as he continued his tirade. I was inconsiderate, uncaring and most of all I was a horrible daughter for putting him through what I did. It didn’t matter that I’d traveled nearly 14 hours to get where I was. All he cared about was that he wasn’t the first priority after I’d landed. “Are you listening to me, Laiken Skye?”

I groaned at the utterance of my middle name which only spurred him on more.

“I knew I should’ve let you leave. You’ve been there for what, a few hours and already you’re acting like your mother. Like you’re too good for me.” I braced myself for his tongue lashing. He only brought up mom when he was pissed off. “Don’t forget that she dropped you like day old garbage just the same as me, Princess.” he spewed venom at me over the phone line “She will toss you aside again and then you’ll have to come home to me.” I cringed at the thought of going back home. Of staying in that house with him for the rest of my life.

Tears were streaming down my face not because of him yelling at me but because I was letting him do it. Here I was 3,500 miles away from him yet I’m still afraid as if he was standing in front of me.

I took a deep breath before pulling the device from my ear and hanging up on him mid sentence. I turned off the phone for good measure because I knew he would be calling me back and I didn’t know if I had the strength to deny his calls after he would deploy his tactics. They would always reel me back in. Not this time though. Thankfully enough he wouldn’t dare try something so nefarious on someone else’s phone. He didn’t want his precious reputation besmirched by something so odious.

I stood there trying to will the tears away but I was left standing on the deck weepy eyed. Who does this to their children? What made him think this was ok on any level? I sniffled and a tissue was thrust in my direction making me jump in response. How hadn’t I known that some came out here?

I took the tissue and dabbed at my eyes before dealing with my nose. “Are you ok?” His voice wrapped around me again just like the first time I’d heard it. “You’ve been crying.” I winced as the pad of his thumb made contact with my cheek where he’d wiped a rougue tear away. “I’ll not hurt you, Laiken.”

Crazy to say, but I believed what he’d said. “Thank you.” He just nodded before joining me at the railing that skirted the whole home. We stood there in comfortable silence for some time listening to the water crashing around us before making our way back into the cottage where the party was still in full swing.

“Come on.” He slid his hand onto the small of my back before ushering me through the house straight to the restroom “Clean up, I’ll wait here till you finish.” I blushed but complied, cleaning up my tear streaked face and pinning my hair back in place before heading back out to the waiting guests. True to his word Taine was waiting right outside the door for me. His smile was something you’d dream about and it elicited one from me in response. “Barnabus is looking for you, I’ll take you to him.” His shift in attitude could be sensed but I said nothing about it. It’s like he’s almost irritated but… not with me.

Again his hand was laid on the small of my back as he ushered me forward. It’s silly to feel grounded with someone you don’t know, right? My mind was sent a flutter feeling the warmth of his palm pressed against such an intimate area though. I stole glances when I could but his eyes stayed forward and his smile was all but gone. What happened?

Even with my mind elsewhere I didn’t miss the way everyone was looking at us including my mother. The attention was really starting to get to me but just when I thought I’d lose it I was placed in front of Barnabus and the hand that was planted on the small of my back promptly left my form leaving me wanting it back where it was. “Sparrow, let’s go talk.” We walked away leaving Taine where he stood. “This is a lot, tell me how you’re doing? I heard you were crying on the deck.” I sighed before telling him just what happened. “Ahh, I thought it was Taine that upset you. I’ll need to apologize when we get back inside.” I let out the most unladylike chortle in the history of chortles before kissing his cheek.

“Da, he’s just getting to be too much. Living with him is nightmarish and I’m sure you know just what I mean.” He nodded before pressing his own kiss to my temple. There was no way he was able to ignore the way my father treated my mother over the years especially when it came to her seeing me. To say he was holding a grudge would be a gross understatement.

“I know but let’s not focus on him tonight. There are still people in there vying for your attention and wanting to get to know you.” I watched a slow smile cross his face as he took in my dress. “This suits you.” He spun me around and I giggled. This is something you do with your toddler, not your fully grown daughter but he didn’t care. “I am so happy to have you home, My Sparrow.” Home. How I wished somewhere so beautiful could be my home.

“Stop keeping her to yourself, Love. She’s here for 2 weeks so how about you share her tonight?” Mom and her flair for the dramatic. We’d only been on the deck for a few minutes but according to her, it’s like we have been out here all night.

I watched as he advanced on her before planting a kiss on her lips declaring his love like he always did. I wanted that. Wanted what they had with one another but who would put up with someone so damaged?

I followed behind the pair into the house breaking away from them when I found a group of women to chat with. They didn’t look much older than I was so I figured this was as good a place as any to start my night in. Lots of gossip about some other clan and their Chieftain flitted about but all I did was sip my drink and nod along until I found a place in the conversation to leave respectively. Their chatter left much to be desired and I found myself surfing the room in search of some type of engaging conversation.

“Not having fun?” Taine. I looked up at him and shook my head. I felt out of place like I always had. I didn’t know anything about life here or how the social structure worked so I was just a wall flower all over again. I didn’t want that for myself anymore. “Wanna get outta here? I know this place down by the water where we can watch the moon rise.” Tempting, but my mother wanted me here where I could talk to our Clan.

I looked around the room trying to gauge whether or not I could actually sneak out but I found her watching me from the corner of the room. Creepy. “She would kill me if I left this little get together” I pointed to where she was standing “but I will take a raincheck.”

We ended up moving around the room together for the rest of the night. Where I was Taine stood right next to me if not right behind. I found my in when the conversation shifted into one about the environment. That I could work with and I did for the next few hours.

Who knew being social could zap your energy reserves like that? I didn’t. I tried in vain to will the sleepiness away but nothing helped. I was in a near perpetual state of yawning when I was lead away from the conversation. I listened as Taine excused the both of us and deep down I was thankful for it. I wasn’t sure how much longer I’d be able to last in the state I was in.

I was transferred from one set of arms to another before I was escorted up the stairs to my bedroom. I stripped off my dress before washing my face and climbing into bed. My head hit the pillow and sleep took me quickly.

There were no nightmares to speak of. This time I was greeted by the sweet embrace of another. Large, warm and rumbly my companion was. “I’ve been waiting for you, Laiken .” A soft caress against my cheek followed by a warm chuckle. “Sleep now, nothing will harm you while you’re in my arms.” I believed him, whoever he was and for the second time in moments I’d drifted off.

**Taine**

I made it all of 15 minutes of waiting for Laiken to walk back through the door before leaving Barnabus with the rest of his family. At first I was just gonna wait at the door but when I heard the crying I had to go make sure she was ok. Why I all of a sudden felt this need to go to her I would never know but it wasn’t something I could just ignore. Just like the sudden pull I felt when I laid eyes on her, this time was no different.

I stepped out onto the deck, sure to close the door behind me quietly. There she stood against the railing wiping furiously at her face trying to stifle the tears that still demanded to be let loose. I offered her a tissue. Albeit a little roughly since I was trying to control my own irritation at the situation. “Are you ok?” I watched her dab at her eyes before unceremoniously blowing her nose into the wad of paper. She didn’t say anything, just stood there looking worn out.

When a rogue tear slipped from her eye unexpectedly I stepped into her space catching it with the pad of my thumb. Soft. Her skin was so soft but when she winced I crumbled a bit inside. “I’ll not hurt you, Laiken” I speak the deepest truth I’d dared ever to to speak. I wouldn’t hurt her. Not if I could help it.

She seemed to relax a bit and I was able to just stand out there with her listening to the waves crash the beach. I didn’t want to break these moments of peace for her but there were people inside waiting to get some time with her. I looked at her face before we walked inside and figured she’d want to clean up before meeting some of these people for the first time. I lead her to the restroom and let her know I’d be waiting for her once she came out.

I wasn’t the only one that noticed her face and I was rushed by an angry Barnabus “What happened?” He didn’t even give me the chance to respond before starting again “I leave you to court her and I find her crying not even 30 minutes later? Did I make the wrong decision? Maybe I should’ve gone with one of the others you mentioned.” He threw his arms up before turning away from me “Bring her to me once she’s out of there.” And with that he walked away from me leaving me pissed. If he would’ve given me the chance to explain he would know I had nothing to do with her crying.

She came out looking like the episode never happened in the first place. I smiled and got one in response before remembering Barnabus and his little request. “Barnabus is looking for you, I’ll take you to him.” I tried to hide the irritation in my tone but watching her reaction I can tell I’d failed at that. Instead of trying to explain myself I just led her to where Barnabus was waiting to talk to her. I didn’t miss the way her body shivered at my touch nor the glances she kept throwing over her shoulder but I needed to get her to the Chieftain. I didn’t want any more misunderstandings where Laiken was involved.

I watched him walk away with her no doubt getting ready to interrogate her to find out just what I’d done to her to make her cry. I hope he feels like shit when he realizes I had nothing to do with it.

Having no one else to converse with, I pulled out my phone to make sure all was well within our territory. There was a report of Eion on the island but that wasn’t abnormal considering he ran tourists around the beaches in hopes of them meeting real selkies. It was ridiculous but the money was good and he didn’t make issues for us so he was fine to be here as long as his father stayed at the harbor.

My eyes drifted to the door when it was opened and she drifted through behind her parents. She really was beautiful and that dress just framed her perfectly. My eyes followed her as she tried to find a place to belong. That lasted all of a few minutes before she left to fill her drink yet again. “Not having fun?” She shook her head before looking down into the red liquid in her cup, swishing it around as she did “Wanna get outta here? I know this place down by the water where we can watch the moon rise.” Her head snood to the side where her mother was seated watching us like a lion would watch a gazelle. Why is she so intense?

“She would kill me if I left this little get together” she pointed to Danae and I sighed in defeat “but I will take a raincheck.” That just made the whole night better. I wasn’t sure before but after everything else I’m pretty sure she feels something.

I spent the rest of the night being close to her as we moved around the house. She introduced herself then did the same for me like everyone there didn’t know me already but I said nothing about it. She was adorable and I was basking in it while I could. I had to make a show of dominance when one of Barnabus’ nephews tried to make a move. I quietly put him in his place with a well placed hand on Laiken’s hip and a not so subtle glance into her eyes as she smiled up at me. Oh yeah, she feels something alright. The connection was there and I silently cheered in my head as I watched her blossom when the conversation shifted into something about our environment here.

Hours passed and I watched her yawn more and more frequently until she was just about swaying on her feet. She wanted to stay engaged in the conversation but I excused us both before leading her away from the group in search of Barnabus. “I’ll take her. Thank you for keeping her company, Taine. I am sure Barnabus is on the deck likely talking to his brothers. I know he wanted to have a word before you left tonight.” I nodded in acknowledgment before placing a kiss on Laiken’s hand.

Her sleepy smile was just as good as when she was full on beaming. I wanted to witness all her smiles. “Sleep well, Laiken. My number is in your phone should you want to get in touch.” She hmm’d in response before she was lead up the stairs. I would never have guessed that I would find my mate, let alone her being the Chieftains daughter. Mates were all but legend amongst our people these days. Denying her would’ve been the biggest regret of my life.

I’d stayed behind to help clean up the mess and rearrange the furniture if needed. Even with the guest of honor tucked into her bed conversations were still being had amongst the other guests. Around 1am Barnabus started showing people the door and I was only too glad to help in shooing the last couple of people out of the house.

I knew it’d been a while since I’d seen Danae and chuckled when I found her sprawled on the couch still holding a bottle of wine. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her like this. “You wouldn’t believe how stressed out she’s been.” I turned to look up at my Chieftain. He was picking up his mate. “She’s been planning this for what seems like forever. There were hiccups along the way but I’d say it turned out pretty good.” I nodded in agreement before picking up a few cups.

I’d had just about everything taken care of when he tapped my shoulder. “Forgive me for my temper. I- I just want good memories for her here and I got  so caught up thinking you’d fudged that up. I’ll try to refrain from doing it again.” He pulled me into a hug, patting me hard against my back.

“Think nothing of it. I’ll be heading home now if there’s nothing left to be done.” I waited for a beat before heading toward the door “Thank you for trusting me with Laiken. She’s amazing” he just smiled and nodded in agreement.

I left his house heading straight for mine. I grabbed my pelt and headed back out straight for the beach. The water had been calling me for a while and I needed to feel it against my skin. I tucked my pelt around me willing the shift. Safely cocooned I moved toward the ocean diving in soon as I had the ability to.

After some time I pulled myself onto a large rock where I could bathe in the moonbeams combing from the full moon above. How I wished I was able to bring Laiken here to witness this. No matter, she will see it soon enough.

Having remembered about the early morning I had ahead of myself I cut my swim short and made my way home. I looked around the small cottage once I was inside and started thinking of all the ways I could improve it, expand it and make something Laiken would be proud of me for. I felt like a lovesick pup but I was fine with it.

I showered before climbing into bed. I must’ve been more tired than I realized because I dozed with the phone in my hand, right after shooting off a text to Laiken.

The next 2 days were pretty routine outside of me making time to spend with Laiken. We’d done a few things like going out to lunch or grabbing ice cream after the dinner Danae had invited me to. I wanted to spend all my extra time with her but that might not bode well seeing as she doesn’t understand our customs.

“Laiken.” She looked up at me smiling nodding for me to go on “Now that you’ve been here a few days how are you liking it here?” She finished chewing the candy in her mouth.

“I love it. Albeit I haven’t seen it all though the things I have seen are beautiful. I could see myself moving here.” That made me happy. “I’d just need to find a place to live. I could live here but there’s only so much hanky panky I can handle when it comes to hearing my mom and Barnabus doing it.”

She made a gagging sound and I couldn’t help the chuckle that spilled out of me. “I get it. I have an extra room if ever you want to get away for a night or so. No expectations. I just want you to know you have options.” She nodded before turning back to the pie she was making. “Alright so, why is it called a cobbler instead of a pie?” She looked at me before shaking her head in exhaustion. I knew why but I loved the way she explained things to me.

“Taine, are you kidding me? I’m pretty sure we’ve gone over this.” I shrugged and she smiled knowingly before she went over the differences. Again. I hung off of her words and watched her mouth as she spoke. I loved the way her teeth would sink into her plump bottom lip when she was to think about her word choice. “Are you even listening to me?” I nodded before looking up into her eyes. I reiterated what she’d taught me, making her smile even bigger.

Dinner was served and dessert not long afterward. The meal was made by Laiken and I and it was delicious. I lingered around the cottage for longer than normal this time because I’d be gone for the next couple days for work. Barnabus had been tucked away with Danae while Laiken and I watched a movie.

“When I come back home from the outing would you fancy a proper date with me?” She looked so surprised I almost laughed but that would’ve been bad. “You can say no if you’re not interested.” She shook her head before speaking.

“I’d actually like that a lot. I just didn’t think someone like you would want someone like me.” Has she really not picked up on my flirty texts and touches? “We will settle plans once you’re home. I’m getting sleepy so I should walk you to the door.” And she did.

I made my way home where I sat thinking about why she’d possibly think so little about herself. She’s smart and gorgeous. Perfect in my book. Perfect and mine.

**Eion**

It had been days since I’d seen her on the ferry and I was starting to give up hope until she climbed aboard yet again. She wasn’t carrying luggage, just a small backpack on her back. I watched her as she sat alone looking out over the water. How bad I wanted to just talk to her but I can’t risk it. What if I stammer? Will she ridicule me?

No, she doesn’t seem the type to do that yet here I am still scared shitless. “Eion, get up here and help man the vessel.” I took another glance before turning to head back toward the navigation area. She was watching me. Our eyes locked and my stomach flipped. “Eion, get up here!” I grumbled before heading up to where my father was.

He was likely hungover after drinking well into the night. He did this far too much. I took charge of the vessel while he went about spewing his guts out in our private restroom.

I missed my chance to speak to her this time but I did notice the bow she wore in her hair. It looked like Tartan but I’d only seen one like it. Barnabus’ clan wore something spot on and that made me wonder just who she was. Perhaps I’ll get my chance to ask when she boards to head home?

I continued ferrying people back and forth from the mainland keeping an eye out for that beautiful woman. It wasn’t until late in the day that she’d stepped aboard and she was weighed down by her trip. “W-would you like a hand?” Her eyes met mine before a smile tore across her beautiful face. She had the cutest dimples that adorned her freckled cheeks.

“Yes please.” She extended her hand and I took the bags from her, depositing them next to where she’d sat. “Thank you” it was my turn to smile and I knew I resembled a loon.

I started to take my leave only to be stopped by her touch. “You’re Eion right?” I nodded “I’m Laiken, It’s nice to meet you.” If she isn’t the sweetest thing.

“Nice t-to meet you, Laiken. I should be goin’ this boat won’t navigate itself.” She chuckled before nodding in acknowledgment. Her laugh was like a breath of fresh air after being cooped up for days on end. I loved it.

The vessel started moving and I made my way to the navigation area where my father had taken control. “I have it from here. Find something to keep yourself busy.”

At his dismissal I went back to sit with Laiken. Laiken. Her name tasted amazing on my tongue and caused a smile to break out on my face. I hadn’t even noticed I was standing in front of her until she started giggling “You ok up there?” She queried looking up into my face.

I rubbed the back of my head nervously getting my fingers caught in the locks. “Yeah, I just wanted to know if you were interested in taking a tour.” She quirked a brow before shaking her head. Rejection.

“Not a Selkie tour but maybe... one of the islands?” She smiled up at me and rested her hands in her lap. “I’d like that a lot actually now that I think about it. Would you happen to be up for that kind of tour? I can of course pay you for your time.” Pay me? Just her spending time with me was more than enough payment for anything she wanted to do.

We were getting close to docking so I didn't have much time left. “You need not pay me, Laiken. I w-would be honored to take you on a t-tour of wherever you choose.” she nodded before pulling her phone out and handing it to me.

“Put your info in there so we can plan this out. I will call or text you tomorrow so we can start.” she was beaming “My mom is gonna be so excited when I tell her about this.” she was practically bouncing in her seat.

Again I noticed the tartan that was in her hair. Who is her Ma’? Before i could think to ask i was being summoned to the back of the ferry to prep for docking. “I gotta go.” i looked down at her sheepishly before turning on my heel and rushing toward where I needed to be. I smiled when I heard her call after me.

“I’ll see you soon, Eion.” her voice carried a subtle lilt to it making her sound almost playful. I loved it, I wanted to listen to her speak all day and night but right now I have to focus.

I ended up having to take care of a leak below deck and missed seeing her leave the ferry but I clutched my phone in my pocket remembering that I had an in now. “Best you stay away from that human, Boy.” I turned around and glared at my father. “Mark my words, that one is gonna be trouble.” I would never. According to him all humans are “Trouble” . Why would Laiken be any different?

[thisgirlsays22]

Teen Wolf S1 EP7 Part 2: Justice for Derek

Jackson and Lydia show up SO NOW WE HAVE ALMOST THE WHOLE CREW ASSEMBLED. 

Oh shit, and the Alpha too. I hope Derek shows up to save all their asses soon. I miss his gorgeous face. 

The teen pack try to barricade themselves in a classroom. No one will listen to Stiles as he tries to impart his wisdom on them. He finally gets their attention, and I’m charmed by this ragtag band of attractive, idiotic teens. Especially the scene where Scott and Jackson work together TO PUT PILES OF CHAIRS ON TOP OF THE DESK WHICH WILL SOMEHOW AFFORD THEM MORE PROTECTION? YOU FOOLS, I LOVE YOU. 

Sadly, Scott is shrouded in darkness in that screenshot, but if you squint you can see him on the left. Jackson’s face is priceless. 

Stiles is like guys there are a lot of windows here so your efforts to blockade the door are useless. 

Allison asks for some answers. Stiles reveals that somebody killed the janitor, which raises more questions than it answers. 

FOR NO FUCKING REASON SCOTT STARTS SAYING THAT IT’S DEREK HALE WHO IS TRYING TO ATTACK THEM AND WHO KILLED THE JANITOR??? WHAT THE EVER LOVING FUCK??? AND THEN HE PINS ALL THE OTHER DEATHS INCLUDING DEREK’S SISTER ON DEREK???? I’m sorry, but even if--no ESPECIALLY if--he thinks Derek is dead right now this is fucked up?? And makes no sense?? This is going to really hurt Derek’s reputation even more. How will this wayward band of teens ever trust him now when Scott is doing him dirty like this? 

Jackson is like YOUR DAD IS THE SHERIFF, STILES, MAYBE CALL HIM???? Lydia calls the cops, but they hang up on her because they were warned there would be prank calls coming from the high school. Um. I don’t think that’s how the police work. Like they get an anon tip that says ‘hey someone is gonna call you that there’s a robbery at burger king, but you should ignore it bc it’s not true’. You wouldn’t just be like ‘oh well if this anon caller says so guess we’ll ignore any calls for help.’ THIS IS SO DUMB IM LAUGHING SO HARD?? 

If they call again...the cops will have the call traced and have Lydia arrested. Allison wisely is like that’s great, definitely call them again so they come here. Stiles says that actually they’ll find out the call is coming from Lydia’s cell...but go to her house first? 

Stiles, just call your father directly? This isn’t actually an issue? 

Anyway, everyone demands answers about Derek that Scott doesn’t have because he’s a fucking liar WHO LIES. Stiles pulls Scott aside and has the audacity to praise him for throwing Derek under the bus?? 

NOT a good day for Sterek, guys. Well, except it helps with the whole enemies to friends to lovers build up that’s so hot, so okay. I just wish this made more sense? Like I know my attention span isn’t the best, but I’ve been pretty good with Teen Wolf, and I just don’t feel like Derek has done enough to warrant this. 

Jackson interrupts Scott and Stiles’s conversation about what the hell the Alpha wants with them and how Scott’s plan to throw Derek under the bus might not have been the best plan if it turns out Derek isn’t dead. He tells Stiles to call his dad directly (Jesus. About time. Jackson, I’m into you right now.) 

Stiles doesn’t want his dad to get hurt, so he refuses to call. This holds up for me since Stiles lost his mom and it makes sense he’d be super protective of his dad. But he caves after punching Jackson, and he gets his dad’s voicemail. 

The Alpha shows up. TIME TO FLEE! Scott asks how many people can fit in Jackson’s car. 

I’m really sad because I wanted the guys to grab Derek and get into Derek’s car and for Derek to wake up like WHY ARE YOU DRIVING MY CAR?? And for Scott and Stiles’s to apologize for besmirching his not-so-good name. 

The teens decide that they need to get to the roof (why the roof?? that seems like a terrible plan?? you will just get cornered worse there??). Scott will go retrieve the key on his own from the janitor’s dead body. 

Lydia notices that they’re in the chemistry room and they need to make a Molotov Cocktail. Lydia, I’m into you right now. 

Everyone on this show clearly agrees with me. 

Allison confronts Scott before he goes to get the key. She tells him he’s been lying all night (ma’am, you are correct. #JusticeForDerek). Jackson smirks to himself. 

90% of this episode is just people wandering around the dark corridors of the school. Scott wanders, armed with the molotov cocktail. I pray for Derek’s arrival. If he’s awake somehow, I bet he heard all the shit they were talking about him with his werehearing. I hope in revenge he spreads malicious rumors about Scott. 

Blood drips onto Scott. He looks up to see the Janitor’s body strung up somehow on the underside of the bleachers in the gym? I’m so confused. It’s all very dark. And how would the Alpha do this? When did he have time? Did he do this in were form or human form? The logistics of this make my head spin. 

Uh oh. Back in the chem class, Lydia exposits that the cocktail won’t ignite if there isn’t sulfuric acid in it. Jackson insists he handed Lydia everything she asked for. Unconvincingly, she says she’s sure he did. 

Scott faces off against the Alpha. The CGI is so delightfully bad. Scott throws the cocktail and nothing happens. The Alpha pounces and HOWLS, causing Jackson’s neck to freak out where he was scratched. It also causes Scott to wolf out. 

Stiles notices that something is on the back of Jackson’s neck. Jackson gets very cagey. 

Scott goes back to wandering the halls in the dark but this time as a wolf. Or like. Half wolf/half human, unlike the Alpha who is fully wolfed out? Scott thinks of Allison and uses his happy memories of her to un-wolf out. This all feels super time wastey and Derekless for my tastes. 

Cops arrive on the scene! The chem class crew is relieved! 

The cops can’t find the janitor’s body or Derek’s. Scott feels unbelieved. Maybe if you weren’t the teen wolf boy who cried wolf about Derek you would be believed, young man. 

Scott insists that the Alpha left them alive because he...wants him in his pack...and he thinks that first he has to get rid of his old pack...which consists of Allison/Jackson/Lydia/Stiles. Wha? None of this makes any sense. I mean he was already in the Alpha’s clutches...and the Alpha just howled? And none of these people are actually his pack? I mean MAYBE Stiles and Allison (except they’re humans? I don’t understand??) But Jackson would be the first to be like, “I am not in his pack, thank you, bye.” And why is this where Scott’s mind goes? And if that were the case why didn’t the Alpha kill them? Oh apparently it’s because...the Alpha wants Scott to kill them? This is so fucking nonsensical. 

Scott says the worst part is that when the Alpha made him shift he wanted to kill all of them. I mean, now it makes more sense why he jumped to that conclusion, and I feel like he should have led with that. 

WE STILL HAVE NO EYES ON DEREK THIS WHOLE EPISODE. I HAVE BEEN ROBBED. 

But we do find Deaton. He offers Scott a raise for helping him get free? 

Scott chases after Allison, and she gives him the cold shoulder. She can’t trust Scott anymore (???). Scott tries to placate her with an assurance that he will have a new phone tomorrow (lmao). She dumps his ass. That’s karma, Scott. 

[books-and-milkshakes]

Day 5 - Distraction [Comics] “I’m tired.” Jellybean yawned. “I wanna go to bed.”

Betty and Jughead looked at each other, the disappointment clear in their eyes. The three of them had been having a sleepover while Jughead’s parents were away. They started the night by cooking pizza, which would have failed miserably if Betty hadn’t been there. They had played several card games, Jellybean winning a surprising amount of them and they had just watched frozen, which Jughead had grumbled about but secretly enjoyed.

“But we were gonna build a blanket fort and eat junk food,” Jughead said. “Mom and dad will never be okay with that, so this is your only chance.”

Jellybean shook her head and stomped her feet, clearly upset at her big brother. “I don’t care. I wanna go to bed.”

Betty crouched down in front of the little girl. “If that’s what you want, Bean. Shall I tuck you in?”

Jellybean shook her head again. “I can do it myself.” She speeded out of the living room and stomped up the stairs.

Jughead was confused. “Is she going through puberty at the age of nine? Why is she so grumpy?”

“Must run in the family.” Betty teased and she was rewarded with a light tug on her ponytail.

“Don’t besmirch the Jones name,” he warned.

The two teens looked around the room for a second. The evening had not gone as they thought it would.

“So,” Betty said.

“So,” Jughead repeated.

“You know, we can still build the blanket ford ourselves,” she suggested and when Jughead turned to her with a twinkle in his eye, she knew she had said the right thing. 

“You take the pillows and blankets from my room and the guest room and I will raid my parents.” They both ran off like eager kids, ready to build their own ford.

30 minutes and one pillow fight later and the pair stood admiring their creation. 

“It’s majestic,” Jughead said in awe.

Betty giggled. “Come on, let’s see what the inside is like.” 

Together with some popcorn they crawled inside. It’s small, but cozy. Just enough room for two, which neither of them complained about.

 “You want to watch another movie,” Jughead asked

“We could do that or…” Betty moved to grab a game controller of the floor. “We could play some Tetris,” she said with a knowing smile.

Ever since the new Tetris game came out, Betty and Jughead have been obsessed. They had a friendly competition going on about who could get the highest score.

“Only if you are ready to lose.” Jughead took the controller from her and quickly started the game. They would take turns playing and after 2 rounds, the person with the highest score would treat the other to Pop’s.

Betty silently watched Jughead play for a minute before she set her plan in motion. She scooted closer until their sides were pressed together.

“Let’s keep a little distance, Betty,” Jughead said.

“Of course, Juggie.” Her voice extra sweet while she laid her head on his shoulder, completely disregarding his comment. He misplaced a block which caused his screen to fill up significantly. Betty smiled victoriously.

“Seriously, Betty!” He sounded annoyed, but she knew he wasn’t actually irritated with her. 

This was their other game, trying to distract the other person from playing. It was their own way of secretly flirting with each other. It started a few months ago when Jughead had been playing with her hair while it had been her turn and it had escalated since that moment. They were growing more bold and it filled Betty with excitement to what tonight could bring.

She lifted her head. “That was close,” she whispered in his ear. 

That was the final blow, the screen filled up with coloured blocks. Jughead glared at her while he handed her the controller, but a deep red covered his face. She was affecting him.

While she started her game, her heart started beating faster in anticipation of Jughead’s actions. It took him a few minutes in which Betty scored a lot of points. She started to get lost in the game when she felt his hand on her knee. Now that was the only thing she could think about. Slowly his hand started travelling upwards and something dirty about what Jughead’s hands could do to her crossed Betty’s mind. She put that fantasy on hold for now, something she could explore later when she was alone.

The hand came to rest on her thigh and squeezed it in what would be described as encouraging. Her attention was divided between the weight on her leg and the game, so she didn’t notice Jughead moving closer. He placed a kiss just below her ear and Betty dropped the controller. The game was lost, but she didn’t care. She slowly turned her head to look at her childhood best friend. His face was close and she could feel his breath on her lips.

“Juggie,” she whispered, her voice a little high.

He just hummed as a reply, his eyes slowly moving over her face, assessing every feature.

“Who won?” she asked.

Jughead chuckled. “Who the hell cares, Sunshine,” he said.

A second later his hand was in her hair and he captured her mouth. Betty automatically closed her eyes and kissed him back eagerly. This had been building up for months. Betty had been dreaming about Jughead almost daily and now finally it became a reality. The kiss was messy, but passionate. It was clear that Jughead was inexperienced, but Betty didn’t care. She only cared about getting closer, getting more. She licked his lower lip and then his upper, seducing him to open his mouth and when he granted her permission, she licked her way in, enjoying the taste of the chocolate ice cream they had for dessert.

She had just tugged his beanie off and was one second away from climbing into his lap, when a voice interrupted their moment.

“I’m not tired anymore,” Jellybean called out.

Betty and Jughead sprang apart, before the young girl could catch them in their compromising position. They were both breathing hard and Betty was sure her face was just as red as Jughead’s. 

Jellybean appeared in front of the blanket ford and crawled easily inside. She plopped down on Betty’s lap. 

“I thought you were tired,” Jughead said with a rough voice.

Jellybean, thankfully not noticing their disheveled appearances, shrugged. “I’m not tired anymore. I wanna watch another movie.

Jughead sighed with a mix of frustration and exasperation. Betty covered his hand with hers and squeezed with promises of kisses and more.

“I have good news, Bean,” she said. “Frozen has a sequel.”

This is in no way a drabble, but I did get the inspiration from the prompt list created by @hellodinoflower @bugheaddrabblechallenge. 

[pennamesmith]

Flowers for Skeletor

Hordak and Entrapta return to the Fright Zone. Perfuma gets some things cleared up. More ‘Skeletor’ stories.

*

Hordak and Entrapta strolled into what had, once upon a time, been the heart of the Fright Zone. Now it was covered in lush greenery, and sunlight shone through the open spaces in the ceiling. 

Entrapta was riding cross-legged on top of Emily, and gazed in wonder at everything around her. Hordak walked at her side, watching her expression warmly, while supporting the shuffling footsteps of the Horde drone she’d rebuilt and named ‘Skeletor.’

“Am I supposed to be frightened?” Skeletor asked, incredulous, taking in the rebuilt ruins. 

Hordak hushed him, but it was true that nearly all of the horror had gone from the place. Flowers bloomed on every vine. Soft moss covered the floors. The cushioned red throne in the center of it all rested atop a much shorter set of steps, and it was currently occupied by a giddy scorpion princess who was bouncing in her seat and waving. 

“Entrapta! Hordak! Hi! Welcome! Thank you for coming! Oh, it’s so good to have you visit here!” Scorpia bubbled. 

“Hello Scorpia! And also Perfuma!” Entrapta hollered as they approached. The Princess of Plumeria, tending to a patch of roses sprouting on the side of Scorpia’s throne, gave a little wave and smiled awkwardly in reply. 

“Skeletor has come for you!” Skeletor declared. 

Hordak flushed in embarrassment and quickly pushed the robot away. He bowed deeply before Scorpia. “Ahem. Thank you for inviting us here, Princess. How is reconstruction progressing in the New Scorpion Kingdom?”

“Oh, no, Hordak,” Scorpia admonished, smiling. “I’m an official princess now. That means you have to call my kingdom what I named it.”

“Of course. My apologies,” Hordak replied. “Tell me, how are things in…” His face appeared to visibly strain. “...The Delight Zone?”

“Oh, just peachy!” Scorpia beamed back. “We’re working on turning all the garbage incinerators into pottery kilns. And those hydro-electric generators you helped us install? Wow!” She tapped her claw-tips guiltily. “Which, uh, is actually part of the reason I asked you here. See, one of them broke down, and…”

“Have no fear!” Entrapta announced, hefting an overstuffed toolbox. “We’ll get to the bottom of it!” 

Scorpia sighed in relief. “Oh, thank you! And it really is nice to have you visit since we started redecorating. There’s so much less, uh, crushing brutalism. And Perfuma is putting flowers  everywhere!” 

“I like them! They’re so pretty!” Entrapta gushed. “What do you think, Hordak?” she asked, plopping a daisy crown on his head. 

Hordak made a noise. 

“Anyway,” Perfuma spoke up suddenly, standing stiffly at the arm of Scorpia’s throne. “We should show Entrapta to the power generators before it gets too late. After all, it is a rare honor to host the Princess of Dryl and… her royal consort.”

“Not that rare,” Entrapta said, unoffended. “You saw us at therapy group yesterday.” 

“A rare honor that we would hate to besmirch with an excess of small talk!” Perfuma insisted. Her eye twitched, slightly. “Right this way, please!” 

*

They walked along bridges that had once looked over belching smokestacks and polluted junkyards. Now the view was of farmland under clear blue skies. 

“We’ve been growing vegetables!” Scorpia boasted, sweeping her claw across it all. “And to help the plants grow, we started keeping an apiary for local pollinators in one of the old bugshell towers.”

“Bee-People!” Skeletor shouted in delight. 

“This is incredible!” Entrapta cried, standing up on Emily to get a better look. “Hordak, look how much they’ve repurposed! It’s like a completely different place!”

“It is,” Hordak agreed, and he did not sound entirely displeased about it. A calm smile played at his lips. 

*

Soon enough, they reached their destination. In an open-ceilinged space, several machines the size of small houses sat astride a clear-flowing artificial river. This place, like the others, was covered in verdant and blooming plant life. The sun shone down on a forest in the heart of a factory. 

One of the large machines was not making noise, and its lights had gone dark. Scorpia rapped on it with a claw, and it made a hollow clanging sound. 

“This is the, ah, problem area,” Scorpia said sheepishly. “It’s — ”

“Destroyed! Totally destroyed!” Skeletor interrupted. He rushed forward and peered at the silent machine. “What’s that? The fusion alarm? The main drive is about to explode!” 

“No, Skeletor. Nothing is going to explode,” Hordak chided, as Scorpia hyperventilated. He guided the robot away from the generator. “I need you to look after Emily while Entrapta diagnoses the source of the malfunction. Emily will be recording, so do not misbehave.”

“I had anticipated that, bat-ears,” Skeletor grumbled, but dutifully shepherded the spherical bot away from the group toward a cluster of trees with bright turquoise fruit. “We’ll be in the banshee jungle!”

“I’ll beep you when I need you, Emily!” Entrapta called cheerfully as she spread out her tools. She grabbed Scorpia. “All right. I need to get topside of this machine to find out what the problem is, and I’m gonna need your electrical magic to run some tests. So, upsy-daisy!” 

“Oh, wow, hangout time!” Scorpia exclaimed. “That’s great, because I just got a new board game I wanted to tell you about, it’s called — whoop!” 

Her words were cut off as Entrapta hoisted her in her hair and scaled the side of the generator like a purple spider. 

Perfuma watched them go and then looked, finally, at Hordak. She coughed. “So,” she said. 

Hordak waited. 

“...How’s Wrong Hordak?” Perfuma asked eventually, reaching for one of their commonalities. 

“Quite well,” Hordak answered. He began to sort some of Entrapta’s tools. “He is very grateful that you’ve started helping him with the Ex-Horde Therapy Group, by the way.” 

“Oh. Well, I’m glad that you’ve been… going to it,” Perfuma said. She seemed to be choosing her words carefully. “The Princess Alliance wasn’t entirely in agreement about what to do with you at first, you know.”

“I am aware,” Hordak replied, flatly. 

From the trees, Skeletor emerged, covered in colorful flowers and desperately clinging to an unhindered Emily. 

“Stop! You shall not escape!” Skeletor protested. “Your puny lasers mean nothing to me!”

“Speaking of the group,” Perfuma continued. “I think this is actually the first time I’ve had a chance to talk to you outside of it since all the official business when the war ended.” 

Hordak’s eyes narrowed. “Are you driving at something, Princess?” he asked, evenly. Quietly, he practiced a breathing exercise that he had, in fact, learned from Perfuma herself. 

“Your hatred of me will work in my favor!” Skeletor wailed from behind them, trailing Emily by a vine. 

Perfuma pouted and put her hands on her hips. “Look, just… You had better not do anything to hurt Entrapta, okay?”

“...What?” said Hordak. 

“What?” said Skeletor. 

Perfuma crossed her arms. “I  know  you’re a good guy now, but that doesn’t make you a… a good guy. Entrapta really likes you. If you break her heart, some very powerful people will be very upset with you. Just so you know.” She struck what was probably meant to be an intimidating pose. 

Hordak finally turned to face her. His expression was one of shocked surprise. “You are concerned about Entrapta’s emotional safety with me?” he asked. “I understand you are the one who kept her on a leash.”

“I — ! That was — !” Perfuma faltered, raising a finger. “...Not my finest moment,” she finally admitted, deflating. “But I swear, we all only want her to be okay. There are some things Entrapta just doesn’t understand.” 

Hordak seemed rather taken aback by this. Politely, yet firmly, he said, “I assure you, Entrapta understands everything she needs to perfectly well. Often better than I do.” 

He looked upwards in her direction, and the sun seemed to brighten on his face. “I… respect her. Incalculably. It is my privilege to learn from her.” 

“There is the answer to my evil needs!” Skeletor said, from somewhere. 

Now it was Perfuma’s turn to seem stunned. “You really do love her,” she murmured, and couldn’t help letting her eyes shift to where Scorpia sat and laughed in the sunshine. 

Hordak followed her line of sight knowingly. “Entrapta is not the only one you are worried about,” he deduced after a few moments. 

Perfuma fretted. “Scorpia just has such a big heart!” she said, helplessly. “And she’s new to being a princess. She got yanked around a lot with… with the Horde, and I don’t want her to be taken advantage of like that again.”

Hordak considered this seriously. After a long pause that was interrupted several times by the distant sound of Entrapta’s hammering and various exclamations of delight, he ventured, “Perhaps Scorpia understands more than she appears to as well. She was exceptional, if unusual, while in… my employment. I expect she will only continue to grow and flower in her new position.” He offered a friendly hand to Perfuma’s shoulder. “Especially with someone who loves her at her side.” 

At this, Perfuma blushed furiously and quickly strode away from Hordak. “Hey, do you need anything from us up there?” She called to Scorpia and Entrapta. “A big vine-ladder maybe? Or some kind of robot stuff?”

“Bee-People?” Skeletor offered. 

Perfuma finally seemed to notice him. “Why is Skeletor here, anyway?” she asked, turning to Hordak. 

“Ah. This is to help improve his work for the therapy group,” said Hordak. “Entrapta wanted to provide him with more exposure to social situations.”

“That seems… contrived. But I’ll allow it.”

“Any more questions?” Skeletor asked. 

Before anyone could reply, Entrapta slid back to the ground, with Scorpia in her wake. “I’m gonna need some more parts from the ship!” she announced brightly. “Hordak, can you try to balance the dynamo while I’m gone?”

“Certainly. That will allow us to safely remove the alternator.”

“Exactly what I was thinking! And then we can connect the charging coils to the…” 

“Excitation field,” Hordak finished, sharing her smile. 

Perfuma and Scorpia traded baffled looks. 

Entrapta tweaked one of Hordak’s ears. “You get it!” she giggled. “You’re doing great, Hordikins! Back in a minute!” And with that, she was off again. 

“‘Hordikins,’” Perfuma repeated, rapidly losing all composure. Beside her, Scorpia made a tiny, ecstatic squeak.

Hordak turned to face them both in mute horror, suddenly realizing that he was still wearing the flower crown Entrapta had placed on his head earlier. 

“I am not discussing this,” he intoned, but he could tell from the looks on the princesses’ faces that this particular trial was far from over. 

“If that’s the way you want it,” Skeletor said, “Then that’s the way you get it!” 

[ac-liveblogs]

RWBY vol 8, ep 11

, So... what narrative purpose does Ironwood diving off the morality cliff actually serve at this point? Because he’s kinda overshadowing Salem as the major threat at this point, and I’m really getting tired of the “but Atlas! But Mantle! But Atlas!” tug o’ war. tbh

I’m assuming his actions are going to be what results in Salem getting the Staff and Atlas falling, but like... we’re sure taking a long time to get there.

Okay, the decision to make the dog faunus call working for Ironwood equivalent to wearing a collar is... a choice

For someone willing to shoot Marrow for speaking out, Ironwood sure had no problems with Winter letting political prisoners go? Did we forget about that? No bullets for her?

Team “Ruby always has a plan!” does not have a plan, and things are finally starting to fall apart! Oh no! Well, they were comically unprepared for this anyway and they sure are wasting a lot of time given their deadline is an hour. 

nora holy shit stop lazing around, damn, it’s not that bad

Nora’s “don’t worry, I’m always stupid and reckless, I was bound to get disfigured at some point :/” would carry more weight if the way in which she was injured wasn’t so astronomically stupid. Nora had no reason to think she’d get injured by a DOOR because SHE CAN TANK LIGHTNING, and. Again. SHE WAS OPENING A DOOR, this isn’t some grave war wound??? Holy shit, stop dragging it out!

Ren and Nora’s conversation - Ren needs to stop pushing people away and lettng the team down and Nora’s feelings of inadequacy because of it, plus some chatter about noble self-sacrificing tendencies being admirable - really, uh... feels like a conversation Yang & Blake should have had?? 

Look... the resolution to this is fine, but the Renora relationship drama was rushed and forced to begin with, so like... I don’t care. The “boop!” callback is kinda cute though. 

Sorry, Robyn the hero of Mantle, is the voice of reason when Qrow wants to go on a murderous rampage to stop Ironwood? When Ironwood is threatening to drop a bomb on her city? I’m sorry???

And now we’re just gonna besmirch Clover’s good name posthumously to make Qrow out to be the better man?? Whatever we can’t go 10 seconds without digging at Ironwood I get it 

Incidentally if this turns into another “the adults deal with the problem while RWBY is useless” moment I swear to god 

Why is Yang pronouncing Schnee “Sche-knee” all of a sudden? Has she always done that? Did I just not notice??

Blake said “Ruby and the Schnees took the hellhound down”? Excuse me, RWB were cowering against a wall and Whitley and his mom took it down, lets not mix up facts here

Salem wanting silver eyes to make these weird Grimmdogs is uh... a motive, I suppose... kind of a lame one, but sure...

They uh... sure forgave Emerald real quick, huh... seriously, Emerald gets a free pass but Ozpin- ah, forget it. Dead horse, stick. 

Ozpin is now blaming himself for running away from Team RWBY when they attacked him. ok

Is... is the moral of this story really “we have to take risks sometimes”? I? Huh???????? It takes THIS LONG for that to be an actual LESSON that has to be learnt?!

Hey so about “you have an hour before I drop the bomb” - long hour, amiright?

So like... what exactly is the loss associated with giving Ironwood the Staff again? He evacuates Atlas but Salem might attack (which she is already doing)? I get like, not wanting to give Ironwood any victories, but.. sheesh...

[soul-eater-novel]

«-first // archive // Ramsus-kun Scanslations

★ Chapters 0-1 complete translation

★ Chapters 2-3 complete translation

★ Chapters 4-5 complete translation

★ Chapters 6-7 complete translation

★ Chapters 8-9 complete translation

★ Chapters 10-11 complete translation

For your reading pleasure and enjoyment, below the cut are the full rough English translations of chapters 12 and 13 of the official 1998 Suikoden I Soul Eater novel (volume 2 of 3). Individual page translations can be found in the chapter 12 and chapter 13 tags.

Chapter 12: Hope Remains

They hurried along the dwarven mountain road. After leaving the Village of the Elves, they had ridden for one full day then spent another crossing over the mountain on foot. In this way, it had taken two days total to reach the wide basin that comprised the Dwarven Village. Their party of six was now returning back along this same route after meeting with the chief elder of the dwarves.  

The burning mirror was indeed a weapon invented by the dwarves. The elder had told them that the dwarves believed the blueprints for it had been stolen from their large vault⁠—normally a source of pride⁠ for its impenetrability—but the identity of the thief or thieves was as yet unknown. 

When Valeria noted that she had heard a man named Kage had stolen the blueprints on General Kwanda’s orders, the elder was livid. “Kwanda! That insolent bastard! We won’t stand our blueprints being stolen, or shoddy knockoffs of our work!” His eyes burned with rage. “The burning mirror is a terrible weapon, immensely powerful. It cannot be destroyed by ordinary means... but our windfire cannon can be used to shatter it in an instant. We’ll get to work constructing the cannon right away to show that bastard what happens when you mess with the dwarves. It would besmirch our good name to let some sneak thief just get away with this!” 

Although they had not been able to obtain any reinforcements, they had been promised a means to destroy the mirror. So they hurried on their way without a moment’s pause to rest. 

“Young Master…” wheezed Gremio miserably. “Couldn’t we take a break? This mountain path is… just a little… too much for me…” 

“Sure, take a break!” Valeria spat, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “As long as you don’t mind being left here.” 

“I-I could live with that…” 

“Hang in there, Gremio!” Tir cheered him on kindly.  “Everyone is toughing through this together.”

“We need to get back to the elf village to evacuate everyone immediately. The dwarf chief said he could destroy the mirror, but we have no idea when the cannon will be ready.” 

“You gonna beg that old man to evacuate the elves?” asked Viktor. “He didn’t seem too keen on cooperating last time.”

“Oh, please don’t talk like that.” Kirkis replied forlornly. “He may be hardheaded, but the elder chief has done everything in his power to protect our village.”

“Ah, point taken. Sorry, Kirkis.” Viktor shut his mouth and they hiked up the mountain path in silence. 

When they finally reached the summit there was no time to enjoy the beautiful view from the mountaintop and they all hurried on. But no sooner had they begun their descent than Kirkis stopped cold. 

“What is that?” He pointed toward the wide swath of forest to the southwest. Surrounded on all sides by the forest, something gleamed atop the roof of Pannu Yakuta castle. 

“It can’t be! The burning mirror?!” shouted Valeria. “They’ve completed it already?!” Everyone tensed. 

“Hurry!” 

The six of them tore down the mountain path at full speed. But even when they reached their horses at the foot of the mountain, they would still need half a day at minimum to reach the elf village. Tir stole a glance at the burning mirror. It sparkled with even more intensity than it had just moments before. 

There’s no mistaking it—the mirror is already gathering heat from the atmosphere. 

“Damn it!” Tir swore. “Will we make it in time?!” 

Running, Viktor called, “It’s autumn, ain’t it?! So maybe it’ll take longer for it to gather heat!”

“But look!” 

Gremio pointed to the sky. The sun broke through a gap in the clouds and shone upon Pannu Yakuta castle. Receiving the light of the sun, the mirror sparkled brighter than ever. 

“Shit!” groaned Viktor. “It’s gathering heat from the sunlight?!” 

Kirkis screamed as a dazzling light shot out of the mirror. It all happened in an instant. The light hit the western forest, reached the elf village, and the center of the village exploded violently in a pillar of flame. The flames roared. Only later did the thunderous roar of the explosion and the pillar reached their ears—as they stood stock still, dumfounded. To Tir it sounded as though the very trees themselves were screaming. 

“This is crazy… it’s crazy!” Kirkis mumbled. The tragedy was so great it left the rest of them speechless, and all the while the flames spread across the forest. Black smoke billowed into the sky. 

“You musn’t give up hope, Kirkis” said Tir, gazing intently at the spreading flames. “Some elves may have escaped the fire. Let’s hurry!”

Kirkis gritted his teeth. “You’re right.”

The band of six galloped onwards, hoping against hope for the safety of the elf clan with all their hearts.

- - -

“This is horrible…” Valerie’s voice echoed hollowly among the trees reduced to scorched earth. 

They pushed their horses, and by the time they arrived at the forest, the fire had burnt itself out. No trace of the forest remained; only scorched fields stretched out around them. 

As they moved forward, the ground grew harder in spots beneath their feet—Tir guessed they were stepping on the roots of the elves’ giant tree.

Because the tree had borne the full brunt of the mirror’s onslaught, it hadn’t been so much burnt down as it had been completely obliterated. It seemed that some scorched sections of its root system were all that remained. There was no sign of a single elf—the acrid stink of charred tree and the wind whistling were all that surrounded Tir and the others. 

“If the forest looks this bad, then the elves must have all...” Gremio murmured and trailed off, dismounting. The others also dismounted but no one else said a word. Kirkis walked across the scorched earth and up to the roots of the great tree. 

“Why...” Kirkis slowly sank, his knees on the ground. His slender shoulders shook, and his weeping dyed the burnt field in shades of sorrow. “Why did this happen…?” He sobbed. “Was everything we did in vain?” 

Gremio stood by his side. “Kirkis…” 

“We did everything we could... but there’s nothing left here...

Everyone and everything I wanted to protect is gone…” 

He stood, wiped his tears, fumbled in his pockets, then took something out. Seeing the glittering object in the palm of Kirkis’ hand, Gremio started. “Oh. That’s...”

“I was planning to give this ring to her once the war was over… and now... she'll never wear it. Oh, poor Sylvina…”

It fell from Kirkis’ hands and struck the roots of the great tree.

Tink… 

The ring that should have adorned Sylvina’s pale, beautiful fingers tumbled along the charred forest floor and was lost amidst the dark ashes of the trees charred by the Empire’s attack.  

Tir gripped his staff tight in his hands. 

Even if he tries to bury his feelings beneath the ashes, Kirkis must be so angry with us for not being able to help him like he asked us to. 

Gremio picked up the ring. “Kirkis… you mustn’t throw this away.” He took Kirkis’ hand and placed the ring in it, his voice gentle. “This ring represents all your hopes. And you mustn’t ever throw hope away. As long as you have even just a little hope, you can go on living… I think elves and humans are the same in that regard, don’t you?” 

“Gremio…” Kirkis gazed at the ring now back in his hand, then looked up at him. “Yes… yes, that could be true.”

“It is. Please, as long as you draw breath, always remember what it feels like to hold hope in your heart.” 

Kirkis rubbed his eyes dry and raised his head. “W-would it be all right if we stayed here just a little longer? If any of my friends managed to escape into the forest, I want to be here for them…”

No one was going to refuse Kirkis’ request. Listening to Kirkis’ footsteps as he walked out of the burnt forest, Tir and the others surveyed the forest and the surrounding fields.

The setting sun cast an orange glow over the blackened forest. Eventually Tir and the others returned to the remains of the forest once the sun had set, and rested among the great tree’s roots. Kirkis was also tired from walking the forest, and was resting against a fallen tree in a stupor. But it seemed like no matter how long he waited, his fellow villagers were unlikely to reappear. 

“Kirikis…” Valerie began somberly. “We’ve waited here but no one’s come. That probably means there are no elves nearby. Unfortunately we don’t have time to wait for any elves who were far away enough to avoid the attack.” 

Kirkis stood. “Yeah…” 

“Please don’t lose hope, Kirkis...” Gremio urged, his voice kind as could be. Then he turned to Tir.  “Young Master, let’s return to headquarters. We can no longer decide how to proceed in this fight on our own.” 

Viktor grinned in response. “No need fer that—look!” Viktor jerked his chin up, pointing to the northwest where a group of horse riders were galloping towards them, weaving their way through the trees that were now little more than charcoal. 

“Lord Tir! Are you unharmed?!” Called the man in the white halfcoat, waving his arm. 

“Mathiu!” 

Tir leapt on his horse and raced towards the riders. Mathiu was galloping their way, with Pahn, Lepant, and Varkas following close behind. 

Mathiu looked around them, aghast. “Lord Tir, what in the world happened here?” 

“It’s a long story...” 

Tir relayed the events at the elf village, the dwarven village, and told them all about the burning mirror. 

“I see… So that’s what happened...” Mathiu looked down at the ground for a time, but then spoke to Tir in gentle tones. “You did everything you could do, Lord Tir. Thank you.”

“I really didn’t accomplish anything. It’s still uncertain whether or not we can get the kobolds to lend us their strength, and neither the elves nor us are strong enough to face the Empire on our own.” Tir hung his head.

“What happened to the elves is truly saddening.” Thundered Lepant in his robust voice. “But, Lord Tir, you have no need to worry about the size of our army!”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, Master Tir,” explained Pahn, “right before we left the castle, Humphrey and Sanchez arrived, leading  a bunch of soldiers.” 

“Aha! So they’re finally here!” boomed Viktor behind them. Tir turned to look and saw that everyone had lined up on their horses without him noticing. 

Viktor grinned happily. “So, how many troops did they bring?” 

“About 5,500.” Varkas answered cheerfully, looking at Tir. “They met others along their way, and now their ranks exceed 6,000.”

“Master Tir, that’s more than enough to take on Kwanda! We’ll leave ‘em in the dust!”

“Um, I’ve been wondering…” interjected Gremio. Just how did you all get through the Lost Woods? I thought it was impossible to find without a guide or someone to lead you.” 

“Quite so. We were actually entirely flummoxed, stuck on the other side of the Lost Woods…” replied Mathiu. “...until two elves who came out of the wood kindly offered to guide us.”

“Two elves?!” Kirkis exclaimed, leaning forward eagerly. “Where are those elves now?!

“I believe they are waiting in the Kobold village—” Mathiu started to say, but was cut off by a voice distantly calling from the north. 

“Heeeeeey! Kiiiirkiiis!!”

A figure came racing across the burnt fields at an unbelievable speed. He sped along faster than a horse, quicker than the wind, blue clothes and long azure hair whipping in the wind. As the elf drew closer, they could also see someone on his back, long purple hair streaming out behind them. 

“That’s Stallion—and he’s got Sylvina with him!” Kirkis turned to everyone, his eyes shining. “Stallion is the fastest elf in the land… and to think we always made fun of him for only ever using that speed to run away...!” Kirkis choked up. Tears welled in his green-blue eyes. Even though tears wet his cheeks, Kirkis laughed and spurred his horse forward into a gallop. 

When they were only a short distance away from each other on that burnt plain, Stallion let Sylvina down off his back at the same instant that Kirkis leapt off his steed. And so, the two embraced. 

“With speed like that, I can certainly see how he could escape the burning mirror…” Gremio said, his voice filled with admiration. As everyone watched, Kirkis took Sylvina’s hand and slipped something into it. Tir and the others had a good idea as to what that something might be. Everyone’s hearts were warmed at the sight.

Mathiu turned to Tir. “What next, Lord Tir?” 

For a moment, Tir couldn’t answer. But it wasn’t because he was uncertain—it was because he was so happy he could hardly speak. 

We have a glimmer of hope after all. 

He raised his face and answered. “Okay! We march on Pannu Yakuta!”

Chapter 13: The Big Battle

At Tir’s order, the Liberation Army began to move. They all drew courage from Humphrey and Sanchez joining in the fight against the Empire. The Liberation Army’s spirits rose even higher when Kirkis, Sylvina, Stallion and Valeria also volunteered to fight alongside them.

Nevertheless, the fact that Kwanda Rosman had completed the burning mirror instilled a deep unease in their hearts as battle drew nearer. Tir was especially worried that if their army made a misstep, they would meet the same fate as the elf village. 

That was when Valeria proposed her plan to Mathiu. 

“Once every three days, General Kwanda sends out a patrol to check on the status of the surrounding area. It takes five days for the patrol to circle the forest and their route is predetermined, so we could lie in wait to ambush and capture them without giving away our own position.”  

It was decided that Mathiu would send out Varkas to capture the patrol at once. The main force lay concealed in the forest that ran along the base of the mountains to the east and they set up camp in the forest near Pannu Yakuta castle. Mathiu called everyone together at the camp for a war council meeting while their main force got some rest. 

Pahn, Lepant, Gremio, Cleo, Viktor, Humphrey. These brave leaders of the Liberation Army met with Mathiu and Tir, along with Valeria and Kirkis, which made ten altogether. They had all sat down at the big table. Everyone looked around at each other. Mathiu spoke first. 

“It is imperative that we capture Pannu Yakuta, but of course the burning mirror prevents us from doing so. As we’ve seen from what befell the elf village, the mirror’s power is absolute. If they turn the mirror on us, that’s the end⁠—us and our army will be ashes in seconds flat.”

“Hrm…” rumbled Lepant thoughtfully. “How can we deal with the mirror?”

“I’ve got an idea!” Kirkis quipped cheerfully and took a stand. “I think the mirror’s weak point is how it collects heat from the atmosphere. If it’s unable to do that, then they can’t use it.”

“But, Kirkis…” This time Gremio piped up. “Since it’s autumn, it certainly is difficult to gather heat from the atmosphere, but they can still use the mirror by harnessing the power of the sun.”

“Yeah, what do we do about that?” wondered Cleo. "It would be best to do battle when the temperature is low and the sun is not shining, correct?"

Mathiu nodded. “Yes. That iss what I was thinking as well. Waiting for the weather to grow colder only gives our enemy further opportunities to go on the offensive. Let’s attack the castle tonight. What do you say, Lord Tir?”

“I think that’s a good plan.”

“Then just leave the tactical side of things to me.”

Mathiu stood and briskly assigned everyone their duties. Lepant was in charge of the advance team. Forest surrounded Pannu Yakuta castle, but it seemed there was a path to the northern side where they could move their troops through quite a wide swath of the forest. Lepant would take up position there and challenge Kwanda to do battle. Pahn and Valeria would each lead a group of soldiers and lay concealed on either side of the forest. Lepant would lose to Kwanda’s army on purpose and then retreat, luring Kwanda and his forces out into the forest, where the other two parties would make their move, cutting off Kwanda’s retreat. Humphrey would act as commander of another party, playing things by ear and acting as needed as the plan unfolded.

“I see. What a splendid plan. Just as I’d expect of our tactician!” Lepant cried in apparent satisfaction, but Kirkis hadn’t been assigned a role, and his expression grew stormy.

“Lord Mathiu, what shall I do? I want to help out, too.”

Mathiu did not sugarcoat his answer. “Kirkis. I’m grateful you feel that way, but I am afraid I cannot use you in this battle.”

“Why not?!” shouted Kirkis. 

Tir didn’t understand the reasoning behind Mathiu’s words, either. 

Of course Kirkis would want to fight against Kwanda Rosman, the man who destroyed his entire clan…

“Is there some reason we can’t use Kirkus in this battle?” Tir asked, bewildered.

“Yes, just one…” Mathiu placed both of his hands upon the table and stared at Tir. “Lord Tir, before you departed the castle you and I spoke about Kwanda Rosman. We both agreed that he is not a man inclined to senseless slaughter...”

“What?!” cried Kirkis, his voice filled with grief. "How can you say that?! He just used the burning mirror to destroy my entire village!”

“I am well aware,” said Mathiu, now holding Kirkis’ gaze. “I understand your feelings. Painfully so. But, Kirkis, grudges have no place in this battle. We intend to capture General Kwanda without killing him to find out what drove him to this atrocious act, whether it was by order of the Emperor, or by his own design. We must first establish that before taking any further action.”   

They all fell silent, then, admiring Mathiu’s ability to believe in the humanity of others, even enemies.

“I understand, Mathiu...” Kirkis said quietly. “I despise Kwanda. Words are not enough to describe how much I hate him. But I am a member of the Liberation Army now. If you say we are to capture him alive, then I will abide by that.”

Mathiu smiled, bowing his head. “Those are the words I’ve been waiting to hear. Now that that’s out of the way, I will assign five hundred archers to you. Please hide in the forest with Lady Valeria, and let loose volleys of arrows immediately after we have cut off Kwanda’s army’s line of retreat.”

“Yes, sir!” Replied Kirkis, his spirits back at full force.

Now that all the roles were divided up, the war council was over. Mathiu dictated that Cleo and Gremio’s units would cover their bases by protecting the rear and that Viktor’s unit would stay with Mathiu on standby.  

The camp burst into activity. The soldiers were pumped up for the oncoming battle. This was Tir’s first campaign and electric energy coursed through his veins.

Night fell at long last, a pervasive chill invading the forest. 

To avoid detection by the Kwanda army, they lit no fires in the camp. Under the cover of night, the troop of foot soldiers led by Pahn left the camp first. Then went Valeria's calvary unit and Kirkis’ archers. Once the night had worn on, Humphrey’s raiding party and Lepant, leading the main body of soldiers, also left the camp.

- - -

“Show your face, Imperial General Kwanda Rosman! You will pay for your crimes!" roared Lepant. He had gathered his troops at the front gates. If the impressive formation advancing out into the field with blazing torches was any indication, Kwanda Rosman was also preparing for battle.

Braziers burned here and there and on the other side of the sturdy, high stone walls of the castle, the whinnies of horses could be heard.

“You hear us, Kwanda?! Or are you pissing yourself in your bed, scared shitless ‘cuz we’re out here?!” Shouted Lepant again, earning laughter from the soldiers. 

Perhaps no longer able to endure these insults, Kwanda appeared above the gate of the multi-storied castle. “Just who do you think you are? Are you aware this castle you’re causing a ruckus at is under the protection of one of the five imperial generals, Iron Wall Kwanda?!”

In line with his nickname, Kwanda’s entire body was covered in sturdy armor. Even his head was protected by a helmet, only allowing a portion of his face to show. He wore the title of imperial general without shame. The brazier fires glinted off his silver armor, turning it red. 

Lepant, however, continued unleashing his torrent of abuse upon the unflinching Kwanda. Mathiu’s strategy was to turn Kwanda’s quick temper against him and, of course, lure him out of the castle.

“Here he is at last! The cruel demon who exterminated the elf tribe! I am Lepant of Kouan, now leader of the Liberation Army vanguard! The autumn breeze carried the ghosts of the elves to our doorstep, where they whispered in our ears their desire for revenge. Resign yourself to death, for we bear the grudge of the elves, and we will destroy you!”

“Liberation Army? You’re nothing but rebels! Perfect. I’d been meaning to squash you like the bugs you are sometime...” Guffawed Kwanda as he descended the stairs. “Thank you for saving me the trouble of tracking you down. Prepare to face Kwanda Rosman’s wrath!” 

At that moment Lepant also brought out his unit in order to draw out Kwanda’s forces.

The castle gates opened with a grating sound. Kwanda was framed by the gates for a moment, astride his horse with his long-handled battleaxe at his side. Without waiting for his regiment, Kwanda leapt through the gates alone.

“Damned Kouan bumpkins! You’ll help me clean the rust off this axe of mine!”

“Bastard! You’ll bow before my gleaming blade Kirinji and beg the elves for forgiveness!” shouted Lepant, pushing his horse into a gallop. The two men collided with the electric force of a lightning bolt. The flames glinted from their raised blades as they dueled, the sounds of their clashing blades echoing in the night.

“Take that!”

Weaving through Kwanda’s assault, Lepant lunged with his blade, stabbing it towards Kwanda’s flank. But Kirinji was repelled, ricocheting off Kwanda’s golden armor. He wasn’t even scratched.

“Fool! This armor was hand-forged by the dwarves! Your dull blade couldn’t even hope to dent it!” Bellowed Kwanda, raising his battleaxe. Flustered, Lepant turned his blade to the side and it bit into the handle of Lepant’s axe, halting the blow.

“Guh!”

Lepant was hit by the full force of the weight of the battleaxe coupled with Kwanda’s physical strength. He managed to somehow stop the blade of the axe, but his horse could not bear the weight and abruptly dropped to its knees.

“Oh no, Lord Lepant!”

Perceiving he was at a disadvantage, Lepant’s unit surged forward as one at the same moment that Kwanda’s soldiers also moved to the front. The two sides clashed and erupted into chaos. The soldiers’ roars, screams, and the pounding of the horses’ hooves filled the grasslands. 

Finally, Lepant called out to his soldiers. “Retreat! We’re pulling out!”

“Running away, are you?!”

Lepant retreated from the battle on the field, fighting as he withdrew. Kuwanda’s assault had left many soldiers injured and now the only thing they could do was believe Mathiu’s plan would work.

Lepant’s unit eventually retreated down the path that ran through the forest. Kwanda’s large force followed them right in, torches blazing.

“Kwanda Rosman! You razed the Elves’ sacred forest to the ground and that is a grave crime indeed!”

Valeria’s mounted unit chose that moment to leap out of the forest to Kwanda’s right. Pahn’s foot soldiers also came rushing out of the forest to the left at the same instance.   

“General! Surrender quietly!”

They had swooped down and attacked Kwanda’s two units at the rear of his forces, but Kwanda had been chasing Lepant so eagerly that he did not seem to realize he had been ambushed. As the sounds of the commotion reached him he finally turned to his aide and demanded, “What’s going on back there?!”

“They’ve ambushed us and cut off our path of retreat!”

“Wh-what...?!”

Kwanda turned back to break through the enemy ranks. Lepant knew as soon as Kwanda turned away from him that Valeria and Pahn had launched their attacks.

“You’re caught in our trap! You’re such a short-sighted fool you can only see what’s right in front of you!”

He launched a counterattack with his entire unit. Pressed at the front and the rear, Kwanda’s movements grew limited. Adding to his misfortune, a rain of arrows fell on his forces from an unknown source. Soldiers fell in droves. Amid the chaos, Kwanda ground his teeth in anger and bellowed, “Not yet! We haven’t lost yet! Hey, you! Use the you-know-what! Three shots!”

“Yes, sir!”

His aide took some sort of tube out of his backpack and pointed it toward the sky.

Pshhew!

Three balls of fire shot out of the tube and into the black night sky, turning the sky white in their brilliance. 

Staring up at the flashes in the dark sky, Tir murmured, “What are those, Mathiu?”

He and Mathiu were leading their unit toward the tail end of Lepant’s forces.

Mathiu groaned softly. “I should have expected no less from Kwanda Rosman... He is one of the Empire’s generals, and apparently not your average foe.”

Viktor snorted, leading his horse beside Mathiu. “Ya mind breakin’ that one down for us, Mr. Tactician?”

"Those flares are a type of signal used by the Imperial Army. The number of flares determines the meaning. One flare is an order to advance, while two indicates standby."

"And three?" asked Cleo.

Glowering at the sky bathed in white, Mathiu answered. "Three is a call for reinforcements."

- - -

"Damn!” Shouted Valeria, who was intimidating Kwanda’s flank but stared in dismay as another wave of soldiers poured out of the opened castle gates. “Kwanda's still got more soldiers?!"

As she and Pahn pressed Kwanda’s rear flank, Pahn realized that one of the new enemy units was advancing on them from behind.

“Lady Valeria, will you take care of the castle soldiers? I’ll handle Kwanda!”

“Got it!”

Valeria and Pahn quickly reorganized their troops into two separate groups and both clashed with the enemy Imperial Army forces. As the ranks of ambushed soldiers fell their strength dwindled as well. However, now Pahn and Valeria’s two units were trapped between Kwanda's forces returning to the castle and his reinforcements exiting the castle, forcing them into an awkward position.

"These bastards just don’t let up!"

Soldiers appeared in front of Pahn and attacked him. It was all he could do to hold them back. It seemed only a matter of time before Valeria's unit would also be crushed by the soldiers from the castle.

- - -

"We need more arrows! Up and at ‘em, people!"

Kirkis did everything he could to rouse his archers to aid Pahn and Valeria, caught in Kwanda's pincer attack, but it was difficult to tell friend from foe in the dead of night and the fighting on the forest's pathways had descended into chaos. This was no time for an arrow to go astray. Kirkus and the archers grew impatient.

“Can’t we shoot yet?! Kwanda’s winning, isn’t he?!”

Kirkus clenched his fists even tighter.

“Hey, Elf!” a cheerful voice called from within the forest. “Don’t screw up, now!”

When Kirkis and the archers peered into the rustling bushes, a pair of gleaming eyes appeared, glinting in the dark.

“Looks like a close fight. But everything’s all right now. Us kobolds have come to back you up!” As he spoke, the kobold soldier Kuromimi materialized from the pitch-black woods.

“Kuromimi...!”

Kirkus was still reeling in surprise at Kuromimi’s sudden appearance, but Kuromimi licked his chops and laughed. “You Liberation Army guys really kept your word. The Imperial Army hasn’t shown up in the north forest this whole time!”

“S-so that’s why you’re here to help us?”

“I hate liars. But I love people who keep their promises. We got you covered!” Shouted Kuromimi, and leapt onto the meadow, his tail bristling. Behind him followed all sorts of kobolds waving their swords - burly, strong kobolds, slim, clever kobolds, and on and on.

- - -

“What the?!”

Valeria stared in amazement at the unit that came charging out of the woods. She had been born and raised in the forest, so kobolds were nothing new to her. She inferred in a flash that they were allies because they had appeared from where Kirkis was concealed.

“Reinforcements are coming, everyone!” Valeria raised her sword high. “Don’t fall behind, kobolds! Give it your all!”

Amid the bloody battle, the soldiers once again regained their fighting spirits. The kobold clan charged into the soldiers from the castle. The imperial soldiers, under attack from Valeria on one side and the kobold clan on the other, prepared to flee. At the moment Pahn’s unit began to move, having received notice of the reinforcements, another unit flanked them.

“Sorry to keep you waiting...”

It was Humphrey, accompanying the commando unit.

“You’re late, ya bastard!” cried Pahn as they shifted ranks and Humphrey’s unit switched with his, allowing injured soldiers to pull back from the battle.

Humphrey’s uninjured unit pressed Kwanda once more. Watchinging as Humphrey’s huge sword and Kwanda’s axe clashed, sending sparks flying, Pahn reorganized his unit and struck the soldiers from the castle opposite the Kobold clan’s attack.  

- - -

“Hey, tactician!” roared Viktor, turning to Mathiu, drawn sword in hand. “Ain’t it our turn yet?!” 

He had readied his unit for battle the minute Kwanda’s reinforcements had come out of the castle. A subordinate came running up to Mathiu and reported on the state of the battle. It only took a second, but to Viktor it felt like an eternity. 

At last, Mathiu shouted, “Viktor! Provide support to Pahn’s unit as Lepant’s unit falls back!”

“Whoo! Finally! Head-bashin’ time!” Viktor turned to his soldiers. “Let’s go! We’ll show ‘em just how stubborn the Liberation Army is!”

The soldiers, who were tired of waiting, all at once gave a great battle cry. Viktor’s horse broke into a gallop. The moment his unit slipped in beside Lepant’s, the screams of the Imperial soldiers noticeably ticked up a notch.

- - -

The battle between the two armies raged seemingly without end. The land was soaked with blood, the field covered with corpses, with no clear victor in sight. Mathiu had ordered an all-out offensive attack on the all-powerful Kwanda’s army.

Along with Gremio and Cleo, Tir had joined and were fighting beside Lepant’s unit. It was Tir’s first large battle and the unimaginably gruesome sights made him sick to his stomach, but he gritted his teeth and fought on.

We need to settle this fight immediately.

“Young Master! Let’s hurry and capture General Kwanda!” Shouted Gremio, swinging his axe. The sky was beginning to turn violet—dawn was not far off. When the sun rose, Kwanda would be able to use the burning mirror. Impatience burned in Tir’s breast.

Suddenly Kwanda’s unit gave cheers of joy. Kwanda was unmistakably penetrating the space they had carved out between Valeria and Humphey’s unit. At that moment the soldiers Tir and the others were fighting turned and fled.

“Don’t let him escape! Don’t let General Kwanda get away!” Tir shouted as loud as he could, but imperial soldiers blocked his way and he couldn’t give chase.

Kuromimi, Pahn, and Viktor all launched incessant attacks from the sides but the imperial army merged to form one huge unit, impossible to smash.The imperial soldiers and Kwanda made a mad dash toward the castle gate. Tir and the others flew right behind them on their steeds, but the castle gate smashed closed right in front of their noses. The enemy soldiers were amassed beyond the gates with no way for the Liberation Army to get at them. Slowly but surely the sun began to rise over the eastern mountains.

“Gh...” Tir bit down hard on his lip without being aware of it. 

We sacrificed so much in this battle, only to lose now...?

“That’s what you get for rebelling against the Empire, fools!” Kwanda suddenly called from above. He stood on the castle roof. Set up beside him was the huge, elliptical shape of the burning mirror.  

“This farce ends here! Let’s settle this once and for all!” Kwanda sneered. “I’ll give you a taste of the burning mirror’s full strength!”

The burning mirror glinted. As the sun climbed higher in the sky, the mirror shone all the brighter.  

They were out of time.

“Young Master...” Gremio looked up at the mirror, mortified. “We can’t fight this. We’ve got to pull our forces back.”

“I know...” Tir gripped his staff hard, looking back at the soldiers. He kicked his horse into a gallop. “Everyone, spread out!” he yelled. “Spread out as much as you can to minimize casualties!”

Valeria and Viktor’s units as well as Pahn and Lepant’s units carrying the wounded soldiers all obeyed his orders and the soldiers scattered in all directions.

“Ooh, spreading yourselves thin to make it harder to aim, are you? But you’re too late!”

Kwanda’s scorn reached Tir’s back. Urging his horse forward, he looked over his shoulder at the burning mirror. It was already emitting a glaring light—any moment now there would be a flash and....

“Hurry! Hurry, everyone!” 

No sooner had the words left Tir’s lips than the burning mirror was enveloped in a dazzling light.

“Woah...?!”

An intense wind suddenly sprung out of nowhere ahead of Tir. With a dreadful groan, the wind whooshed over his head roaring like a wild beast and flew toward the castle. Immediately afterward came the violent sound of an explosion on the castle roof. The noise rippled out in a shockwave across the plain, setting the trees in the forest swaying. Simultaneously, from the burning mirror on the roof a pale light seeped out, closing around Tir and his comrades.

Tir looked back once more and saw the burning mirror was no longer emitting light—it was only the surface of the mirror smashed into a million pieces, leaving the roof of Pannu Yakuta castle fully exposed.

[recipeforme]

C7: Somehow I’ll Be Strong

Book: A Good Kid

It was a tradition in our friend group that once a month we would gather at Patton’s house to have a movie night. I’m sure that if it was up to Patton it would be at least every two weeks. But Patton’s Dad, Mr. Thomas, said that we could only do it once a month during the school year.

If it had been up to me we would do a movie marathon of some kind every month. But once again, Mr. Thomas said we could only watch one movie and that it couldn’t be longer than ninety minutes. The last rule was made after I tried to get everyone to watch ‘The Sound of Music’ which is two hours and fifty-five minutes.

The way our movie nights worked was that we rotated each month on who got to pick the movie. Last month it had been Logan’s turn which meant that we watched some boring space documentary. But this month it was my turn!

-----

I walked up to the front door of the Sanders’ household with five different DVD cases in my hand. I know that we were only allowed to watch one film but I still like to get Patton and Logan’s opinion on which to watch.

Standing on the front porch I rang the bell. I could hear Patton’s joyful yell and the sound of running footsteps, I smiled as he threw open the door and flung his arms around me.

“Roman! You're here!” He yelled “I missed you.”

“You just saw me at school.” I laughed, hugging him back.

I chuckled lightly as I pulled away from the hug and Patton led me inside and to the kitchen where Logan was. “Hey Nerd,” I said.

Logan rolled his eyes, keeping them in the book he was reading.

“So I see that Roman’s here.” I looked over to see Patton’s dad standing in the entryway that led into the kitchen.

“Hello Mr. Thomas,” I said with a smile.

The man laughed “Roman, how many times do I have to tell you? It’s just Thomas.”

“Sure thing Mr. Thomas,” I replied with a cheeky grin.

Thomas playfully rolled his eyes at me and moved to the kitchen table where he opened his laptop. Most likely to get some work done, not like that’s any of my business. I started chatting with Patton before his foster brother came downstairs.

“Well, if it isn’t the Emo Nightmare!” I said with a smirk. Virgil looked over at me with a scoff of annoyance before moving to the fridge and pulling out a water bottle.

“So,” Patton said, returning to our conversation. “What are we watching tonight Roman?”

“I haven’t decided yet but I do know that it will be one of these movies,” I said pulling out the DVD cases I had brought.

Logan set his book aside and looked at the cases “why do you always choose Disney movies?”

“I don’t always choose Disney!” I protested “sometimes I chose a musical.” I heard Virgil snort and I turned to him “what? You have a problem with Disney?!”

“No,” He said. “I, too, am a Disney fan.”

“You?” I laughed.

“What? Why is that so hard to believe?”

“Disney movies are the embodiment of goodness and purity, something you would know nothing about!” I said, still laughing.

“Be nice kiddo” Patton scolded.

“Disney movies have such wonderful and empowering messages!” I said to Virgil.  

Virgil gave me a dark smirk and leaned up against the kitchen counter, still holding his water bottle.“You must not be watching the same movies then.” He said, “because the movies I know have much more sinister undertones.”

He looked over at Logan and Patton “Come on, you must sense it. I'm just making sure you're alert to all of the messages in those films, whether they were intentional or not.”

“Actually, this is kind of intriguing,“ Logan said.

“What?” I cried.

“So you think every movie has a darker meaning or a misleading message?” Logan clarified.

“Oh yeah.”

“This is ridiculous!” I yelled “you besmirch the name of Disney. This time, you have gone too far!”

“Really?” Virgil raised an eyebrow, setting aside his water. “This is where you cross the line?”

“Well, how 'bout this?” Patton cut in “Logan and I will throw out some Disney movies and you two tell us what we’re supposed to learn from each movie.”

The two of us agreed and Patton got started. I’m sure I’ll win. There was no way that evil villain will be able to find anything wrong with such perfect movies.

------

“Okay, movie one. Cinderella.” Patton said.

“Ha! Easy.” I said, “believe in your dreams and one day, they will come true.”

“Sure, just literally wait around your entire life, subjecting yourself to the cruelty of your ungrateful, ignorant family members, until some magical fairy comes along to save you.” Virgil said sarcastically “don't take action yourself.”

“She had mice, too!” I protested.

“Not to mention, men can't memorize the face of a woman they've been dancing around with for hours, they have to rely on the shoe.” The darker teen added, “ergo... men are idiots.”

“He was a very busy prince! He had a lot on his mind!”

“Let's just move to another.” Patton said, “um, Snow White!”

“Okay, so this time the message is to not do what the princess did.” I said, “don't accept random fruit from strangers.”

“Or, don't eat fruit...?” Patton said.

“No,” Thomas called from the kitchen table.

“No?”

“The bigger message is to just run away from your problems and become the housekeeper for seven men,” Virgil said.

“Sometimes the best solution is to get out of a bad situation!”

“Not to mention, a prince comes out of nowhere and plants a kiss on a seemingly sleeping girl?” He adds “I guess consent isn't really that important.”

“I never did understand that,” Logan said to himself.

“He thought she was dead! It was a farewell kiss!” I yelled, “what's with all the prince hate?”

“I wonder,” Virgil said in a sarcastic tone that I’ve grown to hate.

“Well, how about something a little bit more recent: Frozen,” Patton suggested.

“A sister's love triumphs overall!” I said.

“And don't trust random princes. I can get behind that” Virgil added.

“I swear…”

“Also, when Elsa passes away, Olaf's gonna die too, 'cause the magic will be gone. So just prolong the inevitable?” Immediately Patton and I cried out about how dark that was. Virgil just shrugged saying that he’d warned us.

“How about we lighten it up with Peter Pan?” Patton suggested.

“Don't let your childhood spirit ever die” I said.

“Also, it's totally fine to believe a random stranger when they tell you to jump out the window after they've broken into your house.” Virgil said “but I would guess that's how your whole being would die.”

I groaned “urgh…”

“Okay, how about Aladdin? My favorite!” Thomas said, moving to lean up against the table. Watching us with interest.

“The value of a person is not determined by wealth.” I told them “a diamond in the rough can be found anywhere, even someone who may be considered a street rat.”

“And they can get what they want by lying and deceiving their way right into the castle and getting the princess.” Virgil smirked.

“Oh, come on!” I cried “he came clean in the end! He even freed the Genie!”

“Yeah, he did.” Virgil agreed “but not before his way lying and deceiving right into the castle and getting the princess.”

“How about Fox and the Hound?” Patton asked.

“True friendship overcomes any boundaries set by society.” I said, folding my arms and glaring at Virgil.

“But then that friendship will be immediately be terminated by that society, and the two must learn their place in the world.” He added.

“Beauty and the Beast” Logan suggested.

“Okay, I know what you're gonna say, you're gonna say--”

“Stockholm Syndrome.” Virgil and I said in unison.

“But,” I said “it is more than just a prisoner falling in love with her kidnapper! It is about a love that transcends outward appearance. Even a beastly, hairy, animal-- you're right, that doesn't sound much better.” Hums of agreement floated around the room “But come on, can you really look down so harshly on these movies?”

“I still like them,” Virgil said “there's just some darker messages that we don't first see.”

“Bambi?” I asked.

“Man is dangerous.”

“Pocahontas!”

“White man is dangerous.”

“Sleeping Beauty!”

“Well, now we're back to the lack of consent with sleeping women.” He responded with a smirk.

“It was to lift a curse!” I yelled.

“The Little Mermaid?” Thomas asked.

“Don't just sign a contract without having your mer-lawyer look over all the fine print and stipulations. That one's just common sense.” Virgil said.

“Or learn to write, or use sign language.” Logan added “there's more than one way to tell the prince you're the girl that saved him.” I couldn’t help but silently agree with both Virgil and Logan.

“Well then, how about we just concede that Disney movies have a lot of different, interesting messages within them” Patton said.

“Duh, that's what I've been saying.” Virgil said “I never said Princey was wrong.”

I was surprised “you didn't?”

“No.”

“Well,” I said slowly “then I suppose I shall concede a few points to you.”

“Great.” Virgil began to leave the kitchen, water bottle in hand, when I called out to him.

“Wait,” he stopped and slowly turned around “there’s one movie you forgot” I said.

“Which one?”

“Tangled.”

Virgil stiffened “there are those in your life who are supposed love and care for you but sometimes all they do is hurt you.” He answered quietly.

Everyone in the room went silent. Virgil ducked his head and flipped up his hood, hiding his face from view. And he quickly disappeared down the hall.

[jaydicksummerexchange]

JayDick Exchange: August 30, 2019

[ ❤ Works posted so far! ❤ ]

Here are today’s fanworks! Please leave a comment or kudos for the author if you enjoy their work. Authors/artists will be revealed August 31st!

Alternative Medicine by anonymous for salvadore [ART, Not Rated, No Warnings, JayDick] 

Additional Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Injury, True Love's Kiss, was the intent, now he's gonna wake up!, Protectiveness, Protective Jason

Summary: Art for the prompt "True Love's Kiss". 

Standard Quarantine Protocols by anonymous for overratedantihero [FIC, Teen, No Warnings, JayDick] 

Additional Tags: Quarantine, Unresolved Romantic Tension, Not What It Looks Like, Self-Esteem Issues, Dimension Travel, Angst 

Summary: Tension rises as Dick and Jason are forced into a quarantine together after being exposed to a foreign contamination. Takes place before Jason has been fully accepted back into the family.“

Dick smiles. A genuine smile that reaches the twinkle in his eyes. At this distance, Jason feels as if he can stare into those blue pools and drown. Death should not feel this good.”

Unravel (And Expose Us For The Fools We Are) by anonymous for scandalsavage [FIC, Explicit, No Warnings, JayDick] 

Additional Tags: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Bathroom Sex, Desperation, Anal Sex, Rough Sex, Alpha Dick Grayson, Omega Jason Todd, Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Clothed Sex

Summary: Dick and Jason attend a Wayne Enterprises event in the middle of Jason's heat, and almost make it to the end without sneaking away. Almost. 

To Hell in a Hand Basket by anonymous for forgettheghosts [FIC, Explicit, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, JayDick] 

Additional Tags: Murder, Mayhem, fear toxin, the besmirching of New Jersey, possible dub-con elements due to fuck-or-die type situation, POV Outsider, Undercover

Summary: Jason has been undercover for months working a very serious case. He is expecting Tim to help wrap things up, but gets Dick instead - which complicates things practically and emotionally.

Also, there is fear gas, puns, explosions and sex. Not necessarily in that order.

If it's important, do it yourself by anonymous for blackandbluegrayson [ART, Teen, No Warnings, JayDick] 

Additional Tags: Light, Angst, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort

Summary: Jason is tired to see Dick getting hurt in love and all the bad relationship that have end in disaster. If anyone can't proprerly take care of Dick the way he deserve, he would do it. 

Meant to Be? by anonymous for GraySonOfGotham [FIC, Explicit, No Warnings, JayDick] 

Additional Tags: NSFW, Alternate Universe – Soulmates, Alternate Universe - Fantasy

Summary: A quick one-shot of star-crossed soulmates.

In Memory Of My Brother... by anonymous for Abbyromana [FIC, Teen, No Warnings, JayDick] 

Additional Tags: Brother-Sister Relationships, Team Bonding, Idiots in Love, POV Alternating, I'm Bad At Summaries, Sorry Not Sorry, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Child Neglect, To Be Edited, Fuuuck i suck at writing help, Flashbacks, Psychological Trauma, Rare Pairings, Pedophilia, hinted romance - Freeform

Summary: Cassandra knows something's up with her two older brothers. They constantly sneak out of the house when lights are out, they avoid each other at all cost and no one seems to know why. Well, not on her watch!

Envious Lips Speak the Truth by anonymous for Nottak [FIC, Mature, No Warnings, JayDick] 

Additional Tags: POV Dick Grayson, Case Fic, Attempted Murder, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Established Relationship, Miscommunication, Non-Explicit Sex, Post-Coital Cuddling, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending

Summary: “Course, haven’t you heard the rumors? Little Red Hood is bitten by the love bug, anchored and moored to Gotham’s very own Richie Wayne.” He makes his tone as mocking as possible, cooing just to be extra annoying. With his hands clasped near his face, he puckers his lips.

It was an impulsive confession. Nightwing says it to get a rise. Out of Jason, out of Red Hood's fanboy. He never expects it to come back and bite him in the ass.

Our Hallowed Knight by anonymous for solomonara [FIC, Mature, No Warnings, JayDick] 

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe – Fantasy, Swords & Sorcery, Talon!Dick, Canonical Character Death, Magic, Court of Owls, Knights – Freeform, Arkham Knights, Past Character Death 

Summary: In a world of ruin and foul magic, Jason struggles to uphold the ideals of the Arkham Knights.

[ Insert here a name related to the sea ] by anonymous for Gaygent37 [ART, G, No Warnings, JayDick] 

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - The Little Mermaid Fusion, Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Merman Dick!, Human Jason, I had no plans to draw, but – Freeform, I accidentally delete the fanfic I was going to submit, This drawing is horrible, I don't know draw, Strange hands, strange anatomy, Strange shading and lighting, I don't know what I do with my life, Fairy tales it's not my cup of tea, but I love mermaids and merman's, Well – Freeform, I love almost all semi-humanoid beings, I don't know how to draw male bodies, I prefer to draw female beings, Stiff bodies, Neon fins, I still don't know why I did this, AH – Freeform, yes – Freeform, The Exchange

Summary: Dick is a merman who meets Jason, who is just an unfortunate person who fell into the sea after his ship sank in a storm.

it's hard, so hard, to leave you alone by anonymous for kuro49 [FIC, Explicit, No Warnings, JayDick] 

Additional Tags: Wife Jason Todd, Laundry, Face-Fucking, Kinky Domesticity, Exhibitionism Kink, Anal Sex, Overstimulation, Dirty Talk, Creampie, Fake/Pretend Relationship

Summary: Dick lets Jason in on a not-so secret fantasy of his.

Madam Red by anonymous for Airdanteine [FIC, Explicit, No Warnings, JayDick] 

Additional Tags: Crossdressing, Undercover, Mafia AU

Summary: Tim needs help on an undercover mission and brings Dick in.

Too bad Tim didn't warn Dick how sexy ' Madam Red' really is. It's hard to resist the charm of the most respected Drag Queen in all of Gotham. Some how the fact that Red might be the infamous head of a rising Mob only makes the allure deadlier.

warm unfamiliar faces by anonymous for NitroJen [FIC, Mature, No Warnings, JayDick] 

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe – Fantasy, Fae & Fairies, Alternate Universe – Royalty, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Gift: Treat 

Summary: "How do you fare, my dear knight?" he asks, reaching a hand out to Jason.

Swallowing his pride, Jason replies, "I've fared worse. And would have, had you not appeared."

past tense, future imperfect by anonymous for stevieraebarnes [FIC, Teen, No Warnings, JayDick] 

Additional Tags: Trailer Spoilers, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Speculation, Possibly Pre-Slash

Summary: Watching Jason is like staring through a twisted mirror at his past self. He doesn't want him to make the same mistakes.

To A Great Detective by anonymous for GavotteAndGigue [FIC, Teen, No Warnings, JayDick] 

Additional Tags: Oblivious Dick, Blunt Jason, Jason doesn't know how to date, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Dating, Attempt at Humor, Idiots in Love 

Summary: Jason has no experience dating, so he asks Dick for some tips. 

And Dick is completely oblivious when the same exact tips are used on him.

it’s just you, you, and me  by anonymous for anoncitomikolino [FIC, Explicit, No Warnings, JayDick] 

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Sex, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Selfcest, Intersex, intersex omega, Blow Jobs, Threesome - M/M/M, Penis In Vagina Sex, Life-Affirming Sex Accent 

Summary: The world is saved, thanks to a washed up hero, a hero searching for meaning, and a man searching for himself. There's only one way to celebrate.... Life-affirming sex!