#basically this is going to be like 3 maybe 4 chapters of re-familying

[sinner-sunflower]

P.2 HH Lucifer-centric AU 12/?

STORY 1, PART 1, PART 2, PART 3, PART 4, PART 5, PART 6, PART 7, PART 8, PART 9, PART 10, PART 11, PART 13, PART 14, PART 14.5, PART 15, PART 16, PART 17, PART 18, PART 19, PART 20, PART 21, PART 22, PART 23, PART 24, PART 25, PART 26

If you guys see any changes when re-reading a chapter, means that I'm just proofreading and editing it haha

I proofread after I post something. Anyone interested in being a beta reader/proofreader?

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Lucifer is anxious.

After his no more than 10 minute nap was interrupted by the arrival of Belphegor, they were the only 2 in the room. The Sin of Sloth all but ordered that no one enters Lucifer's quarters until she is has looked him over and deemed fine and safe.

He didn't even get to see Charlie but Belphegor in doctor mode is someone he doesn't want to be difficult with.

He could hear the rest of the Sins beyond the door, probably pushing each other to try and sneak a peak or hear something. It reminds him of the time when the Sins first came into existence and acted like clingy children to him and Lilith.

With all the experience he had with them, he still managed to fuck up with Charlie.

Belphegor: -head?

Oh, Bel was talking.

Lucifer: Hmm?

She purses her lips at his inattentiveness and type something on her tablet. This can't be good.

Belphegor: I asked how is your head?

Lucifer: Still attached to me.

Bel gave him a deadpan look.

Belphegor: Very funny.

Lucifer: I am a clown.

Belphegor: Do not let Mammon hear you say that, he might include you as one of his trademark jesters.

Bel fired a few more standard questions and despite her doubts, he was honestly feeling fine. His body and mind is just craving sleep right now but he's in not any sort of pain. Plus, it's not like Bel can cure his problem no matter how good she and her meds are.

Belphegor: Charlie mentioned stuff came out of you? Like dark smoke?

Lucifer: You have to take her word for it because I have no idea what was happening. I was basically asleep the whole time. You should check on her too though. She looks worse than I did.

Belphegor: Yes. Maybe next time, inform one of us of your whereabouts so that the princess doesn't have a mental breakdown when she finds you near dead.

Lucifer: Yeah yeah. But I was only there for a nap. Honest! You know how these Heaven trips are always so tiring, Bel.

Belphegor: Which brings me to my next question, how long have you been coming and going into Heaven?

Lucifer: Uhhh I don't know what you're talking about.

Belphegor: Don't think I did not get that slip of tongue. You said trips.

Lucifer: Did I? I meant trip. Cos this is the first time I've come back there. Yep.

Belphegor: You are supposed to be the father of lies yet you cannot even make up a good enough excuse when the situation calls for it.

Lucifer: Ouch.

Belphegor: So, how long have you been making your secret Heavenly trips without us knowing…… Your Majesty.

Ahhh ever so respectful, even when she's scolding him.

Lucifer: It looks like you already had your suspicions even before I fucked it up.

Belphegor: Opening a portal to a place that is obviously not the entrance to Heaven, having a key to open said portal to a private quarters, not one message above for a permission. It's not rocket science.

Lucifer: Jeez. I didn't even know you were watching that intently.

Belphegor: What servant would I be if I did not keep an eye on my King.

Lucifer: Ain't a good servant supposed to follow their King with no questions asked? This is feeling a lot like an interrogation.

Belphegor: You are correct. And you have mine and the Sins' unyielding loyalty. But.. it does appear like you've forgotten a simple detail.

Lucifer: Oh yeah? And what's that?

Belphegor: You are our big brother. We value you as our family, not simply as royalty.

Lucifer doesn't know what to say to that. Instead he opts to steer the subject.

Lucifer: Do the others know?

Belphegor: I do not think so. And I have half a mind to let them loose on you but.. no. I have a very good inkling you don't want anyone to know of your endeavours.

Lucifer: Just don't tell them. Not yet.

He know Bel won't but he still wants to ask anyway.

Belphegor: Very well. But you are not answering my question. How. Long?

Lucifer can't help but gulp. There's really no getting out of this one. He's a bit glad it's Bel and not anyone else. If there's anyone of the Sins who knows how to keep something to themselves, it's the Sin of Sloth.

Thankfully, she's also too focused on the fact that he's having secret meetings in Heaven than what happened back at the palace.

Lucifer: ….More or less 5000 years ago. It was Michael who reached out first. No one else knows except my siblings up there.

Belphegor: Not even the head Seraphim?

Lucifer: As far as Sera is concerned, I am still banned from setting foot beyond the pearly gates.

Belphegor: Why would the Archangel Michael take that risk then? If found out, would that not affect his standing in Heaven?

Lucifer: At first it was just to stay up to date. He said that he didn't fully trust the council but I think that's just an excuse to have me alone with no one hovering. It's not frequent enough that anyone in Heaven will be able to sense me. But I stopped going when the extermination was proposed.

He took Bel's silence as a cue to continue.

Lucifer: Long before the Fall, Michael and I promised never to lie to each other. And during those secret meetings, I still thought that. I told him everything. But he never told me about the extermination so I guess it was just me upholding that promise. I'm such a fool.

He buries his face in his hands because the he really is a fool. Michael wasn't the only one pretending everything was okay; that anything barely changed. Lucifer hopes that Belphegor doesn't take his secrecy the wrong way.

He just wanted to be the little brother again.

Belphegor: You are a fool.

He can't help but shot Belphegor a pitying look but she puts up a hand before he could say something.

Belphegor: But so was I when I kept that secret that almost destroyed all of Hell. So was Satan for antagonizing the Son of God on Earth which consequently made them think it was you. So was Asmodeus for making his crystals and allowing illegal travels on the human world. So was Mammon when he tried to sue you for the first time and sent you to one of your self-isolation punishments. So was Leviathan for picking a fight with Lilith when you were already in distress. So was Beelzebub for almost letting you drink yourself to death. And so was Lilith for leaving.

The Sin of Sloth moves in front of him so their knees are touching. Bel had never been a touchy person. Much like Alastor, small gestures of touch are her way of shouting her love for you.

He'll forever be honored to be on the receiving end of those kinds of affection because he knows that those gifts given only to people who they think they deserve.

Belphegor: We're fools and we must learn from it. Was it not you who gave humanity the gift of knowledge? Who gave us life? Who gave us free will? So now you have the free will to choose if you'll remain one.

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I don't know why but I love writing Belphegor so much. It's the way she talks that is just easy to keep writing.

Anyway, continuation of this is tomorrow!

I only wanted a Bel and Luci chapter again, you'll see the rest of the Sins and Charlie again tomorrow!

Likes, reblogs, and comments are always appreciated!

[eclipsewxtch]

*gasp* I've been curious about those people for quite the long time! But I'm way more curious about their backstories

1. Donna — Why's her surname redacted? At some point she had to be saved by Mr. B, who apparently set several hits on people that would angst Donna enough to go behind her back to do it.

She has several cops in her family, which must be important enough? Mr. B is with her birth certificate though... Maybe she had to be saved from her family and those hits were them.

Why not even the Angels can have something like her surname? And specially Finney who is her childhood friend, why he had to beg Mr. B.

2. Robin — Logically, it makes sense his mom is hiding, she's the mother of a influential mob boss, and it's canon that his dad it's dead. You said that her reaction to Finn would be a spoiler... I wonder if his uncle would make any more appearances?

I still wonder what that murder about Mrs. Rosella was about. I'm DYING to know how he met Vance and Billy "connected through whores and spa nights".

The Arellano cloak passed to him just after his dad died? How old was he? 10? Why his uncle or some other important mafioso took it?

3. Lenny — Once I asked Lenny's intentions before the revamp. You said that he was good, and was very enamored by Griff and was found of him. Of all the coworkers he's the one given the most importance, does he have any other purpose other than being kinda an obstacle for Billy and a friend to Griffin?

Who IS the spy that helped Billy? Maybe a crazy thought but what if it's him, and that's why he so nervous, specially around Bill and Griff. (Getting anxious when Griff asked if he was taking him to second location and all that) Why couldn't he just report Showalter for harassment? I don't know, he always seemed a little off. If he's working for Billy than it makes sense that he's scared of him and for Griffin. I'm probably overthinking it.

4. Billy — I have so many questions. Apparently he has PARENTS NOW? Wasn't he in foster care? Well, but he never mentioned being orphan, maybe his home life was very unstable, or his parents are already in the crime scene and that's why he was taken away from him...

The whole warehouse boy thing? What that has to do with him and why does it evoke so many emotions (sadness, anger, etc), it's been years. Certainly he killed the boy, but why take the heart if he's only a experiment? WHY IS HE AFRAID OF BLOOD? Okay, it can be a he thing, but afraid of blood in this line of work? Weird.

5. Mr B — He's a creature, I don't personally like him, but that's more because he's a billionaire lol. We haven't been given a lot of him screen time, but I assumed he once was a special agent too? Because Bosley joked that he was like the Angels that didn't knew how to do report?

When was Red Eyes created? What does he get out of it? He cares for the Angels but not enough to instantly take them out of the mission if something is about to go wrong...

6. Charlie — He's wholesome until now, I want to know his history with Griffin, some time ago before the revamp you said that he's a big part of Griff's life and past. We know just some basics things about how he contacted the Angels. I'm so curious to see his POV in the fic. How he landed the job? What are his personal thoughts?

Sorry for the long rant and for bombarding you with questions... I'm just excited for tomorrow/today/maybe not tomorrow updates! I probably had more questions but I forgot them with time, thanks for reading take lots of care <3

1. Her surname was redacted because she simply requested it. She didn’t feel like having it be knowledge within the RE & she never bothered to tell anyone why; Mr. B had his own reasons for hiding it though, mostly to do with the hits he stashed away in his office.

2. Mrs. Arellano 😍 you guys r gonna love her I promise!! the Mrs. Rosella case DOES get solved before the last chapter, bc i refuse to leave that unsolved. it started this whole thing n it’s gonna end this whole thing!!

also, yes Robin’s dad died when he was ten but he actually didn’t take on the mantle until 15–which is the age most of the Arellano men (or women) take over.

3. Lenny is just a silly little guy I love him😭 but no he’s not Billy’s spy that’s a surprise that I think you guys are gonna like actually !

4. billy has foster parents yes! not his bio parents but his parents regardless!

warehouse boy was an unfortunate accident i fear n it definitely sparked his fear of blood. he was 17 n a little… obsessive.

5. Mr. B was once an agent! Although the Red Eyes is now full of younger agents—back in its conception, he was an Agent who amassed money to become a billionaire. Now, instead of an Agent, he is their prime beneficiary and director. The Red Eyes was established in 1967 but it took until 1987 for them to gain notoriety within governments and world leaders across the globe. In all honesty—he’s just keeping tradition alive. Doing good, doing jobs, investigative work too. Money (and spies) make the world go ‘round. Plus what billionaire wouldn’t want an army of elite agents?

6. Charlie worked his way through the ranks at the FBI! Very hardworking. In the revamp he is still a big part of Griffin’s life and he is so beloved. Although he doesn’t have a POV until the very end 😔 but he loves his boys!!

and thank u for the questions they make my heart full🥹🫶🏽

[cheswirls]

okayyy for context, spe v30-31 [dp arc v1-2 in viz version] were my first volumes of spe ever. v32 hadn’t been released yet, and maybe there was a mini volume or so for bw arc. it was 2011 and dppt was really big bc gen 5 titles had just come out and not an incredible lot of official content for it was circulating yet.

the original run of spe had started publishing thru viz a few years prior so they were out there but gen 4 was still the main attraction at the time. i couldn’t say for sure, but i think that this, coupled with the fact that the other spe arcs after emerald aren’t as interwoven, viz started to publish the dp arc of spe as it’s own story, thus why the volume numbers start over instead of continuing after emerald arc [26-29]. for continuity’s sake (and since im reading 30+31 on the spe archive site where the volumes are lined up like the japanese order) i’ll be referring to each dp volume with its original volume number instead of the viz ones.

when v32 came out, i got it, but by that point i’d loaned my v30+31 copies to a family member in another state, and i never got those back. i also never got v33 bc viz released spe volumes so infrequently (1 or 2 a year) and by the time it came out, it had been a long time since i had read the first 2 volumes of dp arc that i no longer had (and never got back - mostly bc i kept being told it would be sent to me etc; it took until i went out there in 2017 and asked that i found they either got lost in the mail or whatever, point is all the books i loaned never made it back but i kept anticipating they would return one day, hence i never re-bought any spe volumes i’d had beforehand) so i was very out of touch and didn’t want to pick it up only to be confused.

thus, my dp journey (briefly) ended w v32. at some point over the years i read v33 through a library, but since the spe collection was incomplete (libraries liked to scatter a handful of volumes for the pokemon label w/o care for their order or series) i never read beyond that. by that point i had gotten my hands on the original run of spe and was working from v1 to v14, and then kept blazing thru w rs arc, so i was preoccupied.

when i moved for university, i remembered that i had read v33 already and got my hands on v34 instead. i don’t think i ever finished it, as i remember nothing past the chapter where the trio splits to each investigate a lake. at some point i got the chance to add another volume to my spe collection and i picked up v35 but never read it. same thing w v36. i was collecting volumes on the side over the years, but i wasn’t grabbing the volumes i’d already read, and that was the major roadblock in starting the arc again. my dp arc journey succinctly ended mid-v34.

well. at the end of last year, i somehow acquired v37 and the entire platinum arc, meaning i had all the volumes necessary to fly thru and finish. it’s taken me a bit, and i’m still missing 3 volumes, but it’s been my intention for a bit now to eventually start and finish dp/pt arcs, and right now ended up being the perfect time (: i’m reading v30 and v31 through the archive site, will go back for v33, and then beyond that, it’ll all be physical volumes. unsure yet if (like in the past / during frlg arc) i’ll take pics of physical pages or if i’ll pull the volume up on the archive site and take ss that way. i remember the very basics of the beginning, and probably key moments will come back to me when i reread, but out of the 11 volumes to go thru, more than half will be brand new. 

anyway tldr; che is starting dp arc of spe again after 10yrs !!! most of what i post abt in the readthru will be w/ introspection of having reread the sm arc recently (around a year) and considering where it fits in the timeline w/ all the context from dp/pt.

[pisswizard420]

LMFAO this doesnt have a title

Since I don’t have an AO3 I’m shoving the 1st chapter of this thing here because why not. It’s all after the cut

Warnings- you know WOnderland? That’s the warning. There’s some stuff that makes me feel a bit squirmy. (Body horror, some violence, memory loss)

Lucretia leaves off into Wonderland, searching for a bell, and she doesn’t come out. It’s been two months, and Davenport drinks the Voidfish Ichor because he’s thirsty and hungry and there’s no water or food. He drinks it and he remembers and it is horrible and painful, and he goes to find his crew. He goes and grabs Taako, Barry, Magnus, Merle and they start looking for Lup again. They don’t look for Lucretia. At this point, they decide, Lucretia is dead; they see no point in going to find a corpse.

Lucretia leaves off into Wonderland, searching for a bell, and she doesn’t come out. It’s been six months and she and Cam aren’t doing well. Her body shakes, she’s been spasming since the boss fight. Her body remembers the damage done by that lich on the 90th cycle now- Wonderland exposing her to that agony again. The hosts offer a bonus round, and they choose the escape game. They both get stuck, neither willing to leave the other when they have to be so, so close. “You should’ve left, Luc.” He’s taken to calling her that, ignoring any complaints she raised. “You look like shit.”

Lucretia leaves off into Wonderland, searching for a bell, and she turns to Cam, “I couldn’t just leave you behind. You’d die in a second if I wasn’t here to watch your back.” He could hear the unspoken reason: they have to be close and even if they aren’t she can’t stop now, she’s committed herself to this , looking for the bell, spiting the liches, inducting him into her family. “Maybe we should rest for a bit before we go into the next room. We may not be able to heal magically, but you finally stopped bleeding from where that one got you.” He looks down and sees she’s right. “Let’s wait a bit.” She hands him some jerky she conjured into existence. He rolls his eyes at the showing off, and then he conjures them up some water.

Lucretia leaves off into Wonderland, searching for a bell, and it’s been a decade. They have a lead on Lup’s location and Lucretia’s location. Taako and Barry go off to meet up with some Dwarf named Gundren, who’s questing in the area where Lup disappeared. Davenport takes the Starblaster with Merle and Magnus to a clearing in the Felicity Wilds. The earth is charred, and they see four liches fighting, two on two, each team with one of the relics. They hear the bell, and there’s a shield that warps around the ship suddenly- Davenport fancies he can see the soundwaves bouncing off of the shield.

Lucretia leaves off into Wonderland, searching for a bell, and it’s been a decade. She looks at Cam, cataloging all that they’ve lost. There are patches of magic where skin should be and limbs have been replaced with enchanted constructs and he looks at her half wild. He looks at her, cataloging all that they’ve lost. She’s lost memories, and she’s thrown herself under the bus for him, giving him time to recover after the liches asked for too much (they always asked for too much, always always always asked for too much these days.) She lost her memories of home, and her family, and so much and so had he. All he remembered was Wonderland and the fact that they came looking for a bell- she once confessed the same. It was upsetting to think about.

Lucretia leaves off into Wonderland, searching for a bell, and it’s been a decade. She looks at Cam, the only person in years that she hasn’t been pitted against. She looks at Cam, someone who she can fight with flawlessly, who there are inside jokes with, who she knows the favorite foods of, someone who is a brother to her in all but blood, her only family. She looks at Cam and she grins, and it is all wrong. Her cheeks stretch too wide and her eyes, her teeth, they all glint with strange new magic; the effect of the glinting and the unnatural movements would terrify most but not Cam, never Cam, he knows her too well for that. “I have an idea. What do you think about becoming liches?”

Cam looks at her, someone who he fights with flawlessly, who he shares inside jokes with, who he knows the favorite foods of, someone who is a sister to him in all but blood, his only family. He looks at her and he grins, and it is all wrong. His skin glows in patches, and his eyes seem to look almost through her. The effect of the glowing disjointed nature of his smile would terrify most but not Lucretia (Luc, his Luc), never Lucretia, she knows him too well for that. “Tell me more. This sounds like it could be useful.” He listens closely to her whispered words and- and- and he agrees that it would be a good idea- send two liches to beat two liches- necromancy against necromancy- complacency versus hungry determined angry. He thinks that it’s obvious who will win. He is the only one who thinks that.

Lucretia leaves off into Wonderland, searching for a bell, and its been a decade. Lucretia and Cam (Cam and Lucretia) set up and do a ritual to become liches, and they anchor themselves with each other, emotions tied together, stabilizing each other, keeping each other sane. It goes well and quickly and Lucretia casts a shield with that staff (Where did she get that staff from? She doesn’t remember) around their bodies to protect them. After that they start wrecking shit- trading focuses in midair and toying with the energy around them. They pull at the right string of necromantic energy and Wonderland burns away around them, freeing the other inhabitants. They don’t care about that though. Cam hurls off a spell that screams out wrongwrongeldritchwrong and it knocks Lydia back. Lucretia slams them between walls of magic. The twins retaliate.

Lucretia leaves off into Wonderland, looking for a bell, and its been a decade, and Davenport and Magnus and Merle can’t do anything except watch two sets of liches fight and fight and fight and fight and- and Taako calls Davenport on his stone of farspeech.  “So- there’s a bit of a-“ One of the liches bursts, taking another with it and Davenport can’t tell which duo won or whether or not it’s a good thing and the bell rings loud and clear and nothing happens and Taako says, “Is something going on?” The stone cuts out and the shield falls, and the two liches that survived drift over to the ship.

Lucretia leaves off into Wonderland, looking for a bell, and its been a decade. It’s been a decade and Wonderland is gone and she and Cam are free and they try and undo what the bell did and it doesn’t work, so Cam sets it down and she shields it and they drift over to the ship. In unison they touch down lightly on the deck. “Hello.” She smiles, and from the way that the gnome pales it doesn’t seem like she did a very good job. She probably didn’t- she doesn’t have lips in her lich form. “I’m Lucretia. You are?” Surprisingly enough, the gnome pales further, mouthing her name. She thinks he might know her. She feels a strange sort of disinterested curiosity. “This is Cam.” She doesn’t go into more detail; he doesn’t need more; it’s obvious who he is. She gestures at Cam, who gets less than a cursory glance. She notices that. She doesn’t like it.

Lucretia and Cam burn down Wonderland, after a decade of looking for a bell.  They burn it down, and they sit there watching a group of people looking a mix of horrified and sad and the tall tan ruffboi looks at Lucretia and puts a hand out to shake, saying, “I’m Magnus.” There’s a pause while she shakes his hand, and then he gestures to the dwarf and gnome. “These are Merle and Capnport. We knew you before that place.” His hands move around nervously at the end of his sentence. Lucretia looks at Cam, asking him, asking him something with her eyes.

Lucretia and Cam burn down Wonderland, after a decade of looking for a bell. They burn it down, and now Lucretia is looking at him wondering- just- just wondering and he nods. He vaguely remembers her mentioning them in the past. He opens his mouth to speak, to cover for her discomfort. “Why didn’t you come?” He sounds dangerous and for a moment seems to fizz with lightning and then Lucretia puts a hand on his shoulder and he zooms back into himself. “Why didn’t you come for her?” Her hand stays on his shoulder- a steady presence. A grounding presence.  

Taako and Barry go to find Lup, and Phandolin burns. Phandolin burns and they find Lup and Barry grabs the umbrella and smashes it and she flies out. She flies out and they wait for Davenport to come pick them up. Davenport comes and Lucretia-but not quite- and someone else are standing casually on the deck, each holding a relic, and neither recognizing any of them. Neither seem to recognize Taako or Lup or Barry and Taako walks over to Lucretia and opens his mouth and then in unison Lucretia and the other one say, “Don’t remember (she doesn’t remember) you sorry.”

“What the fuck, my dude.” For a moment he is shaken out of his anger, for a moment he sees the way magic seems to coat the pair, slick and oily and sliding down over their bodies. For a moment he sees two small elves, short golden hair and long golden braid. For a moment he is shaken out of his anger, and when that moment passes he shoves it to the side because he’s Taako and its no good being mad at someone if you can’t constantly rub in why you’re mad. “That’s some fucked up shit.”

“Big mood.” Lucretia-and-Cam, Cam-and-Lucretia have a habit of speaking in unison. Taako-and-Lup, Lup-and-Taako had a habit of doing that, so Taako isn’t overly weirded out by it. Lucretia grimaces a bit though and says, “Sorry. We’re trying to work on doing that a bit less often. It seems to be a bit of a thing when talking to other people.” Taako nods, jerky and stiff. He’s not really enjoying the similarities with a younger him and Lup (Lup and him) but- but- but they’re there. The similarities are there, the hungry eyes, and the standing close, and the speaking as one, and he understands. He pushes his understanding aside. He speaks.

“The name’s Taako.” He tries not to be a little unnerved by the lack of recognition in her eyes. He does, of course, succeed at that because he’s Taako mother-fucking [insert last name here] and it takes a little bit more than not being recognized at all from someone you spent one hundred years on a ship with to unnerve him. It takes a lot more than that (okay, so he wouldn’t admit it to anyone except maybe Lup, but it does unnerve him. It does scare him. It does make him uncomfortable- and where is Lup when you need your other half, your moral compass? And he looks at Lucretia and Lucretia stole Lup from him and look at her with all of them stolen from her, all of the crew, her home, her family, one hundred and twenty years gone, and how is he supposed to respond to that? Vindication? Anger? Anything would be better than this dull sense of empathy, this dull understanding that he doesn’t want to have.)

“Lucretia. Nice to meet you, again I suppose.” Her expression is bland. It is the polite disinterest when meeting a distant relative. He hates it. It makes him uncomfortable, especially because when he first saw Magnus, and Merle, and Davenport before he got inoculated he looked at them like that. Barry (his brother in law! The guy who married his sister!) looked at him like that. He really, really doesn’t like it.

“Cam,” says the tall half elf standing closely next to Lucretia. He looks at Taako like Taako is a threat (Which ‘cha boy is, natch, but still, it kind of stings.) “So, you knew Lucretia.” The tone is conversational- how about that weather- but the eyes are not- they’re more how about I kill you. Lucretia elbows Cam in the gut, and Cam and says nothing. Taako gets elbowed in the gut with an image of Lup doing the same to him, and then it hits him again. There’s a tiny hint of the closeness of a younger him and Lup, and of course there is. Of course there is, because look at the two of them and doesn’t it just ache with sick familiarity. Don’t they just reek of it, and each moment it hits him he hates it. He hates that everything about Lucretia and this stranger screams out in familiar wrongness. Its like the dark mirror version of him and Lup except one of them is an amnesiac traitor and the other is her amnesiac codependent lackey. He hates it so much, so much, so much.

Cam doesn’t know how he feels about these strangers, these ones that claim they know Lucretia. He doesn’t know how to feel about how in the two hours since they met both in and out of their bodies they’ve given Lucretia weird looks and him none at all- like he doesn’t exist or matter at all. He also doesn’t know how to feel about the elven wizard standing in front of them, looking at them with a strange expression on his face. Then the elf speaks, and Cam makes up his mind.

“Yeah,” the elf says. “How much have they told the both of you?” He puts an emphasis on both. Cam thinks he likes this elf.

“Nothing,” he replies.

Taako (the elf earned being called by his name rather than simply being “the elf”) tilts his head and begins, “Did they give you any of the ichor?”

“No.”

“Then this might be a bit hard to explain to you. Lucretia is around 130 years old.”

“What?” “What?”

“She died around” static “times, but she” static. “There’s a vore cloud. There’s also a memory voring” static “There was a plan to” static static static “but Lucretia didn’t agree with it so she” static static static “then she went into Wonderland, leaving the Captain alone, and he inoculated himself accidentally. He thought she was dead, so he didn’t go looking for her. He started looking for” static static static static static “Then a decade passed before he decided to go and find her body.” A beat. “We were angry.” He turns to Lucretia. “I’m sorry we didn’t force the issue.”

Lucretia stares at the elf (not Taako anymore) “I- thank you for telling me the truth. I’m sorry, for what I did to you. That was unfair to you.” The elf nods. He looks vaguely distressed, vaguely angry. He says nothing. He turns to Cam.

“How much did you understand?”

“Not much. It was mostly static.”

“I have a sister.” Pause “Lucretia.” Pause. “Stole” pause static static static.

“I didn’t get some of that.” Taako, Cam thinks he understands a bit now.

“We’ll have to get you inoculated.” Taako does a heel turn and starts walking off. “Have the two of you eaten?”

[cafeinthemoon]

Ruins - Chapter V

Chapter 5

Wordcount 3k

Title Part V

Fandom Shuumatsu no Valkyrie / Record of Ragnarok

Pairing Hades X reader

Previous chapters

1 . 2 . 3 . 4

Symbols ⭕ . ➕ . 💛

Warning (s): none

Tagging @darling-imobsessed (if you want to be tagged in any of my stories, just send an ask or a message 😉)

N. A.: So I've been re-reading what I've wrote until now and came to the conclusion that I've basically created a fairytale and tbh the only thing that was missing was a ball/party, but the fairytale will be complete after the current chapter: an event with even more deities waits for the girls :D On the other hand, things are getting complicated and reader will have to count on her smartness to get through it. Let's pray for her XD

You had no ways to predict when you were going to see the mysterious god again, and for that reason you had to be prepared. Not that you haven’t thought of some measures yourself, of course: you recollected the enigma and wrote it down on your notebook, then started analyzing it in separate parts; but that was a work that took you not less than an entire day.

First, he is the eldest of four brothers.

If these four included women, he would have said siblings, right? Could it be a language trick? It’d be a problem if you got stuck in this, so for now you would consider four men.

Among these four, one – the second – seemed to not have his own domain.

Did that mean that he didn’t have a domain at all, or was his domain a concept, something abstract while his brothers’ domains were literal? It could be like that. This god was also described as being always with his elder brother; was it possible that the concept or idea that he represented – to conquer – was entwined with the existence of his brother’s domain? Maybe.

Now, the three others.

The first, presumably the only one among them you’ve already met, had a domain that should become known by men at some point of their lives, which could be seen as a sort of conquest from his part, matching what he said about his second brother. By this parameter, his domain must be ancient, wide and perennial.

The domain of the third brother causes love and fear, which makes men grow.

If his domain was such that could shake two of the deepest human emotions, it might mean that humans had regular contact with it during their lives, unlike the first’s domain. And through the awakening of the said emotions, men were sort of educated, or improved. This could originate many interpretations, so for now you would leave it like this.

Finally, the domain of the fourth brother was one to where only a few would go.

He might have spoken about a literal distance between the world of men and that domain, or simply about the difficulty to access it regardless of the distance. If his domain was this hard to find, it could be that it wasn’t destined to humanity in general, but only a few men were allowed in it, maybe once in a lifetime.

Well, you thought those were reasonable conclusions, though all of them could be applied to many gods of many families. But it would only work as long as there were four brothers included. Such information could be found among official registers, the type of thing you would find in the files section at the Library. If you would be allowed to read those documents, you couldn’t tell, but you had to try.

You hid your notes under your pillow and decided that going after them would be the first thing you would do the next day.

***

When the next day came at last, you ate your breakfast with your plan in mind. Yes, there was the possibility of you meeting the god again and not having the answer, but the registers were the only thing that could help you now. Sensing you didn’t have much time, as soon as breakfast was over, you stood up and left your spot…

But, heavens, fate decided to wrap you in its little schemes at that exact moment, having none other than Hermes as its cooperator.

He entered the room and stopped by the table’s headboard, to which all the girls stood up and greeted him.

– Good morning, Hermes-sama.

You weren’t so far from your chair, so you quickly went back to it and followed the others.

He opened his best smile and started speaking in his usual, kind tone.

– Good morning, girls. It’s good to find you healthy and happy, as always. As you can imagine, my presence here at this hour can only mean one thing: I have good news for you!

A murmur spread across the table as the curiosity and cheerfulness grew in the girls’ hearts, but you were wondering what news could be this good to make the messenger himself so excited.

Sometimes, Hermes-sama acts so extravagant that it gets funny. I suppose this is part of his work at the Olympus.

You didn’t have to wait too long to hear the said news.

– All the deities present in Valhalla attended a meeting last night and the ones who took apprentices agreed that, though you’ve just spent one month in their company, there were only good things to say about you – he continued – Their praise reached the ears of gods and goddesses who weren’t present since the start, and because of what they heard, they are arriving at Valhalla in a few days to see the talented children with their own eyes.

The murmur raised for the second time at this announcement. A girl sitting near the headboard, who you saw doing handcraft with a group of elves, was the first to speak.

– What kind of reception we will prepare for them, Hermes-sama?

Hermes’ response was to giggle, as if he just reached his favorite part of the news.

– The reception will be a party, of course!

Now, instead of a murmur there was a wave of little screams and laughter that could only happen in a room full of young girls: so you were going to prepare a party to receive new gods and show your talents. For most of the girls, it was a reason to celebrate, and you were content for them; however, for the ones who haven’t found a place among the divine ones, it was another reason for concern.

You remembered the conversation you had at Hermes’ chambers, when you stated that it would be worse to stay there and wait for a chance that could never come. You were going to ask how this was going to work for the ones in your situation, but a girl by your side was faster and asked first.

– Hermes-sama, what about the girls who haven’t become apprentices? What are we going to do?

– There’s good news for you too – Hermes raised his index finger as he spoke – The gods were informed about the young women who couldn’t find guardians and offered themselves for the position – and before the girls could restart their cheerful noises, – For the next days, you will be occupied in the preparations just as your partners. I will divide you in groups and designate your tasks. By this evening, I will give you the necessary instructions. For now, you’re free to use your time as you please – he blinked at you all in a funny way – Take this chance, because there will be hard work waiting for you.

***

The corridor that led to Valhalla’s Library was even quieter than the previous days, as if the girls were not the only absent ones this time. You couldn’t help feeling a slight discomfort with this, but you weren’t leaving without doing what you had to do: if you would be as busy as possible soon, you couldn’t waste any chance to seek for the enigma’s answer.

You revised the notes you took on the previous day as you walked. You haven’t forgot anything: the four brothers, the domains, their connection to humanity… You just had to find the right section and the right pantheon, then pray for the god to not show up again before the riddle was solved.

I may have failed to find the interpretation of my own dream, but I’m sure I can solve this. And I will give him a complete, detailed answer.

Unfortunately for you, fate didn’t even want you to complete your path to the Library, for you had your inner monologue interrupted as you bumped into someone.

– I’m sorry, I… Ah! – you looked up and startled when you found the last person you expected to see there – Hermes-sama?!

The Olympian seemed to be in excellent mood, judging by the way he greeted you.

– Ah, it looks like I was right in my guess – and giving you one of his cunning looks, – That is, you’d come here as soon as breakfast was over to continue your researches.

You took a second to put yourself together and think of a decent reply.

– Ah... Actually, I need to start a completely new research.

– How so?

– Something happened yesterday – you held your notebook tight against your chest – I saw him again.

His eyes widened a bit when he heard that.

– Really? And how things went this time?

You described how you discovered the secret garden, and how he was immediately aware of your presence and invited you for a walk.

– We talked about the gardens and how things are organized to keep them functional. Then, he told me he projected them – a sudden thought crossed your mind at that point, and you decided to try something – Speaking of this, Hermes-sama, I understand you cannot tell me his name, but can you tell me if this is entirely true? – you shrugged – That this god is very wise I already know, but is he such a formidable designer?

Hermes put a hand under his chin and kept staring at you with the same look as before. Yes, he knew what you were doing, but that didn’t bother him at all: he seemed to be enjoying all of this.

– Well, I don’t see any problem in sharing this information, so yes, he was the author of the Gardens’ project. Even among the ancient gods, he’s particularly good in understanding how things work, as well as to organize them. It’s really admirable.

You couldn’t contain a smile at this.

– It is.

– But the conversation didn’t stop at this, right?

You understood this as an invitation to tell the rest of your little adventure.

– I took this opportunity to tell him my considerations about our dreams. I said I found it interesting that a designer would dream about a place in ruins, as if this is a sign for him to build something. He said this was a possibility and replied that the dream might be about bringing life to a place where there is none, since the dream happens in Hellheim.

The moment you mentioned bringing life to a place such as the Underworld, you swore you noticed a distinct glimmer in your listener’s eyes.

– Interesting. But what about your participation in this, y/n?

Well, you had an idea of what the dream meant to you, but regarding a possible collaboration with that god you had nothing to say. And you confessed that to your advisor.

– I… I can’t see myself playing a similar role to his, in any way. It would be arrogant of me even to suggest that, wouldn’t it? – you sighed – But I told him about what I felt while watching the ruins. It’s the same feeling I use to have whenever I think about my homeland, my life and my people. To summarize, I told him about how I want more than they can offer, and how I’m tired of being judged by my ambitions.

Your hands started to shake around your notes and you adjusted the grip on them.

– I told him that all I want is to live. And when I asked if this was too much, he just replied that it’s the least I should ask for.

A strange relief took over you when you recalled the scene. This peaceful feeling didn’t go unnoticed by the god.

– And hearing this made you happy.

– Of course it did! – you had no reason to hide your contentment – Hermes-sama, can you imagine how it feels not being understood by your own people but then receiving the comprehension and even the approval of a god in just one day?

Hermes smiled with sympathy.

– I’m not a human, so I can only catch a glimpse of it.

– So, allow me to tell you that this would be the happiest moment of your life – you replied in awe – I might not have lived too much, but at that instant I knew it. Isn’t it funny? – you laughed – He gave me such a wonderful gift without even telling me his name or the true connection between our dreams. I can’t imagine what’s going to happen once the remaining secrets are revealed.

The sight of your joy might have been pleasant to the Greek spokesman but, as expected from him, he wouldn’t let his usual common sense aside in favor of it.

– Well, well, I like to see your cheerfulness, but I still think you should be careful, y/n-chan – he glanced over his shoulder – Speaking of this, may I ask about the subject of your new researching?

You looked down at your papers, then to Hermes again.

– In this second encounter I asked his name, but he replied that it’s not difficult to guess and gave me an enigma to solve – and, after reciting it, – I need to check on the registers of family trees and see if I find something. Since it’s a specific information I’ll be looking for, it won’t take too long.

Hermes thought of it for a moment.

– You took some notes about it, didn’t you?

You nodded.

– May I see them?

– Of course.

You opened your notebook on the latest notes and gave it to him. He read the whole text with not disguised curiosity, whether murmuring with himself, whether in silence. You saw the look in his eyes when he returned the notes to you.

– Impressive, child – he smiled – Let me tell that you’re not far from the truth.

Your eyes widened at that.

– Well, this gives me so much hope! Now, if you excuse me, I have to go...

You moved aside and were going to leave, but Hermes got in your way before you took the first step.

– What happened, Hermes-sama?

– I’m sorry for this, y/n, but the Library will be closed for the next days due to the preparations for the party. Your researching will have to wait.

A chill ran down your spine.

– Closed? But...

– This decision wasn’t mine. I argued that there was no need for such measure, but unfortunately no one listened to me – he raised his hands in an apology – I was sure you would come here, so I had to come too and warn you, for I cannot make an exception... not even for you.

You opened your mouth, then closed it again. If not even Hermes-sama could interfere, there was no use in arguing against it.

– Well – you let out a resigned sigh – I guess I’m going to turn around and find something else to spend my time with.

You excused yourself and were going to walk back through the corridor, but he called you one more time.

– Yes, Hermes-sama?

– Listen. It really displeases me to see the girls under my responsibility getting frustrated or sad. If I could do anything to help, I certainly would, but things are what they are. For now, I will tell you to be patient. Judging by what I saw in your notes, you have half the necessary information to solve this mystery, and though I cannot give you any clues, I know there are precious details you can recall from your encounters with him. Think of them while you’re occupied with your work, but remember to take some breaks. A well-rested mind can process twice the amount of information.

That moment, your view on Hermes improved with this advice: that was the first time you saw him being so open about his preoccupation for the girls under his protection; you sensed the genuineness in his tone and allowed yourself to feel relieved, for having someone who truly cared about you while you were so far from home, among strangers, wasn’t bad.

– You see, y/n-chan, that if he wanted to prepare something more difficult, he would certainly have done that – he continued – But if you have already gone this far without any help, it’s because he wants you to solve it. You just have to trust this.

– Well – you replied with a smile – I think I can do this!

– And that’s good to hear! – he nodded in approval.

You thanked Hermes and left his presence, determined to do as he said.

If only you were more experienced or weren’t so focused on your own matters, your curiosity could have led you to stay around, for with just one glance at Hermes’ expression would be enough to understand his thoughts after your conversation, or your attentive ears could have caught what he said, at first only to himself.

– It has happened countless times before my eyes, but it never gets boring – and with a calm sigh, – Even though time is the only one that can tell if they will germinate, a girl’s heart receiving the first seeds of love is always a beautiful thing to observe...

He looked back, over his right shoulder, and smiled.

– Don’t you agree, Hades-sama?

The sound of calm steps approaching in the shadow of the corridor behind was followed by the appearance of the King of the Underworld himself. The light beam descending from a window at their left touched his face and revealed a soft smile.

– Time passes and you remain the same hopeless romantic – Hades stopped by his nephew’s side, staring at the path you just walked across – Will you never change, Hermes?

The other’s response was to chuckle.

– You, on the other hand, remain the same cruel man, uncle. Is all of this necessary?

– What a silly question. What do you think would happen if I just came to the girl and tell her that she’s destined to be the wife of a god because that’s what the Oneiric Lords said? – he sighed – I just want to avoid a disaster. And considering that humans love a good mystery, it’s better to let her seek for the answers, in which she will certainly succeed.

– Aren’t you worried about her reaction once it happens, my Lord?

That time, Hades laughed.

– Of course, I am. But for now, let time do its work. Patience is, after all, a sign of love.

Part VI

[valenhell]

From the studio that brought you “I can’t find good Byler fics in the ao3 tag”, comes:

"The Definitive Byler fic rec list"

Literally no one asked for this but because I spent the majority of last year (...and 2019, and 2018...) reading byler fics and coping with life, I thought I’d make a list of some of my absolute favorites. 

The other day I was basically starving for some byler fics and the angel @magicalfairy provided me with some of her faves so I thought I’d do the same, because I love reading, and I love all of these fics and I appreciate their writers💗 And fic writers in general, come on!

- This is a mix of long works and one-shots/short stories. - Everything is mostly fluff with a tad of angst and a lot of internalized homophobia conflict.  - Every fic is completed, except for the ones I mention that they are not. - I try my best to lay out the stories in a way that I won’t spoil you the plot but also warning you of some stuff you might don’t like. Either way, all of these fics are correctly tagged by their respective authors/owners, so read at your own risk. For better understanding, in between brackets I denote Rating, Words and quantity of Chapters. - I feel like I should clarify, none of these are narrated in the singular first person. None of that “And I told him...”, no. 

Long fics

a dream always the same (T, 99k, 35 chapters) What happened in those few weeks between the Battle of Starcourt and the Byers leaving Hawkins. Literally a satisfying and very needed fill in of season three, with a good dose of Mike’s thoughts and conflict. Mike’s characterization is specially amazing in this one. The writing style is amazing and I know the author put everything into making it historically accurate, and it was really sweet. You probably read it, it’s by the amazing sevensided here on Tumblr🧡

Spring Break (T, 120k, 14/15 chapters) The slowburn of my dreams. Lots of internalized conflict and conflict with each other. Conflict within the Party (uhh kind of), conflict with Mike and Will. Byers family has moved and the kids are visiting! Chaos. Characterization is on point. Yeah, I know it’s unfinished, but the fourteenth chapter actually serves as a pretty nice ending. 

This is where it starts (M, 148.8k, 24 chapters) Aged up characters. The Party is in college and Will disappears again, but now it’s different. Mike knows he didn’t vanish from thin air, and the discovery he and the Party end up making is pretty insane. Mystery solving/fantasy/third dimension, throw in a bit of D&D and Mike realizing some shit, and you get this marvelous fic. It’s a breath of fresh air. The world building is definitely one of the elements that stands out the most, because it’s very nicely described, it sounds like a dream and it’s completely immersive. Absolute gem of a fic. 

there’s a Starman waiting in the sky (M, 30.6k, 8 chapters) Do I need to say anything? Will is out there living his best life and Mike realizes that wow, umm, maybe his best friend looks a bit too nice with that costume... and wait, is he getting horny? It’s actually really fun and sexy.

The Evening Speaks (T, 23k, 7 chapters) In where Mike is a late-night college radio host and Will is the art student that stays up till late to catch up with Wheeler on the Mic. They flirt through songs y’all, this one is really sweet. 

heads or tails? (E, 24k, 3 chapters) Aged up characters. I know most people don’t enjoy sex in fics and with specific characters but this one is insanely well written. It’s a slowburn that commits to the tension and with every word you are grasping and anticipating their next move. I think you can find the author here on Tumblr as yousaidyes🧡

The Man of Average (M, 56.7k, 5/? chapters) Aged up characters. No but you don’t understand, the writing here is absolute gourmet. The story is exciting as well, it’s super interesting. Weirdly enough, for being very aged up characters, they are well characterized but they don’t feel like teenagers. They are naturally Mike and Will. The author really captured Mike and Will’s essence. I know, it’s unfinished and it’s updated very rarely, but this is the typical fic you can’t believe someone just posted on the internet for free. I will say though, I think it’s definitely not for everyone. Read at your own risk.

Heartstrings (E, 82.8k, 24/? chapters) Aged up characters. By the same author of The Man of Average. A collection of memories, the road to Mike and Will’s happy ever after. And fucking hell!!!!! You’ll cry and get angry, you’ll cheer for them, then you’ll want to crash their faces together because god dammit you love each other!!! But yeah, same thing here. The writing and the way the story is laid out as a nonlinear narrative is brilliant. And I also think this is one of the best Will versions I’ve read. The author might as well be the og creator of this two characters tbh. You can find the author here as mylesimeblr🧡

Sinners behind the walls (T, 1.5k, 1/1) And because I can’t stop recommending this author, a little thing of Mike tormenting himself but also being too deeply committed to Will. 

The Red Envelope series (T/E, 167K, two completed works) Something happens that Will thought was impossible and from there, pure drama and romance. Anything by this author has the potential to become your absolute favorite fic, but this series in particular is amazing. I doubt that any of you haven’t read this, but it doesn’t hurt to put it in this list. I’m pretty sure the author is serendipitous-magic on Tumblr🧡

A New Fight series (T, 91k, two completed works, one WIP) And finally the Star Wars AU that we all needed. But this isn’t your typical “Mike is Han”, “Will is Leia” and “El is Luke”, it’s way more interesting than that, and the author has appropriated the Star Wars world like no other. I’ll admit I’m not a 100% fluent in SW lore but this is amazing to me either way. This author is also on Tumblr, tea-for-one-please🧡

- Yes, most of these are (if not all), in a way, canon compliant/canonverse/canon continuation into fanon. (In a way)

One-shots and short stories

Sundae for Two, Please (G, 4.8k) Steve being the supportive friend and older brother these kids collectively need. (not Jonathan erasure, we love him). Steve is very sweet himself, and this little cute thing through his POV is gorgeous. Yes, it’s byler.

Backstage (T, 10k, 2/2) Jonathan, you forgot to mention to Will how hot your new band’s guitarist is, dude. Now he’s hyperventilating and weirdly flirting with him in the corner. Background Stonathan because why not.

102 Peach Street (G, 3.8k) Established relationship, but not only that, they are married :’’))) PURE fluff. Extreme fluffiness. Diabetes. 

sweatshirts and bottled up feelings (T, 3.2k) Or, Mike thinks that the sweatshirt Will wears looks insanely good on him. And kitchens are for lovers. 

kiss it better (T, 16.3k) Basically one of the best character studies of a few precise moments of Mike and Will’s relationship and feelings. 

will wonders ever cease (T, 11.3k) #i ship will and happiness. Omfg what a beautiful piece of fanfic. Will centric, this kid really deserves all the good in the world.

The Calm After the Storm (T, 1.6k) Tooth rotting fluff, boyfriends in love. Boyfriends being lazy, cuddling, love words, kisses. Boys loving each other’s company... Basically, Mike and Will in their element. What more can you ask for?

neither of us ready to let go (T, 4.8k) That scene from season three, but a bit of a fix it. 

Still in love (G, 1k) Domestic, married life au fluff. Y’all, I’m a sucker for established Byler, even if I can’t find many fics with it. But this is very sweet. It takes place in 2020, but I don’t think there are any mentions of the COVID-19 crisis that I remember.

I Nver Find Out ‘Til I’m Head Over Heels (G, 12.5K) Classic 5+1 fic. If you haven’t read it, where have you been? This is your moment. In where Mike keeps inviting Will to the school dances and Will thinks it’s just a joke until he realizes it’s not. 

Before You’re Gone (T, 5.9k) Will is leaving Hawkins and Mike thinks this is a great moment for a confession. This one I discovered last friday, thank you friend @magicalfairy 💗

You’re weird Wheeler (M, 4.5k) Mike unintentionally starts a tradition of going to each other to talk about their sexual encounters just after they finish. Will keeps getting more explicit with the details he shares, and he makes his best friend interested. This one is really fun y’all.

Out-Of-Town Friends (N/R, 4.6K) It’s not rated. I haven’t re- read it but I’d say it would probably fall in a T rating. So cute!! Will has new friends and sneaks off every friday and the Party doesn’t know where he is going, so Mike decides to follow him and is surprised. 

Snowed Under (G, 1.3k) By the same author of The New Fight series. Mike is spending christmas by himself in college because a snowstorm hits Chicago and Nancy can’t drive to see him, but then he has a surprise visitor. Ahhh just a lil sweet holiday fic. Super cute. 

you love me anyway series (T, 7.1k, three completed works) Literally just the cutest thing ever. Established Byler. Will loves to take pictures and he loves taking pictures of Mike. It’s adorable. 

you wanna be friends forever (i can think of something better) (T, 9k) This one is so amazing. So. Amazing. From Will’s POV, my kid deserves the world and he gets it. 

okay not to be okay (T, 4.9k) Mike is a bit sad but then everything is okay. 

can’t hold out forever (G, 18.4k) Y’all!!!!! 5+1 sweetness. Mike has been falling in love since kindergarten. And it’s long af, you’ll enjoy it. 

even if it takes forever (G, 1.3k) College short AU, they miss each other, they love each other, they promise all to each other. It is sappy y’all.

clear as day (N/R, 18.4K, 4 chapters) It’s not rated, but I’d say it falls in the T category. Strangers to friends to lovers. And also, everyone is pretty gay; we have our dynamic trio Mike, Max and El as disaster lesbians (and gay). Will works at the library and he is also gay. Lucas and Dustin and Will are the best friends we needed. It’s very sweet and the Party is kind of formed here!

I went overboard with the one-shots, so you must have realized how much I love long one-shots and I favor them over long works lmao but they are all amazing!!! If it’s on this list, I probably read it at 2 am, sobbing in my bed. So. Hope you enjoy it☺️🧡

[weasleywinchester]

I Can't Help Myself - Ch. 1

Sugarpie

Ch. 2 | Ch. 3 | Ch. 4 | Ch. 5 | Ch. 6

Joel Miller x Reader

What up fam? New year and a new Pedro character that I have fallen in love with. Now, I wanted to write a little (??) series for the one and only Joel Miller. I had a vague idea where I wanted it to go, but this song was stuck in my head for WEEKS while I was playing through TLOU. So we're getting a bit of fluff with Joel which I love to see! I hope you enjoy!

warnings: we be soft in this chapter (we'll get spicier next chapter)

Series Summary:

This world isn’t kind to anyone; and heaven forbid anyone wants a slice of happiness. You wanted the stereotypical, as most people would tell you, dream of falling in love, getting married and having kids. After coming to Jackson, you kept that dream to yourself. Until your stupid best friend’s stupidly handsome older brother waltzes in, and you tell him. Joel thinks it's nice that you can hold onto a dream like that... and he let's his guard down just long enough to think maybe...he might want that too.

Chapter Summary:

Joel came looking for help from the only person he trusted to get Ellie where she needed to be. And you were simply ready to make your friends some pie and maybe pull another story from Tommy about his brother. But then he sees you, and you see him, and the world shifts a little.

“Tommy!”

He turns around, his eyes landing on you and the bag you’re waving in the air.

“What’s up (Y/N)?” He smiles, waving you over. You normally come with good news, which makes him extra excited on this occasion.

“Came across an old barn with a bunker full of food today. Now we have basics again for a little something sweet.” You smile, eyes drifting to the handsome stranger at Tommy’s side.

“Ooo doggy! What creation will you make this time?” He rubs his hands together, his stomach already hungry at the thought.

“We found some fresh berries on the way home, so I was thinkin’ a skillet pie.” You flash a smile as Tommy claps you on the back.

“What’s a skillet pie?” Someone squeaks. You lean around Tommy to see a young girl, maybe around 12 or 13, eyes lit up like a Christmas tree.

“Do you know what a pie is?” You cock an eyebrow.

“Ya.”

“And a skillet?”

“Well duh!” She rolls her eyes. You raise both eyebrows at her, giving her a moment to put the pieces together.

“Ohh, I get it now.” She waves you off like it’s nothing.

“(Y/N) is the best baker here. And one of the best cooks. And on top of that she sews, paints…” Tommy winks at you.

“Jack of all trades.” The man nods, his eyes meeting yours. “Think introductions are in order, little brother.” He drawls, bumping Tommy’s shoulder.

“Right. Joel, this is (Y/N). (Y/N), my big brother Joel.” Tommy gestures between the two of you. “And Ellie, of course.”

“Ah, I was wondering if I’d ever get to meet the legend.” You smile. You and Tommy had bonded over talking about families, and Joel always fascinated you the most with how much he was not like Tommy.

“Wasn’t sure we would ever meet again.” Joel mumbles, eyes shifting to the back of his brother’s head.

“Well, glad you made it our way. Where ‘re they stayin?” You turn to Tommy.

“You invitin’ them? Because that means they gotta stay with you.” He lightly pokes your shoulder, a smile playing at the corner of his mouth.

“Uh, he’s your brother! Why would you not invite him to stay?” You swat at his hand. Ellie gasps in excitement, coming to stand next to you.

“I’m not sure there’ll be time…” Joel interjects, standing between you and Tommy.

“Aww Joel! Come on! We can’t miss the pie!” Ellie pleads, throwing her head back, squeezing her shut as she hangs on his arm.

“I need at least one taste tester in order to make it…” you gently bump against Joel’s arm, the edges of his mouth turning slightly upward.

_______

“Ok, let’s start with this” you hand Ellie a skillet. You swiftly move through the ingredients, showing her the recipe before you start throwing things in a bowl. Within seconds a puff of flour fills the air.

“Woah sugarpie, take it easy!” You laugh, dusting the bit of flour from your front.

“Sorry, guess it’s a good thing we’re not using the electric mixer.” She laughs, scraping the excess flour on her arms back into the bowl. You take your time showing Ellie techniques and tricks you've picked up over the years and she even gives you little tidbits about her life and her journey with Joel.

The door creaks open and you look up to see Joel shake his head when he sees flour covering the front of both of you.

“Nice of you to join us.” You smile.

“Sugarpie… haven’t heard that word in a while.” He smiles at you, the smallest twinkle in his eye. Apparently someone likes to ease drop.

“Finished!” Ellie announces, proudly putting her hands on her hips.

“Surgarpie you’ve only made one.” You laugh, looking between her one and your two.

“Well, I don’t see Joel helping.” She snaps back, gesturing to Joel sitting across the island. You were surprised he even came in here, most of the guys only wanted to be in here when the goodies came out of the oven.

“How about you go bother Tommy and I’ll call you when yours is out of the oven?”

“Deal!” She rips off her apron and flees out the nearest door.

“She’s a wild one.” You comment, surprised when Joel lets out a small chuckle.

He watches you carefully, smiling at the way you're fully concentrating on making the dough for the next pie. He can see the subtle shake in your arms. Wonder if she’ll ask for help or stick with it. After a few moments he gets up, striding around the counter and gently touching your arm.

“Here darlin’, let me take over for a spell.” He says to the top of your head, voice deep like Texas thunder.

“Thanks.” You laugh softly, passing him the bowl. You watch him stir a few times, his forearms flexing with each pass. You grab the nearest pie and start finishing touches, taking the chance to look at the man across from you. They way Tommy talked about him you thought he would be a lot scarier, or just flat out mean; you’re also not currently on the other end of his gun which you assume would be a very different side of him. You can see an inner battle raging within him, probably something to do with why he and Ellie are here…

The kitchen lights flicker on, which means the power is back and you can start prepping the oven.

“How did you meet Tommy?” Joel breaks the silence.

“He and a few others were traveling along the coast, and they rolled into our little town. Luckily we’re good people and don’t shoot on sight.” You chuckle.

“What made you leave?”

You sigh, leaning against the counter. Joel looks up when you don’t immediately start talking.

“Tommy had seen so much of the world, and I hadn’t gone anywhere. Lived in a small town my whole life, went to a small university, moved back to the small town. Only been working for about a year before this mess,” you gesture to the air, “happened. So, guess you could say I was restless.” You admit. It was meant to be a small trip, to help Tommy and the group to their next safe location. But Tommy’s leadership promise of finding a good place to settle down and try to get back to the world as you knew it was too strong to resist.

Joel nods, looking over at you, your eyes have a far away look in them, the corners of your mouth turned downward. That frown should never belong on that pretty little face. Joel shakes the thoughts from his head, when did he let himself thing like that?

“How come you ain’t Tommy’s girl?” Joel pokes, a smile creeping onto his face as you dramatically roll your eyes.

“Because I don’t date younger brothers.” You fire back, throwing a towel at him as he chuckles. “We’re just really good friends. Plus, he has Maria. They couldn’t be more perfect and I wouldn’t step on her toes even if I believed Tommy was The One!”

He chuckles, Maria is pretty scary. “No one special for you then?”

“Joel, I would never have guessed you to be so nosey about my love life!” You chuckle and he simply shakes his head at you. “No. Despite what the world is, I still want the whole ‘fall in love, get married, have kids’ thing. Never been one for emotionless flings.”

He nods, must be nice to still dream like that. He watches you take the bowl he was stirring and pour it into two more pie crusts, and put three of them into the oven. Maybe in a different life… Sarah would have loved being in the kitchen with you, laughing as she watched Joel swing you around to the oldies station on the radio.

“Joel?” You lightly touch his arm.

“Ya darlin?” He stirs from his thoughts, the warmth of your hand making his heart beat a little faster.

“You ok?”

“Just fine.” He pushes a stray piece of hair from your face, letting his hand lightly drag along your cheek.

Your eyes gently shut, the roughness of his fingertips against your face sends goosebumps across your body. You can feel him move closer, the tip of his nose gently bumping against yours.

“Joel!” Tommy shouts from outside. The door tears open a moment later, panic in his eyes. “Joel, Ellie’s gone.”

Joel quickly drops his hand, both of you bolt out the door.

_______

“Look, there’s one of ours!” You point to a horse that’s tied to the front rail of a little ranch house that is nestled in a canyon not too far from home. The three of you quickly ride down, coming to halt just before the end of the tree line. You hop off, scanning the hillside with your binoculars. You nod to the boys that it’s all clear, both of them joining you on the ground. Tommy reaches for Ellie’s horse, checking to make sure everything is ok.

“I’ll stay here.” Tommy states, taking the reins from Joel’s hands. Joel nods and slowly walks into the house. You follow him to the staircase, taking his hand before he starts ascending.

“Try to be understanding.” You ask.

He takes a deep breath in, taking your chin in between his fingers, and looking into your eyes. How can you see me so clearly? After a moment he drops his hand and walks the rest of the way alone.

You walk back outside, taking a seat on the porch steps.

“Think it’ll go well?” Tommy asks. You can hear Joel growl from upstairs, Ellie yelling back.

“No, but I imagine they’ll be ok anyways.” You sigh. You look around, this was probably a nice little farm to live back when the world was… well before the infection.

“(Y/N).” Tommy’s voice takes you by surprise by how close he is. He grabs your arm, pulling you to your feet and presses his body against yours trying to get you to move. You almost ask him what the hell, but then you see them.

“Fuck.” You whisper and bolt up the stairs to Joel. Tommy overtakes you, kicking the door in.

“Get it together. We're not alone.” Tommy whispers. Joel snaps into protective mode, moving to the window.

“I got two walking in.”

“There's more inside already.” Tommy whispers, crouching down by the door. You move behind him, waving Ellie over.

_______

Joel walks out of the house, gesturing for the three of you to wait. He slowly walks the length of the porch, looking through his scope to make sure no one is lingering in the hills.

“It's clear.” He states, slinging his shotgun back into his shoulder and surveying the mountainside once more. You stand next to him; his fists are closed at his sides, his face blank but his eyes are burning a hole into the mountain. You understand the stories a bit better now, when Joel’s fighting you better pray to not be on the end of his weapon. You look over at Ellie, her face is fallen, not even the cute nicker her horse gives makes her smile.

“You want a hand up?” Tommy gently asks her, eyes flicking from her to Joel.

“I got it.” She waves him off. They both mount their horses and start off back towards Jackson.

“You alright?” You ask, gently scraping your knuckles against his, unsure if he would let you hold his hand. It’s probably rough in all the right ways, and it would easily envelop yours…

He quickly turns his hand to capture yours, giving it a small squeeze. It’s warm, and much softer than his own. He dismisses the thought and quickly mounts his horse. You follow suit, and ride a few yards behind Tommy and Ellie.

The four of you ride in silence for a while, enjoying the sound of horse hooves clacking against the ground, the rustle of leaves in the breeze and then sun on your face.

“I would trust Tommy with her too. But she trusts you. That’s a hard thing to do in a world like this.” You say quiet enough for only Joel to hear.

“I didn’t want to take this job.” He states. This was Tess’s idea! The one thing he never wanted to experience ever again was the death of a child in his care…

“If anyone else took her, she’d be dead. And Tommy would have never seen you again. No use in fightin’ each other when there’s plenty of infected to take your emotions out on.” You move your horse closer to his, sticking your hand out to him. He gives you a sideways glance, which only makes you shake your hand until he gives in and takes it.

“We don’t get to choose who changes our lives, only in how we change theirs.” You say, squeezing his hand.

_______

“There she is. Kids'll be watching movies tonight.” Tommy tells Joel.

“You have any favorite movies?” You turn to Ellie.

“The ones where people go to space.” She meekly smiles.

“I don’t think I would ever be brave enough to go to space.” you sigh.

“Did you ever fly on a plane?” She perks up a little.

“All the time. Traveling to different states was one of my favorite things. We also drove to a lot of places.”

“So you’re good in a plane but not a spaceship?” She shakes her head.

“Ellie, get off your horse, give it on back to Tommy.” Joel interrupts. Ellie looks at you, concern clearly visible on her face. You shrug and hop off your horse too.

“I'm gonna hang on to this fella, if that's alright with you.” Joel asks Tommy, who nods. Ellie awkwardly shifts from foot to foot, not sure what’s happening. “Go on. Don't make me repeat myself.” He tells her.

“What are you doing?” Tommy asks. And your heart drops a little when it hits you: they’re leaving.

“Your wife kinda scares me. I don't want her coming after me.” Joel chuckles. He doesn’t dare look at you yet; he’d do something stupid like staying, or asking you to come with them.

“Sorry for stealing your horse.” Ellie mumbles as she hands the reins over. Tommy automatically sticks his hand out, bewildered by the sudden change. You tug Ellie’s sleeve, pulling her into a hug.

“Bye Sugarpie.” You whisper, holding her tight.

“Bye (Y/N).” She whispers, managing to keep the tears from falling.

“Stay alert, and watch his back.” You gesture to Joel. She nods and walks over to him.

“Look, come back to town, let's discuss it at least.” Tommy begs.

“Eh, you know me. My mind's all made up. University Eastern Colorado. How do I find this lab?” Joel reaches for Ellie, pulling her up behind him.

“It's in the science building, looks like a giant mirror, you can't miss it.”

“You take care of that wife of yours.” Joel smiles. “And keep an eye on this one, she’s a troublemaker.” He winks at you.

You smile and wink back. You can feel your heart start to break, you shouldn’t be so attached to him… but something about him and you, you and him…

“There's a place for you here, you know.” Tommy tells him. You nod in agreement, hoping that your paths will cross again.

Joel nods in appreciation and turns to Ellie.

“You good?”

“I'm good.” She nods, content that things will resume as normal.

“Adios, little brother. (Y/N).” He tips his invisible cowboy hat and starts down the path away from Jackson.

[thebrightsessions]

Entertainment Spotlight: Leeron Amiel

Leeron Amiel voices the character "Michal" in the The AM Archives partner series, Order and Chaos. While she was born in the United States, Leeron, much like her character, proudly celebrates her ties and roots to the country of Israel. She grew up there from the age of 3-12. It makes playing this role and being a part of this story all the more of an honor! Before moving to Los Angeles, she received a BA in theatre from Columbia College Chicago. In LA she has studied with Anthony Meindl and with The Imagined Life acting studio. A Gryffindor, Leeron is engaged to fellow Bright Sessions' actor, Andrew Nowak (also a Gryffindor). They are both parents to their cat, Tonks.

What types of scripts and characters are you drawn to?

Ohhhh man THIS question! Okay so, just like the amazing Michal, I am drawn to powerful, strong female roles. I consider myself a strong female 'type' and boy do I LOVE playing that. Like I loooooove being angry in scenes. Or maybe I just love arguing. Either way, scripts and roles when I get to assert power attract me, and in all ways; like, who doesn't love to yell? But I also love the strong, silent type. One of my dream roles is Emma in Betrayal. And if I could play Olivia Benson in everything, then I would. I also just love being the badass, and I love period pieces. So, I suppose all that means I tend to be drawn to mostly dramas. However, what a lot of people don't know about me is I also really really love doing comedy and have always been told I should do more. I think in this genre I am drawn to the outrageous, as well as the witty. Love me some big acting, sassy goofy roles.

Can you share a story from your career so far that stands out to you as a defining moment?

The one story that comes to mind is how I booked my first co-star. It was August 2018 and I had gone through a huge transformation that summer. As every actor knows, the industry can really get you down. After years of what felt like little success, I decided to step away from acting for the time being and pursue a doctorate in psychology. To do this I had to take some prerequisites at my local community college. I was all signed up and excited about the new journey, but there was still a sense of loss about moving away from acting for a bit. Then, on my FIRST DAY of class I got an audition for the TV show, S.W.A.T. (for a Hebrew speaking role of all things!) I was going, "Oh my gosh, yes, of course, universe - you WOULD send this to me now." But I said to myself, "You know what, you have school ahead of you, you're not going to give up on that. So, what have you got to lose by auditioning? Just go, see what happens." So, I went in with no expectations. I didn't feel pressure to book the job. I was kind of just there for fun and then...I booked it! It was a huge lesson for me about many things. First off, I learned the true importance of a relaxed, playful audition. When I took the pressure off, I was open to be myself and just do my thing. And it worked. And secondly, although I still plan to pursue school, I now know that I am good enough for this industry and should I choose to come back to it (by which of course I mean WHEN, because let's be real - once an actor, always an actor), I will have a lot more hope and excitement.

Did anything stand out during your re-listen of this AM Archives episode that you didn’t notice when recording it?

When re-listening to Order and Chaos it just brought back what I felt when I was recording it. I just remember thinking like, "Wow, this was only 4 episodes and yet there is SO MUCH depth to these characters and these relationships." The feeling that truly struck me this time is how much I just wanted MORE. And I'm not just saying that because I (not so secretly) want a whole podcast about Michal and Percy and the foreign "AMs," BUT. I truly felt like this story and these characters were so well developed for such a quick glimpse, that the listener just couldn't help but want to know more. It's a huge credit to Meghan Fitzmartin who is basically a genius and did such an outstanding job developing these characters.

What’s a fun fact about you that most people don’t know?

I am scared of fish. Especially big ones. Like, they seriously freak me out. It is a real thing, it is called Ichthyophobia and I don't know why I have it. It wasn't always a thing - I would say probably the last 10 years or so - but not when I was a child. Anyway, my fear is not that they are going to do anything to me (although that thought is terrifying) but they just creep. me. out.  They just look so gross and move so weird with their mouths and they don't have eyelids and just blehhhhh. Okay, I'm freaking myself out, I need to stop. Fear of fish. That's my fun fact. So if you ever get the chance to take me somewhere, let it not be the aquarium ;)

Can you share your favorite piece of fan art?

From @thefigureinthecorner​. I so love that Marcus said he made Michal look like one of his aunts because honestly....she looks like ME and my entire family, including all MY aunts! So cool to feel like he could envision me and the sense of cultural pride that both Michal and myself have through my voice.

Thanks for taking the time, Leeron! Give Order & Chaos, Chapter Four: Tabula Rasa a relisten right here.  

[sfb123]

Sapere Aude - Part 13

Book: The Royal Heir

Pairing: King Liam Rys x Queen Riley Brooks

All characters belong to Pixelberry.

Catch Up Here

If you’re new to Sapere Aude, please click the link above to start from the beginning. There’s so much going on right now that you’ll be way too confused to start from this point. Plus, there are some major bombshells that won’t be as fun if you read this and get a bunch of spoilers.

Series Description: I developed a theory of what I think will happen in TRH Book 4, and I was encouraged by some very lovely people to turn my theory into a fic, so here it is. Basically, Riley is recruited to join the Via Imperii, this series will follow her as she joins them to try and bring them down from the inside, and all of the drama and bombshells she learns along the way. Sapere Aude is Latin for “dare to know” it seemed like an appropriate title.

Rating: PG-13 Adult language, discussions of death, conspiracy, blackmail, and other adult themes.

Trigger Warning: There is a brief moment of physical abuse, it’s not much, but I definitely wanted to mention it and give a fair warning. 

Warning: The Royal Heir Book 3 Spoilers all over the place.

Disclaimer: I have no current affiliation with any other Via Imperii themed stories. Any claims that I have pre-read anything are false.

Word Count: 2,383

A/N: I know you’ve all been on the edge of your seats wondering what was going to happen, the answer is a lot. This is a pretty big chapter. I hope you enjoy!

Thanks to my pre-reading babes, @jessiembruno & @txemrn. And to @twinkleallnight for my lovely moodboard! 

Tags: Listed below, hit me up to be added or removed.

“Um...actually, it’s about the queen. Your majesty, you need to come with me, and we need to send some additional guards along with us.”

Liam’s face paled at Thomas’s words. “Where is my wife, Thomas?” He kept his voice quiet, so that he wouldn’t upset his daughter but his tone was stern and authoritative. 

“I believe she is at the old Fierro estate, and time may be of the essence.” 

“Li, go. We’re all here, we can take care of Eleanor.” Drake chimed in. 

Liam nodded. “Bastien, please send as many guards as you can immediately, and prepare the car for us. Thomas, go with him and tell him everything you know so that we can fill the team in.” Both men bowed and quickly exited the room. Liam walked over to Eleanor, sitting in the chair next to her. “Eleanor, I need to step out and pick up mommy, ok? Your auntie and uncles will be here to play with you until we get back.”

“Can I come with you?” She asked hopefully.

Liam took a deep breath before answering her. “I’m sorry princess, but I need to go by myself. But you have a very important job here. Since Valtoria is your home, you need to host our guests. Being a hostess is something you will need to do a lot when you become queen, so this will be wonderful practice. Do you think you’re up for it?”

She nodded her head rapidly. “Yes daddy, I will be the best hostess!”

“Good. Now go with Uncle Drake, and mommy and I will see you when we get home.” He pulled her into a hug, kissing her cheek as they pulled apart. 

Eleanor ran to Drake, taking his hand and pulling him toward the door. “C’mon Uncle Drake, I’m the hostess.” Drake chuckled before looking back at Liam and giving him a reassuring nod.

Liam waited a few moments to make sure that Drake and Eleanor were out of his path before rushing out of the room and toward the front entrance. The car was waiting for him, Bastien holding the back door open for Liam to enter. He jumped in and Bastien shut the door behind him, quickly jumping into the driver's seat. The SUV’s wheels squealed as it rushed toward the gates.

“How far out are the guards?” Liam asked. 

“We had a team training not too far from the estate, they should be arriving shortly. They have been briefed.” Bastien replied, looking at Liam through the rearview mirror. 

“Excellent. Would someone care to brief me now? Where is my wife?” Liam commanded. 

Bastien looked over at Thomas, who was seated next to him. “Thomas, please explain to his majesty the current situation.”

Thomas took a deep breath, his hands nervously balling into fists. “Of course. You see sir, there is an organization, the Via-”

Liam pinched the bridge of his nose, interrupting Thomas. “Thomas, please spare me. I know about the Via Imperii, Riley has been telling me about the meetings, the plans, everything.”

“Everything?” There was a slight crack in Thomas’s voice as he looked back at Liam. If she had told him everything, Liam knew who he was.

“Yes Thomas, everything, including our relationship. Right now, that is the last thing I am concerned with. I need you to tell me what they are doing to Riley, and what we need to do to get her out.”

“Unfortunately, I do not know much. I’m sure you were made aware of the conflict between her majesty and Lord Neville. Well it appears that he and Mara have lured her to the estate under the guise of a meeting with our chapter president. I don’t know what they are planning to do from there.” 

Liam’s jaw clenched as he ran a hand through his hair. “Bastien, remind me again why we didn’t dismiss Mara after her charge, the queen, my wife, was kidnapped at our wedding? It seems like grounds for termination to me.”

“She went through a thorough re-training process, and passed all of the associated tests. It was determined that she was able to adequately perform her duties.” Bastien replied. 

“Adequate is not acceptable for protecting the life of a Queen. We need exceptional as the bare minimum. She should have never been cleared to return to such a high profile duty. We will be having a meeting immediately to review protocol and standards.” The mixture of concern and rage swirling inside of Liam was becoming overwhelming, he was having trouble thinking straight. He turned to look out the window, taking deep breaths to regain some level of composure. 

***

“Since rational discussion is not going to be an option here, I guess we’re going to have to go to plan b, elimination.” Neville said to Mara as they sat across from each other, Riley tied to the chair at the head of the table. 

Riley laughed. “Sure, elimination. I bet that will work out great for you. It’s super easy to just make a reigning queen disappear.”

“We have been successful in doing it with two out of the last four queens. What do you think makes you so special?” Neville turned his attention to Riley, genuinely curious to know her reasons. 

“Well first of all, Eleanor was in on the plan, so she doesn’t count, so it’s actually one out of four. And second, I’m sure Liam and the rest of the guards, the loyal ones,” she looked poignantly at Mara, “are on their way. I’ve been gone long enough that Liam has definitely already had them ping the location of my phone.”

Mara pulled a phone out of her pocket and waved it in front of Riley with a smug grin on her face. “It has been powered off since I pulled it from your pocket as you were getting into the car.” She placed it on the table and slid it toward Riley.

“Any more smart remarks?” Neville asked, standing from his seat. He approached Riley, taking her face in his hand and leaning in close. “The fairytale is over Riley, and the ending isn’t quite as happy as you thought.”

Riley could feel her nerves starting to take over. Yes, Liam would be missing her right now, but how was he going to find her? She felt her heart rate increase, trying to keep her composure. She had been through this before. For as much as she hated Anton, she had to give him credit, he was much better at this than Neville was. If she could survive that, she could figure out a way out of this. 

She thought back to that night at the abandoned castle, she needed to channel that version of herself again. And she certainly couldn’t let Neville know he was getting to her. “What happened? You couldn’t find a woman to kiss you out of being a frog faced asshole? Or you did and it just didn’t work?”

“That’s enough!” the back of Neville’s hand abruptly met with Riley’s face, the force of the impact almost knocking the chair over. She moved her jaw back and forth several times, trying to assess the damage as best she could with her hands tied behind her back. “Mara, do we have anything to gag her with?” 

Before she could answer, there was a knock at the door. Neville and Mara looked at each other in confusion, nobody else knew about the plan. “Well?” Neville raised his hands in frustration. “You’re the security guard, go assess the damn threat!”

Mara jumped to her feet and opened the door to find Eleanor on the other side. “Ah Mara, I heard you and Queen Riley had stopped by, I’m so glad I was able to catch you.” She didn’t wait for Mara to respond before brushing past her and entering the room. “Lord Neville, I didn’t know you would be using one of our meeting rooms today. You didn’t clear it through the proper channels. What have we got here?” Eleanor walked straight past Neville and went right to Riley. She took in her appearance, noticing a red mark on her cheek and a small trail of blood running down her face. Her eyes were watering, but she hadn’t shed a single tear. Eleanor was impressed by the strength she was showing under these circumstances. She gave Riley a subtle wink before taking a seat and motioning for Mara and Neville to do the same. “Now, should we talk about where you plan to take things from here, considering you clearly haven’t thought this scheme all the way through?” 

“We’re going to do what this organization has done for years, eliminate the threat. Maybe we will be more successful in the king’s next social season, and get a cooperative queen in place.” Neville replied.

Riley took a shaky breath, but the idea of her being taken away from her family was too much for her to bear. The tears she had been holding back broke free, and she began sobbing. Eleanor walked back over to Riley and knelt down in front of her. “It’s alright dear, you aren’t going anywhere.” She placed a comforting hand on her shoulder before standing and turning her attention back to her captors. “Are you insane? Do you have any idea how much time and careful planning goes into enacting an elimination plan? You can’t just decide to kill the queen and expect that everything will go off without a hitch!”

As if on cue, the door burst open and several members of the King’s Guard entered with their weapons drawn. Mara immediately drew her weapon and aimed it at Neville. “Hands in the air, Lord Vancoeur.”

“Drop the weapon Mara.” One of the guards commanded.

Mara continued acting as if she was assisting in the rescue efforts, ignoring the guard’s warning. “I’m glad you guys got here, I was having trouble calling for backup to save the -”

A loud pop filled the room, Riley flinched, keeping her eyes closed for a moment. When she opened them, she saw Mara laying on the ground in a pool of blood as two guards rushed Neville and took him into custody. Two more pulled Eleanor away from Riley and forced her hands behind her back. “Stop!” Riley ordered, causing both guards to look up. “She is not a part of this, she was here rescuing me. Let her go.” The guards complied, and Eleanor went back to Riley’s side, quickly undoing the fastenings that bound her to the chair. As soon as she was free, Riley stood and rubbed each of her wrists before raising a hand to her face, gently placing it on the spot that Neville had hit, and moved her jaw back and forth a couple more times. She looked at Eleanor, her eyes welling up again. “You...you saved me.”

“Of course, dear. I told you I wouldn’t let them take you away from your family.” Riley wrapped her arms around Eleanor and pulled her into a hug. Eleanor could hear her hitched breathing and knew she had begun to cry. “It’s ok Riley, you’re safe now. Let’s go get you cleaned up.”

***

Liam was lost in his thoughts, watching the scenery go by as they neared the estate. The sound of Thomas’s phone ringing took him out of his thoughts. He quickly moved his attention to the front of the car, listening intently to Thomas’s answers to the person on the other end. They were simple, one word answers, and he was unable to read any kind of emotion in his voice. “Well?” Liam said, before Thomas had even fully moved the phone away from his ear. “Is Riley ok?” The seconds it took to get his response felt like an eternity for Liam. 

“Yes your majesty, Riley is safe. Lord Vancoeur has been taken into custody, and Mara was killed. Queen Riley is safe and awaiting our arrival.” 

Liam breathed a sigh of relief and leaned back in his seat. He was glad she was safe, but he needed to get there. He needed to see it for himself, to hold her, to kiss her. He needed to get her home where he could protect her. 

The car pulled up to the front of the estate, and before it could come to a complete stop, Liam had jumped out and ran to the door. He burst into the estate frantically sticking his head into every doorway looking for her. Finally, he approached a large sitting area with a fireplace running, and there she was, silently watching the flames dance. “Riley? Love?”

Riley blinked a couple of times before turning and meeting Liam’s gaze. “Liam…” her voice was barely above a whisper as she slowly stood to greet him. 

He rushed to her, immediately pulling her into his arms. He held her tightly as he kissed the top of her head. He pulled back, taking her face in his hands. The pressure of his touch on her still tender cheek made her wince in pain. Liam removed his hands and examined her face. “Riley, who did this to you?” He tried to keep calm, not wanting to cause her any more stress or pain.

“Stupid fucking Neville. I made some frog prince joke and he decided to heckle me with the back of his hand.” 

Liam clenched his jaw, and took a deep breath. He would deal with Neville, but for now, he needed to be with his wife. “Riley, I am so sorry that you had to go through this. I should never have let you do this. It could have been so much worse.”

She placed her hand on his cheek, he noticed the marks on her wrist from the restraints, and turned his head to kiss them softly. “But it’s not, because Eleanor, your mother, saved me.”

“My...why would she do that?”

“Because I couldn’t let you lose her.” A lump formed in Liam’s throat at the sound of the voice behind him. He hadn’t heard it in years, but he had never forgotten it. He turned around and as soon as they locked eyes, he felt as if the wind had been knocked out of him. “Hello, Liam.”

Permatag:

@anjanettexcordonia @athena-penrose @bbrandy2002 @chemist-ana​ @choicesficwriterscreations​ @choiceskatie @cordonia-gothqueen @cordoniaqueensworld @emkay512 @gabesmommie1130 @gkittylove99 @hopelessromanticmonie @iaminlovewithtrr @jessiembruno @kat-tia801 @khoicesbyk @kingliam2019 @lucy-268 @marshmallowsaremyfavorite @mile9213 @mom2000aggie @pixie88 @queenrileyrose @secretaryunpaid @sweatyrysconnoisseur @tessa-liam @theroyalheirshadowhunter @twinkleallnight @txemrn

Sapere Aude:

@burnsoslow @busywoman @gardeningourmet @ofpixelsandscribbles @tinkie1973

Liam x Riley:

@jared2612

Liam:

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[holycow99]

石田お寿司 12/9/21 stream translation Part 2

This is not the full translation of the stream. I only translated the parts I could understand & interpret or parts I found interesting/important. I’m still a beginner in Japanese, so the translations may not be accurate. If you want to repost, please repost at your own risk.

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*Someone asked about Choujin X.

I: I’ve given the manuscript for chp 8. It’ll be released in a few days. I don’t really have much to say about this. I wanna write this month’s goals for Osushi. The big plan is to fix(?) chp 8. Then, I wanna release another two chapters this month. Chp 8 has 20 something pages. I want to at least draw the chapters in a weekly pace. What I mean by that is I wanna draw 72 pages per month. If I could draw 72 pages a month, I drew 18 pages per week during Weekly Young Jump too. So, I wanna draw 18 pages per week, which is 72 pages per month. That’s the amount of pages for weekly publication. It’d be nice if I could draw at least this much by myself. If I drew 25 pages weekly for three weeks, It’d have a total of 75 pages. I can currently get it done. If I updated 3 chapters a month, I’d have a total of 70-something pages per month. Then, nobody will complain. It’s not like anyone is complaining. It’s so that I won’t complain to myself. This is directed towards me as a challenge. Of course, it’s okay if I couldn’t do it. It doesn’t matter if I can or can’t, I thought it’s better to have a goal.

C: And the fact that you’re streaming right now is amazing!

I: Right? I spent a lot of time at the end of August doing rectifications, plotting, etc. They’re all important things to do. Since I have a little bit of free time, I thought of streaming.

C: It’s okay to draw the chapters slowly. Do you concern about maintaining the quality?

I: The quality is as usual. I mean, that’s one of the reason. It’s also to match the quality of the work. The drawing style in Choujin X is different, so of course the drawing will be different too. There are things that have changed. I want to match the vibe of the work, and also, I wanna prioritise speed over the quality. By speed, I don’t mean I wanna write them in a hurry. I want them to have a quality that’s easy to balance. I’m still playing around with it.

C: Until what chapters do you plan to release the physical copy?

I: I can just release it. I do have a plan for it, like releasing 2 volumes altogether.

C: I’m okay with anything as long as you don’t collapse later on.

I: You’re exactly right. I’m doing it with ease. So that the serialisation will go well, I’m adjusting my pace. This is just my ideal, but I wanna serialise another manga. It doesn’t have to be serialised, I have another stuff I wanna release. I’m finding the time to make one. If I make it a rule to do other things after I’ve done 75 pages per month, I don’t have to draw more. I could use the time to do other stuffs.

C: Don’t push yourself.

I: I’m not.

C: Are you overworking?

I: Not at all. I have many hands.

C: Did you play JJ?

I: I played the game like hell.

C: Is it easier to not have assisstants?

I: That’s a good question. This is kinda weird, people say that your work will progress more if you have more assistants, but that’s not the case. I did TG without knowing that. People will ask you to check on their works. So, the more the people, the more the workload. There’s probably an appropriate number of people you should have. 4 people would probably be enough during TG. But there were more people, like the helpers, but they did regularly help. It was quite a lot. I won’t be able to do my own work when there’s a lot of staffs. I don’t have assistants for choujin X so that I can do it with ease, and umm… It’s the fastest way for me. Of course, I do think the quality of the work will increase if there are staffs. I’m trying to see if I can speed up my work to a certain extent without having to check on others’ works and consider about other people, while creating the quality contents I’m capable of.

C: Working alone or with assistants finish faster?

I: It depends on the stuffs you’re making. For choujin x, I think it’d be hard for me to draw them if I had assistants. It’ll be great if we can have divisions.

C: Are you gonna hire a care assistant? (t/n: The Japanese word is Meshistant, which means assistant who mainly takes care of the mangaka’s meal, chore, etc. So, I just put it as care assistant.)

I: Definitely no. I didn’t let my assistants do the chore. I even cleaned the toilet myself. I kinda hate it. I hate the label they give to such people. Meshistant. I don’t like people who call them that. I don’t mean you. I probably won’t be fond of mangakas who use that word. They’re your staffs, right?

C: Do you think of the story all by yourself?  

I: Yeah. Sometimes I do get ideas from my surrounding. But, most of it came from mine.

(t/n: I’m not sure if the last sentence is correct. I couldn’t really understand what he meant, but it’s something like that.)

C: I’m having a hard time to sleep. Recommend ways for me to sleep well.

I: Probably read books. It can make your eyes feel tired. Then, maybe by not sleeping? But you might think it’s better to sleep. I understand. I wanna keep trying to fall asleep, but then I’ll watch movies while lying down. I have trouble sleeping lately. I used to sleep a lot.

C: Meshistant is also an honourable job.

I: Then, why not just hire people who specialised in that. Like housekeepers. They have that, right? Something like a home helper. That is better, isn’t it? Using assistants who’re enthusiastic to draw manga to do stuffs like that is awkward for me.

*Someone commented about hiring maid.

I: Maid? Then, I’d like that. Hahaha. Should I hire a maid? I’m recruiting maids.

C: Even at the age of 250,000, you still have trouble falling asleep.

I: Yeah.

C: Are they hired to make meals?

I: Yeah. There’s various types of assistant in the manga industry. This one refers to an assistant in charge of meals.

I: What did I wanna talk about? Oh yeah, about Animal Rap. I’m thinking whether or not I should upload animal rap video during stream, but where is the file? I’ve decided to upload it after this stream ends. What was it that I wanna talk about? Can you tell me about my current status, such as about the Sui exhibition in Osaka and Nagoya, or about Ms. Towada’s illustrations?

C: How about a live rap?

I: Good idea.

C: About the plan for 30,000 subscribers.

I: That’s right 2x. We’re talking about what to do to celebrate 30,000 subscribers.

C: I can be your maid for free.

I: I’ll definitely pay you. If it’s for free, then you won’t feel your sense of duty. I’ll give a huge salary and pressure you so that you’ll work responsibly.

C: Ms. Towada can both write novels and draw. Amazing!

I: I also can. Hahaha. I also…ah, but I can’t write novels. I won’t lose to her.

C: Do you have double eyelids.

I: Mine is hidden one.

C: Appear in First Take.

I: I won’t.

C: Are your eyelashes long?

I: Yes. My eyelashes are long, I have hidden double eyelids, I am of medium build…but I’m already worn-out.

(t/n: He used the word ‘boroboro’. I couldn’t really find the proper word to translate it in this context. Worn-out is the only one I could think of that suits the context.)

C: Are you handsome?

I: Well…I’m pretty good looking.

C: Have you been going to the gym?

I: No, I haven’t, since I was busy with work. I wanna go though.

C: I wanted to go to Mr. Kunimitsu’s concert.

I: Me too.

C: Which one is more handsome? You or Kaneki?

I: Wouldn’t that be Kaneki?

C: How about another stream with Ms. Towada?

I: I re-listened to the stream with Ms.Towada. For some reason, she was laughing a lot in the stream. Though she always like that. It’s slightly embarrassing. She’s acting like she’s at home. It felt like she’s disclosing my family situation, so it’s a bit..., but I can do that again from time to time. When I wanna do something related to JJ, then I’ll call her. That’s the most suitable content.

*Someone asked him to invite his younger sister.

I: It’s impossible to invite my younger sister.

*People wanted Goubaru to be the guest.

C: Goubaru, huh?

C: Do you have someone you wanna invite?

I: No, I don’t. The corona is one thing, but I’m completely okay with not meeting people. I do talk to people I’m close with. I think that’s already enough. It’s not like I have someone I’m involved with. I do usually talk to Mr. Kunimitsu.

*People want Hanae Natsuki again.

I: Hanae? That’s definitely impossible.

*He’s talking about Japanese youtubers.

C: Can you beat boxing?

I: I’m practising at the moment.

*Currently taking about Japanese artists.

* Someone asked who he thinks could be the next popular artist.

I: Lately, I only listen to instrumentals. The one that I like recently is the girl band called Chai. The group’s vocalists are twins. The group is great. It’s not like I like the band because there’s someone who caught my intention. I listened to their songs first before I decided whether I liked them or not. I thought this kind of voice also exists.

C: Congrats for TG’s 10th anniversary.

I: Thank you. Thank you to Brazil as well. (t/n: Someone commented Brazil.)

*He pinned his Chai comment.

C: People who just came don’t understand what’s going on.

I: It’s okay if you don’t. Hehe.

C: Sensei, can you eat choco mint?

I: I can.

C: I thought the bgm was from Animal Crossing.

I: This is Yorushika’s Escape.

*Still talking about Japanese artists.

C: Have you seen Midsummer?

I: Yes, I have.

(t/n: He said something about the new evangelion movies. But I couldn’t really translate that part properly. He basically watched the Rebuild Evangelion movies from the start since he never watched it before. He planned to go to Yamaguchi prefecture, the birthtown of Evangelion’s author to watch the last movie.)

Y****: I’m reading Toro Hedoro! I recommend it!

I: I do read that. Don’t underestimate me! I do read One Piece as well, but half-way through.

C: You can watch the Evangelion movie on Amazon Prime.

I: I wanna watch the final movie at the cinema. Has the final movie come out? It has? But I’m still gonna watch at the cinema.

C: Have you read Tokyo Ghoul?

I: Nope.

C: I recommend Tokyo Ghoul!

I: Is that so? I have a story regarding TG, but it’s probably gonna be quite deep.

C: One Piece has reached 100 volumes!

I: That guy and Odacchi have reached 100 volumes, right? Hahaha. That guy is Luffy, while Odacchi is Oda sensei. Hahaha. I can’t call him that. Odacchi is Oda sensei and Kishikage is Kishimoto sensei. I see, that guy has reached 100 volumes? Way to go! Hahaha! No one is watching this anyway. I’ll properly lick his boots if he’s in front of me, since he’s the real deal. I’ll be very obedient and sucking up to him.

(t/n: Ishida was using the word ‘aitsu’ to refer Eichiro Oda. As far as I know, it’s an impolite way of calling someone older or in higher status than you in Japan.)

C: He’s scarier than Hikakin (a Japanese youtuber.)

I: Right. We are in the same industry after all. But I think Young Jump and Jump are different subsidiaries. Although, Hara sensei seems to have met with Odacchi, so maybe there’ll be an opportunity for me to meet him. But probably no. Someone like me won’t be able to meet Eichiro Oda sensei. I won’t meet him. He seems like a unique person.

*Ishida talking about an illustrator and youtuber called Saito Naoki.

(t/n: I couldn’t translate the first half of this part because they’re talking about something that had happened, and I don’t know the context of it.)

I: The name ‘Saito Naoki’ is very nice. Is it a pen name? It totally sounds like a real name though.

C: Are you close with Kishida Mel? (t/n: Kishida Mel is an illustrator and a character designer.)

I: I’ve never met him, but Kiyoppi, Kiyohara Hiro sensei and Melcchi are good friends. He’s like a friend of my friend. You have things like that, right? 

C: The name ‘Ishida Sui’ is cool!

I: I seriously wanna change my pen name. I wanna change to something like Gengoro. I wanna change to a manlier name. I didn’t give a thought about my name before. I used that name because I thought I was gonna be famous in the future, so I didn’t wanna use my real name. I seriously thought that I couldn’t become a mangaka if my real name was exposed. I was like “Since I’m gonna be famous, let’s avoid using my real name.” I was being vigilant about it, so I half-heartedly named my pen name.

I: The name Gengoro is nice. Tagami Gengoro. Tokyo Ghoul’s author, Tagami Gengoro. The Tokyo Ghoul’s author, Tagami Gengoro’s exhibition is now open. I’d definitely sounds like a bearded fatty. With round glasses to top it off. Isn’t Tagami Gengoro a character from a gay manga?

*Ishida searching for Tagami Gengoro.

I: Everyone, don’t search for it. I’m scared something dirty will appear. Is it not? Oh, it isn’t. what’s the name again? There is a character named something Gengoro, right? It’s Tagame Gengoroh! I got it now! Tagame Gengorohw as born in 1964 and a Japanese mangaka. He calimed himself to be a ‘Gay Erotic Artist’. This is the one! It’s Tagame Gengoroh sensei. 

*Ishida was looking at Tagame Gengoroh sensei’s illustrations.

I: This one. Wow, this is indeed gay! Hahaha.

C: I can’t believe it came out of your mouth.

I: Surprisingly, I do talk about these kind of stuffs. (t/n: I mean, he’s the man who wrote a whole R-18 chapter.)

I: So, I can’t use the name Gengoro, since there’s someone with this name.

C: Is the name ‘Ishida Sui’ an anagram of your Surname?

I: Yes, it is.

C: Are you gay?

I: Hahaha! Even if that’s true, you didn’t have to ask that kind of question! Let’s just say that I’m okay with both.

C: Kuso Miso. (t/n: Kusomiso is a gay manga.)

I: Of course, I’d be reading them (probably referring to gay manga). I mean, manga like Kuso Miso Technique are popular, right?

C: Ishida GayGoro.

I: Hahaha. That’s just gay.

C: You’ve been to a gay bar before, right?

I: Not at all. When I was hanging out with the staffs, Goubaru said he wanted to go to a Okama bar while crying.

(t/n: According to the internet, Okama is a term referring to guys who adapted female characteristics.)

C: I think it’s completely normal to be gay nowadays.

I: We’re talking about gay now. It’s not normal in the first place. It’s just a sexual orientation. If you pick on every little thing, everything will become a problem. Those who deliberately say they’re not prejudiced against gays are actually are. Even if you tell that to people, they’ll probably filter what they wanna say. They’d be conscious of every single thing they say. Things like that don’t matter.

C: Sensei, let’s talk about something else.

I: Why? I’m okay with it.

C: I’m bi.

I: Does it matter? It’s okay.

C: It’s difficult to say something regarding gender issues, right?

I: Well…It’s difficult, since it’s concerning your mindset. It doesn’t only apply to gender issues; you can hurt someone by making careless remarks.  It’s just that you sometimes accidentally let out your opinions. I also think I sometimes make unnecessary remarks, so I might do that.

C: I want to be embraced by Masataka Kubota. (t/n: Masataka Kubota is a Japanese actor who played as Kaneki in the live-action.)

I: That’s right. Must be nice. I want us to embrace each other.

Part 3

[it-was-all-a-beautiful-dream]

Going, Going, Gone (Spencer Reid x Reader) Chapter 5

Warnings: Mentions of death and injury/much angst

Word Count: 2k

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-Spencers POV-

His heart stopped. There she was. Right there, if only he could climb through the screen and grab her, shielding her from further harm. He was angry, she looked so small, from what he could make out on the screen you were tied to a bed, bound by chains, blood and wounds scattered in different shapes and sizes over your almost naked body.

Spencer heard a gasp from behind him, turning he noticed JJ staring at the screen seeing exactly what he was. He didn’t have time to deal with peoples feelings, he just needed to figure out where his girl was and quickly. Emily had joined him back at the laptop.

“Oh my god.” Her voice was full of panic and hate. Then her eyes went wide when she heard Rossi’s voice travelling up the attic stairs.

“Spencer, did you find anything yet.” Spence turned to look at the man and then back at the screen, angling his body so it was in front of Rossi’s line of sight. Emily was trying to get him to go back down stairs but he was having none of it, pushing passed her to get to the source of the commotion. Spencer couldn’t bare to listen to the angry cries of his colleague, the angry, broken cries of a father. He was too focused on taking in everything he could, trying to look passed your broken and beaten down, still breathing body, to figure out if there was anything to lead them to you.

Spencer hit a button on his mobile, a direct line to Garcia who was anxiously waiting for anything back at her cyber lab.

“Go boy wonder what have you got for me.” Penelope’s joking voice faltered when Spencer informed her of their findings. He sent the video clip of Y/N over to Penelope to analyse further. Her voice quivering as she promised Spencer she’d be found.

Spencer took a look at the screen again, noticing marks up the algae covered walls. They were water marks, which told you how high the water sometimes flooded inside the building. He let Garcia know so she could narrow her search to a building that would be underground near water and it took her mere seconds to come back with a location.

“It’s an old underground bunker, the Unsubs father was some kind of doomsday preparation nut, it’s next to the Teal River, i’ve sent the exact location to your phones.” The team were out the door in seconds, hoping and praying that this is where they would find you alive. They needed to find you alive.

“Were coming for you sweetheart just hold on, were coming.” In that moment Spencer did something he never did, he prayed.

-Un-Subs POV-

“It’s almost time. Almost time to get rid of the girl. She put up a bigger fight than I thought she would. A few more stab wounds and cuts aught to do the trick, let her die slowly in her cell, die slowly just like my girl did. They will pay, they will all pay.”

-Your POV-

You coughed. You could hear that your breathing was getting worse and it felt like the air was slowly being sucked out of you. You knew you didn’t have long left. You would have liked to cry, feel sorry for yourself, for the fact that you’d never have a future with Spence, never see your father again and never see the team you called family again, but you were too dehydrated and your body couldn’t even function enough to produce a single drop. You slumped against the sticky cold wall, dry blood smeared across your face and in your hair. Your leg was still bleeding but you’d managed to stop it slightly by using some dirty cloth from the mattress you were sitting on. An infected leg was better than bleeding out.

Your eyes closed and you thought about Spencer. How his mind would be working over time trying to piece together the clues and find you before you met your demise. You wanted to believe they would find you in time but your hope was slowly fading away with your consciousness.

You thought about your father and how he’d been in the BAU for so long, founded it with your godfather Gideon, how it was basically his whole life, as well as you. You hoped that when you were gone he’d be able to move on, that he wouldn’t hurt for too long and hopefully one day he’d re-marry, god knows he could use a strong woman in his life after your mum died.

You thought about your friends.. family at the BAU. Your best friend Luke Alvez who treated you more like a little sister, always taking you under his wing and giving you advice even when you didn’t need it. You hoped he’d stay at the BAU, that if you died, it wouldn’t effect him too much and he’d be able to get back to some kind of normal life. You wish there was a way to tell him he could have your baseball card collection, he’d always wanted it. You laughed a little, a sad laugh, already grieving for the people you were going to lose. Thinking about all the things you still wanted to do in life. They say that when you die you life flashes before your eyes, they were wrong. It’s before that, it plays through your head like a movie, going over all the things you’d never get to see.

In your mind you pictured what your wedding day would be like. Spencer would want a small wedding full of close family and friends and you’d agree. The perfect setting your fathers large back garden, flowers everywhere, surrounded by the people you love. The gentle exchanging of rings and the kiss he would give you that would still make your toes curl even when you were old and grey.

Children. You wanted at least 4. You wanted so many children with Spencer because you knew he’d make the most amazing father, even if he’d be scared they’d carry the gene for schizophrenia. They’d have his curly hair and your eye colour, his calmness and his smarts while they had your artistic nature and kindness. They’d love to stay with Grandpa, who would tell them all kinds of stories of his time in the FBI, obviously leaving out the heavy stuff. Your friends would come over and you’d always have big dinners and get togethers, BBQ’s in the summer, your lives full of life and laughter and there would always be him. Right by your side. Your Spencer. You’d grow old together, still love each other as hard as you do now. Until your last breath. You pictured going out like the scene in the notebook, old and in each others arms. The world would always be right, if you had your Spencer Reid.

You could feel your breathing slowing, the sound of heavy footsteps running down the echoing corridor. It was too late. You were sure the Un-sub was coming to finish you off once and for all, leave you somewhere for your family to find, another body in another case the BAU would eventually solve. But it was too late for you. The door swung open and your eyes closed. The pain was gone and so were the chances of seeing your Spence one last time.

-Spencers POV-

The SUV’s came to a screeching halt outside the bunker. There was a gravelled path that lead towards the doors that were hidden behind shrubs. It was one of those lucky by chance things, the team arrived and the Un-sub was outside, about to go into the bunker. While Prentiss and JJ read him his rights and stuck him in the back of the car, Spencer, Rossi and Luke threw open the metal doors and made their way inside cautiously. Spencer wanted to throw all caution to the wind. Guaranteed the two other men he was with wanted to as well. All they wanted to do was get their girl back. But sometimes looks could be deceiving and more danger could be lurking up ahead. In this case, there wasn’t.

Spencer ran down the long echoing corridor, medics behind him. The cells were empty apart from one.

“Y/N! Y/N! Can you hear me? Were here Darling just hold on okay, i’m here baby i’m here.” Spencers voice was full of panic as the three men used all their strength to open the tightly sealed bunker door. Spencer could faintly see through the porthole door, the grime and condensation obstructing his view slightly. You weren’t moving. He started to panic even more and when the door hissed and flung open it was if the world was moving in slow motion.

You were pale, eyes closed, dry blood across your practically naked body. Dirty cloth wrapped around your blood soaked thigh and cuts littered your body in all shapes and sizes. One of your hands was handcuffed to a railing next to the rusty spring covered bed and you looked smaller than you’d ever looked before. Spencer was on you in seconds. Luke had bolt cutters and had snipped the handcuff from the railing. Rossi was frozen in his spot, his daughter lifeless in front of him. Spencer lifted you carefully in his arms laying you on the ground.

“She has no pulse! She’s not breathing! She’s not breathing!” He started pumping your chest, 1,2,3,4…. check, no sign of breathing. He held your nose and blew into your mouth twice, Luke took over chest compressions as the paramedics set up the defibrillator. More Paramedics arrived, pushing the two FbI Agents away so they could work on you more thoroughly. Some tended to your still bleeding cute, needles attached to you for IV bags and then.

“Everyone clear!” The defibrillator sounded up. The shocking noise and the thud your body made against the cold floor seemed to echo all around. They shocked you a total of four times before they managed to get a weak pulse.

The ambulance ride wasn’t long, especially now that you had a police escort and most of the flashing lights in the city. You died and came back 3 times in the ambulance. Spencer hadn’t stopped crying since he found you bleeding and lifeless.

On arrival to the hospital you were instantly taken to surgery, some of the stab wounds too severe to be treated normally. The BAU occupied the waiting room, Rossi sat numbly staring at the floor, Spencer paced back and fourth, Luke kept on asking the Dr for updates every ten minutes and the rest of the team just waited for any news at all.

——————————————————————————————————

-Your POV-

You hadn’t remembered your cell being this bright. Maybe your captor had taken you outside. Maybe you hadn’t died in time to be spared of the cruel torture that was about to follow. What was that dreadful beeping sound? You blinked, your eyes taking their time to adjust to your surroundings. You were defiantly somewhere else and you started to panic, the beeping got louder and faster. You tried to sit up.

“Spencer! Spencer! Wake up she’s awake!” You couldn’t make out the voice clearly, it sounded like… your dad? But how? Were you dreaming. Maybe this was your body in its final stages playing a cruel trick on your subconscious.

You tried to talk, but your throat was dry and you were hit with a wave of pain. Someone pressed ice chips to your lips, slowly but surely you accepted them, the coolness coating your vocal cords.

“Please, please tell m-me this isn’t a d-dream.” A tear leaked from the corner of your eye and rolled down your cheek only to be kissed away by… your Spencer.

“Baby, it’s not a dream, I found you, we found you. You’re safe now and I’m never letting you go again.”

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Welp, There we go. The final chapter! I hope you liked this mini series! If you like Criminal minds or want me to write for anyone else.. maybe Luke Alvez... let me knowwww i'll consider it ;) Please Reblog/follow/like <3333

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@waddles03

@nocturnalherb16

@reidscardigan

[fourangers]

Hi Fourangers,

First of all, I love your blog so much. It's like going through a history back when Naruto Manga chapters were released weekly and your reviews were so Golden, Hilarious and spot-on. Am a new fan though (especially an SNS fan), I just got into this fandom only this year. I don't know if you'll answer my ask, but I just wanted to try and ask you few questions and I pray that you might answer me....

1. Since you've written in a post that you were active in the eastern part of the fandom, How was chapter 698 received in Japan? Because this is the chapter I inherently realized they both love each other. Yeah, I was too late but somehow whenever they interact with each other in previous chapters I always find them to be 'Weird' for just to be friends. Chapter 698 is just blatantly obvious that they love each other. Considering Homophobia and Shounen genre, I have no idea how it was perceived over there back then in 2014.

2. Which scene made you to ship SNS?

3. As an SNS'er how do you feel about the ending, where everyone was married off when they were just 19 just to make some shitty sequel??? As a new fan, I felt betrayed and It would've been perfect if they had stopped at chapter 699, leaving an open ending.

4. How do you face with the accusation about Naruto and Sasuke as brothers and we, SNS'ers are Incest shippers??? I don't care about that Indra and Ashura thing. But Naruto himself told he considers Sasuke as his Brother couple of times. And in Chapter 699, Sasuke acknowledged, 'He finally understood what it meant'.... It's the only thing that confuses me and I don't even have an answer!!! Plus, Kishi himself gave an interview that he based Sasuke on his Brother... I really wonder how he gave such an interview when he literally made them wear necklaces with each other's faces.

5. How was Naruto and Sasuke's sexuality perceived in the fandom back then??? Man!! Kishimoto just made lot of comic reliefs on their sexuality by making Sasuke on Sai jutsu, Naruto not interested in Icha Icha but making Reverse Harem no Jutsu, Naruto was angry when Konohamaru made Boy on Boy jutsu whereas he had no problem with him doing it. LOL. And all those homoerotic posters. What do you think about their sexuality, personally??

6. Why did Kishi had to develop their bond as Soulmates with some unintentional or intentional romantic undertones, if he was eventually going to pair them up with girls??? He easily could've gave many such romantic tropes to other girls and keep the bond between N and S as purely friendship or brothers. It still would've made sense.

7. Final one, Was Naruto really Nosebleeding when Kurama made a joke about Sasuke's kiss in Chapter 572???? We had a lot of heated discussion with other shippers where they claim that it was just a splotch of snot.

Sorry for the lengthy ask....... I am so eager to know your answers and I don't want to spam your ask box by sending multiple asks.

Thanks 😊😊😊

Hey yo! Welcome new SNS fan! I'm so glad that you joined us and I'll try to answer as best as I can. I'm not very active here on tumblr (except browsing lol) but your ask was such a delight to read.

1. I honestly don't remember. I think I didn't follow the japanese boards until the eventual 699-700 disaster. People were craving for reactions and I was curious about it too lol. And well...it's been years, I doubt I'll be able to find the reactions from that time. Imo, most readers don't care much about pairings, they just wanted to read about power-ups and abilities and the basic Naruto Vs Sasuke. Though there are some backhanded jokes about how gay Naruto is for Sasuke.

2. Hah. It's going to be very anti-climatic but it was when Naruto and Sakura were eating in Ichiraku Ramen. Naruto just used Rasenshuriken against Kakuzu and he busted his arm. Sakura was healing his arm and her attention was focused on Naruto. I used to be a NaruSaku shipper so I thought "Oh hey! This is the moment that Naruto would have a candid romantic moment!" But nope. He talked about Sasuke. And I was already getting suspicious about Sasuke's feelings towards Naruto ya know? And the whole "SASUKE IS MIINEEEEEE" in Orochimaru's lair. It was that moment I thought "you only have Sasuke in your head don't you, Naruto?" and started shipping SNS.

3. Hooo boy was I surprised when it was suddenly revealed that they had the basic heteronormative, boring marriage with bunch of clones of themselves. Everyone thought that it was almost like a bad fanfiction come true and some thought that it was fake. It was a pandemonium lolololol. I also thought that it was too lame to be true and lo and behold, when it came true I was floored. And then whenever Kishimoto threw new material, I got insanely pissed off because S*arada and B*ruto becoming pairing material is ok because they are a girl and a boy, and then they paralleled with Naruto and Sasuke which are only FRIENDS because they are both men. ARGH. Open ending was what Kishimoto planned from the very beginning but wrote a sequel to earn more money.

In that aspect, I made peace with it because of the whole anime/manga industry. I learned that, as a mangaka, you don't earn a lot of money with selling books, but rather with merchandise and profiting with sales right. And that guy have a family to raise, have two kids (which is hilarious about how B*ruto movie is his self-insert story), he needs a steady income. Also, I read reports about how anime studios are so poor and animators don't receive a decent income not to mention they are overstaffed and tired, and B*ruto is a good money cow for them to earn money so they can invest later on other anime they have more passion about it. So even though I hate this story with a strength of thousands suns, they are putting meal on people's tables and making them pay rents. I'm ok.

4. Lemme roll my eyes because in the Last movie they said that Hinata is related to Kaguya and so is the Uzumaki and Uchiha clan so they are all related woo hoo. But in the aspect of brothers because reincarnations bla bla bla, didn't Naruto himself said that he's no longer that brother, he's himself? Hmm...I gotta re-read it. One day. Maybe. lol. But I'm sure that he said "Sasuke is not my brother but I'm sure we'll understand well as friends" so there. Honestly, there are a lot of interviews out there and a lot of them are fake, so I'd always take the interviews with a grain of salt lololol. I do know from artbooks that Kishimoto wanted to create Sasuke as a rival-esque character and that was it. As he was developing Sasuke and Naruto's relationship, since he liked the whole yin-yang concept, whenever he wrote Naruto's story, Sasuke's was developed at the same time as his shadow.

5. I can tell from Naruto Forums (I used to participate back in that day) MOST of the non-shippers thought it was gay as hell, but you know...it was a relic of that time. While they thought it was gay, they didn't put too much thought about you know? Because it was shounen, and we knew that it was a joke that it couldn't be taken seriously. Of course, in the SNS fandom, we did make more analysis and there were a lot of instance when Naruto and Sasuke's sexuality was questioned. Some other non-shippers also thought that Naruto was totes gay for Sasuke (including a IRL friend).

Imo, Naruto is definitely bisexual in my view. Sasuke I think he's asexual or gay. He's attracted to Naruto, but mostly because of his connection to him, not because of his physical attributes, so yeah...asexual. Or Pansexual. Sasuke is more complicated lmao. Imo, Naruto could be pansexual too, come to think about it. Yeah, I guess both being pansexual can be valid.

6. He developed Naruto and Sasuke being soulmates from the very beginning, that was proven in his comments in artbooks and in the manga. He probably created with the intention of making it purely platonic, going beyond physical ties. Then he shot himself on the foot by drawing Naruto thinking about Sasuke on bed, talking about how Sasuke is cool, meanwhile Sasuke waxing poetic about how Naruto saved him. What gives? Lol. Yeah, I think he got too enamored writing their relationship that he didn't have time to write romantic ones. What I noticed that Sakura's popularity never was really high, so I could see some editors putting their fingers all over it and making her less relevant. Also, Kishimoto didn't know how to handle her, so when she got her time to shine was the whole fake confession disaster. Coupled with Kishimoto sexism and, in his words (Kurenai's flashback), women are useful to spout more babies, women was never really relevant in his story, unfortunately. Even Kaguya who was technically the big bad boss, was never really fleshed out in comparison to Madara. So the null het romantic moments it's not because he wanted to elevate SNS moments, it's more about how he's incompetent about it. It's either Hinata slowly elevating to a relevant status because forced interaction (Pain's sacrifice and Neji's death) or Sakura being obligated to be pining over Sasuke because she's a girl. It's even more painful to see that, if we ignore B*ruto, both girls are shown to be just talking with their kids and dusting shelves, basically being housewives, even though thorough the story (especially Sakura) it was implied that both of them have much more potential than being their husband accessories.

7. It was a splotch of snot. I can confirm myself lol. Whenever the chapter is out and fans would scan it to scanlate it, the editor usually would amp up contrast to max. So usually the lines get much more thicker than usual, when you read the official release which gets straight from the source, you can notice how the lines are more delicate.

Oh lol...but then we also have a lot of controversy about translating style. THAT one is a whole new can of worms to open.

Man I had fun answering your questions! Please send more :P

[tinyboxxtink]

“Helpless” *Part 10*

Dammit!! I really wanted a nice and even chapter set, but I couldn’t fit the proper ending in here. So, I guess I’m just gonna have to deal. LoL. 

Side Note: I initially wanted to toss the word ‘helpless’ in there to go with the title, and now it’s just everywhere. So, sorry if it seems cheesy lol. And if you don’t notice that’s a good thing! It just bothers me...lol

Master List

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Part 8

Part 9

FINALE!!

Tag List 

@wanniiieeee

@dumauier

@chasingeverybreakingwave

@word-scribbless

---

You were lost in your thoughts when Olivia’s phone rang. 

“...Yeah, uh huh. Alright, thank God. Yeah she’s here,” Olivia glanced at you. “Uh huh...yes we will, Okay thank you,” She hung up the phone and looked at you again. 

“They caught your friends,” she told you.

“Oh they are NOT my friends,” you scoffed.

“I thought you said--” She started.

“Arianna was my best friend, until she got the lo--until she got Rafael shot,” You tripped over your words, not really wanting to get into the ‘love’ debacle with Olivia again.

“I see. Well, apparently they didn’t have the gun they used to shoot Rafael on them, and they’re insisting that you have it,” She stated coldly.

“I...Wha...A-Are you serious?!” You were shocked. “I-I-I-I...I don’t have a gun! I don’t have ANY gun! Y-You saw me!”

“She’s right Liv, we didn’t see a gun on her at the scene,” Rollins pointed out.

“She could have stashed it,” Olivia eyed you?

“A-Are you serious, Detective? Didn’t we just do this? I couldn’t have-- I would NEVER--” 

“Alright, why don’t we just start from the beginning, okay?” Carisi interrupted you, trying to be the mediator. 

“...The beginning of what, exactly?” You asked confused. 

“Of the night,” 

“Well, I mean you were there at the beginning,” you shrugged. 

“Right. So take us after we left you...in the kitchen,” Carisi alluded to when they had caught you making out in Fazzoli’s kitchen like teenagers.

“Right. Um, so Rafael helped me re-do all the prep we knocked over, and then he gave me a ride home, and then we--” You paused, wondering how much detail was really relevant. You decided some things were better left private.

“We said good night, and then I went upstairs and Arianna was packing, and she said we had to leave and I was never gonna see Rafael again, and when I refused she pulled a GUN on me,” You paused again, reliving the night all over again. 

“So I called Rafael because I was scared, but I know I shouldn’t have because I knew he’d want to come and be a hero or something. He wanted to call you, and I said no. Then he said he was going to come himself and I still said no! But then Arianna came in and heard him on the phone so she smashed it, and then--”

“So why exactly, did your friend pull a gun on you?” Fin interrupted you.

“I...um, because I wouldn’t do what she said,” you bit your lip.

“Right. And why did she say you both had to move and ‘never see Rafael again’?” He raised an eyebrow.

“I um-- well she, she thought he was going to come after us. Her, really,” you started to twirl your hair furiously.

“And why would he do that?”

“God..” you didn’t want to do this. You didn’t want to have to explain to actual cops what you did. But you also knew lying would bite you in the ass, so you continued.

“...Because I told him what we do,” you looked down at the floor.

“And what do you do, Y/N?” Olivia aske sternly.

“I...we...we sort of...hustle, people,” you muttered, still looking at the floor.

“You hustle people?” 

“Yeah I have this superpower--” you started, but suddenly realized you sounded like a nut job.

“A superpower,” Fin half laughed.

“Not like laser eyes superpowers. Like a...skill?” you tried finding a better word for what you did.

“A skill?”

“Yeah I can-- um, read people,” you bit your lip again, not really knowing how to explain this.

“Like a psychic?”

“No! Like...body language. Microexpressions,” You didn’t know why they would know what those were, but you really didn’t have another word for them.

“Oh like on that show!!!” Carisi chimed in excitedly, causing the squad to stare at him. “What? I love Tim Roth,”

“So what, you’re just really good at reading body language? How does that help you hustle people?” 

“I mean it’s-- it’s more involved than that,” you replied, a bit offended.

“Yeah Fin, you should see this show man. They’re basically human lie detectors,” Carisi added.

“It’s a TV Show” Fin rolled his eyes.

“But it’s based on real life science! Science I’ve studied my entire life, basically,” you  started kicking yourself, should they really know how good you were?

“...Ok well whatever, so you were scamming Rafael and he found out?”

“NO! Well…” you bit your lip. “Kind of,” 

“Kind of? My best friend could be dying because of you right now, so you better start talking straight to us,” Oliva got in your face.

“I am! Ok look: I really liked Rafael for a really long time, and then Arianna told me his name and so I kinda ‘went for it’ but I really did like him! And then Arianna told me to start ‘using him’ and getting something out of him we could use, so I started to. But when he told me that his dad used to beat the shit out of him I couldn’t--”

“I’m sorry, what?” Olivia interrupted you. 

“...He told you about his dad?” 

“I...um, yeah,” You looked down at the floor again; he probably wouldn’t have wanted you spewing his life long secret out in public like that. The squad all looked at each other in disbelief. 

“....That must be one hell of a superpower,”

“I-I can’t believe he told you-- he’s never even told ME,” Olivia blinked in disbelief. 

“...So you manipulated him into telling you intimate things, and then what? He figured it out?” Rollins persisted.

“Yeah, pretty much. But I sent him away before he told me anything else, and I told him to stay away from us!” you defended yourself. 

“And why’s that?” Fin asked.

“Because Arianna doesn’t give up, that’s why. She would have kept on digging, but I told her that he was onto us so she backed off. And then he just had to come back and talk to me, and-- and talking about ‘saving me’ from Arianna, like he could,” You rolled your eyes, why did you ever let him try?

“He wanted to ‘save’ you? From your best friend?” Rollins now raised her eyebrow.

“She was my ONLY friend. My only family. She kept me to herself, and manipulated me our whole lives,”

“Oh ok so this is all Arianna’s fault, and you’re just the victim, is that right?” Olivia scoffed. 

“NO!!! Look, I told you-- I kept telling him to back off, I even straight up ghosted him after he gave me his number. But then tonight he--”

“Insisted we have dinner at Forlini’s,” Rollins finished, making your face fall. 

You knew it; he was trying to reach you. Maybe if you had just called him back, or texted him ONE TIME, he wouldn’t have brought everybody there tonight. Then Arianna wouldn’t be on to you, and then none of this would’ve happened.

“You HAVE to believe me,” you begged them. “I never intended for Rafael to get mixed into all of this. I tried to stop him, I tried to push him away from me but he just-- wouldn’t,” 

“Mr. Barba’s a fighter, like I said,” Carisi shrugged.

“Liv, I believe her,” Fin looked at her. 

“It does sound like something Barba would do,” Rollins agreed.

“Yeah I...I guess so,” Olivia was still shaken up from the fact that Rafael had shared his deepest secrets with you, who he barely knew,  over her.

“Look Arianna’s going to try and take me down with her, but if you just ask Rafael--” you started, but still Olivia would not let you finish any sentence about her best friend.

“And how are we supposed to do that, Y/N? He’s lying on a surgical table, because for whatever reason he thought he could ‘save you’ from your apparently ‘manipulative’ best friend!” She kept herself from physically shaking you, 

“...I know,” Was all you could say.

“Liv we don’t know anything right now, okay? We still could ask Rafael when he--” Rollins started.

“IF he” Olivia interjected.

“Liv, be positive,” Carisi warned.

“We can still check her story. Meanwhile, she’s still ‘in our custody’,” Rollins finished.

“You’d better--” Olivia started but was interrupted by the doctor returning from the OR. He was covered in blood.

“Oh my god…” you whispered, tears stinging your eyes. 

“He lost a lot of blood,” The doctor explained. “But he made it through surgery...barely,” 

The squad and yourself let out a collective sigh.

“The next 12 hours are crucial,” he went on. “If he makes it through then, he’ll have a fighting chance,” 

“Oh my God…” You put your hands over your head, trying to breathe, but Rafael’s blood on them just made you panic more.

“Can she...do you have anything she could change into?” Fin took pity on you and your blood soaked outfit.

“Yes, yes of course. We have showers and some scrubs you can wear dear,” The surgeon nodded to a nurse.

“We’re gonna need those clothes for evidence,” He told you.

“Right..” you nodded softly.

“Right this way dear,” a nurse gestured to you to follow her. 

As you followed her, you wondered if the squad would update you if something happened with Rafael. And then you thought-- would you really want them to?

On your way to the showers, you saw a team of surgeons rolling Rafael down the hall on a gurney. You couldn’t help yourself, you had to see him. You ducked out of the nurse’s view and chased the gurney down the hallway.

“Wait! Please!” You yelled, they turned and stopped.

“Ma’am you really can’t be back here,” 

“I..I’m with her,” You glanced behind you to see the nurse coming after you. 

“I just-- I needed--” You stared at Rafael, just lying there. Lifeless. Helpless. You felt yourself start to cry for the millionth time tonight. 

“Friend of yours?” the nurse asked. 

“Dude, I think he’s more than her friend,” another one rolled his eyes.

“Can I just--?” You pointed to Rafael.

“Yeah alright, just a SECOND,” He stepped away and looked down the hall, pretending not to see you.

You moved past them and stood right next to Rafael’s head, stroking his hair.

“I love you, Rafael Barba. I am not done loving you yet, do you hear me? You fight. You come back to me,” You ordered the unconscious man, like an idiot. 

“Please,” you whispered, before placing a kiss on his head. You nodded a ‘thank you’ to the team, before they continued down the hall. 

“Sorry,” you apologized to the nurse for ditching her. 

“It’s fine, I’d do the same for my husband,”

“Oh we’re not--”

“Oh, you’re not? So you REALLY can’t be back here, can you?”

“I-I guess not,” 

“Alright...you know what, here,” She pulled out a sticker that said “ALL ACCESS”.

“I could get in trouble for this, but just in case I’m not here when you get all cleaned up, use this to get to his room. It’s family only in ICU,” 

“R-Really? Seriously?” You took the sticker in shock. “You’d do that for me? Why?”

“You looked so helpless, just standing there,”  She turned her head sideways in sympathy. 

“Thank you,” You whispered, and she nodded as you two resumed walking down the hall towards the showers.

Hopefully you could use that sticker SOON.

[cdelphiki]

2020 Creator Wrap: Favorite Works

I was tagged by @sohotthateveryonedied, thanks for the tag!

Rules: It’s time to love yourselves! Choose your 5 (or so) favorite works you created in the past year (fics, art, edits, etc.) and link them below to reflect on the amazing things you brought to the world in 2020. Tag as many writers/artists/etc. as you want (fan or original) so we can spread the love and link each other to awesome works!

I’m not going in a particular order, except #1 is my #1 right now just because my head is so stuck in that story and I’m obsessed lol 

1. Reclaiming Innocence 

This idea came to me while I was writing Not All Kidnappings and pretty much the first chapter was jotted down in my notebook in early August and left there until I started flipping through it in like October or whenever I started posting and I got re-obsessed with the idea and wrote three chapters in about a day. I just love Jason-joins-the-family fics and recovery-from-abuse fics and so I guess it’s natural I love this story with my entire heart. 

2. Jason and the Three Terrors

I LOVE this AU. The basic premise was given to me in a prompt over 2 years ago at this point, and I wrote like the first 40k words in 2019, but I didn’t start posting until 2020 so I think it counts. I really want to get back to it and finish up part one so I can start drafting part two, but I’ve bitten off more than I can chew when it comes to writing so it’s sitting on hiatus at the moment. :( but i LOVE Mara with my entire heart and really look forward to the first time Jason tells her he loves her because both those children deserve family and love and happiness and 😭 (and same with damian and athanaisa as well. and I can’t wait for Bruce to meet them all. ahhhhhh I really want to write the (alternate scene) where jason takes them straight to bruce and bruce is like !!!!!!! jason??????? and jasons freaking out because he knows bruce hates him and he’s sorry he’s there but b you just have to take these kids okay? and bruce just wraps jason up in a hug completely ignoring the three kids for the moment because ‘omg jason how-- how are you here? i miss you so much.’ and 🥺 but again that’s just an alternate scene because jason moves the kids to metropolis per the prompt first.) but anyway, I love this story, I daydream in it all the time, and I can’t wait to get back to writing it.

3. Not All Kidnappings Are Bad

This was really fun to write. I had no idea I could write an entire book so quickly, but I wrote this in about three weeks? It also is what spawned the Reclaiming Innocence idea, and I’ve had a lot of fun daydreaming in the AU. Like I imagine Jason became friends with Billy, and maybe Garfield later. Does he become Robin? Dunno, but he certainly hangs around the team a lot, and he’s everyone’s little brother, not just Dick’s. What a cutie pie. 

4. Second Chance

Honestly I think this is my best one shot. I just... i love it so much. It might be because I wrote it at like 2 am one day, and was extremely sleep deprived, but I just feel like it was so emotional and compelling and I love it so much. Talia being a good mom and Bruce getting to meet his baby son (and being so happy about it) and baby Jason getting a little brother is ❤️   I reread this one all the time.

5. To Cheat Death

Jason doesn’t die Au!!!!! I’m obsessed with this idea, too. I have so many plans for a second chapter, but no time to write it so I haven’t. I also screwed up by making Bruce sing and say he discovered Jason liked it on a road trip, but like Jason was supposed to be excited Bruce suggests they both take a break and go on a trip because he’s ‘never been on a road trip’ so that’s lame, but yeah. This was another emotional fic that made me tear up while writing it. Bruce’s absolute gut-wrenching fear when Jason was dead in his arms, to his overwhelming relief when he started crying again was just 🥺 I go back and reread this one a lot, too. 

I tried to tag people but I chickened out, so if ANYONE wants to do this, feel free! I tag you!!

[alicemitch09writes]

Hey babe, just re-read unloving Miya Atsumu 😔😢 and boy are the feelings back 😩 really related to the MC and loved how this was a different “love” story; just had some unresolved questions about the story: (if you’re down to answer them/sorry if you answered these before!)

-was the dad of y/n ever truly apologetic for what he did?

-did the end result of y/n and Atsumu conclude what she needed to move on from him fully? Or is there a possibly they’ll get together in the future?

-would you ship them personally as a couple, had the situation been resolved earlier; or were they “doomed” from the start ? ( I get the story premise is somewhat of being able to love someone without truly being with them/having to figure yourself out/continue to grow for yourself)

Thank u if you answer these questions and can’t wait for more future works! 🧚🏼‍♀️🛌✨👩🏻‍🌾🙇🏻‍♀️

No worries! You guys can always ask me stuff that've made you stop and think while reading. I love hearing what you guys think!

Actually, this may sound weird and somewhat narcissistic of me, but I have a habit of just rereading my fics and the reviews just to remind myself that: yes, I wrote that; it took me so much time to get that one chapter done, flashbacks of what i was doing or what inspired some scenes/quotes, and of the people who have come to enjoy my work :”3

Soooo...to answer your questions, be ready, they're kinda lengthy because it has a history to it (maybe a few):

Reader's dad? Well, while writing about him I thought about my uncles. Now, on my mother's side, she has like 8 siblings and 4 of them are male. However, only one of them has had a successful marriage while the rest of them are separated from their wives. Two of them actually moved in with my grandmother whilst their ex-wives and family moved to the states. One is a lawyer (and my favorite one) who’s doing better than the two, because he has his own house and doesn’t mooch off from my mom or take advantage of being our uncle. After my grandmother died, they moved out so one lives in an apartment and the other uncle actually lives with us, and he's the eldest of them all. Anyway, I remember talking to my mom about my uncles and she just said that 'some people don't stay together' or something like that until I eventually came to my own conclusion on how pathetic they really were: 'they couldn't save their own marriage' but didn't because they were prideful. Most especially for the oldest, because he has a mistress (whose still with him to this day), and to my horror, I remember visiting said mistress' house. My mom keeps telling me to understand his circumstance, because there are times when he really regrets what he did. He has 5 kids, who I'm sure have some grudge against him. He tried to see them in the States, but I don't know what happened. So going back to Reader's dad, it's kinda like that of my uncle's. Like, he realized years later how shitty he was and how much he's lost. It's kinda hard to delve more to this, and when I did research, it was really so hard for me to watch videos about kids realizing their parents cheated on them or abandoned them, I only have to remember stories from my friends and those cheesy dramas we Filipinos love. I do remember one student of my old coworkers who shared that he was sad because they were divorcing their spouse, so I thought about that. But more than anything, Reader's dad still loves his children, but what's done is done. Mika and Reader are the only ones who knows about their dad, but never Kaoru. Despite everything he's done, he thinks he still deserves to see his children. So him coming to Hyogo and contacting Mika? That was just to set his mind at ease. (Think of Taiga's Dad from ToraDora)

I actually thought about that, but came to three conclusions: they can get together, but that won't last long; the foot route; and Suna. If you happen to read 'outsider looking in', then in the end, Atsumu wasn't destined for her. At the end of the story, when she said what she said, it's her basically telling herself that: 'this is my first love, but that's about it.' It's accepting that the first person you opened your heart to isn't necessarily the one for you. She's already moved on, taking what happened to her from ULMA as a lesson and found true happiness and love in the form of Suna Rintarou.

Hmm, that's a tricky question. Considering first and foremost the two - Reader and Miya Atsumu, they have priorities: volleyball. Reader will do everything in her power to keep Atsumu playing, because it's his passion. I would say I shipped them at one point (mostly because of the routes), but realized in the end that it was really for not. Don't get me wrong, I really love the 'opposite attracts' trope, more so because the two of them are childhood friends, but let's not factor out the fact that should Atsumu be slighted by a tiniest bit, that'll surely harm him performance, Reader would never forgive herself.

I want to expound more on the last part, but my brain's all mush. I might come back to edit this though.

Hope I answered your questions!

Thanks again for the reread! You can always check me out at ao3, ff.net, and my masterlist for more stories!

[lackadaisicalnereid]

I posted 432 times in 2021

10 posts created (2%)

422 posts reblogged (98%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 42.2 posts.

I added 145 tags in 2021

#deep space 9 - 20 posts

#poetry is life - 19 posts

#star trek - 18 posts

#doctor who - 16 posts

#fandom is a queendom is my new fandom tag - 15 posts

#dune - 15 posts

#capitalism is a nightmare - 11 posts

#fic fic fic - 11 posts

#i love lucy is my new lucy tag - 11 posts

#that show about a ot5 family of thieves - 9 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#i mean don't get me wrong me accomplishing to have some fun with a piece of media is in this case to my credit and not at all to the credit

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

Yo does anyone out here think I could find an audiobook/drama version of Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet with ~modernized language? A friend expressed interest in listening to sth like this, and I'm not sure where to locate such a Thing™?

3 notes • Posted 2021-01-18 10:49:32 GMT

#4

queen of WIPs

So I was nudged by @bohemicns and @elasticella (thank you <3) to list my WIPs & here they are - at least of course, the ones I’ve at least thought about doing something with in the last few months. I’ll happily blabber more about any/all of them

1 my gossip girl dan/blair multichapter with dan/blair starting an affair in paris while he's married to serena (ikr?) which i’m having trouble deciding the direction of 2 my jeremy/elena/caroline as leia/luke/han star wars a new hope AU (what even?) 3 my started like 1+ year ago wicdiv luci/laura thing where cass somehow also budged in and now neither her nor i are sure if she wants to rescue laura from luci, rescue luci from laura, or just say 'fuck it' and join them 4 my veronica mars (first ever!) logan/veronica something where they stumble across each other at a gas station (ah, liminal spaces, amirite)  5 my (first ever!) riverdale reggie/veronica enemies & lovers something (thankyou @bohemicns for making me do this) also omg no idea who to tag plz tag yourself if you wanna play with me

4 notes • Posted 2021-10-07 08:03:38 GMT

#3

There is not a WIP there I don't want to talk about, but let's focus on wicdiv & riverdale bc I want them soooo bad

Ok let us talk then:

Riverdale first!

I'm actually simultaneously really thrilled with this AND not sure what exactly to do with it? Though I never consider myself a writer whose problem is Too Many Ideas, here I think that might be actually troubling me? I want it to be noir and pulpy and for exchanges like this to take place:

Toni opens her mouth, but doesn't speak. She pours more of the whiskey into his glass. "Cheap whiskey for a cheap story?" Reggie asks. "I'll bring you some more, if the story's as good as you say."

However I maybe want to have basically a frame narrative with Reggie talking to Toni at the White Wyrm, but I also maybe want to alternate between Veronica and Reggie's POV? And do I want it to be noir-pulpy for all chapters? Do I want to show people (myself included) what's actually inside Reggie-boy's head, or just, you know, not, and keep the POV outside of his thoughts and let us get a feel for him in the dark, by the weak light of his actions? But I really like it! If you like this and, you know, wanna do a quick colab, maybe a bit of Lucy energy is what this needs :D I'm open to all advice & offers.

Also, I sorta want to make a proper Romantic (?) hero out of Reggie, which is a) ridiculous but also b) fitting?

if Reggie were more genre savvy, if he was Jughead, or maybe even Betty, he would have recognized what was going on. This is not to say Reggie is stupid, he decidedly is not. And anyway, who's to say he wouldn't have walked right into it anyway?

WicDiv second!

Ok, I sorta wanna do a darker (?) take on Luci/Laura (I mean darker than I think I usually do stuff?) and see what I can unveil esp re: Laura as she sorta maybe starts being a bit unhappy in their ~relationship?

Later that night, and later most nights, there's bruises on her. Marks of worship, or faith, or fucking something. But bruises heal quickly, or at least change colors, and right now there's a pantheon of colors traceable on Laura's skin, a gift from one goddess to another. Laura looks at herself sometimes in the mirror, and traces her bruised skin with her fingers, and thinks, this dark purple one, this is Baph, and the light sort of purple-greenish one, that is Baal. She thinks of the yellower one as Sakhmet. All her lovers written plainly on her skin. Luci the painter and all of her lovers at once. And Laura is what she's always been best at - a fan. Well. Mostly. Sometimes between the bruises and back-alley quickies, between coming and going and <i>fuck-you</i>s like guided missiles, something claws at the back of Laura's throat. It never quite makes it out. But, consider: She discusses her bruises with Luci, whispers in a sex-dishevelled bed. Laura whispers of past lovers and future ones, and says: <i>this bruise that claws at my throat, that one is you</i>, and Luci whispers of - nothing at all.

And I'm sorta fine with that! But! I don't know what to do with Cass. I wanna bring in Cass, but I'm not sure what she wants to do with Luci/Laura?

It's mostly this: Cassandra is a goddess who knows and no one believes her truths. It's also this: Lucifer is not a goddess of anything if she is not a goddess of lies. Looking at it from that angle, it's quite another thing entirely. "Laura's sleeping" Luci says. She gives Cass a good once-over, slow and indulgent, because sleeping with Laura more than once a week does not preclude her from having eyes, and for some reason it's important that Cass knows this. And anyway, she's worried she might be getting rusty. Seducing someone like Cass, well, a rusty goddess couldn't do that.

At least Luci is behaving aka wrecking havoc, as always, bless.

Now, gimme your thoughts! <3

5 notes • Posted 2021-10-07 10:50:55 GMT

#2

A question for all Grisha-verse fans out there: for someone who liked SC and didn't like SAB, and read the first SAB book and both Crows books, is it okay to move on to King of Scars without reading the second and third Grisha books? Asking for a friend, honest.

10 notes • Posted 2021-05-09 13:37:35 GMT

#1

anyone else feel like we're forgetting to thank misters kieron gillen and james mckelvie of the wicdiv for gwendolyne christie being cast as lucifer

30 notes • Posted 2021-01-29 10:49:02 GMT

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