#bellwether drabble

[l3xdrigo]

Since it's my birthday today and whatnot, this is gonna be a special post :D. I'm gonna show some drabbles and short stories that I've been wanting to share for a while so enjoy.

(also thank you to that one moot(@acesw) that has probably read most of these already and has suffered through my ramblings, appreciate you a lot<3)

(Most of these are Vernetto and Vertin-centric cuz they've been taking over my mind for months)

"Familiar"

It's over, the fight between the storm and Manus, it was all over. Many are bloodied, injured and tired yet cheered for their victory. Just outside the Manus's hide out was a new world that will greet them, time will no longer move backwards yet only forward. Opening the door, many arcanist and some humans alike rushes out, yet a figure stood still in front of the open door. What a familiar sight, someone steps outside and looks back and holds out their hand "Timekeeper.. It's okay now, we won, let's go and see the outside world together. Where we are all free" Vertin gave a smile, a somber smile, "I would love that.. but unfortunately I can't join you.."

A click inside the darkness of the building

" I'm sorry Sonetto, enjoy your freedom"

A loud bang echoed into the walls.

doesn't this feel so familiar for you, little puppy.

Sonetto was in a state of shock, her mind not processing what happened as the blood seeped out and spread. "Sonetto! What are you standing there for, come get Vertin and come over here" Lilya was the one who shouted, being meters away from them but her voice still reached her ears. Then, the whole situation sinked in... Sonetto dropped to her knees as it seemed all the strength left in her body was gone.

The hound couldn't protect her, it's bellwether.

(Or the foundation didn't need their timekeeper anymore, so time to let her rest)

"Aftermath"

The last drop of rain had risen and the sun began to rise, the storm was over. Bodies gone and only clothing was left, the Manus's dark ink-like substance stained the concrete ground. After grueling hours and days of fighting, it was all over, time is moving forward again, both sides had an abundance of followers and martyrs fighting for two seperate cause, they all fought rigorously yet only one remained.

Vertin on her knees stayed there, unable to move as fatigue and the strain of injuries took a toll, but also loneliness. She fought side by side with her team, her family, her herd but she was the only one remaining. Sotheby, Lilya,Regulus, Ms. Druvis, Mr. Apple.. Sonetto, they were all gone, her suitcase was destroyed, the arcanist and humans she's grown accustomed to were also gone. Was it worth it? For the mission of returning to the present but to lose everything to the past.

"One man shall fall and one man shall live to bear the consequences of thy sins" were the last words that left Arcana; the mission is over, take off your hat and face the scene in front, repent and walk to the light, a new tomorrow awaits you, Vertin.

("Are we all alone once again"- The Gleaming)

"Longing"

Sonetto was walking through the halls, passing staff members and managers and exchanging greetings. She was called to get on set today as they needed to record a new scene for the show "Reverse 1999"

Being a part of this project has been great, she's met a lot of directors and producers with a platter of amazing ideas, actors who have made some show-stopping scenes with their talents and.. as she opens the door, there she is. Vertin, with her ash-gray hair tied up in a messy bun, wearing her outfit as the Timekeeper of the show, just minus the coat, talking with one of the managers, smiling and giggling at times as they both talk about how a recent interview went. Oh how gorgeous she was, even after all these years, Vertin was still the one who holds Sonetto's heart captive and it's both a heart warming yet painful feeling.

Both of them have been friends since they were 4, it took Sonetto to grow fond of Vertin as she's been known to be quite a troublemaker but eventually she warmed up to her antics, even if she had to get her out of them most of the time. They both shared a passion for arts and literature, they were interested in theater and would watch them as their bond grew more and more throughout the years. Those times had to end however, as Sonetto flew abroad for college, leaving Vertin and the rest of her friends behind. She's gotten busy and due to that, both her and Vertin have somewhat drifted away from each other, the regret is still eating her even today, to be able to go back in time and fix that mistake. Now, Vertin has grown into an amazing actress and also has made a lot of new friends, she's met some of them, like a girl named Schneider, a bit of a flirt but she's great. There were times where she has gotten a bit envious of their bond, to be able to be so close to Vertin and not feel like her airways collapsed when she tried to utter a word.

She's here now but the distance still feels far, funny isn't it, she thought, 'how are characters we play fight against the reversal of time yet all I want is to go back and experience the past we had before' Sonetto could only sigh deeply, taking one last glance before one of the staff had called her, maybe she wasn't so different from the character she plays.

(Or maybe it wasn't just the lack of communication but another event that left them distant; actor au)

"How the moon stares at the sun"

Vertin stared at Sonetto as she smiles in the sunlight, gently reaching out to a butterfly. Sonetto looked ethereal, her orange hair slightly flowing in the wind, green eyes almost shining as brightly as the sun. Vertin knew how beautiful Sonetto was before ever since they were children of the foundation but right now really proved that thought a hundred times more. Warmth spreading to her cheeks as she just stared at her for what felt like an eternity but the moment Sonetto looked back at her, she immediately hid behind the safety of her hat.

"Timekeeper, are you alright?"

"... yes Sonetto, I am fine"

Sonetto tilted her head a bit, like a curious puppy who's also worried. It took a while for the "stoic" timekeeper to regain her composure again, though still feeling her heart beating like a drum.

"Let's go back shall we, Sonetto"

"Of course timekeeper!"

Sonetto happily followed as Vertin gave a small smile;the moon cannot shine without its sun.

(Look, lesbians)

"Reversed"

Vertin fought against forget me not and some manus followers, both are in equal battle but Fmn has the upper hand, catching Vertin off guard and using an attack that exploded a chunk of the right side of her head to bits. Her body falls to the ground, blood seeping almost immediately as in Fmn eyes, he won, she's dead, there's no way she could get up now, the deep wounds of the fight and a good chunk of her head and skull destroyed, she's dead. They retreat as the storm is here, leaving the timekeeper's body to rot.

As raindrops rise from the ground, it hits the corpse, but instead of just rising to the top, some of the raindrops were starting to affect the body. Vertin is immune to the storm's effects, but it seems that some part of that was false. Colorful liquid like substance starts to form on the sounds and the side of her head, being reversed to their original state, slowly but surely. Reversing the atoms and nerves and bringing life to her once more. She awoke again after a while, breathing heavily as the storm do it's job. Slightly touching the side of her head that was originally exploded, it still feels like liquid but she can feel some part of the bones restoring, it's best not to touch it as it actually quite hurts. Slowly getting up, and seeing the Manus nowhere to be found, she needs to head back to her team, she's worried that the Manus might try to do something.

Fmn attacks were getting stronger as the timekeeper squad casted incantation after incantation, just when Forget me not was going to land a tremendous attack, a strong attack from behind the head was enough to knock him out. The group looked at the source of the attack and spotted a familiar blue hat, Vertin stood there, clothes bloodied and parts of her body weirdly had clusters of colorful liquid. They stared for a moment, not really knowing how to process.

"I'm guessing you would like to know what happened?"

"I- YES WE WOULD LIKE TO KNOW"

Regulus quickly answered back, Vertin internally sighed, this is going to be a long explanation.

(Vertin being able to heal in the storm was an interesting idea I've had)

"Clinging onto a thread"

As Vertin, Regulus, Sonetto, Mr. Apple and lilya are walking to Madam Z's office after getting back from the island and that god-forsaken first field mission, Vertin speaks up.

"Umm...Regulus, you know it's okay to let go of me now right? "

Regulus could be seen clinging onto Vertin's left arm and Mr. Apple was holding onto a small part of Vertin's hat, she shook her head.

"Nah mate, from the amount of bull crap we just went through, I'm not letting you go. And besides, I'm not the only one clinging to you"

At her right, Sonetto could also be seen clutching at her arm, looking somewhat calm but the way she firmly holds her arm says otherwise.

Vertin just stays silent for a while, and continues to walk. It would be pretty hypocritical of her to make them let go, as she herself has been holding Lilya's hand, the eagle has been guiding them back the entire time.

(It's crazy to think that the island thing was their first-field mission)

"Can you please stop taking their timekeeper away every 5 minutes"

The timekeeper squad was in Madam Z's room, currently talking about some important matters as there was a knock on the door, Madam Z gave the permission to enter as a foundation staff walked into the room.

"excuse me Madam Z, we need to take the Timekeeper for a few moments to evaluate some reports about the recent storm."

The staff was immediately bombarded with questions.

Regulus: You're taking her already?? When will she come back?

Foundation staff: in maybe a few hours

Lilya: And how long are those "few" hours?

Foundation staff: it is estimated to be around 1 or 2 if the evaluation goes smoothly

Sotheby: You're not going to bring her anywhere else right?

Foundation staff: of course not, just to the research Center.

Druvis: After the evaluation, is there anything else she would do after?

Foundation staff: umm,, it depends but I'm certain that it's only an evaluation, nothing more after that.

The foundation staff looks at Madam Z if she can take the timekeeper who's been standing next to the foundation staff and seemingly waiting patiently.

"Just let her take her leave as soon as the evaluation is over, but other than that, yes the both of you may be excused."

The two left the room and it felt very awkward. Vertin apologized for what happened, telling the poor staff that they were just worried about her after the recent events, the staff brushed it off, saying that it's fine. Though deep inside it was incredibly scary, even the Apple seemed intimidating.

(Can we please stop taking their timekeeper away, they need her as much as she needs them🥹)

"Sleeping in"

Vertin slowly woke up, the fresh sunlight hitting here skin through the windowsill of her room. It's been a few days since the disastrous mission that her team just went through, being put on break as all recovers. Something was missing, or she should say someone, getting up groggily, she drags her body out of bed and outside her room. After walking in the suitcase for a bit, she spots what she was missing, Sonetto.

She spotted her right away and was about to greet her when Vertin wrapped her arms around her waist, bringing her to a hug. Sonetto lets out a small squeak from the unexpected action but quickly recovers and wraps her arms around her as well. "Are you still tired? " the timekeeper only let out a small hum as a response, the two have gotten closer since that mission, finding it hard when both were seperated, so the two prompted to sleep in together, not like both of them minded it(Sonetto was a flustered mess at first but hey, she's fine) . Finding comfort and solace with one another, through their aching pains and injuries, both have enjoyed each other's company and warmth.

Sonetto looks at one of the clocks for the time, it still seems too early for the two of them to be up, the rest of their team still asleep. "It seems a bit too early for you to be up timekeeper, would you like to head back to bed?" Earning another hum from the timekeeper, both make their way back to the bedroom. Maybe sleeping in wouldn't be so bad, they are on break after all.

(They deserve some eepy and cuddles. Again, lesbians)

(Idk if I'll add more to this later but damn this took a while)

[zootopi-imagines]

Imagine...

...if Bellwether visited Bunnyburrow when she was still a lamb and that Lionheart’s mistreatment of her was not her motivation for her uprising against predators, but was actually because of something much more... “romantic” in nature.

Requested by: Anon

Ship: Sharla x Bellwether

Words: 1, 509 (Way longer than intended.)

Drabble  ↓ ↓

Years after the events which shook Zootopia and the relationship between prey and predator, animals still spoke of the orchestrations of one sheep – Bellwether. They often theorized and thought about what made her “go off the rails” and do what she did, but never could figure it out. When ZPD spoke to her family, they all agreed that her sinister behavior began long before she was chosen as the mayor’s assistant and when she was still a ewe lamb, so their initial thought of it being because of the mayor’s behavior towards her was shattered. ZPD – mostly Judy – attempted time and time again to question Bellwether and find her reasons, maybe even reduce her sentence after she went through a honest retention for her actions and apologized, but she never budged and grew unbreakably silent as soon as the subject was brought up, lowering her head almost bashfully.

 And yet, because no one was killed or seriously injured in her escapade, and because a sheep’s lifespan drags no longer than 20 years, which was a record in sheep history, Bellwether was released from her cell after seven years of paying for her actions. The exceptions to her early release were simple: she was to live in Bunnyburrow for the next two years, stay away from all outside communications, and be fitted with an ankle monitor during her stay there. After all, it was Judy Hopps who finally made Bellwether understand that not all predators are savages, so even if she merely succeeded in making Bellwether tolerate them, ZPD knew the bunny cop had an impact on the sheep’s behavior.

 Bellwether understood that, but after a week of adjusting to the new environment, she still found herself scowling down at the beeping device on her ankle every few minutes, the sound nauseatingly annoying. Yet, she knew she couldn’t be bothered. Groaning, she tore her green eyes away and shifted them back onto the newspaper in front of her, shifting uncomfortably in her seat.

“Four carrots please.” A bunny, one of what seemed to be millions, requested.

“Four carrots.” Bellwether repeated out of routine, placed the requested carrots onto the clean paper, rolled it up, took payment, and handed the supplies over. After only a week, the sheep felt as if she could do her work in her sleep, and yet, she oddly enjoyed it.

“Oh, Dawn,” Mrs Hopps interrupted, however, “I can take over for a while; you can go take a look at the rest of the festival if you like.”

As much as Bellwether enjoyed her new job, and not just compared to her previous one, she quickly shot upright in her chair and nodded enthusiastically, her thick glasses hopping on her nose and her wool wildly bobbing back and forth. “Thank you, Mrs Hopps!” She called over her shoulder, already making her way down the dirt road. After a long day of work, she was even more excited to visit the old festival again. She was still a lamb when her mother took her to Bunnyburrow for a day to see their annual festivities, but of course, she knew her mother couldn’t recall – it felt like forever ago.

“Stop it Gideon!”

Bellwether instantly froze, her mouth growing dry and her skin growing pale underneath her wool – she recognized that voice.

“No point’n sayin’ that, Sharla; ya know that.”

Bellwether frantically searched the crowd of strangers and bunnies, but to her horror, no one budged to help, not even Judy, who was a mere ten feet away. Instantly, Bellwether’s face broke into a scowl. I won’t let this happen again, she screamed inwardly, and she couldn’t! With agile hooves, she pushed through the crowed and dashed out behind the caravans, grabbing a thick stick from the ground along the way and hoisting it above her head to attack. “Leave her alone, you sava-“ She hollered a warrior’s cry in her run, but as soon as she reached the argument, her words escaped her. In bewilderment and underneath the laugh of another sheep, Bellwether once again halted in disbelief, the wooden club slipping from her hooves and colliding with the grass behind her in a loud thud.

In front of her, shoving each other playfully in the midst of laughs and giggles, Gideon Grey and Sharla Woolworth were fighting over a bowl of flower and eggs, the first trying to add more milk while the other tried saving the dough from mutiny. “We have enough milk in it!” Sharla insisted, but Gideon recoiled, “Again, no point’n arguin’, Sharla – ya know I’m right.”

No surprise to a bewildered Bellwether, they were already both coated in flour.

 “Bellwether!?” Sharla finally exclaimed in delighted shock when she noticed the company, a goofy grin pulling at her natural overbite – she didn’t even care to notice the fact that Gideon took her distraction as an opportunity to add more milk, but of course…

“Oh sweet cheese an’ crackers,” Gideon gaped down at the useless mixture, “Ya where right! I’ll be right back!”

Riddled with nerves, Bellwether actually wanted to command Gideon to stay and not leave the two of them alone, but she couldn’t move. Of all things that could happen to her on the day of the festival, she ran into the one sheep who allowed her to enjoy it the first time she was there – the sheep that was the cause for Bellwether’s entire uprising against the predator community in the first place. But now, she thought, dread flooding in, she’s friends with the same fox that attacked her? She wondered how it was possible after how Gideon treated her as a lamb, but she couldn’t give herself an answer – she was too occupied with the fact that her entire scheme was pointless.

“Bellwether?”

She wondered if Sharla hated her, too.

“…Bellwether?”

It would make sense if she truly befriended a fox of all things.

“Dawn!”

 Bellwether was suddenly ripped back into reality with a small yelp and forced to notice the black sheep standing only a few feet away. “Ah, sorry.” She apologized sincerely – she must have been staring, “Sharla, was it?”

“Ah-hah.” She nodded enthusiastically, “And you’re Dawn Bellwether – I suppose you don’t remember me from when we were lambs, huh?”

The white sheep’s ears drooped even lower in shock, her eyes widening behind her large spectacles. “I-I do, actually…” She mumbled in disbelief, “I didn’t expect you to, though.”

“Of course I do!” Sharla chirped before rounding the table to close the gap between them, “You saved me from Gideon, didn’t you? Just like Judy!”

Bellwether could only nod, her jaw visibly slacked. Honestly, she didn’t remember it like that at all – she tried to save the sheep’s beautiful wool from the fox’s sharp claws, but only to be picked on as well – did she remember it wrong? What she recalled was Sharla protecting her in the end.

“And you still tried saving prey afterwards, didn’t you?” She continued when Bellwether stayed quiet, shocking the white sheep even further, “Of course, you got arrested, but you were up to the same old tricks, right?”

Bellwether felt her face grow hot underneath her wool. She couldn’t believe how much Sharla has changed – all in a good ways, too. She was no longer the shy little sheep she used to be; she speaks her mind with confidence – maybe a bit too easily, in fact.

“I tried.” Bellwether spoke, unsure if she should bring up her criminal past, but also not wanting Sharla to add anything more embarrassing, “But I took the wrong approach. I judged all the prey by the few and ended up becoming even worse than that few,” her eyes darkened, “but as soon as I am free to move around as I please, I will try to help again – not just prey, but both predator and prey – and attempt to destroy stereotypes! I’ll stop-“

The moment Bellwehter realized what she was saying, she bit her tongue and fell silent, regret instantly overwhelming her, but unlike what she had expected, Sharla only smiled.

 “I think that’s a great plan!” She agreed, forcing Bellwether to grin back at her with relief, but unfortunately, she continued yet again, “but…”

Bellwether’s joy quickly wavered at her crush’s ‘but’ and pause.

“…will you let me help you?” Sharla asked sheepishly – pun intended – and hesitantly held out her hoof, “After how you helped me, I mean.”

Bellwether caught a tint of teasing at the last statement, but she didn’t care. Without wasting a second, she placed her own hoof in her new friend’s own, her green eyes beaming, “I wouldn’t have it any other way!”

She secretly wondered if she should tell Sharla that she was her motivation from the very start, but she quickly decided against it – all in good time. Maybe then… they could be more than friends?

Who knew she’d be right about both.

 (Requests: OPEN. Picture is mine – it was edited by me.)

~ This is my last Canon Character x Canon Character. I work with Canon Character x Reader from here on out.

[demauryss]

Prompt 24 seems interesting

hi. thanks for sending this in :)) here’s my take on an office!au in which eliott is a graphic designer and lucas is assistant managing editor. hope you like this :))

no. 24 from “the way you said i love you” drabble challenge

When Lucas thinks about it, he figures it can be a lot worse than his current situation. He could be stuck in a dream in which he’s in his philosophy lecture from college which has somehow dragged to ten hours, revisiting the torture inflicted on his poor brain once again. He could be stuck third-wheeling Basile and Daphne – or, front-desk Helene and fourth-floor Sharon on their amazing, brilliant, always adventurous and with too much lovey-dovey stuff dates. And, if worst comes to worst, Lucas could be caught up in the Sammy and Tammy Riots – the STARS – that his neighbours are notorious for starting over issues of minute importance.

But it’s just his luck - Lucas would say - that out of all the above and decidedly much, much better ways for the universe to gang up on him for all the wrong he’s done, he’s stuck in a room with flaking brown paint on the walls, a broken fan and hanging bulb from the ceiling – both of which are worthy of being featured in a horror movie - and, admittedly, his worst nightmare – tall, beautiful Eliott Demaury, who’s currently jumping on his foot, holding the other one in his hands over the shoes after hitting the door probably too hard.

“I told you it won’t work,” Lucas sighs, stretching his legs which have now begun to cramp. He’s made a home for himself against a wall, sitting on the floor covered in dirt and a web courtesy of a spider he saw crawling under the bookshelf Eliott’s currently sulking against. He’s given up trying long ago, picking at the wood flakes on one of the cabinets to his right. Might as well make himself comfortable if he’s going to spend all day here.

“Eliott sit down,” Lucas sighs as Eliott picks up pacing in the room wide as his whole leg – probably even wider, Lucas’s just being dramatic, “You’re giving me anxiety.”

Eliott stops pacing, now standing in front of Lucas. His hands are perched on either sides of his waist as he stares down at Lucas’s reclining figure on the floor. His hair - the obnoxious, sex hair which Lucas has imagined many times passing his fingers through (just to see if they’re as silky as they look, no other reason) – a millimeter away from the bulb which is currently swinging, throws a shadow around the room, making the room resemble more and more to the set of a movie bound to give nightmares. Lucas decides, if he ever makes it out, he’ll direct a movie here.

“But Lucas,” Eliott sighs, lines beginning to form on his forehead. That can’t be good. “I need to be in the Conference Room in thirty minutes. I’m gonna fucking miss the presentation!”

Lucas forces the unease bubbling in his stomach down as he raises his arm to hold Eliott’s wrist, giving it a tug; his supervisor would be walking in the Conference Room in thirty minutes, livid, and with a now unemployed Lucas following behind her, if Lucas makes it out of here by then. Eliott stops his rambling about letting his supervisor down and everything to look at Lucas, eyes filled with so much tension Lucas almost throws up. “Calm down, Eliott,” Lucas says, tugging at the sleeve of Eliott’s camel jacket, “It would be all useless if you walk out of here with a ruptured blood vessel in your head or a dead cardiac tissue.”

Eliott lets a frown take over his features, quickly glancing to where Lucas’s hand is wrapped around his arm. Lucas drops his hand awkwardly, flashing Eliott a hopeful smile. Eliott sighs, dropping his shoulders before sitting himself against the wall in front of Lucas, who realizes his miscalculations just when Eliott stretches out his legs which reach Lucas’s knees. Okay, the room is bigger than Assistant Mayor Bellwether’s room from Zootopia.

“How are you so calm?” Eliott narrows his eyes, watching Lucas intently, like he’s gauging his reaction. He voice is higher, breathy. Lucas fears for the state of his skin, probably prepping to be covered in wrinkles in a couple of minutes.

“How can I not be?” Lucas shrugs as if he’s been stuck in a room like this a million times before. “You’re taking all the stress with you.”

Lucas smiles as Eliott giggles, some tension diffusion from his shoulders, “Yeah, I’m stressed out enough for both of us.” Eliott shakes his head, looking down for a bit, playing with the frayed thread of his jeans over his knees. The light over them in the sound-proof, signal-proof room flickers for a bit before turning bright again. Lucas realizes with a heavy heart that his worst fears are going to come true in mere seconds.

“I can’t not worry,” Eliott speaks softly, “My team is presenting the design for the book today. I can’t let them down.” The heaviness inside Lucas’s heart comes up in his throat. Lucas is the assistant of the Managing Editor, Marley, while Eliott leads a whole team of talented graphic artists in the Creatives Deparment. Lucas knows Eliott was supposed to present the design for a book cover. His job is more on line than Lucas’s is.

“Man, I’m never searching for archive files again,” Eliott groans, turning on his phone to see if there’s any network or not. Dejected and with a heavy sigh, he turns it off, looking up at Lucas, “What were you doing here before?”

Lucas shrugs, again, “Same as you, digging up old treasure.” While that’s partly true, Lucas can’t let Eliott know the times he’s spent sat just like this, allegedly on lunch during the break, serving his cold heart with its impulses to look at these fucking old files and memoirs and whatnot, holding worn out pages and pretty handwriting from days computers didn’t exist. There was a reason how the spot he chose to sit on was so clean, Eliott.

Lucas was busy in one of his sessions again when Eliott had walked in, all bright and fresh from the rain outside. Lucas had squeaked out a ‘Hi’ to Eliott’s pleasant ‘Hello’. It was weird to see Eliott this close after months of admiring him from afar. Even though their departments had caused them to interact with one another on many occasions before, but it was never like in this vicinity before, in a storage room as wide as half of Lucas and with no other person around.

Lucas was in a weird state of panic as Eliott told him of the file he was looking for, something from an artist working here before. And then a thunder, pretty powerful wind and a loud bang of door later, Lucas was stuck in the room with his raging crush and the person the crush was on. No amount of forcing the doorknob breathing its last and swearing at the door to open – or resorting to kicking it – had caused it to budge.

The rain has long since stopped, but the humidity prevails. Fucking physics and its useless fucking phenomenon. Lucas sits with trembling hands, legs now perched up, Eliott’s feet touching his own. Apart from the fear of doing something traumatic for both of them in front of Eliott, the light going out is taking away ten years Lucas’s life every time it flickers. Being stuck in a room with Eliott in front of him? Fucking great. Fantastic. Being stuck with Eliott in total dark? Count him the fuck out.

Eliott sighs once again, catching Lucas’s attention, “Why did it need to stick now?” He looks lost like a child, all tensed shoulders and creased forehead. Lucas can guarantee Eliott’s walking out with permanent health issues.

“Humidity,” Lucas answers, keeping his voice soft, probably too low. It’s as if he doesn’t want anyone to hear but Eliott, which is odd since Lucas could yell and the sound wouldn’t make it past a millimeter outside the door. Fucking fantastic sound-observant room, guys. Would definitely recommend having one in your house/office/whatever building, if you’re up for a quickie or two in terrible, unhygienic conditions.

Eliott looks at Lucas with confusion now replacing the worry in his eyes. Deeming it as a distraction, Lucas continues, “The door must have expanded from the humidity left by the rain. And when it banged shut, the added volume must have caused it to stick.”

Eliott narrows his eyes, “So it won’t open unless it de-expands?”

De-expands. Lucas smiles. Stretching his arms over his head he explains, “That’s right. So, we might be here for a while.”

“As if I don’t know,” Eliott scoffs lightly, leaning against the wall with a quite groan, “What time is it, though? My phone’s almost dead, and neither do I have any signal. Who’d have thought I’d be stuck in a ratty old room with you today?”

Eliott laughs as Lucas gulps down something acrid, a bitter feeling clawing up at his throat. It’s moment like this when he’s reminded of just how out of Eliott’s league Lucas really is. The realization that he won’t ever look at Lucas the same way kicks in much faster than he expects it to. But it’s fine. Lucas is all fine.

With a tremor in his arm, he takes out his phone from his pocket, pressing the home button. He clears his throat, “It’s one-fif-“ And then, like a car clash in slow motion, it happens. Something pops up on the screen. A notification. A message. A fucking message from front-desk Helene asking about his whereabouts. Slowly he turns his vision to the left-corner of the screen. Heart thrumming in his throat and tremor in his hands he leaps up to his feet, Eliott following him with his eyes.

“Lucas? Is everything alr-“

Lucas cuts him off, probably looking like a wild animalescaped from the zoo. “ELIOTT, I’VE GOT IT!!” He yells, previous trepidation about anyone but Eliott hearing him out of the fucking window. Eliott stands up, confused, “Got what?”

Lucas thrusts the phone in Eliott’s face. It takes a momentfor realization to kick inside him, but when it does, it’s beautiful. “Oh God, Oh God. Oh God. Lucas!”  He yells,excitedly bouncing up and down on his feet. Thank God. Now Lucas doesn’t have to worry about them running out of oxygen and their corpses decaying with no one knowing where they had went. Thank fucking God.

Lucas peers at the small lines at the corner of his screen which weren’t there minutes ago. Fucking miracles. He wastes no time in dialing Helene’s number, Eliott watching him with a small smile as he stutters out some nonsense involving “the storage room, Helene. Eliott-I’m-we’re stuck. Quick!” It makes no sense to his ears, blood currently filling them, spiked with adrenaline and- and Eliott looking at him like that. As Helene shouts something about being there in seconds, Lucas can’t take his eyes off of the now relaxed and smiling Eliott. His face is soft, soft. Lucas wants to tou-

There’s a bang. Another bang. Lucas jumps ten feet in air, Eliott backing both of them into the cabinet behind them. The door rattles, opening with a loud sound as it smashes just where Lucas was previously standing. He would have been hit in the face if Eliott hadn’t acted wisely. Lucas feels the warmth of Eliott’s hand on his arm too late before he’s being pulled away, Helene jamming into the small space in front of Lucas, several sturdy men behind her. They must have kicked the door open. So Eliott was really up to something, even if it didn’t work then.

“Lucas- oh god, are you okay?” Helene rushes out in a single breath. He chuckles, realizing how hard his hear is actually beating. Well Lucas, time for cover ups, “I’m fine, Lene. Though you should worry about this idiot. Pretty sure his blood pressure has passed the two hundred mark.”

He points to where Eliott stands, still pressed up against the cabinet. Helene shoots him a quick, worry-filled glance before deeming he looks fine. “You two can come with me to the break room. The presentation has been cancelled, that’s what I was going to text you about.”

She pats Lucas’s arm before turning, muttering about stupidrains and humidity. Lucas smiles, beginning to follow her. But he’s stopped in his tracks by a hand wrapping around his wrist. Before he knows he’s being turned around, and enveloped in strong muscular arms, heavenly orange-y sent blurring his senses, and warm face pressed into his neck.

Eliott’s hugging him. Eliott is fucking hugging him. EliottFUCKING Demaury is HUGGING HIM.

Before he could launch Operation PANIC AT THE FUCKING INTIMATE CONTACT WITH HIS CRUSH, Lucas is stopped however by his still sensible brain. Maybe Eliott’s just happy Lucas’s not the last person he’d see before he dies. Yes. That’s plausible. Awkwardly, Lucas wraps his arms around Eliott’s waist, inhaling the scent of oranges currently dominating his brain. Admittedly, Lucas thinks, it feels nice being wrapped up in somebody like this. He’s so much hug-deprived he’ll cry if he thinks about it.

Eliott gives a final squeeze before pulling away, a tentative smile on his face which is too close to Lucas. He can count the freckles. The smile on his face enlarges as Lucas awkwardly steps back. He needs to be professional.

“Thank you,” Eliott says, eyes in pretty crescents. Lucas wants to draw them. “You got me out of this room. I’ll love you forever Lucas, for this.”

Lucas’s heart catches up in his throat again. Eliott winks, before moving around Lucas and walking out of the room. Lucas feels his heartbeat in his ears, head, everywhere. Eliott said ‘I love you’. He probably didn’t mean it. Eliott said “I love you.” He probably didn’t think what he was saying. Eliott said, “I’ll love you forever, Lucas.” Maybe he goes throwing those words around to people helping him. Yes, that’s probably it. It’s not even that deep, Lucas. Eliott didn’t mean it that way. Stop complicating things.

So Lucas takes a deep breath, forces his heart back into his cage, and follows the receding figure of Eliott Deamury into the break-room.

[smuthuttpodcast]

Name/Handle/Alias

rlogarbagech1

About how long would you say you’ve been rooting for Reylo?

I tend to dive into things intensively, so while I knew there was an intriguing dynamic to Rey and Kylo's TFA interaction and I enjoyed what was teased in TLJ when it came out, I think it was a random wading into Reylo fanfic circa Aug 2019 that really got me into the fandom in a deep way. (Throwback to me thinking: eh maybe I'll give Reylo oneshots a try? And BOOM four months later I'm in a daze wondering how I've read like 80 fics, ended up in a writing discord - shoutout to The Writing Den! - and have five stories cooking in my head at one time.)

I like that the fandom takes what was on film in TLJ and expands the contours of that universe, stretching it into all sorts of configurations that somehow still made sense thematically for what Rey and Ben were going through. Whether that's in the context of warring lawyers (eversoreylo), Kyril Ren and Irena (voicedimplosives), archaeology Rey and Ben (disasterisms), a Harry met Sally AU (slipgoingunder), or Canadian politics (saint_heretical)... the creativity of the fandom and how it grapples with SW themes through all these different lenses of interpretation blows my mind. IMO it shows how SW's story themes can be individually interpreted, yet utterly universal.

What did you think of the way Rise of Skywalker handled Rey and Kylo’s relationship?

It felt like a backstep/retcon to what had happened in TLJ. I think CT and JJ wanted to make certain narrative choices but couldn't fully commit to them for whatever reasons, and the story suffered overall in a big way 'cus of that.

TRoS clearly went into the enemies -> lovers arc but leaned way too far into 'enemies', making the arc to 'lovers' within 2.5 hours way very weirdly paced, so it didn't feel like it was earned. The reaction of the audiences I was in for both screenings validated that. At the first screening, there was awkward laughter because it felt so left-field in the context of the film. In the second screening, the GA people I was watching it with felt 'this is really unnecessary' which I can understand because of the lack of buildup in TRoS to that moment.

Reylo in TLJ was at its best because there was time for it to breathe. I rewatch the force skype scenes often and the complete silence, the subtle acting, and the framing of those scenes, is so unusual and bold for a blockbuster at that level. There was also so much gorgeous subtext in what was going on, you could read into it what you liked, but there was definitely an attraction or a pull there for both characters.

You could tell that Adam and Daisy were delivering equally layered acting work in 9, but it was extremely rushed and weirdly edited. The ensemble could also have been a greek chorus for the audience/a bellwether for how we should be feeling towards Rey and Kylo in 9 but they didn't really utilise them that way and Palpatine ended up overshadowing the entire story as the big bad. The more interesting choice obviously was Kylo as the conflicted big bad and a redemption arc, but maybe Disney just isn't ok with that or was pushing for a different direction.

Overall, 9 made me wish we had more time to live in the push-pull dynamic between these two characters and the longing they have for each other despite all the odds, but luckily we have fanfic and art for that, which is why it's so great. Just a shame the film couldn't line those pieces up well enough for a satisfying landing.

Do you think the film understood why you, and other people, felt like Rey and Kylo had something together? Did it get their chemistry?

I'm sure they understood it on some surface level but CT was the wrong person to write that story imo. And JJ on some level disliked RJ's choices so he was trying to wind it back to the TFA dynamic which was more enemies-enemies with a subtext of them being compelled by each other, but not necessarily with a romantic resolution.

I think it's testament to the intelligence of the fandom that we saw the train tracks being laid in ep8 for a more interesting ending, just that whatever story-wrestling/behind the scenes drama/ego was going on at DLF meant nobody was able to actually able to execute that story with the justice it deserved. Locking out the story group also seems like a huge mistake and would've avoided a lot of the larger plot holes they seem to have ended up with, the dissatisfying Reylo arc in ep9 being just one symptom of it. 

What about the handling of Kylo’s redemption? Was it something you had to think through in your stories? 

How I envision Kylo/Ben's redemption and Rey's response to it is summarised by a lot of the fic that's already out there! And in the fanfic thread I've pinned on my Twitter. e.g. Starstuff by voicedimplosives, Morning by disasterisms, Astrometric Binaries by pontmercy44, Tactical Surrender by Trebia... there are a lot of ways it could have gone. A recent comic (08 Jan?) by Miss Bliss is also a great example and she distilled it down to 15 simple panels, not to say she simplified the ethics of the redemption arc of course.

The biggest effect that TRoS had on me as an aspiring creator/writer is because the film DIDN'T give me the redemption arc, I'm interested to explore how that looks like in fanfic. So maybe that will become a theme in my writing. Let's see!

I'm still laughing about how they yeeted Ben into the pit though. Can't believe those leaks were actually true. 

What did you think of where Rey landed at the end? There had been a lot of excitement around Star Wars having a female protagonist. Do you think she lived up to the promise of her character?

A lot of the discourse has already covered this but my take is: in TLJ Rey was the centre of the story, all of her actions were driving the plot and it was a female-centric story about incredible themes like self-discovery, belonging, loyalty, 'lightness', 'darkness', attraction, sexuality. And TLJ was very nuanced in presenting how Rey's role shaped the overall story, the symbolism in the film (all of which had meaning or at least tried to), and her clear growth through it.

With TRoS it felt like her needs took a backseat and were kind of ancillary to the action of what was happening. Or that she was a lot more of a passenger to the story. I guess that's how I would sum it up. If I think back to how TRoS ended I don't think there was a satisfactory character conclusion for ANY of them... and don't even get me started on how they did Rose completely dirty. 

There’s criticism of the movie that argues it’s akin to “fan fiction” and that is has too much fan service. As fans and fan-fiction writers, how do you react to that?

It doesn't actually bother me that much. I think it comes from a place of negative stereotyping and misunderstanding of what fandom is all about, especially for the Reylo community – because apparently believing in romance, redemption, and love is meaningless, simple, and weak.

The people that are in the fandom and know it well know that the fandom has a lot of diverse views in it, different perspectives, and some of the most startlingly intelligent and thoughtful people across the spectrum including creators, readers, analysts, community organisers etc.

The fact that there's a WHOLE ECOSYSTEM with fanfic and fan art and discord servers and gift exchanges and comedy memes and metas and all of this stuff just enhances my enjoyment of it overall. And it's an ecosystem that despite critics' attempts to dismiss it since 2015, continues to thrive.

I challenge those skeptics to look at some of the novel-length Reylo work on Ao3, the detailed sketches and concept art, the hours of thoughtful podcasting and REVIEWS OF FANFIC and say this community's not worthy of credit or attention. Even if you don't like Reylo, there's a discussion worth having about why people want to engage with it on a deep level and the transformative work that's come out of it.

We are doing this for free. Out of enjoyment and fun and discovering meaning. The level of artistry and engagement in this fandom is really astounding in that way.

I wish people would talk more about *that* side of the Reylo fandom rather than dismissing it as 'fluffy romance 50 shades in space y'all are rabid crazy' or whatever.

TLDR the question of whether Rey and Kylo have/had toxic and abusive dynamics is an interesting one to ask and we need to continue having the discussion, because from my POV it wasn't 100% clear cut from TFA, and it evolved in TLJ and in TRoS. BUT it should be situated in the context of the broader fandom and the range of views within it, + the many other interpretations of the Reylo relationship through fic and art, which The Atlantic's article missed. 

Are you still writing any Star Wars fanfic? Tell us about it! (Don't forget your Ao3 handle!)

I'm late to the game but am interested in writing SW fanfic as a way of exploring my own capacity to write and create, so yes! Did my first drabble in mid December and have a few ideas cooking, the first which looks like a two-chapter modern AU oneshot. Watch this space…

Thanks to rlogarbagech1!

[askdawnandvern]

The End of a Road; And Looking Ahead.

And so, the story finally comes to a close. Took me long enough eh? Over two years of work in between commissions and a blog but it's finally done. Phew...what a ride.

Before I get to reminiscing and talking about future plans, I'd like to thank the many folks who helped me along the way in terms of getting this done.

My Backers (I can't say the site name)

ACYLOTES

Warwolf416 AManCalledDominik Bjerken FluffyWolf117 Hyenafur

DEVOTEE

Luposong Karakuri Kei Fox

FOLLOWER

MajorMattMason

And I'd like to give a special thank you to my following backers who are also both Acoylotes for helping with editing and suggestions. They went above and beyond and I am grateful.

Unformed Sypher597

Finally, I'd like to thank you readers for your enthusiasm, support and critique. You guys really helped keep me going, and caught a few things nobody else noticed and brought them to my attention so I could adjust for it as best as I could. Thank you so much. Without you guys, and my backers, I don't know if I could have finished this fic.

So, what now I guess? Well...after Rehab finished up I proposed an outline of the stories I had left to tell in Zoot, or rather BellHunter stories, and i still plan to largely go by that outline. That means that after a few months off, writing little shorts and doing a recut of 'The Rehabilitation of Dawn Bellwether' in an ebook format for everyone to enjoy, (Free of course) I plan to do the long awaited story about the ever enigmatic Valerie Vulpes. I also have a 'How Finnick ended up with Gazelle' story, and finally the third and final installment of Dawn and Vern's story.

Granted the writing time on these will probably put me well beyond the Zoot sequel range, but it largely won't change anything for me. My AU is established, and I'm going to be working from that unless Z2 can fit neatly in between the timeline without affecting major story events. That said, It may seem silly, but i am going to be lobbing a tweet or two Rich Moore's way about the possibility of Dawn getting some sort of mini-redemption in Z2 if they intend to bring her back under a #SaveBellwether tag. It might be worth it to show him just how many fans of Dawn are out there and want to see her make a turn around, or at the very least make sure she doesn't come back as an uninspired revenge villain plot. I'd really hate to see that, so I figured it's worth promoting.

As for short stories, I'll always have something to throw in the BellHunter AU, and will most likely start posting under a compendium of drabbles under the same name on here and other sites. That may include stories like Dawn and Vernon's double date with Nick and Judy, and will definitely include Dawn meeting Lionheart again, and other individual Hunters stories. So you can look forward to that.

It's worth mentioning that I still run the 'AskDawnandVern' blog, and am in the process of creating a backup on So-furry. That said, if you want to keep abreast of story updates, and other stuff, you can follow the blog. You may also want to consider becoming a P*t*oen. Every little bit helps, and you get to look at art and raw story cuts ahead of time, as well as become part of an exclusive chat room.

Last thing I want to mention, there are two stories out there I've granted permission to use my Dawn and Vernon, both are fairly cool and I'd recommend checking them out.

The first is titled 'Heroes of Zootopia' by Dragonman1997, a cool Zootopia meets avengers sort of hero story, where Vernon plays the roll of a hero called 'the moth' while Dawn is essentially a night howler infected version of the hulk called 'Knockout'. It has a colorful cast of interesting characters, and a curious and intriguing plot involving some sort of time shenanigans. I won't say anymore than that, as not to spoil it.

The second is titled 'Found' by Elite Shade, which is a more grounded story about Dawn and Vernon adopting. The catch is while adopting a lamb and wolf, there's a third child of mysterious origins the other two refuse to leave without. And so Dawn and Vern adopt all three. There is of course an intrigue plot about Lily's origin, and members of the Hunter family trying to get to the root of it all. Elite has really been nailing the characterizations, and writes well. And if your a person, like me, who isn't generally a fan of 'humans in Zoot' stories, it's done very well, so I advise you to give it a chance. That said, I still intend to do my own adopted kits story unrelated to this, so consider it an AU of an AU.

And well, I suppose that wraps everything up...Thanks for everything guys. I hope you enjoyed the ride as much as I have, and I hope that you'll keep an eye out for my future works.

-WT

[bird-pun]

ghost i hope u feel better! if u wanna do takaeishi requests maybe like a movie drabble or smth?

tysm hoyoung!!! I feel a lot better now that i had something to focus on :’D I really appreciate you sending the ask!!

Okay so Takaeishi movie drabble!! I decided to take that and make it a horror movie marathon on Halloween if thats ok!

“Is this really necessary?” Karasuma asks, entering back into his living room to see the chaos that’s unfolded. Blankets strewn about, all of different colors and patterns, with additional pillows and a few sleeping bags haphazardly thrown to the floor. Bowls full of chips lay next to his friends, as well as a few liters of drinks.

Sagisawa and Umino sit on the floor, contemplating the various DVD cases that they’ve aligned in a row, and one of them occasionally mutters and shuffles the order, the other nodding feverishly.

Kamoda grins at him from his nabbed spot on the armchair. “C’mon, eishi, we have to get cozy if we’re gonna have a horror movie-a-thon!”

“Remind me again why we’re doing that?”

“Because it’s halloween! Don’t tell me you forgot?!” Sagisawa calls, not even looking over his shoulder. “Takayama, which should we watch first: Horror Mania III or Bloody Givings?”

“Uh,” Takayama blinks at the sudden speaking of his name. “The first one.”

“Really? Didn’t take you as the type for that…” Sagisawa shuffles a black and red case in front of an eerie monochrome one. “I think that order should be good!”

Umino beams. “This is gonna rule!”

“You like horror movies?” Kamoda asks, shifting his legs to sit cross-legged, holding onto one of the pajama pant legs.

“‘Like?’ I LOVE them!” Umino beams, scrambling back to her designated spot on the floor by the couch, with the blue, pink, and white sleeping bag and pillow. “I don’t get to see them often because my little brother gets nightmares too easily…”

Sagisawa inputs the DVD into the player, then scoots back next to Umino with the remote in hand. Karasuma has yet to move from his spot from behind the couch, but with a glance from Takayama, he finds himself begrudgingly shuffling around and plopping next to the wild-haired boy, shoulders brushing.

“Okay, let’s get this started with. You already took an hour just to choose the first movie.”

“Pshh, okay. But I bet you’ll be the one screaming during the jumpscares.” Umino laughs, reaching forward to grab some popcorn.

“What?! Horror movies don’t freak me out. They’re all fake, and the special effects are usually really dumb, I could never get scared.” He rolls his eyes, cheeks flaring red in response to the giggle Umino produces.

Eerie music starts to blast from the speakers, the shrillness of a particular note has Karasuma’s back tingle. He watches as the camera expertly follows behind a girl, her long black hair swishing side to side as she hops down the hall, looking left and right, unaware of any presence of danger. She passes by a window, and the glimpse of a human face staring back, red eyes watching the girl pass by, has Karasuma flinching. But he’s determined to definitely not scream, or let Umino win.

The movie slowly builds up, filling moments with suspense as it shows snapshots of the fated killer showing up in the background of scenes, and as the family continues to move forward, tripping their way through the plot and right into the traps. When the first person is killed on screen, Karasuma jumps bad enough that it jostles Takayama next to him, who was probably about to fall asleep. The boy drowzily shakes his head, and, holy shit, how can he even think of sleeping right now? Takayama squints at the screen, watches the horrified expression of a neighbor, before he slowly swivels his head to glance at Karasuma, who is adamant in facing forward and definitely not making eye contact with the guy who could tell that this movie was affecting him.

Another trap goes off, and another family member is down in a gruesome act that makes even Kamoda, the boy who got into fights, wince and make a few comments of disgust. Karasuma tries to carefully cover half of his face with his hand, trying not to be too obvious that he’s curling into a ball. He’s going to have that image haunt his dreams tonight. His left hand stays stubbornly by his side, but a sudden scream causes it to jolt and land on Takayama’s right, the action eliciting the same feeling of electricity and panic to spark its way from the tips of his fingers, all the way to his cheeks-but before he can pull it away, the killer appears on screen and cleaves the door of a closet in half in a jumpscare, causing Karasuma to instead grip on tighter.

Takayama, not at all focused on the movie, not so subtly stares at it for a second, before a small, lopsided smile grows on his lips and he looks away, and gently squeezes his friend’s hand in reassurance.

Karasuma feels like he might legitimately die of a heart attack, both from the horror movie playing, but also because of the warmth radiating off of Takayama’s hand, a warmth that makes him want to kick off the blanket he’s wearing and go run around in the cold October air for an hour just to get rid of all the nerves and maybe reflect on feelings.

He takes a deep breathe, and tries to focus back in on the movie. It’s all spins and angles and dark lighting, and the story is mid chase, watching a limping victim move his way to the truck in the forest. The sound plays up, tension growing as snaps of twigs increase on the direct right of the man, and Karasuma just feels like something bad is about to go down. He instinctively leans to the side, pressing his shoulder against Takayama’s and somewhat tilting his head, eyes glued to the screen as the victim picks up the pace and is only a few feet away from the car. He could blame the intimacy on watching a horror movie, right? It was a common thing to cling to the nearest thing when watching these type of things, and Takayama just happened to be that thing. That’s it.

When Takayama lazily tilts his own head a few milliseconds later, he ends up resting his cheek on the top of the bellwether’s hair.

Karasuma completely forgets about the movie, and about the murderer appearing and killing the man in a swell swoop of careful and impressive choreography, too focused on the sensation of Takayama’s gentle rumbles as he fights consciousness, the occasional twitch of his fingers and the knocking of his knee against his own.

He doesn’t know how long he sits there short-circuited, but before he knows it the credits are rolling, and Karasuma’s still stuck in the same position. He tries to shuffle so the one of the others doesn’t turn back to see them, but Takayama makes a sleepy sound of discontent, and it pierces Karasuma’s heart so well that not even 10 blackouts could get him to abandon this moment.

Sagisawa catches his eye, and Karasuma swears he can see the twinkle in his eye from taking in the situation, grin wide, but he doesn’t say anything, just gets up and changes the movie to the next one in the row. The screen changes to a lowly lit black and blue with yellow titled letters, and Karasuma can’t help but feeling the calmest he’s ever been.

[ao3feed-tibbs]

Bellwether - Pegasus Tony

read it on the AO3 at http://bit.ly/2XlKK3a

by cutsycat

Tony has a secret, well two really. One he can transform into a panther and two he originally came from the Pegasus galaxy. Both are about to be revealed to Gibbs. Can Tony handle it?

Words: 1298, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Series: Part 1266 of Dictionary.Com Word of the Day Drabbles, Part 249 of One shots - Tony/Gibbs

Fandoms: NCIS, Stargate Atlantis

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: Gen, M/M

Characters: Anthony DiNozzo, Jethro Gibbs, Jack O'Neill, John Sheppard, Rodney McKay, Evan Lorne

Relationships: Anthony DiNozzo/Jethro Gibbs

read it on the AO3 at http://bit.ly/2XlKK3a

[lackadaisical-pottymouth]

[Birdmen Drabble]

The human part is scared. The one that's still in the back of his mind, the one he'd never grown out of. But he gathers his splintering courage in the pit of his stomach where it can fight his anxieties. The birdman part can't lie to his friends and, well, the feelings been bubbling in his chest for a while now. Tsubame’s confession was the thing to make it overflow.

It's not just the warmth that overtakes him when they're near. It's not just the feeling of safety that makes him feel invincible--that's Kamoda's schtick. Hell, Karasuma's always been a little bit amazing. Tsubame's another level altogether and Irene is life itself. He’d have to ask Takayama the next time they met.

He loves them. Is that okay? He loves them so much.

Because it manifests in the strangest of ways. He'll answer a question and bite his tongue against a wayword peck of affection. His 'hellos' want to become 'im so glad you're here's. His 'goodbyes' are already 'please don't go away's. Not for Irene, not yet, but damn if he can't feel it coming.

So maybe it's a bad time for it, just after Karasuma's return from the Takayama home, but he’s blaming Tsubame and her damn smile. Her words rest comfortably on his heart, effortless and lovely and so sincere. They’re like a family. It’s not like there’s a pressure to say it--not like anything would change. But it’s in the air now, real and tangible and something he wants to let wash over him.

Maybe Tsubame connects birds as well as humans.

He waits till they’ve reached the tarmac outside Narita, then asks them to hold on a second, he’s got something to say. They're in a row staring at him, masks revealing curious red eyes. His better judgement--the one he’s been ignoring-- hisses at him, but it's absolutely important​ that they know he'd follow them to hell and back. Likely they already know, but he's the vocal sort and... Yeah. His eyes train to the sky and he is surprised everytime there isn't the physical manifestation of his heart screaming.

(he's kinda glad though, because that would kind of ruin the mood)

So, he tells them.

And the world doesn’t end.  

In fact, he peeks at the sky but the moon winks back at him as if informing him that he's not getting out of this one. There’s a beat of silence as Irene rights his fallen comrade--he hadn’t even noticed Kamoda falling. Rei steals a peek through the wisps of his fringe-- they’re grinning, like little ducks. Tsubame’s hand is crooked over her mouth. Karasuma’s set his jaw, as if he’s about to speak.  

But he doesn't want an answer, it's not that kind of confession. He's not even sure he would take it. Remember that human bit? It's loud, now, screaming that he's ruined the family he just realised he had. He digs his claws into his hand and waits for them to compose themselves and give him pained smiles and say 'thats nice, Sagisawa'.

(they'd never, he knows, but the issues run deep enough for them to manifest in black, so forgive him)

“Well,” Irene says first, and her grin looks just about to fly off and join the stars. She continues over the syllables Karasuma squeaks, barking a laugh, “Two in one night.”

Tsubame makes an affirmative noise, slipping his hands apart till they intertwine with hers. Her other hand quirks a cheeky thumbs up and he almost gasps in relief. Nice one, Rei! She tweets just before she assaults him with warmth that makes his throat dry.

Kamoda detaches from Irene’s side. His wings have released--just a little--as if mirroring the upturned edges of his cheeks. “Honestly, I’d have expected something flashier from you.”

Rei balks, his talons shifting on the loose grounds, “Like what?”

A second passes and Kamoda’s eyebrows quirk as he tries to think. Then he snaps in a flurry of movements. His arms frame his face as if doing a vogue. “You’ve stolen this gentleman’s heart and replaced it with a white-hot passion!”

Karasuma spits. “Disgusting.”

A grin from Tsubame, “Is the world on fire? Or is that just the way I feel about you?” she blew imaginary smoke from a finger-gun pistol.

“I’ve fa-la-la-la fallen for you.”

The wind picks up as they continue trading confessions. It feels light, so natural he wonders why it took him so long to do it. He relaxes.

“That’s from a greeting card,” Karasuma interjects after someone makes a comment about Birds of a Feather. But what it does is snap the attention back to him. His wings are still wrapped in the wingmass-parka. Though his features are mostly schooled to indifference, his cheek twitches an encylopedia of joy.

Kamoda clicks, crossing his arms. His brows are furrowed, but his stance is loose. Then he’s smiling, a grin from ear to ear. “Let’s hear yours, Eichan!”

“Me?” the bellwether stutters, to the audience of voices urging him on. “A-alright!”

He takes a breath, steadying himself. There’s a Death Tweet coming, the Karasuma brand that blends awkwardly reassuring with deeply concerned. It delivers, not quite as shocking as it has been known to be. Its a tremor in their chests that makes Rei’s wings vibrate.

“I can’t give you much. I don’t even know what the future holds,” the self-conscious words settle as he pauses, “But with you guys? It feels like I could take on anything.”

A unanimous blink, then an outpour of laughter.

“Be quiet!” Eishi demands, flushing. But there’s no weight to the words.

Rei laughs from deep in his belly. “So intense!” he says, feeling the comforting warmth of the thing settling on him. And he knows, he knows, they all feel the same.

  . 

[magicalthoughtsendinterriblefics]

Disney/Star Wars Masterlist

**Unless it’s specified, these are all Character x fem!reader. **This will be in constant update. **If it doesn’t specify fluff, angst, smut, etc. consider it as a not-definable drabble.

STAR WARS

Obi-Wan Kenobi Traveller - Imagine Request - #21 from 31DOH (Fluff)

Patch me up - Imagine request (Fluff)

DISNEY

Zootopia Extra Wool - Imagine request (Bellwether) (No reader insert)

Series Bellwether’s Short Tales Behind The Bars series: 1. Counting sheep to sleep. 2. The nightmare. 3. Only One. 4. The Birthday Party.

BACK TO MASTERLIST.

[zootopianewsnetwork]

Story Updates: June 1 2017

Woah! Fox Point is back! Plus five more fabulous stories!

Fox Point - MaveriKat Red Tails and Wilde Skies - Selaxes Forty Glimpses - CDNCrow Constants - tarienn Zootopia Drabbles - DemonWriterX The Translation of Dawn Bellwether - Gabriel LaVedier 

Find them all here

[ao3feed-ncis]

Bellwether - Director Tony

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/35QIV2c

by cutsycat

Tony becomes Director of NCIS and since that means he can't have fun at the NCIS holiday party, the team throws their own.

Words: 334, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Series: Part 1511 of Dictionary.Com Word of the Day Drabbles, Part 35 of One shots - Tony centric: Increased Recognition

Fandoms: NCIS

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: Gen

Characters: Anthony DiNozzo, Ducky Mallard, Jethro Gibbs, Ellie Bishop, Timothy McGee, Jimmy Palmer

Additional Tags: Competent Tony DiNozzo

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/35QIV2c

[bird-pun]

:nicetree:

here’s a short takaeishi drabble I wrote a long time ago, and it’s honestly funny enough I think it deserves to exist out here and not just in my docs. 

Summary: Eishi tries to flirt. Spoilers: it does not go well

Of course Takayama, being the guy he is, had to push the boundaries and tease Karasuma in any chance he could. Now that they finally met up again, and after months of reestablishing their friendship, Takayama was right back to making those “subtle” flirts that he did while time passed. Only this time, Karasuma knew finally pieced it together what Takayama was doing, and it only made his head spin more from the other’s advances.

Takayama’s actions were nothing brazen or outgoing, really. It consisted of casual and subtle leanings against walls, maybe slightly towering over Karasuma or getting a bit too close, conversations with a slight smirk or soft smile, a gleam in his eye, maybe even a breathy laugh that would fill Karasuma with enough energy to fight 5 blackouts.

Karasuma was often left feeling on fire, red faced, and unable to retort.

Takayama’s newest trick was one of the more obvious: winking. The bellwether almost tripped when he first saw it. Takayama had pulled the motion off with such ease and suave that it left Karasuma’s face as red as Takayama’s markings. All Karasuma did was glance at him, and instead of nodding like usual, he winked. And with that annoying slight smile that made Karasuma want to punch him. Or kiss him. He hadn’t decided. Karasuma felt like he was losing his goddamn mind.

“Have you tried flirting back?” Kamoda had asked, after listening to another Takayama-based rant.

Karasuma steamed at the question. “No?!”

“You should try it! You like him, right? Have some fun, Eichan~”

“I think I’d rather die.”  He says, covering his face up. Why would he ever flirt back? Karasuma wasn’t nearly enough confident to do that.

Karasuma lets Kamoda’s comments haunt him over the next few hours. At dinner he grumpily picked at his food, before being overcome with a determination to, damn it, beat Takayama at this game. He slammed his cup down while solidifying his plan, causing one of the kids to jerk in surprise at the sudden outburst. He didn’t notice, too busy from standing up and flying off to attempt his basic idea.

After a painstaking hour of trying to come up with ideas, Karasuma finally plucked up the courage to go with the first one on the list, and sought out to find his friend.

Takayama was hanging out in the forest again, staring up at the sky.

He spots Karasuma. “Hello.” He greets, raising his hand slightly in greeting. Karasuma’s stomach churns in nerves.

“Hey.” Karasuma says back, taking in a breath. Okay, here we go. He leans on the nearest tree, placing his hand on the trunk, tries to put on a suave smile. “This tree is pretty sturdy, right?”

Takayama blinks. Fuck, he knew this was a bad idea. He has to continue.

“Nice and solid. Probably spruce, right?” Karasuma tries to remember what google told him 5 minutes ago. “I hear they can grow up to 200 feet.” He pats the trunk a few times, feeling regret in every fiber of his body. This was an awful idea, what the fuck was he doing. Why did he think flirting via tree facts would anything other than humiliating? He honestly can’t tell if Takayama is impressed or just trying not to laugh his ass off, Karasuma’s face is probably beet red.

“Sitka spruce can get up to 330 feet.” Takayama comments back.

“That’s pretty cool!” Somebody kill him. “You know so much about tees, you're a real, uh, connoisseur. Must drive the ladies wild.” His smile felt so forced, holy hell.

Takayama lifts an eyebrow, amused smile on his face, “...You know I’m gay?” “What? Oh! Oh my god, yes. I’ve known. You’ve never-I’ve never-I have no clue why I-sigh-This is stupid.” Karasuma slaps his free hand to his face. “I'm just going to leave. Now.” He turns around to go, but immediately trips on a tree root, causing him to tumble to the ground with a yelp.

He gets up just as fast, waving his hands back at the other, hurriedly squeaking an “I’m fine!!!!!” before booking it out.

Karasuma doesn’t stop until he’s out of the woods, and immediately finds Kamoda and collapses next to him, face against the ground.

“Do me a favor: End my misery.” He says, voice muffled.

Kamoda pats his head sympathetically. “Did it really go that bad?”

“I told him his tree knowledge must ‘drive the ladies wild.’”

Kamoda snorts out a laugh. “I-Okay, I can���t lie, that’s awful.”

[zootopianewsnetwork]

Story Updates: 18 April 2017

We’ve had a lot of updates in sets of six recently. Huh. Well, anyway, enjoy these fantastic updates!

The Translation of Dawn Bellwether by Gabriel LaVedier Always my Sly Bunny, Always my Dumb Fox by Cimar of Turalis WildeHopps Ozzie's Auto Repair by Kittah4 Zootopia Drabbles by DemonWriterX Zootopia: Partners in Crime by BlehBluhBlah When Instinct Falls by upplet

Find them here

[ao3feed-ncis]

Bellwether - Pegasus Tony

read it on the AO3 at http://bit.ly/2XlKK3a

by cutsycat

Tony has a secret, well two really. One he can transform into a panther and two he originally came from the Pegasus galaxy. Both are about to be revealed to Gibbs. Can Tony handle it?

Words: 1298, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Series: Part 1266 of Dictionary.Com Word of the Day Drabbles, Part 249 of One shots - Tony/Gibbs

Fandoms: NCIS, Stargate Atlantis

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: Gen, M/M

Characters: Anthony DiNozzo, Jethro Gibbs, Jack O'Neill, John Sheppard, Rodney McKay, Evan Lorne

Relationships: Anthony DiNozzo/Jethro Gibbs

read it on the AO3 at http://bit.ly/2XlKK3a