#cass was never going to be in the prequel

[nancylou444]

liar liar pants on fire

Oh really 🤨

above gifs from the awesome post by the lovely @aborddelimpala 

(misha’s bullshit article)

[thecruellestmonth]

quick and dirty guide to Jason Todd in the masterpiece Batman: Battle for the Cowl—canon and fanon

CANON

Jason canonically is a cop-killing asshole garbage manbaby hypocrite who shoots a ten-year-old in the chest.

is a bad person explicitly because his dirty criminal childhood on the streets made him crazy and immoral. He canonically was ruined before Batman ever scraped him out of Crime Alley. (Canon—only a fake fan would argue against it!)

The Lazarus Pit also worsened his mind.

Described as "deranged" and "delusional" and "broken" and "rabid".

Crucifies Tim's Batsuit on a literal wooden cross, but Tim rises from the dead because he's Jesus.

Shoots ten-year-old Damian in the chest, then ridicules Dick for trying to save a "meaningless life".

After being shot, Damian lies on his sickbed just long enough for Dick to brood over his unconscious body.

As soon as Dick leaves, Damian jumps up, tries to swing a wrench at Alfred's head, makes a sexist comment to Squire, and then goes out running around as Robin like nothing happened.

Dick tries to use some unspecified shameful childhood trauma to trigger Jason into accepting Help, but for some mysterious reason Jason refuses—and obviously deranged, delusional, broken people Refuse Help because they're bad people who don't want to change.

-- (Somewhere, John Calvin is moaning in pleasure.) --

Uh thanks for the brief help in the B-plot, Cass—now go away, your thoughts and feelings about all this don't matter.

Apparently Jason can't transform into a man-eating tentacle monster anymore. :(

Overall, the art is pretty swanky.👌

AFTERMATH: Jason commits some dozens more murders.

Dick rightly finds him to be an insufferable asshole, and gains the ability to say so without resorting to ableism.

Damian doesn't care about being shot in the chest and suffers no lasting damage, he is too busy being in fun stories that actually further his character.

Going forward, none of the next writers really try to push long-term "Lazarus Pit madness" for Jason again--except Winick did try to slip it into the prequel, to salvage his baby.

Jason is never shown apologizing for his actions, yet less than a year later apparently decides he wants "redemption".

Bruce happily hands him a full position in Batman Incorporated, with seemingly no special supervision.

While Jason agrees to be subordinate to Batman, he still enjoys being a cocky bastard, and shows no remorse for his past crimes—which are only vaguely alluded to having happened.

CANON(?)

Battle for the Cowl was canon from 2009 to 2011.

It was wiped from existence when the universe reset in the 2011 Flashpoint reboot.

Presently as of the Infinite Frontier "timeline", BftC probably isn't canon until a writer actively writes it back into history, like No Man's Land fairly recently was.

AFTERMATH: It never happened.

FANON

Some scenario loosely inspired by Battle for the Cowl happens because Jason has glowy eyes Lazarus Pit Madness.

What is a female character...?

The conflict is wrapped up in like 200 words.

AFTERMATH: Dick gives Jason a big hug and apologizes for being the worstest brother ever back when Jason was a lonely little angel child.

Jason finds out that he is the most favoritest Robin for tiny 10-year-old Timmy, and he cries tears of remorse for his Lazarus Pit-induced violent frenzy against a nine eight seven-year-old little spleenless baby Tiny Timmy.

More hugging, cuddling, fingers affectionately carding through hair.

Damian doesn't exist for some reason.

If Damian does exist, he's treated like an unwanted booger instead of a human child. He talks like a robot and has no sense of humor.

Jason maybe scolds insensitive meanie Dick for picking evil Damian over Tiny Timmy. Timmy has been suffering fainting spells and consumption, all alone until Jason rescues him.

FANON

Massive overcompensation for other fanon.

CALLOUT post for Jason Todd!

Jason was a good kid. He isn't a bad person at all because of his childhood on the streets. (Fanon.)

The Lazarus Pit had no effect on his mind.

He is 100% sane and willing.

He is a bad person because he's sanely choosing to be an asshole garbage manbaby hypocrite who shoots a ten-year-old in the chest.

Damian isn't sexist to Squire, because she doesn't exist.

Dick destroys Jason with facts and logic and perfectly ethical therapy-speak, and never gets his hands dirty trying to trigger mental illness.

Jason destroys Damian's spine.

Tim and Damian suffer lasting physical and psychological trauma from Jason's torture—being a soldier is now harmful for a delicate developing child, but only on this singular occasion because Jason.

Alfred is the one who stole the Robin mantle from Tim to give it to Damian. 🥺 Dick was forced into a tough situation—he had no choice in how he handled things! It's Alfred, I tell you!

Dick suddenly has a close bond with Cass.

AFTERMATH: The loving idyllic Batfamily hard-blocks radicalized incel full-grown 18-year-old manbaby Jason.

They live happily ever after.

Paradise Lost Satan Jason must suffer his totally self-inflicted isolation, knowing he can never go back to the warm embrace of the very healthy and functional Batfamily, because of his petty, stubborn, definitely made-up unreasonable delusions of being a soldier in an endless warzone.

Hopefully some more cruelty and isolation can make Jason realize he's receiving karmic punishment for being a bad person—somehow this is clearly different from all the cruelty and isolation that happened to him for no reason at all.

--(John Calvin has recovered from his refractory period—he is now moaning more loudly and passionately.)--

"Yes, this is totally what happened! Read a comic, fake fans!" *makes up a fake version of BftC that never happened*

[nataliedanovelist]

ROTTMNT FIC MASTERPOST!

⭐️ The Apocalypse That Was, But Never Is - After a lifetime of rebelling against the Kraang, Casey Jones Jr. has a lot to adjust to. He can handle real food and new clothes just fine, but having his parents alive and well and right in front of him is entirely new - and slightly terrifying - territory.

The start of my Dad Raph AU, and really the fic that started my incredible journey. ❤️

Post-movie

Implied RaphxCass

6 chapters - COMPLETED

The Apocalypse That Was - The Kraang can stop a lot of things, but they cannot stop the Hamato Clan from accomplishing the things they wish to accomplish, from becoming the people they want to be, or from loving and protecting their family.

The prequel to The Apocalypse That Was, But Never Is

Apocalypse-centered fic

Dad Raph AU

No-longer implied RaphxCass 😉

Collaboration with Zippermoth_Mouth

7 chapters - COMPLETED

Adjustment - When April is being harassed by a jerk at college, Casey Jones Jr. steps in, but takes it one step too far.

Tw: implied sexual assault

Post-movie

One-shot - COMPLETED

You’ll Let Her Go - When Raph borrows Sunita’s cloaking broach so he can take Cass out on a “real date,” he starts to question if there’s even a chance they can have a future together, given his whole situation.

RaphxCass hurt and comfort

Post-movie

One-shot - COMPLETED

L.I.L.-E - Donnie accidentally built a grenade more intelligent than he intended, but the new droid fits into the family seamlessly, and not only does S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. gain a little sister, but Donnie gains a new child as well.

A gift for Tulip, featuring her OC

Post-movie

A two-part fic, part one posted, part two still being written…

The Mask He Wore - One day, Casey’s precious Genius Tech built mask is cracked, and Donnie fixes it, uncovering that his future counterpart did, in fact, record everything.

Post-movie

One-shot - COMPLETED

How I Met Your Mothers - Draxum’s relationship with the turtles has definitely improved since their first introduction, and the retired alchemist doesn’t want it tarnished by secrets or things left unsaid, so he introduces the boys to someone very special…

Post-movie

One-shot - COMPLETED

The Ability To Grow Old - One of Donnie’s experiments backfire, and it’s up to Raph to make sure his brother doesn’t grow up too quickly.

Brawn & Brain fic

Mid-season 1

One-shot - COMPLETED

Best of Both Worlds - A short coming-out story for @phykoha’s Happily Ever After AU, focusing on Raph and Cass and their son, Casey.

RaphxCass

Apocalypse-centered fic

Bigender Raph & Pan Cass

One-shot - COMPLETED

Savage Son - After losing his best friend and becoming stranded in an apocalyptic New York City, Raph stumbles across a lonesome baby and is determined to help the little guy live.

Apocalypse-centered fic

Another Dad Raph fic (cuz I’d LOVE to see somebody try to stop me!)

Brand new AU

4 chapters - COMPLETED

Rise to the Challenge - The Kraang are defeated, but there is still a lot ahead for the Mad Dogs, not only overcoming the villains in front of them, but the demons in their own minds. Still struggling with the events from the Kraang invasion, they will be tested to their limits. Do they truly rely on each other? Do they truly trust in their family?

My version of season 3!!!

Multi-chapters - ON GOING

⭐️ Little Warrior - Instead of Casey Jones II going back in time to stop the Kraang alone, he is accompanied by someone special.

Dad Raph

Little Warrior AU

RaphxCass

My pride and joy…

Multi-chapter - ON GOING

[dailycass-cain]

Cassandra Cain in Video Game Media

Tonight, I'm going to cover the various appearances Cassandra Cain has in video game media. Some might surprise you, even startle you, and even might get you interested in said game (that are available).

Now her first appearance in video game media is a rather infamous one, Batman Dark Tomorrow released for the Game Cube and X-Box. The game is rather infamous for being quite awful for its atrocious controls and camera angles.

Cass (along with Tim Drake Robin) show up after you defeat Stage 3 after beating Scarface & the Ventriloquist. And that's about it. Just a random appearance. 🙃

A fun little note is the game's story was written by Scott Peterson, who had a slight hand in Cass's Vol. 1 ongoing throughout the Puckett/Scott run.  So it's highly probable he snuck her in for this scene.

The second appearance of Cass in a video game is one usually forgotten but released a few months after the first, Batman: Toxic Chill (2003).  An educational game where you as Batman would solve various puzzles to progress.

The game's character design is HEAVILY influenced by BTAS. However, with a KEY difference, the Batgirl is Cass (and voiced by Christiane Crawford).

Later that same year, we'd get the game's sequel, Batman: Justice Unbalanced, and again Cass would be in the game (voiced again by Christiane Crawford).

Her roles in both games are relatively minor just showing up, and the vocal performance by Crawford is quite good.

After that three-prone assault in 2003, we'd have to wait until 2011 for the next time Cass as Batgirl would show up in a video game. This time in DC Universe Online.

Yeah, you read that date right in 2011, several years after she had abandoned the role (and would soon be wiped away with the New 52).

She appears in the game as a vendor for hero characters. Mindy Raymond voices her in the game.

There's just so great irony in the fact that this game has Cass walking around as Batgirl when DC was shoving Barbara Gordon everywhere else as THE Batgirl at this time.

Not only that, but when Cass was reintroduced as Orphan in 2016, she was still Batgirl here. And the game still exists to this day and she’s still the Batgirl in it!

Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure is our next surprising Cass appearance which came out in 2013 (at the HEIGHT of her being labeled "toxic" by DC).

Cass is one of MANY DC characters in the game. She's not just Batgirl in the game, but also her Black Bat persona is here too!

Fun little Easter Egg, if you type in Kasumi you'll get Cass instead (go figure 😝).

2013 would see the release of the mobile version of "Injustice Gods Amongst Us" a vastly different version of the fighting game on consoles and pcs.

However, Cass (a reskinned Babs Batgirl) is among the unlockables in the game.  If I recall right from friends who played the game she's highly difficult to fully unlock.

As I said in my Alternate Universe reading guide not much is known about this version of Cass. But she was name-dropped in the last comic released (a prequel to the series, Injustice: Year Zero #2),

2020 would see Cass appear in another mobile game, DC Legends.

This would technically have her appear in her Orphan identity but it's never explicitly listed. In the game she's listed as "Cassandra Cain: The One Who is All".

Much like Injustice, she's hard to unlock buuuuut a bit easier to attain than that game. Once fully geared up and evolved into the game's "Rebirth" mode, she can be an absolute beast and bane to many players.

There is one tiny bits of note. In last year's Gotham Knights video game, it was revealed one of Barbara Gordon's rejected concept costumes was heavily inspired by Cassandra's Batgirl look.

In Batman: Arkham Origins (2013), Cass's pop is amongst the files of rejected assassins Black Mask was pondering to hire to kill Batman.

He's also listed in the game as an acquaintance of Lady Shiva (who does appear in it). Sadly, nothing ever comes of these little bits.

There you have it. Every single video game appearance of Cass.  SO FAR...

[easily-distracted-by-fandom]

How about Earth Girl Trilogy and Drago books and Never Love an Anchor by The Crane Wives for the musical ask game? (I’m going to send you so many asks by the way, please do not feel pressured to answer them immediately)

I love The Crane Wives!!

Reunited au! with Jarra and Jaxon. In some way, they find Jarra when she's really little, but Jaxon is so overcome by guilt so he cuts contact with the clan (like Riak did, he's still a member but he never talks to them) but he still loves Jarra and wants to learn about the Earth she'll grow up on, so he joins a pre-history course. He joins an excavation team and tries his best to be happy.

Jarra's grown up in the clan, her parents took her to the ark when she was little and she met Kian and Issette and spent her childhood sneaking into their Home and Next Step to hang out with them (she did in fact, lock Nurse Cass in the storage room).

She still has a hyper fixation with history and all of the things that happen in the prequel novellas happens, just with her parents and older sister desperately following her around trying to keep her safe. She's much less angry but still has rage for her friends.

Her parents don't try to keep the fact that Jaxon exists from her, all anyone knows about him though is that he left soon after Jarra was found. The clan assumes that he left to prove himself under Fidelis but Jarra just assumes he left because he was biased against people with Immune Syndrome.

Jarra is VERY famous because of the status of her clan, the fact that her cousin Drago, saved Hera (he survived because his wing leader grabbed him, he was much more injured and had to spend a LONG time away from everyone, see that how you will), and that she was the first Handicapped to be accepted into a Betan clan. So she decides to go to University Asgard instead of University Earth because she thinks she'll get less attention from norms than from other people with Immune Syndrome.

The crash happens, and Jaxon (who is using a fake last name but not first name) and her meet afterwords as members of some of the teams doing the excavation.

She likes him, but there's something odd about him. He's working as a fill-in for one of the Earth teams so she assumes he has Immune Syndrome and never questions him on it (misunderstandings yay) so she doesn't think he could possibly be her brother Jaxon.

Anyway she goes back to work, and doesn't really think of Jaxon besides exchanging a few messages until Alien Contact starts. He's a specialist in Pre-history, and she thinks of him when thinking of someone to be a civilian advisor, except when they look him up, there's noone under that name so Jarra describes him and Drago recognizes the description of his brother by choice and goes to hunt him down.

There's a confrontation, and Jaxon tries to leave, but is drafted into alien contact anyway and oop now they gotta work together. Jarra is confused because she thought he hated Handicapped people and Jaxon is confused because Jarra should hate him, fluffy and angry confrontations go!

(Ty! I love getting sent asks so this makes me happy)

[sammywinchesterisalesbian]

my spn hot takes

Rewatching spn made me realize some things lol

john wasn't like... a bad parent??? he didn't do the best job he could, but he was also grieving and he'd just found out that the things that go bump in the night are real and yeah he fucked up sometimes but everyone does

dean was verbally and physically abusive to sam, jack, and cass

cass was not a hero and he was kind of a bad person. he broke sam's wall and drove him insane, he killed a bunch of people when he was "god," the leviathan arc of s7 was his fault, and he blamed sam for the apocalypse even though it was the angels who wanted it and he didn't care that dean broke the first seal even though both brothers unknowingly contributed to its start

dean was correct that they should have killed jack when he was born. he was an extremely powerful being with no knowledge of morals or control. he could have destroyed the whole world and killed countless people, as demonstrated in s14 and s15 when he was soulless. this doesn't mean that i don't love jack or that i agree with dean's treatment of him, just that dean's reasoning made sense.

it didn't make any sense that chuck became the villain. there was never any indication that chuck was malevolent or that he wanted sam and dean to suffer before the end of s14.

anyone who watched s15 and still shipped d*stiel or thought that the show was about anything other than the relationship between the brothers missed the whole point of the show. to add to that, the finale was their perfect ending. yes, it hurt to watch. knowing the permanence of dean's final death was painful, but the whole show was leading up to that. i will say that sam not going off the rails was a bit ooc considering all of dean's other deaths and i do think it would have made more sense for him to die young because he doesn't want to live without his brother. sam not looking for dean during the purgatory year made no sense.

sam was right to be angry after gadreel. dean took his bodily autonomy.

dean was never meant to have a romantic relationship with anyone. he never really understood the concept of loving someone other than sam. that isn't to say that he didn't care about other people because he did, but his whole schtick is "look out for sammy." love, for him, means sam. the two things are synonymous.

sam was fucking unhinged.

sam was always far more queercoded than dean, and people who use dean's misogyny and toxic masculinity as "proof" of dean's bisexuality are the ones who are homophobic, not the people who say that he isn't bi. sam, on the other hand, dated amy. amy was his first girlfriend, and he could never tell john or dean about her because she wasn't human. she could never tell her mom because sam was human. she literally shoved him into a closet when her mom got home. dean killed her because she wasn't human. sera gamble said herself that she intentionally queercoded sam. dean is canonically a homophobe ("dude can you be any gayer").

ship culture is toxic. i've stopped shipping in general and i prefer qpr ships instead.

d*stiel never made sense, and even if sam and dean weren't brothers, w*ncest wouldn't work. it would still be toxic af (as demonstrated by their whole relationship as brothers).

sam and dean were soulmates in the platonic sense. their whole world revolves around each other and their relationship and love for one another.

supernatural was about family, never romance.

the spn prequel makes no sense with canon.

[philtstone]

Sam and AJ and Cass, 29

#29 -- a story that never gets told

a prequel of sorts to my belovedly unhinged magical realism au, the original of which can be read on ao3 by clicking here. i wrote this prompt in random snippets on the subway, so hopefully its coherent. it kind of got away from me, but im leaning into the multiple indulged elements. most importantly, to answer zainabs oft asked question, "is this the one where he can turn into a whole ass wolf?" yes. yes it is.

Sam, as he has told his sister many a time, could learn — hypothetically — to be a great parent if he wanted to. Instead, he nobly chooses to fight for what’s right. This involves on occasion saving innocent lives amidst the unexpected collapse of Kingdoms, and more often petty magical crime, like that idiot who started going around stealing peoples sheep by herding them into his backyard, which he’d doused in a layer of magically un-solvent superglue. Thank God for Clint’s solvent arrows, which is a sentiment Sam brings up smugly whenever his sister expresses disdain towards the usefulness of magical items in completing household chores.

All of that was before Steve vanished into thin air, leaving Sam with custody of an ancient shield and a perpetually moody shapeshifter.

Hypotheticals are abounding just now. Hypothetically, Steve could just be on one long spontaneous vacation that he even logged in the shared magical calendar, which Bucky inconveniently misplaced on that last trek from North country down here. Hypothetically, Steve could have been kidnapped by a unicorn — those things are known to fuck with you just cause they can — and is currently being held in a magically enforced glade and subjected to a game of 21 riddles. Hypothetically, Steve could just be dead. Smallpox, common cold, unanticipated ogre attack on side of road. If Sam might say so himself, even the best of ‘em can get jumped sometimes; ain’t no shame in it.

“If Steve was dead, why hasn’t his ghost shown up to tell us that?” Bucky asks. He has elaborate theories on the matter, half of which involve the unicorn. The other half involve deep and cutting betrayal. Or murder.

“Steve Rogers did not just up and decide to play double agent,” Sam says, rolling his eyes. Bucky is never truly serious about this. He brings up potential intrigue in every conversation purely out of habit. And, Sam supposes begrudgingly, experience.

“So, murder.”

“Maybe ghost Steve is havin’ too much of a good time,” Sam says. “Remember that fae chick he was sweet on, and they got separated decades ago? Got him all stoic and single tear-y when her name came up? Carried her picture in his dumb little locket? She could be dead. They could be partying it up in the afterlife.”

“Bastard,” Bucky says grumpily, about Steve. “I’d tell you guys, if I died without you knowing.”

“Accidentally died,” insists Sam.

Bucky scowls. “I maintain we haven’t ruled out the double agent angle.”

“Oh my God!” says Sam, and throws his hands up in the air.

They have this exchange multiple times.

Sam sees the merit in the murder angle, but doesn’t necessarily like acknowledging it out loud. First of all, admitting Bucky might be right is always annoying, so he avoids doing it. Second, that shit’s bad juju, especially down here; you never know when a shadow man is listening in.

Just in case Ghost Steve really was murdered and forgot to tell them, though, Sam decides to conduct some scientific experiments. He makes Steve’s favourite gumbo (Sam’s mom’s recipe, of course – no one else’s can hold a candle) and bangs the pot lid loudly over the stove in case there are any spirits around to notice. He flips through Steve’s private sketchbook, left behind in Sam’s napsack — another clear evidence that he hasn’t turned coat — and makes childish faces at all the nude figures to trigger Steve’s artistic sensibilities. Then he leaves it out where the kids could find it, to trigger Steve’s moral sensibilities. 

Bucky takes more extreme measures. He goes out into the yard and yells, “Hey, jerk! You ever thought about what a basket case I’d be without you here? You don’t even got the decency to explain yourself?” after dark, into the droopy shapes of the mangrove trees. 

“Is he gonna start howling at the moon?” Sarah asks Sam one evening, though not unkindly, while they do the dishes and watch Bucky go at it through the small kitchen window.

Sam doesn’t say anything. Privately, he kind of feels like doing the same. 

Then, about three months later, after a near-coup and the revelation of multiple conspiracies and a big old honking blockade being put up all through South country, the Wakandans show up. With – holy shit, Sam thinks – a message from Steve.

“Uncle Sam, you’ve already told us that story.”

Okay, so speaking of parenting. Yeah, yeah, Sam would be a great parent in some alternate universe of events decidedly different from this one. In this universe, getting his nephews to bed at a reasonable hour when only this afternoon, a bunch of fancy people in red armour were holding a super secret outlaw meeting in the barn is proving harder than it looks. Sam almost wishes he was dealing with old Paste-Pot Pete and those sheep again.

“Uh, no I have not,” says Sam. “This version has added embellishments. The Wakandan King never challenged me to a duel, that was all Bucky’s bad luck.” 

“We’re calling ritual vengeance duels now?” asks Bucky dryly. 

“I’m just sayin’, I’m making a bunch of this up here. I am exercising creativity. Story version number one didn’t have any flying dwarves in it.”

Bucky is sitting in the doorway to the kids’ bedroom and attempting to de-encrust his favourite boots, which went through the ringer a bit on their way down through the bayou to Sarah’s three months ago. That was just after this all started. A lot’s changed since then.

Like the fact that Bucky is even in this house, cleaning boots. Or Sam’s newly discovered inability to lull little boys to sleep via adrenaline filled adventure stories while their mother takes a care package to the neighbours’ pregnant daughter in law. Sarah was very excited to see the newest in maternity fashion, which apparently Marlene had been sporting in the village all week, purchased from traveling dressmakers who might have had fae blood. Those guys always do know how to cut a cloak well. 

Bucky sniffs loudly at Sam’s defense and pulls an exaggerated face, raising the poor boot up to eye level to inspect it. “Maybe you’re just bad at telling stories,” he says finally.

While AJ and Cass giggle like the traitors they are, Sam makes a loud offended noise.

“Alright,” he says. “Fine. Fine. You know what? Just for that, I’m telling the story of how all of Petruski’s sticky sheep started followin’ your fluffy white wolf ass around.”

AJ dissolves into even harder giggles. Cass says, “Not the sheep story Uncle Sam! All you do in that one is complain!” and Bucky says, more primly than he has any right to, “I was consciously being as non threatening as possible, Samuel.”

“Yeah,” Sam says, “so non threatening they thought you were one of ‘em.”

AJ is really starting to wheeze now, so Sam hauls him into his arms to disrupt the hilarity before it gets medical. Cass brings his pillow up over his head like a crown to smother his own laughter. And Bucky winks, before – in a devastating play – letting out a quiet, plaintive pair of baas in quick succession.

Routines like this one are becoming more and more real. More and more comfortable, Sam thinks, amidst the boys’ shrieks of laughter. Being here, being in this home (their home – The home?) it fills his heart with something warm and solid and unmoving. Like he has put down a heavy load. Sometimes it is hard to imagine what is so important that makes it worth picking up sword and shield and leaving this behind. Without this, where would any of them even be?

It’s just, that thought doesn’t stop the rest of the world from banging on their door sometimes. 

Just look at Steve’s cryptic as hell note. The me you know isn’t dead. Seriously. What the fuck. Sam almost wishes he really was dealing with a unicorn.

He settles on telling the story of how he and Steve once met that tiny shrinking guy and between Captain Rogers’ knightly loyalty to his friends, some of Redwing’s more heroic moments, and the addition of the brilliant mage-princess who gifted Bucky the enchantment for his arm, both boys are appeased.

“Uncle Sam,” Cass says, sleepily, towards the tail end of the story. “’S no fair that magic skips a generation. I wanna help save the kingdom like you do.”

Sam quiets, his hand stilling where it was in the middle of brushing over AJs forehead. AJ is already fast asleep. Knocked out cold, snoring and everything. 

Thing is, Sam’s brand of magic is pretty limited — some gimmick, even, nowhere close to what his Titi had. All Sam’s good for, practically speaking, is translating messages from carrier pigeons. But it got him into this bigger world, tangled him up in it. 

Sam can see, even though Bucky’s head is down, that his friend’s expression has taken on a slight grimness.

“Cass. Hey.” Sam knuckles the boy’s nose gently. “What do you mean, like me. You know how I keep this old kingdom safe? I help your mama do the dishes.”

“Uncle Sam,” Cass says, rolling his sleepy thick-lashed eyes. 

Sam sighs. “Cass. Just because it doesn’t make for a good story doesn’t mean it isn’t important.”

More important, even. Running this old house, and its garden (with all those gnomes, little pains-in-the-ass) and its boat.

“Muh huh,” Cass manages. And then he has drifted off, the side of his face squished against the pillow.

Sam and Bucky quietly relocate to the kitchen, where Redwing is awaiting them with a new note and a dead mouse.

“Jesus,” Bucky mutters.

“You better not be about to get in a piss fight with a kestrel when there are sleeping children in the next room.”

As if on cue, Redwing flaps over lands happily on Bucky’s shoulder, startling him. The little bell on his foot jingles, and Bucky glares, which does nothing to deter the little bird’s impulse to start throwing up what appears to be more mouse. 

Bucky stands perfectly still and looks awfully close to raptorcide. 

Dude, can you like, be normal for once, Sam says, to the bird. Redwing fluffs out all of his feathers in Bucky’s face in response. 

“I don’t get into piss fights with your kestrel, Sam,” Bucky says, gritting each word out with individuality. 

Redwing twitters happily. 

He’ll come around eventually, Sam replies. He scoops the bird up in both hands and re-situates him on his own arm, and begins untying the little package wired to Redwing’s foot. Out loud, he adds, “You know, he wants to be your friend so badly –”

“He’s the one who chews through my best leather breeches twice a month –” Bucky cuts himself off, grumbling under his breath and reaching over to fumble the parchment scroll out of Sam’s hand while its messenger hops in one place and nuzzles the crown of his feathery head into Sam’s armpit. Sam’s poorly concealed smile fades when Bucky openly frowns.

“Note’s from Nakia,” Bucky mutters, tapping the amulet bracelet on his right wrist against the similar shape of beaded stone etched into the scroll’s covering as Sam strokes Redwing’s head. 

“It’s – what?”

“What what.”

“From another dimension,” Bucky reads aloud, looking increasingly incredulous. 

“What?” 

“You already said that.” Sam rolls his eyes. Bucky makes a face at the scroll. “Always gotta be another fuckin’ gimmick. Well. She’s got a guy to decode it.”

“Didn’t she cast the spell?” asks Sam, who is still processing the dimension thing. As in, like, different from their own?

Is that where Steve is?

“Yeah, but only to keep anyone else from decoding it. The bracelet itself already had a message stored in it.” 

“Beyond Steve’s disembodied voice materializing outta nowhere the first time I touched that thing to prove he hasn’t kicked the bucket.”

“Which,” Bucky starts, “for the record –”

“Was not your theory.”

Bucky frowns harder. Refocuses. “Yes. The bracelet, which was clearly a magical object enchanted to respond to your touch –”

“Could’a been our touch, you never held it before I did –”

“Fine, sure, our touch – double enchantment. This thing is stolen, and someone – my guess is Steve – managed to layer another goddamn spell on it before sending it our way.”

Sam sighs, staring at the gleaming dishes in the drying rack. A box of Arm and Magical Hammer’s peroxide sits orange and to the side. Maybe this is why Sarah refuses to use any of the handy dandy domestic enchantments he brings home for her. 

Because magic’s a pain in the ass.

“So?” says Sam.

“Uh, yeah. She’s got a guy to decode it …” Bucky grimaces, “on the other side of the river.”

Oh. Oh. Yeah, that’s gonna be rough.

“I can’t go through a GRC checkpoint,” Sam says. Redwing makes a mournful sound of agreement. Bucky is still turning the note over and over as if maybe reading it upside down will change its mystifying contents. 

“They’d recognize your beautiful knightly face,” he agrees, reciting Sam’s proffered explanation. “And then search all your bags and spook your horse. You know, she’s way too sensitive.”

“Clara ain’t sensitive, she’s emotionally intelligent. There’s a difference,” Bucky mutters something about Sam busting out his inner kingdom social worker lingo on them and Sam adds, “and you can go through a GRC checkpoint even less, by the way.”

“To be fair,” Bucky says, “they have kinda fucked up my nose in all those wanted posters. Maybe they wouldn’t recognize me.”

They both sit down at the table, resigned. It’s a sticky problem. Sam supposes, as Bucky pulls his favourite dagger out and begins flipping it in a broody manner, that they could take Sharon’s smuggler’s detour behind the wall, but she’d ask too many questions. Sending Redwing on his own is too risky (Sam admits, begrudgingly and in the privacy of his own mind). Clint’s roped into a local problem with a gang of overall-wearing gnomes, Bruce has started teaching a yoga of ogres class, even Joaquin just set up shop marketside selling his scroll encryption services … Sam’s stomach growls, and the lingering smell of spiced rice hits his nose. Sarah’s left a potfull on the stove, for them, probably. She blusters plenty, has real right to be angry plenty, and has a mean right hook, but she loves him. And she’s a lot tougher than she looks, Sam’s come to realize. Kept this whole village alive over the years with her caring, and even after they set up the blockades she charmed the border officers better than Sam or Bucky ever could.

Sam clicks his tongue against his teeth and says, “Huh.”

“What,” says Bucky.

“Lemme run a hypothetical by you.”

“Oh no.” Bucky rubs a finger over the bridge of his nose. “You always do this to me. I started like that once –”

“And have had many terrible no good get Sam’s ass in trouble plans since, brother.” Sam crosses his arms; Rewind flaps over to his little perch by the bookshelf in deference. “Hypothetically, you don’t have to look like yourself. Right?”

Bucky looks at him warily. “Well … no.”

“And … hypothetically –”

“Sam …”

“If a familiar person, say … the nice lady who used to take her gumbo to the community house every week. Was to have that bracelet in her box the next time she went –”

“You wanna send your sister through the woods on her own in this economy?” Bucky interrupts, baffled.  

Sam lifts his chin. Raises his eyebrows. Wags his head a little bit. Chirp, says Redwing from across the room, which Sam might roughly translate to it’s not rocket science, pal.

It takes Bucky a moment to get it, but when it clicks, it’s obvious.

“Oh, no,” he says, a slow horror growing in his face. “No. No, no, no, no way. I refuse, Sam.”

“I haven’t asked anything yet!” Sam says, very mildly put out.

Bucky levels the pointy end of the dagger at him. “No. You’re not entrusting me as the sole keeper of your sister’s safety in the wilderness!”

Sam leans back in his chair, eyebrows raised. “And who the hell else am I gonna entrust as the sole keeper of my sister’s safety in the wilderness?” Bucky makes a disbelieving little cawing noise, like a sad crow, to which Sam adds, deliberate: “Come on, Buck. Be serious.”

Bucky does not answer, as he seems to go through twelve different emotions at once, silently. Sam, who can acknowledge at sword-point that this is maybe a little mean of him, given Bucky’s profound loyalty to his friends and poorly-concealed devotion to said sister (hmph), gives him a minute. Finally, Bucky manages, 

“Anyone! Someone who didn’t spend the last eighty years magically entrapped by a cabal of fascist wizards in the body of a murderous rabid animal!” 

He waves his free hand, which was previously clutched in his hair for something to do. He’d look a bit wild if he didn’t look so thoroughly mundane sitting there in his shirts with his boots off. 

Well, okay. The knife’s a little intense. But it’s not like Sarah’s kitchen isn’t stacked with em.

Sam pinches the bridge of his nose. 

“Okay, first of all. Rabid is just flat out inaccurate.”

“Sam,” Bucky grinds out.

“I’m just sayin’,” Sam says. “You’re not diseased. And like, present day wolf you can even be kinda cute. You seen how fluffy you are? Those sheep definitely did.”

Bucky actually growls at him.

“That doesn’t actually dispute my point,” says Sam, “which is that this, right here, is objectively our best plan.”

“I won’t do it.”

“I’m asking you, Bucky.”

“It’s a terrible plan!”

“Says the guy who only ever comes up with the most unhinged plans ever!”

They glare at each other, for a prolonged, stone-headed moment. Sam thinks that next time he tells the kids a bedtime story, he should include a Mexican standoff somewhere in there. Then Bucky raises the knife again, very very slowly.

“Only if Sarah says yes.”

“Which,” Sam agrees, “is extremely unlikely. If magic could be wrapped up in a tiny little football, she’d probably drop kick that thing into the Mississippi like a quarterback.”

Marginally, Bucky’s face relaxes.

“Yeah,” he says, and now Sam is starting to feel some relief too, because really, what the hell is he thinking? Sending his baby sister out into the wilderness so they can all uncover some great conspiracy … “Yeah. Yeah, okay. If she says yes, I’ll do it.”

And then, of course, she does.

[jyndor]

hello there, I just wanted to chime in a little in the jyn/bix discussion because. some of the anons seemed to talk about jyn and cassian as if they actually had a relationship on screen and. idk. everybody seemed to get the tragedy of the ending of their lives, or at least that's what it looked like, seeing all that content on storytelling and "they've been dead since the beginning" oresteia or else. so... why not see it through that lens? it's hardly a ship of "what they've been through" (even if they went through a lot in the film, but not really as a couple, that's what I mean), it's more like that type of ship that kills you with the possibilities. like. they could've had something, based on some scenes, because it looked like they had something going on but they just met. we didn't get to see anything develop because they died. that's most of the appeal of the ship, the same appeal of every prequel and especially of andor: the possibilities, the tragedy, that. the way they hugged at the end, the way they both gave it all to the rebellion and found comfort in not having to do it alone. like. most of the discussions feel over the point. we will never know what kind of relationship they would've had (toxic or not or some other shit I read), the point is that they're dead and we'll never get to see it. one is free to fantasize a they want but then it's just fantasy so, let's all calm down. how do people create ship wars when there's basically nothing to discuss about if not past and motifs? especially in a film + series that is so clearly not about love?

but that's just my humble opinion

lol anon I completely agree with you but also asking fans to not ship war is I guess asking people not to breathe??

like yeah the point is that they AREN'T in a relationship but probably would have ended up there if they had lived - and shippers like to explore how that could have gone. it's actually funny because with bix and cass it's also a what if kind of thing where they aren't in a relationship at the moment because they didn't work out... but what if they had the time to work on their issues? to grow up? I mean I don't think it works logistically (not sure they'll get there) because the season is gonna be fast paced and all the time jumps and idk I worry about how it would be handled with that little time to do it right. but its also a what if situation, like rebelcaptain, and that's what is so sad about cassian's story in general - it's always been what ifs since he dies so young.

but shippers are weird as hell and don't understand how to just co-exist? Idk I feel like a lot of fans haven't had relationships and don't realize that for a lot of people there isn't Only One Love for someone. love takes work and commitment and consistency, and sometimes we outgrow loves, but that doesn't make those relationships less important necessarily just because they've ended.

that said lol jyn and cassian had a romantic undertone to their relationship (I mean the general term not like ~~~dating lol) from early on in their development. the thing about them is that it is so subtle that viewers don't have to take it one way or another. but when people act like shipping rebelcaptain is weird or like idk wrong... lmao they had a ~dynamic, even if you dont like it or reject it for your own interpretation of canon. which is fine!

[imogenkol]

I’m curious about your thoughts on Bix in that leaked teaser because I’m VERY worried about her storyline 😞

!!!!! thank you for asking!!! I am hella stressed about it too and I've got some long winded scrambled thots under the cut here:

As we know, she obviously isn't in/never mentioned in Rogue One and sometimes that implies a prequel character is doomed by the narrative so my main fear is that her story is going to end in her death. There's also a few lines from Cass in RO that could reinforce that theory (ie: him telling Jyn she isn't the only one who lost everything). Apart from me being totally biased, I do think it'd be a waste of her character, especially since she was criminally underutilized in s1 imo

anywho, from the poor quality clips/screencaps I've seen (I will admit that it can be kinda tough to tell who is who and some scenes flash by so quickly) it looks like Bix might be struggling a lot with feeling like her life is out of her control, even after at least a year time jump from s1. I do think it looks like she is the one who goes after Gorst either as revenge or to regain the control she lost or both. Then that shot of her in bed with the blaster could be the aftermath of that encounter, whether she succeeded or failed. If that's true then it doesn't look like it made her feel any better. But I imagine she'll be a very broken version of herself from when she first appeared in ep 1 because she basically did lose everything and was tortured to near insanity

All of this must have radicalized her, but it's hard to say what kind of rebel she'll be. I hope her storyline is centered mostly on herself, her healing, and the kind of person she wants to be in the war against the Empire. Based on the trailer and some set pictures I've seen, it looks like she’ll thankfully be taking on a more active role and I'd really enjoy seeing her kick some ass. At least for herself considering she had to get rescued a couple of times in s1.

It also very much looks like they're putting her back with Cass and, my own personal ship biases aside, I don't really like that at all. I really love the history and dynamic they share and I thought they made it pretty explicit that any romantic ties between them were cut. I've seen people theorize that she isn't in the right state of mind and might be grasping for any physical connection that makes her feel safe - which can make sense given the trauma she went through - but idk I wish we could explore more of a nuanced friend/familial relationship between her and Cass. I know it’s his show, but I really don’t want to see her be reduced to a romantic prop for him or god forbid she’s that and he loses her to further fuel his storyline. Either way, Bix is in a very vulnerable emotional state and I'm not sure any love interest would be necessary for her (yes I know how ironic that is coming from me and my many oc x canon google docs lmao) at least not until she's had the proper time to heal.

All this to say that it looks like they're setting her up for another pretty tragic arc next season and I hope the payoff doesn't end in complete emotional devastation, but this is one of, if not THE darkest star wars stories out there 🙃

These thoughts of course are just based off a grainy one minute teaser trailer that could very well be purposefully deceptive considering the show hasn't even finished filming yet. But I'd love to hear other people's thoughts too!

[awritingcaitlin]

10 First Lines

@elbritch-kit tagged me for this a month ago! 👋🏻 Sorrynotsorry I'm late!

Anyway, I've done a couple of these before, but this one's rules is very specifically:

rules: share the first lines of the last ten things you’ve written

So, uh, this should be interesting because fun fact about me, I rewrite the same stuff over and over again.

🔥TBW: Mama Cass normally prided herself on her composure.

🥃LGO: In all honesty, Rinnie was too drunk to remember who hit the bed first.

👩‍🦰RA: “Where are we?” Taryn asked.

🎻ROTG: A Temple of Adelus wasn’t her favorite place for a gig, but considering Em was avoiding Seamus Finn establishments, she’d take what she could get.

💥SB: The wind on Berthingtonn’s eastern docks always seemed to blow far more strongly than it did on the west side.

♟TGG: “Eileen,” Aravae said, trying to put enough warning into her tone that Eileen would get the message, but not so much warning that Finley would pick up on it.

💨WH: “Wind’s howling,” Teagan mutters in her best Geralt impression.

❄CTQ: Two women walked along the busy evening streets of Himmelmauer, their course pointed towards the castle.

🍲AEB: First there is chaos, and then there is cold.

💎TWS: Rinnie is on a beach, but it's not a beach she recognizes. The magic feels different. 

Okay, that actually wasn't too hard to track down all things considered. I feel like elaborating with more stats, so I'll do that under the cut.

But first, I'll tag: @sentfromwolves, @tananaphone, @legiomiam, @mjjune, and @muddshadow (no pressure, anyone!)

The Brewing War: aka Book 1, it's up at the top of the list (most recent) because it's been in steady revisions of it since April. That first line? Totally new.

Lights Go Out: is a character study of Rinnie, Aravae, and Ciara and I was writing it separately from TBW because that content does not actually belong on the pages of TBW, but it's up there because I wrote it in June.

Redheads Abound: is a AU fanfiction essentially combining my characters with characters from 3 others writeblrs on here. Wrote that back in April.

Relic of the Gods: aka ViolinHeist, happens in the same universe as TBW but is not a prequel. It got a few revisions in April, but after rewriting the first three chapters of Draft 3, I set it down to let other stuff percolate in the back of my head.

Siege of Berthingtonn: aka Book 2 got some edits back in March, though that first line is older.

The Great Game: aka Book 4 where I've done bits and pieces of that so that's the first line I've written but it's definitely not Chapter 1 or a prologue even. That was back in March.

Wind's Howling: is a flashfic I wrote back in February. Experimenting with present tense.

Cure for the Queen: aka Book 3. It got finished back in March of 2022. April-August was ROTG Draft 1, August-October was then SB Draft 8, November-February was ROTG again which explains the break and reemphasizes that I just write the same things over and over again.

Soup 2 Another Electric Boogaloo: was something I was working on back in October of 2021 (in between working on CTQ). It was fanfiction of fanfiction and I wrote it primarily while still working at GameStop because I could just write it on my phone.

Team W Shenanigans: was also something I was working on back in the Fall of 2021, same time as AEB. It was fanfiction that Rinnie was also involved in.

Hilariously, Rinnie never seems to get first lines unless it's a character study, or fanfiction. I should probably change that. But also, Rinnie's not really a candidate for the prologues of the main series of books so there's also that.

Okay I'm done rambling now. Have a cookie if you read this far 🍪

[twotangledsisters]

The stuff I REGRET from the S1 of my Tangled Sisters AU!

Spoilers ahead, obviously!

So, it's done. S1 is over, and we're heading into S2!

With over 300k words though, it's obvious that not every word goes without regret.

Most of these regrets are more: I had a good idea too late, but I thought it'd be fun to go over some:

1.- Cass' hair.

So, in the beginning of the final S1 fic, Cass mentions how her hair needs cutting, but she's considering keeping it long because it's more regal, only for her to cut it short again at the end of this fic as she won't be performing her duty as a princess for a while.

I liked this concept but as I wrote her cutting her hair I realized... What if she'd never cut her hair short? What if she'd kept her hair long because it's what Gothel liked, and then she kept it long because it was princess-like?

Then cutting her hair could have been symbolic of her finally pausing and thinking, what do I want? And it would be a nice transition for S2 where she has no obvious responsibilities and is able to concentrate more on who she is as a person, not as a sister or a princess but as her own person.

2.- Eugene and Rapunzel's Engagement.

I'm glad Eugene didn't ask Rapunzel to get engaged during the coronation in front of all those people. Cass was right. That wasn't a good idea.

But at the time of writing my plan was for him to ask her sometime in S1... and that didn't happen.

And now I sort of wish it had, I think it would have been nice for them to get engaged back in S1 and to be an engaged couple during S2 and onward (yeah, I'd lose a very cute scene from my notes of the engagement but that scene is now so far off and I feel bad for them taking this long).

Plus, they could have scheduled the wedding for after getting back from S2 but been forced to postpone it due to the events of S3!

Agh, why didn't I do that?!

It's also true that there's a lot more drama taking place in this fic from politics to Cass' health to future issues, so perhaps it's good for them to have this time as a couple before they become an engaged couple but I'm impatient.

3.- Captain's presence in the story (or lack there off).

In my original notes he was a mentor to Cassandra who was meant to be almost as important as character's such as Lance or Caine... But that didn't happen. All the big plots points I had with him happened:

-He was there for Cass in Two Tangled Sisters

-Cass confronted him on some of his opinions about Eugene and other criminals

-He stood up to Cassandra during the blizzard, putting her safety above even the orders of royalty

But that's it really.. I knew Cassandra wasn't going to have being a guard as her end-game, rather it was a stepping stone towards the bigger issues Corona's justice system face, but originally I thought we'd see more of Captain and he just faded into back.

I guess Corona had a rather big cast of characters, so managing them all wasn't ever going to be possible. But, he isn't going anywhere; he plays a pretty big role in the prequel and does more in S3.

I just wish we'd gotten more moments of insight into Cass' journey into wielding a weapon rather than a broom.

At least she still has the dagger he gave her back in the coronation and it remains her favourite weapon, which is sweet and shows the impact he had on her.

4.- I forgot Owl in the last arc...

He would have 100% located Cass and tried to tell somebody. The arc could have been a lot shorter and less angsty but oh well, sorry Owl.

5.- The animals!

Talking of Owl, I wish we saw more of the animals. I absolutely adore Max, Pascal, Fidella, Owl, Ruddiger, but other than mentioning they're in the room, it's hard to find roles for the critters and they end up not getting the attention they deserve.

They get a bit more attention in season 2 or at least I hope they will.

6.- Keira and Catalina...

Again, same as animals. I wish they'd gotten more attention. Hopefully, they will get more attention in S2. I thought after Lance adopted them, we'd get to see more of them, but instead Lance was too busy parenting to go on some of the adventures so we just got less of all three of them!

Godamnit Eugene, why are you so responsible? Let the children fight! Let Lance risk his life despite being a father! Don't you know it's a story and everything will end up okay regardless?

7.- The Justice System!

It's a huge plot point, it's Cassandra's main motivation and her largest accomplishment this season, but... We don't see enough of it. We see it failing through Eugene, Caine and Attila, but I wish we'd spent some time on smaller crimes.

Showing a petty thief getting tackled by guards just for Cassandra to run up and shout at them because they were being too harsh.

Having Cassandra talk to some of the palace dungeon's residents to hear out their stories.

Visiting Corona's orphanage and seeing the systems and education that's in place...

I don't know, it's a huge plot-line and it could have used a bit more showing off.

8.- Apple's Death and the Truth Serum...

I don't think this was the right time for Rapunzel to find out. In my original notes, she didn't find out until S2 while in Equis. I have no idea why I randomly decided; you know what, we're spilling the tea now instead! It wasn't a bad moment by any means, but... I think it could have been better.

My original notes, Rapunzel found out via Cherry, they stopped at the farm on the way to Vardaros and Cherry accidentally let it slip, this of course made Rapunzel think about how she didn't fully know Eugene and the lengths to which he'd go, which could affect her perception of the entire Stalyan situations in Vardaros.

I think that was better.

Alright, that's all I can think of right now!

I'm sure there's more stuff, but these are my biggest regrets.

Like I said, not huge, just thought it'd be interesting to share!

I could do one on opposite regrets too but I think that'd be a lot more boring than this because, well, these are stuff that could have happened and the other list would be things everybody already knows xD

[fkyumerica]

Tue 5:40 PM

millie venillis sons kids inbred

paul mccartney

highlander/dave mustaine

he had to go back again

kids again

married each set they had

to rule europe

best friend assholes

sports stars

dave mustaine was old

he was not ng

not 15 in 1985

they changed the years after

that type of metal was then

same family

leave it to beaver

not living with the other ones

kids still at home

and grandkids next door i dont live there

and hey new wife wwalks in

he says it when he walks in the neighbors house

both did

corner house from sam was paul mccartneys

insane guy

already got anne marie pregnant

saved me from him

i got 5

highlander said it

and we will send  the prequel

stars since

70s

their kids

80s

their kids

90s

their kids 2000s

when they let their kids out to meet

no she doesnt know

she lives here

doesnt meet the neighbors

passes out on drugs they can only get saved by their moms a couple times before they realize they have dicks

the moms fuck their husbands the whole time

and beaver

hey go eat her out

and her husband fucks her at the same time in their bed in the bedroom

and eats it too

his diapers

now let me rape her

and does

well lets see has a doctors book

when to put her in

nuts

got it

pregnant

got it

insane

got it

dead

got it

pregnant reborn again got it

tv show got it

with us got it

the old got it

we got it

now

fire at me

boom no arrms im grbbing  in a choke hold the whole time

now im eating

now im beaming

now im raping

now im tailing

now im

amber went with deedee ramone

left him

mike was her son

and the older mike was him

marc bolan was bigger to me

than the ramones

their oldest daughter made her cheat

the girl in bride of chucky, 21 dresses

she kept having kids too

gerard way was their kid after

he cheated she got one ot mate with her

cody

is him

eddie van halen was his dad

and ariana grande was his too

all of em

anne marie

the whole block loves me

block party

this many drugs at once  think they are r family

and sexy to not touch them

any family

we go in come out

we rape hher in the back after

him

too

she had how many infants no she cant live

put a tiara on a turkey

and in the house

 like him

give her

wednesday

and what guy took em in

roy

george

ron

troy

ren

steve

and gay

robbie/zachy

dearborn

make em visit

deer

cake decorating is so fun to watch

when i know the people down the street again, they only love each other

sausage perfume

who they look like

berpen

where they go

queer

when they goin

spor

re my queen!

Tue 7:38 PM

twiggy had her parents get easat and west to smash into each other to kill each other and get them together

the whole time

and split everyone up we got a problem with

they are all it

in a quiet place

is he rmother

her dad in the other movie

then them both aliens

and their son who married her

george bush sr sr

she is barbra bush

they did rob everyone only told kids

a veil is that her old woman mask

and on her parents too

everyone have sex on them

this blanket

their family never existed

hid her

one jumps on the roof everyday

and magnets us

she was crying on her

it was on the roof

it went to get mom

again with that dog

and she let out hers

barbra bush was a fat ass

mama cass

Tue 8:45 PM

hippo women are 200

years old

and let out crystal meth all night

we said we will make  safe and let  girls go to school

i know the inbreds will definitely bring the older ones to beat  to death after  see the inbred

and the oldest one doesnt care has ape parents, they let him walk out of a prison sentence because he fucked jo, alanis morresette was it, jeffery/brett/woo hoo

and wanted to fuck an ape

got raped and mated with one

and has the nothing is around me attitude

will not realize he has a family or raise them or care they are there or alive

or that anyone is

and will not realize it either

im safe

arrest me

and get executed sitting down looking

18 have to have sex with him to do it

another one? now 19

she says it

and old? apes who did it

be cute, be gay, dont care piss in the corner break in and ruin their house, be serious, then be i wasnt serious about it, then tell them all, then model it, then go outside and say  were styling over there

him with them

old

does piercings, does her, does , is fine with it, can talk about it, rock hard for her then im cheesey/system of a down singer, mime it, cry it, fuck a infant then a toddler it meant, be gerard way after no way they let me do it no one saw it, i saw it, shes here fake a girlfriend, got it good, we're here, i'm there i can live if i go over there, i;m gerard way i wanna get married it can be  i mean i wanna marry , now im a girl after, now im korn, now i missed her im david, now im slip knot, now im kai's dad in a police uniform, now im out again, im her, no problem with it, me either,, now im noroi went with  and filmed it

now say it we are gay and leave

he had rocks on the top of his head to keep his head down

then down more to stay in bed

nooo

megaphone

at me

he was priscilla lee presley

he looked like her, it wwas like times 10

wanted him to be prettier and felt it made her prettier

Wed 12:11 AM

https://www.tube.com/watch?v=I6dG_QukIjI she told her rapist dad of all ages to attack any person she wanted

Aggressive Dad wants to slap his daughter over tantrum! 🫣

she attacked us

with him

there are like 14 kids in there

multiple litters she had with him

nanny 9-11

the mom her and him sometimes she cant collect them all

hide them in the steps too

he doesnt have a fucking face either neither do them

need glasses to keep their face on

https://www.tube.com/watch?v=5muRMM_wpNY&t=1501s closed her mouth too and moved her face up

How To Beat r WORST FEARS In "RUPTURE"

mama cass

all apes were this

[more-than-a-princess]

@healingwords​ asked:  👀 - Name a series you've recently started!

Munday Questions meme

Possibly the most dangerous question on this list (for infodumping at least!). In short, when I’m not writing here, taking part in a few hobbies, or working...I’m likely reading or watching something. Partly for work and partly because I’m addicted to manga sites and my kindle, I’m never not starting, in the middle of, or finishing a series. Video games are easy though: like every other otome fan with a Switch, I’m on Piofiore 1926 and Amnesia Later x Crowd.

That said, here’s a few things I’m currently into or have just started:

Books:

Bow Street series and Gamblers of Cravens series by Lisa Kleypas (might as well go through all of her historical romance series at this rate)

Rokesby series/Bridgerton prequels by Julia Quinn (Please be better than the Smith-Smythe series!)

Girl Meets Duke and Spindle Cove series by Tessa Dare

The Selection (series) by Kiera Cass

A Court of Thorns and Roses (series) by Sarah J. Maas (my friends are convinced this is a fantasy series I will actually love! So I’m giving book 1 a shot)

I’m also waiting on a few other series to drop some updates/next editions in their respective series, too. But the above is what I’m actively reading.

TV:

She-Hulk (haters to the left, this is an incredible series and Jennifer Walters & She-Hulk have been my favorite Marvel characters for years), What We Do in the Shadows (Just finished Season 4!), The Bear, Miss Scarlet & The Duke Season 2, Rings of Power, Sandman, Never Have I Ever, and I need to start Andor. Some of these I watch with my fiancé and we are very slow at catching up.

I also have my super guilty pleasure show of Real Girlfriends in Paris no don’t look at me like that, I hate almost everyone on it but I get sweeping shots of Paris and that’s what counts

I’m waiting for a lot of new series updates to drop after seeing what Netflix/Tudum is offering, including but not limited to: Bridgerton, Bridgerton: A Queen Charlotte Story, The Crown, You, Elite, Stranger Things, Castlevania, Emily in Paris, Wednesday, Lupin, Squid Game, and 1899. Someone yell at me to finally start and finish Enola Holmes and The Umbrella Academy, too.

And for Hulu...I need Season 3 of The Great. So much. 

Manga:

I read a lot of josei and historical manga/manhwa, mostly! I need to get caught up with the new chapters that just dropped of Father, I Don’t Want to get Married!. I’ve also just started Is It Fortune or Is It Woe? and I just finished What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim?. 

Everything else I either need to start from the beginning or I’m waiting on new updates.

[talkfantasytome]

I dont know if Im allowed to send a part three prompt but Im going to anyway and Im just gonna hope for the best but Gwynriel and Nessians brand new babies meeting for the first time and all the parents just "🥺" the whole time

My ask box is open to requests, so pretty much anything is "allowed". LOL And I love this! Although, brand new babies really can't do much, so I made this more a piece of the story than the focus. 👀 It's very heavily Nessian, cause I've just been feeling very Nessian recently. But, it's also fluff on fluff on fluff, so that's something. 😂

It's been the most amazing two months after Nesta and Cassian welcomed their daughter to the world. And now she's finally able to meet Gwyn and Az's son for the first time. But Cassian remembers what day it is and has some other plans as well.

Word Count: 2,750 | Prequel | Part 1 | Part 2

Warnings: F.L.U.F.F.

Seriously, that's all this thing is. There's, like, maybe one sentence that could be considered angsty. Literally.

a/n: If you missed my earlier reblog, I decided that "Build a Life With Me" is the prequel to this, so it's all the same AU. It allowed me to be fluffier and sappier. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

My Candy - Part 3

A screaming cry barreled through the house, shrill and heartbreaking.

It had Nesta up instantaneously. She shuffled toward the stairs without even thinking, pausing at the bottom of them as she spotted Cassian walking down, the wailing bundle in his arms.

"I think someone's hungry," he declared, wearing the same goofy grin that hasn't left his face since their daughter was born.

Nesta huffed a small laugh, taking a step back and holding her arms out. "She must be if she's crying while in your arms."

It came as no surprise to Nesta that Eirena was already a total daddy's girl, never happier than when she was being held by him. Not that Nesta could blame her for that…she clearly took after her mother in that regard.

Their daughter squirmed slightly as she was handed off into Nesta's arms, as if she was curious her problem would be solved with just this movement. But her screams continued within a second as Nesta made her way over to the couch.

"No patience."

Cassian chuckled, standing behind where she sat and resting his hands on her shoulders. "Just another thing she gets from you, sweetheart."

"I am extremely patient!" she argued. She began to unbutton the top of her shirt with one hand as she cradled Eirena in the other arm.

"Yes, dear." He began to rub her shoulders as she finally got her shirt loose enough to bring their daughter's head up to her breast. Luckily, one thing that was never much of a challenge was breast feeding. She was a hungry little thing.

She felt Cassian's weight shift, his hands stilling as his breath caressed her neck. "You know, I could always help you with your buttons," he whispered, pressing a kiss just below her ear, right in that spot that sent her heart racing.

"With our daughter literally in my arms?" she countered, turning her head to find his right next to hers, his eyes boring into her own.

He nodded, his smile growing playful.

"Cass, I think we're going to scar our children enough in their lives. Let's at least give her a few months before we start."

"Children?" His eyebrows rose as his entire face perked up. "As in plural?"

"If you're lucky."

One of Cassian's hands lifted to hold the back of Nesta's head as he lunged forward, pressing a kiss to her lips in a way that had her smiling with him. They couldn't hold the kiss long with their grins, but it didn't spoil the moment. Not as Cassian rested his forehead against hers and breathed in deeply. "You can't say stuff like that to me in front of our daughter if your goal is to avoid scarring her."

Nesta laughed softly, tilting her head to give him a quick peck. "She might be a bit too young to be worrying about that."

"All these rules you set. So complicated." He brushed his nose against her neck and then nipped softly at her ear.

"I'd get used to it. It'll only get worse with another girl in the house."

He beamed at her before his gaze drifted to the dark-haired head still at her mother's breast, his smile only growing. "I think I'll be okay."

Nesta felt a heat build behind her eyes as she placed her forehead to his temple. It was moments like these that made it hard to believe her life was real. With her baby girl in her arms, and Cassian beside her, it was a literal dream come true. She never thought, all those years ago, when he laid out his ideas for their life together on their first date, that she'd actually be lucky enough to get it. But now, here she was, it was perfect.

Well, nearly perfect.

A quick glance at the hand holding her daughter's head reminded her there was still one thing she wanted. One promise unfulfilled that she was ready for.

Small, gurgling noises sounded, Eirena licking her lips with her too-big tongue, full and content, and likely in need of a nice belch.

"Hand me a burp cloth?" Nesta requested, wiping herself off with a tissue before doing herself up again.

Cassian grabbed a cloth from the pile beneath the bassinet they kept downstairs, but he didn't hand it to her. "Can I burp her, please?"

"No." She held out her free hand, waiting.

"But I haven't been able to burp her successfully once!"

"I know. It's my thing, and it's my only thing. Please let me have this." She pushed her lips out into a small pout that had Cassian handing the cloth over to her.

She flashed him a grateful smile and then threw it over her shoulder, standing up and pushing her daughter further up so she could see over Nesta's shoulder. She turned her back to her boyfriend, knowing how much her daughter liked to look at her father whenever she could.

And so began the routine. Nesta bouncing and patting, and Cassian cheering Eirena on with soft phrases like "you can do it" and "burp for daddy".

It was only a minute or so before Nesta felt her daughter's stomach expand as a throaty sound erupted from her lips. She really did have ridiculously loud burps for such a tiny body.

"Wooo! That's my girls!" Cassian exclaimed, as proud as if he'd just watched his daughter make the winning shot in a championship hockey match.

Nesta shook her head, a small laugh huffing out of her as she pulled another, smaller burp from their daughter.

"There, she should be all good for her playdate."

"Playdate?"

Adjusting so she was now cradling her daughter, she turned to Cassian. "Yes, with Az, Gwyn, and their son. Remember?"

"Right!" He snapped his fingers with the word, nodding emphatically. "Still can't believe the babies haven't met yet."

"We had to wait," Nesta reminded him. "Make sure they both got their whooping cough vaccines."

"Still seems weird."

"It'd be weirder if Gwyn and Az hadn't met her."

Cassian let out a breathy chuckle as he walked over to Nesta, placing his hand on their daughter's head and stroking her softly with his thumb. "That's true."

As if on command, they heard a knock at the door, followed by the sound of it opening and a ringing, "Hello!"

"In here!" Nesta called, still bouncing to keep their daughter placated.

"Hi!!" Gwyn all but burst into the room, a massive smile on her face. A far more subdued Az a few steps behind, carrying a car seat.

She gave them each a quick hug before flitting back to Az's side as he set the seat down and picked up his son.

"Oh, I'm so excited!" Gwyn was literally jumping up and down.

"Darling, you do know that they won't actually be able to do much, right?" Az asked through a laugh.

She flicked him a flat glare. "Yes, I'm aware. But they can't say they shared a crib if they never actually shared a crib."

Nesta's daughter began to squirm, her face scrunching in a way that said she was getting sleepy. "Speaking of…it is nap time."

"Introductions first!" Gwyn demanded.

Nesta and Az both rolled their eyes as they walked toward each other, babies in their arms.

Once close enough, Nesta tilted her arms enough to give her daughter a view of the three-week-older boy. "This is Caron," she said, as if her daughter would actually remember his name from this encounter.

"And this is Eirena," Az added, doing the same with this son.

The two babies looked at each other, blinking.

It was extremely anticlimactic, as Nesta knew it would be, but she was happy to be bringing them together. To get to really spend time with Gwyn and Az - or, at least, spend a full naptime with them.

She handed Eirena to Cassian, knowing he'd be able to rock her to sleep faster, and then made her way back to Gwyn as the two men tried to lull their children to sleep.

With her arms free, Nesta gave her friend a proper hug before sitting down on the couch with her. "So, how are you?"

"We're great," Gwyn beamed. "Amazing, actually. I mean, I'm tired constantly, getting very little sleep, but I couldn't be happier."

Nesta couldn't help but smile back at her. "I know the feeling."

A sudden shout burst through the room that had Nesta's head snapping up. "Cassian?"

He was already walking back to Nesta, a frustrated glint in his eyes. "I don't know what you did, but she seems to be switching sides," he groused as Nesta stood up.

She had to bite down on her lip to not smile too widely. "I didn't do anything."

"You did! And I'll figure out what and get her back, but for now…"

Nesta nodded and took her daughter back into her arms, smiling softly at her. Big, blue eyes stared back up at Nesta as she rocked Eirena, the baby's blinks growing longer with every minute.

She loved it when her daughter fell asleep in her arms. Nesta knew they weren't supposed to do that, knew they were supposed to try and keep their child on as close to a sleep schedule as they could, which meant dressing her for bed and putting her in her bassinet at a certain time each night and letting her fall asleep on her own. But Nesta hated doing that. Hated missing out on the opportunity to rock her to sleep herself, or watch Cassian do it.

One big yawn, and it was only another minute until Eirena was sleeping soundly.

She placed her daughter in the bassinet, moving her a bit to the side to give room for Caron, who Az rested next to Eirena quickly.

"We'll have to make sure someone always has an eye on them," Nesta whispered. "I don't think we're supposed to have babies so young sleeping so close."

Az nodded, his eyes as glued to their children as hers were. They both had tufts of onyx hair covering their heads, Caron's a bit longer, and plump baby cheeks that were slightly rosy. However, Caron was paler than Eirena, looking more a dark olive than the light brown skin Eirena had inherited almost entirely from Cassian. She really was only a shade or two lighter than her father, whereas Caron had clearly become more a mix of his parents.

They watched them sleep, their little chests rising and falling evenly. It truly was precious, to see them together, even if nothing was actually happening.

But they were sleeping. Next to each other. And that seemed to count for something in Nesta's heart.

She heard hushed whispers behind her, Cassian and Gwyn conspiring about something. She was about to turn and let Az keep an eye on them when she saw Eirena's head move slightly.

It wasn't much. Just a slight shift. And then another. And another. Just as Caron did the same. Until finally their heads were angled toward each other, the strands of their hair tangling together. It had Nesta inhaling sharply, tears beginning to pool in her eyes.

She couldn't look away. Not even as a deep voice asked, "What are you two staring at?"

"Come see for yourself," she offered, holding out a hand for Cassian to take as he walked up to the bassinet.

He peeked inside and let out a gentle laugh, letting go of Nesta's hand to wrap his arm around her waist and pull her close as he pressed a kiss to her hair.

She heard a soft gasp from the other side of the cradle and looked up to see Gwyn was standing beside Az, her teal gaze focused on their babies. Nesta couldn't help but smile to herself as she let her eyes fall back to the sleeping infants.

Nesta was far too preoccupied to see the look Cassian and Gwyn exchanged, or to notice exactly what Cassian did when he let go of her and stepped away.

It was at least a minute before she finally tore her eyes away. "Cassian? Where'd-"

She cut herself off as she turned around to see that Cassian hadn't gone far, but was just a couple feet away, in front of her on one knee, holding up an open ring box. Inside was a platinum band with a princess cut grey diamond, a sparkling ruby on each side of it.

Nesta felt herself freeze, her eyes wide, her heart pounding as she looked between the ring and Cassian. His own eyes were bright and hopeful, his face soft save for that one crease on his forehead that told her he was nervous.

He swallowed and then began to speak. "Nesta, since the day we met I've known that I want to spend the rest of my life with you. It took me a while to convince you to even give me a chance, but once you did I knew I could never go back. You infuriate the hell out of me, and I love every second of it. You challenge and question me, and I am a better man for it. You literally thrill me. You brighten my mood just by walking into the room, and there is nothing I love more than making you laugh or smile."

The pooling tears were now flowing from Nesta's eyes, but she couldn't stop herself.

"Eight years ago, exactly, I told you that we were going to build a life together, and you said you thought you wanted that." Nesta felt her bottom lip fall from her top. "Well, we've started doing just that, and it's better than I ever could have imagined. I made a few assumptions that day, but more importantly I made a few promises, and I've fulfilled them all…save one. The very first one I made. I still don't care if it takes another fifty years or if you want to run off and do it tonight. I just want you to know that I'm here for good, with you and the family we create.

"So, Nesta Archeron, will you help me fulfill this final promise? Will you marry me?"

She took in a quivering breath, her body trembling from excitement or love or shock or a combination of the three and a thousand other feelings she couldn't name as all the thoughts eddied from her mind. Everything disappeared, except him. Except the man who'd stood by her for far longer than she ever thought someone would. The man who loved and cherished her, who held her close and made her feel safe whenever she was in his arms. The man who fathered her daughter, who adored and spoiled Eirena as much as he did her mother.

Her eyes remained on his as she fought to find the words, to find her voice. He never faltered. He didn't twitch or squirm. He stayed where he was, kneeling, the ring held out for her as if he was offering her his heart. Only he couldn't, because she already owned that, just as he owned hers.

Finally, her lips curved upward as she nodded, gasping out a wet, "Yes!" as she flung herself at him.

The force of the impact knocked him backwards onto the ground, but it didn't stop his arm from snaking around her. And it didn't stop Nesta from pressing her lips to his as they fell.

Cassian chuckled into her, silver beginning to line his own eyes as she pulled away just enough to look at him. To hold out her left hand over him.

She felt his arms move, his hands fiddling with the ring box over her body, and then the ring was free and he was sliding it onto her finger as he stared into her eyes, the flecks of gold sparkling brightly in the brown and green collage.

It fit perfectly, sliding right into place, but Nesta refused to look away from his gaze as he wrapped his hand around hers and held it to his chest.

"I love you, Cass," she whispered, brushing her free fingers through his hair softly.

His smile grew impossibly wider as he lifted his head to give her a kiss. "I love you, too, Nes."

She kissed him again, savoring the softness of his lips before she dragged her own from his and brought them to his ear. "And to answer your earlier question, yes. Children, as in plural."

a/n: Please don't come at me about the ring if you disagree. I did not spend a tonnnn of time thinking about it, so it is not a hill I'll die on or even attempt to hold. It's just the concept that came to mind while writing this. If I write another proposal fic, it may be a different ring. IDK. XD

Their daughter's name is derived from the name "Eirene", who is the ancient Greek Goddess of Peace/the personification of peace. So, the name means "peace". IDK if I'll keep it. My next gen fic has a different name for their daughter, but it's a very different situation. I just needed something for this cause I didn't want to use that name, and I like this concept. 😄

For Gwynriel, Caron is a Welsh name that means 'love'. It's unisex according to the website I used, so if you've only heard it as a girl's name...well, now you've heard both.

@live-the-fangirl-life @generalnesta @secretlovelybeauty @nestaisgod @julemmaes @boredserpent @autumnbabylon @angelic-voice-1997 @moodymelanist @sv0430 @confusedfandomslut @gwynrielsupremacy @katekatpattywack @moonstoneriver77 @deedz-thrillerkilller16 @swankii-art-teacher @lemonade-coolattas @whoreforgwynriel @emily-gsh @my-fan-side @champanheandluxxury @sayosdreams

If you'd like to be added to my Nessian taglist, or another one, let me know!

[nawilla]

Fic Excerpt: T.J. and Beekli talk about what it means to be a modern beta

T.J, Beekli and Tekox are original characters in a Star Wars Prequel ABO fic.  T.J. is doing Obi-Wan’s laundry for him because of complicated medical reasons.

* * *

“How the hell am I supposed to wash this out?”

“You don’t ever use scent block?” Beekli asked, eyebrows raised.

“I use antiperspirant deodorant.  I’m not a savage.  But my glands are kind of lazy.  I use the thin spray, not the cream stuff.”

“I only use the thick stuff for formal events myself,” Beekli admitted.  “And I use gland shields when I do.”

T.J. shrugged.  “Your scent is stronger than mine, but it’s not that strong.”  He looked around the laundry, trying to find a better advisor.  “Obi-Wan is sensitive enough that his own pheromones could still trigger a relapse or just delay his healing.”

“I think we need to ask an alpha or omega,” Beekli admitted.  “Someone who would need the cream.”

“Tekox!” T.J. called as the alpha entered the laundry.  “We need your advice.”

Beekli felt warm suddenly and hoped he wasn’t blushing as he turned his head to see the alpha had come in behind him.

“What do you need?” Tekox asked and Beekli tried to act normal.  Tekox smelled . . . just barely alpha so T.J’s instincts were probably spot on.

“Don’t come any closer.”  T.J. held up a hand.  “I’m washing Kenobi’s laundry and I don’t know how to get scent-blocking cream out of his clothes.”  He held up an undertunic.  “He uses a ton of it.”

“Of course, he does,” Tekox nodded.  “That’s why we can’t smell him.”  He reached into his own laundry cart and pulled out a spray bottle.  “Vinegar.  Lightly coat the stains and let it sit for five minutes before washing.  It will come right out.”

T.J. pulled out a bottle from the supplies Obi-Wan had provided, marked vinegar.  “Ah, it all makes sense now.”

“It’s good for the underarms too,” Tekox advised.  

“You wear cream block?” Beekli asked, his nostrils unconsciously flaring as he tried to scent the alpha.

“Not on special occasions.”  He looked Beekli in the eye, then nodded at T.J.  “That should take it out but check that it’s all gone before you dry the clothes.”

“Thanks,” T.J. nodded back.  “My master is a beta too, so I never learned that.”

“Me too,” Beekli agreed, trying not to remember how good Tekox had smelled when he had been getting ready to fuck him.

Tekox walked over to the next sorting table to start his own laundry.

Beekli turned back to T.J. and willed away the flush he could feel on his face and chest.  

“You don’t have to stay to be polite,” T.J. quietly told him.

“What?” Beekli asked, back to sorting his clothes.  

T.J. began going through Obi-Wan’s undertunics, wetting down the stains with the vinegar.  “I heard you and Tekox hooked up at Carae’s orgy, and you were just scenting him.  If you need an excuse to talk to him, tell him you didn’t want to get pheromones on Obi-Wan’s laundry.”  He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Beekli buried his head in his hands.  “He probably thinks I’m a slut.”

“Why?”  T.J. decided to spray the inner tunics too, just to be on the safe side.

Beekli sat up and rolled his eyes.  “Because I asked him to fuck me at someone else’s conception orgy.  I was supposed to be there to inseminate Carae, not take a knot myself.  It feels . . . selfish and tacky.”

“It’s called an orgy for a reason,” T.J. pointed out.  “Phig said he got to fuck Siri at one point.”

“Siri is a female alpha.  A good fuck keeps her from going into rut, especially since Cass had such a hard one. I’m a beta.  I should have better control of myself.”

Tekox had come in with his laundry already sorted, so he finished loading the machines and left, waving at T.J. and Beekli as he did.

T.J. shook his head. “You’re a modern beta.  You are allowed to get turned on, even if you never go into heat.  You’re allowed to take a knot in any orifice you choose, and you’re allowed to enjoy it.” He shrugged.  “From what I hear, Tekox is not quite as much of a teddy bear as say, Quinlan, but he’s talented, kind, and open to dating betas.  And if he thought you were a slut or you disgusted him in some way, he would have turned you down, even at an orgy.  He does not like to lose control or go into rut, but he’s not a prude.”

Beekli sighed.  “I’m overthinking this.”

“Yes, you are.”

“Maybe, I should ask him out?  Do alphas like to be asked out?”

“Well, it’s too late to roll around in his dirty laundry like they do in the bad romantic comedies,” T.J. snickered.

“Maybe I could offer him fabric softener,” Beekli mused.

T.J. shook his head. “Just don’t fuck in here.  If you do I’ll never get the pheromones out of Obi-Wan’s clothes.”

“I think I’m done with semi-public sex for a while,” Beekli admitted.  “I don’t know if he’d want to be intimate with me again.”

“You’re just going to have to ask him, Beek.”  He looked down at Beekli’s underwear.  “But get some sexier boxers first.”

“Um, right.”  He grimaced at the slightly worn, faded underwear he was folding.  “A planned seduction is classier.”

“Ask him out for food first,” T.J. advised.

“Right.  Food.  Maybe a holofilm.  Try to talk and get to know each other better.”

“I think you’ll be fine.”

[kingandfireheart]

"My money would be on you."

Summary: Nesta and Azriel discussing the necklace debacle, with some nezriel Brotp moments and Azriel processing his feelings toward Elain.

Words: ~2K

Prequel to: What is it that you want, Elain?

Here's a snippet:

Azriel had forgiven his brother, but kept replaying the events of the night in his head. Did he misinterpret Elain's scent? Did Rhys not realize she was a willing participant? Did his brother really think so little of him? Did Elain hate him now? Why did she return the necklace? He knew he wasn't worthy of Elain, but then again, no one was. She was... something else. She nearly took his breath away as a human, and now as high fae, she was devastatingly gorgeous. But what was inside defied all expectations - yes, she was sweet, and kind, and full of light, but under the surface: she was fierce, brave, clever, and funny. She never once balked from him. A thing of secret, lovely beauty.

“You haven’t been sleeping” Nesta observed from her chair in the family library.

Azriel looked up from the reports he was scouring through. Usually, Azriel worked in his room, allowing Nesta and Cassian the space they needed to explore their new bond. With Cassian gone with Mor to deal with the Illyrians and reinforce the wards around Emerie's shop, he had learned to enjoy Nesta’s quiet company after dinner.

“I haven’t” Azriel admitted, running a scarred hand through his hair, while schooling his expression of surprise into his usually mask of indifference. She had a way of reading him that he wasn’t used to. Most people feared him or dismissed him entirely. Only Mor had seemed to be able to get him to talk, but that had grown increasingly infrequent, with Mor's visits to the continent and the distance she had put between them since the war.

“Nightmares?” Nesta asked more quietly, as she set down her book: A romance about an Illyrian and a river nymph, she had told him when they sat down in the library.

He studied her. Maybe it was the exhaustion, maybe it was the way that Nesta observed him and seemed to see things others missed, maybe it was the fact that he knew she wouldn’t judge him that made him say: “I used to have night terrors, they are a product of my childhood. I’ve had them on and off throughout the centuries. I thought I had kicked the habit, but about fifty years ago, they came back. Have been worse lately.”

He knew Nesta understood his meaning, Feyre and Cassian had told her enough. Since Rhys went Under the Mountain, the entire Court had lost something of themselves. For Azriel, it was his ability to sleep.

“You don’t take anything to help you sleep?” Nesta asked carefully. He knew she was being careful, Nesta knew that if she asked too much, he wouldn’t answer, find an excuse to disturb the peace they had found in working together.

“I have tried, but I'm either out for days, or barely functioning to the point where my senses are numb, it doesn’t help with spying.”

“Is that why you’ve been training in the middle of the night? Gwyn said she caught you up there at 2am on solstice.”

Azriel made himself chuckle. He knew Gwyn would tell Nesta, but didn’t expect her to hold onto it for so long. The priestess was his friend now and she was persistent, curious, and stronger than most people gave her credit for. “Did you ask Gwyn why she was there at 2am?”

Nesta made a face at him and said nothing. He knew Nesta had likely guessed what had him in a mood on Solstice. She had shown him as much that day. Nesta also knew about how Gwyn had taken to late night training. The same way Nesta still climbed the stairs, Cassian took to the skies, Feyre stayed up painting, and Elain strolled through her garden after a long day. They all had their ways of coping.

“Gwyn showed me a necklace someone gifted her. She asked if it was me. She said “a friend” had left it with Clotho, but no one else had come to the House that week.”

Azriel kept his face indifferent and willed his shadows to stay calm. Any reaction would be an admission, one he wasn't sure he should make. He knew where she was going with this. She knew he had left the necklace for Gwyn, and probably guessed how much he had spent on it - the necklace was worth more than most of the presents he gave on Solstice, certainly not fitting for a casual gift for a friend. He prayed Nesta wouldn't read into it. Azriel wasn't fully comfortable with the amount of female attention he received every morning. He was distant and aloof during training, but his shadows often informed him how closely the priestesses watched him. He ignored them, had been ignoring them since Cassian had asked him to help with training.

He didn't need to be thinking about any females, he reminded himself, especially after the talk with Rhys on Solstice: You will leave Elain alone. If you need to fuck someone, go to a pleasure hall and pay for it, but stay away from her. He had snarled in response. Rhys rarely resorted to personal attacks. Or threats, which he had also made: If I see you panting after her again, I'll make you regret it.

Azriel had forgiven his brother, but kept replaying the events of that night in his head. Did he misinterpret Elain's scent? Did Rhys not realize she was a willing participant? Did his brother really think so little of him? Did Elain hate him now? Why did she return the necklace?

He knew he wasn't worthy of Elain, but then again, no one was. She was... something else. She nearly took his breath away as a human, and now as high fae, she was devastatingly gorgeous. But what was inside defied all expectations - yes, she was sweet, and kind, and full of light, but under the surface: she was fierce, brave, clever, and funny. She never once balked from him. A thing of secret, lovely beauty.

Nesta's voice roused him from his quickly spiraling thoughts; he needed to get a grip before he revealed too much. “It had a rose on it - exactly like something I would get for Elain.”

Azriel realized that he was trapped. If he made an excuse to leave, she would know, if he brushed it off, she would know. If he hid in the shadows, she would know. If he said nothing, she would know. If he told her too much - she would know. But...Nesta was his friend - she had made that clear a week ago, when she took him down to see the heart of the house. "Just because Rhys said the House is ours, I don't want you to feel any less welcome. This is your home, and you're our family, but you're also my friend. If you would like to be," She had said. Azriel was so touched by the tender offer, he couldn’t say anything. He just wrapped his arms around Nesta and hugged her. In the days since, the two had joked about their alliance against Cassian's insanity.

Azriel decided to come clean. He knew Nesta wouldn’t interfere. Things with Elain were still tentative, and even if she was cordial with Lucien, she wouldn’t ruin her new relationships in the court. Maybe he could use a friend, especially around Elain and Gwyn. After five centuries of using Cassian as a buffer with Mor, of course his brother's mate would take up the role. In 550 years, he never thought jewelry would be the source of his problems.

He sighed, steeling himself for what was to come. Then it all came tumbling out: “I bought it for her. Gave it to her on Solstice. We... had a moment, but nothing happened. Rhys interrupted. I winnowed away. Found Gwyn in the training ring. Elain gave the necklace back. I didn't want to hold on to it, so I left it with Clotho.” He covered his face with his hands as his shadows gathered around him, shielding him from Nesta's gaze. “I fucked up. ”

After a long moment, Azriel willed himself to look up. Nesta’s expression yielded nothing - no judgement., no surprise. He wondered if Elain had already told her what had happened. Out of nowhere, she laughed. “You two would look amazing together. I don't know why I didn't consider it until now, Prythians most beautiful couple," she mused.

Azriel frowned at her, feeling the color blooming on his cheeks. He could deal with her judgement, but the teasing was too much.

Nesta collected herself, as if considering everything Azriel had just admitted to - what it meant for her friend and her sister. "So that’s why both of you were brooding after Solstice? What did Rhysand say?”

Both of you. He knew had hurt Elain. He shouldn't have let things go so far. Azriel knew his High Lord wouldn’t have told anyone what happened, so he could lie. He could say Rhys called him away to spy or something, but he couldn’t let Nesta think it was intentional to leave Elain in the hall, hurt and confused. She was fiercely protective of her sisters. “I’ve been ordered to stay away from Elain," he finally said, unable to keep the weariness out of his voice.

“Because of Lucien?” Nesta asked. “She’s not his property.” Nesta’s anger was clear - whatever kernel of power she had left shone in her eyes. Even after accepting the bond, Nesta held on to her reservations against pressures of the mating bond, claiming I chose you, Cass. Elain hasn't chosen anyone, no matter how many presents the fireling brings, when Cassian had brought it up at dinner. The subject didn't come up again.

“No, she isn’t. But keeping Lucien happy is essential to half of our alliances. The Court can't risk losing Autumn, Spring, and Jurian and Vassa. It would only isolate us in the war that's coming.” Azriel forced his voice to remain level. A war was coming, it was stupid to pretend otherwise. As much as he hated that Elain was a pawn in all of this, it made sense to play things safe, to keep her safe.

Nesta looked like she was considering the risks and said, “Last I checked, Rhysand said there was always a choice here. It doesn't make sense to take Elain's away. This is bullshit." Her brows furrowed, and then she added, a bit of mischief in her tone, "You could always just glamour your scents - it's not like you haven't done that before.”

He shadows stretched toward her, dancing in the space between their chairs, amused that she seemed to know about his past lovers. Azriel just blinked at her, the only show of surprise he allowed. Nesta's reactions were always so unpredictable, even knowing the stories Cassian had likely told her. He couldn't acknowledge that comment - Azriel had been doing it for centuries to keep Cassian from hounding him about his whereabouts and details about his companions. Even if a glamour could work, he had already decided.

He would not disobey a direct order from his High Lord, especially after Rhys had mentioned the consequences. This was different than spying - he could count on one hand that amount of times Rhys had threatened him for disobeying. “I have my orders. I won’t go against them,” Azriel said.

He would stay away from her, if only for Rhys's sake. He would never repay the debt he owed his brother. For saving him. For sacrificing himself. For giving him this life. He would kill and torture and spy to keep him and his family safe, to let his brother have this happiness after years of pain, of shouldering a burden too big for any one to carry themselves.

Nesta looked at him, as if she saw each of the thoughts going through his head. “You deserve happiness too, Az.”

Azriel gave her a small smile, one he knew she would see through. He turned back to the reports in front of him, hoping this would end the conversation. A few minutes passed, and he could still feel Nesta watching him his shadows confirmed as much.

He met her gaze as she said. “I won’t say anything, even to Cassian. Thank you for trusting me.”

He nodded to her - he did trust Nesta. He trusted that Nesta had shown him the house’s heart was to show her own - to show how similar they were. Darkness that they could acknowledge, but keep in check. They both settled back into their reading in silence.

The clock struck 9: about time for Cassian's return. Mor would winnow him back to the house soon enough. Nesta rose, closing her book, and smoothing out her dress. As she walked toward the door, she gave him a conspirator's smile and half-whispered, “If I was still a betting woman, my money would be on you. I’ve never seen her look at anyone the way she looks at you. Not even that lordling”

Azriel couldn’t help but smile at the confidence in her tone. He didn't let himself wondering whether the lordling was Elain's mate or her former fiance. He was still in awe at how Nesta had gone from an angry and miserable person who lashed out any anyone who tried talking to her to this strong warrior who understood him, who would give everything for her family. If Nesta could come back from that dark place, maybe he could let himself hope.

Hours later, when Azriel had finally resigned to sleep and he settled into bed, he saw the medicine bottle and earbuds on his night stand. He had tucked both away into a drawer after Solstice, but the House must have decided to take matters into its own hands. The faelights blinked twice as if to say good night.

Nesta was right, the House was a gossip and a busybody. Azriel chuckled to himself, saying "Good Night House."

For the first time in months, Azriel finally slept.