#he wanted to save the dragons. Kudos for that. But after all the shit is happening you'd expect to find a better way than this 💀

[thesilverlady]

what do you think about sunfyre and his bond with aegon for me it's the only thing i like about aegon lmao , sunfyre was a good loyal dragon who deserved better than to die young and broken

usually I try not to think about it because I see so much discourse about it it's kinda insane 💀

I think all the dragons have bonds with their rider. Syrax-Rhaenyra, Helaena-Dreamfyre, Caraxes-Daemon and all the rest.

in the show we see Syrax react to Rhaenyra's pain while giving birth to Visenya, in the book Dreamfyre senses when Helaena dies. And Sunfyre did admittedly have his moments as well.

When he was making his way to dragonstone Gyldayn believed it was due to a primal instinct for Sunfyre to return to his birthplace. This isn't far stretched because this theory has been seen before about other dragons in f&b pre-dance (for instance the black dread and the rumor he went to old valyria aka his birthplace). On the other hand, in the book it's also suggested Sunfyre might have been able to feel Aegon II's urgent need of him.

Personally I think it might have been a mix of both. Sunfyre was extremely injured and couldn't even fly if I remember correctly so it makes sense that he'd want to be back to his birthplace where he felt most safe. On the opposite, I'm a firm believer of dragons sensing their riders emotions so I won't pretend Aegon being in dragonstone didn't play a role.

If anything he probably wanted both and was lucky they were all in the same place.

The competition I've seen in the fandom about "who has the best bond" is quite ridiculous in my humble opinion because we never get the opportunity to see much of the other dragons with their rider (aside being in a battle)

and because I know my girl Syrax will inevitably catch strays as usual, let me disclaimer. George needed a way to get rid of her because if rhaenyra went to dragonstone with Syrax aegon and his soldiers would be doomed (Sunfyre was way too injured to fight and couldn't fly). And because Rhaenyra had to die George found the quickest, stupidest way to off Syrax so pls leave her alone. Take the anger to that man

Now to bring it back and be controversial (because of course I have to be), a common argument I've seen is how aegon after the war wants to claim another dragon, a "better" Sunfyre. Is he a bit of a bitch about this? yes. But also consider the fact that dragons are a symbol of power, I don't think him wanting another dragon means he didn't give a fuck about Sunfyre, rather he had become disabled, slowly paranoid with whom he could trust and who is better and more powerful to have on your side than a dragon?

[selunesdreams]

Chapter 4: Choke Points

“You know, my room has good choke points, too.” 

Pairing: Lucanis x Fem Rook/OFC x sometimes Spite??

Summary: Treviso is saved, Minrathous burns, and Rook has a mini-crisis over disappointing Neve. In an attempt to get her to stop moping, Lucanis drags her to spend some quality time with her family.…Link to Chapter 1

Word Count: 3.2k

Things of note/warnings: 18+ fic, MDNI! Blood, injury, the pain and agony of letting down Neve, protective Spite/Lucanis, Illario's snake collection, drunk Rook being a horny little shit. Also some references to plot lines in Tevinter Nights. A highly recommended read, but not necessary to follow the story. Please read on AO3 if you need to track warnings, they will be inevitably detailed better there (or just want to be real sweet and give me hits/kudos/comments).

─── ⊹⊱♤⊰⊹ ───

Rook used the back of her hand to wipe away the blood and sweat from her face, doubling over to catch her breath. 

“I can’t believe we fought it off.” Teia said, her eyes following the receding silhouette of the dragon on the horizon.

Dense soot fell from the sky as flames simmered on distant rooftops. The air carried the scent of wood smoke, reminiscent of All Souls Day, when Treviso would remember its dead, and the Chantry would light fires across the city to mark the burning of Andraste. Tonight, there was no peaceful remembrance of the fallen, no parades marching through the streets. Only fresh death and palpable despair. Despite their half-victory, Treviso remained shrouded in dread of what lay ahead.

“It’ll be back.” Lucanis’ voice held a haunting quality. “If Ghilan’nain hadn’t called it away…” 

Rook stood up straight. “Next time, it dies.”

“That thing was tough. It’ll be hard to put down for good.” Davrin warned. Behind him, Assan dug holes through the frost coating the governor’s lawn, the remnant of the dragon’s icy attack. No one stopped him - the Crows hated politicians.  

“What happened to Treviso would have been much worse if you hadn’t arrived when you did.” Teia threw her arms around Rook. “I cannot imagine how much worse…”

“Fiammetta!” 

Rook disentangled herself from the embrace and turned in the direction of her cousin’s voice. Viago, ever calm and collected, looked like an utter wreck as he approached.

“So he does have a soft spot,” Lucanis murmured to Teia.

“He has several.” She said with a wink. The Demon of Vyrantium raised both eyebrows and blinked uncomfortably. 

“You saved our city, Fiamma. Our people. Our home…” Viago’s mouth fell open mid-sentence as his gaze drifted over her shoulder. “Is that…a griffin? ”

Rook nodded emphatically and Viago crept forward, staring at Assan with childlike wonder. The griffin squawked and swished its tail in the air. 

“Never thought I’d see him get excited about anything other than snakes and poisons.” Lucanis mused. 

“Says the guy obsessed with wyverns.” Rook said, squatting to clean her blade on the grass.

Davrin sheathed his sword. “While this is all endearing, don’t we need to check in on-”

“Minrathous...” Rook’s eyes widened as she turned to Lucanis. “Neve!”

Davrin whistled, signaling for Assan. “Maybe there’s still time to help.”

Viago reached for Rook’s shoulder. “Fiamma, don’t go running into-“

Lucanis stopped him mid-sentence, laying his hand on his arm. “She’s got this. And if she doesn’t, I’ve got her back.”

A long moment passed as Viago held his gaze before he acknowledged with a nod. 

“Send word when you’re safe.”

“You worry too much!” Fiamma shouted over her shoulder, taking off after Davrin and Assan.

Lucanis delivered two reassuring pats to Viago’s back and then sprinted after them.

─── ⊹⊱♤⊰⊹ ───

Rook barely recognized Minrathous, relying on Lucanis to navigate its burning streets. It had been a miracle the Eluvian was even in one piece when they stepped through it.

They spotted Neve on a rooftop, along with Asher, the leader of the Shadow Dragons, and Tarquin, his second in command. Rook, with a dramatic flourish, pitched herself onto the roof from the highest rung of a nearby ladder.

“We’re here! What’s the situation?” 

“Look around.” Neve waved her arms in a display of exasperation. “I don’t know where to start. Is Treviso alright?”

“It’ll pull through. I’m asking about Minrathous.” 

“The Venatori had a clear shot at the palace while we faced a dragon we could barely hurt. The Viper drew it away from the safe house and took a claw to the gut as thanks. A healer could fix the wound, but the blight’s already in him...”

“I know of magic that may slow the corruption. It will give me more time.” Asher rasped. From Rook’s vantage point, the wounds appeared severe. Tarquin lunged at her, forcefully jabbing his finger against her chest. 

“This is all you! The risen gods, the blight, the dragon! Now the city’s lost to the Venatori-”

A low growl emanated from Lucanis, his eyes momentarily tinged with violet as he intervened, positioning himself between them.

“Do NOT. Touch. ROOK! ”

He took a step backward, blinking rapidly.

Asher propped himself up on an elbow, suppressing a cough. “Tarquin, it is what it is. You know Rook isn’t to blame.”

A groan of frustration escaped Tarquin’s lips as he returned to his post alongside the Viper, burying his face in his hands. 

“Tensions are a little high.” Neve said apologetically. “You should go for now. I need to be here a while. See to things.”

“Neve…”

“You had to defend your home. I don’t fault you for that, Rook. But it still doesn’t change what happened to mine.” 

Lucanis, seemingly in control of himself again, laid a hand on Rook’s shoulder and gently pulled her towards the ladder. 

“Come on, let’s give her some time.”

─── ⊹⊱♤⊰⊹ ───

Defeated and feeling guilty, Rook paced the halls of the Lighthouse alone. Judging from his snoring in the other room, Varric was asleep, and she didn’t want to interrupt his rest. Solas was an asshole , and confiding in any of the others was only likely to burden them, so Rook summoned her courage and approached the pantry, hoping there’d be at least once person she could commiserate with.

She rapped twice before cracking the door and peeking through. Lucanis lay sprawled on his narrow cot, tossing an apple into the air and catching it over and over again. He turned his head nonchalantly as she stepped inside.

“You know, we have other rooms and plenty of space. I don’t know why you-“

“You don’t know why the trained assassin would choose a room with only one entrance and good choke points?” He asked, raising an eyebrow. “It’s worse than I thought. You’ve forgotten all your training, Rook.”  

“Hush. I don’t need to be reminded of any more of my inadequacies today.” 

Lucanis sat up, leaning forward and clasping his hands together. “That bad, huh?”

“That bad.” With her back against the cold stone wall, Rook slid to the floor. “I know Neve doesn’t hold it against me, but…I can’t help but feel like her trust - and faith in me - are fractured.” She confessed grimly. “Just as I earned back Viago’s good graces…”

“Were the tables turned, she would have picked her home. She knows that. That’s why it’s hard for her to work out. She’ll come around. Just like Viago did.”

“I had to fight a dragon to change Viago’s mind.”

“You might have to fight another one to change Neve’s.” A small smile tugged at the corner of Lucanis’ lips as he rose to his feet. “Besides, Viago never really lost faith in you, Rook. You have to know that.”

“I’m not sure how well you know Viago.”

“I know what it’s like to be a big brother - cousin - but I think you know what I mean…” He squatted in front of her, resting his forearms on his knees. “He’s hard on you because he wants you to survive. It’s why Caterina was hard on me. And why I’m hard on Illario.”

“Please don’t compare me to Illario.”

“I would never.” Lucanis said, his grin widening as he rose to his full height. “You’re much more pleasant.” 

“My father was hard on me, too.” Rook said. “Nothing like Caterina, I’m sure, but after my mother died, he changed. He was my protector all my life until he had to teach me to protect myself. I’m grateful, but…”

Lucanis’ expression softened as her voice trailed off. “I’m sorry. I wish I knew how to... comfort you.”

“I just came to strategize. I don’t need comfort .” Rook said coolly. 

“Those are a lot of big emotions for strategizing, De Riva.” He took her by the hand and pulled her to her feet.

“Come on. I think I might know who can help.”

─── ⊹⊱♤⊰⊹ ───

“Cheer up, Fi. So we didn’t slay the dragon. It flew away! From us! That counts for something, right?”

A trip back to Treviso and a glass of one of her cousin’s best vintages later, Rook found herself on the receiving end of a pep talk from Teia. She sunk deeper into the green velvet cushions of Viago’s couch and glowered across the room at Lucanis. 

“You thought this would make me feel better?” She asked, her voice heavy with exhaustion. She finished off her wine, the glass clinking softly against the side table as she set it down.

Lucanis, nestled in a plush armchair near the fireplace, shrugged, his eyes fixed on the dancing flames.

“Oh, come on, I know you missed us.” Teia extended her wineglass towards Viago as he entered the room with a fresh bottle. He topped her off and filled Rook’s to the brim again.

“You’re in my chair.” He grumbled at Lucanis, who reluctantly pushed himself up with a groan and relocated to the couch.

“I warned you.” Rook said as she made room. “Viago’s very particular about these things.”

Lucanis grunted as he eased himself down beside her.

“Where’s Illario? I thought you invited him?” Teia asked Viago. “Too good to celebrate our victory?” 

“He’s sulking at Caterina’s Villa. I didn’t want to disturb him.” 

“Fine by me,” Rook mumbled, snatching her wine back off the table. As the conversation continued, her gaze wandered towards a large terrarium in the corner of the room. A Death Adder, one of the most venomous snakes in Thedas, was coiled around a twig, flicking its tongue at her.

“So tell me, cousin, what’s up with the new pet?”

“Emil Kortez planted it in my wardrobe at the last Crow summit in Lago di Novo.” 

“It’s bite nearly killed him.” Teia said. “Good thing our Viago takes his morning coffee with dilute poison.” 

“And you let it live?” Lucanis asked. “You really are getting soft, De Riva.”

“That snake came closer to taking me out than any man can say. He deserves my respect and a good home. With all the mice he desires.” He brought his wine to his lips. “Besides, I can extract his venom for Adder’s Kiss.” 

Rook stood, a little unsteadily, and crossed the room. Reaching out to feel the cool glass against her fingertips, she examined the snake, noticing a bulge in its belly, evidence of a recent meal. Its slow blinks seemed content, almost serene. As far as snakes went…it appeared fat and happy.

“Does it have a name?” She asked with a hiccup. 

“Emil.”

Teia raised her glass. “May he rest in pieces.”

Rook flopped back down on the couch beside Lucanis, her wine sloshing dangerously close to the rim of her glass. He frowned and snatched it from her hand, setting it aside.

“With you off saving the world, I needed a new roommate. Emil’s quieter.” Viago said.

Rook ignored her cousin’s sarcasm, knowing it only veiled his hurt feelings. A heavy silence fell between them before he spoke again. 

“I’m turning in, but this is still your home too, Fiamma. Your room is exactly as you left it. Perhaps you should sleep in your old bed tonight. I’m not sure I can endorse traveling through the Fade under the influence.” He rose from his armchair. “Lucanis, you’re welcome to the couch.”

“What about me?” Teia asked with a wink. 

“I’ll expect to find you where you usually end up.” Viago purred, disappearing into the shadows of the hall. 

Rook knocked her head back against the wooden frame of the couch. “I didn’t want to hear any of that.” 

“You two are…?” Lucanis pointed between Teia and the hall, his wine glass balanced delicately between his ring and index fingers. 

“Happened after your…funeral.”

“Teia!” Rook cried. 

“What? Grief is a powerful aphrodisiac. Besides, with Lucanis back, that means someday we’ll get to grieve for him all over again...”

“I think that’s my cue.” Lucanis said, and pushed himself up from his seat. “I’ll give you two some time to catch up.” 

As he slipped through a pair of glass doors onto the balcony, Rook reclaimed her half of the couch. 

“Alright, we’re only doing this once.” She said, throwing back the rest of her wine. “Spill.”

After Teia went to bed, Rook joined Lucanis outside. Silhouetted against the moonlit sky, he leaned over the railing, tracking her out of the corner of his eye as she approached.

With a weary sigh, she sat down on the ground and slotted her legs through the gaps in the rails, dangling them over the ledge.

“I might be back in the Crows’ good graces after saving Treviso.”

“You impressed Viago. That is quite a challenge on its own.” 

“You have no idea…” Rook muttered. 

“Here, not that you need it.” Lucanis picked up a decanter on a nearby table and joined her on the ground, topping off her wine. 

Rook took his offer appreciatively, “Thanks.”

Wordlessly, they sat together while she swung her bare feet in the open air below. A gentle breeze rustled through the night, carrying with it the remnants of the recent chaos. Mist and smoke floated over Treviso, the flames once painting the horizon finally subdued. The city was damaged, but it would come back, as it always did. Stronger. 

“Why do you not mind when Teia calls you by your old name?” Lucanis asked suddenly. “I’ve never heard you correct her.”

Rook sipped her wine. “After everything that happened, nobody used my name to say anything nice to me - or about me. Only to scold me. But Teia…I’ll always be Fi to her. It feels like home when she says it. I think that’s what a name should be.”

“For what it’s worth, I’ve never scolded you.” Lucanis said, leaning in to bump his shoulder into hers.

“Your grandmother did plenty.” Her voice echoed inside the glass as she took another drink. “And your cousin.”

“Caterina only scolds people she likes.” He said with a smile. “Illario too, but I understand it’s not an honor to be liked by him.” 

Rook laughed bitterly. “No, no, it isn’t.” 

“What happened between you two?”

“It was never that serious, Lucanis. Not for me. I think Illario was more enamored with my father’s legacy than with me.” 

“I mean…your father was an impressive man. He wielded fire with more precision than the best of assassins could wield a blade. The way he could set a politician’s home aflame and make it look like an accident, or cauterize a wound before his victim had the chance to draw the poison out…” Lucanis let out a low whistle. 

Rook groaned. “You’re just as bad as Illario!”

Lucanis laughed. “I’m not, I promise. But I did have a high opinion of him. There aren’t many assassins of his caliber who turn down becoming Talon. I envied him most the day I learned Caterina was grooming me to become First.” 

“The mage killer, idolizing a mage.” 

“The Flame of Treviso wasn’t just a mage - he was a beacon of hope , Rook! He valued justice over titles and riches. He would be proud of you, Crow or no. You are the legacy he left behind. His daughter, his little flame, now a formidable fire…”

Lucanis reached out, crooking a finger under her chin and tilting her head towards him.

“It’s in your eyes. Not just the amber of your irises - your drive to do what is right. To protect those who cannot protect themselves. I don’t just owe you a debt - I think you’re a leader worth following. Fiamma, Fiammetta, Rook…”

His hand fell. “I’ll call you whatever you want.”

Warmth spread across Rook’s face as her cheeks flushed, and she tore away her gaze. The balcony spun slightly as she struggled to her feet, the effects of the alcohol pulsing through her body, a gentle buzz at her fingertips. She was a leader, she thought to herself, with some embarrassment. She should be acting like it. 

“Mind if we crash here tonight? I think I’ll fall to my death if I try to venture through the Crossroads like this.” 

“Not at all. I think a break from the Fade would be good for you.” Lucanis glanced at the empty bottle behind them. “Should we clean up?”

“Leave it. Viago’s used to picking up after me.” 

She shuffled through the door and Lucanis followed, ducking under her arm and draping it over his shoulders, one hand encircling her waist as he helped her inside. 

“Let’s get you to bed.”

Rook didn’t protest, allowing him to guide her while the apartment swam around her. He smelled like leather and cardamom, and she suppressed a drunken urge to shove her tongue down his throat. She hadn’t been with anyone since her last assignment in Minrathous several months ago. A one-night stand with a Shadow Dragon. She never bothered to learn his name. After all, he didn’t bother to give her an orgasm.

Down the hall, Teia giggled behind Viago’s closed door. With a grimace, Rook stepped inside her old room as it came into focus, finding it exactly as she remembered. The floor to ceiling windows cast faint lines of light through the panes, falling like stripes upon the furniture. Someone had neatly made her bed, and the vanity remained untouched. On the other side of the room, a thin layer of dust covered her collection of perfumes and poisons on the fireplace mantle. Even her ivy hanging from the ceiling was alive - Viago must have watered it in her absence. Hopefully he didn’t plant another snake in it. 

“You’re okay with the couch?” She asked Lucanis, holding her breath as she waited for his response.

“It will be a slight upgrade from the pantry.” He grinned as he released his hold on her, hands hovering in case she faltered. “But lacking the good choke points.” 

Rook crossed the room, taking a match from her nightstand and lighting a few candles.

“I like the way you say it… Fiammetta.”

Lucanis folded his arms, leaning against the door frame. “Is it so different from the way everyone else says it?” 

“It sounds like poetry when you do it.” She said, a shy smile playing on her lips. The matchstick flickered, and she extinguished the flame with a quick flick of her wrist. “Maybe it would be okay if you used it - just between us.” 

“We’ll see if you change your mind tomorrow. Once the wine has worn off.” 

He let his arms fall to his sides and fell back into the hall. Rook stumbled after him, propping herself up against the wall as she peered around the corner.

“You know, my room has good choke points, too.” 

Lucanis turned slowly, his eyes widening. Eyebrows knitted together, mouth slightly agape, only a quiet sound of surprise left his lips before she retreated inside her room and pressed her weight against the door, shutting it with a soft click.

[letstrywritingmaybe]

12. Royal verse

(Re: part two of fic ideas I’ll never get to)

I have to start by saying I have no business dreaming of this verse cause I know nothing about medieval times nor about royal family/court dynamics. That being said, I did have a dream and I continued the verse in my head. It’s been a while so I probably forgot a lot, here goes!

• it’s gonna be set back in the day with like swords and horses (dragons?) and stuff but I’m making it up as I go cause again this is not my realm (I guess like King Arthur/GOT shit except I know nothing about either of those fandoms)

• the Kudo family is in power and with Shinichi being their only heir, he’s obviously the next King. He takes this role very seriously and genuinely wants to be a good ruler

• the Miyanos are from a neighboring kingdom and an alliance would be beneficial to both of them, so an arrangement is set up

• neither of them want to marry each other, they haven’t even met in person, but they also know they don’t have a say so they accept their fate

• first impressions are kinda eh, but it could be worse. Shiho notes some baggage that she could care less about, but she does make friends with Kaito because I believe in kaishi supremacy (a brotp in this verse though sadly. I’ll have to dream of the stable boy steals the queen fic another day)

• they get married and do all the things a proper married future king and queen should do. There is a learning curve to get over during intimate times, but he gets it eventually. Even if they’re not in love, he does care about her pleasure which surprises her a lot

• slowly over the course they fall for each other, him more quickly cause this is my fic. But alas there is a kingdom to rule and a threat has been made on the Miyano’s land by a mutual enemy

• it gains momentum and Shiho cannot sit by and wait, so she asks to go home. She is of course denied since her job is to produce an heir which they have not been able to do despite trying. It’s only been a few months though, but you know how these things are

• she doesn’t listen and stows away anyway, Shinichi finds out and goes off after her even though the court does not approve. He does find her and saves her, but a lot of shit is happening and it’s way too dangerous to stay. She does manage to get in contact with her sister who tells her to leave and she promises to stay safe

• unfortunately the kingdom falls, her parents are killed and Akemi is nowhere to be found. This of course means war. But again as Shinichi isn’t the official king yet, the main concern is still to produce an heir. But knowing how these two have a rebellious streak, they’re sent away to another location until she conceives

• now of course she is not gonna be in the mood when her family has just been slaughtered. Which he also understands and meanwhile he wants to go back home to help defend their land. Their plans escaping leads no where, they’re not allowed to leave

• the tides turn in their favor, with part of her former land reclaimed and thus they’re allowed back on home grounds. But mostly because she is carrying their child now

• which means he can officially take over and be king now, while his parents retire and take over other responsibilities (most likely meaning gaining more land cause that’s all people in power care about). But of course they settle the war first, and they win.

• Shiho waits for news from her sister that never comes (admittedly I haven’t decided if she lived or not… we’re officially at the part of the fic where I’m just making it up as I go right now cause I can’t remember what my actual plan was) Shinichi grows on her and she does allow herself to actually fall in love with him. He’s been so supportive and he’s really good to her

• everything is good. He’s officially king, his queen is also in love with him and they’re about to welcome their first child. But that’s too easy, so of course someone who escaped the terrors of the Miyano’s kingdom collapsing found refuge here in the Kudos land but grew resentment and starts a rebellion to overthrow them

• it doesn’t exactly work, but they do find traitors within the realm. A beautiful baby girl is born and the kingdom is in celebration, Shinichi is thrilled even though the courts are upset and demand they try and have another child immediately because it needs to be a boy

• okay this is the reason why I don’t think I’ll be able to write this fic, cause while dreaming this verse my mind would not allow them to get their happy ending cause things keep going wrong every time they achieve it. Because the one person that started the rebellion is to be executed anyway so he decides to take his revenge which unfortunately means Shinichi ends up having to choose to save his wife or daughter

• he does try to save both, but he fails. And Shiho hates him for it. She thinks she’s cursed, she keeps losing her family. She still doesn’t know if her sister is alive and her daughter is now gone. All she has left is Shinichi, but before they even got together she had her whole family

• she obviously goes into a depressive state. And of course yet another invasion is happening cause news of a rebellion got out, so of course enemies are trying to strike when they think the kingdom is weak. Shinichi is stretched way too thin having to manage an impending war while his queen is plotting her own demise

• he decides to fix one problem at a time and try to do it without bloodshed first. So a pretend everything is going great gala is arranged. Shiho does play her role and fools everyone into thinking everything is fine when she is very much not. She still mourns, but her duty to her people forces her to pull it together for one night

• she’s gone by morning light. Shinichi goes mad trying to find her, only glad that talks of war have quieted down (thanks to his parents negotiating with other kingdoms and them fooling the rest that they’re fine, why else would they throw a party?) He finds her on the outskirts of town, she doesn’t want to see him since she still blames him for the loss of their child (though if we’re honest she’s more upset with herself)

• he apologizes (he did before also) and proclaims his love which she does not accept. He begs her to give them another chance (not that she has a choice cause divorce is not a thing here. She would just have to die or he dies, but she’s thinking the former) she refuses, but he’s the king so he wins so they go back to the island where they were forced to stay at until they conceived

• it’s also where they chose to keep their child’s gravesite. It was too painful for either of them to bear seeing it, so they chose to keep it here. And now all Shiho does is sit by her child’s tombstone

• the court has no heart and demands he produce an heir, but given the Queen’s inability to do so (since in their eyes it took them too long to conceive a child the first time plus it was a girl) so they take matters into their own hands, choosing other maidens who would be more than willing to carry the future heir to the kingdom (and maybe become Queen themselves in the process) This pisses Shinichi off, he makes it clear he will only have children with the woman he loves

• meanwhile this only adds to Shiho’s thinking that being born as a woman is a curse and this is her punishment for thinking she could be happy. Perhaps it’s a good thing her daughter will never get the chance to go through the same process as she is right now

• Shinichi refuses to be seduced and instead finally decides to sit with Shiho who wakes each morning to mourn their child. He normally waits until she finally sleeps at night to talk to their daughter himself, he didn’t want to trigger her more but evidently it’s not working. But also because he hates to admit that he failed

• he mans up and holds her, confessing his own guilt and how he wished it was him instead. He failed at being a father before he really got the chance, how can he be a good ruler is he can’t even protect his own family. Shiho stops blaming him, now that she knows he’s just as torn up about this as she is

• they actually try and have another child. They did try before during their grieving but it was more going through the motions and made them both feel worse. Eventually they managed to conceive again, but it takes a long while

• maybe they’re not meant to be parents together, she doesn’t understand why it’s not working. There must be something wrong with her. The kingdom needs an heir, so she gives her permission for him to have a child with someone else. He refuses, doubling down that he will only have a child with her

• they fall more in love with each other in the process and to help alleviate the stress of making babies. She starts getting into running a country. She was trained to do so for her own land, but now that she belongs to her husband she’s told to stay out of it. Shinichi values her opinion, especially knowing how smart she is, she was the key to several victories they held during the war and she was able to keep the people of the kingdom happy while he was away at the line of duty

• as assassination attempt is made on her life since women have no place in power and she isn’t even pregnant. Shinichi saves her, but she decides she hates being a damsel so she starts to take self defense lessons. At first he didn’t like it, thinking of himself as a failure that she has to learn to fight for herself. But she convinces him, if she had been able to hold her own in a fight then maybe they would still have to see daughter

• he allows her lessons to continue, but he insists on being her sparring partner (this is just because I want my golden otp represented, cause this is such a thing for my true otp) anyways they probably end up conceiving during one of these sessions

• it’s a boy this time! And everything is finally going great again. Except there is a jealous person who was promised by the court power and now that’s all gone. So another assassination attempt is made, but this time on Shinichi’s life

• Shinichi doesn’t hesitate to protect both Shiho and their baby, not realizing he is the target this time. Luckily the swordsman missed the mark and was apprehended but Shinichi is pretty badly hurt. Shiho has nightmares about this and spends the whole time by his side with their child, nursing him back to health

• because this is just gonna keep going if I don’t end it, and I really cannot deal with angst or mcd. We are going to say they lived happily ever after and nothing bad ever happens again (even though it probably does)

[frankenstein-ate-my-left-shoe]

Pt. 1 | Pt. 2 | Pt. 3 | Pt. 4 | Pt. 5

Secret admirer Part 6!!!

It's here! the final part!! Thank you all so much for reading this and for those of you who have left kudos and bookmarked it on AO3!! I am so appreciative, I really have no words but more 'thank you's.. so thank you thank you thank you!!!

ICYMI, this fic has a name and is now on AO3 here: Several Notes of the Most Amiable Nature and a brand new epilogue!!: (Reprise)

Steve meets Eddie’s gaze from across the room and he immediately starts to panic. ‘“I know.”?? What does he mean he knows?? Is he just being a little shit or does he know it's me? When did he figure it out?? Did Robin tell him? If he does know, is he glad its m_’ 

Steve is quite literally saved by the bell when the doorbell rings out. ‘Oh thank god.’

“Pizza’s here!” Steve claps his hands together, “Robs, will you answer the door so I can grab my wallet?”

“Sure thing, Dingus.” She grumbles and pushes herself off the couch.

Steve grabs his wallet and meets her at the front door, pays the driver, shuts the door, and immediately stops Robin from leaving.

“Robin, does Eddie know it’s me?”

“Whoa, hold on there Steve, these things are heavy…”

Steve grabs the pizzas from her with one hand, all six stacked up and balancing on his upturned forearm.

“Show-off.”

“Robin, I’m serious. He looked right at me and said ‘I know.’; What’s up with that? Does he actually know?” his voice whispering in an agitated tone.

“How should I know?” She whispers back in the same tone. “Maybe you should just tell him. Where are you going to go from here with the roses anyway? You literally left one on the man’s doorstep. What’s next, you going to somehow stick it up his ass without him knowing?? Wait_don’t answer that. I don’t ever want to know what you may or may not stick up his ass.” She waved her hands around frantically to Steve’s appalled expression as if trying to wave away her thoughts.

“Let's just get these pizzas to your children; but seriously, at least think about coming clean? I’m 100% sure he’ll be thrilled it was you.” She grabbed three of the boxes from him and turned back to the living room.

Steve followed, and couldn’t help but perk up at Eddie’s smile to him when he came around the corner. If Steve had a tail, it’d be wagging a mile a minute. Fuck, he was so gone on Eddie. 

Everything about him just glowed. Everyone says that about the people they care about “They light up a room as soon as they walk in.” but with Eddie, it was the whole truth. Well no, maybe not.. Eddie was like a spaceheater? He glowed with a warm light that did, in fact, light up whatever room he was in, but he was always something more. It was like you thawed out whenever you were near him. Like the rest of the world was so cold and bleak, but you didn’t know it until you were near him.

Steve thought about this the rest of the night. Watching Eddie as he spun stories out of nothing but a single thought. Watching him traipse around the room singing parts of Phantom (Steve pretty much had a copy rented out constantly now), much to the rest of the kids’ delight. Watched as he and Dustin acted out lightsaber battles during Star Wars, jumping between cushions and blankets on the floor (“Like Anakin and Obi-Wan did in the new movie Steve, have you really not seen it yet?” Dustin had asked. No, he hadn’t.).

Even after the excitement of the movies and the evening wound down, Eddie was still being their party’s personal spaceheater. Sidling up to Will on the floor while Will was doodling something in his sketchbook. Will seemed apprehensive about talking to Eddie about whatever it was he was drawing, but again Eddie managed to thaw Will out to where they both were talking animatedly and BOTH drawing things in Will’s sketchbook. Steve caught a part of the conversation as he stepped over them later, it must’ve been something about their dragon game or Game Meister-ing since the conversation fully sounded like a foreign language to Steve.

Near ten, after the last movie had stopped (a while ago now, no one had bothered putting in a new one), Steve looked around and found everyone hunkered down with sleepy looks in their eyes.

He got up to start clearing things away, when Eddie started to read.

Steve looked over to the metalhead, back in his spot in the middle of the floor, all the kids sprawled out around him, a copy of The Hobbit in his hand.

‘Where’d he get that? Did he really really bring his own book with him? What a dork’ Steve smiled at the thought.

“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbithole, and that means comfort.”

Steve found himself entranced by Eddie’s reading. So much so, in fact, that he didn’t even register Robin and Nancy getting up and start grabbing trash too until Nancy gently pried the pizza box Steve was still holding out of his hand.

“Oh, sorry Nancy, let me help.”

“It’s perfectly fine Steve,” she whispered back “Robin and I took care of it.”

Steve looked around his living room and she was right, there was nothing left to throw out or put away. How long had he been standing there?

“Thanks guys, I appreciate it.”

Robin came up on Nancy’s side then “No worries Dingus, we’re going to head upstairs though. Still okay to use the guest room?”

“Of course, you know where the towels are.” Nancy gave him a small smile and headed up the stairs. Steve stopped Robin as she turned away, whispering even quieter. “Don’t make too much noise okay?”

Her face turned beet red as he gave her a wink “Shut up!” Robin smacked his arm and turned to follow Nancy up the stairs. 

Steve chuckled at her retreating back before returning his attention to Eddie who was still reading, in a softer voice now. Almost everyone was snoring softly around him; tired from being outside all day in the sun, full of junk they probably should have had way less of, and probably just a sense of coziness, warmth, and safety coming from their heater. The only ones still awake were Erica and Dustin, both either too stubborn to want to fall asleep before the other (Erica), or just wanting to hang onto every word he could (Dustin).

Steve wished he could take a picture. Instead, he forced himself to commit the scene in front of him to memory. He never wanted to lose this one. The sight of the love of his life surrounded by his family, safe and happy.

Wait.

Did he just think of Eddie as the love of his life?

Love?

Yes. Love.

Steve Harrington was in love with Eddie Munson.

Eddie Munson, town freak. Eddie Munson, Super-Super Senior. Perfect, beautiful, amazing Eddie Munson. Eddie Munson, the father of his children. 

The love of his life.

Steve felt the need to run away. ‘Just tell him! TELL HIM!’ So he did the opposite, he turned to run up to his room and hide away from what just happened inside his head. ‘Coward! Useless coward!‘

But before he could even fully step foot on the bottom step, Eddie was calling out to him in a whisper. 

“Steve! Wait for me!” 

Steve turned to the sound and started chuckling at the sight of Eddie trying to step between the bodies around him like he was navigating a minefield (and he really was, there were a lot of fingers and toes hidden under the blankets around his feet).

“As soon as I saw Dustin drop off, I knew Erica was going to follow.” Eddie said, smiling up at Steve before turning back to admire the piles of blankets on the floor and couches in front of him.

“Yeah, she’s a stubborn one.” Steve laughed quietly, “Come on man, you can bunk with me.”

They started up the steps “What, no guest room in this big house?”

“There’s only one, and Robin and Nancy already claimed that one for themselves.”

“Oohohoho! Good for them.” Eddie laughed 

“I warned Robin to keep it down, but if you hear anything, just pretend you didn’t for their sake.”

“No worries Stevie, I wouldn’t want to incur the wrath of Buckley for making fun like that.” Eddie paused before continuing, “Or Nancy for that matter.” He shuddered at the thought.

Steve snorted out a laugh at that as they came to the landing at the top of the stairs, and took a left.

“Here we are.” Steve opened the door and let Eddie in first.

Eddie let out a low whistle as he stepped into the room. “Wow Harrington, this wallpaper is…something.”

“Laugh it up Munson, I didn’t pick it.” Steve closed the door and leaned back against it with his arms crossed. “And my mom would have a conniption if I even asked to change it.”

Eddie looked at him with pity, but Steve pushed past the look and went to his drawers, “You need some underwear too, or are you good?” Steve asked, handing Eddie a pair of black sweats that were always too small for him. “I have some brand new ones if you need them, so you don’t have to wear mine.” Steve gave a soft chuckle, embarrassed to even suggest it.

Eddie laughed and took the sweats from Steve. “No man, I’m covered, I’ve got some of mine in my..oh fuck I left my bag downstairs. I’m gonna go grab it.” Eddie said, throwing his thumb over his shoulder toward the door as he also started walking back towards it.

Steve chuckled, “OK man, be careful not to wake anyone up. I’m going to jump in the shower.” Steve also gestured behind him with his thumb towards his ensuite.

“No need to worry about me Stevie, I am stealthy like a ninja.” Eddie lifted his leg and gestured to his socked foot before turning out the door and jingled down the hall.

‘Seems like he forgot about that damn chain around his hip.’ Steve laughed to himself and headed into the bathroom to get cleaned up for the night. 

—---

Eddie snuck down the hall from Steve’s room and down the steps toward the front door for his bag. 

As he was sneaking back, he checked in on the kids again. Everyone was where he left them earlier, all quietly breathing or (in Dustin’s case) snoring loudly.

Smiling to himself, Eddie stalked back up the stairs, taking them two at a time up to the landing. There was, in fact, some sort of noise coming from behind the closed door right at the top of the steps and Eddie had to slap his hand over his mouth to keep from bursting out laughing as he slunk back into Steve’s room softly closing the door behind him. 

Eddie didn’t quite know what to do while he waited for Steve to be done in the shower. He dropped his bag next to the door and fished out a new pair of boxers and a Judas Priest shirt, piling them with the sweats Steve lent him on the bed.

Deciding to poke around, Eddie went to Steve’s desk and looked at all the papers spread across the top. A couple pay stubs, a couple old notes that looked to be between him and robin, some notebooks that Eddie pointedly did not open, and a couple tickets. Most of them for movies, but one, just a small slip of orange paper stuck under the glass top of the desk itself, is printed with: “Hawkins High Presents the Fall/Winter 2002 production of ‘The Phantom of the Opera’. November 29, 2002.”.

Eddie ran his fingers over the glass above the ticket. ‘The first show..?’ he thinks. ‘But the first rose didn’t show up until the last show..on the 1st?’

His fingers catch on the edge of the notebook on top of the glass above the ticket and when it moves, for just a split second, Eddie sees more orange paper. 

He lifts the notebook out of the way and there are two other tickets, identical except for the dates printed on them. November 30, 2002 and December 1, 2002.

Eddie felt his throat tighten and his eyes start to burn. Steve went to all three showings? Why? That’s so sweet and also so unexpected? Shit, all of this is unexpected, god, he is such a fucking sap.. He kept these all this time?

Eddie didn’t get much farther in this spiral before he heard the shower turn off in the ensuite. Placing the notebook carefully back where it was, Eddie shot up out of the chair and started looking at the small cluster of photos above Steve’s dresser instead. Mostly shots of the kids, one of him and Robin in their Scoops uniforms, and one of the whole party at Eddie, Robin, and Nancy’s graduation. Eddie’s throat had stopped clenching up on him by now, but seeing that Steve had this picture made it seize tight again. 

Steve threw open the door and Eddie jumped like he was caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

“Jesus H. Christ, you scared me!” Eddie slapped his hand over his chest. Managing to keep his face looking incredulous at the sight of a damp-haired, damp-skinned, shirtless Steve. Eddie thanked the universe that Steve had actually put on pants before coming out of the bathroom. Though the gray sweatpants that were hung low on Steve’s hips were only slightly better than if he’d come out with just a towel around his waist.

Steve chuckled at him and said “Your turn, Munson. Feel free to use whatever you want that’s in there.” Steve scrubbed the towel over his hair and stopped Eddie from his path toward the bathroom with his stack of clothes in hand, with an “Oh yeah, there’s a new toothbrush in the top left drawer for you if you like, and the towels on the shelf above the toilet are clean.”

“Thanks Steve!” Eddie smiled at him, closing the door (almost all the way) behind him. He set his clothes on the closed toilet lid before he leaned forward on the sink and let out a long breath. ‘Fuck he’s so hot.’ Eddie thought to himself as he stripped down, hopped into the shower, and started washing the sun, sweat, and sunscreen from his skin (and doing his best to ignore his *ahem* semi-problem).

Studying the bottles in front of him, Eddie grabbed the most un-assuming bottles of shampoo and conditioner, hoping he wasn’t using the most expensive shit here, and scrubbed the chlorine out of his hair.

This whole time, he was singing quietly. He decided to torture Steve a bit (if he happened to be listening) by singing the songs Steve had used the lyrics of for the roses. Eddie just wanted Steve to come clean already; he was going insane keeping himself from planting one on Steve’s stupidly pretty face every time he saw the younger man.

Once finished, he re-dressed, hung his towel around his shoulders to keep the water from soaking his shirt, and brushed his teeth with the toothbrush Steve told him about.

Opening the door, Eddie used the towel to scrunch the dripping ends of his hair up into the rest of his head like his uncle had told him to do (“You and your mom have the same hair, and that’s what she always used to do. Said it helps her curls.” Wayne shrugged). While busy with that, Eddie didn’t notice right away that Steve was pacing.

“Steve? You okay?” Eddie asked him, still scrunching his hair.

Steve stopped his pacing for a moment, looked at Eddie, and his already pinched expression pinched up tighter as he resumed his path on the carpet.

“Steve. Steve! You’re freaking me out, what’s wrong?”

“I can’t do this anymore!” he blurted, turning to look at Eddie. “I can’t do it anymore.” repeating himself, quieter this time.

Eddie froze. There it was. The other shoe he didn’t know he was waiting for, dropping. Here it comes, the ‘I can’t believe you thought I was into you.’, the ‘I was just flirting with you to see how riled up I could get you.’, the heartbreak.

“Hey, no worries, Steve. I’ll just head out, back off.” Eddie smiled through the pain.

“Wait, w_what?” Steve spluttered.

“Yeah, really, no worries. I’ll see you around at work but I’ll give you your space.” Eddie walked over and grabbed up his bag from the floor, throat constricting and eyes burning again. 

“Eddie?” Steve’s voice was small, broken sounding. Eddie forced himself not to look back at him.

“I guess we’ll see who gets what kids now, huh?” Eddie said with a sad chuckle. He turned the knob and started to pull open the door when:

“It was me!”

The silence felt like it went on for hours.

“What are you talking about, Harrington.”

“It was me. It is me. I’m the one leaving you the roses.”

Eddie clicked the door shut, but kept his hand on the knob, facing away from Steve.

“That’s what I meant. I can’t keep it from you anymore. I needed to tell you. And if you’re disappointed that it’s me, I_I understand.” Steve’s voice cracked and Eddie turned to face him.

Eddie’s heart felt like it was going to jump out of his chest, it was beating so hard. 

Eddie dropped his bag and slowly walked toward Steve, arms out like he was trying to contain a feral animal. “Steve. Stevie, sweetheart..”

Steve looked like he wanted to jump out the window.

“I’m sorry for lying Eddie, I was so convinced you were going to be disappointed that it was me.”

“Never. I had been hoping it was you since you threw that one to me on stage. Of course, I didn't know it was you then, but you were sneaky weren’t you Big Boy?” Eddie was close enough to reach forward and grab Steve’s hand, lacing their fingers together and smiling at him.

A small laugh bubbled out of Steve at that, his cheeks turning pink before his face dropped back into a worried frown.

“What, did you push through the crowd just to throw it and go back to where I knew you were before?”

Steve blushed harder “Well it worked didn’t it?” he laughed, the tension starting to ease from his shoulders.

Eddie laughed along with him. 

“Eddie,” Steve started, leaning into Eddie slightly

“Yes, Steve?” Eddie leaned forward too.

“Can I_can I kiss you?” 

Their faces hovered closer and closer

“Please..” Eddie’s voice was nothing more than a breathless whisper before Steve’s lips met his.

It was pure bliss.

Steve’s free hand coming up to Eddie's side and pulling him flush to his (still bare) chest punched out a soft moan from Eddie.

Steve hummed back and pressed himself closer to Eddie, only to spin them around and push Eddie back onto his bed.

Eddie crawled backwards to lay against the pillows and pulled Steve down on top of him, Steve slotted his hips into the space between Eddie’s legs like he belonged there. 

‘He does, he always will.’ The thought shot through Eddie and he hummed contentedly, his hips grinding up into the weight of Steve’s above him, unrelenting.

Eddie carded his fingers through Steve’s hair as he kissed him, pulling a bit, and causing Steve to groan so deep in his chest that he could feel it reverberate into his. 

Steve’s hands ran down Eddie’s sides, and up under his shirt. Their warmth left trails in their wake as they ran up his stomach, his right stopping to hold at his waist and the other continuing up, the fingers brushing over his only remaining nipple.

Eddie smiled against Steve’s mouth, giddy with what was happening, and also to laugh at the situation as a whole.

Steve felt it and smiled too, pulling back and looking down at Eddie with those beautiful hazel eyes, hair askew, “What?”

Unable to sort through every happy thought that was swirling through his mind at the moment, he decided to go with another observation he had made.

“You quoted the Phantom and Christine, but never Raoul. And you’re definitely Raoul.” Eddie couldn’t stop grinning.

Steve smiled down at Eddie, and what he did next made the grin fall off Eddie’s face, changing to disbelief. And this time, the constricting throat and burning eyes were fully welcomed.

Steve started to sing. 

“Anywhere you go, let me go too.” Steve started leaning down once again, “Love me. That’s all I ask of you.”

Steve kissed Eddie.

And Eddie melted.

-----------------

Epilogue here!

Last round of tagging, here we go! @cutiecusp @maya-custodios-dionach @allbymyselfexceptformycactus @mightbeasleep @bigboyandmetalhead @princess-eddie @ima-ghost-art @starkdusk @infinityonsighhh @lunaraindrop @pluto-pepsi @saramelaniemoon @roonilwazlib-main @eddiemuns0nl0ver @autumnrowancollector @beeing-stuupid @lilfroggies @goggles-mcgee @hagbaby420 @electrick-marionnett @00biscuit @llamaoftheinternet @imnotsureiexist @xthehatchick @kyoxyukiforever @e-dollly @cas7espresso @ilikechocolatemilkh @stevesworldxx @fromapayphone @freddykicksasses @a-bun-danceoflove @augustjustice @werewolfpeterparker @panicatthediaz @stellar-stevie @xstevex-world @2btheanswertothequestion @resident-gay-bitch @suddenlystrange @straight4joekeery @edmunsn @symbioticsimplicity @quevadilla @aringofsalt @sideblogofthcentury @homosexual-having-tea @nightmareglitter @deleataecount

[laynefaire]

2021 Writing Year End Review

I’ve been tagged by @so-why-let-your-voice-be-tamed, @ladyaj-13, and @kingsofeverything to do a review of my 2021 writing. I did this for 2020 as well.  I initially declined doing this because I wrote so very little this year, however after being harangued by @lululawrence and @allwaswell16 I am conceding defeat and doing the thing. 

1. Number of stories posted to AO3: 5 (including a WIP)

Shadow Dancing (149365 words and counting)

The Only Pain in Pleasure is the Pleasure of the Pain (10674 words)

Eye of the Storm (100 words)

It's All About the Driver (100 words)

Where Dragons Dwell (100 words)

2. Word count posted for the year: 160.339 words posted (that doesn’t count the 20K sitting in docs)

3. Fandoms I wrote for: One Direction, Zayn Malik

4. Pairings: Ziam, side Larry

5. Story with the most: 

Kudos: Shadow Dancing (148)

Bookmarks: Shadow Dancing  (72)

Comments: Shadow Dancing  (94 comment threads - I don’t want to count total comments, since I did reply to almost every one I received on it)

6. Work I’m most proud of (and why): Even though it’s not done yet, I am definitely most proud of Shadow Dancing. It’s the longest thing I’ve ever written, and I’ve done a literal shit ton of research in an effort to ensure the worldbuilding is as plausible as possible. I have over 100 saved links and documents in my research folders - covering topics ranging from boxing, firefighting, ballet, dance studios, and fire restoration, to head trauma, smoke inhalation, UK hospital systems, UK fire brigades, and the West Midlands. 

7. Work I’m least proud of (and why): I don’t have anything I’m not proud of, but many things about my writing that I’m disappointed in - mostly my inability to make a damn deadline this year. 

8. Share or describe a favorite review you received: I can not single out any one comment as being a favorite, because truly every single comment, no matter how simple it is, means the absolute world to me. It still amazes me that there are people who genuinely enjoy reading what I write enough to leave any comment at all.

9. A time when writing was really, really hard: I have had a shit ton of personal challenges this year that I’ve struggled with - and ones that go way beyond being an essential worker during a global pandemic. My friends in my group chats know most of it, and have been incredibly supportive while I’ve been working through things, but there have been far too many times this year when even their unwavering support and encouragement was not enough to get me to open my laptop and buckle down to write. 

10. A scene or character you wrote that surprised you: The way the characters in general have developed in Shadow Dancing. They are very little like I had initially envisioned them when I first started drafting this story, but they are so much more developed and ‘alive’ than I could have ever imagined.

11. A favorite excerpt of your writing: This is a huge excerpt, but I couldn’t cut it any tighter without losing the feel for it . Referring back to the aforementioned firefighting scenes - here’s this one from Chapter 13 of Shadow Dancing - 

“Liam! You can’t go in there.” Louis insisted, already grabbing his own gear and placing himself in front of Liam to prevent him from entering the building.

Liam advanced on Louis, the muscle in his jaw twitching as he growled through gritted teeth. “Louis, grab a pipe and come with, or get the fuck out of my way. Either way, I’m going in.”

“Fuck!” Louis pressed his radio. “Delta 2-3-1 Alpha to Command. Is occupancy confirmed?”

“Negative.”

”Delta 2-4-2 Alpha to Command.” Liam glared at Louis while he spoke to command. “Private residence on second level. Stairs on C. No other known egress. Permission to access.”

“Access granted Delta 2-4-2 Alpha. Overhead integrity is questionable. Scan for civilians and retreat.”

“Roger Command.” Liam motioned to Michaels to follow him. “Delta 2-4-2 Alpha moving in.”

“Delta 2-3-1 Alpha to Command. Delta 2-3-1 Beta on ground floor. Request permission to cover Delta 2-4-2 Alpha on second level.”

“Permission granted, Delta 2-3-1 Alpha.”

Liam took the steps two at time, Louis on his heels, their seconds following with the hoses. The flames from the adjoining roof cast a wall of heat across the stairs and Liam recoiled as it washed over him. He pressed his hand to the door, checking for signs of potential backdraft. Grimly he waited for Louis’ confirmation, slamming his shoulder into the door to break it open once he had it. The door fell inward, swinging wide on the broken hinges. Liam entered the flat, yelling for Zayn. Smoke filled the air, killing their range of visibility. He waved Louis and his second toward the living room, motioning for Michaels to follow him down the hallway. The crackling of the fire grew louder, flames licking along the edges of the wall shared with the bakery. Liam called for Zayn again, shoving open the bathroom door, then the bedroom. Waving the smoke out of his field of vision, Liam advanced into the room, scanning every corner, finding nothing.

“Delta 2-3-1 Alpha to Delta 2-4-2 Alpha and Command.” Louis’ voice crackled through the radio. “Living room clear.”

“Affirmative Delta 2-3-1 Alpha.” Liam replied, struggling to keep his tone impartial while everything in him was screaming with the urgent need to know Zayn was safe. “Scan complete. Zero civilians. Lay cover and retreat.”

Michaels opened the pipe and Liam took lead, directing a steady stream of water on the walls. The ceiling overhead heaved, sparks raining down around them, the radio erupting in Liam’s ear.

“ROLLOVER! DELTA 2-4-2 ALPHA! DELTA 2-3-1 ALPHA! RETREAT NOW!”

Liam directed the nozzle up, just as a whooshing roar enveloped them, the ceiling erupting in a full blaze, chunks of plaster falling around them. A flaming joist broke loose, and Liam shoved Michaels out of the way, taking the full brunt of the fiery beam across his head and shoulders. He grabbed his radio as he collapsed under its weight, sending out a distress signal just before he lost consciousness.

“DELTA 2-4-2 ALPHA DOWN! REPEAT! DELTA 2-4-2 ALPHA DOWN!”

13. How do you hope to grow next year: I want to explore some different tropes/genres in the coming year and try to stretch my wings into new areas. 

14. Who was your greatest positive influence this year as a writer (could be another writer or beta or cheerleader or muse etc etc): The Fat Bird Chat and The Panic Room chat on WhatsApp. The friends I’ve made in both of those chats have been essential to my maintaining any semblance of my sanity over the course of the last 12 months. I am also so so grateful for @so-why-let-your-voice-be-tamed, @fallinglikethis, and @fearlesslysweetcreature for their unflagging support on Shadow Dancing . They’ve walked with me through so many iterations of scenes, dealt with my 2AM freak-outs, patiently handled with my compulsive need to nitpick details, and just generally have bolstered me when I feel like it’s all garbage and I should delete the lot. 

15. Anything from your real life show up in your writing this year: Only my undying love for Liam James Payne. 

16. Any new wisdom you can share with other writers: Be kind to yourself. Believe in yourself. Don’t be afraid to reach out to other writers or your friends when you’re struggling - whether it’s to vent to them, to have someone to commiserate with, or to find the motivation to keep writing.  I have never met a more supportive group of writers than the ones in this fandom, and they are all so generous with their time and talents. 

17. Any projects you’re looking forward to starting (or finishing) in the new year: FINISH SHADOW DANCING! I’m not planning to sign up for too much this year, as I want to focus on finishing up the myriad WIPS I have been toying with for far too long. Besides the fest fics I didn’t get finished this year, I have several started stories that I need to either finish or pull the plug on completely.  I’m also hoping to finally tackle the Drarry ideas that have been lingering in my docs because I’ve been too afraid to do anything with them. Maybe. Hopefully. 

18. Tag some writers whose answers you’d like to read. I’m not going to tag anyone new, as it seems like every writer I know has already been tagged! However if you’re reading this, are a writer, and haven’t been tagged yet - please feel free to consider this your tag. I’d love to see your answers.

[azroazizah]

Would you kindly give us a ranking of the soul eater arcs from 1/10 based on your opinions?

Ooooookay I’ll say first that I’m extremely picky wwwwww but here we go:

Prologues Arc : 6/10. I give this high ranking despite its messiness bc they’re the episodes that set the whole vibe. The ones that enchanted people to follow the series ✨ also kudos to Bones for cutting all the yucky bits out of the anime

Remedial Lessons Arc : 6/10. Also high bc this is the bit where I first see Soul’s fierce protective side. Loyalty always got me weak 🔥 Again kudos to Bones for cutting out Ohkubo’s gross jokes.

Demon Sword Arc : 8/10. Shit’s happening dude! Nuff said.

Uncanny Sword Arct : 9/10. Tsubaki’s characterization was... astounding. The analogy of Tsubaki as camellia flower?? 10/10. We could see how deep, complex, sad, and grey her character were. Absolutely interesting. I have no objection with this arc.

The Experiment Arc : 6/10. I like it bc it’s the first time we see Maka’s internal issues.

Black Dragon Arc : 3/10. Funny, but not interesting for me. And I personally find the Flying Dutchman more annoying than Excalibur.

A Fight to the Death at the Anniversary Celebration Arc : 8/10. Daaaaaamn the first actual creepy thing happening. True Shit™️. Stein/Spirit vs Medusa is one of my fave fights here, I love how they gave absolutely no fuck 👌

Trial Enrollment Arc : 5/10. If Arachne and Giriko weren’t introduced, I would give this arc 2/10. Apparently, this supposed to be Crona’s ‘redemption arc’ or whatever, but it failed its purpose. You just can’t bring a former enemy who had nearly killed two of your students into your school without proper surveillance. Especially when you know they’re dangerous and unstable. Showering them with unconditional love and support is not the realistic way to turn a former antagonist into the good side. it’s lazy writing.

The Bodyguard Arc : 5/10. I like it bc we got to see Star’s brotherly side and how he was slowly spiraling down into restlessness and hunger of power

Reunion Express Arc : 4/10. Another failed attempt at redemption, I was like... meh... when I saw Crona betray Shibusen, bc honestly they hadn’t even gotten a proper redemption in the first place. Plus there’s Flying Dutchman again.The thing that salvaged this arc for me was Star’s inner struggle and the start of the madness.

"BREW" - The Tempest Arc : 5/10. idk if it’s just me, but I’m not that into the whole BREW thing, honestly. The glimpses of the past were certainly interesting, but it’s just not that appealing to me. maybe bc I’ve never actually get what the hell BREW was and just heard the characters comment on its magnificent power over and over again without giving an actual explanation of why it was so powerful. But hey, we got more B Team screentime and Soul’s first time playing his soul piano!

Internal Investigation Arc : 5/10. I wish we get more of BJ. For his and Marie’s story to end like that was just.... sad. And again, I love Star’s descent to madness and how Kid managed to--literally--punch some senses into him.

The Clown Arc : 10/10. I don’t have any particular objection for this arc. Simply the best. Not only as a SoMa shipper, but also how Blair tagged along with them. Maybe it’s just me, but I think she did that bc she was worried for her kittens. She’s sticking more onto them after the madness ‘changed’ and started to turn into physical threats. Best Mama Kat 👌

Operation Capture Baba Yaga Castle Arc : 8/10. Ok, I love a LOT of things about this arc, especially the ART, GOSH. But I also don’t like a few things, hence no full score. Like how Star killed Mif or how Arachne just... died like that.... that felt like a waste of characters.

Grigori Arc : 5/10. I HAVE A BIG DILEMMA ABOUT THIS ARC OKAY? In one side, I love how SoMa it is and how badass the Spartoi were, but really, how could Ohkubo just abandon the whole concept of Maka’s Anti Demon Wavelength and just replaced it with pretty angel wings I mean COME ON!!! If you want to make Maka the ultimate target wouldn’t it make more sense for her to be hunted because she has a wavelength that could outright PURIFY the madness instead of her ‘perception skills’??? A skill that was shared by MANY other meisters???? If she has the strongest ADW she would naturally be the ultimate weapon to defeat the kishin oH COME ON THAT IS A VERY PROMISING CONCEPT WHY WOULD YOU GIVE IT TO HER IN THE FIRST PLACE IF YOU’RE NOT GONNA FCKING COMMIT TO IT, OHKUBO??? This is probably the arc that frustrates me the most.

The Witch's Research Arc : 8/10. LOVE how Star got batshit crazy on Crona. THAT was a proper reaction when you see a person who had betrayed your best friend despite having been given the utmost kindness. also KILIK AND THE THOMPSONS FCK YEAH 🔥🔥🔥

Business Lunch Arc : 2/10. I hate how they treated Marie. This arc was very sexist and had a very poor taste on jokes. Also everyone was a horrible adult for partying when a child was in the enemy’s hands. The only uplifting thing about this arc for me was this...

Salvage Arc : 8/10. I also have a big dilemma about this one...... I love it. As in LOVE it. It’s SoMa’s Holy Grail. But... again... I can’t give it perfect score. The tasteless sexist jokes.... and how they just brushed the THOMPSON SISTERS ASIDE????? I understand that Ohkubo wanted Star vs Kid, but that’s just not how you do it, man... They’re Kid’s weapons! Partners! They were dying to see him! They SHOULD GO FERAL TO SAVE HIM!!

Mad Blood Arc : 9/10. THIS. SOUL’S FCKIN GROWTH. MY BABY. ALL GROWN UP. AND HE DID IT BY HIMSELF! My side note for this arc is I wished it was where Star or their other’s friends to snap and slap the actual severity of Soul’s condition to Maka. I wanted it to be her turning point on how to see around her more clearly, that there’s people, not just strangers in another country, but also HER PARTNER, who were suffering because of Crona’s descent to madness.

Hunt Arc : 4/10. I.... don’t like that the kids just blindly follow Maka around without question. That’s just.... urgh... not healthy

War on the Moon Arc [the whole of it]: 7/10. Sooooo many things were happening, I love a lot of things, but also dislikes a lot of things. I DEMAND A DEEPER SPIRIT/MAKA SCENE, ALSO A SPIRIT/SOUL SCENE BEFORE SPIRIT WENT TO THE MOON! FAMILYYYYYYYY!!!!

Dark Side of the Moon Arc : Hrrnggghhhh do I have to rate thissss ghfjjhg.... ok 7/10. THIS IS THE ARC WITH THE BIGGEST DILEMMA! I’VE NEVER SEEN AN ENDING SO PERFECT YET SO FLAWED I AM STILL ANGRY!!!! I ALSO DEMAND A PROPER ALBARN FAMILY REUNION DAMMIT!!!!

Hrrrrgh.... that’s it I guess.... thank you for asking wwwww

[1dsource]

Ziam writers in this fandom need a lot of love, just like our larry writers, so here is our first Ziam fic rec! The theme of this fic rec is Friends to Lovers!

Please show these authors some extra love and leave a kudos, and even a comment if you have the time. It’s important we also give the newer, unknown authors a chance so they keep having motivation to write more amazing stories for us all to read <3

Fools, and Worthless Liars. by aliceninetyfive I 115K I Haunted hotel, winter

Louis and Liam decide to go work a winter season in a snow resort in the Alps during their gap year. They get placed in Austria, where they meet a bunch of familiar faces including Zayn, Harry, Niall and various others you're bound to recognise doing the same thing!

Featuring our old favourites angst, pining, self discovery, ot5, and a side helping of a haunted hotel & gorgeous alpine scenery.

Compartment 451 by ziamhaze I 88K I Harry Potter universe

Zayn’s a muggleborn wizard whose parents leave him to fend for himself once he’s made aware of his magical abilities. The Payne’s are an open minded wizarding family, who take him in and provide the boy with a loving home before he and their overly excited son Liam, go off to Hogwarts for the first time. Liam introduces Zayn to the wonderful world of magic, while Zayn teaches the pureblood about a way of life he’s never known. Somewhere between laser tag tutorials and petting Hebridean Black dragons, Zayn falls for the newly appointed Head Boy, but his three other nonconforming friends aren’t about to let the Ravenclaw go through his last year of school without letting Liam in on his feelings once and for all.

Money Moves by mmaree I 74K I Fake Relationship I Boss/Employee

“I’ll cut straight to the chase,” Liam announces. He leans forward, and Zayn is met with steely eyes and steepled fingers. “I’m willing to offer you fifty grand if you’ll enter into a small…partnership with me. This would be in addition to your salary at Payne Innovations, of course. Think of it as a bonus.”

Zayn narrows his eyes. “What kind of partnership?”

“A fake engagement.”

“Oh,” Zayn says, relieved it’s nothing illegal. “Wait—what?”

“A fake engagement,” his boss repeats slowly, as if he’s convinced Zayn’s comprehension skills are significantly lacking. “For six months. Maybe less if I can pull it off sooner but don’t worry—you’ll be paid the full sum regardless of how long it takes.”

Zayn’s suspicious, and he doesn’t even know why. There’s nothing to be suspicious of because, clearly, Liam’s lost the plot. Zayn’s having a conversation with a complete nutter. There’s no other reasonable explanation.

He clears his throat, searches Liam’s eyes for a sign he's taking the piss. “How long what takes?”

A smile plays at Liam’s lips. “For me to be hired as the CTO at Titan Technologies.”

Half A Heart by ginger_with_a_black_cat I 68K I Friends with Benefits

Zayn is an English student who doesn't want to fall in love because his biggest fear is to get hurt again. Liam is a resident bad boy and everyone's wet dream on the outside, but in the inside he's a secret even to himself. Harry's Liam's best friend with a secret of his own. Louis likes to party hard, get drunk and get everyone in trouble but everybody loves him nonetheless. And then, there's Niall, who's the youngest of them all, but still has the most brains and keeps them all in order all while being in love with an impossible girl.

Or where Zayn gets hit in the head by his own actions, Liam finds himself falling for an idiot, Harry gets dragged out of the closet by the love of his life, Louis wants Harry and only Harry and Niall just wants all of them to get their shit together, so he can get his own life back.

and you take me the way i am by orphan_account I 54K I Fake Relationship

It’s incredibly relaxing, even in this small space, the way they’ve always been. Such a distraction that he doesn’t think, not for once, about agreeing to lie to his family and Zayn pretending to be his date and how easy all of this might be.

(Liam needs a date to a wedding. His family loves to match him up with blind dates. He doesn't want that. He needs a date... and, well, why not Zayn. Pretending to be boyfriends for a weekend isn't the worst idea he supposes. Liam is horribly wrong.)

some moments are rare by orphan_account I 46K I Uni au

The city blinks awake outside but Zayn falls asleep with his nose pressed to Liam’s coffee-stain of a birthmark.

(or, alternatively: Zayn is spending a summer studying aboard; thirty days across Europe, with his best mate by his side. It's always been like this ― Zayn and Liam. And he's always been a bit daft about love, or the fact that Liam's always been in love with him. It's all a bit of a mess, actually.)

Just As Fast, Twice As Dangerous by lightswoodmagic I 45K I Superpowers

When he realised it was only him and Liam in the hallway, he felt safe enough to drop his shield. Oh. Lovely. Liam was emanating affection and fondness, his primary emotions filled with warmth and love. Zayn let himself bask in it, how it would feel to be loved by Liam. He knew Liam loved him, but he wasn’t in love with him; Zayn had felt that emotion too many times to count, and this just wasn’t it. He dug slightly deeper, could feel that Liam was excited and nervous, and when he hit a wall Liam had built himself, he dropped back. He wasn’t supposed to know everything.

Or, Zayn's a normal student by day, and a superhero by night. When a mysterious man seems to target him at the same time a natural disaster strikes, Zayn has to figure out a way to save the day, protect his heart, and convince the boys he's not a vigilante all at the same time.

down the vista of years by ohthathurt I 30K I Time Travel

Zayn whispered, “So where do we go from here?”

Liam shrugged, seemingly lost in thought. Then he smiled down at his boyfriend, “Forward?”

Zayn smiled serenely, eyes twinkling like gold in the sun seeping through the open windows.

He nodded, “Forward.”

Just the two of us and a cute little cup of cyanide by orphan_account I 17K I Accidental Marriage

“I definitely need something alcoholic if I’m going to watch my two best mates divorce,” Niall says, yanking a top over his head.

“We’re not actually married,” Liam says, with slightly more force than intended. “It was an accident. Obviously I wouldn’t ever get married to Zayn if I was sober, that’s fucking ridiculous.”

The bathroom door opens suddenly and Zayn stands there in nothing but a towel, bottom lip trapped between his teeth. Liam opens his mouth to say something but Zayn holds up his hand, shaking his head. “You don’t need to be a dick about it, Liam. This isn’t exactly how I envisioned my first marriage going either.”

Or an I-accidentally-married-my-best-mate-in-Vegas fic, where Liam's completely oblivious, Zayn's completely in love, Harry's had enough, Louis plays mediator and Niall just wants his best friends to be with each other.

i'm watching you run from the sidelines by thebeehive I 17K I 

“One week,” Zayn cajoled. “C’mon Leeyum. After one week if you hate it that much, you can go. But just stay one week.”

“In Pennsylvania. On your farm. In the middle of nowhere.”

Liam looked at his phone, but it held no answers. Zayn couldn’t be serious. Liam hadn’t stopped traveling the world after the band went on hiatus. He never stopped. Dubai one week, London the next, and then L.A. It didn’t really matter where, as long as he kept moving. But he missed Zayn, missed his former band mate. His former friend. He hadn’t seen him in person in years. And it couldn’t be that bad, on a farm, could it?

Liam sighed. “Fine. A week. But your wifi better be fucking spectacular, mate.”

{Or, Zayn invites Liam to his farm for a week to help him relax. Things don’t go as planned.}

fooled around and fell in love by tachycardia I 15K I Fake Relationship

“I have a proposal - a proposition,” Liam corrects quickly. “For you.”

Liam and Zayn pretend to be engaged.

a river flows so surely to the sea by kettering I 14K I Uni au

It’s August, not a cloud in the sky, and two boys who’ve been smitten with each other for going on a decade are tying the knot.

get a little bit nervous by louistomlinsons I 14K I 

Liam goes to say something, probably something dumb, but he chokes on his spit, coughing loudly. The man in front of him is one of the prettiest people he’s ever seen in his life; he’s got thick eyelashes that fan out and frame his dark eyes and tanned unblemished skin. Liam forgets all of his previous thoughts.

“You okay, mate?” he asks, concern filtering into his voice.

“Yeah, yeah,” Liam says, still choking and coughing. “Sorry.”

“We all reacted the same way we saw Zayn for the first time,” Niall says from next to him, laughter evident in his tone. “He’s a god, isn’t he?”

or, ziam farmer's market au where liam, louis, and niall work at the produce stand, harry and zayn work at the bakery stand, and nobody's straight

Tell me tomorrow (I'll wait by the window for you) by orphan_account I 13K

“You’re, like, beautiful,” Liam says, and it’s said so earnestly and with such conviction that Zayn can hardly believe that they don’t know each other in real life. “God, I’m cacking it now.”

“Don’t,” Zayn says shyly. “We’re both people, it… it will be what it will.”

“Can’t wait,” Liam says softly. “I’m nervous, yeah, but I really can’t fucking wait.”

“Me neither,” Zayn grins. “Less than seventeen hours to go now, babe.”

Or a Gavin and Stacey AU where Zayn pines, Liam's nervous, Louis's loud, Harry's a little odd and Niall just loves an omelette.

This Is Somethin' Real by lightswoodmagic I 5K I 

Zayn had felt it before, felt the hope and the possibility of something brewing, but where he usually pushed it down, he let it consume him now, let it take over everything until he was swinging his feet and grinning when Niall finally walked through the door.

“Lads!”

“Nialler!” Louis shouted, wrapping him up in a hug.

“How is everyo – woah, why are you so happy?” he asked Zayn, cackling when Zayn kicked out at him.

“He’s going to tell Payno he’s in love with him tonight, that’s why,” Louis explained, and Zayn saw Harry’s nose scrunch as he smiled.

Again, if you read, please remember to leave kudos and/or a comment so we keep motivating our lovely, talented writers and make them feel valued

[akurathereaper]

An insignificant rant on HoT&PoF

As everyone knows, yady yady ya, everyone prefers HoT, whatever

I’m one of those people and I’m about to rant about this too.

THIS IS NOT A SPOILER FREE RANT

I will be talking about story elements and stuff that happens in both DLCs.

I like Path of Fire, I really do, it gave me Elona, it gave me agent Kito whom I wholeheartedly pity cuz he has to deal with the Commander, it gave me more of Aurene (and it gave me Joko on whom I can shit on when I feel bad)

But, it didn’t give me maps I like (and I will tell you why) (please note I am no game designer, or designer in general. In fact, maps designed by me would be probably shit, but I still believe my opinion is valid, because I am a person with eyes that can see)

This is going to be a small rant when it comes to maps, now mark, english isn’t my first language so there may be nonsensical sentences, and I am no professional critic so all of this is coming from my heart, not my brain.

Ready? Let’s go

So I’m going to do a little comparison (nothing too much in depth) of the four maps from each DLC (plus Domain of Vabbi but I don’t have much to say on it if I’m honest).

 We have Verdant Brink, Auric Basin, Tangled Depths and Dragon’s stand from Heart of Thorns, and Crystal Oasis, Desert Highlands, The Desolation, Elon Riverlands and Domain of Vabbi. 

Let me start with HoT, because it makes logical sense.

When you first start the Heart of Thorns campaign, you’re told to go from Silverwastes to... Verdant Brink. You get a small taste of it right before you enter it, in that cave where the injured pact members are talking about it. And then you load in (hopefully, if your pc doesn’t reenact an atomic blast), and first thing you see, when you walk in on that VERY SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED LEDGE

is absolute carnage.

Ships are strewn about, hanging in pieces torn apart by Mordremoth’s vines, smoke and fire is everywhere, that part of the jungle is ravaged not only by Mordremoth, but also by you. Your Pact. And in that moment you exactly realize what happened (if it wasn’t obvious from the cutscene that played before it *cough cough*)

But now you see it. The map tells you a very obvious story, and you don’t need to be a genius to figure it out. It tells you and SHOWS you exactly how strong and dangerous the Dragon you’re hunting is. It shows you what you have to overcome.  (And if you’re me, you’re crying cuz Trahearne got kidnapped)

I’m going to skip the storyparts of this map, but will instead focus on the meta of it (since i’ve done it like trillion times). There’s five main crashpoints. Each has to bring their all to successfuly make this map “safe”. The nobles, the Pale Reavers, the quaggan and her soldiers. Everyone. I’m guessing that after you kill all the five champions, the area becomes safe enough for you to move on, after all, you’re the Commander, and you cannot leave everyone to die in the middle of the Jungle. Once again, the map tells you a story through the gameplay)

And then you move onto Auric Basin (I’m guessing it’s a lot of people’s fav map)

Oh, Auric Basin... The map instantly breathes “something”, something different. You KNOW you’re somewhere else, the whole atmosphere tells you that you’re somewhere forgotten, somewhere where the touches of humans, sylvari, charr, whatever main race, have not reached. 

Your first instance of it is most likely the story instance, so you get introduced to the place pretty quickly. I don’t have to say how gorgeous the city actually is, right?

The whole place is an archaeologist’s wet dream. And again, the map tells you, it shows you, it’s story, it’s history (the Priory people are wetting themselves over the whole thing), and sometimes it’s the Exalted themselves who tell you the story. But you can gauge a lot of it just from observing. It’s not the most effective of cities, I’ll be honest, but it’s a damn impressive one. After all, Tarir was build for Glint’s scion.

And the meta? It’s about PROTECTING the city. Protecting it from Mordremoth, from destroying it, from destroying the safe place for a dragon’s egg. You stop Mordremoth from leaching the place with Octovines (or an exalted does it for you. Kudos to you, immortal and endless exalted), and you don’t rly realize the importance of this place until the whole Aurene thing happens.

And oof, Tangled Depths. 

Tangled Depths, one of the most hated maps in the entire expansion, a thing (imho) that can be very much blamed on the map limitation (I’m talking about your map, where you see where you are and where the waypoints are, etc.) Like, honestly, wouldn’t it be a WHOLE lot easier to traverse if your map made actual damn sense? But I digress.

Tangled Depths is probably one of the lesser impressive maps? Overall, I very like it, although it’s story has to be unearthed and explored actively. It’s more of a bland looking pie with delicious filling.

Tangled Depths is quite...a good map. In a way. Don’t throw trash at me, please. I also hated it when I had to walk through it, but I learnt the shortcuts and then traversed with relative ease, so I stopped seeing the whole map as a nuisance and started seeing it for what it was. 

Such an untouched piece of history... The Rata Novus? Rata Novus? Hello? Asura lived here?

The Ogres, making their village there? The Nuhoch, fighting for their survival with the Zintl hyleks and the Chak? The Chak? Such new and interesting creatures who literally eat magic! In the middle of the jungle, you see such life, such vivacity, even in the midst of Mordremoth’s reign of terror.

And the story of the meta is tying in so nicely to the overall thing! You’re literally tunneling into Dragon’s stand, to reach old Papa Mordremoth, and you’re doing it with the help of everyone on the map! The Ogres, the asuras (well they dead, so their robots lol), the Chak (yeah, Chak bois be helping, not rly it’s just the lane lol), and the useless easy line! You’re charging a thingimajig that blasts a hole through the ley-line empowered wall and bam, you’re in DS. (Excuse me it has been a while since I was in TD) And Chak bois are on your ass trying to eat it cuz magic but that’s so the meta is interesting.

And then... My favourite map. Dragon’s stand.

I played this map... probably more than I should’ve, but... the way it is structured is simply so interesting! Three lines, for three leaders, each battling their way through the jungle to get to the Generals, to get to the Mouth of Mordremoth. And along the way, you gain more and more allies, more and more people to help you fight this noodle!  You get the ogres, the itzel, the nuhoch, the skritt(!), the exalted, the... THE NIGHTMARE COURT? *cough cough* cut content *cough cough*. Yeah, some don’t get an explanation, but you see everything that you have done, everyone you have helped in the previous map, go help you out in this one? You see them and protect them at the last island (and the whole map is just one giant meta and I LOVE IT (it can be a point of criticism as well, since it’s quite hard to explore if the meta ain’t done and the last few pois are impossible to get if MoM isn’t dead)) and it’s just so epic

Everything you did was leading up to this moment, this last battle, this last stand, the DRAGON’S STAND. And the battle was just... epic. Epic, is all I can say about this map and it’s story. (Shame the Commanders/Generals were cut out, as we have no clue who they were, and knowing something about them would make it a bit more meaningful in fighting them)

To conclude.

HoT is focused as hell. You got a goal: Pop a cap in Mordremoth. And you’re going to do it. You got twice the motivation if you’re a sylvari. Each map is designed to give you the build up of the fight, first you see what Mordremoth can do, then you see what’s at stake, and then you gotta fight for it. The fact the maps are gorgeous (If a little (bit a lot) laggy) only helps the overall feel.  Anything and Everything can and will murder your ass, and you gotta be ready for it.

Now onto PoF maps. This segment is going to be shorter, because in all honesty? PoF, I like you, but you’re just... well, you’ll see. Hopefully. This is after all just my opinion lol.

Oh and if you got this far? Kudos lol I ramble a lot. <3

Anyway, PoF maps.

So the opening to PoF is... quite good? It’s a bit out of your control but it does it’s job imo.

You come in on an airship, and you see the land spread before you. You see a pyramind, and you think “Oh hell yeah, pyramids.” I would LOVE to just be able to explore the area, you know, have a chill opening, but PoF is about FIRE and FIGHT so, you fight and try to save the people and it’s very chaotic and everything is on FIRE OH GODS.

So you chase this mysterious person, you get introduced to the raptor village, all goes well or bad, and then you are directed to the city of Amnoon (since we’re still in a story instance), so you go. Amnoon is very pretty, and following the tradition of MMO cities very impractical, but hey, rule of cool. The whole time you’re not rly allowed to explore anywhere or look at anything, you’re focused, sure, but you’re also very distracted, you get me?

You want to look around, you want to explore, but you’ve just been attacked by this Herald woman and you’re tired of politics. The opening of PoF isn’t bad, but it is very different from HoT, as in HoT you first SAW the carnage Mordy did and THEN you went on down to help the remaining survivals, whereas here, in Oasis, you kinda.. live through it? You see it first hand what Balthy is doing, while in HoT you only chased the aftermaths of the massacres. This works differently for everyone, and I personally prefer the HoT approach. 

PoF is very open when it comes to the story, as in you are not AS limited to instances as it was with HoT, sometimes it works to its advantage, sometimes.. it doesn’t. 

The way PoF maps jerk you around is very confusing to me. You explore Crystal Oasis, then you go to Desert Highlands, then to Elon riverlands, and you gotta go back down through the Oasis to get there, so you are already trudging through the land you already know (and since you have mounts they took full advantage of making the maps bigger, but it makes them feel... emptier? Like I get it, it’s the Desert, but still...) so you get to Elon riverlands, you do your thing there, then you go to Desolation, then to Vabbi. Nice. Okay.

In none of these maps, there is a story meta. None. No impressive whole-map meta where you gotta all cooperate to keep the map stable. Nothing. There is no use in me trying to analyze these maps, for they are just... backdrop to what’s happening.  Balthazar this, Balthazar that. Oh no Kralky is awake, and oh look we met Vlast for like 2 seconds and then he immediately ded. 

I’ll be honest... I don’t remember much of PoF before chapter 9 The Departing (because that chapter was fire. Lol. get it), which saddens me immensely. I remember most of HoT. Where what happened when it happened how it happened, I know, and if I don’t know immediately, in few minutes my brain serves me the entire instance. I could probably play HoT blindfolded. 

This is a very shallow look into why I probably don’t like PoF as much as I like HoT. 

To try and conclude my very messy terrible rant essay:

Heart of Thorns used its maps in a way that showed you with gameplay what’s in store for you. It used maps in a way to help you build that anticipation of the fight, of everything you sacrificed along the way. The maps are smartly connected in a way where with each map you delve deeper into the jungle, deeper into the mouth of the beast. Sure, they lag as fuck, but the PoF maps do so too, don’t lie to yourselves. With each map you meet new allies that help you along the way.

In Path of Fire I just... don’t get that feeling. I run from map to map, mindlessly following the green star, hoping I will stumble upon something interesting on the way. In Heart of Thorns it was the opposite. I was walking around the map, breathing in the atmosphere of the place, and stumbling upon the green story star. I feel like the Elona desert did not get such justice as it deserved. I trudge around the maps, I complete the maps to get the reward, then I move onto the story. My interest in the whole thing only started to pick up once I freaking DIED for gods’ sake. 

My hopes for the End of Dragons, which is happening in Cantha, is that I get more of that focused map design. That story in gameplay, that map-wide meta that will have me grind my teeth at 10pm on a work/school night. I don’t need Drizzlewood metas (an inferior Dragon’s stand, mind you) that are like 2-3 hours long. A 30 min prelude and 30 min metas are fine. An hour long meta if you have the idea for it, but... give me map stories, Anet.

Feel free to share your own feels about the different feels between the DLCs. I will GLADLY take in PoF preferrers. What did you prefer in PoF? What did you like in it? Give me your opinions, give me your take on everything. 

And thank you for reading my overly long rant essay, hah.

[lumateranlibrarian]

Let’s talk about Claudia and Soren, because I’m pretty sure their conflict is going to be one of the biggest parts of The Dragon Prince’s endgame.

The Dragon Prince’s main recurring theme is breaking the cycle of revenge and hate, and how that duty falls on the newer generations when their predecessors failed to do so. This theme is so prevalent that we see the children of The Dragon Prince being placed over and over in chilling parallels to their parents.

Rayla’s parents were the last line of defense for the Dragon Prince’s egg, and yet they failed to protect it, running away or losing their lives (or so we’re led to believe); Rayla chose to be the last line of defense for Zym and Zubeia during the final battle. In her confrontation with the exact same man her parents faced, she was put in the same position, and was also willing to die to save Zym (and would have if Callum hadn’t pulled that spell out of his ass, but that’s beside the point).

Ezran sits on the throne of Katolis, and has to decide whether he’ll let a man driven by vengeance and fear tell him how to use his power. This man inevitably decides that dark magic will lead him to his goal. Like Harrow in his final days, Ezran chooses peace over conflict - and yet, for this choice, Ezran is ousted from his throne and placed in a prison he later escapes (unlike his father, unless you consider a birdcage, subsequently escaped, to be a prison too - oh, wait).

And then. Soren and Claudia.

Buckle up, ladies and gentlemen and variations thereupon. Shit’s about to get real.

The scene where Soren snuck away from Viren’s army, leaving Claudia behind, was masterfully executed, and I’m still both delighted and heartbroken over it all. But to map out why it was so excruciating, we have to go back a few episodes. Specifically, the finale of Season 2.

In Breathe, Claudia apologizes to Ezran for her actions attempting to capture him. When Ezran admits that he knows about his father’s death, Claudia empathizes with him by explaining the circumstances of Viren and her mother’s separation.

CLAUDIA I know it’s not the same, but… when I was a kid, my mom and dad split up. I remember hearing them fight a lot at night after we went to bed. And then one day, they told us Mom was moving back to Del Bar, where her family was from. And then they said… we had to choose. And Soren chose Dad. How could I choose? How could I do that? Then my mom looked at my dad, and she told me to stay. She said that I had to stay with Soren, that this was my home, and my brother and I needed each other. And then she left.

EZRAN But how could she do that? Why would she leave you?

CLAUDIA I think she needed to leave for herself. To be happy… somehow. You might have noticed my dad is pretty intense.

EZRAN You must miss her.

CLAUDIA Losing her has been the hardest thing that’s ever happened to me.

EZRAN When you grow up, sometimes there are changes you don’t expect, and you have to face things you’re not ready for. Callum told me that.

CLAUDIA You are so lucky to have a brother like Callum.

EZRAN I know.

CLAUDIA And… I’m lucky to have my brother. Soren is a doof, but he’s my doof! I know he would do anything to protect me, and I would do anything for him.

Pretty upsetting, right? I can understand why a young Claudia would be so torn - after all, no child wants to make the choice between losing one parent or the other. And Claudia clearly recognizes that it was not abandonment, when her mother left - rather, it was her mother doing what was right for herself. Of course, Claudia didn’t come to this realization immediately, and says as much. It just took a long time for her to get there. Again, an understandable response.

Hold onto that! It’s a surprise tool that will help us later.

So, with this in mind, let’s proceed to Season 3, Episode 7, Hearts of Cinder.

Soren has seen some shit.

Where to even start? Viren told Soren all but explicitly to kill the crown prince and his brother. And when Soren and Claudia confronted Viren about this, Viren gaslighted the shit out of his son, to the point that even Claudia was convinced Soren had misunderstood their brilliant, intellectual father for the umpteenth time. This left a deeply upset Soren was wrestling with what he knew and what he was being told. Every time Soren tried to ask for more information, he was harshly rebuffed by Viren, or more gently brushed to the side by a (perhaps willfully) naive Claudia. He knows what Viren wanted him to do with Ezran, and this has been weighing on him for a while. When Ezran spared his and Claudia’s lives, and then was himself thrown in jail (a fucking ten year old boy cuffed in the same prison cell used to contain a treasonous archmage), Soren finally put his foot down and said, actually, fuck this.

And, before I get into the quotes once more, I’d like to point out: Soren isn’t actually stupid. He has his blatantly obtuse moments, yes, but he did come up with the plan (and muster the sheer audacity it took to pull it off) to get Ezran out of Katolis. That doesn’t happen by being an idiot.

Anyways, hold on to that. It’s a surprise tool that will help us later.

By the time Viren, with Aaravos’ help, manages to siphon the power of the Sun Elves’ city, Soren has seen enough. And when Viren straight-up assumes that Soren will be blindly willing to be the first transformed soldier - perhaps because he assumes Soren is too easily led to refuse - Soren says no. He says, I don’t want to do this. I’m scared.

You know how the rest of that scene goes.

Let’s get to the good stuff.

Soren flees, and Claudia goes after him.

CLAUDIA Soren. What’s going on? Where are you going?

SOREN I can’t stay here anymore, Claudia. You’ve seen what’s going on. What Dad turned Kasef into. What Dad turned into.

CLAUDIA Maybe he’s just doing what needs to be done.

SOREN Claudia, you’re changing, too. But it’s not too late. Come with me, Claudia. You can leave him!

CLAUDIA Please, Soren, don’t… don’t do this to me. Don’t make me choose. Not again!

SOREN Okay. Goodbye, Clauds.

CLAUDIA No! No! No, no no!

Do you see the parallels? Yes? No? All right, let’s go.

Both of these scenarios have arisen because of some sort of discord between Viren and his (I hope) loved one

Both loved ones (the children’s mother and Soren, respectively) decided that they could no longer stay with Viren, and had to leave.

Both loved ones gave the remaining family members a choice, to stay with Viren or come with them.

Claudia couldn’t decide, or Claudia wouldn’t decide, and this drove her to intense distress.

Hoping to spare Claudia pain, the leaving party told her to stay with Viren and Soren (or, just Viren), and Claudia had to watch someone she loved walk away.

The writers are bringing their A-game here, in case that hasn’t been made abundantly clear yet. There are a couple of reasonable assumptions we can make, going off these pretty blatant similarities:

Claudia and Soren’s mother was likely also upset about Viren’s growing reliance on dark magic. Or at least, that was a part of it.

Claudia and Soren’s mother returned to live with her family in another city, far away. This raises the possibility that Team Zym and associates are now Soren’s “family”, and like his mother, he’s not likely to go back.

Remember that first “surprise tool”? Claudia, while heartbroken now like she was then, may be able to forgive Soren for leaving her, as she came to understand her mother’s reasons for finalizing the divorce and moving away from the capital. Whether she does, and if doing so leads to reconciliation, however, remains to be seen…

This scene was beautifully executed, and kudos to the writers, animators, and voice actors for a superb character study. I am curious, though. Claudia has been closely paralleled with Viren, here. It’s possible that Soren has had several moments in the series so far where his actions and motivations mirror his mother’s, and we just don’t know about it because of how little we know of her.

But wait! We’re not done. I did say I think a final, major confrontation between Claudia and Soren is part of the endgame, right? Let’s dive into that.

Point: Claudia is either more powerful or more dangerously driven than Viren. Why do I say this, given all the crazy shit Viren’s done, especially under Aaravos’ counsel? Because Claudia brought Viren back from the dead. She has done what Viren either never could, or never dared to do. If Viren had been able or willing, he would have saved Sarai.

(If that’s not true… if he chose not to save Sarai, in favor of collecting her last breath in order to make a cursed weapon that could bring down Thunder… well, any shred of redeemability Viren had is now gone in my mind. Because how do you look your friend, a grieving husband, father, and king in the eye when you hold his wife’s last breath in your hands and say, “This is all I was able to save,” when it’s a lie?)

Point: Viren failed Aaravos. Viren failed Aaravos, but Claudia has managed to perform what is, as far as we know, the impossible. From the split second glimpse we have of her face immediately after Viren is revived, it seems like she just cast the spell - her eyes are pure black, but quickly fade to their original color, much as they did when Claudia restored Soren’s ability to walk using life force siphoned from a pair of deer. We also know that Aaravos has been spinning himself a new form over the two days before Viren was revived - it’s possible that Aaravos doesn’t yet know what Claudia has accomplished. What will Aaravos do, I wonder, when he learns about the impossible prodigy he has access to? It’s implied that Claudia still doesn’t know about Aaravos speaking through the caterpillar, but that hardly matters to a master manipulator like Aaravos. When you want to conquer Xadia, do you want a broken, old pawn, or a young and innovative replacement instead?

Point: Soren is not stupid. He’s not booksmart, obviously. But he’s got a keen eye for strategy. How do I know? Because he made Captain of the Crownsguard at the age of 18. Because it took him all of two seconds to see a dragon brought down by ballista during the battle to realize that the only way to give the dragons a fighting chance was to keep them in the air. Because he planned - no, he masterminded - Ezran’s escape from the dungeons and subsequent journey across Xadia to get to Zym before Viren. And because he timed it just right, Viren has no idea Ezran has escaped until the final battle - if he even knows at all, given that the only interaction we see is between them after Ezran’s escape is on the battlefield, with Ezran and the illusion Viren created by Claudia.

Point: The Illusion Viren.

This frame was the one that, of the entire season, truly stole my breath away.

Viren (well, illusion Viren, but that’s not the point of this frame) is the dividing factor between Claudia and Soren, and he has caused this rift between them due to his intent towards Ezran. Soren’s compassion and duty towards Ezran has allowed him to see the truth of Viren’s actions, whereas Claudia’s compassion for Ezran has blinded her to the fact that her own father could act so horribly to him.

And, if you’ll indulge me for just a minute, I have to wonder - why was this the ploy Claudia chose to use, to distract Soren and Ezran from the threat at the top of the Storm Spire? She has adamantly been opposed to the idea that Viren would ever orchestrate Ezran’s death, including several clear warning signs and Soren’s testimony. So why did she use this illusion - of Viren going after Ezran, clearly trying to kill him - against Soren, when his resolve to protect Ezran from Viren is what led him to the Storm Spire in the first place? Claudia is horrified when Soren demonstrates that he is willing to kill his own father to protect Ezran (who is, by the way, still a ten-year-old boy, king or not). But isn’t this what Soren has been saying all along? That Viren has been telling him to kill Ezran, and that Viren is wrong, and Soren believed this so much that he chose to leave rather than continue gong along with Viren’s plans? So, whose resolve is Claudia really testing here - Soren’s? Or her own?

I think it’s the latter, honestly. But back to our regularly-scheduled programming. Where was I?

Ah, yes.

Endgame.

So what do we know? Claudia is quite possibly the most powerful dark mage in the world. She’s chosen to continue aligning herself with Viren and Viren alone. Soren is a strategist driven by duty, and is surrounded by other warriors of similar mind and similar or even better skill. Unless a new threat emerges beyond the alliance of Viren and Aaravos (which isn’t impossible, of course), the two siblings are in direct opposition to one another. Claudia must live with the fact that her brother was willing to kill their father, and has left her to pick up the pieces. Soren must live with the fact that he was willing to kill their father, and that Claudia’s manipulation is what drove him to it.

The two of them have also, believe it or not, grown up with vastly different influences during their formative years. Differences in treatment from Viren aside, there’s an implication that Claudia and Soren have been on separate paths for a long time. Claudia is clearly Viren’s favorite - he has actual conversations with her, listens to her questions and attempts to answer them (whether the answers or truthful or not is another issue). Meanwhile, Viren puts very little effort into understanding Soren. Likely, he believes he already does, as Soren isn’t, shall we say, the most complicated of individuals. So, Claudia gets private tutoring under her father, and academic and intellectual training that Viren can relate to and challenge and encourage. Meanwhile, Soren, the family jock, goes into the castle guard. It’s not clear what all this would entail, but I imagine he trained with other recruits for a time in his own age group, reported to a commander or other superior officer, and probably received some sort of advanced training when it became clear he was a prodigy in his own right - after all, it’s not your average eighteen-year-old who is placed in charge of the security of a monarch. To sum up, Claudia was favored and likely spoiled to some degree by her father, whereas Soren excelled in military boot camp, which requires recruits to learn how to carry their own weight and take responsibility for protecting others in a very different sense than Viren’s supposed dedication to the realm.

Narratively speaking, despite first impressions, Claudia is the sibling with more cards stacked against her. She is falling faster and faster towards the point of no return with dark magic, whereas Soren has fought for every inch of his venture into the light. I’m anticipating larger confrontation between the two siblings than what we have seen so far. My heart breaks for both of them, but when I think of how future generations of humans and elves will tell the story of the Dragon Prince, these tragic siblings will fill one of the most resonant threads of the epic.

Ezran rode into the throne room that was his by birthright on the back of a massive, black-furred beast whom he charmed into loyalty. Rayla tackled a madman off of the highest peak in Xadia, and Callum dove selflessly after her. Claudia raised her father from the dead. Soren crossed miles of hostile territory in a single night to warn the Dragon Prince of a coming army.

There is a story being told here. Sometimes, history repeats, and sometimes, it rhymes. Cycles are meant to be broken, but only time will tell how Claudia and Soren handle the one they’re trapped in.

Can I just say, though?

Claudia is going to make one hell of an epic villain.

Bring it on.

[polzkadotz]

Asas reread their fics - ftayc - part 4

And we’re back to rereading this fic!!!! last chapter i reread was the 7k monster of chapter 3, and this one... oh. Oh, this is also 7k?

wowie

if you want a spoiler to interest you, here we go lmao

we begin with this author’s note bc I don’t think I ever really talked about it here on my tumblr???

It was sort of my first time being recommended, really. I had noticed that my hit count had gone up substantially and I couldn’t understand it, but it was nice??? and then i found the post on the library and I was like Oh. I See.

Whoever it was that recommended me, thank you. Seriously.

But enough mushy-wushy, let’s tackle this giant.

We begin with this exchange, which...

I was trying to be funny and this still makes me smile so at least I amuse myself lmao

Neil needs to free himself of the plot device I pulled out of nowhere and he taps into his reserves of power that he has hid away for, basically, forever. One thing that I wish I had made more clear, which was basically the vitriol going through my mind as I wrote this fic, was that Neil had been cutting himself of his powers and how powerful he was for a fucking long time because

1) he bought into his mom’s reasoning that his father was simply Not Someone They Could Face and Win

2) he had made himself fit into a mold that would “make him survive” but, by doing so, he basically chained himself to a fraction of the three-dimensional person he used to be, which made meeting Jean and finding out that he had become a pet god for a human even worse because Neil could see all the ways they were similar but Neil had been doing that shit to himself voluntarily.

Originally, when I thought about making Neil a god in this fic, I did think about modeling him out of an existing god but also, the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to make him be someone who was struggling with letting himself be what he was with his full-potential. Someone who had been cutting himself back for so long he had basically lost whatever sense of personhood he used to have. Someone who had started to get tired of cutting parts of himself and forgetting what he used to be so he would survive for--

What? Survive for what? Neil eventually realized he hadn’t been a person for too long and as long as his father was alive, he would never feel safe to be.

Now that I think about it, Neil was very much me working through my own shit about trying to live as myself at the same time that I had different versions of past me struggling with the person I was becoming. The person I wanted to be.

Anyway, back to the story.

There’s a throwaway paragraph where I sort of tease that Andrew’s dragon is becoming "hungry” and it was basically me trying very hard to foreshadow that the priest thing was going to happen lmao

After battling for two paragraphs against the thought of creating a new priest, Neil gets them back on track to go as far away as its possible for both dragons flying.

Nicky tries to get Neil to talk about the god thing, and I like how I made it clear that even being reminded that he had been a god was something conflicting to Neil.

And then we get to the part where Neil suddenly remembers that he has a lot more money than what he had previously said in the first few chapters, but who cares about plot consistency, am I right? Does it show that this fic was edited hastily? Because I can guarantee that it was :3

They stop in Mumbai, I think (the place is not important for past Asas and honestly... can’t say that’s changed lol). Nicky tries to get Neil to talk more about being immortal and stuff. Neil gives a bit of backstory, as a treat, and Kevin reveals what he knows, as a threat I guess lmao

I kind of imply that Neil only had one priest, which... I remember is not what I put in the sequel.............. so I do recommend you reread your fics before writing a new piece, wink-wink

OH MY GOD I MADE NICKY ASK WHY NEIL’S ENGLISH “WASN’T WEIRD” AND THEN I REPLIED WITH A SENTENCE THAT WAS BASICALLY STRUCTURED WITH PORTUGUESE GRAMMAR AND SOUNDS VERY WRONG IN ENGLISH

Asas... my god, Asas.

Anyway, after a lot of questioning, they eventually go to sleep and, when Neil wakes up from a nightmare, he has his daily fairy tale dose from Andrew, who’s also awake. I gotta be honest, I don’t even remember that fairy tale but it explains the Aaron, Andrew and Tilda.

After everybody wakes up from their naps, they go to their last destination: Tokyo.

Wait lemme check:

when did they leave Mumbai in my story?

when did they reach Tokyo?

yeah, that math totally checks out.

Whatever. As they arrive in Tokyo, Neil splurges even more money on a hotel for the whole crew, even though they had been pretty not nice to him as a whole lmao. But! The boy believed he was going to die, so what was he going to do with all that money?

Nothing, so he programmed an email to be sent to Andrew with the info for some of his bank accounts and fucked off to try and find what his mother had stolen.

Neil gets on a ferry that will take six hours to reach the island where is the volcano that his mother had made him hide his father’s immortality. Neil got nekkid because he wanted to have clothes when he got out of the volcano, you know?

(Also, yes, I’m gonna ignore the other time inconsistency from his travel inside Japan, I was very much pressured by the whole “got recommended on the library” okay, you can judge me through those lenses)

Unfortunately, for him, he wasn’t alone when he finally climbed out of the volcano.

Fortunately for him, this Ichirou Moriyama doesn’t want his father, who is very much interested in becoming immortal, to actually become immortal. Neil explains the whole immortality thingy (I found some typos and honestly? I shan’t fix them. It adds character) and Ichirou subtly kicks Neil’s clothes closer to him, which... I get it, my guy. It’s kind of difficult to have an intimidating conversation when someone’s bits are out and about.

As they are trying to hash out their problem -- as in, Neil’s father told them that Neil’s immortality would be viable to cure Kengo --, Andrew appears blowing his ball of flames onto both of them, and Neil uses his powers to create a pocket that repels the fire, so it doesn’t touch him or Ichirou.

(Why didn’t he use those powers on his clothes, as well? Dunno, don’t poke at my plot too much or it will definitely crumble right into your face, you’re gonna inhale too much dust and die from fandom toxicity, AND THAT’S NO WAY TO REACH A GOOD DEATH)

btw:

Neil, my dude. The dragon thought you were in danger? Chill out???

Neil rages for a few seconds but quickly turns that into a situation to ask Moriyama for his protection against his father, since Neil just technically saved his life.

Oh, and if you think “Uhhh, why would Neil even believe that Ichirou would keep his word?”

Don’t worry, I gotchu:

Ichirou agrees with the deal, for plot reasons. Since he got a deal out of it kind of easily, Neil thinks, “Wait a minute. If I give my father’s immortality to this Moriyama, literally passing the hot potato around, then the Moriyamas won’t be after me for an immortality, my father probably won’t be immortal and come after me as the death machine he used to be and I might be able to use it to free a certain god????”

So Neil uses his father’s immortality to bargain for Jean’s freedom, and he doesn’t wait for Moriyama’s response for that one. He simply hops onto dragon!Andrew’s back and they fly away into the... sunset? Sunrise? Don’t ask me, I clearly can’t keep track of the time passage in my fics.

And this is the end of the chapter!

Let me say something that I hope will be quick: this chapter felt much better written to me then the other three. It’s shaky in places, definitely, and it could’ve gone through a more severe round of editing, but I can certainly feel the positive outcomes of the pressure I felt after my work got a shout-out. This fic had been pretty much geared towards myself, so writing about the world-building wasn’t my focus at all in the other three chapters. In this one, I try to at least explain some concepts I came up with which???? Go me??????

I still wish I had taken the time to work on this entire fic to make it as close to what I had in my head, but in a comprehensive form for the attention that it got, you know? I mean, from the ashes you crawl is still my most everything -- most kudos, hits, comments, bookmarks...  It deserved so much better but also... I like that it feels rough? I like that it can clearly help to contrast the growth of my style or whatever?

It was written after a long, long writer’s block, and it only got edited and posted because I decided to participate in an event for a different fandom and it got me excited about writing again.

Anyway, I’ve talked too much. Here’s to hoping I can contain myself in the next posts lmao

PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3 | PART 4 | PART 5 | PART 6

[mothermaidenclone-blog]

Godzilla: King of the Monsters or It’s All About That Queen Bee Though

Godzilla: King of the Monsters was a very cool movie. Yes, it was pretty stupid, but was it also a gloriously fun, utterly ridiculous romp? Definitely. Warner Bros. knew we wanted to watch a bunch of massive monsters beat the ever-loving shit out of each other, and they certainly delivered on that front. As with any Godzilla movie, the main problem was that they spent too much time on the tiny, insignificant people and not enough on the aforementioned battling titans. However, there were some notable ladies featured amongst the squishy humans.

*Godzilla: King of the Monsters spoilers follow*

The first on screen conversation takes place between two women, Dr. Emma Russell (Vera Farmiga) and her daughter Madison (Millie Bobby Brown). Dr. Russell is evidently an exceptional scientist, as she has invented a device to communicate with, and to some extent control, the titans. She is also portrayed as brave and compassionate, risking her life to run to the aid of Mothra with her ORCA device. In addition, she wants her daughter to be strong and to experience what life has to offer, helping her to stroke Mothra once it has calmed down. She then guides her through the horrors of being held captive with the advice, “Eyes straight ahead, deep breaths, just like we talked about.” She isn’t shielding Madison from what is happening, but trying to help her to cope with it on her own.

However, it soon turns out that Dr. Russell is one of the villains of the movie, as she approached the eco terrorist Jonah Alan (Charles Dance) rather than being abducted by him, as it first appeared. As such, she is responsible for countless deaths in the movie, regardless of whether or not she is acting for the greater good of the planet. On the other hand, she is unwavering in the defence of her decisions and ethics, and even after the movie has declared her a baddie she is still portrayed as rational and somewhat empathetic.  She justifies her actions as being for the benefit of her daughter, and perhaps her daughter’s whole generation: “I couldn’t be more sane and Madison couldn’t be stronger. At least now she has a fighting chance.” At least Dr. Russell is granted a redemptive end - she dies saving not only her family, but arguably the entire planet, from the destructive forces of Ghidorah. It’s still shitty that she dies, no two ways about it, but at least she is granted some agency. Once a film like this declares you a villain you don’t stand a chance - it’s a noble sacrifice on her part and she isn’t just squashed by a giant monster foot while delivering a monologue about how her plans were right all along.

One of Dr. Russell’s plans does come to fruition, and that is that Madison becomes an incredibly strong young woman. She goes from slyly flipping off Jonah at the start of the movie to literally standing down Ghidorah and screaming right back in his fucking face. Now, it could well be argued that these are not the most considered of actions, but it cannot be denied that Madison has some nerve. In addition to being categorically courageous, Madison is also intelligent and principled. When she sees that Ghidorah’s rampage is becoming uncontrollable, she not only steals the ORCA from under the nose of a group of highly organised armed terrorists and escapes their fortified secret base, taking the time to appropriately supply herself for her journey (like no one in movies ever does!), but she also figures out the most effective location to broadcast from and operates the ORCA independently. Kudos to Madison, she knows what she’s doing. She does end up having to be rescued by her parents but two things are worth remembering at this point: firstly, Madison has just done her bit to save the entire planet and secondly, she is still a child. She’s more than allowed to run scared for a moment when a three-headed, lightning-breathing dragon from space is trying to cause the end of days.

Dr. Vivienne Graham (Sally Hawkins) reprises her role from the first film, and we are treated to a brief reminder of what a competent, intrepid scientist and eloquent, fearless defender of Godzilla she is before she is unceremoniously felled by Ghidorah. I didn’t even notice her death, and while it’s true I might have been taking notes and missed it, I was informed by a small piece of text on a character’s computer screen, which seems like an unnecessarily dismissive way to end the life of such an intrinsic character to the series.

Perhaps in an attempt to compensate for the loss of Dr. Graham, several new named female characters were introduced, and credit where credit’s due, pretty much all of these women are immediately addressed by their name and title. This not only shows them the respect they are due, but saved me the kind of IMDB credits trawling I usually have to do when writing a review. We meet another of Monarch’s top scientists, Dr. Ilene Chen (Ziyi Zhang). She is notable not only for her scientific competency, but also for her heritage, as she reveals she is the direct descendant of one of the female founders of Monarch, and shows a selection of photos of completely badass looking explorers and scientists that make up her family, all of whom are women. Her twin sister, Dr. Ling (also Ziyi Zhang) also briefly features, although she is seemingly working for the terrorists. We don’t see much of her except for an appropriately awed look at the hatching of Mothra, but it’s safe to assume by her presence at the site that she is an equally accomplished scientist. Dr. Chen is also notable for being an advocate of not blowing Godzilla to smithereens, pointing out that, “slaying dragons is a western concept.”

Another new female character is Colonel Diane Foster (Aisha Hinds), an extremely competent officer and woman of colour, who seems to be in charge of the military branch of Monarch’s operations. She continues to excel throughout the movie, surviving the attack that killed Dr. Graham and continuing to lead others safely through danger until the end. Foster is shown to be a strong leader as well as a distinguished field officer - she is a highly skilled sniper who cares deeply about saving innocent lives.

Black women continue to occupy positions of power, if not leading roles, in Godzilla: King of the Monsters, as further exemplified by Senator Williams (CCH Pounder), who presides over the Monarch hearing at the start of the film and appears to have the power to turn the whole organisation over to the military if she so chooses. Women do very much inhabit the world of this movie, with many women being present of all sides of the conflict as scientists, soldiers and terrorists alike. Although I’m not sure we hear all their names, many are credited, including Asaj (Tracy Garrison), one of Jonah’s team, First Lieutenant Griffin (Elizabeth Ludlow), Lieutenant Bottin (Natalie Shaheen), G-Team Officer Harryhausen (Shauna Rappold), Argo Officer Arvin (Skylar Denney), Argo Officer Cross (Kelli Garner) and a news anchor (Fiona Hardingham) who is one of the first voices we hear in the movie. The fact that two of these characters are named for practical effects superstars tells me that they held a special place in the hearts of the movie makers.

However wonderful all of these women are, let’s talk about the real leading lady of this movie - Mothra. Not only is she utterly radiant and resplendent, she can hold her own in a fight -  penetrating Rodan with her stinger - and apparently has the monumental power of the ability to resurrect Godzilla. In short, she’s amazing. She is also the only titan to be named as female, which makes it all the more shitty that she’s the only one - other than the big bad Ghidorah - to die. It seems even female kaiju aren’s safe from the played out and tired fate of dying for the benefit of their male counterparts. Now, my little brother (who is more of a Gozilla expert than me) texted me as soon as he knew I’d seen the movie to tell me not to worry and that Mothra is apparently immortal, because he knew I’d be so cross and sad about this. Thanks, baby bro. However, as this is not addressed in the movie, I have to stand by my initial assessment that Mothra’s death is pure garbage.

Overall, the women in Godzilla: King of the Monsters are incredibly strong and adept in a wide variety of fields ranging from science to combat, are without exception incredibly brave, and most of them hold to a high moral code. Furthermore, for a monster movie where presumably thousands of people are slaughtered, their mortality rate isn’t too bad. I think one more named male character dies than female, but this doesn’t make the loss of talented female scientists on screen any easier to swallow. Also, they killed Mothra, so I can never forgive them. Well, not until she comes back in a sequel and fucks up some even bigger bastards because you know I will watch another Godzilla movie, no hesitation. On balance, this is an absolutely ridiculous movie about giant dragons murdering each other, so I think we’re lucky that so many competent human women were featured at all.

And now for some asides:

Umm, excuse me, was that casually Atlantis? And did you blow it up?

Also did this movie low-key endorse hollow Earth theory?

Thank you, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, for the gift of someone ejector-seating straight into Rodan’s fiery maw. You truly know your audience.

[harrydracobang]

Harry/Draco Big Bang Week #1 Round-Up

Below you'll find a round-up of all of our amazing submissions that have posted during our first week of @harrydracobang​!

We hope you’ve been enjoying all the novel-length Drarry and amazing art so far, and we want to thank everybody who has been following the fest and supporting our participants with comments, kudos and recs! You are amazing and we know for certain our fantastic artists and writers appreciate all your support! <3

The next fic will go up tomorrow, and we still have one more week of amazing fic and art to share with you all, but for now, check our first week below to make sure you didn’t miss anything. Don’t forget to leave some love for our participants as you make your way through the submissions!

Chocolate and Pastry written by @agentmoppet​ with art by @anemonensblog​ [Explicit, 51k] Summary: When Pansy bets Draco that there is no chance he and Harry could carry out a genuine romantic relationship, he and Harry form a plan. But as their fake relationship progresses, Draco sees a side of Harry he never expected. Harry is struggling with something, pushing it far down inside him where he doesn't have to acknowledge its existence. Draco starts to worry, and then he starts to care, and then... horribly... he starts to fall in love. - Anemonen’s AO3 Art Post - Anemonen’s Tumblr Art Post

A Natural Conclusion written by @meshkol​ with art by @marshview-lim​ and @theacebard​ [Explicit, 52k] Summary: Harry’s happy with his life twenty-two years later. He has his job as the Head of the DMLE (albeit with a bit too much bureaucratic nonsense for his tastes), his not-really wife (and her incorrigibly charming shit of a boyfriend), and his three children (plus Scorpius Malfoy, who’s somehow become the fourth child in their brood). The only thing that’s missing is a partner, though not for a lack of trying on his part. However, the assignment of one case to Barrister Draco Malfoy – a polite and cordial acquaintance on the peripheral of Harry’s life – leads to a deep friendship and the slow realisation that the partner he’s been waiting his whole life for has been standing right in front of him all along. - Marshview’s Tumblr Art Post - Marshview’s AO3 Art Post

Only Ash Remains written by @whimsicaldragonette​ with art by @saulaie​[Teen, 67k] Summary: One year after Harry defeated Voldemort at the Battle of Hogwarts, he still has no idea what to do with his life. He’s been living at No. 12 Grimmauld Place with Hermione and Ron, but they’ve spent the past few months on an extended stay in Australia to try and restore Hermione’s parents’ memories. Alone, he feels set adrift. Everyone else is focused on enjoying their summer before Hogwarts reopens (after a one year rebuilding period), but without Ron and Hermione, Harry doesn’t know if he can go back. Everything changes when the Malfoys dramatically re-enter his life, and together they learn to live again. - Saulaie’s AO3 Art Post - Saulaie’s Tumblr Art Post

Sweet Creature written by @whineosaur​ with art by @banana-ge-ge​ and @fistis​ [Teen, 63k] Summary: Harry loves his sheep, his dogs, the tranquil countryside farm he's turned into a home. He doesn't need Draco Malfoy screwing it all up. But, god, what else is he supposed to do about Draco Malfoy sleeping with a lamb in his bed? - Banana-ge-ge’s Tumblr Art Post  - Fistis’ Tumblr Art Post

Taking Chances written by @gracerene09​ with art by @ano-ka-ba​ and @pukingpastilles​ [Explicit, 135k]  Summary: After the war, Draco disappeared and started over in America, vowing never to return to Great Britain and the fraught past he left behind. Unfortunately, when his mates convince him to sign up for an exchange programme for the last year of their Auror Training, Draco learns that he doesn't have much of a choice in the matter. - Anokaba’s AO3 Art Post [NSFW] - Anokaba’s Tumblr Art Post [NSFW] - PukingPastilles’ Tumblr Art Post

Still Catch the Tide written by @dwell-the-brave with art by @razielim and @apriicat [Mature, 57k] Summary: When a ravaged body is found of Blackpool beach front, newly partnered Aurors Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy are sent to investigate. This is a make-or-break case for Harry - solve the case and not scare his partner away, or risk his career. But when another body appears, and another, this mystery goes far deeper than either of them could have imagined. - Razielim’s Tumblr Art Post

The Anchor written by @rose-grangerweasleyisbae with art by @starwqrs [Teen, 54k] Summary: Draco has to go back to Hogwarts for his eight year. Either that, or it’s back to Azkaban according to his parole agreement. Which all wouldn’t be that big of a problem, if only Pansy learned to keep her trap shut and Potter would put on a bloody shirt before leaving the showers. Honestly, he had enough to cope with inside his own head without green eyed gits messing with it as well.

Dear Cousin, Love Regulus written by @xx-thedarklord-xx with art by @llap115-reblogs [Mature, 86k] Summary: As the sole Malfoy heir, Draco understood that his path was set long before his birth; who to be, how to act and what his choices should be. What he had not counted on was the power of outside influences. Letters from his deceased cousin caused him to realize that he did have choices, starting with the choice to be someone else, to be who he wanted to be. The road to self-discovery was difficult and navigating that path in the shadow of Harry Potter was its own challenge but maybe, just maybe, his friends would help him along the way. And he would owe it all to Regulus Black.  - LLAP115′s Tumblr Art Post

Men Who Love Dragons Too Much written by @fencer-x with art by @danasauurr [Explicit, 480k] Summary: [Extensive re-telling of Deathly Hallows] As in Half-blood Prince, Draco is charged by Voldemort with killing Dumbledore—only instead of trying to do his best with the challenge, he realizes he’s been set a futile task and instead focuses on finding a way to save both himself and his parents. He eventually decides to spend his sixth year studying Animagecraft, convinced it's his best shot at escaping the impossible situation he's found himself in. But just his luck, his Animagus form turns out to be a dragon, and a rather randy juvenile at that, intent on finding its mate: one Harry James Potter. - Danasauurr’s Tumblr Art Post

[neverwatchedonepiece]

609-610: "Luffy Dies from Exposure?! The Spine Chilling Snow Woman Monet" and "Fists Collide! a Battle of the Two Vice Admirals!"

Surrounded by trash, unsure of location or direction. Too real, Luffy. Too real.

I feel like a broken record at the moment but Punk Hazard really is delivering.

Across 609 and 610, we had Law vs Vergo with a surprise interruption by Smoker. Caesar was the subject of unexpected character development. Even Luffy vs Monet had a twist, with Luffy falling into a trash compactor and meeting a tiny talking dragon.

I bet that’s Foxfire’s son. The little dragon had a kid’s voice.

I’m just glad the big dragon the Strawhats roasted wasn’t Momonosuke (@mrkashkiet, I am looking at you sternly. xD)

Law Just Cannot Quit Smoking

And does not want to.

The action picked up with Vergo hoofing it to the SAD Room. Speed lines ahoy!

Inside, Law slowly drew his sword in front of a vast tank of SAD Gas. Not sure what he was planning to do, but let’s not dwell on it, in case his plan was literally explosive.

Vergo appeared at the door. “I feel like my hand has been bitten by my own dog. This is too much even for a mischievous child. You were always too smart for your own good. People like you tend to die young.”

You know, I’m not keen on stoic villain types but I’ve got to admit that Vergo has some killer lines.

“It would be easiest to crush your heart but I won’t do that. I’ll torment you slowly as I please and warp your smart ass face with fear.”

Like I said, good lines.

He wailed on Law with grim purpose to the point I found myself shouting, “Come on, Law! ROOM YOURSELF OUT OF THERE!”  Law was not having a fun time. (Dare I say, he was SAD?)

But his instinct for shit-talking was irrepressible. “Are you guys frustrated because your scheme is coming crashing down? Is this thing that important to you?”

Well, yeah... If Caesar is *the only person* who can make whatever it is that Doflamingo wants, then SAD must be profitable. Profits before pals seems to be Doflamingo’s modus operandi, but I don’t get the feeling Law is all that surprised Vergo is trying to kill him.

Law did fight back. There was an attempt.  He tried to Room his heart back. But Vergo is fast and snatched Law’s heart from the air.

The worst thing, though? Vergo punched Law so hard he lost his hat. That is not cool. It must have riled Law enough for him to try his (awesome) Counter Shock attack. It was big, flashy and high voltage, but it only left Vergo lightly toasted.

Vergo must have decided to kill Law then because he said, “I have a message from Joker. He said, ‘What a shame.’”

Law was weirdly zen about the whole situation. “Oh, well. It didn’t work. I was pretty sure I could take my heart back from Caesar, but I didn’t expect you here, Vergo.”

The lack of -san honorific was the last straw for Vergo. He squeezed Law’s heart like a stress ball. Toei’s red filter descended. Soul-shredding pain was experienced. Law screamed a lot. As you would if your heart was being squeezed by a maniac.

Then, a shaft of light descended from the vaulted heavens.

Except not really because it was Smoker.

It’s almost the same thing.

Vergo was typically cool about the interruption. “I’m in the middle of something. Does it have to be now, Vice-Admiral Smoker?”

And I did a backflip. Yes. Excellent interruption. Great timing, Smoker! Now stop being so fixated on the Big Tanks That Go “Blort” and execute your glorious revenge!

Really, now I think about it, Vergo is almost as bad as Caesar. When Smoker called Vergo out on his deceit and told him not to tell the G5 Men as he was a father figure to them, Vergo said, “Don’t tell me you actually care about those guys? I’m a base commander. I can do whatever I want to my no-good subordinates.” Another one who treats other people as disposable pawns.

Unsurprisingly, Smoker and Vergo came to blows. Smoker seems to be having more luck than Law, but then Vergo does not have Smoker’s heart in a box. What I’d like to happen is Smoker retrieving Law’s heart and they tag-team Vergo into oblivion.

That sounded wrong. But you get what I mean.

Star Wars Episode IV: A New Rubbery Hope

How did Luffy end up in the Death Star’s trash compactor? 

His battle with a bird woman from Hoth went south. Literally.

And I cannot believe I am about to say this, but I kind of wish Luffy’s fight with Monet was a little bit longer. Her powers are great. Her self-awareness and cunning are too.

She maintained those ten layer kamakura walls without breaking a sweat. When Luffy smashed one layer, she wrapped another around her frozen prison without missing a beat. Luffy knew she was stalling for time and said he’d just break every layer quicker than she could replace them.

“I bet,” she said. Then swept up behind Luffy and, in an oddly flirty manner, whispered in his ear, “I don’t think I’ll win if I fight you, but the strongest isn’t always the winner in a fight.”

Then she grabbed him and wrapped him, literally, in winter’s embrace. 

That hypothermia power was quite cool (no pun intended). Paired with those desolate, snowy vistas and her eerily calm voice urging Luffy to let go, to sleep, relax and let it be, Monet’s Devil Fruit seems pretty strong to me.

But just as Luffy was about to pass out, Zoro’s voice - the very warning he yelled at Luffy a couple of episodes ago - cut through the darkness. “THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING OF THE NEW WORLD!”

I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of the blue filtered haki moments. When he sprang up and let loose that Jet Spear attack, I cheered.

Then he fell through the floor into a garbage chute and I laughed.

It was cool, though. He’s rubber. He’d bounce. And sure enough, it wasn’t long before he was raking through broken gadgets for food. At which point a tiny dragon spoke to him and that is where the story ended.

I am now 75% sure that tiny dragon is Momonosuke. It had a kid’s voice. Probably should be a higher percentage than that but I like to hedge my bets, haha.

Chopper Looks Like Every Harried Substitute Teacher Ever

While Luffy was readjusting to life in a trash compactor with a small talking dragon, Monet flapped away to tick off another box on the never ending to do list: securing the Addicted Experiment Kiddies.

Said kiddies were knocking lumps out of Chopper with their ferocious addict strength. He could not restrain them without hurting them. He tried to convince them not to eat the candy. “I know it’s hard but you have to endure it!”

The thing is, Chopper was dealing with a double helping of trouble here. Not only are they kids, who are naturally more self-centred due to their developing brains. They are also addicts who are so far down the rabbit hole of whatever drug Caesar was peddling they’ll do anything for a fix.

When Chopper’s rumble ball wore off, the kids trampled him and thundered straight for the Biscuit Room, where Mocha was waiting alone.

Luckily, he was picked up by Nami, Zoro, Usopp, Robin, Brook and Foxfire. (Do not remember Brownbeard hanging around. Did he leave or did he just not have any lines?) 

Robin tried to restrain the kids. That was interesting for two reasons: one, I didn’t know Robin could feel damage sustained by her extra hands, and two, she asked Usopp and Brook to try and find a pair of Sea Prism Stone cuffs because Luffy had asked her to. (I bet his plan is to cuff Caesar!)

The kids charged Mocha, who tried to tell them the candy was evil! Then Monet whirled into the room on a frosty zephyr. (The best part of this entrance was when Usopp shouted: “I TOLD YOU THERE WAS A BIRD WOMAN!” He was finally vindicated.) 

Yay, thought Mocha. It’s Monet-san. She’s lovely!

Nooooope. Monet told her, in a sweet, ever-so-reasonable voice that it wasn’t nice to keep all the candy for herself. Mocha should share it with the others, like always. Mocha’s little face when she sensed betrayal was just heart-wrenching. “Why?” she whispered.

Because Monet is a nasty piece of work just like Caesar? Just a thought.

Not sure what’s going to happen here. There are a *lot* of Strawhats in the room, so I’m guessing Monet will be defeated by them. Then they’ll push through, deliver the cuffs and - BAM - we have one angry, kidnapped scientist. 

Sanji Acquires Unexpected Fans

This was a short scene but the fact that Sanji has a cadre of devoted fans in the G5 is hilarious. Yeah, he claims he doesn’t want their approval. And he probably doesn’t.

But Sanji cannot stop himself running back to save the poor saps who can be saved.

This is the Sanji I like: surly on the outside with a golden heart on the inside. More, please!

And the Academy Award for Best Actor goes to . . .

CAESAR CLOWN!

Seriously.

The yarns this guy can spin could crush the GDP of a small textile-dependent country.

Caesar should run for office somewhere. Then he could appoint himself head of the science department.

For that is exactly what has been bugging him for years, it seems. He wants Vegapunk’s job.

Well... maybe not the job. (He’s getting by just fine thanks to pirates. A Government job would ruin that). It’s the fame and kudos. That’s what he’s after.

Plus he has a weird goal: to achieve world peace by obliterating all sources of conflict - collateral damage be damned. Unless he’s lying about that. Given his oscar-winning performance, that would not surprise me.

The action picked up with Caesar caesaring through a pipe and landing outside the Secret Room (I laughed when I realised everyone on Punk Hazard literally calls it the Secret Room).

He was bitching about having to enter the room because it was Vegapunk’s old office. Still, he claimed it was the only place where he could “pull it off”. (I am unsure why he had to go to Vegapunk’s old office just to close some doors, but I’ll chalk it up to plot and say no more.)

He promised to make Luffy, the Strawhats, G5 and Trafalgar Law pay for ruining his plan. It was all their fault! The experiment could have been a great show - everything perfect and beautiful and befitting of the world’s greatest scientist (Vegapunk says hi!) But they screwed it up. He couldn’t let the Strawhats do as they liked. They’d pushed it a little too far and he has Joker on his back now.

He ordered a minion to close the gates to Buildings C and D. This would lure all survivors into one narrow room. His plan? Trap them in the bottleneck and pump the room full of his poison gas through the air vents. He would broadcast it as a snuff movie for the brokers. That would show them what he was really made of!

But the minions hang on his every word and they caught one small discrepancy.

“Um... did you say that *you* had created the poison gas, Master?”

Caesar’s haughty reply was, “Yes, I did.”

“But it’s like Vegapunk’s gas. It freaks us out.” Understandably, the minions probably have ptsd from four years ago.

The moment when Caesar realised he’d let his ego run away with him and opened his big mouth was glorious. How could he spin this? How? The animators did a great job here. You could see the evil, conniving cogs turning in his mind. 

Then he broke out his Oscar winning performance. 

“This is . . . an avenging battle of science. My people! That day, I tried to stop the mad scientist, Vegapunk. No! If such a weapon exploded, what would happen to the people on the island?” Caesar even threw in a melodramatic “YAMEROOOOO, VEGAPUNK!” for some extra emotional sparkle.

“But the accident happened. And he still lords if over us as the head of the science department of the Marines. and he’s considered the world’s greatest scientist. I cannot tolerate it! He’s the cruel man who hurt you all! Do you think it’s right that people still call him the number one scientist? That’s why I want to prove them all wrong. I didn’t want to make a weapon of mass destruction! But I want to show them that there is a greater scientist here. That I am the greatest scientist in the world! When the Marines acknowledge it and when I become head of the science department, my dream will come true. I can use my scientific knowledge to bring peace to the world!”

I honestly had to stop myself giving Caesar a standing ovation. What a performance that was.

You know, it’s weird. Every lie Caesar told there has a basis in truth. That’s the most dangerous liar right there because the lies they tell are more believable. Does the Gas-Gas Fruit confer gaslighting powers too? Because Caesar is a hellishly efficient manipulator.

And while Caesar was congratulating himself, a flashback happened!

Caesar is Prime Material for /r/IAmVerySmart

Caesar with a bob was weird. I’m guessing when he moved to Punk Hazard, there was a lack of stylists, so he just grew his hair out. That hair you see right now? That is four years of growth.

At any rate, Caesar was doing something a bit more important back in Vegapunk’s lab. He was debating morality with some other scientists. They begged him to stop his experiment. If it exploded, it would kill everyone on the island. 

Caesar was typically receptive to criticism. “STFU, boneheads! Where do you think you are? This is a Marine research facility. They want to kill as many pirates as the can. What they need is a weapon that will do it for them.”

“But they don’t want one that will also kill civilians!”

Caesar’s rebuttal? “It’s called collateral damage! If we blow away everything, we can bring peace to the world.” (Does he genuinely believe that? That’s a properly depressing view of the world he holds there, if true.)

“You’re so...”

Caesar had a, “I’m gonna stop you right there” moment. They wanted to say he was cruel? What a joke. They were using prisoners as guinea pigs as if they were trash. What was the difference? (Fair point, Caesar.) Moreover, Admiral Sengoku was too soft, but Akainu, if he was in charge, *he* would want a weapon Caesar made. (Also interesting. I hope Caesar never decides to change sides again. He would be dangerous in Akainu’s hands.)

He went off on one about how Vegapunk had failed to turn people into giants again. Caesar knows you can’t turn people into giants in a short period of time unless you use magic, so had suggested Vegapunk just kidnap some kids and feed them drugs until something worked. What a lovely idea, Caesar! xD

The flash forward revealed Caesar’s “William Birkin Moment”.

Just as he made a significant discovery, Marines burst in and cuffed him with sea prism stone. Vegapunk himself came to see off his old colleague. I was ONE HUNDRED PERCENT HYPED for about half a second. But there was no face. 

Blue balled. Again. xD

Caesar was summarily dismissed from the Science Department. “Your eccentric behaviour is intolerable and I cannot protect you anymore, Caesar.”

Interesting that what the rest of the scientists did was viewed as fine and dandy, but Caesar taking it a step further was regarded as “eccentric”. First off, eccentric is a gross understatement. Secondly, what they’re doing is pretty evil too. Caesar is just overtly, unashamedly amoral. They hide it better.

Suffering such a humiliation, Caesar had his “SCREW YOU!” moment and pushed the big red button. Punk Hazard went up in a Mighty Kaboom-Boom Cloud. 

Still wondering how they all survived that, but I will chalk it up to plot and say no more.

Of course, after Caesar’s theatrics, his minions fell over themselves to apologise. Sorry, Master! You are the saviour, after all.

“Thank you... thank you all,” Caesar simpered, while inside he called them unintelligent fools. So easily manipulated. Dumb as bricks.

This guy needs taking down several pegs. Maybe an entire cloakroom rack.

Luffy, please oblige asap.

Caesar tells a rip-roaring, thigh-slapper of a yo momma joke. 

(No one laughed.)

[shazyloren]

Praise The Deity

Summary:  Jon's new neighbour may just be the most sexually active person alive, which would be okay, if he hadn't had four hours sleep in four days hearing it. He's not happy, but there might be something he can do to punish her...

Notes: As you know, I am taking part in a challenge on tumblr by user @jonerysfics and @mhysaofdragons in which for seven days from Valentines day I am uploading a new one shot. The prompts have been provided and the stories have all been written and I gotta say you're in for a lot of Jonerys content.So Day 2, 15th February, which is when I'm uploading this, the prompt I chose was 'Hot Neighbour'. This is the story I came up with a while ago and was on my poll to do i had after the room. But it's hear and... it's hot.I really hope you enjoy, please leave kudos and comments if you do, it will mean the world!

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17798669

---

That’s the fourth fucking man this week and it’s only Wednesday morning , he thinks as he throws the pillow over his head and prays to a deity that it’ll stop sooner rather than later.

He knows it’s useless in praying, he may as well be asking for Dragons to exist or for himself to suddenly be deaf and not have to hear a single thing. He didn’t have a problem with anyone getting their funk on, like do as you please. But his new neighbour was taking the piss.

His older neighbour had died after a particularly bad case of heroin addiction, and it was an awful thing to see them spiral out of control, but at least the man hadn’t been shouting that he was gonna edjaculate all over someone’s face every night.

It infuriated Jon.

People had no class these days, and it was easily shown.

He had only briefly seen the neighbour once, a small blonde girl who looked as if she’d murder anyone who looked at her incorrectly. But clearly he’d misjudged her to be a sex mad lunatic instead, unsure if he’d rather she’d just be a murderer.

‘God you’re so big’

That’s the last straw then, he doesn’t care if she’s in the middle of her greatest orgasm of all time, he was putting his clothes on and he was going over there and giving her a piece of his mind.

Chucking his bed pillow back onto the small and indented bed, careful not to accidently put his scrubs for work on instead, he throws a pair of jogging bottom and a thin grey shirt on in the dark. His eyes roll over the alarm clock.

3:47am.

Unacceptable, he had to be at work in less than two hours and he’d had about four hours of sleep in as many days. It wasn’t good, he’s had more sleep than this when he was on call during his first days at the hospital.

Sliding his feet into his grey slippers and feeling around for the light switch he flipped it and waited for his eyes to get used to the light. As he began to move again, he began walking into the kitchen to get a glass of water first off, he drank the glass in one gulp.

‘Oh god, I’m gonna cum, yes, oh baby’

He hated how thin the walls were, almost like rice paper and definitely more than happy to let him hear the ridiculous noises next door. He’s already complained about it to his brother on the phone, but the response he got was less than helpful and made him shudder to think.

Go join in , that had been his advice.

Jon had not had sex in the best part of two years, his job at the hospital had been his main focus and when he wasn't there, saving people’s lives, he was generally sleeping to catch up with the long hours he was doing. Well, until recently that was.

Right, that’s it, I’m going over.

Jon, with a fervour and resonance inside him, marches over to his front door and unlocks it with haste. As he opens the door, he hears them ‘finish’ for want for a better phrase. Jon slams the door behind him, key in his pocket so he could get back in and turns to face the door next to his. Someone down the hall, pokes their head out of the door, clearly having heard all what’s gone on.

He pulls his hand back and with a seething anger within him, slams his fist down three times on the door, loud and clear.

There’s a yelp and a shuffling behind the door, a prolonged silence follows which gives Jon the chance to calm himself down and remember to remain calm about the situation. Five minutes of sleep is all he’d had, if the woman knew, she’d be reasonable, surely.

The door opens in one long swing and standing there is not the woman he’d seen, but a man of similar height and build to Jon, a beard too. He’s wearing his jeans but not much else and his face is smug as if he knows why Jon is here.

“Can I help you?” The man puffs his chest out, two could play that game.

“Get your shit and get out” Jon snuffs, his anger rising. The man looks disgusted but when Jon glares daggers at him, he holds his hands up and takes a step back. “Go on, get out of here!”

The man scurries then and runs off to somewhere he doesn’t know. There’s a hushed discussion and an incredulous shout but sooner than Jon imagined, the same man came back into the room with his shirt on and darted past Jon out of the door. He watches him leave and then, his attention is drawn elsewhere

“Who the hell are you?” Now all he has to deal with is this fiery blonde he’d only seen once, who had just entered her hallway with a red, silk robe on and nothing else. She was short, but beautiful, and yet she was glaring at Jon like she wanted to take a spoon and scoop his eyeballs out for stepping foot into her home.

“Your neighbour, I think you forgot you had some” He comments offhandedly. “I don’t care if you’re having fun, making money or whatever the hell you’re doing with all these men at all hours in the morning-” He started, her face looking offended at the mere mention of her being a prostitute. “-but I am a nurse at St. Maegor’s Hospital and I have had five minutes of sleep tonight, and thirty the night before, and almost an hour the night before that because of your fucking antics! I have to be up in two hours, reckon you can keep quiet long enough for me to sleep?”

There was almost a flush of embarrassment that swept across her face, but it was only there for the smallest of moments. Jon noticed her eyes were purple, a colour he’d hardly ever saw in people. Her hair was also a really white shade of blonde, almost silvery in appearance.

“Tell me, neighbour, does me having lots of sex make you angry, because you’re not having any?” She asked, stepping closer to him, making him slightly uncomfortable.

This bitch, honestly.

“I’m angry alright, angry that you can’t keep your legs closed at three in the morning” He retorts, his words sizzling on the air. To his surprise she doesn’t yell or curse, she just laughs, a wicked glance in her eye.

“Keeping the legs closed is for boring people, sex is fun” She teased, her eyes assessing him, as if he was meat. Jon did not like that feeling. “You should try it some time”

“I save people, I have a fifteen hour shift tomorrow, I don’t need sex or anything else so trivial, I need sleep” He hammered his point home emphatically yet the power in the conversation shifted. She walked a couple of steps closer to him. “What are you doing?”

“Neighbour, wouldn’t you like to know what you’re missing out on?” She winked for all intents and purposes, Jon couldn’t believe how forward she was being, and he knew that he needed to get out of the apartment or things would get dangerous.

“No I don’t, just keep the noise down” He cut her off, a scathing remark as he left and marched over to her door, pulling it back and storming out of the room. The door closed behind him and he sighed in relief as the cool air blew over his face. Shaking his head from the strange confrontation, he unlocked his own door and stumbled his way through to his bedroom.

I fucking swear to god if she doesn’t let me sleep I’m going over there and gagging her with duct tape .

--

Jon’s shift at work was busy, so much so he didn’t end up getting home until 11pm. When he walked up the outdoor stairs to his floor, he saw the woman he so very much did not want to see, outside her door, looking miserable.

“Waiting for a customer?” Jon chortled.

“Very funny, arsehole” She snapped back to him, wrapping her cardigan around her tighter. “If you must know I’m locked out”

“Can’t say I feel sorry for you” He shrugged and opened his own door. “Let me know if you need water, I’ll be sure to bring it out to you in a dog bowl”

“You know what, Jerk, I’m sorry that you haven’t gotten any sleep because your horny for sex and all, but don’t fucking be a prick! You’re not the only person with a life here, you know?”

Jon didn’t care for anything the woman was saying. When you’ve had six hours sleep in four days you tend to not overly care at all.

Fucking everyone else can be quiet in the early hours in the morning, so you should too.

“You’d know about it, if I was horny for you” Jon smirked before slamming the door on her and throwing his keys into the bowl by the door.

He goes to making dinner and decides on something simple like Stir Fry. He slices peppers and onions and grabs bean sprouts from the tray in the fridge. He creates his own sauce and fries the chicken off first. The smell is incredible, and he’s definitely hungry when he hears his stomach rumble.

He soon realises however, he’s made far too much. Why did my father raise me to be a nice person? He thinks to himself and so, reluctantly, he sees if the woman is still there, waiting for the super to let her in. He opens the door, and she is in fact still there.

“What do you want?” She grumbled, her face a little pale from the cold and her body shaking.

“I was gonna make amends, but I’m not so sure now. I don’t think I should be letting someone freeze to death outside our apartments. Come on, I’m made too much dinner, do you want some?” He asks nicely, trying not to moan about the night before.

“What is it?” She asks.

“Chicken Stir Fry”

Is she going to come in or not?

“Fine, but only because it smells delicious” Jon, showing the women through the door and to his living room, brought her a bowl and poured the remaining into it. He then grabs his own from the kitchen and comes to sit back down with her.

He flicks the TV on.

“Fucking never anything on at this time of night” Jon grumbles.

“Are you serious?” She screws her face up. “Gay Paranormal Historian Truckers is on Channel Five at midnight and it’s the greatest thing since the invention of the wheel”

“What on earth is that show about?” Jon screws his knows up.

“Gay Historians Loras Tyrell and Renly Baratheon hunt ghosts in their large truck. Gay Paranormal Historian Truckers, duh” She shovels food in her mouth and Jon doesn’t know why the events that have occurred have led to this, but he’s annoyed.

Still, he flips over to Channel Five anyways.

‘Jesus, Loras, it’s behind you while you’re driving!’ One guy says to the other. ‘The fucking ghost of Henry VIII!’

‘Tell him we didn’t kill Jane Seymour!’ The other one replies. ‘Tell him we did kill Anne of Cleaves, spiritually, that was his least favourite wife!’

‘Loras we’re gonna drive off the road, ain’t no time for telling fibs!’

Suddenly, the girl next to him was howling with laughter as the two truckers on the screen manage to avoid a huge dip in the road and regain control of the truck.

Jon didn’t understand the appeal of the show, but after a 15 hour shift, he didn't care. It was entertainment nonetheless.

“I just realised I don’t know your name” She says out of the blue.

“Jon” He sighs, not wanting to be known as the jerk neighbour. “I’m surprised I don’t know yours given the thin walls”

“Oh I never give out my real name to strangers. It’s always Katy or Bethany or Sally” She laughed, a half snort which he had to admit was odd coming out of her mouth. “But it’s Daenerys, or Dany for short actually”

“Strange name” He commented.

“Strange gal” She pointed to herself.

“That I will agree on” He nodded.

“Shove off” She cheekily smiled.

What the hell is going on? Jon finds himself thinking. One moment he’s banging on this woman’s door cus she’s shagging loudly the next she’s in his living room and he’s cracking jokes with her.

“I didn’t mean for you to lose sleep” She admitted. “I respect you for having the balls to come over and yell at me”

“Well, I didn’t want to do it, but you left me with no choice” He shrugged. “I’m a senior Nurse, we’re responsible for people’s health. If I make one incorrect diagnosis, or administer the wrong drug, the results are damaging. Sleep means I’m focused”

“And I’m sorry” She puts a hand on his knew so he knows it’s genuine. “I’ve been through a rough patch and well there’s no excuse but I’m not generally like that”

“It’s fine, I don’t need to know. Like I said, I don’t care who you’re sleeping with just, be respectful of your neighbours”

She nodded, there’s a brief silence as they watch the show.

“You’ve been nice to me, maybe you should’ve been the one in my bed instead. Mother would definitely approve of you”

“Pfft, you wish” He jokes.

There’s a small nod between the two of them before they burst into laughter. Jon feels pleased about the outcome of this chat, and he had to admit, the show was quite entertaining in the end. He looked at the clock and saw it read half twelve, he really needed to be going to sleep, so he could be up at 5:30 for work.

“You can stay on the sofa if you want” He offered. “It’ll be too cold now out there”

“Thank you, I appreciate it” She smiled, picking up both bowls and taking them through to the kitchen, he guessed to save him doing it as he was going to the trouble of letting her stay over.

Jon switched the TV off and tidied up a little, a weird feeling on the air as he realised he’d be able to sleep without trouble that night, but also with the girl who had been the source of his troubles a room away. But as he got a blanket out of a cupboard, and placed it on the sofa for her.

It would’ve been fine if she hadn’t mentioned me being in her bed.

“So, there you go” He put his hands in his pockets and fumbled a bit. When she nodded he started to walk away, this uneasy feeling in his chest.

“Jon?” He hears behind her, almost seductive in tone but curious too. Jon curses himself that he turned around in that moment, but he did and she was looking at him like a woman hadn’t in a very long time.

“Yes, Dany?” He’s tired, but he knows what she’s going to ask. And if he’s honest with himself, he wants her too.

“Can I join you?”

There was a moment, where everything that had happened between the two of them in the past twenty four hours was a complete mess, forgotten, remembered, infuriating, calming. And stupidly, or not stupidly, his reply was sure.

“I think that can be arranged”

--

Her panties were still on but he didn’t let that stop him, nosing them out of the way and tonguing her sex, making low, growling noises in his throat like a big cat purring with pleasure while it devoured its prey. She was small, and sensitive and everything his sex drive was missing.

He teased her like there was no tomorrow, he wanted to make her suffer for the things she’d done with the others. He was slow in his licks, teasing in the flicker of his tongue. He wanted her to feel frustration and the overwhelming sensation of being so close to the edge.

He would take it away when she was close, he would hold that power over her. It was the wildness of it that got him going: the primal lust, the sheer needs of two people in heat, quickly finding ways to express their sacred hunger to each other in animal passion.

He was someone who had gone so long, finding the drive deep within and exposing it. She was in the thick of it, feeling no control over her hormones. It didn’t matter to either of them, they both had to do this.

Fuck, she tastes good.

“Mmm” It’s her first loud moan of the night and Jon wonders if his mind is going to have flashbacks, but somehow, hearing the girl come undone from his doing made the sound sweeter. “Yes, Jon, eat it”

A muffled response is what he gave her. “Say please”

This was a problem for them both, he could tell. This was a huge problem, and his assault on her cunt  wasn't about to make it any better. Her mouth was dry, but the words came out clear enough:

“Yes, please, Jon. Eat my pussy.” She opens her legs further, his fingers now holding her underwear to one side so he can fully eat this five course meal in front of him.

His eyes glance upwards and sees her, head back, hands on her breasts, squeezing her nipples tightly. Her skin is so smooth all over her, not just her legs and butt, she was an ongoing miracle of skin and lust and he wanted to bath in her every desire.

“I’m going to make you come so good, naughty neighbour” He growls almost, not recognising his own voice. She responds viscerally by leaning into his hand and mouth, wanting the ending he teased her about.

His tongue doesn’t need to work too much magic, midway through his assault on her cunt, she begins panting heavily and seconds after, gushes all over his mouth and hand. He’s shocked. “Ohhhh”

“Did you just have an orgasm, after hearing me talk about giving you an orgasm?” All she can do is sob in reply and Jon suddenly feels glad that he had the balls to go over to her apartment last night. “I think you just came ’cause I’m fingering your sweet pussy and talking dirty to you – you know why?”

“W-why?” She pants as Jon doesn’t stop, but increases his tempo.

“Because you’re so nuts for this. Aren’t you, baby girl? I can feel that hot little pussy clenching around my tongue every time I move a muscle or say a word – ohhhh, yeah. Yeah, arch your back so I can look at you going nice and tight around my fingers. You gonna do that around my cock?”

The noise that escapes his companions mouth is enough to categorise this night as the best he’s had in months. She’s giving in more, wanting more and he’s ready to give more.

Come for me, Dany.

She did, and it was glorious.

Jon licked as much of it up as he possibly could before the frenzy that was the removal of their remaining clothes. Jon’s cock sprang free and he swore he’d never been harder than the sight of this complicated and feisty woman writhing in ecstasy in front of him.

Seeing her in his bed, lying there breathless, she was the most beautiful creature he’d ever laid eyes upon, and for a moment, he wished he could keep her. But it was just sex, and so he’d make it the best sex the world had ever known.

“Daenerys, I give you permission to be as vocal as you wish from now on, because I am going to blow your mind in a few minutes and I want to hear how much you enjoy the ride.” He taunts her almost, a promise he was determined to keep. “We’ll see how those other men did a bad job  when I’m done”

“I want that” She hisses.

“Excuse me?” Jon’s cock was ready to enter her, his hands pushing her legs wide with authority and strength. She was still teasing her own nipples.

“Yes, please, I would like that” She moans.

“Better” And with that, he pushed his head inside her and went for the first thrust. The sensation was overwhelming, and in some way surreal. Despite her many male partners the past week, she felt tighter than he’d ever imagined. The way he felt inside her, as if he was meant to be inside her.

“Oh, Jon” She sighed, unprepared for the depth and pace he was going to give her. He was going to fuck her with the unchained, debauched craving of a man condemned to die at dawn, or at least one who had to get up early for work.

Jon had experience lust before, he’d had his fair share of uneventful evenings and decided to pick up a girl, he knew what good sex was and how to please a girl, but as he thrusted into this magnificent fair woman underneath him, as he watched her face contort with the throes of pleasure, he didn’t understand lust completely until now.

Jon goes deep inside her, as far as he can, until his stomach is touching hers, her legs spread as far as humanly possible. He slowly pulls out inch by inch and watches as she becomes hungrier to be whole again.

“Very good” He coos as she moans and thrashes beneath him. “You ready?”

She only mumble in reply, a small smirk on his face as he pushes into her with speed and back out again just as fast. For want of a better word, she screams to high hell. “Ohhhhh god!”

Pulling up a leg to sit on his shoulder, he holds it there with one hand, his other, he uses his thumb to circle her clit while he thrusts his hips quicker than ever. She’s slick and wet, oh how wet she actually is.

“You’re a bad girl, making me lose sleep, you know that” He growls with each thrust into her moist cunt. She’s crying in pleasure, tears running down her face. “Tell me, tell me how bad you are, Daenerys”

“So bad, so very bad ohhhh” She moans and groans and each syllable that comes out of her mouth is a motivator to thrust harder. “Punish me, do it Jon”

So, egged on by the girl under him, Jon slaps her pussy while he’s inside her and watches her come undone beneath him. She loves it, she’s a filthy whore for him and they both know it. He wants to fuck her pussy all night, he could do, to punish her for her bad behaviour. He slaps her there again. “Smack those pretty tits for me”

She does as she’s told and suddenly, this primal and controlling part of Jon, who’s hair was starting to get soaked from the heat the two of them were creating, erupted. “Again?” She asks after rubbing the place her titties were now red. “You want me to keep going?”

“Again, you naughty girl” He commands and she does, wincing as she does. The next once she lands, he also slaps her pussy at the same time, making her writhe in painful pleasure once again.

She’s getting wetter and it’s at this moment he knows she’s not lasting long. He lands five sharp slaps on her cunt in a row and watches for her reaction. “You gonna come for me again, neighbour?” She nods desperately. “Do you want to come?” Again she nods. “Of course you want to, you filthy whore”

He is both ecstatic and flabbergasted by how much of a needy, wanton slut he somehow has turned her into, who even after two shuddering orgasms, wants to experience a lot more, who craves another release.

She looks as if she needs to speak to him, but the power of words had once again deserted her. The pleasure was climbing, spiralling high and fast, taking them both by storm. Unable to hold back, he leaned forward and hands slipped to her tits. She clutched at him and he at her; sensation gathered there, in the very centre of her body and on his dick, the place he possessed so fully. Had she surrendered? He wondered as she screams louder and louder.

He watched as she closed her eyes and flung her head back. Release was close for them both. He could feel it coming, shivering throughout her body as she begins to tighten around him. He feels himself losing control as she shivers around his cock, gushing as she did. He kissed the arch of her throat.

"Dany" he said, his tone almost raw. "Oh gods, Dany"

Her nails bit into his shoulders as he pushed up into her for the last few thrusts. The walls of her channel contracted around him again, again and again and again, sending spasms of release hurtling through them both.

“Fuck” She whispers, as he creams inside her and they lay there in what was now the aftermath of their crazy sex.

He doesn’t move for a while, a bold and disgusting thought of making sure his swimmers punish her for the time she kept him awake passing through like a fleeting memory. He pulls out and instantly they both ache for one another again. His seed leaks out of her yet she is so immobile, frozen with sweat and disbelief at the orgasm they both had.

“So” He starts. “Are you gonna keep me awake again?”

“No, Sir” She sighs all flustered.

“Sir?” He grimaced slightly. “You make me feel old”

“Shut up, idiot” She gently smacked his arm, her chest rising and falling. She turns on her side, his cums still glistening in her cunt. “So” She then mimics him. “Round two?”

Well shit.

[mpmwrites]

Shielded

Oh, what's that? I've never even tried to play a Dragon Age Game? Well, I blame Starkholic and Distractionpie for this WHOLE thing. Major Beta/advice kudos to Starkholic for their help with me blindly throwing stones in the Dragon Age Universe.

Context for this: Gavin is the (reluctant) inquisitor, and Hank is Blackwall.

I do apologize for anything that's really inaccurate, I really was taking a shot in the dark on most of this, so please enjoy, and feel free to offer suggestions!

"Oh fuck." Gavin groaned quietly, his hand coming to his side by impulse, though it wasn't going to do anything to stop the blood. Behind him, Hank was yelling at him for interfering with his shot, not realizing that Gavin had blocked an incoming one. His fingertips grazed the arrow shaft, and his first thought was that the asshole should've aimed higher, shooting someone in the gut wasn’t guaranteeing a victory.

But it hurt. God, did it hurt. Waves of blinding heat and pain radiated across Gavin's body as Hank pushed past him, and the two steps he took out of Hank's way made pain shoot down across his hip and leg. So he wasn't going to be running anywhere anytime soon, close combat wasn't an option, and if he waited much longer it was unlikely he'd be standing at all. Loathe as he was to admit it, he wasn't going to be useful without Connor's aid.

"Connor!" He barked, keeping his eyes on Hank as he let himself down on the ground. In the moment before Connor was next to him, Gavin watched Hank's face fall and distraction lend him to taking a blunt hit to the shoulder. "Pay fucking attention, Hank!" Gavin scowled at him as Connor pushed his hands away and tore at the punctured fabric of his shirt.

"This is going to hurt." Connor stated as he yanked the arrow out of the fleshier part of Gavin's waist. Gavin screamed.

"You're supposed to say that as a warning!" He yelped as he panted away the renewed pain. Hank lurched away from the onslaught,

"Fuck, Gav, are you--"

"And then you tense up and it hurts more. Stop complaining." Connor spoke over Hank's concern. Gavin watched Hank's back as he swung his sword in a broad arc, taking out another of the few remaining darkspawn. As he extracted his blood-washed sword from the fallen's chest, another came at his side unexpectedly.

It felt like time slowed. Gavin pulled a dagger from one of the sheaths along his thigh and hurled it at the creature's head, puncturing the side of their neck before they could land their claws on Hank. "Oh shit. That worked." Gavin mused, surprised at his own skill.

"Stay still, Inquisitor." Connor said, more irritation in his voice that Gavin was used to. He and Connor may not have been on the friendliest of terms, but Connor had also always been fairly reserved around Gavin, no 'bedside manner' to be shown.

"Oh fuck off. You wanna be trying to save Hank when they rip the damn flesh off of his skull? And don't call me that." He grit out. He wasn't about to admit that Connor was right if only because the move had probably interrupted the spell and made the pain worse to boot.

Over Connor's shoulder, Nines speared the last of the darkspawn on a shard of ice, still retaining his ever present placid composure. "Is he going to be alright?" He mused, stepping close to where Connor crouched over Gavin with his bare palms laid on Gavin's tanned skin.

"He'll be fine, assuming he doesn't make any poorly-judged moves like that again. Hank has a shield, Gavin."

"I don’t understand." Nines mused, looking over to the slain troupe of bodies.

"Connor, do not." Gavin scowled. Connor rolled his eyes,

"He took an arrow that was aimed at Hank." He breathed at his brother, shooting an unimpressed look over his shoulder.

"Foolish." was all Nines said, even as Connor sat back on his haunches. Gavin looked to where he'd been impaled, running fingers over the smear of dried blood.

"Thank you." He offered begrudgingly to Connor as he pushed himself to his feet. He tugged at his shirt to cover the exposed skin and moved slowly over to where his dagger still stuck out of the darkspawn's neck and pulled it out, wiping blood off on his cloak and placing it back in its sheath.

They moved into the forest to camp for the night, though the sun had barely began its descent from the sky. Gavin sat at Hank's side as the brothers made off to find something to eat, kindling the fire.

"Are you okay?" Hank spoke, using some scrap leather to clean off his broadsword with water. Not the best care, but better than leaving it caked with flesh.

"Connor says I will be." He didn't look at Hank. They sat for a long moment of tense silence.

"What the fuck were you thinking?" When Hank spoke up, his voice was tinted with anger. Gavin could feel his steely gaze, sharp as the weapon spanning his lap.

"I fucking wasn't, okay? They both already told me how stupid I was, I don't really wanna hear it from you too." Gavin snapped back. He felt exhaustion wearing on him and Hank's abrasiveness wasn't calming him any. He wanted to sleep, and not on the damn ground in a forest, but he didn't have a whole lot of choice. There was no way of making it back to civilization tonight with him still recovering. "I'm fine, just drop it."

"I'm not going to drop it, Gav." Hank sighed, "You saw a fucking arrow aimed at me and jumped in front of it, that's not something I can just pretend didn't happen."

"You really don't need to phrase it like that." Gavin put his forehead into his palms, trying to rub the tiredness away. "It was impulsive. Next time I'll let it hit you then." He said, shrugging vaguely.

"I don't need you to protect me."

"Fuck, I know you don't." Gavin groaned. "But I don't need to see you get hurt." he added as an afterthought. He regretted it the moment he said it, and sat up straighter, picking up pebbles and tossing them into the campfire. "Just, fucking, leave it be, Hank. I don't want to talk about it."

"Listen, Gav, we've been through a lot of shit, fuck if I don't know that, but I don't care if you don't want to talk about it. Better now than when we've got them pretending not to listen." Hank sheathed his weapon and laid it to the side, propped over his shield. "You tried to banish me, and next time I hear from you, you need me and Connor to escort you to the next city over."

"I didn't--" Gavin groaned in frustration, "I didn't want you banished. I couldn't make the fucking choice. Because I knew that I didn't have any options that I wanted to pick! I fucking-- I was so fucking angry for what you did! I wanted you to hurt the way you made me hurt, but I knew I couldn't make myself go through with it. I never wanted any of this shit laid on me, but you used me!" He made to stand, but was hit with a pang of dizziness and swayed on his feet.

"Gav, you need to sit down and rest." Hank reasoned.

"No, you wanted to talk, so here we are, fucking talking!" Gavin's voice raised as he steadied himself. "I wanted to pardon you, you asshole, but you didn't deserve it. And then I said to get you away and they took that as far fucking away, and shit, I didn't have the balls to say otherwise! This whole trip was an excuse to see you!"

Hank looked up at Gavin, appraising him for a long moment. “If you get yourself killed, you won’t be seeing anything.” He offered quietly, though he couldn’t manage any more anger at Gavin’s confession. “What if I had just fucking left?” He posed, “What if your courier never found me? Seems a shit plan if you ask me.”

“I told her not to come back until she did.” Gavin shrugged, “Tina understood all of it, and if I’m honest she probably understood it better than I did then.” Gavin crosses his arms, watching the flames instead of Hank. “I would have fucking waited until she did. You were... worth it.” His voice was sullen.

“I don’t know about that.” Hank sighed. “But you could have died for me today so I guess I can’t argue with it.” He watched Gavin and noticed that the sun was finally casting gold shadows through the forest canopy. Connor and Nines would be back soon. Gavin finally sat back down, blinking away the lightheaded was as he plopped down clumsily. “I guess the only thing I can say is thank you.” Hank admitted quietly.

“You’re fucking welcome.” Gavin resigned, moving close enough to lean against Hank’s side. He already knew his excuse if any of his traveling companions thought to  question the physical affection: he was feeling weak and didn’t want to lay down before they ate.

It was unnecessary though; after a long moment Hank’s arm braced around his waist supportively as Gavin let his eyes fall closed.

“Don’t pass out.” Hank soothed, and Gavin thought his voice might have been closer than he remembered.

“I’m fine.” He promised, blinking alert again. He lifted his head slowly, “Just worn out.” He mused. He made to sit himself up straighter, though no further away from Hank. Hank brought his other hand up to pull Gavin’s chin toward his own. They locked eyes for a moment, trying to read each other, and  then Gavin closed the distance. They kissed in the quiet twilight of an unnamed forest as Connor and Nines’ footsteps neared, and didn’t part until Connor cleared his throat in an attempt at tact.

Hank smiled at Gavin, who looked more worn than ever, before looking up at the pair of mages.

“Anything good?”

“Rabbit.” Nines spoke, crouching down to dress the game that he held before laying it beside the fire.

[smorgasbordofobsessions]

liveblog: merlin s106

ugh, insects

UGH GOD NO. literally squirming right now ugh i could not

“i’ll be at the Inn” ah yes. the inn, the only one to exist

i love when the villains come to camelot to see their handiwork 

gaius is type suspicious

edwin out here casting doubt on gaius, damn good plan

gaius is SUSPICIOUS okay

uther cares about morgan, okay!!!

gaius is SUSPICIOUS

arthur chilling in the background

“...fear the past may have come back to haunt us” -gaius

gaius telling the entire plot of season one

merlin being a snoop snoop

since when could merlin read Norse runes?

“ah yes the beetle (that i put in morgana to put her like in danger) can save people’s lives”

honestly i kind of wish that merlin had more people around him that encouraged his magic. gaius did, yes, to a degree. gaius taught merlin to use his his magic for good and not for wishy washy shit but, i feel like, because of his history with uther especially, he made sure to teach merlin a heavy amount of caution. which is fine!! but yeah, i wish that there were more people who encouraged merln to practice his magic so he had more control over it.

oh gaius was complicit in letting sorcerers die during the purge

(the record keeper’s brows are... something else)

“age can be a terrible curse”

edwin has uther’s ear good job

it is so smart to get the ear of uther, good on you, edwin

gaius going to the dragon!

“how old man can become and change so little” -great dragon

“then turn a blind eye. that is, after all, your talent.” -great dragon

damn what a third degree burn

edwin was definitely one of the smartest villains so far

nimueh was up there but she didn’t play her cards right i don’t think

but kudos on wanting to create a war

maybe she was too ambitious? wanting to start a war and kill merlin at the same time

gaius and merlin have such a GREAT relationship

“you’re like a son to me. i never expected a blessing so late in life”

“you’re more than a father to me”

EMOTIONS!!

“my gifts mean nothing without you to guide me” -merlin

merlin, the manservant, talking to arthur, the crown prince and heir, as if they’re equals

“in life you always have a choice. sometimes it’s easier to think you don’t” -gwen

gwen is great because she accepts gaius leaving even though she disagrees with the cause and his reasons

“with your death, magic will return to camelot”

and if that is not the entire arthurian legend summed up

i love the slowmo drama in this show

gotta save uther with magic what a pickle

gaius and merlin’s relationship <3

“i was not right to betray you. i’m sorry” -uther

i need to write a dissertation on uther pendragon what a great character

gaius is a free man!!

also, i WILL write some sort of character analysis/meta on uther pendragon because he IS such an interesting character to me