#he's not even actually a dragon in that fic but the number of people whose bookmark tags for it are

[discordiansamba]

I don't need to make an AU where Zuko turns into a dragon or is a dragon bc in all aspects but physical, that's just heart of a dragon.

[thelordofgifs]

very excited for the next tfs arc, hopefully maglor has time to recover from his many wounds in time to get more pincushion-ed. I love how maglor has the most and least plot armour simultaneously. Any pointed objects in a metre radius spontaneously attack him but he will. not. die. He persists.

Also, very funny that curufin is lost. You don't know where he is, he might not know where he is! He could be anywhere. He could be in your house! He could be in my house! If i see him i will let you know!

where did most of the feanorian soldiers go? If any of them are still loyal i imagine they could be useful later.

Anyway I'm looking forward to the return of everyone's favourite feral woodland princess!

Is thingol's fate going to change in this fic? The feanorions have even less political clout than they did in the silm so he's probably not going to be negotiated with without a really good argument. Without Celegorm and with Curufin missing/not going to do any more arguing and the lack of forces for them to use I don't know how a second kinslaying could happen but I am excited to find out!!

lol I think I���m going to give Maglor a little break from the pincushioning – he has Been Through It lately and now deserves a nice long rest in which to recover and get many hugs from Maedhros and prepare for his next character arc!

WHERE IS CURUFIN. WE DO NOT KNOW. tbh if he’s in anyone’s house it would be yours – he knows how much you love him!! Although I am now dying to see a giant wanted poster for Curufin. Or not even wanted in the criminal sense but more like a lost dog poster. Maedhros and Maglor can stick them up all over Hithlum like hi have you seen our lil brother he’s the absolute worst but we’d like to know where he is

Ok so I actually went down a rabbit hole here thinking about numbers. According to random websites whose sources I have not thoroughly checked, the average fatality rate in a medieval battle would have been about 10-15%, going up to maybe 25% for really bad ones. (Sadly the small sibling is away at university now so my usual source of military facts has disappeared.) Since the Nirnaeth was probably THE worst military defeat in the legendarium, and it involved Balrogs and dragons, we could put an upper limit of like 30% on fatality rates on the battles of Beleriand? Although Barahir somehow managed to get his entire fighting army presumably numbering at least a thousand down to thirteen guys so maybe that’s an underestimate! Also most fatalities taken by the losing side are apparently during the retreat, not the battle itself; and since Maglor managed to draw off the orc armies during the fall of Himring, let’s say that Maedhros lost… 15% of his people in the fight. So definitely a pretty bad defeat, but not awful. Then of the remaining 85%, let’s say 75% went south to Amon Ereb and the last 10% have decided to join up with Fingon instead. But Maedhros has explicitly renounced his command of them, so that lot aren’t really Fëanorian soldiers any more. Meanwhile Caranthir and Amras just received a LOT of reinforcements, not to mention some extremely confusing news about what’s been going on.

Anyway yessss I am SO excited to have our feral woodland princess back and causing trouble!! More than one person in the notes was wondering if she’d show up and stop either the execution or the fall of Himring as a whole and I felt really sad about not being able to do that, but the timelines just don’t work out. But she’s going to have Stuff to do (some of which I know about and some of it I only have very vague ideas about).

Ok so Thingol… I really need to do some thinking about him. What I can tell you is that the fall of Nargothrond, Húrin bringing the Nauglamír to Doriath, and the subsequent death via entirely preventable racism thing is not going to go down the same way in tfs as it does in canon (which isn’t to say none of those things will happen – but if they do happen, they’ll happen differently). So his fate is going to be different, but that doesn’t mean he’s going make it out okay necessarily! My instinct is to just make a bunch of people have conversations and see what conclusions they come to. The AU is going to get into some very uncharted territory soon, and I will absolutely be making everything up as I go.

Thank you for the ask ❤️❤️❤️

[unknown-lifeform]

Please… please I would love to hear about your ygo gx thoughts bc I’ve missed hearing about that show…

GX was so good so fucking good, it's my favorite out of the ygo spinoffs that I've watched (5d's and ArcV), it's got so many good characters and it even has a good and satisfying ending, I'm about to be so incoherent in these ramblings

Judai is a great character, he's not my favorite character out of the show but I still love him. Good boy who was so hopeful and friendly (to hide all the trauma) and then ended up having more horrific trauma and having to relearn how to be hopeful and friendly (but in a more genuine way, not simply repressing things as he used to). 10/10 would hug

With my fave being Yubel which you might guess. They were the og problematic fave. I remember being 10 and watching this dragon ruining things for everyone else like hm. I think this may awake a lot of things in me. And I watched the dub as a kid, where they are depicted as a woman, then I found out they are genderqueer in the original version and I was like even more in love. They just have all the things I love. Queer. Dramatic. Obsessive evil bastard. Mental health issue. Dragon.

And there's so many other quality characters. Steve Irwin with a whole crocodile and a magic eye whose powers are never actually elaborated upon at any point. Burned out former straight A student who did what everyone in academia eventually wishes aka become a BDSM emo and start electrocuting people. A dude who is also a dinosaur through a plot twist even Jurassic Park would never dream of. This show was throwing all the wildest concepts at us and it was fucking beautiful

But like. The thing is. Yes the character concepts were wild. Yes you had to employ a lot of suspension of disbelief at times even for a ygo show. But the character development was also so so good? And not just for the main character and maybe one or two other guys, but so many got their development! Manjoume, Shou and Kaiser, Asuka, they all got their season four spotlight to see their new goals, and even side characters like O'Brian got their small moments. Seeing them all go their ways was so beautiful

Ships are also damn good. Judai/Yubel/Johan polycule is very good. Also I can't get over the fact that this gay throuple is technically kind of canon in a very fucked up way. Most of the couples ygo wants you to ship are the hint hint nudge nudge flavor of straight shonen couples that never gets too explicit, but then GX season 3 gives you love triangle between two guys and one's guy genderqueer jealous ex who is also a dragon. Insane

Other good ships: Judai/Manjoume (hell yeah rivals), Edo/Kaiser (hell YEAH rivals), O'Brian/Jim (hunk boyfriends), Jim/Kenzan (fossil boyfriends), actually can we go for the ultimate muscle and ship O'Brian/Jim/Kenzan? But yes lots of shipping potential

Anyways it's kind of annoying there isn't a lot for GX on ao3, or at least there wasn't last I checked. There is so much fic potential. Maybe ffnet might have more, it usually does for old fandoms, but ffnet's interface frustrates me. Plus the fact that GX was kind of badly received, what with being the first spinoff, might have just cut out the number of fanworks even later on

It really is a pity tho that GX was unpopular at first. It's a really good series, it's almost a bit too goofy at first but the change in tone in later seasons is great, plus fitting too considering that it is a kind of coming age thing, all these high schoolers starting out full of hope and naivety and then getting trauma for it. The fact that it's also the only spinoff that has strong ties to DM gives it so much potential. I mean, does Manjoume's family have any particular ties to Kaiba corp? Which and how many of the GX kids would one day meet Yugi, or the rest of the DM gang? What if Judai on his travels ends up meeting people like the Ishtars? For that matter, did the Ishtars know about the multiple dimensions or the Supreme King? Because if anyone from DM was going to be aware of all the things we discover in GX, it would have been them

What if Seto Kaiba and Hell Kaiser got in a fist fight what then

I just love GX so much

[thrillingdetectivetales]

Author Interview

I was tagged by the lovely @ianandmickeygallavich1​ 

(Throwing a read more in here because this bitch got LONG!)

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

I have 136 works across 45 fandoms, just to give you an idea of what a shameless fandom hopping multishipper I actually am.

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

My total WC is 676,938.

3. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

By a Thread, By a String, By a Rope The Magnificent Seven (2016), WIP, Kudos: 987

Matinee Suits, 5125 words, Kudos: 947

Careful Application of External Pressure Grimm, WIP, Kudos: 876

This Night Ain’t for the Holy Man The Magnificent Seven (2016), 5578 words, Kudos: 875

Catch It Like a Butterfly Leverage, 1497 words, Kudos: 658

4. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I try really hard to respond to every comment, but sometimes they pile up and the anxiety of seeing the number gets to me and I just mark them all read and start over with a clean slate. So, apologies if I skipped you. I promise it was nothing personal, just me trying to practice some fumbling self-care.

5. What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

Probably Curtain Call, which is a Roy Harper-centric DCU fic exploring his feelings in the aftermath of the 2015 Red Hood/Arsenal run.

6. What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

Pretty much all my fic have happy endings, so I’m not sure which one is the happiest. I feel like that’s a subjective question, haha.

7. Do you write crossovers? If so, what is the craziest one you’ve written?

I do write crossovers! I love crossovers and crack fic premises and wild “okay but just go with me here” scenarios, haha. They’re the most fun to figure out, imo. The craziest one I’ve ever written is probably the Shameless-meets-Ducktales crossover I did for Tumblr Jukebox a little while back, though the one I picked up as a pinch hit for the Crossworks Fandom Exchange just last month, crossing over Brooklyn Nine-Nine with Dragon Age: Inquisition is definitely a contender for that spot.

8. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

I received a couple of snide comments on a Matt/Foggy Daredevil fic I did under a different name back when I was in college, but that’s about it.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I do! I don’t think I’m particularly bad at it, though I do find it very difficult. I’m not sure what the “what kind” question is asking, exactly, but I actually do a smut writing challenge called Monday, Slutty Monday that includes a list of kinks I’m willing to write. You can give it a gander here, if you’re curious.

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

No, though I have had someone ask if they could use the concept of the lover’s noose from By a Thread, By a String, By a Rope for their original works. I said no, largely because it’s a concept I intend to use in my own original works, though I welcome transformative, not-for-profit works to remix or reimagine or play in any of my sandboxes.

11. Have you ever had a fic translated?

I have! I was lucky enough to have Doomed to Play, a Magnificent Seven werewolf/vampire AU, translated into Russian several years back!

12. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I have not! I am extremely interested, though, as I’m a huge fan of old-school, forum-style roleplaying and I really, really love collaborating on projects, so if you’re interested, please feel free to reach out to me and ask! I can’t promise anything, because I’m lucky enough to live a very full and busy life, but who knows!

13. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

I am not really sure that I have an all-time favorite ship. I have a few oldies but goodies that I revisit pretty regularly, including Harry/Draco, which was baby’s first ship, and Fraser/Kowalski of Due South fame, but I don’t think I’ve ever had a true OTP.

14. What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

God, so many of them, haha. I’m terrible about finishing WIPs because I have a very short attention span, but I’m not fully willing to write any of them off because I do periodically poke at the GDocs for a lot of them, even if they haven’t been updated in years. The only one I truly don’t foresee finishing is So Let Us Not Be Lonesome, which is a Magnificent Seven ghost/medium AU, and the only reason I don’t foresee finishing it is because I hope to one day revisit it as an original work.

15. What are your writing strengths?

I’m pretty routinely cheered in comments for writing true-to-character dialogue, really lush sensory descriptions, and tempting food descriptions, so I’ll go with those.

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

I tend to overwrite and I really fucking love adverbs, haha. I was a big reader of doorstopper fantasy in my youth, which tend to be really, really purple in their prose, so I lean in that direction. I have a lot of betas whose opinions I trust tell me I go too purple quite often, but I love my descriptive language so I’m not sure it’s a weakness I’ll ever overcome. Let’s call it a stylistic choice, for now, haha.

17. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I do it all the time, and I really enjoy it in other folks’ fic, so long as the dialogue is something that a non-speaker can still understand from context. I think I probably wasn’t great with that when I first started writing Spanish-speaking characters into my fic, but I like to think I’ve gotten a better handle on it since then.

18. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

I think it was honestly Ronin Warriors, an anime that used be on Cartoon Network’s Toonami block way back in the day. I had a lengthy and involved Mary Sue self-insert fic that got be like, a few hundred pages long, though it never saw the light of day.

19. What’s a fandom/ship you haven’t written for yet but want to?

The two currently at the top of my list are Ted Lasso and 9-1-1, though I can hardly watch a piece of media these days without seeing something in it I want to explore that the creators didn’t have the time or inclination to explore, or that didn’t fit their narrative.

20. What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

Oh, this is so hard! I honestly don’t know. I don’t tend to go back and re-read my own fic too terribly often, so I’m really not sure, but I will say that one of the ones I think is underrated is The Lady and the Knife, which is a Luther/BBC Sherlock fic that came about because I got tired of Sherlock stans claiming his behavior should be forgiven because he was a high-functioning sociopath and thought it would be fun to see what happened if he ever crossed paths with someone who was actually a high-functioning sociopath and not just a dick. (Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoyed the early BBC Sherlock and some of the fic is chefkissingfingers.gif, I just really hate it when people require their characters to be morally upright at all times. Let them be villains! Let them be dicks! Don’t apologize for finding that interesting!)

I am tagging @thesummoningdark, @blahblahblahclintnickiscanon, @townhulls, @ksansart @rubinecorvus @persipneiwrites @irolltwenties and anyone else who feels like participating! I have a lot of mutuals who write fic and I’m really bad at remembering everyone’s various handles, so please, if you want to participate but I didn’t tag you, go ahead and do it and @ my ass anyway!

Luh ya bbs.

[beybladefanfictions]

L-Drago’s Return - Chapter 1

(Description: Sequel to Ryuga's Return. Read that first or you're going to be extremely confused. Five months have passed since L-Drago’s disappearance and Ryuga has gotten used to his new life without his Beyblade. However, he discovers that there might be a way to get L-Drago back after all…)

(Thank you to Wattpad User *insert name here* for giving me many of the ideas for this fic. It wouldn't have been possible without them. Go check out their Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryugasama20/)

Ryuga's POV

“Oh, too bad.” Kenta placed a familiar card on the floor. “Two new cards for you, Ryuga.” He cast a glance at his friend, smirking triumphantly.

Ryuga glared at him. “Why you little…”

Beside him, Madoka and Gingka giggled, hiding their own cards behind their hands. Ryuga let out a sigh, drawing two new cards. That made five total. With his turn skipped over, it was Madoka’s turn.

“Oh, what do you know?” She placed her final card down on top of the pile. “I win again!”

Kenta and Gingka groaned in unison. Madoka just chuckled and stood up, going to grab her laptop from nearby.

“You always win,” Gingka muttered, shuffling his hand of cards.

“Either her or Kenta,” Ryuga added, rolling his eyes.

Kenta chuckled into his hand. “It’s not our fault we’re so good.”

“Play for second place?” Gingka asked, casting a glance at Ryuga and Kenta.

“Sure.” Kenta nodded.

Madoka sat back on the floor with the rest of them, gazing at her laptop. Her attention seemed to be fixed on it all day. Ryuga gazed at everyone's cards. Gingka had about a dozen, Kenta had three cards, and Ryuga himself had five cards. He gazed at his deck, smiling. Gingka and Kenta played two normal cards, keeping the colour green. *Perfect for my plan.* Ryuga placed a reverse card down.

“Your turn again,” he nodded to Kenta.

“Uh… thanks, Ryuga.” Kenta put down a yellow card, the same number as the past card.

“Uno!” Kenta and Gingka shouted in unison.

“Ha! You draw six!” Gingka exclaimed, pointing at Kenta accusingly.

“No!” Kenta snapped back. “We said it at the exact same time! That doesn’t count.”

“I agree,” Madoka replied with a nod. “Carry on as normal.”

“Humph." Gingka placed another card down on the pile.

Ryuga smirked, “Activate trap card.” He placed a ‘plus four’ card down on top of the pile.

Kenta let out a gasp. “How could you use my own catchphrase against me?!” he exclaimed, placing his hand on his forehead.

“It’s not even your catchphrase,” Gingka chuckled as Kenta drew his cards.

“Whose catchphrase is it?” Madoka asked, tilting her head to the side.

Ryuga, Gingka, and Kenta all glanced at her then turned to each other with wide eyes. Gingka smiled and shrugged.

“What colour?” he asked, glancing at Ryuga.

Ryuga glanced at his cards. “Red.”

Kenta let out a groan, sinking to the ground. “Dangit! That’s the one colour I don’t have!”

“I’d say ‘sorry,’ but I’m not,” Ryuga smirked as he spoke. “You had that coming.”

Kenta sat up, glaring at him. “Oh, I am so getting back at you!”

Ryuga just smiled. Uno was like Beyblade in a way: you showed no mercy, even to your friends. The three of them continued the game for a while before Ryuga placed his final card on the pile.

“Dangit,” Kenta grunted, glaring at the ground.

“Well, at least I beat you two,” Ryuga replied with a shrug.

“Yeah, yeah.” Gingka turned to Kenta. “Well, Kenta, looks like it’s just us. Wanna keep going?”

Kenta had a dangerous look on his face. His smirk was wider than a valley and he was struggling to hold back his giggles.

“Kenta, wha-”

Kenta slapped a card onto the pile. “Skip your turn!” He began slamming more cards down on the ground in rapid succession. “Skip again, skip, reverse to me, oh, draw two cards. UNO!” He held up his final card in two fingers. “DRAW! MONSTER CARD!” He slammed the final card onto the pile: a seven.

Gingka was shivering, staring at Kenta with eyes the size of dinner plates.

“Wha- what just happened?” Madoka asked, her wide eyes fixed on the scene.

Ryuga snorted with laughter. “Good job getting destroyed, Gingka.”

“Ah- ah-” Gingka’s eye twitched. He shook his head clear, shivering as he swept the cards into a stack. “I think that’s enough Uno for today,” he replied with a nervous chuckle.

“What's next for game night?” Kenta asked, his gaze shifting between the others.

Gingka looked through his stack of games. “Well, I brought Jenga, Chutes and Ladders, Monopoly…"

“Monopoly?! Kenta gasped, shuddering. “Why would you bring Monopoly?"

“Yeah, that sounds dangerous,” Madoka muttered, her eyes glued to her laptop screen.

Ryuga tilted his head to the side. “What's wrong with Monopoly?"

“That game is the worst," Kenta answered, his eyes narrowed at the game box. “I'm pretty sure people have killed each other over it.”

“Humans kill each other over everything,” Ryuga replied, rolling his eyes.

“Ha! True,” Madoka remarked, still not looking up from her screen.

“Hey, what's got you so interested in your laptop today?” Kenta asked, scooting toward her.

“Oh, uh…” Madoka pulled her laptop into her chest. “I've just been researching something. You guys might be interested, especially you, Ryuga.”

Ryuga bit his lip. *Why am I getting singled out?*

“What is it?” he asked.

“Yeah, show us.” Gingka scooted closer.

Madoka placed the screen on the ground where they could all see it. Kenta and Gingka leaned forward. Ryuga looked over Kenta’s small head to see the screen. On Madoka’s screen, was a symbol in the shape of a dragon’s head, an Asian dragon by the look of it. It looked a bit like L-Drago.

“It’s the symbol of an ancient civilization called the ‘Dragon Clan,’” Madoka explained, gesturing to the image.

“Dragon Clan?” Kenta and Gingka both turned to Ryuga.

“Yeah, that’s why the name caught my eye,” Madoka replied, scrolling down the page.

“Is this ‘Dragon Clan’ where you’re from Ryuga?” Gingka asked, tilting his head to the side.

“Ancient civilization,” Ryuga emphasized Madoka’s words, rolling his eyes. “I’m seventeen, not five thousand.”

Kenta smirked. “Could've fooled me.”

Ryuga lightly pushed Kenta over, who just giggled.

“Actually, Ryuga,” Madoka cut in sternly. “It's possible you could be a descendant of this Dragon Clan.” She pointed at her screen. “It says here that they specialized in dragon-type beys.”

“So?" Ryuga raised an eyebrow.

“Well, there are only a few Dragon beys,” Gingka cut in. He rested his finger on his chin. “L-Drago, Omega Dragonis, and the Jet Black Dragon, which the WBBA made.”

“Omega Dragonis?” Ryuga and Kenta asked in unison.

“Oh, that's Ryuto’s bey,” Gingka answered, “We met him on Mist Mountain.”

“Right! Ryuto! He looked a lot like you, Ryuga. It’s possible you’re both descendants of this ancient clan.” Madoka’s eyes were glowing. “That’s so cool!”

Ryuga shrugged. “It’s possible, I guess.”

“Still not convinced? Their leader was called a Dragon Emperor.”

“WHAT?!” Everyone gasped in unison.

Ryuga stiffened. *You are the Dragon Emperor, Ryuga.* Doji’s words echoed in his mind, making him shiver. *The Dragon Emperor is the only one who can control the forbidden bey, L-Drago.* Ryuga’s heart pounded a million kilometres an hour. He grunted, shaking his head in a vain attempt to escape his memories.

“All this time, I thought he made it up…” Ryuga murmured, struggling to keep his voice from trembling. “That must be why he sought me out. He knew somehow.”

*Doji never would have been able to use me to get to L-Drago if I weren’t the descendant of some ancient clan?! Is that what I’m hearing?!*

“What are you talking about?” Madoka asked, tilting her head to the side.

Gingka looked away, his eyes narrowed. “Doji…”

Ryuga stiffened. “I don't care about my past!” he snapped, glaring at his friends. “Madoka, why did you bring this up?!”

“You mean you don't see the connection?” Madoka asked, seemingly unfazed by his outburst. “Dragon Clan? L-Drago? They could be the original creators of L-Drago. They definitely had it at one point and it’s rumoured here that they may have created a backup of it.”

Ryuga’s eyes widened. “A backup of L-Drago?”

Over the past few months, Ryuga had grown accustomed to his life without L-Drago, and his longing for his bey had finally started to ease. Now, with those words, it came back like a boomerang to the heart. This was hope, genuine hope, that L-Drago could return after all, and Ryuga could return to his old life.

“Then you could get it back!” Kenta gasped, somehow speaking Ryuga’s thoughts aloud.

“It wouldn’t be exactly the same,” Madoka explained, casting a glance at Gingka. “It would probably be like how Gingka got Galaxy Pegasus.”

*So it would be the same in spirit, just built differently?!* Excitement continued to grow in his heart.

“Where can we find this ‘backup for L-Drago’?” Ryuga asked.

“I’m not sure,” Madoka admitted, gazing at her screen. “The Dragon Clan lived in very remote locations, far from civilization. I could do some digging, but it might take a while.”

“Please do!” Gingka cut in, putting an arm around Ryuga. “I want another chance to battle Ryuga!” Ryuga pushed Gingka off.

“Me too!” Kenta added, gazing at Ryuga with a determined smile. “We have a score to settle now!”

Ryuga couldn’t help but smile as well. *I could get back at him for the loss I suffered when I had the Jet Black Dragon!*

“Guys, don’t get your hopes up!” Madoka insisted, “It’s not for sure yet! I don’t know if I can even find any ruins of this city or if this backup for sure exists. It could just be a rumour.”

“Then let me know if you find anything,” Ryuga replied, dipping his head.

“I’ll do my best,” Madoka assured him.

There was a loud ringing sound out of nowhere. Gingka glanced at his phone.

“Oh, uh, my dad wants me home,” he informed, pulling the games he brought into a stack.

“Guess that’s the end of game night then…” Madoka replied, standing up.

“Same time next week?" Kenta gazed at the others with a hopeful smile.

“Yes!" Gingka exclaimed, nodding eagerly.

“Sure,” Madoka replied, dipping her head. The three of them gazed at Ryuga expectantly.

He shrugged. “Okay.”

“Great!” Kenta beamed. “Let’s go home! I bet dinner's ready by now.”

Ryuga dipped his head, following Gingka and Kenta out of the shop. Gingka however split from them quickly. *A new L-Drago?!* Ryuga couldn’t get the idea out of his mind. He thought he had accepted months ago that he couldn’t get L-Drago back. It seemed so final and impossible. Now, however, there was a real chance he could get it back. The void Beyblade had left behind in his life, while of course not fully gone, had begun to shrink. He enjoyed his new life, including his new home and friends. However, one thing constantly plagued his mind: *I've gone soft.* Ryuga didn't need friends or a place to stay in his old life, he was able to survive on his own. Not to mention, he had been the strongest blader.

Ryuga longed to prove that he was still as tough as he once was but he felt he had no way to prove that and his attachment to his friends kept him here indefinitely. Part of him found that humiliating. No one else seemed to care that he had been tamed like an animal in a zoo. *If I get L-Drago back, I can prove I'm not weak.* The idea inevitably got his hopes up. *Don't get your hopes up.* Madoka’s words seemed to taunt him. *Why would you tell me that if you didn’t want me to get my hopes up?!*

Kenta pushed the door to the house open. Ryuga followed him inside. Kenta's parents were both in the kitchen, cooking something Ryuga had never had by the smell of it.

“Hey, kiddos!” Kenta's dad greeted with a wave.

“How was your game night?” Kenta's mom asked.

“It was fun,” Kenta smirked triumphantly. “I beat everyone at Uno.”

“Yeah!” Kenta's dad held a hand up. “That's my boy!”

Kenta jumped up to high five him, the two of them cheering. *I won a few times too,* Ryuga thought, rolling his eyes. He sat on the couch with his phone. *I suppose I could do some research of my own on this 'Dragon Clan.'*

“Alright, food's ready!" Kenta's mother called, before Ryuga could look at much of anything.

*Guess I'll do it later,* he thought, placing his phone aside. On the table Kenta's mother placed yet another weird new food; Ryuga thought he would be used to seeing those by now. This time it was a bunch of misshapen fried… things.

“What are those?” Ryuga asked, sitting in his usual spot beside Kenta.

“It's pakora,” Kenta's mother answered. “An Indian food. Here, try it.” She handed him a piece.

Ryuga took it and ate it in one bite.

“Oh, I love these!” Kenta exclaimed, taking a handful from the tray.

“Well?” Kenta’s mom prompted, gazing hopefully at Ryuga. “Do you like it?”

Ryuga shrugged. “It's okay.” *A little bland.* He kept the second part to himself.

“Here. We made two batches.” Kenta's dad sat down, sliding a second tray onto the table. “These are spicier.”

Ryuga perked up at the word “spicier,” immediately taking one. He licked his lips.

“Thanks,” Ryuga replied, grabbing more.

Kenta's dad chuckled, turning to his wife. “Told you he'd like the spicy ones more,” he remarked, holding a hand up.

Kenta's mom let out a sigh, handing him a piece of yen. He took it with a smirk.

“Guess we should try cooking more Indian food,” Kenta’s dad remarked, pocketing the yen.

“Why is it always spicy food with you?” Kenta asked, raising an eyebrow. Ryuga shrugged, placing about ten pieces of pakora on a plate. Kenta smirked. “Is it because you’re Dragon Clan?”

Ryuga let out a sigh. “Kenta, it’s not funny.”

“Well, if you’re gonna make fun of me for being short, I might as well make fun of you for something too!” Kenta exclaimed, bristling with annoyance.

“What is Dragon Clan?” Kenta’s mom cut in.

Kenta turned to her with a smile. “Oh, it’s this ancient civilization Madoka’s researching. Ryuga’s totally one of their descendants.”

“How do you know?” Kenta’s dad asked, suddenly curious.

“We don’t,” Ryuga argued, turning to Kenta. “It’s just a theory.”

*I’m not telling the history enthusiast that I accidentally appropriated a title from some ancient civilization,* he thought, glaring at Kenta and hoping he would get the message.

“A theory with evidence!” Kenta insisted, his eyes narrowed as well.

“To be honest…" Kenta's dad spoke up, prompting them to turn to him. “I've never heard of this 'Dragon Clan' but I'm sure you could figure out for sure if you're one of their descendants with a DNA test and maybe a background check.”

Ryuga stiffened. “No thanks.”

Kenta's mom rolled her eyes. “Honey, he does not need to do a background check on himself.”

“Hey, you never know,” Kenta's dad replied with a shrug.

Ryuga shifted in place. Kenta's dad was silly sometimes but in this case, he was actually right. Ryuga didn't know a thing about his past and what he did know, he tried his best not to remember.

“Where are you from, Ryuga?” Kenta’s dad asked.

“Japan.”

“Ah- well, yeah bu- o-o-okay.” Kenta’s dad looked down at the table, looking somewhat ashamed.

Kenta’s mother chuckled. “Oh gosh, you broke him, Ryuga,” she remarked, resting a hand on her husband's shoulder.

Kenta giggled into his hand. Ryuga smiled. As everyone finished their dinner, they slowly began to go their separate ways. Kenta and his dad stayed at the table. Ryuga went to get his phone while Kenta’s mother went straight toward the fridge.

She let out a sigh. “Tamaki, Kenta, whichever one of you is stealing my chocolate, will you please come forward already? This is getting ridiculous.”

She held up the nearly empty box of chocolates, in which there were only two left. Ryuga tried not to smile.

“Honey, I'm telling you it's not me,” Kenta’s dad insisted, gently, “You would know.”

“And I swear I didn't either!” Kenta exclaimed, jumping to his feet.

“It has to be one of you…” Kenta's mom cast a glance at Ryuga.

“Don't look at me,” Ryuga replied, unplugging his phone. “I don't eat stuff that sweet.”

*Or at least I wouldn't have in my old life,* he added bitterly to himself.

“Yeah,” Kenta agreed, casting a glance at his dad. “It's probably dad.”

“Or it's no one,” Kenta's dad suggested, tilting his head to the side.

“I swear they're disappearing faster… Ugh, I must be going crazy.” Kenta's mom grabbed one of the two chocolates. “Well, I know for sure there's only one left so if it disappears, then I'll know for a fact someone's stealing them.” Her eyes narrowed at her husband. “I've got my eye on you, love.”

“Don't you always?” Kenta’s dad asked, with a smirk.

“Oh, ha, ha.” Kenta's mom rolled her eyes before the two of them shared a quick kiss.

“Ugh!” Kenta exclaimed.

Ryuga rolled his eyes, making his way toward the basement.

“Ryuga.” He stopped at the sounds of Kenta’s voice. “Wanna finish Yugioh?” he asked.

“Not tonight,” Ryuga replied, “I wanted to do some research.”

“Oh…” Kenta seemed a bit disappointed before smiling again. “Okay.”

“Research…” Kenta’s dad nodded, muttering to himself. “Yes, that sounds good…”

Everyone turned to him.

“What? I want to know about that ‘Dragon Clan’ Ryuga mentioned. So much new history to learn…” Kenta’s dad’s eyes were glowing.

Ryuga rolled his eyes. He made his way downstairs to his room, otherwise known as the basement. It still had plenty of space to walk around but along with a bed, there was also a bean bag and a dresser with a mirror on it. Ryuga sat on the bean bag with his phone. *Finally, I can research this…*

'The Dragon Clan, formerly known as the Highlanders, lived in the wild untamed regions of Japan. They specialized in Dragon-type beys, including the forbidden bey, L-Drago. It is rumoured they created this infamous bey, along with a backup, though this has yet to be confirmed. Their group slowly decreased over time, scattering to the far reaches of the globe far from civilization. A few of their descendants may still be around, using the dragon type beys of their ancestors.'

Ryuga rolled his eyes. *Great, a bunch of stuff I already knew. Real helpful.* He went through several different websites, not finding where specifically the Dragon Clan lived or anything about the backup of L-Drago. *Perhaps it is just a rumour…* Ryuga shook his head. *I have to keep trying. If there’s any way I can bring back L-Drago, any at all…* Ryuga let out a sigh. *Oh, who am I kidding? This is ridiculous. I thought I accepted months ago that I'm always just going to be a shadow of my former self!*

Ryuga glanced at the time on his phone. 7:43 pm. *This is going nowhere…* He stared at the twelve tabs of nothing he had open for a few moments. *Yeah, forget this. I’m getting that chocolate.*

Placing his phone aside, Ryuga made his way upstairs, making sure to keep his steps light. He slowly pushed the door open. All the lights in the main room were off, drowning the room in a still darkness. Ryuga stepped lightly into the kitchen. Making sure nothing moved in the dark, he grabbed the last chocolate out of the fridge.

“Aha!”

A light shone in Ryuga's face. He staggered back, dropping the chocolate as he shielded his eyes.

“Wait, Ryuga?!” It was Kenta's mother. She lowered the flashlight, flicking the light switch on. “You're the one who's been eating my chocolate?!”

Ryuga froze, just now registering the situation.

“No…” He picked the chocolate up off the floor.

“Woooow.” Kenta's mother covered her mouth as she chuckled. “You could've just asked instead of lying, you know.”

Ryuga looked away, his shame practically spearing him open. *This is almost as bad as that chopsticks fiasco!*

“Can I still have it then?” he muttered.

“Sure, sweetie. Guess I'll have to buy some for you too, then.”

“Mhm… thanks…” Ryuga started to walk away, eating the chocolate.

“Hey.” Ryuga froze, glancing back at Kenta’s mom as she spoke. “Next time just tell the truth. You should know better than to lie.” Her tone was stern, but still, she didn’t raise her voice.

Ryuga dipped his head. “Okay.” He turned and walked away.

[angelofthequeers]

Damsel In (Need Of) Destress

Rating: T

Summary: Ladybug and Ryuuko have a little competition going on. The aim? To rescue Alya during akuma attacks. And naturally, Alya is Done with her girlfriends' shenanigans, while Chat Noir is just oblivious to the three-way tension.

Slot: 1-2.5k fic

Written for an anonymous donor for the @mlbforblm drive! Thank you so much for commissioning me and I hope you enjoy the sweet wlw disasters! The drive ends in just a few days so if you haven’t already, please consider coming over and commissioning me or another of the amazing contributors!

This assumes that Kagami didn’t reveal herself in ‘Ikari Gozen’ and that ‘Miracle Queen’ never happened, so none of the heroes had their identities outed.

AO3 link

“I got her!”

If anyone had told Alya that she’d be annoyed at a superhero rescue, she’d have looked at them funny and wondered if they’d hit their heads. But that was before…this.

“Don’t worry, Alya,” Ladybug says with a winning smile. “I’ll keep you safe. Ryuuko and Chat Noir can hold off Jess Tear –”

“Césaire!” howls the akuma as if on cue. With her snow-white face, jet-black lips and tear-streak eyeliner, and asymmetrically patterned black and purple jumpsuit and pigtails, she resembles a bargain bin version of Harley Quinn more than anything. Not that Alya would say that to her face…but Hawkmoth is a different story altogether. Is he drunk or something when he akumatises people?

“Why is she even mad at you?” Ladybug says as she deftly leaps and swings through the city, still holding Alya close.

“She tried to insult the Ladyblog, I told her to stop clowning, everyone laughed at her,” Alya says as though Ladybug doesn’t know exactly why Jess Tear is angry. If Alya could slap her oblivious fourteen-year-old self around the head, she so would, because how the hell hasn’t anyone else figured out that Ladybug is her dorky best friend slash girlfriend Marinette? Hmm. Maybe that’s why only Alya has figured it out. That and being Ladybug’s number one fan.

“You’re a good friend, Alya,” Ladybug says. “I – uh, you sound like a good friend!”

“Thanks,” Alya says dryly, wondering if facepalming will give the game away.

“Incoming!” Chat Noir cries from somewhere to the right, and that’s the only warning Alya and Ladybug have before a gigantic purple mass shoots up and snags both of them in its rubbery, shrieking coils. Jess Tear’s mad laughter provides the accompanying soundtrack as she perches on the purple head of a balloon snake nearby.

“You seem to be a little tied up, Césaire!” Jess Tear says. Alya rolls her eyes.

“Right, because I’ve never heard that one before,” she says. “I’ve been akuma bait for, like, three years and that’s the best you can come up with?”

“Who’s the clown now?” Jess Tear cries as though Alya hadn’t said anything. “Now I’ll strangle the life out of you and collect Ladybug’s Miraculous from her dead –”

With an explosive pop, Alya’s bonds vanish and she plummets towards the ground, screaming. But she’s caught in a pair of red arms before she can splatter like a cracked egg and whisked out of danger, held close to another scarlet-clad, black-haired superhero whose eyes are cinnamon brown instead of bubble-gum blue.

“I’ve got you, Alya,” says Ryuuko, aka Kagami, aka Alya’s other girlfriend, aka the whole damn reason for Alya’s constant headache because she and Ladybug can’t seem to stop themselves from turning “rescue Alya” into a goddamn competition.

(Ryuuko’s winning seventeen to thirteen, but there’s no way Alya will admit that she actually keeps count of how many times her girlfriends rescue her).

“Hey! I was saving her!” Ladybug shouts as she untangles herself from the deflated corpse of the balloon snake with Chat Noir’s help. Kagami lands on top of a nearby blue car, turns back to Ladybug, and has the audacity to wink at her. Alya feels the sudden urge to yeet herself out of Ryuuko’s arms and beg Jess Tear to end her suffering already. She’s, like, ninety percent sure that Ladybug and Ryuuko know each other’s identities, which is so not fair because what is she? Chopped fox liver?

If she was Rena Rouge right now, none of this would even be happening in the first place. There’s no justice in this world, honestly.

“Strategically, I’m the better choice to save Alya, while you and Chat Noir close in on Jess Tear!” Ryuuko calls back.

“Like hell!” Jess Tear yanks a purple handkerchief out of her sleeve and keeps pulling, revealing hanky after hanky tied in a long chain. She hefts this chain and cracks it at Chat Noir, causing him to yelp and jump away from Ladybug, who only just manages to leap out of the tangled mess of deflated balloon before it collapses on her. “Who’s the clown now, huh?”

“Lucky Charm!” Ladybug catches a tiny clothes peg. “Seriously? Why am I always the one getting trolled?”

“And that’s why I’m the better knight in red spandex.” Ryuuko unsheathes her sword and crouches in front of Alya. “Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.”

“At least you’re a cute damsel in distress!” Chat Noir calls from his hiding place behind a lamppost. Yeah. Alya doesn’t even know how that’s supposed to work, but Chat Noir’s always been two filaments short of a lightbulb. She rolls her eyes and flips him off.

“Just do your job and save me already!” she retorts.

“I believe that’s my job,” Ryuuko says. She throws herself at Alya and cradles her as they roll off the car and across the rocky road, just in time to avoid Jess Tear’s next hanky crack. “What’s the plan, Ladybug?”

A grumpy Ladybug swings over with Chat Noir in tow, who provides cover for the girls to dart behind the car. Once they’re safe and joined by Chat Noir, Ladybug frowns down at the peg and hums.

“I think it’s time for Jess Tear to find out what happens to clothes on a windy day,” she says, smiling slowly. Chat Noir and Ryuuko also grin. “Chat, give us some cover again?”

“But of course, milady. Cataclysm!” Chat Noir leaps out from behind the car. Alya peeks around just in time to witness a nearby building crumbling, dousing Jess Tear in dust and rubble, before Ladybug and Ryuuko pull her back.

“Stay here,” they say together, then narrow their eyes at each other.

“Oh my god, you can give it up already,” Alya mutters. “I know it’s you two. And I know you two know.”

“Uh…of course it’s us two!” Ladybug says quickly, while Ryuuko’s cheeks flush pink and her eyes dart away. “Who else would we be?”

Alya facepalms. “You know, a relationship is supposed to be nice. Happy. Beneficial. I’ve had more headaches since your silly little competition started than I’ve had my whole life. How the heck did you not expect me to notice after, like, the seventh time you two went at it to save me? I mean, sure, I love being the pretty damsel in distress, but honestly.”

Ladybug and Ryuuko just blink at her. It’s not until Chat Noir bellows, “Any day now!” that they’re snapped back into action.

“Um…Ryuuko!” Ladybug says in a higher voice than usual. Ryuuko jumps and almost drops her sword.

“Right! Wind Dragon!” Ryuuko dissipates into a burst of cool, fresh air that whooshes out towards Jess Tear. Right before the clown akuma can separate Chat Noir’s head from his body with one crack of her whip, Ryuuko hits her and howls around her in a whirlwind.

“Oh my god! Go away!” Jess Tear shrieks as she’s buffeted by wind on all sides. She tries to aim her hanky whip, but the chain of cloth seems to have a life of its own under Ryuuko’s guiding wind-hand, slapping Jess Tear around the head and coiling around her in a twisted imitation of her previous balloon snake. Once Jess Tear is nothing but a purple hanky mummy, Ryuuko lets her plummet and lands on the ground just in time to solidify and catch a wriggling Jess Tear, whose screams are muffled by her new face mask.

“Okay but how are we gonna find the akuma now?” Chat Noir says as he bounds over, followed by Ladybug, who pegs the ends of the hanky rope to hold Jess Tear’s bonds together.

“That’s your problem, not mine!” Alya calls from her car shelter. “I’m outta here now that she’s toast! I gotta have a good, long talk with my girls!”

She takes a moment to revel in the way Ladybug and Ryuuko blanch, then she turns and heads off, whistling. Ha. And her girlfriends thought they had it over her. Now she’s got the upper hand. Let them sweat while they deakumatise Jess Tear and do the whole post-akuma comfort thing with Jessica Terrence, who’s more than likely going to cuss them out, considering what she’d said about the Ladyblog.

“Gami seventeen, Mari thirteen, and Alya one million,” Alya snickers to herself.

[mocha-sim]

“Old AU/fanfic ideas I’m probably never going to write” dump

(Long post warning)

---

“Full Circle”, first fic I came up with when I got into the fandom around early 2018, your basic next-gen fic except the main focus is on the student council, who all somehow wind up involved in the case of Ayano’s daughter, Kataba (which is a dumb name in retrospect). Kuroko is Kataba’s teacher, and Akane is the guidance counsellor. Aoi and Shiromi don’t actually appear until after the first rival is killed (pretty early in the story), when Aoi - a bodyguard at Saikou Corp. - is sent to the school to watch over Megami’s son, and Shiromi is a detective/journalist assigned to the case. Weirdly enough, Megami’s son Haruki ends up being the one to trigger the “senpai effect” in Kataba

I had some ideas for rivals:

Haruki’s close friend Emiko, kind of a flirt. Gets stabbed to early in the story for the audience to really get to know her

Rikuto, leader of the gardening club, and a very emotional guy who may or may not have been suffering abuse at home. Iirc Kataba drops something heavy on him in the shed to kill him

Kano, leader of the (now-official) gaming club, grumpy and rude but has a soft spot for cute things, kind of a depressed attitude and maybe has drug problems. Gets driven to suicide

Kazumi, leader of the art club, an energetic girl who’s popular around the school, but a daydreamer. Suffering from an unwanted pregnancy

Chika, leader of the science club, cold and distant personality, others call her “ice queen”, looks up to Kaga who now has his own huge corporation. Kataba sabotages her experiment (a small robot) to quite literally blow up in her face at a science convention, which kills her

Isamu, leader of the school’s kickboxing team. I never really fleshed him out tbh

Tamotsu, leader of the delinquents, infamous throughout the school and has the kind of personality you’d expect a delinquent to have. I don’t remember the details of how I planned to have him eliminated but I think Kataba found some way to get him killed by a rival gang

Sadashi, a timid and quiet new student who moved from elsewhere in the country and is struggling to adjust to life at Akademi. Again, I don’t think I fleshed her out as much as the others, but there was something about her trying to get into the student council

Masumi, Haruki’s childhood friend whose family is constantly moving around for business reasons, but is always texting and video-chatting with him. Just like Haruki, she’s extremely rich and is one of the only people who can really relate to him. A very calm and polite girl. If I'm remembering right, I think she actually survives, but gets kidnapped and tortured by Kataba and never really recovers from the trauma

The tenth rival is actually Haruki’s bodyguard, Aoi. By this point in the fic it’s all gone to shit, there’s a missing person’s report out for Masumi, Akademi is in a state of panic and many students have stopped coming to class, and there’s been talk about shutting the school down permanently. The focus is kind of split between everything that’s going on (Masumi, the state of the school, Shiromi’s investigation, Taro and Ayano’s marriage falling apart, Kataba trying to kill Aoi) instead of just focusing on the current rival

I think had one idea for a student who’s not a rival: a Midori-like student called Tsuki Muun... but she was a gag character more than anything

There are other canon characters who appeared in the story, like Ayano and Taro, Megami (though she doesn’t play a major role), Info trying to help Kataba for her own benefit (I had a vague idea about her going undercover as one of Shiromi’s coworkers and trying to sabotage the investigation), possibly Osana and/or Hanako, and I considered having Oka show up as a ghost

Taro is kind of an ongoing obstacle for Kataba and is the one who rescues Masumi from the basement (he also hits Ayano with a chair when she tries to stop him from taking Masumi to the hospital by threatening him with a knife. King behaviour)

Kataba is actively trying to sabotage Shiromi and her coworkers. Early on in the story she kills Shiromi’s search dog as a “warning” to her

Shiromi and Taro end up becoming close friends whilst she’s investigating his daughter’s crimes. Ayano gets kind of suspicious but I don’t really remember where that ended up going. Also there’s this whole scene where they break into Kataba’s room while she’s out to find her bulletin board with notes/pictures of all the rivals and how to eliminate them

Aoi is not only Haruki’s bodyguard but his godmother as well, and he calls her “auntie”

There’s some conflict between them because he feels that she’s too overprotective and, being a teenager who wants to hang out with his friends, he doesn’t want some middle-aged woman lurking over his shoulder all the time

Over the story they start to resolve things and grow closer. Aoi supports him when he feels insecure about not living up to the “perfect” image of his family

Since the story would take place around 20 years in the future I think I was going to take some liberties with technology and stuff like that, especially during Chika’s week

Akademi’s uniform also changed over the years to something more fitting for a high school, the number of students attending grew much larger, and their sports club/martial arts club were replaced with something closer to actual high school sports teams

---

Supernatural creature AU, where everyone except Taro and Hanako is some kind of monster/creature/etc. 

Taro is oblivious to everyone around him being monsters and thinks the school he attends just has a lot of weird students, but he’s an accepting and non-judgmental person so he just takes it in stride. Hanako, however, knows what’s going on and has to constantly keep Taro from walking straight into danger

Ayano is a demon who Taro unknowingly sold his soul to in exchange for a bag of chips, and now she wants her repayment. She and Hanako are almost constantly at odds with one another, but on occasion they team up to protect Taro from a “greater threat”

Instead of an occult club (because I think that would be kind of obsolete in this AU), there’s some kind of support/therapy group for undead creatures like zombies, ghosts, vampires, etc. Oka decided to start it because of the struggles she’s faced as a zombie

The sports club are all aquatic monsters of some kind. There’s at least one merman in there

The science club are aliens and/or have some kind of “artificial human” theme going on (robots, Frankenstein-esque creatures, etc.)

The gardening club are all fairies - the kind who do things like tending to flower gardens and cleaning around your house

Shiromi, on the other hand, is more of a “trickster” kind of fairy who steals shiny things/valuables, gets people lost in the woods for fun, and may or may not eat human flesh (Hanako makes the assumption that she does and tries to save Taro from her). She doesn’t get along too well with most of the gardening club

Akane is a banshee who ends up serving as the student council’s “alarm” for when someone is dying

Aoi is some kind of reptilian/dragon creature who can breathe fire, but probably can’t fly

I don’t think I ever got anything set in stone for the rest of the student council. I was thinking of making Kuroko or Megami a seraph but that doesn’t really fit in with the “monster” theme

One of the bullies is a shapeshifter of some sort

At least one of the delinquents is a werewolf

Iirc the existence of monsters/supernatural creatures wasn’t common knowledge even in this AU and Akademi was created as a “safe” school for them to get an education without the threat of being discovered by humans. How Taro and Hanako got in... nobody knows. Maybe someone thought the two of them were a little too average and had to be hiding something

Most of the other students at Akademi are aware that the two of them are humans, and some find them fascinating or like to mess with them. Others are wary around them and try to avoid them out of fear that they’ll react badly. The rest of the students are just horribly confused and trying to figure out what they are

---

Aoi x Shiromi biker/mechanic AU

Aoi is part of a biker gang, but her bike is an absolute rustbucket that’s constantly breaking down and there’s only one reliable repair shop in the small town she lives in. The mechanics keep suggesting that she gets a new bike but she has a sentimental attachment to her old one and doesn’t want to get rid of it. She’s gonna get fined for driving it eventually

Aoi doesn’t get along with her family in any AU it seems, and trying to stay away from the house as much as possible led to her getting involved with the biker gang (probably with the martial arts club members). Luckily, the gang she’s a part of is much more benevolent than the other major gang in town and mostly acts in defense of themselves or others. They’re politically active more than they are actually criminal, and the illegal things they do basically amount to protests and the like

The “rival gang” is the delinquents. They’re the ones who commit more crimes like theft, vandalism, drug trafficking, etc., and usually do what they do for money. They’re not afraid to use physical intimidation and violence to get what they want. Both gangs often wind up in trouble with the law for collateral damage during their fights

The delinquents hate Aoi more personally than the other members of her gang because of a) the amount of problems she’s caused for them and b) a rivalry with their leader, Osoro, which dates way back to high school. Aoi gave Osoro that scar on her face, and Osoro damaged Aoi’s eye badly enough that it had to be removed

Kaga and Shiromi’s parents died at some point when Shiromi was in high school. Kaga was already an adult at that point, plus a mechanical genius, and was old enough to take over the repair shop. He taught his little sister everything he knows so that she could help him after she graduated. They live in a small apartment right above the shop

Shiromi usually winds up being the one to repair Aoi’s bike (or at least helping) and the two of them start bonding over that

Most of the people around Shiromi’s age (19-ish in this AU) left town to attend college somewhere better, or get a job elsewhere, so she’s found herself lonely a lot since she graduated high school. Sure, there are the other employees at the repair shop who she gets along well with, but they’re all significantly older than her and she can’t really connect with them the same way she could with her friends from high school. She’s grateful for the opportunity to talk to someone close to her own age for once and potentially make a new friend (though Aoi doesn’t really want anything to do with that at first)

At some point Aoi comes in seriously injured after a fight, but denies that she’s hurt. Shiromi convinces her that she needs to go to the hospital and gets her there

Kaga already has some protective-older-brother tendencies (which Shiromi hates), but it practically doubles when she starts hanging out with Aoi and the rest of Budo’s gang. She knows Kaga just wants her safe and uninvolved in gang conflicts, but by this point she’s really attached to Aoi and wants to keep seeing her, so Kaga backs off under the condition that Shiromi stays on her guard and doesn’t go out at night

As Aoi and Shiromi start hanging out outside of the repair shop more often, the delinquents realize that Aoi has someone close to her that they can use to hurt her

They start making threats against Shiromi just to provoke Aoi, or otherwise messing with the two of them. After a fight in which Umeji suffered a major head injury that hospitalized him, and Osoro’s gang lost the drugs they were trying to sell, Osoro makes the decision to kidnap Shiromi to lure Aoi in and beat up/possibly kill her. They succeed in the kidnapping, but it falls apart when Shiromi tricks the guy who’s supposed to be guarding her and escapes on her own before Aoi even shows up

After this incident Kaga is full-on freaking out and forbids Shiromi from seeing Aoi, blaming her for Shiromi getting kidnapped. The two of them keep communicating through text and Shiromi sometimes sneaks out to see her

Before the story takes place Aoi wasn’t super close with the other members of the gang - they were acquaintances more than anything. Over the course of the story she gets closer to them and starts to learn more things about them (like the fact that Budo is/once was in the same situation as her - in love with a girl (cough-Oka-cough) whose family wouldn’t let her near him because of his lifestyle)

There’s a whole arc focusing on Aoi’s parents trying to get Aoi out of the gang, not because they’re genuinely worried for her safety but because they think their daughter being part of a gang reflects badly on them. They possibly try to get the other members of the gang arrested

After this arc, Aoi moves out into her own place near the repair shop, and Shiromi and Budo help her move in

Aoi and Shiromi end up happy together, Kaga and Shiromi resolve things between them, Aoi no longer has to deal with her parents, Budo ends up with Oka, the other gang members resolve their own character arcs, and the delinquents end up in jail

---

Magical girl AU which, tbh... I never really fleshed out. It was mostly an excuse to draw cute magical girl outfits. But I did have some stuff down for it!

The placeholder club leader/now the empty demon is the “Kyubey”-type thing that gives all of them their powers

I never really figured out whether I wanted to take a dark route or a more light-hearted one with this. I think my favourite idea would probably be something in between, though - not super grimdark and edgy, but not all sunshine and rainbows either

All of them got not only powers and weapons, but also enhanced physical abilities like running faster, jumping higher, increased strength, increased durability, and more stamina. But those abilities would only take effect while transformed. I was thinking one of them would get used to having enhanced abilities and keep trying to do things they can’t actually do in their normal daily life, which eventually gets them hurt

Kuroko has some sort of rifles and the ability to form hard-light shields to protect herself or others

Akane’s weapon is a bow for which she can produce as many arrows as she has energy for. She also got the power of flight/levitation

Aoi has a sword, like a really heavy broadsword type of thing that she can somehow lift with one hand, and the ability to breathe fire

I think I was planning on giving Shiromi a weapon at some point, but I don’t remember what it was... My other idea was her not having one single weapon, but being able to produce as many small projectiles like throwing knives, shuriken, etc. as she needs. She can also become completely invisible

I don’t think I really had anything fully decided for Megami tbh. I had a vague idea of what kind of outfit she would wear but I never drew any designs (at least, not that I remember)

They definitely have to do some travelling around Japan at some point

Ayano may or may not have been an “evil magical girl”, I don’t really remember

---

Another one I didn’t flesh out a whole lot: the fic where a bunch of Akademi students go on a camping field trip

Info attends school as a normal student in this AU and is part of the group that goes camping

It’s Ayano, Info, Osana, Megami, Kuroko, Akane, Aoi, Shiromi, Osoro, Kaga, Taro, Umeji, Budo, Itachi, and Tsuruzo

There’s a scene where they’re all gathered around a campfire telling horror stories. Kaga offers to hold Megami if she’s afraid. Megami is not afraid, is sick of his shit, and tells him to go sit somewhere else

At some point they need more wood for the fire, but nobody wants to go into the woods to get it, so Shiromi tells the boys that whoever brings back the most wood can have a date with Akane. It gets most of the boys off of their butts for sure, but Kuroko scolds her for it. Shiromi just says that, once they’ve got the firewood, it’s not like they actually have to go through with their end of the deal. Kuroko heads off into the woods to collect some herself

Kuroko ends up bringing back the most wood and waves Akane off, saying that she just did it so that she wouldn’t have to go to dinner with one of the boys, but Akane insists on giving her that date when they get home

Everything is going great with the camping trip until they wake up one morning to find Osana missing from the girls’ cabin. They spend hours searching before someone finally finds her dead in the lake

Everyone is certain that this wasn’t an accident and the mood immediately plummets. Almost everyone has their suspects and is at each others’ throats. The teachers who are supervising decide that they’ll all pack up and be ready to leave tomorrow morning

However, Itachi and the delinquents want to figure out who killed Osana and bring them to justice. One thing leads to another and all the students end up lost in the woods. At some point the delinquents suspect Info and attack her, which injures her and splits the group in two

After that I’m not really sure where things go, but everyone is trying to get back to the main camp and get home safely. Aoi is in the same group as Info and is hella suspicious of her as well so not everything is peaceful. There are some people in Umeji and Osoro’s group who are pissed at them for attacking Info and splitting the group. Taro is extremely upset by Osana’s death and Megami comforts him, which leads to Ayano plotting to kill Megami as well while they’re still here, and possibly hindering the group/trying to isolate Megami as a result.

---

I had a pirate/mermaid AU for Aoromi but I never wrote anything down for it - I just had a few really, really old sketches I never posted

Iirc, the general plot was that Aoi’s crew was struggling after the betrayal of Ayano and the death of the former captain Megami + many other crew members, and couldn’t really do anything but run from other crews who tried to attack them, their only advantage being that their ship was still the fastest. Then they fish up a mermaid, Shiromi, who they plan on selling for money to hopefully try and get back on their feet, but end up getting emotionally attached to her

---

Superhero AU which I think I’ve mentioned before but

Anyone with superpowers is legally required to work under the government to defend the citizens whenever they’re called, but they don’t get any pay or significant benefit from it so they also have to work other jobs in their civilian lives. This causes huge amounts of stress

There are some who formed their own group to rebel against this system, which eventually evolved into trying to establish a new society in which they are above those without powers. Info is their leader. Her powers revolve around hacking, not just technology but people as well (though the latter is a lot more complicated and difficult)

Hanako is a sort of “sleeper agent” who doesn’t actually know that she has any powers, let alone that she’s one of the most powerful. Info finds out before she does and brainwashes her. Hanako constantly finds herself “blacking out” and then waking up in her room hours later with no memory of what happened. Meanwhile, a new member of Info’s organization shows up under the name “Nemesis”

Kaga doesn’t actually have any powers, but works for Info and her organization anyway. He’s a technological genius who built himself some kind of Iron Man-esque robotic suit to fight alongside them. He believes that if he works with the “winning side”, when they eventually take down the government, he’ll be spared/treated better than the others. Spoiler: he won’t. Info is planning on discarding him as soon as he outlives his usefulness to her

Also Kaga’s codename was “Dr. Bluescreen”. Clearly the most intimidating name ever.

Homu is a robot and one of Kaga’s inventions. She ends up developing sentience and emotions

Seiyo and Ajia are rivals in both their civilian and superhero lives. They work as waiters at the same restaurant

Being born with powers also comes with enhanced abilities like speed, power, endurance, etc. Ayano doesn’t have any actual powers, but has all the other enhancements (maybe even more so than the others) and is considered one of them anyway

Megami’s power is to calculate her opponent’s weaknesses and adjust her own powers accordingly. It sounds good, but it’s not so great when facing off against more than one person at a time

Aoi has fire-related powers and is in constant conflict with the fire department

Kuroko can produce toxins from her body, Akane can fly, and Shiromi can camouflage herself or other objects/people

Info and Shiromi go way back and Info is constantly trying to convince her to come over to her side. Info may or may not brainwash her at some point which sort of sets off Kaga because opposite sides or not, that’s still his little sister

At some point I was thinking of adding a “middle group” who don’t want to work under the government but don’t want to put themselves above people without powers, either. Maybe the delinquents

---

[saiyuri-dahlia]

volink 👀 1, 2, 6, 15

Thank you for the ask! I’ve been missing these two and been itching to write about them again--unfortunately I can’t work on any fics for them right now, but I want to. I know there’s new Volink fics to read, but I’ve waiting to dive into them, letting their numbers amass in a hoarding pile until I can finally binge-read them all.

I’m glad to see there’s still fans for this ship!

1. What are things they both find funny?

Their relationship itself, for one thing. They know it’s strange and it shouldn’t work, but it does, despite everything. They’re aware of the irony of the knight falling in love with the dragon whose bloodline was slayed by the Hero’s previous lives. And they know their relationship is weird, and people make funny faces when they find out about them and that a cornerstone of their relationship is built on competition and regular spars. And that their meet cute amounts to Link laughing about how Volga tried to kill him. They laugh at the people who don’t understand and laugh even harder at the ones that try to break them apart.

Their sense of humor actually does overlap. When they’ve had to work with a sworn enemy, they’ve joked and made bets on how long it’ll take for Ghirahim to turn on their forces. Volga has playfully warned Link about not falling in love with their foes like he fell in love with him.

Also anytime that Toon Link is riding a train through a battle, especially if he sends any of their main foes running, is sure to get a good laugh from both of them. Several of their allies have unusual weapons that are fun to watch in action.

2. If they could each describe each other in one sentence, what would it be?

Volga about Link: “The boy is a soft-hearted fool whose gods unnaturally gift him with victories, and I would forfeit my life for him.”

Link about Volga: “He’s like a toasted marshmallow—on fire, has a bitter, charred exterior but is actually sweet on the inside, and sticks to me.”

6. What is/are their love language(s)?

Volga both wants and gives a lot of Physical Touch. Of course, sex is one way, but it’s just one large, obvious expression of his love language amid all the smaller ways he expresses it. Volga likes being in contact with Link, like Link resting up against him while he’s in his dragon form. When they’re standing beside each other, he’ll lean over so Link’s shoulder touches him, or his arm will brush up against Link. He does the same kind of stuff with their hands, if they aren’t outright holding hands.

Speaking of hands, Volga will lay his hand on Link’s back or shoulders to express that Link did a good job rather than just saying it. As a dragon, he’ll nuzzle him and maybe lick his face (to be affectionate and annoying), and even as a human, he’ll nuzzle Link (though he’s much less likely to lick him, depends how annoying he’s feeling and/or how drunk).

He also has a strong desire for Quality Time, but he doesn’t want anyone else around them when they spend time together. Because it’s his time with Link, his special moments with Link, not anyone else’s. (Basically his hoarding nature starts kicking in.) When he can’t get the quality time he wants from Link, he’ll be bratty about it and go off to be by himself until Link finds him and they hang out.

Because Link likes spending Quality Time with Volga. Sparring. Stargazing. Going on flights. Cooking together. Exploring nature/camping. Anything and everything in between. It can be frustrating for him because Volga isn’t interested in going to places and doing activities that involve other people around them. He grumbles at going to festivals, or restaurants/tea shops/bars, or exploring cities—but sometimes Volga will appease Link and go, and he might grumble later that it wasn’t terrible. He’ll never admit that he actually had fun, but he will say that it was only tolerable because of Link.

15. What are traits they dislike in one another?

Link is fully aware that Volga can be a massive jerk. He doesn’t like it when he insults all of humanity, but claims that Link is the sole exception. He doesn’t like that Volga is disrespectful to everyone that isn’t Link. Volga is a lot of ego and short-tempered, and even though they’re working on both, it can be a pain to get him to admit when he’s wrong or to know when to just shut up and not to go there in a fight. He also doesn’t like the part of Volga that keeps him from showing any “weakness” in front of anyone. It’s not weak to be kind or affectionate.

Volga thinks Link is too kind and debases himself with work that is below him. Link has made it a personal mission to accept nearly every trivial task requested of him. Volga sees it as some form of subservience. If anything, all humans should be obeying Link’s orders and falling in line at his presence. Because Volga doesn’t understand the public figure side of being the Hero. To him, the Hero equals to the strongest warrior, therefore he is in charge. But Link just loves being helpful.

Link also has a kind of curiosity that leads to him doing some dumb things sometimes. But that all depends on what Volga considers dumb, because he and Link have done some dumb things together too, except that Volga refuses to admit that the dumb things they did in the name of having a good time were actually dumb.

[medusas-side-snake]

Scarred - Chapter 1

Hi guys, this is the first chapter of my new Charlie Weasley fic. It will be updated every 3 days and there are more exciting development for the old fics and some new ones that are happening on my page!! Let me know if anyone wants to be tagged in anything

Megan works for the Order, she has been on a mission for them for over a year. A mission that was only supposed to last two weeks. Heritage means that she is on thin ice with the rest of the Order, mix that with some heartbreak by the dragon-loving Weasley boy and a certain Black family member with a vendetta and you have the following story.

The bus to Ottery St.Catchpole was packed with so many people that they were standing in the aisles. Still, I was given a wide berth.

About 13 months ago, Dumbledore sent me to recruit some reclusive magical community following the rise of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Dumbledore asked me specifically because these warlocks did not use wands, they thought wands hindered true ability and, since I am quite proficient at wandless, silent magic, I was the obvious choice.

It should have been easy, especially since He had just unmasked himself in the Ministry.

I had spent a year with the warlocks. Well, it was more like I spent a year imprisoned by the warlocks. They didn't like that people were trying to drag them into a battle that had nothing to do with them, however, being imprisoned by them did allow me to learn a few things.

1. They weren't interested in joining Voldemort. There were a number of His followers that were imprisoned with me, none of them lasted very long once the warlocks realised that they were low pay and didn't really know much about what was actually going on.

2. Even though they didn't want to join the fight, they were still interested in what was happening and why it had all happened. This was why I was still here. Those that came were useful to find out what was happening at the moment, I could tell them everything else. Of course, I didn't. I had no idea whose side they would choose should the fight come to them, which is why I was very careful with what I told them. I mainly fed them lies.

3. Not very many people are crueller than these people. To get them to believe the lies, I had to pretend I didn't want to give them up. This led to… persuasion tactics on their part. Basically, because they are so remote, the Ministry doesn't try to control them, meaning they have no limits on magic, they have no restrictions on magical creatures and there are no laws on what can and can't be done to prisoners.

I stood as my stop came up, pressing the bell to let the bus driver know to stop and making my way to the front of the bus.

A quick “Thanks" mumbled towards the bus driver and I was out and facing the trees, behind which lay The Burrow.

With a hiss of pain, I set off up the steep hill.

What would normally be a 5 minute hike, took me 20 minutes, but when I reached the top and I could see the Burrow, the pain was worth it. Lights shone from the windows scattered around the front of the house. Most importantly, the kitchen light was casting shadows across the garden. Someone was awake.

I started to limp as fast as I could towards the gate, containing the safety, comfort and warmth that I had grown accustomed to since 2nd Year.

Past the broom shed, past the tree that Charlie fell from to break his arm, past the wellie boots by the back step and then I was pushing open the kitchen door.

Faces turned towards me, too many to count when all I could think about was the pain I was in. A beat later I was surrounded, voice shouting over voices until “THAT’S ENOUGH!” That was Molly. Everyone stopped and took a step back as she pushed her way through. She looked shocked but she wasn't looking at me.

“Sirius…” I turned and was met with a wand at my throat. “Is that really necessary?”

“I'm afraid it is, Molly.” Even though he was talking to Molly, he hadn't looked away from me.

“The pureblood party.”

“I was a child!” I interrupted.

“The pureblood party.” He said more forcefully. “Who did we laugh at in my room?”

“Will it matter? You've never trusted me before, will that change if I get the answer right?”

“Are you refusing to answer the question?” He stepped closer and I could see him grip his wand tighter. He was deadly calm.

“Phineas. We were making fun of Phineas, when my mum found us. Does that change how you feel?” He stayed silent, and lowered his wand a couple of seconds too late. I guess that answered my question.

“Come on, dear. Let's get you cleaned up.” Molly started to gently push me towards the stairs. Neither me nor Sirius had looked away from each other yet, but at the push from Molly, I turned my head.

***

Molly didn’t really say much to me while she drew a bath. Everytime she glanced my way, she had tears in her eyes but before she left the bathroom, she did pull me into a hug. A proper mum hug as we both squeezed each other as tight as we could.

“I’m glad you’re back and I’m glad you’re okay. We’ve all been so worried.” As suspected, her voice was thick as she spoke.

I could tell that she desperately wanted to know what had happened, but she knew that she should wait until I told everyone downstairs. I mean, it was either that or she didn't trust me completely after everything that Sirius had no doubt been planting in her head for the past year. As soon as I had that thought I wanted to take it back. That was a path that I did not want to go down.

After I was cleaned up, I put on some of my old pyjamas (which were way too big now after having to save and ration the scraps that I was given to eat over the past year) and made my way downstairs. The voice of those in the kitchen travelled up the stairs, although there must have been an argument going on because they all mashed together and overlapped one another. I stopped a little from the bottom and tried to make sense of it all, though to be honest all I could clearly make out was Molly’s insistent ‘No! No! I won't believe that nonsense!’ After a couple more minutes of listening, which only served to make me more confused, I decided that it was time to go into the kitchen.

“She woul-!” Molly’s loud voice sounded over all the others, but stopped as soon as I was in the light. Just like all the others. So it was me they were talking about. Great. I mean, at least Molly had stuck up for me. Or that's what it sounded like.

I realised that I had hovered for a little too long in the doorway, making the whole atmosphere even more awkward and no doubt let everyone know that I knew what - or better yet who - they were talking about.

“I made stew for dinner. There's some left. Sit down now.” Molly bustled into action.

I sat awkwardly at the empty spot that she had left at the table. I looked up to see who was there. Alastair was sitting next to me, staring at me in earnest with both eyes. Next to him was Bill and next to him, Fleur, who I had only met once, briefly. They had their hands linked on the table, Fleur’s eyes never strayed from the family clock on the wall and Bill was looking over near the door.

The seat directly opposite me was empty.

Next to that was Remus, he was looking at Nymphadora Tonks, who was sitting next to him and she was looking directly over Bill’s head, out the kitchen window.

Next to me on the left was Sirius, he was staring at me with disgust, his usual face whenever he looked at me. I briefly thought about asking him what his problem was, but he had made it clear what his problem was many times. Me.

Molly put a big bowl of stew in front of me and a small plate of buttered bread beside me and I am not ashamed to say that I immediately tucked in. I don’t think that I have eaten so much in such a short amount of time.

I didn’t look up from my food even as Remus started to speak to me.

“So, Megan.” He cleared his throat and I hummed around a mouthful of food to show that I was listening. “Where have you been?” I found this strange as they were all aware of the mission that Dumbledore had given me, they all knew where I had been. Remus must’ve known what I was thinking as he followed up with, “The mission was supposed to be two tweeks at most, no-one has heard from you for over a year.”

“Went to Tralee. They don’t want to join our side, but they don’t want to join the death eaters either, so that’s something I guess.” I said around a mouthful of food. “Been there ever since.”

“Why?” It was Sirius who asked me this, in his usul abrupt tone that he undertook anytime he spoke to me.

‘“What do you mean ‘why’?” I swallowed my food and took on the usual defensive tone that I undertook whenever I spoke to him. “Have you seen the state of me? It wasn't exactly for fun. I didn’t have a choice.”

A hand on the arm from Remus stopped Sirius from replying and I took another bite of my bread.

“Dumbledore’s dead.” I stopped chewing and looked away from Sirius and down at my bowl as Alastair spoke.

“I know.” I said quietly.

“How did you get out?” Remus asked gently.

I swallowed my bread thickly as my stomach turned. I pushed my near-empty bowl away from me. “One of the women who brought me my food helped me escape.” I never even knew her name and she died for me.

“What happened?” Sirius, as gentle as ever.

I knew that this had been coming, and I was dreading it. I moved my shaking hands from my lap and placed them palm side down on the table. “I don’t really want to talk about it.” I put my head up and met his eyes and as soon as what I had said sunk in, I saw his eyes harden.

He opened his mouth to respond but Molly interrupted.

“That’s enough Sirius.” She used her ‘mum’ voice, the one that strongly implied that no-one should argue. And he didn’t, but he wasn’t happy about it. He let out a scoff and turned his head away from me.

That was the last of the conversation until Sirius declared that he was going to bed, and strode off and up the stairs before another word was spoken. Alastair announced that he was off home shortly after and Remus and Tonks that same. That left Bill, Fleur, Molly and myself. Fleur seemed to sense that it was time for her to go to bed and she left with a kiss to Bill’s head.

Molly waited a few minutes to make sure that no-one was on the stairs before she got up from the chair and rushed over to me. Immediately, I was pulled into a hug and we both clung to each other for a minute before another pair of arms joined and we were squeezed even tighter.

I was the first to begin crying. After being away from my family for so long, and after everything that I had been through, it was a bit overwhelming.

Bill started to cry next, his face was pressed into my hair and I could feel the tears he let out.

When she realised that we were both crying, Molly began to gently steer us into the living room. We all sat on the big sofa, Molly on my left with her arm around my shoulders as she pulled my head to rest in the crook of her neck, and Bill on my right, holding my hand and rubbing the back of it with one hand while he wiped his cheeks with the other.

I wrapped my free hand around Molly’s waist and squeezed to bring us closer together.

“They had dragons,” sobs from me “and they used them to,” more hiccuping and sobbing, “to… to…” I couldn’t get my words out and Molly was quick to turn her body to me and wrapped both arms around me. She began to rub my back in an attempt to soothe me.

“It’s okay dear, it’s okay.”

We stayed like that for a while, all mashed together.

“Where are the others?” I asked.

“They’re all in bed.” Bill’s voice was still thick with tears. “We thought about waking them while you were in the bath, but with the state that you were in,” He stopped and I squeezed his hand, “we didn’t want to scare them.”

“Okay.” We were silent for a moment longer and I wanted to tell them what had happened to me in the year that I had been away, but I didn’t know where to start.

I took a deep breath.

“When I got to Tralee, there were already two of His followers there.” I took a steadying breath and sat up so that I was no longer leaning on Molly, her arm was still around my shoulders though, so I was grateful for that.

“It’s okay, you don’t have to tell us.” Bill spoke gently as he continued to rub the back of my hand with his thumb.

“No, I want to.” And I began to tell them what had happened.

It took a long time and we took a few breaks as they told me all about what had happened while I was gone. Sometime during the night, Molly made tea and hot chocolate for us all.

It was only when Arthur came home, that we noticed the time, about 7 in the morning. As soon as he saw me, he stopped, dropped the suitcase he was carrying and opened his arms. I rushed forward and was welcomed into another signature Weasley hug as Molly and Bill both joined again.

“You guys look exhausted, why don’t you all go to bed, I’ll wake everyone up and we’ll go into the garden for a bit and give you some peace and quiet.” Tiredness seeped into me with every word of the sentence. Tea, hot chocolate and stories had kept me so awake that, now we had stopped, I could have fallen asleep where I stood.

[transfenris-truther]

1, 8, 20 :D

Thanks! :) This is a LOOONG one because I’m way too verbose so hang in there.

1- So right now I have three projects going on, two of which are fanfic. In non-fanfic land I’m writing a novella about the attention economy through the lens of a NY City block trapped in a timeline that won’t advance. It’s a hot mess honestly but It’s the only I’ve worked on recently thats commercial so I’m willing to workshop it to death. I’m in love with the concept but the execution has been really frustrating. 

In Fanfic, I’m working on The One’s We’ve Lost which is a pretty straight forward FenHawke fic. I’m actually really excited to write Isabella because she’s a favorite and I think early on she is going to be a pretty major influence on Fenris and I quite like their relationship. I’m excited to try to make the threat Danarius poses a little more real as well and really underline the way his influence has colored Fenris’ worldview and view of himself. I may even expand the number of encounters they directly have with him just because I honestly find him to be a very emotionally manipulative villain and that aspect of what makes him scary never really gets to shine. I’m very nervous to write Anders because I’ve only recently started to like him and I really don’t like a lot of his cannon behavior toward the rest of the team. I don’t want to change the character too much but I do want to portray Hawkes friends as friends and I want to see them be a little gentler with each other. I think I ended up writing a somewhat softer Fenris in Through the Fog and I want to continue that somewhat with other characters. 

I’m also working on a baby project about Fenris and Varania. Not much of it is done yet but I’ve had a LOT of feelings about the two of them and I don’t really want to let them sit in my brain for another five years lol. 

8- I don’t think so? I honestly will read anything in fanfic as long as it’s Dragon Age 2 and it’s got Fenris in it. I have zero discernment or taste. I just consume it all like a black hole. That said, It’s a good fandom for general across the board quality and Dragon Age 2 is more of an obsession for me than a fandom and I’m straight up excited to see anyone’s interpretation. I also read a lot of pwp which I don’t think I’ll ever feel confident enough to write. 

Outside of fanfic I read mostly historical nonfiction (right now I’m big into city planning and civil engineering- when I started Through the Fog it was historical insurgent groups which inspired a lot of Fog Warriors tidbits)  and teen fantasy with the occasional popular novel thrown in. 

20- These are all from Through the Fog because I’m actually really proud of that Fic. 

One of the big themes in that story especially in the first few chapters is self-knowledge and identity. I think that Fenris has really refused to know himself, to feel anything, to have preferences, and the reality of interacting with the Fog warriors over and over again forces him to define himself. Eleida does it a lot, even unintentionally, but she’s always asking him questions about himself, “Do you like women,” “Do you have a skill?” “Why aren’t you angry about this that or the other thing?” And the reason why they fight so often isn’t even really that she doesn’t like the answers that he gives. It’s more that she understands he’s always trying to avoid defining himself, avoid having an identity because he thinks that knowledge can hurt him. And the desire for that knowledge has been used against him before, and it’s used against him again when he comes to Kirkwall and when he writes to Varania. He grows to realize that there’s power and strength in having a past and an identity and he pursues that after the events of Through the Fog even when it hurts him. In part because the only thing that could get him to acknowledge the core identity he had built was betraying that core identity by killing the fog warriors and feeling how wrong and horrible it was. 

Similarly, I think traditions play a big role in how the Fog Warriors do things, and they have a very strong sense of heritage and connection to Seheron even though the majority of them aren’t actually from there. They’re not just a found family, but also kind of a found culture with traditions that aren’t passed down by blood but by membership and a shared sense of Justice. That connection to the past is important to them, and it becomes important to Fenris, although I think he feels that a blood connection to heritage and family is what will really bring him peace until after Kirkwall. 

Arran is posessed and definitely a blood mage. So I have a little baby headcannon here about spirits so roll with me. I think just as a spirit like Cole or the spirit of the Divine can embody the form and personhood of a person that has gone or reflect abstract concepts, I think fade spirits can evoke certain shared ideas or past groups. I think that part of becoming a Fog Dancer is becoming possessed by a spirit of Seheron or by a spirit of rebellion or even vengeance. I think when you’re possessed it’s easy to become single-minded about things and you’re willing to do more to protect what matters to you. Arran isn’t the one to make a sacrifice play for Fenris because he cares more about the group and the mission of the fog warriors. They’re his people. It’s Eleida who can make that play because more than anything what she wants is for anyone whose been downtrodden and abused by this system to get back at the people who hurt them, and she’s shown she’s willing to do whatever it takes for that to happen, even getting herself killed.

[millennial-star-gazer]

The Draconic Demon Within: Chapter 4: A Demon’s All-Consuming Rage

The Draconic Demon Within

Genres: Romance, Friendship/Family, Drama/Angst, Hurt/ Comfort, & New Adult Fanfiction

Vera's April 2018 Prompts: Soul, Empyrean, Savage, Memory, Trust, Fear, Unstoppable , Resilient, Supernatural (Implied) Lost (Implied) and Loathing.

Nalu Lovefest 2017 Prompts: Dreams

Nalu Week 2019 Prompts (Implied:) Lost, Curse, Trial, Treasure, Chance and possibly Bare.

Pairing: Nalu/EndLu,( Natsu x Lucy/ E.N.D. x Lucy)

Rating: M for language, steamy and mature adult sexual content (all consensual) in these and future chapters. Reader Direction is advised.(You have been warned!)

Summary: Now faced with the reality of who he is truly is, the son of Igneel must contend with the new darker instincts of his new demonic identity- all while navigating through his ever-growing, intense feelings for a particular celestial wizard. Originally a Submission (semi -au) for Nalu lovefest 2017 (on my previous celestialgeekmage account and now an entry for nalu week 2019 with chapter 3. (Also was on my earliest previous accounts of teamedwardjace/Twishadowhunter in the past. Also part of Vera's April 2018 prompt challenge from fic-writers appreciation on cosmicdragonwizard).

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Chapter 4: A Demon's All- Consuming Rage

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A/N: Hey guys, it's your girl back again with another installment of TTDW! Fun fact: Being temporarily off work for a few weeks due to pandemic has provided some extra free time to edit and posta new chapter for this fic ( which is on account of the temporary closures of public institutions, and public spaces along with non-essential businesses/services in Ontario-the Canadian province I'm from). This isn't to suggest I'm not without fear or concern about the pandemic or potential effects on global infrastructure but at least I'm mostly coping as best as anyone can at this time. Hope you guys are all too. ( A bit more on this in the A/N at the end of this chapter .) Anyway, hope that this chapter and my other fanfics along with those from amazing writers can help you all while stuck at home. All right, that's pretty much my whole spiel for now. Without further ado, here's Chapter 4 of TTDW-Enjoy! 

(Note: Scroll down past the read more button/cut for the  designated legend menu and actual story content).

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Disclaimer: Fairytail does not belong to me, but to the most honourable Hiro-sensei instead, for whom without this work of love wouldn't be possible. 

Read Previous Chapters of TDDW and on platforms here:

(Copy and paste the links into another  window if need be)

A. Tumblr

Previous (Click Here:)  (or here: https://millennial-star-gazer.tumblr.com/post/185917542578/the-draconic-demon-within-chapter-3)

Next (Coming Soon:)

B. Fanfiction (Click Here:) (or here:  https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13113898/1/The-Draconic-Demon-Within-Reupload-from-cosmicdragonwizardaccounts)

C. A03 (Click Here:) (or here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17365061/chapters/40861307)

2. Ongoing Master  Post Of All My Writing (Click Here:) (or here: https://millennial-star-gazer.tumblr.com/post/179665258923/master-fic-rec-post)

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Legend:

Italic: Song Lyrics/Quotes (or flashback dialogue)

Bold: First Person Thoughts

Bolded Italics: Empathized, stylized Word(s) or bloodthirsty fantasies

Bolded Italics (Within and Outside Bracket) including for author's side notes also known as (A/N:) within brackets (though none for side-notes in this chapter ).

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"Your body is full of rage.

Every sinew. It is easy to read.

You speak volumes with a clenched fist."

( Paolo Bacigalupi: The Drowned Cities)

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"Seriously? Luce's alive?

That…. I can't...

A wave of overjoyed relief was washing over Natsu from the spectacular news about his best friend still breathing.

"Hear that Luce?!" He sobbed, not bothering to wipe the moisture from his eyes." You're alive and gonna be okay— Thank God! Really... don't ... know what I'd do without ya…," Scarlet-red eyes remained focused/trained on the face on the motionless angel in his arms.

"Pretty sure the guild and the rest of the people we know would be just as devastated if they lost such an incredible person and wizard . Glad you're okay either way though." Natsu's hands were stroking sweat-plastered strands of Lucy's hair back from her eyes with delicate care .

Really glad she's still in fact alive and kicking…

In that very moment , it was as if the world had fallen away; leaving just the two of them. Nothing else seemed to matter then . Not cold-blooded enemies in the room, or the recent battle just moments before; Not even E.n.d's unnerving metamorphosis. Just a dragon-demon and his most precious star with those subtle breaths, the visible rise and fall of her chest that somehow escaped any kind of major notice before.

Words can't even describe how relieved I am . Digits combed through Lucy's blonde tresses from crown to tip in a physical display of tender affection.

Hmm... Lucy's hair feels really nice. Natsu couldn't help but marvel at texture of her beneath his fingertips .Don't think I've ever stopped to fully appreciate it before .

"Gotta say that your hair feels really nice, Luce." Natsu voiced this innermost thoughts aloud; though his words were coming in soft. ."Smells real amazin' too."

Damn was the appealing fragrance of jasmine with a hint of cyclamen flooding his senses beyond intoxicating."like jasmine and that other flower we saw once— cyclamen, I think. . You've been using a new scented shampoo again, I see. Not that I'm complainin'."

"Psh—Listen to me" Natsu tacked on with a rueful chuckle that was still a bit thick from all that weeping before. " Gettin' all sentimental and crap. Hell... stripper would never even let me live it down if he heard . Still be damn proud of you though just like I am for how well you handled yourself in battle. Why don't we tell him all about it once you're awake and we're out of here?. Bet he'd like that . Till then, the two of us just need to sit tight and figure out our next move, okay?"

Wait ...

The fire demon's hands continued their fond movements- only for blood to freeze in his veins when noticing an unsightly contusion on Lucy's forehead; accented by a small gash just above her brow.

When did this happen? I swear those injuries hadn't there been seconds before .. .

Crimson eyes scanned his best friend's battered frame for further damage in alarm . My God... Natsu's breath caught in his throat at the sight of that line of discolorations on her legs . Not to mention all those scratches along with the small gash peeking out through the tattered remains of Lucy's Star dress .

"Oh Luce..." He sighed, remorseful voice breaking on her name. "Can see that you're in pretty rough shape right now. I'm so sorry. Honestly don't know how or why you had a delayed reaction to all the damage. But this wouldn't have happened if I only had grabbed you and run or got your spirits to transport you to their world, Hell— Maybe we could've both escaped and I could've helped kept you safe while figuring out this new demon form means for us together. Anyways, time to put pressure on your wound."

A hand tore a loose piece of fabric to apply pressure on the hemorrhaging wound. "See? You'll be okay . Gonnal get ya' all fixed up and good as new in no time ."

Damn Luce stills looks like an angel to me, Natsu mused in reverent admiration . Even with those injuries...

"Ooh- how cute!" Jackal's dervisie voice cut  through  the other demon’s reverie; whose arms automatically protectively tightened around Lucy's frame out of fierce instinct-automatic without a second though. Not to mention those two pair of eyes he could sense that set him on edge."

"Aw Damn." Jackal broke in again with a gleeful taunt that bordered on sadistic."That poor,pretty girl of you is covered in ugly bruises and scratches, Dragneel."

That little ...

Natsu's head automatically snapped around to meet Jackal with a baleful snarl. Damn was that all that black rage roaring in his veins all too consuming.

"There's that growling again" Jackal cackled, clearly unfazed at by the alpha demon's bared canines ." Bared fangs and what not. Such a shame what happened to Blondie here , or is it? You really did a number on her, huh Tempester?"

"Huh," Tempester mused, bland disinterest colouring his tone."it seems I did . Kind of forgot that my curses can sometimes have o delayed side effects on people . Who knows? That pathetic wrench might even have internal bleeding.

"You goddamned bastard!" The flame- eater raged, fury boiling over. "Lucy ain't pathetic or some kind of toy to play with ... God.. All those injuries… are you fault and . I swear that You're both gonna pay for what you did to her!"

"Oh-You think so?" Jackal scoffed with let out another infantilizing laugh —beyond infuriating .

"Someone's rattled." Tempster pointed out, listless eyes trained on the stone-brick wall ahead. "Unfortunate."

"You don't say," Jackal deadpanned, with a disdainful roll of the eyes ."But Seriously Though , E.N.D, do you even hear yourself? .I mean getting all riled up over a human girl in that way —talk about pathetic. Sure said girl is extremely beautiful with a killer bod and feisty personality to boot—I'll give you that. But is she worth losing your cool over or fraternizing with? I don't think so and neither should you . God knows all that pent up rage and aggression would be far more suited for another cause. Not to mention, you'd better off without her life tainting your judgement and hindering your full potential as the most powerful of all etherious. So let's resolve this, shall we? Hand over the celestial wizard and I'll gladly dispose of her for you . Sound good?"

" 'Sound good?'Sound Good?!’ Are you kidding me?"!

Good God did those last words only serve to incense the snarling dragon further.

" There's no way in hell I'm gonna give Lucy up or let either of you touch her!"

"Come on Dragneel-be reasonable."

"No-rot in hell!"

"Oh honestly E.N.D.-"

"My name is Natsu!"

"Well okay then, Natsu— Just calm down ." Jackal's couldn't seem to resist reprimanding the fire demon; as if he were some errant child pitching a fit ."You're being ridiculous. Anyways, tell you what. I promise to make her death as qui-"

"Shut up!"

" Quick and mostly painless..."

"I said shut up!" En.d's voice rose to an ear-splitting roar that could've struck terror into the hearts of the gods themselves. "Try anything on her and I swear I'll kill you!"

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To Be Continued

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A/N: Well that's Chapter 4 folks- hope you enjoyed! Now a bit more about the pandemic situation in Ontario . Like many other provinces and countries around the world,, the government of Ontario has opted to shut down/ temporarily close non-essential services, businesses, public spaces and institutions to help curb the spread of the virus for a few weeks (or more) before spring break. Such institutions include all schools and childcare centres/ services in those settings which applies to the childcare company I'm currently employed with. You know on account of most of their centres and programs being based in public schools. (Independently-run Daycares also remain closed. And yes i'm a ECE by trade for any who were wondering or didn't already). Schools and child cares were tentatively scheduled to reopen after April 5th; though the closures have been extended for another month (according to Doug Ford (the premier/leader of Ontario). Not ideal but at least it gives me some extra time for me to work on things alongside my writing(i.e editing upcoming chapters for fics and WIPS). All right folks, that's all I have to say on that subject.

As usual, please feel free to let me know what you think by leaving a comment/review , through a reblog or by any other means. Be sure to check out the rest of my writing while staying tuned for future updates of my fics and new projects along the way! (Links above, in the navigation and in bio If on tumblr . Also on fanfiction.) Anyway, take care and stay safe! Ta ta for now!

[alexandralyman]

Could you write a one shot where Ethier killian or emma has to sing to one another because they have a nightmare? I have been trying to find a fic like this but I cant😞 Just a suggestion :)

Hey @liftinglovley - you sent me this a while ago and I finally sat down and wrote it out. I knew the song I wanted to use - a personal Disney fave that I think is underrated compared to the more famous ones but it perfect as a CS song - it just took some time to figure out the rest. What I came up with was this, 3,900 words, mostly of canon compliant, domestic CS.

Set at some point after 7x02 and before the finale, rated PG

Also posted on ff.net here as part of my Every Page series of one-shots

                                          candle on the water

Minnesota, 1991Children’s Group Home

“She’s faking it.”

Emma looked over Mrs. Cooper’s shoulder at Kayla, leaning against the doorway with her a sour look on her face. The thermometer jammed uncomfortably in Emma’s mouth kept her from sticking her tongue out at the other girl, Kayla had been nothing but a bitch since Emma had arrived at the group home and here she was again, sticking her nose in where it didn’t belong.

“Kayla, you’re going to miss the bus,” Mrs. Cooper said without turning around, one hand pressed to Emma’s forehead. She took the thermometer and squinted at it, while Kayla craned her neck and tried to get a look at the number on the little screen. Emma hunched forward, the scratchy, donated pajamas were making her back itch again and felt damp and gross after a night of tossing and turning and barely making it to the bathroom down the hall before she threw up that morning.

“You’ve got a bit of a fever honey, it’s probably best if you stay home from school today.”

“What?” Kayle screeched, dropping her faux-fur backpack on the floor with a thump. “No way! If she’s sick then so am I, she probably gave it to me and I should get to stay home from school too!”

“That’s enough!” Mrs. Cooper snapped, getting up off of Emma’s bed and turning around to shoo Kayle out of the room. “You already skipped twice last week and now I’ve got to set up another meeting with your principal and your social worker to discuss your attendance issues, you are not sick and you are going to school today, young lady!”

Emma felt too crappy to tell Mrs. Cooper that Kayla had actually skipped school three times last week, not two, and had gone to the mall with two older boys to shoplift cassettes from the music store and had hidden them under her mattress. Besides, Emma wasn’t a snitch, even if Kayla deserved to be hauled off to juvie, snitches got their ass beat and their stuff messed with. Still, she smiled as Kayla angrily snatched up her backpack and went stomping down the stairs, followed a minute later by the loud slam of the front door. Mrs. Cooper sighed at the sound, shaking her head. Emma almost felt sorry for her, but she knew by now that the woman would probably be gone in a few months anyway and a new housemother would come in and change all the rules again, no one ever stayed for long working at the group home and there was no point in feeling bad for any of them. Even the nice ones.

Especially the nice ones, cause it always hurt the most when they left.

Mrs. Cooper was one of the okay ones. She told Emma that she had a lot of work to do and would be in her office most of the day, but Emma could watch TV if she wanted instead of having to stay in bed, as long as she didn’t make too much noise. Emma dug out her baby blanket from her own hiding place and brought it down with her to the TV room, since she knew it would be safe with all of the other kids at school until three. The older kids usually hogged the remote and never let anyone else pick what show to watch, so Emma didn’t even care that the saltines Mrs. Cooper brought from the locked pantry to help settle her stomach were the lame store-brand kind that always broke when you tried to take them out of the package and tasted like cardboard. She clutched the remote tight on her lap all through The Price is Right and when it was over and some dumb soap opera started she started flicking through all the channels, careful to keep the volume down so that Mrs. Cooper wouldn’t get all mad and make her go back to bed. Boring news shows, and even more boring M*A*S*H rerun, that was playing on two different channels for some reason, an infomercial for a cooking thing that could make breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert, and she changed channels again because the grilled cheese sandwich the lady was making in it looked good and was making her hungry. She wished the VCR wasn’t broken again or that they got one of the cool channels like MTV, burrowing a bit more into her blanket.

“And now back to the KSTP afternoon movie, Pete’s Dragon.”

Emma watched as the TV screen was filled with a little, old-fashioned looking town next to the ocean. She sort of knew this movie, it was one of those old Disney ones that had real people and cartoons all mixed together, like Mary Poppins. The older kids would call it a baby movie, especially Kayla, who hid makeup she wasn’t supposed to be wearing in her backpack, but the older kids and Kayla were all at school and Emma could watch whatever she wanted to without anyone making fun of her.

She leaned her head against one of the cushions as the movie played on. Pete was a boy, an orphan about the same age as her, but he had a dragon named Elliott who helped him escape from the bad people who’d bought him and together they made their way to the small town by the ocean. They met a lady named Nora, whose boyfriend died in a shipwreck, and her dad the lighthouse-keeper, and all the other townspeople, living happily with them until the bad people showed up and tried to capture Elliott. He got away, and used his breath to relight the fire at the top of the lighthouse after it went out, saving the life of Nora’s boyfriend, who wasn’t dead, he just had amnesia and forgot her until he got better and had come back on another ship. They invited Pete to stay and join their family, and he said goodbye Elliott, who flew away to look for another kid like Pete to help.

There was also a *lot* of singing. Emma didn’t like to sing, not anymore.

It was kind of a baby movie. Orphans like Pete didn’t just find new families like that. They ended up in foster care and their chances of adoption went down the older they got. The social workers called it statistics, Emma knew it meant that there wasn’t a happy, ready-made family out there waiting for her, or Kayla, or any of the other older kids. In real life Nora and her boyfriend would just have their own baby. And dragons definitely weren’t real.

The songs were okay though, and her favourite was the one Nora sang while looking out over the ocean from the lighthouse balcony when she was missing her boyfriend, even though it was the slow one.

“I’ll be your candle on the water,My love for you will always burn.I know you’re lost, and drifting,But the clouds are lifting.

Don’t give up, you have somewhere to turn.”

                                                      …..

Some Years LaterStorybrooke, Maine.

“How’s the morning sickness today, sweetheart?”

Emma held the phone to her ear with her shoulder, reaching up for the box of saltines in the cupboard.

“More like Killian-tired-to-bring-fresh-mackerel-in-the-house-sickness today,” she said to her mother with a wince. “The smell was just….ugh.”

Snow laughed softly. “Oh, I remember that. I had to bolt from a ball once when I was pregnant with you and they were passing around caviar hor d'oeuvres, your poor father found me throwing up in a decorative urn out on the balcony.”

“Yeah, pregnancy and fish just don’t seem to mix. Which is a little awkward when you’re married to a man who views it as an essential food group.”

“Guess it runs in the family,” Snow said, and Emma could practically see her mother’s smile even over the phone. “You do kind of have my chin.”

She started to nibble on one of the saltines while Snow chatted on, hoping Killian would be back soon with the ginger ale he’d gone out to get after discovering they were all out while she was puking her guts up in the bathroom. He felt terrible about the whole mackerel incident, quickly apologizing to both her and the baby for upsetting them before slamming the lid back on the cooler and taking it out onto the porch. Emma loved that he was teaching her little brother how to fish, but maybe the rather pungent fruits of their labour could stay on the Jolly Roger and out of her kitchen for right now.

“Oh! Before I forget, I got a letter from Ruby, after the baby shower she and Dorothy are going to finally take that road trip out to Kansas that they keep talking about before they go back to Oz.”

It was a little odd that the guest list for Emma’s upcoming baby shower included both the actual Wicked Witch of the West and Dorothy, but such was life in the small town of Storybrooke Maine, where almost everyone was a fairytale character, including Emma’s own husband and the father of her unborn child, the fearsome Captain Hook himself.

A very sheepish Captain Hook, when he returned home from the grocery store toting a reusable shopping bag stuffed with ginger ale, another box of saltines, the good kind and not the lame store brand that always broke as soon you tried to take one out of the sleeve and tasted like cardboard, a bouquet of roses and a scented candle.

Two scented candles.

Three scented candles.

Candles kept appearing from the bag until over half a dozen jars were crowded together on the kitchen table, cinnamon stick, eucalyptus, bayberry, fresh linen. Emma rested a hand on the swell of her stomach and raised an eyebrow at Killian, noting how the tips of his ears had gone red.

“I thought a candle might help if there was any lingering odor from the mackerel, but I wasn’t sure if there were any other scents you and the bean were particularly sensitive to right now so I thought I should get a backup, just in case, but then what if you didn’t like that one either so I procured a backup for the backup, and then-”

“A backup for that one too?” Emma finished, trying not to laugh.

“Aye, well. It seemed like a good idea at the market.”

She’d used Febreeze and a bit of magic to get rid of the icky fish smell once she’d come out of the bathroom, but she appreciated the effort nonetheless and she shuffled forward to wrap her arms around his neck while he shifted his hips to make room for the baby between them. Pregnancy was hard, and exhausting, she wasn’t seventeen this time around and morning sickness had teamed up with midnight heartburn to seriously kick her ass, but she had Killian and her parents and half the town on speed dial, ready to drop everything and come to the Saviour’s aid.

It had taken her years to find the home Neal had once talked about, and almost as long to accept that Storybrooke was, in fact, that place, but now that she had it was like a cloud had lifted and while her life would never be simple, she wasn’t living it alone.

They had takeout from Granny’s for dinner instead of fresh-caught mackerel - grilled cheese, with a side of sauerkraut, because Emma had a craving for it and Killian knew better than to ask why the smell of fish made her throw up but fermented cabbage was OK - and finished the movie she’d fallen asleep halfway through the night before. After their wedding, once things had finally quieted down in Storybrooke (not that they were ever completely calm in a town where Moby Dick might surface in the harbour on a random Sunday and a pair of actual dragons lived in a house down the street and threw weekly barbecues that had a tendency to set neighbouring cars on fire) they’d finally had time for what Henry dubbed Operation Pop Culture, a.k.a getting Killian more familiar with The Land Without Magic. Specifically, the movies, TV shows, books and music that everyone with curse memories was already aware of and even though Henry was off on his own adventure now, they still made time at least once a week to keep the operation going in his honour.

Star Wars. Back to the Future. Indiana Jones. Harry Potter. They made their way through several TV shows on Netflix and watched the animated Disney classics. Which was…interesting, to actually sit down and rewatch them all now that she knew the real stories behind the catchy songs and all the happily ever afters. They’d taken a bit of a break after Peter Pan, for obvious reasons, and Emma was sure watching it had been a huge mistake, but Killian said he wanted to see her frame of reference for all the people that now made up their family and friends, to understand why she had such a hard time reconciling that Mary Margaret and David really were Snow White and Prince Charming at first, or that magic was actually real.

It had been more difficult for the both of them than she’d expected, but just like letting her son follow his own path, sometimes difficult was necessary.

Now they were in the midst of what Emma described to Henry during their enchanted mirror Skype sessions as, “Disney Movies Starring People We Don’t Know and Aren’t Related To (We Think)” that had started after a bout of magic gone wrong had resulted in Killian and David switching bodies, literally on a Friday too, so naturally they had to watch Freaky Friday once the spell was undone and everyone was thankfully back where they belonged, which wasn’t Killian-in-David’s-body sleeping on their couch and David-in-Killian’s accidentally scratching the shit out of everything in the farmhouse with the hook until Snow finally took it away in exasperation.

Mary Poppins. Honey I Shrunk the Kids. The Parent Trap and Herbie the Love Bug (like with Freaky Friday, the originals only, not the Lindsay Lohan remakes) Pete’s Dragon. Escape to Witch Mountain. Emma had seen some of them before, some were new to her, and the easy, family-friendly movies with simple plots and happy endings were just the thing to relax with in the evenings, especially with their own family expanding literally day by day.

By the time David Freeman made it back to 1978 and his parents and brother after travelling through time in Flight of the Navigator, Emma was stifling her yawns, her head pillowed on Killian’s chest and his fingers playing gently with her hair. She was already in her pajamas, or more accurately, his, since the waistband on the flannel pants was still stretchy enough for her stomach and his T-shirts fit much better than hers right now, plus they were all soft and comfy. The baby was already asleep and Emma wasn’t that far behind, Killian took care of locking up and turning off the lights while she made her way upstairs and drowsily brushed her teeth.

“Goodnight, my love,” he said once they were settled in bed, spooned up behind her with his strong thighs warm against the backs of hers, bracing her against any possible storm brewing on the horizon, even if it was just midnight heartburn again. His hand drifted down to her stomach, as it did every night. “Goodnight, little bean.”

Ever since the pregnancy tracking app on her phone had compared the size of their then eight week old embryo to a jelly bean, Killian had called the baby their own magic bean and even though he or she (they were keeping it a surprise) was now supposedly the size of a papaya according to that same app, the “little bean” nickname had stuck.

“Night, Killian. Love you too.”

She was up again around two, thankfully not because of heartburn, but she needed to pee and she was hungry. Emma went downstairs after she’d used the bathroom, leaving Killian to sleep while she rooted around for something to nosh on. The house was dark, shadowed, the half-finished nursery stacked with boxes and Henry’s old room still had comic books on the shelves and photos tacked around the mirror.

Her children, both were with her in some ways, and absent in others.

The overhead light was too bright to deal with in the middle of the night so she flicked her fingers absently at one of the candles and it flared to life in an echo of the magic flaring under her skin. It illuminated just enough so she didn’t trip over the rolled-up bottoms of Killian’s pj pants or stub her toe on any of the kitchen chairs. She wasn’t sure which one it was exactly, but the smell was nice.

Emma started humming under her breath while she debated between what was left of the sauerkraut or throwing some poptarts in the toaster when a noise from upstairs made her freeze. A faint thump, and then another, and then a loud cry that had magic bursting alongside the adrenaline that flooded her when she heard her husband scream. Without thinking about it she teleported herself upstairs and as the smoke cleared she saw he was sitting up in bed, pillows thrown to the floor and the hook clutched in his hand. He had a more modern brace to attach it to now instead of the old contraption of leather straps and buckles, but he didn’t sleep with it on and it was usually left on the nightstand next to the phone charger. His phone was providing the bit of light in the room, Emma could see the picture of herself that he had set as his lockscreen smiling at her and then it turned off and the room was plunged into darkness, but not before she caught a glimpse of Killian’s face, eyes wide and terrified.

“Swan?”

His voice wavered and cracked while she climbed onto the bed, a bit awkwardly thanks to the extra weight she was carrying, plucking the hook from his unresisting fingers and setting it aside. He curled into her helplessly and she felt that his skin was damp, clammy, as if he’d just had a fever, but of course that wasn’t what it was.

“Nightmare?”

A shaky nod that she felt rather than saw, and a wave of her hand and a wish for light brought up the candle from the kitchen, it appeared on her dresser still lit and filled the room with a soft glow. It wasn’t the first time that one of them had had a bad dream, leaving the past and all its scars was still a bit of an ongoing project that, like the nursery, they were working on together.

“What was it this time?” Emma asked, although she had a good idea when his hand instantly found her stomach. After a beat Killian confirmed her suspicion with a single word, “Pan.”

Sometimes it was the Underworld, sometimes it was being the Dark One, sometimes it was something older, like his brother, or his father, but ever since the pregnancy test had turned positive Killian’s nightmares tended to revolve around Peter Pan.

“He came for our little bean through the window…and I couldn’t…Emma, I couldn’t stop him.”

Emma saw that the window had been left open a crack and the curtains were fluttering in the breeze, a small, simple thing, unless you were Captain Hook and your wife was pregnant with your child.

Killian Jones sagged into her side, his arms around her waist and his head on her chest. Peter Pan was dead, the Lost Boys had all grown up and that story was over. Emma dreamed about him too, sometimes, just like she also dreamed about the Underworld and her time as the Dark One as Killian did, and like him she also had her own old traumas making a reappearance. Getting arrested for something and having to give birth in shackles again, or having to leave Killian behind as she and their little bean were forced to leave Storybrooke and forgetting him as soon as she crossed the town line.

Weekly sessions with Archie helped, but in the middle of the night when it was just the two of them they didn’t talk much about the dreams themselves, they just held each other and found other ways to take shelter from storms made of memories and regrets.

She held Killian and hummed to him under her breath, softly at first, the same tune she’d once hummed into a cassette recorder as a forgotten child living in a shitty group home in Minnesota. The song was still in her heart and she drew on it again, but it wasn’t for herself this time, it was for her sailor, lost at sea and seeking his way back home.

“I’ll be your candle on the waterMy love for you will always burnI know you’re lost and driftingBut the clouds are lifting

Don’t give up, you have somewhere to turn.”

The flame flickered and bounced, light spilling across the bed as Killian’s shoulders started to relax and the lingering tension from his nightmare drained away while Emma sang a song she hadn’t quite remembered and never really forgotten.

“A cold and friendless tide has found you,Don’t let the stormy darkness pull you down.I’ll paint a ray of hope around you,Circling in the air, lighted by a prayer.

“I’ll be your candle on the water,This flame inside of me will grow.Keep holding on, you’ll make it,Here’s my hand, so take it.

Look for me reaching out to show,As sure as rivers flow,

Killian joined in on the final verse, his forehead resting against hers as the magic that bound them let them share the song and their voices mixed together in a promise to each other and to their little bean, held between them and loved, so loved already.

I’ll never let you go,I’ll never let you go,ll never let you go.”

[fandom-collective-writers]

The Dragoness Unleashed

Fandom: Ikemen Sengoku

Pairing: Masamune x MC (Mai)

Prompt: I know for a fact that you can be a hell of a lot louder than that.

Warning: A little smut at the end

Word Count: 2154

Written for: Anonymous @ikemen-discord-writers

Written by @kiarigirl

Summary: When the men go off to war, what is a dragoness supposed to do?  Mai gathers a few ladies to assist her in a counter offense that no one will see coming.

A/N: Thanks to the overwhelming support on my last Masamune fic, I have decided that I would make this part 2 of The Dragon series 

Part 1  Thank you to @whalebubblez @muggzc @louveau @prettybird8 @pandapeachez  for requesting this couple get their own series.

Mai watched through the early morning haze as Lord Nobunaga and his retainers headed off to war.  That included the man she was promised to marry, the One-Eyed Dragon of Oshu, Masamune.  It hadn’t been long since she first arrived in Azuchi offering herself as a bride to him as a way of earning protection for her village.    She wore a valiant smile that masked her true concern,  The war would begin soon and no matter how prepared men on either side trained, there would be death.  There was no way to know if or when she might see Masamune and the other warlords again.  For all she knew, they could lose the war which put her village right back in the path of danger.  With that knowledge hanging over her like a Damocles sword, Mai made a hasty retreat back to Masamune’s manor.

Shogetsu met her at the door, as if welcoming her into his owner’s domain.  With little more than a resigned sigh, Mai petted the tiger kit.  “He’s gone off to war, so I guess you’re my responsibility until he returns.  We’ll keep each other company until Masamune comes back.”  The kit circled around Mai’s feet before finally padding off to one of the bedrooms.  Mai moved to the writing desk that Masamune had given her shortly after he had accepted her as his wife to be.  With unhurried strokes, she began writing a letter to her father. When finished, she sent it with a Date clan messenger with instructions to wait for his reply.

Elsewhere, Nobunaga and his men stopped to set up camp.  “We will stop here to set up a camp.  Make certain that the medical tent is protected.”  He recalled an earlier skirmish in which enemy forces had poisoned the water supply and desperately wanted to avoid that from happening again.  He needed all of his men healthy.

Once camp was set up, the warlords gathered around for a war council meeting.  “Hideyoshi, I want you and Mitsunari with me.  We will meet the God of War head on.”  A silent pause was taken as he looked between his remaining three vassals.  “I realize you have fought the Tiger of Kai before Ieyasu but I need your specialty here so I am sending Masamune to face Shingen.”  If he felt any remorse or regret about his choice, Nobunaga hid it well.  “Mitsuhide, you are to aide  whichever of us that needs it.”

With their orders, every man gathered his troops and prepared for the coming battle.  Before heading off to face Shingen, Masamune approached Nobunaga privately.  “Lord Nobunaga!  Might I have a word with you before we head out?”  His normal wild ‘ ready to murder some people’ face, suddenly clouded over as he stood before his lord.  “If anything happens to me.  If I die in battle, promise me that you will honor my promise to defend Mai’s village.  I think she’d do well as a wife to Mitsu--,” but before he could finish the name of the man he trusted Mai with, Nobunaga silenced him.

“You do not have permission to die today, Masamune.”  That was all Nobunaga had to say on the matter.  He refused to promise something that would never need a promise.  He mounted his horse and ordered the march into the midday battle.  Masamune stared wide eyed at Nobunaga before wiping away the concern he felt.  He climbed atop a magnificent black steed and with only a sword thrust led his men towards Shingen. 

Meanwhile, in the village where Mai was raised, a messenger stood before the village elder.  “I see.  This is very problematic.”  He read the words on the letter once again before finally turning to the messenger.  “The battle begins today for you, but for us it never ended.  I will send six girls with.  Tell her I can not offer more and for that I am sorry.”  The elder walked to an adjacent room.  To the dismay of the messenger, Mai’s father returned with six women.

“I am certain Lady Mai will be grateful for the women you are sending her.”  The messenger looked to the women a bit woefully unsure of how they would all get back to Azuchi before nightfall.

Once outside three horses were readied for the journey back to the castle.  “I shall pray for Lord Oda’s success in a swift war.”  The elder looked at the women he chose to help aid his daughter.  To the unsuspecting eye, there was nothing remarkable about them but the elder grinned.  “Be safe,” he advised before the women mounted horses two to a horse.

By the time night fell over Japan, the Date messenger and his six charges were safely approaching the gates of Azuchi.  Mai stood stoic as she watched half the number of people return as expected.  Six, better than none, she mused to herself.  “Welcome to Azuchi.  Come, you all must be hungry.”  It wasn’t a question of if, but rather a command to join her.  “Even you, Tarou,” she hinted, which earned her a shocked look from the messenger. 

Tarou’s eyes were like starless skies as he learned that years earlier each and every woman at the meeting had been trained in espionage.  Chou was one of two war widows who had the good fortune to meet with Mai when she was barely an adult.  Chou, Tarou discovered, was a very skilled geisha.  Emi and Hana were twins who were orphaned at birth.  Their parents believed, wrongly that the sign of twins meant impending disaster.  Naturally they had been wrong about the girls who now worked as maids as part of their spying.  Kasumi, it turned out was the youngest of the bunch.  At the age of fifteen, her village was burnt to the ground.  Shingen had taken her in and seen that she was trained to spy on his enemies; little did he know he was actually training a woman whose life his men had destroyed.  Then there was Yua, the second war widow.  She was the niece of Yoshimoto Imagawa, but had no love for the man.  During dinner, Mai discussed her plan for herself and the six women she had been granted.  

At a camp hours from Azuchi, the cries and groans of injured men filled the night sky.  Those who could eat did while others took turns helping tend to the injured.  “There weren’t as many injured as anticipated,” Ieyasu said trying to sound optimistic despite his usual gruff nature.  

“Still, too many if you ask me.  Lucky none have died yet.”  

The trampling of horse hooves grew louder as they neared the camp.  The dark moonless sky made it nearly impossible to tell who it was until the rider was upon them.  A messenger bearing not the attire of the Oda or even the Date clan but that of the Akechi approached the camp.  The horse slowed but had not come to a halt when the man leapt from it.  “Lord Mitsuhide.  I bring you a message from Azuchi.”  He realized too late that the others were close at hand and covered his mouth with a tessen.  

Masamune recognized the fan immediately, his one good eye stared at Mitsuhide’s messenger.  “Where did you get that?”  His hand reached out for the fan.  

The messenger jerked the tessen back in time to prevent Masamune from grabbing it.  “I was returning from my duties when I spotted a group of women and one of your men approaching Azuchi.  I followed them at a safe distance.  One of the women dropped this when Lady Mai met them at the gate.”  The look of shock fell upon nearly every warlord’s face; all but Mitsuhide and Masamune.  

“I see,” Mitsuhide grinned, trying to provoke Masamune, “and how many women exactly arrived tonight?”  

Masamune’s hand reached for his sword waiting for the man’s reply.  “I was too far away but if it was between three and six.  If they doubled up on horses that is.”  He tossed the weapon to Mitsuhide.  “Perhaps women from her village?”

Masamune stormed off into the darkness muttering something that no one quite made out.  Once alone he looked in the direction of Azuchi and gave a loud scream of frustration.  The sound was loud enough that it frightened small creatures that had been hiding in the tall field of grass.  

Sometime later, all of Kasugayama and Azuchi men had fallen asleep save for a couple of look outs on either side.  The small band of women worked their way to their directed targets.  Two women settled in the village nearest the encampment of Kenshin while another two found lodging closer to Shingen’s location.  The last two, Kasumi and Yua went to Kasugayama Castle.  There was no way to get messages to Mai, but she trusted that all would go according to plan.  In the dark of night, Mai tripped over a body that was lying hidden in the wide grass.  

She attempted to get up, but a strong hand grabbed her arm and pulled her back to the ground.  She opened her mouth to scream when her eyes finally adjusted to the smokiness of her surroundings.  “Masamune?”, she questioned.  

“Lass, what are you doing out here?  It’s dangerous.  You should go back but I have some questions before you do.”  He pulled her into his embrace.  Oh yes, he had questions for her, like why did she leave Azuchi after night fall and who were those women that the messenger had seen.  Just as he opened his mouth to question her, Mai kissed him, disorienting him and his mind in the process.

She peeled open his kimono, eyes looking for wounds or sign he had been in battle.  When no new injuries were found, Mai smiled down at the man she had started to fall in love with.  Her fingers slid her kimono open revealing her naked body to Masamune.  He stared at this bold as brass woman who wanted to make love to him on the eve of another battle.  He was like a deer caught in the headlights, trapped between what he was doing and should be doing.  “Why don’t we just say I missed you too much to stay home?”

He grabbed tight onto her arms and eased her down over his ever hardening cock.  It was a bad idea, but god he couldn’t help himself.  When the universe sends you a woman to keep you calm, warm and sated, you don’t turn your back on the universe.  He thrust up until his body was almost one with Mai’s much smaller and softer body.  He grunted softly into her ear.  “You know you won’t be permitted to stay.  Come morning, I have to send you home.”

Mai moaned as she pressed kiss after kiss along his neck.  “Are you not enjoying this, Masa?  I know for a fact that you can be a hell of a lot louder than that.”  She teased him for being so quiet when no one else seemed to be awake.  Her fingers danced over his chest until they found his nipples.  

Did she just challenge his manhood?  He rolled her over onto her back; with the right angle and more control of the situation, Masa drove harder into his wild dragoness.  Even with only one eye he was able to see how his actions affected her.  “Sing for me, princess and together we will hit those high notes you are so very fond of.”  Smoldering heat rippled through the both of them as her tight walls clamped down on his thick shaft.  

Her body twisted and contorted beneath her dragon.  Each thrust of his hips only impaled her that much deeper until at last her moans rang like the sweetest melody.  Her orgasm hit quick and hard leaving her in a flinching puddle of splayed arms and legs.  Once certain that he had given her what she needed, Masamune pulled free on her and rolled her onto her hands and knees.  He eased into her ass as he leaned in biting her ear.  “Now, let me show you how a dragon roars.”  

He plunged deep into her, hands latched onto her soft supple hips as he made use of her in ways neither envisioned; at least not on a battlefield.  Masamune’s rhythm and tempo ensured that both him and Mai would be well pleased, if not a little sore.  With nothing but earth to dig her hands into, Mai leaned down making her body into a wedge shape.  This angle was perfect for Masa who let out a loud roar as his orgasm hit and he felt the tell tale spurting of his seed into her body.  Once satisfied, both Mai and Masamune collapsed back to the ground.  He closed her kimono with his arm so that when morning came, no one would see the vision that would one day be his wife.  

[drev-the-procrastinator]

1, 8, 12 and 52 for the writing thingy!!!

Look at me finally answering these after like a whole month lol

Thanks for the ask!

1. Tell us about your WIP!

Which one lol, I’ve got many of them. Too many. Really. That, coupled with the fact that I am a slow writer because I keep getting distracted and procrastinating (like with answering these asks,,,,) means that pretty much everyone on this site will die of old age before I finish like any of them :’D

Anyway, I guess I’ll give brief summaries of all of the… main ones. This is gonna be a long one, fellas! I guess in the order I came up with them? Or the order I’m pretty sure I came up with them in.

TT: My original story I’ve been low-key working on and reworking since… 2012…? It’s a fantasy story, and it is… way too long probably. Also needs a lot of work. Worldbuilding and character building and plot building… At the moment, I guess I could summarise it as, our world gets wrecked for some reason, and the main characters, these two girls, who got saved into another, fantasy world with like… a bunch of other survivors, leave the Earth-refugee camp and get tangled with like, politics? Of that world? Well, politics and then eventually like, a war type thing… I didn’t say it was good, and I did also say it needs a whole lotta work. I’m pretty happy with some names younger me came up with though! Also it has dragons, so. Yup.

Fantasy fanfic: I am very good with names, as you’ll come to notice. Anyway this is a.. Hetalia fantasy fic..? I came up with in, like, 2014. I’m not actively working on this one at the moment, but I would like to maybe write it one day, and my most beloved OC originated in this story, you may have seen me mention her in my tags? I haven’t managed to come up with a name for her, but I call her the Asshole Goddess, because she’s a goddess, and also an ass. So.

Anyway this one’s pretty cliche, and it’s like, an absurdly large cast of Hetalia characters ending up in a fantasy world, where a bunch of other characters, who’d gone missing earlier, have apparently been taken to? Then it’s a journey to find and get them back, friendships are formed and magical things are encountered, but uh oh! They’re mortal here and can die! And many do. You may note I was 14 when I came up with it, so. Well. It is quite edgy. Had some good concepts though!

Kingdom AU: Great with names, as I said. This one is also a Hetalia fic, because that is the fandom I’ve been stuck in forever, though mostly just because I’ve so many fics for it. This is the odd one out in my fics though! This is like, a royalty AU of an rp AU me and my friend made by accident one time? The RP, not this AU, this is all my invention. It’s really just for me and my friend, since it’s based on that strange RP and the main thing in it is like and OC x canon character ship? That’s also why it’s the weird one, I don’t usually have much romance in my fics because I’m not big on ships and just prefer gen stuff, but this one is like primarily romance? Lots of pining. And it’s very soft. And I love this AU with all my heart. It’s also got a whole lotta angst!

Basic plot is the more or less classic, kinda cliche, peasant girl goes to get a job in the royal palace to help her poor family and meets the crown prince, and they become friends, and slowly fall in love.. Except, well, this is weird also in that the end point isn’t them getting married or confessing their love or anything, that’s like...Maybe the midpoint? There’s also politics, kinda worldbuilding? It’s set in like a 1700s type setting, I think, And while it’s not really a fantasy world since no magic, it’s not like, a real world setting. Anyway, yeah, this is near and dear to my heart.

The Home Front Fic: This! This is the one I’ve been trying to work on lately! It’s about life on the Finnish home front during WWII, and yes this is uh, also a Hetalia fic. Sorry. Though to be fair with this one and the previous one everyone’s probably gonna be so OOC and the setting is so different they might as well just be original works lol. Anyway, it’s a human AU, and also had a lot of OCs for that reason because it’d be tough to make a story of this scope with like. Three characters.

Basically! Tino is a 8, soon to be 9-year-old boy living in the Finnish countryside in 1942. His dad’s gone off to war, as well as the farmhand they had at the farm, and his mom and grandma can’t take care of the whole farm by themselves. So when they hear a nearby factory and some other farms in the area are getting extra work force in the form of Soviet prisoners of war, they decide to ask for one, too. They get a worker, his name’s Ivan. It takes some time, since they’re technically enemies, right, but eventually Tino befriends him and slowly he kind of becomes a part of the family… But you know what happened when the Continuation War between Finland and the Soviet Union ended in September 1944? :) Well, I’ll just say that Stalin did say “There are no Soviet prisoners of war, only traitors.”

This one also has angst. But it also has found family! I like it a whole lot, I wish I’d written it already, but I have been having such a hard time starting it. :(

That BNHA Fic: I can call it that because I’ve only got one so far! So this is a My Hero Academia fic, and hmm. I haven’t talked about it too much, but I do like it, even though my focus has been pulled back to the Home Front Fic again. I do wanna write this one!

So this is like a future fic? It’s canon divergent because some stuff happening in the manga rn is not gonna work with the plot, I guess it’ll diverge at least from like… all the New Year’s chapters? I don’t remember what the number is.

Anyway, the main character is Eri, who’s been going to like this boarding school meant for kids with volatile quirks. She wanted to go there herself when some years ago her quirk had gone bonkers, she thinks? Something like that, she doesn’t remember that well anymore, but anyway, she’s going to apply to UA! Just the Gen-Ed, her quirk isn’t any good against robots. She’d love to be a hero, though, she knows so many heroes and she just wants to help people, but her quirk is no good. :( Anyway she’s back in Musutafu for the summer break in her last year of middle school, and she meets Mirio and Aizawa at the train station, and they go around the town meeting everyone! In the entrance exams she meets Kouta, who for some reason doesn’t want to be a hero though he’s got a really good quirk for it, and he’s proud of his parents who were famous heroes! They both get into UA, and she manages to convince him to try to get into the hero course through the Sports Festival, and he does! She doesn’t get that far in the festival though, because even though she’s practiced using her quirk, she’s scared to use it on people when in battle and stuff. Anyway, she’s very upset about it, and when she tells Mirio about how she wants to help people, but can’t, because her quirk sucks, he gets this look on his face and later tells her that he knows someone who could help. They go to meet this scarecrow lookin’ dude, and oh wait, is that All Might?? Why’s he refusing to help her out from Mirio’s request?? And later, what’s this One For All Mirio’s talking about?? And whose kind arms does she keep dreaming of in her sleep??? 

So yeah. That’s the BNHA fic. One more WIP to go!

Space Fic: Back to Hetalia, and this is technically an older fic but I decided to someday actually write it just recently. So it’s my Historical Human AU No. 3. It’s based on a space facts video fact, where it said that in 1963 Kennedy had proposed the USSR and US go to the Moon together, and Khrushchev had been meaning to agree, but then Kennedy died and the plan was abandoned. This story idea was like, but what if they’d gone through with it? And then, because why not, what if they’d included other countries as well? And this WIP was born. It’d be like, the main characters would be representatives of their home countries, sent to take part in the program and they’d all be candidates for going to the Moon, but there’d be only 3 spots on the rocket so like, they’d kind of have to compete for the spots? And the ones that wouldn’t pass would take part in the mission on Earth. So then there'd compete, there’d be personal drama, their personal relationships would be affected by the relationships between their home countries, but overtime friendships would be forged, and they’d all just become… one big ole found family. A space family. A big ole found space family. And the Overview Effect would also play a part. This is kind of on the back burner, this’ll need lots of research and the Home front fic also needs a lot of it, so I’ll try to.. write that first, I guess? We’ll see.

So that’s all my WIPs. There are other fic ideas that I haven’t put much thought into yet so they’re not on the list, but yeah!

8. Do you have any writing buddies or critique partners?

I don’t have any one person who I’ve talked to about all of my stories, but I have discussed my stories with a few people! Both online and irl. I’m also on a couple discord servers that are for writing or where people talk about writing, even though for the most part I’m too shy to talk much on any of them ;u; But the people who’ve been awesome enough to listen to me ramble about my stories have helped me a lot!

12. Which story of yours do you like best? Why?

Aaaa, don’t make me choose between my children! ;__; I love them all,,,

Well, I am very fond of TT, since it’s my own original story and I’ve worked on it the longest… Then again, the Kingdom AU has a lovely aesthetic and those two pining idiots in it… But also, that BNHA fic has some really nice plot and character moments? But also I’ve spent so long researching for the Home front fic and it’s got my boys in it! And the atmosphere in it is so nice, and it has found family,,, But then also… Space??? And even the fantasy fanfic has the Asshole Goddess in it?? And a nice storyline with Liech?? See I can’t choose ;_;

To be fair, the story my dumb brain takes interest in changes every now and then, for example lately I’ve been mostly thinking about TT, the Kingdom AU and the Home front fic, so I guess those would be my favorites at the moment? But a couple weeks ago I was really into the Space Fic, and at the start of the year it was the BNHA fic. So it depends! But I do love them all.

52. Who do you write for?

Well, primarily probably for myself. I do often find myself in a situation where I’m looking for fics or books to read but none of them really click, and then I realize I’m looking for my own story. Which I haven’t written. So that’s definitely a big one! Then, to some extent, I also write for the people I’ve rambled about my fics to, so they might maybe someday get to experience the whole thing through something other than just my ramblings :’D But mostly for myself, I think.

Thanks for the ask again and sorry for taking so long!

[thespearandthecrown]

A Whiskey for Her

AN- Hey fam! So this July/August was insane. Now that September is on its way, I will have a bit of free time to work more on some writing. I am about another 5 or 4 more chapters left for The Sheriff and The Soldier, which, I'm super happy to see nearly completed. Dakota and the gang have been at the back of my mind for the past two months demanding that I finish their story. I've also released the first two chapters of my original story about my gay werewolf dweebs on fiction press. If you wanna check that out, as well as my ko-fi page, take a look at my ‘WHERE YOU CAN FIND ME’ tab on this Tumblr. Without any further adieu, have something that has been a warm-up piece I've been working on for the past three years now. I've rewritten this thing like 800 times. Thanks for your support, I hope this fic finds all of you well <3

Vi hated the 'underground' Piltovian technopunk scene. The venues are usually filled with too drunk mid-forty housewives, whose cheating husbands let them loose for a 'girls night out'. It wasn't like the legendary raves of Zaun, where laws or claims of power meant nothing. Where people could get lost in the flashing lights and pounding beats.

That was where the real fun laid.

The number of people she would bring home after a night of dancing most likely broke some kind of record.

But here?

Void's above the only thing she could pick up is some blubbering wife who wants to get back at her husband.

Too much vengeance and drama for one night.

This, however, wasn't the reason why Vi was in such a despicable joint. The 'boys' from the cop shop wanted to get together and tear up the town. They invited Vi, promising good drinks and plenty of women. Rather than declining, she thought that after the last few busts she deserved a night out.

Sadly, this blew ass.

Her coworkers were long gone, either too drunk to stand or too busy dealing with housewives.

Giving up, she took a great sigh and left the establishment feeling fairly bummed out and in the need of some kind of greasy substance.

She didn't walk far before she came up to her favourite pub, the Brass Gauntlet. Humming to herself, she agreed, instantly craving a Bilgewatian sea bass butty, a specialty that this pub was quite famous for.

The reason why she enjoyed this place came in three parts.

One, the food and drink were good, cheap and usually what she needed. Two, it was a wooden establishment with polished down seats and a lovely smiling old bartender that easily held the feeling of welcome warmth. Three, it was quiet and close to work. Sure the room could be filled with patrons, but it could never get any louder then whispered conversations. Usually, after a long day of hearing the sheriff bitch and complain about Vi's work methods, she would come here to destress and breathe.

Tonight, the basement pub had a small handful of patrons. A group clustered together at the far end chatted quietly amongst themselves, sipping their drinks as they nodded along with whoever was telling a story.

At the other end was a sole individual, huddled in their own booth.

Vi practically fainted as she recognized the individual. Not a day in her life did she ever think Sheriff Caitlyn Deramore would ever step foot in a pub of her own free volition.

With curiosity and a few pints fueling her forward, she made her way to the sheriff's table.

The sheriff had her back to the entrance. Her long raven black hair was tied up into a messy bun, revealing her pale swan-like neck. Her purple petticoat had been removed leaving her in her white blouse that seemed a bit to loose around the neck.

"What is a girl like you, doin' in a place like this?" Vi grinned as she stood at the head of the table to face the sheriff head-on.

Caitlyn quirked an eyebrow at the pinkette. Her brilliant ice blue eyes were accentuated by heavy shadows and wire-rimmed reading glasses. As to what Vi expected, her white blouse had two buttons undone, revealing a bit more of her neck and her collarbone. Vi returned the expression with her own raised eyebrow as she witnessed the rolled-up sleeves revealing the tense forearms of the Sheriff. Her right hand twirled the tumbler of whiskey; the single ice cube gently tapping the glass in the movement.

"Doing your paperwork," Caitlyn replied coldly.

Vi's eyes lowered to the small stack of yellowed sheets. In Caitlyn's left hand was a decorative ink pen.

"Ah, shit, sorry Sheriff. What did I do wrong? I honestly thought I got it right this time. I even got Albert to help me out on this one." Vi admitted sheepishly.

The Sheriff gave a great sigh before she took a swig of her whiskey. "It's alright deputy."

"Why here though? Why not at your office?" Vi asked perplexed.

"Because the bullpen is insanely full with that shimmer bust and the captives will not cease their incessant caterwauling of proclaimed innocence." She muttered lowly, taking another long swig of the amber liquid. "It is very quiet here and the whiskey selection is not terrible."

"Mind if I sit wit' ya? Maybe show me where I went wrong?" Vi asked, both hoping the sheriff will say no and yes.

Caitlyn mulled the thought over, watching the liquid in her glass swirl. With a sigh, she nodded toward the bar. "Get me another round then, deputy."

Vi chuckled. "Not a problem. What's your poison, boss?"

"The dragon's breath whiskey from Freljord. One rock, please." Caitlyn replied as she continued the work set before her.

"Coming right up." Vi turned on her heels With mixed emotions curdling her gut.

She wasn't afraid of Caitlyn, nor hated her. She was just so…uptight. Too serious and work-focused. Usually, the day shift crew would go together to the leather boot, a Piltovian warden stomping ground, with expensive prices to accommodate the large salaries of the trained officers. The shift would all go together, have a pint and unwind before going home.

Every time, Caitlyn would decline.

Out of the six months that Vi had been working with her, she didn't see her cut loose once.

And within a weeks time, she should be working more frequently with Caitlyn once she graduated the progressive and special program they implemented to make sure she was ready for the job.

Frankly, Vi was both dreading and too excited to work with this intense woman.

Maybe this could be the kick starter to get to know each other better.

For Vi to properly understand the sheriff and her insane work ethic.

With a quick nod of thanks and an exchange of coins between her and the bartender, Vi walked back with a pint and a whiskey tumbler.

"You have tomorrow off, right?" Vi asked as she passed the glass to Caitlyn's slim dexterous hands.

"Thank you," Caitlyn nodded. "Yes, I have every Sunday off."

Vi seated herself on the bench opposite of Caitlyn. The pinkette observed the tight-lipped exchange as she flipped to the back of a page and scratched on another. Her jawline became tight with annoyance.

"You seem a bit ticked that you have it off." Vi deduced, taking a mouthful of beer.

Caitlyn snorted. "I am indeed 'ticked'. Albert handles the scheduling and insists that I have that day off, rather than allowing me to work on cases."

"Albert is a good guy. Not to pry or anything but do you ever feel like you could amount to him since you're his replacement?"

The sheriff sighed heavily. "Albert was a great Sheriff. The community loved him, the politicians couldn't get enough of him. However, as much as I hate to say it, I do the job better. He has been a great mentor and has really taught me some valuable lessons with the social aspects of being sheriff. He has trained and trusted me to do better than him, and I'm glad I can fulfill his wishes. I just wish the man would properly retire."

"Well obviously his paperwork reviewing could do better." Vi joked gently.

"In all honesty, you didn't do anything wrong. Your handwriting is just despicable and I need to give the mayor this report so he can show our hard work to the council."

"How rude, Sheriff. It's not like I learned how to properly write like six months ago." Vi grinned teasingly. Then a thought crossed her mind, making her eyebrows furrow in concentration. "Why does the council need to see my report?"

"They are putting a lot of resources to use for you. They want proof that you are actually capable of being my partner, let alone a legal protector of the city." Caitlyn explained.

"So you're helping me look good?"

"In those terms, yes. As much as you seem like you are capable of turning in criminals, they want to see you be an officer, a deputy. Not some loose canon vigilante with no respect for the rules. Sure you may be completing that program, but they want to see your training applied to the real world."

Vi snorted loudly, causing the table on the other side of the bar to take a quick peek behind them. "But that's what I am, Sheriff. I'm not here to slap the wrist of some city hooligans. I'm here to stop the real bad guys. The ones who'd take kids, sell the harmful chemical shit, try to bring terror to good innocent people."

Caitlyn observed as Vi balled her fist.

"I'm glad you have faith in me. I'm glad that you are willing to go the extra mile to help me out. But let them see me for what I want to be." She took a long sip of her brew, then placed it down onto the heavy oak table. She tightened her jaw as she focused on her scarred hands holding the pint glass.

In this, Caitlyn observed the brawler before her. She was in her cracked leather jacket, brooding in the raised lapels. She had freshly shaved the side of her head, showing the dark pink roots. The scent of citrus and mint hit her nose as Vi straightened herself to sit upright. Her violet eyes bore into Caitlyn. They blazed with a determination that the sheriff had started to become quite accustomed to.

She had witnessed this determination a multitude of times in the past six months of Vi working with the precinct. It was normally accompanied by loud snarled curses and frustrated yells. It was smashing through a wall with a broken collarbone, whilst dodging bullets and protecting the hostage in her grasp. It was spitting in the face of political terrorists who threatened to blow the city to smithereens. It was her staying up all night to help prove the innocence of a street orphan who was facing charges of murder. It was her facing these almost impossible tasks with a crooked grin and a crack of her knuckles.

Caitlyn respected this determination, but she only wished the pinkette would give her on-the-fly plans a bit more thought.

"Why do you do this?" The brawler asked. Her voice was stern and serious. "Why put all of this effort when, no matter what, they're going to throw me out."

The sheriff takes a moment to mull over her statement. The tumbler clinks as she lets the ice and whiskey mingle more and more with each twist of her wrist. "Frankly, I am not quite sure, myself." She admits. "Maybe it’s because I know they can sense the potential in you. I understand your skepticism though; the old guard of the city council can be quite misogynistic. It took them a while to have full faith in me."

Their eyes meet for a moment. Caitlyn can see the gears slowly turn in Vi's head and it made the raven-haired woman curious.

Vi regards the sheriff in a new way. It isn't the usual brush off 'we'll deal with the situation as we go' kind of look that the brawler usually gives her.

Caitlyn can't help the small smile that tugs at her lips. "Be careful, Vi. If I didn't know any better it looks like I just earned some respect from you."

That troublesome smirk that drives the sheriff nearly up the wall, spreads through the pinkette's lips easily. "You should slow down on those Dragon Breaths, Sheriff. I think they're causing you to hallucinate."

They share a small chuckle between themselves.

"I think I like this side of you, Sheriff." Vi drawls as she finishes her drink. She signals to the bartender for another round, and the old smiling man nods.

Caitlyn raises an eyebrow, trying her best to not smile. "Don't get too used to it."

[jq37]

The Gary Gygax Job (An Adventure in Two Parts)

I was asked to post my “Hardison forces the gang to play D&D fic” that I wrote for @alexromero​ so here it is. It’s actually just the set up and not the game itself because that would have been a whole undertaking but, anyway, I hope the anon who asked for it enjoys it.

Part One

BASE. Gyutou. Paris.

It's Parker's idea, surprisingly. Well, surprisingly to someone who knows Parker well but not very well. The team is breaking up, at least partially (though the kids have a secret pool running about how much wedded bliss Nate and Sophie can stand before they're ready to get back into the fight). She's not ready to lose two people from her very small inner circle.

"We should do, like, a girls' night," she suggests out of the blue, over the comms while crawling through air ducts (she has some of her best ideas in air ducts, which makes sense, statistically speaking).

"Girls' night?" says Hardison from the van. "You and what girls?"

"Me and Sophie. But also you and Nate and Eliot."

"Tha-that's just hanging out Parker. It's not a girl's night if there are guys."

She shrugs (tries to shrug. There's not enough space in the air duct). "Whatever. We should do it. I miss Sophie. And Nate," she adds, belatedly.

"Me too."

"Me three," Eliot finally cuts in. He's been providing an ambient background of grunts and things smashing into other things for the past minute or so, but that kind of thing is surprisingly easy to ignore after a while. "But can we do this AFTER THE CON???" They grudgingly decide to put a pin in it while Eliot runs his hand through his hair in annoyance. Honestly.

When they call the "Call us if you need us but please try very hard not to need us," number, they get Sophie, which is good. She'll be easier to convince and if they convince her, they've got Nate too. Parker explains her idea and Sophie is very into it: Group activity, once a month, full team.

Sophie's in so they're in business. Hardison puts all of their names into a randomizer and Parker ends up with first pick.

"Greece!" she says, immediately.

"Excellent choice, Parker!" says Sophie, picturing the food and beaches and museums. And then she remembers who she's speaking to.

"Parker, what are we doing in Greece?"

They find out two weeks later and Hardison thinks that it's a good thing he loves Parker to death, because he's pretty sure she's going to get him killed.

BASE Jumping on Zakynhos Island.

"Oh, come on!" Hardison whines as he's tossed a parachute. Sophie is also not thrilled, but she seems to think that encouraging Parker's social skills is worth 5-ish seconds of sheer terror.

The jump order is Eliot, Sophie, Nate (who is choosing to be amused by this whole thing), Hardison, then Parker. Hardison and Parker are the last two on the cliff.

"Come on you big baby," she says. "You've jumped off of buildings before."

"Not for fun."

She touches his chest very deliberately. "Then don't do it for fun. Do it for me."

He shakes his head and steels his nerves. "Sophie's rubbing off on you and I don't like it."

He is so happy to land in one piece that he immediately drops to his back and makes sand angels. From above, he can hear Parker's adrenaline-high scream. He opens his eyes, sees her parachute explode out, and then closes his eyes again. Maybe if he pretends to be asleep, she won't make him go again.

Somehow, Eliot's pick is worse.

He says they're going for a cooking lesson which sounds safe enough. The lesson is at a tiny sushi place in Brooklyn and the chef is some Japanese buddy of his. They're not allowed to know how they know each other specifically (Eliot says he's a "work friend") and they're not allowed to know his name, so they just call him Chef.

Everyone's having a good time and whatever work Chef did with Eliot before, cooking is obviously his calling.

And then…well, Hardison's not sure. It happens really quickly. The door bursts open and a man in dark clothes bursts in. There's a flash of silver from Chef's side of the room and the man drops. Hardison doesn't even have time to jump.

Chef isn't holding his knife anymore, Hardison notices. He looks across the room. It's implanted in the intruder's chest. A gun falls out of his hand and Nate kicks it away.

"What just happened?" says Hardison, trying to keep his voice level.

"It's a Gyutou," says Eliot. "Sharpest knife in the game."

"I'm not asking ab--why would you think I was asking about the knife?"

"Because the guy's Yakuza. Obviously."

"Wait, Yakuza? Like, Yakuza-Yakuza?"

"No, one of the many other Yakuzas out there. Yes, that Yakuza!" In the time it's taken them to have this conversation, Chef has dragged their attacker's limp body into a supply closet, found a clean knife, and gone back to chopping ginger.

Hardison has so many comments that he doesn't know where to start. He just throws up his hands and goes to stand in the corner for a minute. When he remembers that the corner he's in very recently had a dead body in it, he picks a new corner.

Sophie takes everyone for a weekend in Paris because of course she does.

Paris is great. No one tries to kill anyone in Paris. There's no jumping off of anything in Paris.

But…

But it's a little like being on a three-day date with your parents sometimes. And Hardison has been Team Nate and Sophie since day one basically. That doesn't mean he wants to know every museum in Paris they've done it in. Not that he's asking, for the record. But they'll walk in and give each other this kind of smug smirk and he can just tell. It's disgusting.

So, when Hardison's turn rolls around, he feels exactly zero guilt for choice.

"Dungeons and Dragons?" Eliot says with the kind of scorn he reserves for especially bad bad guys and Hardison.

"Oh, I don't wanna hear that tone from you, alright? I don't wanna hear it from any of y'all. Little miss adrenaline junkie over there," Parker blows him a kiss, "And your crazy Samurai friends," Eliot rolls his eyes, "And y'all two making googly eyes at each other for three solid days."

Nate takes a second from doing just that to say, "You're exaggerating."

"He's really not," says Parker.  

"BASE. Gyutou. Paris," Hardison rattles off again. "I did your thing now you're doing mine." He pulls a d20 out of his pocket and holds it between two fingers with a satisfied smirk. "Age of the geek, baby."

Part Two

Nate claims character creation is too complicated for him to understand which is a blatant lie because Hardison has seen him rig an election and manipulate the stock market on the fly and give a guy a nosebleed with his mind like he was freaking Professor X.

"This isn't my thing, Hardison," he says. "Just make a character for me. I don't care about the details. Do whatever you want."

Do whatever you want.

Famous last words.

Hardison makes him a dwarf barbarian character with an intelligence score so low he'll have trouble scratching himself.

Nate texts him a one-word response: No.

Well if you don't like my painstakingly created character you can make your own, Hardison texts back.

Just fix it.

Oh, he'll fix it alright. But first, he has to deal with Eliot.

He tries a different tactic with Eliot.

"Alright," he says when Eliot reluctantly drops in the chair across from him, looking like he's just been plunked into the heart of Gitmo. "You don't have to make a character. I premade one for you. Check it."

He fans out the materials he's printed out that show the character he created--premade for Eliot's approval. He's a human fighter, with a greatsword as his main weapon. He's proficient in several languages, weapons, tools--Hardison had to fudge the rules a little to give him so many skills at level one but it's nothing more ridiculous than what he can do in real life. He even had a sketch commissioned--he knows from experience that Eliot is a sucker for cool artwork of himself.

Eliot's eyes scan the sheets of paper and Hardison thinks he detects that trademark grudging approval he was going for.

"Did I do good or did I do good?"

Eliot looks up, scowls, and then something clearly goes off in his head because a slight smirk replaces the scowl. Hardison doesn't trust it but he doesn't react either.

"OK," says Eliot. "I'll play your character. One change though."

Just one? He can handle that. The way Eliot was looking at him he thought something much worse was coming.

"Sure, what?"

"I want to play as a pacifist."

Hardison's brain BSOD's and reboots in time to see Eliot's slight smirk go full Cheshire cat.

"What?"

"I'll play your guy in your little nerd game, but I want to play as a pacifist."

"You're telling me, you want to play this character, this fighter--a guy whose entire skillset is based on fighting--as a pacifist?"

"Yup."

Hardison scatters the papers in front of him as he thinks of all the high-level encounters he'd planned, counting on Eliot's super buffed fighter to keep the party alive, just like in real life.

"I don't get no respect around here."

While he's reworking the campaign, he gets a text from Nate re: the second premade character Hardison sent him--a sexy tiefling ranger. A sexy, female, tiefling ranger.

You're aware that I know where you live, right?, the text reads.

Not my fault you won't be specific. I'm working on pure guesswork here, Hardison texts back.

Fix it, Nates texts again. Then he adds, Don't forget I know how to hypnotize people.   

Hardison snorts: And I can hack your bank account and spend everything on My Little Ponies. Make your damn character Nate.

Sophie is confused.

"If there's no goal, how do you play?" she asks him over Skype.

He never got a chance to really explain how the game worked and clearly, she hasn't looked it up in the meantime.

"There's a goal. There's just not one singular goal. You usually get some kind of quest and then you choose whatever you want to do. It's an RPG, just without the computer." When she squints in confusion he explains. "Role playing game."

Recognition goes off in her eyes and he realizes how he needs to sell the game to Sophie. "You get to pick a character. Well not pick. Make a character. You come up with a backstory and their abilities--"

"It's like coming up with a cover."

"Yes, exactly. It's exactly like that but you can also do magic if you want."

After she makes the connection, she's sold. The next day, she comes over with her backstory prepared. Or, rather, her backstories.

"I made more than one character because I couldn't decide on playing as a bard or a rogue. They're both very me. Oh," she gasps in much more excitement than Hardison thought he would ever see Sophie Devereaux show about Dungeons and Dragons. "Is there any way I could play as a bard and a rogue?"

"I got you," he says pulling out an info sheet he'd printed in anticipation of her request. "Bam. Sophie special."

"Songfilch?" she reads from the top of the sheet.

"It's not an official class," Hardison explains. "It's kind of a homebrew hybrid I whipped up. Half thief, half performer."

Sophie lights up. "You made me a grifter!"

"I told you this was a fun game."

"One more question," she says. "Is it possible I could play as a vampire? They get the thrall ability which would be useful I think."

"Uh, well you could," said Hardison. "But vampires also can't enter homes without being invited. The whole point of being a rogue is sneaking into houses without being invited to steal stuff. You can't expect them to just open the door and let you…" His words trail off as he remembers who he's speaking to. She bats her eyelashes at him, teasingly. "Yeah. Vampire songfilch. Go for it."

Nate texts him again later in the afternoon. He thinks it's gonna be in response to the munchkin baker character he sent (not a real race or class but Nate's not gonna check) but, miracles of miracles, it's a real character. Not a full character, mind you. It's just sketchy notes for a character: A cleric turned paladin. Servant of the god Helm--god of protectors.

There's not a lot there but there's enough for Hardison to know he actually put effort into it. He thinks Sophie must have gotten to him. Either way, it's enough for him to fill in the blanks and make Nate a character he will actually enjoy playing once he gives it a chance.

An enjoyable character who kicks ass since Eliot is still refusing to.

Parker is actually pretty game about the whole thing.

Which she better be, Hardison thinks. You can't force a guy to jump off of a cliff and then get mad about a little geekery.

She picks her class easily (rogue, natch) but she has trouble picking a race.

"What are you playing as?" she asks.

"I'm not playing," he explains. "I'm running the game. I'm like the narrator."

"Oh." She frowns. "That's lame. It would be more fun if you played."

"Someone has to run the game, Parker."

"I guess," she says. "It's still lame though."

He helps her finish her rogue (halfling rogue they decide), but he's only half paying attention. By the time they're done, he realizes there's someone he needs to call.

Hardison arrives at the game sesh with a guest. "Hey guys," he announces. "This is Chris, my foster brother. He's exactly like me, minus the criminal activity and rugged good looks."

He's also white, but no one mentions that.

"What's he doing here?" Eliot asks.

"Hardison asked me to DM for y'all," Chris answers.

Parker realizes what this means first. "You're playing?"

He nods. "Elven Wizard. I'm gonna hack reality, baby."

Chris rolls his eyes. "You can't just use the word hack whenever you want to. It has a very specific meaning."

"I can if I hack the language," Hardison shoots back as he sits down.

Chris grits his teeth like he's had this argument many times before (which he clearly has). "Let's do this before I kill you. Not in the game, in real life. Are you guys ready?"

Hardison looks around the table: Fighter, Songfilch, Paladin, Rogue, Wizard.

It's a weird group.

He grins.

"Ready. Let's do this."