#hey i have two Anastasia tags now!

[wyvernquill]

Another Dreamling Anastasia AU Snippet

So, this AU somehow gained some new traction over the past few days, and I remembered I still had this in my drafts! It's a direct continuation from the last post - the first time their paths cross, though I think I'll save their actual first conversation (already written!) for the next part. Mostly a lot of background and exposition, but I hope it'll be enjoyable nonetheless! Thanks everyone for your enthusiasm for this AU!!!

(Masterpost here!)

(Tag list, let me know if you want to be added or taken off: @10moonymhrivertam @martybaker @globglobglobglobob @anonymoustitans @sunshines-fabulous-legs @dreamsofapiratelife @malice-royaume @kcsandmanfan @acedragontype @okilokiwithpurpose @tharkuun @silver-dream89 @i-write-stories-not-sins-bitch)

(I don't know why it just won't let me do the proper tag sometimes... I hope the people Tumblr refuses to let me tag will see the post anyway, I'm very sorry...)

---

There is a fight just about to break loose at the White Horse Inn.

It will happen because of a man; a pale, stick-thin skinny thing of a man, barely more than an ashen, grimy face under a mop of coal hair balanced on top of a ragged black coat, loitering close to the fireplace and trying not to be too obvious about soaking up its warmth. At his feet, half hidden beneath the torn hem-line of his coat, there is a bird, some sort of corvid, following the other guests - and their purses in particular - with its beady little eyes.

The bird’s master is watching, too, watching the inn’s staff collect coins and shove them into their pockets, watching the plates and bowls of food being carried about, hungry, starving-

And then he’s noticed watching, a barmaid muttering a word or two to the innkeep over by the beer caskets - and the moment the man’s eyes find the stranger, they narrow.

And in turn, the moment the stranger notices the hostile eyes on him, he seems to brace himself, something feral in the way his lips draw back from his teeth as the innkeep makes a beeline for him through the crowded pub.

Words are exchanged.

Words are exchanged, loudly.

An arm is grabbed - and the bird jumps up with an angry caw, beating its wings at the innkeep’s face, and the scullery boy runs over to help, as does the burliest of the barmaids.

(There’s that fight now.)

The stranger shouts and scratches and twists as he is dragged through the common room, towards the door, growling profanities in a hoarse, dark voice, while his bird squawks, wrapped in the scullery boy’s apron.

It’s a right mess, but perhaps not an unusual one - the White Horse makes quick work of unruly drunkards (and those who are here to pilfer money rather than spend it), and even as some guests are following the fight in fascination and with half a mind to join in just for the pleasure of throwing a punch, most of their clientele barely spares them a look. Soon, the stranger will be cast out into the cold and the night again, far away from the warmth of a fireplace, or the smell of food, or opportunities for thievery. Nothing special. Soon, it will be just a quiet evening, like any other…

If it weren’t for the fact that, over in the far corner, a familiar man, and a familiar something-altogether-else still managing a rather sound impression of one, have been nursing their drinks for a good hour already, trying to drown their failures in ale.

(The humans have robbed Destiny of his powers, torn his realm from him, burned his book - but destiny still shapes the lives of mortals and immortals alike; and it is that power, which makes Robert Gadling look up from the sad remains of his beer, and, for just a fraction of a second, lock eyes with the vagabond currently in the process of being removed from the premises.

That is enough.

With just one look, the wheels of fate are already set in motion, and our story can begin in earnest.)

"Hey, Gil." Hob nudges Gilbert's arm, not taking his eyes off the struggling, furious stranger. "Over there. Look."

"Hm?" Gilbert blinks owlishly, following Hob's nod to the commotion behind him. "Oh, yes, yes. Ghastly, isn't it? Disgraceful, that some hoodlums cannot conduct themselves in public houses with the appropriate decorum - in my days, I tell you, when the Endless were still-"

"No, look!" Hob cuts him off. "The hoodlum. Look at him, really look."

"Hrmmm," Gilbert makes a sound of polite displeasure, and fiddles with his circular little glasses, peering through them and across the room, where the haggard stranger is spitting abuse at the innkeep even as he is in the process of being shoved out of the door.

And then, "oh, good lord!" Gilbert gasps, and drops his glasses.

"You see it too, then?"

"I… yes. Gracious, yes. Like a ghostly apparition." Gilbert gropes for his glasses with one hand, eyes never leaving the stranger. "The physical resemblance - most uncanny. A good deal more malnourished and, ah… rather grimy, it seems… and yet, overall…"

"A dead ringer for Dream of the Endless, isn't he?" Hob finishes, nodding. “Better than any of the men that auditioned for us, certainly.”

“Heaven help,” Gilbert’s voice is weak with emotion, “even knowing it isn’t him, I feel like… ah, Robert, if he were only given a bath, some better garb… it would be as if His Lordship walked again!”

“Would be?” Hob’s grin is bright and hungry, like a hunting dog smelling his prey, as he pushes himself up from his seat. “Will be!”

“-and if I see either you or yer blasted bird thievin’ in here again," the innkeep snarls, tossing first the haggard stranger, and then a squawking bundle of black feathers, out into the snow. “I’m callin’ the coppers! Y’hear?”

The word the stranger spits back, gathering all his limbs and his dark coat around himself as he staggers to his feet and off into the night, is so filthy even Hob would blush upon saying it. A bit rough around the edges, this man, not exactly the model of a fairytale king - but such things can be taught, can’t they. Hob’s seen a production of Shaw’s Pygmalion, years ago, and if Higgins can make a fine lady out of a flower girl, then Hob and Gil can make a Dream Lord out of some vagabond.

“Begging your pardon, good man.” Hob leans against the doorframe, watching the stranger’s dark shape angrily stomp off through the snow, bird hopping along at his side. “Howsabout this, a shilling for anything you can tell me about the man you just tossed out of your establishment.”

“Whot, Murphy!?” The innkeep blinks. 

Holds out his hand.

Hob dutifully deposits one of his last few shillings in it.

“Thank you kindly, sir, much obliged.” A tip of the hat, and the coin disappearing in the innkeep’s pocket. “Murphy’s one of the local beggars. A filthy thief, too, and no mistake. He’s trained that raven of his into it - heard the city even pays him some little pittance to control the birds in the area! They wouldn’t do it if they knew what he was doing with ‘em. I don’t like seein’ him around the Horse, not with the trouble he’s causing. Stealing leftover scraps from tables I can forgive, might even give him a full meal now and then in the name of charity - but if he goes for the pockets of my regulars, the regulars don’t come back, understand? Can’t have that.”

“Course not.” Hob agrees readily. “Bad for business, a pickpocket.”

“Just so, sir. He’s been in the London area for… oh, eight, nine, maybe ten years? Hasn’t got a trade, not very willing to do an honest day’s work in any case, can’t hold down a job for the life of him as a result. Still thinks himself better than the rest o’ us, anyway. I’d leave him alone, if I were you - he’s vicious as all Hell, bit the kitchen boy once and the lad needed to get his arm stitched up afterwards. And that raven - the thing’s a demon, swear to God. A familiar, like witches have. If we were livin’ in a less civilised age, they’d’ve strung old Murphy up for witchcraft and devilry years ago!”

Hob hums thoughtfully. “Do you know if he has fallen in with that crowd? Not idle hearsay, mind, but facts. There’s still some men in London who practise the Old Arts, does he meet with them?”

(Hob has heard that the old Magus of Wych Cross died perhaps a year or two after his greatest accomplishment; for all his powers that tore Endless spectres from their lofty thrones, in the end he couldn’t defend himself against his own son finally snapping, smothering him in his sleep, and running off with the gardener. Good riddance to the old goat, in Hob’s opinion - but he had a good handful of supporters in every major city, and they can’t all have died with him.)

The innkeep takes his time answering, staring out into the softly-falling snow.

“...not that I know of, sir.” He finally says, cautiously. “He doesn’t meet with anyone, really, ‘xcept the birds. Solitary type, is our Murphy, with no family, and no-one to miss him if he freezes himself to death some night. But.”

A pause.

“There’s something wrong about that man, if you ask me. He has a look in his eyes… whatever it is, it’s not natural. Might be magic. Might be madness. I really couldn’t say.”

“I see.” Gears are turning in Hob’s head, puzzle pieces slotting into place, plans unfolding.

A man sleeping rough, with nobody to miss him or know much of him, fierce and angry and constantly on the brink of starvation, looking just like Dream. A diamond in the rough, and quite possibly desperate enough to actually agree to their mad plan just for a few weeks of guaranteed food and a roof over his head.

Dear God. He’s perfect.

“One more question, about Murphy.” Hob beams, half-giddy. “Where do you think I could find him, say… tomorrow?”

The innkeep’s eyebrows rise up into his hair.

“Can’t see why you’d ever want to,” he mutters into his beard. “But very well. On your head be it.”

He names a nearby small park, where Murphy often goes to feed his birds, and is rewarded for it with another tuppence; and then Hob saunters back to his and Gil’s table, already feeling like he can almost taste the promise of eternal life on the tip of his tongue.

(“We cannot know for certain that he will agree, Robert. He sounds like a most prideful young man - he is much like His Lordship in that regard as well, I suppose.”

“Oh, he’ll agree. I’ve been where he is, Gil, and there were times I would’ve sold my own mother to the devil for a warm meal and a bed to sleep in. Not that the devil would’ve taken the old bat even if I’d paid him, of course, but it’s the principle of the thing.”

“That hardly makes it much better. We’d be taking advantage of the poor man’s unfortunate situation!”

“Everyone’s situation is unfortunate these days. And we’d be improving his, on the whole, along with ours.”

“Let it be noted, dear fellow, that I am voicing my ethical and moral quandaries.”

“I really don’t think our plan to scam the Endless is very ethical in the first place, Gil.”

“...now that I cannot possibly argue with.”

“There we are then.”

“However! You will have to be the one to suggest it. I will help you instruct him and present him to the Endless if you do convince him - but for now, I wash my hands of the matter.”

“Fair enough.”)

[halfbakedspuds]

Characterisation through quotes

Taking the open tag from @illarian-rambling to do this.

Rules: write a quote for your character following your prompt

My prompt: Write a quote about your character/s favourite place.

I'm gonna do characters from all three my activr WIP's.

Children of the Stars

Adrian: Wow, what's my favourite place... let's see if I still remember this... Fifty-three Armfeldt Lane, floor five-oh-eight, Hab tower six, Callisto. It used to be a NASECA colonial armory some six hundred years ago. To us? Well, to clan Castellan it was simply Hémar, 'home'. Not a day passes that I don't wish I was back there, even if it would mean more gunfire and bloodshed daily than I've seen in the past six years.

Lyanni: This house, of course. Look, I don't fit in with the nobility, there isn't a Jezdeir left for me to return to, and regardless, I'm safer and happier here than I've been at any time during the last year and a half. Adrian can be a bit of an ass from time to time, but I'd rather argue with him out of boredom and spite than have my rights taken away because some gods-forsaken priest took offence to... my breathing, I guess, I don't know. And besides, the little shit is kinda endearing in his own thorny way.

Wilhelm: My favourite place? I... I confess that I do not know. My whole life has been spent either in places I hated or places I never want to go back to. Now that I'm free? Free to explore and live and do whatever else it is free people do with their lives, I'll let you know when I find it.

The Tempest Prince

Jason: The Archives. The Ordo Magos used to warn archivists and researchers to pack camping gear and rations whenever they went in there. My binge reading and exploration of that place is the sole reason that the Magi have set up lodgings and psychonet spell circles at regular intervals in that place. I don't know whether that's impressive or a sign that I need an intervention.

Alex: You're asking the walker of worlds what his favourite place is? You know, I've seen realities so bizarrely beautiful that they defy human language. Have you ever seen the Roses bloom under the skies of Neureich? Or the endless expanse of old mother night from the orbit of New Iernia? To you, this is all gibberish, but to me they are memories, and to pick a favourite would be a defilement thereof.

Helga: The lowveld in Southern Africa. I once went there on a trip with those two idiots and their mother. Beautiful place, so much more alive and vibrant than Allyria, yet quiet enough to get one's head on straight. To this day, I'll catch a lantern over that-a-way whenever I need to calm down or think. Just watchimg that sunrise is almost meditative.

Echoes of Shadows

Johan: The Zelver Frontier in Zuurveldt. Contrary to what people think, it's not all salt pans out west, in fact it can be downright mesmerizing when those dry hills bloom in early spring. When I still lived on the farm, we used to always take the day the flowers bloomed off. Ha! I guess once a country boy, always a country boy, hey?

Anastasia: When is not wartorn hellscape, Ulyenski forests hold certain... calming appeal to me.

Maire: Th'market square in Rodrickstown. As much as A' 'ate Angeheim an' 'ated livin' in th'Kingdom, Ye've got tae admit tha' our people know how tae do street markets right.

Hans: when I first moved to Neureich, the first thing they warned us about was that a field of Roses is a sign to stay away from an area. I thought nothing of it until I survived my first hellstorm and had watched those things in the storm tear apart my posse only for a field of Roses to spring up in the wake of that hell. Turns out Roses are a sign that an area is susceptible to hellstorms. There's something morbidly poetic and beautiful about such horrible violence being the catalyst for such beauty.

Sasha: Honestly? My old bunk back in Rostov. Never thought I'd say that but I honestly miss not having to sleep on a grimy couch in some foreign port city.

Tagging whomever wants it. Your prompt is: Write a quote about your characters best memory

[kara-knuckles]

Some friendship headcanons about Anastasia and members of my Chaldea

After I got Anastasia from the five star ticket, I have been thinking about her potential relationships in my Chaldea. These are based on IRL Grand Duchess, her portrayal in FGO, as well as the novel Viy.

Georgios

Georgios is among the first people Anastasia warms up to. He is considered to be Moscow's protector (and, even after the capital was moved to St. Petersburg, its coat of arms was still used in a lot of official settings), and he may or may not have been syncretized with earlier Slavic heroes/gods, which made him one of the most popular Christian figures among Russian people. Anastasia would be vary of him at first, because he is also heavily associated with the military, however, things would change quickly once she learns about his passion for photography. In real life, Anastasia was a creative person with a bunch of interests, and famously photography was among them. I can totally see them going on photo hunts together, and, once Anastasia starts showing her more fun-loving side, I'm sure she will start utilizing her Schwipsig ability to create chaos, while Georgios will be ready to take the perfect shots of everyone involved. Don't stay between photographers and their prey visuals, kids!

Once these two get close, Anastasia will start thinking about giving him some kind of present to show her appreciation, and she'll decide that giving him something that depicts him will be funny. It is worth noting that the most prestigious medal in her time was named after him, however, due to her distaste for soldiers, she would consider it a poor gift. Instead, she will give him an old kopeyka coin, because he actually indirectly named it. When it first appeared, it was depicting a person with a spear (kop'yo), though the figure was supposed to be more symbolic and only officially became St. George a hundred years later. I think, the coin from Peter the Great's reign would be the most fitting: that was when the monetary reform acknowledging St. George happened, and he was also the first Russian emperor and the founder of St. Petersburg (duh), so he is an important figure in Anastasia's family history.

There is also a neat detail that, while Anastasia in FGO is associated with winter, and one of the possible inspirations for Viy is specifically associated with the 29th of February, Georgios is associated with spring, since his feast day is celebrated around Easter. So, he feels like a perfect person to bring out Nastya's warmer side.

Overall, I think he sees her as some kind of a daughter figure, while to Anastasia he is her grandpa-in-crime, ready to help in both life and mischief.

The Unofficial Death Club (that has some cutesy official name to avoid triggering Scheherazade), consisting of Nitocris, Ereshkigal and Gray

This one kinda ended up as a backstory to my other headcanon that, after being summoned, Gray became friends with Nitocris and Ereshkigal.

According to her Interlude, Anastasia was summoned some time before the Lostbelt arc, so she probably befriended Nitocris back then. They are both royals associated with death, and their families were screwed by political machinations, so they have a bunch of stuff to unpack, while Viy establishes rivalry with Nito's Medjeds (as shown on the screenshot above).

If we broadly follow the timeline, then Ereshkigal's event happened right before Chaldea was supposed to disband, so she was probably only summoned after Novum Chaldea was established, which makes it around the same time as Gray. Ereshkigal is another figure associated with death, and Nitocris probably heard from Waver about Gray, so it makes sense that Nitocris would be curious about them. The problem is, they are all introverts, so it is actually Anastasia who took everything in her hands and brought them all together.

I don't have Eresh, so I'm not confident about writing her, but Gray is another death girl with magical companion, plus her Arcade quote established that she took some basic drawing lessons (and Anastasia was fond of drawing in life), so there is some ground for the girls to bond. And, as my farming showed, they simply look nice next to each other.

Also, while the "official members" of the "club" are Nitocris, Ereshkigal and Gray, other death related Servants, like the First Hassan and Shiki, are welcomed here. And Anastasia may or may not have tried to persuade them to join.

Doctors

Anastasia's mother and two oldest sisters became nurses during the first World War, and worked with patients until the family was arrested in 1917. Anastasia and her other sister were too young for such hard work, but they were frequently visiting the hospital and liked entertaining the patients. Anastasia was very fond of these visits; in FGO, she references this by asking if she can call the MC her patient.

Anastasia holds all Chaldean doctors in high regard, because she saw first hand how hard yet important their job is, and sometimes visits them while they work. Her feelings towards Sanson are rather mixed, him being an executioner and all. However, the crazy Nightingale is right up her valley! As a figure of winter herself, Nastya was very pleased that she eventually became a Santa. Asclepius isn't very fond of her visits, but he comes to acknowledge that keeping patients in high spirits is also a form of treatment.

Beni-Enma

This one is less about Anastasia and more about Viy. Enma-tei welcomes all sorts of supernatural beings, including Elementals, so it's not that weird that Viy might have visited it at some point (and recommended it to Anastasia, hence her presence in the Sparrow Inn event). It is also interesting that, while their stories are very different, both Beni-Enma's backstory and the novel Viy feature dead girls, supernatural beings and haunted buildings.

Anastasia is curious about, yet a bit vary of Beni-Enma. Beni can detect lies, which is unfortunate for a prankster like Anastasia, however, that only promts her to learn to be more creative with her truths. Beni-Enma, in turn, calls for her help whenever she has monkey problems, because Anastasia kinda established herself as their boss during her stay in the inn.

[laurenkate79]

The Actor & I: PART THREE – New iMessage: “Hiiiya it’s Austin”

This is part three of a very long, SLOW BURN series on Austin Butler and a Production Assistant on set of Elvis (2022). 

Part One is here!  Part Two is here!

Anything italicized is main character’s thoughts! 

Warnings: Fluff, eventual Spoilers for Elvis (2022), mild language (If i missed anything, please comment so i can add!) 

Tags: @manddor @pumkiinpasties @its-funny-til-its-not

(Let me know if you’d like to be added!)

Please, if you like this, share it, comment, like it and enjoy! xx

As everyone parts ways after the meeting, Alison tells you she’ll see you back at your normal office not on the studio lot. As soon as you get in the car, you release a breath you didn’t realize you were holding. You start the car and just stare ahead at the windshield, zoning out. You just exchanged numbers….with Austin Butler…. Your phone’s text tone snaps you out of your thoughts and you rummage through your bag trying to find your phone. You see a number instead of a contact name with an iMessage and immediately your heart starts racing as you unlock your phone to read the message.

“Hiiya it’s Austin. Look forward to working together!”

You stare at the phone in disbelief. You just got a text from…Austin Butler…Ana, get it together you just thought “he’s not my type” this morning. Keep it professional, gheeze. Your inner thoughts are right, keep it professional. You think of what to respond with before typing so there’s no chance he sees you typing…

Hmmm… “Me too can’t wait!” No…. too eager and friendly. But I do want to be friendly… Ahhh…. Ok Ana, get it together. “Hii. So excited to embark on this together. Let me know if there’s anything I can assist with…Mr. Presley :P” Okay, that sounds good. Professional, but I’m a friend! Or is it flirty? ANA, JUST SEND THE TEXT. GOOD LORD.

As I unlock my phone again to send my perfectly crafted text, I see Austin is typing… REMAIN CALM ANA. Before you can continue freaking out, your phone starts ringing as your boss is calling. “Hey Anastasia, I’m stopping to get coffee. Do you want anything?” Alison asks you while you are still in the parking spot from the meeting. “Ali, no thanks! But would you rather me stop and pick you up something? I feel like I should be getting you coffee, not the other way around,” you joke back.

After some discussion about the rest of the day, the call ends and you are ready to send a text back to Austin when you see he sent a second text.

“Would love to get together just to go over schedules and some screenings I have planned with Baz of old reels of Elvis concerts.”

ANA, REMAIN CALM. Phhhafjafddjff;df… your mind is a mess. Why is this getting you so worked up? He’s just an actor… A taken actor at that. That shouldn’t even matter, this is work, Ana!! Now, replan your text back. “Hii. So excited to embark on this together. Let me know if there’s anything I can assist with…” No, that doesn’t work now. “Hii. So excited to embark on this together. Would love to meet up to discuss availability. I’m usually free after 6:30ish on weekdays, whenever on weekends. Just let me know!” That seems desperate… hmmm… .

“Hii. So excited to embark on this together. Would love to meet up to discuss availability. I’m usually free after 6:30ish on weekdays or could plan to meet up on a weekend, whatever works for your schedule…Mr. Presley :P”

You hit send on your second perfectly crafted message. Phew, now that I can breathe, maybe I should go to the office now…

[carewyncromwell]

“So much of me is made of what I learned from you -- You'll be with me like a handprint on my heart, And now whatever way our stories end, I know you have re-written mine By being my friend...”

~“For Good” from Wicked

“Life is a road that I wanna keep going -- Love is a river I wanna keep flowing... In the end, I wanna be standing At the beginning with you.”

~“At the Beginning” from Anastasia

x~x~x~x

*sniffles* Hey Rowan...it’s been a long time since I’ve drawn you, huh? 😢

Okay, so I was listening to some of my favorite songs from Wicked, and the image of Rowan as Elphaba came to my mind, and I just had to draw it (I mean, seriously, Elphie already looks JUST LIKE Rowan when she’s a student at Shiz, doesn’t she?? And her witch dress is just iconic, I could totally see teacher!Rowan wearing a look like that). Upon thinking it over, though, I realized I also really never have done a proper drawing showcasing the height disparity between Rowan and her BFF Carewyn, which is objectively friggin’ adorable, since Rowan is one of the tallest in her year and Carewyn is one of the smallest. But Carewyn definitely isn’t a Galinda type (if anything, I think Penny could make a really funny Galinda, in such a situation 😂)...so I decided to dress Carewyn up in two of Anya’s dresses from the Broadway musical version of Anastasia! Just like I’ve already associated Rowan with Elphaba previously by including The Wizard and I on their playlist, I’ve also associated Carewyn with Anastasia previously by drawing her in Anya’s dresses twice before, though admittedly ones from the Don Bluth film rather than the musical. So yeah, this really came together to create something cute -- Carewyn and Rowan, both at the beginning of their journey in first year and at the end in their sixth year, right before that terrible twist in their tale. If you’d like to read some gameplay posts of Carewyn and Rowan’s first meeting and budding friendship, you can always consult this tag! 💔 

Hope you guys enjoy this! As always, please consider liking/reblogging/commenting, and I hope your night is magical! ✨

[asahipleaseloveme]

In a Crowd of Thousands ~ Kageyama

Kageyama x reader

Warnings: none; let me know if there are any I missed

Word Count: 1.5k

Author's Note: Nothing really. First time writing Kageyama and it might seem a little out of character. Feedback is always appreciated.

Tagging: @goldenshoyo

Based on: "In a Crowd of Thousands" from Anastasia

How I stared

In that crowd of thousands

Then I started to run

And to call out her name

As the crowd on the road went wild

I reached out with my hand and looked up

And then she smiled

In that crowd of thousands

I'd find her again

The roar of thousands of fans was deafening. It was the final match for the League Championship. You were stuck in between two fans who were wearing white, gold, and navy blue to match their team’s colors. One was holding a “#11 Ushijima Good Kill!” sign and the other was holding a gold plastic megaphone that had “Schweiden” written on one side and “Adlers” written on the other.

And then there was you. You were wearing your lucky “#20 Kageyama” jersey. It was a little too big for you, but you still wore it to every game you could. It was lucky, because you were wearing it the first time you bumped into the man whose namesake was on the jersey.

Well, it was more that he literally bumped into you.

You had stopped by a shop after one of the first games of the season to get a quick bite to eat and he happened to go in for some post-game hydration. He had backed into you and you were quick to retort.

“Hey, bud. Why don’t you watch where you’re…..going,” you paused as you realized who you were staring up at.

“Hm? Oh, sorry. I didn’t see you,” he said so stoically. “That’s a nice jersey you have on. Did you catch the game tonight?” It seemed as though he was only trying to be polite, not really interested in your answer.

“Oh, uh, yes. I was there. It was a pretty good game! But,” you weren’t sure if you should say it or not, but when could you ever get a chance like this again, right? “I think that #20 needs to work on his serves a little bit more. Two didn’t even make it over and another four were served out of bounds? Those are just easy points the other team didn’t even have to earn,” you said with a little huff.

You weren’t trying to tease him for missing the serves, you were just pointing out what you saw. You also didn’t want to say his name, one: for fear that he might not be who you thought he was; and two: if it was him then maybe he would think that you didn’t recognize him.

Your words seemed to have struck a chord with him. He wore a shocked look on his face.

“So, #20 needs to work on his serves? That’s not a bad observation. Any other takeaways from tonight’s game?” He said with a sneer.

Something about that tone bothered you, so you decided not to hold back. “Well, yeah. I have a few more. But I don’t know if you’re ready to hear about them,” you said with a smug look on your face. This caught Kageyama completely off guard. He wasn’t expecting anyone to talk to him like that.

You turned away from him to finish up your shopping when he called out for you.

“Hey! Wait! Who are you?”

You looked over your shoulder and your eyes met his. You took all of the courage you could muster and flat out said, “My name is ______. And I just enjoy the game of volleyball.”

Once you were out of his sight, your knees nearly gave out. Why had you talked to him like that? He was your favorite player to watch and you insulted him. What have I done? You thought to yourself.

Despite your encounter, you went to the next Adlers game and you still wore your Kageyama jersey. Before the game, the announcers had commented on how Kageyama stayed after normal practice times to work on his serves. Your face got hot. Was that because of what I said? You let out a light chuckle. No, it couldn’t be. It was another well-played game, even if the Adlers did not come out on top this time.

Again, you had gone to the shop. You never felt like cooking after going to an Adlers game. You were picking up some light dinner items when you heard your name.

“______? That is your name, right?” The tall, dark-haired man asked you. “What did you think about tonight’s game, hm?”

“D-did you follow me here just to give me a hard time for being honest with you last time, Kageyama?” His name passed through your lips with a sweetness that didn’t go unnoticed by him. A small blush crept across his cheeks.

“No, I liked that you were able to tell me what I did wrong. I can’t get better if people aren’t honest with me. So, what did you notice about tonight’s game?

“Not so fast there, bud. The first piece of advice was free. But anything after that is going to cost you!” you ruse with a teasing tone.

“Oh, right,” he starts to pull out his wallet to hand you some money.

“Th-that’s not what I meant,” you giggle. “I meant that we could talk about it more over coffee tomorrow morning if you wanted.”

“I don’t drink coffee, though,” Kageyama expressed. “But I could still meet up with you. Just name the place.”

You grinned and named a cafe that was close by.

“Does 9:00 am work for you, Kageyama?”

“Sure. See you then, ______.”

The next morning you had met him at the cafe at the exact time you agreed upon.

You had explained to him what you noticed during the previous night’s game. His serves were better, but he still was hitting them out. The other team’s blockers were all over the Adlers’ wing spikers and he probably should have set to the right side a little bit more. The whole time you were talking, he sat there quiet. He would nod every now and then or let out a quiet grunt. He thanked you for your time and paid for the bill.

“I hope to see you at the next game, ______. And if not, let’s meet back here the morning after my next game to discuss what you’ve noticed.”

Five months later, and here you were. Stuck in a crowd of thousands. Cheering for the Adlers; cheering for Kageyama. Ever since your second encounter, you had never missed a game and he had never missed your post-game discussions over coffee.

The game was getting close to the end. The Adlers had the match point and this was the last set. Kageyama was up to serve. He had missed a few serves earlier in the match and he knew you would give him some trouble for that.

You wished you could give him a boost. You knew what he needed to do. But you were too far away and the crowd was booming. You sucked in a deep breath and screamed as loud as you could, “TOBIOOOOOOOOOO!” It was like everyone around you knew what you were trying to do and the crowd got quieter. And by some miracle, it seemed the Kageyama was able to find you so easily too. You’re pretty sure he was looking right at you.

“GOOD SERVE!” You yelled while giving him the thumbs up sign. You swear you could see a smile crack across his face. The whistle blew and he started his serve routine. He took a deep breath and he tossed the ball up into the air. You were holding your breath the entire time. You wanted to look away, but you knew you couldn’t. He jumped up and smacked the ball. It flew across the net.

Oh no, it’s going to go out, you thought. The other team’s back row was ready for his serve. But as the ball reached the back row, the spin of the ball had suddenly stopped and started to fall shorter than the other team had been expecting. The libero dove for it and was able to get a hand on it, but the serve was too powerful and it ricocheted off of his arm. They were unable to recover the serve. As soon as the ball hit the ground, the crowd exploded!

Fans started to cheer and rush toward the court to get a closer look at the winning team. You made your way toward the court as well. Your eyes were searching through the crowd trying to find him when you heard your name being called. Only one person called your name that way. You began to call back through the crowd.

“Kageyama!”

“______!”

“Kageyama?” You could hear him, but you couldn’t see him. You turned and bumped into someone from the crowd.

“Hey, bud. You should watch where you’re going,” a familiar voice teased you.

“Kageyama!” you hugged him. “Your serve was amazing!”

“Well, you did help put me in the right headspace before that serve, ______,” he stated. He’s usually a man of few words, but he had no problem telling you what he thought.

You are beaming from ear to ear. “But, how did you find me in the crowd?”

“I don’t know how to explain it, but I think I’ll always find you.”

You embraced again.

“So, are we still on for our usual date tomorrow morning, Tobio?”

“What? Why? The season is over. We won.”

“It’s never too early to start talking about next season!”

[robotslenderman]

Do you have any Conclave of Prague Headcanons?

I was actually writing a post on this and was about to make it its proper post, lol.

So, I’ll give you the involvement of my former Sabbat vamps (+ Millicent Rue)!

You said in the notes of the original post --

I understand your skepticism, but considering that Theo worked with Lucita, a Lasombra, in Gehenna The Final Night, stranger things have happened. ;)

On one hand, I’m pretty sure there isn’t any penis throwing in that novel.

On the other... they live in the same city, and an outrageous distraction is probably the best distraction you can get. Like, it’s a penis. Everyone is going to want to look to see what the fuck is going on.

Theo Bell’s probably heard of the descendant of Sascha Vykos whose life dream is to throw a penis in Hardestadt’s face, just like her great-grandsire. It’s not common knowledge, but since the Sabbat used to have the city most people who live there have heard of her ambition, even if they don’t know the name of the Tzimisce who had it. She used to live there, maybe she never left. Tzimisce have Vicissitude, after all.

Nastasya poses as Laika Petrova, the Gangrel, these days. She’s seen Theo Bell around at Elysium from time to time, so she’s not surprised to see him there again one night. She’s surprised he’s walking towards her, but not alarmed.

Then he says, “I’ve heard you can get me in contact with Anastasia Sokolova.”

And Laika just side eyes him all, “The Tzimisce? Why would I have any connections to her?”

And he just looks at her.

And she sighs and is like, “FINE. Meet me at the Bow Bridge in Central Park at 3AM.”

So they meet. She does so in her regular Tzimisce form. She doesn’t bother taking precautions to protect herself; Bell isn’t the type to lure an enemy into an ambush when he could’ve just exposed her in plain sight. He doesn’t want her destroyed, she’s pretty sure.

Theo Bell is like, “I’ve heard you want to throw a penis at Hardestadt.”

Nastasya tries not to laugh her ass off, because “are you seriously telling me the Camarilla actually dispatched an Archon over penis throwing?”

“No,” says Theo. “Actually, I want a distraction. You want to pull a Vykos. There’s a conclave in Prague in three months. I can help you get in and make it happen. Let’s talk.”

Nastasya. Is. Delighted.

She doesn’t even ask questions. Just like Theo hoped she would.

And then this post happens:

Nastasya wakes up in the middle of the day. Proteans into the form of a rat. Makes a ghoul carry her in a light-proof box to her sire’s haven.

Shakes him awake. Holding him by the shoulders, eyes bloodshot, she gets right up in his face.

“We need to go to Prague.”

Her sire is, like, so done with Nastasya and her Vykos obsession, but he works hard to be a Good Sire even though she’s been released for a decade, so you know he’s letting himself get dragged there anyway.

Nastasya texts Sullivan’s ghoul. “We’re going to Prague to throw a penis in the face of Hardestadt, you in?”

And Sullivan just takes one look at it and is like “tell her I’ll have to track down Millicent and bring her, because she will never forgive me if she misses out on this.”

So Sullivan gets to work. He and Nastasya, as a favour to him, pull every string they have with the Nosferatu antitribu to track down Millicent. Sullivan finally finds her in a dive bar in Los Angeles, managing the blood trade there under the noses of Anarchs and Camarilla alike.

Sullivan just cuts straight to the chase all, “I’ve been looking for you for weeks! I got an offer I don’t think you’ll want to refuse.”

“You have an offer. Grammar.”

She ditches him as a fledgling when the Sabbat starts fracturing, they don’t see each other for years, that’s how they greet each other. Yeah,  the two of them are just Like That.

“You know Nastasya?” Sullivan tells her. “She’s a Tzimisce friend of mine in New York. She’s the great-grandchilde of Sascha Vykos.”

“What about her?”

“There’s a convention in Prague. Hardestadt will be there. Stasya wants to continue a family tradition. Wanna come?”

Millicent hears “great-grandchilde of Sascha Vykos”, “convention” and “family tradition” and just stops cleaning the glass (she’s at a bar, they’re always cleaning glasses with rags, saves on the water bill).

She stares at him.

She says, “It’s taken quite some time for me to carve out my own part of the blood trade here.”

“Yup,” says Sullivan.

Millicent doesn’t tell him to say yes, not yup. “It takes a lot of maintenance to prevent the competition from muscling in.”

“I’d expect so.”

“And you want me to drop everything and go to Europe to watch a Tzimisce with the maturity of a thirteen-year-old boy throw a lewd body part in the face of a founder of the Camarilla?”

“Yep!”

She stares at him.

Then she says, “Our elders are trying to get the clan into the Ivory Tower. If we’re going to do this, it’s now or never.”

“I knew you’d like it.”

-o-

Nastasya’s grandsire comes too. Having been subject to Sascha’s abuse personally, he often feels like Nastasya doesn’t take Vykos seriously enough, but he has to admit this would be pretty fucking funny so he tags along.

Theo Bell smuggles the ex-Sabbat in. The sires are all deeply amused that he’s helping, and when Millicent is the first person to have the brain cells to ask why, Nastasya tells her, “don’t look a gift Cammy in the mouth!”

Nastasya’s been practicing throwing penises ever since the plan was hatched. It is a bad-dragon esque penis, a foot long and thicker than a man’s forearm, and it’s prehensile and squirming.

She can’t just copy Vykos, she has to outdo them, you know. Put her own spin on the penis. If she ever meets them, she’ll say, “Mine was bigger!”

She waits for the time Theo Bell told her to. A time when the Ventrue are coming back from recess, but nobody’s suspicious the Brujah haven’t quite made it back yet. A time when the conclave hall isn’t too loud and everyone’s just murmuring to each other.

There’s a piercing whistle and a, “Hey, Hardestadt!” Everyone’s heads snap up.

And the penis is thrown. Thrown, but more like hurled. There’s Potence behind it. She wants that penis to hurt.

When everyone turns their heads to see where it comes from, Nastasya makes sure to yell, “Tradition, bitches! The Vykos bloodline sends its regards!"

(She’s spent weeks coming up with the words.)

It’s the best distraction Theo Bell could have hoped for. Even the most bored Kindred with glazed-over eyes is immediately snapping to attention to see the thing squirm its way up Hardestadt’s trouser leg from where it bounced off him and fell on the floor. Jan, who may or may not be in on the whole thing, is trying not to laugh.

There’s dead silence, then the Ventrue start yelling.

And then the ambush happens. The Brujah start cutting down Ventrue.

Hardestadt doesn’t realise what’s happened at first, because he’s trying to get the thing out of his shirt. So it’s pretty easy for Theo to blow his fucking head off.

-o-

Sullivan tells Millicent, “You know, when you said it was now or never, you weren’t fucking kidding.”

Millicent tells him off for cursing.

-o-

So, you know, fuck it.

It’s headcanon now.

[writerfae]

Anastasia AU: The Apple Tree (A not so mini bonus story)

This one actually takes place in the past. Young prince Aiden snuck away from his guards and encounters kitchen boy Talon.

short side note: I feel like I should mention that this takes place in a different universe, not in Russia/France, I only use the city name Paris as a placeholder because I haven't come up with a fictional city name yet

Anastasia AU masterpost

.♕.

It was a sunny day at the palace. Talon sat under the shadow of a big apple tree, peeling potatoes for dinner.

The boy enjoyed the peace and quiet of the little courtyard, away from the buzzing of the huge palace kitchen.

The silence was broken by the sound of footsteps quickly approaching.

Surprised, Talon peaked up from his work, just to see a boy running towards him, quite fast so.

Talon recognized him instantly. It was the prince. The youngest. Prince Aiden.

Talon has never met him before, only seen him from afar.

The nearest he ever got to him was when he served at one of the many feasts, watching in awe how the youngest son of the queen danced around his mother, his circlet sparkling in the light of the candlelit hall, just as bright as his smile.

Now said prince ran up to the tree Talon was sitting under and all Talon could do was duck away as with a cry of "Careful!" Aiden jumped up, grabbed the tree branch closest to Talon’s head and climbed up the tree trunk with a litheness that reminded the kitchen boy of a cat.

Baffled, he could only look up to the other boy who was now sitting on one of the farther up branches of the tree, looking down on him.

He must've made a pretty funny face, because the young prince started to giggle. Talon couldn’t help but to smile, too.

He was about to open up his mouth and ask him what exactly he was intending to do up there, when suddenly there was the sound of footsteps again.

Both boys looked to the direction the sound came from.

Two guards approached the courtyard with fast steps. They seemed to search for something. Or someone.

"I don't see him," said one guard to the other. Then he noticed Talon under the apple tree.

"Hey, you, kitchen boy. Have you seen Prince Aiden come past here?"

For a fleeting moment, Talon’s eyes wandered up to where the other boy was sitting on the tree. The tree's many leaves shielded him from the two men's eyes.

Aiden pressed a finger against his lips to tell Talon to keep quiet, barely surpressing his giggles.

So that's why he climbed up there, Talon thought, amused.

He looked at the guards again. "No," he shook his head. "I saw no one around but you, I'm afraid."

The guard sighed, then he nodded before turning back to his partner. "Alright, let's try to search in the library."

Then they left.

Once they were gone, the prince picked a shiny red apple, then he climbed down the tree, landing gracefully in front of Talon.

"Thank you for covering up for me." He smiled at the other boy.

Talon bowed his head. "Of course, your Highness."

The prince frowned. "Aiden," he said. Talon wasn't sure what he meant. He shot the boy a questioning look.

"Aiden," the prince repeated, sitting down next to Talon, lowering himself to his level.

"I don't like being called by title. It fits my brother better than me anyway. He's the crown prince, I'm just a spare." Aiden shrugged.

His words didn't seem bitter, they were merely a simple truth to him.

"What is your name?" He turned to Talon, his brown eyes starring in Talon’s golden ones with great curiosity.

Talon averted his eyes, unusually shy for the normally so witty kitchen boy. "Talon."

"That's a nice name," Aiden smiled. He looked down at the bowl full of potatoes in Talon’s lap. "So you work in the kitchen?"

"Huh?" Talon followed his gaze. "Oh, no, I just sneak into the palace and peel your potatoes for fun," he said sarcastically.

That made the prince laugh. Talon watched him from the side, amazed, then he laughed, too, until they both were breathless.

After Aiden caught his breath again, he took the apple he picked earlier and broke it into two halfs. One he offered to Talon.

The apple looked delicious, but the kitchen boy hesitated.

He had always wondered how the shining red apples tasted like, had thought about picking one more than once.

But it was the queen's apple tree and the cook had told him to stay away from it.

The queen's apple tree isn't for servant boys like you, she had said.

"Take it. I want you to have it." It was as if Aiden had heard his thoughts.

"Henry and me pick apples from the tree all the time. Mother won't mind and she says sharing is important."

So Talon took the apple half. It tasted even better than he imagined.

He smiled. "Thank you."

The prince nodded.

"Why did the guards look for you?" Talon asked after a while, his curiosity finally winning over. Hopefully it wasn't a rude question.

"They're my personal guards. They are supposed to watch me all the time. It's annoying. I feel like a baby. I'm not even sick anymore, it's not fair that mother sends them after me all the time."

He pouted. The older boy found that adorable.

"And since my brothers are in Paris, no one wants to play with me anymore, so I made up my own game." Aiden grinned smugly.

"Getting away from your guards?" Talon asked.

Aiden laughed. "Exactly. Almost like hide and seek. Just better." He leaned back against the tree trunk.

"Hide and seek, huh?" someone said suddenly, making the two boys flinch at the unexpected noise.

There on the balcony stood a young woman Talon recognized as the queen's sister, Aiden's aunt.

Amused, the young woman looked at the scene in front of her. And at the caught look on her nephew's face.

"Don't worry, I won't give you away. But you should go back to your guards, before they start to declare a state of emergency."

She leaned forward slightly and grinned. "Or worse, they'll tell your mother. You wouldn't want that, would you? That would mean no apple pie for you."

The prince's eyes widened at the implication of a possible dessert deprivation and he shook his head energetically.

It made Talon giggle.

"That's what I thought," Aiden's aunt said. "Now stop keeping that poor boy from his work and come. It's time for your history lesson."

With that, she disappeared.

Aiden stood up as well, dusting off his pants.

"I'm sorry, I have to go." He pouted again, as if he'd like to stay longer.

Talon wouldn't mind him staying a bit longer. But who was he to keep a prince from his duty?

He was lucky that the boy even talked to him in the first place. Princes weren't supposed to talk to kitchen boys after all.

So he just nodded.

"It was nice meeting you, Talon. Maybe we'll walk into each other again some time."

He bowed to the blonde and with a last wave of goodbye, the two boys separated.

Ever since that day, Prince Aiden would greet a certain kitchen boy with a smile and a wave every time they crossed paths and said kitchen boy always bowed in response, small smile on his normally so serious face.

.♕.

This turned out to be not that short after all, oops xD

tag list (Anastasia AU): @rise-again-2001 @thegirlwithnonickname @annoyingwritingtrash

tag list: @shattered-starrs @soupopoireau @a-ray-of-moonshine @quill-of-doom @heyabella @vibinwiththehomies @elisabethrosewrites @charleeyy @iced-ginger-tea @hell-yeah-fantasy @violetcancerian @that-one-potato-blep @annoyingwritingtrash @stardustspiral @shipdest @writingqueensworld @imintheunderworld @thewalkingnerdx @abalonetea @the-starlight-chills @fictional-semantics @cordaks @kpmccolgan @deekshablogs @myhusbandsasemni @magsiswritingnow @a-box-without-hinges @meiyanaalexia @contes-de-rheio @rhikasa @phantasticdomains @thegirlwithnonickname @marewriteblr @kimblewrites @daisylincs @treesandwords @writingbyjillian @write-for-your-life2 @deadlycupid @yejidoesthings @nora-theteawriter @ladywithalamp @the-writing-avocado

(if you want to be added or removed from the tag list let me know)

[themetaphorgirl]

“you should lie down”

So I wrote this prompt once already with canon Spencer and the team...

...but since it was prompted a second time, I thought I would fill it with little baby boarding school Spencer!

(you can prompt me with anything from this list, or anything you want!)

things I’ve written | boarding school AU tag | my ff.net | my AO3

----------

Hotch frowned. Spencer’s books were spread across the library table, his backpack was propped up on a chair, and the papers were covered in his scribbled handwriting...but Spencer was nowhere to be found.

“Spencer?” he said tentatively.

“...down here.”

Hotch frowned and looked under the table. Spencer sat cross-legged in the small space, surrounded by books, his chin resting in his hand. “We didn’t see you at lunch,” he said.

Spencer drummed his fingertips against his cheek. “Wasn’t hungry.”

Hotch crouched down, frustration mounting his chest. “We’ve been worried,” he said. “No one’s seen you or heard from you in hours.” Spencer raised and lowered one shoulder in an apathetic shrug. “Morgan’s been looking for you all over campus. Penelope and JJ are worried.” He cleared his throat. “I’ve been worried. After what happened we-”

He stopped. Spencer slammed a book shut and threw it down. “I can’t do it!” he said.

Hotch blinked. “Can’t do what?” he asked.

“Any of it!” Spencer burst out. “I need to write this stupid English paper and none of it makes sense!”

Hotch rocked back on his heels. “Take a deep breath,” he said. “You’re a genius, Spencer. You’ll be fine.”

“Sure, whatever,” he snapped.

“You’ve been running yourself into the ground,” Hotch said. “When’s the last time you actually got some sleep?”

“Some times when I sneeze, my eyes close,” Spencer said flatly.

Hotch sighed. “If you stop and take a break for a second, things will be easier,” he said.

“It should already be easy!” Spencer shouted, thumping his fists against his thighs. “Why is it so hard?”

“Hey, hey, calm down,” Hotch said, his voice coming out more stern than he meant. “That’s enough.” Spencer knocked a pile of books aside and scooted away from Hotch, drawing his knees up to his chest. “Cut it out! Stop having a temper tantrum.”

He didn’t notice Alex approach until she was standing next to him, the toe of her heeled mary jane tapping lightly against the floor. “Hey, Hotch?” she said. “Any reason you’re having a shouting match with a table?”

He looked up at her, fighting back the sudden surge of embarrassment. “Spencer’s...in a mood,” he said.

Alex surveyed the chaotic mess. “I didn’t even know he was here,” she said. She knelt down beside him to look under the table. “Hey. What’s going on?”

Spencer slunk down further, crossing his arms and tilting his chin to his chest. “Nothing,” he said. 

Alex raised an eyebrow at Hotch. “Dad, you want to fill in here?”

“He skipped lunch and no one’s seen him all afternoon,” he explained. “We’ve been looking for him everywhere. And now he’s freaking out over an English paper, of all things.”

“Ah,” she said. “I’ve been there before. You hit that overload point, didn’t you?” Spencer shrugged. “You’re overwhelmed and the easy stuff suddenly feels really hard.”

“It should be easy,” Spencer mumbled. “I don’t know why I can’t do it.”

“You can, just not right now,” Alex said. “You should lie down. Get some rest, and something to eat, and James and I can help you with your paper tomorrow.”

“I need to do it now,” Spencer insisted.

“It’s the same one Penelope and JJ are working on, right, the Shakespeare paper?” Hotch said. “It’s not due till Monday. You have plenty of time.”

Spencer crossed his arms tighter. “I need to do it now,” he repeated, tight through his teeth, and he dropped his head forward, refusing to look at them.

“Spencer, this is childish,” Hotch said. “You need to calm down and think-”

Alex placed her hand on his arm. “Of course he’s being childish, he’s ten,” she said gently. “Hold on for a second.” He stopped and exhaled slowly.

Alex crawled under the table with Spencer, tucking her legs underneath her and smoothing out her skirt. After a moment she tapped his arm, and when he looked up, his eyes suspiciously wet, she started signing to him.

Hotch watched her, fascinated. Alex was a genius with languages; she and Rossi often had conversations in Italian, and she and Emily could speak to each other easily in French and Spanish too (sometimes Russian, but Emily’s Russian wasn’t as strong). Spencer had been enthralled by their secret conversations from the start and begged for them to teach him, so it was no surprise that he wanted Alex to start teaching him ASL when she started to learn.

There was a long pause before Spencer responded to Alex, his fingers hesitant. Hotch couldn’t understand what they were saying to each other but he could sense the need for privacy, so he stood up and started silently cleaning up the books, papers, and pens sprawled across the table.

Spencer hadn’t been himself lately. Not since the day a few weeks earlier when they found him chained to the goalpost. He hadn’t said much about it, which Hotch understood. Things like that didn’t heal overnight. But he didn’t know what to do to help, either.

Alex pulled herself out from under the table, her dark hair loose and staticky around her face. “Is he okay?” Hotch asked quietly.

“Just give him a second,” she said. She pulled the narrow navy ribbon out of her hair, smoothed back the sides, and retied it. “I’m going to close up the library. Don’t leave without me, okay?”

“Sure,” he said.

He piled the reference books into neat stacks and put Spencer’s things back into his messenger bag, the new one they’d chipped in to buy when his old backpack was ruined. The clip of the buckles seemed too loud in the silence. 

Spencer crawled out from under the table and stood up. “Hey,” Hotch said, trying to keep his voice gentle. “You okay?”

“Uh-huh,” he said. He tucked in his rumpled uniform shirt and straightened his cardigan. “I’m sorry for...for freaking out.”

“Don’t apologize,” he said. “I know we’ve avoided talking about it, but...we all know you’re trying to work through a lot of shit. It’s okay.” Spencer’s mouth pressed together in a kind of half smile, his big hazel eyes a little too bright.

“All right, you ready to go?” Alex said as she tugged her blazer on and fastened the gold buttons. “I know that technically I’m not allowed in Lincoln House on a school night, but...if I’m escorted by an RA I should be able to get in.”

Hotch rolled his eyes. “Fine, I’ll sneak you in,” he said. He slung the strap of his messenger bag over his shoulder. “Let’s get out of here.” 

He cleared his throat as Alex took off her keys lanyard and locked the library doors. “So...Morgan says you’ve been watching a documentary on the Romanovs,” he said. “Want to tell me about it?”

Spencer’s eyes lit up. Hotch bit back a grin as he started talking a mile a minute. Truthfully, he only had a vague idea of what the kid was talking about, but if he was cheered up, then he was happy.

It was starting to snow a little, dusting their hair and their shoulders as they walked outside to make the trek to the dorm. Hotch regretted not wearing his coat; it hadn’t been that cold earlier in the day, but the sun had long since gone down. 

It was warmer in the dorm, Spencer’s energy seemed to flag as they climbed the stairs to the seventh floor, his rapid chatting slowing down. That wasn’t too much of a surprise- Morgan had told him that the kid was barely sleeping at night, and they’d all noticed he hadn’t been eating much lately.

Spencer unlocked his door; Hotch reached around him to flip on the lights. “Morgan’s probably at dinner with everybody else,” he said. “I’ll text him and the girls, let them know we found you.”

“I’ll text James and David and see if they’ll bring back dinner for us,” Alex said. She touched Spencer’s shoulder lightly. “Go put your pajamas on, okay?”

Hotch waited until Spencer was out of the room. “What did you two talk about?” he asked.

She sighed as she finished typing the text message and hit send. “He’s stressed,” she said. “A lot more stressed than any ten-year-old ought to be. And…”

“And what?”

“He’s scared,” she confessed quietly. “That part he didn’t say, but...it’s written all over him.”

Hotch took Spencer’s messenger bag off his shoulder and set it down on his desk chair. “He needs to open up more,” he said. “We can help him better if he would just talk to us.”

“It’s not that simple, Hotchner,” she said. “You can’t force him to behave the way you want, just because it makes things easier for you. You have to meet him where he is.”

Hotch fiddled with the strap of Spencer’s bag. He was suddenly reminded of his own memories, his own father, and he pushed the thought away. “You’re right,” he said, a little too firmly. “I’ll try...differently.”

Spencer walked back in and dropped his uniform in the laundry hamper. “I know I was talking about the Romanov miniseries, but I do you want to watch it with me?” he asked hopefully.

“Absolutely,” Alex said. She sat down on Spencer’s bed. “And James is going to drop off dinner. That sound good?”

He picked up the television remote and climbed up on the bed beside her. “You know, multiple women have claimed to be Anastasia Romanov, but no one’s claimed to be Alexei?” he said. 

“Oh, but that makes sense,” Alex said. “All it would take was a blood test and they’d know.”

“Why’s that?” Hotch asked.

“Because of the hemophilia,” Spencer said, as if it was painfully obvious. He turned on the TV. “Just watch, you’ll see.” He paused. “Do you want to stay and watch it with us?”

“Sure,” he said. He pulled the chair away from Spencer’s desk and sat down. “Why not?” He wasn’t terribly interested in the subject, but if it made the kid happy, he’d watch it. 

“Come on, lie down,” Alex said as the documentary started to play. Instead, Spencer crawled onto her lap, curling up against her. It was funny- Spencer hated to be touched by strangers, had even become notorious for spouting off germ statistics if someone tried to shake his hand, but he always seemed so happy and enthusiastic when someone from their group wanted to hug him.

Maybe, Hotch thought, he feels safest with us. 

[rexcoatlarchive]

Do you have faith?

It was the Russian lostbelt. The twins and Mash and the other servants were facing off against Kadoc and waiting for Rex to arrive with backup

Kadoc: it's useless you two! You have no hope of winning!

Rikko: of course we do!

Rikka: yeah, even if we can't bring you down now, when Rex shows up with backup you're screwed!

Kadoc: what backup! You have no one! And even so he probably died facing off Ivan

But as he said that a crash was heard from behind where the twins were, and climbing up a hill nearby came Rex

Rex: whoo! Made it!

Kadoc: you actually managed to beat Ivan? Well whatever we'll still kill you

Rex: man you must really like that servant of your's huh Kadoc

Kadoc: oh shu-

Anastasia: of course he does, that's why we're going to win and destroy proper human history

Rex: well I've got a servant I love too. And she's way stronger then you ice dutchess!

Kadoc: what kind of servant can you have that's so great?

Rex: do you know her? Do you know who she is? Do you want to know her name?

Kadoc: tell me

Rex: this is who she is, she is the morning star and wind serpent, she is goddess of the west and snake of the sun

As Rex talks the earth shakes and thunder echoes out

Rex: she's the earth shaker and storm deity, she's the twin of the eyeless dog and rival to the night jaguar, she's known as Kukulkan, Q'uq'umatz, and Tohil, her symbols: the crow, the Quetzal, the bear and rattlesnake, her mount is the dragon of the cretaceous!

As Rex gets ready to finish fire erupts behind him

Rex: SHE IS QUETZALCOATL!

As he yells this, the serpent goddess flies out from the flames, slamming the ground prepared to fight the ice dutchess.

Kadoc: how the hell did you summon a literal god?!

Rex: I got my ways dickhead

The goddess was engulfed in her own flames, she seemed to be more then prepared to fight.

Anastasia: god or no I will not let my home be destroyed so easily! Now Viy! Destroy her!

Quetz: I don't think so!

As Anastasia sent out her familiar Quetzalcoatl went flying towards her, her flames burning the dutchess.

Anastasia: ah!

As Anastasia was hit with the flames her familiar seemed to disappear

Anastasia: Viy! What did you do?

Quetz: that's my noble phantasm, my flames prevent others from using their noble phantasm briefly

Kadoc: you got to be kidding me!

Then Quetz grabbed onto Anastasia and sent her flying

Anastasia: aaaahhhh!

Quetz: hyup! *she flies after her, grabbing onto to her and launches into her piledriver*

XIUHCOATL!

The two slam into the ground, Anastasia taking the full force of the hit

The destruction causes Anastasia to fade away

Kadoc: no! How did you do this?! How did you manage to summon an actual divine spirit!?

Rex: I have a Catalyst to do so!

Kadoc: how the he-

But before he finishes Billy knocks him out

Billy: that's enough out of you!

Rikko: you did it guys!

Rikka: you beat Kadoc!

Da Vinci, from the shadow border: hate to cut the festivities short but we still need to handle the tree

Rex: how are we going to destroy that?

Quetz: I have an idea

Rex: what is it?

Quetz: we use the same technique the other me used against Tiamat.

Rex: that extinction attack? But she almost used up all her mana doing that! Isn't there another way?

Quetz: I'll be fine mi amor! Trust in your love!

Rex: *sighs* fine, then use it!

Soon Quetzalcoatl is seen riding her pterosaur up into the sky preparing to use her extinction noble phantasm, combing the power of Piedra del sol and Xiuhcoatl she launches towards the tree

Rex: just in case. By my command seal! Quetzalcoatl annihilate the tree of emptiness, recreate the KT mass extinction to erase this world.

As he says this the flaming projectile Quetzalcoatl became is seen getting more intense

Rex: and by my second command! Please come back to me! We've only just reunited and I won't lose you again

The faux meteorite intensifies even more and briefly before impact resembles the winged serpent

The explosion caused by the impact is immense and can be seen all throughout the lostbelt

Rex: and in this moment, I am become death, destroyer of words.

The storm wall is seen dissipating and from his small hill perch Rex can see the love of his life fall unconscious from her attack

Rex: shit!

Rex runs towards the goddess to catch her, using magecraft to enhance his speed and propel him upwards to catch her

Rex: gotcha!

The two end up in the snow, Rex's arms burned somewhat as Quetzalcoatl was still quite hot from the attack.

The group eventually ends up back in the shadow border, the goddess still unconscious.

Rikko: will she be OK?

Rex: sure she will. She would've faded away by now if not.

Gordy: good lord was that powerful. You should've said she was capable of something like that

Rex: I don't exactly like her using it

Da Vinci: how's your arms?

Rex: fine... kinda

Holmes: you didn't have to do that you know

Rex: I guess I was caught up in my emotions. I just kinda moved, without thinking much.

Da Vinci: well try to think a little more next time

Quetz soon starts to wake up

Rex: hey there!

Quetz: hey mi amor, did it work?

Rex: it worked alright. And you're still here

Quetz: I told you I'd make it!

Rex: yes you did

Rex decides to kiss his love, since it had been far too long since the two had done so

A/N: and there we go. Had this one in the back of my mind for a while. Finally put it down on here. Points to anyone who got the reference when I was hyping up Quetz

Probably not working tags

@panyum @hasishtardoneanythingwrong @hasereshdoneanythingwrong @haspaulbunyandoneanythingwrong @hasabbydoneanythingwrong @hasastolfodoneanythingwrong @castlecsejtespeakertechnician @gxymlky @grievouslyxorvia

[anotherbeingsworld]

Bounded by the words.

Pairing: Bryce Lahela x F!MC (Casey Valentine)

Summary: A momento from a patient lead to a new hobby for Casey, as it records the moment of their relationship. 

A/N: It was an impulsive reaction, but.. I wanted to post something and this has been in my drafts for months. I actually have submitted this before, and I am posting this again since it is edited much better than before. Today is the 25th and, honestly... it is a hard date for me in a way. So, I am coping it with fics unfortunately, but... I wanted to post it for a while now and I had shown it to @bratzlahela​ before she went on hiatus; and nikka, this is for you and i miss you soo much ! This is a love letter AU which had been in my drafts for months now. I am also dedicating this fic to @mrs-raleighcarrera​ as a thanks for everything,  <3 I have something planned later, I hope I manage to start it but... enjoy. 💜     (I noticed... my love for letters can be shown.. I am so sorry ;;) 

Tags:  @bitchloveskcbaseball​ , @storyofmychoices​ @jaxsmutsuo​ , @mvalentine​ , @princess-geek​ , @lahellacute​ ,  @this-person-is-busy​ , @annekebbphotography​ , @mrsbhandari​ , @dcbbw​ , @choicessa​ , @choices-confessions​ ,@fantasyoverreality98​ , @baltersome​ , @ofpixelsandscribbles​ , @thundergom​  @starrystarrytrouble​,  @kelseaaa​  ,@bratzlahela​ , @choicesficwriterscreations​  , @lalizah​ , @drethanramslay​ , @arcticlumineer​ , @choicesstan1​ , @aveeiro​ , @eleanorbloom​ , @openheartfanfics , @brycesgirl​  , @rookitcarrera​ (if you want to be removed or added, let me know 💜)

MY MASTERLIST

Casey is assigned to take care of 19-year old, Brianna who is diagnosed with a Gastroenteritis. As she walks in the room, Brianna was burying herself into a book. She smiled at the sight, as she tries to remember the last time she gets a chance to read a book herself. The title on the book caught her attention, with the minimalistic cover that certainly calms her eyes. ‘Bounded by The Words.’ The title says.

“Bounded by the words?” Casey said to capture her attention.

Brianna startled, as she drops the book down to her lap. Her eyes widen as she saw Casey there grinning at her.

“You scared me!” Brianna stated as she places her hands over her beating heart whilst Casey walks towards her.

“I’m sorry Bri, you looked like you were drowning in the book. I had to save you somehow.” She winks at her, as a smile appear on Brianna’s face.

“Ha ha ha, very funny doc.”

“So, what is the story about making you drowned in the pages?” Casey asked as she checks on her vitals.

“It’s a story of two lovers..”

“Typical.”

“Hey, I am talking here!”

“Alright, alright my lady.” Casey bows as she lets herself have fun with her.

“As I was saying, it is a story of two lovers who was bounded by a series of letters. They never really got a chance to see each other face-to-face as the man is apart of the world war before. Their communication only relies on letters, handwritten letters that caused their love to grow each day. Unfortunately, neither of them got their happy ending as the man sacrificed himself into the war leaving her a thousand letters behind as a reminder that he will always be there for her…” Brianna wipes a tear as she describe the book.

“Oh wow… that is really sad.” Casey felt her heart break a little from hearing Brianna talk about it.

“Yes, it is. I ended up crying every time I read it and this time is any different.”

“Can I take a look at it?” Casey asks her as she immediately pass the book to her.

“Maybe you should hold onto it, as a momento for taking care of me and keeping me company.” Brianna said with a small smile plastered on her face.

Casey’s eyes widen,

“It’s your favourite book Bri…”

“Don’t worry, I have a few more copies of it at home! You should keep it and maybe try read it at your free time. I know doctors don’t have much time to rest, so consider it as a self-care gift from your favourite patient, which is yours truly to you.” Brianna insists before Casey could return the book in her hands.

“My favourite patient? How did you guess?” Casey asked with amount of sarcasm in her voice causing both of them to break into laughter.

Both of them ended up talking for a little while, exchanging stories, a few hugs and a signature from Brianna aswell. Patients like Brianna, really reminds herself why she wanted to be a doctor in the first place. She loved helping people, saving lives, but she is also interested in knowing the stories of her patients. During her time at Edenbrook, she had met a lot of people with various backgrounds; a surfer, a lawyer who is living this world as she is. She always felt pleasure in knowing her patients, and Brianna is one of those patients that gives her the sign that she loves her job.

After finishing up her shift, Casey makes her way back to Bryce’s apartment as they often have sleepovers with one another. She makes her way to the apartment, where she was met with Keiki who was furiously typing on her (Bryce’s) computer as her brows furrowed in frustration. Casey immediately took off her coat and make her way to the couch, as Keiki perks her head up at her presence.

“What do you got there?” Keiki eyes the book she was holding as she sat down.

“It’s a gift from a patient, I think I am gonna absorb myself in some literary entertainment after those long shifts.” Casey said as she gets herself comfortable on the couch, she starts to read the book. After felt like an hour, she already had surpassed the 100th page.

The door opening pulled her out from the zone, as Bryce finally arrived from the hospital. Casey turn her head to the sound, and smiled as she saw him. Casey stands and give him a kiss on the cheek, guiding him to the couch where Keiki is still on the computer looking more ease than before.

“So, what did you guys do today?” Bryce asked as he placed an arm around Casey pulling her close to him.

“I am trying to finish up this darn assignment, and its just so hard! Why did I take computer science?” Keiki whined as Bryce lets out a small laugh.

“What did you do today Cas?” Bryce turns his gaze to her, as both of their eyes meet.

Casey smiled as she shows the book to Bryce.

“Bounded by the words? It sounds like a cliché rom-com if you ask me.” Bryce said as his eyes are on the book.

“Hey, I am a hopeless romantic and this book managed to play with my heartstrings!” Casey protested as she held the book like her life depends on it.

“Okay, okay…Enlighten me, tell me what is the interesting scenario you have come across in the book?” Bryce challenge her with a wink.

“Their entire love story consists of letters, and they never met yet they still love one another…” Casey felt herself gaze as she placed a dreamy look on her face as Bryce just shook his head.

“Whatever makes you sleep at night Cas.” He says as he placed a kiss to bring her back towards reality.

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

Casey suddenly felt herself to be inspired from the book, as she felt her heart hold on to the concept of writing love letters. It is midnight, as Casey felt herself feeling awake. She slowly makes her way out of Bryce’s hold as he was sleeping peacefully. She puts on one of Bryce’s shirts and heads out to the living room. She sat down on the floor, with a box full of stuff contains, coloured paper and a huge amount of pens. She smiles, as she proceeds.

My dearest Anastasia,

The darkened days had now befallen us, the roared of the enemy unmistakable. Where it’d be my last sacrifice in the name of thy country. The time has come for me to filled in my word, as I would let myself be pained from the death that followed me every day. Regrets washed over me, as this letter would be the final reminder, where life with you made it very much better. The warmth of your touch can still be felt, as our farewell was playing in my mind for the longest time, a needed farewell that kept me awake on one of these days, longing to be in your touch again. But, even in the depths of the darkest roads, you will always be in thy heart. Forever, and always.

Love,

Roland.

The one that started it all, the final letter of Roland Rosio to his long last love, Anastasia Luvielle as their love continues to grow even after the death of Rosio during the final battle. The inspiration that started it all.

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

Dear Bryce,

It is our first date together despite the hundreds of times we went and spend our nights at Donahue. It is when we are, something. Something beautiful, as one would say it. The 21st night of September, was a date to remember; our first night out as something more. As a kid, I always imagined myself going to the ball with my very own Prince, as we dance the night away.

But, in this case… they were no prince, a dress, a castle, a glass slipper, heck there aren’t any pumpkins involved in the beginning of our story. It was a story of clumsiness, fairy lights and a whole platter of fries. An interesting combination one might say, as it started with grace and ended with a bag of loaded fries from a small vendor.

It was unique, as you told me your jokes as I would find myself getting red, as the sight of your sweet and smiley face. The way we danced around the circle, as the fairy lights were hanging above us, has been a permanent attachment in my mind.

Lights, Fries and Bryce? A perfect combination.

Love,

Casey.

The first of many has been recorded, as she slips it into a box. A small box which is going to be playing a huge role in her life moving forward. Bryce stops himself in his tracks, admiring the smile on her face before moving towards the living room. The memory of their days together, playing in his mind.

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

Dear Bryce,

I don’t know where to start, I miss you. I miss everything about you and, I don’t know how long I can do this anymore . I always wondered why couples would fight over the littlest things and, I hoped that the fate won’t fall down to us, but…I was wrong. It felt like a downfall, and I regret yelling those words at you. You were never a burden, you were the light and I don’t know how I haven’t met you before. My life had changed with you, and it has change again, and… I miss you. I miss everything about you, your hugs, your silly jokes, the way you’d talk at the movies despite being shush away by the audience, especially you. I miss being able to hug you when I was happy, and…I am going to make this right.

Love, Casey.

The first fight, as there were words left unspoken. One of many that made were stained with her tears, as the sadness took over. Her life was different with Bryce, and she didn’t give up. She tried and tried, and tried and try again until one day, she did it right. Neither did he.

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

Dear Bryce,

I can’t believe our time has come, we are finally getting married tomorrow! It is a common feeling of excitement to be a bride, and I am very excited for our adventure next. I always felt like you were the one with the huge benefit in doubt in myself, the day we meet in that locker room at Edenbrook. The first time I laid my eyes on you, it felt like I was going to meet a stereotypical male from a rom-com, but… you are different. A good type of different, you have been there for me since the very beginning.

You have seen through it all, and I am very lucky to be apart of your life. You have always been my number one support through the highs and the lows, and I am always going to be grateful for everything we have been through that lead us to this very moment. I am excited for our new beginning, I will see you soon.

Love,

Casey.

The day they become as one, where Casey Valentine and Bryce Lahela finally tied the knot after all these years. A new adventure awaits them, as a whole new life is looking them with a wide-smile. The ceremony was intimate, as all of their close friends and family members were invited. They got married at one of his favourite places, the beach. As they finally got their happily ever after.

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

Dear Bryce,

I did it. WE DID IT! After all these years, we did it. I am finally pregnant, after all the negatives. We did it, and you are going to be a dad! I remember those days, you were telling me about teaching our  kid surfing, and silently hoping they will follow your footsteps. Our dreams have been granted, and I am truly ecstatic! The feeling of being a parent had lingered on my mind since early on, and… I am beyond grateful to be on this journey with you.

Baby Lahela is 3 months strong, mommy and daddy can’t wait to see you soon. I can’t wait for all of the new memories we are going to make together. We love you daddy!

Love,

Casey.

After a few years of marriage, and trying… they finally did it. Both of them starting a new adventure with their little bundle of joy, the first adventure with the little Lahela. And, they were very excited for it.

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

‘Dad, what is these letters?’ Louis asked in fascination, as he finished reading one of Casey’s letters after all these years.

A smile appeared on his face, remembering the memories from years ago. The day Casey starts to become obsessed over a piece of literature that changed their lives one way or another.

‘Mom loves to write letters, and these is all of hers. She writes it every time we are happy, sad, angry and everything in between. I never understood the purpose of it all, and your mother tends to get emotional over the littlest things and, she still managed to blow me away every time…’ He lets out a sigh, rereading the final letter in the pile. It was written a few days ago.

Dear Bryce,

We have been through it all, am I right? It has been 25 or maybe more years, since our first meeting and I can’t believe it has been that long. We have done an amazing job together, and I am very very proud of what we had achieved all these years. You have been an amazing dad to our little ones, who is not so little anymore. Our little Louis, is our astronomer now, I still remember the first time we were giving him a bath, he was a quiet baby but with a lot of determination and a gold heart, just like his father. Our little girls Kailani and Alexandra, has managed to follow in our footsteps, even though we warned them about the stress and pressure of med school along with warnings from our dear friends, and I can’t believe they did it. They were always so smart, and I can’t say how proud of I am of our little angels. Bryce, you have been my rock, my best friend, my lover, my partner and… I will always cherish you in my heart. You are the first person who never gave up on me, and… life with you, has been the best chapter in my life. You have made me a better person, you have seen me in my lowest and you didn’t left. You were there through thick and thin, and I love you for it. I will never forget the day where we said, the three words. The day where our life started to change every day. You have given me unconditional love and care, you have made my life the way it is today. My mom, always wondered how I came across someone like you before, and I would laugh; fate brought us together and Edenbrook was the start of it all.

Unfortunately, some stories would come to an end. And, the end of mine is coming very soon; take care of the kids, and tell them that mom is very proud of them. My love, you had made me the happiest and… even in the depths of the darkest roads, you will always be in thy heart. Forever, and always.  

Yours,

Casey Lahela.

The end of the letter, the one line that started it all, as a small smiled appear on his face despite the tears falling down on his cheeks. Alexandra and Keilani made their way as they pulled Bryce into a deep hug, letting their sorrows take over breaking every façade that they had. Louis joins in too, as they stood there together, as a family. Her memories were playing in his mind, a recording of every sense from their little time together made it into the highlight as, the letters felt like a metaphor, a feeling somehow she is there with them, looking down with a huge smile. A smile of satisfaction, as a chance to finally let herself go.

‘I will always love you Casey. Forever and always.’ He whispered slowly, as their life story was flashed through his eyes which is the best moments of his life.

THE END.

[laurenkate79]

The Actor & I: PART TWENTY-THREE – Thisty Boy, Huh?

This is part TWENTY THREE of a very long, SLOW BURN series on Austin Butler and a Production Assistant on set of Elvis (2022).

Masterlist here!

Anything italicized is main character’s thoughts!

Warnings: Drinking, Possessiveness, Smut, Fluff, eventual Spoilers for Elvis (2022), language (If i missed anything, please comment so i can add!)

Tags: @manddor @pumkiinpasties​ @its-funny-til-its-not​ @karamelcoveredolicity @butlerstyles @feral4austinbutler @mirandastuckinthe80s @emilykolchivans @atombombbibunny @francescababy @starry-night-20 @yeetfack-blog @milaa24 @londonalozzy @xo-aurora @chaoticbilly @mamaspresley @sageskywalker @cryingabtab @readerloverlevy @jakiki94 @dancer4j (Let me know if you’d like to be added!)

Please, if you like this, share it, comment, like it and enjoy! xx

Austin follows me up to my apartment and as we are approaching my door, I drop my keys. I bend down to pick them up and once again, I think the alcohol is overtaking me. Instead of bending down appropriately in the mini leather skirt I have on, I decide to seductively bend over to retrieve my keys.

As I’m standing back upright, I can hear Austin audibly let out a groan. Well, someone is still attracted to me. I giggle as I unlock my door and Austin’s arm blocks me from entering. He pulls me back into him and he whispers in my ear, “Anastasia, you have to play fair here…” I sigh and, in my head, I know he’s right. I grab his arm and giggle, “You’re right, Mr. Presley.”

As we enter my living room, I kick off my heels and head to the kitchen for some water. I grab him some water as well and head back to the living room to give him his glass. He immediately takes it and drinks it all. I giggle and say, “Thirsty boy, huh?” He laughs and his eyes go dark as he says, “You have no idea.” I giggle again and he bites down on his bottom lip. God, he is so sexy. Why can’t we just…. He must know what I’m about to think as he is looking me up and down, as if he is drinking me in. I decide two can play at this game.

“Hey Aus, can you get the zipper on the back of my shirt? I can get it with a hanger normally, but if I have company…” I giggle at him. He immediately gets up and I turn my back to him while I hold my hair out of the way. He slowly undoes the zipper on my top, but what I didn’t expect was him to fully undo it causing my top to be completely undone in the back. I grab the front so I don’t expose myself to him as I’m not wearing a bra. I feel his fingers trace where the zipper was on my now bare back. Fuck…his touch on my skin…Ana, get out of this.

I decide to pretend this has no effect on me and giggle as I say, “Thank you, Mr. Presley.” I look back at him and he looks on edge. His eyes are dark and he’s biting down hard on his bottom lip. I giggle as I walk towards my bedroom and say, “I’m gonna get out of this, I’ll be right back.” In my room, I change into a white tank and I slide out of my skirt.

As I’m going to grab some shorts, I can hear movement in my room. I turn around and Austin is in the doorway. I blush as I’m just wearing a tank and a tiny red lacy thong, which I had picked based on how small it was so I wouldn’t have any underwear lines in my skirt. My cheeks are burning red as he looks me up and down with his icy blue eyes. I decide, mostly due to the alcohol, that I have the upper hand here. He crashed my night out. He asked to come up to my apartment. He came into my room while I was changing.

As I decide to embrace having the advantage in our situation, his expression changes and he quietly says, “I’m gonna go before I do something I can’t take back, Anastasia.” Why is he always doing this to me… It isn’t fair. I sigh and look down at my feet. I move quickly to my dresser, pull out some shorts and slide into them. Austin never takes his eyes off of me. I walk over to him and quietly say, “You have to stop doing this to me. You asked to come up and I said no… Then I agree and now you wanna leave?”

I roll my eyes at him and walk past him in the doorway back towards my living room. He grabs my arm and brings me towards him. It feels as if his gaze burns through me. The tension between us is thick and anything but friendly. “Anastasia, I don’t want to do this. I want to throw you on the bed and rip off your panties and fuck you senseless, but I can’t do that. I’m thinking of the work we’re about to start together.”

I glare at him. I feel like I don’t know how to breathe. Ana, say something… Did he really just say that? I…. Austin moves closer towards me and pulls my chin up so I’m looking up at him. He sighs and says, “You don’t wanna know how hard this is for me. I wasn’t sure I could feel this light and happy around someone after how the last few months have been for me. And then you look like this.”

He looks down at my body, his eyes lingering on my breasts. He glides his finger from holding my chin up down my neck to my shoulder and then down my arm. I look down towards his groin where I can visibly see a growing erection. I bite down on my lip and he brings me out of a trance, “Anastasia, I have to go. I have to be responsible here.”

I sigh and nod my head. “Are you gonna ignore me again now or are we still at least friends,” I quietly ask while looking away from him. He grabs my face softly and points it up at him as he says, “I’m gonna text you so much this weekend you’ll wish I was ignoring you.” I giggle and say, “Never.”

I sigh and walk with him towards my door. Before he leaves, Austin turns around and pulls me into a hug. I try to keep it as friendly as possible, but I give into my emotions and tightly hold on to him.

This is the second time he’s done this to you, Ana. Have some respect for yourself…

“Goodnight, Austin,” I say firmly. He looks down at me before letting go of our hug. He looks disappointed. He moves a strand of my hair from my face behind my ear and says, “Anastasia, I’m really sorry. Goodnight.” He walks out and I’m once again, devastated.

Why do I let him do this?

[wheredidhiseyebrowsgo]

hey, just wondering if you have any really good ‘Scott is a Bad Friend’ fics? thank youuu :)

Yeah. And the tag. - Anastasia

Stop Crossing Oceans by green-leaf (greenleaf)

(1/1 I 11,654 I Mature I Sterek)

“There are no absolutes, Scott! No hard rights or hard wrongs! The world doesn’t fucking work that way and we can’t afford to think like that, because people are going to die! We signed up for that the moment we got involved with all this!”

“We? We?” Scott hisses. “Don’t you think you? Don’t forget that you’re the one who dragged us into that forest the night it all started, Stiles. So if it’s anyone’s fault, it’s yours.”

Something inside Stiles cracks, so strong and so deep that he practically hears it.

Infinite Space by DiscontentedWinter

(13/13 I 32,124 I Explicit I Steter)

Stiles needs Peter's expertise to help stop the latest threat to Beacon Hills.And, as the pack falls apart around him, he might even need Peter for more than that.

With You, I Belong by lavenderlotion

(15/15 I 53,071 I Mature I Sterek)

Despite Stiles doing all he can to help 'his' pack, they continue to toss him to the side. They undervalue and under appreciate him, and honestly, Stiles respects himself too much to let it continue.

So he leaves. Well, technically he's kicked out—but still.

But then the Alpha Pack shows up, and Deucalion is a constant presence by his side, and maybe, just maybe, they aren't all that evil after all.

Satan has a new #1 by RubyRedCase

(30/? I 63, 954 I Teen I Steter)

Prompt: Fic idea where a lonely person sells their soul to Satan to be their friend. And Satan just rolls with it until he realizes at the time of their death he genuinely likes them.Since he can’t renege on the contract he takes them to Hell and puts them in a high position of power. Demons hardened by millenia of torture now have to answer to a shy, self-conscious, quiet, depressed, lonely person who has unintentionally become Satan’s #1

Can't rely on me by Littleredridinghunter

(12/12 I 116,206 I Not Rated I Sterek)

The pack let him down, that's not really a surprise lately.

When Danny finds Stiles nearly bleeding to death the next day it's the start of a beautiful friendship.

Can the pack make amends before it's too late? Will Stiles ever forgive them for not being there for him when he needed them the most?

Running Up That Hill by maypoison

(32/32 I 139,488 I Explicit I Sterek)

“Even before the pack joined together, Scott was trying to protect you. And he still is trying to protect you, even if it means leaving you out of all this.”

Stiles does roll his eyes at that. “Yeah, but it didn’t work did it. I was still involved, and so was my Dad. We were nearly killed by Matt, and then Gerard.”

“My point is, people change. Relationships aren’t always perfect. Scott's tried to kill me before."

Stiles raises an eyebrow. "So, you’re saying that someone trying to kill you is just a small flaw in a relationship?"

“We’re werewolves.” Derek answers with a shrug, as if that was a perfectly good explanation.

Emancipation by HarleyJQuin

(40/40 I 144,408 I Explicit I Sterek)

There are legends that in times of approaching chaos the Nemeton will create an Alpha Pack.

Derek has no idea that the worst day of his life was the start of the best thing that ever happened to him. Abandoned by his family, his mother, his alpha, as an omega Derek remained with his comatose Uncle Peter, forging what bonds he could with two humans who fully accept him for who he is. A werewolf.

Spark of Dark by Pirotess666

(178/? I 387,154 I Explicit I Steter)

After being abandoned by Scott, Stiles feels empty and tired. Sick of life. Until Peter re-enters his life and makes him want to live again.All of a sudden he’s not so alone anymore…and neither is Peter.

Blue Monday by ExpectNothingGainEverything

(17/? I 480,811 I Explicit I Sterek)

Stiles would have never guessed that the star player of the lacrosse team and presumably the hottest guy in school who everyone wanted a piece of and one of his most hated bullies would turn out to be his soulmate.

Derek would never have dreamed that fate would be so cruel to pair him up with a freak like Stilinski.

[munimuni-muna]

Mornin’! Can I have a tarot read please?. My name is Anastasia, I’m a Sagittarius, I read JJBA too! I don’t know how to explain the topic well but I’ll try🙃...... I’ll get straight to the point using the questions from your post! Who is my soulmate? What do I need to focus on right now? thanksssssss💕💕💕💕

Hey hey, Anastasia! Oooh a soulmate read😏❤️. Let's start!

We have here Kira(8) and Diavolo.

Anastasia😏, mamma mia~Right off the bat, the initial energy I pick up on is regality. Your person has a dignified vibe about them.

I see in Kira that your person dresses in a somewhat semi-formal manner simmilar to the dark academia aesthetic. This person has a rich mind. They would seem very cold because they actually could be. They have an unforgiving vibe about them, almost villanous tbh. This person speaks so less bcause most of the time, they don't see the need to. So when they talk, there is gravity to their words. This person loves very deeply even if they don't show it much.

Darn, Anastasia, I see a bright smile. Your person becomes a completely different one when they smile that it's actually overwhelming. I'm also picking up on dimples on the left cheek. Darn, where'd that come from? If it matters, Anastasia, this one's a looker, so good for you!🙌🏻 ANYWAY, let's move forward.

Diavolo here represents some shadows he may have. There's something about being chained to something here since I'm very drawn to Diavolo's tattoo's. Something left a mark on this person from the past that it made them so quiet. I actually needed to clarify this, so I got cards from the tarot deck:

The Queen of Cups and the King of Pentacles. Speaking of regality, this person grew up in quite a lavish environment. They're very much loved by their mother. Everything they know and expect of and in love is from their mother. But there's something about the father that was pretty distant and strict. Perhaps this is where he got that cold vibe from.

I see this person as someone of average height too. This person shows their affections through acts of servicerather than gifts. And they appreciate the littlest of trinkets given to them. This person is surpringly sentimental.

*Sorry if their looks are scattered within the read. I'm picking things up as I type😅 And I can't go too in depth too since this post is gonna be a novel, but I can do that for you privately👍🏻 Although that comes with a price already😅*

For what you need to focus on right now>>

OHMYGAWD Anastasia. 2 DIOS. From top left we have Dio then Diego. And under Dio is Leone then Hot Pants.

Anastasia. 2 DIOS. I'm just gonna call them Dio and Diego separetely. I've never had these 2 side by side in a read! This means that what you need to focus on right now are your shadows. I see it especially in Dio there. Shadows meaning your past hurts, situations or people that troubled you and can't seem to forget, etc. In fact this whole spread just speaks of shadows. Dio and Diego had some pretty nasty pasts and so does Leone and Hot Pants.

In Diego, I see that you have to figure out something in specific here. Your current dilemma or blockage (if you do have one) or simply the feeling of restlessness is sourcing from somewhere in your past that you have to work on to get to know yourself, and to finally move forward.

In Leone and Hot Pants together there, I see that this past has something to do with regret. Leone regretted turning a blind eye that day while Hot Pants regretted being a coward. And so now they are tougher but gravely wounded warriors. You could have regretted doing something before. And now you're living around that shadow. So you are encouraged to examine yourself here, to see this darkness, and figure out what you've learned. Why did it happen, and what did it ultimately bring you?

That's all I got for you, Anastasia! I wish you the best of luck in your soulmate joirney and your life's journey. I pray that you face uour shadows with courage, so I send you lots of love and light❤️❤️❤️🌟🌟🌟.

P.S. I noticed while I was doing the tags that you got Diego and Hot Pants together there. These two had a significant comrade type of relationship in Steel Ball Run. They helped each other for the benefit of both of them, so I see that you may encounter someone who can help you with your shadows. Although this won't be a long time friend or a friend in general. This could be a stranger coming to your life all of a sudden and you'll eventually separate ways when time dictates, but in good terms. Because by then, you each need to be independent in life and have fulfilled what you need from each other.

[dragon-swords-prophecies]

Sacrifice Chapter 1

So I'm trying to edit chapter 1 of Sacrifice because I really don't like it and even I can tell how much my writing style has changed in three ish months but I can't figure out exactly whats wrong with it and since I've never shared anything on here ever thats this long and also I need want someone's opinion on this (Please & thank you very much), here's the first chapter of Sacrifice. I already know a bunch of stuff I'm cutting out the awkward romance part specifically i really should not even attempt to write stuff like that its just awkward but I can't figure out exactly what else is wrong with it so this is my solution instead. You sincerely truly don't have to read it if you don't want to I just thought this might be a good idea. And also its something to do if you're bored.

It's below the cut.

Taglist: @golden-eyed-writer

I grinned. Anne and Enna were arguing over the rules of Gin, while Anne, she was Enna’s twin, anyway, while Anne’s kids played tag with my nephew, Zane. Jen and Zebra collided in the middle of the room, and Zane didn’t stop in time, so they ended up in a pile of tangled limbs. My sister emerged from the other room and sighed, then burst into laughter, her wavy, silver tipped, black hair bouncing up and down. We were nearly identical, same silver blue eyes, silver tipped black hair, and dark skin. Our scales were different though. Ana’s smooth, tear drop shaped, silver scales covered her collarbone and wound down one arm; mine encircled my torso. Mine were easier to hide, but more people knew about them. I cast a lot of wind spells.

Ana only showed her scales to people she trusted, so walking in the room in a black tank top was a statement. Anne and Enna were identical, and their names mirrored each other. Blue black hair, Anne’s in twin buns and Enna’s in a half ponytail. Alabaster skin tinged with blue, and blue eyes. They had wings, but Enna was grounded. There was a knock on the door of Lei’s apartment. Lei, a blond Demonsblood, was standing closest to the door and pulled it open, sticking her head out. Two seconds later a boy dressed in the Barony’s colors entered.

“Uh, is there any person named,” He checked the sheet of paper clutched in his hands, “Anne Jones & Enna Helder-Kromlin here?” The twins stood up from the corner and scowled briefly, then Enna darted across the room, grabbed the paper, read it, and swore in Dragon.

“You can go now.” Said Faith, Lei’s redheaded younger cousin.

“Yes, ma’am.” He mumbled, then scampered away. “What is it? Dennis explode something again?” Asked Anne, striding over.

“There’s a gnome, blond, asking to see us. The note says she’s carrying the seal of the last baron.” Her twin answered in a shocked voice.

“Mae?”

“Maybe.” While they conversed, and Ana shrugged her jacket off after yanking it on when the door was opened, there was a second knock. Emily, a gnome alchemist and a friend of ours, answered this time, and her lavender eyes stared unseeing into the face of a second messenger. This one had a message for Ana. After reading it, my twin turned to me and grinned. Ana’s smile sometimes scared people. We both had pointed, sharp canine teeth, courtesy of our draconic ancestry. And that had the side effect of looking like you were about to murder someone when you smiled.

“Cerea’s alive. She’s here, with the gnome En mentioned. Joshua recognized the name.” A rush of emotions went through me. Two hundred and seventy four years ago mine and Ana’s home had been burned to the ground by Dizerdrat, an ancient red dragon. Cerea had been the name of a half elf with impressive innate primal magic, who had left when she was twenty, three months befor A'sshyse burned, leaving us the only survivors. The name was a bit ironic actually, A'sshyse sounded like Ashes if pronounced correctly, and that’s all it was now. Ashes and memories.

We didn’t bother to say anything, no one did. Two sets of twins walked out the door, leaving confusion, five friends, and three ten year olds behind. Enna twisted around before leaving, threatening, “If anyone touches those cards I will kill you.” Then she ran, and the second she and Anne were outside they broke out into a full out sprint, matching each other pace for pace. When we got to the main hall area, which had a bunch of alcoves off it that served as slightly more private spaces for meetings and the like, Anne and Enna had already tackle hugged a gnome with curly blond hair, and a black haired half elf stood nearby, awkwardly. Enna was whispering,

"Thirty five years Mae. Thirty five goddamn years. Where were you?"

“I was- Thirty five years?!”

“Yes.” Answered Anne. Mae rounded on the half elf, who put her hands up in a sign of surrender. Before the gnome could get a word out Cerea spoke.

“I didn’t know alright? I’m bad with time.”

“Still. You should have told me!”

“I know. I should have done a lot of things.” It was at that moment she looked in our direction, and saw us. Ana didn’t hesitate, rushing in to embrace a woman she hadn’t seen in nearly three hundred years. I hung back a bit. Not because of my sister, but because me and Cerea hadn’t exactly parted on… civil terms. Half a minute later Ana grabbed my arm, muttering Draconic into my ear.

“I don’t care what happened last time. You never got over it, I doubt she did.”

“Erm, okay-”

Cerea interrupted. “You survived?! What in the nine hells happened to A’sshyse?!”

“Dragonfire.” Ana answered. Then I blurted out, in Dragon, before I had to wait another three centuries to apologize.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry I yelled at you. I was stupid, and, and an idiot-” Cerea intterupted in the same language.

“Yes, you were sometimes. But I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t have said what I said. We were both wrong about the other.” She hugged me tightly, but quickly. As Cerea stepped away I noticed how much toll the last three hundred years had taken on her. She still had raven hair and coffee colored skin, but the freckles that once covered her face were gone. Her eyes still had the same twinkle, but the green was darker, closer to emerald than I’d ever seen them and older than they should be.

“So where were you?” Asked Enna, directing the question at Mae.

“I was petrified. I left right after you guys killed Shallodet, and then it’s a blur until waking up to find my very surprised teacher.”

Enna shuddered at the mention of the name. Shallodet was not a pleasant memory for her.

“Teacher?”

“Yeah. Anne & Enna, this is Cerea Roven. Cerea, these are my sisters. Anne and Enna Helder.”

“Helder-Kromlin. Claimed Mom’s name properly. But I’m not forgetting Helder. It’s hyphenated now. Drove the official crazy.” Corrected Enna. Anne followed with,

“Erm, it’s actually Anne Jones. I might have gotten married.”

“Sorry, what?!”

“I’ll explain later.”

“Hi?” Cerea grinned awkwardly, raising one hand in a half wave for a brief second. “Who’s the Gnome?” Asked Ana.

“I’m Mae Helder. Who are you?”

“Anastasia. Call me Ana. He’s Dash.”

“Hey. So you’re their sister?” I asked, changing the subject as quickly as possible.

“Uh huh. How’d you meet these two?”

“The War.” Answered Ana.

“War? What War?”

“Little sister, you’ve missed a lot. About a decade ago there was a War. Norfolk is gone.”

“Wow. Anything else I need to know?”

“Well, here’s the slight matter of there being a different Baron.”

“What?!”

“His name is Fredrick Falk.”

“Wait. Does that mean?”

“Yeah. He’s gone. Died about two years after you left.”

“Oh. I’m sorry. I know how much he meant to you.”

“It’s okay.” The previous Baron had been the first person who had believed in Enna for a long time. When he died she had taken it hard. He had been the latest in a long line of parental figures; and each one had died.

Pike, her adopted mother, had died when she was 10. Her older brother, Zibra, had died when she was nineteen, and everyone thought it was her fault. Everyone except Anne. Her mentor, a half-dragon named Sasha, had died when she was twenty eight. When she was 40 she came back to the capital, only to find Anne missing. She thought it was her fault. Anne had nearly died. Then her Uncle, her mother’s twin, had turned out be her mother’s murder, confessed to killing Zibra and framing her, then he tried to kill both the twins, leaving Enna with thin scars that covered her arms, shoulders, back & torso.

“Anyway, why are you here?”

“Well,” Said Cerea nervously, fidgeting with the hem of her tunic. “Gray has heard some things, concerning things. They’re actually what led to me finding Mae.”

“What things?” I asked.

“The forges, the ones under the mountain, are waking up again.”

“I still don’t understand why he would put forges there, of all locations.” Muttered Anne.

“You need to tell someone.”

“That’s why we came here. Under the Code, you need two high ranking Druids to request a meeting with a ruler.”

“That’s surprisingly smart for a twenty five year old.” Said Enna, perhaps the third time in her life she had judged someone because of their apparent age. Cerea, unsurprisingly, burst out laughing.

“I’m two hundred and ninety ish. Can’t remember the exact number. Not 25.”

“Two hundred and ninety four.” I muttered quietly.

“Two hundred and ninety four, then. Either way, I’m not twenty five.”

“Sorry.”

“It’s okay. Twenty five is the oldest anyone’s ever thought I looked. I had a couple friends, a few years ago, they thought I was nineteen. Never got around to correcting them.”

“Uh-huh.” I muttered. Cerea had always looked young for her age, and it, plus her innate and extremely powerful primordial magic and wildshaping powers, had allowed her to get away with more things than the average kid would. Most of these exploits were related to stealing jelly tarts, which Ana stole from her and I then stole some of them from Ana. Yeah, fourteen year old me probably had better things to do than steal pastries from a 7 year old prankster, but it was either that or get possessed again, which is not an experience I’d recommend to anyone.

Yes, you read that correctly. Possessed. It’s a very long story that will probably come to light in time. Probably. Either way, we were interrupted by Joshua, the Baron’s 19 year old half-dragon grandson materializing from out of nowhere. His brown curls were more rumpled than usual, and his blue eyes shown with exhaustion. Joshua’s robes, the outfit commonly worn by wizards-in-training, were rumpled, like he had slept in them. He wasn’t strictly half dragon, closer to a quarter dragon. His dad’s dad had been a black dragon. His Mum, the Baron’s youngest daughter, had eloped with his dad and Joshua had only been raised in the court after his parents died in an Orc raid when he was seven. Before you ask, yes most of us had/have sob stories for backgrounds. Happy people who are mentaly stable don’t go out and hunt literal dragons.

Either way, the top half of his face, on a diagonal from right to left, was covered in smooth, black scales. They continued down his neck, and onto one arm. Joshua asked, “So you guys do know each other. I mean, I didn’t think there were a lot of black haired and crazy powerful half elven druids, but hey. There could’ve been more than one. Anyway, Grandpa’s ready to talk to you two. You know how to get there?”

“Yep.” Confirmed Mae, leading Cerea down the hallway. Joshua stayed, leaning against the stone wall.

“Hey.” Anne raised one hand half heartedly, in a sort of wave.

“Hi.”

“So I know how Ana & Dash know the mildly terrifying druid lady, but how do you two know the Gnome?”

“She’s our sister.”

“But neither of you are two Gnomes in a trench coat. So how?”

“I don’t even own a trenchcoat.” Muttered Enna.

“Exactly.”

“She’s our adopted sister, our foster mother fostered her too, though we didn’t know that then.”

“You had a foster mother?”

Anne sighed. “Yes. Pike Helder. Why do you think we speak Gnome?”

“I don’t know. Figured you just knew a lot of Gnomes.”

“I mean, we do, but that’s not the point.”

“Also, I think we would know if you guys were just Gnomes in trenchcoats.” I remarked.

“Yeah, I think you would.” Said Anne.

“You okay?” Ana asked Joshua, probably in response to his disheveled appearance.

“I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not.”

“I’m fine. Just stressed.” Ana scoffed, but didn’t say anything more. Enna turned to me. Her arms were crossed.

“Spill.”

“What?” I asked cluelessly. Anne added, “You and Cerea have history. What is it?,” she asked, her body language the same as her twin.

“Nothing, we just knew each other as kids.” “Uh huh.” “So that’s all?” “Yes,” I lied. Anne laughed.

“It’s almost like he thinks we don’t know that he’s lying.” “Yeah.” I looked anywhere except at the twins.

“It wasn’t anything!” I said, coming way closer to yelling than I should.

“You apologized to each other in Dragon when you saw each other.” I swore under my breath. I had forgotten Enna knew Dragon. I tended to forget she knew a lot of languages, Elven not among them in spite of her heritage.

“That was nothing.” I mumbled.

“It was not nothing. I saw Ana’s expression when she saw Cerea. She looked like her best friend had just come back to life.”

“She has.”

“Please. We all know you’re Ana’s best friend. If it’s not you, it’s Zane. Anyway, Ana looked like her best friend had just come back to life. But you, you looked like, I don’t even know how to describe it. You looked a lot like Anne when she got married to Jones. You looked like you were in love.”

“No-o. Not in love with her. Dated her once, sure, maybe we kissed a couple times, but I’m not in love with her,” I protested, turning redder than Faith’s hair, which was very, very red. “Dash, either I tell them or you do.” Threatened Ana, switching into rapid Demonic. Demonic was the one language we both knew that the twins didn’t speak.

“Can we not do this now?!” I replied, in the same language.

“What, you don’t want all our friends to know that you and Cerea were etinye aka?” She asked, using an Elven word.

“No, I would prefer not. And I really think that Cerea wouldn’t either.” “You’d be surprised. She’s changed a lot in 300 years.”

“And how would you know? You’ve seen her about as much as I have.”

She hesitated, chewing on her bottom lip and thinking. “I knew she was alive.”

--------End Chapter 1---------

If you've read this far THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[schrijverr]

Behind the Curtain

Ashes finds out about a play back on Cyberia about the glorious revolution of the people against the Tsar. They convice the others to go and get to see a theater piece about very familiar events for Jonny and Nastya.

On AO3.

Ships: none

Wanrings: The mechs kills everyone in the theater at the end. Tell me if I missed anything or if you want me to tag something.

~~~~~~~~~

Ashes came striding into the room and slapped something down on the table, before exclaiming: “We have to go to Cyberia.”

“No we fucking don’t.” Nastya dropped out of a vent where she had been patching up some bullet holes from an earlier argument.

“Yeah, you know how Nastya feels about that, Ashes. Why would you suggest that?” asked Jonny, from he couch where he was cheating Tim out of a very nice rifle.

“Well, my dear Captain, we need to see this.” Ashes said as they gestured to what they’d put down on the table and waited until they’d all seen.

Jonny eyed them suspiciously, Ashes only used the title he wanted when they wanted something from him.

On the table was a pamphlet of a Cyberian theater, who was apparently putting on a play about the revolution that had freed their county from the Tsar. He looked up and asked: “And why would we want to see this?”

Ashes grinned and opened the pamphlet, pointing at a bit of text that read: Anastasia Nikolaevna Rasputina played by Nastasja Samboerskaja

When he’d read it Jonny matched Ashes grin and stood up while exclaiming: “I’ll tell Brian about the new coordinates.”

“Jonny.” Nastya said sternly.

“Oh, come on, Nastya.” Jonny pouted, “It’ll be fun. You’ll get to make fun of the people that killed you, we get to make fun of you. If it’s terrible, we’ll kill everyone there and be on out merry way. It’ll be fun and it’ll be fine. Just some entertainment.”

“Yes and teasing material for the next few centuries, I think not.” Nastya huffed.

“No, of course not.” Jonny said obviously lying, when he saw he wasn’t believed he pulled out his last ace up his sleeve and said: “Pleaasee, I’ll even get you those parts for an upgrade for Aurora after.”

Squinting suspiciously Nastya asked: “Even if we have to go through a boring sector to get them?”

Jonny nodded hastily and Nastya agreed after which Jonny practically sprinted away to tell Brian, afraid that if he stayed Nastya would retract her agreement.

Soon, too soon for Nastyas liking, they arrived on Cyberia, where they’d forced Nastya into a ridiculous disguise just in case someone would recognize her from a history book.

Sadly, The Toy Soldier had been in charge of the disguise, so it consisted of an obviously fake mustache and a pair of big sunglasses.

Still they managed to get in without more weird looks than usual and had taken place on the balcony all grinning and preparing for the show.

From the start it was clear that this was propaganda at it’s finest. People of the Revolutionary Movement were put down as brave heroes and the Tsar was cruel to the point of caricature, not that the Mechs cared about that, they were waiting for someone special.

When “Nastya” first entered the stage Jonny almost fell of his chair with laughter as he wheezed: “I’d forgotten the ridiculous dresses you wore when you got in.”

He choked when Nastya elbowed him and hissed: “And if you don’t stop, I’ll behead you and you also won’t be able to remember this.”

Jonny tried to shut up, but small chuckles still left his mouth every time he looked at Nastya in her big coat and easy to move in clothes, very different from the portrayal of her on stage.

As the actress said her lines it became apparent that they’d gone for a ditsy version of her, who only helped because she didn’t know any better and was being masterfully manipulated by her tutor, one of the heroes of the story.

Most of the crew was having the time of their lives, laughing as if this serious war play was a comedy much to the chagrin of their fellow audience members. Only Brian seemed to take pity on Nastya slightly and just smiled at her sadly whenever a new roar of laughter came.

They watched how “Nastya” tumbled about the stage while smiling: “Oh, no! Father, please don’t hurt these nice people, I’m sure they’re only screaming because they think it’s fun. You cheer at a sports game, don’t you?”

The actor, who played the Tsar looked stern for a moment, before softening and saying: “You are quite right, my smart dear daughter. I shall let them chant my name in glory.”

“That’s not what happened.” the real Nastya grumbled, slightly annoyed.

She was ignored by Jonny, who gleefully exclaimed: “You’re getting killed soon.”

And as Jonny predicted (and, of course, because although it might be historically inaccurate for the most part, the glorious death of the old regime was kept in), “Nastya” died, killed by her own tutor, who was hailed the hero he was remembered as.

What Jonny hadn’t predicted and what no one had seen coming was the fact that an extra, not important enough to be listed, came in dressed in strange clothes and yelled: “I am from Carmillas crew and I’m going steal her in order to help revive the dead princess.”

From the audience Jonny shouted: “Hey that’s not what happened!”

Giving him a vindicated grin Nastya told him: “What happened to we’ll make fun of them now, Jonny? Come on, it’ll be fun remember? As I recall this is pretty accurate.”

“First of, no you don’t, you were bleeding out at the time. Second of, I was way drunker, I could definitely not stand up that straight.” Jonny argued.

“I’ll give you that, but overall it seems quite realistic.” Nastya smirked.

Meanwhile the Jonny on stage was carrying a bleeding Nastya, although the blood was very fake and they obviously hadn’t had a good budget for special effects. The effects got worse when the Jonny on stage got shot through his head and collapsed with Nastya in his arms.

Jonny in the audience said: “Oh, I vaguely remember this, I think I got up and murdered that guy, before we got picked up.”

That was not what happened, the Jonny on stage stayed down and the man who had shot him grinned victoriously, getting a lot of applause from the audience.

With that Jonny rolled up his sleeves and said: “Okay now that’s going to far, we’re killing everyone and burning this joint to the ground.”

“Finally.” Nastya exclaimed.

“Did you say burning this joint to the ground?” Ashes piped up, suddenly all attention away from the play.

“Yes, Ashes, yes, I did.” Jonny grinned.

Ashes grinned back and got out a lighter while they said: “Well that sounds like much more fun. I think the fun part of the play is over anyway.”

And with that the Mechs got up and opened fire. It was brutal and it was violent and they were having the time of their lives. This would go down as a great massacre in the history of Cyberia, but it was just a normal Friday for the Mechs.

Back on the Aurora, Jonny sighed: “That was some nice violence. Where to now?”

“Now we go get my parts for Auroras upgrade.” Nastya demanded.

“But that’ll be boring.” Jonny whined.

“You promised, Jonny.” Nastya said in a warning tone.

Jonny gave her shit eating look and said: “When do I ever keep my promises.”

Nastya glared at him, before turning away and saying: “Brian, we’re going to the planet in the Mirny system and we’re getting the parts like Jonny promised.”

“Brian, no. Listen to your Captain.” Jonny tried to look stern, but petulant anger at Nastya was more prominent on his face.

“Uhhh.” Brian hesitated looking between the two.

Both said his name in a tone that promised a lot of pain from whoever he didn’t listen to, but in the end he decided he was less scared of Jonny and it was the right thing to do, so he said: “It’s wrong to break your promises.”

Then he hurried away while behind him sounds of a new argument rang. He ducked for a stray bullet and mentally sighed: jup, just another Friday.