#i know i haven’t been interacting w fics as much as i used to

[solar-halos]

omg sorry to keep these sappy vibes going but—

—do u ever think about how a fic writer can make your day so much fucking better. like that feeling when ur heart soars bc a story ur subscribed to gets updated and u just know that everything is gonna be ok for the few minutes while u read it. and then comments! there was nothing more terrifying to me than an ao3 email popping up in my inbox while i was with Alfredo Linguini Reincarnate so i turned them off, but now that they’re back on, i genuinely feel like i’ve broken the surface after being under water for a long time, if that makes sense? that’s so dramatic but catching up on the updates of my fav fics/reading comments i’ve missed these past few weeks has made my heart feel so warm. it’s always such an awesome feeling to realize (and re-realize) that the things you create resonate w people in some way, and i’m so glad that they do

so likeee… thank you. if you write fanfics or update fics or write comments (or read fics! or engage w fics in any way!) then chances are that ur so pretty and kind and ily. mwah

[demonicbaby666]

Unspoken Rules

one shot | Marvel Masterlist | Masterlists

Gif not mine, credit to owner

Fandom: Marvel

Pairing: Wanda Maximoff x fem!Reader

Genre: Angst with spice and a tiny bit of comfort 

Words: 3.4k+

Warnings: NSFW, smut, cursing, top!Wanda, bottom!reader, praise, strap-on use (W), kinda beefy Wanda (not sure). 

Summary: Wanda had been paying you late night visits for a couple months now, and despite there being no verbal agreement, you knew feelings had no place in the relationship. Despite that, feelings had begun to surface within you and you tried to suppress them until one night you can’t help but blurt out the truth. 

A/n: okay so timeline wise i would say this is set between age of Ultron and Civil War however you can play around with it as you wish! For future fics I’ll try to tinker them so it works well with timelines but for my first Wanda fic I hope this will do! Also please let me know if there are errors haven’t really proofread it well <3

Unbeknownst to the team you and Wanda had been seeing each other for close to six months, though ‘seeing’ wasn’t the best way of putting it. What started as a one-night stand had now become a full-fledged, sex crazed, lustful, non-committal relationship. The key words being non-committal. 

Though you knew you wanted more than just quick fucks and sneaking around, it seemed fairly clear the same could not be said for Wanda. After losing so many people, letting anyone into her heart was an absolute and definite no. So, you settled. It wasn’t your proudest moment, but the way she made you feel during those nights she’d quietly enter your room was unlike anything you’d ever known. She knew your body in a way no one else had come to know it, pinpointing each pleasure point and utilizing them till you were utterly spent almost every time. 

Though you could never tell her, you relished the comfortability that exuded from every interaction the two of you shared. The only kicker being it was fleeting, and you’d be forced time after time to watch as she snuck back out of your room without so much as a word, or you’d wake up to an empty bed. None of that mattered, the unspoken rules were simple, feelings had no place in what the two of you were doing. 

Judging by the lack of sleep you were enduring due to Wanda’s absence; it would seem you did indeed care a lot more than you wanted and the unspoken rule was now tarnished and swept to one side. The truth was she had become your weakness, one too many times your thoughts had been clouded on missions when Wanda was in a compromising position. Yes, it was stupid to doubt her abilities, but your heart would stop whenever she went quiet over comms, driving you insane. The anguish you felt when she’d come back injured was incomparable, it tore at your heartstrings not to be able to run over and tend to her wounds. 

Whether the same was applicable to Wanda remained unknown. 

It was early in the morning, the sun cascaded in through the curtains of your room, another reminder you hadn’t slept all night. Soft faint chirps could be heard from out the window  and though, to some, they were comforting, they only added to the clutter headache that was forming and vibrating along your temples. It had been almost a week since Wanda had last visited you in the dead of night, and you were coming to realise just how reliant you’d become on her to lull you to sleep. 

It had been around the three-month marker she’d begun staying with you after your endeavors, by morning the hands that held you tight would be gone, and with them, her. You told yourself it was more than before, and that had to be enough, that this wasn’t a relationship, you didn’t do the things couples did, so on the first night she stayed with you, you kicked yourself for assuming the outcome would be anything other than what it was.

Sleep didn’t seem like it was on the table, the bedsheets clung to your chest, and though they provided warmth it was nothing compared to that of another body. All you wanted to do was go to Wanda, but you knew better. The previous few nights you’d longed to hear the creaking sound of your door, light footsteps making their way to your bed and soft fingers exploring every inch of your body. It was never the other way, she was in control, another unspoken rule. 

Wanda chose where, she chose when, and no matter how hard you wanted or tried to say no, the primal need for her would always win over. The reality was you’d never stop letting it win, giving yourself over to her in any way she wanted time and time again. There it was again, that unyielding yearning for her, it controlled everything you did, overshadowing all rational and logical thoughts. 

You were lost so in your own thoughts that you’d failed to hear the light footsteps that padded towards you on the bed. 

“Hey.” She whispered.

Raising your head and sitting up, your gaze landed on sage green orbs peering down at you. They seemed empty and hollow, the dark rings that tinted her under eyes indicated you weren’t the only one battling sleep. 

“Hey.” You replied with a soft, timid smile lining your lips. 

She bent over and connected your lips for mere seconds, you’d barely had time to kiss back before Wanda’s lips trailed down your jawline and came to your neck. Lightly she began sucking on the skin, immediately your body responded, letting her push you backwards until your head once again made contact with soft pillows. 

Some nights were slow and passionate, others were fast, and hunger filled, this however, was different. The kisses were filled with sorrow, and sadness, it was as though they were almost painful. Unspoken words were being translated into feather light pecks, deciphering them became harder and harder with each passing moment. Butterflies flittered around low in your stomach, your hands became clammy, demanding to roam free and feel Wanda’s bare skin.

She took her time peppering light kisses all over your neck before slowly pulling down the bedsheets and sliding a hand under your shirt, though her hand never strayed higher than your waist. 

Giving into desire, you brought your hands up and slowly ran your fingers through auburn hair, your fingertips lightly grazing over her scalp. The hand on your waist still hadn’t moved, even when she hoisted herself on top of you. 

She dragged her lips back to yours, her tongue dangerously edged out and slipped through the part in your lips, which you readily allowed and accommodated for. Her tongue met yours and the two muscles swirled around each other engaging in a reunion dance that sent embers of heat down to your core. 

This was all so different, and you couldn’t understand why. You knew she used you for your body and in some ways, you did the same, but from the moment she placed her lips on yours something told you this encounter was leading to a kind of intimacy the two of you had yet to share. 

Trying to refocus, you poured all your attention to the hand that was finally moving from your waist. Fingertips lightly grazed over your left nipple, tracing slow circles around the shaded area of your areola, under her soft touch you melted like an ice cube on a summer's day. As the kiss continued the air surrounding you both began to fill with a sense of urgency you weren’t used to. Her tongue moved feverishly in your mouth, she started pulling you up until you were both sat upright, and she could easily remove your baggy t-shirt before pushing back down on the bed. 

Lips began contrasting the skin over your collarbone with shades of light purple as Wanda began sucking a particular spot, she knew had an effect on you all too well, then delicately nursing the area with light kisses that had your stomach in knots. There was no more denying it, this was different, it was caring, each light kiss held meaning, held some semblance of love. You knew if you didn’t stop now, you’d lose the willpower the moment things got any more heated than they already were, and you needed answers. 

Unspoken rules be damned, something was transpiring within this morning visit and you had to know what it was. 

“Wait.” You breathed out, resting your hands on her shoulders and applying light pressure to push her away.

The moment her lips left your skin you felt the absence of them crashing down on you, the intimate bubble surrounding the two of you burst when she stared down at you, her eyes held so much confusion but were littered with a vast array of underlying emotions you were helplessly trying to pinpoint. 

The silence was deafening, shallow breaths filled the four walls of your room but no words came from either of you. Instead, Wanda stared down at you studying your face, evidently trying to figure out what was going on, a small pout formed on her lips whilst her brow contrastingly furrowed. But her eyes, they were blazing down on you, silently demanding answers. 

“Wanda, what’s going on?” You asked, you hadn’t meant to, really you hadn’t, but every syllable was laced with concern. 

Her eyes flickered for a second, sadness washed over her face and all her features dropped. Her emotions betrayed her only for a split second before her mask resurfaced and fell into place. She rolled off you and stood by the side of the bed. Her change in demeanor had caught you off guard, the weight of her walking away only dawning on you as she’d almost reached the door. 

You scrambled to your feet, ignoring your blurred vision you wedged yourself between Wanda and the door preventing her from leaving. 

“Please.”

It was there and then you realised just how small and meek you were, practically begging her to stay, bare chested and in only your underwear, tears threatened to fall as your reflection of submission mocked you in the mirror. You didn’t want it this way, you didn’t want to give in this easily, you didn’t want to need her. You’d tried to fight it over the last few sleepless nights but with the reminder of what it felt like to have her lips on yours it was too painful having it ripped away. Your heart was telling you to give in whilst your mind begged you to reveal the truth. 

“I have feelings Wanda.” 

Emerald confliction stared you dead on and if it wasn’t already enough being physically exposed, you felt emotionally naked, your body was on fire, your face flushed, whilst her eyes continued to bore down on you. 

“I know.” 

Her body came crashing onto yours, forcing your back to collide with the door and making a loud thud. Wanda’s hands resting on the bare skin of your waist sent chills down your spine, her lips claimed yours, and you swear you could feel all the emotions seep from her and flow into the kiss. Tears that were formed from shame ran down your cheeks, now tears of relief. The kiss was slow and gentle, nothing like all the previous kisses the two of you had shared. It lasted a few minutes before Wanda pulled back and rested her head to yours. 

“You knew?” You whispered, too scared to re-open the topic of discussion. 

“I’ve known for a while, just give me time to work it all out, there’s so much I don’t know right now and what we have, I don't want it to stop.” she breathlessly said against your lips. 

You laced your finger through thick auburn waves once more, holding her close, not wanting her lips to stray far from yours ever again.

“Okay.”

With that you pulled her back in for a searing kiss that was filled with all the hope you could barely keep contained. You knew it was too much to ask of Wanda to utter the same words you’d said to her, to outwardly admit she too may be harboring feelings, so settling for this seemed a good alternative. She merely needed time, and you would readily give her it. 

Her tongued swept the length of your bottom lip and suddenly you were greeted with the feeling of her bare skin against your own, her nipples lightly brushed against your own and sent a pang of heat directly between your legs. The irony of needing time and Wanda making light work of it caused you to smirk into the kiss. Though, the smirk was quickly wiped off your face when you felt something hard press against the thin material of your panties, causing you to quietly whimper. 

Wisps of red danced around you before fading into nothing, what was strapped to Wanda though, was most definitely not nothing. When you pulled back to stare at the full size of the strap your jaw dropped working out how exactly you were going remain quiet. Taking a few moments to gawk at the false cock you admired the wearer, letting your eyes wander all over her body, toned stomach, perky breast, lust filled eyes and finally settling on her soft puffy pink lips. 

Wanda guided your hands so that they were wrapped around her neck and pulled you in for a tender sweet kiss, most likely as a feeble attempt to distract you. Her hands descended your body, one gripped your waist whilst the other settled on the back of your thigh, which she then swept up to curl around her hip. The strap prodded at your entrance causing you to realise your underwear had mysteriously vanished, but you were too overtaken by waves of desire pulsing through your body to care.

She pushed the tip into you, the size of it already stretching you out and causing your breath to hitch. She waited for a brief second until you gave her a small nod, then began sliding further in until half her cock disappeared into you, deliciously filling your throbbing canal with her girth. The strap steadily slithered all the way out to the tip then back in, each time going in deeper until the full eight inches were inside. Becoming aware that the team were just on the other side of the door Wanda parted her lips to swallow every small moan that was free falling from your mouth.

“Oh shit, you’re so big.” You mumbled into her mouth. 

Once she knew you could take her full length, she tightened her grip on your waist, pushing you harder against the wall as she started pumping in and out at a slow and controlled pace; meanwhile her tongue invaded your mouth. The slow fuck was both erotic and torturous, but you’d be lying if you said you didn’t love it that way, each thrust filled you with a sense of joy and sent fire coursing through your veins that was unlike anything you’d ever known, only she could do this to you, Wanda was the only one you’d let do this to you. 

“You’re taking me so well baby.” She husked before shoving her tongue back into your mouth. 

She had been thrusting into you for several long minutes, the pace still excruciatingly slow and left you all but sobbing. Tension began growing in your lower stomach, your body on fire; keeping her speed at a minimal she increased the power of her pumps, your insatiable appetite still wasn’t being fed. It had been minutes of torture and you wanted, no, needed your release. 

“Harder.” You begged against her lips. 

Almost on command and with no fight Wanda jerked her hips with more vigour, the harness practically smacking into your cunt, the strap hit that special spot deep inside you with each motion. If it wasn’t for her hand holding you firmly up and against the wall you would have collapsed from the sheer power building up within your core. Small whimpers left your mouth and went barrelling into Wanda’s. Your back rubbed against the wall and you weren’t sure how much more friction you could take before the pain overshadowed the pleasure coursing through your veins. 

Unable to control your own body, your head fell back against the door and Wanda was quick to take full advantage of this. Her head slowly descended to your neck when she set about teething, licking, and kissing your pulse point. When her hand moved from your waist to cup your breast you lost all composure and a loud moan rippled through the room, without Wanda holding you as firmly, you began bouncing along to the rhythm she was setting, your back now on fire against the wall.

You moved a hand that was previously holstered around Wanda’s neck to nestle in her hair and pulled her away so she could stare directly into your eyes whilst she continued to fuck you. 

“Fuck me on the bed.” you said looking directly into Wanda’s hunger crazed eyes, “please.” 

Bringing her head back up so she was level with you once again, she removed her hand from your breast and moved it to the back of your other thigh, mirroring her previous actions she pulled your leg to wrap around her waist and held you firm. Somehow the strap burrowed impossibly deeper inside you causing you to let out a shaky breath and a small cry. 

Each step towards the bed caused slight movement within you and you had to wedge your bottom lip between your teeth to stop yourself from making any sounds. You landed softly on your back, hands came to your wrists and pinned you down as pistoning hips drove all eight inches hard and fast into you, working you into a frenzy. You moved as one with Wanda who was forcefully fucking into you, hips ground down in rhythm as the hard silicone moved flawlessly against your g-spot, offering new bats of euphoria to cascade over your whole being. 

When you looked up into her eyes the intensity and fire held within them sent you barrelling over the edge. You struggled and thrashed against the hands holding you down, desperate to touch the bare skin of the woman who was taking you to new heights. Wanda’s hips were more frantic, the harness positioned against her clit perfectly so that every thrust sent a jolt of pleasure running through her body, she released your hands, and placed them either side of your head, to evenly hold her own weight. She buried her face into your glistening neck, sinking her teeth into salty flesh in an attempt to muffle her groans but ripping yet another whimper from you. Your hand buried itself in fiery locks and the other fell to Wanda’s ass, helping her in her jagged ministrations. 

The tension in your lower abdomen was at an all-time high, and you felt your walls tighten around her false cock, feeling her completely and entirely filling you. You half groaned, half screamed when she kept up her fast pace, your whole body tensed and your back arched as you finally found your release. 

Wanda kept sloppily pumping into you, chasing her own orgasm, leading your whole body to shake. Your head flew back, repeatedly hitting the mattress, you were helpless as Wanda was amping you up into a second orgasm. The team be damned there was no way you could be quiet, sounds of your wet sex were drowned out by cries of pleasure from both you and Wanda. 

“Don’t stop, please don’t stop.” You sobbed, tears of pleasure stung in your eyes and your fingernails dug into her skin leaving behind five crescent marks. 

“Cum with me.” 

After a mere few seconds of rapid and hard jerks Wanda bit down harder on your neck containing a loud groan within her throat, you tried to do the same however you weren’t as successful, but none of that mattered, not when you both were enthralled in a pool of passion. 

“Now.” 

And you did as instructed, you relaxed and let your second orgasm take place, leaving you paralysed. You let your legs fall from Wanda’s waist and bounce down on the bed as you tried to control your breathing. Wanda slumped down next to you, both staring up at the ceiling, panting breathlessly from the events that had left you both speechless and utterly spent. Quiet and carefully, you inched closer to Wanda, testing the waters you placed your head to her moving chest and tried to relax. 

You lay in bed dreading the thought of Wanda leaving, your head rested on her chest as she ran her fingers delicately through your hair, the act of affection was all too bittersweet knowing it was momentary. Despite the pit that had taken place in your stomach, the soft slow brushes of her fingertips along your scalp lulled you, your eyelids soon grew heavy, and sleep claimed you. 

When you woke up a few hours later, sadness began to set in, as it usually did, however a voice nagged in your head reminding you that this time was different. And it would seem that small voice may have been right. The arm that remained looped around your waist and the sleeping body pressed against your back confirmed that.

Click here to be added to my tag list

[harrysmmm]

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏 - 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐥𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧

Fanfiction: The Relics of Hogwarts (CLICK THE LINK BEFORE READING THIS)

Draco malfoy x Y/N Riddle (f!reader)

A/N: First chapter of the fanfic! It took me a whole week to write this, and a whole week to create the plot of the story. This chapter sets the tone for what is to come - more draco and the reader's interactions will happen in the following chapters. I am beyond excited to be posting this, I hope you guys enjoy it - I really had the best time writing it (it helps me deal with reality which I very much thank). Also, two things before you go and read it: one, my mother tongue is not English, once again, so forgive me for any mistake or wrong word that I might've used; two, every paragraph or conversation that is written in italic is a flashback (I think it was clear but just to be hella clear). That's everything for me to say... also you don't know the amount of research I've had to do in order to be precise on every description, family line, Hogwarts system... it's crazy the number of tabs I've opened during the creation of all of it. Last thing, I have never done this before but if you'd like to be on the taglist for each time I post a new chapter, put it in the comments or write me an inbox and I'll gladly do it! I'm going to try to do my best and post a chapter every week - two would be ideal. I tend to write pretty long chapters so it takes me a lot of time to finish them. I'm going to stop writing, this is becoming addictive. Love you, this fic is for all of you out there.

W/C: 4.3K

masterlist here

Summer was about to come to an end. It was pouring rain in the Scottish mountain range; a wild, twisted, ravaging storm that left a lifeless valley at its steps. Someone was rushing through the vast hallways, crackling footsteps as he was approaching the stone gargoyle. He whispered in a low, hoarse voice: “Cockroach clusters”. A stoned spiraled staircase revealed itself behind the statue, he marched them upstairs.

At the top, a wooden door was slightly opened revealing at its gap a dim light and an overwhelming heat. Under this particular weather, there was a need of a fireplace.

The professor stepped in the headmaster’s office.

“Severus,” Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of the Wizarding School, Hogwarts, greeted the man, “what can I do for you in this, rather hectic evening?”

“I –” he stopped, having been interrupted by a loud thunder, “have some news from You Know Who.”

Dumbledore froze for a moment. “Ah!” he uttered, heading towards his centered desk, and sitting down. “Tell me what you know.”

“You Know Who’s daughter is supposedly coming to Hogwarts this year.”

“How is that possible?” Dumbledore seemed confused.

“He has gotten back in contact with her, after seventeen years,” Snape said in a monotone voice of his range. “I have been told to keep an eye on her.”

The storm was heavily attacking the gleaming windows.

“This is no coincidence - I suppose you know that, Severus.”

“I… assumed.”

“Voldemort has something in mind – something that involves the school – or Potter.”

“The child has always been in his sight, why would it be that now he is looking to get to him by sending his abandoned daughter off to school while she has a cursed bloodline herself, it seems a little…odd… from my perspective, Professor.”

“You’re right, Severus - but we need to be en garde.” Dumbledore was looking all around his desk seeming to try to dismantle this new information. “Does the girl know why she’s coming?”

“It seems like she does.”

“U-huh,” he replied. “Well, the link between Draco’s commended mission to kill me and the arrival of Voldemort’s daughter is evident; he’s trying to gain some presence within the school.”

“And,” he continued, “the girl and Draco have known each other merely from birth, they’ve grown up together as siblings, haven’t they, Severus?”

“I wouldn’t use the word siblings, Professor – as far as I know, they roughly consider each other cousins.”

“Right, right, cousins…”

“Professor,” uttered Snape.

“Huh?”

“What should I do?”

“Well,” Dumbledore got up and walked towards the animal that was gripping a stand cage. It was an elegant phoenix; he had crimson feathers covering his entire body and a long golden tail resembling that of a peacock. His name was Fawkes. Dumbledore caressed the animal as he continued, “you have no choice – she will have to attend this year at Hogwarts. In fact, she will directly be put into Slytherin, that way your task will be eased.”

“If I may, I don’t think she would’ve been sorted into any other house, giving her lineage, Professor.”

“Right, descendant of Salazar Slytherin, right…” Dumbledore didn’t seem to be there, his thoughts spiraling up, trying to find the connecting factor.

“I see you… pensive” said Snape in return.

Dumbledore moved from the bird to the East of the room and stood next to the recollection of memories bottled up in glass jars.

“We both know, Severus, that Voldemort doesn’t hold any sort of affection towards his daughter; he’s incapable of it.” He frenetically moved to the West of the room. “That girl has been raised by Druella Black, mother of the living Bellatrix Lestrange and Narcissa Malfoy. The girl has never had any contact with her father, nor her mother for that matter.”

“If I may ask… what happened to the mother?”

“Well, no one knows what happened to her; no one even knows who she is. Voldemort hasn’t had any known-of partner in his life.”

“Right,” replied Snape. “Although the girl has, so it seems, a tight relation with the Diggory family.”

“The Diggorys… Cedric Diggory? The boy that Voldemort killed during the Triwizard Tournament?” inquired Dumbledore.

“Indeed. She’s presumably close to his father, Amos Diggory, who works in the Ministry of Magic.” completed Snape.

“How?”

“I don’t know, but she will come to the school as his niece, omitting her last name Riddle.”

“A façade.” Dumbledore had a lost look.

“Yes.”

“There’s a lot of things that we can’t grasp, Severus. You will keep an eye on her, I will deal with the rest.”

“As you wish.”

Snape turned around, swinging his cape as he moved to the door.

“Severus,” Dumbledore called him, before he could walk away, “Hogwarts is, once again, being threatened. This time, it might be the last time”. He looked at his hand, a black dark magic had scattered through most of it.

Snape understood his words but didn’t reply.

A black figure made his way down the enchanted staircase.

ྀ࿔

The hallways were full of students. Bustling chatter about summertime and vacations was spreading around the walls of the entrance hall. First years were arriving in canoes through the Great Lake that surrounded Hogwarts while upper years were progressively making an entrance, after getting off the Hogwarts Express.

She noticed the attunes of most students. Black robes seemed to be the official uniform, with varying colors on the hood, sleeves and the edge of the front depending on the student who was wearing it. At the front of it, there was a patch in accordance with the colors of the robe – she assumed it was the house patch of the student. She particularly laid her eyes on the green one, the one who seemed to have a snake in the middle. She knew that Father had attended the school – and even if she was mostly ignorant about the school system and supposed houses, she knew her father had been a green-robed student.

Snape started to climb up the Grand Stairs, she followed him. Various students and professors were hectically going up and down the stairs, making her have to pay attention to not brush shoulders with any of them. Snape was not looking back at her, swinging from side to side as if he knew seconds ahead who was going to go up or down.

Her mind wondered back to the reason why she was there; to the mission Father had commended her to do. She had heard about Wizarding Schools, Hogwarts in particular, since nearly her birth. However, Druella never wanted her to get mingled with academic wizards and witches, fearing for her life as a Riddle. That last name did not follow any welcoming reception in the Wizarding World. But after Father’s come back, things have changed all around.

She couldn’t help but travel back to the moment it all started.

“F-father?” she called him, pitch black consuming the entire room of the Malfoy Manor.

She could hear him moving. Hollow wooden floorboards slowly crackling at his steps. She could also hear his snake hissing - that’s how she knew he was standing in front of her.

“Child,” he finally said with a whispery, throaty voice, “I missed you.”

She felt two arms making their way to her ribs while slowly tangling behind her on what seemed to be a hug. She didn’t move, shivering of horror.

“My daughter.” She felt the air of his voice in her ear, making her swift breathing be noticed.

She understood that he knew she was afraid.

His arms were no longer wrapping her, and she felt how he was circling her by the crackling wood yet again.

“How have the Blacks been treating you?”

She gasped.

“Fair enough…Father.”

He seemed to have moved to the other side of the room.

“And the Malfoys? The young boy, Draco, is he nice to you?”

She tried to relax her breathing.

“He is - they all have always treated me as one of their own.”

“But you’re not one of them, are you?”. He moved closer to her again, as she felt his snake sliding next to her foot.

“I-I guess I’m not.” She could’ve sworn she saw a monster in front of her. She closed her eyes tightly.

“Your stay with them might’ve been enjoyable, but I’m afraid you must leave.”

Something in her stopped when she heard those words.

“Where?” she inquired.

“To the Diggorys.”

“I don’t know who they are.”

He was standing in front of her. She could sense it.

“They are nice people that will take you under their roof – now, I need you to befriend them, become one of them. You will need to take on their last name.”

She didn’t say a word and let him continue.

“I need some things that lay within the walls of Hogwarts; some things that someone wants to steal.”

“Harry Potter,” she whispered, not being able to contain herself.

“Do not mention his name!” he raised his voice, and she could feel his face almost touching hers.

She nearly started sobbing.

“You don’t get to say his name in front of me, do you understand?”

“Yes.”

“Good.” He leaned back some inches from her. “Some objects that are in the castle belong to me. I hid them so they would be safe - but it has come to my attention that they might be in danger.”

She kept listening.

“When the time comes, I will need you to go to Hogwarts as a Diggory and bring those objects back to me. You will be fully awarded for the act,” he paused, “and gain your place by my side.”

She heavily breathed when she heard that. After all those years, her father was offering her a chance to make him proud, to honor her last name, to have a family.

“What are these objects?”

“You’ll must bring me the cup of Helga Hufflepuff, the diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw, the locket of Salazar Slytherin and the sword of Godric Gryffindor. All of them make the Relics of Hogwarts.”

“Now,” he continued, “you will leave to the Diggorys tomorrow morning. I will be back to tell you when you will attend Hogwarts.” He paused. “I’m afraid I must leave you now, dear girl.”

“Father?” She needed to ask.

“Yes?”

“Who is my mother?” she asked away. She figured that now that he needed her, he couldn’t hurt her for asking.

The seconds that lasted the silence lingered in her like a death sentence.

“Your mother ran away as she had the chance. I would be tarnishing your name by speaking of her.”

She knew that wasn’t the truth; she sensed it in his voice.

“Did you love her?”

He breathed heavily; he was getting tired of this conversation. He swiftly approached her once again.

“Love does not exist. Don’t let them bewitch your mind.”

And just like that, he vanished through dark smoke.

ྀ࿔

“Hogwarts. What a pathetic excuse for a school,” Draco snapped. “I’d pitch myself off the Astronomy Tower if I had to continue for another two years.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Pansy Parkinson, close friend of Draco, replied.

“Let’s just say, I don’t think you’ll see me wasting my time in Charms class next year.”

Draco, Pansy and Blaise were sitting down in a wagon of the Hogwarts Express. Draco knew it was his last time returning to Hogwarts. He also knew his biggest stress this year was not going to be about returning good grades home or beating Potter in the Quidditch finals. The Dark Lord had commended him a very important mission, and now that his father was facing sentence in Azkaban, he had to bear with the responsibility of the family’s loyalty towards the Dark plan.

Blaise blurted out a small chuckle to Draco’s words.

“Amused, Blaise?” the blonde boy replied. “We’ll see just who’s laughing in the end.”

Draco heard a noise coming from the rack above their seats and saw his bag having slightly been moved. Someone was eavesdropping on the conversation through an invisibility spell, and he bet on bloody Potter. He didn’t talk much after knowing the conversation was not confidential. In what twisted pathetic adventure was Potter trying to be the hero on this time? His blood was boiling by just having to pretend not knowing he was there. That tosser that everyone always praised – he wouldn’t last two days in his position. After all, life was not about heroic acts, corny speeches, and lucky fate – some people had been given a family name to respect, an expectation to be met. He thought, once again, about the mission that had been commended to him by the Dark Lord; how his wand would have to end the life of the greatest wizard alive; how he would go onto History as the man who assassinated Albus Dumbledore. He realized his hands were sweaty and his heartbeat higher than normal. He tried to keep his composure in front of everyone in the wagon and fixed his gaze on the rich green Scottish fields – clouds welcoming him to a thunderstorm.

ྀ࿔

“Ah! Y/N Diggory! Come in, come in…” Dumbledore greeted the girl in his office.

“Thank you,” she replied, following Snape. She didn’t take too much time to have a look at the curious, but glamorous place.

“Do you fancy my office? I must admit I am really fond of collecting peculiar objects,” he approached a table where all sorts of outlandish things were scattered. She noticed the blackness of his hand when he grabbed one of the objects, “I don’t always know what they do but I find them really unique as room decoration, don’t you think?”

“I’m sure being the headmaster has its advantages when it comes to decorating.”

“Oh, being the headmaster has plenty of advantages, Miss. Diggory,” he replied in a whispery tone.

“Now, you, as a new Hogwarts student, have also a lot of advantages;” he continued, “First of all, you are skipping from year one to year six, so you won’t have to bear first years’ Potions on how to make a cure for boils or first year’s Defense Against the Dark Arts on how to cast an Expelliermus.”

You simply nodded.

“Then, Professor Snape has told me that you’ve already passed through the Sorting Hat and you have been assigned to Slytherin, is that correct, Severus?”

“It is.”

It was not correct. She hadn’t gone through any house assignation, but she understood that Dumbledore didn’t know about it, and that Snape had probably settled her in Slytherin for a reason – therefore, she didn’t question it.

“Wonderful. An ambitious, clever girl, I see”.

She smirked at him. She bet he was not by any means a Slytherin himself.

“Lastly, I assume you have all this year’s textbooks, ingredients, plants, constellation maps, perhaps? Oh! I assume you have a pet by now! And a wand…”

She looked at Snape, knowing that she hadn’t bought any of those things herself. Except for the wand that she got at Ollivanders when she was eleven, after Druella had told her she would get a private tutor to teach her magic.

“She has,” Snape simply replied, without giving her any look back.

“Then everything seems to be settled. How are you feeling, Miss. Diggory?” Dumbledore deeply stared at her. This time, she felt like he really wanted to know the answer.

“Really honored to join the school, Sir.”

“My door is always open for any visits. Never underestimate the magic of being listened, Miss. Diggory.”

She nodded and followed Snape downstairs, thinking she was probably never going to step into that office again.

Snape and Y/N arrived at the dungeons of the school, where the Slytherin dormitories could be found. Snape turned around to talk to Y/N.

“All of your things are in your dorm, number 3, all the schedule and times are also in your dorm, the password to the common room is pure-blood… don’t want you sneaking after ten p.m. or you could get… into trouble.” His intimidating black eyes were on hers. He turned around with a swing of his cape.

“Oh,” He turned towards her again, “supper starts at six.”

She was alone in the castle for the first time. She uttered the password on a low voice and a bare stretch of stone wall opened, leading her to a corridor. Once she walked through it, only lightened by torches hang up on the stone walls, she arrived at the common room. It was a high ceiling, ample room; dark green shades flickering from the multiple windows. Low backed black and dark green button-tufted, leather sofas were placed all around the room; skulls on top of tables; and dark wood cupboards. Tapestries of numerous medieval figures decorated the walls. Y/N noticed the highlighted portrait of an old man that she recognized to be Salazar Slytherin, founder of the Slytherin house and one of the four founders of Hogwarts. She knew this because she was a distant relative of his, through her father of course. She noticed she was alone and headed directly to her dorm.

Her dorm was a five-bed room with one bathroom. She recognized her bag next to one of the beds. On the side table, she found a pile of textbooks; she started leafing through some of the books: Advanced Potion-Making, A Guide To Advanced Transfiguration, Flesh-Eating Trees Of The World… Her eyes wondered to the parchment at the right where her schedule and attending courses were shown. She started to read through the different school norms and times when she felt something brushing her leg. She startled at the contact when she saw a small black kitten going under her bed. She kneeled and grabbed it, putting it on the bed. The kitten had big emerald eyes that were looking into hers, as if it had some sort of human spirit inside.

“You must be my pet, huh?” She grabbed it again and looked to confirm the sex. “A Miss… Should give you a name, shouldn’t I?” She laid down on her bed caressing the kitten on her chest, thinking of a name for her. She realized that it was the first time she let herself sink down and relax since her arrival. A lot of thoughts were constantly crossing her mind telling her to focus on everything, to plan everything, to think about everything – it was exhausting. Exhausting… she came up with something.

“Your name is Exhonia. What do you think?” she asked the kitten as if she was going to reply. The kitten was scratching her jumper.

“Okay Exhonia, don’t get too ahead on yourself.” She grabbed the rather turbulent cat and placed it next to her on the bed.

The only time she had ever dealt with a cat was a the Diggory’s house, near Ottery St Catchpole. Cedric’s pet had been a brown and white cat, a rather upset one she might add, especially when Cedric was not around anymore. She had gone to the Diggory’s a month after the boy’s death when Father had asked her to.

“What can I do for you, dear?” a middle-aged man, short and plump opened the door of the cottage.

“My name is Y/N, Sir – is this the Diggory’s house?”

“Yes, yes… what is it that you want?” he wouldn’t entirely open the front door, as if he didn’t trust the world outside.

“I came to talk to you. I was really close to Cedric.”

The man seemed to freeze.

“And I was hoping to come and meet you since you would’ve been my father-in-law”.

And that is how she managed to spend a year living under the roof of the Diggorys. Amos Diggory fully believed her when she told him the story of how she was supposed to marry Cedric once he would end the Triwizard Tournament; how they had wanted to wait until the end of it to tell his parents. She told him, through a little bit of sobbing, how her parents had dropped dead on a car accident, being herself a muggle-born, and that the only family she had left was the Diggorys – even if she had never met them before. Amos and his wife found in her a beam of light; the spirit of Cedric in a beautiful fifteen-year-old girl. They never questioned the story, nor her intentions and adopted her as a Diggory that had always belonged in the family. It was not until one year later that Y/N shared with them her dream of attending Hogwarts, as Father had contacted her back and told her it was time she fulfilled her mission. They accepted with little objection, happy that they could spoil a girl as they once did to Cedric. Y/N, as a sign of gratitude, asked them if she could inherit their last name, to which they happily agreed. She became Y/N Diggory, niece of Mr. and Mrs. Diggory, as she told them it would be more appropriate taking into consideration that no one knew about her planned marriage with Cedric. Even if Y/N didn’t really want to get mingled in the Diggorys life, she knew they were living in delusion, desperately looking to fill the void of their son’s death – which Y/N, in a way, managed to do. They were in need of a miracle, she offered them the fairiest of fairy tales… who cared if it was all a script of lies at the end of the day?

Her thoughts came back to the present moment when she heard a bell chiming the hour. Six, so she counted. She decided to go down for supper, still curious that no students had yet come to the common room.

She walked up the stairs and dived through the hallways, meeting no one on the way. When she started to hear some familiar voice she recognized as to Dumbledore’s, she followed it, understanding she was somehow late to some sort of first day speech. But in the middle of her wanderings, an old-wrinkled man with a cat yelled at her.

“And what do you think you’re doing lurking in the hallways?” He firmly grabbed her by the arm.

“I was looking for the Great H- let go of me!” she replied, trying to get rid of his grip.

“The headmaster will hear about your wanderings, young lady!” He dragged her towards the doors of the Great Hall. Both doors slammed open when he pushed them with his bare hand. Dumbledore’s speech was immediately interrupted. Hundreds of eyes turned towards the old man’ and Y/N’s direction.

“Headmaster, sorry to provoke such an entrance but I found this girl wandering around the castle, missing the opening ceremony” he gave her away to everyone in the room. He pushed her forward so everyone could see who he was screaming about.

She stood at the beginning of the corridor between the students’ tables. She looked ahead, Dumbledore standing up in a podium, several professors sitting down behind him and, of course, a few inches away from her, long tables filled with students of different ages, different houses, staring at her like she was the most bizarre specimen. She decided to say something.

“Sir, I-“

“There’s no need, Miss. Diggory,” after her last name had been dropped, all students started to look at each other, mumbles starting to form, “you can join your table with the other Slytherin students.”

She didn’t reply, hearing how the room had become a cloud of voices at this point.

“Thank you Argus for the help. But, Miss. Diggory was just lost, being this her first day at Hogwarts.” The voices intensified. “Now, while it is always very joyful to welcome new students, I must ask you to stop the chatter.” Students seemed to listen to him, and seconds later there was little to no sound.

Y/N sat down on the first free seat at the Slytherin table, still feeling like half of the students’ gazes were settled on her. Once Dumbledore had proceeded with his speech, she discretely took a look on the people that surrounded her. Four large tables divided the Great Hall, one for each house. Her gaze wondered through the Gryffindor table, looking for a certain scared-boy. She of course knew about the prophecy, as well as she knew the history between him and her father. She had thought about eventually meeting Harry Potter but never really figured how she would react to his presence. Should she hate him, pity him, fear him? The boy was her age – which didn’t leave a lot of room for fear. But she was still curious to see how they would react to one another, even if the boy was unaware of who her father was, as well as everyone. She guessed she would eventually meet the chosen one during class.

Her eyes turned back to Dumbledore, who was finishing talking, when someone pulled their arm towards her.

“They are calling you from there,” a dark-haired boy told her, while pointing to the other side of the long table.

She switched her focus to look for the person who was calling her. A blonde boy tilted his head down to meet her gaze. He playfully tilted his eyebrows while a smirk made its way to his face. She smiled at him while slowly shaking her head. It was no other than the heir of the Malfoys himself. He stared deep into her eyes a little longer, then shifted his gaze back to some Professor that had started talking. She looked at him a little longer, letting herself feel for no more than five seconds the accelerated heartbeat that she was still unfamiliar with. She eventually switched her gaze back to the Professor too. The Slytherin heir was back at Hogwarts, and this time, she had the Prince of Slytherin by her side.

part two

[luna-rainbow]

I'm sorry if this is an odd question. I'm new to the Steve/Bucky fandom and only recently started reading fics relating to them. How come most fics tend to favor Peggy and write her to be a sympathetic character? Most of the fandom that I've interacted with agree that Peggy isn't a good person (SHIELD and Hydra as well as her behavior with Steve in CFA) and wouldn't be a good match for Steve. I've loved all the fics for the love b/w Steve/Bucky but the sympathetic writing of Peggy has irked me

Thanks for the ask!

I came into fandom pretty late so I missed a lot of that, but I’m told Peggy has always been pretty popular in the Stucky fandom.

I think her popularity comes from a number of reasons — 1) lack of other female characters at the time, 2) easy to project onto, 3) a reluctance to tackle her negative traits.

At the time when Stucky’s popularity exploded, there weren’t a lot of female characters in the MCU. There were Pepper and Jane, both of whom were passive watchers and “civilian counterparts” to the main character's heroic enterprise. Peggy was a rare Phase 1 love interest that seemed to be present and at least somewhat handy with a gun. People were more forgiving of unfavourable character moments — and just coming from the movies alone, you could bend the narrative to ignore most of those unfavourable moments.

Which leads me to the second point, which I think is the most important one. The vagueness with which Peggy is written makes her an incredibly useful “blank” character to project onto. Firstly, her mannerisms are forceful and assertive, and the superhero genre target audience is one who likes to watch things being resolved by fights. As I said above, at the time there really isn't any other female character (apart from Nat) for the female audience who likes action heroes. Secondly, Peggy and Nat form the madonna-whore dichotomy (especially with Whedon’s characterisation), and a lot of people would prefer to project onto the fandom madonna than the whore. Thirdly, she has very little character traits within the movies apart from “strong-willed” and maybe “ambitious”, which gives a lot of flexibility to how writers can play with her character. Fourth, the fact that her appearances in the movies only ever occur in Steve’s company (except the later cameos) gives a misattribution of narrative proximity, with a lot of fans believing (especially if they haven’t revisited the source in years) that she was a more important narrative force than she actually was. But that same narrative proximity is appealing if you want to project onto a female character who can participate in Steve’s adventures and you don’t like Nat or Sharon or an OC.

And the third point I think is the trickiest part. Does fandom misogyny exist? Of course it does, especially in the MCU. But misogyny is also flung around as an accusation against fans who make genuine critiques of a character or want to write a nuanced female character that acknowledges her negative traits. Someone once dumped a 1500 word rant in my comments because I omitted Peggy from a Stucky meta, so you can imagine how much her rabid fans would arc up if you are actually critical.

Besides, writing a nuanced character takes effort and planning and a lot of hard work. I know for myself unless I plan to tackle Peggy as a fully-fledged character, I'd either omit her from the story or give her a very minor role that is not overtly critical, because it's just not worth the effort of the argument in the notes.

[quillkiller]

whats ur opinion on jegulus?

for me i dont really fw it. I think it’s mostly bc i don’t like james that much and putting him w/ regulus i feel kinda takes away from both their characters. For reg I feel like the ship kinda softens his character and takes away his agency. ‘he was just a wittle baby whos mummy an daddy forced him to join a hate group 🥺’ which is very far off from how I view him. It gives james a savior sort of role. And that’s not to say i haven’t read some good jegulus fics and enjoyed them I think they jsut need to be modern day bc the whole ‘james saves regulus from the horrible fate of the desth eaters that his parents forced him into!’ Annoys me.

(ps im sorry if you really like jegulus i promise this wasn’t meant to be hate or anything)

agree with all this!!!!! 🤍

i don’t really like jegulus all that much and i have been known to mention it once or twice here on quillkiller dot tumblr dot com. honestly, for me, it’s probably just that im too much of a sirius guy and and i think both sirius and regulus deserve better than to have james juggle between both of them. james and sirius are too important to me and i dont like what happens in their dynamic if reg was added into it. in my world james is always and forever going to choose sirius if it ever came down to that and regulus deserves better !! + and ive talked a lot about this before too, im not a fan of regulus becoming part of the marauders friend group!! i think he’s a way more interesting character to delve into when he has his own life outside of sirius and his own friend group (the skittles <- which i also dont like interacting too much with the marauders). in addition to the james and sirius friendship being important to me, so is regulus and sirius’ relationship, and i don’t like what happens to their dynamic either if reg is paired with james. the whole thing just stresses me out and i can almost never enjoy it. ’best friends brother’ trope is weird and strange to me, probably because im an oldest sister myself, and i don’t see the appeal which is why i have a running theory that people who like that trope are younger siblings themselves or like….. only children ….

anyway, i don’t hate jegulus!! i just think they’re the least interesting james and regulus pairing !! i follow some jegulus blogs that have captivated me body and soul. they’re just not interesting enougj to me to like. explore further myself. i dont go looking for fics about them + i have the jegulus tag blocked and only unblock/click to see the post when its my favorite jeggy mutuals/blogs ive followed specifically because i like their jegulus… so like, im not necessarily immune to jegulus but it also takes a lot to get me interested ! ive read a few jegulus fics and ive fallen in love with some of them and there’s one (1) that i would put in my top 10 favorite fics i think !

however!! my favorite jegulus is unrequited jegulus where regulus us in love with james. to me, their dynamic is the most compelling to me in a canon compliant setting !! ive read a bunch of modern aus too that ive enjoyed, but i like the angst of jegulus the most.. the angst and unrequited vibe of it all is so hot and sexy to me.. like the jealousy and resentment regulus feels for james because he took sirius in and becomes his new and better brother. and that resentment mixed together with confused desire during your puberty years when everything is angsty and confusing and you’re heartbroken and grieving ? you’re the absolute polar opposite to your brothers favorite person and you’re supposed to hate him but his smile looks like summer and his mere presence is always suffocatingly warm and you get it. you’re not surprised your brother chose him over you and you think that if james potter cornered you somewhere and kissed you and said ’sirius doesnt have to know’ you think you would probably let him because who wouldnt. james can have whatever he wants, he proved that by taking sirius (like that IS a big deal. sirius was heir to the noble house of black !!!!!!!) and what else is there to do but grieve your brother and hate wank over his best friend, who only knows you exist because you’re sirius’ brother, he chose over you

[elialys]

hey. as a fellow writer from niche fandoms and unpopular ships, can i just say i really appreciate you being upfront about how much lack of engagement sucks. really thank you. especially because it comes from someone like you who has a fair amount of engagement, but you know what? you’re right being pissed. i know i am. i come from fandoms where people are constantly yapping about lack of content yet none of them engage w/ each other. i ended up leaving bc i felt like i was screaming to a wall. and you know what? i haven’t stopped writing, just posting. bc why bother? so yeah, i AM writing for myself, and also keeping it from myself. idc if that’s petty honestly, like no, it doesn’t make me feel any better if someone out there might end up liking it one day if they’re being completely silent about it. fandoms aren’t supposed to be one-sided. i’m fine w people not reading my stuff cause they don’t like it. you can straight up tell me you hate my ship and i will be like. cool 👍 but when people do read and like your stuff and yet never say anything, that’s something that i don’t like

anyway sorry for rambling, know that you’re much appreciated. i remember you from my doctor who days and i wish i were in your fandoms so i could keep reading your stuff. ❤️

For the longest time I didn’t say anything because I realize that in a lot of cases, I’ve had what you’d call great engagement, and I’ve always been so thankful for the love my stories have received throughout various fandoms. But the decline is STEEP these days, and I have the hindsight of having been writing/sharing fics online for two decades, so I have a lot of 'data' to compare these days’ numbers to.

That’s the thing that has always gotten to me. NUMBERS. Being so, so aware of how many people click on our fics, and how few of them actually engage with a comment. Even at my most “popular”, I didn’t get more than 5% of my readers interacting with me; it felt like a lot because I had a lot of readers, so it meant more comments, but it still was only 5%.

Like you said, it’s this knowing that people are reading, that they are coming back chapter after chapter, yet they don’t bother engaging with us, even when most of us basically BEG in author notes for them to comment and make us feel less like word spewing machines and more like creative members of their online community. What really got to me this last month was updating my fic for The Last of Us, a chapter that got 1,000 hits in two weeks, and I got 10 comments for it. I was just…how the fuck are 1,000 people reading and only 10 of them bothering? Especially since that fic had averaged 3 times that amount of comments for months on previous chapters.

Every time I get disheartened by the increasingly shitty reader engagement, I tell myself that’s it, I’m done writing fics. But then I always go back to it a few days later because I actually LOVE writing fics. Like, fuck yeah, I do write for myself and actually enjoy it for myself (in a love-hate kind of writing relationship obviously 🤣). I do it because I am in love with the characters I’m writing about, and fascinated by their dynamics and relationships, so it’s genuinely a THRILL, and my biggest passion.

But the abysmal engagement these days is just…it makes me feel like shit, there’s no other word for it. Because I spend so much time and energy on those stories (because I want to and I LOVE to write), but as a fic writer, there’s always this part of me that’s excited to be SHARING it with the fandom. Because twenty years of this have gotten me used to at least some decent interaction, and feeling like I'm part of a community. But then the hit count goes up and the comment count stays low or nearly empty, and it’s just gutting. People just consume, consume, consume.

Honestly, GOOD ON YOU for still writing while deciding not to share with your niche fandom at the moment. I’m thinking I might do the same with the rest of my Tess & Ellie AU, because I want to see it through and finish it for ME, but I’m done spoon-feeding an apathetic crowd. I’ll reach out to my most loyal readers and regular commenters when the day comes, and give them a way to read the rest of the story, might even just post the chapters straight on my blog here like I used to do, but not on AO3, not for a goooooood while.

Maybe it is petty, maybe I am just butt hurt. But fuck it, it does hurt my feelings, and I’m the one spending hours of my life writing those things, so I’ll do it my way. And I will continue to call readers out, and ask them to step up. We are human beings, not chatGPT, we just want some appreciation for sharing our art.

[acaciapines]

Your nanowrimo pieces are soooo goooood they hit so hard fr fr. I’m especially LOVING today’s one with the owl & the collector even tho I don’t rlly know that much abt toh bc I haven’t watched it but I can tell that u LOVE IT & I can’t wait to learn more thru osmosis once the fic is poooosteeeed✨ (i WILL read it i PROMISE i SWEAR)

Anyways give us the thoughts, the tea, tell us how you make the words do that✨ anything u wanna give in regards to today’s bit!! We’re not picky!

Hope y’all are doing okay! Gal says hi :) Remember to eat and drink something, take breaks, and look after yourselves and each other! We love you! This has been a Daily Interaction Ask <3

he he :3 im glad youre enjoying!! its been really fun to pick out my favorite bits even when usually those are the ones w/out context lol. look at my owl and weep boy. firefly <3

YOU WILL LEARN SO MUCH VIA OSMOSIS....literally now that im also doing something for s1 its like. why watch owl house we have owl house at home (the owl house at home is a 1 million word daemon au) (<- 1 mil is not a joke btw idk if it'll hit it but itll at least come very close. no idk why i did this.)

as for today! hmmm...

its truly so fun to write the collector. like im not joking about him being my favorite owl house character despite his maybe twenty total minutes of screentime, so its been such a JOY to expand his role in this series!!

bc like. god. actually i think i wrote a whole like. bit of flash fiction/prose poetry type thing for them a while ago. probably in my files somewhere. but just. youre an immortal eight year old. you are in these years where you need to interact with other people for your own mental stability and health. to figure out the whole Being A Person thing. and you are trapped for like, centuries. trapped away from everyone and everything and DUST, which, in universe, in literally connection personified. you're cut off from all of this.

and you are, let me say again, eight years old.

truly the collector is just. hes had everyone he ever cares about leave him--his siblings the other archivists left him behind not out of any sense of cruelty, really, but because caring about people just isnt really a thing they do. quite frankly they live so long they didnt even notice. theyre far-away stars. not far because they're mean. just because thats what stars do.

and then king's dad (who um. doesnt have a name <3 this is why the collector calls him 'the big bully' its literally bc i never gave him a name--) was an adult the collector actually trusted and looked up to (he meshed REALLY WELL into titan society until the archivists started Doing A Murder since titans are the only beings that match them in power and they have very very different ideas about dust). like ive said before the collector is owlbeastkin but before that they never had a super stable sense of identity--in another world where they stayed w/ the titans they wouldve ended up a titan.

and then king's dad just. trapped him in a tablet forever.

and like, to be fair to king's dad he was reacting out of fear and the best knowledge he had (he assumed the collector led the archivists to the titans, and like, he did, but its not like he knew he was doing that, and, you know, poor guy had seen a huge chuck of his fellow titans killed including babies and eggs of which he had an egg to consider), but it still TRAPPED THEM. and then he died and so did all the rest of the titans so nobody could free the collector even if they wanted to.

and then BELOS, who manipulated and lied to the collector for so long and was also literally his only friend after being alone forever, so like, of course the collector just blindly went along with whatever he said. he was gonna free them!! he listened to them when they talked about stardust which nobody else ever did! he had no idea what the fuck a witch was! he just liked being able to see the stardust sometimes, and belos brought him to places with a lot of stardust. to destroy it, but like--you know. it was THERE.

but all these people were just USING them, and they never really understand that until king comes around. and king's also a scared eight year old!! but like. king's also not wrong. the collector did aid belos in destroying the entire isles. like no joke belos SUCCEEDS here. like not long-term obvi this has a happy ending but at the point we're in at for the future? it doesnt matter that the draining spell failed. all the palistrom trees are dead. witch society Cannot come back from that even if they did end up beating the collector. theyre doomed.

anyways what was i saying. collector. right.

so like, then they meet firefly/grr-click-growl/wings-across-night/the owl beast (king of having so many names i love her <3) and shes like, the first person who cares for them and ISNT using them. even king is using them!! but firefly has seen Some Shit. she sees the collector as a hatchling who was kicked out of his nest and is doing her best to be some sort of stable figure for him, but she doesnt Not see the stuff he's done.

the collector took over the world bc he's scared--all he's ever known is being used and trapped so he doesnt exactly trust most people easily. firefly would Love to not be in this world anymore. shes also got a loyalty to eda and king and luzmari. and, like, cool motive, still trapping an entire society of people.

but like. shes the one who is here right now and nobody else is trying to help this kid.

but the collector just. hes just an eight year old. a very, very old eight year old. but he doesnt understand things like "you can make the wrong choices and still choose to do better later" and "im mad at what you did but that doesnt mean i dont care about you."

he just sees someone upset with him. just sees another person who used him and doesnt care and is going to leave bc everyone leaves him and in a world where EVERY SINGLE PERSON comes in pairs, hes the only one who stands alone.

basically tl;dr: collector my beloved <3

[tending-the-hearth]

if you can, could you write a short about echo talking to the batch about the rest of domino? could be pre-show or post-show, maybe when crosshair's joined back up with the batch

they are very important to me, thank you anon 😌

*insert the obligatory "echo finds hevy's medal on the marauder" fic*

Kashyyyk had been a welcome respite after the recovery of Cody and Crosshair from the Empire.

Gungi had been more than excited to welcome his friends back, greeting Omega with a joyful hug that had the blonde giggling brightly as she returned the embrace. The rest of the Batch watched the interaction warmly, glad to see their youngest member being so happy upon reuniting with the young Jedi.

Rex had joined the Batch after Cody and Crosshair’s rescue, unable to part himself from his brother’s side.

After a day of quiet recovery on the forest planet, Echo set himself to organizing the crates that had been languishing in the Marauder’s storage hold, completely untouched over the past months of racing around the galaxy.

Distantly, he could hear Omega begging Crosshair to help her with her bow. He chuckled to himself, knowing that his little sister had been waiting for the day when she could get tutelage from their marksman brother. Digging through one of the messy crates, Echo flinched as his hand was poked by something cool, and he frowned. Grasping the object, he pulled it out into the light, and immediately froze as he recognized it.

“Oh…”

The gold sunburst glinted in the afternoon light that streamed through the Marauder’s open hatch, the green and blue ribbon faded, but still holding together.

Echo knew 99 still had the medal, but he hadn’t known what happened to it after his older brother’s death. Thinking it back over, it made sense for 99 to have given it to his own batch.

“Echo! Find anything interesting?”

The ARC was startled out of his musings by the sound of Wrecker’s shout, and he stood, holding the medal tightly in his hands as he exited the Havoc Marauder.

Rex looked up from where he was speaking with Cody, immediately noting a difference in Echo’s mannerisms.

“Vod’ika?”

Echo simply held up the medal, a small, sad smile on his face. “I haven’t seen one of these in a long time.”

Hunter’s face was bittersweet. “It was 99’s.” He approached Echo, reaching out to brush his fingers across the medal. “He gave it to us when we went off on our first mission.”

“That looks like your medal, Ey’ika.” Rex prodded gently, making Echo huff out a laugh. Of course his older brother knew something else was going on. “From when you passed the test.”

“You’ve got a medal?” Omega asked excitedly, moving around Hunter to get a peek at the object.

Echo nodded, walking to where Crosshair and Tech were seated, quietly enjoying each other’s company. He sat himself beside his grey-haired brother, taking comfort from how Crosshair didn’t tense up like he did when Hunter or Wrecker sat beside him. Rex sat on Echo’s other side, a quiet pillar of comfort.

“99 and I got our medals at the same time.” Echo began to explain, voice quiet. “His was given to him by a clone named Hevy.”

Tech cocked his head. “99 did mention it was a gift from a friend.”

“You knew the guy who gave this to 99?” Wrecker asked.

It was only Rex’s presence and Cody’s silent support from where he was sitting opposite them that kept Echo from falling apart then and there, the pain of thinking about his Domino squad often too much to bear.

“Hevy was my brother.” He said after letting out a breath. “He was the oldest of our batch, and a kriffing asshole half the time, and an overprotective mother tooka the other half of the time. He was selfless, and stupid, and everything 99 wanted him to be.” Rex shifted, wrapping an arm around Echo’s shoulders as he spoke. “Then there was Cutup. He was almost as bad as Hevy when it came to smothering us after training. He was always worried we weren’t eating enough, and when he wasn’t smothering us, he was trying to prank anyone who looked at our squad wrong.”

“Sounds like we’d get along with them.” Hunter said with a small grin.

Cody’s eyes suddenly widened with horror. “Can you imagine.”

Echo let out a loud laugh. “Oh, Hev and Cut would have loved you guys.” His face grew a touch sadder, and he leaned more into Rex, who tightened the arm he had around his shoulders. “Then there was Fives and I. Fives was older by literal seconds, but he still held it over me every chance he got.” He couldn’t bring himself to talk more about his twin, and instead pushed on, fighting to keep himself from crying. “Finally… there was Droidbait. He was the baby of the squad, and never did anything wrong in his life.”

“Didn’t you and Fives tell the story of how Droidbait started a food fight during your last day on Kamino?” Rex asked, suspicion in his voice.

Echo raised an eyebrow at his former captain. “Again, ‘Bait never did anything wrong in his life. Ever.”

Beside him, as he had been speaking, Crosshair’s posture had grown more and more relaxed until he was leaning into Echo, arms pressed together as he listened.

“I remember that.” The marksman said, voice quiet and hesitant. Echo immediately glanced at Hunter, who was obviously holding back a small grin at the sound of their brother’s voice.

“I believe Wrecker was enthusiastically involved in widening the range of that chaos.” Tech supplied helpfully.

Echo snorted. “I wouldn’t be surprised. ‘Bait was especially excited at how extreme it went so quickly.” The rest of the clones laughed, and Wrecker’s face was gleeful as he remembered that specific day, tucked at a corner table with his own batch, watching as a group of newly graduated clones cackled and teased one another.

Echo was surprised to find how easily the stories of his brothers fell from his mouth. Instead of the pang of heartbreak over his lost, there was nothing but warmth that filled him, as though Domino was sitting around him, laughing along with the stories.

Omega scooted closer, eyes bright as she asked for more stories, and Echo was only happy to oblige, grinning as Crosshair’s snarky comments interrupted him ever now and again.

It wasn’t the same, but Echo was content in knowing that he could pass on his brothers’ stories and memories.

[ya-mi-la]

hiiiii!!! i haven’t interacted with you much but i was wondering! if you perhaps had any personal hcs/lore for nnt!! i’m writing a melban fic and currently begging for lore so!!!!!! hi! hope you have a wonderful day/night!!!

Hmmmmmm I think the main hcs that I have for the characters are influenced by other people's AUs/hcs so...

For Mel, it's mainly just the demon form cat stuff. I think at some point I read about someone saying that maybe demons get to pick the shape of their wings when they get them? I also like thinking of Meliodas having double horns (a pair coming out of his forehead and a pair on either side of the top of his head) that have grown in with time (maybe takes 100-200 years to grow fully?) And he has the typical demon tail and bla bla bla. Mostly physical appearances. There's fangs in his mouth, not like.. Vampire fangs, but fangs that can tear through meat easily (I haven't drawn him like that yet I think). Also - extreme flexibility, but that could somewhat be established in the show.

For Ban, I don't have too much? Maybe he has a super soft spot for Meli or smth. He likes cuddles about as much as he likes sparing, he looks kind of intimidating but he's super chill. He gets freaked out when Meliodas does contortionist type shit. He also teaches (or at least tries to teach) Meliodas how to cook properly by making the food the right way, but Meliodas very rarely listens completely because he has the attention span of less than 10 seconds OR he fucks it up to mess with Ban.

Anyways Ban is malewife and Meliodas is his pet cat. I think that's all for what I think about those two?

In terms of lore (like, story wise), I think that Meliodas didn't know how to write or read in English or whatever language they use in Britannia (which I assume is, like, anglo saxon or smth), and when he did learn, he developed an Irish accent because I am a strong believer in him being Irish (cuz, y know, Britannia). Demons and Goddesses speak semitic languages because of me thinking about religion and stuff and how Christianity, Judaism, Islam, etc originated in the Middle East, Fairies are Eastern European to me idk why, Giants are..???? Whatever you wish, and humans are everywhere as expected. Vampires are also Eastern European because I searched it up and liked it. They have traditional dances and such - demons and giants have their dances connected to their fighting (giants dancing makes them stronger, demon dancing is just fusion dance w martial arts, like capoeira.), fairies create more lively atmospheres with dancing, I guess, and goddesses, since they're more "elegant", would have smth real classical. Fairies didn't really involve themselves in war too often, giants and demons involved themselves the most, and goddesses did it because of their VERY strained relationship with demons. Ehmmm, what else..... Meliodas never opened up to ANYONE. Like ever. Until he fully gained their trust (which could've taken months, years, decades even.) Ban's on the same boat. Anyways, after the sealing of the demons and the destruction of the goddess race (I may be incorrect, it's been a while since i watched the anime or read the manga), and since the humans are selfish and also gullible, they made history all about how bad demons were. They didn't see demons as actual people, whatever whatever, bla bla bla, you know the rest. Led to incorrect depictions of both races in history and what not.

That's just me, though. You can write whatever you want.

[jack-kellys]

hello everyone and welcome to tonight’s meeting.

it has come to my attention that i have finally come to one thousand (1k, 1,000) followers on this blog. it’s been like. a couple weeks of me sitting on this knowledge because i wanted to do something and be able to give proper time to some event or fic for you all the enjoy and… perhaps take part in. SO:

i am opening drawing requests! i haven’t done this in a while, but i have a whole day tomorrow (until newsies w @etrsnaps 🤭) and my style has improved and i want to draw everyone’s special little guys as a thank you to you all :,)

secondly. i am trying to configure an interactive fic (basically you guys controlling the adventure via the polls feature here as each chapter goes) based on @claireverlasting’s ask, which tldr is a modern/futurist/magical robin hood newsies au!! feel free to send me asks about it so i can get it off the ground and get an idea of how to make it work for you all to vote on ur phones about what tool jack should use, or if race should run or fight, or if someone should…idk say i love you to someone else 🤭… i know that ao3 has a feature like this but you are my 1k followers so you’re going to be voting. it’s only fair!

♥️thank you guys so much!!! for everything!!! especially if you’ve been following me for the past…. god five years. i love you, i recognize all your urls, and i go like >:) when i see ur name. love you. please send me asks and requests!!!! i want to thank you all!!!!♥️

[scheodingers-muppet]

sorry i haven’t been posting i lowkey forgot i was real. but anyways back on my bullshit let’s go

fearless. y’all know the drill

Fearless: Steddie. Eddie to Steve. 1) i’m a sucker for fics where Steve just decides “who cares about homophobia, i’ll intimidate them until they leave us alone” (i know it’s unrealistic just let me have this) and Eddie is just starstruck anytime Steve stands up for him. also the line “run your hands through your hair” screams Steve. “you pull me in and i’m a little more brave” Eddie just wants to be brave, to stop running.

Fifteen: El. “somebody tells you they love you, you’re gonna believe them” “next to a redhead… and soon enough you’re best friends” her and max. “you’re dancing around the room when the night ends” you can’t convince me she didn’t do that. “your first kiss makes your head spin” “i swore i was gonna marry him but i realized some bigger dreams of mine” and “in this life, you’ll do things greater than dating the boy on the football team” we only know about el in her relations to other people. the other characters have pieces of their plots that show us who they are outside of the group. el, however, only has the rainbow room and her interactions with the party. even in california, we can see the heavy influence from her old friends.

Love Story: Lumax!! “i close my eyes and the flashback starts” she thinks about Lucas for her happy memories. “daddy said stay away from Juliet” Billy tried to keep them apart; it’s not hard to imagine her stepdad would have an issue with him too. “escape this town for a little while” it’s not unlikely that they would want to leave hawkins. “they’re trying to tell me how to feel” both the racism and people trying to help her through Billy

Hey Stephen: STEDDIE!!!!! from Eddie. “i know looks can be deceiving” “as we walked, we were talking and i didn’t say half the things i wanted to” “of all the girls throwing rocks at your window, i’ll be the one standing out there in the cold” the whole chorus reminds me of the joke that Eddie hates loving a jock, but he just can’t help it. the references to shinning and i just know eddie would call steve his “knight in shinning armor” “all those other girls are beautiful but would they write a song for you?”

White Horse: El and Mike. I think El would get her ideas of romance from fairytales and movies. “this ain’t hollywood, this is a small town” “i was a dreamer before you went and let me down” “this is a big world, that was a small town” she’s gonna move on and be okay

You Belong With Me: Byler. the whole song is about being in love with your best friend. ignore the internalized misogyny and view it as “you guys are so different, but we fit together at such a good level” “i’m the one who makes you laugh when you know you’re about to cry” and the “crazy together” where they comforted each other.

Breathe: Nancy about Barb. there isn’t a huge reason other than the fact that this doesn’t fit any of the breakups and i think we don’t discuss the nancy-barb thing enough

Tell Me Why: Stancy. “you know you got a mean streak” about both of them. “i remember what you said last night” and the halloween party. “you tell me you love me then you cut me down” steve did not do enough to help nancy deal with losing barb. i feel like their relationship would have been very on-again-off-again and toxic tbh.

You’re Not Sorry: Stancy again. like i said, on-again-off-again

The Way I Loved You: Jopper. “he” is bob, “you” is hopper. i fully think they dated before she got with lonnie. and that it was a rollercoaster relationship. i think they were on-again-off-again and when they were off, she got with lonnie and ended up pregnant so they stayed together. i don’t care if it’s canon or not, that’s what happened.

Forever and Always: Byler fighting. “we almost never speak, i don’t feel welcomed anymore” they used to be so much closer. “i stare at the phone, he still hasn’t called” mike didn’t write will. “did i say something way to honest?” mike telling will “it’s not my fault you don’t like girls” “here’s to everything coming down to nothing” tearing down Castle Byers

The Best Day: El. the first part about hopper. “i know you’re not scared of anything at all” and saying hopper is her hero. the second part about max. “i don’t know how my friends could be so mean” and her breakup with Mike. “we talk and window shop till i’ve forgotten their names” “i have an excellent father. his strength is making me stronger” the last part about joyce. “ you set up a paint set in the kitchen and you’re talking to me” joyce would show her so many different hobbies. “you’re the prettiest lady in the whole world” and “i love you for giving me your eyes” she starts doing her hair and dressing like joyce.

Change: the whole group, talking about the 4-year battle with a mirror/hell dimension “i’ll do anything to see it through” “the time will come for us to finally win.” “it’s hard to fight when the fight ain’t fair” “fight for what we’ve worked for all these years” “it was the fight of our lives”

Jump Then Fall: Steddie from Steve. “i watch you talk, you don’t notice” “i like the way your hair falls in your face” “i love each freckle on your face” from eddie “when people say things that bring you to your knees, i’ll catch you” i also just think this is how steve loves

Untouchable: ronance. robin loves the stars, you can’t convince me otherwise “untouchable like a distant diamond sky” “it’s like a million little stars spelling out your name” “i’m reaching out and i can’t tell you why” i also love the idea of “untouchable” being because robins scared to make her move (as we saw during her opening scene in season 4)

Come In With The Rain: stobin. platonic of course. i have a horrible feeling steve is gonna die in season 5 and i doubt robin will handle it well. “i know all the steps to your door but i don’t wanna go there anymore” the entire chorus “i know you by heart, and i don’t even know where to start”

Superstar: steddie. very steddie album. but imagine eddie going on tour and steve joking he’s gonna have to fight off all the groupies in love with eddie and he surprises him at one of his shows “you played in bars, you play guitar” “you sing me to sleep” steve would totally call eddie “superstar”

The Other Side Of The Door: lumax. we know max pushes people away when things get tough and we’ve also seen her and lucas fight and break up various times but she still loves him and misses him.

Today Was A Fairytale: i honestly can’t think of one

You All Over Me: Stancy, from steve’s perspective. he changed *because* of nancy. he’s a better person because of her. “i still got you all over me” “we were never really meant to be so i lied and i cried and i watched a piece of myself die” “held out and held on, god knows, too long”

that’s all i got

[fivveweeks]

I am so sorry to bother but I’ve been FERAL for your shit since like. Ever, lmao. I just gotta know how you imagine the smut going down between Brassius and Hassel is?? Bc like before I binged your fics I was like “hmm maybe they switch??” But you’ve converted me to the “whiny needy Hassel who lets reader wring 3 whole orgasms from him and they haven’t even touched his ass” camp. And now with brassiusxhasselxreader??? My good Buddy you are KILLING ME

haha thank you so much for enjoying my fics!!! tbh bottom pathetic men is like one specific thing im into so any men that goes into my gdocs comes out... destroyed i guess LMAO welcome to the service top/soft dom camp

the funny thing for Hassel x Brassius is that they're both Switches to me too! for me it depends on the mood I guess. I see Hassel as a service top and Brassius as a power bottom usually. Brassius can also top when he brings out the ropes and wrecks Hassel either by fucking him or riding him lmao. basically he has a vision to fulfil and by god he’s gonna achieve it. Brassius is used to giving instructions (he probably enjoys watching too) and Hassel will gladly follow them to the letter

I also think Hassel can top! c'mon, that teacher/elite-four/dragon clan's eldest vibe... + the long fingers combo to hold you down by the neck... he comes off as a soft dom to me most of the time (maybe he disciplines Brassius when he’s neglecting his health from all the all nighters and events) but on the off chance you manages to sorta piss him off (super duper rare) he can really slowfuck you into the wall until you pass out

but no matter what position or role i put them in I follow a few personal rules and it’s that Hassel will ALWAYS CRY. man’s like a leaking facet and gets overwhelmed easily, even if he’s topping he’ll shakily sob into the back of your neck the moment he comes. followed by BITE and differing levels of being needy and whining

for Brassius the rule I follow is that he never shuts up! he runs his mouth very often tbh he definitely praises and compliments easily, but he can degrade or mock if that’s what you want? (he defaults to the former most of the time tho). and like Brassius, Hassel is equally noisy and loud but his is more of moaning and sobbing instead of words

(so whoops I don’t have a specific vision for how it goes down for them both bc I like all of them!!! I’m a greedy bastard and saw too many jp fanart and all the possibilities and they’re all… great!!! it just really depends on the scenario hehe as long as it builds up to the porn part I generally just enjoy it)

for Brassius x Reader x Hassel it’s fascinating to me bc on one hand I can fulfil my delusions of having the both of them breaking down from you at the same time OR you work w one of them to make it good for the other OR I can make them both team up seamlessly to wreck your ass. but only after enough plot and interaction bc my stupid brain needs to be warmed up ughhhh

[yemmuis]

emu!!! it’s been a while since i dropped by!! just want to wish you a pleasant weekend filled with pretty flowers and warm bread (gluten free too if you prefer!!) 🌷🥐

i am also back with a sel question!! 🥹 what is your favourite aspect of a fic (writing style, characterisation, flow etc.)? and what qualities of choso do you like seeing? 🥹

oh my goshshdhdhhd hi selbel! haven’t seen u in a while aaa

thank u for the flowers n bread 🙏🙏 i will enjoy them thoroughly !! my weekend went pretty well hehe spent some time w the loml and stayed over at their house last night so i’m js now getting home

my favorite aspect of a fic oh my. probably the way people write their dialogue/format tbh—i know it’s kind of boring but i love it when people put little dividers and the way they write dialogue and stuff 😭 specifically @/osaemu’s streamer!gojo series with the characters that interact in chat :) i love dialogue sm bc if i like it i try to incorporate their style/sayings into my own writing—i love it when other writers use super cool words too :3 love me some vocabulary

for choso—id say that my favorite way ive seen him portrayed is like, the quiet but still like—talkative? like hell talk he just takes a little time 2 warm up 2 u 😕😕 i love him so much

i havent read as much choso stuff as id like to 😞😞 i need to start reading through the choso fic tags again because im getting out of col soon !!! summer break is in like two months i am so ready

i do know i love how u wrote him though 🤍🤍 hes so silly i adore him ANIMAL SHELTER CHOSO FOR THE WIN

[noonswrites]

Hey! I love your writing <3 idk if you are still taking requests so feel free to ignore this but could you write an angsty fic where Xavier is too busy chasing Wednesday to notice what he had all along (reader). With a happy ending pls <3

ty! hope you enjoy this ❤️

“damn it, i got the weathervane” your best friend announces dejectedly.

“oh, me too!” you tug on his sleeve. he looks down at you with a smile.

“nice!” Xavier offers his hand for a high five and you take the opportunity. neither of you would consider serving coffees to be the most exciting volunteer opportunity, but you do enjoy spending time together. you still remember the day you met Xavier, and the two of you (along with Ajax) had been inseparable ever since. although these days, you and Xavier were often left third wheeling with Ajax and his complicated feelings for Enid developing. things get even more complicated when Ajax realized his shift with Wednesday had been switched out for one with his new crush.

when the day arrives, you and Xavier tease Ajax like your life depends on it. “ooooh AJ’s got a crush!” you pinch the blushing boy’s shoulder.

“i do not!” he squeals childishly.

“you definitely do, haven’t seen you this red since-“ Ajax is quick to cover Xavier’s mouth with his hand.

“c’mon guys, at least i have someone” you raise an eyebrow at Ajax’s statement but stay quiet. Xavier is stunned into silence too, but only you know how to read him well enough to notice the minuscule change in his features. you’re more than grateful when Enid appears, and you and Xavier make your way to the weathervane.

“bet i can make more coffees than you” you tease while nudging him.

“you don’t even know how to make coffee, plus Tyler has to teach us first” you know vaguely of Xavier’s “history” with Tyler, and that things are rough between them now. your lips pull into a thin line and you put a hand on Xavier’s back. he relaxes his posture the slightest bit.

“hey, i’m not gonna let him say shit to you alright? if he lays a hand on you i won’t let him see the light of day ever again” Xavier smiles at that, and your heart swells at the thought that you’ve reassured him, even just temporarily.

“you sound like a parent” he says while scratching the top of your head.

you roll your eyes sarcastically, mentally making a note to distract him from whatever Tyler has planned. the training for the coffee shop is agonizing, but Xavier knows it would be much worse if you weren’t there. while Tyler’s back is turned, you make faces to mock him and Xavier does his best to hide his giggling. After you learn the basics, you make it your mission to make the worst coffees and force Tyler to try all of them, to make sure they’re “customer safe”.

“dude, you have to stop” xavier whispers while choking on laughter. Tyler is throwing away the fourth coffee you’ve made, and you’re already working on a fifth.

“i’m just looking out for our lovely customers Xavier, they’re ‘looking for a certain standard’” you say while using air quotes, mocking the speech Tyler has given you earlier. you pour an excessive amount of coffee grounds into your next serving, and Wednesday walks through the door at that moment. she approaches Xavier and you watch.

“want a coffee?” he offers.

“i’m here to see Tyler” she responds with her usual cold tone.

“i told you he was bad news” Xavier warns.

“twice.” she pauses “but who i speak to is my business”

Xavier walks off after that, his entire demeanor changed. the smile has been wiped off of your face as well, and you spend the rest of the shift making coffees in silence. you’re pretty sure Xavier is jealous of the attention Wednesday gives Tyler, which in turn dampens your mood. making jokes suddenly isn’t as easy after watching your unrequited crush interact with his unrequited crush.

Ajax picks the two of you up after Outreach day is over, giddy with the excitement of being asked out by Enid. you do your best to cheer him on, but he notices something is off with you and Xavier and pulls you off to talk in private after you drop Xavier off at his room.

“what… happened today? was it Tyler?” Ajax questions.

“no… yes- kind of— i don’t know!” you rub your hands over your face in frustration “AJ, i think Xavier’s got a crush on Wednesday”

“yeah, so?” he looks puzzled

“well, she came in today, and i think she’s got a crush on Tyler”

“i don’t know, Xavier’s complicated… i’ve known him for years and it’s still hard to read him” he takes a breath “unfortunately, you’re a little easier, and i think you’re upset for him, but you’re also upset because it seems like you’re a part of this…. ‘romance’ situation…” he meets your eyes hesitantly.

“damn it AJ, was it really that easy?” Ajax smiles and gives you a playful nudge.

“what can i say, i am the master of romance” he says while shrugging his shoulders

“ew!” you laugh.

“well, i’d be lying if i said i didn’t think he had feelings for you too”

“but you just said he’s hard to read!”

“i said it was hard, not impossible” ajax smirks “plus, you don’t see the looks he gives you while you’re turned away”

“oh c’mon” you groan “now you’re just lying to make me feel better”

“hey, that’s the least i can do for the torture you guys inflict on me” you spend the rest of the night forcing Ajax to tell you every detail about his day with Enid.

the next few weeks, you watch and help Xavier and Ajax furiously prepare for the Poe cup. Xavier has deemed today “finalizing designs day”. you make your way to Ms. Thornhill’s classroom, which you know is Xavier’s last period before lunch. it’s tradition for you to pick him up and walk there with him, but today is different. you peer through the doorway, searching for him and finally land on his hunched over figure, sitting next to Wednesday. she must have moved seats, you think to yourself. you wait patiently for them to finish their conversation, growing frustrated as it drags on. you wish you were better at reading lips as you watch Xavier laugh at something, and Wednesday gives him a small smirk. Wednesday never smiles… what could he have possibly said?

you’re brought back to reality when Xavier confronts you with Wednesday by his side “hey… sorry for the late notice, but i need to talk through some stuff with Wednesday, i’ll catch up to you later?”

“sure” you don’t let him get another word in before storming off and ranting about the whole event over lunch with Ajax and Enid.

“if it makes you feel any better, i don’t think we Wednesday has felt anything for anyone ever, except maybe Tyler” Enid tries to reassure you.

“that’s not what it seemed like today” you huff.

after the lunch incident, you’re really not looking forward to meeting up with Xavier to discuss Poe cup plans. you drag yourself up the stairs to his hall, and see that he’s left the door open since he knew you were coming. you poke your head through, Xavier’s back is turned so he doesn’t see you snake over behind him. when he hears the floor creak as you take your closest step to him, he slams his sketchbook abruptly.

“jesus! a little warning would be nice” he pants.

“what were you drawing?” you respond snidely, leaning over him.

“n- nothing” he goes red.

you let your jealousy get the better of you “was it Wednesday? it seems like you’ve got a little crush on her…”

you have him cornered, physically and mentally “i- she’s alright i guess”

you punch his arm “i knew it!” he recoils and rubs it while pouting “Ajax had it all wrong, i cant believe i thought he was right”

“what?” Xavier blushes harder somehow “what did he say!?”

“oh nothing, he was just totally off about who he thought you actually like”

you’re not sure how you’ve held it together this long. your heart sunk the moment you mentioned Wednesday and you’ve regretted every second since. it’s a mystery that Xavier still hasn’t picked up on the fact that you want nothing more than to melt into the floor at this moment. he opens his mouth and interrupts your dismal thoughts.

“okay, i think we should focus on the Poe cup now, could you review these designs?” he hands you a stack of paper and you take them, staring down at the detailed sketches he’s made without a thought processing through your head. Xavier waves a hand over your face, concerned by how distant you look.

“hello? anybody home?” he pokes your forehead teasingly.

“haha, very funny” you roll your eyes.

“seriously, what’s going on? you’ve been… off… lately” he puts a hand on your shoulder.

“just- tired i guess” you stare at his shoes, avoiding his quizzical gaze. he pulls your chin up.

“hey, c’mon, don’t hide from me… you know i know you well enough to know that face is more than ‘tired’” you peer at him hesitantly though your eyelashes. the next words you let out are unexpected, but true nonetheless.

“i’ll tell you when i’m ready” he seems relieved “i promise, i will” Xavier has to hold himself back from pulling you in for a hug after that, he substitutes the urge by pointing at one of the sketches in your hand.

“that one was from what you said yesterday, about the clown makeup” he watches for your reaction, satisfied when you smile down at it.

“it’s perfect, so you like the clown/jester idea?”

“yeah, i can’t say i’m thrilled about any makeup or costumes, but your idea is definitely better than Ajax’s or the rest of the team’s” he pauses “it may even be better than mine”

“shut up”

“yes ma’am” he mutters instinctively. you snort at this, and return your eyes to the paper. the drawing he pointed to was of you, decorated with smudged, edgy looking clown makeup. somehow, he’s still made you look beautiful.

“can i keep this?” you ask him.

“uh- y- yeah of course” you know Xavier’s weak spot is compliments for his art, so it doesn’t surprise you that the request makes him a little flustered.

Xavier’s equally as excited as he is nervous the day of the poe cup. Ajax is afraid of what’ll happen, especially because you and Xavier have a tendency to be aggressive on competition days. you’re anxiously tapping your foot in the tent, waiting for Xavier to help you prepare.

“dude, what is taking him so long!?” you impatiently demand. Ajax and the rest of the team stare at you, afraid to respond. they’re already in their costumes, but you still need to review your strategy as a group and get your makeup and tools ready. you storm out of the tent angrily, now furious once you spot him. he’s out of costume, and once again talking to Wednesday, with his back turned to you.

“so, you’ll meet me after class next week? is that a promise?” he asks her.

“i don’t make promises Xavier, and you should hurry up, you only have 30 minutes before we beat you” Wednesday walks off after this, oblivious to your agitated form.

Xavier turns and realizes you’re behind him. the blood drains from his face.

“tent. now.” is all you say before stomping off. he follows silently, looking like a kicked puppy with his head down. the rest of the team have already started preparing, frantically applying smudged makeup and tinkering with the boat.

“look” xavier starts to say “i’m really sorry, i lost track of time and-“

“sit.” you say pointing to the nearest chair. Xavier listens, deciding that explaining himself isn’t the best option right now. you groan when you realize all of the other chairs are occupied, electing to hover over his tall frame. you soon realize the angle is making it hard to apply the face paint, and now have most of your weight on his lap. normally, you’d be flustered by this, but you’re too angry to care, hastily swiping the brush over his face. Xavier finds himself differing from your disposition, shifting in his seat nervously, bashful that your display of temper is in front of his peers. they are just as scared as he is, turned away from you and Xavier, timidly making sure things are in the right order. you use your fingers to make any final smudges, and Xavier is grateful the makeup covers his blushing.

“get in your suit, you have 10 minutes” he rushes off, not wanting to be in your presence any longer. you speak to the team outside of the tent, still in earshot from Xavier.

“alright. we don’t have time to review our strategy before starting, because someone thought flirting was more important than breaking our team record” you announce to the group “so i can only hope you’ve read it over before this” the crew nods hesitantly, and make their way over to your boat. Xavier jumps in seconds before Weems fires her pistol, and your team starts paddling. you’re in the lead at first, the weapons you made with Ajax doing their job well. as head of the boat, you’re in charge of overseeing the rest of the team and giving them directions. you occasionally toss “distractions” at the other ships.

Xavier sits at the back of the boat, controlling the steering. “switch!” you yell as your boat swerves too far left. they all listen, switching their paddles to the other side of the boat. all except for Xavier, who is too busy watching Wednesday’s boat pass yours. you whistle as loud as you can “focus!” he snaps back into action, paddling twice as hard. you finally make it to the water’s edge, and you jump onto the dock, tying the boat down as quickly as you practiced. Xavier and Ajax jump out next, sprinting for the flag, and the rest of the team stays behind, guarding the boat as others approach and dock theirs.

all is going well until two of your team members hear something in the woods and go to investigate. they decide to do this while your turned around, still tying down the boat, leaving you to fend for yourself. a few minutes pass and you check the time, realizing that your team members’ distraction may not have been so small. you rush over in the direction you think they’ve run off to, and find them dazed on the floor, scathed by one of the sirens. you begrudgingly pull them up and guide them back the boat.

when you return Xavier is glaring at you, flag in hand. “they got distracted while i wasn’t looking” you mutter. he rolls his eyes at your explanation, and you clumsily jump in the boat, untying the knots you made just as quickly as you tied them. the group pushes off and heads for shore.

you’re making good time before Xavier shouts “what’s going on!?” you shoot daggers at him with your eyes before you realize what’s happened, the floor of your boat is filled with water.

“how did you not realize we had a hole?!” you shout at him. Wednesday’s team passes yours and you realize it’s too late… you’ve lost. Xavier slams his oar down, falling off of his seat.

“you’re the one who lost our team!” he growls back. you jump into the murky water, surrendering to your loss. the rest of your team does the same and you and Xavier argue the whole swim back to shore.

“if you hadn’t spent so long talking to Wednesday we could’ve briefed the team on what not to do dumbass!” you continue to berate him once your on land.

“yeah well-“ he starts.

“that’s enough!” Ajax cuts him off “guys, give each other some space” he warns. you both sulk off to your rooms.

after showering, you feel slightly more refreshed and less angry. you sit on your bed wringing out your hair with a towel when you hear knocking on your window. this scares you because your roommate is out, and your not exactly on the lowest floor.

you make your way closer to the sound as it continues “hello?” it’s coming from the last person you’re expecting at the moment. you pry open the window

“Xavier?” you don’t bother helping him as he climbs through, instead you stand dumbstruck. “how’d you even get up here?”

“i” he says between breaths “came here- to apologize”

“why’d you come through the window?”

“because i didn’t want you to get in trouble… if there were dorm checks and stuff” he scratches his head. the gesture is heart warming, though you refuse to admit it out loud.

“y’know i didn’t mean any of the stuff i said today” he starts “and i’m sorry for being late”

“i didn’t either, i was just worked up because i know how much the poe cup matters to you, but i should’ve been more aware that something- someone else matters more”

“yeah, you” you raise an eyebrow “the poe cup matters to you too, and i should’ve paid more attention to that instead of goofing off with Wednesday”

“i don’t think that girl is capable of goofing off”

he smiles at the ground “yeah”

“so you really like her?”

“i don’t know, she… confuses me. feelings in general do”

“yeah, trust me, i know that” you mutter.

“hey” you look up at him “i heard that” you smile at the disingenuous look of disapproval he wears.

“you looking forward to your date with her next week?” the thought of them going out makes you a little nauseous, but as always your priority is to maintain your friendship with Xavier, even if it means showing interest in things that hurt you.

his next words shock you “i canceled it” your cute confused face causes a toothy grin on his.

“after all that?!” you say, referring to the intense argument you had earlier.

“yeah, today made me realize that we’re not actually interested in each other at all” he pauses before shocking you further “i’m actually interested in girls that do know how to ‘goof off’” he airquotes, and takes a step closer to you.

“and” your heart is beating fast now “i prefer girls who are a little competitive, but tolerate me enough to be on my team” you can’t process that this is actually happening.

“i also like girls” he takes another step “who know me well enough to make me feel better about shitty volunteer days” his playful smile turns into a smirk as he realizes the effect he has on you.

“maybe i’m just into people that give me way to many chances” Xavier is so close you can feel his breath on you as he speaks quietly. you resort to watching his lips as he talks. “maybe i just really really really like my best friend”

“that would be kind of weird” you say, more breathlessly than you intended.

“yeah probably” he says after a soft laugh “do you think she’d find it weird that i want to kiss her right now?”

“i think she’d be ok with it” you avoid his affectionate gaze, too shy to meet his eyes.

“just ok?” he says while swiping your chin up at him again.

you sigh and this makes him chuckle “i think she’d really enjoy-“ his lips are on yours before you finish the sentence. they’re soft and you can tell he’s nervous, treating you like you’re made of glass while his face is pressed to yours. you wrap your arms around his neck which urges him to deepen the kiss, wrapping his arms around your waist. you can feel his heart beating quickly against your chest and pull yourself away to take a breath.

“you look really cute in clown makeup by the way” he can’t help but admit to you.

“idiot” you reply, smiling before pulling him in for another kiss.

[dreamkidddream]

Those Doll!anon fics were really amazing! I really wanna do something like it if you don’t mind. Could I maybe get a Yorkie!MC? Like, a really short, really friendly MC until they feel like they or one of the brothers/undateables are being threatened or insulted, then they try to pick a fight they’d obviously lose? I’m just laughing at the mental imagine of this short, unthreatening human yelling at and trying to square up against a demon lol.

Awww tysm!! 💙I missed writing for Obey Me (and we also hit 666 followers at this point 😈💜) and since this was so interesting I decided that I’m gonna do the Undateables first and then do the brothers cause I feel like I don’t show them enough love 😔 reader is gender neutral!

The Undateables with Yorkie!MC

Diavolo

He is LOVING your energy

Your happiness is so contagious, it just adds onto his already cheery demeanor. He honestly feels his cheeks hurting from smiling even more when you’re around (and he doesn’t even care!)

He’s gonna buy Lucifer so much Demonus as a thank you for picking you for the exchange program. Seriously, you’re PERFECT (for him)

As the President of Student Council and future King, he loves seeing you interact with the other students, and he’s glad that they’re reacting positive to you. At least some of them do

Now, no one is to foolish (or powerful) enough to threaten Diavolo or do anything to you that can bring you harm. They can try, but they won’t be getting the results that they hope for

But he can’t help it but find it amusing when you try to “defend his honor” when someone bad mouths him. He makes sure to not let it show (gotta be professional after all) but he does tease you about it later. You’re so small and seeing you just yelling square up to this demon is hilarious. He has no idea what geometry has to do with this, but he’s learned some new slang thanks to you!

He’s finally found someone who’ll go along with his antics and more. Whereas other people may complain about him wanting to do fun activities that seem basic, you just flash a big smile, grab his hand and tell him to lead the way

(You even made matching friendship bracelets and he refuses to take it off, ever)

You really make him happy MC. He doesn’t remember the last time he’s ever felt this lighthearted, and he doesn’t feel the sense of loneliness that he felt himself getting used too

Also Lucifer gets twice the headache now, but the Demonus helps it go away (temporarily)

Barbatos

Ah, so another Luke, except older and that you take your threats of violence very serious, if what he sees (both in the present and the future) holds true (which it does)

You’re still harmless in his eyes though

Your friendly personality makes it easy for you to be forgiven for a lot of things…even if your actions make him give you the side eye at times

Despite how energetic you are (which is something that he’ll never grow tired of) your presence has a relaxing effect on him. Even if he has to warn you sometimes to be careful with the way that you bounce around so much, especially when he’s in the kitchen

He unfortunately can’t be by your side as he is Lord Diavolo’s butler, but that doesn’t mean that he can’t keep watch on you, even without the use of his powers

With how outgoing you are, you’re bound to attract trouble, in which you do at a constant rate. What was comical however, is that it seemed like the trouble you attracted was on his behalf

“MC, what seems to be the issue here?”

“BARB! You won’t believe this! This jerk has the nerve to call you stuck up- well I can show you stuck up! After I stick my foot up your- Huh? Hey, why am I the one being dragged away?! W- count yourself lucky that Barb is saving you right now demon! But this isn’t over- MPH!”

“I hate to spoil you before our tea party, but you were already late and I have been meaning to have you try my new recipe that I’ve been working on…”

You were too busy trying to savor the delicious flavor to focus on what just happen, which was his plan all along. You get to try more of his delicious treats and he gets to enjoy your touch and company. Crisis averted!

He’s crafty enough to have plans to evade you “fighting” and you haven’t caught on yet (or maybe you did and just feign ignorance? Either way works for him)

It doesn’t bother him what people say about him, he doesn’t care in the slightest (and they’re not bold enough to say it to his face). What he cares about is making sure that you keep your carefree energy, and that he keeps to see you with your radiating smile on your face

Simeon

You remind him so much of Luke. Are you sure you’re not from the Celestial Realm too?

Don’t worry he’s only teasing you (kinda) but you do have just as much energy if not MORE than Luke

And you don’t mind helping him either, no matter how “silly” his requests may be

“You’re doing great Si! See, you didn’t even need my help!”

“MC, I couldn’t have gotten to this point without you. My pictures are still coming out a little blurry, but that could be because you wouldn’t stand still- but it does add special kind of charm to them…”

He’s keeping them btw

He was shook when he saw you go off the first time, like he really wasn’t expecting it (Solomon did try to warn him, he was laughing but he did try to warn him)

“Don’t think just because he’s an angel means I’m bout to act like one! I will end you!”

MC please don’t make this demon “catch these hands” violence isn’t necessary

He doesn’t know what that means but he’s scared that he’s gonna find out if he doesn’t hold you back

He has reprimanded you each time when you try to fight others. He knows that demons see him as weak and talk behind his back, but he chooses to ignore them, to turn the other cheek. But just because he does, doesn’t mean that you do, and he sees that now

Simeon really doesn’t want you to fight, and it’s not even because it’s against his nature (it’s part of the reason, just not the whole reason). Fighting leads to injury, and injury leads to distress, and that’s the last thing that he wants to happen to you. And he’s not going to let anything happen to you!

He truly believes it’s a waste of time and energy, and you could find better things to do. For example, by spending time with him!

Simeon may not be your guardian angel officially, but he’s your guardian angel. Always

Has definitely written a character based on you

Luke

Is immediately upset that you don’t stay in Purgatory Hall with him, and even more upset that you don’t live in the Celestial Realm

You’re like the best older sibling he’s never had! And you don’t treat him like a baby either!

Or he’s just admiring you too much to notice

You never hesitate to help him with anything; baking, homework, pretty much anything and everything. He may try to make it seem like you need his assistance, but we all know it’s the other way around (with the exception of Luke himself)

We all know that Luke gets teased by the brothers and even his roommates sometimes (looking at you Solomon), but it’s just harmless teasing (for the most part). It’s when he hears what the other students say about him that gets to him- he tries to show that it doesn’t bother him and he tries to stand up for himself but- their words really hurt him

And no one hurts Luke and gets away with it

You already get onto the brothers for their teasing when it starts to bother him, and now the brothers have to jump in to stop you from trying to rip this demon horns’ off

You can’t really reach them and they’re pretty sure you won’t do any damage, but they rather not take the chance of you getting hurt

It’s not the first or last time that you do this either, and it just makes him feel horrible. He’s the angel here, the one that’s suppose to protect you, not the other way around!

You help him out so much, either without defending him you do so much for him already. How can he ever repay you? He feels like whatever he does won’t be enough…WAIT- he figured out what he can do!

He can get stronger and protect you! He can go to Beel so that you don’t have to fight for him anymore, or maybe have Solomon make some potions that’s like demon repellent but only for those jerks. If those mean demons see how serious and strong he is, then they’re bound to leave you guys alone! Maybe he can show you some tricks too once he’s done. He has to hurry up and tell you the plan then, you guys can’t wait any longer!

Their words do hurt, but so does seeing you putting yourself in harms way to protect him. You can’t do all the protecting MC, he needs to watch out for you too, no if ands or buts about it!

You and Luke are the duo we never knew we needed

Solomon

Ah, it’s about time he found a human as interesting and adorable as you. Where having you been hiding all his lifetime?!

He has wayyyy more fun teasing you than Luke. Your pout just makes things x100 better and cuter

Congrats on becoming his new victim MC

Another one to find you very amusing when you try to fight and won’t stop you either

He will dead serious be recording you trying to fight on his DDD. He’ll make sure that it doesn’t escalate but who is he to stop such entertainment?

He has become tempted to cast a superhuman strength spell on you, and he ends up doing it “on accident” (which has happened more than once)

Lucifer has done the “I’m watching you” thing to him every time he has lmao

But no seriously, he won’t let you get hurt; he won’t even let the chance arise. He’s already pulling you away before you can get yourself worked up fully, dragging you to the library or his room to test some new spells (one that he tempts you can use on these demons). It’s enough to get your attention back on him

You’re a daily source of his amusement and someone that he wants MC, but that doesn’t mean he can afford his favorite human getting hurt on his watch!

He’s no stranger to the gossip about him, nor is he clueless. It’s just all talk anyway, he doesn’t care and neither should you. But it is touching to know that you care this much about him and how he feels…

But he doesn’t want you to do this for him. He’s a powerful sorcerer, he can easily solve this without breaking a sweat if he wanted to, but he doesn’t deem it worthy to even waste a drop of potions on. But since you’re so concerned, maybe a quick kiss would make him feel better?

He thought you were a little gullible, but that’s not the case. You just have a very open and bright personality, one that he finds himself getting attached to more and more as each day passes

If he’s not careful, he might get more enamored with you than he already is-

[starstruckkittensweets]

“Kisses in the Morning Rain” Pt. III

Fandom: Attack on Titan  Pairing: Eren x Reader  Words: 4.2k 

Warnings: Season 4 spoilers (namely for Ep. 7), canon divergence, Reader is a Titan Shifter, open discrimination against Eldians and Paradis, blood and violence, character death, mentions of past romantic feelings, mentions and references to depression

A/N: This chapter dabbles a little in Eren and Reader’s backstory, especially towards the end of the chapter. I’m really excited to get into the real angsty bits of this story, especially now that they’ll have more face-to-face interactions! Of course, this story doesn’t go exactly the way of the anime so I had to tweak a few things here and there. So it doesn’t line up perfectly, but hey, that’s the beauty of fic, right? Anyway, thank you so much to everyone who’s read this little story so far, and I hope you enjoy the chapter! (And if you want to be added to the taglist, just let me know!) 

Taglist: @ranitani​ 

“Kisses in the Morning Rain” Masterlist

Eren’s jaw shatters against the crystal. Dark trails slide down the edges, painting the crystal in a sheen of red. It’s hard not to smirk as he stares down at you, obviously forming another plan in the back of his head—you can practically see the wheels turning around and around.

The Warrior Unit is already occupied—the Beast Titan’s arms swing violently, catching a few stray Scouts off guard, while the Cart Titan picks the rest of them off with the gunfire. The Jaw Titan lingers close to you, ready to pounce again if Eren decides to go for you again. But even if he does, you’ll be ready for him.

Something long and gray soars through the air and slams into the surface of the crystal. The thunder spear explodes upon impact, but does nothing against the shiny surface, leaving the crystal completely unharmed. Mikasa is seething—you can see it on her face, as she hovers close behind the Attack Titan’s shoulder.

It’s no use. The crystal is nearly indestructible, made of the same hardened Titan flesh that creates the War Hammer’s body. Perhaps the only Titan that could come close to breaking it is the Armored or the Jaw, but both of them are on your side in this war.

Eren doesn’t stand a chance.

A cloud of steam bursts from the Attack Titan’s nape. Eren steps out, red marks scorched on the skin of his face, long hair blowing in the breeze. He gives you one final glare before leaping down, teeth sinking into the meat of his palm. His Titan suddenly appears below you, crouched on the ground, as the one gripping your crystal begins to dissolve.

His stamina is incredible—what has he been doing these last four years? Transforming so quickly even after putting up that much of a fight… His energy rivals that of your own Titan…but he doesn’t appear to be needing a break anytime soon.

He swipes the crystal away, fingertips digging into the sharp edges. You have half a mind to pierce him with one of your spikes again, but now’s not the time. You need to save your energy for when you really need it. Save it for the real fight, when you truly need the War Hammer’s power.

The Beast Titan is so close, leering down at Eren. Then again, he doesn’t appear to be interested in the Attack Titan; everyone on this battlefield knows who he’s really looking for.

His hands clench, and tiny pebbles spray from his palms. He growls out Captain Levi’s name, but the Scout is nowhere to be found. And for some reason, you can feel the Attack Titan’s fingers closing over the crystal even tighter.

What are they waiting for?

It’s hard to keep your heartbeat steady, even under the protective barrier around you. Why haven’t the rest of the Scouts attacked for a while? You know they have a limited supply of ODM gear and gas with them, and that’s not including their ammunition, blades, and thunder spears. Are they taking refuge for a bit just to reload their weapons? Or are they waiting for another opening to attack? It would be stupid of them to charge out in the open, especially with the Beast so close to the Cart and the Jaw.

Not to mention, the War Hammer right in the palm of the Founder. One wrong move, and their most precious weapon is blown to smithereens.

And that’s only considering the Titans within range. From the hurried movements of the soldiers nearby, it’s safe to assume every single one of Marley’s forces are on their way to Liberio. The ground troops, the snipers, even the thousands of ships they have at the port—the entire zone of Liberio has been cut off from the rest of the world. The island devils are severely disadvantaged.

Still, that’s no reason to underestimate them. You’re familiar with the way the Scouts have operated over the last few years. Even before the battle for Shiganshina, they were strong enough on their own to survive multiple expeditions beyond the Walls, traveling straight into Titan-infested territories every few months, making small victories along the way. Supply bases were set, live Titan captures were made, and with the addition of Eren within the ranks, they were able to make great strides when it came to the research of Titan anatomy and physiology. And within two months, they were able to defend Stohess District from the Female Titan’s assault, even without the help of the Military Police.

The Scouts know their way around a battlefield. It doesn’t make sense that they would barge into Liberio without a plan up their sleeve. They would consult with the brightest minds possible—Section Commander Hanji, probably, and maybe even—

Golden light pierces the night sky. A thousand shadows dance along the rubble on the ground. Everyone on the field, soldier and Scout and Titan alike, stare up at the burst of energy at the edge of the zone, right where the beaches leading to the ocean are located.

Your jaw freezes up. The Colossal Titan—you’d recognize that light anywhere. Fuck, you didn’t count on Armin making it here…

You were there when Bertholdt was captured. Watched in horror as he was eaten alive by the sweet boy with blond hair and blue eyes. Felt your stomach churn as you watched Armin emerge from the Titan’s carcass, fresh marks embedded on his cheeks and eyes.

Of course, they would use him in their fight. Besides the Founder’s power, the Colossal Titan is their best shot at making an impactful attack. And it looks like they’ve done just that, as bits and pieces of the ships soar out of the port and into the zone.

The Jaw Titan roars and rushes forward—the Cart lingers back, heavy artillery still trained on the Attack Titan. No doubt they’ve realized what’s just happened; they probably didn’t count on having their entire fleet destroyed by one single blast.

The Beast suddenly roars and sinks to his knees on the ground—its nape bursts open with blood and steam. A small shape lands on its neck—Captain Levi, you realize with a shudder—and suddenly there’s a boom—

And the Beast is left defenseless on the ground, its nape blown to bits and gushing a river of blood.

Hands tremble at your sides. Teeth clank together. So fast—did that really just happen?!

You’ve always known Captain Levi to be ruthless with his enemies, but this? It’s almost too much to comprehend.

The Cart Titan’s artillery is firing off in every other direction, picking off Scouts one by one. But suddenly it stops—and in the split second the gun lowers, a storm of Scouts rain onto the Panzer Unit. Thunder spears soar down, flooding the Cart in flames and smoke. The Titan screams, barely scrambling out before toppling over the edge of the building.

Shit, the Cart too?! Something cold grips the base of your throat as you stare up at the Attack Titan—who’s looking rather pleased with how everything’s been turning out.

Two down, one to go. You can practically read his mind with the way he’s peering down at you, fingers gripping the edges of the crystal.

There’s a roar on the other side of the battlefield; the Jaw Titan leaps over the nearby buildings, hands and legs thundering against the rooftops. Jaws opened, teeth bared, claws stretched out.

Eren growls as he slams his fist into Porco’s face, but he’s too quick for him in the end. The Jaw pulls himself up, slashing Eren’s arm to bits before lunging right for his face.

The crystal suddenly trembles violently. Everything seems to slow to a stop as you stare at the three fresh claw marks right on the surface of the crystal.

A gasp slips through your mouth. Hardened Titan flesh—the only strength against the War Hammer’s skin and crystals. And the Jaw Titan’s claws and teeth are welded perfectly to match it in a fight.

The Attack Titan falters just a bit, as Mikasa swoops in and slashes her blades at the Jaw. As Porco leaps back, you can see the flicker of realization in those dark green eyes. You can see the wheels turning in his head, already forming a plan to break you out of the crystal.

To finally kill you himself.

You have to act soon. You can’t let yourself be put in danger like that. If he corners you and attempts to steal the War Hammer Titan, you have to be ready to fight back.

But even as you flex your fingers through the crystal, you can’t feel the full thrum of your Titan’s strength through your veins. It’s still dormant, recovering from the previous battle with Mikasa. Just a little more time and you’ll be able to hold your own again.

One of the greatest drawbacks of wielding such an incredible power in the first place, as your uncle always warned you about, was the recovery time of said power. Depending on the skill of the user, it could take days to recover any strength lost in a fight. You’ve been trained as a soldier, both by Marley and then Paradis, so your stamina is already superior to that of a regular human’s.

Still, there’s no telling how much time you have left before Eren decides to attack. An hour, maybe? A few minutes, a few seconds? It all depends on him—and now, Zeke and the others aren’t here to back you up and buy you time.

You’re on your own for now.

A low buzzing fills the air. The Jaw Titan’s attention turns to the side, and you follow his gaze eagerly. Your stomach drops like a stone when you see a small airship flying close to the rooftops, following a trail of bright lights planted on every other building.

The Scouts must’ve set those up during the fight, when you were all occupied with the soldiers and the gunfire. And the airship must be their ticket out of here once this is all over.

The perfect getaway. Armin definitely had a hand in planning this attack.

The thought makes you sick—but it doesn’t surprise you. Armin has always had a bit of a manipulative streak when it comes to planning against the enemy. You’re just not used to being on the receiving end of it.

The Jaw makes a run for it, claws drumming against the rooftops. You understand his plan at once—charge in there and rip the airship to shreds.

But then he’s growling something fierce, hitting the ground face first onto the rooftop in front of him. His legs are no more than bloody stumps—and Mikasa’s twin blades are dripping, a stark red against the shiny silver.

The Attack Titan glowers at Porco. And the moment he reaches for him, nails digging into his scalp—you realize just what he plans to do with him.

To the both of you.

The Jaw slams onto the ground with a groan. One by one, Eren rips off his arms with a startling display of strength, before throwing them to the side to join the rubble on the ground. The Jaw roars again, but Eren’s arm lurches forward; and suddenly you’re staring up at him from the Jaw Titan’s opened mouth.

No…

Your mouth falls open. Eren lifts the two of you up in the air, Porco’s head dangling from his hands, with the crystal still lodged in between his teeth.

Not like this. Don’t kill me just yet.

Fine’s face flashes behind your eyelids. You promised to come back to her, to tell her what exactly happened to her father. To be there for the rest of her life, and for her brothers and sisters, as well. You’re not about to leave this world without at least saying goodbye to her.

You will your fingers to come to life. A familiar surge floods through your veins, but it’s much weaker than before. But you have no choice—attack now or die. You’re out of time to think.

The surface of the crystal begins to split apart. The edges vibrate violently as the Jaw roars against it.

Fuck, hurry up!

Your hands curl into fists at your sides. The Attack Titan opens its mouth. The blood on your forehead begins to burn. The Jaw Titan growls again—a desperate sound against your ears.

You scream as a burst of lightning explodes from the crystal, and another white spoke lodges itself into the Attack Titan’s chest.

It’s a weak one, only designed to catch him off guard instead of trapping him. But it’s enough to make him loosen his grip on the Jaw Titan, and the crystal tumbles out of its mouth at once.

The barrier shatters around you in one split second. Panting heavily and still bleeding from earlier, you allow the surge of power to completely overtake you, letting the War Hammer Titan step up once more—with your body safe and secure in its nape this time.

I might not have much time. I have to end this now.

The Beast Titan’s been destroyed. The Cart Titan blown up. The Jaw Titan bleeding from all four limbs, sprawled out onto the dusty ground below. And there’s no sign of the Armored Titan anywhere—either Reiner’s already been killed, or he has no interest in joining this fight.

And honestly, after everything that’s happened, both tonight and within the last four years…you can’t find it in yourself to blame him.

You can feel your stamina draining by the second. You have just enough to form the giant war hammer’s handle into your palm. Eren sneers at you, teeth bared and ready to pounce.

He won’t be killing you just yet.

Eren dodges the first swing with ease, the gaping hole in his chest steadily sewing itself up. You grit your teeth and swing again, desperately trying to ignore the heavy weight against your chest.

Don’t push yourself, you can remember your uncle’s words clearly, when you first inherited your family’s precious heirloom. The last thing you want is to faint in the middle of a fight.

Ten spikes burst from the ground to pin him into place—and just as he roars from the impact, you can feel your eyelids growing heavier. It’s getting harder to breathe as you raise the hammer again.

You’re surprised Mikasa doesn’t jump to Eren’s aid, just like she did before. But then you bring the hammer down—and you understand why she’s lingering back this time.

A meaty hand catches the hammer in time with your swing. Before you can even blink, the Titan rips it out of your hands completely, leaving your fingers bare and stretched out at nothing.

Suddenly you remember something: back in your training days, fooling around with the green-eyed boy, roughhousing and play fighting like two overgrown children. Too many training sessions ended with one of you pinning the other down, before gloating about your victory to the other’s face until their cheeks puffed out in a pout. More or less it was always Eren who was pouting—but he got back at you during ODM gear training. Always stealing your Titan kills, speeding ahead of you no matter what the mission was.

The head of the hammer knocks your head clean off, leaving your nape completely bare. The hardened skin around your body begins to chip away, and a gush of night air spills against your back.

The Titan’s flesh clings to your cheeks as you raise your head. The Attack Titan is staring down at you now, still clutching the war hammer in its hand. Your Titan’s head is somewhere on the ground. Your muscles scream for you to stop, your eyelids begging to close forever.

Not yet! You still have to fight!

You barely have time to spit out his name before the whole world goes dark.

It’s silent after the fight. You’re both too afraid to speak up, too scared to bring any sense of reality to the situation at hand. Even now, a few minutes after the ordeal, your palms are still quivering at your sides.

Eren crouches down besides Armin, who’s sprawled out against the tiles of the roof. His skin is burnt to a crisp, every blond strand of hair singed from his head. Burned to death by the Colossal Titan’s steam, just to buy you and Eren some time to take it out. A hero until the very end.

Bertholdt is lying on the rooftop beside you, his limbs cut off and his eyes shut. He’s still breathing, though, so you’ll be able to use the serum Captain Levi has to transfer the Colossal Titan to a soldier of the Scout Regiment. It’s better to keep the Titan in your possession rather than get rid of it as a whole.

“…Eren.”

He jerks his head up at your voice, soft and gentle against the breeze. The two of you stare at each other for what feels like forever, before he finally decides to make a move. He straightens himself up and rushes forward, before pulling you against his chest in a hug. Your hands find purchase against his hair and nape, his heart thrumming powerfully against the shell of your ear.

So many things you want to say—so many things you know you can’t say. So many things that are just better left unsaid, and things you know you have to say right now, or else there might not be another chance to say them.

But for right now, you’re content with just holding him in silence, eyes fluttering shut at the sound of his heartbeat.

Suddenly a thundering sound echoes throughout the district. Your eyes fly open at once—just in time to see a familiar shape leaping from each rooftop to the next. A shape you haven’t seen in years, ever since you left Marley with the other four kids.

The Cart Titan—Pieck, you think her name is—and strapped on top of the crate on her back is none other than the Beast Titan himself, Marley’s own War Chief Zeke Jaeger.

And Eren’s brother, somehow. The thought makes your stomach flip.

Eren wastes no time in grabbing Bertholdt and pressing the edge of his blade to his throat. You slide your own blades from their holsters, ready to defend Eren with everything you have. If this grueling battle has taught you one thing, it’s that your loyalties with Marley have been severed beyond repair.

But you can’t take on the Beast Titan and the Cart Titan at the same time—at least, not without revealing your secret to Eren and the rest of the Scouts. Besides, from the looks of it, Zeke doesn’t appear to be in great shape; both of his arms have been torn at the elbow, steam gathering in heavy clouds at the wounds. He’s in no condition to fight. At least, not at the moment.

At first, Zeke’s eyes land on Eren, as the green-eyed boy screams at him to stay back. He looks at Bertholdt, and then at Eren. And finally his eyes land on you, and a sad smile stretches along his face.

“How unfortunate,” he murmurs, “Reiner and Bertholdt were right. You did betray them, didn’t you?”

It takes a bit of strength to keep your face calm and composed, but you manage. Even if Eren is staring at you, lips parted slightly in shock.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

But he only gives an airy laugh; and suddenly you remember how he used to decimate entire towns and cities with only the power of the Beast Titan, all in the name of Marley. He could do the same again, even if he isn’t in his best form. All he has to do is alert the officials at Marley about your treacherous behavior, and your reputation (and your family’s line) is tarnished beyond repair.

“Don’t play mind games with me, I’m not in the mood. But I’m curious as to why you betrayed them in the first place, Lady Tybur.”

A title that sends a shiver down the length of your spine. A title you haven’t heard for at least five years, not even in the company of Reiner and the others. A title that reminds you of the crushing weight on your chest and shoulders, of the responsibilities waiting for you across the sea.

“Stay back,” Eren shouts again, “or I’ll kill him!” He digs the blade deeper into Bertholdt’s throat just to prove his point.

The Cart Titan freezes in its spot on the rooftop. Zeke only shakes his head, eyes as sad as ever as he stares at Eren’s face, red Titan marks and all.

“You don’t look a thing like your father,” he mumbles, but Eren only gets angrier. You can see it in the way he tightens his grip on Bertholdt’s body, keeping the blade firm against the soft skin of his throat. “Believe me, I know what you’ve been through. We’re both victims of that man. You’ve been brainwashed by your father.”

And slowly, you can see his arm begin to relax. Bertholdt coughs out as the blade loosens against his throat, but his eyes remain shut.

But then Zeke sighs, turning his gray gaze back to yours. “You don’t belong here, Tybur. You know that—it’s written all over your face. This isn’t really your home. So come back.”

The leather hilts of the blades bite into your palms. “You don’t know anything. Don’t try to convince me otherwise—I’ve already made my decision!”

“Of course you have,” he replies coolly, “but what would your family think of your choice?”

You nearly sink to your knees right then and there.

Your whole family is still across the sea, ruling the nation of Marley from the shadows. Your aunt and uncle, who have treated you like one of their own ever since your mother died when you were young. Fine, your precious younger cousin, and her three little brothers and one little sister—the kids she’s dedicated her life to watching over whenever her parents can’t. You remember their smiles, the warm hugs and soft kisses, and the stories you would tell them before tucking them into bed.

If there’s anything in this world that could convince you to return to Marley at this point, it’s not your family’s reputation, or your own reputation; it’s the promise of seeing Fine and the kids again, and making sure they have long and happy lives ahead of them.

Eren glances up at you, and the question passes between you in silence: Is this all true? What haven’t you been telling me?

You made your choice that day at the top of Wall Rose, when Reiner and Bertholdt begged you to come along with them. But you had refused—your place is here with Eren, no matter what.

Because you love him.

But you also love Fine, that little voice in the back of your head whispers. You love her and the rest of the kids. How could you live with yourself, knowing that you left them behind?

Your knees begin to wobble. The blades shake against your palms. Eren continues to stare at you, mouth open and eyes as wide as ever.

Please, don’t hate me for this. Don’t hate me for what I am.

Suddenly Zeke growls, tilting his head up towards the top of the Wall. You and Eren follow his gaze, and a breath of relief escapes your mouth when you see Captain Levi standing at the edge, stained with blood but still breathing.

He must’ve been the one who left Zeke looking like this. Only he could manage to bring the War Chief to his knees.

Zeke mutters something else under his breath as Levi slides down the length of the Wall. But you don’t hear a thing; all you can hear is your own heartbeat echoing in your ears, and the words Lady Tybur swirling around in your head.

You don’t belong here. So come back.

To your real home, across the sea.

Zeke will be waiting for you to accompany him and Reiner (if he’s still alive) on the trek back to Marley before they leave the island. If you don’t, you can consider yourself an enemy of the nation, a traitor of devil’s blood, with your name cursed to every hell on earth.

But if you don’t leave with them, you’ll lose any chance of seeing your family again. Your aunt and uncle, Fine and the kids. You can’t leave them alone without saying a proper goodbye, at the very least.

Eren’s eyes linger on you for one second more before he turns to the captain, who lands on the rooftop between the two of you. Wordlessly, you snap back into your soldier persona, attention focused solely on the pair in front of you. But for the rest of the day, even as the fires around you begin to die down, Zeke’s words never leave your mind.