#i swear every chapter i add some new detail that makes the magic more dangerous than it already is | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

forkanna · 4 years ago

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[AO3] [WATTPAD] [QUOTEV]

NOTES: Some nominal amount of smut ahead, and minor character death. NSFW. And, of course, Elsanna.

A small belated gift for Princess Anna's 194th birthday! Thanks to scuttlepantsworld and Aether_nb for helping to make this possible – or for giving me proper motivation and a prod in the right direction, at least. Commissions are still open at this time!

Yes, I know. It's been a thousand years to the day since chapter four was released. For the longest time, I vacillated between wanting to add to it and insisting the story was over; to be honest, I had never intended to write more than one chapter! But deep down, I knew the work was always unfinished. So the time has come to wrap it up and put it to bed forever. My writing style has changed in the years since, so I can only hope this manages to recapture the magic for those fans who have been waiting. And for the gawkers that just want a laugh… well, stay tuned for the epilogue, I guess.

Min Søsters Kjeder: Anna

Well, that didn't work out so great.

My heart felt like it was crystallising as Kristoff helped me to my feet just in front of the grand ice doors of my sister's palace. So Elsa had rejected me. Again. She cast me out into the cold she created because she didn't think I could handle the "new Elsa" — that she had apparently been suppressing for years and years. Maybe our whole lives. As usual, pathetic little Princess Anna just wasn't worth clueing in on all the fine details. No matter how much headway we make, no matter how many walls and doors I try to knock down, she summons new ones of glittering sub-zero moisture to stand in our way.

"Hey, we should do something about this."

"About what?" I asked distantly, still staring up at the shimmering ice slide that had deposited us where we were currently crouched, breath fogging on the air. "I really don't think she's gonna let me in again. Not anytime soon. She's stubborn like that sometimes." Like I wasn't stubborn.

"Your hair." I looked up into his concerned eyes as he reached up with a gloved hand, batting at the newly-whitened hairs of my fringe. "It's… I can tell what this is, Anna. I've seen it before."

My brow furrowed. "What… Kristoff, what are you talking about, you've seen this? Am I the only one in the dark around here about ice magic?!"

Now he looked a little uncomfortable. And I took full advantage — by storming for the staircase again. Obviously I slipped right back down, but that didn't stop me from grunting and growling, trying to claw my way up the perfectly slick surface.

"What are you doing?" he asked in a weary tone.

"Going… to see… my sister!" I grunted, before falling on my butt.

"Huh," Olaf put in. "Maybe you know something I don't, but that doesn't seem to be working out so great for you."

"OOF! Are you guys gonna help me up there or not?!"

But we never had a chance for them to give me a boost. My new friend and my old snowman — or our old snowman, I suppose — were too busy gasping in horror. It took me a little longer than it should have before I turned to see the towering snow-giant, menacing-yet-soft features glaring down at us.

"Oh. Not… I guess."

~ o ~

My life became a series of rude awakenings after that. They made me miss doors in my face; at least those weren't dangerous and scary.

First, we got thrown out of the palace by my sister's new snow-beast. And that wasn't nice. Then Kristoff had the bright idea that he should take me to see his "love expert" friends — who turned out to be his family. Even��worse rude awakening, because I had never met any magical beings that weren't my sister or the semi-frozen creations she seemed to whip up without even thinking about it. TROLLS. Real, live, rocky, mossy trolls! And on top of that, they decided I was about to marry Kristoff, because… I don't actually know! They just decided! Wow, were they eccentric, and a little annoying.

But they were the ones that sent me back to Elsa's palace. See, their king — maybe he was a sage, or a bishop? — explained that because my sister's magic had crept its way into my heart, even though I wasn't sure how or when, that there was nothing he could do. Only an act of true love could thaw a frozen heart.

And there was only one person I loved. Sure, Kristoff was okay, and Hans loved me, and Olaf and Sven were buddies. Nothing wrong with friendship! But there was a queen in my life that I felt such a deep level of love for that no force on Earth could break it, and I knew she felt the same for me. Even if she wasn't always good at showing it. So if I was going to get defrosted from anybody, I was definitely going to go with the prime candidate.

Problem was…

~ o ~

"I can't believe she was gone!"

"These tracks will lead us straight to her," Kristoff reassured me for what was probably the twelfth time as we galloped toward Arendelle. "Don't worry, I'll get you to Queen Elsa!"

"What happened?" I asked weakly, shivering as I curled even tighter against him. "A-all that destruction, all those hoofprints…"

He shook his shaggy blonde mane as he spurred his reindeer faster and faster. My heart was filled with deeper dread the larger the kingdom loomed in my vision. All I wanted was to be home. To curl up by a fire and rest… and see my sister. I wanted that above all else.

Kristoff got me to the gates. The officials didn't want to let him in, and I didn't have the brainpower to argue anymore; my entire focus was on Elsa, on fighting my way to her side. Seeing her dazzling blue eyes and her soft white locks above me, sliding my hands around her trim waist…

"Prince Hans!" Kai called as he and Gerda steered me into the meeting room. I felt lucky that the ice magic's effects were minimal; otherwise, I would have been barely able to walk by now. I saw several dignitaries gathered around Hans, including the Weasel himself. Odin Allfather, didn't that guy have a life at all? Or enough sense to notice nobody wanted him around?

"Anna!" my suitor gasped out, rushing over to embrace me tightly. Oh yeah… I kind of forgot in all the craziness that the last time I talked to him, we were supposed to be getting married. I'd have to straighten that out later.

"Hans! I… I have to find out what happened to my sister!"

He seemed stunned. "What? What do you mean? She left Arendelle, she left us all to deal with this winter."

"But I saw the hoofprints leading back here! From the North Mountain! Where… I know she's here, I can feel it!" And I could, I swear I felt her presence. Maybe it was just me fooling myself… or maybe it was just gas.

Hans opened his mouth to protest, but just then another guard came in, standing ramrod straight and saluting. "Her Majesty has refused any food or drink, Sir. What shall we…" Only then did he notice me there, and he saluted again — harder, if possible. "Princess Anna! You have returned! Then… you were not…?"

"Were not what?" I asked. When the rest of the people in the room began to mutter, I looked around more frantically. "Okay, I'm getting a little tired of the information wagon not wheeling in my direction! What in the fjord is going on?!"

"Listen," Hans breathed with a slight crease in his handsome brow, "I think you all should leave for a moment. Princess Anna is clearly overcome — and she is frozen to the bone. We need to give her some time, I need to take care of her and let her warm herself by the f-"

"NO. You can stay here and talk to these guys if you want; I have a mission." I turned to point at the guard. "You! Fred, or something!"

"Fredek, Your Highness," he said with a stiff bow, still looking a little out of sorts. Everybody did.

"That's what I said. Is my sister here?"

"Y-yes, but she is-"

"Where?" Hesitation. Again. "Hey, am I the princess around here or WHAT?! Take me to Elsa now! Right now!"

~ o ~

Nothing could have prepared me for that trip up into the tower. When we were little, Elsa and I would sometimes go up there to play, pretending one of us was the monster that was holding the other captive. We would imagine our castle was Soria Moria, taking turns playing a princess — since we were always princesses and playing was about escapism — and Halvor, the hero. We usually wound up just squealing and rolling around in fear that the troll with three heads would gobble us up, starting with our toes. That was what our father always told us would happen if we didn't behave.

Father…

Not for the first time, I fretted over what he would think about all this. Had he known? Had Mother? Did they have magic of their own, and just never bothered to reveal it to me? Nah, that would be completely crazy; I would know if my parents had anything magical in their backgrounds. Still, nobody ever told me about Elsa, so it was possible. It would have been easy to let bitterness take over my heart, thinking about how left out I had been my entire life until now.

But wasn't I doing something every bit as depraved as them keeping secrets? By falling head over heels for my own sister?

"I'm sorry, Princess, you cannot pass. I have my orders."

"Skadi can have your stupid orders! That is my sister and I'm going to see her, and… and I'm the princess, and you are not. So there!"

"That has nothing to do with-"

"You're ORDERED to open this door! NOW!" That was starting to work pretty well for me. The man sighed and unlocked the door, pulling it open. "Okay, get out of here."

"Excuse me?"

"I need to speak with my sister in private! And if you're hanging around out here… just-" I shoved at him impatiently. "Go wait at the bottom of the stairwell, or something! I don't care, just don't let us be disturbed or I'm going to…" Sentence him to death? I couldn't even pretend to be that mean. "Or I'll turn you into a stable-boy, and you'll be shovelling horse dritt for the rest of your life!"

Honestly, I've never seen a soldier in full armour sprint down stairs before.

"Who's there?" croaked a weak voice as I crept into the chamber, yanking the door shut behind me. "Is… you have to tell me, have they found Anna?"

"Nope," I said with a smirk. "She's totally still missing. Probably got eaten by a muskox."

The blue-tinted form on the cot shifted and stirred, and a disheveled head of platinum blond hair raised to squint through the darkness at me. Wow, she looked a lot more rough than I expected… because never in my life had I seen her look anything less than perfect. Not even when we were little.

"I…" Once she had seen me with her own eyes, she let out a long, shaky sigh of relief. "We don't… muskoxen aren't even carnivores."

"No?" I grunted as I plopped down on the floor right next to her, not even caring how dirty the dungeon was. Can you have a dungeon in a tower? Is that not the same thing? Maybe there's another word. "Well fine, I got turned into grass by some other magical person, and then the muskox ate me."

"Stop that. I was so worried when Hans told me, and here you are making fun of me for worrying. That isn't nice."

"Uh huh. It's totally nice, because I'm playing with you. Remember how to play?"

Elsa smiled softly to herself, glancing at the tiny window. The sky was definitely awake; I knew that's what she was thinking because it was what I was thinking. Crazy how sometimes, we could be so in sync, and other times…

"I remember," she admitted under her breath. "What do you think I keep thinking about the entire time I've been up here?"

The smile that broke out over my face was bright enough to eclipse the sun. It turned just a little wicked as I stood tall with my fists on my hips and proclaimed, "Hutetu, what a smell of Christian man's blood!"

That made my sister turn to look at me with wide eyes. Which promptly rolled before she mumbled, "Oh Anna, please, anything but that…"

"Come on, you know this!" I hissed. "Just kill the troll, Halvor — cut off all my heads! Then you can sweep the youngest princess-sister off her feet!" For real, this time. In hindsight, maybe it was because we spent so much time pretending to marry each other as kids that led us to the big i-word.

"And how am I supposed to do that?" she asked, raising her hands…

My heart seemed to grow yet colder in my chest as I looked at those gleaming manacles. I'd never seen anything quite like them; they encircled Elsa's hands completely instead of just binding her at the wrists, and chains led from their tips to a metal plate bolted to the middle of the floor. Wasn't that weird? Why would any such thing exist?

Come to think of it… since when had this tower been a dungeon? It was always cold and forbidding, but the iron bars had not been there when we were little, pretending it was Soria Moria. Not that I trusted my memories much anymore after finding out my sister had ice powers and never told me.

Still, I could put two-and-two together. "Elsa, this prison… did you…?"

"Not I alone," she sighed weakly, staring down into her icy lap as she fidgeted on the cold-looking stone cot. "Father had this commissioned."

"Father wouldn't-"

"I insisted. I made him and Mother see that it was for the best, even if… if they did not want to put me in a cage. But sometimes we need cages, Anna — to protect everyone else from what's inside."

"So what, now you just… you're going to sit up here while an eternal winter rages throughout Arendelle? That's so- I can't believe you would neglect your duties to this kingdom. Don't you see we need you?"

Her brow furrowed as she turned away again. "No. Look what I have done so far. Why would anyone need a queen as unstable as me? Who can't even control her own curse?"

"Curse? Do you not remember- didn't you see Olaf? Real and as alive as you and me? You did that! And you built that beautiful castle, and made this dress- really gorgeous, by the way, I didn't get a chance to say it before."

At least I made her chuckle. A tiny bit. It didn't last long before she was brooding again, staring toward the window. "You're too sweet. Maybe… maybe I shouldn't have interfered."

"Interfered in what?"

"You and… what was his name? Hans. Or that large man who helped you find me."

"Kristoff. Wait… are you trying to marry me off to some man I just met? After all that?!"

"Anna, you deserve a chance at happiness with a man who can take care of you. If you keep pining after me, deluding yourself into thinking we can be something more than we are… then I'm afraid you'll never be happy. And that would hurt me more than I can bear, especially knowing it's my fault! All I have ever wanted is to make sure you are taken care of. That you're safe, and whole, and happy."

"Then why did you spend over a decade shutting me out? Huh? Could you really not remember how much I loved you? Didn't you realize how that was going to hurt me, losing my sister — my best friend?" So maybe it wasn't very nice, but I couldn't help it; I lost my temper.

"I…" Her chest was rising and falling more rapidly, eyes narrowing thanks to the force of the furrow in her brow. It almost looked like she was panicking again, like she had at the coronation ball. "It wasn't my decision, but wasn't it for the best? I couldn't hurt you again. And us being together, especially the way we've been recklessly exploring the past couple of days… I can only see that ending one way."

"Elsa…" Knowing I had made a mistake, I approached her and laid a hand on her shoulder. Yes, she tensed up, but when nothing bad happened she relaxed. "I'm sorry. Maybe this has been rough on you, too, but I still don't think staying away from me was the best plan. Why couldn't we have tried to work on this togeth-"

"What part of 'I didn't want to hurt you again' is confusing for you? Why are you always so stubborn, Anna?!"

My temper threatening to rise again in response to hers, I snapped back, "The 'again' part, you jerk! Literally the only thing that ever hurt me was losing you!"

"No, it isn't! You just don't remember because of the trolls-"

Elsa cut off, her expression full of misery as she turned away. Lately, I felt like I was messing up all the time. Pushing too much. I didn't want to, I just… when I see something is wrong, I have this compulsion to fix it. How can anybody do any better if they don't try?

"I've been to the trolls. They said… well, they said if we don't do something soon, this is going to get worse."

"What is?" But this time, when she looked at me — really looked — she noticed. "Oh. Oh, Anna, it's getting worse…"

"How do you know about the trolls?" I asked suspiciously, scooting forward to make sure she couldn't escape my gaze so easily. "Wait — did you always know my hair was going to get more white? The way you said that…"

"No, no, they said they fixed it," she breathed, voice strained as if she were barely keeping her emotions in check. "I can't do this!"

"Elsa, for once I need you to actually listen to me and answer my questions! How do you know about the trolls, and what do you mean, this has happened before? And why don't I ever remember you having ice magic until your coronation? The more I think about it, the crazier it seems I wouldn't have noticed something that insane! Hey, I know I'm dumb, but I'm not that dumb!"

Suddenly, my sister's icy irises blazed with anger as she turned to look at me. "Don't you say that, Anna. You are not dumb. I have never mistaken your openness and your vibrance, and the naïvety that your excitement leads to sometimes, for stupidity."

Why did that turn me on? Talk about an inappropriate reaction!

"O-oh. Well… wow, Elsa, thank you. Um, I didn't expect you to say anything like that, I thought you would agree with me. Or something. I don't know." Desperately wishing I could force the blush out of my cheeks was distracting me from being able to string words together.

"Alright." Clearly relieved that I had accepted what she said instead of arguing, she closed her eyes for a moment. A long moment. "As I said, this is not the first time my magic has hurt you, no matter how hard I try to protect you. And there's a reason you-"

"Come on, Elsa! Why haven't you figured out yet that I don't need protection? Not from my best friend!" My body seemed to take on a life of its own, demanding I get closer to my sweet sister, that I show her how true my feelings really were. Otherwise, how would she ever see?

"Anna, wait-"

"I love you," I breathed as she backed into the corner, even though I was keeping pace, my hands pawing at her arms through her dress. The chains pulled taut beneath me and I saw my sister lurch from the unexpected resistance on her arms; I hadn't been paying much attention to them, I was so focused on getting closer to her. But then-

Then I let out the whimper. My sister whispered fearfully, "Anna? Anna, what's wrong?"

"Mmhhh, I didn't… well that's new…" My thighs flexed as I rubbed myself against the steel links that were now firmly between my thighs, vision going blurry briefly from the powerful surge of pleasure.

"What… are-" The gasp made it pretty obvious she had figured it out. "Anna, you stop that right now!"

"Why? It's… I mean, why can't I take a quick little break?" That was a pretty weak defense. Mostly, I was aware of how insane and depraved what I was doing was, but every second I was away from Elsa made my desire triple. At least, it really felt that way to me.

"We have…" Maybe it was the expression on my face, or maybe the sounds I was making, but I could start to see the colour rising in her cheeks. "Anna, we were in the middle of an important conversation. Please, can't your libido wait a minute or two?"

"I can… multitask…" At her glare, I finally brought my greedy pelvis to a stop. "You're right! You're right, I'm really sorry. I just already wanted you so bad, and then those chains hit me just right in- okay, shutting up," I added when I saw her death glare.

"Thank you. Now… I know this isn't going to be easy for you to hear. But I have hurt you before, when we were children. I wish I didn't have to explain it to you, I wish I could let you go on thinking nothing was wrong, but it's clear to me now that you will never stop fighting to get closer to me unless I explain why you can't do that. No matter what we both want, it just isn't meant to be."

"Okay, I… do not like that part. But the rest is good! We should be talking about these things — I mean, how are we ever going to fix things between us if we don't? So…" Oh wow, it was almost impossible to keep still.

"Your hips are moving."

"So what? My hips are here, my hips are th- ooooh, maybe they shouldn't go there. Okay, I stopped. So you hit me with some of your magic when we were kids and it gave me a white streak in my hair, and you guys took me to the trolls and they erased my memory and healed me right up? That pretty accurate?"

I couldn't remember ever seeing my sister look so completely shocked before. Literally had no words. It's too bad she didn't have something like that she could say to me, because I'm the chatterbox who needs to be quieted down sometimes.

"What? I mean, you left me some pretty easy dots to connect, and you just said I'm not as dumb as I look."

"I didn't- you don't look dumb, either! You are a beautiful young woman who could have anyone in the kingdom!"

Grinning, I whispered, "Aww, really?"

"Anna, please, try to pay attention. Don't you see how dangerous this is? Twice now I have gotten too close, let my attention lapse, and twice now I have hurt you. Can't you understand why I need to be kept away from you?"

Of course, I did feel my heart grow a little colder for just a second. But then I shook my head hard and glared at her. "Yeah. Yeah, I can see how you would think that — even how our parents could think that. Because they don't get it at all, and neither do you."

She looked so bone-weary when I started to crawl closer. Was hard not to take that personally. "Anna… what is it that you think you understand that I don't?"

"True love."

"What?"

"The trolls…" I shivered for a moment. It was getting worse, so I had to push ahead. "They said only an act of true love can thaw a frozen heart. So don't you see? If you kiss me-"

"NO. Anna, you have to listen to me! Stop this nonsense!" She was breathing hard in panic again now that our faces were only a couple of inches apart. Crystals formed on her eyelashes from the tears she couldn't fully shed. "I can't. Why don't you see I can't be that person for you? I'm a woman — your sister, the queen of the kingdom! No one will allow us to be together!"

Her words stabbed into me roughly like bayonets. Like icicles she was driving into my heart. And I could see fear blossoming in her eyes, could feel the cold creeping along my cheeks. Confirmation wasn't necessary; I knew I was getting worse. The magic was stealing me from the world. And Elsa just couldn't see that she was the only one who had the power to roll back the frozen tide.

"They aren't who counts," I breathed, my teeth beginning to chatter. Then… my hips started moving again.

"Anna, this is not the-"

"I'm going to freeze if I don't move. Don't you want to help me?" When she remained immobile, a little desperation crept into my voice as my brow furrowed. "Elsa…"

"I can't help. All I can do is make it worse," she sobbed brokenly. Even if she couldn't understand, at least she wasn't hiding anything from me anymore. Baby steps are all you get sometimes.

"Can't get worse than this!" I tried to joke. And when she only began to cry harder, I reached up to caress her soft cheek. "Come on… pick your princess, Halvor. You've b-been through so much…"

And she did kiss me. I had really been hoping that would break the curse. It didn't. But I was still going to enjoy this moment to the fullest. Hey, if it's your last one on the mortal plane, heck, why wouldn't you?

The deeper our kiss grew, the stronger my urges rose. It seemed to be helping me fight off the cold, so I renewed my efforts, grinding myself hard against those firm chains through the layers of Oaken's winter wardrobe. And my dear, beautiful sister no longer wasted any breath trying to convince me to stop; she did the one thing I had always wanted her to do, ever since we were little.

She supported me.

"Mmmhhhah!" I gasped when I was getting close. "Elsa! I love you!"

"Anna-"

"Never forget! Do you understand me?" Hazy as my vision was, I could still see the furrow of concern in her brow, how rapidly she was breathing. My poor big sister was terrified on my behalf. Screwed up as that might be, it felt amazing. She actually cared about me! "Don't you ever… forget that I love you, and I never blamed you, and I… all I ever wanted was to be close to you again! And you're giving that to me, and I am so, so happy!"

Tears slipping down her cheeks and shattering on the stone floor, Elsa rasped out, "Anna, you can't go! You're the one that deserves to stay — you have never done anything wrong! It's me! I am the monster, I cursed you, and I should be the one who is slain!"

"So what?! You… didn't do anything wrong, either!" But she didn't believe me. Of course. So I had to give her something different, something that would meet her needs. "A-and I forgive you! For anything, everything, whatever you think you need forgiveness for, you got it, sis!"

We kissed again. I only wished we could have had that conversation when I wasn't riding a couple of lengths of chain; it was definitely a little weird. But the burning between my thighs demanded I keep going, and it also felt like if I stopped, the cold would win. So on I bucked, over and over into that unrelenting metal-

Elsa did a little something for me that finished me off. And I can't even fully explain it, but I had no idea anybody could use their tongue like that.

"HMMNHHH!" was the only noise I could make because our mouths were joined together, but I felt like it was enough for her to understand. The orgasm that stole over my body was both satisfying and unsatisfying, because I was still so far away from the one I loved despite the passion joining our lips. But it would have to do. At least most of the frost had been rolled back from my body so I could function again.

Once the high faded, and the blaze in my crotch was back to being a dull ache again, we finally broke the kiss to look into each other's eyes. And there was understanding. I could see now that Elsa might still try to resist, and would probably always have anxiety about hurting me, but she was no longer deluded that we weren't meant to be together. She got it. Better late than never, I guess.

"Sooooo, your turn, Big Sis? Let me under that ice dress. Gotta show my appreciation."

"Anna!"

"Hey, you wouldn't happen to have that fork with you, would you? Maybe in here?"

Elsa only had enough time to chuckle and roll her eyes before the door burst open. My finger instantly jerked back from where it had been inching below her neckline as I whirled to yell at whoever had interrupted us.

But it was Hans. Not just him, but the guard I had sent on an early lunch break. Both had swords drawn, but now they were definitely looking like they didn't know which way was up.

"Princess!" Hans gasped. "Are you alright? We heard you struggling to breathe!"

"I-I'm fine!" I laughed nervously, privately thinking I was really getting tired of people barging in on me right after I came. Maybe I should invest in a Do Not Disturb sign that I could just carry with me wherever I went…

"What have you done to her?" he demanded of Elsa, glowering. She shrank away, instantly on the defensive, so I held out my hands toward both of them.

"Stop! Listen, nobody did anything, everything is fine! We were just talking, and… and trying to figure it all out!"

"Princess, I advise you stay away from her. She nearly killed the guards when they found her on North Mountain!"

When I turned to my sister with a question in my eyes, she winced, shoulders hunching up toward her ears. "I-it was an accident. They were trying to kill me, I was only defending myself!"

"Trying to kill you? They were part of the search party — we only came looking because Princess Anna had disappeared."

"But they attacked! And they weren't even guards from Arend-"

"Please take the princess to safety," Hans instructed the guard. But I wasn't focusing on that for the moment. He had already picked me up and moved me away from the chains before the little seed of thought began to sprout.

"Not from Arendelle?" I had to raise my boot and brace it against the door frame to keep from being shoved out of the tower. "Wait, wait, what did I miss?"

Hans sounded very regretful the moment he started speaking. "Those were Weselton's men. I thought it would be good to have more in our search party, but perhaps I was wrong. They seemed to have their own agenda. But you still had nearly taken their lives when I found you, Queen Elsa. Perhaps if you weren't so aggressive with your sorcery, one of them wouldn't have tried to take you out with the crossbow."

So much of what he said made sense, and I understood the shame and regret in my sister's face. She didn't want to be a killer, she didn't want to hurt anyone. And the more I learned, the more I understood why.

"This is still my fault, Hans," I sighed as the guard finally put me down, seeming to realize he wasn't going to have any more success if he kept at it. Stubborn as a mule. "She was fine until I started pushing her, messing with her ability to… to keep it all in check. So if anybody should be in chains, it's me."

Turning back to me, Hans took up my hands and squeezed tightly. Oh, the pain, the… awkward. Yeah, it's super awkward holding hands with the guy you once told you were ready to marry but suddenly realized you only wanted to tie the knot with a blood-related sibling.

"Anna, you aren't responsible for your sister's decisions. She has still put this entire kingdom in danger. Don't you think she should answer for that crime?"

"Only if I answer for the same crime! Didn't you hear me? I provoked her into it, I was- was being a stinker, she felt trapped!"

"Don't be absurd," he responded a little more firmly, lips pressing flat. "You never forced her to unleash eternal winter! Besides, if both of you are tried for treason, how will you and I rule over Arendelle? There will be no one left to take the throne."

I blinked a few times. "What? You and I- oh, Hans. If only you were the one I love." While he was busy looking more confused than ever, I shrugged helplessly. "My sister was right. I was just caught up in the excitement of having a new friend, someone who would listen, and I didn't stop to realize… there's no way what we had could be true love after only a few hours."

"So… then…" Man, he was really breathing hard now. I felt like a colossal jerk for doing this to him, but I didn't want to live a lie. Not for a single second. That would only make this harder in the long run. "So that's all there is to it? You can't see your way to giving me… a chance? Maybe we were hasty, but that doesn't have to-"

"It does. My heart belongs to another."

You know, it's funny. Even while I was sharing a longing gaze with Elsa, small, knowing smiles on our lips as we felt our hearts warm with the power of love, Hans still didn't realize who I was talking about. Maybe that says something about me, or maybe it says something about men. About people in general. That's a question I can't really answer.

"Who?" was what he asked when he found his voice again.

"It's a secret," I compromised. Again, Elsa rolled her eyes, but I was starting to get used to that. It didn't make me feel belittled anymore.

"I see. That… that is regrettable."

Elsa still held my eyes when I heard the sickly sound of metal sliding through metal. Mostly, I just found it really annoying, but when I turned to figure out what it was and how to stop it…

"NO!" Elsa burst out before I could react.

"Alright," Hans grunted as he dragged the sword out of the guard's back. The blade gleamed red as the man curled his fingers around the spot it had protruded from his chest with the last of his breath, then sagged to the stone floor. "But I do regret having to resort to such unpleasantness."

Skadi. The guard was dead. As much tragedy as my sister and I had been through over the years, I have never seen someone die right in front of me before. Never had to watch the light of life fading from someone's eyes, never had to know his family would mourn him because of something I had witnessed firsthand. It was beyond horrible.

"You… what have you done?" Elsa was muttering in a distant voice, just as disbelieving as I was but somehow still able to speak while I was completely mute.

"Only what I had to do. Oh, it would have been so much simpler and more elegant if you could have been tried for treason and executed, Your Majesty." How could he look so casual, striding over to flick that sword at me — spraying me with some of the blood? What a sadist. "You really are a danger to everyone here, I can see that. But now that I know Anna will never consent to marry me, well… as I said, this change of plans is regrettable, but I seem to have no other choice."

"No," I breathed as he advanced on me, and I felt my heart jumping into my throat, pounding loud as a timpani. "Hans, y- stop! What do you think you're doing, how can you be so, so…"

He shrugged carelessly, as if none of this mattered to him. Maybe it didn't. I would say I knew better, but clearly I didn't know a damn thing about anything. "As the thirteenth in line in my own kingdom, I didn't stand a chance. I knew I would have to marry into the throne somewhere. Being the firstborn heir, Elsa was preferable, of course, but no one was getting anywhere with her."

"Excuse me?" Elsa snapped, clearly a lot more outraged now that he was focused on me while holding a bloody sword. Can't say I blame her; shoe on the other foot, I would be just as riled up. "I am not a prize to be w-"

"But you? Oh, Anna, you were so desperate for attention. Probably weren't getting any at home." Only then did he bother to spare a smirk for Elsa, which shot her fury through with agony — just like he wanted. Now I could see his little calculations playing out behind his beady eyes. How could I have ever thought they were dreamy before?

"Hans, you d-don't know what you're talking about," I chattered, the cold beginning to grow again. As focused as I was on Hans, and the way snowflakes were swirling around our heads because Elsa was mad and scared and stressed, there was no warmth of our sisterly bond to counter the prince's frigid scheme. "You don't know what you're doing!"

"Don't I?" Suddenly that cunning smile changed to a stricken expression. "I… I couldn't believe the queen could do that to the guard, her own sister. There was nothing I could do, I- I had to protect myself when she came at me. But at least Anna and I got to say our marriage vows… before she died in my arms."

Even while he was holding himself tightly, I gave a sarcastic clap and sneered, "Oh wow, what a ham. Nobody's ever going to buy that barrel full of last year's lutefisk."

"Won't they?" His expression turned cold as he raised the sword overhead, aiming to strike true. I was dead and I knew it. After everything we had been through, this was going to be the end. How disappointing. "The evidence will be compelling, if I do say so mysel-!"

But the blow never landed. Even if Elsa's hands were bound, the rest of her wasn't; I'm really not sure why neither of us had quite paid attention to that little detail. Hans certainly wasn't going to forget it anytime soon after she shoulder-charged him, sending him bouncing into the far wall. The crunch would have been sickening if it weren't, well… him.

"Elsa!" I gasped. "Whoa, you really cleaned his clock! Since when were you such a… oh!"

That was as far as I got before I was scrambling back against the wall, watching the cuffs around her hands frost over just before they shattered completely. I had to shield my eyes from the shrapnel, and when I lowered my arms again… for the first time in my life, I felt honestly, truly afraid of my sister — because that look in her fair features was even more vicious than the one Hans had been wearing a moment ago. Bloodthirsty.

Vengeant.

"WHOA!" I barely gasped out as I latched onto her elbows. Mostly to keep her from raising the ice sword she had just conjured out of the air. "Wait, easy, what are- what are you going to do?!"

"Ending his life." At least she wasn't pussyfooting around the subject.

"You can't!"

"Why not?!" she demanded, still struggling against me. And my sister was clearly stronger than I gave her credit for, because she was almost lifting me off the ground with the force of her arms. Again, hotter than it had any right being, especially in the middle of a life-and-death situation. "He was going to end yours! He doesn't deserve to live!"

"Because he's not worth it! Because…" I let go and quickly moved around to put myself between her and Hans. "Because I don't want to see my sister turn into a murderer. Okay? We already got him outnumbered — it's over! You don't have to kill him anymore!"

Her voice was as flinty as her deep blue eyes. "Anna, move."

"No! You can't kill him and still be the woman I love!"

I saw her hesitate. And just being that close to her, staring into her eyes, I felt the love bursting within my heart. Anybody would do anything for her, and… it's me. I'm 'anybody'.

Then she was knocking me to one side with an icy blast. My head bounced off the stone of the tower wall, dazing me slightly, but she hadn't thrown me far or hard enough for it to do any real injury. Mostly, I felt sick that my love wasn't enough to stop her from committing murder. As she brought the sword down, I screamed…

But it only clanged against steel. We had run out of time; Hans had recovered and was about to strike. Even as I watched them struggling against each other, teeth gritted in concentration as they tried to overpower their opponent, it slowly caught up to me: she didn't ignore my pleas. That bastard had been about to make another attempt on my life.

My sister just kept saving me.

"You'll… never take me!" he snarled into her features as he began to back her towards the opposite wall. With his ginger hair disheveled and that deranged expression on his face, he definitely no longer looked like the handsome prince who worked so hard to charm my pants off. Now he just looked like… Weselton. "You might have magic, but underneath that? You're nothing but a scared little girl, trying to fend off a man with true ambition! You are NOTHING!"

"Yes!" she grunted, struggling down onto one knee but still valiantly pressing back his attack, despite the cracks forming in her sword. Then she suddenly smiled fiercely. "But do you… know what's… stronger than a man with ambition?"

"What?!" he demanded with that vicious, taunting smile. "Love?"

Of course, that was all he ever got to say, because that next second I was bringing down the fallen guard's heavy helmet right on the back of his head. I could see the smile turn to a look of shock in the reflection of their swords just before he crumpled to the ground, completely unconscious. I really didn't hold back.

"Sorority, you dope," I snapped down at him, casually dropping the helmet onto his back. "You should know better than to mess with sisters."

"Anna!" Elsa gasped as her sword vanished completely. It didn't take her long to scramble to her feet and throw her arms around me, clutching me so tightly to her body that I actually felt winded. "Oh, Anna…"

"It's okay, Elsa. I'm here, I'm fine."

"Your head- you're sure? I didn't want to throw you but-"

"I get it, I get it," I laughed as she pulled back to pet over the side of my head. "Crazy way to protect someone, but I guess it's better than getting stabbed. Thanks."

"Oh. Your hair…"

"I know," I sighed. "But it's okay, Elsa. We'll figure it out together. Please don't feel guilty anymore; I know you never meant to hurt me, not back then and not now."

"No — Anna…" Eyes sweeping the little tower cell, she came upon the guard's sword. As she unsheathed it, for a wild moment I was afraid she was going to kill Hans while he was unconscious, but instead she held it up in front of my face.

And now I could see what she was talking about. "What's- huh?! Where'd my white streak go — why am I all auburn again?"

"I… I don't know." And I could tell she was legitimately confused. "Do you feel any different? Do you remember feeling anything different?"

"No, I…" But I did.

So many memories came flooding back the second I focused my mind on them. Building Olaf together in the ballroom, not outside during a wintry day. Dragon feet. Cuddling close to our mother as she sang us a lullaby, my eyelids getting heavy… All memories I had before. But they were different now; changed by something that had been hidden that was now in the light.

"Do the magic," I whispered softly, my eyes welling with tears.

"Oh," she breathed, just as misty as I was as she dropped the sword and yanked me into another clinging embrace. "Oh, Anna, I'm so sorry. I never wanted any of this, I just wanted us to be happy! But Pabbie said to keep you safe… I had to learn to control my power. But I can't."

"Oh, I think you can. I know you can." Pressing my fingertips into her back, I whispered softly, "You're my magical sister, and the strongest person I know. You can do anything." When she didn't respond at all, just sobbed gently into my shoulder, I smiled and asked her, "What were you going to say?"

"What?" she blubbered.

"Before I bonked Hans on the noggin. You had been going to say there was something stronger than a man with ambition…? I interrupted, sorry about that."

"Don't be sorry," she laughed wetly. "But… I was going to agree with him. It's love. I would do anything for my family, and I know you would do the same. And a man like him would never understand that."

"Yeah, sheesh. You'd think a guy with thirteen brothers would get it even more! But apparently they were pretty rotten."

Finally, Elsa drew back from the hug to cup my cheek, her expression full of so much adoration that I almost had to pinch myself to see if this was real. "I'm so glad you're safe, and so glad you are finally whole again. Even if I'm not quite sure how."

"Me, either. The trolls told me 'only an act of true love can thaw a frozen heart', like I said. But I mean, if they meant getting myself off with your chains, well, that's pretty weird, even for people that grow mushrooms out of their backs!"

Elsa laughed a little — at first, then she grew thoughtful as her fingers combed through my fringe. "Love will thaw, hm? Well… I think… I'm starting to understand."

The room was silent for a few seconds. "So are you going to share with the class, or…?"

"Anna, don't you see? It wasn't the kiss — and certainly not your indiscretion with my chains. You healed yourself. Putting your body between Hans and I was what unfroze your heart, and I guess your head."

"Wait, what? Putting my- that was just because I didn't want you to have to kill that jerk. I couldn't stand the thought that my sister would have blood on her hands just because of me."

"And that's true love. Even if it was a little reckless."

"Hey! You could at least not make fun of me for trying to help my smmmph…"

That was as far as I got before she was drawing me into a gentle kiss. Melting into her arms was as easy as it ever was, pouring all of my longing and gratitude into her lips as our hearts beat as one. And of course, she was right; I guess protecting Hans, even if it was just to keep my sister's conscience clear… that was an act of love. For her.

A little at a time, we could hear commotion drifting up from downstairs. After taking a moment to slip handcuffs onto my former fiance's wrists, we went to investigate.

"Ohhhh, the storm is over," I breathed as I looked out the windows. "That's a relief; at least we can walk around outside without getting knocked down."

"Yes… but why…?" I turned to look at my sister, seeing her hand at her chin as her mind raced. She looked like a little junior detective when she did that. "Love will thaw. Do you really think…?"

"Think what?" But she was already grabbing my hand. "Hey!"

"Guards!" she snapped at the two who had also been gawking at the weather. "Prince Hans of the Southern Isles is a traitor to Arendelle, and one of our men is dead. Please remove the body and lock his cell until his fate is decided."

They were still clamoring through their confusion to manage a "Yes, Your Majesty" when Elsa yanked me further down the hallway, literally running in her glittering ice heels. How does she do that when I can barely run in boots?!

Once outside in the courtyard, I finally demanded, "Okay, Elsa, what are we doing? I mean, if you wanted to take a stroll, all you had to do was-"

"Shh." Grinning at me, she rubbed her hands together and then began to swirl them around each other, building up her energy — or something. You got me, since I've never done magic before. Then she curled them into claws and began dragging them upward from the ground, as if she were trying to summon the rocks from the earth and send them into the sky.

And as I watched, the ice and snow in the courtyard disappeared. That wasn't quite true; it was more like it evaporated. From the ground, the trees, the rooftops — from Arendelle. In no time, green was bursting out all around, and the confused servants throughout the castle were gasping in wonder.

"Whoa!" I squeaked. "You un-magicked your magic! Amazing!"

"Yes," she laughed, grabbing onto my hands and spinning me around in a circle. I couldn't help the peal of laughter that burst out of me, my heart was so light for the first time in forever. "Your love! That was always the key!"

"Yeah, sure!" I giggled. "My magical love!"

"No, really." Once we came to a stop, she pulled me in close, and I was struck again by how gorgeous she was, cheeks flushed and chest heaving slightly, bright red lips parted and curling into a smile. By Freya, she could have had anybody she wanted.

"You said that only an act of true love could thaw your heart, and your mind, Anna. I… I had to wonder if that's what I've been doing wrong all these years. Trying so hard to control my magic out of fear and anxiety for its consequences, terrified of hurting anyone, that I forgot… I forgot how to reach out, and let myself love you, and our parents, and… my people. That was the missing link."

My hand drifted up into her sweeping blonde forelock. "You sure you didn't bump your head when you tackled my ex?"

"Very sure. Our love thawed out Arendelle, Anna; that was all I needed."

"Oh," I breathed, knowing I looked like a shy dork by now. She had me so flustered in a way Hans could never have managed. "Well… I guess… you're welcome? Or thanks? I, u-um…" No, I could do better than that. "You'll always have as much love from me as you want, Elsa. Always."

And she kissed me again. That was never going to get old; it would always send tingles from my ears to the tips of my toes, set my stomach fluttering and my heart pounding. Even though I was no love expert, I somehow knew that was something only for the two of us.

Of course, when we broke apart we could hear the mutterings; the kiss had trapped us in a little world of our own, but pulling back revealed there were quite a few Arendellians shocked at what they had just witnessed. And I mean, I get it; their queen was acting like she was from Lesbos, not Norway, and with her own family member. That's a whole lot of Greek.

But even though I would have expected Elsa to retreat into her shell again, ashamed of what she had done, she did not. She stepped forward and announced loudly, "My sister and I have freed Arendelle of my magic. If any of you have a problem with how we have done that, you can air your grievances during the court levée I will open to the public on Monday morning. Until then, enjoy your summer again!"

Somehow, ending on that positive note triggered the automatic response of everyone cheering and clapping. Maybe it was a little bit of a trick, but it still gave Elsa the freedom to sweep me into her arms, to spin me around as I laughed. How long had it been since I felt that free?

Thirteen years. That's how long. But now we could be free forevermore. I only hoped the people of Arendelle would let us be free.

~ Å Være Ferdig ~

#min soster bursdagskake #cake fic #forkanna writes #elsanna fandom #elsanna fanfiction #elsanna #forkanna #jess the writer #nsfw-text

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itsclydebitches · 4 years ago

Text

Welcome back, everyone!

We’re now on Chapter Eight and once again the story is told from Velvet’s perspective. So our starting question is: why is she getting the most attention so far? If memory serves, the PoV order has been Coco, Velvet, Sun, Fox, Yatsu, Velvet, Scarlet, Velvet again — meaning that in a text balancing eight main characters, so far four of them have received a single chapter, two (Sage and Neptune) zero chapters, and one three chapters. That seems rather imbalanced. I suppose it makes a certain amount of sense if we factor in RWBY viewers’ familiarity with Velvet, but I’d wager we’ve gotten far more screen time with Sun overall. My only point being, why Velvet? It’s not that you can’t make her a focal point of the narrative, I just haven’t seen anything to explain that choice in the first 100+ pages. Her perspective hasn’t brought anything unique to the story, something we couldn’t have gotten from the seven other characters involved in these events… but here we are, back with Velvet for the next six pages.

Yeah, this chapter is short. Silver lining?

We learn that Team NOVA is on their second mission — why bother showing us the first when they’re an entirely new, volatile team, right? That would be silly! — escorting a technician “through the Grimm-infested mountains just outside of Oscuro Combat School.” So Shade students regularly conduct real huntsmen work but throw a fit over having to spar with one another? Interesting. See, if I were a civilian who got even a glimpse of what goes on inside these schools, I would not trust these kids with my life.

Lo and behold, things go horribly! We learn right off the bat that “The technician had been knocked unconscious in a skirmish with a band of Dromedons.” For those of you with an iffy memory like mine, these are the camel-like creatures that spit acid and… that’s about all we know about them. That’s really all we need for this scene though because this grimm nailed the tech in his leg, a wound which now requires “serious medical attention.” Great. Gus Caspian, who I learn is a younger friend from the previous novel, is trying to treat the wound as best he can, clearly a little freaked out about being here, “but apparently Oscuro teachers didn’t coddle students any more than Theodore did.”

Do you expect them to? Despite Atlas being the only one who combines their academies with their military, we can’t pretend like these schools aren’t teaching teenagers to wield deadly weapons and kill things with them. There’s no institution on Earth (or Remnant) that should “coddle” those looking to take on that responsibility. I mean yeah, we had moments where Ozpin encouraged them to be kids, like after the food fight and during the dance, but he still took a hard stance whenever there was an actual lesson in the works: “No. You will be falling.” Based on the age of the students, the academies are akin to colleges. In real world college if you don’t do your work or don’t pay attention in class, well… nothing that bad happens. This is by no means a call to not do you work, merely an acknowledgement from a formerly grade obsessed student that individual test scores really don’t have the impact on your life that it feels like they will at the time. Trust me on this. So yeah, some leeway is great in the real world… but when the students are fighting monsters and defending others from death? Then the schools should absolutely discourage any slacker-esque attitude. The concept of any institution “coddling” huntsmen is horrifying.

Note though that the chapter starts after all the action has taken place. We skip the rest of reinitiation. We skip NOVA’s first mission. We skip the attack that landed Velvet in this predicament. It’s not automatically a bad technique provided you’re skipping over boring parts to get to the interesting bits… but this isn’t interesting. We learn almost nothing new from this scene: Velvet misses her old team, her new teammates don’t believe in her, Nebula is mean. Those are the emotional beats here — things we’ve known for at least three chapters now. The only thing that’s introduced is the advertisement on Gus’ scroll, which could have been been added to any other scene.

Let’s revise a bit:

We get to see the battle against the Dromedons wherein Velvet uses her camera, revealing her weapon to Team NOVA and earning more of their respect. Information about Gus’ improvement is shown through his combat abilities as he’s unexpectedly chucked into this battle (perhaps with him using his semblance to further his growth there too). While taking a hit he loses his scroll, slightly damaging it. In the aftermath Velvet retrieves it for him and finds this ad displayed, growing curious. Over the course of Gus’ explanations the rest of Team NOVA is clued into Velvet’s worry and suspicion. What’s wrong? It’s just an ad. But you’re clearly hiding something… Now, does she tell her new team about the Crown, or keep it silent and risk the tenuous trust they’ve just created?

Why is Myers skipping over all the action and potential growth?

Instead we get the boring stuff. Velvet admires Gus’ uniform because of how it’s built for the heat and recalls that “Coco had been messing around with new outfit designs for Team CFVY.” I swear though, 95% of my enjoyment with this novel comes from the throwaway details. I would actually like seeing how Coco combines her personal love of fashion with the necessity of designing combat gear appropriate for the environment. Maybe they frame it as merely a hobby outside of their huntsmen work, giving them an excuse to keep helping their former teammates. That could be cool!

Though of course, this is the series where Cinder, Neo, Hazel, and Emerald all walk into the ice Kingdom with skin bared, so...

(You all are going to freeze to death, have fun.)

“Velvet’s ears swiveled around, listening for danger.” That’s anything detail I like. At the very least Before the Dawn remembers that Velvet is a faunus and frequently incorporates that into her character. She’s on the lookout because other than Gus tending the unconscious technician, she’s alone “on the sidelines.” It’s framed simultaneously as the group rejecting her and as an unavoidable necessity: “it wasn’t like she didn’t have an important task of her own [repairing the relay], one that none of her teammates had the expertise to perform.”

Wait. Why does Velvet have this expertise?

The justification is that she’s “handy with electronics” and “Anesidora was incredibly complicated, and she’d designed it herself,” but that’s like saying “I built a computer so I’ll come fix your refrigerator. That’s easier.” I don’t know, maybe someone with the ability to build a computer from the ground up could figure out a refrigerator on the fly, but they feel like different skill-sets to me. All electronics are not built the same and claiming that because you understand one you automatically understand all others — even supposedly simpler pieces of tech — seems a little suspect. If that were the case, we’d have no need for experts who fix your phone, your television, your toaster, and your watch. Surely if you understand one you understand the others, right? It’s the same assumption here: If Velvet can understand building a hard light weapon, then she must understand relay communications too!

…right.

She even goes so far as to say that they “probably should have left the technician at Oscuro—she could have done this on her own” yet just a few minutes later it’s, “Velvet double-checked everything. She didn’t know what was wrong. She glanced back at the technician, Gus still at his side. The guy was out cold. He’d taken a pretty hard knock to the head. Well, she had tried.” So she’s confident enough to think that the technician is unnecessary one moment and then looking to him for help the next? Which of course isn’t followed by any sort of revelation. Velvet doesn’t acknowledge that her knowledge isn’t as specialized as she had assumed it was, or that huntsmen rely on non-combat experts for other things. She just shrugs and…

…kicks it.

Yeah. Velvet’s skill amounts to kicking the box until it works. Which, of course, it does.

I can’t with this novel.

More seriously though, that’s terrible characterization. Not only does it undermine Velvet’s actual skill to reduce it to being “handy with electronics” — isn’t every huntsmen “handy with electronics” then, considering they all build their gun/energy/dust weaponry in school? — but it adds another layer of supposed uselessness to the adult professionals around her. Theodore doesn’t teach them anything because, as their headmaster, he’s removed from everyday interactions. Rumpole can’t be trusted now and every lesson she tries to impart is rejected. The unnamed technician who is referred to only by his professional title is deemed unnecessary, knocked out, and then indeed proves useless when Velvet magically does his job for him. So why are any of them in school? Why aren’t they just running the world with their superior knowledge and skill-sets? Every time the RWBY franchise puts its characters in a position where they might actually learn something through failure, it pulls back at the last second. ‘Never mind, they actually knew this all along!’ Or, ‘Never mind, the things they’ve been taught are stupid, so best to forget them!’ I struggle to understand what kind of story I’m reading — or watching — when the characters are already framed as perfect. Or rather, flaws absolutely exist (as these recaps attest), but the story pretends they’re not there.

I hesitate to use the term “Mary Sue” here due to its origins and history. Meaning, the Mary Sue was conceived of as a parody, a deliberate exaggeration to comment on the types of characters written in the Star Trek fandom. Then people began using “Mary Sue” as a catch-all term for any female character that people deemed too talented (regardless of how talented their male counterparts might be), we started acknowledging the sexist undertones of that, then started reclaiming the term as something to celebrate and embrace… but we haven’t quite gotten there yet. “Mary Sue” is still a pretty loaded name to force on a character and it carries a lot of implications that I absolutely do not want to attach to Velvet. Yet it’s also the closest term I know to describe the act of an author giving a character what feels like a badly justified skillset. Such as “handy with technology” actually meaning “can fix anything powered by electricity or Dust as the plot needs.”

Velvet is the action movie hacker going, “I’m in” is what I’m getting at. It’s not a compliment lol.

During all this grimm watching and relay fixing, Gus wants to know why they don’t just high-tail it out of there. Especially since the person they brought to do a specific job can no longer do that job. Mission’s a bust. Velvet gives what sounds like a decent explanation: “Retreating from Grimm isn’t an option when you’re fighting this close to a settlement. If we leave without destroying them, the Grimm will just look for another target.” AKA the settlement itself.

Thing is, by this logic any grimm that are currently close enough to attack them are already close enough to the settlement to latch onto those people as the next target. They’d pick up on the civilians whether Velvet’s group was there to kill them or not. The group is there though, so they feel responsible, but why not just head to the settlement anyway? If the grimm follow you, fine. You can still fight them AND you now get the additional benefit of any other huntsmen/students who might be there. If they don’t follow you, great. If they were close enough to the settlement all along… again, this was always going to happen.

Which, to be clear, isn’t the worst stance to take. I understand them wanting to avoid any potential risk by leaving/leading the grimm towards anyone else. I only want to point out the additional stupidity of fighting them when you’ve already got an unconscious civilian in your care, a barely trained student, and the whole reason you came out here might now be for naught. Yeah, Velvet gets the relay working with her magic kick and yeah, the rest of the team handles the grimm just fine, but none of them are able to see into the future and know that both these events will occur. Gus’ ‘Why are we staying here? It’s dangerous and pointless’ question has merit.

But of course, no one in RWBY would ever consider retreat. It’s a very iffy characteristic at this point.

We learn — or at least I learn now — that Gus’ semblance is the ability to enhance others’ emotions, so basically the opposite of Ren’s. That would indeed be incredibly handy provided he has good control over it. We get another reference to Yatsuhashi’s “meditation exercises” that helped Gus’ grandfather in the last novel. Velvet theorizes that his improved memory has more to do with Yatsuhashi’s semblance than any generic meditation: “No one knew for sure what Yatsuhashi had done with his Semblance when he’d tried to heal Edward’s mind … even Yatsuhashi wasn’t sure. His ability was to erase memories, but it was possible that there was more to Yatsu’s Semblance than that.” Um… subtle yikes? Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad things have turned out well for the guy, but if I were the grandfather—or a family member of his—I wouldn’t really want a student messing around with my mind when he “wasn’t sure” what he was doing. Especially when the base skill is to erase memories, not recover or strengthen them. Honestly, I love taking a good look at fantasy series because half the time you realize how horrifying things actually are, once you strip away the common place aspects of these skills. An equivalent third year college student is running around experimenting with peoples’ memories to see if he can achieve something other than erasing them. Great!

The good thing is that Yatsuhashi is just as suspicious of this power as I am. Velvet things that he “hated messing with people’s minds.” Understandable, bud. I’d hate the ability too.

While they’ve got this time alone, Gus mentions that he had planned to contact Velvet soon anyway. Two of his classmates have gone missing and though his school has told Shade about it—there’s at least some of that additional info that Rumpole mentioned—he wanted to let her know too because remember, no one in this franchise trusts the professionals to fix problems. It’s a mindset I’d better understand if the professionals were actually inept. Or the protagonists weren’t training to be those professionals. It’s still exceedingly weird to me that there’s so little respect and trust for huntsmen while they desperately try to become huntsmen…

Something something broken systems, but RWBY isn’t interested in exploring that.

So yeah, Gus ropes Velvet in with the hope that she can help. He says that they were last seen attending a new club called Mirage that hosts one-on-one fights for a championship title. So… it’s not really a club, right? Sure, sure, we’ve all seen Fight Club, but generally that’s used to describe dancing, not fighting. It’s a rather misleading term for what they were actually looking for. No one else finds this odd though. Nor that the information was sent out to select, powerful individuals. Nothing shady about this, folks! Velvet obviously recognizes all these details—a club, powerful semblances, a crown in the advertisement—and asks Gus to pass it along to her.

Our plot forwarded ever so slightly, their conversation ends as Arslan calls Velvet on the now fixed connection. One of the first thing she says is that Octavia used the other students as bait for the grimm.

At least Velvet shares my reaction: “What?!”

Octavia then takes an already bad situation and makes it that much worse. Listening in, she defiantly says, “That’s right. And it worked. It’s called strategy.” She confirms that the students are “mostly” okay and taunts Velvet about inviting them to her “Baby Brigade and you can all cry about it!” I hope I don’t need to take up precious document space by explaining how awful this is. Overlooking the fact that these would-be huntsmen are willing to put their younger peers’ lives in danger like that—and then mock them for needing mental health resources after the fact—why is Octavia the one pulling the murderous Mean Girl act? Yeah, she was an asshole during reinitiation, but wasn’t the whole point of that to demonstrate that she and Velvet got a little closer? Even if she won’t admit it? She saved Velvet from flying down that hole, but now she risks the lives of students at least three years her junior? If anyone should be this violent and antagonistic towards Velvet, it’s Nebula. The most she’s done for Velvet is offer a hand up, otherwise we just watched her express glee in getting to fight her and mock her for not abandoning Beacon… the same sort of behavior we’re seeing from Octavia now. Does Myers think that these two characters are interchangeable? That he can just pick one willy-nilly per chapter and let her play at being Velvet’s Mean Girl?

As a lovely anon reminded me recently, these are also the girls that were created and backed by fans. If I had put money and creative energy into these OCs, I’d be pretty frustrated with how the RT team has been treating them.

Arslan at least is complimentary towards Velvet for fixing the relay—“Truly, great work today”— and Velvet herself is appropriately shocked at Octavia’s behavior. That’s more emotional consistency than I’ve come to expect of this book, so I’ll take whatever little bits I can get.

Arslan signs off with plans to meet back up soon and Velvet thinks about how “everyone was safe after the mission, which was no small thing.” I’d agree… except for Velvet’s early thoughts about how easy this mission supposedly was and Octavia’s decision to put her teammates in danger. It sounds like if anything did go sideways, it’s in part because you chose to enter this overconfidently and then actively made it more dangerous.

Finally, the chapter ends with Velvet believing that she might be able to make her new team work with time. Our final line, in its own paragraph is: “If they had time.”

Am I the only one who finds this weird? The line reads like an omniscient bit of foreboding. Velvet thinks about how she just needs time and we, the reader, hear that this won’t be possible. Except this chapter is told from Velvet’s perspective. So why does she think they might not have time? Because of the Crown? I assume there will be an attack towards the end of the novel—can’t have a RWBY story without the final, epic battle—but right now Velvet has no reason to believe that an attack is imminent, or that the teams will change back, or anything else that would interfere with her hopes of strengthening this relationship… so why the rather confident sounding pessimism? I don’t know. I don’t pretend to know anymore lol.

At least this chapter was short? As said, silver linings. We’re still treading water though: Velvet’s bond with her new team seems to have regressed after two missions, rather than improved, and Gus didn’t reveal anything we didn’t already know, just further confirmed it. I assume that next chapter Velvet and the others will visit Mirage. Let’s hope something actually happens then.

See you! 💜

[Ko-Fi]

#rwby #mymetas #Before the Dawn #BTD Recaps

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soraegeeks · 4 years ago

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Review: Fire in the Blood

Fire in the Blood by EllaBesmirched (El_Bell) AU: Fantasy Fandom: Boku no Hero Academia/My Hero Academia Main relationships: Bakugou Katsuki/Midoriya Izuku/Todoroki Shouto; Katsuki and his harem of spouses Status: Ongoing Rating: Explicit

Official summary:

For the first time in his life, Shouto Todoroki thinks he might be happy. Freed from his father's rule by the hand of his husband and now king, Shouto finds himself swept up in his lovers' embrace, the impending threat of a powerful necromancer and his undead pet with a grudge little more than a distant anxiety easily ignored for the miracle that is being loved by Katsuki and Izuku, and watching them love each other. But, as he feared, such happiness can't last.

The Todoroki kingdom has fallen, sending its monarchs retreating to the mountains for shelter and aid. With the Todorokis unseated, Katsuki finds the threat of war on his eastern border more dangerous than ever before. A mad man has taken the Todoroki kingdom and he won't rest until the whole world lies broken at his feet. Tomura Shigaraki must be stopped, but the new alliance forged between the barbarian conqueror and the disgraced flatland king is tenuous at best. As tensions mount, Shouto finds himself trapped between two levees-- on one side, his kingdom, his blood, and his legacy, on the other, his lovers, his home, and the family that made him theirs. And he has no idea where he will be standing when the floodwaters break.

Hello kids, today's review is another fanfic by EllaBesmirched. (I need to figure out another name for my readers but that’s a problem for another day LOL) Fire In The Blood, also known as ‘Todoroki Shouto Can't Catch a Damn Break’ or ‘Welcome to the Fucked-up Todoroki Show’, is the sequel to Elle’s other work Fire in the Mountains. Check out my review of that fic if you haven't read it before or need a refresher.

Let me start by saying that I have no idea what it is about Ella’s writing but EVERY TIME I sit down to review her stuff I end up with pages and pages of notes. I have 8 damn pages of notes in my notebook for this review alone. Insanity. LOL

The story opens on a beautiful Spring day where Katsuki and his extended family are enjoying a picnic. It’s peaceful, it’s fun, and then Shouto gets the surprise of his life when his birth family appears. The Todoroki Kingdom has fallen and the Todoroki family, along with Hawks and the Iida siblings, have fled for their lives. When your birth family unexpectedly shows up on your doorstep you know there’s a shitstorm brewing.

I drew this polycule diagram so I could explain this story to my husband. The look of confusion on his face tickled me so much and I knew I had to keep it and add it to my review.

Intimacy growth

As the story starts it’s been about a month since Katsuki and Shouto’s joining ceremony. About a month since Shouto started being intimate with Katsuki and Izuku. Touching is still a big thing for Shouto and he probably would have burned Hawks when he touched his shoulder in chapter 1 had others not been around. He almost freaked out when Mina, Kiri, and Denki wanted to more intimately touch him in chapter 2 but he seemed to be more open to platonic touching.

Like I mentioned in my review of FitM, between Shouto’s upbringing and his demisexuality, he's still working on wanting to be intimate and accepting that it's okay. And that there are different levels of intimacy that he's learning with Mina in chapter 1, Denki in chapter 9, Kiri in chapter 5.

Chapter 5 was all-encompassing in my brain. I'm overwhelmed (in a good way) about Todoroki and Kiri connecting. Kiri helped Shouto open himself to other types of love. Like Katsuki said in a previous chapter, Shouto was caged in his upbringing. He wasn't given the room to learn human interaction. So when Shouto finds Kiri in their room, they have a mutual understanding. They both have broken familial relationships and a mutual connection with family members hating Katsuki. Shouto let Kiri in and learned more about himself and Kiri helped him see that it's okay to want sexual pleasure and not just “need” it. And Kiri was able to receive pleasure and not be treated like a sex toy in the way that others have treated him. It was beautiful how they connected and I loved that Kiri called Shouto his "soulmate’s soulmate.” They strengthened and developed another bond and that’s especially needed in a poly family.

Shouto had so much growth in chapter 9. The fact that he finally feels like he belongs and he was able to act on more of his desires. Being able to indulge in a dominant role with Katsuki, sexual activity with Denki, and acknowledge that he sees something in Mina and Ochako. His younger self would never have seen 21-year-old Shouto this way LOL. I read Shouto as having a “power” kink. He was always under Enji’s thumb but taking everything he learned from his experiences with Denki, Kiri, Katsuki, and Izuku, and even listening to Ochako were power-ups for him. Baby Dom in the making! Speaking of experiences, shoutout to Izuku for topping from the bottom. Whoo.

I feel bad for our poor baby Shouto. He’s still burdened with feeling ashamed about his scars. And he realized that he never asked Izuku about his scars because he assumed that Izuku had the same shame. Forgetting that scars are celebrated in the Outlands. Someone help the baby’s self-esteem!

I related to how Shouto reacted the first time he spoke with Hitoshi. After growing up in a cage and never having anything that was just HIS (not his feelings, not his thoughts) I’d feel violated and freak out, too. I don’t like people in my head and I’d never want someone in my head uninvited. Thankfully, Hitoshi's interaction with Denki put Shouto a little more at ease. I like Elle’s interpretation of Hitoshi as a mystic and his quirk as the magical ability to read thoughts/see emotions.

I found the references to Katsuki periodically taking a submissive role very interesting. While he’s comfortable during the act, Katsuki wasn’t so comfortable letting other people know. In chapter 1 he was uneasy when he, Shouto, and Izuku were talking about it out at the picnic and again in chapter 9 when Denki barged in on him and Shouto. Ochako's "domineering" qualities were referenced a few times and I love it. It's a recurring theme we also see in FitM and in the side story where Katsuki seems afraid of her and yet intrigued and turned on.

Family

Shouto is learning, growing, and trying to balance his newfound family with what he feels he ‘owes’ to his birth family. At first, he didn’t want to ‘traumatize’, his sister and brother about his family situation, but then he said, ‘fuck it’ LOL. He “realized politics and formality could take a flying leap for all he cared.” These are his loves and everyone will have to accept it. (Note that I DO include Izuku as one of Katsuki’s spouses. I know that he technically isn’t but he’s Katsuki’s first love so that counts for me. LOL) Shouto’s wedded family were very welcoming and looked to include Shouto’s birth family. Katsuki, in a totally Katsuki way, set the tone by telling Shouto’s siblings they shouldn't refer to him by title. “Nah, fuck that shit. Don’t highness me, I don’t play that bullshit with family.” And of course, Denki runs with it to flirt with Natsuo. I cackled when Shouto threatened him to behave, “I will freeze you to your seat, Denki, I swear it.” Katsuki, again, showed how much of a sweetheart he is when he made sure that Rei had her favorite foods during the Equinox celebration.

The burial ritual was beautifully described and I was so tickled by the narrator’s voice, “it was not, in fact, mostly the same” Shouto was exposed once again to a different tradition that he ended up liking better than the one he was raised on. There was such a sense of warmth with the spouses and extended family. And we got some introspection with Katsuki thinking on how he’d like to die.

I love Shouto’s little trio with Izuku and Katsuki. Their interactions tend to be a combo of chaos and insanity LOL. When Katsuki wants Shouto’s attention he has no problem bumping Izuku out of his way. “Katsuki reached back and shoved Izuku with his palm across Izuku’s face without moving away from Shouto at all” Like, sir, what?! LOL In pairs they like to tease the other and Izuku is a little shit cause he repeatedly teased Katsuki for liking to be dominated. And bless their hearts when they get into an argument. "We shouldn't yell at each other." Katsuki and Izuku’s baggage makes Izuku nervous but they’re going to have arguments. Katsuki has admitted to trying to be a better man so they’ll get through it. They can be serious and protective like when Katsuki and Isuku stood up to Natsuo because he was being very ‘Enji-like” in criticizing Shouto. And when it comes to Enji’s ass Katsuki comes at him with bite and Izuku meets him with his head raised like an equal.

Shouto’s relationship with his birth family is complicated as hell. Shouto swings from confusion about being relieved that his father was alive and Enji apologizing for not believing their warning about Touya to being pissed at his father for being an ass and asking why Shoto didn't fulfill his spy mission.

Shouto’s birth family members’ responses to his family situation were interesting. Fuyumi being “scandalized” but wanting more details, Natsuo being completely shocked and wary, his mother giggling, and even Enji’s utter disgust. Not like Enji has any room for judgment since he’s having an affair with Hawks. Hypocrite.

Shoto is in such a hard place of wanting to save and return the Flatlands to his family but being loyal to and choosing to follow Katsuki’s decisions.

I can’t speak about family relations without touching on the sadness of chapter 5. In which both Kiri and Shouto felt like they were on the outside. Upon the arrival of the other tribes, Kiri’s facing heartbreak that he’s shunned by his birth family, and Shouto is feeling distant from his. And can we take a moment to address the fact that after all of the spouses grow old and die, Kiri will have to return home? 😞

On a lighter note, is Ochako pregnant with the first baby of the extended family?! 🤔

Shouto’s Childhood

This is such an ouch section. From Shouto’s POV, he's always felt that Touya was unfairly treated. From the moment he learned that Dabi was really Touya he just knew that Dabi was a twisted version of his brother. But maybe as the youngest, his brotherly image was skewed and he didn't see the real things that happened.

“And he died before you were. Old enough to figure out if he was worth it.”

Shouto learns from multiple people that Touya was cruel and cared little for other people. Natuso told him that Touya had kidnapped him and took him to a dangerous place an hour away. Not the garden where his 5-year-old mind remembered playing and learning fun magic.

“He took you to the labyrinth,” Natsuo said again. “He didn’t tell anyone. You were gone for almost a day.”

And his mother, OH MY! To learn that his mother’s mental state was so wrecked that she confused him for his dead older brother and burned him. Heartbreaking. Something that I've been wondering, I don't think that Shigaraki just randomly picked Touya. I'm starting to think that when Touya started dabbling in necromancy they knew each other before his execution

“They didn't believe me when I said he had evil in his heart. Not all the time, of course. Loved his mother, loved his brothers, loved his sister. But. Sometimes. Enough. Set a servant girl's skirts on fire once, when she moved... something of his. Poor girl had a burn on her leg the size of my hand and I. Well. A mother does what she must. I didn't want to, but he needed to know. Know it's not nice to burn someone. Know what it felt like. Before he really hurt someone, you see. Your father was so angry he took my tea kettle away.”

Perceptions of Katsuki as King

There are conflicting views of Katsuki as king. Shouto, from an inside perspective, says that Katsuki is a good man and a great king. (I find it interesting that Hawks says that good men can't be kings.)

Lady Ashido and the Kaminaris raised a fuss about their kids not being at the meetings assuming that Katsuki thinks they are too weak and he's been tricked by Shoto the "doxy" (a new word for my commonplace book) and Izuku the usurper. In truth, Katsuki just worries about keeping his spouses safe and happy because he loves them. I cheered Shouto on when he snapped at Lady Ashido.

Izuku warns Shouto that the generals don't have undying loyalty to Katsuki because he conquered the other chiefs and collected the chiefdoms. And that there are snide remarks that he didn't take the chiefdom from Izuku. Tarloh acknowledges that he does have talent, “Man’s a tactical fucking genius. Brain of a king. Heart of a warrior.” They just think that he's young and idealistic. For Katsuki, though, he’d rather be that than anything else.

“We’re all fucking naive idealist bastards and I’d rather be a fool on a throne with my family beside me than wise and alone and powerless.”

HAWKS

What can I say about Hawks really?! There were so many allusions Elle left throughout the whole story that there is more to Hawks than anyone knows. In Chapter 2, Shouto notices that it is very odd that somehow Hawks hid behind Enji’s bulk when there should not have been a way for that to happen.

What is it about Hawks that really sets Shouto off but no one else?? Shouto is so disturbed by him but no one else sees it and they think Shouto just finds him attractive which he does but there's just something about Hawks that unnerves him. Hawks does a lot of things that don’t seem to make sense. He’s more open with Shouto and seems to hide less of himself when they’re one-on-one but he speaks in riddles. Shouto is the only one who ever sees Hawks’ slight facial or body twitches.

The quote “he’d seen exactly what Hawks had wanted him to see” says a lot about him. Hawks only does things that benefit Hawks and I sort of wonder if he was so purposely so loud while having sex with Enji. Shouto remembers in the past that Hawks appeared out of nowhere or was more visible in places than you would think a spymaster wouldn’t.

At the same time, the one person who SHOULD get a read on him can’t. His mind is completely blank to Shinsou and he tries multiple times. All of the sneakiness comes to a head in chapter 11. I won't give that away because it deserves to be experienced in writing.

I will end this by saying that chapter 11 left me screaming. I felt like this is why we can’t have nice things! LOL (If you’ve already read the chapter and want to talk about it PLEASE hit me up. I need to scream with others! LOL) Shouto’s gonna be a badass ruler when this is all over. If they all make it through the coming storm.

#bkdk #bakudeku #ktdk #katsudeku #So Rae Geeks Reviews #Fic: Fire in the Blood #EllaBesmirched (El_Bell)#mha #Bnha #fanfic review

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brightlycoloredteacups · 5 years ago

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Set Up

Fandom: Vikings

Pairing: Ivar the Boneless x OFC

Warnings: None for this chapter

Tag List: @salt-is-a-terrible-currency @salimahbicharara-comun

Brynhilda shifts on her throne, uncomfortable despite the soft padding. Becoming Jarl had not been the point of killing the previous one. She’d only been looking to send a message, yet somehow, the entire town now saw her as their de facto leader. Something wasn’t right about that.

Looking out at the great hall, she’s surprised to see so many familiar faces. She’d revealed her game plan only a week ago, and already her tiny little village had swelled three times its original size. Men and women, young and old, new soldier and army veteran, all of them looking forward to fighting for her. She nearly chokes on her emotions...well, at least her laughter.

With allies come enemies, she understands that, but she doesn’t know what to make of this particular situation. On the one hand, she’s highly amused, on the other, slightly disturbed. She knows this will only add to the rumors that she’s Odin’s chosen. But, really? She looks at the fabric in her hands, the Sleep Thorn had been stitched into it. She wondered what Floki the Boatbuilder would make of it. He had a special connection to the gods, he would’ve had a great deal to say. Suddenly, she misses Kattegat, misses funny old Floki and the girls, she even misses the cranky old medicine woman that refused to treat Ivar because of his temper.

“Lady Brynhilda?” Alf says, nudging her shoulder. Brynhilda blinks, brought to the present, oh, right, she’s supposed to sentence the traitor. “The Sleep Thorn,” She mutters, tracing the symbol with the pads of her fingers. “Not very effective, was it?” She looks up at Alf. He looks as amused as she feels. “No, lady, it would seem it wasn’t.” They look at the man who’d done it. “Jarl Brynhilda,” A rather rough looking man walks up to her, she only knows him as Arrow. He was the first to greet her back home, and the first to pledge his allegiance to her cause. “I say we kill this traitor and send his head to Boggvir,” mutters of agreement flow through the long house.

Brynhilda stands up, walks down from the dias, and stops in front of the man. “Why would we do a thing like that? Boggvir wouldn’t even recognize him.”

“My lady?” Arrow asks, unconvinced of her statement. Brynhilda begins to stalk the man that tried to curse her, round and round she went, taking in every detail. “You aren’t acting out of loyalty to Boggvir, are you?” The man struggles against his binds, snarling unintelligibly at her. “You're acting out of revenge for your brother.” The shock that Brynhilda remembers him is evident on his face. It’s quickly replaced with a smile, he speaks. “I didn't think you'd remember.”

“Yours is a hard face to forget.” Brynhilda straightens, looking at her confused men, she didn't feel like explaining that the one before her had been after her since she helped Falki take over. “The way I see it, you have two options. Choose your death, or choose to work with me.” The man spits at her, snarling once more in rage. “Why would I work with my brother's killer?”

Brynhilda turns from him, sitting back on her throne. Damn, this thing was hard on her back. “You and I both know I was a mere pawn in Boggvir's army, his best warrior yes, but a pawn nonetheless. I got Falki and her troops into your village, I killed your fighters, but I did not kill you brother. If I had, I would have been the new Jarl.”

He squirms in his binds, considering her words. What she said was true, even her enemies knew she was not in the habit of lying. Still, surely years of anger and hatred didn’t shift from one target to the next. He straightens, giving her a haughty look. “You may call me Dofri.” Well, she’d been wrong before. It’s stupid to trust someone that just tried to curse her. She’s an idiot, she knows she is, but there’s something about him, something in his eyes. He’d never before considered working to kill the true target of his revenge. Maybe Falki had been unattainable to him until now. She knows she’s just making up an excuse to trust him.

The way she figured it, the benefits outweigh the risks. She needed someone with a desire for revenge, some like her, that would stop at nothing to see it through. And, if she had to be completely honest, he reminded her of Floki. “Dofri” she motions for someone to cut his hands loose, “Welcome to my army.”

Those that visit Brynhilda's feast hall swears it’s a place of unsettling magic. Not exactly gloomy or bright. Not cold or hot. Not comfortable or uncomfortable. A charge was ever present in the air, making one aware of the unearthly quality Brynhilda exuded. Unseen things crawl around the place, whispering in the ears, telling the listener that they were safe, cared for. The only catch was Brynhilda herself had to be in a good mood.

Part of the magic of the place was that the feeling in the room changed with her feelings. If she was angry, the urge to drive your axe into the skull of your greatest enemy became almost too great to resist. If she was sad, you felt as though your heart had been ripped through your chest and eaten by a wild beast. If she was happy, you felt as though you had the strength of the gods themselves. The moment you left the feast hall, the cool air hitting your face, you felt dazed and confused. Why had you been subject to such alien feelings?

Only adding to the atmosphere were the plants hanging from ceilings, growing in pots in the corners, covering the windows with their leaves. Dorfi the Poisoner, a strange man you weren’t exactly sure was even a man, had made himself at home. He had no house of his own, no relatives he could rely on, so she opened the feast hall to him, and allowed him to do as he wished, within reason. Most of the plants were harmless until mixed into the right concoction. Dofri could make you a healing draught that helped you fight like ten men, or a poison that made you bleed from your ass. Many were unsettled by that fact, all but Brynhilda, it seemed.

Dearest Bryhilda, wild, untameable Brynhilda. She was the topic of much conversation. Alf had his suspicions that Brynhilda didn’t exactly belong to the world, she was to ethereal, too much wild energy danced about her. It didn’t help that to add to her mystique were the legendary stories. She’s killed a hundred men on her own, she survived the bite of the most poisonous snake in the world, she survived being Blood Eagled. Of course, she always brushes the stories off with completely plausible explanations. Those hundred men she killed on her own? It had taken her a week, and even then she’d gotten lucky with a rock slide taking out half the force. That snake bite? The poison didn’t get too far into her system before she had been treated. The Blood Eagle? Hadn’t been completed before an army attacked.

She may be a living, breathing, legend, but she was humble. That's why people flocked to her banner. Or perhaps it was because she was kind. The people in the village had been starving thanks to the previous Jarl’s greed, but now, they had rations, enough to last them through the winter. And with the promise of a good summer’s planting, the harvest should be more bountiful. Either way, in just a few short weeks, Brynhilda’s popularity was skyrocketing. Which surprised her, if her constant look of annoyance was anything to go by.

Alf listens to the conversations around him as was his task. Brynhilda needed to divine the moods of her people in order to be successful at ruling them. She needed eyes and ears everywhere. He knew Dorfi had also been given the job, but there had to be other men and women about. Two men couldn’t share the burden of ten. If Alf knew Brynhilda like he thought he did, and he was fairly confident in his assumptions despite knowing her for such a short period of time, he knew that she was keeping the other people that worked under her a secret. She was the only one that knew all the plans. Everyone else was kept in the dark in the event of a capture, or worse, a betrayal.

The most amusing talk was that of how animals reacted around her. She had two ravens, and wherever she went, they went. One was cheeky, always playing with her hair, her clothing. Always talking to her in its own birdish way. It was fond of mead, often drinking from Brynhilda's cup. The other raven was stoic. It either stood still on her shoulder, or the best place to watch over her. You got the feeling it was always watching over her. It too drank from her cup, but very sparingly. Mostly, it ate meat from her plate.

Pigs were excited by her presence, they followed her whenever she passed by a pen, what’s more, they obeyed her when she gave them an order. If she found any strangeness in that little fact, she told no one.

Alf looks up to try and find her, desiring her biting wit to end his boredom. She sat in a corner, a raven perched on either shoulder. She’s still, looking more a menacing statue than a young girl. He can clearly see the exhaustion on her face.

She woke up before dawn to the crowing of her ravens, trained relentlessly, ate like someone four times her size, then trained more. She ran through the forest, uncaring of the potential hazards, she hunted, bringing in the best kills and sharing it with her men. At night she learned all she could from men like Alf and Dorfi, medicine women, even the greenest soldiers she pestered with questions. She maintained that you could learn a great many things, so long as you though to ask.

So yes, Brynhilda was wild, but she was kind, she could be brutal, but only if you pressed her. Mostly, she was curious, and infuriating. He thinks back to their previous conversation.

“You need to consider the dangers of attacking during winter.” Alf cautione. This had been an argument ongoing since the announcement of her plan. He knew she was pressed for time, but her plan was downright suicidal, “And you need to consider the advantages.” She argues. “Brynhilda, you want to keep your men, not freeze them.”

“Quick attacks,” she says, “on the two port cities. Here and here,” she points them out on the makeshift map. “We walk the ice, attack from the harbor where they least expect it, when they least expect it. Just before dawn, when it's darkest. Everyone will be asleep, confused.”

“Alright,” Alf says, seeing she isn't going to be persuaded, “Suppose it works the first time around, do you honestly think it'll work the second time around?”

“I considered it,” she says, nodding, “We can split the army in two, attack at the same time.”

“Who can you trust to lead the second half of your army?” he couldn't think of anyone he'd trust, not even the men who watched her grow up. “You,” came the obvious reply. Alf has to register her confession for a while. “Me?” She nods. “You owe me for freeing you,” she points out, “that's why you hung around for so long.” Damn her, she read people too well. “Do this for me, and your debt is repaid.” Alf huffs, this was a bad idea, a very bad idea, but she did have a few good points. After a long while considering his options, he heaved a sigh, “Alright,” he says, “I'll do it.”

#viking #ivar the boneless #ivar's heathen army #ivar x brynhilda #brynhilda's saga

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do-your-socks-have-holes-in-them · 6 years ago

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Til the End of the Night / Ch14: In which Virgil brushes off his acting skills

Previous / Masterpost / Next

Summary: The Dragon Witch is smug. Logan attempts to provide emotional support. Virgil makes a deal.

Warnings: broken glass, unconsciousness, injury/implied concussion but it's f i n e, vague reference to death, crying, lack of regard for one's health (cough cough patton)

A/N: ...this chapter isn’t as dark as the warnings make it sound i swear

AO3

Roman watched, frozen in despair, as the Dragon Witch flew off back to the castle with his friends. The mirror shut off soon after, and Roman fell onto his bed, staring blankly at the stone ceiling. He didn’t even have the energy to be angry with himself right now- to be fair, he was already going to have everyone else mad at him once they learned how the witch found them; there was no need to add himself to the list just yet. At this point, he was barely even surprised to see everything go totally wrong, anyway. He shoved his face in the pillow and tried to have even one idea as to what on earth he was going to do now.

When he heard the witch at the door again, he shot up, trying to quickly neaten up his hair and clothes so it wouldn’t be too obvious he’d spent the past half hour faceplanted on the bed. “What have you done with them?” he demanded.

“Oh, don’t worry, they’re not hurt. Well. Not much more hurt than I found them, at least.” Roman winced, remembering Patton. “I’m just… keeping them out of the way. They won’t be interfering again,” she smirked. “And in case you get any more clever ideas…” She snapped her fingers at the mirror, releasing a bolt of magic, and it shattered. No potentially dangerous glass shards on the floor or anything, but it would hardly be usable as a mirror now, let alone for communication. “Oh, don’t look so sad. I’ve brought you something to do!”

She produced some large rolled-up papers, which Roman regarded with distrust. “I’m not going to be so foolish as to fall for the same trick twice.”

“Foolish? Of course not!” She set the roll of papers down on the table and tried to pat Roman’s shoulder in a friendly manner, but he swatted her hand away. She looked a bit miffed, but recovered and went on, “You’re really very smart. That’s why I don’t think you’ll be able to resist helping out with some designs for my new army.” With a flick of her wrist, the papers unrolled themselves, showing some sketches of armor and weaponry. “I’ll be back in the evening!”

When the door closed, Roman edged closer to the table, looking at the designs as if they were wild animals which might attack at any moment. He was struck at once by how boring they were. What kind of self-respecting dragon witch would neglect the importance of a dragon-themed army? The uniforms needed a better color scheme… ooh, and they should have little dragon heads on their helmets that could actually shoot fire-

No! Nope, this wasn’t happening again. Roman pushed himself away from the table and paced the room, trying to clear his mind. Think about something else, he reminded himself. Such as, for example, a new escape plan.

Patton opened his eyes to find himself lying in a weird position on an uncomfortable surface. Various bits of him hurt, and his right arm was numb. It wasn’t the best situation to wake up in.

He sat up slowly, trying to rub some feeling back into the arm that had fallen asleep. A draft of cold air made him shiver and wrap his cloak tighter around himself. Where was he? He looked around and found himself in a room about the size of his own bedroom, except his room had never been this cold and dark and scary. His room wasn’t made of stone, and had more light sources than a single tiny window high up on a wall, and the door wasn’t locked from the outside. Here, the door had a barred window through which could be seen a pitch-black hallway, and he was afraid to go over to it and yet somehow knew it wouldn’t open if he tried. Patton really, really wished he could be in his bedroom instead. Or anywhere with other people. Or anywhere, period, that wasn’t here.

His eyes finally landed on the only thing in the room besides himself, a shape on the floor he’d mistaken for a shadow at first. It wasn’t. He gave a little gasp and rushed across the room, almost tripping in his haste.

“Logan!” He dropped to the floor next to his friend, shaking his shoulder in an attempt to wake him up, but Logan didn’t respond. “...Logan?” That didn’t make sense. Shouldn’t the spell that had knocked them out wear off at the same time for everyone? Patton tried to wake him again, this time turning him over so he wasn't face-down on the floor, and saw why it wasn’t working.

Logan hadn’t been knocked out with magic. A line of dried blood ran down the right side of his face from a wound on his forehead, and the area around it was developing a nice bruise. Patton had a vague idea that not waking up for a long time after a head injury was bad, although maybe it worked differently in fantasy. He decided to believe that. Still, he couldn’t leave Logan like this… and he really couldn’t be alone in here anymore. He reached out and pressed his palm to the side of Logan’s head.

Oh, ow. He’d expected his head to hurt, but it wasn’t just that, he was disoriented and dizzy and also his head really hurt. After a few seconds his vision started to blur, and he pulled his hand away. He leaned on the wall and waited with his eyes tightly shut for the worst of it to fade, just hoping his efforts did something.

Logan regained consciousness on a stone floor and carefully raised a hand to touch his head, fairly certain he had a concussion, but there was nothing to be done about it now. The last thing he remembered was that dragon showing up, and what he was seeing confirmed that she had taken them back to her castle after capturing them. Every detail of the room supported his hypothesis that he was in a dungeon… including the fact that it was chilly and miserable. He sat up to get away from the cold floor and rubbed his arms, wishing he’d imagined himself a jacket when they had first arrived. His bag was gone, which made perfect sense given its contents, but made him feel vulnerable nonetheless. The others would still have their magic, but he-

Wait. The others.

He turned quickly to look around the entire room, blinking when the floor tried to tilt at the motion, and found Patton behind him. He was huddled against the wall in his cloak, half his face obscured by the hood. He must be the reason Logan was awake now, and it looked like he’d tired himself with his magic.

“How long was I out?”

Patton looked up, surprised, and smiled with tears in his eyes. Logan could practically feel his relief, and he wasn’t usually particularly empathetic. “Logan!” he breathed, “it worked, you’re awake!”

“Yes, ah- thank you.” He didn’t know what else to say. Expressing gratitude had never been a strength of his, either. “But… how long…?”

“Oh, right. I don’t really know, I just woke up myself, but… probably a while?” He tilted his head, counting on his fingers. “There’s however long it took to get from where we were to the castle, and then putting us in here, and my arm was asleep by the time I woke up so I must have been lying there for a bit…” He trailed off, not liking to think very hard about where they were and how they got there.

Logan nodded slowly, staring at the little window to try and see where the sun was. Having no luck, he looked back at Patton, only to lose his train of thought. His hood had shifted when he moved, and his forehead was visible. Logan just stopped himself from reaching to touch the wound that matched his own.

“You didn’t tell me you were injured as well,” he said softly, an almost scolding tone creeping into his voice.

Patton shrugged, smiling as a defense mechanism. “Yeah, looks like we both got knocked out...” Not technically a lie. “It just didn’t seem as important as making sure you were okay, you didn’t see how much worse yours was before I healed it, I’m sorry I couldn’t do more, I’m just… tired…” His voice grew quieter as he talked, and finally dropped to a whisper. He shook himself back to normal. “Anyway, nothing you can do without your bag, right? No point worrying about it.”

Logan knew he was right, and yet the thought- the reality, rather- of his bubbly, innocent friend being injured made him feel… something. A tightness in his chest. Patton wasn’t supposed to get hurt- yes, he realized how little sense that statement made- and now it had happened twice.

“Lo? You okay?”

Logan realized he’d been frowning at the floor for several minutes. He looked up, not missing how Patton’s optimistic expression wavered, and shot back, “Are you okay?”

Patton managed to look confused for about a second, and Logan almost wondered if he’d guessed wrong at how the emotional side was feeling. Then the dam broke.

“I- no,” he admitted, voice unsteady, “no, not really, I just, I woke up and it was dark and scary and you were just- just there on the floor and I thought, I, I didn’t know if- if I could wake you up-” his voice cracked as he didn’t add, or if you would wake up at all- “and you’re still hurt and I’m not strong enough to fix it and I don’t know where Virgil is and if he’s okay and I can’t help him if he's not and my head hurts and I, I, I--” He broke off crying, hugging himself and ducking his head.

Logan’s tight feeling only got worse, now accompanied by a twisting of his guts. He was no good at being comforting, he knew this, but no one else was around to do it. ��He couldn’t just sit here. If he didn’t say anything, Patton might make assumptions about what he was thinking, become ashamed of his negative emotions and go back to holding them in, and that wasn’t healthy. He had to do something, he was the smart one, he should be able to figure this out.

He coughed awkwardly. “Um… Patton?” Patton looked up at him through tears, having given up on wiping them away. Logan tried a smile, but he could tell it was even more forced than Patton’s had been. “Would, uh… would the application of close physical contact assist in the improvement of your current emotional state?” Yeah, okay, even he knew that was hopelessly stiff.

Patton looked at him blankly. “In- in English, Lo?” he said, with a shaky laugh that turned into a sob.

Logan sighed, mostly at himself, and held his arms out. “Hug?”

Patton nodded wordlessly and collapsed into his arms. Logan could measure his distress by the fact that he didn’t try to hug back, just curled into Logan’s chest and let himself be held. And Logan held him, one arm around his shoulders and the other hand resting on the back of his head, trying to maintain the optimal gentle pressure that would keep Patton close and anchored without making him feel trapped. It didn’t seem to be calming him down- the opposite, if anything, he was sobbing harder than ever- but maybe that wasn’t a bad thing, if it meant he was letting go of bottled-up emotions. Logan rubbed his back in circles, something he’d seen Patton do for Virgil once when the latter had just woken from a nightmare. He talked to him, too, nothing meaningful, just background noise in the form of things he’d found interesting enough to remember from Wikipedia articles Thomas read while procrastinating. He’d been told before that he had a soothing voice, which may have been a nice way of saying he put people to sleep.

Slowly, the tears subsided. Logan’s tunic was very damp, but he didn't mention it. Patton leaned against him quietly- still not in great emotional shape, exhausted and fragile, but quiet. Logan ran his fingers through Patton’s hair, which he’d seen him do to Roman on many occasions, and Patton sighed, turning so he could lay his head on Logan’s shoulder.

“You’re tired,” Logan said. “Rest.” Patton didn’t need telling, but hummed in agreement anyway. His breathing evened out within minutes.

Logan smiled fondly, and carefully removed Patton’s glasses without waking him up. He couldn't resist the urge to wipe the lenses on the edge of his shirt before folding them and setting them on the floor. Honestly, would it kill Patton to clean his glasses more than once a week? After making sure he wouldn’t accidentally break them if he moved, he returned to his original position. It was cold in here, after all, and examining their surroundings for a way out could wait until both Patton and himself had recovered some energy.

When Virgil woke up, he was expecting to be somewhere very bad. Chained up in a tiny room with no windows, or something. He was definitely not expecting to wake up in a soft, comfortable bed in a well-furnished room. He sat up and looked around, confused and very suspicious. “What the-”

“Good, you’re awake!” A woman in a long green dress slipped into the room and sat down in an armchair facing the bed. “I’m sorry about knocking you out, but it had to be done.”

Virgil shifted to face her, crossing his arms. “I assume you’re the Dragon Witch?”

She inclined her head slightly. “At your service.”

He snorted. “Yeah, somehow I doubt that. Could it be, I don’t know, the fact that you kidnapped me?”

“Oh, come on, I only brought you where you were trying to go anyway. You should consider it a favor.” She smiled sharply. As far as Virgil could tell, she did everything sharply. “My point was, I think we can help each other, you and I.”

“…What do you mean?”

“Our goals are similar, are they not?” He blinked in confusion, and she laughed. “There’s no need to play dumb. That naive prince and his little heroes might have believed your story, but I know a fellow villain when I see one. Working together, between my power and the trust you’ve gained from them, I could attain full control of this kingdom so much more easily… and you would stay on my good side,” she added with a pointed look. “I might even make you my second in command, if you prove yourself worthy.”

Virgil hummed, thinking for a moment, and gave her a half-smile. If it looked a bit forced, well- who wouldn’t be a little displeased when their plans of ruling the kingdom were turned into working for someone else? “Sounds good to me. Especially if it means taking down Prince Obnoxious.”

“I knew it would,” said the witch, looking very pleased. “I’ll give you some time to yourself here while I take care of other business- you’ll note I left all the little trinkets in your pockets, as a show of good faith- and then we can get to work.”

She left. Virgil didn’t hear the door lock, but he was sure she would know if he tried to leave the room regardless, and she probably wouldn’t be happy, so he would stay in the room and keep playing along for now. He should be able to keep up this villain act long enough to work out a better plan- he’d had plenty of practice, after all. He just had to hope the others would be okay until then.

#sanders sides #sanders sides fic #roman sanders #patton sanders #logan sanders #virgil sanders #my post #my writing #til the end of the night

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marvelidiot · 7 years ago

Text

Romanogers Fic Recommends

!!UPDATED!! 07/14/20

can also be found here: marvelidiot.tumblr.com/Romaongersfics

Hey there! I made this because I want to share these awesome gems and gifted writers. Stay awesome and will always be happy reading your works! :)

Thank you @miss_LulaMae on twitter for her recommendations as well!

If you have more recommendations to add, feel free to message me on twitter @marvelidiot

COMPLETE MULTI-CHAPTERS

Calm Before The Storm by i-am-the-fandoms (31/31) Natasha Romanoff is changing and it’s because of Steve Rogers. Was she falling in love or it is only for children. And what does Steve think? Falling in love has never been crazier. Set after AoU

Natasha’s Diary by MarthaDanielle (9/9) Captain America isn’t afraid of anyone. Except Natasha, with reason. All the Avengers have a respect for her out of fear. What happens when Steve stumbles upon something he wasn’t supposed to?

See You in a Minute by Loquatorious (4/4) What if Scott had been delayed just five more minutes before driving to the Avengers Compound? What if Steve and Natasha had a little bit more time to talk? What if the Soldier and the Spy discovered more to their relationship, just in time to see it end? A canon-divergent what-if? story based on the events of Avengers Endgame.

Dust to Dust (We've Been Lonely Too Long) by myloveiamthespeedofsound (10/10) A series of connected one shots in which Natasha and Steve see how long they can maintain that they're just friends who happen to sleep together before they realize they're complete morons and might be a little bit in love with each other.

Fairy Tale Life by miko (9/9) Faced with a choice between sending Natasha into a dangerous situation alone, or posing as her newly-wed husband, Steve knows there's only one thing he can do. Even if it means faking some things he never thought he'd do with anyone but his real best girl. Even if it means crossing a line he shouldn't be crossing when it comes to his feelings for Natasha. Problem is, there's one more little detail about this mission Natasha 'forgot' to mention... and it might just change both their lives forever.

I'm Dying to Catch My Breath by chalantness (3/3) She remembers sitting with him like this a year ago, in another guest bedroom, and no, she doesn't believe in fate. But she doesn't believe in coincidences, either.

IN-PROGRESS MULTI-CHAPTERS

Muscle Memory by heyfrenchfreudiana Steve and Natasha are fake married for an undercover mission that goes wrong. When both wake up, any memories of who they are or what they were doing have been erased. The only thing that they do know is that they are both wearing wedding rings.If we both have amnesia, and all we have are our feelings, could we start a life together? If we don’t have to run away to forget the world, could we have a piece of happiness just the two of us?

The Domestic Life of Mr. and Mrs. Rogers by Spanglecap Being an Avenger is pretty incredible. Being in love through it all? Even more so. These are snapshots of Steve and Natasha as they build a life and a family together and fall more and more for each other every day.

Training Montage by liquidCaliban Steve wants to try a little new age management where the Avengers have to spend a day training like their teammates. Natasha is already over that noise, but she’s got something up her sleeve of death.

Can’t Pretend by ultrona Steve and Nat start their history during “Captain America: The Winter Soldier”.

ONE-SHOTS

Alone (I’m here for you) by qwertyuiopkjhgfdssazxcvbnm Post Civil War. “And I can guess how much she means to you.” Bucky has a talk with Steve on the quinjet as they leave for Siberia about a certain red head. "She… I… I care about her.“

Sam Assumed by LiquidCaliban Sam makes his first visit to Avengers’ Tower, where he discovers that things are not always as they seem, but only before he realized they weren’t. Seemingly. And Tony will never learn to knock.

Amnesiac by LiquidCaliban Steve wakes up one morning with no memory of the past eight years, which is awkward because he has a wife and son. Fortunately, he has the Avengers to get him through some Asgardian-induced amnesia.

Only An Eclipse Away by Asoreleks Two people drift into each other’s lives once again on a quiet afternoon in Brooklyn, New York, light years and a lifetime away from a place called Vormir.

NC-17 ONE-SHOTS

Benefits by 401 (1/1) (NC-17) Steve and Natasha are just friends. Most of the time.

AUs - No superpowers, No super-secret boyband Avengers team (just them as normal humans/ Nat and Steve are OOC on some) (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED)

ONE SHOTS

Runaways by bornatexasgirl (1/1) Steve’s a dreamer, a drifter, never staying in one place for too long. Natalia’s a small town good girl, who wants nothing more to escape the life she has, where everything is planned and nothing is her own. He thinks she’s crazy for wanting a guy like him. She thinks he needs her. Turns out, they’re both right.

(NC-17) One Shots

I’m On Fire by myloveiamthespeedofthesound (1/1) (NC-17) Steve is a photographer, Natasha is his subject for the day. He’s got a big boy crush, and maybe she might like him a little bit too, but Steve’s an idiot and the likelihood of him figuring that one out is about as likely as pigs flying.

After the Encore by beezyland (1/1) (NC-17) Guitar strings aren’t all he’s stroking.

COMPLETE MULTI-CHAPTERS (Worth the read. I swear!)

Invocation by mylifeisloki (9/9) Steve Rogers is just trying to cope with life after the army. The last thing he expects is to find salvation in the arms of a beautiful stranger he meets at a cafe.

Making Use of The Weekend by Phoebe_Snow (7/7) AU. Natasha gets more than she bargains for when a cute little dog named Bucky ruins her tomato garden and his handsome owner, Steve, walks into her life.

It Could Happen To You by Phoebe_Snow (4/4) Natasha keeps running into Steve at the most embarrassing times. It’s really a shame because he seems like a sweet guy, but he must think she’s a total moron after all of the awkward and inappropriate moments they’ve shared.

Stay by thegraytigress (23/23) On the surface, he’s a disabled war vet and she’s his new neighbor. On the surface, they’re both okay, surviving, working, living. But beneath his apathy, he’s broken, bleeding, and drowning in his pain and loneliness. Underneath her smiles, she’s lost, terrified, and trying to find a new start. Maybe it’s fate that she moves in and he finds her. And maybe falling in love is their chance to heal.

Just A Blast From The Past by InNeedOfInspirationn(13/13) Natasha watches Steve die and decides to use a time travel device from Asgard to go back in 1942 and prevent Bucky from turning into the Winter Soldier. Forbidden to meddle with the past because it could affect the future, she changes her appearance and introduces herself under a false identity. But as they grow close, Natasha finds it harder and harder to resist the charm of Steve from 1942.

A Hundred Worlds by InitialA (23/23) And I’d choose you; in a hundred lifetimes, in a hundred worlds, in any version of reality, I’d find you and I’d choose you.”

At First Glance by mocking words (3/3) ‘our flats are opposite each other and your kitchen window faces my kitchen so we always see each other making coffee at 3am’ AU?

We Never Go Out of Style by mylifeisloki (8/8) Inspired by ‘Style’, by Taylor Swift. Steve is a bad boy who can’t be tied down, but Natasha’s not like anyone he’s ever seen before. Together, they go through life, love, and loss- not necessarily in that order.

Two Halves of a Soul by xo_stardust720 It was strange how quickly his world had changed in a span of a few hours. He’d gone from sleeping peacefully in bed, to fighting a fire, to finding his soulmate.

Pot Meet Kettle (7/7) by heyfrenchfreudiana When Natasha Romanoff asked Steve Rogers for help in Statistics, he almost said ‘no’. He thought about all of the things he would rather do and he how he would honestly rather have gone to the dentist than “help” a girl who he figured was about as deep as the puddles outside his dorm room after a rain.

Love, Nat by joelleeee (5/5) Nastasha and Steve grew up together and have been best friends ever since. They are inseparable, but since their last year of high school, their friendship begins to diverge. But the fact that both of them are going away for college leaves so much room for the unknown and unpredictable future that their surfacing feelings are making it even more difficult. They continue to journey through their lives separately and together; however, somehow their lives and feelings keep intertwining themselves together inevitably.

Meet me Halfway by choi_kimmy (5/5) “Steve got himself a potential pen-pal from the future.” Bucky offers an explanation, his tone a mock exaggeration. Steve darts another glare at his best friend who is clearly having too much fun teasing him. In other words; Natasha quits her job, moves back into the city and suddenly she is communicating through a magical mailbox that clearly transcends time with a guy named Steve who claims to be living two years in the past. Can the new year get any weirder?

For Whose Love I Rise and Fall by Yeetmeaway (27/27) In 1943 Hydra unleashes a deadly virus in its quest to create a new world order-- one that turns its hosts into vampire-like creatures. 75 years later, humanity is on the brink of extinction, protected only by the hunters of SHIELD. Natasha has already lost so much to this-- they are fighting a losing battle and everyone can feel it. But, for the first time in years SHIELD has hope, the possibility of a cure. What else will she give to bring an end to this nightmare?

The Empty Space Next to Me by InNeedOfInspiration (THE FEELS ON THIS ONE) (16/16) Steve goes to Vormir to bring Natasha back and fails. But when Natasha reappears months later on the radar, Steve has an unexpected second chance. Little does he know that —nor understands how— Natasha has become a hostess in a guesthouse in Louisiana. Can he find Natasha again?

And It’s Coming For You and Me by chalantness (4/4) She’s used to the little puppy just running around, and he’s harmless and totally cute, so it’s fine. The little girl that’s giggling and running up the sidewalk after him is even cuter. And the girl’s father? Well, perhaps the word cute isn’t enough to describe him. But it’s a start.

COMPLETE NC-17 Multi-Chapters

The Nature of a Flower by mylifeisloki (22/22) (NC-17) The king has decided that Prince Steve is to take a wife. The young Princess Natasha of a far off land comes to his kingdom for their wedding. As they get to know one another, they realize that propriety and what is expected might not always be the best thing to do. Once they come to that realization, they might just leave themselves open to real love.

Sea Glass by heyfrenchfreudiana (23/23) (NC-17) So if we imagine that Steve/Natasha would happen in one way or another (alternate universe), suppose they meet cute outside their therapist’s office (who so happens to be Bruce).

Bullet Holes and Thunder Clouds by Jodygoroar (4/4) (NC-17) Steve Rogers is a NYC firefighter captain who got injured on the job now he has to go to physical therapy, turns out his therapist is Natasha Romanoff. Soulmate mark AU, this is going to be smutty. Many other Marvel characters are mentioned. Blame it all on a single Soviet bullet.

The Boss’ Daughter by mylifeisloki (33/33) (NC-17) Natasha is the young heiress to Tony Stark’s fortune, but she’s been kept on a tight leash for most of her youth. Now, when she’s about to come out into the public eye, might not be the best time for a handsome stranger to show up. Poor Steve doesn’t even see it coming.

Always the Bridesmaid by mylifeisloki (8/8) (NC-17) Attending Pepper’s wedding as the maid of honor is something of a terrible privilege. Natasha’s biding her time until it’s over- that is, until she catches sight of a handsome groomsman. All of a sudden, there might just be something at the reception that Natasha isn’t at all prepared for.

IN-PROGRESS MULTI-CHAPTERS (a.k.a desperately needs to be updated)

Steve’s Anatomy by mylifeisloki Successful cardiac surgeon Natasha finds herself at odds with a sweet nurse in the maternity ward who has managed to charm nurses and mothers alike. As time goes on, she tries to find a flaw and comes up empty– but can Steve really be as wholesome and perfect as he seems? And more importantly, is it possible that Nurse Charming is actually the perfect match for someone as emotionally challenged as Natasha happens to be?

Help Wanted by HerMajestyEffy In other words Natasha is a kidnap victim and the only person she managed to dial for help is Steve,a complete stranger.

Crossfire by mocking_words Romanogers AU where Natasha works for Bucky before Steve steps into the picture

Time After Time by beezyland A collection of AU oneshots I’d like to turn into full-length stories, but never will.

I’m Sitting on Top of the World by AnastasiaPhoenixRose12 Welcome to Los Angeles 1926, the peak of the Roaring Twenties! Wealthy adopted brothers, Bucky Barnes and Steve Rogers, return home to the Stark Manor after graduating from boarding school. They, and their hoard of friends, have three months of absolute freedom before beginning their freshmen year of college. In an era dominated by the Jazz Age, Prohibition, flappers, speakeasies, automobiles, cinema, radio, gangster crime, and sexual liberation, it only gets better for Bucky and Steve when they entangle themselves in illicit affairs with the two newest foreign housemaids: Wanda Maximoff and Natasha Romanoff.

Two Hearts Set on Fire by xo_stardust720 In a world where the first words your soulmate says to you are tattooed on your skin, Natasha has spent her entire life wondering where her other half was.She never thought her soulmate would turn out to be the homeless man that she saw every morning at the train station on her way to school. But love was unpredictable like that, she supposed.

6 AM Sharp by CaptainArwenPond221B Natasha Romanoff works at her friend Clint’s coffee shop, where he offered her a fresh start a few years back. She doesn’t want to trust her heart to anyone, not anymore, so when a scrawny little guy comes in asking for black coffee with a perfect smile on his face, she’s determined not to let herself love him. Steve Rogers is a poor artist with a shitty job at SHIELD Design Co. who might have a crush on the red-headed barista who talks to him every morning before work… But nobody cares about somebody like him, so he decides never to let himself love her.. And if we’re honest, Bucky and Clint just like messing with their best friends. A lot.

Simplicity Meets Complexity by Ayooheather They came from two completely different worlds but they were always friends. Things were simple... why did they have to go and fuck that up

The Last of us by LogicalHeart The Avengers are now divided as Steve, Natasha, Sam, and Wanda are on the run. As time goes by, Steve and Natasha have gotten closer and have committed themselves to each other in a way neither of them can explain. Little do they know, that everything is about to change for the worse.

IN-PROGRESS NC-17 MULTI-CHAPTERS

Oops! by NatRomanoff_34 (NC-17) AU where Nat wants to have something Barton has..

Torched by Phoebe_Snow (NC-17) When a terrible fire destroys Natasha’s apartment, she’s left with nowhere to go. That is, until Steve, her handsome landlord, lets her move in with him until she can get her feet back up under her.

Bound & Restricted by oceanicspirit (NC-17) They were lovers of two families hated one another. She was the daughter of the leader of the Russian Mafia, and he was the son of the leader of the Irish Mafia. Will their story end the same like the two famous star crossed lovers - Romeo and Juliet.

Hate doesn’t even describe it by elcapitan_rogers (NC-17) Steve hated Natasha. Natasha hated Steve. Everything was fine until their parents decided to fuck shit up for them…

Our Time in the Dark by LeoTheAvengingLioness333 (NC-17) When Steve first met Natasha he certainly hadn’t expected her to join the team. He had been on a mission. And she had tried to kill him. But he’s always been one to give people a second chance, tried to see the best in them even when they couldn’t. And somewhere along those lines, they went from begrudged teammates to friends and finally-with the realization hitting him like a brick-to something completely and wonderfully more. Getting frozen for almost 70 years complicates things a little though. And what’s more complicated is waking up and finding out that the girl he loved in the 40s is just as alive as he is.

#romanogers #fanfic #romanogers fanfic #ao3 #stevenat #natsteve #evansson #natasha romanoff #steve rogers #fanfiction #recommends #nat xsteve #steve x nat

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