#i think solar does need to get out of the house more in this au
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itsahotminuteinbetween · 9 months ago
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wait wait wait what if eclipse and solar in the dentist au bonded over not being able to save the one person who believed in them…
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emeraldscript · 2 months ago
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alien max au
pt.2 home (pt. 1 here)
daniel let's the car roll slowly into his driveway and kills the engine. max has been quiet since they hit the limits of daniel's small suburb. he's been halfway turned towards his window, eyes glued to the outside, gloved hands set against the window sill. 
"welcome to my humble abode," daniel says and opens his door. he climbs out and pockets his key, motioning for max to follow. daniel waits a couple seconds but nothing happens, so he rounds his way to the passenger side and knocks on the window. 
max startles slightly at the noise and looks questioningly at daniel. finally, daniel takes pity on him and opens the door. 
"you good?" he asks. 
"your doors work differently here," max says.
"ah," daniel says as it dawns on him. "well in this solar system, we pull on this," daniel says through a chuckle, pulling on the door handle.
"understood," max says, expression neutral.
once inside, daniel toes his shoes off. max watches him closely and follows suits, bending down to undo the closure on his shoes. daniel deduces that it must be some sort of alien velcro. 
max doesn't have socks underneath but he does seem to have pretty human looking feet, all things considered. they're pretty nice feet, actually. 
okay daniel, time to get a grip. 
underneath the hallway light, daniel finally gets a first proper look at max. he's a bit taller than him, well built and looks strong under his suit. he has a pretty thick neck but daniel supposes that makes sense considering his occupation. 
daniel drags his eyes up from max's feet to his face. apart from the ears, he looks pretty much like any other human. well, apart from his eyes. earlier in the car they were basically all pupil, now under harsher light, the pupils have shrunk into thin lizard-like slits, making way for bright ocean-coloured irises. they remind him of the surf.
"are you okay, daniel? you've been looking at me, do i have something on my face?" max asks then.
feeling caught, daniel waves him off. 
"nah all good, do you need anything? a shower?" daniel asks instead to change the subject. 
"shower?" max asks.
"yes, to clean yourself. here, let me show you," daniel says, leading max to the bathroom down the hall. 
pointing at the shower, he says "you just have to turn the knob and the water will start flowing."
"and this is for surface dirt?"
max says, starting to peel himself out of his suit. 
he does quick work of it, stepping out of the top layer within seconds. he has some sort of thin layer underneath that he peels off his upper body quickly, revealing miles and miles of milky, freckled skin. daniel's eyes move involuntarily from max's thick neck down past his clavicles to his pecs. they're built, underneath a soft squishy layer. daniel swallows, hard. they jump beneath daniel's eyes as max reaches down to take his pants off. just as he's hooking his thumbs in the waistband of his underlayer, pulling it downward, about to reveal what daniel presumes are the goods, daniel snaps his eyes to the side.
"woah, okay, i'll leave you to do your thing. ehm red is hot, blue is cold," daniel half shouts, turning on his heels and making his exit.
he closes the door behind himself and leans back against the door. what the fuck is wrong with you, seriously, daniel thinks. he somehow ended up with some alien boy scout in his house and he's kinda, anyway. 
more pressing matters, what does he want? is this some sort of planetary scoping out to rid earth of all its resources and kill everyone. okay, wait, this is the catastrophizing his therapist told him to look out for to not end up in another dead loop. but then again, all the other catastrophes he made up in his head kind of came true. 
stop.
daniel takes a deep breath in, holds it for 6 seconds, breathes out. 
okay. what did max say? he got off track and never meant to come here in the first place. fine. and it's not like he can do much. his plane is basically toast out in the desert right now. 
for now, daniel can be a nice passerby and help him out and tomorrow they can try and sort something out. 
in the meantime, daniel fetches some shorts and a t-shirt that should fit max from his wardrobe and comes back to knock on the bathroom door. 
"i'm leaving some clothes out here for you, yeah?" daniel yells through the door. 
before daniel can even say anything else the door swings open and max is stood there in all his naked, dripping wet glory. daniel is proud of himself and does not let his eyes wander past max's chest despite burning curiousity.
"thank you, daniel," max says quietly, hands held open. daniel can see some very faint, almost translucent webbing between his fingers, more than a human would have but not by much. right. 
daniel deposits the clothes in max's awaiting hands. without much fanfare max starts putting the clothes on his dripping wet body.
"uhm max do you maybe wanna use a towel?" daniel asks.
"towel?" max asks.
"yeah to dry off, your clothes will be all wet." daniel says, stepping past max to grab one from the rack and handing it to max.
the other eyes it with suspicion, before grabbing it wordlessly and looking at daniel with a questioning expression.
"yeah run it along you skin and it'll
dry it for you." daniel explains.
max starts rubbing the it on his arms and wrinkles his nose at the sensation. 
"but won't your skin dry out?" max asks.
"eh, we got lotion for that," daniel hums.
max only nods in response, does a quick job of drying off and puts his shorts and t-shirt on. he clutches the towel in his hands, slightly wringing it between his hands.
daniel takes that as his cue to take it off max's hands and hang it on the radiator.
"i thought you can take the guest bedroom. it doesn't have its own toilet but you can use the master upstairs. it's got a shower, bathtub and everything."
"i can wash these for you, too," daniel says, pointing at max's clothes on the ground and scooping them up. then, daniel leads max upstairs and shows him to his room. 
"here you are, make yourself at home. my room is just two doors down and the bathroom's down by the end. you probably need some sleep, i know i do so i'll speak to you tomorrow, yeah?"
"yes daniel, thank you," max says. 
daniel shoots him a broad smile and puts his hand on max's shoulder.
"you won't eat me in my sleep, right?" daniel asks, laughing.
"you of course don't look very tasty daniel." max says looking directly into daniel's eyes. it's a bit disorientating if daniel's honest. 
"you saying i'm ugly, max?" daniel responds.
"you are of course very beautiful, daniel," max responds, no humour to be detected in his voice at all.
something painful tugs in daniel's chest at that but he smiles it off and says "you bet i am."
"nighty night, max," daniel says over his shoulder.
"good night, daniel," he hears quietly behind him. 
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theallianceofcelestials · 24 days ago
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i was wondering if you could please do a little drabble of SEA meeting Mirror SEA?
it doesn't matter which AU they meet in. lol oldest bro Eclipse Au meets youngest bro Solar Au frfr
idk why my brain feels like the two lunars would have an autism to autism communication though
If this ever happened, it'd need to be its own fic, so this isn't even soft canon like all the other drabbles xd
So uhh, this is probably not going to be all the characters meeting all the characters, for that I'd need to write an actual oneshot and not just these drabble thingies I post here
Solar winces as his legs twitch and pain flares up. He grabs at the right one, the one that's currently worse, in the hopes if he gives it a squeeze it will hurt just a little less.
Today, so far, has not been his day
The couch dips as his dad sits down next to him, taking his offending limbs in hand. He's a lot better at massaging them than Solar is.
"Perhaps you should have worn the long legged pants I told you to during sleep"
"Oh fuck off"
Killcode tuts reproachfully, but he doesn't stop the blessed massage so it's all fine.
"Where's everyone?"
"Cleaning the house, gardening or hunting. Much needs to be done when one lives in the fore-"
A scream cuts through everything that's... terrifyingly familiar, and then the air above the couch breaks open and a familiar blur of colours fall through, slamming into the couch next to him. He can feel his father freeze, and he freezes too but for different reasons because that's-
The figure groans, rubbing at his head as he untangles himself. He turns groggily back towards the portal, but it's already closing behind itself
"Oh for the love of god!"
Ah yes, that's his voice alright. Back when he still had some will to live in himself
Finally, familiar white-gold optics turn towards them, and the familiar stranger freezes too.
"Ugh..."
...
"Is your name Eclipse by chance?"
Clearly the stranger recognises his voice too, because he makes a somewhat aborted gesture between themselves. Solar nods.
"Huh. Cool. Also yeah, sup I'm Eclipse"
"I go by Solar now"
He can feel his dad look between them, but right now he ignores it, because this is incredibly fascinating and one doesn't often get to talk to their past sel-
"You have SCPs too"
Or maybe not past
"Oh yeah, then I don't need to introduce my dad"
"Nah, I have my own. Though by this point he'd have probably snatched me away from the rando that landed on our couch"
"Can't exactly do that. One of my chips is damaged and I have integration issues"
"Ah, that sounds like it sucks. My condolences"
Before Solar could reply, the air frizzles again, breaking open once more
"Oh for fuck's-"
Now Killcode grabs him, wrenching them away from the couch as even more figures fall out of the sky, landing on the poor sod. All of them are familiar.
"KC your leg is in my face!"
That's Moon
"I can't exactly move when half of you are on me"
Yepp, familiar nightmarish voice
"Will you two shut up and start moving?! We are crushing Eclipse!"
Huh, he's never heard Sun so angry before.
The pile of SCPs begins untangling itself, but it's a clearly slow process. So Solar looks at Killcode pleadingly, who just sighs. He does obligingly walk over to start helping people up
Outcomes, as expected, a Bloodmoon, a rather stoic Solar Flare who's eyeing the now torn up couch blankly, a Lunar, then it's the other Killcode's turn who drags his own brothers up. The tension in the room skyrockets as the two giant SCPs look at one another, but the stranger backs down thankfully. Probably mostly out of manners.
"Oh dear lord, fresh air! Thank you strange Killcode, thank you!"
Eclipse pulls himself up rather dramatically, and Solar has to surpress a twinge of jealousy at how easily, how painlessly he moves. Why can't he have that?
"You also have everyone out, so I don't think there needs to be any introductions."
"No, I'm fine. The biggest difference is me I think"
And clearly the personalities too, because this Killcode looks everyone over, picking them up and giving them a nuzzle, this Moon is more busy also looking everyone over and this Solar Flare seems to have troubles emoting. Or at least he thinks it does, because it's just been staring at the couch, but he swears it looks guilty.
"Yeah, nice body by the way. I can only imagine how nice and mushy it must have been to switch into it. A real ten out of ten experience, would repeat daily"
Solar can't help it, he snorts. Okay, this bastard is somewhat amusing, he will give him that.
"Yeah, I would have liked to stay in my second body too"
"SCPs?"
He nods and the other nods back. He probably also had similar experiences
"I almost had to change frames once too, because I was maimed pretty badly. Luckily the frame could be fixed up, and none of my more important components suffered damage"
Lucky him. Solar would give anything to live without pain. Or well, he would give many things.
But never his family
"Should I be happy your Bloodmoon isn't here? Are they also the maim first ask questions later types of people?"
Solar snorts again. That is somewhat of an understatement
"They can control themselves. If I told them not to attack you, you would have been fine"
He recognises that glint in those optics. That need to know more. He once looked like that too, curious about everything that surrounded him. He wanted to know things.
He limps back to the couch, grateful when his dad assists him to hop back down. He can already tell this is going to be a rather long day.
But perhaps not a horrible one
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alexandraisyes · 10 months ago
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Hey dumb dumbs (/lovingly)
What are your favorite TSBS/TSAMS queer-platonic or platonic ships/aus? I don't give a fuck if they aren't canon or will never be canon, I just wanna hear your thoughts. I'll start.
KidsCove: They were really uncomfortable at first, because the fans were shipping them when they're both not interested (thank you very much but no thank you) but for the sake of Monty's wallet they did videos together. And it went from just gameplay to hanging out with groups to hanging out at each other's houses. They're best friends, FC absolutely loves Sun (and refers to him as "Uncle Sun", which was awkward at first, but it's since been accepted). Foxy rambles to Sun about Mangle over a glass of wine while Sun is scolding him for pulling his paws away while he's trying to paint his claws (you know how dogs pull their feet away when you touch them)?
SolarNexus: I'm sorry moots but I can only ever really see them as queer-platonic, even if I do participate in your ship rambles from time to time. They build shit together and occasionally blow said shit up together as well (on accident). They've almost burnt down the garage several times due to distracting each other with awful awful jokes that would put both dad's and sailors to shame. For someone who is aroace Nexus sure does have quite the storage of downright shameful sex jokes, and he always pulls out his worst ones while Solar is working on something delicate, and it's always out of the blue so Solar almost always fumbles what he's working on in shock. Nesux's cackling on the table, doubled over holding his stomach as Solar is berating him for his god-awful timing and humor, barely holding back a laugh himself. Moon also tells Solar his insecurities, shit he wouldn't ever burden Sun with. How he hates talking to people and he can see that all they can see is Old Moon. How sometimes he has to put up a front when Sun's talking to him because he knows that Sun can only see the dead Moon. Solar can relate, since he has a body that looks disturbingly similar to the version of Eclipse that took the star and blew up Lunar. Sometimes they just sit outside, on the steps of the porch, and stare at the ocean. Words aren't needed, just companionship.
My last one has to be this one fucking AU I have with my friends that I've never discussed outside of discord but I rot about constantly. The idea is that both KC and BM are a lot more feral/animalistic, and so KC and BM just fucking dip and go live in the forest together like a couple of cats. They just disappear off the map and don't bug anyone after Killcode gets his own body (that doesn't require killing Moon). Everyone thinks they died until the twins kidnap Moon two years later because Killcode is sick and they can't figure out how to help him. And then they gotta be domesticated because Killcode has to stay at the Plex to heal.
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daka-d3monb0y · 11 months ago
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S.a.M.S Human AU
Since you don't have the AU from beginning to end it doesn't all make sense. But Jack is a clone of Moon and Solar's DNA. Solar was making a cloning machine for fun, Moon walked into it not knowing what it was. When Solar tried to get him out their DNA combined to make Jack. Since it wasn't finished he has some issues. He has the mentality of a child but the body of an adult, though he's a bit shorter than Moon. Solar named him Jack because of the scarring around his mouth that looked like a Jack O Lantern.
They didn't originally treat Jack like a child, but the more they interacted with them the more it made sense.
Moon is autistic and so is Jack. So yeah autistic child often mistaken for an adult.
Monty dyed his hair orange/red.
I think that's all the information you need?? Enjoy the little thing.
--------------------
Monty opened the front door, Jack ran in. “Sun!” He excitedly ran up to Sun. Sun has been cleaning the living room.
“Oh, hey, Jack. Oh you got a- uh- pumpkin mask. Jack O’ Lantern or whatever.”
“It has a mouth like mine!”
“Yeah it does, bud.”
Monty smiled. “We went out and got him new clothes.”
“That's nice of you, Monty.”
Jack excitedly waved his arms. “I have wings!!” He put his hood on and turned around, his jacket had little pink dragon wings.
“Woah, awesome!”
“Yes! We went to The Hot Topic.”
“I assumed. Very fun.”
Monty put down two bags on the sofa. “Well, that's all. He's always welcome at my place. So are you, Sun. Or call me if you want to be by yourself, I can let you stay in one of my other houses.”
“Thank you, Monty.”
“Eh don't mention it.”
Jack ran over and hugged his torso. “Thank you, Montgomery!”
He rubbed Jack's head. “ ‘Course, kid. Be good for Uncle Sun.”
He nodded.
“He hasn't eaten yet because he said he wanted Dino nuggets, is that okay, Sun?”
“Oh, yeah. I'll make him some Dinosaur nuggets.”
“Dino nuggies!” he said.
“Yes, Jack, Dino nuggets.”
“Well, I'm off. Bye.”
“Goodbye!” Jack said.
“Bye,” Sun said.
Jack looked up at Sun. “We searched for Solar.”
“Oh…”
“I was unsuccessful in my mission.”
“J-Jack, he's dead.”
“We won't find him again?”
“No, Jack.”
He stared down at the ground.
“I'll start on the Dino nuggets.” Sun walked over to the kitchen.
“Nuggies!” Jack came running over.
“WAIT JACK THE FLOOR IS-”
Jack slipped and fell.
Sun stared at him. “Did that hurt?”
“I think I felt my bones go ka chunk.”
“T-t-that’s- Oh my god, are you okay?”
Jack hopped up. “Yessss.”
“Oh my god, you are so Solar's kid. I- Let's eat and I'll have Moon check for broken bones. Idk if he knows how to fix it but… well Eclipse does.” Sun pulled nuggets out of the freezer.
“Why do you dislike him?”
“Because, Jack, Eclipse has done horrible things.”
“What do you mean?”
“Why don't you hate him? I thought you shared memories with Moon- wait, you have memory loss, I forgot.”
“Yes.”
“Well, uh, Eclipse is a bad guy. He's, um, well… He just is. I can't tell you everything he's done.”
“Okay.”
Sun put the nuggets in the oven. “Well, your nuggets are cooking.”
“Can we watch Gravity Falls?”
“Oh, sure, bud. That's a good show.”
“Yay.”
“You- I love how you talk.”
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I write chapters based on episodes. So this is based on when Jack got turned into a pumpkin thingie. Hence the mask and the new hoodie or whatever. At the moment I am showing you scenes tho. Like oneshots I guess.
Oh Jack did not break his bones, he was being dramatic. He did get bruised though. Even if he had broken a bone he would get back up and brush it off lol.
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deniigi · 4 years ago
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Lando The Nosy Neighbor AU
Title: good fences make good neighbors
Summary: Modern AU based off the premise presented to me as ‘Han and Leia move into the same neighborhood and start a feud, only to eventually overthrow the local Homeowner’s Association.’
Relationships: Pot-farmer!Han/Lawyer!Leia; Farmboy!Luke/Survivalist!Din; Lando & Breha Organa & Chewbacca
This is based off a rural community in Washington which has local cults.
Lando POV
---------------
A hippy has moved in next to the Organas.
It’s a good one, too. This one hasn’t even rented a moving truck, they’ve just come on over with all their furniture tetris-ed in on top of itself and wrapped tight with rope, blankets, and prayer.
Lando’s petunias screech for watering as the hippy throws open the truck’s door and comes staggering out, cracking his lanky back. Out of the other side comes an even hairier, even lankier person. He closes the truck door and looks right at Lando.
He stares.
It is a challenge. But of course, not one that Lando is not prepared to handle.
He points at his watering can.
Hippy Two seems to scoff.
Lando waits until he’s distracted by the first hippie struggling with the blue house’s doorknob to dump the remaining water into the pebbles under his ornamental bridge.
He returns inside and goes about his busy business, tying back the curtains.
It is always good to have someone new in the neighborhood.
--
 It takes the hippy couple a few weeks to get settled into their new home, and in that time neither has ingratiated themselves to Lando.
The stupid one with the floppy hair caught onto Lando’s tricks at the weekly poker match held in the local bar. Lando may have lost his irrigation system, but he has not lost his dignity. It was old anyways. He’s been planning to replace it for nearly a year now. There is never a better time than the present to start making your dreams into reality.
And anyways, the floppy haired out-of-towner will get what is coming to him. Lando has already sown the seed of his demise.
Leia Organa returned home to look after her poor, sick, stubborn mother just two months ago. Breha is fine, of course, not even cancer could snuff out her fires, although she is bored of her husband and daughter trying to trap her indoors. Her immunocompromised escapades have been delightful to watch.
The Organas are always a lively group. There is never a dull moment or lack of machinations among them—especially the lady of the household. She, like Lando, appreciates a good tussle. Which is why he has pointed out to Leia that her new neighbors’ greenhouse is mighty interesting, is it not?
Lawyer Leia’s ears pricked up like a horse’s, and Breha’s sharp eyes took on new sheen.  
Lando watches Leia in the mornings now, struggling to find upper-body strength and purchase on the wood of her backyard fence, among the roses and bougainvillea. She’s so tiny, Leia. Breha is not an overly large person either, and thus is no help in this endeavor to collect data on the greenhouse of questionable origins and purposes on the other side of the fence. Leia doesn’t need her, though. She needs no one. She’s seen what she needs to.
Lando pours tea from a glass pot given to him by someone in his company who wishes for their secrets to remain so and beautiful, clear amber liquid fills his cup.
He looks up to see Leia holding her phone out as far as she can without relinquishing her grip on the fence. She fumbles, trying one-handedly to document the crime before her, but alas. Even the mighty sometimes trip on the red carpet.
The phone slips. She grabs after it in slow-motion, horror filling every pore of her face.
It is gone now, that phone.
The Public Nuisances will know what she has been up to.
Lando sighs and leans back in his seat.
--
 It is no time at all before the dropped phone is returned graciously over the white, waist-height fence that separates the Public Nuisance’s yard from the Organas’. Leia snatches her phone back and wipes it off with her hand and sleeve. The shorter public enemy, Han, he calls himself, smiles at her cheekily. He retracts his hand and gestures to the taller fence, barely visible for the fruit trees and vines, between their backyards and says something that makes Leia go very, very still.
It is, undoubtedly, a challenge. Not unlike the one that that the more polite public nuisance, Chewie, opened his and Lando’s relationship with.
Chewie has explained without mincing his words, that he and Han have come here because their last venture was lost in a snowstorm. Chewie will be damned if his precious seedlings are so callously frosted over again. The Pacific Northwest has no chance of freezing over, he says. It provides a better setting to grow stock.
Weed, he means. Marijuana. Chewie is again, not shy. He and Han make good money supplying dispensaries with their organic, hand dried leaves. It is apparently ‘artisan’ like in quality.
Lando isn’t sure he’d go that far, but yes, it is nice stuff. And yes, Leia, bastion of justice, does need to see the men’s permits.
Lando opens the window for a breeze and catches Han telling Leia that he’ll produce them if she arm wrestles him for the right to witness their authenticity. Leia agrees. Han fetches a small worktable from the house’s garage and sets it between them.
The match is over within seconds. Leia has never been so insulted in her life. She demands a rematch and, out of sheer indulgence, Han gives it to her.
He is nearly a foot taller than her. He could lift her up and over her own fence with ease if he so desired. He wins the next round. And the next one. He loses the last one by reason of having his leg deadened under the table but stands abruptly to renegade on his earlier promise.
“You watch yourself, princess,” he calls over his shoulder with his hand on his front door’s knob.
“Oh, I’ll be watching,” Leia snarls back.
Han slams the door. Chewie looks from him to Leia standing fuming in the shade of her family’s pine trees.
“Unbelievable,” she snaps at him before stomping off herself. “UNBELIEVABLE.”
Lando flicks his eyes up to see Breha’s dining room window wide open. She too, has a cup of tea. She lifts it his way and he lifts his back.
Finally, some quality entertainment once more.
--
 Han and Leia’s hatred has become neighborhood gossip. They have begun going to extraordinary lengths to gain the others’ attention. For example, Han, in weeding his sparce flowerbeds, was careful to shove the fruits of his labor between the fence slats into Bail’s well-tended herb garden. Bail, ever the gentleman, does not mind, but of course Leia feels that her family honor has been spat upon. She collects the weeds and returns them to her owner, via mailbox. It is kind of her to put the flag down, so Han knows that he’s received a message.
The retaliation is a mural in rainbow colors commissioned by Han and painted by one of the budding young teenagers from a school about a thirty minute drive downtown. It is...psychedelic. And facing Leia’s bedroom window.
Han asked the youth who painted it to add in a figure in the center of the composition; it is a brown-haired woman dressed all in white, surrounded by thorny vines, and attempting to climb a fence. The young artist must have felt like Michelangelo in the application of those delicate strokes of artistry. They knew they were creating something holy.
Han helps that along by bracketing the figure with solar lanterns that light up at night and keep the image fully illuminated.
When Lando arrives to Breha’s side to go on a walk, arm in arm, with her and her beast of a terrier, she giggles like a schoolgirl behind her hand.
“Han is very handsome,” she tells Lando.
“He’s alright,” Lando says.
“I think he and Leia are a perfect match. Will for will. No one’s ever dared to cross her like this.”
Now that is a fact.
“I wonder if this is the start of something more,” Breha says.
“What does your husband think?” Lando asks.
Breha waves him off dismissively.
“Oh, you know. He’s convinced that Leia will kill Han in his sleep, and we will be forced to post bail, but I told him—as I’ve told you, Lando—Leia’s too smart to get caught committing axe murder. Now poisoning, that’s a different story.”
--
 Lando wakes up and makes coffee. He turns on his computer and opens his curtains to let the light pour in and warm his hardwood floors. He stands at the window, hiding a smirk behind his mug.
Leia has had enough. She has called the Home Owner’s Association and they are standing at Han’s front doorstep.
--
 It is about three weeks before Han and Leia have overthrown the Home Owner’s Association for interfering in their escalating romance—ahem—bloodfeud. By then, Lando’s work-from-home situation is suffering. It is impossible to focus with those two cluttering up his view with distractions left and right. He determines that, for the sake of his finances, he must direct his attention to something a little further afield.
The Lars’s vegetable stand is becoming something of an institution.
It’s about a mile or so out of Lando’s way, tucked smack in the middle of the battlefield that is the stretch of land between the survivalist cult that lives in the forest and the pseudo-Buddhists that live in their compound. The farm itself is a few acres and the Lars’s son can be seen walking around, herding livestock out of the road and into pastures.
Lando has heard whispers that this son is none other than Leia’s twin brother, but no one has the nerve to directly ask the Organas about the truth of such a scandalous idea. The most that can be said about Luke Lars-Skywalker is that he is a master of social media.
He has created a Youtube channel and an Instagram to document the practices of his family’s farm and the products they produce. He is in a twitter-war with many communities online for his videos on small-scale bee-keeping, and his family’s stand is proudly boycotted by the vegan association in the city on farmer’s market days.
It has become well-known among the farm-to-table restaurants in the city, though, and that is why Luke keeps on keeping on with his cows and his fowls and his silly camera holder.
But all that means little because Luke Lars-Skywalker is in love.
Anyone with eyes can see it.
He is in love with an ancestral enemy.
See, in this area there are not one, but two cults and naturally, they abhor and reject the others’ teachings. To the south are the pseudo-buddhist, clairvoyants who have fashioned themselves more or less as monks preoccupied with meditation, self-development, and a few fairly mystical beliefs among the rather terrifying devotion to martial arts. To the north are the survivalist whack-jobs who don’t believe in electricity or running water, but who are also, somehow, preoccupied with self development and a terrifying devotion to martial arts.
Both groups have publicly denounced the other as misguided extremists.
The rumors say that Luke and Leia’s biological father is one of the clairvoyants, and this is where the heart of the current delightful irony lays.
Luke Lars-Skywalker is in love with one of those survivalists.
Lando knows this because he has seen it with his very own eyes.
He took a trip a while back to purchase some greens from the vegetable stand and he was there for a little while, picking through the selection, when he looked up and saw Luke’s posture explode out of its lax boredom. Lando looked over his shoulder to see what Luke’s tan, freckled attention had latched onto and lo and behold.
It was a man. And not only a man, a man with a baby.
Luke stuffed knuckles into his mouth to keep from cooing as the father of the child nodded at him and meandered over to have a poke through the produce piled up on the stand. The baby, dressed carefully in layers of warm, water-resistant clothing, watched Luke right back. He smiled and grunted, waving his dark, stubby arms and Luke melted—literally collapsed into a fraction of his size behind the paystation.
The father, a white rugged guy with dark curly hair and a great deal of stubble, shifted the baby to his other arm. His worn, heavy clothing and the military-style canvas sack on his back marked him as one of the Cabin-In-the-Woods people.
Lando felt like he was watching a country romance flick in real life.
Luke gathered his courage and approached the dad and baby to ask if they were looking for anything in particular. The baby immediately held hands out to him. Luke asked the father if he could hold the little one. The father said ‘no.’
Lando nearly choked on his own spit.
“Oh, sorry buddy,” Luke said to the baby. “Daddy thinks I’m gonna eat you up.”
“He just got a bath.”
Luke gooey expression hardened in an instant.
“Excuse you. You sayin’ I’m dirty?” he asked. “You sayin’ I smell like horseshit?”
The father stared at Luke wordlessly.
“Pigshit,” he corrected.
“WHAT.”
Lando no longer needed only greens. He had to pick a cheese from this bountiful pile. Oh dear, so many to choose from.
“I said, you smell like pigshit. And he just got a bath,” the survivalist father said. “How much for the tomatoes?”
“Twenty a pound,” Luke said viciously.
“That’s steep.”
“There’s a discount for people who smell like pigshit.”
“You get a lot of those?”
“No, but I know how to wallow in the time between buyers.”
“Are you angry or something?”
“Take your damn tomatoes.”
“I didn’t pay yet—”
“Just take ‘em. Go. Go.”
“Twenty—?”
“Hey, Mr. Calrissian, that’ll be ten-fifty,” Luke said over the protests.
That was then. This is now. And Luke Lars-Skywalker has not let up on his tirade against this survivalist. Nor, it is important to note however, has the survivalist stopped coming to the vegetable stand when Luke is working it.
What is even more is that Lando can see with his own two eyes that the survivalist is not holding his baby at the vegetable stand now, as Lando closes his car door a little ways from the stand. Luke smiles at Lando as he draws near; he is bouncing at the knees. He waves the baby’s hand in greeting and the child gurgles and twists back to grab at his face.
Lando smiles and does not say anything.
He finds Chewie inspecting a sprinkler at the edge of his and Han’s yard on the way back and crosses the street to inspect it with him. It sputters. Chewie suspects outloud that their squirrels are getting stronger and more destructive by the day.
Lando asks him if he’s been the Lars’s vegetable stand since moving into town.
He has.
Lando asks if he’s ever seen Luke there, holding a baby.
He has.
Lando is smug.
“Mr. Rugged Mountain Man is falling for the farm boy,” he tells Chewie.
Chewie lifts a thick eyebrow.
“One day soon, that baby is going to go from living off the grid to living in a barn,” Lando tells him. “Mark my words.”
Chewie tells him that that is impossible without a kidnapping charge because the Rugged Mountain Man is the straightest man that he’s ever seen. Lando tells him not to judge a book by its cover.
Weirder things have happened. Han and Leia, for example.
Chewie tells him that he knows that Lando is somehow responsible for those two’s newly inescapable sexual tension and he will never forgive him for it.
Lando cannot believe his ears. Him? An instigator? Of course not, Chewie. He is but a humble spider, waiting around in his house for a fly to shake things up. He is an observer, nothing more, nothing less.
Chewie just points a finger at him.
Lando points a finger-gun back. He fires it with a click of his tongue.
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karanna1 · 5 years ago
Text
AU - Lena Luthor Saves Krypton
Lena is somehow sent back in time and finds herself on Krypton 30 years before the planet explodes. Kara doesn’t exist yet. Krypton has no idea what’s about to happen to them.
Lena realizes that with her knowledge of what’s to come and intellect to devise a solution, she can do two things. One, she can save an entire species from near extinction. Two, she can save Kara from ever having to experience the pain of losing her family, her home, and being abandoned. Kara could live a happy life and never know the burden of Supergirl or being the last daughter of Krypton.
So instead of trying to find a way back to Earth, back to her own time, she settles into life on Krypton, becomes fluent in Kryptonese, and sets about with a spectacularly single-minded focus of changing the future - to save this dying world (and Kara).
She succeeds...mostly. They can’t fix the damage that’s already been done to the planet. Their sun will die and destroy Krypton still, but with Lena’s help they’re able to locate a barren planet in another system that has a white star. It’s brand new, strong, and will live for untold trillions of years (provided Kryptonians didn’t try to harness its power again).
They terraform the planet and create “New Krypton” using the dome concept that Zor-El invented fused with Coluan bottling technology. All Kryptonians are instantly transported to their new home that’s identical to the old one save for one difference - the white sun grants them god-like powers that are beyond what Lena ever saw Kara and Clark capable of on Earth. Kryptonians are overwhelmed en masse by these powers. Some go power mad and attempt coups and form radical sects. Others realize the gift they’ve been given and, with Lena’s guidance, Kryptonian society develops under a new mission - to travel the galaxy and offer help to all those in need. Not just offering knowledge and technology this time, but themselves with their newfound powers.
Lena keeps her distance from the House of El as much as she can. It’s nearly impossible considering their standing with the Kryptonian High Council. Lena has to work very closely with the Council. Jor-El and his brother, Zor-El, are brilliant scientists and statesmen. Alura In-Ze is a rising star in the judicial system. Her marriage to Zor-El, second born son of the House of El, caused quite a few waves, but when Lara Lor-Van, a brilliant biologist and prominent noble of the House of Van, agrees to marry Jor-El, it’s all anyone can talk about. All 4 of them live very public lives due to their professions, their positions on the High Council, and their nobility.
They’re ever so fascinated by Lena Luthor, the human from Earth that appeared one day to save their entire planet. Their savior. The one their people have named “The New Dawn”. Lena wants nothing to do with the House of El. It’s too much. She can’t bear to be so close to Kara’s family without Kara. It feels wrong. Unfortunately, with how much Lena tries to avoid them, the 4 nobles think they’ve done something to offend her, and constantly attempt ways to make amends. It only makes Lena’s life that much more difficult.
But she still knows the exact date and time that Kara Zor-El steps into existence. Later, she will know the moment Kal-El is born (mostly because Lara’s natural birth is all anyone can talk about).
Lena meets Kara on New Krypton entirely by accident one day when Zor-El brings his brilliant young daughter, a prodigy in the Science Guild, to see Krypton’s finest laboratory entirely unannounced. The same laboratory that Lena founded and runs. She’s stricken, having tried to avoid this moment for as long as she could, knowing that eventually she’d have to see Kara as child, which would spell the end of every fanciful dream or slightest hope she had of a chance that someday she would find Kara, her best friend, again. Seeing the reality both warms her heart and breaks it all the same. This bouncing bundle of joy and inquisitiveness has the same blinding smile, in all its purity, with that same head of golden hair.
“You’re THE Lena Luthor?”
She kneels before her so they’re at eye level. “I suppose I am. And you’re THE Kara Zor-El?”
The ten year old gasps. “You know who I am?”
“Of course. I know all the important people. And you are a very important person, Kara.”
“I am?”
Zor-El interjects. “I’ve told Lena all about you, my dear. I’m sure she’s grown tired of my endless babbling about my wonderful daughter and her keen scientific mind.”
“Not at all,” Lena replies a bit flatly and tries to tune him out as she focuses on the young girl who will one day be a most extraordinary woman. “Do you enjoy the Science Guild, Kara?”
“Yes! I love to learn new things. As many things as I can! Sometimes father asks me to work with him in his laboratory at home and I help him with his projects!”
“That does sound like fun. I enjoy creating things as well.”
“You’re the most brilliant bio-engineer on Krypton! I’ve read all about you! You saved us.”
Lena shies away from the praise and instead fumbles her way forward, uncomfortable under the scrutiny of Zor-El, whom she’d never given the time of day until he walked in with his daughter.
“Tell me, Kara, do you like other subjects besides science?”
Kara fidgets, a little confused. “Well, I don’t...they don’t give you much time for other subjects. I-I do try to read about other things like art and history when I have free time, but I’m not really allowed—“
“She’s a hard worker and a wonderful student,” Zor-El interrupts again.
Lena ignores him. “Do you enjoy writing, Kara?”
“Writing?”
“Creation comes in many forms. I enjoy being able to create things with my hands. Machines. Technology. Things to help people. Science is my passion, but there are many other ways to help people. Ways that I’m not very good at, but others are. Writing takes a curious mind, creativity, and a way with words. I believe you might have a gift for that.”
“A gift for words?” Her little brow crinkles as she considers it.
Lena nods. “A writer can do a great many things that a scientist cannot. They are equally as powerful and important. What matters is doing what you love most, what inspires you most. You’re going to do great things one day, Kara. Maybe with the Science Guild, maybe with something else... The future is limitless for you.”
“You really think I could be that important someday?”
“You already are.” Lena smiles and breathes deeply. “Do you know what your name means where I come from?”
She shakes her head. “I have read about Earth. It’s very far away and my Aunt Astra says their civilization is primitive and filled with savages. They have my name there too?”
“Daughter, do not speak—“
Lena waves off Zor-El’s warning without looking at him.
“That’s not an unfair assessment of Earth compared to Krypton, but I do believe humanity would surprise a great many Kryptonians, including your Aunt. In my native language, Kara means ‘beloved friend’.”
Kara beams in a way that is so achingly familiar. It’s like an echo in Lena’s memory. Not exact, not complete, but the beginning of what it will become.
“I like that. Does that mean I’m your friend?”
Lena feels it in that moment. The melting warmth simultaneous with the absolute shattering of what was left of her heart.
“I will always be your friend, darling. Always.”
Kara leaves with her father and Lena’s coworkers are concerned when she goes off planet for an impromptu holiday without notice. She returns two months later and picks up as if she never left.
It’s around that time that one of the people she’s befriended in her years on Krypton remarks at how ageless she seems for a human that supposedly has a short life span. It sparks Lena’s curiosity. Indeed, it’s been nearly 30 years since she traveled back in time and found herself on a new planet. Yet you’d be hard pressed to find a single physical difference. Kryptonians aged slowly under a red star, and even slower still under the white star, but Lena was human. Her body wasn’t designed to accommodate solar radiation the way Kryptonians did. She was over 50 years old now, yet she still didn’t look a day over 28.
More years pass and New Krypton thrives. The galaxy is brought together through New Krypton’s diplomacy and thousands of planets and species are united under a banner of peace. There are always dissenters, but happiness and prosperity is widespread. Lena finds joy in friendships and attempts romantic relationships, but nothing ever really takes. Still, she’s content. She misses Earth, of course, and hopes to return one day before she dies, whenever that will be, but she’s found peace in knowing that she is able to be the one thing she’s always wanted - a force for good.
She’s at dinner with coworkers one night when Lara and Jor-El spot her. She sighs and straightens, preparing for their next attempt to get in her good graces.
“Do they never desist?” One of them mutters next to her ear. “Surely they’re intelligent enough to know when they’re not wanted?”
“Don’t be unkind, but help me keep it short if it goes on too long.”
“Lena! It’s wonderful to see you,” Lara says.
“You as well. How are you?”
“Very well, thank you.”
Lena’s table has gone conspicuously, and therefore awkwardly, silent.
Lara and Jor-El look around at the group uncomfortably.
“We were wondering...well, our niece is being inducted to the—“
“The Science Council as First Order,” Lena finishes for her. “Yes, I’m aware. It’s a great honor. I’m sure the House of El is quite proud.”
“Indeed we are,” Jor-El jumps in. “She’s a most remarkable young woman and we couldn’t be prouder of who she’s become.”
“We are holding a celebration to mark the occasion and were wondering if you might honor us by attending? It will be quite the event.” Lara does a slight eyeroll. “Jor is insisting on all the fantastical things.”
Jor-El nods enthusiastically. “My brother isn’t one for celebrations so I’ve taken up the mantle. Kara deserves all the praise she’s earned with her hard work and dedication.”
“You’ll have to forgive my mate’s enthusiasm. He’s quite invested in Kara since she can share his passion for his life’s work while our son is—“
“Disgustingly hopeless,” Jor-El grumbles.
“Oh?” She raises an eyebrow. “A great disappointment he’s been then?”
“Goodness no!” Lara shakes her head and shoots a warning look at her husband. “Kal is a fine boy. Just...a little lost.”
“Perhaps he is simply in need of a different path than the one his father has in mind,” Lena finds the words tumbling out of her mouth without thinking twice. The couple stares at her agape, but she continues without care. “I can certainly sympathize with the need to step out of the shadow of a family’s overbearing legacy.” She sighs. “While I thank you for considering me, it’s simply not possible with my days usually booked from dawn to dusk. Besides, parties have never been altogether pleasant endeavors for me.”
The disappointment on their faces isn’t what changes her mind. It’s that as soon as she says the words, she regrets it. She’s, of course, kept up with Kara’s doings and was concerned when she heard about the recent move in the Science Guild. Was journalism just a secondary passion since she couldn’t truly use her mind on Earth the way she could on Krypton? Or was this a woman just following in her family’s footsteps because she believed it was the right thing to do? Lena hadn’t seen or spoken to Kara in 16 years. Not since the day Zor-El brought her to the lab.
In the end, it’s Lena’s concern and curiosity for Kara’s well being that wins out. Though she very well knows that the woman that existed in another life, on another planet, is not the woman who lives here now on New Krypton. Even if she shared the same name and the same face...maybe even the same bright eyes and sunny smile. Even then.
“Send me the invitation. I’ll see what I can do,” Lena says, to the surprise of everyone at her table, including the two standing next to it.
They nod, stunned but pleased, and say their goodbyes quickly, walking away.
Lena’s coworkers all turn to her in surprise, but she refuses to answer their questions and excuses herself early for the evening.
She doesn’t show for the celebration. She torments herself for a week coming up to it and can’t bring herself to go. The fear of the past and her memories being trod upon are too strong. But somehow she finds herself in the Starling Grove anyway, just as it comes to an end. The evening is late and guests slowly make their exit after the long day of partying. Lena practically sneaks in, staying in shadows, not knowing what she hopes to find or what she could see that would make all her fears come true.
Is it any wonder that fate would intervene? That there would be no circumstance in which Lena could fly so close to the sun and not be touched?
“If avoiding people is your specialty, you’re very skilled at it.”
It’s almost terrifying to hear her voice again. It’s a different language being spoken, but the voice is the same. As if it’d been snatched from the deepest recesses of Lena’s memories, of a different life and a different world, and brought to the present in flesh and blood with a bolt of lightning.
She turns and it’s Kara smiling at her. Not the sunny smile. The soft, tender, reassuring one. The one that she used to share with Lena when she had one of her harder days. Kara was no longer the small and precocious child she met all those years ago, the one that she could almost convince herself was a complete stranger and that there was no connection between the child and the woman she knew. But that was gone now. The Kara standing before her was the same one she’d left behind on Earth. The one she’d given up in order to save her. The one who walked into her office so many years ago, trailing behind her cousin, and Lena knew she was done for. 
Her eyes were so blue as she looked at her...bluer than Lena remembered and it seemed so impossible. Perhaps it wasn’t real. Perhaps she was dreaming. But she wasn’t...was she?
“My skills must be rusty since you were able to catch me.”
Kara put a finger to her smiling lips. “Shh. Finding people is one of my untold gifts.”
“I imagine you have a lot of those.”
Kara looks pleasantly flustered and she stammers over her words in a way that Lena knows so well that the sound of it squeezes her heart in a vise like grip.
She’s not the same person. She’s not your Kara. Your Kara doesn’t exist anymore. Over and over she repeats this in her head.
“Wait...” Kara finally collects herself and peers at Lena more closely. “You’re-you’re Lena Luthor! My Uncle said you might be here, but I never thought...”
“On my home world, they like to say it’s fashionable to be late. However, tonight was just a tad bit too far. I...I simply wanted to stop by and wish you well. A-and to congratulate you on your achievement.”
Did she manage to say that with any passing conviction?
“Thank you. That means a great deal coming from someone like you.”
“Are you happy?” She blurts before her good sense can kick in. “This life...does it make you happy?”
Kara looks at her oddly for a long moment, clearly thrown, but not put off. Lena doesn’t know what else to say that could fix her blunder. 
“Yes,” she says, a serene smile creeps across her face. “I’m very happy. I love my family and my friends. I enjoy my work. I hope to have a family of my own one day, but I don’t mind waiting for the right person. Everyone always wants to rush me into something, telling me that I shouldn’t be alone, but I don’t mind it. When it’s right, I know that it will be worth the wait.”
Lena’s heart stutters and freezes. “I-I’m glad to hear that. Truly. I shouldn’t take up anymore of your time though. I’m sure you have somewhere to be and it’s late so I really should be going anyway.”
“Oh! Um. Yes, of course.” She looks disappointed, but Lena can’t think about that. “Thank you for being here.”
Her legs feel as though they’re weighted with cement as she walks away. Her mind screams at her to run, but her body doesn’t seem to get the message. She doesn’t want to leave Kara’s side. Not like this. Not after she’s found her again.
But it’s not her. Not really.
“My Lady?”
She turns around at once. Kara stands there, fiddling with her hands, her head tilted to the side.
“Apologies. I-I remember reading that you never liked that title. You prefer...what was it...” She closes her eyes as she searches for it. “Oh!” Her eyes fly open again. “Miss Luthor. I should have addressed you as ‘Miss Luthor’, yes?”
The ‘Miss’ was heavily accented and sounded nothing like how she used to say it, but it still tore Lena apart.
“I never forgot what you said.”
The voice in Lena’s head screams again for her to run, but instead she draws closer. She needs to hear it. 
Her Kara.
No, it’s not her.
“What did I say?”
“I was a little girl. My father brought me to your lab to show me around.”
“I remember.”
Don’t let her do this. Don’t let her pull you in again. You can’t. For both of your sakes, you can’t.
“You talked about different ways of creating. Of passion. It’s silly, I know, and I’m sure you say it to all the children who read about you in school and have a serious case of hero worship, but...you told me I was important.”
“You are.” 
It’s a reflex. She can’t help it.
“And you said that I had a gift for words. I never understood why you would say that. How you could know...”
Lena chuckles awkwardly. “Looks like I was off the mark since you’ve just joined the Science Council.”
“But you weren’t.”
Lena’s breath hitches.
“I’ve never told anyone else this...” 
Kara steps closer, sharing a secret that Lena doesn’t know she deserves to hear. She wonders if she still knows how to breathe with Kara being this close after so long...so many years gone... 
“I started writing that day. That very night I went home and I tried it. I never stopped. I’ve never been happier than when I’m writing. Imagining stories or just writing my thoughts, putting memories into words, keeping a record of each day and what I’ve done, who I’ve seen, what my first thought is in the morning and my last thought at night. All of it.”
Kara was so close. She could smell her. Nothing like what she remembered. It was something altogether new and still...still... Lena’s heart beat so loudly, she was sure every Kryptonian within miles was wondering what that raucous drumming noise was. What must Kara think? Surely she could hear it. Lena was embarrassing herself.
“You inspired me.”
Lena doesn’t know how she manages it, but she somehow strings together coherent words. 
“But you continued to pursue...”
“The Science Guild, yes. I’m very good there. It comes easily. It makes my family proud.”
“It’s not your passion though.”
Kara shakes her head gently.
“What stops you?”
“Well, what if I’m not really good at writing after all? I’ve never told anyone about it. I’ve never let them read anything... What if I make a terrible mistake and humiliate myself and my family?”
“Following your heart isn’t a mistake.”
“That’s not a very Kryptonian sentiment.”
“No, but it is a human one.” Lena sighs. “I tried so hard, for so long, not to listen to mine. But it won out every time. Despite all the pain it brought me...I remind myself that it’s what brought me here. To this planet. To this time. To do good. To be good. Following your heart is the most terrifying notion, but in my experience, it has also led me to the greatest moments of joy and love that I’ve ever known.”
Kara stares at her in wonderment. Her long blonde locks flow over her shoulders. Her dress is white and flowing, almost luminescent under the glow of the evening flowers blooming in the garden. It became quickly apparent how very alone they were, the last guests and servers from the party were gone. The torches were still lit, but it was their own world.
Wasn’t it always?
It’s not her.
“I don’t think I could be as brave as you.”
“You have always been brave and I know that you are capable of the most extraordinary amount of courage...courage and boundless hope. You are the one who inspires me, Kara. You always have.”
“Me?” She replies in the softest utterance. “But I haven’t done anything nearly as incredible as you.”
“The kind of person you are is far more important than any sum of career achievements. Don’t let fear make you hide in the shadows, Kara. Step into the sun. You’ve always belonged there.”
“What about you?”
“Me?”
“When will you step out of the shadows, Miss Luthor?”
A voice calls for Kara in the distance. It’s jarring and breaks the spell that seemed to lock them together in time suspended.
They step away, now acutely aware of how close they’d been this whole time.
Kara blushes and opens her mouth to say something, but Lena can’t bear to hear it.
“Goodnight, Kara Zor-El. I hope you enjoyed your party.”
Another voice joins the first. Two people are calling for her now. Kara seems frustrated and turns back, yelling to them that she’d be there soon.
She turns back. “I—“
But Lena’s gone.
She leaves New Krypton again. Journeys to other planets under the guise of a holiday and scientific exploration. She wonders if now is the time to return to Earth. She can’t even call it home anymore, but it’s home...isn’t it? 45 years could be enough to make New Krypton home and maybe it was. Maybe it was more of a home than Earth. But New Krypton had spectres walking among the living. Lena’s past had caught up to her here as well. She was no longer alone. Would Earth be any better with a reminder at every street corner? A certain smell. A park bench. A pair of glasses. Food. All of the food on Earth. She would never truly escape there either. It has to be a different planet. Not New Krypton, not Earth, something else entirely. 
She searches across galaxies for it. Finally, one appeals to her. She can see herself settling down there. She can make a new life for herself...again. She returns to Krypton with determination. She resigns from her position, ignores the High Council’s pleas, ignores their more pointed demands, and even their attempted orders when it appeared that nothing else was working. She packs her things and bids farewell to her friends. They’ll visit now and again, but soon she won’t be seeing them at all. It doesn’t bother her all that much. She’d find replacements eventually. No one had ever been like... Well, she’d never let anyone get close enough to try.
She was walking out of her building for the last time, her luggage already sent ahead, and was headed to the transport when she heard her voice again on the wind, calling her name. Of course she would hear her now. This was exactly why she needed to leave this place. The sooner the better to end this torment.
The transport doors were nearly closed when a hand shot between them. The metal alloys were crushed in a powerful grip and the doors were jerkily pried open again.
Kara stood in front of her. Her hair windswept, almost what it used to look like when she would fly to Lena at breaking speed to rescue her. Did she fly here? Was she really here?
“Kara?”
“Lena, don’t go.”
“What are y—?”
“That’s government property!” someone shouts at Kara from further away. 
A Kelex zooms in beside her. “And you were flying within city limits which is strictly prohibited. Unfortunately, Lady Kara, this means we must place you under arrest.”
A patrolman, the one who shouted, walks up behind Kara, nodding his head in agreement.
“Arrest?” She rolls her eyes at the Kelex and turns to the patrolman. “The doors were an accident and sorry about the flying thing. I’ll pay the fines. I doubt Alura In-Ze will take kindly to you dragging someone in for petty infarctions, let alone that someone being her daughter.”
Lena finds herself walking out of the transport, entirely of her own volition, and watches it leave without her. Kara is arguing with the patrolman over what her fines should be, but suddenly Lena feels someone take her hand. She looks down and sees that indeed there is another hand holding hers. She drags her gaze up to find those blue eyes again. A ghost. A spectre. Everything she was trying to escape.
“I’m sorry to just...burst in on you like this. But you’ve been gone for months and I only just heard that you’d come back, planning to leave New Krypton for good. I didn’t...”
“You didn’t what?”
“I don’t know.” Her brow furrows in frustration. “I didn’t plan this. I just...when I heard, I felt like I had to stop you.”
Lena pulls her hand away and crosses her arms. She needs to get ahold of herself. This was all so out of control.
“Why?”
Kara is just as bewildered as she is. “Well, I...I’m not sure. But we’ve only just started.”
“What?”
“Don’t you feel it? I know you must.”
She swallows thickly. “Kara, I...”
“I think there’s a lot you haven’t told me. A lot that I hope you will tell me. You promised me once that you would always be my friend. Please, Lena. We both know that this...it’s not supposed to end here.”
“When is it supposed to end?”
“I hope not for very long time.”
“I’ve lived a lifetime already.”
Kara grins. “Then what’s one more? Should be easy if you’ve already done it.”
Lena shakes her head. “You don’t know what you’re saying.”
“Somehow I do...and I don’t. I know it’s strange. I know what I sound like. But I think you understand. Don’t you?”
“Kara...”
“Are you hungry?” She interrupts. “I’m famished. The flying thing is really fun, but I always get so hungry after. How about it?”
“I’m supposed to be boarding a ship in 20 minutes.”
“We can eat fast!”
“I know you can eat fast, that’s not the point,” she mutters. “I have to go.”
“But you see? You say things like that. Like it’s normal to just know these things about me, but it’s not. How do you know? We’ve only met twice and both times it feels as though you know everything about me.”
“Everything?” She scoffs. “No. Never.”
“Well, the important things anyway.”
Lena falters.
“Please? Just...for a little while? There’s always another ship if you really must go.”
No.
No, I’ve been through this before. I saved you. I saved your people. You’re happy. I don’t belong here. I’ve never belonged. This is your world. I don’t belong anywhere. I did what was right. I helped people. I still help people. But I won’t do this again.
“I’m pretty sure you know that a Kryptonian can tell when you’re lying. The white star brought us untold abilities. And the longer I’ve lived here, under this new sun, I’ve discovered more abilities. Would you like to know about them?”
Lena can only stare.
“If I’m close enough...and I concentrate hard enough...I can feel what you’re feeling. It’s not mind reading exactly, but something deeper. I can feel you right now.” She swallows hard. “What have I done to cause you such pain, Lena? I never thought that... If you have to go, I won’t stop you. I just thought...” She sighs defeatedly. “I don’t know what I thought. But it wasn’t this. It wasn’t pain. Or anger. Or betrayal.”
Lena’s eyes widen at the same time as Kara’s. She seemed to realize it only as she spoke the word aloud.
“Betrayal?” Kara whispers, half to herself. “I don’t understand.”
“There’s nothing to understand.”
“You’re lying.”
“Stop it.”
“I can’t! Tell me what’s happening. How can you be so angry with me, but also feel...like this...when we don’t even know each other?”
“But we do.” 
At last she admits it. 
In the quietest whisper. 
“We did. Once. In another life.”
Kara nods slowly. “Where?”
“On Earth.”
“I’ve never been to Earth.”
“Not in this time. But in another...you were Earth’s Champion. Our Protector. The Paragon of Hope.”
“As you are the Protector of Krypton? Our Salvation. The New Dawn.”
Lena shrinks uncomfortably under the titles.
“Will you tell me more?”
“You believe me?”
“Of course I do. You’re Lena Luthor. Also, with my powers I can sense you’re telling the truth, so...” She shrugs lightly at that, a sheepish smile.
“Right. Well, I admit I’m still a bit resentful that after everything I’ve been through, I still didn’t get even a hint of those powers.”
Kara takes her hand again, tentatively this time. She probably thinks Lena will pull away.
She doesn’t.
“There’s been a rumor for ages that you’re immortal. Are you saying that’s not true? From what I’ve read, humans have a shorter life span than us. Your species only live about 85 years or so.”
“I’ve heard the rumor and, yes, the average human lifespan is shorter than a Kryptonian’s.”
“You look pretty darn good for your age if you’re preparing to join Rao in a few cycles.”
Lena has to laugh. She lets Kara lead her away from the platform and down to the street. They walk hand in hand.
“So you’re not immortal?”
“It remains to be seen.”
“Then maybe our white sun did give you a hint of something after all.”
“Maybe. I have yet to ascertain the cause.”
“I could help you with your study, should you choose to explore it further.”
“You want to study me?”
Kara blushes. “I...I didn’t mean it like that. I only meant—“
“I know what you meant.”
Silence falls between them.
“You’re still holding my hand.”
“You’re still letting me.”
“It’s strange.” She stares. “You’re different. You’re so different than you were before, a completely different person, but somehow...when I look at you, you’re exactly who you’ve always been.”
“Are you different now too?”
“Yes.” She shrugs. “I think so anyway.”
“But we’ve still found each other. That means something.”
“Are you sure you want to hear this? You might be angry with me. I...I made choices that changed your life. A great number of lives.”
“I want to hear everything. But even if I do get angry, I won’t leave. I promise.”
Lena starts at that. How could she know exactly—? The realization hits her. 
“My fears...you feel them right now, don’t you?”
Kara nods. “I won’t betray you, Lena. Whatever mistakes I’ve made before...in that other life...I won’t make them again.”
“You’ll make other mistakes.”
“Of course!” She laughs. “I’m gifted, but hardly perfect. You’ll make mistakes too, even if you are the Great New Dawn.”
“Two prodigies...” Lena raises an eyebrow. “I don’t know how people stand us. We must be insufferable to be around.”
“I can’t be held accountable for the jealousy of others.”
Lena chuckles. “Good to know you’re as competitive as ever.”
“And you? Are you competitive as well?”
“On occasion...when it comes to the right things.”
Kara grins. “Tell me more about Earth.”
“Earth or...you on Earth?”
“Both. Or just one. Whatever you like. We have all the time we need. We’ll get to it eventually.”
“Kara?”
“Yes?”
“What do you want?”
“You.”
“How do you know that?”
“I just do.”
“You’re not afraid?”
“Of losing you? Yes, I’m afraid. I thought I did when you left me in the Grove that night.”
“It’s different this time though.”
“Different how?”
“You were afraid before. O-on Earth. So you lied to me. Hid things from me. You were afraid I’d reject you.”
“So I lost you anyway?”
“For a while.”
“I know who I am and I want to share all of that with you. I’m afraid I’ll lose you if I don’t. Do you think that means I learned my lesson with a second chance?”
“Even though you don’t remember the first?”
Kara tilts her head thoughtfully.  “Are you familiar with the theological concept of reincarnation?”
Lena nods.
“Many species and cultures detail it differently, but the belief that a soul does not reside in an afterlife fascinates me. The idea that one could instead be reborn and is destined to learn new lessons with each life that it failed to learn in the last. Maybe we found a way to do that without needing to die at all.”
“Are you sure you’re the First Order of the Science Council? Because that sounds an awful lot like preaching I’ve heard from the Religious Guild. You’re in the wrong profession.”
Kara rolls her eyes. “If anything, I should have joined the Artisans. But it’s too late for that.”
Lena’s quiet for a moment. They’re walking along streets she’s never seen before and doesn’t care. It doesn’t matter.
“I think I’m learning...” she says softly, “that it’s never too late. If you want something enough, it’s never too late.”
“I hope you’re right.”
Lena looks around. “Do you know where you’re going?”
“No, I thought you did.”
“No. I guess we’re lost then.”
Kara shrugs with a charming, sunny smile that lights her whole face. It’s the one that Lena hasn’t seen in over 40 years and it takes her breath away.
“Oh well.” Kara squeezes Lena’s hand happily. “I suppose we’ll find our way together.”
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airplanned · 4 years ago
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Ned Talks About Describing Things
Okay, so.  Descriptions are boring.  So the question is, how do I make sure my reader follows this while not boring them so much that they close the window?
Over simplification: if your reader knows what a thing looks like, you don't need to describe it.  A convenience store.  A high school.  A grocery store.  A boring office.  I know what those look like.  You know what those look like.  If you explain how there are three rows of shelves at the connivence store, one with candy, one with snacks, one with cleaning products, I will slap you.  Now, this doesn't mean that you can't sprinkle some details in there.  That adds some color.  Saying that she was staring at the three varieties of sunflower seeds without making a decision, can tell me a lot about the character's feelings right then, and is also kind of funny.  Saying "she opened her locker, which was the color of a dying houseplant" does the same thing.  But the thing is that these are lines dropped into the action of the scene, and what we really want to talk about is when to devote a whole paragraph to description.
I can think of three reasons you would need a block of description: 1. You need to know this to follow the story, 2. it will explain a character better, and  3. it's cool and your reader will enjoy hearing about it.
1. You need to know this.   Do I need to know what the convenience store looks like, or is it fine if I have my own version in my head even if it's not exactly what you the writer have in your head?  You have to give up some control and let your reader live their life.  There is no way you will ever make the scene in your reader's head exactly the way it is in your head.  Just get over that now and let your reader imagine the bathroom.
But let's say there is a setting with a very large, perilous cliff off to the side, and later a major character is going to fall off that cliff.  By all means, describe that cliff to me.  I want to know the stakes if someone falls (sharp rocks at the bottom, how the wind screams and pulls at you, how you can't even see it until you're right there.)  This instantly makes me worry that someone's going to fall off that cliff. Let's say they're at the connivence store, but the lights are red.  That's weird!  That goes against my expectations, and I need to know that because it's probably important. 
But now, if you're only describing plot relevant things, the reader will pick up on it and whatever you describe will become Chekov's gun.  If the only thing you lovingly describe is a cliff, I'll bet you $10 someone's going over that cliff.  I once beta'ed a novel for a friend where he went into extensive detail about a seaplane.  I knew that seaplane better than I knew the main character.  I was so excited for a seaplane chase!  Guess what.  That plane was never seen again, and I was ticked.
The cool thing abut fanfic is that all your readers know what all the locations and the characters look like!  Unless you're doing an AU or something, this is one of the main things that fanfic scaffolds for, and you don't need to describe all that much.
2. It will explain a character better.  If a character is neat and tidily dressed with perfectly applied makeup, that tells me something about them.  If they have three nose rings and a motorcycle helmet tucked under their arm, that tells me something.  If their room has a Backstreet Boys poster, that tells me something.  Remember that bathroom you let someone imagine earlier?  Well, what if it's a VERY FANCY bathroom and our main character was already feeling out of place in this rich person's house, so they hide in the bathroom, but!  Even this bathroom is alienating!  There's marble and some sort of water feature and little mints in a basket and a bidet!  Ack!  Yes!  Tell me about the bathroom.
Describing a character is something that probably needs to happen, and needs to happen up front (if you're not writing fic).  Because if I find out a character has glasses half way through the book, and I had not been picturing them with glasses, I will reject that description and continue to pretend they don't have glasses and be a little bitter.  It can be a chore, but you can make the description interesting or funny in a way that strikes your reader enough to stick with them and give them as sense of the character without going through the laundry list of hair color and eye color and height and blah blah blah.  (Lev Grossman with the Magicians series does a lot of things I don't care for, but his descriptions of characters are like well aimed knives and worth picking apart).
3. It's cool.  So let's say we get to a thing that is just WILD.  You've been imagining it for months.  You doodle pictures of it.  No one has done this before and you are so excited to write about it.  This thing has a sense of wonder about it.  Here, that wonder is a driving force that pulls your reader forward. If I'm interested, then you're not slowing anything down by telling me about it. If you are showing me a cool thing, then YES, SHOW ME THE COOL THING.  Tell me more!  
I have a friend who writes Sci-fi, and she's always worried that she's boring her readers with her descriptions of the absolutely bananas rainforest on this moon and the weird-assed weapons people carry around to walk through the jungle and how the telepaths can communicate with the creatures of the jungle, and I always send her stuff back with big old circles that say WHOA!  MORE OF THIS!  This is actually a pretty big trope in sci-fi.  There's a book called "2312," which is just a tour of the solar system that has been terraformed, and there's not a whole lot of plot, but that's okay, because I get these log descriptions about this city on a track on Mercury, and it's great.
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fictionadventurer · 4 years ago
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I can’t stop thinking about the Superman AU where Kara doesn’t get lost in the Phantom Zone so both children are raised by the Kents.
Kara’s ship was set up to teach her English (and possibly other Earth languages) during the trip, so the Kents learn the whole story of Krypton right away. Both kids keep their Kryptonian first names.
Kara’s extremely protective/possessive of Kal at first. She was sent across solar systems to take care of this kid, and it’s hard to step back and let anyone else fill that parent role.
Right away, the Kents notice that Kara’s stronger and faster and more durable than a human, but she doesn’t start developing outright superpowers for at least a few years. Kal starts showing signs of it by the time he’s in kindergarten, though extreme powers don’t really start to develop until his teenage years.
Kara’s homeschooled for a few years, but she does attend Smallville High for, yes, the socialization. (And to quell some of the rumors about the weird kids the Kents adopted).
The Kents have a swingset that’s the site of tons of terrifying acrobatic stunts from two children who are developing powers of invulnerability and flight.
Kara never quite loses her Kryptonian accent. In high school, there’s a running gag where she claims the accent is from more and more ridiculous places. Metropolis. France. Antarctica. Mars. Middle Earth.
(One time someone joked that her accent was from Alderaan, and it hit way too close to home).
(The official story from the Kents is that Kara was adopted from parents who did a lot of traveling and her mixed-up accent was worsened by a mild hearing/speech impairment).
The Kent household is bilingual. The kids are both fluent in Kryptonian, and Martha and Jon made sincere efforts to learn, though they’ll never be really adept. About half of the conversations in the house occur in a pidgin Krypt-lish.
For Kara’s sake, they try to adopt Kryptonian celebrations into their family traditions, but it’s difficult when a good chunk of Kryptonian holidays celebrate celestial events that they can no longer see or family connections that no longer exist.
Kara = Jock Girl. Kal = Nerd Boy.
Kara’s smart, but her early education on a different planet makes it harder to adapt to this world’s knowledge system, so she doesn’t put her focus toward academics.
She’s somehow both a tomboy and the girliest possible girl. She’ll be shoveling manure one minute and buying mascara the next.
She’s also got a very practical, no-nonsense personality, but she’s devoted to her carefully curated selection of stuff animals. She may have made one or two based on memories of Kryptonian animals.
Kara’s on a couple of athletic teams in high school. I could see her being on a dance team because good performance requires her to work in sync with the entire team, so her superpowers don’t give her that much of an advantage. And she’s in volleyball because she has a volleyball girl vibe.
Kal’s more introverted and sheltered (especially with two protective mother figures hovering over him), but he grows up comfortably human while fully acknowledging his Kryptonian heritage. He really does need glasses as a kid, learns to read young, and overall slots comfortably into the role of Friendly Neighborhood Nerd from his early elementary years.
(”What’s Kal short for?” people ask him. “Kaleidoscope”, he replies.)
Both kids are close with both Kents, but Kara has a particularly strong bond with Jonathan while Kal is more similar to Martha.
Kal bonds with Martha over her collection of pulp sci-fi books. (Kara finds their depictions of other worlds too unrealistic). They’re also both Star Trek fans--Kal prefers the original series, while Martha prefers Next Gen.
Kara stays on the farm after graduating high school. She still feels a strong duty to stay and care for Kal, and though she won’t say it out loud, she needs to cling to the sense of home that Smallville provides after losing her home planet.
She helps out with the farm work, and also works as a paramedic and/or firefighter. The job serves her caretaker strengths, and also provides a lot of opportunities to use her powers to rush to the rescue. It doesn’t take long for the “Smallville Angel” to become a local cryptid.
Her love interest is a down-home Smallville boy. Possibly a high school sweetheart, possibly someone she meets on the job, whether working alongside him or helping to rescue him. He has a very hands-on job, whether it’s as a firefighter, construction worker, or a farmer.
By the time Kal’s a high school freshman, he takes over the Smallville High paper and transforms it from a sports-scores-and-lunch-menus fluff page into a hard-hitting investigative paper. Within his first few months on the paper, he uncovers an embezzlement scandal at the school.
Kal is far more at home in Smallville than Kara is, but because it’s the only home he’s known, he also feels more of a drive to explore the world outside it. He does some traveling after high school, goes to Metropolis for college, and though he visits Smallville frequently, he never lives there again after leaving.
Kara gets married (to the above-mentioned love interest) around the same time that Kal graduates high school. They settle down in Smallville.
Kara has at least one biological kid, but she also becomes a stepmother/adopted mother. Could be that her love interest is a widower with children from his previous marriage. Maybe they adopt a couple of his brother’s kids. Maybe they adopt some kids from a rescue situation Kara came across. But I want Kara to have to deal with some of the “You’re not my real mom” stuff that she put Martha through.
(And it’s even more interesting from the perspective of the kids. When do you tell them? How do they deal with “my stepmother is a space alien who shoots lasers from her eyes”?)
Kal takes up hero work in Metropolis, but has a harder time keeping his identity secret with so many eyes around. With his imagination primed by pulp sci-fi, it doesn’t take long to come up with the idea of a costumed alter ego. Kara thinks it’s a bit silly, but her heart soars when she sees the costume’s focal point is the House of El crest, and she loves that it becomes a symbol of hope for this world.
It’s a big step when Kal brings Lois home to meet the parents, but the real test is when she meets Kara.
“She’s my big sister. Well, really my cousin. Also kind of my mom.”
“I didn’t think you were that kind of hick, Smallville.”
If she’s being completely honest, Lois is intimidated by the idea of meeting someone with all of Kal’s abilities and a mother-wolf instinct to protect him. But the Kents are intimidated by Kal getting involved with an investigative journalist who’s the daughter of a military general.
They hit it off great, though, and both sides quickly realize they have nothing to worry about.
There’s also a huge Kent extended family that was involved with these kids from the moment that Jon and Martha found spaceships in their cornfield. The Kents are exactly the clan you want at your back when you need to hide two alien kids from the government. Need fake identification and adoption papers? Someone to steer the Men in Black off the trail? The Kents will pitch in with enthusiasm.
Not everyone in the family knows about their abilities or secret identities, but they’re a close-knit clan anyway. They have a harder time adjusting to having city-gal Lois among their ranks than two space alien kids.
It’s a crazy, chaotic, blended and adopted family that’s growing and shifting over the years and always provides a place for Kara and Kal to belong.
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marshmallow-phd · 4 years ago
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Scarlet Moon
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Genre: Scarlet Heart Ryeo!AU, Time Travel!AU, Alternate History, Royalty!AU
Pairing: OC x EXO OT9
Summary:  This isn’t Gwen’s time. She was from the modern era, with technology and electricity. But during a solar eclipse, she’s transported back into a previous life in a time and place she does not know. Now, as the foreign daughter of a merchant living in a prince’s household, she must tread carefully, watch her back, and guard her heart. But with the princes locked in a battle over the throne, the chances of her making it out alive might disappear.
Part: 1 I 2 I 3
                                               ********
Gwen gasped at the sudden closeness of the man. His long black hair was only partially pulled back, leaving most of it to fall over his shoulders. Bangs fell on the left half of his face, but they barely hid the mask underneath. He was like a figure from a story Gwen’s father – her real father – would tell her before going to sleep. The dark hero of a fairytale. 
This mystique, however, was undone by his recklessness with the horse.
The rider sneered at Gwen, confused by her foreign appearance. Then, slowly, the sneer turned into a smirk. Though the expression angered her, Gwen forced herself to remain polite, opening her mouth to thank him for saving her from falling in the river - despite the fact that it had been caused by him in the first place. Before the first syllable could be voiced, the rider brought the horse to a stop. 
And shoved her off. 
She landed with a hard thump in the dirt, her palms taking most of the bite. Now even angrier than before, she jumped up, putting herself dangerously between him and the road. He might have saved her from the river, but it was possible that he would run her over. 
“Who exactly do you think you are, riding through a market full of people like that?” Gwen yelled. A lock of hair fell into her eyes. She blew it out of the way, not taking her eyes off of the masked rider. “You could have hurt someone who did nothing to you!”
The scolding seemed to do little more than annoy him. Still smirking, he reared his horse back, the hooves kicking mere inches from Gwen’s face. She scrambled out of the way as the rider took off, charging even more fiercely as if to make a point. 
Gwen muttered to herself as she dusted off the dirt from her dress. The curses didn’t stop as she stomped back towards Prince Suho’s household, done with enough adventuring for the day. 
Things were quieter there, calmer. Most of the servants were moving on to their evening chores. Chae Ryung found Gwen wandering through the courtyard and escorted her to dinner. To her relief, it was only Gwen and Papa in their private quarters. She didn’t have to worry about protocol and manners. She only had to worry about Papa eating first, though he insisted she get her fill before himself. Everything was delicious and filling. 
Gwen stayed mostly quiet during dinner, keeping her strange encounter with the masked rider to herself as Papa talked about the progress on the house. He was excited about the ways the builders were combining the styles of Goryeo with the styles of home, of Eire. Gwen smiled as she listened to the low tenor of his voice. No matter what happened, this man made her feel safe, stable. 
She still wanted to go home. She needed to get back home. But- Well, she didn’t have a way back yet, so she might as well grow comfortable in her new role. It was quite possible that this Gwen was now running around in her body back in her time. She hoped that past Gwen was kind to her family. They would take care of each other’s families until they were back in their respective times. 
                                            ********
“I’ve been looking for you everywhere,” Chae Ryung huffed, irritated. Her shoulders heaved up and down from running all around the compound. 
Gwen had been hiding on purpose. She’d taken one of the history texts out of the library and was sitting precisely in the empty gazebo so she would be seen from the path while she read. She had been hoping for one day where she wasn’t bothered, wasn’t in someone’s way, or being ordered about. Perhaps that was too much to hope for.
“The Princess is requesting your presence in the Prince’s study.”
Gwen whimpered. “Do I have to?” The princess had been ordering her to do small, annoying things over the past week, mostly for the upcoming festival. Chae Ryung nodded sympathetically. Closing the book a little too harshly, Gwen stood up from her hiding spot. “Fine. Lead the way.”
Gwen was silently stewing as she followed Chae Ryung through the buildings, making a stop at the library to replace the book before continuing on to the study - a room that was almost the entirety of the building it was housed in. She assumed that she was going to be told to tidy up or write letters, or organize stamps. 
Unfortunately, it was much worse. 
Once outside the study, Gwen was informed that she was to help serve tea to the gathered princes. Wonderful. The last time Gwen had checked, she was a guest here, not a servant. But the princess wanted to humiliate her or put her in “her place”. Gwen didn’t mind being helpful around the household, she had told Prince Suho as much. As long as she had a say in it, she would do it. But this was court lady work.  
With a small wooden tray in her hands, Gwen followed the court ladies in, coming in last. Her eyes were trained down to fight the humiliation that was brewing under her cheeks. She prayed that her pale skin wouldn’t give away her embarrassment. They turned red at the drop of the hat. 
When she finally looked up from the tray, she let out a quiet gasp before hiding behind a pillar. Not the smartest or least noticeable move, but her surprise took over her actions. 
The masked rider was there. 
That rude jerk was a prince? Gwen nearly choked on a scoff. She thought they were supposed to be charming and chivalrous, like Suho. He was the walking portrait of a prince, all the way down to how he spoke and carried his shoulders. The masked rider was the opposite - the selfish, snobbish prince who didn’t care about the ordinary person. Did the two of them really come from the same bloodline?
Gathering up what little courage she could find, Gwen left the safety of the pillar. She continued to keep her face down towards the ground as she slowly approached the table. Her hands were slightly trembling, but she hoped no one noticed. 
Two feet stepped in her way, blocking the path to the table. Inch by inch, she moved her gaze up until she was nearly nose to nose with another one of the princes. It was the klutzy one from the rehearsal she had witnessed last week. Gwen jumped back in surprise, letting out a small yelp. The tray slipped from her shaking fingers, landing on the floor with an attention-grabbing rattle. The young prince scurried behind his brothers with a scream of his own.
“It’s a green-eyed demon!” the scared prince shouted.
“I am not a demon!” Gwen yelled back defiantly. The previous meekness was gone. Her fists curled at her sides. There was a long list of abuse she was willing to take in this time period, but being called a demon because of her eyes was not going to be one of them. 
The prince still cowered behind the others as he pointed at Gwen. “That’s what they all say!”
“Clean up this mess!” Yeon Hwa ordered of Gwen. From the way her face contorted, Gwen could only assume that she had ruined the precious gathering. That was what she got for making Gwen do this anyway.
Gwen didn’t move to clean up the spilt tray. All eyes were on her. The emotion of her situation along with being called a demon - worse than human - was beginning to be all too much. She could feel the tears starting to form along with a lump in her throat. Taking a risk, she made eye contact with each prince. Three had pity on her, one was scared, and two were simply annoyed with the current proceedings. Then the last prince; she could only see part of his face, but the smirk he had worn while throwing her off the horse was nowhere to be found, replaced by something else. Gwen didn’t bother to stick around to try and read it. Without a single word, she turned on her heels and marched out of the study. 
Once alone in the courtyard surrounded by buildings that constantly reminded Gwen where she was, she took deep breaths, willing the tears to go back inside where they belonged. Her body calmed down. It took time, but it did eventually. Needing to be alone, she took a step to head back to her room. She agonized over Lady Hae having to hear about this. She was going to hide. Until a throat being cleared stopped her in her tracks.
Turning around, the young, rude prince stood a few feet, acting all high and mighty like the spoiled brat he was with his arms crossed and his chin raised. 
“Can I help you?” Gwen snipped. 
He frowned, not accustomed to that kind of reaction. “You need to go back inside and clean up your mess.”
Gwen’s mouth dropped. “My mess? You were the one who scared me and called me a demon! Not to mention got in my face!”
The assertiveness was slipping. His arms uncrossed in a jagged manner, pausing halfway before falling completely to the sides. “I am a prince. I don’t have to respect your boundaries.”
The nerve of this guy! 
The five-year-old behavior would have been entertaining, considering this prince had to be in at least his early twenties, but being on the receiving end evaporated the amusement on the spot. “Oh, yes, you do! I’m a human being. Prince or not, you have no right to go around calling people demons just because they don’t look like you!”
The prince stalked closer until he was once again in Gwen’s face. “Well, from how you’re treating me, maybe you are a demon!”
Smack!
She hadn’t meant to do it. If she could take it back she would. She usually had more control over her actions. But having him mere inches away, again accusing her of not even being a person was too much and her hand reached out to slap him before she could process what was happening.
A big red mark stood out against his skin and he held it as he let out a whine. 
“Maybe now you’ll learn not to call people demons just because they look different from you,” Gwen growled. Though she regretted the action, she let her emotions speak for her. The initial thought was that he would understand his wrongdoing and apologize like he should have in the first place. She’d overestimated him. 
The prince charged, wrapping his arm around her neck and putting her in a chokehold. It wasn’t tight enough to cut off air, but Gwen was incapable of hitting him again from this angle to defend herself. She struggled against his grip, unable to break free.
The rustling of more onlookers reached Gwen’s ears. Then someone shouted, “Baekhyun, let her go!” 
With effort, Gwen shifted around to see that the princes, minus the masked one, had ventured out to see what the ruckus was. 
Wonderful. As if this couldn’t get more embarrassing. Sick of the situation, Gwen flung her head back, knocking the prince – Baekhyun, apparently – in the nose. His grip loosened enough for her to escape. Not caring about the audience and her earlier regret dissipated, Gwen reached her hand back. This time, she was fully aware of the intent of smacking him. Mid swing, a hand grabbed her wrist, bringing it to a stop.
It’s the masked prince, interested in the affair after all.
Baekhyun, seeing an opening, went to charge again.
“Baekhyun!” Prince Suho cried out. “That is enough. People are watching.”
Baekhyun glanced around, noticing the servants that, too, had stopped to watch the show. With a pout, he ran off as the others dispersed as well. 
Gwen wrenched her hand out the masked prince’s grasp. He said nothing as he walked off. She stared after him, fighting with the urge to kick him. Her bravado was still high from the fight with Baekhyun. There was something she was dying to tell him and no will power to hold it back. “Hey!”
He stopped abruptly, startling Gwen. She’d expected the prince to ignore her, to keep walking as if her voice was nothing more than an annoying gnat to shoo away. He spun on the heels of his boots and stared her down. Though not as tall as some of his brothers, his stare under the mask made up for it with its intensity.
Not wanting him to be satisfied with scaring her, Gwen squared up her shoulders. “I think you owe me an apology. 
“Really?” The smirk was back, pressing the skin of his cheek into the edge of the mask. It was nearly impossible to ignore the wooden covering, but Gwen tried to focus on the eyes behind it. 
“Yes,” Gwen barked back. “I don’t know who told you it was okay to chauvinistically charge through a crowded market and nearly get someone killed, but being a prince doesn’t give you the right to just shove everyone out of your way!”
The prince stepped up, forcing Gwen to look up at him despite him not being that tall to begin with. Admittedly, her bravado was beginning to waiver. What exactly made her start this confrontation again?
“Who are you?”
“My name is Gwen. I'm the merchant’s daughter living with Prince Suho.”
“No, who are you,” he asked mockingly, folding his hands behind his back, “to demand such a thing? What is your status that you could treat royalty in such a way?”
It was Gwen’s turn to scoff. This was what she got for growing up in a country that didn’t have royalty. Though equality was not practiced as it was preached, she still had that rosy-colored outlook. “Are you serious? Are you also going to treat me like dirt just because I look different? No matter what my face looks like, you should still apologize for throwing me from your horse. I could have been hurt worse than if I’d fallen into the river anyway!”
He nodded in a way that made it seem like he was contemplating what Gwen had said. She started to smile, thinking maybe she had won and would get what she demanded. That is, until he leaned down, so close to Gwen’s face that he had begun to blur. 
“Once I, as a prince, apologize, then you, a nobody, will have to die for causing such humiliation. Are you okay with that?” 
Gwen swallowed hard. She hadn’t taken that particular aspect into account. The slightest offense could mean the end of her life here. And anything could be considered an offense. It was all up to the royal family. It sickened her, the idea that a life could be thrown away so easily. But her own opinions held no weight in this place. 
The Prince knew he had her. “Well, then. I’m sor-”
A savior rounded the corner. All courage lost, Gwen ran to Lady Hae before the prince could finish his sentence. 
“Gwen, there you are. Come with me.” 
Her tone was clipped. It sent a shiver down Gwen’s spine. She followed Lady Hae all the way to the temple. At first, Gwen was confused as to why she had been led here, but it dawned on her. It must be time for Lady Hae’s daily prayer. 
Not looking at Gwen, Lady Hae stared down at the pile of rocks in front of her. “I heard what happened with Prince Baekhyun.”
“He started it!” I defended, worried that she might think I did it all on purpose. 
“No matter the reason, you laid a hand on an imperial prince,” she sighed. It seemed that she would not be on Gwen’s side, no matter what. “You won’t be able to escape punishment. It’s possible that even Prince Suho and your father will be punished as well.” 
That… that wasn’t fair. Why should they be punished? Gwen was an individual person who made her own choices. Neither of those men made her do anything. Although, Prince Suho didn’t exactly come to her aid either. 
Lady Hae stopped, turning to face Gwen. “You have changed so much. Even though you were unpredictable before, you still kept your head and knew your place.” She gestured to a pile of rocks that were stacked to resemble a pyramid. 
“These rocks are placed here by mothers and they come to pray for their children. I don’t have any, but this pile is one I built for you. I know I could never replace your own mother, but since your father and you have come to live here, I took it upon myself to look after you as my own. I feel as if I have failed. I’m ashamed that your mother is watching me fail.”
Every word she spoke was filled with true emotion. She was right, she could never replace Gwen’s mom - past or future - but here she was, trying her best to look after someone she wasn’t even related to. Her compassion and love was overwhelming. The tears Gwen had been holding back since the study swelled over. Lady Hae pulled her into a hug and Gwen held on tightly. 
Lady Hae left her alone a little while later to reflect on her thoughts. 
Gwen spent hours sitting in front of the pile of stones that had been spent specifically for her. She was causing the people here too much heartache and frustration. She needed to get back home. But how? She hardly knew how she got here. Would she have to wait for another eclipse? And then what? Bash a rock to her head? Jump in the lake and drown? Some sort of magic had brought her here and left her without a rule book. 
She hoped that this wasn’t one of those “you must stay here until you learn a lesson” type of journey. If that was the case, then she would be stuck here for a very long time. 
“Lady Gwen! Please, come quickly!” Chae Ryung came skidding to a stop near the prayer pile.
“What is it, Chae Ryung?” Gwen asked absentmindedly. She did not want to do any more “favors” for the princess. Whatever needed to be done, her highness could do it herself. 
“Your father–”
Gwen jumped up from the ground, suddenly paying attention. “Papa! What is it? What happened?”
“There was an accident at the construction site.” Chae Ryung grabbed Gwen’s hand, pulling her along. “Please, come quickly!” They ran back to the house as quickly as their dresses would allow. 
In Papa’s room were Prince Suho, Lady Hae, and the doctor. Papa was lying in his bed, sweat dotting his face and neck. His breath was ragged and uneven. Not caring about decorum, Gwen shoved past them all, to be his side. His shirt had been ripped away, showing his torso wrapped in bloody bandages. The doctor stood up and whispered to Prince Suho.
“It doesn’t look good. I’m not sure if he’ll make it.”
Gwen thought she had cried away all of her tears earlier selfishly, but some were still left for this. He was her one connection in this place, the only other outsider who could understand her confusion of this place. He couldn’t leave her alone. It was selfish, she knew, but… she needed him. More than she had realized. 
“Papa.”
Papa opened his eyes at the sound of Gwen’s voice. Lady Hae coughed heavily behind them. Gwen barely acknowledged Chae Ryung escorting her out.
“Gwen,” Papa breathed softly. “You look just like your mother. So much. Remember both her and me when I’m gone.”
“You’re not going anywhere, Papa,” Gwen said through gritted teeth. “I’ll see you every day. Especially when we move into our own home.”
“Yes,” he smiled weakly. “My little butterfly. I keep forgetting that you’ve already broken out of your cocoon. Just don’t fly too high.” The doctor put his hand on Gwen’s shoulder, silently signaling for her to leave. She didn’t want to be away from his side, but her hysteria wasn’t going to help him heal. 
“Rest, Papa,” Gwen ordered. She gave him a kiss on his scruffy cheek before following Prince Suho out. 
In the hallway, Prince Suho offered his comfort. It didn’t feel appropriate as he pulled her in for an awkward hug. It wasn’t like Lady Hae’s hug from earlier. “Your father is a strong man. I’m sure he will recover soon.”
Gwen shook her head as she slipped out of his arms, tears still streaming down her face. She hoped that there hadn’t been onlookers. “I heard the doctor. He doesn’t have hope.”
“Miracles have happened before.”
A sob escaped. “I just need one. One miracle in my life and I will be satisfied. He can’t leave me alone.”
A hand weighed down on her shoulder. She looked up. Prince Suho stared down at her with pity. Or, at least, she thought it was pity. There was a hint of something else, but Gwen couldn’t read what it might be. “You won’t be alone. If anything happens, we will continue to watch over you.”
Gwen had no words to give back to him, so she simply nodded, bowed and walked off.
She was too restless for sleep. She needed the true feeling of being alone and there were too many bodies around the prince’s household to achieve that. 
So, Gwen left the buildings behind in favor of the trees, letting her hands brush up against the soft bark, wandering aimlessly. The image of Papa’s bandages plagued her mind, the bright red stains haunting her every step. 
Eventually, she came to a small cave, just beyond the public bathing pool. Too curious to move on, she stepped inside. Someone had made it their personal hideaway. Or it was once a storage area, given the wooden crates and rotting ropes scattered around the edges. A small wooden bridge connected the two sides of the cave so any travelers wouldn’t have to step into the shallow creek running through. Gwen followed the path to the other exit, unsure of where it led but too inquisitive to turn back now. 
More trees greeted her on the other side. There didn’t seem to be anything worthwhile to find. She was about to give up on any sort of distraction when she heard the sound of splashing water. Stepping lightly, she headed towards it. Perhaps there was a secret waterfall hidden in the forest. That would certainly be something to behold. Maybe it could be a new haven for her when she needed to get away. 
Abruptly, the trees stopped. It wasn’t a waterfall waiting for her, but a private bathhouse. The masked prince from before was slowly walking into the outside pool, his face no longer covered by the intricate wood carving. His bangs, however, still covered too much for Gwen to see what was so important to be concealed. 
Obviously intruding, Gwen turned to go when – just like the movies – her foot snapped a twig, the sound much louder than it ever should have been. The prince’s head shot up and he was out of the water faster than a snake after its prey. Gwen was too frozen to move when he found her just inside the trees. 
His hand covered the left half of his face and for once, there was no harsh emotion on his face, only horror and shame. 
“Did you see it?” he asked hesitantly. 
Gwen didn’t answer him, unsure of what it was she supposedly might have seen. Her silence brought back the anger as he stepped forward. He wrapped his hand that had been previously covering his face around Gwen’s neck. Not tightly, but enough that she couldn’t run away. He would probably catch her, anyway, since he didn’t have the burden of skirts to slow his pace. 
Now, she could faintly make out whatever disfigurement he was hiding, what he didn’t want her to see. A red line stuck out from his pale skin, right under his eye. It stretched down his cheek in a jagged line.
“I asked if you saw it!”
“Please,” was all she could muster up. Panic rolled over her, but he wouldn’t hurt her simply for accidentally stumbling into this area, would he? Then again, she was already in trouble from hitting Baekhyun. 
Relaxing one finger at a time, he finally released Gwen’s neck. “Go. And forget me.”
Nodding frantically, she tripped and stumbled back the way she’d come. 
She didn’t slow her pace until she was back through the cave and she saw the lights of Prince Suho’s home. When she rounded the first building, it seemed the whole household was waiting for her to reappear. 
Prince Suho looked relieved when he saw the thing stumbling out of the forest was Gwen. Lady Hae ran up, wrapping her in a crushing hug. 
When Lady Hae pulled back, she chastised, “How could you wander off without a word? You’ve left your family worried.”
“I-” Gwen was stunned. But she wasn’t sure if it was from her run-in with the masked prince, or from Lady Hae including Gwen in her family. “I’m sorry. I just needed to clear my head. I didn’t mean to worry anyone.”
Lady Hae cupped Gwen’s cheek in her palm. “Please, next time, at least tell one of us, so we aren’t worried when no one can find you.”
Gwen bowed to hide my tears from hurting her so much. “I’m sorry. I won’t do it again.”
“Come, let’s go inside before you catch ill as well.”
Lady Hae kept an arm at Gwen’s back to guide her inside. As Gwen passed Prince Suho, he locked eyes with her and smiled. She smiled back out of politeness. 
Chae Ryung took over for Lady Hae and assisted Gwen in getting ready for bed, brushing out the unruly red hair that had gotten tangled up from the rush to escape. Thinking that servants were the ones more likely to give up information, Gwen decided to finally get some answers to the masked prince.
“Chae Ryung?”
“Yes?”
Gwen fiddled with a simple hair pin that sat at the vanity, trying not to look too eager for the answer. “What do you know about the masked prince?”
Chae Ryung’s hands froze. “Th-the masked prince?”
“Yes.”
“That’s Fourth Prince Wang Yixing!” she said frantically. “You better stay away from him! He is cruel beyond imagination! He was sent to the Kang clan down south to appease them. The mother had lost her son because of the King and was threatening rebellion. He is called the dog-wolf. If anyone sees the scar, he kills them. That’s what hides behind the mask. A hideous scar that deforms his face! Everyone’s wary of him at the court.”
The memory of Yixing wrapping his hand around her throat in anger hits Gwen. She rubbed her neck where his skin had pressed up against her own. And yet, she could only find pity for him, thinking of the scared look on his face when he thought she had seen his scar.
“Is having a scar really that bad of a thing?” Gwen asked quietly. It hadn’t seemed that bad, from she could discern from behind the hair. She certainly wouldn’t call him deformed. 
Chae Ryung nodded. “Yes, it’s only because he’s a prince that he wasn’t completely cast out.”
Gwen shook her head in anger. “What a ridiculous notion.”
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girlfriendsofthegalaxy · 3 years ago
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tuesday again 11/23/21
vacation problems, baybee
listening pitch black, by sencit feat. lady blackbird (deathloop soundtrack). i do not think i will be playing this game since a particular twist was revealed to me (if i had two nickels &tc) and my backlog is already...very long, but this track is a banger. i like this more than many “real” james bond movie opening songs
youtube
reading mawrth valliis, by EPHK. the schtick is “presented in the original martian” which i think could have been a stronger creative choice if there was less dialogue? the lettering is very pretty, but it’s sort of a frustrating read. i fucking hate the character design and the twist, but the art is lovely in a very textural way, and i’m a sucker for pages like this. 126 p is not a lot of my time wasted
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watching the anime otherside picnic is based off the light novel (and manga adaptation) of otherside picnic by iori miyazawa, itself based off the novel roadside picnic by the strugatsky brothers. in short, otherside picnic is a gay genderbent college AU isekai that manages to capture some of the psychological horror and financial desperation of the original. still with me? available free here (legally, even! you’re welcome).
dailymotion
i care about these girls in a way i don’t usually with anime. part of this is bc this anime does tick all my boxes- young lesbians figuring themselves out, who grow into a well-oiled pair that also goofs around on their off time, a perpetually exasperated handler/patron, The City Is Alive And Will Get You, it’s an adaptation of one of my favorite things, jokes about the availability and type of guns in open-world RPGs that made me laugh like a hyena. there’s a bit about someone growing their hair out that genuinely gutted me. i am probably going to buy physical copies of these light novels bc apparently the POV voice is Quite Something and they’re more explicitly gay.
the animation is Fine, the sound mixing is quite good imo, the emotional arcs were satisfying, i really love halfhour shows bc it’s so easy to watch a whole season in like three days if you’re not careful. hour-long shows are Appointment Television. that’s a Time Investment i simply do not always have
this show (unfortunately) features the US military stationed at okinawa (the marines ARE the ones most likely to get themselves into this sort of situation tbh) and therefore cannot let anything really bad happen to them although i really do think they should just be left to tear each other apart in the Zone/otherside
playing still having a Time with meshes not meshing in sable (also a piece of graffiti i needed to follow to start a quest simply...wasn’t there?) but it’s very forgivable, imo. i am willing to put up with a lot for a pretty game with mysterious solar-system spanning mysteries and wrecked ships to climb around. 4/6 of the way done with the ship AI quest and i am extremely excited and also pre-grieving what i think happened
ANYWAY. BIG DISH YAAAAAAY
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making found :) dead :) moths :) in :) my :) new :) sewing :) machine :) cabinet :) so that’s been fumigated to the best of my ability, please cross your fingers i did not introduce clothes moths to my house bc that’s the last fucking thing i need (sewing machine backstory here)
so i haven’t actually started sewing anything yet, and the first thing i was going to make was a new ironing board cover, so it’s hard to prep anything. am i starting with any of the half finished projects i have already cut out? heavens fucking no we’re going to do something with this dreadful flag print i picked up in the summer. setting invisible zippers, truly my beloathed
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pattern companies: it’s a shift dress...with a TWIST!
me, every time: it’s a shift dress... with a TWIST!!! :0
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blurglesmurfklaine · 4 years ago
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If the World Was Ending
A/N: not to be that bicth who writes song lyrics as a summary but…
Summary: 
I know, you know, we know You weren’t down for forever and it’s fine…
But if the world was ending, you’d come over right?
“The human race on the edge of extinction, and all Kurt can think about is his ex-fiance.”
Based on If the World Was Ending by JP Saxe
1908 words, angst, reconciliation fic (seasin six AU ish)
A/N (edit): This started out rated G but now it’s rated E oops
Read On AO3
***
He’d called his dad.
“I’m coming home,” he’d blubbered. “It’s not too long of a drive.”
“You and I both know there’s no way you’re getting out of New York right now, kiddo. The roads are gonna be way too congested, no one’s going anywhere.”
“Then I’ll book a flight.”
“Airlines aren’t operating. Indefinitely.”
“I will walk if I have to then, I don’t care, dad. This can’t be—I have to see you. I don’t want—”
“Kurt,” his dad said, a brittle finality in his tone. 
And Kurt knew what it meant. He could waste his last breaths trying, but there was no way he was getting back to Lima before time was up.
So many things he’d wanted to say. I’m so scared. I don’t want to be alone. But with an invisible countdown hanging forebodingly over everyone’s head, all there was time for were the words that mattered. 
“I love you, Dad,” he’d whispered brokenly.
“I know,” Burt had replied. “I love you, too. So much.”
“Tell Carole and Finn I love them.”
“They know. I will, but they know.”
Silence taught between the lines, heavy with the not wanting to let go. 
“Kurt…”
“Yeah?”
“You should go see him.”
And the line went dead.
Kurt had cried, tried to redial, screamed pathetically at his phone until his vocal cords were raw with the fear and loneliness that have been aching in him ever since he broke things off with Blaine, amplified now by the blood-stained sunset and the steadily increasing heat.
Solar flares, they’d said on the news that morning. Just a rare, astronomical anomaly, something to mark on the calendar. By the time Kurt had gotten out of his last class, it seemed there would be no more calendar to mark. NASA’s top astrophysicist estimated they had until sunset before the planet was burnt to a crisp. 
The human race on the edge of extinction, and all Kurt can think about is his ex-fiance.
What a horrid way to find out that he does, in fact, want to spend the rest of his life with Blaine.
He’s passed Blaine’s new apartment now and then, feeling an undercurrent of regret every time he did, and now, his feet seem to follow his heart there. 
Fear makes his arm heavy when he finally reaches the front door to Blaine;s new apartment, but something deeper, stronger within him gives him no choice but to knock. 
There’s a little peephole on the front of the door. Kurt imagines Blaine taking one single glance through it, scoffing, and walking away. He’d probably be happier to see a takeout delivery boy than he would the ex-fiance that left him high and dry, broke the best thing that ever happened to him, then left Blaine anchorless. 
If Blaine hates him, Kurt could never blame him for turning him away, even as their demise creeps up behind them.
Click.
The door unlatches and groans open slowly, revealing a familiar face. 
Blaine doesn’t look angry. He doesn’t look confused, or surprised, or any of the reactions Kurt might’ve envisioned. He just looks relieved.
In an attempt to dry his quickly dying throat, not wanting his voice to crack when he speaks to Blaine for the first time in months, Kurt swallows. “Hi, Blaine,” he manages.
There’s only time to register a miniscule waver in Blaine’s lips before his arms are around Kurt and both of them have collapsed in the doorway, reduced to a heap of sobs.
God there are so many things that race through Kurt’s mind like missiles exploding into more sobs before they find their way out of his mouth, but he can’t find the strength to verbalize any of that right now.
Oh, and he doesn’t have to. He doesn’t have to be strong around Blaine, doesn’t have to hold himself twice as solidly as he does around him and Jesus how he’s missed it. He misses the freedom of not having to hold yourself together when you submit to someone your vulnerability.
Nuzzling his wet face into the familiar curve of where Blaine’s shoulder and neck meet, Kurt is reminded of the safety his relationship with Blaine offered him, that all-encompassing security Kurt once mistook as a suffocating confine because… well, a house can feel like a prison to someone who's never had a home before.
And Blaine is his home, he knows that now. Hell, he’s always known it, and was afraid of it. 
After the apparent shock of having Kurt in his arms again wears off, Blaine pulls away to get a better look at him. “I’m so glad you’re okay. I tried calling you, but I didn’t know if the lines were working after—” 
“I know, I know,” Kurt says frantically, a bit fearfully. “I wasn’t sure if you’d be here, or if you’d even let me in.”
Blaine lets out a wet little laugh that’s halfway a sob. “Kurt, I will always let you in,” he says, and then surges forward to crash his lips onto Kurt’s.
In a flurry of motion, they pick themselves up off the floor and tumble inside the apartment, a mess of flesh and libs desperately trying to cling to each other. As if they are reading each other’s minds, as if they haven’t been separated for months, they each follow the other’s lead. 
The force of the kiss sends them staggering backwards, until Kurt’s back slams roughly against the living room wall. “Shit,” Blaine breathes, pulling away to check on Kurt. “You okay?”
Kurt just pulls him back in, not wanting to have him away for longer than absolutely necessary. “‘M okay,” Kurt mumbles messily against Blaine’s lips. “Just. Don’t stop. Need you.”
Kurt reaches out to unbutton Blaine’s jeans and Blaine returns the favor. A sense of urgency hangs thick in the air, and there’s no time to worry about getting the rest of their clothes off once Kurt’s kicked off his pants to the floor and Blaine has his pulled down enough to free his trapped cock.
Making sure they never break their kiss, Blaine reaches down to grab Kurt’s ass and hoists him up into his hips, using his weight to pin Kurt to the wall while Kurt wraps his legs around Blaine, hooking them together at the ankles.
And then Blaine presses in, and Kurt can feel himself start to fall apart.
Up until now, they’d felt the urgency, the need to rush and just finally be with each other again. But now that Blaine has finally slipped inside him, he rocks his hips forward slowly, fucking into Kurt as if they have eons left together, an eternity instead of mere hours.
With each thrust, Kurt lets out an involuntary cross between a whine and a moan, throwing his head back before eventually burying it into Blaine’s neck and gripping the back of his shirt tightly with his fists. Blaine doesn’t pick up the pace, though; he seems determined to make this last as long as he can, even if it means watching Kurt come utterly undone, still pinned between Blaine’s warmth and the wall.
Kurt feels dizzy and heady with Blaine’s body, and every motion his ex-fiance makes sends another pulse of electricity throughout Kurt’s entire body. Somehow, Kurt manages to gather up enough brain power to think to press his lips to Blaine’s shoulder, messy and wet and sloppy. One by one, he peppers a trail of kisses upwards. From Blaine’s shoulder, to the crook of his neck, to his chin, until finally their lips are together again and Kurt lets Blaine breathe in every broken noise from his mouth. 
It occurs to him, suddenly, how truly lucky he is. What a privilege it is to be able to experience, one last time, the forever he so cowardly tossed aside. This is what he gave up. The man holding him up against the apartment wall, loving him so tenderly, forgivingly, as if Kurt didn’t shatter him a few months ago. The man who could map out every inch of Kurt’s body and soul blindfolded, and using that knowledge to show Kurt exactly how much he still loves him. The kind of love that could hold on when one of them walked away, that could be so understanding, that could forgive when Kurt said some unloving things to the person he loves most in the world.
Kurt had all of this right in the palm of his hand, and he just… let it all go.
When Blaine bucks his hips up this time, Kurt is unable to keep his little moan from evolving into a sob as he once again drops his head into Blaine’s neck, trying to hide his face, red and wet with tears.
In an instant, Blaine is there, cradling Kurt in his hands and lifting his face. “Kurt, baby, what’s wrong? Do you need me to stop—”
Kurt shakes his head and reaches to hold Blaine’s face as well. “No, no, please, don’t stop. I just—” Getting the words out between sobs is proving much more difficult than Kurt could have ever imagined. “I’m so sorry, Blaine. God, I am so fucking sorry. I love you so, so much, and I don’t even know why I—I’m just so sorry.”
 Blaine smooths the sides of Kurt’s hair down, lips quavering before letting his entire face crumble. “It’s okay. None of that matters now.”
It’s then, that Blaine finally quickens his pace slightly, and it’s enough for Kurt to get close again. Blaine wraps a fist around Kurt’s cock trapped between them and starts pumping in time with his thrusts. He leans forward to kiss Kurt one more time, as if the fifty they’ve already shared weren’t enough, and mumbles, “I love you, too.”
And that’s all it takes—knowing that despite it all, Blaine can say those words and still mean them—to send Kurt over the edge, spilling out between their bodies. Blaine keeps fucking him through the height of his orgasm, each strong roll of his hips bringing Kurt to the brink of overstimulation, and after a few seconds, Kurt can feel him finally coming inside of him, little pulses sending aftershocks through Kurt. 
They stay there for a moment—only for a moment, as the ones they have left together are limited—doing nothing except remaining intertwined with each other, holding each other, breathing together.  
Hours later, when they both have cleaned up and come down from their post-orgasm highs, when Blaine has told Kurt about the phone call he got to have with his parents and Cooper, they just lie in Blaine’s bed, wrapped around one another, hands interlocked.
It’s nearly ten at night, but the sky is bright as noon outside. Kurt has always prided himself on his courage, but doesn’t want to lie to himself and say that he isn't afraid to die. He’s fucking terrified. 
But then he looks at Blaine and Everything’s going to be okay, doesn’t feel like the blatant lie it is.
It’s getting harder and harder for Kurt to imagine why he’d ever left him behind. At the time, he’d thought they were nothing more than someone once innocent, now broken.
Maybe they are. But just like Blaine said, none of that matters. 
Because in these final moments they’re sharing, in the sun’s fatal rays, even shattered glass will glitter like the gold they once were.
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tuanyiems · 4 years ago
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Ice Choco
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Yugyeom x Reader (f) fluff x smut words: 4k plot: you’re nervous about spending the holidays with his parents, but you should be more nervous about the boy who can’t seem to take his hands off of you, established relationship!au christmas!au warnings – fingering, teasing, slow sex, unprotected sex, creampie, this one’s extra fluffy I think, it’s Christmas after all :’) a/n – Christmas came early hehe enjoy! part of Le Chocolatier drabble series, which you can find the masterlist for in my blog. feel free to read this as a one-shot or part of the series, in any order you want <3
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You smile fondly at the twinkling fir tree, golden lights and sparkling red bulbs drape over its forest green body. Chocolate squares wrapped in silver foil that you and Yugyeom had hand wrapped yourselves hang on red ribbons throughout the tree. You pluck one off and pop it into your mouth. The peppermint chocolate melts on your tongue, coating your mouth in sweetness.
When Yugyeom first invited you to join his family for the holidays, you were anxious. It hadn’t even been three months since you started dating. You wondered if you were moving too fast. Would his family judge you? Would Yugyeom realize how awkward of a person you were? Would you be left sad and alone on your favorite holiday?
It was only after plenty of reassurance from Yugyeom that you decided to just go for it. You liked Yugyeom, a lot, and despite the short time you’ve been dating, every day has been full of happiness. And if his family was anything like Yugyeom, you would probably like them too.
And that’s how you found yourself here, in the Kim’s living room on Christmas Eve. Unlike what you had imagined, his parents welcomed you with open arms. You learned exactly where Yugyeom got his warmth and kindness.
And as if this moment couldn’t be more picturesque, a full moon hung in the night sky like a shining ornament.
“Pretty,” Mrs. Kim interjected, stepping beside you.
“It is,” you smile, looking out the window.
“No, I was talking about you dear,” she grins, squeezing your arm.
“O-oh,” you stutter, feeling your cheeks heat.
Laughing, Mrs. Kim tilts her head back the same way Yugyeom laughs when he’s teasing you. “Aren’t you a cutie! Yugyeom did good finding you.”
“T-thanks,” you sputter, not sure what to do with yourself. You fix at the red plaid pajamas the Kim’s gifted you with this morning. “I’m glad you invited me…or, well, I don’t know if you invited me. I don’t know if you knew about me. Maybe Yugyeom just brought me without notice. Oh, I hope he didn’t-”
Giggling, Mrs. Kim pulls you into a side hug.
“Sorry,” you apologize, taking a deep breath. “What I mean is, you’ve been so nice. I’m happy to spend the holidays with you and your whole family. Really, thank you.”
“Not at all,” Mrs. Kim scrunches her nose, smiling. “It’s nice to have another woman in the house. Tomorrow, my daughter-in-law will be joining us too!”
“I can’t wait to meet her and your eldest son!” You agree, “I’ve heard so many great things from Yugyeom.”
She nods, giving your arm another squeeze. “Yeah, Yugyeom dotes on his brother so much. But until then, you can use Euigyeom’s old bedroom. I’ve prepared fresh sheets so you can get a good night’s sleep.”
“Fresh sheets won’t feel as cozy as my bedsheets though,” Yugyeom interrupts, coming up beside his mother.
Your eyes widen at his comment.
Mrs. Kim frowns, slapping Yugyeom on the arm. “No babies until you two get married!”
Yugyeom laughs at his mom and when he sees your mortified face, laughs even harder. You aren’t even sure which part of her sentence to be more flustered about—the fact that his mom just insinuated you two possibly having sex under her roof or that you’ve been dating for less than three months and she was already considering marriage! 
Your skin feels like hot lava and you wonder if you might even hive up from embarrassment. That would be a first.
“Oh, I think we broke her,” his mom chuckles.
“Honey,” Mr. Kim interrupts, resting his hands over Mrs. Kim’s shoulders. “Let’s head to bed and let the young one’s talk.”
He sends you a wink before ushering his wife into their bedroom. When you hear their door shut, you let out a sigh, shoulders slumping. Yugyeom chuckles softly beside you, patting you on the back.
“I told you, you had nothing to worry about,” he says. “My parents love you already. I think they love you more than they love me.”
“Impossible!” you scrunch your nose, but your lips curl up anyways. “This afternoon when I was helping your mom in the kitchen, she kept talking about all the awards you won in high school. Class president, co-president of the dance club, winner of the youth dance competition. How come you never talk about dance? What else are you hiding from me?”
Yugyeom’s eyes crinkle into half moon shapes. “I also won first prize in the science fair in primary school,” he grins, winking at you playfully. “Your man made a pretty mean volcano back in the day.”
“Oh wow, a volcano? That beats the boy I dated for his solar system model,” you joke.
He smirks, putting his arm around you, “Definitely an upgrade, babe.”
“Tomorrow, I’ll ask to see the baby photos,” you tease, leaning into his embrace as you poke his chest.
Yugyeom tilts his head cockily to the side. “Not to brag, but I was a pretty cute baby. Just a warning, but you might fall in love with me.”
You roll your eyes. A little too late for that, you think to yourself, but that is a confession for another day.
“We should probably clean up and head to bed soon,” you smile, pulling away.
“Don’t wanna see Santa?” he teases.
You chuckle, clearing the living room of the abandoned mugs and plates with the exception of one plate of chocolate chip cookies. “I think it’s cute that your mom still keeps out cookies.”
He smiles, helping you empty the dishes into the sink. “Back when we were kids, they’d wake up at midnight and eat the cookies too.”
Lips jutting out, you stare at Yugyeom with big doe eyes, completely endeared. He glances at you before chuckling and slipping on the bright pink dishwashing gloves.
“On the downside, I got bullied for being the only kid in the neighborhood who still believed in Santa,” he adds.
“Aww, poor baby,” you coo, brushing the stray hair out of his eyes. “Tell me their names, I’ll go beat them up for you.”
“Bambam,” he quips making you laugh.
“Sorry, Gyeom, you’re on your own.”
He chuckles. “S’alright, I had my mom fight that battle.”
You let out a deep breath, leaning your elbows on the center island of the kitchen and admire Yugyeom from behind. He’s only in a plain grey t-shirt and matching red plaid pajama pants, and yet, he still looks handsome. Your eyes travel across his broad back. There is the faint hint of his tattoo underneath the thin cotton material.
When you first saw Yugyeom’s back tattoo, you were surprised but also found it very fitting. Black ink bled wings across his shoulder blades. In a way, Yugyeom came into your life like an angel. Your guardian angel, he liked to joke, saving others from your clumsiness. 
You scoff at the memory, making Yugyeom turn to you with narrowed eyes.
“What are you snickering about back there?”
“Nothing!” you squeak, pursing your lips together like a child caught red handed. 
He looks at you for a moment longer before turning back to the dishes, smiling to himself. 
“I was just thinking,” you finally add after a pause. “I really enjoy the relationship you have with your parents.”
You watch his shoulders lift and you imagine he’s smiling. “Yeah, they’re my best friends,” he tells you over the sound of the running faucet.
“I’m jealous,” you confess softly. You assume he doesn’t hear you.
Unlike Yugyeom, you grew up in a strict household. The only memories you have of your biological father were all associated with fear and while you got along with your mother, you weren’t exactly close either. Of course, the two of you loved each other as most families did, but after experiencing a marriage of struggle, as soon as you were of legal age, your mom went off to chase her own freedom. Back in your late teens, this had put a strain in your relationship, but now that you are older, with your perspective matured, you grew to understand your mom and you’re glad that she’s found a happier life of her own.
Now, the two of you can talk openly about the ups and downs of adulthood and womanhood and everything in between.
But this was why you weren’t spending the holidays with your own family. The two of you had decided a few years back that New Year’s would be for family, Christmas is for love and adventure.
You watch as your love and adventure turns off the faucet and shakes the pink gloves off his arms. “Done!” he declares triumphantly, turning to you now.
“Looks like you’re going to make the nice list this year,” you compliment, wrapping your arms around his neck.
He grins down at you, “How about you sneak into my room and we can both make the naughty list.”
Your eyes widen, feeling your cheeks flush at the thought. Yugyeom laughs, throwing his head back.
“I’m just kidding, don’t have a heart attack!” 
Slapping his chest, you pout. “Let’s go to sleep. I’m going to need the energy to deal with you tomorrow.”
But when your head finally sinks into the fresh sheets Mrs. Kim had prepared for you, sleep never comes. After washing up and saying goodnight to Yugyeom, it was like all the exhaustion washed away too. You are wide awake when the clock hits midnight.
It’s probably because you’re in a new environment. It’s been a while since you last slept in a stranger’s bed. You haven’t even slept at Yugyeom’s place yet! You always go home before it gets too late, or it’s him staying at yours.
Anyways, the nerves of meeting Yugyeom’s family along with the new environment and the thrill of Christmas combined is probably what’s keeping you up.
Sitting up in bed, you decide to fix up a warm drink. That should calm you, right?
Slipping out of bed, you sneak out of your bedroom on tiptoes, twisting the doorknob so slowly one might think you’ve been frozen. One thing about the Kim’s house is how eerily quiet the whole place is. Unlike your apartment where everything seemed to buzz—the fridge, the walls, the ceiling, you name it—this house was cloaked in silence.
It feels like an eternity when you finally get the door open big enough to walk through. Looking both ways in the dark hallway, you make a turn and tiptoe your way into the kitchen. Once in the kitchen, you flick the island lights on, casting a dim spotlight at the center of the room. You squint, eyes adjusting to the lights before making your way towards the cabinets.
Helping Mrs. Kim with dinner this evening had paid off. You were already familiar with the kitchen setup.
Plucking a hot chocolate packet between two fingers, you swivel back to the island to boil the water. Pouring the brown powder into a mug, you let out a breath, waiting for the water to boil.
In the open window across from you, you are delighted to find a flurry of white illuminated by the dim light of a single lamppost. The snowflakes fall in fat clumps, as if in slow motion. The quiet realization that you will have a white Christmas after all, brings a soft smile to your lips.
“Hello, Santa,” a sudden voice breaks the silence, making you jump up in a silent shriek.
Standing in the shadows, at the doorway of the kitchen is a very amused Yugyeom, his hands clasped around his mouth to muffle his laughter.
“You scared me!” you whisper yell, one hand on your beating chest.
“Sorry,” he apologizes, not at all sorry, as he walks to your side behind the island. “What are you doing up anyways?”
“Making hot chocolate,” you explain, hands coming to fix at his bed head. “I couldn’t fall asleep. Want one?”
You’re already grabbing another packet from the cabinet before he can answer you.
“I can make you an ice choco,” you smile up at him, eyes forming crescents. They look shinier under the lights. He feels a flutter in his stomach.
Smiling quietly, Yugyeom nods. For a moment, the two of you stand in easy silence. Only the sound of the water boiler can be heard. Yugyeom’s eyes follow where yours are staring and his heart warms. You look so happy, it’s endearing. You must be the only person in this city who hasn’t been jaded from the snowstorms that hit every winter.
Coming from behind, Yugyeom wraps you in his arms, bending to rest his chin in the crook of your shoulder.
“Merry Christmas,” he whispers into your ear, gazing out at the falling snow.
“Merry Christmas,” you reply, turning, you hold his face in one palm and press a kiss to his cheek. He squeezes you tighter in his arms.
When the water boiler clicks off, water now hot and bubbling, you move to grab it but Yugyeom holds you tight, pulling you closer to his chest. You giggle softly, tilting your head at him curiously. He answers you with cold fingers sliding underneath your shirt. It sends you shivering all over.
“Yugyeom!” you squeak in surprise, making futile attempts to escape his grasp.
“I know something else we could do to get you sleepy,” he whispers, breath on the shell of your ear.
“Y-your parents are right down the hall!” you stutter, gulping back the whimper that threatens to escape your throat.
Yugyeom licks a stripe up the shell of your ear, “And sleeping.” You can feel his smirk against your ear.
“I-w-we can’t,” you whine, unconvincingly.
“But you want to,” he says matter-of-factly, hands sliding up your skin. You feel him inhale when his palms come around the supple flesh of your breasts. “No bra? You naughty girl.”
Your protests catch in your throat when he begins to knead at your breasts, rolling both nipples between his thumbs. You whimper, head falling back onto his shoulder at the sensation. His fingers brush against the sensitive buds gently, barely there. It makes your knees weak and your core throb with want.
Yugyeom presses himself into your back and you can feel him hard against you. “You don’t know how hard it was for me to control myself today. Do you know how many hard ons I had to hide from my parents?”
You break into a smile, grinding your ass harder into him. “Is that why you were hugging that throw pillow all day?”
“Don’t you dare laugh at me,” Yugyeom warns, pinching you between his thumbs. “I saw the way you were looking at me. I can read you like a book, baby. Bet you’re already wet.”
Yugyeom presses a kiss to your jawline before sucking down your throat. Your breath skips at the fluttering feeling. “G-gyeom, I-I can’t have hickeys.”
He groans softly against you, biting softly at your jugular before letting go. “You don’t get to call the shots, babe.”
The sternness of his voice makes you whimper, which he catches easily with his own lips on yours. Yugyeom kisses you roughly, tongue overpowering yours just the way you like it. When his hand dips down past the waistband of your pajama pants and panties at once, your eyes fall shut, relishing the sudden intrusion.
“Fucking wet,” he smirks, dipping two fingers between your folds. He gathers your slick, spreading it in circles around your sensitive bud. You whimper, knees going weak.
All too soon though, his hand leaves you, making you whine. He holds his fingers up in the light, admiring the glistening web of arousal. As if practiced, you open your mouth for him and he slides his fingers into your mouth. You whimper at the tang of yourself melting on your tongue.
“Tell me you want me,” he mutters, lids heavy as he slides his fingers in and out of your mouth. You run your tongue around his fingers expertly until you’ve licked him clean.
Yugyeom swallows, watching you suck on his fingers and imagines you sucking other things of his. The very thought makes him shiver. Reluctantly, he pulls his fingers out of your mouth, letting you speak.
“Please Gyeom,” you whine, breathless. “I want you. Need you inside me already.”
It’s music to his ears and he wants to tease you more, but his patience has already run out. Having spent the better half of this day sporting blue balls, Yugyeom just wants to fuck you senseless.
It catches you by surprise when he slips his thumbs down your waistbands and pulls, leaving your ass bare behind the kitchen island. Before you can even feel embarrassed about the sudden exposure, Yugyeom’s finger are back on you, making you whimper while his other hand makes quick work with his own pants and boxers. His cock springs free, red and throbbing.
“You look so delicious like this,” he whispers into your ear, hands squeezing your ass. Oh, how he would have loved to slap your ass until you were red with his fingerprints. Biting his lips, he pushes his dick between your thighs instead.
“Ooh,” you let out a satisfied sigh, your clit rubbing along the length of his cock. Your thighs are soft and warm around his length, it’s unfair, Yugyeom thinks. Your pussy is weeping with desperation, the arousal drips down, coating his dick so that each time he thrusts between your legs, it is deliciously smooth. Everything about your body is heavenly, like it was made for him.
Already, you’re panting, a thick whine straining in your throat. His hot cock rutting between your thighs just teases at your sensitive bud. Your pussy lips clench around nothing and only succeeds in making the ache in your core more despairing. 
“Gyeom, please,” you breathe out, hands coming up to run through his hair, your fingers thread around his black strands, before pulling into your fists. Yugyeom enjoys the ache in his scalp.
When he pulls his cock away, you almost yell out loud, lips pouting from the lost sensation. He answers you with a smirk, nudging his foot between yours, he forces your legs apart. Your hands grip at the counter for support, fingers pressing down hard when he slides two fingers into you without warning.
Immediately, you bite at your bottom lip, fighting the moan that threatens to escape you as he dips his fingers into you over and over, stretching at your velvety walls. His fingers are long and practiced, finding the rough, spongy patch inside you quickly.
Your eyes squeeze shut, the ghost of a whimper panting from your lips as he curls his fingers, sending shivers straight to your core. Over and over, he does this, until you’re tightening around his digits. All too soon, your knees are buckling, mind going numb from the sensation.
And then, he pulls out of you.
You gasp, eyes opening wide while Yugyeom chuckles darkly. 
Before you can complain, he kisses your temple sweetly. “Not yet, baby,” he whispers soothingly.
You feel Yugyeom stepping closer between your legs and then the head of his cock teases at your entrance, sliding up and down your folds, spreading your slick on him.
You’re about to whine for him to stop teasing when you hear the creak of a door opening. Eyes widening, your heart jumps to your throat when the sound of footsteps shuffling against the floors, echoes like a blaring drum from down the dark hallway.
Your breath hitches when Yugyeom sinks his cock into you slowly. Your palm flies to your mouth, just as he slides all the way in, balls pressed to your ass. He leans into you so that his chest is hard-pressed against your back. You can feel his breath on your skin as his lips press against the nape of your neck.
The door of the bathroom opens and closes.
“Shh,” he mumbles against you, slowly pulling out of you. The friction is so delicious, you can’t help the whimper that muffles against your palm. “Wouldn’t want to get caught with my dick inside you…would you?”
He fucks into you, one hand coming to your throat at the sound of your muffled moan. He squeezes at your throat, softly at first. When he feels the way you clench around his cock, he bites into your shoulder, hiding his groan.
“Are you gonna be a good girl?” he whispers into your ear, fingers tapping at your throat. You nod your head eagerly, rutting yourself onto his dick.
He bites at his lip, squeezing around your neck. At the sound of the water faucet running, Yugyeom ruts into you hard, his free hand coming to rub circles around your clit. You pant, breath constricting and eyes rolling. You love the way he fills you entirely. His slow thrusts hit you deep every time, keeping you at the edge of euphoria.
When the bathroom door opens, Yugyeom’s fingers rub at your bud even faster, sending your heart facing and electric currents straight to your core. You’re so close, it hurts. Tears brim at the corner of your eyes, your voice threatening to break as your ears strain to hear the footsteps coming closer.
You can feel your vein pulsing against your forehead as Yugyeom continues to thrust his cock into your sopping hole, sliding deep into your cunt.
The door of his parents’ bedroom squeaks like slow motion. Please, please go back to bed. Shut the door. All you can hear is your heart pounding in your own ear and Yugyeom’s stifled breathing. 
And then you hear the click.
Yugyeom lets go of your throat to hold the edge of the counter instead and the air that invades your lungs while he fucks into you hard send you off the edge.
“Mmmmm,” a strained moan escapes your throat as you collapse onto the island, body jerking as your orgasm hits you in waves. Yugyeom continues his ministrations on your clit, his own balls straining at the way your pussy pulses around him, impossibly tight.
“That’s it, baby,” he soothes, rocking himself into you as you slowly come down from your high. He caresses your throat lovingly, placing soft kisses to your jawline until he’s spilling into you with a quiet groan.
You shiver, his moan tickling the shell of your ear as your pussy pulsed around his cock, sucking up each hot spurt of cum that shot into you.
“God,” he sighs, sweaty forehead pressing into your shoulder. He all but collapses on you. “I love you so much.”
Both you and Yugyeom freeze. His softened cock slips out of you and he rushes to help clean the cum that drips out of your pussy. Stumbling, Yugyeom haphazardly pulls the band of his pants back up while grabbing a towel from behind him.
You barely even notice the stickiness that drips down your thigh as Yugyeom wipes the damp towel across your skin. Instead, you stare down at his fluffy hair, a smile stretching across your face.
“Gyeom,” you say softly as he fixes your pants back up, still refusing to look at you. Your fingers thread through his hair softly, “Gyeom.”
When he tilts his head up, he looks so worried. You feel your heart squeeze.
“Gyeom,” you smile softly, helping him back up to his feet. “I love you too.”
He blinks like he’s heard you wrong. “You love me too?”
You nod, giggling now. “I do. A lot.”
Yugyeom pulls you into a kiss.
“You love me!” he repeats against your lips and then he is kissing you again until you are both giggling against each other.
146 notes · View notes
caitsyoi · 4 years ago
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I made a post about the Seraphites, so now I want to make one about the WLF. This post is mostly about the WLF's home base, aka the stadium and the area immediately around it. I've included some of my favorite pictures, and my thoughts and observations about where they live and their culture.
Under the cut again to keep things nice and clean.
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I gotta say, this blew my mind when I first saw this as Abby. The WLF really have their shit together. Multiple power sources, a bunch of the resources FEDRA left behind, and multiple food sources. The field has cattle, sheep, and chickens plus some farming. On the steps they have even more areas for farming. They have a way to collect water, and even people to design and string up their logo everywhere.
It makes sense, supposedly thousands of people live here (you can't see it unless except via glitch, but there is also baseball stadium immediately next to this that they might also occupy).
We only see where Abby and other soldiers (perhaps squad leaders?) live. They have a pretty cushy life, two per luxury box (the rooms NFL teams overcharge for that run along the upper level of stadiums). Mel also mentions a special area for young families, I wouldn't be surprised if these areas were further divided. Perhaps there is also housing for larger families and single people who aren't soldiers or squad leaders. I very much wonder if those who join the military get better housing than those that work as farmers (or dishwashers, teachers, laundry washers, cooks, etc.). As mentioned earlier, Abby and Manny live in a luxury box, and there are 112 of those in the stadium this is based on. That's housing for 224 people, if they all live like the people in Abby's hallway. That would mean there has to be more housing in other parts of the stadium.
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This stadium was once used by FEDRA, and you can see the concrete barriers they left behind along the edge of the field. They have to have more cattle than this, to feed all the people that supposedly live under the WLF. There is farmland around the stadium (more on that later), so maybe they mostly let them graze out there, then move some in when they plan on slaughtering them soon.
I love that they have wind turbines AND solar panels. You can see the influence that the Fireflies had on Issac and the WLF, they really focus on stability and restoring what was lost (at least when it comes to comfort). So they have electricity, sustainable food sources (and multiple kinds too), and a way to collect water (you can't see it in this shot, but they use a system similar to Jackson's, just on a much wider scale).
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They teach a curriculum similar to what was taught to kids before the outbreak. We only see two classrooms, but from what I can tell they try to give the gives the type of education they could have received in the old days (as best they can, at least). Both the teachers you see are pretty young, which makes me wonder who taught them.
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Most of the kinds you see in class are pretty young, like less than 10. These look a little order (they are outside the stadium in the market area, which I will talk about more a little later). I wonder how long WLF children are required to attend school (I think I saw a sign for 1st through 6th grade, so at least that?). I imagine they get a basic education with some broad looks into various topics, and maybe the ones most apt for study are selected to do specialized careers like teaching or meteorology. Other children are probably pushed into farming or the military portion of the WLF. Regardless of what they study, they probably also get a heavy dose of WLF propaganda. That aligns with how gung-ho many of them are to fight.
I wonder if military service is compulsory, like everyone has has to do at least so much time and then they can do other things if they want. Or maybe they make it so you don't have to fight if you don't want to, but those that do get better perks.
Most of the WLF you see appear to be in their 20's or 30's, or at least the fighters. That would mean they have spent most (if not all) of their lives under military rule, and they would have a special allegiance to the WLF since they manage things so much better than FEDRA did. Plus, you know, all that propaganda. I imagine they are told a lot about how the WLF is restoring society and how the WLF saved them from FEDRA/Scars/infected.
Sorta related, I thought of an WLF AU. Ellie grows up in Seattle under the WLF, perhaps with Riley and Dina and the other characters from canon. So many interesting things can be done with this, but that's for another post maybe.
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This is one the cafeteria's the WLF use. I believe this is one of a few, although this is the only one you see. There is also a butcher and small market for clothing and items here too. They prepare food here, but I think the majority of cooking is done in an area set up for it in the stands.
They have posted meal times for groups A-F, and separate meal times for children and the late night patrol. So maybe this is the only cafeteria? Each end is blocked off, so maybe they use some of the corridor that circles the stadium for more living quarters.
This is also community space where they can play games, chat, or read. There also seems to be a mix of soldiers and other workers eating together, as well as young families (there is at least 1 or 2 women with young babies in here).
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This little detail was super cute to me, but it also tells you a lot about WLF society. Everyone has a job to do, there is a role and place for everyone to contribute.
I'll talk more about this in another post (titled "It's Silly to Call a Post-apocalyptic Group 'Fascists', but Still the WLF Is Pretty Messed Up"), but an important thing to remember about the WLF is that everything comes down to Issac. He has the final say on everything, he makes all the major decisions, he picks squad leaders, he decides who needs to be punished, he's basically the Supreme Leader. Issac has been shown to be somewhat progressive with some things (you can follow whatever religion you want or none at all in the WLF, the WLF has no problem with LGBTQ people, you can get medical waivers for military duty, they provide support for pregnant women and parents, etc.), and in other ways he is very much the opposite (he punishes anyone who disagrees with him - this could be a relatively light punishment of a crappy assignment or it could be a beating, then there's the whole attempted genocide thing). Anyway, my point is that there are good things about the WLF, but also there is a serious darkside.
Anyway, when I saw this lady and her baby I immediately thought of Dina doing this with JJ while she gardens.
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I absolutely loveeeee this little detail. A mural for the fallen. This really reminds me of some stuff you could see today, just replace the wolf with an eagle and make the uniforms camo.
There are 46ish names on this wall, so I wonder if it is continuously updated or if there are multiple murals, because they definitely have lost more people than that over the years. Also, there are about 150 people at the FOB (the amount of bodies at the FOB, yes I counted) that will need to be added. Maybe the war with the Seraphites just really exploded in the last few weeks (or maybe longer) leading up to Ellie's arrival.
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I love that you can pause during the ride with Abby, Mel, and Manny to look around the outside of the stadium. Immediately outside there are train tracks and what appears to be a large market running along side of it. This is on the west side of the stadium, I believe. A major highway intersection is also nearby.
The market has all sorts of goods, food, gas, clothing, cleaning products, TVs and other electronics, records, and even more. I wonder if this is some sort of intake area for any goods they bring back to the base. But who runs these little shops? From some notes you can find we know their economy runs on trade, so how does this work?
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Once you get past the market area, you see a pretty vast section of farmland. I loved this shot because it also shows one of their rain water storage areas. They mark this water as to be used only for irrigation, so they must use something else for people to drink and bathe with. Or maybe they just filter some water for people to use, and the rest goes to the plants.
In the background you can see the wall and a guard tower. There is a larger wall (like much larger, I'm talking maybe 5 stories) around the QZ, and a smaller one that runs around the stadium.
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This is labeled "Checkpoint #4", so I'm not sure if that means there are other gates, but this is the only one we see in game.
The wall is pretty thick, and you can see these guard towers spaced out all alongside it (much like in Jackson). Once you leave the walls you are immediately surrounded by the wasteland that is post-apocalyptic Seattle.
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wonderduorising · 5 years ago
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Bakudeku Fic Recs
Wonder Duo: Rising has reached 500 followers on twitter! To celebrate, we decided to come together and create a list of Bakudeku fic recommendations. All fanfics on this list are SFW, are within the range of 300 kudos or less, and were recommended by one or more of the anthology’s contributors!
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Fic: stones at the starlight by Shousanki
Length: 2.9k
Summary: Katsuki and Izuku struggle to survive in an adult world not kind to (not-quite) childhood sweethearts as they search for the small and good things amidst petty indignities.
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Fic: to the moon and back by Rejectimate
Length: 1.4k
Summary: Training camp has nothing on Katsuki's strict sleep schedule. But Deku's embarrassing ass sure does.
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Fic: don’t misunderstand by Kokushibo
Length: 1k
Summary: three times that kacchan addresses him. one time that he does it differently.
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Fic: Twin Stars Week ficlets by Hollyandvice (series)
Length: Varies
Summary: A collection of Bakudeku ficlets for Twin Stars Week.
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Fic: CORDIPUGUS by Greatcloudninja
Length: 3.2k
Summary: Katsuki Bakugou, a slave-turned-gladiator, has one more fight to win to earn his freedom. His goal? To be able to marry his beloved Izuku Midoriya, noble son of Senator Toshinori Yagi. But first, he has to get through his toughest battle yet.
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Fic: when the saints by Flapkack
Length: 2.5k
Summary: In Bakugou Katsuki’s humble fucking opinion, parade blocks were one of the most effective forms of torture. Telling someone to walk straight forward, eyes ahead, shoulders square, rolling their feet, playing the exact same damn cadences over and over and over again was already bad enough. But then, toss in a string of other people to keep in line, bad marchers and freshmen, to make matters even worse.
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Fic: Small Town Change by CommanderSipShady
Length: 12.2k
Summary: They say nothing ever happens in this sleepy town, but that night everything changed for the better. 40 year old BakuDeku real world AU. 
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Fic: At the Mountain’s Edge by Anzul
Length: 30k (multi-chap, WIP)
Summary: Muromachi Japan, 1465. Soulmates - once nothing but a flightful fancy among the Heian nobility - have become the political currency of the century. Blessed with telepathic communication and the ability to sense each other regardless of their geographical distance once a bond has been established, they are an invaluable commodity to any warrior hoping to amass power in the wake of the Ashikaga's weakening rule.
Bakugou Katsuki is no exception. But no matter what matchmaking house his family visits, they all tell him the same thing: that at the end of his red string, there waits no one. Katsuki is destined to walk his path alone.
Now forced to become a candidate for political marriage, Katsuki must learn the traditional arts and proper courtship etiquette to attract more suitors. Izuku, the adopted protégé and matchmaking master of the Midoriya House, is hired to be his tutor. Izuku himself is not only without a soulmate, but Bondless - someone without a red string at all, but capable of seeing everyone else's.
[Or: An alternate soulmate x historical AU where everybody has soulmates except Katsuki and Izuku.]
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Fic: all the savage soul requires by Majjale
Length: 50k (multi-chap, WIP)
Summary: Bakugou seems to have exhausted his patience for words and no longer acknowledges that Midoriya exists, so Midoriya crosses his legs, stares down at his hands limned in firelight, and makes a list of things he knows.
One. His name is Midoriya Izuku.
Two. He is a Godmarked, future god of life, heir to the divine throne.
Three. The gods have been fighting Death for eons, and now he's coming for recompense with everything he’s got.
*
Fic: to measure a year by Shousanki
Length: 4.7k (multi-chap, complete)
Summary: The dance of two leaves around each other. Collection of Katsuki/Izuku drabbles, originally written between the winter of 2017 and summer of 2018.
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Fic: we run in antiparallel by Kokushibo
Length: 1.1k
Summary: there are different ways in which a boy can be saved.
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Fic: this is not a night for tragedy by Keigeyama
Length: .6k
Summary: Katsuki looks at him, forehead creasing, his expression somehow at once angry and soft—then he smiles, simpering. “Well, aren’t you just the best”.
*
Fic: once more, with feeling by OneshotPrincess
Length: .8k
Summary: He’s not Yamikumo, Katsuki tells himself fiercely. He’s not Yamikumo, he thinks as he watches him play in the grass with a kite with Kouta and Eri. He’s just fucking Deku.
So why does he still make Katsuki feel this way?
*
Fic: of all kinds by Coldbones
Length: 4.3k
Summary: A story is never just a story, and a dragon can never change its scales.
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Fic: I Don’t Have Any Roses But I Have A Rabbit? by Teaandtumblr
Length: 3.3k
Summary: Midoriya has just stepped into the world of rabbit showing only to run into his childhood friend...who is apparently also into the same thing. Lucky his rabbit is so cute!
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Fic: Starshine by Blueslove
Length: 1.3k
Summary: Deku’s eyes always light up when he talks about that book.
It’s as if his being lives to praise the pages, like his lips don’t know how to form any other words. He speaks of the characters like they’re friends, the story as if he’d lived it himself, and the place like he’d seen it with his own eyes.
Katsuki can’t stand it.
*
Fic: another old space odyssey by Sorethroat
Length: 2k
Summary: “Car-di-o-meg..aly,” Deku fumbles around the words. “I can’t see the moon with you.”
He stands there, Deku smiling tight like if he moves his tears will spill over, and they’re too young to laugh at the idea that the insurmountable obstacle in front of them is a heart that’s just too big.
Bakugou is an astronaut but he's forgotten why. Midoriya wants him to come home.
*
Fic: Butterfly Wishes by Sushirapper
Length: 4.2k
Summary: Deep in the middle of a forest out back of a little town in the country, there lay a wishing well.
It was not particularly pretty, nor particularly deep. It was not even that magical. But it was, at the very least, old—and all folk knew that with time came the strangest of truths, best left unbelieved or unseen altogether.
Izuku was one of these truths.
Or, Izuku can grant wishes, Katsuki is a mortal who doesn't know any better, and even the most innocent things always come with a price.
*
Fic: Beyond the Veil by Seeress
Length: 11.9k (multichap, complete)
Summary: A locked door. A ghostly presence. A long forgotten name.
Katsuki goes back to his grandparent's old house and finds a presence he barely remembers, still waiting for him.
His grandmother’s stories all had the same cautionary theme: Do not stray off the path. Keep your hands to yourself. Be polite to those you meet. Be wary of undeserved generosity. Do not be deceived by masks. Remember your way home.
But Katsuki was a child of skyscrapers and 24 hour convenience stores. He walked on streets lined with man-made lights that turned on before the sun goes down the horizon and never went out until the sun rises again. He lived in a house full of noise, in a city full of living, breathing people.
He had never known true darkness; nights when even the moon sheds no light and the world is silent, but you know deep within your bones that you are not alone.
*
Fic: Nowhere I’d Rather Be by Dat_heichou
Length: 1.8k
Summary: It’s 3 a.m. on the coldest sunday of the year and Izuku is too excited to feel tired. It’s release day of the newest All Might figure and he made sure he woke up early enough to buy one.
It’s freezing and dark and Izuku is sore from the rigorous training that U.A. third years go through, but he still excitedly shifts from one foot to the other. There’s nowhere he’d rather be.
“It’s cold as fuck out here,” Katsuki gripes beside him, burrowing his nose deeper into the collar of his thick, thermal lined jacket.
*
Fic: solar by Kindaopps
Length: 7k
Summary: Here he is, a god, wanting a mortal.
*
Fic: Sunlight Moving by Peredhils
Length: 3.8k
Summary: The night air was cool but not as damp and depressing as it had been when leaving England. The sea breeze was refreshing and it was crisper than it smelled standing from the shore. Although the rocking of the boat made him a bit nauseous, coupled with the unease that came with being unable to see any land on the horizon, Katsuki liked it more than he thought he would. Standing at the ledge and looking up at the stars, all so bright and clear, was easing the day’s troubles.
He wasn’t alone for long.
Katsuki, a duke organizing the creation of a new university in England, meets astronomer Izuku on board a voyage overseas.
*
Fic: let me hurt you, until we don’t by DeKatsu
Length: 3.3k
Summary: Deku decides that using his quirk with his hero license suspended is a smart idea. Katsuki doesn't understand why he's thrown into the holding cell as Deku's accomplice.
And then they talk about feelings.
Which isn't even the weirdest shit, considering that their cell mates end up giving them the push they need.
*
Fic: last days of war by antisora
Length: 38k (multi-chap, WIP)
Summary: When the first Kaiju climbed through the portal to their world, Izuku and Katsuki were six years old. And from the tender age of six, they knew they were going to be rangers.
All Izuku wanted, all he ever wanted, was to save the world alongside his best friend.
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jackdaniel69nice · 4 years ago
Text
Ninjago ATLA au Book 3: Earth
Books 1, Book 2
Harumi gathers her friends, Skylor and Vania to to help her find Lloyd
While in the swamp Lloyd learns from Bolobo about the connection between all living things and sees a bright flash of light and energy and two boys. He decides to follow the connection and arrives at the Walkers.
He meets Jay, an inventor and quite frankly a genius. He invites them to stay with them for awhile which is great because they’re firenation and fugitives and should stay out of big towns
When Lloyd mentions he’s searching for an earth bending master of course he points out Karlof, a strong man who’s said to be able to bend metal but his harsh treatment and cocky attitude don’t sit with Lloyd (or Kai) and Jay says he may know someone else.
They meet Cole at night. At first he’s off putting and cold (Jay said he would be, you just gotta warm up to him) and he’s suspicious of them but by Jay’s convincing he says he’ll “think about it”. Kai isn’t impressed and Cole puts him in the ground...literally.
They go into town to get supplies. They are quick to learn that the Walkers have a...reputation...here.
“Strange things go on out there girly don’t go associating with those people..”
“What do you mean?”
“Flashes of light, loud booms, quakes that shake the very mountain. It’s witchcraft.”
Unfortunately the attention had not escaped the local army and they tried to take them for “causing a public disturbance”. But Jay’s quick on his feet and leads them to a safe place, which just so happens to be Cole’s house.
Now they know Cole’s rich and dances competitively like his father, though he doesn’t seem to be happy about it. Cole takes them back through a tunnel, apparently the same one he had used yesterday to sneak out. The mysterious glowing lights guide them along. Cave of two lovers anyone ;)
They have a bit of fun talking, Cole really can be nice once he’s not so pent up. He says he’ll come by latter tonight. Jay say he wants to show them something. It’s an invention, he shows them the water wheel, a motor that generates electricity. It’s what made the lights in the tunnel and powers an assortment of other devices he has. Nya’s stoked (haha get it like to stoke the fire)
They are finished in a few days which is good because they have stayed in one place for a little to long and things are going to go sour. It turns out one of the people in the military was able to recognize Lloyd and sent for backup. An earth bending army is coming to capture them.
They meet nightly still. It’s mostly just chatting and relaxing. Of course the army ambushes them so Jay and Cole not only find out they are from the fire nation, but that Lloyd is the prince. There’s only a few moments to talk but even without much explanation Cole and Jay give them enough time to get to Ultra (is that a dragon!) and help them get away.
They have to make a decision, if they stay they’ll be arrested for treason, if they leave and go with them they will be leaving their families behind. Ed and Edna push for Jay to leave, only wanting his safety. Really they had already made their decision. They rejoin the others before they can get out of range.
It’s still not over yet though. Cole demands answers but they are able to get a hold of Ulta and start to bring them down. Cole tries his best to defend against the assailing rocks but is quickly overwhelmed. Lloyd can only watch as they fall into the arms of the earth nation army. When Cole gets injured it’s the last straw, his avatar state awakens and he decimates the army.
So now the earth nation, Cole, and Jay know the fire lord’s son is the avatar. They explain their past and struggles and how they need to defeat Garmadon before the solstice. Cole is still wary but understands their need for lying, more then they would know. Jay never really doubted them (in fact it’s really exciting, real life fire benders!) but he can’t help but wonder what’s going to become of his parents.
Other stuff happens like Morro and Wu’s traveling and the team facing off against Harumi. They meet a bunch of Pirates and Jay steals a lightning bending scroll from Captain Nadakhan (because Lloyd needs to learn duh! And maybe it will help me with some of my inventions... just a little) /
Cole’s mother died fighting in the war. They were very close and she taught him everything she knows about bending. It’s how he learns seismic-sense. Lilly always preached about about being one with the earth and nature and how important it it to give back to it just as much as you take.
Cole’s training is basically to climb a mountain and sit in a field of flowers and “listen to the earth”. They do this for days. Cole will tell stories and they’ll have a laugh. They bond a lot get to know each each other better.
But Lloyd is impatient, he doesn’t want to just sit around, people are dieing in this war and he needs to learn earth bending fast. They get in a fight. Lloyd says he doesn’t care about the stupid plants and needs to learn real earth bending. Cole decimated the entire field in an instant and leaves.
Lloyd is distraught, this place was where he got to know Cole and really become friends with him. He KNOWS this place deep down, right to his core. How it feels, how it moves, how it lives...but it’s all gone, buried under a mountain of rock and dirt. He cries and mourns, what has he done?
Jay talks to Cole who is just as upset and goes to talk to Lloyd, it’s almost night now and he still hasn’t come back. He tells Lloyd about Lilly. How the earth was something special he shared with her and was the only connection to her he has left. Cole wasn’t trying to teach him earth bending (I mean he was...), he was trying to connect to Lloyd, the same way he connected to his mother. Lloyd feels a lot worse after that but that wasn’t the point Jay was trying to make.
“If you felt that same connection he did, if you care about this place, then fix it”
“How?”
“Bend”
So he does
He works all night to remove the rubble. The next morning Cole comes back because Lloyd still didn’t come home. He finds the field, different but still familiar, has returned and a sleeping lloyd in a pile of crushed flowers. Lloyd immediately tries to apologize but Cole just wraps him up in a hug and they go back down the mountain.
They are traveling again and hear about the The Lost City of Ouroboros, a place filled with all knowledge guarded by a serpentine spirit. Obviously they check it out and discover the solar eclipse, they have an invasion plan. But with a cruel twist of fate Ultra is stolen right out from under Cole and they have to get to Ba Sing Sei on foot. Lloyd is torn up, he’s stressed, all he really wants to do is go home, for everything to back to how it used to. When they find the people who took Ultra...they never stood a chance.
They get to Ba Sing Sei and find it under attack. Using his technical know-how Jay is able to take out the drill from the inside. They get Ultra back and are eventually able to have a meeting with the earth king despite General Kozu and the Stone Army’s interference. Earth King Dareth agrees to help with the invasion plan after some coaxing.
The team temporarily splits up. Now that they arnt criminals anymore Cole and Jay are able to visit their parents. Kai and Nya receive word from the northern water tribe about possible information on what happened to their parents, Kai decides to go to the South Pole and look for them. Lloyd tries to master the Avatar state. Nya is excited to reunite with Pixal but Harumi worms her way in under the disguise of a Samurai-X warrior and takes over the Stone Army for herself.
Meanwhile Wu and Morro had opened up their own tea shop Steep Wisdom and are living pretty peacefully until Harumi captures Morro. They return to Wu telling them about Morro and Nya’s capture, they go to the crystal catacombs and the fight begins.
Lloyd finds that while he has an arsenal of elements to his call he can’t match up with Harumi’s abilities and the Stone Army. His avatar state becomes blocked once she tells him Garmadon sent her to kill him, and she does so.
Morro makes the wrong choice and sides with Harumi. He attackes Cole and Jay while Kai and Nya are busy fighting Skylor and Vania. Wu tries to stop him but he still ends up hurting Cole and knocking him out.
Jay’s weapons are shot and it’s easy to tell they’re losing, soon they will be captured. It’s a hard choice but with his friends in danger he would do anything to protect them. He uses lightning, not some little invention, real lightning bending. Who knew! (Probably you)
It gives them the edge they need for Kai and Nya to break free, they grab Lloyd and Cole and run. Wu gives them time and Nya has to use the spirit water to revive Lloyd. The earth kingdom falls.
Book 4
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