#i uh. sorry jonnie i lied

[thebusytypewriter]

Happy 1am, I’m a romantic who’s never been in a relationship and I feel great about it /s

[linskywords]

@stolen94 submitted:

Hi! Unexpected virgin and accidentally married for the trope mashup thing please!

Ooooh. Prince Jonny is a little put off when emissaries start talking about marriage with Prince Patrick of the U.S. He gets why they'd want to -- if he'd been caught by the paparazzi in as many nightclubs as Prince Patrick has, his advisors would be trying to set up a marriage for him, too. But Jonny doesn't want any part of it for himself.

Unfortunately for him, his advisors -- and his parents -- have other ideas. So he finds himself standing at the altar in the most elaborate joint ceremony Canada and the U.S. have had in years, pledging his life to Prince Patrick of America.

It's not what Jonny was planning for his life. But he intends to make the best of it -- Prince Patrick seems like a basically decent person, even if he's not as serious about statecraft as Jonny feels like he should be. And even if he does laugh at Jonny's efforts to improve his nutrition. (He laughs at Jonny a lot, actually. At least he has a pretty good laugh.)

The weird thing is, though, that Patrick doesn't seem into this. Jonny doesn't want to toot his own horn or anything, but he thinks he's a pretty good catch. And from the rumors flying around the States, it seems like Patrick doesn't have any problem flirting with guys. He even flirts with Jonny, sometimes -- Jonny's pretty sure that's flirting -- but whenever Jonny tries to initiate anything physical, Patrick basically runs away. Jonny hasn't actually gotten kissed since his wedding day.

So that's not great. Jonny doesn't love the idea of having a husband who isn't attracted to him. But he's not planning to force the issue; he doesn't love being reminded that Patrick isn't thinking about him the way he's been starting to think more and more about Patrick. But then his mom comes to talk to him about some dissent that's risen among some groups in Canada. Apparently they're very opposed to joining the successions of the royal families, and they're starting a movement to annul Patrick's and Jonny's marriage. The laws of Canada state that it can't be annulled as long as it's been consummated, though, and she's checking in with him to make sure they won't have a problem on this front.

"Of course not," Jonny lies, and waits until she's gone to scurry off to find Patrick.

"They need us to what," Patrick says, eyes going wide.

"Yeah, I mean, I guess it's important politically or something," Jonny says. "I mean, we could lie, but that seems pretty risky."

Patrick is squirming. "Yeah, no, you have a point."

"Are you okay with it?" Jonny asks. "It shouldn't be a big deal for you, right?"

"Right." Patrick smooths his hands over his thighs. "So, should we, uh..."

Jonny narrows his eyes. Patrick seems really uncomfortable. "Do you not want to do this?"

"What? No, it's fine," Patrick says, and Jonny looks at him for a minute and then leans in to kiss him.

It's way better than fine. Patrick kisses him back like he wants it, and the spark catches right away; before Jonny knows it they're stretched out on the bed, making out desperately, and he can't believe they haven't been doing this the whole time. He wants to do this forever.

Patrick's gasping underneath him, and Jonny goes for Patrick's fly, and Patrick freezes up.

Jonny pulls back. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," Patrick says, and he's squirming against Jonny, pulling him back down. But when Jonny tries to get his pants off, he stiffens up again.

"Okay," Jonny says, pulling away, "obviously you don't want to do this. I'm not gonna--"

"No!" Patrick says. His face is flushed. "I do, I just." And then he mumbles something Jonny can't make out.

"Sorry, what was that?" Jonny says.

Patrick's biting his lip. "I've...never actually done it before," he says, his voice small.

"You've never had sex with a guy before?" Jonny asks.

Patrick scrunches his face up, evasive.

"You've never...had sex with anyone before?" Jonny says.

Patrick looks at him guiltily, like a kid who's been caught out of bounds and is scared to be there.

"Wait, but," Jonny says. "I thought..."

"Yeah," Patrick says quietly. "Everybody does."

"So you've never had sex before," Jonny says.

Patrick shakes his head.

"Well," Jonny says, lying down and taking Patrick in his arms again, "we're definitely not doing this right now, then."

"What are we doing, then?" Patrick asks uncertainly.

"We're making out," Jonny says firmly.

"Oh," Patrick says, "okay," and opens his mouth when Jonny kisses him.

They finally have sex three weeks later, after Patrick starts begging for it. The political situation gets resolved a lot faster: there are several unofficial sightings of Patrick stumbling out of Jonny's room, lips swollen and cheeks flushed, and the resulting rumors take care of any doubts pretty quickly.

give me two tropes to mash up (and optionally a pairing)!

[the-passenger-if]

How would the LIs react to accidentally hurting Newman? Like “we’re play wrestling and oh no my elbow connected to your nose”

Fiama covers her mouth, her eyes widening. “Oh god, I’m sorry I’m sorry!” she says as she tries to get Newman to uncover their nose. “You’re bleeding, oh no, um, pinch your nose and throw your head back! Or that was just for common nosebleeds?” She’s panicking so she decides to go for some ice in the meantime.

Jonny looks horrified at what he did. “I told you this was a stupid idea!” he scolds Newman, and then he’s gently trying to pull their hands away so he can see how bad it is. “How bad is it?” Newman asks, and Jonny winces. “Bad. We aren’t doing that ever again,” he says as he exits the room to look for an ice pack.

“Oh shit,” Roach exclaims. “You were supposed to dodge that, pet! Why didn’t you dodge that?” They frown in sympathy. “C’mon, let me see.” When Newman uncovers their nose, they wince. “That bad, uh?” Newman says, and Roach shakes their head. “No, uh, it’s ok. Straight noses are overrated anyway…”

Horizon would feel terrible. They make Newman sit down, tell them to tilt their head back, carefully apply an icepack on Newman’s nose while asking if it hurts too much. They repeat that they are sorry, and that this won’t happen again. They haven’t felt this guilty in a long time.

[brookewritesyk]

t w o

 ───── 𝐉𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 ─────

𝐈𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐅𝐑𝐈𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐀𝐆𝐀𝐈𝐍. That meant it was time for Charlie-Rose to go back to Goodman's household. Every time Charlie replays the last memory she had with Jonny she felt butterflies at the second hug and the mumbled request of her coming to dinner next Friday.

Looking at herself in the mirror, she exhaled then smiled and thought I really fell hard for him huh. Then her phone ringing snapped her out of her thoughts, she turned around to get her phone on her bed and the caller ID said 'Pissface'. Just who she needed rang by.

Picking up her phone, she answered it and teasingly said: "Hey Pissface."

"Hi Paris," Jonny replied in the same tone.

"What's up?" She asked now sitting on the edge of her bed.

"Nothing I was just was wondering if you were still coming?"

"Yeah, I'm still coming Pissface." She said smiling whilst playfully rolling her eyes and hanging up the call. Then carried on getting ready.

  ───── 𝐀𝐭 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐦𝐚𝐧'𝐬 𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 ─────

Charlie-Rose finally got to Martin's and Jackie house and she parked up her Fiat 500 in the drive. Weirdly, she saw Adam and Jonny staring intensely and bewildered at the outside window through the dining room.

"What are you two doing?" Charlie queried with a frown, intrigued and shutting her pastel blue car door and locking it.

"Come here Paris!" Jonny whisper-shouted at her and gesturing to the window.

"What?" Charlie scoffed now getting more perplexed.

"Quickly!" Adam ushered.

Impatiently, Jonny quickly dragged her to the window that caused butterflies to go wild in her stomach again. Now, she was now sneakily looking through the window with them.

"He hasn't got a top?" Charlie guessed "He according to what you've told me and what I saw last week, he never has a top on." Then she noticed that it wasn't the Martin not wearing a t-shirt concerned them, it was that he was looking down his trousers and his boxers. "Oh Shitting Hell!" Charlie exclaimed now increasingly uncomfortable.

"He's been doing that for ages and he just keeps on looking and looking..." Adam told trailing off getting more disgusted as he continued.

"Ok I love Martin but I'm not going to stand here and watch him look at his, you know." Charlie defended shaking her head to get the mental image she had created. "Jonny keys please if you're going to stand here and look at your dad doing that."

Not paying attention Jonny throws her the keys which she luckily catches. Smiling at her mini victory, she opened the door, closed it but leaving the latch on so the boys could come in. "Hi Jackie,"  Charlie called down the hall, putting her coat on the coat rack.

Then Jackie came in from the kitchen and welcomed "Oh hello Charlie, where are the boys?"

"Oh they'll be in a minute they just forgot something in the car." Charlie lied but she was an actress she knew what she was doing.

"Hello, Bambina!" Marin greeted rather cheerfully pretending for at least half an hour he wasn't looking down his pants.

Then Jonny and Adam walked in as Martin was no longer in the dining room.

"Martin put a bloody shirt on!" Jackie moaned.

"I will in a bleeding minute!"   Martin argued walking away.

As Martin left Jackie, the boys and Charlie went into the kitchen.

"So where's Allison?" Jackie asked stirring the soup.

"Oh yeah, where's your girlfriend?" Adam teasingly inquired.

"She couldn't come," Jonny told blankly.

"Because she doesn't exist?" Charlie joked but deep down she didn't know if Allison was actually real but secretly hoped that she wasn't.

"Ohhh Paris you don't know how proud I am of you!" Adam dramatically said and whipping a pretend tear away smiling.

Rolling her eyes, Jackie then looked at Jonny again expecting an explanation as to why Allison couldn't come again.

"She's with a friend," Jonny explained sighing.

"Simion?" Adam asked with a smirk

"Nice soup." Jonny tried to change the subject and looking over the oven to pretend to care.

"Simon?" Jackie responded with a knowing look.

"They're friends," Jonny emphasized.

"Boyfriend." Adam corrected.

Then Martin walked in now surprisingly wearing a shirt and asked Adam for the magnifying glass. Charlie, Jonny and Adam looked at each other nervously shocked.

───── 𝐃𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞 ─────

"Does my hair look good?" Jackie randomly asked.

"Yess..." The boys said unenthusiastically whilst carrying on eating.

"She had a flaky scalp," Martin informed not seeing the issue of bringing it up at dinner.

"Uhh, Dad!" Adam groaned.

"It's not in the food is it?" Jonny asked worried, looking down at his plate of food.

"Charming," Jackie muttered.

On the contrary, Charlie complimented truthfully: "Your hair looks lovely Jackie!".

"Thank you, sweetie, why couldn't I have you as my daughter?" Jackie sighed and the boys looked at her offended. "We've run out potatoes I'll just pop to the kitchen." Jackie noticed and rushed to the kitchen.

"So Martin, Jonny told me you hurt your knee, how did you manage that?" Charlie asked acting concerned.

"I banged it." Martin simply said with a slight stutter.

"Oh, really what?" Jonny asker catching onto what Charlie was doing.

"My other knee."

Before they could query him anymore Jackie walked back in the with the potatoes. And Adam said, "Oh mum I have some news, my jingle thing is on tonight."

"Oh, well-done bobble!" Jackie congratulated and kissed Adam on his head and face. "I'm so happy, Martin, Adam's jingle thing is on tonight we mustn't forget to listen."

Martin not surprisingly didn't answer.

"Tell Allison to listen too," Adam added.

"Ok," Jonny replied with a quick smile.

"Although won't she find it difficult with Simion's balls in her ear?" Charlie teased whilst smirking.

Jackie and Adam burst out laughing but Jonny whined with a pout "Hey you're supposed to be on my team."

Then the door went, this time Charlie went to get it and she was greeted with an unfamiliar person.

"Hello, Jack-" Jim started until Charlie cut him off smiling sweetly and said- "I'm not Jackie, I'm Charlie-Rose it's nice to meet you." extending her hand but he just looked a hand whilst flinching away from his dog.

"CHARLIE! Could you ask him to come back later we're eating!" Jackie called.

Shortly after Martin yelled, "Tell him to bloody go away!"

"Martin!" Jackie tutted.

Politely you smiled and went to go close the door until Jim explained: "Jackie said she would sponsor me for cancer."

"Oh," Charlie began to feel guilty and grabbed her purse and took out a thirty-pound note and gave it to him. Smiling sadly said, "here for the sponsor, put it down as Charlie-Rose Evans."

"Oh thank, you thank you!" The strange brunette man with square-framed glasses thanked and went in to kiss her cheek but Charlie quickly dodged them and said laughing "Oh I never caught your name."

"Caught my name?" The man asked confused.

"Umm, I meant what is your name?" Charlie clarified laughing.

"Oh, my name is Jim, Jim Bell." He introduced again flinching away from his dog again.

"Nice to meet Jim I've got go now bye!" Charlie cheerfully said and went back into the dining room.

"He must think I'm such a mean cow." Jackie moaned "He keeps asking me to sponsor him, but I'm always busy."

"Oh don't worry about it, I gave him 30 pounds for the sponsor," Charlie explained sitting down next to Martin again.

"Why would you do that?" Adam asked and Jonny agreed "Yeah!"

"Because unlike you two, she isn't horrible," Jackie answered for her rolling her eyes.

"Adam, your mother tells me that your radio jingle is on tonight," Martin said, extremely formal.

"Rather formal. Uh yes, sir." Adam caught on.

"So who wrote the music?" Martin asked now speaking normally.

"Uhh, I did dad, I wrote the jingle," Adam stated matter-of-factly.

"Brilliant." Jonny and Charlie whispered unintentionally at the same time. They looked at each other surprised with a warm smile.

"Aww, Jonny-boo why won't you go out with Charlie?" Jackie moaned.

Charlie choked on her wine while Jonny looked like a deer in headlights.

"Mum, I have a girlfriend!" Jonny reminded Jackie.

Charlie felt her heart sank again but then realised he never explicitly said he didn't like her like that.

───── 𝐋𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 ─────

"Mum how come you have more pictures of Pissface than me?" Adam asked.

"Your face annoys me," Jackie merely says not looking away from her magazine.

"Right. No really?"

"Really," Jackie said now looking at Adam.

"Apply cold water to the burns." Charlie taunted and Jonny laughed.

Then Martin came in from the kitchen and asked "Adam, could you come with me for a moment."

"What do you want?" But all three of us had an idea of what Martin wanted.

"Oh my God," Charlie whispered looking at Jonny then down.

───── 𝐀 𝐖𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐋𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 ─────

"Females?" Jonny and Charlie said shocked yet relieved.

"Yes, I'm going to go on a dating site for twenty minutes."

"You agreed to that?" Jonny asked puzzled,

"He's paying me twenty pounds." Adam sated simply.

"Fair enough." Charlie-Rose agreed.

───── 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦 ─────

"I heard about your parents," Jonny said softly and sincerely whilst Charlie's head was on Jonny's lap and snuggled into him. "I'm so sorry."

Charlie felt tears spring to her eyes. Her parents recently were killed by a robber and the emotions were still fresh. She hide her face into Jonny's lap so he couldn't see her cry.

But Jonny knew better, "Hey, hey Paris look at me." He told Charlie and used his thumb and forefinger to tilt her head up so he can see her face that had tears streaming down her face. "Oh Charlie," He cooed then they stayed like that for a few moments. Suddenly, Jonny kissed Charlie, it was the best kiss either of them had. Then she remembered Allison.

Feeling sick to her stomach, she pulled away and got up then ran to the front door with Jonny following behind her saying "Charlie wait-". Hurriedly, she put her coat on and started to open the door before Martin, Jackie and Adam came down the stairs and noticed she had her coat on.

"What's going on?" Jackie asked confused.

"I'm leaving."

"Why what happened?" Adam asked worriedly seeing the tears on her face.

"I'm sorry." Charlie left, crying silently.

"What did you do?" Jackie asked angrily.

"I kissed her," Jonny murmured realising what he did.

"You what?" Adam asked laughing as he was so shocked.

"I KISSED HER!" Jonny yelled angrily.

"While you were dating another girl?" Jackie clarified giving him a death glare.

"I made Allison up just so you couldn't set me up with anyone," Jonny confessed. "I'm still in love with Charlie."

[thedreadvampy]

I'm a big fan of your georgie meta about how setting boundaries is incredibly hard but also completely necessary. if i can add, the fact that this is such a messy situation with no answer that's not gonna end up with someone hurt (who's doing the hurting is irrelevant here), is why it's such good horror. I love how the horror of the more interpersonal kind works alongside the clearly supernatural. It's so tragic that Georgie even had to make that choice, it's horrifying to see Jon 1/2

2/2 struggle with this addiction to hurting other people (maybe against his will? that's really the question isn't it). like i also believe georgie made the right choice but even if circumstances were different and she really cast jon off like that, she wouldn't be Problematique because this shit isn't supposed to be neat or happy

--------

Right? I really do struggle with the idea that we’re meant to view anyone as a Pure Victim or Pure Abuser in this show but particularly with this situation...like I’m not gonna speak for Jonny but just based on how many people my age or older have experienced something similar, and particularly given that he’s mentioned his own past experiences with addiction and self-destructive behaviour, like the. uh. the real visceral emotive horror of this horror podcast is the degree to which you can do everything you can and still not have a good answer. like. Georgie is trying to do right by everyone and Jon is trying to stop something awful happening and Martin is trying to save the world and none of them are acting maliciously or blindly, they can all see the harm that their actions are causing and isn’t that the absolute root of horror? to see it coming and not to be able to stop yourself becoming part of it?

like I don’t actually take issue with the idea that having pushed everyone away, being alone is the reason Jon can’t get out. this is very effective horror and it’s something I have watched happen time and again. I don’t take issue with the idea that Georgie made a choice which hurt Jon, knowing it would hurt him. again, that’s a horror that rings really, really true with my own experiences. it’s the same fundamental horror as when someone stays hiding in silence while a monster kills their friend - screaming or trying to fight it won’t help and will just get you both killed, but there’s a horrible emotional complicity in knowing someone will suffer and choosing not to try to save them, even when trying will only hurt everyone. that’s some Good Fuckin Storytelling

but what I do take issue with is the idea that this means that you are doing something wrong. and sorry this isn’t really a reply to you any more I’ve just been stewing on it. I really, really am very angry that people are framing “saying that Jon is acting self-destructively” as victim-blaming when the whole framework of “Georgie didn’t save him which means she’s a Bad Person” is so...implying that the reason this really painful and traumatic thing happened is because You Weren’t Strong Enough To Prevent It so it’s Your Fault (or in the case of that meta I was sent, Your Failure To Handle This Perfectly Means You Must Be Maliciously Causing Your Own Pain In Order To Hurt Others). which. assfnjghduifghduighuighdfi siri what is victim blaming

(to clarify - on distancing and reflection while I still do disagree with the original post I was responding to, I don’t actually think the intent of that post was to put fault on Georgie. the subsequent messages I got and other posts in this discourse I read, though, very much did take the position They’re All Flawed Characters Who Do Shitty Things, Here’s Why What Georgie Did Was Flawed And Shitty which. like. ok. the horror comes from the inability to respond perfectly. but the horror in that situation really is that there’s no good response, and that the way Georgie acted, bar a couple of relatively minor missteps, is literally the textbook example of How You Should Respond in this situation. the horror and the impact of that in the story is that it demonstrates that you can do everything right and still not escape causing harm to yourself and others. There simply Is No Painless Way Out. and to interpret that as saying ‘this was Malicious and Unkind and I am justifying that by pointing out that Nobody Is Perfect This Is A Horror Podcast’ misses the point in a colossal way. YES people fuck up and act thoughtlessly or maliciously in TMA but the most effective horror is when they act with compassion and thought and the best possible intentions and still cause harm because the situation is too tangled and too impossible)

...

also on a different note I am really interested by your aside about “against his will” because I think with addiction (using addiction in the broad sense that includes eg self harm, anger, self-destructive or risk-taking behaviour, and paranoia/conspiratorial thinking as well as like, substance abuse) that concept is so muddy as to be meaningless and again I think that’s where the horror lies and one of the things I increasingly really like about TMA is that, as someone who’s been surrounded by a lot of those things all my life, I reckon it does a really good job of drawing out those question marks. the question of where good intentions meet bad actions, and which intentions and wants define you, and whether these addictions are imposing something on you or exposing something in you, and to what degree you control your wants and to what degree they control you. and what it means to want something you don’t want. and to choose something you’d never choose. and to be stuck in your body while you’re simultaneously sure you want something and it’s a good idea and screaming at yourself to stop. and I love the way that’s manifested in Jon’s fear of the Web and the ambiguity about to what degree the Web is the fear that everything is a manipulation and to what degree the Web is the fear that you don’t know which bits are just you. and also like. the degree that the fear of being controlled by something outside you can very readily lead you to lose all control of yourself whether or not it’s real. this is another big tangent but ARGH the WEB it’s such a GOOD DEPICTION OF COMPULSIVE PROBLEMS!!!!!!!!!!

[comicteaparty]

June 29th-July 5th, 2019 Creator Babble Archive

The archive for the Creator Babble chat that occurred from June 29th, 2019 to July 5th, 2019.  The chat focused on the following question:

Whether intentional or not, what would you say is the central theme of your comic?

snuffysam

The central theme of Super Galaxy Knights Deluxe R http://sgkdr.thecomicseries.com/comics/ is, to put it in a word, acceptance. Accepting that you can't change the past, accepting that you can't control everything that happens in your life, accepting that other people come from different walks of life and experience different hardships from you, accepting that you can't change other people's hearts, and learning to accept yourself even when others don't accept you.

Attila Polyák

The story of Tales of Midgard https://talesofmidgard.com/comic/book-1-cover-page/ does have a central theme, but most of the story mostly follows events that allow the exploration of the world. That said... If you look at it closely you'll notice that the story does involve themes about free will and the results and consequences of an actions taken.

Respheal

Kinda hit me just now that the central theme of Galebound (http://www.galebound.com/) might be "real change comes from a place of love, not hate". Basically, even if you have "good" goals, trying to achieve those goals from a position of hatred will just destroy everything around you, while doing something because of love elevates everything. Also row row fight the power(edited)

Jonny Aleksey

The Undefeatable J-Man ( http://jonnyalekseydrawscomics.com/thelatestpage ) So when I starting writing up the series years ago the idea was always going to be about the relationship between J-Man and his father. J-Man having idolized his officer dad when he was little but growing more distance after he becomes a hero and does his own "cases" (like a kid trying to be grown up). The inclusion of sidekick Sleepy Bear evolved from a fun silly idea into being a sort of little brother to J-Man, forcing him into a guardian role before he's really ready. I guess in short the theme has become maturity and hero worship.(edited)

ErinPtah (Leif & Thorn | BICP)

If Leif & Thorn (http://leifandthorn.com/) has a main theme, it's "communication." Partly because the characters don't share a first language -- and even as Thorn gets better at speaking Leif's, there are huge cultural differences that they need to figure out and talk through.

On top of that, if you dig down far enough, a ton of the problem-of-the-week type conflicts can be traced back to miscommunication! Someone hasn't explained themselves, or tried but didn't get it across very well, or explained it clearly but the other person didn't want to listen...

(The other problems are pretty much all about financial exploitation. Something goes wrong, it's either miscommunication or capitalism. Or both!)

But I'm A Cat Person (http://bicatperson.com/) is about broke recent college grads living on their own for the first time, but still making new connections and getting by with help from their friends. Also, immortal shapeshifters who need to be bonded to a human Master and will literally run down like a rusting machine if they don't get regular orders. There was a point when I figured the theme was "independence," but it's really more "interdependence."

...It's very political, but it takes place in 2010-2011, so the in-universe references have to be specific to that era. If they didn't, I'd be saying "stronger together" a lot more.

keii4ii

Heart of Keol (https://heartofkeol.com/) is about being let down by the one person you trusted, when you needed them the most. The feeling of "I'd thought they would care, but I guess that was too much to expect........" It's also about how you change (which hopefully includes healing -- though that isn't the case every time...) after such an experience. How that relationship changes afterward, and how it affects your other relationships.

Mharz

The Angel with Black Wings http://blackwings.mharz.com/ main central theme is "forgiveness" whether it's towards others or towards yourself. We've all been hurt before and sometimes depending on how tough it is, it can sometimes be so hard to forgive anyone even yourself. Some had so many tragedies happened to them that they had formed hatred towards the world that they just want to see it burn. Many of us formed self-loathing because we haven't achieve this kind of status we wanted for ourselves, or maybe we have blamed ourselves for something bad that has happened in the past. Forgiveness or lack thereof can greatly affect someone's mental health... and it doesn't just affect ourselves, but the people around us. CHAMPS http://champs.mharz.com/ aside from the slow-burn lesbian romance that's going on is about which victories are more important? The main characters, being athletes they'd want to win any match they can... but winning doesn't necessarily mean a satisfying victory. Sometimes you need to make a choice.

NeilKapit

What is this theme? Is it, according to that one guy from the Game of Thrones show, something for eighth grade book reports? Everyone knows storytelling is all about random shit happening to keep people in their seats, regardless of why.

Tuyetnhi

ha?

keii4ii

I think NeilKapit was making a joke about themes in general

Tuyetnhi

o

keii4ii

Not sure but my guess is he was sarcastically mimicking those who uh, don't "believe in themes"

Mharz

oh I thought it was pertaining to mine... becos my message was before theirs

I'm like did I say something wrong?

keii4ii

Nah, you're fine

Mharz

Ty keiiii

NeilKapit

It’s a joke based on a quote by David Benoit (sp?), one of the game of thrones showrunners, about how he approaches storytelling

It explains a lot about why the show went south so hard and so fast once they ran out of book material to adapt

Sorry if it sounded like I was dissing you or anyone here, I wasn’t

keii4ii

Thank you for clarifying

Mharz

it's good, bud. : D

NeilKapit

In all seriousness, the theme behind my comic We Are the Wyrecats (wyrecats.com) is coming of age in the worst possible way, with the protagonist having spent ages 18-22 in a coma, and awakening to a world where all the common sense heroism she and her friends tried to do ended up receiving a vicious backlash from the powers that be, where her friends have had to morally compromise in the name of survival, and where she realizes that people only allow you to do good on their terms

And what to make of things upon learning all of that

Nutty (Court of Roses)

In Court of Roses http://courtofroses.thecomicseries.com/ I'm trying to show the love, beauty, and power in self-expression, especially of the artistic kind and how versatile it can truly be. My bards will have a lot of challenges thrown at them to be solved uniquely with their talents!(edited)

Nutty (Court of Roses)

I wanna expand on that once they all start traveling together, as well as showing the importance of being able to seek help and comfort from others when you need it most.

Capitania do Azar

Haha central theme of my comic (www.sarilho.net/en/) is cooperation and this was super intentional because themes are super important and that's is why I spend so much time dealing with characters engaging in battle (edited)

MJ Massey

Not sure if this counts, but Black Ball (http://welcometoblackball.com/) is a deconstruction of the Great Gatsby and other 1920s literature which involves a lot of ironic tragedy. Emily is the common sense friend you wish all those characters had, because she has no time for that nonsense, and inadvertently comes in and makes people face their problems and, through that, become stronger, better people. While this is going on, she doesn't even realize that she's having an impact on people. Emily starts as sort of a passive doormat, being dragged around where her parents or the plot take her, but by the end she will find her own confidence and will become a more assertive person

Tuyetnhi

The main themes for OIYD! (http://oiydcomic.com/) is a combination of Fantasy vs. Reality, Truth and Lies, the scope of love, and the sacrifices or consquences made from those choices. Escapism, fantasies, and delusions often infer how we precieve our reality. And sometimes reality structures how these mindscapes are dictated. I want to explore such things under a romance between a dreamer and her dream, implications of trying to please your family and yourself, and what to do when your dreams can turn into concrete existence.(edited)

kayotics

Okay, so after some thinking, I think one of the main themes in Ingress Adventuring Company (https://ingress-comic.com/) is that healing isn't linear, and it can take a long time. That goes tied with the theme that sometimes there's more to people than what they show you. These aren't, like... SUPER obvious as themes yet, especially because most of the comic right now is a pretty light-hearted adventure story, but I think i'll get around to it.

deo101

Millennium's (http://millennium.thecomicseries.com/) main theme is really all about love, and overcoming great struggle through it. It's about healing and growth and finding your own family!(edited)

Jurinova

In it's core Home is a Distant Wish (https://tapas.io/series/hiadw) is about healing and finding one's own place in the world. It is about home but not just as a physical place but home as a feeling of belonging and safety, and most importantly about the right people. It is in many ways about people disconnected trying to connect again. There are more underlying themes that are a bit darker but I do like to think that the more hopeful themes are the dominant ones.

[sassycassie-s-writing]

Manor Party

By: SassyShoulderAngel319

Fandom/Character(s): DC, BatFam, SuperFam - Damian Wayne/Robin & Jon Kent/Superboy

Rating: PG/K+

Original Idea: Where’s that AU list that’s like, “My friend dragged me to this house party and abandoned me and you asked me how I liked it and I complained that it was boring and then my friend came back and introduced you as the host” because that’s this.

Notes: (Masterlist)(By Character)(About Me) I swear I didn’t mean for this one to get this long. The story just kept happening. It’s got a Keep Reading because it’s 3,020 words.

^^^^^

“Hey Cloudy!” Jon called, running over to me.

“Hey Jon,” I replied. “What’s up?”

“So, my best friend invited me to this huge party he’s hosting at his house and said I could invite whoever I want because he trusts me and I was wondering if you’d want to come with me!”

“Like… a date?”

Jon blanched. “I wasn’t thinking about it being a date…” he trailed off. “I just thought it’d be more fun if you came with me.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re fun…”

I smiled. “Okay. When is it?”

“Friday. My parents are driving me there and they can pick you up too if you say you’ll go.”

I sighed. Friday was usually family movie night but… but it was only family movie night because I never went out. “Let me ask my parents. I'm available but I have to make sure they don’t have other plans.”

Jon fist-pumped. “YES! Thank you Cloudy! This is going to be so much fun!”

^^^^^

“Jon! Come say hi to Carrie!” someone called, yanking Jon away from me and making him disappear into the throng of people. The party was immensely crowded and dark. I could barely see.

I made my way to a corner and pulled my water bottle out of my bag, taking a long drink from it since my throat was so dry from yelling to be heard over the music and running around trying to keep up with Jon’s social life. It was a little quieter in the corner since the speakers were on the other side of the ballroom.

Because, oh right, the party was being held in a ballroom in a mansion in Gotham City.

Jon neglected to mention to me when he asked me to go with him that his best friend that he talked about all the time and invited Jon to the party was Damian Wayne—who I’d never met but heard a lot about from literally everyone else in the school who had met him.

In my quiet little corner I finally got a little bit of peace.

“Hey Jon, I know you can hear me,” I said at a normal volume even though the music drowned it out immediately. “So come find me in the corner by the tall arched window whenever you’re done socializing.”

Someone else emerged from the crowd moments later, a red cup in his hand.

He was shorter than Jon by several inches with dark skin and spiked black hair. His eyes were the greenest I’d ever seen and had a sharp-as-a-tack glint to them. He approached me and casually leaned against the wall, looking relieved to get out of the crowd as well. I slid my water bottle back into my bag and put it on my other shoulder, so it wasn’t near him.

“Enjoying the party?” the boy called over the din, arms folded.

“You want me to answer that honestly?” I shouted.

“Of course!”

“Okay then. No, I'm not. It’s too loud and too crowded and I only came here because a friend invited me and this is not my crowd at all!”

“Who invited you?” He seemed curious.

“His name’s Jon. Apparently the host is his best friend.”

“Ah that Jon,” the boy said in understanding.

“Yup,” I said.

“So how come you’re not enjoying the party?”

“Where do you want me to start?” I retorted sarcastically with a roll of my eyes.

“Tt. How about the beginning?”

I snorted. “Okay. It’s too loud. Too crowded. Too dark. The laser lights are blinding and I can barely hear myself think! This is not the kind of party I find fun!”

“Tt. I see. What kind of party do you find fun?”

“Five-to-ten friends playing games and laughing their heads off. This is the most boring party ever because it’s too impersonal!”

The boy smirked. “Valid.” I read it on his lips more than I heard it. I also thought I saw something like, “You would love the Titans,” but I couldn’t tell exactly because my lip-reading skills weren’t terribly advanced. “What about the host? Any opinion on him?” He yelled that over the noise.

“Never met him!” I shouted. “Heard a lot about him though! Most people say he’s an arrogant know-it-all but Jon loves him, so he really can’t be that bad.”

Another smirk. This one wider. “Jon not the type to be friends with an arrogant know-it-all?”

I shrugged. “Jon could make friends with a rabid animal if he so chose so really I couldn’t say. I mean, he befriended me and I'm not exactly Miss Innocent Sunshine.”

“Hey! Speaking of! I never caught your name!”

“Cloudy!” I shouted over the beating bass.

“Tt. That’s not a name! That’s a forecast!”

“My last name is McCloud so everyone calls me Cloudy! Even my parents!”

The boy looked contemplative. “Cloudy it is then!” he called. He stuck his hand out. I shook it. “Pleasure to meet you! I'm—”

“Cloudy!” Jon yelled, carefully pushing between two people to reach us. “There you are! I’ve been looking for you all over!” He caught sight of who I was standing with. “Oh great! You’ve already met Damian!”

My face went slack. Damian? Damian Wayne?! Had I just complained to the host of the party that this was the most boring party ever and that I’d heard he was an arrogant know-it-all? Oh sh—

“Tt. Yes she has,” Damian replied coolly. “Your friend here has given me most welcome advice on how to improve my gatherings and reputation, Kent.”

Kent? Damian knew Jon’s last name was Kent not White? I thought I was the only one who knew that. What else did Damian know about Jon? If he knew about Kent did he know about Superboy?

“Awesome! Cloudy’s really smart so her advice is probably good to follow.” He noticed the surprise on my face at the whole Kent thing. “Don’t worry Cloudy! Damian knows about me! He’s very trustworthy!”

“Right,” I managed to say at a normal volume. Jon heard me. Damian probably didn’t.

“Jonny boy!” a new voice called. A tall man in his mid- to late-20’s emerged from the crowd and playfully slung his arm around Jon’s shoulders. “Good to see ya kiddo! It’s been a while! How’s the parents?”

“Hi Richard!” Jon greeted.

“Grayson what are you doing here?” Damian demanded.

Richard Grayson. Better known as Dick Grayson. Bruce Wayne’s first ward.

He shrugged. “Chaperoning! Blüdhaven was boring so I thought I’d swing by and see how your party is going little brother!”

Damian rolled his eyes. “Tt,” he tutted.

Dick Grayson started talking to Jon, which gave me the opportunity to apologize.

“Damian, I am so sorry. If I’d known who you were—”

He held up a hand. “—you would have lied to spare my feelings. Polite and considerate, but unnecessary.”

“I wouldn’t have been so rude about my opinions,” I corrected.

“Tt. I prefer the honesty. And I will return your honesty to you. I do not enjoy parties like this either.”

“Then why did you throw it?”

“Expectations.”

I blinked. “Fair enough.”

“So, Kent!” Damian called to get Jon’s attention away from Dick Grayson. “Are you planning on staying the night?”

“Uh… no. Cloudy came with me and my parents so they’re her ride home…”

“She is welcome to stay as well. Any friend of yours who knows about you surely can be a friend of mine.” He gave me a nod. I blinked in surprise.

“Hey Dami, can I talk to you for a minute?” Dick Grayson asked.

Damian nodded then looked at me and Jon. “Excuse me a moment,” he said before striding after his brother.

Jon gave me a playful look. “I think he likes you,” he said.

“I think you’re delusional,” I replied.

“C’mon Cloudy. He invited you to stay the night! Damian doesn’t trust easily. Something like this is huge for him!”

“Is it?”

“Oh you have no idea. It took me almost three years to get him to trust me fully.”

“That’s fair,” I said. “Blabbermouth.”

Jon’s jaw dropped. “Hey! I'm great at keeping secrets!”

“Mmhmm. Says the guy who introduced himself to me as Jon Kent and then remembered his name was supposed to be White.” I spoke at a normal volume but Jon could hear me.

“Yeah… That’s on me,” he agreed. I snickered. “So do you want to stay the night or not?”

“Depends on how tired you are by the end. I don’t really want to but if your parents don’t want to come get us…”

“Well when the party’s winding down I’ll call Mom and see if she would rather go to bed. I mean Dad could be here in five minutes…”

“Neither of us brought pajamas,” I pointed out.

“Pfft! No big deal. I can borrow some of Tim’s and you can borrow some of Damian’s. They’ll fit you. I don’t know if you noticed, but Damian’s sixteen and two inches taller than you. He’s a squirt. But I gotta borrow Tim’s because I'm too tall for Damian’s pajamas.”

“Who’s Tim?”

“Tim Drake? His brother?”

“Oh right! Sorry!”

“No prob.” Jon scrunched his eyebrows. “Actually… Damian has a sister. You can probably borrow some of her pajamas.”

I glanced over at where Damian was talking to Dick Grayson out in the foyer. He really was only about two inches taller than me. And three years older than Jon… that made him two years older than me. Dang. I bet in the next year or so puberty was going to hit Damian like a frickin’ freight train. Five-three to six-three in like six months probably. His muscles would fill out and I could only imagine how many girls at school would swoon over him.

“We’ll think about it for the party okay? Then we’ll decide when it’s winding down!” I shouted.

“Deal!” Jon replied, beaming at me.

Damian came over to us. “So?” he asked.

“We’re gonna think about it.”

Damian looked between us. “Tt. I believed it would be easier for all parties involved if you stayed.”

“Probably will. When the party’s winding don we’re gonna call my parents!” “And I gotta call mine to make sure they’re okay with me staying over in another city at a family’s home that I’ve never been to before.”

“I could speak with them as well if they require convincing.”

“Could you have a more pretentious vocabulary if you tried?” Jon complained.

“Tt. Yes,” Damian replied. “Yes I could.”

A crack of deafening thunder, inseparable from the flash of lightning that caused it, shook the house. Thankfully the power stayed on, but everyone screamed. Rain started pounding the tall arched window we were standing near.

Jon and I glanced at each other. “Maybe we should stay,” I said quietly, knowing he would hear me. “We shouldn’t ask either of your parents to come get us in this weather. I'm going to call my parents and tell them it’s raining cats and dogs and I don’t think I’ll be making it home.”

Jon nodded. “Good idea.” He looked at Damian, jerking his head in the direction of the foyer. Damian nodded and led us out of the ballroom where the party was being held. Across the foyer, through a door, and into a kitchen. It was much quieter here. “We’re gonna call our parents and see if we can stay because of the weather.”

“A wise decision,” Damian said. “Shall I stay?”

“If you want,” Jon said.

“I would be grateful for the break,” Damian said. He glanced at me as I dug my phone out. “Are you comfortable with this?”

“Doesn’t matter,” I said. “Weather’s more important than my anxiety.”

“That’s not true,” Damian said. “Should you require, we can arrange to have you driven home.”

“I’ll be fine,” I said.

“Very well. Once arrangements are made with your parents I will go ask Cassandra if you may borrow a spare set of pajamas,” he relented.

I dialed my Mom’s number. “Thanks Damian.”

“Of course.”

Jon wiggled his eyebrow at me when Damian turned his back on him. He likes you! Jon mouthed, pointing at Damian. I rolled my eyes.

Delusional, I mouthed back when Damian’s back was to me.

“Hey honey.”

“Hi Mom. Listen, it’s pouring cats and dogs in Gotham. Like. The dangerous kind of rain. But Jon’s friend who’s hosting invited he and I to stay the night so Mr. and Mrs. White don’t have to drive into Gotham from Metropolis to come get us in the storm. Is that okay?”

“Are you okay with that, Cloudy?”

Off to the side, Jon was talking to Lois on his phone.

“I'm okay with it for one night with the storm.”

“What do Jon’s parents say?”

“He’s asking right now.”

“I’ll wait.”

Mom and I stayed on the line in awkward silence until Jon did a little excited dance. “Yes! Thanks Mom!” he exclaimed before turning to me. “She said it’s okay!”

“Mrs. White says it’s okay,” I told my mom.

“Well. If Lois is okay letting Jon stay the night I'm definitely okay with trusting you to stay the night.”

“Thank you, Mom.”

“See you tomorrow baby.”

“See you tomorrow.”

“Love you.”

“Love you too, Mama. Mwah!”

“Mwah.”

“Bye.”

Mom laughed. “Goodbye baby.”

When I hung up the phone, Damian was staring at me. I put my phone back in my bag. “What?” I asked defensively.

He shrugged. “You and your mother seem close.”

I nodded. “I’ve always had a good relationship with my parents. Their rules are reasonable and we talk things through when they have a problem with something I'm doing so I'm not really into the whole ‘rebellious teenager’ thing. My older sister on the other hand…” I trailed off and snickered to myself. “She’s more into the rebellious every age thing.”

“Sounds like Todd,” Damian remarked.

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

“Todd is another brother of mine.”

“… Right.” How many kids did Bruce Wayne have again? Why did he have so many?

“My mother… I thought I was close to her growing up. It turned out I wasn’t. It’s nice to see close family relationships.”

“Thanks.”

Jon cleared his throat. “So! Should we head back into the party?”

“Yes of course,” Damian said. He led the way out of the kitchen, Jon and I right behind.

Jon was giving me eyebrow wiggles that I was trying really hard to ignore.

Once we were back in the party and Damian split off to go say hi to more guests, I whacked Jon in the chest with the back of my hand. “Would you quit it?!” I demanded.

“Quit what?” Jon asked innocently.

“You know what, you little twerp,” I retorted. I couldn’t help but smile, even if it was in exasperation.

He laughed. “We’ll see, Cloudy. We’ll see.”

^^^^^

Knock-knock! The curtness of the knock clued me in on who was at the door to the guest room I’d been put in for the night.

“Come in!” I called, yanking the sweatshirt the rest of the way down over the tank top. Gotham Academy of Dance was plastered on the front of the sweatshirt with some fancy logo that had laurel leaves on it.

“Has everything been to your satisfaction?” Damian asked.

“Everything except how exhausted I am. You’re being very gracious, Damian. Thank you for letting me stay along with Jon.”

Damian nodded. “Of course.” He paused. “Perhaps the next gathering will be smaller and more… what was the word you used? Personal?”

I smiled. “I said your party tonight was impersonal so yeah I guess. You’ll have to remind Jon to let me know how that goes,” I said.

“Tt. You assume you wouldn’t be invited.”

“You and I don’t know each other. I'm only here tonight because of Jon.”

“We go to the same school, do we not?” he asked.

“Well, I mean, yeah.”

“Then perhaps that will change.”

“Maybe,” I agreed, not holding out too much hope.

“I’ll leave you to your rest, Miss McCloud.”

“Just call me Cloudy. And thanks Damian. For everything. It was a nice party.”

“That you didn’t enjoy,” he pointed out.

I snickered. “Well, that kind of party isn’t my scene.”

“Understood. Goodnight, Miss Mc—Cloudy.”

“‘Night Damian,” I said. It was nearing midnight and I hadn’t stayed up that late in… months. Since New Year’s.

Damian bowed out of the guest room.

I climbed into the bed, shuffled around to get comfortable, and went to sleep, exhaustion from the party pulling me right under.

^^^^^

Jon was leaned against a wall in a set of Tim’s pajamas with his arms folded and a mischievous grin on his face. “Face it, Rob, you think she’s cute,” he said playfully.

“You’re mistaken, Kent,” Damian replied calmly, walking right past his best friend and heading for his own bedroom. Jon followed after. “Your friend is refreshingly intelligent and opinionated, but I don’t have time for cute.”

“Shame. ‘Cause I think she was diggin’ you too.”

“Kent?”

“Yeah?”

“Shut up.”

“Shutting.” Jon mimed zipping his mouth shut with an enormous close-lipped smile, shoved his hands into the pockets of Tim’s flannel pajama bottoms, and strolled off to the guest room he usually occupied when he stayed the night at Wayne Manor. He couldn’t help but plot ways to get Cloudy and Damian interested in each other. He could see it plain as day in the looks they gave each other. He could hear it in the fluctuations of their heartbeats.

Though, to be fair, he’d heard their entire conversation about how much she didn’t like the party and her heart fluctuations could have been embarrassment. That sounded more like the Cloudy he’d known for… years.

Jon wasn’t the type to cause drama, but he was definitely not going to let this opportunity pass him up. Damian and Cloudy would make a cute couple. Jon decided it was his job to make that happen.

Giggling he got in bed and snuggled down to sleep, the pounding rainstorm like a lullaby to him.

[amymel86]

A wee Modern Student AU just for @thenutofroyalty​ because she deserves nice things.

The Best Kind

Sansa had known that it was going to be colder than Winterfell ever was here at Hardhome University, but this was ridiculous, she thought as the thousandth shiver raced down her spine. "Coffee helps" Jon, one of her new flatmates said with an apologetic smile as he handed over a steaming mug and sat beside her on the couch. She'd met him only an hour ago when he'd helped her out of her cab with the bazillion bags of belongings she'd brought with her. "The heating has been on the blink for a little while” he paused to take a gulp of coffee “the landlord’s been promising to send someone over to take a look at the boiler before it starts to get really cold though.”

Sansa chokes and splutters on her hot drink. “This isn’t ‘really cold’?! It get’s worse?!” she squawks, eyes a little wide and half contemplating re-packing her bags she’d only just emptied into her tiny little student bedroom.

Jon shrugs. “Yeah, It does...a little bit” he chuckles, the sound doing something warm to her stomach - Sansa puts it down to the hot coffee she was slurping.

3 weeks later

“You!” Sansa rounds on Jon as he’s slouched on the sofa, tv remote in hand, startled by the girl wrapped up in a million blankets and hobbling about the house like some sort of frozen babushka.

“Me?”

“Yes! YOU!” she plonked herself down on the sofa and stiffly twisted her whole torso to face him. “You told me that it only gets ‘a little bit colder’ up here - you lied.”

Jon smiles and Sansa puts the jumbled feeling in her gut down to the fact that she’s had far too much caffeine today in a bid to keep warm with hot drinks - she makes a mental note to have a hot chocolate next time.

“It’s not that ba-”

“Don’t you dare say ‘it’s not that bad’ Jon Snow! My nipples could cut glass!” she snaps and then inwardly snickers when Jon’s eyes flit down to her chest - her chest that was covered with a bra, 2 shirts, a hoodie, and 2 blankets.

Jon licks his lips and - God damn him - Sansa’s almost decided that the shiver that tickled her spine was a direct effect from his action and not the crippling cold.

“Sansa, it’s really not that-”

“Look!” she forcefully huffs a very brief cloud of breath in the air between them “You can see my breath! Look Jon!” she does it again and again until he’s wearing the cutest smirk on his face. 

Urgh, no one should be allowed to be that adorable when I’m trying to sound annoyed - he’s like my kryptonite, she thinks to herself before shivering all over again.

“Hey, why don’t you put on one of those reality shows you like?” Jon says, taking pity on her as he hands over the tv remote “’At Home With The Vapid and  Pretentious’ or whatever it is” he says, grabbing the throw blanket from the back of the sofa and arranging it over both of their laps.

Sansa glances quizzically at the remote in her hand and then down to the fluffy pale blue blanket on her legs. “It’s ‘At Home With The Tyrells’” she corrects, lifting her head to study Jon “and you’ve made it very clear that you hate those shows.”

“I’d watch them for you” Jon shrugs.

“For me?” Sansa queries. Jon’s shoulders tense.

“With you.”

“You said ‘for you’“

“It’s not what I meant.”

“But it’s what you said.”

“Shall I order a pizza?” Jon chirped abruptly, changing the subject and pulling out his phone, clearing his throat as he scrolled through his contacts.

Three hours, a few episodes of ‘At Home With The Tyrell’s’, and one large pepperoni pizza later, and Sansa feels cozy and warm. Almost too cozy and warm. And asleep.

“Well, well, well, isn’t this a pretty picture?” comes the booming voice of one of Sansa’s other roommates. She cracks an eye open to see Yara Greyjoy standing over her with a smirk on her face.

Letting out a sleepy grumble and attempting a stretch, Sansa realises that she’s snuggled up to something. Something decidedly firmer than the sofa - and warmer too. And since when did the sofa breathe?

“Fuck off, Greyjoy” she hears a low sleepy rumble from beneath her ear. It’s then that she notices a strong arm slung heavily around her waist and the scent of Jon’s cologne. She lifts her head slowly and is met with a slightly awkward look on Jon’s face. Sansa cleared her throat.

“Uh...Hi” she croaked.

“Hi” Jon parrots shyly back at her, a slightly apologetic smile following his sleep-scratched voice. They entangle themselves from each other and straighten where they sit, desperately trying not to look at one another.

“Well that’s a shame” Yara declares amidst the air of awkwardness.

“What is?” Jon asks.

“Well, I was going to have a crack at her but it looks like this-” she waves a finger between Sansa and Jon “-is gonna be a ‘thing’.“

“No it’s not - it’s not anything!” Sansa defends. She’s only been living with them all for 3 weeks after all - it’s not like she wanted to jump Jon Snow’s bones only half a day into that and pretty much fell head over heels for him after only a week - that would be ridiculous! Utterly, totally, unrealistically ridiculous! Jon shifts uncomfortably next to her. “Wait-” she manages to interrupt her internal panic long enough to let Yara’s words sink in “- you were going to ‘have a crack’ at me?” 

“Yeah” Yara shrugged “nothing serious though, Red. Just a bit of fun” she winked, making Sansa blush. “The offer would still be on the table if it weren’t for grumpy-bollocks over here” Yara said, waving a hand at Jon’s direction.

“Hey!” 

“Sorry mate - but I know what you’re like with your women” Yara says as she turns and starts to stomp up the stairs.

“And what’s that?” Jon called after her incredulously.

“Monogamous!”

They’re left together then, with only their silence and the sixth episode of At ‘Home With The Tyrells’ for company.

Suddenly, Jon clears his throat and reaches for the empty pizza box, murmuring something about clearing up at exactly the same time as Sansa blurts an excuse about studying. They both practically bolt from the warm cozy sofa, taking their awkwardness with them.

1 Week Later...

“Why did you say that thing about me and Jon?” Sansa bursts out with one day, as Yara is giving her a lift in to Uni.

“What thing?”

“The thing! The thing about Jon and I....being a ‘thing’!” Sansa explains, gesticulating with her hands in front of her as Yara indicates to take a turning.

“Oh - That thing” she laughs.

Just then, Yara’s phone starts to ring, the sound coming from all around the car as she has her ‘hand’s free’ link set up. The display console above the sound system presents them both with the words ‘Jon calling...’

“What do you want?” Yara asks the air after pressing the accept call button on her steering wheel.

“Nice to speak to you too” Jon’s sarcastic voice comes out through the speakers. “Listen, can you have another word with the landlord about the boiler? You know he’s not that keen on me.”

“Because you broke down the front door that time” Yara reminded him.

“I was drunk, I was tired, I was hungry-”

“You went out without your keys-” she added.

“Whatever - just, can you speak to him please? For Sansa.”

“For Sansa?” she turned to face the redhead in the passenger seat - the redhead who was waving her hands frantically, indicating for her not to let on that she was there. Yara narrowed her eyes.

“Yeah...she....she’s not used to the cold yet and-”

“Alright Jonny-boy, how long?” Yara demanded, cutting off his words.

“How long what?”

“How long have you been in love with her?”

Sansa gaped at Yara as she continued to manoeuvre the car about the roads of Hardhome.

“What?!... That’s just-.. I don’t-... She’s only just-...” Jon spluttered as Sansa stared at the in-car speakers.

“Cut the crap Snow!” Yara laughed, shifting into reverse as she spied a parking spot “that heating has been out for ages, we’ve all complained about it, but now you care? Plus-” she pushed the gear lever into park after the car was in position “you’re always making her hot chocolate - the fancy kind - with whipped cream and little marshmallows.” Yara turned in her seat, finally landing a challenging glare at Sansa - whose mouth was silently agape.

A loud sigh of resignation came from the speakers. “Yeah alright. I like her....more than like her.”

Oh shit!

“Knew it” Yara grinned.

2 days later...

It’s now or never, Sansa thought as she stood in the chilly hallway in front of Jon’s bedroom door. It was the dead of night - everyone else was either asleep or out getting thoroughly intoxicated.

Yara had indeed rang the landlord and the boiler was scheduled to be fixed tomorrow. She won’t have this excuse after that.

Sansa knocked and heard a sleepy mumble from within. She opened the door and slipped inside.

“Sansa?” Jon croaked adorably, his curls a messy halo sticking out in all directions around his head as he sat up in bed. His eyes widened in the dark room when he saw what she was wearing - or not wearing.

“Jon” she stood there in her little white boy shorts and camisole top “I’m really cold...can I-...” she indicates with a tilt of her head to his bed

“Yeah-yeah...yes...um...” he responded eagerly “..of course..if you want-” Jon scoots over to the far side of the bed to make room for her and held up the blanket for her to slip in underneath.

“Thank you” she smiles, climbing into the warm bed and wasting no time at cuddling up to him. She tucks her head under his chin and feels his throat bob as he gulps before his arms come around her. Sansa lets out a contented sigh that sounded suggestive even to her ears and snuggles closer.

Jon’s wearing nothing but boxers and his skin feels positively hot wherever she touches it.

“Sansa?” he whispers into the dark after a while of her just listening to the loud drum of his heart.

“Mm-hmm?” she mumbles, snuggling even closer and hitching her leg a little over his, her thigh brushing something considerable hard. Jon stifled a groan unsuccessfully.

“Sansa...these aren’t the thick winter PJs you always wear” Sansa feels his hand on her hip, his thumb stroking under the hem of her top.

“Aren’t they?...Oh no...they’re not” she teases, smiling into the side of his neck. “Well, I heard a little tip about keeping warm.”

“Yeah?” he rasps, his voice low and husky.

“Yes” Sansa does an experimental roll of her hips against him, liking the way he sucks in a breath and then lets it slowly back out again. “Apparently, physical exertion is very effective.”

Jon clears his throat, his voice strained when he speaks next. “What, err...what l kind of physical exertion did you have in mind?” 

“Oh you know” Sansa purrs, starting to kiss her way up his throat “the best kind” she whispers before swallowing his groan with her lips.

[lnicol1990]

Defining Moments - Chapter 7

Second chapter upload tonight.

Rintra, Year 160, Fifth Age

Ayla – aged 18, Aleks – aged 17

Aleks dived under the table, his head low so as not to hit the crossbeam. He scurried further in, trying to avoid the oncoming onslaught that he knew awaited him beyond his safe haven. If he could squeeze in just a little more he could curl up and bunker down, and hope and pray for the psychopath to go away.

Alas, his hopes were shattered when a hand tightly gripped his ankle and pulled him out of his hiding spot. There was nothing Aleks could grab to delay his doom and he shrieked helplessly as he was pulled into the light. A couple of seconds later, he was being held up by the front of his robes and face to face with a bear of a man. The man drew back his empty fist, the knuckles clearly aiming at the spot between Aleks’ eyes.

Terrified, Aleks closed his eyes as tightly as he could, not wanting to watch death come hurtling towards him.

Only, Death didn’t come for him, at least, he didn’t think he had. Had the punch killed him instantly? Had he been hit at all? Or was the man waiting until he was looking?

After another moment of nothing, he was almost overcome with the need to open his eyes, but the last remnants of terror kept him still. And then he heard something, which he couldn’t quite identify. It was a sucking sound that was too wet to be healthy, and too close to be anything other than heart stopping. A cough in front of him landed something on his face, making him flinch.

At that point, he opened his eyes.

He was met with the man, who was still holding him by his robes. His eyes were wide, bulging in terror, and his lips were overly red from the blood dripping from his mouth. He coughed again, spraying blood over Aleks, before dropping the poor wizard. The new perspective made the arrow in the thug’s neck that much easier to see.

The sound of tight clicks on the floor turned heads to watch a petite woman approach the duo. She only just passed Aleks’ shoulder and was dwarfed entirely by the thug when she reached up and grabbed the man’s shoulder with a dark skinned hand. Without effort, she directed the man to the inn’s exit before kicking him out, pulling the arrow out as she did. Without another thought, she returned the arrow to her quiver and walked back into the inn.

Aleks would have collapsed had his legs not locked up in terror.

The woman gave him a scrutinising glance as she walked past him and up to the bar. He didn’t dare watch her, choosing instead to stay rooted to the spot and hope that she wouldn’t return. His hope was short lived as she suddenly stood in front of him watching him as his heart started racing again, fearing what he’d now gotten dragged into.

“Why don’t you sit down before you feint?” the woman asked, her voice lilting with an accent he’d never heard before. She motioned behind him, obviously pointing at a chair behind him.

She smiled when he did as he was bid, and pushed a tankard of beer towards him. She also passed a beer towel to him, though the beer glass was dry. She then joined him at the table, sitting opposite, and delicately sipped her own beer, careful not to spill the overfull tankard.

“My name is Ayla,” she introduced brightly. She cocked her head to a side and stared at him with bright green eyes, an odd colour for someone so tanned. As she raised her hands to her chin and rested lightly on her elbows, her gloves came into view. Such strange gloves, that barely covered her hands, what were they for?

Movement before his eyes made Aleks flinch in surprise, only to realise it was the woman before him waving one of said strangely gloved hands in front of him. She was looking at him with a strange frown on her face and her lips twitching slightly, as if she didn’t know whether to be amused or concerned.

“Uh, sorry, what was last bit? I- eh, I don’t think I caught it,” Aleks stuttered before grabbing that beer before him.

He’d never drank beer before, the Tower only providing its older students with wine and he had never been very impressed with it. Assuming the taste would be much the same, he took a large mouthful of the amber liquid and almost spat it back out in surprise.  Not wanting to look any more foolish than he already did in front of this strange woman, he forced himself to swallow the beer and coughed as it went down painfully. The second mouthful wasn’t so big, and not nearly as bad as it went down.

“I said ‘my name is Ayla’,” she repeated, chuckling slightly at him. She took a less delicate sip of beer and looked back to him. “And you?”

“Oh! Uh, I- I’m Aleks,” he introduced himself, almost dropping his glass as he offered his hand to her. It earned him another chuckle from the woman- he really wished she’d stop doing that- before she took his hand in an unexpectedly firm grip. He quickly returned to his tankard and, before taking another swig, muttered, “Thanks for helping me out.”

“Of course, no problem,” she shrugged. She then gave him a more apprising look, taking in his clothes and general appearance. “Though, I have to wonder why a man so obviously not built for close combat tried to go toe-to-toe with Jonny the Beard. Why didn’t you use magic, you are a wizard, aren’t you?”

“You can’t use magic if you don’t have the right runes to combine,” he explained embarrassedly, “I… I ran out of air runes mid-fight.”

“I see.”

Aleks was about to enquire why she hadn’t asked about the fight, such as why he’d gotten into it, when he suddenly noticed something. Her leather armour was well worn and practical, and there didn’t seem to be any decorative etchings or unnecessary about it. And yet, on her right arm was black piece of cloth that had been crudely tied near her shoulder with the cloth’s tails dangling uselessly.

Black cloth… wrapped around her arm….

Oh.

“You’re part of the Black Arm Gang, aren’t you?” Aleks asked quietly

“And you’re trying to get into the Phoenix Gang,” Ayla answered, not denying his accusation.

He kicked his mind into overdrive, trying to think of a way out of the situation. He couldn’t fight his way out as he didn’t have runes, and he couldn’t bluff his way out because he’d just admitted this fact to her. He could run, but she was between him and the front door. He could try the back, but he didn’t know where that would lead. He’d also drained his tankard, whereas she had barely touched hers, and the alcohol was starting to kick in and make things that little bit blurry at the edges. He didn’t know her well enough to guess if he could bribe her to go away, or how much he’d have to pay.

Could he sweet-talk her into letting him go? Did he want to do that? He’d had his fill of dangerous women in the past month to last him a lifetime, he didn’t really want to get involved with this one.

“I’ll tell you what,” her voice broke through his steadily panicking thoughts and she pulled out some papers from her satchel. As she waved them gently in front of him, he could see they were the plans he’d been asked to acquire from Jonny the Beard. “I’ll give you these, if you get me the Phoenix Gang armoury key.”

“What do you need that for?” he asked.

“You don’t need to worry about that,” Ayla smiled at him and chuckled before taking another mouthful of beer. She looked at him for a moment and must have seen something in his expression because her shoulders sagged in defeat and smiled at him. “I just need to grab something to finish off my own initiation, nothing too terrible, I promise.”

Aleks thought the offer through. He didn’t have a counter offer, and from the stubborn look in her eyes he had the feeling she wasn’t going to accept one anyway. If he refused, she might kill him, which would leave him dead, and her without the key. Or, she might not kill him and they’d be stuck, unable to finish their initiations into rival gangs. The only major problem that he could find was that she wouldn’t keep to her side of the deal. While he was out of runes, it would be a short fight, especially as she seemed to know how to handle herself. However, if he could restock his bag…

“Alright then, you’ve got a deal, Miss Ayla,” he offered his hand a second time.

“Good,” she smiled, taking his hand and sealing their agreement. Releasing him, she went back to her tankard, taking another mouthful before looking back at him. “Are you going to clean the blood off your face, or not?”

Oh, so that’s what the beer towel was for.

---***---

Ayla was resting against the outer south wall of the Blue Moon Inn, and she had been waiting for fifteen minutes for her new friend to come back

It was taking a lot of self-restraint not to draw her bow and storm the Phoenix Gang hideout. While she didn’t want to believe that Aleks had played her with his story of needing the documents to get the armoury key, she was starting to think she’d been lied to, again.

Because being tricked never got old.

Then again, maybe he was swanning it up with his new gang buddies, getting ready to jump her all together. Then again, with a restocked rune pouch he may be something of a threat on his own; she’d seen him come out of a wizard-owned shop, and she didn’t have to guess what he’d bought. She hadn’t fought many wizards, and didn’t know how best to fight them.

It was just more reasons her fingers twitched, itching for her bow to be at hand. She didn’t want to be disadvantaged for even a second if this venture turned deadly. But, if he was as honest as she hoped he was, then she didn’t want to give him the impression that she was waiting to jump him.

A gamble either way.

She was instantly alert when the hideout door opened and she drew her bow reflexively, but didn’t raise it as Aleks came out alone.  She relaxed completely when he flashed a dazzling smile and held a key out to her. His smile became uncertain when he noticed her returning her bow to her back, but seemed put at ease by her disarming herself. He stood his ground as she approached, so maybe he wasn’t as scared of her as he had seemed in the Inn.

Wordlessly, she took the offered key, but her eyes strayed to his other arm. Tucked up close to his body was a misshapen object that a length of cloth concealed well enough to pass over a cursory glance, but was not nearly well wrapped for a closer inspection.

She realised why the young man had joined the Phoenix Gang and what he’d taken from them. The irony of the situation dawned on her and she couldn’t help but laugh.

“What?” the wizard asked indignantly. He glanced at his stolen trophy before hastily trying to hide it better behind himself. His defensive attitude only brought more chuckles from her, which only further irritated him and when he spoke again, his tone was harsher. “What?”

“I’m- I’m sorry,” Ayla apologised, still smiling. She gave a final chuckle before straightening up and looking at him. “It’s just funny that we, of all people, should meet. I helped you steal half the Shield of Arrav, while this key you gave me will help me steal the other half.”

“I didn’t ste- uh, I mean… you- you’re trying to put it back in the museum, too?” Aleks stuttered, first trying to defend himself before realising she’d said. After he’d asked her the question, she nodded without hesitation, and there was silence between them. She could almost see the cogs in his mind turning as he thought through his next question, and she wasn’t disappointed. “Why? I mean, I know why I’m putting it back, but… why do you want to do it?”

“Honestly? I need the money. I’ve been here longer than I planned for, and now I don’t have enough to charter a ship home. I could buy supplies and walk, I suppose, but that’ll take me months. I just want to go home.”

It felt nice for her to finally admit it, even if to a complete stranger. She hadn’t expected to jump through so many hoops to reach the physician who could examine the plague samples. And when she had spoken to him, he’d made the whole journey pointless with a single fact.

There was no plague in West Ardougne.

Not that she was going to tell Aleks why she was here, but by the sympathetic look in his eyes, she didn’t need to. She watched him pull the cloth off his shield half and hold it out between the two of them. He looked at it while his thumb traced the broken insignia.

“I didn’t even think about the money, I just wanted enough recognition so that I could get a position in the museum,” he admitted. As he looked down at the shield, his eyes skittering across its surface as he thought of an idea. Then, he returned his attention to her, eyes bright. “How about this: I get the kudos in the museum so that I can spend my vocational assignment with them, and then you get the cash reward that King Roald offered for the Shield’s return so you can charter yourself a ship. Sound fair?”

Ayla looked at him in surprise at the offer. It was by far the most generous deal she’d ever had, and not something to pass up lightly. With any luck, it would be enough for her to get home and purchase some supplies for the three day journey back to Ardougne.

“Well then,” she said, smiling brightly as she took his hand. “I’d better get Katrine those crossbows.”

[brookewritesyk]

t h r e e

───── 𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐮𝐩𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐌𝐫 𝐒𝗺𝗼𝗼𝐭𝐡 ─────

𝐏𝐄𝐀𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐎𝐖, Jackie saw Jonny, Adam and Grandma Nellie on the driveway. Excited, Jackie called, "They're here. They're here!". Quickly, she hurried to the front door and cheerfully greeted, "Hi all!".

"Hold on Grandma. Hold on." Adam told his Grandma leaning over her.

"What's going on?" Jackie asked tilting her head walking over to the car.

"Hi Mum, Grandma's stuck," Adam explained looking away from Nellie.

"What?" Jackie asked again with a high-pitched voice.

"Her hair stuck," Adam repeated louder. "Just undo it!" Adam told Jonny and Jonny struggled: "I'm trying to but the door won't open."

"Mum?" Jackie asked worriedly.

"Hello, Jackie," Grandma greeted unfazed almost laughing.

"Undo the window!"

"What do you think I'm trying to do?" Jonny frustratedly asked getting annoyed.

"Hurry up!" Jackie yelled.

"Maybe if I-" Jonny thought out loud but was silenced by the car alarm went off.

"Great!" Adam said sarcastically throwing his hands in the air.

"Jonny!" Jackie whined.

"Is that the police?" Nellie asked confused.

Adam went around the back of the car and opened the driver's seat door going to turn off the car alarm whilst Jackie yelled at Jonny "Jonathan, open the window and turn that alarm off now!"

"I'm trying, I'm trying!"

Suddenly, the car alarm stopped and Grandma's hair was realised, a section of her hair sticking up.

"Oh, are you ok mum?" Jackie asked concerned putting her arm around her shoulders.

"Sorry, Grandma sorry." Jonny apologised, feeling guilty.

"You're such a dickhead." Adam told Jonny slamming the car door.

"Shut up."

"How's my hair?" Nellie asked Jackie.

"It's fine mum, its fine, come on." Jackie reassured leading her to the front door and asked whispering facing Jonny "How did you manage to get hair stuck in the window like that?"

"Cause he's a dick head that's how," Adam answered for Jonny.

"She must have lent in when I pressed the button or something." Jonny guessed.

"You know something?"

"What?" Jonny questioned confused.

"You are a dickhead." Jackie insulted eyeing him down and Jonny just looked at his brother in shock but Adam was just smiling.

Then they got into the hall Nellie immediately looked at her hair in the mirror, fiddling around with it.

"Ohh, your hair looks lovely, it's a lovely colour, isn't a lovely colour boys?" Jackie complimented her mother whilst asking the boys a question which they responded unenthusiastically, "Yeah."

"Thank you," Grandma appreciated "You should get your done too," Nellie suggested squinting her eyes at Jackie's hair.

Smile dropping, Jackie looked into the mirror and calmly informed: "I just had mine done."

"Have you?"

"Yes, mum," Jackie answered becoming offended.

"Did you do it over the bath?" Grandma smirked but being serious.

"Brilliant," Jonny commented walking behind his mum to get into the kitchen.

Both of them carried on bickering until Jackie said excitedly to the boys "We've got something to show you."

"Really, what?" Adam asked.

"You'll see.." Jackie replied mysteriously

"Grandma's going to do a strip for us?"

"With dad?" Adam answered as Martin came out of the bathroom without a top like always.

"So no Charlie?" Martin asked closing the bathroom door.

"Uh, Dad remember we kind of got into an argument last week?"Jonny remained his dad sadly.

"Wait, you still haven't talked to her?" Jackie asked shocked.

"It's just it was a mistake but it also wasn't it, so it's a bit awkward," Jonny explained.

"Well, I invited her over again," Jackie revealed.

"What?"

"What!"

"I assumed you talked to her so I asked her if she was coming and she said yes," Jackie explained.

"Oh, bad luck Pissface!" Adam told Jonny, aggressively ruffling his hair.

"Boys stop it, she's coming ok so behave!" Jackie angrily ordered.

"What's happening?" Nellie asked confused walking into the kitchen.

"Jonny's girlfriend is coming for dinner." The older brother deliberately misinformed.

"Oh, Allison!" Nellie said happily in realisation.

"No Allison and Jonny aren't together anymore," Jackie told, "Charlie-Rose is coming over to dinner, Jonny's old friend from high school."

"Oh ok, dolly," Nelle said walking back into the living room.

"This is going to be fun," Adam commented smiling sarcastically.

"Jesus," Jonny whined throwing his head back in annoyance.

"Just man up you simpleton!" Martin yelled to Jonny.

"Martin!" Jackie complained rolling her eyes.

Then the door went.

"Oh, God." Jonny realised that it was not going to be good.

"This is going to be amazing," Adam commented happily walking to the front door with a massive smile. Quickly, he opened the door and greeted "Well hello Charlie-Rose!".

Charlie was wearing high-waisted open jeans with a light pink sweater and holding a bouquet of white roses. "Hey, Pissface," She greeted giving Adam the flowers.

"Aww thank you, but don't you want to give these to Jonny?" Adam teased mischievous smile.

"Haha, very funny they're meant to apology for last week." You explained smiling slightly sad.

"Don't worry my brother can be a cock face."

"Yes, yes he can be." You smiled coming in and putting your coat in the rack.

"Adam, who is this, your girlfriend?" Nellie asked walking into the hallway.

"No, she's Jonny's girlfriend," Adam smirked.

"Oh yes, Charlie-Rose," Grandma remembered

"No I'm not Jonny's girlfriend but I am Charlie-Rose."

───── 𝐀𝐰𝐤𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 ─────

"Well hello, Bambina!" Martin greeted smiling.

"Hi, Martin," Charlie replied with the same amount of happiness.

"Sorry, my son is such a burk." Martin apologised looking at Jonny.

"How subtle."

"Yes very," Jackie nodded rolling her eyes.

"So what did you want to show us?" Jonny asked changing the subject.

"Oh yes, come through," Jackie told, guiding us to the living room.

They all walked in into the room not noticing any immediate changes. Charlie noticed Jackie was getting annoyed so she asked for a hint and she waved her arm backwards.

"Is it the curtains?" Charlie guessed unsurely.

"Finally!" Jackie exclaimed. "Also Jonny maybe you and Charlie should have a talk." She suggested forcefully smiling.

"Not awkward," Adam murmured.

"Oh great." Charlie thought.

"Thanks for that mum," Jonny sarcastically thanked them, getting up and walking to the kitchen then Charlie followed.

"I'm sor-" They both started then nervously laughed and Charlie let him continue.

"Look I-I lied about Allison, way before you because I just didn't want mum to set me up with anyone, you know what's she's like." Jonny truthfully explained, ashamed. "I-I didn't mean to kiss you but, I also don't regret it."

"Really?" Charlie asked beyond shocked, she never thought in her wildest dreams that he actually liked her back.

"Yes 100% I don't regret it but I would regret not asking you out." Jonny smoothly asked.

"Alright, Mr Smooth but you only have 1 shot." Charlie teased. Charlie just couldn't stop smiling.

"I won't mess it up I promise," Jonny told smiling. "How about another kiss?".

"Wow your are very slick tonight," Charlie replied going onto her tip-toes and leant into him.

"Indeed I am," Jonny smirked back and leant into kissing her as well.

"Yay!" Jackie shouted from the kitchen door.

"Oh my God, Pissface actually maned up." Adam taunted leaning against the door frame next to his mum.

"Jesus, can we have some privacy?" Jonny whined now facing them.

Sighing, Jackie left them, Adam, genuinely smiling left the room too.

"So where we're we?" Charlie asked.

"I think I was going to ask you on a date." Jonny yet again smoothly replied.

"Mr smooth is on his 'a' game tonight." Charlie complimented.

"Why thank you Paris, so the date. Mario's, 7?" Jonny suggested.

"Of course Mr Smooth."