#i want to have a proper otp tag for them

[akai-anna]

My gosh, I've been down a nostalgia rabbit hole and been going back to knb and nijiaka and noticed that you were still active. You've given me and other nijiakas precious memories, bless you and hope you have a lovely day!

For once, my timing was just right: coming home to see this precious ask and have the time to answer it. Today is blessed.

NijiAka is still in my heart, so utterly precious, NijiAka has become part of my soul, altered my life in many ways, and to this day I still reread my favourite fics (some of which I would love to rec or talk about TONS) and stare at my favourite pieces of art and follow my favourite Japanese artists and doujinka, still hunt for merch so I can add it to my collection, and think of them regularly.

I would still be actively talking about them if there were people who were interested in chatting about them. Just saying. You can totally take that as an invitation. Just saying.

Thank you for dropping by my askbox, you made me so happy with your words! I truly hope you have a lovely day, and may NijiAka live long in our hearts, even if the manga/anime ended ages ago!

[yarrayora]

I think it's valid to like a ship however you wanna like it but i genuinely get the impression you don't really like farcille at all. And if that is the case would you please stop tagging posts as farcille just to be negative about it?

that's where youre wrong

i actually enjoy farcille! it was originally mehtp for me but after i figured out that i do enjoy making them struggle with their relationship before they actually figure out how to love each other as equals i like them as otp

if you don't believe me, you can check my blogs for my other ships outside of dunmeshi: dazatsu from bsd where atsushi's patience runs thin everytime dazai tries to push him away, odazai also from bsd where i depict dazai as someone who falls in love with the idealized version of odasaku, not the real him, which explains why i love the idea of marcille idealizing falin, right?

i understand my taste is niche, people generally dont want to see their otp going through relationship problems stemming from not being able to communicate well with each other, but i'm not being negative about my own otp just because i want them to experience angst that stems from canon worldbuilding, i'm exploring how their relationship can survive even with their differences

so as spoiler for the ending im planning for my comic: kabru tells falin it's no good to decide whether she should continue her relationship with marcille or not at this point where she's still confused about her feelings. so he suggests falin should go on her travel around the world to see how she would feel when she's away from marcille. "marcille can be overbearing because she experienced almost losing you. i'm not saying what she's doing is right, of course, but i am saying that you'll have an easier time deciding whether you truly love her or not if you know how it feels like to be without her."

and in the end, falin realizes she wants to be with marcille, but she wants to start over first as friends, to get to know each other as proper equals, instead of a senior who took her of her junior, instead of a distressed savior and her damsel. "i don't want to lose you, marcille"

there lol is that enough to convince you i actually care about the ship

[jasntodds]

Caving In [2]

Pairing: Gar Logan x Fem!Powered!Reader, Jason Todd x Fem!Powered!Reader

Words: 7,611 

Chapter Warnings: Swearing, angst, descriptions of bruises (no colors, just shape and tint), mentions of sleep deprivation and some paranoia, mentions of death, mentions of the joker being the joker, there’s a teen wolf reference, a mention of being held captive and tortured, fluff, a mention of food being withheld

Summary: ❝Tell me Atlas: What is heavier, The world or its people’s hearts?❞ You never expected your life to end up this way, turned upside down by an infamous Gotham villain. It’s been a living hell, every single day, until Dick Grayson brings you to Titans tower where you meet Gar Logan and Jason Todd.

A/N: Hey, look chapter two up on time!! Things pick up in chapter 3, I promise!! I am easily motivated to post more often when I get feedback 😂 The first few chapters take place between season 2 episode 1 and season 2 episode 2. You can add yourself the tag list below, ask me to be tagged, or you can follow my library blog @jasntoddslibrary​ ​ and turn on notifications if you prefer that!!

series masterlist | masterlist | tag list

The next morning comes around and you’re taking the time you have alone to shower. It’s barely four in the morning so no one else is awake and you’re pretty grateful for that right now. Before going to bed the night before, Rachel stopped back by your room and offered you some clothes she thought would fit okay for the following day. So, you’re the only one awake and figured it'd be really nice to have a proper shower for once. But the shower isn't the relaxing thing you expected.

This is the first time you’ve seen yourself in a mirror since being put into a basement for several months. It's the first time you’ve seen yourself at all but this is also the first time you’re getting a look at how the tower is seeing you. Your right eye has a deep bruise. It looks a little swollen still even though you feel like you can see fine out of it. The cut on your lip is still open and the cut on your cheek is red. Bruises in the shapes of fingers are dark on your biceps, right over the scar on your right bicep. Another bruise in the shape of a shoe is on your back. The more you look the more bruises you find and you wince, finally understanding all of the sympathetic looks you’ve gotten. Not that they know about the bruises across your back and stomach but they saw your arms.

You thought it was so weird Dick wanted to help but seeing yourself in the mirror, you completely understand because if you saw yourself on the street right now, you'd be livid and force that person to come with you. Your head hangs and it's kind of like you understand and a feeling of maybe wanting to tell them what happened comes over you.

If you tell them, maybe the looks will stop because you’re healing and they'll know. It's just kind of an elephant in the room as much you want to avoid it in your head, it's there. And every single time they look at you, they're just going to want the full story. The looks won't stop until they know. And all you can do is sigh because it’s four in the morning and sleeping for an hour has you feeling a lot more feelings that you ever really liked. So, you swallow the lump your throat and go for the shower.

After the shower, you find yourself in the kitchen looking for food. You find some cereal, Cheerios, and otp for that. At this point, you’re not going to complain about whatever cereal you have. Once you have your bowl, you move into the living room and turn the TV on, sitting on the floor at the small coffee table like you used to do when you were a kid. You find Avatar: The Last Airbender on one of the many streaming services connected to the TV and call yourself content.

You eat in peace watching a childhood favorite of yours and it feels easy. You feel at ease here and it feels like it could almost feel like home if you put in a real effort to give it a chance. If you could find a way in yourself to really trust these strangers. It'll be hard but maybe it'll be worth it, early mornings alone in front of TV with some cereal.

By the time six rolls around, the lack of sleep and paranoia has started to catch up to you. This place feels safe but it also feels too good to be true. There’s a little humming in the back of your head, telling you not to trust anyone because anyone can say they’re one thing and be the opposite. You used to be so trusting of people, not naïve or anything like that, but trusting of people in general but now, it’s hard to imagine people just being nice to be nice. What if you fall asleep, really get some sleep, and they turn on you? What if they’re working with him? And he comes to take you back? Maybe you’ll get lucky and everyone will leave the tower so you can get some real peaceful sleep. You’ve gone longer without sleep, you’ll be fine. You’re always fine.

"Good morning." Dick's voice scares you while you’re stood sink washing your bowl.

"Fuck," You groan, turning to look at him. "Do you always sneak up on people?"

Dick chuckles softly. "Sorry, it's a habit, I guess." Dick didn’t think he had been all that quiet.

You roll your eyes before going back to cleaning your dish you used for cereal. You haven't had cereal since you were put into foster care. It wasn't the best cereal or anything, you’re a Trix person but it was a lot better than the chicken noodle soup you’re used to. It felt almost nostalgic and you got to just sit in the living area, watching old cartoons you used to love as a kid, in peace. Until now, with Dick awake anyway.

"Right." You say softly.

Dick watches you from the back as he stands at the kitchen island, taking notice in the coffee cup sitting on the counter behind you and the empty coffee pot off to the side. You seem jumpy, though that might just be you. This is a new place to you and after whatever you’ve been through, it's fair to be a little jumpy but it makes him wonder.

"Did you sleep last night?" He asks, walking over to the coffee pot to make himself a pot.

"'Course." You lie, not looking up from the dish that is definitely clean by now but it's something to do with your hands.

Dick uses the sink to fill up the pot, you glancing at him for just a second. "Hmm." He hums. "More than an hour?"

You pause and let out a sigh. How long has he been doing this? You weren't saying he's good at it but how does he just know shit?

"No." Your voice is filled of shame. "I-i-it's weird, being here."

"It's okay." Dick reassures you as he gets his coffee going. "I didn't sleep much when Bruce brought me home, either."

You start drying your bowl, turning to face him. "What's he like? I mean....was he nice to you? You're here so..."

Dick nods and then shrugs. "He tried his best."

"That's a cop-out for saying he sucked." You raise your brows, resting the bowl to the side before grabbing the spoon and drying it. No one with good parental figures just says they tried their best. But, since Dick is here taking in strays that need help, maybe the Bruce guy didn’t do a terrible job. Even if this whole thing is weird.

Dick chuckles. "It wasn't all bad." Dick leans against the counter, facing you as he waits for his coffee.

"Must be nice." You mutter, a sense of envy comes over you. But it just slipped out. Being jealous doesn’t make a situation better. "Sorry."  You apologize.

"It's okay." Dick assures you. Dick knows he got lucky with Bruce even if Bruce wasn’t the best. Dick still got lucky. "Where ya from?" He asks, trying to change the subject a little bit but still find something out about you.

"Gotham." You roll your eyes. "Fit right in now with all the freaks Gotham breeds, huh?"

"You're not a freak." Dick says calmly.

"Mhm, sPeCiAl." You mock and then Dick catches the hit of a smirk on your face.

"You're a smartass, you know, that?"

You give him a cornered grin. "It's the only thing not damaged about me so far. Gotta hold onto it." You snicker to yourself. "What about you? San Fran?"

Dick shakes his head. "Gotham." Dick goes to grab his coffee that's finished brewing.

"Shut the fuck up." You scoff. Apparently, if people get to escape the hellscape of Gotham, they end up in San Francisco? Literally, across the country which, if you’re being honest, completely makes sense.

"Honest, so is Jason." Dick says, pouring his coffee into a mug.

"Gar?" You raise, wondering if everyone is just fleeing Gotham.

"Ohio."

"Rachel?"

"Michigan."

You hoped finding out where everyone was from would make more sense. Maybe Dick found a bunch of kids who needed to get the hell of out Gotham and brought them across the country? Something? But, finding out it’s just Jason, you’re back to this being weird.

“How did you end up with Gar and Rachel then?” You ask.

“I was detective in Detroit.” Dick explains. “That’s how Rachel found me and then we ended up in Ohio where she met Gar.”

“That somehow clears very little up but okay.” You nod your head. Why did he take Rachel to Ohio? And who the fuck leaves Gotham to go to Detroit? And how the hell did they end up here? Nothing makes sense but you’re just gonna let it go for now. "So, did you and Jason know each other then? Both from Gotham and ended up here, seems like under better circumstances than us."

Dick shakes his head, taking a sip from his mug. "No, we just...know the same guy."

You narrow your eyes at him, grabbing your own mug and taking a sip. Bruce. It sounds stupid to you because you’re just fishing for information now. But, Dick knows a Bruce from Gotham. Bruce Wayne lives in Gotham. Bruce Wayne adopted a Dick Grayson who, if rumor is right, became a detective. Jason can fight, assuming Dick can, too that's a bit weird. Gotham doesn't breed heroes usually.

"So....what? You both raised for Bruce Wayne or something?"

"What makes you think that?" Dick chuckles, wondering why you'd come to that conclusion.

"Your name is Dick and Bruce took in a kid named Dick Grayson like twenty years ago. Rumor was he left to become a detective or something." You state, taking another drink of your coffee. "Kind of public information."

"Yeah," Dick chuckles. "Yeah, Bruce Wayne took me in."

"Interesting." You hum, looking at your dark coffee.

You feel like you’re having a fever dream. You cannot possibly be talking to a fucking Robin. That doesn't make any sense and at this point, you’re completely convinced the sleep deprivation has kicked in. But you’ve done your share of research into Batman and Robin. It's always been this mystery. Who's behind the masks? You don't like mysteries and you could never figure out the motive behind them. Why start saving people if not to kill the real problems of Gotham? It's not like they were taking down petty thieves or something, they were dealing with real grade-A psychos. But, maybe Bruce Wayne makes sense. He has the money to pull it off.

"So...your thing is combat?" You question, silently fact-checking yourself.

"It is." Dick nods once.

"You're older than me...." You trail off and Dick watches you, waiting to see where exactly you’re going with this. He doesn't mind you figuring it out, but he does think it's interesting that you’re openly figuring it out in front of him. Maybe it'll help you trust him a little more.

There are tons of videos and pictures of Batman and Robin fighting the bad guys. One of your past times was watching the Robin-centric ones, something about him being a sidekick seemed odd. He always seemed to hold himself just fine and Batman didn't seem like he needed some sidekick. It was weird but you watched because you were curious who they were and how they could fight. But now you’re here with Dick Grayson who was raised by Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson is taking in kids with superpowers. And you always thought a new Robin came in at the end. Fighting style was different and there was a big height difference.

"Are you Robin and is Bruce Wayne Batman?" You ask, your voice is a little loud as if to not believe you’re asking that question.

Dick laughs. "You got me." Dick smiles at you. "I'm not Robin anymore, though."

"Jason, right? He took over?" You verify and if this were two years ago, you’d be freaking out. As much as you do not get the whole thing, it was still really cool to be in the same city as Robin and Batman. They’re actual heroes. But, this is now.

"He did." Dick nods, almost impressed you figured it out after less than a day of being at the tower. “How’d you figure it out? Was it that obvious?” He asks.

“No,” You let out a mix of a huff and a laugh. “It was more of a shot in the dark. You shoot enough times, you’re bound to hit something.”

“Alright.” Dick laughs softly. “Fair enough.”

"Cool." You say, pushing off of the counter you were leaning against, choosing to leave with this new information.

"That it?" Dick asks, amused by your reaction.

You pause with a shrug. "Yep." Your word is short and sharp as you go to walk away before stopping. Actually, it bothers you. At the end of the day, Dick Grayson, the original Robin is standing in front of you and it bothers you. It’s cool, of course because he was Robin but above everything, it doesn’t sit right. "Actually, I got a fucking question." You turn to face him.

"Okay." Dick gives you a questionable expression, not sure where the change of tone came from.

"Why didn't you guys just kill the fucking Joker?"

Dick looks down, almost as if he's ashamed of the answer. "We're heroes, we don't kill people."

"Right, okay," You suck in a breath, feeling the fire in your stomach boil and your hands growing warm. "So, as heroes, your response is to just keep letting that fucked up, psycho clown roam around Gotham and keep killing innocent people like some sort of sick Saw movie?" You snap, your voice raising with every word.

In some sick and vengeful way, after your mom was killed, you got it. In a way, you understood how people become villains. Not villains to the actual villains, but villains to the heroes because it is their job to protect those who cannot protect themselves. It is their job and allowing people like The Joker to just keep escaping and killing more and more and more people, that’s not heroism. It’s cowardly.

"It's not like that." Dick sighs, realizing this has backfired greatly. "We can't go around being the judge, jury, and executioner. It's a dangerous road you don't want to go down. Trust me."

"Right, except he didn't kill your parents, right?" You ask, feeling the water brim behind her eyes and then the feeling of hot coffee stings your hands, the mug melting with your grip. The rest of the mug slips from your hands, shattering on the floor.

"Hey," Dick puts his mug down quickly, rushing over to you.

"It's fine." You look at your hands, the glowing of green starts to fade. You walk over to the garbage, tossing the remainder of the mug into the trash. "I'll clean it up, sorry." You barely look at Dick as you grab paper towels, wetting them and ignoring the shaking of your hands.

You always thought you had a lot of control over it or that you would at least notice if you were using your powers but you didn’t. It’s shameful and embarrassing. It was an accident and accidents happen but the very idea of not being able to control your powers just because you’re mad is terrifying. What if you get mad at someone and use your powers and hurt them? 

"It's okay." Dick takes them from you. "I got it. Are you okay?" There are no hints of anger across his face or in his voice. He just looks worried.

"Yeah, I'm fine." You shake your head, no burn or blood in sight, your hands no longer glowing. "It doesn't hurt."

"What happened?" Gar asks, strolling into the kitchen, seeing you and Dick look like you were in the middle of something serious, although you were kind of hard to ignore. It got a little loud at the end of your argument. That’s why Gar is walking in.

"Dropped a mug." You keep your stare on Dick, lying to Gar. You brush past Dick and then past Gar. You just wanna run away from it all. Sometimes, things are too much and you wanna run as fast as your legs will let you go.

"Y/n." Dick calls.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it, okay?" You stop just long enough to look back at Dick. "Just let me know when we're leaving." You mutter before walking back down the hallway and to your room.

Gar watches you and then looks back to Dick. He doesn't have any idea what he walked into and now he just feels awkward but he feels bad for you. You seemed really upset and you sounded upset when you were yelling at Dick. He heard you asking Dick if the Joker killed his parents. Of course, Gar knows what happened from last night but hearing that kind of reaction doesn't sit quite right. They're all just a bunch of kids. Kids who don't deserve to be in pain.

"You okay, Dick?" Gar asks walking over to him as Dick cleans up the spilled coffee.

"Yeah, it's okay, Gar." Dick assures him.

Gar nods. "What happened?"

"It was accident." Dick says.

"I mean...I heard you guys. I wouldn't be surprised if you woke up Rachel and Jason, too."

"Shit." Dick sighs, standing back up. "It'll be alright, she's just going through a lot. Just give her some time." Dick gives Gar a soft smile before throwing the paper towels away and grabbing a few more.

Gar nods, looking to the hallway that leads to the bedrooms. Gar knows what it's like to be alone in grief. It's hard and scary. Even having someone to just sit with him would have been easier but he was just thrown into a manor with a bunch of older people who didn't get him. He was only even there because he could suddenly turn into a tiger. Maybe he should leave it alone but he can't. He just wants you to know it's going to be okay.

Gar grabs himself a bowl of cereal and makes a plant-based drink for the morning. He waits in the kitchen, slowly eating as Dick eats his own breakfast. Dick told him to leave you alone and he's not going to do that but he doesn't want Dick to know. He doesn't really like going against what an authority figure says, even though he does it anyway. It's more the getting caught that he doesn't like. But what else is he supposed to do?

After Dick leaves, Gar waits a few more minutes then hops off his chair and heads down the hallway. Dick went the opposite way so Gar walks with ease down the hall and to your room. The door is shut and he can hear the TV playing softly. He picks up his fist and knocks softly. He waits, shifting his weight from his toes to his heels, almost expecting you to either tell him to go away or open the door and slam it. But you don't.

"Hey." Gar gives you a kind smile as you open the door.

"H-hey?" You ask.

Gar sucks in a breath. "Are you okay?" He asks.

You deadpan. "I would be a hell of a lot better if I wasn't asked that again today." You snark, watching the disappointment in Gar's face. "I'm sorry. I--I-do you wanna come in?" You ask, opening the door fully and Gar nods, leaving the door open as he follows you to the couch you and Rachel sat on the night before. "I've got some issues with Robin and Batman." You admit as you sit down.

Gar looks a little too concerned for your liking so you talk. If you talk, maybe he won't be so concerned and a part of you wants to know if it's a you thing. Everyone always seem to love them both, Robin and Batman, and they can do no wrong, they even helped the GCPD. You have thought for a while that maybe your disdain isn't justified and maybe it's not. Maybe killing people, even people like the Joker is wrong but what else is there to do? Because Batman and Robin didn't do anything to fix Arkham. If they don't fix Arkham, what else is there to stop these people like the Joker who get out and they kill every single time without fail? It's like it's a sick little game. He's Jigsaw and Batman is the cop trying to find him, everyone else is stuck playing the Saw games.

Gar nods. "Because the Joker killed your parents?" Gar asks, pretending like he doesn't know anything. "I overheard."

You nod. "My mom. I-uh, I was...I was at the movies with a friend. I got the notification that Joker was out again...killing people....same place my mom was that night." Your chin wrinkles as you swallow the lump in your throat.

That moment, you knew. You called your mom a hundred times but there's a pit that forms in your stomach when you just know someone didn't make it. Someone you care for. It's not anxiety or being pessimistic, there is a pit that grows and you just know. You knew but you called and called and called. The phone rang and rang until it died. Gotham PD showed up on your friend's house the next day and told you. They wanted to take you and do the whole foster care situation right away but your friend's mom convinced them to give you a day with them first. You fled that night. The night your mom died was the last night you ever felt safe. It was the night you felt something that wasn't sad or angry. It was the last night you weren't haunted.

"I'm so sorry, Y/n." Gar's brows wrinkle, the knot in his stomach growing.

You nod, looking away from him as you try to breathe. "Had they just fucking killed him," Your voice breaks as you look back at Gar and you hate it because this is a weakness. You can't seem vulnerable, not around these people because the second you show your vulnerability, it's so much easy to be used and manipulated. But you can't help it. "She would be alive but they just....called Arkham good enough." You pause. "It's not fair." It’s a choked whine that leaves your throat.

You gasp as tears start to flow down your cheeks, the tears burning a few of the cuts on your cheek. Gar moves closer to you and he's hesitant at first because he doesn't know how you'll react but the only thing he knows how to maybe help is to hug you. So, he pulls you into him and wraps his arms around you tightly. You stiffen for a second and it stops you from crying. You haven't been hugged since the night your mom died. It's a weird feeling to have someone hug you but you'd be lying if it didn't feel comforting. And he's very warm and he smells like strawberries and that seems to be the most comforting.

Your favorite fruit is strawberries and every summer, you and your mom would make chocolate-covered strawberries. There isn't a time you can remember when you weren't completely stocked during the summer and it's something you cherish now.  Gar smells like strawberries and that small little thing, is the most comforting thing in the world to you right now. So, you just cave into him, sobbing.

The thing about being held captive and tortured is that it's made you hard. Being captured and tortured changed a part of you. You were never so closed off and calloused, always a bit sarcastic and snarky but not like this. Being held stripped you away of the rawness of emotion. It's like it turned you into this fossilized version of yourself. Hard and cold exterior that would just turn to dust if opened up. You’re only a memory of the person you used to be, sitting here and crying to Gar is just the visual representation of who you were before the big bang. And it hurts, it is agonizing but something about the way he's just letting you cry into him feels cathartic. You’re not in that basement anymore. Your wrists are free. You are free. And you can show all of your emotions without fear of repercussions from it. You’re allowed to be scared and angry and sad and happy. You don't have to hide anymore.

"S-sorry." You pull away, wiping your eye and wincing at the pain from the bruising of your right eye.

"It's okay." Gar assures you, still having his arms around you loosely. "I, uh, I get it." He looks away for a second, pulling his arms back as if realizing he doesn't need to hug you anymore. "My parents died, too."

You watch the normally cheery boy, square his jar and go distant with his stare. "I'm sorry." You sniffle. "What happened?"

Gar sucks in a breath, sitting back against the back of the couch. "Same mysterious disease I had but they didn't make it."

You nod, matching his position and tugging the sleeves over your hands. That explains part of how he ended here. He really doesn’t have anyone, just like you. "I'm really sorry. That sucks."

Gar nods. "Yeah, but, uh, it's okay because I'm here and this is a family. It's not the same but," Gar tilts his head back and forth a few times, looking for the words. "It's really nice if you give it a chance. Dick isn't out to get you or any of us." 

"I didn't mean what I said." You say honestly. "I mean, I want the Joker dead, he's a fucking piece of shit sad excuse of a human but...I mean just about Dick. He's been nice."

Gar offers you a side smile. "Yeah, he's a cool dude." Gar chuckles softly. “He kind of takes getting used to, too.” Gar jokes a little. Dick sometimes comes off as cold but Gar has kind of figured that’s just what being raised by Bruce gets you. Jason is like that, too and Gar doesn't think it’s a coincidence. 

"Thank you." You give him a sad and small smile. "You're like...a really nice person."

Gar huffs with a chuckle, looking away from you and all he can think is that someone has to be nice around here. Dick is sometimes...well a dick. Jason is an asshole. Rachel sometimes can be a little bit of a bitch to Dick and Jason, usually deserved but a bitch nonetheless. He has to be the nice one even if he wanted to get nasty. That would just cause more tension and Gar doesn't like tension.

"Thanks." Gar sighs, looking around your room. "Are you gonna decorate today?" He asks looking back to you, changing the subject and hoping to make you feel better.

You shrug a shoulder. "I dunno. Not sure if Dick really wants to take me shopping after that." You laugh softly. "I don't know how I feel about it, anyway. Feels....really fucking weird."

"Yeah," Gar nods in agreement. "But he just wants you to have a space of your own, that's what he told Rachel and me when he took us in. He'll give you a spending limit."

"Is this Annie or something?" You quip.

Gar tilts his head back with a laugh. "Well, it's a hard 'nough life for us." Gar says with a smile.

You let out a genuine laugh and it makes Gar's face light up. Your laugh is bubbly and loud, almost booming. It's a bit contagious actually and it makes Gar have a little bit of a sigh of relief. If you’re laughing, there's hope for you, especially after that whole talk you just had. You’re funny.

"You're funny, ya know?" You ask once your laughter calms down.

"Oh..." Gar shifts his sheet, feeling the heat rise to his cheeks. "You, uh, you think so?" He gains a cheesy and awkward smile making you giggle a little.

"Yeah! Of course, I do." You smile sweetly at him.

"Hey, do you wanna play Xbox?" Gar asks, enthusiasm in his voice. He likes talking to you and you seem like you’re doing better talking. Plus, video games are what Gar always uses to escape from all the shit, maybe it’ll help you.

"I have literally never played Xbox in my life." You blink at him before gaining a smirk.

"Excuse me?" Gar's eyes widen. How have you never played Xbox? He's certain it's the best gaming system to exist.

"Always a big fan of PlayStation." You laugh, finding his shocked expression funny. He does wear his emotions on his sleeve. "But...I guess I could make an exception for you." You give him a corned grin, watching him shift again. Something about certain things you say make him nervous and you kind of like the bubbles that form in your stomach when it happens.

"Okay, okay." Gar stands up quickly, gesturing for your to follow his lead. "I'll change your mind."

You do as he directs. "You have a lot of confidence." You pat his shoulder.

Gar's eyes narrow slightly. "I...can't tell if you're being serious."

You laugh once more. "Eh, half and half." You shrug a shoulder.

"Right." Gar nods, keeping his eyes narrow but there's a smile tugging at his lips. "Come on." He nods his head in the direction of the door, reaching for your hand. You take it without hesitation and he leads you  to his room.

The day goes by, Dick looking for you, he finds you with Gar in his room a few hours later. You had left the door open so it wasn't too hard to find you. You were both yelling, very excitedly at the TV and when Dick found you, you were plopped in two chairs beside each other, a control in each hand. You both were laughing and Dick never would have known you were new to the tower by how comfortable you looked and it gave him some hope. There's some type of hope for you. No one is ever just some lost cause. Dick hated to break it up but Jason and Rachel were already waiting for Gar in the training room.

While the others trained, Dick and you went on your shopping run. Dick took you to a few stores to pick out a few outfits, pajamas, training clothes, and just a few things for your room. It was weird for you to just be out in the open, shopping as if you weren't just held captive the day before. But, something about Dick did feel safe. Maybe it was the fact he was Robin. He might have helped the Joker stay alive by simply not killing him, but he did put him away several times. And, now you have somewhere to run to if Jerry happens to show up.

But that's not all. It was just bizarre to have this stranger buy you things. You were never one that really liked accepting things from people like this. Presents, sure. Everyone likes presents but this just felt like charity and it took everything in you to refrain from snarky comments the whole time. But you did it and you had a good time. You got some take out and you got to actually have one of your favorite take out foods. Dick didn't ask about how much you lit up at the thought of it for lunch, he already had an idea why. He figured maybe it'd be better to leave all of that alone and just have a few hours to let you just be.

"So," Dick asks as he drives them back to the tower.

"So." You state, looking over at him. He just has this look like he wants to ask questions. "Okay." You sigh. "Ask the question you want and I will not give you a bullshit answer."

Dick chuckles. "Alright," He nods. "How much control do you have of your powers?"

You look ahead of them as your light turns red. "This much." You open the palms of your hands, the palms turning green. Then, you close them, the green fading. You do this a few times with ease, ending with spirit fingers, your hands glowing a neon green. "Why?"

Dick's brows are furrowed. "Just curious, how do you do that?" He pauses. "What about the mug this morning?"

"Control or the whole acid thing?" You shrug, looking in front of you. "And apparently, my mom and the Joker are major triggers, learn something new every day, I guess."

"Understandable. And both, I guess."

"Uh...control well. I was traumatized." You scoff. "Control is easy when you're in a life or death situation. I mean...like learning it. Don't have a fucking choice if you wanna live. The acid though, uh-huh." You shrug. "I think about it I guess and then it just happens."

You remember when you found out you could produce acid. You were mad at Jerry for injecting you and then getting mad at you for it. It was about seven months after living with him and at that point, you were just so sick and tired of it all. All you wanted was to rip Jerry’s throat out with your bare hands. And then, your hands starting glowing, acid leaking from your palms. It was a shock, for sure, but it was a bigger shock that Jerry didn’t realize the chemical burn on the floor was from you. He just thought he spilled something and hadn’t noticed it prior. You considered some kind of weird luck. From there, it was just making sure it never happened in front of him.

Dick hums to himself. "Think you could try and show Rachel how you control it?"

"Uh...sure?" You question him. "Isn't that like...your job, Bat Boy?"

"I don't have powers like you guys." Dick states, the light turning green. "Rachel's powers are just really strong and she's had a lot happen recently."

"I have heard." You sigh. "I mean...I can try." There's a sense of empowerment you feel with Dick asking for help with Rachel. He trusts you, at least a little bit which is kind of nice. "I-it's just...I-I melted a mug today. I don't have that much control, apparently."

He nods with understanding. "You have enough to help."

"Well, alright then. Does that mean I get to learn to fight?" You give him a hopeful smile. 

"How are you feeling?"

"Great." You give him a thumbs-up even though he’s watching the road.

"Are you lying?"

"Yes, yes I am." You laugh softly. "Uh....my face is still pretty sore. Arms and legs still feel a bit weak...." Your eyes go distant as you stare in front of you, flashbacks of the torture clouding your vision and the endless cycle of either not being given food or given the bare minimum.

"You need to get better first." Dick states, his voice unwavering.

"Shouldn't I still be preparing though? Like...I don't know. Small stuff."

"Not yet."

You sigh but don't fight him. Jason owes you one for the bet. If Dick doesn't think you’re strong enough to at least learn something, you'll just ask him. He don't seem like one to follow the rules anyway. It’s just a precaution to protect yourself, just in case.

When you get back to the tower, Dick helps you bring your stuff to your room. It's not a lot by any means, just some clothes, a few vinyls, and some art for your walls. Dick leaves you to yourself and you look around your room, gaining a genuine, happy smile. This is your space to make yours so you get to work.

You dig out a Fall Out Boy vinyl from one of the bags and put it on the record player that was already in your room. You turn it up as loud as it will go, the sound of music feeling almost riveting. Another thing you’ve missed more than you actually realized and then you start getting your room together.

A few hours go by and your room is coming along. You’ve moved a few things around and got your posters hung up. It doesn't feel quite like home yet but Dick said if you stay, you can get more stuff to make it more yours later. So, this is a start and it fills your chest with a sense of warmth as you look around until there's a knock on your door. You turn the music down before opening the door and you’re met by Gar in a green pullover and black joggers.

Gar's eyes glance behind tiy and then back to you. "Hey, uh." He scratches the back of his neck. "We do movie night in the living room sometimes, did you wanna join? Rachel and Jason are in there now."

"Uh..." You stutter. They do movie nights? Is this really some found family shit? The way everyone talks about Jason you find it a little hard to believe he'd actually part-take in any group activity that didn't involve punching each other. But you don't have anything to lose. If you want to stay, that also involves effort from you and Gar will be there. "Sure." You give a soft smile before walking over to your bed and grabbing Gar's hoodie. "Thanks." You hand it back to him and he gives you a closed smile, raising the fabric to say you’re welcome.

"Anytime." Gar smiles, jerking his head towards the living room. "I'm gonna put this away, meet you in here?"

"Okay." You say with ease before turning on your heels, heading down the hallway and Gar can't help but watch you with a goofy smile.

You just have on black sweatpants and a pink hoodie but you look comfortable and you didn't look annoyed when you opened the door. That seems to be your general state of mind, annoyed. From what Gar has seen. Of course, you’ve loosened up when he's talked to you but you always looks very annoyed beforehand.

You walk into the living room seeing Rachel all the way to the left and Jason sitting all the way to the right, facing the fireplace. They truly could not be any more apart, eyes on the TV that's mounted above the fireplace and you find it a little comedic. They must really hate each other. So, you take a seat by Jason, mostly because you think it's funny to bug him and you could just tell sitting by him would irritate him. Plus, that leaves room for Gar to sit on the other side between you and Rachel.

"Can I fucking help you?" Jason snarks as he looks to you.

"What're we watching?" You ask, an innocent smile pulling at your lips.

"It's Jason's turn so probably something gory." Rachel remarks with wide eyes laced with annoyance.

Jason turns to face you, which moves him a little too close to you. His eyes look you up and down, just once before landing on your eyes. "Don't worry, if you get scared, I'll protect you."

Rachel nearly rolls her eyes into the back of her head with Jason's comment, fake gagging while you sit with your mouth slightly ajar, nose scrunched and forehead wrinkled. You sit somewhere between appalled and grossed out. This kid surely has never dated a single human. There's just no fucking way with the lines he pulls. But you shut your eyes for a second, choosing to not even play into that game. Instead, you’re gonna play your own.

"What movies were you thinking?" You ask, matching Jason's position, knee bent and flat on the couch, you facing him as your knees touch.

Jason gains a smirk in just the left corner of his mouth. "We could watch Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Hostel, or Saw IV."

His stare is directly at you and it's a taunt. But you find it funny, not even bothered by the distaste of his comment, in fact, he plays into your hand. He thinks you need protecting from a horror movie and that of all people here, you'd go to him? When Gar is right there?

"Texas is a classic, assuming you don't mean the shitty ass remake from 2003. Hostel's alright if you're into Eli Roth. Saw series has always been good gore. Never quite cross that line into torture porn." You smile at him, it's a sweet smile while you lean your elbow on the back of the couch and Rachel sits behind you completely entertained. All she can think is that they needed someone who can match Jason's energy.

Jason's face softens, just for a split second. Your response caught him off guard and he was so sure you'd be against watching any of those. He thought maybe he'd get a rise out of you for suggesting them or offering to protect you or maybe get something better than that out of it. But all he got was whatever that was. It was his turn and those were the three he was considering but Gar and Rachel don't really like the movies. He assumed you wouldn't either, especially if what they found on the computer the night before means what they think it means.

Gar comes in a few seconds later, seeing you and Jason facing each other in a way that almost seems like some weird face-off staring contest at this point. He glances at Rachel who shrugs but she has a smirk that's begging to be broken into a laugh. Just a tint of burning coats Gar's stomach as he sees the two of you and he knows what it is but he pushes it down. He shakes his head and walks up to you.

"Everything okay?" He asks, his voice cautious as he looks between the two of you before sitting on the opposite side of you.

"Fine," Jason mumbles, finally breaking the stare and sitting normally on the couch before grabbing the remote. "Saw it is."

"Ugh, why do you always pick gory movies, dude?" Gar groans, tilting his head back.

"Don't like gore?" You ask with a laugh.

"You do?!" Gar's head shoots back up, a grimace on his face. He doesn't mind it in older films, the effects weren't great then. But the newer ones tend to turn his stomach. Horror is great, but gore? Not Gar's favorite.

"Yeah, of course. They're fun." You shrug, switching to sit forward, pulling your legs up under you and Gar keeps the grimace on his face. "What?"

"He doesn't know why anyone wants to volunteer to watch gore." Rachel snickers.

"Because you can shut the movie off whenever you get too scared and the effects are cool." You shrug and it makes Gar give you a shy smile. "I can hold your hand if you want?" If you said it to Jason, it would have been sarcastic and rude but with Gar, it was a genuine and sincere offer.

Gar's cheeks burn with the offer and his stomach flips, unlike you and Rachel, he didn't find the offer a bit cringey or lame. Your smile is gentle and sweet like honey until you realize that you just pulled what Jason did and it seems you realize it the same time Jason does.

"Did you just take my fucking line?" Jason scoffs.

"No, yours was weird, mine was nice." You retort, internally kicking yourself for it.

"It's okay." Gar whisper, shifting in his seat a little. He was never really good about things that might be flirting or not flirting and just being nice. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." You smile softly at him, your heart sinking a little.

"Okay, turn on the movie." Rachel looks between the three of you, not sure what the hell is going on there and not even wanting to know.

Jason turns the movie on without any further argument. The four of you settle into your spots as the movie starts to play and despite the fact you’ve been at the tower for just over twenty-four hours now, you feeling pretty comfortable around them. The three of them make it easy. None of them feel threatening, even with two of them having powers. They don't feel "special" as Dick put it. All three of them just feel normal and normalcy is something you’ve craved for two years.

And then there's Gar who can't keep his eyes on the moving, partially because he finds the gore a bit nauseating but also because he can feel you glance at him every now and then. He can't tell if the glances are because he doesn't like the movie so maybe you’re checking on him which is a strange thought, that's kind of his job. Or maybe it's because he's sitting too close to you, he doesn't feel like he is. When Gar looks over, it looks like he's sitting just as far away as Jason is so maybe that isn't it. The one thing he does know is that he doesn't mind you glancing at him.

The lack of sleep for you, however, is definitely catching up to you. Your eyes are weighed down, heart rate is slowing down and you just feel like maybe you could rest your eyes for a few minutes. Saw IV isn't even one of your favorite Saw movies, you won't miss much. And the next thing Gar knows, your head falls onto his shoulder. He straightens his back quickly when it happens, catching him off guard but then he looks at you, asleep and he doesn't have the heart to wake you up. A caring small comes to Gar's lips as he looks back to the TV and he kind of likes your head on his shoulder. Maybe it means you trust him and after everything, he can only imagine what you’ve been through, that's kind of a big deal on day two.

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series masterlist | masterlist | tag list

Tag list: @italiana-20 // @fairyofshampoo // @jasontoddsmentaldisorders​

[thescholarlystrumpet]

Tagged by @tawnyontumblr Thank you, luv! This is fun!

How many works do you have on ao3?

166 formatting is being weird without a sentence here

What's your total ao3 word count?

910,348 - ahhh approaching 1M!!

What fandoms do you write for?

Good Omens and (to a lesser extent) Hazbin Hotel right now. Past fandoms included Rumbelle, Whouffaldi, Buffy, and Avenue 5

Top five fics by kudos:

To Tell the Truth (Doctor Who) Whouffaldi moments woven between episodes. Mostly canon-compliant.

Lending a Hand (Good Omens) In his heavenly form he wouldn’t have had this dilemma at all because there was no corporeality with which to struggle. And on the other, much less ephemeral and much more literal hand, he currently had a very noticeable (and increasingly painful) erection.

Personal Assistance (The Thick of It/Doctor Who) Clara Oswald leaves behind teaching to enter the world of British politics. What better way to make a splash than by working for the infamous Malcolm Tucker? And if discovering a (mutual) attraction happens to catch them both off-guard.... well, that's just life, right?

The Babysitter (Once Upon a Time) Tumblr prompt: Mr. Gold forgets something at his house & goes back to go get it. When he arrives he hears his son's babysitter moaning and thinks she has a boy over. When he goes into his bedroom he finds her touching herself on his bed alone moaning his name.

None of Your Business (Once Upon a Time) “Well, it’s very nice to meet you at last, Angus.” She rolled his name around in her mouth as though she hadn’t been screaming it the night before. Mr. Gold tries to balance lust and trust with less finesse than he'd like to admit. Luckily, Belle can give as good as she gets.

Do you respond to comments?

I've made it a goal to try and reply to almost every comment. I'm grateful someone took the time!

What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Oh undoubtedly Silence is Golden. I made my self tear up writing that one...

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Almost all of them? But I will take this chance to pimp my Canon-based Buffy Season Six Fix-it! (Everyone lives!): Making the Pieces Fit

Only totally non-shippy fic in my repertoire and one of my proudest achievements.

Do you get hate on fics?

rarely if ever?

Do you write smut?

Bwahahahahahaha. Oh. Yes.

Craziest crossover:

Not Just Watching Anymore - Buffy/Good Omens excuse to write an M/M/M threesome between Aziraphale, Crowley, and Giles :D

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Yes, back in the rumbelle days, someone linked me to a site trying to sell my fic as theirs and we reported it.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

If they did, no one ever linked back to me :(

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Working on one with @hakunahistata tho we've both been sidetracked by Bang fics, hehe. It's gonna be great to get back!

All time favorite ship?

Oof. I love all my OTPs but I'm definitely *deep* in Aziracrow right now and hope not to emerge any time soon.

What's a wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

SO. MANY.

What are your writing strengths?

I get good feedback on my dialogue and characterization. I think I write pretty kickass smut most the time.

What are your writing weaknesses?

Background. What color are the walls? Where is the furniture? I have no fucking clue unless its relevant to the story. That table only existed when I needed the character to lean against it. It wasn't raining until that helped set the mood. Some people write exquisite scene setting and I am envious but writing it bores me to tears.

Thoughts on dialogue in another language?

One of my IRL besties can read a bunch of ancient languages and WILL side eye improper grammatical structure in fiction so I picture them giving me that look unless I do the really proper research (or ask them directly).

First fandom you wrote in?

unofficially HP but per my AO3, Once Upon a Time

Favorite fic you've written?

Ask me to cut my baby in half while you're at it, geez! But right now, I am proudest of For Loving One 

No pressure tagging: @voluptatiscausa, @naromoreau, @fishey-me @ineffabildaddy @she-makes-things @hakunahistata @nosferatini @zin-lynn-c and anyone from the @goodomensafterdark crew!

[sofoulandfairaday]

heyyy i’m new to bellamort and i think they’ve become my otp already thanks to you,

what are your favourite recs? mostly sweet, however much they can be and some spicy ones.

thank you!!!

Anon, this comment made me GIGGLE like an idiot, huge grin on my face - thank you thank you thank you so much. This is the best compliment I’ve ever gotten! It literally means the world.

With that being said - and this goes for the other people in my inbox asking for recs - I’m not the best person to ask. Firstly, I don’t read that much fanfic (hi, med student running on virtually no sleep here) and I’m always behind on reviews (fanfiction is meant to be enjoyed from my laptop with a cup of tea and no one in the house so i can weep/shriek/pace etc). Secondly, I suck at keeping track of what I read.

Thirdly, your ask in particular is virtually impossible because I live for the grief. I lap up angst like a kitten does milk.

Sweetness… meh. (Except of course when I cry and moan about the fact that I need to stop reading for the day because a fanfic literally made my heart ache. I'm telling you, I suffer more for these two than I do my irl friends and that says something about me.)

Anyway, this is what I’ll do. I’ll link some of my favourite authors (in English, if you want Italian recs just ask and I will deliver) and I’ll leave you to browse their pages and see what speaks to you. These are just off the top of my head, and on Tumblr and around Ao3 (if you know how to filter), you'll find other great ones!

(If I forget someone, or if anyone who reads *is* a Bellamort author, feel free to tag them/yourself in this post, or in a reblog.)

@star-named-riddle - Nefaria_Black @saintsenara - Asenora @deslea - deslea (where are you, girl, I need you) Abigail Belle (ex Gamma Orionis) (see above) meanwhiletimely (see above) Also, there's this masterpiece by @metalomagnetic featuring Rodolphus which GHHHHHHHH. Is all I'll say. Screaming, crying, hollering, etc etc etc. (There's also this masterpiece by the same author but even looking it up to link it made me shake and I won't speak of it until I have processed my grief because I have people to see later in the day and I cannot be dazed or aching or in tears or shellshocked by the rawness of the writing etc etc etc)

And finally, the most recommended (and popular, I think) Bellamort fanfiction ever, which I admit I've never read in full (I know, I know, believe me when I say I have no time/mental fortitude) which is of course Surrogate.

They are all absolutely brilliant for reasons I wish I could get into right now (they deserve proper recs, this hasty reply does not do them justice). They all present different but equally fascinating versions of my characters.

Unfortunately, none of them are really saccharine/fluffy. There is softness but it's always bittersweet in most of them. WHICH IS HOW I LIKE IT MUAHAHHAA- coff coff.

Happy reading! :)

[keldae]

Tagged by the incomparable @dingoat -- thank you! <3

3 ships

Right now, to nobody's surprise, Gale/Devi is eating my soul. On paper, they shouldn't work -- he's an educated, wealthy, powerful mage (who makes very poor life choices), and she's a much-younger-than-him thief who grew up as an urchin on the streets of Baldur's Gate, whose only "acceptable" skill is playing a violin (apparently pickpocketing and stabbing people aren't considered widely acceptable or desirable skills?). But in all the ways that really count, they are compatible -- they're protective of each other and their friends, and Devi's street-smarts balance out Gale's book/arcane knowledge, and her feisty-ness is another counter to his more balanced way of dealing with things (read: he's 90% of her impulse control). I suppose opposites DO attract! ;)

Theron/Xaja has lived in my brain ever since Shadow of Revan dropped, in canon-verse and in at least two AU's. Theron definitely brought out a side of Xaja that isn't necessarily a proper Jedi side to show, but it's definitely her -- she's also feisty, and protective, and she's got a snarky streak to her that sings to Theron's soul. And she loves Theron's devotion to the cause, and his intelligence, and his wit.

(also, looking at Xaja and Devi... apparently I've got a TYPE when it comes to my main characters in RPGs. You should take a look at my canon Warden from DAO sometime, Lynaen... who ALSO is a redheaded dual-wielding rogue with a healthy dose of snark. At least she was raised a Cousland and didn't spend time learning how to pickpocket on the streets like the other two? #roguelifeFTW)

And I gotta talk about Reanden/Mairen too. They started on a bit of a whim when @andveryginger and I decided to throw them together for a couple of one-off kiss prompts, annnnnd now they run a good chunk of our respective brains (Reanden likes to hang out in Ginger's head a lot). Mai (Ginger's) loves Reanden's intelligence, and his dedication to his kids and the Republic, and the compassionate, caring streak he has under his sociopathic facade. And he's got a type for snarky redheaded Corellian Jedi ladies -- the fact that Mai loves his kids like they're her own, and doesn't think less of him for his rare moments of vulnerability, means the galaxy to him.

First Ship

Oh man -- my very first OTP was Faramir/Eowyn from LOTR, ever since I first read the books at the ripe old age of 12 years old, and it's STILL one of my favourite ships. I think, even 20 years ago, I was seeing myself in Eowyn (as a female character, as one who wanted to fight and seek out renown, as one who, as I would discover later on in my own life, had a bucketload of mental health problems to the tune of depression), and wanted my own Faramir (gentle, noble, compassionate, intelligent). So a bit of projection there? ;) The first ship I wrote... well, I'd started a girl-falls-into-Middle-earth fic in high school, and the endgame goal was my OC with Legolas, but looking back on it now, I think my OC may have had more chemistry with Boromir. Either way, that fic has been abandoned for like 15 years -- I ain't bringing it back out to resurrect it. ;)

Last Song

According to Spotify, "Master Of Illusion" by Battle Beast! If/when I come up with a Gale playlist, that song's going on it.

Currently Reading

"Tress of the Emerald Sea" by Brandon Sanderson. I'm not too far into it, but so far I'm enjoying it! (Also, I LOVE Sanderson's writing style, and the little bits of snark he peppers in there. Current favourite line: "... he had a jaw so straight that it made other men question if they were.")

Last Film

In theatres -- "Argylle", which I enjoyed! I wouldn't class it as a "favourite" movie, but it was fun! At home (read: at Chez Boyfriend), it was "RED" -- that's one of my favourites. Bruce Willis and Karl Urban snarking at each other... =D (Karl is also my faceclaim for Reanden, and that movie was a big inspiration!)

Currently Craving

Nothing at the moment! I have my coffee and I have a big-ass Costco-sized muffin that I'm working on before I go for my tattoo appointment. (Also, Part 1 of my tax return came in last week... I could get ALL the groceries, thank God! Part 2 is dropping on Thursday, for all the backpay after the CRA applied the ADHD disability credit to my previous years... I legit cried when I saw that number. I can afford to get my car fixed, AND get this new tattoo, AND a haircut, AND maybe, I don't know, throw something into a retirement fund!)

Tagging, if you wish: @greyias @storyknitter @nayci @elveny @abysskeeper @auroraesmeraldarose

[shibara]

Five Ships & Five Fandoms

Got tagged by @croik (Thankee, I love these things :D) This one's hard cause I've not been actively invovled in 5 fandoms proper, but here we go!

Dennis Collins/Arthur Lester, Malevolent. The hired killer, and the one worthy prey that got away~ The terrifying scenarios, the obsession, the thin, thin line between wanting to fuck someone and wanting to kill someone. My current otp, if that term applies for this fuckuppery of a ship.

Cyclonus/Tailgate, Transformers IDW1. This one was the hardest. So many good ships. I generally enjoy fucked up dynamics the most, but once in a blue moon there comes a ship that is so beautiful and tragic and built on a love so pure that it makes me melt a bit inside. The slowest, loveliest burn in canon I've ever read.

Darth Vader/Obi-Wan Kenobi, Star Wars. Hot space wizards! Mentors, to friends, to enemies to a myriad of fucked up possibilities, specially with Anakin post-barbecue :cheff's kiss:

Harold Finch/John Reese, Person of Interest. Mastermind recluse nerd and his unwavering faithful attack dog that cleans up very, *very* well. He literally picked him up from the street cause it would have been a waste, what more can I say. I'd read a million D/s stories with these two.

Emhyr var Emreis/Geralt of Rivia, The Witcher (games). Hot old men of dubious morals! Endless political power vs endless physical power! 'You are the only bastard on this world who won't grovel at my feet and dares disrespects me on a daily basis' vs 'You see me only as a serviceable weapon, not to be feared or shunned, but to just be put to use'. Both emotionally damaged to hell and back. I love them your honour, I could eat this with a spoon.

Tagging @horseboneologist, @asininestars, @saltbright, @decepticonsensual, and @jarofloosescrews, and anyone else who wants to do it!

[cicaklah]

fic author q&a

thank you @the-lady-general for tagging me, I love to procrastinate by doing stuff like this.

1. Why do you write fanfic?

because my brain is a relentless what-if machine and it can't be stopped or tamed. If I wasn't writing it down I'd be losing time just thinking about it, trust me, its far better this way.

and because I love writing, love the fic community, and just love creativity. I've been reading fic literally every single day since I was 11 or 12 and I'm now 38. I'm passionate about the fic writing world and my experience in the 'conventional' writing space has been nothing but anxiety, inferiority and bitterness.

2. Which of your posted stories do you think about the most, even though the story is “finished”?

I don't tend to feel like that about my stories, because I am always up to write sequels or prequels to things, or add stuff onto various universes. I still think often about weibermacht, which is the name of the sex club in my Hitman stories, and one day I will write a proper weibermacht story, but the reason I still think about stories is because they aren't properly finished. I also think a lot about the watch me series because I feel guilty that I never finished it. I have at least another 3 stories in various stages of writing.

I'm planning on doing a WIP amnesty next year (once One Man is finished), and I'm hoping that it will get me to finish some of these things I want to return to, but haven't since.

3. If you could give yourself fic advice from when you first started writing fic, what would that advice be?

Use the momentum of being really into something to make more art. Write as much fic as you can, and don't let guilt catch up with you. It doesn't matter if it sucks; you have to love it, and if you love it in the moment, you are going in the right direction.

4. What’s your relationship to fic stats?

As a professional sort-of statistician I adore them, I wish there were more of them, specifically available over time, and also the number of subscriptions to series would help me as someone who writes in that way. BUT: comparison is the thief of joy. My big fic-related breakdown was over constantly comparing myself to the people I thought were my peers. Stats don't tell you why you aren't doing better than someone, and I know from my profession that you can't just assume things from numbers.

5. Is there a pairing or scenario or friendship you miss writing? If so, why? If not, why not?

I miss Stormpilot (Finn/Poe) circa 2017. What a beautiful time. It will never come again, even if we got something to make the ship sail again, the world has changed.

6. What motivates you to write?

Much like the lady general, I am motivated by wanting to tell jokes, or by specific ideas that enter my brain and won't let go. I am motivated to keep going on one man because there are specific stories I need to share with the rest of the class, but I must tell the rest of the story in order to get there. The journey is the point, but so is the punchline.

7. Why do you write for the fandom(s) that you write for?

Star Trek, specifically SNW, is my current blorbo, so I write for myself and my id on that one. Hitman is for the thirsty thirteen and because its OTP. Oxventure is...complicated. I am so very burned out on that fandom. Super Secret RPF pairing is because of my co-conspirators <3. I've also written way, way too many things because Phoenix and I have talked about them and I've then be POSSESSED.

8. If you’re stuck writing a WIP, what do you do?

As long as I'm still interested in the project, I do my best to push through. I have the philosophy that a story doesn't really exist until it is published anyway. I do have an abandoned WIP folder, and within that is a folder called 'look I'm never writing these ones'. There are 12 stories in that folder. Meanwhile there are 134 I have yet to give up on, not including the 4 that are currently in progress (not including one man.)

Basically I need another WIP amnesty.

9. What do you wish people knew about comments?

They really are the fuel on the fire. I have finished stories because of comments. I have written entire worlds because of comments. I do my best to answer every single comment, and I try to also leave comments as much as I can. At the same time, I have to, for my own sanity, try not to put too much stock in them, because we have to be self-fuelling machines, we have to be self-raising lazaruses. You have to write for yourself, because if you base everything on other people's opinions, you will die nobody.

10. Maybe there’s a question you wish had been on here. What’s that question (and answer)?

I think the question I'd like to ask is what is your personal greatest fic achievement? Not your most popular story, what was the story that you still look at and go: I will never not be proud of that achievement. Mine is the fact I have published 750,000 words and 130 stories and I still feel like I'm only just getting started. That the perseverance over the last 14 years proves that I can do whatever I set my mind to, that I am valuable in a way that matters, and all the doubters of my youth can go fuck themselves forever.

I'm tagging @postalninja, @stickthisbig, @android-and-ale and @alienfuckeronmain and anyone else who wants to do it. lets navel gaze, lads.

[autisticwriterblog]

I was tagged by @pintsizeninja. Thanks for tagging me!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

2345. That's what happens when you've been posting since 2016 and don't study or have a job for health reasons so you've got nothing better to do than write fic. 😂

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

2,682,156 words

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Currently it's Alan Wake and Control, with occasional dips into Dishonored and sports anime like Haikyuu.

4. Top five fics by kudos

All of these are old (like over 6 years old) and I'm not that proud of most of them (especially the HP one because fuck it). But they're popular for some reason, so here they are!

Healer - My Hero Academia

The Boggart - Harry Potter

NSFW OTP Challenge: Erasermic - My Hero Academia

"Keep breathing." - My Hero Academia

The Date - My Hero Academia

5. Do you respond to comments?

I try my best to, because I really appreciate every comment I get.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Let's stick with Remedyverse fics for this question. In that case... I'll pick:

Five Times Ilmo Hugged his Brother (and the Time he Didn’t) - because for spoiler reasons, we all know why Ilmo doesn't hug Jaakko at the end. It's otherwise a fluffy or hurt/comfort fic until the end and then bam! Angst!

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Again, sticking with just my Remedy stuff... let's go with:

The First Step is Always the Hardest - from my Ahti/Norman series.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I have done in the past, to the point I've needed to block them on ao3. Just the other day, I got a transphobic hate comment on an old fic. Luckily, it hasn't happened with my current fandoms.

9. Do you write smut?

Quite often, yeah.

10. Craziest crossover?

It's more an AU than a proper crossover, but recently I wrote an Alan Wake fic set in a Zero Escape AU.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

A few times, yeah. It was super flattering to be approached with the offer to translate my fics!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Nope, and I'm not sure I'd want to.

14. All time favourite ship?

All time? Hmm... let's go with my faves for my current fandoms, plus a few I've written a lot for in the past/think about a lot:

Ahti/Norman MacDonald - Alan Wake (my incredibly niche rarepair that I love a lot)

Jesse Faden/Emily Pope - Control

Amity Blight/Luz Noceda - The Owl House

Micah Bell/Arthur Morgan - Red Dead Redemption (I like enemies-to-lovers and redeeming utterly hateful characters lol)

Kozume Kenma/Hinata Shouyou - Haikyuu

15. What's a wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I've got a half-written oneshot for Critical Role somewhere in my drafts that I never finished. It's about a character getting hit with the Feeblemind spell and the others looking after him.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I like to think I'm good at dialogue.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I really struggle with fight scenes.

18. Thoughts on dialogue in another language?

If the character drops dialogue in a different language in canon, it only makes sense to do it in fic too. Case in point: the amount of Finnish idioms and swear words I've learned because of Ahti.

19. First fandom you wrote in?

This would've been way back in 2012 when I was 13. On fanfiction.net, I posted (really cringy) fics about The A-Team.

Although, techinically, the first time I wrote a fic was when I was 6. I didn't know other people did it and I certainly didn't share it. But I've got an old story (and illustrations) in a notebook from like 2005 when I wrote about Charlie and Lola, a British kid's show.

20. Favorite fic you've written?

Just sticking with Remdyverse again... currently I'd choose:

Episode - part of my autistic Odin series. It's angsty, but also has lots of protectiveness from Tor and Bob being a good friend. i just really like writing about the Old Gods at the moment and I'm especially proud of this one.

Tagging: @quailfence, @koskela-knights, @taniushka12, @hamyheikki and anyone else who wants to do this!

[lorircreates]

Thank you so much for the tag, @jerzwriter 🥰 This is such a lovely idea! I miss writing Valentine's Day fics for my OTPs, but due to health issues, I just have energy to answer this tag and share some headcanons:

Liam and Jade celebrated Valentine's Day with a romantic dinner in Valtoria. They had a band playing live for them, Jade sang All I Need (Christina Aguilera) to Liam and Liam (who loves a classic music but is learning more about popular ones) asked the band to play And I Love Her (The Beatles) while he slow danced with his queen.

The odds of Logan and Carla being together on Valentine's Day were slim (though they have plans for a proper celebration some other time). Logan spent the night listening Blue Eyes (Elton John). Carla, on the other hand, listened to Wrong Places (H.E.R.) on repeat while looking through a memory box filled with photos, movie tickets, napkins of places they went together.

Hayden and Natasha went on a trip to Vermont, prepared themselves a romantic dinner at the cabin they rented until Sunday while listening to their favourite ballads like Wonderful Tonight (Eric Clapton) and (Best Part (Daniel Caeser ft. H.E.R.).

Jax and Samantha spent the night at a karaoke bar singing and drinking (tequila shots, obviously) together. Jax sang Always (Bon Jovi) to Samantha and Sam dedicated/sang Love on The Brain (Rihanna) to him.

Rafael and Evelyn surely had a fun night going out to dance. Evelyn now knows how to dance samba, so they danced to O Que É Amor (Maria Rita) and listened to Es Por Ti (Juanes) on their way home because it's one of Evelyn's all time faves.

Last but not least, my AU babes: Annabelle and Veronica went to a pub, drank until they could barely walk, played pool and air hockey. On the way back home, both of them asked the Uber driver play Annabelle's fave song Fade Into You (Mazzy Star) and Veronica's fave Cuide Bem Do Seu Amor (Paralamas do Sucesso).

Hamid and Daphne also went on a trip (to Copenhagen). They went skiing during the day and at night they had a very cozy dinner by the fire while listened to a collaborative playlist they have for date nights and another romantic moments. Hamid's latest addition to their playlist was Paris In The Rain (Lauv) and Daphne's was A Sorta Fairytale (Tori Amos).

Tagging @peonierose @missameliep @lilyoffandoms @princess-geek @noesapphic @havenroyals @sazanes @lizzybeth1986 and anyone who wants to share their OTPs Valentine's Day songs

[beatrice-otter]

8. you hope more people will come to appreciate ___ (a ship, a trope, an episode, etc)

Oh, man. There are a bunch! There are so many, because I have pretty much never been into The Big OTP.

But the one that popped into my head is the one I'm going with, and that's Picard/Guinan. There are only eleven works in the Guinan/Picard tag, and I wrote three of them. (Of the others, one is a ficlet spam "fic", two have Picard/Guinan as secondary pairings, and one is a podfic of one of my fics.)

For those of you who are scratching your heads, please go watch the episode Time's Arrow. And watch the way Picard looks at young!Guinan. And then he stays in the past with her (despite knowing it might trap him in the 19th Century) because he doesn't want to leave her alone while she's injured and unconscious.

Someday I will write the fic where Picard ends up trapped in the past with Guinan at the end of Time's Arrow, and the two of them travel the galaxy to find a way to return him to his proper time.

[jedimordsith]

20 Questions For Writers

I was kindly tagged by the @takadasaiko !

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

33

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

702,174

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Star Wars Legends, specifically Luke & Mara and variants thereof.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

The Gift 

5 Times Mara Took A Vacation and the 1 Time She Didn't

Desideratum

Oracle

Dirty Bad Wrong

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes! Sometimes it takes me a while but I respond to all comments except troll-y ones.

6. What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Generally, I prefer to resolve my angst by the end of a fic, but I left Nub Saar kind of open-ended so I think it takes the star on this one.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I'd say most of my fics get pretty promising endings and I can't quantity which one is "happiest" out of all of them.

8. Do you get hate on your fic?

Not much. I get people who don't like/understand what I've done with a particular character, pairing, or AU, but rarely to any degree that can't be easily ignored.

9. Do you write smut?

Yes! I love a good, satisfying smut scene (even if they can be a nightmare to write).

10. Do you write crossovers?

Nope.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I'm aware of.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

I don't think so? 🤔

13. Have you ever co-written a fic?

Once. It was a good learning experience but not something that's often a good fit for my life and writing style.

14. What‘s your all-time favourite ship?

Luke/Mara. OTP, full stop.

15. What’s the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Either Temple Grim, the Vader's Kid AU, or my Naboo Gothic. I love the concepts but they just keep sliding to the bottom of the priority list.

16. What’re your writing strengths?

Worldbuilding. I will put a stupid amount of effort into considering and researching the small details of things. I like to think this somehow compensates for all my weaknesses.

17. What’re your writing weaknesses?

I am extremely prone to writing long fic. Fight scenes are hard and I frankly avoid writing space battles because they're even worse. I feel zero compunction to respect any particular aspect of canon. I sometimes (somewhat unfairly) use particular characters as scapegoats for my convenience.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

Coruscant Translator is a GIFT and I love throwing in snippets of canon languages where appropriate!

19. First fandom you wrote for?

I always wrote original fiction until I found fanfic through SW.

20. Favourite fic you’ve ever written?

I'm most proud of Dirty Bad Wrong, just because of the effort and logistics, but I don't have a proper favorite. All of my fics contain a piece of me and satisfied a particular impulse/desire, and that's all I can ask for.

[uniiiquehecrt]

Thor Odinson

tagged by : @beheworthy bc i would ALWAYS like 💖💖💖

Give me a fictional character and I will say:

Favorite thing about them: His big dumb hero's heart. His compassion. How much he loves his home, his people, his family, his beloved, his friends — how much he loves.

Least favorite thing about them: //stares pointedly at his inability to form meaningful connections because Thor is Not Allowed to be Not Okay (even when it's obvious and people he loves asks him to share his heart).

Three things I have in common with them:

I am, myself, an elder sibling!! And one whose younger brother was/is someone I am incredibly close to, care a great deal about — that entire drama is very close to home for me.

A passion bubble for friends and family that's, on occasion, close to the surface... but otherwise am chill 👍

and .... bunt out golden child syndrome vibes. Especially that vibe of "do it on your own and put on your leader face at all times, because all eyes are on you, good luck"

Three things I don’t have in common with them:

His ... overly reserved nature. I've been told I can be serious but I don't think I brood the way he does.

One day I will be nearly half as eloquent in my speech outside of writing 🙏

The way that Thor is able to just command a room???? Goals. Total goals. I'm either very good at directing conversations or shaky at it and I wish I had Thor's level of confidence.

Favorite line:

"i would rather be a good man than a great king."

OR ALTERNATIVELY.

"is that why everything's on fire~?"

BROTP: Brodinsons 100% . Then the entire warriors + sif squad dynamics! I'm forever sad we never got more of them all together. Then Heimdall, because Thor deserves positive mentor figures in his life. (and as far as the avengers proper go: Thor/Steve absolutely deserves more recognition they were the og duo as far as Age of Ultron is concerned and y'all , we've all been sleeping.)

OTP: Fosterson ! :D They're adorable star-crossed lovers, and he loves her very much. (and she feels the same for him !)

NOTP: if i see (1) more fan art of thorki in the thor tag i will scream. I guess also bruce/thor and valkyrie/thor exist ...??? I'm not really sure who Thor's exactly shipped with in the MCU besides Jane.

Random Headcanon: One time I considered the thought of little!Thor being exceptionally friendly with his kitchen staff servants, and because he's a strong little guy, he'd pick up giant barrels 3x his size and lug them around just because he wants to be helpful. And he'd do it with or without the prize of getting snuck goodies (though he would definitely prefer the goodies, were it up to him.)

Unpopular Opinion: I'm not sure if this counts as an unpopular opinion exactly, but I do always find it interesting that in the Frozen Vault Scene in Thor (2011), what the cinematography and editors show us that sets Thor off is seeing the dead einherjar...

And I'd actually say that this triggers his anger more than the interruption of his crowning ceremony.

So with that in mind, I'm not actually sure that (most of) his rage regarding the situation was about the coronation at all, in that case. At least, not in comparison to the fear he states (semi-subtextually) about being strong enough to maintain Asgard's borders were. ("They know you are vulnerable.")

He actually seems to only be upset about the coronation AFTER Odin makes it very clear he's decided to change his mind and rescind the crown from him entirely ... which only further fuels the point that Thor isn't ready. (aka: the one thing Thor is keenly aware of, scared of, and is scared the Frost Giants also know.) Which, you know, he's not at that point in time, but I don't see a lot of people talk about the details of that particular inciting incident all that much.

(honestly the ENTIRE text and subtext of the frozen vault scene absolutely FASCINATES ME so maybe I'll do a deep dive on it one day idk)

Song SONGS I associate with them: ... //looks at my 5-minutes-until-13 hr playlist uh...

Glowing, Boreas, and Rounds by The Oh Hellos

Plant Life, The Real World, and Bird with a Broken Wing by Owl City

No Sanctuary by UNSECRET (ft. Sam Tinnesz and Fleurie)

Afterglow and Places by Portrair

Paper and Ink (fosterson) and Everything Changes in Time (brodinsons) by Madds Buckley ... also Hoping on Another Life by Madds Buckley

Favorite picture of them:

//pulls out my entire dark world screenshots folder bc are you really going to make me choose, quirks, are you really going to make me choose

soft beautiful 🥺🥺🥺🥺 precious boy ... give me more of that poncho look tho thanks

Tagging: @darkwee009 for pinkie pie or for kirby ! :D whichever you'd like more, friend !!!

[bronzeagepizzeria]

20 QUESTIONS GAME

Thanks for the tag @nodirectionhome-ao3!!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

17

2. What's your total AO3 words count? 81,583

3. What fandoms do you write for?

doctor who and harry potter, as of now. i do have a few x-men fics in the works!

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Of Thorns and Roses: tenrose; arranged marriage au

The Surrender: tenrose; shag or die

Dimorphous Expressions of Positive Emotion: tentoorose; babyfic

One Day Closer To Death: tenrose/tentoorose; post JE reunion

The Seduction Pit: tentoorose; ood sex talk crack fic

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

almost IMMEDIATELY haha. as soon as i post/update i be refreshing that inbox :')

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

as of right now, it's got to be One Day Closer To Death. the ending is still canon compliant w.r.t ten’s arc in the show, i just wanted to give him a little closure. but it made me saddddd.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

probably this little microfic? it’s just a fluffy slice of life thing about mia’s first play.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

nah. i’ve got maybe one or two slightly odd comments but not outright hate

9. Do you write smut? If so what kind?

i have tried it a handful of times and i think there’s loads of scope for improvement so i’ve got to keep practicing. as for the kind, erm, f/m i guess?

i only have one m/m ship at the moment and i don't usually think of them in smutty ways (it's the angst that draws me in lol) but never say never, i think.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

no, and i don't know if i ever would...i love playing in the sandbox of AUs but a full blown crossover doesn't appeal to me at the moment

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

probably not

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

nope

13. Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

co-writing one right now with @thirdeyeblue for the tentoo gift exchange! also working on a jily one with @joyseuphoria but we've yet to make proper progress xD

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

i'd have to say doctor x rose. i've had a lot of ships and usually i move through them super quick so the fact that i've stuck on for 3ish years is a big deal!!

cherik is going up my otp scale rapidly as well

15. What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

i AM going to finish my WIPs. manifesting

16. What are your writing strengths?

i think dialogue, mostly. i think (hope) it’s usually in character and it flows quite decently. i watch a lotttt of movies so it comes to me more easily than other parts of writing

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

i feel like a lot of my descriptiveness is lacking? like it just comes across as filler, or it’s too expository. i also can’t write actions 🫠

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

i am fluent(ish) in a few languages other than english but they almost never come up in fic lol. but if i had to include a foreign language, i’d either write it from the pov of the character who doesn’t know the language (and gets it translated from a third party) or i’d have to consult someone who could help me out with the language

19. First fandom you wrote for?

when i was 12 i wrote a chris hemsworth x reader fic on wattpad 😭 the first proper “fandom” was probably x-men. i hand wrote a bunch of logan lives (logan-2017) fics in my diary lmfao

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

god. idk😂 nothing at the moment

Tagging: @thirdeyeblue @nostradamus0 @naaer @demdifferentstories-29 @ashesandhackles

[khoicesbyk]

The Royal Romance. 

Forevermore. 



A/N: this is the next chapter in the journey of my OTP. Follow along for the fun. 

Rated: Mature (at times can and will be Explicit. I'll be sure to change the rating when and if that happens). | Contains sexual content and strong language. (You know? The usual. Y'all should be used to this from me by now 😁) | Bolded and/or italicized words are conversations and thoughts of the characters. | Main Characters: King Marquise Rys (LI) and Queen Shanelle Miller-Rys (MC) | All Characters and names: (except MC and original characters created by me and/or other authors [their characters have been mentioned and/or used in the story with their permission] ) are property of Pixelberry. 

Current Word Count: 16.4K words. (may be slightly more or may be slightly less. Look, I stop counting after editing and re-editing and driving myself insane. 🤷🏾‍♀️) 

If you’d like to be added to my tag list. Just reblog or dm me and I will gladly add you! 😁😘

This series is rated Mature and/or Explicit. It is NOT reading material that is safe for those under 18. Reader discretion is STRONGLY advised! 

Missing a chapter or want to read a chapter again? I got you covered! Click ——> Here!

Tag List: @choicesficwriterscreations

Chapter 7.) Ripple Effect. Part Two.

The next few days were a blur for the couple. From meetings to openings to speaking engagements on top of chasing after their little ones. The couple had enough on their plates to keep them both plenty busy. And before they knew it, it was time to celebrate their anniversary. 

Being married was a task in itself. But to be married for 8 years with three children under 7? Damn near impossible. But they had somehow managed to make it all work. 

The morning they were to leave for California, Marquise found himself waiting while his wife tried to find an outfit to wear.

“Nope! Nope! Nope!” Shanelle muttered as she looked at herself in the mirror. 

“Why are you making me go through this?” he asked.

“Because it's your job as my husband to help me decide that's why,” she replied before turning back to the mirror in front of her. 

“You've literally tried ten different outfits. Just pick one already!”

Shanelle responded by picking up a pillow and throwing it at her husband. 

“Did you throw a pillow at me?” he asked. 

“And did. So what?” she replied. 

Marquise looked at her. 

“Why must you always choose violence?”

“Because kicking your ass is always fun.”

Marquise arched an eyebrow before picking a pillow up and throwing it at her that she just barely dodged. 

“So that's what we’re doing?” she asks. 

“You started it,” he replied with a shrug. 

And the pillow fight was on. With both trying to outdo the other. Just when Shanelle thought she had the upper hand, Marquiss caught her by the arm and hoisted her up on his shoulders. 

“Put me down!” 

“In a minute. First, you need to learn a lesson in proper manners!” 

That's when he spun her around. 

“Put me down you big ape!” she yelled at him. 

“No, not yet.”

As he continued to spin her around, her yelling got louder and caught the attention of their daughter. 

“What is going on?” Khari asked her parents. 

“Tell your daddy to put me down!” Shanelle told her daughter. 

“Daddy! Put Mommy down!” Khari demanded. 

“You want me to put her down?” he asked his daughter. 

“Put! Me! Down!” Shanelle replied. 

“You heard her Daddy! Put her down!”

Marquise shrugged before launching Shanelle onto the bed.

“Daddy!” Khari fussed.

“What? You said to put your mother down, you didn't say I had to do it gently.”

“I didn't mean for you to yeet Mommy across your bed.”

“You didn't mean for me to do what?!” he asked.

“Yeet Daddy,” Khari replied. 

“What is that?”

“It's a word, Daddy. You don't know it because you’re old.”

“Did you just call—” he started to say before Shanelle tackled him to the ground.

Khari knew then it was no use trying to reason with either of them. 

“Grammy! Mommy and Daddy are being weird again.” Khari said while running out of the room. 

The two wrestled around until both were out of breath and laughing. 

“Do you feel better now?” Shanelle asks. 

“Much. Now let's find you that outfit so we can go,” he replied. 

After finally finding an outfit, and saying goodbye to everyone, The Royal Couple was off. While they were on their way to Lowyn Winery for Shanelle called their California Anniversary, their children were on their way to her father’s duchy. Even though Kylo had questions. A lot of questions. 

“Where doing (going) Bop Bop (Pop Pop)?” Kylo asked his grandfather. 

“We’re going to my duchy, my boy,” Damien replied. 

“What’s dat (that)?” Kylo asks. 

“My house here,” Damien replied. 

Kylo looked back at the residence entrance and shook his head no. 

“I stay! No yike (like) Bop Bop house!” Kylo proclaimed.

“But my boy you can’t stay here by yourself,” Damien said to him. 

“No doe Bop Bop! No doe!” 

“But I’ll be there. And so will Grammy Shantel, and your sister, and also your brother.”

Kylo looked at them before looking back at his grandfather. 

“And look who else is coming,” Damien said to his grandson as Margo and her family joined them at the entrance. 

“Hello everyone. Thank you for inviting us to come with you, Your Highness.”

“The pleasure is mine Margo.” Damien replied before addressing Kylo, “See my boy? Everybody is going.”

“Gammy doe?” Kylo asked. 

“Yes, my love. The whole family is going.” Margo answered as she picked him up. 

“Whole famy (family)?” Kylo asked.

“Yes, my boy. The whole family is coming. So are you ready to go?” He asked his grandson. 

“Let’s doe Bop Bop!”

“That’s the spirit! Let’s be off, everyone!” Damien announced. 

Soon, the grandchildren, their grandparents, and the rest of their family were off to Duchy Toussaint. During the two-hour car ride the children fell asleep. 

“And now, a little peace and quiet,” Damien said with a sigh of relief. 

Shantel chuckled. 

“They’re just like their mom used to be whenever we went to see Mama and Baci.”

“Yes, they are.” Damien said before taking a look at their sleeping grandbabies, “They’re adorable when they’re asleep.”

“Indeed they are. Now are you sure your cousin has everything prepared?” Shantel asks. 

“Yes, dear. I called Stella yesterday and told her to be sure and prepare rooms in the estate for Margo and her family.” Damien replied. 

“Alright. It will be good to be at the estate for a few days.”

“Indeed. Especially now that the renovations are done.”

“What needed to be renovated?” 

“The roof mainly. And I had the kitchen upgraded as well. Also just some basic sprucing and patching up. And while the staff were in the attic they found my mother’s coronation portrait so after having it restored, it’ll be hung up in the foyer.”

“I have never seen your mother’s coronation portrait.”

Damien smiled softly. 

“It’s been years since I’ve seen it. I want the children to see it.”

“I think they’ll get a kick out of it.”

“That’s the point.” 

As they rode along, Shantel became nostalgic.

“I remember when we first came here after your parents died. And we spent a few days there.”

“That was one of the best times I’ve ever had at the estate. We had the whole place to ourselves, excluding the staff of course.”

Shantel smiled. 

When they arrived at the duchy estate, the family was greeted by Lady Stella Quinault. Damien’s first cousin and lead staff member of the estate. 

“Hello! Hello everyone! Welcome to the Duchy Toussaint estate! It is good to have you all here!” She said in greeting as everyone entered the foyer. 

“Thank you, Stella. It’s always great to be here.” Damien replied. 

“Hello again cousin. You look better than the last time I saw you. Looks like you lost a little weight.”

Shantel snorted. 

“I take it that he hasn’t Your Grace?” Louisa asked Shantel. 

“You would be correct,” Shantel replied. 

“And these three precious little ones must be the heirs! Oh, look at them! They’re absolutely adorable!” Louisa gushed over the grandchildren.

“You’re Pop Pop’s cousin?” Khari asked. 

“Yes, Your Highness. Your Great-Grandmother was my aunt. And she named my mother Marlena, as the head of the staff here and I took over for my mother when she got older.” Louisa replied. 

“Is that her?” Khari asked, pointing to Queen Angelique’s portrait. 

“Very good eye, Your Highness. Yes, that's her. That is her coronation portrait. She was much younger then.” Stella replied. 

Khari gazed up at the portrait. 

“I’ve seen that crown before.”

“I’m sure you have sunshine.” Damien replied, “That’s the Imperial Crown Of South Cordonia. Your mother has worn it before.”

“The Imperial Crown?” Khari asks. 

“Yes. It dates back generations in our family. And one day it will be yours.” 

After getting everyone settled in their rooms. Damien took everyone on a tour of the gardens and nearby ponds. That night the children were camped out in front of the main fireplace. 

“Look at them. They're adorable.” Shantel said to her husband. 

“Indeed. Tomorrow we’ll go ice skating and sledding so they can run off some of that energy.”

“I don’t know about you, ice skating cousin. You weren't very good the last time you tried.” Stella teased. 

“Who asked you?” Damien fussed. 

Shantel and Stella snickered. 

“I wonder how our children are doing,” Shantel said. 

“From what Marquise had texted me, they just landed and will be at the winery soon.”

“I do hope they have a great time.”

“As do I, my dear.” 

After Their Majesties landed in San Francisco, they headed straight for Lowyn Winery. Once they were checked in, Shanelle was practically dragging her husband outside. 

“Will you come on?” she asked impatiently. 

“Slow down! The vines aren't going anywhere.”

Shanelle huffed. 

“What's the rush anyway?” he asked, “We’ll be here all weekend.”

“That,” she replied gesturing to the sunset, “you know I love walking while the sun goes down .”

Marquise chuckled softly. 

“Fine. Let's go.” 

The couple spent their first night at the winery walking barefoot amongst the vines. The couple spent the next day touring San Francisco. Including going to one of Shanelle’s favorite spots for Cioppino and walking along the banks of the Golden Gate Bridge. 

That night they had dinner under the stars on the patio. In honor of her grandparents, the couple wore the House colors of Emerald Green. 

“You look stunning, my love,” Marquise said to his wife as they danced slowly on the patio.

“Anybody ever told you that you're a kiss ass?” she asked him.

Marquise snorted. 

“Maybe once or twice. Feels nice when you say it,” he replied. 

“But thank you for the compliment, babe. Even if you always think I look stunning or beautiful or radiant or gorgeous or ravishing or a vision or whatever other verb you have in your vast vocabulary.”

“And every last word I say about you is true.”

“Like I said, kiss ass.”

“Guilty.”  

Shanelle shook her head with a smile. 

“This night has been wonderful. Thank you for this.”

Marquise kissed the knuckles of her right hand. 

“I’m just getting started, my love.” 

“So what are we doing tomorrow?” she asks. 

“How about we spend the day with the little ones?”

“Works for me.”

They spent the next day with their niece and nephews. No trip to California would be complete for Shanelle without seeing her babies. After running around the vineyard with the children, it was time for their favorite game, Cyborg.

“You okay over there?” Shanelle asked her husband. 

“Peachy!” he replied before getting jumped on. 

“Come on boys! We gotta beat Cyborg!” Logi told her brothers. 

The twins pounced on Marquise.

“Yow! I think one of the boys just kneed me in my kidneys.” Marquise said with a groan. 

Shanelle stifled her laugh. 

“Do you give up uncle?” Logi asked. 

“Never!” he replied, “as a matter of fact, gotcha!”

He trapped Logi.

“Ahhh! Boys get him!”

He got the boys too.

“Ha! Got all of you!”

The kids tried to fight out but their uncle was too strong.

“Now do you three give up?” he asked them.

“No!” they replied. 

“Very well. I shall employ my greatest tactic, the tickle monster!” 

“Run boys! Run!” Logi told her brothers. 

But it was to no avail. After several minutes of fits of giggles, everyone was out of breath. 

“Okay, you three. Time to stop beating up your uncle.”

Marquise sat up with a groan clutching his left side. 

“Oof. Definitely got kneed in my kidneys.” 

“You okay?” Shanelle asked him. 

“Yeah. I'll be alright,” he replied. 

After making it to a vertical base, he and Shanelle watched the kids as they started searching for something. 

“What are your three looking for?” Shanelle asked the kids. 

“Our gifts,” Logi replied. 

The couple looked at each other confused. 

“What gifts are they talking about?” 

“I don’t know, this is the first time I’m hearing about any gifts.”

Shanelle turned back to the children. 

“What gifts are you talking about Tinkerbell?” Shanelle asked. 

“The gifts uncle brought us. We have to find them.” Logi replied. 

Shanelle pulled her husband aside. 

“You brought them gifts?” she whispered. 

“No. Again this is the first I'm hearing of any of this,” he replied. 

Logi and the twins looked everywhere. 

“Where’d you hide our gifts uncle?” Logi asked a very confused Marquise. 

“Honey, who told you that your uncle you all gifts?” Shanelle asked. 

“Khari. She said uncle would have a big surprise for us when you came here.” Logi replied. 

The couple stared at the children before whispering to each other. 

“Your Majesty, I really hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I think your daughter just set you up,” Shanelle said to her husband. 

“I know she did.”

Marquise sighed. 

“Come here you three,” he said to them. 

“Yes, uncle?” Logi said as she and her brothers went to him. 

“Unfortunately I don't have any gifts for you because I didn't know that I was supposed to bring any gifts,” Marquise replied. 

“Awww!” the children pouted. 

“Now hold on. How about a compromise?” he asks. 

“What's that?” Brayden asked. 

“Close your eyes and hold out your hands,” Marquise replied. 

The kids closed their eyes tightly and held out their hands. 

He placed $100 each in their hands. 

“Okay. You three can open your eyes now,” he said to them. 

“Whoa! You're giving us money uncle?” Logi asked Marquise. 

“Is that better?” he replied. 

“Yeah!”

“Good.”

“Come on boys we gotta go show Mommy and Daddy.” 

“Hold it,” Shanelle said to them, “come here you three.” 

The kids went to Shanelle. 

“Look TiTi! We got $100.”

“I see that.” 

“That's a lot of money,” Logi said. 

“Toys!” Branden piped up. 

“Candy!” Brayden added. 

“That is a lot of money. And it's money that you three will be putting in your piggy banks for a rainy day. Okay?”

“Okay TiTi,” Logi replied. The boys nodded their heads yes. 

“Good. But first don't you think you owe your uncle a thank you?” 

The kids nodded their heads before tackling Marquise with a hug. 

“Thank you, uncle!” Logi said to him.

“You're welcome, Duchess.”

“TiTi can we show mommy and daddy?” Logi asked. 

“Sure. Your daddy will get a kick out of it.” Shanelle replied. 

They watched the children run to their parents to tell them. 

“He did what?” Logan asked his kids, “He gave you WHAT?!”

Logan looked at them then looked at Marquise.

“Excuse me for a moment.” 

Logan made a beeline for Marquise. 

“What are you trying to do to me?” Logan asked Marquise. 

“What do you mean?” he replied. 

“You gave them $100 each?”

“Was that not enough?”

“Thanks for upping the expectations of allowance.” Logan muttered. 

Shanelle snickered. 

“Don't be too mad at him, it's not his fault.”

“What do you mean?” Logan asked. 

“Khari set him up,” Shanelle replied. 

“How did she do that?” Logan asked. 

“It goes like this,” Marquise replied. 

Marquise told Logan what had happened.

“Sheesh. She got you good.” Logan said to Marquise while shaking his head. 

“Hook, line, and sucker.” 

“You're no better than he is Lo.” Shanelle pipes up. 

Logan stared at Shanelle incredulously. 

“Excuse me? Unlike His Highness over here, I know when to put my foot down when it comes to my daughter,” he said to her. 

“No, you don't,” Bronwyn added.

“Whose side are you on?” Logan asked his wife. 

“Please you two are a couple of saps when it comes to those girls. All they have to do is bat those pretty eyes and you two are putty in their little hands.” Shanelle said to them. 

“They'll do anything they say. Without fail.” Bron added. 

“Mmmhmm. A couple of punks.” Shanelle agreed. 

Logan and Marquise looked at each other. 

“Are we gonna stand here and take this?” Logan asked him. 

“No. This is an outrage!” Marquise replied. 

“And no less true.” the wives said to them. 

That evening the couple had dinner at their penthouse in downtown LA. They enjoyed the view from the rooftop terrace while Shanelle teased her husband. 

“I can't believe you gave the kids $100 each.”

“You know I don't carry anything less than that.”

“They would've been fine without the money.”

“I know but unfortunately for me, it's like you said, I’m a sap for those kids.”

“Khari has taught them well.”

Marquise snorted into his wine glass.

“Speaking of which, she and I will be having a long conversation about this when we get home.”

“You're not even mad at her.”

“No, I’m not but still, a little heads-up would've been nice.” 

“Fair enough. So what's on the itinerary for tomorrow?” she asked. 

“My favorite animal, horses,” he replied. 

“Works for me.” 

The next day the couple spent the day visiting the Among The Vines Horse Farm. After touring the facilities, seeing some of the horses that were sent from Cordonia to be trained, and meeting a few of the staff, the pair saddled up and rode through the pastures. 

Meanwhile, in Cordonia, their children were enjoying spending time in the library of their grandfather's estate, even learning about the secret passage behind a bookshelf. 

“What's this passage, Miss Stella?” Khari asked. 

“Well, it's said that the Alexandre family, the family who owned this estate before your Great-Grandmother, used this passage during the War of Elderod. It was where they hid when troops came looking for them.” Stella replied. 

“Like the palace?” Khari asked. 

“Yes. Did you know your palace was built on top of the old one?” Stella asked. 

“Yes. Daddy told me. There was a…revolt? I think that's what he said.” Khari replied. 

“Yes. The people became so angry with King Gideon that they overthrew the government and forced him out. Then placed his sister Queen Amarys on the throne after a very heated election.” 

“Daddy said that he…” Khari struggled to finish her sentence. 

“It's alright Your Highness. Take your time.” Stella said in encouragement. 

“Daddy said that he had people slaughtered?” 

Stella nodded. 

“He did. King Gideon Rys was one of the more infamously ruthless Kings in the history of our kingdom.”

“Like my Grandfather?” Khari asked. 

“Yes, like King Constantine. Although between you and me, I think King Gideon would have scared even your grandfather, and my cousin King Edward as well.”

Khari nodded. 

“Shall we take a tour?” Stella asked the children.

Each of the children raised their hands.  

“Very good. And cousin? Do try not to get lost. You know what happened the last time.” 

Damien rolled his eyes. 

“I wouldn't have gotten lost if it wasn't for you.” 

“Whatever you say, dear cousin,” Stella said before opening the passage door, “now let's go see where this leads everyone.”

The tour of the passage started at the library and ended at a root cellar in the main garden. Later that day, the family was having lunch when a guard pulled Damien aside. 

“Your Highness, you have a guest waiting in the foyer.” the guard informed him. 

“I do?” Damien asked. 

“Yes sir.” the guard replied. 

“I wasn't expecting anyone but alright, I’ll be there in a second.” 

The guard nodded before walking off. 

“What was that about?” Shantel asked. 

“I have a guest in the foyer,” he replied. 

“Are you expecting anyone?”

“No. But it's alright. I'll deal with the matter, you all continue with lunch. Okay?”

“Okay. Hurry back.”

Damien nodded before excusing himself. When he got to the foyer, he was greeted by two people he didn't want to see. Edward and Genevieve.

“Well, it's about time you showed up.” Edward sneered at his brother from his wheelchair. 

“Why are you here Edward?” Damien asked. 

“I heard you were here. Without my permission.” Edward replied. 

“I don't need your permission to be here!” Damien said firmly. 

“That is no way to talk to him!” Genevieve snapped at him. 

Damien took a deep breath. 

“As long as you breathe, you simpleton, you will always need my permission to be here!” 

“This is my duchy. I can come and go as I please! Now you’re interrupting my lunch, so what is it you want?” Damien asked. 

“Correction, this is our mother’s duchy!” Edward replied. 

“It was our mother's duchy. It is now mine and you know this! It was awarded to me when she died. You were awarded our father's kingdom, I was awarded our mother's duchy.”

“How dare you speak to me in that manner! I am your superior! You owe me your fealty!” 

“I owe you nothing! Because you are no longer the King! I owe my loyalty to the current Monarchs. You know? The ones you helped to handpick?” 

Edward set his jaw. 

“That's what I thought. Now if you’re finished, you both can leave and have yourselves a good day. I have a family lunch to get back to.” 

Damien turned around to make his exit.

“Don't you ever turn your back on me!” Edward growled as he stood up.

“You mean like you always turned your back on me?” Damien asked. 

“You will respect your brother, Damien,” Genevieve said to him.

“No, I won't. Because he's not worthy of my respect.” 

“Not worthy?! You absolute imbecile! Without me, you would have nothing! Your offspring would just be some random idiotic god-awful American because we both know she'll never be smart enough to be anything else in life! She can't even be a decent Queen!” 

That statement set Damien off. 

“DON’T YOU EVER SPEAK OF YOUR QUEEN IN THAT MANNER! THIS IS NO LONGER YOUR KINGDOM! IT ALL BELONGS TO MY DAUGHTER!” Damien yelled. 

Damien’s booming voice could be heard down the hall, where everyone was having lunch. 

“What was that Grammy?” Khari asked.

“I don’t know sweetie. But I'll go find out. You stay here with Margo. Understood.” Shantel replied. 

“Yes ma'am,” Khari said with a small salute. 

Shantel went to see where the noise came from, and when she got to the foyer she found out what all the noise was. 

“Damien? Are you alright?” Shantel asked. 

“I'm fine my dear. I just lost my temper for a second,” he replied. 

Shantel looked over to Edward and Genevieve and rolled her eyes. 

“I can understand why. Why are they here?” she asked. 

“To pester me. Why else would they be here?” he replied. 

“Why my husband and I are here is none of your business!” Genevieve hissed at Shantel. 

“Last time I checked, this was my husband’s duchy, and by marriage, it's my duchy, so why you're both here is my business.” 

“If you ever speak to my wife like that again, I will have your tongue you harlot!” Edward hissed. 

“Shouldn't you be dying from another stroke, Edward?” Shantel asked. 

“How dare you—” Genevieve sneered as she went to get in Shantel’s face but was stopped by Damien. 

“Get out of my way peasant!” she seethed at him. 

“Genevieve, you’re as successful of a fighter as your sister and husband are. Which is to say not at all. You will not lay a hand on her.” he replied calmly.

“We’ll see about that.” Edward sneered, “Guards! Detain that trollop!” 

The guards didn't move from their spots. 

“I said detain her!” Edward yelled at them. None of the guards responded. 

“Edward,” Damien said calmly, “these are the King’s Guards, and as the oldest active member of the Royal Family, they answer to me not you.” 

All of the commotion caught the attention of everyone in the dining room. 

“Pop Pop? Grammy? What’s going on?” Khari asked as she and her brother entered the foyer with Margo in tow. “Why are you yelling?”

“Too youd (loud) Bop Bop! Too youd!” Kylo said to him with his hands over his ears.

“I scared Bop Bop. I scared.” Zyon told him. 

“I'm sorry children. I didn't mean to scare you by raising my voice.” Damien said to them. 

“What are those?” Edward asked, pointing to Khari and her brothers.

“You mean my grandchildren? Specifically your future Queen?” Damien replied. 

“Although I imagine that you two will hopefully already be dead by the time she takes the throne.” Shantel piped up. 

Khari studied them for a second before she recognized them. 

 “I know them. They're the old King and Queen. Right Pop Pop?” Khari asked. 

“Yes, sunshine. This is my brother and his wife.” Damien replied. 

Genevieve was slightly impressed. 

“My! What a bright little child you are! Your mother must be missing you terribly. If you wish to see her again I suggest you behave.”

Khari crossed her arms in a challenge to Genevieve. 

“Lady, I don't behave for my parents. What makes you think I’d behave for you?” 

“Because if you don't I can make very bad things happen to you,” Genevieve replied, taking a menacing step towards Khari.

That's when Shantel got in between them and into Genevieve’s face. 

“Genevieve you take one more step towards my granddaughter and I will knock your head into the fucking stratosphere!” Shantel growled at her. 

“Ooh! The Duchess has a bite! I knew I liked her.” Stella quipped. 

“Enough!” Damien said as he cleared his throat. “My love, take the children into the living room to watch a movie.”

“Mobie (movie)?” Kylo asks. 

“Yes, my boy. You can even pick your favorite one.”

Shantel eyed her husband before setting her jaw. 

“Fine. And oh one more thing Genevieve, this ain't over!” Shantel hissed. 

“For the first time, you and I actually agree on something. This isn't over. And it won't be over until I make you pay for what you did to my sister.”

Shantel scoffed. 

“You expect me to pay for the sins of a whore? Fat chance!”

“Shantel!” Damien warned her. 

Shantel sized Genevieve up before taking Kylo by the hand and leading him and his siblings out of the foyer. When Genevieve saw Margo and Stella, her face soured. 

“It's a shame that Connie didn't kill you when he had the chance,” Genevieve sneered at Margo. 

Margo raised a challenging eyebrow at Genevieve.

“Stella, how is Lady Delilah doing?” Margo asked. 

“Oh, she's doing wonderful! She was here last weekend having tea with me.” Stella replied. 

“Do give her my regards the next you speak to her.”

“Of course, I will do just that.” 

Hearing that name got under Genevieve’s skin.

“Oh, Your former Majesty, you look quite distressed, is something wrong?” Margo asked Genevieve.

“Don't you two ever mention that name in my presence again!” Genevieve replied. 

“You know. ‘Tis truly a shame that Edward married you and not Lady Delilah, the woman he truly wanted.”

“‘Tis a shame indeed,” Margo added. 

“Tell me, Genevieve, what's it like to be the one someone was forced to settle for and not be the actual love of their life?” Stella asked Genevieve. 

“Ladies…” Damien calmly warned them. 

“Very well Your Highness. I shall go help Her Grace with the grandchildren.” Margo said to him before taking her leave. 

Damien straightened his shoulders before addressing his brother and sister-in-law.

“As for the two of you,” he said with a snap of his fingers, “you've wasted enough of my time. So now you can follow the guards and take your leave. And oh! One more thing, unless I have written correspondence announcing your pending arrival, you are to NEVER step foot on my duchy estate grounds ever again.” 

“Enjoy it while it lasts little brother. Because soon it'll all come crashing down. I will make sure of it! Your son-in-law won't be the first of the Rys clan to be forced off of the throne!” Edward sneered at his brother.

“It was good to see you, cousin! May the next time we meet be at your well-deserved funeral!” Stella said as Edward and Genevieve were led out by the guards. 

Damien gave her a lopsided look. 

“What? It's not my fault that your brother has always had a tree trunk stuck up his ass,” she said before walking off. Damien shook his head and went back to his family. However, something about what Edward said started to nag him. 

After spending all day at the horse farm in California, Shanelle and Marquise had dinner at a restored speakeasy in Big Bear. 

“How’d you find this place?” Shanelle asked. 

“I mean I am a Doctor who does research for a living,” he replied.

Shanelle snorted.

“Smart ass.”

He chuckled

“Believe it or not Randall Sr. told me about it. He and his wife celebrated their anniversary there. So I looked into it and thought it would be a perfect backdrop for dinner.” 

After dinner, the pair walked the quiet dark street, occasionally gazing up at the star-filled night sky. 

“It's beautiful isn't it?” she asked him. 

“Yes, you are. And the view is nice too,” he replied. 

“You're not even subtle!”

“Subtlety is a luxury that I don't have.” 

Shanelle shook her head as they continued their walk.

“I love these moments, you know.”

“What moments?” he asked. 

“The moments where it's just us. Don't get me wrong, I love being with our kids and family but sometimes I just want it to be just us,” she replied. 

“I understand that. Because we're always surrounded. Either by family or kingdom business and protocol. So when we get these quiet moments together they feel rare but so meaningful.”

“You will never see fault in anything I say or do will you?” 

“Nope. I never have and I never will.”

Marquise looked at his phone that buzzed in his pocket. 

“We should head back. Besides, it's almost time.”

“Time for what?” she asked. 

“You'll see soon enough.” 

When they got back to the winery, Marquise had Shanelle blindfolded as he led her back to their room. 

“Okay what's with all the subterfuge?” she asked. 

“All will be revealed shortly,” he replied. 

“I don’t like it when you say that.”

“You're right. You love it when I say that.”

He led her into their room then slowly closed and locked the door. 

“Are you ready?” he whispered.

“Yes. Now show me,” she replied. 

He took off her blindfold to reveal their transformed guest room. In the middle of the room were blankets, pillows, several boxes of different sizes, and a picnic basket that was surrounded by rose petals and bathed in a soft light from lit candles.

“Wow. You did all this?” Shanelle asked. 

“The staff did this at my request. That's why our dinner was so long. I wanted to make sure they had enough time to get everything set up.” he replied as he led her to the middle of the room. 

“Now let's see what's in the picnic basket,” Marquise said as he opened the basket. “We have champagne flutes, Lowyn Moscato, chocolate-covered strawberries, eclairs, and truffles from your favorite chocolate shop in Paris. Y’know since the children  all but demolished the ones I got you for Valentine's Day.” 

“So this is dessert?” she asked. 

“Yes. How’d I do?” he replied. 

“Hopelessly and romantically perfect,” she replied as she plucked a truffle from the box, “mmm! Mocha!”

“And white chocolate hazelnut,” he added before popping one in his mouth. 

Shanelle poured them each a glass of Moscato.  

“How about a toast sire?” she asked. 

Marquise chuckled before clearing his throat. 

“Here’s to you. My gorgeous, amazing, accomplished, loving, angelic, wife. To your tenacity as a wife, mother, and a Queen. To you, the dynamic woman who stole my heart and has captivated me. You walked into my life at a time when God knew I needed calm in the chaos of it. You are a beautiful storm, powerful and present. Your natural instinct to be devoted, nurturing, and loving should be studied. I love everything that you are and all that you represent. I love your brilliance and conviction. I love your passion, magnetism, and eternal fire. I love you, Shanelle Dominique Miller-Rys. I always have and I always will. Because all I am is because of you.” 

Shanelle was stumped. 

“Why do you always do that?” 

“Do what?”

“Always make your speeches hard to follow!”

“Because I've been giving speeches since I was three?”

Shanelle rolled her eyes with a smirk.

“I have no idea how to follow that. Because you've made it impossible to do so.” she paused, “We have been together for 9 years, but as of tomorrow, we've only been married for 8 of those 9 years. And every year you remind me why choosing you and continuing to choose you is the greatest thing I have ever done. You said that my natural instinct to be devoted should be studied but so should yours. You have literally kissed the ground I walk on. The way you care for me, the way you constantly and consistently love me, the way you will fiercely defend and protect me. The way you hold me when I’m scared. The way you soothe me. The way you will constantly fall all over yourself for our children. All of it is you are a man and especially as my husband. Sometimes I have to remind myself that I’m not dreaming or having a delusion of grandeur. You are my husband. My one true love. I love you, Marquise. I will never love another. Only you.”

They clinked their glasses together. After finishing their drinks, Marquise stood up and brought her to her feet. He connected his phone to the wireless speaker and played their Spotify playlist. 

“Dance with me,” he whispered. 

“Happily,” she replied. 

Teddy Swims “Lose Control” played while they danced slowly. 

“Something's got a hold on me lately. No, I don't know myself anymore. Feels like the walls are all closing in and the devil’s knocking at my door.” 

Marquise sang the hook to her. 

“I lose control when you're not next to me (when you’re not here with me) I'm falling apart right in front of you, can't you see?” 

Slowly they swayed together, suspended in time. It was as if they were in their own little world. As they danced through the many different love songs they added to their playlist, they stopped when the song changed to Cascade (Lovers Quarrel

Mix) by Stokely. 

“Now it's time for presents,” he said to her. 

Shanelle raised an eyebrow at him. He gestured for her to have a seat on the chaise lounge in their room. He knelt before her with two black boxes in his hands. He set the boxes down next to her before placing both of her calves on his shoulders. 

He gently took her right calf in his hands and began to place soft kisses all over it. When he reached her ankle, he kissed along it, he then began to focus on her right foot. After slowly slipping her heel off, he left featherlight kisses all over it. Making her shiver. He took one of the boxes and opened it, revealing a diamond anklet. He gently placed the anklet on her right ankle before turning his attention to her left calf and repeating the same process. 

He slid his hands up her dress to her thighs. Slowly massaging them in circles. He stopped long enough to grab another black box.

“What's in that box?” she asked. 

“A couple of custom jewelry pieces,” he replied. 

He opened it to reveal two diamond garter belts. After kissing the inside of her right thigh he placed the garter belt around and secured it then did the same to her left thigh. He stood up and brought her to her feet as well. 

“So is there a theme here?” she asked. 

“Yes. You are the most precious gem in the world. So it's only fitting that you be draped in diamonds. Now this dress you have on is beautiful but it's in my way.” he replied. 

He twirled her around until her back was flush with his chest. He nuzzled her neck as he slowly pulled the zipper of her dress down and let it pool at her feet. 

“The most beautiful woman in this world is you,” he whispered as he slipped off her bra and panties. 

He wanted and needed her to be naked before he continued. Feeling his hands slowly roam her body made Shanelle dizzy. Every curve was accentuated by the candlelight. He reached for another black box and it piqued her interest. 

“What's in that one?” she asked. 

Rather than answer, he opened the box and revealed an intricately designed body chain. He connected it to the garter belts on her thighs and then wrapped it around the curves of her hips. He followed the plains of her stomach and diaphragm. Wrapping the chain around both. He let the chain caress her breasts and sternum before connecting it around her neck. 

He stepped back and marveled at the sight of her draped in diamonds. But he wasn’t done. He opened one last box, inside it were a pair of diamond earrings, bracelets, as well as a layered necklace. 

When he was done, she was covered in diamonds. He held her close, kissing just below her right ear continuing down her neck. The juxtaposition of his warm kisses and the chili from platinum setting the diamonds were in on her skin, sent chills down her spine. 

With the pads of the fingers on his right hand, he traced the body chain down her stomach. 

“Absolutely exquisite.” He whispered in her ear.

“Are you gonna spend all night complimenting me or is this going somewhere?” She asked. 

“You need to learn patience, my beautiful one.” He replied with a boop to her nose. 

“I don’t wanna.” She pouted. 

“When have I ever not given you what you want?” He asks. 

“Fair.” She replied. 

He kissed the knuckles of her right hand  softly before continuing to the inside her wrist. Kissing just above where the bracelet was resting. He continued to kiss up her arm, leaving goosebumps in his wake. When he reached her neck, he placed a suckling bite at the base. She felt him tangle his left hand in her hair and pull her head back slightly. To give him an unobstructed path to her ear. She braced herself by holding onto his arms. 

“Damn…” she breathed out. 

“There's more where that came from but first.” 

“You need to be out of that suit. Abhi will have a stroke if I ruin it by ripping it off of you.” she said as she slipped his jacket off. 

“Don't let me stop you,” he said as she continued to strip his clothes off of him. 

When she had his shirt off she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply. She finished taking off his clothes before leading him to lie down with her on the blanket below. 

He hooked his left hand behind her neck and brought her mouth to his. At that moment, the world didn’t matter to either of them. All that mattered was the two of them and the love they shared. The kiss was intense, raw, passionate, and powerful. 

He broke the kiss so he could slowly kiss along her jaw and down her neck. Knowing how sensitive the spot between her ear and her neck was to her, he grazed it with his teeth, making her shiver. He continued down her neck to her collarbone. Switching between gentle kisses and grazing the skin with his teeth. 

The sensation felt like heaven and torture at the same time. She loved how he would be gentle and yet forceful with her. 

She moaned softly as he pleased her breasts. Her back arched as he switched between dragging his tongue across her nipples and nipping and sucking on them. 

With his mouth solely focused on her breasts, he slipped his right hand between her legs. She gasped when she felt his fingers rub against her slick folds, running them from her throbbing clit to her warm entrance. She gasped softly as he dipped his fingers inside her and slowly began working them in and out of her. 

“Shit!” She moaned. He was driving her crazy. His mouth and left hand were focused on her breasts and his right hand was pleasing her very wet center. Her breathing was erratic and her hands were white knuckling the blankets underneath her. 

Her moans, gasps, and whimpers were music to his ears. He wanted her to completely come undone, so he upped the speed of his fingers. Working them in and out of her while pulling on the body chain. 

“Yes! Don’t stop! Please don’t stop!” She begged. 

He was enjoying being able to make her squirm but he wanted more. He wanted to taste her in the worst way possible. So he went from pleasing her breasts to sliding between her legs. 

“I am about to thoroughly enjoy this!” He whispered before wrapping his arms around her legs and diving face-first into her now hot center. 

She nearly jumped out of her skin when he made contact with her sensitive skin. His mouth felt amazing against her. He sent heat blazing and electricity surging throughout her whole body. 

This man, this gorgeous man was doing exactly what he wanted to her and she didn’t even care. She just wanted him to eat her out with every ounce of reckless abandon that he had in him. Her hips involuntarily rolled, her toes curled and her legs started to spasm as he continued feasting on her. She loved every minute of it and so was he. He was causing her internal heat to burn hotter and her orgasm to continue to rise higher and higher. 

“Yes! Don’t stop! Do! Not! Stop!” She begged. 

She was steadily unraveling. Falling further and further into her orgasm. He caused her orgasm to flood and take her with it when his tongue surged inside her.

“FUCK!” She gasped out loud as she gave into the pleasure. Her body shook as her orgasm consumed her. He let her go even though he wasn’t quite finished with her. 

“Well, that was fun and just know I’m not done with you, my Queen.” He told her. 

“Do you have to be so damn good?!” She asked as she tried to catch her breath. 

“Yes, I do. I have to make sure that you are always satisfied.” He replied. 

She shook her head and said, “Get up here!”

“As you wish.”

He slid back up to her waiting lips. When they kissed he felt as alive as she did. Their connection has always been strong, but he wanted to solidify that connection between them. Holding her in his arms was a high and when he looked in her eyes, his heart skipped a beat. 

“Je t'adore mon amour.” He whispered. 

“I adore you too, my King”

He smiled at her before kissing her again. They were madly in love with each other. He rolled onto his back and had her straddling his lap. To him, there was nothing and no one in the world more beautiful than her. Especially when she was naked in front of him. He trailed a finger down the middle of her chest, causing her to shiver and goosebumps to rise on her skin. 

“Tu es magnifique mon amour.”

“You’d better fucking believe it.”

“Taking control are we? I love it when a woman takes control.”

“No, you love it when I take control.” She whispered in his ear. 

“Yes, I do. I am yours, my love. Do as you wish with me.”

She grinned at him before capturing his lips in hers. She guided his hands to her ass and left them there. He took that cue from her and began to massage her ass. The feeling of his hands kneading, caressing, squeezing, and palming her ass made her dizzy. 

“You know I always love to make you feel good.”

“I want you to do something for me.”

“Name it, my queen.”

“I want you to fuck me!” She whispered in his ear. 

He flipped her onto her stomach and then whispered in her ear, “All I want you to do is arch your back and let me do the rest.”

She did as he told her to do. With his left hand on the small of her back, he lined himself up with her wet entrance with his right. Biting his bottom lip he entered her. She gasped softly and he groaned in pleasure. She felt like heaven to him. He started slow allowing her to get used to him being inside her. 

“You feel so fucking good!” He moaned in her ear. 

She loved this side of him. She loved his dominance as much as she loved his strength and his wisdom. He was gentle most of the time, but it’s when he wasn’t that she loved the most. 

Once he knew that she had gotten used to him, it was time to get down to business. He started to increase the speed and force of his thrusts and it was on from there. Soon, he was giving her exactly what she wanted, by fucking her into the sweetest oblivion.

He felt her muscles tighten around every time he surged inside her. When he began to use his hips to piston in and out of her, she nearly lost it. 

“Yesssssssssss! Don’t! Stop! Just…just like…that!” She strained out. 

“God you feel so fucking good! You’re so wet! That’s it, baby! Take it! Take me! Take it all!” He growled in her ear. 

She didn’t want him to stop. Not when she was dangerously close to her climax. But that’s exactly what he did. He stopped. She cried out in agony and desperation but it didn’t make him move. He just held her in place, not moving. It sent her into a downward spiral. 

“You are mine, Shanelle.” He growled in her ear as his finger circled her clit. 

The heat inside her coiled tightly. She wanted him to finish her. But instead, he took his time. She wanted to scream because he was taking his time. He was taunting her. She was becoming weak from it. But she knew that he was the only one who could finish this and her. Yet, he stopped moving altogether. He left only the tip of his dick was inside of her. She cried out in frustration. She didn’t want him to stop and that’s exactly what he did. 

“Is this what you want?” He asked as he teased her by moving his hips, sinking deeper into her. 

“Yes! I want that!” She shouted, desperate for him to finish her. 

“I’m not so convinced, my queen. I don’t think you want it. So tell me how bad you want it.”

He was feeling playful but she wasn’t in the mood to play. 

“Marquise! Please don’t do this! I’m so close!”

“Then say it, Shanelle. Tell me that you want it.”

She didn’t have time for this. She was right there. Right at her cusp and ready to go over it. But he would not move. He wanted to hear her beg for it. 

“Say it, my queen! Say that you want it!” 

At that point, he could’ve asked her to twerk on Pope Francis. As long as he gave her the release she was craving. To illustrate his point, he gave her a taste of what she wanted so desperately. He fucked her good and hard, bringing her closer and closer to falling over her edge before stopping completely. She bit down on the pillow underneath her in both desperation and protest. But eventually after him not doing what she wanted she gave in. 

That’s when he knew he truly had her. 

Marquise wanted her submission and now that he had it, he could give her what she wanted.

“Say it, Shanelle!” He growled in her ear. 

“I want it! I want you! Fuck me! Please! Make me cum!” She cried out.

“That’s my girl!”

Marquise finally gave Shanelle what she wanted by resuming his pounding of her, and she was going crazy. Not only was he giving her the best fuck she’d ever had in her life, but he was continuously hitting her G-spot with precision. She wasn’t going to last much longer.

“There! Right there! God! Don’t stop! Don’t stop! Don’t stop!”

“Yeah! That’s it! Keep saying that you want it!”

The sound of their bodies coming together gave way to the richest form of pleasure that either one of them had ever had. Her moans started to get louder once he started rotating his hips with each thrust. 

“Do it again! Do it again! Yes! Yes! Yes!” She moaned. 

She was getting dangerously closer and closer to her edge again but couldn’t seem to go over it. 

“That’s it, my love! Cum for me! Let it all out! Cum just for me!” He growled in her ear.

Those words were all she wrote. 

“Oh God…I…I…Yes! I’m about to—“ was all she could say before her body and especially her orgasm took over. Stars burst in her eyes and she gave in to the orgasm.

That was it. That’s what did it for him. He plunged deep inside her and buried his face into her neck and growled into his release. 

He shivered while holding her in place as both started to come down from the high. All they could hear was their combined ragged breathing. They were both sweaty, exhausted, and completely satisfied.

He collapsed beside her, grabbed a blanket and covered them both then wrapped his arms around her. 

“I…love…you…” he said as he showered her in rose petals and small kisses on the back of her right shoulder. 

“I have something for you, my queen.” 

“There’s more?” She asks. 

“There’s always more, my love.” He replied. 

He reached behind him and pulled out a small black box.

“What’s this?” She asks. 

“Open it and find out.” He replied. She gave him a side-eye. 

“I don’t know about all this.” She told him. 

“Just open the damn box!” He said to her. 

She took the smaller box, opened it, and nearly dropped it. 

“Oh my God! You didn’t!” She exclaimed. 

“What did I do?” He asked in a not-so-innocent voice. 

Inside the box was a huge Canary Diamond Wedding Ring. She couldn’t believe it. She was just staring at it. 

“You bought me this?” She asks. 

“Yes. Here, let me put it on.” He replied. 

He took the ring out of the box and gently placed it on her ring finger. She was speechless as she looked at it. 

“Why did you?…where did you?…when did you?…how did you?” She struggled to ask. 

“Let me explain. You know that I always get you a new wedding ring every year. This year is no different. I made an appointment with our favorite jewelry shop, and told Silvio to craft the most perfect anniversary ring.” He explained. 

“I don’t know what to say to you. I can’t believe you…I mean you didn’t…” she struggled to say. 

“My love, there is nothing I won't do for you. Always know that.”

She smiled at him as tears started to fall down her face. 

“I love you so much, Marquise. Happy Anniversary.”

“I love you too Shanelle. Happy Anniversary mon amour.”

“Here's to another year of us.”

He kissed her slowly. 

“We are Forever and More.” 

When they got back to the palace the next day, His Majesty had a bone to pick with his daughter. 

Khari looked at her dad who had a serious look on his face. 

“Uh oh!” she said before she tried to run but he caught her by her collar and hoisted her up.

“Yipe!”

“Not so fast!”

Khari looked at him. 

“What did you tell your cousins?” he asks her. 

“Umm that I love them very much?” she replies. 

“About me bringing them a gift when we went to California.”

“Huh? Oh yeah! I told them that you'd be bringing them a big surprise.”

Marquise blinked at her as her mother died laughing. 

“Okay. Well, why didn't you tell me?” he asks. 

“Would that have helped?” Khari replied.

He let go of her collar and she dropped to the floor. 

“Whoa!” 

That night while having a quiet drink to himself, Damien knocked on Marquise’s office door. 

“Am I interrupting?” Damien asks. 

“Not at all. Come in, have a seat.” Marquise replied. 

“Thank you, son.”

“How was your trip to Duchy Toussaint? Did the children behave themselves?” Marquise asked as he poured his father-in-law a drink. 

“Yes, they did. We had an amazing time. Except for one thing.” Damien replied as he accepted the drink. 

“What's that?” Marquise asked. 

Damien thumbed his glass before downing his drink. 

“Edward and Genevieve showed up.”

“While my children were there?” Marquise asked. 

“Yes. I had no idea they would show up.” Damien replied. 

“I believe you. So what happened?” 

“We were having lunch when the guards informed me that I had a guest waiting in the foyer, and when I got there…”

“There they stood?” 

“Yes.” 

Marquise nodded. 

“We got into an argument and I raised my voice a little too loudly and it caught the children's attention.”

Marquise poured him and Damien another drink. 

“I see.”

“I assure you, Your Majesty, I did everything I could to shield the children.”

“I’m not mad at you Damien. I've always known that eventually he and his wife would meet them. I just wish I was here when it happened.”

“I understand that. But that's not all.”

“What else happened?” Marquise asked. 

“Edward made an offhand comment about you and your ancestor King Gideon. So I did some digging and found out something big.” Damien replied. 

“What did you find out?” 

“I think…I think…he and Genevieve are trying to stage a coup against you and my daughter. From what I found out they've been quietly amassing support from several noble houses across the kingdom and especially from the Heads Of State of Comery Isle. I think they want to force you and Shanelle out and then install Lord and Lady Gallagher.”

Marquise nodded before downing his drink. 

“Interesting.”

“You don't sound surprised son.” 

“Because I’m not. I've known for years your brother and his wife never got over losing their kingdom. And when Edwin was forced to resign from his position, that took away their only other access to power. So this is nothing more than them trying to undermine me and pull a power grab.”

“So what will you do?” Damien asks. 

“Although this rumored coup won't get very far, I will sit back and watch. I want to see how this will all play out. Especially when they start to lose the support they've garnered so far.”Marquise replied. 

“What do you mean son?”

“You have to remember Damien, I know where bodies are buried. Literally. I also know which family closet has the most skeletons in it.“

“Very well Your Majesty,” Damien said before standing up with a stretch, “I’m going to head to bed now. Thank you for the drink.”

“My pleasure. I'll see you in the morning Damien.”

Damien nodded before taking his leave. Marquise downed his drink before walking over to his desk and pressing a panel on the bookcase. 

A voice answered. 

“My King.” 

“Start digging up bodies and turning over stones. Report back with everything you find. Spare no detail.”

“By your command my Liege.” 

The voice disappeared. 

“So the peasants want to challenge me? Very well, let them come.” Marquise said to himself, “Besides, it's been a while since something exciting happened in this kingdom.” 

[fezwearingjellybananas]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Tagged by @starstruckpurpledragon, thank you!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

315

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

1,163,434

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Currently predominantly The Flash (TV and Comics), though I have written a couple of The Adventure Zone fics, one Naddpod, and one Ghosts (BBC) this year too, and I've written one or two other things. I've been writing fic for a bit

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

1. Crossed Wires - The Flash (TV), Barry/Eddie (prompt fill for a Misunderstandings prompt in a Barry Week)

2. Mis-sent - The Flash (TV), Barry/Cisco (college AU texting fic)

3. "Just sleep in my damn shirt" - The Flash (TV), Barry/Eddie (a short prompt fill that does not even have a proper title)

4. Milk and Sugar - The Flash (TV), Iris/Caitlin (coffee shop AU that changed to a pre-canon canon divergence that ended up a 12 fic series)

5. Digging Out The Hole - The Flash (TV), Barry/Cisco (an episode 1x16 AU again featuring some fake dating and some Rogues)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I do! I appreciate all of them therefore I like to say thank you

6. What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Ashes to Ashes, it's part of the collaborative Marvellous Ladies of DC AU with @agentmarymargaretskitz where the ladies of DCTV get to be all the heroes in a MCU AU and this one is part of the Infinity War one so there is a very large amount of character death

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I like writing happy endings so that one's a little tricky, but I think I might nominate Stargazing (DC comics, Barry/Iris/Hal), since the start is not quite so happy

8. Do you get hate on your fic?

I have but it's a rare occurrence

9. Do you write smut?

Nope! On the sliding scale of sex favourable to sex repulsed ace I generally slide between neutral and repulsed and usually fall at forgot sex exists again until I get a question like this. I do sometimes read the smut bits instead of just skipping now, but I have to be in a very particular mood, it's not a common thing, so I don't think I'll ever get closer to writing it than implying some might be going on somewhere

10. Do you write crossovers?

I have, though not for a little while. I might still have (very brief) notes for a Legends of Tomorrow/Librarians crossover somewhere though. Maybe one day

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I hope not

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

I had someone ask if they could once but I don't think they ever posted it, and this was quite a while ago

13. Have you ever co-written a fic?

Yes, the previously mentioned Marvellous Ladies of DC AU.

14. What‘s your all-time favourite ship?

Barry/Iris probably? That's the one I have been writing to fill the Year of the OTP prompts, and I'm pretty sure these poly ships appear because I like ones like Barry/Cisco and Barry/Hal, but I also Barry and Iris together, so now they all get to be a part of this

15. What’s the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

The Wally Fic, my Flash TV s2 AU where Wally becomes the Flash (because Barry did not survive his first encounter with Zoom). Perhaps one day, but it's been just sitting as part of a first draft for a long time now not getting very far. I might just cut it into scenes and post what I have when I have an end I'm happy with but I've also been saying that for a while and still not doing anything so who knows.

16. What’s your writing strengths?

I don't know if I really think about strengths, this is just for fun, but I often feel I write more dialogue than descriptions, so maybe dialogue?

I've also had a few people tell me I'm good at writing AUs which I am very flattered by and very happy they like them. I just enjoy myself messing around with how things could go if I change that bit of canon or sometimes trying to see if I can make a plot work in another genre instead, but it's very nice when people say they like my messing around and encourage me to do it more.

17. What’s your writing weaknesses?

Describing body language. Especially during conversations, like a pinched nose or stuff like that, I'm often not sure how to phrase the motion and don't know if I put enough in.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

Mixed. On the one hand, it can throw you out if suddenly there is a large passage in another language you're meant to still be able to understand as easily as the first bit, so I think if it were a full conversation I would still write in English and use the dialogue tags to indicate it's another language.

However if the point of view character has, say, my Spanish levels where I can pick out words and get the gist of some bits but not necessarily understand everything I might write that part as Spanish with the missing words and have the translation as the point of view character trying to work out what they just said.

I have also written characters swearing in French (as a "pardon my French" joke. The opportunity for a bad joke will trump everything else always). I hated my French teacher at school and dropped it for Spanish as soon as I could and I'm really, really bad at French, but I do know Merde.

People who have managed to become fluent in multiple languages are so cool. I don't know how you all did this.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

It was a very short Sherlock/Doctor Who crossover where Sherlock and John get zapped by Weeping Angels and end up at Victorian Edinburgh University meeting someone named Arthur. I panicked about posting that so much

20. Favourite fic you’ve ever written?

This is an impossible question always, but since I haven't got a gen fic mentioned here yet I really enjoyed writing The Questing Flower (Flash TV), which is a fantasy AU centred around Iris West. She's on a Quest to save the Moon (and maybe her best friend along the way) and no one's managed to do this in the past 500 years they've been trying, but Iris is going to try anyway.

There's so many fics I've really enjoyed writing though, I don't think I have an all time favourite. Ghosting (Flash TV, Cisco/Hartley) usually gets an honourable mention at least though.

Tagging @agentmarymargaretskitz @squireofgeekdom @alittleflashvibe and @spectralarchers and anyone else if you fancy it?