#just a bird who likes older men has no idea what she’s up for

[spurbleu]

think it’s really funny to imagine the younger men of the 141 realizing that price is actually super good with women.

soap plays knight- shows off to gawking birds, kyle’s pretty boy eyes and sharp tongue garner plenty of attention, and all simon needs to do is sit in the middle of the bar, waiting till a sweet thing asks him ‘what a big man like him is doing alone?’

price isn’t as engaged. let’s his boys have fun, but for the most part prefers to hang back. enjoy his liquor and cigarettes- let them do their thing. course, doesn’t go unnoticed. which spurs their assumption it’s not a ‘he wont’ and instead a ‘he cant’.

“‘fraid they might not like you, capm’?”

“aye gaz, play nice. ye know ta old man’s sensitive.”

“lost his spark, i reckon.”

they rib him for weeks on end about being an old man, no game, out of his prime, ect ect. it’s all light and fun of course, and combat keeps them busy enough that the jokes start to be forgotten. doesn’t occur to them that price has just been biting his tongue since the first blow.

until- night off. pub lights, tallboys and pretty women. familiar scene, type of place that has been in nasty dreams for weeks. kyle and soap are assessing the room, and simon’s silently following along. it takes them a minute to realize they’re captain is gone- but not 10 seconds to find him again- with a sweet, gorgeous bird on his arm by the bar.

silently, they watch as he effortlessly charms her. they count how many times she laughs, how eager she is to hold his arm, how, within in minutes, they’re already cozied up on a booth, nursing beer and making eyes.

and why wouldn’t she? classically handsome, mature, cute smile, a rugged exterior with a gentle execution. it’s a no-brainer for her when he offers to ‘get out of here’, and hold the muscles that breech from his shirt. doesn’t catch the way he glances over to a corner of the pub as they make their leave, small smile tugging at the burs of his mustache as he clocks the shock of his men’s faces under low lighting.

soap and kyle’s jaw break, meanwhile simon lets out a barking laugh.

“old man’s still got it.”

needless to say, all three men said nothing about losing his charm at the next debrief.

[bucchiboo]

I'm crying because I love the idea of correspondence between the students leaving next year and I'd love to see more of it. The white day cards are so cute that I just want to elaborate (hc) on handwriting and maybe even writing quirks. Just Malleus (for now...)

Malleus would be really interested in how his partner writes, it's all so fascinating to him and he's a pattern noticer. The noticerrrr. And he sees so much that he even finds himself compiling all the repetitive actions you take when writing -not just what you're writing, and brings them to you to discuss further. The way you slant letters, when your pen lets up, if you type then the frequency of paragraph breaking, how you insert images, etc. I think it'd be something like "Did you know you tend to smudge the paper when you reach the furthest margin, are you perhaps left-handed? Oya, you are? I knew that to be the case." He says with a slight smile and downturned gaze because he knows he ate that. Sherlock Horns.

He would get overzealous about the fact that you're only a word away and would immediately call you with his archaic phone and pester you until you receive it. His Correspondence wouldn't actually be a surprise because you are usually visited by a heavy knock on your door and fae appropriate fanfare when it arrives, that's just etiquette when writing royalty. But, he always calls you the day he receives it so that you know he shall be returning post haste and he intends to dazzle you. In fact, you'll spend so long speaking to each other about what was written to him, that when you finally get his response, it's more or less just recapping what you spoke of two days prior. He can't hide his giddyness, even if he keeps a cool baritone while on the phone. Because you're a kind person, you pretend that his tail happily thumping against the ground is inaudible, because you know he can't help it.

He is going to surprise you by the emojis he uses because WHO taught you that!?!? He learned these from Cater and Lilia, but he doesn't change the way he speaks. It's "Good evening, How have you've been? The summer season of Briar Valley is particularly exhausting and hot💧, I am very bothered by the heat of it all.🥵🥵" and when Lilia intercepts it, he's like "that's a perfect sentence, go ahead and send it. Actually, one note, send more sweating emojis, it's really hot this summer, right?"

Your messages go through a diverse array of moderators and middle men. Those people being his Grandmother, who reminds him that he's a prince, Lilia and Silver (the two who initially opened the letter, and finally his transcriber and narrator, Sebek who scoffs at the quality of the smut you're peddling his young master, who shouldn't even be hearing this, but he'll read on against his better judgement. (It's literally benign, the furthest thing from smut, Malleus argues). His letters would look a little like this:

21.09.19XX Child, It's been nice knowing you.😌 Why do I say that? Since we've met, it seems as if Briar Valley has taken a lead in comedy and our collective temperament could not be more jovial. Your humorous description of your familiar, Grim child, was very well received by my Grandmother, as I was awoken early enough to the sounds of insects humming and birds chirping well into the night to read it aloud to me, guffawing as she spoke. (I apologize, I cannot stop her from opening my mail, but we're working on her problematic behavior, that's a fact.😉) She in particular has asked if she may keep it, you know how older individuals are with their chucklesome cat stories. 🙄 There's this understanding of the world that I just don't possess when it comes to what grabs the attention of the people's comedy, it continues to evade me. For instance, what is the humor of "surprise hot dog 🌭" and why must it be a surprise to be enjoyed? The children of Briar Valley seemingly shout this and end their sentences with it, and I am surprised and annoyed every time. It seems like you have an understanding in the matters of humor, so you are welcome to explain it to me. But I digress, If I sat down and listed to you all the things that escaped me, well, you might find yourself as old as I am by the time we've finished! 🤣The trees and wind must sense the happiness in our friendly union, and have planned accordingly to block out bad weather🌧️ and unforgiving spirits. The weather is nice enough that (forgive me I've overstretched my hand) planned your visit for sooner rather than later. Next time we meet in person, this shall be us ->🕺💃, as I've already made arrangements for a night in a cabaret club in the Capitol for us to partake in. It's a culture so far from the realm of possibility of establishing itself in our quiet little country, that I was astounded when I stumbled across its zoning request permits one day and I rushed to see it in person, paperwork be damned. The smaller fae who perform insist it to be a "cheeky, yet inoffensive showcase of the arts", and after witnessing it for myself, I knew it would be the type of entertainment you'd enjoy.🤫 Even now, it doesn't feel natural to write, like an odd mouth feel that doesn't change as I turn it over and over. A cabaret in Briar Valley, a music club in a quiet kingdom... it's as I've mentioned earlier, Briar Valley has surprisingly given itself wholly to the Joviality of life. Sincerely yours; Malleus Draconia, Heir to Briar Valley p.s Surprise hot dog 🌭

On the other hand, as confident as he is in your responses, he's always a little embarrassed to send something back. It's not fear of his ability, but rather, if you'll care to hear about the day to day of a crown prince who's routine is very boring and full of nothingburger drama. He doesn't understand that his 18 page assessment of his life is literally replacing the cable you can't afford, and when he describes the way the lion prince attacked him during a diplomatic meeting, the colorful language of his response makes you laugh, and then cry, and even gag because "how did he get close enough to gash you!?" You can see the face he's making as he writes this, pouty and angry and even chuckling when he describes the punishment that followed. Just like in his real life, Malleus has a hard time concealing his emotions. He's not shy about who he is as a person, and his writing is not either. The way it flows is a little different from traditional correspondence, if anything, he's sending you disjointed journal entries and prose while also clipping what you send him to respond directly. Your 2 page crapped out response filled with emojis and memes and inside jokes is returned in full by 20 pages of thoughtful dialogue, assessments of politics and fondness of your life, and even sketches of the things around him (okay... just gargoyles and Sebek, but those are things in all fairness.) He has a real zest that he doesn't try to contain, and even his handwriting gives it away. When he's in a good mood, it's very pristine, heavily slanted cursive that his heavy hand oppresses by not dotting his i's or crossing his t's. It's just understood between you two what he means. Likewise, when he's angry or melancholic it's surprisingly very light, almost inelligeble as if he was speaking through gritted teeth. He must be getting up and pacing, because of course he is. When upset or recounting something terrible, his handwriting is unusually neat, funnily enough the sentences are much shorter, as if he's hiding something or thinking long about what should be said next. He's a very wistful person, after all.

Malleus enjoys fine art that seeks to appease the senses and refine beauty, so attached to his letters will often be trinkets like necklaces, earrings, watches, and pocket squares that he found in shops in Briar Valley, or a ticket to a play or music shows that dazzled him. The heavier packages (these tend to come at random) are filled with small desserts, books on the anthropological history of different fae species, woven pieces from more aesthetically competent fae and their fashion, and of course, fragmented pieces of ancient gargoyles he found hiding in deserted rooms of the castle. <- He'll know if you've thrown it away, so hold on to the heavy, weird rock fragment, please.

[callofdudes]

141 + Rodolfo & Laswell general headcanons

Before he was Ghost (and still sometimes after) he was the guy you'd go to if you had a rip in something or wanted something stitched/embroidered.

His brother was the type to bully him like he did, but if anyone outside the home tried to hurt Simon Tommy would beat them.

Had a schedule where he was to be home straight after school but would sometimes get to go dirt bike riding with Tommy.

Was a prime bullies target because he was very small before his growth spurts. And after said growth spurt has a lot of stretch marks around most of his muscle area.

Is the favorite child of Laswell.

Loves squishmellows, has many.

Will eat Thrills gum just to spite everyone even though it tastes like dish soap and he hates it.

Brings all Gossip to Gaz first.

Because of trauma and stress Simon gets constant migraines and everyone knows to avoid him because he gets insanely cranky.

Knows spanish from how long he was kept in mexico.

Used to play those computer games where you had to input the command of what you wanted the simulation to do.

Doesn't like VR. It's cool but he gets motion sick inside.

Huge mama's boy.

Had braces when he was younger but it didn't stop him from showing off his amazing smile.

Used to bug his older sisters with nerd guns.

I like the idea of Johnny being the youngest chaos gremlin but being the middle child also works for him. (Of two or three sisters)

His parents let him be in football because he was a very smart kid. Topping his science and math classes and becoming valedictorian of his class.

He thinks he's the favorite child of Laswell.

Gets scared when Simon tells him about pixel command prompt games.

While his sisters were watching Frozen he was dealing with the weird crush he had on the king.

Steals pick up lines from Kyle.

Doesn't voice his achievements a whole lot because he wasn't enough for his dad when he was younger no matter what he did. Which has led to his snarky form of confidence and Rizz.

Even older people with take credit for his work and he will fight.

Was 100% a theatre kid.

And an only child.

Is scared to come out even to people close to him after what happened when his platoon mates first found out and wouldn't let it go.

Also thinks he's the favorite child.

Almost got his eyebrow pierced once.

Started to learn what a good father should be because of Price.

Brings all gossip to Ghost first.

Massive people watcher. People credit Ghost for his people watching but it just gives Kyle more opportunity to also people watch.

Has a mentor/big brother little brother relationship with Ghost and they're actually very close.

Used to be a menace when he was younger, and to be fair he still is.

Can't have kids because his balls don't work very well 😅

He was in history in school and was also very good at math.

The Duolingo bird hates him for some reason so he's taken to learning languages from interrogations, now knows 7 languages.

Is Nikolai's permanent backup plan if some shit goes down in Russia and has gotten used to waking up with the man asleep on his couch.

Attracts girls looking for older rich men and it pains him to tell them he is not old, nor is he rich.

Had a strict Military dad who currently still works for the military as a higher rank than him and they do not have a good relationship.

Spends most of her leave time up in the mountains camping. She loves being out in nature.

Has older brothers who are really into rock climbing so she'll accompany them and their friends for rock climbing and camping when she can.

Simon is the favorite child.

Everyone thinks she's married to Price but she'd actually scold him like a child half the day and encourage his antics like a good friend for the rest.

Was in the history and chest club.

Keeps gifting Simon his squishmellows.

Mother to all her 141 children.

Brings her wife to base and Johnny had taken to calling them the "moms".

Will bully people for 141.

Have you ever seen the crazy taser girl?? Yeah, that's him. He has many tasers and he loves them all.

He's actually crazy.

Very capable of yelling and defending himself but Alejandro has bestie senses and usually beats him to whoever did it.

Rudy is quiet but don't bark at him because he barks back.

Alejandro and Rudy used to skip school and go hang out on the cliffs they now trek for military.

His father made a joke once that he was going to get milk and Rudy never recovered mentally.

(and then he left for real-)

He was in photography and sports team manager in school.

After checking out each other's turf, Simon and Rudy are now chronically insane besties.

(had this in my drafts for a while, decided to post because I'm bored.)

[lilacargent]

At it again, from another angle this time.

‘Old’ weapons. Or at least redundant, as a species traverses into space the new technology makes an old gun or even older sword/arrow/spear and so on useless and nearly powerless. The new weapons are ‘ray this’ and ‘beam that’ ‘plasma so and so’ .

Ofcourse this makes sense, the energy based weapons are far less wasteful and lighter, easier to carry and easier to handle. No need to sharpen weapons with a plasma blade and even then, why use close quarters weapons if you have access to stun, kill or poison rays and many more.

On top of that many civilisations prefer to forget their less then stellar past and make analog weapons obsolete. When the humans joined the council many expected them to do the same. They didn’t, production stopped yes, but interested people could still partake in lessons and the old fashioned ways were shown off in museums. Training to be part of a spaceship crew still included lessons in their old weapons as an opportunity to be prepared for going to “newer” worlds.

So with that in mind i have a few little vignettes ideas and for ease’ sake its gonna be on the same ship, the Serpentine.

Important crew:

Primoz, captain -Limoyh a four armed species-

Krag, second in command (brother of Primoz)

Kit, dokter -avian, bird like, she has feathers like a swallow-

Ortez, ASR (all species resources, human resources in space) -kiltak, insectoid species, think ants but exoskeleton-

Lugea, helmsperson (does the steering) -rock like alien-

Artex, engineer/mechanic 1 -also Kiltak-

And then our humans:

Kamari, navigator -Eritrean woman- (has cat named Sidra)

Markus, weapons expert (knows how to use them and upkeep, also shields) -Swedish man-

Petrus, mechanic/engineer 2 -Italian man-

Lilly, administrator/note keeper (learns languages for fun)-english woman-

Yes i know all of this could have also been accomplished by saying they are all from America… nope this is more fun. This is under the assumption that to get into the joint academy for space faring you need to be able to speak and write English.

Obviously there are more people on the ship but these are most important

~~~~~~~~

1. Sparring

Ortez was having a good day, the serpentine had left port and was making good progress toward their next destination on w-kl-18, referred to as deltax by it’s residents, for a routine drop off.

In port on Unity (the planet where the council resides and the universal court is) they picked up the final crew members among who a ‘team’ of humans. Pre bonded humans were supposed to be less chaos inducing and easier bonded with the rest of the crew. Ortez was rather happy the captain listened to him on this matter.

The humans had been more diverse than he expected and were currently what they called ‘settling in’. He was on his way to the rooms they had.

‘Stop it please we’ve been here less than 4 hours!’ The soft voice he recognises as Lilly’s is barely audible over the loud clanging sounds. Rounding the corner Ortez sees a terrifying scene. The two human males locked together with two sticks made of metal baring teeth at each other, with a push the olive skinned man, he remembers is called Petrus, breaks the hold and goes in low swiping at the tall mans legs making Markus fall over.

Ortez is about to intervene when without a sound the dark skinned leader of the group seemingly appears without a sound behind him and runs into the fray with a similar stick.

Whacking Petrus stick away from Markus’ throat she steps inbetween “stop it. You’re scaring our ASR. We want to make a good impression remember.” The men look right at him and both put down the sticks, Markus puts his hand up in a ‘wave’ “sorry about that, Ortez it was right? We were just sparring.’ Moving further into the room he uncurls his front two claws tapping at the metal poles “sparring with this? We usually only do body to body training, this seems rather old.” Petrus speaks up to that “ah yes those are old earth weapons, we like keeping up a bit of skill with several kinds as a side activity. Don’t worry tho, we train with blunt weapons.”

Not entirely appeased the insectoid looks to the imposing woman, who seems entirely at ease even though two people had been fighting. When she caught his eyes, she smiled that terrible toothy grin “truly don’t worry, like Petrus said they are blunt and it is a way for us to let of some steam and keep in shape. But next time we’ll do it in the training rooms… right boys?” Pinning the two men with withering stares they nodded quickly.

Ortez did not know humans released steam, but he felt right now was not the moment to go into that. Saying his goodbye he skittered to inform the captain.

This was bound to be interesting.

~~~~~~~~~~~

2. “The Roman empire”

“So you are telling me that at any given moment you could be thinking about a several thousand years old society that no longer exists and it would surprise nobody?” Artex was perplexed, when he and Petrus were working on the reactor core Lilly had wandered through and mentioned this old civilisation sparking heated debate. She thought the greeks were far more interesting but Petrus had been unmoved by her arguments. The other man speaks while pushing some buttons “well yea, the empire made great strides and amazing structures, Lilly just prefers the mythos of the greek while i enjoy the focus on millitary prowess.” Shrugging he looks up “don’t you guys have something like that?” Artex stretches his legs, all 6 of them in a wave like motion “not really, when change happened the history books were changed to make it seem like it was always that way” the human makes eye contact “wait so how do you know how to play -old civilisation- as a kid? We play fought with wooden sticks, wooden swords and branches we cut to look like guns…” that horrofied the insectoid, raised with violence like it was a normal thing.

Almost like they never left their dark ages

~~~~~~~~~~~~

3. Whats in a name (bit off topic but the idea just kinda happened)

Te very first time the humans were introduced to their new crew there was a bit of a hiccup. When Kamari introduced herself they looked up a bit confused but went further down the row. After Lilly they came back around and referred to Kamari as moon. Now Kamari recognised the strange look, they had translators that only had basic human translation, which means that her name “Kamari” which comes from Arabic and is a word for moon/soft glow of the moon, is translated fully but not as name so when they speak to her it translates out of their language to English which would be moon. This is luckily easily fixed with an update, but it was something that stil spoke of how new the human race was to the cosmos.

Her cat Sidra made them laugh as that means Star so she was the moon with her star.

(Random thought about how multiple human languages could screw with translations)

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Soooooo kinda had a 4th story that is pretty sad but also bad ass, but this is getting too long already

Imma write that in a new post over the coming days

Hopefully people like this, if you have prompts you’d like to see with this crew feel free to ask.

[dreamerofvalyria]

Omg omg omg omg I just read both of your Deamon AU fics???? They are so good!! And beautifully written!!!

please please if not too much trouble, can I please request for that Au?? Maybe like all of 141 meeting each other and Deamon’s for the first time?? I picture Gaz has some kind of bird like a mourning dove or a humming bird and Price has a stronger dog breed- like a Shepard of a sheep bearding dog — y know something protective?

UGH I LOVE THIS AUUU A

((sorry if you aren’t taking requests on this, I just wanna say it’s the best thing I’ve read💕💕💕))

Requests are always open! (I just might take a while because I'm slow af lol)

I wanted to get this out this weekend just passed, but I got a fresh 'rona shot on Friday and it took me out with more precision than a sniper bolt to the face jfc. I absolutely adore the thought of Gaz with a little birb (a pretty one ofc), but I'd actually already picked something out for him, so I hope you like it almost as much as your idea. Regardless, I hope you enjoy!

Summary: John Price has hand picked every member of his Task Force carefully to create the perfect team we have today, even if it hasn't always felt like that.

Notes: Written from Price's POV reflecting on the team's past.

Pairing: John "Soap" MacTavish x Simon "Ghost" Riley

Series Masterlist: Here

CoD Masterlist: Here

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Taglist: @heyitsropi

The first time John met Simon, he was only that, Simon Riley. The Ghost was yet to exist, and in his place, was a young man still full of life. He was friendly enough to the men close to him, but with a weariness toward anyone unknown.  

That caution, of course, extended toward John in the early few days. The first few times they interacted, he was strictly professional, his daemon even more so. The panther would stalk along beside her human, remaining in silence throughout all discussions, coming and leaving as quietly as a shadow. 

But over time, the younger man gradually began to settle. Simon certainly wasn’t the only person in the military to suffer from a rather poor childhood riddled with trauma and pain, and his team were kind enough to never push him too far. He would always maintain a slight distance between himself and the rest of the men on his squad, but he was often quick to smile and joke with them, telling what very well could have been the worst “dad jokes” known to man.  

Both Simon and Elanor seemed to revel in the pained groans his terrible jokes could invoke, smiling innocently as if not understanding why everyone was so upset. It wasn’t a surprise to learn that Simon had a younger brother, he certainly had the annoying-older-brother act nailed down perfectly.  

After a few good missions together, Simon was less reluctant to talk about his family with John in the room, discussing what he planned to get his nephew for Christmas, where he wanted to take his mum out for lunch during leave, and how he was going to get Tommy back for getting a stain on his ManU jersey.  

Simon was a good man and a great soldier, and John was disappointed when the time came for him to return to his own unit. John was to travel up north toward Herefordshire and Simon was to meet with some of their American contacts to help root out a cartel down in Mexico.  

Ghost was not the same person as Simon. He had the same daemon, the same brown eyes, but he was not Simon. He lacked the underlying gentleness in his eyes, and he’d grown to be cold and closed off toward everyone around him, friend or foe.  

If Simon’s daemon had been quiet before, she was dead silent now. Liz would trot over to the cat with a slowly wagging tail and try to greet her, but the panther would just look at her, before slinking off to go rejoin her human. It was heartbreaking to see a daemon who had only just started to come out of her shell become so walled off again.  

Sometimes he wouldn’t even see the animal in the same room and couldn’t help wondering where the daemon could have vanished to. Just seeing a daemon so far away from its human sent a shiver down John’s spine whenever he thought about it, his fingers instinctively curling themselves into the soft fur of his own.  

The reports he had seen about what had happened to Simon to create this Ghost, some of them first-hand from Simon’s own therapist, sent his stomach rolling uncomfortably, and the parts about their treatment of Elanor? He had sweat beading his forehead and Liz pulled into his lap. The rough collie did her best to comfort him, but he could feel her own distress at just the thought of such a thing happening.  

It took well over half a year before Ghost and Elanor were comfortable with turning their backs on John and Liz, and several before they were comfortable working alongside them. The Ghost and his daemon worked alone, but John and Liz were gradually, slowly, at the rate of a melting glacier, becoming an exception to the rule.  

This made it particularly difficult when Ghost was introduced to Soap.  

John MacTavish was, and still is, a loud and confident man. He doesn’t tolerate nonsense and will proudly stand behind his own personal morals and beliefs, even if it’s to the detriment of his professional career. He stands for what’s right, regardless of the consequences, and he’s entirely unapologetic of that fact.  

Soap’s daemon, Gwen, is a perfect match for him. A honey badger, just as unconcerned with the thoughts and feelings of others, and entirely fearless, even when up against daemons easily twice her size. They share a fierce aggression that would have most shaking in their boots, and John has seen firsthand even lions fleeing from their warpath.  

To say that Soap was a bit... much... for Ghost would be an understatement. Soap is so openly friendly with every team he works with, both verbally and physically, and his rather emotional responses to things seem to constantly have the masked soldier on edge.  

Since their first meeting, Soap has learned to reign in his emotions and has matured greatly with the help of experience and the guiding hands of more seasoned soldiers. But several years ago, fresh out of SAS selection, he was far too much for a quiet Ghost who could hardly stand having even John working with him at the best of times.  

While their first meeting didn’t exactly go swimmingly, it ended amicably enough since Soap didn’t seem to take Ghost’s reluctance to socialise to heart. Meanwhile, Ghost just appeared glad to have a break from spending time around someone so bright and bubbly, almost immediately vanishing on a solo mission for a week.  

Kyle was a much safer bet for working alongside Ghost. The young man, while inexperienced, was the top of his class and always eager to learn more. He was like a sponge, soaking up every little piece of advice he’s given and doing his best to apply it to his work. He always asks the right questions at the right times, and always thinks on his words before speaking.  

His daemon, a friendly marbled polecat by the name of Milly, was the first daemon Elanor was willing to open up to. She wasn’t insistent like many of the other daemons in the military, providing the panther with plenty of space, but always choosing to sit beside her, greeting her with a happy chirp. These simple greetings were eventually returned with small nods or pleasant rumbles, and over time, and two daemons fell into the rhythm of being at one another’s side.  

Gaz was always seeking out new things to learn and Ghost had plenty to teach. No matter how difficult the lesson, he would always have the determination to see it through to the end, and his mature, competent nature was gradually winning over the stubborn lieutenant. On the rare occasion where Kyle wasn’t with John, he could be confident that Ghost would have the younger man’s back.  

But Gaz brought more than plain professionalism to their team, he also brought the fun, youthful spark that the group had been missing. His sassy remarks during OPs and cheeky behaviour off the field was worming its way under Ghost’s thick skin, and John could see it in the way his lieutenant began to offer banter of his own in return.  

It was like watching a grizzled old dog interacting with a friendly young pup, slowly relearning what it meant to actually enjoy life here and there. Sometimes Ghost still needed that time to be alone with Elanor, but Kyle and Milly were drawing them out of the dark and back into the light again.  

More often than not the two could be found sitting peacefully together, doing nothing but enjoying the company of their fellow brother in arms. Whether it was eating meals together in private where others wouldn’t see Ghost removing part of his mask, running on the track first thing in the morning to wake themselves up, or claiming the bench under the old tree where they could discuss upcoming schedules or laugh at the young recruits just learning to walk, it was all done by each other's side.  

John could see the pride in Ghost’s eyes whenever Gaz managed to get an upper hand on him in training, he could see how Elanor now greeted Milly with a gentle headbutt, how trust was building between them and their team was solidifying into something unbreakable. Gaz was a loyal man, almost to a fault, but he had awarded that loyalty to John and Ghost and, in return, had been given it back tenfold. 

But the team was yet to be complete, and it wouldn’t be, not until John MacTavish joined them.  

John was admittedly still not certain how well Ghost would take to working so closely with Soap after finding the other man a tad overwhelming the first time, but with Liz’s encouragement and seeing how much Ghost was beginning to come out of his shell, he had no choice but to commit to the selection. Soap’s file reported nothing but constant rapid improvement. He was a talented, driven man, and precisely someone John wanted on his new task force.  

The offer was sent out and immediately accepted.  

Soap and Gaz were, understandably, complete menaces. Two young men eager to prove themselves and have a little fun while they’re at it. They’re thick as thieves and both just as determined to inconvenience John as much as possible while dodging reprimands like the plague. “A bunch of children” he’d called them one day, earning a grunt of agreement from Ghost, Liz and Elanor sharing a look of endless suffering. 

As for the relationship between Ghost and Soap, the best John was hoping for was for them to learn to accept one another, even if that was just enough to be able to put their best foot forward during missions. And it worked well enough, until Las Almas happened. Until Sheperd happened. 

Until Simon happened.  

Years of hiding away, and suddenly it wasn’t Ghost standing before him. It was Simon.  

Soap was looking right at him, and Simon was looking right back.  

Something had changed between them. From the report he got from the two soldiers about the events that transpired he couldn’t tell what, but it was clearly something significant. It had changed them from work colleagues to something far more dangerous. A better man would have nipped it in the bud before it had the change to potentially ruin them, but John has never claimed to be a good man, good men don’t last long in their line of work.  

If he and Gaz are a good team, Ghost and Soap are unstoppable.  

When they think he’s not looking, John has caught how Gwen excitedly jumps around Elanor’s body, learning against the dangerous predator and covering her with affectionate licks. More surprising, is how Elanor returns the behaviour, nipping playfully at the badger’s feet and tussling about on the carpet like a pair of kittens.  

It isn’t until he sees Soap’s bare hand brush through Elanor’s fur that he knows the depth of what they are to one another.  

He just hopes he hasn’t made a horrible mistake.  

[littlesparklight]

Yuriliad part seventeen; Achilles kills Troilos, revealing growing cracks.

If all this had to happen at all, surely this was better, unless Helen was a man. But Paris wasn't sure she was fond of that idea. An idea that was only a flight of fancy, more distant than even the most high-flying bird in the sky above.

It wasn't like there'd been some way to avoid it.

That was what Paris told herself, anyway - had to tell herself - as the Achaeans dug themselves in by the bay across the river, as the days after their arrival turned into weeks and months and years. She couldn't understand how they had the will or patience for it, though Helen was undoubtedly worth it. The men, at least thought so; she'd heard them talk. Helen, and the insult the King of Sparta had levelled against the royal family when extending a claim on her as a concubine, had them fighting.

But those were men, armed and armoured, who stood on the walls to meet the Achaeans' attempt at breaching those same walls. If fighting had to be happening at all, men were who ought to be in danger of being killed. And yet---

"Troilos! Troilos!"

She was going to be ill. Paris stared as Hektor slowly walked across the courtyard, cradling the slender, headless - headless! - body of Hecuba's next to youngest son over the wailing shrieks of their mother, and a hysterical Polyxena. Aeneas after him held something small in his arms, wrapped up in a bloody cloak, and she was - she was going to be ill.

Staggering a few steps away from the doorway, she got no further before she threw up, fight it as she might. Her hair seemed to be everywhere and she couldn't throw up here. Her stomach heaved. Cool, soft fingers brushed her temple, her throat, and caught her hair, and Paris gave up.

Thirteen. Troilos had only just reached thirteen, golden as the sun and his divine father. The youngest Priam allowed any boy up on the walls was several years older, but he preferred they had reached their second decade.

"I--- I don't understand." Paris heaved through the words, each syllable threatening her rebelling insides to turn themselves inside out once again, but there was nothing less. Coughing, she turned to Helen. "Why… why did he murder the child, instead of taking both him and Polyxena for ransom, like he did with Isos and Antiphos earlier?"

"I don't know," Helen said, her large eyes dark and gleaming. She was paler than usual, and so her neatly bound-up hair looked even darker than its rich, dark-brown already was. "I don't know."

Taking a shuddering breath, she turned around and took the cup Elektra gave her, handing it to Paris. "Drink. It'll clean your mouth."

Paris drank, for that seemed easiest, simplest to do, while the courtyard filled with wailing.

So, so much wailing.

It seemed almost insulting that the Achaeans agreed to a truce of twelve days for Troilos' burial, but at least that meant their little brother could be buried as he ought, though he shouldn't be dead at all.

Worse was watching as the pyre was lit in the morning on the tenth day. Not because it was one of the final steps to the irrevocable loss, but rather because---

"Look at her. Barely even weeping, and she knew him almost as well as the rest of us!" Lysianassa, huddled up next to Aristomache along with Henicea behind them.

"Maybe she's pleased," Aristomache muttered, tone biting enough to be meant to carry.

"No!" Henicea cried, half a teary wobble, half an edge of sick fascination with this accusation.

Beside her, Helen grew stiff.

"But don't you see, one has to wonder why she would follow Alexandra here - it doesn't make sense, no matter how beautiful she might be, when Helen herself is more so! But she gave a fine excuse to her husband and all those Achaean princes, and you know Troilos would've been able to stand next to Hektor, if he had only gained a few more years, given whose son he is."

Paris wound her arm tight around Helen's, stepping closer to her.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, turning her head to frown at Aristomache, who only huffed, pretty little nose curling, but did fall silent. "They shouldn't be saying such things."

It wasn't fair - her sisters and sisters-in-law glared at her, to be sure, darker stares than anything Paris had seen, even from Kassandra before all this, but no one said anything. Not to her, whether to her face or in her hearing, anyway. They saved it all for Helen, though she had been the one who eagerly follow Aphrodite's direction that took her to Kythira and Sparta. Not that there had been anything else to do, but she had wanted it, and she could not stop wanting it. Couldn't stop wanting Helen. Would miss her like she'd been emptied out if Helen was taken over to the Achaean camp if Hektor and her father should change their minds.

But they hadn't, not yet. Not even now, with Troilos' body wrapped in soft, deepest purple while the flames rose higher and slowly consumed the funeral pyre.

"They're grieving, and rightly so," Helen said quietly, wound tight as a bronze spring the smith has carefully constructed, yet the tension is so great in the thin metal wire it undo his fine work if care isn't taken. "I hardly put up any protest in the face of your words, those glancing eyes of yours. And I should have."

"Helen---"

"Hush." Helen's hand on hers, where she was clutching the soft meat of her lower arm, was biting in its grip. But firm. "I should have. But I didn't."

[dreamerrgirl]

Would you consider writing a fic where Grey is waiting for Tim to check in but he and Lucy are busy in the Laundry room? Lmao I was inspired by the Mr. Bean gif set. It’d be a hilarious exchagne between Tim/Grey cuz Grey knows all and I’m sure Tim came back looking…interesting ha!

Hahaha I love this idea, that gif set cracks me up every time! For anyone who hasn't seen it, here is the inspiration for this fic by @kat-rose-griffith

Tim hurried through the precinct doors, darting around people with lightning speed as he made a beeline for Grey's office. He couldn't believe how late he was- he was never this late for anything, ever.

"There you are Sarge," Smitty greeted him, coming out of nowhere. Tim nearly crashed into the older officer as he stepped directly in Tim's path. "Grey was about to send out a search party."

Tim groaned internally, externally shaking his head at Smitty. "Are you ever out on patrol?" he grumbled, tired of this man always being up in everyone's business.

"Good luck in there," Smitty grinned, clapping him on the shoulder before sauntering away, leaving Tim with a birds eye view of Grey's office, the Sargent leaning back in his chair, his arms crossed, staring daggers at Tim through the glass.

Shit.

Taking a deep breath, Tim continued on his journey, coming to a halt just inside Grey's office, standing up straight and clasping his hands behind his back, ready for whatever Grey was about to throw at him.

"Sargent Bradford!" Grey declared, spreading his arms wide. "How nice of you to join me. I was only expecting you, oh I don't know, 45 minutes ago." He checked his watch while saying this, raising an eyebrow in Tim's direction.

"Yes Sir," Tim nodded.

"I take it the check-in went longer than anticipated."

"Yes Sir."

"Are you a broken record?"

"No Sir."

Grey sighed. "Tim, shut the door and sit down, and stop talking like a robot. You're not back in the army."

Tim did what he was told, feeling like a scolded child. As soon as he sat down, the questions just kept on coming.

"So, the check-in didn't go as planned?"

Tim's mind flashed to the images of Lucy leggings laying on the grimy floor, her bare body sprawled back against the top of the dryer, the sounds of her muffled moans and their labored breathing echoing in his ears.

Didn't go as planned would be an understatement- not that he was complaining.

Truly at a loss for words, Tim simply shook his head.

"Is Lucy okay, does she need to pull the plug?"

"No, she's okay, she's good, she just wasn't expecting that is all. She said Tesca thinks it could be one of his men, or his brothers. She's hoping to use this as an opportunity to gain his trust."

"Smart move," Grey nodded. "And how are you doing? I heard it was a close one out there."

Tim shrugged. "Nothing I couldn't handle."

The look Grey gave him was full of skepticism, and Tim could practically hear the older man saying: really, because I'm pretty sure getting shot in the back unaware and without backup is something that nobody could handle.

"I'm good, really."

"Alright," Grey raised his hands in defense. "Glad to hear it. Now go and get some rest, you're going to need it in the morning."

Tim nodded his agreement, rising from the chair and making his way towards the door.

"Oh, and Tim," Grey called, his voice smug. Tim paused at the doorframe, turning around to see Grey smirking at him. "Your shirt's on inside out."

[intothedraft]

Chapter 26: Flairishia Is Totally Down With Murder

Asleep. No noise apart from shuffling footsteps. Clemant had no reason to think she wasn’t in the Fort.

Can't this poor girl catch a break?

Clemant is in a small, cold room overlooking snowy mountains. She has no idea where she is, and surprise surprise, the door is locked.

“Hello?” she called out softly, and then she heard echoing footsteps coming closer. She crouched at the bottom of the door and watched. A man looked through the window until he saw her, sitting on the floor in her dirty clothes, shivering. “She’s awake,” he said into a walkie-talkie.

I... okay. I have a few thoughts here.

The last chapter also opened with Clemant waking up somewhere she didn't fall asleep. Why didn't I have the bird kidnap Clemant after the book opened, and have this happen the first time she woke up? Sure, I'd have to change parts of the earlier chapters, but what would we have missed if Clemant hadn't been found yet and the Gevirians were out looking for her? The 'quite nice' hospital? If I really wanted to keep the one-week-battle-prep note thing, I could have had Layane and Jez find that next to the book, and no Clemant.

I can't believe this is the second time this has happened, but: it's just dawned on me that no one has explained the feud to Clemant. (Scroll back to draft 1, chapter 5 to see this dawning on me for the first time.) It's somehow worse in this draft. In draft 1, Clemant was the older sibling, and didn't know why her parents died. In this draft, Layane is the older sibling, and could have told Clemant about the Sovances at any point, even if she doesn't have all the detail. But to be fair to Layane, she knows very little about the feud. Why hasn't she asked G-slur or Jez for more information? Let's not think about that, it's besides the point. Clemant has been told nothing, which given how easily she was kidnapped by the Croe Objectification Hivemind, seems like a pretty major oversight.

So... the Croe Objectification Hivemind snuck into the fort, past Jez, yoinked Clemant out of her bed and ran, and... that worked? Am I getting that right? Holy fuck, Jez is bad at protecting kids.

“OK,” said The man, and he took a key out of his pocket and opened the door. He looked at her for a moment, his expression mixed with hatred and disgust.

Reminder that Clemant is four years old.

“Who are you?” she asked. He didn’t answer. “Er, where are we?” Still no answer. Clemant decided to give up.

This is why you tell your kid sister about the family that's out to murder you! Maybe it wouldn't have helped right this second, but Clemant would at least know these men are not her friends.

Not that it matters, because - spoiler alert - they kidnapped Clemant to try to get information out of her, and even though the easiest way to do that would be to convince Clemant they're here to help, they can't hide their obvious disgust that Clemant is *~A CROE~* for even one second.

(Why they kidnapped the four-year-old to interrogate rather than her older sister is beyond me.)

Clemant is taken to... an... interrogation room (?)

The man led her to a room where a man was sitting next to a table. He looked quite young, and was eying Clemant with disgust. (...) someone walked over with a pair of metal handcuffs and fastened them tightly around Clemant’s wrists. She was terrified, she looked around the room. There were at least five other people in the room, all staring at her.

Where are they? Presumably still in Hiville, right? So... these men, who arrived here two weeks ago (being generous there), who have never been to Hiville before, somehow built or found an entire... what is this building? Police station? Office? Villain lair?

A man in the corner gave a wheezy laugh, his skin was pale and he had a horrible vein sticking out perfectly visible on his forehead. He was sitting in a wheelchair. Clemant stared at him for a while. “This is Jack Sovance,” said the man behind the table. “He was a victim of your grandmother and a few Gevirians’ a few years ago. He was preserved in living ice, which means he was inside it but couldn’t die in it!” “Who would…?” started Clemant. ”G-slur,” said the man. “I believe you know her.”

To be fair I'd set up a villain lair if someone was going around doing this sort of thing* to my family.

* I'm being generous and assuming he was conscious and in horrible pain the whole time and not just... preserved.

Where did this happen, though? In Hiville, even though supposedly none of you have been there before? Or did this happen on the 'upper world'?

I guess maybe they could have broken into Hiville and found him there, trapped in the ice?

Who knows.

Also, G-slur is scary.

“She…she wouldn’t…” “She would,” said the man. Clemant started to cry, tears streaming down her face as she couldn’t wipe them because of the handcuffs. “Can you tell me,” said the man. “Do the Gevirians have a weakness?”

I... what?

Why would the four-year-old know this? Also, with the exception of the Ladies, it really feels like Gevirians are just humans with four arms, wings and a tail. Have you tried, I dunno, shooting them?

Predictably, Clemant doesn't know.

“We’ll have to try and get it out of her,” said the man. “She’s a child, it won’t take too long.” “No…” gasped Clemant. “I really promise I don’t know…” “I’m sorry, I’ve grown to not trust the enemy.”

Clemant is FOUR YEARS OLD.

Also, even if you're totally down with killing kids, Clemant genuinely has no idea. Why would she know this?

A fireplace behind him suddenly let up, illuminating the room and causing everything to have a shadow. The flames were tall and they were crackling and throwing sparks everywhere, and they were growing larger and larger…

Ah. Here we go.

“What the hell just happened?” he yelled at one of the men standing near him. The man walked up to the fireplace, and looked at it closely. “Erm, well,” said the man. “I can’t see anything, but… ARGH!”

If you're wondering how many men are here and who is who, I have no idea. It's just the Croe Objectification Hivemind.

The man seemed to be getting sucked into the fire. The man who was sitting down stood up and pulled a gun out from his jacket, aiming it at the fire. Noticing that all the men weren’t paying any attention to her, Clemant knelt down and managed to move herself so she got under the table, she dared not breathe. The man was still aiming his gun at the fire, when a face appeared in it. A woman’s face, with fire for hair, she winked at Clemant and stepped out of the fire.

Did... Flairishia eat him?

I'm not sure what's going on here. I guess the man disappeared into the fire, and the rest of the Croe Objectification Hivemind are just staring in alarm and aiming guns at... the fire.

I also assumed they had handcuffed Clemant to the table or chair, but I guess she's just in handcuffs.

“She doesn’t know,” said the woman. The man shot, but the bullets bounced off her. “Gun’s can’t kill me,” she said in a sweet voice. “And only idiots try to.”

I seriously think I missed my calling to write terrible action movies.

Fire appeared in her eyes. She opened her mouth, and fire shot out of her fingertips, of her four hands. She was Gevirian, thought Clemant, she’ll be on my side. The fire burnt all of the men but one, and he grabbed Clemant and forced her out of the room. He pulled out a gun and pointed it at her head.

FINALLY another reference to Gevirians having four arms. I keep thinking I've forgotten.

Poor Jack Sovance. Just spent years (?) in a block of ice and then died in a fire.

Also, Clemant seems remarkably unaffected from watching six men (I think there's six, anyway) burn to death in front of her.

The one remaining member of the Croe Objectification Hivemind (name unknown) pulls the ol', "Let me go or I'll shoot!" at the, uh, woman made out of fire.

“Oh,” said the woman. “You really think I get threatened by that, don’t you? But I don’t. That gun isn’t even loaded.”

Interesting. I did know what it meant for a gun to be 'loaded'. The last couple of times I used the word made it sound like I had mistaken it for 'cocked'.

“I’ll strangle her, then,” said the man, throwing his unloaded gun to the floor and putting his hands around Clemant’s throat. She mouthed the words, ‘help me’. “I will,” said the woman. She spat… well, not really, a tiny flame came out of her mouth and it set the man’s hair on fire. He screamed, and ran around, trying to get the fire off.

Personally, if I was the last of the Croe Objectification Hivemind (last present in this location, anyway), I would have tried to convince Flairishia that if she set fire to me, it would spread to Clemant.

But oh well.

Clemant massaged her throat, and the woman walked up to her. She had fire for hair, wings, four arms and a tail.

So she is... a Gevirian.

I like that I include hardly any description of my characters, but when I do, I include it at least twice.

“I’m Flairishia, call me Flair if you want. I’m the Gevirian Lady of Fire.” “Is it true what he said?” cried Clemant. “Did my grandmother kill some of them? Is she a murderer?” “Maybe she has a few guilty secrets,” said Flairishia. “But then again, so do I so I don‘t really care that much.”

Hey, kid, call me Flair. Don't worry, I'm totally down with murder, if you can't tell from all the dudes I just murdered.

I like that Clemant says, 'Did my grandmother kill some of them'. I scrolled back to check, and that is 100% not what the Croe Objectification Hivemind said to her.

All they said was, "[Jack] was a victim of your grandmother and a few Gevirians’ a few years ago", which references a horrible event that 1) was not done by Clemant's grandmother and 2) did not kill the victim. They then jump right into interrogating her, and don't tell her anything else about the feud, so this is the only thing Clemant could be referring to.

Clemant just chose to assume that her grandmother must have killed people. I mean, she probably did, but that's a quite a leap from what the man said.

“Don’t worry, ’Jezza’ will explain it all to you.”

'Jezza'.

“I live just over those mountains. G-slur reported that you were missing and I thought I heard your voice.”

How lucky.

Is this your secret villain compound, Flair? I guess either that or she ignored all the construction noises over the last two weeks.

“Touch my hand,” said Flairishia. “Why?” “You’ll see.” Clemant reached out, and touched Flairishia’s hand, then they both vanished into thin air.

What is it with Gevirian Ladies and not warning these kids before teleporting them?

[ainoum]

Another cute little story concept im too lazy to write :p

This is just a setup, the idea that sparked this will come in another post, probably lol

Here goes nothing:

Family K has had a LONNG standing feud with family S. This is set in a traditional-leaning society, where women rights and freedom are kinda vague concepts. Horses, property, guns, and Men (non-derogatory)

Fl was born into family K for the sake of saving her older brother who has some kind of organ failure case. He needed an organ transplant, and no one in the huge family they have wanted to donate, because it would kill them, so the parents opted to give birth to another child and hopefully they're compatible and it'll all work out. The child is a girl. They name her Sophia. When Sophia turns 2, she is diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. She can no longer donate.

The parents blame her, because of course, they're old and stupid. Also very spiteful. They have no word in the big family because they have no male heir and weak personalities.

They nearly kill her at age 6 bc her brother dies. They're stopped by the grandma who thought fl was a pretty kid and will probably marry well. One child, tho girl, is better than no child. Obviously.

Fl runs away from home at age ten. She then meets a boy whom no one wanted to play with because he's chubby and awkward, also was kind of creepy because he was a little too obsessed with animals. I'm talking this boi would climb a tree to watch the birds, and observe ants do their thing for hours on end. His family had no other kids his age, he was the oldest.

He ends up letting her into his house since they meet and pay together, she's also a big nerd, and she explains her situation, and since he lives in the same neighbourhood, he invites her to spend the night at his house-somewhere safe, without anyone's knowledge. He lets her into his little house where he collected his research on these animals, which was an abandoned dog house that he colonized from his other cousins.

The boy's family is Family S. And his name is Lorenzo.

After a few days, Sophia returns home, and learns that no one looked for her all that time. Her mother looks at her with contempt and she gets punished for the little ranaway.

Because no one cared, she was able to leave the house when she wanted during the day and make up dumb excuses and no one would care if they were even believable. She was the unnoticeable kid among her dozens of cousins. So it didn't matter that she would be out for hours, walking around or doing research like little adventurers with Lorenzo.

They grow up, and she's pretty, so she starts standing out as she grows older. Her family is no longer okay with her having freedom. What if she does something that lessens her value as a woman, like befriending a boy without anyone to surveil, god forbid.

By this point, they're 16 and Lorenzo is smitten with her. But he doesn't think she likes him back, and doesn't want to scare her off because she barely likes anyone and he knows that, she's a mild psychopath in a way. She lacks compassion, especially for her family, and would say scary things in a non ironic way at times. Anyway, what if his feelings make her uncomfortable and she runs away?

She once told him 'I'm only staying in this small sad village because of you.' After all, if she up and left the city one day no one would care, so he was her only reason.

This was Sophia's way of confessing. She barely knows what love is, anyway. So when she did that, and got the response of 'blushes incessantly and deflects' from Lorenzo, she feels rejected.

She initially thinks he stopped wanting to see her, because the next time he stops showing up, for a couple of days. (because his family fell into a scandal about some member messing up and harming their reputation, everyone was to stay put until they did damage control). So she stopped going to their meeting spot, but then Lorenzo with all of his crazy broke into her house and left her a note only she could get asking if she was okay.

While on his way out of her room (she wasn't there that day), one of her cousins saw him.

Lorenzo tried to reason with him, using wit first.

But the kid was too dumb and nearly blew his cover somehow.

So Lorenzo did the only logical thing to keep him quiet, and pushed him down the stairs, but not stair to stair. Edge of stairs to the ground.

That cousin has never talked again.

Sophia showed up at the meeting spot though, all giddy. So giddy that she didn't lose her best friend that she forgot to ask about how he got the note into her room, and also didn't answer him when he asked why she didn't show up for several weeks.

Give her grace. She's young and has never known love. And everyone can be dumb dramatic at times.

Lorenzo has a very strict family. His grandfather, who loves him most of all his grandchildren, is the strictest of all. His grandfather is the silent tyrant. His mother is the loud dictator. Every morning, they have a mandatory collective breakfast before the men go to work, and during it the mother always has to nitpick at someone, or some maid or anything and make them all uncomfortable or annoyed. Lorenzo is the one to eat quietly and leave. He's kind of unapproachable to his family, even though he's exceedingly polite and good at things he does.

Lorenzo's parents finds out about his meetings, because THEY care what their favorite, first grandson, the apple of their grandfather's eye is doing.

And when they do, they try to separate them without causing trouble. Since it's just his parents that know. The cowards of the family who are scared of angering the grandpa and have the impeccable shief that is their perfect son wouldn't want to lose that power.

They warn him and try to convince their 18 year old son to stop seeing this 'gorl'. He tells them he'll just up and leave and they can find a way not to get kicked out of the house with their drug addictions and bad personalities if they so much as try to continue talking about this.

I forgot to mention he's lost the weight (forcefully). He's pretty good looking.

Anyway, his parents cover for him out of fear and as a last resort they tell his his sassy and scary/authoritarian uncle. He tells Lorenzo off and the boy ignores him. Because that's what he does with his dysfunctional ass family. He ignores what he doesn't like, opting for that instead of constantly having to disrespect them.

Sassy uncle says he'll tell the girl's family. Lorenzo says he'll unplug his cousin and let him die without his knowledge if he does it. And this wouldn't be the first time Lorenzo killed one of his cousins so he believes him and shuts up.

Fast forward Lorenzo is 25 and Sophia is 23. They're still the best of friends and the city is now bigger and there's better places to go!

Sophia wasn't allowed to go to college, but she was allowed to go learn to cook and be good at ladylike things in her aunt's house near the college Lorenzo would go to.

The two hung out quite often.

Story logic means Lorenzo is now ever handsome and fit, anyway the look is doing its thing.

One late afternoon, he was walking Sophia home from shopping down the street, aka, going to see him after he got done with his celebration since he got his master's degree and would be leaving to go back home and help take care of business.

They were walking down one of those steep and narrow alleys, think italy or turkey aesthetic. She gifts him a pocket watch, vintage but something he loves. But it falls and rolls down the ground and stops somewhere far.

After a bit of banter, he sighs a 'you always make me pick up your shit' and she gets offended he called it 'shit' and they keep talking while he walks ahead to pick up the watch

During that, someone walks up to her from behind and tries to shoot Sophia.

Lorenzo, while getting back up from picking up the watch, sees what's going on, and in that split moment, he takes out a gun from under his cardigan and shoots the stranger dead.

Sophia screams, many people start looking out from the window. Dead man on the ground next to woman, and Lorenzo in front of them holding the gun.

Sophia, soon as the shock is over, goes up to him and hugs him, not even looking behind at what happened. She kind of instinctively had to.

Lorenzo is taken into custody.

And turns out word had just reached his grandpa, the head of family S, about Sophia. And he was the one to send the hitman.

He was also the one who gifted his grandson the gun he used to shoot the stranger. Not knowing this would be what it's used for.

Sophia goes home to her aunt, worried sick about Lorenzo, but there was nothing she could do, he told her to leave before the cops came.

Her aunt hugs her as soon as she enters the house.

"They're asking for your hand in marriage!" She tells Sophia. "Your mother just called. Family M's second son is coming to your house to ask for your hand from your father! Your mother was crying on the phone! You've won, honey! You've won the luck lottery after all!"

I didn't forget the diabetes plotline. You forgot it.

[wickedlittleoz]

Hello hello! 🙌 Some time ago on blue bird app I saw someone talking about a royal guard Genji x a (what if) royal guard captain Hanzo and would like to give a penny for your thoughts on it? :3c I think the idea is fun and has lots of potential to develop but also potential to create plot holes if not careful 🏃

Thank you and have a nice day!

HEY THERE <3

sooooo i'm not sure if you wanted this to be like a list of headcanons but i got a little excited and wrote a little drabble lmao

I LOVE THIS IDEA!!! like i didn't enjoy questwatch as much as i thought i would tbh but including hanzo and shimadacest in the story just made it so interesting LOL

i think genji would give hanzo so much work just because he knows hanzo wouldn't punish him, it would be hilarious. and the shit genji and tracer would get up to, to queen emily and hanzo's dismay? blizz should've gone with that angle XDDD

anyway, little drabble coming up under the read more, and anon? thank you!!! hope you enjoy <3~

-

Hanzo is but a child when they meet

The King has a nasty habit of taking in unruly children whose parents can’t or won’t care for, and training them to be knights. Genji comes in a scoop of scrawny 8-year-olds about three years after Hanzo himself is handed over by his father, except that Genji’s parents don’t try to get rid of him like Hanzo’s dad did; no, Genji's father was a knight himself and died in the long running war, and his mother, or so the gossip goes, died of heartache upon hearing the news.

At this point Hanzo has made himself a bit of a top dog among the other kids. He’s only 12, but there’s already so many ugly feelings inside him that he pushes and pushes on the training grounds, until when he goes to bed at night he just blanks out. Wakes up the next day and does it all over again. The kids fear him; the knights who train them, love him.

So when Genji arrives full of toothy smiles and snarky responses, they clash. He gets under Hanzo’s skin fast and he enjoys doing it – revels in the looks of wonder the other kids save for him, because he’s the only one who stands up to Hanzo.

It takes less than a week for Hanzo to lash out at him during training. Adults have to step in and push them apart before he beats the younger boy to a pulp. He gets weeks of cleaning duties for punishment and hates Genji even more.

But time does its thing; they learn to get along if only to avoid problems. Hanzo finds that Genji is fun to be around and as they grow older, when he realizes that boys are more than just stinky and prone to fight, he sees beauty in Genji’s smile and a similar desire in the hands that search for him after nightfall.

Genji is his first kiss when he’s 17 and shaking with cold and anxiety.

But they’re not alone, that night. There’s a knight doing safety rounds and he sees them hidden in the forest. It’s nothing more than kissing, but he takes them in and punishment comes hard enough to drive them apart. Hanzo is made knight early and sent to war on the far eastern front; Genji stays to finish his training.

The war is long, merciless, horrifying. Hanzo learns that while boys might enjoy a little spar, men are more destructive than any monster he’s ever encountered. He’s forced to forget Genji because he knows he might never see him again; just hopes they can end this carnage before the younger man is sent to fight alongside him and either has to watch the other die.

Years later, when he returns victorious in spite of everything, one of the few survivors, the King is dead to old age and Queen Emily, a much more benevolent creature than her father, is ruling. Her hand is kind and her smile is easy, and she crowns Hanzo Royal Guard Captain for his merits in the war.

He doesn’t think he deserves it, but when he stands before the crowd and sees the proud joy in Genji’s eyes, he forgets all the horrors and all the time passed fades away, and they’re kids hiding in the woods to experiment love for the first time all over again.

They run off that night to that same place, and Genji tells him they were going to make me Captain if the war never ended when it did and Hanzo says he’s sorry, that he deserves it more than Hanzo does, and Genji laughs and tells him thank you, I didn’t want it, you were born for this.

Hanzo cries when they make love for the first time because he’d forgotten, for years and years, what good feelings were like.

It doesn’t take long for the word to spread out, that the Captain takes one of his knights to bed every night, that this was the whole reason they got separated in their youth. Queen Emily calls them to a private meeting one cold afternoon and Hanzo wants so bad to hold Genji’s hand, he’s terrified that they’ll never make it out of here alive, but they kneel before her with pride and resilience, and she sighs.

Before he died my father told me a story about the two of you, she says gravely. About why he arranged to send you away. It wasn’t because of your love… You should know my father, albeit harsh and strict, had no problem with men like you, or… Women like me.

The Queen seems to blush, bowing her head gently to glance at her own personal guard, a lively brunette who’s far too quick on her feet for anyone’s good, Hanzo has learned since his return.

And the soft tone of this conversation finally clicks. He chances a quick look in Genji’s direction and finds a knowing smirk.

However, she resumes a minute later, the truth is that… Well… Though you weren’t raised together, my father told me you two are actually related. It was a matter of forbidden love between your darling mother, Captain, and your heroic father, Knight Genji. Now, we have no way of knowing how much of this is true, but… You understand his reticence to allow a romantic relationship to bloom between you. Here I am no one to stop love when it’s so clearly written before my eyes. But I thought you deserved to know.

Her words fall flat at Hanzo’s feet; they might be half-brothers, he thinks, but as the Queen herself said, they weren’t raised as such. He feels no fraternal affection towards the man beside him. And life and war have thrown so many horrors towards him that he wants to grab the good and the love while he has them.

Genji as well doesn’t seem at all unnerved by the news. Instead, later that night when they retire to Hanzo’s sleeping quarters, he claims love to his big brother and laughs when Hanzo blushes, and things seem to be just fine.

So in the years that follow, the kingdom of Overland becomes a place where people like Hanzo, Genji, Queen Emily and Tracer, the knight, go to find peace and acceptance. They don’t start new wars and the knights fight to protect the Queen and the goodness that she sows. Hanzo still assists training squires and Genji becomes his right arm on the field.

And together, they’re unstoppable.

[the-letter-horror-lover]

Hi. How are you? I saw your request were open, so I thought I’d send one in! I always love seeing your requests in my inbox and writing them by the way. I’m not sure what you will and won’t do, but can I have a Sanji x Princess female reader, where the reader is the runaway bride of Ichiji (who has been promised to him since they were children), who meets the Strawhats around Alabasta seeking a life of adventure (not realizing who Sanji really is). The two grow close, Sanji refusing to tell her who he really is. Eventually, Whole Cake Island starts and she is forced to come back. But in the end, she is able to escape with the strawhats and her and Sanji finally make it official.

I’m so sorry it’s a lot, if you don’t want to write it that’s okay. I just have this idea but I just can’t figure out how to write it and since you have great ideas, you’d be perfect for the job! Thank you 💙💙💙

I'm gonna do it in headcanons if that is alright..

Trigger warnings: Mention of forced marriage, loveless marriage, bullying, swearing (anything else..let me know)

Bird in a cage..

One Piece

Sanji Vinsmoke x Princess! Female Reader

1. I'm gonna assume that you never really loved Ichiji to begin with and you were in a forced relationship/future spouse thing with that guy by your parents since you were a child and being a princess of Winter meant that you had a lot of marriage proposals from other men and being a princess meant that there will come a day that you will end up marrying someone that your parents would approve of and you won't. Your father was close friends with Vinsmoke judge and offered your hand in marriage to Ichiji, the eldest son in marriage even before your fourth birthday (you were promised to Ichiji when you two were children)..of all the riches in the land and wealth as a princess..there is always the cons like being forced to marry someone you hate.

2. You knew that you never liked Ichiji to begin with..he was cruel and a bully and the way he treated your servants and his made your blood boil. You were like a bird in a cage with the Vinsmoke family..expected to breed children when you and Ichiji were ready. To you, Ichiji was a total dick and to Ichiji, you were expected to know your place, Princess or not. You feared that Ichiji's behavior would be controlling when he got older and you were right on that matter.

3. Since childhood, you were always expected to play with Ichiji and his 'strong' brothers and his sister (you never met Sanji back then..because Vinsmoke judge made sure that he was out of the way and out of mind-locked up away in a prison cell-from the winter Princess *you*)..

4. It all came to ahead when you and Ichiji were of age and you were forced to face the reality of Ichiji becoming your husband (you thought that your father would change his mind and say that this is a bad idea) and you being a permanent bird in a cage..and obviously all the rules like don't do that or don't do this. Ichiji became more of a gentleman..surprising you with gifts or flowers or whatever would make a woman happy but you didn't feel happy..the love wasn't there for you.

5. The day of your marriage came with the eldest brother of the Vinsmoke family and that was when your plan came to light to Rejiu about escaping the god dammed Vinsmoke residence and Rejiu helped you escape..Rejiu knew that you deserve better then him. Despite all the compliments of how Ichiji will love to have you as his wife officially..you didn't feel the same.

6. You looked a sight..in a wedding gown escaping in a tiny boat away from Vinsmoke residence..you didn't want to bear the burden of being a princess anymore. I guess you should've planned better to escape because it didn't take long for things to go south extremely quickly when a large wave destroyed your boat and pulled you under quickly.

7. You thought that you were dead when you regained consciousness in a boat..the sunny. Someone saw you half dead in a wedding dress in the ocean and saved your life..Sanji saved your life..and Chopper treated your injuries.

8. The sunny crew was nothing as what you expected..you thought that they were evil and stuff like what your guards told you but they were really nice and treated you as family.

9. It was a bit of a surprise to some when you revealed who you were but they were accepting of it despite Zoro kinda grumbling about how they were going to protect you and stuff..after telling them your story of why you were in a wedding gown and things..you were confused at why Sanji froze when you said Ichiji's name but thought nothing of it. (You were given proper clothes instead of a wedding dress thankfully)

10. Sanji grew closer to you quicker than the other sunny members once realising that you generally meant no harm..Sanji..was generally a good guy..and a good gentleman. The development between Sanji and you was gradual but you two grew closer on every adventure you went on.

11. Then the whole cake Island arc started and you were forced to come back with the Vinsmoke family because Ichiji 'understands' why you've run off after Rejiu saved Luffy's life but it was your duty to obey as a good wife to Ichiji.

12. You were forced to stay by Ichiji's side and when he had to do something else...the other brothers basically watched you like a hawk as if you would run away..

13. When Sanji realised what had happened involving you and all..he wasted no time in rescuing you and having to reveal his identity and relationship with Ichiji and his other brothers..you realised why and you never blamed him for it..during childhood..Ichiji always told you how he bullied a weakling..you never realised it was Sanji. (Sanji never loved Pudding to begin with..he only agreed to this marriage in order for your life to be safe).

14. After the whole cake Island fiasco was over. You apologised to Sanji in front of the Sunny crew for not giving a proper answer sooner but..you still love him and Sanji gave you a proper kiss in front of everyone.

Author's note: my apologies if it is not up to your standards. You are my first requester so..I tried my best.

[crimbabyops]

The Un-Natural Love Story

Chapter 1/? The Meet Up

Warnings: Long as fuck, murder but not in detail, smut later on, usage of curse words, fluff, No Y/N all OC based uhh that should be it but let me know if not.

A/N: I know this ain’t the Montai and Nixx fic I promised but I’m still working on that but please do enjoy this series I am writing and I do promise to post the other fic that’s a promise.

These chapters are long so be prepared.

The sounds of leaves crunching, birds singing, and….curses being said in the distance. Makes a great drama in the making. But this is a story about a pirate vampire and a ninja assassin falling in love.

I know I know this isn’t your normal fantasy love story but it is very enjoyable. Let’s get started all about the pirate vampire. Named Diablo Cattaneo, he’s uhhh let’s just say older than the universe.

Born a twin to Crimson Morningstar, he was the more calm but chaotic type of person. He was so attracted to wet stuff and not in that type of way…..I think. When he landed on earth to find his twin he landed in the ocean with no direction on where to go.

He swam and swam until he reached this sandy area that mortals call a beach. Dia explored until he found this bar filled with drunks galore, clothes ragged, and his twin near the bottles of strange liquid and barrels of unknown substance.

He sat and listened as his twin told him all about her adventures of different places, treasures and a chest filled with greed and sin. He was more focused on the creatures though, mostly these 8 legged creatures called spiders. He wanted to learn more so he did.

He adventures out to unknown and un-searched lands. Along the way he finds this band of drunks complaining about being moneyless and bloodless. He continues to listen from afar. Finds out that their vampire pirates that were thrown away by their captain for he was a prince that wanted control over adventure. But before that could happen he turned them to forever be damned to the darkness and castaways to the sea forever to stay away from the shore.

This gives Dia an idea, he starts his search with the help of his twin for a spell that can turn any damned soul into a living soul once again. He finds these pirates again still on the beach moping and complaining about their troubles. “Fuck that prince he was always an ass kisser anyways.” one states in a whiny tone “You mean he was a stuck up rich boy who desired control.” another states kicking the ocean with a gruffy tone. “Now now, don’t kick the ocean, she has nothing to do with it.” Dia walks out with a chuckle and two barrels filled with whiskey and rum and maybe even a little bit of blood.

The men stand up and draw their swords at him. “Who are you?!” one shouts with a shaky but scared tone at the 8 '10 8' 11 man standing in front of them with brown and black horns, neon blue long but slightly curly hair, heterochromia eyes one brown and one blue, and arms half covered like they was a glove, and a brown skin dark like carmel once it settles. “Who am I? Well I can be your savor or your worst fucking nightmare. Truly up to you darlings but I think I may have something you utterly desire.” he spoke with a smooth but dark voice.

“We want nothing of yours, demon!” A man says getting closer to land but only immediately falling to his knees in pain. Fading away into ash, Dia chuckles and takes his hat off in respect. “See here gentleman, you can call me whatever you want but the more you deny me the more you deny the only way to feel the sand in between your toes, the heat from the sun, and the sin you disgustingly want with another body.” Dia says already getting impatient.

Dia puts the barrels down to sit on top of it while his tail just sways back and forth. The two men still alive inhale and smell blood in the barrels. Dia sees this and chuckles “Now I think yall are getting my drift here. These barrels contain what you need to feel land but on one condition.” He says poking a hole into the barrel for them to get a better whiff of the blood. The men look at each other and back at Dia, putting away their swords.

“What’s the condition?” one of them asked “I need a boat and a crew. Where can I find both of them, maybe even just one but where?” Both men look at each other thinking before finally saying. “There's an island 3 days from here. It’s called Rikers Island where you’ll find all the crooked criminals. You’ll find your crew there but for the boat that’s a longer story. ” Dia throws one of the barrels at the man. He watches as they fight over the one barrel till the one pushes the other off of him and takes the barrel and runs.

“Don’t forget I have two so tell me about the boat or you can stay here for all of your natural unborn life.” Dia says, looking at his nails waiting for his answer. “If you want a boat you have to be granted it by the ocean.” Dia looks at him curiously “What do you mean?” “In this world, there are 4 elements: each one grants people these blessings basically, if the fire grants you worthy of wielding its power it gives you that and more. 3 people were already granted these powers, One was granted earth, one was granted fire, and one was granted wind.”

Dia ponders this and tells him to continue. “If you want to get blessed, some people say you have to bring offerings, or you have to die to get your blessing. Many have brought the sea offerings only to be denied. If you can get the sea to approve you. You are one lucky son of a bitch.” The man says being close to fading out since the sun is almost out. “Please we had a deal! I told you everything I know! Give me the barrel!” Dia pokes a hole in the barrel only for it to leak out sand. “Whoops. I guess I forgot to fill it.” He says with a smirk and walks away as he listens to the man screaming curses at him.

Dia walks away and hums before stopping in front of the sea. “So I guess I gotta start bringing you offerings huh? Let’s see what the sea likes.” he says walking away. While in a different timezone on the other side of the world.

~~~~

A shadow, a mystery, and danger to most but mostly to his kill-list but to others he’s an introvert, keeps his head down and keeps to himself. His name is Nahru Ito and he’s a 23 year old ninja assassin.

Leaving the house at 15, meeting his Master Osaka. Nahru was always the silent type, never really in drama. Was more focused on his training than instead of finding love or having fun. I know it's cliche but he is still a child so I can understand.

Living in an ‘entertainment’ district Sokjin, Japan. Nahru was never allowed out, especially at night. So he trained and trained and slept until he was 18. This was the age he left to explore and start his ninja career. While also getting hired at Osaka's club. The Drunken Fox this club was very known especially for those desperate bitches who needed love.

And our character Nahru was one of the hosts. He was very requested by a few men but mostly women. Let me stop you right there by host club I mostly mean people who need dates, arm candy even for events. While being one of the hosts he was also a bodyguard to keep the place in control.

Until he was approached by a very known client that was in trouble. “I need your help. I know you're just a bodyguard and a ninja but I need your help. I can pay you however but I need you to get rid of someone for me. ” He gets curious and pulls the client into the room so they can talk privately.

“What’s going on?” He asks the client giving her water to drink . “It’s my sister she went missing a few days back only to be found once again but when she got back I could tell she wasn’t herself.” “I mean she got kidnapped so she’s probably scared.” “That’s what I thought too but when she came back with this guy nowhere near her type he…was weird. When I say weird I mean weird he talked in third person. Always holding the back of my sister's neck to keep her near him. Never slept and never ate.” She continues to tell him the situation.

“What do you want me to do about it?” He asks her, realizing what she’s talking about. “I will pay you a thousand dollars to get info and get rid of him and find my sister.” She says her eyes filled with despair and maybe even some guilt. “Make it 3,000 and you have a deal.” She agrees and gives him enough information for him to get started.

Nahru packs his stuff getting ready to make his journey over to Tokyo, Japan. As he does he starts asking locals about him. “Oh yeah, he's a very strange man. Never talked to anyone but himself and his wife. His wife was weirder though she used to smile and wave and even play with the kids but now she just stares. Always has this blank, no emotion stare. Un-human even.” The locals continue to explain until the wife and husband come out. “Look there, they go right there. See the way she just stares.” Nahru looks at her and notices more than just an emotionless void.

He notices a camera and realizes something about her neck. It turned at an unnatural angle. ‘Weird’ he thinks as he finds his temporary home for him to stay. Over the weeks he investigates and searches for answers all while more creepy stuff has happened. All the locals turned into emotionless creatures and always stared at him with blank stares. Never smiled or wave, never stopped him to talk.

They were always just staring. It didn't make him uneasy but it made him more curious than ever. The week continued with more and more strange things happening. Until he woke up one day vision foggy, hearing clouded, and his head was pounding. He tried to rub his eyes only for him to find out his hands were tied to the wall. He looks around to see all the villagers and even the sister scared and frightened.

All pleading or begging to be released. Some pray to the gods above while others just want to know what’s going on. Nahru asks the person next to him what's going on. “I-I don’t know. We woke up here with no explanation. They put food in the middle and expect us to fight over them and when we don’t…….they kill us.” The man says scared.

A red light starts shining and a loud buzzer starts going off. The middle part of the ceiling starts slowly moving down. In the middle, is stale and bland food while everyone is looking at the food. The handcuffs release their hands for them to start fighting. Except for Nahru……

Chapter two

[estevnys]

29 + 30 + 31 for ophielora pls ?

dnd asks !!!!!

29. Please describe your PC’s romantic type 

men who are older than her. I MEAN WHAT. WHO SAID THAT!!!

ophie is so awkward, i feel like she probably "falls in love" with whoever is nice to her (alexa play 'someone new' by hozier). but deep down i think she just wants someone who won't judge her for being the way she is (awkward/unlucky/weird). in game i have her paired with astarion at first and then halsin, where a few years post game they eventually all come together and are in a beautiful and not weirdly-centered-on-tav poly trio.

she always sees the good in people, and i think she's drawn to people who don't see the good in themselves quite yet, just like her. she is aggressively positive, and there's definitely a sort of "fake it til you make it" aspect, but i think. overall she always tries to be genuine, and when people aren't genuine, it makes her weirdly want to help them? and usually that means showing them this intense love. I DONT KNOW IF THAT MAKES SENSE GALKSLSKgh.

physically she is most into men than women, but she's not particularly picky. she does like to be in and out of the proverbial, uhm, "caretaker" role when it comes to the physical side of the relationship, so she's not picky in that department either.

30. How does your PC flirt? 

AWFULLY. she has no idea. i wish there was more awkward flirting in this game. i think it is why she originally does not pick up on gale flirting with her and has to let him down easy (IM SORRY GALE). she is very like. not used to social customs--being from literal werewolf woods USA--and so she's very direct. she openly gives compliments and means them wholeheartedly, but when someone comes at HER with compliments, she turns beet red and shuffles awkwardly. it's part of what draws her to astarion in the first place-- the confidence (even if its an act) makes her feel important & special in someone's eyes.

she is keen on giving little druidic gifts to people-- flower crowns, shiny rocks, messages from birds. i think she's also very touchy...like physically i mean, she will hug and grab people's hands and then panic afterwards to question is she was actually flirting or if maybe they didn't get it and she was being friendly--- skljasjfalsf she's a mess.

31. What’s your favorite part of playing your PC? 

BEING NICE.... and turning astarion nice >:) he's justtttt starting to see some good in the world and it makes me so happy :) i am terrible at being mean in video games lol

[chidoroki]

Heavenly Delusion EP1

aka: The Promised Heaven!!!

I know nothing but the slight TPN parallels I’ve gathered from trailers.

Look how normal everything looks. Everyone is at peace and certainly nothing bad will happen! Ahhaha, LIES!!!

Oh AND we’re taking tests now. Gotta see if your minds are developing as they should. You know, for dinner.

“Do you want to go outside of the outside?” says the glitched out ipad. Yeah, why not! What could ever go wrong??

Wait so our two main characters are already out? Or is this a dream? Quick time skip? Context please. I’m already so lost.

“The windows are barely broken. I guess no one’s been in here yet.” She says just seconds before breaking said window and entering anyway.

Finding two old people wasted away and death on the bed, how lovely.

Oh, I noticed the chick has a gun holster on her leg.

Yeah and now could be a perfect time to use it because that’s certainly no ordinary bird!

Or you can use the gun on these creepy men, that works too.

They’re from the lawless generation? Meaning... what?

Goddamn, Maru is quite a skilled fighter!

And this camera work is impressive, zooming around the fence like that.

Oh, yeah, that’s no normal gun. It fires some sort of laser? That melts things?

“As if anything like heaven exists since the Collapse.” What has happened in this world and why are we so driven to find this heaven? A safe place?

She threatened them with the gun to allow her to charge a battery.. a battery that is needed for the gun to fire in the first place. Clever girl.

Yo this school kid with tiny ponytail needs to chill out! You can’t just throw a ball, parkour down off a building to run and catch the very same ball with no explanation! Why are you so athletic?

“Huh? There’s an outside beyond the wall?” As if the TPN vibes weren’t strong enough already!!

“When I think about wanting to go outside, two people from the outside come to help me, and one of their faces.. is exactly the same as yours.” Tokio does resemble Maru quite a bit. Is everything that’s happening on the outside part of a dream? Or are they connected in some way we dunno yet? Or.. is this some kind of scenario sorta like “The Island” where we’re clones of each other and those in this school are only kept around to act like organ donors to those on the outside? I really have no idea.

The director of the school is an older woman.. do you feed these kids to demons too grandma??

Maru is 15 and this girl (who’s name I’m gonna look up anyway) Kiruko is 18? 20? She’s not sure either, apparently. How would you not know your own age?

Damn, she’s got some serious scars huh?

“There’s a monster that prowls around this area. Don’t go wandering around at night.” “You mean a man-eater?” Bro I can’t with these parallels!!

Using chopsticks perfectly and being well educated is strange for these times..? Or just for kids of their generation?

Oh the poor lady thought they were actually siblings and didn’t want them dating. Thank god they’re not on both accounts.

The lady is gearing up to shoot down that monster annnd nevermind, it’s already here.

Wait, we’re done already? Ehh I have so many questions, hello??

[revisitingstoneybrook]

#44 Dawn and the Big Sleepover: Chapter 2

A typical Chapter 2 with one of the worst Claudia outfits ever and that's saying something.

The Pike Army gets down to business writing letters and have decided what they'll send. Adam's sending the pennant after all, Nicky's sending the decals (stickers!), Byron's going to take pictures of the family, Vanessa's going to write a poem, and Jordan's going to tape record himself playing piano. Margo still doesn't know...well, since those last two are following their one personality trait, why doesn't Margo just puke in a jar and mail it?

As Dawn walks home, she can't stop thinking about how fascinating the Zuni are and is pretty jealous of the kids. She whines a bit about how she wishes the middle school did it too and goes into the house, pouting. Mary Anne takes one look at Dawn and thinks the Pikes tortured her. And look at how one-note Margo is - one of Mary Anne's guesses as to what happened was Margo got sick!

Sharon and Richard are in the kitchen together cooking a casserole and Dawn breathes a sigh of relief when she sees Richard's the one doing most of the work. She says Sharon's cooking is "eat at your own risk." She's definitely added dish soap while cooking before. While they finish cooking, Dawn complains about how she wants a pen pal on the Zuni reservation too. Mary Anne quotes her dad and says "Youth is wasted on the young" (you're, at most, six years older than these kids) and suggests Dawn write to the elementary school to get a pen pal of her own in the middle school.

Dawn praises Mary Anne for such a wonderful idea. It's the most logical one, Dawn. What's with these girls calling any idea someone thinks of brilliant? At this point, I'm skipping past the story of how Dawn and Mary Anne became sisters, because we've all heard it more times than necessary. The only thing of note is this is one of the books that takes place during Logan and Mary Anne's brief estrangement. The way Dawn describes him is hilarious: ...she's the only one of us BSC members who has ever had a steady boyfriend. His name was (is - Mary Anne broke up with him but he's still alive) Logan Bruno.

"He's still alive." Though I wouldn't put it past the BSC to kidnap him, throw him in the back of the Junk Bucket, and have Charlie drive him out to the desert, where he "mysteriously disappears." You don't mess with a BSC member on Kristy's watch!

You probably want to know about the other club members. No thanks, I'll pass, Dawn. Well, the BSC made me feel totally welcome. Everyone was open and friendly, which was great, because nothing turns me off more than cliques where everyone dresses and sounds alike. Please. The BSC is definitely a clique and in some books, they're downright cult-like.

Skimming time! Let's see if we find anything interesting.

Dawn lets her blunt side show and says Kristy is bossy, instead of the "She kinda sorta has a big mouth!" thing we see other times. And she describes Kristy's family story as a fairy tale called The Saga of Kristy. She laughs at the thought of Watson the Millionaire sweeping Elizabeth off her feet because he's balding and quiet and likes gardening. I think the garden is his refuge away from Karen - notice how he's out there all the time? Or, really, avoiding Karen at all costs whenever she's at the Big House? No wonder she's always acting out.

Oh here we go - a Claudia outfit description! And it's one of the worst Claudia outfits in the whole series. For instance, she walked into school today wearing a bright yellow oversize men's jacket with rolled-up sleeves; a wide paisley tie right out of the nineteen-sixties; orange stirrup pants; ankle boots; and huge hoop earrings - and you know what? On her, it looked totally cool. Um, no it doesn't! Also a bright yellow men's jacket, orange stirrup pants and a tie makes it sound like she was cosplaying as Big Bird.

Which is appropriate since Claudia probably says the alphabet the same way Big Bird does.

No outfit descriptions from Stacey, but Dawn bastardizes New York City with some stereotypes. Apparently having a map of NYC and an alternate side parking calendar on your wall makes you a true New Yorker. And no (ew, ick!) when talking about Stacey's diabeetus either.

Mallory already got her description in the previous chapter, but Jessi's is here. Did you know she's *gasp* the BSC's only black member? Because she is. Poor junior officers, they get like no description except for their one personality trait. Jessi and even Mallory deserve better than that!

The chapter ends with the Schafer-Spiers having dinner. I don't know if I'd trust Sharon filling a water pitcher, Dawn - she might fill it with vinegar instead.

[foxymoxynoona]

one thing i've noticed about myself reading your posts is that i have very high standards (i don't think that's a good thing 😭) damn. i've started to notice that the only fanfics i've been able to finish are the ones where jk stays true to his feelings for oc. let me explain, when our pitbull hybrid, jk, received an offer to have a rutting partner, he said no. and i know the whole context, i know that if he accepted it wouldn't be a betrayal with oc because they had nothing and for a hybrid having a rutting partner doesn't mean romance! i know that perfectly well, but if he accepted, knowing that he could go through it alone (even if it was and it was heavy) even so, if he accepted, he wouldn't be being true to his feelings, he wanted oc, he imagined her all the time, he wanted her long before he realized it and long before she knew and they got involved, i really can't express how deep and adorable i find this character. he could very well have stayed just to relieve himself and it wouldn't have meant anything, right? but i really think he would have felt bad about himself afterwards, that he would have felt bad for going against his feelings, and if at some point, before getting involved with oc, he thought she liked him, i think he would have felt bad too for maybe hurting her "feelings". like i said, i understand the whole context, i know the theme was a hybrid fanfic, and i know that in real life many men don't have that sensitivity towards themselves. but it was such a beautiful thing to see in your work about the indigo sea and something i also noticed in your work about the lonely blue egg, oook that penguin was a bit of a jerk to my little oc bird, even though he was dazzled by a purebred penguin that he always wanted, many people may have different opinions, but I believe that he felt empathy, and was faithful to the principle that you don't hurt or lie to a woman you care about, even if everything there was misunderstood. What I see lacking a lot is respecting a person as a human being and having the principles of not lying, not hurting, genuinely caring, having empathy… all these things. Anyway, I'm going to end here because I think it was all very confusing, and it sounded a bit misandric but I swear it's not, it's just that speaking in a more generalized way is easier 💖

I had a LOT of time to think about this during school drop off this morning LOL and sorry you're getting my soap box 😂

This possessiveness of all a partner's physical/romantic exerience is a really interesting concept --and also one that can cause a lot of damage in real life. It's obviously something that gets romanticized a lot in writing --even in my own writing, as you point out! There's just something so good about a man who loves his one woman more than anything else in the world! And vice versa, of course! But I have some thoughts!

I think this romantic theme/trope has some roots in harmful gender stereotypes that state a woman's love is pure and wholesome and her whole life and a man's is fickle and insincere and a means to an end. So we fictionalize men who "love" like women. This is unfair to men (who are not incapable of body-consuming love as a rule) and women (who can and do prioritize other things in their lives above romantic attachment.)

I think some possessiveness of partner has roots in competition for resources that dates aaaaall the way back to our primate ancestors. I have a hypothesis that for many folks as they get older and have security in romantic relationships, this eases up. I can remember feeling sick at the idea of my crush havign any romantic entanglement with someone else. I also grew up in a very restrictive purity culture religion.

Which sort of ties to point one, that I think there's something comforting in seeing a man live in the "don't be a slut" rules that society really presses for women. The opposite --accepting that multiple past or even future romantic & sexual relationships have absolutely no bearing on the depth or sincerity of a current relationship-- is scarier to those of us who were raised on those rules, I think, because there's morality involved. Having multiple relationships (obviously not secretly at the same time lol!) is morally neutral but many cultures, religion, and patriarchy apply moral rules to it.

I won't keep going LOL. And this is definitely not to say we can't or shouldn't read or write this kind of stuff. Read your comfort stories! Bask in tales of what you find romantic and comforting! Whether that's something like this of dead dove do not eat stories, stories can be anything. Ban no books.

I just also know I like to break analyze and break through things like this with my writing 😎 and now you've got my really thoughtful about how my own upbringing and my adult process of working away from that "moralizing" still crops up in my stories, or how that comes across even if I think I'm playing with different concepts. I think this happens a lot in fandom! You get soulmate fics or fuckboy fics and not as many right in the middle of "hey most people are going to have multiple relationships in their life." SO prepare for that even though you said you don't liek that LOL SORRY 😘

Thank you for giving me so much to think about in the school drop off!