#like character a only overhearing half of what characters said

[itsajollyjester]

Does anyone else feel like the distain and complete dismissal of the “miscommunication trope” is….weird? Like isn’t that just conflict stemming directly from the characters flaws (especially a fear of vulnerability)? Which is a very human, bordering on universal, conflict to have. Do you want the characters to speak and act perfectly every time? I don’t get it someone explain

[lufyuu]

,, Love Quest ''

Background character male reader x Protagonist oc

Part 1 Part 2

Tw/s: dub-con at the start, dacryphilia, rough sex, semi-public sex, overstimulation, multiple rounds.

In a world where everyone's assigned a role they have to be, you were one of the many unlucky yet common ones to get the role of a background character. One who couldn't even interact with the protagonist if you wanted. The way it works is through the system. There is a system that essentially controls the world. This system can create scenarios, assign roles, etc. This whole world was built by it. Everyone has to obey it, excluding the protagonist themself, that is. Some even say it's possible for the protagonist to control the system itself but, that's just a rumour.

Of course, the role with the most power is the protagonist. Anyone would dream to have that power. To be the protagonist and have everyone fawn for you, throwing themselves at your feet, worshipping your every step. Not only that, his love interest is the best of the best, the prettiest girl you'd ever be able to lay your eyes on, the one you'd never be able to get with if you weren't the protagonist. Just like any other previous protagonist in this world, the current one is an extrovert, River Sterling. He's a perfect guy in every way. He's very well known due to being the protagonist, but also, he is very talented. It's as if there is nothing he can't do. He's even the top 1 on campus. Very rarely is he seen getting anything under an A+. Despite everyone constantly praising him and falling at his feet, he remained humble.

Just like any other day, you enter the building with books in your hands. You had to return these to the professor after borrowing them for a day. No matter how much you studied, you always remained top 2, and because of that, you were annoyed by River. Of course, it's not his fault that he's the protagonist, but you couldn't help but still feel negatively towards him. Going up the many many stairs, you overhear a girl yelling, maybe at a guy? You're not sure what kind of situation it is, but you guess it is a fight between a couple. "You never even spend time with me! Am I not enough!? Destiny binded us together, and yet here you are, doing nothing to please me, your girlfriend!", it sounded like Aria, the protagonist's main love interest. "Aria, well how would I be able to spend time with you when I feel nothing towards you", River says with a nonchalant tone, shocking you a bit, you've never heard him using that tone before. You stop in your tracks, right in front of the door, where you can hear Aria yelling at him. "Y-you...what!?", you can hear Aria say in disbelief. "H-how is that even possible! I'm who you're supposed to be with, I complete you, I'm your other half!", even without being able to see her, you can tell she's tearing up, probably with a red face. Though despite her crying, you don't hear River comforting her. Which is again, very out of character for him.

Next thing you know, you hear a very loud slap accompanied by running sound towards the door. Before you could even react, the door swings white open, a blonde haired girl running out of the room, knocking you down in the process. You stare at the direction she runs to. "Who are you, why did you eavesdrop", you turn back to River, looking down at you, glaring, even. His once gentle eyes seem to be clouded. You don't even recognize him. "[N-Name]", you gulp, you felt as if the man in front of you was going to eat you whole if you said the wrong thing. "[Name]..? I've heard of you, the top 2, right?", he asks in an almost curious but borderline mocking tone. You remain seated on the floor, books scattered everywhere. "Are you not going to explain yourself?", he raises an eyebrow, walking towards you. Taking this as a sign to get the fuck out of there, you quickly grab the books and try to run off, only to have your shirt grabbed by the tall guy.

"Running off are we?", he looks at you with a questiong expression, why would you avoid him, he wont eat you, will he? With the clock ticking, both of you know that soon, this hall will be packed with students, fortunate for you, unfortunate for him. He doesn't want you to go before he can pry some information out of you.

Thinking of a plan, he quickly drags you to the room, shutting the door behind him so you won't be able to run out without him stopping you mid-way. With his hands crossed, he asks you once more, "Why were you eavesdropping?", his tone even more demanding. "I was on my way to the professor's office, I just overheard some things. Can I go now?", you give a quick explanation, wanting to get out of this situation as quick as possible. Though, he wouldn't allow it. "How much did you hear?", "not much, please let me go now," you walk towards the door, turning the door handle only to see it's locked. It shouldn't be. The door can only be locked from the inside, and by the looks of things, River didn't have time to lock the door.

[System: Love Quest]

In order to proceed, please engange in intercourse.

And just as the system suddenly appeared in their face, a percentage bar appeared in the corner of the room and it stood tall, at 0%. With one look, the both of you knew what it wanted. "What the fuck!?", you yell, looking at the window and then at the protagonist who clearly isn't phased. He only sighs, rolling his eyes, as if he was annoyed by this notification. "This shit again", he whispers, loud enough for you to overhear on accident. He's gone through this before..? is what you were thinking. You've almost never gotten a window from the system, let alone one with any sexual themes. If River wasn't shocked, that means it's probably a common occurrence for him.

The two of you stare at one another for an uncomfortable period of time. As if time stopped for a moment. "This is getting real annoying", he says, sighing and stepping towards you. You back away until your back is pressed on the door making you unable to escape as he grabs your chin, lifting it up and looking at you. "You'll make do", he says before pressing his lips onto yours. Out of shock, you try to push him off, wanting to yell at him. How could he, a protagonist, be kissing someone like you? You're what others would perceive as not worthy of being in his presence let alone be kissing him. Yet here you are, getting your mouth explored by the man himself. Your eyes were opened from shock but you closed it after a few seconds, wanting to savour this moment. His hand made its way to your cheek. He was very gentle with both his hand and lips, making you lean into his touch. Before long, you felt as if you were running out of breath, how long can he even kiss you for!? Fortunately for you, he let go of the kiss, panting and trying to catch his breath after that incredible make out session. "We're not done yet", he says, pointing out the elephant in the room which is the percentage bar which still stands tall at 0%, no progress has been made, making the room inaccessible from the outside. The doors being magically locked also kept anyone from getting out before the goal was met. You knew you had no other choice but to do this in order to get out, as much as you were annoyed by the guy as a student, you couldn't deny his charm, the way his eyes looked into yours, the way his grazed his thumb over your lips. Who wouldn't fall head over heels for him? Anyone would die to be you at this very moment.

Without any hesitation, you managed to gather the courage to pull him into another kiss, you could feel him smiling into the kiss as he reciprocated. Moving his hands to your hips, trailling down to your clothed butt. Gropping and fondling it before he eventually unzips your pants, letting them slide down to your ankles. Leaving your bottoms almost bare if not for your briefs covering your private part. "Ahm...agh", the both of you moaned into the intense kiss before letting go. "You're a good kisser", you comment, gasping for air once more. He smirks, "of course, I'm not the protagonist for nothing", he chuckles a bit. You felt hands slipping into your briefs, making its way to your ass, gripping it even more now. He really seems to be enjoying gropping you. You felt his fingers move closer and closer to your hole before he inserts a finger into you, causing you to grip his arms in shock. "A-agh..!", you let out a surprised moan, his finger wiggling around, trying to get your hole to relax a bit, "you're so tense, [Name], loosen up a little", his inserted another finger, making you unable to keep your composure no matter how much you try to.

You feel his fingers thrusting into you, as if trying to get you to cum from his fingers alone. His long and slender fingers were quite deep in you. It wasn't long before he added another finger. And now that three fingers are going in and out of your hole, you feel as if you're aboit to reach your climax. You close your eyes, moaning loudly. He took notice to this and immediately stopped his fingers as if knowing you were about to cum. You're now puzzled by his actions, why did he stop? "I don't want you cumming from just my fingers, that wouldn't be fun now would it?", you then hear the sound of pants unzipping, realizing it was from him. He pulled his hard cock out of his briefs. You stared at it for a while before he snapped you back to reality, "eyes up here, angel", he teased, giving you a pet name while he was at it. "What? Have you never seen a cock this big?", you definitely haven't. It wasn't just long, just looking at the girth of it made you shiver a bit, how will that even fit. It was befitting of a protagonist, he's perfect in every way, even in his physical attributes. "Enough staring, angel", he says as he suddenly picks your legs up. You instinctively put your arms around him tightly so you don't end up falling, "hey!", you yell, this wasn't a pleasant surprise, you could've fallen, "relax, you're quite light", he is very strong afterall, he's joined almost every single sport available at this point.

You decide to put your trust in him, he's able to hold you up for over a minute now, there's no way he'll suddenly drop you, that'd ruin the moment on top of you getting hurt. After the shock wore off, you notice something poking at your hole, "hm..?", you let out a hum of confusion, turning your head down only to see his cock at your entrance, wanting to be inside you. "Are you ready to be filled up like you've never had before?", the now cocky-like protagonist asks with a slight chuckle at the end. You nod and immediately feel his cock thrust up inside of you, almost halfway in already. He grunts at how tight you are despite him having prepared your sweet little hole for his cock beforehand. Trying his best to get his cock all the way into your hole as you moan out in pain and pleasure, "relax why don't you?", he gives a teasing smile. Leaning in for a kiss, he manages to get you to relax and without another word, thrusts the rest of his cock into you, shocking you once more. You accidentally bite his lip in the process, drawing a bit of blood. "Agh!", he pulls back, tapping his finger on his lip and seeing that blood is coming out of the wound. He focuses on you once more, as if signifying he's about to move. You give a slight nod and he starts to thrust in and out of you, slowly and sensually at first. "You're really warm inside", he comments while thrusting into you, looking into your eyes as you manage to keep them open.

After a while of the sensual and slow fucking, he gets tired of it, wanting to thrust into you quicker. And so, he does as he wants. Thrusting into you quicker this time, rougher. You close your eyes and tighten the grip on his upper back, scratching his skin through his shirt. Your moans are no longer considered quiet, you're full on moaning your head out. That was before you realized the bell had rung, students were on their way to class and they'd pass by this specific room. You bite your lip in order to muffle out the moans, keeping it somewhat quiet in order to not get caught. River on the other hand, didn't like this one bit. He wants to hear your delicious and sweet moans, you should let them out for him to hear. "Stop biting your lip, angel, let me hear you", something in his voice made you want to obey his words, and for some reason, you find yourself no longer biting your lip, now you're just letting it all out, moaning and crying out for him.

The faster he went, the more you felt like you were about to reach your climax. He also seemed to be close. The both of you sweating, moaning, grunting. "I'm, agh, gonna cum...!", he says as he shoots his load all in you, coating your inner walls with his seed, some even dripping out. At that moment, you also came, releasing your juice all over your stomach. With the two of you now panting and gasping for air, River carries you to a nearby table, letting the two of you rest for a while. Just then, the door swings wide open, "Who the fuck was making all that noise!?", a teacher yells into the room, seemingly staring straight at them. The teacher looks around in confusion, "huh...I was so sure there was someone here...", He then turns his heels and walks back out, closing the doors on his way. You who were covering your face due to this, looked in the direction the teacher was in confusion, "did..he not see us..?", you ask River, to which he replies, "the system did that, probably", as if the system heard the man, it dings and the both of you turn your heads towards the bar of percentage now sitting at a solid 30%, "huh? 30%?", you say out loud in even more confusion, "it wants us to have sex and get it up to 100%", River says without missing a beat, "ready for round two?"

———

"Agh..! To..oo big, ahghh...", you try to say in-between moans, overstimulated by his cock and the way he bites your nipples. "You're taking me so well", at least he's enjoying it, a lot. You even wonder if he has an infinite stamina, but of course your thoughts were drowned by the time he came in you for the third time. How many rounds has it even been? The bar has been stuck at 99% for so long, when will this end..You're so overstimulated at this point, River's cock has been relentlessly fucking you dumb. You can't even think anymore, nor can you let out any coherent words. It's been at least a couple of hours since the both of you started this, why hasn't it ended. Your cheeks are wet, wet from the tears which had been and are still rolling down your face. He loves witnessing your debauchery. Your clothes have been discarded to the side by now, you don't know where but they're on the floor somewhere. His thrusts get faster and faster, you didn't even know he could go this fast but here he is, fucking you with inhuman speed. "C'mon..ah..come with me, my angel...agh", he moans and grunts while saying this. Then his thrusts stop and you feel even more liquid filling your already over-filled hole, making it impossible to be kept inside and most of it dripping out your hole and onto the floor which has a pool of both yours and his cum. At that very moment, you feel your whole body give out as your vision blurs until you eventually black out.

———

What happened in the room stayed in the room. Your life went on as usual, the normal schedule. Though, one thing has definitely changed. That is the fact that you are now dating the protagonist despite still having the role of a 'background character' . Everyone was shocked but learned to accept it. Who are they to defy the protagonist's wishes? One person in particular wasn't happy about this. None other than his ex, Aria. Everyone saw that coming from a mile away, though, so nobody paid her any mind. After that, River took any and every class you took. Science? You'd see him sit there with an empty seat next to him, looking up at you and asking with a big smile, "come! Sit here, angel!", while patting the seat next to him to signal for you to sit. PE? He'd always get you into his team no matter what. No matter how bad the other team wanted you on theirs, they'd never have you as you now belong to River. Being in the same class as you had its advantages. That is, being able to fuck you in class without anyone noticing. To be frank, the both of you found it out on accident. It was during class when the both of you got a new love quest. You thought of leaving the class to finish but the system didn't let you. It wanted the both of you to do it at that very moment. When he took the initiative and pulled your shirt up to bite your nipples, not a single student nor the teacher had any reaction, it was as if the both of you were protected by an invisible bubble that allowed the quest to take place. That, combined with the fact the teacher couldn't see the both of you the first time, confirmed your suspicions that they were indeed unable to see you.

From that day forward, the two of you almost always got a love quest every single day of school. The session would last at least 2 hours, leaving both of you a hot sweaty mess once it was over and done with. You'd always be embarrassed and extra tight during these. The way you felt eyes on you, it was as if they could see you, but in reality, they really can't. You'd tighten up at the thought of them watching you, making River grunt even more due to your tightness. He'd smirk and ram even harder into you once this happens. "Naughty boy, you get off to the thought of people watching, huh?", he'd always tease you. These love quests would be random, though. Despite it happening every day, the two of you could never predict when it'd occur. It could be very early in the morning, in class, or even during an activity. It was always random, so why would you always see River getting hard even before the love quest appear...? It's probably nothing. You're just paranoid.

☆☆☆☆☆

Apologies for the wait. My schedule's been real hectic lately. This is not proofread, so please excuse the probably many mistakes/typos!

I hope you enjoyed it! If you have any questions/reqs, please do send them my way!<3

[madschiavelique]

dude imagine Miguel overhearing you talk to your friends about all the things you’d let him do to you in the most vile ways possible. like you’re just talking with your homies about how you’d have to get pried off of his dick if he let you smash or that you can’t hear him talk over how loud his ass looks in his jeans or whatever I dunno I think it’s amusing lmao

I LOVE THIS SO MUCH i just had to write a lil smth anon<33

summary : you talk about how you're down bad for miguel to your friends, and he hears it content warnings : mentions of SMUT (18+) minors dni, just reader being down bad for Miguel, no use of Y/N word count : 660 tag list : @fandom-ash

“Honestly, I’d suck him like a watermelon through a straw”

You were gathered in the cafeteria, not many people left, and Miguel was seated at a table not far from where you and your friends were seated. Whatever he was thinking about was soon replaced by listening to your conversation as soon as this sentence was uttered by you.

"Your mouth couldn't handle the size of him," sneered one of your friends to the others. "You'd dislocate your jaw."

"Some sacrifices are worth making," you sighed thoughtfully, your chin resting on your hand. You let out an almost childish whimper, "what I'd give to just impale myself on him!"

"Lord, you'd never let him leave your body, would you?" laughed another friend.

"Never!" you confirmed as you straightened up, "Miguel is so perfect... did you ever see how he walked? How his ass is round and perfect and to die for?!" your voice almost broke as your hands mimed grabbing something and kneading.

Miguel's ears began to heat up and he placed his hand over his mouth as he tried to keep his composure.

"What about his back? Oh..." you say, letting your head fall back, "I'd leave such beautiful nail marks on it."

"Wow, your marks?" laughed one as she reached for her drink.

"Pantone #996767, google it," you sigh.

"I think it's foam I'm seeing at the corners of your lips, you rabid slut," sneered one of them.

"But imagine, his pecs, touching them, laying my head on them, feeling them against my back as he pulls my hair..."

See when cartoon characters have hearts in their eyes? It was pretty close to what you looked like. And surprisingly, Miguel was starting to feel cramped in his pants.

"You're down bad," breathed one of your friends.

"I'd let him break me, I'll be his toy, he can do whatever he sees fit with me and I'll say thank you."

"Even bite you?" inquired another, well aware of the immobilizing properties of his venom.

"Especially bite me." you asserted with a burst of voice that was half laugh and half sigh.

"Would you have the courage to say all that to his face?"

"No way, he'd look at me like an alien."

"You're pretty close to looking like one at that," laughed one of the girls.

You continued to laugh, then when your meal was finished, you left the cafeteria. A few hours later in the afternoon, Miguel called you to his office. You were probably expecting him to send you to a dimension to catch an anomaly, or try to bring in a new Spider-Man.

But instead, as you walked up to him at a respectable distance for a boss and his employee, he asked you a simple question:

"Did you mean it?"

The question confused you.

"What?"

He turned to you, stepping forward a little more, one step at a time. His gaze seemed almost amused, but your habit of polite distance made you step back.

"Everything you said about me to your friends earlier in the cafeteria," your back halted against a wall as he approached again, coming very close to you, "did you mean it?"

Your heart began to pound in your chest as your cheeks heated up.

"Well?" he asked, towering over you as he put his hand next to your head against the wall, coming closer until only a few inches separated you. "I'd be very disappointed if all this were just words thrown into the air."

You swallow, your eyes falling ineluctably on his lips as you moisten yours, your gaze returning to his.

"Yes, I meant it."

His lip stretches to the side, his smile revealing his pointed fang.

"Lyla, status of the doors." he asked, his free hand coming down along your waist.

"Locked." she replied.

His hand slid up to grip your buttock, leaning in until his lips whispered against your ear:

"I hope you keep your word."

[court-jobi]

Goldeneye Down

((banner by me! I don't own Horikoshi's characters/stories))

Pairing: Hawks x reader (quirkless!(gn)reader)

Words: 4.6K

Rating: T+ (canon-typical post-mission shenanigans, so it gets raw, kids.)

Warnings: canon-typical violence, description of injuries/blood, mentions of medical trauma, anxiety, so many tears, mutual pining, HURT/COMFORT, angst with a happy ending

Summary:

If a kiss would fix him, he'd sooner never breathe again. If you knew it would work, you'd surrender your lungs and anything else for his comfort. He hardly gets tender treatment after a fight- and that shows by how tightly he's hugging your waist for dear life. Alternatively: three times you've witnessed your dashing Hawks masking his hurt, until he can't anymore. Each time is worse than the last- until you finally learn that you're the only one who truly asks how he feels after nights like this. Not 'how are your wings' or 'is he stable'... but it's you who takes the time to wipe his face gently with a washcloth: not to rid Hawks of the sweat and grit to make him presentable, but gifting Keigo the chance to feel clean for once.

A/N: Yall, this man is one of my favorite characters on this show, and I have so many writing plans for him-- so apologies for starting right out the gate with angst??? I love him I swear

For my My Hero Academia Masterlist, check it out here!

Read on AO3

The first time you ever saw Hawks shirtless was hardly the stuff fantasies or a perfume advert concocted. He was bandaged across one entire pec, around his middle, and up to his shoulder, after all.

Work as a writer took you to many glamorous locations, but also to the grittiest– recently, hero hospitals when there’s been a close call and you are in for an interview with either a dying hero for their final public wish, or a heartfelt op-ed about a rising sidekick’s latest stand against threat and evil. In either case, you’d wound up at the bedside of a darling rescue agent who’d had an incredible story to share despite their career-ending injuries. 

With a genuine word of thanks and a shared pudding packet, you were leaving the hospital wing in fairly good spirits until your stomach turned in shock at what awaited you in the hallway– a gravely bandaged Hawks standing at the nurse’s station in a half state of dress, locking eyes with you in the first instance where you’d ever caught him off his guard. 

Those gorgeous eyes flashed in nervous panic which melted into boyish charm awfully quickly- standard practice for the secret object of your affections-

“Well gosh, nurse, I thought you’d give a guy a warning if a guardian angel was going to be visiting today… I’d have been decent enough to put a shirt on~!”

It was a detour of hoarse-voiced flirting on his part and masked heartbreak on yours. Seeing the blonde numbed out and paler than you’d ever witnessed him out on the job, your veil of professionalism slipped enough to really see Hawks in this moment… and catch wind of an unaware attendant who slipped the hero’s last name in front of you. 

Said PA immediately recoiled upon seeing you -an extended member of the press- overhear the #2 Pro Hero’s legal name. Though at your insistence that you were here on business that didn’t concern him, Hawks visibly relaxed enough to give you his first name himself the moment the nurse left. 

‘Mr. Takami is far too formal to come outta you; don’t even think about calling me that, dove.’

Keigo Takami truly was a man containing multitudes, but for all the tough talk about how ‘you should have seen the other guy’, you worried about that man you’ve seen now without his gold visor that night when you went home, and wondered if he was sleeping ok with his chest bound like that. 

The next injury sighting took several months of continued text exchanges, private balcony sidebars, and continued endurance of Hawks’ public displays of blatant sweet talking for you to see him less than chipper again.

Your meeting with the HPSC Press Chair was running painfully long, but necessary given the content you were working on publishing for them as side work. It wasn’t doable for you to take on a full-time job with the Hero Commission, but in your philanthropic effort to unite the civilian world with those of high profile heroes, you took on these winded assignments with the promise of a pay bump… as well as a chance to see your darling flyboy. Not that they’d note or care about your budding affections for him. Thankfully, your tight lipped smiles at him were ironclad and his reputation as a charming star preceded him, even to his higher ups so the true feelings never fully sunk in so long as you were mindful.

Pulling a doubletake at your presence in the conference room from the glass windows led Hawks to hang a left inside to quip at you, fully interrupting your meeting despite the scowls he received from the suits lining the table.

“Well isn’t this a pleasant surprise~ hey there, lovedove. Aren’t you pretty as a peach today?”

“Hey there, yourself,” you turned to acknowledge him politely, but pointedly fixed on his eye that laid nearly completely blackened and the cheek scraped to a raw red.  “--aren’t you looking- purple.”

Hawks being sufficiently threatened to report elsewhere didn’t stop him from throwing you a dismissive wink and a smirk at your subtle worry,

 “Oh this? Nah, it’ll fade. I could use the blush anyway~ it’ll save me a trip for photos tomorrow!”

That charming show of optimism wasn’t a surprise as you turned back to your grumpily apologetic managers, though you never did quite forget how Keigo stayed in the entryway soaking in even your curt ending of the conversation. He had to be practically ushered out by some fellow training officers for him to go on his merry way. Your inspection of him had been lightning quick, and you were nearly certain he was black and blue in more places than his face judging by how he sidestepped out the door.

Would he ever take his pain seriously? Under all that swagger, you certainly hoped so. Or else you hoped someone would make a fuss over him. 

Hawks shows on your patio at 12:30 in the morning one day, knocking silly on your side door. It’s been weeks since you wrote another touching piece for the HPCS’s statement on civic protection, and too long since he’s taken a rooftop stroll with you. Hell, far too long that he's had you close. Keeping you at his side, tucked under his towering wing, shielding you from the night winds, peppering each other with soft-spoken words and some stolen kisses he swears mean more to him than a move ‘just for luck’. 

Hawks knocks three times... huffing. He glanced towards the ground, tucking what's left of his wings further in with a wince. He knocks four more times, each more insistent than the last, but mindful of the noise. He even shushes himself in the delirium, canvassing your living room for signs of life.

Your oven light was still on, suggesting you hadn't gone through your full nighttime shutdown yet. That single light bulb in your kitchen appeared to double the more he stared, and tried to blink the unease away. Shit. He's really in no condition to fly. The sidewalk below your floor takes his attention again at the cry he hears. The sound is only cat this time, but still makes him oh-so nervous.

Hawks moans his impatience coupled by the searing pain, begging you to come notice him at the sliding glass. He drops his head damp with sweat to the window (intent to apologize for it later) and just bangs on the window like the desperate man he is.

"Please be up, please be up, please..."

When he opens his eyes briefly, he sees a shadow before him approaching. You'd flicked on more light in your living room and were jogging up to the window with shock brightening your features to total wakefulness. He's never been happier to see you so panicked.

Your confusion is palpable behind the door as you push the blind’s interior locking rod aside and flip up the lock, sliding it-- and Hawks-- along with you.

"Who-ooah!! Hawks??" You whisper-scream.

Stumbling aside, he grips his still bleeding hip and winces at what that move causes for his back. Eyes screwed shut, he can't even quite manage a suave, sweet greeting; he merely sighs your name as an answer to prayer.

You take in this poor, disheveled shell of a hero as he looks every bit like he's come from a dogfight. Not only were his wings sparse and bony from overuse, but his left wing was seizing up and stunted at a poor angle you knew wasn't natural.

oh my God, those poor wings… You collected him up with ready arms- gingerly guiding inside through the center of the patio, wary of bumping either's span of the door. 

"carefulcarefulcareful–"

"eh, it’ll-- nnngh!!" Hawks doubled over-thankfully right into you- "I got'kicked in the back-- right under...ahhhh~ "

Not only that, but despite the blackness of his under armour and gloves, you noted now by movement and smell that he was bleeding elsewhere. Besides the hobble, he sports a busted cheekbone and lip– which he likely bit himself.

This was a hard state to see him in and truly frightened you by the blood loss alone. Worse than any other time you’d seen him after a mission by far.

Primal, parental  instincts filled you and spilled out before you could stop yourself.

"Honey, we gotta get you to Dagoba General; it's closest--"

"I can't-" Hawks stopped you with a vice grip on your wrist while he hobbled along, "s'too public."

-Not allowed, even in an emergency. This you remembered from his earlier run through of policies about heroes needing medical attention; where in the city he could go, how it should be handled privately, and out of civilian's eyes.

"oh shit-- well, how bout the hero hospital, the one by that high school? Can't you call- or I can call! Let me-"

"No~" hawks moaned miserably. "I jus' gotta sit."

“Aren’t you -uh- supposed to have your legs up? You can lay back, it’s ok,” you try to guide him, but he only wavers- set on sitting up. His still-sure sights canvassing the room tells you he’s in a protective, alert headspace here in new surroundings. He might need more direction from you to break this..

"Hawks-- this is beyond what I can do,” You tried to reason with him, grappling a random throw blanket semi draped on the couch before he could sit down. “I told you I worked in refugee centers, I only know basic first aid- but this is more than I can help you, honey! They can get you fluids, a transfusion if you need it, pain meds stronger than what I have from the corner store if you’d just- where's your phone, I can call for an ambulan-"

Hawks fired up right away-

"NO!!" He begged, "no- they, they can't.. I don't wan'.."

Helping him sit, you knelt carefully trying to hear through his clear pain-rattled rant.

You assume he doesn't want the trouble of an ambulance or worry it wouldn't get here in time- which scares you more is debatable.

"We’re working against time here, hot stuff.." you tried for levity, caressing his hand. While he took it shakily, he bit his groan back.

He looked at you seriously, but pouted back in a way you'd normally giggle at, "No 'wee-woos'."

"I know you don't want ‘wee-woos’, but I think we're past that now." 

You cup Hawks’ cheek which successfully transfixes his attention right on your face, while you blindly try his jacket's inner pocket for his phone- closer than yours that’s clear in the back bedroom on your charger, 

"Look, I'll even talk for ya, okay? You don’t have to explain a thing about what happened tonight. Let's just get you help-"

"NO!! I can't hav' 'em find you here!"

His outburst startled you so you pulled back from his jacket entirely- at a true loss, "Can’t have who find me?"

"I won' let 'em," Hawks shook his head, pressing into his side, "I-- they don' know I'm here- they can' see only the pinpoint. Not ell'vation. Ahh. Don't wan'em know.. where you live, f’they don’ already."

You fought to keep up. He's clearly distressed- but you're surprised it's by the thought over your residence being found out. Who would be upset at the fact of him being here enough to have him shaken from even emergency services finding out?

Then you realize, he’s on the clock. He’s gotten hurt at work, and he’s not patrolling anymore. ‘The asset is damaged,’ and he’s laying low effectively out of sight.

"Your.. what, your bosses? Is that what you're worried about right now?"

Hawks was fighting for some deeper breaths. Some old instincts finally kicking in, he’s pushing air out forcefully though his lips in a decent try to slow himself down. He knows you know that much– how his work is essentially divvied into two piles: the stuff you hear about on the news, and the stuff you don't. The HPSC handles both, but primarily involves him in one. Thankfully, he knows you're quick enough to know tonight is a night of the latter and one that you know you shouldn't ask too much more of, despite your clear desire for understanding. 

But he’s bleeding on your sofa and he is about to damn near break or bleed out and you feel drawn to his heart and feel a selfish urge to know.

"I don't understand- why, ... why come here if you were worried, Kei?"

"I was.. close,” he offered with some huffs again.

That answer felt too loaded, but you were too groggy yourself to reason with such a clammy man dealing with who knows how much blood loss.

He forced as much clarity to his vision as he could, while watching you get up to close the patio door up. You shut the blinds for good measure too before debating whether to run back to the bathroom and  grab what gauze and antiseptics you had. For both the sake of time and to keep the poor man from following you throughout the apartment like you knew he’d try to do, you settled on wetting a few washcloths by the sink and came back to him.

"Your fight was close to here?" You kept him in the moment while attempting to get off his coat. He sat forward to help in this, but his eyes shut hard as it forced his shoulder blades together, to feed the gap over the wings.

Through steeled grunts he manages it, then strangles out the basics for you, "Y-yeah.. small.. weap'n traffic ring. But we had intel they'd.. Had a hit out on’the magistrate."

You set the bloodied jacket to the ground- torn between looking at his pained face and getting a look at the hip he was leaning into.

"They hadda few tough quirk users," Hawks gritted, separating his hand at your insistence. The shirt peeling back sticky was the least of his worries when you laid the wet washcloth at his side, "one had blades for legs, n’the other had a kind of whip-AHH!!"

Only water, but it burned like hell. Burned through the mess he'd made of himself. Proof he'd been sent in there outmatched-- 5 to 1 so he says, but even for the #2 Hero, the odds were stacked against him for a covert attack. You whispered a gentle apology over the sting.

You hated hearing the challenge and clear surprise of the incident that caused this version of your hero to be brought to the surface, knocking on your door like a kid trying to sneak back into the house in the middle of the night.

"So they nicked you here– and your back?" You asked gently, "Anywhere else?"

"They were gonna take out the block--"

You heard the panic rise in him again, the tremor in voice and wings.

"Haw-.. Keigo."

"They were gonna-- they didn't even know you lived up here.. you of all people.. but they were gonna do it. I had- said I hadta stop em, whatever it took.."

You set the first soiled cloth aside, centered between his spread knees, and cupped his face in both hands now. He's trembling all over and pulse is going wild under your fingers. He locked onto your necklace- avoiding your eyes in anger, guilt, and a messy, gnarled ball of exhaustion while you cleaned his face.

It wasn’t clinically necessary, but you wanted to.

 "But you stopped them," you reminded, "You said you got 'em, right?"

Something flitted across his face that looked hollow- like a younger side of Keigo Takami was looking for help finishing his thoughts. Like he was reverting to a shadow self that was about to cry just feeling you cool down his neck with the clean side of a washcloth.

"I got em." He barely whispered, new frustrated tears flooding his eyes and forcing his brows together. "I did it. I did-- what they wanted me to."

The way he says it is not a victory. It's guilty, not even proud in a sense of justice. It was forced; not unlike a militant following orders.

"The safety commission, keeping folks safe at all costs," you answered for him, forcing his eyes to blink at the name. What crimson feather remained ebbed and rustled on impulse.

Suddenly, he frowned down at his own hands, suddenly wrenching himself free of his damp, tainted gloves, like they were burning him alive the longer they stayed on his fingers. 

"Cost them," Hawks croaked, "Wanted t’take ‘em in, make them pay the way we always do. But then they said they're taking the block out- and I couldn't let em- I couldn't let them get you or anyone else--I shoulda felt like a damn hero they say I am."

Hawks shook his head pathetically, nearly collapsing forward at the feel of you raking his bangs back, before he sobbed,

"but I didn't want to. They begged. Couldn’a run when they knew they couldn't win, so they begged. I don't wanna do it this way, don't want it to come to this. I can't keep ending it all just because I can!! I’m no–"

Hawks wipes harshly at his eyes with the heel of his palm, his anger at a tipping point.

Your heart sobers and breaks altogether. He's confessing to you because he knows this whole ordeal is going to be painted so differently by the media in the morning. Heroes have to make impossible calls- and you know his handlers don't make it easier on him when it comes to completing these covert assignments. They’ve essentially given him a license none others do- allowances that dance in the world of grey.

Hawks and heroes like him have been granted permission to take lethal measures. But it’s a grim, fell thought that when you’re in the moment- the choice to kill or stay in your armed hands. The pressure is bound to weigh anyone, make them crack and doubt their sensibilities.

Any bystander would call Hawks heroic for saving more lives than taking them- but fear is what forces him to kill. Fear of loss, of the catastrophic unknown that he continues to fight for faster and faster. 

You leveled with Hawks’ sightline, forcing terrified eyes to yours. While the sight of this confident man worn down grieved you, schooling your face and brows to be strong was an easy ask when he needed you.

"I know you didn't,” you affirmed all he said, “You were so brave, Keigo. You were really brave, no matter what. No matter how these fights end. You always are brave."

Keigo listens and heaves an ungodly sound at your words. 

Suddenly, he's pulling you close and crying into your chest and you meet him all the way. You lock your grasp around his shoulders gingerly at first afraid to hold too tight. Cradling his head to you and hushing him seems to work for now, since he’s able to speak again after more schooled breaths. 

But this reaction from him is far from assured; he’s afraid. Unheard. And it seems with you, he can finally air these harsh truths without outside ears listening in stopping his tongue.

"They don't care how hard it is. They don't care. They just push and push and push me, and 'm tired and it hurts!!"

All you can do is hold him.

"I know, baby,” you barely speak, “I know it does, I know it hurts..."

“It always hurts,” he sobs, “It does every time. When you saw me and you looked at me, and you asked me if it hurt, I lied because I had to. But shit, this hurts…”

Hawks’ heated hands grasp at you: the contour of your body is the altar he's kneeling at- from this very spot of your couch. He's wailing now- half in pain, half in misery of being failed over and over again and only now -in secret- ever receiving someone to listen in return. The sound barely makes noise as its buried in your middle, but it rocks you where you kneel up straight to keep him close.

You let him grieve and hold space for every bit of it. He's never once been this vulnerable with another soul in his life, you’re convinced, and he sounds just so grateful to have your hands on his. Grounding. Giving him relief he's been starving for since you first paid attention to him across that crime scene where you first met.

Once he began mimicking your pronounced breathing he finally starts to feel more calm. 

To give him air, you robbed one hand from around him in order to push back some hair from his face and check his temperature. He could actually feel how cool your hands were once he started getting color into his face from his spot at your chest. Drained and pliant, he mumbles something at your sternum, and you ask him to repeat it gently,

“Hands’re cold,” he whispers.

“Oh, m’sorry.”

“No,” he shuts his eyes. "Feels good. You feel so good. The other docs, they're just so-- clinical.. They don't- they aren't gentle. No one feels as good as you do.”

Softness seeps from the very pit of you. What you won’t give to protect this hero now. 

You see a slumped pillow at his side and think to use it as a bolster until his back spasms lessen.

"Here, babe. Let's get one of these behind you. You can lay back a bit-"

Hawks chips his chin up to you, a bat of his eyes pleading, ‘don’t go’.

It’s official: you love him.

"I won't go,” you coo down to him, “I won't make you get up. I'll be here. Right here." 

You kiss that hot, flushed forehead, and he wants to crumble again by the way you hear him swallow. 

“I-” Hawks tries to recover from his overwhelm, "...I need you..."

Your answer would never deny him, "What do you need, pretty bird."

"Need you– hold on t'me." Hawks nuzzles your neck in relief.

"I've got you. I've got you this time. You always have everyone else; now I have you."

This is the way you’d keep him, if he were all yours. After a day of things he’d rather forget, you’d replace them all with kind words and soothing touches that settle his restlessness. To his nature that never stops moving, you’d make it your mission to bring some stillness and comfort to the forefront of his burdened mind.

While you’d love for reality to keep on pause, a flash of movement at the window gave you hope rather than alarm, 

“Hey, Kei. Lookie there. You've got a little pile waiting for you~” you nod back to the patio, catching some blips of red near the unobscured vertical blinds. “Would having them back on you help? Make you feel more steady?"

Interest piqued, Hawks sounds pleasantly surprised seeing them with his own eyes. 

"Ah. Yeah."

"Wanna rinse off, too? You can; use my shower, get yourself a lil more fresh?” the offer is true and comes from you easily. Happy to offer whatever healing measures possible to him while you wipe away leftover tears from a set of perfectly golden eyes. “I can’t promise I have something that fits you super well, but let’s see what I got.”

You knew the hot water would likely sting his wound, but would also buy him more time before he's  ready to fly again and go get checked out more formally.

Still wilty, Hawks gives a comical grimace in the face.  “I’d sure hate t’bleed all over your stuff.”

“Stuff can be washed; there’s only one you.”

And at this, he finally looks back up to you like the Keigo you know and sinks at the idea, giving in to the tempting idea. He nods. Any trace of boiled over bitterness in his aura has faded to a low simmer, and has left a warm, comfortable, gorgeous-looking man to peer up at you. 

You help him up, open the door once more, and Hawks is able to stand a bit better on his own now with a wingspan full of settling feathers preening themselves into place. Once face to face, he finds his hands are still seeking out your waist, and his face furrows– unwilling to let go fully of his personal painkiller.

You still his hesitation with a mouth’s warm press to his cheek followed by a gentle kiss on the lips. His palms go lax and a moan leaves him softly.

“I'll hold you all you want when you get out,” you whisper gently to him. “No funny business, I promise. Yeah?"

As if he held any true worries. 

"Wouldn’t ever mind if you did, dove. But yeah– I’d like that."

With another lingering kiss, you do your utmost to take things as quickly as he can manage for the sake of getting him to rest quickly… but by the way Hawks eyes you from all your puttering about the apartment, he holds no urgency or rush. To the contrary, he's happy going slow and steady while he’s with you. 

His hand catches yours any chance he gets until he’s ultimately able to lay his head to rest on you at the first idle moment of the evening. Its in these, the wee morning hours, that he’s eager now to remember this as the first night you got to help him heal and not just recover.

"You sure you aren't rushing it?" the slight worry tinges your sleepy morning voice in just the next few waking hours. All you both had was a glorified nap given his late arrival.

The song of your concern obviously pleases your loving company, as the edges of Hawks’ eyes crinkle at your worry. 

"I gotta report in by six. I'll stop at my place, change before I go in, heat up something to eat. And I’ll text you when I get there."

The checklist of answers is sweet and characteristically Hawks, but you hope Keigo hasn’t checked out of your bubble yet.

"Okay. But.. take some time if you can. Come see me if you still need me."

A noticeable fondness settles across Hawks’ devilishly handsome smile, and comes over to cup your face for another coffee-masked kiss. 

"I always need you.” Thank you. For everything. "I'll see you soon." I love you.

"See you soon." I love you too.

Weeks pass with Hawks’ semi-regular visits to the apartment, holding you in the kitchen like the lovesick boy he is at heart. ‘Talking work’ he claims, when his higher ups ask him about the delays, but he’s more inclined to slack and slip into far more personal matters as he guides you over back towards the barstools and sits back on one.

A curious mind makes you question why he's pushing the limits of his absence until he pulls you in to completely become flush with him and realize he wants your attention before anyone else’s. He sinks in how you set your hands on his shoulders, smiling like a sweet dope, looking up at you while you check him over.

You know he’s tired from a day on patrol in full sun, but the faint sunburn across his cheeks doesn’t seem altogether too painful. Just needs a decent aloe blend. Still, you ask as you always do, 

“How you feelin’, pretty bird?”

And he truly answers honestly now, no bravado for handlers to scoff at or bystanders to placate:

“Better now.”

[lov3-lik3-ghosts]

Hello! First off, congrats on your mum’s business🙂‍↕️

Here’s a one shot request that you can shape to your liking:

f!reader overhears Enoch talk badly about her and an argument arises. The classic miscommunication trip hahah

have fun and thanks🍝

Leak Death

Pairing: Enoch O’Connor x fem!reader.

Summary: Enoch has refused to let anyone else know of your relationship for months but still acts out when someone else takes an interest.

Warnings: Not beta or proofread. Use of Y/n. Slight mentions of an OC character.

Word Count: 2.4k

Note: Hi, lovely! You’re so kind, I’ll be sure to pass your congratulations along <3 First time writing Enoch dialogue so I hope you enjoy!

request guidelines | mother m-list

“Y/n?” His fist rapped against the wood of your door, each tap sounding through your room with the same erratic pounding of your heart. You don’t answer him, huddling deeper into the corner of your bed, against the wall.

He doesn’t let up.

Your name is called two times more, said through a gradually thickening accent. Your bottom lip wobbles. The longer he speaks the more his words echo through you, forming half collerative truths.

Enoch had always told you the truth, harshly said or not and he’d always been able to read you like a book. It was lovely when you’d been new to the loop, something you could easily latch onto and take comfort in. But now, when he knew everything about you, spilled from your lips and dripped from your soul… Enoch couldn’t keep your secrets, only his own.

“Y/n, please!” He pleads, his knocks fading into silence.

“She’s pathetic.”

Pathetic. That’s what he thought of you and Enoch never lied. Never to you, never about you.

“I’m s- I’m sorry.” The apology is forced through gritted teeth, as foreign to your ears as it was his tongue and to you, nothing but insincere. “Please just open the door?”

“Her peculiarity was intriguing to me at first too. Now I know it’s nothing but an inconvenience to us, a curse really.”

You are cursed. One touch of your body in the wrong place and you risk the possibility of unintentionally taking someone’s life. Poison runs through your ulnar veins and produces a slick substance on your wrists, never ending and never washing away, no matter how hard you scrub it always comes right back. A brush of the skin there or a leak through your gloves, everything becomes unsafe.

“There’s been countless times we’ve had to spend the day out just because she caught her glove on something. You think you’d be safe kissing her? Holding her hand? You’d die quick and painful. The loop couldn’t save you.”

The poison acts quick, leaking through most fabrics and seeping right through the pores of any skin it touches. Death is almost instantaneous once it’s been touched.

“She’s a walking hazard.” He scoffed. “She leaks death.”

You are always a hazard. You’ll always leak death.

You don’t always have to be pathetic.

Your door shakes under the weight of his fist once again. His voice has stayed quiet until now, speaking as though you were conversing face to face. “Y/n,” He pleads louder. “Please. If you just open the door, I can explain. Or- or don’t open it and just let me know you’re listening.”

You scoot to the edge of your bed, shoving your blanket to the side. The mattress squeaks lightly under you and you cringe, praying he didn’t hear and take it as a sign to keep talking. Trying your hardest to stay quiet, you shuffle over to the door.

The brass of the door handle makes a funny noise against the leather of your glove, squeaking as your fingers curl around it.

Enoch is silent on the other side and you wonder for a second if maybe he’d given up like you’d earlier knew he would but then his voice sounds again, only this time he’s not speaking to you.

“What do you want, Emma?” He spits, a dagger of defence spearing through the silence.

You pause, every breath feeling too loud, too incriminating.

“You’re a jerk, Enoch.” Emma claims. You can almost picture how she stands, tall with her shoulders back and frowning in the way only she can, sure and disappointed. “I can’t believe you.”

“Leave. This has nothing to do with you.” Enoch snarls.

This Enoch was more familiar to you, angry and defensive always. This was the Enoch you’d met way back when, fresh to the loop and in need of a friend. This was the Enoch who could only ever keep his own secrets, have his own back.

“Y/n is my friend. This has everything to do with me.” Emma defends, scoffing loud enough for you to hear. “You’re a jerk. How many times did Miss Peregrine have to convince us that there was nothing wrong with our peculiarities despite what non-peculiars had to say about them? All for you to become a part of the problem.”

“You don’t think I know that?” He spits. “I’m trying to apologise, so just go away, Emma.”

“No!” She exclaims. “You do this all the time! You’ve treated her badly since you met her, the only difference this time was that she didn’t just let it happen.”

Your heart pangs. They all knew. They all knew how much of a pushover you are, how pathetic you are. Embarrassment gnaws at your gut.

“Y/n is more than capable of sticking up for herself.” Enoch says firmly, his accent twanging into a growl. “Don’t make her out to be stupid. You're not around to see it.”

Emma stays silent for a moment. “You think that makes what you say acceptable?”

It’s a rhetorical question really but Enoch answers anyway, with words you never expected to roll off his tongue. “No.” He grits. “But my girlfriend is more than capable of telling me if she has a problem, she doesn’t need your help.”

Your breath catches in your throat. Your hold on the handle tightening.

There’s a collective gasp through the hallway that causes your eyebrows to furrow, the sound much too loud to be only Emma.

You open the door before you can really think about what you’re doing, coming face to face with the wide eyes of your loop-mates. Miss Peregrine stands behind them, her sharp gaze flitting sternly between you and Enoch. When her eyes catch yours she stares for a long moment, one that has your heart pausing for a whole new reason, before she smiles softly.

“Come along, children,” She beckons, gesturing to the stairs beside her. “I think Enoch and Y/n have some things to discuss.”

The youngest of the children go without question, muttering between themselves as they glance between you and Enoch with unbidden excitement. Olive gives you a long glance before she follows, one that you can’t quite decipher the meaning of but don’t yet care much for.

Jacob, Emma and Sam all linger. Emma’s mouth gapes and snaps shut twice before she turns to you. “Y/n?” Her wide eyes glimmer with question, straying only to further scan you. You shuffle uncomfortably, her eyes scorching your skin.

“Emma?” You murmur back, avoiding her piercing gaze.

“Girlfriend?”

“I-“ You take a deep, grounding breath. “Maybe? I’m– I’m sorry for not… telling you.”

Emma clenches her jaw. “Why didn’t you?” She spits.

You ignore the tightening of your throat. Jacob steps forward, resting a grounding hand in the crook of her shoulder. Emma seems to sense something in the touch, taking a small step back into his chest.

You stammer over a few words, trying to scramble together a response that wouldn’t paint Enoch in a bad light.

You’re not sure why you’re still trying to protect him, still defending his case even when you didn’t agree, didn’t understand it but you are; you’re not sure you’ll ever be able to stop.

Words fail you.

But like he always does, Enoch reads you like a yawning book, wide and full of secrets. He does something he’s only ever done once. “It’s my fault,” He takes the blame. “I didn’t want anyone to know. It wasn’t anyone’s business.” Even if it was his fault.

“Of course it was.” Emma says, exasperated. Raising and dropping her arm in his direction for full effect.

You see Enoch’s jaw clench in the corner of your eye, pulling taught in the way you’ve always loved, but he doesn’t respond. You look away.

“Emma,” Miss Peregrine interrupts, tone as firm as always. “Take a minute to cool down before you get ready for super. Jake, go with her.” She instructs.

Emma takes a breath, lips forming a would be argument. One look from Miss Peregrine has her quickly relenting, her lead boots clanging roughly with the floor as she stomped down the stairs, Jacob scurrying after her without so much as a glance in your direction.

“Sam.” The ymbryne calls sternly. Sam doesn’t look away from you, hasn’t once since you opened the door but he tilts his ear in her direction. “Downstairs to get your hands washed. Super will be ready in precisely five minutes.”

He stands dead still a few seconds longer, staring right through you with something unnerving lighting his gaze. Your skin crawls. Enoch steps before you, his shoulder shielding your face from Sam’s watching eyes. As angry as you are with Enoch right now, you couldn’t help but feel safer with him before you.

Sam’s smile is sharp as he finally looks away, something malicious gleaming his teeth as he finally pivots and travels down the creaky stairs, muttering a ‘yes, Miss Peregrine’ along the way.

“Don’t take too long, children.” Miss Peregrine says as she steps towards the stairs. “We wouldn’t want you to be too late to super, would we?”

“No, Miss Peregrine.” You and Enoch murmur simultaneously.

Enoch turns to you the second you can no longer hear her footsteps, gripping you by the waist and walking you backwards into your room before you can protest. The door clicks shut loudly behind you, forced closed by the toe of his shoe.

“I know you don’t want to talk to me right now,” He rushes out. “But please just listen before you start scolding.”

You choose to stay silent out of pure curiosity to what excuse he could pull together, ready and willing to call him out. If anything, he’d buttered you up by believing you were capable of scolding him.

“The others were playing one of their undeniably idiotic games again and he- Sam expressed a… liking for you.” He spat like the words were poison in his mouth.

You furrowed your brows, waiting. Nothing more came from him. “That’s it?” You scoff.

“That’s it.” He confirms, fingers twitching against your sides. You shove him off in frustration.

“Are you pulling my leg?” You frown. “You said all that you said because Sam might like me? That’s it? Are you kidding me, Enoch?”

Enoch narrows his eyes at you. “Might? He might as well have had Fiona grow you a flower garden.”

“I don’t care!” You snarl, exasperated. “You called me pathetic, a walking hazard! You said I leak death! You humiliated me, you backstabbed me. You used my words to make me look bad. I trusted you! I trusted you and you took advantage of it!”

“I was trying to make him leave you alone!” Enoch’s bellow echoes through your room, loud enough that you’re sure the others heard him too.

You inhale deeply, your shoulders dropping with defeat. “What does it matter anyway?” You heave a rough sigh.

He pauses, chest rising and falling erratically. “What?”

“What does it matter?” You repeat, swallowing. “He didn’t know we were together. No one knows we’re together. Hell, half the time I don't even know if we’re together!”

“I-“ He starts, face dark with anger before taking a deep breath. “You’re right. You’re right, I’m sorry.”

“You said I was cursed, Enoch.” You whisper. His frown deepens. “Is that what you think of me? You think holding my hand and kissing me is nothing but dangerous? Is that why you won’t let me tell, so you don’t have to do those things?”

“No!” He exclaims, stepping forward with an outstretched hand. “No. You think I would be with you if I thought all those things? You think death through love scares me? I-”

“You said those things, Enoch, not me.” You interrupt, pointing an accusing finger into his chest.

“I know!” He snarls. “I was just trying to get him to leave you alone. I know he makes you worry. I was saying the things I thought would scare him, not me.”

“It had to come from somewhere, Enoch O’Connor.” You growl back, fisting his shirt. “You think those things. Probably always have. Stop treating me like I’m naive.”

“You’re not naive, Y/n.” His tongue pokes out to softly wet his lips, a subtle nervous gesture you’d never been able to take your eyes away from. “I- I have thought them.” He looks away from you, guilty.

Your heart hurts as you take a step back, unfisting his shirt. It was different to hear it come from his mouth than you just thinking it; it cut much deeper. Your eyes water quickly, clouding over with pooling tears that spill down your cheeks quicker than you can stop them.

“In the beginning,” He rushes to continue, his voice thick and frantic. “When we first got together. I couldn’t help it, it was a possibility. Is a possibility. But you’re worth the risk — and more than.”

Your lip wobbles once more, trembling uncontrollably against your words. “What you said was downright nasty.” You cry. “I don’t think it was just the beginning.”

“It was.” He almost pleads. “It was. I don’t care about your peculiarity because you don’t care about mine. You take all the precautions, you make it safe. My peculiarity is all about the dead, I could hardly be scared of you.”

“Don’t brag.” You scoff, trying to smother your emotions back down into the chest box through distraction. “You do enough of that already.”

Enoch huffs a chuckle. “Whatever.”

“You have a lot of making up to do for that.” You sniffle, finally glancing over at him.

“You forgive me?” He swallows lightly, almost unnoticeable if not for the bob of his throat.

You shrug. “Are we still a secret?”

“I don’t think that’s possible anymore.” He shakes his head, dark curls ruffling with the motion.

“Your fault.” You pursue your lips.

“Never said it wasn’t.” He smirks lightly. “I’ll fix it. All of it.” He promises.

You relent into his lure, awaiting the upcoming weeks of him making it up to you in all the best ways with bode excitement. “I want at least a week of fights between my favourite homuncoli.”

Enoch steps up to you, the toes of his shoes meeting yours. His hands find home on your hips, pulling you flush against himself. Your cheeks flush pink.

“Deal.” He grins, leaning his head down to yours, connecting your lips with a tender passion.

~ 𐀔 ~ 𐀔 ~ 𐀔 ~

I’m beating writers blocks ass over here!

Like, comments and reblogs are extremely appreciated and very encouraging!

[twisted-wonderland-shenanigans]

Twisted Wonderland Monster!AU Snippet: "A New Life"

So since the writing process for the pregnant fem!Yuu is taking a little longer than I'd like (I've got so many ideas on types of interactions before and after the baby is born, but as I said in another post, it's tricky figuring out which character to have in said situation 😂), I thought I'd share a snippet of what I have so far so you guys can see!

It might end up being a little (lot) longer than I anticipated depending on how much I want to add, so thank you for your patience everyone!

Note for context: Fem!Yuu is about five (5) months along in the beginning before she arrived in Twisted Wonderland, which means we get to explore the monster boys being curious (if a bit tsun-tsun) about the future baby. Grim is also acting like those pictures and videos of cats who snuggle their pregnant owner's belly, but he doesn't even know why he's doing it and no one else has any idea what's going on either. 😂

ALSO, IF I NEED TO TAG THIS ANY SPECIFIC WAY, PLEASE LET ME KNOW SO I CAN ADD THE TAGS FOR THIS AND WHEN THE FIC IS READY TO BE POSTED!!!!

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“…hm?” Grim uttered, quickly pulling away to stare at Yuu’s middle with wide eyes.

“What’s wrong?” Jack asked.

Grim said nothing for a moment, his expression focused as he pressed his cheek and ear against her belly again. Just as it had earlier, Yuu felt movement inside—movement that startled Grim as he jumped away with a yelp. “Fygah!? What was that?!” he asked, fur bristling and wings flaring defensively.

“Wait, what happened?” Deuce asked.

“I felt somethin’ move!” Grim told them, looking thoroughly spooked now.

“What?! Does the human have a parasite inside?!” Sebek said, Yuu wincing as the volume caught the attention of the students around them.

“Don’t be silly. Internal parasites can't be felt so clearly outside the body,” Riddle commented, holding his tray of food as he sat down at a nearby table.

Realizing that things would get out of hand if she didn’t stop it, Yuu reached out to pull Grim into her arms and said, “He’s not wrong, guys. Grim did feel something move.”

That seemed to get everyone’s attention as they stared at her in confusion. “He…felt something?” Deuce repeated. “What do you mean?”

“Well…let’s just say that—technically speaking—I wasn’t the only human that came to Twisted Wonderland.”

“EH?!?” came the literal chorus of voices as the teenagers stared at her.

“Wait, you mean there’s another human somewhere?!” Cater asked, his phone already up and ready to start typing. “Where are they? Do humans turn invisible? What’s their name??”

“No, humans don’t turn invisible. As for where they are…you’ll have to guess that. And for their name…well, they don’t have one yet.”

“Eh? How come they don’t have a name?” Epel asked. “And…if there’s another human here, why weren’t they at the ceremony?”

“Oh, they were there,” she told them, unable to help the smile on her face. “In fact, everyone was looking at them the whole time.”

“I didn’t see them at all!” Grim protested, paws reaching up to grip her face. “Tell me where they are!”

“Grim, you’ve probably been the closest one to them for the past month now,” she told him, laughing as she booped his nose. “At this rate, I’ll be having trouble carrying you and them around.”

“Huh? What does that even mean?” he asked, looking at the others as they shrugged.

“Fufufufu…oh my. It would seem my suspicions were correct!” a familiar deep voice behind them said.

“Fygah!! Where’d you come from?!”

Despite the surprise appearance, Yuu’s smile was still as wide as Lilia’s as the lantern bat hung upside down beside her. “My apologies, I couldn’t help but overhear the conversation,” he said before tilting his head to peer at Yuu. “I believe congratulations are in order, my dear. When are you due?”

“In about three and a half months,” she told him, placing her hand on her stomach as the baby moved again.

“Oh! Well, it seems like we’ll all be hearing the pitter-patter of tiny human feet around the school. How lovely~! Is this your first?”

Nodding, she said, “Yeah. I’m a little nervous since there’s been so much going on, and things have been a little…stressful.”

“Ah yes, I can understand that,” he replied, giving the others a sly smile. “After all, I’ve heard that stress isn’t good for expecting mothers and their unborn baby.”

“B-b…b…BABY?!”

“Ah, there it is,” Lilia said with a chortle. “I was wondering how long it would take.”

“I was just thinking of how to give them a bigger hint,” Yuu said with a giggle.

“Wait, wait, wait, wait!” Ace stammered, eyes wide as saucers. “You mean…Yuu is pregnant?!”

“Mm-hm. You hit the nail on the head!”

“EEEEEEEEEEEEH!?!”

[aihoshiino]

chapter 149 thoughts

Chapters Since The 143 Kiss Happened And Went Entirely Unacknowledged And Unaddressed Count: 6

anybody else here unironically love getting yuribaited or just me

Honestly I kind of don't know what to think about this chapter lol. As it stands I didn't really hate it - in a lot of ways, it feels like a return to the humour and emotional focus of early OnK which is something I've honestly been missing in the manga while revisiting the anime. Mengo's art toys chapter was great and getting some proper Akane focus was nice. On the other hand, transitioning into this style of writing with no cushioning after the last arc is so incredibly jarring and the Akane stuff we get here is… well, we'll put a pin in it for now and address it later.

In general "put a pin in it" feels like the right energy for this chapter. As the second chapter of a new arc it's primarily setup for the stuff we're going to be dealing with for the next however long, I think it's going to be something we can really only chew on when we have a more solid idea of what exactly it's setting up, long or short term.

Anyway…! We start off with an explanation of why Kana seemed to flip so suddenly last chapter which does patch up some of that logic a bit. I think it's a little silly that she didn't actually overhear the conversation and thus clue into the actual goings on with how close she was standing but that's basically romance misunderstandings 101 so…

Her leaping to assumptions and giving up so quick also feels a bit abrupt but tbh Kana has always been deeply insecure and quick to leap to it's so over when it comes to her feelings for Aqua. Not only that but as others have pointed out since last chapter, from Kana's outsider perspective, Aqua was at his happiest and most at peace while dating Akane and has been in a mental health spiral to the point of expressing suicidal ideation since they broke up. Obviously we, the readers, know the extenuating circumstances at place but from Kana's POV it makes perfect sense to conclude that Akane makes him happiest and is uniquely equipped to do so. It just feels clunky in execution.

On the subject of clunky… I won't lie, it really bugs me that the first really significant AKKN interaction we're getting is love triangle shit entirely centered on Aqua. One of my biggest complaints about the series post TB was the way the end of that arc set up a huge status quo change to Akane and Kana's rivalry and then kind of failed to expand on it at all and that continued to be true all the way up to the Movie Arc. I'd hoped that them both working in close proximity as actresses on the same project would give us opportunities to dig into that. We got some lip service in that regard and then swerved hard into suddenly hyperfocusing on Kana's insecurities regarding Ruby while Akane got all of zero meaningful focus during the back half of the Movie Arc even though she was one of the characters with the most potential to bring interesting things to the table.

Honestly, one of my biggest fears with Akane's declaration that she'd stop Aqua's plan was that even though the two of broken up, she would continue to orbit Aqua at the expense of being allowed an arc of her own that focused on her relationships with the wider cast. Like - even if what she says about not being romantically interested in Aqua anymore is true, she is nevertheless entirely revolving around him to a really frustrating degree. It really feels like Akasaka realized Akane would have solved everything going on in the Movie Arc and had to panic and offscreen her as a result lol.

tho akane dismissively talking about the idea of clinging onto a past lover did make me do a very mean chuckle. ouch, better hope ruby didn't overhear that one, girl!

That said, for all my complaints, I didn't hate their little talk. Yes, it contained an absolute mountain of transparent-to-the-point-of-cynical KanaKane shipbait but it was pretty gay so who's to say if it's really good or bad or not. It's also just nice to see Kana and Akane being able to have a talk that isn't entirely hostile even if I really wish it was under different circumstances, or even that we'd just seen the road they took to being able to be so civil with each other. But whatever - we're here now, I'll take what I get.

Circling back around a bit, I am intrigued by the idea of Akane framing herself as having 'moved on' from Aqua when she very clearly hasn't lol. Like I indicated up there, I don't quite think this is the case nor do I think we're supposed to uncritically accept this as being the case - it reads moreso to me that Akane is trying to convince not just Kana but also herself that she's moved on from Aqua so Kana doesn't feel like she's in Akane's way if she tries to shoot her shot. As for why… well, that's something to talk about at the end of the chapter but I do think it's interesting either way. Akane wildly overshooting in her scrabble to convince Kana it's totally just platonic and going for sonzoning Aqua was also about the most insane thing she's said in a while but her utterly panicked and deranged expression as she said it made me bust a gut laughing.

In general, the expression work this chapter was on fire and there was a ton of really funny and really cute moments - Akane's blushy pout after Kana's quasi-confession, the fish-eye lens effect on her when Kana sees her outside her door and especially her and Kana's expressions in the second to last page… jesus i lost it so bad.

I've been gushing about Mengo's panelling and expressions for the last ten or so chapters but she really is amping it up lately. It definitely feels like her art for OnK has been getting really refined during the last few volumes and while this chapter was a little whiplash-y coming off the end of the Movie Arc, I also think it's a really impressive display of Mengo's range, too. Her horror and drama chops were on full display while all that was going on but in a more lowkey chapter like this, she brings a lot of life and charm to even simple things like the little montage of everyone wrapping up their day of the beach - it's three silent, tiny panels at the bottom of the page but she crams a ton of detail and character into each one.

I also am Extremely Shrimpterested in the note this chapter ends on. Something OnK does occasionally is use genre trappings as a smokescreen for what is actually happening on page and Akane's words at the end here seem to indicate this is happening here, too. This entire chapter goes extremely hard on the romcom tropes and dynamics but the way Akane's energy totally changes once she's on her own makes me think this is intentional and a reflection of the way Akane is setting up to use Kana.

Because I do think it's undoubtable that she is setting up to use Kana. Her sudden leap to captain of the SS AquKana is not about wholeheartedly supporting two people she loves (at least not primarily) and more about her continued efforts to save Aqua from himself. Kana just happens to be a convenient pawn in making this happen.

If I'm making this sound very cynical and cold of Akane: it is! But that's why I think it's so interesting. Akane is very like Aqua in a lot of ways and seeing this tendency of his to perform cruelty and manipulation to the greater end of doing the most good (or at least in their eyes) mirrored in her is very juicy and potentially very deadly in the hands of someone as smart and perceptive as Akane.

It's also kind of telling and kind of really sad to see Akane asserting that Aqua wouldn't be able to take revenge if he had a girlfriend at his side when that certainly didn't stop him back when he and Akane were dating. It's subtle but it's consistent with just how little faith Akane seems to have ever had in Aqua's feelings for her. Kana's not the only one struggling with long term insecurities in that regard.

I also can't not address the elephant in the room that is the story setting this up while the resolution to whatever the hell is going on with Ruby is still dangling over everyone's heads. I mentioned this last chapter but it really is getting to be bizarre just how much of a nothingburger that has been turned into, not just in terms of the characters' lack of reaction to it but the way the narrative has just entirely failed to give it any weight or significance whatsoever. I can only assume that one of the other girls making a move to pursue Aqua (if it does end up happening) will kick Ruby into action and we'll get god knows what sort of resolution there but a dark and evil part of me that loves to start shit thinks that the funniest possible resolution would be for it to never come up or be referenced ever again just for the sheer frenzy of confusion and bafflement it would cause. everybody loses!!!

[jessicas-pi]

DIRECTOR'S CUT ON COMMIT TO THE BIT but only like the first two chapters i am so far behind 😭

girl I wish I had been as productive as you think i've been 😭 there's only two chapters so far-

(But, hey, good news! Chapter three is verging ever closer to probably being done! And it's only taken me about... eight months... hahaha *dies on the inside*)

Anyway, i'll do what I did with the other ask and just go through it and talk about stuff!

Okay, so this fic was originally called "The Con" because it involved winning a lot more bets via subterfuge and holding hands. That changed and so I renamed it!

Oh yeah! And so, this fic was partly inspired by the song Summer Nights from Grease, where the guys and girls are enthusiastically listening to completely different stories of the same event. I flipped it around so they had completely different reactions to the same story and Sabine and Ezra were very UNenthusiastic and that was what the scenes with their friends were based on!

Aylan (the vostress kid) definitely heard some obitine stories from his dad and finds the parallels very amusing.

I know i've said it a few times before, but it always delights me to mention that the three Togruta sisters (Chisica, Am-lee, and Khenna) are based on me and my sisters.

OHHH fun fact! Originally the conversation where they split up the profits from the bet and the conversation where Sabine brought up fake-dating were two different conversations! The first one was as-is in the fic, but the other one happened like a week later when Sabine was hanging out in a tree coral with some of the girls and watching Ezra doing lightsaber forms and maybe drawing him shirtless a little bit and they hype her up to "ask him out again" and she goes over and interrupts him and they end up having the fake-dating idea conversation while he's not wearing a shirt and she's blatantly checking him out (and at one point actually half-reaches-out to touch his abs before she catches herself) and he's just "????" the whole time. It was funny, but I decided it was too early in the (fake) relationship for her to be so obvious about it, and I needed Fenn Rau to overhear the conversation and that was easier if they were on the Ghost, so I combined the scenes.

Oh also! Originally, both Vinn AND Tarik were gonna get kicked out of the friend group for being nasty but then I decided to make Tarik less nasty and give him a redemption arc.

ok, reading on, la de da...

The post-stargazing scene! So, I had to keep dialing things back because my shippy writer brain was moving their relationship ahead WAY faster than it was supposed to go. For example, in this scene, originally, they were going to share Sabine's bunk and definitely not cuddle or anything, it won't be weird at all, but again--just too soon. I made up for it with excessive cuddles in the end of the chapter & in chapter 2.

KATKA CAMEO!! Ok so for those who don't know---katka is an OC from my Teenage Rebellion AU. She's Gar Saxon's niece but she's utter sweetness (with a slight twist of crazy) and totally on board to stick it to the Empire. In the TRAU, she also has a massive raging crush on Ezra (albeit an Inquisitor iteration of him), so when I needed a random character to be envious of Sabine here, I figured I'd reuse her lol.

Oh yeah! Another condensed scene! Where she tells him about the Mandalorian ways of saying "I love you" and where she asks him to fake marry her used to be two different scenes! Like with the other one, I added the second one to the first. I went through a few versions of the fake-marriage-proposal, including one where Aylan came along with Ezra to Mandalore and was the one to suggest they tie the knot, apparently unaware it's all fake (but actually 100% aware it's all fake because his psychometry revealed it)

not to brag or anything but "Ezra did not regret fake-marrying into money" is one of my favorite lines i've ever written.

(btw, I still crack up when I remember that in your comment on chapter 1, you called Ezra a repressed victorian maiden for panicking over being able to see sabine's arms and legs. and I think everyone should know that You Are Right, Ezra Is A Repressed Victorian Maiden.)

OK ON TO CHAPTER 2!

i had so much fun with this chapter because they're both full to bursting with love for each other and neither of them will admit it until the last possible moment. I think that might actually be why Chapter 3 is taking so long--they're not hiding their feelings anymore so there's no more poetic internal monologues about how much they adore each other lol

Ah yeah on the topic of repressed feelings--the line "Kanan is fairly sure it’ll take at least five years and possibly a child for Sabine to admit that she’s actually in love with her husband" was supposed to actually be what happened. Sabine and Ezra were going to go on pretending the marriage was fake for years and finally one night when they were cuddled up, Sabine blurted out that she was in love with him and he was like "Yeah. I know." and she was like "wait what?? how did you know?? I was so subtle about my feelings!!" and he was like "Sabine, you kissed me good-night ten minutes ago. you're constantly calling me extremely romantic pet names in mando'a. we have two children and only one of them is adopted. your feelings are about as subtle as a paint bomb to the face." and she was just like "....oh." and then that was the end of the story! BUUUUT then I decided to do a love confession during the Lothal arc, and that led to the... surprise... at the end of chapter 2, which led to there needing to be a THIRD chapter!

OH HAHA OK MORE FUNNY STUFF. So the part with sabine's nightmare that leads to the "two besties chilling in a bathtub...?" scene was ALSO split up into two different events! I've been thinking about doing some edits of both chapters of CttB because I didn't really stop to edit either of them before posting (and a good chunk of chapter 2 was literally written the day before I posted it), which I mention because I was considering reverting the two scenes back to their original versions because the og tub scene was pretty funny. It's hard to describe in brief words, but basically... yeah it's too hard to describe, just take my word for it, it was pretty funny. (it involved Ezra singing along to We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together with a shampoo bottle for a microphone and Tristan playing a petty revenge prank that goes sideways.)

The cut between Ezra worrying about Sabine being upset about his feelings for her and thinking "what would she think if she knew??", and sabine's pov opening with "Sabine can't stop thinking about kissing his stupid face" never fails to make me snicker.

Oh hey I just got to the thrawn pov and that reminds me. at one point I was thinking about having a scene including Ezra and Thrawn's conversation aboard the Chimaera and thrawn REAAAALLLY pushes his buttons about Sabine, using the information that he figured out about their marriage. Actually, if I do that edit, I might write that scene.

Poor Hera--she keeps unintentionally being responsible for all of the sabezra relationship development lol.

OOH SOMETHING ELSE! So, originally, the love confession was WAY different. First of all, it wasn't in their room--it was in one of the caves. Sabine still went looking for Ezra, but she found him by following a Loth-wolf. And he actually confessed his feelings first! In this version, he was afraid he was going to die and impulsively blurted out that he loved her. Then he got nervous and started rambling a little and she shut him up with a kiss. But I changed it--I wanted her to be the one to take the leap and 'fess up, and if I set it in her room, I could have the funny Ketsu scene afterwards.

And then True Love's Kiss woke someone else up! (aka kanan got yoinked out of his comatose state by telepathic TMI)

oh yeah and to anyone wondering, that "another dawn breaks" line from the Kanera scene was ABSOLUTELY a reference to A New Dawn.

Oh and that Ketsu scene---that was actually a scene I saved and reused after cutting it from a different WIP of mine! There were two variations--the one I ended up using, and one where she accidentally interrupts the very first kiss and they're both like "OH COME ON!" because they've been waiting for this moment FOREVER and like ten seconds in, it gets interrupted, and Ezra decides that, darn it, he's been waiting for this for so long, he's not going to wait any longer! and he just pulls Sabine right back into the kiss and uses the Force to shut the door in Ketsu's face. I did this version so that I could include dialogue!

I'm just now realizing that I actually skipped over the entirety of Family Reunion and Farewell, I went straight from Jedi Night to Happy-Ever-After. But in my defense, plot-relevant episodes don't matter much when it comes to crack fix-it fics.

And... I think that's all my thoughts I have on this! Thank you for the ask!! :)

*roll end credits*

[coolcattime]

The Second Paladin [Mianite D&D AU]

Relationships: Captain Capsize/Sonja Firefoxx

Characters: Jordan Captainsparklez, Captain Capsize, Sonja Firefoxx, Tucker Jericho, Tom Syndicate, Skipper Redbeard

The champions of the gods have fully started their quest, adventuring through the lands to hopefully restore the imprisoned goddess Lady Ianite to her rightful power.

Following their only clue, the adventuring party find themselves in need of transportation to the isle of Ianerea. As they stop in a port town hoping to find a ship that will grant them passage, it seemed that disaster struck as a gang of bandits have kidnapped Jordan’s brother and threaten to kill him if their demands aren’t met. However, what initially appears to be a hopeless situation ends up granting them new allies.

AO3 Link

Mianite D&D AU Tag

The tavern bustled with activity as time slipped into the late afternoon. The crowds had just begun to pick up as the common folk got off work. In a table towards the back, there sat a strange group of adventurers that had just been given their meals by a barmaid already carving the end of her shift. However, though they got a few sideways looks, most were too focused on their own lives to have any care for what they were doing. As long as adventurers kept danger away from them, they could perfectly well ignore them.

Had they known that the mismatched group sat at the table were the three champions of the gods, they may have actually paid attention. However, a good number of commonfolk did not even know there were three gods, let alone the fact that such lofty titles had once again been inherited. The only souls who did have such knowledge were those who found it unremarkable. Hence, the party could enjoy at least a little privacy while in public. However, despite how not a soul could know about their titles or missions, there was one person currently sitting at the table worried about the safety of their current location for the discussion they were having.

"I really think we should discuss this in private," The one human at the table half-whispered, interrupting the discussion before the aasimar across the table could say the location they were attempting to find transport to. Now that the place was getting busier, he was worried about the wrong person overhearing. He wasn’t particularly worried about them being able to take a fight. In fact, he was reasonably confident that as a party they could take down anyone who gave them trouble. It was just that he'd like to avoid that becoming an issue if at all possible.

Tucker, in his gleaming armour with a holy symbol of Lord Mianite on clear display, was the most likely of the group to be clocked as a paladin. Such an assumption, however, would be wrong. The champion of Mianite was a cleric, a fact far more obvious when he was stuck healing everyone in and typical after battle, but he didn’t particularly mind when people got his class wrong anyway. “Let’s just go back to the inn and—"

His words of concern were met with a gentle smack from the tail of the man sitting next to him. His head snapped to the tiefling, the annoyance he was becoming known for in the party clear on his features.

"Don't be stupid. We're not leaving until I win the bet with Sparklydick about the pirate at the bar," Tom said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Obviously, they were staying until it was revealed if the half-elven pirate Jordan had failed to flirt with was simply playing hard to get or was actually into women as Tom had proposed. He didn't miss the two different looks of annoyance shot his way, but he didn't care about them.

He was a not quite undead tiefling twice blessed by the devil god Lord Dianite to escape death. Once in a deal where Tom had defined himself as ‘willing enough’. Once far more decisively as a gift from the god. Needless to say, he got angry or annoyed glares a lot. At this point, he saw them more as a badge of honour than something to be avoided. Though there was something a little unsettling about being glared at by Jordan.

"There is no actual way for you to prove your part of the bet," Jordan muttered, pupilless eyes fixed on Tom. Jordan, as all aasimar, could be described as terrifyingly beautiful. The mortal offspring of those touched by celestial beings and angels, all of them had features of something markedly inhuman but beautiful. Jordan, in the simplest way to describe him, was covered in stars. Parts of his skin looked like nebulae in a way almost uncomfortable to look at, but was undeniably beautiful nonetheless. His unusual appearance extended to his eyes, which shifted and glowed with blue star light that could make his gaze appear imposing with minimal effort. "Besides, we should be focused on finding a ship to get us to--"

"I can't," He cut him off, stretching out his words to purposely annoy and smirking as he looked over Tucker’s shoulder towards the bar. In a brief pause from cutting the meal delivered to him, he pointed his knife towards the pirate. "But Sonja is currently proving me right."

Jordan and Tucker both turned in perhaps the least subtle way they possibly could have. Just as Tom had said, stood at the bar talking with the pirate that Jordan had utterly failed to flirt with was the party’s final member, their resident bard.

Sonja looked almost human at the current moment, though her fox tail and ears never disappeared. Once upon a time in her family history, they had been werefoxes. But over the generations their two forms had joined together, and they had become what was commonly known as shifters. Most of the time, Sonja’s animal features were simply what they were now, but she could transform further into a fox-like form if and when it suited her.

It could be argued that perhaps the two weren't flirting but rather Sonja was just gathering information. After all, all that seemed to be happening was the pirate writing something in Sonja's journal. However, that argument died before Jordan could make it as Sonja lent closer, saying something that caused the woman to blush deeply before a smile broke out on her face and she called over the bartender.

"How does she always end up with someone else paying for her drinks?" Tucker muttered, incredibly unsurprised but still somewhat mystified by Sonja’s talent for it.

Jordan groaned deeply as Tom put out an expectant hand. How in the hell had he actually lost ten gold to something that should've been impossible to prove? Logically, it didn’t actually matter. As they were looking for transportation, the group was very likely to have to pool their money together to pay for it, but that didn't make handing over the large sum sting any less. Especially not as Tom stared at him with a shit-eating grin as he purposely dropped the coins one at a time into his coin pouch.

Sonja strolled back over, expensive drink in hand and journal in the other, a smirk on her face as she saw the looks of her companions. She briefly considered asking Tom for half, as he certainly couldn't have won his little bet without her, but she decided against it. Jordan already looked annoyed, no point in rubbing it in further. Besides she already had a glass of top shelf rum, and possibly a date that night with a very pretty woman. She didn't need more rewards. As she sat down, slapping Tom's hand away from her drink, she spoke before any of them could ask her any questions that she’d prefer not to answer.

"I found a ship that might take us."

"That's great, Sonj! Did she know someone?" Tucker was frankly overjoyed that at least one of them was actually doing something productive. He'd worked with Tom for years now, he was used to the man slowing down every quest they did by distracting himself and everyone around him. He could work around him desperately wanting to do anything but what they were meant to be doing. However, given how important this quest was to him, he didn't expect Jordan to be the same way. Nor was it anywhere near as easy to get them to focus when they were both eternally distracting each other.

Thankfully though Sonja was, as ever, making progress. Even if her methods always seemed to also net her free drinks, at least she’d always come back with the information they needed.

"Better! She's a captain," Sonja said. Immediately, Jordan groaned. Tom cackled. Sonja just smirked.

Gods, she was glad that this party was interesting. She'd gotten stuck with so many dullards before meeting Tucker and Tom. She'd been slightly worried that Jordan would be a drag, what with his all-important quest to save the lost goddess. It had seemed like the sort of quest too important to have any fun on the side. She was so glad that her initial assumption had been wrong. "Told her I couldn't discuss the exact island we're headed towards without you guys, but her and her crew are from that archipelago, so they'll be able to get us close at least. She wants to meet up with us tomorrow morning to discuss location and how much we'll have to pay."

"That's great! This is..." Jordan couldn’t finish his sentence. Admittedly, he was not overly excited that he was going to end up stuck on a ship with a woman that he's embarrassed himself in front of. But that was cancelled out by the sheer joy that he was actually making progress. He was one step closer to untangling the mystery surrounding Lady Ianite. He felt the same elation he had each time he'd gained the smallest clue about her. His skin pricking as starlight threatened to break through.

His ability to revel in it was promptly cut off as the door to the tavern was thrown open, hardwood smashing against the wall. Immediately, the loud conversations that had filled the building silenced as an armoured bandit stalked his way inside.

"Paladin of Ianite!" He yelled. His words, loud and snide, made the whole party freeze. They all knew they couldn't have any obvious reactions. It would give them away if this guy didn't actually know who Jordan was, but they all knew this was bad. Tucker, who would be at the front of the table from the bandit's perspective, shifted his position, trying as well as he could in heavy armour to be subtle. He might not be able to fully block Jordan from view, but he could look big and imposing and make his own holy symbol of Lord Mianite as obvious as possible.

The party collectively held their breath as the bandit's eyes passed over them, unable to tell by his reaction if he actually spotted Jordan. Tom's hand twitched as he readied himself to possibly fight, not knowing his instinct would leap to weapons or a spell, but knowing he would strike first. A scowl emerged on the bandit's face as they finished scanning. "I know you're in here! The boss wants to talk. Be there at sunset, alone."

He began to turn as if that was all he wanted to say, but he had only taken two steps when he pushed back and once again turned to face the crowd of the tavern. A wicked grin was plastered on his features.

"Oh, and we've got your brother! If you don't turn up or show up with company, we'll gut him!" He laughed, cruel and mocking.

His last mistake. Tom thought as the tiefling pushed himself up from his chair with one hand and shot the other out towards the bandit. Energy crackled out from his palm. Quickly it travelled up his arm before going back on itself at his shoulder, back towards his open hand now far louder and darker. A dark beam of force shot out of Tom's hand and into the chest of the bandit.

He staggered back, a grunt of pain escaping. He looked at Tom for a moment, staring as if trying to figure out if picking this fight was worth it. His eyes flickered to the rest of the table, to each of other three adventurers. He reached into his pocket. And before any could react, let alone try to stop him, threw a handful of dust at his feet and teleported away.

"Fuck!" Tom exclaimed, collapsing back into his chair as he readily ignored the now-countless stares in his direction. He was completely used to being stared at. It was barely something he acknowledged anymore. Instead, he was just annoyed with himself. He should've shot another bolt, that might've stopped the bastard escaping. Said annoyance cemented as he saw Jordan's face.

The threat and the laugh were still echoing in his head. They had Andor. Whoever this group were, they had kidnapped and were threatening his brother. If he didn't come to a meeting that he didn't know the location of, they were going to kill him. He couldn't breathe. Even though he could feel air rushing past the back of his throat, he was sure he wasn’t breathing. He'd put him in danger. Andor was going to get hurt because of him.

A hand gripped his arm. Jordan was forced into reality, though it did not do anything to relax him. Instead, he was just as panicked but now staring at Tucker rather than lost in his own head.

"We're going to rescue him, make sure he is completely unharmed, and almost certainly kill that man's whole crew," Tucker kept his voice at a low whisper. He could be heard by Jordan and the others, but anyone else would need to strain to listen. He was thankful that Tom’s reaction could, and likely would, be written off as the sort of thing any adventurer would do when such an obvious villain appeared.

This was not something they needed other people butting in on. Nor did they need the world knowing that Jordan followed a lost, occasionally forbidden, goddess. What he needed was to calm Jordan down so they could all get out of here and figure out a plan of attack. He tightened his grip ever so slightly, trying to get his panicking friend focused. "But you need to calm down, so we can get out of here without creating a bigger scene than we already have and actually figure out a plan."

"A plan... Yeah, plan, okay," He ended up nodding as words seemed to be failing him as he got to his feet, half pulled by Tucker. As the three guys stood, Sonja remained sat, seemingly completely lost in her own world. Tom ended up flicking her with his tail to jolt her to attention.

"Huh! Oh, yes, leaving!" She sprung up almost too quickly, gathering her book and other belongings. Jordan was already far too stressed to acknowledge her odd behaviour, and Tucker was quite preoccupied with him. But Tom was going to just let her act so blatantly off and not acknowledge it. Another lighter tap of his tail and a pointed look was all it took for Sonja to grimace.

Her magic in this moment was far subtler than the attack Tom had done. Most would be unable to tell a spell was being cast at all. A finger under her book ever so carefully pointed at Tom, a few gentle taps on the metal of the flute strapped to her backpack. That was all it took for Sonja to make the near silent spoken words be spoken loud and clear in Tom's head.

"I think something involving more than just us is going on. Just a hutch. Do not tell Jordan."

⚖ ⚖ ⚖

The sunset was far too close for Jordan's taste as the party was gathered around the back of a seemingly abandoned building. He trusted them all, knew that they wouldn't have led him here unless they were sure this was the location where Andor was being kept. However, he still couldn't relax. If they were in the wrong place, there wouldn't be enough time to find where his brother actually was before he got hurt. That was enough to leave him anxiously fidgeting with an intricate brass cube that he’d pulled from the centre of the leather gauntlet he was wearing.

His anxiousness was not unnoticed by the others, who understood it but did not have any ideas on how to comfort him. It was not as if any of them particularly liked the idea of the kid getting hurt.

The rest of them had met Andor when he had hired them to find Jordan who had seemingly been kidnapped. While it turned out that the newly assigned Champion of Lady Ianite had actually left of his own accord, he had been imprisoned in the first step of his god-assigned quest. After being rescued, he had ended up returning to give his brother an actual goodbye. Their meeting had been brief, but Jordan clearly cared about him, so they cared about him. So, they were going to make sure he wasn't going to be hurt, but mere words of reassurance didn't do much when the person they wanted to protect was in the clutches of bandits.

“That's the lock done,” Sonja said as felt the last pin click into place so she could fully turn it. She was by far the calmest of the group and had been all day. While she was obviously concerned about Andor, her brain was not fully satisfied with the situation they were apparently in. Her suspicions were not enough to cause her to investigate her own ideas rather than help the group when they were on a time crunch, but she was absolutely sure that there was more going on than just Andor being in danger. However, she had no idea if that was because of some larger plot or if he wasn't in danger at all. So, she had kept her thoughts mostly to herself. 

“Great. My guy told me that they keep prisoners in the rooms down the hall from the back door so they can easily get them in and out,” Tom said, his voice a touch too loud for the words he was actually saying.

“And how trustworthy is this guy?” Tucker asked, all too familiar with how the tiefling’s criminal contacts lead them into traps. For once, Tom was not overly offended to be questioned.

“Pretty trustworthy. Hates this gang ‘cause they kidnapped him to blackmail someone. Only let him out this morning so the info should be up to date,” The guy has certainly seen better days and seemed all too happy at the prospect of a group of adventurers taking down this particular gang. “Plus, I hadn't even told him why I was interested, and he said that he'd heard them dragging someone else early in the morning. That he’d heard the gang talking about having a way to lure ‘The Paladin’ in.”

Jordan felt nauseated. Andor had been with these thugs for a full day. All to threaten him. He knew that he couldn't afford to panic right now. If the party wasn't fully focused it would make this all the harder, but he couldn't stop worrying. He tried to breathe through it, to focus on the cube in his fingers and pressing the pieces of it into the right positions for what they needed to do. Despite everything he was trying, he just couldn’t get the panic out of his thoughts and his mind where it should be. 

“Let's just get Andor out of here,” He said. Frankly, he wanted to kill the lot of them. He knew that whoever this gang was, this town would be better off without them. But, beyond anything, it was far more important to make sure Andor was safe. He could come back and enact justice later. He clicked the cube into place on edge of his gauntlet and nodded to Sonja.

She nodded back and took a breath. She might not fully trust this situation, but regardless this gang needed to be taken care of. She shoved the door open.

There was briefly the idea in the party's collective minds that they might actually be able to be sneaky for once. This optimistic thought was almost immediately shattered as Tucker and Jordan had barely taken a step through the door before they were spotted by two suddenly startled gang members.

“Shit! She brought back up! Go get the--” The thug's yelling was quickly silenced as Tom shoved past Tucker and Jordan to swing an axe into the man's chest.

The tiefling was grinning maliciously as energy flowed through his body in a way it only did in a fight. As his axe was buried in the man's flesh, a rotting magic spread into the wound, only causing the thug more damage beyond the swing itself. He ripped it out, attempting a second swing at the other fleeing bandit, only to miss as he had to dodge an attack from the man he had just injured.

The flight of the second bandit was swiftly prevented as Jordan pressed his wrist against the cube and focused. For a moment he could feel static in the air. The next, a bolt of lightning shot out his wrist, lashing around the fleeing bandit and yanking him back towards the group as the electricity temporarily froze him in place.

As Tucker rushed towards the second bandit, Sonja took his place in the doorway. In one motion she reached down to her belt, pulled a dagger from it, and threw it into the neck of the bandit Tom had attacked. He gasped before slumping to the ground. Before Tom could yell at her for kill-stealing, she pulled her flute from her backpack. 

“You're gonna do great, Tucker,” She said, quickly lifting her flute to her lips to imbue the words with magic. While he'd argue that her tone was lacking, as the tune he'd come to know well found his ears, Tucker did truly believe her words. He raised his mace, almost able to sense where the bandit was going to dodge as he brought it down and caved the man's head in.

With that, both the bandits were dead. The despatching was quick as most fights were with experienced adventurers. They were almost slower to readjust themselves than they had been to fight.

Sonja trudged over to the bandit now slumped at Tom's feet to retrieve her dagger. Tucker bent down to examine the one that he had slain, hoping to find something useful so they didn't wander blindly into whichever room the gang’s boss was in. He didn't find a map, he doubted there would be one, but he did find something useful for once.

“This one had keys,” He said, fishing the ring off their belt. Now they wouldn't need to wait on Sonja lock picking every door. Which meant less of Tom and Jordan getting bored or antsy and just breaking doors down.

Of course, though, given the stakes of the situation, Jordan was not about to be patient. He dashed over to Tucker, practically snatching them from him. He sprinted off down the corridor towards the prisoner cells. The rest of the party quickly gave pursuit, knowing that there would be no stopping him, but also knowing there was bound to be more enemies in this place.

The building itself had looked like a warehouse from the outside, though the inside made it pretty clear that it had always been a front for gang activity. Everything was far too structurally sound for it to have been built by this crew for their activities. Though, thankfully it did seem to just be a criminal base rather than the entrance to any kind of dungeon. Frankly none of them were in the mood for a multi-day long delve into one at the current moment, nor did they want to think about being directly threatened by someone who controlled such a place.

Jordan, having dashed ahead, arrived at the prisoner cells first. Luckily for the fact that he arrived by himself, there were not actually any guards. Rather the room was completely devoid of people, allowing him to peer inside one of the empty cells where the door was ajar. A cramped room without any windows, just a near rotting bed frame and bucket. He felt his anger building as he was no longer shaking, almost looking outwardly calm as he strode towards the only locked cell. He was only to burn this place to the ground. If Andor had been at all hurt, then only the gods could help this gang now.

“Gods, Jordan, slow down.”

“Yeah, this could be a fucking trap! We were told they're trying to lure you in,” Tucker and Tom yelled as they got inside, making Jordan pause and turn back to them. His eyes, those irises made of skylight, were glowing more intensely than they ever had. They may as well have been talking to a supernova for how little the arguments they made actually reached their friends. Jordan turned back away from them. He was going to make sure his brother was okay. 

The other three, knowing that this was frankly too easy, all prepared themself for another fight. Weapons readied, Sonja already flicking through spells in her head, they readied themselves for an ambush.

Jordan turned the key and took hold of the door handle. Everyone else held their breath.

“Andor it's me, I'm sorry I—" The moment Jordan opened the door, his words died as he just stared at the cell in front of him. The others rushed forward.

“Spark?!” A confused voice that none of them had heard before spoke. All of them froze just as Jordan had, the entire party completely baffled. Out of the cell stumbled a ginger half-elf, looking just as confused as they all felt. He approached Jordan, but the moment he appeared to get a solid look at him, he took a step back. “No, you're not… Sorry, I thought you were someone else. Who are you?”

The man looked at each member of the party, getting progressively more bewildered as he did so. Annoyingly enough, there was something undeniably familiar about him, but not a single one of them could put their finger on what. It wasn’t that they thought they knew him, just that there was some sense of familiarity despite that.

The thing that stood out most about him at this current moment was that he looked like he’d been beaten the shit out of. As he pushed hair out of his face, a large fresh bruise forming over one of his eyes became clear. His clothes were dishevelled with the long coat he was wearing being torn, though they clearly would've been presentable prior to being damaged.

Just another poor sod that had been grabbed by these fuckers. Jordan was sure of that, but the fact this wasn’t an ambush gave him no comfort. Andor wasn't here. If he wasn't here, then what if he'd already been dragged off because he was late to the meeting? He knew that he had to say something, that he couldn't just remain silent, but with every anxiety about his brother's safety returning. He could barely think, let alone speak.

“He's Jordan. I'm Sonja. This is Tom and Tucker,” Sonja took it upon herself to introduce the party. She smiled as she knew was best for the situation, careful but enough to be clear they weren't about to attack the random man they'd just rescued.

Her mind was admittedly elsewhere as she was starting to put clues together that were quickly leading her to a far different conclusion than the one that they had jumped to. Still, there was talking to do. What was she here for if not to be charming? “We were trying to rescue Jordan's brother since these guys said they had kidnapped him. Don't suppose that you've heard any other prisoners in here.”

“No, I’m afraid I haven't. There might’ve been someone in here early in the morning since I was knocked out when they dragged me in, but it’s just been me as far as I can tell,” The man seemed hesitant to talk. Though, it didn't seem like he was lying. His words were enough for all of Jordan's anxiety to twist into a bitter annoyance as he spun on his heel, all his frustration suddenly focused on one tiefling.

“You said you were sure this was the place!” He said, already on the verge of yelling, as he stormed over. Immediately an indignation sparked in Tom's eyes.

“This is the right place. The bandits we fought were wearing the same armour as the guy at the tavern,” He spoke with a quieter tone than Jordan, but with the same annoyance bubbling up. It was unfortunately clear to Sonja and Tucker that the two were going to fight. Neither was going to be able to talk them down. Nor did either of them want to get between the two of them. So, it was just a question of whether or not this argument was going to turn physical.

Sonja just sighed. Tucker stepped away from the two rolling his eyes. The stranger looked bewildered. Knowing that even if the two just argued rather than anything more serious it was going to take a while, Tucker aimed his attention to the stranger.

“So, do you need help getting out of here or…?”

“Help finding my stuff is all I really need. I don’t want to keep you from finding who you’re looking for, but I need to find my sister as soon as possible and I can go on my own as long as I’m armed,” The stranger replied. Tucker didn't see anything to question with his words. It seemed the gang's main modus operandi was abducting people to blackmail their loved ones. The man probably just wanted to find his sister before she gave these guys whatever they wanted from her. So, best to help him and make sure less people were in danger from these guys.

“I'll help you look. They’ll probably be a chest in here somewhere.”

As Tucker moved further into the room to help, the argument and the friendlier conversation started overlapping.

“Oh, sure this is definitely the place! No way you just got tricked by some random criminal.”

“How could I have gotten tricked?! I didn't tell him why I wanted to know about the gang! Maybe they don’t even have Andor! Maybe they just saw adventurers and wanted to blackmail us without effort.”

“Here's a chest! Is a cutlass yours?”

“Yes! Thank the gods, I was scared they'd just thrown all of it.”

It turned into just a mess of noise. Sonja found herself in the middle of it, not contributing. Instead, all her focus was on attempting to think through the situation they'd found themselves in.

“How would they even know I had a brother?!”

“Lucky guess? I mean having a brother isn’t uncommon.”

“Fine! What about me following Lady Ianite? How would they know that?!”

“Because you talk about the fact you follow her in crowded places despite being warned repeatedly not to?” Tucker said dryly. Jordan’s head snapped to him, glaring.

“You follow Lady Ianite?” The stranger asked, looking up from the chest he was taking his belongings from. It was not an unusual question, but the tone he asked was. It was not the confusion that most had, but rather a surprised curiosity. And suddenly it clicked.

“All of you shut up!” Everyone turned to the shifter with a mix of annoyance and confusion. Tom and Jordan were ready to instead argue with her until they saw the panic present in her eyes.  Sonja had realised all at once what she had missed. She felt like an absolute idiot. They had made an assumption, one that Sonja couldn't blame any of them for making, but she knew that she should've realised this earlier. She looked at the stranger, unsure if she wanted to be right or not. “Your sister, is her name Capsize?”

“Yes, why—"

“We were wrong! They weren't trying to blackmail Jordan! Front of the building now!” Sonja turned on her heel and took off at a sprint not wanting to waste any time with a real explanation. While he had little context for the situation, the stranger did realise that his sister was almost certainly in danger. Grabbed his cutlass and an odd anchor shaped charm from the chest and took off after her. Tucker followed her too, not quite having processed the situation, but trusting Sonja to not need an explanation.

Tom and Jordan, meanwhile, looked between themselves. They should probably have just followed the others. In fact, they should’ve done so without question. But instead, they remained in the room, trying to put the situation together.

“Who's Capsize?” Tom asked.

“The pirate from the tavern.”

“The gay pirate?”

“Yes,” Jordan said, just about managing to keep himself from snapping. “But why would her brother be here?”

There was a moment of silence. Then the two realised the truth and sprinted out of the room after the others.

⚖ ⚖ ⚖

Capsize swallowed as she faced the building that she knew was the base of the gang of bastards. She wished there she was doing anything but walking in here alone. She wasn't stupid, she knew that this was almost certainly a trap. However, she also knew that the words of the underling from the tavern hadn't been a bluff. Redbeard was missing. He hadn’t returned from wherever he had gone drinking the previous night, but neither she nor her crew had thought anything of him not being there in the morning. It was such a usual occurrence that she hadn’t thought anything of going about her day. Gods, she felt terrible about just going to the tavern now it’s clear that he’d been abducted. So, if she had to give into whatever this lot wanted to make sure they didn't kill him so be it. It was her own fault for not attempting to find him earlier.

She tried to shake off her nerves. She had dealt with them before, even if she had sworn off doing business with them when she found out how they made the majority of their money. Smuggling and thievery were one thing, abductions and blackmail were quite another. Now she found herself the victim, she was sure she’d made the right choice but right now the best solution was to just go and give them what they wanted. If she tried to get around them before she got Redbeard away from them, they would kill him. She’d seen what they’d done to one of their previous victims. This gang, especially their boss, might be idiots but they were dangerous idiots. So, unfortunately, she couldn’t afford to be late or bring assistance. She’d figure out a way to get back whatever they asked off her later.

Obviously, she knew coming alone was playing into their hands. She had crew members on alert to come if she wasn't back in the next twenty minutes, but she couldn't show up with them. She hated it, she was going exactly against her own gut instincts. But, she tried to assure herself, she could deal with this crew. She had actual training, she had her devotion, and she didn’t think it was likely that they wanted to fight her anyway. More likely they’d heard that her ship was carrying a few magic items and wanted a cut.

She didn’t find her own thoughts all that reassuring. But, with little else to do, she gave a prayer to Ianite and entered the building she knew to be the gang’s den. At least if things went south, she wasn't unarmed. She just wished that she could just trust her gut and walk away. 

The moment she was inside, she could feel eyes on her. Gang members leaning against walls were not even being subtle as they watched as she made her way to the main room of the building. But she couldn't allow her nerves to show. So, she walked through with her hands in her pockets to keep them from resting on her cutlass. There was no reason for her nerves to be acting up like this anyway. Yet, despite trying to tell herself that, she felt as though she was putting on a performance.

Into the meeting room she strode, a causal smile on her face despite the bubbling nerves inside her. There the boss of the gang sat a crooked grin cracking across his face as she entered. Her boots against the wood were the only sound in the room as she made her way to the centre. She was acutely aware of the underlings in the room with them. Eight, with one blocking the doors leading further into the building and another quickly moving to the doors she just came through. So, she wasn’t leaving easily then.

“What do you want and where's my brother?” Her tone was shorter than she had intended it to be. She was already done with whatever this was. The boss’ smile faded slightly. Okay, maybe this was going to go smoother than she expected. She took one hand from her pocket and rested it on her cutlass handle. “I've got a date later. I'd prefer to be on time and not blood splattered.”

“Shame that. A real shame,” The boss sounded as slimy as she remembered him being. She did her best to not show her any nerves. She couldn't fight nine people. She could fight any one of them individually, but collectively they'd overwhelm her. Maybe if she could end the bastard in charge before the fight started, but she'd have to rush him. He placed a hand on his own weapon. “Cause you're not gonna make it at all.”

Capsize needed no better signal to rush him. She knew she had faster reactions than the lot of them, that she'd be able to reach and attack him before any of them even moved. She just had to hope that she did enough damage to get him out of commission. Maybe she could grapple him and use him as a hostage to get out of here? But she'd still need to rescue Red. It was the only option that wasn’t taking down a room of people by herself, though.

As she slowed her sprint she began the swing of her blade, unsheathing the cutlass and swinging in one motion. It cut into his side, sliding through his leather armour into flesh. All his cockiness was shredded away into rage, a fact that made Capsize grin uncontrollably. She might be in a situation where she was utterly outnumbered and likely screwed if she didn't think of something clever soon, but she could at the very least do damage to the absolute bastard who had put her here before she needed to figure out her next move.

She went for a second swing. The boss attempted to parry. But she saw it coming, readjusted her swing to dig into his arm rather than clash against his sword. He yelled. She'd hurt him, but not nearly enough. All his underlings were going to come for her now. She couldn't hide in here. She definitely couldn't escape. All she could do was grip her cutlass and hope she could get the upcoming assault.

“Remember boys! We need her alive, but it'll be easier to restrain her once she's injured!”

Please, Ia, let me make it through this.

The first strike came from the bastard himself. She managed to parry, catching his sword on her own. Metal clashed against metal as she shoved it away. The heavy boots of those rushing up behind her were loud and clear. The man on the door she could see from her current position seemed to be saying put. She assumed the one covering the doors she had entered through would also keep covering the entrance. Six more attackers. She could do this.

She spun on her heel, parrying the first strike to come down. It gave her the tiniest amount of confidence. That feeling was swiftly cut through by the next blade cutting into her off-arm. Of all of the times to not wear armour. She bit her lip as she forced herself to grit through it. She'd had worse. She was going to get worse. She just needed to survive.

She kicked hard at the leg of her next would-be attacker. He stumbled. His strike went wide though he managed to stay upright. The next attacker’s strike made it through, grazing her other arm. It stung, though she knew the damage was lesser than her first injury. But it reminded her just how overwhelmed she was. For every attacker she dodged or parried or out matched, there was another ready to strike where she wasn't paying attention.

Her off arm was yanked back. The fresh injury was pulled, stretched, and almost certainly made worse. It was painful. Though, it was the sort of pain that she'd normally be able to bite through in order to pull out of the grip of the enemy. This time, however, it coincided with a club hitting her in the stomach. She gasped for air. The moments of being winded distracted her too much to pull her arm away before she felt a manacle close around her wrist.

Panicked and wild, she pulled away. This was more costly a mistake than any injury she could've received. On her left wrist was locked a manacle, the chain and the second cuff hanging heavily off her wrist. It was her off hand. She could still fight like this, but the weight was beyond awkward. Not to mention, now one good grapple could leave her completely unable to fight.

Still, there was nothing to do but keep fighting. She swung again. The underlings were less trained than she was, and all had far worse armour than their boss. If she could injure two of them, that would get her an opening to another side of the room. Her swings hit. A slash across the chest and a chop into a shoulder. Both far less damaging than she would've liked but it still gave her an opening. She tried to run off. Unfortunately, she wasn't fast enough.

Two arms grabbed each of hers. She was pulled back as she tried to dash off. As much as she tried to thrash and worm her way out of their grips, her dexterity was no match for the strength of two people. Her wrists were forced together, and she felt the other manacle lock. She was shoved forward, still completely surrounded but now very much unable to fight back.

“I always knew you'd be easy to take down without your crew,” The boss’ grin was back in full force. She felt more annoyed at herself than she ever had. Of all the people to be taken down by, it was some small-town criminals whose names she hadn't bothered to remember.

“Oh, sure. I'm easy to take down when I’m outnumbered nine to one,” She spat. Her annoyance about her own actions translated into rage towards him. She knew this was mostly her own fault. She had known that this would be a trap, but still chosen to come on their terms. However, she could still be incredibly indignant about him acting as if he'd taken her down in any way that lessened her own skill. She knew he had an ego. Maybe if she offended him enough, he'd demand a one-on-one fight. “If you weren't such a coward, you'd be in a puddle of your own blood right now.”

“Maybe I’m a coward. But I'm one that’s about to be 50,000 gold pieces richer.”

“Who offered—"

Before she could question who in all the hells was offering such a reward for her capture, the doors at the back of the room burst open. The man who had been guarding them was shoved forward and ended up on the ground. There was a flash of rage in the boss’ eyes. Capsize couldn't help but laugh. She had no idea how, but a miracle had happened.

“Sonja!” Gods, she chose dates well. The shifter who she'd brought a drink for earlier that day stood in the doorway with a murderous look in her eyes. And here she was thinking she'd just end up looking like a jerk for seemingly abandoning their date and later business meeting. But it turned out that flirting with adventurers could pay off well.

She was very quickly joined by two men. One Capsize only vaguely recognised. An armoured individual with a holy symbol of Lord Mianite that had been at the same table as Sonja at the bar. The second was her brother. Immediately, a look of panic and anger spread across his features. She understood the feeling as she could only grit her teeth and seethe as she saw the black eye he was sporting. But they didn't have time for that. She had back up now, so now it was time to actually fight.

“Red! Biggest spell you have the energy for centred on me!” She yelled. She knew that she was asking for something profoundly dangerous, but it would take out those surrounding her. He hesitated for a moment. She had already taken at least a couple of hits. He didn't want to knock her out or worse. But when she gave an order, there'd be hell to pay if it wasn't followed.

Holding his focus made his stance feel slightly off. He'd normally have it hanging from his belt, but he knew that didn't actually matter. As long as he focused. Just focus. He pressed his feet down hard, to the point that it was nearly uncomfortable. He stared at the point where Capsize was standing. Every fibre of his being focused on it. She would dodge, he reassured himself. She wouldn't have told him to do this if she wasn't going to dodge.

His eyes began to glow. Tucker and Sonja felt the air heat up. An intense glow formed around the anchor charm that he was gripping so hard that his fingers had turned white. He shot his arms up to point at the spot where Capsize was standing. A fireball exploded beneath her feet.

Capsize dropped instantly in a roll. Her movement was awkward compared to what it would normally be. With her hands being cuffed behind her back a heavy hindrance. But she was well practised enough with such moves. All the thugs were far too busy trying to save their own hides to even attempt to stop her. She felt the fire, felt her skin burning as she could only remind herself that'll would heal with spells easy enough. But it was worth it. When she sprang back to her feet, the path to her saviours was clear.

As Capsize rushed over to them, Sonja and Tucker took survey of the room. Four of the bandits had been taken down by the fireball. The two that remained were definitely worse for wear. The man in charge had dodged the explosion. Not as well as Capsize had, but he'd probably still be able to fight. The only two unharmed were the two that had been on the doors and one of them remained prone at their feet.

“Leave right now and we won't kill the rest of you,” Tucker said. He knew they could win this fight. In fact, they were almost guaranteed to win barring the world's worst luck. He would prefer to not waste his time, though.

“Or you could join us and get a cut of the reward money for that one,” The boss said, jabbing his sword to point at Capsize. The way he was smiling it really seemed like it believed they'd take him up on the offer.

“Your funeral, man,” Tucker sighed. He pointed to one of the injured underlings muttering a few words of praise to Lord Mianite. His holy symbol glowed with radiant light. The sound of a bell filled the room. The underling he was pointing to fell to the ground dead.

“Fuck yeah! There’re still people alive!” Tom's far too happy voice came flooding down the hall as he and Jordan were finally catching up and could enter the fray.

“No money is worth this!” The other injured bandit yelled as he decided to take Tucker's offer and began to bolt towards the entrance doors. It seemed the man guarding said door agreed with him as he threw them open and sprinted out the room.

“Damn cowards!” The boss yelled after them. It was only him and the man knocked prone left. More gold than they'd earn in a lifetime! How could they let fear overwhelm them?

“Shut up and sit down until we tie you up,” Sonja said with such an annoyed tone that even before she raised her flute to her lips his anger turned to confusion. However, when the discordant melody hit his ears, control faded from his body. His eyes glossed over. He did precisely what he had been told. He had no control to do otherwise. Sonja smiled. “Well, that's the end of—"

Sonja didn’t finish her sentence before the last man struck. The bandit previously knocked prone leapt onto Capsize. It was enough of a shock that she was knocked to the ground under him. With his weight on her and hands locked so she couldn’t shove him off. She tried to kick him off her, the effort fruitless. Stuck staring at him, her panic grew. It was the teleporting bastard from the bar. If she didn't get him off her, everything would be for nought. She felt his grip dig into her hair, could feel him reaching into his own pocket for whatever dust let him teleport the first time. Could someone get him off her!?

“Remember me, prick!” Capsize felt the worst pain she had that day. The man was shot off of her as an eldritch energy shot him to the other side of the room. He took a chunk of her hair and her bandana with him. Not to say she didn't appreciate the rescue from the grinning tiefling that had just entered the room, but gods did it hurt. Apparently though, the rescue had come at exactly the right moment. The moment the bastard landed, he dropped the dust and disappeared. “Fuck, I wanted to kill him.”

“Kill the bastard in charge,” She said, just about managing to roll onto her side and into a sitting position. She knew she didn't need to. One of the others would’ve surely helped her up, but she felt embarrassed enough. She wanted to do something for herself. But apparently the world thought she wasn’t embarrassed enough because the aasimar she'd rejected at the tavern was a part of Sonja's crew.

“Jordan. Tie up that guy, will you? Probably worth interrogating him,” Sonja said, knowing that Tom would definitely kill him if she didn't interrupt. Granted, he probably deserved whatever Tom wanted to do to him, and she’d let him get to that. But it would undoubtedly be useful to learn what he knew before that.

However, the interrogating could fall to the guys, because she had some lockpicking to do. She pulled out her picks and sat behind Capsize. What do you even say to a woman you flirted with a few hours ago and now you rescued from potential death? For once she was in a situation that she hadn’t been in before. Hopefully she could fumble her way through this while the guys weren’t paying attention. “So, fancy seeing you here.”

“Thinking the same myself. Can't say I expected you to show up, but I'm glad you did,” Capsize tried her best to speak as if she wasn't extremely embarrassed about the state she was in. If she'd thought a little more about what she was doing, she'd never have ended up so close to being traded in for gold. She wouldn't be surprised if they didn't want to hire her after this mess, not that she could rightly take their money after this save. Still, she had other things to focus on. “I was almost a goner. Red too, seeing that I doubt that they’d have let him go after capturing me.”

She paused for a second, before looking up at her brother.

“Are you alright, Red?”

“I'm fine. They roughed me up a little, but they weren't really interested in me,” He said. But still Capsize couldn't stop thinking about the threats. Couldn’t stop herself from focusing on his black eye. She knew it was her fault. He'd been taken to lure her here. He'd be fine if someone wasn't interested in her. Redbeard frowned. “Quit looking at me like that. You've taken far worse than me today. Even if this was somehow your fault, we're beyond even.”

“They threatened to kill you because I have a bounty on me. Let me feel a little bad,” She sounded less joking than she intended. Maybe the sudden lack of adrenaline had left her drained. The first cuff was removed. She could hear Sonja move quickly to the other. Gods, he was staring at her actually concerned. She needed to lighten the mood. “But seriously, 50,000 gold pieces. Seems I'm moving up in the world. Have to be a real problem for someone to want to see me that much.”

“50,000? Whose put that bounty on you? A dragon?” Sonja laughed from behind her. Capsize laughed too. It felt ridiculous for anyone to want her that badly. It certainly wasn't the type of reward that law enforcement would offer. That sort of money was reserved for only three types. People and creatures powerful enough to be considered monsters. Royalty, who frankly it was a coin flip to see if they belonged to the previous category. And adventurers. She couldn't think of anyone in any of those categories that she'd pissed off this much.

“A fire genasi,” A voice still far too happy for the situation he found himself in came loud and clear. The boss, despite now having his wrists and ankles bound with rope, looked as confident as he ever had. His eyes bore into Capsize. He wanted to see her squirm. The criminal who acted like she was so much more moral than the rest of them. The woman that had refused to do business with him despite being a pirate follower of a forbidden goddess. The one that had the nerve to act like he was reprehensible. “A cult leader that's taken over a dungeon deep in the mountains up north. She's really interested in you: Unimaginable riches to whoever can get me the messenger of Lady Ianite.”

“Well, that's better than our interrogations normally go,” Tucker said. He was unable to find words for how absolutely stupid this guy was for giving up all potential leverage. Typically, people had at least the self-preservation not to spill the information that was keeping them alive. But at least this had been fast. “So do we take him to the guards or…?”

“I'm gonna explode his head,” Tom said. His smile was large and wild. The air around him was already crackling.

Suddenly, the bastard didn't seem quite so confident. He tried to squirm away, but with the ropes was unable to make any distance from the grinning tiefling. He looked desperately for anyone who might stop what was about to happen. He only found disinterest from everyone. Everyone aside from Capsize. The pirate, with the manacles now fully removed from her wrists, smirked in satisfaction.

There was a blast of eldritch energy from Tom's palm. The man's head hit the wall on the far side of the room.

“Well, thank you all for the rescue,” Capsize started as she got to her feet. At least some of her embarrassment had been pushed to the back of her mind as she felt grimly satisfied that the man that had caused the situation was dead. It was not completely gone, but it was covered enough that she could get down to business. “I haven't actually been introduced to any of you except for Sonja. So, I am Captain Capsize, this is my brother Redbeard. I heard you're looking for passage on a ship.”

“Yes. We have money that we can pool together to—"

“I can't take payment from you, lass. You saved our lives, consider free transport your reward,” Capsize said. Everyone in the party internally relaxed. They probably could've scrambled enough money together to pay for passage, but it almost certainly would've left them broke. If they ended up needing further transportation or any supplies, they'd be stuck far from home without making progress on this quest. “We'll be heading home anyways since it seems I’ll need some extra protection from now on. We can drop you off on the way anywhere in the archipelago. So: where are you lot headed?”

“Ianerea,” Jordan breathed. He felt every fibre of his being vibrating as his thoughts were racing. He was getting closer. They, or at least she, followed Ianite. Hopefully they’d know of the island. However, her reaction made him tense.

Capsize looked at the four of them with a gaze that they all knew many she was analysing them. An intense gaze that they felt could see their every imperfection.

“Ianerea?” Redbeard asked, his voice low and gruff in a way it hadn't been previously. He circled around to be stood next to his sister, his gaze never moving from Jordan. “Now why would any of you have any interest in that cursed isle?”

“I…” Jordan hesitated. He knew he had to get there, knew that was where his quest was leading him. However, he also knew that this was the sort of quest that should be kept secret. Even if he perhaps was not the best at putting that knowledge into practice. If the wrong person found out about this, they'd track him down to the ends of the world to stop him. He had only admitted it so freely to the party because of the situation they'd rescued him from. Could he really trust these pirates?

He looked into their stares. Intense and intimidating, enough to make anyone faulter. He could lie and hope they wouldn't catch him. However, he reminded himself why they had come here in the first place. Even if she didn't look the part, the captain was another paladin of his Lady. Her messenger, whatever that meant. Surely if anyone was to understand it would be her. “I am the champion of Lady Ianite. It's my given quest to find where she's been imprisoned and free her so she can once again be in her rightful place as a goddess. And currently as the clues are pointing to help that I'll find on Ianerea.”

For a moment there was silence.

Then both pirates devolved into laughter.

“Oh gods! She has a type!” The tension disappeared immediately. As did all the gravity that Jordan had put into his words. Tom patted him on the shoulder.

“Hey, don't worry. One day you'll be able to say that you're the champion of Ianite without people laughing in your face.”

“I'm sorry lad. It's not that we don't believe you. It's just—"

“She just found a younger version of Spark!” Redbeard laughed into his sister’s shoulder.

“Who's Spark?” Tucker asked. He did remember the name being briefly mentioned by Redbeard when Jordan had unlocked his cell. He just hadn’t thought anything of it until now.

“He’s… well, I’m not sure ‘retired champion’ is really a thing you can be, but he’s almost who you're looking for if I think about it,” Capsize said heisting as she realised that she didn’t really know how Spark would refer to himself. He was Ianite’s champion. He was an adventurer. But that was all stuff she'd needled out of him over years that he seemed frankly embarrassed of it all. He called himself an architect and builder. He had become her mentor when she’d fast outpaced the other kids she had trained with. But those things didn’t really state his importance nor their reactions.

She'd written it off the similarities at the tavern. After all it wasn't uncommon to see the faces of people you know in strangers, and she wasn’t exactly completely sober. But now? Now it was impossible to not see all their shared features. And, in turn, it was impossible to not find it funny. “But he'll be able to explain his own title once we get home and introduce you.”

“Home? So, you're from--?”

“Ianerea. We're from Ianerea.”

[heyclickadee]

Some Hunter thoughts I can’t articulate worth shit right now but I’m going to try anyway:

There’s something about how much more withdrawn Hunter is and yet doesn’t just disappear out of everyone’s lives in season two, and I don’t know what. He’s still making calls, mostly to not get involved and keep their heads down, but those are still decisions, still trying to keep what’s left of his family safe, still trying to find ways to put food on the table, still being Omega’s dad and having an active presence in her life. He’s still going through the motions of his role.

But he doesn’t talk much, not even to Omega. All those sweet one-one-one conversations he had with her last season aren’t nearly as much of a thing. Part of that’s just because of the practicalities of storytelling; this season had more emphasis on Omega’s relationships with Echo and Tech, so a lot of those one-on-one parent-child conversations went to either Echo in the first half of the season, and Tech in the second. In fact, the only direct parent-child conversation Hunter has with Omega this season (not the only conversation he has with her, just the only one that’s one of those, “Something difficult’s happening, let me help you talk it out,” talks) is is the one at the very end of the season for which neither Echo nor Tech are present, because Echo needed to be alone and Tech’s…MIA. But it’s more than just the shift in character focus.

A lot of the Omega side of The Bad Batch story is told from Omega’s point of view. Not exclusively, there are definitely a lot of scenes and even entire episodes from other perspectives, and Crosshair is pretty much the point of view character of all the Crosshair stuff, of course, and it’s not the same as it would be if the Bad Batch were a first person novel with Omega as the narrator character, but the show does hover around Omega’s perspective a lot, at least. And one thing I do kind of like about this is that it means there’s stuff happening that we don’t see, or that we’re not seeing right now, anyway. Even if we didn’t assume that Hunter, Wrecker, Tech, and Echo were having conversations out of Omega’s earshot, we’re given enough context clues and bits and pieces (and one occasion the entirety) of conversations Omega does overhear to know that that’s the case and to sometimes get the gist of what those conversations were about. The shift in Tech’s attitude from “Replacements” to “Cornered” (from being hellbent on finishing that brain scanner, which they would need if they did go back and get Crosshair, and being the first to pipe up and say that Crosshair’s chip is probably influencing his actions in one episode to sadly noting that Crosshair won’t be needing his comm device in the next) implies that the group had a conversation about the Crosshair situation that Omega (and we) didn’t hear—or that Wrecker, Tech, and Echo realized that Hunter wasn’t going to talk about it and discussed that amongst themselves. We can guess from the interactions between Hunter and Echo this season (as well as that, “Remember what I said,” line which is so frustrating in the best way because what?? What did Hunter say to Echo???) that the, “We should be doing more,” conversation didn’t stop with the one Omega overheard.

The conversations Omega—and by extension, we—don’t hear are probably mostly the more adult ones. And by adult, I guess I should clarify—I don’t necessarily mean the “adult” in that sense, though those conversations probably happen, too. I mostly mean the difficult conversations, about the darker side of the war, how bad their situation could get, Echo deciding to leave, how close they are to flat broke, how many meals they’re going to have to skip so at least Omega can go to sleep with a full belly, that sort of thing. It’s not that they’re trying to keep Omega in the dark, exactly. Their lifestyle doesn’t allow for that luxury. But they are trying, and Hunter’s really the one trying the hardest, to build Omega a childhood out of whatever scraps they can. And part of that, for Hunter, anyway, means keeping some conversations out of Omega’s earshot.

And honestly the last few paragraphs are just a long winded way to say that because a lot of the show hovers around Omega’s perspective, if we see Hunter talking to and around Omega less, that probably means he is talking to her less in universe. This is probably off base, but I kind of think the reason is pretty similar to the reasoning I gave for why they have some conversations out of Omega’s earshot above. Hunter’s really just…not having a good time in season two; he’s depressed at best and his hunker-down-and-ignore-the-star-war-of-it-all attitude comes across as a mix of guilt (over the Crosshair situation) and trauma response. He’s lost and buckling under the pressure to lead his squad in through this strange new reality, and I honestly think that he just doesn’t want Omega to know how bad things in his head are, because she’s a child and he’s her dad/big brother and it is not her responsibility to deal with his problems (1). But he’s so, so bad at faking things, and Omega’s a perceptive kid, so instead of keeping up appearances and trying to pretend that everything’s fine all the time, he withdraws. Just a little bit.

And don’t get me wrong, it’s not a season three Kanan Jarrus situation, where Kanan has to adjust to a new disability and can’t, so he falls off the face of the map (2). Hunter’s still extremely present in Omega’s life, still quizzing her on her homework, still making sure he’s there to catch her when she throws herself off a ledge, still there to look all sad and jealous when Omega starts copying Phee but trusting Omega enough not get in the way of her make a new friend, still there to grab Omega and make sure she doesn’t die in the cable car crash, and so on. He’s always sure to be there whenever she needs him. He just…doesn’t talk with her as much. He moves a quarter-step into the background. And I have some kind of feeling about that, but I’m not sure what it is.

1. This is totally off topic, but this actually one of the things I really liked about Stephen Universe, just…in reverse. I had a hard time getting into the first few seasons of the show (I know, I’m sorry) because the adult characters all sort of talked to Stephen—and each other, but mostly Stephen—like they were all trying to win at therapy, and it kind of drove me crazy. Aaaaaaand then I got to the movie and Future and it turned out that that was kind of the point. Every adult in Stephen’s life sort of used him as a live-in therapist, and it really messed him up and made it difficult to heal from his own trauma.

2. Just to be clear, I’m not dogging on Kanan here.

[bonesartblog]

Your powerless Raphael AU has so many possibilities it's almost driving me insane. There are so many good story ideas here I just- 🤩

*WARNING: Massive Rambling Incoming!*

If Raphael ended up human by the characters we play as finding a way to remove the fiendish half of his blood - in a manner similar to what Bhaal does to a Bhaalspawn who rejects him - does that mean he will have lost most if not all of his magical abilities? If we assume a cambion's magic comes from their fiendish heritage, similar to how a sorcerer's would, I imagine that this would leave him without any of his magic.

If Raphael ends up losing his magic, would he try to learn how to use the Weave like a Wizard and, more importantly, would he actually get very far? I think he might try but I don't think he would get very far because he basically seems to be in indentured servitude in your artwork (which is top notch, by the way) so I doubt he'd have access to the resources to actually learn wizardry (pair that with his likely frustrated and thus frazzled mental state and that doesn't make it very conducive to learning a new skill like wizardry). However, that leaves the door open for him learning the skills of a Bard (like how to use an instrument to channel magic), but that also requires resources that he might not have access to (like an instrument he can carry around) without someone giving him regular access to such things as he learns.

Since you mentioned Raphael ends up falling in love with a woman in your AU, maybe this ties into how they meet? Maybe that woman is a Bard who is working/indentured at the same place Raphael is. Perhaps she recognizes another artistic spirit like herself in Raphael, likely by overhearing him recite poetry (songs are typically like poetry put to music after all), and the two end up spending time together as a result.

Maybe Raphael at first intends to manipulate the woman into teaching him her skills as a Bard so he could not only learn magic but also potentially be able to steal her job so he is not stuck cleaning floors to pay off his debts. Likely none the wiser, the woman could agree to teach him because she simply enjoys the company of another artist and lends him her instrument during their lessons so he can practice. Assuming she doesn't ask to be paid for these lessons, I can imagine that Raphael would be waiting for the other shoe to drop - for the woman to demand he give her something in return - because nothing is ever free and everyone always wants something.

Perhaps Raphael gets reminded just how much he relied on his magic, servants, and debtors for everything when a string on the woman's instrument breaks while he is playing it during a lesson. After the woman checks to see if the string nicked him when it broke (quickly using a Bard spell to heal him if it did) and she assures him that he can just fix it real quick so they can resume the lesson, Raphael has to admit to her that he doesn't know how to fix it himself and she has to show him.

Maybe after a while, the woman ends up surprising him by gifting him his own instrument so that he can practice without having to borrow hers and it's only after their lesson ends for the day that he realizes that he accepted a gift without expecting there to be an invisible price tag attached. Maybe he also realizes that he has long already stopped expecting her to demand something in exchange for her lessons and that he actually in fact looks forward to them, to spending time with her.

As the fruition of his plotting to usurp her job gets closer and closer, he could find himself dreading the idea of actually going through with it more and more. Maybe he gets frustrated with himself over his uncharacteristic reluctance to follow through when he should feel excited over his plan working. This could all then culminate in him realizing that he has fallen in love with her (which, as you said, he handles about as well as you can expect) and probably results in him having an identity crisis over it. Or perhaps what pushes him towards the realization is the woman not showing up for a few days due to some kind of misfortune that unexpectedly befell her (if you want to twist the knife a bit more, maybe a few of Raphael's former debtors mug her and leave her badly injured for "consorting with a devil" even though she might not understand what they were talking about), thus causing Raphael to realize just how much he enjoys her regular company and how deeply he cares for her wellbeing.

*Massive Rambling Warning Over*

Then there is the absolute comedy gold of Raphael having to work like the common folk do while the new heroes of Baldur's Gate and his former clients/debtors clown on him or whoop him so hard his bruises have bruises (which, as much as I adore the character, I kinda have to admit he deserves).

Not to mention him having to learn how to do things manually and for himself for the first time ever. Does this man even know how to properly clean a floor without magic... or is he going to need to be reminded to rinse the rag he is using every now and then so he isn't just moving the dirt around? What about preparing himself food? Has he ever experienced getting sick before and how would he handle that for the first time if not?

The possibilities are literally endless and I am ravenous for them all!

I didn't mean for this to get so long, but I'm just so hyped to see what you may come up with (even if it ends up being nothing like the ideas I was spitballing here - which you are more than free to use if you want, but only if you want - it's your story after all, you do whatever the heck you want and I'll read it 👀). Sorry for the wall(s) of text; I hope that wasn't breaking any kind of Tumblr etiquette. 😅 I can assure you that it probably won't happen again as I am usually too self-conscious to send anything to blogs where I can't be anonymous (even though I 100% get why people want that option turned off).

Anyway, I love your work! Again, it's truly top tier! Keep being awesome! I'm gonna go look at the images some more! Bye!

I WANT YOU TO KNOW I'VE BEEN THNKING ABOUT THIS ALL DAY AND I'M DRAFTING A FIC BC YOU'RE INSPIRING ME LOL.

I'm gonna DOUBLE YOUR MASSIVE RAMBLING WITH MY OWN

-Raphael ends up human through something very similar! I thought it'd be great irony for something of his in his own collection (like a ring that he obtained that has the power to seal the fiendish power of a foe) and have it used against him. Initially it's supposed to be used like a genie's lamp where the wearer is just, sealed away but since Raphael is half human, it locks away his powers and reduces him to whatever is left after the devil in him is essentially stripped away.

-He ends up losing his ability to use magic in its entirety because the ring shackles him in a perpetual limbo where he can exist as a human but all his power is derived from his lineage as a devil, which is negated by the ring--so it's like shutting off a light in a breaker box and raphael being the room the light was connected to lol. And yes--he absolutely does try! I like to think he intended the ring to be used on mephistopheles once he'd been given the crown--but it all backfired once it was placed on him after the house of hope fight. He has to also contend with the new human elements that comes with his curse--which comes in the form of underestimating his ability to temper his emotions that he can now FEEL with raw intensity. Since he's a bard he absolutely relies on his charisma to navigate around people since he doesn't have the means to physically defend himself. (He's put in Sharess' Caress by karlach and astarion because everyone there is familiar with him which makes it harder for raphael to talk his way out of anything. and it's also to keep him where he'll be easy to keep an eye on--he has every opportunity to leave, but they tell him a de-clawed devil is easy prey and his overzealousness of making deals made him easily recognizable by other spurned clients. He's safest in the brothel and he's guaranteed protection on that property only--but Mamzell tells him he has to work to earn his keep or she'll throw him out so he's made to do gruelling tasks lol.

-The woman he meets is called Circe who is another bard that is hired to replace a murdered employee! She's a retired dominatrix and she plays music and sings in the performance area--and you absolutely nailed it! She doesn't meet raphael immediately, since he sort of squirrels himself away until nightfall when he can work unbothered, less likely to be recognized, and also bc he has a wounded ego lol. I wanted to write her as another egomaniac who's obsessed with the sound of her own voice and her own beauty and i thought it'd be hilarious if raphael found it ironically off-putting. But they absolutely do end up spending time together by mocking local plays because they're both snobs which usually turn into them mocking each other for their own tastes. The majority of their first interactions involves Circe talking about herself and constantly getting raphael's name wrong (she calls him 'Ralph' which he has to correct) and a lot of it is raphael getting a taste of his own medicine while exchanging barbs with her.

-As for the rest--you're not far off at all ;) I don't wanna spoil everything but Raphael absolutely has to reckon with experiencing manual labor and all the physical pains that come with it. Also with people that recognize him and want to do him harm / controlling his temper whenever a patron says something off-putting to him / learning how to defend himself since his devil magic is lost to him / and my favorite: HAVING THE HEART OF A MAN AND BEING EXPOSED TO ALL IT VULNERABILITIES LOL

[ecargmura]

The Yuzuki Family's Four Sons Episode 4 Review - Hayato Deserves The World

Man, this episode really hit the feels. I shed some tears during the second half of the episode. Having Hayato as the last of the brothers to have a spotlight episode really shows off how and why he is the best character of the show. Saving the best for last really does factor here.

Hayato goes to his high school reunion, but gets looked down upon by his former schoolmates and classmates once he mentions how hard his life has been raising his three younger brothers. After overhearing some girls gossiping about how he’s like an auntie, his emotional stress gets the best of him as he leaves the party. Fortunately, he is able to voice out his concerns towards his neighbor, Saki Kirishima who happens to be Kojiro’s daughter and Uta and Waka’s mother. As she is a single mom of two, she is able to give her wisdom, which helps Hayato feel better.

First off, the people at the reunion suck. They made me a bit frustrated. I know that they’re still young as they’re in their early twenties, but looking down on Hayato for raising his brothers shouldn’t be a thing. Those floozies were just gold-digging, so I’m grateful they flew away before Hayato grew an interest in them; they’d totally send his brothers away if he were to get married to one of them. I hated how none of them come to Hayato’s defense, even that Miyan guy. I think what Hayato is doing is an amazing feat that no one else can do. He has a job, but also takes care of his three young brothers who are all sweet and kind. It’s hard to raise one kid, but three? Everyone really is missing out on Hayato’s greatness. Man, I felt so bad when those girls were gossiping about him and calling him an auntie.

During his little “mama party” with Saki, he tells her why he is so dedicated to his brothers. It all stems from how he didn’t have much growing up due to his mother constantly working and his father being a nameless author. Only once his father sold something well that his life got better and that the money was able to let them live in the nice house they currently live in and what allowed his parents to have three more kids before their passing. Once Mikoto and Minato were born, the dining table started having elaborate menus compared to his simplistic meals from before. He once said to his baby brothers “It must be nice having a feast every day.” After dinner, his mother held his hands and apologized for not being able to do the same for him back then. Man, that hurt so much. While his mother’s way of raising Mikoto and Minato isn’t right, I do not think she’s a bad mother at all. Sure, she was a bit biased towards Minato, but she still cared a lot about Hayato and in turn, the eldest respected her a lot with how much she sacrificed so much to provide for him during his younger days. That was the reason why he chose to shoulder all of the responsibilities after their passing. He loved and respected his mother and that was why he wanted to honor her. Damn, Hayato is THE brother and THE son.

I love how important the Kirishima family is to the Yuzuki family. Like how Kojiro is Gakuto’s best friend and how Uta is Minato’s bestie, Saki is like Hayato’s confidant in a way. They both raise kids, so they both know how hard it is at times. In fact, I’m really glad that Saki was there to console Hayato and tell him how amazing he is for his dedication. Her wisdom was amazing, seriously. She never once belittles Hayato. She even compliments him on being able to make bentos so good that Uta wants her to make them. I wonder what happened with her husband since it seems that she’s raising her kids on her own with her father Kojiro. Did he die? Did they get divorced? I do wonder if the Kirishima family will get some spotlight in the future episode.

The last part of the episode was really emotional. His brothers celebrate his birthday. Just this scene alone shows the fruit of Hayato’s hard work. Mikoto, Minato and Gakuto are very sweet and respect Hayato a lot. It takes a lot of hard work and dedication for that to happen. It would’ve been disastrous but also easier if all three were unruly or rambunctious, but they’re not. Since Mikoto’s currently thirteen and his birthday is in April and Hayato’s 24th birthday was in this episode, this means Mikoto and Hayato are actually 11 years apart. That would mean during Mikoto’s flashback from Episode 2, Mikoto was 5 and Hayato was 16. Man, the whole birthday scene got me into tears because it shows how much Hayato loves his brothers even after all the emotional stress and negative thoughts he had prior.

Now that all four brothers had their time in the spotlight, where will this show head towards? I’m worried about whether there’d be a possible imbalance between the brothers’ spotlights going forth, but since this show is so adorable, I don’t mind. I’d like to see more of these brothers doing cute things together. In all honesty, I’m excited to see what the rest of the episodes will be about. What are your thoughts about this episode?

[writingquestionsanswered]

I am writing in third person limited and swapping between 3 different characters at the start. My problem is when two of the characters team up and share most of the scenes together. How do I decide which POV to choose?

I don't want to abandom either POV, because I like writing the thoughts of both of them, and because there are still some scenes where they are seperate, but I also don't want to switch between the two when they're together. Any suggestions?

Thank you so much!

Stuck Choosing Between POVs in a Scene

Unless you're writing in third-person omniscient (where all POVs are available at once), you definitely don't want to switch between two POVs in one scene. In third-person limited/close, the narrator is limited to one character POV at a time and can only switch to a new POV character after a scene break or in a new chapter. Otherwise, you fall into what's known as "head hopping" which tends to confuse the reader and give them a bit of literary whiplash.

That said, when you have two POV characters with valuable perspectives in a scene, you really only have two choices:

1 - Choose Between Them - Choosing one POV over the other in a scene isn't "abandoning" the other POV. That character will still be part of the scene, and there are many other ways you can explore their thoughts and feelings even if they're not the POV character in the scene. For example, you use body language (posture, facial expressions, and gestures) to hint to the reader how the non-POV character is feeling. If the POV character knows them well enough, they may use these cues to mentally interpret what the other character might be thinking or feeling. You can also have the other character tell the POV character what they're thinking and feeling. You can also have the POV character overhear them express those thoughts and feelings to another character, have that other character share what this character told them, or have the POV character discover this information in some way--like by reading it in a journal entry they weren't meant to see.

2 - Split the Scene in Half and Give Each POV Part of the Scene - As long as you use a scene break to separate the two POV sections, you can use POV #1 for the first half of the scene, and POV #2 for the second half. This way, they're still in the same place/moment/activity/situation, but we see the first half of it in one POV and the second half in the other. That way, you get a chance to explore both POVs as far as what they think and feel about what's going on. You aren't going to rehash the action--it will still play out from beginning to end of the scene--but it gives you an opportunity to explore the second POV character's thoughts after already having explored the first. Then, you can use some of the suggestions in item #1 above to help with anything else you want to convey about the first POV character.

Happy writing!

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[sorry-moots]

Inversion of Genesis But I Changed It

basically i decided to rework sumeru's interlude quest because i didn't like it and i feel like they did our scrimblo dirty also it's a reader insert because i love him characters featured: scaramouche, dottore (mentioned) cws: none wc: 599

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Chapter One

Snezhnayan mornings are rarely graced by daylight but today, the albedo from the previous night’s blizzard crept in and illuminated your bedroom.

With an aura of defeat, you pull your hair off your neck and into place so you can put on your work clothes. It would be a bit of a stretch to call it a uniform; many liberties were taken in its tailoring. The outfit consisted of a pair of cable knit stockings, a frilly white blouse, and a heavy skirt of black-and-crimson jacquard, which concealed half a dozen petticoats. Quite luxurious compared to the regular uniforms.

As you lace up your black leather boots, you think about your awful work conditions. The place itself was creepy enough with its harsh lighting and omnipresent chemical scent, but the mind games your boss played with you and the screams from his test subjects made your blood run cold.

Shaking yourself, you pulled on your black leather gloves and cloak. Dwelling on it would do you no good.

Finally, you grab your mask. The charcoal gray mask had the typical red stripe through the eye indicating your affiliation with the Fatui. In the middle where the wearer’s eyebrows would be, however, there is an extra marking. This little addition marks you not just as a Fatuus, but as a Fatuus working directly under the command of the 2nd Fatui Harbinger, Il Dottore.

You wanted nothing more than to toss it into the snow banks and forget about it, but your job was the only thing sustaining you. To leave the Fatui would be to freeze with no coal in your fireplace and die of hunger.

With this in mind, you pull the mask into place and step into the cold before you can convince yourself not to. ***** As usual, you arrive a little early to savor your last minutes of freedom before descending into the bowels of Zapolyarny Palace. You leave your Clydesdale at the stable and make your way to the palace at a leisurely pace, taking a breath of the stinging cold– but untainted– air.

You duck your head instantly upon noticing a commanding officer talking to one of the harbingers. Many of them are picky about etiquette and it’s never a good idea to offend one.

Nevertheless, one could hardly take offense at you walking a little slower than usual.

Making your way across the hall, you overhear their conversation:

“What do you mean there's no one available? I told you to find me a new assistant, you incompetent fool!”

An open position?

“My apologies, Lord Scaramouche, but unless someone volunteers to be reassigned, you’ll have to wait for the next induction ceremony.”

“Preposterous, that's months away! I'll drown in my own paperwork before then.” In that moment, you glanced briefly at the Harbinger, who had the bridge of his nose pinched tightly. “Find someone to take this bumbling fool’s place, or you’ll have the pleasure of being demoted to the position yourself,” he said, pointing his finger at the man menacingly before storming away.

Almost at light speed you double back to talk to the officer. Dropping into a quick curtsy, you blurted out, “Sir, I was wondering if you'd consider me for the position you were discussing with the Balladeer?”

Utterly bewildered, he replied, “Of course, but who in their right mind would choose to serve Lord Scaramouche?”

“The Doctor's assistant,” you responded ruefully.

The officer’s grimace was clear as day– in any other nation that is. “I see. Come with me and we’ll file the transfer order right now. Consider the job yours.”

a/n: lemme know if you're interested in this 👉🏼👈🏼 i'm planning on uploading what i have over the next few days; if you want me to tag you, i can do that too and yes reader talks to scara in the next chapter, this is just a VERY SLOW slow burn

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[voxmyriad]

Cal Kestis Week 2024 Day Three: Just This Once

Prompt: Alone | “I don’t know anymore.” | Hope is a Skill | Droid

Rating: General Audiences

Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply

Category: Gen

Characters: Cal Kestis, Moran the Mirialan (Star Wars), M-6NK | Monk (Star Wars)

Additional Tags: Drinking away your problems or just drinking your problems, Heart-to-Heart, Not exactly a shoulder to cry on, More a shoulder to vent next to, Alcohol

Most of the time, Moran was perfectly content to hold down his end of the bar as it grew increasingly blurry throughout the day. Well, content might not be the correct word. Resigned, perhaps. Things on this sleepy world had grown a bit more exciting since the redhead had shown up, that was true. Pyloon's could almost be called crowded now, and most of the new company wasn't terrible. More tolerable to speak with than Turgle, certainly, or Caij. He could even say the addition of Ashe and their droid was welcome, though most of their music wasn't his taste. Still, it was an echo of Coruscant. Of better times.

As was Cal himself. He tended to sweep through, pausing for conversation with the various prospectors and other denizens, Moran included, but he never stayed long. Imagine Moran's surprise when, after a lengthy absence, Cal was suddenly present on the stool beside him, glowering at the scuffed and stained bar.

"Hiya, sport, welcome back." Monk swiveled his way over, leaning casually on the bar as though he didn't operate on a track below it. "What can I do for ya?"

"I don't know," Cal muttered, and glanced at Moran's half-empty glass. "I'll take one of those."

"Do not bring him one of these. The contents of this glass could likely be used to clean that ship of yours." Moran's unofficial policy of staying uninvolved was one thing, but he couldn't let Cal burn his throat. Just this once, he told himself firmly, before adding, "He'll have a Scarif Sunrise. Put it on my tab."

"Coming right up." In a trice, in a flurry of activity, Monk mixed up the purple-red-orange concoction, placed the glass in front of Cal, topped up Moran's drink with another hand, and swept off again. Droid bartenders were efficient in an entirely different way than most organics.

Cal peered at the drink, sipped it cautiously, and, while it wasn't a smile, some of that enigmatic tension seemed to leave his expression. "Thanks. It's good."

"Yes, I know. Occasionally I'm in the mood for one, and Monk makes for a surprisingly capable bartender."

"Surprisingly?"

"Mm. Most droid bartenders are very methodical in their drink-making, but the best bartenders add their own flair to the recipes." Moran took another drink of his own paint solvent, or whatever it was, and waited to see if Cal had anything to add about why he might be sitting here for the first time instead of passing through as usual.

The levels in their glasses lowered inside that silence, until only a thin line of purple remained in Cal's. It took a second round of emptying glasses before Cal finally spoke, seemingly talking to the dregs of his drink. "Did you ever lose anyone while they were still around?"

Ah. So that was what was bothering him. Moran tapped the bar. "Another round?" Monk asked as he swung back, his lower limbs polishing a glass.

"Not this time. Pantoran cider. Two." Stronger than the Sunrise and with a little burn, it was better suited to that kind of conversation. He waited until the glasses appeared, fizzing gently. "All the time," he said after the first swallow. "Is this loss a friend, or someone deeper?"

"I don't know anymore," Cal said again, lifting one shoulder in a shrug. The two drinks had loosened up the rest of that tension, but now he just slumped over the glass like...well, like Moran at the end of a long day of nothingness. "I just..." He glanced around, but between Dee-Dee's music and the level of conversation, no one could overhear them. "I found my friends. The people I used to fly with. They're all..." His fingers went tight on the glass to the point of concern. "They're all together. Someone I thought was dead, someone important to me but that I figured I'd never meet—he's there. He's with them, they know him really well, they've been working with him—they're sharing tea recipes—and no one told me."

For the first time, the little droid on Cal's back beeped, a sad little sound. Startled, Moran straightened in his seat, looking at it, but he'd never mastered understanding binary. He'd never needed to. Dreyo had taken care of that.

"I take it you're both disappointed by this?" he ventured.

"Yeah. BD was his droid before. He thought his old master was gone too." Cal's smile came back just a bit, then, as he added, "It was really nice, watching them get reunited."

Affection for droids was also something Moran had never mastered, but that didn't matter now. Cal had clearly managed it, and so had this former master who had been important to the both of them—whomever he might be. Moran couldn't help noticing that, even in his rather inebriated state, Cal was careful not to mention any names, any locations. The latent smuggler in him approved. There was no point in keeping secrets if a little alcoholic lubrication was all that was needed to bring them bursting out.

"I'm sure they missed you too," he said, feeling that was an inadequate answer, but not entirely sure what else to say.

Not that, apparently, as Cal's expression fell into something more neutral and he took a long pull at his cider. "They seemed fine," he said, clipped.

"Well? So do you. At least you did, until you decided to join me."

That got Cal's rather wavering attention. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that I see you stride through here every day, usually in a rush, going somewhere to do something"—idiotic and heroic—"helpful for someone, and not once have you actually stopped moving until now."

"I can't stop moving."

"No one is asking you to."

"Maybe you're not."

"I don't think anyone wants you to—except the Raiders, or the Empire, perhaps."

"Yeah, is that what you think?"

Moran rolled his eyes and shifted his seat to face Cal instead. "Do you want to argue or do you want to talk about what's really on your mind? If not, I would just as soon go back to the silence, such as it is."

Cal's mouth opened for a sharp retort, but he closed it again. Something must have gotten through. He was actually thinking before speaking. "…I'm alone," he finally said, so quiet Moran nearly missed it. "I have BD, but…I lost my master. My life. I lost Prauf. I lost everyone else. Every time I go out there, I feel alone. Even on J—"

Moran cleared his throat pointedly. Now now, Cal was doing so well at not letting any details slip.

Message received. Cal began again. "...on…where I was…when my friend would come out into the desert with me…I don't know. It was different. She was different."

"This would be a she who is someone deeper?" Moran asked, more gently this time. The cider must be affecting him or he wouldn't be this soft, he thought.

"No," Cal said, but no one would be fooled by that uncertain tone. "Maybe. Or…I thought? But maybe not. …I don't know anymore."

Moran sat back, examining the fish tank behind the bar. Skoova swam past, polishing industriously. The little Sakavian was a decent conversationalist, if he wanted to converse about fish. "So, these friends of yours. You traveled together, you valiantly battled the Empire together, and then they departed and you remained."

"That's right." Cal's fingers flexed around the glass again. "They said they all had their reasons for leaving."

"I'm sure they did. And you had yours for staying. Bad luck that none of your reasons matched."

"Yeah."

The silence fell between them again, but not uncomfortably so. Moran wasn't in the habit of offering empty platitudes, and he didn't think Cal would take kindly to them anyway. Besides, whenever Moran had lost people and still needed to see them, he'd just shuttered that part of his heart and moved on. At least, he'd always told himself that was all he needed to do. He wasn't at all sure it had been the right thing to do, now that his life was spent on this stool, watching the patrons of this cantina coming and going, while doing nothing himself but…waiting.

Maudlin thoughts for a maudlin mood.

After their glasses emptied again, Cal stood and nearly knocked into Moran. He sighed and got up. "Just this once," he muttered. The cider was definitely making him soft.

On their way to the basement, Moran fetched a pair of effective painkillers from his own stash, then took hold of Cal's shoulder again, keeping him level as they walked past the kitchen and down the stairs. "Take these," he said, pressing them into Cal's hand, "with a full bottle of water before you sleep. For the pain."

"What pain?" Cal asked, ridiculously young-looking with his hair sticking up and his fair skin flushed bright red from the alcohol.

"With luck, you won't find out." He sighed, fighting the urge to try and straighten those tufts of copper hair. Honestly, who had allowed someone like this to run around trying to topple the Empire alone? Their reasons must have been very pressing. "Perhaps tomorrow you'll be able to practice at hope again. Especially if you take those tonight and drink enough water."

"Practice at—what?"

"At hope, Cal. It's a skill, you know, just as much as anything you might do with that." Moran pointed to Cal's lightsaber, always on his hip. It had been one of the first things Moran had spotted, and he knew he wasn't the only one. "All right, go. Take those. And don't expect this kind of treatment often," he added firmly. "Just this once, remember."

Moran didn't stay around to find out if Cal followed his instructions, or even made it to his bunk. They weren't friends. Moran didn't make friends anymore. All he could really offer was…being alone, together, at least for a little while. Maybe that was enough.

[whoblewboobear]

ID2 Thoughts after todays chapter

**spoilers under the cut, read at your own discretion

Cas’ backstory lost me at the book betrayal but they’re still THEE love interest of all time to me. I do wonder though if the same writing team that worked on book 1 are also working on book 2 because.. Cas feels like a different character half the time which is a bummer. I don’t wanna get to the end of book 2 and end up feeling like it being a one off was a better choice when I was so stoked to see these characters again.

I do find everything they’re doing with Gabe super interesting though whereas in book one I found them a lot less interesting. After them overhearing the convo with Libby, Jade, and Aiden I think it’s super interesting that her first thought is to basically be like “if they can’t move on from Cas, I’ll be the new Cas.” Which can only end up hurting everyone involved in the long run. I’m sure it was mainly to get mc to feel better but I love a tragedy. I’m leaning into part of her having a little bit of an Olivia Rodrigo Obsessed moment and Cas doing the same all this time.

All that being said I still truly don’t give a single shit about Terry or the forest bureau because it feels VERY forced. Mc starting the fight with their mom just run out was weird. Lewyn not stepping in to steer Terry off the path of whatever happened to the envoy and then still making it MCs issue is weird too. I’m just 👀 this book is messy. We’re probably at the halfway mark right? And it feels like a lot of filler has happened to pad out chapters and the interesting or fun stuff is over so quickly.

It pisses me off to no end that Libby & co came down heavy on mc when they were kinda friends for a year bc mc began spending a lot more time with Gabe and Cas but are still friends with Gabe who, from what we know, ditched them for mc. Like if there’s anyone they should be more pissed at, it should be Gabe, right?

I feel like the book really shines with the newbie vampire plot line and the ley line powers. The forest bureau has a lot of potential because we I’d love to see what these modern day vampire hunters are like and what the threat level really is. I’d like to explore what a poly relationship between Mc Gabe and Cas would look like but I doubt we’re getting it at this point after today’s chapter. So instead I would like to explore the jealousy and heartache Gabe and Cas are going through and mc having a tough time deciding or having their mind set on someone while the other person pines depending on how you play it.

I say all this to say that I see the problem that choices has when it comes to a lot of their books nowadays. They don’t know which plot lines to cut and which to keep. There are too many plates spinning and one of them will get dropped when it could’ve just been scrapped up top.