#like modern day fanfiction can get bad. but its the same thing as sitting by a campfire

[dynamically-0pp0sed]

oh you're (preve) this kind of user. lmao

All offense, but why do ppl who read fanfiction, like, think they’re normal?

[readingonpluto]

16 Days of Nessian - Day 1/16

2 + 5 = 7 ~ Nessian Modern AU

*If you have any ideas for fanfiction or headcanons, leave them below!*

Word count: 2242

There they are. 

I clutch the envelope in my hands, heart racing in my chest. I knew… I already knew, and yet somehow getting it confirmed makes it that much scarier. The doctor gave me a blurry photograph of our child, slipping it in an envelope to keep it safe so I could show Cass. 

I have to show Cass. He’s going to be excited, and yet I’m scared of how he will react. He has always wanted children, sometimes telling me about dreams he has had about our family. The moment is now here… A source of his joy, and yet… And yet I’m terrified. 

I unlock the door to our home, the house seeming quieter than usual. 

Cassian pops his head out of the doorway to the kitchen, a smile immediately playing over his face. He comes over to me, planting a kiss on my forehead, and then my mouth, holding me close. 

“You’re late.” His breath dances over my mouth, just before he kisses me again. 

“I had a doctor’s appointment,” I say, hugging him tightly, hoping that if I hold him long enough he will just know. 

Of course, that isn’t the case. He pushes me away just a little bit, arms still gripping my waist, but now concern lights his eyes as they search all over me. 

“You didn’t tell me that.”

“I wasn’t sure if it would be worth mentioning…” I hold the envelope to my chest, heart pounding in my ears. 

“But it is…” I nod. “Is something wrong?”

“No… No. Nothing is wrong.”

“Then--”

“Can we sit? Please.” He nods once, leading me over to our small table. I let him sit down in front of me, before taking my seat. 

“I’m going to need you not to be angry if you’re angry at all.”

He tilts his head slightly. “Do you think I’m going to be angry?”

“I don’t think so.” 

He stays silent, letting me take a few breaths before continuing. 

“I’ve noticed that I’ve gained some weight,” I start, weighing the options in my head. “And then I noticed I have missed two of my cycles.” His eyes flash, his gaze firmly on mine. “So I went in today to get an ultrasound. I did a few pregnancy tests beforehand, but I just wanted to make sure…” 

Cassian’s leg is bouncing and I can see he is trying to fight back a smile. He is truly trying his best to let me talk before saying anything. 

“I’m going to tell you, before I show you this,” I hold up the envelope. “That all three pregnancy tests I did were positive.” I hand him the envelope. 

He is brimming with joy as he gently opens it, pulling out the small blurry photo. 

“Is this…” He trails off, eyes fixed on the image, tears building up in his eyes. 

“We can’t know the gender until about four months in. But the doctor said that they’re healthy and everything is going fine.” I keep my gaze on him. I don’t think he is breathing. “I have another appointment in a month. I have the date so you can book it off work--”

Finally, he stands, making his way over to me before falling to his knees in front of me. 

“There is a baby inside of you. My child.” 

I nod, not sure what to say. His eyes are so bright, his tears so joyous that I don’t want to break the moment. Why did I ever think he was going to be angry? He pulls me forward just a bit, nuzzling his face into my stomach. 

“I’m going to be a dad.”

My fingers find his hair, lovingly playing with the ends. “You are.”

~

The next time, the house is much louder as I step into it. I can hear Fin giggling and Cass telling him a story of a time he, Azriel, and Rhysand all got food poisoning. I have no clue why Fin finds it so funny, but it is one of his favourites. His second is the time Cass met me for the first time. That’s one of my favourites too. 

I step into the living room, watching my two boys smile, pure joy radiating off of them. Finlay is the first to see me, pointing his chubby finger at me and reaching upwards. I immediately sweep into the room, picking him up and kissing him all over, causing another wave of giggles to erupt. 

I shift him to one arm, reaching for Cass with the other. Just as swiftly, he kisses my cheek, hugging me close. 

“Hello,” I say. 

“Hi, Sweetheart.” His eyes flick to the clock. “You’re a bit late.”

“I was picking up a few things.” Fin wiggles in my arms, a clear message to put him down. He half crawls, half walks over to his toys, already bored with our conversation. 

“Oh?”

“Oh.” I reach into my bag, pulling out a small envelope. Cassian’s eyes snap to mine before he takes it gently. 

“Should I be scared?”

“Nope,” I smile. “Maybe. Just open it.”

He grins, slowly--just to annoy me--pulling out the photo. Immediately, his eyebrows furrow. I knew he would be able to tell it was different this time. 

I step up next to him, gesturing at the photo. “That’s baby A, and that is baby B.”

His eyes find mine, making sure I’m serious, before sweeping me up into his arms. He kisses me hard, grinning from ear to ear. We had been trying to have another kid for about a year, and I knew he wasn’t expecting this.

“Twins?” I nod, smiling hard. “Are they okay? Nothing is wrong?”

“Nothing yet. They’re healthy so far, we just need to keep an eye on them.”

“Of course,” He kisses me again, setting me down only to pick up Fin and kiss him just as much. Our son had come over to see what the fuss was all about. 

“You’re going to be a big brother,” Cass tells him, showing him the photo. “You’re going to have two siblings to look after.” 

Fin points at the photograph, smiling at his father. “Wittle brother.” 

~

I swear it gets louder and louder every time I walk into this house. From the sounds of things, Cassian made the kids some food, and Fin is babbling about what he did at school to the twins. 

I slip into the kitchen where Cass is finishing up their meal--animal crackers for a treat. I wrap my arms around his waist, pushing my face into his back. 

“Hello, Sweetheart,” He says, placing a hand over my own. “How did it go?”

“You’ll be happy.”

“Yeah?” He smiles, and turns to me. “Do I get an envelope again?”

Laughing lightly, I hand him the folded paper containing our fourth between its pages. “You do.”

He takes out the photo, smiling at the image. “Quinn will be wanting a little sister. At two she knows exactly what she wants.”

“And Caspian will want a little brother, just to spite his twin.”

Cass grins. “They’re going to be way too powerful when they’re older. I almost feel bad for their teacher.”

He hands the photo back to me. “What do you want?”

“I’m just excited for a fourth.” He kisses the top of my head, animal cracker in hand. “I’ll be happy with anything.”

��Same.” I trail after my husband into the loud dinner room. Quinn is flipping through one of Fin’s work books, as her older brother eats his sandwich. Caspian on the other hand is frowning at his food. 

I slip into the seat next to our youngest. “What's wrong?”

“No like crust,” He mumbles out. 

“You like the crust.” He shakes his head. “Just try it.” Again, he shakes his head. I look to Cass, and he shrugs, setting down the crackers. 

“Baby, you need to eat it.” He says. 

Caspian crosses his arms, looking more cute than mad. “Why?”

“No animal crackers otherwise.” He shakes the bowl for emphasis. 

Caspian frowns, looking at his sandwich again. 

“I’ll eat crackers if he no want them,” Quinn says, looking up from the workbook. Caspian immediately starts eating his sandwich. 

I smile at Cass, standing to slip up to his side. “That's one way to do it.” “What’s the photo mummy?” Fin asks, pointing at the ultrasound in my hand. 

“Another surprise.” 

Finlay’s eyes light up, and he changes his pointing to the twins. “Another one?” I nod, laying the photo in front of them. I point to the little dot so Quinn and Caspian know what we’re talking about. 

“That there is either a little boy or a little girl. Right now they’re in mummy’s belly, but soon they will be there to meet you.”

“When?” Quinn asks. 

“Seven to eight months.” 

“Oh…” Quinn points to my stomach. “Can I feel?”

With animal crackers forgotten, Fin tells the twins all about how he became an older brother, and the wait, with each of them taking turns feeling their new sibling even if there is hardly anything there yet. 

“I’m happy they’re excited.” Cass whispers to me as I close the door to the twins’ room. 

“Me too.” I lean into him. “I was worried little Cas would be unhappy.”

“He seemed okay after Fin explained. I think he fed off his and Quinn’s joy.”

“Better than explaining that we can’t go back now.”

Cass laughs, nuzzling into my shoulder. “I wouldn’t want to anyway.”

~

This time, I am truly scared. Every time we talked, it was always four kids. Four kids, and then we were happy. Ezra is now four, two years older than everyone else when a new sibling was brought in. Finlay is now eight and the twins are six. Will they be happy or sad or even angry? 

They’re all watching a movie. I can hear the cheerful song playing from the television and all of them singing along, probably even acting it out. I smile, stepping into the house. However, before I can make my way into the room Cassian steps out of the kitchen, flour all down his apron and smile already on his face. 

“How was your check up?” He asks, as I lean up to kiss him. 

“Good,” I say, trying to keep the anxiety out of my voice. “Are you baking?”

“Yeah, I thought I would make some cookies for a treat.”

I nod and Cass’s eyes roam over me, missing nothing. 

“What’s wrong?” 

Swallowing, I hand him the envelope. His eyes look up at me as he takes it, before flicking down again and pulling out the blurry photograph. He lets out a shaky breath, smiling. 

“Really?” He asks, looking up at me. 

“Yeah…” I swallow again. “You’re not… You’re happy?”

“Of course I’m happy!” He pulls me to him, squeezing me tightly. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

A small smile of hope plays on my lips. “We only talked about four kids, never five.”

“So?” He holds me at arms length, grinning from ear to ear. “If you are happy, then I am too. Adding one more to our family is amazing!” “Adding?” We both turn to find Fin, Quinn, Caspian, and Ezra in the doorway, all looking slightly confused. They must have come over when they heard Cass shout. 

I walk over to them, kneeling on their level, holding out the photo which Fin takes. He smiles passing it to the others. 

Ezra jumps up, shifting from foot to foot. “Is this a baby?” He asks. I nod, smiling. “I’m not going to be the youngest anymore!”

He runs over, wrapping his arms around me, followed by the twins then Fin. Not soon later, I feel Cassian’s arms hold all of us. 

“I’m so excited,” I hear Fin whisper. 

She comes out the hard way. It was a rough pregnancy, but she is okay, and in my arms, and breathing. 

I’m shaking and crying, brushing wisps of hair from her face. Cassian left to get the kids, and I finally let myself crumble. 

“You alright?” Feyre asks from where she sits not too far away. 

“Yeah,” I breathe. “I was just… I was so scared…”

She stands, wrapping her arm around my shoulder, Elain coming up on my other side. 

“It's okay now.” Elain whispers. “She is safe.”

I nod, trying to breathe as my daughter sleeps soundly on my chest. We sit like that for a few seconds, before I finally have a clear moment and look up at my sisters. 

“Eleanor.”

“Pardon?” Elain asks, confused. 

“Eleanor. The name means light, or shining one.”

Feyre smiles. “Cassian will love it.” “Nelly for short?” Azriel asks, looking up from his book. 

I beam. “Nelly for short.”

“Mummy!” Ezra’s voice rings out, stumbling over to me. “Is she okay?”

“She is okay,” I shift so he can see his little sister better. 

Cassian helps Ezra up onto the bed, so the twins and Finlay can also see her. 

“Does she have a name yet?” Fin asks, his gaze never leaving his young sister. 

“I was thinking of Eleanor.” I look up at Cass just in time to see the smile spread across his face. 

“Nelly for short,” Quinn says, and this time Azriel smiles softly. 

“I love it,” Caspian says, looking up at his dad.

“I do too.” Cassian agrees. 

“Eleanor it is.” I smile. 

“Nelly for short,” Ezra grins. 

“Nelly for short,” I confirm. 

[dazaii-sann]

CHUUYA'S BIRTHDAY FANFICTION: ONE-SHOT [HE’LL BREATHE TO LIVE]

TIMELINE: STORMBRINGER EXPERIMENTED CHUUYA

"Oi! Can you hear me?" A shrill voice called out, trying to draw the attention of a certain redhead. Nakahara Chuuya is quite tired of hearing that voice every single day. Its high-pitched noise will never cease to make him cringe, with a tingling sensation creeping its way to his ears. It makes him want to gouge his eardrums out and enjoy the newly-obtained serenity in that enormous, yet cramped white room. Unfortunately, it's a closed space, allowing echoes to bounce off its walls and resonate into several repetitions.  The owner of that inhumane sound attempted to land his flesh against the other's, holding his shoulders to make Chuuya face him.  That's a bad decision, really.  Chuuya's body acted by impulse, ruled by a certain factor of god-knows-what. He immediately shoved those hands away, not wanting to prolong its warm touch. His system formed a defensive stance, shielding oneself from a foreign feeling.  Warmth? What's that thing all about?  Apparently, he doesn't have any clue in his possession nor a chance to find one.  He's experiencing the exact opposite of what he had hoped for. He's the materialization of a being whom he doesn't want to become. An existence full of "what-ifs," that's how an 8-year old child is living, though it can barely be called as it is.  "Oh sorry… Did I surprised you?" A young boy of about the same age as him asked the obvious.  The redhead maintained his defensive stance, preparing to pounce at that annoying brat when he does something funny.  "That's right! I haven't introduced myself today yet." The boy stood as if he's acquainting himself to his classmates during the first day of school. He beamed at the redhead, flashing a complete set of white teeth. "I'm Keita. Don't forget it next time!"  

***

He's all alone in that darkness, again.  He hates it. He hates it with all his life.  It's slowly sucking him into the sea of nothingness until he can no longer breathe. Screaming for help might go in vain, now that he's falling into an endless abyss to the point of no return. He's at the bottom of the sea, unreachable by the rays of the early morning.  His screams for help were drowned and swept away along with the current, his voice as good as mute. Did it reach the surface? Probably not.  The redhead opened his eyes, revealing its hue. It's just ironic that his eyes looked like the midday azure sky even if he hasn't seen that exact same sky straight from those orbs of his. He's inside a tank filled with mysterious liquids. A sharp stabbing pain pierced his back. He felt that something was injected into his bloodstream.  Minutes later, he writhed in pain. It felt like his body was about to get tattered in pieces. His eyes went heavy and he slipped once again from consciousness.  When Chuuya woke up, a room of nothing but white welcomed his sight. He's there again… so does that mean…? He panned his head to the left, then to right, and found the person he's looking for.  "There you are!" The boy approached the redhead like they're each other's close companions. "Oi, oi, oi… Don't tell me that you had forgotten my name again?"  "You're Keita, right?" Chuuya finally engages in a conversation with the boy he keeps on avoiding for almost a week.  "Yup! That's right!" The boy's cheek flushed, his smile reached his eyes. He's really THAT happy, wasn't he? "Oh! I forgot to ask your name! So… What is it?" It seems like Keita wants to know the redhead more.  Somehow, it feels so different to be with this carefree kid than those lab guys." Chuuya thought as he assesses if the boy has any ill intentions and hidden motives but came out empty-handed He cannot explain it but there's a voice yelling inside of him, saying that he could trust Keita.  "It's Chuuya." The redhead replied, much to the boy's delight.  Keita was about to say something but his voice was overshadowed by the researcher's screams.  "It seems that they're calling you now, Chuuya-kun. I guess this is a farewell, for now." Truth be told, Chuuya doesn't want to return to that hell. Without realizing a single thing, he clutched the hem of Keita's clothes. That's when he noticed that Keita's attire is quite different than the lab gown he's wearing. It's not a scientist's nor a researcher's working clothes either. It looks modern like the one he saw in a photo. A researcher said back then that that's how a human normally wears out there.  "You're not leaving, right?" That question came out of Chuuya's mouth without giving it much thought. It's the first time he had said something along those lines.  All his life, he's trying to push people away from his radius. He didn't expect that the time will come when he would ask someone to linger in its vicinity.  "Of course, I won't. I'll be waiting for you here!"  That's the assurance the redhead badly wants to hear before the darkness takes over.   

*** Opening up to Keita is one of the good things he had done in his life. After getting swallowed up by the dusk and existing in a starless night, there's dawn brimming that always greets him a good morning. For the first time, he felt at home and comfortable by someone else's company.  "You know Keita… I envy you." The redhead said, staring in the middle of nowhere. "You have all the things that I don't."  His warm smile.  His somehow unfiltered, yet expressive mouth.  The way he cares for others.  That feeling of openness.  The emotions sitting in his eyes.  His seemingly normal life.  Why can't he have it too?  He was born in the darkness and in a well-lit empty room, he found a companion covered in bright rays. It's too blinding. He can't help but close his eyes and once again, plunge back into the world to which he belongs.  Keita laughs. "You asshole. Just wait and you'll see. And oh! Do you know that it's my birthday today?"  "Birthday? What's that?" Chuuya asked in confusion. Honest, this is the first time he heard such a thing.  "Well, technically speaking, that's the date you were born. Apparently, it's celebrated annually. Holding a birthday celebration might be shallow for some but it holds something much more important. Nothing's more perfect than appreciating one's existence, saying 'thank you for being born' to the celebrant so that he too, may appreciate his own." "Hey, are you really a child?" Chuuya seemed impressed by the boy's wisdom.  "Of course, I just turned 9 today!" Keita said loftily as if he's proud of what he had become. "If that’s so…" Chuuya looked at him, trying to let those words out of his throat. "Thank you… For being born." Keita was taken aback by Chuuya’s words. He panned his head opposite Chuuya’s line of sight, eyes glistening with unshed tears.  "I hope that I could say that thing to myself too… Maybe one day. For sure." Chuuya said absent-mindedly, head panning above the plain ceiling. "By the way, what date is it today?" Keita was brought back to reality by that question. "Now that you mentioned it, It's April twenty nin-" 

*** 

His body is floating… In an artificial body of water enclosed in a cylindrical tube. He’s back there again, to his hell, to his nightmare. Wait, nightmare? He wants to laugh his ass off. He can’t dream. It’s just him and his thoughts lost in the dimness of the night. Somehow, he’s afraid to fall asleep. If he lowers his guard down, someone’s going to take over him and he will cease being a human.  No… He doesn’t want that.  In this world where staying as you are is a grave mistake, can’t he just transgress that nonsensical belief and live as himself?  Wait… Where’s Keita? Perhaps, he’s still in that white room. But where’s that white room exactly?  There’s no reason to panic at all. He’s just there, waiting for me, like what he used to do. Or at least, that’s what Chuuya wants to believe. There’s this strange feeling inside of him, that he might not be able to see him again. “Hello, Chuuya-kun!” That voice… It’s Keita’s! And there he was, standing before him outside the tank, hands touching the glass container as if he’s trying to reach the redhead. “Don’t worry, those researchers can’t see me. You’re the only one who can anyway.” W-what? “Alright. I’ll keep this short. My time is running.” Keita looked straight into Chuuya’s eyes. They unbelievably share the same shade of blue. Chuuya’s brain formed a question by itself: “Who are you Keita?” “You are me and I am you.” Chuuya’s eyes went wide. What was that supposed to mean? “I only exist in your mind, perhaps because of the medicines they kept on injecting into you.” Keita’s not lying. His sincere tone is the incriminating proof. “The white room? It’s also a figment of your mind, a representation of the world you yearn for. A spacious, tranquil world of light.” The redhead didn’t expect any of this. He wanted to curse the world… for deceiving him once again. He thought that he already had someone to stay by his side but it turns out that no one’s actually there the whole time.  “But you already have yourself.” Keita beamed at Chuuya. That smile… maybe that’s the last time he could see it.  “Not that if you would look at a mirror.”  “No… That’s not me, but a reflection of a monster.” “Monster? But you look like a human to me.” Words fly through each other’s minds without even uttering a single letter. A white light starts to chip off the remaining life of Keita, distorting his image in Chuuya’s sight. “I had already fulfilled my purpose… and that’s to shed some light unto you. I’m not needed here anymore.” Chuuya’s everything blur, tears mixing with the tank’s strange liquid. The scientists and researchers start to shout things like “emotional instability” and such but who cares? “When you had acknowledged my existence back then, I felt so happy! Not for myself, but for you. Chuuya…” The redhead shuddered. It’s the first time Keita said his name without the honorifics. “… Thank you… for being grateful for being born. Please, keep on living.” The white light shone with much greater intensity. The light seems to merge with Keita, taking the boy away with its particles. Keita turned his back, slowly vanishing along with the glimmer.  "W-wait! Don’t go!” Words remained unspoken, but he’s hoping that Keita heard it as clear as day. “Oh! Before I forget it!” He smiled at Chuuya for the last time before the light completely erased all the remaining traces of his existence. “Happy Birthday, Chuuya! Thank you… for being born.”

***

"Please, keep on living." What is living anyway? How can you say you're living?  He doesn't know… Because that right was taken away from him the moment he came into existence.  Perhaps, he might not be able to fulfill that promise made between him and an afterimage of his longing to live a normal human life.  No… it's not as simple as that. It’s a promise between himself and the person he wants to become… That he'll live no matter how hard it is to stay. Grasping its concept will surely take some time. He knows it.  But he'll wait.  He'll wait until someone comes to save him, to hold his trembling wrist with a tender touch, and to pull him out of that emptiness before black completely devours the remaining humanity he keeps on holding onto, clenching it ever so tightly.  He'll wait until someone acknowledges him as a human being, a human worthy to harbor a heart and those so-called conflicting, yet beautiful emotions swirling inside of one's chest.  He'll endure it for a little bit… because he's still him, not the entity people want to use as a weapon or tool that could be disposed of once he had already served his purpose.  Maybe his anticipation might go to waste. Maybe waiting for that day when he could finally taste freedom from the shackles of his cruel life is just futile. Maybe there's actually no one to wait for. Then what's the point of holding onto that glimmer of hope? The light he's longing to be embraced with might be just a fragment of his delusional and desperate self but he clearly saw its distant flicker, and he cannot go back to not knowing. Whether it's fake or genuine… It doesn't matter anymore to a young boy who's craving to be bathed in its unfamiliar warmth.  He might not experience how to truly live today, tomorrow, and the days after that…  But at least, he'll breathe… until someone makes him feel alive.  

-END-

[moonynpadfootforever]

WHY I LOVE WOLFSTAR A SHORT ESSAY FILLED WITH FAR TOO MANY OF MY OPINIONS

(this was far too long to try to break up into asks so here ya go)

There are, as the kids say, a shit ton, of reasons as to why i love wolfstar and why they are my otp, i shall break it down into five categories, (pls note these are my perceptions of them and how i view them)

  The first is simply they were my first ship. when, i was a youngin, i loved harry potter (still do but fuck jkr). I remember sitting my butt down for hours on end just to read and read and read those goddamn books. And then the prisoner of azkaban came along (instantly my fave hp book too btw) and i saw remus and sirius and was like, well that sounds about right, before i even knew what shipping was. Long story short, its my first ship from one of my favorite series and im a loyal dude if nothing else, but honestly there’s never even been any competition.

  The second reason is because of the d y n a m i c s my goodness, ima try to make this short. They are so perfectly complementary to each other, I love the way sirius is and needs to be upfront in everything, he is bold and forward. I’m not saying you can always tell exactly what he’s thinking but or how he’s feeling but, he needs to show his emotions as is, he needs to let the world know when injustices are being committed, when something isn’t right, when something is right. Remus on the other hand, hides, his smiles never reach his eyes just out of habit, his laughs never seem like they’re coming out fully and even though he wants you to know what he’s saying, what he’s saying directly is backwards and twisted, frequently sarcastic.I love though, that they both have strong moral compasses, even if they don’t always point in the same direction. I love that they don’t always point in the same direction. I love how they’re so similar yet so different, but in a special way? If that makes sense because everyone is “so similar and so different” but there’s something about the way that they just match up like a puzzle piece that just fills a lil part of my happy soul. I especially appreciate how they’re able to communicate with each other, (not literally, sometimes they are very bad at talking) how to get the truth out of each other, and how to get the genuine, the real and sincere. The vulnerable. But I also love how they bring out the most desperate and aggressive parts of each other. Sirius’s possessiveness, remus’s jealousy, both of their pettiness.I have a million other reasons that i could talk about forever but i think this about covers what i'm feeling in the current moment at least. Bonus: I said this in a wolfstar group chat but like it’s still relevant 

  “Ok so this got me thinking about an angry remus and most people are either “When remus explodes, thats when he’s truly angry” or “when remus is silent thats when he’s truly angry” But i don’t think it’s like that i think it's like a staircase, see it’s flat, then it goes straight up, escalating, there is no end to his anger, not that he’s found but levels. Levels that you can tell he's gotten more angry, not calmed down because he switches from frozen tundra to typhoon, to frozen tundra to typhoon, etc, and i think that when remus calms down it isnt gradual, its all at once sure he's been thinking about it, stewing on it, but it hits him when hes fully processed at once and I think sirius is the opposite, when remus is on an icy level, sirius is on an explosive level and so on and i just they compliment each other so well that sometimes it's damaging to eachother and thats all i had to contribute”

  I love, as with any other ship or fanon, all the possibilities. I saw one post that was talking about ships and one person said (loosely quoting here) “simply it means, i think there’s a story there” which i adore. And because of their dynamics, there are so many stories i can think of. If you want to go (semi) canon, they were in wizarding london, before/during a war, they went to hogwarts, maybe they got to explore their sexuality, maybe they made new friends, maybe they fell in love like there’s so many possibilities. But on the hand we know so much about the characters that we’re able to apply them to things we love and know like modern times, and real life, and aus we love like art. Even if there wasn’t much officially in canon we were able to see a story there and we made them!!! We each analysed and added and grew these ideas of these characters in our head and i love that! But back to remus and sirius, because of how i imagine their temperaments and ideals, i think there’s a lot of directions and opportunities for many types of stories which is a driving force in choosing my ships. Fluff, angst, redemption arcs, first love, exploring sexuality, older, younger, magic, real, there’s so many you name it.

There’s also the sheer ability to put yourself into a character that i think makes it important for a ship. For me, i can relate a fair amount remus and sirius, and as can many of you. It makes a story personal, real to a reader which is important. I love seeing stories that address trauma, and homophobia, bad decisions, anger, sadness, and along with that other types of bad things as well. Sometimes it’s easier to feel like you’re not completely alone with something when reading it in a story or stories, especially when they’re written by people you know love the same things about these characters, and understand (consciously or unconsciously) It helps that remus and sirius have such experiences between them that it feels like everything i'm looking for is right there.

  At the same time, there is literal magic between them! This creates a perfect way to have just a lovely healthy dose of escapism. I don’t read stories for sad endings ill be honest. But the magic between them is portrayed in so many ways and so beautifully between stories and artists and in every au. You can fall in love, laugh, and cry right there with them and it’s easy to do so with these characters and i just lkalshdlk;ads it makes me happy. 

  Long long story short, they make me happy!! Again, this is just a short summary as to why. I could answer analyses and questions and hcs all day but like….. This was already a lot to read, and too long to write for someone on summer break that isn’t fanfiction.

[cognitivefunk]

A Steamy Encounter

Based loosely on the steamy encounter event. Alright it’s been a rough 4 years since I’ve written any sort of fanfiction and it’s my first time writing in second person POV so be gentle~ I wanted to give Dazai a little love because I really like his character and can’t wait for his route!! 

Fandom: Ikemen Vampire Character: Osamu Dazai Rating: M to E, I didn’t get crazy explicit but it’s 18+ Warnings: Mild Choking, mild dark themes, sexual content, mention of blood Word Count: 6,067

 A deep sigh filled the cavernous room, echoing softly against the walls of the lavish thermae as you sank into the water. Your shoulders and lower back ached from doing laundry for a better half of the afternoon, and internally you reprimanded yourself for ever thinking doing laundry in modern day was a chore since throwing it into the washer and dryer was much easier than scrubbing out the sheets and linen by hand. But you couldn’t find it in you to complain since it did help pass the time and the fresh air outside in the spring sun was a much healthier alternative to the way that you usually spent your days indoors on your computer or on your phone when you weren’t working. While the sun had felt warm on your face at the time, the chill of the evening sank into your bones as you finished up your task for the day, bringing in the laundry before the frost set in for the night. Faintly, you could hear the sound of freezing rain pelting the roof as you close your eyes, focusing on the hot water melting the pain away from your tired muscles, oblivious to your surroundings.

This time of year could be beautiful as buds began to sprout and tiny signs of life from a long winter emerged. It was strange how the seasons matched up when you had walked through that door weeks ago. You may have travelled through time, but some things remained the same. However, maybe it was the lack of big city lights, but the end of winter here seemed harsher than back home. Lost in your reverie, a part of you felt bad for the buds which emerged to the deceitful warmth of spring only to die once night fell, encapsulating new life in a frosty glaze. But such is life, fleetingly beautiful and temporary. You shake your head to clear your thoughts, tilting your head back until the fine hairs at the nape of your neck barely grazed the water, mindful not to let your messy bun touch the water. The fatigue must be getting to you. Living in a mansion full of vampires had you thinking of your own mortality lately, and it was starting to get to you.

Unbeknownst to you, watchful golden eyes examined you from across the bath. He had been sitting still as a statue since he saw you enter the bath, wondering if you had noticed him in the slightest, but realizing that you were off in your own little world. A soft exhale left him as you climbed into the water, relishing in its warmth, your expression was tired and he wondered if Sebastian had worked you too hard today. ‘So tired, poor little bird…’ He was content watching you from afar until that lonely expression crossed your face as you began your mild existential crisis and his body began to move on its own accord.

…Slosh…

               The sound of water startled you from your inner monologue and you clutched your chest out of reflex, eyes scanning the bath, searching for the source of the noise. You could have sworn that this was your bathing block; did you read the schedule wrong?  It hadn’t even occurred to you that somebody else could be using the bath across the steam on the other side; you hadn’t thought to check before sliding in. Internally, you scolded yourself for your carelessness. “Hello?” the greeting lingered in the air, heat creeping up your neck and flushing across your face. ‘Hello? Really, that’s what you think to say in this situation??’ you cringed slightly, wishing you had thought of something a bit more coherent then an informal greeting to the man who was coming closer now.

You hear a faint chuckle before a lilted voice spoke. “Ah, Toshiko-san~ You looked so peaceful, I didn’t want to interrupt you!” the lively voice carried well in the thermae. How long had he been sitting there without making any noise? “D-Dazai?” your voice cracked in embarrassment, but part of you was thankful that it was him, as you found him less threatening than some of the others, such as a certain foul-mouthed Dutchman who would likely make you want to change your identity and flee the country if he found you in here. The sound of water rippling and splashing filled the bath again as he crept closer to you, his form becoming clear as he emerged from the steam. A breath hitched in your throat at the prospect of him coming closer, but you didn’t want to make things any more awkward than they already felt by moving.

“I was wondering who had come to join me~ But isn’t your bathing block earlier in the evening? Did you not realize the time Yumiko-san? It’s already so dark…” he questioned playfully, golden eyes shining with a hint of amusement. You sank down again, both arms holding your breasts from his wandering gaze. “Sachiko-san,” he was disarming you, calling you every name under the sun except for yours, “no need to feel self-conscious! I can hardly see anything through all this steam!” He was lying through his teeth, maybe that was true when he was across the water but now that he’s so close it couldn’t possibly be true. But his words sounded so soft and assured with that breezy smile of his, so you chose to believe him anyway. At least that’s what you told yourself. Golden eyes trailed away pointedly as he stretched languidly and situated himself against the wall again, so close that you could reach out and touch him if the fancy struck. But you buried that thought and awkwardly uncrossed your arms, the misty water cupping around your chest, hiding your secrets.

When you lifted your gaze to look in his direction, you could see he had closed his eyes, a serene expression painted on his handsome face. He had been lost in his own reverie when you wandered into the bath, completely unguarded and candid as you were. He found you interesting, someone who wore their heart on their sleeve, with an emotional purity that both enraptured him and made him want to dissect to see what emotion he could provoke. It was for this reason that he felt incredible guilt when he thought about you. He wished that he could have watched you for longer from across the bath, at a distance, but he could not bring himself to sit idly by when you looked like the world was troubling you. What kind of man would he be to leave a girl alone with lonely thoughts to keep her company?

“I’m sorry, the time must’ve slipped from me, I was so focused on laundry that I didn’t think to check the time before I came over..” you reasoned, getting ready to exit the bath until you realized you hadn’t brought the towel over to the edge since you weren’t planning on company. The realization hit you like a ton of bricks and you stalled, speaking your thoughts aloud “I should really get going.” You hoped he would offer to leave instead, so you would have time to grab your towel before anyone else came in.

Ever observant as he was, Dazai watched you through a cracked eye from a sidelong glance, enjoying the moment you tried to slink off to the edge only to freeze as panic spread across your features. His laughter filled the air, turning your attention back to him. “No need to feel self-conscious. Back in Japan we bath in mixed baths all the time, right?” He paused, turning to look at you once again, eyes focused on yours with an emotion you could not read. “You know, speaking with you like this reminds me of home…” there was a hint of sadness in his words, a glint of sorrow slowly drowning, replaced by another playful face so quickly you thought you had imagined it. “Besides, if someone else walks in I can hide you behind my back~” he mused, eyes deliberately trailing to the door of the thermae before locking back on your face. The dusty pink color deepened on your cheeks at the thought of anyone else walking in on you like this. You already felt very vulnerable, but at the same time somewhat thankful for Dazai’s offer. Your gaze fell upon his broad shoulders at his suggestion and your throat felt dry suddenly, at the prospect of hiding behind him. You’d never noticed how muscular he was before under that Taisho-style kimono he always wore. The way the water beaded down his chest, dripping off of his hair as his smile deepened and the corner of his eyes crinkled in amusement. You tried to clear your parched throat and reasoned that it was due to the heat of the bath. You must be getting dehydrated.

“It’s cold tonight, isn’t it…” his voice reverberated in a lower register this time, his eyelashes lowering into an alluring glance, which, despite the heat made you shiver. Or maybe it was wishful thinking; you could never quite understand what was going through that man’s head. You cast your eyes down as a reflex, suddenly feeling very small. As an unintended consequence, you came face to face with his abdomen, momentarily becoming entranced by the way the water clung to his toned abs before realizing he had shifted closer soundlessly. How was he able to move through water without you noticing, or was it that your heart rushing through your ears was blocking out the sound of the water around you. The water was misty enough to mask his more private area and your eyes frantically scanned the water looking for somewhere else to focus your gaze on. Your flustered stare did not go unnoticed, stirring a darker emotion within the man. His fingers twitched at his side, you were so close, and your scent was starting to intoxicate him. For a fleeting moment, his eyes glazed over as he pictured capturing your lips beneath his as he slowly drug the both of you under the water, gasping painfully as the water filled both of your lungs—No. He chased away the haunting thoughts that threatened to consume him, a hollow feeling spreading across his chest. He wanted to drown in you yes, maybe fall a little, drenched in desire… but not drag you down into the abyss. Not you. His smile didn’t reach his eyes, lost momentarily in the darkness that consumed his soul.

“Yeah, it is,” you responded, completely oblivious to the war raging on inside the man beside you, and you began rubbing at your left shoulder as another nervous habit, working at a knot that was relaxing from the heat. Your voice ripped him from his mental prison, and his gaze locked onto the hand on your shoulder, and suddenly you were being turned away from the man beside you, your eyebrows knitting together in a confused expression. “Dazai?”

That’s right he wanted to play with you, to paint your face a pretty red and make you tremble in his grasp, but he didn’t want to scare you away. He wasn’t sure if he could handle you running from him. If you were to look at him with fear in your eyes it would not only crush him but would affirm the spiteful, seething voice in his head that reminded him of his own worthlessness. But you, you were such a pretty thing; he couldn’t pluck your wings and taint you with his darker impulses. Not now.

“Shh, relax Sochiko-san! You worked so hard today, you’re such an honest girl aren’t you?” his words had a playful innuendo that you couldn’t miss and you made a squeaking noise when you felt his firm touch on your shoulders, slowly kneading away your fatigue. You were about to push him away but his touch felt fantastic after the long day you had endured. “There, there. Now, isn’t that better? Just like that, relax into me. Let me help,” As he spoke, he pressed into a particularly sore spot and a soft moan escaped your lips. You felt him pause behind you and could have sworn you heard him take in a sharp, soft breath before continuing. “Such an honest girl…” His words felt like electricity in your lower abdomen, lighting you up from inside. Your face was burning as stifled the sounds coming from your traitorous mouth as he worked his magic on your shoulders.

A shudder went through his spine as he listened to your gentle voice, echoing off the walls, the only other sound being the soft ripple of the water and your breathing. He let out a sigh, his jaw tightening as you let your guard down around him. He trailed his fingers up your neck, kneading at the base of your skull, relishing at your closeness. It made his heart ache. He didn’t deserve such sweetness, but he craved it, pined for it. Why were you letting him touch you like this? Did you not realize that he was a man with selfish desires? “You know…rainy nights are my favorite,” he changed the topic, hearing the freezing rain outside blow against the windows of the thermae. For a moment you thought you heard the soft rumble of distant thunder and sighed, contentedly.

“Yeah? I like it when it storms. The sound of thunder makes me happy,” you admitted, too embarrassed to explain that strong storms gave you a sense of arousal akin to fulgarophilia, especially lightning storms. It gave you a sense of adrenaline that you couldn’t quite explain, but you were also fond of dark rainy nights. They made you feel safe.  And right now, you felt safe with Dazai, even if a part of your brain told you that this was a risky situation. You fought the urge to lean into him, when you felt him maneuvering you to face him again.

“Y/n…” again, his voice took on a low, almost sultry tone as he leaned toward you, easily towering over you. It almost felt like whiplash when you realized he said your actual name and not the nicknames he throws around on a whim. Suddenly, you became a lot more aware of the intimacy of your situation.  He lifted your chin with such gentleness it was as though he thought he would break you if he didn’t handle you with utmost care. The heat in his gaze made you feel dizzy, and you closed your eyes instinctively, anticipating his touch when you felt him shift toward you. But instead of feeling lips graze against your parted mouth, you felt his teeth ghost over your ear, his hot breath feeding the flame in your belly. “Dazai?” you whispered, afraid your voice wouldn’t work.

When had your hands betrayed you by resting on his taut, muscular chest? Your fingers curled against his skin and it hadn’t registered that the only thing keeping your bare breasts from being flush against his chest was your hands resting there. His breath was hot on your ear as he murmured, “Do you not see me as a man, y/n-chan?” His question felt heavy in the air, the tension was almost suffocating. “Or can I take it that you want me?” You shivered, taking a gulp at what saliva remained in your mouth and you gasped as you felt his tongue dart out, tracing your earlobe with a wet trail that almost sent you over the edge right then and there. You closed your eyes, daring your voice to speak, “What if s—“

And just like that you were interrupted, and your thoughts were scattered again when you felt his hands wrap around your shoulders, slowly shifting you behind him, all the while murmuring against your ear, “Someone’s coming, Kimiko-san~” You wanted to scream for two reasons. One, being that you were almost caught with Dazai in the bath, which carried several implications but also that you were interrupted from one of those implications becoming reality. You couldn’t deny that you had a crush on the eccentric man, who up until moments ago was massaging you in such an intimate way; you almost thought you would wake up any moment now. But the spell was broken, and the change of name hit you right in the gut with a sinking sensation. A quiet chuckle filled the air, as he studied your reaction, hiding you behind his large frame.

The sounds of footsteps were approaching from down the hallway when Dazai leaned closer, silently cursing the situation and for letting his guard down. He wished he could have heard you sing a little more before letting his little bird go for the night. His lustful desires almost put you in a compromising situation and he chastised himself for nearly losing control. His fangs ached from teasing the shell of your ear before informing you of the incoming guests. Standing from the water, he took his towel and wrapped it around your waist, giving you some cover and warmth as he backed out of the water carefully, making sure you were flush behind him, pressed firmly against his back. “Ayaka-san,” he chimed, seemingly back to the silly nicknames as though nothing had happened, “Do exactly as I say, unless you want Vincent and Theo-kun to see you~”

It was hard to breathe, feeling your soul temporarily exiting your body as you moved, pressed against Dazai’s completely naked form. He had given you his towel for a shred of decency as he maneuvered the two of you toward a back wall of the thermae. You could hear the voices of the two brothers approaching as they laughed among one another, clearly enjoying each other’s company. He snagged his kimono which was draped over a pillar nearby an unlatched window and wrapped it over your shoulders before opening the window to the outside. “It’s cold outside Yumiko-san,” he chided, hoisting you up onto his back as he crouched to carefully crawl out the window with you in tow. “What are you doing!?” you exclaimed, clasping a hand over your mouth when the approaching laughter paused. You had to keep your voice down or they would find you in an even more ridiculous position than just being found naked in the bath.

Dazai made a shushing noise with his finger pressed against his lips and continued to crawl out the window, letting it latch as it shut behind the two of you, locking you both outside. At night. In the freezing rain, half naked. You nuzzled closer into Dazai’s back, relishing in his warmth as he guided you expertly to his room, in all his naked glory, without running into a single person. Part of you was astonished at the audacity of the situation, while the other part was thoroughly impressed. It would seem this wasn’t his first stint, and another blush formed at the thought that this was probably the first time he’d roamed the mansion naked. Wait, he was still naked! Your eyes worriedly looked up at him as he set you down gingerly on his futon, and you were once again reminded of the intimate nature of your position. He stared down at your face, ‘so completely unguarded’ and a soft smile broke out on his face as he brought his hand down to pet your hair affectionately. “Safe and sound Sochiko-san!” he beamed at you and it was all too much.

Laughter bubbled up in your throat, startling him for a moment before he broke out into a soft laughter of his own. He loved the sound of your laughter, but the sound almost too bright for him to handle in this state. Never in a million years would you have pictured anything close to this happening in your life. You wiped a tear from your eye before touching Dazai’s arm to see if he was as freezing as you thought he must be, running around with you on his back in the freezing rain. “You better not catch a cold!” you scolded him, a few bouts of laughter still escaping your exasperated form. You worried about his health, unsure if a vampire could even catch a cold, but just the thought made you feel guilty since you would have played a part in it.

“Then why don’t you keep me warm?” there was a huskiness to his voice again as he crawled over you, forcing you to lean back to look up at him. You licked your lips, suddenly feeling overwhelmingly thirsty and you weren’t sure it was for water. His gaze was so intense you thought it would set you ablaze right then and there, struggling to think of a response you floundered for a moment before his mask slipped back into place and he poked your nose with his finger, teasing you. “Just kidding~” he lilted, leaving you feeling flustered and embarrassed. You opened and closed your mouth several times, completely at a loss of how to respond to the whirlwind of emotions Dazai was putting you through tonight. You frowned, this wasn’t good for your heart, but you didn’t want to come out and say that you’d like to spend the night in his bed if he didn’t feel the same. Was he just messing with you?

That look of frustration tempted him. He wanted to devour you head to toe, watch you squirm beneath him and cry out his name. Just the thought of you showing him your wild side was working him up and he was a mess of contradictions, with an incredible feeling of shame for capitalizing on the situation. He kept trying to convince himself that he didn’t deserve this moment, that you were too untainted for him to drag down to his depths. If you let him hold you like this, he would never let you go. Another sound of frustration escaped your lips as you try to find the words that seem to be at the tip of your tongue, wanting to hide your face until you could compose yourself enough to speak like a normal person. Although normal in this situation wasn’t exactly warranted.

A smirk tugged at his lips as he tilted his head, studying your face, “Oh? Toshiko-san, your face is becoming redder than an apple, careful or I might have to eat you up,” his playful voice was strained with lust as he leaned in toward you, his cool skin brushing the nape of your neck as his lips ghosted over the sensitive skin. Another soft moan escaped your throat and you wriggled beneath him, freezing when you felt something hard pressed against your inner thigh. “My, my…” he breathed against your neck, inhaling your scent as he murmured against you, “What a naughty girl, working me up like this. Bad, bad girl.”

His gentle reprimand made the heat pool in your nethers, and you shivered in response. You gathered your courage to speak, trying to sound sultry through the nervous rasp of your voice, “Why don’t you stop joking around and let me keep you warm then?” There it was, that dark shadow of lust that clouded over his eyes again, mixing with an unimaginable sadness that tugged at your heartstrings, nearly drowning you in his bewitching gaze. Maybe you shouldn’t have said anything; you didn’t want to overstep any boundaries with him after all. You opened your mouth to apologize when his lips came crashing down on yours. “Mmph!”

A pallid thumb brushed against your lower lip and pulled down, giving entrance for his greedy tongue, twisting and dancing alongside yours as you moan into his mouth. Your heart felt like it was going to leap right from your chest, the way it was beating, the blood rushing from your head to places further south. “Dazai!!” you gasped, arching subconsciously into his groin as he peppered your jaw with gentle nips and kisses, earning a low groan from the eccentric man above you. “Y/n…” he slipped down your body, pulling at the towel he had carefully wrapped around you, admiring you sprawled out on his futon with his kimono forgotten underneath you, your body exposed as he tossed the damp towel to the floor. He gently took one of your legs in his hands, delicately running his hands down to your ankle before lifting it to his mouth, his golden eyes almost glowing in the dimly lit room, daring you to look away as he sensually licked your ankle starting with the top of your foot to the soft fleshy divot where the joints bend.

You stared, wide eyed, and started to close your legs, feeling exposed under his raw, hungry gaze, but he used his free hand to push your knee open again, nestling himself on his own knees between yours as he worked his way up to your thigh, running his tongue along your inner leg, causing you to shiver and reach out, grabbing a handful of his hair and tugging slightly. His eyes nearly rolled at the sensation, a shudder rolling over his body as he looked up from his spot between your legs. He nuzzled his face against the soft flesh on the inside of your thigh, sighing almost erotically.

“Y/n…silly girl. Don’t you know you should run? I told you before, all men are wolves my dear…and I am no different,” the words spilled from his lips but he made no move to stop. His eyes bore into yours, looking for any sign of doubt before sinking his fangs into you. “Aaahn!!” your voice rang out, loudly, into the night. The freezing rain picking up outside the window, thunder in the distance drowning out your sweet cries from the other residents. Dazai nearly trembled from excitement, moaning into your thigh as your sweet nectar of life spilled onto his tongue, lapping every drop up greedily. The pain was a ghost of a memory, replaced with a pervasive heat that consumed every fiber of your being with an electric pleasure. If you thought you couldn’t form words before, they were lost to you now. The only sounds escaping you were wanton moans, stirring on the man between your legs.

“If you keep on like that I won’t be able to hold back…” his eyes looked pained and you felt a pang of guilt for not noticing it earlier. “Don’t you know how badly I want you?” He puffed air against your wet heat, his gaze following to your glistening folds, already wet for him. He groaned and the lust returned to his stare, but he was holding himself back.

“Dazai—“ you gasped, reaching down to touch one of his hands as you propped yourself up on your elbows. “What if…what if I don’t want you to hold back?” your face was on fire, you could feel your pulse in your temples as you panted softly. “I want this too…I trust you,” your tender expression nearly broke his heart. ‘You don’t know what I would do to you, how could you trust a man who would break you?’ he lamented to himself, beginning to get lost in his own sorrow when you shifted forward, shifting your weight to gently push him back onto the futon, where you could straddle him. “Do you trust me?” you breathed, wanting to reach through and pull that sorrow from him, if only for a little while.

His eyes softened, reaching up to cup your cheek with his large hands. They felt warmer than before. “You’re honest to a fault, Y/n. It makes me want to swallow you whole…” as though your light could shine from inside him. Leaning down, you placed a tentative kiss on his chest, nipping at his collarbone, hearing him gasp beneath you. There was a dangerous glint in his expression as you turned your attention to him. You wanted him to feel you, to feel your heart. “I’m willing to let you,” you trailed down his abdomen, placing lovingly tender kisses until you were kneeling off the futon in front of him. He lifted his head to look down at you, confused by your motive until he felt your warm mouth around him and watched his painfully hard member disappear behind your lips. “Y/N!” his startled exclamation ended in a throaty moan as his head fell back and he became overwhelmed by the sensations you were delivering to him. Had he died a second time? If so, maybe death wasn’t so boring after all.

You hollowed your cheeks, applying the right amount of pressure as you sucked his length, your own juices beginning to drip as you got excited from getting him off. You were thankful for the blanket of rain outside, pelting the window to hide some of the lewd noises that came from your actions. Hands wound their way through your hair, pulling you down onto him, his previous reservations snapped away the moment your wet heat enveloped him. He couldn’t resist you anymore. He didn’t care if you both fell at that moment. He couldn’t get close enough, the pleasure overtaking his senses. You felt the tug at your hair as he pulled you back with a pop as he left your mouth empty and wanting. You shivered from the sudden roughness and he smirked, guiding you down onto the futon again.

“Naughty girl~ Do you want me to lose control?” he breathed, climbing between your legs again, hoisting you up by hooking his arms beneath your knees. “I warned you I would devour you…” he moaned as he flattened his tongue against your dripping heat, making you fall against the bed, arms suddenly too weak to hold your weight anymore. You could tell you had broken the dam on his self-control, the way his tongue skillfully entered you, working his way up to your clit, grazing his fangs against your lowers lips. Your head was swimming, the erotic noises he was making made your sex tighten, begging for more. “Please—“ you begged, but you weren’t entirely sure for what. All you knew was that you wanted more.

“Please?” he echoed, working his middle and index finger into you, pumping and curling them until you saw white, bucking against his hand, not caring what you looked like anymore. “Dazai please!! I need you, please!” Tears were beginning to prick at your eyes and he sat back, sighing with smile spreading across his handsome features. “Beautiful..” he whispered, climbing over your heated body. His lips found your ear again as he nibbled playfully, brushing the tip of his manhood against your clit, slowly. The tears threatened to fall as they blurred your vision, your hips twitched toward him, and you felt empty without him in you. “Dazai—“ you gasped again, feeling frustrated and earning a lighthearted chuckle from the man above you.

“What do you want me to do? I want you to tell me,” his breath was hot against your cheek, his fangs pricking your earlobe and shooting another wave of pleasure as he soothed the love bite with his tongue. You screwed your eyes shut, panting loudly and attempted to reach down to guide him into you when your hands were restrained in his and held above your head with surprising strength. “Ah, ah~” he tsked, applying pressure to your wrist under his grasp. “Look at me,” he commanded. The weight of his words caused your eyes to open again, your eyes wet and face flushed. He teased himself against your sensitive spot again, meaningfully, “Tell me what you want me to do.”

You bit your lower lip, chewing on it while you tried to think of the right way to phrase it so that you could both get what you wanted. “I..I—“ you started, his mouth was trailing along your jaw again, letting his fangs drag across your soft skin without piercing the flesh, encouraging you to say the words he was waiting to hear. “Yes?” he egged you on, slowly rotating his hips to give you a preview of what you were in for.

“Please—I want to feel you inside of me, Dazai..” your submissive admission was all it took and in seconds he buried himself into you, hissing at your tight heat as your head fell back and you arched into him, hard. It stung, but he stayed still, allowing you to adjust before he began to rock with shallow thrusts, panting words of encouragement. “Y/n, you’re so tight,” he murmured against your neck, his tongue and teeth marking a hickey into your skin. You’d have to wear a scarf over the next couple days or a shirt with a high collar to hide his mark from the others. But a part of him wanted them to see it. He was moving slowly, rolling into you with sweet and deliberate motions. You couldn’t help but buck against him, craving a faster pace.

He let go of your wrists, letting you wrap your arms around his neck, digging your nails into his shoulders. For good measure, you wrapped your legs around his hips, pulling him in closer. He moaned low, shifting to take a perky nipple into his mouth while his fingers played with the other, making a mess of you. “Y/n, you’re such a naughty girl… pulling me close like that, is this not enough?” he chuckled against your breast, delighting in the frustrated groan that came as a response.  “Please, h-harder,” you pleaded. His mind went blank, hearing you plead to him in such a vulnerable way, it snapped his hips forward and his pace quickened, angling you so he could pound you into the futon, hand leaving your nipple to dance circles around your clit.

You all but screamed at the sudden change of pace, as a thin trail of drool escaped your lips and trailed down the side of your mouth. Fingers brushed against the sticky liquid and pushed into your mouth, which you gladly took inside, swirling your tongue and sucking, sending shudders down the man’s spine as his thrusts started to become more erratic. His eyes were positively glowing in the dark room and his hand left your mouth to rest on your throat, applying a light pressure, but enough to send a pleasurable shock through your body. He guided your hands to his own throat, showing you the kind of pressure he wanted you to apply. “Just a little, yeah?” he whispered, groaning when you pressed into his throat tentatively, reaching back down to give you a reward, applying increasing pressure to your clit, watching you struggle to keep your arms up as he pleasured you. His eyes rolled in his skull and you could feel his adam’s apple bob when he swallowed before he grabbed your wrists and thrust them above your head again, burying his fangs into your neck.

Your cry mixed with a hoarse moan as he drank from you, the pleasure sending you over the edge and you quivered as your orgasm ripped through your body, tightly convulsing around him as he reached his own climax, spilling his hot seed into you. It was overwhelming feeling him drink from you as he emptied his cum into your willing body. When he was finished he kissed the wound that was already starting to close, and moved to kiss your nose, still nestled inside of you. Your body was overstimulated and you moaned softly at the movement, earning another chuckle. “Hey..was I too rough with you?” he questioned sheepishly, still basking in the afterglow of your shared orgasm.

You didn’t think he could look anymore handsome than he already did, but the way the sweat clung to his hair and the loving gaze he was giving you right now made your heart melt. “It’s ok, I liked it,” you admitted, knowing that you would be sore tomorrow, but it was well worth it. A mischievous glint shown in his eyes this time, “You know I won’t be able to let you go, right?” he cooed, tracing his fingers along your neck again, paying special attention to the hickies he left behind. “I won’t be able to hold back now that I’ve had a taste of you…you better prepare yourself.”

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Psycho Analysis: The Moonchild

(WARNING! This analysis contains SPOILERS!)

I feel like this one was inevitable. As soon as I decided to bust open the doors on literary mediums like books and comics, this guy was always going to loom over me. Well, let’s just bite the bullet and talk about him. 

In the final portion of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Centuries, we are introduced to Oliver Haddo’s ultimate creation… a creation he is incredibly disappointed in. You see, the Antichrist or Moonchild is a whiny, miserable young adult strung out on prescription drugs because he went mad after realizing what he was being manipulated into. He is the subject of derision by all who know him, and is treated like a punching bag by most of the narrative, up to and including God literally telling him he’s a bitch. Our villain here is just a miserable, whiny, kind of misogynistic brat who doesn’t even want to be a villain, and in general is just unpleasant and ineffective save for a school massacre he pulls off.

Oh yeah, and his real name is Harry Potter. Kind of an important detail, that.

Motivation/Goals: So as the antichrist, you’d think Mr. Potter might, you know, maybe want to bring about the end of days and all that. But no! He actually pops pills and isolates himself in Grimmauld Place so that he doesn’t do that! He doesn’t want to be the Antichrist and, really, who would? Most of his screentime is thus spent whining, until he ultimately decides to embrace being the Antichrist because he feels  he has no other choice. We’ll get into all of that in a bit, but honestly, his motivation is extremely weak despite the incredibly graphic setup we’re given to his downward spiral: when he first discovered he was being manipulated by Satanists, he went on a magical school shooting, shown to us in a first-person perspective to emulate the games that were often blamed for real school shootings. We get to see Harry slaughter Ron, Hermione, Snape, Dumbledore, and so on, we get to see what he did to Hogsmeade and the Hogwarts Express, and absolutely none of it is pleasant. 

With setup like that you’d expect maybe a little more intrigue and indecision, maybe some sort of conflict between fate and choice or something beyond Harry sitting around half-naked, high off of antidepressants, being a whiny little bitch, but you might be giving the dude who wrote a porno where the kids from Peter Pan engage in underage incest a bit too much credit. 

Final Fate: So Harry has gone absolutely bonkers and it seems that nothing can possibly stop him; our heroes seem to be written into a corner. So what does Moore do? He has God - who in this universe is Mary Poppins - descend from the heavens and have her say how she protects the imaginations of children and how she just straight up hates Harry. Never mind that Harry is quite literally an abused child who was twisted by the cruel machinations of a body surfing wizard, apparently he’s a child not worth protecting or caring about and is unworthy of sympathy. Anyway, Mary Poppins just turns him into a chalk drawing and that’s the end of that. 

Great writing, Alan Moore, critically acclaimed creator of Watchmen!

Best Scene: Saying Harry here had a ‘best scene’ is seriously pushing it, because literally every moment he’s on the page the comic just beats you over the head with Moore’s biases. I wish I could put the school shooting sequence, because the idea behind it is legitimately intriguing, but the whole sequence is just interwoven with Moore whacking off his hateboner for the series. But on the subject of boners… well, I think there’s only one panel that can truly and adequately sum up this entire character and how much of a miserable failure he is. Those who have followed me for a long time knew this was coming, but for the rest of you, behold - Harry Potter Dick Lightning:

Final Thoughts & Score: Quite frankly, this is the worst thing Alan Moore has ever done.

I’m not even mad as a fan of Harry Potter; Moore was honestly ahead of his time in hating the franchise to this level. The issue I have is that he doesn’t really deconstruct or criticize in any meaningful way, he just is doing edgy “take that” stuff that you’d expect from a chump like Garth Ennis. Like, the concept here is incredibly solid and intriguing - this version of Harry has been groomed from birth by Satanists to become the Antichrist, with all of his adventures fabricated and all of his relationships manufactured to keep him under the illusion he is a hero to mankind. Upon discovering the truth, he snaps, massacres everyone at his school for their role in his manipulations, and went into exile to stave off the apocalypse, although he ultimately and bitterly accepts his role because he feels he was never given a choice… and he wasn’t! He’s an incredibly depressing and miserable deconstruction of the concept of “The Chosen One,” and yet the whole thing falls apart on multiple levels.

The first is that the Harry Potter franchise already deconstructs the concept of “The Chosen One;” the text goes out of its way to point out that Voldemort’s own actions are what is creating a self-fulfilling prophecy by targeting someone with the will and drive to fight back against him. Harry’s not so much chosen by fate so much as forcibly chosen by an evil manipulator… and that’s basically what we have here, but with less substance. Moore doesn’t really comment on anything, instead leading into the second big issue - Harry’s whole role is to be a strawman punching bag villain so that Moore can complain about modern fantasy franchises. Moore seems to view Harry as the epitome of the lazy regurgitation of the same story over and over that modern blockbuster culture so often falls into… except that Harry Potter was an original product developed by one person and had no artificial longevity slapped onto the franchise in the form of unneeded sequels or spinoffs to extend the lifespan of the franchise at the time Moore wrote this. Throw in the fact Moore just in general seems extremely contemptuous of any post-70s pop culture in Centuries and how Harry is ultimately taken down by crusty old characters from older literature really just leads to Moore coming across as a grumpy old man who hates anything new, not helped by his tired criticisms of millennials and their perceived lack of culture. Maybe Moore would have had more of a point if he created this storyline today, but he didn’t. Thus, he has no point and he just looks like a miserable old fart.

Sure, you can argue that maybe Moore’s basic parody of the character by exaggerating his tendencies to their logical extreme and attacking elements of the plot that had been criticized to death by fans to begin with has its place, and perhaps you could even say that the take in the comic is just an extreme take on how Harry acted in the fifth book, what with the lashing out at his friends and his general feeling of a lack of control, and there is some merit to that, or there would be if Moore’s own unrepentant bias didn’t undermine everything. Look, you can hate Harry Potter, but then why slap it into your work? It’s supremely cringey when people insert characters they hate into fanfiction and just completely derail their characters so that they can treat them like garbage with the narrative, and is that not what Moore did here? Is League not just public domain fanfiction? There’s a reason why I coined “Harry Potter Dick Lightning” as a phrase used to showcase a moment where a fanwork’s contempt for a character becomes so extreme that it not only jumps the shark, it rockets over it into the upper atmosphere. Any criticisms or messages Moore is trying to convey is tarnished by his blatant, seething contempt for the character, and that gets in the way of good writing and good storytelling. Having two characters express pity at having to murder an abused child who was warped by Satanists into being a tool of the apocalypse does not make up for how the narrative constantly mocks, belittles, and treats him like garbage to the point he really can’t function as an effective villain that can be taken seriously.

All of this adds up to what I’d argue is the absolute worst villain in all of fiction, bar none. There is just not a single redeeming quality about the Antichrist as a character. None. Nothing. I cannot think of another villain that so completely fails on every single level as this one does. He doesn’t work as an antagonist because most of the bad things he does are offscreen and he doesn’t come into conflict with the heroes until the very end, and most of his screentime features him doing nothing of note. He doesn’t work as a critique, because he is acting as a criticism for things his character never really represented in the first place. He only really functions as the sort of garbage you’d see in My Immortal, where the characters you know and love are turned into evil jerks because the writer hates them - but he even fails at being that, because at least My Immortal is funny about it! 

I am going out on a limb and saying that there cannot possibly be a villain that so utterly fails at everything it sets out to be as hard as Harry does. I don’t even want to try and believe it. And so, without hesitation, I am giving Moore’s shallow Potter parody a 0/10. And I pray to Mary Poppins that this is the only one of those I ever dish out, because I really don’t want to imagine what could possibly be worse than Harry Potter Dick Lightning.

[sirius-archive]

Could I get an imagine where the reader is a muggle American and she’s on vacation in London with her family and she somehow lost her family and she’s like freaking out and then she runs into Sirius on the streets and he like helps calm her down and helps her find her family? Sorry if this is a weird request

Pairing: Sirius Black x Reader, James Potter x Lily Evans (mentioned) 

Warnings: Swearing, stranger danger too, I guess. 

A/N: so sorry this took so long! I loved the idea and I hope I did it justice. I might add to it later on or revamp it bc I love the idea but it’s a big maybe at the moment bc I’m so busy with uni and work and also my other wips. I hope you enjoy this though. Also I changed the request quite a bit bc I forgot what you originally wanted! So sorry!! 

just want to add that I did something o probably shouldn’t and included my real life friends! With their permission, ofc. I also made a modern reference even tho it’s supposed to be the seventies but I liked it too much so I left it in ha ha. Also…pls don’t talk to strangers. This is fanfiction people not an advice column. 

****

It’s another uncharacteristically warm day in London.

The sun showers blankets of warm golden light over the city, guilding skyscrapers and warming the sweet, honeyed breeze. Sparrows are chirping sweet, morning songs, dancing in the air with surprising grace. Squirrels scamper across lush green grounds in a park nearby, happily bidding you a good morning.

And not one of these motherfuckers are going to help you find your friends.

You wander aimlessly past the same park monument you saw just half an hour ago. Your legs are already aching, your feet are forming blisters that hurt the more you think about them, and the sun is slowly drilling into your soul.

You think you might die of thirst before you find your friends.

In retrospect, it wasn’t entirely Sophie’s fault. While it was her dumb shit idea to tag along with the sexy British tour guide, you, Matt, Aaron, Riley and Reuben had been far more interested in touring the British Museum. So it wasn’t at all surprising when Sophie rushed off with knockoff Colin Firth to have a jolly high tea or whatever it is British people do on dates. Still, it gave you an opportunity to visit the museum.

You hadn’t even walked through the front gates when Matt, Aaron and Riley wandered off to have a deep and meaningful (you had warned Riley that coming on the trip with Aaron would cause some tension between your group. Thing between you and Aaron were a lot more complicated than the five-night-stand you’d shared last year). Reuben, being his usual womanising self, started flirting with the hot receptionist and not wanting any part of that (last time you wing-womaned for Reuben, the chick thought you were seeking a third), you stepped out for some air.

Now, you’re trying to navigate through the urban maze that is London by yourself, struggling to find your friends who are scattered all over the city.

Slumping against a park chair, you take a deep breath and study your map again. A part of you is screaming at you to swallow your pride and ask for directions but you’re a stubborn New Yorker and if you can effortlessly find your way through the Big Apple, you can tackle London.

“You’re not from around here…” says a masculine voice behind you. You sit up straight, whipping around in the direction of the voice.

Holy fucking cucumber sandwich.

The most handsome man you’ve ever laid your eyes on leans against the trunk of an old oak tree, observing you with a mixture of amusement and intrigue. He looks like he chomps down magical donuts that grant him sexy powers. You stare.

A cigarette hangs from his kissable, smirking lips. His hair falls gracefully around his face, framing glinting gray-blue eyes, high cheekbones and a strong jaw. He’s wearing a leather jacket and exudes all types mysterious-sexy-bad boy vibes. You’d bet a hundred bucks that he rides a motorcycle too.

Boys with motorcycles are usually trouble.

Your mouth goes a little bit dry.

“Please don’t be a serial killer,” you mutter and the stranger cocks a perfect eyebrow.

“What was that?”

You shake your head, “I mean — Is it that obvious?”

Sexy bad boy stranger shrugs, “I know a lost tourist when I see one.”

“Is this what you do, then? Lurk around parks waiting for lost tourists?”

Bad boy chuckles — a deep growling sound that rumbles at the back of his throat, “Maybe. Maybe I was just walking past and thought I’d help out a pretty girl in need.”

It takes all of your willpower not to blush now.

“So you’re just a Good Samaritan, then.”

“I’m whatever you want me to be.”

“What if I want you to go away?”

The handsome, young motorbike guy takes a deliberate step forward, “I think we both know that’s not true.”

You swallow. He’s good at this game. Something tells you that you’re not the first victim of his play-boy charms.

Desperately trying to reclaim your composure, you fold your arms across your chest and glare at him.

“What makes you think I need your help?”

British James Dean thinks for one attractive moment, “Well, you don’t have to accept my help but something tells me that if you don’t ask for directions soon, you’re going to end up wandering around London forever.”

He makes a good point.

You stand up from your seat, arms still folded across your chest, “Hypothetically speaking, If I were to accept your help, how would I know that you’re not a perverted serial killer who wants to collect my spleen and leave me in a ditch or something?”

Sexy stranger takes another step forward, “That’d be a shame. You’re too beautiful to kill, and I’m just beginning to like you.”

“That’s exactly what a perverted serial killer would say.”

“Touché. Alright, how about this: I drop you off at your hotel straight away, no detours and no taxi fees that you have to fork out to greedy muggl— erm, I mean, drivers.”

You consider this. He certainly doesn’t seem like a serial killer. Still, it’s hard to trust a charming stranger, especially one as handsome as he is. Then again, if he’s smart — which he definitely is — he’d never kill you in broad daylight in the middle of London.

You uncross your arms and hold one out for him to shake, “Alright, deal.”

Sexy stranger takes your hand and shakes it. His hand is strong and firm and electricity sparks in the warm space where your hands are clasped together.

“Sirius.”

“What?”

“Sirius.”

You blink at him, “Is that some kind of fungal STI that I need to be aware of?”

Sexy stranger chuckles again, “My name is Sirius.”

Sirius? Who the fuck calls their kid Sirius? You have to admit that the name suits him, and the way he says it — in a husky, velvety murmur — gives the name an alluring sex appeal, which sums him up completely.

You consider giving him a fake name but ultimately decide against it. That’s just weird and you can’t lie for shit.

“I’m (Y/N).”

Sirius repeats your name, tasting it on his lips. A more carnal part of you wishes he’d say it in a completely different context.

“Alright, (Y/N),” Sirius smiles, and he practically glows with charisma, “Lets get you home.”

***

You were right, of course. About the motorcycle.

Sirius’ carefully-polished motorbike is almost as sexy as it’s owner; gleaming in the sunlight and flaunting a sleek black paint job with plush leather seats. Several passerby’s stop to admire it (or Sirius, you can’t exactly tell), though Sirius doesn’t pay them any mind. One dudebro with a repugnantly bright tank top gawks at the motorbike while his girlfriend stares hungrily at Sirius.

“I’ve…never ridden a motorcycle before,” you bleat nervously.

Sirius hands you a helmet and smiles.

“Just hold onto me and you’ll be fine.”

Sirius mounts his motorbike and you awkwardly slide in behind him. You’re not sure where to put your hands so you place them on his shoulders. You think you hear Sirius laugh behind his helmet.

Sirius turns the ignition, revs the engine, and kicks the bike into gear.

“You alright back there?” He calls over the roar of the bike.

“Uh—yeah.”

“Hold onto my waist,” he orders, “You’ll be more secure.”

You’re about to protest but then Sirius takes off and you find your arms flying to his waist, gripping on tightly.

It’s exhilarating. Liberating. Intoxicating.

As Sirius weaves between London traffic, you feel a rush of adrenaline pulse through your veins. The air whips past, fluttering around the ruffled trim of your dress. Your hands soak in the warmth of Sirius’ body, his muscles firm beneath your touch.

You pass familiar landmarks and stores you passed when you and your friends took the double-decker bus from your hotel room. You recognise the buildings around you and realise the hotel is just a few kilometres down the street, on the right.

Suddenly, Sirius veers off to the left and zooms down a street you don’t recognise.

“What are you doing? The hotel is up that way!”

“I just have to make a quick stop,” he shouts over his shoulder.

“That wasn’t part of the deal!”

“Don’t worry, it won’t take long.”

You clutch onto him, apprehension beginning to claw away at your lower belly. Where is he taking you? How could you have been so stupid to trust an extremely attractive stranger to follow through with a deal?

Sirius slows the bike down until it rolls to a stop and flicks the engine off, climbing off sexily. He helps you clamber awkwardly off the bike and you tear your helmet off, taking in your surroundings for the first time.

You’re next to a footpath with a view of the The Thames, lined with large ornamental pear trees. Its quite a romantic spot with a view of the entire city sitting pretty behind the flowing River Thames.

Sirius tells you to wait by the motorbike and stalks away, rushing toward a boy who looks about your age. He’s tall, has messy black hair, and half-frame glasses. He looks like a sexy professor with the body of an Olympic swimmer that all the girls have crushes on.

Why are all the men here so insanely attractive?

You’re just about to sink into a delightful fantasy of sexy Professor feeding you grapes when Sirius comes up behind you.

“Ready to go?”

You ignore his question, “Who was the god — I mean — guy that you saw?”

Sirius arches an eyebrow. You notice for the first time that there is a scar knitted into it, “That’s James. He’s a total prat, by the way.”

“Sounds like you two have that in common,” you quip and Sirius mocks offence.

“Anyone tell you that you’re cruel?”

“Everyday of my life.”

“Here I was thinking you were just another hot little American bird.”

For one half of a millisecond, your brain snags on the word ‘hot.’ Did he just call you hot? You heard that right? You recover with grace, grinning wickedly.

“You’ll get over it.”

A teasing smirk flirts around the corners of Sirius’ lips, a little crookedly, slanting lazily in a way that makes your cheeks warm. He looks amused by this verbal tug-of-war but also a little turned on.

You’d be lying if you said you didn’t feel the same way.

“You ever walk along the River Thames?” Sirius asks, sliding his strong, sexy hands into the pocket of his sexy leather jacket. He begins to follow the footpath, leading you past the knots of pigeons and moonstruck lovers.

“No,” you sigh, “Admittedly, I just came along for the underage drinking and the hot British guys.”

Sirius laughs, “How’s that working out for you?”

You shrug, teasing him with a flirtatious smile, “I’m still working on it.”

“If you want,” Sirius begins, clawing at the nape of his neck, “I can help you out with that.”

You quirk a carefully-manicured brow, “What, you know any hot guys like your buddy James?”

Sirius snorts, “I wouldn’t go saying that around his girlfriend.”

“Why, is she the jealous type?”

“No, she’s the ‘try-not-to-make-his-fat-Head-even-fatter’ type.”

You chuckle, intrigue plucking at your mind, “She’s my type of girl.”

“Lily is everyone’s type of girl.”

“Well now I just have to meet her.”

Sirius raises his brows, a spark of hope in his eyes, “Is that your way of telling me that you’re taking me up on the offer for free beer?”

“You never said it was free before.”

“I’m feeling generous.”

“Aw, and they say chivalry is dead.”

Sirius laughs easily in a way that is completely carefree, as though laughter bubbles just beneath his skin, itching to pour out. It’s mesmerising how he doesn’t seem to take life too seriously.

“You are something else,” he says, letting his eyes catch and linger on yours for a quiet, suspended moment.

A gust of warm, summer wind brings peach blossoms raining down. The gentle coo of a skylark echoes in the distance. Time slows to a stop to stare at the two of you.

He steps forward, like he’s about to kiss you.

You let him.

He tastes like liquor and rebellion, a little wild in a way you’ve never realised you’ve wanted, you’ve needed. His hands are strong as they wrap around you, pulling you flush against his chest. Your fingers roam through his hair, tangling, tugging, earning a low groan from the back of his throat. You feel drunk on him, your head spinning and your heart thumping, as though it’s trying to tear through your chest and leap into his strong, capable hands. Suddenly, you realise how weird this is. He’s a stranger you’ve known for an hour or so yet now you’re kissing him. It’s as though you’re somehow drawn to him, to his energy, to the way he seems to know you intimately, in ways you hardly know about yourself. You break away, taking a step away from him. Sirius looks like he’s five again and has just had his favourite toy ripped away from him. 

““Are you—?”

Slap

Before you even realise what you’re doing, you’re slapping him across the cheek, not hard but he feels it. You kissed a stranger. That is a thing you did. You also slapped said stranger, partly because of impulse and partly because you’re terrified of how quickly your feelings are beginning to stir for someone you hardly know. Sirius is stunned, silent, staring at you with shock and hurt that stings you more than it should. You stare back, drawn in by every fleck of colour in his eyes, suddenly aware that, sure, he may be a stranger but that doesn’t mean he has to stay one. Obviously, you have a connection.

 So…connect.

 You crash your lips against his again, throwing your arms around his neck. 

Your friends can wait. You’ve found yourself a new tour guide. 

[heyitmelexie]

No One Compares To You (Bucky Barnes x Plus Size Reader) Chapter 1

Hi guys! Something new from me today!

This will be a fanfiction with several chapters. If you want to be tagged - just tell me!

Pairing: James Buchanan Barnes/The Winter Soldier/Bucky Barnes x Plus Size! Reader

Word Count: 1935

Summary: You are the daughter of Pepper and Tony. Currently living isolated (by choice) in Siberia to work on your master’s exam, someone stumbles into your life and changes it completely.

Author’s Note: In this work Pepper and Tony are a couple for way longer. The Events starting with Captain America: The Winter Soldier (and following) will happen at the same time they actually did (sounds weird but I think you know what I mean). 

Always here for advice so please tell me what you think and what I could do better! :)

Now enjoy ♥

----------------------------

Snow was falling heavily outside your hut. Like every day, Siberia was covered in snow, a white fairy tale, far away from any other civilization. It was just you, the forest and its inhabitants. And you loved it.

The white landscape of Siberia was a dream. An introvert’s dream, mostly, but a dream after all. Although your hut was miles and miles away from the next city you didn’t feel alone or isolated. The animals here were your friends. Thanks to a part of your mutation, you were able to communicate with all animals. You didn’t need human interaction if it wasn’t necessary. All you needed was a nice cup of hot chocolate, your fire place, a good book and occasionally a funny chat with a bear friend maybe. Doesn’t sound so bad, right?

The silence here helped a lot to focus on your studies. You studied palaeontology and were working on your master’s exam. It consumed most of your time, but it was worth it. Fascinating and exactly what you wanted to do since you watched Jurassic Park for the first time when you were about 5.

You remember the moment you first looked at the hut your dad had bought for you. And he had said jokingly “I spared no expenses” when you walked around the rooms. Luckily, he respected your wishes and didn’t make it all too extravagant. You know, Tony Stark style, all tech and stuff. But you wanted it cosy and decent and he kept it that way. It was a beautiful little wooden hut in the middle of a Siberian forest with a little pond right next to it. A little kitchen, modern but nothing high-tech. Wooden furniture with fuzzy rugs, a bunch of fluffy pillows and blankets, stuff like that. Basically how you would imagine a semi-modern wooden hut in the middle of nowhere. With a basement stuffed with food and drinks for months. Cosy as heck.

Tony didn’t mind that you weren’t a tech geek like him or a business woman like your mother Pepper, he was proud anyways. You did everything in order to reach your goals and to achieve your dreams. Never once did you complain that it was stressful to write so many essays, that it was stressful having that many deadlines. Never. The only thing you did was huff in frustration occasionally, but nothing else. You were tough, like your mother, and he appreciated it. You looked like a chubby mini-version of Pepper mixed with Merida. You were a ginger, messy curls that almost reached your butt and pale skin covered in freckles. Eyes like your mothers and a character exactly like hers, with a little bit of Tony showing sometimes. The side of Tony that messed with Pepper all the time. So Tony saw a mini-Pepper in you and Pepper saw a mini-Tony in you. Perfect.

Your childhood as the Stark kid was rather normal, considering the circumstances. Your parents always made sure that you were out of danger and didn’t witness all of the things they’ve been put through. But when you grew up and developed your mutation, they had to take action.

At the age of 5 you started to do weird things by accident. The first thing that happened was that, during a tantrum, you somehow created a small tornado that completely messed up your whole room. Baffled you had stopped crying immediately and watched in silence, fascinated yet shocked at how that could have happened. You had only felt a slight vibration rushing throughout your body but assumed it was because of the anger you had felt. Today you know it was the power soaring through your body before all hell broke loose.

It would take too long to count and explain all the things that happened after that first incident, so let’s just explain the mutation rather simple: You were able to control all five elements and connected to that you could communicate with animals. ¹ To you the mutation was a gift. You absolutely loved it and wouldn’t want it any other way. It was perfect to you. Logically you went to Charles Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters. During your time there you discovered everything your mutation had to offer. Which sometimes resulted in cataclysmic situations (a huge and deep hole in the ground, a completely dried out pond, stuff like that) but today you were completely in charge of it. You used your mutation to do good things like growing trees and grass, creating wells with fresh water in regions of need, restoring sections of the rainforest, things like that. But, if necessary, you could use it as a weapon as well. You just didn’t have to, yet.

All in all your life wasn’t too bad. The only thing bothering you was your body.

You have always been a heavy kid. Your family didn’t mind, they loved you nonetheless and always thought you were the most beautiful girl in the entire universe. They always told you that it doesn’t matter if you’re thick or thin. That people might be mean towards you because they think they are better than you just because they were skinny but that their foul words would mean nothing.

One day you came home from school crying because the new kid in your class had called you bad names because of your weight and had made fun of you.

“People can be arse holes” your dad had said to you.

“Tony!” Your mother lightly slapped his arm and looked at him angrily.

“You know I’m right, Pepper. People can be really mean. So sweetie, listen to me. If they say mean things to you: Ignore them. Nothing, absolutely nothing is wrong with you. You are beyond perfect the way you are. Yes you are chubbier than other kids but you’ve got a heart of gold which they don’t have and that makes you better than them. Being kind is way more important than being skinny. You are a little angel and you make me and mommy extremely proud. And no one can ever tell us different. Because people are often very superficial and judge others by their looks. There are people that might be ‘super skinny and beautiful’ but when you get to know them they’re shit.” Another slap. You giggled a little and sniffled and he continued.

“Whatever you do in your life, remember that you do it for yourself and not for others. Never change yourself for anyone. Never let anyone tell you how to live your life and certainly never let anyone rule over you. Your life lies in your hands. Yours only. Your body doesn’t define you, but your character, your actions and the way you treat others do. So stay who and how you are. Be kind, help those that need help and do good things. And don’t you ever worry about the size and shape of your body. You are gorgeous the way you are, honey and I love you to pieces. You don’t need negative people in your life. But there will be people who will love you for who you are. And honestly? If someone thinks you’re not pretty just because you’re bigger, than they are idiots and superficial losers with sticks high up their asses.” He winked at you and you giggled. Your mom just shook her head but smiled.

It made you feel better to hear these words from your dad but the kids at school continued calling you names and bullying you. Their behaviour made you hate your body and at some point not even your parents or even auntie Nat could make you feel better.

You had always wished for a Prince Charming that would love every bit of your body passionately and that would treat you like a Greek goddess. Little did you know that someone would soon burst into your life like uncle Steve once crashed full force into a bridal shop back in the day (he had told you the story several times when you were younger) and turned it upside down, positively.

But back to your current situation. It’s around five pm. You’re sitting on your sofa, wrapped up in a blanket, a mug with hot chocolate on the table and your laptop on your legs, working on your exam paper. This week has been very successful, you’ve filled about 21 more pages and the topic captivated you more and more. You wrote about the Jurassic Park movies and their accuracy compared to the real deal back then. As much as you loved the movies, but many facts were just wrong. A 2-meter Velociraptor? Yeah, no. There were 10 more pages ahead of you and 2 more weeks of time to fill them. 120 pages in 6 months, you felt very proud of yourself.

You decided to stop writing for today. Your eyes grew heavy and your mind was empty for now. And you knew that before you could have a relaxing bath you would have to go outside and carry some wood inside for the fire place. So you put on thick clothing and stepped outside into the cold evening. ² As you made your way to the little shack that holds your wood you noticed a dark pile of something between the trees, halfway covered in snow. This doesn’t look like an animal. It’s all black and doesn’t seem to have any fur covering it. Strange.

Wondering what or who this could possibly be you slowly made your way towards it, preparing for a possible assault. Maybe it’s a human? But who, besides me, would be out here? You hadn’t seen any other human in the past almost 6 months since you live here. And someone getting lost and finding exactly your hut in this isolated area? Only a small chance but you would have to see.

As you got closer you saw a face almost completely buried in the snow. Now you realized there was actually a man lying in the snow, half frozen to death, face blue and body stiff. You felt for a pulse. First you didn’t feel anything and almost panicked but then you could feel a slight beat against your fingers and exhaled relieved. He lived.

You picked him up but struggled. He was really heavy. Not able to carry him all the way back to your hut like this you just drag him through the snow and into the warmth. You put a thick blanket in front of the fire place and him onto it. Then you used your powers to slowly warm him up and at the same time dry him off. The colour slowly crawled back into his face and you felt his pulse getting stronger.

When his body had a normal temperature again you covered him in a bunch of blankets and went into the kitchen to prepare some hot chocolate.

He was wearing weird clothing. All black and it resembled some weird kind of uniform. Also a mask covering his mouth and goggles that you both had taken off his face. It gave you a creepy feeling but for now you would have to make sure he’d get better again before you could ask him some questions.

You just took some mini marshmallows out of the bag to put them on top of the hot chocolate as a body pressed you against the counter. The person wrapped an arm tightly around your torso to hold you in place and you felt a blade being pressed against your throat.

“Move and I’ll kill you.”

(End of Chapter 1)

Author’s Note:

1) Five elements: Air, Fire, Earth, Water and Soul. I got this idea from House of Nights. The main character was able to control the soul element if I remember correctly, I read the books too many years ago to remember any details but this is only an explanation as to why I am referring to five elements rather than four as people usually do. I also personally think seeing the soul as a fifth element is quite logical, it’s as natural as the other elements. But this is not just the soul of a human, it’s basically also the soul of animals and plants etc. It will occur that I’ll talk about auras and moods and stuff like that. Like, seeing the aura of people mostly (like the concept of Vampire Academy), the aura having different colours indicating their moods and states of their souls and stuff like that. I will also create a little legend that tells you what colour means which mood or state of mind/soul.

2) Of course basically you could warm yourself up with your mutation but everything has a price. Using it too much means you’re also using your own energy and that is exhausting. So you rather only use it if you have to, saving your energy.

[broadway-book-badger]

Let’s talk about books

Back in the day, about three years ago, I went through a phase of posting monthly write-ups of what I’d been reading on here. In these trying times there seems to be a little bit more time for reading, plus escapism and procrastination are always fun, so I though I’d share a few recommendations. There’s a few different genres (amazingly, hardly any YA fantasy), and I’ve mostly read these in the last year or so. I’ve kept my thoughts as spoiler free as I can. Read them under the cut.

1. The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins

Everyone and their mother has read The Hunger Games. I have read The Hunger Games before. But, a couple of weeks ago, I reread the trilogy for the first time since my first reading, which was around Christmas 2011. And to be perfectly honest, these books hold up! I think maybe it’s because I read so many not so good dystopian YA novels after I first read the Hunger Games that I thought less of this trilogy, but I don’t know. This is a solid series. If you’ve never revisited it (or if you’ve never read it at all), now could be the time! I love the fast paced writing - once things kick off, they do not stop and I burned through the whole trilogy in about three days. The world building is decent, and it doesn’t back away from some pretty heavy stuff. I remember certain scenes being much more gory, but that’s probably just because I’ve read much worse in the past 9 years. Also being older, I appreciate Katniss as a character a lot more. I remember 13-year old me getting annoyed, but now I kind of like that she is allowed to be confused about her feelings and struggle with what she’s been through and generally be a pawn rather than a flawless 16-year old rebel commander as seen elsewhere. The love triangle also isn’t as bad as I remember, although I was reminded of my own love for Peeta. Some people complain that he’s boring, but I think he’s a lovely boy.

2. The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

I’ve been wanting to read this since I saw someone on the internet pitch this as something along the lines of “The queer dragon fantasy epic you’ve been waiting for.” I did a lot of waiting for it to come out in paperback, because it is an absolute behemoth over 800 pages, and while incredibly pretty, the hardback was just too big. It was, however, well worth the wait. I haven’t read a ton of adult fantasy, because a lot of it is so big, but this was a good place to start, because the writing style is pretty easy to read and also its a standalone, so the story is told by the end, it’s not the first of like 6 800 page bricks. While the plot and the characters and the love story between a queen and her handmaiden who’s a badass sorceress in disguise are all enjoyable, the thing I loved the most was the worldbuilding. I love the time and effort that was spent developing the religions and mythologies of all the different kingdoms and how they clash in ways such as different takes on the legend of St George and the dragon, and the contrast Western dragons as monsters to be slain by knights vs benevolent Eastern dragons that kind of echoes real world mythology. I saw one review of this describing ‘Priory’ as ‘a feminist successor to Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones.’ While I think you could definitely say that that is the case, I would say that equally being more feminist than either of those titles is not a particularly high bar, given that there are only about 5 named women in the whole of Middle Earth, and most of the women in Game of Thrones are assaulted and brutalized for no good reason. 

3. Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

This book made me so happy, you have no idea. An enemies to friends to lovers story about the son of the first female American president and the Prince of England, that reads kind of like fanfiction but in the best possible way is exactly what the world needs right now. Everything about this book is delightful, from the characters to their relationships to the pseudo-alternate history that its set in. I think the thing that increased my enjoyment of this is the fact that the main characters are in their early twenties. It seems to me that most protagonists, regardless of genre are either 16 or pushing 30, and while I still enjoy their stories, there was just something infinitely more relatable about a character the same age as me. If anyone knows of any more books with characters in this age range, please let me know, because they seem few and far between. Back to this, however, I think I was grinning like an idiot through most of this book. I laughed, I may have shed a little happy tear, I fully recommend.

4. The Broken Earth Trilogy by N K Jemisin

Another foray into adult fantasy, this is such a good series. The books aren’t too long and the writing style is easy to digest, but it is DARK. It’s set in a world which experiences apocalyptic natural disasters every couple of centuries. There are people with powers that can help control this, but they’re super oppressed and treated as evil, rather than potential saviours. The story follows a woman searching for her missing daughter in the wake of an apocalypse, a young girl coming into her powers and others, and it is so well done. It’s such a unique and diverse world, and there are some great reveals as to why the story is being told the way that it is, as well as interesting takes on things like living vs surviving and systems of oppression.

5. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

An aging and reclusive Hollywood star decides that the time has come to share her life story to an unknown journalist and it’s amazing. This is so well done that its easy to forget while reading that Evelyn Hugo is not a real person and you cannot go and watch her films. I first heard about this book and thought it sounded interesting, as I have a love of Old Hollywood musicals. I then promptly forgot all about it, until I heard other people on the internet talking about how it had a bisexual protagonist, which both reminded me about it and made me want to read it more and here we are. Evelyn Hugo had a hell of a life, with seven husbands and another great love story, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading about it. This book does a great job at showcasing both the glamour and less glamorous underside of the era, as well as the lengths people are willing to go. It also had me sobbing at 1am because I couldn’t put it down, and if that isn’t the mark of a quality book, I don’t know what is!

6. Circle of Friends by Maeve Binchy

A coming-of-age story following two childhood friends as they move from their small town to Dublin for University in the 1950s. Quite a chunky book, but a lovely story and I found it read pretty quickly. As I was saying about Red, White and Royal Blue, it’s rare to find books about characters of this sort of age range. Equally rare I think are books with a university setting - the only others I can think of are Fangirl, the Magicians and the Secret History - any recommendations, let me know! I enjoyed the characters growing and finding their confidence and independence, as well as the period setting. I also greatly appreciated the ending, in terms of the main character’s love interest, as it’s something that you don’t often see in this type of book. I may have to read more by this author.

7. Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton

This is one of those books that I just happened to read at the perfect time in my life, and for that reason it means a lot to me. I read it at the very end of 2018, when I was feeling really down and not myself, and something in there just spoke to me and maybe gave a little perspective. I don’t read much non-fiction and this is just the memoirs of someone as she navigates her teens and twenties. I can see why someone might not like it, but I really did. There’s some relatable content in here. As the book went on and I read all these parts about bad dates and third-wheeling friends, I kept waiting for the part where she said, ‘but then I met so-and-so and it all changed’ but that NEVER happened. By the end of this book, this woman is still single and praising all the types of non-romantic love in her life, and that I think is a bit of a revelation. It is so rare for a woman to stay single at the end of a book (see every YA love triangle ever, even when both boys are terrible), and so this resonated deeply with me. I laughed, I cried, I go back and reread bits every so often, and I wholeheartedly recommend.

8. Chain of Gold by Cassandra Clare

There are those who say that Cassandra Clare needs to stop, but I wholeheartedly disagree. As long as she wants to keep writing Shadowhunter books, I will keep reading them, because they are a hell of a lot of fun. I’ll admit, bits of the OG Mortal Instruments series aren’t the best thing I’ve ever read, but the historical series are in another league altogether. I adore the Infernal Devices trilogy, which features one of the few good love triangles in YA, and Chain of Gold is a promising start to a new series about the children of the Infernal Devices characters. I think there’s something about the historical setting that just works so much better than the modern series, it could be the angst that comes from things like marriages of convenience and ruined reputations, but I digress. I really enjoyed getting to know this new cast of characters, while also getting some appearances from old favourites. The plot was solid too, and I liked the new expansions to the mythology, while wondering what they mean for what’s coming in the rest of this trilogy. I think the fact that I read this in less than 48 hours, mostly sitting in the same spot tells you everything you need to know.

[vannminner]

-

Where Magic Flows (III)

-

A03

FanFiction

-

Part Three: Of the Earth

-

“The likelihood that this illness is airborne grows less plausible each day.”

“Then what other explanations do we have left? We have more patients coming through that door than we have walking out.”

A week had passed since Arendelle’s first two cases of the mysterious illness. Another six had since followed. In each instance, a child was brought into the clinic with, what appeared to be, flu-like symptoms. They came in for care; for stomach pain and nausea. Yet, not a single one had left on their feet. 

Anna’s station at Doctor Laugen’s side had become a frequent occurrence. As Queen of Arendelle, she saw it in her responsibility to support each and every family that came through the doors. More than that, she felt it was her job to get to the bottom of it; to find a cure, a culprit. Or to risk falling gravely ill, herself.

“We have exhausted our efforts, your majesty.” Doctor Laugen replied. “Airborne pathogens would leave whole families susceptible. Even our weakest and eldest population would not have the power to withstand this disease. No. Whatever is causing this, it is environmental. It is in our food; our water, perhaps. It is destroying our youngest from the inside out.” 

“Our food?” Anna frowned. “What you are describing sounds intentional. Are you saying you believe someone in Arendelle to be responsible for all of this?”

The doctor shrugged. “Perhaps not.” He sighed. “What we are dealing with could be as simple as a bad fish supply, or as complicated as infected waters. I have read of something like this taking its toll on big cities in Southern Europe. If one waterway is contaminated, there can be serious repercussions.” 

Dragging a hand over her face, Anna shook her head. “I cannot tell our people to avoid the markets without just-proof. I need more than that! The little we do know has already caused a panic. It is not fair to the families to keep them on edge like this.” 

Doctor Laugen turned his face towards the door. Outside of his office, there were more than a dozen patients and their parents; each one of them awaiting answers as desperately as Queen Anna. She was asking the doctor for too much, and Anna knew it. 

“Just, please. So what you can.” She pleaded, and Anna stepped toward the exit.

Briefly, she froze. Her fingers suspended over the door handle. Anna spun back toward the doctor and bit her lip. 

Her hand came to rest lightly against Laugen’s shoulder. “Thank you for what you are doing here.” Anna offered him a small grin. “I know you are doing the best you can, and I appreciate all your efforts.”

Doctor Laugen nodded, and Anna pulled away. She left his office with her chin high. Her eyes held straight ahead. She, once again, avoided the stares of patients, and dodged each hopeful glance. Right now, she had nothing for them, and she worried she would fail them as their new queen. 

Kristoff awaited her outside the clinic. Sven stood calmly at his side. They both looked up, impatient, and stepped forward as Anna came out the exit. 

“Any changes?” Kristoff asked. Sven chuffed with his nose against Anna’s hand. 

She gave him a quick pat. “No, I am afraid not.”

She sighed, and her husband took her under his arm.

He slowly began leading them back towards the castle. “It might be time we bring Elsa down from the North…”

Anna nodded, sighing at the thought. “Unfortunately, I was thinking the same thing. Afterall, only Ahtohallan knows.” 

- 

“Cinnabar?” Elsa frowned. “I have never heard of it before.”

With her brows pinched, she came to her knees. Elsa leaned in close, holding the lantern over head. She examined the red powder under the glass, and released a small sigh. 

“It is a Spanish ore used for paints and glazes.” Elder, Brandr, explained. “You may touch it, if you wish. It is harmless.” 

The powder appeared fine, yet held a coarseness under her fingertip. Cinnabar was moist to the touch. It was as if it had soaked up water from the river, and had yet to dry out. 

“Strange…” Elsa mused. She returned to her feet and stepped back. “Spain, you say? How did it come to find us here?” 

Brandr turned to Hilf, his eldest son and aspiring scholar. “I am afraid, that, we do not know.” 

“However, with the forest no longer hidden by the mist, there may be travelers from other parts of the world that have come to find these lands.”

It was Yelena who spoke next. The four had gathered at her goahti to discuss the elders’ findings. They deemed it best to keep any information about the disturbances to themselves until they had something more concrete to tell the people. For now, life in Northuldra had returned to normal. The giants had settled, and no further markings had been found throughout their lands. 

“Foreign ores, such as this one, are also used in spiritual practices in the communities to our east. People will pay good money to export European ores for use in their sacred ceremonies, and other rituals.” Hilf explained. 

As Elsa had come to learn, most of their history had been passed down through Northuldra generations. All their knowledge spanned across many years, and even more people. It was quite similar to how libraries were compiled back in Arendelle. However, the Northuldra had a forty year gap in which no new information was established. Elsa dared not to call it a deficit, but much had changed in the world since the mist drifted in. If this powder and the symbols were not traditional to the forest, there was a great likelihood they were dealing with something, or someone, foreign to these lands. 

“What information do we have on these rituals?” Elsa asked. 

Hilf came forward with a hand-rendered scripture. “We lack specifics.” He sighed. “I am afraid most of these practices belong to new-age religions, meaning their beliefs are ever-changing. As with the Northuldra, we rely on nature to form and guide our communal instincts. We yield our spiritual essence from the properties of magic found in our lands. However, with the dawn of a new-age, there are people out there who seek to profit from the creation of magic.”

“The creation of magic?” Elsa huffed. “Well, that is not much to go by. I have never heard of anyone having the ability to conjure magic before.”

“-and it may not even be possible.” Yelena stepped in. “Though, that will not stop people from trying.”

Elsa turned the parchment towards her. Hlif had compiled the drawings he'd found along the river. They reminded Elsa of the engravings she had found on the headstones at the entrance to the Enchanted Forest, and of the same ones found on her mother's shall. They were more complicated than that, however. Where lines crossed and new scriptures started; these drawings resembled that of a puzzle more likely.

“And what of the symbols? Am I to assume they belong to these new practices as well?”

Shrugging, Hilf directed a hand behind his neck. “There is no way for us to know. As Yelena has said, we are exposed to the outside world now. Anyone, with any belief, could wander in here.”

“But undetected?” Elsa shook her head. “That cannot be! I trust the spirits to show me the truth; to guide me towards that which does not belong here.”

“Perhaps they do not know, themselves.” Yelena cut in. “For as long as we have been isolated, so have they.”

Silence filled the small hut as Elsa mulled over her thoughts. So much here, was unknown. Modern science would fall victim to the same dead-ends. Not even the Northulda and their records could explain. Yet, one question still weighed heaviest. 

“The earth giants.” Elsa’s brow pulled low, and her eyes caught in the light of the dim lantern. “Those markings and this powder; could they not be what caused the giants to rebel?” 

With a steady breath, Yelena came to sit at Elsa’s side. “My dear, I have lived alongside the spirits for a near half of my life. I have both loved and feared them. From this, I have learned that nothing in nature is certain. Things are not always as they appear. However, if there is one aspect of these lands that I know I can trust, it is that the forest is ever-learning. If there is something here for which does not belong, we shall know soon enough.”

Her hand came to rest on top of Elsa’s. “Only Ahtohallan knows.” 

A tiny grin teased at Elsa’s cheeks. “I believe I have somewhere I need to be, then.”

“It would appear so.” Yelena squeezed Elsa’s fingers before removing her hand. “Now go, dear child. Be one with the wind and sky.”

Elsa nodded. Feeling full, her confidence soared as she said her goodbyes and gave her thanks. She left the goahti with heightened spirits, yet made it no more than four feet before she was stopped once again- this time, with much more force. 

Honeymaren had appeared out of nowhere.  Her hand corded around Elsa’s forearm, and she dragged her between two huts. There, they were hidden from the villagers gathered in the clearing. As an added measure, Honeymaren tucked Elsa’s back into the trunk of a tree; where no one would be witness to their seemingly secret meeting. 

“What, um. What are you doing?” Elsa balked. Her eyes held wide in confusion. 

Honeymaren’s hand came to cover Elsa’s mouth and she glared. She was standing right on top of her, their torsos a mere inch apart. 

“Shh,” She pleaded. “Listen to me. There is something you must see!”

“See what?” Her words muffled against the palm pressed to her lips. Honeymaren released her, and she tried again. “See what? What is going on?”

Honeymaren responded by dragging Elsa closer to the treelines, and away from the busy village. Once hidden in the forest, she turned to Elsa once more. 

“What did the elders say?” Honeymaren asked. “Everyone is anxious, and Yelena will not tell them anything. But they know something; they must!” She shook her head clear. “That is not important right now. Anyway, please hurry! You have to come with me.”

Elsa tried to shrug from her hold, but Honeymaren's grasp persisted.

Irritated, her voice rose sharply. “The elders know nothing! They have nothing to say. I am heading to Ahtohallan to find the truth. If the village must know something, tell them we are doing the best we can.”

As Elsa tried to move past her, Honeymaren tugged back. “You have been to Ahtohallan already! There were no answers for you there.”

Elsa rolled her eyes. “It is not a telegram. I cannot make the truth appear for me by simply pushing buttons and asking.”

She stifled a growl. Honeymaren’s eyes burned with annoyance, and Elsa had never seen her in quite this way; a mix of impassioned and enraged. 

“Listen to me.” She begged. Her tense whisper wavered at Elsa’s ears. “You must come with me now, please. There is something you should see, but we cannot yet tell the elders.”

Elsa wanted to argue. She wanted to tell Honeymaren that there were more important things she had to do; things in which would better serve the forest. Yet, Elsa could not bring herself to do so. She had come to trust Honeymaren; her unique instincts and beliefs.  Elsa believed Honeymaren to be a new sort of family for her; her family outside of Arendelle. And by tell of the desperate look on Honeymaren’s face, Elsa knew she should give in.

“Alright.” She finally nodded. “You may show me.”

Honeymaren released an appreciative sigh. “Great!” She cheered. “Now, come with me!”

Elsa yelped as she was forcefully directed down the hill. Honeymaren had her running, Elsa’s arm still laced between her fingers. 

Elsa stumbled as she raced to keep up. “Fifth spirit or not, I am still mortal. Ease up on the arm, could you?” 

However, Honeymaren did not listen. She sprinted between trees and over rocks, leaving Elsa scrambling behind her. 

“This way!” She encouraged her. Honeymaren pulled them into a hard left. 

Elsa decided to keep her discomfort to herself. Seeing her friend near-panic, Elsa now sensed the urgency in Honeymaren’s actions. She began following as close to her heels as she could manage, and had a hard lock on all her other comments. 

It was only a few more feet before they came to a drastic stop. Elsa skidded against the dirt, catching herself against a tree. She winced. Her hands scratched at the bark, and missing the opportunity to complain; Elsa was spun the other way. 

Ryder was there now. Elsa had to blink to clear her vision, but there he was, looking as cheery as ever. 

“Are we going?” He asked from a top his reindeer, Dahl. 

Honeymaren ignored him. “Get on.” She instructed. 

Elsa blinked and her eyes enlarged. “I beg your pardon?”

“Stop being stubborn!” Honeymaren’s hands snatched at Elsa’s waist. 

She hoisted her onto the back of the reindeer and slid in behind her. 

“Are we good to go?” Ryder asked. 

Elsa’s protests were drowned out by Honeymaren’s reply. The deer had lurched forward. The three squeezed together, and suddenly, they were off. 

Glaring, Elsa turned her head over her shoulder. “Yesterday, you asked if I felt at home here. Well, now I can confidently say, no one at home has ever dragged me down a hill and threw me on the back of a reindeer before!” 

Honeymaren mimicked her stare. “It is not my fault you are always so stubborn!”

“Ladies! Ladies!” Ryder called overhead. “There is no need for hostilities!”

Both women grumbled in response.

Elsa crossed her arms. “Can you at least tell me where we are going?” She demanded. 

“You shall see soon enough.” Honeymaren replied.

However, soon enough did not come as quickly as Elsa would have liked. They were riding the length of the valley, North. Even with the reindeer exhausting all four legs, Elsa could have gone faster by Nokk. That thought was moot now. She was fashioned between the two siblings in the middle of the forest. It was mid-day, and the summer sun was hot, yet all three were kept cool by the wind coming in from off the Dark Sea. 

Long minutes passed by. How many minutes, was entirely unknown. The deer continued at full speed until they reached the peak of a great rock ledge. From there, the ground continued to roll downward, leading them back toward the river. 

Dahl slowed at the hilt of the falls, and Honeymaren leapt from his back.

She spun to Elsa with hands on her hips. “Well?” She sang. 

Elsa’s head tilt as she frowned. “Well, what?” She stepped onto the ground.

Elsa approached Honeymaren slowly, and assessed their surroundings with a calm and wandering gaze. Everything appeared normal. It was quiet. There were no strange markings, nor powder found on the ground. Yet, Honeymaren continued to stare at Elsa as if she were missing something obvious. 

“I don’t understand. What am I not seeing here?” She asked. Her face stayed intentionally blank. 

“Yes!” Honeymaren cheered. She jumped into the air. Taking Elsa’s shoulders between her hands, Honeymaren shook her erratically. “That is exactly it! What are you not seeing?”

Ryder was suddenly at Elsa’s back. His finger pointed out over her head. “About that tall…” He explained. “-big… some might say, giant… made of rock…”

“The earth giants?” Elsa dryly guessed. Her arms crossed defiantly.

“Ding, ding, ding. We have a winner!” He beamed. 

Shaking her head, Elsa pulled from the pair. “What about them?” 

���What about them!” Honeymaren scoffed. “Oh, I don’t know. Ryder, do you see a thirty foot tall earth giant anywhere?”

He shook his head and hummed. “You know, Mare, I do not!” 

“Down by the shore?” She continued. 

“Nope.”

“How about, in the meadow?” 

“Nope again!”

Honeymaren turned to Elsa sharply. “Are you catching on yet?”

Elsa had turned silent as she walked to the face of the cliff. Her eyes scanned the low riverbanks. They pulled high to the tops of the Scots Pine. Finally, she turned. 

“Gone?” She gasped. “As in, they have disappeared?” 

Honeymaren stepped forward with her eyes circling playfully. “Well, let’s not go that far.”

“I tracked them out to the eastern border.” Ryder explained. 

Elsa’s brows drew low. She shook her head. “The eastern border? But that’s the end of the forest; the end of Northuldra territory…”

“Finally!” Honeymaren sighed. “You have finally caught on to our dilemma.”

Though teasing, Elsa knew Honeymaren was worried. She could make sense of the fear held behind her dark brown eyes. 

The earth giants were leaving the forest, and not one of them knew what could happen in consequence. 

 -

-M.

[fanfic-inator795]

RotTMNT/Baron Jitsu fanfiction: Dating… With Children - Chapter Seven

(Also on AO3 if you want to leave a comment or kudos)

Plot:  Benjamin Draxum hardly considered himself a man of high social standing. Not because he was uncouth or unworthy of it, mind you, but simply because he didn’t have much of a social life. Hard to have one when he usually spent his days at work, cooped up in a lab for so long that he often had his lunches in there, and his nights at home reading or doing research for more personal projects. But perhaps meeting handsome semi-retired movie star - as well as his four young sons - could change all that…

((Soooo, I know I said this chapter would have a bit more drama, but as I was writing that chapter, I realized that this idea was better as a lead-in to the next, slightly more dramatic idea. So, you're getting this chapter first, hope you guys don't mind! Anyway, enjoy the action and fluff! ^v^))

They say no news is good news, and for the most part Draxum could see some truth to that. It wasn't as if he had wished for something to have gone wrong, like their lab’s computers completely crashing or one of his intern’s screwing up. But at the same time, there also hadn't been any major breakthroughs, not even small discoveries in their research and tests that could lead down a rabbit hole of possibilities.

No, instead it had just been another average day at work. Just like the day before, and the day before that… And the several days before that…

Draxum sighed, rubbing his eyes. He only had a couple hours left in the shift, and he knew exactly what he was going to do afterwards. It was a part of his routine that he had been somewhat denying himself, thanks to all the extra time he had been spending either at the Jitsu house or at his own apartment. And, while he certainly didn't regret the time spent with his boyfriend, he was still looking forward to a couple good rounds…

Suddenly, he felt his phone vibrate for a second in his pocket. “Speak of the devil,” he mumbled with a smirk, taking the phone out. Sure enough, it was a text from Lou.

“Hey, babe. Whatchu up to? Hope work is going well.” Draxum wasn't quite sure when Lou had started calling him that (though it certainly flustered him a bit the first time he noticed), but while he usually wasn't one for pet names, he supposed he didn't mind this one too much.

“Work is work. Going to stop by the ring after,” he texted back.

It only took a few seconds for Lou to reply. “Oof, that bad of a day?”

“No, just haven't done it in a while. Figured it'd be a good way to clear my head somewhat, instead of feeling like a rat on a wheel.”

“Fair enough, hope u have fun!”

Draxum stared at the reply, thinking about it for a moment before typing, “Would you want to come with?” He waited, and then-

“Really, you don't mind?”

“If I did, I wouldn't have asked.”

“Haha, ok! Let me call my babysitter to see if he’s available, otherwise yeah, I'd love to!” A few minutes later, Lou sent another text - a simple thumbs up emoji - and Draxum replied with what time he'd be picking him up.

A quick stop at home after work to change and grab his gym bag, and then it was straight to the Jitsu house. Thankfully traffic was on his side for the most part, making him only a couple minutes late. He walked briskly up the colorful sidewalk - it looked like the boys had tried to play some sort of space themed hopscotch game - and knocked twice. The door opened, and-

“Well hello there~!”

Draxum blinked, stepping back slightly. He had been expecting Lou or one of the boys to answer the door, but instead he was greeted by a stout man with bushy blond hair and an even bushier mustache and a smile that just seemed much too happy and friendly to be natural. “...Hello. I-”

The short man suddenly grabbed his hand, shaking it firmly. “You must be Lou’s new beau! Oh it's just so great to meet you! And I can just tell already that you two must be the sweetest thing and probably look so CUTE together!”

“...If you say so,” Draxum said slowly, allowing the man to hold onto his hand for only a few seconds before yanking it away. Figuring that he wouldn't just want to stand and wait in the doorway, the overtly happy man stood aside, allowing Draxum to come in. He noticed all four boys - and… Was that a dog? What in the world, where had that come from? - in the living room, contently sitting on either the loveseat or the beanbags as they all watched TV together.

“Oh, hey Dr. Draxum!” Donnie noticed, waving. The Labrador puppy that was sitting near him also gave a quick greeting, barking loudly before settling back down. The mustached man just giggled at the pup, wagging a finger at it.

“Er, hello boys,” the scientist nodded, giving them a halfhearted wave, “Where is your-?”

“Hey, you.” Draxum turned and saw Lou coming down the stairs, dressed in a v-neck tank top and long gym pants, with his yellow-tinted sunglasses once again being opted out for darker ones. His hair was also missing its usual pompadour-like style, his bangs instead being tied back in a top knot. The leaner man’s smile almost immediately helped put Draxum a bit more at ease, even if he still wasn't too sure of their ‘guest’.

“Have a fun date, Pop!” Raph told him as his father gave him and his brothers goodbye-and-be-good hugs.

“I'm sure we will,” Lou smiled. Once he was done with his boys, he turned to the blond. “We’ll try not to stay out too late. I would imagine that-”

“Oh no, take your time!” The stout man insisted, “I'm in no rush! And you know how I just love looking after your boys, Lou, it's no trouble at all! Now you two go on and have a great time, okay?

Lou chuckled. “Alright, if you insist. Thanks again, Todd.” They quickly shook hands, with the smaller man once again insisting that he was happy to help. Finally looking back at Draxum now, he led his date out the door while his babysitter waved them off. And as soon as the door closed, Draxum broke his silence.

“Okay… Who was that guy?”

“Who, Todd?” Lou asked, “Uh, he's my babysitter? Kinda thought that was obvious, but-”

“So, you just found this guy and thought, ‘yeah, he seems normal enough to trust with my children’, huh?”

Lou laughed as they walked. “Okay okay, I know Todd seems a bit weird-” Even he could admit to being a bit overwhelmed by the guy’s friendliness and enthusiastic niceties the first time they met- “But he's also just a nice guy! And a good babysitter too, the boys have a fun time with him. ...Though, that maaaay be because he always brings over one of his puppies whenever he sits - he runs a puppy rescue that's on the outskirts of the city.”

“Ah,” Draxum nodded, opening his driver’s side door, “Well, that's one way to give them a pet without actually giving them a pet.”

“I know, right! That's what I thought too!” He paused as he got in the car. “Though, Mikey still tries to ask me for a cat sometimes…”

------------

Since it was for amateurs only, the gym wasn't too fancy, all things considered. It was a little on the small side, and the youngest equipment there was still at least ten years old. Even his tiny home gym in his apartment was technically more modern. Still, the structure was sound and the roof never leaked, more than half the lockers there still locked and - the thing that always kept people like him coming back - there was still a well-kept, MMA regulation ring right in the center of it all. The perfect place for people to spar, as well as the home of amateur league bragging-rights-only championships every other month.

Draxum could still remember his first few times stepping into this old gym. He'd never been interested in team sports in his youth, but once he had found this place on one random walk around town, suddenly the strength and strategy behind mixed martial arts seemed pretty appealing. It kept him in shape at least, and even after three graduation ceremonies and earning a doctorate, he still found himself coming to the old gym to let off some steam about as often as he did as a teenager.

Lou seemed fairly impressed with it as well, immediately taking interest in the ring. The only other people there were a trainer and his hopeful eventual-champion, and since they were currently busy with the heavy bags in the corner, the ring was completely free.

“So,” Lou asked, stretching his arms as he glanced over his shoulder at his date, “Should we just get down to it then?”

Draxum smirked back at him. “Eager, aren't we?”

The ex-star shrugged. “What can I say, I like a good fight… Think you can give it to me?”

“I'd say I've got a pretty good chance.” Draxum walked over to him, close enough to let his natural height tower over Lou slightly. “Even when up against the great Lou Jitsu.”

Lou grinned. “Well then, let's see what you've got, Doc~”

“...This is ridiculously cheesy and over the top, even for us.”

“Oh don't act like you don't love it.”

All flirting aside, the two of them did take some time to stretch after climbing into the ring, with Draxum making sure to face away from his date, not wanting to risk staring or be caught staring. (Unbeknownst to him, Lou was doing the exact same thing. After all, Draxum was wearing a faded blue-grey tee and black shorts. Lou had never seen Draxum in shorts before, and he had no idea why. The man certainly had the legs for them.)

As they then turned back around to face each other and got into a starting position, the doctor couldn't help but feel a sense of deja vu, recalling the last time they ‘fought’. Of course, this time would be without the music, which meant it would naturally be more fight-like than dance-like, and there probably wouldn't be nearly as much fancy footwork. Still, he could feel excitement bubbling up in his chest, and allowed a small smile to stay on his face as they began the ‘round’.

Lou started things off, rushing in with a punch so fast that Draxum just barely managed to block it. “Ah, I was wondering if you'd actually take this seriously,” he said as he dodged another blow.

“Hey,” Lou chuckled, “Gotta keep you on your toes somehow!” He definitely had an advantage on speed, side-stepping and bouncing on his feet with ease as he hardly gave Draxum any room.

Of course, Draxum had his advantages too. He still had his height on Lou, as well as his physical strength. Once he saw an opening, he didn't hesitate to throw a punch. “Whoa!” Lou cries out, ducking down to avoid it before popping back up. “Nice one!” His date quickly raised his arms, ready to block.

Smirking, Draxum continued to throw hit after hit, keeping an eye on his openings and making sure to throw a fake out or two in there, just to keep things from getting to predictable.

Of course, Lou had his surprises as well. Turning one particular dodge into a sort of somersault, he gave himself some extra space. Once he was back on his feet, he tried a kick that was so fast and sudden, Draxum actually gasped as he moved away, thankfully only getting lightly kicked in the shoulder. The other amateurs he sometimes sparred with couldn't get their feet up nearly that high! “Too much?” He heard Lou ask.

“Hardly,” Draxum retorted, taking only the briefest of moments to regain his footing before rushing his date. Lou had been so focused on getting a possible tide-turning move in that he failed to also keep in mind his surroundings.

Not wanting to get pinned to the fence behind him, Lou dove out of the way, once again getting back to his feet in record time and trying another kick, this time aimed at Draxum’s back. But his boyfriend had speed of his own, it would seem. Draxum was able to catch the kick as he turned, taking the chance to shove Lou away.

Lou cried out a bit as he stumbled, though managed to keep from completely falling over. Standing back up to his full height, he was all smiles as he stared down his smirking opponent. “Alright, you’re asking for it!”

For the next two to three minutes, it was nothing but punches, blocks and dodges, with the two of them switching off between attacking and defending so quickly that if their fight had been an official match instead of just a spar, it could've been anyone’s round. Then again, if it had been an official match, Lou would've pulled out all the stops and shown off every trick he had while Draxum certainly would've been hitting a lot harder with quite a few more face shots, with either one of them being able to end the fight quickly.

But really, what was the fun in that?

For now, they just enjoyed the push and pull of the spar, observing each other’s strategies and clever moves while also admiring the other’s strength and athleticism. It was enjoyable, there was no denying that, but things were starting to slow down some. So, as Draxum caught his last punch, Lou allowed his body to stop. He smiled at his opponent, tilting his head slightly as he stared into Draxum’s eyes, not once trying to pull his hand away. “So… Wanna call it a draw?”

“Hmph.” Draxum lowered his arm, but didn't let go of his boyfriend’s hand. Only changing the position of his own hand, so it could feel like he was actually holding it rather than catching it. “Normally I wouldn't, but I think I can make an exception.” He rubbed the back of Lou’s hand with his thumb, taking a half step forward. “Good fight though. Shame it had to end.”

“Funny,” Lou said as he began tilting his head up now, “I was just about to say the same thing…” Still, there were certainly worse ways for a great spar to end than with a draw and a kiss...

Always seeming to have a few crumpled dollar bills and dull quarters sitting in the bottom of his locker, Draxum took the responsibility of keeping them hydrated and headed out to the old pop machine in the alley behind the gym. It took a couple tries for the finicky machine to accept his money, but Draxum was stubborn, and eventually this determination was rewarded with two bottles of water.

Unfortunately, once he stepped back inside, his mood quickly soured. The gym was a bit busier now, and while most of the people there were doing their own thing and minding their own business- “-Come on, you can't expect anyone here to believe that you are anything more than some washed up pretty boy from Hollywood!”

“Well, if you want to get technical, I'm actually from Tokyo,” Lou replied, arms crossed lazily, “Though I do appreciate the pretty comment, even if you are not really my type.”

The Chinese man who had recognized him (though definitely wasn't a fan) just sneered at the comeback. “Yeah, say all the one-liners you want, but that doesn't change the fact that you're not a real fighter!”

“And what makes you say that?” Draxum said suddenly, now directly behind the two of them, “After all, Hun, if you're going to be stupid enough to insult someone with enough skill in one hand to outclass you, then you'd better at least have some so-called evidence to back it up.”

Looking over his shoulder, Hun smirked. “Didn't think you were the fanboy type, Draxum. What, you think your ‘star’ can't handle a bit of trash talk? Can't handle someone who knows how to actually fight and not just swing a ladder around a set or toss around opponents who aren't even trying? Yeah, sounds like a real champion to me!”

Draxum narrowed his eyes, glaring down at him now. Of all the acquaintances and opponents he'd met at this gym, Hun was both the most cocky and the most annoying. Covered in tacky tattoos and always bragging about his ‘skills’, and despite only winning about two-thirds of the time, he still gloated incessantly about his victories to his cronies when they were there to back him up. The only good thing that came from running into him was usually beating him and shutting the mouth of his for a good while. ...But now, he could think of one better…

Draxum gave Lou a look and Lou didn't have to think about it, nodding back and giving his boyfriend a look of his own. Oh yeah, I've got this. “Well, if you are so confident, then why don't we have a friendly spar?” Lou asked, “Since we’re, you know, next to a fighting ring and all. You don't mind, right Ben?”

“Nope,” Draxum answered, “Don't mind at all.”

Hun grinned, cracking his knuckles. “Alright, Hollywood, let's do it. I for one can't wait to tell everyone how I beat the oh-so-great Lou Jitsu!”

“Oh I'm sure it will be an enjoyable tale,” Lou told him, not even looking at him now as he headed towards the ring’s entrance. Hun huffed, and started towards the other entrance. As for Draxum, he just found a good spot to watch from, and waited for the show to begin.

Lou took off his sunglasses in order to have completely clear vision, his face rarely serious. Hun smirked again, not at all intimidated. As far as he was concerned, this spar would be his, no sweat! “Here in the ring, you can't use fancy moves and convenient props as a crutch,” he taunted, “It's all skill!”

“I prefer to think of those things as ‘style points’, but hey, I can do basic.” Lou took one last deep breath before shifting into a starting position, completely prepared for whatever his opponent had to throw at him. “Ready when you are.”

Hun’s face shifted into a scowl, and he rushed towards Lou with a punch. Lou hopped back, dodging it easily. Another punch, another dodge. Hun tried a kick, and Lou simply ducked, sidestepping out of the way.

A small crowd was starting to gather outside of the ring. “See, I TOLD you that was Lou Jitsu!” “Whoa, you still think he can kick ass?” “Hun’s got this, Jitsu’s barely even fighting!” “Are you kidding me, Jitsu’s a pro! He's gonna wipe the floor with Hun once he gets going!”

Draxum watched in silence, eyes totally focused on his boyfriend. He could see the concentration in Lou’s face as he continued to duck and dodge, each move calculated as they darted around the ring. He wasn't trying to tire Hun out, he was just waiting for the perfect moment to go on the attack…

One more punch was thrown, aimed directly at Lou’s face - and this time, Lou blocked. His arms up now, he shifted into a punch so quickly that it made Hun flinch. He put his own arms to block, but the punch never came. Not from that direction, at least. The first one had been a fakeout, and it had done its job well, allowing the second punch to have a clear shot at Hun’s midsection

The crowd gasped and cheered. Hun grunted at the attack, but managed to stand tall. A respectable feat, but now he was out of step. Now it would be time for him to play defense. Lou began throwing hit after hit, hard and fast enough that even the ones Hun managed to block still caused a bit of pain. The occasional fakeout was enough to keep Hun from regaining an edge, and for the second time tonight, Lou was able to surprise his opponent with a well aimed kick to the shoulder.

As this all went on, Draxum could only stare, eyes wide. He didn't cheer along with the others. He couldn't even smile. All he could do was watch his date with amazement as he fought. It had been one thing to watch an extreme version of his fighting style in his movies, or have a playful spar-dance with him, but this was the real deal. No quips, no smirks or taunts, nothing but raw skill and strength. He could also see just how muscular Lou still was at this angle, despite being so lean and his abs, while not being completely gone, not nearly as tight as they used to be.

Each movement of his arms was a natural extension that was as easy as breathing and as powerful as a cobra strike. His stance was firm and as solid as a skyscraper, yet his feet almost never stopped moving. His eyes were sharp, always looking for the next opening and always trying to think two moves ahead. This was the mind and body of a true champion.

Simply put: To the others watching the fight, it was amazing. To Draxum, it was incredible.

With the two of them quickly running out of space - they were nearly up to the fence now - and the clear fatigue beginning to appear in Hun’s face, Lou decided it was time to officially end it. Huh threw one last punch, desperate enough that there was little technique in it. Lou caught it with ease, and with his other hand, he punched Hun right in the nose, sending him to the floor. He’d held back quite a bit, not being annoyed with Hun enough to seriously hurt him (or risk getting sued by him), but the man’s nose was sure to be bleeding for quite a while.

“Good fight,” Lou said simply, offering a hand.

Hun slapped it away, and stood up on his own, swaying only slightly. Even with one hand holding his nose, he managed to sneer at the ex-movie star. “So you proved that you can fight. Good for you. Just don't expect it next time, you got that?” With that, Hun stomped off, shoving past anyone who tried to talk to him outside of the ring.

But despite the harsh words, Lou just shrugged and headed towards Draxum, a smile already returning to his face. “Hey!” He waved, “So, I think I did pretty good in there.”

“Yes,” Draxum nodded, his voice slightly stiff, “You… Did well in there. Very well.” He inwardly scoffed at himself. That was only a mere fraction of the reaction he had to Lou’s fight, of the praise he wanted to give, though the rest would have to wait. “But I think we should head out to the car now.”

“Huh?” Lou raised an eyebrow. “You want to leave?” Did he get turned off by Lou showing off, or-?”

“I'm saying…” Draxum tried again, his cheeks a bit red now, “That we should go out to the car.”

Lou stared at him for a couple seconds before it finally hit him. “Oh. ... OHHHH.” He grinned. “Why, Benjamin~”

“Shut up,” Draxum hissed, his face burning now as he grabbed Lou’s wrist and dragged him towards the exit, with his date just barely managing to hold back his amused and excited laughter.

-----------------

“One roast beef, and one burger. Enjoy, you two!” Lou nodded, silently assuring that they would.

The two of them had decided to stop somewhere for a bite before heading back to Lou’s place, and as luck would have it, the diner they’d had brunch at a few weeks prior was on the way there. Even better was that the diner was pretty deserted for a weekday evening, which meant other than a couple whispering waitresses, there was no one to really bother them.

The ex-action star smiled as he picked up his burger. “Heh, nothing like a couple good spars and a great makeout session to get you hung- Ow!” The kick under the table wasn't very hard, but Lou still gave a pout. “What was that for?”

“It's just not really the type of thing to say in public, is all,” Draxum grumbled, blushing slightly again. He took a moment to brush some hair out of his face, his hair tie currently lost somewhere under the seats of his car. “Especially not for us. We’re not exactly teenagers, after all.”

Lou scoffed. “So what? We can still have our fun, can't we? Not too old for that. And it's not like there's too many people around to hear. ...Though, if they did, they would probably call us lucky, and I would say the same.” Draxum just rolled his eyes while Lou chuckled, finally taking a bite of his burger.

The couple ate in silence for a bit before Lou spoke up again. “I had fun tonight,” he told Draxum, his tone much more sincere now, “Thanks for letting me tag along.”

Draxum smiled back at him, swallowing his own bite of roast beef and mashed potatoes. “If you had that much fun, then I’ll remember to invite you along next time.”

“Yeah. It really wasn't that bad of a place.” Lou dipped a couple fries in his ketchup, looking a bit thoughtful now. “Maybe I could even take the boys there. Once they're older, of course.” Can't exactly have fights out in the backyard, after all. ...Well, you could, but it'd probably lead to a visit from the cops.

Draxum looked curiously at him. “Oh, so you are teaching them your fighting style?”

“Eh, sort of.” Lou gave a small laugh, shaking his head. “From the first time they saw one of my movies, they have been begging me to teach them. Perhaps they were a bit young for those films, and certainly too young to begin intense training. Not that something like that was going to stop them. I lost count how many times I caught them trying to spar with each other - and usually hurting each other or themselves accidentally in the process. Once I even caught Raph with a ladder.”

Catching Draxum’s look of concern, Lou quickly clarified. “It was one of those little kitchen ladders. More like a stepstool, actually. Still, it scared me enough to send both him and his brothers that were cheering him on to their rooms. Afterwards, I sat them down and we had a long talk, leading to the compromise that I would begin to teach them when each of them turned ten.” He then sighed slightly. “Still, you know how insistent kids can be. So, in the meantime, I'm teaching them tai chi as well as the very basics.”

“Ah, I see,” Draxum nodded, “That seems fair.”

“Yeah, and it's actually been working out well. Tai chi actually makes for a very effective cool down exercise when any of them get into a fight with one of their brothers or have a meltdown over something. Plus, just learning different moves and techniques is just fun for them, no matter how simple they are.” Lou smiled to himself. With how enthusiastic they were at such a young age, not yet being bored or frustrated enough to quit, there was a good chance for martial arts to remain a long term part of their family.

His date smiled back at him. “Perhaps they'll grow up to be like their father, then,” Draxum commented.

“Heh, not exactly like me, hopefully,” Lou replied, “But yeah, maybe. It's like they say, you pass down who you were in life as well as what you knew during it. I just hope I'm passing down all good things.”

“I'm sure you are,” Draxum assured him, “Can't think of many bad things about you…” He stretched out his foot once again, this time gently brushing past Lou’s ankle rather than kicking it. Lou said nothing, wanting to use his mouth to take another bite of his burger instead, but returned the touch with his own foot.

Traffic slowed outside the window by their table, bright lights flashing by only occasionally. Some old 60s melody came up on the diner radio, further adding to the homey feel of the room. Once he was finished eating - for such a skinny guy, he could not only eat quite a bit but also eat it quickly - Lou rested the back of his hand against his drink, the water droplets from the glass of pop cooling the spots where light bruises were already starting to form. Switching his fork to his other hand, Draxum gently took Lou’s for the third time that night, lightly massaging it. And just like twice before, Lou didn't dare pull away.

Indeed, playful spars and showing cocky jerks who’s boss was pretty fun. But as it turned out, simply sitting at an old diner table, holding your date’s hand and just being able to peacefully exist with them was just as nice.

"...Would you like to join in on one of our tai chi sessions?" Lou asked suddenly, "We usually do it early weekend mornings, so I can understand if you would want to sleep in, but..."

Draxum personally didn't know much about tai chi, yet it didn't seem to matter. "Count me in," he answered, and the two didn't hesitate to seal the agreement with another kiss.

I'm admittedly not a huge fan of TMNT 2012 - though if any of you like it, it's fine, glad you could find more enjoyment in it than I could - but I thought including Hun from that incarnation could be a fun little easter egg, plus he seemed to fit better than just a random no-name character. And of course, gotta have some Todd! Heh ^v^ Anyway, please leave a kudos and a comment if you can, I'd love to know what you guys think of this chapter and story as a whole, and i'll see you all next time!

[kyoko0001]

Please feel free to use these!!

10 KuroFai Fanfictions I hope someone writes or I will have to get to them one day 

All of these are for anyone to use and are ideas that have been bouncing around in my head for a while. If you do like one/use one send it to me and I will read, review, and share!!!!! I have pages and pages of these so lemme know if you want more friends! 

1 ~ Fai gets separated from the group and wakes up in a new dimension all alone. He is discovered by a group of warriors. One of those warriors looks suspiciously like Kurogane but Fai can tell instantly it’s not. He of course just so happens to be able to speak the language and surrenders peacefully. He is brought back to there village where he gets to meet the real Kurogane of this world. Youou is only 5 but is obsessed with the blond hair, blue eyes wizard who “is very pretty’ or so he tells his mom and dad. Fai spends a few weeks with the little family and gets dragged around by the overly hyperactive kid we see in the lecourt flashback. I want Youou to give him frogs and bugs cuse ‘arnt they cool!’ and show him all his extra secret hiding spots. I want Youou to get stuck in a tree and Fai to have to save him and he is just so freaking impressed that Fai can use magic to do that. I want him to be glued to Fai and hold his hand and just like climb up Fai’s side like a monkey and hang over his shoulders. I need a cute scene where Fai is telling him bedtime stories that are totally over the top and silly and for Youou to just freaking eat it up. I want him to just be so freaking cute and innocent and adorable that Fai is just swooning in cuteness overload and when Kuro-chan finally finds him Youou bawls his eyes out when they have to go and when they land in the next world Fai is crying too and Kurogane ends up snuggling him and telling him all about what he was like as a kid.

2 ~ This same shit but With Kurogane. He lands in a world separated from the group and is grumbling and stalking around when he runs into two adorable kids who wont speak to him but are constantly whispering in the other twins ears and shooting each other looks. Eventually Fai and Yuui bring Kurogane back to there house where they live with there Aunt Chii. Eventually the twins come out of there shells and they are both just terrors. Fai (the real Fai) is half 50% huge cry baby and 50% If-you-make-Yuui-sad-I-will-cut-you. Yuui(the one who takes his twins name in TRC) is mischievous but appears to be overly innocent and they cause no end of trouble. They are just cuddle bugs and Kurogane will walk into the house to find that they have stolen every blanket in the house and piled them in the living room like a nest/fort and are napping all twisted around each other at odd angles. They will also crawl into his bed in the middle of the night and twist around the same way and it hurts Kurogane’s pride as a ninja that they NEVER wake him. Bonus points if you write them in Ashura-ou’s care because he is the best underappreciated and well meaning father in CLAMP. Extra bonus points if they are little vampires!!!!!! And they get cranky and cry why they are hungry and there little eyes turn gold.

3 ~ A well written KuroFai A/B/O Fic. (I know I know shoot me) because I haven't read a single one in this fandom that didnt get abandoned after a few chapters or were terribly written. (all KuroFai is Good KuroFai but I want really good Kurofai) specifically I want I Dont-need-no-man omega Fai and a potty mouth Kuro-alpha who just doesn't know what to do with him. All the angst. Just modern day au a/b/o and I’ll probs be happy tbh. I have one in the works but I feel like I would get judged for posting it? I wanted something where Fai and Kurogane are both princes in neighboring lands. Fai is a first prince and Kurogane is like way down there on the succession so when they have an arranged marriage Kuro-chan gets shipped to Fai’s country even though he is the alpha. Fai is meh about the whole thing but ends up loving that Kurogane’s alpha pride is hurt because he was shipped off ‘like a blushing bride’ to his husbands home and teases him over it. I want Fai to have to teach Kurogane alllll about his new home that is culturally very different from each other in regards to gender rolls. (Kurogane’s comes from a patriarchal society and Fai comes from a matriarchal society.) So he totally freaks out that his delicate omega is a war mage who leads armies and fights alpha’s face to face. Of course I want them to grow a mutual respect for each others strengths and fall in love love and live happily every after. 

4 ~ I want a fanfiction where something happens in a battle and Fai ends up saving Kurogane’s ass by stepping in and just using magic to absolutely obliterate the threat and we get to actually see him do more then just act as back up. Kurogane is totally turned on when Fai is a bad ass in a fight and even though he is injured he just really wants to take his mage home and erm... show his affection? Hehe. 

5 ~ One time I wrote a fic where Fai and Kurogane went back to Celese when Ashura woke up and there were still people there. I was told of course by the readers that there were no more living people in Celese because Ashura had killed them or Fai had taken them all to another dimension? I never read that in the manga... (I knew there were no living people in Celese I though Ashura-ou had killed them not that Fai had rescued them) I dont think at least? But that would be a Fai thing to do. I want a fic where the gang lands in the world that Fai took all the people fleeing ‘The beast’ to and since they are all strong magic users they sense his presence right away and the court mages just swarm them. Of course everyone but Fai is super confused. I like to think that Ashura-ou didnt have have his actual son So Fai is the crowned prince aka king now that Ashura-ou is dead so they dont want him to go. It could go a few ways from here. 

Fai was married for political reasons but he and his wife had been childhood friends and she is just so delighted that Fai and Kurogane fell in love and she is just all up in there business about how it happened. Kurogane of course is like what-the-hell-do-you-mean-you-are-married!? and Fai has to explain the situation and apologize for not being honest. 

or 

(sorry I ship TaiAsh-ou and it sneaks into everything I do) Taishakuten from RG Veda was super close to Ashura-ou and so also watched Fai grow up and was so freaking worried about him going back to Celese all alone. He has been in charge while Fai was gone and of course demands Fai stay so becomes there villain with good intentions if you catch my drift? Just like in RG Veda he promised Ashura-ou but this time it was to look out for Fai and keep him safe. So we get to hear all sorts of things about Fai that are never revealed int he Manga and Kurogane gets all twisted out of joint that Fai might actually stay when really Fai cant wait to go because while he loves him home the reminders of Celese brake his heart. Of corse Kurogane doesnt get why Fai would want to abandon his people so they have to have a talk and Kuro offers for Fai to live in Nihon when this is over. 

6 ~ I really really reaaaaaaaaaaaally want a fic where Ashura-ou never rescued Fai so he kinda just hung out in Valerie in that timeless prison where he cant use magic. FWR still threw his brother out of the tower and he promised to bring him back if Fai kills the people who will one day. (just swap there names so Fai is Fai and the real Fai is now Yuui for this explanation) So Fai never grows older because timeless prison, never learns how to smile or joke or be a normal human because  no Ashura-ou so he is just this tiny little starving frost bitten gremlin sitting in the snow holding his twin and waiting with the feather FWR gave him. So when the gang show up there like... WTFFFFFF. Kurogane brakes the timeless prison with an attack from his sword and Fai is just looking up at them terrified. he doesnt speak or move just looks up at them terrified. They take Fai and Yuui because Fai wont let go and find shelter for the night. Fai of course cant bring  himself to kill the only people that have ever showed him kindness so he is beating himself up for not being able to do it to save Yuui. I love KuroFai but I also think that people can have close non romantic relationships as well so I would love to see Kurogane Fall in love with Fai and care for him in a parental way? No creepiness just Kurogane seeing a kid that needs him and showing him how to be a kid and live his life. I think this would be so cool if someone has the time to actually write out the healing from a traumatized 5-7 year old into a quirky teen. lord knows when and If I get to this one (I’ve had this idea for 7 years) its gonna be 500k + words. 

7 ~ I want an epic AU where Fai and Kurogane live in different countries. I want it to be a tradition in Nihon that when boys turn 16 they spend some time training alone away from there families and its no different for Kurogane. I want his dad lord suwa to have gone to Celese when he had been Kuro’s age and become best buds with Ashura-ou. like war buddies. So when he ships Kurogane off for training he is trusting his old friend Ashura-ou(king of Celes) to look after him. (Ashura would be more like from RG-Veda and a master swords men if that makes sense) Kurogane is excited as hell to go and when he gets there he meets Ashura’s son Fai/Yuui. I want fun teasing between them, epic adventures, Fai taking Kuro-chans innocence!!! and tons of steamy love. I have so many diff Ideas for how this could go but I would love one where Kurogane helps Fai deal with Ashura going crazy like he does in Tsuba. Bonus points for awesome world building. 

8 ~ I want an AU where Fai travels to Kurogane’s world when he is learning the spell to travel between dimensions and just sorta thunks down in the middle of his village and hurts himself on the landing. I want Kuro’s mama to patch Fai up and for Fai and Kurogane to become quick friends before Fai’s Dad showes up to bring him home. I want Fai to visit every few Years and for them to fall in love love!!! Bonus points if Fai has to sneak off to visit Kurogane and Ashura has to keep coming to get him and drag his ass home. 

9 ~ I want and AU where Kurogane’s parents go on vacation without him so he is spending the summer with his cousins (Syaoran and his dad) and gets dragged with them while they explore historical sights throughout eastern Europe. they end up in this totally dilapidated castle that was abandoned years ago and is supposedly haunted. Kurogane doesn't believe in ghosts so when he hears a banging sound from the catacombs below his room he goes to investigate. He finds the source of the banging and it appears to be coming from a bricked up passage way. Kuro starts to get totally freaked out because he swears he can here crying and someone asking for help on the other side so he locates some tools and tries to get though the wall. while he is working the banging and the crying stop and when he pulls the first brick free he uses his phone to flash some light inside of the room and almost has a heart attack when a single gold eye stares back at him. after the first brick the rest of the wall comes down easy and Kurogane Finds Fai just standing there staring at him. Fai is a vampire that the villagers had entombed 500 years ago and as soon as Kurogane gets close enough to him--Fai bites him. Can you blame him though he is starving to death? the whole immortal thing is not as cool as it sounds when your’re bricked up in a dungeon. Luckily his stomach cant hold much and Fai apoligizes while he waits for Kurogane to come to his senses. Like the rest of these they fall in love love and Kurogane gets to teach Fai all about the convinces of modern day life. 

10 ~ I want a fic where Fai gets sick for the first time in a long time. Usually his magic keeps him healthy so when he gets sick he gets siiiiick. Of course he hates asking for help so que  Kurogane taking care of him. 

[melodyofgraves]

Road Trip (Chambers  x Konevi modern AU) - part one

A/N: I know it took me a long time to finish this (for a few reasons) but it’s here. This was really fun to write but I don’t know if it will be as fun to read. So please let me know if I should post future parts of this mess when I’m done with them.

The whole idea is just a bunch of little stories with an introduction (this part) and an end. And a lot of tropes and cliches. Hope you'll still enjoy!

Words: 1776

Tagging: @hellospunkiebrewster @queerchoicesblog @brightpinkpeppercorn @pixieferry @akrenich @itsbrindleybinch @thehonorarybeaumont @robbiessutcliffe @the-writerly-night-owl @inkandfables @choicesbyvera

“Please tell me you have ice cream.” weren’t exactly the words Annabelle was expecting to hear when she opened her door on a Friday night.

So after almost thirty minutes of watching her friend trying to pretend he “just wanted to hang out” while emptying her freezer of anything that contained enough sugar, she began to lose patience.

“What’s going on, Bart?” she asked, loudly enough to get his attention over the tv.

“I already told you…”

“Bullshit.” she cut him off before taking a deep breath and smiling gently. “You know I don’t have anything against you hanging out at my place. But I know that’s not the reason you’re here. So talk.”

He bit his lip and looked into the ice cream bucket in his hand as if it was the perfect place to find his answer. Then he just sighed, muting the show they were just watching.

“I saw Yusuf today.”

“Oh.” Parsons tilted her head. “How is he?”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know? You didn’t talk?”

“No.” Chambers pointed towards rack in the hallway he could barely see from his spot. “I also kinda stole his jacket.”

“What are you talking about?”

“The green one. Well, technically I didn’t steal it. He gave it to me so I could chase my bus and yelled that I can give it back later.”

“So what’s the problem?”

“I think he changed his number last year and probably forgot I don’t have a new one. So if I don’t find him myself, this stolen jacket is staying with me.”

“It’s not stolen.”

“Yeah. And it’s a nice jacket.”

“It is. So why do you have it again?” Annabelle would be lying if she said she wasn’t a little confused.

“Long story. In short, it was pouring rain earlier today and I was hiding under this tunnel with a bunch of people when I saw my bus. And I had two options – I wait however long it takes for the weather to calm down or I run for it to the nearest bus stop. Which would be far enough if there wasn’t a flood coming from the sky.”

“Why do I feel like you're being a little dramatic?"

“Hey, I didn’t have an umbrella. Or even a coat. Only this t-shirt.”

“Coward.”

“Shush. So I’m trying to make the decision when I feel someone tap me on the shoulder.”

“And by someone you mean Yusuf?”

“Yes, I mean Yusuf. I’m trying to add a little suspense to the story but since you don’t appreciate it then I give up.” he glared at his friend getting a chuckle in return. “He gave me his jacket and told me to run because he can wait. And then I caught the bus and came here. The end.”

“What do you mean the end? Why didn’t you stay there and talk to him? Ask when did he come back?”

“Yeah, I thought about it myself. Already sitting in the bus.” he sighed. ”Everything was happening so fast.”

“Kinda sounds like a plot of a bad fanfiction.” she joked, earning another glare.

“Glad you find my life funny.”

“Wait. I mean, you know he’s in town. So finding him shouldn't be that much of a problem.”

“I don’t know if he’s back for good. And we’re leaving tomorrow so he might be gone before we go back.”

“And if he isn’t, I’ll help you find him. Come on, you can’t be moping around at Lucy’s wedding.”

“I have a whole week before the actual ceremony.” he smiled slightly, feeling a little better. The groom was grumpy enough for the whole group so maybe he should focus on balancing it out. “Luke’s driving, right?”

Annabelle furrowed her brows at him.

“Wait, you mean they didn’t tell you?”

“Tell me what?”

“Briar asked if we could add Edmund to our car and he was supposed to call you and ask if you two could switch…”

“Oh.”

“Shit. We can kick him out tomorrow, Briar can live without…”

“No, no, it’s fine. I don’t mind,” he assured. No need to make a fuss about something so petty. “So who’s in the other car?”

-

Sitting in the backseat and being squeezed in between Theresa and Felicity wasn’t his best Saturday morning but it certainly wasn’t the worst one either. After all, he could’ve ended up like Arthur, gripping the steering wheel while trying to answer to Mr Westonly’s attempted conversations as politely and loudly as possible.

“Why are we even going all the way to Grovershire for this? Like the couldn't have chosen anything closer to home.” the blonde muttered, tapping her nails against her purse.

“But Lucy always wanted to get married in the same church as her parents did,” the grin appeared on Theresa's face as she was almost jumping in her seat. “It’s just so romantic when you think about it.”

“And cliche. I’m surprised Ernest even agreed to that nonsense.” a hint of a smile tugged on the corners of Holloway's lips, indicating she was starting an argument more out of boredom than anything else.

“I’m sure he thought it was a great idea…”

The ladies continued their banter so Bart just sighed and focused on the road. They left early enough to avoid too much traffic and he was thankful for that. Everything seemed so calm outside. On the inside, however…

“Young man, would you stop at the gas station? I need to stretch out these old legs.” Mr Westonly asked suddenly. Bart was initially pretty surprised that the old man was going with them but he was one of the very few family members Ernest had left so he decided to not even question it. Whatever made his friend happy.

“I was hoping we could go a little more without stopping so we could…” Arthur began to explain but was cut off by Felicity.

“Oh, come on, they can wait. I will not spend another hour in this car.”

"But..."

"Now."

So they stopped. A ten-minute break on the gas station before hitting the road again. That’s what they agreed on.

So imagine Bartholomew’s surprise when after returning from the bathroom, the car was gone. Nowhere in sight. Its previous spot completely empty.

They left him.

But that’s okay. He can just call them and ask what the hell happened, right?

He grabbed his phone from his pocket so quickly it almost dropped. Good thing he at least kept it in his jacket because his backpack and all of his other things were still in Wood’s car. But that’s okay, he was just going to call them and…

… and his phone was dead. Fantastic.

He kicked a nearby pebble in frustration. How the hell did they not notice he was gone? And should he just stand there in the hope they’d come back or find another transport?

He decided to wait for a few moments. It’s not like he had anything better to do.

-

Chambers sat on the sidewalk, watching the passing cars and getting more annoyed with each second. That was getting ridiculous. He always wanted to believe in people’s best intentions but how do you just forget about a person like that?

The gas station was pretty much in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by the woods. Aside from the store and small parking with barely any cars, there wasn’t really much for him to do or go to.

Going for a walk, while tempting, was out of the question. Even if his friends didn’t come back for him, he would probably get lost in the unknown forest and that was the last thing he wanted that day.

He finally stood up. Moping around won’t get him anywhere. Asking around for directions to the nearest form of transportation was probably a better option.

Turning around towards the store, he suddenly heard his name.

“Bart?” a black car stopped right next to him and a familiar face peeked through the window. “What are you doing here?”

“Hi!” he waved, trying to look as casual as possible. Almost three years without him and now they’re running into each other every day. “I’m just looking around. How about you?”

“Just getting gas.” Yusuf smiled at him and his heart fluttered just like years ago when they first met. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah. Not really.”

“Do you want to talk about this?”

“No, it’s fine. You’re driving somewhere and I don’t want to stop you.”

“I’ve got time. Just give me a minute to park.”

-

“How the hell could they forget about you?”

“I have no idea.” Chambers mumbled, sitting next to him on the sidewalk and munching on one of the ice cream sandwiches they've just bought. “And right now I’m left with nothing because all of my things are in the car."

“You don’t have anything?”

“I have some cash in my pocket but it’s not much. And my phone but it’s useless because the charger is in my backpack. Next to your jacket, actually.” he sighed. “Thank you for that, by the way. And sorry I can’t give it back to you yet.”

"Don't mention it. It's not your fault that you were abandoned." Yusuf nudged him lightly. "Why did you even brought it with you?"

Because it's yours and I wasn't going to just leave it at home for so long.

"I was thinking maybe you were going to the wedding too."

"Oh, I just found out about it from you." Konevi laughed and Bart could feel his cheeks get a little bit warmer. "I haven't really had a chance to talk to anyone yet so they probably don't even know I'm back."

"I'm sure they'd be happy to see you."

"I wouldn't want to show up uninvited." he stood up, dusting off his jeans and throwing the wrapper into the bin. "I could make sure you get there though."

“Really?”

“Of course. I wouldn't be able to sleep at night if I just left you here alone. And I'm going in the same direction anyway.” he grinned and extended his hand, helping Chambers stand up as well. "If you don't mind spending so much time with me, that is."

"That sounds... perfect."

Yusuf grinned again and got into the car, quickly joined by the other man.

"Are you sure you don't mind? The ride to the Grovershire is pretty long." Chambers asked, just to be sure, though he couldn't stop the hopeful smile from appearing on his face.

"I have time and good company. Everything I need." he chuckled, starting the car. “Besides, I really want that jacket back.”

[ginnyzero]

Being a Fanfic Writer is Okay

AKA I love Fanfiction

Fan Fiction, a bit controversial and a bit time worn topic in writing and fandom circles. But let’s face it, fan fiction is older than dirt (Shakespeare anyone?) and isn’t about to go away any time soon. So, we might as well face the pink elephant in the room and address the issue. Besides, fan fiction is really personal to me. Of course, before I get all maudlin about my experiences with fan fiction, maybe we better discuss what fan fiction is, a bit of history and where to find it.

Fan fiction is at its core, a story written by someone who isn’t the original owner of a story. They are simply a fan writing in someone else’s world using someone else’s characters. After that, the possibilities are pretty much limitless and maybe we can discuss some of the more interesting aspects of fan fiction later. Some of our favorite classic stories might be considered fan fiction, Homer’s take on the Trojan War for example. Shakespeare wrote wild interpretations of the lives of British Kings. And modern day published fan fiction would be the books based on favorite television shows or popular games, video, role playing or even board games. A type of visual fan fiction would be the movie Clue! Based on the popular Clue board game. (Sadly not really an action movie, drat.) Star Wars Expanded Universe is a type of authorized published fan fiction. And who can forget the hundreds and hundreds of Star Trek novels based upon the episodes and later expounding upon the universe.

Speaking of Star Trek, the modern take on fan fiction really took off with the introduction of Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek. Before the internet (what a phrase,) ambitious Trekkies created magazines that writers could submit their own stories about the Starship Enterprise and her crew and receive subscriptions of them in the mail. Many of these stories revolved around Kirk and Spock in a romantic relationship, which is still a huge pairing today. Other fandom groups copied this magazine model and later as the internet took off, they created online email groups, forums, journaling sites, chat rooms and individual sites, until someone got ambitious enough to create the first fan fiction archive. And suddenly, there was a place where any writer of any talent could post their work to one place and read everyone else’s work no matter the quality or fandom. And with the introduction of Japanese anime to America, the concept of fan fiction exploded.

And Sturgeon’s Law reared its ugly head. 90% of it is crap.

But that’s okay.

A lot of archives came and went. There are only a few that stayed the course; fanfiction.net, mediaminer.org, adult-fanfiction.org and the baby of the family, archiveofourown.org (AO3). Each of these rather interesting archives have a tumultuous history and interesting backstories, which I really don’t want to get into right now. Just saying, if you have a bunch of free time, want to read some free stories and have some fandoms you really love, then these are the places to go. It might take some time to wade through the truly awful stories to find the gems, but the side effect of fan fiction archives, are fan fiction recommendation lists! These handy lists have the best fan fiction from certain fandoms in the compliers subjective viewpoint! Always a good starting place.

As I said, fan fiction is really personal to me. As it says in my bio, I have no formal education about writing outside some interesting English classes in college. I got a C in research papers and grammar; a B in creating a pitch and an A in narrative storytelling. This probably should have told me something. What I do have, is a very long history and experience in fan fiction. I’m not comfortable with putting my pen name out there, let’s just say I’ve been writing fan fiction for over fifteen years in a variety of fandoms under a couple of different names. And in the beginning, I was one of those probably writing crap. And I didn’t care. I was writing and I was having fun. Writing fan fiction helped me through my bad high school experience (a lot of people have them) and it helped others too. And that was important to me. Is still important to me. I grew. I improved. I got to focus on things in fan fiction that I would never have focused on if I had been trying to write original works. And it helped me churn out idea after idea and see how I could string these ideas together to create good concepts and make better stories.

The greatest thing about fan fiction in my opinion, is that it gets people of every age (I have met as many forty year olds as I have twelve year olds) writing. And when people write, they also tend to read. Okay, so maybe they are reading in this vacuum bubble of fan fiction where 90% of it is crap and they may or may not improve, yet, they are reading and you know, that is okay. Because, let’s face it, 90% of the published world of books is crap too. And let us not get started on this idea of self-publishing. Seriously, anything that introduces a little bit of literacy to the world I’m all for. I’m not going to discourage anyone from taking up a pen or sitting down at a computer or type writer and taking these ideas they have in their head and getting them out there. Because, there is a certain magic to it. Let’s not stifle any form of creativity of the arts here.

Now writing and posting fan fiction are two completely different things. And if someone wants to write a story based on 10 Things I Hate About You (which in itself was an authorized fan fiction of the Taming of the Shrew, which is based on classic literature tropes) and keep on their computer for only themselves to read. That is fine! However, if they want to take that fantastical leap of courage and post it the internet in one fashion or another for the public to see, then that, is inspirational. Posting, which in this case is essentially publishing, something you have created from your heart for others to see and consume is perhaps one of the scariest things you can do. And I applaud them for their courage because the public is not a safe place and you never know what will happen. Now, I will say that a lot of fandom communities can be nice and welcoming. And then there are the communities that are insular and full of drama. And sometimes, publishing in the fan fiction world is like shouting into a canyon and hearing the echo and you might have to shout several times (meaning publish more than one story or more than one chapter of a story) to get any sort of response. Hey, being popular in one fandom, doesn’t automatically guarantee being popular in another fandom!

And that is where the sense of community steps in. Sure, you will probably get a lot of ‘squee, I love it, write more!’ responses, which are good for the ego and the soul. But there will be rare times, where you will meet people who love the same things you do and want to squee and discuss writing. About characterization, and plot bunnies hopping out of control and multiplying and isn’t so and so just hot as this character. And suddenly, one isn’t so alone anymore. You don’t feel exactly strange or like a hermit who sits alone in their bedroom typing for hours at a time. Out there, in the world, there are people just like you, doing the same things. And it is okay. People, as a community who like a certain thing, are being creative and sharing ideas. And that is wonderful. So, the execution of said ideas might not be wonderful, but now, the idea is out there in the universal consciousness waiting to be picked up by someone else, tinkered with and fine-tuned and maybe a better version of it, or maybe one just as bad, will be published to be seen and shared by more people so more interesting and diverse stories can be born. (Or, as it is so easy to see in fan fiction if you pay attention, a new fad of fiction tropes and mish mash of nonsensical ideas put together to create something absolutely crazy but mind numbingly fun that you have to go ‘what the fuck, who came up with this bullshit and how did it become so popular and why wasn’t it me? [Superwholock, Omegaverse, Soulbonding])

Now we could discuss the legality of fan fiction, or some of the crazy views that published authors have about fan fiction (Anne McCaffery, George RR Martin), or some of the awesome things that have happened to people because of their fan fiction and the original creators being okay with it (Avatar: The Last Air Bender, Joss Whedon). Or the crazy things that some fan fiction writers do to take their fan fiction and make it into original fiction (Cassandra Claire, 50 Shades of Grey.) But those could take a couple thousand more words and some of it sincerely bewilders me.

Fan fiction is great. I enjoy writing it. And I also enjoy reading it when I have time. There is nothing wrong with people, in their spare time, writing fluffy and sometimes not so fluffy stories about their favorite characters in their favorite universes. There are a lot more horrible things they could be doing than writing stories about fictional people and posting it on the internet.

Now, when I get published (and I say when, not if because I must believe in the when), as a matter of course and a, for your information, I won’t be reading any fan fiction of my own works. (Though, I’d love to keep track of statistics for it, that would be amusing.) It comes down to the universal consciousness once again. If one of those stories someone writes about my work has an amazing idea and I read it, later forget about it, and then think I come up with it on my own and use that idea, then, well, I could be sued. (It has happened.) It is unlikely that the fan fiction writer will win (there is precedent about this), but I would still feel awful. So it is just better all around if I don’t read fan fiction of my own work. Which for me is kind of sadness, but hey, it is a fact of life.

That being said. I hope that I do inspire people to write their own crazy times using my characters or creating their own characters and putting them in my world, or crossing my world into their other favorite worlds. Because, if I wasn’t so busy writing the original world, I’d probably be doing the same thing. There is nothing wrong with people having a good time and enjoying themselves. In fact, if it helps get them through a bad place in their life, then good for them.

Not that the die hard fan fiction writers need permission from me. But those who aren’t so certain, and maybe worry a bit too much or have been told that writing original is superior to writing fan fiction and believed it. Writing fan fiction is okay. Don’t beat yourself up over it and go out there and have fun. Go on, get your fanfic on!

[thewayofthetrashcompactor]

CHAPTER TWO ON AO3

(chapter 1)

Rating: T (M later) Words: 4241 / 40k Tags: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Finn, Rose Tico, Unkar Plutt, Leia Organa, Snoke, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Fairy Tale Elements, Moon, Scavenger Rey, Reylo Fanfiction Anthology, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rating May Change

Summary: Rey has a busy schedule: between her part time jobs, trying to get a degree, and breaking into certain people’s homes to steal items she can pawn off to Unkar Plutt, she doesn’t have time for anything mysterious or unusual. And she’s not exactly in the habit of returning lost property.

However, something gets her to make an exception. Which somehow mixes her up with Ben Solo, and that turns out to be a hard bond to break.

Notes: Thank you again to everyone who was part of the @reylofanfictionanthology​ and who helped make this happen. <3

@persimonne​ , incredible human that she is, made a beautiful piece of art for this fic, right here! Spoilers for upcoming chapters, but it’s one of my favorite things ever.

-

The day passed in an exhausted haze, from the garage to classes, barely staying awake through the lecture, and then a short break before she had to clock in at Maz’s. She could use a nap, but the chance that she wouldn’t wake up in time wasn’t worth the risk. Instead, she pulled out the bag from its hiding place.

Glancing over her shoulder to double check that her door was closed, she took the coat out and lay it on her bed. It felt just as soft as she remembered, with that same indefinable draw. She refrained from burying her face in it and instead dug in the pockets of the bag for the note. With it in one hand, she pulled her phone out with the other and sat on the bed looking between them.

Realistically, the number probably wouldn't even work. Or it would be answered by someone who had no idea who Ben Solo was and didn't know what she was calling about. Even better, it could be answered by someone who did know who he was and called the cops on her. The odds of this going well for her were not in her favor. The paper crinkled as her fingers tightened around it. She let out a slow breath.

(cont. under cut)

The rational thing to do would be to burn the note and hide the coat with the garbage. If she wanted to risk it, Plutt would still likely give her a couple hundred for it. Even though he'd give her a hard time, it'd probably improve her odds with him in the long run. Instead, she dialed the number.

Her phone showed it as a California area code, and she stared at the screen as it dialed out. It rang several times, and she was about to give up when the call connected with a click. Her heart stopped.

“Hello?” said a voice on the other end. It sounded like an older woman, and Rey couldn't breathe. “Hello?” she said again, more impatient.

Rey unstuck her tongue. “Hello,” she rasped.

A beat of silence. “Who is this?” the woman asked.

“I, um.” If Rey had thought about what she would say, it all went completely out of her head. “Is this...Mrs. Solo?”

The woman hesitated, and Rey thought again how there was no way this would work; it was probably some complete stranger --

“Organa-Solo,” the woman corrected. “May I ask who's calling?”

“This is -- I'm Kira,” Rey said, stumbling over the lie. “I think...I found something of yours? Or your son's maybe? This number was in the pocket.”

There was a sharp gasp on the other end. “Ben?” the woman asked, voice sharp with desperation. “You have something of Ben's?”

“I - yes, it's a coat, his name -”

“You found his coat?” Rey flinched and held the phone away from her ear.

“Yes, a fur coat -” A choked sob on the other end interrupted her this time. “Ma’am?”

The other woman didn't say anything for a bit and Rey listened to the sounds of barely restrained tears overlaying various swearing and a few words she didn't understand. “Are you okay?” Rey ventured.

She could almost hear the woman drawing herself together on the other end. There was a rustling of clothing and she could imagine this woman sitting straight, composing herself. “I am… much better than I have been,” she said haltingly, but with an undeniable firmness to her voice.

Rey waited. “Should I… send it to you?” she said eventually.

“I - why don't you bring it to my son? I think that would be best.”

Rey started. “You know where he is?” She had a sudden vision of being sent the address to a cemetery to pay respects to someone she'd never known.

The woman laughed bitterly. “Despite some very determined efforts, yes. I do. I assume you found his coat nearby? Are you in Daxam?”

“Um. Yes?”

“Perfect. Ben lives at 96 Sienar Street, apartment 218.”

Rey blinked. “That's not far.”

“Could you take it to him then? I'm sure he would be very grateful.”

“Er, yeah. I could do that. But…” Rey trailed off, not sure what she was going to say. Nothing about this had gone as she'd expected.

“Good,” the other woman said decisively. Then, in a gentler tone. “Thank you, Kira. I can't tell you how much this means.”

“It's… no problem,” she said weakly.

The woman laughed again, genuinely this time. “I am very sure that's not true. I appreciate it anyway though.” She fell quiet and Rey started wondering what a tactful way to hang up would be in this kind of circumstance. She'd never been famed for her grasp of social niceties, and how to say goodbye to the mother of a stranger who's stolen coat she'd rescued wasn't covered in public school.

Thankfully, the other woman somehow had a more graceful grasp on the situation. “I should let you go,” she said, and Rey thought she sounded genuinely regretful. “But I would very much like to talk to you again, Kira. Maybe after you've seen my son?”

Rey hesitated. This was yet another bad idea, but the woman sounded so hopeful, she didn't have the heart to turn her down. “Okay.”

“Thank you so much.” Rey could hear her smile. “Again. I look forward to hearing from you.”

continue reading on ao3!

[natsubeatsrock]

The Rewrite of Fairy Tail: Introduction

How bad is Fairy Tail? 

This is a weird question for me to ask after being a fan for so long. Weirder if you consider most of the content I've been making for Fairy Tail up until this point. If you asked me at different points of being a fan, I'd give you different answers. A few days before officially launching my Fairy Tail blog, I said it was my third favorite anime. A year later, I would say that it's pretty bad, but not the worst. At certain points during the last arc, I almost lost all hope that it could be enjoyable again. I figured that I was on a ship that probably sunk not long after leaving port. Now, I'm not sure that it was exactly that bad. 

Almost a year ago, I made a post about an interesting defense for actions done in writing: because it's fiction things aren't going to make the same sense as they would here. My main point was that because something is fiction, the problems are more infuriating because it was made up by someone. The fact that something is fiction doesn't mean logic ceases to exist. While this was partially directed at Mashima, I still had the thought of crazy fanfiction ideas in my mind while writing it. 

As often happens, I got a response to the post. I'm not one for responding to additions to my posts. I made that rule a while ago. But something about this one has made me think about it every now and again. When I first saw it, I saved it onto my computer with the idea of responding to it, but not I'm not sure that I need to. 

I'm going to link it here if you want to see it, but one of the most important takeaways from it is that a lot of the things Mashima does has logic behind them. It just so happens that many analysts make no attempt to understand the reasoning behind it. Often, we've already rejected any explanation that could exist for it. We have concluded that thing in the series can't make sense. 

To be clear, I don't think this is always the case. I honestly think that there are a lot of things about Fairy Tail that happen and don't have a good reasonable explanation for. The exact ratio of sensible to nonsensical isn't something I'm willing to guess on. But I can safely say that the nonsensical side includes decent and important stuff to Fairy Tail. 

Still, I don't think that a lot is actually wrong if Fairy Tail. At the very least, so much that there is no way that it could only work if so much about it that makes it what it becomes unrecognizable to fans of the original. 

So, why does any of this matter? 

In a tradition older and bigger than myself, I've decided to take the series and write a version that I think might be better. Much of the future posts I'll be making here will deal with how I change or enhance aspects of Fairy Tail.  

In my mind, there are two ways to rewrite a series. 

The first way is to change the fundamental fabric of the series into another series. This isn't a terrible thing to do, assuming that the series is fundamentally flawed. However, I don't think that we need to scrap the entirety of Fairy Tail to make a better version of it.  

So I've decided to take the second option: rearrange existing elements of the series to make a better series. This kind of thing is more in line with how good abridged versions of series are written. And, considering I've grown accustomed to multiple elements of the series, I favor this method for rewriting Fairy Tail. 

To do that, I'll need some rules to help me stay in line with how I make changes. 

My goal is not to make a new series that's better than Fairy Tail. My goal is to make a better version of the same series. And with no clear guidelines, that's not going to be easy or possible. 

Which is why the first and most important rule is that I am not allowed to add major events or arcs to the series that didn't come from any chapter or episode of Fairy Tail. I can make things that happen more important or less important than they may have been in the original. I can make things happen in different ways. However, nothing added to the series won't come from the original material in some way, shape, or form. There is one obvious exception to this - the end. By virtue of various different things happening, the ending of my rewrite will look very different from the official ending of the series. 

The second rule is that character motivations and progression has to come from pre-existing material regarding the Fairy Tail universe. Obviously, can mean that if characters had good character arcs in the original, which does happen, they stay in the rewrite. However, other character arcs can come from taking events in the series and making something that would make sense for the character. In some cases, I may also want to use information from statements from Mashima in interviews, afterwords or other special things that have come out with him talking about his characters. 

At the heart of this project is the fact that I’m changing the way things happened in the series to make it more sensical. As such, my third rule is that major and important elements from the original story can be changed or tweaked. However, this can only be done if the original intent behind the events is kept intact or enhanced in some way. This will definitely result in certain elements which were kind of downplayed becoming more prominent. At the same time, some elements which were already good may become better or more expanded on. Of course, there are some elements which will be downplayed or removed. As a general rule, this should only happen if they’re useless or run counter to other elements which may be deemed more important. 

When it comes to arcs, one thing I really don’t want to mess with is the order of arcs the series. There’s very little reason that I see for most arcs to happen in a really different order and trying to change the series so such a thing happens would border making a new series. However, the order of events can be changed, as long as they result in a similar end to the original series. This doesn't just mean events from one arc stay within that arc. Some moments may also need to happen earlier or later depending on how much sense they make.  

Also, arcs that follow each other can be combined with others. This may not seem like a seriously necessary change now considering the length of some arcs. However, coupled with the previous rule on order of events, this can and will lead to some important differences to the original. I'll admit that I've already started to work on changes and many of them are fairly dependent on this rule. 

The last (and by no means least important) rule is that I’m making changes to the story that I’d want to read. That’s not to say that other people won’t find enjoyment in the series. That is to say that many changes I’m making to and things I’m keeping from the original are done simply because, as I stated earlier, I enjoy them from the original. I’m not trying to make a version of Fairy Tail that I wouldn’t want to read, even if it does make more sense than the original. I’m also not trying to write a series on the level of Fullmetal Alchemist, My Hero Academia, Hunter x Hunter, Dragon Ball or some other series. I’m trying to make a version of Fairy Tail that strikes the balance of being a well-written story and a fun version of Fairy Tail. 

There's also that nasty bit about having to rename, if not nickname, this project. I've decided to take a bit of inspiration from the most popular anime rewrite I know of, which is that of the modern Evangelion movies. Instead of the Rebuild of Evangelion, this project will be known as the Rewrite of Fairy Tail. And as (more of) a tribute, the actual title will be "They (Might) Have Tales".  I'm only so creative. 

This will take a long time to make. Consider that I'm adapting a series that's eleven years long, including elements from one-shots and the anime. As I'm getting this ready to be posted, I have a few posts about some of my changes I'm sitting on and, let me tell you, this version will likely be different from the Fairy Tail you know. But the hope is that it won't be so drastically different that you don't recognize most of it.  

If I could make an ideal makeup of this story, most of what will happen should make sense within the original world of Fairy Tail. This is either because it happened in the original or something that was unclear is clarified or because a change was made that works within the series as I see it. I have to put a percentage, it would be about 80%.  About 10% would account for those changes needed to make sense of the series.  The last 10% involves special changes that I want to happen to make this a fun read for fans of the original. After all, this has to be different enough from the original to justify its existence. 

Of course, that's the ideal. I may end up with something that looks too different from the original to seem like it has the same name. I may end up with a version that looks way too similar or not similar enough. My hope is that I'm able to explain my reasoning the entire way along. 

There's one last thing I need to emphasize about this series that I think is important. I don't believe that my way of changing the series is the only way to do it. Plenty of other people have and will make rewrites of Fairy Tail in order to make versions of it that they believe makes more sense and/or is more interesting than the original. Some changes others have made that I haven't or won't make may seem more sensible to some of you. I will even acknowledge changes I could make and see feasible but decide against for one reason or another. 

However, I do think that there are some things that only I would be willing to do in a large scale series rewrite. I also think that in explaining my thought process, a better understanding of why things failed and how they could be fixed will come across that if I were to just stay on the sidelines.