#lol honestly i think the big problem with the 2nd fic is that there's too much pointless introspective build up

[fairydares]

fuck it, new fic. let's do this.

(there's a 'keep reading' line so don't worry, this isn't too long.)

Title: Chasing Tails (AO3 Link) (Chapter 2) (Chapter 3)

Fandom: Fairy Tail

Rating: E (Explicit) because I'm almost positive there will be eventual smut. I'll be clearer about this as I actually decide what I'm going to write lol. Overarching Warning for Graphic Depictions of Violence.

Categories: 2nd gen fic; adventure, humor, romance, fluff, and angst in approximately that order. i guess.

Pairings: Nalu, Gruvia, Gajevy, Jerza, Miraxus+Fried (don't know what that ship's called sorry), Chendy, Sting/Yukino, Baccana-- next gen has pairings, too, but I don't want to reveal those yet.

Tags/TW's: The first chapter contains UFC/MMA-esque violence as well as some implied street violence. There may be more TW's I need to add later, but I honestly haven't written the whole story or decided everything, so that's all I can give you for now. I'll do my best to tag appropriately as I go.

Summary: It’s been almost 12 years since 17-year-old Layla O'Neil was found living alone on the streets and put in foster care, and she likes to think she’s done a pretty good job of forgetting the past. She doesn’t remember her birth family, the name “Nashi [*1] Dragneel,” or where she heard the absurd stories she told the police who found her. Stories about Wizard Guilds, flying cats, and–most cringey of all–her self-proclaimed status as a “Fire Dragon Slayer.”

But the past becomes pretty impossible to ignore when it confronts her in the form of some middle-aged, pink-haired stalker who won’t stop calling her the ridiculous name she’d nearly forgotten, and trying to convince her to come back to “Fairy Tale.”

Oh, and claiming to be her dad.

Like Layla doesn’t have enough problems! The last thing she needs is some delusional freak following around. Especially one who’s starting to make her want to take his hand…

Yep, this is a Second Gen (and therefore post-canon) fic. The idea took root and just would not let go. I’ll warn you ahead of time that the premise is somewhat dark. That said, I’m the kind of writer who likes (and tries to write) stories with sad beginnings, hopeful middles, and triumphant ends. I don't want to give too much away, but you shouldn't expect major character deaths or anything like that, though their may be some forms of lightly implied abuse.

Feel free to reblog, make your own additions with commentary, whatever. I'm quite lax with stuff like that. Hope this was comprehensive enough, and that you enjoy!

Chapter 1: Dragon-Slaying Aliens

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“That’s correct…a world that exists independently from the one we know. And, unfortunately, a world that’s begun losing its Magic…unlike here, in Edolas, Magic is a finite resource. Without limits on its use, it will one day disappear forever.” -from Episode 78, “Edolas”, (English dub, ~00:09), Carla’s line [*1]

------------------------------------------------------------------------------To say this mission had gone sideways was a big-ass understatement, and even Natsu had to admit it. 

It had started well enough. A relatively small mission. Not even S-Class! Puny wannabe Dark Guilds like the one Shirotsume needed dealt with–what was it called? Bony Jewel or something? Anyways, they were a dime a dozen, these days. Hell, Natsu was pretty sure he and Happy took out, like, a billion of them in the past seven years by pure accident. So how the hell was he supposed to know that this time, he’d get blasted to another world–one even Team Natsu hadn’t wound up in? 

And he was positive they’d never been here. He may have had a bad memory (something he’d begrudgingly been forced to actively acknowledge as he grew into a man) but he was sure he’d have remembered somewhere that made him feel this bad. It wasn’t just that he couldn’t use his Magic. If it had just been that, this might have been fun. Hell, a lot of the worlds Team Natsu had visited–even Edolas–had been fun.

This one sucked. 

If he hadn’t known better, he’d have thought he’d been transported to the future–one where FACE had been activated and all the Magic had been dissipated. Because it had felt, truly, like all the Magic was being sucked out of him. When he’d woken up on the forest floor, he’d felt as if he was dying. His lungs had burned with each breath (and not in the good way). His limbs had felt like lead when he tried to rise. 

He’d quickly realized that couldn’t be the case, though. Even if the Dragons hadn’t destroyed FACE, if all the Magic had been sucked from Earthland he’d have Magical Deficiency Syndrome. He’d either be down or in forced into his END form. 

He’d wandered around the small forest he’d woken up in alone, trying to focus through the stink and noise he was only capable of perceiving through what felt like about a hundred layers of thick blanket, and calling for his best friend as long as he could. It hadn’t been long before he gave up and left; Happy had never shouted back (something he considered fortunate, at this point; hopefully Happy was back in Earthland) his stomach was trying to eat itself, it was dark–and, worst of all–he still couldn’t use his Magic. At all.

Actually, scratch that: the absolute worst part was when a glance at his (as usual) bare shoulder showed him that his guild mark had vanished. It was just gone. So was his scarf, and so was his Mini Communication Lacrima. Obviously, his guild mark and scarf were bigger deals personally, but the Mini Comm was a bigger loss in immediate, practical terms. After That Day, seven years ago, Laxus–now Fairy Tail’s Master–had started putting Navigation Enchantments on everyone’s Comms so that anyone who went missing could be traced. There was a 3D map of Earthland and Edolas visually tracking everyone’s movements in the Master’s Office. It could even find them in Edolas. 

Now, Natsu’s was nowhere to be found. No one would be able to find him, wherever he was, and any hopes of contacting them were obviously dead in the water, too. 

He was gonna have to find his own way back, somehow. He only prayed his scarf was somehow back in Earthland, and that Happy had grabbed it for him. 

As he hobbled down the weird, too-neat walkway he’d found, he had to believe that whatever was preventing him from using his Magic was what kept him from sensing anything beyond the general–the stink, the sound, the pain, the hunger. Normally, with his better-than-normal resilience and enhanced strength, his pain would have mostly taken care of itself by now. Usually, making himself move helped. Now, it seemed to be making things worse. 

After finding the pathway, he’d kept shouting for his little buddy a whole bunch of times, but all he’d gotten were several loud verbal confrontations and one physical one. He’d expected to beat the massive brute towering next to the smaller woman beside him–and he had. But it hadn’t been as easy as he’d expected. His movements had been slower than normal. His limbs had felt like lead. His strength had been lesser. Every time he tried to call up his Magic, a wave of dizziness and lethargy had overcome him. It was like he’d feel the rushing up inside of him only to sputter to coldness at the last second; he hadn’t seen so much as a spark since he’d woken up. 

In the end, it was only experience and determination which had allowed him to level the much larger man, and hard-earned wisdom which had seen him running from the screeching woman and the gun-wielding, uniform-wearing soldiers her screeching had drawn. Yet the punch he’d taken to the nose had made it bleed and the kick to the thigh had made him limp. 

It wasn’t just that his Dragon senses had vanished, making him woozy, making it difficult to stand and excruciating to move. His strength was gone as well. Not even sealstone would have weakened him this much.

He’d wandered, now, for what felt like several hours. The number of Magical Vehicles around were astounding–astounding, and nauseating; just looking at them made Natsu want to vomit. The one good part of having an empty stomach was that he had nothing to give up. He meandered in a stupor, through unbelievably thick crowds, dodging Magic Vehicles and their honking, and glaring down anyone who yelled at him for not understanding something, occasionally barking back to scare them off.

He’d never been so disoriented, and the worst part was that deep down, he knew that there was no one to blame but himself. 

Lucy and Happy had asked him, point-blank, if the Quest he’d chosen had anything to do with his search for their long-lost daughter and kitten. 

It had. Of course it had. 

However, Natsu had denied it. Because if he hadn’t, he and Happy wouldn’t have been able to leave right then. Lucy would have forced him to bring someone else along; she was busy taking care of their son, Luke; the Perve-sicle was already out on his own mission/search for Juvia, and Erza was away, which meant he’d have had to ask someone outside Team Natsu. 

No thanks, he’d decided, covering up the fine print on the mission request with his fingers before holding it up to Lucy’s nose. 

Now, as he snarled at yet another person yelling at him for being in the way, Natsu was starting to consider the possibility that he just maybe should’ve been more upfront, and even that he should–perhaps–have waited for the stripper to get back before taking on Bony Jewel or whatever alone.

But how the hell was he supposed to have known it would end up like this?! It had been going fine–in fact, it had been going great! A couple opponents had offered a real challenge before their Master had shown up. Natsu had been laying down brick in that fight, too. Yet when the guy had been on his last legs, he’d whipped some creepy, sparkly rainbow skull from nowhere (now that he thought about it…that might have been what the Guild was named for!) and shot one last attack. One so big, Natsu had been unable to dodge–though, of course, he’d made to both block and finish the fight with an enormously powerful Fire Dragon Wing Attack. 

Based on his current predicament–he had to assume it hadn’t worked. Even though the skull had shattered in the heat of his flames at the last second, the blast had still hit him. His one consolation was that he was pretty sure his little buddy had heeded his final warning to get back. So he was almost definitely still back in Earthland.  

It had taken Natsu several pathetic attempts to stand. Getting here felt like a blur. Now, he had no idea what he was doing. What he should do. Their money had been in Happy’s knapsack, and without his precious nose, finding food was basically impossible anway. 

Man…Lucy’s gonna kill me, he grumbled internally, grunting at another group who shouted at him for bumping into him. 

Okay, yeah, maybe he should’ve been honest. Maybe he should’ve waited. But how could he do that when the lead was so good? When there was even the smallest chance he might finally find Nashi [*]? 

At the thought, his footsteps halted temporarily. He ducked his head, bangs shadowing his eyes. He balled his fists at his sides. The thought of the missing daughter he’d never stopped searching for never got easier to bear. 

It was the worst thing that could happen to a parent, to lose their child. Something he wouldn’t have wished on Fairy Tail’s most vicious, evil enemy. He and Lucy understood that too intimately. Still, he didn’t let himself get bogged down, not when it might hold him back, not when it might keep him from finding her. Seven years, she’d been gone. Her, Wendy–so many of their nakama and allies. Time had neither hindered nor halted his search for any of his missing comrades, but especially his little girl. She’d be twelve, now. He’d gotten better with birthdays and anniversaries when he married Lucy. He’d woken up and started crying on April 14th this year, the same as his wife. 

Still, even on that day, he’d spoken of her. When he was with Luke, Lucy, and Happy, he talked about it. He talked about how he’d find her and Harley–Happy and Carla’s kitten–how they’d be a family again. He spoke of the future to give it power, just like Igneel had taught him. Just like he’d taught his own kids. Wherever Nashi was, he was sure she must be doing the same; speaking of how she’d find them again, the same as he strove to find her. 

But he couldn’t continue his search (covert or not) until he got home. So getting home was definitely at the top of the to-do list. Right after eating. 

He kept walking.

Wherever he’d wound up was seedy, dark, yet strewn with lights that made paths across his newly-sucky eyes when he looked at them directly. Gross and smelly, too. The people he’d just bumped into started shouting back at him, something about bumping into someone’s girlfriend, and he huffed irritably. Normally, he’d never back down from a challenge like this, but believe it or not, he was too lost, confused, hungry, and tired to deal with another fight–not when the injuries he’d sustained from the previous one were still hurting this much. 

It was humiliating. He’d always been the type of person who refused to back down from a fight, no matter how outmatched he was. These days, a lot of fights were honestly pretty boring for him. Erza would always be scary, and Gray was admittedly pretty strong (if not badass enough to stand up to him, or so he would always insist). He could proudly admit to having achieved (at least) Gildarts-level strength without the clumsiness to make him dangerous. 

Now, he was balking out of fights with people who weren’t even using Magic. 

There was something viscerally terrifying about how much his injuries were troubling him. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t limp without worsening whatever injury that asshole had doled out on his knee. His nose felt bigger than his head. 

He stumbled on, brooding. 

The guy whose girlfriend he’d bumped into got louder, closer. Obviously, the freak wasn’t gonna let it go. Cursing, he started hobbling more quickly, turning the next corner. To his relief and curiosity, bright lights, loud voices, and a huge crowd–littered with food stands he might be able to beg food from–appeared. He made his way into the thick of it, ignoring the shouts behind him, and ducked and wove between people. It took him several seconds to realize he was still trying to find food by his nose, which barely even freaking worked. Frustrated, he turned his attention to the source of the light, which seemed to focus down on whatever sat in the middle of the crowd. 

Curiosity shoving past the numbness and hunger, Natsu pushed his way towards it. 

“Ow!” 

“Hey!” 

“Watch it, freak!” 

“Yeah, yeah,” Natsu grumbled. “Watch your damn selves!”

He still felt like shit, but the crowd was oddly invigorating. As he crashed through the thickest (front) lines of the crowd, more lights came on while the darkness behind him fell deeper. Natsu winced, blinking. It took him a few moments to register what he’d stumbled upon: a roundish sort of stage, elevated a few feet off the ground and bordered by some kind of chain-link cage thing. Two corners were open to be entered, but fended off  by some big dudes in black suits, holding back the crowd. 

“WELCOME, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!” boomed a voice that came from everywhere and nowhere at once, making Natsu flinch again and the crowd start chattering loudly. 

Match? Natsu wondered despite his disorientation and exhaustion, thinking of the Grand Magic Games. He shoved aside every stranger who tried to take his place at the front of the audience, looking around with wide, curious eyes, shoving his gnawing stomach to the backburner.

“FIGHT FANS! ARE YOU REAAAADDDDYYYYY??!!! ” 

Fight? Natsu thought, perking up, conveniently forgetting his injuries in a burst of excitement. Several people started chattering at the crack of the loud voice that was everywhere and nowhere, making Natsu look around even more fervently. 

“BECAUSE THIS LONG-WAITED MATCH-UP IS… ABOUT…TO…BEGINNNN!!!”

The cheering got louder, the shoving got more aggressive, and Natsu got more aggressive right along with it. He’d be damned if he was going to miss a good fight. Besides. He needed to see what the Magic here was like. He was being smart. So ha! How about that, Lucy?!

“INTRODUCING: OUR FIRST FIGHTER!” the voice shouted while Natsu continued to elbow and shove, anticipation rising. Music rang out, a dude’s loud, snarly voice backed up by a bunch of deep bangs and booms which had Natsu trying to decide if what he was listening to was awesome or fucking awful–nope, definitely fucking awful. For the first time, he was glad he couldn’t hear properly since he got here. 

A light flashed at one corner, drawing his eye. “UNLIKE HIS OPPONENT, THIS FIGHTER IS WELL-ESTABLISHED IN THE SEMI-UNDERGROUND OCTAGON! HAD HIS PERFORMANCES BEEN FORMALLY JUDGED WHILE THE UNDERGROUND WAS STILL ACTIVE, HE WOULD LIKELY HAVE LONG-BEEN PERMANENTLY DISQUALIFIED! YET, IN SPITE OF A CONTROVERSIAL CAREER, HE HAS REMAINED A STAPLE OF THE SEMI-OCTAGON FIGHTING WORLD FOR TWO YEARS!”

“Er, feels kinda harsh?” Natsu muttered to himself, sweating slightly. Though he didn’t really get what “controversial career” meant. 

“WHILE THIS IS NOT FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE, DUE TO HIS HISTORY, MANY WILL NO DOUBT VIEW HIM AS REIGNING CHAMP AND DEFENDER! INNNNTTRRROOODUUUCCCINNNG… ‘MAD BULL’ MATTHEW BRON!” 

A door Natsu hadn’t even seen was slammed open as if it had been kicked, and an enormous man–even bigger than the one that had managed to tag Natsu just a little bit ago, a man built like that potato head guy from Lamia Scale, and actually bearing a similar-shaped bald head–appeared, yanking off headphones and chucking them over his massive shoulder one of the lackeys who’d followed him out. The much shorter guy jumped, barely catching them and fumbling a lot once he had. “Mad Cow” or whatever grinned maniacally as he stormed for the ring, dark eyes wild.

The response from the crowd was mixed but mostly positive, Natsu quickly noticed as he glanced around. His eyes skated quickly over the group next to him (which was booing, unlike most of the crowd) then returned his focus to the stage-circle thing. He could see well enough, he was glad to note, even if his vision was nowhere near as sharp as it was back on Earthland. Big Guy took his place at the corner of the ring and immediately started pacing, lifting tree-like arms and roaring as he did so. Meanwhile his lackey scurried for the bit of protected corner behind him, trying to shout for his attention and getting nowhere as he continued to pace. 

Natsu quickly decided he didn’t like the looks of this guy, intro aside. He was the type of asshole Natsu lived to knock down a peg, and despite his injuries and exhaustion, Natsu found himself appraising the big bastard, hands twitching. Sure, he wasn’t in the best shape, but since when had he been one to turn down the chance to kick some ass? It was more a reflex than anything. For about the billionth time since he’d landed here, he tried conjuring up some fire only to curse internally as all he got for his efforts was a wave of dizziness and a wash of helplessness. 

“NOW FOR OUR CONTENDER,” the voice boomed. “SHE’D ONLY BARELY ENTERED THE UNDERGROUND BEFORE IT BECAME THE SEMI-UNDER, BUT WAS ALREADY MAKING WAVES! THIS FIGHTER HAS SPARKED INTENSE DEBATE ABOUT WHETHER WOMEN SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO FIGHT MEN–IN ANY OCTAGON!” More mixed din. Natsu frowned in confusion. Was it for the other fighters’ safety or something? Because someone should ban Erza from contributing to the guild hall violence. Oh, yes. That was a great idea. He’d have to bring the idea up to Gray when he got home. 

“BUT IT’S DIFFICULT TO ARGUE WITH HER HANDY VICTORIES!” the voice boomed. “THANKS TO HER NEARLY-UNBROKEN STREAK OF INSANE WINS, SHE HAS BEEN NICKNAMED THE THE ‘PHOENIX’, ‘UNDERDOG’, ‘TENMEN’...AND HER PREFERRED NICKNAME…” 

A new song started, and this one was undeniably cool, in Natsu’s opinion. Something hard, fast, and catchy, punctuated by an angry-sounding woman singing something about “not giving a damn” about something or other. The door at the opposite end of the ring swung open. A girl came swaggering out, and Natsu froze.

“THE DRAGONESS, LAYLAAAAA O'NEEEILLLLL!!!!”  

It wasn’t his daughter. It couldn’t be. Her name wasn’t Layla. Her name was Nashi. His Nashi would be twelve, and this girl was in her late teens–maybe even her early twenties. The fact that her fighting nickname was “The Dragoness” was a nasty coincidence, but that’s all it was. This couldn’t be Earthland’s Nashi.

But it was this world’s Nashi. Of that, there was no doubt. And Natsu couldn’t make himself take his eyes off her, couldn’t even make himself blink as he stared, ignoring the cheering and booing all around him. 

A couple strands of unruly pink hair at her bangs had broken free of their tight braids, as adorable and predictably unpredictable as his little girl’s. They clung to her forehead, bouncing as she strutted towards the monster still pacing, practically frothing at the mouth, and Natsu vaguely registered the sound of several peoples’ alarmed murmuring. If he hadn’t been so distracted, he’d have understood; she was about half the guy’s size and about -50% as insane-looking.

Not scared, though. 

And…she looked like Lucy. She looked so much like Lucy that it hurt. He could still remember times when he’d call his little girl’s name, she’d turn around, and he’d gasp–because it really was like an adorable, wild little pink-haired Lucy turning to look up at him, her whole face lighting up like he was the greatest thing in Earthland. The memory choked him up, a feeling he’d gotten used to over the past seven years. He swallowed hard.

But that wasn’t Lucy’s smile. Natsu felt like he had seen that smile somewhere but he wasn’t particularly interested in thinking about it all that deeply, because what mattered was that it was her smile, his little girl’s, big and toothy and unmistakable–a little lopsided, the corners of her lips characteristically curling. 

It hit his chest like a shot from Zeref, making him briefly clutch at his waistcoat’s dirtied fabric. 

Natsu knew, firsthand, just how similar other worlds’ versions of his loved ones could be to his. Hell, Edolas Lucy had chopped off her hair to make it a little easier to distinguish herself from Earthland Lucy. 

That didn’t make it hurt any less to suddenly see another world’s Nashi– Layla, this one was called. That was Nashi’s middle name. It made sense, when you thought about it. Names were one thing that seemed to sometimes differ slightly between worlds, as he’d learned on the 100-Year-Quest [*3]. Her canines were sorta sharp, maybe, but they weren’t Dragon Slayer sharp, like his and daughter’s. Besides. Edo Nashi and Fireball’s canines were a tiny bit sharper than normal, too. 

It couldn’t be her. It couldn’t be. Looking at her still felt like being punched in the chest by Erza. Yet he couldn’t stop watching as the music, cheers, and boos faded, she stripped off her sweats (to much catcalling and whistling) to reveal a black sports bra/shorts getup sort of like “Mad Bull’s” shorts, revealing a body packed with much more muscle than any of Fairy Tail’s women would’ve allowed themselves to accumulate. She looked pretty badass, he decided. 

The voice that was everywhere and nowhere boomed on:

“NOT ONLY A CHANCE AT THE UPCOMING TITLE ON THE LINE, BUT–POTENTIALLY–THE FUTURE OF MIXED SEMI-UNDERS. TWO CHALLENGERS, SQUARING OFF FOR A CHANCE AT THE SEMI-FINALS. THIS IS A GIGANTIC CULTURAL MOMENT IN THE HISTORY OF THIS SPORT… ‘MAD BULL’ MATTHEW BRON VS. THE ‘DRAGONESS’ LAYLA O'NEIL!” 

“‘Dragoness’ is fucking right!” Mad Cow or whatever roared while he hugged one arm across his chest, grinning ferally at his much smaller opponent. “Here hoping some man will look at you, fugly?!” 

Several people in the audience laughed. Even the announcer chuckled. Meanwhile, Natsu’s blood boiled. On some level, he knew he needed to separate himself from this. From this fight, from this “Nashi.” Especially when he was this powerless to do anything about any of it. But it was impossible to listen to someone say that to another version of his daughter and not have every protective instinct in his body flare, especially when the spectators apparently thought it was fucking hilarious.

However, her grin didn’t even flicker. “Like you’re one to talk!” she cackled. “You look like Popeye fucked Bigfoot!”

Natsu didn’t flinch at the language like many people in the audience seemed to. In fact, he found the disapproving murmurs confusing. The other guy hadn’t exactly been polite, but he hadn’t gotten the same reaction. Still, a solid number of people were laughing their asses off, including the group next to him which had booed Mad Cow. 

He also had no clue what the hell she’d just said even meant, but the way Mad Cow’s smile dropped off his face, a handful of people started howling with laughter, and the commentator’s chuckles cut off abruptly was enough to make Natsu grin. 

Some random guy in some sort of black, collared uniform entered the arena, signaling to the loud, annoying commentator. Unlike her opponent, no one had followed This Nashi into the arena; she was all alone. So she ran back to her own bit of protected yet empty corner and threw her clothes and a water bottle over the chainlink fence, then ran back towards the middle of the arena. There, she  hopped up and down, shaking out her arms. Stretched them above her head. 

“OUCH!” The commentator finally seemed to recover, though he sounded somewhat vexed. “WELL, ONE THING’S FOR SURE, THE CHALLENGER CAN TALK GAME…WHETHER SHE CAN LIVE UP TO IT IS ANOTHER QUESTION.” 

“God, I fucking hate when Hansis commentates,” the guy next to Natsu muttered, his friends snorting in agreement. Then he glanced at Natsu–only to double take. “Oi, are you related to the Dragoness or something?!” he asked, eyes on his hair. 

“Uhhh…” Natsu chuckled nervously, feeling himself start to sweat. He may have been what Erza would (and frequently did ) call an “impulsive idiot”, but he had no clue how to explain that he was the father of her other self. “Something like that.”

“Whoa, seriously?!” The guy’s friend leaned around him to look at Natsu with wide, shining eyes, then continued, “I won’t ask anymore, ‘cause obviously you’re trying to protect your identities or something, but that’s so cool! We’re huge fans!” 

“Hmm…” Natsu said, scanning their apparel–t-shirts and hats emblazoned with her face and silhouette–and what looked like homemade signs of her name, written in fiery letters. “I can see that…what is this, exactly?” He asked this while looking around at the lights, spectators, an unfamiliar kind of money being exchanged and counted between several people.

Natsu tilted his head, blinking. “No?” he said. 

“The semi-underground tournament?” the only girl in the group said, eyes almost as wide as her friend’s. When Natsu only continued to look confused, she said, “What, do you live under a rock?! You’ve at least heard of MMA, right? Mixed Martial Arts?” 

He perked up at this. “Like a fight?! Hell, yeah! How do I get in on this?!” He grinned, cracking his knuckles, his earlier scuffles and empty stomach completely forgotten. 

“YOU DON’T!” the entire group shouted, eyes bugging. 

The dude who’d first started talking to him huffed, sweating slightly. “The ‘semi-underground’ octagon used to just be called ‘the underground fights,’” he explained loudly, Natsu still having to lean in to catch what he said with his new, bad ears over the increasingly excited din. “It was illegal, but, like, illegal in the ‘everyone knows but won’t squeal’ way, you know?” 

Natsu nodded, fully getting this. After all, how many times had soldiers arrested him only for Queen Hisui to let him off with a finger-wag. Of course, his luck on that front had run out seven years ago…

“The feds finally cracked down on it,” the guy continued, “but didn’t prosecute any of the fighters. Now, it’s called the ‘Semi-Underground’...it’s got no weight-classes (which is why the Dragoness can fight big dudes like Mad Bull). All genders are free to compete and fight each other. It’s a bit more for entertainment than pure fighting prowess– that was different, before,” the guy added with a wistful tone. “But still! You can’t just go waltzing into the octagon, you know? Back in the basement where this used to happen, you could’ve gotten away with that, but now you’ve gotta work for it, you know? Seriously, do you live under a rock or something?” 

Irritated, Natsu opened his mouth, but his response was cut off when a loud voice–not as loud as the announcer, but still–redrew all their attention to the ring. “Alright, fighters,” the black-collar guy said into a microphone which was smaller and not as loud as the commentator’s, quieting the audience. “We’ve been over the rules. Protect yourself at all times. Follow my instructions. We’re going to have a clean fight, you hear me?” He glared at Mad Bull, but This Nashi was the only one who dipped her chin in recognition. Natsu’s eyes narrowed along with hers when her opponent refused to acknowledge the guy’s words. “Now, touch gloves at this time, and come out ready to do this!” 

Both fighters instantly danced away from each other. Black collar guy scowled. Both the commentator and the audience made sounds like “ OOOOOOOH!” 

“NO TOUCH!” came the commentator’s gleeful voice, “I REPEAT, NEITHER FIGHTER TOUCHED GLOVES, AND SO FAR, NEITHER ARE REALLY MOVING FOR EACH OTHER–” 

“SAY YOU’RE PRAYERS, BITCH!” Mad Cow roared. “YOU’RE DEAD MEAT!” 

“BRING IT!” This Nashi roared back, and Mad Cow lunged, swinging in immediately with a big, dramatic overhand hook that would have knocked her out immediately if she hadn’t skated out of its way. It took about three similar exchanges for Natsu to sag in disappointment. 

“Oi!” he shouted, utterly let down, “Where the hell’s the magic?!” 

“Geez!” the guy next to him laughed. “The fight’s only just started: give them a minute to warm up! Then we’ll get to see the cool stuff.”

“What, they’re not allowed to use it at first or something?” Natsu asked, still staring as This Nashi fended off huge, devastating blows raining down from above and leapt back from the powerful kicks, eyes narrowed and expression tight. 

“...Er, what?” the guy asked. 

“Magic–duh!” Natsu huffed, flickering wide eyes between the guy and This Nashi, who was now darting backwards around the round-ish ring, still fending Mad Cow off, weaving and ducking with a speed few could hope to match. “You know?! Fire, Ice, Celestial Magic…?

The guy stared at him for a second along with his companions, all of whom were also sweating. It was then that Natsu knew: 

Something more was going on here. Something he didn’t understand. This place…wherever he was, it was like Edolas. Not now, but back when he, Lucy, and the others had gone there. Magic didn’t just not exist, here; was some kind of… taboo on it.

“Oh, sorry,” he chuckled, rubbing the back of his head. Trying to keep his voice as quiet as he could over the crowd, he continued, “I didn’t mean to say something that would get you in trouble...” 

The group’s only response was to sidle away from him surreptitiously, glancing at him and sharing looks with wide eyes. Natsu was thrown for a loop once more. Ooo- kay, talk about overly-suspicious. Were there guards listening in on their conversation or something? As discreetly as possible, with his hand still at the back of his head, he looked around, eyes narrowed. 

Yet…he saw nothing to warrant their suspicion. An unruly crowd…and an astonishing lack of guards. At the Grand Magic Games, there’d always been a ton of guards. Way more than he wanted to be there, honestly. Did this have something to do with the whole “underground” thing? 

He looked at the group again, then realized something important: it was him they were looking at nervously. Nervously, and like…he was crazy or something. 

It had taken time, but the years had made Natsu wiser–cooler–about situations like this. Even as his stomach sank with the realization that getting home was going to be a much harder task than he’d initially realized, he acknowledged that he’d need to be careful about mentioning Magic here. Dropping his hand, he forced a small smile at them then turned his attention back to the arena, where Mad Cow continued to chase This Nashi around the edge of the arena. Meanwhile, his mind continued to reel, loud to himself and no one else. 

“–IT’S ONLY A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE SHE’S CAUGHT IN A CLINCH, HERE, AND THEN OUR NIGHT WILL BE OVER!” the commentator was blaring. It was sort of surprising, how easily he’d been able to tune out when Natsu’s ears were registering so little. “I HATE TO SAY IT–” (Based on the glee in his tone, Natsu doubted that.) “–BUT HOWEVER MUCH OF AN EXTRAORDINARY FIGHTER SHE IS, SHE’S STILL A FEMALE FIGHTER. HER OPPONENT HAS WELL OVER A HUNDRED POUNDS ON HER [*4]. AND, AGAIN, I HATE TO SAY THIS–BUT THERE ARE JUST PHYSICAL BARRIERS NO CHICK FIGHTER WILL EVER BE ABLE TO OVERCOME! RIGHT NOW, THIS IS A DOG FIGHT, AND NOT ONE SHE CAN KEEP SCRAPPING IN! SHE’S NOT GOING TO COME OUT AS THE ‘UNDERDOG,’ THIS TIME–”

“Man, she’s getting her ass beat!” someone from the group broke the awkward silence as This Nashi was swept aside by a blow that caught the guard at her ear. 

“Maybe she’ll make a comeback!” another guy said, tremulous but hopeful, as a log-like shin crashed into her stomach. 

“She definitely will!” the guy who’d first spoken to Natsu said, though there was a distant note of doubt in his voice as she barely reeled from an arrow-fast straight right. 

Despite the awkwardness of their last interaction, Natsu couldn’t help appreciating these people, who were so devoted to this world’s Nashi. He decided to end their night more positively. “Is that what you think?” he asked in a somewhat bored tone, eyes on the girl still gliding backwards, dancing away from the hits and kicks or else blocking them. He felt, rather than saw, the group’s eyes jumping to him, some of them quickly leaping away only to dart back. 

“What do you mean?” the first guy ventured when he said nothing else, edging a little closer once more.

Natsu crossed his arms over his broad chest, eyes thinning as Big Boy brought down a hailstorm of fists on This Nashi’s head. His eyes tracked the way a particularly big hit caught her forearm–but only barely, seeing as she’d slid out of the enormous range even as she blocked. Just like he’d thought…

His stomach churned uncomfortably. It was eerie and cruel, how much her movements and the memories aligned–

“OUCH! That hurt, Daddy!” After the exclamation, Nashi began grumbling, vigorously rubbing her forearm where his fist had just him. 

“Woops!” Natsu chuckled sheepishly, “My bad!” 

Despite the fact that she was still rubbing the arm he’d tapped with a light hit, the little girl who barely came up above his knees scowled. 

It was midday, now. In their front lawn; his and Happy’s house, now much larger with the rooms he’d added for Lucy and their kids. 

“But–” He grew serious. “–you think your enemies will take it easy on you, Nashi? You think they’ll give you a break because you say ‘ouch’?” 

She dropped her arms to her sides and scowled–pouted, really. She was so cute, he couldn’t have kept his lips from quirking into a grin if he tried. Strutting forward, he planted a hand on top of her head, rubbing the unruly locks. He only grinned wider when she turned her scowl/pout up to him. “Sorry, kiddo, but they won’t!” 

Lucy would have lost her mind, if she saw the interaction. Natsu could just hear her now: “NATSU, WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU?! SHE’S FIVE! BE CAREFUL, WOULD YOU? BLAH BLAH BLURGH BLAH– !” 

He never really got Lucy, when she acted like that. Nashi was a Dragon Slayer, like him. She could take much more than a normal human, but would never learn that she could if he didn’t show her! Not to mention that Igneel had been way tougher on him, when he was five. Besides, he didn’t want his kid to be some weakling! What father did want that? 

Not any good ones, that was for sure. Especially not when their kids had Nashi’s determination and drive. 

“I’m sorry I hurt you,” he apologized again, still rubbing her head affectionately. “But you’ve got to understand…if I hurt you, it’s because I know your enemies will hurt you the same way…I don’t want it to surprise you. I want you to be able to fight back, still. You do still want to be a big-time Dragon Slayer, don’t you?” 

She stared up at him dubiously, but the smile caught on quick. She’d never been able to resist smiling back at him. 

“...Yeah,” she admitted finally, feigning reluctance. 

He lifted his hand off her head, cupping it around his ear and leaning down towards her. “What was that?!” he shouted. “I couldn’t hear you…what was it you want?!” 

“I–pfft–I WANT–” Her small smile turned to a grin–the big, corner-curled grin only his daughter ever could or would achieve. The one that always melted his heart. 

“I WANNA BE A DRAGON SLAYER!” she managed to roar through her grin. “NO–I MEAN, I WANNA BE THE STRONGEST DRAGON SLAYER EVER!” 

“HELL YEAH, YOU DO!” he roared back, the pride managing to make his chest burst even as he squared up again, preparing for more training. An adrenaline only teaching one’s prodigy could spark electrocuted his system. “IF THAT’S REALLY TRUE, THEN COME ON, NASHI! YOU’VE GOT MORE IN YOU! I KNOW YOU DO!” 

“OH YEAH? WELL I DO! I GOT WAY MORE IN ME!” She dropped into the stance he’d taught her, grinning for everything she was worth. The sun illuminated her smile. 

He somehow managed to grin even more widely. “Right, then listen up!” he commanded. “When Dragon Slayers fight, they got one big advantage: they can take a whole bunch of hits–then still get up. So that’s exactly what you’re gonna do.” 

“...Huh?!” The little girl’s eyes bulged out of her head. “You’re sayin’ I’m gonna let myself get hit?!” 

“Well, not too hard,” he elaborated. “And not too much…you’re just gonna play defense for a while, see?” He moved for her, throwing a fist much more slowly than he normally would have. Automatically, she wove away, eyes wide on his face. His right fist was followed by his left, then a kick–all too sluggish to be real. She easily moved around and blocked all of them. “This way,” he continued, throwing another kick. “You can learn the guy you’re fighting, how step, how they breathe…” 

“How they step…how they breathe…” she repeated to herself in a murmur, eyes flickering all over his body as he continued to pantomime a real fight. Natsu couldn’t help but grin. Nashi was a distractible kid, but when it came to fighting, she was always on the ball.

Natsu didn’t mind one bit when Lucy blamed him for that. 

“...how they fight,” he finished. 

“...how they fight!” she whispered. 

He started speeding up his movements. Let her orient before he lit up his fists. She mirrored him, flames igniting her much smaller fists. Their dance became even faster “That’s it, Nashi!” he praised as she leapt back from a kick, only letting it clip her shoulder. “Get into the flow of it! Read my movements! Remember, breathe, and–” 

“She’s reading him,” he murmured, voice softer than he’d meant it to be. “Fending him off and waiting for the right moment; his hits are only clipping her.” His hunger was catching up with him again, as was his pain. He ached. He wanted to sleep. And…

…It hurt. It hurt too much. Knowing it wasn’t his Nashi…that just made it hurt more. Each hit, each block, each flash of those brown eyes…they felt like shards of glass piercing his heart.

I can’t stay here, he realized. 

“What was that?” the girl in the group asked, venturing closer to him. 

His heart was heavy, sinking as he watched the girl. Embarrassment washed over him as he realized that had been a stupid thing to say in the first place. This wasn’t his Nashi. She wasn’t using what he’d taught her because he hadn’t been the one to train her. Hell, she probably wasn’t even gauging her opponents’ movements; she was probably fighting for her life, here. 

She would lose. 

“Nothin’,” he replied thickly, dropping his arms even as he watched the girl roll away from a rather impressive and extremely long-ranged crescent kick, not even the man’s big toe catching her at all. “I was wrong…enjoy the rest of the fight, guys.” He used the ensuing beat of silence to stare–for just one more second–at the girl. This world’s version of his girl. 

Without thinking, he went to heft up his backpack, only to sigh in quiet defeat–the exhale almost visible even in the warm air–as he remembered it wasn’t there; he was just a weakling in this world. That’s why his back (and whole body) felt so heavy. 

“Oh, you’re leaving?” the first guy who’d spoken to him said as he turned away, pushing back through the crowd. His tone was an odd mixture of relieved and disappointed. Natsu said nothing, merely waving. 

Overhead, the booming voice–which he’d tuned out during the competition–continued to sound off. “–AN ADMITTEDLY UNBELIEVABLE DODGE, BY ,” it said, clearly shocked, as Natsu pushed past a woman who was obviously excited to be moving closer to the arena. “BUT THE NEXT FLURRY OF BLOWS LANDS, ALTHOUGH IT APPEARS SHE’S BLOCKED MOST OF THEM–” 

“YOU’RE DONE, BITCH!” roared Mad Cow, so loud that he managed to drown out the commentator–who went silent, anyway. This made Natsu pause, his brows knitting with fury. 

It doesn’t matter, he reminded himself. She’s not your daughter. He refused to look back, forced himself to take another step, then another. She’s just some fighter from another world who’s, apparently, out of her league. She’s not–

A loud slam, like a body falling on a mat. “SHE’S DOWN! I REPEAT, ’S DOWN!” 

Natsu smirked. “See, dumbass?” he murmured to himself. 

“IT’S ALL OVER, FOLKS! SHE’S–” 

All of a sudden, a fleshy CRACK rang through the air, followed by an enormous chorus of gasps and cries of surprise from the crowd. A deafening silence ensued. 

“... HOLY– UNBELIEVABLE!” the commentator managed. “A KICK FROM THE GROUND–AND O’NEIL'S BACK ON HER FEET! THEY’VE GAINED GROUND FROM EACH OTHER, AND MAD BULL–MAD BULL IS NOW TRYING TO RECOVER!”  

Despite himself, Natsu slowed even as he urged himself to keep walking. Even as he continued to force himself not to turn back. Looking back is only a distraction. It’s not Nashi. That is not Nashi. It’s not–

“Man, I really hate guys like you, you know that?” 

The seething voice was what made him stop, closing his eyes. There was just…something about it. A growl. A fire. Something that punched right back into his memories:

“Remember, breathe, and keep your eyes on my chest! That way, you can see my whole body at the corners of your eyes!” A combo, one which he pumped more speed and power to than before–throwing her off on purpose. 

“Oof!” she grunted as she landed on her butt. 

“There, when you fall– that’s when you make your comeback! Now that you’ve watched your opponent, and tricked him into thinking you’re down– now is when you get back up and blow them away! That’s how a Dragon Slayer fights! That’s how a Fairy Tail Wizard fights!” She stared up at him with huge eyes, shining with admiration, and flushed cheeks. 

He grinned. 

“So?! Get up! Always get back up, Nashi! I’m not asking the impossible of you–you can do this! I know you can!” 

“I–I will!” she scrambled to her feet, fists blazing with gold heat as she lunged for him. “I’ll always get back up! No matter what, I’ll–” 

His chest seized. He clenched his jaw, knowing he needed to make himself keep walking, but unable to do it. Even as people churned around him, trying to push past him, he found himself shoving them off, refusing to move from exactly where he was. One foot planted in front of the other. Half-hovering. Eyes still closed. 

Whatever just happened had quieted the crowd, an anticipatory sort of silence that made him clench his fists, eyes still closed. 

And then, Natsu’s world flipped upside down: 

“You didn’t even bother to study my previous fights, did you?” Her growl carried across the hushed crowd. “Tch, typical…if you had, you’d know: You’d know I always get back up!” 

His eyes flew open. 

He whirled back around and watched, wide-eyed and world rocking, as the pink haired girl rose. Rolled her shoulders against her ears, one at a time. The grin was gone, a heavy, intimidating scowl having taken its place as she recovered, getting her feet back underneath herself, her stance back in place. Her nose was wrinkled in fury. Her eyes burned. 

Natsu’s lips parted on a gasp as he stared. 

Mad Cow scoffed, hunched and rubbing his chin with a hand like a mitt. Natsu guessed that This Nashi must’ve caught him there–probably with a kick, given the size difference. That must have been what made the crowd react with shock. They were recovering now, though, getting louder.

“And why the fuck would I bother to do that?!” Mad Cow shouted, dropping his hand. “I don’t need to! Every guy you’ve faced could’ve beaten you easily if they’d quit acting like even more of a little bitch than you! You shouldn’t fucking be here anyway…fucking birds, knowing dudes will take it easy on you so you can take advantage of it and collect the reward…well I’M NOT ONE OF THEM!” He roared the last part. The bitter fury in his voice was a kind Natsu was familiar with. 

“Studying what you can find of your opponent’s fighting style–that’s basic! And you wanna sit here and bitch about how I don’t deserve to be here, you lumpy-headed fuck?! ” 

“The FUCK you just call me?!” McCow snarled back. 

“YOU HEARD ME, SHITWIT!” 

“THAT’S IT!” the man shouted. “I’ve had it! I was gonna take it easy on you, but–” 

“THAT’S MY LINE!” 

It seemed that was both their limit. 

They flew at each other. But now, everything was different, and Natsu doubted that anyone without a trained eye and fighting experience like him could recognize it. 

Apparently, the commentator was one such person: “THIS IS–THIS IS INCREDIBLE!” the voice boomed, full of disbelief, as the girl caught the fist rocketing towards her face with a hard elbow, making Mad Cow let out a roar of pain. She kicked away an arm flying towards her head, and launched a sidekick at his now-uncovered stomach–one that landed hard. She built on the damage, bearing down on him as he stumbled backwards, tripping over his own heels. A right roundhouse followed by a left to his head. Despite the fact he was obviously disorientated, he caught the first one– blocked it and tried, unsuccessfully to catch her foot–but not the second, which cracked into his ear and made him stagger, her chasing him and hammering him with surprisingly powerful blows. Each one of her hits accumulated speed and strength.

The commentator picked up again, saying something or other about “striking machines”, but Natsu didn’t hear. His eyes were wide, now, and glued to the girl cracking her shin into her opponent’s nose, teeth bared. The expression on her face…the fire in her eyes…the speed of her hits…her fighting style…it was like he’d begun watching the fight currently happening through one eye and a stream of memories through the other, his breath going still in his lungs–

“–No matter what, I’ll always get back up!” screamed the little girl, running forward and hammering him with fiery strikes, kicks, and even elbows. They’d only just started elbow work. Natsu staggered back with each good combo she landed. He put in the effort to make it look convincing, pride swelling within his chest. 

“That’s it! Build on it! Faster…harder! C’mon!”  

This Nashi slipped underneath and into one of Mad Cow’s big overhand hooks, the corrected trajectory of his fist barely skidding over her shoulder as her right fist tore up, slamming into his chin. Even as his eyes rolled and he staggered backwards, her expression was so mutinous it was almost funny. 

But as good as the uppercut was, it turned out to be a set-up: 

“LOOK AT THIS COMBO…CROSS, HOOK–WHOA! AN ABSOLUTELY DEVASTATING LEG KICK! CLASSIC MUAY THAI-INSPIRED COMBO FROM TURNING–” 

“FUCKING BITCH–!” Mad Cow roared, but his opponent cut him off with a voice like thunder. 

“I’M THE BADDEST BITCH YOU’VE EVER MET!” 

“I’LL ALWAYS GET BACK UP! I WILL! I’M GONNA BE A GREAT DRAGON SLAYER, JUST LIKE YOU! NO–I’LL EVEN BEAT YOU, ONE DAY!” Nashi took a deep breath, and Natsu grinned, allowing the pause in the fight, because he knew what was coming. The catchphrase both like his and not. Inspired by him, but all her own. 

Her fists blazed brighter than ever. The sun illuminated her grin.“JUST WATCH ME, DADDY! DON’T EVEN BLINK! BECAUSE I’VE–” 

“–GOT A FIRE IN ME THAT YOU’LL NEVER PUT OUT!”

Mad Cow’s eyes were wild with fear as he desperately swung for another, big lead cross–one which spelled his downfall. The Dragoness leapt off her left leg–her back leg. Her right shin cracked into his already dipping head. 

He fell forward and bounced off the mat, limp as a ragdoll, while the audience screamed all around him. 

Even as the giant fell still, she made for his prone form, fist raised, but didn’t fight at all when the black-collared man appeared seemingly from nowhere, grabbed her around the waist, and practically threw her away. Instead, This Nashi– The Nashi skipped backwards, smirking, and raised a wrapped fist.��

And that was the realization which thundered through Natsu, now gaping up at the victorious, pink-haired fighter stalking towards the edge of the cage: not This Nashi. The Nashi. 

After seven, grief-filled years, Natsu Dragneel was absolutely sure he had just found his daughter.

*1. Yes, there will be quotes from the original series (the anime dub, sub, or the manga depending on whichever version I like best) at the beginning of each chapter. HOWEVER. The quotes are not spoilers and are often only tangentially related to my plotline. The one for this chapter, for instance, is specifically about Edolas, but is not actually true of the world where Natsu has landed.

*2. Yes, I know the canon Edolas Nalu child is “Nasha.” I decided on “Nashi”, instead, for reasons which will be explained later.

*3. Sorry in advance, but I pretty much kept what little I remembered/liked from 100YQ and ditched everything I didn’t. Same with the original story, but way more with 100YQ. Idk what it is but even though I’ve read the whole thing, 100YQ has this unique quality where a lot of what happens slips straight out of my mind as soon as I’ve read it. In one eye, out the other. So you’ll just have to roll with me, sorry.

*4. Real-life inspiration for Layla (/Nashi) comes mostly from Ronda Rousey, whose biography I read and happen to have on hand, along with Kaoklai Kaennorsing (especially his fighting style). Those are the two main ones. If you’ve read My Fight, Your Fight, you’ll understand how Layla (/Nashi’s) personality is inspired by her–especially as you go on. I highly recommend looking up the Thai kickboxer/Muay Thai fighter Kaoklai Kaennorsing. He has been called the Giant-Slayer because he did, in fact, defeat opponents who had over 100 pounds on him. Watching his fights is just an incredible experience. Other inspirations include Rose Namajunas, Connor McGregor, and some others. There are also several fictional inspirations including and outside Fairy Tail which I won’t bore you with (some of them I’m sure fellow anime fans will be able to guess lol).

[flying-elliska]

There have definitely been some meddling. While I ended up not watching s8 past a certain point, bilal’s season ended up getting hijacker’s essentially by making the 2nd half ish about jo. But it turned out that wasn’t really a decision by the team so much as it was the network or something like that? So while yeah, I’m pretty sure the writers think they’re doing something, but I definitely won’t rule out that executives come in also thinking they’re doing something and it just creates a mess. Yes bullies have feelings too. Big effing yikes. Who makes these decisions? Someone also compared tiff to new creator what Nora was to Julie. Like huge insult to Nora but also maybe not far off as far as how the creator feels about them. All this to say that I literally reread your stories and another authors in skam france fandom. Both of your stories replace a lot canon for me 😂😂

Yeah from what i heard the sudden turn in s8 was due to the producers wanting to create awareness about the rise of AIDS among teens in France but doing it so inelegantly is really ???? Why not wait, make a season about it, treat the subject properly and not as an afterthought so it actually has an impact ? I feel a lot of people on that team don't really understand what made skam special in the first place. And they don't have a very high opinion of the intelligence of their viewers.

Haven't seen Tiff season but lol at the Noora comparison i definitely think sometimes a creator can love a character or a story idea to the point where it blinds them to what would be best for the story/themes/characters and it becomes very self indulgent

This attitude where bullies are shown to have difficulties of their own and therefore the bullied have to forgive them without the bullies ever making an effort makes me honestly so uncomfortable 🤮 because it's exactly the kind of dismissive trivializing attitude that allows bullying to happen in real life. And skam france has a serious problem with dismissing stuff like racism or sexual assault or here bullying that almost drove someone to suicide with their "let's all be friends!" shallow shit and instead of there being some actual consequences/amends/learning/growth the burden of forgiveness is always on the victim. I think that's actually a really toxic pattern because it kind of mirrors the way the seriousness of these issues is brushed aside in real life. Because it makes people uncomfortable so instead of facing the issue they would rather brush it under the table with superficial reconciliation. And if victims are not okay with that and they are angry because what they actually need is some sort of justice or acknowledgement or reparation or real learning and honesty, they're the toxic ones and they should just swallow their feelings and not take their pain seriously ???? What a shit message for a teenage audience. What a let down. Ugh. Not me ranting about skam france again but man, it always hurts more when it's sth you used to love 🙄😂

And thanks for your continued support for my fic, it means the world 💗💖💗

[thekidultlife]

IT'S OUR 2ND ANNIVERSARY! 🎉🥳🥂

@Authors' Note: This is Leanne and Hyeri's story. Please bear with us as we try to reminisce over the past years and celebrate where we are now as writers, as friends, and most especially, as individuals who have grown a lot and changed a lot through the years.

Warnings: Contains a semi-reveal of what we actually look like in real life lol so if you’re interested, keep reading down lol.

We started this blog in 2017. We deactivated in 2018, just weeks before what was supposed to be our first anniversary. We stayed silent throughout the rest of 2018 and 2019, but we picked up where we left off this 2020. Despite the messy history of this blog, though, and the changes in our lives, we are extremely happy that we did come back. And the reason why we came back? Well, it’s pretty simple. 

The same love for SEVENTEEN, which made us start this blog, brought us back again.

We’re not lying when we tell you that this blog was what made us closer and what our friendship grow deeper. 

Back then, we were just classmates who found common interests in each other (history, writing novels, analyzing politics, and being one of the ‘Big 3′ in our class lol) but didn’t know how to bond over these interests. But when we both started sharing a room in a dormitory close to our university in 2017, things changed. And things changed because we both found SEVENTEEN. 

LEANNE: I wasn’t really a K-pop fan during that time. But I remember sitting beside Hyeri at our study area, watching her as she watched DWC and thinking to myself, “Maybe this could be it. Maybe this could be the ‘thing’ that we could bond over and could make our friendship grow. And so I leaned over and asked, “Oooh, which group is that?” What followed then was a night where I became a convert, and SVT became a part of me forever. 

After that night, we found ourselves always talking about them because they became the thread that made us close. And while bonding over SVT, we started to become more open about our lives and about ourselves in terms of personalities. We didn’t know why but we just clicked. Before we started becoming really close, we had different sets of friends. But then, we just knew that our friendship was different because we truly understand each other. 

HYERI: I wasn't a Kpop stan before either. Like if my high school me knew I'd become like this, she'll cringe in embarrassment. But it happened. A friend recommended me to watch React to the K because I'm a huge classical music nut, and I discovered Seventeen there. I seriously can't remember that exact moment when Leanne asked, but I do remember that one time when I showed her the dance practice for Aju Nice. It was one of the first things I showed to her, and then without knowing, we've already watched a lot of Seventeen videos. 

Whenever I look back at that time, I just remember how happy we were even though it wasn't really a good moment in our lives. There were a lot of stress and problems, and everything just seemed to spiral down from there. But I just feel a warm feeling in my chest whenever July and August comes, I smell the rain, and remember how many nights we spent binging on Seventeen, talking inside the nearby 7/11 until 1am, knowing that classes were cancelled the next day because of the weather. It was truly a magical moment for me because I never had a friend like Leanne, like sometimes we just have the same thought patterns, and we bonded over Seventeen so much. We would just talk endlessly about them, brainstorming ideas for fics and so on to the point that we only stopped because the 5AM alarm went off lmao Those times were just absolutely incredible.

LEANNE: We also have kind of the same goal back then: to have a platform where we could practice writing. Hyeri suggested that we try creating a blog for fanfiction. I agreed because I truly wanted to try and I was so obsessed with Choi Seungcheol back then. So we planned our first fics, who posts first, and we created it. Just like that. On August 12, 2017, we made our first post.

Our first name was “diabolically-diamondiferous”. We wanted something different (and we now admit that we did go overboard with the bing different thing lol) and so we agreed that this would be our URL. We chose it because of the concept that there is a duality in this blog that readers should look forward to, a dynamic that they would only see here, I guess? That was the goal. That was how it all started. 

HYERI: I was a Wonwoo stan back then. I had already written Love is A Fallacy and a bit of 30 Nights before we even created the blog, and I wanted an avenue where I can post it. I admit I myself can't think of a better url than "diabolically-diamondiferous", so I just went with it. 

Honestly, the blog has helped me a lot with writing. I used to write anime fanfictions and original stories, and I've already established my style back then. This blog has really helped me a lot with refining my writing style and experimenting with new ideas and ways to tell a story, as well as being able to write quickly. I do think I've improved with my dialogues and the way I pace my stories, and make them feel organic. And with that, I've never realized I've already written a lot, until I arranged the masterlist recently.

What began with a few stories turned into hundreds as we started pouring our hearts into this blog. And we would be lying if we told you that it was pressure-free. 

LEANNE: During this time, my responsibilities at uni, family and other personal matters made me unable to focus on the blog a lot. I really feel sorry for Hyeri during this time because she was the one who was more consistent with posting her stories. I joke every now and then these days whenever she couldn’t write that it’s okay, you once had too much weight and now I’ll carry my share and more, too, if it gets hard for you. Even though I was busy with other things, however, Hyeri really pulled through and made this blog come alive. And as a friend, she really helped me get through my darkest moments. This blog, too, became my crutch. Whenever my heart got broken, I would write here. I would try to find my voice (and at that time, I couldn’t find myself, either. Just ask Hyeri why, lol.) in writing. I was experimenting what voice I had while writing and what genre fits me. 

HYERI: Following Leanne's, I guess after our trip to Korea, things became way harder. I had a lot of low points back then as well: losing my scholarship and just so much responsibility in life and at school. I did carry much of the weight of the blog after that semester, and I'm surprised how I managed to do that. I kept on badgering Leanne to finish some requests, but she really had a lot going on as well. Not to mention our plans to join an exchange program to Korea which was another hell we signed up for. It was extra difficult because our department doesn't want us to leave, thinking we're just running away from the strict (and often unfair) professors (ironic when our major is International Relations).Seventeen and this blog was the only way we could bond together and have fun and just forget about everything. I could remember sending each other fake messages from Seventeen just to cheer the other up when things get depressing, or imagining what it would feel like to be an idol and whatnot. It sounds silly now, but that was the only way we could cope with how intense and exhausting our lives were. It was the only thing that kept the constant dread in our nerves from taking over.

What began as an experimental way to boost creativity became something like a career, and steering our motivation, was of course, the boys. Our boys. The amazing people that we write about and that we imagine about. They made us happy during the times when there was nothing to be happy about. They made us take risks that brought out the braveness we didn’t know we had in us, and they made us feel hopeful about the future. 

However, we hit a hurdle we couldn’t bring ourselves back from hurdle after hurdle during our second semester as juniors in college.  

LEANNE: Second semester of junior year in college was really hard for me. The bottom line of it all was the manipulative relationship that I was in with my s/o back then, but a lot of things piled up as well: school responsibilities (I was handling three classes at one point as a professor’s assistant and then ran for a student government position I didn’t really want but felt obliged to). All the while this was happening, I was really feeling myself slip away. I was suffering from depression but I had a lot of things going on around me that I could not just drop because people were depending on me. The only way I thought I would be able to not give up is by going somewhere else to finish my studies. Yes, the environment got that toxic. I really needed to get away. Around this time, I wasn’t active on the blog anymore. Right after elections, I lost my motivation to do anything. I would sometimes pitch in to help Hyeri with some requests, but it took way more effort than I thought it would. 

Hyeri and I decided that we needed to take the risk of applying for the South Korean exchange program, which was one of the best that our uni had to offer. We figured that since our grades were okay, it would be easy. Boy were we wrong.

HYERI: The Coldest Human, The Warmest Robot was the last fic I've posted in the blog before the hiatus. I couldn't do it anymore. There were so many problems and issues with the exchange program that I could no longer handle the blog alone. Leanne had withdrawn too, considering how she has her own things to face as well. It was a really difficult time. After being rejected a visa, I just can't think of writing, or even Seventeen anymore. Just their presence seemed to only remind me that I had been rejected after months and months of preparation. Their songs only reminded me of our disappointments. It was awful and I knew I can't face them at that time. I found myself in Taiwan. Alone. Leanne had stayed and it was depressing. I had to move on despite that, but it felt like an empty success.

We planned to become a part of an exchange program in South Korea, but it didn’t pull through at the last minute. We had staked all our bets, and we lost motivation in a lot of things. One of those things was this blog. We just knew that we had to let it go during 2018, because it was impossible to maintain it when you don’t feel inspired about life anymore. 

HYERI: The Coldest Human, The Warmest Robot was the last fic I've posted in the blog before the hiatus. I couldn't do it anymore. There were so many problems and issues with the exchange program that I could no longer handle the blog alone. Leanne had withdrawn too, considering how she has her own things to face as well. It was a really difficult time. After being rejected a visa, I just can't think of writing, or even Seventeen anymore. Just their presence seemed to only remind me that I had been rejected after months and months of preparation. Their songs only reminded me of our disappointments. It was awful and I knew I can't face them at that time. I found myself in Taiwan. Alone. Leanne had stayed and it was depressing. I had to move on despite that, but it felt like an empty success. Right after going back home for winter vacation, I remember I was angry crying because I knew Leanne can't do anything because of her circumstances, even if she wanted to go to Taiwan so much.

LEANNE: I was miserable during first semester as a senior because everything did not go as planned. I was really losing the resolve to keep going on because nothing had gone the way I had planned it to be. I think the only silver lining during 2018 was that my parents and friends finally stepped in to protect me from the person who had been harming me emotionally and therefore affecting my self-esteem and resolve. We also went to Macau, where I really healed a lot as well while teaching music with close friends from church. But beyond that, I could see no other way to get through the last semester except to follow Hyeri and go to Taiwan. It wasn’t just her friendship that I was missing; it was also about that goal I had in my mind: to find peace and quiet away from everything that had hurt me and drained me.

We didn’t have any high hopes about what lay ahead, but the biggest plot twist came.

LEANNE: By some miracle, I managed to convince my parents that I was well enough to go to Taiwan and that I would be safer there. It all happened so fast. February I was still crying, standing at the train tracks, telling our other friend that I wanted to just end it. But then March came and my visa got approved on a Friday. Three days later, just packing whatever I had with me in my apartment, I left for Taiwan.

It was a miracle Hyeri and I still talk about a lot. We started to heal from everything that we had gone through. We started to re-explore our friendship and in the end, after so much drama and after so much challenges, we finally concluded that this friendship of ours was really something that we wanted to keep forever. We grew a lot through the years.

HYERI: Who would've thought that with a lot of begging and pleading and praying, Leanne was finally able to go to Taiwan. I was so happy. It was one of the happiest memories of my life so far. Being in Taiwan, away from the world, from the responsibilities back at home, it was such a liberating time.It was also the exact period which we started to heal from past disappointments. Seventeen no longer gave me the pain I used to feel, and to this day, You Made My Day---the album which was released before everything happened, and reminded me a lot of what had transpired---is one of my favourite Seventeen albums.

But here we are now, in 2020. It was really because of Hit the Road that we decided to come back. We agreed to start writing again come June 2020. We started doing what we loved again. 

HYERI: We had fully healed from everything and we're fully ready to come back to writing about our precious boys! I am so happy to be able to finally celebrate the actual anniversary for this blog!

LEANNE: And now, here we are, celebrating our anniversary! The first one we really had! This is all impromptu editing but we really wanted to make it special. 

Highlights Throughout the Years:

💎 Love is A Fallacy (Lawyer!Wonwoo)

The first ever fic I've written for SVT. I remember I wrote this while I was at the dorm on my bed, it was a miraculously stress-free night. The song I kept on playing was "20" and I could imagine it being the OST if this was a kdrama 😂 This was at a time when Wonwoo was still my bias.

💎Adagio Cantabile (College Student!Jihoon)

A fic I first wrote after Jihoon became my bias. I could still remember, I was so inspired by a fic titled Customer Satisfaction, that I wrote this one. Plus I'm really into Classical Music, that I could just write one whole fic about it. I'm still amazed how we were able to write fanfiction even though we were swamped with school work, and I mean, SWAMPED, like a lot of exams, graded recitation, things to memorize, super long essays, but we still managed to write. 😂

💎Saffron (Victorian AU DK)

This was written shortly after Leanne and I went back from Korea. I was so blissfully happy back then. I think I've spent a night or two writing this. This was heavily inspired by the game "Chocolatier" which I was playing days before I've started writing 😂 I really love writing for DK, he's such a positively innocent character who was so endearing.

💎The Coldest Human; Warmest Robot (Android!Jihoon)

This was probably the last one shot I've posted before the hiatus in 2018. I remember finishing it in my hometown when we went there for summer vacation. It was a really bad time ngl I lost my scholarship and was supposed to go to an exchange program to South Korea with Leanne. Back I didn't know if I could support that dream financially.

💎The Most Convenient Escape (Soulmate!Jihoon)

This was the first fic I've written after the hiatus. Truthfully, over 2018-2019, I lost my love for SVT. It was painful to be reminded of the fact that we weren't able to go to Korea, so I avoided them while I was in Taiwan. But I came back around this year and started to write this one. It's heavily inspired by the book "Voices of the Past" which is a compilation of American newspaper articles over the years, and anime reviews which talked about Deconstructing a genre (i.e., Madoka Magica and Evangelion). Right now I really do want to finish this series.

Highlights Throughout the Years

💎The Return of Superman Series

My first work, TROS Seungcheol, was the first fic in the entire blog that I was truly proud of. All my other works were too rushed, too experimental for my own taste even, and just doesn’t look like what I, Leanne, if you personally know me, would write about. I strongly believe that there is a unique voice in each story, a voice that belongs only to its writer, and back then, I was still trying to find that voice. The Return of Superman was my breakthrough in writing. I suddenly found an AU that I truly loved to write about, and, most importantly, my voice in writing.

💎After-Party, Only Us, and Afterglow | Yoon Jeonghan

This is the spin-off series that came from Yoon Jeonghan’s The Return of Superman. I started to become more comfortable in my style of writing as I wrote these. You will notice a change of style after the first part, “After-Party”. My writing style has matured, and I really congratulate myself a lot for that. It took me years and tons of experiences to get that flavor I had always wanted in my works! Haha. 

💎The And Series

This is another one of those imagines that really brought out the hopeless romantic inside me, and for that, I am proud of it. It’s still mostly in the works, but I  am really happy about how it’s turning out.

💎Through the Seasons Series

Ah, this is my pet project. All my heart is poured into this one. This is the first series that I truly explored the beauty of love in realistic settings. My writing process here is done by looking at real couples LOL and also tapping into beautiful memories of mine about love and about life and all the drama that comes along. I’m really glad that a lot of our new readers liked the first one that came out!

Our story-time ends here. 

All in all, we just want to say thank you. Thank you for everything. For being with us through this crazy ride of a blog, truly, sincerely, thank you. From our followers since the beginning, to the new ones that we are finding joy in communicating with now, thank you. From the bottom of our hearts!

LET’S MAKE MORE MEMORIES TOGETHER!

- Leanne and Hyeri. 

[pooraurora]

for the director's cut thing: talk to me about your fabien/sophie fic cause i love it and it's what brought me to you in the first place.

1) thank YOU! i 2) I AM GOING TO FINISH IT. THIS YEAR. (only 4 chapters LEFT!)

oh gosh, it’s some of the best writing i’ve done in a long time, and honestly, it’s such a joy but i pour a LOT of time into each chapter trying to get that #Mood right so it takes me forever. 

i want it to come across such a particular way because fabien and sophie are so particular as characters and i want their relationship to feel natural by the end and not too conventional (even if it is). it’s been so fun, honestly, writing them being so ANNOYING with each other and becoming these Odd Couple friends. i love that versailles is such a wild show because i don’t feel self conscious at all taking little twists and turns. 

SOME BST STUFF!!

the dream-like quality of it/the whole thing was inspired by the aria “je veux vivre dans ce reve” from romeo & juliet, which as a big sophie mood.

originally i was going to make it a dark fairy tale (straight up) about fabien being a crow demon but i decided to pull away from that when i saw the finale of the 2nd season and was like HUH. 

i pieced together fabien’s backstory from a few tygh interviews he gave probing a bit into that, but everything else i made up!!!! it was fun. 

there’s a whole deleted scene i wrote where fabien surprises sophie by playing the guitar (i may still incorporate this, i have no idea) i wanted him to have something that he had learned as a boy/young man that nobody else really knew about. 

in the latest chapter when i was writing about the myth of perseophone i was like literally shocked by how seamlessly the rest of the story fit in with sophie’s arc -- louis being apollo, thomas being mercury, etc. and then fabien being pluto LOL

i was going to make la fargue way more #MOM and nice but i thought “fabien wouldn’t hire somebody like that” so i just made her son a dumbass and she’s a little stiff which i love. very mrs. danvers from rebecca but not you know. That. cause she actually does care. 

i have this problem with mirroring/repetition and LIKE I CAN’T HELP IT so i’m a little vvorried i’m being over-done in upcoming chapters but i think the pay off will be very good

WINTER! FABIEN! 

SPRING! SOPHIE!

BITCH I’M SO OBVIOUS!!!!!!!!!!

giving fabien his injury was like. just straight up me being horny for him to be nerfed because otherwise he’s too unkillable and powerful.... also fabien with a CANE are you KIDDING ME??? horny. 

FABIEN is suffering so much about sophie inside it is... hilarious. HE FUCKING LOVES HER. THIS CRAZY GIRL. 

me, shoving every trope i love into this fic *chuckles darkly* i have to laugh.....

I LOVE IT. i love it. 

I THINK i know more about the province/town where fabien lives more than anyone who actually fucking lives there and i have googled so much stupid shit for it it’s so STUPID AND DUMB BUT I LOVE IT i love the little bits of research. GOD!!!!

[pumpkinpaix]

tagged by @kingedmundsroyalmurder

Rules: Simply answer the following 21 questions and tag # people (or more!) you’d like to get to know more!

Name / Nickname: bc I grew up while the whole “never share your real info on the internet” advice was real, I always get nervous about this question hahaha. I guess we can go with Pai as a nickname I’ve had for a long time irl.


Sign: Sagittarius

Height: 4’11 (a hobbit)


Hogwarts House: i’m a puff for sure, though I suspect my secondary is probably slytherin


Last thing I Googled: oh god, probably something for this silly fic I’m writing OR something stardew valley related. Last stardew thing was whether or not Penny likes blackberries. For fic, uhhh it was probably about how bad shooting akimbo actually is. Other recent hits include the distribution of Taiwan-Minnan as a primary household language across the island, what kinds of tea Pinglin produces, Taiwanese tea ceremonies, queer culture in China/Taiwan, and capital offenses in southeast asia.


Favourite musician/s: I feel like I’m always obligated to answer Vienna Teng because her music remains important to me even if I’m not currently listening to it very often. Also big fan of Delta Rae, and most recently, Wu Qingfeng.


Last song I listened to: Spotify on my phone says “A Moment Apart” by ODESZA and spotify on my laptop says “下雨的夜晚” by Sodagreen. 


Song stuck in my head: the instrumental to “缤纷了每一天” by GBOYSWAG bc it plays in the bg of a scene i just rewatched lol. 


Followers: 637. wild.


Following: 733. also wild. i should probably clean up a bit that’s a LOT of blogs.

Do you get asks: honestly, almost never. I don’t post a lot of original content, nor do I engage super meaningfully with a lot of content regularly, so that’s not surprising. If I get asks, it’s usually from a friend.

Amount of Sleep: ha. I’m trying to do better because I KNOW that my mental health is highly dependent on it, but I routinely fuck up and fail. so like, usually between 7-9 hours, but then i’ll sometimes just do that good ol 5. I don’t think I’ve dipped below 5 in a long time though, which is good!


Lucky Number: 13 


What I’m Wearing: oh god, a sweater that my mom got for herself and shrunk in the wash, a polka-dot blouse i found in a donation pile at school, and a white skirt I bought when I was 10. so. that should give you a sense of exactly how fashionable I am. 


Dream Trip: given endless money and endless time to deal with any and all anxiety-related problems, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong until I’ve conquered all of my emotional baggage and return home triumphantly fluent in mandarin at least. I would also like to visit the baltics one day, and return to Japan and some countries in western/northern europe, but I feel like that would be thematically too challenging for one dream trip lol.


Favourite Food: scrambled eggs and tomatoes. idk if this is actually my favorite food, but it’s like. the food i always answer bc childhood.


Instruments: piano (above average in general, mediocre for how long i spent learning), used to play violin for 4 years (i am Bad at it), tried a year of flamenco guitar (also Bad at it), and did choir for a number of years (mediocre at it)


Languages: in descending order? English, Mandarin, French, Japanese with some scattered German and Spanish comprehension somewhere in there and then like 2 words in many other random languages 


Favourite Song/s: eek. that’s so hard please don’t do this to me. currently, it’s SOMETHING by Wu Qingfeng, though I’d be hard-pressed to pick one. On the other hand, I’m pretty sure the song I’ve had on repeat most often in the last few weeks is probably “恋语1910” by Modern Brothers (摩登兄弟) it’s just such a BOP i’m gonna listen to it right now.


Random Fact: you can say “同志” (tong2 zhi1 — comrade) to refer to queerness in chinese which i think is just the best thing


Aesthetic: unfortunately, it’s child who still doesn’t know how to dress themselves or trash grandma, though I admit that I absolutely LOVE the horrible current fashion of absurdist, pop, vaporwave revival?? it’s just like the art of wearing expensive garbage very badly, and as someone who DOES think capitalism is bad, it’s with great shame that i admit i covet that look so much lol. it’s just so anti-harmony. White t-shirt with what looks like 2 torn up sweaters stapled to it? fuckin iconique. 1830s-esque sleeves with some kind of modern fusion pantsuit/traditional chinese outfit paired with red stilettos?? amazing. plaid bathrobe with bright white sneaks and a mullet? a Look. Yes, I’m just linking to my favorite singers’ performances on Singer. they’re all good u should listen to them. pls i can only talk about this with like one other person pls someone else also fall in love with these bastards. i recommend the 2nd one first simply bc even if you can’t understand the language, tan weiwei’s vocal technique is just!! fuck. but also i put on the video of qingfeng singing and i’m literally on the verge of tears so you know.

Tagging, uh, crap, @pilferingapples, @bodhimcbodeface, @sauntering-down, @ribbonreverse?? if you feel like it no pressure idk

[tiny-little-bird]

Hi, I want to start off with saying that I'm absolutely in love with your blog. ❤️ I wanted to ask you, do you think that after Sam, Jon will be the first to find out about his parentage, or do you think Bran will tell Sansa and Arya offscreen, before Jon arrives at Winterfell with Dandelion Tangerine?

First of all, thank you so much, you’re really sweet 😚💙

“Dandelion Tangerine” you guys are so creative with the nicknames omg 🙈🤣

Now onto your question. I honestly have this idea in my head that yes, Jon will find out first, and Sansa will find out 2nd after him, from him.

I’d love for it to play down something like this: 

—–

Bran tells Jon he is Rhaegar’s and Lyanna’s child, Jon is in shock, understandbly so. Affter Bran tells him everything he needed to know, he leaves Bran’s room, still shooked af, and heads for the crypts. 

Sansa is down there lighting the candles and paying her respects to her father (she does that as often as she can, whenever she has a bit of spare time). 

She hears heavy, fast steps, approaching, and heavy breating. Jon gets into focus, and she realizes it’s him. He wasn’t expecting anyone to be there, so he stops right where Lyanna’s statue is, Sansa is standing in front of Lord Stark’s statue. 

She’s confused and concerned to see him in this state, she gets closer to him, and gently places her hand on his forearm, and sweetly asks him

I never saw you cry before. What’s wrong? 

He blurts out his answer out to her

My entire life was a lie, I never was, and never will be, a Stark. 

They’ve been there before, she’s told him so many times that he is a Stark to her, but she says it again. 

You are a Stark, to me. To us. 

She looks at him, to make sure her words are taking roots into him, and then  asks him

Do you understand me? 

He doesn’t reply, he doesn’t nod, she could swear he was a statue, if it weren’t for the heavy breathing. She didn’t know what had gotten into him, but she would get to the bottom of it. She hugs him, to comfort him, and that does seem to calm him a little. 

They are standing right in front of Lyanna’s statue, they stay embraced for a little, and then he lifts his head from her shoulder, breaking the embrace and turns to look at Lyanna’s statue, he’s silent for a moment, Sansa looks at him perplexed, and then he speaks softly, almost in a whisper, 

She’s my mother.

He keeps his gaze on Lyanna’s statue and let’s out a big sigh. Sansa looks at the statue too now, and then at Jon, utterly confused, and a bit alarmed, and asks him

How can that be? She was our father’s sister, Jon. You’re not suggesting-

He stops her before she can finish that sentence.

No. NO. Lord Stark was never my father.

Sansa looks at him, her face displays her inner shock. 

What? What do you mean he wasn’t- Jon by all the Gods, what is going on? Is it Bran? Did he tell you all this?

Jon replies with an 

Aye. 

Then who is his father she thinks to herself, and then voices her question

Who is your father then?

He is hesitant, he’d rather not say it, but he does after a moment.

Prince Rhaegar of House Targaryen.

Sansa doesn’t say anything, she’s speechless. Jon tells her about the annulment. 

Bran says he annulled his marriage to Elia Martell, that he married my mother, in a secret ceremony.

Sansa quickly replies.

You’re a Prince. 

The bigger realisation the dawns on her, and she brings both hands to her mouth.

You are the Rightful Heir to The Iron Throne

She grabs both his forearms now. This solves many of their problems, but it creates just as many in return. Sansa doesn’t say anything for a few moments, she just gently looks at him, with her mouth partly open, while he says nothing and he does the same. Until he decides to break the silence, and repeats, with sadness in his voice, 

I was never one of you, I will never be, I’ll never be a Stark. I’m half Targaryen, I have the blood of the men, who murdered your uncle and grandfather, flowing in me.

She shakes her head, and cuppes both his cheeks with her hand, so she’ll listen to her

You might have their blood, but you are father’s son. You are who you are, because of him, he will always be part of you, no matter what, you were raised by wolves, not by dragons, you are a Stark, you will always be a Stark. I never again want to hear speak this nonsense. You are part of our pack, now, and always. Understood?

She basically/kind of gives him the speech Jon gave Theon in 7.07, and it nicely comes full circle. 

He grabs her cheeck and gently kisses her forehead like in 6.10

I’m glad I found you down here, I don’t know what I would’ve done if I had been alone. 

He gently strokes her cheek and smiles at her

Thank you, Sansa.

She smiles back.

I’m always here for you, you know that.

He nods. And something lingers in his mind.

Why do you think father never told Lady Stark? 

Sansa does not even need to think about it for too long, she knows exactly why. 

Isn’t it obvious Jon? It made the lie more believable, and put any rumors at bay. He didn’t tell her, to keep you safe from Robert;s wrath. You know what he did to Elia and her children, your half siblings. Had he told her, mother would’ve loved you, treated you with kindness, she would’ve taken you under her wing and, that, would’ve raised suspicions. All father did was to protect you, he gave up on his honor, he lied for all to hear, to keep you safe, to keep you alive.

Father lied too, he thought to himself, he did it too for the greater good.

I hope I won’t disappoint him, I hope all his sacrifices weren’t for naught.

Sansa shakes her head.

How could they be? You were born to save us all from the end of the world, to see us through the long night, his sacrifices weren’t and will not be for naught. 

They both nod at eachother. Sansa’s nod expressing a “Got it?”, nad Jon’s a “Yes, got it.”

End of scene.

Okay, emh, this turned into a script-ish fic… I didn’t inted it, but oh well, I’m not sorry about it. lol 🤗🙈🙈

“Ser Davos get’s carried away” yep, 100% can relate 👌😅😂😂

I guess you could change Sansa, with Arya, and it would still work. 🙃

[tsukikento]

Clouded Thoughts

Charlie Weasley x MC/Reader

Words: 1439

Summary: Charlie loved very few things in this world and you might just be sneaking your way onto that list.

A/N: Hello! This is my first fic for HP so hopefully, it’s good lol. Please enjoy! 

Charlie Weasley loved dragons. And everyone knew it. Granted, he loved other things too like quidditch and his family, but dragons were something special. Most people didn’t even think about touching a dragon, taming a dragon, or even learning about every species of dragon. However, the Weasley boy has loved dragons for as long as he can remember.

The rough and tumble magical creatures are more than meets the eye and the idea of seeing them, working with them, and helping baby dragons grow into gorgeous adults was a fantastical idea.

Charlie Weasley still remembers his 2nd year at Hogwarts when he wrote a Transfiguration paper on the idea of transfiguring something into a dragon. It was a messy paper and definitely quite a stretch in terms of realism. And yet, McGonagall gave Charlie and A for imagination, encouraging him to refine his skills and knowledge. Charlie simply smiled that day, thanked her, and went back to his normal life.

You see, at this time, Charlie Weasley did not think about leaving home in the prospect of taming dragons. His family was too big and his siblings too young for him to even think about moving away.

But then, in the summer between his 3rd and 4th year, Bill told Charlie a secret.

“You can’t tell mum yet, okay? In fact, don’t tell anyone.”

Charlie nodded on that late-night, not even thinking about how bad the news could be.

“I’m moving to Egypt after I graduate to be a curse-breaker.”

Bill was leaving. Leaving their family. Not for good obviously, but it would leave Charlie as the oldest and he was not ready for that. Charlie Weasley was in the sweet spot of not too young and not too old and wasn’t ready for that to change. When he got back to school, he researched dragonologist positions and found one in Romania that particularly sparked an interest.

From then on, Charlie was dedicated to studying. Sure, he loved academics even before this, but now Charlie needed to succeed. He needed to graduate and leave the house, too scared to even think about being the oldest at home with Bill gone. 

There were a few times someone would see Charlie Weasley without his nose shoved in a book. Sleeping, although sometimes he did fall asleep at the desk in the Gryffindor common room and drool all over the library book he just checked out. Eating, except for the occasional times where Charlie Weasley couldn’t put down the latest dragon texts because “the pictures are better than ever!” And quidditch.

Quidditch was the time for Charlie to decompress. Being a seeker, he only had to worry about himself, everything else was drowned out. Even on game days, Charlie Weasley did not see or hear the crowd. He only saw the snitch, the other team’s seeker, and the occasional bludger that was thrown at him.

Charlie loved flying and quidditch so much that sometimes he would sneak out late and spend a few hours of his night flying around the quidditch pitch, creating his own silly racecourses.

But then came you.

You were in exactly 2 classes with Charlie in his 6th year. Care of Magical Creatures and Divination. 

Obviously, Charlie was a good friend of yours, it’s just that he tried to keep his distance because he didn’t want to admit that he always saw you as quite beautiful. However, Charlie promised himself he would never act on his feelings. Studying was much too important. But now you were the only person he knew in Care of Magical Creatures, considering that many of his friends dropped the class in order to focus on classes more oriented towards their desired career. 

This resulted in you walking up to Charlie on the first day back to class, saying the simple word “Partners?” and turning his whole life upside down. Charlie Weasley could no longer ignore you and quite frankly he did not want to anymore. It seemed as if you got prettier every day.

Charlie remembers a particular instance where you were working in a forested area and a small bit of sun showed itself through the trees only to land directly where you were. Effectively taking his breath away.

Charlie Weasley promised himself not to get caught up in his emotions.

And then you sat next to him in Divination. Smiling brightly at him and saying:

“Hey, Charlie. Mind if I sit here?”

“No problem.” He had no idea why he said that. It was a problem, it really was. The humid divination class meant that many students wore the bare minimum. No longer being covered up by robes meant that he could see you more clearly. He gulped down hard, wondering if his face was hot because of the classroom or because of you.

“Can I tell you a secret?” You spoke, taking Charlie out of his daydream.

“Sure.”

You leaned in closer as if inviting Charlie to smell you. He could smell the coffee you must have drank that morning as well as your vanilla perfume. With you so close, he could make out the small cat hairs you had on your clothes. “I hate this class.” You looked into his brown eyes. “It’s so boring and I never see anything in this stupid crystal ball.”

Charlie couldn’t help but laugh. “It’s okay, Y/N. I don’t think any of us do.”

You scoffed at Charlie, “Then how come you always do so well on exams?”

The red-haired boy couldn’t help but blush at the comment. Everyone knew that Charlie Weasley worked and studied very hard, although many assumed it was because he wanted to become Head Boy like Bill. However, Charlie initially started studying more because of one particular morning in his 3rd year when he received a Howler from his mom for failing a Potions exam. Regardless of how many people knew he studied hard, Charlie liked to hear you say it.

“Well,” He looked around the room briefly, too red to look at you, “I work hard to learn definitions and I’m pretty good at faking being able to see the future.” He finally looked at you.

Your eyes widened and eyebrows raised. “Really? You’re faking it?”

Charlie couldn’t help but chuckle at your surprised face. “Yeah? Did you really think I could tell the future?”

You looked down into your lap. “Maybe.” Charlie laughed even louder this time until you started hitting him and telling him to shut it. 

“Okay, okay. Sorry, Y/N.”

“It’s okay,” you responded, still smiling even though he had just teased you. A small silence broke out between both of you until the professor walked into the room and started to speak about your upcoming exam. Charlie spotted you turn your body away from him and towards the professor, beginning to take notes on anything she said.

Occasionally Charlie would look over at you and see your stressed face and started to wonder if you only hated this class because you weren’t doing well. He leaned in close to you and whispered, “Hey, are you okay?”

You looked up suddenly as if you were in a trance. “Huh?” You blinked a couple of times and shook your head. “What?”

“You just seem stressed,” Charlie spoke quietly. He felt his face heat up once more wondering if him realizing you were stressed just showed that he liked you.

“O-oh.” Charlie looked up when you spoke and saw you looking at your lap too. Your face was just as red as his, but he thought that you were red because of being caught. You eventually looked back up at Charlie. “I guess I am,” You whispered, leaning in so the professor wouldn’t hear you. “I can’t fail another exam.”

And then Charlie was speaking before he could even think. “I can help you study.”

“Really?”

“U-um, yeah, of course! I’d love to.” Idiot, he thought. He was being too obvious.

But then all those thoughts washed away when you smiled so brightly at him and pulled him in for a hug, whispering in his ear. “Thank you, Charlie.”

His face heated up once more, he could feel the butterflies in his stomach, and he was certain that his heart skipped a beat. Charlie Weasley was quite aware that studying with you would ruin himself, but he couldn’t help it. You were so funny, smart, kind, and beautiful that Charlie just couldn’t resist admiring you.

Deep down, Charlie began to secretly wish that maybe, just maybe, he could convince you to come to Romania with him because he honestly couldn't imagine being without you.

[quonit-aceattorney]

Buying Game 1 - Playing 1 and 2

Put these all together because they were so short... and not even really recorded.

Rules:

Q = Me, Quonit.

BF = Bardic Feline, the friend that made me spend 30 dollars on the game and whom I am messaging

I don’t use those when I send the messages close enough my username doesn’t appear.

Any typos (unless they are funny and part of the conversation) will be fixed.

Index

—

(Backstory: Bardic feline and I have been talking about a fic she told me she was working one (Link here when i get it). Few about a week or so I’ve been motivating her to help her to finish it by the 20th, her deadline.)

3/20/2018

Q: did you get the thing out?

BF: I didn't finish both parts of what I wanted to do, but i did enough to post the fic prologue on AO3

Q: yaaaaay that is something. Good job.

BF: thanks. ^^;;;

LESS THAN I WANTED TO DO IS STILL BETTER THAN NOTHING

Q: yaaay can I have a link?

BF: Aaah hold up.  Also, going to warn you right now, it absolutely spoils the crap out of Farewell My Turnabout, aka 2-4

Q: dammit

I need to get the game how much is it and is it on steam or do i need to get it somewhere else

BF: Like it goes in assuming you already know the big twist

Q: welp I do not know

BF: You can get it on iOS or Android or from the 3DS shop

Q: I still call the people in the game "the objection guys"

BF: Hee hee fair enough

Q: dammit

well I have a 3DS so it can still work why not

BF: But when I say it assumes you know stuff, I mean it like straight up pulls the reveal that happens most of the way through the case

And yay!  That’s the easiest way to get it

Q: dang

I should've played the game yaaaaay :D

BF: You can get the whole original trilogy in one package on the e-shop

Q: Funny thing about the 3DS: I got it from a pawn shop for 60 bucks thinking it was a 2DS because well, it was. It is a 2DS it has that on the back it says everywhere on the thing it is a 2DS. When you open it though, it thinks it's a 3DS. This works out well because a 2DS has more power and the 3DS has more available games

I'll go find it. How long is it will I be able to play to the twist by the end of today?

BF: Unless you just fly through the first game?  It’s the last case of the second game

So...proooobably not

Q: dammit

do I have to pay for all three games??? Can't I just watch somebody else play it on youtube

BF: You can if you like? Or do an emulator?  I’m not gonna tell you how to do it.  Though I will say that that bundle is WAY less than what I paid for all three games used for the DS

They were probably about 15-20 bucks EACH individually

Q: dammit

well it's gonna be a while before I read that fanfic I helped encourage you to do. What out for that review 2-3 years for now.

BF: Hahaha awww

BF: It doesn’t take THAT long to play any of the games. XD

It’s just longer than a single night

Cause it’s like reading a book where you have to solve puzzles to advance

Q: well it better be good if im going to end up spending 60 dollars on it. At least I get to understand yet another one of Zarla's interests so many of her comics are based off of

I don't even wanna read all of those fanfictions why couldn't it just be mostly comic based with like 6 fanfics like with the ladies

BF: It’s not going to be 60 bucks!

happy summer

3 games and they're like 15-20 something about a bundle how much is that

BF: That’s what each was a INDIVIDUALLY

By themselves

On the DS

BF: When you had to but the individual CARTRIDGES

Q: going in the shop to see if I can find it

ohhhh wonder how much they are now im looking in the shop

BF: The BUNDLE is all three games at once for like...16 or 20 bucks TOTAL

For all three games together

Q: :o that's not 60!

BF: That’s what I was trying to say haha

That it’s a BARGAIN

Even when it’s not discounted it’s a bargain

Q: im looking for it bleh i haven't used this thing in a while where is the search bar for a specific game

BF: Search “Ace Attorney”

And aww those eggs sound pretty

Q: where is the problem it just has filters

I remembered the thing about using vinigar instead of water for the color to stick on better and it worked very well

BF: Umm...there should be a search function

Q: there is one but that's just filters for some reason

I'm calling my brother one moment

BF: You may have parental controls on too high or something

Q: nope I got it

it's 30$...

bleh ill get it whatever

BF: Aaaah sorry

Q: it's fine!

BF: I was thinking when it was discounted, forgive meeee

Q: I'll probably like

BF: That’s STILL less than what I paid individually

And it’s a good series!

I really think you’ll like it

Q: yaaaay

BF: It’s so ridiculous and over the top Hahaha

Q: I can't face the shame I'm giving my brother the money so he can buy it

why I'M GETTING THE GAMES THOUGH

YOU INFLUENCED A LIFE DECISION

BF: Hahaha aaaah forgive meeeee

it is fine lol

BF: Ooooh!

Q: dumpster

it was your idea

it's downloading

Q: how many days do I wait before it's approprait to send Jaz another email

Q: I spent 30 dollars because of you

working on comic, very good progress. Got all of the backgrounds done and am doing pretty good on the characters.

Q: ALRIGHT IT FNISHED DOWNLOADING

Just when the game opened I saw what you meant by it being over the top this is great imma play it

Q: 2014???

must be when the bundle was released...?

BF: That sounds about right dang

Was it that long ago when the HD bundle got released

-Case 1-

Q: Back!

Finished chapter 1: I feel smart I very much enjoy this game. Wonderful. Good that I'm apparently better then most people at remembering names :D when will juan die

BF: last case of the second game!

hahah just settle in and enjoy a Juan-less first game

BF: and I really do sincerely enjoy every part of the first game

Q: BACK

I do too it'

Q: It’s hard to believe Juan is even in the game

you made me spend 30 dollars on it and I am thoroughly enjoying it

(Edit: Thoughts i remember having but didn't record.

1st Case:

Hey look the tutorial person! She's a boob joke. of course.

I had no reaction to Winston, mainly it was just "objection guy".)

-Case 2-

Q:

Me: game about laywers. Somehow it was successful. Me later: and magic??? why is there magic why is there a chapter on why does this game exist it's so over-the-top I swear what was it's goal?

Q: the girl is too talkative

I should sleep >:( It's your fualt I can't

Q: why does the girl even call me nick

why does phoenix allow this his name isn't nick

(Edit: I refuse to call him Nick to this day.)

Q: where the hell is the save button i just wanna leeeaaave

Q: I MISS THE TRIALS NOW IT'S JUST TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHERE YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO GO

>:( well I'm almost to a save point in the game

Q: dooone

Maybe I'm just tiered in the morning I won't despise the girl

BF: Hahaha aaah I love Maya, personally

BF: And yeah, there are times in the investigation periods where it’s all godammit where do I go next.  But half the fun for me is going around and poking at stuff just to see what Phoenix and Maya will say about it

BF: I guess Maya gets Nick from PhoeNICx...I dunno I stopped questioning it ages ago

BF: There is a way to save when you are investing though

BF: I’ll tell you where to find it in the morning haha

Q: I figured out it's the start button.

Maybe I could look up where she got the name. She just asked if she could call me 'nick' and phoenix had no objection so I GUESS IM NICK NOW. I really like seeing what characters say about stuff too, but sometimes you just wanna get to it and 'ohmygod just shut up i wanna be able to figure this out i've already heard this before what am I missing'. Also I was tired, but ya they are enjoyable for the most part. HONESTLY with Juan I see him as a Zarla character, him being in the game is just absolutely stellar... it feels like a huuuuge bonus. I know he originally came from here but I learnt about him from the ladyverse and a quick scroll through her ace attorney folder on devart. He seems like her character. Concept: The people making the anime actually did see one or two of Zarla's comics and liked the color she had for his shirt and kept that Me at first: ehhhhh i don't really like him. he should just... go over there. Me later: oooo cross universe? More interesting, still don't like him much. Me now: I WILL PROTECT WITH BOY WITH MY LIFE WHEN I FIND HIM AND HE'S ALREADY DEAD WHOEVER DID THIS YOU WILL PAY WITH YOUR LIFE

(Edit: HOW COULD I HAVE EVER HAVE NOT LOVED HIM HE IS SUCH AN INTERESTING CHARACTER NO MATTER WHAT UNIVERSE HE’S IN)

BF: Hahahaha

Yeah, I kinda consider him to be more Zarla’s character than the game’s because of how much of a blank slate character he really is

BF: I know I’ve made up traits for him practically from whole cloth, or based on the smallest clues I can glean from the game script

Q: niiice

I'm getting through it, thankfully I'm not getting stuck as often as I did.

Q: "guess I better go there later..." YES, ALRIGHT, HOW DO I MAKE TIME MOVE FORWARD THOUGH?

BF: lol a lot of time when they say that, that means 'head on over to that location if it's on the menu"

(Edit: This goes DIRECTLY into my 1-3 reaction. The very next message.)

(Edit: Thoughts i remember having but didn't record.

2nd Case:

Sense the beginning I knew "IT'S THE WHITE GUY". The cutscene had what looked to me somebody with white hair but later i found a guy named Redd White and knew It was him because "HE'S THE WHITE GUY”

"Aw no looks like the tutorial girl is dead. Oh well."

"So she has a sister, okay."

"weird, i haven't seen this before. this is cool. (investigation mode)"

I absolutely hated April May. She was the worst character to me.

"HEY LOOK IT'S THAT OBJECTION BUDDY (Edgeworth) :D" I didn't have much thought on him besides that. He was the other objection guy. I knew him from the little I've seen of Ace Attorney beforehand (mainly one ace attorney tumblr post).

"There's magic in this game. guess her death meant nothing apparently.")