#no i haven't played cold steel yet

[nihilismbot]

Hi. My name is Juna Dark'ness Dementia Raven Crawford and I have long pink hair (that's not how I got my name) with fushia streaks and salmon tips that reaches my mid back and minty green eyes like sparkling emeralds and a lot of people tell me I look like Estelle Bright (a/n: if u don't know who she is get da hell out of here!). I'm a Crossbellian but I wasn't in Zero. I have pale white skin. I'm a cop, and I go to a military academy called Thors in Erebonia where I'm in Class VII (I'm seventeen). I'm a prep (in case you couldn't tell) and I wear mostly my school uniform. I love the Times Department Store and I used to buy all my clothes from there. But today I was wearing a white mini skirt with blue stripes on the bottom, a blue jacket with white cuffs, a blue vest underneath, red socks, and black boots with gold trim. I was wearing pink lipstick, natural foundation, black eyeliner, and neutral eye shadow. I was walking outside Thors. It was raining and snowing so there was no sun, which I knew meant a dramatic scene was going to happen. A lot of students stared at me. I put up my hand in greeting at them.

"Hey Juna!" shouted a voice. I looked up. It was.... Kurt Vander!

"What's up Kurt?" I asked.

"Nothing." he said shyly.

But then, I heard my friends call to me and I had to go away.

[morgenstern16]

The geopolitics of the Trails series are so funny. In Trails in the Sky SC, you have an entire chapter dedicated to figuring out who is trying to disrupt the signing of a major non-aggression pact, during which you learn a lot about the internal politics of all sides and what the treaty can and can't do. It's a really interesting chapter that teaches you a lot about Liberl's place in the world and it helps to ground the setting in a good way.

All that being said, it turns out the disruption was caused by a bored child supersoldier with a fucking gundam.

[princess-starscourge]

Trails of Cold Steel has reentered and re-ruined my life so send me some asks about it if you please

[glow-worms-are-believers]

Heya so this is Damian's pov in the chapter 16 of my fic Hostage situations and other romantic activities based on @iguessthisisanewobsession's prompt! I had it written out and though it doesn't fit in with the main storyline, I figured I'd post it here and link it in case anyone was curious. Feel free to ignore this if you haven't read the fic <3

Hope you guys enjoy:) (Spoilers ahead)

Damian’s head hurt. Zsasz had managed to get in a good hit before Damian had managed to knock him out, or at least what he thought had been a knock-out. He’d been sloppy and now the teen’s head was throbbing. At least, he had seen no injuries on Danny though the other boy had been very pale and looked unwell. 

That was another thing. Danny.

Gotham wasn’t a safe place for civilians, and metas had it even worse. That was true everywhere but in Gotham even more so; discrimination, increased risk of violence, even human experimentation. 

It wasn’t surprising that Danny would want to keep his abilities a secret. But something about the blast, how despite clearly having been instinct, the shot had been so very precise that Damian who had been pinned under Zsasz hadn’t felt more than a cold blast of wind made it seem as if there was more to it than that.

And right now, as he was perched up in the tree waiting for law enforcement, there was nothing to do but to speculate.

No, that was untrue, he thought as he took his phone out of his pocket. He could do more than that. 

He could research. And so he did. 

And found nothing.

Oh sure, there was a blurry picture here, an oblique mention there but no proof of existence beyond a social security number, a high school diploma, and one measly article.

No birth certificate, no social media, no medical file, not even a driver’s license.

It wasn’t that Danny Fenton was a ghost. It was more like he was a half-finished person.

Damian breathed out slowly. 

It wasn’t Danny’s powers that made him suspicious. It was everything else.

An hour later, Damian slid down into the now dark forest and started walking.

Damian looked up to see Danny coming down carefully. Damian steeled his expression into a neutral one, unwilling to let his thoughts play on his face.

“Daniel,” Damian started formally. “You went back to the school.”

That was a point in the boy’s favour; at least, he had not ran.

“Yeah,” Danny answered, too casually. “thanks again for saving my butt back there.”

Damian nodded, but abstained from saying anything further in favour of studying Danny’s expression. He didn’t seem any different but Damian knew appearances could be deceiving.

“So-“ Danny started but Damian wasn’t interested in small talk.

“I could not find a picture of you before your fourteenth birthday,” Damian stated clearly.

“Uh,” Danny stumbled. “Ok?”

“Nor could I find a birth certificate in your name.” Damian continued expecting a twitch, a frown, something.

“Yeah,” Danny answered calmly, waving. “Mom and Dad are terrible at paperwork.”

Alright. If that was how Danny would play it. Flimsy excuses could only go so far. 

“No social media, no bank account. Not even a tax return in twenty years.”

“IRS have given up long before I was born,” Danny answered airily. “And Amity’s not the safest place for technology.”

Damian studied the boy in front of him. He looked relaxed and mostly at ease. A bit confused, a bit tired if anything. And Damian wanted to believe it. 

Yet, both his instinct and his experience were telling him not to, and so Damian forged on.

“Why did you come to Gotham?” Damian asked.

“What?” Danny answered, once again frowning in confusion. “Uh, I’m here for school? I think I told you that.”

This was getting insulting.

“Do not lie to me,” Damian said, feeling something brewing.

“I’m not,” Daniel persisted in a stupid simplistic excuse. “I’m really here for school.”

Damian clenched his jaw, keeping his eyes peeled on the deceptive face in front of him. Damian had come for the truth and he was going to get it. 

“You truly had me fooled,” Damian stated as he slowly started to circle the other teen. “I did not suspect you for a moment.”

“What are you even talking about?” Danny said, but Damian wasn’t listening to more lies.

“Why did you approach me?” Damian asked asking from Danny’s side. Because that was the most logical explanation, no matter what Damian wanted to believe. It wouldn’t be the first time mother or another one of his enemies had sent someone to kill him. He had to consider the possibility. Danny turned to keep himself facing Damian.

“I didn’t,” Danny stressed, his voice almost snarling. Good. More likely to let something slip.

“Maybe so, but you did not turn down the opportunity to do so either.” Damian allowed, because it truly would’ve been a convoluted plan to manipulate Damian into choosing Danny.

“What,” Danny’s voice biting. “Like you left me any choice?”

Damian stopped short at that. He knew he could be forceful and overbearing but he would never force anyone to do anything like that. He was nothing like her.

“Damian,” Danny’s voice rose again, kinder, softer. “Im not sure what this is, and we can talk about it, I-”.

No. This wouldn’t work. Damian wouldn’t let himself be pacified like a child. “You have deceived me,” Damian reminded himself and Danny

“I haven’t,” Danny protested but Damian wasn't listening. 

“You are not who you say you are.” That was the truth. And no matter what he said, Daniel knew it too.

“Yes, I am,” Danny refuted strongly and Damian had had enough. There was one thing Daniel could no longer lie about.

 “Are you?” Damian asked clearly. “Tell me Danny, are you human?”

Danny flinched and Damian’s heart sank even as it confirmed what Damian already knew.

“That’s what I thought,” said Damian, more calmly than he felt.

“What does that mean?” Danny asked, still trying to pretend but Damian wouldn’t let him.

“It means, I am ashamed I let you get so close.”

It means I know, Damian thought. It mean there’s no use pretending. It means, please do not try. 

There was a moment of silence where Damian held his breath. For Danny to finally give it up and admit it.

Daniel took a deep breath before letting it out slowly. And Damian held himself straighter. Daniel opened his mouth but closed it again.

And then finally-

“Please leave,” Danny’s voice came and what was left of Damian’s hope froze over.

So this was it then. 

“Fine,” Damain said dispassionately. “I’ll send you the severance pay before the end of the week.”

“I don’t want it,” Daniel bit out and Damian could feel something ugly within him rear its head, and Damian let it take the place of the coldness.

“Waynes believe in tying up loose ends,” Damian said silkily. “It does not do to for past indiscretions crop up at importunate times.”

“Ok no. I’m done with this.” Danny stalked off, and it welled up again, poisonous and mean.

“I would be happy to give a recommendation to any new employer of yours,” Damian shouted. 

He knew he was supposed to be better than this, but he couldn’t help it.

“Screw you!” Danny yelled back and Damian snarled, stopping himself from punching at a tree or something equally stupid and emotional.

Whatever. He turned away and started walking.

It wasn’t like it had been a real relationship. It wasn’t like it had meant anything. Damian started running.

It had done what it was supposed to do, and really, Damian had gotten out of it exactly what he wanted. 

The thought did nothing to appease the empty feeling in his chest as he made his way back home.

[jumpywhumpywriter]

Spinoff Story Vampire & Vampire Hunter part 1

Warnings: severe silver poisoning of vampire, ambush attack, fight scene

(Highly recommend reading the original series first for better context for those who haven't seen it yet - this spinoff story takes place 5 years after the original story ends)

I got OVERWHELMING requests for a spinoff/bonus story, so here it is! :)

Mallory wrung his hands anxiously as he walked up the long driveway to an old mansion. It gave him more time to think about exactly how bad of an idea this was. What was he thinking, coming here?!

But… he needed help. And the type of help he needed only one person could provide. The danger he was up against was one no human could overcome.

Once he reached the giant wooden door at the front he stood and stared for a long five minutes. He could still turn tail and run…

…But he didn't. It wasn't merely his own life on the line. There was a lot more at stake. He needed this to work.

He lifted his hand, hesitated, then steeled his nerves and knocked lightly. The door opened a heartbeat later, and a frighteningly familiar figure stood before him. He instinctively wanted to recoil, and only managed not to flinch in fear by sheer willpower alone, even though he already knew who would be answering the door in advance. It was different to see him in person again. The cause of so much pain and trauma.

"Well, well, what a surprise. What has become of the famed hunter and why is it on my doorstep?" Alex's polished voice drawled. The vampire's eyes were wide with surprise, before they narrowed suspiciously. "Are you alone?" He growled, his voice losing its teasing edge.

Mallory knew a trap when he heard one. The vampire would be able to tell from his heartbeat if he was lying. And he was most definitely not alone.

"I came here because we need to talk," he said with a sigh, dodging the loaded question entirely.

Alex tilted his head slowly to the side and stared at him in such a distinctly predatory way it made Mallory shiver, like a cat locking sights on an interesting piece of prey. "Oh?" He raised an eyebrow. "You must be rather desperate, to come to me for help. Why risk me ripping your throat out... unless your situation was dire?"

"It certainly is a serious matter," Mallory replied, and subtly shifted to the side a little, no longer facing Alex head-on.

But Alex didn't miss it, his pupils sharpening. "What game are you playing, human?" He hissed, his voice dropping low and dangerous. "Why are you really here?"

Mallory froze, mouth dry. He was caught. "I really do need your help," he said, but his voice came out thinner than before, more nervous. "...But probably not in a way you'll approve of." What was taking so long...?

Alex's piercing gaze was zeroed in on him, cold and calculating, until the snap of a twig in the forest behind him gave it all away. Alex's eyes went huge in realization. But there wasn't time for even a fast vampire like him to react.

Three loud bangs, followed by three objects whistling through the air, and Alex jerked backward in the doorway, roaring in pain, three feathered darts lodging in his front with puffs of silver dust.

Alex yanked the darts out and smashed them on the floor, before lunging straight at Mallory with hands outstretched, skin sizzling everywhere the silver dust had touched him. His eyes were dark with white-hot rage.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" He snarled angrily.

Mallory barely sprung out of reach in time to avoid the attack, darting around him and bolting into the mansion.

Predictably, Alex whirled around to pursue, snapping and hissing like a feral animal, and two more darts zipped out of the forest to hit him in the back of his shoulder. He howled in agony, clawing the darts out of his skin before slamming the door shut to keep more darts from finding their marks. Then he spun back toward Mallory, who was cautiously backing away from the enraged vampire.

"What... was... THAT?" Alex barked viciously, and took a lurching step toward the hunter -- stumbling.

Mallory had the audacity to look a little guilty. "Sorry, but I didn't trust you to hear me out without trying to imprison me again -- so I took some precautions."

"PRECAUTIONS?!" Alex shrieked indignantly. "You call THIS 'precautions'?! This is a murder attempt!" He rushed forward and caught Mallory by surprise, charging his shoulder into him and tackling the human to the floor, pinning him down with a hand on each wrist holding them to the floor above his head.

The vampire was absolutely livid, eyes blazing as he glared down at Mallory. "I warned you what would happen if you returned here with other hunters," he snarled in his face. "Truce is over. I'm going to rip every last one of your team's human throats out--" his voice ended in a choked cough of air as Mallory kicked him hard in the stomach with both feet, throwing the vampire off him.

"This isn't meant to be a hunt!" Mallory argued defensively, scrambling back up.

Alex sprung back to his feet, but swayed unsteady, brow furrowed with dazed confusion. The world was tilting -- why was everything spinning? Silver dust darts were meant to blind and weaken vampires -- but why was his strength fading so fast? It shouldn't be affecting him this severely...

"What did you... do to me?" Alex hissed, voice slurring. It shouldn't have been that easy for the human to throw him off, and his chest tightened with fear -- raw, genuine fear, something so old and foreign he'd forgotten it existed anymore. The fear of not being able to fight back, the fear of no longer holding the power in the room. He stalked menacingly toward Mallory, fangs bared -- but wobbled, lurching and staggering as he tried to attack again with a body that just... wouldn't... cooperate!

Alex took a clumsy swipe at Mallory, but the hunter gave him a hard shove in the chest, and to Alex's own disbelief, he moved with the motion, almost losing his balance entirely. He was usually rigid as a boulder.

"Don't fight me, Alex," Mallory said grimly. "You won't win. Those darts contained silver and heavy doses of Hemlock, which would usually be lethal to humans -- but only acts as a strong sedative to vampires. It won't kill you, I promise."

"You little bastard--" Alex growled through gritted teeth, making another angry lunge for him -- but he crumpled to the floor instead, legs buckling and refusing to support him anymore. His whole body hurt with the silver dust coursing through his veins, suffering severe silver poisoning. And the worst part was, the hunter was right -- it would be agony in the meantime, but it wouldn't be enough to kill him. Only enough to neutralize and incapacitate. But why would he possibly need him alive?

Alex's swirling vision was starting to darken around the edges, and he felt rather than saw Mallory crouch next to him, and heard the door to his own mansion come crashing in -- several other blurry shapes coming to loom over him alongside Mallory. He bared his teeth weakly, breathing harsh and strained.

"Huh, you weren't lying about the vampire," an unfamiliar voice said. "You sure this will work?"

"I suppose we'll find out soon," Mallory's voice answered. "Get him ready to transport back to base."

Alex groaned in protest as he felt cuffs clamp down on his ankles and wrists, restraining him. He mustered all his strength into glaring at Mallory with every ounce of venom he could manage. "I never should have let you go," he hissed. "When I get out of this, I swear to you I will--" he didn't get to finish, as something sharp was forced into his mouth, followed by the feeling of something being strapped to his face.

He was being muzzled, he realized in horror. And now he was helpless and weak at the mercy of humans, of all things. He didn't know what they planned to do with him, but it couldn't be good.

Alex's eyelids slowly slipped shut and his body relaxed against his will, the darkness rushing in to take him, and the sound of the hunters bustling around him soon faded into a dull, static buzz.

He hadn't gotten to finish his threat... but he never lies.

And then his thoughts were no more.

Next ⏩️

Masterlist

@scoundrelwithboba @lumpofsand @isikedmyself878 @iamheretohurt @fleur-a-whump

@ay5ksal @otterfrost @sausages-things @togzy @floral-comet-whump

@whump-till-ya-jump @cravesunconditionallove @whumpwritinglover222 @nevermore-ramblings @mj-or-say10

@tippytappytyping

[m-jelly]

Royal flush

Levi x fem!Reader

Modern AU, fluff, romance, casinos, gambling, drinking of alcohol, flirting, gangster Levi, rich Levi.

After being forced along to a massive casino for the rich, you get bored and go to the bar. While at the bar, you are joined by a handsome raven-haired stranger who promises to show you a good time and all the money gambled will be his. You go for it. The night is full of fun and laughs and then it ends with him getting you a room and staying at your side as you fall asleep.

@ladycheesington @levisbrat25 @nyxiieluna @li-anne @galactict3a @youre-ackermine @thebobaprincess @2moth-anon2 @cypidity @notgoodforlife @demonsimp6 @nbinairyn

The casino was a buzz with the rich flaunting their money. Every cent that was exchanged went right into the Acker company and then was rewired to make free hospitals for the poor, along with homes for the needy. Acker was very much like a Robin Hood operation, some minor criminal activities were used to help those in need.

With a frustrated sigh, Levi walked through the main floor buzzing with activity. Rich couples were making bets, cash was thrown around and chips were being slammed down. Greed was oozing from every corner of the room. Every laugh, scream and cry made Levi wince due to the unsufferable volume.

As if a spell was cast on him, the world slowed down and the loud voices became a dull murmur when he cast his steel blue eyes over to the cocktail bar to see the most divine woman he had ever laid his eyes upon. He strolled across the room and into the bar as you lifted your appletini and pressed the glass against your red lips.

A delicious rush shot through you as you sipped on your drink. Your friends had dragged you here to gamble but you weren't interested, in fact, you found it boring. So, you ended up at the cocktail bar sipping delicious drinks and eating sushi.

"You're not gambling."

You turned your head and felt your heart skip as you gazed at the alluring man before you. His steel blue eyes were hypnotic as they locked with yours. Soft raven hair was pushed back but a few strands escaped the hold of the product. Most would say this man had a cold and harsh look about him however, he seemed rather handsome and charming to you.

A kind smile graced your lips. A man like Levi could never be interested in a woman like you, or so you thought. Amusing the man with conversation shouldn't be that bad, so you indulged him.

You hummed. "I don't care much for gambling. I find it boring."

Levi gazed at your lips as they pressed against your glass. "And yet you're in a casino." He waved the waiter over "Why is that?"

"My friends dragged me here." You pointed to a little group. "That's them."

He didn't look over at them, he couldn't because you were so captivating. "So, you don't enjoy gambling or is it something else?"

You released a long sigh. "I don't find it fun and a lot of them I will admit I don't understand." You fiddled with your glass as you felt your cheeks burn. "I have tried my best."

Levi shifted closer and hummed at your intoxicating scent. "Perhaps you haven't had a good teacher."

"I need a patient one." You giggled making Levi smile. You introduced yourself "who are you?"

He offered his hand. "Levi."

"Charmed."

He took your hand delicately and kissed the back of it. "May I show you a good time?"

You gasped. "I'm sorry?"

He frowned at your reaction. "Gambling. I'll take you around and show you how to play."

You laughed as you felt silly for thinking something rude. "Forgive me, I thought you meant a good time in another way."

Levi stared at you as he processed your words. As soon as the thought clicked, his eyes widened and a soft blush spread on his cheeks. "Oh, well I would rather enjoy that with you multiple times. However, our focus is playing a few games." He offered his hand to you. "Would you like to join me?"

As you stared at Levi's hand you thought of many things that could happen to you, bad things and good things. You thought about how you were dragged here and were bored, but maybe Levi could really show you a great time and change your night.

You happily took his hand and walked with him through the casino. The craps table was your first destination and you knew this was about dice throwing, but that was it. You thought it was all luck and yet Levi made it seem so much fun.

The warm broad chest pressed against your back as an elegant hand lifted the dice up to your lips. Hot breath tickled your ear as Levi spoke. A shiver ran up your spine when he asked you to blow on the dice. You lightly blew and watched the dice fly across the table and roll exactly what Levi wanted over and over.

With arms full of chips you both moved from table to table as you played all the games and won all. Every game you went to Levi stayed close to you and made you laugh. He always had a part of him touching you so you felt close.

Finally, you reached the last table, poker. You didn't expect the dealer to allow Levi to stand behind you, but he did. It was sweet how he wrapped one arm around your shoulders and tapped cards to help you. He turned slightly and whispered in your ear how to play. Arousal burned through you, so you hid your smile with your cards.

You turned your head and smiled at Levi. "What do you think?"

"Well, my darling, I think you've got this in the bag."

You giggled and placed your cards on the table. "These are my cards."

Levi squeezed you. "Royal flush."

"Is that good?"

Levi chuckled. "It's the best poker hand."

You squealed and began jumping up and down on the spot. You turned on your heels and jumped into Levi's arms. "Thank you! That was so much fun!" You tangled your fingers in his hair and kissed him.

Levi gripped you and kissed you back with just as much passion. His heart raced in his chest as he felt elated. You were the woman for him.

You pulled back and hummed. "Forgive me. I uhh..."

"I liked it and wanted it." He rubbed your cheek softly. "Collect your winnings."

You gathered your chips and let Levi lead you to cash it all in. With a bag full of money you were in shock that your night had taken such a turn. At first, it was boring and now it was the best night of your life. It did sting your heart to know it was all over and you had to return home.

You lowered your gaze and shifted on your tired feet. "I should go. I'll get a taxi home."

Levi cupped the side of your face. "Stay. I'll get you a room." His hand rested on your shoulder. "Wait here and I will get a keycard."

"I couldn't possibly...you've done enough."

"I insist. Besides, I don't want to let you go just yet."

Your heart skipped a beat. "Okay."

Levi rushed to reception and talked to his staff before returning to you. He placed a hand on your lower back and guided you to the lift and pushed in his card to access the top floors meant for special guests only. He helped you into the bedroom and pulled his phone out and began talking.

As you inspected the grand room you realised this was a room meant for the richest of people. You had everything you could ever dream of and more. The living room was massive with a TV. A pool was outside on the balcony that was clearly heated. The bed was huge and incredibly soft, it'd be the best bed you'd ever slept in.

You didn't intend to listen in to Levi's conversation, but something in the way he talked to staff over the phone made something click. As the staff hurried inside and handed him what he ordered you went from thinking he was the manager to possibly being the mysterious head of the Acker group.

"Levi Acker?" You saw Levi pause and look over at you as he arranged your gifts. You gulped a little and shifted closer. "That's you, right?"

He sighed. "Yes. I'm Levi Ackerman. I removed the man part of the company because Acker was better." He moved closer to you with soft pyjamas in hand. "I hope that is not an issue. I rather like you and I don't want to let you go."

You smiled at Levi before taking the pyjamas from him. "Not at all. I just feel a little stupid that I said bad things about this place to the very man who put it together."

"If you want to know about my dealings and money, just ask." He caressed your cheek. "I feel as if I could tell you anything."

"Do you really make hospitals for the poor to get free medical care? Do you also make homes as well?"

He nodded as his thumb slowly ran over your bottom lip. "Yes. I grew up poor and I had a sick mother, but she is alive and well now. It was hard to get medical care for her. I wanted to help people like her." He sighed. "I'm sorry, but I really want to kiss you right now and I know you want to know things."

You released a little moan. "Please do."

Levi's lips pressed against yours as a relaxed sigh came from his nose. He gently nipped your lip before pushing his tongue into your mouth. He felt joy in his heart when you clung to him and kissed him back with deep passion.

You pulled back from his lips and panted a little. "Sleepy."

Levi chuckled at your drowsy look. "You should change and get into bed."

You whined at him. "You'll disappear when I do."

"I'm not going anywhere, I promise."

You stumbled around and got changed. Levi kept his eyes closed as he helped you because you were so sleepy. He opened his eyes once you were changed. He easily lifted you, tucked you under the covers and went about his evening. He used his phone to work and order his people before climbing into bed next to you and resting for the first time in a long time.

You awoke and felt more rested than you'd ever been before. A part of you thought last night was a dream and you would likely never see Levi again. However, a strong warm arm was thrown over you. Your body dragged across the bed until you were firmly pressed against a sexy body.

You turned your head and blushed when you saw Levi gazing at you. "M-Morning."

Levi smiled softly. "Morning. Told you I wouldn't leave you."

You lightly traced his nose and lips. "You were right."

"I keep my promises." He pressed his lips against yours. "So, how about a date? I want to take you somewhere nice today."

You giggled as you felt excited. "I would love that."

[fortheunsungheros]

𝑪𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒔 𝑺𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑵𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝑭𝒂𝒏𝑭𝒊𝒄 (𝑨𝑼)

*For clarification, Y/N was in the car at the time of the Curtis parents death. She survived though, with only a few injuries*

TW: Mentions of blood, car accident, death, small panic attack

1st Person Y/N POV:

Everything is coming back. The car is on the train tracks. I see my mother. I see her platinum blonde hair infested with a crimson liquid.

Blood.

The same hair my mother had just brushed out of her face was now different. Five minutes changed everything. My father is slumped over the steering wheel. The same steering wheel where he taught Darry how to drive is where my dad's lifeless body lay.

I feel my head pound so hard as if someone was knocking on a steel door. My left side aches in an unexplainable yet excruciating way. I taste a metallic sensation in my mouth. It reminds me of when I was little and lost my first tooth after Soda bonked my head into a wall. I hear the sound of a police siren wailing. Wait, it's getting closer.

I desperately try to sit up to help my parents but my body overpowers itself. I realize my right thigh has a huge gash letting out an immense amount of blood. My mouth cannot help but wince in pain. A single tear comes sliding down my cheek followed by many more. My own tear lands on my thigh and I yell out in agony. My body begins to shake in fear.

The sirens, they're coming closer. The repetitive wailing plays in my head like the nursery rhyme my mother used to sing to me. I suddenly see red and blue flashing lights. "Help" is all I can mutter. The emergency service lights begin to fade away. What are they doing?

"Y/N....Y/N....wake up you're having a nightmare." A voice says to me as they gently shake my shoulders.

I sit up in a panic, a cold sweat overfills my body to an uncomfortable degree. I glance my surroundings. It's my bedroom. Another tear falls from my cheek as I raise my hand to wipe it away. I look at over at my bedside. There kneels Darry with a remarkably soft demeanor.

"Hey, you were calling for help in your sleep again kid. You haven't done that in a while. Did something happen?" My brother asks protectively as he cracks his neck.

"No...it's just been bad recently... I can't stop getting back in that car, I'm sorry that you had to get out of bed Dar." I say softly as Darry wipes another tear that slips off of my cheek.

"Hey, none of that sorry shit Y/N. I'm your older brother, it's mine and Soda's job to protect you. Well, technically Pony too but I know you don't like to bring up that fact." Darry says with a small chuckle.

I follow his laugh with my own, as I glance at my nightstand and notice my clock reads 4:27 am.

"Dar, don't you have work tomorrow?" I ask inquiringly.

"Yeah kiddo, I do. But I was thinking about calling off. I haven't called off in God knows when and I need a break." He says letting out a sigh. He runs a hand through his short chestnut hair and sighs once more.

We sit in a comfortable silence for a while until he finally speaks up, "What about you sleep in my bed tonight, just like we did when we were kids? It might make you feel better." He says to me in a comforting tone.

"Yeah, that would be nice." I say in reply as a happy grin paints my face.

We both get up and walk to his bedroom that lays just down the hallway. In a matter of seconds, we

have arrived in his room. He allows me to settle into the bed first. The familiar aroma of cheap cologne and a sweaty teenage boy encapsulates my senses immediately as I hit the pillow.

Seconds after I lay down, the opposing side of the bed sinks down. Darry lazily throws a protective arm over my stomach. With his other hand, he gives me a gentle noogie on the head.

"Hey. I love you kid. You're my favorite sibling I've got. You're never annoying, well most of the time you're not." Darry says with a laugh.

I mirror his actions and begin to close my eyes. We lay like this for what seems like hours until the silence is broken like an egg in the morning hours.

"Y/N, you awake?" I respond by shaking my head lethargically. "What do you say we go to that new bowling alley that opened up with the gang tomorrow? I heard that the place is great." Darry asks me.

"Of course that sounds fun!" I say with as much energy as possible for 5 o'clock in the morning.

After just a few minutes, both of us are sound asleep - without nightmares in sight.

[reinathevocaloid]

A Sladick Playlist

(Bc these two have been living in my head rent-free these days lol)

Animals by Maroon 5 (Cover by Living in Fiction)

Baby, I'm preying on you tonight Hunt you down, eat you alive Just like animals

I Don't Know Why by Imagine Dragons

Dangerous Your love is always dangerous And now I'm lost in us We're livin' in a lying trust

damn. by Rei Ami

So tell me why you're back again Say what you mean, mean what you say 'Cause what you give is what you get And I don't forget

Killing Time by Infected Mushroom

In my dreams (I can kill you) Close to me You open the cage and he sets you free

Amsterdam by Daughter

Heavy eyed crawling on the roadside Swinging from the street lights I hope by the morning I will have grown back

heart of steel by sanjay.

What would I do with a heart of steel Protect what I love when I don't even feel Taken the chance to fix what I need Nothings right I need a chance to breathe

Maybe by Flower Face

You're the one who's in my body, ripping at the seams And you're the one who's crashing on the highways in my dreams Maybe I won't, maybe I will I haven't slept so easy since you left me in the wild I wish I could've loved you right, but I was just a child Maybe I won't, maybe I will run back to you

Psychobabble by Frou Frou

Do just what I tell you And no one will get hurt Don't come in any closer 'Cause I don't know how long I can hold my heart in two Make no sudden movements And no one need get hurt You're making me nervous If you know what's good for me why would I be loving you?

Knee Socks by Arctic Monkeys

When the zeros line up on the 24 hour clock When you know who's callin' even though the number is blocked When you walked around your house wearin' my sky blue Lacoste And your knee socks

Turn Off The Lights by Panic! At The Disco

I got so sick of being on my own Now the devil won't leave me alone It's almost like I've found a friend Who's in it for the bitter end

Just Pretend by Bad Omens

I can wait for you at the bottom I can stay away if you want me to I can wait for years if I gotta Heaven knows I ain't getting over you

Invisible by Plumb

I cannot see you But I can feel you I just wanna be with you I've nowhere else to go I've nowhere else to go

Red by BEAUZ

I know all your little secrets Did you think that I'd forget? The first cut always goes the deepest You ain't seen nothing yet

Waiting Game by BANKS

Baby I'm thinking it over What if the way we started made it something cursed from the start? What if it only gets colder Would you still wrap me up and tell me that you think this was smart 'Cause lately I've been scared of even thinking 'bout where we are

The Walk by Imogen Heap

No, it's not meant to be like this Not what I planned at all I don't want to feel like this So that makes it all your fault

The Heart Wants What It Wants by Selena Gomez

The bed's getting cold and you're not here The future that we hold is so unclear But I'm not alive until you call And I'll bet the odds against it all

Hold Me Like A Grudge by Fall Out Boy

Hold me, hold me like a grudge The world is always spinning, and I can't keep up, whoa Faster and faster, can't do it on my own Part-time soulmate, full-time problem, yeah So hold me like a grudge

Strange Birds by Birdy

You've always loved the strange birds Now I want to fly into your world I want to be heard My wounded wing's still beating, You've always loved the stranger inside Me, ugly pretty

Coming Down by Halsey

Now we're lost somewhere in outer space In a hotel room where demons play They run around beneath our feet We roll around beneath these sheets

Death Valley by Fall Out Boy

But we are alive Here in death valley But don't take love off the table yet 'Cause tonight It's just fire alarms and losing you We love a lot So, we only lose a little But we are alive

The Definition of Not Leaving by Hands Like Houses

I want you to follow and find me Howl like its us and no-one else We could keep out the sadness and stand so tall We could run like wild things, and lie right where we fall

Undisclosed Desires by Muse

I want to reconcile the violence in your heart I want to recognize your beauty is not just a mask I want to exorcise the demons from your past I want to satisfy the undisclosed desires in your heart

Disciple by IAMX

Disciple, I absolve you So forgive yourself enough to obey the naked truth That you need to be owned And you beg to be controlled

On The Run by Kayou.

I guess you're back Are you gonna tell me where you went? All the messages I sent, with no reply It's like that You're just gonna walk into my room I hate how you assume That there will always be a place for you By my side Day or night You know that it's killing me

Raw Raw by K.Flay

I came up from the depths of hell with a golf club in my hand You disarmed me, no defense My armor turned to sand It's hard to escape the wounds of the past Every time I feel something real, I wanna take it back

Red Lights by Stray Kids

I'm going crazy now, out of control, I I'm staying up all night again The moment when I close my eyes All I see is red lights

All About Us by t.A.T.u.

They say They don't trust You, me, we, us So we'll fall if we must 'Cause it's you, me And it's all about, it's all about It's all about us

Heaven, Iowa by Fall Out Boy

Scar-crossed lovers forever I'm checking myself out forever I'm saving this all for later Scar-crossed lovers forever Here we are, untouched forever I'm saving this all for later, oh

Spiracle by Flower Face

And I want your parties, the shark in your water The scrapes on your knees and the blood that spills over And I want your zeroes, your polluted marrow The sweat on your palms and your surveillance shadow

[ernmark]

Ask Game!

Thank you to @sapphosewrites for thinking of me for this <3

How many works do you have on AO3?

I'm almost up there with Sapphose-- I've got 141, though I really need to finish tranferring my really old fics from my fanfiction.net account.

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

Those 141 fics give me a grand total of 969,127 words.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

My biggest fandoms are The Penumbra Podcast, Star Trek: Deep Space 9, Welcome To Night Vale (that's an oldie, hot damn) and Les Miserables, with Les Mis being the most recent one I've been active in.

4. Top 5 Fics By Kudos

I'm honestly surprised that Haunting, but not haunted (Penumbra Podcast ghost AU) has overtaken The Issue of Omniscience (WTNV). Just Like an Angel (WTNV Wingfic) ranks just behind those two, then The Case Files of J. Steel (a very very large Penumbra Poscast one-shot collection). What surprised me was I Could Be Your Own Avenging Angel (DS9 alternate take on Empok Nor) making the top five-- apparently that one's gotten some recs lately, which pleases me immensely. The fact that all of these are fairly sexy is not a surprise to me.

5. Do you respond to comments?

I read them all, I squee in delight at them all, but a lot of times I'm just flummoxed about what to say in response. I know theoretically just a quick 'thank you' is appropriate, but it feels... I dunno, trite?

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

Listen, I'm an absolute sucker for angst, but I tend to go with bittersweet rather than outright angst in the ending.

Just a Little Wooden Boy (OFMD) is the most recent, and plays hard with the idea of deep hurt turning love into something cold that can't be fixed. (Like a Terrier (Sherlock) has a similar vibe.)

Stay With Me (Wolf 359) just plain tragedy. Eiffel succumbs to the Decima virus, the other humans are forced to flee the station, and so Hera is left to comfort him in his final hours. It's in the same vein as The Way Things End (Supernatural) and Off the Path (Bioshock Infinite) where they're very much about accepting death when it can't be fought anymore-- but in the other two, there's the hope of accompanying your loved one on the other side, where Hera is now just trapped alone with her grief and the body of her friend.

7. What is the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I genuinely don't know how you would even go about judging that.

Most of my multichapter fics end with the idea that there's still work to be done-- causes to fight for, mental illness to struggle against, relationship issues to work out. The thing is that they now have a framework for dealing with the problem at hand.

So given that-- Of the Rapture That Impels (Les Miserables) deals with sinking into grief and despair and ends with actually being able to see a light at the end, which is pretty much the epitome of a happy ending in my book.

Skin and Scales (Penumbra Podcast) has the most classically happy ending, I think.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Thank all that is holy, I haven't gotten direct hate on fics since high school-- the fandoms I've been in have been lovely, and anyone who has unkind things to say about them has been polite enough to do it where I don't need to see it.

9. Do you write smut?

Yup.

10. Craziest crossover

I almost never do crossovers, actually. But years ago (so long ago that it hasn't actually been migrated to AO3 yet) I wrote a 9/Labyrinth crossover in which 7 was in fact Sarah, transfigured by the Goblin King in order to save her from the machine apocalypse.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I think they might have been yanked over to wattpad or whatever once or twice. It happens, it gets reported, I move on.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

I don't believe so-- or if it's happened, it was long enough ago that I've forgotten.

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

Yes. And let me tell you, I am very bad at being a co-writer. The more successful stuff looks less like co-writing and more like parallel play in the same sandbox.

14. All time favorite ship?

I'm with Sapphose here in that I don't have one favorite ship, so much as I have a favorite dynamic. I'm a sucker for damaged, self-loathing characters who are so determined to do right by the person they love that they wind up becoming better (stronger, happier) people for it.

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

Just one?

Probably A Dynasty of Liars (DS9). I love that story so much, but I genuinely have no idea where it would go next or how I would execute it.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I'm told that my angst is pretty damn solid, and that I can get voices pretty well.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Scene transitions, and particularly those detailed descriptions where we describe where we're at. It's one of the things I can get away with more in fanfic than in original writing, because a couple references will convey which setpiece we're in so I don't have to do the work. In anything remotely original, that's a much bigger problem.

18. Thoughts on dialogue in another language?

I'm in camp 'translate if the POV character knows it', with the addendum that "and they continued to speak in[language]" tends to be much more effective than actually writing long stretches of that other language, particularly if it's one that the writer isn't fluent in. If the reader doesn't know the second language, it conveys about as much as a keysmash. If they do, then you're prone to embarrassing goofs where you translate something badly without knowing.

19. First fandom you wrote in?

Lord of the Rings. A self-insert, Boromir-lives AU.

20. Favorite fic you've written?

Pretty much any longfic that I've actually completed, I think. But lately, I'm partial to A Change of a Bizarre Kind (Les Miserables), because I did some stuff with the POV and structure that I'm really proud of.

Now that you've gotten to see me ramble, I'll go ahead and tag @ryosei-hime, @aftershocked, and @alecjmarsh

[mirahuyooo]

hi ate congrats! pa-request ng 003 with taehyung? tapos phantom of the opera au kung kaya. thanks! <33

003. "Love me. I'm cold." + kim taehyung

— Kim Taeyung always hated the cold.

word count: 830 contents: ANGST, loosely based on Phantom of the Opera (both movie and novel), childhood friend!Jeon Jungkook to the rescue, (Y/N) developed a bit of a Stockholm Syndrome for a moment yikes, YOU ARE OF AGE (unlike Christine 😭) toxic, possessive behavior, major character death, Yandere AU  pairing: kim taehyung x reader

[masterlist] | check out more of [Four Years with Mira]!

A/N: Thank you so much!~ ✋😭💖💓💕 I’m so glad you joined! 🥳 I’m gonna be honest, I didn’t think of making “Love me. I’m cold.” into an ANGSTY yandere abomination and I also never fully watched Phantom of the Opera until this, but I gOTTA DELIVER!! Sana nagustuhan mo AAAAAAA

P.S. Repeat after me, lovelies. NO YANDERES IRL. THIS IS FICTION.

Time and fate are an unfathomable pair in how much they've changed life for you in the past months.

How, in spite of having gone your separate ways, you're once again entangled with a familiar face from your childhood. 

How, in spite of having been nothing but a background piece to the magnificent opera house for years, you're suddenly thrust into the limelight.  

How, in spite of having fallen for the angel of music, you're now faced with the fact that he had been a demon all along. 

"Taehyung, please!"

Catacombs ran deep beneath the city, labyrinthine halls that drove you mad as you ran through them in a desperate search for familiar faces. The white gown you had worn for the play was now tattered, sodden with the cistern's murky waters and smudged with dirt, and grime—and yet, that doesn't stop you from running towards the phantom and the vicomte as soon as you saw them. 

After having enough of the people that got in his way, Taehyung hunted the derelict halls beneath the opera house for Jeon Jungkook, your childhood friend, and now here they were. The two of them were locked in a battle, and though Jungkook was of a larger build than him, Taehyung seemed to have exhausted him enough for him to be winning over the young vicomte.  

"Taehyung!" your voice shakes as you call out his name immediately. 

Through the mask that covers his face, there's an immediate shift in his eyes, stone cold, murderous gaze becoming soft at the sight of you. "Enough of this. I beg of you," you beseech him, such words instantly taking away the fondness and revealing a look of betrayal and rage. 

"You're mine!" he childishly bellowed, shaking just as much as he pressed down on Jungkook yet again. "Haven't I made that clear enough?!"

The pain in his voice twists your heart, just as much as his heinous deeds twist your stomach. Murder, sabotage, manipulation—he had done all of it for your sake, he told you. If so, then perhaps you can coax him out of this. "Let go of him and I'll go with you," you strike a deal with the devil, effectively tempting him into loosening his grip on the vicomte. 

"(Y/N), n—"

Jungkook's protest is cut off by a groan of pain as Taehyung's fist meets with his jaw, the clatter of swords falling along with him. In an instant, the masked phantom seizes your face, his hold firm yet gentle. "You will marry me," Taehyung decidedly declares, "and you'll never b—"

A horrified gasp leaves you as you catch sight of a glinting steel poke through Taehyung's abdomen. He, too, reels with the pain coursing through his very being.  

Blood—blood is coming out of him fast.

Behind the phantom, Jungkook shakes as he withdraws the blade. He's never killed anyone before. "She's not yours or mine," the young vicomte gritted through his teeth, "but I'll never let her be damned to the likes of you."

The rage that roars through the phantom is immediate. So close, yet he had been foolish. He should've ended the basta—

A gentle hand squeezing his is the water that douses the fire burning within him. Your eyes meet and he sees the exhaustion in your eyes, the sparkle he had fallen for no longer there. There's a resounding defeat that flashes in Taehyung's eyes as he staggers forth and surrenders himself into your arms, his body falling from your weak hold and onto the floor.  

You and Jungkook share a glance, both unsure of what to do. Had Taehyung finally realized his faults and regrets so close to death's door?

Desperate for the last of your affection, Taehyung's hand clutches your gown. "Love me," his words were a benediction to you, his muse and goddess, as they always were. "I'm cold."

Kim Taehyung always hated the cold, but the darkness of the crypts were all he had, and he could never bring himself to the warmth of fire—the very thing that left half of his face and body scarred after an unfortunate incident years ago. 

You oblige, for the sake of what good he had done in your life, for the sake of that poor, unfortunate soul who craved for love he went mad. Fingers trembling from the cold and from the rush of it all, you unmask Taehyung for the last time, in spite of the weak protest he tries to stop you with. 

You gently caress his cheek, the one of marred flesh as you let him settle on your lap. A tear falls from your cheek, though you're not really sure why—you don't love him, not after what he's done. It's pity, perhaps.

And so, it is with pity you press a soft, parting kiss onto his forehead, one the dying man relishes. "Tell the world I've died of love," he whispers to you as you pull away, his dying breath only ever taken for his beloved songbird. 

Kim Taehyung always hated the cold. 

Still, he blissfully closed his eyes. At the very least, in the cold of the night, in the darkness beneath the city, your warmth surrounds him before death's embrace ever could.

[butterflyintochains]

Long Distance No Longer

Or, the Tangerkarlsson ficlet I've been ruminating over for three days, but haven't felt well enough to write. Anyway, here's what happens when Erik finally arrives in the Steel City. Enjoy!

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

Kris can barely believe that this has finally happened when he opens the NHL app for the first time since he arrived back in Pittsburgh. Stuff like this doesn't happen to him, right? He's never been so lucky in his life. Surely this is some fake news headline to grab attention, right? But, this is the NHL site, the site dedicated purely to the sport and nothing else. All these painful years apart could be over literally today, permanently if the story is any hint at the contract. No one's in the group chat, why would they be? No one else knows about them yet. Just Flower, but he's not a Penguin anymore, not in the playing sense anyway. Flower, accordingly, does text him right then.

Flower: Go, go get him, mon ami. He'll be there. Go get him.

PPG Paints, his home from home, his kingdom, not too far away. But, it's all too much. Aware of his heart, he does the breathing exercises his doctor taught him after the first stroke, downs the last of his coffee, and grabs his keys. He drives down to the arena, cursing under his breath at some slow drivers he gets stuck behind. Don't they get it? Erik fucking Karlsson is here! Here for him! Finally, he gets shot of the slow people, and turns down the road to the arena. He parks in his normal spot, seeing another car a few spots down, he gets to the door. Security buzz him in, the air feels different once he's inside: lighter, happier, less... lonely. He prays Kyle and the rest have cleared off, he wants Sid and Geno to know before management do. The gym is empty, so is the dressing room, the rink is being set up. God fucking dammit, he knew he was getting his hopes up. Last place, the dining area. Finally, he finds him.

Erik is finally here, they're finally together. ''Well, hello, hjartat mitt.'' He says, and that's all he needs. They finally embrace each other. It's dizzying, all these years apart, finally over. ''I can't believe you're here, amour, after all this time.''

Erik runs his fingers through Kris' long hair, he's always preferred it like this, for more than one reason. ''I'm here, alskad, and not going anywhere.''

Kris kisses his other half softly. ''I'm glad to hear that, tresor.'' They sit down together, hands still locked together over the table, Erik relays the breakdown in his relationship with San Jose. ''That team is just a lost cause, Kris, too far away as well. I should've never signed there.'' Kris says, rubbing circles onto the back of Erik's hand. ''Don't beat yourself up, Erik, we made it work, didn't we?''

Erik changes the subject a bit. ''Do Sid and Geno know about us yet? Have you told them?''

Kris says. ''No, they don't know anything yet. Now you're here, we can tell them in our own time, I guess.'' He takes a deep breath. ''So, you ready to get home?'' He asks Erik, hopefully.

Erik beams, and nods, brown eyes glassy. ''Yeah, I'd like that.'' They head out together, and get back in their cars. Kris leads them home. Once they arrive, Erik gets his bags unpacked. Kris is thanking God that PO is moving in with Drew once everyone is back, that makes everything a bit easier. ''Well, ready to be a Penguin, amour?'' Kris asks.

Erik slumps down next to him on the sofa. ''I've been ready for that since we got back together, hjartat.''

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

A couple of mornings later, they wake up slowly, the moving truck with the last of Erik's stuff arrives in three days. Kris rolls over in bed, blinking sleep from his eyes. Erik is still out cold, the travel must have caught up with him. San Jose to Pittsburgh is just over six hours, after all. Kris can barely believe this is real, this is their home now, this is their life now. Things like this don't happen to him, right? Except when they do. Gently, he sweeps a lock of hair back behind Erik's ear, and kisses his cheek. He goes to get ready for the day, and make breakfast. Sid gave him a good banana pancakes recipe ages ago, so he makes that. Movement upstairs piques his ear, Erik comes down wearing his Tre Kronor shorts and shirt. ''Bon matin, amour.'' Kris says.

Erik kisses his cheek. ''God morgon, hjartat.'' He gets some coffee going, Kris finishes making their breakfast, and they eat together. Erik says. ''These pancakes are amazing, Kris, your recipe?'' Kris chuckles, baking isn't his thing. ''No, Sid's.''

Erik looks surprised. ''Sid bakes? Since when?''

Kris laughs, drinking some of his coffee. ''Yeah, he's really good at it, too. His banana bread is really good. Started during lockdown, must've been bored while locked up with Geno in Halifax.'' Erik nods, finishing his breakfast. ''I get that, remember how bored we got in Montreal? You actually got me into F1 somehow.'' Kris laughs, finishing his own meal. ''Well, that was payback for getting me into Arsenal against my will.''

Their day is lazy, relaxing together watching stuff on Netflix and catching up on some F1 and Arsenal highlights over dinner. They may be having a lazy day, but they're still athletes.

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

They go down to the team's gym the next day for a workout session. The team's top defencemen cannot be caught slipping once preseason rolls around. It's nice, Erik muses to himself, finally having someone to do this with. He'd always stick to himself in San Jose, too many people who obviously wanted to get him away from Kris. Some tried, they all failed. Erik times Kris doing some balance exercises, then they switch places. Halfway into the day, they grab some lunch, and lace up for a simple skate. The first blades on the fresh ice. ''Wow.'' Erik says, looking up at the rafters.

Kris takes his hand. ''It's a lot, huh?'' Erik says, opening a bottle of gatorade. ''Yeah, I mean, I've seen these banners so many times. But, now it's hitting me, I'm a Penguin now.''

Kris beams, he's wanted to hear that for years. ''Yeah, we're teammates now. And, y'know, partners on top of it.'' Erik's eyes crinkle as he smiles. ''Yeah, we are.''

After showering and changing, they get going home. Talking about game plans already as they get inside.

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

The next couple of days are slow, mostly continuing to get settled into living together at last. One morning, Kris wakes up alone in bed, he grumbles to himself, and gets up to go find Erik. He's in the kitchen, working on breakfast. ''Bon matin, mon coeur.'' Erik says, in the french Kris taught him all those years ago. It could still do with a bit of work, but he'll not complain. Kris plants a kiss on Erik's shoulder. ''God morgon, alskad.'' He says. His swedish is an eternal work in progress, but he's had two fantastic teachers. Horny found it weird at first, until Kris told him it was for a good cause. ''I was planning on bringing this upstairs so we could eat in bed.''

Kris yawns, and takes his blood thinners. ''The bed was cold without you.'' Erik notices the pills, he fucking hates that Kris has had to go through what he has, but also fiercely proud of his partner for coming out of it all like he has. That beautiful Masterton sitting on the bookcase being his reward. ''I was so happy for you that night, you know? When you won that.'' Erik says.

Kris smiles, looking lovingly at the trophy. ''It was a pretty good night, wasn't it? For both of us, you winning the Norris and all. You looked fucking incredible in that lilac suit too.''

Erik forks some of his egg. ''Says Mr James Bond.'' Kris smirks, he must admit, they are the best dressed dmen in the league. ''How do we want to tell Sid and Geno about us?'' Kris asks. Erik smirks, always a signal that he's plotting something. ''Maybe we don't? Maybe we just... let them put it together?''

Kris' jaw drops, he puts his mug of coffee down. ''Oh, you are evil!'' Erik jokingly asks. ''Are you in? Be obvious, but not too obvious?'' Kris nods, running a hand through his hair. ''Oh, hell yeah, I'm in!'' They've always been each other's biggest enablers. They finish breakfast, and get ready for a run together. Pushing each other to go further, racing each other around the park. ''Three laps of the pond before we head home, amour?''

Erik nods, loving the light competition between them. ''You're on, hjartat.'' They go their three laps, and run home together. After a shower, they crash on the couch. They could get used to this, this domestic calmness they've both been craving for years.

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

Erik's team casual gear arrives with the moving truck. And, they spend the entire day at home getting Erik properly moved in, making this house a home for both of them. Shifting things around, sifting through things they can get rid of, doing a deep clean of the house in the process. Kris' phone rings on the breakfast bar, he goes to pick it up, it's Sid. ''Bonjour, captain, how's life?''

Sid says. ''Good, excited to finally get going, especially with our new teammate. How are you doing?''

Kris says, beaming over at Erik. ''Great, looking forward to seeing you and Geno again anyway. When do you two get back north from Florida?''

Sid answers, after a moment of silence. ''We fly in tomorrow, how about you come over for dinner? With Erik too, if he's in the city already.'' Kris purses his lips, thinking of how to say this, it would be so easy to just admit everything, but that would ruin the game. ''Yeah, sure, I'll fill him in.''

Sid's voice is bright as he says. ''Cool, see you tomorrow, then!'' Kris nods, throat suddenly very dry. ''See you tomorrow, give Geno a hug for me.'' They hang up. Kris returns to the living room, where Erik is trying to figure out where some of his milestone pucks should go. ''Sid wants us to go over for dinner tomorrow night, he and Geno get back tomorrow morning.''

Erik says, arranging the pucks how he wants them. ''Let the game begin.'' Kris laughs, and presses a kiss to Erik's temple. He gets back to setting the house up.

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

Dinner arrives, and they pull up at Sid and Geno's house. They share a devious look, time to begin their little game. Sid welcomes them inside with hugs. They go through to the dining room, and get seated. Erik places an apple pie on the table, Kris hands Geno a bottle of wine. ''So, you enjoying the city so far, Erik?'' Sid asks, ever a diligent captain. Erik nods, forking some of his steak. ''Yeah, I never quite knew how interesting Pittsburgh was until now.''

Kris jokes, nudging his partner's knee with his own. ''Guess you can't get to know a place when you're constantly in and out, eh?'' Erik nods, ever aware that his partner has never known anything else but this city for eighteen years. ''Yeah, now I'm in, I'm seeing things better.''

Geno asks Erik. ''You still wearing 65?''

Erik nods, he'd never willingly give up his number, it means too much to him. ''Yeah, I was so glad it was free.'' Sid adds, sipping his beer. ''Yeah, it's been a while since Hainsey.''

Kris braves some light flirting. ''It'll look so much better on you, Erik, trust me.'' Erik narrows his eyes, Kris is so much better at playing this game already. ''It'll look good with us too. 65, 58, 87, 71.'' Geno observes. ''Yeah, I hadn't noticed that, our numbers all make a chain.'' Sid says.

As dessert is dished out, Erik says. ''I hope you three don't feel as if I'm replacing Flower, y'know? Like, new core, yeah. But, Flower is irreplaceable.''

Kris shrugs, Flower leaving hit all three of them, not least that being the first summer he and Erik spent apart after their breakup. He had no one to help him through that grief. ''Times change, Erik. Flower is part of our family, and always will be. And now, so are you.'' Geno nods, and adds. ''Yeah, Legenda, Jarry still talks to Flower every week. Our family has grown.''

Erik asks, furrowing his brows. ''Legenda, Geno?'' Geno sits down at the table with his coffee. ''It's what I call Kris - Legend. It's on his gear and everything, my idea.'' Erik smirks to himself, storing that for later, for no reason at all. ''Oh, okay.''

After dinner, they get driving home. They'll need to start getting to sleep earlier, training camp is right around the corner. They get ready for bed, Kris says. ''Well, I think that went well, wouldn't you say?'' Erik joins him in bed. ''Yeah, I'd say so.'' Kris lets Erik curl into his side, and asks him. ''You ready to be a Penguin, amour?'' Erik leans up to kiss him. ''I've been ready to be a Penguin for years, hjartat.'' Kris kisses him back. Eventually, they get to sleep.

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

Day one of camp dawns at last, Kris is up and ready first, packing his backpack for the long and hard day ahead. Erik comes down with his team jacket on, dress code for today was casual. He drops his backpack on the sofa, and ties his shoes. Kris grabs his keys, and they get out to the car. They arrive at Cranberry, and head inside to gear up together. All of the others head out to take to the rink, Kris nudges his partner. ''Ready?''

Erik nods, and says. ''For everything.'' They fist bump, and head out together. Some of the longer tenured Penguins flock over to talk to Erik, even Sully is drawn into the circle. Kris, for his part, could not be happier. Erik looks over to him from his conversation with Marcus. They share a look and a nod, they'll be okay now, there's no more distance to negotiate. Things like this don't happen to them, right? But, it finally has happened for them. Now, it's time to get serious.

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

Well, this took a bit to figure out! I think it turned out okay. I've had this idea in my head for days now, so I'm happy to finally have it manifest like this!

[reginarubie]

Kissed by Fire ~ Kissed by Steel 1: What inspired you to write the fic this way? 2: Which scene did you put on first? 3: What is your favorite plot? 4: What's your favorite line of dialogue? 5: Which part was hardest to write? 6: What is your fic special or different from all your other fics? 7: Where did the title come from? 8: Did any real person or event inspire any part of this? 9: Was there an alternate version of this fic? 10: Why did you choose this pairing for this particular story? 11: What do you like most about this fic? 12: What do you like least about this fic? 13: What song did you hear that made you want to write this story? Or if you haven't heard anything yet, what do you think readers should hear to keep us reading? 14: Is there anything you would like readers to learn from reading this fic? 15: What did you learn from writing this fic?

Hi nonny,

These are very throughout, I hope I manage to satisfy you on all of them!

I was inspired by some friends here on tumblr who were all like, “you like Aemond, you like Sansa, why don’t you write a fic about them?” and by that time there were very few fics about them so I thought “why not?”. About writing it that way, the thing about me is that I go “braccio” which is that usually I go with the flow, this way it felt best, it felt the most plausible.

What scene did I put in first… this is kind of hard, because I don’t usually put scenes down. I imagine them though, and the first few I imagined were: how Sansa was pushed back in time, so the prologue; Sansa waking up and Aemond telling her that he would show her his scar because he had seen hers.

I think I have a few favorite plots: AemondSa being the first one for how it’s going to play out, close second Daeron/Symon and last… well I won’t tell because it’d be spoilerish 😉.

My favorite line of dialogue … I think this one is hard, but I think the whole convo between Aemond and Sansa after she managed to be naturalised as a Whent. “I told you I could not tell you everything, told you I was willing to work beside you. I did not work behind your back, I did what I had to do to ensure your family came off clean from this. Lord Strong has no lawful way to pursue me anymore and it’s not any of yours fault!” she said “that was the goal and I reached it. If this is not enough for you to believe me, then what are we talking about?” Aemond let his hands fall at his sides “I don’t know” he said at last “what are we even talking about?” Why do I love this convo so much, you may ask, it’s because it’s a relationship cracking under pressure, like coal becoming diamond under pressure. It was part of their journey, and it was so overwhelmingly real to me that made it one of my favorites convos in the entire series.

I think the hardest are Rhaenyra’ chapters because I feel out of place in her mind, but on the all the most taxing one to write was Rhaenycent cold end.

This story is special to me, if confronted with others, because it’s the first one I have written about a time-travel plot and the first one I have felt the need to expand creating a whole AU universe.

The title actually comes from a poll I opened, the idea was because Sansa is kissed by fire for her hair and Aemond is kissed by steel because of his scar, plus Aemond kisses Sansa and represents fire whilst instead Sansa represents steel. Instead, the subtitles usually come from songs that inspired me during the writing.

Not really. Though some of the relationships dynamics I have seen in my life seep through the writing at times. I think a bit of my own sarcastic sassiness seeps at times in the characters, but that’s mostly it, really.

Is there an alternate version?, not that I know of, not written by me. 🤔 though perhaps there will be in future, whose to say?

This pairing sort of was suggested by @sansaissteel and @maddiethefashionista and I kind of became hooked, it made sense for the time-travel plot and I thought that if Sansa was pushed in that time Aemond would be the one to whom she’d naturally shift her attention and love.

I like the most how many great characters I could explore and how many interesting dynamics. I think I love especially — beyond the AemondSa and the way it weaves with Sansa’ original timeline — the Starks of that time and little Celia and the Royces.

I like the least the character of Lord Strong. But not much anything else.

I actually have a Spotify playlist (which I’ll link down below) though not all songs I listen to are there — I have been a bit remiss on updating it tbh — and tbh, the songs I use in the edits are pretty much the song I listened to on repeat when I wrote that particular chapter.

Oh, I did not start to write this to teach readers anything, but I think I’d like them to put their attention to the way the dynamics shift and the way characters can have or not redeeming arcs or qualities if treated correctly and mostly how to be able to set boundaries and learn to work together as a team which is what Aemond and Sansa are currently doing.

What I learned? I like the way the dynamics between Daeron and his brothers and between the Targtower siblings is flawed but still good, I think I learned much more about my own dynamic with my sibling than I consciously knew by writing these complex siblings dynamics.

I think that’s all! Hope you enjoyed and thank you for showing so much interest in me and the story!

Firesteel instrumental playlist

Firesteel playlist

[whoaimhellatrash]

tumblr user whoaimhellatrash what are your 3 LEAST favorite candies (you are welcomed to give a lengthy explanation or a simple 'I don't like em')

If you are not fan of candy, you can just list three things u like instead :]

oh that's easy!

Warheads are a testament to the hubris of mankind. It is the most unabashed display of all of humanities strengths and pitfalls. Humanity looks to the universe to ask "Can I do this?" and the universe, in it's cold, unfeeling quietness will always leave us in silence to answer our own questions. The question is useless to ask anyways, because of course we can. We are humans, we can and will do ANYTHING we set out to do. Our only limitations are found in our own constructs, which we craft in an attempt to prevent the entropy of the natural world from seeping into our consciousness; little do we know, we craft our own entropy by neglecting to realize that we are not immune to the laws of the universe. In our fruitless endeavor to understand it, we forget that we too are part of it. We will continue crying out to the emptiness, picking apart the fabric of reality with equations and patterns, slaving to find predictability in a universe of surprises, each new theory acting as a call to the unexplored seas and the never-ending stars, begging to know what we can achieve within these unexplored confines, and every echo of silence pushes us to the next failure, steeling us until we ultimately succeed, only to decide on a new task of which to test the limits of our capability. All the while we ignore the true question that echoes in the back of our minds, calling, begging to be handled and trifled over as all other curious questions do: should we do it? Should we continue the global game of chicken, attempting to reach the stars before the resources of our home runs dry, should we continue our research into genetic alteration, playing the limp hand of a long dead god for our own curiosity and ill placed virtue, should we take the core concept of something we crafted in our own holy act of creation, which aims to bring pleasure and joy, and corrupt it to it's most abominable state? And many brush that question off, assuming that as humans, our nature is to find something we haven't done yet and then do it. Thusly, we humans, in our divine act of creation, created an instrument to bring about joy, and we took that wonderful creation and ignored our minds' own calls of should we, banishing the question to the backs of our mind, dismissed as one would dismiss a weary child who's unsure of stepping onto the first stone path across a river, and we created the pure opposite; a method to bring immediate pain, suffering, and cruelty-a candy to be placed on the tongue only to lock the jaw with it's sourness and pain, something I truly believe resulted from weaponizing the human act of creation, all to satiate the sadomasochistic cruelty some seek to experience. Some may find pleasure in the act, and perhaps it's an impressive feat to craft a food that can redirect human thought patterns, but was it worth the bastardization of human creation to achieve it?

Black licorice

Strawberry grandma candy because it's never around when I want some

[thatforgottenbasilisk]

hell isn't hot (not when the cold is so much worse)

Words: 1479 (AO3)

Originally Posted on 11/21/22

Summary:

Katya's betrayal of Sofia in canon was a massively unsubtle affair- maybe it would have been better for it to be quiet, just as the rest of their relationship was.

Katya would also make a fantastic avatar of the Lonely, so why not combine the two?

Podfic now available!

"You could move worlds, if you wished."

Sofia stares up at Katya Goncharova, who won't even stop staring out at the water long enough to acknowledge her words. She grips the steel handrail of the bridge, and though it's midwinter, her hands are bare so that Sofia can see her knuckles whiten with the force of it. There's a thin tan line where her wedding ring once sat, though now it's tucked safely in a pocket.

Just because she's having an affair doesn't mean she needs to throw away a perfectly good ring, after all.

Sofia's words are still true, even though Katya and her husband may be on the outs. She's the one who holds all the power here, she's the one to whom the mob is loyal to, with just a few well-placed words she could conquer every crime ring in the city, maybe the country.

"Perhaps, though I don't see why I would. I haven't the need."

Katya responds softly, though not timidly, while hardly moving her mouth. Her gaze is still firmly on the water ahead of her, tracking the gentle rolls of miniature waves forming and falling over the course of moments- occasionally, Sofia catches a glimpse of what may be a shadow beneath the surface, but it always disappears too quickly for her to tell.

She bores of the water and turns back to Katya, wishing for all the world that she had a camera with which to preserve this moment forever. Then again, a photograph could never truly encapsulate Katya, her pale blue eyes and her wispy hair that's turning white at the temples, though she hasn't yet hit thirty. It could never truly show her cold beauty, her icy demeanor that once made Sofia tremble in her beaten shoes.

They're long past that point, though, and Sofia only wants to bring her lips to Katya's face, maybe get stuck like a tongue to a lamppost, trapped to live the rest of her life in a constant, neverending kiss- she would sell her soul to the devil himself if only for half a chance at that.

"Don't you? Andrey- "

"Andrey is in Paris on his own business. In case you haven't noticed, this is Naples. I oughtn't worry about things from the distant future when they pose no threat to the present."

Sofia gently presses her shoulder to Katya's, risking as much intimacy as she can in public, though nobody is around to see anything untoward.

"What about the present, then, Yekaterina Goncharova?" Katya scoffs at her full name, then turns slightly toward Sofia, allowing her to see the edge of the scar that mars Katya's right cheek.

"For the present, I find I am quite content with the world as it is. Don't you agree?"

"... Not much, I'm afraid. Your husband could be different, for one."

A small smirk plays at the edges of Katya's lips. "You wish that it were you instead of him, no?"

Sofia's cheeks burn at how accurately Katya is in this, and how open she is with her teasing. At any moment, somebody could arrive and be in earshot, then where would they be? She can hardly see though the dense fog, so whether they could see her in return is a small chance, but she still worries, just a bit.

"I wish there were a world where that could be the case, but if we lived in that world..."

"We would likely never have met."

Sofia sighs, and watches her misty breath curl away in the wind. "I never deserved to meet you in the first place."

Katya shoots her a sly glance, and replies easily, "I quite think that you did. The bodies left in your wake would agree- it was only your silver tongue that allowed you to live past our initial meeting."

"And what of now? Is it still my silver tongue that keeps me alive?"

"Perhaps." The teasing smirk is out in full force on Katya's face, and her pleasant and musical tone tilts toward mischief.

"I think I've charmed you at least a little outside of it. Come on, don't you like my pretty face?"

"It isn't the worst face I've seen in my life, I'll give it that."

Sofia gasps in mock offense, and presses her forehead against Katya's shoulder. "You take that back."

"Fine. It is the worst face I've ever seen."

Sofia groans in misery, while Katya laughs her airy laugh and kisses the crown of her head. Sofia jumps back and panics, looking around for anyone who could have seen-

"Don't worry, beloved. No one will find us here."

Sofia still stares around, waiting for some stranger to come walking out of the fog to accuse them of being criminals, homosexuals- but nobody comes. The fog has grown so dense in such a short time, so much so that Sofia can hardly see the water below them.

"How sure are you of that?"

"Very. Would I lie to you?"

Sofia thinks of the many times that Katya has lied and deceived her way through things, lied even to her- especially to her. This, though, she would not; she would not lead Sofia to endanger herself for no good reason, of that she is sure.

"... No."

"Precisely. We are alone in the world, right at this very moment- why shouldn't we take advantage?"

Katya's fully facing Sofia now, so that the long scar that cuts through her cheek is fully visible. Though she claims that it was a stray bullet, Sofia has never believed her, but it is still beautiful nonetheless. Goncharov claims that she is lucky that he keeps her around, with a face like that- Sofia thinks that he is the lucky one, married to Katya, of everyone in this world.

Katya leans in gently, Sofia would say it's almost hesitant if it were anybody else, and meets her in the middle for a soft, gentle kiss. Katya's lips are as cold as they always are, never as warm as her own, always at least a little cooler than her own body temperature.

They remain like this for some time, with Katya's icy hands roving over Sofia's face, almost as though she were trying to memorize it from feeling alone.

Katya pulls away what feels like hours later, though still far too soon. She stares down at Sofia with those icy eyes of hers, making her feel so utterly alone- she is the one person that Katya pays attention to, nobody else matters, nobody else is even here- and Sofia doesn't even check to make sure that that last thought remains true, so enveloped she is in this momentary fantasy.

"I will miss you, Sofia."

Her heart feels like it drops to her stomach when she hears those words, and all at once she feels like begging on her knees for an explanation, a change of heart, something that tells her that this is not the betrayal that she thinks it is, the betrayal that she once anticipated and dismissed.

"When will you miss me? I'm not planning on going anywhere. Not without you."

"I know. I will soon be going somewhere that you can't follow- rather, we've already gone somewhere that you can't come back from."

"I- We haven't moved, Katya. We've been to this bridge countless times- "

"Yet it has never been like this. I am sorry, Sofia, truly I am- but Goncharov's death requires my strength. I am aching with hunger, all while I need to cast away my final connection to the world. You will be what allows me to cast him off, to achieve that finality that I know he craves."

"Katya, don't- please, you don't have to- "

"I do. I hope that your death is as painless as possible, beloved. May we meet again in the next life."

Katya presses her lips firmly to Sofia's forehead, and she allows it for only a moment before she shoves her away. Katya does not resist, in fact she's pushed away so quickly that it's almost as though Sofia's hands go through her, with how little resistance there is. Katya stumbles back, and sheds a single tear before the fog thickens so much that she disappears.

Sofia steps forward to where Katya should be, but there is nothing but empty air. There is nothing but fog all around her, nothing and nobody here on this bridge that should be bustling with activity- where is everybody? Is this what Katya had meant?

The creeping cold mixes with the heartbreak of Katya's betrayal, her admitting that she plans on killing Sofia, even after everything- she wants so desperately to be wrong, but everything aches with the trembling pain, the fear that Katya will never love her again, if she ever did to begin with. The fear that she will die here, cold and alone.

[ragnarokhound]

2, 7, 8, & 29 for the fic writer ask game pls?

Sure!

2. Is there a trope you’ve yet to try your hand at, but really want to?

Oh gosh. There's so many good ones out there, and my favorite kind of trope use involves mashing a bunch of them together into a tasty stew - Only One Bed is a personal fave that I haven't really done yet lol, but OH. A groundhog day/timeloop fic. Gotta be one of my favorite kinds of character study/fix-it/whump all rolled into one. And the whole batfam in general are already the type of people to play events in their heads over and over trying to figure out what the Right thing would have been to do, how could they have been better...oh yeah. Highly effective psychological torture for them. Especially if there is no Right Answer to breaking the loop 8)

7. Share a snippet from one of your favorite pieces of prose you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.

“The elements connect us,” Helaine says as she lays his hand on the surface of the pool. The ice-cold water is always a shock to him at first, and he is careful not to break the surface tension. “The fire warms us; the earth sustains us; the water,” here, her hand joins his on the water’s surface, “flows through us. Feel the blood in your veins, the beat of your pulse in your ears. It is the water of your life, and it has seen all you have seen, and more besides. Much more.” She drags her hand back toward her body at the edge of the pool, and Feldar, sitting opposite, mirrors her. As their fingers drag across the water, the ripples that form spread and merge and create ripples of their own. The water wavers and changes, and Feldar hears it, like a steady drum of war— his own pulse in his ears. He feels it down his arm and in the tips of each finger where they sit on the water, and watches as Gallant’s hooves thunder down a distant road, one he had never seen before, dark under the canopies of ancient trees filled with the webs of spiders. Then Gallant’s hooves pound in the distance, and he sits up from the dirt of the road and sees the knight on the black horse with no device on his shiny steel shield, and a ridiculous straw hat on his head. He is so hungry, and he may be trod underfoot and left to die in the dust, but he has seen no one else on the road for two days, and he is so hungry.

This snippet is from "like the ashes of ash (i saw eyes in the heat)" which is the second in a four part fanfic series I did for Sorcerer's Son by Phyllis Eisenstein. I had to invent the fandom tag for this book series, so check that one off the Ao3 bucket list! :')

I really enjoyed coming up with a structure for how the Seer magic worked; in the book it was left pretty opaque (on purpose lol) and sometimes would have more to do with intuition than anything resembling 'magic', which seemed sensible to me.

I wanted to paste more of this passage in because I'm really proud of the way this scene builds on itself, but it would have been way too long lol - the next four or five paragraphs all start with variations on "Then Gallant's hooves [action]" to indicate a new piece of the past and the future that Feldar is seeing in the pool, and it ends with Helaine explaining how using water to scry changes what and how you see. (Helaine is always shown using water to scry with in the book; I thought it would be more appropriate for his character that Feldar would scry with fire :) hence the naming schema for the series!)

Also, I love indulging in a stream of consciousness writing style, and the ethereal, out-of-body feeling of this scene was the perfect opportunity to make use of it lol

I have a big ol' soft spot for my Sorcerer's Son fics lol - they are for a fantasy book series I'm pretty sure only a handful of people have read - it is...okay! The books are okay. :) I read the first one a year or two ago and fell in love with the protagonists best friend, Feldar Sepwin, who becomes apprenticed to a seer, and promptly adopted him. I wrote the series both as a character study of him, and as a way to give him the boyfriend he deserves ;O;

8. Share a snippet from one of your favorite dialogue scenes you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.

uh. okay, the dialogue i'm Most proud of is actually from a WIP rn, and at a very spoilery moment fjdslafjsal so I will talk about the next runner up instead lol:

“Catch.” Babs’ hand flashes out to snatch the pill bottle out of the air with a short rattle, reflexes still Batwoman-sharp.  It makes him angry in a low, burning sort of way, that constant thrum of rage at the Joker and everything he’s ever done flaring up with a vengeance. She still kicks ass, and she'd kill him if he ever implied otherwise, but— she shouldn’t be in that chair, just like how Jason shouldn’t have died. And the Joker shouldn’t be alive. But she is, and he did. And he still is.  She squints at the label on the bottle, then turns her chair to face Jason with a smirk. “You know I have my own allergy meds, right?” Jason shrugs. “Never hurts to be prepared.” Even as he says it, her attention zeroes in on the dog keeping stride with him, and she leans down to hold out the back of her hand for a sniff. “Hey, there,” she says, voice pitching up the way people do when they want babies and animals to like them. Barf. The dog darts up to her, tongue hanging out, and lets her pet it. Its whippy tail wags back and forth as it whuffs excitedly in short, ecstatic barks, and Jason watches incredulously. This is nothing like how his first meeting with the dog went. Where’s the growling and the bared teeth, huh? He makes a face. “He sure warmed up to you quick.” “Jealous?” She asks him, smug. He scoffs. “No.” Yes. “You have the thing?” He asks impatiently. She grins, and pauses scritching the dog behind the ears to snag a USB off her desk. “Catch.” He makes it disappear, grunting his thanks. “I’ll be back later. Have fun with your new BFF.” Babs laughs at him, but then she says, "Hey."  He stops where he'd been turning around, and the smile Babs shoots him is a little rye. "Thanks for doing all this. I know you have other shit going on that's important. I appreciate it." It settles his ruffled feathers a little, even if he won't admit it. He grunts. "Yeah, well. It's worth the blackmail material this’ll net me when the replacement's finally back. I'm gonna hold this over his head forever." She raises her eyebrows, amused. "He'll hate that." He grins toothily at her, a little mean. "That's what I'm counting on."  When he leaves, he goes out through the roof.

Sit, Stay, Speak was full of little agonies for me as I worked on it lol, and one of those little agonies was Barbara. She was involved largely so that Jason had a reason to be in Tim's apartment and then be made to stay, and as someone for him to bounce off when he needed to talk about what he'd found. She gave him another viewpoint on Tim that he needed to fully grasp the enormity of what he was seeing.

But all that being said, I have gotten most of my understanding of the characters via other people's fic. Turns out, reading primarily JayTim does not afford a lot of opportunities to get to know Babs! Who knew!! So she was a fun challenge.

I like this exchange a lot because it was my opportunity to think about how and why Jason and Babs would be friends. I'm a really big fan of that for them - in my mind, Babs is similar to Tim in that she's more willing to bend some of Batman's rules. She's willing to work with people on the Big Picture, and that includes Jason even when he's not "playing nice". I think they both have that acerbic wit to fall back on, which would make their dish sessions absolutely SAVAGE lmao

This whole fic was an accident in a lot of ways, but more so than anything else, my secondary treatise on Jason & Barbara's friendship was the biggest accident of all! I had no idea we'd get here, and while it's not very long, I think this scene is kind of a microcosm of that exploration.

(Also one of my absolute favorite dialogue/narrative jokes is a direct contradiction from the narration of something a character just says. "No." Yes. Comedy gold.)

29. If you could write the sequel (or prequel) to any fic out there not written by yourself, which would you choose?

OH MAN OKAY there are so many talented folks out there dsalfjaj some fics that I love I would never WANT to write a sequel/prequel for if only because they already said what needed to be said lol and I always feel strange about piggybacking off of another author's ideas fjdslajf

but oh boy, this one fic I came across a couple weeks ago - Caves & Tunnels by Skalidra.

This fic is so delightful to me; just the rich magical world they imply with Jason and the tunnels under Gotham and Alfred and Bruce and the manor...there's a lot of unexplained supernatural elements, and it's never really touched on whether Bruce performs a similar role to Batman or not. Also Tim and Jason haven't kissed by the end of the story and I'm a romantic who yearns

So I think if I were to write something in this verse, it would be a sequel, and it would explore the beginning of Tim and Jason's relationship alongside Tim's first forays into the world of knowing about the supernatural. Skalidra gets away with a lot of scant explanations due to the nature of ending this fic right at the revelation point, haha - so it would be a lot of work! But it would be So Good OwO

Thanks for the questions! <33

[halcyon-writings]

I noticed that you write fics for Cold Steel? Have you played any of the other Trails/Kiseki games? I literally never see any x reader fics/imagines from the series.

Hello!

You can blame @houseisekai for pushing the Cold Steel agenda (although I have gotten lazy and haven't looked into the third or fourth games yet fjdsjkfs), as for the other Trails games, I def am interested, I am just either lazy or sometimes busy with work or school so I haven't had a real chance to get familiar with them .-. And you're completely right, which is a crime tbh, the games are v fun and the cast of characters is v cool