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romulusthethird · 1 month ago

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Alt. Universe AU

Listen, Danny didn't mean to fall through that portal and end up in a pool of burning ectoplasm. But here he was, after another annoying meeting with Clockwork about time shenanigans and alternate selves, in said pool of goo.

It felt like he was being burned alive. His mouth opened involuntarily to scream, taking the green liquid into his mouth, into his lungs when he ran out of breath. He screams anew, actually hearing his voice in the dense goo. He sounds like nails digging into a chalkboard and dragging across it.

His Lichtenburg scars light up, glowing an eerie green, almost yellow.

He's going to drown. To actually die.

He kicks his feet, but it's as if he is trying to run in a dream. Too slow. His hands wave above him, pushing down. He kicks, and kicks, and kicks.

He can't breathe.

He's in so much pain--more pain than he's ever felt in his half-dead life.

And then, somehow, someway, he breaks through to the surface.

He gulps in the fresh, clean air with loud wheezes. He's still kicking his weakening legs, still moving his arms. He coughs, moving forward.

His feet touch the ground.

He wants to laugh, and to cry when he finally stands, waist still emerged in the hot ectoplasm. He gags, hacking and coughing, maybe even throws up a little, expelling the green goo back into the pool.

When he looks up, he's in a cave. It's tall and expansive, and he could kiss the damp, disgusting stone a few feet away from him.

He's alive.

He pulls himself out of the water, chest heaving, and lies on his back on the cool stone. His clothes are eaten through and barely resemble clothes. His skin steams and... is he glowing?

He is! His arm looks like he lost a battle with a Edward doll from those twilight movies. He's not sparkling, but it's like a faint shimmer out the corner of your eyes. Like something is trying to enchant you.

Is he some type of Fae?

And his nails... They're claws! Freaking claws! He moves his hand around, wiggling his fingers. They look lethal. Like a mon--

"And what do we have here?" A voice, deep and old, rang out.

Danny startles, not having heard anyone come in (and he has super hearing!) He sits up, hair falling around his face (did his hair grow????) and eyes taking in the old man and the people in black surrounding him.

"Who are you?" The man asks.

"...None of ya business."

"Everything is my business in my domain."

Danny stills. He looks closer at the man. He isn't a ghost, maybe a little liminal, but alive and well. "Who are you?" He shot back. "And what's you 'domain'?"

"Since you managed to find my personal Lazarus Pit, you know what I am. But, I suppose I'll humor you. My name is Ra's Al Ghul, the Demon's Head. This is Nanda Parbat, my domain."

Nanda Parbat? What the heck? Demon's Head? "I don't know you. My name is Danny." Should he be giving random people who appear in caves with green pools of ectoplasm his government name? He doesn't know, but if it goes south he has the power to leave. And maybe that's also in his human form too, now, if the claws were any indication.

The old man hums. "How did you get here Danny?"

"I don't know. One minute I was--" He can't tell him that. That's not something a human should know. Not something someone living should know. "--Y'know at home and the next I'm waking up in this goo pool that burned me."

"You are a poor liar. Why shouldn't I slay you here and now?"

Danny snorts. "You can try."

The man's lips twitch in amusement. "Fascinating. Take him to the dungeons. We'll see how long you can endure before you spill all your secrets, dakhil."

Two men came forward to grab his arms. Danny wants to fight them, really, but he's so tired. He can escape later. For now, he lets these men pick him up and take him out of the cave and into what looks like a medieval castle.

"Do be careful not to damage him further before I can see to him."

Maybe that should scare Danny, but it doesn't. He's dragged past a courtyard full of training people, including a boy, lightning quick, fighting against a woman.

Their eyes meet--his, and the shocking blue of the stranger--before he is dragged further into his new temporary home.

He is leaving. He just needs to rest first.

Yes.

Rest...

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So, the plan for this AU is essentially, Dami never went to Gotham at the tender age of ten, and is still in the league (We are ignoring the "Ra's needs his body" canon because that does not fit here) and is still the heir. He's still his little murdery assassin self. I wanna say Danny is 15 here, (we are ignoring ALL CANON in this household today because Danny is not the ghost king and I can't remember shit about the tv show rn so my plan is like, he's strong right, but not like op insane, but like on par with superboy right, and he does errands for clocky and maybe goes through time/dimensions for him idk. I might make him come across half alien (like in those fics where hes kryptonian or martian, you get what I'm saying right) in this idk we're gonna find out together) and Dami is 16. The plan is to have Dami and the Danno fall in wuv and abscond to gotham together, for the glorious scene of "the son you never knew you had" showing up w his boyfriend. Thank you for coming to my ted talk. (the second part is already in my brain but I was up all night watching movies so you get this now, and that later.)\\

(also if you've read my shit before, and even if you haven't, I know that Dakhil isn't technically correct, since its using the wrong alphabet, and is not even remotely written how it sounds, but I purposefully do not use the correct alphabet because that is not what the character will hear. They won't hear دخيل, they're going to hear sounds and they won't be able to see the alphabet, so I figured why not just put the closest equivalent so readers can kinda understand what the character, in this case danny, is hearing? idk maybe it's stupid, but I digress. thanks for coming to ted talk numero 2)

(Also 2.0, the word means intruder.)

(i had something else to tell you, but I am genuinely fighting for my life against this headache rn. You cry a few dozen times watching Interstellar and suddenly you and your brain have beef)

(Lmaoo I remembered. it took me a sec, and the light from my computer is hurting my eyes, but I got distracted right, and remembered--

I almost had danny lie and tell them his name was Dante (which is what a lot of fanfic writers use for Dan) and was tempted to have him impersonate the other danny, and then when clockwork catches wind of his act, have dante come rescue him and get simultaneously confused and angry:

Dante coming to rescue his hopeless alt self Danny: wtf man why are you impersonating me? Danny-Dante, gasping dramatically: what do you mean you're Dante? I've always had this name! My great aunt Tilda gave it to me at the 75th annual Fenton christioning. Are you an imposter? Have you come to harvest my eggs? Dante: You don't have eggs Dante: and what the actual fuck is a christioning Danny-Dante: HA! see? Imposter. Doesn't even know about the christionings. Dante: you made that up Danny-Dante: Prove it. And so the other Danny went back to their dimension to see if so-called "Christionings" are real. He has to wait a year, and when he comes back, he is traumatized. A year later, Dante at Danny-Dante's door: I'm moving in. Danny-Dante: Did you bring Ellie?" Dante, shuddering: No... she enjoyed it. Danny-Dante: Oh god. come in come in. Hopefully she comes to her sense before yultol. Dante, dreading the answer: what is yul-- Danny-Dante: You don't want to know. You really, really don't.

That spiraled but yk. thanks for coming to my fifth ted talk. Bye)

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jj-the-hobbit171 · 10 months ago

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I have an idea. So a medieval au!. So, reader was this royal scholar of sorts that spent all their time studying, and reading the secrets of the land, and they liked it… till they met Johnny. The spitfire from the neighboring kingdom. Wild, so carefree, he was everything reader wasn’t, and that drew them together.

In the day, reader and Johnny would play fight in the castle gardens, running from guards and tutors that tried to sit them down; in the night, they’ll sneak out of the castle walls,into the forest, to the highest peek. He’ll lay his head in their lap, gazing at the stars, or them, and reader recites a story for them.

So, this happened for a long time, and they grow up, reader,to an exemplary royal advisor while Johnny now had reached the age of corrination. They move their relationship forward, and wed; giving each Al other their rings, He promises reader that they’ll never leave them, never leave this kingdom… that he’ll be their king and their lover.

But, fate has other plans and war strikes. The kingdom is in trouble and MacTavish has to leave, but not before your love has bored life, either through surrogacy, adopting, or the good old fucking. Anyway, he leaves you and your unborn to fight, and three mouths go by, and you’re holding your to months old boy in your arms when a messenger arrives. Their face is solem, as they kneel and present Johnnys fur coat, caked in blood, and torn in places. The king, has fallen.

It was a sad say at the funeral, his mother sobbing on the ground as they carry a close coffin to the grave. John MacTavish, king , husband, son and father, was buried. And on that day, you wore your battle amor, draped on his fur coat, and went, to purge the land.

And for five years, that’s exactly what you do. You go to each kingdom, conquering it, in the name of the late king. Slaughtering men and women who dare stand in your way, leaving with a new kingdom, and blood on your hands. But, one day, you pillaged and small but thriving town, and doing the routine, rounding the men together to either be captured or killed…. And when they brought them to you, one stood out.

He was shorter Thant the three other people he was with, with a very vivid mohawk. You ignored the other men, walking up to the stranger, and raising up his head….

“J-Johnny?”

And cliffhanger! Honestly, there’s a lot that I wanted to add, but I really want to hear from you about any ideas you have for this Au. Anyway thanks for reading!

From the hobbit hole,

J.J

#poly 141 x reader #task force 141 x reader #ghoap x reader #cod x male reader #141 x reader #cod x reader #john soap mactavish

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milkteahood · 10 months ago

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a ghost for a knight

medieval au, chapter 1

Simon Riley x fem!reader

Summary: your father, the king, makes his strongest knight keep watch over you due to you constantly disobeying the rules.

slow burn romance, eventual smut, age gap (reader is in her 20s while ghost is in his late 30s/ early 40s)

You thought he was merely a myth. Or at least, sort of. You heard the whispers, the other knights talking, but you never actually saw him.

Your father, the king, wasn’t allowing you to leave the premises of the castle, as you were the only heir. To you, he was just a story, a ghost. And to him, you were the same thing, for you had no idea your father was keeping you a secret. Only the most loyal to the family knew about you. So Simon had no idea why the king summoned him.

***

“That is a very good idea Your Highness” the advisor spoke.

“I just want her to be safe is all. She… she really inherited my temper” the king closed his eyes and rubbed one of his temples.

The crack from the secret passage was just enough for you to listen to the conversation. Someone was coming. Someone that was supposed to keep you safe. Safe from what? you thought to yourself. It’s not like I’m allowed to go anywhere.

As quiet as a mouse, you tiptoed away from the passageway and back into the labyrinth hidden into the castle. You knew every door, every crack. In case of a war, you could easily escape. Spending your free time hidden within the walls, listening to everyone’s conversations was something you found incredibly amusing. You knew which of the servants liked you and which couldn’t stand you. The only thing you found bothersome is not getting there in time to listen to your father’s whole conversation. You wanted to know who was coming. Is he planning to marry you off?

***

Exactly two weeks after the initial hearing of your father’s conversation is when the whispers started getting louder. “He is here” “The Ghost” “The Night” “The King’s most trusted” “The Myth” “The Legend”. And it was during one of your latin classes that the servant interrupted to announce that you were supposed by the king.

“Your Highness. The King is summoning you to the throne room” the servant spoke with a bow.

“What is it about?” you asked raising an eyebrow.

“I do not know princess”

“Very well”.

And with that, you stood up, a million thoughts running through your head.

Making your way down to the throne room, beautiful dress dragging behind, you felt a little anxious. After taking a few breaths, you let it known to the guards was alright to open the doors for you.

There stood your father, his advisor and a man. He was dressed like a knight and wore the kingdom’s crest, but you have never seem him before.

Your father’s voice broke your chain of thoughts.

“Y/N. Please step closer. There is something I need to tell you”

“Yes father?” you approached, giving him a small bow. He might’ve been your father, but he was also the king.

“I am aware of your little getaways” his tone was cold, but not angry.

You didn’t dare say more. You knew it was just a matter of time until he found out about your sneaking away from the castle into the forest.

You could feel the man’s eyes on you. He was taking you in.

“I have considered locking you away too” your father continued after a pause “but I know what I raised. You’d eventually escape a cellar too. So, there he is” he gestured towards the man “Sir Simon Riley. The most trustworthy knight and soldier I have. He is from now on in charge of looking after you and keeping you safe”.

***

“I cannot believe this” you finally spoke once you were far enough the hallway “I have been given a nanny”

“Seems like it, princess” Simon said.

“Don’t get smart with me”

He didn’t respond.

***

And so there he always was. When you studied, he was in the room. When you slept he was just outside. He only spoke if spoken to and always walked a couple steps behind you. Only when you’d request him to walk by your side did he ever do that.

There was no more sneaking away into the secret passages. That was something your father didn’t know you did, and you didn’t know just how much Simon reported back to him.

Life began to feel increasingly boring. You felt almost trapped, even more than you previously did. So you started to hatch a plan. How could you get away from Simon, even if it was just for a couple hours. The best solutions are always hidden in plain sight. Simon only ever left your side when you wanted to rest. Of course, he was just outside your door, but you had all the room to yourself. All the room and all the ways outside of it.

So that same evening, you told the knight who was worse than a shadow at this point, that you felt incredibly tired and would return to your chambers earlier.

“As you wish, princess” was all he said as he took his place in front of your door.

You changed out of your gown and into something more suited for what you were about to do.

A wave of adrenaline washed over you as you slipped your shoes off, as to not have your footsteps be heard, and very quietly opened your window. The sunset was magnificent, the breeze cool against your skin. Your room wasn’t very high up, making it very easy to decent off its balcony.

The grass was a little wet under your feet, and you took your sweet time to enjoy this little freedom. But, just as you were about to make a run for it through the palace’s garden, a strong hand wrapped itself around arm.

“Did you really think I was that stupid?” he almost hissed at you.

Your whole mood completely deflated in that moment.

“Well… I sure hoped you’d be” you replied.

His grip on you only tightened, enough to tell you he wasn’t in the mood for your games, but not hard enough to actually hurt.

“I just, really wanted to see the sunset”

“You can see it from your balcony” he replied coldly.

“But”

“No”

“I’m the princess!” you protested.

“And I answer to your father, not you, brat”.

He almost dragged you back inside, marking the first night Simon moved into your room. The king was right, Simon thought. You really were a flight risk. And when his head was on the line, he really wasn’t going to take any shit from a brat half his age.

do not repost my work anywhere. Reblogs are welcomed and appreciated.

pictures were taken from Pinterest. I take no credit for them

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notreallysorryxx · 11 months ago

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#"King"

You're being good for your king.

Characters: RiiKami (vtuber)

Warnings: suggestive themes, implied sexual content, um... yandere-ish (it's riikami so duh-), not proofread (didn't wanna bother my friend this time 😭)

Notes: This is from before I started actually getting into RiiKami. Even now, I'm still fairly new to this. :/ Also this was very much inspired by his song "Worshipping Desires". It's literally my favourite song and AH. If you didn't know, at one point you hear "here" and "good", so I took that and wrote something for my friend from it. I guess this is kind of a more modern royal au(?)

Words: 1.3k

With a flick of his wrist or a snap of his fingers, you were at Kami's beck and call. Though he never forced you to do anything you didn't want to. He was respectful in that sense. But somewhere, deep inside your mind, you wanted him to use his power to do... anything really. There wasn't a thing you wouldn't do for that man, honestly.

Ever since you had met him and pledged your life to him, you'd felt a magnetic pull. It reminded you of the books you used to read about soulmates. Unrealistic scenarios, you thought. But what if- You pause in what you're doing, almost falling over the person in front of you like dominoes. As you look up to see the person you ran into, your heart skips a beat. Without even seeing his face, you can tell. It's Kami.

"I'm so sorry, you're majesty-!"

Kami tilts his head, smiling, "It's fine. You didn't purposely run into me, right?"

You blink. Is he... oh, he's teasing you. Wait. Teasing you?!

"Ah- I... um no. It was an accident. I swear," you place your hand over your heart.

Whether I was to calm your racing heart or to show your sincerity, you're not sure. Kami stares at you for a moment more before he turns and walks away. You let out a sigh of relief, slouching.

=☆=

Later that day, you relax in your bedroom. Your own bedroom. Unlike the rumours about the King, he was benevolent. Especially to you. Well, according to the other staff. In your opinion, he treated you the same as anyone else. You frown as you look at the letter on your nightstand. It's addressed to you from your parents. Earlier, you had read the contents. They were expressing their disappointment at how your life had gone. At a young age you had refused to be married off. This wasn't medieval times, you had argued. It was modern day. And it wasn't like marrying you off to anyone would help your family financially.

They were in debt, deep debt. Nothing could possibly help them now.

But you were wrong.

Kami had made an offer. You work for him, he paid you generously. And who were you to deny such a beautiful man.

Originally your parents tried to dissuade you, claiming he was too dangerous. That he'd surely kill you or something worse. But he hadn't. No, he had been nothing but kind.

A smile forms on your face as you think of it. The smile quickly vanishes as you blush at the memory of something he had said to you.

His obsession, he had called you. What did that mean? Were you delusional or was he-

You shake your head. There was no time to think of that, you needed to rest for that night's ball.

Getting dressed into a classy yet simple outfit, you take your first step up the stairs from the staff quarters.The first thing you see is the king himself.

"Your majesty, what are you-?"

"I was waiting for you," he cuts you off abruptly.

"For me?"

Kami nods, offering his hand. He raises his eyebrow.

"Well...?"

How can you refuse him? As he grasps your hand, you can feel the warmth seep through his gloves. It makes you feel giddy, but also nervous. It's embarrassing. Not because you're with Kami. But because Kami is with you, a simple servant.

The both of you step into the ballroom and all you can think about is how strange it is that he chose you to accompany him tonight. Isn't he ashamed of you. His servant. But he called you his obsession..."Are you feeling okay?" he questions, walking towards what you assume is his assigned seat.

"You don't have to be here if you don't want to."

You're quick to reassure him, "No no! I'm alright. I can tend to you, your majesty.

"Kami struggles to stifle a laugh, "Tend to me? In what way?"You swear his voice dropped an octave.

"A-Any way..." you manage to choke out.

He smirks, "Then maybe you can tend to me privately from now on... after the ball, yes? Don't feel pressured. I won't make you do anything weird. You can just change my sheets and stuff like that if you want to."

"I said anything- I'm not against anything."

Kami makes a sound of acknowledgement, looking away. He spots a few familiar faces, telling you to stay put as he goes to greet them.

However, staying still was not your strong suit. You wander around the room, eventually spotting people that you recognise. But they're not people you want to talk to, they're just old bullies. As fate would have it though, they call you out.

"Over here!" one calls. He's grinning as if he's found a new toy.

You're not a child anymore, but you still can't help but be scared of them. And so you comply with them.

They're quick to start jabbing you, both physically and verbally. They joke about your family's financial situation and how you're probably miserable working for Kami. The entire time, you're silent, spacing out.

You're snapped out of your trance when you hear a booming, but comforting, voice call out for you. It's Kami, once again saving you. At this point you might as well give up your life to pay for all of his help.

Kami grabs your arm, pulling you back into his chest. He glares at the group of bullies.

"Scram. I won't have you insulting a future monarch-"

You're speechless. A future monarch. A monarch... that's only possible through heredity. But you're not of the royal bloodline so what does this mean.

While you're thinking back on everything, the troublemakers sprint out of the ballroom. Shocked faces and gasps are heard around you as you're pulled away from the crowds. When you don't fully comply, Kami throws you over his shoulder. You offer no resistance, laying slack in his arms.

He opens the door to an unfamiliar room. The rooms lavish, adorned with tons of purple accents and fabrics.

Kami let's you down, steadying you before he speaks."Are you okay?"

"Yeah, fine..." you mumble.

He sighs, sitting down on his bed. "Did I say something that bothered you? I assumed you wouldn't be opposed to marrying me. You gave me no reason to believe you weren't infatuated with me."

You feel your face heat up, "Your majesty-"

"Just call me Kami, please."

"Kami," you start again, "That's unprofessional. We're two worlds apart. You're a king and I'm just someone who's working in a castle to pay of my parents' debts."

"Who cares about that? What does it matter? I see the way you look at me. Surely this love isn't one-sided."

"Is it not? I thought my feelings for you were unrequited-"

"They're not. I feel as much love for you as you do for me. Maybe more. But I'm not about to make a contest out of it," Kami laughs. "I thought you had picked up on it. Haven't you heard me call you my obsession at least a hundred times?"

You reluctantly nod.

"So? Nothing to say in return?"

"In return for what?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe something to say about the fact that I just confessed my love for you. And the fact that you feel the same?" he teases you, a hand languidly stroking your cheek.

"What is there to say if you already know how I feel?"

Kami grins, cooing at you,

"Oh, darling. My obsession."

He pulls away, eyes tracing over your every movement.He pats his lap, voice dropping an octave once more.

"Here."

You're quick to obey. He holds power over you. You wanted this and you're finally getting it.As you plop down in his lap he smiles. It's a Cheshire like smile.

"Good. You said you'd do anything to tend to me, right? Make good on your promise, yes?"

You know you're in for a long night.

#vtuber #riikamivt #riikami x reader #kami #kamivt #vtuber x reader #vtuberen #envtuber #idfk man #us obsessions are starved so here's some food

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gloromeien · 4 months ago

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Hellooooo I hope your day is good? Have an ask!

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Spread the self-love! <3

Whoo, my first ask! And from the exceptional and lovely @zenaidamacrouras1, whose fic Monoclonius I'm re-reading right now and loving just as much as the first time. An all-time fave, really, with just the best, sexiest, nerdiest Bucky and the sweetest dad Steve. Check it out if you haven't!

But this of course is supposed to be about *my* fics, so let's get started.

Five Favorite Fics That I've Written:

History Repleating (Or the Proper Care and Feeding of One Steven Grant Rogers), Modern AU, Shrunkyclunks, kidfic

Summary: Captain America!Steve receives a letter from Dr. J.B. Barnes, Brooklyn Historical Society. Except not quite that J.B. Barnes. This leads to Steve and Bucky having a meet cute via Bucky's work as a history teacher. Smut, fluff, and a smidge of angst ensue.

Comments: This one is, IMHO, the best fic I've ever written. Which is not to say it's good, exactly--your mileage may vary--but I don't think I'm ever going to get to this place again. It was winter 2022. We were all just re-emerging from lockdown. I was in the process of caring for my sweet little corgi girl at the end of her life, and I just needed some joy, you know? Something fun to look forward to. I feel like I channeled a lot of those emotions, that grief, into the Steve in this fic. Though it's not a sad fic by any means! It's full of bad jokes and sarcasm and sweetness and found family and people just caring for each other beyond reason. Bucky here is a bright light that comes into Steve's life at just the right moment, that allows him to believe that he could have a real future with someone to love. I really needed to hear that right about then, and so, as Alexander Hamilton sings, I wrote my way out. For that reason and many more, this will always have a special place in my heart.

Last Exit to Brooklyn, Modern AU, Shrunkyclunks, SoulMark

Summary: When Steve Rogers emerged from the ice, he wound up not only in a whole new century, but also with a brand-new soul mark. Knowing that the person he was destined to be with might be just around the corner made it easier for him to settle into a future where happily ever after was a sure thing. Until the Romanian drummer of a 'popular in Europe' heavy metal band, and freight car of personal baggage, come crashing into his life...

Comments: This fic is a confluence of so many things I really, really, really love. Soul mark AUs, for one. I looooooooove those. But I only wanted to write one if I felt like I could bring something new to the table. Once I hit on this particular idea, I knew I had to write it. Also, Tommy Lee!Seb kept me up nights, friends. I loved his look in that so much. As a teen, I had a whole hair metal phase. And it was a fun way to pay a little tribute to Seb's Romanian heritage, so... anyway. I particularly adore some of my Romanian OCs in this--two of them being not so veiled versions of Nadja and Laszlo in What We Do in the Shadows, LOL. Feeling kind of weird about tooting my own horn here, being Canadian and all (Sorry. Sorry. Sorry?) But anyway, they were all really fun to write, even if I think the fic ended up being a little too long and more angsty than I expected. A good thing? A bad thing? You can decide for yourself. ;)

Cut Him Out in Little Stars, Medieval AU, kidfic, arranged marriage

Summary:

Two Houses, both alike in dignity In fair Venora, where we lay our scene

Three years after a brutal, bloody war that saw their formerly friendly queendoms at odds for the first time in history, Prince Steven Rogers of House Grant seeks to solidify the peace between Lehigh and Venora through an alliance--marriage with Prince James Barnes of House Buchanan, his childhood friend turned unexpected enemy. But after years as the Fist of Hydra and a long recovery from brainwashing and torture, Bucky isn't in a place to marry anyone, let alone someone he doesn't even remember. Stubborn to the core, afflicted by tragic losses, and still half in love with someone who might only be a memory, Steve and his family journey to Lynbrooke, the capital of Venora, to attempt to end the tension between their queendoms, and perhaps heal his wounded heart.

Comments: My least-viewed fic by a wide margin, but one that I really love. Playing with the big tropes can be so much fun, and arranged marriage is one of the biggest and messiest. I also rewatched Seb in Kings right before writing this, and it started as a crossover between the world of that series and the idea of arranged marriage. But eventually it took its own path. I have a total soft spot for the Bucky in this one. Probably the most broken I've ever written him. I shy away from Winter Soldier recovery fics--love reading them, will never write one myself--and this is the closest I'll probably get to that. One of the reasons it's close to my heart is because I feel like they really earn their happy ending in this one.

A Slaying in Scarlet, a LOTR Mystery

Summary: On the eve of Aragorn’s coronation, Legolas and Elrohir are charged with investigating a brutal murder at the Citadel.

Comments: My AO3 account is split into two eras. From about 2002-2010-ish, I was heavily involved in the LOTR fandom, specifically writing Legolas/Elrohir, but also a few other pairings, including some OOC pairings along the way. After that, I went off to be a romance writer for a little while (and yes, I'm going to shamelessly plug my Stoker & Bash mystery romance series, because I'm fucking proud of them.) Then watching FatWS knocked me for six, and here we are, all Stucky, all the time. All this to say that my early LOTR work, I am certain, is not good. I have not re-read anything in ages, nor will I ever, most likely. But it was in writing those fics that I found a bit of my voice, and they gave me courage as a writer, and so I couldn't leave them off this list completely. This one is a Sherlock Holmes type deal, because I am also obsessed with mysteries. Hopefully it stands up a little bit. Buyer beware.

A Place to Rest and Remember Yourself (In My Arms), Shrunkyclunks

Summary: It's 2015, and Steve is living in a post-publicly coming out world. His every move is scrutinized in the tabloids and on social media, he's still wrestling with life in the 21st century, and the paparazzi never give him any peace. Making friends who aren't co-workers is practically impossible, let along dating. His solution? Have a regular, no-strings 'arrangement' with one of Natasha's honeypots. Bucky is a former spy and adventurer who used to work for S.H.I.E.L.D., but left for *reasons*. Having just gotten his heart ripped to shreds by a traitorous ex, he finds the idea of a discreet, 'with benefits' arrangement with his teenage-years crush very, very appealing. But you know what they say about what happens the minute you stop looking for love...

Comments: I wanted to write something quick and fun and smutty as hell for Stucky Week 2023. Instead... *sighs* You'll note that this ended up being 18 freaking chapters long. Why am I like this? I wish I knew.

One of my fic-writing missions is to give Steve Rogers the ending he deserves. The MCU did not treat him or his PTSD right--this is well-established in both fandom and a ton of metas more insightful than anything I could ever write on the subject. But where I feel like I maybe can address this a little is in fic. My aim here was to just spoil Steve rotten. To give him the literal world back, in the form of a Bucky who has serious wanderlust. It was also so much fun to play with Doctor Strange and the whole Sanctum Sanctorum stuff, Layla and Marc, Darcy of course, Nat and Sam. The 'love shield' Steve throws up in front of the press was inspired by Harry Windsor's PR move from many moons ago. My favorite part, about this fic, about writing fics in general, is when love just kind of happens to two people who aren't really paying attention, and suddenly it's everything, and they have to conform their lives to this new gorgeous reality. Anyway that's what I'm going for in every fic I write.

This was more talking about myself than any Canadian should do in a month, let alone a day. I need to go lie down. I don't love tagging other authors in these things, but if @burberrycanary, @bluesimplicity73, @musette22, @leveragehunters, or @dontcallmebree haven't done this yet and feel like it, I would love to read your thoughts on your incredible fics. And you, readers, please don't miss any of their tremendous work. Take it from me, their amazing stories (and Zenaida's) keep many a monster at bay when the night is dark and full of terrors. Big love to everyone out there sharing their creative endeavors with the world! <3

#stucky #steve x bucky #ao3 #shrunkyclunks #bucky barnes #steve rogers #ao3 fanfic #stevebucky #captain america #modern bucky barnes #five favorite fics #self recs

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cheerycherrycandy-resurrected · 6 months ago

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What You've Done, You Cannot Undo (Medieval AU)

Chapter 16

The ghouls split off to spend a day exploring the Abbey. Rain opens up to a new friend.

And to balance out the fluff from last week, here is a dialogue dump to move things along to what we're all really here for (and no, I don't mean a convoluted segue into how The Band Ghost™ can exist in this universe, but that is also coming)!

Rating: M Content: guilt Words: 5596

Links to full fic: Tumblr | AO3

Hi tag pals! @everybodyshusband @revengeghoulette

Read below, or on AO3!

Dew and Rain returned the remains of their breakfast to the common room before they left, and found Mist already waiting for them with Sunshine by her side.

“Ready to go swimming, boys?” She grinned. “Sunny’s promised to bring us a picnic later if you behave. That means no pushing your husband in the lake,” she pointed an accusatory finger at Rain, but her eyes sparkled with mirth, “mostly because I don’t want to have to hear him complaining about his hair afterwards.”

“Promise!” Rain chirped, itching to get his gills wet. Dew was too pleased to hear him speak again to really care about any jibes Mist threw his way. He huffed anyway though, pulling another giggle from Rain.

By the time they were down at the lake, the sun was high in the sky. It shone warmly on Dew’s skin and reflected brightly off of the water’s surface, making him occasionally lose sight of the two frolicking water ghouls. Everything about the situation was peaceful; he could hardly think of a happier moment, and certainly nowhere else he would rather be. He thought all his years of pain might just be worth it, if he got to keep this life that was dangled before his eyes. His pack were together and safe, ghouls who despite many ups and downs had trusted him when it mattered most by allowing him to bring them here. The ghoulettes, who had taken him in when he had nothing, and had not only forgiven him for his sudden departure but welcomed him back with open arms.

Especially precious, was the friendship that seemed to be developing between the two water ghouls in the lake. Dew had watched the pair take off, racing to the centre of the lake with shrieks of competitive joy. They had come back to pester him on the dock a few times in the hours they must have been here, but now they seemed to be gossiping together, purposely just out of his earshot. They occasionally shot him covert glances when they thought he wasn't watching, but Dew couldn't find it in himself to care: Mist would never share anything he wouldn't want her to, and there was little Rain could say to her that she couldn't have already known or assumed. After the revelations of the day before, Dew was also relieved Rain had a ghoul of his own element to bond with, one who could explain things the rest of them had no knowledge or experience with. Seeing the two interacting like old friends, one the first to truly see Dewdrop, the other the first he wanted to truly bare his soul to, filled him with more warmth than the sun beating down from above ever could.

As Dew lay on the dock watching them, Rain was having immense fun with Mist. She was small, but she was strong; giving him a real challenge as they raced around the lake. Rain couldn't remember the last time he had this much space to swim in, and he could feel his muscles unfurling as he pushed himself to swim faster. They stopped when the dock was a mere speck in the distance, shouting with joy and exhilaration. Rain panted, lashing his tail through the water to send himself into a spin. Mist giggled as he splashed her, before plunging under the water and tearing towards the lakebed. He gave chase, eyes widening as the light faded the deeper they got. Sat on the sandy ground in victory, Mist blew out the breath she had been holding in a ring of bubbles towards Rain, both of their gills flaring as they laughed.

She kicked off, still underwater, back in the direction they had come from. Rain followed behind as they glided past tall stems of underwater plants, fronds reaching out towards the trespassers with curious, spindly, green fingers. The fish here were unfamiliar to Rain too; larger, more suited to the slightly chilly water temperature. He spotted many more shells dotting the floor, like the one he had given to Dew yesterday. Mist kicked through the teal-tinted water, back towards the sunlight reaching down from above. They resurfaced, close enough to the pier and Dewdrop that Rain could make out his relieved facial expression at seeing them again, but far enough away that they would have to shout for him to hear. Rain raised an arm to wave at him and giggled as Dew waved back.

He looked back at Mist, to find her grinning at him.

“Oh, you are down bad!” She crowed. Rain blushed and dunked himself back under the water to escape her all-knowing smirk. Mist caught hold of him with her tail, stopping him from fleeing and dragging him back up.

“Don't worry, he is too,” the water ghoulette cackled teasingly, “I can't tell if you'll both be more or less insufferable to be around once you figure things out.”

Rain pouted at her; he didn't want to think about that right now: there was still the possibility that Dew's recent attention was just a crush, and he didn't think his heart could take being broken twice.

That reminded him of something he had wanted to ask Mist: she had tried to explain how he was able to cause to much damage in the fields that day, but he hadn't fully understood everything. He knew his nightmare about his past love had been a catalyst for the destruction, but he wasn't sure how much danger his past memories still posed to those around him.

“I wanted to ask about something, about my power?”

Mist heard the change in his tone, and stopped her teasing immediately.

“What did you want to know, Minnow?”

“That morning, when everything happened,” Rain couldn't bring himself to say the words ‘when I killed those people’, “there was a girl who looked like someone I knew, someone I'd had a nightmare about that morning.”

If Mist was shocked, she didn't show it.

“What if that made things worse?” Rain continued in a whisper, “What if I didn't need to hurt anyone? Maybe they were right, maybe I am a monster!”

“Oh Rain,” Mist couldn’t hide the sadness in her voice at the thought of the sweet water ghoul holding so much guilt in his heart, “you couldn’t help it! This kind of thing is rare, but it happens. The unpredictability is part of being a water ghoul.”

“Maybe your nightmare was the overtopping wave that set this off,” she continued, unsure if she was helping or not. Rain deserved to hear the truth however, “but you couldn’t have stopped it if it was. For you to be this age and not have full control of your element was becoming dangerous – the sooner everything overflowed the better. The longer you went on as you were, the more damage you were going to cause when it eventually exploded, and isn’t it better that you didn’t injure your pack?”

“I didn’t want more power though,” Rain lamented, tears pricking at the corners of his eyes, “not if it meant hurting anyone! I was happy as I was, I just assumed I was a naturally weak water ghoul.”

“I know, I know,” Mist soothed him, “knowing why it happened doesn’t make it any better.”

Rain shook his head in agreement.

“One more thing,” he glanced towards Dew, “the nightmares. They haven’t stopped, or changed. They just feature someone else now…”

“Dew.”

No acknowledgement was needed; it was clear on in the agony on Rain’s face that she was correct.

“What if I hurt him next time?” Rain’s voice was uncharacteristically cold, the idea so horrific that his own mind was trying to numb the thought of it. Mist could see how viscerally scared he was.

“I promise that won’t happen Rain,” her tone was one of utter conviction in her words, “this sort of thing just doesn’t happen twice. As long as you take care of yourself, your element should be stabilised but stronger.”

Rain was still scared, but the burning intensity in Mist’s icy blue eyes was undeniably truthful.

“If you’re still worried, we can practice together? Help you get used to the new sensations so you can feel how to control it better?”

Mist’s suggestion comforting him, Rain sniffed and nodded. He was so frightened of hurting Dew, or anyone else, through his own ignorance. He would do whatever it took to guarantee that it could never happen again.

The pair floated in silence for a while longer, pensive and thoughtful. Rain shot another look at the dock: Dew looked like he had fallen asleep, his head resting on his arms where he was laid on his front.

“Go on, tell me about him.” Mist tried, hoping to distract Rain from his darker thoughts.

It worked. Rain’s mind immediately cycled through all of the new sides he had seen to Dewdrop over the last week.

“I don’t know where to start,” he confessed, “it feels like he’s changed so much just in the last weeks, like he’s let go of some wall he had up.”

“Why don’t you start from the beginning?” Mist prompted.

Rain did. He started by describing Dew's early reaction to him, and his own attempts to bond with the fire ghoul who smelled so faintly familiar of water. He told her about their argument the morning of the incident, how Dew had poked at his deepest insecurities, proving himself to be the very sort of fire ghoul he had been fearful he was.

“Stupid boy,” Mist huffed, “I'm sorry he was like that. I know he hurts inside, but that's no excuse.”

Rain shrugged. “Not your fault though, is it.” He could see how deeply Mist cared for Dew, their bond almost like that of an older sister and young, clueless brother, and how Dew's own misdeeds hurt her in turn.

Everything had changed after that day, Rain explained. From the moment he saw Dew staring down into his jail cell, barely believing it was him in his woozy haze, he had seen a different side to him. Whether through misplaced guilt or genuine affection, Dew had shown himself to be sweet and caring, and Rain was falling further for him every day.

“He's like a different ghoul now,” Rain sighed, “he's kind, he seems happier, but I don't know how much of it is real, and how much is just him making up for his past behaviour.”

“Rain, Honey, I think you might be overthinking this,” Mist looked at him like he was phenomenally stupid, “he's clearly infatuated with you. Even when he was here before, he had defences around him that were a mile high, but you seem to have swanned past them like they weren't even there!”

Rain considered her words. “I don't understand how he changed his mind about me so soon though. He hated me before!”

“Dew is very good at denying himself what he wants,” mused Mist, “but you'd need to ask him why he was trying to push you away.”

“I see how he looks at me,” Rain murmured, “there's got to be something there, right?”

He felt awkward saying it aloud, but Mist was right; he saw how the fire ghoul stared at him with a barely concealed mixture of want and reverence.

“I'd say more than something,” snorted Mist, “he was practically salivating over you yesterday. You two need to sort that out for the rest of our sakes. The tension is killing me!”

Rain giggled but was by no means averse to the idea. He just needed to work out what to say to Dewdrop, and how he would cope if he rejected him. In the meantime, he could selfishly continue to enjoy basking in Dew's less than subtle gaze, soaking in the feel of his eyes burning into him.

“You'd better be serious about him though,” Mist warned him, suddenly looking threatening as she stared Rain directly in the eyes, making him squirm, “break his heart, and I'll tear your fins off one by one with my teeth.” She snapped them for effect.

Rain nodded frantically. “I would never!” His eyes burning with a passionate conviction, he raised his hands out of the water first in a placating gesture, and then faced them towards each other, sending a volley of turquoise sparks arcing between them. “I won't let anyone or anything else hurt him, either.”

“Hells below you are terrifying!” Mist's stern facade dissolved like sugar into the lake, as she laughed in disbelief at Rain's newfound ability. “Seems like you've got a pretty good grasp of your element already, you don't need me!”

Shaking his head adamantly, Rain gazed at her with imploring eyes.

“No, please teach me! I can't risk hurting him again.”

“You won't,” Mist assured him, “but we can practice regardless. Let's start with waking up your ghoul, shall we?” A wicked grin stretched across her face.

Rain looked back at the dock. Dew was very clearly sound asleep now, his tail hanging limp over the edge and trailing through the water. He had an urge to chase it like a cat with a ball of string.

Mist glanced up at the sky, looking at the position of the sun overhead.

“Sunny will be here soon with a picnic. Perfect timing.” She looked at Rain's hands. “Here's what we're going to do.”

Dew didn't know when he had fallen asleep, only that he must have done. His whole body felt warm after soaking up the sun like a lizard all morning, every knot in his muscles working its way loose. His peaceful dozing was rudely interrupted by a sudden cold shock, the feeling of a hosepipe directed precisely at his forehead.

“Wha– pffttt!” Dew spluttered as he jolted back into consciousness, coming to terms with his surroundings, and then the two water ghouls bobbing in front of him with matching angelic smiles.

“Hello sleepyhead,” Mist cooed, “it's almost lunchtime!”

“You,” Dew glowered at the pair, but there was no heat behind it, “when I find out which of you that was...”

“Oh hush!” laughed Mist, hauling herself onto the pier and sprawling out to let the sun dry off her tank top and shorts.

Dew had managed to avoid seeing Rain divesting his shirt earlier that morning, feigning interest in rolling up the cuffs of his trousers instead. Now though, the sight of Rain pulling himself up onto the dock was inescapable, and so, so much more distracting. His shoulders, strengthened from years of swimming in a way his recent sickness hadn't been able to take away, flexed temptingly. Water cascaded off them in rivulets which only served to highlight them further, and Dew wanted to sink his teeth into them. He knew he was staring, as the rest of Rain came into view. He felt lightheaded, his eyes tracking the droplets of water as they traced paths over his chest and down his flat stomach, running along the jut of his hipbones and leading to–

“Get a room!” Drawled Mist, without even looking up.

Dew forced his gaze away from the water ghoul, who sat himself on the edge of the pier with one knee temptingly bent, leaned back on his elbows and smirking. He was going to be the death of him.

“Rinse your hair through, I'll braid it again.” He mumbled gruffly, partly glad of an excuse to avoid Rain's knowing gaze.

That was how Sunshine and the others found them a short while later; Mist still laid flat on her back, and a tomato-faced Dew sat carefully plaiting a shirtless Rain's hair. It was impossible to ignore how close Swiss and Mountain were, plodding along behind her as she skipped along the wooden panelling clutching a basket. Aether too seemed happier; walking with a spring in his step.

“You all look very cosy,” Sunshine laughed as she plopped herself down next to Mist with an ungraceful thump. Dew's blush intensified again, while Rain's tail happily slapped the deck next to him. He wondered to himself as he secured the ends of Rain's hair, what exactly the others had got up to this morning to leave them in such a good mood.

~~~~~~~

Shortly after Rain and Dew had left for the lake, Aether had also wandered out. He had intended to head straight to the library but gotten lost along the way. Wandering aimlessly through endless stone corridors, he had eventually bumped into a sort-of-familiar face.

"Hello Aether,” smiled Astra, the senior infirmary ghoulette dressed in regular clothes rather than the standard Abbey uniform or the lighter fabrics the infirmary ghouls wore while on duty, “how are you doing? I assume Mist was correct about Rain, since we haven't seen him since?” Her expression was sheepish, ashamed to have been unable to help the water ghoul.

“Hello,” Aether bowed his head graciously, “yes, Rain is doing much better now.”

The relief on her face was crystal clear.

“Please don’t let yourself feel guilty about it though,” Aether added, “Mist stressed how rare an occurrence this was, especially in a ghoul his age! It would take another water ghoul to notice.”

“She would be the one to know,” Astra nodded, “coming from a clan as ancient as hers. She’s still going to give us Hell for not knowing this though, and quite rightfully!”

“From what I’ve seen of her, yes she will.” Aether smiled ruefully.

“So, what’s next for your pack?” She asked. “Do you think you’ll stay here? Move on?”

“We haven’t decided yet,” ‘that would be a whole pack decision’, thought Aether, “but it seems very nice here so far. It’s very different from how we lived before, though.”

Astra nodded. She had seen many ghouls come and go, some staying for weeks or months like Dewdrop; others staying many decades before moving on, if they chose to at all.

“Well, if you do decide to stay, you’ll always have a place working with us in the infirmary should you want it. The contents of the encyclopaedia you and your packmate wrote is far and above the knowledge of some of the quintessence ghouls here!”

“Thank you, I’ll bear that in mind.” Aether was a little surprised to hear her make an offer so brazenly – didn’t decisions like that have to pass through the man in charge here? It was one more question to ask him, he supposed.

The older quintessence ghoulette beamed a luminous smile at him.

“Anyway, where are you off to?” she asked, more conversationally now.

“I was looking for the library,” he paused, looking around at the many identical hallways, “but I think I’m a bit lost.”

“It can be a maze in here!” Astra chuckled, “Look for the small carvings in the ground. The symbols direct you,” she pointed at an upside down cross with an incomplete circle around the lower half, “this is the symbol of our church. So it points to the Chapel.”

Aether squinted at the marks in the marble. She reached out with a foot and nudged a different one, a symbol resembling a scroll. “You want to go this way.”

She pointed at the neighbouring symbol, a snake winding around a club. “I’m heading to the infirmary, so the library is on my way.”

In relief, Aether set off after her.

“Are you looking for Copia?”

Aether nodded. “Our introduction got cut short the other day. I wanted to thank him, and have a chat about expectations here.”

“I’ll take you straight to his study then. He’s probably hidden away in there again.”

The library was mostly empty when they entered, especially compared to the busy and studious atmosphere of last time. A handful of ghouls were sat around in the scattered chairs, along with a few humans in black and white robes. Astra led him through the library and down a passageway leading from the back corner to a small door, left welcomingly ajar. Astra rapped her knuckles on the door frame regardless, before poking her head round.

“I've got a visitor for you, Papa.”

The man looked up from his desk, age lines smoothing slightly as he relaxed his eyes and refocussed on the ghouls hovering in his doorway.

“Good morning, my dear ghouls!” He stood up and bustled around the desk to greet them. “Aether, I hear your young packmate is on the mend! Wonderful, wonderful...”

Aether nodded with a smile.

“Hello again, Papa Emeri– uh,” he paused, “how should I address you?”

“Just Copia or Papa is fine, that’s what most people call me round here!” he laughed. “Thank you Astra!” he called after the ghoulette as she wiggled her fingers in a goodbye, and disappeared back up the corridor to begin her shift.

“Thank you Copia, Rain is doing much better now.” Aether followed him to a pair of comfy armchairs in the opposite corner to the desk.

He filled the older man in as best he could, quickly summarising Mist's solution and Rain's immediate improvement.

“My my, how peculiar and fantastic your kind's power can be,” Copia listened, enraptured, “I am delighted the young one is feeling better. I hope I can meet him at some point?”

Aether shrugged, “He's rightfully a bit wary of humans right now, but I'm sure he'll come around.”

“Yes, indeed. Sometimes the behaviour of my own species appals even me...” The sad look in his eyes spoke of decades of witnessed tragedy. “I hope he knows he is safe here.”

“I'm sure of it,” Aether had no doubts there – the environment so far had felt nothing but safe and welcoming, “I wanted to thank you, actually. Not just for taking us all in so suddenly, but for taking Dew in before.”

“It is nothing, dear ghoul,” Copia talked with his hands a lot, noticed Aether, as he began gesturing wildly, “that is the very reason for this place! You ghouls are the pinnacle of His most marvellous creations, and my duty to serve Him is my duty to you.”

Aether had been under the impression that most people saw ghouls as His unholy servants, there for Him to command. Seeing this man so dedicated, both to their Unholy Father, and to His ghouls was a delightfully refreshing change.

“I hope you all know you are safe and welcome here,” he continued, “and I dearly hope you decide to stay. You would be a real boon to our little community.”

The pair stayed talking; about Aether's previous travels, his life within the pack, and the role of ghouls within the Abbey. Aether found him extremely easy to talk to, once they had both navigated past initial formalities, and could instantly see how he inspired such loyalty from the ghouls who lived here. His original mission of collecting their book was quite forgotten by the time Sunshine appeared to collect him for their lunchtime picnic. He left, with promises to return.

~~~~~~~

The last to leave the Den that morning had been Swiss and Mountain. The two had taken their time, in no great hurry to rush what was shaping up to be a completely relaxed morning. By the time they made it outside, the sun was high in the sky above them and casting an optimistic yellow glow on their surroundings.

Yesterday on their tour, Sunshine had beelined straight to the complex of greenhouses, but today they took in the gardens around them. The whole area was well maintained and cared for, even the moss growing around the paviours seemed especially luscious and fluffy. Directly outside the door they exited through, they found themselves in a landscaped garden, but one which served to highlight the natural world rather than control it. The hedges outlining the paths grew in chaotic patterns, themselves dictating the curve of the walkways between them. No two neighbours were the same, leading to a contrasting jumble of colours and textures. Adding to the organic beauty of the garden were the clusters of wildflowers scattered like confetti at a wedding, all growing bigger and more vibrant than the environment outside the walls of the Abbey would allow for.

Here and there along the winding trail through the centre of the garden, the shrubs had made way for the outside influence of benches carved from fallen trees. The bushes curled their arms protectively around those who entered, shielding them for a moment from those outside of their domain. Swiss imagined sitting out here on a summer’s evening, so close to the Abbey and yet in a wholly separate world. He thought about all the secrets the plants had overheard in the aeons they had grown here; how many generations of whispered conversations, quiet declarations of love and tears of private sorrow they had watched over.

The spiralling paths relinquished them back into the glaring sunshine all too soon, the pair walking in companionable silence towards the orchard that lay between the Abbey and the lake. From up here at the foot of the building, they had a spectacular view over the surrounding countryside and the unfamiliar environment they now found themselves in.

“It’s so… different?” Swiss murmured, taking in the horizon pierced by faint mountains, almost transparent with distance. “The sky seems taller, somehow.”

The ghouls hadn’t lived in a flat region before, by any means. The vast expanse of rolling green hills had seemed to stretch forever back there, a never-ending patchwork of small fields and forests all sewn together by meandering rivers and streams. Mountain had wandered his whole life, yet the village he landed in with Aether was the furthest from his birthplace he had ever been. Contrary to what his name suggested, he was from a disarmingly flat region; one where the horizon both felt infinitely far away, and so close one could reach out and pluck it from the sky. The distance to the mountain peaks made his whole life’s journeys pale into insignificance; feeling like he had walked in circles for decades. The horizon had never felt so distant, the world never so big. Mountain felt the familiar tug, begging him to explore his far-off, snow-capped namesakes, a call to experience something new and spectacular.

“I travelled so much, before,” Mountain mused, “and yet there is so much more to see.”

Beside him, Swiss looked at the landscape in awe. Mountain felt his warm presence beside him, and an even stronger pull to follow the multi ghoul to the ends of the earth. Whether that was to the impossibly distant peaks and beyond, or no further than the lake at the bottom of the hill, Mountain thought he would be happy.

Shaking himself from the hypnotic hold the view had him under, Swiss continued slowly towards the orchard, checking over his shoulder for the earth ghoul who followed as though drawn by magnetic forces. Once they were under its protective canopy, no longer able to see the vast and overwhelming expanse surrounding them, he felt safer and less exposed. Here, the sunlight filtered down through the trees, picking up the colours of the leaves in addition to its golden hue. The rays danced through their hair, glinting off the small gold beads woven into Swiss', and making Mountain's auburn waves glow like molten copper. The pair sat on another conveniently positioned bench under the shade of a pear tree

“It feels peaceful here,” sighed Swiss, leaning back with his legs outstretched, “quiet, at last.”

“How are you doing Snapdragon?” Mountain asked, having noticed Swiss was quieter than usual over the last few days. “It's okay if everything's a bit much here, I feel it too.”

Swiss thought for a second before answering.

“It's just a lot of change,” he replied, finally, “everything's different, there's a lot of new faces, and I'm so tired Mount.”

Summoning all of his courage, Mountain shuffled closer to Swiss on the bench and placed an arm tentatively around his hunched shoulders. To his delight, the multi ghoul immediately slumped against him, grateful for the comfort.

“There are a lot of new faces,” Mountain agreed, slightly overwhelmed by them himself, “and it's so big here. Is that what's bothering you?”

Swiss shook his head, his hair tickling Mountain's armpit where it brushed against him.

“I'm still having visions. Lots of them.” Swiss admitted. “They're not bad!” He added hurriedly, seeing Mountain's horrified face and feeling him flinch around him. “They haven't been about Rain for a while either. They're just a lot of noise really, and lots of faces I don't recognize. It's like I'm getting fragments of a story, but told out of order and with the names removed.”

Mountain hummed sympathetically. Swiss had struggled with an influx of visions when he first joined the pack; unused to having the four other ghouls so present in his subconscious and producing unbidden premonitions. Suddenly having hundreds more not only made his head a loud and busy place but raised other questions about who these unknown ghouls were, and why they would feature so strongly in his future. They lapsed into silence for a while, both afraid to disrupt the delicate balance of their current position.

“Do you think you'd want to stay here?” Mountain asked after a while. Swiss thought for a second before answering.

“I think so. I'm not made for a life of travelling like you and Aeth, I want to settle somewhere, like we were before at the farmhouse.”

Absently playing with one of Swiss's dreadlocks, Mountain nodded pensively.

“I hadn't thought about it much, not until recently,” he admitted eventually, “I was moving around for so long, even after I met Aeth. Our life in the village was so different to what I was used to before, but I think I miss it already.”

After what felt like an eternity of constantly needing to keep moving, his life with the pack had given him a taste of what a settled existence could look like. In the village though, there had been the constant threat of the fragile truce they had with the humans collapsing. When it inevitably had, the pack had bolted like rats from a sinking ship. Here at the Abbey, he had glimpsed the first refuge that felt truly safe; this place was designed around them, His ghouls. They were not interlopers here, treated with a constant air of suspicion, but rather the intended residents. This place felt like it could be a home.

“I think I want to stay too,” he finished, “I want the life the ghouls here have, a real community. No more running.”

‘I want it with you!’ His internal voice screamed.

Swiss twisted to look up at him, golden eyes glowing in delight.

“It sounds like we want the same thing then.”

Oh, how Mountain hoped that was true.

The pair sat as they were for a while longer, soaking in the peaceful atmosphere the trees provided. Neither of them wanted to move, yet there was so much more to see and explore, the beauty of their surroundings eventually pulling them back to their feet. As they wandered, they were so close their hands kept brushing, sending synchronised sparks up their arms every time. Mountain resumed their activity from the long journey northwards; naming the various flora he recognised. The fruit trees were obvious to both him and Swiss, but some of the myriad of smaller plants were a mystery to them both.

Swiss quickly found himself becoming distracted again, as fascinating as Mountain’s explanations were, by the way the sun caught the high angles of his face and his hair danced in the light breeze. His antlers were unglamoured, catching the wayward strands in their many outstretched fingers, in a way Swiss wanted to copy. His eyes sparkled with interest as he talked, glowing an even more vibrant green than the leaves of the trees around them. Swiss loved seeing the reserved ghoul like this, blooming like one of the flowers he loved so much as he waxed lyrical about whichever of nature’s wonders had caught his eye.

“Are you even listening?” the earth ghoul laughed, making Swiss realise he had been staring, lost in his own thoughts.

“Of course!” he spluttered indignantly. Mountain’s carefree laugh suggested he didn’t believe him.

“We should think about heading down to the lake soon for the picnic anyway,” Mountain said, looking up at the position of the sun, “see how Rain and Dew are doing.”

“What, see if they’ve finally noticed how completely gone for each other they are?” Snickered Swiss, thinking of his own predicament. Maybe talking about their smitten younger packmates would inspire the courage in him to say something to the subject of his own affections? That was possibly wishful thinking on his part, however...

“See if Mist’s bashed their heads together yet…” Mountain nodded in a mock-serious tone.

They laughed together all the way down the hill, not stopping even when Sunshine appeared behind them, overtaking to lead the way to their packmates on the dock.

A very pink Dewdrop was sat braiding Rain’s hair as they approached. Mountain shot a look at Swiss, and shook his head; it didn’t seem there had been any further developments between the pair. Their current position was still incredibly cosy though, a far cry from their volatile relationship of a few weeks previously.

“Soon,” Swiss whispered, “I give them a week.”

They cackled to each other, unaware that one of the subjects of their mirth was thinking the exact same thing about them.

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pillowspace · 1 year ago

Note

I need to bother you for y/n design advice. Since my clone au is the first one I've really had that's mine, I don't really know what to do to make them more like. Approachable as a y/n? And your designs are so cool and distinct from each other so

help? any advice? 🙃

Something that might help is literally just scrolling through photos of people. That can range from fashion to just completely normal stock photos. It can make you go "oh, I forgot that clothing item even existed. I could use a variation of that." You can also keep in mind not only what would look nice, but what your character would want to wear.

I can walk through how each of them were designed if it gives you an idea of what I do at all

ADAD Y/N - my default design will always be a sweater. I love drawing sweaters. They're fun. If I think I can give a sweater, I will. Also, due to their "companion" characters being Sun and Moon, the colours I work with are red, yellow, and blue. So I just decide where I want that red, yellow, and blue to go, and what colour I want more of than the other. You'll see they all follow that line of thinking except for CSD

HD Y/N - it's wintertime!! This means I get to play with a scarf and jacket. Also a good time for a bit of floof, which is always fun to use. The fluff on the boots were intended to be similar to the way the DCA has bells on their shoes, so sometimes you can look to what the DCA has for inspiration. I felt that they needed a colour contrast from Sun and Moon that still went along with them well, so the jacket was made cyan. A lot of colour usage is just me going "what will look fine next to Sun and Moon?" OH, and I didn't use earmuffs even though I wanted to, because HD Y/N relies on their hearing. They wouldn't want to wear anything that could muffle that

CSD Y/N - can't go the red yellow blue route, this is a medieval peasant, so I shall combine colours. Can't combine red and blue, that's purple, and purple is typically for royalty if I'm not mistaken. I could combine yellow and blue for a dull green however. I will also google image search medieval clothing for inspiration

Pre Loops Y/N - out of curiosity, I googled "daycare worker" for this. Why are they literally all wearing the same exact kind of jacket sweater thing in every image...? Whatever, I'll have Y/N wear that, sure. I also looked up colour palettes, picked the nicest one, and adjusted the colours to my liking. This character is tidy, so they will have plenty of details that show they care about their appearance (brushes hair, puts on hat, buttons the middle of their jacket, wears a belt, tucks in shirt, tied shoes, well-written name.) The inner shirt will remain a slightly darker orange so that it can still work with Mid Loops's darker colours

Mid Loops Y/N - darker colours to fit better with their new character. More disheveled to show a lack of concern for their appearance. (Messy hair, doesn't bother with hat, unshaven facial hair, unbuttoned jacket, no belt, untucked shirt, untied lace, hastily scribbled name.)

Post Loops Y/N - what would this character want? Maybe they like to grow out their hair to feel the change. Maybe they've forgotten why they even bothered shaving, and like the hairs now. Maybe they want a large and floofy jacket because it's comforting. And to show the tiredness of this character, there is predominantly dark blue with the only red being much darker than previously, making the colours more relaxing.

#ask

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vad-hander · 2 years ago

Text

MY LOVE, ITS BEEN TOO LONG

pairing: Jeno x reader

genre: medieval!au, angst, fluff, eventual smut, slow-burn, established relationship

warnings: reader!princess, Jeno!knight, forbidden love

words: 4.3k

PART 1 | PART 2

“Milady, the King is arriving back at the castle. He would like to see you after the monks’ bell.”

“In that long? I could come by now.” you jumped up from the bench you sat on while taking a break from the tiring walk in the garden.

“His Excellency would like to rest after the road trip. It was an exhaustingly long road.”

“I understand.” you gave them a nod and as your fathers server bowed, they quickly got lost between the bushes of the garden.

“You must be very fond of your father.” The man next to you spoke.

“It’s not that-“ you cleared your throat “I am very fond of my father but there’s a conversation we need to have. I need courage to speak.” you added in whisper to yourself.

“Nervous? Why would you feel that way?” The man looked at you, making you raise your eyebrow. Even if he was a respected guest, there were boundaries, he had to remember. “I apologise, it’s not any of my business.”

“You’re right, it’s not.” you smiled at the man and looked away. He’s been asking a lot of unnecessary questions as soon as he realised you weren’t on the cold and untouchable side, finding more time in the day to ask away. The man, surprisingly to you, had so much spare time besides all the meetings castles subordinates arranged for him with the merchants of the village. It was for the best, though, his presence helped you to get your fixated brain off the only man you could think of. The one you were not able to see for the past couple of days.

The more time passed since your last interaction the more worry crawled up your spine. You wanted to talk to your father, ask him what did he tell Jeno, what was the conversation about? Was he even fine…? Alive… even? You shivered at the mere thought of him not being with you anymore.

“Your highness, is everything okay?” The man reached out for you, coming back to his senses quickly and pulling back.

“I’m good. Thank you.”

“Father! I hope the trip wasn’t too tiring for your Excellence.” you left kisses above his knuckles.

“The trips always get tiring when you get my age.” he chuckled.

“Father!” you exclaimed in an attempt to scold him. “You are still very young. May your life be everlasting.”

“My child, it would be tiring.”

“Right.” you smiled expectedly, you were happy to see your father once again, but talking to your father wasn’t the reason behind that bubbling feeling in your chest. You really wanted to just ask him about Jeno now.

“Did you enjoy the company of our guests?”

“Yes, yes.” you nodded, smoothing down the dress around your waist. “Besides being very busy, Sir Lamet made a lot of effort in keeping me company. I’m very thankful for that. Since my dear sisters’ departure I’ve been lonely in our castle. My only friends are my servant Kirsta and Sir Jeno, who seemed to disappear all of a sudden.” you looked at your fathers emotionless face expression upon mentioning Jeno. “Have you, by any chance, heard of his whereabouts? Usually he would tell me if he had to leave for a campaign.”

“No, I have not heard of him, I was away, may I remind you.” you nodded, your ears not being able to hear anymore as blood rushed to your head. “Sir Lamet will join us for dinner today.” The King looked at his cuticles.

“Okay.” you nodded and stood up from the floor you sat on previously next to your fathers leg. You needed to find Kirsta immediately.

“I have not finished my words.” your father spoke firmly, still with a caring undertone. You turned around to drop back on your knees.

“I apologise.”

“At the dinner Sir Lamet will ask for my blessing and I will give him one.”

“What do you mean?” you blinked dumbfounded. “What sort of blessing?“

“Blessing to marry you. You’re old enough now and there’s no reason for me to keep you sheltered in the castle any longer-.”

“But I thought Sir Lamet was-“ you couldn’t talk as a lump in your throat blocked air, you had to gasp. “You’ve told me Sir Lamet was just a high-rank merchant, how, how the Kings daughter could marry a merchant. Didn’t Sir Jeno come to you for a conversation before you left?”

“He did. I didn’t approve of that.”

“But why…? You-, didn’t you find Jeno a respectable young man? I thought he was a part of our family, you never-.” you gulped and realised you talked too much, bowing apologetically.

“Your sister thought she was tortured when she got married. She never showed it to you, she cared for her little sisters feelings. She didn’t want you to be scared of your own future, but in a private conversation she told me she was scared. I gave her my reassurance that everything will be good, and look at her now? She is happy indeed, her letters are full of love. I knew it wouldn’t be the case for you, not after you and that boy imagined all sort of things about your future. I personally asked Prince Lamet to come here and get to know you and let you to get to know him, for you to get to know each other.”

“P-prince?” you gulped and felt frozen in your limbs.

“This is what I did for you, my dear little girl, because I always had a soft spot for you, my little princess.”

“Sir-, Prince Lamet pretended to be a merchant for three days to get close to me before asking for your blessing?”

“Yes.”

“Please send him away, father.” you lowered your head and begged, with no second thought. “I-“ you saw no point in biting your tongue anymore. “I love Sir Jeno. I would only want to marry him. He would be my perfect husband, he could become the King one day if it’s needed.”

“A nameless boy from a poor family? The King? You must be out of your right mind, child.”

“His family aren’t the richest in our kingdom, but they are well-off, Jeno is a knight, he’s well off on his own, educated, naturally smart. There is not a reason to doubt his abilities.”

“It’s set. The marriage is set and not up for discussion with a stupid girl like you. I’ve let you make up a story in your head and that was a mistake.” The King raised his voice. “Leave, now. You are frustrating me. This is not how I raised you. After all the things I’ve done for you, after everything I’ve allowed you I should’ve expected your behaviour to get out of hands. This is unacceptable. Prince Lamet is the future King in his country, he needs successors, the fact that The Crown Prince himself traveled here and took care of your feelings shows that he’s more than deserving to get my blessing, he is more than deserving to get you as his wife. The conversation is over. See you at the dinner.” You bowed multiple times with a shaking eye, making your way out on trembling legs.

“Kirsta!” you screamed loudly as soon as you were able to find your way to the wing with the servants rooms.

“Milady, I’m so sorry, I went to my brother while you were with the King.” she bowed 90 degrees at you.

“Run me a bath, I’m going to sleep.”

“Milady, I was told to make you look beautiful for today’s dinner.” she asked with her polite voice. “Sir Jeno is coming, right?” she beamed.

“Tell them I’m sick.” you turned around and ran back to your room.

“Milady.” Kirsta caught up with you, coming inside. “The King himself told me to make sure you were attending. Otherwise, he told me, I should report that to him, and he’ll take you there with his own force.” you closed your eyes tired. The girl was definitely uncomfortable in the situation, the threat from the King directed at you was one of the unusual things in the household. “I beg you to let me get you dressed. I would never want to frustrate you, Milady, but under the influence of your father, our King, I don’t have a choice.” she lowered her head, almost dropping to her knees.

“Did you know, that the merchant that stayed with us is a Prince?”

“The-“ The girl raised her head up puzzled. “Sir Lamet is a Prince?”

“You know everything and everyone! Don’t lie, that none of you servants didn’t get the rumour before my fathers return! Don’t lie!” your insides began to boil.

“Milady, I did not know. If I knew, I would’ve told you. I would not keep that from you. I promise.”

“I’m forced to leave with him-“ your voice cracked. “At the dawn, tomorrow.”

“My dear Milady, how-? The King-.” the small girl in front of you chocked on her words, showing way too many pure emotions at once. “Sir Jeno is-.”

“Kirsta.” your heart jumped in your throat at the bare mention of his name. “Find him for me, I know you have siblings, many siblings who don’t live in our castle, cousins and many other. Please, just ask them to find Jeno and pass a note to him.” You dropped on your knees, begging in tears, while your hands gripped hers.

“Milady, you know I can’t. Please get up on your feet, Princess, you will hurt your knees.”

“Why? Why can’t you?”

“I can’t go against the King. Even if I could, I would not put my family under the threat, I’m sorry. I can’t, I really can’t. My family are poor people.” she pulled onto your hands, taking in your stilled figure as she spoke. “You know that your father would not show mercy towards anyone if they’re not you. I cannot-.”

“Is this how you’re paying for everything I’ve done for you?” You jumped up, making the girl startled. You were only hoping no one was sent to listen to you behind the door. “All the times I closed my eyes for the things you’ve done. With how disrespectful you are, with my clothes not being prepared thoroughly? So many things I closed my eyes on for you to not get scolded.”

“Dear Princess, I don’t have enough words to thank you for your utter kindness, but this is beyond my abilities.”

“Leave.” you ripped your hands out of her hold. “Get out of my chamber!” you screamed in pure rage. The coldness of the room was nothing to your burning face. It wasn’t just warm and red from crying. It was on fire with the burst of emotions you’ve never experienced before. You screamed at the top of your lungs in agony.

“Milady, I-.”

“Leave before I tell everyone how many times you messed up! Get out! Go! Leave! Now!” you shrieked at the top of your lungs. “I hate this house! I hate you! I hate everyone!” Kirsta jumped to her feet, forgetting about the manners, running away with her back to you. Your eyes ran over the chamber that you called your own. The place that was meant to be your safe space now only seemed to be filled with coldness, you snorted, as if it was any less cold before. The dark stones radiated coldness, no matter what season it was, what was the weather like outside, the stones were always cold to the touch, dark and dirty to the look. No matter how many hours servants spent on cleaning them - they still were an ugly piece of rock. A narrow aperture that allowed a hint of light into the room attracted your attention - you would spend hours staring out of it, watching your folk live a life you couldn’t, watching how people would come and go into the castle, watch the only person you ever loved approach the stairs. How badly you wished he’d somehow appear in front of the stairs now.

Besides the hole in the wall that allowed you to take a look of the outside world the chambers decoration consisted of an extensive high bed, which was the dominant and the most important interior decoration, a dressing table with a mirror that you barely used, since there was little to no chances for you to get ready by yourself and a screen for changing clothes. In addition there was a vase on a big stand next to the entrance, to which you walked, grabbing the vase and smashing the porcelain before you could think against the floor. It didn’t take much strength in you to smash the fragile decoration thanks to the stone tiles.

“My Princess!” the door opened wide, your eyes drifting to see the person that opened it with your wide eyes. “Did you get hurt?” the man rushed over to you, taking your hands in his to inspect them. But he wasn’t Jeno, he wasn’t allowed to call you his princess because you weren’t his. You pulled your arms back in an instance.

“Sir Lamet. I am not your Princess, don’t call me that.” You bashfully hid your hands behind your back. How did he even get here?

The man inspected your eyes for a second, lowering them back to the porcelain. “Did your father not have a conversation with you yet?” he took a good look at your face once again. There wasn’t a chance he didn’t notice the state you were in, still wet trails of tears on your cheeks, puffed up eyes and overall redness of your appearance, but whatever was the reason, he didn’t mention it.

“He did. Did you come to ask my opinion, too?” you asked coldly, walking away from him. Your feet took you to the dressing table, you sat down busying yourself with the brushes.

“I-.” he swallowed before trailing behind you. “Dear Princess,” The man paused as if in deep thought, but in a moment found your eyes in the reflection of the mirror, staring to speak. “This may come as a shock to you, but I have to let you know, I am mesmerised by your character, your natural graciousness and tact.” you wanted him to stop there. Raise from the stool, give him a thank you and excuse yourself. “All your qualities made me certain I have not made a mistake by coming here after your fathers pleads to meet you first, before pronouncing you my wife.” you sighed silently. “I never expected my family, Me, to make an exception, but now, that the exception has been made, I may have to tell you, my goal for the life is to make our family happy, I’ll let you take full reign of the castle, full reign of my heart.” you paused, staring at the man through the mirror. What was he doing? Is this how things were done in his country? You’ve loved Jeno since you were 5, and despite the fact the love was mutual, you two never even said the words, never even tried to, it was obvious and clear and didn’t need words to be spoken. You felt scandalised, astonished. This man’s words were such a vulgarity blood rushed to your face once again. “Dear princess, my dear princess, I want you to know that the recent days we spent together…” he paused but it didn’t seem like he was done talking, still, you wished for him to shut up. “I pronounce my love for you. I love you.” you opened your mouth wide. He was not-. He, most definitely was, confessing his love to you. Maybe he’s feeble-minded? That’s why you were set to be next to him?

“Wh-what?” you couldn’t hold your composure because one thing was being forced and tricked into a marriage against your will to a man that didn’t care either - it’s not something you were willing to accept, but the foreign prince saying he loves you right after you met each other? You almost chocked shocked. You’d rather hear him say he hated your presence, being forced into living with a man that loved you against your wishes gagged you.

“I will give you as much time as you need to come in terms with your feelings towards me.”

“Sir Lamet.” you intently kept away from saying his title. “I appreciate… I won’t come in any terms with my feelings towards you. I won’t-.” he opened his mouth as you spoke and you closed your mouth immediately, you weren’t about to interrupt a man, no matter how upset or hurt you were.

“I brought this necklace with me from my home. It belonged to my great-great grandmother and now that we’re going to get married, I’m passing it on to you.” The Prince reached out to your neck, drawing a few lines over your nape with his fingertips. Your breath hitched at the touch of those foreign fingers. You almost closed your eyes thinking of Jeno’s gentle touch to your breasts last time he was here. You could only open them when the cold stones hit your chest, you focused on how heavily you breathed, how the dress was caging in your sudden necessity to breathe. You missed out how the Prince touched your bare shoulders, how his lips landed over the skin of it and planted a kiss there.

“Sir Lamet, you should not-.” you jumped up, almost making him trip over the stool that got in the way of his legs, at the same time almost knocking his teeth out with your shoulder. “Please, take this off. Take the necklace back.” you touched the back of your neck to get it off you.

“No, I want you to wear it to our first dinner as engaged couple.”

“I’m not-.” his eyes flickered at your words. They snapped into threat and back in a blink, but it was enough for you to notice, your father did the same thing at times. “I will gladly wear the necklace to our first dinner, Sir Lamet.” you bowed, smiling diligently.

“You can just call me Crown Prince.”

“Of course.” you bowed, expecting him to disappear.

Swallow, blink and smile, you told yourself.

“Kirsta.”

“Yes, Milady.” she ran up to you, her head was still low, letting you know the aftertastes of your last conversation still lingered in her heart.

“I-.” you sighed. “I have to give you my apology. Since my sister left, you were nothing but a friend to me.”

“Milady, you should not-, I would never ask for your apologies, it’s me who should really apologise and appreciate your kindness and understanding.”

“It’s fine, it really is.” you watched the only other person in the room finally be done with the porcelain pieces on the floor and leave. “If only you could help me with one thing-.” the girl rose to her actual height, her ears peeking up to listen.

“I would do anything for you, Milady, as long as it doesn’t involve my family.”

“It’s not.”

“I am here for your service.”

“Help me sneak out of the castle.”

“Mil-.”

“No, please, listen.” The girl blinked fast. “I need your help to see Jeno. I have to see him.”

“If the King finds out I helped-.” she whispered in fear.

“He would not!” you whispered back. ”I’ll attend the dinner.” The girls eyes lit up ”I’ll be on my best behaviour and then you’ll help me to run away and see Jeno.” Kirsta lowered her eyes to her feet, clearly lost in thought. ”I have to see him, Kirsta. Before they force me to another country forever. I cannot leave without seeing him for the last time! Please!”

”I understand, milady, but…”

”Whether you’ll help me or not, I will run away to find him. Your help would make my task much easier, but I’ll go through it either way.” you swallowed and straightened your back back. You were a princess at the end of the day, the girl must know her place, you thought.

“I will try my best.” the girl finally said.

“For starters, send someone from the castle to see if Sir Jeno is in town. Incognito, obviously.”

“Yes, Milady. I can easily do that for you.”

“Make sure they are back before the dinner ends!” you threaten for no reason, you didn’t need to doubt the girl, you knew it for sure.

“Milady.“ A low-toned whisper made you jump in fear. As the sun was setting castles corridors turned into space with a lot of dark corners.

“Who- who are you?“ did Kirsta manage to bring Jeno to the castle? You were about to burst in tears.

“Milady, Kirsta is waiting for you on the other side of the castle. She asked me to help you get there.“ The man walked out of the dark corner and he didn’t look anything like Jeno, you sighed. It was indeed very naive to assume he’d be here.

“I excused myself from the dinner.“ You explained as the man wasn’t just walking in front of you, with every next step he took he sprinted even faster than before, fully running just a couple minutes into the walk. “There is a great chance I won’t be needed for a long time. We don’t have to hurry up so much.“ You tried to sound more insistently than before. The dress and shoes you were, heaviness of the accessories on your chest and head didn’t help your running abilities you were panting and grunting.

“Milady, I assume you don’t understand much of the real life behind these walls.“

“Yes, and what do I not understand?“ You asked amused, bumping into the man that suddenly stopped on his tracks, turning to face you.

“That if anyone sees you coming out of this castle every one of us is going to be hung with a rope around our neck, even the ones who had nothing to do with you and your little affair.“

“It’s not true.“ You shook your head in disbelief.

“You have never been outside. You don’t even understand that you wouldn’t survive a minute being the way you are on the other side of that wall.“

“This is not true, also.“

“You’d get raped and robed a second some homeless drunk sees you in your pretty dress with those stones on your neck. And he would be right for that.“

“Excuse me?! What is your name?“

“Does that matter? I bet my life you’ll never return once you get your feet out. Kirsta seems to not understand that she can get you out but there’s almost no chance for you to get back, even if you’d ever want it.“

“Why do you help?“

“I don’t want Kirsta to get in trouble because of you.“

“I-,“ you gulped, trying to think of what to say. You weren’t getting her in trouble, she helped volunteerily.

“Milady! Milady!“ Kirsta ran through the corridor, you could see her figure through the dim lighting.

“Yes?“

“I was scared something happened to you, why is it taking you two so long?“

“Is Jeno in the village?“

“He is, my cousin walked past the house.“

“Thank god.“ You sighed relieved, finally.

“Put this on, quickly, we have to hurry, milady.“ She threw over your shoulders a dirty-brown coloured cape. It was perfect length to hide the hem of your dress. Kirsta threw the hood over your head. “Don’t take this off, please keep your head lower, the folk could notice and you’ll get in trouble, let’s go.“ The girl gestured to follow behind and you did, running to the garden. The man that escorted you to Kirsta still followed behind, you wondered what were his motives.“Milady, I won’t go any further with you, I have to go back to the castle and make sure everything is okay while you’re absent.

“How do I find Jeno, where does he live? Where do I have to go?“ The man besides you snorted.

“I have my cousin waiting for you behind that wall of flowers. He’ll get you to Jeno.“ You opened your mouth to thank the girl before you were interrupted.

“Kirsta! Not the family! Didn’t we talk about how dangerous it is to help her?“ The boy hissed. You were working out his features, was he Kirsta’s brother?

“He’s just a kid! No one would suspect.“ She pushed him away, talking to you once again. “Please keep a step behind from him, that way the both of you will be safe.“

“Yes, fine.“ You nodded, it did really feel like needed to go now.

“Milady-,“ the girl grabbed onto your hand “This is the important part… you have to ask Sir Jeno to walk you back. My cousin will not be able to wait for you.“

“It’s fine, Kirsta, I will find my way back. Now, you two, go back, before we’ll attract attention.“

“Yes, yes. I’ll be packing your things for tomorrows departure.“

“Sure.“ You smiled at her kindly.

The way out of the castle was rather disgraceful, you had to admit. Pushing your body through branches and bushes, jumping over a low fence that finally somehow got you out of the place you called your home. You ran your eyes over the wall, raising them more up to see the castle. You just wished you could take a very last glance at your father, to have the chance to get back to your chamber and take with you the things that made that soulless room a tiny bit warmer.

“Are you… the princess?“ You got jump-scared once again. Were you that obvious to get busted in an instance, the moment your feet landed outside? “Do you know Kirsta?“

“Oh- You’re going to help me?“

“Yes, I think I will.“ The boy smiled mischievously. He wasn’t taller than the level of your elbow, making you wonder if your escort was even 10.

260 notes · View notes

yanderes-galore · 10 months ago

Note

First, tysm for letting me send them early! Alright, can I request a romantic Dragon Rider!Diavolo (and by extension, a little platonic King Crimson?), with a S/O who'se also a dragon rider?

OH THIS IS GOING TO BE FUN TO EXPLORE!

(This AU was originally inspired by HTTYD, but I also added aspects of ASOIAF to make it take place in a Medieval setting)

Diavolo = A Dragon Rider King of his region who commands the dragon King Crimson.

Doppio = A young knight/squire in the same body as Diavolo. He serves as a disguise and is loyal to his King.

King Crimson = A powerful and old dragon who has the ability to skip forward in time. This dragon is bonded to Diavolo.

Yandere! Dragon Rider AU! Diavolo with Dragon Rider! Darling

Pairing: Romantic (Diavolo)/Platonic (King Crimson)

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Obsession, Stalking, Threats, Violence, Possessive behavior, Denial, Isolation, Kidnapping, Forced companionship/relationship.

In this world, Dragons are powerful beings summoned to aid their bonded rider.

Unlike Stands, they can be seen by everyone.

However, they are summoned via charms, calls, or summoning circles.

Diavolo is a mysterious yet powerful Dragon Rider.

Commanding the powerful dragon King Crimson, Diavolo is given the ability to skip time.

He is a man part of a powerful guild full of other Dragon Riders, a King at the very top.

Diavolo had once sired a daughter, but hadn't found out about her until much later.

Diavolo likes to keep out of sight... not many meet him.

If they do... it's never for a good reason.

You are a Dragon Rider who is part of the Passione Guild.

Having passed your test, you were awarded a Dragon Summon of your own.

You gain orders through messenger to do tasks from Diavolo, sometimes even in another group of riders.

No one has ever really seen the King... most of the time he's hidden away.

Perhaps in a castle... perhaps in some shack... he's an elusive man.

One you happen to gain the attention of one way or another.

Let's say in this AU, Diavolo still shares a body with Doppio.

Doppio is a young knight, he supposedly "isn't a Dragon Rider".

Which allows Diavolo to spy on Dragon Riders.

You communicating with Doppio is no doubt what sparks Diavolo's obsession

Through the young knight's eyes, he observes you and learns of your summon.

You're kind yet strong... a Dragon Rider perfected by Passione's trials.

Diavolo was not expecting his obsession.

In fact he tries to ignore it.

Yet Diavolo notices that Doppio is attached to you... and he can sense such feelings are making King Crimson anxious from its home due to their bond.

The rider seems to be just as possessive as his royal dragon... the dragon demanding its rider take what he wants.

Due to the personality of his dragon and the feelings Doppio has... Diavolo eventually succumbs to the overwhelming obsession.

Fine, you've managed to attract his attention now.

A dangerous sin you had no idea you committed.

Diavolo would gain your trust through Doppio, his young knight personality.

When you trust Doppio enough... he'll instruct him to guide you to a secluded location.

Doppio will tell you it's for a mission, instructing you to fly your dragon with him to a secret meeting spot.

It's suspicious... but Doppio tells you it's an order.

Reluctantly you follow orders and allow Doppio onto your dragon with you... only to be brought into a trap.

By the time you arrive at a cave with a tower built in the top... your way is blocked.

You hear Doppio whisper something before hearing a roar behind you at the entrance of the cave.

You turn to see a checkered dragon with gleaming green eyes... the infamous King Crimson.

Then behind you... you feel strong arms hold you still.

Turning your head, Doppio is nowhere to be found... but you do see the infamous King Diavolo holding you.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you properly, my loyal Dragon Rider...."

Your dragon, due to your ranking on Passione's ladder, is much smaller than King Crimson.

The older and more powerful dragon towers over you and Diavolo.

Even if you could summon your dragon, they'd be forced to bow in an instant.

"King Crimson will not harm you, dear..." Diavolo whispers in your ear.

"As long as you listen to my orders... I will reward you handsomely in many ways."

Diavolo lives in a tower on top of a cave where his dragon thrives.

The tower is where he'd keep you, doing his best to court you.

After all... you seemed so kind with his squire, Doppio.

Why won't you give the same treatment to your King?

You're not allowed to leave the isolated island cave, if you tried to summon your dragon to leave... King Crimson would quickly hunt you down for Diavolo.

Even if you do not wish to be courted, you will quickly be forced to bow at some point.

Diavolo is a King, one of the most powerful Dragon Riders in his region.

Fight him all you want...

You will break eventually.

King Crimson also feels some affection for you and maybe even your dragon.

Your dragon is young, leading to King Crimson taking on a mentor role for the weaker dragon if they remain loyal.

The stronger dragon even feels a platonic adoration for you... while Diavolo wishes to make you a ruler by his side.

You will be well cared for... King Crimson is summoned to protect this island for Diavolo.

Meanwhile Diavolo will shower you in gifts... all while keeping you isolated beside him.

Other Dragon Riders are not allowed to come to this plan.

If they do... King Crimson deals with them quickly.

It'll be just you, Diavolo, and your dragons...

Even if you fight him now... Diavolo knows in the end he'll have you bend your knee before him.

#yandere jojo #yandere jjba #yandere jojo's bizarre adventure #yandere jjba dragon rider au #yandere jjba dragon au #yandere diavolo #yandere dragon rider diavolo

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phoenixtakaramono · 7 months ago

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Hi wow okay I just needed to pause my reading and come over here and tell you that your recent additions to the multiverse thread????? Insane. Love it. It’s amazing. I really had to pause at some points and just sit there like wow. Wow this is art. I am reading and enjoying art right now. Thank you for sharing your writing with us!!

This Ask is regarding this 🔞 butchlander multiverse threadfic on Twitter (the first of many perhaps?)

Thank you so much for reading, luv! I’m thrilled to hear you’re enjoying it. 💞✨

I am extremely fond of the Quick Transmigration genre as a whole in general, and it’s funny to me how complimentary it is to the superhero multiverse trope. It pops up and I’m flooded by so many brainworms at all the inconvenient times, haha, like while I’m at work or grocery shopping. So when I get hit by these The Name of the Game stray thoughts, especially about certain details and 🔞 butchlander scenarios of the arcs I have written down in my plot outline, I feel a lil dismayed because I am only one writer and we are only ch1 into the—so far—planned 135 chapters. 😂😭 So rather than waiting till it’s appropriate to write these lil extras and possibly forgetting or losing the creative drive I have now, while the fire still burns bright, I might as well take advantage of it while it’s going strong and feed y’all tiny diegetic bites here and there.

I like to think of these as fun sort-of-“canon”/ sort-of-“non-canon” What-If outtake scenarios that take place after or during the main story (135ch), kinda like the main story’s unofficial extras or unofficial side stories y’all can read as threadfics so it’s probably not an extra just dumped in randomly or willy-nilly in the main story itself on AO3 whilst this writer tries to shoot for the moon and catch up to our ambitious goalpost of 135chs.

So whilst this one is a weeeeee on the not-so-much-plot-but-smuttier side, because it’s Homelander’s birthday soon, I thought it’d be amusing to write a 🔞 spicy threadfic where TNotG’s Homelander ends up topped by almost all the Butchers I’ve ever written in my AUs thus far. Because why not? YOLO, and it’s convenient that this writer happens to have several long threadfics, Truce, and one AO3 fic that precisely allows for them to all crossover like some kinda butchlander superhero electric boogaloo multiverse on steroids.

So far I’ve only provided snapshot glimpses into the QT arcs that TNotG Billy had to endure, threaded into the threadfic itself, but I want you to know the entire time when I’m slipping in subtle story arc references to scenarios like this:

My mind is like:

Because these so far only exist in my plot outline, none of these are considered TNotG main story official unless I publish it on the AO3 platform. I’d just rather write these now than let them gather dust and potentially never see the light of day, haha. It’s only a snapshot but :) what fun surprises I have awaiting y’all. So far in these two threadfic updates we got sneak peeks into the The Boys TV S1-S5 canon-compliant final arc pre-return home, the Showbiz/ Entertainment 3rd arc, and the Medieval Fantasy 1st arc. There’s one more arc I have yet to input, which is the 2nd arc and it just so happens to be my second favorite genre after the QT genre: the Unlimited/ Infinite Flow genre survival game horror. I also may or may not reference the other two arcs remaining (with one of them being A/B/O), but these diegetic bites are supposed to compliment the spotlight that’s gonna be on each Butcher (Butchers 1-5 & TNotG Butcher). 😌 Because what’s better than 1 Butcher? A spicy 6 Butchers “bullying” (affectionate) Homelander sandwich.

#butchlander #billy butcher #homelander #the boys tv #the boys #billy butcher x homelander #it’s 5 Butchers + 1 TNotG Butcher = 6 Butchers + 1 HL = ‘lo we have coincidentally 7 members (y’know bc The Seven? nudge nudge wink wink)#I will probably write a 1 TNotG Butcher & 6 HLs but that’s for later (either in this threadfic or another one)#ask #ty for the ask!#stovetony #this was really sweet ☺️🥰 I was kicking my feet in the air like a schoolgirl #as a slowburn writer it’s funny to me whenever I write PWPs (I don’t think I’ve written any before acquiring the butchlander brainworms 🤣)#this pairing; man; see what it’s done to a slowburn romance writer #phoenix talks #I will ofc eventually bring this over for my tumblr readers but all in due time (I gotta get to the spicy scene first)#my twitter & tumblr accs were PG and SFW; and then in came this rareship coming swinging from the fences #I think it’s safe to say I’ve officially become a N/S/F/W acc #the boys amazon

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misguidedasgardian · 2 years ago

Text

The White Dragon (42)

42. The Trident

MASTERLIST

Summary: It was not finished yet

Pairings: main Harwin Strong x Fem!Targaryen reader

Warnings: cursing, medieval and A song of ice and Fire AU customs, injury, burns, dragon fire, death, violence, armies, death, war and all that comes with it. Might miss some warnings but you know what this is about :)

+18, MINORS DNI

Wordcount: 2.3 K

Notes: well, this is a shorter chapter that i anticipated, but many things happen in this chapter... ALSO... couldn't wait to post it

You looked at the sun hiding behind the sunset sea, smell of burn shops still in your nostrils

“Mama”, you turned to face Maekar, “everything is ready, we need to get back”

You had sent your son to Casterly rock to struck and deal, and he just got back

“Where exactly?”, you asked back

“king’s Landing”, you shook your head

“I want to go home, I need to see Aemma”, you whispered, “I will leave Saera and Vaegor there”, you continued.

“Mom, we should go straight to King’s landing”, he said, but something told you otherwise

“We go home first”, you commanded, and he seemed to understand, as he didn't push you

“Very well, but then we should get back we don’t know where Aegon is yet and we need to find him to end this”, he whispered, you only nodded, “it’s a matter of time until he attacks the city”

You took to the skies again, Saera and Vaegor with you on your big saddle, tied tightly to you, you will not let them out of your sight again, they seemed alright, but you never knew what things they might have seen on board of Dalton Greyjoy’s ship. The Iron born were not known for they peacefulness

Something told you you needed to go home, you didn’t want to face Rhaenyra yet, and you were not sure about what you were going to do once you did. What happened with the Green army must have been considered treason, and you knew it had gone back to your sister’s ears, and there were consequences to face.

For a second you really wanted to take the Iron Throne for yourself, perhaps you did still, if you did, all your troubles and dangers to your family could be over. If you just decided tot ake the capital with Cregan’s help and your children and your dragons…

Take the Iron Throne by force, or flee far from this country, as far as you could

A tough choice indeed

But nothing could prepare for what you found when you reached Harrenhal.

. . .

16 hours earlier

Aemond took to the skies in Vhagar, with a strange feeling in his chest, the night was calm… too calm for his own liking, he felt a warm breeze hit his face, he could feel the humidity in the air.

A storm was brewing in the clouds

The wind hit him hard the furthest he was getting from the ground, but he didn’t seem to bother. The sun was barely setting and from here, he could see some of the edges in the ground underneath him.

He could not see much, but he could see if a large force was approaching, or hear better if there was a dragon nearby.

They didn’t know who they were in the lookout for.

The position of his sister in the war had dwindled, Rhaenyra had proven to be unstable, and well, so was his brother, who had been missing for a couple of months now, nobody knew where he was, but one thing was for certain, he did not surrender

He was injured, so was his dragon, Aemond guessed he was gathering his strength, gathering those who still called him King, his supporters, maybe, this was not over yet.

The night found him restless, nervous, cold, on top of Silverwing, and Aemond found himself missing his old mount, Vhagar, a formidable creature, the Queen of Dragons, not to discredit the mount of Alyssane the Good Queen though.

But Aemond had no more time to ponder… when the sun was coming out of the horizon, taking everything with a golden glow, a shriek cut the tranquility of the morning sky like a knife, making Aemond tremble in combination with the cold.

His single eye looked out for the fearsome blood wyrm, the only known dragon that had a high pitch shirk like that

Silverwing growled underneath him, unsettled by the sound.

Of all the members of his family that could come for him, Aemond never thought it was going to be Daemon, the Rogue Prince, who was going to come for him first

Caraxes’ shriek resounded even more close right now, and Silverwing called back, but not to the blood wyrm, it was not a warning, it was a call for help. Aemond looked frantically around for the source of the sound, and suddenly, from the clouds above, appeared Caraxes like an eagle diving to catch his prey.

“You have betrayed us too long, Hightower!”, screamed Daemon, as Silver Wing dived, dodging him for mere inches.

“And you have lived too long Uncle!”, he screamed back, moving Silverwing’s reigns with ease. the silver dragon moved through the clouds easily, with an elegance and quickness Aemond thanks her for, but it was not the time, he could not scape Daemons forever

When he came out of the cloud Aemond was hiding in, he met Craxes in an open sky.

Columns of fire lightened the early morning skies, and both dragons growled in the air, receiving their enemies’ fire to prevent them for injuring their respective riders.

Aemond commanded Silverwing to take distance, which the she-dragon obeyed him swiftly.

He took flight lower, diving close to the ground, soon he saw the river near the Crossroads Inn, and he never realized how far he had flown from Harrenhal on his route

Silverwing proved to be faster than Caraxes, so she could easily scape him, but Ameond also knew he could not run from this, he had to end this now, if Daemon prevailed over him, nothing could stop him from taking Harrenhal, and kill Aemma and then her mother

And if he could not take him, which he doubted he could, he at least could injure him or take him with him.

But he gave Daemon the advantage of the higher skies, Caraxes dove into Silverwing, fangs and claws ready to rip her to shreds.

But in the probability of it, a huge bolt cut through the skies, whistling as it cut the air in its wake, it missed Silverwing for an inch, but dove into Caraxes side.

Daemon cursed and Caraxes shrieked in pain, not deterred but certainly angry…

Aemond looked down to see from where it had came, and he found a single ship on the River

“Die you fucking flying worm!”, shouted Crestan from the bow of his ship, where he had installed a huge scorpion.

The pirate had to face many adventures to come across his ship again, when he did, he killed half his crew for betray him, and he had to go to Braavos to find new sailors, there, he installed the weapon, said to be able to kill dragons, which the Iron Bank happily provided him with. He then returned to Westeros in the hopes of being of service to the Princess, but a storm had drive him to sail upwards and then to hide in the banks of the Rivers, from where he planned on anchoring his ship to the coast of the river and march with his crew towards the White Hall, but he encountered something more than he expected.

The chance to avenge his pride against the man who deserted him in King’s Landing.

Aemond found an ally in his fight, so he made Silverwing fight back, taking the speed advantage that she provided, she started circling Caraxes to confuse him.

Now, from the River, Crestan did not have the advantage, he thanked the other dragon that was there to distract the red beast so he could not get attacked and have a clean shot, but still maneuvering that thing was one of the hardest things he had done.

Daemon cursed on top his saddle, as he watched the boat floating apparently idle in the River, like it was mocking him, when another bold flew through the air, this time, it went through the soft part of Caraxes’ wing, not injuring him, but Daemon could tell noe his dragon had to flap his wings as twice as much to stay in place.

Another column of fire illuminated his face and impacted Craxes on his chest, and that is when he got angry.

The red ebay attacks silverwing, biting her on one of her arms, near her chest, and the silver dragon screeches in pain.

He had come here to eliminate Aemond and then his niece’s daughter, to punish her for betraying them, but now, he was really thinking he might not be able to survive this.

So he was going to at least take the “Hightower” with him.

That is when he decided to unclasp the leather straps that tied him securely to Caraxes’ mount.

He held on tight as Caraxes and Silverwing, both similar in size, coiled together in the air in a mortal embrace, both dragons trying to bite the other. Silverwing blew fire into Caraxes’ face, making his drawing wail in pain. That is when Daemon, seeing a moment in which his dragon flapped his wings trying to stay above Silver Wing, in which he stood on his saddle, ready to jump. He unsheathed his sword, ready to pounce on the other young Prince

Aemond could feel nothing, the adrenaline had taken a hold of his body, acting on instinct, he had evaded the jaws of Caraxes that twisted in ungodly ways trying to get to him. But then came a moment, a second, In which Craxes bore over him, his red eyes looking down at him. His uncle was hovering over him.

And then it hit him

He was going to die

The last thought that came through his mind was of Aemma’s sweet face, her sparkly eyes, the perfect shape of her hand and how well it fitted with his the day they got married.

He closed his eyes.

But today it was not going to be the day he died.

Another growl, savage, low, could be heard, and a shadow covered both dragon as the King of Dragons himself descended upon them

Vermithor closed his huge jaws around the mid body of the Blood Wyrm, where Daemon was preparing to jump taking both with him. He released him, Craxes still shrieking when Vermithor then caught one of his wings and ripped it off his dying body.

Then dragon and the remains of his rider fell down, and sunk to the river underneath, missing by mere feet Crstan’s boat, who he had named “The Dragon Queen”

Daemon Targaryen was dead

. . .

Aemond grabbed Aemma’s shoulder making her turn around from the river and look into his husband’s eye

“Are you alright?”, he asked shakily, the Trident had an impressive Riverbank, apparently, large enough to have one of the largest dragons sink in its waters and not show signs of it

“Yes”, she answered, but Aemond found uncertainty in her tone, she just killed someone, and not just anybody, she had killed Daemon Targaryen, but then, after a bit of thought, the look in her eyes got… darker, “he was going to kill you, kill me next probably. so…”, her expression was plain, “he had to go”

It was done, they had killed Daemon, in self defense no less but, still, the repercussions to this… could be dire.

So, with Crestan behind Aemond, they flew back to Harrenhal, where the dragons could lick their wounds together in the castle’s ruins, while Aemond, Aemma and Crestan went to the castle.

“We might be under attack in less than a fortnight!”, Aemond screamed to the battlements and the soldiers in them, immediately they started shouting, that being said, with the Targaryens in power and dragons in the air, it meant to receive Fire & Blood

The entire castle became alive with the news of Aemond, as captains were being called and soldiers assembled in small groups and the men being recruited from the village. You were in the midst of a war, so the Harrenhal part of the Riverland army was on call, so it assembled easy as the day passed

And that is what you found when you landed near the old castle.

An army assembled

And that sinking feeling you had in your belly, boiled to life.

You knew something was terribly, terribly wrong when you walked by the main doors.

You found your daughter, Aemond, and surprisingly, Crestan discussing battle plans with the captains of the army

“What happened?”, you asked as soon as you walked through the doors, all eyes where on you

“Daemon Targaryen is dead”, said Aemond, correcting his posture that was leaning and now he stood straight.

And you stopped in your tracks

Daemon was dead

Your uncle was dead

THE KING CONSORT WAS DEAD

“Who…?”, you asked as you held tightly the hand of your youngest child

“I did it mom”, Aemma whispered, and right there, you truly panicked

You sent your children to their rooms so you could talk, and they could explain what had happened

Daemon Targaryen had come for your child and Aemond, and they were both alive because the Gods wanted it that way, because of mere luck, because Crestan was there, because Aemma was awake and realized Aemond had not returned at the time he was supposed to.

Because of fate, your brother and your oldest daughter were alive.

But Daemon had come, wanting to kill them

Who knows what he really wanted to do after he plucked Aemond from the skies

And the decision was made for you

“Send a Raven to Cregan Stark”, you commanded, “we march on the capital as soon as we are able”

“Mom”, called Aemma, “what is going on?”

“We are going to take the Iron Throne”, you said strongly, and everybody stopped whatever they were doing to look at you, “I am going to take the Iron Throne”

And to your amazement, everyone cheered.

@tearsarcane @integra1127 @aestmilky @thanyatargaryen @tythaitie @lostinworldofdarkness @voodoogoul @wildmindedbeauty32 @lil-pudd @alicattx @electric-bloo @astaaan-lol @stargaryenx @kaitieskidmore1 @bregarc @lilpnd @jcpenneyyy @janelei @fexibau @ladyoakenshield157 @danielle-leah1997 @lady-ragnvindr @cecilyjmorgenstern @omgsuperstarg @bugheadskid @batprincess1013 @her-fandom-sanctum @holb32 @blue1006 @stargaryenx @grippleback-galaxy @mikariell95 @genesisliveson @mendes-bae @caspianobsessed @notmundane3000 @kamisunshine @just-someone11 @ietss @joliettes @whodis-26

#misguidedhotd #hbo house of the dragon #house of the dragon #harwin strong x reader #ser harwin strong #targaryen!oc #targaryen!reader

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