#please do not get it twisted I love love love canon sophie

[shyguygubbs]

I was thinking about kotlc recently and how the Black Swan originally wanted to wait to bring Sophie into the Lost Cities until way later, probably when she turned 18, and how different of a person Sophie would have been if that were the case.

Like at the start of the series, she's this child prodigy who has to go to community college in the fall at the age of 12 because her parents won't let her go to Yale (a totally valid parental choice btw), and the thing is I think she would have THRIVED in that environment. Like at first she would be scared and hesitant because in all other school environments she has been bullied for being as smart as she is, but now she's going into a school that people choose to go to in order to learn. Community college doesn't just have mean, jealous teenagers who attend, there are people of all ages and all walks of life who are ready to learn. Sure, Sophie would still be the youngest one there, and I doubt it would be super easy with the whole mind reading thing, but she would be in a much more supportive environment when it comes to learning than anything else she's experienced.

She'd be able to make friends with her peers, being able to bond over a shared love of whatever they're studying, and these friends don't think she's too smart or too weird. She maybe finds some way to muffle the voices in her head better than her earplugs did. Yeah, she still gets headaches, but she can manage it. I can see her taking as many classes as she can, figuring out her passions and what she might want to do as a career. She'd be in a fantastic place academically to transfer to any school she wants when she turns 18. I can even see her parents letting her graduate when she's 17 and allowing her to transfer to a four year college to get a bachelor's in whatever she wants to study, whatever she finds her passion for, because she worked hard for this, and doesn't hate school now, and has found a path for herself in life that feels right.

And then the Black Swan shows up and whisks her away from all of that, and she's heartbroken because she doesn't need to be taken away from everything she's worked so hard for. Yeah it feels nice to finally have the whole mind reading question answered, but she doesn't need a new place to belong, she has one. I imagine this Sophie being a lot more confident in herself, but a lot angrier too. She's fascinated by her new world, but desperately wants to go back home, to just live out the life she's been working towards. I can see her working side by side with the Black Swan from the jump, because she's in a world with injustice and she can't just sit back and let this slide, but constantly fighting back this resentment for them and how they took everything from her. I think of how canon Sophie had a brief moment of hesitation when it came to training her Telepathy, and I think this older Sophie would be conflicted between wanting to know more about this abnormality that she's been dealing with her whole life, and wanting to cling to her human identity and her old life as much as she possibly can. Because she's been ripped away from it, and no matter what her genetics say, this Sophie still views herself as human.

[kajaono]

Why are you so obsessed with making Sophie trans or Benedict bi? And please do not say representation as your reason. The show already has Brimsley (much beloved) and Granville.

It is clear within their world that you could be put to death for it. That’s why Granville had to hide his sexual identity while being in a lavender marriage or Brimsley and Reynolds kept it behind close doors in the palace. Benedict is the kind of person who will shout his love so loud for the people in the back to hear. He won’t be able to do that without facing some sort of legal consequences.

It is more than likely Sophie is a WOC than making him bi. And if that’s the decision the show creators are going with, you should at least respect that instead of calling everyone who disagrees with you as bigots and homophobes.

Hey nonny,

Thank you for this really interesting ask. I try to answer it step by step.

First at all, it was the Bridgerton marketing team who put the idea of bi Benedict in my head in the first place. Remember the very first trailer, that framed it in a way that Benedict has sex with a dude? I saw that and said: „wow, amazing! A show set in regency times with poc and queer main hero’s?! I HAVE to watch that!“ and then it was a side character and not Benedict. Then all my hopes were on season 2, but this time: nothing! Not even queer side characters.

I was so disappointed. Because this idea of bi Benedict already lived - at this point - rent free in my head.

My first idea: gender swap Sophie. I still love the idea but as a next step I started wondering how they can make Benedict and Sophie fall in love without gender swap Sophie, but still give it a queer sub-tone. My idea: trans Sophie.

I love the idea because Benedict falling in love with a servant/bastard is… yes nice. This would also mean his social death back then btw. Giving this a modern twist… Using the opportunity to discuss modern problems… hello, that’s so awesome!

Further: Brimsleys story was awesome but I am tierd of sad historical gay love stories. I want gay love stories with a Happy End. Featured in a major Netflix show, aimed at straight people! you know how awesome that be? Yes, I will use the forbidden word: „representation“.

Also it is fiction: the explanation why Benedict was able to marry Sophie eventually (in the book) was bad, come on. The whole book was a disaster and I love Benedict!

It is fiction. They have a black queen, and a black Duke, which was possible because „love fixed it all“. If they can find an in universe explanation why all skin colors are represented without discrimination I am sure they can find an explanation why queer love can have a Happy End as well.

Also why does it has to be addressed that Sophie is trans? Just let her be played by a trans actress, a trans actress in a cis role? We love that!

You probably don’t know but the second thing I am petitioning for is making Sophie Asian (because I am not dumb. I know how highly unlikely it is that we will get trans Sophie) but the thought of a blond, white, cis Sophie… yawn! How boring! Aschenputtel 2.0.

If they decide to make Sophie a WOC I will absolutely respect that! And I really think it is not unlikely, because season 3 has an all white main cast. But so far no decision has been made, no Sophie is casted (as far as we know), Benedict is straight… and as long Sophie isn’t casted I can have every head canon I want to.

I don’t Call everyone a homophobe who is against bi Benedict or trans Sophie… just those people who have no further arguments against it then: „Ewwwwwww! Gay people! Disgusting!“

Give me a valid argument and I am all ears.

Thanks for the attention, I hope I answered it.

[crymeariveronceagain]

Any theories on how the kotlc series will end?

Quite a few, actually.

Some of these are going to be a writer talking about a writer's stylistic choices, and some of them are going to be a fan talking about the content creator's possibilities.

The Coward's Way Out(I would not put it past Shannon to do this): It was all a dream. Everything was a dream. Sophie got hit by that car and has been in the hospital since, in a coma for the past four years. None of it was real.

The Unsatisfactory Ending: Nothing is tied up well at all. All the villains live, the council is still full of jerks. Sophie's still having a mental crisis. Keefe is still off being an idiot. But hey, at least the plot is... sort of done. There's going to be a sequel series, though. It's going to be twice as long. Maybe Sophie and Fitz are dating again at the end, but none of their pressing problems have been solved.

The Boss Battle Ending: Everything culminates in one last battle. Everything ends here. This is usually what I go for when I write stuff that takes place within canon that hasn't been dealt with by Shannon yet. Like, it all gets tied neatly with a bow. A bunch of people are dead, possibly some of our faves, some adults, all the Neverseen officials, etc. Everything is done, over, and will never be resurfaced. Because the war has been won on a battlefield.

The Annoying Ending: So idk if anyone's read The Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard. If you have, you remember how the last book was just endless discussions of war and politics and Mare going back and forth between hating and loving Cal? Yeah. Imagine that, but it's the council and Sophie and Keefe. Because it's just exhausting and endless. And by the time you get to the end of the book, all you've got is a girl with some earrings and some emotional damage and a life that's in ruins and a guy that's somehow still waiting for her despite how it would be better-- Okay. I'm sorry. But a long drawn out war discussion would be really annoying. Gimme action or gimme death.

The Feel Good Ending: This is literally just going to be found family good vibes. The comfort we've all been wanting, craving, needing. They're chilling or eating dinner or laughing or talking or just being whole again. The world is done trying to hurt them. They're finally free from the chains of being the saviors of the world, and they're finally allowed to be kids again. They'll be okay. It's finally, really, truly going to be okay.

The Sokeefe Ending: It ends with a Sokeefe confession/kiss. That's honestly all I want in this world. I want it to end with them kissing in the rain. I want it. So bad. Please. And if I could get a hunger-games-esque flash forward I would cry. Thank.

The Twist Ending: Some key piece of information is revealed at the last moment. Something important, something needed. And, just like that, all the stakes change. All the weapons shift. The entire stance of the book is altered. Now, loyalties have varied. Sides have shifted. People are having breakdowns. How do you keep going? Some of them won't. Some of them have to. Who's going to be able to make it out alive? No one knows until you get to the last page, staring at the book that has held so much of your life, and whispering, softly, "what the fuckkkk"

The Memory Loss/Lazy Writer Ending: Basically any cheap wrap-up tactic that sets up another series. Memory erasing, mysterious illness, the Neverseen destroying themselves, blah blah blah. Something cheap and quick and easily swallowed by editors so they let you take the next year off before starting the sequel series.

Happily Ever After: Everything. Is. Done. Everything is finished, all the plot points are dealt with. Every character gets a satisfying ending, from Tam getting hugs and Keefe coming home to Sophie getting to sleep at night again and Dex getting page time to Stina getting character growth and Biana dying her hair purple. Everything solved, everything finished, you sit, softly, holding the book, and feel like everything has come to an end. Everything is done. And you're not sad. You're happy. Because the characters are happy. The void in your chest is filled, knowing that they went where they needed to go.

Sad ending: All your darlings are dead. Never coming back. Everything hurts. I'm not even going to say what could happen here. But everyone could die. I'm talking Divergent levels of character death. Like, sweet and holy stars dEATH. Like, all the death you'd never want and more. And who's left crying at the end? Who watches the world burn? Who's sobbing as everything they loved is taken? Who won the war, but lost everything else? Is it Sophie? Is it Fitz? Is it Keefe? Is it Linh? Tam? Wylie? Teirgan? Forkle? Gisela? Who is left? And why are they crying?

but yeah these are just a few theories i have for how it's going to go. :DD hope they are satisfactory!

[mego42]

Shamelessly stealing @foxmagpie​’s monthly rec thing without the ability to get my life together to do these on a monthly basis so, seasonal recs! So excited to see if I manage to do this again with anything remotely resembling consistency but i’ve been keeping the notes for approximately 43 years (or since ~september, whatever that means) so by god i’m gonna use them. 

found my thrill - s_t_c_s / @sothischickshe​

Turner POV!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

guys turner is SO OBSESSED with Beth and Rio

both canonically and in this fic

it’s gr9

also features a weirdly soothing and relatable cord untangling moment as a metaphor

truly disturbingly relatable turner pov tbh

relentless boomer disdain, always a plus

led to the creation of this monstrosity, not sure what kind of a monster would do that

War In My Mind - mintletters16

Backread!!!!

post-213, gorgeous character study 

guaranteed to make you feEl stUfF

I really love the like, cyclical, fractured pattern of Beth’s internal monologue, it gives the whole thing a really affecting at times dreamy, at times haunted vibe

the end twist is *chef’s kiss*

mourning bells - Ejunkiet / @ejunkiet​

Backread!!!!

Later s2 era, Rio’s at a funeral, gets drunk and calls Beth

V short, kind of…..mmm, not sweet, but almost? Idk

It’s got a wistful sort of almost/i can be quiet with you vibe that i go extremely bonkers for

delinquents - foxmagpie / @foxmagpie​

Lol are any of you actually not reading this yet?

g o d ch 8 where do i start

First off how ABSOLUTELY VERY DARE for the tragic angst that is delinquents!beth boland. This poor baby, this precious bean. MUST PROTEC

SHE’S TRYING HER BEST AND I LOVE HER

zero percent deserves dean’s clammy hands, no i have not forgotten, tattooed on my brain, will never forgive

I also love love love love LOVE the ruby/stan subplot happening

(and ruby’s mom!!!!!) (seriously though you write the best moms)

oh god and baby beth starting to have confusing feelings about rio?????? *chef’s kiss*

p sure i was just like, straight screaming the entire end of the chapter

the dugout is like, pure serotonin

I can’t even talk about the closet

tHe teNsiOn

thank you i will take eleventy billion

don't give it a hand, offer it a soul - medievalraven / @medievalraven

am a desperate heaux for any fic that features rio and mick friendship

you are all incredibly shocked i know

still would not be mad if this swerved into rio x mick fake dating but beth x rio is cool too i guess

Speaking of things i am a desperate heaux for: DIANE!!!!!!!!

and DATING ANNIE???????????? Blessed

honestly this fic is worth it purely for the assertion that mick watches queer eye

Why don't we go to Venus? - watermelonriddles / @bensonstablers​

another grief study! 

apparently i was working through some stuff in september, idk, that was like 4 years ago

considering it’s the premise of the fic, i don’t think it’s a spoiler to say this fic is canon divergent and working with the premise that rio killed beth in 302

he is uh, not coping well

extremely haunted you might say

lots of marcus and rhea which is a delight!

rhea is to good for him tbh

i said what i said

truly top notch dream (nightmare?) sequences

the conversation at the end is extremely uncalled for

drop the game - Ejunkiet / @ejunkiet​

Backread!!!!

Am going to die mad Beth and Rio didn’t hook up in 211 but luckily this fic scratched the itch 

(temporarily, it’s a fairly permanent itch)

Bonus rec: missing scene series i wanna do bad things to you featuring 2x02 and 2x04

Viva Voce - zetuslapetus / @querenaxx​

Whoops we woke up married Vegas shenanigans!! 

So cute!!!!! So sexy!!!!! 

What more do you want?

am desperately obsessed with how beth can’t help stalking rio

feels right, feels organic

this makes me feel a lot of stuff about how they could be without their canon garbage between them

🎶 we could’ve had it aaaaaaaaaaall ���

you showed me colors (i can't see them with anyone else) - gild_fire / @gild-and-fire​

really into the use of color to illustrate beth’s emotional state, i feel like there’s a word for that but idk what it is

UNIMPORTANT

really nice job capturing beth’s inner vulnerability balanced by her outer stubbornness

am DESPERATELY into Mick playing matchmaker

more please???????

Both Sides of the Law - JoeyLee / @joeyjoeylee​

LAW SCHOOL AU! I suuuuuuper love Beth and Rio here (alt pov!! a gift!!!!) I love how initially prickly they are, I love how it’s evolving into a grudging respect, I love how INCREDIBLY AND HILARIOUSLY OBSESSED WITH EACH OTHER THEY ARE and neither one of them seems to see it

listen I know we’re all already foaming at the mouth over this one but as it’s gonna go down as one of my all time favorites it bears repeating/rereccing

cannot stress enough how masterful the use of POV is here, both voices feel completely true and distinct and I love how the alternating chapters revisit, reveal and emphasize pieces of each other

i can’t talk about this fic without hyperventilating

I LOVE IT SO MUCH YOU GUYS

the slow burn is going to ACTUALLY KILL ME

rip, no regrats

Earned It - wakeupflawless / @wakeupflawless​

spanking

that’s it that’s the pitch

H O T

living for beth’s exit in the first chapter, rio and i are both incredibly into it

second chapter also features violently possessive Rio who cannot deal with anyone messing with his girl so if that’s your thing boy howdy get on it

shake, baby, shake - openhearts

backread!!!!!

according to my bookmarks this was a reread but ???????

must’ve read it in the fugue state that followed reading for a moment we were strangers which is gr9 and I believe I have recced it before. If not, horrible oversight, reccing it now

beth and Rio POV lead up to the bathroom break, beautifully done, low-key feel bad reccing it bc the end point of both chapters makes me want to throw things but it’s super worth it for the tEnsiOn. ENJOY

What the Sea Wants, the Sea Will Have - flashindie / @pynkhues​

I’m assuming all of y’all are already reading this

If not OH MY GOD FIX YOUR LIVES

P I R A T E  A U

I’m sorry maybe you didn’t hear me piRaTE aU

meticulously researched, brain-meltingly vibrant, already painfully sexy slow-burning PIRATE AU

god where to start okay so first off, the world-building here straight up breaks my brain, sophie’s put in the work and it SHOWS

second, the atmosphere. i’m generally a pretty like, vague mental picture sort of reader but the sensory detail here grabs you by the throat and like, forcibly hauls you in whether your brain’s wired that way or no

and hey speaking of throats if you, like me, go a little funny about the knees at the idea of beth holding a knife to rio’s throat (he’s fine, calm down), there’s a v excellent beth-in-a-barrel moment for you

oh christ and the sexy tension

it’s gonna be a race to see which slow burn takes me out first, this or law school

Stunner - foxmagpie / @foxmagpie​

Another high school AU, this time with baby Rio absolutely head over heels for his older sister’s bff

stunner!Rio has an emotional earnestness about him that I feel like delinquents!Rio has already outgrown and it’s so SWEET I can’t get enough

Desperately cute!!!!!!

alL he waNts iS foR beTh tO bE hiS girL

also unreasonably angsty???????

ANN ARBOR IS NOT THAT FAR MEGAN

A Heart's A Heavy Burden - tooshyforthis / @bathroombreaks​

Howl’s Moving Castle AU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love Howl’s!!!!!!!!!!!

perfect opp to roast Rio for being a Dramatique Heaux 

and it’s gonna be 9 chapters?????? H Y P E

author’s note boldly presumes I did not know I needed this AU when the reality is I did in fact know I needed this AU, I just wasn’t expecting anyone to deliver

so blessed

author also claims to not be team nose stud and yet it features prominently in all its magnificent glory

what is the truth dot gif

A Bit of a Stretch - septiembre / @septiembur​

SO????? CUTE?????????

would be on this list for Rio calling Beth E alone tbh

really really really really really love this Rio POV of being settled into a relationship with Beth

It manages to be sweetly domestic af while still holding the edge that makes brio brio which is a neat trick

@septiembur may be a witch

beth’s approach to getting rio to do yoga with her is hilarious and exactly right, canon-typical amounts of subtlety 

1000000/10

Post Break-Up Sex - femalegothic / @bethsuglywigs​

stg this was called Hit Shuffle

no matter

h O T

with a side of damn i’ve made some questionable choices in my life haven’t i introspection

(no regrats tho)

(esp not with this fic)

not the point of the fic by a long shot but i’m also extremely obsessed with Weed Eddie, so real

She drains my soul... she drains it not - niham87 / @niham87​

ABSOLUTELY OBSESSED WITH THIS CONCEPT

am a complete sucker for paranormal world building that satirizes bureaucracy 

Is that a trope? If so that’s my favorite

I did it. I’m picking a single favorite. You know what that is growth dot gif

ANYWAY i love the concept, i love the humor, i love beth instantly clicking with annie

I love her and mick’s sort of grudging professional courtesy

Love beth as a champion of environmental responsibility and all of the underworld being like …...okay??

cannot wait to see where this goes

Nine-Tenths - riosnecktattoo / @riosnecktattoo​

*INCOHERENT PTERODACTYL SCREECHING*

sometimes i think about rio putting beth’s hair in a ponytail and have to go lie down

science please explain why this rUinS mE

wait hold on i skipped ahead

HEY KIDS DO YOU LIKE UNBEARABLY CUTE DOMESTIC TENDERNESS

opens with rio sleepily holding beth’s hand to his heart so that’s the kind of thing you’ll be dealing with

uGH theY’RE sO CUTe

idk why precisely but rio adding hair ties to his bracelet collection is my undoing every time

Missed Call - foxmagpie / @foxmagpie​

Rio doesn’t come home from a job when he’s supposed to. Beth (and I!!!!!!!) slowly loses her mind

Truly a masterpiece of rising tension

Will literally never forgive her for calling this light angst

I was SO STRESSED OUT

The first person to point out there was an author’s note at the beginning I obvs didn’t read is getting blocked

crush - foxmagpie / @foxmagpie​

Listen even though this is centered around two OCs, they are OCs FROM a (n iconic) brio fic AND Beth, Ruby and Rio all make cameos (I mean, Rio’s pretty present since he lives in Mar’s mind rent free bc they are THE SWEETEST MOST ADORABLE BEST OF FRIENDS so idk if i’d call it a cameo but whatever)

and even if it didn’t feature any official GG characters I’d still rec is bc that’s mY SON AND this fic is TOO CUTE

I have so many feelings over mar and rio growing up and not knowing how to cope with girls becoming a Thing in their life and how it affects their friendship and mar feeling left behind but (SPOILERS) at the end of the story rio starts feeling that too and it’s so poignant knowing how that’s going to continue in delinquents

while mar may be my son, i also claim elena’s #1 stan status

before you’re like meg you’re only reccing it bc it’s a bday present ask yourselves do i really strike you as the kind of person that wouldn’t be equally obnoxious about this either way?

truly cannot fathom how hard i have fallen for these OCs i don’t normally do that

@foxmagpie is definitely a witch

The Ottoman - Niham87 / @niham87​

look i will be the first to admit that i don’t go near as bonkers over the ottoman line in 308 as y’all do

(don’t get me wrong, i love it!!! I love that he laughs and i love that she’s pleased it just doesn’t hit my lose my whole mind button like idk, the dubby or the 306 convo, idk why)

BUT i v v v much love the context this delightful Rio POV pwp gives it

am also absolutely feral for 209 missing scene fic

and anything that captures the complexity of Rio’s s3 feelings for Beth and how twisted they’ve become

so this scratches a bunch of itches, is what i’m trying to say

Bet On It - zetuslapetus / @querenaxx​

*INCOHERENT PTERODACTYL SCREECHING*

That’s what my brain does when I think about Beth and Rio meeting in ch 1

am DESPERATELY OBSESSED WITH the tension between the two of them in this fic

I love how it plays with the ways they have to rely on but don’t trust each other

plus FAKE DATING and BED SHARING (fair warning hasn’t happened yet but the set up is there)

originally supposed to be 2 chapters, already up to 4, prayer circle it goes on forever

do you like drugs (tonight) - s_t_c_s / @sothischickshe​

v important focus on hydration, other fic should take note

extremely about the use of cut to and then flashback to enhance the ��we were on drugs’ vibe

speaking of, beth and rio absolutely would take ecstasy to prove they are fun bc they are the exact kind of idiots that would peer pressure themselves

so glad beth kept her purse, got a bit stressed there for a second, clutches in that kind of circumstance are A Risk

not that i would know

FLAWLESS USE OF VOICEMAIL TBH

really love the ongoing denial that they are remotely into each other while proceeding to demonstrate how they are in fact, extremely into each other, great vibe

rio dances

I know my brain broke too

mmmm bacon

Navigate A Broken Path - flashindie / @pynkhues​

*INCOHERENT PTERODACTYL SCREECHING*

I have a long standing tradition of getting unreasonably obsessed with side characters so i’m not like, entirely surprised by how obsessed i am with both Mick and Mary Pat but i never in a million years considered them as a ship

AND Y E T

they fit????? so perfectly?????? It’s amazing how she developes them individually enough that i look at them together and think ah yes this makes perfect sense for both characters

and they’re such an amazing foil to Beth and Rio? 

can ships have foils? do i know what a foil is? 

unimportant

GUYS you dON’T uNDERStAN d 

hell i don’t understand

how absolutely very dare you make me care about YET ANOTHER set of gg ‘verse children

do not read this fic if you have no interest in feelings you zero percent asked for

wHA t hAPPeNED iN aLASkA?????????

A Moment’s Silence - femalegothic / @bethsuglywigs​

*makes sign of the cross*

y’all are gonna make me rediscover religion

extremely appreciate the author’s note approach to backstory top notch prioritization

listen it’s basically 3k of beth deep throating rio idk what more you need me to say about it

it is…..good stuff

bless the kinkmeme or fest whatever we’re calling it

praise - civillove / @blainesebastian​

I mean you had me at “three times rio calls beth a good girl and one time he really means it”

ephemeral rio

I left that note for myself in here in the middle of the night and haven’t the foggiest what i was thinking but i stand by it none the less

okay okay i think i know what i meant, this fic (as do all of my fav civillove brio fics) has this sort of like, liminal, in the quiet moments feel to them that makes the moments and feelings somehow feel like i’m catching a glimpse of something secret and precious???

idk i just really like it okay

Heart and Soul - riosnecktattoo / @riosnecktattoo​

oh look more unbearably sweet domestic tenderness, this time to music

thank you ma’am for my life

rio remembers beth used to play piano and gets her one and revoltingly cute shenanigans result

also hilarity

and sexiness

this fic has it all, truly

shout out to mick who sees no reason to keep rio’s feelings to himself

good girls tumblr fic - prettylittlementirosa / @hypermania​​

cheating and reccing a whole series

It’s my list and i can do what i wanna

stop crying about it, it’s four fics and they’re all AMAZING absolutely impossible to pick a fav

truly flawless characterization, next level ability to capture evocative mood, cannot get enough

three’s a crowd: who knew ballroom dancing while dean watches and grinds his teeth could be so sexy 

(trick question everything about that premise sounds A++++ and boy howdy does it live up)

feel it on the way home: rio tries to break up with beth, it goes about as well as you’d expect

(thE angSty tenSioN)

i want to play the game: [from the floor] i’m still not ready to talk about it

(rio/turner, missing scene, 10000000% a taste of what went down in that hotel room)

june after dark: pitch perfect annie pov, really really love the take that Annie is the baby whisperer, can’t fully explain why but it feels incredibly right

(ANNIE X NANCY COULD WORK SO WELL YOU GUYS)

[bookwyrminspiration]

So uh. I reblogged the latest wings au chapter and forgot to actually read it until now. Working memory is little bitch like that sometimes I guess.

-Elwin! I’ll be honest, I sort of forgot about him, but it was so great to see him again and hear his side of everything. And yay for the kotlcrew finally getting their injuries looked at by someone who knows what they’re doing.

-The middle section of them all just vibing and being teenagers was great, I love seeing them interact like real people.

-This is kind of a minor point, but I think there was more of Wylie in this chapter than there has been in a little while, so that was cool. I hope there’s more of him again soon, and I’m really interested to see your take on his ability and his wings.

-The messages! I’m guessing they’re riddles, and I wonder if the messages she hasn’t looked at contain more clues to the riddles.

-The ending!! Is it something about the presence dragons of dragons that inspires violence in people (which would be so cool)? And if so, what does that mean for Marella 👀…?

this just reminded me that 1. i still need to read my partner's fic they posted a very long time ago 2. there's a little more writing left for the wings au today to meet my goal. but!! onto your ask first! this is super sweet and i'm very glad you enjoyed the chapter!! trying to balance adding a new character while keeping up the interactions amongst the others and all that!

-- I'll be honest I kinda forgot about Elwin too and put off adding him in probably longer than made sense, but they just finally reached the breaking point where it was getting more and more annoying to keep track of all the injuries (on my end, at least!) so from a writer's perspective he's kinda being used as a reset opportunity, because he wouldn't leave anyone unattended to. so once he's completed his part in this section of the story, I can approach the next with a clean slate in terms of injuries and what they're physically capable of! and it was also just a great opportunity to get an outside perspective and some feedback on a few of their more questionable decisions without being judged. it's just been them working amongst each other with no outside input, which only helps them to a certain degree. in that way, i guess elwin functions like a mental reset too, changing how they'll think about and approach any future endeavors. also i just like him :)

-- me too!! as someone who is essentially smack in the middle of all the characters' ages, I sometimes feel there's the teenage part of them that's missing, likely because they were written by someone who is not currently a teenager! which is fine, I don't expect her to be able to write about just casually being teenagers in this day and age without having that experience, but as a fic writer I can kinda slip in some of that banter we have with each other to just give them more of an awake feeling, like they're more people-like! because that kind of conversation and just improvised banter poking fun at each other is the kind of thing I would do with people in real life! it's also just fun to give them a slightly different twist, because there's an aspect of them I get to explore that Shannon doesn't as I have removed the romance

-- yep! there was more Wylie that I think there's been in a while--he had a few brief lines in chapter 9 (or was it 10?), but I haven't really touched on him and Maruca yet because they're more minor characters in canon and I haven't 100% figured out how I want to integrate them. but! they're not just gonna be background characters forever, I've just kinda been approaching each person one or two at a time, and Maruca and Wylie haven't come up in that aspect yet. however, I do have plans to include them more in the near future. so that's something I'm both nervous and excited to write!! i think the wings I've given him are pretty fun, so hopefully you'll like my choice as well!

-- the messages! the long awaited messages have finally been revealed! i hope they were worth that wait--I didn't expect them to attract as much attention as they did, but several people seem very put-off with me (in a joking, fun way) for that one cliffhanger where she almost read them, only to talk to elwin instead. they are riddles!! well, really it's one big riddle split into two parts. they coexist, I suppose. they rely on each other for the answer they point to. i can say tho, that as of right now they are entirely self-sufficient and Sophie shouldn't need any other outside information to figure them out, just those two messages! there may be more secrets and puzzles to figure out that she acquires later tho...who knows !!

-- the ending! the drama of linh lunging towards Sophie at the sight of that dragon scale. was she attacking? was it the dragon scale itself or something else building up? so many questions!! all of which I happen to have the answer to, but that's for you all to find out later! or just to theorize about--I might not explain every single little detail within the writing. but there is definitely more about the dragons that will be touched on later and what they mean storywise for both Marella and Linh (still not saying what her wings are, but there's clearly something going on!!)

I'm very pleased that you liked this chapter!! there was a lot of set up for future drama going on so it's really cool to see what stood out to you and which details you liked. this au just keeps getting longer and longer so i'm honored you've stuck around this long! we are....rapidly approaching 100,000 words. currently at almost 94,000 (including unpublished) and I! don't know how to react to that!

but that's besides the point. thank you for reading and commenting on the au!!

[palmett-hoes]

since the first step in achieving your goals is to state them aloud, here's a list of aftg fics/ au s that i'd like to write some day

- pre-canon fic from aaron's perspective spanning the twins' first meeting till they're drafted by the foxes and graduate high school. i'm increasingly enamored with aaron as a character as well as with an outside perspective of andrew's actions and i think it would be very interesting to look at the foundation on which their fraught relationship is built and first developed

- even more pre-canon fic. andrew's early life in foster care. yes, we all know about the most... gruesome things that were done to him, but i believe that there is plenty more that has affected and shaped him, especially in relation to my interpretation of andrew as an autistic poc. this would not be a happy fic.

- anastasia au. neil as anya, andrew as dimitri. possibly a plot amalgamation from both the animated movie and the stage show, with changes as i see fit. (no, neil is not the prince of russia). what i find most compelling about this au is the story of neil and andrew as childhood friends and then the angst of having andrew, as an adult, teaching an amnesiac neil how to act like a noble while being convinced that neil is an imposter. good shit

- art school/dance club au. the foxes attend the palmetto school of art at prestigious edgar allen university. they're considered the school's charity cases, and they are NOT friends. andrew is a studio arts major with a concentration in sculpture who works in the campus coffee shop in the mornings and frequents night clubs that employ pretty boys in the evenings. neil is attending college completely on his father's dime, PROVIDED he study what his father wants, despite his desire to study dance and music. going crazy without an outlet, neil takes a secret job as a go-go dancer. look. this may slightly possibly be a result of me having planned to party hardy this summer, then having my plans ruined by the virus :c

- 1950s High School au. the 1950s aesthetics fucking rock even though the 1950s fucking sucked. kinda wanna tackle both. plus, andrew already has that james dean bad boy fast car appeal

- an exploration of mary and nathan's relationship and history. i get that neil's parents are both super taboo and both really really awful people, but i have questions and i want to answer them

- neil never returns from baltimore. in order to keep his deals, permanently, andrew kills riko and tetsugi, and gets over 20 years in prison. when he gets out, he just wants to be alone, but it seems there's a ghost haunting him. this was conceived for MAXIMUM angst, no getting around it. i got the idea from a badacts fic and it has haunted me ever since

- post-canon sexuality exploration fic. i have a real passion for quality sex education and healthy experimentation, and neil very clearly didn't get the chance for either. yet at the end of the books he finds himself in a very intense sexual relationship. i just really want to give him the opportunity to find out how desire works for him and what he likes, on his own terms. i read a lot of fics where neil's desires seem to be completely dependent on andrew's initiaton, and while i do believe that andrew is the only person neil is attracted to and will ever be attracted to, i also want to explore how his sexuality manifests on its own. the vibe i'm going for is, uh, HornySweet (tm), but also with a lot of genuine eductional material. i want this is to be something that offers real information to its readers that may have been inaccessible for a lot of people, on topics like like sexual hygiene, maturbation, and sex toys in a non-fetishy way. this will be very very E rated, but like,, in a very earnest and goofy way because sex and sexuality is neat and cool but it's also not all serious perfect fucking. it's just,, a topic that deserves to be DISCUSSED

- mobster au. andrew, having never met aaron, takes a job for the moriyamas to track down a runaway asset. Neil. upon completion, they make andrew the butcher's apprentice, and pull neil back into the fold as a commodity rather than a person. lots of violence, lots of shady underground dealings, lots of plotting, lots of secrets.

i'm gonna put some more under the cut, ones that i don't feel as strong a drive towards right now or that i haven't thought as much about. if you (yes, YOU) like any of these, or are interested in any of these, or wanna hear more about any of these, or are even inspired to write something yourself by any of these please, PLEASE, say something in the notes, or send me a message, or an ask or anything. ANYTHING. i am stuck inside, all the time, and i am so, so lonely. i answer from hoob-gooblin

- princess bride au. come ON. princess bride is one of the most romantic AND most snarky movies of all time, and andreil literally invented love and devotion sooooooo it's a perfect match. "yes or no" vs "as you wish" kings of consent and communication and unconventional love declarations. also,, he may not be how I imagine andrew, but a young cary elwes in dramatic black pirate getup is DEFINITELY a valid andrew

- hozier au. sometimes,, i listen to an album, and imagine a fic that encompases the whole thing. nothing speaks louder to me than hozier's discography. (also, yes, i am gay). maybe a little bit inside llewyn davis. neil wanders through a small town and takes up some small jobs, but sings his heart out through twisted metaphors once a week in a hole in the wall bar staffed by a very short, dead eyed veteran

- prince and the pauper au. on a stealth recon mission in enemy territory, andrew encounters a local lord who happens to have his face. in a moment of desperation to save himself from arrest, andrew knocks the lord out and assumes his identity. he returns to the castle just in time for prince moriyama to arrive with a shifty-eyed, red-headed handservant in tow. lord aaron of columbia, meanwhile, wakes up on a ship manned by crown traitor and fugitive kevin day, calling him by a name he's never heard before, and then he's in the hands of the guerilla rebel forces that have been attacking the kingdom. i watched barbie princess and the pauper as a child and that movie fucking slaps

- little mermaid/beauty and the beast/bride of the rose beast/ladyhawke au. in a last ditch attempt to escape his father, neil trades his voice and his tail for legs and washes ashore on a small kingdom with horrible secrets. because he cannot speak, read or write, prince aaron employs neil to serve the monster in the catacombs, the prince's twin brother. the twins are under a curse that turns them into terrifying monsters, andrew by day and aaron by night. aaron's affliction is a secret, as is andrew's humanity. this is such a hodgepodge idea lol. did neil also have to be a mermaid for this to work? no. is he? hell yeah

- new york private school/twin swap au. aaron wins a scholarship to a prestigious school that will guarantee him a future, but then he relapses. convinced he just needs a little more time to get clean, he makes a deal with his volatile new brother, andrew, to stand in for him at the school just until he can his shit together. neil and ichirou moriyama have been raised together their entire lives, always under the knowledge that ichirou will inherit the family empire with nathaniel as his right hand. they hate the idea, but they have no way to escape, and now neil is being harassed by ichirou's bitchass estranged brother at their stupid, fancy private school. LISTEN, we as a fandom do NOT take enough advantage of the twin swap possibilities presented to us. pathetic

- post-canon fic where ichirou, realizing that the life of a mob boss is a lonely one, decides that he needs... a friend. however, because of the nature of his work, he can't just make friends with anyone, so he decides to make friends with neil. without consulting neil first. cue a lot of very weird, very awkward coffee dates where neil is convinced he's about to be disposed of, and ichirou just wants to know about his cats. the thing i like about ichirou is he’s a complete blank slate. i can make him a good guy, a bad guy, an ally, the Big Bad

- Kill Bill au. mary survives a bullet to the head and wakes up from a coma over a year later. with nothing left to lose, she sets out to single-handedly dismantle the wesninski circle. good thing she used to be its top assassin

- single dad andrew au. except look, look, stay with me here, okay, aaron is his son, and he's adopted nicky and kevin. LISTEN. STAY WITH ME. JUST THINK ABOUT IT. tbh the idea comes from my interpretation of the andrew/neil/kevin dynamic as distincly parental, then extending that interpretation to andrew's protection over the rest of his family.

- fashion au. andrew is a fashion designer and photographer who frequently works with allison reynolds. one day she brings around a short, twitchy assistant who looks like she just plucked him out of an alley. somehow, he becomes andrew's muse. i watch a lot of fashion competition shows

- ghibli. either howl's moving castle (andrew as sophie, neil as howl) or spirited away (?). maybe both idk

- legally blonde au. legally blonde is so good guys

[pynkhues]

3 7 22!!

3. What is that one scene that you’ve always wanted to write but can’t be arsed to write all of the set-up and context it would need? (consider this permission to write it and/or share it anyway)

I answered this one here, but I will say I forever want to write more scenes with just the girls, particularly pre-canon scenes, so I thought I might share a scene from my ridiculously belated prompt-a-thon fill which is 10 times Ruby’s danced, and this scene is about Beth and Ruby while Beth’s in labour with Emma, and Ruby’s pregnant with Harry. 

Below a cut to save your feeds!

-

“I kinda figured we’d just arrange the thing.”

She’s only half serious when she says it, but it’s worth it to see Beth’s head jerk, her eyebrows somewhere up near her forehead even as her cheeks are still flushed red, her chest still heaving.

“You have been watching way too many old romances,” she tells her, amusement thick in her tone, and Ruby shrugs, rocking the baby carrier beside her when Danny starts to whine.

“Please, you’re the one who made us go see Fiddler on the Roof three times at the Revival Theatre. If it wasn’t for that, I’d never even know about the whole matchmaker thing with your people.”

“My people,” Beth scoffs, red creeping up her neck. “Besides, the whole point of Fiddler on the Roof was that he had to learn how to let his daughters choose who they married. That they couldn’t just arrange -  - ah.”

Beth exhales sharply, squirming back into her seat, hands balling, white knuckled at the arms of the chair, and she has to be close, Ruby thinks, dropping her hand to Beth’s back, rubbing soothing circles there as she tries to catch the attention of one of the nurses. They barely seem to even see them though amidst the crowded waiting room, beelining to patients with - - what even is that? A rash? Ruby side eyes the nurse taking the man out of the waiting room, before turning her attention back to Beth.

“What was that whole do you love me song about then, huh?” Ruby says. “Him and his wife had been matched, and those two were in it, y’know?”

“It’s generational. The parents do what they have to so the kids can have it better,” Beth insists, but she hasn’t opened her eyes yet, her eyelashes matted together with her clumping mascara and tears, and Ruby sighs, sitting forwards as best she can with her own pregnant belly in the way. New plan, Ruby tells herself. They are never pregnant at the same time again. One of them needs to run point, and she can’t send Stan out with Kenny and Sara forever.

“Where’s Dean?”

“I called Boland Motors,” Ruby promises. “He wasn’t at his desk, and honestly that new secretary of his is - -”

Well, Ruby thinks a little dryly.

She’s something.

Beth squirms back in her seat, panting a little now, and the contractions really are getting closer together, even if her waters haven’t broken yet. Maybe they’ll have to pop that bag for her – they had to do it with Danny after all –her gaze darts sideways to check on him in his stroller, but he’s fallen asleep again.  

“So, how do you wanna do it?” Ruby asks, keeping her tone light. “We gotta get this thing on paper.”

It’s enough to make Beth twist her neck sideways, to peel open her watery eyes in confusion, and Ruby waits until she has Beth’s full attention before she gestures down to her own swollen belly.

“Stan Junior here is gonna be a catch. I’m just saying. Beth Junior there might want to lock it down.”

Beth’s laugh is strangled between her breathlessness, the pain of her contractions, but god, it’s music to Ruby’s ears.

“Oh, Stan Junior will definitely be a catch,” Beth agrees, the sweat curling her hair at her temples. The contraction seems to pass, and Beth smooths her own hand over her belly, still panting. “Lilies for the wedding?”

Ruby hums in approval, only to pause, squint a little below the bright glare of the hospital fluorescents.

“Wait. Do they get married at a church or a synagogue?”

“Neither,” Beth says, brushing her hair away from her face with a trembling hand, her eyes fixing briefly on Danny, sleeping in his stroller. “I feel like we should get a vacation out of it.”

“Oh, you’re planning a beach wedding now?” Ruby asks with a grin, the thing only faltering when the doors open again but - - no. Just a nurse, brandishing her clipboard. Still no Dean. Typical.

Beth hums, like she hadn’t even noticed, looking back at Ruby, her blue eyes bright, and there’s something that feels like Beth in it again, something warm, impish, as she wrinkles her nose, considering, and Ruby can’t help it, the way it feels like a key that unlocks her.

“White sand, the ocean,” Beth says. “We’d probably need to hire a marquee.”

“And a beach bar,” Ruby agrees, grinning a little when Beth rolls her eyes, waving a hand at her innocuously, before she says:

“Well, that goes without saying.”

And Ruby just laughs at that, sinking back briefly into her hard backed hospital chair (which is one-thousand percent not designed for anyone at all ever) before leaning forwards again, standing up two of her fingers like legs and walking them from one side of her belly to the other, over the arms of the chairs, and up the side of Beth’s twitching belly.

“Miss Boland, before you depart your mother, do you take this little man growing inside me to be your lawfully wedded husband?”

It really is magic, Ruby thinks again, the sound of Beth’s laugh. The real one she hears less and less often, the one that makes her throw her head back, her eyes crinkle, the sound a little low, a little husky, the one she knows Dean can never get out of her, and that at least feels like a truth. That Beth is still hers. That she’ll never lose her, not entirely, to Dean, no matter how many photo ops she goes to, no matter how many times she defers to him, no matter how much she dims her light to grow his.

Beth props her own fingers up then, mirroring Ruby’s action and walking them up over the swell of her own belly, meeting Ruby’s fingers in the middle.

“My daughter is running a little late, but I believe I have the permission to speak for her this evening,” Beth says gravely, lowering her voice. “And she says ‘I do’. Now, Mr. Hill, do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?”

“He does,” Ruby says, face split in two with a grin. She lets her eyes slip shut and her tone lower in faux-seriousness. “Finally, our two houses united.”

“Well, our husbands’ houses,” Beth says wryly, and Ruby tilts her head, conceding.  

“That’s true. I think ours have been united a lot longer than this.”

She smiles over at Beth affectionately, but it just - - it floors her, the look Beth gives her back. Her eyes wide open, suddenly wet again, pupils darting across Ruby’s face like she’s - - like she’s looking for the lie, and when she doesn’t see it, she tangles her fingers with Ruby’s, quick as she can, mumbling something about a first dance and holds Ruby’s hand tight to her belly, swaying a little – as if to hide the fact that maybe she just wanted to hold her.

To be held.

And Ruby holds her hand back all the tighter.

7. What do you think are the characteristics of your personal writing style? Would others agree?

I am sure everyone would love me to stop talking about light and using ‘- -’, haha. 

But honestly? I actually don’t know how others perceive my style. Like I’ve said in other posts, I’ve been told my writing is extremely feminine by industry professionals, which I believe translates to being interested in women’s lives and writing fairly descriptively (masculine prose is usually v bare bones ala Raymond Carver and, of course, Hemingway). 

I think some of the characteristics of my writing is that it’s sensory and descriptive, that I like untidy endings, that no relationship is perfect. I think (and hope) I prioritise relationships between women, even with shipper fic, that my sex scenes (again, hopefully, haha) never feel pointless or isolated from the story, and I think I’m pretty good at metaphor, but others might disagree! Who knows! 

22. Do you reread your old works? How do you feel about them?

Y’know, I usually don’t? By the time I post something, I’ve usually re-read it so many times I lowkey hate it, haha, and reading it just makes me feel very self-conscious. I can see the machinery of my own writing I suppose. I can see the bits I’m proud of, sure, but I can also see the bits where I got lazy, the places where the pacing isn’t quite right, the parts where I think I’m too heavy-handed. 

That said, I did re-read all of C&C recently as I was building the timeline masterpost I posted about a month ago now, but also building a better story bible for myself to write new stories, and I was really surprised by how much I enjoyed being in that world again as a reader? 

Particularly the last installment I posted of Playing House - ‘Animalia’ (otherwise known as the zoo chapter, haha) - I really, really hated when I posted. I’d had a few set-backs in my original writing professionally at that time, and then I had seen someone make an unkind comment about my fics which just sort of hit a nerve at a bad time. It meant I was extra critical of my own writing, and I loved the story in my head, but felt it wasn’t translating well onto the page. 

I got to a point where I was like - - well, whatever, I don’t want to look at it, and I know people like this ‘verse, so maybe they’ll overlook how crap it is’. I got such a lovely response to it at the time, but I still felt badly about it, and so re-reading it this time, and being like ‘hang on, Past Sophie, you’re an asshole, this is pretty good’ was a nice feeling, haha.

[h3llostrang3r]

An Heir is Born (TRH)

Liam x Sophie Word count: 2,104 Warning: Sophie likes to cuss. Summary: Sophie and Liam welcome their first child.  Notes: (pt. 1 of 2) Obviously, this throws canon right out the window. I thought it would be at least another year before I would have to think about my Liam and Sophie actually having their baby, but here we are.(I’m not ready!!) A couple of these ideas are not my own. I gave them a fun twist and added them as Easter eggs.

The time was ticking down as Cordonia waited for the future heir to make their debut. Sophie had finally reached the 9 month mark and now it was up to the baby to decide when they were ready. The nursery was complete, the King and Queen’s overnight bags were packed, and Sophie was more than ready to evict her tiny tenant from her uterus. 

“Sophie, please reconsider, my love. You are due any day now and it will be faster to get you to the hospital if you stay here at the estate.” 

Liam held his wife’s hands and brought them up to his lips, hoping this sign of good gesture would get her to change her mind. 

“Liam, I love you, but I am going crazy being cooped up here. If I don’t get out, I am going to call Olivia and she will escort me out … with a knife pointed at anyone who tries to stop me.” 

His face fell, “Will you at least let me come with you?” 

“Oh my dear husband, don't worry! We’re just going shopping. And Rashad has been waiting months for an audience with you, don’t break the poor man’s heart - he works hard enough. I promise to keep my phone nearby, okay?”

He finally nods in agreement and she gives him a playful kiss, her large baby bump slightly in the way. 

“Now a kiss for the baby…” 

Liam bends down, brings his face to her belly and whispers, “I will get you a panda if promise that you will not try to come out while you and your mother are out. One kick for a `yes’.” 

He waits for a response… nothing. 

“Hmm, they must be sleeping. Or they didn’t like whatever you were whispering about down there.” 

They both turn their attention as Hana and Maxwell arrive in the foyer, eager for their shopping trip with Sophie. 

“Looks like we’re off. Kiss for the road, please.” Liam lets out a sigh as he stands, and obeys his queen’s wish. 

****

They were finished with their last stop, the group waited for Sophie’s head guard, Xander, to pull up with the S.U.V. She pulled out her phone and facetimed her husband. 

“Hello, my love, how was your shopping trip?” 

“Hello, handsome. It was fun, we’re just waiting for the car and heading back to Thornwood.” 

Liam notices Maxwell in the background carrying an unusually large stuffed animal...was that a squid? 

“Sophie, what was Maxwell carrying?” 

She looks back at Maxwell and laughs, “A gift... for the baby… Hey, I’m starving. Would you mind asking the staff to start prepping -” Sophie suddenly looks down and her smile fades.

“Oh shit…”

“My love, is everything okay?”

“I just pissed myself.” 

“Soph?”

 Liam can hear Hana gasping in the background. After a few moments Sophie looks back up at the camera, the look of fear spreading across her face. 

“Liam…” 

“Love? Are you okay?”

“My-my water just broke.” Panic settles in her voice and she looks to Hana, who comes to her aide. Liam sees Maxwell frantically running with the giant squid, it’s head flopping around and tentacles flying every which way. He runs to the car to alert Xander about what just happened.

“My love, have Xander take you to the hospital. I’ll have Drake and a team escort me there. Deep breaths, don’t panic, okay?”

Sophie unable to speak, just nods her head. The camera moves around as they enter the car. All he can see is the ceiling of the S.U.V., followed by large purple tentacles, and then large plastic bulbous eyes. He can hear Maxwell and Sophie exchanging screams of panic, and Hana trying to calm them down. Unexpectedly, Hana’s face appears on the screen.

“Hi Liam. We’ll make sure Sophie gets to the hospital safely, we’ll see you soon!” 

The video call abruptly ends and Liam scrambles out of his seat to find Drake, the heir was on their way. 

“Oh god, oh god.” Maxwell brings his face uncomfortably close to Sophie’s belly, “stay in there baby, we’re not ready for you yet!” Suddenly he begins to take quick breaths in and out. He whispers to himself, “remember the Lamaze training,” and continues with his breathing techniques.

“Maxwell, you’re supposed to be coaching the mother-to-be not yourself.” Hana runs her hand over Sophie’s forehead, “hang in there Sophie, we’re almost there.” 

****

They manage to get Sophie checked in and settled into a private room. Maxwell paces back and forth, while Hana continues to try to comfort Sophie.

“Hana, the doctor says it’s still going to be a while. Would you mind maybe taking Maxwell for a distraction or something?” 

Hana nods and leads Maxwell out by the hand, telling him they should find a bakery to bring back cronuts for Sophie to eat later. 

Sophie sits in silence, trying to breathe through the pain. Deep breaths, Sophie, deep - fuck this hurts. Deep br- seriously, why does this hurt so much? 

Her thoughts are interrupted by the click of the door. Liam enters the room, her heart skips a beat every time he enters any room; she was a sucker for his regal stride and handsome face. He looked mixed with emotions, it was somewhere between pure joy and ‘dear god, this is really happening.’

“Are you alright, my love? How are you feeling? Can I get you anything? Tell me how I can help.” 

Sophie offers a sweet smile, and tugs him by his lapel, bringing him down for a kiss. She loved seeing Liam out of his element. He had the royalty card down, but these moments of vulnerability and normalcy is what she loved most. “I’m super hungry… Can you bring me something to eat? Maybe some Doritos? I would be so grateful for some chippies.” 

Liam brushes her hair back from her face, even amongst all the chaos she radiated with beauty. “I think the nurses said that your food intake should be limited now, but I believe they said Jell-O and popsicles are okay? I’ll go check.” 

Liam makes his way out of the room, his steps light with a slight bounce to them. Sophie’s stomach growls and she can no longer tell the difference between the contractions and hunger pains. She didn’t think applesauce and popsicles were going to cut it- she wanted some actual food. 

“Doritos!!” Her cries could be heard from behind closed doors to the nurses station, “my duchy, for some Doritos!!” 

No one answers her pleas, so she takes out her phone and sends out a text:

S.O.S. Am dying. Send help. 

… You’re not dying, Thorn. What do you need? 

Guardian of the Realm, you have answered the call of your Queen! She requires sustenance. She requires… Doritos. Cool Ranch. Please.

Why don’t you ask Liam ?

This is a secret mission, Drake. Only you and your Queen may ever know of this task. Now hurry! There is no time to waste!

He’s going to kill me.

No he’s not. Besides, you’ll have full protection from the Queen. 

Liam arrives back to the room with the food Sophie is allowed to have. She tries a small bite of the jello and lime popsicle. Both of these options sucked. How could a pregnant woman be reduced to eating jello and a popsicle when all she craved was a Dorito? 

“My love, this isn’t working. Can you see if they have applesauce and a cherry popsicle, please?” 

“As you wish, my Queen.” Liam chuckles as a places a gentle kiss to her lips and heads out once more.

Where r u???????

Moments after she sends her text, Drake arrives with a snack size bag of chips. 

“You may be the queen, but you’re a Thorn in my ass. You know that, right?” 

“Mmhhmm. Now gimme!!” He hands her the bag and she hastily opens it up. There it was in all its yellow-5 glory, she munched on the chip - eyes fluttering closed with delight and a low moan.

“Should I leave you two alone, Thorn?” 

She grabs another chip and shakes her head ‘no’. 

“You are my hero, Drake. Want one?” 

He chuckles as he shakes his head, “nah, I’m good. Feeling better now?” 

“You have no idea. I owe you big time. Oh, I know, I’ll build you a cabin. You want a cabin? I'll build one right behind the duchy, hidden in the woods.”

Drake gives her a wide smile and laughs, Sophie and him always connected on that level; life wasn’t always about fancy and expensive things. Sometimes all you needed was a bag of chips... or whiskey.

The door opens once more and she quickly shoves the bag to Drake, then licks the delicious remains from the Doritos off the tips of her fingers. Liam has returned with her requests. “Hello Drake, is everything alright? I thought you wanted to just stay in the waiting room?” 

Drake does his best to hide the chips from Liam’s view. “Oh ya, well-uh… I needed a break from Maxwell, so I thought I would go for a walk and I ended up here.” 

“Ah-I see. Well, here, have a seat and join us.”

“No-no that’s okay. I think I’ll take this walk outside for a bit. Hospitals creep me out. Good luck, Thorn.” 

He gives a shy wave as he leaves the room. “Thank you for keeping me company, Drake.” He gives Sophie a smirk just before he exits. Liam pulls a seat next to Sophie’s bed, displaying the food on her tray. 

“Alright, as requested - applesauce, and a cherry popsicle.” Liam looks to Sophie, noticing that she’s trying hard to hide her disappointment. “And I also brought you this…” 

From behind his back he offers her a bag of cool ranch Doritos. “I figured a chip or two couldn’t hurt.” 

Her face lights up and she wraps a hug around her husband's neck. Peppering kisses across his face. “You spoil me, you really do.” She claps her hands with joy then enjoys her allotted amount of chips. 

“It’s because I love you so much, my Queen.”

****

“I thought you said you loved me…” Sophie wailed as sweat ran down her forehead. The contractions were hard and she was fully dilated. Her legs were perched up and her grip on Liam was incredibly strong. 

“I do, my queen, keep breathing.” 

“You did this. You seduced me with your charm and ridiculously sexy body. Then you stuck this baby in me and now they won’t. Come. Out!!!” 

The doctor instructed her to stop pushing for a few moments and she rested her head back on the pillow. She shot a glare to the doctor, “For the love of Cordonia and it’s apples, get this baby out of me.” 

“Sophie, deep breaths, my love, please.” Liam tried his best to stroke her hair, and give her kisses of encouragement. “You’ve already proved that you’re capable of so much, you can do this.” 

They notice the doctor whispering to the nurse before she puts her attention back on them. “Your majesty, it appears the heir has decided to come out backwards. We’re moving you to the O.R. for an emergency c-section.” 

Her gaze shifts back and forth from the doctor to Liam. “What? No. NO.” Sophie releases Liam from her grip and places her hands on her belly. “We went over this, tiny human, face-down, ass-up. FACE-DOWN, ASS-UP.” 

****

Sophie is prepped and Liam is by her side, the room is quiet other than the beeping monitors, and the doctors and nurses talking. Liam distracts her with his favorite memories of them. From their magical night in New York during his bachelor party to the moment they realized they were going to have a baby. So many memories already made and many more to come. It was more than he could ever hope for; someone to truly love and care for, and now a child- their child.

“Liam, I’m sorry for yelling at you. I didn’t mean it, it’s just …trying to push a baby out of a vagina is hard.”

He gave her a comforting smile, and gently squeezed her hand. “I know, my love. You’re doing so much work for our child, you are so wonderful.” 

He leans to give her a kiss. She focuses her attention from the pressure down below to his soft lips. His stubble slightly tickling her face, but she enjoys every second. He pulls away and stares into her eyes, his eyes glisten. She is beautiful, loving, she is his wife, and the mother of his child. 

A baby’s cry fills the room, Sophie and Liam share another kiss, she feels a tear on her cheek that’s not her own. 

The Royal Heir is born.

[cuthian]

Dancing in the Rain Chapter Four

Hi everyone!

Hope you're all still safe and healthy :)

Longer chapter this week, since it'll have to last you two weeks. I won't be able to post again next week due to my busy and hectic exam and work schedule now that everything is opening again here in Belgium. As always, but especially from hereon out, PLEASE mind the tags (canon-typical violence, kidnapping, angst) and if you have any concerns, please feel free to contact me (@cuthian on Tumblr).

Or yell at me in the comments.

As always, much thanks to @juulna for putting up with me and helping me whip this thing into shape.

Lots of love, Annaelle

Chapter Four

28 CELEBRITIES WHO HAVE OPENED UP ABOUT THEIR STRUGGLES WITH MENTAL ILLNESS

-        Research shows that stereotypes about mental illness often prevent people from seeking treatment or speaking out about their struggles.

-        In recent years, stars like Sophie Turner, Chrissy Teigen, Demi Lovato and Prince Harry have spoken candidly about their struggles with mental illness.

Despite the prevalence and global impact of mental health conditions, it’s still hard to open up and ask for help when you most need it. Research shows that harmful stereotypes about mental illness often prevent people from seeking treatment or speaking out at all.

Luckily, in recent years, we’ve seen a shift in the way people view and talk about mental health conversations about depression, anxiety, addiction and more have moved from the private to the public sphere. That’s not only important, but effective, according to mental health experts. In fact, when public figures open up about their own mental health struggles, it can help break down stigma, spark important discussions and even inspire people to seek out treatment.

Below, we’ve rounded up 28 celebrities who’ve spoken candidly about their own battles with everything from postpartum depression to anorexia and PTSD.

[…]

Prince Harry spoke to a therapist about his mental health after two years of "total chaos" in his late twenties.

[…] recently revealed he felt very close to a complete breakdown all the time, and faced anxiety during royal engagements before he finally began to see a professional to address his grief. Now “in a good place”, Harry has encouraged others to open up about their own struggles.

[…] started the Heads Together campaign with Prince William and Kate Middleton to help “end the stigma around mental health issues.” […] "The experience that I have is that once you start talking about it, you suddenly realize that actually, you're part of quite a big club," he told The Telegraph.

[…]

An outspoken advocate for mental health awareness, Demi Lovato is open about her battles with bipolar disorder, bulimia, and addiction.

[…] recently released a documentary about her own struggles, shared powerful side-by-side photos of her recovery from bulimia and entered rehab to address her substance abuse issues. "It's very important we create conversations, we take away the stigma, and that we stand up for ourselves if we're dealing with the symptoms of a mental illness," Lovato told Variety in February.

The singer continued: "It is possible to live well and thrive with a mental illness."

Steve Rogers, or Captain America, who struggles with social anxiety, depression and PTSD, once said he suffers from "a noisy brain."

[…] interview with Ellen earlier this year, the former Army Captain and Avenger revealed how his anxiety often kicks in when he is asked to speak for causes he cares about, or during press conferences. […] Rogers, who has tried everything from meditation with fellow-Avenger Bruce Banner to learning several new fighting styles with close friend Natasha Romanoff, said he’s “getting better”, but still has moments of self-doubt.

[…] Avenger also opened up about his struggles with depression shortly after he was woken from the ice. “The kindness that was shown to me by my friends—my team—as well as my family and my therapists saved my life,” he told Ellen. […] also shared an emotional letter about his PTSD following his experiences during World War II and during the several battles he has fought in the 21st century.

"There is a lot of shame attached to mental illness, but it's important that you know that there is hope and a chance for recovery," he wrote.

—Evan Agostini, Axelle Bauer-Griffin, “28 Celebrities Who Opened Up About Their Struggles with Mental Illness”, Insider.com, March 2016

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

Avengers Tower, New York, Manhattan, New York State, United States of America

10:36 p.m., 2 April 2016

Tony

Tony was shaking a little, fidgeting, his heart beating unsteadily in his chest as he paced the floor again. He’d been hiding in his lab since this morning, because while he loved Pepper to pieces, and he was elated—re: terrified—that she was pregnant and that they were going to be parents, she was driving him fucking nuts.

At least while he was in his lab, he wouldn’t be shouted at for eating the last Oreo’s.

Pepper didn’t even like Oreos.

She didn’t even want to eat them.

Tony didn’t understand pregnancy brain, but he’d been informed by Google, J.A.R.V.I.S., Rhodey, and Cap that it was best to just not question it.

He also wasn’t sure why he was thinking about Oreos when Becca was potentially in very big trouble, and Steve had left the dubious honour of telling Thor to him. “J.A.R.V.I.S.,” he said, a little desperately, voice shaking. “You heard the man. Call everyone in.”

“I have sent an Alert to all of the Avengers’ personal phones,” J.A.R.V.I.S. replied readily, and Tony exhaled a little in relief. Someone had clearly planned this, had gone through the effort of setting half a building on fire to keep Steve distracted and get to Becca without drawing attention to what they were doing, and Tony was a little afraid to think of who they might be—of what they wanted with Becca.

He was going to do as Steve asked, though, because he would never forgive himself if something happened to Becca and he could have done something to help, to stop whatever it was.

The way Steve had sounded on the phone had kind of… scared Tony too.

He’d not heard Steve fall back to that dull, lifeless, monotone tone of voice very often, and when he had… well… it had never meant very good things for any of them.

The last time he’d heard Steve sound like that… the last time Steve had called Tony sounding like that, Tony had had to rush Natasha to Steve and Becca’s tiny Brooklyn apartment to keep Steve from doing something drastically stupid—she’d found the war hero crumpled in a heap on the floor with tears running down his cheeks and a gun to his head, begging her to just let him pull the trigger…

To let Steve stop the nightmares permanently.

He shuddered.

Yeah… Hearing that tone coming from Steve meant something.

Tony was barely holding himself back from rushing down to the lab and throwing himself into a suit, hurtling off to… to nothing. Nowhere.

He didn’t know anything yet.

Steve didn’t know anything yet.

He’d asked Tony to assemble but had left him with no other instructions and Tony knew, okay, he knew there was nothing he could do until he had more information.

And fuck if that didn’t frustrate him more.

He was stuck, wandering his Tower while his stomach twisted at the many implications his mind was set on conjuring up, each more gruesome than the other.

The elevator let out a bright ping and Tony jumped, eyeing the sliding door nervously until it slid open to reveal Natasha, dressed in a tight tank top and leotard, her hair coiled up into a tight bun and ballet slippers dangling from her left hand.

“What was so urgent, Stark?” She demanded, crossing her arms over her chest with a frown.

He waved his hands dramatically, because he was Tony Stark and if ever there were a time he were  allowed to be fucking dramatic, it would be when Captain goddamn America called him in a panic because he’d lost Tony’s little Baby-Becs, and then giving Tony a heart attack when her tracker wouldn’t work.

“Gotta get to the others first,” he said impatiently, snatching her wrist and pulling her along when he started walking again.

He led the Spider through the silent, unlit hallway, but didn’t bother asking J.A.R.V.I.S. to turn on the lights; he’d designed these hallways, he’d walked them so many times he could probably do it in his sleep—which he had a few times, when Pepper had dragged him to board meetings before he’d had coffee. The twins would likely already be waiting for them in the boardroom anyway, and after all of Thor’s dramatic appearances in the past few years—all of which had cost Tony more than a few light bulbs—he didn’t want to bother anymore.

He ignored the Widow’s cool, silent surprise and dragged her through the door, entirely unsurprised to find Wanda seated at the table in her pyjamas, spinning a thread of red light between her fingertips as she sat cross-legged in her seat, her brother next to her, lounged back in his own seat, boots propped up on his table.

“You know,” he drawled impatiently, glaring—okay maybe mock-glaring—at the silver-haired boy impatiently. “You live here for free. You could at least pretend to take care of my furniture.”

Natasha snorted a laugh and pushed past him, settling in the seat to Little Red’s left. Before the Red fucking Menace could do anything but smirk at him though, the door swung open again to reveal Bruce, dressed in an old band shirt and threadbare sweatpants, his lab coat halfway up his shoulders and his glasses crooked, almost as though he’d just rolled out of bed.

There was a single clock on the wall—for Pepper’s decorative purposes, Tony presumed—and he couldn’t quite stop himself from frowning as he eyed the clock’s hands.

10:45 P.M.

Bruce probably had just rolled out of bed then.

The other scientist had a disgustingly strict sleeping schedule.

“Why are we assembling?” Bruce groaned, rubbing his hand through his—surprisingly curly—hair, and Tony unexpectedly found his thoughts derailed from Becca and Steve to Bruce in much more pleasurable territory, fingers itching to tug on those curls and to press into Bruce’s arms, because the other scientist gave really good hugs, okay?

He’d always been a little sweet on Bruce, even if nothing was ever going to come of it.

He had chosen Rhodey and Pepper years ago, and he was pretty sure Bruce had been dating that astrophysicist girl that Thor had introduced them to a while ago anyway, but… There was a part of him that’d always be kind of weak for the way Bruce looked all adorably sleep-rumbled and soft, and the way he was one of the only people in the world that could keep up with him, one of the only intellectual equals Tony had ever met in his life.

He wasn’t going to do anything about it though.

It was a harmless crush—he was even pretty sure Bruce knew about it. Bruce was, objectively, handsome, and really fucking smart.

He hit all buttons for Tony—except that, you know, he wasn’t Rhodey or Pepper.

He shook himself, chancing one more furtive glance towards Bruce’s sleep-rumpled form before he sighed and shook his head. “Something happened at the gala,” he said. “Steve’s gonna tell us more when they get here.”

He pushed his hands into the pouch on his hoodie and contemplated waking up Pepper, but he knew well enough not to disturb her once she’d managed to get comfortable and fall sleep unless it was super urgent, and he didn’t know what this was.

What if Becca had just wandered away?

He ignored, for the moment, that her subdermal tracker—the tracker he had designed for her, for all of them, that he made sure couldn’tbe taken out unless completely smashed to bits—wasn’t working. The comms hadn’t worked in the building either; some of those older buildings were practically Faraday cages, even his tech wasn’t always good enough to get through that—for all they knew, Becca’s tracker had also been jammed.

It wasn’t worth risking Pepper’s wrath for, he thought. Not yet.

He couldn’t even call Rhodey, because he was off in Europe for the week, doing… military stuff.

Which was fine.

Tony didn’t need both of them around all the time.

He wasn’t pouting.

He wasn’t.

Romanoff snorted at him and eyed him carefully. She raised a perfectly arched eyebrow at him, but he didn’t budge—Romanoff always liked to pretend she knew everything—she probably hated that she knew no more than the others did, right now.

“You know more,” she stated simply after a few seconds. “Is everyone alright?”

Tony opened his mouth to say “yes”, to nod reassuringly, but the word wouldn’t fall from his lips. “I don’t know,” he admitted. The atmosphere in the room abruptly went from sleepy yawns to rapt attention, and Tony fidgeted a little. “The building caught fire during the gala,” he explained. “Everyone was evacuated, but Steve lost Becca in the chaos, and now… we kind of can’t… find her…”

“What do you mean, you can’t find her?” Natasha demanded hotly, sitting up straight and glaring at him. “Activate her tracker. She can’t be far.”

Tony winced and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Her tracker… isn’t working,” he admitted, looking up at the Widow defiantly. “Steve and Clint are canvassing the building and then getting back here. For all we know, she got taken onto one of the ambulances, or the building interfered with the signal. The comms were spotty too; it’s why Clint went inside with them.”

Natasha hissed, almost like an angry cat, and stood, stalking up to the large holographic screen present in almost every room in the Tower and began pulling up… documents? Tony wasn’t sure what she was doing, but she seemed intent on doing it, and far be it from him to discourage the Black fucking Widow from doing what she thought needed doing.

“Have you told Thor yet?” Pietro said, glancing between Tony and Natasha nervously.

Almost like the man was summoned by the mere mention of his name, a loud clap of thunder shook them all and the giant blond god bounded inside, his smile wide and infectious.

“Greetings, friends!” The tall god beamed, and Jesus, Tony was not in the mood to deal with Thor’s sunny personality. Christ. “I apologize for the delay in my arrival,” the god boomed excitedly, thumping down his hammer on the conference table. “Heimdall did not inform me of your request until I had finished the duties the All-Father assigned to me.”

Tony half-watched as Bruce stood to shake Thor’s hand, only to be brought into a tight bear hug, a startled squeak falling from his lips before he patted Thor’s shoulder awkwardly until the taller man set him down again and repeated the hug with Wanda and Pietro, who basically threw himself in Thor’s arms—Tony didn’t miss the pointed look Wanda shot Pietro at that.

He almost jumped right out of his seat when Bruce’s knee bumped against his, his eyes drawn to the other scientist’s immediately, because obviously Tony was a glutton for punishment and he really needed to get a fucking hold of himself.

Bruce looked a little tired, but not nearly as anxious and unsteady as Tony felt, and of course he didn’t, he didn’t know what was going on, none of them did, really—

“Thor,” he exclaimed suddenly, yanking himself away from Bruce abruptly. “We gotta… Steve called, about the gala—something’s happened.”  He ignored the way the rest of the team eyed him nervously and settled back in his seat with minimal fidgeting.

Thor’s smile abruptly disappeared and he sat, heavily, on the nearest chair. “Rebecca,” he said hoarsely. “The baby, are they—are they alright? Is Steven?”

“I don’t know,” Tony admitted, his leg bouncing erratically underneath the table. This was… he was doing something, even if it was just telling Thor, even if it wasn’t much, and that was better than nothing. Doing nothing drove him absolutely and entirely mad—and that wasn’t good for anyone.

“I don’t know a lot yet,” he continued. “The building… there was a fire, and everyone was evacuated, but…” He stalled Thor’s words before he’d even said them, holding up a hand as though to ward off the questions that were sure to come. “…Steve said they got separated during the evacuation. He can’t find her. Her tracker’s offline. She… She might still be in the building or somewhere around there, but…” He swallowed. “Well, it’s not like our trackers can be disabled accidentally.”  

Thor looked gutted, but the expression was swiftly replaced by one of utter rage.

“Who?” he demanded. “Who would dare take her from me? From us?”

Tony’s eyes widened when lightning sparked between Thor’s fingers and thunder rumbled loudly above them. “I don’t know, big guy,” he said in his calmest voice, although it didn’t seem to be doing much to assuage Thor. The crackle of electricity hung heavy in the air and made Tony’s skin prickle and thrum—the raw power rolling off Thor was… fucking intimidating, a reminder that the man wasn’t human, and that he could likely squash them all like bugs if given proper motivation—

The door swung open again and Steve and Clint walked in, and Tony nearly choked on his own tongue, because he’d seen Steve look pretty terrible over the years—in the throes of depression, bruised and beaten after battle, but…

He’d never seen Steve look like this.

There were dark circles beneath Steve’s eyes and several cuts and bruises were in various stages of healing, but Steve’s dark bespoke suit was riddled with bullet holes and splashed with so much ash and blood and Tony really hoped it wasn’t all his.

“Steven!” Thor bellowed, leaping from his seat and crossing the space between him and Steve in a few short strides. “You wear battle upon your skin, yet Tony informed me there was none. Where is Rebecca? Have you found her?”

Tony’s eyes flicked to the door again, then to Clint, who shook his head, and his stomach sank.  

“I—the—she wasn’t anywhere,” Steve finally said, his expression stony, but Tony heard the barely perceptible waver in his voice regardless, and he felt abruptly sick, keeping his eyes fastened on the door, begging for Becca to walk through at any moment, to just be there, to be okay—

Please, please, don’t let her be dead.

“Hydra took Becca,” Steve continued, and Tony’s entire world screeched to a halt for a long, tense moment, his breath punching from his lungs in a startled breath—

“Are you sure?”

“Hydra took Becca,” Steve repeated, but Tony could again hear the waver in his voice that matched the sudden nausea that crawled up the back of Tony’s throat. “Her tracker’s offline, and we came across some stragglers when we canvassed the building and the rest of the block,” Steve went on, turning his attention from Thor to the others. Tony wanted to do something, to say anything, but he wasn’t quite sure what words were for a moment there, because he couldn’t think past ‘Hydra took Becca’. “They had cyanide capsules,” Steve said. “Spitting Hail Hydra before they died.”

He took a harsh breath and looked up at Wanda. “You were right. They’re back.”

Tony’s legs gave out from beneath him as he fell backwards onto his seat. He had not even realised he had risen from his seat in the first place. “Why would they—”

“It was a trap,” Steve interrupted harshly, anger infused in his every word, but Tony could see him fraying around the edges in the way his hands trembled before Steve pressed his palms flat against the table. “It was specifically set to draw me—or us—in,” he continued tensely. “I don’t know how they knew Becca and I would be there or why they took Becca instead, but I don’t intend to let them keep her long enough to find out.”

Thunder rumbled loudly above their heads and lightning flashed through Thor’s eyes at the same time as it lit up the night outside, and everyone jumped again, turning to the God of Thunder with wide eyes. Thor looked livid, and Tony suddenly realised he had never seen Thor really angry before, not truly, not even during their most intense battles, and the sight of it was… surprisingly terrifying.

Outside, a storm unlike anything Tony had ever seen before raged, and Tony wasn’t sure what to do to calm the god down.

He was, honestly, not sure he wanted to.

Let Thor unleash his anger on the bastards who’d dared kidnap Becca.

“J,” he said briskly. “Pull up everything you can find on the gala tonight. I don’t care how many firewalls you have to bypass or how many people will know we’re looking. Just get the info.” He barely waited for J.A.R.V.I.S.’s murmured affirmation before he jumped out of his chair, pulling up a large holoscreen above the table.

“Tell us everything,” he ordered Steve as soon as he had the screen set up, whirling around to find Steve looking at him with the same kind of desperation that was burning in his own veins.

“Now, Steve,” he ordered sharply, knowing it would get through to him the quickest.

Steve faltered for another moment—which Tony guessed he could forgive him for, since he was pretty sure Steve had been up since yesterday morning—before he launched into a detailed explanation of his and Becca’s strategic plans for the gala, all the way down to the color of her dress.

Tony watched, a little lightheaded and in dire need of caffeine—or like… six 5-hour energy shots—as Steve’s plans were laid out on the holographic screen, in clear and direct terms. Clint and Thor were leaning forward, eyes flitting between Steve and the screen, and even Natasha sat, tensed, on the edge of her seat, staring intently at the screen.

His hands trembled when he swiped a picture of one of the targets to the side, and he was very much not thinking about how triggeringthe situation had to be for Becca. She’d been doing so good, and he knew, he knew his Becs was stronger than any of them, but there were limits even to what she could take. He was also very deliberately not thinking of his own issues with being kidnapped—even though he was basically an expert at it now, having been kidnapped like six times before he was even eighteen—or the way he’d found Becca in Iraq, pale and beaten on the floor in a filthy little cell.

She was important to him, always had been, even though he’d been annoyed as fuck at fifteen to be saddled with the baby at family gatherings. She was his Baby Becs and he hated the thought of someone getting their hands on her and hurting her.

He’d promised himself, the day he found her, after he’d led the Army to where she was being held, and the day he’d spent sitting by her bed after the Battle of New York, that he’d find a way to keep her safe.

It’s a pledge he felt truly shamed to have failed at.

“Wait, wait.” Bruce waved his hand slowly, pulling his glasses down his nose and pinching the bridge between thumb and forefinger and completely interrupting Tony’s train of thought. “We have good contacts in S.H.I.E.L.D. Why are we not calling them in? If we can legitimize the mission through them… Making this an official S.H.I.E.L.D. mission would make it easier, wouldn’t it? We’d have all of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s resources.”

“Because revealing that S.H.I.E.L.D. or the Avengers purposefully put active agents in that gala would have meant treading on some very powerful toes,” Fury boomed from behind them, causing Tony to nearly jump out of his skin, knocking his knee painfully into the underside of the table. “We cannot afford that right now.”

Tony swivelled around, because how the fuck did that asshole keep getting into his Tower without his goddamned permission, how did he even know—and then froze, his mind screeching to a stop as he watched Fury approach with Agent Hill—he remembered her, very pretty, badass, had a brief fling with Becca after the fiasco with Romanoff—and…

Coulson?

“Bruce, am I drunk?” he choked out, feebly patting around until his fingers found the fabric of Bruce’s shirt to clutch and hang onto. “I’m seeing dead people.” He was vaguely aware of the sound of Clint dropping his mug onto the table, but no one else said anything, and he couldn’t—

What the fuck.

“This is a whole new level of madness.” Tony shook his head dramatically. “J, call my therapist. Wait.” He frowned. “I don’t have a therapist. Damn it, call a therapist. If they’ll take me. Will they take me? Fuck. What the absolute fuck, Fury?!”

“Tony, shut up!” Steve shouted empathically, and Tony would yell back, but just then, he caught sight of Clint’s expression and oh.

Yeah.

Tony cringed. He’d only heard of Clint’s relationship with Coulson after the man had died on the Helicarrier—although not so much, apparently—but he’d witnessed Clint’s intense grief first hand. So… realising Coulson wasn’t dead after all?

Not cool.

Not cool at all.

Everyone watched, tensely, as Coulson tentatively moved  towards Clint, before Natasha suddenly stepped into his path—

That wasn’t going to end well.

“Don’t you dare talk to him,” she hissed, and if Tony had been on the receiving end of that look, he swore he would have just shrivelled up and died because damn, that woman and her icy glares.

“Nat, I—” Coulson began, falling silent immediately beneath the weight of the Black Widow’s lethal glare.

“Enough,” Fury cut in, and Tony almost wanted to pout—this was dramatic as fuck and it didn’t even involve him, for once—before he remembered why they were there and promptly felt sick, because how could he—or any of them, except for maybe Clint—have forgotten, even for a second, that Becca was missing and in danger?

“Yes,” Steve boomed, face stoic but hands clenched into fists nonetheless before he lifted one hand to point at Coulson. “Enough. You… I’m glad you’re not dead. Head’s up would’ve been nice.” He turned to Fury, and Tony was impressed by the way his expression actually grew icier. “And you… when I’ve got Becca back safe and sound, you and I are gonna have a conversation you’re not going to enjoy.”

It struck Tony then, in a moment of dizzying clarity, how much Steve was struggling to hold onto the Captain America mind set, in a way he hadn’t seen him struggle in…

God, in months.

Tony hadn’t understood, initially, that Captain America was Steve’s shield just as much as his vibranium shield was. He hadn’t understood that, to deal with the expectations people put on Steve from the moment they laid eyes on him, Steve hid behind Captain America.

He showed people what they wanted to see.

Tony could tell that, in the light of Coulson’s reappearance, in the light of Becca being kidnapped on his watch and the botched mission—Jesus fucking Christ—that Steve was on the verge of losing it though.

Tony caught Steve’s eye, and the exhausted desperation in the younger man’s eye nearly made him wince. Nearly. Tony was worried about Becca too, the frantic energy humming beneath his skin nearly electric the longer he sat still, but he was willing to concede—just this once—that Steve’s nerves might be slightly more frayed than Tony’s.

Slightly.

To be fair, neither of them was quite as badly off as Thor obviously was, vibrating where he stood, lightning continually sparking between his fingers and his eyes flashing white with each clap of thunder and flash of lightning outside. But then again, it wasn’t Tony’s girlfriend and child on the line, now was it?

God, he didn’t even want to think about Pepper and the baby being in this kind of danger.

Tony could be a good teammate and take the focus off of Cap and Thor for a bit, though.

Let it never be said Tony Stark didn’t play well with others.

Tony cleared his throat loudly, effectively drawing all attention back to him.

“Not that this isn’t fun,” he drawled sarcastically, rolling his eyes at Fury’s annoyed huff. “But I’d prefer to get back to why we’re actuallyhere.” He gestured back to the large screen, his heart clenching a little at the sight of the photo J.A.R.V.I.S. had pulled up—a picture Pepper had taken during one of the Team Movie NightsTony had insisted upon, catching Becca in the middle of a peal of laughter at something silly Thor had said to Steve—before he glanced back to Steve and Thor and steeled himself.

One of them had to keep it together.

Just figured it’d be him again. Tony never thought he’d be the stable one, but then…

Here he was.

Again.

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

BREAKING: NEW YORK CITY HIT BY UNEXPECTED THUNDERSTORM

The torrential rains that have been ravaging New York City for the past few hours hit unexpectedly and, reportedly, entirely out of nowhere around 10:30 p.m. today. The rains and repeated strikes of lightning have yet to cause any real, lasting damage, but it is only a matter of time if it continues, according to experts.

[…] at least 46 people were caught entirely by surprise by the heavy rainfall and needed to be extracted by firefighters from a partially flooded subway tunnel. “[…] situation is, for now, under control, and we’re trying to help those that have been caught up in the storm, but the streets are flooding, and we recommend everyone to remain at home,” said Anahera Taumata, a senior official at the New York City mayor’s office.

[…] Military units have been deployed to assist emergency workers as they search for [missing] people and clear the streets for emergency vehicles. […] storm unlike any in living memory, according to local authorities. New York’s weather agency has reported up to 6 inches of rain fell within four hours, triggering several flash floods in various subway tunnels, and 4 reported lightning strikes to various buildings.

Amusingly, several New Yorkers have taken to Twitter to ask Thor Odinson, New York’s resident God of Thunder, to take the lightning and rain elsewhere. Interestingly, several weather experts have agreed that such a sudden change in the weather can only be attributed to the God of Thunder. […] no response from Thor or the Avengers yet, although the storm rages on.

[…] no reports of deaths or serious injuries yet.

—Pedro Isaac, “New York City Hit By Unexpected Thunderstorm”, DW.com, 2 April 2016

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

Avengers Tower, New York, Manhattan, New York State, United States of America

11:57 p.m., 2 April 2016

Steve

“This has to be a trap.”

“It’s a one-way video feed,” Tony said scathingly, glaring at Fury. “It can’t be a trap.”

The tension in the room was so palpable that it thickened the air surrounding them, making Steve feel almost like he was choking. The others were spread haphazardly throughout the room, eyeing the video feed J.A.R.V.I.S. had pulled up after receiving an anonymous email with varying expressions.

“Is there any way to trace the signal?” Bruce asked reasonably, looking between Tony and Natasha with a furrowed brow. Natasha had taken control over one of Tony’s holographic screens and had, in the past hour and a half, managed to collect a mildly terrifying amount of evidence of Hydra’s continued existence. The things she had found and was currently investigating were so immensely complicated and implicated so many people that it gave Steve a minor headache at just the thought of considering it all.

She’d managed to uncover a terrifying amount of documents, video footage, photos and other evidence, which was mildly terrifying, considering how hard it had been to find even the slightest scrap of evidence before. When Steve had asked why she was finding so much now, Nat had only muttered, “It’s easy to find things when you know what you’re looking for,” before refocusing her attention on the screen.

And yet, nothing she’d found—nothing pointed towards there having been plans to take Becca.

Except… Except that there had clearly been a plan.

The security cameras in and around the building had been masterfully and methodically rerouted to replay previously recorded footage starting three minutes and forty-three seconds before the fire alarm had been triggered until seven and a half minutes after the alarm had been triggered.

In addition to that, whoever had hacked the feed had done so at the scene—which meant they couldn’t be traced through an I.P. address.

The kidnapping clearly was premeditated, but whoever had done said premeditating had not left a paper trail for them to find. They’d not left anything for them to find, other than Becca’s glaring absence and the three trigger happy goons Steve and Clint had run into when they’d canvassed the area.

And now this dark video feed.

“I don’t care what it is,” Thor thundered, eyes flashing with barely suppressed rage. “Will it help us find Becca?” A particularly loud clap of thunder punctuated his words, making his feelings on the matter abundantly clear. Of course, the thunderstorm outside had been gaining in strength since Thor had learned of the kidnapping.

Steve winced.

After their initial explanation of what had happened at the gala, Thor had simply stood, walked out, and—according to J.A.R.V.I.S.—disappeared through the Bifrost. He’d returned not ten minutes later in full armour and with his friends, who had all immediately spread out into the city to track down whatever leads they could find.

Thor had, after they’d spent a tense few minutes watching him talk to his friends, re-joined the team in the board room, although he’d barely said three words since his return, and most of those words had been used to inform them Heimdall was also searching for Becca with his all-seeing gaze.

He hadn’t spoken to Steve directly since he’d walked in.

And Steve hated it.

He hated that he’d failed Thor and Becca so badly. He’d promised Thor that Becca would be safe, that he’d be by her side the entire time—and because he hadn’t been, because he’d decided trying to dance with the target’s date was a good idea, Hydra had been able to get to Becca.

He wouldn’t be surprised if Thor wanted to throw him from the Tower.

Steve kind of wanted to throw himself from the Tower too.  

“As soon as it activates,” Tony said fervently, nodding at Thor. “I don’t care what they’ve done to erase their digital footprints, as soon as they give us an inch, I’m gonna take a fucking mile.”

Thor nodded curtly. “Very well.” He crossed his arms over his chest and looked away, staring silently out the window into the dark storm.

Steve wondered, not for the first time, whether the sight of the storm soothed Thor, or if it made his anger and fear all the worse. It was, after all, a physical manifestation of Thor’s emotions—a blatant and palpable demonstration of everything Thor felt for anyone who cared to look.

Steve had seen Thor’s control over his lightning slip a few times over the years, but every single one of those instances had been… different.

With the exception of the two-week long thunderstorm that had followed Thor’s return to Earth after his mother and Loki had been killed, every other instance of Thor accidentally letting his lightning loose had been… if not outright funny, then certainly amusing.

It’d happened once after his and Becca’s second anniversary, when Becca had apparently done something very well—although Steve preferred not to think about what exactly she’d done so well, for his own sanity—and once after Clint and the twins had teamed up to play a prank on Thor, and the god had startled so bad he’d electrocuted the entire Tower.

Both instances had been hilarious.

There wasn’t anything funny about Thor’s lack of control now.

Steve eyed the raging storm—if it even was due to a lack of control on Thor’s part. He didn’t doubt that his friend was terrified, because Steve was too, and it wasn’t even his girlfriend, his child on the line. He wouldn’t be surprised if there was a reason Thor had decided to unleash the thunderstorm to end all thunderstorms on New York.

Maybe he was hoping to flush out whoever had taken Becca—quite literally.

Steve would be more concerned about the consequences of letting this storm rage—people could get hurt, there could be floods due to the unrelenting rain—but most of his higher brain function was too occupied with Becca to care.

While Tony, Bruce and J.A.R.V.I.S. bickered over how they were going to trace the video feed, Steve took his chance. Natasha, Clint and Wanda had their heads bent together to try to figure out why there was a video feed in the first place, and thankfully weren’t paying attention to him either.

Steve approached Thor, feeling simultaneously nervous and like he was going to get whatever horrible fate he deserved.

“Hey,” he said quietly once he’d reached his friend, leaning against the wall beside Thor.

Thor barely even glanced up at him, but nodded in acknowledgement nonetheless.

“I—” Steve tried, but his voice rebelled, and the words died in his throat. “I’m sorry,” he finally managed. “I promised you she’d be safe, and… I didn’t—I should’ve stayed with her. I’m sorry.”

Thor heaved a sigh beside him.

“Steven,” he said wearily. “My friend. I love you very dearly, and I want you to know that the only people I blame are the people that tookBecca from me, but…” He sighed again and looked at Steve with dark, haunted eyes. “I do not have it in me to reassure you right now.”

He turned away from Steve again and stared back out the window.

Steve opened his mouth, changed his mind, and then closed it again, feeling distinctly nauseated.

He wasn’t sure how long he and Thor stood there, backs against the wall in silence, before Natasha suddenly announced, “We got something.”

At the same time, Tony exclaimed, “The feed’s going live!”

Steve’s stomach dropped away and he felt distinctly nauseous as he eyed the video footage Tony had pulled up on the largest screen in the room. He pushed away from the wall and joined the rest of the team as they gathered around the screen in a tight half circle, each set of shoulders bumping into the next one over.

And there, right in front of them and yet completely out of their reach, was Becca.

The camera hardly shook at all, and the quality of the video was exceptionally high—whoever this was, Steve would bet anything they were using a professional camera, which spoke volumes about the level of preparedness of the kidnappers, at least in his opinion.

When he voiced said thoughts aloud, Natasha nodded in agreement and Tony insisted he had spotted the same thing immediately. Steve didn’t really pay attention to them, trying to focus his gaze on the details of the scene, on anything that might betray where the footage was being filmed or who was filming it—anything that might tell him where Becca was, but the backdrop was a simple, infuriatingly, undoubtedly purposefully white sheet.

He carefully refrained from looking at Becca, who sat tied to a wooden chair in the middle of the image, because he needed time to steel himself for what he was sure he’d see.

He remembered what Hydra did to the people they took.

He remembered what Bucky had looked like right after Steve had pulled him from that concrete slab in Azzano—remembered the blank stare in his best friend’s eye that never really left after.

Steve wasn’t sure he could stand to see another friend tortured by Hydra.

When he did finally look at her, she looked relatively unharmed, although she’d clearly not been handled carefully, either. Her hair had fallen from the elegant mess of braids and curls Nat had done for her earlier, and there was an ugly scrape on her forehead. She was paler than Steve thought was healthy, but when she looked up at the camera, he could recognize the defiant anger in her gaze.

“This is live, yes?” Thor demanded, glancing towards Tony, and Steve wondered if anyone else could tell just how badly Thor’s hands were shaking.

“Yeah,” Tony nodded. “Yeah. J.A.R.V.I.S. is recording and tracing the feed right now.”

He looked stricken, and though Steve felt a wave of sympathy for him.

“Well, smile for the camera, Barnes,” someone drawled on the feed, voice smug and self-satisfied even though it was clearly distorted by some kind of voice modulator.

When Becca continued to scowl at the person behind the camera, someone heaved an impatient sigh and stomped forward, roughly grabbing Becca’s chin with a gloved hand and forcing her to look directly into the camera. “Come on then,” the man—because it was a man, dressed from head to toe in black, a dark ski mask covering his face—in their field of vision spat. “Smile for your friends, bitch. Gotta say goodbye.”

Lightning sparked between Thor’s clenched fingers and jumped up his arm, and the thunder outside roared deafeningly loud.

Steve winced in perfect tandem with the others, and barely resisted the urge to grasp Thor’s shoulder in comfort. The gesture wouldn’t be appreciated right now, he was sure, and he wasn’t very sure he wouldn’t be electrocuted if he touched Thor right now, in any case. Thor certainly didn’t seem entirely aware of the light current of electricity that was dancing from his clenched fists up to his shoulders and the white that crept across his eyes—

It was, admittedly, slightly terrifying.

He returned his attention back to the screen, where Becca had bared her teeth in a bloody grin.

Steve fumed, because it was obvious she’d been slapped hard enough that her upper lip had split, which meant one of those sick sons of bitches had had the gall to hit a pregnant woman hard enough to make her bleed.

“You gonna scream real’ nice and loud for us, baby?” the male, though still unidentifiable voice taunted on the screen, shaking Becca’s chin roughly while several other voices jeered and the man in the frame cupped his crotch suggestively. Becca winced—a small, minute thing, but Steve had known her long enough to recognize her expression of pain—before she spat at the hand that was holding her.

“You and your pathetic little needle dick couldn’t make me scream if you tried,” she spat, voice strong and clear, glaring up at him.

Steve snorted a laugh despite himself, and even Thor smiled.

Unfortunately the kidnappers were not quite as amused by Becca’s innate inability to stop sassing people, and the man who stood next to Becca in the frame, who’d cupped his crotch to taunt her, slapped Becca hard. Her head whipped to the side and Thor growled as the thunder above them roared, and—miraculously, thankfully—the sound echoed on the video.

They could hear Thor’s thunder on the video.

They could hear it.

She was still in the city—whoever had taken her hadn’t taken her out of the city. And thunder had a limited sound range, at that.

Amateurs, he thought contemptuously.

Becca slowly swung her head back towards the camera, grinning that same bloody grin. “Oh, you’re fucked now,” she chuckled. “Thor. Babe. There’s only five of them. Fucking annihilate them.”

“Someone calculate how far that was,” Clint shouted. “How long was the delay?”

“Couple of seconds tops,” Tony said absently, hands moving feverishly across the keyboard.

“You insolent bitch,” the man behind the camera spat, lurching forward in a blurred movement to backhand Becca across the face once more, and Thor’s thunder howled so loudly everyone reflexively covered their ears. A massive bolt of lightning struck the nearest building and the city went dark beneath and around them.

The Tower, mercifully, seemed mostly unaffected, although there were quite a few red alerts popping up at the bottom of the screen. The video feed, too, seemed unaffected, although the lights shining down on Becca had dimmed considerably, and everyone except Becca seemed a little spooked by Thor’s outburst.

“Well,” the man chuckled, although his voice was just a little shakier than it had been before. “We know they’re watching, then. Good.” He disappeared from the frame again and ordered, “Go get the Soldier.”

Becca swayed a little against her bonds, clearly dazed by the last blow—though still with a slight smile on her face from the proof of Thor’s wrath—and Steve bit his lip nervously. Even though they knew they were in the city, that they couldn’t be far, he didn’t like that they couldn’t get to her right away, that they couldn’t bring her to the medical floor to have her checked out—

“Captain America,” the man on the video said, and Steve’s head snapped up. “You’ve been a thorn in Hydra’s side for far too long. Consider this a warning of what’ll happen to everyone you love if you continue to cross us—we know where your friends live, know that certain elderly friends of yours are particularly vulnerable. I hope you’ve enjoyed your time with Barnes while it lasted, because it comes to an end now. Hail Hydra.”

“What,” Tony said, baffled, and Steve’s stomach roiled—he might throw up; something he’d done maybe thrice since waking from the ice.

Becca had been shaking her head the entire time the man was speaking, but when she opened her mouth to say something, she seemed to spot something behind the camera and her eyes went wide, her jaw going slack. “Wh—Uncle Bucky?”

Steve, who’d been reaching for the nearest trashcan—just in case his rebellious stomach decided to stage a full-scale riot—abruptly jerked back towards the screen, wide-eyed and confused, and Becca blinked owlishly at whoever was behind the camera.

But then, suddenly, before she could gather herself, there was a commotion from the same direction she was staring into as if she’d seen a ghost. It devolved rapidly into unintelligible shouting, and before any of them had any chance to figure out what the hell was happening—

The camera toppled on its side with a loud crash, and for a second, through blurred, jagged footage, Becca’s feet were visible, before a loud bang startled them all, and the video abruptly cut out.

“J.A.R.V.I.S.,” Tony inquired shakily, “tell me you have something.”

“Why would she say that?” Steve whispered, staring at the blank screen without really seeing it, without really… without really thinking.

Why would Becca say Bucky’s name?

No one replied to him.

“I’m sorry, Sir,” J.A.R.V.I.S. responded apologetically, speaking over Steve’s whisper, and Steve felt sick. “The signal was heavily encrypted and was being bounced off servers on every continent. Even with the knowledge they were still in the city, I was not able to narrow down the location. Based on the delay before we heard the echo of Thor’s thunder, however, I estimate that they are no more than five miles away from the Tower.”

“We have to do something,” Natasha exclaimed a little desperately. “There has to be something—they’re in the city, we know they are in the city—you have to be able to find something.”

“Their lights weren’t off,” Wanda remarked from next to a quivering Thor, wringing her hands nervously, anxiously. “It was darker, but not fully dark, and I think there was a hum in the background after. They must have an emergency generator. Doesn’t that help?”

“Why would she say Bucky’s name?” Steve repeated, a little louder, ignoring the slight hysteria in his own voice, choosing to focus on that rather than the gunshot they’d heard at the end of the video, because… because…

Because she’d said Bucky’s name.

Steve was unable to ignore it or chalk it up to coincidence—he couldn’t.

He knew Becca would have known that too.

“I don’t know, Steve!” Natasha shouted suddenly, startling them all into silence. Steve stared at her with wide eyes—he had never seen Natasha lose her cool like this, and that more than anything shocked him into immediate silence and stillness. She exhaled shakily and continued in a—slightly—calmer voice, “It doesn’t matter why she said Bucky’s name. I’m sorry, but it doesn’t. What we need to focus on right now is where she is and who has her. Once we have her safely back we can look into anything she said and why she said it, but not now.”

Steve blinked at her. “Okay,” he whispered. “I’m sorry.”

He’d forgotten, for a moment, that he wasn’t the only one that loved Becca—that he wasn’t the only one that was going out of his mind with worry.

Natasha glared at him for another tense, drawn-out moment before she sighed. “It’s fine.” She looked to Thor, who was still glaring at the screen where Becca had been projected just minutes before, almost like he hadn’t even registered the commotion erupting around him.

“Thor,” she said, switching gears, her voice softening into something more comforting. “We’re going to find her. Can you meet up with your friends, see if they’ve found something? In the meantime, we can work out a search grid and work in pairs, search more efficiently—they can’t be far, so we have to make sure we get there before they move again. Maybe start on the outer perimeter of a five mile radius and work your way inwards; that’s what I’d do, and you can do it in a snap compared to most of the rest of us.”

“I’ll go with,” Steve said immediately, because his skin was crawling and he couldn’t stand sitting here and doing nothing any longer, because he knew his brain would drive him mad if he did.

Natasha nodded. “I’m going with you. Thor, with your friends—there’s four of them, yes?”

When Thor nodded, Nat smiled tightly. “Split up into groups of two. Tony, I need a map.”

Tony jerked into movement, blinking blearily but pulling up a map of the city obediently. Natasha walked up to it and indicated a ten-block radius. “You and your friend search this grid. Steve and I,” she indicated another ten-block grid, “will be searching this area. Your other two friends can search here.” She pointed again and Thor nodded sharply.

“We can search too,” Pietro piped in. “I’m fast, and Wanda can fly; give each of us ten blocks. Wanda and I can clear more than you can and faster, and that safely frees up Thor for the perimeter.”

Natasha nodded grimly.

“Be careful,” she told them after she’d indicated a good portion of the city. “Hydra will probably be looking to take you two back as well.”

Wanda bared her teeth in a snarl. “I’d like to see them try.”

With that, she slung her arm around her brother’s neck, and they blurred out of sight. Thor looked at the map intently for another few moments before he too, without words, stomped out of the room.

“Tony,” Nat said sternly, “Keep trying to hack the signal. If you find anything, any clue to narrow our search down, let us know.”

Tony nodded.

Clint settled in a corner, dragging several laptops, Starkpads and phones with him—staunchly ignoring Coulson and Fury, who were both pacing in the corridor, barking orders on their phones—and told Nat, “I’ll contact everyone I know—someone’ll know something.”

Nat nodded again before she turned to Steve. “Well,” she said, eyeing him up and down. “Suit up.”

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

Start from the beginning:

In Hell We Stand By You:

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8)

Never Feel Alone:

(1) (2)

Decisions:  (1)

Dancing with a Limp:

(1) (2)

Chances:

(1)

Starting Over:

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8)

Dancing in the Rain:

(1) (2) (3) 

Or read it HERE on AO3 :D Find the next chapter HERE on Tumblr :)

[noorasvetres]

here i am, finally with a finished wishlist ! this is mostly fcs i want to play/want to play opposite of and wanted pairings, but i do have a few plot ideas also. if you’re interested in anything on here, give this a like or im me/ask for my discord ! please only 18+.

some basics:

i write on both discord and tumblr, no preference really

sharing head canons and and matching my energy are important for me. if you seem bored it’s going to make me lose muse!!

i’m a sucker for mumus, so if a few ideas/fcs on here interest you and it’s possible for them to work together, let me know

i do every type of ship! at the moment i’m really dying for some f/f plots but i’d love to do anything 

do not pressure me to play the male please?? i love playing any and everyone but my ratio is way off rn. this doesn’t mean i don’t want to play guys, but doubling up or not being mad if i say i’m not feeling playing a guy atm would be great 

not a huge smut person. i don’t write it as well as i write in general and it’s just not something i really enjoy

plot ideas (besides these, i just love anything in general that’s cliche w/ a slight twist):

cast of a tv series or movie mumu 

beach/vacation town mumu

people from different groups in high school reconnect only to realize just how much they have in common

neighbors in an apartment complex, one has a kid or loud parties and the other gets annoyed constantly

young detective and the sheriff’s college kid (i know there’s a plot like this somewhere but i can’t find the link)

a plot based on hayley kiyoko’s ‘girls like girls’ music video

this

something like hopper and joyce where we write them both back in senior year and as adults now 

fcs i want to play (click here for some already developed muses i have also):

kristine froseth

brigette lundy paine

rocco fasano

sophie skelton

anne hathaway

nick robinson

alicia vikander

kiana lede

abigail spencer

medalion rahimi

kelsey asbille

santiago segura

eiza gonzalez

ella purnell

charles melton

finn cole

fcs i want to play against:

gavin leatherwood

lorenzo zurzolo

jessica parker kennedy

laura harrier

henry golding

trevor jackson

diane guerrero

peter gadiot

jordan fisher

hailee steinfeld

sophie turner

caitlin stasey

jake gyllenhaal

sean teale

wanted ships:

danielle campbell x nathaniel buzolic/daniel sharman

kiernan shipka x gavin leatherwood

kiernan shipka x ross lynch

madeleine petsch x vanessa morgan

alicia vikander x james mcavoy

olivia holt x aubrey joseph

maia mitchell x tommy martinez

lily james x ansel elgort

[writerworn]

Was that [ROB BENEDICT]? Oh no no, that was just [CHUCK SHURLEY], a [CANON CHARACTER] from [SUPERNATURAL]. They are [AGELESS] years old and [ARE] aware that they are not actually from Washington DC. Too bad they can’t stray from this city for long.

Hi everyone :) My name’s Sophie, I live in England, and I’m 23 years old

Here are a few of my favourite things: Supernatural, Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, Doctor Who, Harry Potter, Elementary, epic covers of songs, finely-bound books, reading, cats, and vintage clothing

Here are a few things to note about my son, Chuck:

So, for those of you totally caught up with season 14 of Supernatural, while I loved The Twist, I’m not going to make it canon here, just because we don’t have much info on Chuck’s state of mind. I’m going to mainly be drawing from early Chuck and season 11

For those of you who haven’t seen Supernatural, to cut a long story short: Chuck is God. He was first introduced to us as a hack writer of the Supernatural books (because the show is that meta) and believed to be a prophet of the Lord. He was an adorable dweeb, in way over his head with all this End Times BS

But... surprise, surprise! He was actually God in disguise the whole time. He’d hidden on earth to get “front row seats” to the Apocalypse, which (for many reasons) didn’t actually end up panning out. So, he mysteriously vanished for a few years, and went sight-seeing on earth, making a blog about cats, and trying to write his memoirs

He made his grand reappearance when his sister Amara (A.K.A. the Darkness) was released from the prison he’d trapped her in since time immemorial. Cutting another long and epic story short, he and Amara patched things up, and they went travelling together to catch up after literally aeons apart

Chuck is a Hot Mess. Because I’m only taking inspiration from seasons 4, 5, and 11, he’s basically a #disaster. Thinks he’s hilarious but is actually pretty embarrassing, can play the guitar very well, and isn’t much of a writer. But, on the flip side of that, Chuck is very, very, volatile, He doles out exaggerated and cruel punishments (see: his treatment of Lucifer and Amara) and he can become furious when insulted

His power set is truly staggering, and he’s what the kids call “overpowered”. Of a probably endless list, the abilities we’ve seen Chuck display are: telekinesis, teleportation, healing, resurrection, omniscience, and omnipresence. I’m honestly not sure how I’m going to work out his powers, but I’ll just wing it

Now onto the questions!

How long has your character been here?

Chuck has been here for a few days now, just lying low

What is your character's job?

His public job is Struggling Writer of That One Series of Books, but really, he doesn’t need a job

Where has your character been pulled from in their fandom?

Post season 11 episode 20, but pre season 14 episode 20

Has any magic affected your character?

The magic has lowered Chuck’s abilities somewhat. He’s stuck in what he calls the “Chuck suit”, for the time being, and unable to leave his human form, which limits him to needing to do Human Things (like eating, drinking, sleeping, etc.) and stunts his powers too

And any other information you might find useful for us and the other members to know!

As I said above, I’ve ignored season 14′s canon, for the sake of my own sanity. I’ll be basing my characterisation from seasons 4, 5, and 11, and headcanons

It’s totally up to you if your character recognises Chuck for what/who he really is, or sees him as just a human. If your character is an angel, or some kind of cosmic being themselves, chances are they can recognise Chuck, despite the fact he’s currently “stuck” in his human form

Please make all the lame Supernatural references you can. Chuck’s whole Thing in the show is that he’s a giant meta comment on the writers and the fanbase themselves. If you’re a fan of the show, please feel free to sling all the mud at Chuck’s Supernatural books, or the show itself, if it’s a thing in your character’s universe

I am always up for some Big Plots. Please come to me with dramatic, angsty, stuff! I’d love some plots involving characters who perhaps struggle with faith, or characters who have met their own version of God in their own fandom. Come to me with your drama!

That’s everything I can think of right now. I’m  super excited to be here, and I can’t wait to write with everyone! Always feel free to come by in I.M.’s to have a chat

[kcrabb88]

Do OCs "count" for the character meme? If so, Michel please :D

Friend, you may ask me about my OCs anytime! :D 

Why I like them

At his core, he is a sweet man who very fiercely loves those he’s close to. And he, unlike a lot of merchant captains, IS actually good to his men. A rarity, in that time. He’s smart, he loves reading and stories, especially as a young man, and when he lets himself as he gets older. Plus, his entire redemption arc, when it happens, shows he IS willing to change. It just took…a while. But in the end, finally, he is willing to throw out his entire life to be there for his son. 

Why I don’t

I mean lord, what an emotional disaster? Michel lets his fear of disobedience and fear of being an outcast and just fear fear fear twist him up and ruin him, for a time. It makes him do terrible things and it makes him not fight back against the immense, violent, economic cruelty of the time for too long. He lets his kid and his ward be abused because putting his foot down against his father in law doesn’t work, and refuses to leave Jamaica. Here’s the thing about Michel: he doesn’t LIKE a lot of the things he sees going on, but he doesn’t think there’s anything he can DO, and until later on, he’s too afraid to try. He’ll run into a battle, but for a while he still lets other forms of cowardice consume him. 

Favorite episode (scene if movie)

My favorite scene is when he shows up to Nassau, probably hands down. 

Favorite season/movie

N/A

Favorite line

There’s a bit in the big final battle that has remained through my revisions where he says “I don’t just owe them my apology. I owe them my action.” 

Favorite outfit

Michel has a lot of good outfits! I once saw a picture of a GREAT 1700s men’s suit, and I put him in that in a dinner scene at one point, and so I think that’s a pretty great outfit. 

OTP

Oh gosh, a messy question, given he’s so in love with his lesbian wife (that he of course doesn’t know is a lesbian until far down the line) and then also his best friend, who was also once in love with him, but moved on to be very fully in love with someone else when Michel didn’t appear to reciprocate. Astra and Arthur know Michel is Bi long before Michel is ready to accept the truth of that. So…Michel + Getting Himself Together

Brotp

Even though there are old romantic feelings there, his friendship with Arthur is one of my favorite things, as well as his father/son relationship with Javert (now called Nicholas Jerome. So many of my names sound so different now? But renaming my new Javert/OC hybrid anything other than a J name felt weird? Didn’t sound right) 

Head Canon

When Michel was little his older brother Remy and his older sister Sophie would tell scary stories to see who could scare him most and he LOVED it. It’s no wonder he was drawn to Arthur’s propensity for scary ghost stories, even if it scared the daylights out of him. 

Unpopular opinion

…if I ever get these books published and someone comes at me for giving Michel a redemption arc it’s gonna take all my power not to fight them. There’s a trend now that’s anti-redemption arc and I am Not For It. 

A wish

That there was a way for the narrative to work without him meeting the end he does. But really, there wasn’t. 

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen

…I mean. See above. 

5 words to best describe them

Reserved, Compassionate (when he’s at his best), Stubborn, Jaded dreamer, Intelligent 

My nickname for them

Don’t really have one! But he calls Rene mon etoile or my star! 

[agirlinhell]

omg hi, i love your blog and i was just curious about what ships you have for clem, and who you don't want to ship her with? would you have any reasons why you /do/ or /don't/ ship her with someone?

Omgggg hi nonnie!! I love you right back! We can be friends! I’m really glad that you like my blog and my interpretation of Clementine, I’ve honestly been doubting myself a lot recently and so I’m really glad that you voiced your praise, it really makes mine (and Clem’s) day a lot better! As for your question, I actually ship Clementine with pretty much almost everyone in her age group, if I’m really being honest, and all of these ships I can see the characters involved either as lovers, as really good friends, a siblingesque bond or as professional partners; I’m very open minded. If you want me to be more specific, here’s a more detailed list:

Louis/Clementine (Louisentine)

Violet/Clementine (Violetine)

Marlon/Clementine (Marlontine) - ah, yes, my guilty pleasure ship.

Mitch/Clementine (Mitchentine)

Gabe/Clementine (Gabentine) although admittedly, it’s not my favorite or any of my top ships for Clem, but it’s still pretty cute in it’s own way.

Aasim/Clementine (Aasimentine)

Ruby/Clementine (Rubytine)

Brody/Clementine (Brodytine)

Sophie/Clementine (Sophietine) with @stillgcod​‘s Sophie who portrays a very little known character with no lines at all spectacularly well so I totally recommend checking them out! I have to explain this one in a bit more detail because in canon they’ve literally never even met, but basically what happens is that Clementine and James help save Sophie who’s survived being a slave to the Delta, and when the remaining survivors make it past The Final Season, Clementine, James and Sophie become really, really good friends (they even share a room together, with Sophie on the bunk above Clem’s and James on the bunk above AJ’s) and eventually Sophie starts to fall in love with Clementine and eventually Clementine starts falling for her in turn. I just think Clem would be naturally drawn to her sweet and imaginative personality and be infatuated with her artistic ability that Tenn described her as. I honestly think that Sophie and Clementine’s relationship, out of all the ships that I have with Clem, is the most softest and fluffy of them all without any angst or drama in between them, and I find that to be really sweet.

Now, as for what I DON’T ship with Clementine, it’s the obvious incest ships (not that Clementine has any living relatives to begin with anyway but the point still stands) and anything that has an underage Clementine with a character above or below her age group. Oh, and James/Clementine, even though I used to hardcore ship it, but I don’t anymore because James is obviously homosexual and he’s still hooked up on Charlie and  I don’t really like the idea of erasing someone’s sexuality and identity over a ship. Albeit, it still kiiiiinda sucks because two of the greatest fics in my opinion that I wrote were actually James/Clementine fics before I knew that he was gay and now I look like a giant dumbass looking back on it because James doesn’t swing towards girls LMAOOOOO

I just have a thing for really complex fluffy and/or tragic and doomed ships.

I go in depth on why I ship Louis/Clementine, Violet/Clementine, Marlon/Clementine and Mitch/Clementine in this post, but I’ll be making a “Why I Ship” series of the pairings that I ship in the series, and the ships I mentioned above will be on the list, but with a lot more depth and details, with screenshots and essays galore, so if you’re interested, please stay tuned for that one! I have a lot of metas coming up soon!

To conclude, for me, a ship has to have the makings of mutual acknowledgment, growth, respect, and positive interaction, whether it’s crack or canon. Mutual acknowledgement and respect is something that makes me ship characters like it’s going out of style. It’s present in everything I ship, and it’s lacking in ships I could never really see myself liking. There are many characters that have little or no meaningful canon interaction but who, I feel, would have a strong connection given the right AU twist of events or circumstance. I like the idea of putting characters together and seeing what happens, what could have been. I think any pairing, any group of characters, and any outcome is possible if the author takes the time to get to know the characters and what they believe. I’m not saying this is possible for every single character ever (Luke/S2!Clementine for example - sorry I had to bring that up - because that’s just asinine no matter how you look at it), but if you can ask yourself, “What if Clementine had never left Howe’s and became Carver’s protegee back in Season 2? What if Lee had lived through the events of Season 1? What if Clementine became a Whisperer? What if Marlon, Mitch or Brody never died? What if Clementine became a Delta soldier? What if Omid and Christa’s child survived and Clementine had to raise that child alongside AJ? What if Clementine had a tiger for a pet? What if Clementine became Headmistress of Ericson’s Boarding School For Troubled Youth after the events of The Final Season and began making it an actual school for survivors in the apocalypse?” These questions are always the jumping-off point for me, and then the rest is just sitting back and watching what happens. I really enjoy that part the most, and it’s why I like writing. Canon is nice to have, but I don’t consider it necessary to make a good story.

[the-roanoke-society]

now presenting: more aus for the ship tags i’d love to see.

explore below the cut. ... because i’ve watched a lot of ouat today.

butterfly knife: cinderella au. it’s not often that a lowly, local tailor missing an eye snags entry into a local ball, courtesy of his fairy godmother complete with hazel eyes and a drawl. but he does know how often he’s seen in the princess in passing. he knows how much he loves her. and now is his chance to see what could happen, maybe, if he can convince her to just one dance...

body shots: lady & the tramp au. he was a scoundrel. she was... well, could at least pass for a lady. but the real plot twist was them finding out how much they had in common--and how much the other seemed like a breath of fresh air.

lies & lessons: sleeping beauty au. maleficent expected a lot of things out of the southern prince. she expected a sword. a shield. righteous anger. and while the rage showed up, something else did too, something that took her by surprise--a lasso.

anchored hearts: the rescuers au. because we really, really need to talk about joseph--big, huge, massive joseph--as the meek and mild janitorial staff member of the rescue aid society, following the optimistic, fearless louise to the bayou, to save a woman who is not all that she seems (i’ll give you a hint, her handle comes from a particularly cursed doll).

magic & mischief: the black cauldron au. kieran had a humble upbringing that got very, very complicated very, very quickly. and it got even more complicated when he found a woman in a tower: “i’m princess alessia!” sort of an inconvenient time to meet the love of your life.

rumcake: who framed roger rabbit au. toons and waking--well, our reality, enmeshed. a detective still mourning his brother in the shape of a bottle, much to the grief of the fiery redheaded bartender who loves him. and now--roger. “you crazy rabbit! i'm out there risking my neck for you, and what are you doing? singing and dancing!” “but I'm a toon. toons are supposed to make people laugh!”

starry eyes: the little mermaid au. his tail glittered like metal--like stars. two things she was very familiar with. and as she gasped back air, her heart jittering back into a normal rhythm--she blinked. the sun was behind his head, blinding her, as she laid on the sand, still sputtering water--but those eyes. those eyes she’d recognize anywhere.

on the rocks: the emperor’s new groove au. she was a queen who’d been turned into a llama. you abso-fucking-lutely read that right. and they were just a simple shepherd trying to carve out a peaceful existence in the hills. but... she needed their help. and thus began a very bizarre quest to take back the throne, and her humanity.

sleight of heart: atlantis: the lost empire au. no one had believed in him. not for years. and he was still young, by the academic standards. but whitman had given him his father’s journals for a reason. and that reason--well. his dad might’ve said something about research, knowledge. but every time he looked at the princess... well. he secretly hoped the reason was shaped more like her.

puppy love: lilo & stitch au. “eggsy--eggsy, babe, that’s not a dog!” “well, look, i couldn’t just leave him there at the shelter, all the other dogs were scared of him! and look, look, jb likes him, don’t you jb?” meanwhile jb had backed himself behind a bookshelf, staring at his new brother, who looked a bit blue for his taste, if he could speak.

from the ashes: treasure planet au. ... look i just really, really want to see a more romantic cut of the scene with silver and jim sailing next to/inside of the shooting star featuring arizona and phoenix and to be honest who can blame me? please consider a grizzled, german ship cook saddled with this poor young woman who was just--at the wrong place at the wrong place time.

devil bois: howl’s moving castle au. the real question is who’s sophie and who’s howl, because either way, this is probably one of the better ideas of i’ve had in like three days. 

holy hell: up au. the king of hell never thought, for once, in all his years, that he would lose his wife. his andrea. but... he did. however, unlike the pixar film we know and love, this au, to me, takes a hard left turn: it becomes a journey of a man, his earnest helper, and a dog, all on a journey to find the one sacred relic that can reunite him with his love. yeah, there’s also a weird bird.

out to sea: ponyo au. i know this is essentially the little mermaid but can we please just stop and think about younger!raziel carrying an even younger!nereus around in a goddamned plastic bucket and feeding him lunch meat.

ancient cares: a christmas carol au. i know this is a bit out of season considering i’m posting this in october, but... sentinel, crochety and made bitter by the loss of his true love, is visited by three spirits (all of whom sound strangely--southern). and while it culminates in a changed heart, and a renewed sense of generosity, good things happen to those who do good. and he is not quite prepared when a certain someone crashes back into his life, to the tune of church bells ringing out yuletide hymns.

safety nets: tangled au. he’d been locked in a tower for basically his entire life. granted, he sort of... didn’t always have the best use of his legs. metallic or otherwise. but when a pretty young thief breaks into his tower--well he naturally had to slam a rolling pin into her head, how else was he supposed to react?

grace & choice: strange magic au. she was just trying to rescue her sister. that was it. if she’d known--if she’d known how gentle, how kind, how patient, the bog queen could be, behind her thick walls of malice, violence and dark magic? ... well. if she was honest with herself, she knew damn well she would have gone anyway.

secret gardens: snow white au. “karen? ... karen. it’s okay. don’t cry. you have all seven of us to help you. it’s going to be okay. we’ll help you find the prince in the glass coffin. just--just bring the shears. something tells me there’s uh. gonna be a lot of thorns. the queen’s sense of humor is funny like that.”

royals & robots: big hero 6 au. featuring tilde’s deceased older sister that didn’t exist in canon. although, now that i think about it... some of these lines may actually be a part of their actual canon as a ship tag. “on a scale of one to ten, how would your rank your pain?” “zero!” because tilde got hurt. and she was so used to hiding it from humans, she didn’t understand that she’d failed to hide it from an entity like pru.

hymns & holograms: beauty and the beast au. once upon a time in scotland--a man let his temper get the best of him. before he knew better, before he was given a chance to grow. and one day, a young woman--a scholar, with a bag of mystical tomes slung over her shoulder--blows in through the snow. not completely understanding the curse. not completely knowing what the price is of the magic at hand. “my name is morgan. i’m here to help you.”

[targaryenparty]

Opinion on Jon and Sansa scenes as a jonerys shipper

I was watching season 6 recently, and I have a few things to say about Jon and Sansa.

THEIR SCENES ARE BEAUTIFUL! Kit and Sophie work really well together, it’s amazing to see! And they never shared a scene before, so it’s even more amazing if you think about it.

I think their scenes are really important for the characters. Jon and Sansa were never that close, and she was rude with him in their childhood because of her mother’s influence. So Jon never fully felt accepted in the Stark family/Winterfell, especially for his Snow name and Cat/Sansa coldness to him. So now, years later, Sansa and Jon have to build a relationship that was underdeveloped for many years, but most importantly, they can finally have someone who also understands what it is like losing Ned, Rob and later Rickon, and missing Arya, Bran and life in Winterfell.

[A little personal story here: Jon and Sansa remind me so much of me and my brother. We were never that close, cause it’s never easy being close when it comes to siblings with opposite genders. But then we lost our mother when we were young and that brought us together. I’m a bit older (and he is younger and taller just like Sansa lol), but I’m so protective I could kill the whole world to protect him if I had to. And yes, we do give each other forehead kisses, we hug a lot, we give each other cute gifts, but also fight and disagree a lot lol. It makes me happy to watch Jon and Sansa have a normal sibling relationship after so many years of cold treatment]

Seeing Sansa finally accepting Jon as a brother and appreciating him is something beautiful. The fact that she now sees him as a Stark shows a great character development. Also, it’s so emotional to think that she was alone and mistreated all those years, and now she has family around her again, someone she can run to when she needs. And that someone is the one she never even fully considered family. But now she does. It’s beautiful seeing how much she grew as a character. She was also the only Stark kid that wanted to leave the north in the first episode. Now she was the one who pushed things to get Winterfell back. And she did it. They did it. I fully believe Sansa’s endgame is in there, in the north. Rebuilding whatever the Great War is going to destroy and continuing her father’s role.

But I still have no idea what Jon’s endgame is. I like to think that he’ll have a family and marry the woman he loves, but there is also a high chance of him dying. Honestly, I don’t want to think about it too much, so let’s just wait.

Oh, Jon and Sansa’s reunion was so beautiful and emotional. This is the first time the Starks kids are reuniting with family and finding comfort for all the shit they’ve been through. 

I cry like a baby everytime I watch them hug! (I’m scared for myself when I can finally watch Jon and Arya reuniting, lord help me. I will be a mess for eternity).

MY FAVORITE SCENE OF THEM: when Sansa gives him the wolf cloak. Jon approaches her and notices the beautiful wolf in her dress right away. She looks proud that he has noticed (we have to think that Jon never fully valued “girly” woman and their worth, so he’s now trying to appreciate Sansa just as she is appreciating him) and then she gives him the cloak with a wolf as well, and his reaction is so cute ❤ He is obviously happy and surprised that she considers him worthy of a wolf cloak, just like the one their father had. And her face when she sees that she pleased her brother is even cuter.

WHAT BOTHERS ME: I tried watching their scenes forgetting everything I have ever read about them here on tumblr. Boy, that was hard. I don’t want to judge anyone on their ship, so I’m not saying shipping them is wrong. Shipping is something that shouldn’t have rules, as it is about imagination and freedom. But what really bothers me is when I see people trying to fit a narrative where they are sexually attracted to each other and even in love canonically. That’s kinda fucked up, to be honest. 

I know, I know I ship something that is incest too, but Jon and Sansa both now consider themselves as brother and sister. That was the whole point of their scenes in season 6. Building their relationship as brother and sister and showing their paths towards mutual respect. If you see something more, well ok. Like I said, Kit and Sophie have great acting chemistry, and it is quite easy shipping such attractive people lol. But please, don’t try to shove down people’s throat that they are in love and sexually attracted to each other. That’s sad.

IF these 2 characters are to end up together in a political marriage, that would be different (even though I still don’t understand what purpose said marriage would have. Jon and Sansa are already natural political friends, they are family after all. To me, a politically smart move would be marrying people from other families to secure more allies). A political marriage between them would still be fucked up and horrible, but hey, this is Game of Thrones. BUT PLEASE STOP SAYING THEY ARE IN LOVE, it’s so disgusting. Write your fanfics just as you wish, there’s nothing wrong in shipping something that is not canon. But don’t try to twist things in the story to fit your shipping dreams, please. Especially with characters that have suffered so much already. Respect their arcs. They deserve better than a loveless political marriage. They all do. (I’m so attached to EVERY CHARACTER in this series, it’s not even healthy. Damn, even Cersei gets my sympathy).

Anyway, that’s it. I’m a jonerys shipper and I appreciate Jon and Sansa a lot (and I think these 2 things aren´t mutually exclusive), and the friendship they’ve been building. I also love both characters so much, and I just want them happy in the end (if that is even possible after everything they’ve lost).

[fyeahcaptn]

kc canon-ish + sure they're "just friends then" and she wasn't q u i t e ready for him to show her the world (yet), but she was hungry and that girl that she saw get a bit too handsey with klaus at the bar looked delicious okay??

okay, this turned out wayy longer than planned. almost 4k for something that was supposed to be around 1k. eh. bonnie and caroline friendship! post 5x11. no babies. actually includes some plot. smut, so nsfw.

ff. ao3.

Caroline hadn’t planned on coming to New Orleans after she’d left Mystic Falls. Not for a very long time, at the very least. She knew she would eventually. Knew she’d seek him out, but she wanted a few decades, if not more, to roam the world first. She wanted to figure out who she was.

However, she’d barely had time to enjoy all New York had to offer, when Bonnie had appeared, with wild hair and bright eyes, as she’d been roaming around the streets.

The witch had almost startled her, which was… weird, to say the least.

“Bonnie,” she’d exclaimed, before her lips curled upwards, a grin splitting her face. “What are you-”

“Are you busy?” Bonnie had cut in.

“Um…”

“I’m headed to New Orleans,” Bonnie had told her, “and I was hoping that my partner in crime would want to follow me.”

“New Orleans?” She’d raised an eyebrow, her voice raising slightly. “What the hell are you doing there?”

“My grams came to me in a dream,” she’d murmured, her eyes flicking up to Caroline’s, and Caroline had seen the hesitation in them.

Caroline raised an eyebrow.

“A witchy dream?”

“I think so,” she’d murmured. “We have some relatives there. In New Orleans. And she thinks they’re in trouble. She wants me to help, and she said that they could help me too. That they were very powerful, could teach me things she never got the chance to.”

So, Caroline had agreed. Despite her better judgement.

She’d smiled at her friend, because no way was she letting Bonnie face that city alone.

“Do I have time to pack?”

Bonnie had just grinned at her.

“Please, as though you’d leave without at least half of your closet. And besides, this is New York. We could get in a few hours shopping, before. I’ve already booked our flight.”

She’d be annoyed if she didn’t appreciate preparedness so much.

Bonnie knows it too, from the grin she gives Caroline.

So, really, it should be no surprise, that from the minute she lands, she senses vampires (and hybrids, if she’s not mistaken) on her tail. She doesn’t say anything to Bonnie, merely aims to get them back to their hotel room, where she can pretend they aren’t there.

Bonnie, bless her heart, had booked them two rooms. Said they were already paid for, once they’d got to the reception area.

“I know you like your own space now and again,” the brunette had told her. “And besides, who knows what you'll… get up to,” she settles on, “while you’re here.”

She hears what Bonnie doesn’t say. Has to admit that her own mind had drifted back to him, once or twice, on the way over here, and she knows Bonnie’s probably has too, considering what she’d told her, after that day in the woods.

“I doubt that’ll be a problem,” she grits her teeth. “But, thank you.”

Bonnie gives her a wolfish grin, and she almost wants to hit her.

“Just give me a heads up, if I’m not to expect you for a few days.” A poke in her ribs, that has her glaring. “You’re not the only one who worries, Care.”

Caroline had snorted, rolling her eyes.

“I wouldn’t worry about it, Bon. I have no plans of seeing anyone while we’re here.”

She swore she saw Bonnie’s lips twist up.

“We’ll see,” her friend tells her.

Their rooms are up on the seventh floor, and honestly, she doesn’t even remember the name of the hotel, but Bonnie tells her to get some sleep.

“We’ll start tomorrow. I think I have a good idea of where to start,” Bonnie murmurs, before she shrugs. “At the very least, we can do some sight seeing. Try and get our footing around here.”

“Sure thing,” she sighs.

She intends to do what Bonnie suggested; maybe get in a nice, warm bath, and wipe the travelling grime off her, and get a good, few hours sleep, before they venture into the city. It’s her first time out of Virginia, and she fully intends to enjoy it.

That is, until there’s a knock at the door.

And really, she knows who it is, even before she opens the door. Still, she sighs, as she opens it.

He’s there. Dressed in his casual henleys, usual smirk in place, and his too blue eyes gazing down at her, just as they always use to. He’s posed casually, one arm wrapped around his back, as his other stays tucked into the front pocket of his jeans.

“Hello, Caroline,” he greets, his smile smug.

“Klaus.”

It comes out a little breathier than she intended it to, as her breath catches. And the bastard notices it, before he chuckles.

“Miss me already?” he grins.

She rolls her eyes, as she pops her hip against the door frame.

“Please.” She even bats her eyes at him.

His grin widens, even if possible.

“Are you going to invite me in?” he requests, cordial and all.

She raises an eyebrow in response.

“It’s a hotel room,” she tells him in that duh tone of hers. “You don’t need an invitation to enter, Klaus, or have you not been paying attention in the last millennium of your life?”

He laughs.

“Not necessary, but certainly appreciated,” he murmurs, as he pushes off, until there are less than a few centimetres between them.

She rolls her eyes.

“What are you doing here, Klaus?”

He gives her a look that she can’t quite read before he responds.

“I think the better question is what are you doing here, Caroline? This is my city, after all. I’m sure you remember,” he brags.

She knows what he’s implying. Thinking that she’s here for him, decades, centuries even, before he’d expected her, because she knew he had. She expected her to be here, so she can’t imagine that he doesn’t. Just a while before he was expecting her.

“I’m here with Bonnie,” she tells him, and it sounds defensive even to her own ears. “Sorry to break your bubble, buddy, but I’m not here for you.” A pause and then, “I didn’t come to screw up the life you have here, I promise. Bonnie has some witchy business. I wasn’t about to throw her to the wolves alone.”

Because like he said, it is his city, and she feels like she owes him that much.

“Yes,” he says, voice tight, and she can tell she’s struck a nerve. “So I’ve heard.”

“…okaay?”

She really should expect his next words.

“Why don’t you come stay at the compound?” The with me is implied, and she bites her lip. “Bring your friend.”

She cocks her head, as though she’s contemplating it.

“I think we’ll pass,” she tells him, her voice hard.

His eyes turn dark.

“You’re not safe here,” he insists. “There’s more going on in this city than you realise, Caroline. You’re safest with me.”

She snorts, “And what? You’re just gonna keep an eye on me twenty-four-seven?”

“It certainly wouldn’t be a hardship,” he murmurs.

She narrows her eyes.

“Maybe it would be for me,” she spits, a little more aggressively than need be, even she admits that, and she sighs. “Look, Klaus. I won’t be here long. Just until Bonnie’s wrapped her business up, and I’ll be out of your hair. I doubt anyone would want to hurt little ol’ me.”

“You’d be surprised,” he murmurs, and he takes a step towards her, “what people would do to get their hands on what they perceive is my weakness.”

Caroline’s not quite sure how to take that

“I’m not your anything,” she tells him firmly.

He looks more amused than anything, and he shakes his head.

“Do you really want to stay at this sub-par accommodation, Caroline? I can assure you, my property can offer you more comfort.” A pause, as he grits his teeth, and then, “You needn’t spend time with me if you don’t wish it. I do, obviously. That goes without saying. I just want you to be safe.”

She falters slightly at that, and damn him, because it works. He knows it works.

So, she sighs.

“Fine.”

His eyes light up his entire face.

“But, I am leaving New Orleans as soon as Bonnie is ready,” she warns him.

He just smiles.

“Maybe,” he murmurs. “But, just wait until you see the rest of the city. I’m sure you’ll fall in love with it, as have I.”

And that’s how she ends up (temporarily, it is really) living with Klaus. And his siblings.

(Rebekah is still a pain in the ass, but Kol is mainly amusing, and she finds she likes Freya. Freya is nice and kind, unlike the rest of the Mikaelsons, and she even offers to help Bonnie out, giving Caroline one thing less to worry about.)

-/-

Bonnie, as it turns out, is actually one to fall in love with the city. She likes that it’s so populated with witches, people like her, and she’s even managed to strike a deal with Klaus about the treatment of witches in the city. Well, she had made Caroline banter it out, but details. So, she decides to stay.

“You don’t have to stay,” she tells Caroline one night, when Caroline had come to her room.

“Huh?”

Caroline looks puzzled.

“I know you weren’t planning on staying that long, that you wanted to travel. So, you can take off. If you’d like,” Bonnie murmurs. “I know what I’m dealing with now, and I feel settled now. It almost feels like home.”

Caroline looks suspicious, but she doesn’t comment on that, and she sighs.

“Where are you gonna live?”

Bonnie laughs, because that is so Caroline. Practical to the end.

“Sophie’s been helping me find a place,” she reveals. “I can move in next week. It’s a studio apartment, and I’ve offered to do shifts at Rousseau’s to help fund for it. She said she could do with the help.”

“Oh.”

“I mean, if you wanna stay for another few days, and help me move in, I’d super appreciate it. And you could come back and visit me all the time! I know you’ve liked it here too,” Bonnie encourages. “But I know that you’ve been itching to travel too.”

“Yeah,” Caroline smiles. “I’ll figure something out.”

They don’t talk about it for the rest of the night, but Freya’s head pops around the door after a very brief knock a couple of hours later.

“Hey.”

“Freya,” Caroline grins.

“You girls interested in some cocktails?”

Caroline gives her a look, and Bonnie laughs.

“Do you even have to ask?” it’s Caroline who speaks up.

Freya’s devilish grin definitely matches that of her siblings when she smiles.

“Excellent. Everyone else is going too. Wasn’t sure whether to bother you, but there’s only so much of my family I can handle in one night.” She smiles, after an eye roll. “So get ready.”

And that’s how Caroline finds herself in her current complication.

They’d decided to get in one car, and the driver (they actually have a driver, so pretentious, though she doesn’t say anything) always asks “Mr. Klaus” when he’d like to be picked up. Klaus had grinned at her eye roll. The entire way to the club, Klaus had sat next to her, and she’d gulped at the feeling of his thigh pressed against her bare skin.

They’d grown closer since she’d moved (still temporarily) into his compound, and she’d spent some time with him. He’d shown her his favourite sights of the city, his favourite restaurant, his favourite bar, and she can admit that she gets why he loves it here so much. She could stand to stay longer.

It’s when they get to the club, and she and Bonnie go to the ladies that the problem occurs.

They’ve just walked out, when she sees him. Except this time, he’s got a brunette attached to him. What she isn’t prepared for is the tightening of her stomach, the emotion that swells in her throat, as she swallows.

Bonnie cocks her head, when Caroline’s fingernails dig into her palms.

“Everything okay over there?” She sounds amused.

“Just fine.” Caroline grits her teeth. “Why don’t we get a drink?”

Bonnie still looks amused, even as she lets Caroline lead her over to the bar.

“You could interrupt, you know,” Bonnie murmurs. “I’m sure he wouldn’t mind.”

She wants to, she really does.

“What Klaus does is his business,” Caroline says firmly, even if she doesn’t quite believe it. “I have no right to control over who he wants to see.”

“If that’s what you want to believe,” Bonnie mutters.

Caroline glares, but she doesn’t comment. Instead, she puts on her best fake smile.

“So, are we doing shots or not?”

She’s not sure how many shots she takes that night. It’s definitely a lot, and she’s definitely drunker than she has been in a while. And she’s soon alone, when a (witchy) guy Bonnie knows convinces her into a dance. She looks hesitant at Caroline, though.

“Go,” Caroline encourages. “I can handle myself. I’ll see if I can find Freya.”

She doesn’t, but at least Bonnie won’t worry.

She keeps her eye on Klaus, her eyes burning a hole through his companion’s back, as she grins up at him, her hand strategically placed on his chest, and he smiles down at her, with that smile he usually saved for her.

She wishes she could deny the feeling coursing through her, but she knows it’s jealousy. And it isn’t long before the glass in her hand is smashed, and she swears under her breath.

When she looks up, she sees Klaus'… thing walking away, and she swears he’s baiting her, but she pounces, following the girl out of the door.

Well? She was hungry. It had been days since she’d fed. And she had been feeding from the vein lately, especially since she’d come to New Orleans, where blood bags were sparse. If it was someone Klaus had been feeling up, well, that was nobody’s business.

She flashes outside, and the girl is startled for a minute, before she relaxes.

“Oh, it’s you. You’re Klaus’ friend, aren’t you?” the girl asks.

She snaps at friend, and her eyes dilate.

“Don’t struggle. Don’t scream.”

And then, her fangs are buried in her neck.

She counts to ten, as she drinks, like Stefan had taught her, but she doesn’t want to stop when she starts. Blood is pumping through her veins, and she presses the girl against the wall behind the club, her fingers curling in her red hair.

She doesn’t stop, not even when she feels a presence behind her. Followed by a lean chest pressing to hers, and a hand brushing her hair to the side. Because she knows that presence. Knows the feel of his hands. Has had specific dreams of them for weeks now.

A chuckle is pressed against her neck, and she feels the vibrations race through her

“Easy, sweetheart,” the words are almost whispered in the night. “Wouldn’t want to kill her now, would we?”

His words spur her back into the present, and she lets the girl drop, unsurprised when she scatters away, as the compulsion breaks. The second she’s gone, she’s twisted around, as Klaus picks her up, and her back is against the wall, her legs curled around his hips, as he presses against her. His smirk is in place just as always.

His eyes are wild, as he looks at her, and they soon dart down to her blood-stained lips. She curls her fingers around his neck in response, trying to encourage him to kiss her. And he does, for a few short minutes. His lips moving enthusiastically against hers, his tongue flicking out against the blood on her lips.

She swallows his groan, when she grinds her hips into his. Even more so, when his tongue sweeps into the hot cave of her mouth, but it’s all for naught, when he pulls away a few moments later.

“Not so fast, love,” he tells her.

She actually growls at him.

“Just fuck me,” she tells him, and watches as his eyes dilate in lust, before he shakes his head.

“Gladly,” he murmurs. “Just as soon as you admit that you were jealous.”

She snorts, though she can’t exactly deny it at this point.

“Please.”

“Because I want you,” he murmurs, and his erection digs into her thigh, that has her rocking against him for more. “God, do I want you. But not until you admit this. Admit that there is something between us, and you’re not just planning to run away as soon as possible. That you were jealous because she laid a hand on what was yours. Because I am yours, Caroline. I’ve been yours for longer than I care to admit. Just as you are mine.”

It’s the swivel of his hips that does it really, as she aches for more, gasping.

“Fine,” she gasps. “I was jealous. And I wanted to kill her. Happy?”

“Completely,” he agrees.

Her underwear is torn a minute later, and she growls again.

“I’m going to start billing you,” she tells him, her eyes narrowed.

He grins, and she hears the ruffle of fabric as he undoes his jeans, followed by the ripping of her dress.

“I’m fairly certain you won’t care by the time I’m through with you, Caroline.”

And then he thrusts into her, in one perfect move, and she groans, and decides that she probably does agree with him. Even if he is an ass.

She gasps, her head falling back, when he starts a rhythm that has her rocking against him in response, his hand under her ass, pulling her back onto him, when he pulls away. Her hands are underneath his arms, scratching at his back, with marks that heal almost simultaneously. Her eyes soon drift closed, but Klaus decides that isn’t enough.

“No,” he growls, and it’s pure sex, that has her clenching around him. “Eyes on me,” he demands, and she’s helpless to disagree.

In another move, he has her hands pinned above her head, with one of his, whilst his other grips her waist, as he fucks her. Hard and fast, like they need it. They have time for slow and deep later, but right now? She just needs him.

“God, Klaus,” she lets out, when he hits the perfect spot.

He knows it and smirks, pressing himself closer to her, her breasts crushed against his chest.

“Anyone could find us at any moment. You realise that, don’t you?” he muses, though she’s pleased to note his breathing is heavy too, as he thrusts back into her.

“Don’t care,” she gasps. “Just don’t stop.”

He just raises an eyebrow, and his thrusts pause.

“Don’t care? Tell me, Caroline, do you like it? Does it turn you on?”

She grits her teeth at him.

“If you’re not going to fuck me, I can do it myself,” she snarls.

“As satisfying as me?”

He’s got her there.

“Yes,” she snarls. “I

She manages to get out of his grip, and she reaches for his neck, pulling forward, until he kisses her, her tongue swiping against his lower lip, until he opens up for her, and his hips soon imitate the movement of his lips, making her smirk against him.

"Good to know,” he tells her.

She wants to know what he means by that, but his thrusting back into her, with a speed and force that she very much appreciates, and it’s not long before she’s nearly there. Klaus knows it too, angles his hips at the right time, and slides his thumb against her clit, right before she falls apart, clenching around him.

“Klaus,” his name is long and drawn out, and very much loud, considering where they were.

Her head tips back, and this time he doesn’t stop her, as his lips attach themselves to her neck, when he groans her name. He lets her ride out her orgasm, and she draws his own from him, his back arching, as his neck stiffens, before he collapses against her, holding them against the wall.

“Seriously?” she mutters, when they both come back too.

Klaus separates them, pulling out of her with a wince, as he tries to right his clothing.

“What’s that, love?” he asks distractedly.

“My dress,” she moans. “How am I supposed to go home like this?”

He smirks, “I rather like you like this.”

“You would,” she mutters. “But I don’t particularly want to show the good china off to every person who walks by.”

“Neither do I,” he agrees. “You are for my eyes only.”

She rolls her eyes.

“And you are a possessive ass,” she tells him.

“I’m a wolf, Caroline,” he reminds her, as though she needs it. “I’m possessive by nature. And even my wolf knows that you are mine.” She doesn’t comment, and he raises an eyebrow, “Can you handle that?”

She let’s that settle for a moment, before she steps up to him, presses herself against him, and curls her hand around his neck.

“Why don’t you call James to get us home?” she asks him, her eyes flicking down to his lips, before they land back on his eyes, “and I’ll show you exactly what I can handle.”

His smile is blinding, and it’s still there, as she manages to somehow right her dress so it covers the important parts, when James pulls up, and they get into the car.

“What?” she mutters.

He just grins, “Nothing, love.” And then, “I have a balcony you know,” he murmurs, as he cranes his neck, dropping kisses to her neck, his hand tracing over her thigh. “We could use it to test your exhibition streak.”

“I was thinking we could test your shower out actually,” she says, her hand dropping to his thigh, and palming his half-hard erection. “I had a bet with Bonnie that you’d stole the best one. And I have many plans. After we test out your bed.”

He groans, and tells James to step on it.

(She’d called New Orleans home.)