#realized they're probably for the year of the dragon in a few months

[lichensings]

scrolling through the usps stamp catalog for an hour before bed totry and get weirder dreams (i just like the stamps)

[afewproblems]

Angsty dialogue prompts 👀

Number 13 - "Why would you say that?"

-@strangersteddierthings

Ahhhhhh thank you for the request Jess! @strangersteddierthings I hope you enjoy, I took this into a bit of a different direction than even I expected!

***

It takes Robin's foot connecting with his ankle to make Steve realize he was starring.

At Eddie, yet again.

Something that he had been doing a lot over the last few months since everything with Vecna and the Upside Down. Since Steve and Robin had managed to drag Eddie back from the brink, fighting off inky tendrils of death as Dustin led the way while Nancy brought up the rear, shot gun in hand.

Between the four of them, Eddie had actually made it. Torn up and missing about two liters of blood, but alive.

Of course, navigating the aftermath of the earthquakes and the loss of half the town had actually made it easier to avoid the murder charges that had been lobbed at Eddie.

Especially with the way Lucas, Erica, and Max had sworn up and down that Jason had been the one responsible for all of the murders, that they had narrowly escaped becoming his final victims.

And who could argue with the evidence, certainly not Jason after the surge of white hot energy that split the earth had finished with him.

So with Eddie's newfound freedom and the inability to argue with Dustin's insistence that he had been officially adopted into the party, his presence in their lives had become something that Steve looked forward to.

It was nice having someone else his age in the group. Robin was his other half of course, his soul mate, but it was nice having another guy to hang out with, and of course it wasn't because of anything else, Robin.

He let it slip one time that Eddie had nice eyes and was easy to talk to and, do you think he's seeing anyone Bobby, and suddenly Steve is accused of having a crush. Of all things!

Steve feels two fingers suddenly pinch at the outside of his thigh and has to suppress a loud yelp as he bats Robin's hands away from his leg with a glare.

She rolls her eyes and gives him a knowing look before turning back to the conversation.

"Take Stevie over here," Eddie says around the joint between his lips. He takes a long drag before passing it over to Argyle and Steve can't help but watch, transfixed, as the smoke billows out from his nose like a dragon.

"I can guarantee you that he's seen the ocean before while the rest of us land-locked lubbers will probably never get the pleasure," Eddie continues with a wink and kicks his leg up onto the coffee table in Steve's basement.

Argyle blows out a long puff of smoke, he's leaned back against the couch with his head tipped up towards the ceiling, "thats wild man," he says with a laugh in his voice, he doesn't react when Jonathan snorts and takes the joint from his hand.

"Seriously?" Jon asks after a minute, "dude, we lived in California, we literally went to the beach all the time?"

Robin and Nancy both laugh at the noise of recognition that Argyle makes while Eddie rolls his eyes.

"Okay but for everyone else who didn't have the benefit of local geography," Eddie says, gesturing at the girls and himself, "we will be cursed to never feel the sand between our toes and all that shit".

Robin quirks an eyebrow and takes a swig of beer from the can in her hands, the sleeve of her denim jacket brushes against Steve's arm as she moves to set the can back on the coffee table.

They're the only two seated on the floor, Steve having given up the couch so everyone else could be comfortable and Robin couldn't, in good conscience, let her best friend sit by himself.

God he loves her, Steve thinks as he shoots her a soft smile.

He's never had someone that loves him so openly, so unapologetically as Robin does.

Not even when his parents were home for more than a few days a year did they show him the same kind of care that she had in their short time of knowing one another.

Sure, they teased each other, Robin had even made a new scoreboard for his failed attempts at flirting at Family Video --this one with a new section after Steve quietly admitted to her that they had even more in common than they had realized earlier.

But Robin was there, in a way that he hadn't really had from anyone else in years.

"I don't know how you deal with it Buckley," Eddie huffs. He's grinning widely at Robin and Steve, reaching to take the joint back from Jonathan.

"What," she says dryly, "Steve? He grows on you".

"He does," Nancy insists loudly from Jonathan's other side, her cheeks are flushed and her eyes a little glassy. Jonathan lifts his arm to tuck her against his side with a fond grin, he meets Steve's gaze after a minute and mouths, 'still a lightweight,' which makes Steve snort.

"This!" Eddie barks out, lifting a ringed hand to gesture around the basement sitting room, "look there's a fucking Linn LP12 sitting right beside you and a God Damn pool outside".

Steve frowns, looking from Robin back to Eddie. He feels an uncomfortable thrum roll over his skin as Eddie stands up to make his way to the sound system he pointed out.

"Jesus, I think this whole collection cost more than my trailer," he picks up Steve's mothers Joni Mitchell album, turning it in his hands, "must have been nice to have mommy and daddy's money huh? This is like 'fuck you' rich".

Steve feels a faint nervous laugh tumble out of his mouth, even as his stomach rolls at the words.

"Oh my god," Robin laughs, knocking her shoulder into Steve's own, "yes! If I had a nickle for the number of times he asked me why I don't have my own phone line yet whenever my mom answers first, I'd be as rich as Steve!"

Eddie puts the Blue album back and pulls out a copy of The Beatles and now Steve is sweating.

Because Eddie isn't wrong, this is his parents music collection and yes it did cost them a lot of money over the years. But, more importantly, it was off limits to Steve.

The last time his dad had caught him flipping through the vinyls, Steve had been sent to his room with large purple hand prints on the offending arm and two broken fingers.

"Okay, that's my dad's, put it down," he says, hiding the tremor in his voice as he gets to his feet.

Eddie rolls his eyes again but does set the record down on top of the collection. He raises his hands in surrender and raises a mocking eyebrow as he steps back towards the couch, dropping down on the end as Argyle scoots closer to Jonathan to make more space.

Argyle and Jonathan speak quietly to one another seemingly uncaring about the strange tension that begins to bleed into the basement. It's Nancy who is watching Steve, Eddie, and Robin, her mouth set in an unhappy frown.

Nancy had only met Steve's parents once during a very uncomfortable dinner, years back when they had dated. While she may not know the true extent of Steve's relationship with Richard and Cynthia Harrington, she knows it wasn't all sunshine and roses.

"Man," Eddie snorts, shooting Robin a wicked grin, "I knew your parents had spoiled you pretty rotten but I didn't think they needed to buy you a new sense of humor".

"Yeah Steve," Robin pats the carpet beside her, "it's just a joke, lighten up and come sit down".

And that, well, that hurt a bit more than Steve anticipated.

"Why would you say that?" He whispers, the words falling out of his mouth like vomit before he can stop it.

Eddie scoffs from the couch, but Steve isn't looking at Eddie. He's looking at Robin.

Robin who meets Steve's gaze with a slight frown between her eyes, she looks back at Nancy with a laugh in her smile that disappears at the frosty glare Nancy fixes her with.

She slowly turns to look back at Steve, confusion and concern in her blue eyes.

"Oh come on Steve," Eddie takes a drag of the joint, which has dwindled into something resembling a roach before stubbing it out in the brown ashtray on the table, "we're kidding, come on Byers, you get it right?"

Nancy leans up to whisper something in Jonathan's ear and whatever it is, it's enough to make him stiffen slightly and give Steve a long look before he shakes his head, "I think we're going to head home actually".

Steve nods and breathes out, ignoring the way his chest tightens as he refuses to meet Robin's worried gaze.

Eddie slowly stands to follow Nancy and Jonathan, he says something quietly to Argyle that is met with a simple serene shrug

Eddie hangs back as the other three make their way up the basement stairs. He chews his lip and clenches his fist as he looks between Steve and Robin with a frown.

Eddie stands awkwardly beside Robin, spinning one of the rings on his left hand as he looks between Steve and the stairs that the others had used to beat their hasty retreat.

Robin gets to her feet slowly, her gaze never wavering, "Steve?"

Steve winces at the way she says his name.

He knows it was just a joke, he knows he's overreacting, that neither of them could have known about his relationship with his parents.

He knows it's unfair of him to be so upset, but he can't help it.

Because Eddie mocking him, that he could deal with. He could get over it, let go of the fantasies of Eddie's crinkling eyes and warm smile that made Steve's heartbeat quicken.

But Robin?

The way she had laughed, dismissed his discomfort, it was as though he had been transported back to Tommy's basement just a few years back, listening to him and Carol tear him down.

It's just a joke Steve.

He reaches up to pinch at the bridge of his nose, flinching at the sharp intake of air from Robin who immediately makes her way closer.

"Just," he manages to say with an even tone, shaking his head. He closes his eyes and clears his throat, taking a step back from the pair.

"I'm going to bed, got a shift tomorrow, so," Steve says quietly with a shrug. He opens his eyes but drops his gaze to the carpet, knowing if he made eye contact with Robin, he would inevitably ask her to stay.

Robin opens her mouth to argue, a fierce glare in her eyes and a bright flush on her face, he hasn't seen her this upset since the Creel House.

"Steve--"

Robin jumps as Eddie reaches for her arm, pulling her back, hard enough that she stumbles slightly into Eddie.

Steve curls his arms around himself, shying away from Eddie's dark evaluating eyes. He doesn't need to see the judgment there, it's embarrassing enough feeling like he's ruined the evening because of his hangups. He doesn't need the reminder of how ridiculous it is to be angry with them over something so silly.

"Come on Buckley, I'll drive you home," Eddie mumbles as he gently tugs at her arm once again.

Steve hears a harsh sigh, but she doesn't say anything this time. He can feel her staring, as though trying to read his mind like she normally could. But Steve keeps his eyes trained on the floor, until he hears two pairs of feet finally make their way up the stairs, until the front door closes, until Eddie's van roars to life on the Harrington driveway.

Steve eventually makes his way upstairs in a daze, half heartedly getting ready for bed.

He brushes his teeth, washes his face, doing everything he can to ignore the words that echo in his head over and over. He finishes in the bathroom and takes off his jeans, swapping his sweater for an old ratty t-shirt he often used for bed.

It was just a joke.

Steve rolls over until he's facing the window, ignoring the tightness in his chest as he closes his eyes.

Maybe it would be funnier in the morning.

[static-symphony-fm]

you are in love (true love)

now playing: you are in love (taylor's version)

pairing: magnus chase x fem! reader

word count: 1.9k

summary: 5 people who knew magnus was in love with you before you did + 1 sword

an: FIRST FANFIC LETS FUCKING GOOOOO this took so long to write! I love how I accidentally made it blue themed even though that's magnus's least favorite colour 😭 its ok we all know he's canonically a 1989 girly

fun fact i actually took the first picture! i shit you not I was on a road trip with my family READING MAGNUS CHASE and I look up and see THAT SIGN and i SCRAMBLED to take a picture

content/ warnings: 5+1 things, background blitzstone bcs c'mon they're basically canon, shitty writing, kissing ooo spooky, magnus being a simp, there actually isn't a whole lot of reader in this x reader fic, minor allusions to sex stuff, a lot of swearing, weird use of perspective, i was trying to go for third person limited but magnus is the one it's limited to not reader? but reader is referred to using second person? sorry if it's confusing.

1. samirah al-abbas

  if someone had told magnus a year ago that in a couple month’s time, meeting for coffee weekly with one of his best friends and not getting kicked out of the overpriced coffee shop was going to be the most normal thing in his life, he wouldn’t have believed them. probably would have flipped them off, too, and stole their wallet as he walked away. but he’d like to think that he was a changed man, seeing as he was, in fact, in a hipster café in boston, trying not to make fun of all the fancy menu options. like, seriously? who orders a dragon fruit, pomegranate, and kale smoothie?

he realized he’d been thinking for too long and returned his attention to samirah, sitting across from him and discussing wedding plans for her upcoming marriage to amir as she sipped her latte. he noticed the way her eyes seemed to get brighter, and her entire body language conveyed how excited she was as she talked about him. magnus had a fleeting thought about how good it must feel to love someone so unconditionally like that, and have them love you back just as much. 

as if reading his mind, samirah finished her sentence and studied him, tilting her head as she seemed lost in thought, peering at him like he was a calculus problem she couldn’t quite figure out. 

after a few seconds, magnus broke the silence. 

“alright, it’s getting weird. why’re you looking at me like that?”

samirah snapped out of it, focusing on what he was saying.

“nothing, just… do you think you’ll ever get married?”

jeez, that was a loaded question. magnus narrowly avoided choking on his black coffee, swallowing and burning his throat before answering.

 “sam, i’m dead.”

“so? people get married in valhalla all the time. i have been to a very disproportionate amount of weddings in the two years i worked there.”

“yeah? how many of those end in divorce?”

samirah took a long drink of her coffee, swallowing it slowly as she responded.

“forever is a very long time, and no relationship is perfect, but wouldn’t it be better to have someone to spend that time with?”

“…i guess.” magnus accepted, lost in thought. truthfully, samirah was right, like always. if circumstances were different, if he hadn’t died at sixteen, he could imagine himself getting married. settling down. living in a cabin in the forest with two kids. 

a thought came into his mind, entirely of its own accord, of doing all of that with you. your laugh, your soft hair, the way your lips curled up and your eyes widened when you smile. you’d probably be a great mom.

whoa, what the hell? he should definitely not be thinking about getting married to his friend, what the fuck? that is not normal. 

he pushed the weird thought out of his mind as best he could, gulping his coffee and focusing on the burning in his throat and not what he was just thinking. samirah had gone back to talking about amir, and magnus was not going to think about marrying you any longer.

2. alex fierro

after nearly getting his head cut off by alex’s garrote for the third time that day, magnus needed a break. alex had decided that magnus needed to learn to fight without the help of jack, and it wasn't going too well for him. he collapsed on the bench next to alex, chugging half a bottle of water before even taking a breath. alex rolled her eyes. 

“it’s not that hard, you just aren’t fast enough.”

magnus managed to control himself and not say a snarky comment back, but it was a close call. instead, he ignored her, staring straight ahead and not engaging. unfortunately, you were in his direct line of sight, sparring with mallory only a few metres away. alex picked up on this quickly, nudging his side. 

“you like watching y/n fight, huh?” she teased, smirking. damn, why did she have to be so perceptive?

“what? no. shut up.” magnus replied quickly, trying to hide his blush. “i mean… she’s a good fighter. not like i like her or anything like that.” 

“mhm. suuuure you don’t.” alex replied, definitely not believing him. fuck.

“i’m telling the truth!” magnus protested. god, how was arguing with alex harder than physically fighting her? 

“yeah. did you see her necklace today? pretty, right?”

“she’s not even wearing a neck- fuck.” magnus said instantly, before catching himself. 

“go to hell.”  he swore, glaring at alex, who was grinning at him in a way that reminded him a little too much of her mother. 

“you first.”

      3 + 4. blitzen & hearthstone

“magnus? magnus?”

a pale hand reached in front of magnus face, waving and then snapping its fingers, bringing him back to reality. he blinked and looked around at hearth and blitz, sitting across from him in the dining room of the chase space. hearth took his hand back to sign finally, raising his eyebrows sarcastically.

“your head’s way up in the clouds, kid.” blitz remarked, drumming his short, well manicured fingernails on the table, his silver engagement ring glinting.  he was right. magnus definitely was pretty out of it lately. 

probably thinking about y/n, hearth signed. jeez, why did every conversation he had have to be about you? and no, he most certainly was not thinking about you and your pretty eyes and your delicate hands and the way your ass looked in those jeans you were wearing yesterday… jesus fucking christ, he needed to stop.

 he buried his face in his hands and groaned loudly, then raised his head back up so hearth could read his lips, hoping that his blush wasn’t as visible as it felt. 

“i am not thinking about her.” he lied through his teeth. 

“there’s nothing wrong with having a crush, you know.”

ugh, why did they have to act so much like his dads? 

“i don’t have a crush!”

“kid, you’re a terrible liar. everyone can see the way you stare at that girl. now remember, if you’re doing anything intimate, you gotta use protection…”

that’s it. magnus couldn’t stand up from the table fast enough

 “nope! this conversation is ending right now. good talk!”

5. annabeth chase

magnus and annabeth had been walking around new york for the past three hours, trying to make up for the ten years spent apart.�� annabeth had shown him her favorite library, and pointed out a bunch of cool architecture in nearby buildings, with a promise to show him and his friends camp half-blood in the summer.

 they were currently taking a break, stopping for lunch at a falafel place that wasn’t quite as good as fadlan’s, but it was still falafel. magnus was enjoying listening to annabeth talk about her architecture projects– she was taking online classes to prepare for the higher level of new rome university’s program. 

magnus loved listening to her talk about things he didn’t understand. as a child he’d always thought she was a genius, the way she always solved puzzles and math problems easily. ten years later, that theory still held up, hearing her go on about a bunch of terms he didn’t understand.

“sorry, i’m probably boring you to tears. you wanna talk about something else?”

annabeth offered.

“no, it’s fine… i really don’t have a lot going on.” magnus replied, smiling politely.

“come on. there’s gotta be something interesting.” an idea seemed to come to annabeth.

“you have a crush on anybody?”

magnus swallowed. 

“no.”

but he was too slow. those steel gray eyes that matched his own were locked on him like a hawk, or maybe an owl. 

“yes, you do. come on. spill!”

magnus stayed silent. he was not telling his cousin about his crushes, but those metallic eyes stayed locked on him. he eventually gave up. annabeth could be scary when she wanted to be.

“fine. fine. her name’s y/n…”

+1. jack

 it was movie night at the chase space. was magnus ever gonna stop calling it that? no. it was cool. shut up. the credits were rolling on some disney movie that alex had insisted on, and everyone else was slowly but surely making their way to their rooms, yawning as they said their good nights. you had been sitting next to magnus on the couch the whole time, and suffice it to say that he had had some trouble concentrating on the film.  

it was just you and him, you in your nirvana t-shirt and gray sweat shorts, and in that moment, he decided to tell you.

 you got up to leave, waving at him, and in a feat of bravery so incredible it would be studied by historians for centuries to come, magnus managed to work up the nerve to speak up. 

“hey, uh, can i talk to you for a sec?”

“sure? what’s up?” you asked as you sat back down.

jesus, what had he gotten himself into? it’s ok, magnus, you got this. you beat loki in a flyting. you can talk to a pretty girl. 

“uh, i was just thinking… i just…” off to a great start, aren’t we? fuck off, voice in his head. he can do this. he took a deep breath.

“i really like you. you're gorgeous and funny and so insanely smart. i’m an atheist but i’m praying to god you feel the same way. will you be my girlfriend?”

you bit your lip, breaking eye contact as you looked off into the distance. fuck. you were gonna say no and then he was never gonna be able to talk to you again and he was gonna have to change his name and move to canada…

“can i kiss you?” 

what.

there were a million things magnus expected you to say, but that was none of them. he managed to stutter out a simple “please…” and then you leaned forward and your lips were on his and magnus chase died.

this felt more like the end of his life than being knocked off a burning bridge and drowning did. his heart was beating a million times a second, and he seemed to have forgotten how breathing worked. your lips were softer than anything he’d ever felt before.

 he managed to reciprocate a little, mostly acting on instinct, and all he could think about was how astronomically better this was than jackie molotov in the seventh grade.

what was he supposed to do with his hands? he was pretty sure that keeping them at his side was the wrong answer, so he moved one to your waist and the other one to the back of your neck, tangling it gently in your soft hair as his lips moved against yours.

gods, he could have stayed like that until ragnarök, but his stupid sword had to ruin the moment. jack started buzzing on his neck sleepily, seeming to have been woken up ungraciously. he hoped that you couldn’t feel it, but that was pretty unlikely, considering how close you were to him. jeez, he was blushing more and more every time he thought about that. 

eventually, you pulled away, smiling a little. 

“good night, magnus.”

he nodded, unable to form words, and managed to stand up and walk back to his room, wide eyed, operating on autopilot. he walked into his room and immediately collapsed backwards onto the bed, staring at the ceiling without blinking, completely still. not a thought passed through his mind for at least ten minutes, till he finally was able to reach up and pull jack’s pendant off of his necklace.

“dude, what happened to blades before babes!?!”

[areiton]

Current Fic Ideas:

Here's my current fic ideas--all of these are up for grabs to whoever wins my @marveltrumpshate auction. (Gonna do these in a few reblogs)

Fic Idea:

Steve and tony are outted by the press 6 months into a healthy happy relationship and it takes less than 2 months for them to fall apart due to the pressure and scrutiny. How they find their way back and manage leading the Avengers is a bit messier and takes longer.

Fic Idea:

Bucky has a one night stand before he goes to war. He goes missing in action and months later, Steve is sent his personal belongings. Including letters from an omega he's never heard of, named Tony, sending pictures of a pretty baby. Bucky's baby.

Steve finds Tony--if for no other reason, than to tell him about Bucky and to meet what amounts to his nephew. But he realizes how broke Tony is, alone and disowned and trying to finish school. Maybe Tony didnt mean much to Bucky--no one ever did--but he smells like home and safety, like everything Steve didn't know he wanted. And Peter fits, in his arms, a way nothing ever has. It's easy, to welcome them into his home, to help them. It's even easier to fall in love.

And then--Bucky comes home, and finds the pretty omega he barely remembers in his brother's clothes and home, and holding a baby.

Fic Idea:

Howard finds Steve in the early seventies. He marries Peggy but she's killed and he's left lost and angry and without any real purpose. Until Howard calls and asks for a favor. His son has been getting in trouble and could use a bodyguard.

Fic Idea:

After Endgame, Steve and Tony are together and life is good but there's the small matter of the cults that have sprung up worshiping them. Because Steve wielded the power of a god and Tony wielded the Gauntlet. And people are trying to process that so cults.

Fic Idea:

Today I'm thinking about that fic I started, in which Tony is an Omega in need of an Alpha chaperone at MIT and Rhodey takes the job. And then, when Howard & Maria die, Bonds with Tony so he can inherit SI and not be forced to Bond with Obie.

So for twenty odd years, it's very common knowledge that Tony Stark is Bonded to his college 'sweetheart' Rhodey, and then--Steve shows up and Tony falls head over heels for him and that's 100% mutual but TONY HAS AN ALPHA OH NOS!

And Tony can't figure out why Steve who is OBVIOUSLY into him won't make a move, even when he's in heat and throwing himself at Steve, until Steve explains, a little confused and a lot conflicted, that he's not gonna steal another Alpha's omega, and James deserves better.

And that's when Tony calls Rhodey from the other room and says, hey baby, do you mind if I break our Bond to get with Steve and he's like, FUCKING FINALLY, DUDE! And Steve finds out that it was only ever a platonic Bond because Rhodey would literally do anything for his bestie.

Fic Idea:

The PR agent responsible for Steve getting a Twitter is also responsible for every time he gets fighty online, which happens every time Tony is insulted. Tony is DELIGHTED he isn't PR's problem child anymore.

Fic Idea:

Tony watches WWII unfolding and knows that something is necessary to help win, so he sends a piece of himself to earth--the Tesseract. And when that's not enough, he falls, giving up his place with the stars, to help humanity.

And then he meets Steve, and uses his fading power--he's dying but he's not going to tell any of them that--to power Project Rebirth. I think probably too he's part of why Steve survives the ice, but I need to work on that.

Fic Idea:

Dragon rider SteveTony AU.

They're from different clans. But they're forced together because of blah blah reasons (oh maybe the dragons are mating?) And Tony loathes Steve who is a big damn hero his father won't shut up about. And maybe he's projecting a little--

He wasn't supposed to Bond with a dragon, he isn't supposed to even be here--but he's never going to live up to Cap's expectations, not the guy who rewrote the rules on dragon bonds and single handily turned the course of the war.

Steve meanwhile cant get a single word out because gosh Tony is pretty and smart and when he rides his dragon--🤯

Their dragons would Very Much Appreciate if the idiot humans would get their shit together.

Fic Idea:

Steve never had a soulmate. Never had a mark. But one night in late may, he wakes up to a burning on his arm and his name in almost illegible scrawl. Howard calls and tells him about the birth of his son the next day.

He goes to see the baby a week later and holds Tony and he can see it, his words too large on Tony's little chest, but he murmurs them anyway. It's terrifying and everything he wanted and Tony is a BABY so he puts the kid down and swears to himself to keep his distance.

But he has a half formed bond with Tony and he doesn't always stay away and then when Tony is two--he's brilliant but talks late--he says 'steeb' at a Christmas party. It's his first word and it completes the bond. Tony grows up with it. He never realizes that they're soulmates.

Because he was so tiny when they bonded and it's all he's ever known and Steve is convinced he can't be with Tony and Tony--wants nothing to do with the nameless faceless person responsible for his words, he just wants Steve.

Fic Idea:

Steve is a successful happy security contractor. He's kinda slutty but that's ok, he's not hurting anyone and he's always honest. And then one day he gets an email that he's pretty sure isnt for him but intrigues him anyway.

Tony is miserable. His company is on the verge of collapse, he hasn't talked to his best friends in years, and his husband is a distant asshole--and those are the good days. He emails a private investigator and somehow ends up contacting a security contractor instead.

isn't a working number, hell it doesn't even have enough numbers--they keep talking. And Steve maybe stops sleeping around because Tony, Tony is fascinating. Tony smiles more, even if sneaking around is dangerous.

And there are things that are…off. little bits of conversation that is just a little bit wrong. Not enough to concern them. Eventually they decide to meet, Tony's husband be damned. But when they go to the coffee shop they agree on--there's no one waiting.

And through the argument and hurt,they finally peace it together. They're in parallel universes.

More THOUGHTS: ok but when they realize this it spooks them both and they kinda retreat from each other. But. They both look, in their worlds. Tony find a Steve Rogers but he died as a little boy. He didn't have a best friend to protect and help him. Steve find Tony too.

He was killed by a buisness rival a few weeks after his father's death. Vanko is still in prison for it, but--Tony is still dead. It terrifies him, losing that Tony without ever knowing him, and it drives him back to his Tony, desperate to know he's safe.

It's heartbreaking because they're so close to each other, but they're universes apart, too, and Tony can't tolerate that. Won't. He's a genius, even if Ty's abuse broke him and made him small, and he's willing to try, if it means making his way to Steve.

[muddyorbsblr]

monthly wrap-up :: june 2023

Welcome to the June 2023 wrap up! I didn't expect that I would be reading so much for other characters but putting this list together made me realize I may have been whoring on the side for some other characters (potentially actors too because I can't lie those pics of Seb at the Loewe event did things to me full stop--).

The year's halfway through and I honestly can't believe how this year feels like it's flying by but also not moving fast enough because honestly I swear on my life I was just working on the 14 Days project a few weeks ago but also apparently it over four months ago?? Nothing makes sense 🥴

Anyways, here's all the stories I've made and consumed over the last month. Please go and shower these authors with all the love, they're amazing and deserve the world. 💖💛

Everything under the cut…and here's probably the best way to summarize what June 2023 was like in a single photo:

Loki x Reader

Coins and Revenge by @fictive-sl0th

The entire premise of this story had me dangerously bouncing at the edge of my seat. The tension and the yearning just created this amazing high-stakes tender love story in the making between future King of Asgard Loki and Forsaken Princess/Assassin YN. And pls the way he looked for her by combing through the minds of the city dwellers?? Pure unmitigated dedication right there. 👏👏

Filling a Void by @lokisgoodgirl

Ragnarok!Loki x Reader x President Loki is a threesome dynamic I didn't realize I needed in my life but now it's just got me staring at the ceiling thinking all the thots about it 🥴

Imagine: Tony tricking Loki into taking Viagra… by @sserpente

Shameless smut with a side of fluff? Sign me tf up 🥴👏👏 Honestly is there a queue for the "seven hours in Valhalla with Loki" experience because I would very much like to sacrifice my sanity for that--

Tropical Tension by @lokis-dark-queen

Besties to lovers on a vacation in Aruba, body shots, and some tender yet filthy smut?? Sign me tf up. I'm usually such a slow reader it's embarrassing, but I ate this up!

Teasing the Dragon by @sarahscribbles

All I can say is do not read before bed or you will go to sleep with horny…unless that's what you want. Edging for nearly an hour followed by overstimulation?? Restrained by Loki's magic?? Loki ripping your shirt with his bare hands?? Lemme know where I can sign up for this 👀 💳💥💳💥

You're Late by @lokisgoodgirl

Intentionally making herself late and playing a dangerous game with Loki? When I tell you my brain was running so many laps at the end of this piece just imagining how he kept her up all night 🥴🫠

Resurrected Love by @holdmytesseract

This story managed to put me in the strange position of sad and thirsty at the same time over the image of Loki having stubble. The angst with the flashbacks hurt me right in the feels but everything else had me squealing and melting and cheering at the end. 🥹💖

Wash Day with Loki by @mysecretlittlelibrary

Peak domestic bliss vibes in this piece, I can't say anything other than I love how cozy it all felt 🥹

Close to You by @michelleleewise

I'm still hurting over this ngl 🥲 Miscommunication trope and the subsequent lashing out gave angst that hurt so good but Loki better be treating her like a queen after this or else we're gonna have words 🙂

keeping Loki waiting in Sakaar ask by @sarahscribbles

It is borderline criminal for a drabble this short to have me staring at the ceiling from the smut 😩

Altar by @chubbyreaderchan

When I tell you this is peak banger after banger smut, and that title has more meaning than you think 🥴🫠

Too Darn Hot by @lokis-little-fawn

Triggering Loki's breeding kink and also some peak use of his naturally colder Jotun anatomy for some creative ways to cool down in the hot Asgard summer? When I tell you I sprinted laps after this--🥵

The Ceremony by @smolvenger

Loving fiance-turned-husband Loki and some bedding ceremony smut. No you heard me right. Bedding ceremony. With chanting. God help me I needed to run a few kilometers when I finished this--🫠

A Gentlemen's Bond by @lokisgoodgirl

Listen. When LGG posts something you know you're in for a good time. But this was…above and beyond. This absolute queen wrote a foursome smut shot with the same Loki & Agent from 'A Gentlemen's Agreement' and had me clutching walls and screeching at an ungodly hour of my mornight. 🥵🥵🥵 …And also still has me wondering if Steve has something he'd like to share with the class 😂😏

Asgard by @oliwrites

A besties to lovers with an adorable love confession and a smut scene that had a line that shot me out of a cannonball and straight dead into the water 🥴🫡

Behind the Pollen by @hollyiswritinglokiagain

This one took me all the way OUT 🥵😮‍💨 Soft doting boyfriend Loki turned horny boyfriend Loki with size kink and back again?! I wasn't ready and I'm still thinking about the bit with the stomach bulge HELP--

Spicy by @lotsoflokilove23

Soft smut with a 'willing to wait until you're ready' vibes Loki that was just the softest horny lil muffin the entire way through goddamn I'm still soft over this one--

King Henry V x Reader

Arise Fair Sun by @smolvenger

Mutual pining + a balcony confession + A KITH??? Disney take notes because this is how you write a love confession scene that will have your audience outright swooning 🫠

Magnus Martinsson x Reader

petting zoo drabble ask by @ladyfluff

Just the image of the precious meow meow being a dad is enough to have me melting, but mix that in with a petting zoo setting? I am a puddle because it's so fluffy 🥹

Thomas Sharpe x Reader

Reading While He Works by @foxgloveprincess

Peak adorable domestic bliss vibes in the Victorian Era with Thomas being a reassuring lil meow meow that just wants to have his wife around even if they just sit in comfortable silence? Lemme just…melt real quick 🫠

Coriolanus x Reader

The One I Desire by @five-miles-over

The grumpy x sunshine was so strong in this and the way this gave us a feisty sunshine reader was just the ultimate vibe for me 👏👏 And the dream?? 🥵 Yet another story that has me wanting more of this couple 💖

Tom Hiddleston x Reader

Falling Star by @mochie85

Tom being immediately infatuated with YN and seeing her as a calming presence on such a nerve-wracking night? Yes pls sign me all the way up. And that ending omg 🥴🫠

For England by @lokischambermaid

Soccer Aid Hiddles smut. Latex dress. A touch of potentially years long pining from Tom's end. I'm not kidding I needed to sprint a good 3km after reading this and I still didn't cool down. "Then bend" has me in a chokehold and I may or may not be putting on my running shoes again just thinking about it 😮‍💨😮‍💨

Bucky x Reader

Safe and Sound by @witchywithwhiskey (part 2 here)

Pretty sure this is the part where I shamelessly tell y'all I have a thing for the dbf trope 🥴🫡 And the way that this delivers and then some 👏👏 Part 1 had me melting for how he just comforted her without hesitation, and Part 2 had me kicking my feet and squealing and squirming from the dirty talk and how he checked in with her and the love confession 🥵🫠

Wanderlust by @mochie85

A pining best friend Bucky agreeing to go on a potential months long road trip with Reader to make sure she keeps safe?? And also resisting the urge to touch and kith the dimple?? The pining is immaculate in this drabble and has me wanting more 🥹💖

Pure of Heart by @rookthorne

Another best friend Bucky and this was so full of tender lil moments all before the fluffy ending that had me hitting the pillow from how cute these two were. And to top it all of: doggos!! 💖🫠

no more losers by @witchywithwhiskey

Face riding + they were roommates?? Scorching hot smut with a reveal at the end that gave this just the right amount of fluff that had me melting into my seat 👏👏

On the Edge by @sidepartskinnyjeans

I was living for the slutty banter between these two while they were edging each other with her wand 🥵🥵🥵 Honestly thank goodness I started reading Bucky stories otherwise I wouldn't have found this masterpiece of filth 👏👏

Devour by @frostironfudge

Mafia boss vibes with vacation hornies really had me clutching pillows and staring at the wall. It should be illegal for drabbles to be this hot honestly 🥵😮‍💨

Sherlock Holmes (Cavill) x Reader

drunken sex ask by @imyourbratzdoll

Drunk, tender, and feral Sherlock got my brain cells struggling to do anything except conjure up many many thots 🥵

Fingerprints by @tadhana-writes

A flustered Sherlock and a story where the case details have me wanting more 👏👏

Clark Kent/Superman x Reader

You're My To-Do List by @hannibals-favourite-meal

Domestic bliss with hornies…and it's Cavill's Superman, do I really need to say more 🥴🫡

Ari Levinson x Reader

her lifeguard ask by @imyourbratzdoll

Loyal bf Ari entertaining thoughts of drowning the people making his lil baby feel insecure and then proceeding to fuck the insecurities out of her?? On the beach?? Where anyone could walk by and see them?? I'm weak 🫠

be quiet for me ask by @imyourbratzdoll

dbf!Ari with a touch of fluff got me weak. (and also got me realizing I have the biggest soft spot for this trope aaaaaaaa 🫠)

her favorite truckdriver and his favorite camgirl ask by @imyourbratzdoll

This had me moving up a book with a similar trope (OF Creator FMC x Single Dad MMC) a good few spots on my book TBR because holy fuckque it's so good and I need more 🥵🫠

You Said I Was Your Favorite by @frostironfudge

The angsty start of this had me clutching the wall from the hurt omg, but the smutty ending had me just staring at the ceiling for a good while 🥴🫡

Stepdad!Ari showing you adult movies ask by @evansbby

Conflicted reader having an internal war between her hornies and her rational thinking really got me on this one. Like I'm living for her intrapersonal dynamic and I'd love to see which side would win out in the end 😳🫡

Kraven x Reader

The Hunter by @sidepartskinnyjeans

Primal kink. Forest smut. If this is the type of top shelf smut content we get from just the trailer, I better ready some ice water and new running shoes for October when we get the entire movie 🥵🫠

You Better Run by @cockslutpadalecki

Primal kink and restraints?? I wouldn't wanna be taken off his list, either 🥵🫡

Thomas Sharpe x Reader

the final Lady Sharpe part 3: unorthodox signals

Loki x Reader

what makes a princess

Tom Hiddleston x Reader

a sizing mishap a tale of ice baths and hot sauce

idek what this is except crack

the best view in Old Trafford (aka Grass POV)

[linashirou]

WIP Wednesday!

(A little late but still!) This time @fangbangerghoul tagged me and I have to tell you that I'm working on a second ending for the Dragon's Dogma fic. The problem is that I lost a big part, because at some point Microsoftword.exe didn't save it. So I got a little depressed about it (I realized this yesterday), so I will share the beginning of it.

Don't believe people who say: "There's nothing new under the sun".

That's not true.

The most unexpected things can happen.

And that's quite a lot when you consider that I'm just a pawn.

As you probably already know (or suspect), the age of a pawn is difficult to determine. I don't know exactly how many human years, how many Springs I've seen go by, but I can say that I've worked with more Arisen than I can really remember or count.

Still, my memory can only recall two of them: the one who gave me life, and the one who made me feel emotions. Their will, and determination were astonishing. The one that gave me life, my own Arisen appeared to be a decent, reasonable person with an unbreakable will, but he gifted me the most bitter feeling: Disappointment.

Some might say: He was the one who made me a being with feelings, and maybe that's the truth, but, in my opinion, she had something special.

Something strange and inexplicable.

"I like to think that we are like moths drawn to the light; this warm, powerful aura that the Arisen have…"

Today, Hal's words carry a different weight, they're like an echo in my mind, haunting me.

Many Awakenings have come and gone… Different Arisen… Different motivations and wills.

But somehow… I feel guilty

Regardless how much experience I once bragged about…

I never expected anything like this.

We had been together for a long time, I'd say months.

Lina was the one chosen by the Dragon in this dimension as the Arisen, the one who would finish him and free the world from the disaster dressed in Crimson. Hal was always by her side. A skinny, eye-glassed, book-loving pawn, brilliant and creative. At first I despised his lack of courage and his shyness.

Now, in retrospect… I can't ignore his true qualities.

His mental agility and his almost unnatural effort to understand life and people; Sensitive, always looking out for her happiness and that of those with whom he lived, including me and Meryl.

How stupid I was.

Surely, as he mentioned on more than few occasions, my "muscular brain" made me indifferent to what some people call the "intelligence of the heart".

If only I had noticed this earlier… I might have noticed that there was something strange going on from the very beginning…

It's no news that Arisens could bring joy to people.

And envy too.

For some strange reason, the negativity becomes endearingly attractive to minds in despair and uncertainty of the approaching end (perhaps this is something triggered by the Dragon's presence).

That day, a stranger approached the Arisen and begged for help. He pulled out a weird piece of paper that claimed to be a letter from a well-known person.

They were barely readable, asking for help to get home, from Bloodwater Beach to Grand Soren.

A long and complicated journey.

To be honest, I have to make yourself clear that it's not uncommon to receive requests for escort, especially on the road, but…

What the hell was that person doing out there in the first place?

Bloodwater Beach is one of Gransys' most remote and inhospitable places…

Why should we help that person?

These questions weren't asked back then.

And maybe that's why I'm here now...

[zombolouge]

BRACE YOURSELF ITS QUESTION TIME

What’s your current writing project(s)? How do you feel about it, how far along are you? Anything else you want to share about it?

I LOVE YOU JELLY you sent me so many kickass asks that I can't wait to answer. I shall do one every other day so I don't spam my followers and also so I can mull over all the answers in a ponderous, serious manner. ;)

Currently still poking the rapidly expanding middle of Fanatical, my sequel to Indefensible in my Ace Attorney series. Indefensible picks up about a couple months after AA6: Spirit of Justice and follows through an original plotline in the AA universe. I wrote my own cases for it and tried very much to make reading them feel just like it would if you were playing a new game, except I showed all the emotional bits in between the investigation/trial scenes. I also gave full arcs to like...all the fucking characters so this bitch was long lolol but I am exceedingly proud of it and will show it to anyone who even remotely expresses an interest in AA with big, pleading eyes, hoping that they'll read it.

Fanatical takes place about 7-ish months after the epilogue of Indefensible, picking up with a certain auspicious wedding and then immediately plunging all our favorite lawyers into further mysteries. I found while writing Indefensible that I absolutely love writing mystery, even though it also makes me insane, and there were (unbelievably) a few things I didn't get to cover in the first 500k words I wrote. So as I approached the ending of Indefensible, I started thinking about if I had enough to build into another fic, realized I did, and got to work on that. It currently has about 90k of it posted, another 50k written (out of order, which is why I can't post any of it yet lol).

It's been vexing me for a few months because there were some details of the plot my brain hadn't fully visualized yet. I'm getting much, MUCH closer to having a clear vision of it, though. I've finally got the plot beats mapped out, and I can finally see which characters in particular needed a little more attention to their arcs. It's pretty hard to write mystery, even harder to write it when I have at least 21 individual characters to map out an arc for, and something so complex definitely takes time to fully consider. I feel bad that it's been so slow going and that I had to take a break from it, but I haven't put it on full hiatus yet since it's still the project I'm focused on.

So far the theme is clear to me, though, and the biggest plot beats are firm, it's just a few of the subplots that need some TLC. Not every character has to be active for every part of the plot, but I do need to know where their head is at and what they're doing, and how that will intersect with the parts they are actively participating in.

I'm hoping that I can get it on the page before the new Dragon Age game comes out, because that WILL force Fanatical into hiatus because I'll immediately be working on DA stuff. If I don't have most/all of Fanatical done by end of September, it's hiatus will probably be another long one, and I'm very stressed about that. Hoping those that have read it will forgive me, since they already had to weather a years' long hiatus on Indefensible. Did my best to make it worth the wait, tho. ;)

Thank you for giving me a chance to ramble about these things, I LOVE talking about my work and processes and thoughts about characters and stuff, so I always welcome asks. <3

[japanesepenguin]

Garden Update!

+ Well, I have another Malibu business trip coming up in a couple days, so let's see how the garden is doing; I've created a second bed and planted big and small tomatoes, as well as a few cape gooseberry (goldenberry) plants; everything's staked and tied up because it gets very windy

+ Strawberry row, really filled out with plants

+ Just in case you don't believe me, there's actually strawberries

+ Here's one new addition I'm happy about; this is Oliver... an olive tree; the tree was 32 cents, the dirt was considerably more expensive; it'll be a long time before he makes olives, so stay tuned

+ This is the persimmon tree; he's alive, but past the period for flowers, so nothing on him this year; considering I thought it was a dead stick just a couple months ago, I'm pleased with his recovery

+ And the most exciting new addition: a pomegranate tree from Akina; she's all tied up due to the wind

+ Blueberries... doing blueberry stuff...

+ Like making blueberries!

+ This is the bunch of flowers from a packet of seeds from my mom; here's some of the flowers:

+ The bottom-right one is cornflower, which I'm excited to try and make into tea

+ Some stuff on the side: plum tree (lots of blossoms, but no fruit); rosemary (doing very well); basil (doing well, tastes good); and leftover seed trays of tomatoes (as back up); the cups of water on the side is a surprise for Akina (if they grow)

+ And more: there's dill in the yogurt containers in the top-left, but they're probably past the period where they'd taste good (I guess only young dill is good); the three brown shallow pots have okahijiki in them, which is a type of Japanese succulent you can eat

+ Lantana for Akina

+ Iyokan (a type of Japanese citrus); there's two fruits on the tree... looking good

+ Practicing crop rotation by putting the lettuce over here; I reduced the amount of Romaine lettuce this time around

+ Another new addition, this is goya; I think it's called "bitter melon" in America, but it's a lot more common here; Akina doesn't like it; I kinda like it (it's super bitter)... like, really bitter; the whole plant smells like it; his name is "go-tyan"

+ Some re-arranging here... Consolidated my rock pile and freed-up all the space along the ledge for many of the smaller pots; from left to right: parsley (going strong), kiwi (male, just for the flower), tansy (smells awful, keeps away bugs), okra (looking good), and lavender (got lots of flowers for tea already)

+ Moving along... right-to-left: chives, chrysanthemum, chamomile (for tea), and lavender; and peeking into frame from the bottom-right:

+ These flowers, from a packet of seeds from my mom; they weren't supposed to bloom this season, but some of them did

+ And resuming along the ledge... starting from the chives, from left-to-right-skipping-even-numbers-unless-it's-number-four-then-reversing-the-order-of-the-rest: chives, cilantro (bolted already and probably no good), snap dragons (still going strong), some flowers that the beetles eat, and ooba/shiso

+ Last ledge entry: ice plants (for Akina)... they're actually growing much better now; I think I started them too late last year

+ Previously the lettuce bed, now has herbs: cilantro (better looking) and chervil

+ Here's na-tyan, an eggplant...

+ Here's pi-tyan... small bell peppers; I think the wind really messed her up last night, gotta go check in a minute

+ Uhm... corn; if you're wondering, the plastic bottles atop the stakes are so I don't stab myself and/or poke my eye out while working; the stakes are hard to see, the bottles make them obvious; despite growing up in Ohio, I realize I know next-to-nothing about growing corn

+ Green onions; the packet said to grow them this closely without thinning... I'm trusted that's correct, but I have my doubts

+ I put a row cover up here to deter moths/butterflies from making caterpillars all over the Brassicas inside (kale and broccoli)

+ Oh no, there's a limit of 30 pictures/post

+ Well, the rest is a row of carrots, some edamame that I'm pretty sure is sick/diseased; and some snow peas from my mother that are in various states of stunted growth due to "leaf borer" infestations... but the peas they do manage to produce taste pretty good!

[aerinamis]

wondering which oc i should give a missile launcher as a weapon

i feel like it should either be someone from dirulaka's world or vira/irisu's. the three candidates i could think of were dirulaka himself, muni, and sorin. now the reasoning for each:

dirulaka - a researcher his world and others, specializing in necromancy. out of the three i proposed, he's the least fitting for the missile launcher. he probably already has a book he can do necromancy with, but i think it'd be funny for him to blow up his enemies only to revive them with necromancy. however, he's already a dragon/goose hybrid AND a scientist, so if he just wants the fire and explosions, he can do that himself. (ok i know that not all scientists work with fire and explosions but i bet he has connections. he has connections to erx actually. erx is an arsonist. i always forget that). i think the reason i wanted to give him a missile launcher is because he'd look cool next to korin, who uses a flamethrower for a weapon

muni - strategist for the chronos containment center. muni's the newest oc atm so i haven't developed them that much yet, other than they have the most compositionally fucked up outfits ever. as a result, they're friends with kanami and i think they've modeled some pieces for her a few times. i don't know how the modelling business works. muni's from vira's world and i was gonna say that he's one of the magicless but no. i forgot i made him specialize in archaic/ancient magic. maybe it can be some dramatic scenario where he discovers he can use magic and then leaves the world out of fear for what might happen if he found out. ohhhhhhh muni and sorin angst woowowowooooo wowoaoowawww. muni could pull off a missile launcher style-wise but a) he has no reason to be fighting as a strategist. maybe for emergencies or him just pulling out the missile launcher for funsies and b) explosions and fire just doesn't fit with their vibe. a splatoon weapon would work much better for them

sorin - ahhh my 6th? 7th? rabbit oc. uh. it went cysai -> koei -> cbgc/tsunoka -> mafumi -> zoiwa -> cobweb -> sorin. also here's like two screenshots from when i was trying to figure out if i made koei or cbgc first

(about koei)

idk how tall sorin would be. i think they'd be average height, near mafumi/zoiwa's range. for reference cobweb is 200 cm tall (willow is 180 cm, third tallest oc after korin who's 194 cm. aeris can be 176 cm and onami/storyteller 174 cm, idk how tall cysai is. 170 cm sounds like a good height). i also forgot cobweb existed for a while. cobweb reminds me a lot of wataru appearance-wise, but i made them a month before i relearnt? remembered? his existence? i probably saw him before back when i had tori as my fave. and that was 2 years ago. oh god oh fuck maybe wataru did visit me in my dreams

ok sorry i need to get back on track. so sorin, my favorite paranoid magicless rabbit. and that's exactly why they should have a missile launcher. i think it'd be a mana-modified weapon so they'd be able to use it as their primary weapon without having to worry about... reloading missiles or anything like that. sorin and cysai look really similar actually. sorin's appearance definitely wasn't based off an old picrew i had of cysai. haha. but speaking of cysai, i had considered giving them explosion magic a while back if they ever had to fight. it'd be funny. but it didn't make sense for them to fight, so i just let them have... multitasking magic. and due to their similarity in appearance i think it'd be a fun callback (for me at least) to burst dps cysai or whatever the heck people call people that use explosion magic. well. sorin becomes part of the dirulaka/korin group eventually (for reasons i will figure out later) and giving sorin the missile launcher allows them to match their vibes while avoiding dirulaka looking dumb since he most likely breathe fire already. they are the arsonist trio that erx wants.

this concludes my essay.

also i just realized that sorin and korin basically have the same name. god damn it. korin needs to be renamed now /j

[intergalacticaquarium]

Chapter 3- Ride Home

Eddie Munson x soon-to-be-step!henderson!OC

Summary: Sam goes to pick Dustin up from DnD and realizes that Hellfire Eddie is the same Eddie that she's friends with, and everybody has something to say about it.

Contents: Everybody wants 2 sibling Dustin so bad that when somebody doesn't take the opportunity they're like what? You don't want this great brother? What the fuck is wrong with you? no warnings besides mentions of weed.

3k words

(Series masterpost/chapter links here!)

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

Like every weekday afternoon since the beginning of school until today, the day before spring break, Samantha Campbell was reading a book and idly eating a sandwich in her van with the back doors open instead of deigning to step foot in the cafeteria. Eddie had offered her a seat plenty of times but she had never taken him up on it, preferring the peace and quiet and lack of crowds and shouting. 

    Samantha didn’t stop to give anybody the time at school, in and out as fast as possible, talking to nobody, no eye contact, never initiate a conversation. In fact, over the past few months, her actions cultivated themselves into an aura that the people around her seemed to think was pretty intimidating.

    Rarely did anybody interrupt her silent lunches in the parking lot, occasionally a teacher worried for her mental health, sometimes Eddie in an attempt to light up quickly before class, and every once in a blue moon, she would see a couple of Freshman standing on the perimeter of the parking lot, each whispering and occasionally smacking the others and gesturing to her van, until inevitably Dustin Henderson would nervously walk up to her while his friends waited and looked on curiously.

    Today was one of those days. She wondered if he’d ever be able to convince one of the other ones to come and talk to her, or if they always made Dustin do it because they thought he had the family advantage. But she didn’t really know Dustin, aside from one sleepover in the guest room that had been sparsely decorated with objects she had left behind and a few awkward dinners, she hadn’t spoken to him. It’s not that she didn’t like him, he seemed like a good kid. Sam liked his mom, too. She liked seeing her Dad happy, she liked watching him try to teach Dustin to play catch in the front yard. They looked like a family. A family that Sam didn’t know how to fit into, no matter how many times they made it clear that she was welcome to try. 

    Dustin walked up to her cautiously, fiddling with his hat and waving casually as if she hadn’t seen the rock paper scissors battle between him and the tall skinny one to come over to her. 

    “Uh- hey, Samantha. Okay, so Lucas joined the basketball team this year because he wanted to stop us from being bullied and-” Dustin started quickly, and she interrupted.

    “I don’t know who Lucas is.”

    “Not important. Have you ever played Dungeons and Dragons?” He asked a little desperately.

    “I don’t know what that is. Or what you being bullied by the basketball team has to do with dragons.” She said, already uncomfortable. She didn’t know how to talk to kids, Dustin seemed cool enough but she didn't know whether he was at the "hard truths of life" stage or if she was supposed to give him a lollipop or something.

Dustin started rambling on about the rules and dice with twenty sides.

“I’m sorry dude I don’t think that’s my thing.” She said, interrupting him again, and the little guy deflated, instantly filling her with guilt.

 “Shit. Eddie’s gonna be so pissed if we can’t find someone to replace Lucas.” He murmured to himself. 

“Okay? I don’t know your Drowning Dragons Eddie-”

“I feel like you know that’s not what it’s called.”

“S-o that’s really not my problem, sorry bud.” She said, not sounding sorry at al. 

“Do you know anybody that would be interested?” He asked hopefully, glancing back to his friends who were probably expecting a better answer. 

“I don’t know anybody.” She said flatly, starting to look around for something to end the conversation.

“Seriously? You don’t know anybody?” Dustin said, now with sarcasm in full swing.  “Is this the first time you’ve ever spoken to another human being? Didn’t you go to school here for 11 years?” his tone was so confident all of a sudden that she would have laughed if she wasn’t already so annoyed.

“Yeah and then I left and all my old friends graduated.” She said flatly. 

“Fine, fine. Message received.” Dustin grumbled and started to walk away, but turned back. “Oh, this is a weird question now that you said no to the first thing but, uh- can you pick me up after DnD at nine? I usually get a ride from Lucas.”

“Tryin’ to kill two birds with one stone, huh?” Sam asked and he nodded. “Sure. But don’t be late.”

Dustin smiled a little and Sam had to admit that he was kind of adorable. 

---

    Dustin did end up running late, but Sam didn’t really care about being left to wait in the car when she carried her home with her everywhere she went. She rewound the Pogues cassette and restarted it, glancing towards the door opening and saw the boys come out of it. She furrowed her brow when they were with none other than Eddie Munson, who seemed to be in peak form, all arms and hips and menacing leans forward as he articulated whatever he was saying with his entire body to the absolute delight of the other boys. It didn’t even cross Sam’s mind that they were talking about the same Eddie, but now that she saw him she probably should’ve seen it coming. The boys were all talking and high fiving, and Sam honked the horn so he would hurry up. They all looked at the cars and Dustin waved goodbye to his friends.

    “Oh hey- I just saw a friend, I’m gonna go say hi- later guys, great job on the big finale tonight, humble adventurers.” Eddie said, waving to them.

    “My ride's here, later!” Dustin said, and they were both a little surprised when they both took a step in the same direction. 

    It wasn’t that strange, there were a few cars with people in them parked closeby, but eventually they reached the same van and they gave each other strange looks.

    “Is- is Sam Campbell your ride?” Eddie asked, confused.

    “Uh- yeah she’s my moms fiance's daughter. Is Sam Campbell your friend?”

    “Yeah, I think-”

    On the other side of the glass Samatha was cranking her window down and gave them both a stern stare. 

    “You know it’s weird to have a conversation directly outside somebody’s closed window.”

    “Sorry- I saw your van and came over, didn’t know you were here to pick up Ser Dragonthorn, Knight in Absentia to the Realm of Neverwinter.” He said in a dramatic tone and bowed, making Dustin laugh, but then turned to Sam with suspicion.

    “I thought  you said that you ‘didn’t know anybody’” Dustin accused, finger quotes and all. Eddie snorted and leaned over to rest his elbows on the open car window. When Dustin had no more space to Sam he walked around to the passenger seat and got in.

    “Don’t give her a hard time, that’s not a lie, I’m nobody.” He said mournfully, batting his eyelashes and her, now completely bent over and resting his chin on his arms. Sam grinned at how close he was getting, though she leaned away all the same.  

     “That’s not true- you’re the best damn DM I’ve ever seen.” Dustin said enthusiastically, then thought for a moment. “Don’t tell Mike I said that.”

    Eddie laughed and stood up. “Stay on my good side and I won’t, Henderson.”

    “How do you guys know each other?” Dustin asked, obviously extremely curious.

    “He sells me-” Sam started, only to be interrupted by Eddie.

“-concert tickets!”  he finished, and she glanced at him in confusion.

    “I got….all the good seats.” He said kinda lamely, now leaning away from the  car and hanging onto the window.

    “Yeah. All the good seats to all the great concerts that I go to now. In rural Indiana.” She said blankly and then stared at Dustin with a fake smile and she could see he wasn’t buying it.

    Eddie stood up on his own two feet and taped the top of the van awkwardly a few times.

    “See you round, Campbell. Henderson, figure out your level up stats and I swear to god if you don’t fix that -1 in agility I’m going to trap Ser Dragonthorn in a well and you’ll be stuck in there forever.” he said sincerely.

    “I’m a barbarian I don’t have to be agile-” Dustin started, and Sam took the car out of park and slowly started to back away.

    “Bye Eddie!” She said, cutting the conversation short and driving away, looking in the rear view a few times that he was staring after them and grinning.

---

    Dustin sat back down and fiddled with the radio to get to his favorite station.

    “How do you really know Eddie?”

    Sam glanced at him in confusion. “What he said. He sells me pirated tapes or whatever.”

    “Concert tickets. He said concert tickets.” Dustin said flatly, and Samantha frowned.

    “He sells me both. Duh.” She said, and noticed Dustin getting quiet.

    “Look, if he didn’t say anything it’s for a reason. You obviously look up to him and maybe he doesn’t want to ruin that by crossing wires or whatever.”

    “You can’t say that- now I have to know!”

    “Honestly, it’s not even a big deal. I don't know why he would even bother lying about it, you’re old enough to know that weed exists. You’re- what? 9?....17?””

    “I’m 15.” 

    “That’s about the middle of what I said. Whatever, it doesn’t matter.”

    “So he sells you weed? That’s the big secret?” Dustin said, obviously disappointed, and Sam laughed.

“You look so disappointed, what were you expecting?” She said, and Dustin grinned.

“Maybe he fights real monsters on the weekend.” He said in a tone that made Sam feel like she was missing something. The mention of monsters soured her mood, flashes of what she saw that night at Starcourt flickering behind her eyelids while she stared at the road and tried not to blink.

“Monsters aren’t real, Dustin. You’re 15, you should know that.” She said quietly, and he could tell that her mood had changed.

“You’d be surprised.” Dustin said, almost to himself, and looked out the window.

She pulled up to his house and let him out, and she could see her dad and Dustin’s mom playing cards at the table. Dustin got out and waved goodbye, and she saw her dad look out the window at her van and wave. Sam waved back. She wanted to go inside, but the silhouette of Dustin came around the corner and hugged his mom, and high fived her dad. By the time he turned back to the window she had driven away.  

----

    Back at the trailer park she waited for Eddie to invite himself over but he didn’t come as soon as she had expected after she saw him come home and go into the trailer. She even saw little puffs of smoke coming from the window and she frowned. He didn’t have to come over, it’s not like they had standing plans or anything. Just as she was overthinking it she saw him walking towards her, and she leaned back in relief. 

    He sat down next to her and passed her a beer out of the six pack he was carrying, and she took it gingerly.

    “You know Dustin asked me to play today. Told me that Eddie would be so pissed if they couldn’t find a sub.” She said, grinning. “Didn’t occur to me til I saw you that they might be talking about you.”

    Eddie chuckled too. “Yeah, I didn’t really connect the dots either that Dustin was your step brother. What with how you’ve never said his name and he…never mentions you.”

    There was something off about his voice that she couldn’t identify.

    “He’s not really my brother.” She explained lamely, and he nodded. “Why didn’t you want me to tell him that you were selling weed?” She asked, and he screwed up his face for a minute, tensing up his shoulders before relaxing them.

    “I dunno. They look up to me, y’know? Every year there’s always a couple of weird kids that don’t fit in and I want to- God damn this sounds so cheesy- I want to make a nice space where they can just be themselves. It’s not like it’s a secret and everybody figures it out eventually it’s just, with Dustin in particular…” He said, swaying back and forth and explaining himself. “I’ve never had a kid latch onto me and expect me to role model him like that. It’s a lot of pressure.” He finished, and Sam smiled.

    “Sounds like you’ve got a new little brother. It’s sweet.” She said, and Eddie took a sip without looking at her.

    “I mean, if you weren’t gonna do it then somebody should, right?” he said, and immediately looked guilty. 

    “Wow.” She said, sitting up from the relaxed position she had been in so she could look him in the eye. She shook her head, unsure how to respond. 

    “I’m sorry, it’s just- he talks about your dad Ron all the time and he’s never mentioned you. Sometimes his friends ask about you and all he has to say is ‘she’s not really my sister’ and that he’s too scared to talk to you.”

    “I’m not his sister, though. Why is Dustin my responsibility all of a sudden, sounds like he’s got plenty of role models to go around.” She said, offended, and she sat quietly for a moment while his words sunk in a little more. “He’s too scared to talk to me?” She asked incredulously.

    “Yeah. They all are.” He said it as if it was obvious. “I just- I know this whole ‘new family’ thing has been kinda hard on you, and you know I love the whole standoffish loner thing you’re doing now,” He said, clearly ramping up to something and trying to gather some courage, but she couldn’t figure out where he was going when he looked her in the eye. 

“but I don’t like bullies- and if you’ve been giving Dustin or any of those other kids a hard time-”

    “What? No, of course not. I'm not giving anybody a hard time.” She said angrily.

    “Then why are they all scared of you?”

    “Because they don’t know me!”

    “And why is that?”

    “Because I don’t talk to them. I’m a standoffish loner, remember?” She said, kinda defeated and thinking back to all her past interactions with Dustin to search for anything that would have scared him. She couldn’t come up with anything, but she certainly couldn’t come up with any moments of connection either. 

    “Okay, maybe I haven’t exactly put in any effort with him but I haven’t done anything mean to him either.” She admitted begrudgingly, and Eddie seemed to accept that, looking like he felt guilty for insinuating anything. But she was glad that he said it, whether or not he had a point or not (she knew he did), that meant that somebody was looking out for Dustin. Somebody should if she wasn’t, after all. That thought struck her as selfish in the quiet lack of conversation until Eddie spoke again.

    “Man, I’m sorry. Maybe I’m just sick of hearing him complain about your empty bedroom.” He said with a weak laugh, obviously he had said what he came to say and hadn’t thought much beyond that.

    “What?” She asked, confused.

    “He complains about your empty bedroom constantly. Annoys the shit out of me.” He said. “ Always talks about how his mom was thinking about buying a computer before she cleaned out the whole office so that you could come and live there. How he keeps asking to put his damn radios back in there but his mom says no every time because she wouldn’t want to make you feel unwelcome.”

Sam paused. She didn’t know that. She had suggested that they just get rid of the room once and her dad said no, but she didn’t know that Claudia cared or that her not being there was causing any kind of absence in their family. She shook her head and chewed on the inside of her cheek, trying not to think of any symbolism there. 

“Next time…” she paused, unsure what she wanted to say. “Next time he asks me to play DnD with you guys I’ll say yes. And maybe I’ll think about sleeping in that empty bedroom. Maybe.” she said to Eddie, and smiled when he grinned. “And for what it’s worth, I’m glad that you’re looking out for him enough to talk to me about this.” she said, honestly, and he looked away bashfully in a way she thought was very sweet.

“I’m just worried he does have enough badass influences in his life. I don’t want him to be a mini Steve Harrington.” He mused, and Sam laughed incredulously.

“Why would you possibly have to worry about that?” 

“They’re like, best friends.” He said, and she gaped at him.

“Why?”

“I have no idea. Dustin worships him, though.” He said, clearly irritated.  Sam squinted into the night sky contemplatively.

“Is Dustin really cool, or has Steve Harrington massively fallen from grace?” She asked, and Eddie snorted a laugh.

“He works at the video store with Robin Buckley and apparently spends all his time with her and the kids he babysits or whatever, so I think so.” He said smugly.

“As opposed to you who…doesn’t have a job, only hangs out with me and the exact same kids in the official school club that you are technically the administrator of.” She said, even more smugly than him, and he rewarded her by falling backward onto the mattress.

“You’re killing me, Sam. Literally. I’m literally cursed and going to die because you keep calling me a sellout.” He complained, and she laughed, feeling more free than she had since getting back to Hawkins. 

    “Yup. Sellout, total corpo. Might as well be wearing a damn necktie.” She said, starting to giggle freely and he joined, though it died down quickly with a soft look between them that made her feel ridiculous for not thinking of him as a real friend until now. Glancing away back at the evening she decided that it was time to stop living her life at arm's length, and now she knew she had somebody to do it with.

Taglist: @nostandards94

[imnotsurewhatimdoinging]

Mudwings are the worst Tribe

People always say Mudwings are underrated. Incorrect. Underrated means you are actually good and no one appreciates you. Mudwings are not good. They are underdeveloped, underexplored, and underrepresented, but not underrated.

Let’s recap what we know about their culture. Mudwings are big brown dragons who live in marshlands, and are often stereotyped as dumb and always hungry. They have no nuclear family structure, leaving their egg clutches hidden in the mud. The first to hatch is the biggest dragonet, called the bigwings, who help their siblings break out of their shells. The sibling (or sibs for short) stay together for the rest of their lives, only breeding once every full moon. To summarize, Mudwings are big on siblings, but not on marriage or kids.

This is the most developed Mudwing culture ever gets. And I still have questions. It takes one year for a dragon to lay an egg, and another year for the egg to hatch. And yet Mudwings are said to breed every month, which causes a lot of questions to be raised about how this stuff works. True, once a dragon realizes their pregnant they would probably stop those meeting, but we really need some more development on that whole thing. Like, if Mudwings abandon their eggs, then how do they know who’s related to who? And since they seem to breed so often, imagine how many eggs a dragon can have, how many siblings won’t know they're siblings.

Alright, I don’t like where this is headed. Lets move on to the next bit of lore.

We know they have a queen, like any other tribe, and she lives in a castle. That we’ve never seen before, and have no idea what it looks like outside of a small drawing that is for-sure simplified, and not actually supposed to represent what the castle looks like. Oh, it’s apparently by a big lake. Neat.

And since Mudwing hatch in clutches, we have to ask how succession works. Can any daughter rise to the throne? Or is it just the female bigwings? What role do the queen’s sibs play in Mudwing court? Again, more questions about the mere basics of Mudwing society.

And that’s the last we know about Mudwing lore. Oh wait, they had a thing where they didn’t have heirs a few centuries back. We don’t know any more details about that. Now we’re done.

Mudwings have a very unique cultural trait that separates Mudwing culture from all other tribes. But that trait is miserably underdeveloped. Judging by the full moon breeding thing, its clear the author was taking inspiration from real life animals not caring for their young, but she failed to realize that you can’t just slap that on a creature with human level intelligence that has a society to live in. It just doesn’t work out.

[xthe-writing-vampirex]

Ellie x Zaro

Word Count: 879

Warnings: fear, meantions death

Pairing: OC x OC

So I've decided to try to write some of my OCs as well as do requests for you guys. I'm also trying to balance everything so if I disappear for a bit it just means I need a break. Either way I'll get everything out as soon as I can💕

—————

Ellie had been talking online with Zaro for over a year now, the two of them sending pictures back and forth, flirting, and simply enjoying each other's company. So after all that time getting to know him she should be excited to meet up for the first time, but she's terrified. Why? He's a dragon. In their world there are loads of different humanoid beings, including humanoid dragons. The issue is she's a fae, the smallest being in this universe. Her kind gets picked on, played with, and even eaten by the larger beings in her world and Dragons are one of the biggest. They're known to be bullies and Ellie has been hiding her wings to appear more elf-like, closer in size to the dragons than the fae, just so Zaro would keep talking to her. She just didn't want to lose someone that meant so much to her, but all of that was about to end today. After months of talking Zaro wanted to meet up in person at a coffee shop a bit from where he lives. She was afraid to say no so she agreed to meet up and now as she approaches the giant establishment the situation she's about to get herself into finally dawns on her. This isn't going to be good.

She uses a small door to get into the coffee shop, her heart beating like a drum as she looks around. The jingle of a bell announces her entry and she gets a few glares from the bigger beings in the shop. She begins to tremble in fear, feeling a panic attack coming on. Eventually her blue eyes land on the dark, iridescent scales of Zaro as he looks around the room. The door jingle seems to have caught his attention and eventually his bright red eyes make their way down to the small door used by the smaller beings that come in, eventually landing on Ellie. At first he doesn't seem to register what's going on, but Ellie can soon see the surprise on the Dragon's face. He can't seem to stop staring in shock. She continues looking at him for a moment before someone steps over her, almost crushing her in the process. Her heart starts to race and soon enough she simply can't handle it anymore. Breathing rapidly she runs out the small door and down the sidewalk nearby, trying to get away. Little does she know a certain dragon has taken off after her.

————

Zaro can't believe his eyes. Ellie is a fairy, the girl he'd fallen in love with over these past few months is one of the smallest beings known in their world. At first he's too in awe of her to actually notice anything going on around her, but the larger being coming into his view knocks him out of his shock induced haze. It's only then that he notices her expression, she's absolutely terrified. No wonder she didn't tell him the truth, dragons never date fae. She probably thought he would stop talking to her if she told the truth. Now though, that fear is coming from another issue.

Seeing his tiny date flee the coffee shop in a hurry kicks him into hyperdrive. He immediately stands up, pushing through the crowd of people and exiting through the larger door. His red eyes search the surrounding area for any signs of Ellie, spotting her a few feet away from the shop. He immediately goes after her, not wanting their first meeting to end like this. He can't imagine never talking to her again, this thought driving him forward.

"Ellie! Wait, please!" He yells, managing to get her attention. The only issue is that attention also comes with an expression filled with fear. He continues running, eventually overtaking his tiny maiden and unintentionally trapping her against a nearby wall. Tears fall from her eyes as she practically tries to push herself into the wall to get away. Her reaction brings him back to reality and he realizes just what kind of predicament hes put her in. He bends down on his knees, hovering above the ground as he speaks again.

"Ellie….can we please talk?"

————

The tiny fae's heart races. She's never been this close to someone so much bigger than her before. Zaro seems calm enough but that could change at any moment. Ellie prepares herself for the worst, wishing she could simply disappear into the wall behind her. Then she hears something she didn't expect.

"Ellie….can we please talk?"

His voice is so much gentler than she expected. Her closed eyes slowly open, revealing the towering figure of the dragon she fell in love with before her. This was definitely a mistake. How could something like him actually love her?

"Please don't run away again. I don't want to harm you, I just want to talk." He states, waiting for an answer. Sadly for him she can't exactly speak, her tears of fear and sadness took her voice and his presence alone is enough to silence even the most talkative of fae. Her heart continues its rapid beating, causing her breathing to speed up with it. Her world begins to spin, dark edges taking over her vision as she loses consciousness.

—————

[kestrellady]

August Reading Wrap-Up

A few more books this month, but still fewer than the first part of the year. You can definitely tell on my pages graph when we went on vacation and when my husband left on his trip right after.

Books I Actually Rated What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher- 4.5/5 A quick, delightfully creepy retelling of Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher. Kingfisher has a gift for taking characters that should be very tropey and making them feel like real people. And there's a sequel in the works!

Stand Out Books from August Heartstone by Elle Katharine White An homage to Pride and Prejudice but with Dragons! This is classed as YA, but could easily be shelved with adult fantasy, imo. The author does a great job hitting the heart and story beats of Pride and Prejudice while letting the characters be their own people with their own motivations. First in a trilogy, though the others aren't a retelling of anything.

Archivist Wasp by Nicole Kornher-Stace This book was... something. I really don't know how to classify it. Somewhere between fantasy and dystopian sci-fi, shelved as YA, but opens with the protagonist in a ritual fight to the death, so 🤷 An incredibly rich mythology that seems to suggest conclusions without actually spelling them out for the reader. Whatever it was, it's going to stick in my brain for a long time and I'm looking forward to the sequel.

This Side of Murder by Anna Lee Huber First in the Verity Kent series. I love Huber's Lady Darby mysteries, so I picked this one up to scratch the itch until the next one comes out and it's definitely a very different protagonist. These are set just after WWI and it's really fascinating to see a world (and protagonist) that is simultaneously trying to move past a catastrophic war and still dealing with the fallout.

What I'm Reading Now The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson I was thoroughly captivated by Wilkerson's more recent book Caste, so I added this one to the list. It's the story of the Great Migration told primarily through three protagonists that left the South at slightly different times. It does a beautiful job weaving together the broad strokes historical with the incredibly personal. Hopefully I can finish before it goes back to the library in a few days. 🤞

The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle Despite being able to quote the movie most of the way through, I'd never read the novel, so this was perfect for the Read Harder challenge. It's... strange. I can hear so many of the lines in the voices from the film, but there are also references that I definitely didn't get as a kid and times the novel about breaks the fourth wall. I'd probably call it a "modern fairy tale" more than just about anything else I've ever read.

What I'm Looking Forward to Next Month I started Marshall Ryan Maresca's Maradaine world with the Constabulary series and only realized at the third book that they're all intertwined, so I'm going back to start from The Thorn of Dentonhill. Crossing my fingers on a few holds coming in soon, especially Ruby Fever, the third Catalina book in Ilona Andrews' Hidden Legacy series, and Fault Tolerance, the last in Valerie Valdes' Chilling Effect series. Nona the Ninth also comes out next month, but the odds of me getting to read it next month are pretty slim.

Book Challenges I'm most of the way through both of the Read Harder books I picked for last month, so the goal is to finish those and two more to get caught back up. I've got either Velvet Was the Night or While Justice Sleeps for (10) Read a political thriller by a marginalized author, but I'm not sure about the other one. I've tentatively got The Song of Achilles down for (3) the Women's Prize longlist, but it's got a ridiculous number of holds on it (like 125 on 21 copies for the ebook despite being a decade old! Seriously people!), so maybe it'll be The Cat Who Saved Books for (2) Set in a Bookstore, instead. For r/Fantasy's Book Bingo, I've got The Oleander Sword on hold, which will cover "Revolutions and Rebellions."

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[transhoverfish]

Just curious..

What do you like and don't like about each of the Subnautica games? (If there's anything to hate about these games, they're amazing)

tbh i dont have many complaints about either game, although i have felt that playing both quickly after the other does,,, make the differences super noticeable. things in sub1 i never had a problem w or didnt bother me much have become more bothersome now that ive played bz

like the battery meter on tools and the option to choose where each go in the slot? having to mess w all my tools to get them the EXACT order i wanted (for maximum efficiency of course) was always sort of annoying to me but nbd. now i can barely STAND how the tool menu works/looks in sub1 bc the bz version is.... so much better

I ALSO have a few gripes w bz that have slowly started to bother me more and more as i play. and by a few i mean one thing specifically. the CRASHING. obvs both games have a bit of a crashing and framerate and pop-in issue, but bz is just,,,, so much worse when it comes to crashes.

ive had sub1 on pc and ps4 for like, 3 years now?? and ive dealt w maybe around 5-10 crashes total in those three years, very sporadically? since ive bought bz less than a month ago ive dealt w at least 30 crashes. if i play for an hour it crashes at LEAST 1 time, usually 2 or 3 on average. i quit playing due to crashing more often than i quit after a save and exit. and although ive played sub1 considerably less on the switch, its still not crashed a single time, which makes me think it might be a bz problem and not a switch problem, but idk. i save often enough that i never lose more than 10 minutes at worse, but still,,,,,the crashing is constant. if the loading times were as bad as sub1's (which thankfully they are not), i would probably only play every once in a while bc i just cannot get more than 30 minutes in w/o a crash.

speaking of loading screens holy SHIT sub1 takes like 3 minutes at best to load in a NEW save. i could literally get up and make myself lunch and be back before it loads up on a save with more than 1 small tube of a habitat built in. bz has sped that up a lot which makes the loading screen feel even worse (once again, fixing a problem and then going back to that problem in sub1 just accidentally makes the game a bit more frustrating)

other than those few technical problems, most of which could very well be due to my own old ps4, laptop that doesn't quite meet the spec requirements, and attempt to play subnautica on a SWITCH of all things; the only genuine complaints i have about both is the ending in sub1 being 'make the rocket' after the lost river/lava zone segments is the worst part of the game and i almost never fully finish playthroughs bc that much resource collecting and grinding at the v end is hell! aaand the ice spires can compete with the dunes for "large open area full of death and bullshit that nobody ever wants to go to" bc i spent an hour and a half in the arctic spires the first time i went there in survival! and despite exploring it extensively in creative and having a base right outside in survival i STILL get lost constantly. for the record im usually good at navigating back to somewhere in these games w/o signals, esp if ive been there multiple times. i just get lost in the arctic spires constantly. the ice worms dont help!!!

I JUST REALIZED IVE TYPE. A LOT OF COMPLAINTS. SORRY ABOUT THAT AKRBKABRJRBS ILL GET TO THE THINGS I LIKE NOW I PROMISE

the soundtrack in both games is AMAZING and i geniuenly just listen to them both for fun and get the songs stuck in my head sometimes. theres one from bz in my head right now it plays in the lilypad islands and i cannot remember what its called rn.

the sound design is both games is also really good?? i sit on the bz start menu and listen to the pengwengs, and sub1 in particular is like my favorite sound design in anything ever. i go in creative and just chill next to the creatures SO OFTEN. crabsquids, warpers, and sea dragons specifically sound so nice i could fall asleep to crabsquid noises they're so nice??

the ways the pdas are used for story telling is super nice, and ive always loved the little insights into the characters lives it gives u!! figuring out what happened to sam in bz and listening to all the final pda's in sub1 is always one of if not the favorite part of the games, i listen to every single pda every single time i play, i always feel just as sad for ozzy and keen and fred and the mercury crew and AAAAAA im very attached to these characters <33

also marguerit maida. need i say more.

SO if i talked about everything i liked in these two games i would b here for 3 hours so know that there is much much MUCH more i adore about them and my complaints about the arctic spires and crashing and loading times very much pale in comparison to all the good from the two!! bz is still very recently released so i believe the crashing issues will be dealt w in the future!!

i have many strong feelings for both games AND ive heard that apparently they've already confirmed a 3rd in the making? 👀 didn't look that up admittedly but if it IS true ill 100% b backing it up bc i ADORE this universe and its silly little fish and the silly little people i wanna hug. im full of love and subnautica takes up at least 67% of that love its my whole entire world i cannot imagine shutting up about them and ryley and robin anytime soon <3333

[thewidowsghost]

The Unknown Muggleborn - Chapter 10

3rd Person POV

Quirrell, however, must have been braver than Harry, Ron, and Hermione had thought. In the weeks that follow he did seem to be getting paler and thinner, but it didn't look as though he had cracked it.

Every time they pass the third-floor corridor, Harry and Ron would press their ears to the door to check that Fluffy is growling inside.

Whenever Harry passes Quirrell he gives him a small smile, and Ron started telling people off for his stutter.

Hermione and (Y/n) had more on their minds than the Sorcerer's Stone. Hermione had started drawing up study schedules and the two had been color-coding all their notes. Ron and Harry watch in amazement as (Y/n) launches into some complicated Potions thing at Hermione's request and the brunette begins jotting down notes.

Harry and wouldn't have minded, but Hermione kept nagging them to do the same.

"Hermione, the exams are ages away."

"Ten weeks," Hermione snaps.

"That's not ages," (Y/n) pipes up, "that's like a second to Nicholas Flamel."

"But we're not six hundred years old," Ron reminds her. "Anyway, what are you four studying for, you all ready know it all!"

"What are we studying for?" (Y/n) exclaims. "Are you crazy? You realize we need to pass these exams to get into our second year? They're very important, we should have started studying a month ago."

"I don't know what's gotten into me," Hermione chimes in.

Unfortunately, the teachers seem to be thinking along the same lines as Hermione and (Y/n). They pile so much homework on them that the Easter holidays weren't nearly as much fun as the Christmas ones. It is hard to relax with Hermione and (Y/n) next to you reciting the twelve uses of dragon's blood or practicing wand movements. Moaning and yawning, Harry and Ron spent most of their free time in the library with them, trying to get through all their extra work.

"I'll never remember this," Ron bursts out one afternoon, throwing down his quill and looking longingly out of the library windows. It is the first really fine day they'd had in months. The sky is a clear, forget-me-not blue, and there is a feeling in the air of summer coming.

Harry, who is looking up "Dittany" in One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi, didn't look up until he hears Ron says, "Hagrid! What are you doing in the library?"

Hagrid shuffles into view, hiding something behind his back. He looks very out of place in his moleskin overcoat.

"Jus' lookin'," he says, in a shifty voice that gets their interest at once. "An'what're you lot up ter?" He looks suddenly suspicious. "Yer not still lookin' fer Nicolas Flamel, are yeh?"

"Oh, we found out who he is ages ago," says Ron impressively. "And we know what that dog's guarding, it's a Sorcerer's St —"

"Shhhh!" Hagrid looks around quickly to see if anyone is listening."Don' go shoutin' about it, what's the matter with yeh?"

"There are a few things we wanted to ask you, as a matter of fact," says Harry, "about what's guarding the Stone, apart from Fluffy -"

"Don't rope me into this," (Y/n) says, not looking up from her potions notes.

"SHHH!" says Hagrid again. "Listen - come an' see me later, I'm not promisin' I'll tell yeh anythin', mind, but don' go rabbitin' about it in here, studens aren' s'pposed ter know. They'll think I've told yeh-"

"See you later, then," says Harry.

Hagrid shuffles off.

"What was he hiding behind his back?" says Hermione thoughtfully.

"Do you think it had anything to do with the Stone?" Harry wonders.

"I'm going to see what section he was in," says Ron, who'd had enough of working. He comes back a minute later with a pile of books in his arms and slams them down on the table. "Dragons!" he whispers. "Hagrid was looking up stuff about dragons!Look at these: Dragon Species of Great Britain and Ireland; From Egg to Inferno, A Dragon Keeper's Guide."

"Hagrid's always wanted a dragon, he told me so the first time I ever met him."

"But it's against our laws," (Y/n) comments, still gazing down at her notes, Snape had told her that he was giving her a more advanced exam than everyone else's. "Dragon breeding was outlawed by the Warlocks' Convention of 1709."

"Everyone knows that," Ron agrees. "It's hard to stop Muggles from noticing us if we're keeping dragons in the back garden - anyway, you can't tame dragons, it's dangerous. You should see the burns Charlie's got of wild ones in Romania."

"But there aren't wild dragons in Britain?" asks Harry.

"Of course there are," says Ron. "Common Welsh Green and Hebridean Blacks. The Ministry of Magic has a job hushing them up, I can tell you. Our kind have to keep putting spells on Muggles have spotted them, to make them forget."

"So what on earth is Hagrid up to?" wonders Hermione wonders aloud.

. . .

When they knock on the gamekeeper's hut an hour later, they are surprised to see that ll the curtains are closed. Hagrid calls, "Who is it?" before he had let them in, and then shuts the door quickly behind them.

It is stifling hot inside, and (Y/n) rolls up the sleeves of her shirt and Fang jumps into her lap.

"So - yeh wanted to ask me something?"

"Yes," says Harry, seeing no point in beating around the bush. "We were -"

"Not me, just to be clear," (Y/n) interjects and Hagrid glances gratefully at her.

"Wondering," Harry continues, "if you could tell us what's guarding eh Sorcerer's Stone apart from Fluffy."

Hagrid frowns at him. "O' course I can't," he says. "Number one, I don' know meself. Number two, yeh know too much already, so I wouldn' tell yeh if I could. That Stone's here fer a good reason. It was almost stolen outta Gringotts — Is'ppose yeh've worked that out an' all? Beats me how yeh even know abou' Fluffy."

"Oh, come on, Hagrid, you might want to tell us," Hermione begins."But you do know, you know everything that goes on around here," she finishes in a warm, flattering voice. Hagrid's beard twitches and they can tell he is smiling."We only wondered who had done the guarding, really," Hermione continues. "We wondered who Dumbledore had trusted enough to help him, apart from you."

Hagrid's chest swells at the last words and Harry and Ron beam at Hermione, (Y/n) scratching Fang behind the ears.

"Well, I don' s'pose it could hurt ter tell yeh that . . . let's see . . . he borrowed Fluffy from me . . . then some o' the teachers did enchantments . . .Professor Sprout — Professor Flitwick — Professor McGonagall —" he ticks them off on his fingers, "Professor Quirrell — an' Dumbledore himself did somethin', o' course. Hang on, I've forgotten someone. Oh yeah, Professor Snape."

"Snape?" Harry asks.

"Yeah — yer not still on abou' that, are yeh? Look, Snape helped protect the Stone, he's not about ter steal it."

Harry knows Ron and Hermione are thinking the same as he is. If Snape had been in on protecting the Stone, it must have been easy to find out how the other teachers had guarded it. He probably knew everything — except, it seemed, Quirrell's spell and how to get past Fluffy.

"You're the only one who knows how to get past Fluffy, aren't you, Hagrid?" asks Harry anxiously. "And you wouldn't tell anyone, would you? Not even one of the teachers?"

"Not a soul knows except me an' Dumbledore," says Hagrid proudly.

"Well, that's something," Harry mutters to the others, (Y/n) rolling her eyes. "Hagrid, can we have a window open? I'm boiling."

"Can't, Harry, sorry," says Hagrid. (Y/n) notices him glance at the fire, and she looks at it, too.

"Hagrid — what's that?" But she already knows what is. In the very heart of the fire, underneath the kettle, is a huge, black egg. She nudges Fang off her and crouches in front of the fire.

"Ah," says Hagrid, fiddling nervously with his beard, "That's — er . . ."

"Where did you get it, Hagrid?" (Y/n) asks, studying the black egg.

"It must've cost you a fortune," Ron pipes up, crouching beside (Y/n).

"Won it," answers Hagrid. "Las' night. I was down in the village havin' a few drinks an' got into a game o' cards with a stranger. Think he was quite glad ter get rid of it, ter be honest."

"But what are you going to do with it when it's hatched?" wonders Hermione.

"Well, I've bin doin' some readin'," says Hagrid, pulling a large book from under his pillow. "Got this outta the library — Dragon Breeding for Pleasure and Profit — it's a bit outta date, o' course, but it's all in here. Keep the eggi n the fire, 'cause their mothers breathe on 'em, see, an' when it hatches, feed it on a bucket o' brandy mixed with chicken blood every half hour. An' see here — how ter recognize diff'rent eggs — what I got there's a Norwegian Ridgeback. They're rare, them."

Hagrid looks very pleased with himself, but Hermione doesn't look pleased at all. "Hagrid," she exclaims, "you live in a wooden house!" But Hagrid isn't listening. He is humming merrily as he stokes the fire.

. . .

So now they have something else to worry about: what might happen to Hagrid if anyone found out he's hiding an illegal dragon in his hut.

"Wonder what it's like to have a peaceful life," Ron sighs, as evening after evening they struggle through all the extra homework they were getting. Hermione had started making study schedules for Harry and Ron, too. And it was driving them nuts.

Then, one breakfast time, Hedwig brings Harry a note from Hagrid. He had written only two words: It's hatching.

Ron wanted to skip Herbology and go straight down to the hut, but Hermione wouldn't hear of it.

"Hermione, how many times in our lives are we going to see a dragon hatching?" Ron asks.

"We've got lessons, we'll get into trouble, and that's nothing to what Hagrid's going to be in when someone finds out what he's doing -"

"Shut up!" Harry whispers.

Malfoy was only a few feet away and he had stopped dead to listen. (Y/n) turns to give him a glare and the blond scampers off, reminding (Y/n) of a little ferret.

Ron and Hermione argue all the way to Herbology and in the end, she agrees to run down Hagrid's with the other five during morning break. When the bell sounds from the castle at the end of their lesson, the three of them drop their trowels at once and hurry through the grounds to the edge of the forest. Hagrid greet them, looking flushed and excited.

"It's nearly out," Hagrid ushers them inside.

The egg is lying on the table. There are deep cracks in it. Something is moving inside; a funny clicking noise was coming from it.

The five draw their chairs up to the table and watch with bated breath.

All at once there is a scraping noise and the egg splits open. The baby dragon flops onto the table. It isn't exactly pretty, Harry thinks. It's spiny wings are huge compared to it's skinny jet body, it has a long snout with wide nostrils, the stubs of horns and bulging, orange eyes.

It sneezes, a couple of sparks flying out of it's snout.

"Isn't he beautiful?" Hagrid murmurs. He reaches out a hand to stroke the dragon's head. It snaps at his fingers, showing pointed fangs. "Bless him, look, he knows his mummy!" exclaims Hagrid.

"Hagrid," says Hermione, "how fast do Norwegian Ridgebacks grow, exactly?"

Hagrid is about to answer when the color suddenly drained from his face - he leaps to his feet and runs to the window.

"What's the matter?" (Y/n) asks.

"Someone was lookin' through the gap in the curtains - it's a kid - he's runnin' back up ter the school."

(Y/n) bolts to the door and looks out. Even at a distance there is no mistaking him.

Malfoy had seen the dragon.

. . .

Something about the smile lurking on Malfoy's face during the last week made Harry, Ron, Hermione and (Y/n) very nervous. They spend most of their free time in Hagrid's darkened hut, trying to reason with him.

"Just let him go," Harry urges.

"I can't he'll die," Hagrid says. "He's too little."

They look at the dragon. It had grown three times in length in just a week, smoke furling out of its nostrils. Hagrid hadn't been doing his gamekeeping duties because the dragon was keeping him so busy. There are empty brandy bottles and chicken feathers all over the floor.

"I've decided to call him Norbert," says Hagrid, looking at the dragon with misty eyes. "He really knows me now, watch. Norbert! Norbert! Where's Mummy?"

"He's lost his marbles," Ron mutters in Harry's ear.

"Hagrid," says Hermione loudly, "give it two weeks and Norbert's going to be as long as your house. Malfoy could go to Dumbledore at any moment."

Hagrid bites his lip. "I — I know I can't keep him forever, but I can't jus' dump him, I can't."

Harry suddenly turns to Ron."Charlie," he says.

"You're losing it, too," said Ron. "I'm Ron, remember?"

"No — Charlie — your brother, Charlie. In Romania. Studying dragons. We could send Norbert to him. Charlie can take care of him and then put him back in the wild!"

"Brilliant!" exclaims Ron. "How about it, Hagrid?"

And in the end, Hagrid agrees that they could send an owl to Charlie to ask him.

The following week drags by. Wednesday night found Hermione, Harry, and (Y/n) sitting alone in the common room, long after everyone else had gone to bed. The clock on the wall had just chimed midnight when the portrait hole burst open. Ron appears out of nowhere as he pulled off Harry's Invisibility Cloak. He had been down at Hagrid's hut, helping him feed Norbert, who was now eating dead rats by the crate.

"It bit me!" he says, showing them his hand, which was wrapped in a bloody handkerchief. "I'm not going to be able to hold a quill for a week. I tell you, that dragon's the most horrible animal I've ever met, but the way Hagrid goes on about it, you'd think it was a fluffy little bunny rabbit. When it bit me he told me off for frightening it. And when I left, he was singing it a lullaby."

There is a tap on the dark window.

"It's Hedwig!" (Y/n) says, hurrying to let her in. "She'll have Charlie's answer!"

The six of them put their heads together to read the note.

Dear Ron,

How are you? Thanks for the letter — I'd be glad to take the Norwegian Ridgeback, but it won't be easy getting him here. I think the best thing will be to send him over with some friends of mine who are coming to visit me next week. Trouble is, they mustn't be seen carrying an illegal dragon.

Could you get the Ridgeback up the tallest tower at midnight on Saturday? They can meet you there and take him away while it's till dark.

Send me an answer as soon as possible.

Love, Charlie

They look at one another.

"We've got the Invisibility Cloak," says Harry. "It shouldn't be too difficult - I think the cloak's big enough to cover three of us and Norbert."

It was a mark of how bad the last week had been that the other five agree with him. Anything to get rid of Norbert - and Malfoy.

There was a hitch. By the next morning, Ron's bitten hand had swollen to twice its usual size. He didn't know whether it was safe to go to Madam Pomfrey - would she recognize a dragon bite? By the afternoon, though, he had no choice. The cut had turned a nasty shade of green. It looked as if Norbert's fangs were poisonous.

Harry, Hermione, and (Y/n) rush up to the hospital wing at the end of the day to find Ron in a terrible state in bed.

"It's not just my hand," he whispers, "although that feels like it's about to fall off. Malfoy told Madam Pomfrey he wanted to borrow one of my books so he could come and have a good laugh at me. He kept threatening to tell her what really bit me — I've told her it was a dog, but I don't think she believes me — I shouldn't have hit him at the Quidditch match, that's why he's doing this."

The other three try to calm Ron down.

"It'll all be over at midnight on Saturday," says Iliana gently, but this didn't soothe Ron at all. On the contrary, he sits bolt upright and broke into a sweat.

"Midnight on Saturday!" he says in a hoarse voice. "Oh no — oh no —I've just remembered — Charlie's letter was in that book Malfoy took, he's going to know we're getting rid of Norbert."

The others didn't get a chance to answer. Madam Pomfrey came over at that moment and made them leave, saying Ron needed sleep.

. . .

"It's too late to change the plan now," (Y/n) murmurs to the others. "We haven't got time to send Charlie another owl."

"This could be our only chance to get rid of Norbert," Harry adds. "We'll have to risk it, and we have got the Invisibility Cloak, Malfoy doesn't know about that."

They find Fang sitting outside with a bandaged tail when they go to tell Hagrid, who opens a window to talk to them.

(Y/n) crouches beside the large boarhound, scratching behind Fang's ears.

"I won't let you in," Hagrid puffs. "Norbert's at a tricky stage — nothin' I can't handle."

When they tell him about Charlie's letter, his eyes fill with tears, although that might have just been because Norbert had just bitten him on the leg.

"Aargh! It's all right, he only got my boot — jus' playin'— he's only a baby, after all."

The 'baby' bangs its tail on the wall, making the windows rattle. Harry, Hermione, and (Y/n) walk back to the castle, feeling as though Saturday couldn't come quickly enough.

. . .

They would have felt sorry for Hagrid when the time came to say good-bye to Norbert if they hadn't been so worried about what they had to do.

It was a very dark, cloudy night, and they were a bit late arriving at Hagrid's hut because they'd have to wait for Peeves to get out of their way in the entrance hall, where he'd been playing tennis against teh wall.

Hagrid had Norbert packed and ready in a large crate.

"He's got lots o' rats an' some brandy fer the journey," says Hagrid in a muffled voice. "An' I've packed his teddy bear in case he gets lonely."

From inside the crate comes ripping noises that sound to (Y/n) as though the teddy is having his head torn off.

"Bye-bye, Norbert!" Hagrid sobs, as Harry, (Y/n), and Hermione cover the crate with the Invisibility Cloak and step underneath it themselves."Mummy will never forget you!"

How they managed to get the crate back up to the castle, they never knew.Midnight ticks nearer as they heave Norbert up the marble staircase in the entrance hall and along the dark corridors. Up another staircase, then another— even one of Harry's shortcuts didn't make the work much easier.

"Nearly there!" Harry pants as they reach the corridor beneath the tallest tower.

Then a sudden movement ahead of them makes them almost drop the crate. Forgetting that they were already invisible, they shrink into the shadows, staring at the dark outlines of two people grappling with each other, ten feet away.

A lamp flares.

Professor McGonagall, in a tartan bathrobe and a hair net, has Malfoy by the ear. "Detention!" she shouts. "And twenty points from Slytherin! Wandering around in the middle of the night, how dare you —"

"You don't understand, Professor. Harry Potter and (Y/n) (L/n) are coming — they've got a dragon!"

"What utter rubbish! How dare you tell such lies! Come on - I shall see Professor Snape about you, Malfoy!"

The steep spiral staircase up to the top of the tower seems the easiest thing in the world after that. Not until they'd stepped out into the cold night air, did they throw off the Cloak, glad to be able do breathe properly again. Hermione does a sort of jig.

"Malfoy's got detention! I could sing!"

"Don't," (Y/n) smiles warmly at her sister. "You know that's my thing."

Chuckling about Malfoy, they wait, Norbert thrashing about in his crate. About ten minutes later, four broomsticks come swooping down out of the darkness.

Charlie's friends were a cheery lot. They show Harry, Hermione, and (Y/n) the harness they'd rigged up, so they could suspend Norbert between them. They all help buckle Norbert safely into it and then Harry, (Y/n), and Hermione shake hands with the others and thank them very much.

At last, Norbert was going . . . going . . . gone.

Harry and Hermione slip back down the spiral staircase and (Y/n) grabs the Invisibility Cloak. She darts down the stairs when she hears a noise coming from the end of the hall and throws the Cloak over Harry and Hermione.

As the figure steps out, Filch's have looms suddenly out of the darkness. "Well, well, well," he leers at (Y/n). "You are in trouble, aren't you.

Harry and Hermione watch in shock and horror as Filch grabs (Y/n)'s upper arm and begins dragging her down the corridor.

Word Count: 3574 words

[yeniayofnymeria]

A Song of Ice and Fire "Champions" (Theory)

Hello everone, i want to share my own theory about long night and it's champions. It’s about Arya and Dany.

First, I'm sorry for my poor English, i helped from google translate, hope you can understand what i mean.

Introduction

The legend of the Long Night and AA has been discussed many times, but I want to approach it from a different topic. As you know, there are two fundamental forces in the universe of asoiaf, and we are reading the war of these two forces; ice and fire.

Power representing the ice side; It's called the Great Other. He is the god of death, of terror, of night. The Spirit of Ice.

Power representing the fire side; It's called R'hllor. He is the god of light, of life, of fire.

"...The war has been waged since time began, and before it is done, all men must choose where they will stand. On one side is R'hllor, the Lord of Light, the Heart of Fire, the God of Flame and Shadow. Against him stands the Great Other whose name may not be spoken, the Lord of Darkness, the Soul of Ice, the God of Night and Terror. Ours is not a choice between Baratheon and Lannister, between Greyjoy and Stark. It is death we choose, or life. Darkness, or light." Melisandre

And this...

"The way the world is made. The truth is all around you, plain to behold. The night is dark and full of terrors, the day bright and beautiful and full of hope. One is black, the other white. There is ice and there is fire. Hate and love. Bitter and sweet. Male and female. Pain and pleasure. Winter and summer. Evil and good." She took a step toward him. "Death and life. Everywhere, opposites. Everywhere, the war." Melisandre 

Of cource from Melisandre's perspective "Great Other... dead... is pure evil" But if we could ask it to ice side, they will said same thing for fire side, yeah? So do not mind the words of good and evil. Just focus the sides... I always say "the war between ice and fire" is like same as Stark and Lannister war. We saw both sides did bad things(Arya POVs), and both sides had good reason for battle. Who can say Starks are pure good but Lannisters are pure evil? I'm a Stark fan and i cannot say this.

So let's return our battle. Ice side wants eternal winter and fire side wants eternal summer. Well, i can say both of this are not good something, this is not a balance. Imagine living in the heat of desert or cold waether of north pole. Just one season, nothing more. Wildings live in north and they doesn't want to live there because life is so hard in there.

Prophecies

And I know, AA sound like a hero but who knows this? Really, we should trust the prophecises? I do not think so.

GRRM: " Prophecies are, you know, a double edge sword. You have to handle them very carefully; I mean, they can add depth and interest to a book, but you don’t want to be too literal or too easy... "

and Marwyn

"Born amidst salt and smoke, beneath a bleeding star. I know the prophecy." Marwyn turned his head and spat a gob of red phlegm onto the floor. "Not that I would trust it. Gorghan of Old Ghis once wrote that a prophecy is like a treacherous woman. She takes your member in her mouth, and you moan with the pleasure of it and think, how sweet, how fine, how good this is . . . and then her teeth snap shut and your moans turn to screams. That is the nature of prophecy, said Gorghan. Prophecy will bite your prick off every time." He chewed a bit. "Still . . ."

and Tyrion

"Prophecy is like a half-trained mule," he complained to Jorah Mormont. "It looks as though it might be useful, but the moment you trust in it, it kicks you in the head."

So guys, do not trust prophecy so much. :)

It doesn't mean AA is evil, forget evil word or good, ok? Both sides want to win this war this why they need a campion, and this champions are hero for their sides, that's all. Yeah but not for everyone, special not for common folk. You know, always common folk gets hurt in somebody's war.

Also AA prophecy comes from Asshai, a hero, a savior... That place so close to Yi Ti, Dawn Empire. Who caused the Long Night? Blood Stone Emperor. The Long Night was a punishmed for them(Dawn people and their emperor)which it was sent by Night's Lion. Some kind of revenge(ice is revenge). Who was Night's Lion? God of Night, God of Dead! So this why AA is against to ice, Great Other(Night's Lion).

But at Westeros, there is no AA or savior, a hero against Great Other... Yeah, there is a Last Hero, true but his story and mission are little different from aa's story.

According to Asshai, AA finished the Long Night but according to North, Last Hero found Childiren of Forest and get put together them and Night's Watch and First Men and fought against Others and won somehow.

The Champions

Actually, I want to focus on this word. R’hllor's warrior is also known as the “champion"

In the ASOIAF universe, in battles, sometimes there are champions both sides. They fight each other for win, In this way, sometimes armies do not have to fight... You need a champion if you want a trial by combat at Westeros. Of course, the other side has a champion too. Of your champion wins, you survive.

In summary, if there is a champion, it has to be valid for both sides.

Champions of Ice and Fire

Is there champion of ice? Well at least, we know Melisandre think so.

But beyond the Wall, the enemy grows stronger, and should he win the dawn will never come again. She wondered if it had been his face that she had seen, staring out at her from the flames. No. Surely not. His visage would be more frightening than that, cold and black and too terrible for any man to gaze upon and live. The wooden man she had glimpsed, though, and the boy with the wolf's face … they were his servants, surely … his champions, as Stannis was hers.

We might think that the ice side will have a champion. Like fire side.

Well we assume fire side's champion is Dany. Yeah, some people thinks Jon is AA but AA must be full fire but he is ice and fire by his parents. Dany suits more than him and looks she fulfilled the prophecy.

Also i belive Jon is a balance; he is ice and fire; dark and light; dead and life. First Dawn Emperor was son of Maiden of Light(fire) and Night's Lion(ice) and in his reign there was wealth and peace. Why? Because he was half ice, half fire; half light, half night; half dead, hald life... He was balance. If you realize Jon also dead now and when he comes back he will literally be dead and life, a ghost, neither literally dead nor alive, but both. There is a darkness inside him (especially after resurrection) and also there is light. I belive you got it. :)

So ok, Jon is balance... Dany is AA... then who is Ice's champion?

R'hllor's champion was full fire. Great Other's champion must be full ice? A Stark. A First Men, Daughter of North. Someone who smells death. Someone serving the god of death. Arya Stark.

She says the names of the people she wants to die in her prayer. Death accepts it. Why is that? Because she is messenger of dead, champion of Great Other.

Women are in a strong position in this book. Usually we are used to seeing men in the foreground in everything. That's why we're waiting for the hero or anything like that to turn out to be men. But not in this book. 5000 years ago, The Others's leader(or something like that) was a women; Night's Queen. We do not know what was it but she had a plan and used for this a NW member, Lord Commander, probably a Stark. Night's King.

If AA ise Dany, then it makes sense that Great Other's champion is a woman. It would be fun to watch two women's war. Dragon Queen and Wolf Queen, ice and fire. Also Arya's skills for what? Just for kill her list? No! He is one of the big five of GRRM. Like the other four, she should have a big impact on this war.

“If a twelve-year old has to conquer the world, then so be it.”

I believe FM is connected Great Other. God of Dead is Great Other. And Arya with them. Jaqen was around Arya and lead her to FM. Why? Too young to be FM. The Kind Man said her training would take years. But she's only been there for a few months, but she took a face. They taught her. They know exactly what she wants, but they keep her with them. They're giving her an accelerated course.

Ghost of High Heart saw what was inside her and her future

The dwarf woman studied her with dim red eyes. "I see you," she whispered. "I see you, wolf child. Blood child. I thought it was the lord who smelled of death . . ." She began to sob, her little body shaking. "You are cruel to come to my hill, cruel. I gorged on grief at Summerhall, I need none of yours. Begone from here, dark heart. Begone!"

Arya hears some whisper. Sounds like someone's talking to him.

Calm as still water, a small voice whispered in her ear. Arya was so startled she almost dropped her bundle. She looked around wildly, but there was no one in the stable but her, and the horses, and the dead men. Quiet as a shadow, she heard. Was it her own voice, or Syrio's? She could not tell, yet somehow it calmed her fears.

And this.

"But there is no pack," she whispered to the weirwood. Bran and Rickon were dead, the Lannisters had Sansa, Jon had gone to the Wall. "I'm not even me now, I'm Nan." "You are Arya of Winterfell, daughter of the north. You told me you could be strong. You have the wolf blood in you." “Wolf blood,” Arya now remembered.

So what do you think?