#she’s 17 so she can handle it and be challenged a bit

[amethystsoda]

Tomorrow’s gonna be a big day! My former art student is gonna borrow a few volumes of Chainsaw Man and Blue Period for the first time 🥹

[adonis-koo]

wicked • 17

↳ Summary: In a desperate hope to stop war from breaking you are a serviced to wed the most vile man alive, the one who has committed atrocities and war crimes beyond comprehension, he who is responsible for the fall of many nations, the wicked prince who’s heart is made of stone. You are to marry a man who challenges every belief and moral you stand for, all while being faced in a foreign land with nobody but yourself too trust…But are you both truly that different? Or is hate not too far from love?

↳ Pairing: Jungkook/reader

↳ Genre: arranged marriage AU, enemies to lovers, it’s kind of a period AU??? Historical but also technically not? prince!AU, eventual smut

Word Count: 8k

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Note: it’s actually difficult to believe it’s been eight months since I’ve updated, went through two jobs, a friend group and a boyfriend who gaslit the absolute fuck out of me and made me experience female hysteria 😍 I wrote this chapter the night he broke up with me so it just has that nice little extra touch of ✨ intensity ✨ enjoy lovies and I will be back hopefully sooner then last time with another update

It felt wrong, packing a small case of clothes while so many things at the castle had yet to play out, and Wheein’s life was hanging in the balance of it.

You had no intentions to trudge your way to the barracks but here you were; early morning where all of the guards were training and the person you were looking for was watching them, hands on his hips as he called out to one of them to tighten their guard.

You hadn’t planned on talking to him today, but leaving without so much as saying a word felt wrong, and perhaps after everything that had happened you were searching for sober reassurance.

“Jungkook.”

Everybody froze at the sound of your voice, you ignored all the eyes on you, after having lived in Penumbra for almost a year, you had somewhere along the way gotten used to all of the eyes that constantly followed you.

The guards exchanged awkward glances with one another, Jungkook looked surprised by your appearance, eyes glancing over you as if you were a hallucination, but after a moment it was evident you weren’t going to disappear upon blinking.

He glanced between you and the guards before he waved them off, “Keep going.”

You couldn’t stand the hopeful look in his eyes, almost a bit bashful as you walked in line with him further away from the barracks, “How can you expect me to leave the castle when Wheein is in a dungeon? And furthermore sending your aunt to try and reconcile with me?”

Jungkook frowned, “Well I doubted you wanted to see me after my drunk display- which truth be told I hardly remember anything I said, and It’s probably for the best that I don’t, Y/n…” He sighed as he stopped, “It was only a suggestion, it crossed my mind about the estate because truthfully I think you would like it there, and it would be safe,” His hands tenderly grabbed your shoulders as your lips curled in anger but you said nothing, “And I think it would be good for you to put all of this out of your head for a few days. I’ll continue to handle things here and if things change with Wheein trust that I’ll be able to take care of it.”

Your expression didn’t change as Jungkook frowned, “I would also like to remind you that she’s been one of my closest friends since I was a child. You’re not the only one who cares for her.”

You begrudgingly looked away from him but your expression softened, a stab of guilt surging through your stomach at the realization that he was very much right, “I know, I’m sorry I just-”

“Don’t be,” Jungkook replied, “You have a mean bite but I can appreciate your loyalty. I can’t undo the past but I want to make things right. I…” Jungkook paused, looking hesitant his eyes darting away from you and then back to you once more.

You offered no words forcing him to sigh, as if it was difficult for him to admit, “I want to be with you Y/n, not as two people amicable due to marriage or friends on uneasy terms…” He bit down on his cheek, unable to hold your steely gaze as his hand hesitantly reached out, tenderly stroking along your jawline, “I want more than that with you, I want all of the fire and all of the rage, I want the pain, the hardships. I want you, all of you, every flaw that makes you, you.”

You hadn’t even realized your eyes had blurred until his thumbs were tenderly pushing your tears away, “Is this a declaration?”

“It’s a promise.” Jungkook’s eyes held such a softness in them filled with something you still felt uncertain to assume, “You told me that you wanted to bear the deepest parts of yourself to me, all of your insecurities, the parts you don’t like about yourself, the parts you may even hate, so I am standing here to tell you to show me, show me all of it, and I will still take you as you are.”

He was saying many overwhelming words to you, but you knew he was dancing around the most important word, you could see it in his eyes, how it lingered on the tip of his tongue.

But something was stopping him from truly confessing it.

Perhaps even after all of these months, it was still too soon.

Evidently so given your circumstances.

“I don’t want you away from me,” Jungkook admitted, a frown slowly forming on his lips, “But if that’s what it takes, I would wait a lifetime if it meant your forgiveness, if it meant a second chance to be with you.”

“Is that why you’re willing to send me away?” You sniffled, “Otherwise you’ll continue to drink and wake me up in the middle of the night?”

“It wasn’t my finest moment,” Jungkook gave a weak smile, “But you can’t deny it got my point across didn’t it?”

Just his smile made something in you crumble, a vast desire to embrace him here and to forgive him, surely you could put this all behind you…?

But a bigger part of you didn’t want to rush this, you didn’t want to be complacent anymore, that was how you got into this situation, how you immediately jumped to Claudin’s offer rather than confide in the person you were married to.

It was such a raw feeling, you could feel it licking at your very soul, trying to tame your desire to throw all caution to the wind once more.

And for a brief moment you could feel Jungkook have the same reaction as you, as if it took every fiber in his being to not beg you to stay, you don’t know if you could stand your ground against him again if he came on as strong as he had last night.

“Just for a few days.” You whispered out as he frowned, giving you an understanding nod.

“You’ll love it there.” His hands finally let go of you, somewhat reluctantly.

And then it was silent for a long moment, tension still lingering in the air and both of you clearly hesitant.

“Then…I’ll see you in a few days.” You mumbled and Jungkook nodded once more. It felt like the ground was trying to engulf your feet as you turned around, feeling oddly empty at your goodbye, waiting for something that wouldn’t come.

What was it you had hoped for? A hug…?

Maybe a kiss…?

But then again, it felt as though you were no longer deserving of those things, Jungkook may have done things to hurt you but you had also done things to hurt him, how could you both love one another if you couldn’t trust one another first?

You wished Jungkook had reached out for you, to at least give you some form of affection before leaving, but he also knew this was true, and let you leave with no grief.

It left you feeling empty inside, but this was for the best.

You journeyed over horseback for the day, trying to leave your fretting heart behind as you nervously glanced back at the far away sight of the castle, what if something developed with Wheein?

You felt as though you were betraying her just by leaving, more than anything you were desperate to get her back, perhaps that was why Jungkook was sending you away, as if he sensed your desperation would only heighten the longer this went on.

Dare you say, he feared the worst might happen if you stayed.

Your grip tightened on your reigns, once more trying to put it out of your mind, taking a deep breath you took in the heady scent of the pine tree’s the surrounded you, the Estate was much closer to the mountains then you had anticipated, by midday you had journeyed far enough that snow had already reached the ground.

“Are you nervous?” Yoongi had slowed his horse down to ride next to you, his eyes however still scoured ahead for possible danger.

“What do you mean?” You frowned as you glanced at his back, hearing a branch snap as your eyes darted towards the left of him.

Your faithful companion Fenrir having accidentally broke the branch he had been carrying in his mouth the past hour he had grown fond of, a whine leaving him in disappointment as he picked up the bigger side.

“Journeying away from the castle during these trying times…” Yoongi glanced back at you, a frown of his own, “It can’t be easy leaving with everything that’s happened.”

You didn’t reply for a long moment, Yoongi slowed down to ride beside you as he curiously took in your expression.

It was silent for a long moment before you finally relented, “It is difficult, but…After a long night, I figured this was probably best. It seems like my involvement in things only tends to make them worse. And truthfully there's no telling what lengths I’d go to at this point to get Wheein back.”

“Oh?” Yoongi looked curiosity once more, “I didn’t realize you had such a taste for danger.”

His joke made a smile finally tug on your lips, “Neither did I before coming to Penumbra. It seems this kingdom has a way of bringing out the primitive nature in me. But then again, it seems people have always looked down on me when I think of it.”

“On you?” Yoongi scoffed in amusement, “Dryad Matron of Eunoia? It’s difficult to believe, you’re like a pillar of light to the commonwealth of Penumbra, it used to drive the Prince nuts during your engagement.”

“It did…?” You peered somewhat hesitantly at him.

This made Yoongi grin, “Oh yes, when news of your engagement first broke out it had the people ecstatic, it had him gagging every second he heard good things of you.”

“This is hardly making me feel better…” You winced, though a small part of you was amused to hear this, though you wish you could say the same.

It always seemed to you that people in Penumbra didn’t fully grasp just how much people feared them on the outside world, instead poking fun at the titles they had earned as if it was a little joke.

The whole two years of your engagement are two years you’d rather die then live through again, the anxiety that kept you up at night, the endless amounts of tears you cried, the emptiness it left inside you how no one even tried to comfort you.

Looking back you understood, nobody wanted to feed you lies to comfort you, but at the time, you didn’t understand, it felt cruel.

“Not everyone feels that way about me, evidently from what I saw in the Underside.” You replied, somewhat reminiscing on the horrendous memory of the mock version of you.

“You shouldn’t pay that any mind,” Yoongi scoffed, “The humor is juvenile there, everything it stands for is juvenile, even it’s name; the Underside was a joke, a mockery meant for every royal that has to say it’s name with seriousness, point being- they don’t respect anyone who won’t give them money.”

You only shook your head, “It’s not just that though, there has always been a small part of people and court alike who haven’t liked me, even long before I was engaged to Jungkook. I was known for having a temper,” It made you smile wryly, “-The Bitch of Eunoia, that’s what they ran around calling me behind my back. It was horrendous in Kimhae.”

“Was it now?” Yoongi looked amused by this, “That in some ways does, and doesn’t surprise me.”

“The court ladies in Eunoia often liked to call me that as well. But it was very pronounced by Kimhae court men. When I was younger, I used to wear traditional Eunoian attire when i’d visit. Apparently shoulders and knee’s used to drive them crazy. I had one of the aristocrats boldly ask me if I was an exotic woman of the night, willing to pay for me.”

Yoongi’s jaw had dropped making you laugh as he gestured you on, “What did you say?”

“Something along the lines of calling him a perverted old man whom ought to have his loins cut off for making such a comment to a women- let alone a Princess.” The memory made you smile as you shook your head, “The Bitch of Eunoia…why is it men are allowed to be angry Yoongi? Why is it women are shamed so?”

Yoongi let out a hum, “This is indeed a good question, but perhap it’s because they know a woman's scorn could even bring heaven out of the sky. I’m not all too surprised about Kimhae- but you said Eunoians called you this as well?”

Your smile became saddened, “By many court ladies yes,” You scratched your cheek in thought, “I was always lonely as a child…the war took a toll on me, I was temperamental and childish. But the court ladies as children, also liked to mock me and egg me on. As we grew older they grew closer and I still stayed a distance away. They’d find any reason to pick me apart or give me more work to do. They were practically leaping for joy when the news broke that I was engaged.”

“Why do you think that was though?” Yoongi asked, “That they didn’t like you?”

You shrugged, you had never really thought about it much, rather you preferred to keep the past where it was rather then dwell on it, “I suppose it had a lot to do with the fact that while we were all training to be healers I excelled more at it, it came naturally to me and they ended up putting me in the tents before the others. They all assumed it was from favoritism…Maybe it was,” You pondered on this briefly, “I just remember thinking it wasn’t fair.”

“Fair?”

You didn’t elaborate on the word for a long moment, feeling something akin to guilt bubble in your stomach.

You glanced off into the distance where the mountains towered high, it made you feel so tiny in comparison to its greatness, and briefly you felt awe.

You always admired nature, how vast it was compared to you and all your humanly troubles, you turned to it and it’s kin when you needed comfort and in these moments you could turn to it when you were also troubled with words.

It was difficult to adequately explain to people the rage you had felt since you were a child, anger had always been in your bones, from the moment you were born. Your mother used to tell you, that when she gave birth, you had come out of her womb with a roaring cry.

You craved to be vulnerable, to be soft and tender, to be all the things you were not, and you were many things, just not those.

Many people people heard you, they just never listened, didn’t understand.

“I had a lot of resentment as a child, to everything, the war, my parents, our country. I didn’t want to be a healer, I didn’t want to have to watch people in my care die, I didn’t want to attend the burnings or hear the whales of agony and pain, the cries of mourning, the people who blamed me for not being able to save their loved ones.”

You would be lying if you said you didn’t feel haunted by those memories, watching the lifeforce leave someone's body as you tried to stop the bleeding, the maimed limbs and mangled bodies that were beyond your skill or help.

“I didn’t want to be made to go past our lesson times to keep studying, or made to go back in to practice when all the other girls were allowed to play. Or put in a tent over night while they all slept. It wasn’t fair.”You mumbled, perhaps still a lingering tone of resentment.

The past was the past, it couldn’t be changed, you had come to terms with this, but if you stopped and really thought about it, old feelings old eventually begin to resurface, it was why you tried so desperately to just forget about it.

At one time you blamed Penumbra, you hated it’s people for what they did, what they caused.

But then you married Jungkook and you journeyed here yourself, and saw with your own eyes, that these people, were simply people, who were also victims of their own royalty.

You felt the soft grip of a hand on your shoulder, “I am sorry, for what it’s worth,” Yoongi held a face of sympathy, “We all felt the same, or…I suppose a mutual feeling on the opposite side of things. Children being forced to enlist into a war we didn’t want to wage with little choice…”

You gently grabbed his hand giving it a small squeeze, a weak smile on your face, “It wasn’t fair for any of us. We’re all a bi-product of our parents' sins. It’s up to us now to break that cycle.”

You had arrived to the estate by nightfall and it was shrouded in tall pine and fir trees, the aroma had you closing your eyes for a moment to savor it, just as Jungkook said, it truly was beautiful.

Snow covered the ground in a few inches, and a chill was left in your bones, but you settled in rather nicely, Yoongi had managed to get a fire going rather quickly and it was quiet in the solitude of the estate.

For once, it was nice to be able to breathe without being watched.

The first two days had went by surprisingly quick, but you had found a natural rhythm in nature, you went on long peaceful walks, kept yourself wrapped in a blanket while sitting on the terrace taking in the crisp cool air.

You had even spent the evening watching the snowfall outside, enchanted at how it came in big fluttering puffy balls, you had heard of snow before, but you had never actually seen it fall from the sky, like a thousand little gifts from the heavens.

It was dull and gray out today, the same as it had been for the last week now, at the estate was unsurprisingly no different.

Today however you had Yoongi set up some haybales in the pit area where guards would typically be trained, it was run down now, old boxes used as storage had been broken down and were hazardously strewn everywhere, long nine inch rusty nails sticking out of wooden pieces at razor sharp jagged angles.

But with Yoongi’s help you both had piled it up safely away and got a decent bit of space ready for training.

“Too stiff-”

“Ah!”

It was a second too late, you had already released the string, sending the arrow flying, it had veered off target as the string slapped your forearm with a sharp snap causing you to drop it.

Fenrir suddenly popped up from the ground where he had been laid out the last half hour, head cocked in concern at the noise that escaped you.

“How many times do I have to tell you,” Yoongi groaned, “You can’t hold it with a stiff arm! Look at this!” He got up from his spot as he held up your arm by the wrist, “It looks like somebody gave you a lashing! Jungkook will have my head if it isn’t heal by tomorrow.”

Your lips twisted into a sulky pout, “I am trying!”

“Not hard enough that’s the fifth time within the hour,” Yoongi whistled out as he let you go, Fenrir walking up to you as he sniffed your hand, giving it a lick before nudging it.

You rubbed your forearm, that was undeniably sore and throbbing with pain before placing your hand on Fenrir’s head to give it a nice long rub.

He had grown remarkably big in the last month, almost as big as you now, just a five or six inches shorter, it made you give a sad frown, at how big he was and soon he’d become a monstrous size…

You’d simply have to build a bigger stable you supposed.

“Aim comes naturally but holding a weapon does not,” You sighed as you placed both your hands on Fenrir’s head, now giving him generous rubs and pats that had him giving a toothy puppy grin that made you smile, “I’ve practiced here and there with a bow but with everything going on, I just haven’t made it a priority.”

Yoongi sighed, “Natural ability will only get you so far, discipline if a far greater advantage Princess, thankfully we can start working on this daily, I think it’d be good for you to have a hobby.”

“I have hobbies.” You frowned as crossed your arms.

“Such as…?” Yoongi gestured.

“Well…” You could think of several as a matter of fact, but you had given them all up once you had moved to Penumbra, the thought made you frown in realization, you had been so caught up in all the highs and lows of your new life that it was true.

You had hobbies, you just never participated in any of them.

“I suppose it would do me some good to work on it,” You sighed as you relented, “I still feel a tad guilty though, shouldn’t I be honing my skill in swordsmanship? Jungkook once told me that it’s expected the Crowned Prince and Princess are supposed to be the best at it.”

“Well…” Yoongi stretched the word, “This is true but, I don’t think somebody is going to fault you for not being the best at it. I’d like to think it’s an expectation from those born in Penumbra, not those who marry in. Not only this but if you are inclined to another form of weaponry, then it’s as simple as that.

“As long as you have some form of sword training then it’ll do,” Yoongi shrugged, “What matters is personal protection, some training is better then none, but having a form of training you’re good at is even better.”

“You Penumbrian’s certainly like taking precautions.” You sighed wistfully as you picked up your bow once more.

“The more the better,” Yoongi said, “Guards are great, but what happens when you’re caught without any? Learning to defend yourself is vital.”

You glanced down at your bow, “I understand but…”

“But?” Yoongi asked.

“Well, I suppose a part of me just feels odd,” You replied, “I grew up being taught to save lives, not take them,” You rubbed your neck in uncertainty, “When I took the Dryad’s oath, it was a promise to myself and my ancestors that I would abstain from our carnal nature. That I would never take a life nor would I consume its flesh. Animal or human. Even though the chances of me having to defend myself in such a way are so low, it’s odd to train for it, after taking that oath and living by it my whole life.”

Yoongi let out a small smile, “Then don’t view it as such.”

“What do you mean?” You tilted your head.

“Sword play is considered an art form in Penumbra, you can view a bow in the same light. It’s quite a beautiful thing really, it’s not just aiming and shooting, it’s how you hold it, the type of arrow you use, the weight of your feet. A lot goes into it.”

You thought on this for a while before nodding, “I suppose you are right.”

“Min Yoongi! I’m looking for a Min Yoongi?”

A voice called out that had you both glancing around the courtyard before seeing the courier at the gates glancing around before meeting his gaze.

“Yes?” Yoongi called out, walking up to meet him.

“I have a letter for you sire! It was urgent from the court” The courier dug through his bag before handing it to him, giving a short bow to you and then departing.

You glanced at it anxiously as you exchanged a look with Yoongi, was this about Wheein?

Yoongi opened the letter, reading it before he sighed,

“What, what is it?” You asked, anxiety in your voice.

“It’s not about Wheein,” You let out a breath in relief as Yoongi continued, “But it is a request for help.”

“What do you mean?” You asked.

Yoongi sighed, “There’s a watchtower just east of here, about an hour away give or take on horseback, apparently they’ve been dealing with a gang of bandits up there. Supposedly they’re going to siege the tower.”

“They can do that?” You asked in surprise.

Yoongi shrugged, “I suppose so, I don’t know what they think I can do about it.”

“Well you said you were an assassin before you became a knight? So surely that counts for something.” You said, setting down your bow on a lonely bale of hay.

Yoongi sighed as he folded the letter back up, “Even so, I won’t just leave you here by yourself.”

You frowned, “It’s only us here, and it’s secluded so I won’t be in any real danger, and you said it was only an hour away. I doubt you’d take long in taking them down.”

“Are you just trying to get rid of me?” Yoongi asked in mild amusement.

“I would never!” You said, “But I’d hate to see something unfortunate happen that could be prevented, you’re far closer then someone is to the castle. It would make the most sense for you to go.”

Yoongi sighed, “Even if I’m over cautious, it doesn’t sit right leaving you here all by yourself.”

“I wouldn’t be alone!” You replied, grinning as you gave Fenrir a solid pat, “Fenrir will defend me! Jungkook and I have been working on commands. Sit!”

Fenrir immediately complied.

“Very fierce.” Yoongi said dryly.

You held up a finger, grabbing a piece of wooden box that was free of any nails off the ground, “Fenrir,” He perked up at his name, “Attack!” You threw it causing his gaze to follow it with a loud snarling howl, his jaws crunching the board in half immediately grabbing the smaller end.

Running back to you before dropping down on his front paws, tail wagging as he tried to get you to chase him.

Yoongi looked a bit more startled at the thick board of wood that had been crushed as he nodded, “Okay, a little more fierce than before…” Yoongi thought about it for a long moment, “I suppose if I left now I would make it back by supper….Are you sure you’re okay with this?”

You gave him a small smile, “It’s only a few hours, I think I’ll be able to manage.”

Yoongi still seemed hesitant but he nodded, “I’ll go gather a few things then and be off. The sooner I leave the sooner I’ll be back.”

“It’s one night,” You smiled, “And then we’ll be back at the castle tomorrow.”

You had waved Yoongi off before you continued on with your day.

Spending another few hours training with your bow you had eventually given up once the string of your bow hit a particularly sensitive spot on your forearm.

The rest of your day had been spent taking walks along the trail’s with Fenrir before eventually settling inside, roaming the halls and exploring empty rooms.

And eventually the afternoon came.

But slowly the sun began to set and a vague feeling of dread followed along with it.

Yoongi…would’ve been back by now, right?

Or perhaps it took him longer to clear out the bandits.

You nodded at this as you stayed curled up in your large chair, Fenrir curled up beneath your feet as he let out a sigh, as if sensing your discomfort and unsatisfied with it.

Continuing to read, time went on and soon the sun had set.

You had managed to get a fire going on your own and had lit the candles in the hall, making the estate feel less consuming then it had before but it didn’t quell your anxiousness as the hour went on later.

Yoongi would certainly be back by now…

You were certain you’d manage the commute back to the castle if you had too but…You wouldn’t feel right just leaving without him, but you also had no way of sending a message to the castle for help without going back yourself.

You felt at a loss for what to do, as you roamed the main hall, pausing at the sound of the gate opening. Opening the doorway you hurried out to the courtyard.

“Yoongi, I’ve been waiting all day, you worried me sick!” You stopped short at the sight ahead of you.

“Not who you were expecting?”

Di Jin’s smug smile was the last thing you saw before the sudden blow to your head caused your vision to go dark.

“You look lost.” Jimin commented as he plopped in a seat right next to his dearest friend, both sat out for breakfast on the terrace.

“Was it a good idea sending her to the Estate?” Jungkook stared down in hard contemplation, his food untouched, “If something happens I won’t be able too…!”

He inhaled sharply as he forced himself to lean back in his chair, but despite the motion his body refused to relax.

You had left two days ago and he felt a void ever since.

Jungkook didn’t realize how much your presence had filled every inch of the castle until you had left, and now, he felt utterly useless, it was one thing for you to be mad at him, it was another for you to be gone.

Jimin looked amused but felt bad for him nonetheless, “Nothing is going to happen to her, the estate is nice and tucked away, the entire court has forgotten about it anyways, it hasn’t been used in years. You did a good thing.”

“Did I?” Jungkook finally slumped.

He had been constantly replaying his last memory of you, the conversation you both had before you left, the memory of you looking up at him for a long moment as if silently yearning for some form of affection.

It left Jungkook’s hands twitching and an unfamiliar ache in his chest, he couldn’t even describe how it felt. And he was honest when he spoke with you the night before, true he didn’t remember much, but what he did remember was straight from his heart, he thought he knew many things.

But after meeting you he found out quickly that he knew nothing at all.

Tomorrow, surely you’d be back tomorrow. You hadn’t given him an exact timeframe, but surely when you said a few days, you had meant no more then three?

“What if I-”

“No.” Jimin cut him off, “The whole point of her going was to get out of the castle and by default away from you. Not only that but what if something happened to Wheein while you were gone?”

Jungkook sunk back in his chair, that was right…He had promised you he would take care of anything that might possibly happen.

He wouldn’t let you down.

“Have you found any evidence yet?” Jungkook lowered his voice, his gaze lingering on the far side of the table where Claudin had been dining with a group of court ladies.

Jimin frowned, “Yes but the problem is getting it open,” He huffed, “I was able to slip into his room last night, it was empty but he has a lock box beneath a hollowed broken floorboard piece, seems he was in a hurry when he left, otherwise it wouldn’t have been left afar.

“Regardless I haven’t been able to crack the lock. Whatever is in there, it has a master’s lock on it. I’ll need at least another dozen picks before I even come close to cracking it.”

Jungkook sighed as he shook his head in disdain, “Of course when we need Yoongi he’s gone.”

Their elder would be able to open it within the hour if he was here.

Jimin frowned as well, “I’ll try again this afternoon.”

Jungkook’s eyes narrowed, “That’s early for you.”

“We’re running out of time Jungkook,” Jimin sighed, sinking back into his chair as well, eyeing Claudin with a certain wryness, “I keep hearing stirrings from the guards about how they’ve narrowed their search, but they’re hellbent on saying it was Wheein.”

“Sire,”

They both paused at the sight of Taehyun, a frown on his face as he glanced between them both, an anxious look as he bowed slightly, “It’s the council…they’ve summoned you. It doesn’t sound good, you should come as well Jimin.”

Jungkook glanced at his friend but said nothing as he stood up, not liking this one bit.

The walk to the throne room was swift and Jungkook wasted no time in arriving, the other council members had just arrived as well.

Clearly he wasn’t the only one uncertain of what was going on, other members had started hushing whispers to one another, all glancing in Jungkook’s direction occasionally as he leaned against the wall, arms crossed as he glanced at the empty throne the seats on its left occupied by his aunt and uncle whispering to one another.

They both glanced at him once before quickly looking away.

The tension felt suffocating and the longer it lasted the more anxious Jungkook felt, seconds turned into minutes and the whispers began to get louder.

And all within a moment, the doors open and a sweepingly silence took over the room save for the sound of boots against the ground. Dae Seong walked with confience in every step before standing before everyone on the throne.

“It is with confidence I have come to announce something of the utmost importance,” His voice boomed, “The attempted assassination on our Crowned Princess, was indeed committed by her maid Jung Wheein, we have reason enough to believe it was her as all the evidence points as such. Her form of punishment will be burning at the stake, tonight at the height of the moon. I ask you all join me on this divine distribution of punishment,”

Groaning softly your vision was blurry at first, and the first person to appear in your vision was not who you expected.

“Not so quick witted now are you Eunoian Bitch,” Seohyun sneered, her smirking figure beneath you as your vision of her doubled.

Your mind was confused as you only remembered Di Jin being here, your eyes closed briefly only for a sharp pain to spread through your side that you recognized as being kicked in the side by her.

Groaning your eyes opened and her eyes beaded, sneering at you as another voice spoke, “Come along now Seohyun, why don’t you go see if that insufferable knight has managed to come back yet, I will finish our business here.”

She eyed you warily but said no more as she left and soon Di Jin stood in front of you, “You have truly been a pain in my ass since I was enlisted to kill you, I only hope you realize that.”

There was no remorse in his eyes as he pulled the wickedly curved knife from it’s sheath and a sadistic smile curled on his face, “Don’t worry Princess, i’ll make sure you have a slow miserable death.”

Despite your sluggish movements, adrenaline had shot in your veins as you realized you were about to die, you had too much to live for still. You needed to see what would come of Eunoia, you needed to make sure Wheein was okay, that you would keep your promise to Jungkook.

You couldn’t die, and you would fight if it meant living to see it.

Your mind was slowly coming out of it’s haze as Di Jin stepped closer to you, realizing you were in the courtyard near the hay bales, the pile you had cleaned early next to you, your arm reached over to grab one of the planks, three long rusted nails sticking out of it.

You swung it with as much force as you could towards his legs, it made contact, the nail piercing his skin with a wet noise as he cried out in pain, falling back on the ground as he growled out. “You dumb bitch, a pain until the end!”

You attempted to crawl away, heart pounding in your ears as you scurried but he was still too mobile, yanking the plank out of his leg with a growl of pain as he managed to get on top of you, you caught his wrists as he attempted to plunge the knife in your throat, “I’ll enjoy watching the life leave your eyes. I’ll be sure to bring your head back for your little husband to see one last time.”

Your strength was already failing as you winced out, the knife slowly coming closer to your skin as you whimpered out as it pierced the first layer of your flesh.

It was an indescrible pain that had you yelping in pain,

“I’ll make these last few moments the most excruciating and perhaps if you beg me enough, I might just end your pathetic little life girl,” Di Jin grinned leaning in closer, “Maybe if you beg me more i’ll give you a little more than just a long death.”

He pushed the knife a little deeper as blood spilled from your skin making you cry out, his body weighing heavier on yours and his lips suddenly pressing to your ear, “Something tells me you’d prefer that over this.”

Something about his lips pressing against your skin lit something primal inside of you, every sense heightened inside you as your lips parted taking a wide bite into his neck, you could taste it first, the metallic flavor of blood running across your tongue and dripping down your throat and then his skin was next, uncomfortably soft and tender and next was the cartilage, it was rubbery and had hard bits in it, next was the sensation of something warm and wet against your face.

Di Jin could no longer properly speak, his grip suddenly loosened on the knife as you yanked the large chunk of flesh straight from his neck, grabbing the knife as you yanked it away shoving him down as you managed to get on top of him.

The chunk missing from his neck was ghastly, blood pooling on the ground, oozing everywhere and squirting from various places and he was gagging loudly, choking on his own blood.

Anger trembled in your body, it wasn’t enough, even with chunks of flesh missing and blood covering your face, skin hanging and cartilage visible it still wasn’t enough, before you could even think you plunged the knife into his neck, eyes blurring as you watched him gurgle, choking on his own blood as the life left his eyes.

Your hands were shaking as you waited for him to jump back to life to kill you, and then you slowly realized your vision was blurred from tears, your heart pounding as you took a shaky breath yanking the knife out of his neck before you let out blood curdling scream slamming it back in his neck again.

Jungkook’s betrayal.

Wheein being taken.

Exiled from your own kingdom.

Being forced to wed.

Made into a healer as a child.

Bone.

Blood.

Ash.

The mourning bells rang in your head and you could vividly taste the metallic on your tongue stronger than ever as the taste of raw flesh lingered in your throat.

Blood splattered upward as you stabbed the spot over again, all of the rage searing in your veins as Di Jin’s form became disfigured, his neck nearly separating his head from his body as you shoved the knife in deeper.

Hearing the wet gurgling noise as you heaved a breath, staring at his cold dead eyes staring back at you, the next scream was not your own, but it came closer within seconds before the door to the estate opened.

Seohyun was heavily bleeding from her left thigh, sporting a large bite as a loud snarl came from inside the door, shakily you stood up, “Fenrir, wait.”

The large wolf paused, and that's when you noticed the large gash on his leg, causing him to limp, rage quelled in your veins again as you limped over, Seohyun looked pale a ghost at the sight of you.

From the moment this woman met you, she had given you nothing but grief, attempted to humiliate you, belittle you, try to win a lost battle, attempt to kill you, and now she had hurt your precious companion.

Even with a mangled body behind you, it still wasn’t enough.

Tripping over her own two feet she fell down as you walked over, “We can talk about this Y/n!” Her eyes were as big as saucers, “Please! I’ll leave Penumbra and- and never come back.”

You felt nothing for her as you stood above her, watching pathetic tears drip down her face for a long moment, finally you knelt down, “If Penumbra has taught me anything Seohyun, It’s that some people do not deserve my forgiveness, nor my kindness.”

Her lips parted rapidly, her throat scratchy, and for the first time, you saw genuine fear in her eyes, “B-but you’re a Eunoian,”

Her words were pointed, bargaining, pleading even- if you listened close enough, “Eunoian’s don’t kill.”

Your lips slowly lifted into a joyless smile as you let out an uneasy laugh, “Well,” Your smile dropped, your hands were still shaky, unbridled rage still taunt in your veins.

The primal urge of need to prove her wrong, prove all of them wrong, that you would never again be looked down upon as weak or underestimated.

Your hand grabbed her neck, causing her to let out a choked sob as you squeezed it tight enough to choke her airway, yanking her nearly nose to nose with you.

“We’re not in Eunoia, are we?” Your nails dug into her neck, not stopping until you felt the blood from her skin oozing, you shoved her back before you stood up, ignoring her blubbering, tears trickling down her face as you walked away, “Fenrir.”

“Please!”

He let out a growl, “Attack.”

Her cries of agony were left of deaf ears as you walked back over to the corpse of Di Jin grabbing the knife from his neck and yanking it out before taking the sheath that went with it, adjusting it on your waist.

Collapsing on the ground away from him you noticed your hands for the first time, shaking, trembling as your vision blurred once more, scarred and covered in blood, just what had you done?

Fenrir’s mouth was covered in blood, but the whine didn’t escape your ears as he tenderly tried to sit down in front of you.

“I’m sorry.” You ushered, grief strong in your voice though uncertain of who it was for, yourself, your country, your companion, you reached out for him, gently rubbing your hand down his neck, “But we have a long journey ahead of us Fenrir.”

The bells were ringing and a somber air had taken over, Jungkook had nearly lost his entire wits, his father had banished him from the room, not wanting to hear another word from him about this.

Being told he was too sentimental fell on deaf ears, he didn’t care, it was his friend, it was injustice, it was corrupt. He hated it, he hated that despite being the crowned prince, his son, his father simply didn’t care.

All Jungkook could do was wait for Jimin to unlock this damn box. But it felt as though it was too late, he was banned from so much as leaving his room, guards at his door there to keep him boxed in but this wouldn’t stop him.

pulling the cloak over his head, he opened the window, the bricks were jagged and uneven enough that he could easily climb down, he did it often when he was younger, much to the blindness of his father.

Scaling the wall, Jungkook got down, feet planted firmly on the ground as he kept the hood over his head tight as he made his way to the courtyard. A crowd had gathered, all wanting to witness the supposed assassin.

Nobody paid mind to him with his identity concealed, it would be soon now. If he couldn’t get evidence to get Wheein out, then Jungkook would take matters into his own hand. He didn’t want to have Wheein leave Penumbra, but if this is what it took to keep her safe until her innocence was proven, this is what he would do.

He owed so much of his existence to her, he couldn’t let this happen.

He wasn’t going to let this happen.

The bells stopped as Dae Seong stood up from his throne on the wooden stage they had set up, “We have all gathered here to see the execution of the assassin who tried to kill our crowned princess! Her very own handmaid, this is the killer, our own flesh and blood, and the punishment for a traitorous woman is fitting, burning of the steak!”

Wheein was brought out, her hands tied behind her back, her eyes had dark circles and she was crying as she shook her head, “Please! I would never do that to Penumbra! To Y/n! Please you have to believe me!”

But her cries were in vein as the crowd boo’d her, all shouting vile words her way as they dragged her down to the large wooden steak pyre that had been set up.

Jungkook shifted in his spot as he watched them begin to tie her up.

“Are there any last words you would like to impart to us traitor?” Dae Seong looked at her with pure disgust.

Wheein’s lips quivered as she parted them.

A loud bloodcurdling scream interrupted her before she could speak, the crowd tensed and everyone seemed alert, Jungkook was towards the front, having intended on getting her off there the right moment, but he quickly turned around to see people quickly departing and creating a path.

And the next thing he saw was hardly comprehensible.

You, covered in blood, your face was a horrific sight with it’s dried crimson color covering your mouth all the way down your neck, but what was even more horrifying was what was next to you, Fenrir limping beside you, a corpse held in his mouth.

Women screamed and men gasped in horror as they all moved.

The looks on the royals faces were indescribable, Dae Seong most of all, “What is the meaning of this?”

You stopped in front of the throne, Fenrir as if knowing this was the destination, dropped the body from his jaws, it smacked the ground with a wet echo, the head finally detaching from the body as it rolled towards Dae Seong.

You don’t think you had ever seen an expression quite like what Dae Seong had, and you were sure this would be the only time.

It was silent for a long moment before you finally spoke, your throat raw and scratchy, “That’s your assassin, he tried to kill me again just hours ago.”

Dae Seong’s look of shock slowly twisted into one of rage, “Where is your proof of this!” He stood up from his throne towering over you with a growl, “What does a girl like you have meddling in business you don’t understand and taking the lives of those who were helping!”

“Am I standing in front of you not proof enough?” You snarled back, “From the moment I have come to this kingdom I have been nothing but disrespected, disregarded, used, and seen as nothing more than a tool to further someone’s agenda. And i’m sick of it.”

“Even when it comes to my own life, you stand in front of me questioning it!”

“Why I ought too!-”

“I have it!” A voice cried out, Jimin was running from the side entrance of the courtyard, a notebook in his hand as he panted, his eyes widening when they set on you, ‘Y/n!? Are you okay? I have it, I have proof that Di Jin was the assassin! Here, your majesty.”

Dae Seong snatched it with a certain level of venom as he looked through the book, but slowly as his eyes read through, an unreadable look took over his face.

Exhaustion began to take over, your body beginning to sway.

Dae Seong closed the book with a sense of finality, “Very well,” He aid with gritted teeth, anger still simmering in his eyes, “Perhaps, you do have the grit to survive here princess.”

You didn’t hear his words though, your gaze had went down to the body of Di Jin, and swaying backwards you collapsed into an abyss of darkness, nothing more then multiple people calling your name.

[socially-awkward-skeleton]

15 Lines Tag Game

tagged by: @carlosoliveiraa @clicheantagonist @inafieldofdaisies @adelaidedrubman @la-grosse-patate @g0dspeeed @direwombat @aceghosts @sofrosine @nightbloodbix @kyber-infinitygems @corvosattano @voidika @roofgeese @thesingularityseries (thank you all so much!!)

Rules: Share 15 or fewer lines of dialogue from an OC, ideally lines that capture their character/personality/vibe. Bonus points for just using the dialogue without other details about the scene, but you’re free to include those as well.

(i failed to follow the rules and did 17 each, i'm indecisive)

tagging: @dickytwister @amalkavian @transcaster @shellibisshe @unholymilf @thedeadthree @confidentandgood @strafethesesinners @harmonyowl @florbelles @josephseedismyfather @josephslittledeputy @cassietrn @marivenah @finding-comfort-in-rain @strangefable @efingart (no pressure of course, I'm late to this, sorry for any double tags)

“When you've seen the things I've seen, a little pig sticker cutting through a few layers of flesh doesn't mean much.”

“Blood on my hands or not, I don’t need to be saved. Not by you or anyone else.”

“I’ll bite you if you try and feed me.”

"Then let me do what I do best. I don't need the help, all they'll do is slow me down, make me take my eyes off the ball. You gotta let me win this fight the only way I know how."

"I'm not so delicate."

“Because I prefer to look into the eyes of the person I'm meaning to kill. Makes it more personal. I want them to remember the face of the person sending them to their maker.”

“I put my fucking neck out there every day for all of you – I have been from the start. Who else is having these crazy motherfuckers digging around in their head? Do you have Joseph Seed telling you you’re some fucking sign of the Apocalypse? No.”

"If I don't keep my promise it will be just another regret in a long line of them. My life started with regret – should've been a boy, never should've been born at all – my life will likely end with regrets too."

“Just a weapon. A square peg jammed into a round hole for so many years that my edges finally ground down, and now I fit only one thing."

"I might not have the scars on the outside of what my father did to me, but I think the ones I do have are the big scarlet letter about the kind of monster he turned me into."

“It’s a sad state of affairs when I'm someone people are happy to see after any absence.”

“Well shit, if you’re damaged goods then I must be fucking ruined.”

“I did what I had to do. Just following orders.”

“Some people just aren’t meant to be saved,” Kit muttered.

She smiled, an empty grin that creeped across her face but left her eyes cold and dead. “Trust me, Jacob should be the least of your worries.”

 “You know that old saying that God never gives you more than you can handle?" She scoffed, hands held at her hips, posed like a superhero. The demigod she had become. "He must have had quite the plan for me.”

 “I’ve made my mistakes. I hurt people. Innocent people . I can’t have you on my conscience too.”

1) “I don’t give up on anything, but I refuse to be a distraction."

2) “If I told you, I’d have to kill you.”

3) “Oh, don't worry, sir. I only save the bleeding heart act for the innocent.”

4) “He’s a charming fellow.” The venom in Rory’s voice wasn’t lost on anyone. 

5)“Just have to use my feminine wiles and sweet talk the prick, yeah?"

6) “I’m not particularly fond of having to be like that. I do what I have to. Intimidation, fear – they’re good weapons. But I’m not some sadist, I don’t enjoy it.”

7) “That's just life though, isn't it? It's the fucking pits, and then we die, and that's that. No point letting it ruin what bit of good there is.”

8) “I know. It was him or me.”

9) Laughing, she picked up her cigarette from the sand and took a drag. “I certainly wouldn’t lie about something like that, Captain.”

10) “Two on however many. I’ll take those odds.”

11) “What? You want my life story?” Her eyes narrowed, challenging him just enough. “Is this our first date?” she asked, lifting the MRE packet. “Really splurged on dinner.”

12) “Whatever it takes.”

(and some lines from the COD MW fic i'm working on)

13) “I know, I know. Bureaucratic bullshit, not my fault, can’t let it bury me. Got enough going on inside this head already, yeah?”

14) “Tell me I can help at least. Tell me I can do something. Don’t just let me sit here in this empty house, alone, not when I can be out there making things right. Tell me you’re going to need me on this one, John.”

15) “Love you too, prat.”

16) “Oh, please, no.” She shook her head. “None of the formality. I might sound like I have a stick shoved up my arse, but I assure you, that’s not me.” She held out her hand to shake, and was met by a firm squeeze by Garrick’s hand. “The pleasure’s all mine.”

17) “I’m not sure the simple act of trying to keep you alive is being ‘too good’.”

[psycheetamore]

Our lord Feyd-Rautha deserves a woman that can challenge him, handle him, sometimes even best him. A woman that complements him, gives him access to learn what he truly desires. A woman who makes him whole.

And he deserves to host parties befitting his reputation as nr. 1 playboy. And to live in beautiful brutalist buildings, with military parades to honour him. And and and...

So I started writing my first public fanfic on AO3: Choosing to follow destiny

Summary: Yaina has chosen to pick up arms against the Harkonnen to liberate Arrakis. As she catches the eye of Paul Atreides and Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen, she needs to find her own path and gain control, to achieve what she beliefs is her goal. The question is whether her being drawn to the na-Baron (with some convincing of our darling Feyd of course) will advance her or withhold her.

Tags: the works, as Feyd-Rautha is his own trigger warning - smut in different shapes and forms (pretty much all shapes and forms tbh; I could not help myself, so after some edging/power play/taunting/hunting in chapters 7, 8, 9, 10, 12 and 15, some prophetic smut in chapters 13 and 14, our lord finally gets what he wants - and then some - in chapters 15, 16, 17, 18, 19), violence (like really really graphic - I enjoyed myself just a bit too much writing chapter 20, so I am getting worried).

Chapter 1: Introducing Yaina, formerly known as Kalayn

Chapter 2: In over your head

Chapter 3: Adversity shuffles the cards

Chapter 4: New opportunities

Chapter 5: The only ways forward

Chapter 6: Two plus two is five

Chapter 7: To improve is to change

Chapter 8: Frustrations leads to aggression

Chapter 9: Improvise, apapt, overcome

Chapter 10: He who perseveres, conquers

Chapter 11: The Abduction of the Arrakis Virgin

Chapter 12: In the lap of luxury

Chapter 13: It won't come without a fight

Chapter 14: Obsolete futures

Chapter 15: A new reality

Chapter 16: Call me Yaina

Chapter 17: Pre-party excitement

Chapter 18: A party befitting Feyd-Rautha as bouncer

Chapter 19: Boundless freedoms, sexual and otherwise

Chapter 20: Cleansing of the soul

Chapter 21: ‘Just’ or ‘right’ means nothing but what is in the interest of the stronger party

Chapter 22: A party as nexus

Chapter 23: It is my birthday and I will cry if I want to

Chapter 24: Secrets of the night

Chapter 25: Pinching the bruise

Chapter 26: Some things are just meant to be

Chapter 27: Shows of power

Chapter 28: I die, I die, I live

... with a couple of others to follow

[mamaiaminlovewiththemoon]

Small tidbit while I'm building character and challenge ideas.

Honestly, I like seeing the interns working on the show and hosting challenges (or whatever interns do on reality TV sets), so I'm changing the B plot and adding more interns.

The first and biggest change to the rewrite is Nina is no longer a puppet(being?) She is now a 9 year old who is a toned down version of Fiore who stays behind the scene while her uncle, Marcus, takes care of her during filming since she has no parents and he didn't want to leave her alone (last time he did, the house was covered in plastic and some weapons) She's a bit of a troublemaker who might have a tyrant problem but everyone is okay with her and like her so we cool.

Second, Emily does not get fired at all! (I hate that ONC did that). She stays as the social media intern.

Now, time for some ocs (yay!) My intern oc is this 17 year old girl named Emara (sometimes goes by Mara) who is a a bit of a fan girl of the show (and mostly this one character)

Photo reference

She works on the cast outfits in special episodes, creates some of the challenges, and even budgets the show money's. The Network wanted Kristal to pander towards Gen Z (their words) by hiring some teens, so when she posted this offer on the Shows insta account, Mara was quick to apply, begging in Kristals dm 35 times asking for the job (Emara will deny later on when asked) before Kristal finally hired her. (More on backstory later)

Now, HEAR ME OUT! I had this idea that since Trevor and Derek got rid of most of the animals that lived in the woods (plus some interns, thanks to Jensen), Kristal wanted to hire someone to handle and take care of the wildlife during the filming w/o hurting them again but she couldn't find anyone right for the job. But Oliver said he knew someone perfect after finding on this old help site. Drum roll please 🥁.....Dawn from ROTI!

When they reached out to her about this opportunity, she quickly said yes and asked to bring her friend to help out as well. That friend being Cameron!! He focuses on the editing, filming, and technological part of the show (I headcanon them as friends♡). He joined the show for a fresh start (dude is getting burnout during college, struggles, man. Plus, money)

Now, Trevek. I did like them a bit thinking they were married, but season 3 also ruined them with this stupid drama, so they are now boyfriends, where Derek was gotta propose after the season finale but they got jailed so no marriage. Since I'll be making this rewrite as comics (and the occasional fanfic if I could muster up the will to do so), not much of the interns can be affected to the main plot least I feel like it.

Next up, the season 3 cast (also with some ocs 'cause free will!)

Bye!

[deantfwinchester]

A Simple Request

Pairing: Joel Miller x Reader

Summary: After returning to Jackson, Joel and Ellie finally meet their neighbor, a young woman who teaches at the schoolhouse. While the two settle in, Tommy asks her for a favor - that she look after Joel and Ellie from time to time, when he can't. She's happy to help of course, and may find its a better fit than either could've hoped.

Part 1/?

Word Count: 818 (drabble length for Ch 1 honestly)

A/N: Honestly, we just need more content where Joel gets cared for rather than vice versa - that is mostly what this will be. First time actually posting anything, so let's hope I actually write the other chapters!

There's a lot of beautiful writing that shows how empathetic and caring Joel is to the people around him - it's his turn to receive.

___________________________________________

She met Joel on a Thursday.

To be precise, she met Joel and Ellie on a Thursday afternoon, a few days after the two came back to the house they’d left behind months ago. She’d caught a glimpse of the broad, somber-looking man and a chattering young girl entering the house next door to her own one night around Christmas, but when she’d gone to introduce herself the next day, the house was empty. Curious, of course, but not entirely surprising. Jackson was a kind of haven in a world ravaged by fungus, fear, and all the choices people make in between – and sometimes those people see the comfort they could have here and run back into the dark.

Wednesday, Late May 2023

One day, as the spring shifted from wet to warm, she saw them again while tending her garden, trudging back toward the house as Tommy led the way. The pair certainly looked worse for wear – exhausted, weathered, and in need of a shower for sure, but while the somber look he’d carried on her previous glimpse had lightened just a tad, the girl in tow was quieter. She looked around distractedly, and smiled softly to the other two when addressed, or nodded where necessary. Perhaps she just needed some rest.

Frankly, both of them looked to need sleep desperately, so introductions would need to wait until tomorrow. She greeted Tommy as he exited the house and ambled down the porch steps.

“Got some new neighbors for ya” he said, sucking air between his teeth, hesitant.

“Yeah I noticed. Didn’t get the chance to introduce myself back at Christmas, kept wondering what happened to them. He’s your brother, right?” This she already knew (the town talks, especially around the holidays) but she was pressing a bit, and Tommy didn’t mind.

“Yep. They’re staying this time, I hope. I’m real glad to have ‘em back.” He nodded, reassuring himself.

“I’ll bet you are. Get to know he’s somewhere safe, ease your mind.” She says, nodding along. “I’m excited to meet them, but they look like they need a while. When do you think I should…” she trailed off, confident Tommy could fill in the blanks.

“Yeah, maybe give ‘em a couple of days. Gotta warn you though, Joel can be a bit… prickly. He doesn’t mean anything by it he just, might take some time to warm up. If you’re willing to try.” He said, hesitantly.

She can tell he’s holding back, like there’s something to ask that he’s afraid to mention. She brushes it off, hoping to put him at ease enough to say what he needs.

“I’m sure it’ll be great. You know me, love a challenge” she says, inhaling with a brow raised.

“I do know that, you’re right. Schoolhouse sure is full of ‘em” he huffs a laugh and smiles at her, squinting in the May sun peeking behind the clouds.

“I got ages 5-17 down, I’m sure I can handle one prickly guy and his little girl.” She smiles back, and looks at Tommy with a warmth she hopes is reassuring; that it lets him know she won’t give up before she starts. She can tell he needs that for his brother.

“Listen, I’d really love it if you would try, even if it takes some time. He’s been through hell and back, they both have. I put ‘em up by you hoping, maybe, you’d keep an eye out? Make sure they’re alright every now and again?” She could see he was anxious to ask, but his concern for the two kept him from wavering. For the second time in their conversation she found herself wanting to assuage any fears he had in this regard. Of course she’d look after her neighbors; that’s what this community was built on, after all.

“Yeah, of course I will. Maybe I’ll bring some food by when I introduce myself tomorrow. Seem like they could use a hot meal to themselves -- dining hall can be a lot when you’re new” she said reassuringly, hoping her words and the understanding in her eyes would be enough to allay Tommy’s previous hesitance.

He exhaled a bit in obvious relief, “I think they’d like that. Ellie certainly will, at least. Thank you, really. You’ll tell me how it goes?”

“I’ll be sure to give you guys a full report.” she says, smiling. She says goodbye to Tommy, and he makes his leave, as she turns back to her weeding.

Joel and Ellie. Nice to put names to the faces. Already she’s mentally flipping through her rolodex of doable recipes, wondering what will get her some brownie points with Ellie, and maybe alleviate some of this hesitance Tommy’s warned her about. No matter – she spends her days at the schoolhouse, dealing with hesitant or moody kids of all ages, she can handle a little prickle.  

_____________________________________________________________

Part 2 is now up here !

[hunty627]

A lot more stories that Grant can make up with his model trains when he rebuilds his model railway layout.

Paxton’s package. Paxton the diesel engine received a special package at the harbor. Sir Topham Hatt said it’s a gift for Salty to celebrate the anniversary of when he first came to the island. And the gift was an antique anchor from one of the very first cargo ships to ever come to Sodor. Will Paxton be able to keep it hidden from Salty before his party at the docks?

Ulli and Oliver. Oliver the great western engine was going to work with Ulli, one of the diesel shunters from the mainland. He really hopes the diesel can handle Dulcie & Isabel the way he does.

Samantha’s Santa special. Samantha the purple saddle tank engine is very excited. She was going to pull the presents train, as well as pick a coach for Santa to ride in so he can go to his grotto and give out presents for the children.

Rosie and Hector. Rosie was requested to collect an extra large load of stone from the blue mountain quarry. Paxton would normally do it, but he was feeling sick. But Rosie was nervous because she had to carry the crushed stone in Hector. Rosie was still a little bit nervous about Hector because she still remembered that he frightened her on his first day on Sodor. Will Rosie be able to forgive Hector for scaring her?

Double Timothy trouble. It was almost Halloween, and Timothy the oil burning engine heard a story from Thomas that there’s a ghost engine who shares the same name as him. The oil burning engine was rather nervous, but he had to do something because there can be only one Timothy on Sodor.

Amanda’s ghost hunt. Amanda was requested to take some passengers to go trick or treating from station to station when she heard a story from Fizzy. It’s a story about another E2 tank engine. He’s not as scary as Timothy aka engine number zero. He is known as engine 17.

Engines in space. Jupiter and 119 were visiting Sodor from their American railroad because they were to help Thomas with a brand new place on the railway. It’s a long tunnel with cardboard models of the planets. It was to make them feel like they were in outer space.

Mixed traffic trains. Sir Topham Hatt is trying out a new railway experiment, mixed traffic trains, which are trains that have coaches and freight cars together. Gordon thought the idea was ridiculous because he says passengers and freight don’t mix. He wouldn’t want smelly freight too close to his passengers.

Fizzy fizzles out. Fizzy the red tank engine was shunting freight cars when the ballast trucks began making him very upset. He gave them such a bump that he and the trucks came off the rails. To make matters worse, his fire bars collapsed. So he couldn’t deliver Coca-Cola to the stations. So he was sent to be repaired and Poy had to deliver his freight cars for him.

Robin’s race. The engines on the Island of Sodor were being visited by some of the famous engines from the mainland. Jimmy the Jinty and some of his friends, Simon, Robin and Terry. Sir Topham Hatt had requested Shedmaster Jimmy to bring them to visit and lend a wheel or three for the summer holidays on Sodor. Robin explained he’s as quick as the robins that nested on him years ago and Thomas challenged him to a race after telling him that he can go faster than the wind. Who will win the race from the quarry and back to Knapford station?

Engine ten thousand. Gordon was feeling very excited because a very grand looking engine is coming to visit from the mainland. It was a class W1 engine who has the number 10000 on his cab. He was known as Hush-Hush. He had come to fill in for Rebecca when she was sent to the works to be fitted with new boiler tubes.

Stephen’s great race. Stephen was feeling very excited because it was the anniversary of when he won the Rainhill Trials many years ago. He wanted to find a way to celebrate his anniversary. So, the engines decided that Stephen should race a horse pulling a single wagon from Ulfstead Castle to Brendam Docks. Will Stephen show everyone, especially Diesel that he’s more than just an antique, but a reliable engine with the heart of a champion?

Tiger’s roaring whistle. One day, an old fashioned steam locomotive named Tiger was visiting the Island of Sodor. He used to work on the Liverpool and Manchester railway. After his long journey, he was given a new whistle that sounded a bit like a tiger roaring. Will he be able to put it to good use?

Henry and the holograms. Henry the green engine saw Ronnie the Amtrak engine was given a gift from Kenji in Japan. It was a hologram projector that will be fitted to the computer in his cab. A hologram is a three dimensional reproduction of an image. That way, Ronnie can download pictures from the web and make them look real. But Henry was a little bit worried that Ronnie might have trouble getting the hang of his new hologram projector.

Flash dashes in. A new high speed train has come to visit the Island of Sodor. His name is Flash. He’s 4 years old and he is eager to impress the other engines. But will he be able to fit in with Thomas and the other engines?

Diesels and Daleks. The engines were having an anniversary party for the show known as Dr. Who. Diesel, Timmy, Splatter and Dodge teased Percy and Poy about the Daleks coming to send the steam engines to the scrap heap by blasting their boilers to bits. The two little green engines felt rather nervous. But then Thomas had a naughty idea on how to teach Diesel and his pals a lesson. He spoke to Ruth the inventor, who had created remote control replicas of the Daleks for the party to help prank the diesel engines. And that night, just before the party began, they used them to scare the four diesels into thinking they were going to exterminate them.

[random-writerings]

Fitzsimmons - Teachers AU

• After Fitzsimmons retire, they live their idyllic life in a cottage in Perthshire with little Alya

• But when she's old enough to go to school, they get kinda bored

• They miss the thrill and excitement of working at S.H.I.E.L.D.

• Hell, they miss just having something to do all day

• So they decide to teach at S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy

• It's the best of both worlds; they stay informed about the goings-on in S.H.I.E.L.D., but they're far enough away from action that they can still claim they're retired

• Another upside is that they get to see their friends more often

• Of course the S.H.I.E.L.D. Science Academy is very excited to welcome them back

• They get a little embarrassed when students gush over them and their work, both in the field and the scientific papers they've published

• But eventually the excitement dies down and the students begin to love them as teachers rather than famous S.H.I.E.L.D. agents

• And after a while, what started out as a way to keep their brilliant, fast-paced brains occupied, becomes something they genuinely enjoy

• They love having a steady routine again

• Getting ready for work in the morning while also getting Alya ready for school feels so right, so normal

• Jemma makes them all lunch everyday, and of course she gives Fitz his beloved prosciutto and buffalo mozzarella sandwich with a hint of homemade pesto aioli

• They're also those teachers that have hundreds of mugs from students

• Fitz’s favourite mug is shaped like a monkey, with the tail forming the handle

• Jemma can't pick a favourite (“they were all chosen with care!”) but she really likes ones with science puns

• Even though they don't see each other much during work, they still love working together

• They run assignment ideas and exam questions by each other all the time

• They spend their evenings in comfortable silence marking papers and drinking hot chocolate

• Jemma is a very organised and professional teacher

• She plans lessons months in advance, has an extensive booklist for students that somehow keeps growing, and has made many posters and handouts about lab safety

• She also colour codes everything

• Her preparedness can sometimes intimidate new students but the older students reassure them that she's actually a very caring teacher

• She has lots of extra stationary and chargers that she can lend to students

• Even though she sets a lot of challenging assignments, she always finds the time to help out those who are struggling

• And she writes detailed notes summarising each lesson in case a student is ill or can't make it to class

• These are not used very often because students love attending her classes

• She's so passionate about her subject and she inspires that passion in others

• She also finds very fun and interesting ways to explain things and she's patient with students, offering extra study sessions for those who still don't quite get it

• She's not much of a sharer, preferring to stay focussed on the lesson, so her students know very little about her

• They know that she's married and that she adores her husband and daughter

• But that's pretty much it (apart from stuff on her S.H.I.E.L.D. file, like how she joined the Academy at 17 years old)

• Meanwhile, Fitz is total opposite

• He definitely plans his lessons, but they do tend to go off topic a bit

• It's not his fault that a student asked an interesting question and he had to find out right there and then if it was possible

• The students love how chaotic his lessons are and they end up learning so much more through the experiments than they would by just listening to his lectures

• He also has the messiest handwriting in the world, especially when he has an idea and has to write it down quickly before he forgets

• So he usually types things out and prints them off

• He starts off the year with neat folders and everything arranged nicely but a few weeks later everything is super messy but he insists he has a system

• He also overshares a lot

• And I mean, a lot

• He talks for ages about his badass and super smart wife and shows the class cute photos of Alya (with guest appearances from the other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents which are endlessly amusing to the students)

• “I've never seen Agent May smile before. She's always so serious, I didn't think she could.”

• “I knew Director Mackenzie was secretly a softie. Look at how tiny Alya is when he holds her!”

• But sometimes, these photos bring up hard to answer questions

• “Dr Fitz, is that Agent Daniel Sousa having a tea party with your daughter? I thought he was dead?”

• “Uhh, he is. That man is … uh, just a … family friend. They just look very similar.”

• “Yeah and what about that guy? I'm sure that's former Director Coulson, who is also dead.”

• “Uhhhh …”

• He always tells himself to be more careful which photos he shows the class, but he always forgets

• A lot of the photos also include Jemma but because there's not much crossover between engineering students and biochem students, most of the class don't recognise her

• The few students that do recognise her decide not to say anything because they know Jemma likes to keep her personal life private and they respect that

• They also think it's kinda funny that no one else has worked it out yet because it's so obvious once you know

[cookies-and-creamless]

Balloon Art Day 3

Day 1 - Day 2

15. Giraffe - Unnamed

Before I got out of bed today, I whipped out a quick giraffe for a warm up. This giraffe is just a dog with different proportions, but I wanted to make a giraffe for a friend's kid. I didn't prepare at all beforehand, but from a purely balloon twisting perspective, I'm really happy with it. One small detail that doesn't show up super well in this picture is that I made the front legs longer than the back. Giraffes' legs are pretty even, but you can clearly see a downward slope in their backs that can be approximated in balloon form by introducing a length difference. This one stopped living up to my expectations once I tried drawing the spots on. Sharpie works wonders on these balloons, but I didn't have a brown sharpie on hand in my bedroom. I used a crayola marker instead, which you can see didn't really stick at all. Ended up being a bit of a mess!

17, 18, 19. Heart, bow, flower - Mother's Day Ensemble

This heart here is my second attempt. It takes some effort to get a balloon to hold an angle like the one in a heart! Even more effort to do it without any swelling in the joint. You can see that the heart here is slightly inflamed, but compared to the one before it, it looks extremely healthy. Aside from that, the bow here is a little uneven, and the flower was intended to have six petals instead of five (one of them being a tad short), but after struggling a while with how I wanted the heart to look, I decided that today was going to be a "finish it even if it's not perfect" kind of day.

20. Sword

I consider this an important skill in the children's birthday party side of balloon art, and for the sake of possibly making a little bit of money at some point (it's so hard to do things on a just-for-fun basis nowadays), I've resolved to eventually perfect the blade. The challenge of the sword is inflating the balloon just enough that you can still make the few required twists while resulting in a round, inflated tip. Now, the bubble at the front of this one is a bit long, and that's not the challenging part, but I got a little turned around at the start of this one. The tip top is slightly under-inflated. Only slightly, though, so I'm satisfied with this as a first try.

21. Mushroom

This one was also a little sloppy, but it's such a cute little thing that I was really happy to finish it regardless. A developing theme is that I will make bubbles bigger than a tutorial calls for and run out of balloon faster than intended when I iterate the process. This mushroom has a slightly less robust cap than specified in the tutorial I followed, but once again, it doesn't matter too much. I find that it's pretty fun to not measure anything and just work it out on my own when something goes wrong.

22. Corn (failure)

This one involves weaving six balloons at once into basically a tall basket. I couldn't handle that many balloons at once! No biggie though, this was a big step up from what I've done up to this point. The mode of failure was a pinch twist, which is consistently a technique that I'm a little nervous about due to a fear of popping. This time, it was in between a lot of other bubbles and I must have pulled a bit too hard, because the balloon I was twisting did indeed pop. I feel comfortable saying I bit off more than I could chew here, but I'm exercising my jaw every day, so I'll come back around for this one another time!

23. Sword (not pictured)

This one was both to see if I could do it better this time, and because I just wanted to play around. I didn't do it any better this time though. I don't want to sit down for a day of nothing but swords until I get the inflation level to be perfect, but I think that might be the best way to learn. I'll keep working hard, whatever that looks like!

24. Camel - Wendy

Yup, that's right, she's meant to be a camel. I didn't get as much height as I'd have liked out of her hump because the bubbles that make up her torso are slightly different lengths. I was also cutting my balloon length pretty close at the end, because this is one of the rare designs that leaves the very end of the balloon inflated. Her front legs are also longer than her back legs, and not on purpose this time! I don't mind for now though. Hard to feel frustrated when I'm holding a cute little animal that I made!

[drkineildwicks]

BH6 Snippets - 2/17/2023

Got some work done on The Aken/Hamada Collective last night--have a bit where Obake and Hiro are discussing the whole decision to become superheroes:

“Well, it was nice being your uncle.”

“Wait what?” Hiro asked, blinking.  “Why would you say that?”

“Because your aunt made it very clear that if this persisted she would kill me.”

“Uhhh we can talk to her about it, right?  Convince her not to do that?”

Hmm, could they?  Debate….

Pull a chair over so he could sit in front of Hiro.

“Yes, we can,” he said.  “But it’s going to involve the prickly aspect of basically baby-proofing the city.”

“Huh?” Hiro noised, looking offended.

“Your aunt’s main concern is the chaos aspect of this whole ordeal, the unpredictability that could end in one of you dead in a gutter somewhere,” Obake explained, waving a hand.  “And I’m sure you’ve noticed a lack of purse-snatching and such to stop.”

“Yeah—Fred’s disappointed that there’s not monsters and giant robots to stop.”

“I can’t say anything to the former, but we could do something about the latter.”

Hiro blinked—perked up.  “Come again?”

Tap his knee.  “I’ll be nice and humor Tadashi—I’ll even play along.  You need an overarching supervillain to fight, do you not?  This way all parties win.”

“Except you.”

“Hardly—you two get to enjoy yourselves, and Tadashi and I finally have interactions we agree on.”  Seeing as how Tadashi viewed him as a villain anyway. “Cass is assured you’re safe, you all get something challenging to face, I get to test out designs…everyone wins.”

“Except for the part where it’s kinda fake.”

“Your video games are kind of fake, does that ever stop you?” But he did have a point in how Tadashi would handle this if he knew.  “But I agree—therefore it’s our little secret, is it not?”

Hiro grinned as this sunk in.  “Yeah!”

Shook his hand on it—maybe this would work out in his favor after all.

So long as Tadashi never found out.

Obake knows that Cass will murder him if something happens to the boys so he’s got some work to do to prep the city for a little superhero group.

[royalreef]

@chaosmultiverse​ inquired: 2, 3, 6, 17 & 27 Romantic Relationship Questions - Accepting

2. Is your muse monogamous?

(( Nope! Of course, this is a little complicated because it requires discussion of merfolk relationships and their attitudes towards them, but in short, merfolk are not a monogamous species.

They tend to think of themselves in the plural to begin with, and that can make monogamous relationships a little more challenging and complicated for them than they are for us. Likewise, merfolk have an entirely different hierarchy of relationships, and because of that, romantic relationships can be much less important and focused on than certain types of platonic relationships, with certain not-necessarily-but-most-often platonic relationships taking precedent over all other types of relationship in their lives. Likewise, certain romantic relationships are prioritized and thought of as more important than other romantic relationships, and while there is a type of romantic relationship that takes importance over all others, it’s also something that is neither pushed for nor all that common, and most merfolk just never consider it and never want something like that.

This isn’t even getting into sexual relationships either, which merfolk have an entirely different outlook on, and often doesn’t even map onto their web of relationships as anything other than connective tissue.

But yeah. In short, it depends? When in doubt, ask Miranda, and she’s usually pretty quick to talk about boundaries and what is and isn’t alright with her partners. Most of the time she’s ambivalent-to-positive on having others in her romantic relationships, but sometimes she doesn’t want them and could not handle it, and there are types of relationship that she has that she will always have multiple partners in, but which aren’t shared with landfolk and are hard to talk about with them.

3. What would your muse’s ideal date be?

(( ..... Ironically? I don’t think Miranda has an ideal date. Yes, she’ll list you off countless fairytale scenarios and ways for her date to rescue her from a tower or wake her with true love’s kiss, but that’s just what Miranda will say. In terms of what her actual, true, ideal date would be... I don’t think she’s actually all that picky. She would like something tender, and intimate, and close, and where she can be genuine, but that’s still so broad that I don’t feel like that would fully count either. Mostly she just wants to feel appreciated and loved and safe.

6. How important is physical appearance to your muse?

(( I’m tempted to say not very, but this is a complicated one too. I will say — if you’ve gotten Miranda to the point where she is actually in love and in a long-term relationship, nothing will stop her. It does not factor in with the slightest, and Miranda is fully ride-or-die at that point, with nothing more to be said.

But when she dates around for fun and just to have flings, it’s... a bit more important, I suppose? As in, she is just doing that for fun and for what thrills her at the time, and she feels little guilt on turning someone down because they aren’t attractive to her. She wants someone who excites her, and often that includes if they look good as arm candy in front of others. But, remember, these are still the same relationships that she doesn’t have a problem with discarding and moving on from either, and those that get her in such a relationship haven’t achieved anything special either.

17. Does your muse like being asked out, or do they prefer to do the asking?

(( She LOVES other people asking her out. It’s partially an ego thing for her, but also she just likes the attention. She likes it when people fret over her and compete for her attention and for her love, and she adores it when people put in the effort for her. Not just what she asks of them, but truly going out of their way to sweep her off her feet. Ironically, this is the same reason why she basically never asks someone else out, as she instead prefers to tease and play with them and rile them up until they do so instead. It’s a game of gay chicken, and Miranda’s in it to win.

But she also tends not to ask out even the people who she actually does love, just for an entirely different reason. In this case, it’s moreso because of Miranda clinging to her denial and what feels safe to her, because actually getting invested in someone else doesn’t feel safe. It’s a risk, and it’s scary, and Miranda instead tries to avoid it or wait until it goes away, because she doesn’t know how to deal with her own affections towards someone else. She can’t put up her same defenses, she’s scared she’s going to get hurt, and she doesn’t have the same experience in genuinely loving someone in the same sense that she has experience in just dating people for fun. It’s tied to the same reason that Miranda gets so much easier to fluster if she’s in love with someone, to the point of that being a good yardstick on whether she’s actually caught feelings for someone else.

Though, in the latter case, moreso it’s the other person asking her out for sheer lack of Miranda doing it. She’s not intentionally trying to get them to do so, and honestly is so wrapped up in her denial that she would be okay with simply never asking them out at all. Again, she’s trying to wait until it goes away, because it’s scary and upsetting and new for her, and she’s trying to convince herself that if she just ignores it, then she won’t get hurt and nothing bad will happen.

27. Is your muse one to sit down with a new partner and formally define a relationship, or do they prefer to go with the flow and see what happens?

(( It depends! Tying back into the last answer — if Miranda’s genuinely invested in a relationship, she’ll try to avoid defining it as long as possible, rather going with the flow and letting it happen, over taking an active role. It can be endlessly frustrating for the other party especially to deal with, but Miranda feels safer with it. Putting words down to what they are means she has to directly confront her feelings, and she often doesn’t even know what they are or how she actually feels just yet. That time to work things out is important to her, since it lets her figure it out as she goes, and to come to terms with her emotions more slowly.

In comparison, if she’s dating someone for fun, she’ll often come right out and directly say what the two are. She doesn’t have shame about it, there are no complicated emotions to work through, and she can just immediately get to what she wants without a need to pause and think about it. She’s doing it for fun, and so she does whatever is the most fun for her. She’ll still play coy if she thinks that’s fun, and has no problem with beating around the bush if it means she gets to fluster someone else and use that as an excuse for further flirtations, but she has a very clear idea of what’s going on and doesn’t hide it from herself or anyone else.

[audhdating]

The Rules

Dating in my 40s comes with challenges I didn't have in my 20s: namely the role that age plays in dating dynamics.

My ex-wife Anna was 8 years older than me and we were married 17 years. The woman who recently broke things off with me was two years older than me. I've never been obsessed with youth as a marker of attraction. I'm far more drawn to who a person is.

That does mean there have been a handful of times where I've struck up a conversation with someone who turned out to be younger than the half-your-age-plus-seven rule. For me, that's 29. But I've found I don't usually mesh well with women that young.

But then there's the time I met a woman who's fun to talk to and into the same things as me and it turns out she's 25! She likes older guys. She's coming onto me. I had to tell her I couldn't. But the devil on my shoulder kept asking "Why not?" And part of me was like "Yeah, why not?"

I mean, Cougars and Silver Foxes are totally normalized now, right? So, is the age gap inherently exploitative? I got the sense that the older guys she had been with had also been complete pieces of shit. I just kept thinking about how I didn't want to be the next old, piece of shit who fucks up her life even more.

It was all too much. I couldn't handle the ethical implications, so I just walk away instead.

Fast forward a bit and now I'm talking to a bartender at a bar I frequent. I bum cigs from her, I share weed with her. We chat on smoke breaks and really gel. Eventually, she asks for my number so I can hook her up with weed.

She's 30.

We've been texting daily for about two weeks. I don't have the same anxiety about the ethical implications, but it still feels really weird. We talked about it already, so it's out in the open. She seems to accept my weirdness and likes talking to me. And I like her quite a bit. So, I'm entering this relationship cautiously. I just don't want to fuck things up.

[blackrosesmatron]

Death asks: 4, 10, 17

From this meme: accepting

4. If you were reborn as someone/something new, who or what would you want to be?

Bold of you to assume I would want to be anything different from who I am today! If you were to ask me when I was a child or a teenager, I would have answered that I wished to be the heir of a Kingdom or an Empire. Somebody who was born important. Now I see it is much more rewarding to have become important through conquering everything I have. To see people who were born in positions of power on their knees for me, obeying my orders or dying for going against me. To command an Empire even if it is not my figure sitting on the throne. Oh no, I don't wish to be anything or anybody else while I can be me! If I were to start over, in a new life, I would most likely do everything again - perhaps with different methods, but with the same goals and end results. Being born a princess or a peasant, I would end up with a crown upon my head all the same!

Name one (or a few) people in your life whose death would ruin you.

The word 'ruin' does remind me of a King of a Kingdom that no longer exists. There are a few being that could certainly destroy my heart and mind if I lost them, I don't believe any would make my grief act the same way as that man had in the past.

Veigar, my touchstone, the one who keeps me somehow human. I would lose it all if I lost him. There is no telling what I could do without his presence to prevent me from becoming as much of a monster as Mordekaiser is.

Evelynn (@drinkthepain). My confidant. I would be lost without her company and guidance. While I do share a lot of things with Veigar, there are many things I would rather not tell him, either afraid of his judgment or concerned about the impacts of those pieces of information on his little mind. Eve can get furious at me, but I know she will help me, or even encourage me depending on the circumstances. She would leave a hole nobody could ever fill.

Briar (@restrainedhungr). My beautiful child. Despite being a blood golem, a living weapon, she does bring light into my dark life. I feel words lack to express how much her unique way of being improves my days.

Jinx (@jynxd). A mother should never outlive her children, but with Jinx being mortal, I know I will still be around for many centuries after she is gone. For the moment, I just try to avoid this thought, but I know it will break my heart to not see my girl's smile on a regular basis.

Vladimir (you know which!). While we may be a bit strangers at the moment, with opinions and ideas diverging, I…I don't think I would handle losing him. A lot would lose meaning without him around, and even if I were to ascend the throne of Noxus publicly, it would feel lonely and meaningless without him by my side. I refuse to share my Empire with anybody else but Vladimir, for nobody else is worth such an honor.

And if I am to be fully honest, I don't think a world without him is worth existing.

Still, I would live on, for there is nothing else to do. Even with all my necromantic knowledge, I know better than to try and challenge the Kindred by attempting to undo their work. It most certainly would backfire badly if I tried.

17. If you could meet someone who has died, who would it be?

Perhaps mages who died with knowledge that Mordekaiser destroyed during his reign. He had the habit of gathering arcane tomes, learning all he could from them before destroying the tomes so nobody else could have access to those pieces of information. So, calling upon those mages from the other side and learning straight from the source would be interesting—although too risky for me at the present moment.

If you expected me to list past loved ones, I would not. They are long gone, most likely don't even remember me after spending so much time in the wastelands of Death. Their time has passed, and I have accepted it many centuries ago. I don't even miss them anymore. I am not the girl I used to be while they lived, so I do not miss their company and I can't even think of any subject of a conversation with them.

[the-firebird69]

This is very similar to the car that are sun was in with Cindy and Trudy with the uncle who was the general and he went real fast it's a different model but it's the same idea they just don't have many of them around there's a lot of these around

Frank Castle Hardcastle

I'm going to use this one and lead the way on this idea this is what the original idea is like you take an inexpensive car that's practically worthless now and you turn it into something and some of the parts will need to be fixed and replaced and we have parts and we know a parts actually where and go and we can help with that correct it's like 1995 to 2005 and they took a break to 2016 to 2021 and they're not making them now but we might pick it up if they don't this would be for a sports car conversion and as you can see it's kind of sporty and zippy and the one my father was in was really fast too fast it's because they're light with a smaller motor and it had a handling package in it and it looks like this vehicle pictured above. We're going to confirm it into Bradley GT super sport and it will look like the Bradley GT going to be smaller and have a little bit different style now she's not exactly the same where is the Bradley GT 3 is a b-type this will be a c-type which is like the Corvette stingray and the stingray is a little bit large for the class and it's really what the stratus is going to be which is it doesn't look like that exactly it's a little bit less like a Ferrari but this will be more like a Ferrari more like the smaller ones and boy does it look cool I drew one up already. And we'll come with new rims and tires or it will look foolish I put it with rims and tires that the old car for fun and it looks hilarious yeah I've had a little race with it it doesn't work and my father came sipping out with one in my mother with the colors they like with the tires and blew us away so we had a lesson right there and they're new at it that they're old and it's very weird this car is everywhere if you think the strata sold it was a little more expensive I'm in the early 2000s the stratus was about 17 grand and where is this car was on 13 Grand and there it sold billions of cars and really they understated the number of Stratus made but the number of these made was just it was just a whole crapload. The talking 95 to 2000 they made about $700 billion from 2000 to 2005 they made three or four trillion and 2016 an additional five trillion I mean they made tons of them it's like a standard car and this is what they're standing car was and Chrysler has the same chassis and we're going to show you what chassis and it's on the stratus level vehicle too and Chrysler does not have the higher level Dodge but you can use a Challenger it says with modification kit it's a different kit it's pretty much the same thing it's slightly different the body is the same the exact same in the interior this mounting hardware is different so it is for the charger and the Challenger but this one is in for the stratus there is a counterpart in Chrysler and for the neon is a counterpart in Chrysler and we're going to make these kits

For the base kit car which really is just the body the interior the mounting instructions and mounting equipment and you would provide the old Dodge neon functioning with transmission. So we will provide wheels and tires as well cuz those look ridiculous the base price would be

1200.00

If you were to buy the transmission motor chassis they all come in one piece early I already mounted and everything and yeah we installed the electrical electric windows and in our body. That is a complete car in other words disassembled

5700.00

If you bought the complete car assembled and this is a baseline car without the high performance package but it comes with tires and rims which are high performance and this this suspension on this is performance

13,000

An ad for the high performance package is

1000.00

This is a high performance metal stamped body and it's a concept it's like the fiberglass but it's much safer and it's safer than standard metal and frame combinations of most vehicles it comes with all the safety equipment and airbags and seat belts and everything is per dot standard.

0 to 60 of the neon Bradley GT super sport kit standard with the standard motor it's a V4 is 3.4 seconds that's with the kit

The quarter mile of the neon Bradley GT super sport kit base model V4 is 11.9 seconds

0 to 60 of the neon Bradley GT super sport is with the high performance package is a 2.1 seconds

The quarter mile of the neon Bradley GT super sport with high performance package is 10.3 seconds

The top speed of the neon Bradley GT super sport is 280 mph with the standard motor

The top speed of the neon Bradley GT super sport high performance upgrade is 340 mph

You'll be very hard pressed to find a car that can come close most Porsches and Ferraris won't do it. Only with the most expensive models of supercar are you going to find anything over 300 mph most of them do about 320 there's only a couple now Lamborghini and Ferrari they go about 400 and they are ridiculously expensive you will beat everybody with these cars because they handle very well and you'll outmaneuver the Ferrari in the Lamborghini in smaller tighter turns and most likely get away

Abomination and She Abomination

Olympus

[hazbincalifornia]

I like to think that Blitz had to learn to loosen up with Loona because she was sick of being suffocated as a grown-ass adult, so he kind of swung the other way with Stellaluna and was a bit too loose with her at times.

He loved her, he wanted what was best, but finding the line between independence and smothering was hard. He equipped her to handle physical brawls just fine from introducing her to IMP work early- she could do a headshot with help by age four and gut a person by six.

Emotional stuff was another matter, though. Both of them made sure that she knew they'd always be there for her, but dealing with being a hybrid in the spotlight has unique challenges they weren't always fully equipped to handle.

Because she knows she can handle herself pretty well in a fight and can often ensnare people with her looks and charisma, she tends to overestimate how good and mature she is on OTHER matters. She sneaks out to get control, and they aren't sure how much is age-appropriate.

Loona was adopted at 17 and resented being smothered because she didn't want to be treated like a child, and Octavia normally wasn't the type to sneak out, so this was new to both Blitz and Stolas. She always came back home and they made sure she knew she could always call.

Her messy years were messy, but that balance of parenting and allowing mistakes so growth can happen was tricky, especially when she insisted that some of it was fake, just smoke and mirrors to take whatever control of the narrative she could get. She's fine, dads, promise.

(They find her in Aster's room when she's 19 and he's bandaging her up after she got caught somewhere dangerous with sinners that had decades of experience on her, and it's heartbreaking to realize he's getting used to this, but she insists it's fine. She knows what she's doing)

She's their girl who's grown up into a woman that reminds Blitz too much of the kind of person he hated himself later for being, but trying to make her stay boils accusations of not being a kid anymore. It's honestly a relief when the fight with Aster makes her realize she's going too far, that setting herself on fire isn't going to end with anything but ash.

With Aster, it swings the other way again with being a tad overprotective, but he's not nearly as in need of overprotecting and wants to prove he can contribute. It may even cause a bit more resentment towards Stellaluna- he would be trusted more if she wasn't Like That.

Still, he does kind of get it though and he doesn't do as much that needs overprotecting, so it doesn't fester to the point of destruction, especially as he quietly proves himself over the years.

[twotangledsisters]

One-Shots or AUs within an AU I kinda wanna do.... but haven't decided yet

Because I have no chill and was trained to write at bullet speed from the age of seventeen (most random of facts about me, but at 17 I used to write what was essentially Minecraft fanfics for a living. You ever read one of those gaming magazines for kids? They have the little stories in them. Ever wondered who wrote them? Apparently random 17 year olds willing to work for a lot less than adults but sure did boost my confidence), here are some of the fics my heart wants me to take a shot at.

1.- Outlaws! There's a throw away joke in Two Princesses from Eugene about how instead of returning to Corona he should have taken the girls to become thieves!

And, it's a joke but... how cool would Eugene teaching Cassandra to fight and steal be? How cute would Rapunzel questioning each stolen item and their impact be?

And then I wrote it down, BIG MISTAKE, and realized I could do a whole thing with Cassandra stealing from The Baron because stealing from thieves isn't wrong (probably Eugene's words), then they're in big trouble. They decide to take down The Baron as the trio they are and... I have more plans but incase I write it I'll leave it there.

2.- What if the guards weren't so useless? Frederic and Arianna getting to be raise children? What if the guards managed to track down the tower WAY earleir.

Imagine the guards raiding the tower, Cassandra hitting the guards with her broken broom absolutely terrified, protecting Rapunzel. They bring the two girls down from the tower, Arianna is of course immediately like, "We keep both of them together."

Imagine little Cass and Raps running around the palace. Imagine them sitting on Frederic's lap while he is doing royal duties because they want to be with their parents? The advisers talking about boring stuff making them fall asleep. I just want more fluff.

3.- Knights. A knight comes to visit Corona and although Cassandra has accepted the guards as Corona's knights, the armour and the sword and the horse looks straight out of her storybooks. She starts to ask him questions and follow him around and is just cute and excited.

Knight-man seems a bit uncomfortable but Cassandra is the princess so he allows it, until he finds out Rapunzel is the crowned princess and decides Cass isn't worth his time, telling her she's annoying and can go away.

Captain finds her with her sword in the training area moping and he tells her he finds her enthusiasm endearing and some people weren't worth her time.

(Not sure exactly where in the timeline this goes it's just an adorable idea).

4.- The Contest of the Crowns. This supposedly happens in the six months between movie and series, so technically it should have been in Two Princesses but, I just didn't.

I know what it would be, Cassandra and Rapunzel together, learning new skills, having fun, Arianna and Frederic super worried at the last challenge.

Them showing Ingvarr the amazing fighting skills of Corona's princesses.

I think the main reason I didn't include this in Two Princesses is actually because I plan to focus a lot on the other kingdoms when we get to season 3, and I'm still working on the plotting there so I might want to wait until I know how I want to handle each kingdom before writing this fic.

5.- The Day of Hearts: Dates! I've already re-written the day of hearts episode, Eugene and Rapunzel go on a few dates but they aren't written about because they simply aren't the main focus. But I could write a short fic of just the dates and these two being cute. I love Eugene and Rapunzel and I just don't write enough of them in my fic.

6.- Eugene never comes. Where Eugene never did go to the tower and Cassandra took a far more active role in Gothel's death.... My brain can be dark sometimes.

7.- A fic about food. Gothel calling Rapunzel chubby in the movie always struck me. I've hinted at issues in the fic, from Cassandra worrying about not having enough food between her visits to Arianna pushing them to eat. But I haven't dived deep because I know it's triggering to a lot of people (honestly when done wrong, me included).

But a standalone, something you can skip if you aren't up to it, that'd be fine and I do love diving into these topics. But also, I don't know if I'd be up to it, some things are better in small chunks? Dunno.

8.- A Corona Law Deep Dive. So we've seen Cassandra take interest in law and this continues throughout the series, and I'd kinda just love a small fic of laws Cassandra doesn't agree with or sees as needing modifying, her making her arguments, maybe even presenting them to Frederic and what the new laws could look like.

Maybe even show them in action?

Would also give me a chance to look into Corona's criminal underworld which was hinted at so well in Before Ever After then never really made use of in the way I expected.

9.- The Captain earns his retirement. The girls basically getting into more trouble than their worth. But the captain being loyal and protecting them from everything anyway.

10.- Eugene on Corona. Basically takes place during Two Princeses while Cassandra and Rapunzel are stuck in the palace and features Eugene just doing normal things, but also hiding each time he sees guards, almost stealing because he forgets he's not supposed to do that anymore... and so on, so on.

A deeper dive into Eugene's adjustment period because there definitely was one!

11.- BONUS: Arianna and Frederic at the holidays. mitcondrialdna actually requested this on Ao3 and it sounds like an adorable idea, a fic about Frederic and Arianna at the holidays before Rapunzel's return. If I were to do this, I'd probably choose only one or two holidays and do several different years so as to show the stages of mourning and how they each handled the situation differently while supporting each other.

And this is why I need a journal just for fanfics and specifically just for this AU. Yes, I have a problem. No, I do not have any intent to fix it.

Anyway, if any of these sound like something you'd want to read, tell me so I can prioritise, I definitely need to write some one-shots just so I don't keep writing TOO far ahead of what's being published. (one-shots are bonuses, they never interrup the dayly uploads of the fic making them perfect for decresing scheduling differences).