#tell them you appreciate them now and then so they keep writing your ship!!!
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Yknow what, it wasn't! But IT ALSO WAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
Hey PSA re: Bug Behavior;
Leaving unsolicited critique on fanfics is ALWAYS rude and shitty to do, it doesn't matter how kind you are or how helpful you think you're being! That's the point of it being established etiquette. It's etiquette because it's frowned upon. It's not welcome. Don't do it. You are in the wrong. lol.
This is a really good thread.
#the ao3 drama du jour is truly wild i cant believe the fucking ratio and she's like#upset that her post about unsolicited critique GOT A BUNCH OF CRITIQUE#cant make this shit up#anyway be nice to fic writers they work really fucking hard and historically get treated like shit by fandoms#dont mindlessly consume things!!!!!!!!!!!#it's how you drive writers out of your fandom!#tell them you appreciate them now and then so they keep writing your ship!!!
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I don't want to keep clogging my blog with vent posts but uh... I guess this is a more general concern/observation
But it's getting real hard to stay motivated in fandom spaces when there's little compensation, and annoying occurrences are more frequent than good ones.
Mainly there's been less engagement/people showing interest in creators and their art (such as sending asks, making comments and reblogging with tags) and MORE parasocial interactions. This goes for both artists and writers.
Over this year I've noticed a vast disinterest within my public in general. Asks about ocs, my art, or just nice simple comments of ''I love your art'' has been getting more and more scarce. My follower number is bigger than 2-3 years ago sure and I get more likes on my posts but they are feeling more like just numbers and statistics than actual people who supposedly like my stuff.
And while people being parasocial with creators has always been a thing, I feel like it's gotten way worse... in general? People sending personal pictures out of the blue in hopes of being validated, unwanted psychological advice or assumptions about the creator without any established connection first ( <- these happened to me in the same week.) ventdump, just insensitive/lacking of common sense comments in general, unreasonable demands (mostly with writers)... I wondered at first if it was just me, but a handful of mutuals/acquaintances who are artists and writers seems to be going through it as well.
It's annoying. It's tough. It's getting exhausting. Creators pour so much of themselves into their work—countless hours, effort, and passion, all to share something meaningful or entertaining with others (and for FREE) The LEAST anyone can do is show respect, even if opinions differ. When a writer posts a fanfic, don't just say ''omg post next chapter!'', when an artist posts a drawing of their favorite character, don't just say ''omg draw (character) next!'' as if they're faceless content machines that are expected to churn out more '''content''' for you without acknowledgment, encouragement, or appreciation.
''I want to support creators but I don't know what to say and I feel intimidated by their talent so I just lurk silently :((('' I swear to you, no creator (at least not the majority) is making up an intimidating persona to discourage you from interacting with them. They WANT your comments. A single ''I love your art/writing/videos'' or even something as silly as ''I want to eat your art'' is enough to keep a creator sighing dreamily for WEEKS. It doesn't have to be deep! It's heartfelt and that's what it matters!! (Just remember to keep it relevant and thoughtful... It takes just a bit of common sense NOT to comment things like ''this looks like (another character)'' or ''this but with (another unrelated ship/character/show)''. No one wants to hear comparisons or unrelated ideas when they’ve poured their soul into something.)
In fact, the ''I like your art but I think you're intimidating'' feels more hurtful than flattering. It makes me feel like I'm doing something wrong, acting wrong. 💀
If you love that fanfic that changed your brain psyche forever and want to gush about it, go tell the writer. If you loved so much a piece of art that you saved it a million times in your phone and can't stop thinking about it, go tell the artist. Push away the ''they probably won't care about my comment/it won't make a difference'' thoughts. DO IT NOW. You won't know when they might go inactive forever or deactivate. You can't know if that is the last piece they will ever post. Make sure you show appreciation to creators NOW, while they are still here. While they're still not being replaced by AI.
#fandoms#to those users who always reblog my art with tags and comments I SEE YOU. YOU MAKE A WHOLE DIFFERENCE. YOU GIVE ME STRENGTH TO GO ON#to people who send asks about my oc or show genuine interest and appreciation for my art/me even if I take a whole ass year to answer#I still APPRECIATE IT so much and one day (hopefully) ill answer it with a cute lil doodle 😭#one time I made a rlly heartfelt comment of appreciation for one my fav jp artists on twitter which I thought was ''intimidating''#i thought they were gonna think my comment was obnoxious or rude for not being in japanese but I made sure to be respectful#to my surprise the artist responded me with a small drawing as a thankyou... and they did that JUST for me 😭😭 not anyone else#it really opened my eyes#people can FEEL your love and passion for their work even with language barrier#its literally SO easy to be nice. and also SO easy to not be a parasocial dick.#but more often its none of those#if people cared about artists there wouldnt be AI art/writing
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hello!!! i saw your that your requests were open so i was wondering if you were able to write a hurt/comfort zoro x reader story about how the reader gets injured from a fight, but they don’t wanna be a burden so they hide it until they collapse on deck :)))
tell me that we’ll be just fine (opla!zoro x you)
wc: 1.74k
cw/tags: hurt/comfort with happy sappy ending, swearing, canon-typical violence, descriptions of blood and injury, mentions of drinking and alcohol, zoro just loves you and you worry the shit out of him
note: yassss i love hurt/comfort injury prompts (it's the innate desire to just be carried and be vulnerable and have someone care in my weakest hour and and and and) hope you like this, thank you for your request !!
likes, reblogs, and replies are always appreciated <3
“Guys, I am about to get so wasted.”
“We still have that good shit from Baratie, yeah?”
“Hiding in the back of the cellar, baby!” A loud smack rings out into the harbor as Usopp and Sanji’s hands clap together, deliriously excited after winning a scrimmage with a rival crew. Their proud vocalizations are added to by their captain and devolve into giddy skipping down the remainder of the dock as you make your way back to the ship. Zoro walks just ahead of you, glancing back every so often like he was worried you would collapse. You were planning to, but not now. Just get to the ship. Get to the ship and we’ll be fine.
“I vote Zoro for vomit duty tomorrow morning,” Nami mutters next to you, nudging your arm with her elbow. It’s a light touch but it feels like the world tilts sharply and you pray she can’t see the panic in your eyes when you try to remain upright. Despite her best efforts to remain mature and indifferent, her eyes were sparkling with self-assurance that you only saw from her when she felt a mission went well. She carries the folder of coveted Marine intelligence under one arm, her other hand holds up a bag of goodies you’d snatched from the base that would make good money down the line. “Plus, it gives us some time to take our share of this stuff. Nice finds, by the way. I’m impressed.”
“Thanks. I learned from the best,” you reply, relief flooding you when she turns back to watch her idiot crewmates and not further inspect the limp in your step. Zoro’s eyes meet yours over his shoulder and you give him a strained smile, well aware that you probably looked like you’d crawled out of hell. When he turns away again, you exhale with great difficulty, fighting off another wave of nausea that threatens to send you stumbling into the water. It’s just a flesh wound, you figure. No need to halt their celebration just because you got a silly cut. “What’s your first pick out of the bag?”
“There’s a pretty little jeweled chalice I was looking at,” she says casually. The waning afternoon sun makes her hair look like a fire, bright and warm. “We could scrape off the rubies and pawn them at the next island.”
“Or, you could drink water from it and look like a pompous asshole.” Just keep it casual. Be normal. The pulse in your ears becomes slightly faster when you notice the foggy spots in your vision. “Freeze some of the diamonds from that candlestick and use them as ice cubes.”
“Very true,” she laughs and you force out a chuckle to mirror her, wincing at the aching pain in your side. Her eyebrows furrow and her mouth falls into a frown. Your attempts to seem fine were starting to fall through. “Hey, are you okay? You’ve been walking a little slower than usual.”
“I’m fine, I promise. I just got punched in the gut a little harder than I anticipated,” you lie straight through your teeth, well aware that it wasn’t just a fist that had you losing enough blood to fill the galley sink. To be fair, the guy’s second blade appeared out of nowhere. You were outnumbered five to one but still held your own; only when there was a single fighter left did he resort to cutthroat tricks. One minute, you’re parrying with ease; the next, a small dagger pops out from the fighter’s left sleeve, cutting a deep wound into your side before you can block it with the saber in your right hand. It was a dirty move and you mentally kicked yourself for not anticipating foul play much sooner. To make matters worse, you were only able to staunch the blood so much before Zoro found you in the courtyard. Though you sufficiently covered your injury, he was still eyeing you like he knew that something was off. Like clockwork, every minute he was checking on you. It was wordless, but you still knew he was inspecting you, waiting for you to reveal that something happened and that you needed help.
That moment came the instant your boots met the wood of the deck.
In seconds, your vision violently careens to the right and you’re conscious just enough to expect the thud of your head against the floor. But, the crash never comes. When you fall, your mind registers another body that you fall into, strong and stable. One arm slips effortlessly under your exhausted legs, lifting you from the ground while the other supports your upper back. Your eyes blur the image of your panicked crew like an oil painting, smearing it every which way until the colors are bleeding together more uncontrollably than the blood dripping from your side. Everything sounds like you’re drowning, rising above the water for a moment only to be pulled back down into murky disorientation.
“Idiot,” a low voice says. It’s wrought with worry, even though you can tell they’re trying not to hide it. It’s clear enough that you know it’s coming from whoever is holding you. “Why the hell did you wait?” You’re barely able to distinguish far-off shouting from Sanji, ordering Luffy and Usopp to grab his knives. But, if all three of them were over there and Nami was throwing open cabinets looking for the med kit, that means the person holding you was… “Fuck. I knew something was wrong.” You have half the mind to articulate a weak response, but it comes out as nothing more than a groan when you’re placed onto what feels like the galley counter. The pounding in your forehead starts to become airy, like when you’re walking down the sidewalk after a night of drinking until you were on the verge of passing out. Zoro doesn’t let you go, though. His calloused fingers gently brush the dirt from your face, quietly pleading for you to stay with me, stay with me, stay with me. “You’re okay. We’re okay. Just stay with me.”
“They’re losing a lot of blood and I can’t find the damn med kit.”
“Where’s everyone else?”
“Above deck, having a collective panic attack.” Nami’s voice sounds like it’s coming from miles away.
“Figures.” Zoro’s, on the other hand, is the only thing keeping you rooted and stopping you from drifting off. It’s sharp and strained, nothing like you’d ever heard from him before. Sanji’s lanky steps enter the kitchen and you hear the zip of his knife bag somewhere close to your ear.
“This is bad; I need to stop that bleeding or they might–” Zoro’s grip on your hand is tight, physically holding you down to reality. Whether you laced your fingers in his or the other way around, you didn’t remember.
“Well, let’s fucking do something about it then, waiter,” is the last thing you hear before darkness wipes your vision.
Your eyes blink open after what feels like seconds, but the starry sky outside the window tells you it had been hours. It takes a moment for the details to come back to you, as does the soreness where they must have patched up your wound. The hard stone of the counter has been replaced by your bed and the comforting sway of the ship tells you Luffy ordered the ship to depart. It’s healing, in a way, the rocking back and forth motion of the ship that reminds you how close you were to slipping away. After a minute, you muster up enough energy to look at the rest of your room and you can’t help smiling when you see Zoro sitting at your bedside, tensely sleeping with the Wado Ichimonji laid across his lap. His eyes fly open when you whisper his name, delicately setting his blade on the floor before crouching at your side.
“You’re okay,” he breathes and it sounds more like a reassurance for himself than for you.
“I’m okay,” you confirm just as softly, threading your fingers between his and squeezing lightly. He squeezes back, looking at you like you painted the constellations outside your window. “How long have you been here?”
“Since Sanji and Nami fixed you up, about six hours ago.”
“You’ve been sitting there for six hours?”
“I would have sat longer. I’d wait for you, no matter how long you slept,” he says and it sounds like a vow. “You scared the shit out of me, you know that?”
“Sorry,” you apologize weakly, giving him as much of a shy smile as you could. He rolls his eyes in exasperation but can’t help the corner of his mouth quirking too. “I didn’t want to bother you all while you were celebrating.”
“You really think I’m going to give alcohol priority over you?”
“Depends on the alcohol,” you point out and he shakes his head at your teasing. Your hand fits in his like a puzzle piece and you’re struck by the overwhelming feeling of safety you have whenever Zoro’s around. “But, really. I’m sorry for worrying you.”
His eyes darted to the side like you’d said something that embarrassed him. The only thing he could think to do in that moment was bring your hand to his lips and press the lightest kiss to it. A promise that he’d always take care of you. He never was the best with words, you realized in your friendship-borderline-relationship with him. The things you said tended to short-circuit his brain and it was fascinating to watch him try and think of a coherent response. In times like these, however, when he’s simply unable to find the words for how much he feels for you, his actions are infinitely louder.
“You should go back to sleep. I’ll still be here when you wake up. Do you need anything before you rest? Water or blankets or something?”
“No, just you. If you got in here with me, I wouldn’t mind,” you suggest nonchalantly and you giggle when his face becomes pinker. He obliges, though, slipping into the covers with you and carefully pulling you into him until you’re pressed against his chest like your own personal heater. His breathing is slow and steady, but you swear you can hear his heartbeat racing. “You’re the only one I’ll ever need, I think.”
“Feeling’s mutual, sweetheart. Just don’t do stupid shit like get stabbed again.”
if you enjoy my writing and would like to support me, you can buy me a coffee on my ko-fi! you can also check out my full masterlist here :)
#zoro x you#zoro x reader#zoro x y/n#roronoa zoro x you#roronoa zoro x y/n#roronoa zoro x reader#one piece x you#one piece x y/n#one piece x reader#op x reader#one piece fluff#zoro fluff#zoro roronoa x reader#zoro roronoa#roronoa zoro#opla!zoro x you#opla!zoro x reader#opla!zoro x y/n#ask iris!
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Obsessed!Coriolanus Snow x Innocent!Reader, Obsessed!Crassus Snow x Innocent!Reader, DILF!Crassus Snow
WARNING ⚠️ Coriolanus Snow is a warning in and of itself. Cussing, obsession, smut, oral (f rec) , p in v, older man/younger woman, father & son both want the same girl, reader is just too sweet for this world and has no idea that the men in the Snow family are toxic...
This is the Crassus x Reader ending AKA ending 2.
It's kinda long.
Masterlist
![Tumblr media](https://64.media.tumblr.com/424e523562174bffe05450167e1fce12/5fed4785f79f99da-5f/s540x810/6f479fd4e8eb9c9d7935cdd58ed34d92d6d23002.jpg)
Ending #2-Crassus
Coriolanus disappeared without a trace. Or at least that's what it felt like. Truth was, a couple of weeks after graduation he boarded a train to 8 as a peacekeeper grunt. Coriolanus received a conscription letter and was shoved off by his father General Crassus Snow.
Against his will.
Without Coriolanus by your side you fell into a depression. Yes, you received letters from him and the occasional phone call, but it wasn't the same. He wasn't physically around, like he's always been, and it hurt.
It hurt so much.
So goddamn much.
You felt so alone…
You thought that you were doing good job of hiding your hurt, your depression and loneliness. But you weren't.
No.
Crassus noticed it right away.
And he tried to swoop in and put a smile on your face by asking about your day or by suggesting you read a certain book in the library, but it never worked. Nothing worked to put a smile on your face.
The only time a faint smile appeared on your face was whenever Crassus handed you a letter from his son while shifting thru the mail after coming home from work. You'd always snatch it from him with a smile on your face. One that never quite reached your eyes.
You cherished Coryo's letters. He always complained about District 8 in them, but he’d also write a few lines about his feelings towards you. Always told you to wait for him; that he'd figure out a way to return to you.
Crassus, as cold and unfeeling of a man as he was, never kept his son's letters from you despite the fact that the middle-aged man wanted you as his next wife. His future First Lady. And why didn't he keep them from you?
Because he wanted to woo you away from his son’s affections. Crassus wanted the knowledge that he pursued you, courted you, and gave you somebody to confide in all the while Coriolanus was sending you letters that were borderline love letters.
Crassus wants you to pick him over his son, not because he made you, but because you want to.
Because you want him.
And having Coriolanus thousands of miles away serving in 8 would definitely help out with you picking the older Snow…
Out of sight, out of mind as they say.
“Petal, a letter for you from my son.” Crassus announces, holding the letter up for you to see as he stands in front of the fireplace shifting thru mail while you sit on the sofa watching CapitolTV.
Grandma'am was out visiting the neighbor, Pluribus, so it was just you and Crassus inside of the penthouse.
“Oh, thank you.” You thinly smile, rising from the sofa to go get your letter from the tall, stoic man that you've come to appreciate since you began living in the Snow's ancestral home.
Crassus knew that now was his chance to snatch you away from his bratty son. That now's the time to woo you. And how does he know?
By the thin, forced line of a smile on your face and the tight tone of your voice when you thank him for his son's letter.
“Y/N, I see how much you're suffering. Perhaps you'd like to talk about it with someone who's been deployed throughout Panem?” Crassus remarked, his voice low and thoughtful as he hands you over the letter.
“I'm fine, Crassus.” You lie, fingers brushing while taking the letter from him. “I don't need to talk about Coryo's deployment in 8, but thank you for the offer.” You assure the man towering over you while looking at the letter you're holding.
“You're not fine, petal.” Crassus tells you in a low, deep, all knowing tone.
It's unsettling since Coriolanus had told you the exact same thing one night before he was shipped off. He told you that you weren't fine; in a similar tone and manner that his father had just used on you right now.
You never noticed it before, but were Coriolanus and Crassus truly mirror images of each other?
“You haven't filled out your University admissions packet, so I surmise that you won't be attending. I also noticed how you sulk around, wasting your life waiting for a ghost.”
The packet was still untouched on his mahogany desk in his study. It was due weeks ago. Now that it's early September and the fall semester's starting soon, well, Crassus knows that it's too late for you to select a major of interest to study. That you won't be attending the University.
That doesn't bother him. In fact, Crassus prefers for you to be home with Grandma'am all day. You're a very beautiful Capitolite girl and in his mind you're better suited as a socialite. He's sure in time you'll get used to staying home and doing lady things all day such as luncheons, shopping, tea parties, etc.
“I-” You began, but your protest died on the tip of your tongue when Crassus cut you off with a blunt, “You can deny it all you want, but you fill your days moping over my son's absence.”
Of course, he saw right thru your facade. Crassus was a very perceptive man, a cunning one as well. He picked up on things that most people would overlook.
“You need to find a hobby to occupy your time; keep your thoughts off of things.” Crassus tells you knowingly. As if he has first hand experience in the matter.
Well, maybe he did.
“A hobby?”
“Yes.” He nods. “My mother has her rose garden; my late wife had her silly little songs and the piano.” The tall platinum blonde explains. He shifts his weight slightly on his feet while suggesting, “So perhaps you can find something as well.”
“Perhaps.” You parrot.
Maybe Crassus is right? Maybe a hobby will help you during Coryo's absence.
Crassus pecks you on the cheek before patting it and telling you, “Go on and read your letter. I'll be in my study reading my own mail.”
Without another word he walked away from you and into the direction of his office, a pile of mail in his hands.
You decided to take Crassus' advice and find a hobby to take your mind off of Coryo's deployment. After thinking about it, you realize that Crassus is right. You need to focus your energy on something else and since you're not in the best mindset to go to University (going to University was Coriolanus' dream; he wanted you to attend with him) a hobby is necessary.
At first you try your hand at gardening. You spent some time with Grandma’am in her rooftop rose garden, but you weren't a natural green thumb like she was. In fact, gardening seems to frustrate you.
Coriolanus was the botanist that thrived under Grandma'am Snow’s gardening lessons. Well, he did when he was still living in the Corso penthouse before he was conscripted into the Peacekeepers.
Anyways….
And since you weren't classically trained on the piano like Crassus' late wife, Demeter, you had only two other options for a hobby. Sewing or baking.
You weren't too handy with needlework and didn't want to bother Tigris with sewing lessons, because you knew that she'd start talking about Coryo. You couldn't handle that. The kind hearted young lady always meant well when she brought up Coryo, but it was a sore topic for you.
So, that left baking as your only hobby option.
But you had an old recipe book of your mother's from her native 12, so at least you had something to work with. You didn't have to bake blind without recipes.
Most of the recipes were for cookies. A couple for cakes, but mostly various cookies. Oh and bread. Lots and lots of bread.
Apparently, District 12 really loves their bread.
And on top of reading your cookbook you've been watching a baking show:
The Great Panem Bake Off
It's a baking competition where the best amateur bakers in all of Panem compete for a title and prize money. You began watching it for baking ideas and ended up writing down the recipes of the goodies that the judges liked.
After a few weeks of reading your mother's old recipe book and watching the baking show on CapitolTV, you decided to bake a batch of classic and simple sugar cookies.
So, one late afternoon while Grandma'am was tending to her magnificent rooftop rose garden you're in the kitchen hard at work baking a large batch of lemon zest and vanilla bean sugar cookies. Thankfully, living in Capitol City, Panem, you're able to procure the ingredients easily for your cookies.
You're so engrossed in making your cookie dough and baking off the tasty treats that your mind doesn't even focus on the missing member of the Snow family. Not once does Coriolanus cross your mind. No, the only thing crossing your mind is measuring out the ingredients and adding them to the bowl; mixing until firm and smooth. You're too busy letting the cookie dough chill and timing it to think about sulking over your best friend.
And when it's time to roll out the sugar cookie dough and cut the cookies out with a cutter, well, you can't even imagine thinking about anything but getting the cookies stamped out and onto the cookie sheet pan. A sheet pan lined with parchment to keep the cookies from burning and sticking (a tip you saw on the baking show).
You're so scared that if you leave the kitchen your batch of cookies will burn, despite having a timer set. So, you sit at the kitchen table reading a book that Crassus had recommended a few weeks back; waiting for the cookies to bake. Between the mouth watering aroma of fresh cookies filling the air and the intriguing plot line of the book you're reading, you're mind's too preoccupied to drift off to a melancholy about Coriolanus being gone.
Infact, it seems that Crassus was right about a hobby keeping your mind busy and off of things you can't change.
His son serving as Private Snow over in 8.
When the timer goes off you put on your floral printed oven mitts, which match your frilly apron, and pull the cookie sheet out of the oven. After setting the pan on the counter, you transfer the sweet treats to a cooling rack before rolling and cutting out another batch of cookies to place onto the sheet pan and back into the oven.
You’re sitting at the kitchen table, reading your book while waiting for the cookies to bake whenever you heard the front door open accompanied by the sound of Crassus' shoes echoing against the marble floor.
Crassus was home and all you could think of was getting his opinion on your cookies. Being a first time baker, you're afraid that they wouldn't be good. Even tho you followed the recipe religiously and everything seemed to turn out, you're still scared that your first foray into baking won't be successful.
So, you set your book down on the table, quickly rise to your feet, and grab a cookie from the cooling rack that's on the counter.
When you rush out of the kitchen, freshly baked cookie in hand, you see Crassus is starting to cross the foyer. He stops when he sees you, nose sniffing at the air, as his icy blue eyes take in the excited smile on your face.
From the smell wafting from the kitchen paired with the frilly floral apron you're wearing, the general concludes that you've taken up baking. He thinks it's good that you found something to occupy your days with.
Crassus is a tall man, even taller than his son, so he towers over you as you stand before him. Before he could make a comment on your new hobby, you grab him by the shirt and yank him down to your eye level- only to shove a freshly baked sugar cookie into his mouth.
“How is it? Do I need to tweek anything?” You ask, watching Crassus try not to choke on a large mouthful of cookie.
The middle-aged man’s large hand comes up to his mouth to pull the cookie out while he chews on the piece that's nearly choking him. You look at him with such innocence and patience while awaiting his verdict on your first attempt at baking cookies. Oh, and how your doe eyes has Crassus' knees buckling.
The cold, hard former soldier can't help, but to feel like a schoolboy again as you watch him chew his large mouthful. Oh, how embarrassing to feel like that over a young pretty girl shoving a sugar cookie into his mouth and looking at him like an angel sent from the heavens while awaiting his judgment on the sweet treat.
For some reason, swallowing down the cookie takes more effort than it should. Perhaps Crassus' throat feels tighter, as if it's closing up on him, because of the near intimate position you're in. Your face is mere inches away from his as he's hunched down into your space with your hand still tightly fisted into his shirt; keeping him in place.
Oh gods, how the man's mind is drifting off to dirty places…
“It's good.” Crassus finally answers after what feels like an eternity, but in reality was only a minute.
“You really think so?” You ask, genuinely surprised, as the icy eyed man in front of you just stares at you as if you hung the moon and stars.
A look he hasn't given anyone in a very, very long time.
“Yes,” He nods. “It's very good, petal.”
You're so happy that Crassus likes your cookie; that your first attempt at baking as your new hobby was successful. Honestly, you were scared that they wouldn't turn out. But it seems that you had nothing to worry about.
Without saying a word, you let go of Crassus' shirt and rush back into the kitchen to check on your latest batch of cookies. Crassus just shakes his head, clutching his briefcase his one hand and his half eaten cookie in the other, as a ghost of a smile slowly appears on his lips.
It seems like your innocence and warmth might be melting the cold Snow.
After the day you shoved a cookie into Crassus' mouth; nearly choking him, he's become your official taste tester for anything that you bake. He doesn't mind, in fact Crassus enjoys your baking. He has quite the sweet tooth even if he denies it.
Grandma'am enjoys when you bake chocolate treats and even Tigris enjoys your baking. She prefers your puddings. The warm hearted girl stops by from time to time to visit Grandma’am and you always give her some baked goods to take home.
All in all, your depression has dissipated and your mind's occupied with baking. You don't feel a heavy dark rain cloud over your head anymore, but instead you feel as if the sun’s shining down on you. You feel so much lighter, as if a weight has been taken off your shoulders.
And over the last few months you've grown closer to Crassus due to your baking. You looked forward to greeting him every evening when he came home with something you baked, asking him to taste it and tell you what he thought. And Crassus would always tell you that your sweet treats were good, great even.
That man loves everything you give him. From cookies to brownies to puddings to cakes to breads, he enjoys them all. Hell, he even has you pack some up for his coworkers at the Ministry of War.
Yes, cold and stern General Crassus Snow brought in baked goods to work to share with his coworkers. Honestly, he did it to brag about your baking skills. To show you off. To claim you as his in a way because women just don't bake for any man, they bake for their man.
And Crassus Snow views himself as your man.
He's been obsessed with making you his for a while; now he's succeeding in doing so.
But you don't mind his obsessive tendencies towards you. In fact, you welcome them because at least you're not lonely with him around.
And talk about being lonely, you found out from Crassus that his son, Coryo, was anything but lonely while off serving in District 8. His contacts told him that Coriolanus had taken up with a local district girl; had been with her for a while too.
Hearing that made you feel incredibly stupid for promising Coriolanus that you'd wait for him. Here you are being true blue to him while Private Snow's out fucking some district whore from 8. You wonder what she has that you don't have. Is she prettier than you? Maybe she's smarter or something? You dunno, but it hurts that he's cheating while you're waiting faithfully for him.
Aside from being hurt, you're pissed as hell. How dare he do this to you! Who the hell does he think he is? You're a proper Capitolite girl, you deserve better than what he's giving you.
Safe to say, you're a bit salty about Coryo's extra curricular activities in District 8 while serving as Private Snow in the Peacekeepers. Fucking bastard…
But at least you have your baking to help you thru it. Baking and Crassus' friendship that is.
But one day while you're baking cookies for the Yule holiday, the phone rings and you answer it only to be met with the one man you really don't want to talk to right now.
Coryo.
He tells you about some Elite Officer's Exam he took and you confronted him about his district whore. He denied it; even told you he loved you and wanted you to join him in 2 as soon as he got settled there- after passing his exams and officially being transferred that is.
And if that wasn't enough to turn your world upside down, a breaking news alert appeared on CapitolTV that would shatter Panem's heart.
It's late at night and Grandma'am’s asleep in her room while you're in the living room watching an old detective noir movie with Crassus. You're on the sofa, body softly nestled into Crassus’ side while his arm’s loosely slung around you, whenever the movie was interrupted by a news break announcing the death of President Ravenstill due to his ill health.
You're shocked to say the least. The very least. A president dying in office without a successor had never happened before in Panem's history. Normally, a president would step down if deathly ill or eldery; an election would be held to name a successor and the incumbent would pass over the baton.
President Ravenstill’s death turned the system upside down and on its head. So much so, that you ask the middle-aged man your sitting on the couch with what's going to happen to Panem now that the president’s dead. The platinum blonde man explained that the Senate would rule Panem with the help of the ministries and the late President Ravenstill’s cabinet.
Crassus also surprised you by announcing that he’s going to enter his name has a presidential candidate under the Old Guard political party. He also made a remark about how when he wins you'll be baking in the grand kitchen of the Presidential Palace. That you'll even be giving the palace bakers some of your recipes.
Everything feels so surreal; your entire day feels like a dream. A winter’s dream that can't be real, but in fact it's real. It's very real.
And to top off your day; mark the night as unbelievable, Crassus placed a hand on your chin only to tip your head to the side and capture your lips with a kiss.
A firm, but passionate kiss that caught you completely off guard.
You weren't expecting him to kiss you, but it only took a few seconds before your brain and body got on the same page and you're responding to his kiss. Your hands wrap around his neck as your lips press together. One of his hands goes to your hip while the other tangles in your hair.
You let out a breathy moan at the feel of his tongue sweeping along your bottom lip; asking silent permission to deepen the kiss. Permission that you granted by slightly parting your mouth just enough for Crassus to slide his tongue inside.
Your kiss with Crassus felt different then all the kisses you shared with Coryo- his son. Coryo's kisses always felt so needy and rushed, but with Crassus they're passionate albeit languid. It's as if the middle-aged man has all the time in the world to explore your mouth with his deeply impassioned kisses; to savor your reaction to his tongue tangling with yours, flicking against your bottom lip teasingly.
The way Crassus' lips firmly sweep over yours over and over again sparks a flaming heat inside of you. A need appears unlike anything you've ever felt before and, unable to stop yourself, you're slightly rolling your hips against him in an attempt to ease the growing ache in your core. And when Crassus breaks the kiss so the two of you can get some much need air into your lungs, you're looking at him wit lust in your doe-eyes.
Crassus can't help, but to flip you onto your back and smirk while slotting himself between your legs that have spread open on their own accord. He runs his knuckles along your cheek, only to hold your hip in his other hand. Crassus’ grip on your hip his strong, but sensual, as his other hand trails down your neck. Your chest heaves up and down as you look up at him, pupils blown wide.
“You feel what you do to me, petal?” Crassus asks, his voice low and thick, as he grinds his large cock, that's straining painfully in his pants, against your aching core.
The action has you soaking your panties. Just the feel of his bulge makes you ache, makes your pussy wetter then it already is. His cock, although trapped in the confines of his slacks, feel so large and heavy against your heated core.
“Crassus, please…” You moan needily.
"Shhh,” Crassus brings a finger up to your lips to shush you. “don’t make a noise, baby.” He dips his head down so his breath is fanning your face and his hand that's on your hip slides under your skirt, his fingertips teasingly sliding up and down your thigh. “We dont want mother to wake up now, would you?" Crassus rhetorically asks, nipping at a sweet spot right below your ear.
“We're really doing this here?” You ask, voice no more than a whisper, against his finger that was still resting against your lips.
Crassus trails his finger down your lower lip, that's bruised from his kisses, over your chin, and down the collum of your neck while telling huskily answering you with a low, “Yes.”
His lips captures yours in another searing kiss, one that shows off his years of experience, as his finger turns into his palm grasping at your breast. You moan into the kiss, your hands burying into his hair and your hips canting up slightly as Crassus toys with the wet patch right in the middle of your panties.
He pulls back from the kiss, only to slyly smirk. “I’m gonna prep you real good for my cock, baby.” Crassus scooted down the length of the couch until his head’s between your spread legs.
Legs that are shaking.
Crassus swiftly bunches your skirt up past your hips before curling his forefingers into the elestatic of your panties. “Lift your hips up for me, petal.” He orders in a low tone that's fire and ice to your ears.
Nodding, you do as you're told- resulting in Crassus pulling your panties off and licking a stripe up your wet cunt. He eases a long finger into your tight pussy while giving your clit a few kitten licks, causing you to wither from his touch.
Crassus' icy eyes hold your gaze as he slowly pumps his finger in and out of your pussy, his tongue flicking your clit expertly. You feel your cheeks grow hot, but you can't make yourself pull your gaze away from his. It's as if his light cerulean eyes have you under a spell. A spell you just can't find it in yourself to break.
Crassus pulls his lips away from your clit with a wet pop. With his eyes still on you, he says, “You're so tight, baby. I'm gonna add another finger, just let me know if it hurts.”, before slipping his middle finger inside of you alongside his pointer finger.
“I'm okay, Crassus. Please, keep going.” You told him, placing a hand in his platinum hair to encourage him to continue eating you out.
“As you wish, petal.” He tells you before going back to teasing your cunt with his skilled tongue while pumping his fingers in and out of your wet, tight hole.
Your breath hitches and you bite back a moan whenever you feel his fingertips curl up against the spongy spot hidden deep inside of you. He grins against your cunt at your reaction to his ministrations.
“Think you can handle a third finger?” Crassus asked, even tho he was planning on squeezing his ring finger into your dripping cunt no matter what your answer is.
He's a very blessed man when it comes to the size of his cock. He's large, both in length and girth, so he wants to stretch you out with his fingers as much as possible. Plus, the feeling of your tight cunt clenching around his fingers is sending all of his blood straight to his hard rock; making it even harder than he thought possible.
“I can handle it, Crassus.” You answer, chest heaving and voice wispy, as you feel a knot tightening in your lower belly.
Crassus wraps his lips around your clit, sucking hard, while stuffing you full with three of his long fingers. His ego was soaring as he heard your tiny, strangled moans mixed with the gushing sound your wet cunt made as he fingered you fast and hard while sucking and nipping at your clit. He groaned into your cunt as he felt your hands tightly holding his hair while shoving his face deeper into your cunt.
“Crassus, I'm close.” You tell him, bucking your hips in an attempt to find relief to the feelings quaking inside of you from the feelings of the middle-aged man's skilled fingers stretching you and his tongue swirling around your puffy clit.
Your thighs are shaking around Crassus' head, but he doesn't care. No, not when you're so close to cumming. Hell, he could die with his head crushed by your thighs and he'd die a happy man with your sweet tangy taste on his tongue.
His fingers curl against your g-spot just right at the same time his teeth graze against your clit, sending you over the edge. You cum with a silent scream, bucking your hips wildly.
It was unlike anything you ever felt in your life. You swear, you're seeing stars as you cum.
Crassus groans and laps up everything that you give him. You're messily dripping and all he can do is eagerly lick you clean. Oh, how your taste drives him wild.
He backs away from your cunt, only to look you in the eye while sucking your taste off of his fingers. “Sweetest thing I've ever tasted, baby.” Crassus smirks, his low tone oozing lust. And it has your cheeks flushing and your pussy growing wet- again.
Crassus quickly unbuckles his belt and pulls his pants down to his thighs. Your eyes widen as you see the large bulge pressing against his boxers, thanks to the glowing light the TV was casting in the room. You quickly realize, before he even pulls down his boxers, that Crassus’ dick is bigger than Coriolanus’. And that fact makes you both nervous and excited.
Crassus knows that once he enters your cunt he's a goner, that he'll most likely lose control. He's so pent up since his career at the Ministry of War along with his side job as an arms dealer; overlooking his assets in 13 doesn't leave him much time in his schedule to go out and fuck somebody. The gods know that he's always busy doing something.
But between his obsession with you and having your pussy in his grasp, well, he's sure that he's not sleeping a wink tonight. And neither are you.
“Sling your leg over the back of the couch, petal.” Crassus orders while pulling down his boxers; setting his very long and thick cock free to slap up against his stomach. A stomach that's still covered by his shirt. “I need your legs spread wide, as wide as possible, for me.”
“Okay.” You nod, adjusting your legs to spread wide in the way that he wanted them.
“Relax, baby, I'll take good care of you.” Uttered Crassus before pushing his cock into your wet cunt.
You bite your lip and claw at his muscular back as you feel his cock splitting you in two. Yes, you're not a virgin and had a big cock fucking you for a week back in late July/early August, but being stretched by Crassus' cock had you feeling like you're losing your virginity all over again. Clearly, your hole had tightened up after months of not being fucked- resulting in the uncomfortable feeling you're experiencing as the handsome man hovering above you pushes his fat dick into you at a steady pace.
Crassus knows your not a virgin since he didn't meet the resistance of your barrier, so he quickly realizes that you're so painfully tight because you haven't been properly fuck in a long time. Hell, he doubts you've been properly fucked at all considering the last man you most likely fucked wasn't a real man at all, but a green schoolboy.
“You can take it, baby. You took my fingers so well, I know you can take all of my cock?” Crassus praises and encourages you while sinking deeper and deeper into your tight cunt.
And when he's finally balls deep inside of your tight cunt, which is literally stretched to the max, his icy eyes roll to the back of his head and he lets out a tiny grunt.
Crassus gives you a couple of minutes to accommodate his size before he's pumping his cock in and out of your pussy at a steady, but deep pace. One of his hands is on your hip while the other’s resting on the thigh of your leg that's strewn over the back of the sofa. Your arms are wrapped around him, hands on his back, as you feel the veins of his cock gliding against your inner walls as he fucks into you- making you mewl.
“Remember, we can't be too loud.” Crassus reminds you, his deep voice a whisper that sending butterflies fluttering deep inside your belly.
“I’m n-not being t-too loud.” You protest, falling over your words and trying not to moan as you feel Crassus' cock hit your g-spot.
Your nails dig into his back and he triumphantly smirks. Oh, yes, you're enjoying this as much, if not more, then he is.
“Keep it that way and I'll reward you by letting you scream on top of your lungs when I fuck you in my room within the next half hour.” Crassus tells you, his husky voice dripping with dominance, as he fucks into you even harder.
You can't believe your ears. Crassus wants to fuck you again- tonight! And in his bed!
Something about that revelation does something to you; has you cumming around his cock while choking back a moan that wants to bubble out.
The feel of your tight cunt clenching around his cock along with the feeling of you creaming it triggers off Crassus' orgasm. He cums, painting your walls white with his seed, while kissing your lips feverishly to keep himself from moaning and grunting too loudly.
Fucking Crassus Snow wasn't just a one time thing. In fact, it was something that occured regularly between the two of you. So much so that you took to sleeping in his bed instead of in your own room.
You doubt that Grandma'am knew what was going on between you and her son. She never brought it up; never gave you odd looks either. In fact, she seems to smile every time she sees Crassus peck you on the cheek before taking off to do something, greeting you, or sending you on your way.
Plus, as time went on, Grandma'am seemed too occupied with Crassus' campaign for the presidency to pick up on anything happening in the penthouse. Whether that be lingering interactions between you and her son or your own building anxiety.
And of course Crassus was too busy with both his campaign and his work at the Ministry of War to notice you growing more anxious. Or at least that's what you thought.
But Crassus is a very observant man and he truly does notice your anxiety. He just thinks it's due to his campaign; that you're nervous about how he'll do in the primary election that's being held in a handful of months to determine the two presidential candidates that’ll go head to head in the main election for the presidency come November.
He has no idea why you're truly anxious.
Coriolanus isn't Private Snow anymore, but he's now Elite Officer Snow since he passed his exams, or at least Crassus told you that's what he heard from his contact. Crassus also told you that his son's most likely going to bring his district whore with him whenever he transfers to 2.
So, of course you're anxious about what to do when it comes to Coryo. Especially since all calls and letters from the younger Snow have ceased. You can't help, but wonder if he truly does want you to join him or if he really did bring a district whore with him.
A district whore he denied having in the first place.
And then there's the subject of Crassus, your lover and Coriolanus' father. You can't help, but wonder if fucking you’s just something he does to relieve stress since you're around. He's so busy with his career and politics that he rarely spends time with you, unless it's in his bedroom.
Yes, yes, he still taste tests your baking, but know he's having you bake for his campaign workers and volunteers that it feels like he's just testing what you bake to make sure that it's edible for his entourage. It doesn't feel like he's genuinely eating your baked goods anymore.
Unlike Coryo, Crassus has never once told you that he loves you. Hasn't even told you that he cares. At least Coryo claims to love you. If Crassus truly felt something for you, wouldn't he vocalize it?
You go on worrying yourself with so many thoughts of Coryo and Crassus until one day you finally receive a letter in the mail from the younger Snow. Crassus gives it to you, like he always does, before pecking you on the cheek and going to his office to do some paperwork for his campaign.
You read Coryo’s letter, only to discover that he's living at the Nut in 2 and wants you to join him. Enclosed in the letter’s a train ticket to District 2- dated for the following morning.
That letter has you reeling as you shove it along with the ticket back into the envelope. You place the letter on the desk in your room, a room you never use anymore.
You're weighing the words you read in the letter as you lay in bed, waiting for Crassus to join you. But when he finally does come to bed, he makes you forget all about the letter. At least he does for a little while as his body's on top of yours, fucking into your tight cunt with fervent vigor.
But as you're basking in the afterglow of your fucking with Crassus, you can't help, but to wonder what the two of you are. And the nagging question has you asking, “What are we? Do you even love me? Or am I just a stress reliever for you?", as you lay pressed into Crassus' side with your hand on his chest.
Your question starles Crassus. He blinks his pale blue eyes and the hand that's resting on your shoulder starts to rub soothing circles into it. He thought that you already knew what the two of you are, but now he knows he thought wrong. Looking down at you, he gives you the honest answer of, “You're not a stress reliever for me, petal. You're so much more than that. You're my second chance of a woman's love; you're my obsession, baby.”
Right there and then his answer soothes the worry in your soul and you decide to stay with him.
Crassus, not one for being overly affectionate since he is, after all a stern man by nature, decides to move past his love confession by changing the subject with, “Well, petal, I did promise to let you be in control of round 2 if I made a noise first.” With a smirk, he takes a hold of your hips and starts to guide you to straddle his waist while remarking, "We better get you on top, huh?”
And as you ride Crassus all thoughts of that letter and the train ticket disappear forever. It's just a piece of junkmail that you'll throw in the trash come morning.
Crassus, not one for giving up control, gives you the illusion that you're in control as he lets you ride in, but in fact stays in complete control of you by guiding your hips at the speed he wants you to go. He even pulls off his dog tags (he's never once taken them off because once a soldier, always a soldier) and puts them over your head; letting you wear them as you ride him. It's a way of marking you as his, having you wear his dog tags while fucking.
And when he grabs them, only to pull you down for a kiss, he nearly loses his mind whenever you tell him, “You're a good boy, Crassus.”, with your lips ghosting against his as you bounce up and down on his cock with ease.
Your words make him realize that you have a dom side; that you're a switch since you always let him be the dom in bed. It does something to him, makes his cock get impossibly harder, knowing that you can be dominant when you want. That you can say words of praise that sound filthy flowing from your lips in a tone that's a bit more sultry and masterful.
All of those sudden revelations had Crassus losing control. And suddenly, he's telling you, “Oh, I'll show you how good of a boy I can be.”, while bucking up into you at an unyielding and brutal pace causing you both to moan and grunt until you cum together.
You threw the letter containing the ticket to District 2 in the trash. You never told Crassus about it either. You didn't feel the need to since you picked him.
Coriolanus waited for you at the train station all day, only for you to stand him up. That made him angry. He was insulted that you didn't listen to him; that you most likely told his father about the plans for you to move to 2- that his father must've stopped you. Hell, Coriolanus felt like an idiot waiting for you only for you to stand him up.
As he walked home alone, Elite Officer Snow realized that his father had won. That General Crassus Snow had taken you from him.
He also thinks that you're a dumb bitch for not listening to him whenever he warned you about his father having a thing for you.
And a few months later, in October before the presidential elections are held, First Lieutenant Coriolanus Snow is invited to his father General Crassus Snow's wedding.
To your wedding.
Coriolanus didn't want to go, but went only because it'd look bad for his Air Force career if he snubbed his father's wedding. All of his superiors thought that General Crassus Snow, the war hero of the rebellion, was one of the best military minds on the planet. So, he was stuck going.
Coriolanus brought his wife, a pretty little thing from the districts, with him. He has her on his arm, all dolled up in a cerulean blue dress. Her hair's up in some simple updo so you notice the faint scars on her back, from where they pop out from her dress, right away.
And that's when you knew you made the right choice in picking Crassus. You remember that Coriolanus once told you a story about how he turned a girl in for thievery and helped her leave the town square once her punishment, a whipping, was done. You remember he told you that story when you confronted him about seeing somebody in District 8. But now you know that First Lieutenant Snow was using his charm to lie to you; that he really did cheat on you.
You suppose that he pulled some strings and sent for his district girl once you failed to show up at the train station in 2. You're glad that he's not alone, that he has his district whore- as Crassus refers to the girl as.
You got stuck sharing one dance with Coriolanus, being his new stepmother and all, and he let you know how he felt about you being Mrs. Crassus Snow during your waltz.
“It should've been me marrying you, not my father, Y/N.” Coriolanus told you, his face a mask of indifference as his baby blue eyes blazed with anger. “I can't believe you let him seduce you; steal you away from me.”
Narrowing your eyes at the man that used to be your best friend, you explain your situation with, “Crassus never seduced me or stole me from you, Coriolanus. We became friends while I was dealing with your absence and one thing led to another.”
“He'll never love you the way that I do, my darling rose.”
“Don't talk to me about loving me, Coriolanus. Not when you're married to some district girl.”
“My wife might be district but at least she's loyal to me, is grateful for everything that I've done for her- unlike you who jumped into bed with my own goddamn father.” Coriolanus darkly hissed before storming off, ending your dance and leaving you on the dance floor.
Crassus just raised a brow and asked you what happened once you left the dance floor and returned to his side at the table on the dias- high up on display in the ballroom since you're the newlyweds.
You just told him that you had Coriolanus didn't approve of each other's spouses and that he stormed off after trying to make his wife seem like a better woman than you. Crassus laughed and told you not to pay too much attention to his bratty son. That he's always been full of piss and vinegar when he couldn't get his way.
Crassus won the presidential election by a landslide. One of the first things he did was intergrade District 13 back into Panem. And since the former sovereign nation was a great source of income for Crassus due to his nuke factories there, District 13 was put on a pedestal. They had rights similar to those in the Capitol while the other 12 districts still had to participate in the games.
Yes, your husband kept the Hunger Games. You think it's because they're so popular, but the truth his your husband finds the way his drunken class project blossomed into a spectacle that the Capitolites adore fascinating. Plus, Crassus was a cold, stern man that was a military genius. The president saw the merits of keeping the districts under control by using the games as a lifelong punishment.
At least your husband did improve some of the living and working conditions in the Districts. He told you that that people needed a little bit of hope to keep from rebelings, but also a firm hand to guide them and keep them in line. Crassus said it was all checks and balances.
And when Dr. Gaul approached President Crassus Snow with an amendment that would have all children born in the districts, including ones born on PK Bases, be legal district citizens and registered for the games, well, your husband approved it.
You wondered how your brother felt about that. If he ever married his girl in 12, where he was serving as an officer in the peacekeepers, or if he had a family. You'd never know those answers since he disowned you after receiving your wedding invite. He was pissed about the situation, said some nasty things, and literally disowned you.
You never thought about Coriolanus and his wife, whether or not they had children. Why would you? Coriolanus never wrote, never had anything to do with you or Crassus being his ego was bruised by your wedding.
Talk about children, Crassus had given you three beautiful children. Two sons and a daughter. Javani, Xanthos, and Mara.
Javani was the oldest and he, to your surprise, favored your late father in looks and temperment. Or at least Crassus told you he did. In fact, your husband always chuckles that the only thing Javani got from him is his platinum hair while everything else is from your family's genes.
Xanthos and Mara are Snows inside and out, from dawn to dusk, tho.
And when Javani is 18 he's selected to be a mentor for the Hunger Games since he's a very intelligent young man and is in the top 24 of his class. But what made his mentorship memorial and unusual was that, by a twist of fate, his assigned tribute was his nephew.
Yes, Javani Snow’s tribute was Cassian Snow, from District 2. Cassian's the first born child of Major Coriolanus Snow and his wife, a district woman you never bothered to learn the name of.
And, it's sad to say, after seeing Coriolanus' son get reaped and assigned to Javani as his tribute to mentor, you know in your heart of hearts that you made the right decision in staying with Crassus; marrying him and becoming First Lady Snow. Because your children are safe from the games.
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Wasn’t going to go on a big rant but you know what since that other post is gaining traction yeah I think I will. So big long rant under the cut. Lolll
I feel like. A lot of people might tell me ‘it’s not that deep’ but to me it is that deep.
I don’t have a problem with JayVik or it’s shippers like. At all. I just think some of them are à really good demonstration of like. Every bad thing when it comes to fandom ever LMAO.
Once again I am (supposed to be) writing a whole big long essay about this already so I will try and keep this kind of short and sweet and it might be a bit lacking but wtvr.
I think a lot of JayVik fans tend to be white queer people. Someone left a tag on my OG post that said basically ‘my take is I’m a faggot and I don’t have to care about a character if I don’t want to’ and no hate to that person cuz you’re right, but this is exactly the kind of stuff that made me make that first post.
I feel like a lot of white queer people have an issue with seeing outside their own identity? If that makes sense? This is seen time and time again with the way some of them behave when big movements happen online, some have a tendency to centre themselves and whatnot so i think it’s kind of the same thing.
It makes total sense that a queer person would prefer queer ships and would prefer JayVik over MelJay, that is not a crime. But I do think part of that is because they can’t relate/identify with Mel or see themselves in her like they can with Jayce or Viktor.
I hate to also make it about feminism but i think a lot of you guys are super like. Male centred, like just in your attraction which once again, not the issue not a crime. But i think it’s also why CaitVi, which is a canon queer ship, although popular is still not quite as popular as JayVik despite being canon. Women fetishizing gay men in fandom is not something new, which I think might play a small part in it- I’ve seen a lot of people especially back in s1 infantilizing Viktor and acting like he had no agency or independence and that he NEEDS Jayce to take care of him (that’s another thing. Ableism(looks at you with my eyes)) and they also do the same thing with Jayce where they act like he had 0 agency with any decisions he makes and that he’s like a big dumb baby who doesn’t know anything politics. Hey, guys. That’s a grown man.
My main issue isn’t that people prefer JayVik over MelJay it’s just that some shippers demonize Mel to an insane degree, blame her for getting in the way of their ship (this is also happening right now with Maddie- there’s a leak going around saying that she gets with Caitlyn and people are so upset that this character is getting some INSANE hate and I feel like that’s the same thing going on.)
they blame her for ‘stealing’ Jayce etc etc like. Idk. You don’t have to ship MelJay but I wish more people would appreciate Mel just as a character- imo she is super interesting and has a great story but she’s only ever seen and ‘the other woman’. I’ve seen people say she isn’t like, well characterized and that her story entirely revolves around Jayce which. Yeah she’s definitely heavily involved with him in s1 but she’s clearly got a lot more going on than just that and you would know that if you GAF 🗣️🗣️
for just being. Who she is. I think Mel deserves more attention just in the fandom and it’s just frustrating. People making memes about Jayce going insane over Viktor leaving but like. Mel also just got fucking kidnapped guys. His lover has just vanished without a trace why is nobody also talking about that !!!! Why can’t he care about both these people at the same time !!!!!!!
Anyway I’m not nearly well equipped enough to talk more in-depth about like. Any of this but I do think the demonization of Mel and refusal to see her relationship with Jayce as it is can often times be boiled down to racism like straight up. And also things like the fetishization of gay men in fandom and just things like that are sometimes what can lead to female characters- even the well written ones to be shelved and pushed aside in favour of their male counterparts.
Obligatory ‘not all JayVik fans’ obviously a lot of you are awesome, shouldn’t have to say this. If I’m not aiming for you, you shouldn’t be getting shot.
#hope this doesn’t ruffle up too many feathers eek#I was scared to make the first post I was worried JayVik fans would come at me#also idgaf about whatever was going on in league that lore has been retconned again and again and again#and as far as I’m aware Viktor and Jayce didn’t even like eachother that much#league and arcane are very much separate identities#I’m p sure theyr changing the league lore to match wtvr is going on in arcane#if you prefer JayVik because it’s always been a thing that’s fine but that doesn’t excuse the mistreatment of a black female character#Y’know?#idk#nobody kill me for this#arcane#arcane spoilers#MelJay#Mel Medarda#jayce talis#I won balls
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Dating Barty Crouch Jr ◼ HEADCANONS
Requested: No
Characters: Barty Crouch Jr. (+ y/n)
Warnings: NSFW mentions, English is not my first language
A/N: Oh my sweet Barty. I think I'll write a one-shot based on these headcanons one day. This will include also the pre-dating stage as well. SORRY FOR THE TYPOS. Comments and feedback are always appreciated. Enjoy! ^^
Tag list: @helendeath @im-jesus @wolfyychan @blocked-zombieartist
At first you guys were great friends, but you secretly had a crush on his best friend Evan, who you were also great friend with
And, unbeknownst to you, Barty had been in love with you for years
But after his best friend somehow broke your heart, Barty was there for you
He would discreetly hold you hand or have an affectionate gesture when Evan and his girlfriend would be there together, and also in public
He would spent most of his time with you - as Evan has now become insufferable - doing homework, studying, reading or just talking
Every time he goes to Hogsmeade he brings back your favourite sweets or a gift
The more time you guys spend together, the closer you grow, and you realise Barty is even more awesome than you thought he was
He truly is the kindest, and sweetest boy ever
Little by little, you’re less affected by Evan’s relationship thanks to Barty’s presence and support
You know he has a difficult relationship with his father, so during holidays, you accept to spend half of the holidays at his house, and the rest at your horse
And you constantly tell him that it’s not his fault that his father acts like that
He gets along so well with your parents, they adore him and basically ship you guys
That’s when he stays at your house that you first share a bed, and sleep while holding each other
And, without you realising it, it happens every night after
You also start to cuddle in the morning, and after class
He gives you nicknames, like “sweetheart” or “love”
And sometimes put his arms around you
Once you’ve completely forgotten about Evan, you wonder why you didn’t realise that Barty was right here the whole time
You realise one day that Barty is now the most important person in your life
One day, you get drunk at a party and accidentally kiss him, and, despite not wanting to take advantage of you, Barty can’t help but kiss you back
The day after, Barty thinks you don’t remember the kiss, but you do. You’re embarrassed about it, but you soon realise the kiss was an expression of your growing feelings for him
But the difference is, you loved an idea of Evan, while you love Barty for who he is
But after a while, when Evan breaks up with his girlfriend, he tries to get closer to you, but you put boundaries
But while you know you love Barty, you can’t help but be scared he won’t return your feelings and you’ll end up hurt again
BUT when Evan confronts you and Barty about what’s going on between the two of you, an argument between them follows, and Barty ends up screaming that he loves you
Once Evan leaves, you tell Barty you love him too and he kisses you - telling you he’s been craving to kiss you again
You guys naturally start dating afterwards, and the first night together is spent kissing, cuddling and enjoying each other’s embrace
Everyone is surprised to learn you two are a couple - Evan more than the others, and he’s actually pissed - but they’re happy for you
Barty is the cutest boyfriend ever, like a labrador
Totally fine with PDA, will always hold your hands or have an arm around your shoulder
Overprotective
He’s always kissing your cheek
Tries to make you laugh during lessons - succeeds most times
Will go anywhere and do any activity with you
Sex with him is a bit rough but still very romantic
He loves praising you ( “Fuck, baby, you feel so good. So, so good”) - and has a praising kink
He LOVES fingering you
Jealous sex doesn’t really exist, but he will keep you up all night if he gets jealous
His aftercare is cuddling, kissing your temple while praising you, and a bath most of the time
Sex means a lot to him, and he’s so thankful you trust him enough to let him share that with you
Loves to shower with you - and most of the time it doesn’t even end up with sex
Can’t start/finish his day without kissing you and telling you he loves you
He absolutely loves to sleep in your arms, with his head on your chest or belly and his arms around you
He also loves to put his head on your lap
Deep down he’s very insecure, and is afraid you will leave for someone better
Gets depressed when you’re mad at him
Gives you the best gifts on your birthdays, anniversaries, or Christmas
Since his father probably works on Christmas day, you invite him and his mother to your hose to celebrate it, and it’s the best Christmas ever
He loves how you get along with her
Won’t probably join the Death Eaters because he doesn’t want to disappoint you, and doesn’t want to put you in danger
But if he does, he’ll do everything he can to hide it from you - and screams your name while in prison
Want to be tagged? Just use my Ask-Box!
Masterlist
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#harry potter#hp#barty crouch junior#barty crouch#barty crouch jr x you#barty crouch x reader#barty x reader#slytherin#slytherin boys#slytherin boys x reader#tom riddle#mattheo riddle#theodore nott#lorenzo berkshire#draco malefoy#blaise zabini#regulus black#evan rosier
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Can you write sth with Kid and Law where the reader tells them she's pregnant and wants to keep the baby ❤️🥺
Breaking the news w/ Kid & Law
Content: No gendered pronouns, but reader is pregnant and therefore AFAB, mentions of a sex life of course. Hints at abortion.
Notes* Absolutely I can! If there’s one thing I’m weak for, it’s good dads. So here you go!
Kid
Kid doesn't notice your weight gain at all. But if there's one thing here loves, it's a good meal
So when he sees you picking at your plate the first time, he jokes that he'll rest your share of you don't want it
He didn't expect you to actually give it to him though
The morning sickness also comes quickly, and he makes a comment about how if you're getting sick to stay the hell away
The poor eating continues, and now he's concerned
How are you supposed to be able to keep up and fight if you won't eat?
He catches you in private and asks what's going on with you, but you don't even really know
He sends you to get a check up, which you were already planning on doing
After some questioning, you were asked to take a pregnancy test
You didn't believe them when they said it was positive. You're handed the physical evidence, and then asked what your next step will be
You aren't sure what they mean, so they give you the option: keep it or not
It's something you have to sleep on. The ship isn't a safe place for baby or a pregnant person in your opinion, and not to mention the elephant in the room
Kid? The hot headed Captain, with a kid??
If it were only up to you, you know what you would do. But this is going to require a conversation with him
You're terrified
What if he gets upset? What if he refuses to help you? What if he kicks you off the ship?
You can't face him with all of this anxiety, so you start to avoid him
Wanting to know how your appointment went though, he doesn't appreciate that
You dance around him on the ship. You know his route, and he knows that you know it, so he's really annoyed with the fact that he can't fucking find you
He lets himself into your shared room and does a quick look for you
He spots the pregnancy test on the dresser, picks it up, and stares
You eventually return to your room and he's still there, sitting on the side of your bed and holding it
You slowly move to sit next to him, and it's quiet until he speaks
“So… What do you wanna do about this?”
You've never heard him so… Calm
You take a deep breath and tell him you're keeping the baby, and there's a splash of silence again before he mutters,
“I'm going to be a dad.”
When you look at him, he's smiling at you
You smile back as the tension disappears from your body
Kid is great at taking care of you- he'll get the kitchen to make anything you want, whenever you want it. He makes sure to keep everyone reminded that you can't be involved in any rough housing
But he also keeps forgetting that you can't do certain things
Killer, Heat, and Wire remind him all the time how you can't lift anything heavy, or join in on any fights
It's kind of funny watching Kid blank like that
When you get too big to get your shoes on properly, he can't help but laugh and even more so at your pouting
He still helps you, though
He also had no idea how haywire your emotions were going to get, and that part confused the hell out of him
One minute you're happy, next you're pissed at him for something. An hour later and you've forgotten your anger and now you're horny
It's hard to keep up with but he tries to keep his cool with it. He knows it's not your fault, or how you would usually act
He's tense about being a good enough dad until you explain to him that it's just like being a Captain but with less yelling, maybe
The day the baby comes he's out in the middle of a fight, and he has to rush back and ignore the opposition calling him a coward so he can be with you
He bursts in just moments before the baby arrives
He's starstruck at your little one, and one look into their tiny face tells him that this was the right thing to do
Law
He noticed before even you that you seemed to be… Off
The first thing he'd seen change was your weight, but like hell was he going to comment on that
It was hard to miss even the subtle extra tummy with your active sex life
It didn't matter if you put on a little weight, as long as you were healthy and happy in your body
Your eating habits began to change next, and Law started to keep a close eye on the fact that some foods that you used to love were now never on your plate
Silent observation this entire time
Then you started waking up sick, and he decided he needed to perform a check up on you
You refused, insisting you must've just eaten something bad
So Law takes it into his own hands to check the pantry storage and make sure nothing is rotten or cross contaminated
As he's doing that, a thought pops into your head
Could it be…?
Not wanting to send Law into a panic if it wasn't the case, you decided to take the pregnancy test yourself
You almost passed out seeing the two blue lines
But your decision was an easy one to make. You loved Law, and for you, this was unquestionably the only way you wanted to go about things
You were going to have a baby
When Law returns to you, he finds you teary eyed, starting at a positive pregnancy test
Why hasn't he thought of that first?
His first emotion is panic.
“What if they're born with White Lead? What if we can't protect them on the sea? What if-”
You hush him, assuring him that it's all going to be ok
As he starts to calm, her also starts to get teary eyed
The thought of having a family again… It's too much for him
Memories of his own family flood back
He wishes he could have introduced you to his parents, his sister
To Corazon
You hold him and he holds you, promising his life to protect you both through mixed emotional sobs
Through the pregnancy, he keeps that promise and then some
He's very doting; taking charge of all your appointments, keeping you away from any heavy work, and trying to help you with your now very specific appetite
He gets you to take prenatal vitamins just to be safe
The crew is amazing with their help, too. They're so excited to have a new addition, and you get practical gifts from them often
A baby sized boiler suit to match the others, a very poorly built crib that you will not be using
They tried, that's what counts
Law is giving his crew orders when you feel the first kick, and you immediately interrupt him to tell him that
Everybody now forgets their orders, wanting a turn to feel it. Law has to shout at them to get their hands off of you
When the delivery day comes, Law is right there with his hand picked team for assistance
Everything goes smoothly, and the two of you end up in tears as you hear the crying of your new little family member
#one piece#harleywritesop#hwop#eustass kid#eustass captain kidd#eustass x reader#eustasscaptainkid#one piece eustass#kid one piece#kid x reader#one piece kid#law x reader#trafalgar d law x reader#op law#law one piece#trafalgar law
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You know what, to start the year off, Imma make this lil appreciation post.
Now it's only been like, less than a year since I joined Tumblr about, I've been writing and drawing for years before this point, but the community here, especially the CoD community which I am mainly apart of just made me feel amazing. Everyone I've met here are some of the nicest people.
I have gotten my old hobbies back, giving me reason to write and draw again which have majorly helped with my own mental health, and now I just wanted to give the amazing people a shout out to start the year off, to hopefully make peoples days, and to just let them know that I appreciate yall!
In no specific order :3 and if you don't wanna be pinged again by me, please let me know and I won't!! No harm done, I hope this is okay :) and this is prob gonna be cringe or smt.. all sappy but like.Yeah here yall are lmao-
Putting them under the cut as there are a few :3
@gomzdrawfr - You've been a massive influence since I joined the CoD community, I adored your art from the very start, and your just such a sweet and kind person, one that I'm so thankful to have met, and so proud to be able to call you my friend. You're the first proper friend I've made here, and I can't tell you how much our talks make me smile every single time. And I'm also so thankful for the community you have sorta helped me get into, you've helped me feel comfortable interacting with more people here :3
@shadeops21 - You were honestly the person that got me to join Tumblr! I was looking for something to try and make my own Konig cosplay (that's been given up on bc motivation and Tik Tok just. yeahhh) and I found you, and all your amazing work! I basically made my account to see if you'd make any more, cause I just love what you do so much, it's got to be so helpful for so many people!!
@sleepyconfusedpotato - After Shadeops, you were the very second person I found here! And oh my gosh how much I obsessed (and still do) over your art, especially Jade. You inspired me to write my first ever fic on here, actually, where I made my first CoD oc ship with Soap, your art and what you do honestly helped me feel comfortable making something like that for myself, cause some of the toxic people on Tik Tok made me uneasy and unsure about that lol- And now, I finally have an OC I'm working in depth on, and you're my biggest reason to thank for that.
@soaps-mohawk - Your writing has inspired me so much, and I couldn't thank you enough for making your wonderful fic. I may not be like, a OG, but I've been there since around chapter 20 I think? I could be wrong, but half way through sorta. You are the biggest reason I started writing again here, you just create masterpieces. And this is the first time I've ever been hooked into a fic so much, and what got me into liking the Omegaverse (you hooked me and I can't let go of it now...) Thank you for taking your time with your writing, and thank you for all the inspiration you have given me.
@on-a-lucky-tide - Oh my gosh how much you have yanked me into the Nikprice community. I adore every single one of your writing pieces, and honestly, you are another who has helped inspire me to write more. All your writing is so filled with emotion and love, I want to be able to do that as well. Your a wonderful person, I've seen you interact with this community and everyone, and I just adore you as a person and all the hard work you put time and effort into creating.
@rainyrambles-overcod - I adore your oc's and rambles so much!! And I couldn't tell you how happy it makes me to have a friend that is okay with the tag games, I never know who to tag for those sorta things, but I actually feel okay tagging you and they are so fun and always brighten my mood :3 Keep creating, I can't wait to see what else you come up with. Thank you for all the tag games and fun!!
@nekrosmos - Yet another that has helped drag me into the Nikprice community or cult ig that too. Your art is absolutely amazing, I truly want to be able to draw like you do. Just everything about your art has me in awe, the emotion, the style, the love everything. Seeing your art brings me so much happiness! Oh and your writing is BEAUTIFUL. That also brings me joy to take a little time out of my day to sit and read the time and effort you put into everything, and how kind of a person you are. I always hope you'll keep creating, and always remember how much joy you bring both myself and others.
@daredaredoodles - I know we don't interact a whole lot, but you honestly mean a lot to me still. You were my first ever mutual on this site, and I will be forever grateful for this. Personally its anxiety that stops me from barging into peoples Dm's and talking, but yeah. Thank you for that, even if it is only a small thing.
@cricricorner - you were my first follower, and I still see you in my notifications from time to time, which always brings me joy! It's wonderful to see your followers still interact with your content, and I couldn't say how grateful I am. I couldn't tell you how happy I was to gain my first follower here, so thank you for taking your time to read my writing and see my art.
@daydreamsareallineed - You were pretty much the first person to show so much interest in my main fic!! And oh my gosh I couldn't ever tell you how much joy it brought me to read your comments, to have someone so interested in my writing, that personally I didn't even think was that good. I haven't given up completely on the fic dw, I'll hopefully update it soon! Motivation just go brrr. Thank you so much for all your support, it means the world to me.
And another shoutout to everyone who supports me, who follows me, and to every single one of you that like and reblog my content. I look through every single note I receive, I assure you none of you are left out.
And my final shoutout to everyone that creates on this site. The community here is like nothing I've ever experienced before. I adore scrolling through everyone's art, it all makes my day. I've never felt so comfortable and unjudged before. Thank you to everyone who contributes to this, you all make my day <3
This turned out a lot longer than I meant it to be- but I just wanted to share how I felt with this new year. I'm sorry if you'd rather not be pinged-
But have a lovely day :3 I love you all!!
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here’s a little piece I wrote inspired again by @strifentines ‘s Zuko-Azula roleswap AU! i’m posting it here because I can’t be bothered proofreading and posting on Ao3 rn
anyway I did this as a little creative writing exercise while procrastinating my media and statistics exam preparation. it’s an excerpt from the start of the S3 E16 Southern Raiders episode, my take on how I think it might go :]
———
The Western Air Temple was burning.
The Western Air Temple was burning, and Azula had woken to the sounds of three military-class Fire Nation airships firing explosives at them.
She didn’t have much time to assess the situation before the doors were closing, the room was shaking, and debris was falling from the ceiling, right above Katara.
“Move!” She knew the word wouldn’t register to the water tribe girl as quickly as it needed to, so she accompanied her command with a side tackle. The rocks hit the floor where Katara would have been standing if it wasn’t for her, but her rescuee didn’t seem entirely appreciative. Instead, Azula received an elbow to the side for her troubles.
“What are you doing?” Katara ungratefully yelled.
“Saving your life, genius.” At that, Katara rolled her eyes, which Azula supposed was all the thanks she was going to get.
“Life saved, you can get off me now.” Katara pushed herself up and out of Azula’s arms, not so much as offering to help her stand up.
Azula scowled. “Next time I’ll let the falling rocks crush you,” she bitterly replied, only half-sarcastically.
Behind her, the earthbenders were carving some sort of escape passage through the wall. She considered it for a moment, before her mind circled back to the three Fire Nation ships out the front.
They’re here for me. Why else would they be there?
The others were starting to flee through the passage, but Azula turned back, preparing to jump through a hole in the wall.
The Avatar’s voice rang out from behind her. “What are you doing?” So concerned, as always.
“I believe this is a family matter,” she responded. “Stay out of it, and I’ll meet you once I’m done.”
It didn’t sound like a happy silence, but Azula could hear from his footsteps that the boy had joined the others. She was expecting more resistance, more concern for her well-being, blah blah blah, but it seemed he was getting more used to her methods. Good. It was more efficient this way.
She vaulted over bent metal and jumped through an explosion, wrapping her bending around her, making it to the front of the courtyard. A fourth ship rose from the fog, carrying atop it a familiar passenger.
Wrapped in the royal regalia of the Crown Prince, hands wrapped around the railing atop the war balloon was her brother, wearing that stupidly creepy theatre mask. His hair was half up in a finely-crafted topknot, but the rest of it blew about dramatically in the wind. Azula half-wondered if it was a conscious choice, for theatrics. That entrance certainly seemed planned.
“Zuko,” she spat, keeping her voice loud enough to avoid her words being lost in the wind. “What do you want?”
Her brother laughed lightly, like a lilting melody, carried across the wind. It was not a genuine sound.
“Don’t worry Lala,” he almost sang, “I’m not here for you.” His tone was gently condescending, as if he were talking to a child who simply didn’t understand. It was infuriating.
It had also taken Azula a little aback to hear that he wasn’t here for her. If she was in any way disappointed by this, she wasn’t going to admit it to herself.
“Answer my question.”
Zuko sighed, and although Azula couldn’t hear it over the wind, or see his lips move to form it, she could tell because he’d used his entire body to accentuate the gesture. It was a habit he’d picked up from their mother, even if he didn’t know it anymore.
“If you must know, I’m going to capture the Avatar. If you don’t want to get blown up, I suggest you move now.”
Azula planted her feet into a solid stance. If he wanted a fight, he could come and get one. In return, her brother only sighed again.
“You make these things so needlessly difficult, sister.”
Zuko raised his hands and sent a brilliant burst of dazzling white light at her feet. She sidestepped quickly enough to avoid it, but the move had been meant as a distraction- and an explosion on her left sent her flying into a wall.
The ground beneath her began to crack, and Azula pushed herself up as quickly as she could. Around her, supporting pillars began to topple and fall.
She ran towards the crumbling edge, up the side of a titled beam, and threw herself over the edge, landing on the side of the balloon. She hadn’t managed to get a good grip upon landing though, and it only took a slight tilting of the vessel for her to slide off the edge, spiralling into a free fall.
To her eternal luck, she landed on top of another balloon, hidden beneath the fog. Azula looked up to see that Zuko had jumped down from his post, and was watching her rise up through the air. Her balloon stopped level with his, and she watched him take a step back- and then make a running leap through the air towards her position.
Towards her. She wasn’t thinking quick enough- and there was another white flash headed towards her face. She dodged, tucking into a roll, and returned with her own blue flame in a series of quick shots.
Zuko deflected them skilfully, and seemed to be preparing another attack. Azula knew she was at a disadvantage- these war balloons weren’t hers, she didn’t know where her allies were, and she didn’t know if she could take her brother in the state he was in- so her mind quickly flipped through a series of possibilities on how to avoid imminent failure.
Get him monologuing.
“Capturing the Avatar? Seems… beneath you.” Azula didn’t have to say much else, the implication was clear.
Zuko took the bait. He dropped his stance slightly, shifting to instead give her his
attention. He positioned himself in a way that would allow for the best vocal projection over the wind, rather than the best range for fiery attacks.
Azula couldn’t help but feel pleased with herself. Too easy. Even like this, I can read you like a book.
“My honour was called into question,” he began, making no attempt to hide a certain flavour of contempt in his voice. “This is how I can restore it.”
Azula couldn’t keep the shock out of her own voice. “Your honour? Your honour? What could you possibly-“
Zuko held up a hand, cutting her off.
Wow. Rude.
“You want to know what I, Father’s favourite child, could have done to warrant his displeasure.” Azula didn’t like that his tone of voice conveyed that he obviously expected her to know what it was, because she didn’t. She also didn’t like not knowing things.
“I wonder…?” he added, unhelpfully.
Azula was at a loss for words, which was a position she despised being in. Zuko took this moment to advance, taking measured steps forwards, hands behind his back like he wasn’t mere metres away from a fatal precipice.
“Father wasn’t too happy that you lied to him about what happened in Ba Sing Se. And he wasn’t pleased with my compliance in said… what was the word he used again? Treachery.”
Compliance? Please. Azula had only said that Zuko had fired the killing blow against the Avatar, and if her brother had chosen not to dispute that, whatever reasons he might’ve had, not one of them was treasonous. As much as she might like them to be.
No, her dearest brother seemed perfectly incapable of treason thanks to her father’s unethical interventions. She wasn’t even sure if he’d known what the word meant, anymore. Ozai knew that. And if he was really concerned about treason, he certainly wouldn’t have let Zuko remember it, much less live with the consequences.
Which meant that their father had sent the Crown Prince off on this silly quest purely because he wanted his son to suffer, and he wanted his son to remember suffering. To remember not being good enough.
Because even with all the mind control and conditioning in the world, Zuko could never be cleansed, in his father’s eyes, of the crime of simply being himself. He could be perfect, and still not good enough. Azula had once been foolish enough to be jealous of the attention he received from their father- bitterly though, she wondered if after everything, she was still somehow the favourite.
That was probably why Zuko hadn’t spoken out against the lie. Even as the gem of the Fire Nation, he still had to prove himself.
It might have been funny to her if her father had been anyone else, or if there wasn’t a scar on her brother’s face that he thought he’d given himself.
“You’ve got nothing to say to me?” His voice cut through her inner monologue. Azula looked up again, eyes meeting the forceful white of the mask.
“Take that thing off. I can’t hear you properly,” she commanded. It wasn’t particularly true, but it might help her case.
The smile in his voice made it seem like he’d been waiting for her to ask.
“Of course.” Carefully, and with both hands, Zuko lifted off the mask.
Spirits, he looks so much like our father.
Azula was not proud of her first thought, but he’d inherited the same sort of wicked smile, and the strands of hair he’d left undone framed his face in an uncomfortably familiar sort of way.
His eyes had once belonged to his mother, but they’d been empty for some time now, any trace of Ursa scooped out over a circling flame and scorched.
Azula had smiled when her brother was branded, regretted it since, but at that moment, she was almost glad for the scar- it broke the horrifying illusion and drew her mind back to the parts of her brother that were just that- her brother, and nothing else.
The next thing she’d noticed were the bags beneath his eyes, and the creases in his forehead that even a smile stretched far too wide couldn’t disguise.
Zuko looked terrible. He looked like the product of restless nights, of endless stress.
Not for the first time, Azula felt a pain in her chest thinking about how she’d left him alone in the castle with their father again after the eclipse.
But even still, he’d seemed fine on most other occasions she’d seen him unmasked. This seemed… rougher than usual. Rougher than she might even expect from only parental disapproval, even if that parent was the Firelord.
The third thing she noticed was how his scar seemed bigger than normal, etching its way down into his neck, fresher in some places than others.
“Do you like it? It’s beautiful, in some strange way. And it’s mine to keep.”
His words shocked Azula out of her trance. There was something strange about the way he said them, and it wasn’t just the implications of what he was actually saying.
“He doesn’t often give me gifts but this one’s here to have forever.”
It was then the diction clicked- Zuko was quoting something. Azula wasn’t sure what, but the rhythm and the barely hidden disgust-dripping irony in his voice suddenly made sense. It gave her the mildest relief that her brother hadn’t become a full-on sadist as a result of her father just yet.
“You’re staring.” Azula snapped her eyes up to meet her brother’s own uncovered pair. The very eyes his distorted smile never quite reached.
“You seem shocked,” he innocently observed. “What, you weren’t expecting this to happen?”
“It’s not your fault,” Azula blurted out before she could stop herself. It was a slip of emotion, and she immediately regretted it. But if Zuko was surprised at all by the sudden vulnerability, it didn’t show at all.
“I know,” he responded plainly, and surprisingly. “When Father gave this to me, he said that it was merely a consequence of my own actions, and that in that sense it was my own doing. But I know better than that. It wasn’t my fault.“
And then, something happened.
Zuko’s mask fell. Not the theatre mask that was hanging on his belt, but the mask he’d worn in place of his face for years. The one that Azula wasn’t sure could come off.
But in an instant, the creepy, uncanny smile of the Fire Prince vanished and was replaced by a scowl that seemed to reach into the depths of the soul, an expression of emotion that was actually real. It was visceral anger that felt right to look at on his features, if only for the fact that the brutality of the scar finally slotted into facial harmony. It was an expression that Azula had known on her brother as a child, when she’d stolen his snacks, or burnt his toys, or pushed him over, or anything of the sort. It was the kind of emotional reaction that was tended to with love and care by their mother, punished by their father, and suppressed by years of brainwashing. It was achingly familiar, and it somehow felt like home in a way that nothing had for years.
Azula’s breath was snatched away by the sight of her brother, her actual brother.
“It was yours.”
The anger was, as always, directed at her.
“You told Father about Ba Sing Se. You turned him against me, and you left me alone to deal with it. This is the result of your actions.”
And then almost as quickly as it had left, the mask reappeared. But something was… wrong with the way it was put back on. Like it had been dropped, and Azula could still see something shifting through the cracks. Beneath the horrid sterility of everything else.
“I’m not going to hold it against you, if you were worried about that,” Zuko offered, unconvincingly. “I know you weren’t thinking about what would happen to me when you angered Father on the Eclipse.”
His eyes narrowed. “No, you weren’t thinking about me at all.”
Azula had no words to defend herself with. She was still stunned, and couldn’t bring herself to even so much as move. Her brother unhooked the theatre mask from his belt, and moved to put it back on.
“That’s why you’ll never be Firelord, Lala,” Zuko concluded, matter-of-fairly. “You don’t think ahead. You don’t think about anyone else, either. It’s all about you in your little world, and when you ruin lives, you leave, and never look back.”
Then he leant in, until his mouth was only a finger’s width away from her ear.
“Mom would be proud.”
Somehow, the very words she’d wanted to hear her whole life were twisted into something that cut into her with the same pain as a small knife to the abdomen.
For once in her life, Azula couldn’t even think straight. Her brilliant mind conjured blank after blank.
She didn’t even notice she’d been kicked until the balloon disappeared from beneath her and she was falling, falling endlessly through the clouds.
She hit something with a softer impact than should have been possible from that height. Her vision swam as the clouds continued to rush around her, as if she was still falling.
“Are you okay?” A young boy’s voice. There was a face and a name that she couldn’t place in the moment.
“She’s fine. She’s still breathing, right?” Snarkier, female.
“She’s clearly not okay.” A third, male, older. “She looks like she’s in shock. And she hasn’t insulted us yet.”
“With any luck, it’s permanent.” The second one again.
“Katara!” Number three. Number two was Katara.
Her senses began to come to her, and Azula wiped away a traitorous tear that she hadn’t realised she’d shed.
“Are you alright? Did you get hurt?” The Avatar. Aang. He was looking at her with big eyes. He’d given her the opportunity to leave with them, he’d been right, and he wasn’t rubbing it in her face. He was never going to.
Azula shook her head, numbness starting to give way to a self-inflicted rage at the next few tears to desert her eyes.
“My brother,” was all she managed to say.
———
and then I remembered my exams are the day after tomorrow and stopped there. 2698 words
#atla#avatar the last airbender#zuko#atla zuko#azula atla#princess azula#atla fanfic#atla roleswap au#atla au#the southern raiders
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Some Perspective
The drama surrounding Elain Week is utterly ridiculous, and I cannot believe I'm having to write this, but for some unknown reason, people just can't seem to grasp the purpose of the "no abusers" rule set by the event team. So, let me break this down for you.
First off, this is not a shipping event. Elain Week is about (surprise!) Elain Archeron. It is a week designed to celebrate the love of her character. There is one prompt that is specifically designated for relationships. However, that can include her relationships with her sisters, her friends, and yes, potential love interests. The week is not supposed to be focused on those around her. It is supposed to be about HER.
Now let's address the whole ship thing. This rule has been in place for several years now. It is not new. So, why is it now such a big deal? After several years of having this rule in place, why is it only now becoming a big issue? Does it really bother you, or are you just looking for a fight?
But why was the rule put in place to begin with? Elain is one of the most hated characters (if not the most) in the ACOTAR fandom (for reasons I cannot even fathom). Is it because she's a traditionally soft, feminine character or because the fictional male you like actually has shown interest in her? Either way, Elain is often shipped with CANON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ABUSERS such as Tamlin or Beron (or Flynn's DV father from Crescent City - yes, I have seen this) to make her "interesting" or to "make him better" (incase you have forgotten: women are not a rehabilitation center for broken men). Or, she's shipped with them to dehumanize her, to demean her, or even degrade her. Again, let me reiterate that this week is about positively celebrating Elain's character. So, why would the event hosts want to share art or fics or creative content that does the exact opposite? Why should those that truly love Elain be forced to watch you rip her apart during HER appreciation week? How is that fair?
Is it possible that there are some people who truly ship Elain with DV abusers with good intentions? Yes, absolutely. But is it fair to ask the event hosts to have to search through every single post and make a determination whether it's positively or negatively reflecting Elain's character? No.
If they decided to do that, and made a decision to not share some content that was determined to not attribute positively to Elain's character, would you still be throwing a fit? - Do I need to actually answer this one because we know what it would be.
So, they made a choice to set a boundary to 1) protect their DV victims who have voiced concerns in the past and 2) to ensure that this appreciation week for Elain Archeron actually stays positive. They are not saying you can't ship who you want. They have not said you cannot create whatever content you want for this event. They are only choosing to ensure that the pages dedicated to Elain remain clean of Elain hate and slander.
Ship who you want, have appreciation weeks for whatever you decide, it literally doesn't matter. But don't come at the event hosts for striving to keep things positive for a character that nine times out of ten, is negatively spoken about. If you don't like it, you are more than welcome to host your own.
Which brings me back to my earlier question... Those that are up in arms about this rule and who are bullying the event hosts (don't deny that you are, I've seen some of things being said. I've scrolled through the tags. You are indeed, bullying and harassing the hosts.), tell me - were you actually going to participate in Elain Week or are you, as I mentioned before, just looking to pick a fight?
#elain#elain archeron#pro elain#pro elain archeron#elainarcheron#elainarcheronweek#elainappreciationweek#elain week#elainweek
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What’s been going on with Silvia?
An update ft. sticky note doodles
![Tumblr media](https://64.media.tumblr.com/3b03ee15b86c7230e9770c5f038b662c/587178ae2b684e17-6b/s540x810/f0a59c9fd24e92bf1d0b1bca5d5a84066329bfe3.jpg)
After hearing that her dear friend the Six-Finger’d Scrimshander was living somewhere that wasn’t a house, Silvia has installed it in the guest room of her Side-Streets flat, where they’ve been getting along swimmingly.
Her professional life is going great! Ever since she and Lord Oswald J. Emerson struck a bargain—he writes silly plays, Silvia writes silly reviews, they create public beef that sells tickets and papers—the Prodigal Plebian has practically been printing itself.
Silvia’s also made a new friend, one Youthful Naturalist! She’s been lending him a hand where she can—trying to convince him to move out of his rookery, and keeping her kitchen stocked with jellied eels should he come over, and taking him wherever he wants to go in her zee-clipper.
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In the meantime, she’s been growing frustrated with her lack of progress regarding her research on the Third City. If you’ve been with Silvia for a while, you’ll recall that she has been learning Yucatec Maya and chasing leads to discover if there are any pockets of Third City inhabitants untouched by colonialism where she could convince her remaining dad to move with her. (Hm? Inherently contradictory logic? What inherently contradictory logic?)
Enter the Sixth Coil and the freed captives. Several of them are from the original Third City. Silvia follows them to Venderbight, uses her broken Yucatec Maya to explain what she’s after—
They tell her: There’s no such place as you’re describing. We hang around in Venderbight, but even now, there’s nowhere untouched by the Masters, by London.
Silvia presses them—No, there has to be, maybe you just don’t want me there? Why not? Why won’t you let me in?? I promise I’m trustworthy, I won’t tell—
And she finally realizes that she sounds like a fucking conquistador.
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Welp! No better cure for a crumbling belief system and self-perception than to zail as far away from your problems as possible! She and the Youthful Naturalist fuck off for a while and that’s when the Delight gets wind of them.
Speaking of wind. The Wax-Wind catches up with Silvia’s ship. Silvia gets a bad burn across the right side of her neck and shoulders.
Not to just rehash everything that happens ever in Evolution, but, uh, shit hits the fan, Silvia gets pretty traumatized. But secretly she’d glad that she’s helping the Youthful Naturalist, proud of both of them. Her search for precolonial Atlantis failed. But here’s another basket to put some eggs in. If they crack the secret to life and death, well, no one else will have to die like Silvia’s other dad, they can have all the time in the world to create their own utopia.
And the other basket of eggs is the Marvellous. She’s been so busy she’s scarcely had time to think of it [I’ve been on the lodging grind for 3+ months ;_;]. But can’t she just win and make the Masters let go of everything, set everyone free, end imperialism, or whatever? That’s how it works, right?
Oh, by the way, no one knows she’s been doing this shit. Not her father-ish figures, not her flatmate, not her partner, not her best friend, not her newspaper employees. Just her crew, and they are pretty pissed at her right now, so she’s been avoiding them.
Around this time, Silvia gets a letter from Shaw (one such father-ish figure) explaining about Nemesis and saying he might not make it back from his final revenge quest.
ALSO around this time (or maybe right after) Silvia gets what really sounds like a last will and testament from Jones (other father-ish figure).
And ALSO also around this time, Brett (Silvia’s best friend) is recovering from learning of the death of his partner.
Then Silvia forgets to be careful, and Caoimhe (her partner) sees her burns and asks what’s going on. She doesn’t buy Silvia’s story about a cooking accident she forgot to tell Caoimhe about (Silvia never cooks), and she really doesn’t appreciate that Silvia tried to lie. Caoimhe gives Silvia the chance to come clean.
So it all comes out. The Marvellous. The scientific voyages. The experimental surgeries. The multiple supernatural enemies. Caoimhe is appalled that Silvia would be taking all these risks without saying a single word—she thought the most dangerous shit Silvia was involved with was printing ill-advised articles about powerful people. Caoimhe’s extraordinarily patient and supportive, but Silvia didn’t even tell her!
The breach of trust frays at their relationship and drags Silvia further into guilt and despair, especially because Silvia’s support network is spread rather thin at the moment!
So… here we are. Silvia’s standing in the crumbling ruins of her relationships and ideals. She needs to help this 20-year-old cheat death, and then she needs to beat a bat at cards, and she’s so, so sad about everything.
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This is it folks! We've hit rock bottom! Even I'm not sure how she's getting out of this one :) :) If you made it this far, thanks for reading <3
[The Six-Finger'd Scrimshander - @T6FS; Lord Oswald J. Emerson - @lord-emerson; August Shaw - @zeebreezin; Robin Jones - @viric-dreams; Brett Heroux - @thedandy-detective; Caoimhe Coledoc - @the-insouciant-scientist]
#silvia salcedo#notecard doodles#postcolonial fl#i do think she will get a happy ish ending but holy fuck
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I feel like it's so hard finding anyone who writes for male reader so I am SO happy I've come across your blog. I was wondering if I could ask for a one shot maybe of Rung with a gn!reader who also makes miniature models? I enjoy making miniature dioramas and things and was wondering if you could write for it. Thank you so much!
Star Ships
Rung x Human reader
Word count: 1k
Warnings: none
Rung masterlist
_____________________________
The human sits watching Rung as he wanders about his office, the mech mumbles to himself as he types away on a data pad taking notes after his last session with Whirl. His smaller companion had taken the opportunity to surprise him with a cube of energon as they sat drinking their own beverage.
their eyes slowly move from him to take in the small model spaceships that are along the shelves, the last time they had been in here the area was rather bare while now it was filled with small models. "You collect model ships?" They ask while admiring them from afar.
Rung's optics sparkled with a mix of surprise and delight as their gaze wandered over the small model spaceships adorning the shelves of his office. He followed their line of sight, observing the meticulously crafted replicas that he had collected over the years.
"Why, yes," Rung replied, a warm smile gracing his lips. "I do have a fondness for model ships. Each one tells its own story, representing different eras, factions, and adventures." He explains stepping closer to the shelves, his fingers lightly grazing the smooth surface of one of the models. His optics softened with a nostalgic twinkle as he recalled the memories associated with each ship.
"You see, collecting model ships has become a personal hobby of mine," Rung explained, his voice carrying a hint of wistfulness. "Over the millennias it's been my way of keeping pre war things, small glimpses of hope, for so much lost to war." As he spoke, Rung's gaze shifted to one particular model ship, a sleek vessel with elegant lines. It held a special place in his collection, representing a significant chapter of his own life.
"And this one," Rung continued, his voice filled with fondness, "is a replica of the Lost Light, our beloved ship. The model took me quite a while to figure out the design and craft it out, but I have to say it's almost a replica." Rung's smile widened, a touch of playfulness entering his voice.
"I must admit, I've been known to name these models as well," he confessed, his tone laced with gentle amusement. "It adds a personal touch, you see. They become more than just inanimate objects; they become companions, each with their own personality and history." His optics shifted back to the human, a warm curiosity evident in his gaze.
A soft laugh leaves them as they look over the model. "They kinda remind me of some of the dioramas I used to make, haven't made many after leaving earth, kinda hard to get the right things to make them, but the model ships do seem rather fun, I might have to get you to teach me how to do these ships" they state, fingers lightly dancing over the model ship.
Rung's optics widened with genuine interest, his smile grew, a blend of curiosity and anticipation evident on his faceplate. "Dioramas, you say?" Rung replied, his voice tinged with genuine enthusiasm. "How fascinating! I'd love to hear more about them. What kind of scenes did you recreate in your dioramas?"
He leaned closer, his attention fully focused on them. Rung's curiosity was piqued, wondering what stories and landscapes the human had brought to life through their creative endeavours. He had always appreciated the artistry and attention to detail that went into crafting dioramas.
"I liked making scenes from movies, books and occasionally just landscapes" it really depended on what had my interest at the time " they answer before handing the model ship back. They continue looking at the other ships. “ I have a shelf like yours back home, just filled with little dioramas, models and figures” His optics sparkled with a mixture of warmth.
"Creating scenes from movies and books must have allowed you to immerse yourself in those beloved narratives, to recreate the emotions and atmospheres that made them so captivating," Rung mused, his voice tinged with a hint of nostalgia. "Dioramas have a way of preserving those cherished memories, like frozen moments in time that we can revisit whenever we please."
"You know," Rung continued, his voice filled with gentle curiosity, "I find it intriguing how dioramas and model ships can both capture a moment in time, allowing us to explore different worlds and narratives. It's as if we're the architects of our own miniature universes, shaping them to reflect our imagination and experiences."
"Please, do tell me more about your dioramas," Rung encouraged, his voice soft and inviting. "What inspired you to create them?"
“well for me it's mainly the fact that each piece is a different memory, and well it's easier to remember things when you have a visually reminder, some are happy memories others sad but each people has a memory or emotional attachment, even the ones I make for other people” He glanced back at the shelves adorned with model spaceships, contemplating the connection between his own collection and the human's dioramas.
"In a way, our hobbies share a similarity," Rung continued, his tone thoughtful. "Model ships and dioramas both allow us to capture and preserve pieces of our imagination and experiences. They become tangible reminders of the stories that have shaped us, evoking emotions and memories with each glance."
Rung's optics met the human's gaze, a warm smile playing on his lips. “Do you have a favourite piece?” he inquires softly. It takes them a moment to think. “my first ever one would be my favourite, not for the beauty but for the fact the first time ever making something means you at least tired your hand at the craft”
"I can try and make you a diorama at some point if I can get the right stuff " they offer,
Rung's optics widened in surprise. His usual composer faltered for a moment, replaced by a mix of curiosity and intrigue. He leaned forward slightly, his voice laced with genuine interest.
"A diorama made specifically for me?" Rung echoed, a hint of anticipation colouring his words. "That's a thoughtful gesture, and I must say” He paused for a moment, considering the implications of such a gift. While Rung appreciated the sentiment and the effort it would require, he also didn't want to impose on the human's time and resources.
"However," Rung continued, his voice polite yet tinged with a touch of caution, "I wouldn't want you to go to great lengths or expense on my behalf. Acquiring the necessary materials can be quite a task, and I wouldn't want to burden you with that. Your offer is certainly kind, but please don't feel obligated to fulfil it."
“Rung it's a hobby of mine, it's not a burden, it also gives me the opportunity to try and source materials, who knows how long we will be out here with limited things to do” they hum. It makes Rung smile softly. “Very well I'd be honoured than to see your crafts”
#transformers#transformers x reader#transformers x human#transformers idw#transformers lost light#rung mtmte#rung transformers#mtmte rung#idw rung#transformers rung#rung#rung tf#mtmte transformers#mtmte#tf mtmte#transformers mtmte#idw mtmte#idw transformers#tf idw
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Across the Galaxy and Beyond
summary: some time after the Mantis crew split apart, Cal has an unexpected reunion with reader on Koboh
relationship: Cal Kestis x gn!reader
warnings: spoilers for Jedi Survivor, vague-ish mention of events from the Battle Scars book but i don't think it counts as a spoiler, hurt & comfort, flashbacks, kissing
word count: 8.9k 👀💧 ...i am unwell about this man what can i say
A/N: started writing this when i first started jedi survivor, and finally got around to finishing it now that i finished reading battle scars and the cal kestis brainworms are attacking me again. story doesn't follow the game exactly. also this could be read as a separate story from my wherever you go, i go trilogy, but i like to think it's the same reader and timeline lol so go read that if you haven't c:
Navigation: Part 1 (you’re here!) | Part 2 (wip)
(english is not my first language. constructive criticism and grammar corrections are very appreciated!)
— — — Part 1: Just like old times
After Cal's escape from Coruscant, the Mantis was pretty shredded. The main problem was the gyro, but upon entering Koboh's atmosphere, all systems started failing and the Jedi had to make an emergency landing somewhere on some cliffs.
It took a lot of climbing and wall-jumping and fighting the aggressive local fauna, but after a couple of hours, Cal and BD finally made it to the outpost where Greez' cantina was located. On the way there he also encountered bandits who called themselves the Bedlam Raiders, as well as old Separatists battleships and battle droids, of all things. Just what has Greez got himself into?, Cal thinks to himself after saving a local from Rayvis, the leader of the Raiders, and outing himself as a Jedi in the process.
When Cal and BD finally enter Pyloon's Saloon, they meet with Greez. Since the Raiders have just been at the saloon (and the place doesn't look all too inviting either), there are no customers, so Cal and Greez catch up at the bar. The Latero is extremely happy to see the boy and his droid in one piece after all this time. Over a drink, the redhead tells him about the last job on Coruscant gone wrong, how only two of them made it out. He expresses his frustration, how the Empire is only growing stronger and everything he does feels pointless. Things haven't been easy since the Mantis crew split up.
After catching up a little, Greez tells Cal that he has some spare parts and will take care of the ship. He'll send someone to bring the ship to the landing dock behind the saloon. In the meantime, he should take a breather and explore the outpost. Cal doesn't like feeling like he's wasting time, but with the state the Mantis is in, there really isn't much else he can do.
The Latero shows him the room in the basement, telling Cal he can stay as long as he needs. Greez wasn't kidding when he said he had a room just for Cal: there was a meditation area in the middle of the round room, and even his old clothes and some unfinished tech projects were all stashed away in a big chest.
They both sit down on the edge of the bed, and it doesn't take long for the conversation to take a direction Cal doesn't like. Not because what Greez is saying is wrong; on the contrary, he's probably right, but the redhead doesn't want to hear it. Not right now. Greez, in a genuinely concerned tone, goes on about how the game is rigged and Cal should walk away while he can, maybe even settle down somewhere. Cal lashes out for a moment, claiming someone has to keep fighting.
— — —
You approach the stable in the outpost riding on your nekko, humming a happy tune to yourself. You're lost in thought, letting your trusty mount walk the last stretch to the stalls by himself, as he knew the way. Once you reach the structure, you get off and start putting away your haul; you just came from a successful hunt. You'd skin and prepare everything later though, so you pack the preys away in special boxes where everything would be preserved for a couple of days.
“Hello master,” a robotic yet chirpy voice greets you.
You turn around with a smile, facing the Separatist battle droid you had found and reprogrammed to help you out at the stable.
“Hey there, Connor,” you greet back. You've told him several times not to call you that, but he insisted, saying you saved him and now his purpose was to serve you. You take a moment to inspect his blue and black markings that have started chipping more noticeably; maybe it's time for a new paint job.
“Did I miss anything while I was gone?” you ask, taking the saddle off your nekko and placing it onto the designated wooden beam.
“Yes, in fact,” Connor replies, placing new food and clean water in the trough. “There's a ship on the landing pad behind the saloon that I've never seen before.”
“Is that so? What kinda ship?”
“A modified S-161 Stinger, and it's pretty busted up. I'm surprised it even made it this far.”
You stop in your tracks, your grip tightening around the halter you just took off the nekko, which is now happily munching away on its fresh feed.
“Interesting,” you remark, putting the rest of the equipment away and turning around to face the droid. Since you spent most of the day down in some caves, you didn't see or hear anything. “Do you know who was on board?”
“I didn't see who came off the ship, but I overheard some prospectors talk about a newcomer that went one on one with Rayvis,” Connor comments, then leans in closer to you, looking around as if to make sure no one would be listening in on your conversations, when it's clearly just the two of you at the stable. “I also heard Turgle mentioning a Jedi being seen around here.”
“Huh,” is all you manage to say, feeling your heart pounding in your chest. There was no way he was here, right? After all this time? As far as you know, he doesn't even know you're here. So if it is him, he isn't here to see you, but Greez instead. It's probably because of the Mantis; Cal is in need of repairs. This thought immediately replaces the initial anticipation with a strange, cold feeling.
“Can you believe it?” Connor goes on. “I've never even seen a Jedi. I would love to meet them.”
You take a long look at the droid, remembering the state you had found him in. He had never been in the war, actually. He spent several years in an abandoned Separatist camp, never even getting to be activated. So he only knew his programming: serve the Separatists, fight the clones and kill the Jedi. Yet he had never lived any of it. Reprogramming him had been easy in that regard, as his memory banks were mostly blank. Back then you were looking for a droid companion to help you out at the stables, and even though you know what battle droids mean to the Jedi, you can't help but think that they are kinda cute. The B1 models, at least. The B2 series and commandos are pretty scary.
So you gave your new friend a name (you couldn't decide between Hank and Connor, but decided to go with the latter as it somehow suited his demeanour better) and a new purpose in life, and he seems content with that. The only fighting program you left in him is for defending the stable and nekkos. First and foremost it is his mission that they are not harmed. You also ordered him not to leave the outpost, for his own safety. You don't want the raiders to find him and get access to his memory bank. They would use the information against all of you at the outpost, and either scrap him or reprogram him to join the raiders. Once they were dealt with, however, you promised Connor you would take him around Koboh first, then show him the galaxy.
“I'm going to the saloon,” you announce. “Can you take care of the rest?”
“Roger roger!” Connor replies with a salute, getting to work.
You find yourself smoothing out your clothes and hair as you make the short trip to the saloon. When you reach the bar you're met with Monk, the witty bartender droid. He greets you with a happy tone and some strange phrase that you don't entirely understand, as he always does. You ask for Greez, and he points towards the door to the side, saying he's in the basement with some old friend of his that just dropped by.
With a gulp and a forced smile, you thank him and head down the stairs. The urge to turn on your heel and run away grows with every step. As you're about to reach the door, you hear voices coming from the other side.
“-to be something more than a lightsaber.” That's Greez, you think. He sounds… sad? “Think of yourself. Settle down, find a home.”
“What home, Greez?” You swear your heart actually stops beating and accelerates at the same time when you hear the voice, his voice. “There is no home. Home was the Order. It was my teacher.”
You've stopped a couple steps away from the door so it wouldn't open and have you interrupt the conversation, but you involuntarily lean forward to hear better what Cal says next.
“It was everyone I lost… Home was the Mantis with you, Cere, Merrin, and–”
The automatic door whooshes open and Cal and Greez turn their heads towards you as they stand up from the bed they were sitting on.
“I- I didn't mean to eavesdrop,” you sheepishly state after a moment of uncomfortable silence from everyone, approaching him but staying at a distance. “Hey, Cal. It's been a while.”
“Yeah, it has,” he retorts, and you can't really read the tone of his voice.
You look each other up and down, taking in how different you both look since… Since the last time you saw each other. Since you split up.
A thousand thoughts go through your head, and a thousand different feelings resurface, making your heart tighten in your chest, like there isn't enough space for everything it's trying to process.
Greez can't take the tension anymore, so he clears his throat loudly.
“Lemme show you something, Cal,” the Latero says as he walks towards a panel on the far side of the room. He presses a couple of buttons and a section of the wall slides open with a creak, revealing a path behind it. “This is an old smuggler's tunnel, you'll find spare parts in there. Just… be careful, I have a pest problem.”
With that, Greez walks by both of you, giving your arm an encouraging pat, before leaving the room. It's just you and Cal now.
“Spare parts?” you ask, trying to make some conversation. “For the Mantis, I take it?”
“Yeah,” Cal replies, looking at the tunnel entrance but not moving from where he stands. “Gyro's fried.”
You two stand there in silence, and you want to smack yourself in the face. You feel like an awkward 12-year-old all over again, not knowing how to talk to your cr– You stop your train of thought before you dare finish that sentence and potentially embarrass yourself further. The heat on your cheeks that refuses to leave your face since you've laid eyes on the Jedi can't possibly have gone unnoticed by him.
“You know, Greez has had this room set up for you for quite a while,” you tell Cal, shooting him a quick smile. “So I take it you'll be staying for a while, right? The Mantis isn't going anywhere.”
Cal shrugs and shoots you a quick, unsure glance, then casts his eyes back down, scratching the back of his neck.
“I was just about to head out,” you lie. Your plan for the evening was to have a drink at the bar and unwind, but him being here changes everything. “You could join me and I'll show you around if you'd like…”
Cal looks at the tunnel again, weighing the options in his mind. One is going down there to fix the Mantis as soon as possible, then taking off to who knows where. The other… you're not so sure. And if you're being honest with yourself, you're too scared to ask.
“Sure, why not,” he finally agrees with a sigh and starts walking towards the door that directly leads outside from the basement, but you feel like something, or rather someone, is missing. You look around the room, scanning your surroundings for a certain droid, then turn back to Cal.
“W-Where's BD?” you ask, fearing the worst. You'd really hate it if something happened to him.
“Oh, he wandered off somewhere earlier,” Cal says and you release a breath of relief. After calling for him, the little droid comes hopping down the stairs and into the room.
“BD!” you greet the little companion, and he excitedly beeps at your reunion. He comes running towards you and you pick him up in a hug.
“Oh, how I've missed you,” you spin him around a couple of times, then set him back down onto the floor. “I have a droid of my own now, but you're still the cutest. Don't tell him, though,” you add with a wink.
“You have a droid?” Cal asks as BD climbs onto his back and you all make your way out.
“Yeah, he helps me out at the stable,” you explain, pointing at the building as you reach the end of the stairs. The stable is practically behind the saloon. From these stairs it's a very short trek to reach the paddocks.
“Those are nekkos, right?” Cal questions, approaching the fence and looking at the two animals chilling in the sun. “I met Mosey earlier. She said she worked at the stable,” he turns around to look at you. “But she didn't mention you.”
You're about to retort by saying she couldn't have possibly known that you two knew each other, but you're interrupted by a chirpy voice.
“Master! You're back already?”
At the sound of the familiar robotic voice, Cal instinctively draws his lightsaber, and turns towards the side entrance to the stable. You hurry to get between your droid and the Jedi; you don't want to see Connor get sliced today. Not by him. Said droid peeks out from behind the archway, and BD beeps repeatedly, alarmed.
“Wait!” you exclaim, holding your hands up into the air defensively. “That's my droid!”
“Your- Your droid?” Cal repeats, clearly confused. He puts away his weapon nonetheless.
“He's reprogrammed, and he's never even been in the war,” you explain, walking backwards as Cal starts approaching the stable to inspect the battle droid further, with you still between them. “He was never even activated. He's good, I promise!”
“Master, who's this?” Connor asks, walking back into the stable to make room for Cal and you. “Is he bothering you?” The droid activates the blaster you had built into one of his arms, and Cal's hand goes to the hilt of his sabre again, while BD beeps in exasperation.
“No, stand down!” you order, and the blaster immediately turns off with a whirr. “Will everyone please calm down?”
Still standing between Cal and the battle droid, you let out a huff, looking from one to the other.
“Cal, BD; this is Connor, my droid,” you start introducing them. “My good and reprogrammed droid, whose mission is to protect the stable and the nekkos, nothing more.”
Cal seems unimpressed, still looking at Connor with narrowed eyes. You turn to the droid.
“Connor; these are Cal and BD,” you start. “And you know what? Cal here–” You look at Connor with raised brows and lower your voice. “–is a Jedi.”
Connor brings his hands up to where his mouth would be, gasping in surprise.
“You- You are?” he asks, quickly going around you to take Cal's hand and shaking it vigorously. “It's such an honour! I've always wanted to meet a Jedi!”
“So you could get up all close and stab me in the back?” Cal retorts, his voice laced with uncharacteristic venom, and pulls his hand from the droid's grasp.
“What? No, I–” Connor starts but you push him to the side a bit.
“It's okay, Connor. He'll warm up to you, eventually,” you comfort him. “Please go get the nekkos ready for us?”
You've never heard a sadder 'roger roger' in your life and it sends a sting of pain through your chest.
While the droid goes to prepare your mounts, you turn around to Cal and frown at him. He crosses his arms in front of his chest defensively.
“Why would you say something like that? He's genuinely excited to meet you,” you explain. “When was the last time someone was actually happy to see a Jedi, hm?”
“Not a battle droid, that's for sure,” Cal retorts with a huff.
You look up at him for a moment, holding his rather cold gaze. You wonder just what happened these past few years that had him like this. Sure, you understand why he isn't a fan of battle droids. Normally you aren't either. But there's just something about Cal that's… different. He looks older, but it might just be the beard. He also looks more tired, carries himself differently. With confidence like he always did, but also in a “don't mess with me” way that wasn't there before. Gone is the spark in his eyes, that glimmer of optimism and hope, replaced by the promise of not holding back if anyone were to cross him.
For several moments, you just look at each other, and you're sure he's analysing you just as you are him, and you wonder what is going through his head.
“The nekkos are ready,” Connor announces, leading both of them out of their respective stalls by the reins.
You allow the animals to sniff Cal and inspect him, while you give a short explanation on how to ride and guide them. Cal's mount is white with a dark face and legs, while yours is a dark purple and brown. After thanking Connor and waving him goodbye, you both hop onto the saddle and head out of the outpost. You know your way around, taking a route that would keep you hidden from the patrols, both the imperial ones as well as the raiders. You'd much rather deal with the local fauna. And you do come across a couple of rawkas at the river, and a pack of gorgers when heading further up the Southern Reach. But you two make quick work of them.
In fact, Cal has grown stronger, and not only that, but he also has a new array of weapons it seems; now he double-wields his lightsabers, and he also has a blaster, which completely takes you by surprise.
Once you reach the base of the big silo, you get off your nekkos and climb the rest by foot, getting on top of the structure and sitting at the edge. It's not a super well-hidden spot; if the patrols under you decide to look up they would definitely see you, but it's a good vantage point to show Cal the different places. You point towards the landmarks, explaining them to him so he can orient himself and navigate beyond the outpost. You tell him about the caverns, the mines, to look out for different patrols and what areas to avoid; be it because of the raiders, like fort Kha'lin, or because of bigger fauna like bilemaws, goroccos and mogus. Especially mogus. They are fierce.
Once you're done with your explanation, you lean back onto your hands with a sigh. Cal attentively listened to everything, but he doesn't seem interested in keeping the conversation going, as he hasn't said anything.
He's looking out, scanning this corner of Koboh as far as he could see from here, taking in the view and probably trying to commit to memory everything you've said. You look at him from the corner of your eyes, your gaze falling onto the holster on his hip.
“So,” you try starting the conversation again. “You now double-wield and you have a blaster. Which, by the way, is pretty uncharacteristic for a Jedi, no?”
“A lot has changed, I guess,” is all you get out of him.
“Do you have any other new tricks?” you ask, and the memory of him re-discovering his Master's lessons after his escape from Bracca comes back to you, making you smile fondly to yourself for a moment.
“Hmm,” Cal thinks aloud, also leaning back and finally tearing his eyes from the landscape to look at you. “There aren't any new Force-tricks, if that's what you mean. But I do have this.”
He brings one of his arms up, showing you the contraption on his brace.
“Grappling hook. Comes in pretty handy,” he explains, showing you some of the mechanisms. Your hands reach up to gently hold his wrist, so you can inspect the device better, and you could have sworn you heard his breath hitch at the contact. At that moment, you realise that's the first physical interaction you've had since he arrived, and you quickly let go.
“We should head back,” you say as you stand up, dusting off your legs. “It will get dark soon, plus you must be hungry. I know I am.”
“Yeah, I could eat,” Cal replies, getting up to his feet as well, and BD beeps in agreement.
Cal climbs down the silo first, while you scan the area one last time for any patrols. When it's your turn, just as you're almost at the base of the rather unstable ladder, your foot slips and you lose your balance. You hold onto the next best thing, which happens to be Cal. Seeing you're about to fall, his arm reaches around you and he pulls you towards him while with the other hand he tightly holds onto the railing that goes along the walls of the structure.
“You okay?” he asks, and when you look up at him this time, you're finally met with a pair of eyes that you recognise. There's concern in his gaze but also a certain warmth, amused at how you were a fierce warrior yet managed to be clumsy in small things like these. He found it cute, which you knew for a fact because he would tell you often, back then…
“Y-Yeah, thanks,” you mutter, separating yourself from him now that you're back safe on the ground. Feeling the heat spreading on your face, you can't help a sheepish smile. “Guess some things never change, heh.”
“Guess not,” Cal says with a small smile of his own, and your chest tightens at the sight.
The ride back to the Outpost is silent, and you wonder if his body is also reacting as strongly as yours; ever since slipping, your skin feels like it's tingling, and your heart hasn't calmed down in the slightest.
Once you're back at the stable and the nekkos have been taken care of, Connor mentions that Greez left some food for you, and hands you several small containers wrapped with a cloth.
“You wanna eat at my place?” you find yourself asking Cal, who's scratching behind the nekko's ear. He turns around to you with raised eyebrows in what you assume to be a surprised expression, but he's quick to relax his face back to normal.
“I have a room behind Doma's shop,” you explain, holding up the food in your hands and you gesture to it with your chin. “And Greez knows this is far too much food for myself.”
“Yeah, sounds good,” Cal replies, calling BD back to him, who was scanning some stable equipment. “Let me help you with that.”
Cal takes the food off your hands, and you say your goodbyes to Connor, who stays at the stable. It's a quick trip past the saloon's entrance into Doma's shop. She's behind the counter organising some of her merchandise, and returns your “hello” from afar without looking. Only when she hears Cal's greeting does she turn around. She shoots you a look and you know exactly what she means, heat prickling again at your cheeks. You give a curt shake of your head, quickening the pace to evade Doma's questioning, heading for the door at the back that leads to the place you have been calling home for the last year.
It isn't much, but it makes do: one big room, that's both kitchen and a living space, with two doors at the far side that lead to a small bedroom and the refresher. The main room is decorated, you like to think it's warm, cosy and inviting. You even managed to thrift an old couch somewhere, refurbished it yourself, and it now essentially serves as the centrepiece of the room. There are several rugs on the floor, as well as piles of pelts and leather in the corner that you still have to finish working on so you could sell them. These days that's your main source of income.
Cal stands at the door for a moment, taking everything in, and you suddenly feel very self-conscious. The space is clean, but the fact that you can't read his face makes you a little nervous. To distract yourself, you take the food from him, bringing it to the kitchen counter.
“I think the food is still warm,” you say as you start opening the containers, the delicious smell filling both your noses. “Do you mind setting the table?”
Cal and you make quick work of getting everything plated and grabbing some drinks, then sitting down in front of each other at the wooden table to eat. You make some light conversation between bites, catching each other up on what has been going on in your lives recently. He tells you about some of the missions he's been on ever since the Mantis crew split up, and you tell him of your own solo adventures before you came to Koboh.
When the plates are empty, your bellies full, and the conversation is about to die down, you ask if you can check out Cal's lightsabre. He unclips it from his belt to hand it to you, and you catch yourself being relieved at the fact he still trusts you enough to just give his sacred weapon to you without further inquiry.
He's changed some parts and the materials, and you hold the device in your hands with the utmost care, admiring the beautiful design and intricate markings on the wooden accents. Rather suddenly, a feeling of regret and shame spreads out in your chest, thinking about how not only this sabre but also Cal himself went through so many changes, and you hadn't been there for any of it. There's so much you want to tell him, about how sad you are that you weren't there for him, about how sorry you are with the way you left, about how you've been thinking of and missing him every single day. But telling him that wouldn't be fair. You have no right to be selfish like that.
“So what exactly happened that got the Mantis in such a state?” you decide to ask instead, reaching the lightsabre over the table to give it back. Cal takes it with a deep sigh, putting it back to his belt, feeling immediately comforted by its familiar weight.
“A job on Coruscant that went… wrong,” he starts, telling you how his team was gathering intel for Saw Guerrera, and it had all worked out until the very last moment, where everything went wrong, and he lost his whole crew in an instant. Only him and another person made it out of there. In fact, one of his crew members saved his life by pushing him out of the way and taking the blaster shot herself instead.
You listen intently, and your heart grows heavier by the second; you can hear the frustration in his voice, the voice of a man who's this close to giving up entirely, because he's just so tired, but he can't. He won't. You know Cal took it upon himself to fight the Empire by himself if he has to. A trait you genuinely admire but also despise. After all, that was one of the reasons you left.
Then he mentions the Ninth Sister, and your attention is fully back to what he's saying.
“I tried to get through to her, I really did,” Cal says, his voice cracking for a second. “But she wouldn't let up. I had no choice.”
“Did you…?” you ask carefully.
“I killed her,” he says matter-of-factly, but you can tell it's been eating away at him.
“I'm so sorry, Cal,” you offer, reaching across the table and placing your hand on his. “That couldn't have been easy. I'm sorry you had to go through that.”
He doesn't meet your eyes, his gaze fixed on his half empty cup instead, watching the drops of condensation slowly fall along the outside of the glass onto the table, staining the wood. But he doesn't pull away either, so you give his hand a reassuring squeeze.
“You look exhausted,” you finally tell him, and he lets out a breath through his nose, as if saying 'you have no idea'. You offer for him to take a shower here instead of at the saloon before heading back, telling him yours is nicer, to which he chuckles lightly, and he accepts.
He insists you take a shower first while he takes care of the dishes, so you do just that. Once you're out, it's his turn. You hand him a towel and a change of clean clothes, and you can tell he wonders why you have them in his size, until he realises that they're actually his. It's an old shirt and lounge pants that you would always steal from him and had apparently taken with you. He doesn't comment on it though, instead he simply stares at the clothes in his hand for maybe a second too long, deep in thought. Then he blinks a couple of times, as if he just came back from zoning out, gives you a short 'thanks' and gets into the shower.
While he cleans up, you take a seat on the couch, pulling up the novel you're currently reading on your holopad. Only now that you're sitting with your legs stretched out along the length of the cushions do you realise how tired you are, both physically and emotionally. Out of everything you could have thought would happen today, meeting Cal was certainly not on the list. Still, you can't deny that you're happy to see him. For starters, he's still alive. And you've missed him, much more than you care to admit to yourself.
After reading the same sentence of your book over and over, failing to focus, you sigh and look at BD instead, who hops onto the coffee table and tilts his head at you with an inquiring beep.
“Has he been taking care of himself?” you ask the droid, pointing over your shoulder in the direction of the refresher, where you can hear the water running.
BD lets out a sequence of beeps and boops, and you narrow your eyes at him for a moment. 'He keeps himself busy' he said. Is he dodging your question?
“Is that so,” you reply with a hum, and BD shoots the question right back at you. You're a bit surprised at his concern, and for a moment you consider opening up to the little droid, but you hear the water turn off, so you bring your attention back to your book again instead, trying your darndest to focus on what's happening in the story. The washroom door opens with a whoosh.
“Where should I put the towel?” Cal asks, still standing at the door frame.
“Just put it in the hamper underneath the sink,” you reply over your shoulder, and in the corner of your eye you can see BD still looking at you, waiting for an answer. Then he tilts his head with an amused boop; he's got you all figured out.
“Oh shush you,” you start scolding the little droid, but Cal appears, walking around the couch to sit down. Except that your legs are stretched across it, so you start lifting them off the cushions and intend to bend them at the knee to sit properly, but Cal gently grabs your ankles, lifting them off the couch to sit down, and places them over his lap instead. His hand comes to rest on your shin, and you can feel the warmth he irradiates seep through the fabric of your pants.
“You looked comfy,” he points out, his hand gently rubbing up and down below your knee, while with his other hand he props up his head against the back of the couch.
You swallow hard, unable to answer, and bring the datapad up to your face to hide behind it. Why is he being so nice suddenly? Is it because you aren't outside where others could see? Or is it because he realised he still has you wrapped around his finger so he's just teasing you? You're beyond confused at the sudden sign of affection after he's been so distant the whole day, like he hadn't planned on ever seeing you again. And to be quite honest, you deserve the cold treatment. After what you did, the way you left.
Feeling the sting behind your eyes, knowing what's coming, you shrink further into yourself, holding the holopad even closer to your face to hide it from Cal's view. He can't see your expression from where he's sitting, so he gives a light chuckle, thinking you're just flustered. The sound feels like a dagger in your gut, and you unsuccessfully choke back sob.
Now Cal's face changes completely to one of concern, and he pushes the pad out of the way only to be met with your crying face.
“Whoa, wait-“ Cal says, and he retrieves his hands, holding them both up in surrender. “I'm sorry, I didn't mean to- I thought we-“
“I'm so sorry, Cal,” you croak, crying freely now, as you let go of the device and it falls onto the floor with a 'clunk'. “I'm so sorry for everything, for what I did. For leaving you alone.” Your hands wipe away at your cheeks in a vain attempt to dry off the tears, but they just keep coming.
After the crew split up, the Mantis felt unbearably empty. After the failed mission on Hosnian Prime, after saying goodbye to Fret and Irei, who had definitely changed the dynamics of the crew (you still weren't sure if it had been for better or worse), everything felt like it started falling apart.
The first to leave was Merrin, saying she needed to recentre her fire and find herself again, to be able to draw all the power she now knew she was able to use.
Then, it was Cere and Greez. The Latero trusted Cal and left his beloved ship in his hands, telling him to look after it until he'd be back. Except everyone knew that he didn't really intend to. The loss of his arm had hit him harder than he wanted to admit, and for Greez it had been the wake-up call needed to “leave the game while you can because it's been rigged since the start”, as he would often say. Cere on the other hand took off with new-found determination. Her and Cal's goals weren't all that different: the endgame was to defeat the Empire, one way or another. However, Cal believed in taking action now, while Cere had her sights set on the future, being able to help those who would come next, long after she and everyone else were gone. She wanted to build a legacy, as the 'Jedi's knowledge was far too valuable to be lost to time and circumstance.
After everyone was gone, it was just Cal, BD and you.
The Jedi had become irritable, like he had already convinced himself that you would leave him soon too, as did everyone, apparently. You reassured him to the best of your abilities that you believed in what he stood for and wanted to stay by his side. However, now that you didn't have a whole crew to count on, you had to be more careful than ever.
“We have to be smart about this!” you'd plead, seeing Cal running head-first into danger time and time again.
When the nightmares became too much, you'd hold him tightly, kissing his tears away as he'd cry out for his master, Tapal.
“You were just a kid!” you had yelled at Cal one time, when what was supposed to be a quick run-down of the plan had become a big argument. “You act as if the whole universe is counting on you and only you to defeat the beast that is the Empire. Do you think that that's your destiny? As dictated by the Force? We've had our share of big, successful missions as a group. Now it's time to back down, Cal. We're just two people, what do you expect we'll achieve here? It's time to move on.”
Needless to say, those words had not calmed Cal down in the slightest. Now he felt just as betrayed by you as he did by the rest. More words were thrown at each other like daggers finally let free after being pushed back for far too long in an attempt to keep some level of normalcy between you two. But there was no going back. So you did what you told him as well: you moved on. That same evening, you packed your things and left.
Your heart bled and tears kept streaking down your face with every heavy step you took away from the Mantis, but at the time, you didn't know what else to do. You'd never wanted to leave Cal, and you hated yourself for doing this to him and to yourself, but what you had going on was no way to live anymore. Maybe, hopefully, now that you were gone, he would understand that.
You know it had been a horrible thing to do, especially like that. After years of telling him how you'd follow him to the end of the world. After telling him every day how much you loved him. After promising you'd be there for him. The worst part was that being away from him was far more painful than it was with him. He left a void in your heart that only he could fill. You meant to go looking for him many times, but were too scared. You didn't deserve to have him back. Not after what you did.
But now he's here.
Between cries, you apologise over and over again, saying how what you did wasn't fair, that you wished you had never left and worked it out instead, that you missed him so much it was hard to breathe.
Cal doesn't answer immediately, and you force your somewhat blurry gaze up to meet his eyes, and you see he's starting to tear up himself. He leans forward, lifting you up and settling you sideways onto his lap, enveloping you in a bone-crushing hug. You hold him just as tightly, crying into his shoulder.
“I'm sorry,” The more you say it, the emptier it feels, but it's all you can manage for now, and you mean it. “I really am.”
“I know,” Cal says, squeezing you a little tighter. “I felt it. When you gave me the clothes earlier.”
You remember the countless nights you've cried yourself to sleep in the very clothes he's now wearing, the times when you missed him so much you felt like your heart would rip its way right out of your chest, muttering your regrets into your pillow, as if it could carry your apology and bring it to Cal somehow. You groan in embarrassment; you always forget that your stuff also carries imprints he can feel.
“I'm so lame,” you mumble and pull back to look at Cal, giving him a weak smile that quickly turns into a grimace again as a new wave of tears come rolling down your cheeks.
“No, you're not,” Cal reassures you, one hand cupping your face and wiping over your cheekbone with his thumb. You lean into his touch with a sniffle.
“I've missed you too,” he finally says, placing a gentle kiss on your forehead. “And I'm sorry—” He kisses your cheek. “—for making you feel like you were less important than the missions.” A kiss to the corner of your mouth. “You're the best thing that ever happened to me and I took you for granted.” His lips brush over yours. “Can we try again?”
You close the minimal gap and kiss him hard, like Cal was the air your lungs needed after being underwater for too long. He reciprocates just as intensely, pushing you down onto the couch and climbing on top of you. When he finally breaks the kiss, you're both panting. You run your fingers through his hair as he trails kisses along your jaw, and you giggle at how ticklish his beard feels against your skin; that's a new sensation you'd have to – no scratch that, want to – get used to. Your giggles turn into a low moan as he bites the spot over your collarbone, and when you turn your head to give him better access, you're met with BD still on the coffee table, now sitting comfortably, looking up at you two as if it was the most interesting spectacle in the world.
A strangled sound of surprise and embarrassment comes from your throat and you push Cal away a bit by his shoulders, to which he raises his head and grumbles in annoyance for interrupting him.
“We have an audience,” you whine, hiding your face behind your hands, and Cal lets out an amused laugh. BD beeps matter-of-factly.
“What do you mean 'don't mind me'?!” You turn to the droid and you swear that if he had a face, he'd be wearing the cockiest of grins right now.
“Some things really never change, huh,” Cal comments with an amused smile, thinking back to all the times you'd become flustered when you kissed in front of BD, saying it was inappropriate or something. If only you knew that Cal often did it on purpose because he loved seeing your cute, flustered face.
“Unlike this right here,” you point out and bring your hands to his face, stroking over his beard, enjoying the prickly sensation. “This is new.”
“Do you like it?” Cal asks genuinely.
“You know I like your scars,” you say, tracing over the one on his lower lip. “As long as they're not covered up, I think I can get used to it. It does look good on you.”
Cal smiles down at you tenderly and for a few moments, you simply enjoy each other's presence, taking each other in. Making sure that this is real and it's happening, that you're back again. Until you let out a hearty yawn.
“Let's get to bed before we fall asleep on the couch,” you say, rubbing your face, but stop to look up at Cal, who seems very content with his current position and hasn't moved yet. “You are staying here tonight, right? I mean, if you want to, you don't have to. Greez has the whole room thing for you, so I understand if—“
Cal interrupts your rambling with a quick peck.
“Yeah, I want to stay,” he assures you and finally stands up, helping you get off the couch.
“Let's go, BD,” you tell the droid to join you as you take Cal's hand and guide them to the bedroom.
You climb into bed, BD at your feet as he would always do on the Mantis, and Cal lifts the covers to get in as well but stops for a moment when he sees the holopicture on your night stand. In the small frame he recognises Greez, Cere, Merrin, Cal, BD and you in the cockpit, all grinning at the camera. Smiling to himself, he finally gets into bed, hugging you to him.
“I have the same picture of us on the Mantis,” he says after letting out a content sigh at finding a comfortable position. “Guess we still were connected somehow all this time.”
You hum in response, a bit surprised at the romantic implication, as if you were lovers who found comfort in looking at the same moon even though you were separated. But you like the idea nonetheless, and you agree.
The warmth both on your skin and spreading in your heart makes quick work of carrying you off to dreamland though, so before you can even give a proper reply, you're fast asleep in Cal's arms.
— — —
The next morning, you wake up to BD's beeping. You groan, turning over to cuddle a little longer, except that the other side of your bed is empty. You blink away the sleepiness in your eyes, and pout at the lack of Jedi in your sheets. Your nose is quick to pick up the scent of freshly brewed caf however, and the grogginess is quickly forgotten as you get out of bed and make your way to the kitchen, where Cal is preparing breakfast.
After a quick meal and lots of stolen kisses, Cal announces it's time to go check out Greez's smuggler tunnel to find that gyro.
“Be careful,” is the last thing you tell him before he leaves.
“Always,” he shoots back at you with a wink and takes off. You playfully roll your eyes at that, thinking back to the countless times on the Mantis you've had to patch him up after a mission inevitably went astray from the original plan.
While Cal is looking for parts for the Mantis, you go back to your own things, checking in on Connor and the nekkos at the stable, as well as preparing some pelts and sewing up your most recent leather project.
Time goes by fast as you skilfully work the needle and thread through the thick material, finishing the piece after a couple of hours. Setting it aside, you stretch your arms and back with a satisfied grunt. You check to see if your comms are working; they are, but there's no new messages. Strange, you think, Cal sure is taking his time to find that gyro. Is he not back yet?
Suddenly feeling uneasy by your own thoughts of how he might have got lost in the tunnels, or how he may have encountered trouble down there, you decide to go check with Greez yourself.
You quickly make your way to the Saloon, going down the stairs that lead to the bar with such speed that when you reach the end and see someone standing there, you bump into them before you can stop yourself.
“Whoa,” a deep voice exclaims at the impact, and you push yourself away from the man's back you just ran into. He turns around slightly towards you. “You okay?”
“Yeah, sorry, didn't see you there” you reply, regaining your composure and walking around him to get a better look.
He's not super tall, but he has a strong and broad build. Although you already felt that when you bumped into him and it was like walking into a wall. You give him a quick up-and-down, trying to gauge if he's friend or foe, but you can't quite read him. He narrows his eyes at you ever so slightly, probably doing the same.
“A new face, how rare,” you start, walking over to the bar and leaning on it with one arm. Your other hand finds its way to your hip, where you realise there is no holster or weapon; you mentally reprimand yourself for leaving your staff at the stable.
“Care for a drink?” asks Monk from behind you.
“No, I'm looking for someone,” the man says.
“Of course you are,” Monk replies with sarcasm. You give the bartender droid a nod; you'll take care of this. As he wheels back into the kitchen, you hear him mutter something about how his bar isn't a lost and found counter. Before the stranger can go on however, the doors at the back of the saloon whoosh open.
“Who's this?” asks Greez as he enters the main room.
“I was just about to ask him,” you reply, your eyes still trained on the man.
“I'm looking for Cal Kestis,” the man in question says instead, and your hand on the bar involuntarily curls into a fist.
“Who? Kal Restis?” Greez asks as he approaches him. “We don't know any Kales. Listen, if you're not gonna order something, get out of my saloon.”
“No, not Kale”, the man says, getting slightly exasperated as he repeats the name slower, and Greez keeps getting it wrong on purpose.
Just as you're about to intervene and send the man away, the entrance doors open and in comes Cal, a soft smile of self-satisfaction on his face.
“Cal!” The man greets the Jedi. You hear Greez mutter “Oh, this Cal Kestis” under his breath as they clearly recognise each other.
“I found the gyro,” Cal announces first, throwing a small mechanical part to Greez, who's taken by surprise but still catches it. Then he turns to the intruder with a smile. “You made it!”
“Good to see you, Cal,” he replies, and the two share a friendly handshake.
“Greez Dritus, this is Bode Akuna,” Call starts introductions, telling this Bode your name as well. You merely give him a short nod in acknowledgment as Cal continues. “He was on Coruscant. Wouldn't have made it out alive without his help.”
Oh, that changes things.
You leave your spot at the bar and drop your rather cold gaze to join the group. Coming to stand next to Cal, you take his hand, and try your best to give Bode a thankful smile. He returns it, quickly catching on.
“Wait a minute. Another one?” Greez quips, looking behind Cal. You were so focused on Bode, that you hadn't even noticed the strange looking droid that came in with the redhead. “Cal, you have a very bad habit of picking up strays.”
“I am ZN-A4,” the droid introduces herself with an exaggerated bow. The design and material she’s made of is something you’ve never seen before. “Humble servant of the Jedi Order.”
What.
“Oh, I take it you haven't broken the news yet,” Bode says to Cal, who sheepishly shrugs his shoulders.
Cal then brings everyone up to speed, telling you how when he was in the tunnels with BD, they stumbled upon this old chamber where the droid was stuck, so they freed her. Turns out she's a droid that belonged to a Jedi from the High Republic, of all things. Her master, Sandari, had sent her to activate the so-called forest array (that strange building the other side of the river that doesn't quite fit in with the rest of the scenery; you've always wondered what it was but never found a way to get in). However, Zee, as everyone started calling the droid, is in really bad shape, and she'll never make it that far. She looks dejected as she says that if she fails her mission, then the key to Tanalorr may be lost forever.
At the mention of the name, Greez chimes in, telling the group that there's an old prospector legend about Tanalorr being a world filled with treasure. But treasure or not, the important part is that it seems to be a real place, one potentially beyond where the Empire can reach: a safe haven.
Zee is delighted and very thankful that everyone seems on board with her mission, and the group is quick to formulate a plan: while Monk gets her up to speed regarding the state of, well, everything, and she gets some much-needed repairs, Bode and Greez will take care of the Mantis. Meanwhile, Cal, BD and you will go to the forest array to check it out.
As you're making your way to the stables, you nudge into Cal's side with your elbow.
“You didn't get hurt down there or anything, right? You sure took your time,” you ask him. It did not go unnoticed by you how in Cal's retelling of events, he skilfully left out how he happened to find that mysterious chamber in the first place.
“The tunnels were pretty old and unstable, but we're okay,” Cal deflects, shooting the droid a quick look. “Right BD?”
BD beeps in response, and you shoot Cal a glare accompanied by a muted gasp, stopping in your tracks.
“You fell through a hole the equivalent of several stories?!” You can't believe this guy.
“It's fine!” Cal tries to reassure you, bringing his hands up to your shoulders. “I promise, it's nothing a stim didn't already fix. So there’s no need to worry, okay? We have a job to do.”
You sigh in defeat as he places a soft kiss on your forehead. You first cup his face softly, then pinch both his cheeks.
“Just what am I going to do with you, Cal Kestis?” you ask rhetorically, taking his hand into yours and resuming the short trek to where Connor is already waiting and waving at you both.
Once you're all geared up and hop into the saddle, you tighten the strap of your staff, adjusting its position on your back.
“Just like old times, huh?” you ask at no one in particular, scanning your surroundings and taking in the scenery; it just never gets old. Cal's nekko trots up next to you.
“Just like old times,” he repeats, with that boyish smile you can't get enough of, and the glint of adventure in his eyes.
Your nekkos take off, and the freckles on his face seem to shine in the sunlight. They form the ever familiar star map that you'd follow time and time again, finding your way back to him. Because from the first time you looked at him, you knew: you'd follow this man across the galaxy and beyond.
— — —
A/N 2: if you understand the droid name reference you get a cookie 🍪
A/N 3: in the book Battle Scars there’s a part where BD tells Cal, and i quote, “Where you go, I go”, and when i tell you that i screamed omg (the first part of my “wherever you go, i go” fic was actually called ‘where’ but i changed it to ‘wherever’ when i added more chapters because to me it sounded better asdsdf) BD-1 and me sharing one brain cell obsessed with Cal fr😌
~~~~~
🐥 taglist: [link to join in my pinned post!] @dybynyght, @galaxtic-writings, @kalea-bane, @soka-writes-things, @padawancat97, @riddikulus-obsessions, @optimisticprime3, @starilicious, @ivelostmyabilitytoeven, @alternatescififandomelover
#goose feathers#cal kestis x reader#star wars cal x reader#jedi fallen order x reader#jedi survivor x reader#star wars x reader
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idk why but i think itll be forced if gwyn and az get together. Like say elain accepts the bond and gets with lucien and azriel knows he has to step back and then suddenly he likes gwyn and they started to form a bond and get together. like... no. thats not it at all. like at least do some type of slowburn for gwynriel if elain and lucien get together. (Idk why but I keep thinking itll be like a forcing thing if elain and luc get together because they know they are mates. LIKE IT JUST WONT HIT THE SAME) But, I think thats why im so built up on elriel and cant fully ship the other ships because theres nothing for me to fully ship.
My meeting got cancelled just now and I'm in a silly goofy mood so let me just say this: if I were SJM and I for some reason DID intend to write Elucien or Gwynriel, I would not have done it this way. I don't think any writer would've done it this way.
The way the books are currently written, it is a clear setup for Elriel. People who deny that are those who still hold out hopes for their preference of ship, but the writing does not support that. It has not supported that since ACOWAR.
Not that I am in any way SJM equivalent but here's how I would've done it, starting from ACOWAR, which was when she started actively planning Nesta & Elain's spinoffs. (And this is in no way Anti Lucien or Gwyn. But I'm tagging it anti because I don't want them getting any ideas lmaooo)
1. The second they got back to the Spring Court, have Lucien grow a backbone and tell Tamlin he's going after Elain. Not simply "Get her back" but "I'm getting her back." (Ring any bells?)
Not wait for Feyre to leave and tag along to see if Elain was "worth fighting for", not simply think about how Elain had been thrown at him, not even think about Jessiminda. I would've had Lucien take action himself. He would've left to go after Elain immediately, and Feyre would've followed HIM - or waited till she got the spring court fucked up and then followed him.
2. Have Lucien be patient with Elain. Have more than just one awkward conversation with Elain. Have Feyre observe multiple moments between them. Have Elain slowly soften to him or get used to his presence. Have Lucien sit in the garden with Elain. Have him frown at her words and bring them up to Feyre and actually try to help her. But most importantly I would've had Lucien figure out her powers. (Sound familiar? Good. It should.)
3. Have Azriel go volunteer to find Vassa, not Lucien. Perhaps he goes into the library to research (starting the foundation for Gwynriel very subtly). Have Lucien join the IC as they fight at SC, have Lucien join them at the HL meeting. Have Lucien go into an angry rage at seeing Graysen and how that man's words hurt his mate. Have him comfort Elain and say "I'll wait - however long it takes."
4. Have Lucien save Elain from Hybern's camp. Have Lucien go feral and break the wards around the camp - setting up for his parentage plotline - and winnow in and save her. Have Elain kiss his cheek. Have Elain finally see him in a different light. (Wow where have I seen this before?)
5. Have Elain willingly invite him to Velaris at the end of ACOWAR. Have Lucien take her up on that offer.
6. In ACOFAS, have Elain & Lucien get each other presents. Elain does not get Azriel a gift, just Lucien. She appreciates the gardening gloves. Gets Lucien ... a fishing rod or hair tie or something idk "here's a rod: for all the fish that you catch with your hands" 🤣🤣🤣 Lucien laughs and Feyre thinks "wow I've never seen him so happy"
7. Continue to develop their relationship in the background of ACOSF. Lucien offers to help Elain train her powers in the background (idk how he would but still). He is there at solstice and gets her another gift. Cassian thinks Elain is sneaking around with him but won't admit it. Lucien goes with them to Hewn city and gifts Elain a dress that suits her better and is from the Day court or whatever. There's a bonus chapter with LUCIEN's POV where Elain & Lucien are about to kiss but they get interrupted and Lucien feels bad he pushed her too far so he says sorry this was a mistake. Miscommunication trope ensues.
8. After ACOSF, start their book with a major conflict that comes up immediately. For some reason, Lucien & Elain go to Day court to research and train her powers - maybe they have a Seer there idk. make something up, a la CC3 translation bean. Their friendship has been steadily growing since ACOWAR, and now it turns to love.
I would've set Elucien up for a slow burn, friends to lovers romance from the second Elain got chucked out that cauldron.
But again, SJM did not write it that way. She wrote all those key pivotal moments with Elriel, not Elucien. It would've been so easy to do the storyline above. It would've made us root for them more by the time their book came around. Lucien was a main character since book 1 (before he fell off) so their story would've been eagerly anticipated.
And I could do this same thing for Gwynriel, but she didn't exist until ACOSF so it would be much much shorter and basically would be Nesta noticing ACTUAL romantic moments between Gwyn & Azriel (not "bye Shadowsinger" or "you're new ribbon Az" but actual romantic attraction - like Azriel physically helping Gwyn cut the ribbon and touching her - with her consent ofc - and Gwyn blushing at him). Like - do the antis realize how EASY that would've been? I dare say it would've been easier for SJM to write Gwynriel than any moment with Elriel at that point in ACOSF, because Nesta spent more time with Gwyn.
There's absolutely no way SJM wrote the books this way with all this Elriel buildup, just so she could have a shock factor (?) of "Elain & Lucien are mates but she avoids him for 3 books and gets with Azriel but SURPRISE- Elucien is actually endgame! And Az gets with Gwyn!"
That just doesn't make any sense. At all.
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INTRODUCTION POST !! 💋
This is where you know some things about me, what I write, rules, and etc! So basically just a good rundown of everything!
ABOUT ME !!
I am a writer who loves to make sure that my readers are happy with each chapter I post. I love making others happy because it always ends up with me being happy as well! Whenever I post a new chapter to a fic or post something on here for you guys, it just makes me feel whole!
You can call me many names such as Bri/Kissy/Hershey! I don’t care, I just like the thought of people calling me that for whatever reason!
I do take requests! So if you guys ever have a request for me then I will be happy to do so! It doesn’t matter to me how many times you request because why should I care? Keep them coming PLSSSS! However, if you do wish to send in requests then make sure you read the rules for that in this post so that we can both be on the same page!
I don’t care if you inbox me or dm me. I love you guys and once you follow me, you are automatically my friend. I don’t care if I known you for 2 minutes, you are now my friend and we will be talking🙏
For those who came from my ao3 account—first, HAIIIII!!! Second, this blog is mainly Eltingville Club crap because we are STARVING. The fandom is small and when a fandom is small we have to fend for ourselves and work together like a squad. If you know the struggle then you’ll understand the pain and suffering. Am I still pissed that the pilot never got picked up? Yes. Yes I am.
Please don’t be scared of me guys. I know i’m pretty gosh darn famous underneath the Eltingville tags on Ao3 (🌚) but please come out of your shell🥺 (I’m lowkey kinda scared of you guys too)
RULES FOR MY BLOG !!
Please don’t be weird. Like, don’t be weird as in problematic weird. I love me some “weird”people who have a shit tom of OCS, self ships, and all of the above cause I eat it up everytime. ALL. DAY. LONG. If you legit DM me a whole OC lore rundown, I’ll most definitely hype you up the whole time cause the lore drop is lowkey fire and is burning down Joe’s comic shop🙏
Guys, we don’t bully here… I know how saddening it can be to be in a fandom where it’s mostly crickets besides from the heinous crap you scramble by online but let’s not allow it to get to our brains. We are ALL in a hassle for Eltingville Club shit and we need to stick together. Teamwork makes the dreamwork.
Please spam like my shit. Please. If you don’t then I’ll ghost my fic on Ao3….dont make me do it /j
RULES FOR REQUESTING !!
If you want smut, then automatically it will be the epilogue time setting. I do NOT know how old these weirdos are at the beginning and I am NOT taking any chances. This is genuinely my worse nightmare so guys please inform me if I should go with this or not, cause i’m lowkey scurred, remember, we MUST stick together and we have to help each other out🙏🙏 PS, I know i’m a minor but guys…let’s be for real. Also…uhhh, if i do. smut or something suggestive…erm, most of the time the reader will be leading cause I actually don’t know how to make the reader not be in control. Like im talking about FULL control whenever I do this. Sorry guys💔🙏
If you have the NERVE to rush me to get your request done there are two things that could happen to you. One, I will purposely take longer to make your request as a vengeance🌚 or I’ll just get rid of your request and proceed with my day
If you couldn’t tell from the “About Me” section of this post—YES. YES I DO TAKE REQUESTS FOR OCS AND SELF SHIPS. YES. Send them in along with some important information about them (Personality, interests, appearance, and their relationship with so & so) so I can get to WORK
GENERAL INFORMATION !!
I’ll try to make a link to all of the Appreciation Inboxes you guys send me because those are genuinely so sweet and I want everyone to see them (if you want yours to be private then just DM me instead!) AUAUAUAU♥️
There will be some posts dedicated to my fic on AO3 (headcanons, oneshots, drabbles, etc) because it’s always nice to have some small extra stuff that doesn’t follow the storyline exactly, just some cute stuff. The link for the fic will be on this pinned post at the very end!
Welp, that’s all that I got for now! Thank you so much for reading this and sticking with me, I hope to see you guys soon while I start to fill this blog with endless Eltingville content. Drink and eat regular and take good care of yourself because YOU matter! Love you!💋♥️♥️
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Original art by ug0nba on Twitter (X)
I was so inspired by this art and decided to write a little fic because I haven’t seen many for this fandom! I’ve been thinking about posting this for weeks… I’m really happy with it and I hope it makes you smile too! This is my first published fic, so please be nice to me!(╹◡╹)
Warning: This is a tickle fic, if you’re not into that then please keep scrolling, thank you!! ✌🏻 It is SFW tho!
Fandom: Welcome to Demon School, Iruma-kun!
Reblogs are totally fine and appreciated but please don’t repost! Thank youuuuu! (*´꒳`*)
Can you tell that I was heavily influenced by my favorite ship, Iruazz?
Asmodeus was feeling a little distracted. He’d invited Iruma over today so that just the two of them could hang out. It was great hanging out as a trio with Clara, but sometimes he wanted one on one time. The day had been going well, but then Asmodeus found himself very fixated on something: Iruma’s ears. They were so small and round and cute!! How had he not noticed this before?!
At first, he’d tried not to stare. But then Iruma had swept his hair back into a little ponytail and now he found himself transfixed. Small, round, cute. Small, round, cute. small. round. cute. He was pretty sure he’d missed the last few things Iruma had said, but he couldn’t help himself.
Entranced, he found himself leaning forward, his fingers reaching without his permission —
“Eep!”
Well that certainly got Asmodeus’ attention. He looked down and realized that he had pinched the top of Iruma’s right ear, thereby causing the aforementioned boy to squeal. Oh devils was that cute…
“I-Iruma-sama! My sincerest apologies! I did not mean to startle you. It’s just, I’ve never noticed how round and cu - I mean small your ears are! I might have gotten a little carried away. Again, my apologies.”
“O-oh, it’s okay Azz-kun,” Iruma said with a sheepish smile. “It just tickled a little is all”
Ticklish. Iruma-sama is ticklish. His brain overloaded. Iruma-sama was so cute so cute so devi-cute!!!! Play it cool, Asmodeus.
“Oh, I see. Yes, that makes sense.” How was that playing it cool?!
…
After a few moments, he tentatively asked:
“If I am more careful, w-would it be okay for me to touch them again? I-if it’s not weird, Iruma-sama I just noticed that our ears are so different and —”
“It’s okay Azz-kun, go ahead!” Iruma beamed.
Oh devils this boy was going to be the death of him.
“R-right, h-here I go”
He leaned forward again, focused intently on his task. Truly, Iruma-sama’s ears were like nothing he had ever seen. He made a point to be more gentle this time, which he hoped would help. After a few moments though, he noticed that Iruma’s ear was slowly turning red. Without thinking, he blew softly on it, hoping to cool it down. That was the reason it had turned such an adorable shade of red, right? He was dimly aware of some light chuckles and Iruma squirming. When he looked at Iruma-sama’s face, it too was turning a light shade of red.
Oh. Right. Oh devils. He should stop now, he should really stop —
Chomp.
“Wah! Azz-kun?!”
Yeah, he definitely wasn’t going to be able to stop. You know what they say about demons and desires and all that.
He continued nibbling on Iruma’s ear, now with the sounds of light giggles coming from nearby.
“A-Azz-kun? Are you ehehe d-done looking at my ears haha??”
Iruma was met with more vigorous nibbles.
“I-is this a normal wahahay t-to lohohook at s-someone’s ears?? I-it tihihihckles Azz-kun!” the giggles were getting harder to stop.
Asmodeus was long gone. Not in a wicked phase sort of way though. Actually, he wasn’t worried about his wicked phase coming around for a long while now, not with this adorable stress reliever in his hands. But all common sense had gone out the window the second he’d gently chomped down on Iruma’s ear. It was so soft!! And Iruma-sama’s giggles had to be in the top 3 cutest things he’d ever heard. He wanted to hear more; he couldn’t possibly stop now. His fingers appeared to agree as well, as they started fluttering lightly over Iruma’s neck, eliciting even more giggles from the boy.
“A-Azz-kun, hehehehell to Azz-kun! Y-you’re tihihihickling me! P-please! Aha!”
His squirming was getting more deliberate now as any self-control for Azz’s curiosity was losing to the overwhelming ticklish feelings on his neck and ear. He tried looking up towards Azz, but the demon let out a slight growl and continued his shenanigans. Iruma was left to helplessly giggle and hope for a break. He tried holding out for a while longer, but eventually pleaded:
“H-hehehehello?? I-I d-dohohon’t know hohohow much mohohore I can tahahahake, A-Azz-kun!” and with that he gently pushed his hands against the demon’s chest for the first time. That seemed to register.
“I-Iruma-sama?” he blinked.
“A-Azz-kun hehehey. S-sorry i-it just hehe tickled a lot and I couldn’t, “ he blushed more, “My ears are really sensitive.”
Asmodeus looked down with a mix of remorse and disappointment. His whole face was bright red, all the way to the tips of his pointy ears. When he finally met Iruma’s eyes, they were pleading.
“Could I tickle you a little more? P-please? Iruma-sama?”
Ba-dump. Oh devils. That face. Those eyes. That word. He never could say no when people said please. Well… maybe it wasn’t so bad to laugh a little. And Azz-kun had stopped when he’d truly asked.
“U-Um, s-sure. I-if you want, I-I guess. I-I suppose I c-could try to lahast a little longer” he said with a blush. Could his face get any hotter?? What had he just agreed to?
Asmodeus didn’t need to hear anything more. He pulled Iruma back into his chest and went straight for his left ear, receiving a fresh round of giggles in return.
“W-wahaha! I-I wasn’t ready! Hehe this is eheheven wohohohorse. Y-yohohour f-fangs tihihihihickle sohoho muhuhuch!!”
Asmodeus wrapped an arm around Iruma’s waist to keep him from squirming away. With his free hand, he scribbled the back of Iruma’s neck, enjoying the fresh round of hysterics and pleading. When he’d had his fill there, his hand roamed down to Iruma’s shoulder blades. Much to his delight, this produced a new response:
“EEP! Ahaha!! W-wait haha I-I’ve n-never beheheen tihickled thehehere. Ehehehe!! A-Azz-kun!! Ahahaha!!”
Iruma-sama really isn't helping himself calling my name like that. He stopped nibbling for a moment to say:
“I-Iruma-sama, if you want me to stop, then y-you’ll have to stop being so cute”
There was a pause. Well, it was official, Iruma’s face could get even hotter. But before he could think about what had just been said too much, the tickling resumed.
“C-cute?! I-I’m nohohot!! W-whahahat w-waiaiait w-what dohoho you mehehean?? Ahahaha g-go somewhere ehehelse p-please!!”
Asmodeus chuckled, sending reverberations into Iruma’s ear. He shivered.
“I suppose you are right as always, Iruma-sama. You will never not be cute. Silly me. I suppose you’ll be stuck like this forever then.”
“Wahahahahaha!!” was all Iruma could say in response. He had covered his face with his hands. Teasing, he’s teasing me! That makes it so much worse.
Iruma had erupted into full-blown laughter now, and sensing that he needed a change of pace, Asmodeus started scribbling up and down the boy’s sides with both hands. Above the desperate pleas and squirming he whispered into Iruma’s right ear,
“Don’t even think of escaping, Iruma-sama. I’m not finished with you yet.”
Iruma figured if he could melt into a puddle, he would. His pleas became incoherent babbles as he wondered what in hell had gotten into Asmodeus today. He wondered if maybe he should have been more careful. After all, this was a demon tickling him. Who knew how torturous it would be? Was this how tickling always went in the demon realm?
・・・・・・・・・
Ribs. Sides. Back. Tummy. Ears. Neck. Collarbones. All Iruma could do was laugh as Asmodeus played him like a violin. He reached new octaves when he felt black-tipped fingers slip into his armpits — and he redoubled his efforts to scramble away.
“Yahahahaha nahahahahaha A-Azz-kuhuhuhuhun p-plehehehehease c-can’t t-tahahahahake ihihihit!!!!”
“Surely you can take it, Iruma-sama. I know you can because you are magnificent in every way. Even your laughter is magnificent — “
“S-stohohohop t-teheheheheasing mehehehehehe!! Nahahahahahaha!!”
“ — you are truly worth following, I am proud to be your friend.”
“Ahahahahahaha A-A-Ahahahahzzzz!!!!! H-happy tohohoho behehehe your frihehehend too, b-but ahahaha ihihit tihihihihihickles sohohoho bahahahahad!!”
“There is a simple explanation for that, Iruma-sama. You are the best at everything, of course. So you are also the best at being ticklish!”
“B-behehest at beheheing tihihihihicklihihish?!? Ihihis thahahat eheheven a gohohohohod thihihing??”
“Of course it is! Allow me to demonstrate, using a technique I learned from our Torture class —”
Torture?! thought Iruma. Oh devil, this was it, Azz-kun had figured out that he was a human and trying to torture it out of him —
Suddenly, Asmodeus reached down and kneaded his thumbs into Iruma’s hips.
“Ah —,” Iruma sucked in a breath. “GAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHH!!!!!!”
Iruma’s nerve-endings jolted and his whole body spasmed. If he’d been taller, he might have smacked his head into Asmodeus’ chin. But as it was, Iruma was quite small, so he slammed his head back into the demon’s chest instead. He continued to scream incoherently.
“AHAHAHAHAYAHAHAHAHAAHAHA!!! NAHAHAHAAHAHAH H-HEHEHEHEHELP MEHEHEHEHEHE S-SOMEBOHOHOHOHOHODY HEHEHEHEHEHHEHEHEHELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
“Oh but Iruma-sama, you gave the tickle monster permission,” Asmodeus purred. “No one is coming to save you now.”
Iruma was much too busy with flailing and laughing to reply. He could barely think of anything except how much it tickled. What had they been doing before this? How long had it been? Was Azz-kun torturing him for real or just being playful? Such thoughts were long gone. His nerves were singing and he was trying to keep up.
“WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA AZKHXJAHVIKAHVDX YAHAHAHAAHA”
The thing that finally brought Asmodeus out of his reverie was when Iruma’s laughter went silent. He knew the boy was stilling laughing, since he could feel the reverberations, but the room had gone silent. Then it really registered what that meant, and he quickly stopped. The boy kept laughing even after, slowly dying down into giggles. Asmodeus was too afraid to face him, so he wrapped both arms around Iruma and pulled him close to his chest.
“I am sorry, Iruma-sama. It seems I let my feelings get the better of me. I will need to continue training to make sure that i-it does… not happen again… please forgive me.”
There were a few moments of silence. Iruma’s heartbeat was still trying to return to a normal pace.
“Actually,” Iruma said, “it was… kind of fun….” he finished quietly. The tops of his ears were blazing red.
“I’ve never had a proper tickle fight with a friend, er well, it wasn’t much of a fight, but you know what I mean…”
“Y-you’ve never been tickled before?!” Asmodeus exclaimed.
“Well, maybe a couple times. But they aren’t super fond memories for me.” he paused. “But today was different. It wasn’t so bad in the beginning when you were being gentle. Then you started tickling harder and I definitely panicked a little, but honestly Azz-kun, it wasn’t so bad after all! Not being able to do anything but laugh turned out to be surprisingly relaxing. And, I feel safe… with you.” Iruma turned and looked up at him with a blinding smile.
Asmodeus’ heart soared and he found himself blushing and grinning uncontrollably. Iruma-sama is just so wonderful and thoughtful. He always knows just what to say to me.
“I-Iruma-sama, thank you!! I am so grateful for your trust!!” he beamed. “D-does this mean that…?!” he asked excitedly.
Iruma chuckled at his friend’s enthusiasm.
“Yeah, just remember to be gentle with me! And stop when I ask” he responded with a small grin.
“Of course, Iruma-sama!!!”
“And next time I want to be able to get you back!!” he said playfully.
“Absolutely! I will wait in anticipation, Iruma-sama!”
Asmodeus was sure he had never felt so happy and lucky in all his life.
#tickle fic#tickle community#fanfiction#this is my first published fic#please be nice to me#ahhhhh#welcome to demon school iruma kun#mairimashita! iruma kun#m!ik#iruazz#iruma suzuki#asmodeus alice#iruma kun#fluff#sfw#sfw tickle fic
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