#this is the greatest thing sara and i have ever made

[misguidedasgardian]

I need to...

Enjoy my Summer II, part I

MASTERLIST

Summary: You meet your friends in the God’s Eye 

Pairings: Cregan Stark x Fem!Reader 

Warnings: cursing, in some countries they are minors drinking alcohol, fluff, mentions of smut, smut, fun timessss, might miss some warnings 

Wordcount: 3,6 k

Notes: SORRY FOR THE DELAY! This had to be my favourite chapter ever and I wanted to take my time and even so, I will split this in two parts, because otherwise I was going to take longer and the thing was going to be huge jeje, anyways, love you all!

After a long train ride, you finally arrived at the Harrenhal station, were you were certain the boys were waiting for you 

And there they were, as soon as you went up the escalators. They look as good as always, even better, you’d think, and you knew, by their faces, they were appreciating your summer glow

As soon as you saw Cregan with a wide smile and a bouquet of flowers in his hands, you dropped your bag and jumped into his arms.

As Sara did the same to Jace

It’s been only two weeks, and it felt like a lifetime.

You really had been spoilt by being so close to your boyfriend, him having an apartment to himself, you being living in the dorms, anyways

He smelt so good, you even rubbed your face on his neck making him chuckle 

“I missed you”, you murmured

“And I missed you”, he whispered back, you released him only to lock your lips with his, and he kissed you back, hungrily 

“Alright enough with the PDA, people are looking”, he said with a beautiful smile, you grabbed your things and they had theirs.

“Ready for the God’s Eye?”, asked Jace giving you a tight hug

“Can’t wait!”, you cheered excitedly

It was going to be just like when you were little, only better, because you were all grown up, you were here with your boyfriend, and you could drink alcohol like uncle Daemon could and made him all giggly at nights

“Alright, we parked the car in Jace’s house, as soon as we cross to the Island, we are on our own”, muttered Cregan, the train station was almost in the same building as the port, so you only walked towards the right gate to take the ferry across the Lake

The God’s Eye was one, if not THE greatest lake in the entire country, and at some point, the hottest spot for vacations before Dorne opened itself to tourism, a great way to escape the heat, to have fun, refresh…

But the coolest part was in the Isle of Faces, it was a whole village that activated itself in the summertime, it had two small towns within it, one on the North Side, and another in the South… Daemon Targaryen… Jace’s very young great uncle… had a cabin near the North Town.

But… it was not like you remember when you were children

The first holiday after summer break starts, the celebration of the union of all the Kingdoms brought into one, the Targaryen-Strongs would invite you all to the cabin in the Isle of Faces, to spend the holidays having icicles, having fun on the lake, and Daemon pulling you in his boat as you clinged onto an inflatable banana for dear life

But is not as you remembered

This thing looked abandoned

And it probably was 

“This is how horror movies start”, you pointed out, as you took your sunglasses and accommodated them in the top of your head. 

“Well, Daemon didn’t quite returned after that last summer…”, muttered Jace, “he told me it only needed some grass to be trimmed”

You thought that cleaning and clearing this out was going to be so fun, you really like remodels

“As long as we have all the tools to do this”, you murmured 

Jace opened the door all excited, and yes, it was dusty, but it was exactly like you remembered it, maybe… smaller, well, you had grown up

The house was huge, Daemon had inherited it from their parents, they built it with the knowledge of his eleven brothers and sisters and their families.

It wasn’t fancy, but it was big and comfortable, it was a summer house, ten bedrooms, two of them on the first floor, the rest upstairs, but one huge space for livingroom and dinning room, and a huge kitchen, an open balcony where you can see the second floor and some of the doors to the rooms

The colour of the walls was red, the living room had a huge fireplace, that Daemon let you cook smores in to the twins, Jace and you

All beautiful fun memories 

Cregan could see it in your face, the excitement

“Alrightttttt what rooms are you going to take?”, asked Jace

“Uh! Can I take Rhaenyra’s room?”, you asked, “it has the nicest view”, you looked at Cregan who was looking back at you

“Can I take that room too?”, he asked Jake, but looking at you

“Yes, and we will take the master room”, teased Jace, and you thanked that they were in the opposite sides of the house 

“Alright, I say we take possession of our quarters for the Summer, and then, we begin cleaning this mess”, you proposed, and the plan was accepted. 

It was… a mess

Cregan closed the door when he entered the room behind you, you turned around, raising an eyebrow at him. He grabbed you softly, sticking your body to his, smirking

“I missed you”, you giggled, hugging him tightly by the waist

“Missed you too”, you said happily

“Can I show you how much?”, he teased, you shook your head

“Not now, our friends are waiting”, you reminded him softly, he growled, kissing you in the corner of your mouth

“Tonight then”

“Obviously”, you said matter of factly, he released you after kissing you softly, you were so happy to have him again

After leaving your things in your room and cleaning around in there, removing the dust, and checking for creepy crawlers, you went back to the main house, because the same treatment needed to be done to the entire house. Jace fired up a speaker they brought from Winterfell, put on some good songs, Sara found the cleaning products in the kitchen under the sink, and after battling with a few spiders, you started working

“You are to sweet for meeee”, singed Jace as he was sweeping the floor below

“I’d rather take my whiskey neeeattttt”, you and Sara singed from above, in the second floor as you were dusting the wooden railings

Cregan moved the furniture around, for Jace to sweep underneath, and tried to get rid of the dust for him over the furniture too

You later held up the light for Jace to turn on the generator in a small creepy house in the backyard, and cleaned the solar panels to be able to have light all day long and night too, everything was working great. The house lit up like a Christmas tree just in time for sunset. 

But Jace, and a little bit of you, still had an ace up your sleeve, and walked towards the garage, there were many things in there, all sorts of tools, gardening supplies, and…

“Aha!”, exclaimed Jace, triumphantly, he grabbed the end of the old sheet and with one long movement, he revealed what was underneath, the Myth, the legend…

Daemon Targaryen’s Easter Jeep Safari, a classic, older than Jace and you

“Fuck yeah!”, you admired

“Cregan had an oldie like this one that he fixed all by himself, tomorrow he could help me with it”, he said, “and we’ll have wheels for the summer!”

“Love it”, you said triumphantly

You came back into the house to see Sara and Cregan had returned from grocery shopping. 

“I have great news!”, said Cregan happily, “I got a job opportunity”

“Really?”, you asked, amazed, “where?”

“Actually, for all of us, but we’ll have to see it tomorrow”, he said, and he seemed so happy and excited it rub off of you too

“Great!”, said Jace, “tomorrow we will check it out!”

“The guy told me to go there afternoon”

“So in the morning we jump to do the gardening”, you offered

You had tacos and beer for dinner. And then, came the good part, your private meeting with Cregan. You felt like a little girl, all giggly, like you were doing something you were not supposed to, while you went up the stairs with him to “go to bed”.

“I missed you”, Cregan purred in your ear as soon as the door closed, you hugged his arms that hugged you

“I missed you too”, you said, he kissed you in your weak spot, right under your ear at the start of your jaw. You turned around to kiss him properly, he hugged you tightly, he hugged you back. Oh you had missed him so much. You undress each other carefully, enjoying every second of it, he smelled so good. You were greedy, touching him everywhere you could lay your hands on. 

“Do you wanna…?”

“Shut up”, you giggled pushing him into the bed playfully, his smile was wide, as he let you guide him, only wearing his underpants, you were only wearing your underwear. You straddled his hips, leaning in and kissing him

His hands roamed your body.

You took your time, you kissed him from his mouth to his jaw, to his neck, feeling a bit frisky, his big hands were on your hips.

“I realise something”, you whispered, dropping kisses on his chest, “while I was away from you”

“What was that?”, he asked, in between groans, you looked down at him, with such love in your eyes that is was’t necessary to put it into words

“Oh”, he said, pleased, “you too right?”, you giggled

“What?”, you asked back

“I love you too”, he said, with a wide smile, you gasped, smiling back, he leaned up and grabbed you, putting you under him so quickly. It was his turn to kiss you, lick you, bit you a bit. It had only been ten days, and you had missed him so much, really missed him. He took off the two pieces of clothing left. HIs mouth on your breasts felt so, so nice. When there was no other inch of kiss for you both to kiss of each other, he finally thrusted inside of you, you both moaned wantonly. 

You really, really, had missed him. The way he felt inside of you was something else, out of this world. It was a hell of a reunion.

You woke up cuddled with Cregan, he smiled when you opened your eyes, he was so handsome.

“Good morning”, he whispered, you smiled back

“Mornin’”, you whispered back, he leaned in and kissed you, just a peck on the lips, “Its my turn to make breakfast”, you say lazily, getting up of bed, Cregan tried to grab you, playfully, but you sneaked away just in time between giggles

You met Sara in the kitchen, that had been sanitised the day before so you could eat here and not get grayscale. You made some of everything, waffles, scrambled eggs, juice, coffee, all of it. You were so excited, to start a new day, you decided it was best to dedicate the whole week to get everything in order.

The boys started the heavy machinery to clear the front yard and backyards, that included a small tractor to mow the grass. You spent the entire morning cleaning up the front and backyard, you were so lucky there were four of you, with friends, a good speaker playing good music, the house was in fighting shape by lunch, at least, no snake was going to be able to hide on the grass to bite you. 

“I have a meeting with the guy that is going to rent me his palace to work”, muttered Cregan

“I think we can take Caraxes”, said Jacaerys, Cregan and Sara looked at you weirdly

“Daemon’s car”, you said with a smile

“Your family names their cars?”, asked Cregan

“Family tradition”, Jacaerys said with a wide smile, “but we have to be very careful with the car, it’s Daemon’s”

“Of course man, you drive it”, assured Cregan

“I just gotta say, I really appreciate what we are doing here”, said Jace, “for the very first time Daemon is treating me like an adult, my family too, and he was truly impressed with all the pictures I had been sending him”, he said happily

“And he is going to be even more amazed!”, you said, “once we finished up here”

You jump start the car with a battery charger that was in the garage, and it turns up pretty quickly. And the four of you got inside it, to pump gas on the near north town and then take the street that went away from the city centre, but still near, a small road that went by the edge of the lake, until you could see a small cabin

“This is the address”, says Cregan, looking extremely excited. You all jumped out of the car. There was a dock, you could see Harrenhal from here, but the beautiful lake in between. You could see boats around too. But as you looked at the cabin, well, you were not impressed. 

“Well.. you are the one that said that you wanted “some job that I got on my own”, Jace mocked, as you four looked at the rundown cabin… cabin was such a nice word this thing was… something else

A shack?

“I can feel the grayscale entering my pores”, you said lowly

“Now now, don’t be brats!”, Sara said, “with a bit of paint, and some lovin’...”

“And a flamethrower”, said Jace

“...This could really be something”, she continued 

As she said it, the wooden canoe hanging from the side dropped to the ground comically, making all of you jump 

“Why?”, you asked Cregan

“The man was willing to rent it for very little if we promised to improve it!”, he explained simply

Cregan walked towards the door, knocked and entered. You waited, he needed to talk to the owner

It wasn’t even a minute before an old man that smelled like fish bait danced out of the rundown cabin, cheering and happy dancing

“Poor suckers!”, he laughed, as he danced away from there 

Cregan followed with a set of keys in his hands

“It’s ours for the summer”, he said with a wide smile, he was so excited you just looked at Jace and you both nodded, silently compromising in getting involved with this

“What’s the verdict, designer?”, asked Cregan as you entered slowly and carefully, like you were walking on eggs

“Well…”, it was a lot of wood, a counter, broken shelves, it extended towards the back, where there was supposed to be kayaks and other water sport equipments, but they were very old and some of them broken, there was a small second floor, but the rails to the first were broken, but it was a nice space.

And you saw the small dock outside. You could tell it had potential, you could tell that a few years back with everything painted and all, it was nice.

You looked back at Cregan and he was looking at you expectantly 

“We’ll need 4 buckets of paint, a sander, a thousand sandpapers, a couple of pieces of wood to cover some mistakes, ropes, wood filler, nails, a hammer,... but I think… this place truly can be something”, you said, and Cregan smiled warmly at you

“Alright you heard her! Let’s get some stuff!”, said Sara happily. And you went trough town and back tot he house

“Alright let’s get this party started”, said Cregan decisively, putting a blank drawing block page over the table. “We’ll buy second hand kayaks and waterboards, and rent them, the town is packed, we can make a profit”, he declared his master plan 

“Alright”, you said happily, “we have a cost on the materials”, you said scribbling down once you saw them at the local store. 

“We have the cost of the inversion”, said Cregan, scribbling down some more, “I think we can make a profit”

“Alright, let’s get to work”, sentenced Jacaerys. 

And you did, for the rest of the week, you spent your mornings fixing the shack, you started by fixing the wood, then painting. You and Cregan actually turned the second floor into a cute corner where you could nap, hang out or even cuddle, you installed an amazing rope hammock where you could lay and chill. You fixed the downstairs stands, and after you painted the walls you installed hooks to hang the kayaks the boys purchased. 

You filled it up with things the neighbours had given you. 

It took you seven complete days to finish cleaning, sanding, repairing, painting, and putting order in the shack and its surroundings. But the ending? It was so worth it. The best part is that the shack had a small beach by the dock. There was an old safeguard post there that you cleaned and fixed too, and when everybody that passed by saw that it was fixed, people started hanging around. You cleaned and put the kayaks on display. And for inauguration day, there were actually people coming to see what the fuss was all about.

“I’m tired of sanding”, you whined, with a beer in hand

“I’m tired of painting”, said Sara, with still painting on her cheek

“I’m tired of trimming grass”, moaned Jace

“I’m tired of fixing that wood, and the deck”, said Cregan

“But it’s over now!”, you had installed fairy lights outside, and the summer night was beautiful, the water was so instilled, you could hear cicadas in the small woods nearby. Even though at day, there was a lot of heat, at night, it simmered, letting you enjoy the warm weather. 

You set up a place to make a bonfire, you put out lawn chairs, and a cooler with beers, and you finally could relax, you toasted for your week’s hard work, and for what it was turning out to be, a great summer. 

“Alright so tomorrow we open the Shack”, said Cregan

“There was already people asking about it”, said Sara

“Well, we did spread the word”, said Jace

“Kayak and water sports supplies rental”, you whispered with a smile. 

“For the Shack!”, said Cregan, raising his beer

“For the Shack!”, you sang in unison.

The very next day you wore matching shirts and jean shorts for the opening, you were minding the cashier, while Cregan showed the kids and their parents the kayaks for rental. Sara and Jace were outside watching the people on the lake and also helping the people inside. It was a great first day. Where you realised you could also sell fishing accessories, as it was great in the area and the guy that minded the store before sold it. 

Another week went by, you were working on shifts but still the schedule was pretty flexible, so you always had time to hang by the lake, and you were having a great time. It got better because you knew Ben was coming, and also you believed that Baela and Rhaena, it was going to be great, even better. 

Today, it was the boy’s turn to mind the shack, while you and Sara bathed in the sun on the docs, it was a weekday, so it was fairly calm day

“Sara…”, you whined, laying down at the dock, “I’m so fucking horny”

“Me too”, she sighed, accommodating her sunglasses, “it's the summer”, she said

“How does that make any sense? it's hot as fuck! we are sweaty… uncomfortable”, you muttered, rolling over to sunbathe on your other side

“Yes but in the animal Kingdom, if we were animals and mate now, our pups would be born in Spring and have more time to grow before having to face the harsh winter, you see? we are in mating season”, you looked at her in wonder

“That actually makes sense”, you tried, and you both laughed 

“It does, doesn't it?” she mocked back.

The town where you were working and spending the summer was beautiful, it was less than 10,000 habitants, but now in the summer it is more populated. You loved walking by the town’s square, you loved the local stores and the people were so nice. You could actually walk, -although it was a long one- to the house, and you were enjoying the town too much. You liked the house, and now you have come to love the Shack.

Cregan was smiling at you as you walked towards the market, today you were going to light up the grill at the house, throw some veggies and some cuts, have some beers. 

You were setting up the girl, and sent Daemon a picture of the four of you, all smiley faces. You had cleaned up the house, the garden, a bit of the garage. Jace had been so happy, and Daemon seemed too, he seemed pleased.

You felt so happy in the little kingdom you had created. 

That;s why your stomach turned when you heard an engine nearing the house, two cars. You shared concerned looks because the house was pretty isolated, you wondered who it could be. You were in the backyard and the driveway was on the front.It wasn’t until you heard the car doors and you heard voices that you were truly concerned

Jacaerys froze, like really froze

“Oh no”, he muttered, you all looked at him

“What?”, you asked quickly

“I didn’t think they’d mean it”

“What? Who?”, you heard people walking around the house and towards the back

“I heard that there’s a party around here!”, was that? No

Aegon showed up, raising both his arms, he had drinks on them, following him closely there was a group of five other people. The four of you truly looked concerned, but not as much as you, when you saw none other than Aemond himself showing up to the reunion

“What are you doing here?”, asked Jace

“Well, it's our summer home too, isn’t it Nephew?”, mocked Aegon. And your small kingdom was in jeopardy of conquest.

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[fannyyann]

Keeping up with the Florida Panthers (aka Sara Civian interviews Matthew)

EP Rinkside: What's something away from the rink that’s making you happy these days?

Matthew Tkachuk: I would say, just, I'm lucky at this time of year. Especially across the whole country, it seems like it's freezing everywhere. It's beautiful down in Florida. And we just moved into our new practice rink recently, so that's been awesome.

EP:��There was a quote floating around from (head coach Paul Maurice) from before the nine-game win streak and before you started getting hot on the scoresheet. He said people are going to say “Matthew Tkachuk is back,” and he's going to say you never left. Did you see that?

MT: I did, yes.

EP: How did you feel about it, and what's your relationship with him like?

MT: Well, Paul's been a very important part of my last few years. He’s one of, if not the best, coaches that I've ever played with. He's been very important for my development, and I just think that he trusts my game, and I trust my game. I wouldn't say (the puck) was going in early, but I haven’t changed one thing, I'm still doing the exact same thing, it's just finding a little bit more success right now.

It’s been a great year for our team and as of late, it’s picking it up a little bit for myself. Hopefully, we can just keep trending into the second half of the year here.

EP: How important is that trust between a coach and a player and how is it developed?

MT: I just think that he's always given me the right leeway, but still expects me to play the right way. He knows that there's some parts of my game that (are unique) I need to maybe take a little bit more chances than the average player. He gives me full leeway to do that, but also expects me to work my butt off and to lead by example.

EP: We always talk about “buy-in,” it's kind of cliché at this point, and you guys obviously have that factor. But how does something like that start?

MT: I just think being so close to winning it all last year has made it very, very easy to come back this year and have that immediate buy-in from the guys wanting to win a championship here. So many returning guys who are so close and so upset with not finishing it off. There's a lot of motivation.

EP: Do you have a favourite moment from last season's run?

MT: I would say, probably all of the series-clinching wins, the series-winning goals. The overtime winner in Boston, the overtime winner in Toronto, the last second one at home against Carolina.

All three of those are by far the greatest goals I've ever been a part of.

EP: I feel like we're not as a society talking about Sam Bennett enough. Can you give us a little bit about what he's like off the ice and what it's like to play with him?

MT: He just plays so hard.

He was one of the first guys I met when coming to Calgary, and we've been so close ever since. I'm so happy that we got to play together again down here in Florida. He was the first guy I talked to when I got traded, and we've just been so close for eight-plus years now.

It’s so fun that we're able to play with each other still, we just have such great chemistry on and off the ice. He just plays so hard and he complements my game so well. And off the ice, we're just super close and have a great group of guys that pretty much do everything together away from the rink.

It makes it so much fun to come to the rink every day, work with them, and then when we leave the rink, do stuff together.

EP: If you became the commissioner of the league today, what's the first thing you'd change?

MT: Overtime until somebody scores. No shootouts. And no back-to-backs. I don't know if we need any more back-to-backs right now.

EP: Other than you, who has the best chirps in the league?

MT: I'd say the guy who chirps a lot on our team is Brandon Montour. He has some good ones. Nick Cousins has got some good ones. (Ryan) Lomberg, too. They all have some good ones.

EP: Best advice your dad ever gave you?

MT: Two things: Compete and be a good teammate.

EP: Last year you gained some recognition outside of the hockey world, and it kind of sparked, like, a debate about personality in the NHL. I've always wondered What you actually think about this whole conversation, like, do you like being kind of the personality guy in the NHL?

MT: Well, I’m never going to not be myself. I grew up with great parents that taught me great things and around a great family. I’ll carry that for the rest of my life. I’m not trying to do anything, and some guys are (quieter) and that’s OK. This is just how my personality is.

EP: Can you give me three words to describe the current Panthers?

MT: Oh, I would say very fast. So fast. Close – we’re a super close team.  I've never seen a team like this where, you know, we're going to dinner on the road and we're having, you know, 15 people reservations and everybody hanging out with each other. it's been awesome. Fast, close, and fun. Nobody has more fun than our team.

[mapileonxputellas]

Friends Who Became Family (Barca x Reader)

In support of Sara Bjork, my take on the other side of this. Loved writing this. This is quite different from the other ones I write. I started writing this with a specific player in mind as the partner but you can choose whoever you want or read it like this! Wrote in the style of a tribune. TW: IVF, pregnancy loss, pregnancy, depression 3.3k words

Playing football.

Having a baby.

Two things many women dream about all over the world and it is widely accepted if they don’t want to do one or either of those things.

But what if you want to do both? What if you reach the top of your game in football and decide that you want to have a baby? What then? Why should we have to sacrifice one to have the other?

But for that to happen people need to stand up and fight for our rights. People like my wife.

.

We’ve been together for seven years now. We met doing the one thing we both love: playing football. It’s cringy to say but it definitely was love at first sight, at least for me. I caught the eye of an opposition in an international friendly and the rest is history. A DM later than week, followed by months of messaging, millions of miles between us got us to this point.

Just over a year after we decided to make the move together, to join Wolfsburg. Neither of us could speak any German, we didn’t know anyone but with two suitcases and each other we made the move.

After four years together, three living together, it felt like we were ready for the next step. We both wanted to be mothers but we were both aware it wasn’t as simple as that. So we started looking for a donor and IVF. She was going to carry the baby and take a break from football. A decision made by the both of us.

At that point it was almost a near formality for both of us that we would sign a contract renewal but when two of the biggest clubs in the world come calling for you it is hard to refuse.

That meant moving to Barcelona, a new country. All in the middle of a pandemic. All whilst trying to start our family.

We knew this wasn’t going to be simple so when the opportunity came to start the transfers we couldn’t say no.

Our first transfer failed.

I’ve dreamt of this life since I was a young girl but those few months felt like a nightmare. I played football three times a week but had no energy to get out of bed. I celebrated every goal scored but I cried myself to sleep every night. I met the fans after every game but couldn’t truly be thankful for anything anymore.

Looking back I should have spoken to someone about this but I used football as my escape. My head was free. For those 90 minutes I could focus my anger and disappointment on something else.

Football was my rock.

….

Three failed transfers later we were losing hope. The small string of hope we were both clinging to was fraying and wouldn’t hold on for much longer. We’d got used to the faint two pink lines on the test, almost waiting for them to fade slowly over the days.

Then they didn’t. They stuck. For weeks we were almost in denial, always wondering when it would all come crashing down around us.

We kept it a secret as you will have guessed, both of us playing until my partner had to stop.

My wife has well documented her journey into motherhood, challenging the rights of mothers to FIFA and ensuring they are cared for throughout their pregnancy and motherhood.

Just under a year ago we welcomed our daughter into the world. It’s true when they say in that one moment everything changes. Football, has and always will be my biggest passion, but suddenly I had this whole other meaning to life.

But this isn’t so much about my journey through motherhood. I’m not sure if it’s visible but whenever she and my wife are in the crowd I can play with such freedom, knowing my three greatest loves are in one place.

This is a letter to my family.

…..

My wife….

You’re the most loving, caring, fearless, amazing woman I’ve ever met and I’m so lucky to have had the pleasure of being your partner in life.

Most people would describe us as quite cautious, well thought out players. That couldn’t have been more different to the day I made you my wife.

December 31st 2019

You were both so excited at the prospect of starting to try for a baby, spending the Christmas season in your native country and celebrating with both of your families present.

“I love you.” Your girlfriend whispered in your ear as you led in bed on the final morning of the year. “So much.”

“I love you too.”

“Enough to marry me?”

“What?”

“If I find a registrar will you marry me? Tonight?”

“That’s crazy, we can’t do that.”

“Why not? I love you, you love me. Who cares how many people are there? Who cares if we don’t have some fancy reception and a massive cake? All I need is you and I, our family, some friends and a takeaway for tea.”

“What will we wear?”

“We’ll go shopping, we’ve got time. Think about it, tonight we can watch the fireworks go off as wives. So will you do it? Will you marry me?”

“Go on then.”

That night you got married, underneath the stars in your childhood home. Everything absolutely perfect.

I’ve always admired you on the pitch, you exude confidence in everything you do. You’re a heartless defender but I’ve seen the heart of gold you’ve got inside of you.

On the pitch you’re determined in everything you do. There was a point in trying where I wasn’t sure if we could continue trying without breaking our own hearts in the process. But you showed your determination and love for our daughter with every injection, every setback and throughout your pregnancy.

I’ll never be able to thank you enough for everything you sacrificed for us and I hope you know that every time I go onto that pitch I do it for you.

The biggest compliment I can give you is that before I always wondered what I would do when I could no longer play football. How would I fill that void that has been there my whole life? But it couldn’t be easier when I know I’ve got a lifetime with you by my side.

My most precious memory is lifting the Champions League trophy with you and only you know the reason why.

May 2021

The atmosphere in Gothenburg was a strange one. The eerie quietness of the small crowd a stark contrast to the elation among you and your teammates.

The trophy was slowly being passed around, you as always happy to let the other have the limelight before you do.

“Y/N get over here.” Caro shouted. “It’s your turn.”

“Stop hiding at the back.” Mapi added.

“Alright, alright.”

“Let the love birds have a photo.” Alexia chimed in but stopped to pull the both of you in for a hug. “ No-one deserves it more than you two. Now go and do the cringy couples’ photos.”

“Very funny.” They rightfully teased you though, the two of you getting your photos with the trophy.

“I don’t think I’ve seen you smile this wide in months.” She whispered, a reference to your third failed transfer just three months before.

“It’s been hard. Really hard.” You didn’t want to ruin this moment with the tears gathering in your eyes. “But we’re here and I’ve got you. You’ve got me.”

“Maybe we’ve got a good luck charm today.”

“Up there?”

“Down here.” It took you a moment to work out what she was talking about, her hand gently placing your own on her stomach hidden behind the trophy which you fumbled in your hands. “Mapi, take the trophy.”

The trophy went away and you could finally wrap your arms around her. Slightly picking her up off the ground to move over to the side. “Are you serious?”

“I had it done 4 weeks ago, the lines are still there. 6 weeks gone.”

“I-“ You thought you were ready for this moment, you’d been waiting for it for so long but hearing those words filled you with so many emotions. You never wanted this moment to end though as you both just stayed in each other’s arms, chaos ensuing all around you but it felt like you were the only two people in the world. “Thank you.”

“No thank you.”

But I’ve never been as proud of you these past two years. We can appreciate that though it should be normal, we are lucky that we were supported by Barcelona. That didn’t stop you going further, taking it higher up and making sure players across the world are secure financially, emotionally and physically. You’ve changed the sport forever.

I’ve wrote this for you but I hope I show you every day how much you mean to me. I could fill pages and pages just talking about you.  

I love you always X

….

To my daughter….

I’d use this letter to tell you how much I love you but I hope you know that already.

I have no idea when you’ll read this letter, three years from now, ten years from now or twenty years from now but I’d like to say some things that will never change.

After saying all that I hope you know how much we love you. I hope you know that every day I look up to the stars and think about how lucky I am that I have you.

I hope you know that I’ll support you in whatever you want to do in life, whether that’s being a footballer or being a hairdresser. Though I do hope you won’t get bored of being in a football stadium.

April 2022

This felt like the biggest moment of your life so far. A Champions League semi-final leg in Camp Nou against your old club Wolfsburg but it wasn’t just the 90,000 plus fans that were in attendance. Somewhere in a box in the high heavens was a month-old little girl who just happened to share your name.

You’d debated whether to bring her but you simply couldn’t resist the opportunity. She would probably sleep the whole match but just to know she was here was enough.

The 5-1 win topped it all off, the celebrations jubilant as you all interacted with the fans, this was everything you’d worked for and more.

“Y/N! Y/N!” You could hear the fans chanting your name, merely supposing they wanted you to celebrate with them you carried on jumping but two arms wrapped around your shoulders.

“Someone’s come to see you.” Alexia whispered, your head immediately turning to find your wife and a little bundle in her arms. Ear defenders visible over her fluffy baby suit. “Go and enjoy this moment together.”

You didn’t hesitate, jogging over to your biggest loves, pulling one into your arms to your chest and pressing a kiss to the other’s lips. You couldn’t help but admire the tiny Barcelona shirt with your name on the back as she stayed asleep. “How did she like it?”

“It think she’s a fan already, she woke up for a feed and then stayed awake. I think it was the lights but we’ll say it was the football.”

“She’s a culer already.” Irene greeted you both before gently stroking the baby’s head. “Once again, she is gorgeous.”

“Must be the genetics.”

“Go and take her to celebrate.” Your wife insisted.

“You come too.” She haggled and came over but stayed towards the back with some injured players as you took her closer to where the team were. She must have felt the movement as eyes suddenly peered up at you but to your surprise the crying was kept at bay. “Hello, have you come to see mama play?” She simply gurgled back at you before settling against your chest. “You’ve got to get used to this baby.”

“Look who we have here?” Patri came over, carefully kissing the top of her head. “Feel amazing?”

“Feels incredible, the first of many.”

I hope you know that I do everything for you. I do everything so I can come home to your smiley face and watch you grow up.

I hope you know I’m always here for you always. In tough times and good times I’m by your side as your mama and your best friend in one.

I hope you strive for your own happiness and never settle for anything less. I hope you’re as caring and fearless as your mama is. I hope I make you proud.

I hope you know you’re perfect in every way. Never stop being you.

Love mama x

….

To my teammates….

Strangers who became friends who became family.

I’ve been in many teams before, I’ve played with lots of people but they’ve always stayed as friends. You’ve become my family.

We moved to Barcelona not knowing anyone and you took us in, taught us the language and supported us in every way possible.

I know you saw the dark moments. I know I tried to hide away and I’m so thankful you didn’t let me. I wish I could single all of you out and tell you how great you are but I’m sure I’ve told you all how much I appreciate you so I’ll single some of you out.

Jana, my little Jana. This last year has shown me what an absolute talent you are, not because of your talent on the field but for your perseverance off it. Us defenders stick together and it’s fair to say you’re like a little sister to me. I hope you know how much I appreciate every joke you tell, every smile you give because without knowing it you lifted my mood on some very tough days.

Patri. I think it was four months into knowing me that you found me that night. I’ll never be able to put into words how thankful I was for you but I hope you know that I am. You’re a superstar in every way.

December 2020

You’d officially hit rock bottom. It felt like you couldn’t do anything right. You strive for perfection and tonight you were definitely not that.

The sky was pitch black, the flood lights the only light illuminating you. The stands were empty, the only noise coming from your boots hitting the ball. Over and over.

The silly thing was you’d won the match, a last gasp winner sealing the 3 points but the initial equaliser was your fault in your head. You’d let her get the better of you 1v1 and allowed her to put the cross in for a tap in. All you.

So that’s why you were here, repeating that drill over and over again. Punishing yourself with every minute that ticked by.

“Need some company.” You didn’t need to look to know it was Patri, simply ignoring her and carrying on. “You can ignore me all you want, I’m not leaving without you.”

“Go home.”

“You know I can’t do that, but I’ll be over there when you’re ready.”

Twenty minutes had passed and you could see she was still there and even though she was wrapped up in a coat you couldn’t let her freeze any longer. Saying that you still only sat down next to her, neither of you speaking just watching the stars. “We’re trying for a baby.” You whispered, not getting any response from her. “The second one failed this morning.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I know.” There was nothing more to say as you felt her head to come to rest on your shoulder.

“I’m always here you know, morning and night. If you need someone to speak to.”

“Thank you.”

“Are you speaking to anyone about this? You can’t just stay out here all night punishing yourself for a mistake we can all make.”

“I just feel like I keep letting everyone down.”

“You’re not. Look at me.” Gently grabbing your face her eyes met your own. “We all made mistakes out there tonight, I let the ball run through to your player then Mapi didn’t react in the middle. It happens, there’s no use punishing yourself now. Speak to someone, someone who can help. Anyone, a professional, one of us, your family. Someone you can rant and cry to until you can’t anymore.”

“I’ll try.”

I never told you this but I kept that promise that night, all because of you.

Irene, thank you for the late-night phone calls. You understand me like no-one else, Like you have a sixth sense of when I’m stuck in my own mind. You’ve been my biggest teacher on and off the field and you’ve helped me be the person I am today.

Mapi, my best friend. I remember our first meeting, I can now firmly joke that you’d got out of the wrong side of the bed that morning. You barely said hello to me before tackling me to the ground and whipping a free kick over my head in training. But that’s what makes you amazing. It’s hard to look back at that now and not smile knowing how close we are now after you apologised on a night out where we both stayed in the corner. A symbol of our friendship.

The day we came home from the hospital it was you who left meals at our doorstep, with a little care package for the three of us. It was you who fought your way to the front of the crowd to get the first hold. You’re right: looks are deceiving.

Alexia, my captain. You’re the biggest role model for me. I hope my daughter is as smart, courageous, passionate and caring as you are. I hope we put a smile on your face when you needed it just like you did for us.

The birth was coming closer, the both of you completely on edge about when it was going to happen. You were needed for the Champions League games but you also had a pregnant wife at home.

On a random Saturday you got a call from Alexia that the team were having a get together, your regular restaurant had an availability and they made some last-minute plans.

This wasn’t exactly what you needed right now, the stress of preparing the house for the baby was stressful but you were glad to get out of the house.

What you wasn’t expecting though was to open the doors of the restaurant to be met with all your teammates and both your mums and sisters. The room covered in pink and a massive baby sign at the back.

“Oh my…. What are you doing here?” You shouted, pulling your family into her a group hug.

“We’re here to celebrate of course. Your lovely teammates have been planning this for a while”

After you welcomed them you went over to your teammates, individually thanking them all. “Who organised this?”

“We all helped but this was Alexia’s idea, she also wanted to invite your family.” Ana admitted.

When you came to Alexia you gave her the biggest hug of all, tears in both your eyes. “Thank you, you didn’t have to do this.”

“If being captain doesn’t allow you to do this sort of stuff then there’s no point. That baby needs to get used to us anyway so may as well start whilst it’s in the womb.”

I can’t wait for all the seasons to come x

….

And to all of you out there. All of us have times when it can seem like there’s no light at the end of the tunnel, when all hope is lost. Just remember the light never goes away, it’s only hidden from view. It will come back.

Y/N x

[saltyr3mix]

wiatt nicholson head canons plz

ok. Wiatt is very similar to Damien to me. In the sense of oh boy, I hate writing this character so much. It's a quartet of Damien, Norman, lewis and Wiatt. Hate all of them/j they each have their ups and downs. Mainly downs but like- Lewis is by far the easiest of the group but still so far behind the others in terms of effort to write. Especially when paired with Wiatt. TGE ONLY TIME IVE EVER WRITTEN WIGHLIGHT AND WAS SATISFIED WITH IT WAS THAT ONE LIKE 10 LINE SCENE IN FEBRUARY 4TH WHERE THEY APOLOGIZE TO EACH OTHER. IT IS MY GREATEST FLAW. I CANT WRITE WILIGHT AND IT HAUNTS ME-

but this isn't about them! Just Wiatt! So let's get started on it!

To learn from the tragedies: he's do stressed. Let's this guy be. He just wants to help his boyfriend but also doesn't have a clue what's going on. He thinks he knows everything. He doesnt. At all. He's sort of the main focus of book one but is a lot more background in book 2, which focuses more on Sara. Both of them are technically going through the same thing but because Sara was the villain is treated a lot differently. I sometimes think about what would have happened if lewis hadn't explained things to Waitt. And instead he and Sara teamed up to get answers and everything would have been fine. But no, lewis is far too dramatic for that.

Shattered dreams: he dies. womp womp. Does become Guide! (Gaslight. Useless. Idiot. Dead. Employee) But I think I'll talk about him more in the Oc au because I think despite it being nearly the same situation he's more interesting there.

One shots/you'll live until I die: I thinkkkkk her appears like once in yluid and it's like- the least relevant scene in the fic i was just trying to even out the perspectives. But in that and other one shots he's sort of just a mechanic. Almost never more apparent than that. Try to keep it close to cannon, he likes helping people but tends to mess it up a lot but never enough to be fully blamed for it.

I will make them create my world: don't. Don't talk me. I- I'll figure it out! (Has over 10k of scrapped shit THAT US JUST HIM. The reason there hasn't been a new chapter since February is Because of that man and how hard he is to write and plan)

Buried masks: I think I've made a few post on him but he stays outside the basement because Sara doesn't like him. He helps Damien with his investigation and is highly suspicious of Sara. Eventually he does get more involved for a big event! But that is major spoilers :3

Swap au/skating in silence: he plays Norman here! Which I find very interesting. Not interesting enough to have concrete ideas for it but enough that if given the chance i could see myself exploring. Wiatts like main thing is he feels worth through helping others. And by directly helping Lewis he'd really enjoy the job. If lewis was different from Sara and still have him praise and carted about him it would honestly create a more toxic relationship than canon because Wiatt would be left clinging for Lewis's validation and willing to go very, very far for it.

Superhero au: he's chill. Doesn't have any powers. Is a reporter and a hero stan. Untilllll things start happening and lewis is sobbing in his apartment because he's having to deal with some very traumatized kids, and half their trauma may have accidentally been his fault and he knows the heros are all a massive lie and starts giving wiatt info about some of the more horrible things the organization has done and wiatt starts a character arc of now speaking against the hero system and trying to in mask it for what it is! Mostly he just appears in the background, he's sort of the symbol of the general public, being powerless and living a mostly normal life.

Steven universe au: he lives in his car as a photographer. He enjoys life and specifically lifes mysteries and the unnatural. He fines this fenced of beach that has been rumered to be haunted after a man died mysteriously several years ago. Wiatt never followed the rules and climbs over because the view from that clean of a beach must be stunning!

And bam! Rock Aliens. They all scare each other but wiatt has a camera and the aliens don't know what that is and they think it's a weapon. They explain they didn't mean to bother and humans and Wiatts like oh wait their really sweet. And he's friends with them now!!! He gives everyone their more human names and let's them experience life. So far he's the only human that doesn't get experimented on so that's good for him. He is a little overwhelmed by dating a space dictator that fake killed himself but it's ok, he'll figure it out.

Maze au: he's human. Don't know how he got in the maze. I can imagine him playing a role similar to Kyle in the sense of like, he's here to help and try his best not to get into anything but is not going to sit around. He's probably a runner. Not a very good one. Maybe he stays in the back and makes maps. He and Oliver team up to make most of the clearings.... Everything. They make weapons and tools and supplies and help build housing and food they are the progressives. They make sure the clearing is constantly improving.

Oc au: he dies! Not to litho though cause we accidentally took him out. Instead he dies to jot! In a....messy scene. Both because there was a lot of blood and two it was written late at night and neither of us really knew where we wanted it to go only that wiatt needed to be dead by the end of it. So mans got straight up beat. Joy crushed this dude with her bare hands. The virus actually took out two....well killed two people by technicality it knock loli out for a good while but she's fine now! Yeah, we made it slightly more deadly just for fun. And now Wiatt is a tour guide with amnesia! He loves the company and works mostly in the lobby with Dot. Star also had his memories erased in this au.

Instead the whole what about love speech, was joy about carly. Which Winnie being already connected to Carly made it a lot easier and so roller gays are doing fantastic and wighlight is struggling.

We have yet for star and guide to interact but I'm looking for to when they do!

that should be ittttttt. He plays a background character in most of the aus. So not a ton to say.

Thank you for the ask!!

[youremyheaven]

Unpopular opinion: Tripti Dimri is on her way to becoming Margot Robbie of Bollywood (saying this with no hate to either because I love both but in context to how men loved Margot till she did Barbie and everyone is just hating on her now for no reason). I loved Tripti in laila majnu and bulbul and I mean I'm sure it has something to do with her plan for her career but Bad Newz is just bad news for her career rn. She's been getting extremely sexualised ever since Animal came out.... Idk what's the point of this film either. Personally I have no issues with the film per se but it's giving 'Revamped Bridget Jones Baby' vibes except usme neither of the men knew who the father is. Plus with the current situation of women hating going on people are going to be like see this is what women do and shit! Idk why everyone is making women the villains 🥲

I really don't want it to be the case but I don't think Triptii is going to have much of a career unless some miracle takes place and she begins to be recognised as a serious actor

It's so fcked up how Animal was the movie that gave her a big break 😔 a movie where an Outsider like her had to literally lick a Nepokid's shoes 😔😔 Vanga is such a violent misogynist, I hope he's rotting and never makes another film

I wish she hadn't done Animal because I don't think she gained anything from the film. The whole "national crush" thing is fake PR hype and most people don't find her attractive or feminine and slut shame for that movie :((( the amount of comments I see on IG reels about her calling her "cheap" or "masculine looking" is insane 💀

I know she made a ton of money and achieved mainstream recognition post - Animal but at what cost???

And she's Pushya Moon 😪😪 doing a film that clearly went against a principles is not going to help her in the long run (Saturnians always suffer when they act contrary to the rigidly righteous nature of Saturn)

If she had stayed on her indie film trajectory she would've eventually received a big break. Maybe it would've taken longer but she'd have been taken seriously as an actor and enjoyed a much better reputation.

I don't want to sound like I'm blaming her because as an Outsider with a handful of films under her belt, Triptii wasn't in a position to turn down a film as big as Animal and I get that. But she's now isolated herself from every demographic. The average Indian just thinks she's cheap or slutty because of her nudity and sexuality in the film (not the greatest first introduction for an actress in India) and the woke liberal crowd thinks she's a sellout lacking intergrity for working with an asshole like Vanga in a movie as horrendous as Animal.

Right now, Triptii is standing on shaky ground. Idk how big of a hit Bad Newwz will be or what it'll do for Triptii's career but the way it's currently going, I feel like she'll do a handful of films and then dip. She isn't really focusing on picking good scripts and is going for commercial appeal which I understand but I don't think the Indian general public likes her very much atp for her to sustain herself as a commercial actress 😔😔😔

It's really hard to be a female superstar in India and only a handful of women have ever achieved it. Hema Malini, Sridevi, Madhuri Dixit and to lesser extents Aishwarya Rai & Deepika Padukone. They're all women who were "known" for being traditional and modest irl (a lot of times it wasn't actually the case but at least they tried to maintain that image lmao and it worked) and they were also more cute and beautiful than straight up sexy 😶‍🌫️

I hope it all works out for Triptii and at least she'll make hella $$$$

I hate that Outsider women are treated like they're disposable in this industry whereas untalented nepo kids like Janhvi and Sara repeatedly get big budget movie offers even though they haven't had a hit in years lol. They'll never be written off like an Outsider and be given endless chances to prove themselves.

Nepotism sucks

[bluedalahorse]

Two options for the character breakdown game: Sara (because you haven't done her yet, and we can't leave her out) and Claudia

You know what? I’m going to do both.

Claudia

How I feel about this character: TV CLAUDIA IS THE ABSOLUTE GREATEST. I’ll be honest, book!Claudia kind of weirded me out conceptually, especially the part where she and Louis are kind of in love but she still looked like a little kid? I also read Interview with the Vampire at the age when I was just… not great at loving female characters, and when I sort of wanted to ship mlm ships exclusively. But show Claudia is incredible. I mean, there’s the part where she’s extremely badass, and one of her first acts as a vampire is to just. Straight up eat a cop. But I love that we start from that badass, highly emotional teenage space but then go deeper with her, and I love how unapologetically herself she is. I love that she dreams about the idea of finding vampire community. I love that she stands up for herself. I love that she and Lestat are so alike and they fight about it. I love that she refuses to let her truth be erased by the way she records everything in her diary. Claudia deserves the world and I cannot say that enough.

All the people I ship romantically with this character: CLAUDELEINE OBVIOUSLY. They deserved more happiness together than they got.

My non-romantic OTP for this character: If there were a universe where Claudia and Daniel could have existed at the same time and become friends, they would have been unstoppable, and they would have adored one another, and everyone else would have suffered for it. Hilariously.

My unpopular opinion about this character: Occasionally I see book only fans argue that the tragedy of Claudia is ruined when she’s turned as a teenager rather than a little kid. This is something I very much disagree with. Teens are just as tragic as little kids, first of all, but people do have a weird bias against teenagers and actually feeling for teenagers, and I wish they wouldn’t. Also, since Claudia looks like someone in between childhood and adulthood, the age that people in-universe read her as is like… entirely determined by what they want to read her as to control her. Sometimes people infantilize her and make her play Baby Lu. Sometimes they subject her to very adult forms of abuse. Claudia is still tragic no matter what, okay?

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: I wish she and Madeleine could have lived in that cute cottage forever. (Gosh if only Armand hadn’t been stuck behind the baby gate…)

Sara

How I feel about this character: MY WONDERFUL DAUGHTER WHO HAS NEVER DONE ANYTHING WRONG IN HER LIFE. But, while we’re talking about teenage girls, she’s one of the best teenage girls ever written on TV, ever. Sara reached out through the screen and grabbed me by the heart. Her care for others, her willingness to look past the obvious of a situation, her curiosity about who she is and what she values… when she said “no one likes me when I’m me” my sixteen year old self felt seen. I am consistently floored that all my favorite YouTubers who talk about autism and ADHD rep in television have weirdly never talked about her. I almost avoided joining YR tumblr fandom because the abundance of “Sara is on thin ice” posts I saw while lurking made me hesitant and disappointed. Most of my fandom hiatuses were caused in part by people being shitty about her. Sara has one of the best damn arcs in Young Royals, hands down.

All the people I ship romantically with this character: Well, obviously August, controversial as that opinion is. I think their relationship ended up in the right place by the finale, but I can’t resist their chemistry along the way. And as I was saying to @heliza24 earlier, there’s just something about characters who perceive themselves as unlovable finding love with one another. Now, I want to have other Sara ships, but… I don’t know if I do, really? I might read Sara as a little arospec, like gray aro or something, and it actually means a lot to me that she chooses friends and family over romance in the end. But if you get back to me a few months from now maybe I’ll feel differently, who knows.

My non-romantic OTP for this character: potentially weird turn but like, Wilhelm? Specifically in Heart and Homeland where they end up in a kind of disability solidarity queerplatonic partnership. I don’t know if I feel that as much in canon. As far as canon goes, Felice first and Simon second.

My unpopular opinion about this character: I’m going to make this an extension of my August Unpopular Opinion on my August post, because I’m vibrating on a higher sargust frequency than usual this week due to anxiety about travel and I kinda just want to talk about sargust because it’s a comfort pairing. And that is… Sara’s feelings for August are something we can enjoy fannishly, too. They are something we can write fic about and come up with AUs for and make gifsets and fanmixes of. The AU stuff especially—I feel like sargust still could have happened in an alternate universe, or in a universe where Simon didn’t end up at Hillerska, or whatever else. Sara and August have a relationship in their own right and while they are a superb foil to wilmon they are not only a foil to wilmon. There is a level of Weird Teen Girl Horniness represented onscreen in the portrayal of Sara’s crush on August that just feels like, refreshing and authentic. The yearning with the picture of him in 1.5, like girl his hair is terrible in that picture and yet you are there for it! The grinding in 2.2! The dumb little arm punch in 2.3 before they just give up and make out! Seeing a lot of people who’d previously said only negative things about Sara suddenly decide they like her after season 3 when she dumped August was… not as comforting as I’d hoped it would be. Like again, to be clear, I do think their relationship ended in the right place and I want Sara away from him, obligatory “August did terrible things that I do not condone” disclaimer that I’m very bored of typing by now etc etc, I get why this is not everyone’s cup of tea, and so on and so forth. But I just… like them together, okay. And I wonder about all the other people who liked them together who ended up leaving the fandom because there wasn’t as much of a place to express that.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: Sara’s arc is pretty perfect. I have one thing I maybe wanted to say about S3 but I’ll hold back for now. EDIT: I wanted her and Wilhelm to have more interaction in season 3. What was the lack of that about?

One thing’s for sure, after typing all that I really want Sara and Claudia to be friends, and to be able to play with horses together.

[frankenjoly]

Lycoris red

for ittosara week 24’s day 4: hurt/comfort

“... so I got ‘em, ‘cause they’re like. Warrior related flowers. And you’re the greatest warrior I’ve ever met. I mean, you’ve beaten me, Arataki Itto! I ain’t forgotten ‘bout that pending rematch, by the way. So don’t think this gift’s related, or that I’m signalin’ defeat, tsk!”

In other circumstances, she’d be telling him to tone it down. But not right then. 

Instead, Sara had fallen silent, her eyes fixed on the little dendrobium bouquet Itto was extending towards her. 

There was nothing out of the ordinary in the flowers, really. They were in perfect state, their red petals had no stain, it seemed like they had been cut with care instead of being uprooted and so on. Said bouquet was, in terms of presentation, perfect. The only issue was, funnily enough but also not funny at all, the fact he had chosen dendrobiums specifically. Sure, Itto was probably just deeming the sayings as mere myths like most people used to, and she couldn’t blame him for it. But Sara had been on the battlefield, and seen them growing up in soil irrigated by the blood of those fallen; therefore, she knew the stories may be closer to the truth than it could seem while hearing about them.

(Sure, that probably happened because of a more tangible reason, one explainable with enough knowledge in botanics. One she didn’t really have. But it didn’t matter much if it was magic, science or both when one walked through a sea of flowers and corpses byproduct of war.)

Point was: just the sight of those flowers made Sara’s skin crawl. And it must have been showing, given Itto’s next words.

“Oi, tengu! You there?” He raised a hand towards her, no doubt with the intentions of poking to put emphasis on what he was saying. Except Sara grabbed his wrist before the full motion got carried out.

“You idiot!”

“What? Sheesh, just tell me you don’t like ‘em?” Itto then stared down at their now almost joined hands, but surprisingly made no attempt at freeing himself.

“Were you there, Itto?” Meanwhile, she looked up (and damn, she did have to even when not being exactly short herself), frowning with intensity; the question so urgent Sara didn’t even notice how she had just called him by his first name only, not until a long moment after.

“There when? I didn’t pick those myself, if that’s what you’re asking.” Before continuing, he let out a brief groan. “Don’t go and tell me you’d only want ‘em if I did, ‘cause findin’ someone who sells these is hard as hell and I–”

Sara’s expression softened.

“That’s not it.” But even attempting to explain what the whole thing was about took her a little. “You know the tales about dendrobiums, right.”

“I mean, who hasn’t? Those ol’ stories about how they grow in places where there’s been bloodshed and–” And once again, it must have been showing on her face already, because Itto frowned as well, and turned his gaze towards the bouquet in a heartbeat.

Then, a few things happened in what seemed like a second.

First, he tossed the flowers away. And right after, once they were out of the way, the oni used his now free hand to reach out for her again. To wrap her in a hug, strong and warm.

And speaking of seconds, after the few ones she needed to fully process the gesture, Sara let go and hugged him back.

(Also on ao3.)

[fereldanwench]

Questions for Writers

I was tagged by @corpocyborg! Thank you, bb!! ♡

Last book I read: I still haven't finished There's No Such Thing as an Easy Job Kikuko Tsumura I started back in January, lmao. Not for any reason other than I just haven't been in the right headspace to sit down and read for the past few months--What I have read of it is great, so hopefully, I can make the time to pick it up again.

Greatest literary inspirations: I like the female protags in Karin Slaughter novels, and I love Tanya Huff's Torin Kerr from her Confederation series--I'm sure they've inspired me on some level. Oh, and Phedre from Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel books, too, although it's been ages since I read those. But I think most of my inspiration actually comes from other forms of media. I love the action babes of the late 90s/early 00s: Lara Croft is the number one inspo here, and pretty much all of Michael Turner's comic girls but especially Sara from Witchblade. And I think Better Call Saul is easily one of the best-written shows ever made--That's one I always go back to when I feel like I need to refill the inspo well.

Things in my current fandoms I want to read but I don't want to write: I have a confession: I usually only read a ton of fic when I first get into a fandom and I can't get enough and I just want to soak it all up, but after a certain point, I just don't have a lot of headspace for other people's stories. 😬 I feel bad about it sometimes, and it's not like I never read anything after that point, but 90% of the time, what I wanna write is what I wanna read. It's kind of a closed loop, I guess.

Things in my current fandoms I want to write but I think nobody would be interested in them but me: Well, I'm not at all deterred by being the only person interested in something I write, haha. One of my favorite one-shots I've ever written is between my Cousland and Hawke meeting briefly at Ostagar, and it's probably my least popular fic on AO3 by a big margin. But I do like deep-diving into my own OCs, and it generally is harder to get an audience for fic that doesn't have canon characters. Ain't gonna stop me, though!

You can recognize my writing by: Lots of pining and banter; obvious thesaurus abuse

My most controversial take (current fandom): Yeah, no, not gonna be sharing my actual most controversial takes, lmao.

But I do also love the Devil ending! I don't think there's one objectively "best" ending--What's good for one V isn't necessarily good for another--But for my Valerie, it suited her story the best. I love the poetry of her going back to Arasaka after getting fired by them, I love storming Arasaka Tower with Goro, I love the conflict with Johnny, I love making Goro confront how fucked up the Arasakas are, I love the possibilities of Mikoshi--The only way it would have been better for me is if this nixed idea had actually been put into action.

And I wish we could roleplay a V that is actually more "pro"-corpo in the game, especially if we had the corpo lifepath. Sticking it to the man is sexy and all, but I just love delving into characters that align themselves with shitty institutions and exploring different motivations (I personally like cynical pragmatism/self-preservation and delusional idealism) that lead a person there.

Top three favorite tropes: 1) Rivals to friends to lovers 2) Mutual pining 3) Forced proximity

What’s your current writing mood (10 – super motivated and churning out words like crazy, 0 – in a complete rut): Like, 0.5, lmao. I've been rereading and organizing my WIPS, so there's some effort being put in there, but I'm very much in one of my "ummmm, how do I even write fiction?" phases.

Share a random frustration: I have ZERO discipline when it comes to writing. I need to be in a fully feral, totally isolated from distractions place or I just can't get shit done. When I'm in the zone, I'm in the fuckin' zone, but I get like 3 months of that every 5 years, lmao.

Tagging (with no pressure, as always) @ur-friendly-nbhd-cardassian, @dread-red-queen, @vorchagirl, and @aceghosts <333

[miztrixx]

Hopes for YTTD: Chapter 3-2

(SPOILERS FOR THE ENTIRE GAME UP TO CHAPTER 3-1B)

Not sure if anyone else has made this sort of blogpost yet, but this is essentially going to be a master compilation of all the specific things I hope we get to see in Chapter 3-2: - Sara facing her simulation self, perhaps in a battle or just in a small confrontational discussion: This (alongside possibly her memories of Joe being restored in the Logic Route) would serve as an amazing end and send-off to the character of Sara Chidouin. Having her face down her greatest insecurities, all the things that she thought were true about herself until she met Joe, and beat them? And not only that, coming to term with Joe's death and moving forward in life? It would be such a great way to show how far Sara has grown, all the way back since that fateful night stroll...

 - An epilogue scene: It doesn't matter how far into the future it is, could be one week after the events of the game or 10 years (though I'm hoping for the latter, imagine how bittersweet and emotionally gut-wrenching it would be to see Kanna and Gin all grown up...my heart will melt), just a scene showing us how the survivors are adjusting back to regular life. After all the pain and hardships they went through, seeing so many people die including some of their loved ones and having their lives put on the chopping block so many times, just seeing them live life normally and try to move on from all that has happened would be....bittersweet...so so bittersweet. I can imagine that the survivors would heavily value life and try to make the very most of their experience as humans after such a traumatic experience, but I can also imagine the survivors trying to live a peaceful and relaxing life after this as well. I'd also think it'd be heartbreaking but also uplifting to see the survivors honoring the memories of everyone that died. Contacting their friends and family and letting them know what happened to them, holding a huge memorial for all of them, making sure that their final wishes were realized (like Nao wanting to paint that picture of Mishima). All in all, I'd think it make for a pretty banger ending.

- "Shin" abandons the scarf: This one is pretty self-explanatory, Shin abandons the red scarf which is/was the symbol of Midori's control/influence over him, what drove him to become "Sou Hiyori" alongside the Four Papers and what drove him to do all the malicious and manipulative things he did. It goes without saying that if Shin ever gets a redemption arc as the final conclusion of his character, which I definitely see happening, he will have to break free of Midori's influence over him and this includes ditching the scarf. But he can't just put the blue scarf back on, he can't just return to the innocent and frail man that Shin Tsukimi was before the Death Game, he watched his sister die in front of him and had to bear all the pain and angst that came with it, his existence in the Death Game was filled with anger and malice, Yes. But it was also filled with fleeting moments of concern and connection, something Shin will have to do in order to fully get over Kanna's death: It may take years, but he will live and survive because that's what Kanna wanted for him. He will abandon the red scarf but I don't see him putting the blue scarf back on: Either he will move on from both and not adorn a scarf at all or he will adorn a purple scarf, a combination of both.

- On the note of Midori....he gets briefly revived before dying again, similar to how Rio Ranger (or Rio Laizer, I suppose) was: This sort of ties back into the previous hope, having Midori come back and having him interact with Shin would be incredibly satisfying and seeing them get to talk about everything that went on between him and maybe even Shin killing Midori this time, it would be amazing. It could also clear up a few minor plot details such as his participant status. Was he a candidate or a non-candidate? And also...

- Fake Hinako's backstory or info pertaining to her: This one I don't mind not happening because we'll probably get it in her minisode but just to talk about it... Kai had a lot of his character and backstory revealed to us post-mortem because the surviving characters were driven to doubt him and uncover his motives. The very same may happen to the Fake Hinako, perhaps it's revealed that Fake Hinako had a much bigger hand in interfering with the events of the Murderer Sub-Game, perhaps there's a function on the Dummies that she changed because she harbored rebellious thoughts, there's a lot of ways we can go with this due to how much of a mystery the Fake Hinako really is. Another hope I have that I'm going to bundle in with this one is for a Real Hinako face reveal and possibly even a wish reveal, if Fake Hinako is heavily linked to Real Hinako then this may be a possibility? I don't think it's very likely (unfortunately) but it'd be nice to have some more info on these girls who we barely know nothing about.

- Speaking of black-haired girls who died in the First Trial and weren't revived in the Dummies, one thing that may happen in the Emotions Route is that we get to see Kugie's victim video, not for any plot-related reasons but....yup, you guessed it....CHARACTER reasons!! Particularly, Kanna's: Unlike with what I talked about Shin and Sara, I see this sort of moment being more of a send-off or a testament to Kanna's character since chapter 1-1. She's grown so much, from the sad little crying child to a determined girl who's lost everything and wants to move forward with hope. Having her watch Kugie's victim video, and not even flinch and cry would be so...empowering for her? Not sure if that's the right word, but whatever. Oh, and there's one more black-haired girl who died in the First Trial too...

- Megumi Sasahara will become plot relevant in the final chapter: I'm not saying that she'll be given a fleshed character and a sad backstory, just that she will hold some sort of plot relevance in this chapter. Perhaps it will be revealed that she was unknowingly helping ASU-NARO by accepting bribes from them, perhaps there is information about the Hades Incident that she knows about and that we will find out through talking to her A.I. That latter seems pretty likely to me, especially since we still have the mystery of "Shinobu Gokujo" to figure out.

- Hayasaka, Kurumada and Mai's wishes (or perhaps for Mai, her special info which wasn't revealed): Hayasaka especially here considering how he cursed out Sara's name in his victim video, there is definitely information that he knows that we may draw out with the lantern and it could be related to his ASU-NARO vow wish. For Kurumada, there is a possibility that he was the one who wished Sara into the Death Game. Perhaps his wish was something like "I want to fight someone stronger then me" and Sara did have the highest percentage after all. For Mai, perhaps her secret info relates to some function of the dolls that we don't yet know about, I can't see how her wish would be relevant though.

Before I end this, I'd like to say that I'm not going to go into 3-2 with all these insanely high expectations, these are just hopes after all. In reality, I will be okay with any outcome we get, as long as the ending is satisfying and makes sense (simulation theory is one of the ones I don't want to happen) but it'd be nice if a few of these were to happen in 3-2!!

[fandom-imagination-ss]

Imagine: joel showing off to you

You weren’t a great shot, when you do shoot. It’s 50/50 if you hit the target. The community you lived in. A few of the men have tried to show you, tired to show off. To try to catch your attention you have watched them. Noticed their lame attempts. To “woo” you but nothing about them ever caught your attention. They were all he same. And it was boring. They bored you. So when Tommy’s brother appeared with a kid. Who wasn’t Sara (you asked thinking maybe he was mistaken about her dying.. you seen him lose his Own horse.. in a Pen.. by itself. Anything is possible with Tommy!) but he was basically the guardian / Dad ti this young girl named “Elle” who was unlike anyone in the compound. She was brass. And easily could tell she has seen things. He was older but handsome and Oddly’ he’s cranky behaviour about everything. Interested you.

Joel noticed you instantly. You were cleaning a table close by when he ws sitting down with Tommy and Maria, you weren’t paying attention to them. Joel could tell you had earbuds on. As you were rocking to some sort of music that was low so it wouldn’t disturb anyone. When a young guy near your age appeared you didn’t move your headphones. Until he started talking to you. Joel paid more attention to you vs his brother explaining how he got to Jackson. You Kindly turned down invitation to go to the movies with the guy. Saying he wasn’t your type. When asked what your type you simply said your heart would know when you find thme. And moved away and left the area. Joel figured A Pretty thing liek you probably were beating guys away with a stick. He didn’t see you again until after his fight with Elle at their house they were staying in. You came over. With a welcome basket. Joel was exhusted and he’s limit of the human race was gone. But seeing you holding a “welcome basket” which had thick. Socks, a bottle of their home made liquor in the compound and chapstick for the cold weather. Joel took it stunned as you smiled, “the cold, makes your feet cold, and lips chapped and I personally hate that feeling.. the chapstick was made here. Hey did that girl amke it back alright Elle right?” He nodded his head as he said yea as you smiled, “good. She’s seems like a firecracker. Well your probably tired. IM y/n. I’ll see you tomorrow.” With that you left. Leaving him stunned.

Joel decided to spend a few days at the compound, to rest. It’s been a long journey and figured they both deserved a break. Maria tried to get Elle into a classroom. You swooped in and offered her to help with the animals instead. Even before Joel could agree to it, Elle was gone helping you. Joel and Tommy were walking as he asked about you.

“Y/n is a gem, the biggest sweetheart around, all the single guys are crazy for her.”

Just as he thought, Joel was right. He watched as you showed Elle how to feed the chickens as he spoke, ‘she’s beauitful.”

“yea. I guess, not my type, great friends with Maria. I feel bad for the gal. She isn’t excatly thrilled for the extra attention.”

“Really? I figured she would be used to it.”

Tommy chuckled as he shook his head “dating is pretty limited.. she wont settle.”

Joel nodded his head. As they walked on, that night after the day was done as everyone was having dinner Elle woudln’t shut up about you. Which made you blush saying you weren’t that thrilling. As Elle said oyu were the greatest adult she’s met. Which Made Joel grumble. As you spoke “Oh! It’s the chess tournament tonight!!”

Maria sighed heavily, “why do you put yourself thur that torture? You suck at chess.” You smiled getitng up as you spoke, “because One day. I shall win.. and once i do my ego will never go down.” Joel couldn’t help but chuckle at that as Elle asked to join. You wrapped your arms around hers, saying she had to. She was your partner. Maria had to chase you both down as she tried to explain CHess. Was a team up sort of game.

Tommy grinned weakly as he spoke, “open spot if your interested.” Joel shook his head as he dug. His fork into his potatoes, “No im good..”

“Shame.. Y/N really gets into Chess..’

Before Joel knew it he was joining in on the game. Tommy warned him how you knew the rules of the game, how you were one of the few people who at the beginning knew how to play and you even made your own chess set. But you didn’t have the patience’s for Chess, you leap for the clear move. And normally …. Always get kicked out frist round. A few men have tired to throw the game so you would win. Hoping they would get lucky. But you once realizing they were being awful to humor her. Would get up and leave. You were considered the “warm up” game before a real game. You didn’t mind. You just liked playing and knew One day you woudl beat someone. And you loved seeing peoples minds work as they play. So when you sat down at a chessboard. No one sat across from you. Elle was about to. Until Joel slipped passed her and sat down. You smiled secretly hoping it would be Joel as you set up as he spoke, “you any good?”

chuckling softly you shook your head, “God no im awful.” He chuckled as he was black so he moved his pawn first. “Why. Play?”

you moved yours on the other side of the board, “reminds me of home.. my family- my granddad and dad use to play every Sunday for hours. Trying to beat each other..” Joel moved another pawn as you spoke, “plus it’s a great way to chat with someone. To get to know someone.”

you took his pawn as he spoke, “I’m a little rusty.”

Tommy, Elle, and Maria were watching your match as Tommy chuckled, “he use to kick my ass in this game..”

you smiled as you spoke, “so beware this is going to be a quick game?” Tommy chuckled as Joel said he would be gentle on you. You chuckled saying he better not. And Joel took that as a promise. And within 5 moves. He had your Queen and you were Speechless it came out of No where. Then he had your King and you were stunned as you yelped out, “HOW!” Joel chuckled as Maria spoke, “Shake hands.. traditions.” You always shake after a game. So you shook Joels hand as you felt goosebumps all the way up your arm. And the rest of the night. You watched Joel play. You felt like a group sitting down beside him in complete AW as he whipped the boards off of everyone. Tommy nudged Maria noticing your excitement over the beat downs. When it was over you gave JOel the trophie which was a wooden carven of a knight.

when the night came to a close you walked Joel,and Elle home. Mainly because you lived next to them. As you went inside you said bye as Tommy spoke up once you were gone, “you were showing off.. “

‘No i wasn’t.” Joel snapped as Elle giggled, “I knew it!”

Maria stepped over hugging Elle quickly, as she spoke, “She was So into it. Night Elle.”

Joel was stunned as Elle spoke, “you better ask her out. Dude.”

“get inside.!” He grumbled to Elle’s delight. As Joel looked over to your house. As you had the living room light on as you looked out seeing Joel looking at you as you waved and smiled brightly before going to sit down. That would be a night neither of them would forget for a while.

[hosannan]

repose of a heartbeat

reply to [this post] that got interrupted by legacy editor: @diadic

       He'd messed up somewhere, hadn't he? The prickly tone in Nanna's voice doesn't go unnoticed, thorns in an otherwise stunning rose. Just what about the conversation had made it turn that direction wasn't the clearest to Leif however. Maybe he had imagined it. The topic of Julius's revival (or escape?) was enough to inspire any Jugdrali with fear, and Nanna herself surely had felt it when choosing to bring it up to Leif. After all, just a moment ago, he had started to become consumed by it himself. It's not until Nanna's voice begins to break, a shimmer of hope in that well of darkness causing it to warble ever so slightly, that Leif realizes he's missed something utterly crucial. “ Right. If Jugdral found out, then everything we'd worked for would disappear. Everyone would be afraid again. ” Right when the emancipation of Agustria, Verdane, and Silesse had started to bring the continent into a new era of peace... they couldn't afford to let that shatter. “ Is that so? That's good. I was worried... if we can keep him like that, that'd be good, but he has Loptous's blood. There's no saying how fast that might help him recover... Or if he's working on recovering by training here. I just don't know where he could be... I've been here a year and I haven't seen him at any classes or anywhere in the monastery. ” Where could he be hiding? How did he manage to not come across him or hear of him by now? And if Nanna had discovered him, had Deirdre discovered this by now too? “ Worse comes to worst, we have Lord Seliph here and Ares too... but who we'd really need is Julia. ” For the only thing that could bring the mighty Dark God down was Naga's divine light. They all knew that, but right now, the Tome of Naga was an ocean away... The deep despair blanketing the conversation only grows heavier and heavier, the burden of what information he had remembered he should tell Nanna growing in equal measure. If he told her now, would it make her happy? Or would it be cast in this same oppressive air, tainted by the subject of the Scion of Darkness?

"I think the greatest thing he has on his side now is the fear he's reaped in the past..." She shivered, finally, finally letting her guard down in its entirety. Remembering the fear was somehow far more detrimental than the devil, himself. Here, he was just his mother's lament, but his past reputation had grown into a god in its own right. "Yes, you're right..." A sharp inhale ticked away at her lungs, making her ribs feel all too small for the feeling inside her chest.

"We do have many here at our call. I consider our numbers a glad tiding, to say the least..." Her hands spoke a different tongue, holding onto the side of his arm for a brief repose. Nanna sickened herself, in this weakness of hers, but for all this time, she had forgotten her fear in place of anger. And now that the anger had subsided, there was a spindly seed that still had its roots half-planted in the ground. It wouldn't matter. This fear, this anger, much of it would have to be second to whatever came next.

"Lord Seliph and Julia... I had heard that they were here." A small exhale released from her nose, fondness coming through very evidently. "I really should take some time to sit down with them and ask if they know anything, themselves."

"I've also come across your family and Sara, of course. Ah, and Scathach and Larcei, too." Her eyes seemed a touch distracted, as she began to scour her mind for anything she could have missed. Suddenly, she found it a bit odd that everyone had been gathered in one place. And even odder, still, that many had revived without the usage of the Valkyrie Staff. Whatever greater power had gathered them all here could only spell one of two things for her lord: a great, new hope for their future or... trouble brewing over the horizon.

"Forgive me, Leif."

It's abrupt, but her irises ache with guilt—dull gems to their usual luster. "I should have done more."

[misguidedasgardian]

The Winter Sun (16)

16. The God's wood

MASTERLIST

Summary: A child born in Winter was a good omen

Pairing: Cregan Stark x Fem!Targaryen Reader 

Warnings: Cursing, medieval and asoiaf customs, AGE GAP, Cregan is 12 years OLDER than reader), arranged marriage, birth of a baby (nothing described), fluff, talk about death and miscarriages, talk about childbirth, and death in childbirth, breastfeeding, might miss some warnings

+18, MINORS DNI

Wordcount: 3.3 k

Notes: I don’t really like how I name the baby BUT that is canon! Cregan’s first child is name like that so… anyways IT'S HAPPENNING PEOPLE THIS IS NOT A DRILL I REPEAT THIS IS NOT A DRILL

Cregan was stunned… he couldn’t find you anywhere, he was also becoming scared, but the alarms didn’t go off so he doubted something bad had befell you. He looked for you in the battlements, and nothing, you were not in your rooms, not in the library, nor in the Kitchens, not the room that had turned into yours and Sara’s sewing room, and you were not with the Maester. He finally had the courage to scout the Godswood, but you weren’t that either.

So he started to ask around if people had seen you, and the path took him to the kitchens again.

“Yes, she and Sara are down the earth, in the hot springs”, said Thelma, as she whisked the batter for a pie Sara had requested of her. Cregan looked at the woman incredulously

“Couldn’t you just tell me that earlier?”, he asked, and she looked at him and chuckled

“Made you look!”, she teased, and he chuckled darkly, and left the kitchens

So you where in the Hotsprings below the castle

He was not surprised, but he tried to suppress his anger, those hot springs had a very high temperature, specially in your state, but he had to remind himself that one, Targaryens did prefer the heat, it had been proven by maesters that you had a higher tolerances for higher temperatures than normal people, and two, that you had good instincts you had learned to follow, so if you were in the Hot Springs, it meant you really felt the need to go, that you really believe it could do you good. 

He had to dispose of his cape, his vest and his boots before he went down the stairs, because he was already sweating, the steam that came from down below was hitting him strongly.

The set of old stone stairs opened to a wide cave, that looked like a pavilion, a huge bath house for the natural hot springs that had been here since the beginning of time, and the reason Winterfell was built where it was 

You were lying down in the edge of the hot pool, on your side, your big belly between your hugging arms, Sara was by your side, half of her body in the waters, you were both dressed in short light dresses, that were completely soaked. You were conversing happily, giggling like two little girls, Cregan stopped on his tracks and just watched the scene, amused. 

How did he get so lucky?

Fate had brought his sister to Winterfell’s doors, and he loved her dearly, a dragon had brought you to Winterfell’s gates… you both, you three… were everything to him

“Cregan!”, greeted Sara, you turned around with a smile on your face

“My love”

“Hello you two, can I join you?”

“Well of course!”, you said, patting the palace right by your side, where he took a seat, placing his feet under the hot, almost boiling water. 

But it was relaxing nonetheless once you get used to it.

You went into the waters and floated around happily Cregan soon joined you, taking you in his arms

“this is the only place that gives me comfort”, you whined, smiling, “I feel so heavy all the time, floating around soothes me”

“I understand that”, he kissed your wet temple, as you floated around happily

“I don’t understand why we don’t come to this place more often”, muttered Sara with a shy smile, “it is so relaxing”

“It is”, said Cregan

“Agreed”, you giggled, “if it was enough my dragon could be happy here”

“Speaking of dragons, how is Dragonstone?”, she asked you both

“It is one of the greatest things I have ever seen”, Cregan muttered, “The whole island rests on Dragon glass, and the castle itself seems to be carved right off the stone, dragons sculpted everywhere, a great fortress, it is breathtaking”

“Did you see the dragons?”, she asked, amazed

“Only flying from afar”, he said, “it is very dangerous to get close to them”, you added 

“One day we will take you”, promised Cregan, and you nodded enthusiastically

Perhaps, when Rhaenyra is Queen, you could ask her to proclaim Sara legitimate, you haven't spoken about it with Cregan or Sara, but it is something you wanted so badly for her. Perhaps when it’s done…

“When winter is over, you could travel through the kingdoms on dragonback!”, you said happily

“You know Vhaelar actually likes me!”, Sara offered, “Well, she hasn't thrown fire at me, so I’m guessing it’s a good sign!”, she giggled 

“That is indeed a good beginning”, you giggled

You spend the rest of the afternoon in the Hot Springs, until Cregan dragged you both out, saying it was too much, your baby moved around in your belly, restless. So Cregan took you to the kitchens, to feed you both.

The pie Thelma had cooked for you was ready, so you enjoyed it together in the great hall

“I have to go to the woods to hunt”, Cregan told you, “a group of stags had been spotted near the river, It would be good to have some extra meat if needed”, he explained

“I wish you luck husband���, you whispered with a shy smile

“It shouldn’t be more than a couple of days”, he said simply, grabbing your hand over the table

Cregan left the very next morning and came back in two days, as promised, tired and freezing, but with fresh meat to eat.

You celebrated with roast deer those coming days.

So you kept navigating through winter, Cregan was exchanging letters with his friend Ben, of how much he wanted to see him, you haven{t met him yet, but Cregan had told you many stories about him, how he was his closest friend, he had even send you a present for your unborn child, and you couldn’t wait to meet him.

You also couldn’t wait to meet your child, you were growing heavier by the day, so uncomfortable, your feet hurt at the end of each day, your belly button had begun to pop, and according to the servants and the midwife it was a sign that the birth was near. And you were happy for it.

Cregan had been occupied most day, making preparation, he covered every window in your rooms with a plank of wood and furs except for one, so you could still watch over Winter’s Town

You were over a moon shy of finally having him in your arms.

It was the middle of the morning and still, there was darkness everywhere. The presence of the Lord of Winterfell was required in Winter’s Town, a problem between lords, and cattle to take meat, so he had to go to settle the quarrel. It was easily resolved by throwing a few coins at the problem. 

The snow and cold had taken hold of his body, but still, you were nearing the end of the pregnancy, so the freezing cold did not deter Cregan, who had grabbed an oil lamp and ventured himself deep in the Godswood, with the Heart tree being the only destiny in his mind. 

With the ghostly face in front of him, he fell to his knees and placed his hands together in prayer. And with one last look towards that carved face, he closed his eyes in concentration.

“Gods”, he called, “Gods of the streams, the forests, the rocks, Gods of beasts, of men, of children, I beseech you”, he spoke with a trembling voice, begging, “You who whisper when the winds blows and when the birds sing, all of you who linger in the winter, who bring life in the midst of death…”, he opened his eyes again, looking at those eyes who were looking right back at him, “I beg of you, protect my wife”, he said gently, “protect her and my unborn child, let her live to see our baby grow big and strong, she is a good and kind woman, please protect her….”

Only silence was his answer, but he felt at peace when he heard the wind blows through the trees

After everything he had lived through and everyone he lost he found himself constantly feeling this horrible sensation, of that the same fate as his first two wives might befall you, his young wife and mother to their unborn child.

And he couldn’t bear it, not again, if he loses you, he might as well die right by your side, he was going to do everything in his power to prevent it

But there was this moment where he felt content, even if he followed the Old Gods and their traditions, he wasn’t quite devote, so he really hoped his prayers were answered, and for a second he believed they were, he heard the rustling of the leaves, a soft whisper in the air, and far, far away, the howling of Autumn deep in the Wolf’s wood

It was so peaceful

“CREGAN!”, and now the screech of his sister, “CREGAN!”, She called again and he turned, alarmed, he could not see her, so he stood up, grabbing the lamp and he started running towards the entrance of the God’s Wood

“WHAT IS HAPPENING?”, he asked, alarmed 

“You fool! Where were you? I have been looking for you everywhere!”, she cried, grabbing into his arms, “it’s time! She is in labor! she had been for hours!”, she said with a wide smile

“I am going to be a father?”, he asked, his eyes shiny, and Sara nodded enthusiastically

“YES! NOW GO YOU IDIOT!”, he passed by her running, dropping the lamp that broke against the ground, but he couldn’t care less

He was going to be a father!

He thought fleetingly that he had never run so fast in his life, everything around him going by in a blur. He almost jumped the short steps towards the entrance of the castle and he shoved every person on his way screaming how sorry he was, he found the stairs and ran even faster, when he finally reached the last floor of the castle, where his rooms were, he heard your screams. They were like screams of someone fighting for their life, screams of war and battle… He stopped in his tracks, scared out of his mind, not wanting to go in.

What if something went badly?

What if you perished afterwards?

What if his babe…?, he didn’t even want to think about it.

And then, there was calm, silence, you had stopped your screams, and he decided, really, he didn’t decide anything, his feet took him to venture inside the room, he ran, opened the door widely, just as the cries of his first born child reached his ears.

He didn’t realize he was holding his breath, not until he let out all the air in his lungs, and you found his eyes and you smiled, widely, you were sweaty, bloody, messy, and you never looked more beautiful

“It’s a boy!”, screamed the midwife, with a crying, bloodied bundle in her arms 

“Cregan!”, you called, and he ran to your side

“I was not here!”, he lamented, kissing your face, your sweaty forehead, taking your hands in his, “my love I’m so sorry!”, he cried

“It was so fast!”, you chuckled tiredly, “it came very quickly, you do not need to be sorry” 

“Two pushes and he was out my lord!”, cheered a maid that had helped you through the whole delivery

“Here he is!”, the midwife said, “cleaned and ready to meet his parents! a healthy baby boy”, your babe was crying softly, his little hands above the fabrics searching for something, or someone.

She placed it gently in your arms, and you looked down at his little reddened face, you accommodated him against your chest, and his cries stopped, he tried to open his eyes but he barely could, he was so small, and chubby, his hair dark just like his father’s

Cregan fell to his knees by your side, to look at him, you didn’t even realize you were crying happy tears, relieved tears

“Our baby!”, he cried as well, placing hand on it’s head, so small in comparison, “look at him”, he said, enamored, “he is so perfect”, he whispered

“He is kind of small isn’t he?”, you asked, “it’s a little red…”, you were not quite convinced, and you were weary and scared, if something was wrong you wouldn’t know how to tell

“It is normal my lady”, giggled the midwife, “I shall fetch the maester, to have a look at him”, you nodded. “You did not had any reapings, so you should have make a quick recovery, no blood was lost, either way, I will fetch the maester”

You look at your son and you couldn’t believe you had him in your arms, it felt surreal, you knew why they called them “bundles of joy”, you felt so happy, a warmth in your chest that took a hold on you whole, you felt joyous, you felt like you could explode with love for this little person that you held so comfortably against you, like he belonged there, like he was created to fit perfectly in your arms and against you chest. You whined in happiness, still happy tears rolled down your eyes

You looked up at Cregan and he was looking down at you with suck love and wonder in his gray eyes like you had never seen before

“Would you like to hold him?”, you asked Cregan, and he nodded. You passed on the baby to him, and he held it in his arms carefully. Once he was safe in his father’s arms, the maids and the midwife cleaned you, took the afterbirth with them, and left you with cleaned sheets, and then they left. 

“We must tell the happy news to everyone!”, one said, and the left you in the comfort of your rooms

Your still nameless child had fallen asleep in Cregan’s arms, and you sighed, tired. Childbirth brought you a pain you had never felt before, a crippling pain, and then when you finally expelled it from your body you felt an incredible relief, a soothing sensation washing over you, but now, that adrenaline has passed, the pain has returned, and also, you felt so tired…

“How are you feeling my love?”, he asked softly

“I feel like I’ve been trampled by a herd of wild horses”, you said with a tired smile, “but I will be alright” 

“If something happens to you I swear…” he sighed heavily against your temple, “I’ll die right with you”

“I’m fine”, you assured him, and he smiled, “we have to name our child”, you said with a tired smile.

He laid down by your side, your sleeping baby in his arms, you both looked at him

“How shall we name him?”, he asked then

“Should we name him like your father?”, you asked, “Rickon?”, he looked at you wide eyed

“Would you like that? Name him as my father?”

“I love that name”, you whispered. “It’s a northmen name”, you said happily, so he nodded

“Then it’s Rickon Stark”, he said

The maester showed up shortly after, with a shy smile. He entered the room after knocking

“The old gods had blessed you, my lord!”, he said, “they brought you a son!”

“They did”, he said gently

“Would you let me examine him?”, you begrudgingly agreed and let him take Rickon, he placed him gently at the foot of the bed and he undressed him, his little chubby arms and legs moved desperately

“It’s cold!”, you complained, but Cregan only chuckled

“10 toes”, the old man said, tickling his small feet, “10 fingers”, he said then, and he touched him in his belly, he grabbed his arms gently, and his legs, he examined him, then he placed his finger in front of his little face and move it around, he hummed, contented, “he has your eyes princess”, he said, then looking at you, “the eyes of old Valyria”, you sighed happily, “he is a healthy baby boy”, he placed him back into your arms, covered in a small fox fur 

“You can tell the people of Winter’s town”, Cregan said, proud, “Winterfell has it’s heir, is a boy named Rickon, like my father before me”

“A strong winter child”, he said, “the people will be happy”, he gave you sips of milk of the poppy and then he left your small family again

“Are you proud?”, you asked, your eyes filled with hope and wonder

“Proud?”, he asked, raising his gaze from the babe in his arms to look at you

“I want you to be proud of me, and our little family”, you explained gently

“I’m not only proud, but I’m possibly the happiest men on the world right now”, he said, “look at our child, look at what you give to me”, he said gently, “I love you, and I couldn’t be prouder”

With that in mind you dozed off, thanks to the milk of the poppy, and relying on Cregan’s body for support 

“We have a big bed wife, one day we will be all squeezed up with all the children we are going to have”, you heard faintly before falling asleep. 

You woke up a couple of hours later, with the cries of RIckon, you jumped out of bed to find him crying in Cregan’s armas, who looked kind of desperate and once you were awake, he looked guilty for awakening you

“I think he might be hungry”, you whispered. The midwife had come close to you the last moon, to talk to you about this kind of thing, cares for your babe, you had insist you wanted to breastfeed him yourself, you reached at Cregan and with a wide smile, he placed Rickon back into your arms

“There you are little one”, you greeted gently, you released one of your breasts from your night shirt, and palace him near your nipple, he latched on immediately, and it tickle you when he started to suck, it felt so strange

Cregan held you in his arms as you fed Rickon, dropping comfort kisses on your shoulder, and he caressed your arms. 

There was no need for words, you only shared this intimate moment, with your newborn in your arms, and your husband by your side. 

Rickon fell asleep soon after, and you giggled, Cregan grabbed him and placed him in the crib that you had placed specially for this moment, a beautiful wooden crib, carves with beautiful Northerner designs, sent by one of Cregan’s closest friends, Ben Tallhart, Lord of Torrhen’s square. 

He look through the window and gasped in surprise, he then looked back at you

“Look” he said softly, you reached for him and he helped you raise from the bed with difficulty, and then walk towards the window with a view of winter’s town, you gasped, amazed, all around town big torches had been lit up, pires all around, it looked like the town itself was aflame, but the reflection of the snow made it wonderful, “do you know what it is?”, he said, amazed, “the people of the town lit fires in your honor, their fire lady, in celebration of the birth of our son”, he said proudly

“Really?”, you asked, tears in your eyes

“Really”, he assured you, he hugged you kissing the top of your head, “thank you my love” 

“For what?”, you giggled

“For everything”, he said, kissing the side of your face 

. . .

What you did not know is that as your baby boy drew his first breath, King Viserys, in King’s landing, drew his last. 

More notes!: I wanted to make the birth swift and quickly... because she will have more children and just didn't want to make it very dramatic...

ANYWAYS como se dice en espanol... ya va llegando gente al baile! hahaha

Taglist! ❤️

@severewobblerlightdragonn @missusnoraora @stargaryenx @poppyreaderer @chainsawsangel @court-jester-stuffster-stuff @batprincess1013 @eddiepickerker 

@lyannesworldrld @arujee @kamisunshine @​​mss-nthng @partypoison00 @grimistangel @elleclairez @may-machin @prettykinkysoul @justagurlwithships @champomiel 

@laura-naruto-fan1998 @zoleea-exultant @devotedlythoughtfulanchor @zoleea-exultant @llleon666 @dark-night-sky-99 @bitchigoteverythingissues @harrypotteranna23-blog@esposadomd @ajanauia @phantomtea19 @let-love-bleeds-red @kishie8 @dreamingofyourmoons @esposadomd @sandronebabyy @kemillyfreitas @​​trifoliumviridi @dreamingofyourmoons @darling-jace @biblichorr

[avatarskywalker78]

It's Six Sentence Sunday and I...haven't really written anything new this week so I'm posting a couple extracts from older wips. The first is from Hawk-demption, my rewrite of the back half of Cobra Kai S3 where I'm giving Hawk's redemption arc the time and space it needed (like seriously, these seasons needed more episodes fr). I'm trying out a new writing style in this one.

Whatever Miguel’s about to say is interrupted by Kyler’s taunting of Demetri and the laughter that follows as Demetri storms out, and Miguel frowns again.

“Listen, Hawk, join our new dojo and it can be just like before, showing everyone we’re not bullies – because if you’re counting them as your friends, you’ve clearly made a mistake, Hawk.”

With that, Miguel leaves before Hawk can formulate a reply.

And Hawk just doesn’t understand and doesn’t know how to understand – he remained with Cobra Kai for Miguel, escalated things with Miyagi-Do for Miguel, snapped his childhood best friend’s arm for Miguel, and Miguel…

Miguel’s rejected that, and it’s more than his loyalty to Sensei Lawrence – he’s rejecting Cobra Kai and everything they stand for and…he doesn’t get it, because why wouldn’t Miguel want revenge against Miyagi-Do? They were the problem, not Cobra Kai.

Hawk needs to talk to him again.

This fic slowed down because I've not written Hawk before and he's a very complex character that I want to get right - though @afurioushawk gave me some good advice some months back, which is going to come in handy when I get to writing again, so thank you.

The next part is a short extract from my Rex Tyler fic - which was originally going to be part of the legends of earth-4 fic but I'm now considering having it set on Earth-1 because dammit, I still wish they'd kept the more serious tone and had Rex Tyler play a part, like there was a story there and we never got to see it.

“So, if we don’t go to 1942, we live?” Sara queried.

“Yes.”

“And how would you know that?”

“Because I just witnessed your deaths, Miss Lance. I was told to come back here and to prevent you from ever stepping foot in 1942.”

“I know the speedster.” Len put in. “Obsessed with the Flash, seems to think he’s his greatest enemy, as though I don’t exist.”

He seemed very put out by this – Rex knew he loved being the supervillain to the Flash’s superhero, Mick had grouched about it often enough.

Rex is gonna spend almost all the fic trying to put on a professional front while absolutely fucking devstated on the inside (it'll all work out...eventually).

[archivistofnerddom]

Crossover that I would love to see (but know probably wouldn’t happen):

Legends of Tomorrow and The Bad Batch

If there is one superhero team that could compliment the Bad Batch’s style of being a *ahem* special operations (read: ludicrous plans) team, it’s the Legends. The Legends’ motto, for those who don’t know, is “Sometimes, we screw things up for the better.” If that isn’t a mentality that would work well with the Batch, I don’t know what would.

Plus, the Legends is basically made up of the B-list heroes of the Arrowverse. Rip literally recruited the first iteration of the Legends because they had no discernible overall impact on the timeline. It wouldn’t matter if they died in service of protecting the timeline (because they don’t matter in the long run). A bunch of defective deviant clones? Well, that’s not that far from what the Legends are when compared to the rest of the Arrowverse.

The Legends took that concept that they didn’t impact the timeline and said, “Screw it. We don’t accept that we don’t matter. Watch us be the chainsaws that somehow save the timeline many times over by being a family of wierdos and misfits.” And every iteration of the Legends has improved on that concept.

The Legends have beaten a literal time demon as a Voltron-ed blue Care Bear, had a finale fight sequence set to the Thong Song with Sisqo literally there singing it (I’m serious; that actually happened), and ended a season by getting arrested for time crimes. Teaming up with the Batch for a few missions would probably be the most normal thing they’ve ever done. Any Batch Ludicrous Plan would probably be met with approval, a situationally appropriate pun, and finger guns.

There’s a greater than average chance that they have 1 or 2 clones on their team at any time (depending on which iteration is used for the team-up), so the concept of clones doesn’t faze them. Hell, the Legends would be fervently Team “We Support Clones, Their Rights, and Their Identities.” (Also, the whole derisive calling someone a clone doesn’t fly with the Legends. That’s just asking for you to get immolated by a semi-reformed pyromaniac thief.)

Also, I just want to see Sara Lance (aka Captain and Mom of the Chaotic Disaster Ship / Legends) and Hunter (aka the Batch’s Most Tired and Stressed Dad) meeting up and fighting alongside one another. Both would bring knives to a gun fight (which they would win). Hunter would definitely unlock Dad Humor as a result. (Sara would have absolutely no part in doing that . . . at least, not intentionally.)

So, yeah, the Legends and the Bad Batch — chaotic crossover and greatest multiverse team-up.

[bekoobove]

Fazbear Fears #14: Find For Foxy

 …Lane takes advantage of a new mobile game to keep his son busy while he works, but begins to notice strange events occurring around the house…

 “Daaaaaad! I’m bored.”

 Lane quickly muted himself in the video meeting as Eddie barged into his office. He glared at the energetic boy. “What do you want to do about that? I’m in the middle of a meeting.”

 “Mom always plays games with me.”

 “Well, Mom didn’t have to work!” Lane groaned. “Now she does. Please, leave. This is important.”

 Eddie, deflated, left the room. As he did, Lane began to feel guilty about his overreaction. But what was he expected to do?

 Lane had worked from home for years, but recently the family had run into some money troubles. His wife, Sara, had managed to get a job, and they were making ends meet now. Still, that left Lane to keep an eye on Eddie once he got home from school, which was no small task. The kid could barely keep his focus on anything- toys, books, video games- and needed to be constantly entertained. Lane couldn’t work and play at the same time, leaving both of them frustrated with the new arrangement.

 Finally, the meeting ended, but Lane still had something to do. Apparently, the higher-ups wanted them to download some new communications app so they could stay up to date on projects.

 “Seriously?” Lane muttered as he opened the app store. “I don’t want to have homework. If you can’t tell me during the workday, then how important…”

 Lane trailed off as he noticed the app the store was featuring: some sort of mobile game featuring the character Foxy the Pirate Fox.

 Seeing the character made Lane think of Eddie. He loved Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, and all the characters, but none more than Foxy. He’d even gotten mad when Fazbear Entertainment cut him from the new band in favor of some wolf character. It was for that reason that Eddie had no interest in going to their new, big attraction despite it being pretty close. Instead he preferred their small town’s Pizzeria which still prominently featured the scallywag fox playing the drums and telling tales from the high seas.

 That train of thought led to another- Eddie had never been bored in the slightest by Foxy. Maybe this app could keep him entertained? Lane went to the app’s page for more detail. In the description, there was more information:

 From the development team behind the Princess Quest Trilogy comes an exciting collaboration with Fazbear Entertainment: Find For Foxy, a unique AR experience!

 Foxy may be the world’s greatest pirate, but now he needs your help on a new treasure hunt! Foxy will present you with a household item that you need to find. Once you do, scan it with your phone. Find enough items, and you could even win fun Freddy Fazbear prizes!

 Download for free today! You’ll never be bored again!

 Lane grinned. This sounded like exactly what he’d needed!

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

  “Argh, matey! It’s me, Foxy the Pirate Fox! Will you help me on the treasure hunting adventure of a lifetime?”

 Eddie squealed with excitement as he looked at the phone he held in front of him. There, superimposed on the living room on the screen, was Foxy, dressed in his finest blue overcoat and pirate hat. Lane, looking over Eddie’s shoulder, was impressed- the AR blended with the real environment really well.

 “That’s splendid!” Foxy said, the designers clearly having banked on excited kids responding to him. “The first thing you need to find is a chair! Scan it with your device, and I'll make sure it’s the right object.”

 “Go on, bud.” Lane encouraged Eddie, nodding towards the nearby armchair.

 “I’ll get it, Foxy!” Eddie cheered. He moved closer and focused the phone’s camera on the chair. The image on the screen lit up, and Foxy appeared in front of it.

 “Well done, Matey! That’s a chair if I’ve ever seen one!” Foxy patted the chair with his hook.

 “Now, it’s time to look forward, and choose the treasure that waits at the end of this hunt!”

 A new screen popped up on the phone, revealing a list of missions. They were mostly the same, simply tasking the player with finding more objects depending on the quality of the prize. Eddie could win Faz-Coins and merch coupons, redeemable at any Fazbear Pizzeria.

 Lane rolled his eyes. “Lure ���em in with free stuff, and the kids demand you buy a bunch of other things in the game...” he muttered under his breath. He hid his annoyance and clapped Eddie on the shoulder. “What treasure are you gonna go for?”

 Eddie gasped. “The Foxy Visit!” He selected the mission.

 Lane looked at the screen and gasped. “You need to find five hundred things to win that prize. Are you sure?”

 “Yeah! The Foxy Visit sounds great!”

 Lane remembered a party they’d had at the restaurant once where they’d reserved a visit with Foxy. He supposed this was the same thing.

 “Alright, bud.” Lane smiled. “It’ll take some time, but I know you can do it.”

 Eddie and Lane heard the garage door rumbling open. “Sounds like Mom’s back from work. Let’s get some dinner ready, huh?”

 Eddie agreed. When Sara walked through the door, Eddie was already so excited to tell her about Foxy talking to him.

 Lane mentally patted himself on the back. He’d made the right choice.

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

 The next week was a busy one for Eddie and a peaceful one for Lane. Not only was he able to work without interruption, he had enough time to read and watch his shows. It seemed he’d have even more peaceful days, too.

 Lane avoided talking to Eddie about the game too much (most conversations about it ended with incessant requests for a ten dollar skin for Foxy) but from what he understood, the hunts got harder as time went on. Now instead of chairs, he’d be asked to find a book with an animal in the title or a yellow flower. That’s right, some of the hunts even needed him to go outside. In one fell swoop, Lane had permanently ended Eddie’s boredom and made him get some fresh air! It was almost too good to be true.

 On Sunday evening that week, Lane was feeling peckish. He decided to grab some Cheezy Squares, his favorite chips, from the pantry to snack on. But when he looked inside, he realized they weren’t there.

 Eddie was coming down the stairs, and Lane shouted to him. “Hey, Eddie, did you finish off the Cheezy Squares?”

 Eddie shook his head.

 “Well, what happened to them, then? Mom doesn’t like them, so she didn’t eat them.”

 “I don’t know.” Eddie scratched his head. “I haven’t seen them since this afternoon. I found them for Foxy, but I didn’t touch ‘em or anything.”

 Lane chuckled. “Well, maybe Foxy ate them. I bet pirates love cheese.” He was a little disappointed, especially since he had to settle for some pretzels.

 “Maybe I did something with them.” Lane thought to himself as he snacked on the salty twists. “I can sometimes be forgetful…”

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

 “But not this much.” Lane stammered as he stared at the empty spot where his TV usually hung on the wall.

 Things had been going missing all the time for the past few days. Books, kitchenware, food- they’d all disappeared without a trace. But this made it clear there was more to it than bad luck and a spotty memory.

 “Aww, man.” Eddie groaned from the couch. “I wanted to watch the ninja show.”

 Lane sighed. “Eddie, I don’t suppose you’ve seen it recently…” Lane braced for the answer he’d received at least two dozen times this week.

 “I found it for Foxy.” Eddie explained. “But I’m not doing anything with them other than scanning with them, like I told you.”

 “Yeah, sure.” Lane said, annoyed. He couldn’t truly be mad at Eddie, because his idea was ridiculous. It wasn’t like Eddie had actually been stuffing the missing objects in his phone or anything. But it felt like too much of a coincidence. “Listen, Eddie, Mom is getting scared. She’s worried people are breaking in, and I’m starting to feel the same way.”

 “Breaking in to steal cups and Cheezy Squares?”

 “Fair.” Lane admitted. “So you promise you don’t know about any of this?”

 “Yeah, Dad. Geez.”

 Lane took a deep breath. “Ok. I’m going upstairs to watch the TV in the bedroom. Go to bed soon, it’s almost 10:00.”

 Lane trudged up the stairs in a daze. He pushed open his bedroom door, only to hear a strange noise: a rough scraping from above.

 Lane slowly looked up. There was nothing directly above him- instead, it seemed to be coming from the attic.

 Lane had always despised that place. Hardly the most mature fear a man could have, but who cared? To him, it was nothing more than a labyrinth of forgotten junk covered in cobwebs and dust.

 “Maybe something just fell?” He desperately tried to convince himself. Nope- the scraping continued, and it seemed to be moving.

 Heart racing, Lane walked over to the trapdoor, on the ceiling near Eddie’s room. He pulled the cord, opening the door and causing the retractable ladder to shoot towards him. It hit the floor with a BANG. The scraping stopped, and there was the new noise of an enormous CRASH- like now something had fallen.

 As he began to climb, Lane called out. “Hey! If you’re up there, show yourself.” He tried to sound threatening, but struggled to keep the panic out of his voice.

 He gripped the attic’s wooden floor and pulled himself through the hole. Above him, there was another cord, this one for the light. Hands shaking, he turn it on, looking to where he’d heard the crash-

 And saw a pile of random stuff. Confused, he looked around the musty room. There was no sign of an intruder or a break in.

 Eventually he focused back on the pile, and realized something. The objects were the things that had gone missing all week.

 It was the box of Cheezy Squares that first alerted him to this, crumpled under the weight of all the other items. A few cups came loose from the pile, and rolled down it. An umbrella, a fireplace poker, and a rusty shovel poked from the mass. There were items that seemed to have come from outside- dried up leaves and plants, an old dirty baseball, and even a small frog, which looked dead. And, sitting on top, the most recent addition to this bizarre collection, the TV.

 From behind him, Lane could hear someone else coming up the ladder. He turned to see Eddie. “Dad, I heard the crash, what’s- woah, what is all that stuff?”

 In a rage, Lane turned and grabbed Eddie by the shoulders. “Oh, don’t play dumb! You know what this is. This is all the stuff you ‘found’ for Foxy.”

 Eddie looked at the pile. “Well, yeah, I guess. How did it get up here?”

 “Clearly you put everything here!” Lane yelled right in Eddie’s face. “You thought you needed to steal stuff for that Foxy Visit, because you’re a dumb kid who can’t go ten minutes without messing something up!”

 Tears formed in Eddie’s eyes. “B-but I didn’t do it. How could I move a huge TV?”

 “Don’t know, so how about you tell me! It couldn’t have been anyone else.” He spotted Eddie’s phone hanging out of his pocket, and snatched it from him.

 “What are you doing?” Eddie gasped.

 “I’m deleting this stupid app! It’s messing with your head.” Lane held his finger on the app until the X icon appeared in the corner. He pressed it, preparing to watch the app blink out of existence.

 Instead, there was a strange popup: Error: Action Failed.

 Confused, Lane clicked on the X a few more times, but kept receiving the same popup. Trying to sound unbothered to Eddie, he said, “Well, until we can fix whatever’s wrong with this, you can’t have this phone.”

 “But Dad!” Eddie begged. “I’ve almost earned the Foxy Visit! I just need to find one more item.”

 “Well then you shouldn’t have ripped our TV out of the wall.” Calming down a little, Lane tried to reason with him. “If you really wanted to visit Foxy at the Pizzeria, you could have just asked. We might’ve taken you.”

 Eddie quieted for a moment before speaking. “But Dad, the prize isn’t us visiting Foxy. It’s Foxy visiting us.”

 Lane stared, suddenly creeped out. “What do you mean- like in a private party room?”

 Without answering, Eddie turned, walked over to the trapdoor, and climbed back down the ladder. Within seconds, Lane could hear him climbing into his bed and flicking the light off.

 Lane gazed at the phone, at the app, with its icon of Foxy grinning roguishly. He’d never noticed just how sharp the character’s teeth were.

 Lane left the attic, closing the trapdoor behind him (he’d bring all the junk down tomorrow). When he returned to his bedroom, he tucked the phone away in a drawer. Exhausted, he fell into bed beside his already snoring wife, and was overcome by sleep.

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

 Lane jolted awake. He swore he’d heard a noise.

 He turned to look at the digital alarm clock on his bedside table. In glowing green numbers, it read 11:18.

 As he rubbed his eyes, Lane stumbled out of bed and stubbed his toe on something. “Arghhh- crap!” he said reflexively, trying to be as quiet as possible. He looked down, and realized he’d hit a drawer that’d been pulled out of the dresser.

 It was the one he’d stored the phone in, and it was missing.

 Lane growled. “Eddie, I know you took it!” He stumbled out of their bedroom, scanning the hall outside it for the boy. “I don’t care about your stupid Foxy quest, all that matters is that you’re in big trouble!”

 Sure enough, the phone sat on the ground, its screen still glowing. But Eddie was nowhere in sight.

 Growing worried, Lane kneeled down and picked up the phone. Foxy was congratulating the player for finding a box of tissues- and the one that normally sat on a nearby table was missing.

 “Argh, matey!” the fox cheered. “Ye found all 500 items, and so ye won the treasure. I’m on my way over right now! This visit will be fun- you’ll never be bored again!”

 From behind him, Lane heard a crash. He turned to see the attic trap door had slammed open, and the ladder fell out. Then, another object fell from the hole- a box of tissues.

 “Is that you up there? Eddie?” Lane called out- a call that represented his last hope, that everything was normal and the family was safe.

 A hope that was quickly shut down.

 A tidal wave of junk- all the found items- came tumbling down from the attic. But the objects weren’t content to slouch into another harmless pile- no, they began shifting, twisting around each other, creating an oversized, beastly form.

 A black goo bled out from the objects, acting as a glue to hold the horrifying creature together. Finally, the groaning and shifting stopped, and the new junk monster was complete. Appropriately, it resembled Foxy- if Foxy was a couple of fox animatronics torn to pieces and put back together again in a nine-foot tall display of mechanical horror. The mass stumbled forwards on several skinny legs, waving its hooks and arms at Lane. It had at least two heads he could see, which gnashed their teeth formed of sharp pencils, needles, and small knives.

 From one of its mouths, a gravelly, grinding version of Foxy’s usually cheerful voice spoke. “YER OL’ PAL FOXY’S HERE, MATEY! THANKS FOR ALL THIS RAW MATERIAL, I’LL MAKE THE MOST OF IT!”

 Horrified, Lane stuttered. “W-where’s Eddie? What did you do with Eddie?”

 The junk Foxy was silent until it was within a foot of him, cornering him against a wall. Eventually it answered: “NOT YOUR PLACE TO KNOW, SCALLYWAG. BUT I CAN PROMISE YOU THIS- HE’LL NEVER BE BORED AGAIN. AND NEITHER WILL YOU!”

 In one sudden movement, it wrapped its jaw around Lane’s neck. For a moment, just a moment, Lane felt the cold black ooze dripping from its mouth and fangs. He wondered what it was.

 There was a horrific CRUNCH, and it was GAME OVER.

[missizzy]

A Game Novice's Baldur's Gate Log, 174 Hours In: Two big companion arc climaxes

Masterpost

(Note: this will definitely contain spoilers for all I've played through, and probably quite of a bit of the later stuff I've also seen.)

I'm playing a lot of this game this week. I've done so already, and I'm planning to play a lot more before I head up to Camden/Philadelphia on Tuesday. And I'm actually quite proud of what I accomplished so far. After winning what I've seen agreed to be the game's hardest battle, I also managed a dungeon crawl, largely without looking anything up, and another big battle, and while I'd seen some of the more emotional moments surrounding said battle, I hadn't even seen anything useful for it, so...and I was well rewarded for it last night, with not only a deeply satisfying denouement, but a pair of dice roll outcomes that felt like destiny.

Granted, my first two significantly long attempts at the battle in the Cloiser of Sombre Embrace hadn't gone all that well. I'd gotten out of it that I needed to try to make the characters harder to hit, and maybe also potion them up a little. I put both Sara and Shadowheart in new armor, and gave the latter a shield to get her AC all the way up to 22. (I've since given her Viconia's shield, too, so now it's 23!) I initially intended to switch them back after the battle, but I like how Sara looks in this, and I think I'm at the point in the game where a higher AC will serve her better than the skill bonuses she was getting from the hedge-wanderer armor.

I also gave Sara an Exilir of the Colossus, Shadowheart one of heroism, and Gale one of bloodlust, which had worked so well for in the Counting House. And while I was pleasantly surprised to discover I could still take them back to camp while in the cloister, I did still take them back upstairs to clear out the training rooms, which didn't provide much useful for the battle, but did have some excellent character moments for Shadowheart.

The battle still took me three more tries. Another thing I had to do was accept that a couple of the go-tos I really wanted to do just weren't going to work with all the darkness spells flung about-I'd already given up having Gale try to counterspell them, because then someone else would just cast it. Counterspell economy, in fact, might have been the final difference-maker, as I learned to balance not using up Gale's spell slots for little effect with also trying to keep more injured characters from being bone-chilled for a turn so they could take a damn healing potion.

Even then, I might have even only succeeded on the third because that time, Sara actually saved against the Mapped Terror effect for most of the fight. She did finally succumb late in it, and so still had that moment where she believed her worst fear of becoming a mind-flayer had come true, but by then enough of the Sharrans were dead that being paralyzed for a turn wasn't as damaging practically.

So when we'd won, and it became time to decide Viconia's fate, Sara did offer Shadowheart first dibs on deciding it. But while it definitely showed that character's growth when she chose simply to walk away from the woman who had kidnapped and brainwashed her, Sara, on the other hand, had already warned the Mother Superior during the mapping she kills those who wronged her, and those six seconds of physical and psychological violation are among the greatest wrongs anyone's ever done her. The trauma's definitely going to stay with her a long time. Honestly, that woman was lucky Sara made it quick.

I spent a long hour exploring the cloister while trying to figure out how to open the door in the back. This proved more exploration that was worth it simply for the further character moments for Shadowheart, especially as Jennifer English showed her ability to break our hearts just with the lines that pop up from walking around. But even after I ended up looking up how to offer objects to the altar in front of the door, I just could not figure out how to place them on said object in a way the game would recognized as them being offered. Finally I went back to camp and swapped Gale out for Astarion just so he could pick the damn lock.

Throughout Shadowheart's story, I've kept underestimating the horror of it. And I did right to the end. I'd heard vaguely that she had to chose whether or not to kill her parents, and wondered if they'd switched sides, but that she had to do it to free herself from Shar, that they even begged her to...far, far worse. I didn't want to make that choice. Sara wouldn't for someone else anyway. Though I was relieved when leaving Shadowheart to make it herself had her kill them. Them becoming motes perhaps helped soften it a little.

It almost felt weird when afterwards, since I'd looted Viconia's vault key off her, I took that party to the Counting House, and Shadowheart and Astarion were having amusing banter as if she hadn't just done through what she had. I'd worried I'd have to pay for another day pass, but all the doors down to the vault remained opened. We just walked in and grabbed its contents no problem. I'm not sure if they'll be any use at this point in game, but I hope Sara or possibly Wyll will eventually give that blackmail ledger to the right person.

I was also really, really grateful Sara got to give Shadowheart a hug during that night's cut scene. Sometimes you really do need to give a character a hug.

After the long rest, the inspirations I'd gotten last week now safely in hand, I took Astarion, Gale and Halsin, made sure the last had the Daylight spell prepared, and headed out to where the map indicated Cazador could be found. I'd been confused for a while about how we were supposed to get to him, but when trying to find some turn I hadn't taken yet, I instead moved the view up, and saw the door to his palace up above. After initially jumping Sara up to the ramparts, I also spotted how to get everyone up there through the watch tower.

And from there, I actually kept figuring things out, more than I had before this. Sara failed her checks while examining the sinister door, but Gale made them both, and I immediately figured there'd be a signet ring to open it around somewhere. The first time around the area, I didn't try to go through the door with the necrotic energy, but explored everywhere else, including the kennel, and though Sara tried to intimidate Godey into leaving them alone, she was very happy to kill him instead when that failed. I was happy, too, when he had the needed ring on him.

When that alone wasn't enough to get through, I knew immediately we'd have to deal with the necrotic door. I actually had Halsin cast Protection from Good and Evil on Sara and had her approach the door alone. It didn't protect her, but I just had her take the damage, and Astarion take a small amount of it too, as he lockpicked the chest and she checked the dead Victoria. Once she'd seen the letter she had on her, I quickly got her out of the Vitality Drain area, had her locate and read the needed dictionary, and then misty-stepped her safely back out.

I did quite well during the battle after we successfully got through that door into the ballroom as well, being economic with spells, as I now realized I needed to be, and using the right moves to bring the various beasts down quickly. I found the elevator to the dungeon pretty quickly after that as well. Initially during the cut scene I worried I'd left Halsin, who was by then in bear form, behind, as he wasn't shown on the descending platform, but he was with us when we manifested in the dungeon.

The first scene in the dungeons I'd seen already was the one where Astarion finds himself face to face with the victims he'd believed dead, now facing a far, far worse fate. It was one that had stayed with me even then, but was much more painful, now that I knew everything, including how significant it was that Astarion himself was horrified by what he saw. Which made it even worse when he promptly still declared he'd kill them all too, insisting to Sara, who wanted to free them, that they had to die anyway. She didn't have the heart to try to intimidate Sebastian out of cursing Astarion, and her persuasion check failed, as I didn't dare use any inspiration on it.

It was when I resumed at this point last night that I discovered I had noone and nothing on hand that could remove curses. Astarion was going to be at disadvantage during the battle. Which was the start of my starting to think I'd chosen the wrong party and made the wrong preparations for this. And, of course, this location was one we couldn't fast-travel or go back to camp from. After being so proud of how well I'd dungeon-crawled, I would soon start to wonder if I would have to do everything over.

I had a number of starts to the battle I ended up reloading out of quickly, nearly panicking over all of it. I tried to figure out different preparations I could make, but the only one I could think of was keeping Halsin in bear form, so he could kill the beasts quicker, which seemingly meant abandoning my plan to cast Daylight. At one point I wondered if I would go back to beginning, or maybe just spend some more time exploring the rest of the dungeon first, especially as I began to think if I had to sit through the cut scene of Cazador's abuse and taunting of Astarion one more time I was going to scream.

The last time I went through that door to the cut scene, I was actually telling myself I would trying wandering off if that attempt failed. Which maybe made me stick with it a little longer than I might have otherwise. I'd spent the earlier attempts fretting over my inability to destroy the runes Gale commented on as the battle began, but this time I actually listened to him also comment about the circles and standing in them. I then concentrated on first getting him misty-stepped over to Astarion to get him down. Later I also had Halsin shove Cazador out of his circle in the middle, though I'm still not entirely sure how much effect that had.

His spells were still terrible. It's a miracle nobody went down, and we were completely out of healing potions by the final turn. Hearing Cazador's taunts made me even believe he might be able to ascend even with Astarion freed. I had Gale loot the coffin in the middle of the battle in the hopes of finding a way of shutting that down, which meant I did at least get his vault key. I did make some brief attempts to kill one of the other spawn, though in the end that didn't happen. I've since confirmed this would've merely prevented Astarion from making the choice to ascend or not, and so ultimately, I'm glad I didn't manage it. (I think I may do it in any future playthroughs where I'm not ascending him, though. It's not like any version of that cut scene could live up to the one I ended up getting this time.)

Eventually, after Halsin got damaged out of his wild shape form twice, I had him cast the Daylight spell after all, and I was relieved to discover Cazador's turning himself into a red mist puff didn't mean we couldn't damage him. With most of the bigger beasts down, we focused in on him. Eventually he went down to less than ten hit points, but I'm pretty sure he never hit zero. And then, at that point, he suddenly vanished. All that was left on the battle field was one poor little bat, and when Sara axed it initiative ended. This actually ended up being the only time I looked up the answer, worried he'd teleported off to somewhere or something. But no, I read, he'd just retreated to his coffin a little early, and I just had to click on it for the next part.

The next part which I'd technically seen played through, but by a streamer playing as Astarion, which was a very different affair from this. I had also, on a different occasion, seen the immediate aftermath (though not the moment itself), of his ascending, where during the subsequent confrontation with the Gur, the streamer had actually asked her viewers who they sided with at this point, and all I could think was that was when Sara would just go to pieces, unable to cope. Ultimately, I'd seen more than enough to know I did not want him ascending.

And yet, I pretty much knew as I clicked on that coffin, that if she failed the checks, I wouldn't reload. I actually don't know if she would've given in and let him. She might have refused to help, and suffered him leaving the party. I actually don't think I'll even be using him further anyway; I've basically already mentally chosen my parties for Wyrm's Crossing redux, the House of Hope, and the Netherbrain, and there wasn't really room for him in any of them.

I had also learned while looking things up that there was an Insight check into his mindset to potentially be made as well. That made me feel better, since Sara has advantage and +7 to Insight. The 20 DC was still intimidating, but I took the guidance I'd given to Halsin when he'd leveled up some time ago partly for this exact moment, reminded myself her odds of making it were still pretty good as I rolled.

She rolled two natural 20s. I couldn't believe it. This vampire spawn was one she'd spent half the game not understanding at all, not really liking him and being at odds with him while still caring about him way too much, but now, the dice emphatically declared, she saw into him and understood him at the moment it mattered most.

And so she knew to repeat what she'd said to him earlier, that the power wouldn't free him, and hope it took. I was a little miffed when I saw the DC for that one was 15; you kind of hope a check you double-critted on would bring such a DC lower. But I had the guidance still up, I'd made damn sure she had Spaw's necklace on and took that plus two, reminded myself of the inspirations I'd worked so hard to get, and rolled with fingers crossed

Another natural 20. I sat there gaping. There was nothing to think but that this was destiny. She was meant to save Astarion from himself. And her doing so had been hard-earned. Honestly, if she'd been on better terms with him at the start, it wouldn't have been as powerful. If she'd been romancing him, it would've been the most dangerous kind of cliche. But when they had to come as far as they had? It was fucking brilliant.

Then came the moment I'd sort-of seen, where Astarion then repayed his enslaver for two hundred years of abuse and misery. Playing as Astarion means you get the violence, but not the dialog, or the breaking down afterwards. The killing was also a lot more satisfying to watch after you've made the journey with him, and I know Sara enjoyed seeing him do it maybe as much as he enjoyed doing it.

Although unfortunately, this was a scene where the lag got in the way, especially during the breaking down, which was one moment I had gone out of my way to avoid seeing before this. The sound going out of sync meant Astarion's cries of grief happened as disassociated sounds, his slumping down they were supposed to accompany instead accompanied only by the music. I actually ended up going onto YouTube and watching the whole sequence again, just to see it properly.

But I can't actually say the lag ruined it. Not when seeing him slumped down like that caused me to start sobbing a little myself. Although maybe that was also due to the hard battle and anxiety-raising cut scene I'd just slogged through.

There was the rest of it to get through after that. Sara was never going to do anything but free all the other spawn, so that was what she did. I was a little amused when his declaring it was all over and we should leave at the end of the cut scene was immediately followed by him getting an exclamation point over his head. Still a diva, it seems. But that extra bit of dialog was pretty short, and I was left to call it a night, and marvel at what I'd just done.

I knew at the beginning of the week I'd want to write another fic on my four-day weekend, which I've already started; it's going to be a Shadowzel one, though also involving an idea involving Sara and Gale I've had bouncing about my head since Halsin made his pass at her. After that, I'm going to look up the companion quests and moments of Act III, just to see if there's any more of them I should do before going to get the wyrm, kill Gortash, and head into the endgame. Although even after dealing with the Gur when I resume, it looks like I also need to make another little trip to the Counting House.