#and i think lucy is an adult too. right ;3

[syunkiss]

how old is lucy again

because i was thinking about lucy x the cafe uzumaki waitress .......

#i think we dont have the cafe uzumakis waitress canon age but if shes working and dazai flirts w her she is an adult #and i think lucy is an adult too. right ;3 #bsd #rarepairs

[gingerjolover]

can we prioritize jb controversially young gf pleaseeeee i vote yes

to ease y'all into it, get ya warmed up, here's a little appetizer (courtesy of my friends @boywithpinkcarnation and @ever-siince-new-york aka the loves of my life)

julien w a controversially!young gf

okay i have an (unpopular) opinion that i don't think julien would date someone controversially young not because there's something wrong with it but because she will get so existential and I feel like she would feel bad if your brain wasn't fully developed lol

however!!!! this aside, lets continue

I don't think it would be a best friends little siblings scenario or like the kid of someone on her team or the bg team

young!gf is probably a writer or an artist of some kind and julien is either a fan or is at a charity event or something similar and she meets boygenius and they all instantly love her sm

and jules and young!gf really hit it off and so julien leaves with her number but doesn't find out shes young until like 3 days later

has an absolute crisis about it, especially because she doesn't want to hurt you or change you

thinking young!gf is 20 about to be 21, like just old enough that some people will be like um??? but also you're a whole-ass adult so you can do what ya want

but julien and young!gf have a very serious convo bc they are both feeling the vibe and julien just wants a healthy, mutually beneficial, safe, and loving relationship

but anyways

lets get right to it, phoebe and lucy and MUNA love you

like the love u sm but they also love teasing julien

julien could be getting up from a chair or like be laying on the floor and phoebe is yelling "life alert" to you, a glare pushing its way onto jules's face

phoebe is the biggest instigator, always snapping photos of you both candidly and adding them to her photo dumps

I had that phoebe buys young!gf a t-shirt that says I love milfs but @boywithpinkcarnation said a shirt with I <3 cougars and its iconic honestly

phoebe will 1000% caption a photo of you sitting on jb's lap and be like "sugar daddy vibes🤑" or one of jb sitting on your lap with the caption "jb is taking babysitting wayyy too seriously" (@boywithpinkcarnation)

they all call you baby and they mean it

katie is the second biggest instigator and right after that is lucy, then nomi, then jo

katie always teases about "respect your elders"

lucy will post a very wholesome photo of the two of you but caption it "spend time and cherish your elders, they aren't around forever❤️" (straight from social queen @boywithpinkcarnation)

eventually young!gf gets into it and starts making jokes like kelli tiktok vibes (@ever-siince-new-york)

she gets asked in a day in the life vid or a live a question about jules and shes like "I'm not sure really...i just with her for the money," and julien is in the back like that interview when lucy says they're breaking up like "baby! don't say that! it's not funny!" and she's groaning coming into frame, her hand on young!gf's head, "they're gonna start to believe you, ya know?" like all sassy how jb gets🤓☝🏼

PRIVATE BUT NOT SECRET VIBEZZZZ @ever-siince-new-york, carlena said and i quote, "like they're not lovesurging on tiktok but if the paps get jb giving hickies on film... oh well😁"

they are also STOKED for you to turn 21, since most of them are sober the idea of getting you drunk is so appealing

and jb is SO protective, like already jb has her hands on young!gf all. the. time. like in the dip of her back or on her hips or hand on the back of her neck, jb is always making some type of physical contact

BUT especially in the club or at a bar

they do get freaky on her 21st bday hehe

maybe the day after bc young!gf just lets joi keep giving her shots and julien is just standing there jaw dropped because who knew their sweet baby girl was a mf tank

but lit katie, molly, kelli, jo, nomi, lucy, and phoebe LOVE you sm, like yes you're young and everyone is pushing or already 30 but young!gf is so profound and mature but not in a way that's not acting her age, she just has a very old soul and enjoys rest and knows what she likes and what she wants

and julien loooooves this, like jules doesn't want to groom you and mold you into something you're not, she wants you to act your age and like she doesn't isolate you or make you act 28 because everyone is around that age. like she fully supports if you wanna go out and party or like do something kinda childish or if you wanted to stress about school or be homesick, julien lets you just vibe and doesn't pressure you to grow up faster, she truly just wants you to grow up without the age gap looming over you

back to the daddy!jb antics, without infantalizing you, jb handles ALL of the "adult stuff" like y'all def split bills if you live together but she manages all of the subscriptions and pays all of the utilities and makes sure your car has gas and is always maintained like takes it to get inspected and stuff

if young!gf is in school than that's your biggest priority in jb's eyes, like yes focus on school or your work and then when you graduate we'll start to divvy up the household stuff

jb just loves to care for you, like she always has an extra hair tie on her wrist and its your scrunchie like the one you love

before you live together, jb is stocking her house w your stuff to make you comfy

your fave snacks are in the kitchen, your fave drinks in the fridge

jb buys a full size of your fave perfume and body wash, she has you pick out pajamas for her dresser and puts a jewelry holder on her dresser just for you (@ever-siince-new-york 🥹)

if you're in school, jb def has a desk set up in her office or music room and its one she built and it has cute pens and stationary and a pretty keyboard and a comfy chair where you can cross your legs and then under it is built in storage for some of your books and crocheting/knitting/crafting stuff

when you move in, jb designs (w the help of lucy and Katie) your own office where you can write and paint and it has the best sunlight in the whole house

julien also gets really anxious leaving you at home, not because you're not capable but she grows so attached and is like "you'll be a different person when i come back:("

always sending flowers and dinner and gifts while on the road (@ever-siince-new-york)

not smut but smut adjacent

julien is sooooo nervous to have sex w young!gf

maybe she hasn't done it before or julien just feels a lot of pressure to take care of her

and she has to be like "do you not like me?" kinda insecurely because julien is treating her like shes glass

and jb is like "oh my god sweet girl, no no no, i- of course i- i love you!"

and she's like "you WHAT??"

#anon cutie #take a sip of da juice #small sip #julien baker x reader #julien baker x young!gf #fic coming soon! #ALSO MY KIDNEYS AND BLADDER ARE CLEAR #fuck u matty healy

[mswyrr]

who's the songbird and who's the snake?

The joke is that adult Snow is going to spend the rest of his life thinking that Lucy Gray was his femme fatale, but actually young Coriolanus was her femme fatale.

At the worst point in her life this pretty boy shows up with a rose & then cares for her as best his limited resources allow. She finds out he's gone hungry too, that his family doesn't have much to eat, but he'll give her what food he has anyway. He risks his life for her, gives her his most cherished memento of his mother. Says and does all these sweet things, treats her like she's precious. It all adds up and she comes to trust him--when she says trust is harder for her than falling in love!--despite her wariness & believes in him to the extent that she writes him a song with the line saying he's "pure as the driven snow" (482) & then... 😬

When he slipped up and said he'd killed 3 people instead of the 2 justifiable ones she knew about, it must have been like she was suddenly in a gd Horror movie. Or the end of a Film Noir, when the femme fatale takes her pearl handled revolver out and points it right at the hero's heart. Her sweet boy transforming into a beast right in front of her eyes.

Who was the songbird and who was the snake? Lucy Gray tells him “I want you to know I don’t really believe you’re here for grades or glory. You’re a rare bird, Coriolanus.” (127) And she liked his singing. “Was that you I heard singing? … I liked your voice." (143). It comforted her in an otherwise completely horrific experience. From his pov she was his pretty, sweet songbird who turned into a snake; from her pov, he was hers. I find her pov more convincing, since Coriolanus does the traditional femme fatale thing and "proves untrue," whereas Lucy Gray was always true to her word.

I super dig the aesthetic, the tragedy, the fact that we get the femme fatale's pov as he tries to justify himself and pretend Lucy Gray was the one who proved untrue. The poignancy of her falling for someone as they are in the process of becoming someone very different. Because, in the end, he wanted control and comfort more than love and truth. 

#the ballad of songbirds and snakes #lucy gray baird #thg meta #coriolanus snow #my meta

[ladylooch]

The Spiral [Lio Meier] - Part 4

A/N: One more part after this! things are starting to turn around for our Lio 🤭

Word Count: 5.3k

Warnings: allergic reaction, lots of medical talk, angst, childhood trauma themes

ICYMI Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

The morning after his concussion, Lio thinks it would have been better to have been crushed by a garbage truck. His head hurts so bad, worse than any hangover headache or migraine he’s had in his life. But worse than that is the fog that has settled into his brain. Details of last night are fuzzy- the game, Lucie, their conversation. He thinks things are better, but is worried about facing her this morning.

He rolls over to his back, tentatively opening his eyes. The world doesn’t swirl like it had been last night. But he feels like the front of his forehead is going to explode off from the pressure. Is that normal? Fuck.

Slowly, Lio adjusts his position to sit up. The smell of something baking hits his nose. He smiles. Lucie is still here. It takes awhile before Lio can get out of bed, changed, and hit the bathroom. By the time he is done with that, he feels like he could go back to sleep. Instead, he drags himself towards the kitchen. Lucie is at the stove, a large stack of pancakes to her left. As he gets closer, he can see the rainbow sprinkles poking out of the cakes.

“Lucie pancakes.” He chuckles, approaching her.

“They still hit even as an adult.” She shrugs.

“Doesn’t Stell think these are her creation?”

“Yeah because of her dad.” Lucie rolls her eyes. “Connor thinks she created everything, even though I made these all the time when I was pregnant with her.”

“So he thinks because she was there, she made them?”

“He thinks she created the craving for me, so it’s from her.” 

“Your mom could set that straight.”

“Mmm, I don’t think anyone can set that man straight about his sweet girl.” Lucie takes off two more pancakes. “Sit down and eat. You look awful.”

“Thanks.” Lio mumbles, resting his head delicately in his palm. He sets his elbow on the counter watching as Lucie slaps two pancakes on his plate. “Still hate syrup?”

“Yep.” Lio confirms, picking up his fork to cut into a pancake.

“I heard from Ben. He wanted you to check in when you got up.” Lio nods, grabbing his phone.

While he eats small bites, him and Ben talk about how Lio is feeling. Ben is concerned about the intensity of Lio’s headache. He wants him to go to the hospital for a CT scan. 

“Can you send a car? Lucie needs to go home to her family.” 

“No, I can take you.” She says, waving away his worries. “Con is taking Stell to the rink for practice. She is loving her mommy-free life right now.” Ben and Lio chat more. The team doctor is going to meet them at the hospital and they will know more after the imaging is processed.

Lucie and Lio finish breakfast, then head into Newark. Lucie waits while Lio is being scanned and afterwards while they wait for the radiologist to do a quick read. Everything looks good. Lio’s brain isn’t showing any damage, but he does have one hell of a concussion. The news is good. Lio feels like he can breathe and be more at peace with where he is at.

“You’re going to have to take it easy.” The doctor reminds him. “At least two weeks before you do any exercise.” Lio agrees. He can’t imagine getting on the ice right now with how shitty he feels.

“Is it okay if I drop you off and head out?” Lucie asks Lio when they are back in the car. “Connor is going to the Children’s Hospital to see some of his kiddos. I need to get home before he leaves again.” 

“Yeah, I will be fine. Thank you for staying with me. And.. um tell Connor thanks too. I appreciate it. Know he isn’t my biggest fan.”

Lucie drops Lio in front of his building, then heads back towards her city. Lio’s doorman greets him warmly, opening the big door for him.

“Thanks, Charlie.” 

“Tough one last night, Mr. Meier.”

“Hey, boys pulled out the win tho.” Lio waves as he walks through.

“Your mama is waiting for you in your apartment. She was mighty frazzled this morning.” Lio stops in his tracks. There are two people who have unlimited access to his apartment besides him. One just dropped him off. The other lives in Switzerland. 

“Ah, thanks. Moms…” Lio trails off with a shrug. 

Lio seriously contemplates sprinting out of his building. Doctor’s orders be damned. The only woman to ever love him unconditionally is upstairs and he is not ready to face her. Not ready to see her after the horrible things he said to her. Not ready to face his own shame and self-hatred. It’s why he left Switzerland without seeing her even after telling his dad he wouldn’t do that. He doesn’t deserve her or her love. 

But she is here. Already. He knows how many hoops she must have jumped through to get to him. He senses his dad’s involvement as well. The strings Timo Meier would have pulled for her are unlimited. So Lio Meier gets into the elevator and rises the 6 floors to his awaiting fate. Outside his apartment door, he takes a deep breath, then puts his key in the lock. He pushes the door open, not seeing her on the couch like he expected. 

“Mama?” He calls into the apartment. 

“Lee?” He hears her call from deep inside. She comes rushing out of his room. With zero hesitation, she grabs him and wraps him into her body for a hug. “Oh” She sighs, holding his head against hers. She sucks in a deep breath then lets out a relieved sigh at having him close to her. “Are you okay?” Her brown eyes are deeply pained. Lio closes his eyes, unable to see more. 

“Um, well, I guess but also no. What are you doing?”

“Your laundry.”

“Of course.” He chuckles, shaking his head. He has been grown for awhile, but she still insists on taking care of him. It makes Lio less worried for whatever is to come.

“Well, I was very anxious waiting for you. I had to do something.” She insists, waving a hand in front of her face. “Now, go sit down. I have lemon water, hot oatmeal and toast ready for you.” She gently guides him forward. “And vitamins. You need extra nutrients to get better.”

“Mama.” Lio sighs when she turns to head back to the kitchen. He feels like such a piece of shit with how she is jumping right in to take care of him. The undeserving suffocates him, tightening his throat until he struggles to breathe. “Don’t do this.” He finally chokes out. “Don’t double down and love me harder right now.”

“Lee.” Emma comes back to him, putting her hands on his cheeks. She kisses his forehead, right over where his head aches so badly. “I am never going to stop loving you hard or taking care of you. I’m your mother.” She runs her fingers through his hair, then moves back into the kitchen. His blue eyes follow her.

“Is dad here?”

“Yes, of course. Boys are with Uncle Neeks and Auntie Lex, but Livy is coming this weekend.”

“You both didn’t have to come and Liv needs to stay in California. She has school.”

“Mmm, but we did.” Emma looks over her shoulder at him. “We needed to see that you were going to be okay.”

“Dad isn’t here now?” Lio looks down the hall towards his bedroom.

“No, we felt like it’s you and I that need to talk. Not the three of us.” Lio looks away. “Don’t be mad at daddy. It was me. He didn’t want to do it.” Lio’s blue eyes find her again in the kitchen.

“You don’t get to tell me to not be mad at him.” He whispers.

“Probably not. But I love your dad very much and if I can save him from your wrath, I want to.” 

Lio goes to the couch, sitting down, laying his head back on the top. He is exhausted from his morning. He feels the air of his mom coming around the couch. She puts her hand on his forehead, smoothing the wrinkle of distress there. 

“What’s the news?”

“Concussion.” Lio mumbles. 

“Is your brain okay?”

“Yes.” Emma sighs in obvious relief. Her hand drops to his shoulder. She strokes her hand there, quietly contemplating where to go next. When Lio opens his eyes, she begins.

“Lio, daddy and I love you more than I even know how to say. I never thought I would have to find words to express how much and I’m deeply sorry that you’ve been so hurt.” She sighs, running her hand through her hair, then looking out the floor to ceiling windows to the city. His apartment is only a few blocks from where her and Timo lived when she was pregnant with Lio. That feels like so long ago, but she tries to go back to who she was then to give Lio more insight into their life.

“I was the one who wanted to fudge your story. I know daddy told you that this summer, but he doesn’t know all of the things that went into that. You and I had experiences when you were a baby that made me feel very protective of you. People judged. They were horrible and social media made our life so accessible, even as Daddy and I tried to hide you. But this was never because we were ashamed or didn’t love you.” Disgust and substantial disagreement scrunches Emma’s nose. “It was the exact opposite.” Emma puts her hands on her cheeks for a moment, then continues.

“When you were 10 months old, the Devils were playing in the Eastern Conference finals. Daddy was hurt. He was playing through it as he always does, so he wasn’t performing very well. People were upset.” Lio watches his mom become increasingly uncomfortable. “You and I were out at a store after the Devils went down in the series. There was an incident in public where someone came up to you, a little baby, and called you that name…” Emma closes her eyes. “They went on to literally blamed the entire playoff situation on the fact that you were born out of wedlock. Daddy’s play as well. We were being punished for our sin of having you.”

Lio can see how much this still hurts his mom decades later.

“I’m sorry, mom.” He says sincerely. 

“That person got to me.” Emma shakes her head. “I felt you deserved a better story. A more picture perfect story because of how much joy and purpose you brought to our lives. I..” She sighs. “I felt like we ruined your childhood before it had even really begun. I tried to fix it the way I knew how. Instead I hurt you.” 

“But Lio, please know, I have loved you since the moment I knew of you even when I was crying on a bathroom floor. I didn’t know what to do, but I knew I had to figure it out for you. When I got up off that tile, whatever decision daddy wanted wasn’t going to shake my decision. You were coming because I wanted you. It would be me and you against the world.” Emma stops, looking at him, then she chuckles. “But daddy wasn’t going anywhere. He was all in. He loved us so much. You’ve seen the videos from when I was pregnant with you. Nothing about that was forced.”

Lio remembers the one of his dad laughing hard as a three week old Lio tried to latch onto Timo’s big chest. The pictures of him on the ice at The Rock for the first time in skates that looked massive on his feet. Tons of videos of Lio and Timo napping together the year of the Devils first cup run. He looks across his apartment at a picture of his parents and him with the cup. It was only Lio and them at that time. Well, his mom was pregnant with Livy, but they barely knew that. Although the most difficult to win trophy in sports is right there, his dad’s hands are on a young Lio, engulfing him and his mom in his sweaty equipment.

“It felt like a lie.” Lio hears himself say. He gestures to the picture. Emma follows his gaze. “Like it looked like that. But then you and dad would make a comment about wanting me so bad you couldn’t wait and my whole life felt like a lie.” Emma swallows hard, nodding.

“I see that now, Lee. I’m very sorry. But that was real. That was our life, baby.” She reaches for his hand.

“It hurt me.” He whispers. Emma winces, then runs her hand up his arm to squeeze his shoulder.

“I know. I am so sorry. I hope you can forgive me.” Emma purses her lips together, then looks at Lio with tears in her eyes. She brushes her thumb over the hairs behind his ear. “So loved. So wanted. Never a mistake.” Lio nods, then reaches to hug her. They hold one another tightly. 

“Love you, mama.” Lio inhales heavily. “I can see how you wanted to protect me.” 

“I love you, Lee. So much sweet boy.” When they pull apart, Emma stands to grab Lio more water, then comes back to the couch.

“She wasn’t even pregnant.” Lio confesses. “False positive.” 

“Oh.” Emma blinks. This is the first time she is hearing this. “How does that make you feel?”

“Relieved.” Lio answers honestly. “More than any of the other reasons I said this summer… I just don’t want kids, mama.”  Emma nods. She has suspected so for awhile. 

“It’s your life. You get to decide. But you need to be more careful because at some point, it becomes not your choice.” 

“Kay, pot.” Lio jokes with a light-hearted smirk. Emma tisks, chuckling and smacking Lio’s leg.

“Don’t slut shame your mother. You didn’t see how good James Bond looked that night.”

- - -

A brisk and skin drying wind has picked up on the East coast in the middle of November. Old man winter is roaring its way to the East coast with a winter storm warning in effect beginning tomorrow. With the impending weather, things are sure to get dicey in the booming metropolis of New York City. Despite the lingering effects of his concussion agitating him today, Lio is currently being dragged from room to room in the Bubble Planet by Stella Wood.

“This way! This way!” She yells, struggling to pull his heavy weight with her little body.

“Stell, I’m coming. Just chill.” He laughs.

“She doesn’t know that word. She’s three.” Lucie jokes back to him. 

They weave through room after room, each one more exciting than the last. Stella is having the time of her life, especially when she is on Lio’s shoulders, getting to touch the bubbles falling from the ceiling.

“Mama, this is the best day! I wish daddy could come!” Lucie and Lio avoid looking at each other, just like they avoid the giant elephant that is Connor Wood between them.

Although Lucie and Connor have discussed more about what happened this summer, he is not ready to move on. It got particularly heated when Lucie asked if Stella could see Lio. Connor questioned Lucie’s motives, worried about the implications and confusion Stella would have about Connor not being there. These were fair and valid points, but her inquisitiveness hurt less than her tears about missing Lio.

“Baby, you do what you need to do, but I’m not interested in spending time with him or fixing this. I’ve made concessions along the way. This is where I am at. Stell stays here with me.” 

Lucie respected that. She dropped it completely. But suddenly the next morning, Connor had given her quiet permission for her to bring Stella to breakfast with Lio. That was a month ago. Connor heads to the rink on days when his girls are meeting up with Lio, always having an excuse about training or treatment or nutrition. Lucie kisses him extra hard on those days, wanting him to know she loves him deeply and understands so much of this is difficult for them.

Now, as she watches Stella up on Lio’s shoulders, all she can fathom is the immense hole Connor’s absence brings. 

“Baby, are you getting hungry?” Lucie asks her daughter as they bop out onto the New York avenue.

“Yeah.”

“What do you want?”

“Mac and cheese!”

“You had that for dinner last night.” Lucie laughs.

“She is a good Swiss girl!” Lio nods approvingly. 

“Her favorite is Kraft.” Lucie points out.

“We’ll work on it. She’s three, ya know.” He jostles Lucie’s shoulder, then immediately regrets it at the way the world swirls upright for a minute. “Oof.” He rubs at his temples.

“Careful, Lee. No setbacks.” Lucie cautions, gripping his shoulder.

The three of them head a few blocks down to a diner, settling into a red booth with huge, plastic menus and a coloring page for Stella. Lio sits on her side of the booth, taking turns coloring a troll in a field of daisy. 

“Not pink!” Stella scrunches her nose, pushing Lio’s hand away.

“What? You said I could pick any color.”

“Yeah, any one but pink.”

“You love pink?”

“When I was two.”

Lucie and Lio both snort, attempting to pursue their lips to keep their laughter in. Stella Wood is an absolute hoot. 

“Can I share a milkshake with you?” Lucia asks Lio.

“I was gonna share with Stell.” 

“Oh, I see how it is.” She raises her eyebrows then looks away with a smirk at her menu. She decides on a simple Strawberry shake. “Stell, do you want to share with uncle Lee?”

“Yeah.” 

“Which flavor?”

“Reese’s! His favorite!” 

“No, you can’t have those, baby. You’re allergic to peanuts.”

“No peanuts in there?”

“Yes, there is peanut butter.” Lucie calmly reminds her.

“Sorry, Uncle Lee. I get sick.” She pats her little pot belly. 

“It’s okay. I was thinking chocolate.”

“Oh yes.” The little girl sighs happily.

The waitress comes and takes their orders. The adults grab cheeseburgers with fries while Stella happily exclaims she needs Mac and Cheese. The waitress practically swoons out of her Keds at how sweetly Stella thanks her for going to get their food. More coloring is done and a quick few games of hangman using three letter words like cat and dog and hat. Stella is getting so good at her ABCs. The milkshakes come out first. Stella watches in awe as the shake is split between two cups for her and her uncle.

“You gonna be able to finish that?” Lio asks. 

“Mhm.” Stella nods enthusiastically. With one hand she grabs the glass while the other helps her balance on the table top. She sucks up the milkshake quickly, then sputters, coughing. 

“Oh, that was a big sip. It’s cold, huh?” Lucie chuckles, handing Stella her water glass. She holds it up to the little girl’s lips for a sip.

“Ah!” She exclaims. “Mmmm.” She sucks up more of the thick liquid. Lio and Lucie chuckle, watching Stella enjoy her ice cream. Lio leans back farther in the booth, looking across the table at his cousin.

“I’ve had so much fun with you today. I missed this.”

“Me too.” Lucie murmur. Stella coughs again, loudly, then seems to gag. Stella sits up straighter, looking Lucie in the eyes with wide orbs. “Are you okay, baby?” Lucie straightens. Lio sits up as well, reaching out for Stella. She makes a wheezing noise, then sticks her tongue out. 

“Oh my god. Stell?” Lucie covers her mouth, watching a red, angry rash begin to form on Stella’s face. Lio grabs Stella as she begins to sway backward.

“She is very warm.”

“What is going on?” Lucie whispers, she looks around the table then she smells it, the faintest whiff of peanut butter coming from the ice cream in the glass Stella was drinking. “Oh my god. Peanut butter.” She reaches for her purse, fumbling around. “Um.. ohmygod.”

“Do you have an Epipen?”

“Um.” She nods vigorously, beginning to pant herself. Her stomach tightens, fear dashes down her spine. She rips her hands through the contents of her purse, looking for the injection she always carries with her since the first reaction Stella had a few months ago in Switzerland. But it wasn’t like this. It was nothing close to this. 

“Luc, come on.” Lio calls to his cousin, picking up Stella into his arms. “You’re okay, baby. It’s okay!” He tries for a cheery voice as Stella being to sob. “Luc, dump the purse out.” Lucie picks the bag up, emptying it from the handles. Lio sees the EpiPen immediately, tossing the cap off hastily. He does the injection, pausing to watch Stella’s reaction. Her wheezing gets tighter, but she can no longer speak to him or even cry. Lio’s heart is racing in his chest as he watches her struggle.

“Do you have another one?”

“No! It’s with Connor at home.” She shakes her head frantically. “Oh my god. Someone call an ambulance!” Lucie sobs out to the restaurant. In the haste of dumping her purse out, her phone fell underneath the booth. But she is frozen in paralysis. She can’t move. She can’t breathe. She is forced to watch her baby struggle.

Adrenaline takes over Lio like he was injected with the epinephrine. He calculates out where they are in the city, the amount of time it will take for an ambulance to get there and he knows Stella’s chances of making it are slim with how much she is struggling even after her first injection. He has seen this before with a kid in school when they still lived in Jersey. 

“There isn’t time for the ambulance. I’m taking her to Children’s.” The hospital is at the end of the three blocks they walked from Bubble Planet, close to Lucie’s car. Lio secures Stella to his chest and begins to run from the restaurant. He leaves Lucie at the table to scramble her things back into her bag. He runs as fast as his body will go. Stella jostles against his shoulder, going limper and limper and Lio quite literally races against time. 

“You’re going to be okay, Stell. it’s going to be okay. I won’t let anything happen to you.” He promises the little girl in his arms. 

Tears blur his vision. His concussion rears it’s ugly head, pulsing against his temples and making the sidewalk shift with his blurred vision. He can’t let that stop him. Stella needs him. He pushes his injured and weak body to go harder the next block, dodging pedestrians and cabs in walk ways and dogs on leashes. He hits the emergency entrance of the hospital, screaming for help. 

“Help! Please! My nieces is going into shock! She was exposed to peanuts!” Nurses swarm him, snatching Stell immediately and taking over. 

“Did you give her Epinephrine?”

“How was she exposed?”

“Is this her first exposure?”

Lio answers the questions as best he can. Yes, ingested and no. He looks over his shoulder, wondering when he can expect to see Lucie. But then they are taking Stella away on her bed. Another nurse holds him back as they rush down the hall with her. 

“Sir, I need you to wait in the lobby.”

She is right. He needs to wait for Lucie anyway. But that doesn’t make it easier to turn around. He heads to the doors he just sprinted through, avoiding the gazes of curious onlookers. He walks outside into the cold air. His chest tightens immediately and he turns to the side, looking for something he can vomit into. But then he sees Lucie Wood, rushing down the sidewalk, clutching her purse to her chest, sobbing so loud he can hear every inhale and exhale of her shaking body.

“Luc, they’ve got her.” Lio calls to her. He opens his arms up and Lucie collapses into his body. His shirt is immediately wet from her face. Large hiccups shudder her frame against him. He squeezes her tight, smoothing her hair down. “It’s going to be okay.” Lio whispers to her, hoping that maybe if they chant that together, it will make it real.

Several minutes pass. Lucie continues to sob into Lio’s body, even after he moves her inside to get out of the wind. The doctors come out looking for him, finding him and Lucie together. Stella is stable. They can go see her, but she will need to stay for several hours for monitoring as they had to give her two more injections. Lucie heads right into her daughter’s room, curling up with the little girl who looks drugged and exhausted in the center.

“Mama is here. You’re okay.” She cries to her daughter. Stella is upset and shaken from the ordeal. She clings to Lucie like a monkey, balling her shirt up in her little fists. 

“LuLu, do you want me to call Connor?”

“Yes.” Lucie whispers, barely able to get the word out of her shaking lips. She reaches into the back pocket of her jeans, handing her phone to him. “If you call he won’t answer.” She says simply. Lio tries to brush that off like it doesn’t hurt, but it stings as bad as the wind biting his cheeks during his sprint to the hospital. 

Lio takes a deep breath, then clicks on Connor’s contact. His heart is pounding in his chest like he’s about to take a face-off in the final minute of a trailing game. He licks his lips, leaning agains the wall, waiting on the call to connect.

“Hey baby! I’m just about to leave.”

“Ah.” Lio coughs. “Hey, it’s Lio.”

Silence.

“Where is Lucie?” A definite snap tightens the words through the line. 

“She’s with Stella. She asked me to call you and tell you what is going on.”

“What? Are they okay? What..” 

“Lucie is okay.” Lio starts.

“Stell? Whats wrong with her!?” Connor’s voice is beginning to escalate. “What did you do, Lio?” Connor snaps. Lio closes his eyes. 

“I didn’t do anything. It was a mistake at the restaurant.”

“Fuck!” Connor yells. “Where are you?”

“At Children’s hospital off 34th.”

“You have to tell me what happened, Lio.”

“I’m trying to, but you’re not letting me get much out here, man.” Connor sighs. Lio takes his silence as compliance. “We were out grabbing lunch and she had an allergic reaction and we had to bring her to the hospital. Her Epipen wasn’t enough.”

“Fuck, I have the second one. We usually have the two together, but Lucie and I had plans the other night and…” Connor’s voice is distraught.

“It happens. But you should get down here. They need you.”

“I’m on my way.” 

Lio removes the phone from his ear, looking at the lock screen of Lucie, Connor and Stella. Lio took that photo of them this summer in Switzerland, before everything happened. He sighs heavily, then comes back into the room.

“Connor is coming.” Lio assures Lucie. She doesn’t take her crying eyes off the little girl in her arms. She sniffs and nods in acknowledgement, continuing to touch her daughter’s face soothingly. Lio can’t tell if it’s for Stella or Lucie.

Connor Wood arrives thirty minutes later with squeaking sneakers on the tile floor of the hospital hallway. Lucie and Stella are dozing in an overwhelmed sleep. Lio sits in the chair next to them with one hand on Stella, rubbing her arm. Lucie’s hand clings to his wrist, needing comfort in one of the worst moments of her life. 

“I’m a terrible mom.” She had told Lio tearfully.

“You’re not. It was scary.” 

“What if you weren’t there?”

“It doesn’t matter. I was.”

“Luc! Stell!” Connor rushes into the room then locks in on Lio. He shifts his worried eyes to the bed, seeing Lucie and Stella curled together. His lips pull into a deep frown, then his eyes seemingly dim when he takes in Lio in the place he should be.

“They’re resting, Lucie is pretty upset.” Lio says as he slowly works his wrist out of Lucie’s grasp. “I’m sorry, I know you don’t want to see me. I’ll leave now, I just didn’t want to leave the girls alone before you got here.”

“What happened?” Connor asks. Lio can see the way his chest rapidly raises and falls beneath the Rangers logo on his chest.

“Stella somehow got a peanut butter shake at the diner. Wrong order. She had some and started having a severe reaction.” Connor’s face gets ghostly pale. He puts his hand on his head over his blue hat, waiting for more. “Um, Luc, She… she panicked. It was all scary. Truly awful. But I gave Stell the injection, but it didn’t do enough. She became mostly unresponsive.” Connor closes his eyes, bringing his hands to his face in anguish. “There wasn’t time to wait for help, so I grabbed Stella and ran here with her.” 

“You ran?”

“Yeah. Stell didn’t have time.” Lio reiterates. If he is mad at Lio for that, then so be it. Maybe it was reckless, but Lio had to make a judgement call and Stell is going to be okay because of it. Connor stares at Lio. Then suddenly he steps forward around the bed. Lio stands up taller, preparing for anything. Connor wraps an arm around Lio’s shoulders to bring him into his body. Lio brings his hands up, clasping Connor’s back as they share a deep, sincere hug. 

“Thank you.” Connor whispers, tears coating his voice. Lio squeezes Connor tighter, not wanting to let go of his best friend. Suddenly, it hits Lio. How close they were to losing Stell. How dire she had looked when he ran through the doors of the ER. How Lucie had every right to be that terrified at the table. It had been bad. Horrible. Worst case scenario. 

Lio can’t help it. He begins to sob. Everything that has happened the last few months weeps out of him. From losing Savannah, to screaming at his parents, to only having his little sister, to losing the three people in this room with him. His concussion… almost losing Stella on that New York street.

“It’s okay, Lee. She’s going to be okay.” Connor puts his hand on Lio’s head. “You saved our girl.” Lio nods, shuddering as he pulls away. Both men wipe their faces with their hands, then look over to the two girls laying in the bed. Stella has a sleepy grin on her face, watching them.

“Daddy!” She giggles, reaching out to him, flexing and unflexing her fingers for him to come closer.

“Hi baby.” Connor smiles brightly, leaning down to kiss her cheeks. “Can I lay with you and mama?” 

“Yeah.” Stella yawns as she says the word. 

“Sleepy.” Connor chuckles, kissing her again. He curls her and Lucie into his body, trying to be careful not to wake his wife. Lucie jolts up at the feeling of his hands on her. “Me, Luc. It’s me.” She visibly relaxes when she sees her husband. “I’m here.” He brushes her cheek with his thumb. 

Lio watches from the end of the bed, then anxiously rubs at his forehead. He clears his throat, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

“Um, well I’ll head out so you all can be together.”

“No, don’t go.” Lucie shakes her head. 

“It’s okay, Luc. I’ll see you later.” 

“You should stay with us.” Connor says softly. “We want you here.” The insinuation of the we has the corners of Lio’s mouth sliding up.

Lio makes his way back to the chair by the bedside, sitting down in it. Him and Connor share a look of understanding. Lucie trails her nails along Stella’s back as another big yawn stretches her little mouth. 

“Uncle Lee?” Stella murmurs.

“Hm?”

“You gonna be here when I wake up?”

“Yeah, Stell.” He sighs. “I’ll be right here.”

#lio & lucie

[joyful-soul-collector]

ooh what's lockwood and co about should i watch it?

WAS WAITING FOR SOMEONE TO ASK THIS HERE WE FUCKIN GO BROS

So Lockwood & Co is a netflix series based on a book series of the same name. Essentially it's about ghosts and ghost hunters, but with a twist: It's set in our time, but not our time as we know it.

Basically, around the 1970s, ghosts just like. Appeared. For no reason we've been able to figure out. People would die, and their malevolent ghost would come back, especially if they died in a particularly traumatic way. They called this The Problem. The thing about these ghosts, is that if they touch you, you die, and if you make eye contact with one for too long, you become Ghost-Locked, which basically send you into a coma. We're not sure what Ghost-Locked victims see in this coma but they always look horrified so we can assume it's not great. There seem to be 3 types of ghosts: Type Ones are what you normally picture for a ghost, Type Twos can make illusions and are more powerful, and Type Threes are incredibly rare and they can talk and communicate with certain people.

Then there are the ghost hunters. Now ghost hunters are always children, usually teens, because as you grow older you lose your Talent, your ability to sense ghosts/death. There are 3 types of Talents: Seeing, Hearing, Touching.

Another thing about this world is that there's no Internet. You can see in the theme song piles of old broken computers, and I'm not sure it's explained yet WHY the internet was never invented, but we assume it's because of The Problem somehow. But this means that the newspaper and news on tv is mainly how information gets around, and any research done has to come from a library and books.

So basically in this world there are companies that pay teens to hunt for ghosts and get rid of them. The companies are usually run by adults though, so it's fraught with awful shit, they often treat these kids like they're just tools and not like they're actual people. Often the kids don't actually get paid themselves, because their parents can control where their money gets paid to, so parents will send of their kids to ghost war and rake in the money safe at home. Capitalism god ahold of The Problem and figured out how to make hella money of of it, so a lot of these companies that are supposed to help people are actually super corrupt and awful to their employees.

Unless of course, you're Lockwood & Co

These dorks look at em

50 years after the start of The Problem, Anthony Lockwood, the guy on the right, is an orphaned teenager who decided he wanted to start his own ghost hunting company, and the "Co" part of the name includes the two on the left, George Karim and Lucy Carlyle. They run their own 3 person company free from exploitation from adults, which other companies (run by adults) really really hate. Lockwood has a Seeing Talent, Lucy has a Hearing Talent, and George has a Touching Talent.

Basically, these 3 kids are hired for a job getting rid of a ghost, only they find out that this ghost is one of a woman who was murdered, and not of a guy who fell down the stairs like they thought. They look deeper and deeper into this murder mystery and keep uncovering shit that other ghost companies do NOT want them to be uncovering. Things that go beyond exploitation of kids, more murders, weird artifacts, things that might even explain the origins of The Problem itself. So Lockwood & Co decide they want to figure it all out, or die trying.

This show is heartwarming, it's funny, its mysterious, it's got ALL THE FOUND FAMILY VIBES and I think it's a real hidden gem in the piles of TV shows on Netflix. It's been in the top 10 shows on netflix for a bit, but I've never really heard anyone talk about it, I just stumbled upon it when looking for something to watch one day. All in all, yes, you should definitely watch it please please please do it, I swear to god of Netflix cancels this show I'm going to riot

#marko answers #Anonymous #lockwood & co #lockwood and co #anthony lockwood #lucy carlyle #george karim #netflix #tv shows #tv recommendations #show recommendations #tv show recommendations

[mamadoc]

20 questions for fic writers

Thank you to for tagging me, @thisnightissparkling089 !

1. How many works do you have on Ao3?

I have only written 6 fics on AO3, but I tend to write long chapters and long stories.

2. What’s your total Ao3 word count?

313,810

Pretty good for 7 months, right?

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Only The Rookie. 😎

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

Catch of a Lifetime

Snowed In

*Sense* You Know Me So Well

*Sense* You Know Me So Well, Too - The Sequel

The Heimlich

5. Do you respond to comments?

Every comment thread! I love interacting with people who read my stories. I think it's one of the things that makes writing fanfiction so much fun.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I have a few rules in my writing. 1 - Chenford is endgame. 2 - Only happy endings. 3 - No Major Character Death!

My reading and writing affect my mood, and I read to find a little spot of joy and sunshine.

That said, my sequel series, After the Snow Melts, has a lot more angst than my other stories. Although the ending is happy, it's not a perfect resolution of the story.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

The last (third) chapter of *Sense* You Know Me So Well is so amazingly sweet and fluffy that it would rot your teeth.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Thankfully, no. I've had a few rude requests for me to continue a story, but that's as close as I've gotten. I'm so grateful for the people that leave kind comments on my stories.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

No. I'll write 'spicy' scenes, but nothing I would consider smut or going into M or E categories.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

No. I've considered it, and I've read a few that are great. But I never have.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

As far as I know, I have not.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? 

No. But I have a few frequent commenters on Twitter/X that comment in other languages. I don't know if they read it in English or translate it, but they comment in Spanish, Portuguese, and German.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No. When I first got some story ideas, I reached out to a few writers I admired to see if they would be interested in co-writing the stories with me. None of them were interested. That's when I had to break out my big girl panties and try it by myself. 😂😎 I'm glad I did. It's been such a rewarding hobby.

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

Chenford🥰

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I have several ideas jotted down on my Notes app on my phone. I don't know how many of them will ever be fleshed out and see the light of day.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Hmmm... I'm not sure. I feel like my writing is very descriptive and in character so that the reader can really feel like they're seeing it all play out. At least that's what I hear back from some readers. My stories are also longer, which allows the reader to disappear into that world for longer.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I still feel very new at this and lack some confidence in my writing skills. I've tried my hand at a few action scenes, but I'm not sure they come together as well as the relationship/dialogue scenes. I'm also an older Millennial, so some of the social media aspect of fanfiction and this fandom are new to me.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I've done it once. I just used Google translate to get some easy Chinese for Lucy and her mother to have a quick conversation. But I speak French and Korean, so I could potentially add that in sometime in the future. I just don't know how well that would fit into a Chenford story.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

This one. I had never done creative writing in my adult life until 7 months ago, hence my lack of confidence.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

I have really loved writing Catch of a Lifetime. I feel like it's different than a lot of the stories I've read on AO3, but it still has the characters we know and love.

*Sense* You Know Me So Well is my favorite of my shorter stories, particularly chapter 2. It feels very realistic and true to what could have happened in the snow.

And chapter 2 of *Sense* You Know Me So Well, Too - The Sequel is the one I feel like draws on the deepest feelings and most genuine heart of Chenford.

Thanks, ladies! Tagging @makeitastrength and @queseraone and @girlintotv and @chenfordspiral if they're interested in talking about their writing.

#chenford #fanfic #tim bradford x lucy chen #chenford fanfic #fanfiction #fanfiction writer

[tokkias]

GOT AN IDEAA!! How about a fic where nalu messes around with the guild since im pretty sure atp everyone in the guild is atleast somewhat invested in their relationship.

I mean come on u can’t tell me those two don’t try to mess around with their friends once they get together.

Maybe a lil flirting here then quickly act all platonic and innocent. Yk just to kind of keep them on their toes and on the edge before revealing they’re officially in a relationship

thank you for your request, i had a lot of fun working on it! special thanks to @nalunalu for making sure i saw this one thru, but that also applies to most of the fics i write sooo. <3

~

Natsu was always a handsy guy. He was a man with no physical boundaries when it came to the people he was close to, so it was no surprise to anyone when he just couldn’t seem to keep his hands off of Lucy.

They were an inseparable duo; wherever Lucy was, Natsu was sure to be there too, never once keeping his hands to himself. It was always something—an arm slung around her shoulder, a hand on her thigh, his head resting in her lap. It wasn’t Natsu’s overzealous affection that left guild members scratching their heads, but rather the way Lucy seemed to indulge him in it.

It was no secret that certain guild members were interested in the couple's relationship; after all, Natsu had been a lone wolf until their fateful encounter, but now that girl had him following her around like a lost puppy. The two were the subjects of much gossip in the girls' dormitories, and of course that gossip tended to seep into conversation at the guildhall.

Natsu’s arms were wrapped around her waist, his chin resting on her shoulder, as Lucy’s attention was planted firmly on the book open in front of her, seemingly paying no mind to the boy clinging to her side.

"I’m bored."

"Go bother someone else then," she told him, her eyes never leaving the pages of her book.

"Don’t wanna," he murmured, voice muffled as his lips dragged across the bare skin of her shoulder, "wanna hang out with you."

If the pair were aware of all the eyes on them, they didn’t acknowledge it, seemingly trapped in their own little bubble. Confused looks were shared between guild members because, well, that one was new. The action was gentle, romantic, almost, and Lucy didn’t even react to it, even though they were sitting right in the middle of the guild hall. In the past, something like that would have earned him a Lucy kick straight to the jaw, but instead her free hand just made its way into his hair, fingers mindlessly tangling through it as she continued to read.

A small group had gathered by the bar to inconspicuously watch the scene before them play out while hiding under the guise of a friendly discussion.

Mira let out a dreamy sigh as she pushed another drink over to Cana, "How romantic~"

"There is no way they’re not already fucking," Cana slurred, a little louder than necessary, causing a deep blush to cross Erza’s face.

"I don’t know," Levy pondered, "but I think Lu-chan would tell me if she and Natsu were dating."

"Don’t need to be dating for him to stick it in~"

Her comment elicited a giggle from Mira, but earned her a gentle elbow in the side from Lisanna.

"Shhh! Keep it down, Cana!" she scolded. "Even Lucy might hear you at this rate."

The group shared a not-so-subtle glance over at them, only to find the two in the exact position they had been in when they last checked, their attention fully planted on each other.

"I didn’t know Natsu could be so..." Erza paused, searching for the right words to describe the scene they had just witnessed, "tender...?"

Natsu had always been like a baby brother to Erza; she’d watched him grow up from a loud, reckless, and aggressive child into a loud, reckless, and aggressive adult, which made it all the more unusual to see this type of behaviour out of him. The sentiment was shared in murmurs amongst the girls, their attention turning away from the pair as they began to reminisce on the ways he had changed since Lucy had came into their lives.

"Luuccyyyy," Natsu drawled, all but poking her for her attention.

With a sigh, Lucy placed her book down and turned to face him.

"What?"

Natsu didn’t say anything before flashing her a goofy grin and leaning in to give her a soft kiss on the lips. She rolled her eyes slightly and gave him a light whack on the arm, but returned his smile with a fond one of her own.

The sweet moment was ruined for them, however, when Gray loudly choked on his drink, drawing all attention to him.

"What the fuck?" He choked out, trying to compose himself as he coughed and sputtered, "Did you guys just kiss?"

Those who weren’t paying attention before then certainly were now, and the group of gossips in the corner whipped their heads around, hoping to catch a glimpse of exactly what Gray was talking about. Expectant eyes moved to Natsu and Lucy, who were sat looking completely innocent to the accusation.

Lucy cocked her head to the side in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"Yeah, why would I kiss Lucy?"

Gray’s mouth fell open at their reactions; he knew what he saw, but here they were, pretending like nothing out of the ordinary had just occurred.

"I don’t know!" He cried out, "You did it, not me!"

"I think you were just seeing things," suggested Lucy, with a confused expression on her face that didn’t quite overshadow the knowing glint in her eyes.

Natsu, he expected that from, but he thought better of Lucy to try and gaslight him. Whether or not they were didn’t matter anymore, because the two of them had just made him look like an idiot in front of the whole guild.

"Yeah, Lucy’s right, maybe you need to get your eyes checked or somethin’"

"Hey man, I know what I saw!"

His confidence had certainly wavered as a result of their genuine confusion, but he was not going to back down and let Natsu be right while everyone was watching.

Baffled glances were shared between the group of gossips at what had apparently played out in the mere minutes it had been since they looked away in favour of huddling together to hide their whispers from Natsu’s sensitive hearing. Gray sounded so confident in his accusation, and what motive would he have to lie about his teammates? But Natsu and Lucy were sat looking completely innocent, save for Natsu’s hand still resting around her waist.

Well, that was until he jumped out of his chair to throw himself at Gray, punching him square in the jaw and sending him to the floor. It was a mild, if not unique, reason to start a fight, but then again, there was hardly ever a need for one in Fairy Tail anyway. Lucy grabbed her book and ducked under the table when a chair went flying in her direction as others found themselves jumping in on the brawl, not caring much for the reason behind it.

~

The small bedside lamp was enough to light up the room while Lucy sat on her bed, flicking through the pages of her book. Natsu was comfortably sprawled out on the mattress with her, head resting in her lap and arms wrapped around her waist.

"Luuuccyyyy," Natsu whined, "When are ya gonna be done reading that book?"

"Well, I couldn’t finish it earlier because someone," she flicked his nose, "started a guild-wide brawl by kissing me."

"Hey, not my fault Gray can’t keep his eyes to himself," he shrugged.

Lucy shut her book, placing it on her nightstand, before looking down at her partner.

"You knew Gray was looking at us, didn’t you?"

"Yeah," he confirmed with a mischievous glint in his eye.

"So you kissed me because you wanted to start a fight?"

"Nah, I just thought it’d be funny to mess with everybody, getting to punch Gray was just a bonus," he grinned.

Any other time she might have scolded him and smacked him over the head for his behaviour, but she couldn’t pretend like she was exactly innocent in it all either, having taken at least a little spark of joy in screwing with Gray and the others. She wasn’t naïve to the investment their friends had in their relationship; they may have tried to be subtle about it today, but she had been on the receiving end of much teasing about her relations with Natsu in the past.

"They were gossiping about us again, weren’t they?" she asked, to which he confirmed with a nod.

Lucy let out a soft laugh, realising she should have known better to think otherwise. Her hand rested on his cheek, guiding him up towards her so she could place a soft kiss against his lips. Everyone else could talk all they wanted, but for now, this was just their little secret.

#fairy tail #nalu #mya writes things #long post #request

[atopvisenyashill]

What if asoiaf characters ended up in the world of Narnia? How would they react to the world, Aslan and Jadis?

Okay caveat i haven’t read narnia in a long time BUT all the magical characters are probably in their ELEMENT here I mean

Arya and Lucy would be besties anyway, so you know Arya is having the time of her life

Narnia is a place filled with magic and romanticism and happy endings (if sometimes with a bit of bitter laced with sweet, as the jump from childhood to adulthood always is) and I think all of that would appeal to Sansa on such a deep, fundamental level. When I tell you Sansa and Arya would have a blast!!!

Jon Snow magical girl who puts his entire arm into his prehistoric dinosaur wolf bestie's mouth for funsies would be hella excited about all the talking animals

BRAN STARK. PLS. NEED I SAY MORE HERE.

I think Robb would have a blast too and not just for magical animal reasons but him and Peter have that same "put upon eldest brother" vibe that I think Robb would thrive at being given the chance to really shine as a brother first and a king second

tbh i think the amount of prophecies might freak Dany and Theon out a bit actually - look me in the eyes and tell me Theon would not be tempted by Jadis the way Edmund is, lmao - but I think under some circumstances they could bounce back and have fun exploring the magic that exists there

I know saying Melisandre would like it here is a wild choice but I think the more fairy tale, straightforward morality would appeal to her a lot. Whether she gets obsessive about the wrong kind of magic is um, a different convo. I did make myself sad thinking about poor little slave Melisandre praying to some sort of divine power to save her and Aslan being the one to answer however so that's fun

Kind of along the same lines, in that Narnia often appeals to children who feel lost due to extreme upheaval, I think Missandei would crawl right through the wardrobe, see the lamppost, and just fall in love with the world around her. She's so smart and inquisitive and brave, I just think she'd be delighted. I think if Missandei and Dany went through together, they'd be alright <3

Actually now that I think about it, if Theon went through with the Starklings, he'd end up okay in the end too.

Kind of obsessed with the idea of little Lannister siblings all crawling through at some point or another. Cersei being unable to access the wardrobe, chalking it all up to a dream after she marries and all her dreams turn to ash. Jaime being unable to cope with having adult memories in the body of a teenager. Tyrion (shout out Peter Dinklage, hah) finding a world where his intelligence and wit is respected and growing increasingly dejected with his real life. Wow I made myself sad now.

DUNK AND EGG IN NARNIA. Egg just crawling through one day and Dunk is like now where The Fuck did this kid go and has to crouch his tall ass through that fucking wardrobe after Egg, and Egg is already running into the woods and playing in the snow and Dunk is grumbling after him. DUNK AND EGG ON A ROAD TRIP IN NARNIA. DUNK MEETING A CENTAUR. EGG BEING DISRESPECTFUL TO THE BEAVERS.

Personally I think it would be really funny if Euron came through and Peter takes one look at him and is like "alright fine give Lucy a weapon" and they unleash her on that blue lipped freak. Lucy with a gun >>>>>> Euron and his godhood magic btw

Also Quent. Poor little frog prince would love Narnia. (also, being like Fantasy Spanish with Caspian is kind of funny imo) (I can't remember if Caspian's country are also Fantasy Spaniards in the books or they just made Ben Barnes do that accent for funsies).

#i'm sorry omg i have like 6 or 7 asks and they're all really good and interesting questions i want to put thought into #but i am DEAD TIRED today so even tough i'm at work in children's idk if i'm getting to them today #i want to give good answers for the good questions!!! #this one was just was fun tho and since i'm sitting in children's i thought it was on brand to think about narnia haha #asks #anons #i should listen to the narnia audiobooks i've never read those on tape #i think narnia is also like Thee only series where i read it as a kid and was satisfied with the ending #bless cs lewis for knowing how to end a fucking series i guess. even wiht the susan stuff. the last battle is a baller ass book. #[mwt and stravaganza do NOT interact i'm so fucking mad]

[choicesflashfics]

A few weeks ago I received an ask about doing another holiday prompt list this year, and it was suggested to use the same list from last year as there were so many prompts on it. So here is the list for the Choices Flashfics Holiday Prompt event, starting Sunday November 26th and running through January 6th.

Guidelines:

The fic can be no more than 2500 words. Word count must be present.

The prompts must be used exactly as they are except if you need/want to change “Christmas” in any of the prompts to another winter holiday that you/your character(s) celebrate, you may do so. (some already give an option, but you can choose any winter holiday that fits your story, or just “the holidays” is fine too)

Any of the prompts used must be bolded. Please put in your A/N which prompt(s) you’re using and specify if they are from the holiday prompt list and/or the weekly prompt list. 

Use proper warnings/tags for the fics if they require any (nsfw, etc.)

Tag @choicesflashfics when you post and your fic will be reblogged. If your fic isn’t reblogged within 48 hours of posting (because we all know how tumblr tags are wonky sometimes), send a message with the link. 

Post your holiday fic(s) by Saturday, January 6th (11:59 EST)

You can post as many holiday fics using as many of the prompts from the holiday list as you want during the duration of the event. You can combine the prompts with the weekly flashfics prompts if you’d like and/or use them with other ongoing Choices events. Any fics submitted will be linked in that respective week’s weekly fics post, and a special post containing all submitted holiday fics will be posted Sunday, January 7th. I hope these lend some inspiration if needed! 

❄️happy holidays and happy writing❄️

Tags: @aallotarenunelma @ao719 @bebepac @blackcatkita @boneandfur @burnsoslow @charlotteg234 @choicesfanaf @choiceskatie @choicesmonthlychallenge @dcbbw @deb-1106 @emkay512 @foreverethereal123 @jerzwriter @katedrakeohd @kristinamae093 @leelee10898 @lolablackwrites @lucy-268 @mariemarieohcontrary @myglassesareinkansas @neotericthemis @niaellariious @peonierose @petiteboheme @phoenixrising0308 @polishchoicesfan @queenrileyrose @sfb123 @sincerelyella @socalwriterbee @starsarewithinme @tessa-liam @twinkleallnight @writing-not @zaffrenotes

1. “Stop trying to get me to walk under the mistletoe.”

2. “That should be our Christmas card this year.”

3. “You’d make a cute elf.”

4. “I thought you were going home for Christmas/the holidays.” -> “Well, I couldn’t leave you all alone.”

5. “Who decorated your tree? A toddler?”

6. “See? I told you running in the snow at midnight was fun!”

7. “This is the first time I’m spending the holidays with someone I actually like.”

8. “Did you break into my house?” -> “You refused to put up any Christmas decorations! What choice did I have?”

9. “I’m really nervous to meet your family …”

10. “You’re getting coal this year.”

11. “Don’t get your tinsel in a tangle.”

12. “The tree isn’t the only thing getting lit this year.”

13. “My secret Santa got me a trash can.” -> “Mine got me a half-eaten bag of chips and a tube of chapstick.”

14. “You. Me. Snowman. Now.” 

15. “I’m a grown adult. I don’t want to take a picture with Santa Claus.”

16. “I dare you to run through the snow … naked.”

17. “Look, there’s mistletoe. We have to kiss, it’s the law.”

18. “If you throw that snowball, you’re declaring war.”

19. “You’re kidding, right? You’re not going out in that snowstorm!”

20. “You didn’t really think I’d let you spend Christmas/New Year’s alone, did you?”

21. “It looks like Santa threw up in here.”

22. “Have I told you how much I hate Christmas shopping?”

23. “There’s a snowstorm. I guess we’re stuck in here together until it passes.”

24. “My only resolution is to love you even more next year.”

25. “There’s no need for gifts when your presence is already a present.” -> “That was adorably cheesy.” 

26. “Hey, if we don’t find someone by midnight … you and me … maybe?” -> “Ask me properly and I just might consider it.”

27. “But it’s Christmas/New Year’s Eve … you’re supposed to be here with me.”

28. “You’ve never been kissed under mistletoe?”

29. “Well, here I am. Making your Yuletide gay.”

30. “Look, couples Christmas sweaters!”

31. “Joke’s on you. I’m already on the naughty list.”

32. “Aw, look at you pretending to be Santa for the kids.”

33. “I made you some hot chocolate.”

34. “I’ll be home in time for Christmas, I promise.”

35. “Christmas brings up bad memories for me.”

36. “Looks like you got a little drunk off the eggnog, hm?”

37. “Let’s go sledding!”

38. “Christmas lost its special side to me a long time ago … but you’ve brought some of that magic back.”

39. “Don’t feel bad … you didn’t completely ruin Christmas dinner. There’s still this … Jell-o stuff.”

40. “Christmas is so close, I can almost smell the mistletoe I’m never going to get kissed under.”

41. “Parent hack: wrap empty boxes, and whenever your kid misbehaves, throw the box into the fire.”

42. “I cannot believe our car broke down in the middle of nowhere on Christmas Eve!” 

43. “My house, my rules. The Christmas music stays on.”

44. “You are impossible to shop for!”

45. “What do you mean you don’t want to go sledding?”

46. “I swear to god if you sing another damn Christmas carol …” 

47. “You know, when you said ‘Christmas party,’ this isn’t what I was expecting.”

48. “Come on, just wear the Santa hat for a little bit. Please?”

49. “I feel like there’s more frosting on you than the gingerbread.”

50. “Should you ever need a family to spend the holidays with, there’s always room for one more in my/our house.”

51. “I never had any special tradition for the holidays while growing up.” -> “So, how about we start our own?”

52. “I don’t know if the champagne has me seeing stars, but you look more beautiful than ever right now.”

53. “Your nose is red from the cold. You look like a cute little reindeer.”

54. “I know you said you didn’t want any gifts, but I want to spoil you, so deal with it.” 

55. “You’re always welcome to stay at my place for Christmas if you can’t find a hotel.”

56. “Us cramming into your childhood twin bed is definitely not how I would have imagined spending Christmas Eve at your parents’ place.”

57. “What do you mean? I think this snowman looks exactly like you!”

58. “Lift me up so I can put the star on the tree.”

59. “Ice-skating? Do you seriously trust me with knives on my feet?”

60. “This gingerbread man is me. This one is you. And I know the house looks wonky, but I promise our future home will be better than this!”

61. “Ho, Ho … oh?”

62. “Did you get us matching PJs?”

63. “Are you eating cookies right now? It’s 3 am.” -> “If Santa can do it, so can I.”

64. “The roads are getting really bad. Maybe you should stay here tonight.” 

65. “Get inside before you freeze to death!”

66. “Let’s just stay in today and watch Christmas movies.”

67. “What’s wrong? Do you not like your gift?”

68. “How about you, me, and some hot chocolate by the fireplace?”

69. “I kind of got too drunk at this Christmas/New Year’s party and I need you to come pick me up …”

70. “Someone bit all of the heads off of the gingerbread people!”

71. “Most wonderful time of the year, my ass.”

72. “Guess who signed us up to go Christmas caroling?”

73. “We’re not going anywhere. We’re snowed in.”

74. “That is the saddest looking tree I’ve ever seen.” 

75. “Look at all the couples using the cold as an excuse to cuddle. It’s gross.”

76. “Great! Now I have to re-hide your gifts.”

77. “Looks like there’s still one more present under the tree …” 

78. “I thought we agreed to not exchange gifts this year?”

79. “I’m freezing! Let me steal your warmth!”

80. “We cannot put this photo on our Christmas card!”

81. “The only thing I want for Christmas is you.”

82. “Are you even tall enough to put the star on the tree?”

83. “Well done. You just ruined Christmas.”

84. “You said not to buy you any gifts, so I made you one instead.”

85. “Hey! No peeking!”

86. “Wait, did you spike the eggnog/hot chocolate?”

87. “Seriously! I told you that you would get sick going out like that!”

88. “I mean, I knew you had Christmas spirit, but this is ridiculous.”

89. “This has been the most memorable Christmas I’ve ever had.”

90. “Wait, you mean this whole time, you hated peppermint?”

91. “Tis the season, I guess.”

92. “What are you doing?” -> “Making a snow angel, duh.” 

93. “Would you stop eating all of the popcorn! It’s supposed to go on the tree!” -> “But I’m hungry! And who puts popcorn on a tree anyway?”  

94. “Don’t be such a grinch!” 

95. “New Year’s Eve was supposed to be fun! Instead, we ended up in a jail cell! And it’s all your fault!”

96. “Why do you get so grumpy during Christmas time?”

97. “Throw the snowball like you mean it!”

98. “It’s freezing out here! Please open the door!”

99. “Come play in the snow with me!”

100. “Almost everything that could have gone wrong did, but this was still the best Christmas ever.”

#choicesflashfics #choices fanfiction #choices fanfic #choices prompt challenge #flashfics holiday prompts #choices #playchoices

[adaginy]

[Part 1][Part 2][Part 3] [Part 4]

Part 5 "Hey Mom. You have time for a chat? I have some news. ... Cool, not in the quiet car, are you? ... Then change cars, it's rude to take a call in the quiet car, jeez. ... ... Okay. Long story short, a week ago I had to babysit some coworkers at an event for their species. A mating thing, like how sea turtles all come lay eggs at once? ... I don't know, I think the full moon maybe, that's not the point. ... No, Mom, just -- look, a kid gave me a flower. Yes, there were kids there. No, they weren't-- MOM.😑 The kids are supposed to be there, because their parents leave them behind when they're going to get pregnant again, and older aliens take them. ... Ummm, yeah, actually, basically exactly like the Schmidt kids when their mother remarried, yes. So this kid gives me a flower and I take it because that's what you do when kids hand you stuff. And it turns out that's how its species says 'are you my new mommy' and how an adult says yes, so now I've adopted this alien kid. ... Uh-huh.. yep, I'm on new-child leave right now. Yep. Yes! Congratulations!" [Excited shrieking, audible even on this side] "That's the other reason I made you move out of the quiet car. 🤣 ... Yeah, we've made it a TAOL unit for their -- traditional and/or legal unit, a legal space family? It's a TAOL unit for their species and we're looking at what it would mean if we made it a human TAOL unit, too. ... 'Kiddo,' it's an actual Peprine name. ... Peprine. I don't know if they're common on Earth, I haven't been home in -- ... Like a rabbit sortof? That old movie you like with the rabbit cop? But the eyes are like, um, a little like a praying mantis I guess. ... Neither, it-- 🙄 No, not because of me, they just do pronouns differently. It's 'it' until it gets older, then he, then she. It's in class right now. ... There's like ten thousand adults on this ship, Mom, yes, there's enough kids for classes. ... Did you get the dock I ordered for you? It has a switch that'll transmit across calls. ... Well open the box when you get home then, and I'll call you when it's out of class, and you can talk to it. It's a bit shy, though. ... ... Well, yeah, a little afraid of me, but there's another Peprine kid on the ship, and the Peprine adults, and it doesn't talk to them much either. ... I don't know how old exactly. Size of a human 4-year old, but apparently it's going to grow fast. When it's signed up for classes, sometimes it's in a group with 7-year olds, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12-year-olds. ... Coconut, I know it likes coconut. I bet it would like peanut butter, too. Don't send cookies, they can't eat meat, I have to talk to someone about whether they can eat milk and eggs. Or lab-grown stuff. ... Lemme ask. Hey, SOSCU? Can you tell me when the ship's next mail stop is, please? And the next Earth swing? (SOSCU: Ship's Operational and Social Computer Unit. There are sentient AIs, this is not one. Allegedly. Only the humans say 'please'.) ... Mail is the 14th at Zed-μ-5, but the next Earth swing isn't until October. Oh, um, don't send fiddly toys. It doesn't have all its fingers. Just two on one hand. Puzzles yes, model kits no. ... I don't know why, I think born that way. ... Of course I've told it we can get prosthetics. I think it just has Big Feelings about it to work through. ... Ehh. Not to be, you know, speciesist, but by human standards Peprin are kinda fucked up regarding sick kids. So it might just need to, I don't know, come to terms with it being an option. I'll look some stuff up for it, ask medical if they know someone with a falsie who'd be willing to show it off. Don't bring it up when you talk, please. ... No? Oh. Yeah, I could show it my glasses, I didn't even think about that. "

[loud yappy dogs]

"Ow, I guess you're home. Tell Linus and Lucy and Schroeder that I said hi, give them pats for me. Get the shrieking out of your system, look up Peprine so you know what to expect for looks, open up the dock and get it set up and I'll call you in a few hours, okay? ... Love you too, Mommy. Talk to you again soon."

[Part 6]

#humans in space #humans are space oddities #humans are space fae #aliens and humans #humans and alien kids #addie writes

[rinseveryday]

Hello! How are you ? Just one question! who do you think will die in the upcoming chapters of blue exorcist ? do you think anyone will die at all?

Hello anon! You're lucky because I'm having a nice easy week so I get to respond to you on the same day! (how rare)

Thank you for the question. I have seen this one come up recently within the fandom, especially with the manga ramping up for what seems to be a climax arc, but I never really had a solid answer for it. Kazue Kato is a master at misdirection and subverting expectations. She'd raise a death flag on purpose just for the lolz -u-"""

Personally, I don't see any of the main crew getting picked off, but then again, I didn't think Demon King! Rin was actually going to show up in his sweat pants so like... I'm just as scared as everyone else is.

I do think there will be some deaths though! And I'm hoping to see a few revives as well.

Spoiler warning for latest chapters under the cut

So from theories I've seen going around:

Renzou Shima has had major death flags on him for a while. This is probably just Kato trolling us though. I don't see any benefit coming out of his death anyways (snore) just kidding I love Renzou please don't die

Shiemi has said things that raised major death flags in the latest chapters, however, she's also under the protection of the Protagonist's Favored One's Halo, so unless Kato is a true masochist, I don't see her staying dead if worst comes to worst

Bon, probably also Kato's troll. Konekomaru is protected by the Cat Name Haver's Halo.

Izumo is in too much of a dire need for a glow-up to die.

Yukio is... cursed by the Protagonist's Favored One's Halo. Or at least he was but Rin feels a bit distracted lately. He'll live, but at What Cost? Couldn't say (probably a lot).

The Adults: Neuhaus is probably going to die. Shura might come close, but she'll hang in there so she can attend Rin's graduation. Lucy Yang might die. Lewin is favored by the author so I hope that means he's safe. Angel is not favored by the author so I really don't want to think about what's going to happen to him. Osceola better not die bc I need Rin to become his apprentice. Shiemi's mom is close to dying but I really hope she doesn't.

The Demons: I don't care either way so I never really thought about it (sorry demon lovers). If anything, it's more likely that we'll see demons that have crystalized, revive (Azazel, Armumahael, Shemihaza, Satan).

Also on a similar note, the demon eaters plot point was never fully resolved. Todou "died" off screen so unless Kato totally forgot about him, he's due for a comeback.

It's also interesting that Paku and Godaiin were focused on in the glimpse into the future. Nemu Takara also stayed back and is presumably still alive in that future, and those 3 from the kid's table still need to come back into the story. I doubt any of them will die ;w; that'd be too sad.

Jeremiah might die.

Dragulescu (??? idk how to spell his name) better die.

Other Illuminati: uhhh maybe the Lundstroms? I like Homare and I think she'll have something to do with Lucifer changing his mind about things. Lucifer isn't the main villain anyways so he's probably safe.

Rin... I don't think he'll be the same at the end of the manga, so to me, that counts as dying. Rin and Demon!Rin still haven't resolved their differences. Rin will have to choose a side, or face being forever unstable. But choosing will change him. Right now, he's living as 2 alter-egos/split personality. We've never seen him truly whole, and from the glimpses we have seen, he's kind of scary.

tl;dr Might die: Neuhaus, Shima, Lucy, Jeremiah, Dragulescu, Todou round 2, Rin (kinda)

#excuse any weird wording #i'm so eepy #ask #blue exorcist #ao no exorcist #text #rin okumura #okumura rin #aoex

[keii-starz]

answer any or all I wanna know more about you 👁️👁️

Do you have freckles? 

 Do you drink tea or coffee? How do you take it? 

What was the last song you listened to? 

Do you sleep on your back, stomach or side? 

Do you sleep with a stuffed animal? 

Do you prefer drawing or writing? 

What’s your ideal number of blankets to sleep with? 

What’s your favorite band/artist? 

When is your birthday? 

How tall are you? 

What color are your eyes? 

Who are five (or more) people you want to hug right now? 

Fears? 

What’s your favorite color? 

What’s your favorite season? 

Want any tattoos? What of? 

Want any piercings? Where? 

Who is the last person you texted? 

Do you have a best friend? How long have you been friends? 

What/who do you miss? 

How was your day today? 

How much sleep did you get last night? 

Do you believe in aliens? 

When was the last time you cried? Why? 

What’s your favorite decade? 

What are some seemingly childish things you like? 

What’s your favorite book? Or just one you’ve read a few times? 

How are you, really? 

Does it take you a long time to make decisions? 

What are you looking forward to in the near future? 

What are you looking forward to in the distant future? 

If you could go anywhere right now, where would you go? 

Do you sleep with your door open or closed? 

What’s your favorite flower? 

Do you currently have a squish? 

Do you like your middle name? 

Do you prefer dogs or cats? 

Do you have any phobias? 

Do you stay up late?

Do you like the beach? Do you prefer it sunny or cloudy? 

What’s your favorite cartoon? 

Tag 5 of your favorite blogs

Do you have siblings? How many? 

Who was the last person you said “I love you” to? 

Is there anyone you would die for? 

What do you need when you’re sad? 

Have you memorized your phone number? 

Who’s someone you can trust with your life? 

What does your last text say? 

Wild Card. Any question, ask away. 

1. I wish (no) 😔

2. I drink both!!! but I don't drink coffee that often, and when I do, it's only if it has milk and sugar in it! when I drink tea, I usually drink milk tea, or I add milk to my matcha tea, but sometimes I just drink regular tea!

3. DAYDREAM by HIGHLIGHT!!!

4. I sleep on my back, but I actually prefer sleeping on my side!! I just dont sleep on my side most of the time because I sleep with headphones on, and its kinda uncomfortable sleeping on my side with headphones on

5. yes!! my little teddy bear that I got from my bestie!!! I named him lucy

6. hmm I love both a lot, but I'd say drawing!

7. ummm it doesn't really matter for me but I'll say teo because of my blanket I've had since childhood (its too small to cover me now so ofc I have to use another blanket)

8. hmm for band, it'd be LUCY!!! (K-band) I think the violin in their music makes their songs sound even nicer! but my fav part is obv sangyeop's soft voice :3

but for artists in general...hmm there's quite a few, so I'll name them by language! 1. CRAVITY (korean boy group), ZICO (korean soloist, k-hiphop), COLDE (korean soloist, k-r&b), 2. yoh kamiyama (japanese), TUYU (japanese band), 3. jeremy zucker, suggi (english)

9. february 11!

14. sage green!!

15. autumn! not too cold or hot, and not as much bugs!

19. I do! we've been friends since 4th grade!

21. it was great!!! I had so much fun and got to eat a lot of good food!!

24. sometime last week, I think tuesday..I think it had smth to do with my insecurities or like. how I keep getting the feeling I'm not wanted

28. my mental and physical states both suck a ton, but since I've returned home for spring break, im trying to convince myself to not worry about anything and just think of this as a lil vacation just until this is over

31. im definitely looking forward to moving out of my mom's house or just not staying with my family in general...I want to get an apartment where I feel relaxed at when I turn into an adult

32. if I could go anywhere right now...I would probably go to my aunt's house in florida..tbh, I wouldn't say her cooking's (sorry auntie 😔) the best, but I'd probably feel way...calmer? there and less likely to cry so often

34. my favorite flower is the star of bethlehem!!! it's really really pretty!!! im pretty sure it's a poisonous flower tho lol

39. all the time 😊

42. I prefer cloudy days! sunny days are nice, but I don't like getting the sun in my eyes very much, plus the sky is prettier with clouds :3

44. 5 of my fav blogs: @azulashengrottospiano @dove-da-birb @twistwonderlanddevotee @alexisomnias @l7k-a

45. I have 2 siblings! an older brother and younger sister, who is the youngest, but if I didn't tell u this and you met us both irl, you'd probably think shes the older one based on height and personality lol

47. I would die for any of my friends in a heartbeat

48. music!!! I CANNOT go without my music I tell u!!!

49. nope!!! you see, my phone doesn't tell me my phone number, so I always have to ask other people what it is 😐 (my other phone did tho)

50. uhhh hmmm this one is really hard bcuz I don't think I know anyone irl who I can trust with my life but probably...no one..?

#keianswersasks!❥ ҉ #cas <3 🦈 #I was going to answer it in the morning but I got caught up with a lot of things so im answering this at night 😔

[sunnyie-eve]

3 | Can't Do It

Series: The Benefits 

Paring: Coriolanus Snow x OFC Plinth!

Word Count: 2k

Warnings: small death

| MASTERLIST |

~

As the two were out headed to the academy finally, Aurelia spoke up to Coriolanus, "I still can't believe you did all that. Normally you aren't the type of risk taker."

"Well, I wanted to show her I care about my tribute. After all, I took your advice." He glances over at her as they walk side by side.

"I didn't tell you to get into the truck to be taken off with them. I sure as hell didn't tell you to take me with you." Aurelia laughs as they enter the academy.

"But you are a risk taker, Plinth. Might I add, you got to show off Wovey and how she's just an innocent shy girl." His words causes Aurelia to grab his arm to stop him from keeping walking to class.

"Are you okay? Are you feeling well?" She places the back of her hand in his forehead to check for a fever.

"I'm completely fine, Auri. Why do you think I'm sick." He laughs removing her hand.

"You aren't yourself this morning. What have you done to the Coriolanus Snow I know. Agreeing my tribute is an innocent shy girl... you would never talk about district people like that." She eyes him not knowing if she should be cautious of him.

Snow didn't know how to respond to her. She wasn't wrong whatsoever with what she was saying. It was all a hundred percent true about him. He couldn't care less.

"Maybe you're rubbing off onto me, Auri." He slightly lies but tells the truth a bit too.

She doesn't respond to him so she just walks off heading to class with him following behind her. Entering the class everyone but Highbottom looks at them.

"Your little excursion was in violation of about five Academy rules, Mr. Snow, Miss Plinth. Chief amongst them, endangering a Capitol student." He says keeping his eyes on what he was working on.

"What? Who? Aurelia?"

"Both of you. I'm moving for the Gamemakers to disqualify you both as mentors immediately." He adds so the two look at each other at their seats.

"If I may, you said we had to get our tributes right preform, not that we had to stay away." Aurelia speaks up.

"I'll add insubordination as well."

"Hold their hands, introducing them to people, you both make it look as if we're one and the same as those animals." Arachne looks over at the two.

"Coriolanus and my sister didn't show those people anything they didn't already know." Sejanus speaks up, "That the tributes are human beings. Just like us. That's why nobody wants to watch the Games. It's because people know deep down that winning a war 10 years ago doesn't justify starving people's children, taking away their freedoms, their rights."

Dr. Gaul ends up coming in speaking up about with Coriolanus and Aurelia did saying they were good at games. And that the games would continue because of their performance at the zoo.

She ends up asking what are the games for so Snow says what he thinks while Aurelia shook her head, "My question to you is why have them at all?" She asks so Coriolanus looks at her telling her to stop with his eyes.

"My sister is right. Are they right to have in the first place?" Sejanus adds.

"You two have a problem with my Games?" She asks so Sejanus goes off on her about how they're just kids who had nothing to do with the war. "Miss Plinth, do you have anything to add to your brother's words?"

"They're innocent kids who had nothing to do with the war. Hell, if anyone was to fight to the death, I'd rather have guilty adults that are criminals do it. But that's not your way of thinking is it?"

"Perhaps the Capitol students are ill-suited to be mentoring tributes. Perhaps the Game's time has passed." Highbottom speaks once again.

"Dean Highbottom is wrong. My classmates, too." Coriolanus speaks ups so Aurelia looks at him, "Maybe Sejanus and Aurelia is onto something here. Maybe we should be viewing those tributes as human beings. I mean, you saw those kids in the zoo, they just... they just wanted to get to know Lucy Gray. If we need people to watch, we should be letting them get closer to the tributes before the Games. To make the stakes personal."

Aurelia then nods her head at him, there was the Coriolanus she knew.

"Who will watch the Games if they care what happens to the tributes?"

"Honestly, everyone would." Aurelia hated to admit it but that's how people were, "If they thought the tribute they cared about had a chance of winning."

"People need someone to root for and someone to root against. We need them to invest. And if we bend a few Capitol laws, we could even have them place bets." Snow adds which kills Aurelia's soul.

Place bets on people like a horse race? Or any race at all. Rooting for someone wasn't bad but rooting for someone to lose their life was terrible.

"I'd like you to write up a proposal of these thoughts tonight, Mr. Snow." Dr. Gaul tells him so Clemensia speaks up saying that they were class partners so she had to be apart of it.

Dr. Gail laughs at her, "It'll be an interesting test." She starts to leave then turns back around, "Miss Plinth, I expect you to help Mr. Snow. You have a way of making people care about things." She adds then leaves the class.

For lunch in line Sejanus kept staring at his sister, "What do you want? I don't agree with Coriolanus on placing bets on people." She huffs taking her full tray.

"Are you going to help him still write the paper?" He follows her to go sit down.

"I don't want to." Aurelia speeds up going to take a seat.

"You trying to fatten that poor girl up so you can finally start taking bets?" Sejanus makes it to the table.

"You think they'll give those kids a scrap if we don't give them a reason to do it? How do you think your tribute will have a chance if he can't eat?" Coriolanus tells him so he takes a seat.

"He was our classmate. Back in 2. He and Aurelia were closer than the two of us." Sejanus tells him so Coryo looks at her.

"My first kiss." She confirms what he thought.

"It's not your fault it's him." Coryo tells Sejanus.

"See, I know. I'm so blameless, I'm choking on it. My Father bought him for me, you know, at the Reaping, just so he could show me that I could never go back to 2. But being Capitol is gonna kill me."

"So do something about it." Coriolanus takes more of his sandwich to put away for Lucy Gray.

"Quite the rebel."

"Oh yeah. I'm bad news." Coryo tells him.

"Yeah, he's the one who came up with the idea to get in the truck with the tributes. I didn't plan on doing that." Aurelia does the same with food to take to Wovey.

After school a few mentors went to the zoo to see their tribute. Wovey took the food from Aurelia and thanked her. As the two were chatting Marcus went over to them, "What are y'all trying to do?"

"What do you mean? I'm being nice and caring. You know how I am." She gives him a dirty look since he ignored Sejanus.

"Well you've been in the Capitol for some time so you can change."

"I haven't for your information. Do you want something?" She holds out some food for him but he walks away.

"You know him?" Wovey asks her.

"Yeah, we used to be classmates before I moved here." Aurelia sighs looking over at him sit alone.

Suddenly Brandy and Arachne start screaming and Brandy stabs Arachne in the throat with a broken bottle she was teasing her with.

"No, no, no!" Coriolanus rushes over and Aurelia goes to help as well. Yeah she hated her but she never wished death upon her even if she deserved it.

"Oh, shit." Aurelia says as she gets in her knees seeing how the bottle was.

"Somebody help us, please!" He calls out and the peacekeepers shoot at Brandy.

As they shoot both Aurelia and Coriolanus duck down but he moves from Brandy to cover Aurelia before he's dragged off along with her. Sejanus stood alone looking over at Brady no longer breathing before looking over at his sister in the distance.

At home that same night their father refused to talk about what happened at the zoo, "I'm just glad you two are okay." Their mother looks at her children.

"Coryo cover Aurelia when they started shooting to make sure she was out of the way." Sejanus tells her.

"Is that true?" Their father speaks up.

"Yes." Aurelia nods her head playing with her fingers. "Ma, is it alright if I go by Coryo's house? To check on him?" Aurelia asks.

"That's fine sweetie. If it gets too late just stay the night there. I'm sure they have plenty of room for you."

Going over to Coriolanus place, Tigris opens the door then automatically pulls her into a hug, "I'm glad you're okay."

"Thank you, I just wanted to check up on Coryo."

"He's in his room." She lets her in so Aurelia goes to his room knocking on his door before walking in.

"Just wanted to see how you're doing. I mean she died right in front of you." She walks over taking a seat in his bed.

"I feel like it's my fault. I suggested we get closer to them."

"It's not your fault. She did it to herself. She was playing/teasing Brandy like she was an animal in a cage. You remember how some of them wanted to kill you on the truck. They hate us and you can't push their buttons. They know they have nothing to lose since they won't be going back home after the games." Aurelia gets up to go stand next to him.

"Grandma'am thinks they're all rebels and that's I'm lucky Lucy Gray didn't poke my eye out when she could."

"Lucy Gray is nowhere near that type of person. She doesn't seem like that type of girl." Aurelia disagrees with that thought.

"She told me to use her before she can use me." He looks at her.

"Again she didn't seem the type. Coryo, don't just use her. Help her and believe in her." Aurelia says they sees he had paper out and a pen, "You're already starting?"

"Yeah, I've had some thoughts after everything..." He sighs then looks back at her to see her with tears in her eyes, "Lia..." He pulls her to sit down in his lap as she starts to cry.

"I can't do this."

"Yes, you can. You can do about anything. I know you." He rubs her back.

"No, I can't watch someone die that I have to look after. I hate this." She tries to calm down so he wipes her tears away.

"As much as it sucks, Aurelia. At least you aren't in their place."

She knew he was completely right so she stops crying trying to relax then makes eye contact with him, "Don't look at me like that. It makes me feel small." She laughs wipes more tears away.

"You are small." He pitches her side and she suddenly remembers she was sitting in his lap starting to feel odd.

"I should get going." She gets up.

"Let me walk you to the door." He gets up as well and walks with her, "I'll see you tomorrow." He opens the door for her.

"Yeah, good luck on writing the paper."

"I'll just say you didn't feel well so you couldn't help me write the paper. Plus I know you want nothing to do with it." He says causing her to smile.

"You know me so well. Thank you, Coryo." She turns to leave, "Oh, an idea for the paper... a good thing for it. People can send gifts to the tributes to help them. The ones they have hope for." She adds before leaving and he was going to stop her but Tigris called for him

#the ballad of songbirds and snakes #ballad of songbirds and snakes #tbosas #coriolanus snow #coriolanus x oc plinth #sejanus plinth #tom blyth #young president snow #oc #ofc #lucy gray baird #coriolanus snow imagine #coriolanus snow ff #coriolanus snow fanfiction #coriolanus snow fanfic

[tommysversion]

Unconditionally: Joel Miller x OC (Part 3/10)

Summary: Lucy loves Joel Miller unconditionally. A cross country trip to escort an immune, bad mouthed teenager to safety might just prove it.

CWs: canon typical violence / unsafe sex / age gap / language / spoilers (if anyone cares) / canon divergence / mentions of attempted sexual assault / themes of previous suicidal tendencies

Note: this work is intended for adult audiences only. It is not strictly canon compliant, and was originally posted to A03 when I first ventured into the fandom.

Chapter Index: 1 / 2 /

The day was mostly uneventful; whilst that was good for their safety, it wasn’t good for their minds. It left too much time to think, to feel guilt and a sense of responsibility for what had happened.

“You should try and talk to her.” Joel said quietly, eyes on Ellie, who was striding a good six feet ahead of the adults.

“Me?” Lucy raised an eyebrow, “She’s more likely to talk to you, you know.”

“Yeah, but you know how I am… I’m not… good at that shit.” Joel rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly; he was remembering what he’d said to Ellie in Kansas, after she’d shot that youth trying to protect him.

“Okay… if it makes you feel better… I’ll try and talk to her.” Lucy agreed.

Surveying the area one last time, Lucy broke into a light jog to catch up with Ellie.

“You wanna slow down for us old folks?” She asked, trying to keep her tone light.

Ellie didn’t even crack a smile. Lucy sighed. She knew what grief looked like, but she wasn’t sure how to address it with such a strange, prickly kid like her. It was difficult; unlike Joel, she had never been a parent before. She had no idea how to connect with children, not really. The extent of it had been delivering medicine to sick kids and their families in the QZ, trying to cheer them up. That wasn’t to say she was bad with kids, she just… didn’t have the natural disposition that Joel had, buried deep down.

“Why couldn’t I help him?” Ellie asked, a mile or so up the road. Lucy had been keeping pace with her, letting Joel watch their backs. They’d been walking in silence, until now. She was surprised that Ellie had spoken at all, but now she had, she would try her best to comfort her.

“What do you mean?” Lucy couldn’t hide her confusion. Surely Ellie knew that once someone was bitten, once infected, there was no going back. Her condition was… possibly the only one in the world. For everyone else, it meant being shit out of luck, losing your mind, and a slow, miserable death.

“If I’m immune. Why didn’t my blood fix Sam? Isn’t it supposed to be medicine?”

It was in that moment that Lucy understood just how young Ellie still was. Just how much she had seen and suffered at such a young age. She stopped dead in her tracks.

“I don’t know, Ellie. Maybe it doesn’t work like that…”

“But why not?” Ellie persisted, “why doesn’t it work like that? It’s not… it’s not fair.”

The way she spoke, sounded as though she felt as though it was childish to finish on that note, but Lucy understood.

“I know,” Lucy said, “it isn’t fair, and you shouldn’t have had to deal with that. None of you should. You’re all too fucking young. So it’s okay to be angry, and upset. But it’s not your fault.”

“What if it is? I couldn’t help him.”

“That doesn’t mean it’s your fault. It just means we haven’t worked out what your immunity does. I doubt he’d hold it against you, Ellie. You tried. You tried and that’s what matters.” Lucy squeezed the younger girl on the shoulder; she wanted to hug the poor kid, but she was never good with physical contact.

“I guess so…” Ellie sighed, looked to the horizon. “Think we’re gonna stop somewhere tonight?”

“Yeah. We’re not walking through the night.” Lucy agreed; they were on the outskirts of a tiny town, a motel and a gas station about the only buildings standing.

Right on cue, Joel caught up with them; they’d slowed down a hell of a lot to talk before coming to a halt entirely.

“We’ll clear out that motel. Make camp overnight. We’ve walked enough today.”

——

There are bars on the window of the motel bedroom. Once again, one bedroom. The adults insisted Ellie take it, to give her some space and some privacy. God knows she needs it, give her time to process the loss of her friend.

Lucy dragged the blankets from the second bed in the room out to the main room, while Joel shoved a heavy cabinet in front of the door for extra security. Neither really thought anyone would be out this way, not in this tiny speck of a ghost town, but it would help them both sleep at night.

“Did you talk to her?” Joel asked, voice low, as they settled in for the night. They were secure enough that shoes could be taken off, thankfully.

“Yeah.” Lucy put her boots beside his, “she just needs some time.”

“Understandably.” Joel moved over so she could lay beside him; he was facing her, but not really seeing her.

Lucy sighed, sensing how shut off he was becoming; although he was reluctant to admit it, Joel had become fond of the two boys, and was taking their deaths as a personal failure.

“Hey.” She put her hand on his shoulder, squeezed gently, “are you alright?”

Joel frowned slightly, but didn’t pull away from her; he was trying to work out the words that he wanted. It was difficult, when he’d seen so much death, killed his fair share of people.

“It never gets easier, does it? Seeing kids die…” he said finally, still not looking at her, “I keep feeling like… I should have done more.”

Lucy shook her head, rubbing her hand along his arm. She hated seeing him blame himself, especially when she had firsthand witnessed him do everything in his power to protect the three young people in their charge.

“You did everything you could for those boys, Joel. Everything.”

What more could they have done? It’s impossible to keep everyone safe from the infected forever, especially in such a close combat situation with so many enemies on every side.

“I just hate not… keeping my word.” He wrapped his arms tightly around her; she could feel how tense he was, like a tightly wound coil that could explode at any moment.

Lucy understood; she knew how difficult it was for him to let anyone in. First her. Then Ellie. Then Henry and Sam. He had let the four of them in, only to lose two of them. At his core, Joel was a protective figure, a father who had never properly grieved the loss of his daughter. Losing two young men who could have become like sons to him… she understood how it could - and would - reopen old wounds.

“You kept your word,” she assured him softly, “we took care of them, right until the end.”

“I don’t want to lose anyone else,” he said finally, “not Ellie, and especially not you. I can’t take another loss.”

Lucy wasn’t sure he had ever been so blunt and open with her, not about something like this. Joel wasn’t big on talking about his feelings, she had long ago accepted that. Even though their relationship had significantly shifted since their night spent at Bill and Frank’s place, she never expected any grand declarations from him, never expected any big conversation about feelings. It caught her off guard.

“I can’t promise you won’t lose us,” she said finally, “that’s not the world we live in. But… I can say… that I’ll be fighting, constantly, to stay by your side. And I’ll help you protect her. That much I can promise, and I will.”

She felt some of the tension leave his body at her words, his arms tightly wrapped around her still, as though he was afraid she would turn to dust if he let go.

“I’m not going anywhere, Joel. I promise.”

He sighed, feeling a heavy sort of exhaustion fall over him, feeling, not for the first time, very old.

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep, darling.” He buried his face in her hair for a moment, inhaling the salt sweat floral smell of her, reminding himself that she was, indeed, still alive and with him.

“I have every intention of trying to keep it.” She assured him, rubbing her fingers up his back, settling them in his hair. He sighed, then tilted his head down to look at her.

“We’re alive, Joel,” she whispered, “I’m right here.”

Something snapped inside him, some sort of restraint, as he leaned down and claimed her mouth in a possessive, desperate kiss, rolling so she was pinned beneath him. All his rage, all his pain, he channeled it into the kiss. She let him, not at all surprised or unhappy. If he needed an outlet? She was more than happy to provide one.

The kiss was rough, hungry, like he was drowning and she was air, his hands firm on her waist, tongue demanding entrance to her mouth. Her lips parted for him, surrendering to the storm that was his rage.

“I’m not going anywhere.” She promised against his lips, her fingers finding the buttons of his flannel shirt.

“Nowhere.” He almost growled it, his hands sliding up her shirt, discarding it to the side, caressing bare skin, desperately seeking contact between them.

“I promise.” She pulled him into another kiss, pushing the fabric of his shirt from his shoulders, breaking their embrace only for a moment. It was risky, yes, but they were far too caught in the moment to care.

Unlike at Bill and Frank’s place, they had the room to themselves, could afford themselves some intimacy that wasn’t hasty, that wasn’t half clothed and silent.

She pulled his undershirt up, over his head, let him discard it in favour of running her hands up his chest, fingertips caressing every scar, every muscle. Honestly, for a man of his age, his body was still in its prime, and she knew it.

She kissed along his jaw, not remotely minding the scratch of his beard, down his throat, pausing when he made a low sound in his chest; the sound only encouraged her to do it again, to kiss the same place on his throat, her hands still caressing.

“I’m right here,” she breathed against his skin, feeling his hands at the button of her pants, her own going to his belt.

They had never been fully naked against one another before, she realised, as she kicked off her jeans and he pulled the top blanket over them, keeping them from any chill in the air. If she was a little younger, if he was anyone else, she might have felt shy. There was no awkwardness between them as he settled between her legs, pulling her into another kiss.

There was something warm and desperate in their kiss that hadn’t been there before; like he was letting her in past another wall he’d put up around himself. She wasn’t sure how long that would last, so she’d take it for now. Somewhere between their shirts and their pants being discarded, his rage had cooled significantly. He didn’t want to hurt her, didn’t want to take it out on her and make this uncomfortable or scare her.

It scared him a little, what he felt for her, but it was a good fear to have.

She could feel the firm heat of him pressing into her thigh; there was almost a smug satisfaction in knowing she had caused that, in knowing that he wanted her.

“What are you smiling about, hm?” There was a softness to his voice, a gentle amusement.

“Nothing, why did you stop?” She pouted at him.

“Wanted to know what was funny.”

“I’m just… glad you want this. Glad you want me.” She admitted.

“Nothing’s changed,” he pressed a kiss to her throat, “if anything… just reminded me how much I don’t wanna lose you.”

Lucy sighed, kissed his temple. “I don’t wanna lose you, either.”

Silence as he dragged her into another kiss, slow and drawn out, before he kissed her throat once more.

“Gonna take my time with you, baby girl, should’ve done that the first time.” His voice was low in her ear, a promise.

“We didn’t have time last time,” she said, “I won’t hold it against you.”

He smirked. “We have all night, now.”

She hummed agreement; he was right, of course. They did have all night, and she planned on making it worth his while. It sounded as though he had a similar idea.

Lucy wasn’t sure what to expect; last time, he had used his fingers on her, but she knew damn well she was ready for him already without him needing to. He knew that too, could feel her wetness between her thighs, feel it against his length whenever he teased her with it.

He hadn’t been exaggerating when he said he planned on taking his time with her, but that didn’t negate how eager he was, how much he needed to touch her, to feel that deeply shared intimacy that they had begun to form between them.

“Gonna go real slow, alright, darling?” His Texas accent got thicker the lower he spoke, she realised, somewhere in the back of her mind; it was hardly at the forefront of her thoughts when he was lifting one of her legs to wrap around his waist, lining himself up and then sinking into her, slowly, inch by delicious, perfect, torturous inch.

She let her head fall back against the blanket, the makeshift pillow, lips parted in a soft sigh.

“Gonna make me beg for it, huh?” She asked, a smile playing about her lips.

The ghost of a grin crossed his face.

“Considered it, but you feel too damn good to tease like that.”

He slid the remaining length of himself home as he spoke - home. That was how it felt, connecting their bodies together this way, feeling how soft and wet and tight she was, welcoming him back to her as though they’d been made for one another.

The sound she made when he filled her completely was closer to a whimper; every inch of him felt amazing, filling her so completely. He gave a slow, deliberately languid roll of his hips, drawing a definitive, quiet whimper from her.

“Oh? You like that?” He pressed a quick kiss to her lips.

Fuck, he’d wanted to take his time like this the last time. Hell, he’d wanted to take her to bed properly for months now, but there had never been the time, never been the privacy. Sure, the night they’d recently had had been great, but having a room to themselves? Where he could take his time drawing every sweet sound out of her? He was absolutely going to enjoy every moment of it.

“C’mon, baby girl, use your words.” The sounds he was getting from her were amazing, just from such shallow, lazy movements, but he wanted to hear her, really hear her.

“Feels good…”

“Just good? Guess I’ll take that, for now.” He hummed, amused; fair enough, he could work for it. He wasn’t particularly given over to patience, naturally, but it was a skill set he had learned over time as a smuggler, and hell, this was a damn good time to put it to use.

Slow and steady. That was the best way to get her all worked up, he figured, pressing deep with each roll of his hips then slowly, slowly, almost pulling fully out of her before sinking back in deep again. Each thrust drew a beautiful little moan or whimper from her parted lips, one of her hands balled in the blanket, the other wandering up his back, finding his hair.

She loved to touch his hair, running her fingers through it, pulling gently on it whenever he hit that sweet spot inside her. He’d been almost self conscious about the amount of silver streaking dark locks, but the way she touched him made him forget any notion of being concerned about his ageing looks that he might have had.

Another moan from her lips as she pressed a kiss to his jaw.

“You alright there?” A soft chuckle from his chest that faded into a low groan as she tightened around him. “Fuck, darling, you feel so good.”

She hummed, wrapped her legs nice and tight around his waist, pulling him in deep and keeping him there.

“You have no idea,” her voice was soft, a loving whisper into his ear. “You have no idea how good you feel.”

“Yeah? The way you’re reacting? I’m starting to get a damn decent idea of how good it feels.” He started to move again, faster this time, coaxing more delicious sounds from her parted lips. The hand that had been wrapped in the blanket moved to his back, to rest there.

She was desperately trying to keep quiet, aware of their companion in the next room, but it was difficult, especially when he picked up the pace, especially when she could hear every groan and growl he let pass from his lips, low and needy in her ear.

Her breathing was starting to grow more rapid, her nails leaving marks in the scarred, solid muscle of his back.

He couldn’t help the smirk that crossed his face, the rush of confidence and quite frankly smugness that he was getting such a reaction from her; he had twenty years on her, after all, and here she was, about to fall apart in his arms, not for the first time either.

“That’s it, baby. C’mon now…” he urged, soft and sweet and southern in his tone, “look at you. Takin’ it so well…”

He punctuated each of the last four words with a slow, deep, agonisingly lovely thrust, hitting her sweet spot over and over until she cried out, burying her face in his shoulder to try and muffle the sounds she made as he felt her tighten around him, again and again, until he thought perhaps the climax of the pleasure he was giving her might not end.

“Joel…” His name was the only word he could make out amongst her cries and moans.

“There we go, darlin’, ride it out, breathe through it…”

Honestly, Joel couldn’t help but talk her through it; he had absolutely no idea how goddamn attractive that was, either. No clue. It was just second nature to him.

“Wanna make you feel good…” her voice was still shaky from her recent climax, eyes half lidded and blinking up at him.

“Oh, baby, you are, you have no idea. You feel so fuckin’ amazing…” he leaned down and stole another kiss; he could feel himself getting closer and closer to his own release, but kept going. He would keep going, right until the last minute.

He was getting rougher now, chasing his own release, lost in his own mindset. Every nerve was on fire; wherever she kissed him, it burned, in the best way possible. It wasn’t possible, of course, but he was certain he would feel every spot on his neck, his chest, his lips, where she had kissed him for days to come.

God, it was tempting to just stay inside her; to fill her up and see her reaction to being thoroughly, truly claimed as his. But it was far, far too risky. She was younger than him. Young enough that it would be an enormous risk to take. Young enough that a single error could mean bringing a life into this world of pain.

He wouldn’t risk that. Wouldn’t risk her life like that. It was only that resolve that reminded him to pull out of her at the last moment, groaning softly at the sudden loss of warmth and tightness; she whimpered at the loss of their connection, stroked his hair as he spilled onto her stomach.

“Fuck…” he was half resting on top of her, trying to catch his breath. “That… would have been easier fifteen years ago.”

She laughed as he rolled them, pulled her into his arms, let her tuck her head onto his chest, her fingers tracing little patterns there. They could deal with their mess later.

“You wouldn’t have liked me fifteen years ago.” She said, smiling.

Her hair was a mess, her lips swollen from his kisses, but god, she was beautiful.

“You wouldn’t have liked me either.” He admitted, less amused. The things he had done, in the early days… the things he had done recently… it was a dark train of thought.

“Hey.” She tapped his chest gently. “Don’t go away into your head. It doesn’t matter who we were, right? Only who we are now.”

There was so much more she wanted to say; here, warm and safe and wrapped in his arms, her body still aching from how desperately he had made love to her…

She wanted so, so badly, to tell him how she felt. But she was afraid of rejection. Afraid of putting him on the spot and ruining everything they had, everything they were building.

“I like who you are now.” His voice broke the silence, quieter than usual, with a little hesitation behind it. Not because he wasn’t certain of what he had said, but because he wasn’t used to openly admitting such things.

“A nuisance who used to make you protect me and then followed your ass out of the QZ?” Lucy asked, because she didn’t dare take any deeper meaning from it without him explicitly treading that ground.

Joel laughed.

“Yeah, definitely. No, smartass. I mean the woman who approached me in the QZ because you wanted to help people. Who’s following me across the damn country, and not for some selfish ass reason.”

Lucy shook her head.

“You’re wrong there. It is for a selfish reason.”

“How so?”

She sighed. “I didn’t want you to go… I was… worried I would never see you again.”

“So you thought you’d risk your life… to stay with me?”

“… Yes?” She spoke as though it were the simplest thing in the damn world. That conviction… what the hell had he ever done to deserve such adoration?

He was silent for a moment.

“Lucy…”

“Yeah?”

He didn’t know where to begin; it took him a moment to find the words. The last thing he wanted was to fuck this up.

“You know… that I’m old, right?”

Ah, fuck, that hadn’t come out right at all, and he knew it.

“Not that much older.” She wasn’t even protesting too much, merely stating a fact.

“Twenty fucking years. You could have found someone younger in the QZ. Someone decent. Had a life. Had kids.”

The idea of her with someone else, though? It made him heated. When he’d come across that asshole trying to put his hands on her… he had seen red.

She shook her head, propped herself up to look down at him, so he could see her face as she spoke.

“I don’t care. There could be a dozen decent men in the QZ, lining up wanting me. I don’t fucking care, Joel. I chose you. I knew what I was doing when I left. I didn’t even care if you never noticed me. I still chose you.”

He stared at her for a minute.

“You were willing to risk everything, to lose everything… even if we had just remained… what we were?”

She shrugged, chewed her lip for a moment.

“I may not be the smartest person in the world. I never claimed to be. But what I do know is how I feel about you, and that I wanted to leave so I could stay with you, and protect you if I could, and even if you never feel the same, even if this is as far as we go… I won’t regret a single choice. Not for a second.”

Her confession surprised him; he had suspected, of course, that she had some deeper feeling for him than just sexual attraction. It was hard to call her out on it when he had the same… issue. But he had never given it much thought. He was older than her, had never thought she would ever consider him in a romantic light.

“You think I wouldn’t feel the same?” Was all he eventually said.

She shrugged. “I’m not egotistical, Joel. And I know you have… a lot going on. I never expected…”

“No,” he said quietly, “of course you wouldn’t. Because that’s you, isn’t it? You don’t expect anyone to care about you. You give and give and give, until you have nothing left, and you never ask for anything…”

Her cheeks heated.

“I don’t…”

“You do, and it’s not a bad quality. It’s a quality that gets people trying to take advantage of you, which means I have a list about a mile long of people I’d cheerfully beat to death, but it’s also a quality I like in you. Having a soul in this world is rare, and even though it means I worry constantly about whether some bastard is gonna hurt you… I’d never ask you to change.”

Joel had never, ever, been good at talking about his feelings. It had led to the breakdown of his relationship with Sarah’s mother. Had been the barrier that prevented him from ever considering anything like a relationship with Tess, no matter how much she had wanted it. But he owed her the truth. Those two women were dead, but Lucy was here, and alive, and looking at him like she so often did, her expression blank but her eyes soft and loving.

“Joel…” She was leaning in again, the unspoken words on her lips, in her gaze.

“I know, baby. I know.”

“Let me say it…” she breathed; they were so close now, so close together.

He had been afraid; perhaps that was why he had simply said he knew. But she was so close, so warm against him, and in his heart he knew the answer to her unspoken words…

“Say it, darling…”

“I love you, Joel…” her lips were inches from his, trepidation in her gaze as she breathed the words they both already knew.

A heartbeat passed, and he quelled his fears.

“I love you, baby girl. I love you, too.”

And he leaned in and closed the distance between them, finally, finally, letting her in.

#my writing #rue unconditionally #joel miller #joel miller x oc #joel miller fanfiction #joel miller smut #pedro pascal #pedro pascal character fic #the last of us

[delicatebluebirdruins]

the creeping shadow first read

books 1&2, book 3

one day i will have a solid grasp on what to name these... not this day (this was my first book of 2024 i was reading it during Jooles Hootenany and was like two chapters? away from the end? i have no idea wish i made a note oh well)

this book is an ex library from somewhere called Snodland. SNODLAND. i just want to laugh.

5 Emma Marchment ghost hunting with mirrors which is actually really fun

13 Wan Tina, Medicore Ted and Jumpy Dave. Hello [temporary] team mates 14 "concerned about supervisors that they never acted like proper teams" it must be very hard to rely on people to keep you alive but you also have to rely on adults most of the time (what happened with Lucy in her home town being an extreme case of the unique hardships that brings)

21 "hey there's nothing disgusting about random body parts" lmao skull

33 Dave is the only one who has rights. (and he and Lucy being little shits is so funny)

39 the skull had a point about the flower pot

43 "the slim and elegant figure of Holly Munro standing picturesquely beside him [Lockwood]" detect a little jealous and bit of yearning for Lockwood

49 "[Lockwood] and that girl were still on a high when they came in. Quite exhilarated. Laughing and giggling together." a little hurt and jealousy electric boogaloo

53 Skull and Lucy in a flatshare situation (i need Lockwood's pov)

58 the skull feels bad for Lucy

60 the shock of seeing Lockwood at her door is great. His smile "it was warm but somewhat hesitant, as if it hadn't been recently used. It was the smile I'd hazily imagined a hundred times; only now it was real, solid, meant just for me" this entire bit so much is said but not outright you know?

her spiel about his chosen tie and her own thoughts about her reaction also the laundry bag and Lockwood holding it is so i would rather die (hilarious to think about this scene happening in the show just in general but imagine if we got this scene AND they kept the towel scene in the show)

66 "Making tea is a ritual that stops the world from falling in on you" I just like all the quotes about tea

70 first off I want to know what was said when Lockwood "growing angry with me at last" and just laugh at Lucy imagining him going down on bended knee asking her to return to the company

82 "what could it be?... not a date surely?- the boy's got eyes" the skull my love

92 this is awkward

96 just the entire bit about crackers is so funny

100 Penelope is a locklyle shipper so one of us (also this would be so great in the show as it would be following the "you feel safe with him"

103 "I didn't feel bad about the fib though. I'd been lied to as well"

104 the Rotwell mascot is called Roger? also the posters are great

108 the heck? the mummified head Lucy finds at the start of the book is not destroyed?

111 I love this chat with Holly but what was she going to ask "I was going to ask you about -whether you found- oh good, and here are the boys too" like come on what was it?

121 KIPPS!

146 talking about the skull is so funny

152 snapshots of the past

157 compliments "I couldn't help smiling back at him. Compliments from Lockwood were always nice to hear"

163 creepy "the sound of teeth clacking together" this is horrible

173 Locklyle "thank goodness for you Lucy... I can always rely on you"

176 Lockwoood is more reckless and George upset about it and Lucy

182 Uh oh spaghettios Lucy's flat has been broken into

188 Harold might have done it?

195 love this bit "strange how close the darkness is, even when things seem brightest. Even in the glare of a summer noon, when the pavement bakes and the iron fences are hot to the touch, the shadows are still with us"

203 Harold is dead gods

215 Lockwood seeing Lucy appear at her doorstep is also something i want to see his pov on

221 talking about Holly staying over and Lucy feeling a little hurt by it

234 lmao Lockwood and George's superior nursing skills. and the second client of the day.

241 "creeping shadow" roll credits

248 nice relaxing moment in the garden

261 i love the spirit capes 269 I love disguises

281 the skull is so funny

283 "I've missed you so much Lucy" Lockwood said that and I yell and rereading it now my only though is he blurted that out and barreled on not letting Lucy respond (she wanted to)

290 Mr Johnson? hello 292 Hi Adelaide (i really like that name)

301 capes and Lockwood putting one on Lucy first.

315 Information on Rotwell

323 "there is a battle to be won - not simply against ghost, but against death itself" hm interesting

331 Castle! can't wait

342 punch the boy also considered by Lockwood

354 At last the goggles are being used

363 should have locked Reverend Skinner in his rooms

370 aw Lucy just happy to be with Lockwood

379 Rotwell is an ass

389 poor lady and this would be horrifying to see on screen

395 hi buddy 397 them holding hands is so cute

(the Iron Chain) 407 technically you guys walked into the Black Library at Fittes.

414 helpful Lockwood "the hole's between those two black posts"

417 "it was the desisive action. once through, we could never take it back." uh oh

426 Lockwood's orders is great 435 oh my god 437 holy shit

442 the skull remains a little shit 446 guys that was a little close

450 good job ghosts avoiding Guppy and just the Locklyle of it all

459 I am nervous

464 oh god Lucy 469 SKULL! "his grin, which gleamed sardonically even in the swirling dusk and was somehow most familiar"

474 GO ON GEORGE "he's like a whirling dervish" 477 HUGS between Lucy and Holly

481 saving Kipps and the imagery is cool

484 kick Rotwell's ass!

(practically thinking how they would adapt this scene in the show this has a lot of working parts more than the Winkman fight because there is more people, practical affects, special affects and having it in a probable 8 episode season would not do it justice)

489 lmao Lucy and Lockwood deciding to give Georgie the last biscuit/ barrel

499 Lucy understands now

501 thanks Mr Skinner 504 Barnes asking them to be safe aw

511 intense eye contact

518 Sir Rupert and Penelope is in their kitchen

520 Yikes 528 the skulls parting words had a "I beg your pardon" from me.

#lockwood and co #lockwood & co #lucy carlyle #anthony lockwood #george cubbins #holly munro #quill kipps #locklyle #sorry to keep bringing up the show I think it worked well as a adaptation and I want to see these scenes with Cam and Ruby and the others #and I am sad i missed some interviews with Joe Cornish and Mr Stroud in the past #ellie reads

[kayssweetdreams]

A "Perfect" Vacation Ch 30

Meanwhile, With Prim...

Prim stared at her new "Daughters" with Pride. She finally had undone all of that nonsense that Roland had stuffed into Dolly's head. She never could understand what her perfect daughter EVER saw in that tree-hugger...Well, No matter. She got what she wanted.

3. Perfect. Daughters.

And very soon, she would he spreading the message of perfection through all of Timeville. Especially with her new perfect demon, working obediently for her...Well, At least after she gets him to break, and he gives up. A knock snapped her out of her thoughts. "Come in." She sang, her voice almost hag-like. A few worker shivered as they slowly entered the room "Yes?...What is it?" She asked, an eyebrow raised at their body language. "U-Um...M-Miss...We just n-need to t-tell you something..." one of them stuttered.

Prim rolled her eyes. "Oh well what is it? Spit it out. And stop it with the pathetic stuttering and shivering. It is improper after all." She sneered, already annoyed with them. That's when all 3 of them started talking at the same time, one sentence overlapping another, but one thing that they said was heard loud and clear:

"THE DEMON BOY AND THE KIDS HAVE ESCAPED!!!"

Prim could feel anger bubble up in her. Her demon? Her. DEMON. Had ESCAPED. and not only that, those delinquents were free, and probably wreaking havoc. She couldn't let her fury show though. It would set a terrible example for the children. So, containing all of the anger that she could, she gave one small, but fury laced

"What."

Meanwhile, At the Hotel...

Jose looked around before signaling the others "OK. Coast is clear." He said, motioning for Lucy, Cal, and Attilio to follow him. "Darling? Are you sure you know where you're going?" Lucy asked, her eyes darting for the guards that may or may not appear at any moment. "Yep. When Prim was taking me through the hotel, she showed me this agricultural garden where most of the fruit and vegetables were grown." The farmer said.

"And...You're sure that she didn't already drug everything?" Cal asked, weary of anything that could have Prim's pill in it. "I don't think it would be able to work. I am a farmer, I know a thing or two about gardening." Jose said, a slightly smug tone in his voice. Cal rolled his eyes until they reached a small building that read "Agricultural Greenhouse". "You got one of them cards that Mei gave ya?" He asked. Attilio pulled it out of his pocket "Yep. Right here." He said, sliding it I'm.

Unfortunately, it gave a loud buzz, as a robotic female voice said "Access Denied. Higher Level Needed." The 4 of them recoiled from the voice with dismay. Higher Level? What could that mean? "Well..This says that it's Level 3....and it has a picture of some Jellyfish. What could possibly be higher?" Attilio asked, only to be stopped by Cal shushing him. "Shh! I hear something! Quick Hide!" He said, causing the 4 of them to duck into some nearby bushes. They all saw as two more heavily guarded men walked to the greenhouse, both with a card in hand.

However, their cards both had angler fish on it. Sticking it in, the doors opened for them. The 4 adults wondered, if they were level 3, what level did those two guard like men have? The doors then slid open again as the guarded men walked out. Acting quickly, Lucy quickly grabbed a nearby rock, and stuck it in-between the doors, so that they didn't get locked out again. "Hurry! That rock won't hold forever!" She said, as they quickly made it inside of the greenhouse, just before the rock couldn't take the pressure, and the doors crushed it, luckily taking out the security cameras as well.

"Phew...That was TOO close. Let's just grab a pineapple and get out of here." Cal said, as Jose began to look over which ones that COULD be picked. For some reason, most of the pineapples didn't look...ripe. Most of the pineapples seemed to have strange leaves that drooped downwards.

Except for one.

One lone pineapple at least looked like it was reasonably ripe, and ready to harvest. "That one." Jose said, plucking it from its resting place. Unfortunately, in doing that, he inadvertently sets off the alarm for the greenhouse. "Uh oh! Let's go!" Cal shouts, plucking another pineapple, and throwing it at the glass of the greenhouse, shattering it so that they could quickly run off before the guards came...

And before Prim was alerted of their presence...

Jett belongs to @jettthespeeddemon

#Balan Wonderworld