#because it keeps popping up in response to how good the found family dynamic is in gotg 3

[cogentranting]

My hot take is that the Avengers never felt like a found family because they were never intended to. They were always meant to be a group that comes together and then separates again as needed. They're friends. Coworkers. But they were never meant to be a family.

The only exception is Natasha-- for her they were a family. And her bonds to the other Avengers in general are more significant. She's unquestionably family with Clint. She's very close with Steve. SHe's got mentor/big sister relationship with Wanda. She and Tony are close. She and Bruce had their romance. So for her specifically there is a found family aspect that's legitimate.

But for the others, I don't think you can criticize the Avengers for not feeling like a family because they're not supposed to.

#mcu #avengers #because it keeps popping up in response to how good the found family dynamic is in gotg 3 #which it is! #it's great #and you can be disappointed that avengers didn't go that route but its not a flaw in the writing that that isn't what they were going for #and personally i think by its very nature it couldn't be the found family story people wanted it to be because its impermanent #I do think the cap team-- steve sam nat and sometimes bucky and wanda DO feel much closer #THEY are maybe a found family #but even then #i think they are more about friendship #a really tight bond of friendship! #and i think its important that some relationships are allowed to just stand as friendships #and i think the avengers have a good friendship dynamic too #but by its nature it is not the CLOSEST friendship set for any of them (again except natasha)

[legendofzoodles]

LU Deepest Fear Headcanons 1

These are headcanons for the deepest fears and deepest points of worry/anxiety for the chain. They may be great and powerful heroes, but they’re still humans who’ve been through some shit.

This is more of a discussion than a list of bullet point headcanons, but there’s a lot here to sink your teeth into and think about.

Time

He’s old enough to have had time to process and deal with everything he went through, so he’s one of only two in the chain who doesn’t really have any major fears or worries (the other being Legend). 

He’s still got baggage from his adventures in the form of a buried but inextinguishable bitterness and seething anger, that may pop up in his mind occasionally to ruin his day or stop him getting a good night’s sleep. All the stuff that’s now made him jaded is still present, it just faded into the background as he aged. 

I suppose he would be worried about the rest of the chain, seeing them as his responsibility, even though most are already adults. He’s much more to them than just a leader, there’s some found family stuff here. Most of his attention would go to Wind because he’s still a child (and I love their dynamic), and Twilight, as he’s his blood descendant and if anything happened to wolf boi, Time would not be able to forgive himself (on the flipside, Twilight worries about Time even more due to...you know why). 

He also has the Fierce Deity on his mind now and then. Dreading the day he’ll inevitably resort use its power again.

Warrior

‘false friends are worse than open enemies’ - an old proverb

Monsters don’t even faze the Captain, as thanks to the War of Eras he has fought almost every one in existence, from all across the timeline. A random bokoblin? Piss easy. A Redead that can screech like a banshee? Not pleasant, but manageable. The Demon King Ganon himself? Bitch please, he and his allies had him 6 feet under before you could even blink.

What’s far scarier to him is not only having no allies, but having people you once trusted your life with turn against you. Getting stabbed in the back by a ‘friend’ is the Captain’s biggest fear. Hence why he keeps his men at arm’s length even though he’s good friends with many of them (he’ll still hang out with them outside work to bars and stuff like that). 

During HW all the ‘traitors’ in the Hyrulean Army were turncoats because they were spelled, which means that their actions weren’t really their own and the blame lies on the spell caster. I’d like to think that while the Captain had to deal with these kinds of soldiers on the regular (which would haunt him anyway, because fighting and even killing your own comrades is still a harrowing experience no matter who’s in control), he had to deal with one or two instances where soldiers acting on their own free will turned against Warrior. Either directly by striking a deal with Cia/Ganon’s forces to get power/safety or indirectly by flat out ditching him on the battlefield to save themselves.

Imagine the betrayal and anger that would have festered within him after those ordeals. That kind of pain never goes away, no matter how many trustworthy people you surround yourself with in the future. 

Twilight

Twi has always been on the outside looking in. 

Growing up, he was probably aware that he wasn’t one of the villagers (has pointed Hylian ears, they all have rounded Ordonian ears). Despite being really involved in the community and having many people he cared about, in the back of his mind he probably felt like an outsider. 

This feeling of never quite having a place where he truly belonged would be an acute sort of worry, that’s just normal to him. 

He could possibly have abandonment issues. Never knowing his parents and Midna shattering the mirror are two sources of anger, hurt and most notably confusion. He has no idea who his parents were and what happened to them. Did they unfortunately pass away? Did they willingly abandon him? He has no real way of knowing and all he can do really is carry that weight until he finds it in him to let go (I feel like his friendship with Time can really help with that). 

There’s also Midna. Those two formed a powerful bond during the course of TP, but at the very end Midna not only left Link but she also destroyed the one thing that could let them meet. Twi is a rational guy and probably concluded that there was a deeper reason as to why she did this (as ruler of the Twili) that didn’t involve him specifically.

Then again, I can see also Twi internalising her decision and taking it a little personally. The fact that she didn’t even talk to him about what was going on makes it worse and it left him feeling hollow. Having spent so much time together, I’d argue she was the closest he’d ever been with to a person, making the betrayal even worse. 

He isn’t all that mad about it, just upset. 

Plus, she’s the only person who truly understands what he went through during his adventure. Most of what happened to Twi in TP can’t really be shared with anyone else without risking being alienated. That’s obviously the last thing Twi wants, so he’d rather bottle it all up than take that chance. Perpetuating his sense of isolation and loneliness. 

Sky

Having another adventure pull him from his peaceful way of life is something that deeply troubles him. We all know the lengths he went to in order to save Sun in SS and there’s that LU panel where he plays the harp and talks about missing her. To my memory, none of the others get a moment where they talk about missing someone they care about quite in this way, leading me to believe that it’s almost always on his mind. 

Not being able to return to his era would be the thing he fears most. Of course, to some extent every member of the chain misses home, but I feel like the most reluctant hero is Sky.

There’s also the topic of injuries. 

At a couple points in the comic he expresses discomfort at hearing stories about injuries and seeing the chain’s scars. Which makes me wonder if he has a low pain tolerance or has a fear of getting seriously hurt or even fears pain itself. If that’s the case than his lightning scars (a headcanon that’s quite popular) would be a major point insecurity for him and he probably distresses over the possibility of ever getting hurt like that again.    

Legend

Not too sure about this guy. He’s been through some shit, and has had enough time to process said shit for every event in his life to kind of bleed together in his mind. He’d come at almost anything, no matter how horrific with a ‘business as usual’ or ‘eh, could be worse’ sort of attitude. He’s just too deep into this hero business to bother giving too much of a shit.

On the other hand, I feel like that’s just a front he puts up. At the very least, if something is troubling the Veteran, he won’t show it or acknowledge it. Any and all unresolved feelings or sadness that may arise from memories of a certain island are permanently locked away in the mental dungeon. Never to be exposed or see the light of day, so long as the chain minds their damn business. 

There is that one tragic experience in A Link to the Past when his uncle dies- and that was his first adventure. I’ve not played the game but I’m going to assume that his uncle had a decent send off, making it a good-ish memory for Legend in the sense that it inspires him to push forward and is a relatively positive motivator for him. 

So, he wouldn’t despair over the loss; it’s a normal sort of grief that sucks but everyone’s dealt with it at some point in life. 

Wild

He’s been building his identity from scratch for a while now and so help him Hylia, does not want to lose himself again. I think it’s reasonable to conclude that he still struggles a lot with his new identity and constantly remenisses about his past self. He’d do things like question his decisions/judgement and wonder what pre-Calamity Wild would have done in any situation he finds himself. 

In all, he is somewhat at peace with current himself. One day he will get to a point where he can finally declare that he is who he is and can stop trying to live up to the memory/legacy of his past self. But he’s far from that yet. 

It doesn’t help that everyone who knew him 100 years ago still reference his past self and bring up memories that Wild still can’t remember. Flora being one of the most notable as now their dynamic is sort of reversed. Where Wild was once the walking embodiment of Flora’s failures and inadequacies, now Flora is a painful presence to Wild, reminding him of everything he’s lost about himself and his past relationships due to the Calamity. He knows now that what happened 100 years ago wasn’t solely his fault and appreciates that at the time he did his best in the chaos. He knows this, but it doesn’t always quell the internalised regret and anger at his failure. I’m not sure he even forgives himself for it yet.

Having memories suddenly trigger are welcome in the long run (even at the most random or inappropriate times), but they’re bittersweet in more ways than one. 

Four

Whether the colours are a system or not, Four being able to split in the first place means he needs to always keep his emotions in check. Or at the very least he can’t let himself become unbalanced to the point where he has to split in order to sort himself out when in the presence of others. Which ironically, is a source of worry for him.

He would never split if someone made him angry just to let blue and maybe red go off on that person. That’s not a very responsible or heroic use of the Four Sword’s power, which is why I feel like he only splits if he’s experiencing deep inner conflict or in an especially tough battle.

Losing his cool and then choosing to split in scenarios where it would be best if he didn’t, is probably what worries him most. As of the colours debut in the LU comic, he’s now seen the impact the various sides of him have on others and probably wishes for something like that to never happen again. 

(I think I’ve got the intended interpretation of the colours, but lmk if I’m wrong)

Hyrule

Getting injured himself/someone he’s travelling with getting injured and there being no one around to help. He almost always travels alone and so is used to relying on no one but himself no matter how difficult things get. Luckily thanks to experience and his skills nothing has gone wrong.

But what if, one day something does go wrong? What if he finds himself trapped in an unknown location and can’t escape? What if he or someone he cares about gets hurt? Sure, he has incredible healing powers...but what’s left if that fails him? What if a time comes when it’s not good enough? What can he do then? Is there anything he can do at that point? If not, what happens when there’s no one around to help?

These always plague his mind and is why despite living as a hermit, he’s always willing to accept help from others and doesn’t rely on his powers/doesn’t think them all that special.

Wind

Like the rest of the chain (Sky and Time specifically), he has people back home who love and worry about him. Still being a child, this would affect him more and be a quiet but prevalent source of worry for the tiny sailor. 

Putting himself in dangerous situations is what he has to do as part of his role as an incarnation of the hero. He knows this and has the confidence and skill to pull it off. But he a fierce determination surfaces whenever things do go south and he’ll tell himself that he can’t die here, that he has to live and get back to his family. The thought of Grandma breaking down into hysterics if the news of his untimely death reached her and Aryll crying out into the ocean, screaming his name over and over kills him. 

It’s enough to ruin a his sleep for the night. But a cuddle from Wolfie, dad hug from father Time or a dog pile with half the chain can put a smile back on his face. 

~~~

Thanks for reading!

Age headcanons

Height headcanons (and more)

#legend of zelda #linked universe #lu headcanons #linked universe headcanons #lu fanfiction #linked universe fanfic #lu four #lu legend #lu wild #lu hyrule #lu warriors #lu wind #lu time #lu twilight #botw #ww #wind waker #zelda

[juniperhillpatient]

The Drill Re-watch

The Dangerous Ladies are back! And they have a big scary drill. I love how Mai is just happy to get something to do & I had honestly forgotten how consistently ecstatic Ty Lee is at any opportunity for violence. She's so adorable & scary at the same time. Have I mentioned lately how much I love Ty Lee? +1000 iconic behavior points to her for taking out all those earth-benders & scaring Katara. I had also forgotten just how scared of Ty Lee Katara is & how much she dislikes her. Katara yelling & calling Ty Lee a circus freak was a badass moment. +1000 iconic behavior points. Mai disobeying Azula just because she doesn't want to get muddy & popping up in the end like "we lost" in a deadpan voice was hilarious & very based of her, +500 iconic behavior points. Sokka's plan to take out the drill from the inside was pretty smart. +500 iconic behavior points.

My favorite part of the conflict with the drill was actually Ty Lee. I also really loved the flirty moment between her & Sokka, & Katara having to drag Sokka away. Honestly, I've never given much thought to Ty Lee/Sokka as a potential ship until this re-watch but their flirty banter during fights is so funny & cute. And I just can't get enough of Ty Lee happily kicking ass.

Surprisingly, I don't have that much to say about Azula in this episode which is rare for me but this was pretty much standard hero vs. villain "let's keep the Fire Nation out of Ba Sing Se" stuff. I mean, the Azula vs. Aang fight was badass, but I don't have any meaningful analysis of it. I think the most meaningful takeaway I have about Azula in this episode is regarding her relationship with Mai & Ty Lee. It's been commented on a hundred times that Mai disobeys Azula's order in this episode, but still, I'll comment on it again. I think it says a lot about the dynamic between Azula & Mai. Mai is a subordinate, & there is a power imbalance but Mai knows what she can & can't get away with & isn't afraid to do what she wants under certain circumstances. I think that the dynamic between these three girls is layered & this episode gives evidence to the idea that Azula does treat Mai & Ty Lee like friends to the extent that Azula can treat anyone like friends. Mai never felt coerced & if she was reluctant to follow specific orders, she simply didn't.

Jet & Zuko were my favorite part of this episode, actually. I can't believe it took me as long as it did spending time in this fandom to warm up to Jet/Zuko as a romantic pairing. Shocking & disappointing for me, really, I feel like I usually have good taste right away. SMH past me. Oh well, I see the truth now. They're literally Thee Template. Like, they met each other, said "be gay do crime" & had a touching heart to heart about both being traumatized & Zuko realized that he didn't always have to be alone & by the next episode Jet is following Zuko around like a lost puppy begging him to join his little found family. THEN freaking Iroh warms up his tea with fire-bending. Iroh, I was just warming up to you & starting to stand up for you, dude. What are you DOING? Zuko is right. For a supposedly wise old man, that's just.....really fucking stupid. I don't even know what to say. I guess Iroh got a little too comfortable? Like....what? Anyway....

Despite the rather contrived way in which it happened (yeah, sorry, I'm gonna say the writing is a LITTLE contrived like, I just don't get it is Iroh supposed to be smart or not?) I DO love a dramatic breakup between two characters who technically never even dated. Jet now knows that Zuko & Iroh are fire-benders. And MAN. A hundred smarter people than me have written fascinating essays & analyses & metas about the tragedy that Jet is right that they're fire-benders & more right than he knows because they're literally Fire Nation royalty & both personally responsible for a lot of harm inflicted by the Fire Nation but he's wrong because they are actually refugees now & not causing any new harm & also because he needs to let go of this obsessive hate because it will (& does) lead to his downfall like....We'll get to my thoughts on Jet's tragedy & his death when we get there but this set up for drama (by itself!!! pretending I'm watching for the first time!!!) IS excellent writing (if the specifics weren’t so contrived.) If only they ---- never mind, I'm done for now. I'm ending this ramble. Goodnight. Oh yes, Zuko & Jet get +1000 iconic behavior points for their quick little fling that will change them both forever & for having a dramatic breakup without Zuzu (king of drama on any other occasion!) even knowing about it.

Anyway, this was a great episode. I'm surprised I had so little to say about Azula & that she earned no iconic behavior points, but it's okay because she will blow everyone else out of the running in Crossroads of Destiny, I already know 100% for sure. Yeah, my favorite parts of this episode were the Dangerous Ladies & Jet & Zuko but I should also mention that I liked Sokka joking about the different group names even though "gaang" hasn't come up yet. And the hints about metal-bending & its potential were fun subtle foreshadowing.

#atla re watch #atla book 2 #the drill

[yui-kuromori]

Okay so mafia AU

The Wonderland’s tea party is an organization led by the Hatter. It’s specializes in drug trafficking, blackmail and selling information.

Arisu and Usagi are it’s newest members. They got recruited on accident really and it’s mostly Arisu’s fault. He was on the subway one day and sat beside this older man wearing sunglasses struggling with a piece of paper on his hand. It was hatter, who was trying to figure out the safest routes in and out of a building for an information robbery from a big company. Arisu had kinda peered at the map, gotten excited because *puzzle*, and offered Hatter some help. After Hatter tells him the “rules” Arisu spends the rest of the ride tracing out paths and tragedies, before leaving a baffled Hatter behind.

So Hatter’s like “we need this kid” and sends Niragi and Last Boss to “Invite him for tea”. Unfortunately for them, when they go to corner Arisu, he’s out with Usagi, and Usagi upon being told by Arisu that he think’s they’re being followed, and notices Piercings and Face Tattoos, goes “I think the fuck not”, grabs her best friend and *bolts*.

And run she does, going full parkour ninja, hauling Arisu’s skinny ass around. Niragi and Last Boss try following them, but after a while, she just looses them altogether. They report back to Hatter who just goes: “He has a ninja girlfriend?? We need them” and he’s really excited about it.

He sends in Chishiya and Kuina to actually talk to them this time and after some coaxing, they agree to at least try out. They both need the money.

What they didn’t expect was for them to be immediately adopted into the found family dynamic. Arisu and Kuina are immediately trans buddies, and Aguni is like “Okay, two more children for me and Takeru”, Last Boss takes the position of scary older brother, specially for Usagi, and even Niragi treats them nicely (in his own way).

Feat. Very concerned friends Karube and Chouta who have no idea what’s happening, their college classmates, who are running a rumor mill, Arisu’s awful family that keeps popping up even after he moves in with Usagi and Shibuki, who’s literally just vibing.

Also, this is probably Arisu x Chishiya

ROLECALL

Name: Danma Takeru

Code name: Mad Hatter

Skills: He is the leader and founder of Wonderland’s tea party. What used to be a two person gang grew into an organization because of his visionary attitude and charming personality. His charisma allows for nice deals and sales, while his ruthlessness keeps their family protected. He doesn’t usually go out on mission, but he’s a skilled fighter and a surprisingly smart man. He also has a keen eye and sharp intuition, especially when picking out new members.

Name: Aguni Morizono

Code name: Bandersnatch

Skills: He is the second founder and Hatter’s right hand man. He is the muscle of the operation, the strongest member on the team. He is responsible for dealing with their enemies, carrying out threats, defending their territory and keeping their family safe. He also trains all members on how to use guns, weapons and fight. He took Usagi under his wing, as he not only could see a bit of himself in her, but their fighting styles could be similar.

Name: Chishiya Shuntaro

Code name: Cheshire

Skills: He’s their doctor. He patches up whoever is hurt and occasionally deals with a dead body or two. He’s also responsible for gathering intel. He often goes undercover in big corporations and rival groups to gather some vital secret information that could be sold for a lot of money, or takes those groups down from the inside. He’s the one who took Arisu under his wing, noticing how good he is at reading people’s hearts, he’s been teaching him how to manipulate and lie and now they usually go undercover together.

Name: Kuina Hikari

Code name: Caterpillar or Absolem

Skills: Kuina is a dealer. She accompanies Hatter when he goes to strike a deal not only because of her charisma and people skills, but because she functions as a secret bodyguard. She’s also usually on robberies and stealth missions, where being undercover is not necessary but they still need to get in and out of somewhere unseen to get shit done. To those, she’s usually paired with Chishiya. She’s the one teaching Arisu how to fight, since their styles are the most similar.

Name: Niragi Suguru

Code name: March Hare

Skills: This is their killer ok? Need someone disposed of? Call Niragi. Need someone intimidated? Call Niragi. Some group is trying to start a turf war? Call Aguni who’s gonna take Niragi and Last Boss and they’ll fix it. Niragi’s also responsible for their weapons and sometimes will help with scheming. He’s decievingly protective of his family and shows affection with acts of violence. If you want any piercings he’ll do it for you.

Name: Samura Takatora (last boss)

Code name: Jabberwocky

Skills: His position is the same as Niragi’s. They are usually paired together for missions. While Niragi takes care of the guns, Last Boss takes care of knives and swords. They are usually sent with Ann or Arisu whenever they have to meet people and their looks alone are enough to intimidate any potential threats. He’s been teaching Usagi how to spear fight and is secretly delighted someone else has taken to more traditional weapons. If you ever want a tattoo, he’s the one to ask for.

Name: Ann Rizuna

Code name: White Queen

Skills: She’s the one responsible for most of their drug operation. While Hatter makes the deals, she’s the one crutching numbers, distributing product and sometimes even cooking up drugs herself. She can also fill in for Chishiya as their doctor and Along with him, Arisu and Niragi, she’s the one tracing most of their plans. If any of them were to die, she would be the one responsible for finding out who did it and helping to hunt them down.

Name: Tatta Kodai

Codename: Dormouse or Arganaz

Skills: Tatta is their getaway driver. He can outdrive everyone and anyone. His knowledge in mechanics helps them with their robberies and he’s been known to pull some Dean Winchester level stunts behind the wheel. He also keeps communication between teams clear and smooth. He’s been learning some basics under Ann’s wing and is getting pretty good at, uh, cooking.

Name: Usagi Yuzuha

Code name: White Rabbit

Skills: She’s a fighter and a runner. When she’s not in a position similar to Aguni’s, she’s doing patrols around their territory, spying on rivals and enemies from the top of buildings and helping Tatta to keep all the teams in the know. She’s usually paired with Arisu in the same way Kuina is paired with Chishiya. She’s also the only one that can keep them all sleeping a minimum of four hours a night and eating somewhat healthy food with a decent frequency. Many suspect that if Aguni retires, she’ll be the one to take his place.

Name: Arisu Ryohei

Code name: Alice

Skills: Arisu quickly become a big part of the brains behind most of their operations. He views plans with Hatter, tracing escape routes and planning damage control. He also goes undercover with or without Chishiya a lot, his innocent demeanor making him appear trustworthy. He’s also the one to analyze their oponents and tell the teams exactly where to look at for blackmail. He wrote down the plans that actually took down some big corporations. He’s been learning how to fight from Kuina, and is steadily getting better. He’s been also slowly learning how to hack, it’s just another puzzle for him.

#alice in borderland #ima wa no kuni no alice #arisu ryohei #kuina basically adopts him #usagi yuzuha #tatta kodai #ann rizuna #last boss #niragi suguru #chishiya shuntaro #hikari kuina #morizono aguni #danma takeru #hatter x aguni #karube daikichi #chota aib #saori shibuki #trans arisu

[noodlenibblescribble]

HELLO PEEPS, IT'S BEEN A WHILE, BUT HERES SOME RANDOM AMPHIBIA SWAP AU THOUGHTS, particularly with Anne->Newts, Marcy->Toads and Sasha->Frogs. This switch makes me the most emotional I think.

First thought, the Plantar's kindness getting through to Sasha through a slower and more climatic way than it did with Anne. I imagine Sasha can get away for a bit with her manipulations, wearing a mask that stuff isn't bothering her. She slips and gets annoyed, scared, and anxious at times, especially at the beginning when she finds Sprig and is told she can't search for her girls until the winter passes, but once she's settled into the Plantar's basement, she begins the facade of 'being nice and gaining control of the frog family so that whatever she wants whenever she wants goes.' It works. Hop Pop favorites her because of her sweet talks, she gets Sprig's friendship and loyalty easily and Polly is all over having an enabler badass. Then consequences pile up. Responsibilities get put on her shoulders. She's now an older sibling to two impressionable kids who are copying her beliefs and her actions. She has chores Hop Pop is trusting to her because of how responsible she's talked herself into being. The townsfolk eventually also come around her flattery and always ask for her time. Sasha thinks she's detached from everyone. Despite the goofy adventures she goes on and some moments where she snaps from annoyance at the craziness (particularly with the kids and maybe even also coming around to talking to One-Eyed Wally) where she shares bits about her anxieties and her anger, and she's always comforted and taken seriously and shown that she's being accepted. Loved. She doesn't allow herself to accept it. She's using them, just biding her time, making things more comfortable for herself until she can leave and find her girls. But then, she's made frog of the year. The townspeople genuinely love her and cheer for her. She feels. Nice. And in the middle of the night she sees her.

Marcy.

Switching to how it's been for her,

It's interesting for me to think about her dynamic with Grime. She's softer, more innocent with her wonder. She absolutely believes she can befriend the toads and is always asking then questions about the world. It annoys some of his guards, but she forms some friendships with others that find her fun to talk to. And eventually, maybe even before the Heron attack, Grime sees her value as a strategist. He strikes a deal easily with her. She helps him with responsibilities, research, paperwork, and he DOESN'T keep her in a cage. Even eventually offers to help her travel to look for her friends. Maybe. Marcy is having a blast being leaned on by someone. This is her time to show how useful she is, even if it's by creating new weapons and traps for political adversaries. Grime is very impressed by her mind... but also becomes a dad much faster with how often he has to save her from herself. He's soft on her after like a week of accidents. Hell, maybe these accidents even started in her cell and the real reason he got her out was because he hadn't realized how many ways someone could accidentally almost kill themselves while being chained and behind bars. He's seen things. The toads generally leave Marcy alone with some exceptions that were interested in teaching her stuff and playing games with her. She's accepted.

I don't want to have to rewrite the entirety of the episode (note from future me, I GUESS I DID) on the Toad Tower but the differences are their motivations. Marcy constructed the plan to invite the town and talk to them diplomatically into giving up Hop Pop for the better good. They would execute Hop Pop in front of everyone as an example. When she found Sasha and saw her family, she was surprised. She started worrying that what she was doing would be wrong. But in her time spent alone with Sasha, the blonde girl talks big and makes it clear she was just waiting to find either of her friends to ditch the frogs. She could stay in the tower with Marcy from now on! Marcy is relieved. This means she can still put her plan in motion. So, laughing, she explains what she's doing that night to Sasha, who slowly drops a fry in shock. The ditzy nerd she knew is talking about taking a life like its just another statistic. Something needed to keep balance. And more than that. The frog she's going to kill is someone who has taken care of her. Someone who saw her as family now. Someone who took her in and never backed away from helping her. Even with all her bullshitting, after all her masks and lies, Sasha starts to sweat. Her hands shake. She smoothly tells Marcy she needs to use the bathroom. She's none the wiser. Sasha runs to the frogs. She tries to get them to run away. Something in their ineptitude frustrates her enough to take charge and be the lead of their group through the sewers. She's angry. She shouldn't be doing this. She's trying to come up with excuses as to why she cares enough to wade through shit for them. And through her heavy thoughts, they get caught.

Now they're in the top of the tower. Marcy has been told what happened. She's confused. She asks Sasha about it in front of everyone. What happened to the plan? To not caring about the frogs? Was she going to run away... and leave her behind? Sasha falters as she sees Marcy's eyes. She's hurt. Sasha feels terrible, this wasn't what she wanted! She tries reaching out, to comfort her like she always did. But a hand wraps around hers and stops her. Sprig's. He's looking at her. Scared of what he feared she'd do. What she would have done, if she hadn't had a change of heart. She resolves herself. Squeezes his hand back. And she hardens, putting on her leader persona. Marcy can feel the shift immediately and flinched at Sasha's tone as she tries coaxing her into letting them go. Isn't an execution too extreme? Come on, Marmar, this isn't like her. She's not a killer. She's good.

Marcy shakes. Is she right? Should she stop? But Grime steps up. Reminds her of the King expecting results. It's their necks on the line. He's right... both sides are right. Morally right. But what about her? What does she value? She holds her heart as she asks a question. The deciding factor. Her voice quivers. "What about you? If we let them go, who are you going with?" Sasha's pause is a lifetime. The answer was... unexpected for both of them. "I, I can visit! Now that we know were we are! It'll be like... sleepovers!" Marcy dropped her hand. Her demeanor changed. She blinked a few times, fighting the sting in her eyes. "I see. Hah. Yeah. We always loved those, right?"

"Yeah! It'll be just as fun, I promise!" Sasha saw a tear drop. Concern grew. She took a step forward. "Marcy... are... are you... ok?"

"Yeah," Marcy looked back up. Smile in her face. "I'm ok. But. I'm sorry for what comes next."

She threw a ball. It rolled under Sasha. And it binded her, making her fall hard into the floor. Grime smiled and followed the plan. Gave the orders to subdue the rowdy townsfolk. Separated Hop Pop and Sasha from everyone. Sasha screamed, begging for them to stop. Not believing what was happening. Marcy talked over her. Assuring her she'd come to see this was necessary. They need to stay together!

And as Hop Pop almost falls into the plant, the shrooms explode. Chaos erupts. The Plantars are on Sasha immediately, helping her out of her bindings just in time for her to see the stunned Marcy staring at her. And the ground crumble beneath her. Sasha flings herself to catch her. Barely gets a hold of her hand. Marcy is crying. Sasha tries desperately to keep hold of her. Shes slipping and the frogs come to help. Sasha is surprised by them. She chokes a laugh as they tell her they've got her. Marcy's gut twists. Misinterpreting her face, Sasha tells her that its going to be ok. She's got her. She'll always have her.

Marcy's eyes furrow. Sasha... is a good friend. And she... again. She failed her. Because of her neediness. Because she can't let go. She keeps dragging her down. She closes her eyes. She accepts her fate.

"Sasha..."

"Mar...cy?"

She opens them again at her name. She smiles, painfully.

"You deserve better friends than me."

And she lets go.

Grime catches her. Sasha is pulled up and hugged as she sobs. She failed her. She feels that she's failed her. But. Surrounded by these frogs, what pains her the most is. She's glad they're ok.

They have become her family.

~

I'll try to wrap up my thoughts faster, this was seriously supposed to be a quick ramble of points but I went storymode again, good gravy.

Sasha is embarrassed by how much she cares about the dumb frogs and the dumb town, but she accepts it. Opens up much more after that.

Marcy is... lost. Like Grime, she gets lost in trying to escape from what happened by drowning in hyperfixations instead. Crying whenever Grime brings it up, so they both avoid it because he does NOT want to be responsible for kicking a puppy. It's not healthy, and Olivia brings them both back into action by making them work together in outthinking her.

When Grime proposes taking over the kingdom, Marcy gets swept back into action. So she had a breakdown with a friend. That doesn't mean she can't enjoy living the rpg life now that she's here. And it's not like taking over the palace would affect the frogs and Sasha much. In fact, it could help them! Yes. This was for the good of everyone. She would help Grime become king.

~

While all this happened with these two, Anne's life in newt society has been... relatively ok. Anne's easy for Andrias to manipulate. She's never questioned anything and she's always ready to be of service. It's the least she could do for the person that's housing her. So he lets her do whatever she wants. She spends time with the newts, helping Olivia losen up a bit, learning combat from Yunan, doing odd jobs all around the city and befriending everyone in sight. It's great PR for the king. Really. It's been far too easy. The only annoying thing to deal with has been...

.... eugh. Emotions. Days where Anne gets homesick. Days when she asks too many personal questions. He has to keep up the nice act, but her perception is scary to him sometimes. She comes to know when something is bothering him. She's always ready to hear him out. Hed... never tell her the whole truth but... he has sometimes... shared bits of it. He'd always get mad afterwards. It's like the kid is a walking therapy session. He involuntarily softens just the slightest bit around her.

Out of spite, he agrees to his master's demands. She may be useless in the ways that truly matter but. As a conduit of the stones, she can still do something good for him.

One last thought, Anne's betrayal comes in the form of the opposite of Marcy's. She wants everyone to go home, regardless of the attachments they made in this world. Andrias convinced her of the urgency to return when Sasha left her. It was like she didn't need her anymore. Like she was discarded. And after needing Sasha for so long... she got scared. She misses home. She misses her family. She misses school. She misses her friends. They need to go back. They need to be back to normal. As soon as possible. And her friends...

They don't want to leave.

#amphibia au #amphibia #amphibia swap au #amphibia anne #amphibia marcy #amphibia sasha #sasha waybright #anne boonchuy #marcy wu #king andrias #sprig plantar #hop pop plantar #polly plantar #plantar family #amphibia grime #grime #captain grime

[yjwhatif]

My thoughts on episode SIX…

OHH MY WORD THE NEW EPISODE WAS SO GOOD!!!!! I LOVED IT SO MUCH!!!!

It was exactly what I needed!!! 😁😁😁 I’m so happy right now - I’m loving this season!

Of course, I’d love it even more if two certain someones would care to grace us with their presence … but it’s fine - I can wait… I can be patient.

Though we did get a little closer - I definitely heard the Kid Flash zeta designation in the background - along with Bluebeetle, Static, Robin, Forager, Livewire and 2 or 3 names I could hear over Gar’s talking. (If anyone could confirm those that would be appreciated.)

I think I’m liking these recent episodes so much because they have that season 2 vibe. We’re seeing (and hearing) the heroes do their hero thing - working in the shadows, trying to solve the problem and working with the other heroes around them to get to the answers. I love seeing the newer hero’s getting a bit of screen time - and actual dialogue - because it makes them feel rooted in the world - instead of being just space filler or not speaking because its more cost affective to just show them. I get why these creative decisions have to be made - it just seems really noticeable in these last two seasons compared to the first two - and I still don’t really get why…

Anyway, it’s nice to see the other characters being a part of the story. Heck, I even liked hearing all the Outsiders zeta-ing away in the background - it really felt like they were just there but we just missed them. It worked well… I don’t want it all the time - I do want to see an actual non-montagey Outsiders mission or at least interactions with those characters since the show made me so invested in them last season - but I liked it here.

Guess this is a good point to talk about Gar and oh my god my heart is breaking for the boy! 🥺 He’s so broken right now and I really need someone to go comfort him through all the grief and trauma he’s bottling up… and y’know what, I kinda want it to be Bart. This has just popped into my head - but they’re pretty equal in many ways - they’ve both dealt with loss and heartache from a young age, they both like to hide behind their smiles, they don’t talk about their struggles, they’ve pretty much been adopted into their found families, they’re the same age. It would be cool to see this be the thing which finally gets Bart to open up about his own traumas to someone and finally break him out of the character he’s been playing for years with everyone… I really want more Bart content.

Also with every mention of Perdita we keep getting and Gar’s avoiding of her, I get a little more worried that she’s not going to survive the season. I’m convinced Brion’s gonna do something to try claim control of Vlatava and she’ll get caught in the take down and Gar will fail to get there in time to save her and it will destroy him (emotionally). He’ll be consumed with even more grief and guilt and he’ll want to take down the one responsible - Brion. This is the current narrative of events filling my head at the minute - but how ever it turns out - something bads going down with Gar, Perdita and Brion - and I’m not looking forward to it.

What I am looking forward to is more Orphan content. I knew I was gonna like her with that one little moment she had in ep.5 - and I was right because I love her and I can’t wait to see more and learn more about her. I’m even more excited for her interactions with Shiva - is this not the first villain mother vs daughter dynamic we’ve had in the show…? We’ve definitely had a lot of ‘bad’ dads - it seems it’s time for some ‘bad’ mums to join the roster.

Oh it’s gonna be fun…

LB

— END OF PART ONE —

#young justice phantoms #my thoughts #young justice #yj #young justice spoilers #yj4 #young justice season 4 #the outsiders #garfield logan #beast boy #bart allen #kid flash #orphan dc #lady shiva #perdita #brion markov #keepbingingyj #saveearth16 #spreadtheword

[princessjaqulinechess1031]

by the bedside

Characters: Damian Wayne, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Adrien Agreste, Jason Todd

Summary: A job goes wrong, and Marinette fears the worst until Damian wakes up. 

Notes: Cross-posted on Archive of Our Own. 

Sequel

"À la claire fontaine," a soft voice sung, pulling Damian out of his hazy daze. "M'en allant promener, j'ai trouvé l'eau si belle…"

Damian groaned and tried to turn on his side, to try and reach whatever it was singing, but the moment he did, the song stopped and was replaced by a gasp. Damian blinked his eyes open, ignoring the sting, and saw sitting next to him was a disheveled and red-eyed Marinette sitting next to him.

"Damian….," she whispered. Damian tried to reach out a hand to her, but found that it felt like lead. Moving it felt like a splitting pain, and it was weighed down by a cast. Damian shut his eyes and leaned back into the pillow. The building, the explosion, and –

"Adrien?" Damian croaked. Marinette nodded her head and took the hand not enclosed in a cast in her hands. She gave it a gentle squeeze and smiled.

"He's fine," Marinette said. "He's doing damage control with your brother."

Ah, yes. Dick. Nightwing had come to Paris as one Dick Grayson, something to do with Wayne Enterprises or other, when he had realized what Damian was up to. Robin had become an unofficial third member of Paris's own dynamic duo, Ladybug and Chat Noir once all their allies identities were exposed. Hawkmoth was long gone, so it was just petty criminals and the like, but adding a fourth member to that so suddenly had thrown everything off. Even if it was for one mission. A bomb was missed, and now –

"How long was I out?" Damian asked. He narrowed his eyes and looked around and saw a familiar location had enveloped him. "And ho-how did we get to the Batcave?"

"Two days," Marinette said breathlessly. "And a Zeta tube."

Ah, Zeta. He should have known. Damage control probably meant making sure Paris still had someone patrolling and keeping it's citizens safe.

"Nightwing insisted we bring you back here," Marinette said. "Said you should be with family."

That meant it was touch and go for a moment. Damian felt unfrazzled by the brush with death, how many times had he had one since he was born? Not to mention he actually had died once. He looked down at Marinette's outfit, and saw she was wearing the same purple sundress she had been wearing before her transformation two days ago.

"H-have you been here the whole time?" Damian asked softly. Marinette looked down at her fingers sheepishly.

"I-I had to be sure," Marinette said. "When the Lucky Charm didn't work, and –" Marinette cut herself off with a chortle of tears. "Ma moitié, I had to make sure you weren't dead."

Damian shut his eyes. This was what frazzled him. He knew in their line of work, one got hurt. Sometimes you didn't walk away. But to hurt Marinette, to make Marinette feel hopeless and lost as Damian fought on a hospital bed. Marinette was the one good, pure thing he had ever been able to keep, and to make her feel pain felt like a betrayal.

"You should have gone home," Damian said slowly. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

Marinette shook her head and squeezed his hand.

"If you expected me to do that, then you don't really know me."

Damian turned his head to the side, and tried to ignore the sharp burst of pain at the top of his back from the movement. But try as he might, he still winced. Marinette reached forward and put a hand on his shoulder to try and steady him again.

"Be still, ma moitié," Marinette said. "Monsieur Pennyworth said it was best for you to remain as you are."

Marinette was so polite, and despite Alfred's continued insistence, Marinette continued to call the man by his proper name. Damian found it was one of many adorable things about her to love.

"Nawaret aynaya," Damian said, "I promise I'm fine –"

"No you're not!" Marinette busted out. "You're hurt, you- you nearly died! All because I couldn't keep my team – I got distracted and –"

The young girl burst into tears, and Damian took his hand from her grasp and reached up to caress her cheek. Oh, Marinette. She always took ever mistake, every misstep, as some misgiving on her part. To Marinette, the safety of all Paris and all of her friends sat squarely on her shoulders. She might shoulder that responsibility with her brother Chat Noir, but Marinette would always hold it as a personal stake in her heart.

"It's not your fault, nawaret aynaya," Damian said softly. "This – this comes with the mask, you know that. If you had or had not been there, this would have happened eventually." He wiped away a tear form her cheek, and Marinette reached for the hand still caressing her. "I love you Marinette. And I know you would never hurt me. So stop blaming yourself."

Marinette gave a weak smile.

"If you expect me to stop just like that," she hiccupped, "then you don't really know me at all." She sucked in a deep breath and rubbed her thumb across his wrist.

"I love you too," she said. Damian's heart sang. For seventeen years he had waited for something and someone that would look at him and not see a monster. Not see an assassin or a danger or someone to fear. And by some miracle, that person turned out to be the love of his life.

And he'd be damned if he let her go.

"He's flatlining, I'm calling it," a voice said, breaking the moment around them. Damian retracted his hand and Marinette wiped away a last tear. In the doorway stood one Jason Todd, mask gone but still wearing spandex and his leather jacket. "Mari, time of death?"

Marinette bit her lip and looked down at her hands, but Damian could see the beginnings of a smile on her face. Jason stepped into the room and dragged a chair from the corner and sat down next to Marinette with a loud thud.

"Papa Bat should be here in a little bit, Brat Bat," Jason said. He took out his gun and began to fiddle with it, probably to clean it since he pulled out a white cloth from his pocket. Damian frowned.

"I'm not a brat," Damian said. Jason rolled his eyes.

"You might be seventeen, but you're still a brat sometimes," Jason said. Marinette looked up from her hands, that familiar mischief shining in her eyes.

"You're kinda. Sometimes," Marinette said softly. Jason laughed and slung an arm around the girl's shoulder.

"Ah! I got the girlfriend on my side!" Jason said. "I win!"

Normally Damian would keep going and insist he wasn't a brat, but Jason was as transparent as a plane of glass. Jason was trying to cheer up Marinette with this joke, and Damian was not going to try and ruin that. Marinette was going to be happy and not worry too much about Damian, that was his mission.

"What did you win?" Adrien asked, popping his head into the med bay. His blonde hair was still damp, meaning he probably just got out of a post-patrol shower. He came up behind his adopted sister and hugged her from behind, placing a kiss to her temple.

"Marinette admitted Damian was a brat sometimes," Jason said.

"I am not!"

"Yeah, you are," Adrien said. Tim and Dick entered the room, and Tim was texting someone on his phone. Probably Stephanie, telling her he was okay. Dick pulled a chair over to the other side of Damian's bed and leaned back, his long legs stretching out underneath the medical bed.

"Be nice to the injured child," Dick said. Damian frowned.

"I am not a child," Damian said. "I am the same age you were when you went solo, Grayson."

Dick raised a brow. "And? I was a child then, henceforth, you're a child now."

Damian furrowed his brow again and Marinette laughed softly, but once again he did not fight. If it made Marinette smile, it was worth it.

His father finally materialized, Alfred behind him. His father was as stoic as ever, his eyes steeled and guarded thanks to the new visitors to the Cave. Despite the Miraculous duo having been unofficial members of the Batfamily for a year and a half, Father still seemed opposed to giving them official membership. Damian wondered if it had anything to do with Marinette being his girlfriend. He hoped not.

"Master Damian," Alfred said, and a phantom smile overtook his professional form. "I see you are recovering well. I assume Miss Marinette has made sure you've stayed where you should?"

"He only woke up a little while ago, Monsieur," Marinette said. Her lips upturned wickedly. "The real problems in that regard have not started yet."

Adrien laughed and hugged his sister tighter.

"Trust me, mi'lady is here is plenty capable of keeping Damian in line."

Once upon a time, Damian had been jealous of Adrien's nickname for Marinette. Now Damian knew better. Adrien may have once been desperately in love with Marinette and Ladybug, but once one Kagami entered the picture it was game over. Now, the nickname was mere relic of that time and a testament to the depth of their bond.

"I expect nothing less," Alfred said. Father stood at the foot of his bed. He was still dressed in his suit, but his cowl was down, revealing his identity. That made Adrien and Marinette's lack of inclusion even more baffling – they knew who all of them were, the biggest secret they had.

"Are you alright Damian?" Father asked. Damian nodded.

"Yes Father," Damian said. A sigh of relief left his father's form. Despite medical evidence, after everything that happened with Jason, Father would never be certain of his kid's state until he heard from them exactly.

"Well, I mean, wasn't he just fighting with Jason?" Tim asked. He looked up from his phone. "Me and Dick heard them outside. If he's in a fighting mood, he's fine."

"I almost died, and you guys treat me this way," Damian said. Jason rolled his eyes.

"Shut up, this is how we show our love," Jason said. He eyes Dick. "Except for Dick. He does the whole normal shit. Damn well-adjusted asshole."

"Damn non-well-adjusted asshole," Dick shot back. Marinette giggled. Father turned to Marinette and Adrien.

"You two can stay here as long as you need, to make sure Damian is okay," Father said. Damian tried not to let his surprise be palpable. Marinette and Adrien were barely allowed in the Batcave half the time, now Father was offering to let them stay while Damian recovered? What had happened in the time he was asleep? "You can Zeta home for clothes, if you need them. But we have enough clothes that might fit you Adrien, and I'm sure Cass left some things behind before going to Hong Kong."

"Thank you, Monsieur Wayne," Adrien said for the both of them. Marinette smiled and then turned her attention back to Damian.

Damian for seventeen years wondered what it would be like to be purely loved.

Now he knew. It came from Marinette Dupain-Cheng, that kind of true love

#miraculous ladybug #batman #BatFam #daminette #Damian Wayne #miraculous marinette #marinette dupain cheng #damian x marinette #angst #fluffy angst #hurt and comfort

[strawberrysoup]

Pocketful of Posies || Chapter 3

You’d been hiding for years and years now; from your family, from society, from alphas and packs. Suppressants were dangerous but effective and necessary for an omega who refused to be owned—but no suppressants were strong enough to fool the nose of a super soldier, who together with his pack would stop at nothing to bind you to them forever.

pairings: dark!Avengers x reader word length: 3.4k chapters: 3/? warnings: A/B/O dynamics, power imbalances, noncon and dubcon sexual situations, loss of autonomy, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat — this is a dark!fic, read at your own risk. 

Tony had presented as a delta at twelve, much to his father’s insurmountable disdain. Howard Stark had gone to great lengths to ensure himself an alpha prime for a son—he’d spent years hunting down the perfect omega, who proceeded to have almost unheard of difficulties getting pregnant. After a grueling pregnancy, said omega had the gall to have massive complications during birth that meant she’d never carry another pup. The fact that Tony couldn’t even do the simplest thing right—present as an alpha prime, like himself, like Captain America—was just heinous.  

But for all of his intelligence, Howard Stark had been a moron. Being a delta came with a slew of advantages over alphas, over alpha primes even. His heightened empathy was an extraordinary tool, his intuition was nearly on par with an omegas. Sure, he wasn’t as dominant as an alpha but he could hold his own in most situations. Alpha orders rarely worked on him, at the very least. He could induce an omega’s heat and even if he couldn’t completely sate an omega during that time as he lacked a knot, deltas were critical in giving alphas periods of rest during the week-long estrous.  

If an omega was the glue that held a pack together, deltas built the foundations. Their ability to support packmates on multiple levels was crucial—just like an omega, they were able to understand their packmates deeply and act as conduits and facilitators.  

He’d never been called a manipulator before. Especially not by a sweet-faced omega with surprisingly sharp little fangs. He supposed that most deltas were considered more… cunning than other presentations. Tony preferred the terms suave or charismatic, if he was being honest. Deltas were charming, dammit. But she’d reacted like he was some sort of con artist, a blink away from hiding the Queen up his sleeve.

Letting the suit catch her while he stood aside might’ve caused a bit of unnecessary distress—it was a good thing said suit was equipped with a silencer, or the shrieking would’ve brought down every alpha in the surrounding three towns. Steve had been giving him those disappointed eyebrows since he’d emerged from the woods, even after Thor and Peter took her inside to be bathed. Tony figured that was punishment enough, especially considering their omega seemed to hate him.  

“We should probably go through the car,” Steve sighed, running a hand over the back of his head—Tony knew the alpha prime didn’t want his own discontent to unsettle the rest of the pack, “thoroughly. Make sure you check for anything hidden, we’ll make stacks for what we can and can’t give back.”  

The blond shifted closer to Tony’s side, his other hand brushing against his back gently. Alpha primes weren’t as in tune with their pack’s emotions, that’s what omegas and deltas were for, but Steve and Thor put in more effort than any other’s Tony had ever encountered. They’d waited for him to arrive after all, instead of converging on the scared omega in a group of two alpha primes and two alphas—even Bruce’s serene beta wouldn’t have been enough to calm her. Steve realized that Tony was put off, had made the effort to notice the shift in the delta’s demeanor, and moved to offer comfort if he should want it.  

“I doubt she has much,” Bruce had his arms crossed over his chest, one hand rubbing at his chin as he stared towards the house, “I can’t decide if her body chemistry is just a 180° of what it should be because of the suppressants or if there’s something else.”  

“You called her something earlier, when we were walking through the woods,” the blond had already started pulling bags from the back of her Tahoe, setting them gently on the ground so that his delta and beta could begin looking through them, “you called her classical?”  

“Classical presenting omegas? It’s a theory that started cropping up in the late nineties,” Tony’s hand bobbed slightly in the air, “widely debated in accuracy. There have been very, very few case studies but they’re pretty promising—essentially, we’re looking at traits that were bred out of omegas a thousand years ago or more that are starting to crop up again due to environmental and cultural stressors.”  

“Or,” Bruce sent the delta a stern look, “it could be the result of genetics; omegas on both sides of the family likely went extremely scarce, to the point of nonexistence. Both parents must’ve carried the same near ancient recessive genotypes, the alleles would’ve had to match up perfectly in order to produce offspring with those traits.”  

“Like I said, it’s widely debated,” Tony rolled his eyes affectionately at the beta, riffling through the bag at his feet, “either way, our omega is displaying traits that haven’t been prominent since the 10th century.”  

“What do we need to do? What do we need to watch out for?” If alpha primes were only good for one thing, it was determining the necessary course of action for their packs’ safety and prosperity.  

“There’s no way to tell for sure exactly what we’re looking at, except for an omega who’s biology is incredibly convoluted and—” the sound Bruce made was one of disdain as he pulled a ziplock with what must’ve been at least a hundred small blue pills in it from one of her bags, “chemically altered beyond belief. How could she even get a hold of so many suppressants?”  

“She’s willful,” Steve sighed, tossing a matching baggy towards the disheveled beta, “Even Peter’s purr doesn’t affect her the way it should, it’s a good thing Thor and I coexist so well—keeping her in hand would be difficult for one prime.”  

“Jesus Christ,” Tony’s jaw dropped as he withdrew a fucking machete from one of the bags, the several hunting knives, snares, and fishing lures neatly arranged in the bag barely even shifting at the jerky movement, “can you imagine an omega using one of these?”  

“That one I can,” the blond snorted, gesturing back over his shoulder with one thumb, “if she’d managed to grab that bag we’d be a couple of packmates short.”  

“This is the one she was about to make a run with,” Bruce held up a wallet, opening it a moment later, “no debit or credit cards, driver’s license for Colorado, local library card, $200 in American money.”  

“There’s a wallet in this one too,” Steve frowned, unzipping it and peeking inside, “looks about the same, license is out of Quebec though—and another library card. No cash in this one though.”  

“I bet it’s hidden in there,” Tony stated, having already pulled out two fifty dollar bills from a small hole in the seam of the inside of his chosen bag, “oh, here’s the suppressant stash from this one.”  

The sound of tires on gravel distracted the three of them, head’s popping up to see Bucky and Carol making their way down the driveway in a dark green Jeep Wrangler. Both looked antsy and there were shopping bags piled so high in the back seat Bucky couldn’t see out of the rear view mirror. Carol was out of the car before it even came to a complete stop, coming to stand in the middle of the chaos of neatly packed bags.  

“This is all she had?” The blonde alpha questioned, frowning at the three remaining boxes and the camping equipment in the back of the Tahoe, eyes briefly passing over the contents of the bags on the ground, “good thing we went overboard with the shopping.”  

“Did you buy her any clothes?” Bruce questioned, looking at a faded, threadbare old t-shirt he’d just withdrawn from the bottom of the duffle, “everything she has is either full of holes or has been washed so much it’s practically see through.”  

“We bought everything,” Bucky answered as he dropped down from the lifted Jeep, “clothes, toiletries, collars, nesting supplies—we grabbed some of those omega diet essentials too, the vitamins and the powder stuff they’re supposed to have.”  

“She inside?” Carol interjected before the conversation could be continued, “I wanna see her.”  

“Thor and Peter took her inside to get cleaned up about 10 minutes ago, Sam’s starting on dinner,” Steve stepped to the side and motioned the two towards the house, “be gentle, she’s… she’s having a hard time.”  

“Have we figured out how long she’s been hiding for?” Bucky ignored his friend’s gesture, turning back towards the Jeep to retrieve several bags, “Wanda told us what sizes to buy but wouldn’t say anything else about her.”  

“This ID says she’s thirty-two,” Steve flicked the plastic ID, having dropped the rest of the wallet back in the bag, “Bruce, what did the one you had say?”  

“Twenty-nine,” the beta’s response was quick enough that the alpha prime knew he’d memorized the details of the ID and anything else he’d found in the bag already, “there’s no telling how long she’s been on her own though—at least a few years considering how well established she is living from her car.”  

“She has two different IDs?” Carol’s eyebrow raised, taking several of the shopping bags Bucky passed her without complaint.  

“And at least a thousand doses of suppressants,” Tony snorted, “a machete, I’m pretty sure if we keep digging we’ll find a gun—”  

“Thank you Tony,” Steve cut the delta off before he could start any nonsense, “we’ve found two wallets with two IDs so far, but she’s got three more bags like this and then those boxes. We’re just trying to sort what she needs from what she doesn’t right now.”  

“How is she?” Bucky’s question was obviously directed at his fellow delta, eyes not wavering even when he saw Steve and Bruce exchange glances.  

“She called me a manipulative monster and tried to bite me.”

“There’s no telling how long she’s been hiding, or what she went through before she started hiding—or even what she’s been through while she’s been hiding,” Bruce sent the delta a look that bordered on provoked, “and you were being antagonistic.”  

“I was not, I was just—”  

“Being yourself, huh?” Carol smirked, dodging past the men and heading up the path towards the mansion before the billionaire could respond.  

“What, you guys think we should’ve waited for the sentient iceberg?” Tony jabbed his thumb towards Bucky, “his delta charm is rustier than that heap of metal we found attached to his arm after he pulled you out of the Potomac.” 

“You don’t even know what charm is yah��fuckin’ grifter.”  

Steve dropped his forehead into his hand; there was a consistent theme in large packs that resulted in deltas being at each other’s throats constantly. It would only get worse when Loki arrived, the third of the trio was an entirely different breed of antagonistic. Steve was absolutely sure that all of his packmates looked upon each other with affection, at least 99% of the time, but Tony, Loki, and Bucky fought constantly without an omega’s balancing presence.  

The clearing of a throat silenced the squabbling deltas, attention immediately going to where Bruce stood with a stack of notebooks in his hand, “one of the boxes has notebooks and library books, the other has dry foods. She’s got a sleeping bag, tent, a water filtration system—anything she could need to survive in the woods or her car for an extended period of time.”  

“No notebooks or food in the go bags?” Bucky frowned, arms crossing over his chest and he shifted his weight when they all responded negatively, “I could understand why the notebooks wouldn’t be a priority to bring with her, but no food?”  

“From her supplies it looks like she’s probably a passable hunter, food would take up too much space if it wasn’t absolutely necessary. Looks like she prefers hunting knives to bread and peanut butter,” the beta shrugged, motioning to the piles he’d been organizing while Steve tried to mediate the deltas squabble, “each of her bags has a wallet with an ID, cash hidden somewhere, a change of clothing, a bag of suppressants, water filtering tablets, the hunting knife, matches, a water bottle and a thermal blanket.” 

“Pragmatic,” Bucky muttered quietly as he stepped up to the trunk of the Tahoe, glancing at the box of notebooks and library books, “Neotropical Diversification, Monoco—what the fuck, Mono-coty-ledons? Avian Genomics in Ecology and Evolution, Orientation and Navigation in Vertebrates. I don’t know what half of those words even mean, and they’re titles of books.”  

“That’s all environment biology—ecology,” Tony’s eyebrows went up, “niche stuff too, higher level.”  

“Good thing there’s a lot of us to keep her brain occupied,” Bruce’s lips split into a small grin, eyes directed at the pile of knives, “otherwise she’d be difficult to manage. Whatever happened in the meantime, it seems she might’ve attended university at some point—this level of understanding is usually somewhere in a graduate program, although it’s a pretty wide variety of specific topics that aren’t generally associated with each other.” 

“They are library books,” Tony stated with a shrug, “maybe it was all she could get her hands on at this level. We did find multiple library cards, all to different library districts. The ones she has now are all from the same district—does she have any Canadian IDs?”  

“One from Quebec and one from Ontario,” the beta pointed out two bags, one of which was sitting by Steve’s feet, “those two bags. The other IDs were Colorado, Alaska, and Michigan. We’ll have to figure out which one is real, if she has a real one. The name of the housekeeper the company assigned to us matches the Ontario ID.”  

“This is insane,” Steve sighed, shoulders heaving with the breath, “she must be running from something, hiding.”  

“Wanda will tell us, I’m sure,” Bucky’s flesh hand landed on the blond’s shoulder with a clap, fingers squeezing momentarily, “for now, how about we just focus on getting her settled in the cabin with her things.”  

“Should we let her get settled here?” Bruce frowned, a worried line creasing his forehead, “I’m worried it could be detrimental, for her to adapt here and have to move to the compound once our vacation is over. As soon as she starts to get comfortable she’s gonna be uprooted all over again.”  

“We’ll discuss it tonight at dinner,” Steve spoke before anyone else could prolong the debate, “Hopefully Natasha, Clint, and Loki will get here in time. Sam’s making lasagna, said we wouldn’t be eating until late anyway. Let’s bring everything in, minus the things she doesn’t need.”  

“Nesting supplies to the laundry room?”  

“Yeah, toiletries to Nat and Wanda’s bathroom. Put her clothes with mine or Thor’s,” the blond alpha instructed, heaving several bags into each arm before turning on his heel and heading into the house, “leave the camping supplies, we’ll lock up what she doesn’t need back in the garage for now.”  

Her scent, chemically masked and altered, was emanating through the entire cabin, he could smell it the moment he stepped over the threshold. Everything looked spotless and he smiled, ducking his head slightly to hide it; he liked that the whole house smelled like his omega—their omega, who’d spent a lot of time and effort making everything look perfect for their arrival.  

Wanda and Carol were in the living room, bathed in the light of the sun just beginning its descent. The stairs, one set leading up and one down, were straight ahead, blocking the view of the kitchen, dining room, and study. The parlor to his left featured haphazardly abandoned suitcases, the rest of the pack who couldn’t quite be bothered at the moment to properly deal with their things.  

The smell got stronger up the stairs, he could hear the low rumble of both Thor and Peter’s combined purr. Their omega was in distress—alpha’s struggled when omegas were in distress and Steve imagined both were getting their hearts twisted in their chests. His packmates dispersed to follow their assigned tasks, Bruce joining Sam in the kitchen to help with dinner. Steve dropped bags at the appropriate doors in the hall before making his way through Thor’s room and into the bathroom, where the two alphas were practically piled in the tub with their omega.  

Peter sat on the edge of the tub, pants rolled up past his knees and his legs in the water where she was leant up against them. Thor was half in the water, shirt gone as he leaned over to clean the mud and grime from her skin, manipulating her limp limbs gently.  

“I take it she didn’t want a bath,” Steve murmured, eyes flashing around the half destroyed bathroom.  

“She can fight my purr more than we expected,” Peter looked almost bashful, the hand that wasn’t stroking her cheek running over the back of his head.  

“Omegas on Asgard are very similar to her,” Thor commented quietly, still focused on his task, “its why I found them so meek when I first arrived—Omegas are willful and determined. She just needs to be trained, her behavior can be corrected.”  

“I know there are omega protests sometimes, but I’ve never seen one completely reject packs,” the brunet alpha was frowning, “they have biological requirements for interaction with others—her body can’t generate certain chemicals without the necessary pheromones that the different presentations provide. It could stunt her immune system, damage hormone glands like the thyroid and—”  

“We’ll get all of that figured out Peter, we can fix anything that’s wrong with her,” Steve told himself it wasn’t a false promise, “it’ll just take time and a lot of effort. Let’s get her dressed and up to the attic. Bucky took all of the extra bedding for nesting to wash but we can make do with what we’ve got temporarily, the scents might help.”  

“Would you grab one of my shirts?” Thor asked, looking back at the other prime imploringly; it wasn’t just a simple request—Thor was asking that their shared omega be scented by his clothing first.  

Steve hadn’t been born an alpha prime. Sometimes, he felt like a delta that had been gutted and pumped with morphine—his empathy had been stolen, replaced with strength and adrenaline and aggression. He missed the part of himself that allowed him the deeper connection with others, the amount of effort he had to expend to determine the emotions of his pack made him feel like an alien (especially if they weren’t telegraphed by scent), but sometimes it was okay. Sometimes, it meant he had a wider understanding than other alpha primes because while he didn’t retain the heightened sense, he knew where to start to unravel their puzzles.  

With Thor it was easiest. All he really had to do was follow his own stream of consciousness—wanting the omega clean and warm and fed and scented. He wanted her to smell like him, wanted her wrapped in his clothes, his blankets, he wanted it beneath her skin and seeping from her pores. And so did Thor. The Aesir was asking Steve to take a loss, to not fight him for the right to scent her first.  

It was a good thing he hadn’t been an alpha prime, or the request would’ve absolutely ended in some sort of dominance display. Aggression had immediately surged though his chest at the question, the challenge, the demand, he needed to prove he deserved it more—Steve shook his head firmly, cleared his throat, and rolled his shoulders back before making eye contact with the other prime.  

“Sure thing, any in particular?”  

There was relief on Thor’s face, along with understanding; he was fully aware of the sacrifice Steve was making and the effort it took to make it, “I know you’ll chose the right thing.”  

They didn’t realize their omega was practically having an out of body experience­—that she felt like she was hovering over her own body, watching in horror as the two alpha primes who’s mingled scents she was sure marked each and every one of their packmates, communicated like real people. The suppressants hadn’t completely brutalized her scent receptors or hindbrain; she’d known there was something too much about the blond alphas, something that whispered to her omega senses. They were alpha primes and that was a nightmare.

Because alpha primes weren’t supposed to co-habitate. They didn’t share. They were aggressive, territorial, verging on violent. The idea that the two had somehow weaseled their way through that instinctive disposition upon meeting, had managed to form a pack—it didn’t bear thinking about. All she needed to think about was getting out quickly, before something irreversible happened and she was trapped forever. 

#avengers x reader #steve rogers x reader #tony stark x reader #thor x reader #bucky barnes x reader #sam wilson x reader #bruce banner x reader #carol danvers x reader #clint barton x reader #natasha romanoff x reader #wanda maximoff x reader #pocketful of posies #posies chapter 3 #will reblog w tags in a bit

[putseraphinaonthaphone]

Adjustment | Group Chat AU

CW// angst, abusive family, CPTSD, trauma survivor reader (it's a weird mix of self indulgence and these four using sex to show their affection and care instead of therapy talks, yk?)

tw// rough sex, orgasm denial, d/s dynamics, anal sex, spanking, recreational drug use, high sex, CGL, sexual age play, group sex, m/m, degradation kink, praise kink, daddy kink, dacryphilia, double penetration, creampie, breeding kink

It shouldn't have surprised any of them, but the first time you threw a fit you were met with shock before the anger.

You were in a shitty mood after a call from home you couldn't dodge, and it threw off the rest of your day. You locked yourself in your dorm and smoked yourself into oblivion- ignoring your phone and the many texts from your boyfriends, and masturbating until it hurt too much to continue. Your clit was sore and throbbing and walking was uncomfortable when you got up to take a shower.

By the time you finished cleaning up there was a violent pounding at your door. You opened the door and Shoto's concerned faced morphed into anger when he was hit with the smell of weed and your blank face.

"Why the fuck weren't you answering the chat? Or my calls?"

"I turned my phone off early this morning. Didn't want to turn it back on." Was all you could manage, turning to finish getting dressed, a flash of annoyance going through you when Sho grabbed your wrist.

"Do you know how fucking worried I was?"

"I don't fucking care Shoto! I didn't want my fucking phone on. I didn't want you people fucking calling me." You were too angry to realize you fucked up, only scoffing in the face of Shoto's complete shock at your rudeness.

You both knew sometimes the haunting effects of your trauma could make you lash out at each other, Dabi too, but you had also all agreed never to take it out on each other.

So even though Sho could see something had obviously triggered you, he couldn't allow this behavior to go unchecked.

"We're not people, you fucking little brat. And if you want to make your punishment for today's little stunt worse then by all means keep running your mouth." You winced as you shifted your weight from one foot too another once the sharpness of Sho's tone finally cut through your bravado.

"What the fuck did you do." It was all but growled at you while he took out his phone, to call the others for you punishment you realized with a gulp. If all four of them were needed to punish you... you must have really fucked up.

"N-nothing.." It was a strange, insidious form of self harm you'd developed in highschool. Usually only realizing what you'd done when it was too late. But masturbating until your clit hurt too much to walk was self harm just like any other form.

"That's fine, we'll get it out of you one way or another." He clenched his jaw but only spoke a few terse words to someone, Dabi you guessed. "Found her. Come pick us up at her dorm. Call the others."

"Get dressed." You almost flinched at the way he barked at you, Shoto was usually soft spoken to the extreme even when he was high. But now he was properly angry at you and you just felt like shit.

You tried to hide the winces and awkward movements to accommodate the new discomfort, and eventually Sho orders you to get on the bed and spread your legs.

When he sees just how engorged your clit is, how you flinch from the barest touches to it, he glares at you with such anger you're truly worried for what your punishment was going to hold.

"I'll carry you to the car. But you're in no way off the hook."

You end up being piggybacked to Dabi's car, and told to lay down and shut up in the backseat while the two men talked in the front seat. Unfortunately for you, Shoto's anger and the chill of Dabi's leather seats sobered you up quickly. Not to mention the bits and pieces of their conversation you overheard.

"Bakugou's fucking pissed. Even Shinsou raised his voice."

"So did I... stubborn as usual."

"The fuck are we gonna do with her?"

"Considering she rubbed her clit literally raw to the point I'm literally concerned, I thought it'd be a perfect time to remind her orgasms are a reward to be earned or taken away depending on her behavior."

"God damnit, that's my job stupid fucking slut." Dabi cursed at you worriedly over his shoulder, and you couldn't stop the way you whimpered in response because your thighs clenched together automatically and now you were paying the price.

Or so you thought.

But even through all the torture they put you through that evening for not coming to them when you had been triggered, and for shutting them out- resulting in them not being there to stop you from hurting yourself, you weren't truly sorry until you were stretched around Bakugou's shaft while Shinsou, Shoto, and Dabi took turns fucking loads into your ass.

They decided that each of them would give you a load for every missed call they sent to your phone.

Bakugou's job was to spank your ass hard enough to make you clench around whichever two dicks were in you at the moment, making you apologize for every missed call and reminding you "We wouldn't fucking call if we didn't care."

You were trembling in his lap, your face buried in his neck as Shoto fucked you relentlessly- happy to take out all his worry and anger on your ass and adding his final load to the mess in your ass.

When Shinsou pressed into you for one last round in your sloppy hole, Dabi and Sho went to either side of Bakugou, sitting beside him so they could see your face as you were fucked as befitted a punishment- hard, with little pleasure that didn't come with more pain.

"Do you know why you need to answer daddy's calls baby?" Shinsou groaned in your ear as he gripped your hips tightly, and when you took too long to gather your scattered thoughts Bakugou was happy to pop your ass. "You were asked a question, brat."

"B-because I belong to you." You answered, more a sob than anything, like Dabi drilled into taught you. At the end of the day that's what he saw the crux of the problem was, you didn't truly think they wanted you to belong to them. And maybe his moody ass was right.

"Yes, and because you belong to me, to all of us, we need to always be able to reach you. Keep you in line, keep you safe even from yourself if we need to. Cause that's what you need, isn't it kitten." This time it wasn't a question and as you finally broke down and cried. Sho's cold hand and Dabi's hot hand each claimed on of your thighs on either side of Bakugou's waist, and Bakugou wrapped his hand around your throat loosely to make sure you kept your eyes on his even through your tears.

Shinsou felt his orgasm approaching as you started to whimper out apologies to all of them, told them you needed them to keep you safe and that you'd be good from now on, because nothing aroused him more than fucking you with the others back into his sweet baby.

When you woke up next, you were sandwiched between Shinsou and Bakugou while Dabi and Sho made out at the foot of the bed.

"You finally awake sleepy head?" Shinsou's soft voice was heard above you, and as you took stock of the fact that you were freshly washed and dressed, you felt grateful for these guys all over again.

"Hurts, daddy.." You admitted quietly, and Bakugou reached to the table closest to the bed and grabbed a cold wash cloth, both him and your daddy holding you open to press the cool cloth to your aching clit. Sho and Dabi paused to watch worriedly, Dabi's piercing blue eyes glaring at you as he growled, "Don't you ever pull that shit again. We can't touch your clit for days now."

"Days?" You pouted but Bakugou just pressed a little too hard and you were whining from the pain. His crimson eyes met yours angrily as well.

"Days. This is a punishment afterall. You're going to remember who you belong to. Who you obey. If we have to drive you insane by fucking you without giving release, then maybe you'll learn your lesson this time."

#dabi x reader #bakugou x reader #shinsou x reader #shoto x reader #dabi x shoto #group chat au #gc au #group chat boys #tw: dubcon #tw: duboius consent #tw: dark content #tw: kink

[sope-and-shine]

Lost and Found

-> Namjoon x Reader -> Soulmate!AU // Fluff -> 6.2k (This fic was at 6,199 before post, and I couldn’t let that happen) -> Summary: In a world full of soulmates and soul marks, you just had to get stuck with the dynamic duo. -> Warning(s): none // maybe just fluff

A/N: I suggested the name to Belle as I was drafting the post, and she said she’d sue me if I didn’t use it.

ALSO! A BIG BIG BIG THANK YOU TO BOTH @multycoloredtaco​ and @purpletigertaetae​ for reading this and giving me some really good feedback! I love you both SO MUCH!

* * *

Soulmates have always come in several different shapes and sizes. They’ve always appeared to each other in various ways. Your mother and father met by their own personal song that only the two knew of, one that played when they spared a thought to the other. Your aunt had found your uncle with a timer on her wrist, and your grandpa had the unfortunate fate of meeting your grandmother while catcalling her. According to him, it was a very eventful day, but at least her words to him finally made sense. Everyone in your family - besides your great aunt who hasn’t aged since the late 1890s - has had the amazing luck of finding their soulmate. Not everyone gets the luxury of being with their soulmate how they planned to. You’re actually friends with a shop owner who lost his soulmate about a year ago and hasn’t seen any color since. You honestly couldn’t imagine the pain he’s been through. Thankfully, your soulmate mark was not as painful.

It was just extremely annoying.

As a child, you never questioned the items that would appear in your room, thinking of them as odd gifts that your parents or your brother would leave for you. You were no stranger to finding a single sock under your bed, the occasional candy bar tucked away in your backpack, or the odd action figure that you would take to your brother thinking it was his. It wasn’t until the first homework assignment with ‘Kim Namjoon’ scrawled at the top that you began to think something wasn’t right. And that was only the beginning of what was to come. 

As the years went by, more and more random items began appearing in your room at your parents house, your dorm in college, and finally your very own apartment. Each item you placed in boxes under your bed as a way to keep a piece of him with you until you could find him. However, you never imagined how forgetful and chaotic your soulmate could really be. You have everything! Clothing items, more homework assignments, various books, glasses, baby photos, and you even have a random girl’s phone number! You were tempted to call her when you first found it, but you figured that would be too weird. Instead, you continued to organize everything under your bed in hopes of giving it all back to him when you would finally meet.

Of course, you were a victim to your soulmate mark as well. Many jewelry items had disappeared from your room without a trace as a result. Hoodies, stuffed animals, and even a bra that you could’ve sworn you put in your gym bag - part of you hoped he’d hide it away because not only was it a cute bra, it was also expensive. Recently though, you’ve both been a lot more responsible. You haven’t seen any new items appear in your apartment for almost a month, and with your soulmates track record of losing 11 items in one day, a month was a huge record on his part. But you were starting to miss the gifts that would give you clues to him.

After you found out what your soulmate mark really was, you started looking forward to what would be left in your room next. Of course, it wasn’t always a win on your part, and sometimes what he lost was very questionable, but it always made you laugh when another item appeared in your room. At first, it was weird to think about someone else’s stuff appearing in your room with no prior warning, but it made you feel special to know that he was ultimately giving you pieces of himself every time he let something out of his sight. They made your long days more bearable. It makes you wonder if he’s the type of person to shower you with gifts when you feel upset or just to show his affection when he felt it was necessary. Especially on a rough day like today.

There was nothing wrong with your job, you loved everything about it! Life as a lead optician was actually a very rewarding job in the end. Helping others choose the best glasses for their face and individual personalities was one of your favorite parts, you loved watching little old ladies try on vibrant, colorful frames to feel youthful. They’re always very excited to see clearly again. Then there are all the little kids who would sit down with you to get glasses for the first time, and the look on their faces when they finally got to see the world clearly was heartwarming. Their soft smiles and wide eyes filled with amazement always made you feel a little softer inside. However, not everyday was a good day, and today was really not a good day.

Everything was going perfectly fine until the 3:30 appointment showed up at 5:00 after the doctor had already left for the day and demanded to be seen. The doctor’s technician was so scared trying to explain to the patient that they’d have to reschedule their appointment, and the poor thing was just trying not to cry over the one person who couldn’t understand how society works. Obviously, as the lead optician on duty you took over, but this patient was one of the most inconsiderate people you’d ever had to deal with. Demanding to be seen, demanding to buy glasses with an old prescription, demanding to speak to a manager - which at this point was actually you, so done and done - and just cursing up a storm at you and your fellow coworkers who all tried to help explain. The whole ordeal just took way longer than it ever should have to deal with, and it probably took at least 25 years off of your life. 

“Why do people feel that they need to be rude to get what they want?” Soohyun had asked you, “Do they think it’ll just magically fix everything?” 

You had agreed, “It’s like they think you’re really just messing with them. Like, “Oh no, sir! You’re correct! I apologize for the inconvenience, let me pull that out of my ass for you!” Though maybe not appropriate for the work environment, you’d at least made her day just a little better with your humor. 

On days like today, a nice warm shower and a cuddle pile with all of the pillows and plushies that cover your bed made everything much better when nothing new appeared in your room. If the odd gifts the universe left from your soulmate couldn’t cheer you up, then you’d do it yourself. And that you did. Nothing felt better than the warm water washing away the day’s pain and suffering, the delicate fragrance of the coconut shampoo you splurged on easing your worries down the drain. The floral body lotion and leave-in-conditioner you’d bought on the same shopping excursion also help your body relax, their scents so intoxicating to you, that you almost topple over onto the tiled floor of your bathroom from the instant pleasure they pull from you. Instead, you make your way to your bed, adorned in your comfiest PJs and fluffiest socks.

However, you weren’t expecting to land on something so hard and uncomfortable when you plopped face first onto your sheets.

“What the heck?” Pushing yourself onto your knees and pulling back the covers, you find a small, golden trophy resting comfortably in the warmth of your sheets. On all sides it reads, ‘MNET Asian Music Awards’ with a small plaque reading, ‘2017 MNET Asian Music Awards: Artist of the Year’ at the bottom of one side. It takes you a moment to understand fully what you hold in your hands before it actually hits you.

Your soulmate is an idol.

A forgetful idol if he lost such an important award, but at least this gave you a lead as to who your soulmate is besides one of the most common surnames and a few measly pairs of mismatched socks.  

Setting the award to the side, you grab your phone from your nightstand and unlock it, clicking on your browser and typing away. You look up the artist of the year from 2017 and find the top result to be a boy band called BTS. According to Google’s nice little summary and AllKPOP’s top article, they seemed to be pretty famous. Of course, you’ve heard of them before, and if you heard one of their songs then there was a good chance you’d probably recognize it! But you’ve never really been one for boy bands. You were more into kdramas if you were to be completely honest, they’re definitely your guilty pleasure and way more your speed than handsome young men dancing on stage in front of screaming girls trying to get in their pants. Could you really blame them? No. Not at all. Given the chance, you’d take it, but it wouldn’t be anything special if it wasn’t your soulmate.

Your soulmate.

Namjoon.

Changing your question, you search for ‘Kim Namjoon BTS’. If he actually pops up, then that would mean you actually know who he is. 

Finding the nerve to press search, you are bombarded with three pictures above a description of him right off the bat - You hate to admit it, but soulmate or not, he’s definitely handsome. You click on a random site you hope will give you some useful information about the man who’s most likely your soulmate and are immediately redirected to something called K-Profiles. The site itself starts off with a group picture of all the members, followed by their names below it, and their social media handles under that. You’d have to look them up later.

The first member you come across is your soulmate himself. He has his blonde head resting on top of his arms with a soft, dimpled smile as he stares right back at the camera. Eyes locked onto his through the screen, you can feel your heart speeding up just from looking at him. You can’t help but smile back at him as if he can actually see you. As if he were right there ready to come out and say ‘hi’. 

He’s absolutely breathtaking, and it isn’t even him.

You continue your hunting, scrolling further down to learn as much as you can about him. How old he is, when he was born, where he was born, what his favorite color is, you want to know it all! You learn that he’s the leader of the group, that he used to be known as Rap Monster before he changed it - that USB in the box under your bed made a lot more sense now. You learn that he has a sister, and that he and his band members are advocates for UNICEF, and that this man was so incredibly intelligent yet also known as the ‘god of destruction’ to those around him. But also listed on his profile is his soulmate mark. 

“As said in a V-Live where RM explained a stuffed animal he kept on his desk, anything RM loses will appear with his soulmate and vice-versa. He has yet to meet his soulmate.” You read. You’ve lost quite a few stuffed animals to Namjoon, hopefully, it wasn’t an embarrassing one that would haunt you later.

You come to the end of his profile and to the top of another handsome man, yet you don’t scroll down. You haven’t learned enough. You need to know more about him, about how you can meet him. You have to know more! And that’s how you find yourself still up at 5am the next morning still wide awake watching yet another video interview of your soulmate just to hear his voice. A part of you is embarrassed for staying awake all night for some guy, but another part of you can’t let it go when you’re so deep already. 

* * *

You called into work after your late night-early morning escapade, telling them you caught something from one of your friends and wouldn’t be in for the next few days. There was no way you were going anywhere with the sleep you just got, and it wouldn’t be fixed in one day either. Even after sleeping the morning away you were still tired from your late night-early morning endeavor. It’s not like you really cared though, you had just found out who your soulmate was. And unlike a lot of other people in the world, you had an entire collection of videos dedicated to just your soulmate and his passion.

It didn’t take long for you to dig your nose back into the screen of your phone just to watch him make that gorgeous, dimpled smile. There were so many videos where he talked about you, sharing some of the items you had lost with his fans like they were his best friends. He looked so proud to be showing off your things, and the look in his eyes when he’d get lost in his own thoughts just looking at them made your heart melt.

You’d heard your mom and dad talk about how happy they were to have a special song just for the two of them. Your mom used to tell you all about the day your father tracked her all the way from the grocery store, pushing through the crowd like a love interest in a kdrama because he heard her humming their song to herself. At a young age you always thought it was sweet and wanted to meet your soulmate just like your mom had, but you eventually realized as you got older that a strange person following you home is not something you want. However, now you kinda wished it could work like that, seeing that your soulmate was practically untouchable. 

Of all the people in the world, you just had to get stuck with a celebrity with millions of girls from all over the world fawning over him. Getting chased in the streets must be on this guy’s workout regimen by now! How were you supposed to get anywhere near him without spending over $1,000 just to look at his face?

“How much are those fan-meet things?” You ask yourself aloud. Innocent enough, but nothing could’ve prepared you for the entire process that came with going to just one fansign. This wasn’t something you could just buy a ticket for. No. You had specific steps that you had to follow or you wouldn’t even stand a chance. There were so many steps that you were tempted to just find his company and blast music until security came to take you away. Maybe you’d at least get to meet him when they filed a restraining order.

No. You HAD to meet him. You haven’t saved all of his lost things just for you to chicken out now.

So, you made a fancafe account and waited for their next promotion to purchase an album, you waited for the lottery winners to be announced, and you almost doubled over when you saw your name on the list from the store. You thought 3 months was long enough, but the 24 hours before the event were the longest hours of your life. So long that you couldn’t even sleep!

That’s where the wrench comes in.

You hadn’t meant to stay up so late at all, but you were really excited to finally meet the man that’s been losing everything he touches - especially now that he’s started losing air pods under your bed. So, when you woke up at 10:30am for the fansign that started at 11, you knew you’d messed up. 

You messed up bad. 

Of all the irresponsible things you could’ve done, staying up late was not the one you should’ve chosen to do. Now, you’d have to wait even longer to see him. Maybe the universe was right to give you both the worst soulmate mark known to man.

It wasn’t like waiting for the next fansign was bad, but it wasn’t the best either. Everyday that passed was another day that you had to watch him through a screen. Seeing his dimpled cheeks smile at the camera - at you - making your heart race. He was so close to you, but he was so out of reach. When the next fansign did come around, you had to make sure you made it on time so you could see it in person for yourself.

That’s what you told yourself.

To your credit, you almost did do that! But you had no idea there would be so much traffic. Not only that, but you’d tripped and dropped the box of things to return to him on the street and had to pick it up before anyone saw what it was you were holding. Because of those small issues, you made it to the venue five minutes after they had closed the doors. 

“Please, I’m only five minutes late!” You beg, breathing heavy and labored. You stare at the worker just doing her job with high hopes that she would have some sort of empathy for you, but her face showed no remorse.

“If you wanted to be let in, then you should have been on time.” She scolds, closing the doors on you and leaving you outside to wallow in self pity once more. 

At least the first time you’d messed up you were in the comfort of your own home where you could cry over your failure. Now, you were left in the open for everyone to see your mistake. You were so close too. He was just behind the doors. Waiting to see the adoring faces of his fans that you should be a part of. 

Yet you’re on the streets.

* * *

“Don’t you think you’re going a little overboard?” 

“What makes you say that?” You turn to your friend from your seat on the ground outside of the shop you’d purchased your album from, dressed in a light hoodie with a coffee in your hand. The light of day just peaking through the cracks between the buildings as the street lamps turn off for a new day. 

At this point in your journey to meet your soulmate, you weren’t going to take any more chances. The store didn’t open for another 3 hours, and the event started an hour and a half after that, but you were going to be sure you had your ticket and made it to the venue on time. You didn’t care how early you were, you were going to see Namjoon if it was the last thing you did.

The poor, tired woman seemed to pick up on your indifference to your change in behavior and sighs, “Nothing in particular. I’m just concerned that maybe you’re taking this to the extreme now.”

“I’ve tried and failed three times already, Bomi. I cannot miss another chance to meet them!” You explain, taking a sip from your warm cup.

“Maybe the universe is trying to tell you that they’re just a boy band and you shouldn’t get so excited over them. They all have soulmates anyways.” Of course she didn’t know that you were going because one of them was your soulmate, but you couldn’t risk anyone finding out and telling your soulmate before you could tell him. 

“I know that, but it’s worth it!” All the hours you’d spent waiting, watching their new content, reading their tweets and various posts from other social media wishing you could see him in person for just a moment. This was the fourth attempt, and you didn’t want to continue this cycle of hit and miss. “I’m not missing it this time.”

“Well, waiting outside of this shop so early just to get a ticket that’s already yours is absurd!” 

“You didn’t have to come with me.” You grumble. It wasn’t like you didn’t know that. You were very much aware of the fact that it was insane. It was something you thought about every time you failed to make it into the venue! Having her reiterate what you already knew did not make it any easier.

However, your acquaintance wasn’t having your response, “I did. You blackmailed me into coming with you so you’d actually do it right, remember?”

The vague memory of sending her an embarrassing picture you had as a way to convince her to come flashes through your mind. So maybe your methods were unconventional, but they worked. “That’s not important!” 

You both continue to wait by the store’s entrance, making light conversation as more people begin to show up for their own tickets. Of course, you knew they’d be here, that’s why you left extra early to be there first. It was a good thing you did too, because as the time ticked on and the line grew longer, it became obvious a lot of fans had purchased their albums from the same store you had. Even as the store owner arrived to start their day, not at all surprised by the line that had formed for them, there were still fans lining up for their tickets.

But in the end, you were first to arrive and receive your ticket, and that made you one of the first to the venue.

“Alright, we made it. This is where I leave you.” Bomi hikes her bag further onto her shoulder and turns to face you one last time before she leaves, “Don’t make a fool of yourself in there. And do not show them your airpod collection!”

‘Oh, I’m returning the airpod collection…’ You think to yourself, sending a quick wave goodbye to her.

Waiting for the doors to the venue to open didn’t take as long as you’d thought it would - security check taking even less time. You found your seat pretty easily as well, being placed on the left side of the empty table in the middle of the sea of chairs. Taking the time you have while everyone finds their seats, you take a peek inside of the box you’d brought to grab your album and just look at everything you’d brought to begin their return to Namjoon. You made sure to bring every pair of air pods you had found - and hadn’t sold on eBbay - a few old homework assignments, USB’s, pictures he’d taken through his pre-debut, and the trophy he’d misplaced that lead to your discovery.

Hopefully his band members wouldn’t be too upset with him.

You’d learned a lot about each of them over the two years you’ve spent trying to meet with Namjoon. So many times you’d been tempted to put yourself on the fan page or DM them on Twitter, but you were too afraid of being drowned out by other ARMYs or one of the other boys blocking you before Namjoon could see. No doubt they each probably had hardships of their own trying dodge fans claiming to be their soulmate. Watching as they each come to the stage individually, you could see why anyone would lie to call them theirs. You couldn’t deny how handsome they all were - you’d be lying to yourself if you said you thought they weren’t handsome - but no one could compare to your Namjoon.

If you get the opportunity to meet his stylist, then you’re going to give her the biggest hug for making him look this amazing! It was just a plain white, button down shirt tucked into a black pair of dress pants, but the top two buttons of his shirt undone and the grey, satin suit jacket with the addition of black, square glasses and his brown hair neatly parted to the left make him look like a god - should they exist. He takes your breath away, even if you’ve seen every picture and fancam you were able to find. The universe really said, “this one deserves the best” and threw you the biggest catch out there. You could only hope he enjoyed the simple pair of jeans and pastel yellow sweater you’d thrown on for the occasion.

It takes a while before they begin the meet and greet part, the boys introducing themselves and asking questions, letting their fan sites take pictures before they turn their attention to the individual fans as they pass them. With every moment that passes by, every row you watch stand and enter the line to the stage, you become more and more nervous. Of course, you knew your soulmate was truly Namjoon, but you were still terrified to reveal that truth in front of everyone. You’d seen a few announcements regarding the boys and their soulmates, talking about how their respective soulmate would be treated like another one of the boys and would be protected by BigHit as soon as they were found. You knew you’d at least have his company behind you, but…

What about his fans?

You can’t help but fester in your own thoughts, letting them consume you even as you make your way into the line with your box. You try your best to muster up the courage you need, but the looming presence of the table getting closer and closer makes your breathing harder. All you need to do is remain calm. They were just people.

The people who’ve spent almost 7 years with your soulmate.

And your soulmate himself.

No biggie.

“Ma’am.” The voice of the staff keeping the line interrupts your internal panic, pulling you back to reality. He points to the table where an excited Taehyung smiles eagerly at you with an empty space in front of him. “You’re next.”

“Yes! Thank you.” Reeling from embarrassment, you quickly kneel down to the space in front of the table. You give a small bow and hand over your album to the boxy-smiled boy in front of you, your hands shaking from how nervous you are. All you had to do was make it through 5 more boys and you’d meet your soulmate. 

5 more people....

...and you’d meet your soulmate.

A hand lands on top of your own, “There’s no need to be nervous!” Taehyung is bright and happy, calmly running a thumb over the back of your hand as he uses the other to sign your album. His eyes shift from you to the paper and back to you, “You’re doing great~”

You felt a little bad for probably ignoring him. He must’ve been trying to introduce himself when he’d noticed you’d spaced out yet again. Yet here he was, acting as though it wasn’t even that big of a deal. Of course, he still had about 50 more people or so to have a minute conversation with, but he genuinely seemed to care. It made you feel more confident.

“Thank you.” You say, a smile gracing your lips. You were still nervous, but at least now you felt calm and somewhat collected to at least make it through the other members. You move onto Yoongi, then to Jeongguk, to Jin, to Jimin, and then to Hoseok. Once again, you’re feeling a little guilty about the time you spend with him. It wasn’t like you weren’t excited to be in front of him, but your soulmate was less than 2 feet away from you looking like he walked out of a Vogue photo shoot with a happy little smile on his face. Hopefully, if all goes well you can apologize to him for being distracted.

The staff moves everyone along and your time finally comes. You bid Hoseok a quick thank you and goodbye and move yourself in front of Namjoon, his box tucked close to your body as a way to keep you grounded. 

Namjoon takes your album from Hoseok before he turns his full attention to you, his dimples that you’d been obsessed with since you’d first seen them making an appearance. His dark brown eyes stare into your own, “Hi, what’s your name?”

You’re so entranced by the man in front of you that you almost don’t respond. You manage a quiet, “(Y/n)...” But you’re so stunned and breathless that you think about repeating it just to make sure he hears it.

“Really?” He asks. His eyes widen for just a moment, and you know he recognizes it from a homework assignment or a book you’d probably lost with your name in it. You watch his shoulders as they tense and then relax as if they’d never lifted in the first place. “I really like that name. It’s one of my favorites.”

You watch him turn to the album in front of him, looking for the page you’d like him to sign. Being in front of him now, you feel your confidence grow. You can’t help yourself, “Really? Is there a reason?”

“I’ve just always liked the name.” He says, looking up momentarily with a tight smile. He probably didn’t want to be too obvious about his soulmate - well, you - so fans wouldn’t go looking for you. That must be the one downside to the life of an idol. You watch him carefully, taking in the way he handles your album with care. You watch him flip through pages, his smile slipping for a confused frown. He looks at you, “You don’t have a question for me?”

You jump at the sudden realization that you hadn’t given him the box yet, “No! I do…” This was it. You look from him to the box you’ve clung onto for two years, “It’s inside the box.”

Carefully, you slide the box forward, feeling the nerves you’ve been feeling all day spring to life. He takes it from you with a grateful smile, probably expecting a bear or something you’d made yourself just for him. But judging by the look on his face, you can tell he wasn’t expecting to find the objects in front of him. His shocked face makes you chuckle.

“I’ve always wondered how one person can lose so many things. I understand homework and socks, the airpods, but an entire trophy, Namjoon? How do you lose a trophy?” You ask. You wait for an answer, but he looks as if he’s completely shut down. His jaw hangs open ever so slightly, and his eyes are wide in disbelief. You see a glisten in his eyes and your amusement turns to worry, “Are you okay?”

The leader turns to you, glistening eyes staring into your own. His mouth opens and closes and it looks like he’s trying to find the right words to say, “I-...I don-...oh my god, you’re actually here.”

You watch as the shine in his eyes turn to tears that slowly roll down his cheeks, his mouth struggling to decide if he wants to frown or smile. You’re more worried than anything, “Wah-! Don’t cry! Why are you crying?!” You reach for his hands that still rest on the sides of the box, mimicking what Taehyung had done for you when you first stepped up to the table. “Please don’t cry.”

“I can’t believe you’re here.” He says softly, his voice cracking ever so slightly. You’re still confused if he himself is happy or not, trying to make sense of why he’s crying when he just met you. You watch his eyes drift over you with an unclear expression. Was he happy? Was he sad? Were you supposed to be reacting the same way?

“You’re beautiful…” He says, teary eyes meeting your own.

“So are you.” You respond. It’s only after the words fall from your mouth that you realize what you said and you try to correct yourself, “Handsome! I meant to say you’re handsome! You’re very attractive in a very masculine way, but that’s not to say you don’t express femininity well when you choose to and you look good all the time and-” Amidst your struggle for the correct words, he’d begun to laugh at your own expense. Not how you imagined this meeting to go, you shrink back to your side of the table, “I’ll just stop talking.”

“No! Please, keep talking.” He begs, moving forward to come closer to you. He pulls on your hands that still connect across the table, squeezing to reassure you that he still wanted you to be near him. It felt so nice to have him hold your hands, so nice and comforting, that you must’ve missed the glistening in your own eyes, “Now you’re crying!”

Your hands pull from his to hide your face, “No I’m not, it’s just raining inside!” 

As you try to wipe away your tears, you hear the voice of Jimin call over the speakers just off to the side of the table, “You’re not supposed to make the fans cry!”

“I didn’t mean to!” Namjoon defends. In all fairness, you did make him cry first, so this was probably fair.

Hoseok claps his hands together, his voice just subtly coming through the speakers as well, “This is so sweet! We’re all witnessing two soulmates meet for the first time!” 

“It’s like a movie, but without the flower petals.” Taehyung adds, having a mic of his own on his side as well.

“Miss.” Another staff member appears next to you, only this time they’re offering a hand and a smile, “Could I have you come with me?”

You’re nervous at first, not sure if going with this staff member would be the best idea. However, the presence of Namjoon’s hand on your own once more draws your attention to his heartwarming smile, “It’s okay.”

You nod and stand, allowing the staff to lead you behind the table and into the hallway to a waiting area. They have you sit on the couch, assuring you that Namjoon and the others would be there to see you soon. This at least gave you a moment to collect your thoughts and come to the realization that you really just met your soulmate after so much hard work to get there. You’d thought plenty of times that you’d regret trying to meet him this way, but now you couldn’t be more elated that you actually got to speak to him and hold his hands. You made him cry - what were hopefully - tears of joy! Even as their manager sits down to make small talk with you while you wait for the end of the fanmeet, you can’t help but to feel as if you’re on cloud 9. 

It’s not too long until you hear that the meeting has come to an end, making your heart rate speed up. Once again, you take a deep breath in and let it out, preparing yourself to face Namjoon again. Only when he does come in, you both just stare at one another. Him from the doorway with his members waiting behind him and you from your spot on the couch. You’d already met, you’d already held hands, but this...he was right there.

“Well, are you going to talk to her or just look at her?” Jin asks, a mischievous smirk gracing his features as he stares at the younger.

It would seem that the small jab at the leader was all he needed to push himself forward, legs moving swiftly across the room in long strides just so he can reach you. You stand, intending to meet him halfway, but he’s already pulling you into a much needed embrace before you even get the chance. His arms wrap over your shoulders, caging you close to his chest as he leans down to rest his head on your own. He smells so nice, and his embrace is so warm, they almost distract you from the wetness you feel on top of your head.

“Namjoon…?” You ask, worried you might make him cry more by asking.

The man himself pulls back, quickly moving to wipe his tears as if he hadn’t already cried in front of you already, “I’m sorry. I don’t know why I’m so emotional right now.”

“Don’t apologize. I think it’s cute.” You assure him. You look down, feeling a bit embarrassed yourself, “Much cuter than showing up to your fansign with a bunch of your things.”

“How long have you known?” He asks.

“2 long and painful years.” You sigh. Thinking back on everything you’ve done since discovering who and where he was, you can’t help but be thankful it worked out this time around, “I’ve tried coming to a fan sign 3 times before this.”

“Couldn’t win a ticket?” Jeongguk asks from the side, a bottle of water in his hands.

Your sheepish smile turns into a strained one, “Yeah...we’ll go with that.”

Yoongi seems to pick up on your change in attitude, “Don’t tell me…” 

“No wonder the universe put them together, they’re a match made in heaven!” Jin laughs, the sound being much more entertaining in person. The other members of BTS continue to talk amongst themselves, discussing the scene before them as well as how exciting the day had been. But Namjoon, instead, focuses all of his attention on you.

“Please tell me you’re free for the rest of the day.” 

For once, you were more than happy to use your holiday time, “I’m free for the rest of the weekend.”

“Good.” He says, giving you another look at his beautiful, dimpled smile.

“Good...”

* * *

“So, what’s in the box?” 

#fae fic #fae writes #sope-and-shine #lost and found #cypherwritersnet #bts #bts au #soulmate au #bts soulmate au #bts soulmate #kim namjoon x reader #namjoon x reader #rm x reader #bts rm x reader #knj oneshot #knj x reader #bts rm #kim namjoon #x reader #female reader #x female reader #fanfiction #fan fiction #bts fanfiction #fluff #oneshot

[geshertzarmeod]

Favorite Books of 2020

I wanted to put together a list! I read 74 new books this year, and I keep track of that on Goodreads - feel free to add or follow me if you want to see everything! I’m going to focus on the highlights, and the books that stuck with me personally in one way or another, in approximate order. Also, all but two of them (#5 and #7 on the honorable mention list) are queer/trans in some way. Links are to Goodreads, but if you’re looking to get the books, I suggest your library, the Libby app using your library, your local bookstore, or Bookshop.

The Faggots & Their Friends Between Revolutions by Larry Mitchell, illus. by Ned Asta (originally published 1977). I had a hard beginning of the year and was in a work environment where my queerness was just not welcomed or wanted. I read this in the middle of all of that, and it helped me so much. I took this book with me everywhere. I read it on planes. I read it on the bus, and on trains, and at shul. I showed it to friends... sometimes at shul, or professional development conferences. It healed my soul. Now I can’t find it and might get a new copy. When I reviewed it, in February, I wrote: “I think we all need this book right now, but I really needed this book right now. Wow. This book is magic, and brings back a sense of magic and beauty to my relationship with the world.” Also I bought my copy last July, in a gay bookstore on Castro St. in SF, and that in itself is just beautiful to me. (Here’s a post I made with some excerpts)

Once & Future duology, especially the sequel, Sword in the Stars, by A.R. Capetta and Cory McCarthy. Cis pansexual female King Arthur Ari Helix (she's the 42nd reincarnation and the first female one) in futuristic space with Arab ancestry (but like, from a planet where people from that area of earth migrated to because, futuristic space) works to end Future Evil Amazon.com Space Empire with her found family with a token straight cis man and token white person. Merlin is backwards-aging so he's a gay teenager with a crush and thousands of years of baggage. The book’s entire basis is found family, and it's got King Arthur in space. And the sequel hijacks the original myth and says “fuck you pop culture, it was whitewashed and straightwashed, there were queer and trans people of color and strong women there the whole time.” Which is like, my favorite thing to find in media, and a big part of why I love Xena so much. It’s like revisionist history to make it better except it’s actually probably true in ways. Anyway please read these books but also be prepared for an absolutely absurd and wild ride. Full disclosure though, I didn’t love the first book so much, it’s worth it for the sequel!

The Wicker King by K. Ancrum. This book hurt. It still hurts. But it was so good. It took me on a whole journey, and brought me to my destination just like it intended the whole time. The author’s note at the end made me cry! The sheer NEED from this book, the way the main relationship develops and shifts, and how you PERCEIVE the main relationship develops and shifts. I’m in awe of Ancrum’s writing. If you like your ships feral and needy and desperate and wanting and D/S vibes and lowkey super unhealthy but with the potential, with work, to become healthy and beautiful and right, read this book. This might be another one to check trigger warnings for though.

The Entirety of The Daevabad Trilogy by S.A. Chakraborty. I hadn’t heard of this series until this year, when a good friend recommended it to me. It filled the black hole in me left by Harry Potter. The political and mystical/fantasy world building is just *chef’s kiss* - the complexity! The morally grey, everyone’s-done-awful-things-but-some-people-are-still-trying-to-do-good tapestry! The ROMANCE oh my GOD the romance. If I’m absolutely fully invested in a heterosexual romance you know a book is good, but also this book had background (and then later less background) queer characters! And the DRAMA!!! The third book went in a direction that felt a little out of nowhere but honestly I loved the ride. I stayed up until 6am multiple times reading this series and I’d do it again.

An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon. I loved this book so much that it’s the only book I reviewed on my basically abandoned attempt at a book blog. This book is haunting, horrifying, disturbing, dark, but so, so good. The character's voices were so specific and clear, the relationships so clearly affected by circumstance and yet loving in the ways they could be. This is my favorite portrayal of gender maybe ever, it’s just... I don’t even have the words but I saw a post @audible-smiles​ made about it that’s been rattling in my head since. And, “you gender-malcontent. You otherling,” as tender pillow talk??? Be still my heart. Be ready, though, this book has all the triggers.. it’s a .

Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender. This book called me out on my perspective on love. Also, it made me cry a lot. And it has two different interesting well-written romance storylines. And a realistic coming-into-identity narrative about a Black trans demiboy. And a nuanced discussion of college plans and what one might do after college. And some big beautiful romcom moments. I wish I had it in high school. I’m so glad I have it now! (trigger warning for transphobia & outing, but the people responsible are held accountable by the end, always treated as not okay by the narrative, and the MC’s friends, and like... this is ownvoices and it’s GOOD.)

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern. My Goodreads review says, “I have no idea what happened, and I loved it.” That’s not wrong, but to delve deeper, this book has an ethereal feeling that you get wrapped up in while reading. Nothing makes sense but that’s just as it should be. You’re hooked. It is so atmospheric, so meta, so fascinating. I’ve seen so many people say they interpreted this character or that part or the ending in all different ways and it all makes sense. And it’s all of this with a gay main character and romance and the central theme, the central pillar being a love of and devotion to stories. Of course I was going to love it.

Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars: A Dangerous Trans Girl’s Confabulous Memoir by Kai Cheng Thom. “Because maybe what really matters isn’t whether something is true, or false. Maybe what matters is the story itself; what kinds of doors it opens, what kinds of dreams it brings.” This book was so good and paradigm shifting. It reminded me of #1 on this list in the way it turns real life experience and hard, tragic ones at that (in this case, of being a trans girl of color who leaves home and tries to make a life for herself in the city, with its violence), into a beautiful, haunting fable. Once upon a time.

I Wish You All the Best by Mason Deaver. I need to reread this book, as I read it during my most tranceful time of 2020 and didn’t write a review, so I forgot a lot. What I do remember is beautiful and important nonbinary representation, a really cute romance, an interesting parental and familial/sibling dynamic that was both heartbreaking and hopeful, and an on-page therapy storyline. Also Mason Deaver just left twitter but was an absolutely hilarious troll on it before leaving and I appreciate that (and they just published a Christmas novella that I have but haven’t read yet!)

The Truth Is by NoNieqa Ramos. It took a long time to trust this book but I’m so glad I did. It’s raw and real and full of grief and trauma (trigger warnings, that I remember, for grief, death (before beginning of book), and gun violence). The protagonist is flawed and gets to grow over the course of the book, and find her own place, and learn from the people around her, while they also learn to understand her and where she’s coming from. It’s got a gritty, harsh, and important portrayal of found family, messy queerness, and some breathtaking quotes. When I was 82% through this book I posted this update: “This book has addressed almost all of my initial hesitations, and managed to complicate itself beautifully.”

Anger is a Gift by Mark Oshiro.  I wasn’t actually in the best mental health place to read this book when I did (didn’t quite understand what it was) but it definitely reminded me of what there is to fight against and to fight for, and broke my heart, and nudged me a bit closer to hope. The naturally diverse cast of characters was one of the best parts of this book. The romance is so sweet and tender and then so painful. This book is important and well-written but read it with caution and trigger warnings - it’s about grief and trauma and racism and police brutality, but also about love and community.

The Prey of Gods by Nicky Drayden.  This is a sci-fi/fantasy/specfic mashup that takes place in near-future South Africa and has world-building myths with gods and demigoddesses and a trip to the world of the dead but also a genetically altered hallucinogenic drug that turns people into giant animals and a robot uprising and a political campaign and a transgender pop star and a m/m couple and all of them are connected. It’s bonkers. Like, so, so absolutely mind-breaking weird. And I loved it.

Crier’s War and Iron Heart by Nina Varela.  I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVED the amount of folktales they told each other with queer romances as integral to those stories, especially in Iron Heart. A conversation between the two leads where Crier says she wants to read Ayla like a book, and Ayla says she’s not a book, and Crier explains all the different ways she wants to know Ayla, like a person, and wants to deserve to know her like a person, made me weak. It lives in my head rent-free.

Queen’s Shadow by E.K. Johnston @ekjohnston . I listened to this book on Libby and then immediately listened to it at least one more time, maybe twice, before my borrow time ran out. I love Padmé, and just always wish that female Star Wars characters got more focus and attention and this book gave me that!! And queer handmaidens! And the implication that Sabé is in love with Padmé and that’s just something that will always be true and she will always be devoted and also will make her own life anyway. And the Star Wars audiobooks being recorded the way they are with background sounds and music means it feels like watching a really long detailed beautiful Star Wars movie just about Padmé and her handmaidens.

Sissy: A Coming of Gender Story by Jacob Tobia. I needed to read this. The way Tobia talks about their experience of gender within the contexts of college, college leadership, and career, hit home. I kept trying to highlight several pages in a row on my kindle so I could go back and read them after it got returned to the library (sadly it didn’t work - it cuts off highlights after a certain number of characters). The way they talk about TOKENISM they way they talk about the responsibilities of the interviewer when an interviewee holds marginalized identities especially when no one else in the room does!!! Ahhhh!!!

Bonds of Brass by Emily Skrutskie. Disclaimer for this one that the author was rightfully criticized for writing a Black main character as a white author (and how the story ended up playing into some fucked up stuff that I can’t really unpack without spoiling). But also, the author has been working to move forward knowing she can’t change the past, has donated her proceeds, and this book is really good? It has all the fanfic tropes, so much delicious tension, a totally unexpected plot twist that had me immediately rereading the book. This book was super fun and also kind of just really really good Star Wars fanfiction.

How To Be a Normal Person by T.J. Klune. This book was so sweet, and cute, and hopeful, and both ridiculous and so real. I had some trouble getting used to Gus’ voice and internal monologue, but I got into it and then loved every bit after. The ace rep is something I’ve never seen like this before (and have barely read any ace books but still this was so fleshed out and well rounded and not just like, ‘they’re obsessed with swords not sex’ - looking at you, Once & Future - and leaving it there.) This all felt like a slice of life and I feel like I learned about people while reading it. Some of the moments are so, so funny, some are vaguely devastating. I have been personally victimized by TJ Klune for how he ends this book (a joke, you will know once you read it) but it also reminds me of the end of the “You Are There” episode of Xena and we all know what the answer to that question was.... and I choose to believe the answer here was similar.

You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson. I wish I had this book when I was in high school. I honestly have complicated feelings about prom and haven’t really been seeking out contemporary YA so I was hesitant to read this but it was so good and so well-written, and had a lot of depth to it. The movie (and Broadway show) “The Prom” wants what this book has.

Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth. I never read horror books, so this was a new thing for me. I loved the feeling of this book, the way I felt fully immersed. I loved how entirely queer it was. I was interested in the characters and the relationships, even though we didn’t have a full chance to go super deep into any one person but rather saw the connections between everyone and the way the stories matched up with each other. I just wanted a bit of a more satisfying ending.

Honorable Mention: reread in 2020 but read for the first time pre-2020

Red White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston. I couldn’t make this post without mentioning this book. It got me through this year. I love this book so much; I think of this book all the time. This book made me want to find love for myself. You’ve all heard about it enough but if you haven’t read this book what are you DOING.

In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan @sarahreesbrennan​ . I reread this one over and over too, both as text and as an audiobook. I went for walks when I had lost my earbuds and had Elliott screaming about an elf brothel loudly playing and got weird looks from someone walking their dog. I love this book so much. It’s just so fun, and so healing to read a book reminiscent of all the fantasies I read as a kid, but with a bi main character and a deconstruction of patriarchy and making fun of the genre a bit. Also, idiots to lovers is a great trope and it’s definitely in this book.

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz. This book is forever so important to me. I am always drawn in by how tenderly Sáenz portrays his characters. These boys. These boys and their parents. I love them. I love them so much. This is another one where I don’t even know what to say. I have more than 30 pages in my tag for this book. I have “arda” set as a keyboard shortcut on my phone and laptop to turn into the full title. This book saved my life.

Last Night I Sang to the Monster by Benjamin Alire Sáenz. This book hurts to read - it’s a story about trauma, about working through that trauma, healing enough to be ready to hold the worst memories, healing enough to move through the pain and start to make a life. It’s about found family and love and pain and I love it. It’s cathartic. And it’s a little bit quietly queer in a beautiful way, but that’s not the focus. Look up trigger warnings (they kind of are spoilery so I won’t say them here but if you have the potential to be triggered please look them up or ask me before reading)

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine.  When asked what my all time favorite book is, it’s usually this one. Gail Carson Levine has been doing live readings at 11am since the beginning of the pandemic shut down in the US, and the first book she read was Ella Enchanted. I’ve been slowly reading it to @mssarahpearl and am just so glad still that it has the ability to draw me in and calm me down and feels like home after all this time. This book is about agency. I love it.

Radio Silence by Alice Oseman @chronicintrovert . I’ve had this on my all-time-faves list since I read it a few years ago and ended up rereading it this year before sending a gift copy to a friend, so I could write little notes in it. It felt a little different reading it this time - as I get further away from being a teenager myself, the character voice this book is written in takes a little longer to get used to, but it’s so authentic and earnest and I love it. I absolutely adore this book about platonic love and found family and fandom and mental illness and abuse and ace identity and queerness and self-determination, especially around college and career choices. Ahhh. Thank you Alice Oseman!!!

Leia: Princess of Alderaan by Claudia Gray @claudiagray​ . I have this one on audible and reread it several times this year. I love the fleshing out of Leia’s story before the original trilogy, I love her having had a relationship before Han, and the way it would have affected her perspective. I also am intrigued by the way it analyses the choices the early rebellion had to make... I just, I love all the female focused new Star Wars content and the complexity being brought to the rebellion.

#red white and royal blue #aristotle and dante discover the secrets of the universe #osemanverse #star wars #queer books #lgbtq books #books #alice oseman #miri personal #wow this took so long but was so worth it! #long post #book recs #PS: if you've read any of these or have questions about any of these books #this is your formal invitation to talk to me about them!!!! even if i don't know you at all! #even if i don't follow you and even if you don't follow me! #my ask box is open anon is on! #original content

[itsmeevie01]

Bio!Dad Bruce Month Day 6- Meeting the Justice League

I just wanted to pop up here to give the heads up that there is some mild cursing at the begining here

Marinette was furious. When she had left to fight the Akuma earlier in the evening, she had expected a normal fight. One captured butterfly and a fist bump later, she was turning, ready to go home and finish her schoolwork for the evening. That was when she had seen the cape. Parisian heroes didn’t wear capes. That specific accessory was left for idiots like the Justice League. The one-time Chat Noir had mentioned the horrific items, Ladybug had nearly attacked him. Paris’ Heroes didn’t do capes. EVER.

That was why it was so suspicious that there was a flash of a cape on the rooftop across from her school.

Ladybug scowled but made her way over, landing a little harder than necessary, as she took in who was standing there. The “S”, the blue, the fucking cape. Ladybug was known as a nice hero, a gently hero, a just hero, but she couldn’t help the snarl that ripped its way from her throat as she looked at The Blue Boy scout. Oh, she had heard of him. His great deeds, how he cared for his city, His Powers. Paris’ Heroes didn’t do capes, they always led to bad situations. Bad situations, like an akumatized Superman. Shit.

When the man was fully facing her, Ladybug groaned. This situation just became 100 times worse, because she knew Superman. Flipping open her yoyo, Ladybug pulled up her partner’s contact. “Bug? Everything ok?” the concern in the Cat’s voice made her smile, but her eyes stayed focused on the hero in front of her. The hero wearing a cape.

“Chat, there is a situation. Come to my location, immediately.”

“On it, Ladybug!” as soon as she hung up, the spotted hero fixed her death glare on the rooftop’s other occupant. The Kryptonian shrunk under her glare. A very familiar glare, that he had seen more times than he would like to admit.

“Get out.” The venom in her voice made the Super flinch.

“I- “

“I said get. The. Fuck. OUT!” He started at her, shocked. As the two glared at each other, two telltale thumps told of others on the rooftop. One was unmistakably Chat. The teen hero had spent the last year finding the best ways to silence his movements. Ladybugs was well aware what his landings sounded like, when he decided to announce his presence. The other landing though…her eyes narrowed at the vigilante behind Superman. Great. The Bat was here.

When Bruce had heard that Clark was going to Paris to investigate, he knew there was going to be trouble. For the past six months, he had been prodding information out of his daughter, and she had made it very clear that there was to be zero outside interference. When he had raised his worries about her statement, she had simply laughed.

“Dad, Ladybug tried to contact the Justice League. She tried ten times. Every time, she was told that she was wrong. That there wasn’t a problem in Paris. Civilians reached out for help, submitting video evidence. They were told that it wasn’t funny to waste the Oh So Precious resources. Paris has been cut off, and Ladybug doesn’t want anyone swooping in now. She has set up a support network, and people are adapting in the meantime.” That conversation was the first time Bruce had heard Marinette truly angry. By the time she had finished talking, her eyes had been sparkling dangerously and the hard set of her jaw had told him just how livid she was. When Clark had insisted on investigating, Bruce had huffed and gone to prepare to rescue his friend. There was no way that this was going to go well.

What he encountered when he finally found his friend was…interesting. The teen heroes were standing there glaring at Superman. The girl had her hands on her hips and a glare worthy of a Bat on her face. The boy behind her had his arms crossed and his tail was whipping back and forth dangerously. The way the young heroes were on edge reminded Batman why exactly Paris was currently such a dangerous city to be in. “Superman, perhaps we should take this somewhere more…neutral?” the spotted hero visibly jumped at the sound of his voice. The cat shot her a concerned glance before turning towards them.

“I think I know a place.”

When the four heroes landed in the field, Ladybug huffed and leveled her glare on them. “I am going to say this once, Paris is under our protection. If the Justice League enters the City of Paris, they forfeit their lives.” The viciousness in her voice clear took Superman by surprise, but Batman had expected it. From listening to his daughter, he knew that the hero would not hesitate to protect her city. If that meant that she had to scare away every member of the League, she would. At the look on Superman’s face, Batman paused. The other Hero looked too calm for someone who had just been told off. No, Oh No. Batman knew what that meant. Superman had called the rest of the League. They were off the deep end now.  A moment later when Wonder Woman joined them Ladybug narrowed her eyes. “What is this?” the way she practically hissed her words made the slowly arriving League pause, nervous. “Did you summon the rest, just because I told you to get lost?” the way her voice got dangerously quiet reminded Batman a little too much of both Sabine and Marinette for his comfort. When Superman shifted uncomfortably, Ladybug threw her hands in the air in frustration. “Since I know you have ignored my requests for help, how the hell did you find out about this?” at her question the entire League froze.

“You. You asked for help? When?” The shock from Wonder Woman seemed to jolt the rest back into action.

“Yes! I asked for help at the beginning! When we were fighting our friends and family because they had a bad day! When Chat Noir and I were Handed Magical Jewels and Told to Figure It Out!” The sharpness in her voice, the pointed barbs flying from her mouth, the way her partner moved to calm her without hesitation…Suddenly Batman knew why the duo were so comfortable with this field. He knew why Ladybug was so angry too. And suddenly, he wished he had taken some time to introduce his daughter to the family secrets.

Later, once Wonder Woman had started to dig into the locked files in the League and they had uncovered the ten videos from the past few months, the group sat down to talk. When many of the older heroes offered to come and help, the Cat and Bug exchanged glances. “We…think it would be better to keep people who can be…taken advantage of outside of the city.” When the Cat spoke up many of the others looked offended. “as it is, Ladybug and I are confidant in our abilities to protect each other and call on allies as needed. We don’t want to disrupt the dynamics that have formed or go up against one of you if you let your emotions get out of control. LB and I…we have coping methods. Many of you though? You would get akumatized in an instant.” The duo continued to hold firm until Batman interrupted the newest round of arguing.

“We need to respect the fact that Paris is their city. For now, let us keep communication lines open. If they need us, we can be there, but we will not take over in a fight we do not understand.” After the Bat’s declaration, the Leaguers started to collect themselves. As they were leaving, Ladybug paused.

“Batman? Could I borrow you for one more second?” the Man nodded in response. When they had walked a slight distance away, and he was blocking her from the rest’s view, the younger hero took a deep breath. “Tikki? Spots off.” There was a small flash, and suddenly it wasn’t the young hero that Batman had been working with for the past few hours, it was-

“Marinette.” The girl nodded, twisting her hands nervously. A small red creature floated up to settle on his daughter’s shoulder, sending her a sour look.

“I- thank you. Dad, I- “Batman froze.

“how- “

“it was your voice. I just…I’ve gotten really good at recognizing people. Just like I knew immediately that it was your friend Mr. Kent. That he was Superman.” Batman glanced over his shoulder, checking to make sure the others had left. In the time they had been talking the Cat had vanished as well. When he was sure there was no one else around, he slowly peeled off his mask.

“Marinette.” His daughter smiled up at him, her blue eyes sparkling. The next moment he was gently holding her in a hug as she relaxed, the tension that she had been holding the entire meeting draining out.

“Please don’t tell my brothers about this. I don’t need them mother henning any more than they already are.”

hey! so far so good right? i appologize if some of the characters were ooc…

i figured it would happen eventually.

in other words, we are getting close to then end of Marinette being 13. im probably tackle her birthday next… its not going to abide by cannon, but in this world, cannon is bending to my will and filling in any space i dont have written.

see ya tomorrow!

#b!dbwm2020 #b!dbwm #miraculous ladybug #bio!dad bruce wayne #bio!dad bruce wayne month 2020 #i dont know what im doing #oops #this came out of nowhere #i have no idea what i just wrote #im so sorry #my writing

[cupcakemolotov]

Fall With You

I ended up pinch hitting for the exchange! It was fun, if slightly wild 48 hours to put this together. Written for the lovely @queencarolinemikaelson​. I’m really glad you enjoyed it since it ended up being a fluff fest of roommate co-hab. Also a big thank you to @bellemorte180​ for putting this graphic together!

I put the first but under a cut, bit under a cut, but the full story is almost 9K, so the link to the story is at the bottom. :)

Summary: When life throws her a curve ball in the form of her good looking, yet moody roommate, Caroline takes it in stride as best she can. Her living situation was a favor, after all, and rent is anything but cheap in NYC. Its the part where she actually starts to like him that she can't quiet figure out how to manage. Lust was one thing, but feelings? 

Warnings: Alternate Universe; Alternate; Universe - Human; Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates; Minor Character Death; not otp; Family Drama; Family Dynamics; Fluff and Humor; Domestic Fluff; Tooth-Rotting Fluff; Mild Smut; Human Caroline Forbes; Human Klaus Mikaelson; Living Room Picnics; Wine; Dates That Aren't Dates; They Could Really Get Their Shit Together Faster; but not really; Making Out; Some petting; NSFW just to be safe            

It was almost three am, her feet were killing her, and her key was stuck in her front door.

Seriously, what was with her luck today? The door had always been finicky, but until earlier this week the lock had been behaving itself. It’d gone from not wanting to turn properly to straight up mutiny in four days. It was an easy fix, unlike the door, but it also required a trip to the store and she just hadn’t had time. Amazon could have delivered the powdered graphite, but she was on a budget and believed in shopping local.

Her two year savings plan to finish her degree would not manifest itself if she bought things simply because they were convenient.

Squeezing her eyes shut, Caroline seriously considered just leaning up against the door jam and spending the night outside. It was early summer, and the air had cooled to a balmy sixty-five degrees, leaving the usually stifling hallway almost comfortable. If only she didn’t smell so heavily of beer. Shifting her weight, she winced as her shoes squelched, a reminder of the truly spectacular ending to her night. Her eight hour shift had almost doubled when the night shift manager had called in sick. Usually that wouldn’t have been a problem, but the only other person with keys was out of town leaving Caroline holding the bag to close.

She knew from experience that she had about an hour before she crashed, the rush from kicking out the lingering guests who had been clearly on an epic brawl crawl having mostly faded after the hour long subway ride home. Right then, the only thing keeping her upright was the fact that she was starving, her dinner had been rushed and only half eaten, and the knowledge that if she made it into her apartment she had the next two days off. Tomorrow she could sleep in, and if she was really lucky, her roommate’s night had gone well enough he could be coaxed into making pancakes.

Cheered by the thought, Caroline dug out her cell phone from the backpack she’d slung over her shoulder and checked it for a response. She hadn’t been sure if Klaus had beaten her home or if he was still out celebrating, but either way, he hadn’t bothered to respond yet. Her lips compressed into a thin line.

Usually, she could depend on Klaus to be awake when she finished a night shift, her roommates' hours were only reliable on how sporadic they were and depending on her schedule, hers weren’t much better. But with his big event tonight, she had no idea what he had decided to do. Honestly, would it kill the man to respond to her texts?

She’d expected him to ignore her rapidly typed apology and well wishes she’d sent in-between bites of food. Klaus wasn’t particularly good at handling sentiment of any kind and supremely anti-emoji, and she’d made a point to send several of them. She’d hoped it’d give him something to be annoyed about that wasn’t his evening plans. He needed to schmooze, and a scowl-y Klaus would not accomplish that at all.

He could be charming, when he wanted to be. She’d seen it. He just didn’t deploy full dimples unless he wanted something. Her reminders the night before that he needed to earn his half of the rent without getting carpal tunnel hadn't impressed him.

Too bad. She’d been right, and he’d known it.

He had mentioned a couple of his friends were trying to talk him into drinks afterwards, back when she had thought she might be able to join him. Usually, she would be thrilled that he was getting out and actually seeing people instead of trying to live off granola bars and tea. But right then she really wanted him to be home and grumpy so he could unlock the door. She wondered if texting Marcel with an S.O.S would be rude?

Things were a lot less complicated when she only liked Klaus for the rent he helped cover. Wanting him home, even just for a lock-related emergency wasn’t a thought she would have had even six months ago. Klaus was not what one would label as a comfortable roommate for most of the time. He was far too prickly for that, and he could be snarly in the mornings. Which fair, so could she, but the moodiness. Caroline hadn’t been one to spend much time around the art scene, either at Uni or in high school, but she’d spent the last year learning that there was a lot to be said about artistic temperaments, most of it unflattering.

She was fairly certain Klaus had been born a contrary grump, his winning personality had nothing to do with his chosen profession, she could certainly see how he’d been drawn to the lifestyle, talent aside. Most people immediately laughed off his acerbic tongue once they learned he was an artist, his behavior brushed aside as temperamental. His goods certainly helped his cause, and his accent added a layer of charm that otherwise might not have existed.

She was not so forgiving.

The first few months of their co-hab had not been easy. Klaus was messy, absent minded, and had ruined three of her towels with paint splatter before she’d blown her lid. The apartment was small enough that avoiding each other was nearly impossible, and her preferred kind of stress relief had to be timed for when she was alone, and so they’d been forced to deal with their annoyances. To Klaus’ credit, while he’d been snappish in return, he’d somehow managed to keep a lid on the worst of his temper.

They’d argued, multiple times, they were both stubborn and used to being right, but they’d eventually found some kind of middle ground. Snapping had softened into bickering, and Caroline had stopped nitpicking him about his notebooks being spread across the house and the incorrect way he rolled his toothpaste, and he stopped leaving towels on the floor and made a point to contain his absentminded mess to his room.

And then they started to talk, sometimes about work, sometimes about art, and she’d realized she kind of liked him as a person. She’d started dragging him to her group lunches on her days off, much to Rebekah’s despair, and they might have become something like friends. Except for the part where every so often, she’d look at him and something about the way he stood, the angle of his jaw or the line of his throat left her wanting to jump his bones.

It was really frustrating, when her existence didn’t even seem to phase him.

So she’d done her best to ignore whatever that little spark was between them when it flared up, and not upset the status quo. Because the past year had been better than she could have imagined. Before her mom had died, she would never have considered the life she found herself living now as a good one.

She’d just wrapped her third year at NYU, had exactly 24 hours of classes left before graduation, and had managed to wrangle her schedule so that her final semester would be a cake walk of classes. The cherry on top had been the kick ass internship she’d lined up for the summer. Her five year plan was perfectly on track, her excellent grades gave her a shot at graduating with honors, and she couldn’t wait to show her mom around New York City from the eyes of a local. She’d spent three years putting together a binder, collecting menus from her favorite places to eat and brochures from all the museums and the jam packed tourists locations to offer her mom some variety.

Then she’d gotten that phone call that had thrown everything into a tale spin.

Blowing out a breath, Caroline bounced on her toes and debated best her course of action. She could probably get her key out of the lock if she was very careful, though the past twenty minutes said her luck wasn’t great, Forbes women were nothing if not stubborn, but there was also a chance she would break the key off in the lock and she could already see the little smirk on Klaus’ face if she did. Her hand tightened on the strap of her backpack. He still hadn’t forgiven her for being far more comfortable with power tools than he was and her perfectly reasonable gloating probably hadn’t helped much, if she was honest.

She kind of didn’t regret it. Poking Klaus sizable ego was a favorite past time of hers, and he seemed to enjoy their back and forth as much as she did. Her mental tally had her up two points this month, and she wanted to keep her lead.

Unfortunately, things weren’t really going in her favor just then. Sighing, Caroline tucked her phone back into her bag and admitted defeat. She’d have to figure this one out herself. Either Klaus’ event had run long and he had actually taken her advice to schmooze people or he was home and had drunk enough that he was sleeping like the dead.

Either of those options would not help her now.

Her best bet now was to go and eat a giant piece of pie, drink her weight in caffeine, and trudge her way to the little mom and pop shop that sold a little of everything, including graphite, once it became a reasonable hour. She’d fix her lock and then crash for the following eight hours of hopefully uninterrupted sleep, and leave a very pointed sticky note on the coffee pot so Klaus knew not to disturb her.

Satisfied with the makings of her plan, she shifted her backpack to her other shoulder, mentally reviewing the pie menu, and paused when the elevator dinged from behind her. Sliding her teeth between her lip, Caroline turned and blew out a breath when she recognized the tumble of ruffled curls stepping into the hall. The hallway was dimly lit, so it took a moment for her brain to really understand what else she was seeing.

Klaus was wearing a tux.

Logically, she’d known he was going to be wearing one. His event that night had been important, his work had finally made it into a gallery tonight and it was a Big Deal. His first real show outside of the fancy art school he had attended, and he had spent months fretting over his work and brooding silently in his room as nothing met his incredibly exacting standards. Klaus had even brought home a couple of canvas to work in the questionable light of his bedroom instead of the small studio space he and five other artists pooled their money to share.

Much to her annoyance.

No amount of febreeze really removed the scent of acrylics and turpentine, and she’d been worried if she tried to burn her stash of scented candles something would catch on fire. She’d held her tongue though, because Klaus was never nervous. He was in fact annoyingly difficult to rattle even in the most ridiculous of situations, the man had absolutely no shame, and the way he’d almost jittered had been weird and kind of enduring. Since he’d seen her in numerous states of frantic and alarmed, it was nice for things to end up on a little more even ground for once. She’d done her best to force him to eat something that looked like actual food every so often, and tried to stay quiet when she knew he was working in his bedroom.

She’d even helped him pick out the tuxedo from the catalogue he’d brought home from the store he had planned to rent from. There was a fancy evening gown that she’d rented hanging in her closet that Caroline had planned to wear to go with him before work had made that impossible. But knowing all that, and actually seeing him in that tux were not nearly the same thing.

Caroline blinked rapidly. Her paint speckled roommate, with his surly attitude and annoying dimples, was wearing a tux. And he looked really, really good. He’d undone his tie so it hung loosely around his neck, and his jacket was loose and unbuttoned around his waist, his curls still somewhat tamed along his forehead. Something very much like arousal jolted through her as he looked up, the low light highlighting the scruff along his jaw and the length of his neck. For a moment, he just stared at her, as surprised as she and then his head tipped and his brow arched, lips tugging up at the corners.

“Waiting on me?”

The rest can be found here: A03

#my fic #klaroline #klaroline fanfiction #exchange fic

[is-it-art-tho]

Summary: What happens when two of the most emotionally damaged members of the Batfam are tricked into spending quality time together?

OR

Damian and Jason have complicated histories when it comes to family and revenge, but a Father's Day card could help them start to work through it.

____

“You didn’t have to come,” Jason pointed out, trailing his fingers along the wall of greeting cards.

Damian scowled at a New Year’s card with a drawing of Superman on the front being pulled into the air by a balloon over the caption Up, up, and away to a new year! It was infuriatingly nonsensical. Why would the alien need a balloon if he could already fly?

“Pennyworth insisted. And I was under the impression that this was going to be some form of surveillance operation. It seems he didn’t find it necessary to disabuse me of that notion before we left.”

Damian’s eyes narrowed as he recalled the pleased slant to Pennyworth’s mouth as Damian had gotten in Todd’s car. The younger boy had assumed it was because Alfred would get to have the house to himself for the afternoon. Now he suspected a much more nefarious motive.

Jason chuckled. “Played by the old man, huh? Anyone who thinks Bruce is the master manipulator hasn’t met Alfred.”

“Tt. I wonder what I have done to upset him.”

“Hm?” Jason plucked a card from the wall and skimmed it. He chuckled at whatever it said.

“Pennyworth must be fairly irritated to have set this up. Obviously he knows how we feel about each other.”

At that Jason raised an eyebrow, putting the card back in its slot and grabbing another. “Oh yeah?”

“Of course he does.”

“And how do we feel about each other?” There was a subtle lilt in his voice; Damian could see the older boy fighting back a smile.

His jaw clenched. “Stop acting like a fool. You know the status of our relationship.”

“Thought by now you’d realize it’s not an act. I really am just an idiot.”

Damian scrunched his mouth together, but continued with forced calm. Meanwhile a woman pushed her cart past them slowly, clearly eavesdropping as she pretended to examine the envelop options.

“We are colleagues. That is all. Otherwise, we stay out of each other’s way.”

“Right,” Jason agreed as he flipped open yet another card. This one had Green Lantern grinning on the front and saying something that Damian couldn’t see around Jason’s fingers. “Why do you think that is?”

“What?”

“The whole ‘staying out of each other’s way’ thing. Why is it like that with us?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Well, I’ve got actual beef with Bruce, Dick-wing, and Replacement. Or at least, I did. You, on the other hand,” he glanced at Damian now. “What’s your deal?”

“My deal?” Damian echoed incredulously, his voice grating under the strain of keeping it at least somewhat moderated. “Since the moment we met, you have made it abundantly clear that you want no part of me. Most of the time, you refuse to even look in my direction. You set the terms of this relationship, and I have accepted them. That, Todd, is my deal.”

Damian’s face felt hot, and it took more effort than it should have for him to slow his breathing. The nosy woman was openly staring at them now.

Jason blinked at him, his eyebrows arched in surprise, then looked back at the wall of cards. His expression reverted into something smooth and inscrutable, but his ears had gone red.

“Hm,” was all he said in response, exchanging the card in his hands for yet another.

Damian, on the other hand, felt as if his head might pop, and Jason’s lack of reaction was only making it worse. Now on top of being inexplicably angry, he was also embarrassed. Compared to Jason’s calm, he looked like a child throwing a tantrum in a store.

He was also embarrassed that Alfred had tricked him into coming here for a reason he apparently did not understand, and that Damian had also apparently misinterpreted something about the dynamic between him and Jason. All this time Damian had thought he’d understood the rules of engagement between them. Now it seemed as though he had been mistaken; that fact burned in his stomach like acid.

But Damian knew what he saw. He had not made up the aura of revulsion that had initially wafted off of Todd in waves whenever Damian had come around. He had not imagined the surreptitious glances of rage or disgust, the loaded silences between them. And he would not let Todd try to make him think that he had. As if all this time he’d been playing make-believe like some foolish child.

“What are you even doing?” Damian spit. For the first time, he noticed that Jason was looking at Father’s Day cards.

The older boy offered a delayed and distracted, “What?”

“What are you doing?” Damian repeated slowly, emphasizing each word.

Jason looked at the card in his hands before looking back at Damian, the blush in his ears intensifying. There was an edge in his voice when he retorted, “What’s it look like?”

“It looks like you’re browsing Father’s Day cards, which is odd seeing as how you don’t have one.”

Jason recoiled, and Damian relished the wild fury that flared in his eyes – the break in his vexing calm. The younger boy found himself bracing for a physical attack; the others would never be so reckless in public, but from what he’d seen of Todd, this boy was careless and unpredictable enough to launch into an all-out assault right here in the pharmacy.

But then the fury faded into something barely restrained, and he muttered,“You’re lucky you’re still just a brat and that I don’t pummel children.”

“I am not a child,” Damian snarled, trying not to cringe at how utterly childish that response sounded on his lips.

“You’re an infant. And I’m sick of looking at you. Go wait in the car.”

Although he wanted nothing more than to do just that, part of Damian despised the fact that it would now look like he was taking orders. He stood there, weighing his dignity against his overwhelming desire to be elsewhere, until he caught the flash of ire in Todd’s eyes again and decided that the consequences of his defiance would not be worth whatever satisfaction he might glean from it.

He stalked out of the pharmacy, ignoring an employee’s too-bubbly farewell as he slammed open the door and marched toward the old, definitely-stolen Jeep in the lot. It wasn’t until he yanked on the locked passenger door that he realized he’d forgotten to get the keys, and he threw his head back and screamed a curse that would have turned Alfred to stone.

There was no way he was going back inside now, so he found himself sitting on the curb, his arms crossed tightly around his knees as he glared at the asphalt.

A few minutes later, he heard the chime over the door, then the crunch and shuffle of boots on pavement followed by the sound of the car doors unlocking. He got in without a word and glowered straight ahead.

Beside him, Todd got in empty-handed and started the car, but they didn’t move right away. The following silence felt like a precursor to something, and Damian was glad he hadn’t yet put his seatbelt on. Adrenaline bubbling up in his chest, he slid his hand over to unlock his door, ready to make a quick exit.

At last, he chanced a glance in the older boy’s direction, expecting to find unbridled fury and perhaps even murderous intent. While Todd did still looked incensed, his unnaturally green eyes burning a hole in the windshield, he also looked oddly wounded and confused. The expression was enough to distract Damian from his escape plan, and he paused with his hand on the plastic nub of the lock.

Jason muttered something, and Damian asked, “What?”

“I said ‘I don’t hate you.’ I mean, I do – I did. But it was never personal.”

“That doesn’t make any–”

“Would you just shut up? I know, okay? I know it doesn’t make sense. Just let me–” Jason exhaled loudly, running his hand over his face as he tipped his head back into the seat.

When he spoke again, it was with his eyes closed and his hand still resting over his mouth. “I’m trying to communicate. Just work with me, all right?”

“Tt.” But Damian fell silent, allowing the older boy to continue.

Jason at last let his hand drop, his eyes slipping open so that he was staring at the stained and scuffed cream-colored ceiling. “When I first met Tim, it was like I’d been punched in the face. I don’t know how much you know about me and my… history, but even when I was Robin, Bruce and I never completely agreed on how we should handle things. We got along most of the time, but we argued a lot. He thought I was too aggressive, I thought he was too soft. He thought I was impulsive and reckless, I thought he had a stick up his ass.”

He paused. “Butt. Don’t tell Alfred I cursed in front of you. Anyways, we were just so different. The poor kid from Crime Alley and the billionaire CEO. It shouldn’t have worked, but when it did, it was great. And when it didn’t…”

Todd paused again, his gaze becoming distant and… pained, Damian thought. Not a sharp, lancing pain, but something dull, like an old bruise.

“Then I died and I came back and there’s this new kid– the new Robin. For some reason, I’d gotten it in my head that Bruce would just retire the role all together after me. As if he cared enough to do something like that.”

He smirked, but there wasn’t an ounce of joy in it; it was a sour twist of his mouth that reminded Damian of poison.

“So, there he was. Robin 3.0. And he was good. Like really good. I was a good Robin, Dick was a good Robin, but Replacement.” Todd shook his head in rueful appreciation. “The kid is a genius. He’s like a mini-Bruce. Even Dick was never like that. Apparently he even figured out the whole secret on his own when he was like fourteen or something?”

“Thirteen,” Damian corrected quietly. He, too, often found himself impressed by Drake’s mental acumen, even if he’d never admit it aloud. Damian was sharp, but he’d had to work for years to get like that; for Drake, it just came naturally. Watching him solve a puzzle was like watching a prodigy at their craft. There were connections that Drake could make that Damian knew he never could, no matter how many years of training he got under his belt.

“What are you getting at?” he asked, perhaps more sharply than he’d meant to.

“I’m saying, that when I first met Tim, I hated him. Like really, genuinely hated him. But it wasn’t him that I was pissed at. It was what he was. He was everything I never was and could never be.”

“Smart?” As soon as Damian said it, he regretted it. He could never figure out why he was like this, always throwing barbs even when he didn’t really want to. It was like a reflex, and he again braced for the equally reflexive response he expected from Todd.

Instead, the older boy barked a laugh. The sound was as genuine as it was sad.

“Yeah, that. But mostly, when I saw him I saw someone who was more like a son to Bruce than I ever was. And a way better Robin. They just fit together. Rich kid to rich kid. Like puzzle pieces. Then I met you. My worst effin’ nightmare.”

Damian bristled. “What do you mean?” he demanded.

“I hated Tim because he was like Bruce’s actual son. How do you think I felt about you?”

Any quick retort died in the younger boy’s throat. He swallowed and frowned at the glove compartment. “I fail to see how my biological relation to Father has anything to do with you.”

Jason sighed. “It doesn’t. It shouldn’t. But I look at you and Tim and even Dick and all I can think is, ‘I bet Bruce would kill for them.’”

He chuckled wryly. “Jesus, it sounds even more effed up out loud.”

And again, he lapsed into a heavy silence, this one so cold and absolute that Damian hardly dared to breathe.

After some time, when it was beginning to feel as if Jason wouldn’t speak again, Damian cleared his throat and said, “Obviously, I was not there when you had your… incident.”

Jason scoffed, perhaps at Damian’s choice of words, and it rankled him, but Damian continued as if he hadn’t noticed.

“But I have heard stories from that time, and the time shortly after. From what I understand, your death was not insignificant. It nearly killed him.”

Jason seemed to be working hard to maintain his sardonic grin; he was failing. “Is that what they told you?”

“It’s what I’ve gleaned. And after living with Father for several years, I don’t doubt that it’s true.”

“Tell me something,” Jason said, his eyes searching Damian’s thoughtfully. Any trace of humor, false or otherwise, was gone from his expression. “If someone killed you tonight, what would Talia do?”

Damian stiffened but said nothing. He knew the answer and he knew that Todd knew as well. His mother would be enraged by his failure, for certain. She would talk grandly about how Damian was no longer her concern since he’d chosen to be with Father, but the same day she would unleash utter destruction upon everyone responsible. She would lay waste to them and their families and salt the earth at her feet. His killer would know the full wrath of the League of Shadows, and the last thing they would see would be the tip of his mother’s blade.

Damian knew this implicitly, but the knowledge did not inspire any feelings of love in him the way Jason apparently suspected. The younger boy did not feel flattered by this assurance. If anything, it made him sick.

“Father does not grieve in blood,” Damian said at last, swallowing against the dryness in his throat. “He isn’t like us.” Damian didn’t know if us meant himself and the League of Shadows, or him and Jason. Perhaps both.

He’s better, is what he wanted to add, but instead Damian continued, “And vengeance is not always love.”

He thought again of his mother. The same woman who would wage a war on his behalf had also nearly killed him dozens of times herself. The fact that both of these things could be true at once still made his head spin.

Jason gazed out the windshield for a moment before offering a simple, “Hm.” It would have sounded dismissive, but Damian could see the consideration in his eyes.

Outside, the sun was tipping into late afternoon, and shadows were creeping longer and longer across the ground. Damian watched two birds dance together in the air. At first it looked like they were fighting, but then they landed side by side on a powerline, so close their wings were nearly touching.

His finger worried at the plastic lock as he built up his nerve.

“I don’t hate you either,” he offered, and he was grateful that his umber complexion a least somewhat camouflaged any flush that might be creeping into his face. Even staring out his window, he felt Jason’s eyes on him.

“You should.”

“I don’t.” He took a breath. “Where I come from, love is earned. Every day you must prove yourself worthy of it and every day is another opportunity to lose it. The slightest failure could cost you everything.”

He forced himself to continue quickly, outpacing the memories he felt rushing to meet him. “That is the mindset I arrived in Gotham with. My first few years with Father were marked by that conviction. It made sense to me. Dick and Tim are worthy combatants. I understood why Father would offer them his affection. But you… All I knew of you was that you had failed.”

At that, Damian’s head swiveled to look at Jason, realizing too late how his words must have sounded. The older boy was rigid, but he didn’t look angry.

“I didn’t mean–”

“I get it. It’s okay.”

“No,” Damian insisted sternly. “It is not. I was raised to believe that to die in battle was the ultimate failure. But that was wrong. Like much of what I learned back then.”

When Jason didn’t say anything, Damian continued, “I heard stories about how you were when you first returned. How you hurt Father and the others over and over again. I know about Father’s attempts to reach out to you and how you turned your back on him for years.”

Damian could feel the temperature around Jason dropping, as if the older boy was turning to ice at Damian’s side, but he continued, feeling now as if he couldn’t stop even if he wanted to. The words flowed out of him, unfiltered and unrelenting.

“Your grievances against him were so numerous and severe, it didn’t make sense to me that he would still love you. And yet he did.

“Meanwhile, I live in constant fear that I will inevitably prove them right. That I’m not worthy of…” Damian’s nail carved into the hard plastic of the car lock as the words hitched and stuck in his throat. He swallowed.

“Who?” Jason asked quietly.

“What?”

“Prove who right?”

My mother. My grandfather.

Everyone.

Me.

“That’s not the point,” Damian answered. “I resented you and your unearned love and and how absolutely oblivious you seemed to be to that blessing. Even now, it is clear to me that you fail to recognize how fortunate you are.”

A few years ago, Damian would not have been able to say this without lacing the words with venom. Now he was able to say them plainly, though something in the center of his chest still ached.

“You know it’s not like that with you, though, right?” Jason confirmed. “That whole earning and losing love thing– Bruce would never make you do that. You’re his son.”

“As are you.” Damian forced himself to look Jason dead in the eye then, and Jason held the gaze for a beat before looking away, his ears once again going red.

“You do not see the way Father looks at you,” he explained. “It is like a blind man seeing the sun for the first time.”

Jason was speechless for a second before muttering, “Whatever you say, kid,” as he put his hands on the wheel and backed out of the parking spot. When they hit the road, the older boy switched on the radio, and Damian was grateful for the blanket of sound to quell any further discussion.

He sunk into the seat then, oddly exhausted, and turned around in time to watch as the two birds on the wire took off towards the clouds.

*********

“Just admit it. You killed him, didn’t you?” Tim asked, leaning back on the rear legs of his chair. “You finished the job.”

Damian’s eyes flicked up from his book to glare at the boy across the kitchen table. This particular joke had been going on for over two weeks, and while Tim’s attempts at humor were never amusing, this one was particularly grating since it also managed to twist Damian’s guts into guilty knots.

No one had seen or heard from Jason since he had returned Damian to the manor after their disastrous pharmacy outing, and now all the younger boy could think about was everything he had done wrong. He never should have been so transparent; he never should have been so cruel. In retrospect, he could concede at least that much.

Damian typically preferred to apologize with his actions rather than explicit words, and he’d thought that he had managed to convey that while he and Jason were in the car together, but perhaps the older boy had not seen it that way. Perhaps he’d been waiting for a formal apology, and now that so much time had elapse, they had finally fallen below even the status of colleagues – not quite enemies, but certainly no longer allies.

Damian straightened in his seat, setting his shoulders. If that was the case, then so be it. He was the last person who would ever weep over a burned bridge. The loss would be inconvenient – Todd had proven himself a useful aid in the field at times – but it was not as if they had ever been particularly close or worked together often. If Todd wanted to move on, then Damian would do the same.

He returned his attention to his book, but after a few seconds of rereading the same sentence over and over, he slapped it on the table with a frustrated sigh and took a sip of his lukewarm tea.

There was distant knock at the front door followed by some muffled conversation between Alfred and whoever the other person was. A moment later, Damian shouted as a plastic bag rocketed into the side of his head and fell to the floor. He whirled toward the source, but all of his rage evaporated into blank shock when he saw Todd leaning in the doorway, a fading bruise on his cheek and a butterfly bandage over his eye.

“You like those, right?” he asked.

Damian blinked down at the bag on the floor. Reese’s cups.

He nodded.

“Good. You and I are patrolling together tonight, got it?” Jason’s tone was decisive, leaving little room for disagreement. Two weeks ago Damian would have bristled at it, but for once, he felt he was reading the older boy correctly, and for all Jason’s gruffness, Damian was certain that this was not an order, but a request.

He nodded again, and Todd’s mouth twitched at the side.

“Wait, you disappear for two weeks and come back with free candy?” Tim exclaimed. “Where’s mine?”

“Get your own, Replacement,” Jason shot back, disappearing back through the door and shouting, “Bruce! C’mon, I wanna kick your ass in pool. Sorry, Alfred…”

Damian ignored Tim’s dumbfounded stare as he bent to pick the candy up off the tile. His chest suddenly felt warm and buoyant, and he lingered out of sight below the table for a second longer than necessary as his lips curled into a tiny smile.

#damian wayne #jason todd #jason todd and damian wayne #whump #emotional hurt/comfort #the boys just gotta talk it out #robin #batman fanfic #batman fanfiction #batfam fanfic #batfam fanfiction #batfam #red hood

[invisibleinorange]

Swelter Weather, 2/?

Chapters: 2/? Fandom: Bridgerton Rating: M Warnings: None at this point. Relationships: Colin Bridgerton/Penelope Featherington,  Eloise Bridgerton/Penelope Featherington(besties),  Bridgerton Family Dynamics, Eloise Bridgerton/Phillip Crane Characters: Colin Bridgerton,  Penelope Featherington, Eloise Bridgerton, Anthony Featherington,  Benedict Bridgerton,  Portia Featherington, Violet Bridgerton, Genevieve Delacroix Additional Tags:  Bridgerton, Polin

Summary: Colin Bridgerton is weary from travel and decides to spend the summer at the Aubrey Hall. While his initial plans were to avoid his perfect family, he ends up sharing the house with Eloise and Penelope. This is a Modern AU!

Eloise thanked every star in the sky when Colin ventured out to go riding because that meant that she didn’t have to stomach another minute of him flirting with her best friend. It wasn’t that she didn’t know that they were friendly with each other nor was it that she didn’t want them to be friendly. It was just that the two of them alone was a bit overwhelming.

She usually only caught moments of banter between them though and with a million family members around someone was always getting pulled in the other direction. She didn’t have anyone to help break it up if this pattern of behavior continued and with the rest of the family busy back in London, she wouldn’t be able to call for reinforcements not that she could have. What was she supposed to tell them that wouldn’t earn an eyeroll.

After an eventful day of showing Penelope the lay of the land, including the gardens, they’d decided to have a movie night.  There had been some discussion on whether to go with a serious documentary or a comedy.  In the end, they ended up deciding to go the classic horror route and watch Hitchcock movies.

They were half-way through Psycho, completely absorbed into the story and awaiting a suspenseful moment when Colin came into the door frame. He watched them for a moment, completely unaware of his presence before he maneuvered over plopping into the space between them, forcing both Eloise and Penelope to move a bit to make way for him. He put his arm around both of their shoulder, grinning sheepishly.

“Hitchcock night without me? I think not,” he said.

Eloise pushed his arm away from her.

“If you have to stay, be quiet,” she said rolling her eyes at the fact he couldn’t go entertain himself.

Penelope offered him an apologetic smile on behalf of his sister.  She didn’t force him to move his arm so he just let his hand give her shoulder a squeeze and left it there. Colin’s other hand maneuvered to grab a handful of their popcorn popping some into his mouth.

To his credit he did remain quiet through the end of the movie.  It helped that the couch was small and with the three of them there, it was pretty cozy.  Eloise fell asleep after a bit, veering into the arm rest.    Penelope didn’t fall asleep but she did rest her head on Colin’s shoulder which he had no complaints about.

“Should we wake her up or drag her to her room?” Penelope finally asked breaking the silence once the movie was over, though she wasn’t exactly move. She was enjoying the proximity and the scent of Colin’s soap and cologne.

“She sleeps like the dead.  I’m pretty sure we’re better off just leaving her be,” Colin told her quietly, careful to not speak too loudly and actually disturb the sleeping Eloise.

“We should at least get her a blanket,” Penelope suggested quietly.

Colin reached back with his free hand and grabbed on afghan from the back of the chair and put it over his sister.

“Does that meet your expectations?” he asked turning his focus back on the girl that was now absent from his shoulder.

“Definitely,” she told him with a smile.

He let a hand absently reach to play with a red curl that was looping extra haphazard, looping it around his finger.

“Are you tired?” he asked after a long moment of comfortable silence between them.

“Not particularly,” she told him.

“Take the party elsewhere?  I have scrabble and some gin,” he offered after a long moment.

“You had me at scrabble,” she told him with a nod.

He forced himself up before offering her his hand so that she could climb to her feet as well.  He wasn’t sure whether he kept his hand in hers longer than he should have or it was the other way around. He’d forgotten how soft and warm her hands were.

He gave sleeping Eloise another passing glance just to make sure she was actually good and asleep before leading the way out toward another room that housed the stacks upon stacks of well-used board games.

He flicked on the light once there, moving into motion to grab pillows and set them on opposing sides of an oversized coffee table.   He then went and dug through the stacks until he found the scrabble board putting it on the coffee table.

“Make yourself comfortable,” he told her, smiling when Penelope sat down.  She was honestly adorable between the pajamas bottoms and tank top she’d put on for the movie night with Eloise.  He hadn’t quite paid attention before but he definitely was cognizant of the fact she wasn’t wearing a bra. He wasn’t going to let himself stare though.

He was grateful for the fact she started unboxing the game and setting down the tiles which provided him time to grab the promised gin and two glasses.  He set that down on the table before plopping himself down on the opposing side of the table.

“I’m not going to take it easy on you just because we’re friends,” Penelope said after a long moment, as he poured their glasses.  He couldn’t help but laugh at that as he watched her shake the bag of tiles.

“I was going to say the same thing,” he teased before taking a swig of his drink. “I will, however, let you go first.  Ladies first and all.”

Penelope gazed at the letters she’d down for a couple of moments.  There were a couple basic words she could play but four letters stood out to her.  She reached for her glass, downing it before placing the W,A,N,K down to spell ‘Wank’.

Colin couldn’t remotely hide way hid body practically shook with laughter at the fact Penelope had played that word.

“Oh hush. You play what you draw,” she said shaking her head. “Besides, I knew you wouldn’t need a dictionary to know the definition of that one.”

“Touché,” he said shaking the bag and grabbing his own letters.  He smirked as he formulates his own word in retort.   He played off the K. Adding a S,U,C.  “Simple but gets across the point.”

She drew her replacement letters.

Her options were limited but she could pull off a word by adding I,N to his S.   She was pretty sure SIN worked just as good as any other out there though.

“Not my best work but it fits,” she announced.

“You wouldn’t know the meaning of that one since you’re an angel and everything,” he teased as replenished his tiles and started to debate his next word.

He added R, E,A,M to his earlier C to spell CREAM.

“An angel would think you were talking about ice cream there,”  she said raising an eyebrow.

“I could be but I’m not,” he said. “Even Lucifer was an angel though. Maybe I’m not the sex demon, you are.”

“I’m pretty sure that in order to be a sex demon, you have to actually be having sex,” she countered, looking particularly interested in her times before playing off the E and adding a D,E,P to form DEEP.

“So, you’re not seeing anyone right now?” Colin said after a minute in response to that.  It somehow felt a little less creepy than telling her than any of the other thoughts that came to mind.

He played O,O, and N against the P to spell POON.

“No,” she said in response to his question before forming DILDO off one of his O’s.  Penelope decided that this was one of those now or never moments and while she didn’t come right out and say it. This was as close as she’d ever been to straight up telling how she felt.  “It’s kind of hard when you’re hung up on someone.”

Their eyes met and Colin’s jaw tightened.

“Maybe they’re into you too,” he said after a minute.

He wasn’t quite sure how he managed to form LIPS off the L she’d played but he did.  He was certainly far more interested in her lips at this moment than the game. Maybe now was a good time to test out his little theory and see what she’d do if he made a move.

“In fact, I’d-“ he started to say but it was short lived. He was half-way to leaning across the board when the door opened with he jumped back on instinct.  The scrabble tiles and whatever was left of his drink went flying.

“I woke up and no one was there,” Eloise said as she made her way in, examining the situation with suspicion.  Her gaze moved from her brother to Penelope who looked remarkably guilty.  “I was worried that you had gotten lost on the way to your room.”

“Of course not, I was just keeping Colin company,” Penelope said as she tried to help clean up the mess that was their former game that was clearly not getting finished. “It’s getting late though and we probably should get some sleep.”

“Colin can finish cleaning up the mess,”  Eloise said, reaching for Penelope’s arm and practically dragging her up and away toward the door. Penelope turned her head to offer an apologetic gaze in his general direction as she was tugged away.

Colin was going to have to do something about all of this; especially the fact Eloise didn’t know how to read a room and get lost.  For now, he boxed up the game, cleaned up the spill and went grab a cold shower before bed.

That was his only hope.

#polin #⚜ writings — polin #penelope featherington #colin bridgerton #eloise bridgerton

[valiantly-onward]

The Serpentine War Ch. 13

I’m not sure why this chapter took me so long, but enjoy.

Chapter 13: The Breaking of the Truce

Two days after Garmadon’s spy mission, Ray yelled at the Master of Ice.

The guy was so infuriatingly calm all the time. Ray said I don’t like this. Haru said Circumspection in the face of peril, young Ray. Ray said I don’t know what that means. Haru said Vigilance amongst conciliatory adversaries. Then Ray lost it.

It was Master Wu who calmed him down. Hands raised, wisely addressing the Maya who nearly always stood nearby, Wu suggested, “Maya, why don’t you go fill our water reserves?”

This was unfair, because if Maya went, Ray would mostly likely go too. And usually, the tactic worked. Today, though, Ray was stubborn. Even after Maya stepped out from the tent, Ray stayed put.

Wu frowned. “Ray -”

“I have sentry duty,” Ray said, before Wu could assign him anything distasteful. He wasn’t actually sure if he had sentry duty. Probably. It had been several hours already.

Wu nodded, and gestured to the tent door.

Maya was waiting for him outside. Now in the sunlight, her frustration was apparent in all its glory. The two of them thought about a lot of things in the same way, but where Ray was loud - the yelling kind - Maya was quiet.

“That went well.” Sarcasm was a crisp, cool thing coming from Maya.

“Garmadon said there are Serpentine in the hills, but we don’t know where. It’s floating around that the treaty’s close to breaking, but we don’t know when. And Haru -” Ray snorted out his frustration with the Master of Ice. “You all right?”

She didn’t reply. Ah. So she was in one of her really black moods. Usually he could get at least a “Fine” out of her.

The tent door rustled behind Ray, and he turned to find Garmadon stepping into the sunlight. Oh, Spinjitzu Master. Wu - yes, Master Wu - was steadily growing on Ray. But this guy popped up out of nowhere and just expected them to trust him? No way.

Maya wrinkled her nose at the sight of Garmadon, if for nothing than to make Ray smirk. Then she bowed respectfully. “Master Garmadon.”

Garmadon’s gaze fell over them - fell, because he always seemed so very high up. Wu’s distance was at least horizontal, and strangely encompassing. Garmadon was linear and mountainous.

“You speak very little,” Garmadon told Maya. “But you seem to understand what many here cannot.”

Many sounded like it meant Ray. He bristled, and felt Maya do the same - she always bristled a little under compliments, as if she’d had too many and was tired of it.

“You all take too long to make decisions,” Maya replied.

“Then step in and make them yourself.”

Maya’s eyebrows shot up. After a long staring contest without a winner, she turned and started the trek down to the stream.

“You know,” Ray began slowly. “Wu taught us to work as a team and not make decisions alone.”

Garmadon looked at Ray straight-on for the first time. The man’s dark eyes scanned him up and down. Something in Ray’s chest went cold as a dead forge.

“Master Wu,” Garmadon said finally.

Coming from anyone else, this correction no longer bothered Ray. But what had Garmadon done to earn Ray’s respect? “Whatever.”

The man watched him for a long moment. Ray glared back.

At last, Garmadon decided, “I don’t like you.”

He strode off.

“A prick, that one,” Ray muttered, as soon as the guy was out of earshot. He glanced over his shoulder at Maya, who was coming back up the hill - she’d forgotten her buckets. “Hey, where’s Dojin?”

“Why don’t you go find him?” Maya loaded the buckets over her shoulder and turned back the way she’d come.

Ray gave such a good sigh, he was disappointed only the trees were there to hear it. With nothing better to do, he went to find Dojin.

The old Master of Gravity was difficult to locate. Ray walked up to the hill post overlooking the village and found no one there. He did a full circle, surveying the brown landscape. Where had the old man gone?

There were so many old men in this Alliance. Krux and Acronix were closer to Ray’s age, but as outlandish as they were with each other, they liked to keep to themselves. This annoyed Ray, because it left him with old men and middle-aged parents or almost-parents who all seemed to have collectively decided Ray needed a better father figure.

Ray spent most of his time with Maya.

“Fire, is that you?”

It took Ray a moment to locate the speaker, not charging up the hill but floating in the air above him. Dojin’s golden helmet was pulled low over worried eyebrows.

“Me,” Ray replied. “It’s my shift.”

Dojin shook his head. “I’m afraid we’re past that, Master of Fire. Come with me, now.”

Dojin flew down toward camp. Unnerved, Ray followed. They came back to the command tent, which Wu and Garmadon were standing beside, talking. Wu saw them first and apprehension immediately glazed his expression.

“Dojin?” Wu asked.

Dojin touched down, hard; the ground yanked him back like a magnet. “Master Wu, it’s General Kandoras. He’s dead.”

“What?”

“Lei was on duty. She found his body at the base of the hill, stabbed with a human katana. He’s dead.”

Ray’s brain needed a moment to figure out what this meant, but he knew it was bad. “Did she get out of there?”

“Yes. She’s patrolling the hills closer to camp now - she didn’t want to leave. But Master Wu, when the Serpentine find him -”

Wu and Garmadon shared a look of alarm. Now, Ray knew what they were thinking - the Serpentine would surely accuse humans of Kandoras’ death. This was an act of war. The treaty was officially broken.

“Prepare for battle,” Wu told them.

~~~

They’d just started evacuating the town when battle cries began to thunder over the hills.

Ray immediately found Maya with his eyes. She was already looking at him over the heads of two village kids, her expression dark.

Each of the Masters looked to Master Wu and Garmadon. In a low voice, Garmadon said grimly, “This is not a battle we can win.”

“I concur.” Wu lifted his staff from the ground. “Garmadon, you and I will hold them back. The rest of you, get as many villagers out as you can, then take off! Haru knows where to go.”

With that, Wu and Garmadon raced to meet the rising tide of Serpentine. That was an image Ray wouldn’t soon forget; two brothers standing squarely in the face of the reddened sky and the army of Anacondrai shadowed by it.

“Let’s get moving!” Ray ordered. He directed the next line of families toward Vivian, who had already made several short trips via dragon to shuffle people over the ridge to safety. There were still so many more to go.

A few kids stumbled behind their mother, and Lorin was there, lifting both into his arms like they weighed nothing. The mother nodded gratefully as she scooped up the third small one. Lorin passed by Ray, eyes slightly wild. “Where’s Hanna?”

“I haven’t seen her,” Ray replied. “Maybe she’s up front.”

“We don’t have time to look.”

At that moment, down in the village, golden wings and scales erupted in full draconic splendor. The beast roared. Ray could see the distant, small figure of Master Wu saddled on its neck.

“We’ve still got some time,” Ray decided.

Lorin moved to join the other Masters at the head. One by one, more dragons appeared in the sky, carrying swaths of villagers. Despite the danger just yards behind them, the surprised laughter of children pealed out every time a dragon took off.

Finally, the last of the villagers rushed past Ray. He cast a furtive glance over his shoulder to see how the dynamic duo of Spinjitzu was doing. Despite the brothers’ efforts, it didn’t escape Ray’s notice that the army was much closer than it had been a few minutes ago. They were in the village common now. Houses were burning.

Ray started back down the hill.

“Wait!” Maya caught his arm. She didn’t need to; her intense gaze stopped him effectively enough. “Watch the flank.”

He flashed her a quizzical look. “Why?”

“I have a feeling. Trust me.”

She didn’t need to pull that card. Ray already trusted her with everything he had.

Reluctantly, he turned away from the army and placed himself along the villagers’ flank, watching the rocks.

The Serpentine came from both sides.

It was a strange sensation, watching them emerge from the hills. One minute sandy stone, the next minute reds and greens and blues. There were no Anacondrai among them, but that didn’t mean much. All they had to do was slow the villagers down.

Ray let his hand burst into flame.

Down the line, Lorin released a shout and slammed meaty fists into the ground. And the earth shot upward. Once flat, now a clime higher than Ray’s head. Serpentine pounded the stone on the other side.

Lorin shot a grin at some unseen Master ahead of him and swung a hand to Ray and Maya. “Let’s go!”

So Ray cast fire at the Serpentine coming at their other flank, while Maya hurried shouting villagers along. To Ray’s far left, a small storm of lightning signaled Vivian’s handiwork; a few Hypnobrai went flying.

“Maya!” This was Lorin again. “Where’s Hanna?”

Maya shouted back something intelligible but it seemed to make sense to the Master of Earth. His face went slack.

Ray saw every intention in Lorin’s face. He threw one last fireball at the Serpentine and raced to intercept Lorin’s path.

“Out of my way, kid,” the man said in a low voice.

“You gotta stay here, man, they need your dragon.” Ray pushed him back. “I’ll go get her. I promise, Lorin. I’ll get her.”

There wasn’t time to argue, and Lorin knew it. Wu’s dragon roared behind them and Serpentine and Masters cried on all sides. Lorin locked eyes with Ray for just a moment, a promise passed between them, and then he raced back up the hill.

Maya was suddenly there, like she always was. Venomari acid dripped from her Nin-Jo. “You can’t fight the entire Anacondrai army single-handed.”

“I’m not.” Ray unsheathed his katana. “I have you.”

He leapt down the rocks without waiting for her response.

~~~

Lorin’s beautiful town was a mess. Ray felt some of the anger from that morning return.

His red robes and armor made him a target amongst other colorful targets. Thankfully, most of the Anacondrai were occupied with the giant golden dragon and a whirlwind of purple that kept upending their ranks. The violet tornado paused for just a moment and Ray saw Garmadon crouched before the Anacondrai, looking dark and dangerous.

Ray avoided the warriors; he wanted to fight, but he wasn’t stupid. It wouldn’t take any special Anacondrai to take him out of this world. But as he slid past the burning houses, he found what he was looking for.

A group of villagers were being herded slowly, shuffled along, right past a stately, cruel-looking Anacondrai. A purple-scaled arm reached out to snatch someone from the line.

It was Lorin’s wife, Hanna.

“Let her go!” Ray roared; Lorin’s unsaid plea flashed in his vision. Embers curled around his feet as he swung the katana at the Anacondrai’s head.

And then it was gone.

Ray’s momentum made him stumble, sword point to the ground. He spun and found the Anacondrai behind him. The creature was unbelievably fast. 

“Do not challenge me, boy,” it - he - said. “Your blood will water these hills for all time.”

Something moved behind the Anacondrai. Ray’s realized it was another Serpentine, the Venomari he remembered from Jamanakai Village, bearing a large golden staff. They regarded each other for a moment as enemies who knew vaguely of each other. With a scowl, Ray turned his attention back to the Anacondrai warrior.

He wasted no time with words. He struck.

The Anacondrai swiped its mighty tail, and Ray’s legs vanished beneath him. On his front on the ground, he just enough time to consider how humiliating this was before someone yelled, “Hey, sand-head!”

There was a swishing, then a splintering, and Ray scrambled up. There was Maya, the two halves of a sliced Nin-Jo in her hands. She looked at them, then threw one at the Anacondrai’s head. It bounded off his snout, stunning him for a moment.

“You pick the worst fights,” Maya said, yanking Ray back. “This is Traask, one of the Anacondrai generals.”

Ray exchanged his katana for fire. “Is that bad?”

“Ray.”

Rather than responding, Ray rolled underneath the large arc of the Anacondrai’s sword; Maya rolled the other way. It became a dance of barely-holding-on. Ray had never felt this way facing an opponent - vulnerable and raw. Fire was not a weapon of defense, yet he used it to deflect strike after strike.

Maya tried to get at Traask’s flank, but the snake seemed to always know exactly where she was. She’d traded her Nin-Jo half for Ray’s fallen katana, which was a sure sign of her desperation. She would lunge at Traask and he would vanish, only to reappear behind Ray, his sword high.

After Ray swung out of the way for a third time, he called, “Switch!” to Maya. She understood. She leapt forward, put her back against Ray’s, her face to Traask, and lunged; Traask blocked. Before he could restrike, they spun back-to-back, Ray now facing the Anacondrai and blasting him with fire.

He blasted for a long time. When the flames cleared, Ray straightened. But Traask was gone again.

Oh no. “Where -”

Maya yelled. Only the corner of Ray’s eye caught it: a flash of violet from his right, the stab of a jagged blade.

By the time Ray had turned fully, Maya had caught the blade with the katana. But Traask’s strength won out; the serrated tip of his blade dipped into the flat part of Maya’s shoulder.

Ray’s mind went on autopilot. He was kicking the swords apart, throwing himself in front of Maya, and a barrier of fire erupted between them and the Anacondrai general. When he glanced over his shoulder, he saw Maya stumble back, hand clasped against her shoulder. “You okay?”

Maya shot him a look that was both annoyed and relieving - relieving because she was okay enough to be annoyed with him.

Then she said, her voice strained, “Ray.”

Ray turned forward again. Traask’s form had appeared in the flames. Between the flames. Violet scales glittered wetly with a rainbow of colors, like oil in the sun. Traask slithered through the fire like it wasn’t even there.

If it were just him, Ray would’ve fought. He would’ve died. But Maya needed him. So, eating his pride, he linked his arm under Maya’s good shoulder and ran.

The village was overrun. Under a red sky slowly turning summer blue, Wu’s dragon swept droves of Serpentine off their feet. Garmadon seemed to have realized it was time to go, because he was no longer fighting. He was standing in the middle of the street, hands splayed before him in apparent expectation, expression darkening and darkening with frustration.

“Argh!” He threw his hands down and called over his shoulder, “Wu, I can’t conjure my dragon!”

Above, Wu responded by wheeling his golden beast around and letting it scour the heads of the snakes with its wings. As it approached, Garmadon flipped high and disappeared onto the golden dragon’s back.

“Ray.” Maya clasped his red shirt. “We have to go.”

But Ray’s eyes were on the circle of villagers now disappearing into the Serpentine ranks. Prisoners of war.

It was Jamanakai all over again. Ray couldn’t bear leaving Lorin’s wife and unborn child in the hands of snakes.

He had to bear it.

@greenygreenland

#ninjago #the serpentine war #ninjago fic