#fandom made him the main character when hes like a side character twice removed

[ronanceisintheair]

Stranger things if st*ve wasn't the most popular character and if E*die didn't exist

#anti steddie #im so adverse to st*ve because fandom acts like he's the most profound character. #fandom made him the main character when hes like a side character twice removed #anti steve harrington #anti eddie munson #<-ig but not really #jk... unless... ykyk?

[looniecartooni]

@hawkasss‘s “Extremely Detailed Character Chart” applied to Tyki Mikk from D Gray Man-

Character Chart

Character’s full name: Tyki Mikk

Reason or meaning of name: “First Man” and “One who is like God?” possibly signifying his deeper connection with the Millenium Earl

Character’s nickname: Tyki-pon by The Millenium Earl

Reason for nickname: Not very clear. Kind of a silly “pet” name or close friend name. He isn’t much of a fan of it and it was only used once.

Birth date: December 25th, same as the main character’s adoption date  

Physical appearance 

Age: 27

How old does he/she appear: Definitely in his twenties 

Weight: 150 lbs (currently)

Height: 6ft 2

Body build: Fairly muscular, but pretty average

Shape of face: Round, kind of a pointed chin 

Eye color: Gold like most Noah

Glasses or contacts: When in his human form he wears glasses he found in the trash to hide his eyes and face mole. Doesn’t appear to need them though.

Skin tone: Usually pale, but became more tan after the showdown on the ark. In Noah form (depending on the interpretation) dark tan or gray

Distinguishing marks: Left eye has a tiny mole under it. Also has scars on his body.

Predominant features: Curly hair, large smile

Hair color: Black

Type of hair: Uhh... short? For a while it was long. Mostly straight, but has a bit of a curl to it

Hairstyle: In his Noah form, usually pushed back leaving a large bushel of hair going down the back of his head. When his hair is long, he likes to tie it back or in a side ponytail

Voice: Not too deep, quite sexy for a chain smoker

Overall attractiveness: Very attractive. He was made to be attractive and succeeded both in the story and in the fandom’s eyes

Physical disabilities: Can’t be on his feet for too long after the ark incident

Usual fashion of dress: Tends to dress in scruffy work clothes with overalls when he’s human and in a fancy Victorian suit with a top hat and one of those weird scarf things I forgot the name of, but that’s sometimes replaced by a back tie

Favorite outfit: I’d say he likes the work clothes or just a plain shirt and pants

Jewelry or accessories: Has been seen wearing earrings on several occasions. He also carries a deck of cards to play poker when he wants. His body is also full of robotic, flesh eating butterflies 

Personality 

Good personality traits: Kind, helpful, gets concerned when someone he knows is in trouble (whether or not they’re his enemy), friendly to everyone, understanding mostly to people’s situations

Bad personality traits: Murderous intent, can snap when provoked the wrong way, able to be a bit too charming when he’s ready to attack, likes to scam people in poker

Mood character is most often in: He’s usually pretty calm and chill. He smiles a lot, but has a pretty chill demeanor. He get bothered by others a lot though so he tends to look bothered a lot too. He is also notoriously known for being confused all the time on many of the story elements that have yet to be explained

Sense of humor: Not really sure. He laughs when he’s nervous or excited. Perhaps when things don’t play out how he thought they would or when there’s irony in a situation

Character’s greatest joy in life: Being able to live a double life as a Noah and a human

Character’s greatest fear: Losing his sense of self to his Noah side probably

Why? What single event would most throw this character’s life into complete turmoil?: If he lost the ability to keep having a human side and no longer live a double life which may have already began to happen

Character is most at ease when: He’s in control, doing things right, understanding a situation, or hanging out with friends

Most ill at ease when: He’s losing or disappointing the Earl or something doesn’t seem safe. Or when people don’t listen to him 

Enraged when: He isn’t able to get a task done 

Depressed or sad when: He doesn’t know how to help the Earl 

Priorities: Serve the Millenium Earl, eat fish, hang with friends, and play poker

Life philosophy: Life is more entertaining when there is two sides to it

If granted one wish, it would be: Probably to maintain control over his Noah side

Why? : Because he likes the ability to be a human too. He doesn’t want to lose that

Character’s soft spot: People missing their friends, people in pain, or needing time to themselves. Also his friend Eez. I also saw him kissing one of his butterflies once. He’s also concerned about the Earl’s feelings (and possibly others too)

Is this soft spot obvious to others?- Road and the Earl both notice his love for humans and wanting to hang with his friends, but mostly just acknowledge it and leave it be. His brother we learn about later doesn’t appear to be very understanding of Tyki’s love for living with street people and not preferring just to be of the upper-class of society.

Greatest strength: His kind heart and ability to observe

Greatest vulnerability or weakness: His obliviousness and anger

Biggest regret: Not killing the main character back when he was supposed to

Minor regret: Losing to the main character in a game of poker where the main character cheated

Biggest accomplishment: Telling the main character not to let the monsters inside of him control him. He has to be the one to show them who he wants to be. Not sure if it helped or he sees it as an accomplishment, but it was some pretty wise words for someone who seemed to be destined to be controlled by warring forces for the rest of his possibly short life.

Minor accomplishment: Getting out of doing Road’s homework that time he was given the task to kill the main character

Past failures he/she would be embarrassed to have people know about: Not killing Allen

Why?- People made fun of him for it and it made him look like a failure

Character’s darkest secret: He lives a double life

Does anyone else know?- It appears the Noah are well aware of it

Goals 

Drives and motivations: Being able to see his friends again, protecting the Millenium Earl, poker, and food

Immediate goals: Capture “the Noah reaper”, keep the 14th Noah away from the Earl while figuring out who he is, and find out who Mana is 

Long term goals: Keep the Earl safe and find out who the 14th and Mana are while maintaining control

How the character plans to accomplish these goals: Unsure. Probably by interrogation of other characters and more fighting.

How other characters will be affected: The Earl wants to see the 14th and the truth may be the thing that breaks him or the main character.

Past 

Hometown: Somewhere in Portugal probably

Type of childhood: Most likely on the streets as an orphan, but we still don’t have any back story

Pets: Unknown

First memory: Unknown

Most important childhood memory: Unknown

Why: We don’t have a backstory yet!!!

Childhood hero: Probably the Millennium Earl. It’s implied he was taken in at a young age

Dream job: Anything as long as there’s food and he’s with his friends

Education: Never went to school, but was supposedly tutored by the Earl and helps with Road’s homework. He did learn how to write somewhere

Religion: Catholic most likely, given the story and who he’s with, but I could be wrong

Finances: Living by minimum Victorian lower-class wage or the Earl’s money (along with probably scammed poker items)

Present 

Current location: His brother’s house maybe

Currently living with: Not really sure. Haven’t seen him with his friends, but we have seen him at his brother’s house a lot. His brother might have him trapped there 

Pets: His brother has a dog

Religion: Whatever the Noah believe

Occupation: He was a miner with his friends. Not sure if that’s changed.

Finances: Brother or Earl’s money probably  

Family 

Mother: Unknown     Relationship with her: Seriously Unknown

Father: Does the Earl count?     

Relationship with him: He likes the Earl. Kind of scared and impressed with him. Occasionally embarrassed by him

Siblings: Older brother

Relationship with them: Tolerated to a degree, but tends to feel uncomfortable around him for... reasons. They do talk and I think have a form of care. They don’t quite understand eachother though

Spouse: None     Relationship with him/her: Nothing yet

Children: He has a friend who is a child 

Relationship with them: Tyki gets along with Teez pretty well, as well as his niece Road. His nephew can get annoying sometimes but he still cares for him.

Other important family members: Yet to be revealed

Favorites 

Color: Image color is light blue and he has a light blue shirt so... Light blue? Maybe magenta or purple because of his butterflies, but that might be more of what the Earl likes. Wears a lot of black...

Least favorite color: Hasn’t expressed any hate for color that I know of

Music: Not sure

Food: Anything he eats with his friends, but he has a particular fondness for fish

Literature: Doesn’t read a lot

Form of entertainment: Poker, fishing, and hanging out with friends

Expressions: Eagerness??? 

Mode of transportation: Trains perhaps? So he can scam people- heheh... Might be the Ark though as he uses it pretty frequently. Probably more convenient

Most prized possession: Not entirely sure

Habits 

Hobbies: Poker, fishing, and napping. He also likes collecting people he kills’s buttons and giving them to Teez

Plays a musical instrument? Be kind of fun if he did 

Plays a sport? Fishing is a sport

How he/she would spend a rainy day: Playing poker, fishing (he definately would if it was pouring too), probably hanging out with friends or Noah family. Maybe take a nap

Spending habits: Food related probably

Smokes: Chain smoker

Drinks: He’s appeared to have drank Wine once or twice, but not really that often

Other drugs: I think he gets high on life and fighting

What does he/she do too much of?: Smoke, creative organ removing techniques

What does he/she do too little of?: Proper analying of sitations

Extremely skilled at: Combat, poker, fishing, and murder

Extremely unskilled at: Homework, defeating a 16 year old

Nervous tics: Puts hand on his face, chuckles

Usual body posture: Slups over when he’s relaxed, but actually keeps pretty good posture (probably instilled in him by the Earl and his brother)

Mannerisms: Calm, confidence, easy going

Peculiarities: You feel at ease around him which also makes you feel uneasy because you just know, even though he’s nice or acting nice, he most likely has something up his sleeve.

Traits 

Optimist or pessimist?: Optimist. Seems to believe he has the high ground or people will comply to what he offers

Introvert or extrovert? Introvert. Likes to be alone or with a small group of individuals. Also not a fan of people being clingy (he’s like a cat. Don’t go to him, let him come to you)

Daredevil or cautious? Daredevil with a sense of caution. He doesn’t always think things through, but he does keep his guard up mostly. When he lets his guard down, bad things happen 

Logical or emotional? Emotional. Worries about peoples feelings and does what makes him excited. Doesn’t always use logic, but he likes a good challenge

Disorderly and messy or methodical and neat? Disorderly I think

Prefers working or relaxing?  Relaxing

Confident or unsure of himself/herself? Mostly confident, but he has been unsure on himself and situations before. When he’s too confident, he’s most vulnerable

Animal lover? Seems like one

Self-perception 

How he/she feels about himself/herself: Seems to like their life

One word the character would use to describe self: Interesting

One paragraph description of how the character would describe self: I doubt he’d want to write a paragraph about it

What does the character consider his/her best personality trait?: His charm

What does the character consider his/her worst personality trait?: His cluelessness or lack of perception 

What does the character consider his/her best physical characteristic?: His “choose” ability 

What does the character consider his/her worst physical characteristic?: Not sure. His hair being too long? Or being “handsome”? Kind of seems to be bothered by that.

How does the character think others perceive him/her: Trustworthy or lazy

What would the character most like to change about himself/herself: Probably how he looks. He already managed to get a hair cut and straighter hair

 Relationships with others 

Opinion of other people in general: He’s clueless but handsome and interesting 

Does the character hide his/her true opinions and emotions from others? Sometimes, but seems pretty expressive in a simplistic sense. That was hindered a little by becoming a Noah

Person character most hates: Apocrypos and possibly the 14th

Best friend(s): Eez, Momo, and Clark 

Love interest(s): None that have appeared so far

Person character goes to for advice: Road

Person character feels responsible for or takes care of: Eez, The Millenium Earl, occasionally the main character, seems to instinctually know how to handle his brother, the Earl when he feels like he made him upset, whoevr puts him under pressure

Person character feels shy or awkward around: his brother when said brother is upset

Person character openly admires: His friends and The Earl

Person character secretly admires: I think he’s secretly impressed by the main character’s tenacity, but I could be wrong (no- I do not ship them)

Most important person in character’s life before story starts: His friends and The Earl

After story starts: The Earl and figuring out who the 14th is

#d gray man #boy that took a long time! #dgm tyki #tyki mikk

[gamergirlshelby]

"Can we talk about the BNHA OC Comeback timeline? I've been dying to talk about my theories for the BNHA OC Comeback timeline all day!"

-Me to anyone willing to listen.

Here are the ramblings of me, someone who has no restraint when it comes to coming up with crazy theories about their interests, rambling about their theories on how the BNHA OC Comeback timeline could work.

Note: this is all speculation, and if the people in charge of the AU deem it to not be canon it is not. This was just something I did for fun because I wanted to do some writing. That is why I said could happen and not should happen, because this is all just fun speculation, and none of the other fandoms I am a part of have been able to scratch that itch for me lately.

Also, I will be talking about spoilers for a majority of the anime, but mostly stuff revealed in seasons 3-5, with a little bit of stuff from seasons 1 and 2, since those are the seasons with a lot of the important details that I will be attempting to write work arounds for. I will also be using the Wiki's names for story arcs (a list of which can be found here) when referring to specific plot events.

My ramblings about my theories are under the read more:

Also, to start this off, this speculation was pretty much brought upon by this post from the official BNHA OC Comeback blog, but what is important here is the tags.

I think the idea of Class 1-A and Class 1-B being third years would be a good starting point for what I want to be diving into.

First point should be a little obvious but in this timeline, Deku still inherits One for All from All Might. This is mainly because if he didn't, if someone where to write or draw an interaction between this version of class 1-A with, lets say class 1-X for this example, Deku would likely not be there, due to not having a quirk, causing the question of "who is the 20th student in class 1-A?" One for All would likely be passed down to someone else (most likely Mirio because Nighteye was going to recommend him to All Might in the first place, and if Deku is not going to inherit it, I doubt there would be anything in the way of Mirio getting One for All)

Second point I want to point out is the battle between All Might and All for One that had happened before the events of the show. I think All Might will still suffer from his injuries from the fight, and continue being the symbol of peace, even if it is killing him. BUT I think it would be best if All for One gets defeated and gets put into hiding, not initiating any of his plans or finding Tomura Shigaraki. Tomura never getting taken in by One for All would also cause the League of Villains to never form (at least not in the way we are familiar with) so we.

Third Point is, although this is speculation, and I do not know where Nomus come from, I do think, even without the league of villains, there would be some sort of lab somewhere where Nomus are being created, likely as one of the last things All for One was able to set into motion before going into hiding in the AU. (I mostly went with this because I think Nomus as a concept are really cool, and I think it would be great to have some sort of generic enemy for the 1-X and 1-Y students to have to face without the need of creating a new organization)

Fourth Point is because All for One is in hiding, so All for One can not force All Might to reveal his "injured form" (I dunno what else to call it), but I do think when All Might and Sato get engaged, he will maybe (and this is a big maybe) reveal it to the public on his own, as more of a "I'm retiring and settling down now" then a "You must keep fighting because I can not" thing, causing crime to not sky rocket, but still rise because there is no more symbol of peace, since there is still the possibility (at least in the publics mind) that All Might could come out of retirement and go back to saving people.

Alright now I begin with some of the actual stuff that actively happened in the show that Class 1-A and Class 1-B had experienced.

Alright so everything at the beginning of the anime is the same, going up until the USJ arc. This is because, as stated previously, there is no League of Villains to attack the USJ. The only thing I can think of that could possibly stay the same is the All Might vs Nomu fight, because I think Nomus as a concept are cool and that was an awesome fight. The only way for the fight to happen though is that the Nomu is let loose somewhere else, like a highly populated area, because it makes no sense for it to be at USJ without the League.

Next is the sports festival, and this would also go the same. But after that is probably the most interesting arc I leave mostly unchanged, being the Hero Killer Arc. This is because, even without a League of Villain's, there would still be people following Stain's ideologies after he is detained, so I think maybe there could be some sort of small unorganized group of people following Stain's beliefs that there are no more "true" heroes. The group of stain followers would likely be the characters that had joined the League of Villains after the Hero Killer Arc (like Dabi, Himiko Toga, and Twice). It is also unchanged in the sense that the students are interning with Pro Heroes, and that Nomus are running around, being a cool concept (can you tell I like Nomus? I just think they are neat.).

Next is the Final exams Arc, which would go unchanged, but the next arc, the Forrest Camp Training arc, would also not have a League attack (because there is no league), and Class 1-A and Class 1-B have a normal experience at the training camp, causing there to be no Hideout Raid arc, because there is no hideout to raid.

Next, the Provisional License Exams are the same results, so no change here, except Camie Utsushimi would be there instead of Toga's impersonation of her, and still ending up to need to take the Remedial Course.

After that is the Shie Hassaikai Arc and then Remedial Course Arc. The Shie Hassaikai Arc would actually largely go unchanged because it is mainly just another internship for the Hero Course students, with the only change to the arc being the League involvement being removed, even though this would leave some plot holes, which I will fill by saying the small unorganized Stain followers would take the place of the league (since Toga and Twice are apart of the Stain followers group, so they would still end up working for them, filling the same rolls they had in the original Arc). Also Overhaul doesn't lose his arms because there would be no reason for him to get them ripped off (because there is no League of Villains). ALSO this means Eri would be canon to the BNHA OC Comeback, which I wanted to mention since from my knowledge she is a fan favorite. After that, the Remedial Course would go unchanged.

I'm also going to say that Mirio will have already gotten his quirk back during the main events of the AU, since Nighteye had predicted that he would get it back before Nighteye had died. How he gets it back will likely go unanswered, since I have not read ahead to the most recent chapter of the manga, only watching the anime, so we should leave the answer to how he got it back to be unclear just in case he gets it back in a spoiler-y way.

Then, lastly as of right now, the rest of the arcs would go unchanged up untill the latest arc where Todoroki, Midoriya, and Bakugo are interning with Endeavor, excluding the parts of the arc going into the Meta Liberation War, which can not properly go through thanks to their being no League of Villains, but especially because there is no Tomura.

Alright now we get to the stuff some of you are here for, being the new info and timeline stuff that occurs during the year Class 1-X and 1-Y are first years. First off, Class 1-A and Class 1-B would now be third years, which was a concept brought up in the original post that cause my brain to go into theory mode.

I would also like to pose the idea of a new "Big Three", replacing Mirio Togata, Tamaki Amajiki, and Nejire Hado (and also the nameless "Big Three" from when 1-A/1-B had been second years in this AU) since 1-A and 1-B are now all third years. This new "Big Three" would be made up of Katsuki Bakugo, Shoto Todoroki, and Izuku Midoriya, seeing as out of Class 1-A and Class 1-B, those three have shown to be the most consistent heavy hitters (and also being the most relevant to the original plot).

Aside from that, Class 1-A and 1-B would not be doing that much in the AU aside from the new "Big Three" occasionally helping out the first year Hero Course students with their studies.

Anyway if you read this far I really appreciate it. I have some more ramblings about stuff in the tags, but its more side stuff that doesn't really effect this AU within another AU.

#bnha oc comeback #skiduffle #long post #hoo boy did i go a little over board here #this is mainly a bunch of head canons on my part of what could possibly happen with the original story since there where some retcons #since not everyone is super familiar with all of the story of My Hero since the AU is just here to let people play around in the setting #But man do I have quite the habit of going crazy with theories #best comparison that i think a lot of the people will get is how deku would get super analytic whenever discussing quirks #thats basically me when i'm in theory crafting mode #but i don't plan on theorizing how to work around other story arcs #not because i don't want to #its more of a time thing #this is pretty much all i've been working on all day tbh #since we don't know the time his fight with All Might took place #so my attempt to fix some lore might have also messed up some of the lore in the au #bonus: the meme at the top of the post is probably my favorite part of the post #i'll probably redesign my sona at some point though #so the meme will not be the most accurate #anyway that's enough speculating for me

[fluerallinmylis]

ANGST AHEAD LOVELIES!!!

NO SERIOUSLY - I HAVE SURPASSED MY USUAL ANGST LEVELS - WE ARE AT DEF CON 4 FOLKS!! IT IS FREAKING DARK FOR A BIT!!

So most of these are stated without going into specifics but I do go into the creation of children to be trained as future soldiers. I do not have any Child Psychology to back me, and most of what I am basing this from is various sci-fi movies and the TV show Dark Angel.

Heed the warnings, Lovelies. I don’t go specific but it is there.

Dead Dove: Do Not Eat!

Warnings: Child Death, Child Abuse, Institutionalized Abuse, Military Grooming, Medical procedures on minors (unspecified), Training of Child Soldiers,  Possible Child character death (in later chapters), Medical Procedures, Bio-Engineering, Unethical Medical Practices, Genetic Tampering, Non-Consensual Body Modification, SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome), Temporary Main Character Death as per The Old Guard. I think that’s the worst.

(let me know if I missed something)

Title: That Would Be Enough

Fandom:The Old Guard (2020)

Status: 2/? WIP

Summary: It’s been almost a decade since the Merrick debacle. Almost as long since their wayward brother slipped into the shadows of the modern world and only sporadically checked in to send gifts. But a quick jaunt through Italy may prove the serendipity they needed to become a family again.

Perhaps even grow....

Nicky

“I apologize it took so long to get this to you, but I felt I had to ….”

“Verify the sources?”

Nicky tightened his grip on his Joe’s hand. Ever since Joe had returned from the Market, he had been upset. His love had tossed the bag of sweets on the kitchen counter and knelt at his feet, wrapping his arms around his waist and hiding his face against Nicky’s stomach. Such actions weren’t uncommon for them but to do so in the kitchen, without a single word passed between them? Joe had said that Copley had vital information for them, that they needed to contact him immediately, then whispered softly to him,

“Booker is here, with Quynh. But Nicolo, he had a girl with him…. Oh my heart, she has your eyes. I fear what the truth they spoke may mean, but she has your eyes.”

Joe had buried his head without another word then continued to hold to him as a drowning man would his last anchor.

Nile had quickly set up a secure connection for the laptop and printer and proceeded to print several dozens of pages. They had all looked over the first few pages, then Nile had immediately taken to the laptop while Andy called Copley. He had quietly coaxed Joe up and onto the couch, where they were now, with his arms holding his other half as he pressed tight against Joe’s back. Even after looking at several of the documents himself, he could scarcely believe what they said.

“The facility where this data came from has been wiped from the map,” Copley said from the video connection on the laptop. “Whoever went after them, there is barely any of the structure left that hasn’t been razed to the ground by fire or explosives. But, there IS enough to confirm my suspicions.”

“Copley, these are kids,” Nile stressed, waving a handful of papers. Copley himself nodded, running his hand over his face.

“I am aware. It appears that Dr. Mita Kozak, Merrick’s lead scientist during the Debacle, took what information and samples she could when fleeing. She found funding with another private think tank and then proceeded to,” at this point Copley refers to his own papers, “‘use bio-engineering to enhance tomorrow’s soldiers.’ From the data and documents Booker sent to me, She used the samples she took from all of you, as well as his initial samples, and used illegal cloning practices to try and –”

“What ‘initial samples’?” Nicky found himself interrupting. All eyes turned to him, then to the laptop where Copley looked confused.

“The initial samples Booker gave when he brokered the original deal.”

“What ‘original deal?’” Andy demanded.

Even hundreds of miles away, Copley leaned away from her. “The original deal with Merrick was that he would receive the samples from the base kill room and Booker as a live and only test subject. Booker was to walk in to the building two days after the mission and surrender himself. It was Merrick who changed the arrangements and demanded all of you. When he brought you to my home, he had said he would show you the blueprints and plans to get your men out in trade for himself. Your new mortality and Keane derailed that plan.”

“And when were you going to tell us this?” His lover growled in his most dangerous tone. He himself was quickly reaching the point of murder. Sebastien had made a deal only for himself? He hadn’t sold ALL of them to Merrick? Then why were they just hearing this now?!

“Booker said that he would tell you before you made your verdict,” Copley stated and silence reigned. A quick search of faces told that their brother had done no such thing, hadn’t told anyone. It might not have made a difference given the hurt and betrayal they felt then, but to know that he had been taken advantage of as well? That he had not gladly led them to that madwoman, but had been tricked alongside them?

“We’ll get back to that,” Andy announced then turned back to the pictures in her hand. “Tell us about what that Bitch did.”

Copley took a deep breath before beginning, “From the notes and information Booker saved, Kozak used genetic cloning to attempt to create more Immortals. During the initial tests, one set of embryos were injected with a contaminated sample of two of your DNA, instead of receiving a single donor sample. Of the,” Copley paused here and swallowed heavily, “‘the Alpha batch,’ only the that set of embryos survived past the first trimester. When they did amniotic testing to see why, they discovered that the two samples had somehow merged to create a new DNA helix. Kozak then purposely did so with 4 more embryos, and each survived to birth.”

“How many?” he forced past the tightness in his throat. Copley ran his hand across his face again then sagged against his chair.

“The first were two embryos were implanted into the same woman. Due to contaminated lab protocols, both Nicky and Booker’s DNA was injected after the embryonic DNA was removed. One boy and one girl were born on October 19th, seven years ago. The ‘Beta batch’ were four embryos injected with only Nicky and Joe’s DNA.”

“Six children,” Joe whispered, then turned to face him. Tears welled in his eyes because this? This was a dream that NONE of them had dared to dream, an impossibility both because of their Immortality and then again from who they were. But Six? He had SIX CHILDREN?! A daughter and five sons – two by his Sebastien and four by his Yusuf?!

“Three,” Copley whispered and those tears fell for entirely different reasons. Copley cleared his throat then met them with solemn eyes.

“One of the boys died as an infant, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome is listed as Cause of Death. Another had an adverse reaction to a procedure and was unable to be resuscitated. One fell during what is termed a ‘training exercise.’ He died on impact of a broken neck. The girl was deemed ‘undesirable for future training’ and was left while the remaining were sent to another facility. The last records state that they were attempting to harvest her bone marrow due to an accelerated healing factor roughly an eighth of your own. They list a time of death shortly before the destruction of the first lab and facility – ”

“No, she lives,” Joe argued. “She has Nicky’s eyes and Booker’s hair and she – She lives! Booker had her in the Market earlier, and he mentioned Quynh protecting them both!” He stood quickly rounding on Andy with a calm desperation few ever saw. “That level of destruction, of complete annihilation? To protect one she considers family, Andy? She would do all that more and if she started her attack as they performed these tests –”

“We contact Booker first,” Andy said lowly. She was still in shock but hope and experience made her push thru, as did their own. “We meet him first and find out what is true or not. Copley, he gave you a number?”

The younger man nodded. “He is currently staying in a Villa, twenty minutes past the opposite side of town. Satellite imagery shows three heat signatures. I’m sending the directions and his number to your phone.”

“While we’re doing this, dig into anything you can about Kozak and where those other kids are. Any and all information, I don’t care how outrageous.” At this, she reached out and grasped Joe by his neck, bringing him close to press forehead to forehead. “We will find them and we will bring them home.”

“Everyone,” Joe said with tears in his voice and Nicky could only close his eyes and breathe deeply.

“Everyone,” Andy repeated.

Nile and Copley began discussing other matters but he blocked them out as his chest tightened and grief swelled within him. Gentle hands clasped his own and he opened his eyes to Andromache pulling him to stand, hugging him tightly and whispering that “We WILL find them. I PROMISE you, we will.” He could only nod, no words escaping his throat, and then HE was there. His Yusuf, His companion for this entire immortal journey, his soul and heart given physical form. He took his hand and led them away, to their room. Try as he might to keep quiet, he choked twice in an effort to keep his tears inside, but then the door was shut and he was surrounded by the sight/touch/smell of home…..

…. and he broke….

His tears and grief fell from him in agony and he clutched to his man with all the strength he had been given. He grieved for the young lives that had been lost, for the children they would never know. He grieved for the horrors that-that monster would have visited upon his children, THEIR CHILDREN for they would ALL be THEIR CHILDREN if he had his say. He grieved for the time lost, for not being there to see all their firsts, their joys or fears, their likes and dislikes and that which made them them. He held tight to the other half of him and grieved in his Husband’s arms even as rage boiled low and fierce in his heart.

“They will die screaming,” he promised in a hiss of breath, faces pressed close and staring into equally grief-stricken yet enraged eyes. “We will end all of them then we will live.”

“We will bring Him home,” and he shuddered in relief because Yusuf could only mean one Him when he spoke to him in that voice, “And we will raise our children. And if any try to stop or take them from us….”

Here they both bared their teeth in snarls that they remembered from the first glimpses they had across a battlefield. Yes, should any try to stop them, they would bring down 900 years of war upon their entire bloodline. They will wage war and they will WIN but for now….. Now they will grieve the children stolen from them before they even knew. They will rebuild each other’s broken parts and then be stronger for it. But for now, they wept.

#the old guard #heed the warnings #heed the tags #character death #child death tw #child abuse #institutionalized abuse #child soldiers #nicolo x yusuf #nicolo di genova #yusuf al kaysani #sebastien le livre #andromache the scythian #nile freeman #yall i went dark #hopefully i am being overly cautious #let me know if i skipped a warning #temporary character death per the old guard #Lennox Writes Fic #That Would Be Enough Fic

[letitrainathousandflames]

Phase Zero

Chapters: 2/1 Fandom: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) / Star Wars Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Dehumanization, Forced Surgeries, Prosthesis Aversion, Medical Torture (Mentioned), Angst, Heavy Angst, Sad Ending, Main Characters Death, Suicide Ideation, Suicide Characters: Clone Commander Truce (OC), ARC Trooper Speck (OC) Additional Tags: Empire Era, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Post-Order 66, Angst, Whump, Grief/Mourning, Dysphoria (regarding the prosthesis), Eye Removal Mention will add more Summary: Victims to the sick scientific curiosity of the Kaminoans, the last remainders of the clone trooper army are forced to become more machine than human, and it takes a toll on their mental health, causing despair and suicide ideation.

READ THE TAGS. READ THEM AGAIN. THIS IS HEAVY STUFF, IF IT’S NOT THE KIND OF STUFF YOU LIKE, LEAVE.

@tarantula-hawk-wasp here’s the cont. from that fic

-

Part I

Speck looked up at the black clone helmet.

“What…?” he blinked once, swallowing dryly. That thing was shy from being as tall as a commando droid “That’s… That’s you, sir?”

The not-droid turned its helmeted face down as if looking at him for a moment before wordlessly standing in attention again. The first commander that had spoken to Speck spoke gingerly to the ARC.

“Listen, we need to escort him back to his quarters.” he raised a hand to gently push Speck out of his way “If you want some advice, don’t get very close.”

Speck took a couple of steps back to then speak up as the troopers resumed walking.

“Wait. W-we can escort him ourselves, sirs. He’s our commander.”

The troopers moved fast, and the thing they claimed to be Speck’s commander followed them close.

“Negative. He needs to adapt back here and a crowd wouldn’t help at all.”

“I’ll do it alone then!” Speck countered, hastily following them “I’m his ARC, I know him well. I can do it.”

One of the commanders stopped at that, glancing at his colleague that stopped shortly after.

“ARC says he can take him.”

“Wha- no.” the other commander said sharply, lowering his tone to speak only to the commander “We have our orders.”

“Yeah, but we both have our own matters to take care of and frankly, the soonest I get away from that thing the better.”

Speck pretended not to hear it, despite being definitely close enough to. There was a small beat, and then the second commander acquiesced.

“Fine. He goes with you.” he sighed, walking towards Speck and lowering his voice “Don’t try to engage with him, alright? That whole process… it messes up a vod for good. I’ve seen it before. Whatever your C.O. was like, that thing isn’t him anymore.”

By then, the colder commander was walking away already, calling his colleague by his number and telling him to hurry up, and so the two of them left Speck with… whatever that thing dressed in black armor was.

Speck could see them talking to his fellow troopers and ushering them out, a few of them looking over their shoulders trying to understand what was going on. Speck turned to look at the tall trooper, walking up to his side.

“Let’s get to the barracks, sir?” he cleared his throat, forcing himself to sound like he always did speaking to Truce “You must be dying for some rest after flying all the way from Kamino.”

The trooper turned his head mechanically to look at Speck to then just march ahead. Speck followed him. That was fine – Truce wasn’t the chatty kind of vod, and he might just be exhausted.

They got to their dorm without speaking a word, and Speck watched in silence as Truce walked up to his bunk, standing before it for a few seconds before finally turning around and sinking down on it.

It was a good thing the commander and ARC had the privilege of a private dorm of their own. It would allow them more peace and quiet than that of the regular trooper’s. Still unsure of how to initiate a conversation, Speck just walked quietly to his bunk on the opposing wall and sat down on his own bed, prying his helmet out of his head and drawing a fresh, unfiltered breath as he placed it down on the floor.

Truce hadn’t moved. He might as well just be a statue. Speck wetted his lips, pressing them together and waiting. The seconds stretched, turning into minutes. He drew another deep breath.

“Sir… I just want you to know that I’m here if you need to talk, or…” he sighed “I’m here. That’s all.”

Truce remained still for another several moments. Then slowly, very slowly, he brought his hands up to his helmet, gingerly pulling it out of his head.

An involuntary smile curled Speck’s lips for a second as he watched Truce’s chin and  mouth be revealed. There was the tan skin of a vod – albeit a tad pale, certainly from the toll of going through several surgical interventions. But that meant this was Truce indeed, a clone just like himself.

The smile faded when Speck noticed the blemished, scarred skin around Truce’s eyes, which now revealed twin pale white irises surrounded by a rim of black – prosthesis. That’s right… Truce’s eyesight was worsening. But the Kaminoans’ solution for that problem was to remove both of the commander’s eyes?

Truce pulled the two black plates over his arms, and Speck kept waiting for him to remove the dark silver plated armor from over them when he saw Truce reveal silver fingers and hands under his gloves.

That wasn’t armor. That was Truce’s prosthetic arms and hands. Speck was still trying to take that in when Truce carefully removed his frontal plate, revealing his chest, which was thankfully still made of flesh.

There were lightning-shaped scars where the metal of his arms met his biological body, and bolts connecting wires from his skin to his prosthesis. There was a myriad of scars over his chest and torso as well, and a faint red light could be seen glowing from under the skin of Truce’s chest where his heart was supposed to be. Two metallic ends protruded from there, surrounded by cauterized skin.

The scalpel and stitch scars on his torso made it clear that his organs had been most likely harvested and replaced with synthetic ones. Speck’s eyes darted down to dark-silver legs, confirming that the commander’s lower limbs had also been cut off and replaced.

Speck could feel his stomach churn, and he swallowed down once, twice before looking his commander in the eye. The man-machine stared at him like he could see his very soul with his white eyes. When he spoke, Speck was almost surprised he didn’t have a metallic-sounding voice like a droid. Instead, his voice was raspy, deep and devoid of emotion.

“I should’ve taken decommission.”

#my fics #phase zero #to post on ao3

[bbq-hawks-wings]

Series Review Pt. 1/3

So, this isn’t even a YouTube video where you have the advantage of hearing a voice over a recording with snappy editing to lighten the mood or convey feeling; but believe me that there was a lot of earnest sincerity put into the review this time around.

But before I put the rest of it under the cut, there are some corrections/clarifications I want to put down about my last review that I believe we're significant shortcomings on my part. 

My first, and probably most MAJOR goof was my choice of words in trying to describe the scene with Hawks and Twice at the end of 263 - “ he clearly hasn’t killed Twice yet, and we don’t know why, but if he has to he’s prepared to do so without hesitation or remorse.”

BIG OOF. I hadn’t even been looking much at others’ opinions and the common-enough impression that Hawks doesn’t care about Twice at all/is incapable of empathy/ONLY concerned with his mission from the Commission. When I looked back at my own review, though I didn’t have any indication anyone believed I was one of those people (“without remorse” being the problematic phrase in question), I could easily see how others could get the impression and decided to wait until the next review to do a better job instead of just saying I would. My views on that particular scene will be clear later on, but at least that’s out of the way in case that was keeping people from reading this in the first place.

Second, I failed to arrange my observation points in a more ideal order. If anything, the fact that we were seeing that last page from Twice’s perspective should have been the first point. This mistake made it sound like a neutral assessment of the situation instead of an observation through the context of Jin's feelings. This ended up confusing even myself, as someone who usually writes these reviews solo, into forgetting to factor in that Twice's perspective may be warping the perception of Hawks guarding him into one of intent to kill while forgetting that the Hero Code forbids killing others unless it's truly a necessary last resort. For some reason, Sad Man's Parade and Twice's two-double limit also slipped my mind which brings me to the last point.

Third, I rushed things. When I rush, I make mistakes, sometimes pretty sloppy ones. It has been a ROUGH couple of weeks to be a Hawks or villain stan, even more so if you’re both, so for some reason I felt like I needed to get my thoughts out there quickly. I don’t have any kind of real incentive to do so other than a faster response - I don’t make any money off this, don’t have any relevance algorithm to feed as if I was on YouTube or Twitter, and I’m not the only half-decently known blog to hold these opinions so I don’t know what I was thinking. That’s my problem, but that doesn’t mean I have to make it anyone else’s.

For complete transparency, I’ve been reading and re-reading through the entire series canon again, starting with Hawks’ manga debut, and reviewing the entire series’ events and in-universe history, and have been taking literal whole pages of notes and drafts since Thursday the 12th. I’m glad I did because it brought to mind things that often get left out of pockets of fandom discussion who hyper-focus on their circles of interest while forgetting that each individual section is meant to work with the whole.

That’s what we’ll be working with today, and additional thanks goes to  @baezetsu and @dorito9708 for volunteering as proofreaders and editors to make this more focused and concise. If you’re interested please keep reading. A fair warning, this is what we in the professional field call a “long-ass post, no seriously guys grab a drink and a snack we’re gonna be here a while.” It's actually so long I have to split it up into parts because Tumblr Mobile is stupid and doesn't like making the "read more" function available to the mobile version.

So here we go, people, let’s try this again one last time…

Where we’re at in Chapter 264 (or at least, you know, ignoring literally everyone in the series that isn’t these two) is Twice and Hawks’ confrontation in the study room; but let’s put a pin in that for now and come back.

The biggest piece of information to keep in mind is that even though both these characters are currently front-and-center and have major plot and symbolic value in the series, they are still not the main characters. Their conflict is also not the central conflict. Let’s zoom out to the big picture and see what happens when we put everything together at the end.

The whole inciting incident of the series is when humanity began to display superhuman abilities in a few random individuals. These abilities are neither inherently good or bad - they are constantly intended as neutral with the potential being dependent on the user. Eventually these abilities began to be collectively termed as “quirks” - literally just a single facet of each person’s unique identity. From a social commentary standpoint, quirks have been used as a narrative stand-in for the unique situational circumstances or combinations of circumstances individuals may find themselves with that are either mostly or completely outside of their control like aptitude, physical ability, race/appearance, mental state, and inherited societal station. While more of these examples have been explicitly stated and inserted into the story later on, quirks still serve as the main catalyst and lens by which these topics are discussed.

Because of the initially new and unfamiliar nature of these abilities, people who possessed them faced descrimination and persecution despite having no say in whether or not they had them; and some who did possess these abilities began abusing their power. Taking advantage of this, a man calling himself One-for-All took unwanted quirks from people and redistributed them claiming to want to help others and bring about peace but merely wished to amass power and a following for his own gain. Morally upright individuals eventually rose to the occasion and placed themselves between innocent bystanders and evildoers, earning no official reward or compensation for their work, though eventually they became so effective that they became recognized and endorsed if they went through proper governmental training and channels. These endorsed specialty crime fighters came to be dubbed “heroes.”

All-For-One had risen to prominence by this point and his loyal following actively supported him in his now blatant criminal empire despite the morally reprehensible actions he committed which incessantly terrorized innocent bystanders - earning him the title Symbol of Evil or Symbol of Fear. Eventually a hero named All Might rose up to specifically deal with All-For-One’s reign of terror, having worked his way up from obscurity taking down criminals and saving civilians in unprecedented numbers, determined to create a world where everyone could feel safe in the face of danger. Though only succeeding in beating AFO into hiding All Might ushered in a new era of safety and prosperity earning him the title Symbol of Peace.

Therein lies the central message - “It’s not the situation you’re given that determines your worth or potential but what you choose to do with it” - and the main conflict is - “I want to use what I’ve been given for my own benefit" vs "I want to use what I’ve been given for others.” Deku and Shiguraki are merely the next generation iteration of this conflict distilled down to their simplest essence. Deku's desire is to save anyone who needs help the moment he realizes they need it. Shiguraki wants to remove people's sense of security regardless of their character or situation. 

This conflict is initially framed as simple - a clear black and white/good and bad dynamic that’s easy to see from a distance; but as characters and groups developed over time it’s become more and more difficult to tell the two sides apart. It was not a coincidence that immediately after introducing the clear-as-day bad guys to the series we were presented with the idea that who we perceived to be “good guys” could be bad people doing good things or that people could do good things for the wrong reasons when we were presented with the personal conflicts that Bakugo, Shinsou, and Todoroki all faced at the Sports Festival that were either their internal struggles with the way the were perceived by others or were their personal struggles with the way they perceived themselves. Immediately after that, we were introduced to Stain's criticism of modern heroes and shown who would come to be the core members of the League of Villains.

At the current events in the series we’ve waded through so many shades of grey we’re expected to determine who’s a “hero” and “villain” not by what they say but what they do, how they do it, and why they do it. The individual members of the League of Villains touch on various ways a person might be driven to a life dedicated either to the pursuit of personal satisfaction with no concern to others or to the active pursuit of destroying others, and generally the villains are some of the most morally gray characters we have in the series, though not all of them - the two most notable morally gray “good guys” are Hawks and Endeavor.

There’s one last thing to note about how the series chooses to distinguish morally gray characters as “good” and “bad,” and that ultimately boils down to the choices they make with the hand they are dealt - that being to help or to harm others. This is not quite the same thing as a “hero” and a “villian” (I know, as if it wasn’t confusing enough), but the series has now gone to great lengths to make a clear distinction between the ideals of heroism and the institution of heroism.

Looking at the difference in institutions and ideals as the series presents them we get a better picture of the actual core issues the series seeks to address. The institution of heroism is a utilitarian approach to maintaining a sense of order and safety, and it does so by incentivising people to resolve as many public altercations as possible in exchange for wealth and fame. Criminals are those who break the law regardless of the motivation for the crime or its degree of impact. The institution does not take into account factors that may drive someone to commit a crime nor is it concerned with the core motivations of those enforcing the sense of order.

On the opposite hand, the ideal of heroism offers no reward, no recognition, may require some amount of suffering on the part of the hero, and never guarantees that the victim in question will be saved. Conversely, villainy/evil is any action taken for one's own gain with zero regard to the impact on others and/or is any action committed with malicious intent. These definitions are about moral obligation and human to human connection.

While having a strong correlation (helping others because it's right usually helps the majority in the long run, and doing harm is often ultimately bad for the majority) these two schools of thought are able to function independently of each other. In other words, a criminal can be a good person fallen on hard times (like stealing food to feed their family, but only as much as they need from someone who won’t notice it missing) while a “professional hero” can be an evil person doing good things for the wrong reasons (like obsessing over gaining wealth and popularity with no mind to collateral damage they may cause). Most characters are categorized and even described in-universe as morally aligning with the institution they associate with; but several have been explicitly noted as exceptions to the rule such as Gentle Criminal and La Brava, Endeavor, and Twice. 

Are we properly confused yet? Great, because there’s one more layer to consider! What do we make of someone who is trying to do a good thing (like saving as many people as possible from a known threat) but to do so has to make a choice that might leave a few people in the fire? Which outcome do we use to decide if this is a good person or a bad one? Do we judge based on intent or on the outcome?

Now we zoom back in to Hawks and Twice, but we’ll pick that up in Part Two.

Part Three

#bnha meta #mha meta #BNHA Chapter 264 #MHA Chapter 264 #BNHA spoilers #MHA spoilers #long post

[ythmir-writes]

fandom: Midnight Cinderella character: Albert Burkchardt warnings for uhmmm that citrus fruit scale where its vanilla

hellyeahokaythis is i THINK MY FIRST FANFIC for MidCin i have nothing to say formyself 

originally posted on main original timestamp: 30 September 2015

Damn That Dress

When you dress up like that, I want to keep you all to myself.”

The words had been running through Albert’s head all night and for the umpteenth time, he tried his damnest to steady his heart. He could still remember the blush on (Y/N)’s face, followed by a small pout, and the words, “But I picked this out for you.”

He didn’t have it in his heart to make her change the outfit. How could he? He was certain that a lot of thought had been put into choosing the dress, not to mention the hours and cost of hiring people to have it made. But what stuck with him the most was what the princess had said.

It was for him.

He couldn’t explain it even to himself why he said what he had said. The only thing he was sure of, was that if it was for him then he wanted it for him alone. Just for his eyes alone. And he had said it, hadn’t he? At first he wanted her to change outfits. He could still feel the almost overwhelming desire to scoop her up and bring her to his room. But then thought against it. That would be rude. And certainly not the way a Stein knight should act.

So he had agreed, begrudgingly, and escorted (Y/N) to the ballroom. He had almost regretted it instantly, what with the nobles and bureaucrats swarming around her instantly. Even King Byron had approved of her gown, and Nico had pleasantly commented on how gorgeous she looked. For a moment he wanted to make something up in order for her to definitely change. He didn’t like the way the other people stared at her, and he dared not imagine what they were thinking. Just when he was about to decide, (Y/N) motioned for him to come closer, and when he had reached her, she had stood on the tips of her toes and whispered,

“They can look all they want but this for you, Al.”

Albert couldn’t quite hide the blush he knew was forming on his cheeks, “Of course. I knew that.” And he coughed nervously, hoping the blush would go away quickly.

(Y/N) giggled at him, and for what seemed to be fiftieth time that night, Albert could feel a warm need growing inside him.

The end of the ball came not soon enough for him. Nico and the other knights had seen to the other guests, including (Y/N), who had her hand casually on Nico’s arm. Albert tried not to think about it too much, and focused on escorting King Byron to his chambers.

“Wait a minute, Albert.” King Byron called out to him just as he was about to leave. “Tonight’s ball, how did you find it?”

Albert’s brows furrowed. “It was excellent, your majesty. The guests were very much pleased. And if I’m not mistaken, one of our lords was able to a secure a good deal with Laurelia’s nobles with regards to rights for breeding with our horses. Everything according to your plans, your majesty.”

“Hmmmm.” King Byron raised his eye to look at him. “And what about your plans? Did they go just as well?”

“I don’t understand -”

“You’ve been looking at her. All night.”

Albert almost cursed himself as he felt himself blush yet again. “King Byron, I was making sure the princess was not being bothered or harrassed by any of the other nobles. Our relations with Wysteria is just as crucial as all the other countries. As captain of the knights, it is my duty to ensure that the ball goes as smoothly as possible for all our guests. Princess (Y/N) is important and valuable to m- Stein, and I will not allow any harm to come to her.”

King Byron smiled at him, and motioned towards the door. “You may take your leave, Al. If you don’t hurry, she might just fall asleep. Nico escorted her to her room, didn’t he?”

Albert bowed deeply, unable to say the things he had in his mind about the fact that he had seen Nico chatting with the princess all night long, and settled for, “Thank you, your majesty. Good night.”

Without missing a beat, Albert quickly headed towards (Y/N)’s chambers, his head filled with thoughts he wasn’t all too familiar with, and a strong, needy desire in his gut that had been demanding his attention the moment he had seen (Y/N) that night.

He didn’t hesitate to knock upon reaching her chambers and when he heard a voice telling him to come in, he didn’t even think twice.

“Sir Albert.” (Y/N) stood up from her chair, smiling. But then her smile turned to concern.“Is there anything wrong? You look troubled.”

“It’s late. Your not changed yet.” Albert closed the door behind him slowly and dared not take another step. Not when he could feel all sorts of things in him. Not with her hair a messy tumble of (H/C).

And her dress. Goddamn that dress.

It was the color of midnight sky, with pearls as stars scattered across the universe. It had a high collar and was rather conservative at front, with intricate rose and lily embrodieries. But it was the fact that her entire back was exposed that had set off alarm bells inside Albert’s head. Not to mention the fact that the gown was snugly fitting her waist and showing of her collar bones and shoulders quite temptingly.

“I’m sorry, I had requested for some tea to help me calm down.” Again her smile. “You know how it is after these events. I still get the jitters after.” She motioned towards the chair. “Would you like to join me?”

Albert couldn’t have said no. He crossed the room in two steps and stood beside the princess, taking the teapot to pour tea for them both. He noticed that the cup before him was already filled with warm, jasmine tea. And he was just about to say something about it when (Y/N) cut him off.

“I have been expecting you,” she said, blushing up to her ears. “Or rather, I had hoped you would come. But I didn’t really think you would. It’s just that you were so busy and all, and I didn’t want to cause trouble. I wanted -”

Albert leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on her lips. She tasted like the sweet tarts that had been served as dessert earlier, strawberries and cream, and his head whirled with thoughts of doing more. He kissed her again, deeper this time, savoring the way she tasted and the way she moved her lips against his.

He tried to steady himself as he moved his head away. He kept one hand firmly on the small of the (Y/N)’s back, keeping her close. She was blushing, and was looking up at him with her mouth still slightly open. With his free hand, he traced her lips gently, and he felt her quiver under his touch.

And that was all what Albert needed to push him over the edge. With one swift movement, he lifted her up in his arms. She gave a small laugh, half surprised half delighted, her arms instinctively wrapping around his neck, and she moved to kiss him again. With practised ease, he walked towards the bed, and sat down, steadying her on his lap.

(Y/N) reached to take his glasses but he caught her wrist, his grip both gentle and firm, and said, “I like to keep them on.”

“But we might break them again.” She said. “The last time you -”

He shook his head, “It doesn’t matter. I want to see you properly all throughout.” And without saying anything else, he kissed her again, hungrily, pouring his desire unto her as he found her tongue. She moaned, her hands on his chest, and he felt himself harden at the sound.

He moved his lips to her neck, nibbling. When he reached its base, he bit her and (Y/N) moaned, her hands moving to his hair. He could feel her getting warmer all over, especially between her legs.

His hands moved to the her back, tracing her exposed skin, making her moan further with anticipation and pleasure. He found the small clasps at the the base of her spine, unhooking them with a swiftness that was urgent and needy. For a moment, he thought it was a shame for her to take it off but he wanted to feel her skin against him, wanted to feel her warmth all over him.

She moaned his name as the dress came free and she tugged at his clothes too, unclasping the hooks of his uniform and finally removing his shirt. Her fingers moved to trace the scar on his chest, and he couldn’t help but kiss her as she did. He felt her hesitate for a moment, and he looked at her.

She was blushing again, yet there was a glow to her skin now. And he looked at her with wonder.

“What is it, Al?” She asked.

He couldn’t explain it. He just felt it and damn did he feel deeply. He placed one hand behind her neck, the other moving up her back, pulling her closer. And he whispered, “Mine.”

He was on top of her now, his hand holding both of her wrists above her head, his knee parting her legs. Her breathing was partly ragged, partly moaning as he moved and filled her up. She tensed, then relaxed, and Albert himself let escape a moan.

If anybody were to ask Albert what he felt about the Princess of Wysteria, he knew he wouldn’t be able to answer straight. He was a knight of Stein after all, and issues were complicated at best. But he didn’t want that to be the starting point of his explanation on how it made him happy to hear her laugh, of how he wanted to protect her (something he doubted the knights of Wysteria could accomplish), of how he wanted to always be by her side. But most importantly, of how much he loved her.

Albert watched (Y/N)’s expression change, her breathing shallower and quicker, her legs tensing around his waist. He let her wrists go and she instantly raised her hands and moved to link themselves around his neck. He continued to move, aware of his nearing orgasm.

Without missing a beat, he raised himself up, (Y/N)’s legs following suit, still wrapped around him. She gave a small surprised yelp that turned into a low, husky moan as his thrusts were deeper, harder. In response, (Y/N)’s legs almost went limp, and he felt her almost clamping around him as he continued.

“Albert, I’m-” She wasn’t able to finish her sentence, the rest lost as she moaned with pleasure, her legs twitching, her hips responding to his. She tried holding on to his arms but she could only reach his chest, and when her nails dug at his skin, Albert came as well, moaning as he did.

He did his best to try not to collapse on top of her, and succeeded at doing so beside her instead. She giggled at him, her eyes still glazed with pleasure.

“Your glasses didn’t slip this time.” She said, raising herself up on her elbows, and planting a kiss on his cheek.

“No, it didn’t.” He answered. “I wouldn’t want to miss all those expressions on your face. I love the way you look whenever i take you to bed.”

At this, (Y/N) let out a laugh.

“What? Did I say something wrong?”

“No, no. Its just that you’re so honest.” She said. “And that’s what I love most about you, Albert.”

Albert’s eyes widened, then he smiled. He moved to face her, his arm around her waist possessively. “I’m sorry I asked you to change earlier. That wasn’t right. I shouldn’t be jealous like that. It’s just that,” He paused, “I didn’t like the idea of other people having impure thoughts about you.”

(Y/N) shook her head. “It’s all right, I’m not angry about that anymore. I just wanted to be beautiful for you tonight. I wanted you to be proud of me, in a way.”

“I’ll always be proud of you.” Albert moved a lock of hair from her face. “And you looked absolutely stunning tonight. Just as you always do.”

She beamed at him, and he felt her swell with pride. “I did, didn’t I?”

“Yes.” He kissed her on the forehead. “Yes, you did.”

#midnight cinderella #albert burckhardt #ythmir writes #ythmir fanfics #nico meier #byron wagner #ohboyyyyyyyyyyyyy #i think this is my one and only smut fanfic too haha

[taeray]

I’ve seen Star Wars The Last Jedi twice now. Here’s my thoughts. Sorry it’s long, but I just have to give the glowy character review that’s been nagging at me.

Some people don’t like seeing so much Kylo Ren, but I don’t mind it actually. He’s an accessory to Rey’s story. We get to see unequivocally why he is who he is and then see him choose the dark side even when he has the chance to leave it behind. In my opinion, the question of who he is and what he wants seems answered now. He is Kylo Ren. He doesn’t want to be Ben Solo anymore. Sure he killed Snoke, but after seeing how Snoke emotionally manipulates him, berating one moment and then praising him the next, Ren turning on Snoke made perfect sense. Snoke did not win Ren’s loyalty with any need, he beat Ben Solo into submission by playing on his fears and feelings of inadequacy. That kind of emotional abuse usually yields one of two outcomes: stockholm syndrome level loyalty or unadulterated hatred. Ren turning on Snoke was inevitable. Rey just presented someone new for Kylo Ren to latch onto and focus all his need for validation. The moment she didn’t give him that he turned on her and was ready to blast her out of the sky and kill everyone she’s ever cared about.

I believe Ben Solo is dead. Kylo Ren killed him, along with his past, just as he intended.

Onto the next polarizing character: Luke Skywalker. He might not have been exactly what people were expecting, but I actually found him to be pretty believable. He’s not a hopeful farmboy anymore. He is an old man now; an old man who fought so hard to save his father, who tried so hard to continue the ways of the Jedi, lost his nephew to the dark side which is almost worse than losing him to death, inadvertently ruined his sister and best friend’s marriage, and inadvertently brought about the death of his best friend at the hands of his nephew.

Luke. Skywalker. HATES. HIMSELF. He blames himself for every bad thing that has happened to his family since Ben Solo turned to the dark side. And so he ran away. Just like Obi Wan did, just like Yoda did, just like Han Solo did. He gave up the fight, just like all of these strong men in his life did. It’s no wonder after seeing their examples that he finally gave in himself. He went to the island to die. Rey helped save him.

As for Rey. I don’t believe she’s out of character. She’s a good person. This is a girl, who when told Finn lied to her about not being part of the resistance, didn’t even blink. She just asked him not to leave. Many a person would have locked onto the lie and been done with him after that. But not Rey. She loves deeply, forgives easily, and she gives people many chances. When she found out that maybe, just maybe, Keylo Ren could see that a mistake was made and that he could come home, she gave that hope a chance.

And she didn’t do it for herself. She did it for Ben Solo, whose pain she got to feel herself. She also knew how deeply Luke was hurting. She could heal that hurt by bringing him back. Even more she hoped he could help save the rebels, people who saved her life and were taking care of Finn. Anyone who tries to boil it down to a crush on Kylo Ren is missing so many layers to her choice to try and save him. It doesn’t matter if the fans saw him as irredeemable, Rey needed to try for the sake of so many people other than herself.

As for Poe, I loved his arc. We had no real clue as to who Poe Dameron was after The Force Awakens. He had what, maybe ten minutes of screen time and it was almost never just Poe. No one can say he was out of character. Just out of fanon character. I personally loved seeing Leia teaching Poe, and the only way to teach him is to show moments of failure. The perfect student who does nothing wrong is not a character who needs their story told. It makes for a boring tale. Poe got a ton of screen time trying, failing, and learning from the Princess herself, clearly being groomed to take her place one day. If Poe did everything he was told and simply executed Leia’s orders, we wouldn’t have needed to see so much of him. Not to mention there is a massive leap to make between being a soldier and being a leader. Leia was groomed from a young age to be a leader since she was a princess. Poe has clearly been a soldier from a young age, but now it’s time for him to get out of the headspace of soldier and into the headspace of leader. Two very very different jobs.

That leads me to address Holdo and her choice not to tell Poe her plan. She obviously confided in those she trusted because they were executing her orders. It’s not like she was fueling the transports herself or even walking around the ship giving those orders to the grunts. She was giving the orders to people on the bridge and those orders were then being passed down the chain. She just didn’t confide in Poe, because being a soldier means following orders and he did not follow Leia’s orders. He was in the hot seat, had just been demoted for refusing to listen to his commanding officer. He was being punished. He had been removed from the circle of those who needed to know. Following her lead was a chance to prove that he could follow orders. Pretty normal military protocol. He failed to just follow orders for a second time, and Leia not only sided against him for it, she stunned his butt. I found that to be a wonderful progression for Poe and in the end he learned the lesson he needed to learn.

On the other side, the story of Finn is one of my favorites. He proves time and time and time again what a good man he is. I don’t care what some say, his wasn’t a tale of learning to be unselfish. That guy doesn’t have a selfish bone in his body. His tale is one completely solidifying him as the hero, the man, the best dude in the movie. Was he going to run from the rebel ship? Yes, but not for himself. Not by a long shot. He was going to make himself look like a jerk so he could protect Rey, his best friend and the person he would literally face his deepest fear for. Only Rey could make him go back to the First Order in The Force Awakens. His story in The Last Jedi shows him going back and facing the First Order for something other than Rey, proving there is more there than a potential love interest storyline. The moment Rose mentioned the tracker, Finn was ready to go to Snoke’s ship to shut it down. He didn’t have to be asked.

He’s just an amazingly good man. He is the moral compass of the movies, and he does not have to spend time with any potential love interest to further his character development.

Plus he’s just so darn loveable that anyone that spends more than five minutes with him begins to adore him. He’s the hot girl of the movies.

As for Rose, I love her. She’s loyal, she’s emotional, she’s capable, she’s strong, but she’s not exactly a fighter. Rose is everything women should want to see in a strong female character that is not stereotypically strong. I didn’t find her writing cheesy or corny and I don’t care if her character encroaches on any ships. She is a wonderful addition to the cast and I’m excited to see what will happen with her next.

All in all, The Last Jedi was amazing in my opinion. I enjoyed The Force Awakens, but The Last Jedi has already sucked me into seeing it twice in theaters and I’m pretty sure I need to see it at least one more time. I think it really showcases who the main characters are (Poe, Rey, and Finn), and gave each of them a chance for some storyline away from each other and the shipping wars going on in the fandom. Each one of them grew a little bit in the short time they were apart, and now they are ready to be the faces of the new rebellion. People in the universe aren’t going to be looking to the Skywalkers anymore, they’re going to be looking to the military commander, the jedi, and the heart of the rebellion to save them.

Bonus moments that made me squee:

-Poe and BB-8′s multiple romcom reunions where they run into each other’s arms scenes

-Poe being immediately bambuzzled at the thought of Finn being naked

-Adorable Finn and Rey experiencing new places and things (Finn at the casino and Rey with the rain)

-”If you see Finn tell him–yeah tell him that.”

-BB-8 being the true badass of the movie, his father R2D2 would be so proud

-Luke being the true, dramatic hoe we love and not only force projecting himself halfway across the galaxy, but force projecting himself in a new outfit, with a clean haircut, and then brushing fake dirt off his fake shoulder

-Leia proving once and for all that not only is she force sensitive, but she is possibly one of the most badass force users to ever live

-Women EVERYWHERE! Women in tie fighters, women working the computer consoles, women saving the day and destroying dreadnoughts, women with blasters ready to make their final stand. Just women women women in Star Wars, kicking butts and taking names. It was absolutely beautiful.

-Star Wars cementing the fact that even if a bad guy and his fascist bs seems like a joke, he can still be insanely dangerous when he gets people to follow him

-Rey and Kylo Ren wailing on Snoke’s dudes. That lightsaber fight was absolutely amazing and beautiful and so well choreographed.

-FINN AND REY’S HUG! BEST MOMENT OF THE MOVIE!

#star wars spoilers #the last jedi spoilers #finn #rey #poe dameron #leia skywalker #luke skywalker #kylo ren

[bigyack-com]

After Birds of Prey, a definitive ranking of the DC Extended Universe films - hollywood

It is unclear what is more dramatic: the tragic derailment of the DCEU, or the manner in which Warner Bros has attempted to bring the superhero franchise back on track. What began as a hungry move to replicate the success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe has turned into a textbook example of crisis resolution in the film industry. No other film franchise in this current era - not even Universal’s laughably bad Dark Universe - has been scrutinised with such passion, and passionate hate. It is almost as if a certain section of fandom - and not necessarily Marvel fandom; there are detractors even in the DC camp - is willing the DCEU to crash and burn. A couple of years ago, Warner Bros made the excuse that while the DC films had received a critical drubbing, the studio gauged success on the basis of how the audience received the movies - and the solid box office performance of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad was proof that critics were out of touch with the general public. The release of Wonder Woman seemed to reassert this notion. The film became the first in the series to receive a ‘fresh’ rating on the review aggregator site, Rotten Tomatoes, and for a brief moment in time, everything was OK in the DC universe. But around the same time as Wonder Woman was having a game changing theatrical run, news about a massively troubled Justice League began brewing. Justice League went into production a few weeks after BvS’ release - far too late in the day for any sort of major change to be made in the same dour tone that director Zack Snyder had set for his answer to Marvel’s Avengers. When Snyder turned in an assembly cut - not a director’s cut, but merely an ‘assembly’ of usable footage - it was the final straw. Warner Bros set up a committee to oversee the film, and to provide feedback. One of the members of this committee was Joss Whedon, director of Avengers and Avengers: Age of Ultron, who’d had his own, very public falling out with Marvel Studios. In May 2017, Snyder stepped down from the film - the reason given at the time was personal, but it has since been rumoured that he was made to leave - and Whedon was hired to finish work on the movie. Justice League is essentially a film that was shot twice, inflating its budget like venom inflates Bane’s muscles. The final result was a hodgepodge of conflicting ideas and tones, a feeble attempt at putting together a team movie, lacking any sort of personality. Say what you will about BvS, at least it looked and felt like a Zack Snyder movie. All this context was crucial to the story of Aquaman - the most successful DC film, and perhaps one of the last to retain the core stars, who were all cast by the long-gone Snyder. Aquaman can serve as a bridge between the DCEU’s misguided past, and its refreshing future. This march continued with Shazam!, which is perhaps as far removed from the dour Snyder movies as can be possible. Suddenly, the DCEU finds itself on a winning streak, a streak that it will want to continue with this week’s Birds of Prey, the first R-rated film of the franchise. Here’s a ranking of the films, from worst to best. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

Batman v Superman is not so much a superhero movie as it is a story about two mamma’s boys measuring the length of their capes, finding that they disagree, and proceeding to poke each other with threats of ‘you wanna go first?’ for a solid two-and-a-half hours. This obsession with moms is a running theme in the DCEU, and forms the emotional core of Aquaman and Shazam!. BvS was clearly a compromised vision - the ‘ultimate edition’ that was released a few months later is an infinitely better film, and were it to be ranked on this list instead, it would find itself at a much higher position. Justice League

Justice League is the sort of movie that can be excruciatingly dumb at any given moment; with forced jokes that have the hit rate of a drunk stormtrooper, jaw-droppingly inane plotting that often pales in comparison to the original DC animated series, but it can also make a houseful crowd of excited fans positively palpitate with pure joy. It continued the DC Extended Universe’s bizarre trend of producing films that are direct reactions to their immediate predecessors. And for all its faults – an ugly third-act show down that looks like a mid-2000s PlayStation 2 video game, Danny Elfman’s instantly forgettable (and shamelessly rehashed) musical score, one of the most unimaginative (and cheap-looking) main villains in recent memory – Justice League wasn’t as terrible as it could so easily have been. Suicide Squad

All it took was one scene. One scene transformed Suicide Squad. It wasn’t necessarily the best scene – in fact, in any other movie, it would barely merit a second glance. But for Suicide Squad it was a godsend. It came nestled in the heart of the film - following an hour or so of jarring, time-hopping, clumsy storytelling – and preceding another hour of more of the same. Not only was it the first time our characters resembled real, relatable human beings, it also proved, however briefly and despite what we’d seen so far, that Suicide Squad has a heart. It sent our characters, all dressed in their ridiculous costumes, drenched in water and blood, to a bar. No explosions, no fistfights, no Joker - just the quietest member of the Squad, El Diablo (Jay Hernandez), telling a story. It’s the scene that cemented the gruffly sentimental relationship between these characters and saved the film. Aquaman

James Wan’s Aquaman actively distanced itself from the heavy metal take on the character that Snyder had originally envisioned. And with more time on his hands, Jason Momoa took Arthur Curry in surprising new directions. It was quite a wonderful big screen experience - Atlantis looked stunning, as did the creatures and Wan’s affectionate world-building - but it was the earnestness with which the film treated its characters that is its most endearing quality. Man of Steel

Without any doubt, my favourite single moment of any DCEU movie comes in Man of Steel. Snyder is clearly someone who understands the iconography of superheroes better than anyone else - that teaser trailer alone was a work of art; the one in which a child put his hands on his hips and the whole world suddenly realised what they were watching. But for a brief second in Man of Steel, Snyder accomplished - in my opinion - what he was going for all this while, a deconstruction of myths, a grounding of gods. Alone and misunderstood, Clark Kent goes from town to town, taking up odd jobs, convinced that his father - Pa Kent - was right; to reveal his powers to this cruel world would only bring trouble. And so he drifts, between dive bars and oil rigs, unsure of himself. We see him walk on a highway, his back to us, the evening sky slowly welcoming darkness. Clark turns around, sees an incoming truck, and sticks out his thumb, hoping for a stranger to show kindness. The truck doesn’t stop. And Clark keeps walking to wherever the road will take him. I think about this moment very often. This is Superman. So vulnerable, so alone. No one to help him. And yet, he dedicates his life to helping others. This one moment perfectly captures the flawed brilliance of Snyder’s DCEU. Birds of Prey

Birds of Prey is essentially the story of Harley Quinn emerging from under the Joker’s shadow, and the DCEU distancing itself from its past. It has virtually no bearing on the larger series, but as a standalone adventure, it’s a terrific showcase for Robbie’s talents as an actor. It’s interesting to note how, in the span of just over a decade, the pendulum has swung from Joel Schumacher’s lurid Batman films to the gritty realism of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, and back again. Shazam!

Shazam! was an altogether different experience - both in tone and in scope - from previous DCEU entries, and this includes the largely beloved Wonder Woman and the box office smash Aquaman. It was, at the risk of invoking the wrath of fans on both sides, to the DCEU what Thor: Ragnarok and Spider-Man: Homecoming were to the Marvel Cinematic Universe - lighter, less angry, and positively delightful. Under the unlikely direction of Swedish filmmaker David F Sandberg, Shazam! was as magical as its title suggested; heartfelt, humorous and burdened by none of the hubris of Batman v Superman and Man of Steel. Wonder Woman

Wonder Woman is the sort of movie that makes you forgive things it got wrong solely on the strength of everything it got right. And it got a lot of things right. It was the first film in the DC Extended Universe that was worthy of its iconic character, and it did what both Batman and Superman couldn’t do: It gave us hope for what’s to come. It was still crippled by the influence of Zack Snyder in its CGI slugfest of a final act - an annoying trend that for some reason James Wan chose to honour in Aquaman - but it was so much more than just a great film. Wonder Woman was perhaps the defining superhero movie of a post-Trump era - what Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy was to a post-9/11 world. It’s an earnest film, which often feels too pure for this horrid world. And that no man’s land sequence is right up there with The Master’s ‘don’t blink’ scene as one of the greatest of the decade. Follow @htshowbiz for more The author tweets @RohanNaahar Read the full article

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[sextonsharpwinhalstead]

Ships: Could They? Would They? Should They? Part 2

So, the last time I did this I said that the sky was the limit and I meant it! (LOL) Also there are a few ships that I know are rare (my beloved rare-pairs) that weren’t even hinted at; as well as some obvious ageism issues and exclusion of cast members so here we are with Part 2. Also, I’ve taken liberties of developing each one with bits and pieces of canon and fanon.

*Side Note*

I don’t expect this to be as popular as the other; mostly because these characters aren’t as popular in the Tumblr Fandom.

April Sexton/ Natalie Manning

Ship Name: Mexton

Why They work: Both Nat and April have a great balance of hard work, drive, and compassion for their patients. They are both strong, inspirational, and have been disappointed or heartbroken in different ways by the men they have let into their love lives. April’s nurturing side would be great with Owen, and Natalie could step up in a stronger personality role for April who is often backed into a corner or allows herself to be taken advantage of. Dates would consist of breakfast in bed, gushy text messages, and Natalie serenading April with her violin.

Why They Won’t: The show was really awful about using their friendship to boost Natalie’s needs and if we went off of that then Natalie would be horribly not-supportive when April is going through hard times. April is a catholic Afro-Latina and from a pretty strict upbringing, being out wouldn’t be easy in those worlds. Also, I honestly think if April were to get into a femme relationship with anyone it’d be with Sarah.

Natalie Manning/ Sarah Reese

Ship Name: Meese

Why They Work: The episode when Natalie and Ethan removed a prototype from the little body-hackers stomach opened the nerdy-world of a young Natalie Manning we as an audience were not privy to before. But that girl still exists within in her and it would probably be a draw for nerdy Sarah. I could see them on dates to the Smithsonian, playing the crossword over breakfast in the morning, and playfully arguing over peer-reviewed medical journals. They’d borrow each other’s scrubs and Natalie would quiz Sarah on her boards; and missed questions would mean Sarah would be doing the laundry. Sarah would be in awe of seeing a classically trained violinist whose back-up was being a doctor and Natalie would easily bond with the prissier parts of Sarah’s personality. However…

Why They Won’t: Canonically, Sarah made it clear that she does not want children and Owen (although rarely seen or spoken about since season 1) is very much a part of Natalie’s’ life; it’s a deal breaker folks.

Sharon Goodwin/ Daniel Charles

Ship Name: Choodwin

Why They Work: Meticulous, wise, funny, and successful these two have always put their careers first (even to the detriment of their personal lives). When they talk you are for sure there is a story accompanied with their advice/musings. I could see late night coffee dates where they slowly disclose little surprising pieces of their history, maybe Sharon worked as a casino showgirl to pay for school and Daniel performed his own experiments with psychedelic medicine made popular in the 60’s (on himself). They have a friendship that slowly turns into something more and they don’t feel the need to label it; they just let it be. This is the mature, relationship goals, we all want and the peace that healthy drama-free love actually is.

Why They Won’t: There is a reason Daniel has been married 3 times and none of it seems good. Also, even though the show hasn’t mentioned much of her, Daniel has another daughter (aside from Robin) who Sharon would need to warm up to. Also, if we take into context the age of his daughter; we should ask ourselves how long it’s been since his last divorce and if he is even in a position to date again; Sharon too. I would hate to see some of his baggage and demons hurt Sharon when she’s had her heart broken not once (Bert) but twice (losing her first love to parasites) on the show. In all honesty I could live my entire life not seeing her cry again.

Will Halstead and Sarah Reese

Ship Name: Ralstead

Why They Work: Smarty pants. Everyone on this show is brilliant and has to be especially to be doctors, but there is smart-nerdy side to Will that seeps out in all kinds of episodes; he geeks out over medicine a lot. We have seen Sarah develop into someone who is way more confident in her abilities and willing to challenge the rules a bit more than she was in season one. They could meet on these overlapping personality quirks and interests. There would be dates where they traded off into nerd-world and then into classic fun.

Why They Won’t: Sarah is a lot more progressive socially than Will. I could see her being offended on a regular basis with some of his not so subtle sexist ways. Also, the show hasn’t stated yet but I can see Will being into more traditional life-steps: house, marriage, kids. We know Sarah doesn’t want kids and I wouldn’t be shocked if we found out she wasn’t into marriage either.

 Jeff Clarke/ Ethan Choi

Ship Name: Cloi

Why They Work: Bros’ that think they’re bros and then end up in bed together. They would’ve been bonding over their past lives in the military, swapping war stories, and trying to one-up the other in crazy hi-jinks from the past. I could see this ship beginning as the two of them going out and picking up women, having beers, and playing games but then eventually leading to quieter activities like staying in; instead. One thing would lead to another and they would wind up in bed together. I could see them being each other’s “first” in that regard.

 Why They Won’t: Machismo and homophobia would be the main stumbling blocks for this ship, one or both of them would not want to make the relationship public and it wouldn’t seem like a problem, but could you see how hard that would be in episodes like Monday Mourning? Or Cold Front? I think it would stress the little ship and it’d crack.

Will Halstead/Ethan Choi

Ship Name: Chalstead

Why They Work: Smart, hardworking, and both Chief Resident (although at separate times) these two could work. However, I could see this being another “secret relationship” but not because of homophobia but purely for professionalism. They are both incredibly focused at work and no one would even know they were together unless told. But at night and on the weekends the two can be found in bed reading medical journals, summing up the weird stories of the ED, and trying different restaurants.

Why They Won’t: Although both professional; Will is still the attending and higher on the totem pole. Even if they could be professional they are both still a bit egotistical and the fights would spill over into their home. Also, the rigid professionalism would begin to take a toll. I mean who doesn’t love a quick peck on the cheek from your partner or spouse before starting work?

Maggie Lockwood/ Will Halstead

Ship Name: Lockstead or Halwood (honestly, they have so many possibilities)

Why They Work: There are all kinds of ships that happen naturally on Med and Maggie and Will are one of them. They have a great friendship and on some ways canonically she is his only friend. A supportive friendship is always a great basis for a romantic one. This ship would be one where we watch as Will pines over Natalie and even dates Nina all while not realizing that the one person he doesn’t have to hide anything from is Maggie. He realizes out of the entire staff he is the only one that has met her family and she constantly looks out for him. In other words, the person you love has been in front of your face the entire time. She is feisty and not push over, something he definitely needs, and he has just enough confidence to take a powerful personality like hers on.

Why They Won’t: The nonsense Will has displayed with his treatment of Natalie and Nina. His behavior with Jennifer Baker; all of it would be a turn-off to Maggie. She is a charge nurse who understand order within the chaos but order none the less and that mess in season one with Will would’ve turned her off; also no one wants to be second pick…let alone third.

Maggie Lockwood/Sharon Goodwin

Ship Name: Goodlock or WinWood (a ton of name possibilities here too)

Why They Work: Maggie always has everyone’s back and none more than Sharon’s after Bert leaves. I could see Maggie bringing Sharon food, making sure she took care of herself, and sitting with her at night so she wouldn’t have to eat alone. They would reminisce about the old days of nursing together and Sharon would push Maggie to pursue more within that field. And although Maggie has expressed attractiveness to men like Connor and Jeff, women; in particular, make comments all the time on the attractiveness of both sexes without any romantic interest. In other words, the show has never clearly stated that Maggie is straight. Hanging out could lead to co-habitation, and then maybe more.

Why They Won’t: I could honestly see Sharon being into Maggie but then running from her feelings because it’s not what she’s used to. Also, this show has done NOTHING with Maggie as far as her interests go, she is work, work, work and so is Sharon; so, when would they have time to truly nourish this new avenue?

Jeff Clarke/ Sarah Reese

Ship Name: Cleese

Why They Work: This is the “It gets better” “Let me show you the ropes” ship. Sarah and Jeff could bond over the indecision they both have had in their careers. Jeff being military, then a fireman, and now a doctor. Sarah in the field but confused about which discipline to go into, emergency medicine, pathology, and then psych. She’d be shocked that he was flirting with her (just replace Noah in that “I watch you” scene and that’s how she would be). He’d be in awe of how smart she is. There would be a few dates and some really hot hook-ups…

Why They Won’t: …Before they realize there just isn’t a future there. He is a bit older and is still trying to get his footing and she is focused on being the best in psych. They would care for one another but would probably realize there isn’t enough common ground to sustain a relationship. They’d part ways amicably. (Also this is actually the rarest of ships as I don’t think these two even shared a scene together! photo courtesy of ChildofLoki)

Jeff Clarke/ April Sexton

Ship Name: Clexton

Why They Work: They both have heroic personalities. They are the type to go above and beyond to do the right thing in helping people and that compassion would be there but for each other. April helping Jeff dress his wounds after he is accidentally shot etc. Before White Butterflies, when we as an audience realized Jeff’s sole purpose on the show was to show Natalie’s ability to move on, I thought it would be a lot more fitting or realistic if he had been on the roof with April and almost kissed her. He always came across soft, and kind around her. He was the only one to implicitly express condolences to her about her miscarriage and then ask her how she was holding up. It was just that easy and no one else could do it. I could see him taking her for a drink and then they would hang out a little more and then….

Why They Won’t: But there is still only one resident spot and it went to Noah. How juicy the story-line could’ve been if they had decided to put Jeff and April together and then there would be tension about who got the residency, their break-up would be inevitable because Jeff (being the admirable person he is) wouldn’t want April to feel conflicted. He’d try and get the Hawaii residency and it would be this really sad ending to a “what could’ve been” ship.

Connor Rhodes/ David Downey

Ship Name: Dhodes

Why They Work: Connor respects brilliance and Downey was just that; brilliant, but also adventurous, wise, fun, and caring. His talent was renowned and that was what Connor would hope to be one day. Connor was not unlike Leah Bardovi in his wide-eyed admiration of David Downey. I think David saw a lot of himself in Connor as well as limitless amounts of potential. But often there were times when he looked at him that made me go…hmmm. It’s easy to cast Downey as the father-relationship Connor never had but it would also be a bit sexist of us to believe that men too can and do fall in love with other men because of “daddy issues.”

Why They Won’t: Cancer. Downey would still be sick and he probably wouldn’t want to begin a relationship knowing how heartbroken Connor would be that he couldn’t fulfill it (think “Me Before You” levels of unconsummated love). The scene when he emptied his ashes in the ocean would be even more serenely heart wrenching.

Sarah Reese/ Daniel Charles

Ship Name: Cheese

Why They Work: Could you imagine?! This would really be an illicit affair; Sarah sleeping with her mentor?! They’d be sneaking around and we’d be wondering why? How? All I could say is that the line would probably begin to be crossed after the Monday Mourning episode. Sarah being one of the few people to show concern for him, maybe she checks on him at home and vice versa for him. Seeing the other out of the work profession and opening new avenues for conversation could happen. Sarah doesn’t seem like the type to care about marriage and kids and that would work for Daniel because he doesn’t seem interested in doing either again.

Why They Won’t: Let’s be real…eww lol. Aside from the obvious father daughter vibes, this ship has platonic written all over it. I would hate to think the show would cross that line and put them together. Also, Daniel would be risking a lot of his integrity starting a relationship with a subordinate and the messy psych dynamic would be…well messy.

#april sexton #will halstead #Natalie Manning #Sarah Reese #dr. daniel charles #ethan choi #jeff clarke #david downey #connor rhodes #sharon goodwin #maggie lockwood #cheese #dhodes #clexton #mexton #meese #ralstead #Chalstead #Cloi #goodlock #winwood #lockstead #halwood #choodwin #nbc chicago med #chicago med #chicago med ships

[mrslittletall]

Title: A Storm is coming (Chapter 15) Fandom: Dark Souls Characters: Chosen Undead/Dragon Slayer Ornstein, Siegmeyer of Catarina, Sieglinde of Catarina, Griggs of Vinheim, Laurentius of the Great Swamp, Petrus of Thorolund Word Count: 3.303 AO3-Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16603610/chapters/48785066 Previous chapter: https://mrslittletall.tumblr.com/post/187216779749/title-a-storm-is-coming-chapter-14-fandom-dark

Summary: The duo has a moment of peace at Fire Link Shrine.

(Author's note: A bit of a shorter chapter this time. Now that Seath has been dealt with, I need to set a few things up. I also wanted to explore a few headcanons. I hope you enjoy and stay with this duo at their journey to get the other three lord souls.

Also, I decided to use both the POV of Tempest and Ornstein even in a single chapter. It is far easier for me. Tell me when it gets confusing. I promise the POV will never shift away from our main characters though.)

Tempest couldn't get enough from the warm, glowing soul he cradled into his hands.

This was part of a lord soul. A real one. And he had been the one to receive it.

Granted, he wouldn't have done it without Ornstein's help. Tempest should cook his favourite meal when they had a moment of rest.

Right now, the dragon slayer didn't looked like he was eager to eat anything at all. He sat on the ground next to Tempest at the Fire Link Shrine bonfire, his helmet removed and having a rather green colour in his face.

Tempest just wanted to test if the warping powers of the lordvessel could been activated when he would have someone with him and indeed, it worked. But through this he also learned that Ornstein didn't take easy to magic teleportation.

“Are you feeling better?”, Tempest asked after a good while of silence.

“...The next time you ask before I get a surprise teleportation.”, Ornstein murmured.

Ah good, he was talking again. For a moment Tempest had been worried that Ornstein would vomit all over the Fire Link Shrine, so sick had he looked.

“...sorry.”, Tempest said, gaze locking back onto the soul he got from Seath.

“...You are awfully fond of this thing already.”, Ornstein said.

Tempest eyes lightened up: “Because it is a lord soul. A real one! I never thought I would see one, much less that I would be the one holding it in their hands! I just... have a hard time grasping it, that's all.” He looked at Ornstein and his eyes softened: “This wouldn't have been possible without your help, you know this.”

“And I already said to you, I only fulfilled my duties.”

“Still!”, Tempest said out loud. “...Say, Ornstein, don't you have a part of the lord soul too? Does your soul look as beautiful as this?”

“What? You don't expect me I can just rip it out my body to show you? That isn't how this works!”

“No, but I mean, you must have merged your soul with the lord soul part somehow, right? And haven't you seen it then?”

Ornstein looked down at Tempest, studying the face of the little Undead. He had this big curious eyes again. Biting back a sigh, he began to explain: “When I got the part of the lord soul, I indeed merged it with my own, but that wasn't done by pulling my soul out of my body. Instead, I inserted the part into my chest where it could merge with my own soul. It felt... very warm and hot, almost burning. It has been so long but I still remember it vividly...”

“You mean, it felt like if you drink soup that is still too hot?”, Tempest chipped in.

“...You know, Artorias would have really liked you.”

Both of them stayed silent for a while before Tempest spoke: “How was he? Artorias, I mean.”

It took Ornstein a while before he replied: “He was... always there when you needed him. He would always listen. He was always smiling. As nerve-racking as he could be, his presence made every day a little bit brighter. And so, as he died, my world got a little darker...”

“...I am sorry.”, Tempest said once again.

“...Don't sweat it. That was a long time ago...”

Ornstein seemed to act like he didn't care anymore, as if he was above this things, but Tempest, studying his face, seeing the frown and the glistening tears the dragon slayer tried with all his might not to shed, knew that this wasn't the case.

“...Shall we maybe take a walk around Fire Link Shrine? I can introduce you to the others.”

“Oh and how do you want to introduce me, the knight from legends who is twice the size of you humans and should instill fear in your hearts?”, Ornstein said, voice practically dripping with sarcasm.

Tempest was happy that he managed to distract Ornstein from his loneliness, but he apparently had to be complicated about it.

“I just say that you are my friend who helps me with my quest. I don't have the feeling the Undead at the shrine know a lot about Lordran. They are all from other lands.”, he said, standing up. “Are you coming or not?”

“Fine.”, Ornstein said, putting his helmet back on and standing up too. “But I leave the talking to you.”

“Great!”, Tempest smiled, heading into the directions of some stairs, but briefly froze and looked back at the bonfire.

Ornstein followed his gaze and both of them stared at the onion knight standing near the bonfire, clearly so lost in thought that they hadn't noticed the duo.

“Is that Sieglinde?”, Ornstein asked. “Doesn't feel like it.”, he added.

“No, I think that is Siegmeyer.”, Tempest said, squinting his eyes. With the same suit of armour it was hard to find out which of the knights really was in it, but that distinct sense of being absent smelled too much like Siegmeyer.

Tempest casually strolled over: “Hey Siegmeyer. I see you have made it back from Anor Londo.”

The onion knights head jerked up and when he saw Tempest his face seemed to lighten, even though it was impossible to see through the armour, his whole being just seemed to light up as he spoke:

“Well! Fancy meeting you here. You did much for me up above. I am grateful. You know, I was thinking… The gates at the old fortress… Was that your doing?“

“Um, you could say that, yes...”, Tempest replied to the question, biting back a nervous laugh. That he had opened the gates for Siegmeyer had been a pure coincidence after all.

“Yes! I knew it! It seemed like an unlikely coincidence. Well, am I fortunate! This knight of Catarina thanks you sincerely Please take this, as a token of my gratitude.“

The onion knight handed Tempest a scroll. Ornstein glanced at it and determined it as a miracle, but one he had never seen before.

“Oh, thank you very much.”, Tempest smiled. “Say, I have to tell you something!”, Tempest suddenly said but got interrupted when Ornstein laid a hand on his shoulder and just shook his head. “Oh, nevermind.”, he finished. “Say, Siegmeyer, what are you planning to do now?”

“Oh me? I'll be heading down below shortly. There's nothing worthwhile up above. No worries! Adventuring is my life; I'm prepared for the worst.“

He finished with a hearty laugh.

“Just... take care.”, Tempest said and stepped behind a corner, whispering to Ornstein: “Why shouldn't I tell him about his daughter?”

“It's better when he doesn't know. It probably is also better when this two never meet. When we see her the next time, we should just tell her that she should leave. Lordran is no place for a living human.”, Ornstein said.

It took a few seconds before the statement hit Tempest, but once it did, he threw his hands up in the air and almost shouted: “She's not UNDEAD?!”

“Little storm, not so loud.”, Ornstein hissed. “And yes indeed, she isn't. I could feel her soul power resonating within her, you Undead have a completely different feel. It is more than impressive that she made it to Anor Londo in this state.”

“I have a newfound respect for this girl.”, Tempest whispered.

“You wanted to go elsewhere before you saw Siegmeyer, so where to?”, Ornstein asked after a few minutes of silence.

“Oh right, I wanted to pay Laurentius a visit.”, Tempest called out. He led Ornstein up some stairs, heading for an Undead dressed in the robes of the pyromancers of the great swamp. Ornstein tensed at his sight.

“Hey Laurentius, how is it going?”, Tempest asked with a big smile.

“Oh, it's.. it's you. I.. I surely hope my flame was of help?”, Laurentius spoke, a sonore voice interspersed with some kind of anxiety. Though Ornstein could relate to this, he preferred to stay a bit to the side.

“It was, thank you very much. Actually, I wanted to ask you if I could get an upgrade?”

“Of... of course. Just hand me the souls I need for this.”

Ornstein watched as Tempest went to grab the souls. It was as fascinating as it was disturbing. While most people just absorbed the souls once the kill had been done, Undead only could store them. And so they were able to trade them. Ornstein saw how Tempest turned around to open up the leather vest he was wearing and touching the dark sign to channel the right amount of souls to hand over to the pyromancer.

The process looked at weird as it looked distressing for the little storm. Ornstein asked himself if maybe he shouldn't have stared. He discreetly looked away as the pyromancer took the souls, probably to add to his own stock and got to work.

“So.. who is your friend standing there?”, Laurentius asked while working on the flame. Tempest turned around to look at Ornstein.

“I met him in Anor Londo. He helps me out with my quest.”, he replied. “You know, you can come a bit closer!”, he suddenly shouted.

Ornstein winced and answered: “...sorry, fire just isn't my thing.”

“Oh, th.. that's fine, I understand.”, Laurentius said and Ornstein could hear some hurt in the pyromancer's voice. It didn't surprise him. Pyromancy was scoffed upon, especially from sorcerers, being a very primal art of casting. That Ornstein didn't want to come closer because fire reminded him of the dragon war and he could get a... rather negative reaction, he didn't dare to say.

It probably was better when none of the other residents of this shrine knew who he truly was.

The both Undead talked about some trivial things with each other before Tempest got his pyromancy flame back and said his goodbyes.

“Where to now?”, Ornstein asked.

“I wanted to visit Logan's student, Griggs.”, Tempest said. “He surely wants to hear about his master's whereabouts, don't you think?”

Ornstein couldn't argue with this, after all, he asked himself where his own master was for centuries now. Tempest ran upon a small figure dressed in the sorcerer garb of the dragon school of Vinheim.

Vinheim with their practices of dragon worship had never been very welcome in Anor Londo.

“Hey, Griggs, guess who I found in the Archives? It was Logan!”, Tempest exclaimed.

“Master Logan is safe? Oh, these are good news.”, the young looking sorcerer said. Of course there wasn't any guarantee that he was still young, just like Ornstein was hundreds of years old, the Undead could have been like this for hundreds of years too and just kept their appearance they had when they turned undead.

“He was behind bars though, your master seem to have an affinity for being caught.”, Tempest laughed. “But don't worry, we freed him and he studies in the archives now.”, Tempest gestured to Ornstein, who simply gave a small nod at his mention.

“Are you in need of any sorceries?”, Griggs asked. “I would like to travel behind Master Logan soon, but I don't want to leave you hanging after all you have done for me. And Master Logan.”

“Actually, I would like to buy that last one you offered.”, Tempest said with a grin.

“Of course, just hand me the souls.”

This time Ornstein turned around as the exchange happened and soon Tempest was in the possession of a scroll with a mighty sorcery on it.

“Why did you buy this? I don't think you are able to use this sorcery.”, Ornstein said as they walked away from Griggs.

“I made a lot of souls in the archives and just wanted to share.”, Tempest replied. “Besides, maybe I learn how to use this! You'll never know!”

“Any more people you need to visit at this shrine?”, Ornstein asked.

“Ah, not at this shrine anymore, but I would like to visit Andre, the blacksmith in the parish.”, Tempest said. “It would be quicker to warp there, but don't worry, there is a shortcut and you only need to fight three hollows to reach him.”

In secret, Ornstein was glad. Magic teleportation really didn't sit well with him. That Tempest took this into consideration made him incredibly sympathetic.

As they headed for the aforementioned shortcut, they passed another Undead, a rather burly man in the typical cleric garb of Thorolund, or maybe the armour just let him look like it. “Oh, this is Petrus.”, Tempest whispered to Ornstein and went over to talk with the man.

“Has your lady returned yet, Petrus?”, Tempest asked.

“M'lady...? I am afraid not, just where could she have run of too?”, the cleric replied. Ornstein frowned under his helmet. A sworn protector who has let his protégé run away? And was not searching under every stone for her?

“Don't fret.. I am sure you will find her.”, Tempest reassured the cleric. He didn't seem to acknowledge Ornstein's presence at all, so the two of them went on.

“This guy, he is shady.”, Ornstein whispered. “Why wouldn't he search for the lady he should protect? I think he might have abandoned her.”

“What?!”, Tempest eyes grew wide. “...your words makes sense, but... he looked so distressed.”

“He's acting. I have seen enough people like this in my life. Just... don't talk to him anymore. He isn't worth it.”

“Well, I guess so...”, Tempest said as they stepped in an elevator that took the both of them right into the church of the Undead Parish.

Ornstein hadn't been in this place in ages. The knights of Anor Londo had sometimes helped out the human population of Lordran to fight off threads, but most of the time, they had been on an Undead hunt.

Now Ornstein was sure that not a single living human was left in the land of Lordran anymore.

Like Tempest had said, the way to Andre was easy and only guarded by three very weak hollows that fell to their blades far too quickly. As they made their way to the blacksmith passing a bonfire, the constant clanging of a hammer was heard echoing in the old building.

Ornstein followed Tempest but preferred to stay out of sight of the blacksmith. He only would pique interest with the golden armour and the special weapon he wielded.

Tempest talked to the blacksmith who first noticed the crystal ember that Tempest had found in the Archives, quickly dismissing it, stating that he wouldn't be able to use it. They then talked further and shortly afterwards Ornstein could hear the distinct sound of a twinkling titanite used to reinforce a weapon. Apparently, Tempest had taken a liking to the silver knight straight sword.

After the weapon had been handed back to Tempest, Ornstein noticed that another exchange of souls happened. When Tempest came back to Ornstein he held an item in his hand, presenting it to him, asking: “Ornstein, what is that?”

“The Crest of Artorias.”, Ornstein gasped. “Why did the blacksmith had it?”

“Wait, this belonged to your friend?”

“No.”, Ornstein quickly shook his head. “It is a key that can open the door that leads to his grave. It was made by Princess Dusk of Oolacile after the grave robbers went too far. There is an alternate path to the grave, but it is long and difficult to take, so the door kept the grave rather safe the last few hundreds year.”

Ornstein fell silent after this explanation. While the door had managed to keep most graver robbers out, what it didn't had managed was to keep Ciaran's sadness out of her heart. She had died right next to the grave of her beloved.

“...Do you want to visit the grave?”, Tempest asked, concern shining in his blue eyes.

“No, not yet.”, Ornstein said. “We have to go there eventually, because that is where the friend is we need to talk to, but.. for now, let's go somewhere else.”

“Alright.”, Tempest said, pocketing the magic key. “Let's head back to Fire Link Shrine.”

“What destination have you picked out for us to head next?”, Ornstein asked.

“I was thinking heading to the catacombs... I already have been there, though I was mostly running through it screaming... The gravelord is down there, right?”

Ornstein simply nodded once they rode the elevator back to the shrine. Once they had managed to make it to the bright burning flame, Tempest spotted the familiar onion knight and said: “Oh, Siegmeyer, didn't you want to head out?”

“Idiot.”, Ornstein hissed and gave Tempest a slight hit on the head.

“You have seen my father? Where did he head to?”, the voice of Sieglinde asked and Tempest knew instantly which kind of mistake he had done.

“Uh, he didn't tell.”, he quickly lied.

“Still, thank you. Now I know he must be around somewhere here...”, Sieglinde murmured to herself.

“I sure hope you haven't doomed this girl.”, Ornstein scoffed as they sneaked away from her, in the direction of where a loud snoring sounded.

Ornstein knew the primordial serpent, knew that he was a friend of Gwyn and that he also worked closely with Gwyndolin.

And Ornstein also perfectly knew that Frampt wasn't telling the whole truth. His gaze rested on the slumbering serpent for a little while before it wandered to the little storm, cheerily hopping in front of him, heading for the cemetery.

Just a sacrifice., Ornstein thought to himself. He really had gotten too attached.

“So, the first time here I tried to get past this skeletons for an hour or so.”, Tempest said, pointing to a piles of bones on the ground. “Eventually I gave up and searched for another way. I don't even know why I was so dead set on trying to get past them.”

“Well, sounds like a typical mistake only an Undead could make.”, Ornstein said. “After all, every sane person would leave immediately and try to get to safety once they notice they don't have a chance.”

“... I surely think I could have a chance now.”, Tempest said. “Are you ready to help out, Ornstein?”

“Sure.”, the dragon slayer replied with a grin under his helmet.

After a short while every skeleton at the cemetery was an unmoving piles of bones and Tempest had picked up a comically large sword, which got determined as a Zweihander by Ornstein.

“We never used weapons like this in Anor Londo, but we had a squad using big weapons, they eventually became the black knights. We also had one silver knight named Ledo who used a giant hammer... was good friends with Havel, the stone warrior.”, Ornstein casually told. Tempest soaked up every word he shared from a world the Undead hadn't been part of.

“So how is Nito like?”, Tempest asked as they stood in front of the entrance of the catacombs.

“Hmm... Maybe I'll tell you when you manage to reach the next bonfire without my help.”, Ornstein teased, but didn't expect the little storm to take the tease serious as he practically rushed into the catacombs.

“... At least he uses a silver knight sword.”, Ornstein murmured to himself as he switched out his own dragon slayer spear for the silver knight spear he had used many years ago.

He waited five more seconds, heard the sounds of explosions and then followed Tempest into the crypt. Next chapter: https://mrslittletall.tumblr.com/post/188214925474/title-a-storm-is-coming-chapter-16-fandom-dark

#dark souls #fanfiction #dragon slayer ornstein #chosen undead #orndead #oc tempest #littlewritesstuff

[raywritesthings]

Lost in Translation 8/?

My Writing Fandom: Doctor Who Characters: Donna Noble, Tenth Doctor Pairing: Doctor/Donna Summary: In a universe where people are born with the name of the person destined for them displayed on their skin, intergalactic soulmates can be rather difficult to navigate. AO3 link   

Donna woke half-curled up on her side on top of the covers and with her phone still plastered to her cheek. Her mother had kept her up most of the night talking and eventually she’d laid down only interjecting with the occasional “Yeah” or “Mm-hm”, and she must have drifted off at some point.

She was still wearing the shift she’d been given by the Puritans before they’d decided to have her executed. She’d struggled out of the top layers of the dress before nodding off. Donna stood and undid the ties on it, allowing the garment to join its fellows in a crumpled heap on the floor. She continued on to her en suite and started the water for a bath. She deserved it after the day she’d had yesterday.

Donna sank into the bath with a sigh, her body relaxing even if her mind didn’t. Because once she left the relative safety of her room, she’d have to face what almost happened last night.

She slid down until just her nose poked out over the water. What had she been thinking? Get rid of the mark, then make the move. Not, well, that.

He hadn’t been helping, of course, what with those brown eyes and soft words and holding her just as long. Did he not get she was in a crisis here?

Would the Doctor be expecting them to pick up right where they’d left off before her mum rang? Donna couldn’t put him off — and didn’t want to — without making it seem like she wasn’t interested. Then she would miss her chance. But if things moved too quickly, she wouldn’t have a chance to get her mark removed.

Then again, she knew the Doctor would never pressure her for more than she was prepared to give. He just wasn’t the sort. As long as Donna didn’t lose her head, they could start this whatever it was now, then she could find someplace to have the removal done, and afterwards they could move things forward at whatever pace suited them.

Relief swept through her at having solved things. Maybe she was a little brilliant like he said. Donna washed up, then hurried back into her room to get dressed. She wasn’t sure if it was excitement or nerves that had her so eager to find her Spaceman, but she didn’t want to give the doubt even a moment to creep in.

Locating the Doctor proved to be easier said than done. He wasn’t in the console room, for a start, and when Donna took the corridor leading to the library, she didn’t find him either.

“Doctor?” Had he gone off to sleep somewhere? She’d never gotten an answer to where his room was. That was changing.

But she heard the kettle whistle as she passed the kitchen. Poking her head in, she spotted the Doctor at the stove. “Been looking for you.”

He turned around, grinning. Donna had to bite her lip to keep from doing so as well. God, and she’d thought she could wait. “Good morning! Breakfast won’t be a minute.”

He’d set everything up as if just waiting for her arrival to begin. Donna could get rather used to that. Soon enough there were eggs sizzling and toast popping out of toaster, both of which he served to her on a plate.

“Bit on the light side. Don’t want to spoil your appetite.” The Doctor hadn’t even made anything for himself, and instead took the skillet over to the sink to start the washing up. She wondered if he just couldn’t sit still.

“And why not?”

“I’ve got just the trip for you today,” he said over his shoulder.

“Oh?”

“Yep. Called the Shan Shen market. Brilliant place! Booths all up and down the main streets selling anything you can imagine. And the food! Oh, you’re gonna love it.”

He went on babbling about their upcoming trip just like any morning. Was that it? They weren’t even going to talk about what had happened? Did he think she didn’t want to because she’d run off? Or did he not want to? Was he trying to pretend it hadn’t happened?

“Finished your tea?” He was stood by her chair all of a sudden, and she blinked.

“Sure. You haven’t even touched yours.” Donna prodded at the second mug she had prepared across from hers.

“I’ll get something there,” he dismissed, then took both of her hands to pull her up from the chair. “Off we go, then. Allons-y!”

It was hard not to get swept up in his enthusiasm even if Donna had about a million questions flying through her head, and it was even harder once they’d exited the TARDIS into a totally new world. There were cars flying hundreds of feet in the air!

They made their way through the small crowd of people milling about the booths, and Donna thought she’d lost him for a moment before the Doctor returned to her side with two foaming mugs. He looked practically giddy as he passed one to her.

Donna tried to beg off. “I’d rather have a water.”

“You are going to love it,” he insisted. “One, two, three.” They both raised the mugs to their lips and took a gulp. She wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting, but it was sort of sweet with just a hint of spice.

“Lovely!” Donna couldn’t help a laugh, both at the surprise of how delicious the drink was and the foam that had gotten on his upper lip.

They finished their drinks while they walked along. Donna wouldn’t mind a couple passes back and forth; there was just so much to see!

“You have to get something while we’re here,” he insisted, steering her towards one of the booths. “Nobody ever leaves Shan Shen without a souvenir.”

“Didn’t know you bought into that sort of thing,” she remarked but dutifully began scanning the items on display. This particular vendor looked to specialize in jewelry. Donna browsed through the necklaces and picked up one to examine. It was a simple cord with something round and smooth like a pearl on the end, about the size of a golfball. It was a sort of blueish color with a dark center.

“That’s not a bad pick.” The Doctor placed his hand over hers and began tilting it and the necklace she held. “They call it the sunflower stone, because if it catches the light just right…”

“Oh!” The edge around the darkened center shone bright gold. Donna looked round to find him smiling at her.

“Good, isn’t it? Excuse me,” he called to the merchant manning this particular booth, who looked to be finishing up a sale.

“Are we interested in buying something today?”

“Yes, how much for the necklace?”

The merchant held out a hand and Donna obligingly passed the it over. “This? Ah yes, the hidden beauty. Found it at the bottom of the ocean, polished by the waves and sand for thousands of years before that. A very good choice for the lady, sir. I will not part with it for less than five-hundred.”

“Five-hundred?” The Doctor made a face but reached into his coat. Donna’s eyes went wide as she grabbed at his arm.

“No, no, you are not spending that much on me.”

He arched an eyebrow. “No?”

“No,” she repeated.

The Doctor nodded, but, rather than leave, he turned back to the merchant. “You heard the lady. You’re asking too much. Why not halve it?”

“Half? Absolutely not,” the man said.

“Well, we’ve got a problem, then, because — do you see her eyes?” Donna pressed her lips together and hoped to God she wasn’t blushing as the Doctor gestured to her. “Rings of gold just the same. They’re a perfect match. I mean, you can’t imagine finding someone more suited for it, can you?” He gave an exaggerated shrug. “You see the problem? I just have to have it for her.”

There was a pause as the merchant clearly considered, then bit out, “450.”

The Doctor was already shaking his head. “Oh, come on! 300.”

Donna walked on as the Doctor continued to haggle. She wasn’t sure she’d survive hearing him go on about her eyes twice in a row. Truth be told she couldn’t believe he’d just done it a first time!

This was...this was a date, wasn’t it? Maybe neither of them had said it, but that’s what they were doing. Here, at the beach, even Agatha Christie and the 20s had started out this same way. Only now there was an energy, an intent that hadn’t been there before that near-kiss last night.

Donna had worried he was trying to let her down, and it turned out he was just trying to do this properly. She looked back at him haggling away and allowed a full find smile to spread across her face.

Tonight, she’d tell him how she felt — or maybe he would; who knew what he had planned next? — and the first chance she got she’d ask to visit home. Donna knew she could count on Gramps to keep her Spaceman occupied while she pretended to run an errand for her mum. She’d have to call ahead, and she had a bit of money saved up — not like she was using it traveling the universe — and she could have the removal done and put that whole mess behind her. Her future was with the Doctor, and Donna wasn’t about to lose that for anything. With a determined nod, Donna walked on.

A woman called out to her, a fortune teller. “Your life predicted, the future foretold.”

“Oh, no thanks,” said Donna.

“Don't you want to know if you're going to be happy?”

“I'm happy right now, thanks.”

The woman wouldn’t let up, though, and when she offered to do it for free Donna relented. Maybe she was hoping to drum up some business, and it’d be a new experience at the least.

For being on a totally different planet, it seemed fortune telling worked pretty similarly to Earth. There was the little round table, the cloth draped over everything, and the first thing the woman did was take her hand and start reading her palm. About the only thing missing was the crystal ball.

“I can see...a man.”

Donna couldn’t help a scoff. Typical. At least she hadn’t paid anything!

“The most remarkable man,” the fortune teller continued. “For a most remarkable woman. Two halves coming together, drawn by fate—”

“Yeah, we’re not actually soulmates,” Donna decided to help her out.

“Then how did you meet him?”

“You’re supposed to tell me.”

The fortune teller looked up from her palm. “I see the future. Tell me the past. When did your lives cross?”

“It’s sort of complicated,” said Donna. “I don’t know anything about fate, but I ended up in a spaceship on my wedding day. Long story.”

“But what led you to that meeting?” The woman pressed.

Donna shrugged. “All sorts of things. But my job, I suppose. It was on Earth, this planet called Earth, miles away. But I had this job as a temp. I was a secretary at a place called HC Clements.”

It was like suddenly she was at HC Clements again, sitting at that old desk and Lance across the way, pointing at the coffee machine. Donna swayed and came back to herself in the tent.

“Oh, sorry.”

“It’s the incense,” the fortune teller told her. “Just breathe deep. This job of yours? What choices led you there?”

“There was a choice, six months before,” she said, and she could see it again. Her and her mum sitting in the car nattering on about Mr. Chowdry and his photocopy business. Only she could hear the fortune teller, too.

“Your life could have gone one way or the other. What made you decide?”

“I just did.” Donna didn’t like this much anymore. Something felt off. Why was she being so insistent? Why did it matter how she’d met the Doctor?

“But when was the moment? When did you choose?”

She couldn’t focus properly. It was like there were two conversations happening at once, her mum in the car and the fortune teller both urging her to turn right. “Stop it,” Donna said, not sure to whom she said it to.

Something latched onto her shirt. “What’s that?” She asked, trying to turn around, but the woman wouldn’t let go of her hands. “What’s on my back?”

“Make the choice again, Donna Noble, and change your mind,” the fortune teller commanded. “Turn right.”

Donna didn’t know what had come over her. There was something on her back, but she couldn’t see it, and she couldn’t remember why she hadn’t turned right anymore. She heard herself speak. “I’m turning…”

—-

Donna sat in the car wondering why she’d even offered her mum a lift on the way to the agency. Probably because it was her mum’s car. She really needed to look into getting one of her own. Maybe a Smart?

Her idle wondering couldn’t completely drown out her mother’s tirade, of course. Donna was pretty sure nothing could.

“Well, let me tell you, sweetheart. City executives don't need temps, except for practice,” said her mother. “Your time’ll be up soon as they’ve met their soulmate, then the job will be over, too.”

Did she always have to remind her? It wasn’t her fault she didn’t have someone’s name she could expect to run into someday. A little fun here and there was all she reasonably aim for.

But was that what she wanted? Her forties were fast approaching, as her mum also liked to bring up constantly. Fooling around would have to stop eventually. And if she couldn’t hope for a husband, than she might as well have a career to point to whenever someone asked what she was doing with her life.

“Yeah,” Donna sighed. “Suppose you’re right.” She switched the turn signal and made the right towards Griffin’s Parade and Mr. Chowdry’s.

She actually landed the job at his photocopy place and before six months was up had been promoted to personal assistant. Her mum really had been right after all! It was nice not having her calling up nagging all the time, nice not worrying about how she was going to cover the rent once her time at this or that office was up. She had roots, if not in a personal life then in a professional one.

Donna went out with some mates on Christmas Eve. What, just because she didn’t much like the holidays didn’t mean she couldn’t enjoy a good drink! It was a good bit of fun; Nerys couldn’t make it, and Donna even surprised herself with her goodwill by buying a couple rounds for their table.

She couldn’t help noticing Alice acting a bit funny, though. “What's wrong? What is it?” Alice blinked. “Sorry?” 

“Did someone spill a drink on me?” “Why?” Asked Alice, as if she had know idea what Donna was talking about. “Why do you keep looking at my shoulder? What's wrong?” “I don't know.” Donna rolled her eyes. “Oh, don't tell me you're getting all spooky again. It was bad enough when you saw the ghost of Earl Mountbatten at the boat show. What are you looking at? What is it?” “It's like,” Alice struggled for a moment, then continued, “it's like there's something I can't see.”

Then a man burst into the pub shouting about a Christmas star, so of course they all had to go see what he was on about or if he was just drunk.

But sure enough, there was a something. It was huge and silver, just hanging in the air above them. Donna wasn’t sure if that was tinsel supposed to be covering it. It looked more like webbing. Regardless, it was incredible and impossible...and Donna felt like she’d seen it before. Was it from some movie?

“That's not a star. That's a web,” she stated with a confidence she didn’t know she had. “It's heading east. Middle of the City.”

Then electricity began shooting from the star and Donna found herself in a movie. Part of the faceless crowd getting killed, that figured.

She was about to run for cover like all the rest, but when she looked over her shoulder Alice was staring at her again. “Alice! There's a great big web star thing shooting at people, and you're looking at me?”

Alice met her eyes, looking horrified. “There is something on your back.” Then she ran for it.

Donna watched her go, then looked back at the star. What was going on? Why did she feel like she’d been through this before? She began to walk, unheeding of Veena’s calls for her to come back.

Her feet led her down to Canary Wharf. There were soldiers in red berets and tanks and a barricade. They fired on the star, and it finally stopped shooting electricity. Donna walked all the way to the edge of the barricade. People were being warned to keep back, but she didn’t listen like the rest of them. She snuck around the back of a truck and watched as one of the soldiers spoke into a radio.

“From the evidence, I'd say he managed to stop the creature. Some sort of red spider. Blew up the base underneath the barrier, flooded the whole thing. Over.” “And where is he now? Over.” “We found a body, sir. Over.” “Is it him? Over.” “I think so. He just didn't make it out in time.”

There was a stretcher being wheeled out that they’d laid a sheet over. As it was jerked to a halt in order to be lifted, a man’s arm fell out from under the sheet, a strange little pen that had been in his hand clattering to the ground.

“The Doctor is dead.” The soldier on the radio said some other things, but Donna found she wasn’t really listening. She could only stare until the body had been loaded into the back of the ambulance and the doors had slammed shut. Then she backed away from the horrible sight.

Why had she come out here? Anything could have happened to her. She could have died. But something had drawn her just as it was now repelling her.

She was so lost in thought she nearly didn’t notice the woman running towards her until she was upon her.

“What happened? What did they find?” She stopped just a few paces beyond Donna. “I'm sorry, did they find someone?” “I don't know,” said Donna, still in a bit of a daze. “A bloke called the Doctor, or something.”

“Well, where is he?” The woman demanded. She was young and blonde, Donna noted. “They took him away. He's dead.” The look on the other woman’s face had her asking, “I'm sorry, did you know him? I mean, they didn't say his name. Could be any doctor.” “I came so far.” “It- it could be anyone,” Donna tried to reassure her again.

The woman seemed to be trying to shake it off. “What's your name?” “Donna. And you?” “Oh, I was just passing by. I shouldn't even be here. This is wrong. This is so wrong.” Donna couldn’t help agreeing with her, though she said nothing aloud. She’d just noticed the woman kept trying to glance over her shoulder. “Sorry, what was it? Donna what?” “Why do you keep looking at my back?” “I'm not,” the blonde immediately insisted, even as she continued to do so.

“Yes, you are. You keep looking behind me. You're doing it now. What is it? What's there? Did someone put something on my back?”

She turned her head to check herself and when she looked back the blonde woman was gone. Donna hadn’t even heard her walk away.

When she finally made it back to her parents’ home it was late, but she found them both awake watching the news.

“There she is.” Her dad stood and wrapped her in a hug. “Your mum’s been worrying.”

Barely had he let her go when her mum started right up. “Veena phoned. Said you ran down to the wharf. What were you thinking? You could’ve been hurt. ”

“That was all done by the time I got there. I don’t know why I had to,” Donna confessed. “Guess I just wanted to see.”

“Well it wasn’t safe,” Her mother chided. “They’re saying the Thames has completely drained.”

“I know. There was a man they pulled out. He- he drowned — sorry, I don’t know why I’m crying about it all of a sudden.” Her dad had passed her his handkerchief, and she dabbed at her eyes. “Must have just hit me.”

“It’s a dreadful thing,” her father said as he patted her arm. “Drowned. Well he must have been caught up in it too fast to get himself out, poor fellow.”

It was the strangest thing. Donna couldn’t explain how, but for a brief second she wasn’t at home with her parents. Instead she was standing in some room made of concrete while water poured all around her, shouting up at someone, “Doctor! You can stop now!”

She came back to herself with a shake of the head. What had that been about?

“Donna, love, you alright?”

“Yeah, dad. Just tired. I think I’ll turn in early.”

Donna had the strangest dream that night. There was a man she’d never seen before standing in front of her and holding her hands. His eyes had been brown and full of warmth, but his smile had seemed sad all the same.

“Thank you, Donna Noble. It’s been brilliant. You’ve- you’ve saved my life in so many ways.”

There’d been the same soldiers in red berets standing behind him, and before she’d been able to ask, his hands had slipped out of hers, and he’d begun walking away.

“Hang on, what do you mean? Who are you? Where are you going?”

She’d watched him climb into the back of an ambulance and the soldiers drive him away, and it had felt wrong. Donna hadn’t been able to shake the thought that she was supposed to be there, too, wherever he was going. How was she supposed to save him if he up and left?

Of course upon waking up crying, Donna realized how ridiculous the whole thing was. She must have been all worked up from what she’d seen the night before. When had she ever done anything important, much less saved someone’s life?

She wiped at her eyes and splashed cold water on her face before heading downstairs for Christmas morning. There wasn’t much special about it; with Gramps stuck in hospital across the river there wasn’t really anyone to get them all in the spirit. They phoned him, of course, and passed presents around the table, and that was that. Same old life. Why had she expected that to change all of a sudden?

“There’s been nothing on the news about him,” Donna said a few days later. “That man they pulled out. I thought maybe I’d go to the service.” Maybe that blonde woman would be there and Donna could get her name and ask why she’d been staring at her back funny.

“He might’ve been homeless,” her mother suggested.

“I don’t think so. They called him a doctor.”

“Who did?”

“The soldiers that pulled him out.”

“Well how’d they know him?”

“How should I know?” Donna shrugged. “Not like I knew him.”

Donna soon forgot about him when her father’s diagnosis came back terminal. They tried treatments, of course, but though Donna tried to keep a positive attitude she just somehow knew. She was going to lose her dad.

Eventually, they simply brought him home from hospital and tried to make him comfy. Her mum hardly left his side, and once Donna heard him say, “That’s all I need, Sylvie.”

She took time off to make the funeral arrangements and stood with her mother all through the service and after at the grave. “Is it...worse?” She couldn’t help asking, despite something telling her she already knew the answer. “Knowing you were…?”

“I wouldn’t change a minute,” said her mother, eyes fixed on the headstone. Then she turned and left without another word.

Donna supposed her mother was right. After all, her father had had his soulmate and the family they’d built together with him to the very end. Could she ever hope to have that whenever it was her turn? Her job wasn’t about to hold her hand through it all.

It took ages for her to get to sleep that night, too caught up in grief and her own morbid wonderings. The pillow she cried into morphed into a man’s chest in her dreams, and the soothing beat of his heart with its strange rhythm finally let her drift off to a restful sleep. When she woke up without an arm wrapped around her or a hand rubbing her back in comfort, she felt lonelier than ever. She chalked it up to the mourning process and tried to forget about it.

Turned out her job wasn’t even going to hold her hand through next year. Donna barely got back into her routine before Mr. Chowdry was giving her the news she was being let go. She didn’t bother making a graceful exit — not like she’d be seeing any of those useless idiots ever again — and made sure to pack up whatever fit into the box she was given to collect her things.

She’d moved back home to help with her dad and now it seemed she’d be staying there a good while longer. Donna didn’t know how to feel about her mother’s apathy towards the whole situation, but she supposed she ought to be grateful it wasn’t causing a row.

Her Gramps didn’t seem to even register she’d been sacked; he was too engrossed in the news report about that hospital that had supposedly vanished and then came back. Aliens was his theory of course, which she and her mother both shot down.

“I am telling you it is getting worse, these past few years,” he insisted. “It's like, all of a sudden, they suddenly know all about us, and there's keen eyes up there and they're watching us, and they're not friendly.”

Donna volunteered to go out for chips just for something to do. Before she could make it very far, there was a flash of light and a loud noise up ahead, and a woman came running out in front of her. “Blimey! Are you alright? What was that, fireworks or—?”

She stopped, unable to believe her eyes for a minute. It was the same blonde woman from Christmas Eve!

She hardly seemed all that surprised to see Donna, asking her how she was and her eyes immediately drifting to her shoulder again.

“You’re doing it again,” Donna decided to tell her.

Things only proceeded to get weirder. The woman wanted to know what she was doing for Christmas, then suggested a getaway for her and her family.

“Can’t afford it,” Donna said bluntly.

“Well, no, you got that raffle ticket.”

Donna stiffened. “How do you know about that?”

“First prize, luxury weekend break. Use it, Donna Noble.”

“Why won’t you tell me your name?” Donna asked instead. The woman wouldn’t answer. “I think you should leave me alone,” she said, then turned and walked away.

Donna went back home and tried to put the whole strange meeting out of her mind. It must have been a lucky guess, her knowing about the raffle. It wasn’t like Donna had seen her following her around or anything. It was nothing.

She had a dream that night that Gramps met an alien and shook his hand. He kept showing it to her with a look of sheer wonder on his face. When Donna woke up, she tried to put that out of her mind, too.

In the end, Donna took the blonde’s advice. Not because she was worried or anything. Just that a luxury weekend break sounded nice. They could use that, the year they were having.

The hotel was brilliant. Their room was a bit of a squeeze, and poor Gramps ended up on the sofa, but it was a nice break away from home. She woke up early on Christmas morning, a first since she was a very young girl, and was getting ready for the day before either he or her mum had even woken up. She didn’t know why she was in such a good mood on Christmas of all days; maybe it was just that nice dream she’d had where some strange man had made it snow for her.

Her family had roused enough by the time the maid knocked with their breakfast, and she asked grandad to get the door while she finished fixing her hair.

The maid wheeled a whole cart in for them while her mum was going on about whatever program she had on the telly.

“Because I thought, nice early breakfast, and then we'll go for a walk. People always say that at Christmas. Oh, we all went for a walk. I've always wanted to do that. So, walk first, presents later, yeah?” She smiled at the thought, though none of her family appeared to have listened at all. Typical.

“Tienes algo en tu espalda.”

Donna turned around. “What?” Their maid was standing in the open doorway of the bathroom.

“Donna, look at the telly,” said her mother.

“Tienes algo en tu espalda,” the maid repeated. She was staring at Donna with the same kind of horror as Alice last Christmas.

“What does that mean? I don’t know what you’re saying,” she tried to explain.

“Tienes algo en tu espalda!” The maid shouted again, then turned and ran from the room. Donna could only stare.

“For God’s sake, Donna,” her mum said. “Don’t just stand there, come and look.”

“The object is falling on Central London. I repeat, this is not a hoax. A replica of the Titanic is falling out of the sky, and it's heading for Buckingham Palace. We're getting this footage from the Guinevere range of satellites.”

“Is that a film or something?” Donna asked. How could it possibly be real?

“The Royal Air Force has declared an emerg—” The broadcast cut off abruptly and seconds later the whole room shook.

They went outside with everyone else, and there was a towering cloud of smoke rising in the distance. Donna couldn’t believe it.

“I was supposed to be out there selling papers,” Gramps was saying. “I should have been there. We all should. We'd be dead.” “That's everyone. Every single person we know. The whole city,” said her mum. Donna shook her head. “Can't be.” “But it is. It's gone. London's gone.” Her Gramps looked at her. “If you hadn't won that raffle.”

The only reason she’d even entered it was because of that blonde...how had she known? Why had she warned her? When Donna looked over her shoulder, she saw the same maid from before staring right at her and pointing at her back.

Eventually, people began going back into their hotel rooms. Her family trailed in, still in a daze. Her mum began desperately calling up anybody she could get a hold of while her Gramps sat and watched the news with tears in his eyes. Donna didn’t know what to do with herself. London was a mushroom cloud, and all that maid had been able to do was stare at her. Just what did that mean?

People kept saying things, looking at her back odd. The only strange thing Donna could think of on her back was that stupid old mark — oh God, had people been catching sight of that? She’d thought for sure all her shirts and sweaters covered it up completely.

Donna retreated into the bathroom and stood facing away from the mirror, her hair tossed over one shoulder. She craned her neck to try and get a look, but her mark was definitely covered up. Donna tugged down on the hem of her sweater to see if maybe that was the problem, but—

“That’s not right,” she murmured. Donna hurriedly yanked the sweater over her head to get a proper look. Her mark was still there, but not all of it. Even if she had no bloody clue what it meant she’d had it long enough to know what it looked like. Some of the top circles were either totally or partially missing.

“Gramps?” She called, and the note of panic in her voice had him hurrying through the door.

“What is it, love?”

“Take a look at this. My mark, it’s not right. I mean less than usual.”

“Eh?” He stepped closer, peering at the strange symbols. “Looks smaller.”

“Yeah, some of it’s missing. Just gone. I don’t know when, but- but that’s not supposed to happen, is it? What’s it mean?”

Her grandad shrugged, at a loss. “Well, I don’t know, sweetheart. Never heard of that sort of thing before.”

Donna turned again to stare at it in the mirror. “But why’s it happening now? I mean what’s changed?”

Their stay at the hotel felt entirely short lived, even more so than it might have knowing they had nothing to return to. They were bundled instead into a hostel, overcrowded and grimy with barely enough food to go around. People were being put in queues for relocation, but it was longer for families that didn’t want to split up. The days seemed to drag on, with no one to talk to and nothing to do. Even if she hadn’t lost her job at poor Mr. Chowdry’s office, she’d have nowhere to work now. What were they going to do for money? The housing office didn’t seem to care; everybody knew the jobs were up in Glasgow, but where did they get sent? Bloody Leeds.

When they arrived in Leeds, they discovered they weren’t even to have a house to themselves. Practically another hostel. Rocco Colasantos introduced them all to his family and the Merchandanis with a cheer that might have grated on her were she not so exhausted. It said a lot that she was simply grateful to be able put her things down, even in their kitchen-turned-bedroom.

The narrow bathroom they were all going to share had a mirror at least. Donna shrugged out of her coat and examined her mark for the first time since they’d left the hotel. Even more of it had vanished into nothing, like it’d just been drawn in marker this whole time and was finally washing off. Donna reached back and touched the edge of it with her fingertips.

“Where are you going?” She wondered.

“Donna, I need the toilet.” Her mother knocked on the door causing it to swing open since she hadn’t shut it properly. “Are you still looking at that thing? What for?”

“Well it keeps disappearing, mum, look.”

Her mother didn’t bother, instead muttering, “Good riddance, if you ask me.”

“Yes, thank you mum,” said Donna, straightening out her shirt and pulling her coat on before she squeezed past her out of the bathroom.

“It’s just,” Donna whispered later in the darkened kitchen, her mother’s feet by her head as she laid on her stomach to face her Gramps. “I’ve lost my job, my home, everyone we know. I guess I figured I couldn’t lose anything else, but this...it feels like a part of me is just slipping away, and there’s nothing I can do.”

“I thought you weren’t interested in marks and all that. You said that stuff couldn’t be for you,” he reminded her.

“I know, but maybe I was wrong. I mean, something has to be making this happen.” A thought occurred to her. “You don’t think it’s cos he’s dead, do you? I don’t know when my mark started going away, but he could’ve been in London when that Titanic crashed.”

“Never known it to work that way, sweetheart. Look here.” He sat up, and Donna got onto her knees in order to see as he yanked down the collar of his shirt.

She smiled at the familiar letters. “Gran.”

“Same as ever.” Her grandad shuffled back around to look at her. “See, your grandmother passing on doesn’t change what she meant to me. If you let it, that person changes your whole world. You might pass them on the street and never know it unless you take that chance.”

Donna thought that over. “So you think I’ve lost my chance?”

Her Gramps shrugged. “I’ve no idea what to think.”

Donna kept track of her mark every day now. She wished she’d been paying attention to it before. Little by little it kept going away, like it was eroding. She sat down once with a spare bit of paper and tried to draw the whole thing, so she had some kind of record of it. It was clear in her mind, but the circles and whatnot were all nonsense to her and didn’t come out right whenever she tried to write it down.

“Ah, soulmates,” said Rocco with a knowing smile as he watched her failed attempts. Gramps had told him all about her problem to see if he had any ideas or heard of anything similar. He hadn’t, which Donna wasn’t much surprised by, but had begun asking around all their neighbors to see if anybody had a Donna on their back.

“Back home, you name means lady,” he told her one evening over the scraps they’d all managed to put together for dinner. “Beautiful lady! So, we find you a lord, yes?”

Donna shook her head with a wan smile. “Not sure there’s many lords walking around these days.” That radiation poisoning in the south probably got most.

At night, she didn’t dream of any lords. Instead, there was that same stranger holding her hand or folding her into the kind of warm, safe hug she craved during the day. She would laugh with him, run with him, and very nearly manage to kiss him before being woken by the shouts of the Merchandani children or an army jeep rolling past the house. Donna found herself missing a friend she’d never had more than the ones she’d actually lost.

The promised aid from America never came. Instead, Donna sat with the others and watched alien fat fly up into a spaceship, the fat of sixty million people. The bizarre urge to wave nearly came over her. Donna retreated to the kitchen.

She couldn’t help privately wondering if her mother was right; nothing was ever going to get better. It all felt so pointless, like all they could do was watch and wait for the next disaster.

The whole house pulled together that night, trying to forget for a moment with a bit of singing, only for shots to ring out just outside. Donna followed closely behind her Gramps and Rocco to see a soldier firing on his own jeep as a thick cloud of gas spewed from the exhaust pipe. They couldn’t get it to stop, not even by turning the vehicle off.

Then one of the soldiers look at her with wide eyes. “You, lady. Turn round! Turn around now!”

He pointed his gun at her, and Donna froze. What had she done?

Everyone was shouting; the soldier, her Gramps and Rocco, her mum. He kept pointing his gun. Slowly, Donna turned to show him her back as he kept demanding, her eyes squeezed shut and her arms raised above her head.

“Sorry,” said the soldier. “I thought I saw…” He trailed off, at a loss.

Her grandad started to rip into him for that. It was about the angriest she’d ever seen him.

She might have stuck around to watch, but a familiar flash of light appeared at the bottom of the street. Donna left them all and walked down to it, paying no attention to her mother’s cries for her to come back. Around the corner, she found the blonde.

They walked a bit and sat on a bench, far enough away from any of the army jeeps to be able to breathe just a little easier. The woman explained about the ATMOS devices in the cars and that someone was about to take care of it. Then the sky lit up in flames before clearing completely, the gas gone.

“That was the Torchwood team,” the woman told her. “Gwen Cooper, Ianto Jones, they gave their lives. And Captain Jack Harkness has been transported to the Sontaran home world. There's no one left.” Donna didn’t like to think about that. This was them when they still had defense? “You're always wearing the same clothes. Why won't you tell me your name?” “None of this was meant to happen,” was the blonde’s non-answer. “There was a man. This wonderful man, and he stopped it. The Titanic, the Adipose, the ATMOS, he stopped them all from happening. Donna thought about it. There was only one man they sort of had in common, by a very loose interpretation. “That Doctor?” “You knew him.” Donna looked at her. “Did I? When?” “I think you dream about him sometimes. It's a man in a suit. Tall, thin man. Great hair,” She remarked. “Some really great hair.”

Donna frowned. How did the woman know what she was dreaming about?

“You've travelled with him, Donna. You've travelled with the Doctor in a different world.” “I never met him, and he's dead.” “He died underneath the Thames on Christmas Eve, but you were meant to be there. He needed someone to stop him, and that was you,” the woman said. “You made him leave. You saved his life.”

Donna had that same sudden flash of memory, the water raining down all around her in a wedding dress. “Doctor, you can stop now!” She could see the man more clearly now, great hair plastered to his forehead and water soaking his suit as he blinked down at her, like she’d broken him from some terrible trance.

She didn’t understand. She’d been meant to meet him? Like...destiny?

But they weren’t meant to meet. He’d died. Donna had seen it. This woman wasn’t making any sense. She stood from the bench with the heels of her hands pressed to her temples. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Leave me alone.”

“Something’s coming, Donna. Something worse.”

She went on about other universes, and needing the Doctor even though he was dead, and something called the darkness, and it was all just nonsense to her. As incomprehensible as what little remained of her mark.

“Well, what do you keep telling me for?” She finally burst out. “What am I supposed to do? I'm nothing special. I mean, I'm- I'm not. I'm nothing special. I'm a temp. I'm not even that. I'm nothing.” The woman grinned at her, like this was all just some fun game they were playing. “Donna Noble, you're the most important woman in the whole of creation.” Donna shook her head, a nasty sort of smile twisting her lips. “Oh, don't. Just don't. I'm tired. I'm so tired.”

“I need you to come with me,” the blonde insisted.

“Yeah, but it’s not really about me, though, is it?”

That got a frown.

“Cause I figured it out,” Donna continued. “The ‘something on my back’. There isn’t anything.”

The woman leaned slightly to the side. “No,” she said, “not sure what you mean.”

“But it’s disappearing. And that’s what’s different about me, that’s what makes me special or whatever, cause that’s not supposed to happen. Just take a look,” she demanded, pulling at the collar of her coat.

The blonde circled around behind her, slow and sort of wary, then peered down her shirt. “Hold on. This is your mark?”

“Used to be bigger,” Donna told her. “More circles. I could never figure out what they meant, cause they’re nothing like an alphabet.”

“I don’t think they’re even human,” the woman murmured.

“Wait, are you saying my mark’s in alien? Like all those things that have been coming here?” With her luck, her soulmate was one of the ones made out of fat.

“I didn’t know this could happen,” said the blonde, and when Donna looked back the other woman was blinking heavily, as if to stave off tears. “I thought it translated. It has to.”

“Wait, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” the woman said quickly. Then she turned and began hurrying away. “Uh, three weeks, Donna!” She called back in reminder. Before Donna could say anything else, she faded away right in front of her. Like she’d never been there.

Donna couldn’t understand it. She’d thought she had figured out why this lady kept after her, only it turned out her vanishing mark had nothing to do with it.

Three weeks later they took the Colasantos away. Donna thought the image of them in that truck, so resigned and hopeless as it drove off faster than she could run, would never leave her. Nor would her grandfather’s tears. They’d been innocent people, what did it matter that they weren’t English enough for some?

Donna knew it wouldn’t stop there, either. Hadn’t they gotten this spot because the last family missed a payment? They needed money. But the representative she spoke with at the army said she wasn’t qualified and sent her on her way.

She told her mother, who barely left her bed anymore, as much when she got back to the house. “You were right. You said I should’ve worked harder at school. I suppose I’ve always been a disappointment.”

If anything could get her up and in spirits, it had to be that, right? Donna knew her mum could never resist having a go at her, particularly when she knew she was right.

But she didn’t even turn around. “Yeah.”

She found her grandfather out back with his telescope, one of the few possessions they’d managed to hang onto. If there was any benefit to all this, he didn’t need to climb a hill to stargaze; there wasn’t much light pollution in Britain anymore.

He didn’t ask about her job hunt; he could probably already tell by the look on her face.

“How’s your mark?”

“Almost gone,” she sighed. “Figures. He must have seen where my life was going and said ‘No thanks’. Not like I can do anything right, anyway.” She looked at him as he fiddled with the telescope. “I always imagined, your old age, I'd have put a bit of money by. Make you comfy. Never did. I'm just useless.”

He didn’t reply.

Donna narrowed her eyes. “You're supposed to say, no you're not.”

“Ha, it must be the alignment.” He kept fiddling with the telescope, growing increasingly agitated.

“What’s wrong?”

He had her look through the lens, but all Donna could see was darkness even as her Gramps insisted he’d had it pointed at Orion.

“It was there. An entire constellation. Your mark’s not the only thing going missing.” He sat back and gaped up at the dark sky. “Oh, my God! Donna, look. The stars are going out.”

She didn’t have to search very far for the blonde woman. When she found her, all Donna said was, “I’m ready.”

She was lead to a Land Rover, and they were driven away from Leeds. The whole journey to wherever they were going, the blonde kept sneaking glances at her.

“What?” Donna asked when her patience inevitably snapped.

“Sorry, it’s just. I should say sorry.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re coming with me, Donna, and sorry, so sorry, but you’re going to die.”

They arrived at a warehouse. It was filled with more of those soldiers in their red berets and some scientists in lab coats. There was a circle of mirrors and a few feet behind that some blue box that Donna couldn’t seem to stop looking at, even when a woman stepped forward and saluted the blonde at her side.

“Ma’am.”

The woman dismissed the officer’s — Captain Erisa Magambo — formality, though it turned out the reason for the captain’s address was that she didn’t know the blonde’s name either. Apparently that was because of not wanting to wreck things with realities by saying too much, though Donna didn’t get why she’d told her so much about a dead Doctor she was supposed to have met, then.

The blonde and Captain Magambo started discussing whether something was awake. That turned out to be the blue box. There were a bunch of wires and cables running out of the doors and to the circle of mirrors which Donna thought she ought not to touch, but the blonde told her to go inside the box anyway.

Donna did. “No way.”

She couldn’t believe it, and had to dart in and out a few times just to confirm what she was seeing. How did that huge room fit inside that little box? It was too weird!

Donna had another flash of memory; this time the man in the suit was walking along at her side and saying, “It’s bigger on the inside, that’s all.”

Had she really done this before?

The blonde woman told her about the ship, that it had belonged to the Doctor and was dying without him. The whole world seemed to be dying without him, and Donna still couldn’t quite wrap her head around someone like that needing someone like her.

“Do you want to see it?” The blonde asked her, nodding to her back.

“No,” was her first answer. But she’d come all this way, and for whatever reason everything was going to get worse if she didn’t go through with it. “Oh, go on.”

She was led into the circle of mirrors and told to stand there as they activated it. For a moment Donna was blinded by the lights, but as she blinked the spots away she caught sight of her reflection — and the giant insect hanging onto her back.

Her breathing picked up, and she tried to hold back the panic as the woman explained.

“It feeds off time by changing time. By making someone's life take a different turn, like er, meetings never made, children never born, a life never loved. But with you, it's—”

“But I never did anything important.”

“Yeah, you did. One day, that thing made you turn right instead of left.”

Donna tried to think. Turning right? How many times had she done that? “When was that?”

“Oh, you wouldn't remember. It was the most ordinary day in the world. But by turning right, you never met the Doctor, and the whole world just changed around you.”

For some reason, Gramps’ words came back to her: “If you let it, that person changes your whole world. You might pass them on the street and never know it unless you take that chance.”

“I didn’t lose my chance,” she realized.

The blonde looked up. “What?”

“I didn’t lose my chance,” she repeated. “I didn’t miss it. It got taken from me. By this—this thing.” Donna gestured at her back. “That’s why my mark’s disappeared, cos my whole life changed. I never met him.”

“There’s a lot of people you were supposed to meet on your travels, Donna,” the blonde told her.

“This is not relevant to the mission,” said Captain Magambo.

“But I don’t get it,” said Donna, ignoring her.“You said I was meant to meet him.” She stared at the blonde, a horrible realization coming over her. “Were you lying? You just needed me for this, to be some kind of host?”

“No. No, Donna, I was wrong. You’re not just a host. We’re getting separate readings from you, and they’ve been there since you were born. I thought it was just the Doctor we needed, but it’s the both of you. The Doctor and Donna Noble, together—but to stop the stars from going out, not anything to do with marks.”

Donna felt overwhelmed. The woman had kept saying she was meant to be with this Doctor. Were they soulmates or weren’t they? She couldn’t concentrate while she could see the bug; it was just too horrible. “Turn it off, please.”

The captain did so.

“It’s still there, though,” she said. The blonde nodded. “What can I do to get rid of it?”

“You’re going to travel in time.”

Donna was kitted out with a jacket that weighed about half what she did with all the wires attached to it, a fancy watch of some kind, and a glass of water.

“Just remember, when you get to the junction, change the car's direction by one minute past ten.”

Their rudimentary machine was beginning to power up. Donna tried to prepare herself; she had no idea what time travel would be like, even though she’d apparently done it in another life. And would do it again, once she’d fixed everything.

She tried to recall those brief flashes from her dreams and memories of the man the blonde had claimed was the Doctor. She’d said he thought Donna was special. What did Donna think of him? Was it really worth risking everything on a time travel stunt none of these people were sure would work, just to get back to a world where they were together?

The only answer she could find within herself was yes.

“I’m ready,” Donna said aloud.

“One minute past ten,” the woman reminded her.

“Because I understand now,” Donna continued. “You said I was going to die, but you mean this whole world is going to blink out of existence. But that's not dying, because a better world takes its place. The Doctor's world. And I'm still alive.”

The blonde said nothing.

“That's right, isn't it? I don't die. If I change things, I don't die. That's- that's right, isn't it?” The pitying smile that came to the woman’s face made Donna‘s heart plummet. “I'm sorry.”

“But I can't die. I've got a future. With the Doctor. You told me!”

“Activate!” Shouted the captain. Sparks flew, and then Donna felt as though she was being pulled across an impossible distance in an unimaginably short time. The air left her lungs and she fell forward onto hands and knees.

The first thing Donna was aware of was the sounds around her. People walking and talking, cars driving, music from radios and speakers. A city. Her home, as if it had never been destroyed.

Donna could only gasp with joy for a brief moment before she realized something—this was Sutton Court. She was meant to be on Little Sutton Street. “I’m half a mile away. I’m half a mile away!”

She checked the watch she’d been given and felt another jolt of panic.

“Four minutes? Oh, my God.”

Donna leapt to her feet and started running. She couldn’t miss this, she just couldn’t. She didn’t even know what would happen if she did. But she had to stop herself turning right to ensure the survival of London, to keep the world from going to hell, and to save a man from drowning.

She ran until her leg muscles were burning, and the air was stabbing her lungs. It was 9:59 and she had only just made it to the end of Ealing Road. There was nothing left in her. She couldn’t run anymore.

“I’m not going to get there.”

Donna remembered the blonde’s words: “You’re going to die.”

A truck was trundling down the road towards her, and Donna finally understood what the plan had been all along. She closed her eyes and stepped off the pavement.

There were screeching brakes, then she was flying through the air and hitting the ground. Maybe it was shock, but she couldn’t quite feel the pain. There were people all around, and she didn’t know when they’d gotten there or what they were saying. She couldn’t even move.

Then through the crowd came the blonde. The woman leaned over her, face impassive. Donna wondered how she’d gotten here.

“Tell him this. Two words.”

Just as Donna’s eyes closed, the blonde whispered in her ear.

“Bad Wolf.”

Over that, she could hear her own voice. “I’m going left...left...left…”

Everything hurt, and nothing made sense. She was dead, but she wasn’t, and Donna screamed as time rewound and reformed.

The street and the blonde were gone, and she was sitting back in the fortune teller’s tent, everything coming back to her in a rush. Turning left, the job at HC Clements, meeting Lance, the wedding, the Doctor. It all made so much sense, and she was alive, and the universe felt right again.

Something fell off her, and Donna stood to see it was that same huge bug, it’s legs writhing for a moment before they stilled.

“What the hell is that?”

You were so strong,” said the woman. She was looking at Donna with a kind of terror. “What are you? What will you be? What will you be?!”

Before Donna could say anything, the fortune teller fled out the back.

Donna spun back around as the tent flap at the front was pushed up, revealing the Doctor. “Everything alright?”

He must have been looking for her. He was alive and safe and smiling and Donna had never felt such a relief before.

“Oh, God,” she gasped, almost stumbling as she came forward and threw her arms around him.

The Doctor returned her hug, though when she pulled back asked, “What was that for?”

How could she really explain? That she’d lived through nearly two years without him, and it had been awful and cold and lonely? That she hadn’t known what she was missing, only that it was so important? That she loved him?

Donna merely shrugged. “I don’t know,” she said, and hugged him again. In his arms, it all just felt like some horrible nightmare, and even now Donna was having trouble remembering it all.

“Hold on,” said the Doctor, stepping back but leaving his hands on her waist as he stared at something on the ground behind her. “What’s this?”

Donna looked over her shoulder and shuddered. Right, the bug. “That woman put it on my back, I think.”

He moved around her and crouched down to examine the thing. “It’s dead. How’d that happen?”

“I don’t know.” Donna watched him pick it up and move to the little table. He grabbed one of the incense sticks and began prodding at it. “It was strange. She was going on about me turning right instead of left and changing my life or whatever, only it all went sort of wrong.”

“Wrong?”

Donna took the unoccupied chair. “Well all these horrible things kept happening, aliens and whatnot, and no one could stop them because—well, you’d died.”

The Doctor stopped what he was doing and looked up at her. “Because you turned right?”

“I turned right and took this different job my mum wanted me to and cause I never went to HC Clements—”

“You never appeared in the TARDIS,” he finished for her. “Ah.” He nodded to himself, as if it made perfect sense that he’d died.

Donna reached out hesitantly and placed a hand on his arm. “Doctor—”

“The real question is, if I died, how can we be having this conversation? See, this thing is one of the Trickster’s Brigade.” He prodded at the beetle again. “Changes a life in tiny little ways. Most times, the universe just compensates around it, but with you? Great big parallel world. Funny thing is, seems to be happening a lot to you.”

Donna took her hand away. “How do you mean?”

“Well, the Library and then this. The fact you can even remember so much about this is something, even.”

“I remembered stuff from here when I was there,” she told him.

The same thing had happened in the Library. Miss Evangelista had pointed it out, that she’d been protected from the integration.

Donna shrugged it off. “Just goes with the job, I suppose.”

“Sometimes I think there's way too much coincidence around you, Donna,” said the Doctor. “I met you once, then I met your grandfather, then I met you again. In the whole wide universe, I met you for a second time.” He was staring at her with an expression she couldn’t quite place. “It's like something's binding us together.”

Donna sat back in surprise. That kind of talk people usually reserved for soulmates, and they were hardly— “Oh!”

“Donna?”

Her hand had darted to her back, and Donna tried her best to morph it into some kind of neck massage as the Doctor watched her with worry. But her mark. Had it come back?

Donna couldn’t explain the bubble of anxiety that still dwelled within her at the thought. Hadn’t she been wishing to get rid of it for weeks now? She knew she loved the Doctor, but she couldn’t quite forget the panic in that world as her mark had slowly faded away, like a door closing on her future.

Sure, she’d gotten things mixed up about who her soulmate was—that was one thing she’d never be able to tell him about that parallel world and live it down. But if the life she’d gotten back included a chance of meeting her actual soulmate...could she pass it up?

Somehow, not getting the job at HC Clements and not meeting the Doctor changed her destiny. Changed it so severely she lost her soulmate. That meant he had to be the key, didn't he?

And what if he was? Did she really want to know after all? Donna found she couldn’t quite shake the feeling that it was important somehow.

“Look, I need you to do something for me, but before that...I’ve sort of got to come clean about something.”

She hesitated a moment longer. Could she really do this? Her life as it was now, that was what she’d dreamed of and died for in that other world.

The Doctor was watching her with those big brown eyes full of earnest concern. “Donna, whatever it is, you can tell me.”

The date, the necklace, everything—it wouldn’t be right, wouldn’t be fair to him if she wasn’t honest, would it?

“I lied about not having a mark—and I don't want to hear it, cause I already know about yours.”

“What?” The Doctor yelped.

“I’m not upset,” she said, for he’d lost all his color, and if his eyes grew any wider, they might just pop out of his skull. “I’m just saying, there's no reason for either of us to be upset since we both lied.”

“You know,” he repeated. “About my mark. And you're okay with it?”

“Of course I’m okay with it.” What, did he think he needed her permission to have one? “But see, my mark’s in some other language. It’s not from Earth, and the Library didn’t know it. Even the TARDIS won’t translate it for me. But I’m thinking maybe you’d know it or be able to find it if you don’t know what it says.”

The Doctor said nothing. He still seemed thrown by her confession, which she supposed was understandable. Probably wondering why she’d brought it up now after all this time. He had that look where he wasn’t actually seeing what he was staring at.

“Spaceman,” Donna tried again. He blinked and refocused on her. “Would you read it for me?”

His mouth opened, but it took a couple tries for him to form his answer. “Course.”

Donna took a deep breath. This was it. “Okay.” She stood up and turned her back to him, then held her hair to the side as she tugged her shirt collar down.

The silence was absolute save for her breathing. She wasn’t sure what she’d expected; a name rattled off, an exclamation of the language of origin, a sorry? But the moment stretched on...and on...and on. He had to have something by now, right?

“Doctor?” When he still said nothing. Donna turned around.

He was absolutely thunderstruck. She didn’t think he’d ever been so stunned, not even when she’d appeared on his TARDIS or spotted him across the room at Adipose Industries.

A nervous smile rose to her lips. “What’s that look about? What’s it say?”

Something was wrong, had to be.

“Doctor?”

#ten x donna #donna noble #tenth doctor #doctor who #the doctor #my writing

[mikawa-province]

Bittersweet

Title: Bittersweet Fandom: Samurai Love Ballad: Party/Tenka Touitsu Koi no Ran: Love Ballad Pairing: Matsudaira Motoyasu x MC Rating: PG-13 Word Count (MS Word): 4,037

悲喜交々・悲喜交交 （ひきこもごも） [hikikomogomo]   (n) having mingled feelings of joy and sorrow; joy and sorrow alternating in one's heart; bitter-sweet

Takes place after the events of Ransei ni Mebaeru Koi (Love Blooming In Turbulent Times) Story Event and the Epilogue.

For the first time since he had become a hostage of Imagawa Yoshimoto, Matsudaira Motoyasu found himself being unable to concentrate on the book he was reading. The Art of War was a brilliant masterpiece that had him engrossed with for the past few days… until now, that is.

As to why he was feeling this way, he had been pondering about it for the past few days, to no avail. It had been easy to figure out physical illnesses despite the fact that he only knew of it through the books he read, most of it forced upon him by Imagawa. This time around, he could not pinpoint the sickness he was experiencing through the symptoms that persisted, which had been either of the two: he could not fall asleep as easily as he wanted to, as he felt uneasy over whatever it was that plagued his mind, or he could not concentrate on the reading, a hobby that he enjoyed the most.

Motoyasu was just about to turn the pages of the book and skip ahead to the next chapter when a voice called out from his door.

“Motoyasu-sama?”

He felt the book slip through his fingers, and he cursed inwardly, wondering why he had turned clumsy all of a sudden. As he retrieved the book that tumbled down his lap, the sliding door opened, and in came the woman who had been his personal servant of sorts for the past few months. In all honesty, he had no idea what Imagawa was thinking in hiring this wench from wherever just to serve him, but if it kept the Kyoto noble-wannabe preoccupied with other matters, he would rather the wench fuss over him instead.

“Good afternoon, Motoyasu-sama.” She bowed at him. “I am not sure if you are hungry at this time of day, but I have thought to bring you some tea and desserts.”

If there was one thing she was good at, it would be serving him meals. Admittedly, the wench could cook, and the daifuku she had served him days ago was something that he could tolerate at least, though it had actually bothered him that she knew about his weakness for azuki desserts from Sakai.

For the old man to actually tell her, a complete stranger, about his preferences… he did not know whether to be angry or to be grateful.

Despite her serving him for a fairly long time, he still did not trust her not to turn against him.

As she set down the tea and the plate containing four pieces of daifuku, he pondered on whether he should dig in or not. While he had eaten the sweets she made for him previously, how was he to know that this batch had not been poisoned?

If I die, then all the blame falls on her.

Reaching for one of the sweets on the plate, he bit into it, only to find the sides of his mouth dripping with whatever fruit he bit into. Despite the alarm he was feeling within at the possibility that it was poison, he calmly checked the daifuku he bit into, and was surprised to find strawberry inside.

“… And what’s this?”

He may have sounded harsher than he had intended, for she paled in an instant. “I-I had thought to match fruits with daifuku, as we had some strawberries that came in today. I wanted to balance out the sweetness of the red bean with the fruit but if it does not please you, I can throw it out for you, Motoyasu-sama.”

Cautiously, he chewed on the dessert, and to his surprise, his palate had actually managed to taste the balance that she had told him about. Sometimes, too much red bean could make him feel like he would swear it off for all eternity, but pairing it up with strawberries… who knew it would taste delicious?

Just when she was about to reach out and remove the offending plate, he held up a hand to stop her from grabbing it. “Leave it.”

“B-but…”

“It’s fine. Leave it.” He repeated, keeping his tone as neutral as possible, as not to let her know how he felt over her serving something new.

… Though now he wondered how he was to convey to her that he would rather that she serve these… fruit daifuku instead of the plain old daifuku that only had red beans in it. He would rather not say anything openly and directly if he could help it, though some nights ago, he had been forced to, as he was both physically and mentally exhausted, to the point that his stomach did all the talking for him by growling loudly. It had taken several times for him to tell her that she bring him some food, and twice, he had nearly given himself away, his former self emerging during his exhaustion.

Sometimes, he wished that she was a mind reader, so that she would be able to know what it was that he wanted to eat.

That, at least, would make things easier on his end.

He had wanted to savor the dessert along with the tea that she prepared, but with her staring at him and waiting for word to remove the plate at any minute, it had been difficult for him to take his time and eat. In the end, Motoyasu found himself eating the desserts as fast as possible, all the while burning his tongue as he drank the piping hot green tea.

“Was… was it to your liking, Motoyasu-sama?”

Motoyasu was torn between telling her his usual response, which was to announce that he was done eating, going as far as pretending that it was only ‘fine’, and from not saying anything. Truth is, he had no words for what he had eaten, other than to praise it, something that he knew would be out of character for him if he suddenly decided to say that he liked what she had made.

On the other hand, if he did not let her know that he loved what she made, there was the risk of eating only plain old daifuku from this day forward.

In the end, he decided to say nothing, focusing instead on picking up where he left off while he was reading, ignoring her. He spied her from the corner of his eye as she took the empty plate and cup from the desk, placed it on her tray, bowed, and exited the room.

Strangely, he felt horrible over the fact that he stonewalled her, but knew that what he did was for the best… at least, that was what he told himself as he read the sentence of a paragraph that he started on over and over again, seemingly unable to digest the information that he was reading.

Several minutes later, he gave up and proceeded to shove the book towards his unread book pile and laid down on the tatami, sighing.

What was wrong with him lately?

Several days later, he found himself getting really agitated at the fact that she had stopped visiting his room to deliver afternoon snacks. While she would check up on him to ask if he needed anything, something that he usually ignored instead of giving a negative response, he was more concerned with himself that he was making a fuss over her mere absence.

She still brought him his meals, sat down beside him, asked him if it was to his taste (it usually was), then took it away after he was done. What unsettled him more was the fact that she didn’t try to ask him anymore if he wanted to eat anything else than what she had served him.

Years of being a hostage has left him used to the feeling of being ignored and overlooked, as he would see a female servant six times a day to both bring and take away his tray. Now, however, he felt as if she had abandoned him in favor of something, or even someone else… and he wondered if Imagawa had assigned her to take care of some guest in the main house.

This led him to wonder if she was now using her skills to cook for that guest… and if she was favoring the other person over him, a prisoner who was stuck in Sunpu, when he should be back in his place of birth in Mikawa and ruling over his domain.

He had been on his own for several years, and yet, why was it only this time that he craved for company…?

And why was he concerning himself with whatever it was that she did that was unrelated to him?

She could go and do whatever she wanted to do for all he cared… not that he was curious about what she did in her spare time.

He definitely did not need to concern himself with her.

A week had past, and he was, to his horror, feeling himself having a withdrawal of sorts towards red-bean based sweets.

Just when he thought he had managed to overcome his weaknesses and had been able to control his emotions, a mere girl had managed to wreak havoc on his self-control with mere desserts.

If it really had been Sakai who had told her about his particular fondness for sweets, he vowed to turn him bald and—

“Motoyasu-sama? May I come in?”

He felt his eyes widen upon feeling the beating of his heart quicken at the sound of her voice, and it took more than just a lot of chanting inside him to keep calm and not give anything away. While he had also perfected putting a smile on his face to hide his true emotions and intentions, for some reason, he was unable to do so as the panic began to spread throughout his whole being. In the end, with his shaky hand, he picked up a book from a pile that he had already finished and pretended to start reading.

“I’m so sorry for disturbing you during your afternoon reading, Motoyasu-sama.”

He wasn’t sure if he was calm enough to look up from the book he was ‘reading’, but when he did, it had been difficult to keep his expression neutral upon seeing what it was that she had on the tray in her hands.

The very thing he was craving for was sitting on a plate, and there were a total of eight pieces of daifuku.

“I was unsure if you wanted an afternoon snack, but I went ahead and made these for you.” She said right after she had set down the plate, as well as the tea cup and a small kettle of green tea. Curiously, there was a rectangular piece of cloth that she had set before him.

He stared at the sweets in disbelief, making him wonder why only now had she decided to make these for him.

As if reading his mind, she sat down across from him and bowed her head.

“My apologies for not being able to make these daifuku for you. While we had red beans and mochi in stock, it had been very difficult to get hold of strawberries. It was in season but whenever I pay a visit to the market, it always got sold out.”

For her to go that far in order to make him these…

This had been the second time she had gone out of her way to do something for his sake, something that he had a hard time believing. No doubt, she was doing this either to please Imagawa, or she wanted him to be indebted to her.

No one would ever do something out of the kindness of their own hearts.

“Thankfully, the merchant that I always buy from was kind enough to save some for me when I went there three days ago. While I had wanted to make strawberry daifuku and serve it to you immediately, I decided to practice making some, as I did not want to disappoint you in serving unripe strawberries. As I had suspected, it still tasted too bitter.”

At this point, he had gone back to ‘reading’ his book, but was actually listening to every word she said. With each confession she made, the Lord of Mikawa could feel his cheeks burning in embarrassment over the actions she had undertook in order for him to eat the daifuku.

He sneaked a glance at her, who had now aimed her eyes at the dessert placed before him. “The strawberries have ripened today, Motoyasu-sama, and I hope that the ones that I paired with the daifuku are sweet enough for you to enjoy.”

His ears were turning red, he was sure of it, and while he had wanted to slowly take his time in eating one, Motoyasu found himself putting down the book, grabbing a piece and taking a bite out of it in haste, ignoring the fact that the chance of the fruit juice dripping down the sides of his mouth was high.

But he didn’t care if he looked so undignified right now.

All he wanted was to eat the dessert he had been craving for for the past few days.

To his relief, she said nothing as he began eating the daifuku, contenting herself with simply watching him eat the pieces she had made. Occasionally, he would reach out for the cloth to dab his mouth dry, but he would continue on with his snacking, until there was nothing left on the place, not even the flour that she used to coat the sticky dessert.

It occurred to him that he had managed to finish eight pieces of strawberry daifuku in record time, without even bothering to sip his tea and enjoy it from time to time, and if he had to be honest, Matsudaira Motoyasu did not know whether to be pleased that his craving had been satisfied for the meantime, or if he should be horrified over the fact that his self-control had gone out of control over a mere dessert.

He was slowly going insane, that, he was sure of.

And yet, he found himself saying the words that he knew he should not be saying at all to anyone, most of all, her.

With his eyes aimed towards the floor, he spoke, “Serve more of these, will you?”

Shit.

He cursed inwardly once more, realizing that he had slipped once more in front of her, forgetting to use the politest form possible in delivering his words. In a desperate attempt to salvage the façade he had put up all these years, he softened it by adding a ‘please’ at the end.

It took several seconds for her to respond to him. “… Yes, of course, Motoyasu-sama. Gladly.” To his surprise, she was grinning from ear to ear.

“Why are you smiling?” he found himself asking, even though he knew that, by this point, he should have kept his mouth shut, lest he wanted to embarrass himself further.

If it was even possible, her smile got wider, while her brown eyes were shining with happiness.

The sight of it had taken his breath away, his heart pounding stronger than ever against his chest, and if it was humanly possible, he could actually hear his own heartbeat as he heard her confession.

“Because Motoyasu-sama had openly enjoyed and praised my food for the very first time.”

He found it odd for her to interpret his demand to be served strawberry daifuku often as ‘praise’, but if that was how she would see it, then he would not argue with her.

In response, all he could do was shrug and go back to ‘reading’ his book.

She took that as her cue to gather the utensils, though before she had taken the tray along with her, she poured more tea for him, took the ceramic teapot along with her and was about to leave the room when he stopped her from doing so.

“Wait.”

She set down the tray again and gave him a questioning look. “Motoyasu-sama?”

He was well-aware of what he was doing.

He knew that what he was about to do might drive her away from him, and that it was also out of character for him to even try and attempt such a stupid thing but… sometimes, he simply could not help himself. In hindsight, he was grateful that he had been given a semi-isolated house all to himself, and everyone else in the household except her ignored him on a regular basis.

Slowly, he swiped off the flour that stained her left cheek and tsk. “… You look like a wreck.” As an afterthought, he proceeded to lick the flour from his thumb, noting the subtle sweetness in it, though he failed to notice that her face had turned bright red at his gesture.

Still flustered, she had at least managed a reply, which sounded like, “I’ll be more careful, Motoyasu-sama.”

“See that you do.” He absent-mindedly replied as he picked up his book once more and pretended to read, masking the nervousness that he was feeling towards what he had just done. Upon seeing her from the corner of his eye exiting his room with the tray in her hand and her face still a beet red, he left out a heavy sigh.

This was… what was happening to him?

For him to enjoy food that much…

It boggled his mind how eating new dishes had changed his perspective about food. Before, he only saw it as a requirement to keep himself alive; after all, the body needed nourishment, which can only be gotten from food. Each and every day he spent as a hostage, he ate the food that was prepared for him, most of it bland-tasting and sometimes outright disgusting. He was never seen as a person, but as ‘someone’ who was worth keeping alive, all because of his illustrious name.

She, on the other hand, was going out of her way to make sure that he was eating properly, and that he was eating something that was delicious. At first, he found it annoying that she was fussing over him, but now… well, he could actually tolerate her presence.

And of course, he could not discard the fact that she had made something that even he craved for, in his moments of weakness.

Strawberry daifuku… who knew fruits, red bean, and mochi went well together?

All along, he thought that sea bream tempura was his favorite, but after tasting the dessert she had made, he had to say, he was become more and more fond of the daifuku.

He pushed the nasty though that made its way to his way, though there was no stopping the heat that came across his face as soon as he processed the idea.

Are you sure you’re really fond of the daifuku, or are you actually fond of the one who makes it for you?

He did a double take, glad that no one else was in the room right now to witness him jolt from shock at the thought of having… feelings towards the wench.

There was no damn way he had feelings for her.

The denial had come so easily, but the rebuttal by his mind was faster.

Because of her absence for the past few days, he had been unable to concentrate on his reading.

Because of her lack of visits, he had been unable to sleep properly, as he imagined her making his desserts for someone else, which had filled him with rage every night he thought about it.

Because of her smile, his every waking moment was filled with thoughts of her, and him not seeing her in his room was making him just a bit lonely.

Two weeks ago, she had been by his side often, reading the book of poems that Imagawa had lent to him. To his own surprise, despite not having the same standards of education as he did, she could easily interpret every poem that there was, compared to him, who could not make sense of the literature that he was reading. Until now, he was still unable to interpret a poem correctly, and his poetry writing was as dismal as ever, much to Imagawa’s disappointment.

He could barely remember the poems that they had breezed through, as most of it had been unmemorable… except for one gesture that left him reeling.

It had been a case of wrong timing, for as soon as he was about to turn the page, she was about to do the same, leading to their hands overlapping one another. As someone who disliked being physically close with another and loathed physical contact, it had actually been… tolerable when the palm of her hand had pressed against the back of his hand. He remembered seeing her blush over the simple contact. She had also hastily apologized for accidentally touching him and for intruding on him during his studies, excusing herself in the process because she had to prepare his dinner.

Now that he had more time to ponder on the very topic he had been avoiding for the past few days, he realized that the very night he showed her his most vulnerable side, and the day after that, during the time they have started studying poems together, may have been the catalyst for this… reaction towards the woman who served him his most favorite food as of this moment.

Still, there was no way he would ever have romantic feelings for her.

He may be fond of the dessert that she made and served, but it was simply impossible for him to see her in that way.

Besides, with the situation they were in right now, he could not see it going any further than a secret affair, if it did came to that. Despite being the head of the clan, he was a hostage of Imagawa, which meant he had no freedom. On the other hand, a servant like her was free to go back to the capital if she chose to leave the services of the Imagawa. As long as he was stuck in Sunpu, he had no choice but to submit to Imagawa’s demands in order to protect his clan from being attacked by more powerful enemies. In exchange for being Imagawa’s prisoner, the warlord was obliged to protect the Matsudaira clan, and it was a sacrifice he was willing to make.

Other than his lack of freedom, her leaving Sunpu would also mean that she would move on with her life. She would most probably find someone else who would appreciate her dishes more, and would actually praise her cooking properly, unlike him, who preferred to demand that she serve desserts that he enjoyed more often. Not only that, but she would most likely be better off living a less complicated life of a commoner, far away from the chaos of war, and from the likes of the samurai who led a life filled with constant threats.

Convincing himself that he need not further complicate the situation, he had to keep telling himself over and over again, reminding him that on the day he had become a hostage at the age of eight, he had no future.

Upon reaching his teenage years, he had resigned himself to having no future unless he and the clan were no longer under Imagawa’s control… which was impossible to break free from right now, especially since Imagawa had the backing of Takeda and Hojo.

He had no time for anything other than try and become stronger than ever; the earlier he could be free from Imagawa’s control, the better.

Maybe by then, when he was roaming free and was allowed to walk and stand tall among his peers, she would actually look his way and would have him, just as he would allowed himself to do the same to her.

For now, all he could do was push away all romantic thoughts of her and focus on becoming someone who mattered, and had value beyond the name he was born with.

Notes:

See how Motoyasu’s story event killed me over and over again from feels

In all seriousness, compared to all of the warlords you meet during the Prologue Arc, Motoyasu and MC are still distant towards one another, especially since Motoyasu is isolated from everyone, and MC’s only source of information within the castle being Imagawa. While the Epilogue did show that they’ve started to get closer to one another, I still think it’s not enough, and in turn, the slow burn is killing me bit by bit.

As for the inspiration behind this fic, this fic was created because I am still hung up on the story event, as well as trying to satisfy my headcanon of how Ieyasu became really obsessed with strawberry daifuku. As someone who likes sweets, strawberry daifuku is really good, though I prefer the one with white bean paste, because it’s sweeter.

In all honesty, strawberry daifuku does taste bittersweet, but it’s good with houjicha.

... Also, the fact that they only have it during winter makes you treasure the short period you can eat it.

The Hojo-Takeda-Imagawa Alliance (called the 甲相駿三国同盟 (Kousousun Sangoku Doumei)) mentioned in the fic did happen historically, with all three clans bound to one another through marriage. This alliance would also cost Imagawa Yoshimoto his life when he attempted a move to Kyoto, and got attacked by Oda Nobunaga.

Lastly, this is a tribute fic in the hopes of finally getting that elusive Ieyasu coaster from KaraTetsu.

I hope you all enjoyed the fic. Till next time!

#slbp fanfiction #slbp fanfic #slbp motoyasu #slbp ieyasu #matsudaira motoyasu x mc #tokugawa ieyasu x mc #slbp #koiran

[acequeenking]

Andromeda: Eos mission + Tempest thoughts

Observations on the second mission in the game and the first run through of the tempest. Cut for Andromeda spoilers, though I’m pretty sure I’m one of the last to clear this at this point:

Thoughs on Eos:

- I overall liked the introduction of Peebee and Drack. I kind of wish they joined you sooner (particularly Drack, who literally goes "no like I'll ever join you" only to join you about fifteen minutes and maybe half a mile later...) , but I feel like both had good introductions that show off their characteristics. Drack is a competent warrior AND combative, volatile; not a fool. Peebee is intellectual, quick-witted, curious and has more than a few commitment issues - heh.

- The squad-mate conversations pop up more frequently than in Inquisition, and are pretty delightful. I triggered one with Liam admitting he's more protective of Ryder around Peebee, and one of Cora and Vetra chit-chatting about the Nexus/Initiative.

- Still a lot Shady about the Initiative. The two first colonies seem woefully unprepared. Loved poking around the old colonies and seeing the memory files, reading the emails, etc. It really does give the place a feeling of history. And not a positive one.

- I really, really don't like the "radiation" gimmick as a way to keep you out of places. It makes it frustrating to travel far at all, and I feel like once I fix the atmosphere, the radiation should well, be gone. Was v. disappointed to see that was not the case.

- Mining is...not well explained. I sent out a couple probes but also felt like it was a total waste because despite it marking the land as SUPER RICH I got like two aluminium. The chart never seemed to change driving along? Also tbh kind of think it made way more sense the way ME2 did it, with the probing being from space rather than from the planet itself.

- Love the failed settlements quest-lines; wish it was easier to scan the bodies for the remembering teh dead one. Twice the game told me "oh there's a body" in dialogue only for it to be nowhere near me, and lead to half an hour of scanning. Quite like how side-quests are labeled tasks; like that these tasks feel more meaningful than the fetch quests in DAI. (For example, DAI would have a LOT of missions that are just "find a logging camp!" and in this one it's more "find my brother's favorite spot and put a memorial down for him"; it feels more connected to the characters and the world.)

- I am a bit addicted to scanning. So. Much. Flavor. Text. PLUS IT REWARDS ME FOR DOING IT. It's goign to Be a Problem. Also I'm a bit paranoid I'll miss something if I don't scan it.

- You can very much tell this is Bioware Montreal's first big game. It's a good game, but man there are a few things I wish were more obvious, like which doors work in settlements and which don’t; the lack of explanation in the mining mini-game and the bit about removing the energy fields (which had me quite flummoxed, especially since one of them never activated, because it was waiting for kett reinforcements to pop up, which ...didn't the first time I played the game, and led to me having to redo it), and the odd double-steps to do some things, like telling Kandros you'll help with strike teams, only to get "ERROR PERMISSION DENIED" when you try it on your ship...because you didn't vidcall him to listen to him say "YOU CAN CHECK YOUR TERMINAL PATHFINDER =D". ME1-3 sidestepped most of these issues through just more solid game design; glowing green/red doors and explaining about deviating-from-the-norm segments with either onscreen directions or by popping out puzzles into their own game-play segments. That doesn't make Andromeda bad, but it does show that Andromeda 2 will likely be better if they're smart. ;)

- Bioware needs to patch in the fix for not being able to save in priority missions yesterday.

- I love, love, love the murder-mystery quest. The twist was very well done, and I enjoy turians that don’t fit into stereotypes (even if this seems to go against the earlier games codex, kind of?). 

- JUMPJETS ARE THE BEST.

TEMPEST

- The updating Codex/journal is quite nice. Love that the quests actually update, and, even more than that, love that the ARTICLES in the database update. Only problem: I wish I had more control over what's marked new and what's not.

- Gil and Kallo are fighting and it really isn't putting Gil in my good graces. You can't just re-wire the ship because you're bored, Gil! Stop breaking systems! I don't care if you put them back together "better"; you'd think on a ship as big and as understaffed as the Nexus, you'd have something else to do.

- Getting no-homo'ed by Cora is disappointing. Seems odd to me given her obvious enjoyment of the Asari culture. (Not that I believe Cora could "choose" to be gay, because I don't believe that's a choice, BUT: it's weird to hear her talk about her asari crew-mates and how she loved them and how they opened her eyes to so many things - but then suddenly 'lol no homo'.) It also means Bioware really hasn't learned form eh fan reaction to Cassandra that there's a huge segment of women who would love to romance butch women, which is really disappointing.

- Suvi is adorable and I love her. I love her so much. The first flirt with her about helping her learn to survive and shoot a gun? A+ amazing and I will definitively fic it. Plus she's religious, which I find fascinating. Will definitively fic a lot about her, and she'll probably be my space wife in my next run-through.

- Liam's a hard nut for me to crack. He kind of seems uncomfortable with the first flirt, and I haven't flirted with him again because of that. He's very unprofessional on the field, and his freakouts on Habitat 7 are hard to reconcile with his past as a trauma first responder. He seems woefully unsuited for his main profession, but he doesnt' seem like a bad guy: I loved his bit about the coach and the movie night.

- Cora being an asshole to Drack in the scene post his recruitment made me :/. I feel like Cora will be the new Ashley in terms of fandom hate, though I hope it doesn't come to pass.

#Mass Effect Andromeda spoilers #Spoilers: MEA

[wonholes]

All In For You | Chapter Six (END)

Summary: The story, written in third-person, follows main character Shin Hoseok during a difficult time in his life. Struggling to stay alive, Hoseok lives his life from day-to-day, an outcast with a broken past and juvenile record. Basically living on the streets, his only true comfort comes from his friends who treat him as their leader. When his past comes back to haunt him in ways he can’t fully comprehend, only his closest friend has the capability to pull him back into reality.

Fandom: Monsta X

Pairing: Wonho/Minhyuk (Wonhyuk, Leatherpaws), M/M

Rating: EXPLICIT 

Genre: Realistic Fiction, Drama, Romance

Characters: Wonho, Minhyuk, Shownu, Kihyun, Jooheon, Hyungwon, Changkyun

Warnings: Graphic depictions of violence, eventual explicit content

Exclaimer: Any writing submitted by myself does not reflect the real members of Monsta X or Starship Entertainment. Any dialog or actions written in this piece is based solely on fiction and does not infer that the members would act this way. This was created purposely for fan entertainment and is not factual.

I would like to personally thank @wonholypeach for being my beta reader for this fic and for designing the header image. She was basically my co-author in many ways, for not only helping me edit but for taking the time out of her day to create the header and for letting me go over ideas with her. We both spent several days working on this to make sure that everything was perfect, so speaking for the both of us, we hope that you enjoy it.

*Note: The images above were taken and edited by me. Please do not save or re-post without asking or crediting.

Chapter One | Chapter Two | Chapter Three | Chapter Four | Chapter Five

Chapter Six (END)

Minhyuk’s hair might have smelled like the mixture of honey, vanilla, and lavender, but his lips tasted vastly different. The complete opposite of Hoseok’s, which still had the aftertaste of nicotine and sweat. Minhyuk’s lips were thin but soft and Hoseok could feel the corners of his mouth curve upward into a smile while they kissed. He tasted like sweetness and mint--likely from gum that Minhyuk might have been chewing beforehand. He had been so distracted by attempting to decipher the taste of the blonde’s mouth that he didn’t notice Minhyuk’s hands wrap around his waist and trail up along his back.

Hoseok became lost in all of it. Minhyuk’s mouth, Minhyuk’s smell, Minhyuk’s hands roaming up and down his body. He could feel Minhyuk lean in closer to him as they kissed, his hand suddenly moving against his thigh--the sensation causing Hoseok to unnecessarily let out a small groan. Hoseok could feel the blonde smile against his lips and Hoseok pulled away, embarrassed.  

“Ah, sorry,” he mumbled, looking down and trying to hide a shy smile.

“There’s nothing to be sorry about,” Minhyuk replied, smirking. “Do you want to stop?”

“No, no,” Hoseok said, still embarrassed but trying not to show it.

Minhyuk replied by setting his hand under his hyung’s chin and lifting his head up to kiss him, the action itself causing Hoseok to let out another stifled groan.

“I didn’t know I did this to you, hyung,” Minhyuk teased.

“I don’t know what you do to me, Minhyuk,” Hoseok replied before pulling the blonde into a deeper kiss.

Hoseok didn’t know what Minhyuk was doing to him. His emotional feelings for him were one matter, but this--this was something else. His pulse had quickened and his heart was beating so loudly that he could  practically hear it beating in his ears. The bedroom itself felt like it had become incredibly hot--the air around him thicker; the hair on his skin standing up straight. It was as if his senses were heightened and every little action that Minhyuk made sent a shiver down Hoseok’s spine.

Without even realizing it he had pulled the blonde into his lap, wrapping his arms around him as they kissed. He ran his hand through Minhyuk’s hair as he pulled away from his lips and began kissing his jawline and then his neck, biting and sucking his tan skin. Minhyuk moaned, the sound sending a shudder through Hoseok and into his groin, making him kiss him even more passionately. Hoseok gently tugged Minhyuk’s head back, his hand still wrapped in the blonde’s hair, sending intense kisses down his neck before sucking on his collarbone. As aroused as he was he did his best to be careful, not wanting to further harm Minhyuk’s injuries.

Minhyuk groaned, his hands wrapped around Hoseok and digging into him. Hoseok’s hands had worked their way up the back of Minhyuk’s shirt as he kissed him, feeling the younger boy’s skin prickle with goosebumps as Hoseok touched him. Hoseok finally pulled away from the crook of Minhyuk’s neck, now bruised and damp with saliva, before kissing him hard on the mouth. It practically knocked the breath out of Minhyuk, who moaned into the kiss and arched his back, grinding down into his hyung’s lap.

The sensation took Hoseok by surprise. Not because he’d never been intimate with someone before, but because this was different. This was Minhyuk. As taken aback as he was feeling the younger boy’s hips rocking down against his crotch, he cast the thought aside and hastily pulled away from the kiss before saying, “Take off your shirt.”

Minhyuk didn’t even hesitate. Though at first he blushed, the blonde did as he was told and removed his piece of clothing, tossing it on the floor behind them. Hoseok did the same, discarding his own garment and revealing his muscled flesh underneath. Hoseok couldn’t help but smirk as he noticed Minhyuk watching him, biting his bottom lip before meeting his hyung’s gaze. The older boy raised a brow quizzically, grinning cheesily before Minhyuk finally caught himself and looked away.

Hoseok chuckled and ran his fingers along Minhyuk’s bare skin, kissing his neck again as he let his hands roam his flesh. Although Minhyuk had a much smaller frame, more lean and lanky compared to the older, he was still quite fit. Hoseok trailed his fingers across Minhyuk’s chest and down his toned abdomen, licking and nipping at his skin. He cautiously avoided the bruises that were now purpling on Minhyuk’s side and set his hands on his hips, leaving welcomed, sensual marks on his skin as he kissed his neck.

“Mm, hyung,” Minhyuk cooed, pushing his hips back down against the older boy.

Hoseok couldn’t hold back a moan before kissing Minhyuk again, his nails digging into Minhyuk’s hips as he rocked down against him. A warmness had pooled in his groin and the fabric of his jeans were doing nothing to help the now aching erection that had formed beneath them. As the blonde rocked against him he only became more aroused, his lips now swollen from kissing Minhyuk so hastily. With his hands on Minhyuk’s hips he forced him to stop, biting his lip hesitantly after pulling away from their kiss.

“I want you,” Hoseok managed to say, his ears turning red after the remark.

“We don’t have to stop,” Minhyuk replied. He ran his hands over his hyung’s chest, lightly teasing his nipples before kissing his neck.

Hoseok let out a moan, his hands already practically down Minhyuk’s pants. Minhyuk continued to kiss him, being no less gentle to Hoseok’s neck as he nipped and sucked at his skin before running his tongue over Hoseok’s adam’s apple. Hoseok had managed to get his thumbs beneath the waistband of Minhyuk’s jeans but didn’t feel comfortable taking them off without asking first.

“Take them off, hyung,” Minhyuk whispered against Hoseok’s ear before teasingly sucking on his earlobe.

Hoseok didn’t need to be told twice--the sensation of Minhyuk’s breath and the dampness of his mouth against his ear caused him to let out another low moan. With Minhyuk still nipping at his ear he managed to unbutton the blonde’s jeans, ushering his hips up so that he could slide them down. As he pushed the younger boy’s jeans down to his knees he couldn’t stop his hands from grazing back up along Minhyuk’s warm thighs before resting on his ass. Teasingly, Hoseok gave him a squeeze, resulting in a groan from the blonde.

Hoseok lifted Minhyuk off of his lap with ease and maneuvered himself on top of him. He pulled Minhyuk’s jeans the rest of the way off and then tossed them to the floor before hovering back over him and kissing him hard on the mouth. Minhyuk moaned against him, his hands tangled in Hoseok’s dark hair as they kissed deeply; almost desperately. Hoseok pulled away from the kiss, daring to explore the rest of the blonde’s body as he kissed his way down his collarbone and chest, twirling light circles with his tongue against his stomach and nipping at his hips. Minhyuk was still in his boxer briefs, an obvious erection present beneath the fabric and Hoseok took the opportunity to lightly caress his lips over it. Minhyuk’s hips bucked up against him but Hoseok managed to still him with a hand on his hip, continuing to tease him.

Though Hoseok had never been intimate with a man before he thought he understood the basics of it. He’d watched enough porn to grasp the basic understandings of male intimacy, having been confused about his own sexuality for a number of years. He’d always been attracted to men just as much as he was attracted to women, but it wasn’t until he met Minhyuk that his feelings became more serious. Every little thing that Minhyuk did seemed to entice him more and more, but he’d been so nervous about societal views that he had suppressed his feelings to the best of his ability. Until now.

Minhyuk was writhing beneath him as Hoseok trailed his tongue over the cotton hiding the blonde’s aching erection, teasingly tugging at the waistband of his boxer briefs but not pulling them off.

“Hyung, please,” Minhyuk groaned, his back arching against Hoseok’s touch.

“Please, what?” Hoseok asked in a smirk, looking up at Minhyuk with his lips still against his crotch.

Minhyuk cursed, his toes curling and his hips desperately bucking up but Hoseok kept him still. Hoseok caught his eye as the younger boy looked down at him with heavy lids, looking drunk in arousal. “You know what,” he replied, his voice almost cracking.

“Mm, I don’t,” Hoseok replied as he pulled down Minhyuk’s boxer briefs, the blonde arching his hips so that Hoseok could take them off.

The cool air caused goosebumps to form on Minkyuk’s skin but it was Hoseok’s hand wrapping itself around his cock that caused him to moan and close his eyes, pressing his head back against the mattress underneath him. Hoseok licked his lips as he watched Minhyuk arch against his touch, relieved that his inexperience seemed to have a decent effect. Although he was still new to this he wanted nothing more than to please Minhyuk, forcing any hesitancy to the back of his mind.

As Hoseok stroked him he moved his head back down and ran his tongue against the tip of his cock before running his tongue down the shaft and back up again. Hearing Minhyuk gasp he took it as a good sign and took him into his mouth, lightly rubbing his tongue along the tip. Minhyuk moaned beneath him, a hand now wrapped in Hoseok’s hair as the elder took more of him into his mouth.  Although different than anything Hoseok had tasted before he was addicted to it; his own arousal throbbing in his jeans as he began to bop his head up and down.

Sucking Minhyuk off was not an easy task but Hoseok took his time, much to the dismay of the blonde who let out an intensely audible moan when Hoseok managed to take him fully into his mouth. Hoseok almost choked as Minhyuk thrusted his hips against him but managed to keep going, teasingly bobbing his head at an agonizingly slow pace. He pulled his mouth all the way out, lightly trailing his tongue along the shaft before taking him back in again, repeating this several times over. Minhyuk roughly clutched a fistful of Hoseok’s hair, his breathing ragged.

“H-Hyung stop,” Minhyuk stammered, unable to suppress a moan. “Ah, please. I don’t think I’ll last much longer if you don’t.”

Hoseok pulled away, leaving a warm coat of saliva on Minhyuk’s cock. He licked his swollen lips and swallowed, a sharp salty taste lingering in his mouth. With a new hunger in his eyes he continued to stroke Minhyuk beneath him, having not let go of the base of his cock. Minhyuk groaned again, his blonde hair sticking to the sweat on his forehead; his face flushed and hot.

“I thought you said we didn’t have to stop?” Hoseok asked sarcastically, continuing to slowly stroke him.

“I know, but ah-” Minhyuk groaned, unable to get a full sentence out as Hoseok caressed his thumb over the tip of his cock, rubbing small circles against it. “I want you, hyung. Please.”

Minhyuk sat up, pulling Hoseok into a fierce, desperate kiss. The kiss was sloppy from how aroused they both were but neither noticed, too focused on relieving the need that had built up within them. When they finally pulled away Minhyuk abruptly unzipped Hoseok’s jeans and set a hand inside them, stroking him affectionately against his boxer briefs. Hoseok’s head fell back and he let out a deep groan, his eyes fluttering shut. For a moment he became lost in the sensation of Minhyuk touching him--feeling as if he could drown in it. The elder managed to open his eyes, licking his lips as he looked back at Minhyuk in brief concern.

“I’ve never done this before,” he admitted. He would’ve blushed had his face not been so reddened already from arousal.

“You’ve never had sex before?” Minhyuk asked, smirking. He managed to slip his fingers through the hole in Hoseok’s boxer briefs and the immediate contact of the blonde’s hand against his skin caused Hoseok to shudder.

“Not with… a guy,” Hoseok gasped, his eyes briefly closing again.

If Hoseok’s eyes were open he would’ve been able to see the slight grin that played upon Minhyuk’s face, biting his bottom lip as he continued to stroke his hyung.

“I can teach you,” Minhyuk replied, leaning over to run his tongue against Hoseok’s bottom lip as he continued to stroke him.

Hoseok wanted nothing more than to take Minhyuk into his mouth and kiss him fiercely, but the protector in him made him think otherwise. “What about your injuries? I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Just shut up and kiss me, hyung,” Minhyuk replied, not waiting for an answer as he pushed his tongue into Hoseok’s mouth.

Hoseok moaned against him, holding the back of Minhyuk’s head as they kissed clumsily and full of need. The elder moved onto his knees and started to remove his pants as they kissed, forcing Minhyuk to withdraw his hand from its previous actions. Breaking from the kiss Hoseok pulled his jeans off and threw them aside, not bothering to look where they landed, before doing the same with his boxer briefs. In only a matter of seconds he was naked, pulling Minhyuk back into his lap to kiss him.

Minhyuk’s hand found its way back to Hoseok’s cock, a moan escaping from Hoseok’s throat as they kissed. The younger stroked him very slowly as Hoseok had done before, taking his time to caress the base before sliding his hand up along the shaft and teasing the tip with his thumb. Hoseok pulled away from the kiss and cursed, his head rolling to the side as Minhyuk continued.

“Do you want me?” Minhyuk asked, his lips against Hoseok’s ear. “Do you want me, hyung?”

“Ah, Minhyuk--” Hoseok moaned deeply, running his hands down the younger boy’s back before resting on his ass. “You have to tell me what to do.”

“Do you have any lube?” Minhyuk asked, nipping Hoseok’s ear. “Lube. Do you have any lube?”

“No, I don’t have anything like that,” Hoseok replied, gasping as Minhyuk gave him a light squeeze. Hoseok sighed--he didn’t have any condoms on him, either. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been intimate with somebody. It had been such a long time ago, and he never had the need to buy any sort of supplies, no matter what they were.

“We can do it the old fashioned way, then,” Minhyuk replied, removing his lips from Hoseok’s ear only to grab his hyung’s wrist instead. Hoseok was about to question him before the blonde took two of his fingers into his mouth, sucking on them thoroughly.

Hoseok attempted to suppress a moan, biting his bottom lip as he watched Minhyuk take his fingers into his mouth. Although he was sure it wouldn’t have felt as pleasurable as other things Minhyuk’s mouth might have been capable of doing, the sight in front of him was enough to make him weak. Minhyuk took his time to suck on Hoseok’s fingers, making sure they were thoroughly wet and coated with saliva before pulling away. Slowly he guided Hoseok’s wrist behind himself and towards his ass, and Hoseok understood what the younger was attempting to show him.

“Just one finger at a time,” Minhyuk stated, his face lightly flushing.

“Don’t worry,” Hoseok replied, kissing Minhyuk sweetly before doing what he was told.

Cautiously, Hoseok slid a finger inside Minhyuk’s entrance, pushing into him as slowly as possible. The blonde had set his hands on Hoseok’s shoulders, gripping them tightly as he straddled his elder’s lap. Hoseok paused for a few seconds before continuing to slide his finger all the way in, of which caused a groan to escape from the younger’s lips.

“Are you alright?” Hoseok asked, concerned.

“I’m okay; keep going,” Minhyuk replied.

Hoseok bit his lip, unsure if he should stop and call the whole thing off, but a small nudge from Minhyuk ushered him to continue. Hoseok slid his finger out slowly before pushing it back in, continuing the process a few times before picking up the speed slightly.

“You can add another,” Minhyuk said after a few minutes.

Hoseok listened to him like an attentive student, slowly sliding his second, middle finger with the first. Carefully, he moved his fingers fully into Minhyuk, who let out a short gasp. Hoseok stopped, now knowing to wait a few moments before continuing as Minhyuk became adjusted to the sensation. The younger’s arms were now wrapped around Hoseok’s shoulders; his head leaning on the crook of his neck.

“Okay,” Minhyuk stated.

“Are you sure, Minhyuk?” Hoseok asked.

“Please, hyung. I want this,” Minhyuk replied.

Hoseok slowly slid his fingers out and back in again, continuing to do the same as he had done before. He carefully picked up speed, curling his fingers as he did so, trying to stretch Minhyuk to the best of his ability. After a few more minutes Minhyuk’s grip around Hoseok’s shoulders tightened and he let out a soft moan, his hips bouncing back against his hyung’s hand.

“There, do it there,” Minhyuk stammered, gasping lightly.

Hoseok pulled his fingers out and pushed back in again, attempting to move them to the same spot that had made Minhyuk so flustered. Sliding his fingers all the way in and twisting them carefully, he was able to brush against something that caused Minhyuk to let out a pleasurable moan.

“A-ah, hyung,” Minhyuk said in a sigh, his nails briefly digging into the flesh of his hyung’s back.

Hoseok bit his lip, the sounds now emitting from the blonde sending shudders straight down into his aching erection. Biting his lip he concentrated on Minhyuk and Minhyuk alone, continuing to scissor his fingers in the exact way that seemed to make the younger boy convulse in pleasure.

“Add another,” Minhyuk said in a groan.

“Are you sure?” Hoseok asked.

“Yes, you have to,” the younger replied.

Before following Minhyuk’s direction Hoseok carefully removed his fingers and spit into his hand, the act itself disgusting but both boys paid no mind. With the extra lubrication Hoseok slid two fingers back into the blonde’s entrance and slowly began to add a third, the immediate tightness causing Minhyuk’s body to tense.

Hoseok kissed Minhyuk’s shoulder as the blonde tightened his grip around him, letting out slow breaths. The elder waited a few moments before continuing, pushing his fingers in at a steady pace so that he wouldn’t hurt him. When he had finally managed to slide all three fingers fully inside he pulled them out carefully and continued the process, waiting to see if Minhyuk’s reaction would change.

When Minhyuk’s grip around Hoseok had loosened he began to curl his fingers as he pushed them inside, picking up the pace and trying to find that same spot he had before. Pushing them fully inside and curling them upwards caused Minhyuk’s breath to hitch in his throat and he moaned. Hoseok smirked and moved faster, brushing his fingers against the same spot inside him, the action receiving another audible moan from the blonde.

“Does that feel good?” he asked, slowly sliding his fingers out and back in again.

Minhyuk replied in another groan, now rocking his hips down into Hoseok’s hand. Hoseok curled his fingers again just to tease him, and Minhyuk practically screamed in pleasure.

Hoseok couldn’t take it anymore. Assuming that Minhyuk was prepped enough he pulled his fingers out and spit into his hand one last time, coating the saliva on his cock. Minhyuk let out a disappointed groan when Hoseok had done so, his lips pouting.

“Okay, are you ready?” Hoseok asked, still ever-so-concerned.

Minhyuk answered for him by slowly lowering himself on Hoseok’s cock, the sudden intrusion causing his body to yet again tense. Although Hoseok knew that it must have been painful Minhyuk didn’t stop, cautiously sliding himself further down on his hyung as Hoseok lightly kissed his neck. Hoseok wanted nothing more than to fuck the life out of Minhyuk--the tightness enveloping his aching erection made him see stars--but he managed to control himself

When Minhyuk had fully lowered himself down onto him, Hoseok was ready to scream but suppressed it with a low moan instead, his fingers digging into Minhyuk’s hips. The blonde seemed to quickly adjust as he let out a throaty moan when Hoseok’s cock was fully inside of him.

“Hyung, you feel good,” Minhyuk groaned, grinding his hips further down onto Hoseok.

Hoseok moaned and replied by rocking his hips up against him and pulled Minhyuk into a desperate kiss. Minhyuk’s tongue claimed Hoseok’s mouth as he started to move against him, slowly pulling himself off of Hoseok’s cock before sliding back down. Hoseok groaned into Minhyuk’s mouth, breaking away from the kiss in order to bury his face in Minhyuk’s shoulder as the blonde picked up the pace.

“Shit, Minhyuk,” Hoseok exclaimed, breathing hard. The sensation was completely different than anything he had previously felt before. Minhyuk felt so tight around him and Hoseok felt like he was ready to burst.

Minhyuk briefly looked down at Hoseok and practically grinned as he fucked him--a snarky smile on his lips. He had his arms wrapped around Hoseok’s shoulders; his hands in his hair as he started to fuck him harder. Hoseok’s own hips rocked upwards to meet with Minhyuk’s every time he slammed downwards, the sound of skin slapping against skin and hot, rapid breathing the only audible sounds coming from the room.

“Do I feel good, hyung?” Minhyuk asked, his breath against Hoseok’s ear.

Hoseok had to close his eyes and concentrate in order to stop himself from coming too soon from the remark. Instead he cursed and mumbled Minhyuk’s name, burying his head against Minhyuk’s shoulder. Knowing he was close he wrapped one hand around Minhyuk’s leaking erection and began to stroke him, making Minhyuk toss his head back and moan. As Minhyuk picked up the pace Hoseok pumped him faster, his other hand gripping Minhyuk’s hip as he slammed down onto him.

“A-ah, I’m close,” Minhyuk stammered, his movements now becoming clumsy.

Hoseok stroked him faster and fucked him harder, all too desperate to reach climax. He cursed again when he felt Minhyuk suddenly tighten around him as he came, moaning his hyung’s name as he spilled into Hoseok’s hand. Unable to hold it in any longer Hoseok quickly followed suit, thrusting up into Minhyuk one last time as he came, moaning uncontrollably.

Minhyuk slumped on top of Hoseok after his climax subsided, his arms still wrapped around Hoseok’s neck and his hands tangled in his hair. Hoseok let out a mild groan; sweat stinging his eyes when he finally opened them. He released his hand around Minhyuk’s cock, wiping the come off on the bed before wrapping his arm around Minhyuk’s waist and holding him close. Neither of the bothered to move for a few moments despite the sensitivity Hoseok was feeling as his cock was still buried in the younger boy.

Finally Minhyuk carefully lifted himself off of Hoseok and fell back on the mattress, letting out a small groan that was mixed with both pain and pleasure. Although Hoseok still felt like he was coming down he tentatively leaned over Minhyuk and pushed his bangs away from his forehead and lightly kissed his face.

“Are you okay?” Hoseok asked, rubbing his thumb against Minhyuk’s cheek.

“Mm, more than okay,” Minhyuk replied in a small smile.

“I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

“Of course not,” Minhyuk replied in a light laugh. “Why are you always like this, hyung?”

“I don’t know, because I like you, I guess,” Hoseok replied, gently laughing.

“Oh yeah?” Minhyuk teased.

Hoseok sighed and shook his head, smiling. “Don’t make fun of me, Minhyuk. You know I’m not good at expressing my feelings.”

Minhyuk rolled his eyes. “Hyung?”

“What?” Hoseok asked.

“Just shut up and kiss me.”

The end.

#monsta x #mxnetwork #monsta x fan fic #mx fan fic #wonho #minhyuk #wonho fan fic #minhyuk fan fic #wonho x minhyuk

[ereans]

A Response to the Comparison of Free! and Yuri!!! On Ice’s Depiction of Queer Relationships

I’m not even sure if anyone’s going to take the time to read this but I needed to better collect my thoughts about this. So I guess this is mostly just for myself. Either way, I’ve been seeing a lot of comparison between Free! and Yuri!!! On Ice recently, and while this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, I think that a lot of people are making comparisons where they just ... shouldn’t be made, or where the two shows are kind of like apples and oranges. Specifically, on the existence (or suggestion thereof) of queer relationships. 

It’s obvious to anyone who’s even so much as touched Yuri!!! On Ice with a ten-foot pole that there’s a canon same-sex relationship between two men, Yuuri and Victor, and this has kind of been groundbreaking. There is an actual, healthy, romantic, canon relationship between these two men, and the show makes no apologies for it and throws us absolutely no curve balls. We see the development of their relationship through the course of the show and over several time skips from competition to competition as Victor coaches Yuuri and how the two develop romantic feelings for each other during this time. There is a lot of growth as they learn of each other’s emotional responses and behaviors, as Victor finds ways around Yuuri’s intense competition anxiety in order to get him to do his best every time and believe in himself, and as Yuuri, the main character, finally understands his full potential. Likely for the first time, as we witness him going from referring to himself as a “dime a dozen skater” in the first episode to being entirely confident about winning gold at the end of the series.

We see this relationship, however not as entirely fleshed out and taken slowly as I’m sure some fans would have liked to see it. As I said, there were a lot of time jumps, and this prevented us from having a lot of insight into their relationship as smaller things developed and they fell further and further in love. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with this, because there isn’t---because this show is about Yuuri. 

It is about his development, and his growth, as an adult in the skating world arguably past his prime, or where his prime was expected to be, and his decisions about what to do next. Already this is different from Free!, which I’ll get to in a bit. This show is Yuuri’s story and his alone; the show just so happens to also do a fantastic job at introducing and fleshing out secondary characters, as well, and Yuuri also happens to be a queer man. A queer man that just so happens to fall into a queer relationship with Victor, who is also a main character, but certainly not who the show is about. The show is not about this relationship, it just does a really wonderful job of portraying it.

Why does this matter? Well, because Free! is a show about relationships. 

Haruka is clearly the main character of Free!---he’s the one we see the most of and the one we follow around the most in terms of perspective, but the show isn’t about his story alone. Yes, this show fails in a lot of ways regarding secondary characters, but this show is no doubt about the relationships it contains and how these relationships affect each main character’s well-being and future, depending on the season. In the first season, the overarching conflict is unarguably Rin’s return and his (more arguable) depression, and how Haruka and the others deal with him being around again, his attitude and actions, and coming to understand their own feelings as well as the feelings of one another; and most obviously, why they swim. Pretty much everyone in this show asks themselves and answers this question at one point or another. In the second season, the show is about moving forward and discovering a future, and the realness of that and how it can be intensely scary when you don’t know what to do, and when all the people you care about are expecting you to do one specific thing.

Free! has a focus on Haruka because he is the main character, but more obviously focuses on Haruka’s relationships---the main one being his relationship with Rin, and very closely following this, his relationship with Makoto. The first season is about rediscovering and mending relationships. The second season is about moving forward with them. Keep in mind that this post is entirely opinion based---although I am viewing this show from a logical standpoint---and you’re free to disagree with me, but this has always been what Free! was about to me. Its relationships, rather than its individuals.

On to why this matters, particularly in terms of romance:

Yuuri!!! On Ice’s main relationship was slipped meticulously under the radar. It wasn’t made a big deal of and it wasn’t exploited, and it wasn’t the main focus. It just was, and this was why it was done so well, why it’s so respected, and why it could pass so easily. Because the main relationship was not the focus of the show and making it the focus was never YOI’s goal. This works, because the main focus is Yuuri.

I’ve made this point a million times now, many times before YOI even came out, but I’ll make it again here: Free! never promised us anything in terms of queer romance, the fans never really expected anything to be canon, and we really weren’t supposed to expect this in the first place. Yes, the show has a heavy amount of fan service and we can all argue over whether or not it counts as baiting until we’re blue in the face, but it wouldn’t make any difference in terms of relationships being canon because Free! is not a romance, and KyoAni didn’t want it to be a romance.

The thing is, because Free! is about relationships (and swimming, lol), if KyoAni made a ship canon, no matter what ship it would be, the show would immediately fall victim to being about that relationship. Free! focused so much more heavily and so much more slowly on the development of its platonic relationships because they were the most important and defining factor, and therefore if a relationship became canon, the whole show would automatically feel like build up to it. It wouldn’t be able to be ignored. It wouldn’t be able to be looked at as something that “just so happens to have happened.” It would feel purposeful, likely exploited, and it would feel like the focus. It would feel like an entirely different show to me, personally. (Not to mention, it would piss off the fandom.)

That’s how simple my main point is. Yuri!!! On Ice and Free! are both sports anime, but that’s pretty much the extent of what they have in common. They’re about different things, take place at different points in the character’s lives, promise different things, and take things in terms of plot and development in different directions. Free! is young and juvenile and carefree, and Yuri!!! On Ice is its older, gayer, and more mature cousin. Twice removed. 

And because their focuses are so different, so is the place where a romance would fall. A romance felt natural to Yuri!!! On Ice because it could fall naturally, but while a romance wouldn’t seem too far-fetched for Free!, it also wouldn’t fall naturally, because there’s too much of a focus already there on friendship. If KyoAni came forward tomorrow and announced that RinHaru or MakoHaru or SouRin was canon all of a sudden, moments from said couple would become defining of the show all on their own, instead of having every moment from every relationship as a collective whole being defining moments, and would therefore take away from the platonic relationships it worked hard to develop, all suggestions of romance aside. 

As a queer person, of course I’d like to see more representation of same-sex or queer relationships in media. Yuri!!! On Ice granted me that, but I’d never be disappointed in Free! for not doing that. I’m a shipper, and sort of a romantic, but as for romance’s place in Free!, I think it’s better left up to the imagination of the fans than it is in canon. 

TL;DR: Free! is about platonic relationships and YOI is about one sole character. Putting a romance in fits with YOI because it’s non-exploitative and secondary. For Free! to deliver on this, something it never even promised, is both ridiculous and diminutive of the platonic relationships it already took the time and hard work to develop.

(Also, as a very important side note ....... queer people are allowed to be queer and friends. You don’t need a romantic relationship to wholeheartedly believe that a show has queer representation, folks. That is all.)

#personal post #free! #yoi #yuri!!! on ice #kinda don't wanna tag this but i kinda do #anyway #back to your regularly scheduled blogging #also i'm not putting this under a cut because i'm an asshole and i want people to see the TL;DR at least #sorry