#I'm unsure how long it's going to take to translate each chapter

[yelenasdiary]

How about the story of Nat realizing she's pregnant and dealing with it all. Then the day to day life of Nat and her babygirl

Wondering

Pairing: Natasha Romanoff x Daughter! Reader

Summary: With help from her best friend, Clint, Natasha escapes the control of the Red Room and prepares for a whole new life.

Angst, Comfort.

Warnings: Mentions of Red Room, Pregnancy, Pregnancy Talk, Childbirth | 1.7K

Translations: милый (darling), я люблю тебя, солнышко (I love you, sunshine)

AC: I think this is the perfect request for the first fic of the AU! Thank you for sending this x I hope this helps set a little backstory for Nat.

A Widow’s Sunshine Masterlist

Natasha had been nothing but quiet for the last four days since staying with Clint at his farmhouse. It was a big house for a man who lived alone, Clint assumed that his friend was worried that the widows of the Red Room would find her and take her back but the look in Natasha's eyes told him that was far from her worries.

"Alright, tell me what's going on" Clint spoke as he sat down next to Nat on the sofa. His friend looked at him and sighed lightly, "Nat, come on, you can tell me" he added. Natasha knew the time would come and she would have to talk somewhat about her time in the Red Room. She and Clint have been on the run since she met him, although this was not the first time, she was able to escape, this time was the only time they haven't found her and brought her back. 

"Remember how I was telling you about the graduation ceremony?" Natasha replied, Clint nodded. "Well, I didn't tell you all the stages before it. Before the graduation and after you've completed the program, you're to hav-" Natasha paused, the trauma of her life catching up to her, although she was still young, in her early 20s, she felt she had already lived a lifetime of trauma. Clint placed his hand on top of hers for comfort, "whatever it is Nat, we'll get through it" he assured her. 

"I'm pregnant" the words spewed out. Nat could see the questions flying around Clint's mind and deserved to answer them before he asked. "It's Dreykov's way of getting more widows without getting caught, they inseminate you, you give birth, they take the baby, and you go to what they call recovery which is just them brainwashing you until you have completely forgotten the last 9 months. After that, you go through the graduation ceremony and…well the rest is what you already know" she explained. 

Clint took a moment to process the news he was just told, "do you" He paused unsure if his question would offend his best friend, but it was something he needed to know to be able to help, "do you want to keep the baby?" He asked. Natasha nodded as a soft smile tugged at her lips, "I've done enough bad in the world, and I'll be damned if I let them do the same to my baby. I know this isn't what you expected so I don't expect you keep me here, but I do need a little time to work something out" she replied. 

"Don't be stupid Nat. You can stay here as long as you and the baby need, you're safe here, I promise" Clint spoke sternly, assuring his words got through to his best friend. Natasha hugged him tightly, thanking him for his understanding and kindness and for a moment any worries she currently had were no more. 

----

Pregnancy for Natasha was a whole new chapter that she wasn't prepared for, but she loved every single moment of it. It gave her a sense of normality; she spent her days learning new things that would help her for when her baby would enter the world. Clint helped her along the way, he even began building a small homestead for Natasha to have a little more privacy when her baby was born. It was only a few months into her pregnancy that Clint met Laura. 

Each night Natasha would read you stories from a children's book she would buy from the thrift shop, even though you weren't born yet, the little actions she did while pregnant gave her great comfort and made her even more excited to finally hold you in her arms. She would talk to you about anything she was doing, baking cookies for Clint and Laura? She would be talking you through each step and even asking you questions as if you could actually answer her, sometimes you would kick, and she would take that as an answer. 

Even through all the happiness, joy and excitement there was still worries and fears growing with each day. She was suspicious as to why she'd gone almost her entire pregnancy without even a sighting or feeling that Dreykov was after her. Clint assured her that his farm was a safe place and even offered for Natasha to join the Avengers after you were born, and she felt ready. It was an idea that she spent time thinking about but at the end of the day all she wanted to do was make sure you were happy, healthy and safe.

"Woah there милый" Natasha chuckled, rubbing her hand over her bump, "this isn't the world cup" she added. 

"Kicking a lot today?" Clint asked, taking a sip of his afternoon coffee.

"She hasn't stopped" Nat replied. Clint looked up at her with wide eyes, "she? When did you find out" he asked with a hint of excitement in his voice. Natasha couldn't help the smile that tugged at her lips while her hand naturally rubbed her seven-month pregnant stomach, "I didn't need to find out" she replied, "She was always going to be a little girl" she added but she didn't let the faint memory of the Red Room bring out the happiness she had been having with each day you grew. 

Clint got up and hugged Natasha and congratulated her, he could see the sparkle in her eyes for the first time ever, he'd never seen her so happy in the few short years that he had known her. "I wanna show you something" he said, taking her by the hand and walking her out to the small homestead that he had just finished and was waiting until the next day to give her the key. 

"I was going to wait until tomorrow but given the news, maybe you want to start planning out the nursery" Clint smiled. Tears built up in Nat's eyes, "what do you think baby girl?" Natasha whispered as she looked around the empty room, "you can paint it, do whatever you like with it, this is all yours" Clint said.

"You've done so much for us, I can't thank you enough" Natasha turned on her heels and hugged him, "thank you" she whispered. 

Over the last couple months of pregnancy, Natasha was preparing for you to enter this world. She and Clint painted the nursery in a soft pastel green color, she hung a photo from her first ultrasound on the wall above your changing table, baby animal décor stickers were also put on the walls. Clint helped up together all the future and placed it wherever Natasha thought would be best and once the nursery was complete, she couldn't wait to rock you to sleep in her arms in the rocking chair or watch you play with your toys on the purple rug when you would get a little older. 

You entered the big wide world at 5:23am on a Thursday morning, healthy and a little smile that made everybody melt. Natasha didn't want to let you go, she could barely take her eyes off you, even when Clint and Laura came to bring the two of you home, she was nervous as anything when Clint held you. 

"Do we have a name yet for the little one?" a nurse asked, "we really need to get the birth certificate done today" she added. 

Natasha nodded, "Y/n Melina Romanoff" she replied with a soft smile. 

"Melina?" Clint questioned, "I'll tell you later, now give me my baby" the red head replied with a soft smile and arms wide open. 

"A beautiful name, I'll finalise the certificate" the nurse smiled, writing your name on a piece of paper. 

----

Natasha was loving every moment of motherhood, even when she felt like she was going to fall asleep while feeding you and when sometimes she thought it was going to be another sleepless night on the cards but being your mother was the only thing she wanted to do every single day. When you slept, she slept and often Clint would find her asleep in the rocking chair by your crib when he came to check on things. Clint and Laura helped as much as they could, but of course, your mother was head strong and said she was fine with looking after you on her own.

"You look exhausted" Clint said as he placed a small bag of groceries on the counter for Nat. "She just didn't want to sleep last night" she replied, pouring herself a mug of hot coffee and sitting down at the small table in her kitchen. "Why don't Laura and I take her for the night so you can get a decent sleep for once" Clint offered but Natasha shook her head, "it's not that I don't want that, I just hate the idea of not being with her" Nat admitted.

"She'll just be up at house, you need some sleep Nat, you can't keep being supermom on coffee and 3 hours of sleep each day" Clint spoke, worried for his best friend. "Besides, how else am I going to show her how great of an uncle I am if you don't let me do that" he added to lighten the mood. Natasha cocked a brow as she took a sip of her coffee, deep down she knew she had to eventually let her guard down just a little and allow others to help. She just wanted the best for you.

"One night" Natasha replied. 

Clint smiled, "you've got it" 

As the weeks turned to months, things got easier for the new mother, each day you had her in awe. Nat eventually did allow for Clint and Laura to spend more time with you while she had a little me time and caught up on sleep. She loved taking you for walks around the property in your pusher, she loved bath time and hearing your little giggles and of course capturing your sweet smile whenever she played peek-a-boo. 

At night when she would pop her head into your room to check on you, she found herself watching you for minutes on end. Her mind wondering about what life was going to bring for the two of you, what tomorrow would bring. She often wondered what your first words would be, when you would take your first steps and what all your favorite things would be but for now, she wanted nothing more than to just enjoy these early years and learn everything she possibly could about you.

"я люблю тебя, солнышко" your mother whispered as she placed the soft kiss on your forehead.

Taglist: @koinsss | @liloandstitchstan | @marcia-maximoff | @skittlebum | @katethewritersblog | @taliiiaasteria | @nova-kyle | 

If you want to be on the taglist for this series, please see the masterlist. It's linked at the top of this post.

#yelenasdiary asks #anon #marvel #fanfiction #natasha romanoff #natasha romanoff x reader #awidowssunshineau

[fluttershyflores2]

English translation of a chapter I made (poor translation notice, it's a long thing...)

Flor=Flower

Part 1

"The Destiny one day brought us together but also tore us apart..."

They both turned around trying to observe each other well, Flor is surprised by his appearance, his fur was so strange, his eyes, everything.

Flor: Oh my god... - she approaches his face -.

Liu E. M: What's wrong? - confused -.

Flor: You're...you're so adorable!! - she gently holds his face - and your fur is so cute.

She begins to run her hands through his fur feeling how soft it was, but also a bit tangled from not being combed for a while.

Flor: It's also very soft, is it natural?

Liu E. M: Um... I think it's natural, hey don't you think you're... - he stops talking when she pets behind his ears - oooh... that feels good~ - he tilts his head -.

Flor laughs and continues to stroke his head, they lasted a few minutes like this when suddenly Liu Er starts purring, surprising her. They look at each other, Liu Er moves away blushing and pretends to cough, disguising that nothing happened.

Liu E. M: Ahem... - he clears his throat -.

Flor: - looks away -.

Liu E. M: So, are you from around here - trying to lighten the mood -.

Flor: No, it's my first time being in this place.

Liu E. M: Really?

Flor: - nods -.

Liu E. M: Oh...

They fell silent because they didn't know what to talk about.

Liu E. M: Well...I have to go.

Flor: Where to?

Liu E. M: To explore - he starts walking - it's what I do when I have nothing else to do.

Flor: Oh... well, have fun - she smiles a little -.

Liu E. M.: Hmm...hey - he stops walking - do you want to come with me?

Flor: Really? - unsure - I don't want to bother you.

Liu E. M: I'm literally offering you to come with me - he turns to look at her - let's go!!

He takes her hand and they both start running through the forest.

🍃~🍃~🍃

Flor: Do you think this is safe?

Liu Er suggested picking some fruits for his people, so as they strolled around, they found a tree full of mangoes.

Liu E. M: You're talking to someone who knows how to climb since birth - he says proudly -.

Flor: I believe you, but it still looks difficult to me, you missed one - she points out -.

Liu E. M: Thanks, I didn't see it - he picks the mango - How many do we have?

Flor: 40, but Liu Er, I think we have a problem....

Liu E. M: Like what? - he looks down at her -.

Flor: We don't have anything to carry them in - embarrassed -.

Liu E. M: Darn it, you're right - he scratches his head -.

Liu E. M: I'LL BRING A BASKET, WAIT FOR ME HERE!! - he shouts and goes jumping between the trees -.

Flor: Of course, I'll be here - watching him as he goes away -.

🌳🥭🌳

Back at the tree, the white-furred monkey had returned with a basket on his back.

Liu E. M: Flor, I have the basket!! - he puts the basket down on the ground - Flor?

Not finding the girl where she was before, he tries to search for her with his eyes.

Liu E. M: Flor, where are you?! - he looks around frantically -.

A rustle of leaves sounded from above the tree.

Flor: up here.

Liu Er moves his gaze upwards on a branch, there Flor was sitting with some mangoes in her arms and inside her hood.

Liu E. M: How did you get up there?

Flor: Um, don't be mad but... - she looks down - I don't know how - she smiles embarrassed -.

Liu Er blinks several times incredulously. Is she serious? Searching with his eyes, he sees that some twigs were broken and some footprints marked on the ground.

Liu E. M: How many times did you fall? - he raises an eyebrow smiling -.

Flor: I didn't fall - she looks away -.

However, Liu Er still observed her not believing what she had said.

Flor: 10 times... - she pouts -.

Liu E. M: Haha, see, it wasn't so hard to say - he leans against the tree -.

Flor: Hmph! You only came here to help me store my fruit! - she exclaims -.

Liu Er shrugs, takes the basket, and climbs up the tree, reaching the same branch next to Flor.

Flor: you can put the mangoes that are in my hood inside, please.

Liu E. M: Sure.

Carefully, Liu Er takes the fruit out of her hood and puts them into the basket.

They spent their time collecting every fruit they found. Flor, while searching for more mangoes at the top, leaned on a small branch, stretching a bit more, the branch she was holding onto was slowly breaking, Liu Er was putting the mangoes in the basket, when he sees out of the corner of his eye the branch breaking.

Liu E. M: Flor, be careful with--

Unable to finish, the branch had broken, Flor wobbles, Liu Er reacts by quickly climbing to reach her.

Liu Er jumps towards the branch, hastily grabs her by the waist with his tail, avoiding her fall, he pulled her towards him with his hand.

Liu E. M: Flor are you okay??!!, by the gods be careful, if you had gotten hurt I...

Flor just stared at him.

Liu E. M: Flor? - she doesn't respond -.

Flor: You have a leaf in your fur - she sticks her tongue out smiling -.

Liu Er looks at her incredulously.

Liu E. M: Seriously, Flor - he rolls his eyes -.

Flor: Bleh, haha - she touches Liu Er's cheek and pushes him -.

But the force of the push causes her to lose her balance, making him let go of her and fall to the ground, thankfully she fell into some bushes.

Flor: Oh my god, Liu Er are you okay?! - she looks down - I'm sorry!!

He only focuses his gaze on her admiring her from below.

.

.

.

.

Forming a smile.

🪷🦋🪷

Walking through the forest, holding hands, they ran towards a river that Liu Er wanted to show Flor.

Arriving at the place, Liu Er guides Flor to the riverbank.

Flor: How special is this river?

Liu E. M: It's a very beautiful and tranquil place, you're going to love it.

Flor: It's like the ocean.

Liu E. M: Something like that, but it's small.

Already at the riverbank, Liu Er leaves the basket on the ground and lies down on the grass with a mango in his hand, which he grabbed from the basket.

Liu E. M: - sighs - nothing like a good rest after a good harvest - takes a bite of the mango - do you want one? um, Flor?

The young girl was only looking at the river with interest, she kneels on the grass, clasping her hands, scoops up some water and brings it to her mouth.

Flor: - amazed -.

Liu E. M: Hey, Flor! - he snaps his fingers in her face - come back to Earth, hey you're worrying me...

Flor: it tastes... good... so different compared to the ocean.

Liu E. M: The river, unlike the sea, is sweet or somewhat tasteless, which is good for us - he takes a final bite of his mango - so we don't die of thirst.

Liu Er grabs another mango from the basket.

Liu E. M: why don't you try the fruit instead of the river water - he raises an eyebrow -.

Flor: oh, uh sure - she takes one - and how do I eat it?

Liu E. M: - exhales- just bite into it.

The young girl takes a bite, tries to taste it but minutes later she spits it out.

Flor: bleh, it tastes awful - she quickly goes to the river to wash her mouth.

Liu E. M: - avoids laughing - it's because you grabbed one that's not ripe.

Flor: and how was I supposed to know?, you gave it to me.

Liu E. M: well, that's true - he leans on his elbows - see this mango here - he grabs another mango - see this part, it's green and the other red, if it's like this, it's because it's not ready to eat yet.

Flor: why does it taste bad?... - sadly -.

Liu E. M: I already explained why, its taste is somewhat sour if it's not ripe.

She just looked at him thoughtfully.

Flor: I didn't like it - pouts -.

Liu E. M: puff, hahaha.

🌱🌸🌱

Still sitting, the two of them converse.

Liu E. M: if you had to live somewhere, what would it be like? - looking at her -.

Flor: it would be like this place with lots of trees and mountains, oh! and a beautiful river - excitedly -.

Liu E. M: don't forget the animals - he raises an eyebrow smiling - so the place won't be so lonely.

Flor: of course, and maybe I'll live in a house on top of the highest mountain so that when I go out every morning, I can see the sunrise. - she smiles -.

Dreaming of being outside was something she wanted when she grew up, she couldn't live inside her room forever, but she also didn't want to leave her mother, who had done so much for her and whom she loved dearly, besides she was used to having her mother by her side.

Flor: you know, it feels good to have some company... - she plays with the grass -.

Liu E. M: really? - he looks at her -.

Flor: yes, I've been living in my room for I don't know, all these years, just spending time with my mother.

Liu E. M: well, don't worry about that - he lies back and puts his arms behind his head - I'm here by your side, that's what friends do.

Flor: are you my friend?

Liu E. M: um yes... we are...right? - he lifts his head to look at her -.

Flor: friends... you're my friend OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD, THIS IS GREAT!! - she stands up excitedly - and what do friends do?, WAIT LET ME THINK! - she takes a deep breath trying to calm down -.

Liu E. M: hahaha, why so excited?

Flor: YOU'RE MY FIRST FRIEND!!!, my first...and only...friend.....

A silence fell between the two, creating a slightly uncomfortable tension.

Flor: I had never had a friend.... I just spent time with my mother all the time, I love her as a friend of course, but as an adult friend - she curls up - I want someone my age who understands me, with whom I can talk about our likes and... I don't know... maybe have a companion by my side like my mother and Mr. Fuxi.

Liu E. M: .........‐ he remains silent not knowing how to respond to that -.

With her head down, she feels something on her shoulder and turns to see that it was Liu Er's hand, tracing a warm smile.

Liu E. M: well, you have me - he leans closer to her to hug her with his arm - and I promise I'll do the impossible to always be by your side.

Flor: do you promise....

Liu E. M: I promise.

The young girl smiles tenderly and rests her head on his shoulder, the two of them stay admiring the river.

☀️〰️☀️

Between laughter, the two of them were playing tag, Liu Er was trying to catch her but she was too slippery making it difficult for him to catch her, on the contrary, Flor held onto her dress to run more easily.

Liu Er was about to catch her, but with a careless move from the girl, she trips on a rock, trying to grab onto something, however, she grabs onto the white-furred monkey, pulling Liu Er down with her to the ground, falling down a small hill, they both roll to the bottom of the hill, stopping rolling, they both rub their heads in pain, unaware that the young monkey fell on top of the girl.

Liu E. M: ouch, are you okay? - still with a headache, he looks at her -.

Flor: I'm fine, don't worry - she smiles -.

They share a look, thinking about what happened, in a few moments, they both start laughing loudly.

Liu E. M: you should watch where you're running - he teases -.

Flor: hey!, but you started chasing me - she exclaims -.

Still teasing each other, noises of bushes shaking aggressively were heard.

???: get away from my daughter, demon!! - something appears between the bushes and with speed separates the two with a sword -.

As they separate, Liu Er jumps onto a nearby tree hiding among the branches.

Flor: Mr. Fuxi, is that you? - she stands up confused -.

Fuxi: Are you alright! Let me see you - alarmed he tries to check for any wounds - look at you, all dirty, how am I going to explain this to your mother.

Flor: Mr. Fuxi, did you call me your daughter?

In a sudden silence, that's all that comes out of Fuxi, thinking about all those moments taking care of her.

Fuxi: I know I'm not a father to you, but for me and Nüwa, you're my daughter.

The young girl still looking at him, changes her gaze to all sides to look for Liu Er, where is he? Did he leave already? Why didn't he say goodbye?

Fuxi: the sun is setting, let's go home before your mother arrives so she doesn't see you like this - he grabs her hand and they start walking quickly -.

Flor: but....- she looks back - little monkey...

As they move away from that place, a six-eared monkey emerges from the branches making a sad moan at seeing his only human friend leaving.

Liu E. M: Flower....

Part 3

#liu er mihou #monkie kid oc #lego monkey kid oc #lmk oc #lmk ocs #lmk original character #lmk oc x canon #lmk fandom #lmk oc lore #liu er mihou x oc #writers on tumblr #Lmk fuxi #lmk nuwa

[manonamora-if]

October Check-In

September passed wayyyy too fast again, and almost all my efforts went into completing the DOL-OS remaster. And finishing strong by catching the FLU :D /s

You know the drill... long post ahead:

Recap of last month's progress

Recap of last week's stuff

Other IF stuff done or in the works

Other IF events

Plan for October

- _ -

September progress

The plan for last month was to:

continue to play and review games ✅ (just a few tho...)

finish the DOL-OS remaster ✅✅✅ just in time! also needed one more week from the planned date to finish it properly

continue a WIP or fix another semi-completed game: 😐 (see this week's progress)

add another block to the SugarCube Guide: ❌ (was planning to, but the illness)

- _ -

Last Week's progress

I pulled myself to the finish line by the hair at the end buuuut...

DOL-OS - THE REMASTERED VERSION IS NOW OUT!

It's now beautiful, bug free (i hope), with new content, and translated into English! First completed in a month, remastered almost within a month too!

If you liked it, consider leaving a little rating? or a comment?

Even if you don't care to play it, at least open the game once to check out the loading page :P

Also I have:

redone the intro post (if you could share it around, that'd be lovely)

wrote the extensive dev log

updated the Projects Status page

added the OG Comp Version of the source code on my GitHub

uploaded the OG Comp Version on the IFArchive (processing)

Unless there are raised bugs, this game is also going into the SHELF!

As mentioned in last Sunday's check in, I've gotten the new draft from MelS. It's over 20k words...

So I'm back to editing the file, going through the text and leaving comments. I was about 1/4 through before the illness arrived.

And MelS is continuing making progress on the final chapter in the meantime.

We've also been discussing the future release(s) and potential need for rewrite of the first chapters. MelS style had changed a bit, and he is worried the first chapters are too drastically different from the later ones. We might even get a few beta readers before the final release...

In my plan for September, I mentioned La Petite Mort to be probably the next remaster project I tackle on, with a potential translation release for the EctoComp.

I checked with the rules: translations are considered new works. 🥳 So we are looking at an EctoComp deadline, which is in a month.

So this week, I've gone through the code and:

mapped out the new map of the game (which will include more rooms)

listed the characters/NPC (a few new ones)

listed the different mechanics to (re-)code (esp the inventory)

listed the endings available (currently about 7, 2 are early endings)

listed the beats and actions for each room (more animal petting!)

The plan is to, in order:

Correct the current French writing

Add the new content (in French - about double what there is rn)

Re-code the game (+ accessibility settings)

Upload the French Remaster

Translate the Game into English

Add the translation inside the code

Submit to the EctoComp (depending on how long this takes, maybe I can achieve the La Petite Mort category again :P)

I'll also need to:

update the itch page of the game (right now it's too bland)

update the intro post of the game

Unsure yet:

add sound effect and background music...

Most importantly, the game is rated PG and will stay PG. It has some horror-y element, but more of the Hocus Pocus/Terry Pratchett kind than say... Saw or any Halloween slasher.

I will be taking down the itch page of the game closer to the reupload to check everything is in order.

With the IFComp starting soon, expect review over at @manonamora-if-reviews. Last year I managed about 30 before I tapped out (and I had submitted something). Let's see how I do this year!

I would like to try to knock a InkJam + Bare-Boned Jam + EctoComp (mini) entry at the end of October, since the theme of the Ink Jam is revealed at the start of the jam (23rd). One stone, two three birds and all that. And maybe revisit a short story I wrote when I was younger as a base... 🤔

- _ -

IF Events!!

October is filled with IF events, so this will be quite a list:

the voting period of the IFComp starts on October 1st until mid November. I think there are expecting over 50 games? I recommend waiting one-two days before voting, as there are often 1st day bug fixes (speaking from experience).

the Bare-Bones Jam organised by @neointeractives starts on October 1st and runs until the end of the month! It is unranked.

the EctoComp, the spooky IF ranked jam, starts on October 1st and ends on the 28th. There are two categories, and you can also submit in French or Spanish!

the InkJam is a 3-day ranked jam at the end of October, with a theme!

You'll be able to vote for the Spooktober entries in a few hours.

SeedComp! has started again, see @seedcomp-if (we've updated/cleared up some rules)

- _ -

The PLAN tm for October

Play and review more IF games: this one is kinda done before it started because of the IFComp. Also, someone submitted a few games. And there are a bunch on my To Play list both on the IFDB, itch, and the MOIKI Social Club.

finish the La Petite Mort remaster: I think I should be ok? The original LPM was done in 4h (in chunks over a week or so). I plan to essentially double the content, and fix coding issue. I don't really have to worry about the UI at all with this one.

either continue a WIP or fix another semi-completed game: that will be a check mark if MelS and I can make some good progress on the editing.

maybe try to add another block to the SugarCube Guide? I still have a list I could check down... Same with a template. It will heavily depend on the time I have.

(and maybe do an extra French entry for the EctoComp)

Taking the list of August...

To-Do not require much of new stuff:

translate Escape Goncharov! into French. ✅

fix the bugs in EDOC + overall the French version to match

fix the bugs of TRNT + find a way to add the missing pieces (mayyyybe translate into French?)

fix the formatting of DOL-OS + translate into English ✅

update LPM with the missing content + translate into English ✅ (ongoing)

The rest of the To-Do pile:

Finish The Rye in the Dark City (and maybe translate?)

Finish P-Rix - Space Trucker (and try to translate)

Finish Exquisite Cadaver (translation unlikely, current gameplay too complex to port for French)

Add a chapter to CRWL + fix/reopen the blog

Re-working TTTT to its originally planned state (lol, not likety)

Re-working SPS Iron Hammer (samesies)

Coding TTATEH (MelS dependent - shooting for end of year)

Emptying my inboxes

(I am pretty sure the focus for the rest of the year will be to finish the first list. With the addition of a few more small jam entries.)

And that about covers it!

#progress #update #checkin #dev log #dolos #ttateh #lpm #im sick as a dog #it's gotten worse #play my stuff to make me feel better?

[citrus-blade]

20 questions for Writers thing

I got tagged by the wonderful @mistythedritten! thank you!

How many works do you have on Ao3?

Sixteen! I added like 7 due to the Citrus Dreamnoblade Week lol

2. What is your word count?

250.818! honestly more than I thught lol

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Dream SMP! :] (I used to write for Good Omens on another account a bit ago but have abandoned this lol)

4. What are your top 5 fics? (stats)

I'll go by Kudos! :] Infinitesimal, Home, Treasure, Hiraeth - Part 1 and Chains! :]

5. Do you always respond to comments? Why or why not?

I try to! Sometimes when I don't know what to comment and it would just be a 'thank you', that i already wrote 3 times to a different person I won't. usually I try to always bring something unique to a comment to show how much I appreciate them!

However, when someone comments on a fanfiction that has long been finished I usually don't reply cause I'm not sure if that would be seen as weird or not. I'm really insecure when it comes to replying comments cause I don't wanna be annoying

6. Angstiest ending for a fic?

Oof... i think it's Home (but it's more on the bittersweet one) or Time. But if you put them next to each other it's deffo Time. Hubert is also kinda angsty but the story is kinda fast paced that it doesn't feel angsty lol

7. First Fic with a Happy Ending?

Golden! My first ever DNB fic and therefore also the first one with a happy ending! :]

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Yeah! That's why I have to agree to comments for them to be public on my fanfictions! It's always anon and usually just people calling me names and slurs, trying to tell me what a horrible person I am lol

Can't really take this serious tbh

9. Do you write smut?

Yes! I really enjoy reading smut and also like writing it! I'm not good in it and I'm always frustrating a bit but I still enjoy it!

10. Do you write crossovers?

Ehhh, not really? But also yes...? I wrote a pokemon crossover, but I don't think that doesn't really count cause it's more an AU and none of the main characters of the anime/games appear except for Team Rocket. I think. I don't remember which villains I took, there are a lot.

I usually don't write crossovers because I'm unsure how good I can represent the other show. I'd love to write a Star Wars one or a Hogwarts one, but I am NOT into those movies and am too scared to write something that doesn't make sense. So usually I try to take apsects of those universes and try to turn it into my own kinda thing.

For example my Dragon Rider-AU that I am working on was supposed to be a Hogwarts AU with magic, but it kinda turned into it's own thing with focus on Dragons but still with magic! :D

11. Ever had a fic stolen?

Don't think so? If anyone ever sees any of my fanfictions somewhere that's not AO3 please tell me! But as far as I'm aware none was stolen! :]

12. Ever had a fic translated?

Yes! I think Infinitesimal was started to translate in two languages, but I'm not sure if that's still happening. I know some chapters were uploaded? And apparently someone wanted to translate Apocylapse into russian!

13. Ever co-written?

Nope! Don't really know how that works tbh lol

14. Favorite ship?

Dreamnoblade and DNF!

15. What's the WIP you want to finish but probably never will?

OOF. I have sworn to myself to always finish what I start to write so not sure. Some ideas probably will never happen, but usually when I start writing something I will finish it sooner or later, specially when I started posting it somewhere

16. Writing strenghts?

No clue, I don't know if I have a specific strength. Sometimes I like something I write and then I read it and hate it lol

17. Writing weaknesses?

FIGHT SCENES MY ABSOLUTE ENEMY!!!

18. Thoughts on dialog in another language in a fic?

I write in english but think about including german sometimes lol When Attack on titan can do it in their openings I can do it in my fanfiction! Usually I like it as long as the translation is given atp in the fanfiction! :D

19. First fandom you have written for?

OOF. Eeeehm. I think Good Omens. I orphaned all my stuff there though lol

20. Favorite fic you have written?

Infinitesimal and Home :] (I also like that pokemon one lol)

And that's it! That was fun! :]

I'm too insecure to tag someone so whoever wanna do this, do it! :]

#citrus talks #I love doing stuff like that #it's funny and you get to think a lot about your own writing

[breninarthur]

Thedas Astrology for the WIP title ask game? :>

Thedas Astrology is my very messy, very incomplete lil pet project to create astrology for Dragon Age :3 I've studied astrology quite a bit, so I'm mainly using my knowledge of that and semi-translating it to Thedas, rather than coming up with things completely off the cuff. Hence why it's taking me forever.

I intend to put it up on AO3, probably with the first chapter just being the signs, potentially written as if by an in-universe astrologer. The second chapter will be the details of how I came to these conclusions and why I decided certain things, which might not be of much interest to people and could potentially go over people's heads a little bit. I'm not sure how much of astrology itself I want to explain 😅

Here's some never before shared bits and bobs!!

"It's my headcanon that the annums and solstices coincide, so their astrology cannot be directly compared to ours in terms of "6th/7th month = Cancer". Summerday (the summer solstice) happens in the 5th month, Bloomingtide, so that's where their equivalent of Cancer falls, being summer's cardinal sign. Also, as the solstices and equinoxes happen at the start of the months, each sign takes up one whole month as opposed to being spread out over two."

In astrology, the signs are ruled by 7 planets, which perfectly lines up with 7 Old Gods – making it Tevinter in origin (or at least, somewhat; they could have stolen and adapted the system from another culture, but I digress). There would likely be other systems; Qunari, Elvhen, Rivaini... but it's taking me long enough to do this one 😂 Besides, with how pervasive Tevinter was, it makes sense that theirs became the most widely used system – just as we use Roman names in Western astrology.

It will probably end up being very different from ours. For example, if I make the first annum (excluding First Day) the first sign, that would place Aries in Guardian (Pluitanus) aka the annum Wintersend. This used to be called Urthalis, and was dedicated to Urthemiel, the Old God of Beauty. So it makes sense to me that the first sign is ruled by them, as opposed to Aries being ruled by the planet representing the god of war for us. Urthemiel is mentioned in the codex for the constellation Bellitanus; thus, Bellitanus = Aries, the first sign.

But right now I suppose I'm unsure how much to lean into making it something completely unique. I could twist Bellitanus into Aries, Urthemiel into Mars, or instead they could be more easily lined up with Libra and Venus. But placing Libra at the front of the wheel is already a massive change, so why not do away with the equivalents altogether? I don't know.

I feel like most people would prefer direct equivalents. But by associating the annums with solstices/equnioxes, I'm already throwing off people's expectations of when a sign would fall in the calendar anyway. So maybe I should just do whatever.

Anyway, you see why this is taking me so long 😂 Thank you so much for asking!

[wip title game]

#god i hope this makes sense i feel like i rambled #ty for reading my nonsense :) #dragon age #asks #my writing #astrology #ziskandra

[dxncingwithastrxnger]

2. love me with your worst intentions

A/N: Hey guys!!! I'm back!!! Here are a few translations to for this chapter: детка = Babe/Baby, милый = Honey/Dear, and идиот = Idiot. Happy reading, guys, hope this chapter was worth the wait!!!

Summary: After a rough encounter with Steve, Bucky decides to spend the day with his best friend, Yelena, in hopes that it'll help distract him from his current situation.

Tags: I don't t h i n k there's any for this chapter, but if I missed something that should be tagged or you would prefer be tagged, just let me know!!

Song that inspired the chapter title (and is featured in the chapter later on): Wrong Direction By Hailee Steinfeld

Word Count: 7,360

[Series Masterlist]

[Chapter 1] [Chapter 2] [Chapter 3] [Chapter 4] [Chapter 5] [Chapter 6] [Chapter 7]

Not beta'd, all mistakes are my own.

The next morning, Wanda was the only one there with him. Tony and Clint both had to work that morning so they had left the night before, sometime after he had fallen asleep. Wanda also had a few things to do today but she didn't mind staying the night and she didn't wanna leave until Bucky had at least woken up. Bucky assures her that he'll be fine and that she can go run her errands without worrying about him. She says goodbye and finally leaves after promising to be back again later that night with dinner, claiming that it was non-negotiable and Bucky said that was fine as he walked her the few short feet to the door and closed it behind her.

He sighed softly once he was alone. He wasn't exactly sure what to do now. It was a Sunday, so he didn't have work, thankfully. Sundays and Thursdays are his only days off, though he's suddenly considering taking a few extra days off, unsure how well he'd fair at work in his current mental state. He shakes his head slightly. What he needs to do right now is take some aspirin for his damn head. He shuffles into the kitchen and grabs a glass from the cupboard and fills it with water before grabbing the pill bottle and shaking a couple out, downing them both with a few gulps of water. Then, as more of an afterthought, he grabs a banana and eats it quickly, thinking an empty stomach wouldn't mix well with the medication he just took. Next, he decides that a shower sounds like a nice idea, all things considered. Then he realizes what taking a shower means and he swallows, the lump in his throat thick and unwavering. He decides that he'll have to brave the other areas of the apartment eventually and that it might as well happen while no one else is here, rather than when Wanda or someone else is here to see the embarrassing resulting breakdown.

Bucky forces himself to walk down the hall as fast as he can encourage, each step seeming to get heavier and heavier. When he reaches the bedroom, he keeps his head down and walks straight to the dresser, pulling out a shirt, boxers, and sweatpants before quickly turning and walking back out, moving across the hall to the bathroom. He tries his best not to linger or look at anything for too long. The sooner he finishes washing himself up, the sooner he can get away from it all. Well, most of it at least.

He went over to the shower and turned it on, letting it warm up as he quickly strips out of the clothes he had changed into after work last night when he got that message from Natasha. It had just been a single sentence and 2 photos. The first photo wasn't all that bad, all things considered. Steve's affectionate with his friends, always has been, and he's allowed to be. Bucky never had a problem with it. So seeing Steve resting his head on Sam's shoulder, sitting relaxed and comfortable beside him though Steve's face was in shadows due to the low light of the club, Sam's leg casually crossing over Steve's at the knee, technically wasn't all that bad, and if Bucky had just been sent that picture and nothing else, he probably would of just let it be. But the second picture was what hit hard. They had switched position, now they were halfway facing each other on the couch and Steve was leaning in close to whisper in Sam's ear, his hand so far up Sam's thigh that he might as well have been grabbing his dick straight up. It had made Bucky's blood boil. 'I just thought you should know' was the third part of Natasha's messages. That's when he had quickly changed out of his work clothes and left the apartment, heading to the club that he knew they would be at. The one they were always at.

Bucky shook his head to clear his mind as he got into the shower, letting the hot water flow over him. He looked to his right and saw Steve's shampoo and body wash. He swallowed as tears welled up in his eyes, his throat burning as he tried to keep them from falling. He finally gave in as he tore his eyes away, squeezing them shut and tipping his head back and letting the water wash away the hurt and shame from his face. He showered on autopilot after that, trying to avoid thinking or feeling too much. He quickly cleaned himself and then got out, dried his body, and got dressed. Bucky tossed his clothes and towel into the bathroom hamper and rushed back down the hall, planning on slipping on a pair of flip flops and heading down the hall to Yelena's place.

But when Bucky got to the living room doorway at the end of the hall, he heard movement and voices outside the front door of the apartment and he froze, hoping that it was just someone on the phone as they walked down the hall. Then the doorknob started to turn and Bucky tensed, straightening his stance, not knowing who would be on the other side of the door. And then Bucky made a small noise that was somewhere between a stifled gasp and a whimper as the door swung open and a familiar blonde-haired man stepped inside the apartment, one Sam Wilson behind him. Shit. He had been hoping to be out of the apartment by the time Steve showed up, guess that's out the window now.

He was on the verge of ducking into the kitchen and trying to hide when Steve looked up and met his eyes. A few things flashed across Steve's face in that moment. Bucky saw surprise and shame. Those two made sense. What didn't make sense was the fear and pain that crossed the blonde's face as well before his expression settled into something cold and blank, like a freshly cleaned whiteboard but without all the fun possibilities. Whatever, it was probably nothing, Bucky thought to himself.

"Hey, Buck." Steve said, his voice filled with forced casualness.

Bucky inwardly cursed at himself when he visibly flinched at the sound of Steve's voice. Steve looked uncertain for a moment before the blank slate was back. As Sam stepped into the apartment behind Steve, he raised an eyebrow, as if wanting to question Bucky's reaction, but he stayed silent.

"Hey," Bucky said quietly, his voice slightly hoarse as that stupid burn returned to his throat. He doesn't know why he was even indulging in Steve's pleasantries. He should've just pushed past them and walked out as soon as he realized it was them. Bucky continued speaking as Steve closed the door.

"Well, I was just heading out, so I'm gonna go. Just go ahead and do what you need to do, get all the things you wanna get. I'll be gone awhile, so don't worry about rushing out." He schooled his expression, not wanting to give either of them the satisfaction of seeing how this was affecting him. He looked over by the door and when he saw that his flip flops weren't there, he inwardly sighed. He could just slip on his tennis shoes, but Sam was standing by the door and when Bucky met Sam's eye to test the waters, he was just met with a death glare in return. Yeah, he didn't think he wanted to be by the door right now unless he was walking out of it. Which means he needed to go back to the bedroom where his flip flops probably were. Well, fuck me.

Steve opened his mouth to speak but Bucky cut him off. "Actually, I gotta go get my shoes real quick and then I'll be out after that." He'd barely finished speaking when he turned and quickly walked back down the hall and into the bedroom, keeping his eyes on the floor and looking for his flip flops. He was about to just say 'Fuck it' and walk out with just his bare feet by this point, when he heard movement behind him.

"Looking for these?" Bucky whipped around. Steve was holding up his flip flops with two fingers. Bucky furrowed his brows at him.

Steve shrugged, his expression unreadable. "Just trying to help you get out of here." He said, clearing his throat.

Oh, right. He just wants me to leave. Got it. "Yeah, thanks, I guess." Bucky said as he took the damn flip flops from him. Steve nodded at him as he let them go and the two of them stayed silent for a moment, Bucky looking down and chewing on his bottom lip as he tried to convince himself not to ask the question that he really wanted to ask. Knowing the answer to it wouldn't really help at all. If anything, depending on what the answer was, it would just make things worse. So no, he shouldn't ask that question.

"How long?" Shit. Clearly his mouth had a different agenda than his brain.

"What?" Steve asked him.

Bucky looked up and met Steve's eyes as he answered. "I said, how long? How long were you screwin' around with somebody else, Steve?" His voice had a mean edge to it as he finished asking.

Steve blinked at him and made no move to answer him.

"Nevermind, don't answer that, I didn't mean to ask it." Bucky shook his head at himself and went towards the door. Steve moved out of the way and let him pass. Right as Bucky reached the doorway, Steve spoke up again.

"Buck," He said quietly. Bucky turned to look at him, an eyebrow raised in question. "I'm sorry." Steve said in that same quiet tone, and in that moment, he actually looked sincere. There was also something else there that he couldn't quite pinpoint, something that set off a warning in the back of Bucky's mind. The warning was ignored.

Bucky scoffed in disbelief. "Really? That's your play?" He watched as the other man's face immediately hardened.

"Whatever. See you around, I guess. Make sure you send Sam back here on your way out, will you?" His lips curved into a smirk then, and Bucky couldn't decide if he wanted to cry or scream at the implications of that sentence so he didn't do either one.

Instead, he said, "Yeah, sure." And walked out of the room, stopping in the middle of the hallway to put on his flip flops and then walking out to where Sam was.

He gestured with his head down the hall towards the bedroom. "Steve wants you." He said quietly, not really meeting Sam's eye since the man was still looking at him as if Bucky had just kicked his puppy, killed his mother, and then tried to drown him after making him watch both.

"Yeah, he does." Sam said, as if Bucky had been talking about something else entirely. And with that, Sam walked past Bucky and down the hall to where Steve was, leaving Bucky alone in the living room just when he had decided that he would rather scream than cry.

And so he quickly pulls the door open and walks out of the apartment, not caring if it closes a little too hard behind him. He walks quickly down the hall towards Yelena's apartment, knocking on the door impatiently once he gets there. She opens the door on his 7th knock, cursing at him in Russian. It was clear that she had woken up recently, though whether he had woken her up or not was unclear. She was always on guard and he'd noticed over the years that whenever she woke up, no matter what was going on, she always had that bright, alert look about her, as if she'd been awake the whole time. It was always a little unsettling, but he got used to it.

"What are you doing here so early?" She asked him, her voice still a bit thick with sleep, making her accent more noticeable.

Bucky furrowed his brows at her. "Dude, it's probably almost noon by now, what are you talking about?" He said to her.

"Exactly! Early! Ok, early for someone who isn't working today, but still, you know what I mean." She tells him as she gestures for him to come inside, closing the door behind him when he does so.

Bucky rolls his eyes at her. "Yeah, well, I don't work today either, Yelena, and I'm already up, so deal with it." He tells her as he slips his flip flops off (by the door this time, he made sure of that) and walks further into the living room, heading for the couch.

"Which is surprising considering how late I saw you come home. Speaking of which, what was going on? You were in a whole group and you didn't even look at me when I tried to talk to you and then some weird man with a goatee, which looked really stupid on him by the way, said that they had to get you back home and that you weren't feeling well." As she spoke, she walked over to the kitchen, moving around and making coffee. "Which is really suspicious, you know. If I didn't know any better, I'd say they drugged you and kidnapped you or something, but then I realized that if they really were kidnappers, then they were really bad at being kidnappers, plus I trained you better than to let that happen. Well, I'd like to hope that I did, but I don't know, you really worry me sometimes, so who knows. But then you showed up here so I'll assume that they didn't actually kidnap you. So what happened?" She finally stopped talking and started breathing again, taking two coffee mugs out of the cupboard and setting them down on the counter.

"Has anyone ever told you you talk a lot?" Bucky teased from his spot on the couch, mostly trying to avoid answering her question.

Yelena turned around and looked at him, grinning. "Only a time or twenty. And mostly it's just you. And my sister. And my mom, too, but she tries to be all nice about it and it's weird. Everyone else I know is too scared to tell me." She chuckles at herself, seeming to remember something relating to what she just said. Bucky shook his head and smiled at her fondly. Nearly two and a half years of knowing her and he's still always platonically drawn in by all of her quirks and charms. She's weird, but it's a really good kind of weird. It's one of the things he loves about her. He thinks her and Becca would get along great, if they ever end up meeting. He looks over at her again and finds her looking back at him, her face serious now.

"Seriously though, Bucky, what's going on? Is everything okay? Last night was weird and this morning you look like a wreck. Talk to me." Yelena says as she carries over two mugs of coffee, handing one to him as she sits on the couch next to him, facing him with her legs folded underneath her, taking a sip of her coffee.

He sighs softly and turns to face her as well, one leg on the floor and the other bent in front of him on the couch. Might as well just get it over with. "I caught Steve cheating on me and we broke up." He pushed out in one breath, looking at her. Her eyes widened slightly and she opened her mouth to speak but he kept going, cutting her off before she could start.

"And the people with me last night were Tony, Clint, and Wanda, new friends of mine who don't really get along with Steve much, which I hadn't really realized. Well, Wanda and I have been friends for a bit, we just don't really hang out a whole bunch usually. It was good they came to find me before I left the club and decided to drive me home, since I was definitely not in a very good mindset at all by then. And I told Steve that I wanted his stuff out of the apartment by tonight, because...I don't know, I mean, he cheated on me, it's fair that he at least gives me the apartment, right? Does that make sense? Of course it makes sense. And I kinda expected an argument on it but he just showed up there not that long ago and seems to just be going with it, which is great, but he showed up with Sam and it was awful and seeing him again was awful, Yelena, it was so awful. And then I was so stupid and started to ask him questions, but I stopped myself before he even answered the first one, I promise I did, and then he was acting all weird and I just wanted out of there and I was already planning on coming here before they showed up, so then I just came straight here right after that." Bucky finally stopped talking and took a long, slow breath before diving into his coffee, waiting for Yelena to process everything he had just said.

"Okay..." Yelena spoke slowly, watching her friend with concern and caution. "So, let's address this bit by bit. Yeah?" She looks at Bucky to make sure he's ready for her to continue. He nods, so she speaks again.

"First of all, Steve cheated on you. Honestly, that doesn't really surprise me, he's an asshole." She narrows her eyes at the mention of Steve. That man has no right to treat Bucky the way he has and he's been doing it the entire time I've known Bucky. Good riddance. She thought to herself. Bucky swallowed, looking away from her, knowing what her general thoughts on that part were. She'd never liked Steve. Then again, the changes in Steve had started happening right around when Yelena became his friend. So looking back on things now, he could see where her dislike was coming from, and he felt ashamed about his own stupidity.

"Second of all," She continued. She placed her hand on his knee, causing him to look up and meet her eyes again. "I'm so sorry you had to experience any of that, Bucky. You don't deserve it, any of it. Steve had no right to do any of what he did. You've done nothing but love him and care for him this whole time and he's given you nothing but hurt and shame and loneliness in return and that's not okay." She finished.

Bucky opened his mouth to speak again, protest in his eyes, but his friend cut him off before he could continue.

"No, Bucky. Do not defend him. Okay? We've gone over this so many times before. You say he was different before, and I get that, I believe you, but based on everything you've told me along with everything that I've personally witnessed between the two of you, what I said is still true and you can't change my mind on that." She said firmly. Her gaze softened when she saw the tears forming in Bucky's eyes and she sighed softly.

"I know that it's hard not to make excuses for him, детка, but it'll just let him keep control over you, no matter how far away he is. I don't mean to be harsh, I just don't want you to ruin yourself like that." She frowns and gently takes the coffee cup from his now stiff hand, placing it along with hers on the coffee table. Then she takes Bucky's hands in hers and rubs at his knuckles to soften his tense muscles. "Hey, c'mere, JJ." Yelena whispers as she pulls him forward, lying down on the couch with him lying on top of her, hugging him close as he wraps his arms around her and starts crying into her shoulder. Bucky clings to Yelena as she rubs his back and cards her fingers through his brown hair gently, whispering reassurances and apologies into his ear.

"It-it's not your fa-fault," He sobs quietly, his breath coming out in shuddering pants.

"Ssssshhhh, just breathe, милый, you don't need to say anything. Don't think about me right now, just think about yourself, that's all." Yelena told him quietly. Yelena continued to hold Bucky close as he cried, letting her best friend push through all of the emotions that have been building up inside of him. As he sobbed, she thought about all he'd told her. None of it really surprised her. She remembers how she first met Bucky. She hadn't been in her apartment long by that point, she had just moved there from a few towns over.

┏««««««««««««««««««««««««««͙⊱••✩••̩̩͙⊰»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»┓

One night, she had just gotten home from having dinner out with her mom and sister and she had heard a commotion coming from a few apartments down, and based on her personal experience, it didn't sound like the good kind of commotion. So she walked down the hall and found an apartment door halfway open. She pulled the door the rest of the way open and stepped inside the doorway, her eyes landing on the black clad back of a man hunched over another. The man who was standing was holding the other by the scruff of his neck and was driving his fist into the other man's face again and again harshly. The other man, who looked like he was wearing bloodied scrubs, also had blood all over his face, his hands.

"Hey!" Yelena stomped into the room and grabbed the man by the shoulder, pulling out her pocket knife at the same time. "Отстань от него, хуй!" She yelled, pointing the knife at him as he turned to her, panting, his expression murderous. She wasn't fazed.

"What did you say to me?" He snapped at her sharply, taking her in.

"I said," She sneered, stepping closer so that the tip of the knife was almost touching his throat. "Get off of him, dick." She said furiously, glaring at him.

For a moment, he looked like he wanted to fight her, too, but he took a look back at the man that was now laying on the floor and then back at Yelena and then his expression changed. The grin that slipped onto his face was mean and hinted at much crueler things being done at his hand than what Yelena had just witnessed. His black eyes glinted and Yelena had to suppress a shudder.

"Yeah, alright." He said, stepping to the side and pushing past her, not even bothering to close the door behind him as he left.

As soon as Yelena was sure that the man was gone, she turned to the one on the floor, kneeling down beside him and putting her knife away. She touched the man's right wrist gently. "Hey, are you still awake? Can you hear me?" She asked softly. The man groaned and looked like he was trying to nod. She nodded as well.

"Okay, okay. Do you think you can sit up for me? We gotta get you to a hospital, милый, this isn't looking too good." As she spoke, she looked over his body, noticing scraps and bruises in various places and a particularly nasty cut on his upper left forearm that was probably done by a sharp blade and was definitely going to need stitches. The man on the floor started rolling over, to the left, away from Yelena. He struggled to get his arms up under him so Yelena moved forward and helped him as best she could until he'd finally managed to get up on his knees, holding onto one of the kitchen chairs for support. He stopped then, panting, and Yelena was close enough to hear how ragged his breathing was. His voice was raspy as he attempted to speak.

"I-ice...fo-for th-the..." He trails off and slowly gestures towards the cut on his left arm.

"Oh! Ice! Yes!" She gets up and goes into the kitchen quickly, assuming she would find ice in the freezer. She opens a few drawers and finds sandwich baggies, grabbing one and opening the freezer, finding the ice and filling the bag with it. She then grabs a towel from the oven handle and wraps it around the bag of ice as she walks back out to the living room where she finds that the man is now standing, barely.

"Here you go." She says as she hands him the ice. He takes it and places it against his arm, wincing. She places a hand on his shoulder and meets his eyes, her face scrunched up in concern. "Do you think you'll be able to make it out to my car?" She asks softly.

He keeps his eyes locked with her and nods. "Th-thank you." He croaks out.

"Of course." She says softly. "Now c'mon."

After a short car ride to the hospital, spending forever in the waiting room, and then spending even longer actually seeing the doctor, Yelena drove herself and Bucky, as she had learned his name was, back to their apartment building. She insisted that he stay at her place that night, especially when he told her that he'd most likely be alone if he stayed in his own apartment.

"Thank you, Yelena. You really didn't have to do all of this and you seriously don't need to let me crash at your place, I'll be just fine on my own." He tells her softly, again.

"Hey, no, прекрати это." Yelena told him. "I've already told you, Bucky, you're welcome, and I did need to do it, and you are staying at my place tonight." She says sternly as she grabs him by his shirt and pulls him back to her side gently. "And you are so not subtle." She adds dryly, rolling her eyes at his attempts to get away.

"Fine," Bucky huffs, looking like he's about to pout.

Yelena grins at him. "Hey, you're just staying the night in a stranger's apartment. It's not the end of the world." She teases.

"Oh, yeah, sure." Bucky says, looking at her, a hint of amusement in his eyes. "Staying with a stranger. Cause that's a great idea after getting my ass beat in my own living room. Why would I ever be against that?" He asks rhetorically, throwing his arms up dramatically and then wincing and letting them fall back down to his sides.

Yelena snorts as she unlocks her apartment door and steps inside, letting Bucky in as well before she closes and locks the door behind them. "Exactly. Now c'mon, we need to get you out of those clothes. I got some oversized sweaters and sweatpants somewhere that should work."

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They went to sleep soon after and the next day, Yelena woke up in the early afternoon to Bucky still there, or, she would later find out, he had gone back to his apartment for awhile that morning but decided to come back. They spent a lot of time talking that day and getting to know each other, and Yelena found out all about the story between Steve Rogers, Bucky Barnes, and Brock Rumlow.

Yelena sighed softly as she traced patterns on Bucky's back lightly. Bucky's put up with so much from both Brock and Steve in these last two years alone and he shouldn't have to go through any of it. He deserves so much better. She looks down at him and sees his hair sticking out from his head in tufts. She shakes her head a bit. This sweet, little weirdo sniffling into her shoulder. He lifts his head to look at her and catches her staring.

"What?" He asks, looking confused at the look on her face.

She smiles, blinking away the tears welling up in her eyes. "Nothing. Just don't understand how someone could hurt a marshmallow like you so badly."

Bucky's eyes narrow at her playfully. "Yeah, a marshmallow, cause that makes me feel real great about myself." He says sarcastically as he sits up. She does the same and leans her head on his shoulder.

"You know I'm only messing with you, детка." She tells him.

He leans his head against hers and wraps an arm around her shoulders. "Yeah, I know, Lena."

They stayed there for a few moments, just settling into each other's company. But the calm silence only lasted a few minutes.

"Well this is boring." Bucky snorted at his best friend's lack of ability to be silent. Or still, as proved by the way she shot up off of the couch as soon as she spoke. "Wanna come with me to run some errands?" She looked at him expectantly.

He mulled it over a moment before he replied. "Yeah, I guess. Gotta be back in a few hours, though. My friend Wanda, you know, the girl that was with me last night, she's coming back over later with dinner and I'd prefer to be able to actually stand being there throughout all of it without, you know, wallowing in self-pity and depression." He said.

Yelena gave Bucky an unimpressed look. "And you really think that just putting a few things out of sight is gonna do that? Just have her come over to my place whenever she gets here, I'll even help her pay to make up for crashing into your guys' whole thing." She told him as she turned and walked away with her coffee, downing the rest of it as she headed to the kitchen.

"Well, I don't know, I'd have to ask her if she's okay with that. But Wanda's really nice, I'm sure she won't have any issues or complaints." Bucky says as he stands, stretching.

"Bucky, Bucky, Bucky. You should never, ever assume something about a woman just because she's nice, okay? Not cool, dude, not cool." She called out to him sternly as he heard the sounds of her rinsing out her mug.

He grinned sheepishly despite her not being able to see him. "I know, sorry." He called back to her.

She stepped back into the room, grinning back at him. "You make it so easy to mess with you, I love it." She states happily.

He rolls his eyes at her as she walks over to the door and slips on her shoes and grabs her keys off of the hook on the wall. "Anyways, let's go. You can message Wanda in the car." And with that, they headed out.

As Bucky got into the car and buckled, he opened up the messages on his phone. The first place his eyes landed were his messages with Steve. He could feel himself start to shake as he saw the name, so before he could think much about it, he quickly deleted the message log. He couldn't bring himself to get rid of Steve's contact altogether. Not yet. But while he was at it, he also deleted his messages with Natasha. He didn't need the reminders. Surprisingly, though, Natasha's messages from the night before weren't the most recent ones. At the top was a group chat that someone must've added him to. The question of who was answered pretty quickly when he saw that the name of the chat was 'Bucky's Recovery Gang 😎'. Upon opening the chat, he saw that Wanda had added him to it, Clint had set the name, and Tony, it seems, had chosen the nicknames. Clint is 'Spike 🔪😈', Tony himself is 'The Best 🙄👑', Wanda is 'Witchy Woman 🔮✨', and Bucky has apparently been dubbed 'Sad Boi 🥺💔'. He snorted as Yelena started the car. He expected nothing less.

After that, there were the only messages in the chat currently. They went as follows:

'Witchy Woman 🔮✨: Hey Bucky, I hope you don't mind the group chat. If you do, just let me know! Also, would you mind if Clint and Tony had dinner with us tonight?'

'The Best 🙄👑: I can bring along a real nice bottle of Cabernet if, you know, that helps convince you at all 👀'

'Spike 🔪😈: Yeah, we just thought it'd be nice since we're your new best friends now and all 😌'

Bucky laughed softly as he replied with '👀👀👀' before opening up his camera and pointing it at Yelena as they reached a red light. "Hey, Lena." He got her attention. He quickly snapped a picture of her questioning look before sending it into the group chat, following it with 'Um, what if I already have a best friend?' Before sending another message responding to Wanda and Tony.

'I don't mind if all three of you come, but I'm holding you to that promise, Tony. And do you mind if we hang at Yelena's place instead of mine? Don't really wanna be in there right now...Yelena says she'll pitch in if necessary. Oh, and Yelena is the one in the picture 😅'

After sending that last message, he puts his phone away for now, focusing back on Yelena and wherever they were headed. It was then that he heard Yelena's voice.

"Hey, идиот, where'd you go??" She asked him.

"Oh, sorry! I was sending a picture of you to Tony, Clint, and Yelena. For amusement purposes, really. Not like, laughing at you or anything, just part of the conversation, I guess. Well, technically the picture was unnecessary, but I really wanted to anyways, I guess?" He didn't mean to say the last part as a question but he couldn't help it as he looked at her sheepishly.

"Sheesh, Bucky, you're so defensive. Chill a bit, will you?" Her voice was filled with amusement but when she took a quick glance at him before turning back to the road, her expression was filled with concern.

He sighed softly, muttering. "Sorry, I don't mean to be."

Yelena sighs as well and stays silent, reaching over and placing a gentle hand on Bucky's forearm, squeezing softly and then just leaving it there as a comforting weight. Bucky let's it ground him as he focuses out the window, watching the city pass by.

┏««««««««««««««««««««««««««͙⊱••✩••̩̩͙⊰»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»┓

 It was now early evening and Bucky had been with Yelena all day, going to the bank, grabbing lunch, visiting her grandmother, going grocery shopping for her grandmother, stopped at a few random stores for the heck of it, and now, where they're currently at, going to say hi to Yelena's mother, Melina. Bucky hadn't gone inside with Yelena. He'd met Melina before, she was a very kind and intelligent woman, but Yelena swore she would only be a few minutes and Bucky didn't want to risk running into Natasha while here, he wasn't sure he would be okay afterwards if he did. He didn't exactly have an issue with Natasha, it's just that he knows she's still gonna choose to stick by Steve's side, no matter how much of a friendship her and Bucky may have built before last night. Yelena says it's because of some stupid loyalty shit that Natasha's dad has continuously been instilling into her, her whole life. Her and Steve were friends first and for much longer, therefore she has to choose a side because Steve probably wouldn't want her milling around with his ex. Overall, it's just another barely friend lost and he doesn't wanna deal with that right now.

Bucky was just hanging out in the car, waiting for Yelena to finish up so that they could head back home, listening to the songs that came onto the radio and humming along with the ones that he knew. The next song that came on wasn't one that he recognized, but he listened anyways. He wasn't picky with music and he had nothing better to do at the moment anyways. The song started out with piano notes, and closed his eyes as he waited for the lyrics to come, tapping his fingers on his leg lightly. And then the lyrics came.

'I don't hate you. Though I couldn't if I wanted to. I just hate all the hurt that you put me through. And that I blame myself for letting you. Did you know I already knew?'

The lyrics quickly caught his attention and his eyes shot open, staring wide at the bottom of the white car roof above him.

'Couldn't even see you through the smoke, looking back I probably should have known. I just wanted to believe that you were out sleepin' alone.'

He swallowed and sat up, reaching forward and turning the radio up a bit, listening intently.

'Love me with your worst intentions. Didn't even stop to question. Everytime you burned me down, don't know how, for a moment it felt like heaven.'

Tears burned in Bucky's eyes as the words spilling from the radio started to bring up all the things he had been avoiding thinking about since he went to sleep the night before.

'Love me with your worst intentions. Paint it as a happy ending. Everytime you burned me down, don't know how, for a moment it felt like heaven. And it's so gut-wrenchin'. Fallin' in the wrong direction.'

The tears poured from Bucky's eyes silently as the song continued.

'On my tiptoes. But I still couldn't reach your ego. Guess I was crazy to give you my body, my mind, don't know what I was thinkin' 'til now. Everyone thinks that you're somebody else. You even convinced yourself.'

A flash of Steve, his Steve, flashed through his mind, smiling brightly at him with the most genuine look of happiness he had ever seen. Stevie. It'd been so long since he'd seen him, the real Steve. Then the chorus repeats and by the end of it, Bucky was quietly sobbing, curled in on himself.

'How did you sweep me right off my feet? Baby, I can't keep fallin' in the wrong direction. How did you sweep me right off my feet, right off my feet?'

And then apart of the first verse repeated.

'Couldn't even see you through the smoke, looking back I probably should have known. I just wanted to believe that you were out sleepin' alone.'

As the chorus repeated one more time and the song finished, Bucky had his face stuffed into his knees, eyes closed and hiccuping as his sobs died down. As the final piano notes died out and Bucky's tears slowed, he felt a strange sense of relief and calm wash over him. Like hearing his all his emotions put into song form had soothed some part of him. 

Yelena came back a minute or two later and even though Bucky knew she noticed his puffy eyes and fading shakiness, she didn't draw attention to it at all, just talking about her conversation with Melina and checking that he was ready to go, to which he answered that he was.

It was about an hour back home and by the time they got there, it was almost 6:30, which is the arrival time that Wanda and them were shooting for. No one had an issue with coming to Yelena's apartment instead of Bucky's and it had become a whole group thing now. New best friends meeting the old best friend, Clint's words, not Bucky's, though he didn't have an issue with it. If anything, he needed more friends now more than ever, and even he knew that.

As they walked into Yelena's apartment, she put away the things she had bought for herself throughout the day and Bucky placed his few things on the side of the couch, out of the way. He then realized his coffee from that morning was still on the coffee table and he inwardly cringed, grabbing the mug and taking it into the little kitchen, dumping the cold coffee down the drain and rinsing out the mug before leaving it in the sink. Then he grabbed a glass from the cupboard and filled it with water before downing it. As he placed the glass on the counter next to the sink, he heard a knock on the apartment door.

"I think they're here, Lena!" He called as he left the kitchen, Yelena stepping up behind him as he walked to the door.

"Yes, I heard the knock on the door, too. Now answer it, they're your friends." She said.

"Bossy." Bucky muttered as he opened the door.

On the other side of it is Clint, carrying the bags of food from the steak place they had all decided on, Tony, holding up a bottle of Cabernet triumphantly, and Wanda, with open arms that quickly enveloped him. He smiled warmly and hugged her back.

"Hey there, guys." He stepped back and opened the door wider. "C'mon, come on in." He said.

He stepped aside as the three of them came in, Bucky closing the door behind them. Yelena turned around and gestured to Yelena.

"Guys, this is Yelena. Yelena, this is Tony, Clint, and Wanda." Bucky introduced them. Yelena reached out a hand to each of them, though when shaking Wanda's, the both of them lingered a bit longer than necessary, staring at each other with a very specific look that Bucky knew well.

He was starting to think maybe he was imagining it until Tony leaned closer to him and whispered, "Well, that sure is interesting." At the same time that Clint cleared his throat pointedly before snickering when they jumped slightly, a light blush forming on Wanda's cheeks.

Yelena recovers quickly, directing Clint to the dining table with the food and taking the bottle of wine from Tony, going into the kitchen to get the wine glasses. Bucky follows her in, helping her out. Bucky then starts helping Tony get the food out, setting it around the table as Yelena pours wine in everyone's glasses, Clint grabbing utensils from the kitchen with Yelena's direction of where they were. 

As they all sit down and settle in, banter and conversation quickly forming between everyone, Yelena leans over to whisper to Bucky. "Okay, your friends are pretty cool." She said. Which Bucky knew was her way of saying she would happily spend more time with them in the future.

Bucky smiled widely, something he didn't think would be possible with everything that's happened recently. He's with his best friend, and he's got three newer friends that he has a good feeling about, and he feels...okay. Right now, he feels okay. And that's more than he could ever ask for in this situation.

A/N: Hooray!! Look at that!!! I finally updated!!! Honestly when I started my day today, I had no intentions of writing but at one point I was really bored and suddenly my brain was all like, "AH, writing!!" And so then I wrote around....2,000? 3,000? Words today, give or take. So that was fun, and now I have the chapter finished up for you guys!!! I wanted to try and build a very wholesome family/friends vibe between these 5, so I hope that that's coming through the way that I want it to!! What do you guys think?? Lemme know!! Thank you for reading 💜💜💜

Taglist 💙:

@smackmyassseb​

If anyone else was supposed to be tagged and wasn’t, please let me know! I always worry that I’m forgetting someone in my taglists 😅

#stucky #stucky angst #stucky au #stucky fanfiction #stucky fanfic #steve rogers #bucky barnes #angst #marvel #steve x bucky #bucky x steve #steve rogers x bucky barnes #bucky barnes x steve rogers #purple_stranger #purple_strxnger_stories

[parallel-selfs]

Playful Land (Chapter 1)

Translation by Ekala and Gasumasuku Gamer

Alice is in her third year with Halloween Week around the corner. Her friends are between 19-20.

Floyd kept distracting the NRC team by complaining on how boring it was, then a fight broke out. "I did what I could to keep Floyd quiet, but you know how he is."

A freshman told Ace about the restaurant.

Ortho was getting books for a dorm mate and Kalim tagged along.

"And it's not fair Kate will be free of all of this when winter break hits." She evilly laughs at Ace.

She's confused at the man's surprised reaction at the students.

"Hold on, this fellow guy looks like he's the same age as Kate, don't just drop the formalities like that." -Jack

She feels unsure about this guy.

"I don't look up popular stuff." "Half listening."

Sounds suspicious.

Now she's getting bad vibes from him.

"... The name's Alice." (First time using her new name)

"It's better to ignore the guy once we return to the school."

"How do we know you're telling the truth? You could be a random guy lying about being the caretaker of this amusement park."

"Guys, really think this one through. It's obviously a trap."

Gaslight, gatekeep his way into convincing her but she's not easily tricked.

She just stares at him with a stern look and crossed arms when he hands her a ticket. Grim takes it and says he will convince her to go. "Grim..."

Alice has a long conversation with the group on why they shouldn't go and how it's a bad idea. Ortho says he sensed no lies from him, but she was firm with her statement and they still wanted to go.

(Trey, Cater, Leona, Vil, and Idia already graduated, and Lilia isn't a student.)

(Riddle isn't the housewarden anymore, but is still the parent between Ace and Deuce. A junior overhead the conversation and asked Ace if he could join.)

(Ruggie is busy, so Jack asked some dorm mates to join, a junior did.)

(Ortho is in a dorm of introverts, no luck here. The club is his own hope of inviting people, two Pomefice sophomores joined.)

(Kalim visited his old club to see if any members wanted to go, a Diasomnia freshman joined.)

She sadly goes to in sure the students aren't killed or harmed while at the amusement park. She tells the two Starryal students to call the professors if they don't return tonight or in the morning.

She was normally walking which annoyed Ace and Grim.

"I'm surprised Kate is here, changed your mind because you realize how thrilling it's going to be?" -Jack

"No, I'm here as your chaperone. If I can't convince you, I can at least prevent you from getting hurt."

The new faces introduce themselves to the late arrivals. Tim, Heartstayal junior. Levi, Savanaclaw junior. Victor and Caleb, Pomefice sophomores. And Lee, Diasomnia freshman.

(XD oh geez)

"I also see Alice has joined us as well. How wonderful, this day will be one of thrill."

Arms crossed, firm look. "Don't get your hopes up, I'm here to protect them."

Sad fox face. "You still don't trust me, what a shame. Maybe the sight of the park will change your tone."

"It's... actually real?"

Uncomfortable expression from Alice.

"Kalim, sometimes you make me want to cry."

She's still wary of the fox.

The juniors and sophomores start questioning the fox, being blunt on how shady he looks.

Yes. How do we know you're actually weaker than them?

"Grim, wait!"

Now she's very worried and tries to think up on what to do, then tilts her head in surprise. "Your clothes changed? ... You look very handsome." With a small smile.

You're insulting yourself a lot. You're making it very obvious you're lying.

"Really?" (Now she's going to be protective over him)

Caleb and Lee are complimenting each other and snapping pictures.

Levi and Tim are teasing each other.

(XD Vil) Victor did the same thing.

(Cater graduated and Lilia is somewhere else, Kalim is on his own ;-;)

Picks up Grim slightly so he can reach the scanner.

Pats his head. "Baby."

Scans her ticket and the boys are slightly surprised at the outfit she received.

"Your outfit gives you a different attitude than your usual style, it's kinda refreshing to see you have a more befitting appearance." -Jack

Rolls up the ticket and hides in her cleavage.

"The brats always come with some unnecessary knowledge lately, but never I expected that woman would be such a pain." -Ferro

#twisted wonderland #twst event #alice #facts about alice

[change-linguistics]

Progress Report: February 1, 2020

Summary: On a personal front, I finally received a formal Crohn’s diagnosis a week ago and have begun proper medical treatment. It’s not something one might expect to find in a conlang progress log, but I can guarantee the severity of the disease has made working on this project far more difficult than it otherwise should have been. Less personally, I’ve been going over changeling fic and it’s nearly, so nearly ready for me to start publishing. 

Progress Made: Grammar - It took a bit of work but I was finally able to finish the Eng to De to Chg spreadsheet and now have a simple, but handy translator’s bible to refer back to and tweak going ahead on this project. I’ve only completed the South East dialect so far, as the first ten chapters of my fic are going to be in that exclusively, although I have made note where and how the two main dialects differ and agree. I also made a secondary translator’s bible for very simple sentences that does include both dialects which I will be sharing today. 

Examples - I’ve now turned my attention to translating Blinky’s ‘fear is but the precursor to valour’ quote into Changeling. After giving it some thought I decided I want to do an accompanying fanart to go with this translation, so this will take me some time to actually finish. In order for it to have a Changeling flavour, I also decided to not do a direct translation, and made some artistic choices with the wording so as to appeal to a changeling’s mindset. 

My Next Steps and Goals:

I still absolutely need to finish translating Blinky’s ‘fear is but the precursor to valour’ quote into Changeling (and maybe MBB) and actually sitting down and finish arting that fanart. After this point I will finally be ready to translate the dialogue of changeling fic and begin to publish it online. Technically I started translating the dialogue* first chapter yesterday but I only got a couple sentences in, so I’m putting it here with pending progress, rather that what I have already done. For the most part, all further development on the language will be added as I work my way through translations as needed.

This is entirely unnecessary but as I’ve improved my fontstruct skills working on other scripts, I want to polish the Changelings Runes I’ve already shared and possibly even composing a cursive version? Time will have to tell if I actually get around to making it, however.

*Don’t panic, I intend for translations to be included via <dfn> tags so it won’t be jarring and/or overwhelming for literally all readers. This project is supposed to be a neat lil easter egg not actual homework for Changeling School.

#progress report #conlang #tales of arcadia #trollhunters #changeling lang #I'm unsure how long it's going to take to translate each chapter #but I have tentatively scheduled march as my goal launch date

[blackdiamondwrites127]

Lost Stars in the Night

The following characters belong to:

Isabella I of Castile, Ferdinand II of Aragon, and Juan Trastámara: @weirdbutdecentart

Isabella Trastámara: @lexartsstuff

Marion Trastámara and Elizabeth 'Liz' Seymour: @vanessaseymour

Juana 'la loca' de Castile: @ellielovesdrawing

Maria Trastámara, Maria of Jülich-Berg, and Sibylle of Cleves: Yours truly

.

Characters (Description and characters change with each chapter):

Isabel Trastámara - Age thirty eight years old, widow of Fernando and has six children. She is currently the acting leader of the group though she's unsure how long she'll be holding that title.

Isabella Trastámara - Age eighteen years old and she is the oldest child of Isabel. Her current priority is the safety of her family.

Juana Trastámara - Age nine years old and is the third child of Isabel. Looks up to Juan for comfort and reassurance. She is a little nervous about the new place and new people though she appreciates the sense of normalcy again.

Johann La Marck - Age twenty one years old. Readily does as he is told as long as it’s not to the detriment of his family. He is a proud father of two daughters.

Jocasta ‘Joyce’ Howard - Age twenty nine years old and currently a couple months along in her pregnancy.

Elizabeth ‘Liz’ Seymour - Age eighteen years old and one of the two survivors of the Seymour family. Currently serving as a patrol officer and vice captain of Campamento Zaragoza under Gonzalo Fernández's unit. She’s quite amused by Isabella's attempt to woo her.

Gonzalo Fernández - Age thirty six years old, widow of Luisa and had two children. He is currently the captain of his border patrol unit in Campamento Zaragoza and is the standing guardian for Liz and Jane.

Enrique Castro - Age sixty four years old and married to Joana Castro. He is Isabel’s older half brother and the founder and leader of Campamento Zaragoza.

Joana Castro - Age fifty years old and married to Enrique Castro. She manages the agriculture and the food supply of Campamento Zaragoza.

Gonzalo Chacón - Age sixty three years old. Isabel’s godfather and caretaker of her mother. He’s considered as Enrique’s advisor when it comes to making decisions for the camp.

Avarice James - Age thirty eight years old and married to Lilith James. One of the caretakers of the children in the nursery of Campamento Zaragoza.

Thomas Parr - Age thirty years old and engaged to Maud Greene. He and his fiance, Maud, came to Spain for an engagement vacation when The End happened. He is currently the head of Campamento Zaragoza’s security force.

(Before you proceed, be warned It's the story contains graphic descriptions of violence, blood, gore, death. Please proceed with caution)

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

Chapter Seven: A Sense of Normalcy

"Everything's here. They didn't take anything at all. Not even a single bandaid."

"Everything except our weapons," Isabel mumbled. Closing the door to her room.

During their stay at Campamento Zaragoza, they were given a five-bedroom, two-bathroom, two-story house to live in. It was a nice location. There's enough room for five people, seven kids, and a newborn baby. Their vehicles had already been parked in the property's driveway, and their belongings had been brought inside.

They concluded that everything was present except their weapons after conducting a triple inventory check.

"Will they give them back?" Isabella asked.

"I sort of doubt it. They don't trust us fully yet," said Joyce, "it's always like this in those zombie movies."

"I'll talk to Gonzalo about this and see if we can get our weapons back," Isabel said.

"What do we do for now?" Joyce asked.

"Ich gehe ins Krankenhaus, um Mari zu besuchen," Johann said.

"He said he's going to go visit Mari in the hospital," Isabella translated.

"I'll go with him. See how she's doing and if there's a slot for me in the hospital," Joyce volunteered.

"Good. Isabella, can you go to the nursery and check up on your siblings? I'm going to Enrique's office to talk," Isabel said.

Her daughter agreed to her request with a nod. They then left the house to go do their own thing. Isabella walked over to the nursery, which was only across the street. A kind driver agreed to give Johann and Joyce a lift to the hospital in a cart.

Isabel was left standing outside.

"I just realized Joana never gave me any directions to Enrique's office," she muttered to herself.

"Hey you!"

She turns around to see who had called her. A man approached her and he was wearing the same bullet proof vest that Gonzalo and his team were wearing. He was wearing a walkie-talkie on his belt, as well as a pistol and an automatic rifle on his back.

"Are you Isabel? Enrique's sister?" he asked.

"Half sister but yes. Did he send you?" she asked and he nodded in confirmation.

"My name is Thomas Parr. I'm the head of security in Camp Zaragoza. Follow me," the man, Thomas, said.

Isabel goes to follow him. Along the way, they made small talk to pass the time.

"Are you really Isabel Trastámara? The owner of a big construction company?" Thomas asked. Isabel couldn't help but smile with pride.

"Sí. That is me," she said.

"I've read business articles about you and even watched an interview of yours when you came to London for a business convention," he said.

"Those were the days. It's hard to think that it's only been several months since the world ended," she said. Thomas nodded in agreement.

"What about you? What were you before The End happened?" Isabel asked.

"I was a police officer in London. I came to Spain with my girlfriend and our baby to propose to her. You can guess how that went," he said.

"I'm so sorry about that," she said. He shook his head in dismissal.

"It's alright. What's important is that they're safe now. Camp Zaragoza is the perfect community to raise a family in," he said.

Isabel frowns in thought. Campamento Zaragoza appears to be perfect, but she knows that everything that appears to be flawless conceals flaws and cracks beneath the surface. Her half-brother is a narcissist and a notorious hothead. She's curious about how he interacts with his people.

"May I ask you a question?" she asked.

"Go ahead."

"What's Enrique like as a leader?"

He appeared to ponder the question for some time. Perhaps he's trying to come up with the appropriate words to characterize his leader. Isabel had expected this in-depth consideration of her question.

"Well...at first he was aggressive. Declaring himself as the leader of our, then small, group and taking charge of everything and everyone," he started. Carefully watching Isabel's reaction. Her expression remained neutral so he continued. "But when Chacón, Gonzalo, and the other members of his advising team, me included, he started to mellow out a bit. He has these people who help him make rational decisions and reel him back when he starts getting aggressive."

Isabel remembered that Gonzalo had quickly drew Enrique back and talked him down from his rage at the old gym showers. Gonzalo and her godfather appear to have more power in this society than she had assumed. She could utilize this to her advantage in learning more about the community's inner workings.

"Here we are," Thomas said as they arrived at the old municipal hall.

"Zaragoza's municipal hall?" she asked as they entered the former government building.

"Yep. It makes sense that it'd be the leadership council's headquarters," he said.

They climbed up the steps that led to the mayor's office where Isabel presumed would be Enrique's office. Thomas told her to wait and knocked on the door first.

"Come in!" Enrique called from the other side of the door.

The head of security enters first. Closing the door behind him. Isabel waited outside while Thomas spoke to Enrique. A few minutes later, she was allowed inside the office. She immediately noticed three other people inside aside from her half brother and Thomas. Gonzalo, her godfather Chacón, and Joana.

"Bienvenida hermana, I hope you and your group are settling in well," Enrique said.

"We're settling just fine. Gracias for the shelter," Isabel said. Walking over to the large desk that used to belong to the mayor of Zaragoza.

Now it belongs to Enrique.

"Good, good. Now, I would like to introduce you to the leadership council but I'm well aware that you've been fully acquainted with each one," he said.

"Quite. Some more than others," she said. Sending Joana a sharp gaze. She glares back at her in response.

"Which will be very essential given what we'll be discussing about. Members of the leadership council, there is a large herd of Infected heading our way," Enrique announced.

Joana, Chacón, and Thomas all reacted to the news in the same way. Exclaiming in disbelief and demanding over and over how Enrique knew this. To silence them, he raises his hand.

"Mi querida hermana here has graciously informed me about this herd and she's here to help us prepare for the inevitable," he said. Gesturing to Isabel.

"Enrique, how are you so sure that she's not lying about this herd?" Joana asked her husband.

"Give me one good reason why I would lie about something I'm running away from for over a month now?" Isabel challenged. Glaring at Joana.

"Stealing my husband's position like you've done before with Castile Corp!" Joana said. Marching up to Isabel and angrily getting in her face as she poked an accusatory finger at her.

"I have no desire to take your husband's place! My focus is solely on my family and my group!" Isabel jabs back.

Gonzalo looked across to Enrique to see if he would intervene on behalf of his wife and half-sister, but he just smirked as he watched the women squabble. He sighs and walks over to separate the two women before a full-fledged brawl ensues. Joana is grabbed by the shoulder and pulled away from Isabel, who he stands in front of.

"Enough! Real or not, it is best that we prepare, so I suggest we stop arguing and start discussing what to do," he said.

"You reel in that bitch of yours, Gonzalo or there will be consequences," Joana threatened.

"¡Maldita perra!" Isabel spats back.

"That's enough!" Enrique said. Standing up from his chair. "Querida esposa, will you please shut the fuck up for once!" he snaps. Slamming his fist on the desk. His wife immediately shuts up and falls back. Looking down at her feet.

This annoys Isabel, who growls angrily. Since she's known him, her half brother has been a misogynistic, controlling narcissist. Sure, she despises Joana, but she pities the woman for being married to Enrique.

"Alright, let's get down to business shall we? Joana, the map," Enrique orders. Snapping his fingers at his wife.

Joana swiftly pulls the official map of Zaragoza from one of the filing cabinets. She hands it to her husband, who accepts it and lays it out on the desk without thanking her. Isabel examined the map more closely and spotted numerous markings on it with various colored markers.

"Now here is where our walls are. The walls are made of any material we could scavenge. Roof paneling, wood, scrap metal, anything," Enrique said. Pointing at the red lines surrounding the borders of Zaragoza.

"The walls can hold back maybe a small group of infected but not a herd of thousands. We need to build an actual reinforced fortress," Isabel said.

"And how are we going to do that exactly without proper tools and materials?" Thomas asks her.

Isabel examines the map carefully then a certain area caught her eye. She points at it.

"There's a Castile Corp. warehouse located around here if I recall correctly. We can use the materials stored there to build the walls," she said.

"Absolutely not," Enrique said. Stabbing a knife at the area his half sister pointed at. Almost stabbing her finger had she not pulled back quick enough. Isabel glares at him for this.

"And why not?" she asked. Frowning in confusion.

"That is outside the safe zone. Hence why the area is marked in black," Chacón explained.

"Then how are we going to gather materials or any supplies for that matter if you don't want to explore outside your safe zone?"

"It is outside the safe zone for a reason. There has to be another way," Enrique said.

"Enrique, the safe zone is slowly running out of supplies, I'm going to have to agree with Isabel here in going outside the safe zone to gather more. We can't just rely on it forever," Gonzalo said.

"The safe zone has kept us safe these past months and it will continue doing so. That's why it is called the safe zone!" Enrique argues.

"Enrique, have you forgotten that Gonzalo and his team go outside the walls everyday? I think it's safe to assume that he knows when the safe zone is running out of supplies or not," Chacón pointed out. Enrique glares at him.

"We have crops! If the safe zone ever runs out of supplies then we'll still have crops that can feed everyone," Joana defended.

"And what if a major drought happens? What if there's a massive winter that kills every plant life for several months? What then? Anything and everything can happen nowadays and it's best to be prepared for the nonexistent what ifs than not at all," Isabel reasoned.

"I still don't agree with going outside the safe zone," Enrique said. Staying stubborn with his decision.

"I'm sorry Enrique but I'm afraid you're outnumbered here. I agree with Gonzalo and Isabel's point. We're a growing population and the more people we have the more mouths to feed. We don't have to go outside the safe zone all at once, we can, instead, expand it slowly but surely. The more we cover, the more territory we have," Thomas proposed. Gonzalo and Chacón gave nods of approval to his idea of area integration.

"I agree with Thomas' idea. Enrique, you may have everything within these walls but over time, supplies will surely dwindle. It's the same thing that happened to our father's company and I had to venture out in order to save it from going under red ink," Isabel said. Enrique growls in annoyance at the mention of their father's company.

Castile Corp. A symbol of his failure and her success.

How he hated to be reminded of that.

"The other members of the leadership council have spoken, Enrique. What do you say?" Chacón asked.

Enrique inhaled deeply through his nose then sighs. "Bueno. I'll allow expeditions outside the safe zone. Gonzalo, I leave it up to you to make arrangements," he said.

Gonzalo nodded and said, "of course."

"Anything else?"

"Yes. We need engineers and architects. Experts who can make us blueprints and skilled workers who know how to use tools to construct the walls," Isabel said.

"Do you need a city document of approval papers too? We don't have engineers and architects anymore, Isabel or have you forgotten that?" Enrique said.

"I can ask around and see if there are former professionals among us," Thomas offered.

"There's bound to be someone with a professional background. The lives of you and your people rests upon the protection of these walls. The more efficient we are the better."

"Fine. Anything else anyone wants to add?"

Everyone looked at each other. Seeing if someone has something to suggest more.

"No. No one? Alright then, Isabel, I give you the responsibility of being my representative regarding this project. That means the members of the leadership and their teams all answer to you for the time being."

"I'll do my best," Isabel said.

"Good. Now if there's nothing else to discuss then the meeting is adjourned," Enrique said.

The others started to head out the door but Isabel was stopped by her half brother.

"Isabel, can you stay for a bit? I would like to talk to you privately," he said.

Isabel looked over at Gonzalo and he looked back at her in concern. He leans down and whispers, "I'll wait for you by the door." She nodded in agreement and he exited the office. Closing the door behind him. Having him nearby and listening gave her a bit of comfort.

Being alone with Enrique was the last thing she needed.

She turns her attention to Enrique's desk. He was tinkering about with his knife. Tossing it from one hand to the other. She wished he'd just drop the knife and injure himself.

"Yes?" she asked.

"How are you these past years? The last time I saw you was when…uh…oh when was it?" he frowns in thought as he tries to recall when he last saw Isabel.

"My wedding," Isabel answered for him.

"Right! Right. Your wedding. Look, I'm sorry about Fernando. It must be hard without a husband and a father to protect you and your children," he said.

"He died protecting our children."

"Yes. He's a good father but not a very good husband." Enrique looked at his younger half sister with a mocking smirk. He knew fully well about Fernando's infidelity.

Isabel's eye twitched a bit in annoyance. "What do you want, Enrique?" she asked.

"Nothing really. I just want to catch up with mi hermana. That's all."

"I highly doubt that's what you want to talk about."

Enrique stood up with a chuckle. He slammed his knife against the desk, which remained upright in the wood. He then walks over to Isabel, who was tense and on high alert. Keeping a close eye on him.

"How old is Isabella? Sixteen? Seventeen?" he asked.

"She's eighteen," she answered. She noticed a glint in his eyes when she answered his question.

"I see. Time flies. Quite the fine young woman she grew up to be," he said.

"She's very much independent of me. I know I can rely on her. Fernando would be so proud," she said.

"How did he die?"

Isabel looked at him suspiciously. "Who?" she asked despite knowing who he was talking about.

"Fernando. How did he die?"

"He died protecting our children."

"Oh no no no, Isabel. I mean how exactly did he die?"

Enrique looked into Isabel's eyes as he waited for her to give him an answer. She remained tight lipped and said nothing. The half siblings shared a silent staring contest. Seeing who would falter first. Enrique got his win when he said the following;

"You killed him, didn't you?"

Isabel's strong demeanor faltered and she looked away. Still refusing to say anything. Enrique, meanwhile, had a triumphant smirk on his face.

"Oh you are so easy to read, hermana," he boasted.

Isabel clenched her fists tightly and tried to restrain herself from punching him square in his annoying face.

"I had no choice. He was already Infected and was trying to attack me," she defended.

"That still doesn't excuse you from the fact that you killed your own husband," he said. She glares at him and his smirk just grows wider.

"Why do you do this, Enrique?" Isabel asked.

"Simple. I want to show you that I'm on top now and you have no choice but to answer to me."

Enrique mocks her even more by patting her like she was a mere child compared to him. She slaps his hand away from her and he just chuckles.

"You're free to go, querida hermana. It was nice talking to you," he dismissed.

Isabel quickly turned and marched out the door. Slamming it shut behind her and startling Gonzalo who was waiting for her outside.

"I take it the talk didn't go well?" he asked. Following her as she makes her way out of the municipal hall.

"I fucking hate his mind games!" she exclaims.

"I'll take that as a 'yes' then," he said.

Isabel finally managed to calm down once they were outside. She takes a deep breath and lets out a sigh. She turns to her long time childhood friend and asks, "can you give me a tour around the camp? I need to get to know the people we'd be protecting."

"Of course but it'll take us a whole day and a half if we go on foot. Do you still remember how to ride a horse?"

"Of course I do! It's one of my past times in the summer. I even got Juana into it."

Gonzalo smiles at her. "Then let's go to the stables to get you a horse," he said.

"Can we stop by the nursery first? I need to see my children," Isabel requested.

"Sure! I want to see the little ones too. I haven't seen them since last year," Gonzalo said. She chuckles at this.

"Oh believe me, they will pile on you when they see you."

"We'll see about that."

.

"Padrino Gonzalo!"

As soon as Juan, Juana, Maria, Marion, and Catalina saw Gonzalo, they tackled him. Isabel stood there, laughing at him, as her children piled on top of him. You could say that he's their favorite uncle because he constantly spoils them.

"Okay! Okay! Let your padrino up so he can hug you!" Gonzalo said. Laughing happily. He's very thankful that the little ones were alive and unharmed. Goes to show how well Isabel has protected and taken care of them.

"Excuse me, are you the mother of these children?" A tall blonde woman approached Isabel. She was cradling a baby in her arms.

"Yes?" Isabel asked.

"My name is Avarice James. One of the caretakers here in the nursery along with my wife. Are you perhaps the mother of these children?" the woman, Avarice, asked. Gesturing to the children running around Gonzalo.

"Sí. They're mine. I hope they're not any trouble to you," Isabel said.

"Oh no! Not at all. I just want to commend you for keeping these little ones alive and safe. I've never really seen newcomers with children let alone perfectly healthy ones," Ava said.

"Gracias. We prioritize our children first and foremost in our group."

"Your little ones are also quite the fighters."

Isabel smiles proudly. "I expect nothing less from the children of Trastámara," she said.

Gonzalo finally managed to escape his godchildren and saunters over to the two women.

"Hey! Oh, is that Jane?" he asked when he saw the baby Avarice was holding.

"Yep. She was being a bit fussy so I've been carrying her for hours," she said.

"Here. Let me take her off you for a bit so you can have a break," he said. Already scooping the baby from her.

"Thank you! I just need to go on a snack run and a bathroom break. I'll be right back," she said and rushed off.

Isabel approached Gonzalo and took a good look at the baby he was holding. He was cooing as he gently rocked the baby in his arms.

"You seem to know that little one quite well," she commented.

"Well yeah. I rescued her and her older sister when I was just wandering around on my own. Liz and Jane were starving when I found them. I took them in my care that very day and here we are," Gonzalo recalled. She smiles at him.

"You're one noble man, Gonzalo," she said.

"Padrino," Isabella calls. Approaching her godfather and mother.

"¿Sí?" he asked. Turning to Isabel's namesake.

"Mamá said I can join your team to help while we're here," she said.

"Oh really?" he asked. Looking over at Isabel.

"I figured she can help your team. She can hold her own," Isabel said.

"Well I suppose you can. We could use help from someone like you," Gonzalo said.

Isabella grins happily. "When can I start?" she asked.

"Right now if you want. I'll radio Liz and tell her you're coming over for initiation," he said. Carefully shifting baby Jane on one arm while he used the other to grab his walkie talkie.

Isabella's eyes twinkled when the brunette beauty's name was mentioned. Her mother didn't miss it, and she simply rolled her eyes and shook her head at her daughter.

She may be dependable and self-sufficient, but when it comes to the girls she likes, all logic goes out the window.

Isabel decides to leave the two alone for a time and go see her children to check how they are doing. In the corner, she notices Juana. Her nose is buried in the pages of a book. She walks over with a smile on her face.

“What are you reading there, querida?” Isabel asked. Sitting on the floor next to Juana.

"A story about cats. They live in clans and have warriors and leaders that lead and protect them!" Juana excitedly said.

Isabel gave her daughter a loving grin. Juana has always favored reading than playing games. She does play on occasion, but if there are books nearby, she will make a beeline for them.

"Mama, are we going to stay here forever?" Juana asked.

"I don't know yet, mija," Isabel answered.

"Because we have playmates here. Even Catalina is happy now," the nine year old said. gesturing to her younger sister, who was happily playing with Sibylle and the other toddlers. Isabel gave a warm smile. Catalina was sufficiently distracted by other children her age to take her attention away from her beloved Pancho for a time, and she is grateful for that.

"I know. I'm glad she's not upset anymore," she said. Isabel kisses her daughter's forehead.

"Me too, querida. Me too."

Juana smiles at her. Then suddenly her smile drops and this worries Isabel a bit. "What's wrong, mija?" she asked.

"Um…mama about–" Juana was cut off when Gonzalo came over to them. "Ready to head out?" he asked Isabel.

"Sí. The sooner we get going the better. We'll talk later, querida. Okay?" Isabel said standing up.

Juana looked at her almost pleadingly but nodded anyway. Isabel smiles and kisses her on the forehead before following Gonzalo. The nine year old sighs and goes back to her book.

Perhaps her father's secret can wait.

.

As she exits the cart, Isabella expresses her thanks to the driver. She took a quick look around and discovered the military camp and barracks that her padrino had mentioned.

"Now to find Liz," she said to herself and walked along the many barracks of the base. Lucky for her, she had quickly found who she was looking for around the fifth barrack. Liz was out on the porch with her teammate. Chatting about.

"Hey there!" she greets. Going over to them.

Liz and her teammate looked up when they heard Isabella greet them.

"Oh. It's you," Liz said while her teammate stifled a laugh. She glares at them and jabs their side with her elbow.

"¡Ay!"

"Yeah! It's me. My name's Isabella Trastámara but you can call me Bella. I never got your name," Isabella said.

"Elizabeth. Elizabeth Seymour but I prefer being called 'Liz'."

"Liz. Liz is a lovely name."

"Thanks. So what brings you here to the barracks?" Liz asked. Leaning against the porch railing.

"Oh! My padrino told me to wait for him here and maybe get to know my future teammates while I wait. He also mentioned something about an initiation," Isabella said. Liz raised an eyebrow.

"Your padrino?" she asked.

"Padrino Gonzalo," Isabella answered.

"Oh! You mean the capitán."

"Yup!"

"He did radio me about you earlier. Well then, Bella. Why don't we get your initiation underway. Follow me," Liz said. Walking over to Isabella and looking at her from head to toe with an interesting look. Isabella tries to act cool and suave.

Key word being 'try'.

Liz chuckles and motions for the Spanish girl to follow her. And like a lost puppy, she does so. Isabella made futile attempts to flirt with Liz and the former is just amused at her attempts.

"Here we are," she said. Stopping at a weapons storage. She uses her key to unlock the door. She lets Isabella in first before entering herself.

Isabella was so distracted by looking at the various weapons stored there that she didn't notice Liz close and lock the door behind her.

"So uh what's my initiation going to be? Weapons test?" she asked. Turning around to face her only to be surprised, pleasantly so, when Liz pushes her and pins her against the wall. Caging her between her arms. Isabella's eyes widened, her face flushed, and heart beating fast.

"Wow…," was the only word she could utter due to her brain's lack of function at the moment.

Liz smirks and chuckles. "You are pretty cute, I'll give you that," she said.

"I have been told that I am quite adorable. So…is this my initiation?" Isabella asked.

"If you want to, it could be," Liz said. Gently tracing a finger down the side of the Spanish girl's face.

"Can it?"

"Sure. I'll just tell the capitán that I tested your stamina and strength."

"Gloria a Dios por esta bendición."

.

The residents of Campamento Zaragoza made their way to the comedor for dinner as the evening approached. Thanks to Gonzalo's tour, Isabel has met the majority of the residents, and practically everyone knows about the herd and the plans to build their walls.

Thomas had found a few former engineers and architects, and Isabel had already briefed them of the plan to construct stronger walls. The former professionals agreed to collaborate in order to present blueprints and plans to the workers who would be building the stronghold.

It had been a long day but Isabel can now relax at dinner with her family and friends.

"Where's Isabella and Johann? It's almost time for dinner," Isabel asked as she sat down at the table where her group had gathered.

"Johann stayed at the hospital with Mari and Sibylle. I'm not so sure about Isabella though," Joyce said.

"This is the first time we'll be having a proper meal in months and that girl decides to be late," Isabel grumbles.

Isabella arrived at the comedor at last. Her face was lit up with a smug, contented grin. After a minute, Liz rushed inside and made her way to her usual table with her teammates, adjusting and readjusting her turtleneck collar around her neck.

"There you are, Bella! Where have you been?" Isabel asked when her eldest finally came to join them for dinner.

"Oh I was just doing stuff," her namesake said. Taking a seat next to Joyce who got a good peek at her neck.

"Oh yeah? How was it?" Joyce casually asked.

"It was great."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"How was she in bed?"

"She was amazing."

Everyone at the table shifted their gazes on Isabella when she made that obvious Freudian slip. Joyce looked rather triumphant with her interrogation.

"You really were doing 'stuff'. What's her name though?" she asked.

"Uh…"

"Isabella Trastámara II--"

"Oh full name you're in bloody trouble now, mate."

"--we've only been here for a day and you've already hooked up with someone!?"

"Um...I uh…"

"Mami what's 'hooked up'?" Maria asked. The rest of her children looked at her expectantly. Waiting for the answer. Isabel sighs and goes to do damage control first.

"It's something only adults do, niños, no need to worry about it or say it to others, comprende?" she explained.

Despite their dissatisfaction with the answer, the children followed their mother's directions. Isabel gave her eldest an earful but Isabella let her mother's words go in one ear and out the other.

She's too much of a winner to be scolded at the moment.

Isabel gave up when she noticed Isabella wasn't paying attention to her and went back to eating her food. The newcomers were enthralled by their hot supper and were immediately stuffed after only one serving.

"I'm going to stay up and talk more with the others here. Go over the plans and all that. Can you take the children back to the house?" Isabel asked. Standing up and gathering their plates to put away to be cleaned.

"Even your big baby over there?" Joyce asked. Pointing over to Isabella who had moved to Liz's table after finishing her dinner.

"No. She'll probably end up in that girl's bed anyways," Isabella said. Handing the plates to one of the sanitary officers.

"Alright. Up you get, munchkins. Time to go to bed so say goodnight to your mum," Joyce said. Standing up from her table.

Isabella bid her children good night with a hug and a kiss on the forehead each before letting them go to Joyce. She waits for them to leave before heading over to one of the tables.

"Isabel!"

She stops in her tracks and turns around to see Gonzalo walking over to her. In his hands were Fernando's cane and handgun. "Here. I managed to get them from the confiscation ward. I already gave your friend her bat and Isabella her bow," he said. Handing her her husband's weapons.

Isabel smiles and holds them close. "Gracias, Gonzalo," she said. Looking up at him gratefully.

He smiled and said, "de nada."

There was a moment of silence between them. Paying their respects to the departed Fernando. Isabel broke the silence first after securing the handgun on her belt.

"Gonzalo, can we talk? I…I have something to confess," she said.

Gonzalo felt his heart beat faster at the mention of a confession from his childhood friend whom he's had feeling for a very long time now.

"Of course," he said. Gesturing for her to follow him out of the comedor. He leads her outside and towards a nearby park that the survivors maintained for their leisurely walks. They sat down on a bench and waited. Waited for time to pass by and for Isabel to gather her courage to say what she wanted to say. Gonzalo patiently waits for her to say the first word.

Clutching Fernando's cane tightly, she finally confesses her sins.

"I…I shot him…"

Gonzalo was taken aback and looked at her in disbelief. His mouth was agape and his eyes were wide. Isabel's eyes welled up with tears as she remembered the horrifying memories of shooting her own husband. Her hands began to shake, as if she could still feel the gun's recoil after pulling the trigger.

"He had turned and was attacking me. I didn't want to do it but...I had no choice...I shot him with his own gun," she recalled. Fully breaking down.

"Lo siento, Isabel. It's not your fault. You did what you had to. To protect yourself and your children. He would have wanted that," Gonzalo said. His voice is soft and calming.

He was at a loss for what to do for a while. Isabel sobbed loudly and her shoulder shook. With every tear, she released all of her grief and guilt. Finally, Gonzalo summoned the courage to reach her and comfort her in his arms.

Isabel agreed to it.

She cried on his shoulder as she clung to him. She let it all out until there was nothing more to let out. He remained silent and just held her close. Rubbing her back in soothing circles. After a time, Isabel finally pulls away. She wiped her tears with the sleeves of her husband's coat.

"Gracias, Gonzalo. For listening to me and not judging," she said. Smiling gratefully at her friend.

He smiles back. "Don't mention it. Beatriz and I are always here for you to have a shoulder to cry on," he said.

"I'm counting on you and Beatriz to stay alive then."

The two shared a laugh and then fell into silence again. A comfortable one this time. Finally, it was Gonzalo's turn to break the silence.

"I uh…I also have something to confess, Isabel," he said.

Isabel looked at him expectantly. "¿Sí?" she asks. He takes a deep breath and looks at her before confessing.

"I'm still in love with you."

It took a moment or two for Isabel to process what Gonzalo had just said. "Gonzalo!" she exclaimed in surprise.

"I know! I know it's not right but...I just can't help these feelings," he said. Looking down and fidgeting with his thumbs.

"Gonzalo, we've tried dating before and it didn't work. You know that," Isabel said.

"We were still young and ignorant back then, Isabel. We're practically different people now," Gonzalo said. Hoping she'd see his logic in wanting to try a relationship again.

"You're right but we've tried and decided we're not for each other long before we even married our spouses. It...surprises me that you still harbor feelings for me...did Luisa know?"

He shook his head. "No. No she didn't. I honestly loved her during our relationship. I just kept my feelings for you hidden and moved on," he said. "But I guess I just suppressed them and they resurfaced once again when I saw you. I realized that I never got over you."

Isabel looked at him and Gonzalo met her gaze. They looked at each other for what seemed like years. Both contemplating whether or not to do something. The long silence was broken by Gonzalo.

"Isabel, may I?" he asked. Isabel knew exactly what he was asking her permission of. She nodded slowly. Granting him permission.

Trying not to scare her away with his excitement, he slowly leans in. Isabel merely stayed in place and closed her eyes as she waited for him to close the gap between them. And he did. Their lips meeting in a gentle kiss.

He savors the feeling and taste of her lips on his. They were each other's first kiss back when they were young and Gonzalo discovered that the fireworks never went away. He pulled away after a long blissful minute and slowly opened his eyes. Meeting Isabel's brown hues.

"Gonzalo," she said. Her voice barely above a whisper.

"¿Sí?" he asks. Waiting with bated breath.

"Will you keep me company tonight?" she asked. More or less requested.

Gonzalo nodded and gave his answer, "of course."

Isabel stood up from the bench and offered her hand to him. Gonzalo took her hand in his and stood up as well.

"Are you sure, Isabel?" he asked. Wanting to be sure first. She nodded in response. Satisfied with that answer, he follows her back to her place. Their hands remain intertwined.

Two lost souls who mourned the loss of those they loved came together to be each other's comfort and company for a single night.

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#six #six the musical #sixtended verse #isabella i of castille (sixtended) #fernando ii of aragon (sixtended oc) #isabella trastámara (sixtended) #juan trastámara (sixtended) #juana de castille (sixtended) #juana la loca (sixtended) #juana trastamara (sixtended) #maria trastámara (sixtended) #catherine of aragon (six) #catalina de aragon (six) #maria of jülich berg (sixtended) #sibylle of cleves (sixtended) #sibylle von kleve (sixtended) #johann of cleves (six) #jocasta howard (six) #elizabeth seymour (sixtended) #gonzalo fernández de córdoba(six) #enrique iv of castille (six) #gonzalo chacón (six) #joana of portugal (six) #lost stars in the night #post apocalypse au #tw major character death #tw graphic descriptions of gore #tw graphic descriptions of violence #tw zombies #my writing

[lesbian-kyoru]

What is your opinion on kyoru's physical intimacy? I'm seeing two pretty distinct camps at least in the fanfic community: that they took forever to get there (like until they moved to their own place) or that they started out in Shigure's house. And I've also noticed a lot of people infantalising Tohru to the point where she's a completely non-sexual being, even though she ended up married with 3 kids?

ahhh hello! okay great question, and related to something i actually went off about in this post lol.

to reiterate a bit, i don’t really have a problem with kyo and tohru waiting until they move out to start an intimate relationship. like that’s not my personal hc, but i don’t hate that idea and i don’t think it’s Incorrect to hc that they’d wait to move out first (i’ve read some truly lovely fics that use exactly that concept without making a weird big deal out of it, and they use it extremely effectively and in an in-character way). like, i see it, it’s valid! and that’s fine. what i talked about in my earlier post, though, is that i think the hc that they waited FOREVER to start having sex, that they specifically waited until marriage due to shame/embarrassment, or that they like, only have sex to have kids and not because they just want to/”only have sex three times to have three kids” lmao, isn’t the best take—just because i think it stems a lot from toxic purity culture and the thought that kyo and tohru are too cute or pure or wholesome to also want a sexual relationship.

so to answer your question about their physical intimacy: my thoughts on it are shaped a lot by their physicality that we see in canon!! in that, they’re suuuuuper touchy with each other. kyo, in particular, definitely expresses affection primarily through touch—holding hands, headbonks, hugging even though it makes him transform… like kyo is really touch starved lmao. tohru is less forward in initiating touch—i think it just doesn’t come as naturally to her vs other forms of affection—but she’s always receptive when kyo touches her. and that’s before they even start dating—in the last few chapters once they’re in a relationship, they’re again very touchy with each other (with tohru initiating, too). so i think that that would translate very naturally to their sexual relationship. that is, i think they’d be very comfortable with it and that it becomes a big part of how they express their love.

on the one hand, kyo is the more physically expressive of the two, but i think his fear of harming tohru and general self-hatred that he’s still trying to get over post-curse might make him more hesitant to take that step with tohru. he wouldn’t avoid sex like the plague, but rather i think he’d need pretty consistent reassurance from tohru at first that she really wants to, that he’s not hurting her, etc. and then with tohru, she’s less physical than kyo, so i could see her being a bit more unsure of how to get the ball rolling… but also tohru is obviously very determined! and stubborn! so after they start dating and she feels comfortable being more intimate with him (which, like i said, i think happens pretty quickly), i think tohru absolutely wants to take that step, and i don’t think she’s afraid of telling kyo what she wants.

i honestly fall more into the “they had sex while they’re still at shigure’s” camp. i mean… they’ve had rampant sexual tension between them for a solid year… after endless yearning and drama, they finally get to be together… the curse is gone so there’s nothing keeping them apart physically… they’re madly in love and “clingy” with each other… they live under the same roof, across the hall from each other… yeah lmao. given all of that, combined with how tactile they naturally are with each other already, i just don’t see them waiting very long to become more physically intimate. and tbh the reasoning of “oh they’d wait because they wouldn’t want shigure to know” doesn’t really ring true for me because, since when does shigure even go upstairs? and does he usually barge into tohru’s room in the middle of the night? and re: yuki sharing a wall with tohru, i’ll be dead serious. i’m not sure they are thinking far enough ahead to consider yuki being next door. which is terribly unfortunate for yuki alksdflaksj but i don’t think it’s out-of-character for kyo and tohru LMAO. again, i think these things would be an aspect of navigating their sexual relationship, but i don’t think it stops them altogether from having one before they move out.

now wrt people infantilizing tohru, i really don’t like that take (preface again: this isn’t about hc’ing her or kyo as ace or anything along those lines.). not only do i think it’s unfortunate to write tohru as this completely non-sexual being because it’s tied into, again, a woman’s purity being based on whether she has sex or not—i also think it just doesn’t make sense for her character. sure, tohru is an airhead, doesn’t have prior relationship experience, etc., but people seem to forget that not only was her mom in a gang, she was literally a teen mom. tohru was 15/16ish when her mom died—and people really think kyoko never had The Talk with her? hello?? so yes i definitely think tohru knows what sex is LOL, and i think she has pretty normal sexual desires typical of a teenager/young adult. and because she had Excellent Sex Ed, i really don’t think she’d be averse to acting on those feelings once she falls in love with kyo and starts dating him. also, i know we all meme’d on tohru for this but like.... the comment about kyo’s hands getting bigger... like. i’m SORRY but what do people think that MEANS if it’s not tohru thirsting over kyo and his hands ajlksdhlksdh but ANYWAYS....

SO in conclusion, my takes: physical intimacy is definitely big for kyoru, and i don’t think it took them a ton of time before they started exploring that part of their relationship. they had insecurities and hang ups to work through like any other couple, but taking that step was ultimately very natural and comfortable for them! they’re awkward nerds in love and they also have sex and those things don’t contradict each other. :’)) and also uhhhhh if they had three kids they definitely had sex more than three times. like. a lot more than three times LMAO.

#ty for the ask!! i cannot believe that This is the hill i die on in this fandom but here we are! #fruits basket #kyoru #tohru honda #kyo sohma #fruits basket spoilers #fruits basket meta #long post #ask #anon #zoe.txt

[apollos-son]

✎ . . . ❝Sail Away,��

Rating ; 15+

Pairing ; eventual poly ot8 ateez

Genre ; adventure, fluff, heavy angst, fantasy

Tags ; ateez pirate au, violence, blood, magic, mythical creatures, au of the past

A/N ; some events in this series will be based loosely on events that have occurred in ateez mvs that go along with ateez's story. I say loosely because I'm not reciting what happened in the mvs, I'm taking some of the events and twisting them in an interesting (I hope) way. There are tags that will be added later on, and in specific chapters there will also definitely be trigger warnings, however if there does happen to be anything triggering in chapters that I have mistakenly not labelled with a trigger warning - please let me know so I can add a warning.

Summary ; Kim Hongjoong is a hero reborn, brought back from a war he inevitably died in to defeat the darkness that once left his home, his family and the rest of the world in ruin. It's up to him and his companions to prevail over the most challenging of evils. Will they be able to do it? Or will everything crumble to pieces?

I know this is unlikely but I do ask that you do not copy my work under any circumstances. Do not repost, translate or use my work without permission. Thanks :)

-> The origin chapters

<- previous chapter • next chapter ->

Chapter 1 ⇢ ❝The World Left In Ruin.❞

It was a disaster. Everything that could've gone wrong.. it went wrong. They thought that this would be an easy battle. They thought they would emerge victorious. The preparations, the plans. It all meant nothing now.

There were too many dead bodies to count. Some were scattered individually, showing a soldier who danced alone, on their own paths. Others were in groups, clusters, showing soldiers who were afraid of this beast. Deeply afraid. Rightly so, she thought as she gazed over them. A battle had been lost. Not just a battle, the war had been lost.

。

She wiped the dirt off of her face as she collapsed to her knees. This was the temple, the place where she watched over the humans. Those old walls that had cracks etched in from years gone by, the overgrown plants that were evergreen. Beautiful. Sitting here now, with these eight bodies, the bodies of the heroes, she finally realised something. Destiny realised that it wasn't over yet. This world and that which remains within it was not yet doomed. Her fingers clenched around the cloth cloak that draped over her small body. Yes, she was weak and yes, using the last of her power would prevent her returning to Earth but it was the only way. Her eyes met the cold, dead ones of Kim Hongjoong and she heaved a long, defeated sigh.

Her only hope. Their only hope.

。

[three years later]

Soft brown eyes slowly flutter open, a sense of dreariness and haziness flooding over his body. Everything ached. It felt like hell. His limbs hurt, his head hurt. It took him a while to really see over his surroundings. Where... Where was he? The place was huge, ancient and yet it had a sense of charm that he couldn't quite put his finger on. He wipes his eyes with the palms of his little hands and he tries to stand up. He couldn't remember a thing. Why he was here, what happened before this point, he couldn't even remember his name.

Clumsily, he made his way over to a little pool of water that sat in one of the four corners of the room. He gazed down into the liquid and saw a faded reflection of a pretty boy staring back at him. Blue, fluffy hair, clear skin and beautiful brown eyes. His hands made contact with the cold stone that sealed the water off from the rest of the temple. A voice called something from the distance. Calling out the name of someone.. "Hongjoong"

Reluctantly, he followed that voice, down one of the corridors that the temple had. He observed the walls, every little crack and every little dent. That voice grew louder "Hongjoong, Kim Hongjoong," it sang, as though the name were a sweet melody. "who is that?" he thought "who is this person? Who is Kim Hongjoong?"

The corridor came to an end abruptly. His eyes widened at the sight before him. There were pillars towering over him and gaps between each of them. The fresh smell of air and salt wafted through as he finally got a look at the outside. It was beautiful, but.... it was also nothing but water. Water that stretched as far as the eye could see. No matter which way he looked at the openings,, no land was in sight.

Then, a piercing light came from the centre of the room, causing the boy to shield his eyes away hastily. A mosaic that was stretched across the floor in the centre also lit up. "Kim Hongjoong," the same voice chimed. "Kim Hongjoong, you must hear my call," it repeated.

"Kim... Hongjoong?" The boy replied croakily "I don't know anybody by that name," he said. The voice paused "who are you?" it asked. The boy's brows furrowed and he spoke unsurely "I have no clue,, I just woke up here, I don't remember anything,"

That was the big question, who was he? The light in the room seemed to only glow brighter at his response. "fallen hero,,," it insisted "you are our only hope... the fate of the world rests in your hands,"

Stubbornly, the boy shook his head "m-me? A fallen hero?? But I have no recollection of my past, how can that be?" he asked In desperation. His white button down flowed in the slow breeze and his tongue ran smoothly across his cold lips. The aching that overcame his body had subsided, but only by a short amount.

His eyes drooped closed, his head hurting still yet the pain blossoming through it seemed to slowly but surely fade with every inhale and exhale. His arms extended from each side outwards, taking in the wind and the sun from the outside. Embracing it. Nothing hurt anymore. He was truly alive. It was a feeling like no other. To feel every part of his body again. To feel like himself again. But, who was he? The person standing here, inhaling the vast ocean's salty scent was not the hero the voice called out for. So why did he follow? Questions without answers. Questions that needed answers.

He felt his eyes flicker open again, and the light was gone. Like it was never there. In its place, however, fluttered a golden butterfly. A small creature that held innocence and beauty within its being. The little butterfly perched upon the boy's finger when he reached out to touch it. Its perfect glistening glow was captivating. Warm brown eyes inspect the little insect carefully as it's pretty wings twitched. "what's a small thing like you doing in a place like this?" The boy asked in a soft tone, obviously not expecting an answer.

Wait.. Was it just him or was the butterfly twinkling more than a butterfly should..? Then, before his very eyes, the butterfly seemed to fade away; almost as if it was melting. Now nothing but sparkling dust remained on his fingers. As he rose his hand up to inspect the glittering powder, his hand was set ablaze. With a small gasp, he shook his hand vigorously but the flames merely danced around his fingertips, burning with passion.

。

This new power that surged through his body, he couldn't quite understand what it was. He had spent a while experimenting with it, creating flames, creating plant life, creating light and, perhaps less excitingly and more concerningly, destroying certain things that he touched. It seemed that he had the power of creation and destruction at his fingertips, yet he couldn't quite use it at his will. That was evident by the amount of flowers blooming around him and the amount of plants hugging at his feet. How curious.

The sun's bright light soon fell as the boy experimented continuously with this strange oddity now available to him. It was entertaining, sure, but he felt lonely. The moon's silver luminescence shined down on him as he sat between one of the gaps of the sturdy pillars in the room that was open to the ocean. It was too dark to see a thing elsewhere so it left the small boy to gaze up at the stars.

He still had no idea who he was or how he got here. "Kim Hongjoong" was the only person he knew of but,, he wasn't certain if he was Kim Hongjoong for sure. For now then... Until he gets a solid answer, he'll call himself "Hong"

Hong kicked his legs out a little bit and shivered lightly. His thin clothes weren't really shielding him from the night's cool air. He glamced at his left hand and pressed his lips together, until a flame shortly blazed over his palm. The warmth of the flame soothed him, as his eyelids grew heavy, calling for him to enter a slumber.

Slowly, Hong lowered himself until he was flat on his back, his hands up in the air so he could watch the red and orange embers flare at his fingers. Something then came to mind, what was he to do in this place? Eventually, he'd starve to death, correct? So... He had to figure out how to escape, there must be land somewhere else. For that moment, though, he let himself fall into a slumber. He let those thoughts and those worries drift away for now.

。

Startled, Hong awoke with a start. Something had hit his face. And it was more prominent then a bug or a drop of rain. He sat up and stretched his arms out above him and looked around. To his left, a small scroll of paper sat. That must've been what hit him.

His small hands twitched as he reached for the crisp piece of paper. It was rolled up precisely and wrapped in a red ribbon. Maybe,, just maybe, this could explain to him what was going on. He hastily unravelled the paper and scanned it. His look of hope quickly faded into something that resembled confusion. Words were etched into the paper elegantly, though most of it appeared in a language Hong couldn't quite recognise. Only one part stood out to him. The name. "Park Seonghwa," he whispered. His index finger traced the name in the italic handwriting and sighed. Two names, without meaning.

He stared at the writing for a while, trying to decipher what it was saying. But he could never get past the first sentence, which was clearly written in Korean. "We were written in the stars, by Destiny herself,"

His mind seemed restless, but the sun had not even come up yet. He was using the small light source that the moon gave off. His eyes lifted to stare at the many stars. "written in the stars... what does that mean?" he asked himself solemnly. A small crackle of fire came to his attention and he looked down again only to realise that he was burning the aged paper. "No!-" he squeaked in desperation but before he could do anything, the paper had burnt to a crisp.

Not long after though a figure appeared beside him. A gasp left his lips in shock and he moved himself back, away from the figure that was laying unconscious on the floor. Did,, did he do that? Surely not, that couldn't be possible. He looked over the figure for a moment, his eyes twinkling with curiosity. "Park... Seonghwa?" he queried quietly.

When the figure's eyes opened abruptly to reveal a pretty blue, Hong gasped again. He had the urge to reach out and touch the person's face, but restrained himself from doing so. "who.. are you?" The figure, that upon closer inspection seemed to resemble a man also, asked with a sense of weariness in his voice.

"I.. don't really know,"

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

Lil taglist:

@atiny-piratequeen @ningnings-plushies @btsheadquarters7 @catboy-dia

#Aaron-James writes #finallyy #first fic #I'm so happy with myself #and how this came out #and I hope that other people like it too #because I really enjoy it myself #:D #origin chapter #ateez #Adventure #this is a filler chapter that had to be established before I can move on to the more interesting stuff #there will be more fluff in the next chapter ;) #I know that this isn't going to get much attention but that's just how it goes #Sail Away

[starlit-serenade]

Along the Red Thread | Chapter 1

🧣 Summary: It is said that a red thread connects people who are soulmates and destined to be lovers, regardless of place and circumstances. What makes this difficult is that you stopped believing in love a long time ago. OR. You go to Korea to visit your father after several years. There, a mysterious red thread that seemingly only you can see shows up when you least expect it, and you meet a childhood friend you’d never thought you would see again.

🧣 Chapter 1: 1,991 words

🧣 Pairing: Reader x Kim Geonhak (Leedo) / Characters: GenderNeutral!Reader; Kim Geonhak (Leedo); Kim Youngjo (Ravn); Lee Seoho (Seoho); Lee Keonhee (Keonhee); Yeo Hwanwoong (Hwanwoong); Son Dongju/Xion; a couple of OCs;

🧣 Rated: T / Warnings: Mentions of divorce (Y/N’s parents); Mentions of abuse (physical); Instances of abuse (non-physical); Mentions of child abuse; Swearing / Genre: Angst; Fluff; Soulmate!AU (Red Thread of Fate); ChildhoodBestFriends!AU; Happy Ending;

《 Boy Group Masterlist // ONEUS Masterlist // Series Masterlist 》

You see your father waiting at the entrance of the airport as you exit baggage claim. You haven't seen him in a long time, especially not alone, but he looks almost the same as he did when he moved here to Korea with his wife, who now stands beside him, waiting for you. She looks to be almost half your father's age, but you don't say anything. 

Several years ago, two years before you entered high school, your parents divorced, and later your dad moved to South Korea with his Korean wife. Since then, he would visit your home once a year, for a week at a time on your birthday. But you've never been to Korea before now.

You had a friend when you were younger who was from Korea. But a year after your parents split, he moved back home to Korea. You fell out of contact soon after, but you often wonder how he's doing.

You approach your father. Your height difference has changed significantly since you last saw him. You're now much closer to his height than you were before. His wife, a Korean woman you met once when he introduced you so many years ago, before he moved to Korea. You don't remember her name very clearly. It started with an S, maybe? Or a J? Something like that. Her black hair is cut in a short bob, and her smile is soft, almost insincere. A little boy you didn't notice stands beside her, looking up at you curiously.

"Hi, Y/N," your father says, giving you a hug. You return it, uncomfortably, and then pull away. You smile in an attempt to placebo yourself into feeling more comfortable, but it doesn't work. "How was your flight?" 

"Fine," you say. "A bit bumpy, but not too bad.

"Have you met my wife?" he asks, placing his hand on his wife's back. You shake your head.

"Hello, I'm Sooyeon," your step-mother says. She shakes your hand, then directs your attention to the little boy beside her, who is now hiding behind his mother's legs. "And this is Sunho."

You bend down to Sunho's face level, in sort of an uncomfortable squat. "Hello," you say, your voice softer. He waves with his tiny hand.

"How old are you?" you ask. His mother, Sooyeon, translates to him. He must not speak English. Or maybe he just isn't fluent. Sunho  raises his hands up to you, showing five fingers on one hand and his thumb on the other.

"Oh, six?"

"Yes, he's six years old."

You nod. Sunho smiles at you proudly, and he smiles back, still hiding behind the cloth of his mom's skirt.

"He's shy," Sooyeon explains.

Your father directs you out of the airport to his car. You sit in the back with your half brother, Sunho, while your dad and step-mother sit in the front and passenger seats. The ride to their apartment is quiet except for Sunho, who giggles as you make silly faces at him. At the same time, you watch the buildings zip past.

You haven't seen your father in about a year, but he's barely spoken to you since you've arrived, other than introducing you to his wife. You don't know if you should be surprised.

You reach the apartment, and your father helps bring your stuff inside. He shows you to your room. It's empty, and blinding white, as if they just had it cleaned this morning. You walk over to the bed to stand in the center of the room. It feels so empty and plain and large, compared to your small room at your home.

"Y/Nah," your dad says from the doorway. You turn to him, slightly startled by his voice. You've been here in Korea for a few hours and you still aren't used to his voice yet. "Sooyeon is going to have dinner ready in about half an hour. Does that sound good?"

You nod. "Yes."

"Y/N . . ." You look up at your father questioningly. "I'm happy to see you."

You nod, unsure of whether you feel the same way. There are reasons you live with your mom full time and only see your father once a year.

Your father closes the door as he leaves you alone to take in the room on your own. You set your bag aside and open the closet to find it empty. Since you'll be here for two months, you are expected to use the room as you wish. You don't have enough clothes to fill the closet yet in your suitcase, but you wouldn't be surprised if you collect additional clothes during this trip.

You put away all of your things, hanging up your jacket and putting away your shirts and pants. You stare at the bed. It's so clean that you almost don't want to lie down. But you're tired from the plane ride and the emotional exhaustion of meeting your father for the first time in forever. But also, Sooyeon is making dinner for the four of you, so you can't sleep, because that would both be rude to her and would also mess up your sleep schedule for the next two months.

With somewhere between ten and twenty minutes left before dinner--you haven't been keeping track--you decide to sit down on your bed and scroll through the internet and think.

You think about how you used to come to school and tell your friend, the Korean kid--gosh, you wish you could remember his name, he was so nice, but it was so long ago--about what happened at home the day before. You would tell him about how you couldn't sleep because your parents were screaming at each other again, or you would tell him about how your father hurt you or locked you in the basement as a punishment.

You sigh. Aren't parents supposed to be the adults you look up to? The ones who you learn from? Aren't parents supposed to be an example of a healthy relationship? But instead, all you saw and heard was screaming and violence. You grew up being afraid of your own safety, and wondering if watching your mother being hit or threatened was normal.

You frown. The more of that you saw, the more and more you gave up on the idea of a relationship. It was what love was supposed to be--doors slamming, screaming every night--you didn't want it.

Why did you want to come here and spend two months in Korea with your father again?

Right. You wanted to try to mend your relationship with him. Why? Because he wanted you to. And you knew that, if it didn't end up working out, you are now old enough to get a room at a hotel to stay safe if needed.

You sigh. Maybe this wasn't a good idea. Maybe you should go back home and--

"Y/N?"

You look at the door. Sooyeon, your step-mother, has opened the door just enough to poke her head inside the room. You must have been so deep in your thoughts to not hear her open the door.

"Yes?" you say, your voice light as you pretend to be happy and excited to be here and see her.

"Dinner is ready," she says.

"Oh, thank you, Miss Sooyeon. I'll be there in a minute."

"Of course. And please, call me Eomma," she says, smiling widely. You nod, though you aren't very comfortable with calling her the Korean word for mom. You already have a mom who raised you alone for the past six years. Why would you call this woman who you barely know cmom" when you don't see her as that? When you already have a mom that raised you alone? You'd rather call her Miss. Sooyeon.

"Thank you, Eomma," you say anyway. You're afraid that, if your dad finds out you're being disrespectful or disobedient, you'll get in trouble.

She disappears from the doorway, closing the door as she leaves, and you sigh. You're already so emotionally drained by being here, and you still have two months left.

You swing your legs off of the bed and stand up. All you have to do is get through dinner and then you can go to bed and sleep. Maybe in the morning, you'll feel better about being here.

You walk over to the dining room. Your father is sitting at the table, which has been set with table mats, plates and silverware. Sooyeon stands next to him, and Sunho sits across from him. He smiles at the sight of you and points to you. Your father and Sooyeon both look at you at the same time. They both smile widely, but their smiles don't make you feel comfortable. So you just smile at Sunho instead and sit next to your father while Sooyeon sits next to Sunho.

"So Y/N," Sooyeon says, halfway through the meal. "What do you like to do?"

You blink. How do you answer that? You don't know this woman. You don't know if she's genuinely asking because she's genuinely curious, or if she wants information for something, or if she's going to judge you and criticize you, or if--

You shake yourself. These are your trust issues speaking. Maybe you should just answer her like a normal person without trust issues would.

"I listen to music. And I play some video games. I read and draw a lot. I just finished my freshman year of college, so it's difficult to focus on my hobbies as much as usual," you say, sipping from your glass of water.

"Oh? What kind of music do you listen to?"

You squirm in your chair. All of these questions being shot at you are starting to feel like an interrogation, and it makes you feel anxious.

"I, uh, listen to many types of music," you stutter, your voice quiet from the internal stress.

"Y/Nah, don't mumble," your dad scolds loudly from next to you, causing you to jump in your chair. You're still not used to his voice, and him scolding you for the first time in years isn't helping at all.

"Sorry, dad," you mumble, ducking your head. 

"Answer your Eomma's question," your dad says, leaning toward you,  and you wince at him speaking so close to you. His voice is loud, demanding, and booming. The same that you remember, back when he would shut you in the garage or closet when you were twelve.

You take a deep breath.

"I listen to many types of music. Not a specific type, really." You can feel two pairs of eyes on you. Your father and Sooyeon are staring at you, while Sunho just continues eating. "Eomma," you add. Your father leans back in his chair, and you wish you could feel that relaxed.

You had expected that he might have changed in the past seven years. You'd hoped he'd become less violent and scary.

It seems he hasn't.

He's almost the same as you remember.

Loud, angry and intimidating. His presence demeaning power and attention from the rest of the room.

"You're in college, right?" Sooyeon asks.

"Yes," you confirm.. "I just finished my first year."

"And how was your first year of college?" she asks.

"Fine."

She nods, and doesn't ask anymore questions. You wonder if you made it clear enough that this is a topic you aren't interested in talking about with her.

You finish your dinner in silence. Your father allows you to wash your dishes before you head to your room to say goodnight.

You sit on your bed, considering the past few  hours you've spent here in Korea. It's not bad. The city is nice. The bed is comfortable.

But none of that really erases the memories of your parents screaming through the walls, the fear and pain you endured for several years and the loneliness you endured for several more years.

Really, you're not here for fun. You're here to mend a broken relationship that you're not even sure is worth salvaging.

#oneus #leedo #kim geonhak #kim gunhak #oneus fanfic #oneus fanfiction #leedo fanfic #leedo fanfiction #kim geonhak fanfic #kim geonhak fanfiction #kim gunhak fanfic #kim gunhak fanfiction #myfic #fanfic #fanfiction

[ridiculousravenclaw]

The Life of Elara Ware

This is a Harry Potter fanfic. Main character Elara is an original character by moi and is George Weasleys gf they started dating in 5th year. she's half blood hens the mention of muggle technology before anyone asks. And it's set during the GOF. I've never written anything like this before either so be nice.

Chapter 1

Elara couldn't help the smile that spread across her face. She read the note again, unable to hide her relief at the sight of the familiar untidy scrawl. 'Elara its okay we're good. please dont worry. oh and Mom says you can still come. You'll have to share with Ginny and Hermione though. sorry we're a busy house at the moment. but seriously don't worry. None of us got hurt. A bit shaken up but we're fine. Dads been thrown into it at work though sorting it all. I've never seen him look so tired. and mums been really nice to us since we got back. Gotta say I dont know what's more annoying. The way she keeps fussing like we're about to drop dead any minute. I think I preferred her nagging. it wont last long. All it'd take is one glimpse of a joke wand or ton tongue toffee and she'll be back to her normal screaming self. Speaking of which, you wait till I show you what we've done. Think instant. projectile. vomit! genius huh? Anyway I'll see you really soon. Love your favourite red headed knight in shining armour.'

She rolled her eyes. George was many things but a knight in shining armour was pushing it.

Collapsing back onto her bed Elara felt the tension seeping off her shoulders. Ever since the news had broken the previous day about the attack at the quidditch world cup she'd been going out of her mind with worry. No matter how many times she tried she hadn't heard a thing let alone any news on the Weasleys. Until now. She closed her eyes and pushed away the dreadful images that'd been swirling in her mind. Each scenario more terrible than the last. Its okay. They're okay. You'll see them really soon. With that final reassuring thought she sat up and made her way downstairs.

The house was silent, which was to be expected. Her parents were working so she was home alone again. She didn't mind. After all these years she was used to it. Used to the last minute I've got to gos and sorry I'm going to be home lates. They weren't to blame, such was the nature of their jobs. Elara looked around the spacious hallway. The mid afternoon sun shone through the glass door at the end of the hall and lit up the stairwell. Its beams reflecting off the crystals of the chandelier. Her parents had worked hard to pay for all this and they did it all for her. She knew better than to be ungrateful for a few lonely evenings here and there. She glanced across at the clock. 4:30. She was unsure when to expect her mother but Elara knew her dad wouldn't be home anytime soon. She looked at the letter again still clutched tightly in her hands. It was no surprise Mr Weasley had been called in. From what her father had told her the ministry was trying to get every available person in to figure out who was responsible for the disaster at the world cup. As an experienced member of the department of international magical cooperation; Hamlin Ware had been one of the first called on the scene and he hadn't been home since. This told Elara one thing. The ministry of magic didn't have a clue who was behind it or why they attacked.

4:40. It hadn't occurred to her that she'd been stood on the second to last step for 10 whole minutes lost in thought. "get a grip" she muttered to herself under her breathe as she walked towards the kitchen. She was staring at the cupboards trying to decide if she was hungry enough to start cooking dinner when the phone rang.

"Hey honey. how are you doing?" Her mother sounded exhausted on the end of the line.

"yeah I'm good. I've finally heard from George. He's okay. they're all okay."

"well thank heavens for that!" she said. Elara heard her mothers exhale of relief. "yeah I know. He said I'm still okay to stay there for the last few days of the holidays"

"see? we said he'd be alright didn't we? oh and I really don't want to impose on their family, especially after this, but... oh thank the lord for Molly Weasley. Yes. If shes truly okay with that then great. It'd be a massive help. Look I'm sorry my lovely but Adrian's sons not well again. poor lad. hes had to take extended leave to look after him. I mean, why the mother can't look after her own boy now and again is beyond me but, hey, that's none of my business i suppose. And Veronica's being her usual, I'm too important to do any work, self. Oh you should have seen her earlier. 'oh look at me in my brand new Porsche'. its orange! and not a nice orange like a sunset or something. no, like fake tan gone wrong, that's what it looks like. Uh. Anyway. Breathe Mary-Anne. The point is I'm the only other translator in the office that speaks fluent enough Polish for the conference next week. I'm sorry darling that's 2 weeks in London"

Elara could feel her mothers guilt almost radiating through the speaker.

"it's okay mum. really I understand. i dont mind. I'll go to the Weasleys and they can take me to kings cross itll be fine."

"oh my girl what did I do to deserve you?"

"hmm, not sure. but it must've been good. maybe you saved a village from plague in a past life"

Her mother chuckled. Then she grew silent. After a moment she said

"I'm probably going to be late tonight too"

there was no hiding the hint of sadness in her voice.

"I know" Elara said "it's okay. theres some leftovers hiding in this kitchen somewhere and they've got my name on them."

"Larie"

"Mum. stop. it's fine. look I'm going to have some food. have a shower. then have an early night. honestly you're not missing out on much. I'll see you tomorrow. okay?"

"okay. oh Larie I love you. more than anything in this world.

"love you too mum"

"oh and remember to check the doors locked properly and..."

"and check the security systems running. I know mum I've got it"

"you checked your trunk? you're starting your newts this year. Can't be leaving anything important behind."

"yes I've checked it. I've got everything packed dont worry."

Her mother sighed. "okay. see you later."

"bye"

Elara couldn't help but roll her eyes everytime. but still she compulsively checked the front and back door locks and the flashing screen of the home security system. Online. She knew it would be. But from a young age her mum instilled this pattern. "you must be safe Elara." she'd said. "always be safe" The overprotective persistence of her mother used to annoy her as a child. But now Elara found comfort in the metaphorical safety net her mother cast for her. It let her know that she was loved.

Making her way back to the kitchen she pushed the days worries from her mind. It looked like another evening of peaceful me time she thought. and she was going to see George soon. She smiled to herself. She had missed that cheeky grin.

#harry potter #hogwarts #fanfic #harry potter fanfiction #george weasley #georgeweasleysgf #gryffindor #slytherin #hufflepuff #ravenclaw #goblet of fire #quidditch #quidditch world cup #death eaters #the weasleys

[wrayghtings]

An Almost Lover and A Passing Fancy

Our story. Written for: An Almost Lover. 

.x.

Laughing and making small talk, we stand at my car, both of us slightly awkward and delaying the moment. We pass it with shy smiles and shuffling feet. 

"I'm, uh, only a phone call or text away." I offer genuinely, nervously playing with my hair.

"Yeah, I know," You say, with a small grin and an easy gaze to meet. "But nothing beats-"

"The real thing or being in person, I know." I interrupt, believing I had finished your sentence as I have done several times on our few previous dates. 

But another moment passes and you take a breath. 

"You…nothing beats you."

Again, it's silent. Again, we shuffle our feet and pass small glances between one another and any random thing in the parking lot. I don't know what you felt in that moment, that maybe lasted three seconds, but for me, minutes went by. The weight and meaning of what you said pressed on me and it felt like I was flying. Inside, I was squealing and giddy. 

Me. I was the real thing. 

I should have kissed you then, but instead I blushed, smiled and laughed shyly, giving you a spoken farewell. I drove away and caught you watching from the balcony of your apartment in my rearview mirror. 

My heart was full and I kept smiling the entire way home, repeating that moment in my head. Feelings of being valued and wanted floating to the surface. In the midst of it, I will admit, there was fear. Fear that I was heading into the lovestruck emotions too fast. Fear that I was over evaluating the implications of what you said, but no matter what fear arose, my happiness pushed it back. My heart stepped up and told me to trust it. It was cracked, fragile and bruised, and I was terrified to let it take control. However, the emotions felt so good that I handed over the reigns. 

I shocked myself doing this. I've been cautious for a long time, so afraid of getting hurt again. My heart had taken damage, and there was still so much ache from the scars of loved ones who had broken it. But there was a different ache rising from beneath that. One of longing and hope and I caved beneath the weight of it.

Weeks later, it finally happens. We kiss one another, and it was tender and sweet, but not the way either one of us had imagined it. You had blubbered about not finding the courage to do so during our previous get togethers when you wanted to make that move so badly. You planned in your head that you were going to lean in slowly, with great care and gently place a kiss on my lips as we cuddled. 

It did not go that way. Instead, we were both standing and you said that you had planned it so differently. I wrapped my arms around your neck and you smiled a very small smile and I leaned in. It was tender and sweet all the same, even if it hadn't gone the way you planned. 

Weeks later though, I believe you get the kiss you had thought would be our first. 

Five more minutes. Time had crept up on us, and I needed to get going. You asked for five more minutes and I didn't hesitate to oblige. Five more minutes to be close. Five more minutes to cuddle. 

I still don't know how you did it, but you were able to say just the right things that result in me opening up and tearing down my walls just a little more. At times, it feels as though I just met you and in other moments, it's like I've known you for years. Time becomes irrelevant. It's like you've been apart of me from the beginning. Maybe it's that our souls are kindred spirits that see the pains we have each endured. Within you, I see true hurt and fading hope, but still you take the time to gingerly bandage my own emotional wounds because you believe I can heal. You hold so little faith in recovering yourself, and while it's obvious you will never be the same, you view yourself with despair, unaware that I'm falling for the person you are in the present...not the past one you speak of with such fond bitterness.

You will never be the same. You will always have that hurt. You will have those scars, but they don't define you. I know you could say that to me, and I desperately wish you could believe me if were to tell you the same. You speak sweetly, kindly and genuinely, doing your best to soothe old wounds. Tears are streaming down my face and I laugh ironically as you smile gently, your knowing, kind eyes seeing right through me. It's not painful, that piercing glare of yours. You see through my mask and while you don't point out what I'm doing, the small spark of understanding in your eyes convey to me that I'm not fooling your with my laughs and light jokes. I'm not fooling you, but you let me continue, all the while, I know that you know deeply exactly what I'm doing and why I do it. 

Barely feeling it, your hand traces my jaw, and I swear I hear you whisper so quietly on my lips that you love me. 

My tears pick up for a moment as we kiss, and when we break, I gasp for air. I was unsure whether or not you said that you loved me. I couldn't tell if it was my mind translating the emotions your kiss transferred to my lips, or if you actually spoke. 

If I could have formed a clear thought, I would've said it back. Even if you hadn't said it aloud, I know that's what you were telling me. But instead we enjoyed the moment in silence as I let my tears dry up. Five minutes turned into an hour. I hardly noticed because time did what it always did when I'm with you. It ceased its existence.

Eventually though...my time with you ceased altogether.

Gradually, other feelings you had for someone else came to light and I knew it would hurt me in the end. I think I saw it from the beginning. I knew who you were when we started, and who you loved as I fully entered the picture. Deep down, I knew you were going to hurt me. You weren't ready for another relationship. You still talked about her in present tense, correcting yourself seconds too late, fumbling awkwardly and glancing hesitantly at me as you did. I knew. I really did. I guess I just hoped you would prove me wrong.

You didn't.

Today, we don't talk and those happy feelings have slowly died and the lovestruck sensations numbed. We had no closure. You simply stopped texting or calling me. You stopped asking me to come over. I waited for you to reach out for weeks, butterflies stirring in my stomach every time my phone vibrated. In the end, I stopped waiting and accepted that our time was over. I accepted and welcomed that familiar pain. I listened to that small voice you silenced for a few passing moments as it told me I had been foolish. My heart deflated and shrank back against that voice, because it knew it had been too eager and hopeful. 

Another chapter in my life is all you were. It's all I was for you as well, yet I don't hold any resentment for you. Rather, I hope you are happy, because I really did mean it when I wished you viewed yourself from a better perspective. That you held your own heart with the tenderness you traced my jaw with. That you turned your kind gaze inward and saw the gentle person I did. We had no closure, but there was never a fight. We simply let our own hurt open the old wounds, not wanting to do it to each other. Even now, when my thoughts wander back to you, I wish for your happiness. 

While it hurt detangling my heartstrings, I really did mean it when I wanted to say "I love you" and I believe you did as well. I don't think our paths will cross again, but I'm glad they did for a short time. You helped me see I could love again, even though it hurt.

.x. 

Thank you for the chapter. Written by: A Passing Fancy. 

.x.

Also posted on my fictionpress! Keep up with me there for more content!

#author #wrayghtings #writeblr #writing #fictionpress #writeblr fiction #short story #drama #writer #my writing #follow #original story #original

[icharchivist]

I was rewatching DGM hallow and I remembered that Lavi and Bookman occasionally engage in telepathic conversations. How come I've never seen this talked about more in all the years I've been in this fandom? This is really weird. Even most of the Noahs think it's weird/creepy when someone reads their thoughts/talks in their head. The more I think about the Bookman the creepier they get. I'm not implying they're evil. Just really weird. 1) Telepathic w/each other. 2) Not only against attachments-

2 but against having a heart (not even the past Jedi at their most radical taught padawans to not feel anything). 3) If Bookman and Lavi are the standard then they either think they're above humanity or hate humans or or just indifferent. 4) they have SO many secrets that they keep to themselves no matter what. 5) they will never feel loyalty for anyone/thing that doesn't further their own ambition and even then they can easily drop you like you mean nothing to them. 5) They routinely erase-

3 each other's minds and none of them remember their birth names. 6) they swap identities so many times their own growth as individuals is trivial. 7) Ever single (possible) bookman we have met has either exhibited creepy or hostile behaviour. 8) they take to neutrality so strongly you can question if they even think to care what will happen to them if the Earl's plans succeed. 9) Are they even self aware? I'm not expecting a complete disaster. But I am expecting the bookman to weird me out.

Okay so for the telepathy i will have to come back to it when i will re-read it bc i don’t really remember it in Hallow and I think the scene I think should be that one??? Is the fact that ii’m almost certain i remember it being confirmed that Lavi and Bookman talk a whole other language. Apparently the Bookmen would have had their own language and I think i remember that in the manga it was translated by having weird bubbles to specify they were talking in that language (and it is possible that, due to the fact the anime couldn’t just pull a new language that was a work around to still have one of their Bookmen conversation being visible using telepathy).

But i really don’t remember the scene in question in details so i will have to check that out again but I THINK it is Bookman Language related more than telepathy and that the telepathy was a way for the anime to translate it

THAT SAID if the idea of Telepathy is a thing (which tbh could still be??? Bookmen already messes with minds a lot with the whole deleting memories thing who knows the hell they can do) it could explain also a lot of much more silent looks that we kinda justified so far by “they know something we don’t”. It might have been conversations we missed. 

Still unsure though i’ll get back to that when i will properly have re-read those parts bc this is really intruiguing me now

I know the fandom had talked about the Bookman’s language though but i’ve never heard of telepathy before now?? Idk 

And yeah like you say this is very weird bc putting them on the same level as Wisely is... very weird. Besides considering how much Lavi still struggles to get people around him i am fairly certain that if telepathy there are it i between the Bookmen only, not all knowing as Wisely.

But yeah aside from that, mood. The Bookmen are seriously a creepy brunch. Not in a bad way, but in a “this is extremely shady and I get you’re doing that to be neutral but i’m not sure those means are actually legally or morally applicable”

I agree with all your points. 

and i’ll elaborate under cut bc i might have gone carried away,

well 1) i just discussed it there, either Telepathy which would be a whole new can of worm, or a whole other language that would still applies that they have a special language to keep secrets in. And tbh it would also make sense that they would write down records in a secret language since they don’t actually let people Read their reccordings: Bookman specify that it comes with the part to “chat a lot”, they won’t share the written reccords (which they MUST HAVE for the the survival of the clan), so “Secret Language no one else in the world know” rings as shady to me.

4) NOT TO MENTION we know that Bookman also keeps secrets from Lavi (when meeting Cross’s altered akuma, Bookman specifies it was only something he (and Cross) knew about.). And it’s not to mention secrets that the Bookman in charge keeps from the rest of the Clan (see again, how Lavi’s eye is only known by Bookman Sr, not anyone else in the clan seems aware of that)

6) Apparently about their switching identities, something very creepy that came out of the latest Komui corner too is that the name they have during a war is the name that the recording will officially get. Meaning it’s not even that “Lavi” calls himself like that for the people around him, it’s that even after Jr would have moved on or died or anything, the Records of the Holy War would still be called “Lavi”. And we know that the names picked seems to have meaning that applies to each wars (as Wisely smugly smile realizing Lavi’s name’s meaning, but doesn’t tell people). So even more of a disconnect with their sense of humanity since they have to be distanced from their own names, as their names become history as it goes. Which makes Jr’s identity crisis over how “Lavi” is “him” even more creepy tbh, bc it extends that “Lavi” isn’t just a reccord name anymore, it is not just the Holy War anymore, it is part of Jr as a BEING. And to me that’s even creepier that it’s even something Lavi has to worry about.

8) this is honestly one of my biggest questions. If the Earl’s plans work, all humanity will die. Or at least there had been no mention so far of any “saved people that would go through the Ark”. (there had been speculations about the real purpose of the Akuma and how its evolution process would be perhaps a part in creating supperior beings to salvage during the Flood like the original Ark did, and i’ll need to get back to the chapters tha thints that there are more secrets to the Dark Matter than it just reversing the innocence, BUT personally I have issues with this theory because of how easily the Noah do torture and kill the Akuma at times and seem to look down on them. But I would agree there seems to be a bigger purpose to the Akuma and the Dark Matter that we cannot even imagine.)Regardless, I don’t see anyway for the Bookmen Clan to survive, else the Noah would have found way to keep them on their sides and not torture them like they do now and exclude them. Yet we know at some points the Bookmen were “on the Noah’s side”. So what the hell do the Bookmen expect to happen with the Flood? Is their neutrality so important that they are ready to litteraly go down with this ship when the end of the world come? Yet we know they have some self preservating instinct it seems, so why? It just enerves me so much!

9) Yeah same, basically.

One last thing i will add: How the HELL did Bookman manage to find himself and Lavi innocences he knew they would be accomodator to when they decided to join the Order? Bc the Corner mentions that Bookman decided to set them into the Order to watch BEFORE they even got in contact with the innocences, and Lavi mentions that “Gramps just knew we’ll find innocences we would be compatible with” and how????? How the hell??? You can’t just make it that easy for the two of them to randomly connect with two random innocences (and we know they’re the one who have shown the least actual connection with the innocence) after arcs and arcs proving that the innocence is picky and sentient, that its own personality affects who they end up picking, that even the synch can change depending of how the innocence feel to their acomodator, and Especially, that the Order had DECADES of experimentations that were basic human rights violation due to how desperate they were to not be able to have enough people synchronizing with the innocence.

You  cannot have a full arc of telling us the Order did an entiere experiment about bringing fallen exorcists’s brains back in new bodies in hope the innocence would synch with said bodies, while letting those bodies decay under the pain of the innocence, for the sLIGHT CHANCE an innocence could be compatible again, only to then tell us “oh yeah we wanted to join the order so we ended up finding two innocences that we could connect to.”

For exemple: Take the Crows. it’s obvious the Crows want to help the holy war, as the Third Exorcist project proved a whole brunch of people were ready to put Dark Matter in their body to fight back the Akuma. And from all those Crows, from all the experiments we know the Order have carried on, somehow, as long as we don’t know of a “Former Crow Exorcist”, it means it’s not that easy. Not when you have a whole military branch who would be willing to be God’s apostles. And it’s not even counting how others Orders’s soldiers like the Finders would or not jump on the occasion.

So how the hell did they do that? How the hell did Bookman find those? bc even if they don’t connect to their innocence on an emotional level, they seem like proper innocence. Else Allen would have commented about how the souls don’t disappear like planned, like when he saw how the Third Exorcists killed the Akuma. Besides, we also know Bookman fears Lavi’s innocence could turn into a crystal type, so it confirms this is legit innocence, and that Bookman doesn’t have full controle over it.

How could Bookman be so sure they will become accomodator BEFORE finding any innocences? It raises seriously worrying implications considering all we know about the innocence and how hard it is to find accomodators for it this far in the saga. 

*take s a deep breath* anyway that said,

tbh part of me understand the feeling of “wanting to disconnect your feelings” when you watch history happens, because history is goddamn overwhelming. For having studied history for a few years i’ve personally had a few breakdown just over thinking about the amounts of horrors you read about one year after the other, so to have to remember all those horrors AND reccord current horrors, I understand in principle the thought that shutting those emotions down is the easiest way to record it. 

In principle.

Because in practice this is (a lot like you compared) nearly impossible witout losing their humanity and even losing perhaps an important part of how to understand and translate human experiences through emotional lenses. That’s the major issue with this logic.

had they done that for so long they don’t even question it? Or are they perfectly aware that it’s exactly why they cannot afford emotions? what are their view on the world and it coming to an end? How far are they willing to go in order to keep their own secrecy and status squo? Do they even realize the possible irony of them “not meedling with history” while the only fact that they are meddling by taking the dispositions they do to remain hidden/uninvolved? Not to mention that wanting it or not, Bookman and Lavi had meddled in the Holy War. Would they remain fully neutral, Bookman wouldn’t have had to tell everything he knew about the Noah to Komui in his first appearance for exemple. 

Lately it seems like they seem more interested in the Noah losing (self preservation kicking in) but that does raise the question of how far they are willing to share the secret history and how much is considered “medding with history”? Because this “secret knowledge no one should have” IS changing the course of history by being shared.

Do they even realize or do they really see themselves as walking books who can deliver information if pressed a the condition it doesn’t require to dig in their secrets? Where do they draw the lines?

I have HUNDREDS of questions about the Bookmen and it drives me insane. I won’t exclude that i might be overthinking it bc man, gotta wait between chapters huh, and that perhaps it won’t be that complicated or deep, but the more you get to see how shady the Bookmen are the more you wonder how and why?

Anyway that fascinates me. Bookmen pls unlock your secrets,,

#ichafantalks dgm #bookmenstuff #Anonymous #ichareply

[mind-reader1]

Queen of Hearts (Ch.15)

Drake x MC (Emma Barnes)

TRR AU: What would happen if Emma loved Drake but had to marry Liam?

Catch up here

Warnings: NSFW

Note: I almost didn’t post this after @ooo-barff-ooo ‘s amazing chapter of Girl Crush, but I knew I wouldn’t have time tomorrow. Enjoy! Let me know if you’d like to be added to or removed from the tag list!

Word Count: 2872

Summary: The court has arrived at Kiara’s duchy, but things for the art festival don’t go as planned. Kiara throws herself at Drake causing some tension between Drake and Emma before their R-rated movie date. Doubts start to creep into Drake’s head just before they find Liam waiting for them.

Chapter 15: A Thousand Years - Christina Perri

The day we met, Frozen I held my breath Right from the start I knew that I'd found a home for my heart Beats fast Colors and promises How to be brave? How can I love when I'm afraid to fall But watching you stand alone? All of my doubt suddenly goes away somehow

One step closer I have died everyday waiting for you

Darling don't be afraid I have loved you For a thousand years I'll love you for a thousand more

Time stands still Beauty in all she is I will be brave I will not let anything take away What's standing in front of me Every breath Every hour has come to this

Emma was up early the next morning, she wandered down to find Hakim and Francesco in a panic. The gallery had flooded in the night, it was supposed to open this morning. Emma texted her friends 911 and they all came down to the sitting room.

“What happened?” Liam was the first to arrive. Francesco explained again, he was sure that it was sabotage. It was the same attackers from the homecoming ball, they were sure of it. Hakin and Francesco began planning to cancel the festival, they wouldn't be able to clear out the water in time, that would devastate all the work they had just done in Applewood to rally the people.

“No. What if we didn't have to cancel. No art was damaged, spin it as an art installation! It can be to raise awareness about the flooding in Portavira. Show that we're united and support the other duchies.”

“It would strengthen morale among the people!” Liam chimed in. Hakim stopped and considered their words.

“How would we pull it off?”

“I'll put it all over social media! An exclusive exhibit available today and here only!” Emma nodded at Maxwell, he began firing away on his phone.

“I'll direct clean up. I'm probably the only person here who knows how to use a bucket and mop.” Drake said.

“We get the worst of the water out and it won't look too messy.”

“If we pass out color coordinated rain boots at the door, we can add to the experience!” Hana had taken color theory lessons and so she was the perfect person for the job.

“This is a great plan but why are you doing this for us?” Emma smiled.

“It's the right thing to do. You're a citizen of Cordonia, we do everything we can do our citizens.”

“Let's get started then!” Hakim hired a cleanup crew, and everyone got to work. A few hours later, Madeleine had Emma meet her at a local boutique. Madeleine was on Emma's case about recruiting Hakim and Joelle even though she was sure they would come since she had just saved their gallery. Madeleine just rolled her eyes and held up an off the shoulder dress with different shades of purple, pink, blue and white that all complemented each other. The dress looked like an abstract canvas. She wore a small, rhinestone necklace to complement the dress, Drake's ring tucked safely away. By the time Emma arrived at the gallery, guests had already begun arriving and Hana had given them a pair of rainboots that matched their outfits better than expected. She joined her friends in the center of the gallery and Drake ran his eyes up and down her body hungrily.

“I… uh...wow.” Drake mumbled unable to form a coherent sentence.

“So, you like the dress?” He nodded.

“It's lovely Emma. Are you ready to address the crowd?” Liam and Emma addressed the crowd and told them that the water installation was an anonymous artist. They wandered through the exhibit themselves, stopping to discuss various paintings. They stopped at an abstract piece and everyone struggled to make sense of it, Drake and Emma, having had no training on the subject. As the others wandered through the gallery, Emma stopped next to Drake and followed his gaze to an “EXIT” sign with glowing green letters.

“What are you doing?”

“Trying to figure out the idea of modern art. Take this for example, it's just a sign that says exit, but what does it mean? Is it saying we all exit life eventually? Is it meant to be a warning?”

“Are you saying you want to get as far away from possible as me?” Emma teased, and Drake playfully rolled his eyes.

“As deep and profound as that was Drake, I think this is just an exit sign.” He frowned, and then sighed as a patron walked out the door just beneath it.

“Whatever.”

“Don't worry, I won't tell anyone.”

“Tell anyone what?” Maxwell appeared behind them silently making them both jump.

“Uuuh how great that painting is!” Emma pointed randomly at a painting. Maxwell smiled and delved into a story known as the Great Ketchup Incident of ‘96. Bertrand approached seemingly out of nowhere, the first time they had seen him in days, handling Beaumont house affairs. He was there only briefly, mentioned that Maxwell was helping with the affairs and then he was gone. Emma and Maxwell were concerned, on top of all his stress, he was trying to mend his relationship with Savannah and Bartie. Emma approached Joelle next, admiring the piece she had completed yesterday when they first met. They had a discussion about what her art meant and how it translated to what she and Hakim wanted for Cordonia. After they all regrouped, they left the art exhibit for the food, needless to say, Drake and Maxwell were quite excited.

All kinds of various smells wafted through the air, spicy, sweet, even sour, it was glorious. Instead of trying everything like Maxwell suggested, they wandered around to try everyone's favorites. Hana got everyone some ash-e reshteh, a Persian dish. It was a savory soup with beans and parsley, the flavors blending together well. Even Drake was impressed. Liam led everyone over to a colorful booth that smelled of various spices, getting everyone some chicken tagine. As everyone ate, Liam and Drake shared the story of how thanks to Leo, it became one of Liam's favorite dishes, sibling rivalry at its finest which escalated into a full blown prank war. Drake was eager to pick the next dish, feijoda. It was similar to chili, a mixture of beans and meat garnished with an orange slice. It was rich and salty with the pork and beef, very clearly a Drake dish. Instead of picking a food, Maxwell ran off, following the sounds of a live band. He wanted everyone to dance. Emma longed to dance with Drake, but with too many prying eyes she danced with Liam and watched as Kiara approached Drake and asked him to dance. Emma tensed up and watched as she wrapped her arms around his neck and swayed in time to the music, slowly getting closer to him. When the music stopped, Drake unhooked Kiara from him and walked over to his friends. Emma could feel her blood boiling, but she forced herself to smile and walk over to Olivia and Penelope on the edge of the crowd, Kiara rejoining them. They left to go get some cotton candy and the rest of the group began to leave until Drake pulled Emma back.

“I'm sorry.” He whispered. Emma nodded, she knew he couldn't have turned Kiara down without looking incredibly rude.

“Come here, there's one more thing I want to show you.” He led Emma to a freezer stand with an Italian flag. Gelato, it was Emma's favorite dessert, she had studied abroad in Florence for a semester in college and she became very familiar with the ice cream like treat. Drake ordered a chocolate gelato while Emma settled for a fruity raspberry. It was the perfect mixture of creamy and sweet, melting on their tongues.

“How is it?” Emma giggled as she got a brain freeze.

“The only thing that would make this better would be if I could kiss you right now.” Drake grinned mischievously and looked at Emma.

“I wish we weren't in public right now, the things I want to do to you.” He leaned in to whisper. Emma felt herself blushing as he stepped back. She seductively took a bite of ice cream, exaggerating how good it tasted, moaning.

“Keep it going until tonight Mr. Walker.” She winked just before they left the festival to catch up with their friends. On their way out, they ran into Hakim and Joelle. They were so impressed by Emma's willingness to step up that in return they agreed to attend her wedding. As they return to the estate, she couldn't stop thinking about how in love Hakim and Joelle still were after so many years together.

“What are you thinking about?” Emma looked at Drake unsure of how long he had been staring at her.

“Nothing.”

“Barnes I've been trying to get your attention for the last five minutes, you've got that look on your face, the one you get when you're lost in your own head.”

“I was thinking about Hakim and Joelle. Look how in love they still are with each other. Do you think you'll still love me that much, years from now?” Drake chuckled and carefully checked their surroundings before pulling Emma close to him.

“Barnes, I love you more and more every day. I think we're going to love each other even more than they do when we're their age.” Emma pulled Drake in for a tender kiss as he pulled her body flush against his dipping her down. When they stood up and he released her, she was light headed, her heart swelled.

“The real question is will you still love me that much.” She cupped his cheek and smiled.

“You're the only one for me Drake Walker.” Once back at the estate, Emma left to go find Liam to discuss what food from the festival they would serve at the wedding and Drake mentioned something about looking up movie times. She found Drake in the sitting room, lounging on a couch, he looked exhausted.

“Drake?” He didn't seem to hear her.

“Knock knock, anyone home?” She waved her hand in front of Drake's face and he blinked his eyes back into focus.

“Oh, hey Barnes. Sorry.”

“Everything okay?” he sighed.

“All this courtly stuff is suffocating. I thought it would be nice to get out, see a movie tonight, like normal people. Try to stay sane.”

“I feel like there's a ‘but’ coming.” Drake dragged his hand over his face and Emma knew it wasn't good.

“But Kiara cornered me, again.” Emma rolled her eyes, she was ready to kick Kiara out of court, tell her to stay home.

“What happened Drake?” Emma's tone was flat, and Drake flinched at the thought of having to tell her.

“I mentioned I was going to the movies and she invited herself.” Emma groaned before suddenly jumping off the couch.

“You did WHAT?!” Emma was furious, she wanted some alone time with Drake and Kiara kept getting in the way.

“She invited herself Barnes. It's not like I could say, actually I'm taking my best friend's fiancé out on a date.”

“Call a cab, I'll meet you outside in five minutes. We're leaving right now before she can crash.” Emma didn't give him a chance to answer, she dashed off to her room to change into a little black dress, casual enough for the movies.Even if he did have time to answer, he wasn’t going to protest, he thought Emma might kill him. Once they arrived, they settled on a spy thriller full of romance, it was that or a horror movie which wasn't exactly romantic when you couldn't cuddle in public. Drake bought the tickets and a large bucket of buttery popcorn.

“This is nice Barnes.” He scooped up some popcorn, ready to eat it but Emma snatched it out if his hands with her mouth playfully. Drake pretended to pout as he watched her eat his popcorn, but the corner of his lips twitched up into a grin.

“That's how you want to play it Barnes?” She giggled and scooped up some popcorn of her own, throwing it at Drake who tried to catch it, before she finished it. They laughed walking into the theatre together, unaware they had been spotted. Emma dragged him to the very back corner of the theatre and Drake frowned.

“What are we doing back here Barnes?”

“Getting the full movie experience. You'll see.” More people shuffled into the theatre, spread out across the seats. Finally, the lights dimmed, and the movie began playing. Drake was into the movie, but Emma had other things in mind. She hadn't been able to stop thinking about Drake kissing her on the way back from the festival, her imagination running wild. She placed her hand on Drake's thigh and slowly moved her hand up until she reached Drake's crotch. He gasped as she grabbed him, looking over at her surprised, she met him with a heated kiss. Drake fell into it and tangled his hands in her hair as Emma continued to rub over his jeans, feeling him grow hard. He moaned against her lips as she quietly undid his jeans and freed his hard length.

“Barnes what are you doing?” He hissed as her lips surrounded him. She began sucking, running her tongue up and down his shaft, teasing the tip with her tongue. Drake moaned a little too loudly and someone glanced back, Drake pretended to be watching the movie while Emma remained hidden behind the seats in front of her.

“You have to be quiet Drake.” She whispered before going back down on him, bobbing her head until he came, gripping the arm rests as he tried to stay quiet. Emma smiled, licking her lips as Drake tried to compose himself, tucking his dick back into his pants.

“What was that for?” Emma smiled mischievously and leaned in to whisper in his ear again.

“The full movie experience. What do you think the back row is for?” Drake shook his head grinning.

“We're not done Drake.” He turned to look at her surprised.

“What do you mean?”

“I want to feel your fingers inside of me Drake.”

“Barnes.” Drake wanted nothing more than to please Emma but he had never done something like that in a room full of people before.

“Drake, if you want to sneak into my room tonight and make it out of this duchy alive, you'll do as I ask.” Her tone was threatening and his stare even.

"I took you on a real date, we almost got caught a couple seconds ago. Do we really need to do this Barnes?" He didn't need lots of light to see the look on her face. He wasn't going to make it out of the theatre alive if he protested, besides everyday he looked forward to sneaking into her room. He wasn't ready to give that up, and he had to admit that almost getting caught was kind of hot, the thrill of it. Emma surprised him again when she leaned back against the wall and put her legs up, grabbing Drake's hand and rubbing it between her legs. He stifled a gasp when he realized she wasn't wearing any underwear. Drake started slow, rubbing circles on her clit and then dragging his fingers between her lips to see if she was wet. Drake teased her entrance as she pushed her hips towards him, but he pulled away and began rubbing her clit again. He was going to have some fun with it, payback for almost getting them busted. Again, he teased her entrance which was dripping wet at this point.

“Drake.” She begged. He loved hearing her say his name. Finally, he slipped one finger inside her, she whispered, it wasn't enough, so he slipped another and began pumping, hitting her g-spot perfectly. He felt her hips buck forward and he knew she was close, so he pulled out and waited for a few seconds before teasing her clit, bringing her right to the edge again. She was breathing hard, trying not to be heard by anyone else. She met Drake's eyes with a pleading gaze. He slipped his fingers inside her and pumped until he felt her cum on him, her muscles spasming around his fingers. She watched, satisfied and worn out as he grabbed some popcorn and ate it before sucking her cum off his fingers. Emma pulled her skirt down and was scooting over to kiss Drake when the lights came on. She jumped back and looked around as everyone began leaving. The people in front of them, turned around to see who had been sitting behind them, to see if they could figure out why it sounded like Drake was moaning but they didn't look disheveled, so the people left.

“So how was your real movie experience?” Emma asked as they walked out, dumping the popcorn bucket on the way.

“I'd definitely do that again. What got into you though?”

“Kiara’s been all over you since we got here. I needed to know that you were still mine and I was still yours.” Drake felt a pang of guilt, he wanted nothing more than to push Kiara away, and kiss Emma in front of everyone like no one was watching, but he knew that could never happen. Dark thoughts about how this was going to work long term began to slip into his mind, of course he wanted it to work, he loved Emma, he would never love anyone again that much, but there would always be another Kiara.

“I told you earlier Em, you've got nothing to worry about.” They held hands in the taxi back to the estate, running into Liam on their way to her room. He didn't look pleased.

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