#I like cats and realm breaker

[battyaboutbooksreviews]

💜 Books for Women's Day 2024 💜

🦇 Welcome to March, my beloved bookish bats. It's Women's History Month AND Women's Day! To celebrate, here are a few books that highlight powerful, courageous women -- both throughout history and across our favorite fictional realms. These women have contributed to our history, shaping contemporary society with bold, outspoken, badass moves. Let's celebrate and champion these voices by adding more female-focused stories to our TBRs!

❓QOTD Who is your favorite female fictional character AND real-life heroine?

❤️ Fiction ❤️ 💜 The Power - Naomi Alderman 💜 The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood 💜 The Vibrant Years - Sonali Dev 💜 Red Clocks - Leni Zumas 💜 Conjure Women - Afia Atakora 💜 City of Girls - Elizabeth Gilbert 💜 A Woman is No Man - Etaf Rum 💜 Of Women and Salt - Gabriela Garcia 💜 Circe - Madeline Miller 💜 Song of a Captive Bird - Jasmin Darznik 💜 The Women - Kristin Hannah 💜 The Love Songs of W.E.B. Dubois - Honorée Fanonne Jeffers 💜 The Bluest Eye - Toni Morrison 💜 Women Talking - Miriam Toews 💜 Hidden Figures - Margot Lee Shetterly 💜 The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

💜 Young/New Adult 💜 ❤️ Loveboat Reunion - Abigail Hing Wen ❤️ Realm Breaker - Victoria Aveyard ❤️ Only a Monster - Vanessa Len ❤️ This Woven Kingdom - Tahereh Mafi ❤️ Serpent & Dove - Shelby Mahurin ❤️ I’ll Be The One - Lyla Lee ❤️ Squad - Maggie Tokuda-Hall and illustrated by Lisa Sterle ❤️ These Violent Delights - Chloe Gong ❤️ The Box in the Woods - Maureen Johnson ❤️ The Wrath & the Dawn - Renee Ahdieh ❤️ You Should See Me in a Crown - Leah Johnson ❤️ A Sky Beyond the Storm - Sabaa Tahir ❤️ Nimona - N.D. Stevenson ❤️ Legendborn - Tracy Deonn ❤️ Blood Scion - Deborah Falaye ❤️ Not Here to Be Liked - Michelle Quach

❤️ Queer ❤️ 💜 Imogen, Obviously - Becky Albertalli 💜 The Fiancée Farce - Alexandria Bellefleur 💜 One Last Stop - Casey McQuiston 💜 The Henna Wars - Adiba Jaigirdar 💜 Girls of Paper and Fire - Natasha Ngan 💜 Delilah Green Doesn't Care - Ashley Herring Blake 💜 A Guide to the Dark - Meriam Metoui 💜 She Who Became the Sun - Shelley Parker-Chan 💜 Written in the Stars- Alexandria Bellefleur 💜 Gideon the Ninth - Tamsyn Muir 💜 Gearbreakers - Zoe Hana Mikuta 💜 You Exist Too Much - Zaina Arafat 💜 Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker 💜 The Priory of the Orange Tree - Samantha Shannon 💜 She Gets the Girl - Rachael Lippincott and Alyson Derrick 💜 The Jasmine Throne - Tasha Suri

💜 Non-Fiction 💜 ❤️ The Secret History of Wonder Woman - Jill Lepore ❤️ Girlhood - Melissa Febos ❤️ Our Bodies, Their Battlefields - Christina Lamb ❤️ The Radium Girls - Kate Moore ❤️ Twice As Hard - Jasmine Brown ❤️ Women of Myth - Jenny Williamson and Genn McMenemy ❤️ Nobody Ever Asked Me About the Girls - Lisa Robinson ❤️ Text Me When You Get Home: The Evolution and Triumph of Modern Female Friendship - Kayleen Schaefer ❤️ The Book of Gutsy Women - Hillary Rodham Clinton and Chelsea Clinton ❤️ The Underground Girls of Kabul - Jenny Nordberg ❤️ Feminism Is for Everybody - Bell Hooks ❤️ Invisible Women - Caroline Criado Perez ❤️ The Women of NOW - Katherine Turk ❤️ Eve - Cat Bohannon ❤️ We Should All Be Feminists - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie ❤️ Bad Feminist - Roxane Gay

❤️ Memoirs ❤️ 💜 Mom & Me & Mom - Maya Angelou 💜 Crazy Brave - Joy Harjo 💜 Reading Lolita in Theran - Azar Nafisi 💜 I'm Glad My Mom Died - Jennette McCurdy 💜 Crying in H Mart - Michelle Zauner 💜 The Soul of a Woman - Isabel Allende 💜 See No Stranger - Valarie Kaur 💜 They Call Me a Lioness - Ahed Tamimi and Dena Takruri 💜 Becoming - Michelle Obama 💜 Bossypants - Tina Fey 💜 My Own Words - Ruth Bader Ginsburg 💜 I Am Malala Malala Yousafzai 💜 Finding Me - Viola Davis 💜 Return - Ghada Karmi 💜 Good for a Girl - Lauren Fleshman 💜 The Woman in Me - Britney Spears

#books #reading #women in literature #womens history month #women writers #queer books #sapphic books #sapphic romance #strong women #female characters #fiction books #ya fiction #young adult fiction #young adult #young adult books #queer romance #queer #queer fiction #memoir #autobiography #batty about books #battyaboutbooks

[finsterhund]

Watching this 90s animated movie called The Princess and the Goblin, apparently an adaptation of a novel with the same name. I'm shocked by how good it is for a movie not made by one of the big animation studios at the time. It's got Tiny dog Hungarian animated movie quality of animation, so not the best of all time, but like I said I'm shocked by its level of competence.

The way the goblins are designed is really close to the way I want to simplify Underbed monster head and face anatomy for my more cartoony artistic abilities. You can really tell that the goblins and other creatures are what the animators really loved working on as that's when the animation really shines. They're way more expressive than the humans. I was unable to find a torrent and the YouTube upload I watched of it is in pretty low quality but I want to get a better view of how creature designs work in this at some point.

The story is basic but also pretty fucking good for random little 90s 2D animated movie.

Not familiar with the book though at all. So no telling how it works as an adaptation.

The one boy, named like Gurdie or something (lol) keeps getting up to cinematic platformer style escapades.

The movie also doesn't shy away from death and kill like some kids movies started doing in this decade. Like there's a scene where one of the goblins fucking whales on this kid. Hitting and kicking him and I'm like "wow they are really just showing a little boy getting beaten up huh?"

Interesting is there's some role reversal of cliches going on. The boy is held captive and has magical singing waiting to be rescued while the princess has the power to do shit. Which is neat.

The song the kid keeps singing is decent as well.

I can't tell how old the goblin prince is supposed to be but another bit of a trope reversal he's the one being forced into an advantageous marriage for the sake of politics by his parents. He has no actual interest in getting with the human princess. I'm assuming they're both around the same age because ultimately his mother is still calling all the shots. Interestingly is that the goblin prince wants to keep the boy who's being held captive. The mom then goes "no, wait until you marry the princess and then you can have as many humans as you want" so part of me is like "wait is the goblin prince gay coded?????" Near the end he jumps out and goes "I've come for my princess" but he immediately just manhandles Curdy instead. Like?????

I was hoping he'd have like a redemption or something. But no he fucking dies. He fucking falls to his death and that's it.

There's this plot where the goblin queen has more human-like feet and hides them and I'm wondering if she's a hybrid or something. These children sneak right into their bedroom and pretty much immediately the boy takes off her shoes lol. It's fucking wild. The nerve of this kid. Other than goblins being vulnerable on their feet this doesn't amount to anything.

I don't get why the boy is so skeptical about invisible magic grandma though. Like you're in a realm. There's goblins and you're like some sort of wizard bard. But the deal breaker is ghosts.

At the climax of the movie the princess' lady in waiting gets fucking piss drunk for whatever reason as this never really seemed to be her type of personality until now and of course that's when the goblins invade.

Also this boy finds himself in the armory and only grabs a sword, okay makes some sense. Armor is probably too heavy for him, but in the end the goblins are invulnerable except for their feet so the sword is completely useless and he's just wildly swinging it around which I find funny. It's like he was all "I have the opportunity to steal this sword" and just took it.

This movie also has "big fucking flood" just like Tiny dog movie and pretty much all the tropes that entails. Big fucking flood low budget 90s animated movie my beloved. Really like how the water is animated.

The goblin demon cat seemingly gets a redemption but not their child(?) prince.

I really liked this though. If I had grown up with it maybe I would have been autistic about it honestly.

The end credits have animations of the kitten character in pretty much the exact fucking way that the Vicious Servant shows up in the Heart of Darkness credits. Which made me lose my fucking mind

And then, while watching the credits

I see it

Pannonia film company.

HOLY FUCKING SHIT.

It is LITERALLY the same people who DID make Tiny dog movie????????????? The fucking screech that escaped my mouth.

So yeah my autism went insane from this. It's like if Tiny dog got an actual proper English dub. And the Mormons had nothing to do with it because there's a scene where good guys get drunk.

So yeah I do want to use some of the animation and character design of this as reference. I'm freaking out that it's the same animation studio as my beloved blorbo Tiny dog.

#text post #long post

[marjaystuff]

The Traitor Beside Her by Mary Anna Evans

WW II Spy Mystery Book 2

Poisoned Pen Press

June 6th, 2023

The Traitor Beside Her by Mary Anna Evans blends mystery, action, friendship, with a hint of romance. Readers get a glimpse of how women helped in the war effort, and she treats readers to fun historical facts, suspense, intrigue, espionage, and secrets.

“This is the second in the series.  The previous book was The Physicists’ Daughter. With this current book I wanted to take the main character, Justine, right out of her comfort zone. She is working undercover for an American intelligence Agency, embedded in a group of code breakers looking for a traitor who is sending secrets. I like writing books that have women in the sciences.”

World War II was not only fought on the battlefront but also on the intelligence front. Arlington Hall, a former women's college in Virginia, has been taken over by the United States Army where hundreds of men and women work to decode countless pieces of communication coming from the Axis powers. At the facility, they collect scrambled German communications and decode them. After three women have gone missing, it becomes apparent that a traitor is passing on top secret information. To find the culprit, Justine and her friend Georgette are sent there, because they have the skills to find the traitor and can pass as one of the code breakers.  Georgette knows the Native American language Choctaw, while Justine is fluent in German and is a math/physics whiz. Their mission is to find how code breakers tick, knowing that if the traitor is not discovered thousands of soldiers’ lives are at stake. 

“Justine has a quiet exuberance, confident, competent, smart, observant, and is untrusting, with a temper. She speaks German and has a knowledge of code breaking with her math background.  At times she can be naïve but is always logical and analytical. Her biggest weakness is she is not people smart unlike Georgette, her best friend. Georgette works well with Justine, and each learn from one another. She is observant, can be excitable, and has perseverance. Her grandmother was a Choctaw Indian and taught Georgette to speak Choctaw. This comes in handy because it was used as a code during WWII.” 

Their male counterparts, Paul, Ed, and Jerry are not just co-workers but also have strong feelings for Justine and Georgette.  They help them in their endeavors but also vow to keep the women safe. It appears their feelings are beyond peers but have entered the romance realm.

Readers learn a lot of historical facts in the book.  “I had Arlington Hall in Virginia as real.  An interesting book is Code Girls.  An author interviewed the women at Arlington Hall who were the code breakers. The dormitory was real.  I found photos and articles of the dormitory floorplan on the Internet. The setting is very realistic. The restaurant, The Mayfair, that Justine goes on a date is real.  I found photos of the dining room, the menu, and the drink menu, and that they had dancing. 

The mission of the code breakers was also real.  We knew Germans did break some of our codes, but they did not know we knew it, so we used it to give fake information. 

Many of these women kept the secret of their job for many years, even from their husbands, after WWII ended. Also real were all the gadgets in the book: the purses with false bottoms for hidden compartments, a tiny camera built into a handheld matchbox, pens and pencils disguised to hide a functioning blade, a gun with a singular .22 bullet disguised as a pen, noise makers, and a chamber with pepper spray.”

This story will keep readers on the edge of their seats, especially as the heroines are put into very dangerous situations.  The cat and mouse game played has people wondering who the traitor is and how will they be found out.

[extraordinarystardust]

Guess what time it is. Jk don’t guess I’m going to tell you, IT IS TIME TO JUDGE BOOKS BY THEIR COVERS.

I rarely have strong enough opinions to make an entire post but here we go BUCKLE UP LADS I’m gonna talk about the Hell Bent cover (the sequel to Ninth House) this is going to be a bit of a long post but I swear it will be worth the read.

CW: macabre, death, creepy art

So the day the Hell Bent cover was revealed I saw it on my tl and the reaction I had was visceral. I didn’t know I could be unprepared to see a book cover but I was unprepared for this image.

Initial thoughts: none. My mind went b l a n k .

Then, my instincts kicked in and I RECOILED AWAY FROM MY PHONE. EW EW EW.

Once I gained a semblance of composure I dubbed it: Terrifying. Horrifying. Repulsive. Disgusting.

I was physically cringing but I couldn’t look away. It beyond creeped me out, and if that was the artists intention… well done I guess, but you’re also my nemesis now.

All that said, I think the Ninth House cover is gorgeous. I LOVE the snake. It’s magestic and mysterious, the deadly elegance is intriguing (affectionate) but this scrawny semi-realistic Halloween-plastic-crow white rabbit… ick ick ICK.

Alice come and get your butler or whatever (idk I haven’t read Through the Looking Glass)

ANYWAYS, back on topic:

I know some people didn’t even notice the rabbit right away (I’m happy for you) and I find that super interesting cuz for me it was immediately all I could see.

My friend taught me two new words to describe the essence of the cover art and what it depicts. Macabre and embalm(ed).

Yup this fits.

I don’t know if I’d be less *cringing and hissing* if the rabbit were to be more realistic or if it would make my reaction even more intense???

I don’t know. I don’t know. I DON’T KNOW.

This cover makes me realize what these exclamation and interrobang emojis are for ‼️⁉️❕❔

The specific things I think contribute to my reaction:

1. The art style. Stiff 🐇. All white. It creeps me out.

2. I especially hate how the paw is BENT through the word BENT. BLEAH ICK BLEAHHH.

3. The fact that the inner flaps of the dust jacket appear to be rabbit-skin-pink ICK

I’m telling you right now as much as I HATE this crusty bunny… it intrigues me. The snake is intriguing (affectionate) the rabbit is intriguing (derogatory). I am a curious cat, consider me compelled, this crusty dusty rabbit might finally get me to pick up Ninth House because I need to know what in the hell is going on.

This cover reminds me of reading animal picture books in elementary school and being afraid to touch the paper where the tarantula photos were printed. Like NO FREAKING THANKS.

I always read with the dust jacket on but I’m going to have to read with the dust jacket off because I refuse to touch the rabbit ❌🐇

Final remarks:

I DESPISE IT, but somehow in the best way?? This rabbit is my true nemesis now. Don’t think about it too much. 🐇🩸☠️⁉️

The only other time I was worked up about a book cover was Realm Breaker and that doesn’t even compare to this reaction. It’s not even close but it’s interesting so I’ll make a post about it.

UPDATE:

The saga continues. Indigo (Canadian Barnes & Noble or whatever) has an exclusive Hell Bent cover and… I just-

I think it’s worse. I cant explain exactly why but when the rabbit blended more is was maybe better. This is so stark. I just can’t.

This rabbit is haunting me.

Am I…

Alice…?

#bookblr #ninth house #hell bent #leigh bardugo #book cover

[imjulia-andilikecats]

Realm Breaker Characters as Cats

Corayne:

Andry:

Sorasa:

Dom:

Sigil:

Charlon:

Valtik:

Erida:

Taristan:

Ronin:

#realm breaker spoilers #realm breaker #corayne an amarat #andry trelland #sorasa sarn #domacridhan of iona #charlon #sigil #valtik #erida of galland #taristan of old cor #ronin #cats. #I like cats and realm breaker #so i combine

[prettywordsyouleft]

This is for chelle cats, i mean chats! Omg!

First how are you and everything?

Secondly, any drabble of a scenario that fiest comes to your mind.

Hugs and kisses!!!

I'm good thank you!

So I'm a bit shocked that I've just written something for the KOD world, and it's not even in the plans. Shoot. I can't really ignore this either. Looks like I'll need to return to Sheol sooner than I realised.

Pairing: Im Jaebum x female reader

Word count: 485

World: King Of Demons

______________________

You smiled wickedly as you listened to the rattling of the chains, clasping your hands behind your back as you slowly crossed the room.

He looked up at you then, his eyes pleading with you for a reprieve. You should've revelled in that look. Instead, it disgusted you. He had no right to expect mercy when he had given you none beforehand.

"Please," he begged, and you cocked your head to the side. "Please," he repeated.

"Why?"

"I've done you wrong," he confessed, his tear-stained cheeks seeming rounder. Dark eyes connected with yours, grappling with you to pay attention to his pleas. "I've been cruel to you. I had no idea... who you... what you are."

No, he wasn't meant to. You had no desire to show the world how deadly you were. You didn't wish to be reminded of it either. However, you had fallen for the man before you. His charms, his wiliness. He had captivated you with those beautiful eyes now searching for any clemency.

If you freed him, he would eventually forget this stain on his life. The fear he felt now would succumb to relief and instant gratification. Perhaps, he'd have nightmares that lingered for a short time, and then he would be off again, enchanting the hearts of the innocent and building his power again.

He was the mastermind of attraction. Whilst you were the deadliest hour of night, the harsh whisper upon skin in the coldest winter. He shouldn't have been tempted to make you his pet.

You would destroy him.

"Even those who aren't human feel, boy."

He was nodding rapidly, too easily agreeable. He would agree to anything if it meant you would release him.

"If anything, someone like me feels too much. And right now, I'm rather angry."

"Oh!" he gasped, darting his fearful gaze around.

"Someone like him shouldn't roam the streets again," another male purred, darkening your thoughts further. You didn't turn to face the newcomer, Jaebum stepping into your view a moment later. Leaning down to the shaking man, he clicked his tongue at him. "So many sins on his skin."

"That's rich coming from you."

"Well, where you like to try and remain pure," he started, eying you as if he could see your soul for something other than dark and tainted. Jaebum smirked when he reached your eyes. "I have no problems in raising hell."

"That would be because you're the king of that realm, Jaebum."

"And will you return?" he asked. He showed uncertainty for a moment before pressing on. "Sheol needs you."

Glancing at the shaking human, you released the chains, only for Jaebum to catch him in his escape, his end silent and swift.

You folded your arms over your chest. "What would the King of Demons want with me?"

"Change is coming. And we'll need all the help from your kind that we can get, Curse-Breaker."

______________________

My ask box is open for this week’s Chelle Chats!

#chellechats #jaebum drabbles #jayb drabbles #got7 drabbles #kpop drabbles #pwyl; saturday drabbles

[gravel-rotat-e]

📑

I know this had been done and dusted several times but listen, a Demon Prince Impulse AU but also Skizz is a demon prince too.

Skizz also happens to be human. (He's adopted)

Why is Skizz a demon prince? Well you see, his birth mom (who is an- no I can't say that, who is a jerk) made a deal she couldn't complete and gave birth to him in the Demon Realm, then didn't want to keep him. This was awkward for the demon who took her deal because they can't take care of a newborn baby.

So they go to the king and queen, who have just had a son a few months earlier named Silver-tongued Viper (SV). And they're like "yo I got this human Player baby what should I do with it" and the king, who is a cat, looked at the queen and went "can we keep it?" So long story short Viper has a Player brother named Soul Catcher now

Fast forward to what the modern story actually is and it's something along the lines of the king is dying and Impulse is going to replace him as king, which some demons aren't happy about because Impulse made the choice to become a Player and a demon, which is generally considered Not Cool(TM)

Helsknight, who's named Flame Breaker, is also a demon who is Impulse and Skizz's childhood best friend, he snuck in the castle at age five and they've been friends ever since. Wels using the cloning machine sent out a big summoning signal but to no one in particular and Breaker thought it would be funny to make his more human form look like this Player to bug him. Then he decided more Players than Skizz were cool, actually, and became one himself.

This AU incorporates A LOT of my in universe Minecraft mechanics and it's fun :]

#Impulse #Skizz #Helsknight #Demon Prince Viper #FangirlOP #she speks #she speks originale #Hermitcraft #she answers #ask game

[invisibleanonymousmonsters]

I hope you feel better soon! 💜

20.Fill in the blanks: ___ is overrated and ___ is underrated.

29. What is something that someone has said to you that’s stuck with you?

52.Do you have any deal-breakers?

20.Fill in the blanks: ___ is overrated and ___ is underrated.

Romantic love is overrated and platonic love is underrated.

—

29. What is something that someone has said to you that’s stuck with you?

Two people in my life have told me I have a very strong moral code. 🤔 And I have literally never forgotten it because I never once considered that was something I had.

—

52.Do you have any deal-breakers?

Oh. I have so many red flags for men.

Calls women “females”

Absolutely hates cats for no reason

Listens to Joe Rogan’s podcast

Describes his ex(es) as “crazy”

Republican

Serial monogamist

Racist

Misogynist

Says “I’m not really political” or “I’m not into politics”

Tells you, “You’r not like other girls” or something in that realm

#ask me anything #ama #invisible anonymous monsters #invisibleanonymousmonsters

[battyaboutbooksreviews]

Books for Women's Day / Month

🦇 Welcome to March, my beloved bookish bats. It's Women's History Month AND Women's Day! To celebrate, here are a few books that highlight powerful, courageous women -- both throughout history and across our favorite fictional realms. These women have contributed to our history, shaping contemporary society with bold, outspoken, badass moves. Let's celebrate and champion these voices by adding more female-focused stories to our TBRs!

❓QOTD Who is your favorite female fictional character AND real-life heroine?

❤️ Fiction ❤️ 💜 The Power - Naomi Alderman 💜 The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood 💜 The Vibrant Years - Sonali Dev 💜 Red Clocks - Leni Zumas 💜 Conjure Women - Afia Atakora 💜 City of Girls - Elizabeth Gilbert 💜 A Woman is No Man - Etaf Rum 💜 Of Women and Salt - Gabriela Garcia 💜 Circe - Madeline Miller 💜 Song of a Captive Bird - Jasmin Darznik 💜 The Women - Kristin Hannah 💜 The Love Songs of W.E.B. Dubois - Honorée Fanonne Jeffers 💜 The Bluest Eye - Toni Morrison 💜 Women Talking - Miriam Toews 💜 Hidden Figures - Margot Lee Shetterly 💜 The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

💜 Young/New Adult 💜 ❤️ Loveboat Reunion - Abigail Hing Wen ❤️ Realm Breaker - Victoria Aveyard ❤️ Only a Monster - Vanessa Len ❤️ This Woven Kingdom - Tahereh Mafi ❤️ Serpent & Dove - Shelby Mahurin ❤️ I’ll Be The One - Lyla Lee ❤️ Squad - Maggie Tokuda-Hall and illustrated by Lisa Sterle ❤️ These Violent Delights - Chloe Gong ❤️ The Box in the Woods - Maureen Johnson ❤️ The Wrath & the Dawn - Renee Ahdieh ❤️ You Should See Me in a Crown - Leah Johnson ❤️ A Sky Beyond the Storm - Sabaa Tahir ❤️ Nimona - N.D. Stevenson ❤️ Legendborn - Tracy Deonn ❤️ Blood Scion - Deborah Falaye ❤️ Not Here to Be Liked - Michelle Quach

❤️ Queer ❤️ 💜 Imogen, Obviously - Becky Albertalli 💜 The Fiancée Farce - Alexandria Bellefleur 💜 One Last Stop - Casey McQuiston 💜 The Henna Wars - Adiba Jaigirdar 💜 Girls of Paper and Fire - Natasha Ngan 💜 Delilah Green Doesn't Care - Ashley Herring Blake 💜 A Guide to the Dark - Meriam Metoui 💜 She Who Became the Sun - Shelley Parker-Chan 💜 Written in the Stars- Alexandria Bellefleur 💜 Gideon the Ninth - Tamsyn Muir 💜 Gearbreakers - Zoe Hana Mikuta 💜 You Exist Too Much - Zaina Arafat 💜 Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker 💜 The Priory of the Orange Tree - Samantha Shannon 💜 She Gets the Girl - Rachael Lippincott and Alyson Derrick 💜 The Jasmine Throne - Tasha Suri

💜 Non-Fiction 💜 ❤️ The Secret History of Wonder Woman - Jill Lepore ❤️ Girlhood - Melissa Febos ❤️ Our Bodies, Their Battlefields - Christina Lamb ❤️ The Radium Girls - Kate Moore ❤️ Twice As Hard - Jasmine Brown ❤️ Women of Myth - Jenny Williamson and Genn McMenemy ❤️ Nobody Ever Asked Me About the Girls - Lisa Robinson ❤️ Text Me When You Get Home: The Evolution and Triumph of Modern Female Friendship - Kayleen Schaefer ❤️ The Book of Gutsy Women - Hillary Rodham Clinton and Chelsea Clinton ❤️ The Underground Girls of Kabul - Jenny Nordberg ❤️ Feminism Is for Everybody - Bell Hooks ❤️ Invisible Women - Caroline Criado Perez ❤️ The Women of NOW - Katherine Turk ❤️ Eve - Cat Bohannon ❤️ We Should All Be Feminists - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie ❤️ Bad Feminist - Roxane Gay

❤️ Memoirs ❤️ 💜 Mom & Me & Mom - Maya Angelou 💜 Crazy Brave - Joy Harjo 💜 Reading Lolita in Theran - Azar Nafisi 💜 I'm Glad My Mom Died - Jennette McCurdy 💜 Crying in H Mart - Michelle Zauner 💜 The Soul of a Woman - Isabel Allende 💜 See No Stranger - Valarie Kaur 💜 They Call Me a Lioness - Ahed Tamimi and Dena Takruri 💜 Becoming - Michelle Obama 💜 Bossypants - Tina Fey 💜 My Own Words - Ruth Bader Ginsburg 💜 I Am Malala Malala Yousafzai 💜 Finding Me - Viola Davis 💜 Return - Ghada Karmi 💜 Good for a Girl - Lauren Fleshman 💜 The Woman in Me - Britney Spears

#international women's day #womens history month #women writers #strong women #book list #book lovers #batty about books #battyaboutbooks #memoir #nonfiction #fantasy fiction #lesbian fiction #fiction books #ya fiction #young adult fiction #ya romance #queer romance #queer books #queer #queer fiction

[foursideharmony]

The Cat, the Prince, and the Doorway to Imagination (Chapter 4)

Summary: Roman and the White Witch make their move. Then the Witch makes her move. Then Roman makes his.

Pairings: Platonic/familial LAMP/CALM, Platonic/familial DLAMPR

Content Warnings: Nothing serious, some descriptions of mild sick feelings

Word Count: 2614

Read on AO3: here

Aslan, the Great Lion, son of the Emperor-Beyond-the-Sea...the true and ultimate King of Narnia...loped westward across the ocean, the deep rose light of pre-dawn at his back, bounding over the swells as if they were grassy hills. The spray did not even dampen his mighty paws. He was very near his destination, occasionally leaping or dodging floating chunks of ice that had broken off from the freeze that gripped Narnia. They tended to melt as he passed—indeed, a careful observer would have noticed that a span of water around the Lion was tinted a pleasant blue-green, contrasting sharply with the dismal, wintry gray of the rest.

The time was near. Very soon, Narnia would be liberated from its oppressor.

Aslan was within sight of the shore, running over whitecaps. Another half-minute or so and he would be on the beach...but someone was approaching from the north, skimming over the water on an enchanted ice floe. He recognized his old enemy, Jadis the White Witch, the very one he was there to oust from the land...and she was accompanied...

...by a Son of Adam. The young man was richly dressed and held aloft a faceted stone the color of iron or tarnished lead. The Witch wielded her wand. When they were scarcely a stone's throw from Aslan, the human shouted “Now!” and the two of them began to chant:

“Dragon smoke and harpy’s shriek

What was mighty, now is weak

Pluck the mane and quell the roar

Let Narnia have her King no more!”

This they repeated thrice, circling Aslan on their makeshift watercraft. The Lion roared with dismay as a golden nimbus coalesced around him, pulsating and coruscating, and then was drawn off and toward the young man. Honey-colored light flowed into the strange gem, and Aslan appeared to shrink into himself. A wave crashed over him as the two enemies completed their spell.

Jadis and Roman rode the ice floe back to the shore. “How will we know if it worked?” said the White Witch.

“Take a look, Your Majesty,” said Roman, holding up the gem, which had lost its dullness and taken on the clarity and fire of a diamond. Nor was it any longer cold to the touch.

“I cannot touch it, you know,” she said. “Even so contained, that power would burn me alive. He is my opposite in every way. And you guarantee that he is now too weak to do us harm of himself?”

“Judge for yourself,” Roman said, pointing back toward the sea. Some small creature was feebly paddling through the cold gray waves, barely staying afloat amid the breakers. Just as the dawn broke, the tumbling waves deposited it on the sand, where it staggered to its feet, sneezed, shook off a coating of seafoam...and was a cat. A tawny long-haired tomcat, looking perfectly ridiculous as drenched as it was, mewling piteously. It didn't have the strength to run away when the pair approached.

“It would not have worked if he had made landfall first,” Roman said. “The soil of Narnia bolsters him.”

The White Witch raised her wand. “And now the stone of Narnia will be one with him.”

“Wait!” Roman barked. The Witch turned a furious glare upon him. “A slain enemy cannot feel the humiliation of its defeat,” Roman explained. He lunged, caught the cat by the scruff of its neck, and lifted it to his eye level. “We'll cage him back at the castle. And when we tire of him...I think a public petrifaction would send an irrefutable message to your subjects.”

The Witch's eyes widened ever so slightly and she almost smiled. “You have an admirable understanding of these matters, Prince Roman.”

Roman brought the cat right up to his face. “Is this villainous enough for you?” he muttered.

“Roman,” the cat said in the unmistakable deep, regal voice of Aslan, “what have you done?”

Roman recoiled as if bitten, and the cat twisted in his grasp, slashing at his hand with unsheathed claws. Roman lost his hold; the cat dropped awkwardly to the sand and took off like a shot, straight up the beach to the shelter of the scrubby shore plants. They lost sight of him within seconds...but not before Roman noticed that the frost in a very small circle around the animal vanished, only to return after he moved on. He carried a tiny sliver of spring with him.

“Perhaps I spoke too soon,” said the Witch in a clipped tone. She strode up to Roman and slapped his face, and her strength was such that he spun off his feet. “FOOL! You let him escape!”

Roman waited a moment for his ears to stop ringing before he even ventured to sit up. “Madam,” he panted, “will you treat me so discourteously?”

“I will treat you however I please. I am Queen. Do not delude yourself that this is a partnership of equals. Now get up. We have to intercept these 'friends' of yours.”

Roman felt a little flutter of fear for his fellow Sides. “Is that really necessary?” he said as he got his feet under him and checked that he still had the gem. He put it in his pocket for safekeeping. “We've won. Aslan can't crown them now. Once he fails to show up at the meeting place, they won't know what to do except go home.”

“Stripped of his power or no, I will take no chances as long as he is free. And our likelihood of capturing him again is miniscule.”

Roman opened his mouth to urge her not to harm them, but thought better of it—with the mood she was in, she would take it as a reason to be crueler. He simply lapsed into silence as the Witch's sleigh caught up with them and they climbed aboard.

“Is it done?” asked her Dwarf driver.

“More or less,” the Witch sighed irritably.

“Home, then, Your Majesty?”

“No—head inland. We must track down the other three Sons of Adam.”

“What does Your Majesty intend with them?” asked the Dwarf, flicking the reins.

“You know...I really have not decided yet. A great deal depends upon Roman's own comportment between now and when we find them.”

Roman closed his eyes as they traveled on, wondering fervently what to do next.

He had to assume the story knew what it was doing. Not because that was the most likely scenario, but because it was his best bet to stay hopeful.

*****************

The weary group crested a hill, looking toward the breaking dawn. From there, nearly the whole eastern basin of Narnia was visible. “There, see?” said Mr. Beaver. “The hill of the Stone Table. That's where we're going. And if you look a little further on, to the coast, you can just make out Cair Paravel, the palace of the true rulers of Narnia. One thing about all this snow—the castle walls stand out a lot better at a distance.”

“But Aslan will bring springtime, right?” Patton said, fluffing the hood of his coat.

“Of course he will, dearie,” said Mrs. Beaver. “We should start seeing the first signs soon enough; he must have arrived in Narnia by now.”

Yet nothing changed for at least two more hours as the party trudged on, through calf-deep snow and freezing gusts. From time to time, wolf howls sounded in the distance: the Witch's enforcers.

They were crossing a broad meadow, out in the open, exposed, when they heard a sudden shriek of triumph, followed by: “There! Three Sons of Adam with the Beavers! Faster!” and a sleigh burst from the edge of the forest off to the side. The White Witch had risen from her seat in her murderous excitement, bracing one hand against the back of the driver's seat while the other held her wand aloft. The reindeer accelerated steadily under the Dwarf's goad, fog streaming from their muzzles.

Beside the Witch, slumped over on the seat, was Roman.

“Run!” shouted Mr. Beaver.

“But...Roman!” said Patton. “We have to rescue him!”

“Nothing we can do right now, dearie!” said Mr. Beaver. “We've got to take cover!”

They fled, but it was utterly useless; the sleigh gained on them by leaps and bounds, whizzing over the snow that they struggled through. Ironically, what saved them in the moment was itself a minor misfortune—Virgil caught his foot on a large fallen branch hidden in the snow and went sprawling, but in the process it came loose and skittered directly into the reindeer's path, forcing them to veer off. Virgil scrambled back to his feet, adrenaline lending him both strength and grace, and though brief, the digression gave the party just enough time to reach the edge of the trees and lose themselves amid the underbrush.

“We have to go back,” Patton whispered frantically, tucked under the boughs of a bush. “For Roman, we have to—”

“Ssh!” Virgil interrupted, a hint of his Tempest Tongue coming through. Crunching footsteps were approaching.

“I will find you all, Sons of Adam,” came the silvery voice of the White Witch. “You cannot hide from me here in my own realm.” Mercifully, she moved away after a moment, and the party took her moment of inattention to scamper into a more distant bit of cover.

But there was no way to be quiet enough, and they soon heard her approaching again, more resolutely. She was going to find them, she was going to kill them (or petrify them, which amounted to the same thing)—

But she didn't. Something else happened instead, something that involved shouting and crackles of magical energy, and then virtual silence.

Five pairs of worried, bewildered eyes met each other in turn. No one dared to speak for a long moment. Then Logan carefully got to his feet and looks around. “It's clear,” he said. “She's gone.”

“Gone where?” asked Virgil with just a hint of Tempest.

“I...do not know. But I believe we can safely proceed toward our original destination.”

“Maybe now spring will come...” said Patton, getting up and dusting the snow and forest debris off his clothes. But he didn't sound very hopeful. “I just wish I knew if Roman was okay.”

“May I remind you, this is Roman's story,” said Logan. “He is fine. He is in control.”

Virgil made a derisive snort but said nothing.

“All right then,” said Mr. Beaver. “I've got our bearings again.”

They picked themselves up and continued.

***********

Mere moments earlier...

Roman squeezed his eyes shut all the harder as the sleigh swerved and skidded to a stop, sending up gouts of slush to either side. The seat rocked slightly as Jadis stepped down. “Remain here,” she said. “I will return shortly.” Roman heard her striding away.

Going after the other Sides. His family.

But what could he do about it? This was the role the story had chosen for him: the willing but ultimately outclassed ally of the White Witch. His cheek still burned where she had slapped him, more from the humiliation than the blow itself, which had long since faded. If he defied her openly, tried to stop her from attacking his fellow Sides, he would only share their fate.

Death? No. Story scenarios in the Imagination couldn't literally end their existence; that would make no sense at all. They would just be expelled back into the Mindscape proper, as if waking up from a bad dream. But it would mean he had failed.

I thought I was your hero...

Roman was suddenly furious. At the story for taking these turns, or at himself for setting things up so ineptly at the outset? Was there even a difference? It was his Imagination. Either way, he had trusted the story, and it was betraying him. He could deal with startling twists, downbeat second acts, even tragic endings, as long as the whole was satisfying. But this? Having the main bad guy just roll up and kill the heroes at what would normally be the midpoint? A travesty!

In a burst of inspiration, Roman opened his eyes, stood up, and vaulted lightly from the sleigh.

“Just where do you think you're going?” demanded the Dwarf, who had been adjusted the reindeer's tack. “You heard Her Majesty!”

Roman had been ready for it, and he whipped his sword out of its sheath and leveled it at the Dwarf's face. “Do not try to stop me.”

The Dwarf made a brief, tight nod, swallowed hard, and stood aside by a pace or two. Roman located the Witch's tracks, heading straight toward the nearby trees, and he followed them at a run.

The gem felt very heavy, and almost warm, in his pocket.

He spied the Witch some distance away among the trees, moving with purpose. He came just close enough to let her realize he was approaching, took the gem out, and began chanting.

“Dragon smoke and harpy's shriek

What was mighty, now is weak.”

She stopped short and turned to face him. “What are you doing?”

The second couplet leapt into his mind fully formed:

“Scoop the snow and scrape the frost

Her reign must end at any cost!”

The White Witch's eyes widened in alarm as the jewel began to suck her power away, just as it had Aslan's. Blue-white light ripped out of her in coils and flares, and her voice rose to a scream as she realized what was happening. For the gem was able to subtract enough of Aslan's power away to leave only a Talking Cat...but Jadis was nowhere near as puissant. The same amount of energy, taken from her, left...nothing.

A torrent of cold magic lanced toward Roman's gem, but it could not enter. The power of the White Witch—the power that was the White Witch—and the power of Aslan could not coexist in the same space. The bluish light shied away from the jewel and plunged, instead, directly into Roman himself.

Ice gripped his heart with a suddenness that made him gasp for breath. His head spun like a tilt-a-whirl. Roman managed to take two, three steps before the forest tipped up on edge and the snow-dusted ground slammed into his shoulder. The ice was spreading, spearing through his shoulders, encasing his lungs and stomach.

Roman made himself get up and staggered out of the trees back toward the sleigh. His head did not feel good.

“Where is the Queen?” asked the Dwarf.

Roman had no answer, but as he made eye contact, the Dwarf's mouth dropped open. He skipped back a step and then pressed his hands together in an almost prayerful pose and bowed so low that his head nearly brushed the ground. “Your Majesty,” he murmured. “Your Majesty.”

Roman climbed back into the sleigh. “Take me ho—take me back to the castle,” he panted. The ice continued to crawl outward from his core. He checked to make sure he hadn't dropped the gem along the way—he hadn't, but the flesh of his hand looked strange somehow.

Imagine if the others saw you now, said a voice not his own, from deep inside his head. He shuddered at the thought, and supposed that was why he had gone straight back to the sleigh instead of trying to find them himself. But the real horror, the one that had yet to sink in fully, the one he wasn't ready to let sink in just yet, was this:

He had no idea where the story was supposed to go from here.

#sanders sides #fanfiction #lamp/calm #platonic lamp/calm #dlampr #platonic dlampr #narnia #sympathetic janus #sympathetic remus #villainous roman

[ziracona]

Friendship headcanons between Anna and Quentin’s dad? Maybe Nacy too.

For sure! Love their weird awkward relationship.

So, it’s weird for Alan. Like, really weird. Like, can you imagine being him and your poor kid comes home traumatized as fuck after 9 years and he’s got a feral Russian bear woman who is his surrogate mom now in tow?

Obviously, Alan is very stressed about the potential of anything happening to Quentin again, so even knowing the situation, Anna is kind of a source of stress at first. It’s important to Quentin though, so he goes with it and tries to be supportive. It isn’t until about a month after Anna is released from the rehabilitation facility that he is truly at peace about it though. But it happens. There’s a night where Quentin falls asleep on the couch watching a movie, and they don’t notice until it ends. Alan decides to let him sleep there in peace for a bit before waking him up to go sleep in his bed, and is putting up dishes from supper, when he sees Anna carefully putting a blanket over Quentin and stroking his head twice before smiling and leaving him to sleep too, warm now, and he just kind of forgets what he was doing becuase he never quite really truly believed Anna was just selflessly and genuinely invested in his kid’s happiness, but there’s no one there to see, no consciousness for Quentin to appreciate the gesture, and he smiles, because it’s such a relief, and it’s sweet, and he wished Quentin’s mom had lived longer, wished he’d found someone else to be a mom for the kid growing up, and he’s deeply happy he’s got one now.

Anna doesn’t really know what to do with Alan at first either. Like, she gets that ‘Dad’ is the man counterpart to ‘Mama,’ but since hers was dead before she was old enough to remember, she doesn’t really know what that looks like, and never thought about it before. At first is kind of tentatively curious if this means they’re rivals, and she should be jealous of him. Alan never once seems to view their relationships to Quentin that way though, so thank god it never turns into a competition. She’s not sure what it is though, when she realizes it’s not that. So mostly she just tries to give him space and not cause confrontation between them out of respect for Quentin. She notices how good he is to Quentin though, and a few weeks before Alan really gets the same read on her, and kind of softens a little and decides he’s okay. Then suddenly a month in, Alan is more open towards her and starts interacting with her intentionally, even when no Quentin is there at present as an ice breaker. It is super awkward for them both, and they haven’t got a clue how to act towards each other, but they’re both slightly interested in trying, and it works. Alan asks her the morning after he realizes she’s okay if she wants to learn how to make muffins, since she’s sitting at the table watching him cook with a look like a cat has when it sees a new small rodent for the first time, and Anna really does. She is fascinated by all the tricks to tastes there are, and the wild variety of foods she had no idea could exist. At first she’s like “Me?” And very confused by this change in attitude, but he’s nice to her and it’s fun and the food is good, so she enjoys it, and accepts without reservation when he offers another lesson at lunch. This is how their relationship begins: Alan asking her if she wants to learn how to cook various things. Sometimes Nancy and or Quentin joins in, or anyone else in the house. And it’s fun. Anna never looked at food prep as anything but a survival necessity, but there’s a day two months in where she’s covered in flour making shortbread cookies with Alan and Nancy and Quentin, listening to music and people laughing and singing along, and she realizes lots of humans make all kinds of mundane acts into fun activities. And she really likes that. : )

Anna tries to reciprocate Alan’s gestures of goodwill by offering to teach him to hunt, which Alan refuses politiely because he has no idea what he’d do with hatchet throwing and animal tracking skills, but he immediately sees how hurt and insulted and wounded to her core that makes Anna and covers it with a “I mean—I would love to, but I’m just not sure I could have the skills at my age. I’m so old I might be hopeless to teach.” And Anna goes from :’-( to : D instantly and is like “No, no! Not too late—I show you. Many skills very easy to learn basics of. I am good teacher. Can teach even you, I am sure.” And is exceedingly enthusiastic teaching him basic tracking skills the next morning. It’s uh. It’s an awkward walk through a nearby park for Alan at 6AM, with Anna kneeling like fkn Aragorn to listen to the ground or touch dog tracks and sniff things while pointing out valuable intel, but he is duly attentive and awed by her skills, and takes his lesson like a champ, and it’s actually pretty fascinating stuff once you get past the “Wtf is happening” looks you’re getting from every early morning dog walker and jogger going past.

Alan picks up pretty fast that since Anna has almost no social experience, she tends to take social cues from those around her (like trading skills to make friends, or trading gifts with Min & Quentin), and is more careful how he approaches stuff. That also makes him like Anna a lot more, because it’s so sincere and she’s so truly giving all of this her best. He starts a tradition of going back and forth on who picks an activity that interests them to try to give her a chance to branch out and see more of the modern world. Greatly enjoys seeing how much she is excited and fascinated by like, everything. Anna is so mind blown the first time Nancy suggests they hit an Aquarium that it takes 4 times as long as normal to get through, becuase she can’t stop getting lost in the sight of every exhibit. Anna meanwhile notices pretty quick how watchful Alan is and how protective whenever he’s out with Quentin, although he tries to keep Quentin from noticing it too much, and she is very happy about this. Important for parents to be good protectors, especially with Quentin’s luck.

It takes Anna a while to quite get Nancy and Quentin’s relationship, but she decides after much deliberation that she approves and it’s cute. She likes how attentive Nancy is, and how quiet she can be. Thinks she would make a good hunter with skills like that. Is also very aware how much happier Quentin is around her. Decides this makes her a daughter too, and happily welcomes her into the fold. After Nancy realizes this, it kind of breaks her for a while, because she still misses her own mom so, so much. The first time Anna gives her a hug to comfort her about something so much more mundane—just a twisted ankle on a hike, she has a breakdown and can’t stop silently crying into her chest, becuase she still has an open wound in her heart where her mom is concerned. Anna isn’t a replacement, but she is a balm, and it helps. It really does, to have a big self-determined second mom hug you even when she doesn’t understand until you’ve cried all the tears you had, and still be waiting there with patience to hold you through more, and whispered comforts and strong arms around your back. Nancy gets her stuff for the next Mother’s Day, and it almost breaks her heart to have someone to shop for again, but she’s happier too, because it’s a comfort to know another one could love her too, and by choice. She’s had so much guilt over her mom’s death, sometimes she’s wondered if she never deserved to have one love her at all, no matter how much she knows her mom would never want her to think like that. It weirdly helps her talk more about her own mom again, especially to Quentin, who, while he barely remembers his mom, has some small idea how it all feels. She’s able to dig out a lot of the memories of Gwen Holbrook she couldn’t bear to look at for a long time, and forgive herself a little more. And able to make some new memories with Anna and Quentin and Alan she thinks her mom will be happy to hear about someday.

It wasn’t like that at first, though. Nancy is one of the few people who weren’t in the realm who has almost no issue adjusting to Anna, but she had some right at the start. She’s super wary the like, first couple days, because she has mountains worth of PTSD specifically centered around pseudo parental figures and people killing Quentin, but she’s observant as hell, and after watching Anna bodyslam Michael Myers through a wall on first meeting becuase she misconstrued his asshole big brother lifestyle choice of picking Quentin up by his collar for no reason other than easy and fun to push him around as an act of war, she realizes she truly has nothing to worry about, and Anna is an ally in arms when it comes to keeping the guy she loves alive.

Anna is extremely impressed with both Alan and Nancy for their roles in killing Freddy, and this is a massive affinity boost. She thinks Nancy is a little wolf of a girl in the best possible way, and approves of her level of dangerous greatly.

While Alan has no romantic feelings for Anna, it’s really nice to have a woman in the house again—it’s kind of nostalgic, jus to hear her singing sometimes and such. He offers to take her shopping for clothes and accessories becuase he remembers some of the places his wife especially loved, and it makes him sad and happy to be able to put that old treasured remnant of someone beloved to him to good use again. Anna really loves a couple of the same spots, especially a tiny handmade jewelry from gemstones shop, and it hurts but in a good way to have a reason to go there again.

Anna is exceedingly jealous of the photo of Quentin’s mom over the fireplace for like, a year and a half after she realizes who she is. It’s kind of funny. I mean, she’s dead. There is no threat. But Anna despises it and it takes all the willpower she has not to go hide it in a drawer somewhere.

That is until almost two years in when she wakes up early to weird noise and comes down to see Alan has the photo with him at the table, and a little setup with flowers and candles and objects she doesn’t recognize, and he’s crying. It isn’t until that night when she asks Quentin that she finds out it’s the anniversary of his mom’s death that day, but as soon as she sees Alan and the setup, she feels bad, and the anger and jealousy goes away, becuase she remembers feeling exactly that way for years and years at the sight of the portrait of her mother, and still now at the thought of it. The jealousy does not come back.

Alan, Nancy, Quentin, and Anna hang out a lot, and with Feng, Nea, and Ace, or Philip and Claudette a lot too. At a point, Alan starts reaching a “Okay you stay here with the kids and I’ll go grab tickets” kind of tag-team responsibility with Anna, and Anna thinks this is fun, and is immensely pleased with this new role of responsibility partnership. She begins doing the same with him, and likes being partner protectors of the group. She’s wanted to find a family again her whole life, and finally found it now after all these years, but she’s found more than that too; she’s found community, and she never had that before, so she didn’t know to miss it or seek it out or even that it was a thing to want, but now that she has it, she’s so much more happy and content and proud than she’s ever been.

#ask #anonymous #dead by daylight #in living memory (fic) #in living memory #headcanons #the huntress #Anna #Alan Smith #Nancy Holbrook #Quentin Smith

[incoherentbabblings]

An Endless Hope (5/9)

After a horrendous blizzard falls over Gotham, Tim undergoes a sharp change in character before disappearing. Upon discovering what has become of him, Stephanie sets off on a solo journey in a magic realm to bring him home, meeting some faces who seem awfully familiar along the way.

Archive Of Our Own Link Click Click!

Then

There were certain assumptions, when it came to a young couple moving in together, regarding what stages the relationship had crossed. Tim and Stephanie had kissed. Yes. Tim and Stephanie lived together. Yes. Tim and Stephanie shared a bed. Yes. Tim and Stephanie had had sex?

No.

Not to say they had not tried. Boundary testing had formed a large part of the reuniting, which had included the throwing of Tim’s shirts across the room during make out sessions and yet, the moment hands began to wander, it was Stephanie who would pull back fingers to a safer space. Tim had never complained, or even given a hint of being frustrated, until one day, when they were sat on Wayne Tower watching the sun set and eating a burger, Tim piped up.

“Can I ask you something invasive?”

Stephanie made an encouraging noise, a dollop of sauce slopping out onto her grease paper as she took a big bite of her burger.

“Of course! No secrets now. I’m your open book.”

Tim methodically picked his burger apart, chewing on a pickle.

“It’s really invasive.” He warned, and Steph nodded with a smile. “But, uh, you and Dean.”

Oh God. Steph’s smile froze.

“How often did you two...have...sex?”

“Oh. Okay. Yeah. A bit intrusive there. Oh boy. Yeah, so, no more than three or four times, I think. He preferred...urgh!” She shivered, then made an exaggerated jerking off motion with her hand. Tim frowned, seeming pensive, and Stephanie looked back, a little nervous. “Is this about us not sleeping together yet?”

“I don’t want to pressure you. ‘Cause you never do for me.”

“I know, sweetie.”

“I’m just trying to figure out if there’s something I could be doing better for you. If I’m…lacking.”

Steph swallowed, rocking back and forth on her bum. “Well, okay. Number one, don’t ever compare yourself to him because you are ten times the boyfriend, man, and person Dean ever was or could be. Number two, I’m just not ready, Tim. Not yet. That’s all.”

Part of her hoped he could hear the story she was trying to tell. If she wasn’t ready to be with Tim after five years of knowing him, of loving him, then maybe, just maybe, she hadn’t been ready for anything Dean had made her do after two weeks of ‘dating’.

Only part of her hoped though. Another part of her felt very strongly that it was a conversation she would never have aloud. She didn’t trust herself or Tim with it.

To her conflicted relief, Tim did not pick up on the unspoken.

“You love me.” He stated, seeking reassurance.

“I love you. You’re the only one I ever have or will if I have anything to say about it.” Stephanie watched as Tim turned bashful at her openness. “Just be patient? I can’t give you a date.”

“We don’t ever have to if you don’t want to.” He declared. “It’s not a deal breaker for me. I just thought... If I can do better, to make things better for you, please tell me.”

Stephanie giggled. “Like what? What can you do? What grand plan did you have to seduce me?”

Tim gagged on his burger, retching and coughing, face violet.

“None of your business.” He choked out, which made Stephanie bust a gut with laughter.

“I think that’s debatable boy wonder!”

Tim began to beg, “C’mon Steph give me a break! I love you, and I just want to do right by you.”

Stephanie softened, sobering up, and ran a hand through his hair. Tim closed his eyes, content like a purring cat, and listened carefully as Stephanie whispered over the sound of Gotham traffic.

“You’re the only boy who ever has.”

Now

Stephanie ran until her feet bled on the forest floor. She stumbled through the foliage, disturbing the nocturnal animals that were watching their food for the night. She followed the stars, for the night was clear of any cloud, continuing to go north. That was all she knew to do. Keep going north.

And yet the weather seemed to be only growing warmer. Like she was experiencing a transition at double speed from Spring to Summer. Even the leaves on the trees were looking a darker and drier green. Soon enough she was dripping sweat, and eventually she collapsed against a tree stump, groaning to herself as she checked the damage she had done to her feet. For the first time in weeks, she was thirsty. She was sure the witch was not following her, and decided to take a moment to rest.

“Should have stayed by the river.” Stephanie murmured to herself, tearing her dress so she could wipe away as best she could the dirt on her wounds. “But no. I need to go this way. I just know it.”

She wrapped scraps of her dress around her feet, binding them, stood up, took a deep breath, then continued to move, albeit at a slower pace. She walked until morning broke, and the forest awakened with life.

Songbirds began to chirp, and warm light filtered through the forest canopy. Stephanie could see no edge to the forest and began to wonder if she was lost.

Exhaustion was catching up with her, as was her hurt feet, so she slid down to the floor underneath a rowan tree. It had a multitude of red berries on it, which the songbirds were feasting. Smiling, she watched as a pair of cardinals flew over. Living up to their nature, the male began to carefully pick a berry, then feed it to his mate.

“Cute.”

She turned back around to shut her eyes for a moment, getting ready to begin moving once more, but when she opened them, a crow was sat on a nearby log, looking directly at her.

“Oopf. Hello.”

The crow tilted its head, then hopped closer. It inspected her quite closely, then settled down next to her. Taking a chance, Stephanie raised her hand, finger curled. The crow nipped at her playfully, then allowed her to stroke its head.

“Oh, you’re clever, huh? You know head scratches feel good?” The crow closed its eyes, content. Stephanie watched for a moment, then sighed. “Don’t suppose you’ve seen a black haired blue-eyed young man come through here recently?”

The crow looked up at her, almost looking pensive, then squawked,

“Yes! Yes, I have!”

Stephanie froze in her petting.

Oh. Of course, the birds could talk. Why not. Flowers, birds…what was next? Fish? Moose? Cutlery? This world was bonkers and frightening and –

“Wait you saw Tim?”

“Tim? What’s Tim? Who’s Tim? Can you speak bird? Human language is hard for me.”

“Nuh-no. Sorry. I only know human.”

“Hmm. I will try.”

“Thank you.”

The bird hopped on Stephanie’s knee, and she made a show of listening to the birds squawking.

“Black hair? Blue eyes? A little thin? Young?”

“Yes!”

“He’s married to the princess!”

“Beg your pardon.”

The bird flew up onto the tree. “There was a competition. The princess would only choose a husband from someone kind and smart. There was a riddle. A boy solved it, so he was chosen.”

“Kind? Smart?” Stephanie stumbled onto her feet. “Do you know where they are? Please, I need to see them.”

The bird ruffled its feathers. “I’m meeting my brother at the castle. You are not…you are not a threat?”

“No.” Stephanie replied immediately. “I think I may know this boy. I’m a – a friend of his. He went missing. I was sent to bring him home.”

“Oh. That’s odd.”

“I have to be sure it’s him. I think he’s under a spell. I’m not a threat. I just want him safe.”

The crow jumped on her head, making her squeal. The sensation of the bird’s feet in her hair was very odd.

“I believe you. Follow me. The princess is very kind. She will be able to help.”

Stephanie sighed, hoping this world was cutting her a break. She tugged herself upright, bird still stood on her head.

“See the ash tree?”

“Yes?”

The bird settled down, sitting neatly on the crown of her head. “Go there, then go left.”

Stephanie followed the bird’s instructions to the letter.

It took a good hour, but eventually the forest cleared a little, and Stephanie was asked to stop. The bird thumped down it’s tails feathers, telling her to look up.

“Oh! Like Lothlorien!”

“What?”

“Nothing.”

Perhaps castle was inaccurate a description – but the bird had said human wasn’t her first language. But what there was looked like something out of a fantasy film for sure.

“Tree houses?” Stephanie asked, tone mystified.

“They are better than that.”

“Uh-huh…” Gawking, she looked for a way up into the wood and glass structures. “Oh man, is the princess an elf?”

“A what?”

“Never mind.” She gulped, cracking her fingers. “Right, so how do we get up there? Well, you fly, obviously. Do I climb?”

“There’s some ropes around here somewhere…Ah!” The bird squawked, making Stephanie flinch. The bird began to flap, ruffling Stephanie’s hair, cawing out loudly. “It’s my brother!”

A second crow landed on Stephanie’s head, making her curse out loud. The pair nuzzled and made a general racket, fluffing and ruining her hair.

“Sorry, pardon, birds? Not my head?”

The brother sat on her shoulder. “A human!”

The lady crow resettled. “And she does not speak bird!”

“Tragic.”

Stephanie blew air between her teeth, anger rising. “Look, can you get me in or not?”

They could. Soon enough she was several feet up in the air, watching her step to ensure she didn’t twist her ankle on any slots between planks.

She crept along quietly, the birds hopping and fluttering along, showing her the way.

“It is early,” said the male crow. “So they won’t be…”

“Awake.” Finished the female crow. “That’s okay. The princess is very nice.”

“So, you said.” Stephanie gripped the tree trunk, huffing from the exertion. Her feet were killing her. “Do you two live here?”

“We come and go. I love the princess. She is like…like…”

“Your mother.” The male said, settling back on Stephanie’s shoulder.

“Yes!” And the bird hung upside down on a softly glowing lantern. “She took me in. My mother and father were not good. Him,” She said, jerking her wings to the bird perched on Stephanie, “is my brother. My brother is not my brother. But he is my brother.”

Stephanie paused, musing and trying to understand. “Adopted?”

“Is that the word? We have different mothers.” The crow flew up a level, and Stephanie skipped after her. “This way.”

They continued in silence for some time, the size of the palace deceptively large. They spiralled up what Stephanie could only assume was the back staircase. The sun had truly risen by then, but it still felt early, like the sun in summer. Already she was feeling very warm. No wonder this place was built up high and had no real solid walls. Stephanie wondered how many fell out of such heights, or did the creatures that inhabited the palace feel no need to worry about such a possibility?

“Why haven’t we come across anyone?”

“They are all sleeping. It is still early. There are no threats here. It is safe. It is why I asked you.”

“I see.”

“The princess protects us.”

Stephanie stopped and gasped, seeing shadows on the stairwells. The male crow noticed her sharp panic and nipped reassuringly at her earlobe.

“It is okay! We are getting closer to where the court sleeps. Their dreams have come out.”

Stephanie remained still, listening, and watching the shadows move, reluctant to turn the corner. “They do that here?”

The female crow zoomed back, once again landing on Stephanie’s head. “The more responsibility you have, the stronger your dreams. They leak out and play. Come watch. They will entertain you until the princess awakes. No nightmares here.”

Stephanie believed the birds. She knew from the stories she read as a child that crows were supposed to be tricksy. Cruel and malignant with their intelligence, and Stephanie knew she should not be so trusting with the kindness that was offered, but there was something about the two crows that reminded her of home, of people she knew.

Still clinging to the trunk of the tree, Stephanie curled around to the next set of stairs, the trees seemingly never reaching their end, and peered round the bend.

Whatever Stephanie expected escaped dreams to look like, it was not bright bursts of colours, forming shapes with bright chiming bells, only to immediately slip into another form and shape and colour. She craned her neck up to better watch the display, trying to see clearer stories in the shapes.

A pair of birds flying together, a kiss, home, and a cradle. Music, loud and cantankerous, soft and affable. A bolt of lightening that cracked the air into rainbows that split further through glass crystals that lit the way up the palace.

“Wow.” Stephanie uttered.

“They’re lovely, aren’t they?” The lady crow came close then flew back again. “I used to have horrid ones. Still do sometimes. But time is better now. Wait here, I will wake the princess.”

“Thank you…” Stephanie paused as she went to sit on a carved wooden ledge, feet dangling over the edge as she continued to rest. “Sorry, do you have a name? Or is it not safe to share?”

It was almost like the crow smiled. “Silly human. Wait here!”

Stephanie watched as the lady crow flew off. The male remained, hopping off to sit with her watch the light and shadows fly through what seemed to Stephanie akin to an antechamber.

“Your sister is very kind.” Stephanie said quietly.

“She is!” He squawked, his neck feathers ruffling with pride. “She likes to help. People were not kind to her, so she decided to be kind back.”

“Sounds like someone I know back home.”

“Who?”

“The sister of the boy I’m looking for. She was mistreated, but she found some people willing to help her.”

“She’s happier now?”

“Much.”

As she spoke to the bird, Stephanie was again reminded of how much she empathised with Cass. She couldn’t compare with the horror and volume, when she had told Cass that she couldn’t beat her at anything, Stephanie meant anything. Still, it explained why she trusted the bird. It was almost as if someone had taken Cass and made her an overly exuberant and curious bird.

Stephanie watched the dreams some more – staring in particular at the two songbirds twist and turning round the other, splintering off only for a moment, only to crash into each other, singing their songs. She giggled watching them.

“I’ve been told we have a human passing through?”

Stephanie gasped, turned, and scrambled off the ledge in order to perform an awkward curtsey, not sure what to do when faced with royalty.

The female crow returned to her brother, bouncing up and down cutely. “It’s her my lady! It’s her! Looking for a lost boy.”

The princess looked at Stephanie – bedraggled Stephanie with bleeding feet, torn dress, muddy knees and dirty gloved hands – with some level of suspicion, but also compassion.

The nightgown she had on was a turquoise satin, whilst her skin tinged a bit too yellow to be human. The wicked green eyes were playful, but not spiteful. She looked like a water colour come to life. Stephanie tried to relax, but clung to her elbows, holding herself in comfort.

“Please, the boy you just married,” It was ridiculous, but Stephanie had to know. “I think he might be… I think he might be mine?”

She sounded unsure even to herself, and the princess raised her eyebrows and looked Stephanie up and down.

“Interesting. A human comes tumbling into my realm, chasing a stolen boy, and claims I’m the thief?”

“No. No, I don’t think that. I have nothing to go off, just that you married a black-haired blue-eyed boy.”

“I did.”

“Then… please. Can I meet him? Just to be sure? He was taken by a spell and an ice witch and I’m sure he would be smart enough to escape on his own but I got side-tracked by an old woman pretending to be my mother in the woods so I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s managed to get himself in another mess not that being married to you would be a mess it’s just I love him and he’s human and he… he belongs with me. To me.” She wriggled her shoulders, brazen. “He’s mine. He belongs with me and his family in the human world. Please, let me just check it’s not him.”

The princess raised an eyebrow throughout Stephanie’s little speech. She smirked.

“And what if it is him?”

“You can’t have him.” She pled.

“I think he should be the one to decide.”

A dream fluttered in front of Stephanie, a horse that galloped straight into the tree trunk, seemingly shattering out of existence with the impact. The solid thunk made Stephanie jump back, determination broken. The princess’ mouth twisted into a fey smile. The sound of someone padding down the stairs, from the same direction the princess had come, made everyone turn to see.

The princess smiled, her face finally growing warm.

“My love, do you know this girl?”

“Uh, no.”

“Do you want to leave with this human?”

“Not particularly.”

“Well, there we have it.” The princess turned back to Stephanie. “My husband wants to stay.”

Stephanie’s gut dropped in the most awful concoction of relief and dread.

It wasn’t Tim.

Relief.

She had to keep moving then. Had to keep searching.

Dread.

The new prince had several years on Tim, and was – like the princess – the definition of fey. Skin the colour of an acorn, hair so dark it absorbed any light that shone on it, with eyes brighter blue than anything found on a normal human.

Black hair, blue eyes, young. Well the crow hadn’t lied about that…

Stephanie’s eyes grew wet.

“I’m sorry. I’ve wasted your time.”

The princess shook her head. “No, I’m interested in the story behind a human running barefoot through my home looking for a lost boy.”

Stephanie sighed, arms flapping in distress. “An ice witch took him. A friend who can jump realm boundaries said I had to be the one to bring him back.”

“Ice witch?” The man said to his wife. “The storm passed through about three days ago, is that her?”

“Probably. I keep the weather how I please, but she’s done awful damage this year. Has she picked up another human? For goodness sake she never learns.”

She looked back to see Stephanie crying. Her royal façade cracked, and instantly she was hugging the poor girl.

“Oh. I’m sorry. I can be a little callous sometimes. I swear that we won’t harm or feed you, but we can help you on your way. Let me see to your injuries and get you some new clothes. You have a long way to go yet.”

“Let me keep my gloves.” Stephanie begged. “They belong to him.”

The man snorted softly, full of admiration. “Young love.”

“Come. Come sit so I can see.”

Stephanie looked at the crows, mindful of another delay or trap, but they nodded encouragingly. Maybe it was a mistake to trust anyone from this world, but the alternative was to solo run bare foot into a winter storm. She would try trusting again.

The man picked her up, making Stephanie squeal at the ease which everyone seemed to handle her, and took her up more stairs. Finally, they reached a hanging gallery, and the new prince sat her on the table. The palace was waking up, and an assortment of interesting looking people flittered by, curious about why the small human sat on a dining table was doing in their home. The crows flew closer, the girl settling on Stephanie’s lap, and nibbled at her fingers reassuringly.

The princess soon returned, wearing such a grand dress Stephanie didn’t know where to compliment first. She settled on her knees in front of Stephanie, who turned red from embarrassment, and began to magic (magick Klarion pushed in Stephanie’s mind) her wounds and dirt away.

“I’ve ordered some clothes ready for you. And transport.”

“Thank you.”

“It’s not entirely selfless. Humans really shouldn’t be over here. The sooner you collect your boy, the sooner you’ll leave.”

Stephanie nodded, not wanting to outstay her welcome regardless. A violent stabbing pain shot up through her legs, causing her to gasp, but as quickly as the pain came, it faded. The princess was smiling, proud at her work.

“What a week I’ve had.” She said to herself.

“You got married, right?”

“Yes. And now a human pays us a visit.” She sighed, rising up to look at her husband. “Can you find her winter clothes? She has far to go north.”

Stephanie watched as he left, only speaking when the princess sat down next to her.

“What’s the story there? The crows said he solved a riddle?”

“He did indeed. A no-one from nothing is now prince. But he was smart and solved it. A few others had as well, but there were two answers. His was the only one that I wanted to hear.” She smiled, in love. “If you break me, I do not stop working. If you touch me, I may be snared. If you lose me nothing will matter. What am I?”

“A heart.” Stephanie replied almost instantaneously. The princess laughed.

“Oh, of course a human knows immediately. I should have known. Our brains and worlds work differently. Different priorities. What is obvious to us is a mystery to you and vice versa.”

Stephanie shrugged humbly, inspecting her poor beaten gloves. “My father liked these sorts of things. I picked up a lot from him.”

“What is someone worth, if not for their heart? Intelligence is a fine attribute, but compassion, love, kindness… they are much more valuable. I encourage that here.”

Stephanie nodded sadly. “My… my… boyfriend.” She sneered as she said it, hating how juvenile it came across. Tim was much more than that. “He is one of the smartest people I know. But he’s also the kindest. But the witch, she froze his heart.”

“Love can melt it.”

Stephanie fought the urge to roll her eyes despite the certainty in the other woman’s voice. She thought back to the very last thing Tim did before he left, and Stephanie’s heart continued to sink. “He kissed me before he was taken. It did nothing. Was that him trying? One last time?”

The princess pet Stephanie’s golden hair. “Maybe. However, kisses are not love. They can show it, but there are other ways to melt a heart.”

“How?”

“No, no. That is for you to discover. This is your journey, we’re just here to help you on your way.” She inspected Stephanie closely, then smiled. “May I braid your hair?”

The clothes Stephanie were gifted were better than anything she had been given by the old woman, even before Stephanie had ripped it to shreds. Deep violet woollen tights and a full dress that reached her knees, detailed with silver embroidery, would keep the heat close to her body. The white woollen coat with a large heavy hood, lined with snow white fur, made her sweat just by looking at it. She had been warned that the warmth of this little haven would flee the moment she went north, and the ground would only grow more perilous. She was gifted a pair of brown boots that laced up tight and securely slid on her healed feet. Finally, she was given a new scarf, as violet as her underclothes, to ensure she would not freeze continuing north.

The carriage Steph was given was plain, painted brown, but the two white horses would be able to take her most of the way.

“The storm has settled three days north from what I can tell,” the prince explained, giving her a hand to get in. “You may have to do the last leg on foot, but so long as you have these clothes on, you won’t freeze.”

Stephanie settled down, then leaned out the little window, gripping the frame.

“Can I just ask… why are you helping me? Aside to make sure I leave quicker. You don’t want anything in return?”

The princess walked up and rested a hand over Stephanie’s. “I said so, kindness is admirable. I want to reward it. Keep your determination. It will see you through. Now in terms of payment… answer a question in return.”

Stephanie nodded.

“What’s the name of yourself and your boy?”

Stephanie gulped, so close to leaving the realm and moving onwards again, she didn’t know if this was a test.

“I don’t know if I should tell you.”

The princess smiled. “I am no threat to you or him.”

The lady crow swooped down and joined Stephanie in her carriage. Stephanie blinked, seeing that she would join her on her journey, at least for a little while. She looked back at the princess. “Stephanie. My name is Stephanie. Tim is my…”

“Your love.”

“…Yes.”

“This faithfulness you are showing, do you think it would be returned if places were swapped?”

“I know it would. This is me proving it to him. He has nothing to prove to me.”

The princess’ look became shrew once more. “As I am sure you have nothing to prove to him.”

“He would say so. But I want to do it all the same.”

“How very mature of you. A little girl you are not.”

Stephanie frowned. “There’s a saying about love which I liked. But I can’t remember it.”

The princess brushed a lose curly strand of hair off Stephanie’s face. In that moment she very much reminded Stephanie of Barbara.

“Love excuses, trusts, hopes, and endures. All things adulthood tries to strip from us.”

Stephanie blinked, pieces of her conversations with Tim and her journey in this realm starting to slip together. Love, childhood, mothers, siblings, adulthood, and young lovers…

“Oh.”

Where to next?

The princess whistled sharply, making the horses begin their trot. Walking beside her on the forest floor, the princess only let go of Stephanie’s hand when she could keep up no longer. “Good luck Stephanie.” She called out. “I hope this boy is worthy of you.”

Stephanie leaned further out the carriage and thanked the young couple.

As the sped off, the crow settled on her lap and snoozed. She was not talkative company, but she was a little warm figure. Her comforting presence was delightful to Stephanie, whose hope was rekindled.

True to the princess’ word, the leaves began to turn the most wonderful shades of red, yellow, orange, and brown, falling to the ground and creating a wonderful crunch as the horses and carriage wheels pressed them down into the forest floor. A gravel road opened up, still shaded by trees, and Stephanie wondered if it would ever end. She did start to notice however, an increase in evergreen trees. In pines and yews and hollies. The temperature had dropped, but still Stephanie was just slightly too warm in her outfit. She kept it on though, not knowing when winter would arrive and leave her craving the warmth she still held.

Eventually the crow awoke. She was shocked at how far she had gone, not intending to travel as far north with Stephanie as she had, and hopped onto the window’s ledge, looking to fly off back to her brother and princess. Stephanie pecked the bird on the head as a thank you. She squawked joyfully upon receipt of the kiss, then flew off. Once again, aside from the horses magically knowing which direction to canter, Stephanie was alone. The silence continued, a little unnerving.

She would find Tim soon, she was sure of it.

#dc #tim drake #stephanie brown #timsteph #my fic tag

[warriorrcatts]

So my theories on who tf is possessing/ not possessing Bramblestar

-tigerstar (not him): first of all he’s died twice already so it would be ridiculous to bring him back. Also he didn’t know squirrelflight very well so that comment about her would be weird. His arc is so overdone at this point that I can’t see him being brought back as a good ending (but the Erin’s do love him)

-hawkfrost (not him): I was really leaning towards hawkfrost but then I remembered he’s died twice too. But he has the most connection to bramblestar, would remember squirrelflight as being younger/outspoken. But I doubt he would name his sister as a code breaker since they have such a strong connection. Also he seems to take an extreme interest in bristlefrost, just like he did in ivypool. Still don’t think it’s him though because he’s just not that cunning??

-ashfur (possibly): I’m really on the fence about this one. Ashfur makes sense (remembers some of the camp, knows older warriors, attention to squirrelflight) but is this really some shit ashfur would pull?? Possession??? I’m???? His last act before getting murdered was legit trying to kill squirrelflight and her kits, and he seemed super attached to her (though he did try to kill sparkpelt and lion blaze in 2 day span) I just think the extremes fakestar is going to is way out of ashfur range

-thistleclaw (high probably): so the possesser is a controversial character (insert quote here) and who’s more controversial than mr p*dophile himself!!! I’m really hoping the Erin’s aren’t using him, but thistleclaw is extremely cunning and manipulative, in the way that he’s turning all the cats against each other and using them as spies on their own clanmmates. Thistleclaw is also seen as unnecessarily brutal with punishment (refer to when he almost killed a kit, any other time he’s interacted with someone from another clan) Also would explain his GROSS interest in bristlefrost. The 1 thing that doesn’t make sense is the comment about squirrelflight, since he never met her, and has had 0 interaction with her. (Again rly hope it’s not him but makes sense)))

-sol (ehhh maybe??): ah sol. You large weird man. So it’s a high chance because 1) he was alive when squirrelflight was but again hasn’t been seen in the series for awhile, making him unaware of current events and the layout of the camp. He is super cunning and manipulative, so the way Bramblefake has been acting it could really be him. The only thing getting me is the fact that no code breakers had been named from skyclan. As the whole reason WHY sol does what he does is based about them, i would’ve assumed he could’ve named someone from that clan. Also I know sol just functions beyond normal cat existence, but idk if possessing is really in his realm

-my SUPER COOL theory: so in squirrelflight’s hope, we learned the dark forest is just deteriorating. What is since there’s nothing else there, the dark forest takes on a spiritual form, and that’s what’s possessing bramblestar! It would explain the intent to destroy the clans and the way it’s turning clanmates against each other. As an entity, it wouldn’t have any super recent memories, as no one living in the dark forest currently would remember anything like that. Also, with the whole squirrelflight line, the dark forest can remember who’s trained there, and how much squirrel fought against bramble training there when they were younger (it’s probably not this but like imagine)) the whole ass forest just got in there???

Darkstripe isn’t on this list cause there’s not a chance in cat hell

#warrior cats #wc #warriors #the silent thaw #broken code #tigerstar #bramblestar #bramblefake #hawkfrost #darkstripe #thistleclaw #thistleclaw tw #sol #the dark forest #ashfur

[onebloodsoakedlion]

Abandoned Conquest!Ryoma goes to Fódlan.

Ryoma was a bit unsteady on his feet. He took a look around. Was this the “new world” that all the puppeteers were talking about?

He found himself in front of what looked like a castle. The front gate was open, leading to a bustling marketplace. The merchants, identifying him as a foriegner, attempted to sell him souveniers, but the Hoshidan King politely refused. Instead, he wanted to take a better look at this new game world. He knew that the answers resided in this castle, and he had to explore. “Greetings, visitor. Welcome to Garreg Mach Monastery! Feel free to look around. Hope you enjoy your time here!”

Ryoma turned towards the cheery gatekeeper. This guy would certainly know a thing or two. “Hey there,” Ryoma responded, “I was just looking for someone...” he began to poke around inside the game files, looking for a variable name, “...who goes by the name Byleth.” “You must mean the professor,” the gatekeeper gleefully responded, “What do you want him for?” Ryoma took a deep breath, his ears tilted back. How was he going to explain this in layman’s terms? “Oh... I’d... just like to learn a thing or two about this place,” he replied. “I can explain it to you,” the gatekeeper replied, “This is Garreg Mach, the centre of the continent of Fódlan, and the headquarters of the Church of Serios and the Officer’s Academy.” Just then, a green-haired man walked past the pair. Ryoma immediately turned towards him - that was Byleth! Ryoma excused himself, thanking the gatekeeper and got the professor’s attention. “Who are you,” Byleth asked in a rather monotone voice. “I’m Ryoma, an outrealm traveller. I’m also a king in my home realm, but not that it really matters.” “What have you come here for,” Byleth asked. “I’ve come here to learn about your world,” Ryoma answered, “You guys might have had many years of history, but your world has only just been created.” “What are you talking about,” Byleth asked, feeling rather intimidated. “Well,” Ryoma began to explain, “You know when you write a fiction story and you put a lot of history into it, the story itself has only just been freshly written.” Ryoma heard a gasp from the skies. “What is going on here? This guy’s just breaking the fourth wall!” Byleth buried his face in his hands, “You’re scaring my puppeteer. You should leave for now. We’ll catch up tomorrow, when they’re not watching.”

“So, this is like a militray school and a place of worship at the same time. How interesting.” “Yes,” Byleth replied, “This military academy caters to the three nations in the continent of Fódlan -  the Adrestian Empire, the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus and the Leicester Alliance. They are split into three houses, the Black Eagles, Blue Lions and Golden Deer, respectively. I teach the Golden Deer. “Oh, that’s cool,” Ryoma replied, “I’d really like to meet the students.” “Why do you say that,” Byleth replied. “Because they’re... uh... the playable characters... of this game,” Ryoma answered, his fluffy tail curling into a question mark. “Fair enough, Fourth Wall Breaker,” Byleth responed bluntly, “If you’re so curious to meet my students, we can visit them now. Do you want to see all of them, or just the ones from my house?” “All of them.”

Ryoma got along pretty well with the students at the academy. The Black Eagles were so interesting, especially when Edelgard gave her speeches on her hate of the Church and the Crests, the Golden Deer were so much fun to have around, particularly Claude, who ended up using a cat wand on Ryoma and even spiking his water canteen with catnip. The results were hilarious.

But Ryoma could not leave the Blue Lions alone. They were actually quite sensible but also seemed to have each others’ backs. Their leader, Dimitri, seemed to be very lenient. Despite being of royalty himself, Dimitri refused to let anyone refer to him as “Your Highness”, especially his retainer, Dedue. Dimitri would much rather people called him by name instead. Dedue owed a life debt to his leige, or so he said. During the “Tragedy of Duscur”, Dimitri had saved his life, and so he became Dimitri’s loyal retainer. Felix was the cynical one. He kept referring to Dimitri as “the boar”. “Why are you calling Dimirti a boar,” Ryoma asked, “That’s not very nice.” “Have you not seen the way he charges into battle,” Felix replied, “He is reckless and bloodthirsty. He’ll kill anyone who happens to be his enemy!” Ryoma immediately scanned Dimitri’s code. It was encrypted, so Ryoma looked into the lion’s SOUL. There were some massive cracks scattered through his yellow SOUL. If Dimitri really had a SOUL of Justice, then why would he be “reckless and bloodthirsty”, killing his enemies without mercy? Ryoma decided that those cracks held the answers.

“You look like you really enjoyed your time here, Ryoma,” Claude cheerfully said. “You seem like a really nice person,” Edelgard added. “Are you coming back here,” Dimitri asked, “Because we’d really love to see you again!” “Of course I’ll be back,” Ryoma replied, “As a multiverse traveller, I have my ways!” He poked holes in the air in front of him, at things only he could see. A moment later, a portal opened. “Bye for now!” “Hope to see you again!” “Come back soon!” Byleth watched on from the distance. He had to return to his room. Any moment now, his puppeteer would come looking for him. And considering how things were, they would probably want him to complete one of those Paralogues. 

#Abandoned Conquest #Fire Emblem AU #Fire Emblem Crossover #Fire Emblem Fates #Fire Emblem Three Houses #Ryoma #Byleth #The Gatekeeper #Edelgard #Claude #Fourth Wall

[razieltwelve]

The Return (RWBY AU Snippet)

Note: This is set in the same AU as Night and Day, Emissary, I Am Become Death, Thunder and Paperwork, Ice and Fire, Apocalypse, Origin, and The Day Breaks.

Blake, goddess of shadows, assassins, cats, saboteurs, and a great many other things, had finally managed to get her paws on a divine tuna, only to find herself stuck on another world - minus her tuna. After spending a good ten minutes yowling about her misfortune, she finally got around to examining her surroundings.

The world she was stuck on didn’t seem too bad. There were mortals on it, and there was tuna too. However, she had already sensed the presence of several unfamiliar gods, as well creatures that should not be anywhere near the mortal world. Oh well, she’d talk to the other gods later, and she’d smite those creature’s once she’d had something to eat. Right now, she was hungry, and there was a fish market just down the road.

It only took her a minute or two to secure a nice, juicy tuna, and she quickly found a secluded alleyway to enjoy her treat. Since she was in such a good mood - the tuna looked and smelled delicious - she even gave some to a couple of stray kittens. They were looking a little scrawny, and it wasn’t like she could starve to death.

Some people might have wondered why such a mighty goddess spent so much time as a cat, but it was all about responsibility. Because of the broad range of areas her duties covered, she was always busy. There was nothing better than taking a holiday, and there was no holiday lazier and less stressful than spending time as a cat. If only Yang, that blonde mortal, had been brought to this world. She’d been so good at giving belly rubs, and she always bought the best tuna.

And speaking of tuna… Blake turned back to her pilfered tuna and grinned toothily. It was time to enjoy!

Alas, she hadn’t even taken a bite out of her tuna before she was interrupted.

“You there. Reveal yourself.”

Blake stared at the goddess standing at the entrance to the alleyway. The kittens had wisely retreated with their own tuna, and Blake was sorely tempted to do the same. What were the odds? They had a divine version of Weiss here too, and from the looks of her, she was probably in charge of bureaucracy too. At least it wasn’t the Weiss from her world. She owed that Weiss several decades of paperwork. However, this Weiss had an even crabbier expression than the Weiss she was used to, which did not bode well.

“Meow.”

Blake turned back to her tuna and did her best to act like an ordinary cat. Maybe this Weiss would just go away, leaving her to enjoy her tuna. Sadly, she was not that lucky. Tendrils of glowing light surrounded her, forming chains woven out of the words of divine law. Blake found herself suspended in mid-air with her tuna far out of her reach. Her eye twitched, and she gave Weiss a look of extreme feline displeasure.

“Meow.” Blake glared. “Meow.”

“Don’t ‘meow’ me, you miscreant. I know you’re a god. Reveal yourself. I have need of your skills.”

Contrary to her lazy nature, Blake was actually immensely powerful. Most of the time, she let the Weiss of her world boss her around because Weiss actually did need help a lot of the time and because, despite their arguments, they really were friends. This Weiss, however, was not her friend, and Blake did not appreciate being called a miscreant.

One of Blake’s less well-known titles, which just so happened to be one of the most important ones she had, was the goddess of law-breakers. In particular, as the goddess of law-breakers, the laws that bound other gods did not have such an easy time binding her. It wasn’t the flashiest ability, but against gods whose powers relied on rules and systems to work? 

Heh. It was just about the most broken ability in existence.

Shadows erupted from her body, and Blake’s feline form gave way to her true form, a goddess clothed in darkness and wreathed in ribbons of purest night. The chains binding her shattered, and she flipped back to stand on top of a street light. A moment later, the street light failed, plunging the alley into darkness.

“What…?” Weiss frowned. “How did you do that?”

“Hah!” Blake smirked. “Did you really think bossing me around would be that easy? Now… who are you and what do you want?” She paused and then added, “And do you have more tuna?”

Weiss grimaced. “I am Weiss, Goddess of Bureaucracy. As for what I want…” her eyes narrowed ominously. “Something is coming. I can sense it. The barriers around this world are failing. I don't know exactly what is causing it, but it won’t be long before it reveals itself. We have days at the most, possibly only hours. As a fellow god, I need your help to deal with this threat. I have already sent one of my… servants to seek out the other gods.” She sighed. “And, yes, I can acquire more tuna if that is what it costs for you to cooperate.”

“Is that so?” Blake rubbed her chin thoughtfully. “But you still haven’t explained why I should help you.”

“Do you want to go home?” Weiss asked. “I know you’re not from here. Neither am I. In fact, I doubt any of the gods I’ve sensed are from here. However, if I can gain the aid of one of the other gods, I may be able to return all of us to our original worlds.”

“Oh?”

Weiss smiled thinly. “It can be difficult to sense what powers a god has. For instance, I’m not sure of exactly what you’re capable of. But some gods… some gods… you can sense what they are easily. One of the other gods is Death. With her power and my ability to shape and command the laws that govern Creation, I should be able to return all of us home… once the threat here has been dealt with.”

Blake waved one hand dismissively. “As you said, this isn’t our world. Why are you so concerned about defending it?”

Weiss folded her arms across her chest. “Can’t you feel it? This world is special. Its soul… there is something familiar about it, something I can’t quite place. But my instincts tell me that it matters.”

Blake frowned and reached out with her senses. She hadn’t paid much attention to it at the time, but perhaps she should have. All worlds had souls, some more impressive than others. This world… she blinked slowly. Its soul was immense, like staring into the sun. “Hmm… you’re right.”

“I have already located the nexus where this world’s soul can be accessed, and I have begun fortifying it in anticipation of an attack. But you know that threat I mentioned? I believe it is a being of divine origin… but one that can wield the power of the Void.”

“Impossible,” Blake replied. “No god can wield the power of the Void. It is anathema to us all.”

“And yet that is what I sensed,” Weiss replied. “Such a being cannot be allowed to roam the Many Worlds unchallenged. It is better to face it here than to face it in our worlds.”

“You might have a point there,” Blake conceded. “Fine. I’ll meet with the other gods, and I’ll listen to more of what you have to say. But you owe me tuna.”

X     X     X

Death’s frown deepened as she examined the husk of what had once been Salem of Remnant. There was no mistaking the power emanating from the husk. It belonged to the Salem of her world, but it was different, still divine in origin but also filled with the power of the Void. That should have been impossible.

“So… how bad is it?” Yang asked.

Death glanced at the blonde. “What makes you think it’s bad?”

Yang grimaced. “This is the first time I’ve seen you look worried, and considering who and what you are… yeah. You being worried makes me super worried.”

“Do you want the truth?” Death asked. Yang and the others nodded. “The apocalypse is at hand. Given who I think we’re dealing with, we are all facing complete obliteration.”

“…” Yang’s mouth opened and closed several times. “You know… I was kind of hoping you wouldn’t say that.”

“Whom are we dealing with?” Ruby asked.

Death’s lips firmed into a thin line. “The Salem of my world. She was… insane. She killed many gods before I was finally able to destroy her, or so I thought. If she has returned with the power of the Void at her command, it is entirely possible that she has grown strong enough that even I can no longer defeat her.”

Day flared, a corona of searing brightness enveloping her. “You will not face her alone. She will burn for her transgressions.”

“Yeah,” Goddess Nora added, hefting her hammer. “What she said.”

“If only it were that simple,” Death scowled. “The Salem I was faced was more powerful than almost any other god. That was why I had to be the one to strike her down. The power of the Void… it would give her a way of withstanding my power. She would not be invincible, but she would be far, far, far beyond the god I defeated.”

“But if you all team up, you could take her out, right?” Yang asked.

“Perhaps. But her presence here is most likely not merely a matter of revenge.” Death gestured around them. “Worlds have souls. Remnant’s soul is powerful indeed.” Her gaze grew clouded. “I have… memories, bits and pieces of a time before time, a time where I was… someone or something else. I was… more than I am now.”

“More than Death?” Day murmured. “Is such a thing possible?”

“I do not know,” Death replied. “But there were always rumours, stories, of how gods could devour the soul of a world for power. I always dismissed them as fanciful tales. Certainly, I never saw anything that could suggest it was possible. Yet if Salem has gained the power of the Void, who is to say what she can do? And with the soul of a world like Remnant…”

“Who knows how strong she’d get?” Goddess Nora asked. She smirked. “Oh… this is going to be one hell of a fight.”

“So how do we stop her?” Weiss asked. “There has to be some way, right?”

“There are two ways to access the soul of a world. In the mortal realm - the physical world - there is a location, a place that leads to it. Salem will most likely dispatch an army of what you call Grimm and other monstrosities to assault that location.” Death paused. “I have a rough idea of where that place is, and someone has begun to fortify it with divine power.”

“That’s good, right?” Yang asked.

“It’s not bad. I don’t know if the god responsible is on our side, but they are definitely not on Salem’s.” Death’s brows furrowed. “The second method is to access the soul of a world through what would normally be called the divine realm. Since Remnant no longer has gods on it, there will be no one there to defend it. Since the only ones who can enter the divine realm are gods, it will be up to me and the others to stop Salem from reaching her goal that way.”

“So there’s two ways she can win?” Yang shook her head. “And while we’re under siege from who knows how many monsters, you and the other gods are going to be somewhere else?”

“Unfortunately, that is the most likely scenario. You cannot come with us to the divine realm, and someone must be there to stop Salem. You, however, can defend the location in the mortal realm. A victory in either scenario will likely result in the complete destruction of your world and in her gaining even more power.”

“Okay…” Ruby looked queasy. “Is there any good news for us?”

“Perhaps.” Death studied Ruby thoughtfully. “I would have preferred to avoid doing this, but it may be unavoidable now. I shall share some of my power with you.”

Ruby stared. “You can do that?”

“Yes. You are this world’s version of me. We are connected. I can only give you the barest sliver of my power, but it will be of immense help to you in battle.” Death glanced at Day and Goddess Nora. “I would suggest you do the same for your counterparts as well.”

Death would have said more, but a portal appeared. A dark-haired woman tumbled out of it.

“Mom?” Yang blurted.

Raven shambled onto her feet. “I… bring word from Weiss, Goddess of Bureaucracy.”

Death raised one eyebrow. “Interesting. Continue.”

X     X     X

Bureaucracy studied the other gods intently. The storm goddess was almost painfully obvious in her intentions. She wanted a fight, and a good one. The Goddess of the Day was also fairly straightforward to understand, albeit immensely powerful. To Bureaucracy’s senses, she shone like a sun of divine power.

And then there was Death.

Just being near her made Bureaucracy shiver. They were connected in a distant sort of way, and Bureaucracy did not miss the way the mortal Ruby and mortal Weiss stayed near each other. Fascinating. Some connections truly did transcend worlds, so it was perhaps not surprising the Ruby of her world had become her emissary. Hopefully, Fred, her faithful follower, was continuing the mortal’s training during her absence.

“Welcome,” Bureaucracy said. “We have a problem to discuss.”

“Yes.” Death extended one hand. A memory formed in the air above her palm, a crystallisation of her thoughts. It was a technique gods could use to share information more easily. “I suggest you all look into this memory of mine. I know who we face, at least, I knew her.”

Bureaucracy plunged into the memory. When she emerged from it, she was not pleased.

“I stand corrected,” Bureaucracy said. “We have a very big problem to discuss.” She sighed. “At least I’ve already begun to fortify this area. If you’re right, she’ll come here as soon as she’s ready to launch her assault.”

“Yes.” Death glanced at their mortal counterparts. “I need you to help us empower our mortal counterparts. Your power set should make that process easier. The quicker you can do it, the better. We don’t have much…” Death trailed off. “Time.”

Vast cracks had appeared in the sky above them. The eerie darkness of the Void began to pour in through tears in reality.

Death glared. “She’s here.”

And Salem was.

X     X     X

Ruby gaped at the goddess that had appeared in the sky above them. So that was the Salem that Death had tried to kill. She was… beautiful in a terrible way, her visage so perfect that it looked utterly inhuman, even in comparison to the other gods. Salem’s eyes were pools of sapphire light, but within them lurked an endless, unfathomable emptiness.

“Don’t stare too closely at her,” Death warned. “The power of the Void fills her. To look upon her will drive you mad.” She nodded at Bureaucracy. “Hurry. We don’t have much time.”

Black rain began to fall through the cracks in reality, and each drop that fell birthed Grimm and other monsters. There were so many of them. Too many. Ruby swallowed thickly. There was no way they were going to be able to fight off this many Grimm.

“Hello.” Salem smiled down at Death. She spread her arms in greeting, and the world trembled. “How nice to see you again.”

X     X     X

Author’s Notes

In some worlds, the heroes get time to prepare and plan. Salem is not an idiot. She is not going to give them the time they need to come up with a unified and thorough response. She has the advantage, and she’s going to push it as far as she can.

But don’t count our heroes out yet. They just might have a few tricks up their sleeve.

You can find me on fanfiction.net, AO3, and Amazon.

#rwby #fanfiction #ruby rose #weiss schnee #yang xiao long #blake belladonna #salem

[totentanz]

And Will He Not Come Again?

For Jonerys Week “The North and the South.”

Rhaegal left just after dawn.

Daenerys was already awake. She had never been one to laze in bed when there was work to be done, and there was always work to be done - petitions to hear, disputes to settle, rebuilding efforts to oversee. But even on the rare days when she could afford a bit of idleness, she never slept much later than the sunrise. Two years after she and Drogon had flown over the smoking wreckage of King’s Landing to the Red Keep and found Jaime Lannister kneeling over the body of his sister, bloody sword in hand, visions of green fire and the screams of children still stalked her dreams. Their cries of anguish - myhsa, mother, why didn’t you come sooner? Why didn’t you save us from her? - dragged into her wakefulness, her cheeks wet with tears and her heart pounding so hard it was difficult to breathe.

Jon could keep the nightmares at bay, when he was with her. But while the blood of the dragon ran through her husband’s veins, he was still a creature of ice and snow. He’d died and been resurrected in the far North, in the shadow of the ancient magic that had raised the Wall, and the North still claimed him as its child. Too long away from it and he began to fade away, going still and quiet, his eyes turned toward something only he could see. It had terrified her at first, when she touched his hand and he didn’t turn to look at her with that smile she so loved, the one that made the corners of his eyes crinkle and her heart flutter. She called his name and hadn’t so much as twitched, and the image of Drogo, lost to fever and unable to respond to her pleas for him to just live a little longer, my sun and stars, please don’t leave me here flitted through her mind and stole her breath, left her cold as stone.

But Rhaegal had known what to do. Rhaegal had swept down and bathed Jon in warm, sulfur-scented breath, given him the strength to climb on to the dragon’s back and follow the summons of the North’s ancient gods away from the south, away from Daenerys. She might have wept, if Drogon hadn’t nudged her with his immense head and crooned softly, the sound rumbling through her body. Do not despair, the dragon seemed to say. All will be well.

She ran her hand over the empty sheets next to her, allowed herself one more moment to wish she were touching Jon’s sleep-warmed skin, then swung her legs over the edge of the bed and stood up. There was no use in trying to sleep longer. Better to go outside and let the stiff ocean breezes clear her head.

Most of the sky was still dark, but the eastern horizon was touched with streaks of rose and orange. She walked past the slumbering heap of dragon wings and tails to the cliff’s edge, and stared out over the sea. The ceaseless pounding of the waves against the stone resonated deep in her bones, as familiar to her as her own heartbeat. She had been born on this island, drawn her first breaths here, and some primal part of her had never forgotten that. She felt grounded here, on this rocky soil, in a way she never was in Essos. She knew it was expected that she’d return the monarch’s seat to King’s Landing once the Red Keep was habitable once more, but the thought of doing so brought her no pleasure. That place was full of ghosts. She’d rather stay here, in the place of her birth, where Rhaegal and Drogon could fly freely over the ocean.

The sky grew brighter, and the curve of the sun appeared and limned the waves with gold. Sunlight raced across the waves, up the rocky cliffs, and across the windswept grass until it illuminated the dragons’ scales. Rhaegal lifted his head and shook his wings free, ignoring Drogon’s rumble of irritation, then walked to the precipice. He paused for a moment, his tongue flicking out to taste the air, then sprang aloft, his powerful wings catching the air and bearing him northward.

She shaded her eyes and watched his flight. She wasn’t sure how exactly Rhaegal knew when it was time to leave, whether it was some distant summons from Jon, far away in the lands north of North, or her own yearning to hold her husband in her arms, or if the dragon himself simply missed his rider. She liked to believe that Jon summoned Rhaegal to him, that he ached for her as much as she ached for him and wanted to return; it also brought her comfort to think that if Jon were ever in dire need, the dragon would know and rush to her husband’s aid.

“Bring him back to me,” she called, the sea breeze catching her words and bearing them aloft. She watched Rhaegal until he was nothing more than a speck in the brilliant blue sky, then turned and made her way back toward the keep, her heart lighter than it had been when she first woke up.

It wouldn’t be long now, not long at all before Jon was in her arms once more.

* * *

                            Until the Red Keep could be sufficiently restored, Daenerys chose to hold court in the ruins of the Dragonpit. Even though the Iron Throne itself had proved too cumbersome to move, the pit was large enough for Drogon to crouch behind her seat and fix his burning eyes on all who approached, and his presence a more potent symbol of queenship than any chair could hope to be.

It also meant she could arrive and depart on dragonback, a piece of pageantry that brought her no small measure of delight. She savored her daily flights from Dragonstone, when she soared high above the sparkling waters of Blackwater Bay with the wind whipping through her hair. On dragonback she felt most like herself, young and free with all the world before her, and Drogon’s answering exultation spilled into her own mind until the two of them were almost one. She’d heard that Daena the Defiant once that said she was born to ride a dragon; it was a sentiment Daenerys Breaker of Chains understood.

Seven days after Rhaegal journeyed north, she and Drogon flew out of the Dragonpit into the kind of evening that made her want to fly forever. The air was just cool enough to be pleasant, the western sky was painted in vivid shades of orange and red, and Drogon’s body was warm and strong beneath her legs. The day had gone well - the new vines planted in the Arbor were flourishing, the restoration of the Sept of Baelor was almost complete, and a fleet of trade ships from Meereen had arrived, their holds full of spices and silk. Her realm was at peace, recovering from the years of constant warfare, and she had everything she’d dreamed of as a lonely girl wandering through the Red Waste with nothing but a ragged khalasar and three newly hatched dragons barely the size of cats, everything except -

Off in the distance, a dragon roared.

Drogon’s answer split the skies, and Daenerys’ heart leaped in her chest as she spotted Rhaegal up ahead. She tightened her hold on Drogon’s spines and leaned forward, urging her mount to fly faster.

“Onward,” she whispered. “Let’s catch them.”

They met just south of Dragonstone. Drogon and Rhaegal circled around each other in greeting, drawing so close that Daenerys could see Jon’s smile in the twilight. She smiled in return, and the joy bubbling through her veins made her feel like she didn’t need a dragon’s wings to fly.

The dragons danced, and the sky faded to a deep blue speckled with silver stars. Daenerys caught a glimpse of Jon’s expression, equal parts of delighted and mischievous as he urged Rhaegal to fly higher, and she sent Drogon after him. The two dragons soaring so high that Dragonstone’s mighty Keep seemed no larger than a child’s toy; and then, just as her lungs started to burn in protest of the thin air, they plummeted downward, speeding faster than arrows shot from the great weirwood bows used by Northern archers.

Daenerys gasped in delight, and the sound was immediately snatched away by the rush of wind. She felt no fear, even as the dark waters of the bay rushed closer and closer. She had complete faith in her mount, and when the dragons pulled up at the last second and raced across the water, their wings barely skimming over the waves, she threw her head back and howled her exhilaration to the skies.

“Again,” she cried, and Drogon and Rhaegal sped skyward. “Again!”

By the time they turned toward Dragonstone, Daenerys was out of breath, her hair was tangled from the wind, and the blood burned hot in her veins. She felt gloriously, intoxicatingly alive. Drogon had scarcely touched the ground before she slid from his back and raced toward her husband, eager to touch him, kiss him, exult in feeling him beneath her hands once more.

Jon waited for her with outstretched arms, the smile she loved stretching across his face, dark eyes sparkling with warmth. She threw herself into his embrace, and their lips met in a kiss. He tasted of the North, of ice and snow and the sharp scent of pine, but when she caressed the nape of his neck, the skin was warm.

When they finally broke apart, he rested his forehead against her and closed his eyes. “Dany,” he murmured, and brushed his fingers gently against her cheeks. “Dany.”

And let the North have him for six moon turns in the year, if it kept Jon from fading away entirely. Let the cold mountains winds have their time with him, if that was what it took to restore his spirit and prevent him from falling back into that endless slumber. Because he might be ice, but he was also fire, and her fire called to him as surely as the Northern snow did.

“I’m here, my love,” she whispered in reply, and their lips met once, twice, three times. “I have you.”

(Yes, the idea here is that Dany and Jon have a Hades/Persephone vibe going on, where Jon needs to return to the North for a certain amount of time each year to keep his resurrection juice going. Yes, that sidelines R'hllor. No, I do not care.)

#jonerys #jonerysweek2019 #jon x daenerys #jon x dany